Chapter 15: 15: Friday NEET With Mile

The sound of the garage opening brought me out of my thoughts. A few seconds later, the door flew open and an orange blur I vaguely recognized as Noitte in her track clothes rushed into the house and up the stairs, leaving behind a quickly shouted "Hey Conor!" and the sound of her shoes hitting the steps.

O…kay?

"Well someone has big plans for Friday night!" Fig said, floating next to me with her arms crossed in front of her chest.

Oh yeah… I almost forgot it was Friday, and most people actually do things on Friday. 

After a few seconds, Mile walked in from the garage wearing her uniform and a slight look of exasperation. 

"Noitte! Stop running on the stairs! You all have plenty of time!"

"Sorry mom!"

Despite her words, Noitte still ran back down the stairs, now dressed in more casual clothes, then right out the door.

"Bye mom! Bye Conor!"

With that, she ran out the garage door, loudly closing it behind her. A few seconds later I heard the car leave and the garage begin to close.

I looked at Mile with an expression of confusion on my face. 

"Huuu. Hey, sweetie. Those two are going out to the movies with Luce. I think it was a superhero movie or something?"

"Ah. Which one?"

"I have no idea."

Right.

I don't get along well with Season or Luce, and I hate being in crowded places with strangers, so I know why they didn't even ask me if I wanted to go, but something about other people making plans and having fun without me just kind of stings. 

That one's on me though. Just one more reason to do better.

I don't know if my slight frustration showed on my face or if it was just her intuition, but Mile's brow furrowed a bit as she watched me think.

"Don't worry Conor! You're doing so much better than before. Once you get out there and start interacting with people again, it'll be easy as pie!"

I appreciate the pep talk and all, but her forced smile and worried eyes just kind of hurt.

Anyway, no point thinking about it now. Maybe this time next week… okay maybe this time next month I'll be going out with them, or maybe doing my own thing!

With complete confidence in my ability to beat my anxiety and laziness, and definitely no doubts or concerns whatsoever, I turned my game back on and prepared to spend my Friday night as usual.

Behind me, I could hear Mile walk away, then walk back, then walk away again as if indecisive about something. I wanted to tell her to just not worry about it, but felt like being dismissive would be kind of mean here. Not that I haven't been kind of mean and dismissive for the last several years, but again, I wanted to try to do better.

After another couple of cycles of going back and forth, Mile finally spoke up.

"Is there anything you want to eat for dinner, Conor?"

"Other than you~?" Fig chimed in, taking full advantage of being undetectable.

Ignoring her, I thought for a moment about what we had in the fridge. Mile was a pretty good cook, as expected of someone who's been a mother for almost thirty years, so her homemade meals were a perk of staying in, at least.

"Could you make chicken strips?"

"Of course, sweetie! I'll get started on them right now."

Smiling audibly at being able to do something for me, Mile took off into the kitchen. I could hear the clattering of pots and plasticware  as she started preparing to cook.

I was actually looking forward to Mile’s homemade chicken, so I returned to my game in a slightly better mood as I tuned out the sounds from the kitchen. I began to get engrossed in my game as time went on, getting slightly annoyed at the repetitiveness of having to repeat a fight again and again for an item drop.

Suddenly, I heard the sound of the front door opem and close, bringing me back from the game.

"Hello?"

…

"Someone there?"

"Nope!"

I jumped up as Fig responded from right next to me. I'd already gotten used to having her around, but suddenly hearing a voice by your ear when you're nervous is a bit of an exception.

As for the embarrassment of getting scared by the squeaky voice of a six inch tall naked girl? …I don't know what you're talking about…

Fig grinned widely, floating in front of my face as she spoke.

"Mile went walking to the corner store, so you're home alone for now!"

"Wait, what? Why'd she do that?"

Fig put on a smug grin as she listened to my question.

"You really need to get better at listening to people, you know~”

“Fig.”

“Yeah yeah." Her shoulders drooped back down as she continued on. "She said there wasn't any flour left, so she couldn't bread the chicken."

"What?"

It wasn't the first time this had happened, but it was definitely the first time Mile had gone walking out to the corner store because of it. She hates walking anywhere after work, and hates the price gouging at the corner store even more. Every other time this has happened, she just asked us to pick something different for the night and went out for groceries the next day.

So why this time?

"Well, you asked her to make fried chicken, so of course she's going to do whatever it takes to do it, right?"

How does that make… right… that's what I told her yesterday. To be a good stepmother she has to do whatever I ask. If I ask her to fry chicken, she's going to fry chicken, and that apparently includes getting whatever we're missing…

I couldn't help but furrow my brow as I wondered aloud.

"How far does that go, Fig?" 

"Hmm?"

"I mean like, what if I threw away the pot?"

Fig began to tap her chin as she seemed to think.

"Well… she'd probably go out and buy another one, right?" 

It bothered me that she didn't sound particularly confident, but I continued questioning anyway.

"... what if I made it impossible for her to get the stuff she needed?"

"Hmm… well you tied it to being a good stepmom, right? So wouldn't she just think she was a bad stepmom?"

"..."

