Meeting Her Maker
Tiny Way Of Life
chapter 36
by
copier
· original author:
a27293
Standing in the door is a tall Asian woman, possibly the tallest you've ever seen. Standing roughly six feet tall in flats and a sharp, gray business suit, you recognize what must be Sora's mother - her birth mother, Tien - based on that description alone, not to mention the way Sora panics when she sees her. Immediately setting you down on the table, jerking her hand away like you're a hot potato and hiding it in her lap, she suddenly goes stiff as a deer in headlights as she starts to babble.
"M-mom!" Sora stammers out hastily, looking panicky as her gaze goes back and forth between you, the door, the dip bowls, and the door again. "Th- uh, this is Stevie. I mean, Steven. I, I found him when I lost my phone earlier. In the gutter. Uh. He's... been helping me with my homework..." Sora's mother stares at her with what seems like abject confusion, as if that hadn't answered her question at all.
As Sora leads with the little bit of truth she thinks her parent will most want to hear, as children do, you straighten up and step forward on the table, clearing your throat as you look up at the woman. For all Sora's obvious apparent guilt, you feel like she's most definitely overreacting to the situation.
"Steve McMinor. Nice to meet you." You call out to her, nodding politely and raising your hand in to wave. Tien's eyes go from confused to curious as they turn to you, flitting briefly behind you to the dip bowls and back. Suddenly, you realize Sora's childlike nervousness may not be entirely unfounded. While you hadn't exactly done anything wrong, yourself, there were some things about the past few days that you'd rather not have to explain to this woman... but unlike Sora, you're old enough not to immediately give it away.
"You're Mrs. Nguyen, right?" You ask, keeping it standard. "Your daughter's been taking care of me until I could get in touch with my family. Strange thing to say, at her age but it's true." You chuckle slightly, evoking a hint of a smile from the woman as she waits politely for you to finish. "Really, ma'am, Sora's a lifesaver. Literally."
You give her an honest, genuine smile as you say so, and she cracks a smile of her own in return as you see her daughter flush red out of the corner of her eye. "It's Doctor Nguyen, actually," the woman corrects you, but laughingly. She speaks without hint of an accent, having moved to the States when she was young. "But please, call me Tien. May I call you Steven? Or do you prefer Steve?" She asks, bending down to take off her flats and pick up her dropped keys.
She sets the shoes down on a rack by the door, exchanging them for some house slippers in classic Asian-parent style. "S-Steve's fine," you answer her, slightly taken aback by the familiarity. No 'Mr. McMinor', you note. Just straight to first names. Standing up, the woman turns sharply and saunters, swiftly but gracefully, to the table in front of you and Sora. Looking down at you with a corner of her mouth turned up, without leaning down, she gently puts out her hand and extends a slim, upturned finger.
"A-ah. Right, of course." Now it's your turn to stammer. Stepping forward and putting out your own arm, you cup your right hand around the extended fingertip and shake, craning your head up to make eye contact as you do so. It doesn't come easily. To say this woman towers over you is an understatement. Most people tower over you. This woman towers in general. Between her remarkable height, her straight, unbending posture, and the easy confidence in her sharp, brown eyes, you're almost not sure if you're supposed to shake her hand, or kiss it. Fact is, you've never been quite so aware that you're literally standing in someone's shadow - even more so when she surprises you by suddenly pinching your hand, firmly but gently, between her thumb and forefinger.
Now she's the one shaking. But she does so with a teasing look in her eyes that reminds you of her daughter. "I would say 'nice to meet you' also, but we've technically already met. Good to see you're doing well." She says, letting go your hand and taking her arm back. "Sora, babe, I was worried sick," she coos, suddenly one hundred percent motherly as she bends down to embrace her daughter.
Sora hugs her back, still sitting. "Sorry I lost my phone" she mumbles, sounding repentant.
"Sweetie, that's alright. Accidents. But why didn't you go ask Sunny or Mrs. Daniels to borrow theirs, and let me know?" Tien asks, still concerned but with just a hint of reprimand.
