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[One wonders what he has to do to reach that coveted perfect 10.]

You got it.

[It's a leisurely little roll that they do to get to the shopping deck. Lo and behold, there's a little shop more like a quick-mart than a gift shop with toiletries, over the counter type medication, sunscreen and lotion, paper goods, and so on.]

Oh, this is perfect.

[The question is, how fancy does she get with her oral hygiene?]

[Who knows, but it probably involves buying her jewelry or something.]

Nice! [She'd expected something much, much smaller and ... Useless. But this is even better!] Do they have a battery operated one? Normal brushes aren't good enough. [Relatively fancy, in terms of oral hygiene.] While Boxer guides them she starts to grab the most random little items: Keychains, air fresheners, a little notebook, pens, etc.

They might be weighed down a little more before they can make it to the mouth aisle!

[Electric toothbrush, fancy? Nonsense. He uses one! Mostly because plain plastic ones aren't big enough to get his farthest teeth. Gotta keep those razor-sharps clean!]

Hope so.

[He doesn't mind the extra goodies, because they're useful! ...except the keychains, that one's kinda lost on him. And air fresheners...? He leers at them warily.]

...Do you think it smells in our room?

[They just finished eating and she reaches for a can of root beer. This is nonsense.]

Of course not.

[She gives him a bit of an odd look because ... What a strange question! In truth it smells in their room! But it's, like, the ocean and the faint hint of Febreeze, normal stuff like that! It's not bad so why ... Oh.] What, these? [She holds them up.]

Boxer, these are for my purses. [Her multiple, multiple purses in her suitcase and back home.] I cut them into pieces and put them in the little pockets so it always smells nice. I've never seen 'Tropical Cabana' before!

[So she's getting two! They last forever even when cut, so it's worth it to get multiples.]

[You know you can just order root beer up to their room when they want it, right?]

Oh. Oh! That's clever.

[And also something he would have never thought of because he doesn't own any purses or man-purses as the case may be.]

Hey, look.

[Beside the menstrual products! Condoms and lube. After a brief moment where he takes mental inventory of them, his attention is brought back to the menstrual products.

...what are we gonna do when you're on your period...?

[But this one comes in neat bottle!

And excuse you boyfriend she wanted to discuss why you thought she would passive aggressively grab a scent tree instead of talk to you like an adult!!!! Except that's a very valid question, one that she had questioned briefly at the table before they got all distracted.]

Well. [She grabs some lube, because even though her pussy does a great imitation of a river at times it never hurts to have around.] I have no idea!

[So helpful. Much knowledge.] I mean, I guess the best course of action is to switch my implant so I don't get one at all.

[Fair enough.

No, being passive aggressive was never Nariko's habit, but he does wonder sometimes if he smells a little bit too much...fish...and he's gone nose-blind to it. And he does, sometimes, especially coming back from working with the fishmongers. But not right now! Not right now.]

That might be a long-term solution, but what'll we do in the meantime? [If she really wants to commit to this.] Just for prosperity's sake, I'm not squeamish about blood.

[Again...apex predator. Actually, blood might get him going more than anything else. So it's really a question of her comfort!]

[Y'know. If there was ever a topic that Nariko never imagined might come up with her boyfriend it was definitely period. And beyond that, it was certainly the possibility of banging while she was on her period. It's completely fair, since to get a new one put in she'll have to go a while without anything at all, wait for the new round and then get it in. Theoretically there'd be a time period for it.]

I've never ... Not then, anyway.

[She's struck by caution and curiosity in equal parts. Has he done it with women while they're bleeding or does he just know he's cool with it? How stupid is she going to look if she asks him (a dude) what that's like .... Maybe he banged light bleeders or something, and it wasn't messy?

What a strange door to have opened.]

Really? Some ladies actually like it.

[Well there's her answer.]

Fun way to take care of cramps and headaches. Highly recommended.

[Open the door and he'll just waltz right through it. Don't mind him. Whee!]

Oh.

[... It really helps with cramps, of all things?]

But it's, y'know ... Not the cleanest way to go about it.

[So much blood.]

It'd be more fun than being stuck with an electric blanket all night.

[Look, she's going to be a little more timid going through the door but! The interest is there.]

[Dopamine!]

Always did it in some kind of water. Ocean, the tub, the shower...

[Wouldn't the blood attract sharks, you say. I eat sharks for breakfast, he says.]

I could take cuddling with you under an electric blanket as a close second place.

[If it's really bad, it's hard to get in the mood! And he won't argue with "I'm too bloated and tired and painful to have sex."]

Oh, the bath would be easy!

[It's cool that he eats sharks but the sight of one would absolutely terrify her and then she'd not only be bloody and crampy but also sobbing a bit. But if she gets the chance to see him punch a shark that'd be so cool.]

