Ama and Aditya
Ama made a face as she held up a pair of shiny boxers with little hearts on them. "Dude, Aya. These are the gag gift I gave you when you went away to college."
"So?" he asked her from where he was hefting books into boxes.
"You took the slow track through college so it was six years ago. We're moving into a tiny apartment. Don't you think it's time to part with them?" They'd been doing this all morning. Ama's things were condensed into one carload of stuff. Aditya, on the other hand, was having trouble getting it down to a U-Haul's worth of stuff.
"Come on, they were a gift!" he protested. "They're fun."
Ama sighed and set another thing on top of the stack she'd mentally dubbed The Eternal Journal of Random Crap. If she didn't say she loved Aditya, this was sure as hell proof.
*~*
Ama whistled and called, "Cal!" as she walked to the car, opening up the back hatch in time for a huge dog to jump in, tail wagging enthusiastically.
She gave him a fond pat and shut the door, climbing in the front. As she started the car, Aditya came rushing out of the front door, slamming it shut behind him. "Since when do you jog?" she asked in amusement.
"Since I've started having to bite my tongue at work. Besides, I hear hot chicks jog at this park," he replied lightly.
"Suck up. I suppose I'll go slow for you." She grinned.
"Oooh, I'm touched."
"Only for one day, though. Can't have your dog outrunning you." She winked at him, and it wasn't as reassuring as it could have been.
*~*
Aditya picked up the phone with his toes and dropped it on the counter picking up the call he picked it up. As he'd guessed, it was Ama on the line.
He patiently listened to her babble for a few minutes, but when she was only speeding up, he interrupted her. "Babe, can you have this freakout on speakerphone? The coffeepot's rebelling and about to spew cappuchino every where." He flipped it on speakerphone in the moment of stunned silence.
"Well get Dad to fix it. But seriously, Aya, seriously I don't know which to go to! The only exam slot's on the same day as graduation!"
Aditya paused. "So? You still graduate even if you don't walk," he replied in the tone of voice, 'so what's the problem?'
"But GRADUATION!"
"Look, do you want the black belt or not? Your PhD's valid no matter what, but you have to take the test to get the belt." He banged on the top of the coffee maker, trying to get it open so he could get the water out. Like most appliances that had spent time in Ama's parents' house, the coffeemaker had more character than most. Aditya was sure they had a teenager as a coffeemaker.
He sighed at the unhappy silence. "Look, Ama. They still give you your fancy tassels saying you're smarter than the rest of us. They can join the collection. Take the damned test so Imsre will stop badgering the rest of us."
"...fine. I'm only doing this for Cal, though," she protested, and Aditya knew he was in the doghouse. Hopefully the movie and dinner tonight would distract her enough she'd forget, otherwise he was in for an awkward couple of days.
"And I'm sure Cal appreciates it," he replied lightly. For no apparent reason, the coffeemaker decided it had had enough and started dripping well brewed coffee. Mmm, coffee. He patted it on the lid and smiled. "Come home soon," he added to Ama.
He could hear her smile. "Will do."
*~*
Ama was eternally amused by their webcam conversations. Namely because, thanks to the nine hour difference, one of them was always slaphappy. Her, because she always got up at five am, so two am was a killer for conversations, and Aditya because he tended to pull all nighters around finals and midterms. She'd seen some of his essay responses, and they were hilarious. Completely factual, but hilarious none the less.
It was midterms of his second semester abroad, and they were studying together. Or at least in the same vicinity on the internet as she worked on her thesis. "So I was looking at housing today, and I found a cute little place that'll be open about the right time for us to move in. Oh, and a cookbook that I should actually get some use out of."
"Wow," he replied, tone somewhat absent as he conjugated pages of verbs. "You're on top of this thing."
Ama decided to see what she could get him to say on recording to mercilessly tease him about later. "Yeah, well, Mom always said I'd be a great wife someday."
"Huh," Aditya replied, brow furrowed as he figured out the conjugation for falloir. "That's funny. So did mine."
Ama snickered. "Oh really." She grinned, scribbling out more equations as she watched Aditya frown as his brain caught up with his mouth.
"...did I really just say that?" he finally asked.
She nodded.
"And you're recording, aren't you."
She nodded again, grinning mischeiviously.
"Damn. I'll pay more attention in future?"
"You'd better. If you do, I won't give this to Shane and the girls."
Aditya went white. "You wouldn't."
Ama just grinned.
*~*
"Oh, for pity's sake Aya, suck it up. They're chicken wings and I'm not asking you to eat them, so could you stop going on about me cannibalizing your ancestors already?"
"But they're chicken," he protested, looking green."
Ama paused. "No. No they're not," she informed him, changing tactics.
"You just said they were."
"Well, I was misinformed. I have since read the sign and these are not chicken, they are buffalo wings." She nodded the nod of someone who logic isn't going to touch.
"Those are chicken," he protested louder.
"Hush. And I'm enjoying eating chicken as much as I enjoy eating phoenix. Now eat your freaky vegetarian pizza, and I'll make it up to you later," she informed him.
