Domestic Vocaloid Adventures

A Talk After Dinner

     Len had never been more nervous in his life. Not even when he hadn't studied for finals last year. Not even when he and Rin uploaded their first video of them singing on their YouTube channel. Not even when he was meeting the Shions for the first time.

     Why was that? Well, because he was going to have dinner at Oliver's house.

     He and Oliver had been officially dating for a while now, and Oliver's mother had suggested he come over for dinner. Of course he wasn't going to miss that opportunity, but he was still nervous.

     He took a deep breath, trying to push his anxiety down inside him, and knocked on the door. A kind looking woman with curly, blonde hair that Len assumed to be Oliver's mother opened the door, her face lighting up when she saw him.

     She looked to the right. "Hey, Ollie, your boyfriend is here!" She called with a smile.

     Len smiled at the word 'boyfriend.' They had been dating for a while now, but it still made him feel all warm whenever he heard it. They were boyfriends. He was Oliver's boyfriend.

     The woman turned her head back towards Len and said "Hey! You must be Len, we've heard so much about you! Here, come on in." She opened the door the rest of the way and moved aside. Len stepped in.

     Oliver ran in and gave Len a quick hug. "Hi! I'm so glad you could make it!" Oliver said excitedly. He then took notice of the woman next to them and said "Oh, this is my mom."

     His mother extended a hand to Len, and he cautiously shook it. "Yep! But you don't need to bother with any of that 'Mrs. King' business, everyone just calls me Sweet Ann," she winked playfully.

     "Um, nice to meet you Sweet Ann." Len did his best to smile back.

     Sweet Ann turned to her son. "Oliver, go fetch your brother and father for dinner, okay?"

     "Okay!" Oliver confirmed.

     She then turned back to Len. "You can just wait here, it shouldn't take too long."

     Oliver ran off to fetch the rest of his family, and Len sat down in the living room.

     "You seem like a very nice boy, Len," Sweet Ann sat next to him. "I'm glad Oliver found you. You're making him very happy, you know?"

     Len instantly perked up. "I—I am?"

     She nodded. "He talks about you all the time."

     "O-oh!" Len resisted the urge to cover his face with his hands in embarrassment. "Really?"

     "He sure does! You're very good for him. He's been struggling ever since he lost his eye, but you really do make him happy."

     "Well...he's making me happy too." Len smiled. He didn't actually know how Oliver lost his eye, but he was happy he was helping.

     "I'm glad. You're always welcome here," Sweet Ann smiled back. "I mean, you already look like one of us!" She added, ruffling his extremely blonde hair playfully.

     Len laughed. "I guess I do."

     Then, Oliver ran back in with two men by his side. The younger of the two was slender and had long, blond hair, and he introduced himself as Yohio, but said nothing else. The elder man was stocky and the only brunet if the family, and he introduced himself as their father, but followed in his wife's footsteps by saying not to call him Mr. King, because everyone calls him Big Al.

     After that, they all sat down to eat. Sweet Ann made spaghetti. Len did his best to try and get along with everyone, but Yohio seemed to not like him. Or maybe he was just quiet, but nonetheless he seemed to be trying to do everything he could to avoid speaking to Len.

     Len figured he'd ask Oliver about it later, and right now he was going to focus on their parents. It didn't require too much focus though, because Sweet Ann and Big Al were really friendly.

     Eventually, dinner came to a close. Len helped with the dishes. Oliver insisted he didn't have to, but he wanted to make a good impression.

     "Thank you for having me over for dinner. I'm glad I could make it!" Said Len as he helped finish up the last of the dishes. "But my ride is coming soon, so I should head outside and wait."

     Sweet Ann nodded. "Of course, we're all glad you could make it too!"

     "Let me wait outside with you!" Oliver piped up, perhaps a bit too quickly.

     "Oh, uh, of course!" Len replied.

     The two boys headed outside, and sat on the porch swing out front. They sat in the warm night air, the moon giving everything a soft glow, with the sound of crickets softly chirping in their ears.

     For a moment, neither of them said anything. Len decided to break the ice.

     "Your mom is nice."

     Oliver nodded. "Yeah. What's your mom like?"

     Len furrowed his brow. "Um, do you mean Meiko?"

     "Hm?"

     Len sighed. Right, he hadn't really told Oliver about his family yet.

     "Uh, Meiko is my foster mom. She's...she's pretty cool. She's really nice. I like her."

     "What about your birth parents?"

     Len sighed.

     "Oh! You don't have to tell me if you don't want to, I don't mean to pry!" Oliver scrambled around for a response.

     Len laughed. "No, it's fine, calm down. It's not like it's a secret or anything. Basically, uh...they kind of forgot about me and Rin? I don't know, they kind of just left us to our own devices. They were at home sometimes, but they didn't really care what we did or put in any effort to take care of us."

     Oliver's face was very understanding as Len did his best to try and explain. Len was having a lot of trouble articulating his thoughts, as they weren't exactly times he'd like to go back to.

     "And one day I guess one of our teachers noticed that our clothes kind of weren't fitting right and they made a call. Next thing I know they're being charged with child neglect." He swallowed nervously. "And we got taken away. They ended up placing us with Meiko and her husband Kaito. Apparently they weren't planning on becoming foster parents, but then Kaito's cousin and his wife both died so they took in his daughter, Miku, and I guess they liked taking care of kids, so..." He let out a shaky sigh as he finished explaining.

     Oliver reached over and grabbed his hand, squeezing it gently. "Thanks for telling me. I'm sorry that happened to you."

     "It's no big deal. It's all in the past now," Len replies quietly, squeezing his hand back.

     They sat in comfortable silence for a moment, just listening to the crickets and enjoying each other's company, when Oliver suddenly turns towards his boyfriend and says "Can I kiss you?"

     And, without thinking, Len says "Yes."

     And the next minute, Oliver's lips are on his.

     Len thought he would have been more panicked, as this was his first kiss after all, but he was surprisingly calm, his mind empty of nothing but Oliver.

     After a moment, Oliver gently pulls back, and his eyes read pure love.

     Suddenly, a familiar car pulled up in front of the house. Both boys quickly turned to look at it.

     "Ah! That's Meiko now, actually!" Len regretfully let go of his boyfriend's hand and stood up. "I have to go! I'll see you at school Monday!"

     "Don't forget to text me!"

     "I won't!" Len called as he dashed down to Meiko's car.

     It was a nice night.