- RP Date
- Mid/late YE 40
- RP Location
- Elysia Novus, near the city Eretria
Elysia Novus
Castor Residence
Morning, Approximately 8:30
Antonious Castor woke up alone, the bed he shared with his wife still quite warm - she must have gotten up only a few minutes ago. He began his daily routine, but then remembered that it was the weekend. Great timing. So he exited in something much more casual instead of the regular formal wear he walked around in.
Out in the kitchen, still clad in her loose, silken nightgown, Arvillael had the stove on, a short stack of golden-browned flatcakes on a clean white circle next to her; the exhaust fan hummed quietly as another dribble of batter was delivered, silently sizzling as it spread onto the skillet. One hand went to her slightly swollen tummy, caressing it tenderly. Behind her, another hand crept up, gently rubbing her growing belly, a pair of lips kissing her on the cheek.
"Mmmm...." Arvilla smiled. "Morning, Anty..." She kissed him back, right on the lips, lightly bumping her adorable, petite body off of him. A vial of juice, extrated from bananas, upturned into the battery side of the hotcake before it was flipped with a sizzle. "Breakfast's almost ready, hmm?" A hypnotically relaxing tune could just barely, barely be heard now that Antoni was next to the radio.
Arvilla's hair was messy; it took hold of the light and gave almost none back, the reddish-brown locks making a tangled jungle. She was warm - not hot, but comfortably warm - to the touch, and her breathing was slow and peaceful. The woman's blue eyes sparkled llike an idle sea, and her jet-black feathers carried their normal, lustrious sheen - if a bit interrupted by some errant individuals out of alignment. The flaming stripe seemed all together, though. While her nightgown did cling slightly to her body, giving a minor emphasis to the petite woman's curves, it was still quite loose on her.
These curves on her body were currently being gently stroked by her husband as he gave Arvilla a little morning cuddle before taking his hands off, letting her finish cooking. "Morning, Arvilla." he replied, gently stroking her hair together a little better, straightening a few feathers. "Babies doing alright?"
"Mhm! Not like there's much to go on right now, eheheh." With a small flourish, Arvilla set the banana-enhanced pancakes onto the table, leaning into her husband's arms all snuggly-like, before sitting down. Given that it was Arvillael's cooking, the pancakes were going to be pretty damn good!
"So, any thoughts for what to do today? I'm thinking of having a nice walk for a while, maybe even a fly while I still can."
"While you still can." Antoni chuckled as he held his increasingly cuddly wife a little closer as they ate. "Yeah, we should, since they're getting bigger almost by the day. At the very least you'll be able to stretch your wings the last few times before they get too heavy inside of you."
Her delicious cooking, on the other hand, was awarded with another kiss as well as a few more feathers straightened out. Needless to say, the couple ate pretty quickly, eager to get their plans for today going. A fairly quick shower for both, and a change. and they were ready to go!
Rooftop
9:58
A stiff breeze drifted across the rooftop garden, making waves of the vibrant grass which was boken up by light stonework pathways; the Castors stood at the semicircular patio on the edge of the building, which served as the intended place to go airborne - or land. The bright red wind-sock pointed north, towards the nearby city on the horizon. Arvillael wore a form-fitting woolen shirt and synthetic shorts, easy to move in. She didn't really care for dressing up all fancy unless she had something specific to do.
"Hmmmm, nice wind out... Might be able to catch some good updrafts for the first time in... Months? Months!" No self-respecting patrician didn't know how to fly, of course, and Arvillael wasn't an exception.
"Lucky us, I suppose. How can an entire summer go by without a single good updraft? That's absolutely absurd." Antoni asked, once again cuddling his wife. "So which way? We can fly north towards the city but we'll have headwind to deal with on the way back, or we can fly southbound but we won't get the regulated updrafts that will be above the city."
"Hmmm.... City! We can spend some time out there too, we don't have to come right back." With a wink, three pats of her feet on the stone, and a whoosh the female senator had taken to the skies, right into the wind with several audiable flaps. "Besides, this wind feels amazing!" Her telepathic message tickled Anty's mind in that special way only she seemed to be able to do. He had no idea how she managed to do so. He would have pinned it on some feminine instinct of some sort, but never had he heard of any other woman being able to do that telepathic message for their man so perfectly. So he pinned it more on how she was brought up, along with the high amount of skills the little Patrician picked up as a child in an effort to appear more attractive to suitors.
Well, suitors it brought, but only one and that was he, who was completely fine with this fact. By all means Arvilla was a good woman and had her own beauty that wasn't exactly being a tall, voluptious woman. Something more...petite, he decided. Something about the petiteness made up for the lack of what a regular man would seek for in a wife. The senator, following his wife, decided to try a small trick, falling off one side of the patio's open railing backwards, before rolling in mid-air, letting the wind catch his wings like great sails as he took off after his wife.
