Mai was all about physical activity whenever she could-- her favorite, of course, being dancing. With the Whine Cellar[1] open and offering classes, Mai jumped at any chance she could to get involved. They had dance classes, basic weight training classes, yoga, and of course-- zumba. She used the gym as regularly as she could with her work schedule, her personal life, and the schedule (and energy) that her body allowed. On days Mai didn't push herself too much, she felt an improvement later.

Now, one didn't go to zumba alone. Okay, they could-- but then they would look like those sad divorced mothers who went to zumba to find meaning in brightly colored gym gear and energetic music.

The Katz-Eleor home was the perfect place to gorge on cartons of icecream after a workout. It was cozy, it was warm, and the kitchen always, always smelled like cinnamon. She took a seat, though Mai felt weird finally being still-- instead of relief, it was as if she was supposed to keep moving. It'd wear off soon, she hoped.

"You only tripped three times!" Mai congratulated Akiva, failing to mention that she had fallen flat on her face two of those times. "That's better than last time." Last time Mai hadn't even bothered counting. What Kiv lacked in grace, she made up for in effort.

"Our butts are going to look so good." Ah, who was she kidding? Their asses were already perfect.

1.	A wizarding gym, owned and operated by muggleborns

Ice cream was not just an act of enjoyment, it was vital to the self-soothing she required after having fallen prey to Maiko’s persuasion once again.  The last time they’d done Zumba, Akiva had vowed she’d never do it again.  Now, here she was with more bruises on her knees and a definite need for ice cream.

Maiko tried to make it better, but it hardly helped that her lack of grace was limited to three occasions instead of the unaccountable amount from the previous excursion.  Rolling her eyes, she had to swallow her spoonful before she could sigh in exasperation.  “It would be hard to be worse than last time,” she informed Mai as she pointed the spoon at her friend. 

It took a quick dip back into the chocolate and laughed, “My bum will look absolutely the same,” Akiva nodded confidently before depositing the chocolate scoop into her mouth.  “I’m never going again,” she vowed, just like last time after she swallowed and put down the spoon and kicked out her feet under the table. 

Usually, at this point, Gabriel would screech or try to climb on something and halt any attempt at relaxing but thankfully, Kohaku had decided to offer them babysitting in exchange for feeding.  Akiva tended to feed him when his sister was busy anyway, so she wouldn’t mind doing it in exchange for him taking Gabriel to the park.  He could use a good tiring out. 

“Gabriel and I watched the episode where Flower has four pups!”[1] Akiva changed the subject, “And Carlos mated with Mozart after the apology,” she shook her head, “Could you believe it?” 

1.	”Boys Will be Boys

"Kiv, we need to have strong glutes." Mai said in all seriousness. "It's good for our knees." She took a bite of icecream, "My gluteous needs to be at its maximus potential." Her pun was clever, dammit!

Akiva claimed that she'd never go to zumba again. In this moment, she was adamant... But Mai knew she could wear her down. Akiva was by far the best zumba buddy-- she was sweet, funny, a mom. It didn't matter that she danced like a drunk, blind rhino with all the grace of a turnip (which was the least graceful root vegetable, by the way). Kiv didn't have the dance experience that Mai had, though she was the best supporter when it came to the dance competitions that Mai occasionally entered.

Mai gasped at the mention of the meerkats. She was obsessed with that show lately-- Kohaku had given both her and Kiv copies of the entire show. It was so beautiful, comedic... And tragic.

"Did that happen before or after the battle against the Lazulis?[1]" Mai took a bite of icecream, "Carlos is such a player."

1.	Childhood's End

Akiva rolled her eyes at Maiko’s pun.  It was the only suitable reaction.  They’d been through this before: a pun was not measured by how good it was, but rather how hard it made the audience roll their eyes.  Akiva was sure if she pushed just a little harder, she might have been able to see back into her brain.  The sign of a truly masterful pun. 

But at least they could stop talking about dancing and glutes and all of the things that Akiva was not good at in exchange for something they both enjoyed: the harrowing lives of a Meerkat family. 

Akiva had to admit, Kohaku was right – it might have edged close to a soap opera, but the family friendly content made it possible to have Gabriel in the room whilst it was on and he liked watching them run on screen.  It wasn’t something they watched constantly, Akiva was very conscious of his screen time, but everyone needed a break once and a while…

“The battle was before,” she remembered it well enough, “But I know,” she shook her head: “First Daisy, now Mozart.  Where does it stop?” she smirked and leaned against the counter again, going for another spoonful.  “The next episode… I just started it,” she explained, “but the Whiskers seem to be splitting up!” 

"What?!" Whiskers splitting up?! That couldn't be good. When meerkats split up, that was a recipe for disaster. What about the Lazuli? What about the other vicious meerkat gangs that only served to bring pain and misfortune on Flower and everybody she loved?! "I hope no one dies." Mai took a hasty bite of icecream, "I mean, Daisy's pregnant.... That'd be horrible." Even if it was with Carlos' spawn.

