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If Nametsu Tora was ever asked about her daughter, it was usually either because the person asking knew her, and was just asking to be polite, or because the person knew of Mai and wanted to ask about things.
Depending on the person she was sleeping with at the time, sometimes they were asking because they wanted her to try and convince Mai not to absolutely destroy their public image, which was a fool's errand.
Tora had no issue with what her daughter was doing, and she supported all of her endeavors. Especially when those endeavors were fighting for dinosaur rights, the restriction and controlling of genetically modifying new dinosaurs, and the bringing down of anyone who dared get in her way of either of those goals.
It was her daughter’s prerogative if she wanted to decimate the richest people on the planet, and she was doing a very good job of it.
Tora had some minor concerns, of course, what parent didn’t, but she was more concerned about if Mai would have the backup she needed for whatever she was doing this week, or if she’d have another assassination attempt. Not exactly the most normal of concerns for a parent to have, but Mai was no normal daughter, and Tora was no normal mother.
Mai called every Sunday, to catch up, and occasionally to warn her about various things, so she could stay out of the way, but occasionally she called in the middle of the week. Like now.
“Good afternoon dear child, what sort of problems have you found today?” Tora asked, now glad she’d booted last night’s fling partner out early. It wouldn’t do to have them questioning whatever Mai asks of her.
“Oh you know! The normal stuff! Any chance you got a dog crate around somewhere? And maybe some bowls?”
“I’m sure I could arrange to find some, did you find something where it shouldn’t be?” A dinosaur, presumably found in whatever she was investigating with her boyfriends this week. Not something too big, she mentioned a dog crate afterall.
“Sort of! She’s evidence, and I’d love to take care of her, but we’re flying off to Italy in….like four hours, so I can’t really. And she’s not exactly a good option for a petsitter.”
“Sure, why not. What’s the species? Any issues?”
“Really cute and sweet adult Aquilops female, missing a leg due to mistreatment, definitely has a mild infection in the remaining stump, but moves like she’s been missing it a while. Site H strain.” Primarily dark green, sometimes faint blues mixing in on the males.
“I’ll pick up some greens then. Coming by now?”
“I have to finish packing, she uh, isn’t making it easy, but you’re on the way to the airport and I’d rather not have to deal with going back home after dropping her off.”
“We’re doing our best to keep her under wraps as it were, and it’s not working,” Chikara added, grunting after a second. “Girl, no, stop, that’s not for you.”
“Nor is it food,” Keiji added, his voice faint. “Just because it is vaguely lettuce colored doesn’t mean it’s edible.”
“It is not lettuce colored!”
“I said vaguely.”
“He’s got a point, it is kind of lettuce colored.”
“Lettuce is so much lighter. At best it’s kale colored.”
Tora snorted, hearing them bickering. It was so cute. “How far out do you think you are?”
“Uh, ideally, no more than like half an hour, but with how this is going, might be closer to forty minutes. We’re a little concerned about running into trouble at the airport, so we’re trying to get there early.”
“Sweetheart you always run into trouble at the airport.”
“Okay, good point, but like, more trouble at the airport than usual. Recent death threats were…shall we say a little more creative, so we’re just being a little careful!”
“Should I be concerned?” Tora asked, more amused than anything. Her daughter had been handling death threats for ages, she was old hat at it. Only thing it did was make her more stubborn.
“Probably not! What we can’t handle, we’ll find someone who can. We’ve got contacts!”
“Well if you need anything else, let me know.”
“I will! It’ll probably be in a couple of weeks, but I do have something else I’ve been poking at, and I think I’ve got an opening, but it’ll be a bit.”
“I’ll keep an eye out,” Tora promised, standing up and getting her shoes on. Might as well make a quick trip to the grocery store. She didn’t have enough greens in her fridge to feed a hungry Aquilops, and she didn’t have any hay. It’d been a while since she was expected to bring home any animals, not since her first job as a vet.
“Thanks mom! Love you!”
“Love you too dear.” She did have to wonder what she was supposed to do with the little Aquilops long-term, but even if her daughter didn’t have a plan she was sure she could figure it out. She wasn’t the vet for Jurassic World anymore, but she had contacts.
