11pmish
At Maiko's home.


The holidays could be a lonely time-- although Maiko had a loving, supportive family, they were currently living anywhere nearby. This year, it was only going to be her and her brother, but then Mai had found out that dear Dolly had no plans! None! She wasn’t even going to go to a friend’s house! Mai couldn’t accept that, and Dolly had very graciously accepted the invitation to spend the night on Christmas eve. Kohaku had acted like he was upset at first, but deep down, they both knew that Kohaku had always liked Dolly and would always be open to having her over.

Maslow, the most recent addition to the Yukawa household was sprawled on the rug, his chin resting on the floor and eyes closed. Although he was still a puppy at five months old, he had grown too large for his previous owners (some friends of Kohaku’s)  who were moving into a flat that did not allow dogs. His giant paws indicated that he still had plenty of growing left to do. His fluffy, black and white fur had been recently groomed-- it was much easier to do it via magical means than it would have been for a muggle to do it.

Maiko was sitting on the couch, pouring another glass of wine for herself and Dolly. An empty bottle on the table indicated that this was not their first drink of the evening. Granted, Kohaku had accepted a glass or two of wine before he decided that getting drunk with his sister and her friend would probably end in some sort of conversation with them that he did not want to partake in. They were just too chatty for his tastes.

“I know I said this. I know!” Maiko put her hand on Dolly’s shoulder affectionately, “But I am so glad that you’re ‘ere.” The dog let out a soft grunting noise as he started to drift to sleep. “And ‘e feels the same way!” She motioned towards Maslow, as if the grunting noise was some sort of agreement.


“Tell me, ma chérie, how you are doing. Not just good. Non. ‘Good’ is not an emotion. ‘Fine’ isn’t an emotion either.” It was one of Maiko’s little known pet peeves-- she detested it when people refered to that question with a word that did not accurately describe how they were feeling or doing.

Curled on Maiko's couch, her over priced boots long ago pulled off and resting on the floor as she drained her glass of wine, Dolly felt more at home that she did most nights in her own house. There was something about affectionately teasing Kohaku, wrestling with a very large puppy, and cuddling with her old friend that made the hectic holiday season seem less like a chore and more like something a girl could really enjoy. It was no secret that Dolly was mostly estranged from her parents, there were obligatory things she had to partake in every year but there was no love loss between the lot of them. Her real family had always been the Wiedmans and now... well that was more complicated than ever. She had sent their packages, all except Dom's of course, and a note telling them she was utterly swamped with planning the New Year's Eve Gala. She hated making up excuses but she just couldn't go back there yet.

If Maiko hadn't insisted she come stay, Dolly would have probably spent the night writing and getting drunk on her own. She didn't want to be a Dower Debbie but the Holidays served to reminder her how fleeting and topical most of her relationships were. She didn't belong to people, no one belonged to her. She had been forced to accept on her birthday the very hard truth that just because two people were capable of deeply hurting one another over and over; it did not make them deeply connected soul bound star crossed lovers. It just meant they were really good at making one another unhappy.  It had taken her a very painful decade to realize that that wasn't how love was supposed to go, and some part of herself was still really angry that she'd let herself be so blind to it for so long. The other part of her still felt a sort of soul crushing grief that the life she'd made up in her head and spent so much time waiting for would never, actually, come to pass.

All of this made Maiko's question hard to answer. She didn't want to lie; mostly because the other woman would know, but also she didn't know exactly how to explain how it was she felt. She was trying to find her next move, the place where she could get her footing again. All of it seemed too serious to talk about now that they were onto their second bottle of wine and had a lovely fire going. "I thought we agreed if we're going to be spending time together you're not allowed to dig around in my brain," she shook her finger at the other woman before leaning over to drop a kiss on her temple, "Right now, this very second, I am content. Slightly drunk, endlessly amused that Kohaku still squirms and runs away when I hug him tight enough he can feel my tits, and glad to be with my very dearest darling Maiko. All things considered life is good Lovey, what about you"?

“And you know how hard it is for me to keep myself out of people’s brains.” She took a sip of her wine, “But yours is so interesting. You know ‘ow difficult it is for me to resist! You’re delightfully different! Digging around in your brain is so fun, and I feel less worried. You’re not too normal, and you know that normal people disturb me.” Mai leaned back and rested her head against Dolly’s shoulder. It was strange, thinking about where they were ten years ago, and where they were now. They both had their share of problems then—and as they grew up and issues were resolved, new ones came to take their place. It was never ending. It was life. It was messy, complicated, and beautiful in a way that was like to drive people mad.

  “Life is life.” She replied simply, closing her eyes. “Do you remember Garrett?” How could Dolly not? Garrett had been Maiko’s on again-off-again boyfriend, then fiancée, ever since they had left Hogwarts. “It’s funny. He ‘as a family now. A girlfriend and a kid? Or a kid on the way. A muggle, too. I’m ‘appy for him, but… Well, you know.” Dolly had been there, a solid support through all of that. Maiko had sent her a great deal of letters, keeping her updated on the situation. Garrett had not wanted children—not with her. He had issues with her being a witch, while he was a squib. His excuse had been that he wasn’t ready for a family. And here he was, with a family while Maiko felt so far behind. Now she knew, he probably couldn’t bear to have a magical family; he couldn’t bear to feel inferior.