Sora shifts uncomfortably, looking away guiltily and muttering. "I- I forgot." She intones, unconvincingly. You have to frown. Was that an option the whole time? Did she actually know that all along. "Also, I forgot your numbers" she adds, as if, ironically, suddenly remembering something. Well, that's probably true. You sigh. You, on the other hand, remembered all the numbers you ever needed to call, having never had a cell phone of your own to just store them in. Well... whatever.
Tien sighs as well, apparently somewhere on the same wavelength as you are. She, too, grew up having to actually remember people's numbers sometimes. "All right. Just remember you can always do that, next time, if something happens. The Daniels have our numbers too, you know." You stand there, slightly awkward, as Sora mutters an apology and her mother shushes her, patting her on the head. "That's okay, honey. Just do better next time.
"Now, you kept up with all your lessons?" She asks, more sternly now, straightening up and lifting her daughter's chin to look her in the eyes. Sora nods earnestly in the affirmative. "Good. Glad to hear it. Especially since you had help." She flashes you a wry smile as she says this. You're both adults; you both know Sora wasn't just sitting there working on her lessons with you all day, every day. Especially since she's dressed up as a cat right now.
"Now, why don't I take a few minutes to change and come back, and you can tell me all about it while I eat?" She asks, standing up. She eyes the set of dip bowls again as she does so... cheese, oil, chocolate, and sugar. And not a hint of any chips, bread, strawberries, or anything else around.
"Oh. Of course." You answer, starting to get nervous again and trying not to let it show. Sora nods, seeming not to notice. "'kay." Tien smiles again at you, this time more knowingly, before turning to leave the room.
At the sound of her parent's bedroom door closing down the hall, you and Sora immediately jump into action, working to get your stories straight. It doesn't take long. You make her find and get out some bread and corn chips, so she'll at least know where they are when her mother comes back. There's no helping that she obviously wasn't eating any when Tien came in, but at least this way, she'll automatically know where they are, in case her mother asks for them. If she had to look around to find them first, well, it'd be quite a giveaway../
More of a problem, there's no fruit or ice cream left as a plausible excuse for the chocolate dip. If Tien asks, you'll just have to say it's what she ate the grapes with.
When Tien comes back into the kitchen, you swallow hard at the sight of her in house clothes. Nothing special. Just some gray sweatpants and a plain, white tank top, but somehow the way it hugs her slender breasts and hips makes you have to force yourself to look away, up at her face. Even then, you stare, as she tosses her short hair, tied back behind her head now, over her shoulder as she turns the corner. That year of isolation has definitely not done anything to temper your starving, teenage hormones.
"Back! Thanks for waiting." Tien's eyes meets yours as she strides cheerfully into the kitchen, seeming to register your staring. Realizing it yourself, you tear your eyes away to look at Sora instead, flushing slightly, but she doesn't mention it as she crosses the table to sit in front of you, and the dip bowls, across from Sora. Still smiling. "So. Tell me what happened." She says, voiced hushed, conspiratorially, as she leans in to slide the olive oil towards herself. "Last I heard, you disappeared more than a year ago, right? This ought to be good..."
Sora gets up and quickly fetches her mother a plate of bread, which she casually dips and snacks on as you fill her in on your time spent missing. At first, you don't tell her exactly how you ended up flushed down to the sewers, but then she asks, and you have to grudgingly explain the background. Rather than press you on the experience, however, she first just laughs and rolls her eyes at the folly of teenage partygoers, and then remarks on the impressive medical implications of your surviving the experience.
Then, Sora chimes in on how she found you, and what you'd been doing since then... with a few, key edits. Nothing about your time spent in her mouth or belly. Nor, at your insistence, as agreed upon while her mother was out changing, her food or bathtub. Just the dolls, TV, study, and 'hide-and-seek', hence Sora's currently wearing the cat pajamas.