Or perhaps she’d keep the little girl around. It was fairly lonely in her apartment with Mai long moved out. A little pet might be nice. Then Mai could come see the dear whenever she had a little bit of time.
She had dreamed of a pet Aquilops as a teenager. Her lifestyle was a little busy for a pet now, but Tora didn’t mind keeping one in her stead.
With a heat lamp, easy access to food and water, and as much bedding as the little Aquilops’ heart desired, she settled in quickly and with very little complaint. Tora decided it’d be funny to name her Mai Jr, and took great joy in describing her new daughter to anyone who would listen.
It confused several people, and would confuse many more. She anticipated being able to answer questions about Mai her daughter with answers that only applied to Mai Jr the Aquilops. It would be hilarious.
Sometimes people asked where Mai got her sense of humor from, and Tora was woman enough to admit her daughter got it directly from her. When shenanigans were available, sometimes you just had to cause them.
And speaking of Mai, there was the call Tora had been expecting for most of this week.
“Hey mom! How’re you, how’s the baby.”
“The Aquilops is doing well, I’ve named her Mai Jr,” Tora informed her daughter gleefully. She was very pleased to hear three snickers from the other side of the call. “I see your newest article has done well. What was the thing you mentioned last time?”
“Well…have you ever thought about restarting your vet career?” She could hear the innocent look her daughter almost certainly had on her face.
“Well, I suppose if I had the right job I could be convinced,” Tora said, faking reluctance. “What did you have in mind?”
“Well, I heard through the grapevine that some people I’ve been looking for are in need of a vet. They happen to be the trainers of all those raptor packs we’ve been seeing. I’ve been trying to pin them down since they started showing up.”
“Does your grapevine know who I am in relation to you?” Tora asked, watching Mai Jr chase a ball across the living room.
“They’re desperate enough that if you say you aren’t in contact with me anymore, they’ll believe you,” Mai said, sounding satisfied. “And besides, who has time in as busy of a schedule as mine to contact their poor mother?”
“No rational person I suppose,” Tora said, in a mock mournful tone. “I suppose your poor mother who’s been abandoned will have to find something else to do. How are we going to explain dear Mai Jr? I can’t just abandon her.”
“I heard they’re coming to a city just two hours away, I’m sure she’ll be fine with the car ride. And you naming her after me can probably be spun to be a dramatic oh I’m just replacing my daughter thing if you’d like. You are a dinosaur vet, it can’t be that weird for you to have picked one up.”
Tora hummed in vague agreement, watching Mai Jr finally catch the ball, only for it to roll away from her again. “Well I suppose you’ve twisted my arm enough, very well, I’ll go apply. Send me the listing?”
“Psh, the only one twisting your arm was the other Mai. And yeah, of course I will. Other details are mostly I just need you to work out how they’re training the raptors and see if you can get them on your side. I don’t want them to be put down after this.”
“I’m an expert in getting raptors on my side.”
“Blue never liked you.”
“That was because I slept with Owen without asking her permission first. If I’d asked first she wouldn’t have disliked me so much.”
Mai snorted. “Sounds like her.”
“Perhaps I can convince some of the raptors trained to be body guards to like you and your boyfriends enough to become your body guards. Based on some of those news stories about you, it looks like you might need them.”
“I think everyone at my office would riot if I showed up with a velociraptor as my bodyguard,” Mai snickered. “I don’t think I could get them registered either.”
“Won’t know if you don’t try,” Tora said cheerfully. She was willing to bet her daughter could pull it off, and no one would take that bet unless they were either a fool or didn’t know Tora or her daughter. The apple does not fall far from the tree after all. “I’ll have to message the girl I’ve been texting that our rendezvous tonight may have to wait.”
“This isn’t really that urgent, I’m sure there’s time for you to make some poor girl never be satisfied by any other partner in bed,” Mai said cheekily.
“Oh please, she’s had other partners. I’m just making sure she knows what a real partner in bed makes her feel like. She’s recently divorced.”
“Spiteful tonight are we?”
“A lady never reveals her secrets,” Tora said, somewhat mischievously. “You would know, wouldn’t you my dear.”
“That I would! Even if technically my job is revealing other people’s secrets. Well, thanks for helping out! I’ll text you the number of one of my burner phones, you can put it in your phone as one of your flings or something. I know you keep in contact with a couple.”