“I do ‘ave you, and I ‘ave Kohaku.” Gaining custody of him at eighteen was not easy at all. He felt like he was her own, at times.  At others, he was simply her brother. “Everybody is at different places. Now my baby brother is at muggle university, studying biology. He wants to be a doctor. He’s teaching football to children, and I think he wants to teach the girl across the street how to drive an automobile.” Speaking of the girl across the street, she just so happened to be the sister of Aileen Reid. That had been awkward. Mai wasn’t sure she was ready to go blurt to the world that she was neighbors with Aileen, especially when it was such fresh news. She also wasn’t sure if Aileen wanted the world to know that Mai was her neighbor—it was taking some processing. She had chosen a muggle neighborhood for the sole purpose of Kohaku’s comfort, and in a way she felt like she had gone against his wishes. He seemed to be doing well with it, but it was still something she felt like she had to be careful about, at least until after term had started. 

Dolly wrapped her arm around the other woman, thoughtfully stroking her hair. She had never been particularly fond of Garrett; for starters he had a terrible name and secondly he was a squib. It wasn't that Dolly had anything against Squibs or Muggles, it wasn't a purist thing. It came down to how he treated Maiko. He was not always kind, as though he thought if he could make her feel terrible about herself the ways in which she far surpassed his worthiness would go unnoticed. Of course she wouldn't say anything like that to Mai, she knew what it was like to love someone and be left behind by them. She knew how hard it was to keep plucking along when it seemed like you were stuck and they were having a full and happy life. In Dolly's case she could take some twisted solace in the fact Dominik would never actually be happy.

"A pox on all his houses, he was such a grotty little wanker," alright so maybe the bottle of wine had loosened her jaw a little. "If they're not married then the poor baby is probably an accident. Garrett was never the most cautious or far thinking bloke in the mix. It's cliched and trite, but you're better off. I used to romanticize this idea that if life kept bringing you back to someone it meant that it was meant to be. I've since decided that if life keeps bringing you back to someone it's because you're being lazy and not meeting new people," she grinned a little leaning forward just enough to empty the second bottle into her glass before settling back. "You'll find the right person it just takes time - and even if you never do in between my many whirlwind marriages to various famous gadabouts I'll be here," she looked rather pleased with the idea.

Resting her head against the other woman's she grinned, "And then, when we're properly old and I decide serial marriage really is for idiots and women trying to amass vast fortunes we'll buy a lovely little house on the shore and be little blue hair'd biddies together who keep much younger men as gardeners," giggling she kissed Maiko's temple. It was a nice thought, the idea of having someone with her when she was old but it not having to be Dominik or any other man. She reckoned she could be happy with a life like that; it was certainly more appealing than ending up on her own rattling around the family villa and no one to share her extensive collection of wine with. Well, that probably wasn't true, there would always be Livi..."I think our lives would be much better if you spent less time thinking about exes and more time finding excuses to come into the city and see me on weekends".

She couldn’t help but smile at the insult. Grotty little wanker. Yes, he had been that and more-- but she wondered how much fatherhood would have changed him. The baby, Mai agreed, had probably been an accident. She hadn’t heard anything about the child being an unwanted accident, though. She hoped he was happy, but the fact that he had started a family so soon after telling Mai that he didn’t want one was like a slap to the face. Maiko was dealing with it in her own way, but having a friend to cuddle with and whine at was a great comfort to her. It wasn’t that Maiko had nothing and no one to lean on-- she had Dolly and her brother! Gale, she felt, had so much going on in his life that she would have felt like she was burdening him if she confided in him.

“I’m not meeting new people, really.” Maiko shrugged, “not anyone that I’m interested in pursuing a romantic relationship with. I don’t think I’m being lazy, but I’m picky. I don’t want a partner that doesn’t want the same things I want. I also want someone who is actually intelligent, and always willing to learn.” Someone who could take a joke, and put up with her bizarre behaviors. She wanted a relationship to be a slow, monogamous one. She was open to little flings in between something serious, but it was starting to grow tiresome.  “But at least I ‘ave a dog! And a house! And a Dolly!”

Dolly had a way of making Maiko feel appreciated, wanted, and liked. Now, she didn’t have an issue with her self esteem, but it did feel wonderful to have someone who Mai felt, cared about her. Someone that she could talk to, and trust was strong enough to handle her issues as well as their own. She and Dolly had always supported each other, and Dolly was there through some of the toughest parts of Mai’s life. There was no way the counselor could ever forget that.

“I will go visit you in the city!” Mai insisted, “But you need to come ‘ere more often too! Kohaku secretly enjoys it. Maslow loves you.” Mai shifted and got ready to stand up to get more wine, when Kohaku popped his head in.

“Are you done drinking yet?”

“Of course not!” Maiko replied. She gave her brother a suspicious look when he entered the room, put another unopened bottle of wine on the coffee table, and shuffled out.

“Was that odd?” She asked, giving the entrance to the kitchen a glare, “Do you think he is up to something?” Kohaku usually avoided them when they were drunk, or drinking! Never before had he brought them wine without complaining about it. What was he doing, or what did he do, that he didn’t want Maiko to find out?! Perhaps she was being paranoid, but a second opinion could certainly help.