Shit… thats what I thought too… Okay, so I should probably think a little more before casually asking Mile to do something. Great, more to think about, just what I needed.

Sigh.

I sat back down a d resumed playing as I waited for Mile to return. Why didn't I just go outside and ask her to not worry about the chicken or volunteer to go myself? Because I didn't think of it, honestly.

After a few runs' worth of time, Mile came back in, slightly sweaty, but still smiling as she walked by me and into the kitchen. Somehow this just felt kind of wrong.

I tried not to think about it as I half focused on my game and half focused on listening to the kitchen in case she decided she needed to run out again or something. 

Fortunately, we seemed to have everything else and the cooking went without incident. That said, frying food takes time to do right, and it took another hour before Mile called out to me again.

"Conor! Dinner's ready!"

"Food!"

Faster than me, Fig dashed to the kitchen table. She flew in circles around the table, looking closely at the layout of fried chicken, mashed potatoes, and peas. 

"Aw! It looks so good! Why can't I eat?"

She groaned and continued zipping around as I made my way to the table and sat down across from Mile, who looked completely exhausted.

"Er, thanks for the food, Mile…"

"No problem, sweetie. Dig in."

Despite feeling bad, I did exactly that. As always, her cooking was amazing, definitely better than I felt I could ever do. Mile herself seemed excited to see me sitting at the table with her, and began talking about everything from going to the movies, to work, to how much she hated the corner store. I responded briefly between bites of food, trying to keep something resembling a conversation going.

I definitely at least owed her this much attention given that I made her go out in the heat and then cook for an hour after she already had a full day of work. 

It didn't take long for me to clear my plate, thanks to the delicious food, so I stood up and prepared to go back to my game just as I finished listening to Mile's thoughts about gas prices and I thought the conversation reached a reasonable stopping point.

As I stood up, I saw a slight shift on her face. It was brief, but she definitely seemed disappointed to see the end of the "conversation".

Shit.

I don't want to be rude here, but I also really don't want to keep listening to her all night. She's just trying to make conversation, sure, but once she starts talking it could take hours for her to finish. She and Noitte could talk for hours about absolutely nothing if you let them. I just didn't have the mental bandwidth to keep paying attention to everything she was saying and I'd rather not have to…

Wait. What am I doing? 

"Hey Mile, could we keep talking after you finish your food?"

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"Ah! Of course!"

She still looked just a bit disappointed to see me walk away, but maybe because the promise of continuing to talk was there, she kept a joyful look on her face as she resumed eating.

On my end, I made my way back to the couch and sat upright for once as I resumed my game, waiting for Mile to finish eating and come sit down.

A few minutes later I heard the clatter of her putting her plate in the sink before she came over and sat on the other couch, occasionally glancing up at the game as she sat back and started to make herself comfortable.

Sorry, but don't get too comfy quite yet. 

"Actually, if you don't mind, could you sit next to me?" 

She stared at me and blinked for a moment before she stood back up with a soft, but slightly confused smile on her face.

"If that's what you want, Conor."

She sat down about a foot away from me, looking at me with one eyebrow raised as she tried to figure out what had caused my request.

Actually, I don't know if I even needed the obedience change to do this much, she's always wanted to be closer to me anyway.

As for the next part… I put on as straight as face as possible and tried my best to keep my tone even.

"Then could… could I also lay my head on your lap while I play?"

Her expression froze for a moment and my head started aching slightly as she seemed to resist the effects of Corruption. She leaned away from me and frowned slightly, obviously becoming uncomfortable with the situation.

"Actually, I… don't know that I'm comfortable with that… Is… is everything okay, sweetie? You usually hate being this close to people at all, and now you're asking to lay on my lap…?"

Well… That's a fair point to make, Mile, but I have an even better counterpoint:

Active Corruption 

I felt a small amount of energy drain from me and flow towards Mile. Unlike with normal Corruption, her face didn't go blank, instead her eyes just seemed to get a bit fuzzy and her mouth hung open slightly. Her face would seem super out of place normally, but compared to the blank stares Corruption usually caused, she looked downright inconspicuous.

"Ooh! Going for Active Corruption this time?"

Fig flew around Mile excitedly as I took in the effects of the new skill.

"Yeah, I figured it should be fine to use on her this time around."

"Huh?" Mile asked me in a subdued, but obviously confused voice.

Right, she's not totally zoned out. Can't talk to Fig while using it.

"Sorry Mile, could you forget you heard that?" 

"Oh… okay honey."

"Aww! You can't just ignore me!"

I just ignored Fig as I tried to figure out how to move the conversation forward.

Mile continued to look at me with a foggy expression as I tried to quickly think. Functional conversation was my weakness, and Active Corruption requires it to function, so I was in a bit of a pickle as I tried not to let things lapse too long. I probably should have thought harder on this before just deciding to use a new skill…

"So what's wrong, Conor? Why the sudden change in attitude?" Mile asked, sounding dazed, but still somewhat concerned. 

Oh yeah! That was the topic before, right? I can use that. Mile gave me just the question I needed to organize my thoughts and push forward. Okay, let's see… got it!

I put on an apologetic face as I began speaking.

