doku | 　

[Yes, food, Boxer. So much food, most all of which made by an enthusiastic grandma who has a boatload of old, reliable recipes. They'll get along amazingly just based on his appetite.

It's almost no surprise to her that he has a valid solution.]

That you would end up receiving the best lamb stew on Earth doesn't play a part in this, right? [She can barely make it through that mock question without laughing.]

No! What? No, not at all. [Such a cheesy grin.] But it does take money to make a reservation, and "the best lamb stew on Earth" would be a great way to compensate me...

She'll give you an entire pot to yourself, and if you let her know that you'll be the one impregnating her favorite granddaughter with multiple kids, and she'll feed you for life. [She snorts.]

My grandma had fourteen kids, she's been expecting me to live up to that number since my first period.

[He's basically a shoe-in, which makes the entire situation far less stressful. Granted, the implications here are kind of disturbing but, eh, Nariko managed to do everything on her own time and her own way, so there's no bad blood over it all.]

Hah! You don't think that she'd be disturbed at the idea that her fourteen grandchildren might be monsterkind?

[You know those older folks, they tend to be less accepting.]

Mm.

[It says a bit that she has to really stop and think about it.] I mean, I think she'll be overjoyed at just the idea, and then the reality of it will settle in. But as long as they're like you I really do think she'll be fine.

[As in, human on top and monster party on the bottom would be perfectly acceptable.] She might try to knit them tentacle booties.

[He's not surprised--it's fair to think about.]

I plan to raise them well.

[AKA: He thinks she means in behavior.]

Tentacle booties! [His tentacles coil excitedly below her.] What can I do to get a set of my own?

No, I mean if they're sort of human on top and tenta-fun on the bottom. [That's - something to be clear about, she doesn't want him being surprised or inadvertently insulted by the whole thing.] Of course you're going to raise them well.

[That's not even something to jokingly question, to her. Will he maybe be the kind of dad who spoils a little too much? Maybe. But that's okay, and she laughs at that question.]

You wait for your surprise to finish! I'm just about done with it.

[His new wheel chair comes with something to hold the little buddies, of course! Frederico and Alfonso and Veni and Mauricio and all of them!]

Oh. [And here he was thinking his most notable characteristic was his manners! The tentacles can come in 'best in show' if not first place.]

Surprise? [This is the first time he's heard of it! And...he has no idea that she named each of his tentacles.]

Are you knitting me tentacle booties?

[She doesn't really strike him as the knitting type, but she is the type to come up with the unexpected.]

[She renames them every other day or so, but makes sure not to say the names out loud just in case, y'know, maybe it's insulting! But it's easier to keep track of where they are and what they're doing sometimes if they're named!]

I can't knit to save my life.

[But she has other talents which can be useful to him and his overall well being!] But I am making you something that's just as good, I really think you'll love it. For once it's not a shirt!

[By now there have probably been many, many shirts.]

[He wouldn't be insulted. Endeared, more likely. But he would be disappointed if he found out that some of them didn't have female designations, like the ones that he basically uses as a second set of hands.]

Really? That's exciting.

[So say his tentacles, which are now just full-on squirming below her.]

Do I get any hints? --No, wait, I want it to be a total surprise.

[It's something of a blessing in disguise, because Nariko would be the terrible individual who names a female-anything 'Meadow'. Which means he needs to be a little careful about their eventual children's birth certificates. There's being creative an then there's granting a lifetime of suffering.

But Seraphina would be a nice name for a tentacle!]

It was going to be a total surprise either way. If I give you a hint you might figure it out and then you won't be able to give me an honest reaction!

[Besides, all she has to do is finish testing the wheels, get the upholstery on, and finish a bit of sewing and then it's done! Hopefully he'll like it, but she's tried to refrain from getting her hopes up too much, it might need to be further customized for all that she's tried to forecast.]

[Oooh, how appropriate!]

Right, right. My thoughts exactly. Is it for an anniversary or something? Should I prepare a gift of my own?

[Not that their reciprocal cycle of gift-giving ever really needed a rhyme or reason, but still. If it's an occasion then they should treat it as such!]

No, I think you've given me more gifts than I've ever received in my life, Boxer. You have cornered the gift giving market. [Because he's amazing.] I came up with this just because it made sense, and I wanted to be able to do it for you.

[Describing his new wheelchair without spoiling it is surprisingly difficult!] You've always taken such good care of me, so hopefully this'll begin to return the favor. [She leans up to kiss his jaw, fully settling back on him.]

If I take a few days off you'll be seeing it soon, anyway.

[She's got the sick time, and now seems like a good time to use it. A little staycation to reset her brain.]

[Made sense? Return the favor of taking care of him...? She's kind of dropping hints as it is!]

Is that why you haven't been letting me near your apartment recently?

[Not that he's ever really been able to fit into her apartment comfortably, which pretty much made it so that they needed a pretty specific reason for him to come over...but still!]

You can't take time off work and not spend a little of it with me, [he teases, pulling at her sleeve playfully.] Even if you're working on a special project...

We both know your apartment is cooler, and I still haven't been able to find sheets that match up to the ones you have and it bothers me.

