2026-07-09: Patronising the Arts - Nursery
- Log: Patronising the Arts - Nursery
- Cast: Yua Ijuuin, Miho Ijuuin, Tyrrha Ijuuin, Masao Inaba
- Where: Aoba - Penthouse
- OOC Date: 2026-07-09
- IC Date: Fri Dec 07 2012
- Summary: Miho and Yua commissioned Masao to paint Hiroki's nursery, and he's been getting some insight into the Ijuuins, in the process.
<Pose Tracker> Yua Ijuuin has posed.
Yua and Miho have been preparing Hiroki's nursery... in Miho's house, rather than Kimitake's house, for some mysterious reason.
That's the reason why they've had to be a little choosy with the help they're invoking for it... but Yua found a man in their list of contacts who wasn't likely to go to the press about the discrepancy. Now, does she believe in his moral standing because his terrifying might has clashed against the bars of Gretchen's cage--?
Don't worry about that. Yua doesn't feel like she has any Resonance at all. Miho, meeting him to arrange things without her roommate(?), may well have -- but Yua? Yua is cute and innocent!
Emphasis on the 'cute'. She has a vision for the nursery -- a brilliant Okinawan sea-scape. With crabs! And seagulls! And spider conches! (Those aren't spiders, one notes, but sea shells. They're lucky back home!)
And after some effort... perhaps, finally, Mark's great work is done. A canvas of four walls... what great art has he made manifest, here?
'Here', one notes, is a location of magnificent wealth -- the topmost penthouse of Pyramid Plaza, equivalent to a six bedroom home. If they were normal people, they might even consider converting the studies and gym into more living space! Even with four of those bedrooms partitioned off for the family, though, they still have guest rooms free... people who have an entire wall in their loungeroom dedicated to medals and trophies, up to and including Olympian Gold, apparently don't want much for practical affairs. There was a private elevator to get up here... and there's a whole garden on an expansive balcony outside...
... and an absolutely MASSIVE orange Norwegian Forest Cat, who pads out with utter confidence to investigate the room, seeing humans called to witness it.
<Pose Tracker> Miho Ijuuin has posed.
Miho Ijuuin cuts an intimidating figure to many, but she has never (in this guise) tried to push Mark around. This Olympian respects artists. She reached out to Mark when they were in need of an artist at Yua's advice, and...
Miho is not cute, as a rule. She is a very tall woman in a suit, and it's not a mens' suit--she is at once dashing and handsome, but also, if you like statues, lovely. Her green hair is a little longer than it once was, long enough now that it actually goes about her ears--but still very short by a woman's standards, cleanly kept.
Miho is here, though she has not yet knelt to tend to her beautiful, huge cat, because...
She is waiting to see Mark's work!!
<Pose Tracker> Masao Inaba has posed.
Masao Inaba's been absorbed into the daily grind of life, as of late. Such as it is, that's just how life goes. Life has also been full of some surprise curveballs like 'an expensive mechanical failure at the family dry cleaners' and when there's a job offer from someone in one of the very nicest parts of Sumaru City for painting a nursery...
Asking for him, specifically, at that! The client already had a clear idea of what they wanted, and how, and... let's just sum it up: basically a dream commission! Almost too good to be true.
It has to be true because the aforementioned expensive mechanical failure is just that, and maybe after this his folks might get off his back a little about the artist thing. A bit. For maybe a week. (He loves them, still.)
The clear vision of the client made his work a little more stringent, but he can't deny that he's been 'in the zone' every time he's here. It's sort of felt like the both of them kind of sneak up on him when they want to talk, like for all the world he doesn't notice they're fully there while he's been painting.
(Miho is also a bit imposing and intimidating just by being. These are clearly extraordinarily well-off people and he is really making sure he's bringing his SSS+ game here.)
He is an artist, so that tracks. He doesn't think much of that for now, as he steps back. It'll be a short while before they can pull off the painter's tape and drop cloths, and they need to keep the space as well-ventilated as possible - but that rhythm's been well established.
"All right, finishing touches're up - mind the fumes, hey," this is for Yua's well-being as a mother-to-be! He's wearing a respirator and hasn't pulled it off his face yet, but his eyes are clearly smiling. Especially when he's watching the Norwegian Forest Cat, making sure they don't cause any last minute havoc.
<Pose Tracker> Yua Ijuuin has posed.
