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Because it's embarrassing!

[Look don't ask her how that makes sense. She just fears being laughed at for something that's actually a little close to her heart. She leans up to poke at his cheeks, now she's just daring him to laugh - he'll get away with it this time!]

[He doesn't quite commit to a laugh, but he does lean in and give her a proper, but short-lived, kiss.]

So's a lot of other stuff we do.

[Like, IDK, having sex in semi-public places???]

That's just stuff, though. It's for fun or because it seems like a good idea, there's nothing else attached to it, and it always just goes back to the simple fact that I love being with you.

[... She's not making any sense, and it's so much worse because she can hear herself not making any sense.]

It's not like that when it comes to being pregnant - or even the fantasy of it. [She snorts a bit, mostly at herself.] I think about it with you and I don't feel like I'd be a shitty excuse of a parent and fuck up my children anywhere near as badly as my mother did to me. I'd love them just for existing, but I'd love them for being yours too, I'd give all the things I never ended up with.

[And that's ... All considerably emotional, it touches on a lot that she's never discussed with anyone, let alone Boxer. So, yes, touching into that is way more embarrassing them being fucked in outright public or being involved in an outright gangbang. That's just lust-fueled decision making, which has its own merit but not nearly in the same manner.]

[He gets the gist, though. The important idea behind it all. It's more than sex, it's intimacy--the intimacy that comes with making a family...making all the decisions involved. He lets her finish her whole piece before he speaks up.]

I'd love to have kids with you, Nariko.

[He puts a hand in her hair, gently ruffling it.]

But...we should probably get married, first.

[Is he proposing? Yes and no. He'd have it no other way than to marry her through discussing it, instead of some intensely romantic moment.

Yes, it's not the classic way to go about it, which seems surprising when he's such a classic kind of guy--but both of them are hardworking professionals, partners, mates in both sex and spirit. It's always been based on two-way communication, and it always will be.]

[He'd love to ... Man, he's gonna make her cry, especially with that not-proposal. While she does have an incredibly soft spot for big romantic gestures and all that, after the end result of her former relationship? This is more than okay, too. All she had wanted was the promise of a different chapter, something that could expand. It didn't have to be tomorrow or within the next six weeks, hell, it didn't even have to be within a year! That he was willing to give her that was an intensely romantic moment in and of itself, as far a Nariko is concerned.]

Then you'd really be stuck with me.

[Is she good enough for that? He can't possibly deserve to be saddled with everything that's wrong with her and yet:]

I think I'd love to marry you.

Then we'll plan for that, too. Bet there's all sorts of things you'd like for your dream wedding, right?

[He gives her a few more kisses before finishing off his flatbread and picking up the box to dispose of it. Afterwards, he wheels the both of them out to the couch, where Nariko can finally enjoy the drink that he made for her while claiming her space on his couch.]

Edited 2016-03-18 04:58 (UTC)

To be honest, I never thought it'd happen.

[Which isn't to say she doesn't have little things in mind but there's no grand, organized vision, which would better suit her organized nature. At the couch she somewhat regretfully leaves his chair and crawls onto the big cushions, making sure to grab her drink along the way. But whenever Boxer settles she's very, very likely to edge closer to him, anyway.]

Putting aside the entire conversation that just occurred [Sip, sip, sip.] marriage is really okay, then? I mean, not everyone is for it.

[He is the classic type so she wouldn't be too surprised to hear that he may have always wanted it.]

Of course.

[He settles on the side where his rum is in easy reach. Drink in one hand, woman in the other...actually, he'll be holding his game controller in his hands, once he gets his arm around Nariko's waist.]

The legislation that passed allowed monsters and humans to have legally recognized marriages, so we might as well take advantage of living in one of the world's most progressive cities.

[There have been plenty of marriages like that before, so it's not like they'll be breaking brand-new ground. BUT...]

I've wanted to get married ever since those changes were made.

[You know the benefit of having such a sizable boyfriend? She can always fit on him just right without being obtrusive to what he's doing! It's always great. She leans into him to get all sorts of comfortable ... There's a good chance she'll either get sort of tipsy and then horny, or sort of tipsy and then sleepy.]

