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[The truth is, he stayed up there too long. He's got a big body and made a lot of adrenaline, and it's going to be a while until it can get filtered out of his system.]

No, no...I just...

[He doesn't want to sound like an alcoholic, but...]

I could use a drink to soothe my nerves.

[Viable story, right? It's true.]

[Oh, this really was a bad idea and she can't help feeling awful for it, but she can't let on to that, it wouldn't do either of them any good.]

I know what to direction to go for one of those.

[She'd choose her apartment but it's not on the ground floor, so that's probably not a good idea right now! Instead, about five minutes away, is a bar. Kind of edging on a dive but they don't allow smoking and the smell of peanuts is only slightly overwhelming. Also the front door is wide, so getting in isn't a problem, either.]

[He really can't complain about a semi-dive. He decides to get a Sea Breeze for himself, and thankfully the bartender has a heavy hand. The walk here already soothed him a little, but he takes Nariko's hand when he has the chance to give her a reassuring squeeze.]

It's okay. It was your idea, but it was my decision to go through with it. I'm glad you brought me up there, Nariko. No one would have pulled it off like you did.

[She doesn't get anything for herself, this is more for him and alcohol doesn't calm her so much as make everything pleasantly dull, and that's no fun for a date. She smiles when he touches her, but it's tinged with a little guilt.]

Maybe so, but how about we avoid heights for a while?

[That's just way too intense a fear of his to challenge unless it's for a really damn good reason.]

[He doesn't exactly want to agree to the idea immediately even though he probably should. He rubs his thumb against her arm gently while he tries to decide how to respond to it, sipping his fruity drink in the meantime.

Afterwords, he turns to her.]

...This doesn't mean I can't see your apartment, does it?

[Boxer does sound very disappointed by the idea, even though she's worried he won't fit in the door.]

[She leans into his touch, but doesn't rush him otherwise. And ... There's a big part of her that wasn't to be responsible and tell him they should probably call it a night, but ...]

It's on the fourth floor.

[So it's not ridiculously high up by any means but it might be enough to bother him.]

If we can make it up there and you're genuinely alright ...

[Then it should be fine.] Just please don't push yourself too much, okay?

[She reaches up to put her hand, for as small as it is, over his. She doesn't mean to smother or patronize him! She's genuinely concerned right now.]

Fourth?

[He lets out a huge relaxed sigh that he didn't know he had enough air to pull off. He smiles at her, though, and as long as "fourth floor" doesn't mean "fourth floor with extremely high vaulted ceilings"--]

I'll be fine.

[He's been on top of cruise ships before! He's gotten used to 15 stories high without too much trouble, so a fourth floor will be no problem. He brings up the hand on top of his to give her a little kiss on her knuckles.]

[If antyhing her ceilings are vaulted at weird angles that don't always give the sense of being bigger so much as just ... Oddly shaped. Boxer will fit just fine once he's inside but he might have to be a little more aware of his head than usual, that's all.

He sounds pretty confident, so she nods and tries to quell the little, fretting parts of herself. She loves because she worries, worries because she loves, etc.]

Hey.

['Scuse her, Boxer! She's gonna lean across and give you a lil' kiss.]

[He chuckles at the kiss. Ah...it really does feel good to be around her, even when they're not having sex. It's so nice. He returns the kiss, and tilts his glass in her direction in case she wanted to try his drink.]

Think we're supposed to wait until the third date to start kissing each other.

[But honestly? He's really comfortable with how unconventional the two of them are. Not expecting some kind of standard out of each other is really liberating.]

Edited 2016-03-23 04:44 (UTC)

[She shakes her head at the drink as she leans back into place.]

First of all, I'd wait until the end of the first for a 'Damn Good Date' and maybe the middle of the second for 'Okay, That's A Decent Start'. [So that clearly means that 'You Take Up All My Free Thoughts' gets a middle/near end date kiss.]

Second of all, you can't show me that gorgeous smile and expect me to not kiss you. I'm sure that more eloquent people would write poems or something, but I prefer to use my lips.

[Such is the way of a tactile woman.]

[Do the comfort kisses from earlier count in those categories?]

I prefer this. Think that poems would make me feel a little self-conscious.

[So her comment kind of did too, but he'll live. He'll definitely live. He finishes off his drink and leaves his payment and tip.]

Besides, your lips are really good at everything you make them do. [Kiss, talk, suck on grossly oversized monster-penises...]

[Nope. Comfort kisses are for the sole purpose of comforting and providing emotional support!]

Poems make everyone feel a little self-conscious. [She would never believe anyone who said they felt touched and not at all mildly overwhelmed by that specific gesture - from the woman who could drown people in compliments. She slips out of the booth, hands locked behind her back.]

You'd be amazed at how terrible they can be when I need them most.

[Particularly when it comes to discussing stuff. But the rest? Yes, she's the best, no sense in denying that.]

I like 'em enough to give them a few passes.

[Once they're out of the dive, he lets out a relieved sigh. He looks a whole lot better too, though it might mostly be the time he was given to recover than the drink itself. Aw, she's cute when she stands like that.]

How far is your apartment?

I'm going to hold you to that in the future.

[She'll certainly need it.] It's literally just right over there!

[The buildings itself is rather tall, so it stands out well enough. It's a nice, middle class area, nothing to write home about.] If you think that I purposely chose an apartment that was conveniently near both my office and home then you'd be half right.

[It was a coincidence, but what self respecting woman in your almost mid-twenties wouldn't want to live near a bar? Especially an easy going one. But, off they go!]

Ohh, good.

[He's honestly glad. He's kind of tired being out in public, so it'll be nice to have somewhere to land for a while.]

A wise decision.

[But the door they end up in front of, though...]