Yua is cute enough for both of them! She's five foot nothing of bubbly energy, wearing, habitually, a black leotard and dancer's skirt -- though one with long sleeves and black tights, now. It is winter, so that's not so strange...! Her teal hair is very long, but of course, it's always been neatly tucked away into a bun atop her head when Mark's visited. Something's happened to her left eye, with a black eyepatch latched firmly over it, and there's a strange black decoration at the back of her right hand, a triangle of fabric stretching from a ring around her middle finger to a bracelet. And, of course... there's her wedding ring, on her left hand.
That's fine.
Yua has complete faith in Miho's patronage of the arts, of course -- particularly when she hears about some of those problems he's been having, midway through the painting process, and puts in a good word with her definitely-not-her-wife about how good it's turning out to be. Is Yua trying to get Masao a bonus? Yua is trying to get Masao a bonus.
(And once Yua was sure Masao appreciated her vision, she was open to him suggesting more features which fit the theme...)
This is, of course, on top of the other bonus he finds as he works, one which Yua is, conversely, in compete control of: she spends a good amount of time doing housewife things, and especially over November, when she took a month off of work to acclimatise a young cousin she adopted. What does that mean? That means Masao got baked goods.
Somehow, she seems to appreciate the pressure he's under coming to such a well-off penthouse...
And if she's seemed a little sad, occasionally, it's probably just because of what that dark-skinned girl with green hair told Mark about why she's come here and started calling them Yumama and Mimama. There was an accident, you see. Her parents died. How terrible... they must have been close.
That girl, as it happens, is Tyrrha -- a girl in a white sailor's dress who scoops up the massive Tiger as if he weighed nothing instead of several heavy pounds. "Uh-uh!" She chirps, brightly, though her expression remains terrifying. (This girl has the world's worst case of resting bitch face...) "No pawsies, Tiger! You're not the artist!!"
Yua took a moment longer -- because she had to put on a mask! (Tyrrha, strangely, wears none. Perhaps it's the resilience of the youth... she doesn't look like the fumes are bothering her.) "Hauuuuuuu...!!!" She gasps, as she steps inside. "Mimi, Mimi, look! Look, look! The sun is smiling, Mimi!! And look at those happy crabs!!!" Her hands wave, merrily, at her shoulders. "Eee, it's so good!!"
<Pose Tracker> Miho Ijuuin has posed.
Here is the exception to Miho's lack of cuteness: she's cute specifically with Yua. Yua's energy is often met by Miho's warm and caring demeanor, and if Miho is intimidating, she's perhaps least intimidating dealing with the woman who is totally not her wife. They must be really good friends!
That siad, Miho is aware of the effect she has on people, even if she doesn't particularly try to change it. But she has offered compliments along the way, and every support that Mark has requested has been given.
Mark's almost certainly getting that bonus, and more. Miho is generous to those she patrons... though not excessively so. You don't stay rich by spending all your money. Regardless, it'll certainly help the situation financially.
Miho, unlike Tyrrha, is wearing a respirator as well. She takes care of herself in this way. "Good," Miho says to Tyrrha, and reaches out to scritch her giant cat's face.
Happy crabs, smiling sun... "The waves really draw the eye," she comments as well. "This is beautiful, Inaba-san."
She actually smiles. "Hiroki will have a wonderful environment..."
<Pose Tracker> Masao Inaba has posed.
The baked good are appreciated and wonderful. And he knows if he tells his mother about that, oh boy. She might get a little helicoptery again and make him even more like when he was a little kid... and then a less little kid... and then, uh, a medium-sized kid. And so forth. (Is that a bad thing? ...As a somewhat more responsible grown-up, yeah, he shouldn't be pigging out on junk food.)
Tyrrha appears to prevent the cat - Tiger - from causing a hilarious(ly expensive) ruckus with another burst of youthful recklessness and vigor. This is probably not the first time Mark here has witnessed something like this.
"Whew, nice catch, thanks," hopefully she's not holding that cat too tight. Children don't always know how to be gentle! Still no mask, but... he's not the parent. Instead, he smiles (under the respirator) over her enthusiasm for the images on the walls.
"Hehe, yeah. They're all happy! They can't wait to meet your new sibling," he goes along with it. Why shouldn't he be smiling? Putting aside how much his family could use the money right now, it's a job he's proud of!