*~*
"So?" he asked her from where he was hefting books into boxes.
"You took the slow track through college so it was six years ago. We're moving into a tiny apartment. Don't you think it's time to part with them?" They'd been doing this all morning. Ama's things were condensed into one carload of stuff. Aditya, on the other hand, was having trouble getting it down to a U-Haul's worth of stuff.
"Come on, they were a gift!" he protested. "They're fun."
Ama sighed and set another thing on top of the stack she'd mentally dubbed The Eternal Journal of Random Crap. If she didn't say she loved Aditya, this was sure as hell proof.
*~*
Ama whistled and called, "Cal!" as she walked to the car, opening up the back hatch in time for a huge dog to jump in, tail wagging enthusiastically.
She gave him a fond pat and shut the door, climbing in the front. As she started the car, Aditya came rushing out of the front door, slamming it shut behind him. "Since when do you jog?" she asked in amusement.
"Since I've started having to bite my tongue at work. Besides, I hear hot chicks jog at this park," he replied lightly.
"Suck up. I suppose I'll go slow for you." She grinned.
"Oooh, I'm touched."
"Only for one day, though. Can't have your dog outrunning you." She winked at him, and it wasn't as reassuring as it could have been.
*~*
Aditya picked up the phone with his toes and dropped it on the counter picking up the call he picked it up. As he'd guessed, it was Ama on the line.
He patiently listened to her babble for a few minutes, but when she was only speeding up, he interrupted her. "Babe, can you have this freakout on speakerphone? The coffeepot's rebelling and about to spew cappuchino every where." He flipped it on speakerphone in the moment of stunned silence.
"Well get Dad to fix it. But seriously, Aya, seriously I don't know which to go to! The only exam slot's on the same day as graduation!"
Aditya paused. "So? You still graduate even if you don't walk," he replied in the tone of voice, 'so what's the problem?'
"But GRADUATION!"
"Look, do you want the black belt or not? Your PhD's valid no matter what, but you have to take the test to get the belt." He banged on the top of the coffee maker, trying to get it open so he could get the water out. Like most appliances that had spent time in Ama's parents' house, the coffeemaker had more character than most. Aditya was sure they had a teenager as a coffeemaker.
He sighed at the unhappy silence. "Look, Ama. They still give you your fancy tassels saying you're smarter than the rest of us. They can join the collection. Take the damned test so Imsre will stop badgering the rest of us."
"...fine. I'm only doing this for Cal, though," she protested, and Aditya knew he was in the doghouse. Hopefully the movie and dinner tonight would distract her enough she'd forget, otherwise he was in for an awkward couple of days.
"And I'm sure Cal appreciates it," he replied lightly. For no apparent reason, the coffeemaker decided it had had enough and started dripping well brewed coffee. Mmm, coffee. He patted it on the lid and smiled. "Come home soon," he added to Ama.
He could hear her smile. "Will do."
*~*
Ama was eternally amused by their webcam conversations. Namely because, thanks to the nine hour difference, one of them was always slaphappy. Her, because she always got up at five am, so two am was a killer for conversations, and Aditya because he tended to pull all nighters around finals and midterms. She'd seen some of his essay responses, and they were hilarious. Completely factual, but hilarious none the less.
It was midterms of his second semester abroad, and they were studying together. Or at least in the same vicinity on the internet as she worked on her thesis. "So I was looking at housing today, and I found a cute little place that'll be open about the right time for us to move in. Oh, and a cookbook that I should actually get some use out of."
"Wow," he replied, tone somewhat absent as he conjugated pages of verbs. "You're on top of this thing."
Ama decided to see what she could get him to say on recording to mercilessly tease him about later. "Yeah, well, Mom always said I'd be a great wife someday."
"Huh," Aditya replied, brow furrowed as he figured out the conjugation for falloir. "That's funny. So did mine."
Ama snickered. "Oh really." She grinned, scribbling out more equations as she watched Aditya frown as his brain caught up with his mouth.
"...did I really just say that?" he finally asked.
She nodded.
"And you're recording, aren't you."
She nodded again, grinning mischeiviously.
"Damn. I'll pay more attention in future?"
"You'd better. If you do, I won't give this to Shane and the girls."
Aditya went white. "You wouldn't."
Ama just grinned.
*~*
"Oh, for pity's sake Aya, suck it up. They're chicken wings and I'm not asking you to eat them, so could you stop going on about me cannibalizing your ancestors already?"
"But they're chicken," he protested, looking green."
Ama paused. "No. No they're not," she informed him, changing tactics.
"You just said they were."
"Well, I was misinformed. I have since read the sign and these are not chicken, they are buffalo wings." She nodded the nod of someone who logic isn't going to touch.
"Those are chicken," he protested louder.
"Hush. And I'm enjoying eating chicken as much as I enjoy eating phoenix. Now eat your freaky vegetarian pizza, and I'll make it up to you later," she informed him.
*~*