" blah, blah. " thumb repeatedly clicked against her straightened fingers. it was the best she could come up with. maybe she should have gone to law school ? she might have been able to argue properly. " what do you want to eat ? i'm craving sushi but i'm feeling generous so you can choose. you're the one who dates around so you must know good spots. "

" sushi is fine. " if they don't go for sushi, she would probably complain about how she wished she had sushi. feyza never feels generous. it's all a trap. " why do you set yourself up? find someone else to go to sushi with, i'm going to call mom to discuss your potential suitors. " he takes a few steps ahead of her to turn around to wave his phone in the air, showing that their mother's contact profile is on display as his finger hovers over the call button.

"yeah, but it sort of sounded like a lot of people wanted to stand up and yell."

" lawrence fairchild winning the award over beatrice aldridge is funny as fuck. maybe this will save fairchild media from declaring bankruptcy. " he kind of wished he went to witness the drama. " i'm betting he'll feel brave enough to try to acquire incognigo. "

"     yes.  no.     "     yuki steps out from behind his standing desk (one of the rare times that he's using the standing functionality) and approaches, shrugging.     "     i don't think i'm legally allowed to say.     "     wrong!  literally nothing is holding him to that.     "     why  ?  what's going on  ?     "

" i would also like to know. is it just me or has she been more... " feral? psychotic? he had to think of a better word. " overwhelmed. "

" thick skin is ugly on women, i'm well within my right to uphold my market value, " feyza scoffed theatrically. she brushed her hair off of her shoulder and straightened her posture. yeah... unsurprisingly, she was kind of losing their little bickering match. " i don't remember you being this touchy. honestly, it's weird that you haven't paraded them around. " if she was being honest, she probably wouldn't have either. a long lecture from their parents was in hasan's future. " huh ? " she jolted up from her seat. " hey, no. if you do that i will not speak to you for like a month. she will not leave me alone, and i just got her off my back ! it only happened because i let her help me choose a dress for me. the dress was so bad that i cannot afford to do it again. hasan, no. " it almost sounded like she was telling a misbehaving dog to stop pleading for scraps. " not even as a joke. "

" every time we argue you act surprised i argue back and then you make comments about how i'm being touchy because you have nothing else to say. " the same pattern she uses every single time. and the only way to diffuse the situation is to threaten to do something where you'll have the upper hand, and in this case it's calling their mom about a potential date. " thought so. " as if she'd even survive not talking to him for a month. who else is she going to use as a punching bag? " now can you shut up about this shit so we can get food? "

" grow a thicker skin and stop being so whiny. you're the older one. " she crossed her arms and furiously shook her head at him. " i was just voicing some concerns. " it was another classic line right out of their mother's mouth. the association made feyza quirk a corner of her lips just a bit. " i mean sometimes when a person is incapable of making sound decisions, they have to be denied certain privileges... " hasan wasn't senile just yet though... " i'm just gonna throw it out here: if you show a baby to mom, maybe she'll shut up for the rest of our lives. take one for the team. "

" oh, and you're not? you're only two years younger, you're too old to pull that shit now. " he scoffs which turns into a loud laugh of disbelief. " you were definitely voicing something, but were you concerned? nah. you're just projecting. " he didn't know exactly what, but at the moment he doesn't exactly care. " yeah, and if you keep coming for me, you're never going to meet them. " he rolls his eyes. " you know what, i'm going to set you up on a date to make mom happy. we should call her right now and let her know. "

" don't snap at me ! i don't react well when people snap at me. " because something about the tone change always made her irrationally uneasy. she was not going to even acknowledge who had used a hostile tone first... " you're being a disgusting man, okay ? i'm just trying to save face here. okay fine. if you have no plans of settling down, learn to use a condom. and get tested, you probably have a kit's worth of stds. " it was genuine concern mixed with a very low blow — but it felt appropriate considering he had called her a disappointment. " i wasn't planning to. dad would get a heart attack or something. " she let out a loud sigh. " are you going to let us meet them at some point... ? will i get to do my first act of nepotism and secure them an internship in twenty years. "

" what the fuck did you expect! did you think i would accept the criticism on my life with open arms? " he thought they were getting lunch! " okay, relax. you sound like mom right now. " and it wasn't a compliment. " and they wanted to keep the children what the fuck am i supposed to say! no, don't do what you want with your body? " at least they agreed on something. " i don't fucking know, fey! maybe ask on a day when you're not planning to rip apart my character. and only if they want to work here. "

" hey ! yo ! don't make this about me. " she shook a finger at him as a warning. the b-word was a forbidden word in her office room. especially if it came from the lips of hasan. the hypocrite. " your wedding would be a great... honorable event. " it had been a mistake to let hasan escape turkey and from beneath the watchful eyes of their parents. " so they aren't dead ? so technically you could call either up ? it wouldn't be hard. " she put her hand by her ear, imitating a phone call. " hey remember me ? yeah, i'm filthy rich and lonely, can we work it out ? "

he rolls his eyes, oh my fucking god when will she shut up! " then let's fucking call it even! because let's be real, fey — i know you don't want to admit that you're just as much of a disappointment to mom. " to be fair, the disappointment directed toward him was justified, whereas feyza's was traditions rooted from misogyny. " and you're assuming either want anything to do with me. " which they probably don't. " also, you better not fucking tell mom and dad that they're not from the same parent. "

" two kids, but no ring ? where is ring, hasan ? where's the ring, huh ? at this rate i will personally make it my life's mission to make you a stable human being. you're going to give mom a heart disease at this rate. now that it's warm and sunny even in dreary england, you should meet someone. someone nice and sane. what even happened to the previous oneee... " she continued the vowel, tried to decipher from his expression if she was meant to end the word with an 's'. " ...s ? " ( &. @hasankcskin )

" hey hey hey, easy— " he didn't come by her office to listen to a lecture. he slowly paces around her office, bobbing his head side to side as she goes on and on. " i know you're trying to get the heat off yourself so mom doesn't keep asking when you're getting a boyfriend, tch. " did their mom trigger her on the phone by saying something about feyza being past the prime age for pregnancy? " my wedding would be a great distraction from her saying something about your dry love life, right? " he doesn't properly answer the question. " they're both alive and well. "