"Sorry Mile, I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable. "

"Oh no, it's not that, I… I was just worried you might be feeling… well that something was wrong with you, sweetie."

"Er… well I was just thinking that one of the things I want to be fixing right now is my relationship with you, Season, and Noitte. You want us to be closer too, right?"

She smiled gently as my words sank into her.

"Of course Conor. Nothing would make me happier than seeing everyone get along… I… don't want us to feel so distant from each other when we're supposed to be a family… especially not when everyone will be leaving soon…"

The contrast between her sincere expression and my intentions hurt my heart a little,  but I managed to tamp it down. In my own way, I was trying to make us closer too, right? 

…

…Anyway, let's focus.

"Well… I was just thinking that one of the things most families had growing up that we didn't was physical contact."

"I… see…"

"I mean, I know I've mostly been the one avoiding contact the last few years, but that's why I want to fix it now!"

"So that's it…"

"You think having more physical contact will help us get closer too, right Mile?"

I felt a slight shift in the air followed by a moderate flow of energy heading towards Mile. Seems she didn't have that much resistance to physical contact, and just needed a slight push. 

Her eyes regained clarity as she mulled over my words for a moment before seeming to snap back to attention.

"R-right! I'm so sorry sweetie! I didn't realize how hard you were trying to get along with everyone!"

She straightened herself in her seat and scooted over a little bit to give me room to lay down. Once she found a comfortable spot, she used her hands to dust off her house pants a couple of times before turning to me with a gentle smile. 

"Of course you can lay on my lap, honey. I don't know what I was thinking before."

Well, her thinking before was pretty normal, actually, but I won't argue if I get to have a lap pillow.

I leaned myself over and lowered my head onto her lap, "accidentally" brushing the back of my head against her enormous boobs as I did so, causing her to recoil a bit. 

I didn't get a headache and she didn't say anything, so maybe her resistance is lower than it was before, but it's still clearly too early to do that much touching.

For now, I just laid my head on her lap. The softness of her plush thighs was easily transmitted through the cotton of her pants along with the slightly sweet smell of her body wash mixing with her sweat after a long day. The feeling was outrageously comfortable and my mind went slightly blank for a moment as I immersed myself in the comfort of her lap. 

I adjusted my head slightly so that I was resting cozily on my side and could still see the TV, and felt Mile shift slightly as she tried to get comfortable too. I didn't want to fall asleep like this. Or, rather, I would be happy to fall asleep like this, but Noitte and Season would get home eventually and I didn't want to deal with their reaction to me laying on their mom's lap.

"Is this okay, Conor?" Mile asked, bringing me back to reality.

"Y-yeah. Could you let me lay here for a bit while I play?"

"If that's what you want, honey."

It was, in fact, what I wanted, so I enjoyed the soft feeling of her lap and the sweet smell of her body as I relaxed. I tried to look up at her face, but a wall of tits was obscuring my view.

Having felt my head shift towards her and apparently knowing what view greeted me, Mile sighed a bit before speaking.

"I don't mind if you lay on my lap, Conor, but could you keep your head forward? Even if you turn around, you're not… well you're not going to see my face."

"Er… sorry, Mile. Didn't mean to make you uncomfortable."

"No no no, I just meant… well anyway, so what's this game about?"

It wasn't the smoothest subject change she could have made, but it was certainly easier on both of us than going back and forth about her breasts. I turned back towards the game and unpaused it as I tried to think of an easy way to explain it to Mile.

"So it's called Fame Kage."

"Fame Cage?"

"Yeah, with a 'K'. So the idea is basically to balance doing missions for the guild with your notoriety. You want to do as much to help everyone as possible without attracting the nobles' attention."

"Uh huh. And why is their attention bad?"

"Well, they'll kill you if they can, and they have the money to make it happen."

"Ah, I see. And that girl is the main character?"

I could hear a slight bit of playful accusation in her voice as she indicated my character, a curvy girl with tight fitting clothing and a sexy voice. 

"Er… there are a lot of characters you can recruit. Right now I'm just using her because her skills help on this mission."

"Uh huh."

"A-anyways. Yeah, it's a good game, I've been playing it a lot while I've been home the last couple of years, so I'm actually one of the top players."

"Mm hm."

"Ha… I… I guess I won't have time to keep grinding anymore starting Monday, huh?"

I could feel her pause for a moment and then take a deep breath after I said that. Oops, I didn't mean to make things awkward. Before I could say anything else, I felt her shift a bit before her hand landed gently on top of my head.

"Don't worry baby, I'm sure it'll be great. Once you get back out there, you’ll find something you love a million times more than this. I just know it…"

I could feel the warm smile in her voice as she started to gently stroke my hair. 

What's with the extra service? …well, "don't look a gift horse in the mouth", right?

I relaxed and enjoyed the feeling of Mile's thighs under my head and the gentle stroking of my hair as I continued to play my game, occasionally answering a question about it or what else I did at home.

It… was nice. It definitely beat going out to see some generic hero movie, and it almost made me want to stay a NEET for a little longer as long as I could enjoy a relaxing evening like this every week.

We continued to sit like that for a couple of hours before the sound of the garage caught our attention and brought my relaxing evening to an end.

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