Chapter Text
Ugh... "You sure you don't want a drink?" I ask. Her head jerks up and shakes before she says anything, which is at least a welcome change; anything's better than the two of us just sitting here in silence.
"Thank you for offering, but I -"
"Don't!" I say, nearly snapping it at her. Well there goes another year of that New Years resolution. And I already know how Masaru'll handle it: 'you tried, thats all we can do' and massaging my back til we nearly burn down the bed again. "Just talk to me like I'm a person, not your boyfriend's mother."
"But you are."
I strangle the groan before it rises far from my throat. Please tell me Masaru didn't do that with my mother. "You have my blessing," I assure her. There, if that's all -
"Thank you, but I didn't come for that," she says.
Dammit. "You pregnant?" because thats the normal question, right? The thing normal parents ask their kids, pre- and post-Quirk. Though after all the good behavior we drilled into our son, he'd better not've -
"No!" she snaps at me, shock all over her face. "Your son and I have never -" and she stops herself.
"Didn't think so. Good," I breathe. And, faced with the prospect of another long silence, I'm going to ask her what the hell she is here for.
"I'm worried about him," she says before I can say anything.
"Shit, whats he done now?" is out past my lips before anything else.
"Nothing!" she blurts out. Then... "Katsuki hasn't done... He's being polite and considerate, minding his language, being the perfect model of civility..." and she trails off.
"And this is something you hate?" You'd certainly confound my mother.
"No, I love it. But its not him. I'm worried, and not just that he's going to blow up."
Physically or figuratively, I take it. "I know whats wrong. He grew up hearing about how his father and I courted."
"That's sweet, but -"
Nope, you're gonna hear this. "I pursued Masaru. 'Badgered', Nemuri used to say, but eh."
The girl smiles like she's reliving a better day than this - i don't blame her there - and says "Yeah, Katsuki used to do that."
"Til one day he looked like he pissed his pants, and went all fifty shades of My Fair Lady on you?"
"Uh...yeah."
"Dammit, Katsuki."
"I don't understand; what happened to him?"
"You weren't listening, were you?" I ask. "Masaru may be able to burn hamburgers with his sweaty palms, but I'm the volatile one in this household." And I'm thinking Masaru would've been a better choice to have this talk with Katsuki's girlfriend - see which one of them could outshy the other. Okay, stop smiling at that, you're scaring the guests again.
"So you're saying Katsuki doesn't want to emulate his mother's success?"
I facepalm my forehead and glare into the safety there. "It means my son treasures you so much, he's terrified that what worked for me, won't work for him," and lower my hands back to my sides.
"But it worked for you," she says, clearly not getting it - oh, I see what happened. I forgot to mention a detail. "Why would he not follow a successful formula?"
Tempted as I am to reply 'you've met my son'...no. "Because it almost didn't, and stupid me telling Katsuki once how Masaru once asked me not to follow him - and he got on a bus, and I didn't see him for a year. I nearly drove him off, and our son knows it." But we got back together, stronger than before - which was the lesson I thought Katsuki learned back when I shared it with him...certainly pulled him out of that slump he'd fallen into.
"Then all I need to do is confront Katsuki, and tell him I'm not going anywhere?"
"You could. And I'll tell you what he'll say, if he doesn't just laugh or pretend he doesn't understand: 'not today, but tomorrow?'" I've thought it myself, and worried about Masaru getting on another bus ever since. Irrationality, thy name is human - and that part, I tell the girl.
"Or," she says.
Damn if I'm not intrigued. "Or?" I repeat.
"Or maybe Katsuki knows how successful you were in courting your husband...but your son wants to forge his own path," and then her eyes show that she's just realized the pun.
"Good choice of words," I say. "And I hope you're right. I'll still ring his neck, but not as tightly."
"Um...I'm afraid - surely you know - see..."
I groan. "Skip ahead to tell me what you're telling me," which is something I haven't said in a long time to anyone who wasn't Katsuki, Masaru, or learning volleyball from me.
"Katsuki's Quirk."
Ah. Concern. I feign wiping my forehead, and hold out my palm. "Glycerin sweat. You?"
"Anti-gravity." And then she frowns. "He hasn't...?"
"He's told us about you. Not about your Quirk."
"Oh." And looks even more awkward than before. Then, "But wait, surely at the school -"
"We don't watch the school sports on tv. We trust Katsuki to be honest about how he does." And the image of him tied up like one of Nemuri's toys...everywhere. Gah. "And you still have my blessing to court my son. Also my permission to slap sense into him when he needs it."
Oh I like that smile on her face.