"I haven't started it yet, but I will tonight." If Kohaku wasn't using the TV to play Mass Effect or something.

She paused for a moment before blurting out something she'd been holding in for about a month.

"What would you do, hypothetically, if I was--hypothetically--" She had to make sure Kiv knew that this was a totally made up scenario, "Kind of, maybe. Making out with your brother in law? Consistently."  Mai couldn't bring herself to make eye contact, suddenly her spoon was the most fascinating thing in the world to look at. "It's totally made up. Fictional. Speculation, really."

 “I know!” Akiva breathed in response to Maiko’s surprised.  She hadn’t finished the episode, she couldn’t say anything about the outcome, but she worried about the same thing.  From the previous episodes, it appeared that splitting up could only lead to disaster – and with pups?  Akiva couldn’t even imagine.  It had been so difficult to turn off the tele when Gabriel’s screentime was up.  Gabriel wasn’t here today, “I’d happily start it over,” Akiva chirped, “if we get to it.”

That was true, she totally would. Akiva was the type of person who stuck to what she liked: she didn’t usually branch out so when she did like a show or a serial, she was far more likely to listen or watch repeatedly.  At least she knew she would like it. 

That wasn’t going to happen right away though. 

Akiva raised her eyebrows.  Whenever Maiko said anything was hypothetical, her view shifted immediately.  She squinted her eyes trying to get eye contact while still listening: making out with her brother-in-law (Adon, her brain supplied) consistently.  Of course, Akiva knew when Mailo lied – it didn’t take a mad scientist, and honestly, she’d be a horrible mum-to-a-future-teenager in training if she couldn’t.

So, she did what her mum did.  Stared.  A long, unmoving, wordless stare.   

It would come.  She just had to wait. 

She was staring at her. Mai could feel Akiva staring at her. Now, normally she was good at out-silencing people... But Kiv's abilities surpassed her own.

"It's hypothetical!" Maiko insisted, setting the spoon down and crossing her arms over her chest. The eye contact she made was brief. She knew that Kiv knew that it was a lie. Why couldn't she have the common decency to pretend to believe it for one second. Was that too much to ask?

Akiva knew better. 

Her expression did not change as Maiko slammed down her spoon and crossed her arms like a petulant child.  Now, Gabriel wasn’t quite at tantrum level yet, but he had defiant enough. 

She knew what was going on here. 

“Well, if it’s hypothetical, it hardly matters what I think,” Akiva dismissed the query by dipping her spoon back into the carton.  Maiko could be as standoffish as she liked, Akiva would happily continue to dig into the chocolate ice cream.  “Unless, of course, you’re saying so for a reason,” she put it out there casually before putting the ice cream in her mouth.  It was time to wait again.   

Akiva was in full mom mode. Thanks, Gabriel. No wait. There was a reason Gabriel existed. Thanks Dree. Clearly, it was all their fault.

"Fine." She finally replied, trying to sound more irritated than she actually was. "You are horrible, you know that right?" Her serious, stern expression broke--not even Mai could accuse Akiva of evil with a straight face. She picked her spoon back up, but didn't help herself to the carton yet.

Mai took a slow breath, "It's not hypothetical, then." Goodbye, pride. It was nice knowing you.

“Just practicing,” Akiva smirked, triumphant.  This was a huge win.  If she could make an adult crack that meant Gabriel didn’t even have a chance.  Considering she was almost constantly panicking about how she was going to inevitably mess up his life, any practice she could have on being effective with other people was just another way to delay her destroying Gabriel’s life.

It wasn’t about her son right now though. 

This was about Maiko and her apparently tongue kissing with Adon.  Akiva laid her spoon down as she finally admitted it was not a hypothetical situation.  A sudden memory of a conversation with Dreogan from months ago flitted through her memory.  He’d be happy to hear this, not that she would.  Unless Maiko told her to.  Then she wouldn’t refuse.

But, there were more important things to deal with first: “Details,” she stated matter-of-factly, “I can’t form an opinion without the details.” 

Details? What kind of details did Akiva want?! Usually she was begging her not to give her details. Now, suddenly details mattered. Of course, now that Kiv actually wanted to know, Mai's mind drew a blank. She stared.

"Well..." She shrugged, "He smells good." That was a start. "And, it started about a month ago? Late January. Then hell month happened." The last week of January and the entirety of February was a complete disaster. Between constant visions, the students getting kidnapped, and her own personal bullshit that she had to deal with, there wasn't exactly time for a social life. Any interaction she'd had with Adon wasn't exactly substantial. If she had been busy at work, he was twice as busy. After all, the students had been in the ministry the entire time.