As the tailwind carried the couple swiftly and smoothly along, Arvillael kep in close to Antoni; the river at the city's edge sparkled dully in the sunlight. Several colorful, airborne orbs bounced around to their east - quite a few Caelisolans had picked up an interest in something from Yamatai called "Danmaku", and had been messing around to recreate something similar to it for themselves - only, in real life. It wasn't so much of a sport as it was children fooling around - not that that stopped some of the senators from trying to petition against it. There were some good reasons for this broken government that can't get anything done... even though to Antoni, it was just airborne dodgeball with how they were playing it. He'd seen the actual franchise and this quite frankly was a pretty bad recreation of it.
Eretria
10:11
"Hmmm, where d'ya wanna start?" Arvilla's questiong reverberated into his mind as the two approached the city, its many superstructures piercing into the sky impressively. As they got closer, more elysians were being seen - many on the ground, and almost as many in the skies, hopping between layers of the skypiercers with ease.
"That building law was a great choice." Antoni mused, looking at the structures in the sky. "I don't regret passing that one the first chance I got in office."
"You were lucky this city was just getting rebuilt after the war. Otherwise it'd still be half developed. You know how businesses are."
"Well, old buildings wouldn't have been subject to it anyways." Antoni finished. "But...I'm not sure where's a good place to visit today." They both floated lazily across the updrafts and around the spires as they though, enjoying the pleasant skyways as they guided the couple through the metropolis.
"I'm also glad you shoved the black rooftops clause in there." Antoni commented. "We're not getting blinded by glass and white marble. I wonder if Yamatai is considering any similar laws, honestly."
"Probably not, given that their towers practically go into orbit. They basically gotta make their own sunlight. And they do it in a way that stops people from getting blinded because.. .They're clever like that, pretty much."
"Or since they make their own sun, they can just...use less harsh lights." Antoni replied. "See anything you want to go to?"
The smol chuckled, "Well, that'd be too easy for them. Hm... Let's stop by Kythera's, then. I dunno if I wanna buy something but you love looking at what they've got." The electronics store in question was a couple blocks away, about a quarter of the way up from the ground in a massive shopping tower; they didn't have their own landing terrace, but they'd lucked out in being quite close to one - it got the store a lot of traffic and business.
"Ha, visiting department stores in this current year." Antoni joked. "Maybe we'll find something useful for you later down the line. Like a back massager or something for when the babies get big or whatever."
The traffic these days wasn't too impressive; the food shortages caused most people to be more interested in saving their money to feed their families instead of buying luxury goods such as electronics. The line leading to the produce sections were long as always, people clutching ration tickets, waiting for their weekly familial rations.
"This is sad," the taller patrician commented.
"Yeah..." Arvillael was... Trembling a bit. The thought of people being forced into this state of living, it... It infuriated her! She stamped her foot into the tiled floor angrily, her voice burning with rage like the iron of an ancient forge, "What the fuck is wrong with people? Why can't the government actually put some damn effort into their own people for once?"
"Because people are driven to act for themselves instead of others. If we were like them, we'd be doing the same and keeping our food for ourselves," Antoni replied, gently petting his smol. "Calm down, people might be looking at us."
Arvilla huffed as Anoni stroked and smoothed out her soft, auburn hair. She crossed her arms, well, crossly, and wobbled a bit. "Yeah, if we wanted to stay fat like them we'd refuse to share."
"Exactly why we do." Antoni replied once more, holding his wife closer to him as he gently pat the slightly swelling belly of his wife a few times, a very slight gesture.
Another huff, but a bit more quietly. "...Now I don't remember why we came here..."
"Well, we were just browsing the electronics store here." Antoni answered his little wife, nudging her along. "Let's try finding something for you. Like something to do while sitting at home with nothing to do."
"Mmmmmmmph... Alright."
They passed through rows of simple gadgets that they already owned, Antoni realizing that “electric massager” really might not be the best thing to search. They instead walked through rows of DIY electronic components, the cases becoming more and more colorful, advertising their “custom GAMING! hardware” until they arrived at the inevitable video games department.
”I wonder if you could play some of those while I’m gone for the day...” Antoni wondered.
"You say that like it's something to worry about for tomorrow. We both know I'm not going to be houseridden for several months."
"Again, when I'm gone for work you'll need something to do at the very least."
"I can probably figure something out. Maybe. It kinda sounds like you've got something in mind, though, already!" Arvilla playfully bumped into her husband's side and hugged him, her short-ish body warm and cozy.
"Well, it all depends on how much stress you can take." Antoni replied, gently stroking her soft silky hair as she gave him a hug. "Let's see here...which titles stick out to you?"
A shrug. "Well, I'm not really interested in that Danmaku stuff. Those over there," she commented gently, pointing to an eye-snaring display full of explosions and a soldier with a machine gun in his arms, "Are a bit over the top for my tastes. Too much going on and it's all wayyyy too fast."