We can always cuddle under the electric blanket, especially when my boobs hurt.

[Nothing makes her cuddlier than an aching chest, okay.]

Not the one on this ship!

[It's tiny! But also kind of a null point. Because he might or might not be able to tell where she is in her cycle by scent alone...

The tub at the resort, though...]

Aw, poor things.

[He gives them a friendly little nudge under their blanket.]

[Nah, not the one on the boat! He likes being squished up into tight spaces and all that but there's probably a limit, there. .... May every god ever worshiped help him if he mentioned being able to smell any change in her body's chemistry. His ear drums don't deserve the shrieking that such information would entail.

But! She laughs when he pokes at her boobs, she grabs extra lube before leaning back into him.]

I think I've got everything.

[Or, rather, she's done being a situational packrat for the time being!]

[He likes being squished into tight places, but that tub literally has space for only one half of him, no water, and no Nariko. That's a problem! And yeah, by now he's learned what of his monster-born abilities to disclose and what to not. Some go over better than others, and he's pretty good at hiding the evidence.]

You got it, my little hoarder.

[Tease, tease. He rolls them over to the checkout, where the employee behind the register...gives them a weird look. Boxer doesn't seem to care...or maybe he just doesn't notice.]

[She pouts at him for that but it's nothing serious. Nariko is absolutely not a hoarder!! All of these things she's bought have specific uses that she can justify at any given moment!! ... Probably. Maybe. ... Okay maybe she hoards tiny little things in a specific box in her room that he will probably never see.

As far as their cashier is concerned ... She notes that look and gives back an incredibly stern one in response, practically daring the fucker to say something that could even come off as even vaguely negative. Of course she still helps put everything up onto the counter, but she might be radiating little waves of aggression.

Sorry you're dating an aggressive teacup Pomeranian or something.]

[Boxer does, however, notice the expressly nervous look that the clerk puts on once he catches Nariko's death glare, of which he's ignorant. As they go through the transaction, Boxer is nothing but sunshine and flowers, making friendly idle chat because he thinks the guy is scared of him.

So he's facing down an angry teacup Pomeranian and a big, fluffy blanket embroidered with the words 'hug me' in pastel colors.

Ultimately, they get through it without any conflict. As he rolls them out of the store, Boxer asks:]

Where to next?

[Her boyfriend is the cutest, really and truly, though it might end producing something of a terrible cycle. Boxer's sunny nature just makes her want to protect him even more, which in turn makes her that much more protective! It's probably a very good thing that they don't linger there.]

No idea.

[She ran out of ideas quickly, there.] Let's try going up, though! I want to see the ocean.

[Because it seems a shame to be on this boat and be cooped up the entire time!

To the bow!

[And off they go! It's pretty quiet up there because people are either at the aft to watch the city disappear or elsewhere in the ship. It's a little on the windy side, but it's nothing but blue sky and blue water here. In two hours, it'll be sunset!]

It's so pretty ...

[And it'll be just as beautiful in a few more hours! But she likes it this way, too, in part because they're alone for a little bit. She breathes deep and relaxes.]

I love you.

[It's A Moment.]

[Yeah. It's a moment for him, too.

He reaches down with his opposite hand to brush a thumb against her cheek as he leans down to give her a brief but warm kiss on the lips.]

I love you too.

[And he shifts a little to wrap her in the blanket a little more tighter to protect her from the wind.]

[The funny thing is that she can't recall the last time she actually felt this way so - happy. Really and truly happy for every single moment and every single day, as long as it includes him. It's insane, but it's also a lot of fun, even more so than kissing, though she doesn't shirk that in the least.

The wind is pretty intense but she laughs anyway, curling in a little bit more.]

So, what if we made this a thing?

[Boxer, meanwhile, wonders how the hell he woke up in the morning without her on his mind. Okay...he knows. It was just work. And he was happy back then, as he is now, but he's found a special kind of companionship. Now he's happy and no longer lonely.]

What part of 'this', exactly?

[The answer is yes, regardless of her answer.]

This. [She motions to the boat, to the fact that they're together in his chair under a cute blanket.]

You're going to be all sorts of horny during summer anyway, so why not go somewhere nice for those months?

[His job is to literally patrol New Cloudbank's waters, though.]

I mean, there has to be someone who can do your job half as well as you do?

[Does he even get appropriate time off? Does he have a fair contract? Why wasn't she concerned with any of this beforehand? Shit.]

Ah, I got some friends taking care of that for me.

[He waves dismissively.]

They'd kill to have my jobs, but they don't have to. They get my pay, I get time off. Everyone's happy.

[Except for the part where he's not getting paid time off! He doesn't really care, though. He has a lot saved up.

Like a few million saved up.]

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