[He's all smiles when he looks at her, even though he knows in the depths of his hearts that he's going to be disappointed when she's dancing with Agnis. It's not a jealousy thing at all--in fact, he'll be glad that she's found someone to dance with and have fun.
He just wishes he could have an option too. He'll never know what it's like to dance with his fiance...what it's like to dance with his wife.
Even though they're completely exhausting, foreign, and ridiculous?
[Obviously, but she can't help teasing them and they're her relatives so she's allowed to make fun of them! And Boxer's allowed to hide things, even if it's unfair. She's seen him move with his tentacles so, honestly, she's not even aware of the problem itself. She just figures he can't do it for very long, but even if it's for a small bit that's enough for their first dance!]
Do you want to watch?
[It might not be a good idea to leave him all alone here - or even possible, since without her nearby someone would just come looking, but it's much more polite to turn it into an offer. He's never seen her dance, after all.]
[One more kiss, and then she crawls out of his lap to guide his chair again, but only somewhat. There's already a loose knight circle made around a sizable space, and even some of the tallest members of her family can't obstruct Boxer's view. She squeezes his shoulder and pushes through various relatives on her own, so he's got a clear opening.
Still, she isn't the first to go, Sabal and Tamir have that honor. They choose a traditional dance so more than a few people sing along, it gets a bit loud and excited, but there's something to be said for how they move together. They radiate happiness, and while the dance itself is quite traditional and therefore very well known, it always looks new to her. For Nariko it's impossible to quell her desire to move, by the time they finish she's practically hopping in place.
So when Ignis eases forward from the other side of their ring of family members Nariko about leaps forward, more than ready to take his hand before he's finished offering it. He's tall, with a deeper skin tone than Nariko, armed with a sharp jaw that wasn't entirely unlike Boxer's. Ignis and Nariko shared the same bright hazel eyes, verging on a muddled, dark gold, but where she grinned brightly enough to help light up the night Ignis was notably well tempered, grinning rather than smirking.
What they dance resembled a contemporary salsa, quick, skillful, and infinitely more sensual. If not for their incredible physical likeness they would look like any other couple, passionate and well balanced.]
[Almost done sounds great until he gets to watch the dancing. It means that eyes aren't on him anymore, and he can simply enjoy...existing, while watching Nariko's family have a grand time dancing together. It's nice that he gets a great seat to watch from, too. He's chuckling to himself as the anticipation grows inside of Nariko, glad that she finally gets a chance to burn it off.
Ignis, on the other hand, holds the unfortunate responsibility of being Boxer's stand-in, at least in his head. If he was human, yeah...he'd look like that, move like that, get to dance with Nariko like that. And for a long time, the fantasy stays alive and well...but not forever.
If she looks at him while they're dancing, he'll be smiling. When she finishes dancing, too, he's smiling, but there's something uncomfortable and sad about it in such a subtle way that only Nariko would be able to see, given their time spent together by now. Because in the end, he doesn't look like that, he doesn't move like that, and he certainly won't dance with Nariko like that.]
[It'd be poetic to say that she manages to keep her eyes on Boxer despite all the movement and coordination needed for this kind of activity. The truth is that she doesn't - can't, really - which makes it all the more painful when it's over with and she's grinning with excitement, and he looks as if he's been forced to swallow glass and smile through it.
"Are you alright?" Ignis gripped her arm, she'd tensed at some point or another and they were so close that it was no wonder her elder cousin noticed it right away.]
I'm fine.
[She manages a smile but steps away.] Thanks. Looks like Adiba is next, though!
[It's a slick enough exit, but she'll probably end up delivering some form of explanation later on. It's fine, right now it just ... It kind of seems like they don't need to be here anymore, and whether that's just her protective streak rearing its very vicious head or not, it's what she's going to go with.]
Ready to go?
[And when they're alone she's going to ask. That went beyond a little introverted exhaustion, after all.]
[It does, but he hates to admit it. He wants to have fun, and for the most part, he is. But the fact that he's the only monster at a human party is becoming painfully obvious as the hours tick by. His grimace isn't that bad, is it? He hopes it's not. (It is.)
When she asks him if he's ready to go, he lets a little more of his real emotion show through.]
Yeah. We're not going to have to say farewell to everyone, right?
[Because he knows that will take at least an additional hour. Can they just leave in silence...?]
[But they can't leave in complete silence. They revisit Abbas near the exit and the kid's upset to hear that they're leaving and incredibly loud about it - which means that their exit will be broadcasted quickly. She waves, makes some fake apologies and they'll be out soon enough. In truth her grandma's probably going to be a little pissy about it, but Nariko will field that later. Right now she just wants Boxer to have room to breathe.]
Your place or mine?
[That's a stupid question since they usually go to his apartment, not hers. But if she can hear his voice she might be able to figure out if he's okay or not.]
[There's more reason to it than that, be he feels like that's the only one he really needs to give. He just really wants to get to his tank right now, and the buzzing that's starting to generate due to the chatter that they're leaving is making his anxiety peak very, very quickly.]