"So maybe the calmer sections might interest you?" Antoni replied as they turned the corner of the shelves and the bright reds and yellows of the high-octane games turned into a more blue and green-filled aisle with many different kinds of puzzle and simulation games.
"You know me," the mother-senator smirked, "I do like putting things together more than taking them apart."
"Well, take your pick then." Antoni told his smol. “You know I have at least some experience with games. Although, the strategy games I play may be a little too intense for your tastes...”
Antoni ended up suggesting her a simulation game where she ran an asteroid mining company, a few colony and building games, a few slow-paced strategy games, a 4X macrostrategy game, a few turn-based games, a story-driven RPG, and a sandbox build-anything game.
It took a few minutes for Arvilla to decide. She picked a title up, reading the blurb on the back, enjoying the fantastic cover art, and turning the card-like system over in her hands - the games being here was more of a formality, and a small access key under a scratch-off opaque coating was what actually allowed anyone to properly download the programs. She let out little "Hmm"s as she thought.
The five-foot senator finally made her choice, though - a laid-back colony builder, all about a fresh group of civilians finding a new home amongst the stars. The slightly cartoony graphics had been a staple of the producer's previous games, bringing high-resolution textures to the table with bright colors and slightly silly proportions. "This one looks like fun," she stated.
“That seems like a good pick for you.” The taller senator gently gave his wife a few pats on the head, and one more on her healthy abdomen. “Decent amount of replayability, too.”
"Mmmhmmmm," she said. Arvilla led her towering husband by the hand towards the register, purchasing the game with her personal account - a clean, slate-colored card with a rusty chevron on the display side. As the couple strode back out into the shopping centre, the little one smiled. "Soooo... What should we do now?"
“I don’t know.” Antoni replied. “I’d say pick up some supplements for the little ones but the 50-pack I ordered arrives this afternoon, so...something to drink, maybe?”
"Hmm... Might be nice, yeah. Let's go for that, sure! Let's go looking for a bit, hmm~?" Giving her lovely husband a squeeze, Arvilla navigated into the landing of the superstructure, taking to the skies once more.
11:45
After some more time in the skies, with some debate mixed in, the couple flew to a small ground-level cafe, where Antoni ordered a large-sized tea for himself and a glass of fruit-flavored water for his partner. The drinks came pretty quickly, the tea a potent golden brown color and the water tinting its glass a rosy pink.
"This is nice." Antoni stated after a few sips. "Starting a family."
"Yeah..." Arvy's brilliantly blue eyes twinkled as she smiled, humming out her response. A bundle of autumnlike hair dribbled down her left side, ending at about her breast area; the asymmetry was pretty cute.
Then again, Arvilla was always cute. She spoke again, "By the way, I've been thinking of what to do for the next chapter of the book." The book in question being a bit of a side project of the woman's - a cooking and recipe book, focused on all the ways a family could cook in the most efficient ways - all without sacrificing the flavor in their lives. Well... whenever it was possible, anyways. She breathed in, "Maybe something for what we grow in our garden. I'm sure plenty of people have tried to do that now."
"Well, I've seen a large resurfacing interest in books about growing plants and natural fertilizer solutions." Antoni replied, while playing with the little sprig of hair. "I keep getting called, seeing if the senate library has books about edible wild plants and compost, and I have to redirect them to the librarian."
"Though, don't go too overboard...the regular person doesn't have a tofu press for protiens. Maybe use lentils and eggs for protein? Or edamame, since Yamatai keeps shipping that stuff over."
Arvilla's relaxed, sing-song laugh rebounded softly through the mostly-empty cafe. "I'm sure it'll be fine, Anty." Sipping on the refreshing, tinted liquid, Mrs. Castor hummed out a soft little sigh and wiggled a bit closer into her husband's side.
The silky lock of hair wrapped around the taller patrician's finger easily, until he let go where it slipped away like water, only for him to grab and fiddle with it more. Arvilla's wing had snuck in under Antoni's as she slid into his side.
"Yeah, you have a brain." Antoni replied, continuing to play with the little sprig of hair down the side of her face. "Historically when everything had a lower tech level though, there were cases in which malnourished nations recieved terrible advice."
Antoni snorted at the historical documents. "They could barely afford cooking oil and people told them to buy meat as their source of protein. Idiots."
"Yeah... I hate the senators that campaign like that. They pretend that they're going to fight for the people, but barely pay attention to them in actuality. Tracking everyone is impossible sure, but even some basic research on what's going on helps out a lot in the long term..." The redhead relaxed into her husband's side.