“I’m sure I can figure something out,” Tora agreed, wiggling her fingers at Mai Jr, who snorted and wandered off to her nest under the heat lamp. “I trust you all the time, you can trust me this time.”
“I’ve always trusted you.”
“And I’m honored by it. I look forward to the message. You’ll have to drop by sometime after we’re finished to say hello to Mai Jr.”
“I look forward to it! Tell her hi for me! Love you mom!”
“I will. Love you too dear. Tell your boyfriends to make sure you’re all eating enough.”
“I will! Bye!”
Tora tilted her head back to look at Mai Jr asleep in her nest. “Your older sister says hi munchkin.”
Mai Jr lifted her head sleepily, making a confused noise. Adorable. Tora was glad she’d decided to keep the little Aquilops, even if she wasn’t going to be as good of an assistant as her older sister.
The banging when the raid began was loud and rather annoying. Tora picked up Mai Jr and tucked her under her arm, not unlike a football, and sat down to wait for whatever happened first, either raptors coming in to see her due to the trainers all being taken out, or the police to find her little corner. Mai had promised they’d recognize her, so she wasn’t very concerned about it.
Well, she was a little concerned about the raptors, and potential interactions with the police, but hopefully the raptors would come straight to her and not kill anyone on the way. Most of them were fairly young and still somewhat skittish without any adult raptors around to protect them. It made them easy to train, and made it easy for Tora to convince them she was equivalent to an adult raptor. If they became too uncertain they should come here.
And there they were. The door opened and three teams of four atrociraptors all squeezed into her little medical room, most of them trying and failing to hide behind her chair.
Tora ran a hand over the head of the closest one reassuringly, doing her best to mimic a reassuring croon. She wouldn’t let anything happen to them. This was what she was here for after all.
Fortunately, Mai was the first to find them, although Tora hadn’t known she would be here. Her boyfriends were behind her, and all three visibly relaxed when they saw Tora, with Mai Jr in her lap, and the twelve atrociraptors all clustered around her.
“Mom, good to see you unharmed,” Mai said, approaching slowly and with her gaze mostly on the floor. Not challenging the raptors.
“You too. I’m glad you had so much faith in your mother.” Tora stood up, setting Mai Jr on the floor, and hugged her daughter. “So, what’s the plan for these guys?”
“Depends on what you say. We can arrange transportation to one of the islands if you think they’d do well there, or there’s a couple sanctuaries I’ve personally vetted who are willing to take them.”
“And for whoever you deem most suited, well, you’ll never believe what Mai got the paperwork for,” Keiji added, leaning over his girlfriend’s shoulder to show off the paperwork that, if Tora was reading it right, authorized them to take a team home for personal protection.
“And we’re moving, since they wouldn’t fit in an apartment. We’ve been thinking about getting a house with a backyard anyway, this just…sped up the process.” Chikara cast an appreciative glance at the atrociraptors. “They’re beautiful, I’m glad to see them able to go to better homes.”
“So am I,” Tora agreed, turning back to the raptors. “They’re all juveniles right now, they need an adult. Let’s see if we can contact Owen, I know Blue was left alone after the death of the rest of her pack, she might be willing to take on some juveniles. Mai, I trust you know if there’s any raptor packs on any of the islands that may be willing to accept some juveniles.”
“Hm, might be, I’ll have to check with some people, but I can definitely find out. We can totally have you move in with us for a bit to help with the raptors, just promise to keep any flings to hotels, yeah?”
“Of course dear. I’m not a bad house guest. We’ll have to get the stuff for Mai Jr from my current apartment though. She does need some special stuff.”
“Is she really so unbothered by the raptors?” Ennoshita asked, watching Mai Jr in amusement as she snuffled around the feet of the raptors. They all just watched her with mild curiosity, or well, the ones that weren’t keeping an eye on them were watching her.
“She is, she’s a pretty smart cookie. Figured out pretty fast I wouldn’t let them hurt her.” Well, smart for a given value of smart. Some would definitely call the behavior dumb. Tora thought it was cute though.
It’d serve her well, especially if Tora would be getting back into something a little more adventurous now.