World History Teacher.
Demisexual.
Single.
03/21/1991.
32.
Sheep (WA)
Authored by Redeim.
Offline.
|
Post by Anbai Wang on Jul 12, 2020 22:15:32 GMT -8
Anbai nodded in agreement with their sister, muttering, "you're right... and I will help, I suppose," in Mandarin in response to her comment. They smiled and waved a hand in Adriel's general direction, switching back to English. "It sounds like you're doing a great job, if you ask me." They crouched down so they were eye to eye with Rochelle. "My pronouns are they/them, how about yours?" Anbai said, adding as an afterthought, "it's important to ask people even if their gender preference seems "obvious," too." They explained to her, using air quotes over the word "obvious." It was something they were trying to teach their students, or at least the ones in GSA.
|
|
Kindergarten Teacher.
Bisexual.
Single.
01/24/1980.
41.
Monkey (WA)
Authored by Velexa.
Offline.
|
Post by Adriel Flowers on Jul 12, 2020 22:39:37 GMT -8
Rochelle quickly apologized to both Anbai and Anlan, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to talk about you behind your back. I just wanted to make sure I didn't say anything bad, which is why I asked daddy first."
Adriel walked over to her and patted her head, "thank you for noticing that you were doing something that could potentially hurt someone's feeling and apologizing for it." He smiled at Anbai and Anlan and directed his next comment to Anbai since he had already told their sister this information, "I'm a kindergarten teacher, I'll be starting at Cedar Beach Elementary soon."
Rochelle smiled and leaned against her father's leg before saying, "My pronouns are she/her." She hid her face in her father's leg.
Adriel looked down at her, surprised she was acting so shy, "Munchkin, what are you doing?"
"They're so pretty, daddy..." Rochelle whispered, once again too loud. She quickly darted around Anbai and took Anlan's hand, "let's go get more boxes."
Adriel looked at Anbai, "I'm sorry, she usually doesn't act like that. My pronouns are he/him and it's very nice to meet you. I will do my best to use your preferred pronouns but please don't hesitate to let me know if I make a mistake or make you uncomfortable in any way."
He gestured towards the door so they could follow Rochelle and Anlan.
|
|
Airplane Mechanic.
Bi, strongly leans towards preferring women.
Casual Friends with Benefits (several).
03/21/1991.
31.
Sheep (WA)
Authored by Etienne.
Offline.
|
Post by Anlan Wang on Jul 12, 2020 23:13:54 GMT -8
Anlan chuckled at the little girl's behavior. She used her soothing tone from earlier, half for the kid's benefit and half for Anbai's as she said, "Since we're going around and giving everyone's, my pronouns are she/her."
She grinned down at Rochelle and said, "OK, let's go."
She whispered conspiratorially, "Considering how heavily your dad packed some of those boxes, we might have to let Anbai help with some of yours if you're willing share. They can probably handle some of the lighter big boxes if we can find them though. Do you know which ones those are?"
She looked over her shoulder and stuck her tongue out at Anbai. She added to Adriel, "We've got a much younger brother, so we're used to how kids get sometimes."
|
|
World History Teacher.
Demisexual.
Single.
03/21/1991.
32.
Sheep (WA)
Authored by Redeim.
Offline.
|
Post by Anbai Wang on Jul 12, 2020 23:36:48 GMT -8
Anbai chuckled at Rochelle's antics, muttering another 'thank you' for the compliment and nodding to Adriel, "I will." They promised. As they got to the truck, Anbai frowned at their sister. "I am not weak." They pouted. But, as they tried to pick out one of the bigger boxes, they sheepishly scooted it back into the truck and took a couple of the smaller boxes, grumbling the entire time.
|
|
Kindergarten Teacher.
Bisexual.
Single.
01/24/1980.
41.
Monkey (WA)
Authored by Velexa.
Offline.
|
Post by Adriel Flowers on Jul 13, 2020 8:22:00 GMT -8
Adriel was very appreciative of his new neighbors. They'd only just met and they'd already stepped up to help him out of a difficult situation. "Thank you both, really. It means a lot. We used to live in suburbia and my mother was devastated when she heard we were moving into an apartment. She's convinced that you can only have nice neighbors in suburbia, I'll make sure to have Rochelle tell her all about you two."
He stacked a few boxes and turned back to the building. He was smiling to himself, enjoying the gentle banter between the siblings. He was an only child, so he always appreciated seeing how close siblings could be. It made him debate if Rochelle was lonely and wanted a sibling, but he couldn't really imagine loving anyone as much as that little girl. He mentally knew it was possible but his heart didn't agree.
|
|
Airplane Mechanic.
Bi, strongly leans towards preferring women.
Casual Friends with Benefits (several).
03/21/1991.
31.
Sheep (WA)
Authored by Etienne.
Offline.
|
Post by Anlan Wang on Jul 13, 2020 9:17:55 GMT -8
Anlan again selected the heaviest boxes she could find, telling her twin, "You keep telling yourself that."
Once she'd selected her boxes and gotten out of the way, ready to head back up, she said to Adriel, "I mean, Cedar Beach is about as suburbia as we've ever lived, though the apartments themselves are definitely denser than the rest of town. Though from what I've seen, this areas not that dissimilar from large parts of Seattle itself outside of the downtown core. But the two of us lived in an actual big city before we moved here when we were twelve, from Kuala Lumpur."
She glanced down at Rochelle and said, "Do you know what country that's in?"
She figured she'd be less disappointed if Rochelle didn't know than if her dad didn't.
|
|
World History Teacher.
Demisexual.
Single.
03/21/1991.
32.
Sheep (WA)
Authored by Redeim.
Offline.
|
Post by Anbai Wang on Jul 13, 2020 13:56:17 GMT -8
Anbai stuck their tongue out at their twin, but said nothing more as they waited for everyone else to be ready to head back upstairs. They nodded in agreement with Anlan. They never saw the appeal of suburbia. Or maybe the cul-de-sac life just wasn't for them. Regardless, even if they eventually bought their own house, they didn't want absolute suburbia. Besides, most suburban areas were food deserts. Living here, it was less than a block to get to a gas station supermarket for the days they didn't feel like going to a proper supermarket, and there was a shopping center with a variety of restaurants almost around the corner. Definitely better than having to drive ten to twenty minutes for anything.
They listened curiously to hear Rochelle's answer, though they'd be surprised if she said she knew.
|
|
Kindergarten Teacher.
Bisexual.
Single.
01/24/1980.
41.
Monkey (WA)
Authored by Velexa.
Offline.
|
Post by Adriel Flowers on Jul 13, 2020 20:50:14 GMT -8
Rochelle looked at her dad who just shrugged, "don't ask me, she asked you, not me," Adriel told her.
Rochelle thought about it, a little worried about getting the answer wrong.
Adriel saw her worried look, "you don't have to always know the right answer. If you don't know, there's nothing wrong with saying you don't know."
She took a deep, calming breath, "Malaysia... I think."
Adriel smiled, dropping boxes off again in the apartment.
|
|
Airplane Mechanic.
Bi, strongly leans towards preferring women.
Casual Friends with Benefits (several).
03/21/1991.
31.
Sheep (WA)
Authored by Etienne.
Offline.
|
Post by Anlan Wang on Jul 13, 2020 20:58:15 GMT -8
Anlan grinned down at Rochelle and gave Adriel a quick, approving nod. She told the girl, "Yup, that's the right country. Good job! That's where Anbai and I are from originally."
She put down her boxes and said, "We're making pretty good progress on getting these up here."
As she headed back towards the van for another round of boxes, she asked Rochelle, "Do you know anything else about Malaysia other than that Kuala Lumpur is the capital city?"
This sort of thing was the reason that her mother had aggrieved asked her once why she hadn't decided to be a teacher like Anbai, and she'd retorted that it would have taken the fun out of it for her, and plus, she wasn't the one with student debt. Anlan liked kids, and Rochelle was clearly bright and curious, and best of all, completely not Anlan's responsibility. Like, she'd totally babysit at some point if Adriel asked and it fit her schedule, but that was opt-in, not have to push back to get out of the responsibility.
|
|
World History Teacher.
Demisexual.
Single.
03/21/1991.
32.
Sheep (WA)
Authored by Redeim.
Offline.
|
Post by Anbai Wang on Jul 15, 2020 11:04:43 GMT -8
"Wow, you must be good at geography!" Anbai praised Rochelle. They were never bad at it themself, but there were certain parts where they were weaker at it, like for example identifying the eastern states in the U.S.
They put down the boxes once they arrived in the living room, nodding along with what their sister said. They followed quietly back to the van, trying for a different bigger box and grinning as they could pick this one up with relative ease. They shot their sister a look as if to say, 'see! I'm not weak!' before heading back up.
|
|
Kindergarten Teacher.
Bisexual.
Single.
01/24/1980.
41.
Monkey (WA)
Authored by Velexa.
Offline.
|
Post by Adriel Flowers on Jul 15, 2020 11:43:08 GMT -8
"Yeah, this is going much faster with your help, thanks again." Adriel said.
Rochelle shook her head in reply, "no, I don't know much else... Sorry."
Adriel stacked more boxes and guessed they'd only need another few trips to finish unloading the truck. He was relieved he hadn't had to do it alone and happy that they had such nice neighbors. Rochelle seemed to be enjoying their company, though Adriel was fairly certain she had a crush on Anbai.
He wasn't looking forward to that conversation. He'd been dreading talking to her about love and romance and sex, but he was actually very happy her first crush was on someone who identified as nonbinary or genderfluid. It left him with a great starting point about sexuality, gender identity and gender expression. He'd talked to her about it in the past, but nothing that seemed directly relevant to her because she hadn't ever experiences any of those feelings at the time.
He reminded himself that she was only six and took a calming breath.
|
|
Airplane Mechanic.
Bi, strongly leans towards preferring women.
Casual Friends with Benefits (several).
03/21/1991.
31.
Sheep (WA)
Authored by Etienne.
Offline.
|
Post by Anlan Wang on Jul 17, 2020 22:28:28 GMT -8
Anlan grinned and said, "Well I guess that means that I'll just have to tell you more about it at some point, doesn't it? You don't need to apologize for not knowing something."
Anlan turned to Adriel during their walk up to the apartment and said, "Once we've got this all brought up, and those of us who need it, me included, have had a chance to clean up, do you want us to show you one of our favorite local places for dinner? I know that last time I moved, I really didn't want to have to cook at the end of all of it."
She glanced at Anbai, hoping that they wouldn't be annoyed at her for roping them into social plans.
|
|
World History Teacher.
Demisexual.
Single.
03/21/1991.
32.
Sheep (WA)
Authored by Redeim.
Offline.
|
Post by Anbai Wang on Jul 19, 2020 18:54:25 GMT -8
Anbai blinked quickly at their sister from their spot leaning up against the wall near the front door as she mentioned all of them going out to eat. They weren't opposed to it; it was a nice gesture to the new neighbors and was a way to make friends, but also they hadn't been planning to even be this social today. They stared at their sister for a moment, wondering how twins could have such different personalities, before nodding. "I think that's a fun idea." They said. It wasn't a total lie, and by taking time to clean up, they would have time to properly prepare themself for socialization.
|
|
Kindergarten Teacher.
Bisexual.
Single.
01/24/1980.
41.
Monkey (WA)
Authored by Velexa.
Offline.
|
Post by Adriel Flowers on Jul 19, 2020 19:10:14 GMT -8
Adriel was about to agree to dinner when Rochelle proclaimed loudly, "I want to wear my purple dress to dinner!"
Adriel smiled at her gently, "if you can find your purple dress in all these boxes before all of us can get cleaned up, then sure, you can wear your purple dress to dinner."
Rochelle put her hands on her hips and stood in front of her father, blocking his way, "and what if I can't find it?"
Adriel scooped her up in his arms, heading back to the truck, "if you can't find it, then you'll have to wear something else."
Rochelle looked to Anbai and Anlan gesturing to her father, "do you see what I have to put up with?"
Adriel scoffed and muttered, "you sound like your mother..." He cleared his throat and spoke up, "if you don't wear it tonight, you can wear it when we make brownie cupcakes and show off then, okay?"
|
|
Airplane Mechanic.
Bi, strongly leans towards preferring women.
Casual Friends with Benefits (several).
03/21/1991.
31.
Sheep (WA)
Authored by Etienne.
Offline.
|
Post by Anlan Wang on Jul 19, 2020 19:24:36 GMT -8
Anbai laughed at the little girl's put out tone and said, "It's alright, you'll have plenty of chances to show us that purple dress whether or not you can find it this afternoon. Afterall, we're neighbors now."
She squeezed her twins arm lightly as she passed them and whispered in Mandarin, "Thank you for going along with it. It's good to make friends with our neighbors."
Anlan looked at what was left in the truck and said, "As long as at least one of those big boxes is light enough for Anbai to carry, I bet that we can get the last of this up this load, and then we can do that cleaning up before dinner and getting dinner. This is definitely making me even more hungry than work itself had, so dinner will be especially good."
|
|