“And that’s why I never have my campaign speeches say ‘I’ll fight for you.’ It’ll always be a lie.” Antoni replied, gently stroking Arvilla’s hair some more. “I can try to bring people job security by pulling strings here and there to help the common worker, but that’s pretty much the extent I can go before I end up hurting us in the long run.”
"Mmmmph... Yeah. I really don't like how just... Pinned down we are. Helping people too much puts us in a position to get removed from the senate, but if anything it should be the opposite..." The woman's soft, pale hand met up with Antoni's as it played with her autumn locks. She held onto him for a few seconds, a gentle grip on his hand. Her eyes blinked closed, staying shut for a couple seconds before opening again.
“Really the job of the government is to deal with what the average person can’t.” Antoni told his wife. “Like manipulating the general economy of the nation, or fighting wars, or managing city zoning.”
The taller Senator now leaned in for a long kiss on his wife’s lips, sneakily caressing her slightly swollen belly a few more times in the process.
Though she snuggled back, Antoni felt his wife pouting through the kiss - her lower lip puffing out. "Too bad they suck at it so much..."
"Pretty much," Antoni replied, sharing the disdain his wife had. "We'll fix it one day."
"Mmmph... I don't want to think about work right now... I want to take my mind off of it, really..." Her cute lil' nose poked into Anty's shoulder now; Arby's eyes had closed. "Do you have any ideas for that? The, not thinking about work thing?"
"Yeah, you'll have plenty of time off work though." Antoni repied, gently petting her on the head again. "We could just go home...I didn't really have any plans for today. Maybe open up your new stuff."
"Perhaps... I guess. It was nice out here, to just relax in the city for a while. We still have half a day, though, hmm..."
“What do we do, then?” he asked. “We really did just want to come out to look around, that’s all.”
Antoni's adorable wife nuzzled him once more before properly sitting up again, sipping out the last of her refreshing beverage. Letting another cute "Hmm..." out, she snapped her fingers a couple of times. "Well, before we head home, I say we fly around for a bit more. Winds are still nice, and we might even get to catch a tailwind when we head home if we stick around the city long enough!"
"It's rare we get days like these, anyways." Antoni replied. "For all the time we promote strong families, we really don't spend as much time as we should together, do we..."
Work was rough. That's probably why Arvy didn't want to talk about it right now, since they actually have time. She sighed out, "Yeah... It's not even anyone's fault, either. Just a big pain that comes from the job..."
“So what do right now?” Antoni asked. “Should we head home or keep walking the streets?”
"Probably for the best that we head home, we've gotten what we planned for today done, rightie?" A cute little kiss to the cheek followed her question.
Castor Residence, Rooftop
12:22
The couple landed gracefully on their home, a bit more fatigued from their flight back, the Southern wind having changed to be a little bit Western making their journey a bit less of a struggle against the air currents. Mrs. Castor shook her petite body a bit, her jet-black plumage swishing from the motion and breeze, that little stripe of firey color flashing out attractively.
Upon landing, the taller of the two gently stroked out the wind-tossed curls in his wife's hair, kissing her gently on the cheek. "That was a pleasant excursion, wasn't it?"
Nodding energetically, the soft mother-to-be hummed affirmably. Taking Antoni by the had and leading him inside, the little one smiled again. They sat down together on the couch, Arvilla leaning into her partner's side warmly. "It was very nice, I liked it..."
Antoni gently pulled the tiny little mother up onto his lap, his arms wrapped around the tiny Patrician. “It’s nice getting days together,” he replied, getting the proper chance now to feel around his wife’s rapidly growing belly bump.
“Are you hoping for anything out of our children?” he asked.
The warm, cozy woman smiled. "I want them to be able to live their lives without having to worry about all of that," she stated quietly as a pale arm pointed towards the electronic newspaper on the table, if it were on another headline about the Senate's refusal to acknowledge the food problems would have been shouting outwards to them.
"I'd like for them to actually take care of themselves and their families, though. A job that can support them, that's what I want."
“...Yeah. We need that.” Antoni thought, a few ideas beginning to form in his head. “We need a research group again...and with our fleets shelved, I do have an extreme surplus in the defense budget...”
"Mhm... Even I know that we need a bigger military presence than what we do now." Arvilla looked up and booped Antoni's chin with her lips, softly and warmly. This was followed by one of her adorable smiles, the woman's crytal-blue eyes sparkling brilliantly.
“Well, not exactly a military presence, but...” Antoni clarified, subconsciously moving his hand in circular motions along his wife’s slightly-enlarged abdomen, “Maybe something smaller that lets us research a few things on the side...”
That earned the tall senator a poke to the face. "Shush, you." She chuckled softly, relaxing into the gentle motions of her lover as she said, "Anyways... I think, hmmm... I might tank a nap, here..." With a bit of a wiggle and shift, Arvillers put herself in a more comfortable position, leaning against her husband, who planted another kiss on her warm forehead. It wasn't long before the couple had drifted off into an early-afternoon nap, leaning against each other lovingly.