For her part, Tien seems content mostly just to listen, rarely asking questions. Nothing like her daughter, in that respect. She does seem to go from curious, to increasingly amused, as the tale of your savage sewer life transitions into silly antics with her daughter. Still, you get the sense that she knows more than she's letting on, as she patiently listens to you go an and occasionally nibbles a bit of bread...
Does she?
"M-mom!" Sora stammers out hastily, looking panicky as her gaze goes back and forth between you, the door, the dip bowls, and the door again. "Th- uh, this is Stevie. I mean, Steven. I, I found him when I lost my phone earlier. In the gutter. Uh. He's... been helping me with my homework..." Sora's mother stares at her with what seems like abject confusion, as if that hadn't answered her question at all.
As Sora leads with the little bit of truth she thinks her parent will most want to hear, as children do, you straighten up and step forward on the table, clearing your throat as you look up at the woman. For all Sora's obvious apparent guilt, you feel like she's most definitely overreacting to the situation.
"Steve McMinor. Nice to meet you." You call out to her, nodding politely and raising your hand in to wave. Tien's eyes go from confused to curious as they turn to you, flitting briefly behind you to the dip bowls and back. Suddenly, you realize Sora's childlike nervousness may not be entirely unfounded. While you hadn't exactly done anything wrong, yourself, there were some things about the past few days that you'd rather not have to explain to this woman... but unlike Sora, you're old enough not to immediately give it away.
"You're Mrs. Nguyen, right?" You ask, keeping it standard. "Your daughter's been taking care of me until I could get in touch with my family. Strange thing to say, at her age but it's true." You chuckle slightly, evoking a hint of a smile from the woman as she waits politely for you to finish. "Really, ma'am, Sora's a lifesaver. Literally."
You give her an honest, genuine smile as you say so, and she cracks a smile of her own in return as you see her daughter flush red out of the corner of her eye. "It's Doctor Nguyen, actually," the woman corrects you, but laughingly. She speaks without hint of an accent, having moved to the States when she was young. "But please, call me Tien. May I call you Steven? Or do you prefer Steve?" She asks, bending down to take off her flats and pick up her dropped keys.
She sets the shoes down on a rack by the door, exchanging them for some house slippers in classic Asian-parent style. "S-Steve's fine," you answer her, slightly taken aback by the familiarity. No 'Mr. McMinor', you note. Just straight to first names. Standing up, the woman turns sharply and saunters, swiftly but gracefully, to the table in front of you and Sora. Looking down at you with a corner of her mouth turned up, without leaning down, she gently puts out her hand and extends a slim, upturned finger.
"A-ah. Right, of course." Now it's your turn to stammer. Stepping forward and putting out your own arm, you cup your right hand around the extended fingertip and shake, craning your head up to make eye contact as you do so. It doesn't come easily. To say this woman towers over you is an understatement. Most people tower over you. This woman towers in general. Between her remarkable height, her straight, unbending posture, and the easy confidence in her sharp, brown eyes, you're almost not sure if you're supposed to shake her hand, or kiss it. Fact is, you've never been quite so aware that you're literally standing in someone's shadow - even more so when she surprises you by suddenly pinching your hand, firmly but gently, between her thumb and forefinger.
Now she's the one shaking. But she does so with a teasing look in her eyes that reminds you of her daughter. "I would say 'nice to meet you' also, but we've technically already met. Good to see you're doing well." She says, letting go your hand and taking her arm back. "Sora, babe, I was worried sick," she coos, suddenly one hundred percent motherly as she bends down to embrace her daughter.
Sora hugs her back, still sitting. "Sorry I lost my phone" she mumbles, sounding repentant.
"Sweetie, that's alright. Accidents. But why didn't you go ask Sunny or Mrs. Daniels to borrow theirs, and let me know?" Tien asks, still concerned but with just a hint of reprimand.
Sora shifts uncomfortably, looking away guiltily and muttering. "I- I forgot." She intones, unconvincingly. You have to frown. Was that an option the whole time? Did she actually know that all along. "Also, I forgot your numbers" she adds, as if, ironically, suddenly remembering something. Well, that's probably true. You sigh. You, on the other hand, remembered all the numbers you ever needed to call, having never had a cell phone of your own to just store them in. Well... whatever.