I really can't get over the fact that you're legitimately perfect.

[He actually wants to get married, she doesn't have to feel bad about the idea! Amazing.]

[You're pretty comfortable too, Nariko; she fits just right under his arm, her waist just the right height to hook his arm around it.

He's very interested in either one of those options, because no one cuddles better than sleepy Nariko does...and the horny option is more than acceptable too. Seeing her get tipsy on his hand-mixed drinks is always a pleasure.]

A perfect monster for the perfect woman.

[He loves you, Nariko, of course he wants to marry you!]

[His hand-mixed drinks are very, very good, so good that the first one is already pretty much gone, she leans forward to set the glass down and instead tap at his rum.]

Can I have some?

[And, added onto that:] You never asked why I had that cigarette.

[Because he's a nice individual who respects other people's privacy, and is willing to talk about issues as they arrive without forcing them. And Nariko ... Kind of takes advantage of that, because it means she never really has to deal with anything difficult. But if they're going to get married then that probably has to change.]

[Damn that was fast. It was a whole highball glass!]

Oh, sure.

[Against his better wisdom, he hands her the whole handle.]

Thought you already did: old vice.

[He shrugs. Given how private he likes to be about himself, he's not really in the habit of sticking his nose where it isn't invited.]

[When you have a goal you have to work quickly! She's a little gentler with his rum just because she's not rude, but she goes for a healthy dose of that, too.]

Mm, yeah, but all vices have their origins, right?

[And none of them are good.]

When I heard about it, I knew what they'd end up doing and it drove me nuts. It reminded me of being a kid, the lack of control, repeating what you know over and over again until you verge on doubting yourself, at times. [Just recalling it creates an unsettling itch under her skin.] I hate that feeling, and I hate dead bodies. Seeing one was enough for a lifetime.

[Dead body...dead body...it's something pretty sobering, but he doesn't seem to recall her talking about this before. He takes the bottle of rum from her to take a swig of it before handing it back to her.]

Don't think this is a story you've told me yet.

It's not one I like telling, or thinking about, or acknowledging as real.

[She takes the bottle back and stares at the rim for a good few seconds. Just - do it one go, it's like ripping a band-aid off, right? So she drinks, lets it burn, and then coughs out:]

My dad is - he died. I saw him. Die.

[There.]

Woah, Nariko--

[He's a little alarmed by how hard she's hitting that. It's straight-up rum, woman, you'll burn your esophagus out!

Wow.

Okay. Time to pause his game.]

You...gonna be okay?

[Let her cough in all of her ungraceful glory because holy shit that was a bad idea and now she's regretting it.]

Yeah - yes! [Okay, maybe it's time to lay off on the booze.]

'm fine.

[There might be a patch of her throat that's incredibly pissed at her but it takes a foot of dick on a nearly daily basis, it can power through just fine.]

You don't have to talk about it if it hurts too much...

[It pains him to see her in pain, mental or physical...still, he's, uh, gonna take that booze from her for now.]

I appreciate the gesture, though.

No, it's - I have to.

[It's only right, because it would be horrible to get years into it all and have it come out, to maybe have her intentions doubted.]

My parents were a mess, and I don't want to be a mess. I don't want to be a shitty wife, and I don't want to be an abusive, horrible excuse of a mother, either. I want a family in part because my own was a disaster, and that's - It's not the whole reason, but it's a big enough part that I can't not tell you.

[The alcohol is really settling in her because her thoughts are scattered and her voice is starting to lilt.] Even if it's a part of it, the more important one is that I love you and I don't feel like a fuck up when I'm with you, I can't ever imagine not loving you or doing anything horrible on purpose, okay?

[It's a very bad idea to drink quickly.]

[He takes a hand off of his controller and takes his arm--the one around her waist--so that he can take her hand in his own, gently running his thumb over the back of her hand.]

That's fair. I mean--one of my reason's kind of similar, right? I want a family because I never had one. And neither of us are perfect, but...that's why we're perfect for each other.

[A pause. The sequence of ideas is a little...alarming, now that he thinks about it for a second.]

