doku | 　

Or she could have been flirting.

[That was certainly a fair possibility.]

But that means I can definitely buy you lunch! [See what happened there? But she's finished eating so she gets up, arranging her utensils on her plate to take them to the sink. She'll do the same if/when he's done! She won't rush him though but won't be messy in his apartment either. Nariko can't cook but she can certainly clean!]

[Boxer looks towards his bedroom when he hears Nariko call out for him. He washes his hands and dries them off to go tend to her, but as soon as he reaches the door he catches sight of her falling.

Jeez, she's really in bad shape, huh?]

Nariko!

[He wheels over to her and his tentacles gently lift her up from the floor and seated in his lap.]

Are you okay?

Oh, thanks!

[Yeah, he's done! And he's very surprised at Nariko's eagerness to help out--it's very appreciated. Oh, she sure is a keeper.]

Imagine we'll be buying each other lunch off and on for a while. [Smirky smirk.]

[She's on her ass by the time he gets there, and she's halfway towards pulling herself up onto the bed, too. Of course Boxer derails that, and she's not gonna complain because going by tentacle is way easier than trying to use her legs right now.]

Thank you. [Leaning back a bit she smiles at him.] I'm okay, cramps just came back, [In full force.] and I feel like my head's in a tilt a whirl.

[Miiight be a tad anemic.] Weren't we having sex?

[She'd said some bad line about doing crime and then Boxer's voice and...] Did I fall asleep?!

[His plate goes too! And hopefully he won't mind if she just acquaints herself with his sink so that she can wash everything involved.]

At least that, you've kinda won me over, here.

[Dinner, conversation, they're going to watch a movie ... It's a little bittersweet because once upon a time this was her life with someone else. But she won't begrudge a second chance, she'll just clean the little oven if necessary!]

Hey, where do you keep your towels? [She'll need to dry stuff soon!]

Yeah, you went out cold on me. I was worried.

[Don't mind him he's just giving her a bunch of affectionate rubbing in hopes that it'll ease the tiredness in her body. He's working on a very iron-rich dinner so they won't have to worry about it for long.]

[Anything that occurs near her lower back is a godsend, and she shows her appreciation with a groan - though it's warped by his answer.]

Holy shit. [Who the hell falls asleep in the middle of banging?! Especially when it's that good???] I'm so sorry!

[Oh god this is embarrassing.] It's not - Not you! I always get really tired and sort of frazzled during this time of the month!

[She's gonna go on and on until he stops her because wow this was awful.]

[He points at a door that looks like it's more likely to pass off as a pantry instead of a linen closet. Spoilers: it's both, technically--bathroom and kitchen linens here, bedroom linens in the bedroom closet. He doesn't have a lot of canned goods, but plenty of spices, noodles, and pickled goods.]

Over there. Can't say I've had a guest so eager to help clean up...

[You know it's a really good thing she asked then, she wouldn't have guessed the pantry.]

Thanks, handsome.

[Towel obtained, though she does look at Boxer over her shoulder a bit.] I'll stop if you like [She's a little worried he thinks its rude of her.] but I think it's rude to just dirty everything up and not even help!

[A shrug.]

That, and cleaning brings me a deep, personal joy.

No, no, no--stop, Nariko.

[He gives her a little chuckle.]

It's okay. It's not your fault. I'm making you a big dinner to bring your energy back, okay?

No, no, it's...

[He waves a hand defensively. It seems wrong to call his previous guests rude for not cleaning up, when it was a case of...]

Normally I don't like people digging around my place. I'm a private person.

[A beat.]

But I trust you.

[She stares in a manner that's almost owlish.]

So you're definitely not mad?

[Because she still feels kind of awful.]

What? No! [Lord, Nariko!] Why would you think that I'd be mad?

[He wonders more and more about her past the more these little things come up.]

[Oh. Well. She's tempted to stop right then and there but ... He just said he was comfortable with it, so it'd be dumb to just drop it all now.]

Oh. [This feels like a weirdly important sign of some kind.] I'm really happy to hear that.

[She raises a washed fork semi-accusingly, though.] But if it starts to bother you again, tell me!

[And then she'll back off.]

I fell asleep while we were having sex, Boxer. You weren't even finished.

[Or at least she doesn't remember him coming, and there's nothing down south except for the tampon, so ...]

[A smile.] Don't worry. It's pretty obvious when I'm being territorial.

[As monsters tend to be. For now, though...how about that popcorn? Boxer is digging around in his cabinet for the fixin's for caramel popcorn.]

So? We'll have sex again at some point. Your safety and health is more important than my orgasm.

I will keep that in mind.

[She'd make a joke about him biting but she's aware of his teeth soooo. In any case, everything is put away in its rightful place after a little tentative searching. She'll let him deal with the popcorn, though.]

Do you mind if I go change? This outfit is cute and all but it's probably outlived its welcome.

[Yeah, biting isn't really an option. Nibbling, on the other hand, is still on the table.]

Oh, sure. Go make yourself comfortable.

[What'd she bring for PJs, anyway?]

[If he really dissects her expression he can probably see his words not making sense in real time.]

... Oh.

[She leans back against his chest.] Boxer, you're a really great guy.

[But also try to avoid wondering too much, maybe.]

[She waves in a sort of 'be back in a second' way, and takes her bag with her to his room. He'll find out the sleep clothes situation in something like ten minutes because she spends a lot of time inspecting his tank, taking mental measurements and writing some stuff down. Then, and only then, can she get dressed.

It's a classy pink pajama set with pants and a button up top that says 'Espresso Yourself'. Because that's not dorky at all. ]

It's common decency. Maybe not the making dinner part, because that takes some skill.

[Not that he's bragging. Boxer never brags.

(He's totally bragging.)

One of the timers goes off in the kitchen.]

Speaking of which...

[Time to wheel both of them out there!]

[He doesn't notice how long it takes for her to come back out, given that he's focused on making their little movie treat. But when she does, he gives her a cute little smile.]

Cute!

Thank you.

[Next sleep over? Super tight shorts.

But she goes ahead and leaves the popcorn to him and finds his remote.] Oh, do you mind if I grab a blanket or something?

[He doesn't think this won't end in cuddling, right? Because even if he's not a big movie person the one benefit of movies in general is the closeness.]

That absolutely takes skill.

[This is like .... wingman bragging or something. His cooking is good enough for bragging and she should know it and feel inspired to brag!

But while he wheels Nariko settles against him a bit more.]

Thank you for everything. I don't think anyone's tucked me into bed that lovingly since I was a little kid.

[And he's also very clearly washed her, too. That someone would go to such lengths to take care of her feels amazing.]

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject