Astrid and Alejandro - The Expanded Story

[Roman]

Roman's comment about their sons lack of patience made her laugh, and she couldn't help but nod in agreement. He definitely had a personality of his own that was starkly different from hers or her husbands, but there were times when he had adopted their traits - like her own stubbornness or Roman's oblivious habits. Even still, she wouldn't trade her son for the world, and aside from Roman, Alejandro was the thing she loved most in the world anyways. Which is why, on her rare days off, she wanted to spend it with him, and her husband if he was around. She had asked a while back if Alejandro was free today, and thankfully all he apparently had planned was a training session with his partner. The boy hadn't said much other than that, so maybe it'd be a good conversation starter. Maybe she could find out a little bit more about how his life at the school was going, considering he did keep to himself quite often. Well, that's what family meals were for, right? Catching up? Yeah, of course they were. Taking Romans arm, Kaori gave a nod, signaling she was ready to leave. "Ready!"

"Alright then. Lets get going." Roman had already knew where to meet Alejandro, so teleporting to him wasn't going to be a problem at all. Thankfully people were used to seeing other people appear out of nowhere these days or it'd be weird. Soon, Roman and Kaori disappeared from where they were standing and reappeared beside the table their son had been waiting for them at. Roman could feel the stare of disappointment from his son, knowing he'd say something about them being late... By one minute at most. "I know son, you don't have to ask what took us so 'long'." Roman said, looking over to Alejandro. "Hmph, I wasn't going to." The boy said in response. Sighing lightly, Roman was over to the table and pulled out a chair for, Kaori. Alejandro looked at his mother with a smile, "Hey mom. I'm glad you asked me if I were free today. I'd be stuck with my partner if you didn't."

 

[Lumina]

"Alright then. Lets get going." Roman had already knew where to meet Alejandro, so teleporting to him wasn't going to be a problem at all. Thankfully people were used to seeing other people appear out of nowhere these days or it'd be weird. Soon, Roman and Kaori disappeared from where they were standing and reappeared beside the table their son had been waiting for them at. Roman could feel the stare of disappointment from his son, knowing he'd say something about them being late... By one minute at most. "I know son, you don't have to ask what took us so 'long'." Roman said, looking over to Alejandro. "Hmph, I wasn't going to." The boy said in response. Sighing lightly, Roman was over to the table and pulled out a chair for, Kaori. Alejandro looked at his mother with a smile, "Hey mom. I'm glad you asked me if I were free today. I'd be stuck with my partner if you didn't."

Kaori gave her husband a grateful smile as he pulled out a chair for her, sitting down with the grace of a mother and a kunoichi. It really was great to see her son. At school they had their dorms, so once Alejandro hit high school she didn't get to see him as much. He was an independent boy, that was for sure, so it didn't seem to bother him much. But Alejandro was her only child, so it was a bit hard having an empty nest. Thankfully, he still liked spending time with his parents every once and a while, so it wasn't too bad. Today just happened to be one of those days. "I hope we didn't keep you for too long," Kaori added, seeing as Roman commented on their being late. Alejandro addressed her soon after, and then she was smiling at her son. "I'm always happy to see you whenever I can, your father feels the same way." Though, his last bit of words did confuse her a bit. "Ah, that's right, you recently got assigned a partner, didn't you? Don't you like them?"

 

[Lumina]

Kaori gave her husband a grateful smile as he pulled out a chair for her, sitting down with the grace of a mother and a kunoichi. It really was great to see her son. At school they had their dorms, so once Alejandro hit high school she didn't get to see him as much. He was an independent boy, that was for sure, so it didn't seem to bother him much. But Alejandro was her only child, so it was a bit hard having an empty nest. Thankfully, he still liked spending time with his parents every once and a while, so it wasn't too bad. Today just happened to be one of those days. "I hope we didn't keep you for too long," Kaori added, seeing as Roman commented on their being late. Alejandro addressed her soon after, and then she was smiling at her son. "I'm always happy to see you whenever I can, your father feels the same way." Though, his last bit of words did confuse her a bit. "Ah, that's right, you recently got assigned a partner, didn't you? Don't you like them?"

Roman

((REMEMBER THIS???))

 

[Roman]

Alejandro had looked away from his parents, taking in the view of the streets. He liked coming to this place. It was never loud, unlike the school's cafeteria. It was a never ending party in there, and he hated it. In a way it seemed like he hated everything, but truthfully, that wasn't the case. He just had a hard time showing interest in anything, even the things he liked. Alejandro was all business, even as a young child. Nodding in agreement to his mother's words, he soon spoke. "It's always nice to see you both too, never being home starts to get to me sometimes. Wish I had more than the holidays, even if I'm gonna stuck at home with the old man sometimes." He said, calling his father old. They had a strong relationship, but the two of them always poked at one another due to the conflicting personalities. Alejandro simply never witnessed his father when he's serious though. "As for my new partner... I'm not sure. She can be a pain. No. She is a pain, but her skills are something I'll compliment. Her aim with a sniper rifle is almost unmatched... Just wish she was a bit more serious, and I wish she wore more clothing. That'd be helpful. My complaining here won't change anything though, as long as we get things done, I'll accept her for who she is."

Roman sighed when Alejandro called him old man. Why'd he have to make it seem like being home with him was such a bad thing? "Hmph, that's how you should see it. Whatever your partner brings to the table, learn to work with it, because you two may not say it, but it may be somethings she finds annoying about you. Like how you're serious all the time." Roman said, chuckling a little. Alejandro looked at his father and furrowed his brows, "Sounds like you're just saying the things about me that annoy you." He said in response. Roman nodded. "I'm pretty sure the fact that you only smile when you go to something like a fancy dance or something annoys more than just me son." As Roman finished speaking, a waiter came over to their table, holding a notepad. "Hi, is there anything I can get you all?" He asked. Roman asked for a water, and Alejandro a coffee.​

 

[Lumina]

Kaori was a patient mother. Really, she was a patient person, so she could deal with both the closed-off attitude of her son and the joking attitude of her husband. She had to be patient if she was able to deal with them. Also coming back to life really makes you put time into perspective a bit. She recognized that look in her son's face, knowing that his face didn't always show the feelings his words contained. So even though he looked bored out of his skull, she smiled in appreciated when he said he was glad to see them. Alejandro was her and Roman's only child, so when he left to go stay in the dorms for school, she got a little bit lonely. So she always made sure to visit whenever she could. It was a good excuse to get out of the house as well, so it was a win-win. "We understand. It seems like you're doing well here at school, so that makes it worth it." She nodded, glancing over at her husband for a moment. Old man, huh? Perhaps. But she'd love him anyways. Back to Alejandro, he answered her questions about his partner, and immediately came all the complaints he had. It seemed like he didn't like her, though that seemed to be the case with everyone that Alejandro wasn't familiar with. Maybe she was actually a great person, but you'd never know by the way that Alejandro spoke.

"Well, at least there's something positive you can say about her," Kaori mused, getting more curious about his partner of his. Roman made a comment about when it was that Alejandro smiled, and it brought her attention back to her son. It really wasn't all that often at all, was it? He was always a serious child, only growing more so as he entered young adulthood. She frowned as the conversation devolved into Alejandro's annoyances. "We're not here to talk about that. We're here to spend time with our son in a positive manner, yes? Hello!" Kaori redirected her speech toward the waiter as they approached the table, smiling up at them. "I'll have tea, thank you." The waiter nodded and walked away to get their drinks, and the kunoichi brought her attention back to her family. "It's nice to get out of the house for something that isn't work. The hospital has really gotten busy lately." She laughed, her voice showing a slight bit of exhaustion.​

 

[Roman]

Once the two gave the waiter their order, Roman and Alejandro gave one another a look. It wasn't rare that they did this. Constantly at one another's throats, but at the end of the day they still cared for one another. Sighing lightly, Alejandro looked to his mother and nodded, speaking in an almost annoyed tone, "Yeah, I guess so. According to our teacher, we both have our ups and downs. I don't depend on her as much as I should. He says that'd be bad to do on the field... Guess I'll try to let her help me a bit more during our next training exercise." He said in response. It wasn't his mother's fault that he was annoyed, but instead his father's. Roman then looked at Kaori and rubbed the back of his head, laughing nervously, "Reminds me a lot of myself when I was younger, you know... Before everything happened." He said, adding his piece of mind. "You may not like my advice son, but I mean this... Be accepting of your teammate's help and help her back as much as possible. Mission success rate will be sky high if you do, and the risk of someone being injured... Or even KIA, goes down drastically. Something you'd want." Roman added, Alejandro looking at him before closing his eyes. As much as he hate to admit it, his father was right. But unfortunately, Alejandro hated being dependent, but if it would help him get through this silly partnership training and eventually on the path to being able to take solo missions, he'll go with it for a bit longer.

Alejandro's attention was turned back to his mother, wanting to know more about her work at the hospital, he asked, "Speaking about the hospital... I wanted to know how things are going there. Once I finish school and everything, I was considering to join the medical field... And possibly get a job there." Hearing this caught Roman's attention. He never knew that his son wanted to do work at the hospital, and if Kaori knew, he had wished she would have told him. Soon the waiter returned, placing the drinks of each of them on the table. Kaori's tea, Alejandro's coffee, and Roman's water. "If anyone wants anything else, feel free to ask." The waiter said before nodding and walking away to go help other customers.​

 

[Lumina]

Kaori Hana

The look that Roman and Alejandro shared wasn't one that she was unused to seeing. It was actually quite a common look they seemed to give each other, and thank the gods that it wasn't a purely negative look. She had lost count of the times that she had to step in between the two before things really got out of hand, though for the most part she just let them figure things out on their own. No need to get involved when there really wasn't anything to get involved with, right? Hearing her son's response, she glanced back over at Roman, knowing that he'd know about exactly the kinds of things that Alejandro was talking about. "Its nice to be able to depend on others," she added to what Roman had said, agreeing with all of it. They had gone through something similar around his age, maybe even younger. If anyone knew the importance of being able to depend on others, it would be them. She couldn't help but smile a bit as she saw Alejandro's reaction to his father's response. She knew that look, it was one of resignation in realizing that Roman was right, and she was glad to see that Alejandro was understanding at least a little bit. She tried to stay away from being preachy, but Roman and herself had a lot of life experience to go off of, and were able to give pretty sound advice most times.

And just like with Roman, it took her a bit by surprise to hear that Alejandro wanted to go into the medical field. She also had no idea that he wanted to make a career in that field, but was kind of happy that it was something they would be able to have in common. "Oh, things there are going pretty okay. Things have been a little busy lately, but other than that it's not too bad. I'm sure you could find a job there, or maybe even come with me to work sometime to check it out." She answered, nodding at the waiter in thanks as she grabbed her tea. "Though I have to ask, what makes you want to go into the medical field? I never would have guessed that would have been something you were interested in."​