Hmm.

[He looks it over thoughtfully, before turning to Noriko.]

Would you mind helping me out of my pants?

[It's more like an excessively long skirt than it is pants but still.]

If my tentacles are free I could get in without any problem.

Right, because I'd totally have a problem with that.

[Is it really not that bad? He doesn't seem very concerned with the door at all, so the best thing to do is what he says. Maybe she'll have to brace a little, especially in these heels, but she can pull at his arms or hold onto the chair itself or whatever he needs to pull this off. Of course before she does that she opens the actual door - with Boxer in front of it no one's going to try a single thing, after all.

So!! Time to get him inside!!]

Don't get so excited. Not yet.

[It's rather simple, if a little unwieldy: he has her pull them down when he lifts himself up, bracing himself on the handles of his wheelchair. Easy enough. And he does make an interesting scene "walking" through her door, going at it with a crab side-walk as his tentacles hold him about three feet off the ground, a synchronized walk between them to get him through the door. It's a slow but smooth process.

After he's through, he settles to sit on the ground while he reaches outside the doorframe to pull his wheelchair in through the door, though he hasn't decided if he wants to get back on it or not just yet. Will it be able to navigate through her apartment...?]

Edited 2016-03-24 04:15 (UTC)

[Well that's ... Interesting. Pretty much from beginning to end. Mostly she just feels a bit guilty that he does all the work himself, aside from the very beginning parts. But once he's actually in and got his chair settled firmly inside of her apartment the rest is smooth sailing! It's all smooth hardwood, the most trouble he would have is being in the kitchen, and that's mostly because he wouldn't have room to turn - it's a forward or backward entrance/exit there.

Nariko's apartment is ... Kind of standard, and it's mostly compromised of a living room, a tiny dining space, and the kitchen, which is has the sort of clean shine that comes with a complete lack of use. There are pictures of herself and her brother along the walls with one or two rare pieces of artwork she enjoyed - abstract, bright things that made her happy. It's a place that is somehow both warm and bright.]

So, this is it!

[The place is definitely small, and she can afford better but, eh, it's got that lived in quality for a reason.] But what you want to see is down here.

[Down the hallway, her bedroom and bathroom are on the right side, and her workspace is on the left.]

[After taking a look around, he figures that it'd be easier to get around in his chair, so he hops on it. He's not wearing his "pants" anymore and he might look a little weird with just his suit top, but...he's pretty comfortable like this. He takes a look at one of the pictures of her and Nathan as he goes by it, giving it a soft, fond smile before Nariko calls out to him.]

Coming!

[Scoot scoot down the hall.]

Is this where the magic happens?

[Both senses of the word: work and play.]

[Well, the play is in her bedroom, the work is where she leads him to. Her 'office' is ... An organized mess. It's the biggest room so it's comfortably wide so that her drafting table and chair are no big deal. There's a mess of different pens, pencils, rulers to one side, and on the other are stacks of boxes.]

More or less! Sorry it's a little bit of a wreck, I think you're the first person to come in here.

[Chris might have peeked in thinking she was here or something, but that doesn't exactly count. Going to one side, Nariko stands up on her tiptoes to ruffle in one of the boxes and pulls out .... What looks like a skeletal figure of a dog, all metal and exposed wiring.] I never finished the body, but this was going to be my sophomore project before I switched to architecture! His name is - was - Amadeus.

[Intimidating, right?]

It's alright.

[Having no office of himself, he can...honestly understand why this place woud be so cluttered. It needs to be, for all those tools and quick references. He has to be careful, though, and he doesn't move much without making thoroughly sure that he's not going to knock over anything precariously balanced.

As for her little robo-dog, though...he's not really sure what to make of it. It sure is intimidating, but he doesn't feel like making that kind of comment on an unfinished project. One thing's for sure, though, he is fascinated by it.]

Amadeus, huh...? If you have time, you should finish him up! Looks like he wants some love.

I guess, but even if I did, I'm not sure what I'd do with him.

[It's not a real dog that she'd have to feed, obviously! But she'd essentially finish it just to put it away again, and that sort of defeated the point, right? She shakes the limp frame before reaching back into the Boxes of the Past and tugging out a sketchbook.]

I had a lot of stuff like that planned, just sort of making it all for it's own sake, without an actual goal.

[And that's somewhat clear in each design she shows him, the sharp lines of various little robots contrast with her loopy handwriting.]

[He looks a little kicked when she shakes the frame. When she's digging into her boxes, he reaches out with his tentacles and takes the almost robo-dog from her to put it in his lap, petting it like it could feel it while he looks over her doodled projects.]

You could patent these guys and sell them as toys...but if you didn't want to put in that kind of work, you could just make them for fun.

[Damn it, even her handwriting is cute. And she's great at drawing, too. How did he find someone so talented by chance?]

[To be fair drawing was very much a learned discipline, and she failed technical drawing two times before she became any good at putting her thoughts into an image. The handwriting, though, has always been cute!]

You think kids would want them? [She pulls out another little creation, it's shaped like a floppy starfish.] Maybe they could be sort of educational, or work like little protectors? Freak out and make noises if certain creepy phrases are used ...

[Just make them for fun, huh? She couldn't help thinking that was something of a waste, and maybe a bit lonely. What was the sense in making anything if you couldn't give it purpose?] I guess it wouldn't really hurt, and if nothing else I can show them to you now.

[If he was still a kid? Of course he'd want one of these little guys; he never had a whole lot of toys when he was young. Heck, he wants them now.]

Or they could just be companions.

[A purpose doesn't always have to be an active job. Until she pulls out that little starfish! His eyes light up.]

Wait--wait, that--! Do you think it could be made to be a tank cleaner?

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