To hear Miho's praise - she was supportive throughout with the handful of things he requested, though it felt more like a 'professional to patron' thing - is a huge relief that maybe the mind's eye of an artist isn't seeing the wrong things here!
"Yeah... fun, and warm, but still soft and gentle." He places a hand on his hip. He's got an apron on, his gloves aren't completely dry, it's fine. "I think he'll enjoy growing up in here. Haha, I probably would've."
He exhales, takes another good look at it all...
Still feels like he's kind of numb, like the rest of the world's sort of... quiet? He knows his respirator and its seal is good, so it's not that. Just getting all that weight off his shoulders? Maybe? Job well done, they're happy, mother-to-be is excited and the very energetic, carefree, (and maybe kind of careless) young girl seems happy with the people looking over her now. (Well, her face is kind of scary, but...)
"I'll take another look once I get all the tape off and get all the drop cloth," he says, "also, in case you want to add a li'l something more, I got plenty enough supplies left over..."
<Pose Tracker> Yua Ijuuin has posed.
Opposites attract! In friendship, and nothing else. Yua has a husband. And Miho is seeing a man of her own! Nothing's more heteronormative than that.
Uh-- heterosexual. Nothing's more heterosexual than that.
(Phew...)
Yua has no idea how to stay rich, but, of course, that's why Miho handles the finances. Luckily, even if she's a moderating force, it looks like Mark will still get a good bonus...!
Yua would, of course, assure Masao that home-baked goods are healthier! Is that really true, though? She says it so confidently...
Luckily, Tyrrha has a specific subroutine for gentle cat handling. (She set it up after Miho scolded her for pulling his tail.) That massive big boi pools in her arms, confidently exposing his belly, knowing that he is mighty enough to defeat anyone who would dare to touch it without proving themselves worthy.
(And only Miho is worthy... not even Yua would dare to rub the belly. Perhaps in five more years, she'll prove herself...)
"Yeah! Me too, man! I've never had a little brother before! Don't worry, I won't bite him!" WAS -- WAS THAT A CONCERN??? Tyrrha grins, cheerfully, as if she's being reassuring. She does make wild statements like that all the time, though -- Yua says she has a big imagination.
"Hee hee... that's right! Ah, but Tiger's got itty-bitty lungs, Tykko," Yua points out, to Tyrrha, rather than saying anything about her lungs. (Maybe it's a HIGH-LEVEL PARENTING TECHNIQUE -- getting the teenager to think about their mortality without directly pointing it out!) "Why don't you take him back to the gym, ucha?" Cookie, in Okinawan.
The gym, of course, on top of having a bunch of equipment for humans... also has a cat tree and shelving installed to give Tiger an exciting climbing wall tucked into the side! It's a gym for cats, too!
(They're not quite rich enough to have an entire separate room for their cat's gym... but who would have something like that? Maybe the kinds of people who'd keep a literal tiger...)
"Sure, sure!" Tyrrha grins, shifting her grip so that she can wag one of Tiger's forepaws, like he's waving. "Tiger says it looks great, Mister Inaba-san! Have fun with ya Edo party!"
She runs off, not explaining that at all... and Yua giggles, fingers veiling that respirator across her face. "Ahh, Tykko, it's not always about that sort of thing..." And what's that sort of thing? Well, Miho knows more about that...
Perhaps it factored into their decision. They do seem quite traditional, in that way.
"Ah, and these colours are so lovely... I'm sure they'll calm him down, even when everything's so much," Yua smiles, as she looks over Mark's works. "It's all come out so good... ahhh, now I want to get you to paint our mobile, too! I just need to pick out the shapes first... there's gotta be a whale, and the sun and the moon, and a crab...!"
<Pose Tracker> Miho Ijuuin has posed.
Tomoki's been here now and again, during Mark's work. He's complimented the progress, and assuredly Mark's seen him and Miho kiss at least once! They're very heterosexual. Nevermind that he's only over 'sometimes' and Miho mostly lives with Yua.
Miho was definitely very careful in teaching Tyrrha to interact with Tiger.
Miho is always a little distant--she is not the sort of woman who makes friends easily. But that distance of professionalism is for her a sign of respect for Mark, rather than a lack of regard. And indeed she does like it.
"I would have as well," Miho agrees. "Thank you, Inaba-san, for your hard work. I look forward to seeing any final details."
Miho will rub the belly later, meanwhile. Even she doesn't do it too often--that's why she's trusted!
"You certainly will not," Miho says of biting. "So we are not worried." "We'll see you both soon," Miho agrees with Yua about Tyrrha taking Tiger out. It's nice! It's pleasant! and an Edo party, well...
Miho laughs softly. "It's true that your name drew my attention, as well. They served Tokugawa, and claimed descent from Emperor Kanmu..."
"Though I do not assume that you are of the direct line," Miho says, so as not to pressure Masao.
"If you're interested in a second job, Inaba-san," Miho says, "Then I think that's a fine idea. Though i'm aware that nursery walls are not the typical walls you'd paint..."
Oh, did she check up on him?
<Pose Tracker> Masao Inaba has posed.
"Uh, yeah, that's... I wouldn't bite a sibling either," Masao can only kind of just accept those are earnest words of a small child he's heard. He's an only child, and the opportunity to be met with the moral conundrum of whether to bite a newborn sibling is beyond him. (He doesn't think he'd be missing out on much there, honestly.)
Still, Tyrrha gives her playful little goodbye, and Masao waves a little hand. Weird kid. Not a bad one, but... (there's a lot of 'but...' lately).
"Y'want me to do that too, huh," he says, following along with the mother-to-be's fugue state about the kind of place her newborn will be safely growing up in. There's a smile under the respirator again. "We can work somethin' out later, sure, once... ah, y'know." They all know. It's 'done' as-is, but it's pending any other last finishing touches or changes they might want. Or if there's a problem. (He is very certain there isn't a problem. He robbed himself of a few nights of sleep going over a professional house painter's guide for any sign of structural damages or problems that could arise.)
The 'Edo party' thing comes up. It feels vaguely familiar, like it was an old high school lesson thing he was half-awake for. Was it that? Or...
Miho shares that whole detail. The clan that served Tokugawa, claimed descent from Emperor Kanmu...
"Heh, to be honest with you... I dunno about that," he shakes his head. "My old man was clear that the family's business was in dry cleaning, and whatever came before... today, I'm an artist." Fun as it would be to imagine, he's lived his life living that truth as part of a promise to a very good friend when they all graduated from high school.
If Emperor Kanmu was one of his ancestors, well, that Emperor is just going to have to deal. His era is long ended.
As Miho segues into talking about a second job, and whether it's his typical kind of thing...
"I mean, you're right, I'm more of a street artist. Murals, works, that sorta thing," he says. "But... this was fun to put together." Also, he really really really needed the money! But it was fun.
Still...
"New Year's is comin' up soon," he says, "I'm gonna hafta hustle to get somethin' done for that before long, uh," he realizes now there are two time-sensitive things at play here. The mother-to-be here could be expecting before then.
"If you don't mind me askin', uh, when's the baby due?"
<Pose Tracker> Yua Ijuuin has posed.
They say it's because Yua's husband is very busy with his work as an Inspector at the Sumaru Police Department -- so Miho is helping to support her pregnant cousin, just as she offered help to her best friend given her fragile health before Yua married into the family. Yua's mother, as she explained once, moved back to Okinawa a few years ago, and her father is busy with his JSDF work -- so while the usual trick is for a pregnant woman to move in with her parents for support, they've had to adapt things a little to let Yua stay in Tokyo.
And yet, there's been no mention of a nursery at his house...
It's fine.
Yua and Miho are opposites in distance and warmth, too. Because Yua happily calls him 'Masao-san', or even, if he expressed a preference, Mark-san. It doesn't seem like disrespect from her, though -- she's a very warm, personable sort of woman.
"I was surprised when Mimi told me your family was like that, too!" Yua exclaims, looking from Mark to Miho. "Ahhh... but it's 'lost to history', is it? I wonder how many people are walking around this very day, just like that... well, I think a legacy of dry cleaning is still super cool!" She says 'super cool' in English, for emphasis. It's actually quite good English, too. "Having a family business is really important...! My father's father was a fisherman, too, and so was his father...! He did have to join the defence force, when he lost his boat, but before then... they all did it! Hmmm, that's also kind of like you, huh?" Yua wonders, canting her head. "Since you've devoted yourself to your art instead...! Oh, or are you still going to carry on the business, too?"