Did...did your mom kill him...?

[When he holds her hands she relaxes, which is funny because Nariko wasn't entirely sure of when she'd tensed up so horribly in the first place. While he talks she makes sure to listen to his voice, to really take it in and accept it as something reliable, solid. It's calming to sort of ground herself in such a tiny way.

Of course his question threatens to unravel it, but at least he's saved her the trouble of saying it on her own.]

She did. They, ah, [Why is she tearing up? This is stupid. It's not something to cry about anymore.] they screamed at each other in the library and she just - just stabbed him with that stupid letter opener. [She always hated that thing. Who the fuck used a letter opener? Pretentious shits like her mom.] Twenty-nine times.

[Her free hand presses at her forehead.] I just stood there. I just - I was useless, I hated her. I hate her. But I could have - I tried to, but it was. Y'know. No one can really make it through that, so I just. [Screamed and cried hysterically until one of their neighbors had the sense to call the police.] I just kept pushing at his throat and he just kept bleeding.

[Jesus.

That's so much worse than what he's had to go through. For one, he didn't know the kid, and two, he didn't have to watch while it happened.

Boxer puts down his controller and leans down to wrap his arms around Nariko. Like she weighs barely anything to him, he pulls her up onto his mantled lap, arms enveloping her entirely while he holds her against his broad, bare chest. It's likely she couldn't escape this gentle bear hug even if she wanted to. He wants to say something along the lines of "I'm sorry," but he doesn't want to patronize her loss. All he wants her to know is that he'll always be here for her...especially if she chooses now to shed tears for it.]

She's in jail now...right?

[This bear hug and Boxer's presence as a whole, is all that's keeping her together, so the last thing she would want is to leave it. But that question gets a strange bark out of her, something between a laugh and a half disengaged sob.]

No.

[There would have to be some justice in the world for that to have become the case!] After ... It. She choked me, kept squeezing and said that I couldn't. I couldn't tell anyone or she'd wring the life out of me. [There's a very tiny, utterly humorless excuse of a laugh here.] Was really easy to believe at the moment. And then she left. Just took the thing with her and left.

[Nariko ... Hates crying. Crying is bullshit. It's painful and it makes her tired, but she's beyond entry level tipsy right now, and it turns out that feeling safe makes it easy to begin sniffling.] L-Later. I found out - she went to her fucking parents. They lied. Said she had been there all week and left me with Viktor, Nathan's father.

[Finger the lover for the killing of the husband.] And I couldn't say it! God fucking knows I can't keep my mouth shut now to save my sorry ass but for a whole year I couldn't say anything! She wouldn't have -- If I could have just --

[And there it goes, her voice wound up to a sharp, hysterical pierce before it broke down into an all out wail. Sorry about your ears, Boxer.]

[Thankfully, hearing isn't one of the senses he has that are attuned due to being monsterkind. So it'll hurt, but not as bad as hearing this story does.

He tightens his grip on her when she wails, and he'll sit it out--no trying to hush her or silence her, because at this point, it sounds like she needs to get it out. When he finds the natural opportunity to, he'll speak up.]

No one will hurt you like that again. Not while I'm around.

[Because as much as he tries to come off as a big harmless, skittish teddy bear...he's actually not. And while he might not try to kill someone to defend Nariko...maiming is definitely the likely scenario, and some people might not be able to handle it all.]

[Bless him for being patient because there's a lot to get out and she graduates from wailing to full on, heaving sobs that force her to turn and face him, forehead pressed against his shoulder, only sneaking her arm in when she can't stand the overflow of tears that are starting to burn. When it does all taper down to aimless hiccups and a gentle exhaustion, he's still right there and she -

She believes him.]

Thank you. [Her voice is a mess and so is her face, but for the first time in more than a decade she feels a little lighter, and a whole hell of a lot safer.] I love you.

[So much that it hurts in just the right way, and can begin to replace the parts that were tied up in keeping it all to herself. But, one last thing:]

.... I really need some tissue.

[Her nose is gross.]

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long dramatic tags oh gosh

eats it all up

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