Nariko doesn't answer, she just leads them back to his building, which takes a good few minutes but nothing more. It's a comfortable, knowing silence on her end, an attempt to give him space even though there's only so much she can do, to begin with. It's probably been long enough that everyone in his building knows her, getting up and inside isn't too much of a problem.
And neither is going to his room. Go for the tank, Boxer, she isn't going to stop you.]
[She isn't at all tired so she might as well get something productive done while he rests - or tries to, at least. It wasn't as if the night was a waste by any means but she really hadn't wanted to upset him so badly, or have any hand in causing it. But there was nothing she could do but let him take care of himself.
Hopefully that'd be enough. If she apologized too much or fretted that'd only stress him out more.]
[He looks up at her from his chair. He's not actively trying to...but he's ended up giving her those begging doe-eyes, intricately curved pupils wide with hope.
Please don't leave him here alone, Nariko. Not after all of that.]
[He doesn't need her to follow him the whole way, but she kind of wants to, sort of does and goes as far as lingering near the bedroom door until he's slipping into his tank. Then she can manage to give him a wave and go back and fall on the couch, keeping her heels off of it.
[He won't need to, though. He first settles into his tank like normal, but when Nariko checks on him again--whether that is when she goes to bed herself or just poking her head in to check on him for the sake of checking on him, he's gone.
Kind of.
There's what looks to be a big pile of the rocks that he uses as bedding crowded into the corner of his tank--but on closer inspection, it's actually him, contorted into a shape with his tentacles and his skin colored and textured to match. Only knowing that pile wasn't there before is what gives him away--it's perfect camouflage.
And the fish don't seem to notice one way or the other.]
[Nariko is an intelligent woman. She went to school for a good amount of her life and made good grades, aside from a stint in high school that was complicated at best. She was perceptive and particularly good at strategizing, should the skill be needed. But when she walked in to make sure Boxer was sleeping alright it terrified the shit out of her that she couldn't see him in his tank.
And the worst part of it is that she's seen this tank multiple times. You'd think she would know every ridge and detail to it. But All she can really make out are rocks and his fish and just ... No Boxer. Where the fuck was he? But it's like he could have gone past her, or left at some point, she'd been awake the whole time!
So, to be honest, it made complete sense in that moment to get up there and in check herself. Maybe he was just laid out in some way she couldn't see from the outside. That made sense, right?
And that's how Nariko ended up in her bra, panties, and her stockings, feeling around Boxer's tank and unintentionally poking at some part of his body.]
[The water is displaced a little when she gets in, which is stimulating enough to his sleeping form to cause a single tentacle to unravel, reach out, and gingerly wrap itself around her ankle to investigate what it is, be it threat or food. And despite the gentle suckering at her skin, his skin still remains colored and textured to match the bedding rocks. Even then, it doesn't give him away; at this point, the most tell-tale sign that it's him is the sensation of his suckers against Nariko's skin.
She still doesn't get it for an extra second until she follows the trail of that one tentacle and then her perspective shifts a bit and that's, okay. That's Boxer. Somehow. Why does he look like a rock. She reaches down to pet the tentacle soothingly and then swims a little closer, trying to edge to one side because, well, she already knows what happens if she accidentally surprises him.
That's exactly why Nariko's very careful about poking his ... Well, she hopes that's his shoulder, or maybe some part of his arm? But she tries squeezing a little. Is he okay or is the color changing thing a bad sign???]
[The fish thank her for her considerate approach. They don't want to be swimming in that.
With her gentle touch, he slowly comes to wakefulness. Boxer uncurls from his contorted position wrapped in tentacles reminiscent of blooming, as his skin returns to its black, sinfully smooth texture. He sits up, his head and shoulders coming above the water, and he lets out the water from his respiratory system through his nose and mouth--a weird and kind of gross thing to witness, perhaps, but it'd be something Nariko would have seen numerous times already.]
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[He's all smiles when he looks at her, even though he knows in the depths of his hearts that he's going to be disappointed when she's dancing with Agnis. It's not a jealousy thing at all--in fact, he'll be glad that she's found someone to dance with and have fun.
He just wishes he could have an option too. He'll never know what it's like to dance with his fiance...what it's like to dance with his wife.
But he hides it well.]
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[Obviously, but she can't help teasing them and they're her relatives so she's allowed to make fun of them! And Boxer's allowed to hide things, even if it's unfair. She's seen him move with his tentacles so, honestly, she's not even aware of the problem itself. She just figures he can't do it for very long, but even if it's for a small bit that's enough for their first dance!]
Do you want to watch?
[It might not be a good idea to leave him all alone here - or even possible, since without her nearby someone would just come looking, but it's much more polite to turn it into an offer. He's never seen her dance, after all.]
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[Always the positive spin with him! They are a lot to chew on, but they taste just as sweet.
In response to her question, he nods.]
Yeah. Show me what you're made of out there.