Castor Residence
Morning, Approximately 8:30
Antonious Castor woke up alone, the bed he shared with his wife still quite warm - she must have gotten up only a few minutes ago. He began his daily routine, but then remembered that it was the weekend. Great timing. So he exited in something much more casual instead of the regular formal wear he walked around in.
Out in the kitchen, still clad in her loose, silken nightgown, Arvillael had the stove on, a short stack of golden-browned flatcakes on a clean white circle next to her; the exhaust fan hummed quietly as another dribble of batter was delivered, silently sizzling as it spread onto the skillet. One hand went to her slightly swollen tummy, caressing it tenderly. Behind her, another hand crept up, gently rubbing her growing belly, a pair of lips kissing her on the cheek.
"Mmmm...." Arvilla smiled. "Morning, Anty..." She kissed him back, right on the lips, lightly bumping her adorable, petite body off of him. A vial of juice, extrated from bananas, upturned into the battery side of the hotcake before it was flipped with a sizzle. "Breakfast's almost ready, hmm?" A hypnotically relaxing tune could just barely, barely be heard now that Antoni was next to the radio.
Arvilla's hair was messy; it took hold of the light and gave almost none back, the reddish-brown locks making a tangled jungle. She was warm - not hot, but comfortably warm - to the touch, and her breathing was slow and peaceful. The woman's blue eyes sparkled llike an idle sea, and her jet-black feathers carried their normal, lustrious sheen - if a bit interrupted by some errant individuals out of alignment. The flaming stripe seemed all together, though. While her nightgown did cling slightly to her body, giving a minor emphasis to the petite woman's curves, it was still quite loose on her.
These curves on her body were currently being gently stroked by her husband as he gave Arvilla a little morning cuddle before taking his hands off, letting her finish cooking. "Morning, Arvilla." he replied, gently stroking her hair together a little better, straightening a few feathers. "Babies doing alright?"
"Mhm! Not like there's much to go on right now, eheheh." With a small flourish, Arvilla set the banana-enhanced pancakes onto the table, leaning into her husband's arms all snuggly-like, before sitting down. Given that it was Arvillael's cooking, the pancakes were going to be pretty damn good!
"So, any thoughts for what to do today? I'm thinking of having a nice walk for a while, maybe even a fly while I still can."
"While you still can." Antoni chuckled as he held his increasingly cuddly wife a little closer as they ate. "Yeah, we should, since they're getting bigger almost by the day. At the very least you'll be able to stretch your wings the last few times before they get too heavy inside of you."
Her delicious cooking, on the other hand, was awarded with another kiss as well as a few more feathers straightened out. Needless to say, the couple ate pretty quickly, eager to get their plans for today going. A fairly quick shower for both, and a change. and they were ready to go!
Rooftop
9:58
A stiff breeze drifted across the rooftop garden, making waves of the vibrant grass which was boken up by light stonework pathways; the Castors stood at the semicircular patio on the edge of the building, which served as the intended place to go airborne - or land. The bright red wind-sock pointed north, towards the nearby city on the horizon. Arvillael wore a form-fitting woolen shirt and synthetic shorts, easy to move in. She didn't really care for dressing up all fancy unless she had something specific to do.
"Hmmmm, nice wind out... Might be able to catch some good updrafts for the first time in... Months? Months!" No self-respecting patrician didn't know how to fly, of course, and Arvillael wasn't an exception.
"Lucky us, I suppose. How can an entire summer go by without a single good updraft? That's absolutely absurd." Antoni asked, once again cuddling his wife. "So which way? We can fly north towards the city but we'll have headwind to deal with on the way back, or we can fly southbound but we won't get the regulated updrafts that will be above the city."
"Hmmm.... City! We can spend some time out there too, we don't have to come right back." With a wink, three pats of her feet on the stone, and a whoosh the female senator had taken to the skies, right into the wind with several audiable flaps. "Besides, this wind feels amazing!" Her telepathic message tickled Anty's mind in that special way only she seemed to be able to do. He had no idea how she managed to do so. He would have pinned it on some feminine instinct of some sort, but never had he heard of any other woman being able to do that telepathic message for their man so perfectly. So he pinned it more on how she was brought up, along with the high amount of skills the little Patrician picked up as a child in an effort to appear more attractive to suitors.
Well, suitors it brought, but only one and that was he, who was completely fine with this fact. By all means Arvilla was a good woman and had her own beauty that wasn't exactly being a tall, voluptious woman. Something more...petite, he decided. Something about the petiteness made up for the lack of what a regular man would seek for in a wife. The senator, following his wife, decided to try a small trick, falling off one side of the patio's open railing backwards, before rolling in mid-air, letting the wind catch his wings like great sails as he took off after his wife.