Tien sighs as well, apparently somewhere on the same wavelength as you are. She, too, grew up having to actually remember people's numbers sometimes. "All right. Just remember you can always do that, next time, if something happens. The Daniels have our numbers too, you know." You stand there, slightly awkward, as Sora mutters an apology and her mother shushes her, patting her on the head. "That's okay, honey. Just do better next time.
"Now, you kept up with all your lessons?" She asks, more sternly now, straightening up and lifting her daughter's chin to look her in the eyes. Sora nods earnestly in the affirmative. "Good. Glad to hear it. Especially since you had help." She flashes you a wry smile as she says this. You're both adults; you both know Sora wasn't just sitting there working on her lessons with you all day, every day. Especially since she's dressed up as a cat right now.
"Now, why don't I take a few minutes to change and come back, and you can tell me all about it while I eat?" She asks, standing up. She eyes the set of dip bowls again as she does so... cheese, oil, chocolate, and sugar. And not a hint of any chips, bread, strawberries, or anything else around.
"Oh. Of course." You answer, starting to get nervous again and trying not to let it show. Sora nods, seeming not to notice. "'kay." Tien smiles again at you, this time more knowingly, before turning to leave the room.
At the sound of her parent's bedroom door closing down the hall, you and Sora immediately jump into action, working to get your stories straight. It doesn't take long. You make her find and get out some bread and corn chips, so she'll at least know where they are when her mother comes back. There's no helping that she obviously wasn't eating any when Tien came in, but at least this way, she'll automatically know where they are, in case her mother asks for them. If she had to look around to find them first, well, it'd be quite a giveaway../
More of a problem, there's no fruit or ice cream left as a plausible excuse for the chocolate dip. If Tien asks, you'll just have to say it's what she ate the grapes with.
When Tien comes back into the kitchen, you swallow hard at the sight of her in house clothes. Nothing special. Just some gray sweatpants and a plain, white tank top, but somehow the way it hugs her slender breasts and hips makes you have to force yourself to look away, up at her face. Even then, you stare, as she tosses her short hair, tied back behind her head now, over her shoulder as she turns the corner. That year of isolation has definitely not done anything to temper your starving, teenage hormones.
"Back! Thanks for waiting." Tien's eyes meets yours as she strides cheerfully into the kitchen, seeming to register your staring. Realizing it yourself, you tear your eyes away to look at Sora instead, flushing slightly, but she doesn't mention it as she crosses the table to sit in front of you, and the dip bowls, across from Sora. Still smiling. "So. Tell me what happened." She says, voiced hushed, conspiratorially, as she leans in to slide the olive oil towards herself. "Last I heard, you disappeared more than a year ago, right? This ought to be good..."
Sora gets up and quickly fetches her mother a plate of bread, which she casually dips and snacks on as you fill her in on your time spent missing. At first, you don't tell her exactly how you ended up flushed down to the sewers, but then she asks, and you have to grudgingly explain the background. Rather than press you on the experience, however, she first just laughs and rolls her eyes at the folly of teenage partygoers, and then remarks on the impressive medical implications of your surviving the experience.
Then, Sora chimes in on how she found you, and what you'd been doing since then... with a few, key edits. Nothing about your time spent in her mouth or belly. Nor, at your insistence, as agreed upon while her mother was out changing, her food or bathtub. Just the dolls, TV, study, and 'hide-and-seek', hence Sora's currently wearing the cat pajamas.
For her part, Tien seems content mostly just to listen, rarely asking questions. Nothing like her daughter, in that respect. She does seem to go from curious, to increasingly amused, as the tale of your savage sewer life transitions into silly antics with her daughter. Still, you get the sense that she knows more than she's letting on, as she patiently listens to you go an and occasionally nibbles a bit of bread...
Does she?
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June 2
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