This year was trying on everybody, especially the aurors who were responsible for damage control and capturing the criminals behind everything. Every month, some new disaster came up like clockwork.

"We were hanging out. Cooking." Mai managed a small smile, "We took selfies-- he hijacked my phone." Kiv and Dree had been among the few who had received them. Mai noticed that later. Kohaku had gotten offended that Adon was the 'new favorite.' "Um." Goddammit, why was this so hard to talk about? "And, uh. You know." No, Akiva did not know.

It wasn’t so much the physical details that Akiva was interested in finding out about Maiko and Adon’s encounter.  It was more about how and when it had happened, what they were doing, were they dating?  Did they go out?  These were all very real questions.  She knew Adon’s taste in women and Dree had always voiced concern about the desire for a challenge over comfort from his little brother.  Now, that did not mean Maiko wasn’t a challenge – she had her own things to work out, clearly, and Akiva had listened patiently through every one of those stories too – but it wasn’t the same. 

So it’d been about a month – the month with all of the Hogwarts kidnappings (absolutely dreadful), but that put up a little red flag in her mind.  Both of them were stressed.  Was this just a stress release thing? Was that possible with either of them?

Adon liked to pretend he was as womanizing as his charm would allow him to be, but really, he wasn’t the sort to just… and Maiko certainly didn’t really carry on things for a month.  She pursed her lips and mulled a spoonful of ice cream in her mouth thoughtfully.  “I remember those,” she noted about the selfies, she hadn’t thought anything of it at the time. 

It was clear Mai was having a hard time describing what she meant though and Akiva sighed, pushing herself up.  “Are you happy with how things are going?” she asked hopefully, since that was a major key in forming her opinion on it, “And outside of smelling good, he’s respectful? Kind?”  She sounded just like her mother.   

There's language, yo. Probably from here on out because of Mai's lack of a filter.

---

"I think I am?" The fact she phrased it like a question was probably not a great sign for Akiva-- but she was already asking more questions. Was Adon respectful and kind?

Mai's immediate reaction was to let out a bark of laughter. "Aw, Kiv. You're so sweet." Seriously, if that was how she responded when Gabriel was old enough to date, he would do fine. "Yes. I mean, I like spending time with him. He makes me laugh. He's sweet, good at cuddling... A good listener, affectionate." The list went on, really. It was time to wrap this up. Akiva knew Adon, she knew what he was like. "He doesn't bullshit." For a moment, her eyes widened-- there was a small child prese-- wait. No. Gabriel was with Kohaku, whose language was generally much more appropriate for the ears of a toddler.

"And by 'he doesn't bullshit,' I mean that... Adon's genuine. And it makes it easy for me to be around him. I don't have to try or pretend like he's funny when he's not. But." Mai let out a dramatic groan, "That's terrifying. He's important, so when I fuck things up, it'll be a bigger deal."

Akiva wasn’t surprised by what Maiko was saying.  Adon, for all of his enthusiastic (and sometimes rageful) arm waving and yelling, was a great person.  He cared deeply about the people he loved – sometimes overwhelmingly so.  So, hearing Maiko say these things, it was at least reassuring that she seemed to know an authentic Adon.

Though, that was not surprising… Maiko was right, he was genuine.  So was Maiko, actually.  It was one of the things Akiva liked the most about her, the lack of pretense.  But, then her voice changed and she sounded dramatic and Akiva raised both of her eyebrows in disbelief. 

“What do you mean when?” Akiva pushed her.  It wasn’t quite time for the ‘don’t be ridiculous you don’t know that yet’ speech because Maiko was still looking emotionally constipated and needed to say more.  Akiva also needed to hear more in order to form the bulk of the speech she would inevitably be giving before this ice cream was gone. 

"It's what I do!" Mai insisted, "I get involved, then I..." She waved her hands vaguely, "Implode." To be fair, the last few people she had legitimately dated weren't really great people. As much as Mai cared about Darian, Dolly, and the others, it had been somewhat toxic due to where they had been in life. Exhausting. It wasn't a matter of not wanting to put in the work, it was a matter of the work she was putting in not being reciprocated. She cared about them, yes-- Mai wasn't the kind of person who stopped caring.

When actual feelings mixed with trust were involved, it made breaking off whatever-it-was more messy difficult and painful. There was a certain vulnerability that came with it. Mai was not someone who did well sitting in vulnerability. There were close friends she could be vulnerable with, but those relationships had taken time and some level of faith to get there.

"I, I overthink. I end up, bleeeeeeeeh." She took a scoop of icecream with far more force than necessary, "And it's so much work and I don't want to be the only one, trying. But I don't want to force it. I don't want to make it weird." Mai took her bite, "It's easy, being around him. It's fun. I don't have to fake shit." Not that she normally did, "I don't want to fuck it up. But I probably will." Mai was being annoying and vague and she knew it.