She smiles, brightly, as she says: "Oh, oh, we saw your art by Aoba Park! Mimi and Tykko and I all ventured out to see! I thought the way you used the bricks as part of it all was really neat...! Public art is so democratic... I really like how it's displayed for everyone as they're walking past! Don't worry," she adds, hands clapping together, "I believe you always had permission to draw on the walls, one hundred percent!!"
Oh, right... she's a policeman's wife... but she didn't see nothin', so it's fine! Don't even worry about it!!
"Ah, but you must be very much in demand--!" She realises, with a gasp. "Please don't worry at all, okay? I'm only twenty-three weeks... we're not expecting Hiroki until March! Mooou, unless he decides to come in early," Yua adds, with a ghost of a frown, before she smiles again. "... but don't worry! I'm doing everything I can to manage my stress and keep myself healthy! I'm super determined to at least get him to twenty-eight weeks... and that'll be in January, so there's no worries about the New Year! Or even the Chinese New Year, if I have anything to say about it!"
<Pose Tracker> Miho Ijuuin has posed.
Miho leaves it up to wondering whether she's ever bitten a sibling. One assumes not, but you never know. She has two!
"Yes," Miho agreees to Mark's terms of 'later', "That is acceptable." They do all know. It's done, but there may be last touches... It's fine.
But Mark mentions his own family, and Miho nods in approval. "While my family traces descent into history... it is well, to focus on what you know to be true, on your recent lineage." After all--'Inaba' could mean his ancestor was part of the clan, or a ervant of the clan, or any number of things. "And on what 'today' is. You are a fine artist, Inaba-san." She nods then to Yua. "Yes. Family is important," she says. But she also wonders, and looks to Mark, at the matter of the business. It's a good question. Own a business too, or focus on his art...?
"We did," Miho says. "I remember." Right, permission... "I admire the boldness of such art--and there is a beauty in its transience. Often it cannot stay for long, so it becomes a piece that exists in 'time' and 'space' both, temporary. The negative space around it..."
She nods, firmly. "Yes. It is a good canvas."
"You're doing your best," Miho agrees with Yua. "I'm sure we can make it that long, or longer."
"...Please tell us when you have a piece for New Years' in mind. I would very much like to see it."
<Pose Tracker> Masao Inaba has posed.
"Heh, y'think so?" Masao smiles through all that compliment of dry cleaning being super cool. Still, that's not his intended direction in life, and yet... he's not fully free of that, thanks to less than fortuitous circumstances. "I'm not intendin' to carry it on, but... I'd be lyin' if I said I didn't learn a lot from it," he looks off to the side.
It's been a steady (enough) bit of work in this troubled economy and the ongoing Lost Years. But, it's just not who he is... he knows what he promised that good friend of everyone's from that graduating class.
He brightens up about seeing the Aoba Park stuff. "Oh, you did! Awesome, yeah, I'm proud of that one!" As she mentions the whole thing about having permission, "there was a whole row from the city council that kinda put us on the back foot," hand on his hip again, because he knows better than to put that glove to the back of his head. "didn't give us all that much time to really plan it 'n get it all together..."
March, she adds, for the due date! He nods. "Okay, yeah, we can work in a li'l somethin', just... keep in contact with me 'bout what you're thinkin', okay?"
He turns his look over to Miho with the brief agreement about 'later,' which is good and all. There was a lot of pressure riding on getting this right, but everyone's happy. Well, he imagines Tomoki-san would like it next time he sees it, he wasn't disagreeable about the progress of it at any point.
"Thanks... I always put my soul into it!" He says, cheerily, at the compliment, and the thoughts about such art being something that's only there for a short while. "And believe me, that soul doesn't go away when the art does..."
Let the mknow when they have a piece for New Years' in mind. "Heh, you got it!" Even then, things have been even weirder lately. Last thing he'd want is for Yua or her child, or that weird and energetic little kid already with them, to get into danger with just how messed up Sumaru City has been since he's showed back up in Japan.
...
His phone starts to ring. He comes out of it startled, reaches for the phone, remembers the paint on that glove's not fully dry, goes for the other - no, that one's more wet. A hasty removal of one as he hurriedly lifts the phone up.
"Sorry, one sec," he says. A text message from his mother, about something or another. He blinks the once, then twice. The expression on his face says it all: 'oh, boy.'
"...I'll hafta break it off here for now, gimme a call if something comes up or if you want a li'l more done, okay?"