As the tailwind carried the couple swiftly and smoothly along, Arvillael kep in close to Antoni; the river at the city's edge sparkled dully in the sunlight. Several colorful, airborne orbs bounced around to their east - quite a few Caelisolans had picked up an interest in something from Yamatai called "Danmaku", and had been messing around to recreate something similar to it for themselves - only, in real life. It wasn't so much of a sport as it was children fooling around - not that that stopped some of the senators from trying to petition against it. There were some good reasons for this broken government that can't get anything done... even though to Antoni, it was just airborne dodgeball with how they were playing it. He'd seen the actual franchise and this quite frankly was a pretty bad recreation of it.
Eretria
10:11
"Hmmm, where d'ya wanna start?" Arvilla's questiong reverberated into his mind as the two approached the city, its many superstructures piercing into the sky impressively. As they got closer, more elysians were being seen - many on the ground, and almost as many in the skies, hopping between layers of the skypiercers with ease.
"That building law was a great choice." Antoni mused, looking at the structures in the sky. "I don't regret passing that one the first chance I got in office."
"You were lucky this city was just getting rebuilt after the war. Otherwise it'd still be half developed. You know how businesses are."
"Well, old buildings wouldn't have been subject to it anyways." Antoni finished. "But...I'm not sure where's a good place to visit today." They both floated lazily across the updrafts and around the spires as they though, enjoying the pleasant skyways as they guided the couple through the metropolis.
"I'm also glad you shoved the black rooftops clause in there." Antoni commented. "We're not getting blinded by glass and white marble. I wonder if Yamatai is considering any similar laws, honestly."
"Probably not, given that their towers practically go into orbit. They basically gotta make their own sunlight. And they do it in a way that stops people from getting blinded because.. .They're clever like that, pretty much."
"Or since they make their own sun, they can just...use less harsh lights." Antoni replied. "See anything you want to go to?"
The smol chuckled, "Well, that'd be too easy for them. Hm... Let's stop by Kythera's, then. I dunno if I wanna buy something but you love looking at what they've got." The electronics store in question was a couple blocks away, about a quarter of the way up from the ground in a massive shopping tower; they didn't have their own landing terrace, but they'd lucked out in being quite close to one - it got the store a lot of traffic and business.
"Ha, visiting department stores in this current year." Antoni joked. "Maybe we'll find something useful for you later down the line. Like a back massager or something for when the babies get big or whatever."
The traffic these days wasn't too impressive; the food shortages caused most people to be more interested in saving their money to feed their families instead of buying luxury goods such as electronics. The line leading to the produce sections were long as always, people clutching ration tickets, waiting for their weekly familial rations.
"This is sad," the taller patrician commented.
"Yeah..." Arvillael was... Trembling a bit. The thought of people being forced into this state of living, it... It infuriated her! She stamped her foot into the tiled floor angrily, her voice burning with rage like the iron of an ancient forge, "What the fuck is wrong with people? Why can't the government actually put some damn effort into their own people for once?"
"Because people are driven to act for themselves instead of others. If we were like them, we'd be doing the same and keeping our food for ourselves," Antoni replied, gently petting his smol. "Calm down, people might be looking at us."
Arvilla huffed as Anoni stroked and smoothed out her soft, auburn hair. She crossed her arms, well, crossly, and wobbled a bit. "Yeah, if we wanted to stay fat like them we'd refuse to share."
"Exactly why we do." Antoni replied once more, holding his wife closer to him as he gently pat the slightly swelling belly of his wife a few times, a very slight gesture.
Another huff, but a bit more quietly. "...Now I don't remember why we came here..."
"Well, we were just browsing the electronics store here." Antoni answered his little wife, nudging her along. "Let's try finding something for you. Like something to do while sitting at home with nothing to do."
"Mmmmmmmph... Alright."
They passed through rows of simple gadgets that they already owned, Antoni realizing that “electric massager” really might not be the best thing to search. They instead walked through rows of DIY electronic components, the cases becoming more and more colorful, advertising their “custom GAMING! hardware” until they arrived at the inevitable video games department.
”I wonder if you could play some of those while I’m gone for the day...” Antoni wondered.
"You say that like it's something to worry about for tomorrow. We both know I'm not going to be houseridden for several months."
"Again, when I'm gone for work you'll need something to do at the very least."
"I can probably figure something out. Maybe. It kinda sounds like you've got something in mind, though, already!" Arvilla playfully bumped into her husband's side and hugged him, her short-ish body warm and cozy.
"Well, it all depends on how much stress you can take." Antoni replied, gently stroking her soft silky hair as she gave him a hug. "Let's see here...which titles stick out to you?"
A shrug. "Well, I'm not really interested in that Danmaku stuff. Those over there," she commented gently, pointing to an eye-snaring display full of explosions and a soldier with a machine gun in his arms, "Are a bit over the top for my tastes. Too much going on and it's all wayyyy too fast."