[She's only half joking.] But yes, that's why I've been a little more eager to come over. [Because his new wheelchair takes up the entirety of her little study, her drafting table is shoved into her living room ... It was kind of a small place already, rearranging stuff out of its place kind of made it worse.

When he pulls at the sleeve of her dress she leans up to kiss him, grinning the whole time. Of course not, handsome. If I do go over to mess with it, it'll only be while you're working, or if you want to be left alone.

[Her presence in his apartment doesn't mean that he has to force himself to be social, but she really does intend to spend far more time with him.]

[Thankfully they're starting to get to the point where being around each other isn't a "social" obligation anymore. They can just be together alone, which is honestly really nice. But the downside now is that being by himself is even more lonely.]

Now that sounds like a plan.

[After all, she expressed interest in staying here for a while, and if she spends her free time at her own apartment, it's kind of...not staying here, in a way.]

[He wouldn't have to be by himself if they lived together! Just an observation.

But, yeah, if she was going to head over there too much - her place is quite far from his, after all - she'd definitely just stay home. But talking about the idea reignites her desire to finish it before too long!] I'm sorry, but in your time of need you're just going to be drowned in love and attention. I'm gonna clean this place like no other, and I can't cook, but there'll be dinner either way.

[She'll throw away the take-out boxes so it'll just kind of look like she cooked! But they'll both know she didn't.

Although, an important question:]

How do you feel about flowers?

[Making it look like she made it by throwing away the containers would be an appreciated effort nonetheless.]

What, there's not that much of a mess to pick up, is there?

[Mock hurt. For what used to be a bachelor pad, it always was pretty clean! Could probably use more frequent dusting and a scrub of the counters, though.]

You know what I could go more than any of those things right now? Dessert. Ice cream--no, cheesecake. Yeah. Cheesecake.

[But he has no cheesecake, and is there a place that will still deliver at this hour...?]

Absolutely not, you're very tidy, it's one of the many, many reasons that I'm in love with you.

[She can't be with a walking mess, okay. It'd drive her insane.] Hm. I wonder if that old school place is still open. [Her phone is .... On the table! She leans forward to get it and settles back against her kraken bean bag. Although he's a very hard bean bag so maybe that's not a neat comparison.]

Flowers, though! Yes or no?

[Cheesecake ... cheesecake. Give her places that have cheesecake and also deliver.]

[It's only his upper half that's hard! His mantle and tentacles are super squishy and soft if they're relaxing. He was hoping that his subtle "I'd rather cheesecake than flowers" would go over, but...]

I...like them when they're in dirt.

[Because as cool as flower arrangements can be, he'd rather have one that needs some TLC and will last for longer than a week.]

[Nope, too subtle boyfriend, especially since cheesecake and flowers are completely different.]

I can work with that.

[She enjoys real flowers, from having them in her immediate presence to taking care of them every day, to talking to them (it's supposed to help them grow!). But lots of people don't enjoy in-home flowers so it's not gonna be that big of a deal!

He's probably going to have to suck it up for their wedding day though because there will definitely be real flowers there.]

Oh, here it is!! Do you want the plain, classic cheesecake? I'm gonna get the strawberry one.

[Bless Cloudbank and it's weird hours! Although they're closing in like twenty minutes so they're kind of being asses to the poor delivery person who works there. She shows him the menu anyway, it's a hole-in-the-wall-bakery that's open till midnight on Fridays, so they're really pushing it, but it says they're still open on her app!]

If they end in fruit, it'll be a nice bonus.

[He never said the dirt couldn't be in a pot!]

No, no...I want whatever on their menu has the most, richest chocolate. Get the whole cake.

[Ignoring the fact that chocolate is a huge personal aphrodisiac for him...but come on. Rum and chocolate! He has a sweet tooth tonight.

And no, he's not planning to eat the whole cake in one sitting. But by the time he orders enough slices to get his fill, he might as well buy the whole thing and keep the rest for leftovers. Cost effectiveness.]

[Oh, hey, that's perfect then! She doesn't like to keep them around in vases anyway, it's sad to watch them die.

Also, wow @ these two. Chocolate and strawberry.]

I know exactly what to order, give me one second.

[And then she dials their number!! There's no ordering online, unfortunately.]

[They were meant for each other.

He nods and picks up his controller to play his game while she orders the food. The volume will be almost-muted while she talks, of course, and he comfortably folds his tentacles over her lap and legs like enveloping her in a toasty blanket.]

Edited 2016-03-22 01:21 (UTC)

[She holds the phone with her shoulder while her hands skate over his tentacles to show them some love. Man, if she had the moisturizer with her she'd massage them! Well, she can kind of do that even without moisturizer, just a bit gentler. And a few minutes later ... ]

Twenty minutes!

[It'll be midnight by then, but Boxer doesn't seem ready to sleep just yet and she's not ready for it either.]

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idk why this didn't post before? thank god for lazarus

Praise lazarus

and then my laptop died??? fucking rip me

wow RUDE laptop gosh

i was in the middle of a job app too =/

Oh no ): and it didn't save your progress?

It did, but I was hoping to submit it today...

Aw >: well, at least you don't have to start from scratch?

True, but who knows how long it'll take to get back to it...

Because of your trip?

yeah, 1hr+ drive to closest service shop from current location

holy shit