"So maybe the calmer sections might interest you?" Antoni replied as they turned the corner of the shelves and the bright reds and yellows of the high-octane games turned into a more blue and green-filled aisle with many different kinds of puzzle and simulation games.
"You know me," the mother-senator smirked, "I do like putting things together more than taking them apart."
"Well, take your pick then." Antoni told his smol. “You know I have at least some experience with games. Although, the strategy games I play may be a little too intense for your tastes...”
Antoni ended up suggesting her a simulation game where she ran an asteroid mining company, a few colony and building games, a few slow-paced strategy games, a 4X macrostrategy game, a few turn-based games, a story-driven RPG, and a sandbox build-anything game.
It took a few minutes for Arvilla to decide. She picked a title up, reading the blurb on the back, enjoying the fantastic cover art, and turning the card-like system over in her hands - the games being here was more of a formality, and a small access key under a scratch-off opaque coating was what actually allowed anyone to properly download the programs. She let out little "Hmm"s as she thought.
The five-foot senator finally made her choice, though - a laid-back colony builder, all about a fresh group of civilians finding a new home amongst the stars. The slightly cartoony graphics had been a staple of the producer's previous games, bringing high-resolution textures to the table with bright colors and slightly silly proportions. "This one looks like fun," she stated.
“That seems like a good pick for you.” The taller senator gently gave his wife a few pats on the head, and one more on her healthy abdomen. “Decent amount of replayability, too.”
"Mmmhmmmm," she said. Arvilla led her towering husband by the hand towards the register, purchasing the game with her personal account - a clean, slate-colored card with a rusty chevron on the display side. As the couple strode back out into the shopping centre, the little one smiled. "Soooo... What should we do now?"
“I don’t know.” Antoni replied. “I’d say pick up some supplements for the little ones but the 50-pack I ordered arrives this afternoon, so...something to drink, maybe?”
"Hmm... Might be nice, yeah. Let's go for that, sure! Let's go looking for a bit, hmm~?" Giving her lovely husband a squeeze, Arvilla navigated into the landing of the superstructure, taking to the skies once more.
11:45
After some more time in the skies, with some debate mixed in, the couple flew to a small ground-level cafe, where Antoni ordered a large-sized tea for himself and a glass of fruit-flavored water for his partner. The drinks came pretty quickly, the tea a potent golden brown color and the water tinting its glass a rosy pink.
"This is nice." Antoni stated after a few sips. "Starting a family."
"Yeah..." Arvy's brilliantly blue eyes twinkled as she smiled, humming out her response. A bundle of autumnlike hair dribbled down her left side, ending at about her breast area; the asymmetry was pretty cute.
Then again, Arvilla was always cute. She spoke again, "By the way, I've been thinking of what to do for the next chapter of the book." The book in question being a bit of a side project of the woman's - a cooking and recipe book, focused on all the ways a family could cook in the most efficient ways - all without sacrificing the flavor in their lives. Well... whenever it was possible, anyways. She breathed in, "Maybe something for what we grow in our garden. I'm sure plenty of people have tried to do that now."
"Well, I've seen a large resurfacing interest in books about growing plants and natural fertilizer solutions." Antoni replied, while playing with the little sprig of hair. "I keep getting called, seeing if the senate library has books about edible wild plants and compost, and I have to redirect them to the librarian."
"Though, don't go too overboard...the regular person doesn't have a tofu press for protiens. Maybe use lentils and eggs for protein? Or edamame, since Yamatai keeps shipping that stuff over."
Arvilla's relaxed, sing-song laugh rebounded softly through the mostly-empty cafe. "I'm sure it'll be fine, Anty." Sipping on the refreshing, tinted liquid, Mrs. Castor hummed out a soft little sigh and wiggled a bit closer into her husband's side.
The silky lock of hair wrapped around the taller patrician's finger easily, until he let go where it slipped away like water, only for him to grab and fiddle with it more. Arvilla's wing had snuck in under Antoni's as she slid into his side.
"Yeah, you have a brain." Antoni replied, continuing to play with the little sprig of hair down the side of her face. "Historically when everything had a lower tech level though, there were cases in which malnourished nations recieved terrible advice."
Antoni snorted at the historical documents. "They could barely afford cooking oil and people told them to buy meat as their source of protein. Idiots."
"Yeah... I hate the senators that campaign like that. They pretend that they're going to fight for the people, but barely pay attention to them in actuality. Tracking everyone is impossible sure, but even some basic research on what's going on helps out a lot in the long term..." The redhead relaxed into her husband's side.
“And that’s why I never have my campaign speeches say ‘I’ll fight for you.’ It’ll always be a lie.” Antoni replied, gently stroking Arvilla’s hair some more. “I can try to bring people job security by pulling strings here and there to help the common worker, but that’s pretty much the extent I can go before I end up hurting us in the long run.”
"Mmmmph... Yeah. I really don't like how just... Pinned down we are. Helping people too much puts us in a position to get removed from the senate, but if anything it should be the opposite..." The woman's soft, pale hand met up with Antoni's as it played with her autumn locks. She held onto him for a few seconds, a gentle grip on his hand. Her eyes blinked closed, staying shut for a couple seconds before opening again.
“Really the job of the government is to deal with what the average person can’t.” Antoni told his wife. “Like manipulating the general economy of the nation, or fighting wars, or managing city zoning.”
The taller Senator now leaned in for a long kiss on his wife’s lips, sneakily caressing her slightly swollen belly a few more times in the process.
Though she snuggled back, Antoni felt his wife pouting through the kiss - her lower lip puffing out. "Too bad they suck at it so much..."
"Pretty much," Antoni replied, sharing the disdain his wife had. "We'll fix it one day."
"Mmmph... I don't want to think about work right now... I want to take my mind off of it, really..." Her cute lil' nose poked into Anty's shoulder now; Arby's eyes had closed. "Do you have any ideas for that? The, not thinking about work thing?"
"Yeah, you'll have plenty of time off work though." Antoni repied, gently petting her on the head again. "We could just go home...I didn't really have any plans for today. Maybe open up your new stuff."
"Perhaps... I guess. It was nice out here, to just relax in the city for a while. We still have half a day, though, hmm..."
“What do we do, then?” he asked. “We really did just want to come out to look around, that’s all.”
Antoni's adorable wife nuzzled him once more before properly sitting up again, sipping out the last of her refreshing beverage. Letting another cute "Hmm..." out, she snapped her fingers a couple of times. "Well, before we head home, I say we fly around for a bit more. Winds are still nice, and we might even get to catch a tailwind when we head home if we stick around the city long enough!"
"It's rare we get days like these, anyways." Antoni replied. "For all the time we promote strong families, we really don't spend as much time as we should together, do we..."
Work was rough. That's probably why Arvy didn't want to talk about it right now, since they actually have time. She sighed out, "Yeah... It's not even anyone's fault, either. Just a big pain that comes from the job..."
“So what do right now?” Antoni asked. “Should we head home or keep walking the streets?”
"Probably for the best that we head home, we've gotten what we planned for today done, rightie?" A cute little kiss to the cheek followed her question.
Castor Residence, Rooftop
12:22
The couple landed gracefully on their home, a bit more fatigued from their flight back, the Southern wind having changed to be a little bit Western making their journey a bit less of a struggle against the air currents. Mrs. Castor shook her petite body a bit, her jet-black plumage swishing from the motion and breeze, that little stripe of firey color flashing out attractively.
Upon landing, the taller of the two gently stroked out the wind-tossed curls in his wife's hair, kissing her gently on the cheek. "That was a pleasant excursion, wasn't it?"
Nodding energetically, the soft mother-to-be hummed affirmably. Taking Antoni by the had and leading him inside, the little one smiled again. They sat down together on the couch, Arvilla leaning into her partner's side warmly. "It was very nice, I liked it..."
Antoni gently pulled the tiny little mother up onto his lap, his arms wrapped around the tiny Patrician. “It’s nice getting days together,” he replied, getting the proper chance now to feel around his wife’s rapidly growing belly bump.
“Are you hoping for anything out of our children?” he asked.
The warm, cozy woman smiled. "I want them to be able to live their lives without having to worry about all of that," she stated quietly as a pale arm pointed towards the electronic newspaper on the table, if it were on another headline about the Senate's refusal to acknowledge the food problems would have been shouting outwards to them.
"I'd like for them to actually take care of themselves and their families, though. A job that can support them, that's what I want."
“...Yeah. We need that.” Antoni thought, a few ideas beginning to form in his head. “We need a research group again...and with our fleets shelved, I do have an extreme surplus in the defense budget...”
"Mhm... Even I know that we need a bigger military presence than what we do now." Arvilla looked up and booped Antoni's chin with her lips, softly and warmly. This was followed by one of her adorable smiles, the woman's crytal-blue eyes sparkling brilliantly.
“Well, not exactly a military presence, but...” Antoni clarified, subconsciously moving his hand in circular motions along his wife’s slightly-enlarged abdomen, “Maybe something smaller that lets us research a few things on the side...”
That earned the tall senator a poke to the face. "Shush, you." She chuckled softly, relaxing into the gentle motions of her lover as she said, "Anyways... I think, hmmm... I might tank a nap, here..." With a bit of a wiggle and shift, Arvillers put herself in a more comfortable position, leaning against her husband, who planted another kiss on her warm forehead. It wasn't long before the couple had drifted off into an early-afternoon nap, leaning against each other lovingly.