[Honestly, he's too socialized-up to go and make a fool out of himself on the dance floor. Maybe some other day, when it's just the two of them.]
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Okay. We're almost done, handsome.
[One more kiss, and then she crawls out of his lap to guide his chair again, but only somewhat. There's already a loose knight circle made around a sizable space, and even some of the tallest members of her family can't obstruct Boxer's view. She squeezes his shoulder and pushes through various relatives on her own, so he's got a clear opening.
Still, she isn't the first to go, Sabal and Tamir have that honor. They choose a traditional dance so more than a few people sing along, it gets a bit loud and excited, but there's something to be said for how they move together. They radiate happiness, and while the dance itself is quite traditional and therefore very well known, it always looks new to her. For Nariko it's impossible to quell her desire to move, by the time they finish she's practically hopping in place.
So when Ignis eases forward from the other side of their ring of family members Nariko about leaps forward, more than ready to take his hand before he's finished offering it. He's tall, with a deeper skin tone than Nariko, armed with a sharp jaw that wasn't entirely unlike Boxer's. Ignis and Nariko shared the same bright hazel eyes, verging on a muddled, dark gold, but where she grinned brightly enough to help light up the night Ignis was notably well tempered, grinning rather than smirking.
What they dance resembled a contemporary salsa, quick, skillful, and infinitely more sensual. If not for their incredible physical likeness they would look like any other couple, passionate and well balanced.]
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Ignis, on the other hand, holds the unfortunate responsibility of being Boxer's stand-in, at least in his head. If he was human, yeah...he'd look like that, move like that, get to dance with Nariko like that. And for a long time, the fantasy stays alive and well...but not forever.
If she looks at him while they're dancing, he'll be smiling. When she finishes dancing, too, he's smiling, but there's something uncomfortable and sad about it in such a subtle way that only Nariko would be able to see, given their time spent together by now. Because in the end, he doesn't look like that, he doesn't move like that, and he certainly won't dance with Nariko like that.]
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"Are you alright?" Ignis gripped her arm, she'd tensed at some point or another and they were so close that it was no wonder her elder cousin noticed it right away.]
I'm fine.
[She manages a smile but steps away.] Thanks. Looks like Adiba is next, though!
[It's a slick enough exit, but she'll probably end up delivering some form of explanation later on. It's fine, right now it just ... It kind of seems like they don't need to be here anymore, and whether that's just her protective streak rearing its very vicious head or not, it's what she's going to go with.]
Ready to go?
[And when they're alone she's going to ask. That went beyond a little introverted exhaustion, after all.]
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When she asks him if he's ready to go, he lets a little more of his real emotion show through.]
Yeah. We're not going to have to say farewell to everyone, right?
[Because he knows that will take at least an additional hour. Can they just leave in silence...?]
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[But they can't leave in complete silence. They revisit Abbas near the exit and the kid's upset to hear that they're leaving and incredibly loud about it - which means that their exit will be broadcasted quickly. She waves, makes some fake apologies and they'll be out soon enough. In truth her grandma's probably going to be a little pissy about it, but Nariko will field that later. Right now she just wants Boxer to have room to breathe.]
Your place or mine?
[That's a stupid question since they usually go to his apartment, not hers. But if she can hear his voice she might be able to figure out if he's okay or not.]
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[There's more reason to it than that, be he feels like that's the only one he really needs to give. He just really wants to get to his tank right now, and the buzzing that's starting to generate due to the chatter that they're leaving is making his anxiety peak very, very quickly.]
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Nariko doesn't answer, she just leads them back to his building, which takes a good few minutes but nothing more. It's a comfortable, knowing silence on her end, an attempt to give him space even though there's only so much she can do, to begin with. It's probably been long enough that everyone in his building knows her, getting up and inside isn't too much of a problem.
And neither is going to his room. Go for the tank, Boxer, she isn't going to stop you.]
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And so he will be peeling his form-fitting polo off almost as soon as they get past his front door.]
Gonna go take a nap. [Whether or not he actually calms down enough to take a nap is up for debate, but he's gonna try to anyway.] What about you?
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[She isn't at all tired so she might as well get something productive done while he rests - or tries to, at least. It wasn't as if the night was a waste by any means but she really hadn't wanted to upset him so badly, or have any hand in causing it. But there was nothing she could do but let him take care of himself.
Hopefully that'd be enough. If she apologized too much or fretted that'd only stress him out more.]
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[He looks up at her from his chair. He's not actively trying to...but he's ended up giving her those begging doe-eyes, intricately curved pupils wide with hope.
Please don't leave him here alone, Nariko. Not after all of that.]
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[Half of her stuff is here anyway so it's not a big deal to stay, and the idea of leaving him hadn't even crossed her mind.]
I was going to set up in the living room, but the bed would work just fine.
[It's up to him, she'll sit there and work and be as close as possible if he wants, or she'll hang out in the living room.]
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[He gives her a relieved smile as he makes his way into the bedroom.]
You can work wherever it's most comfortable.
[She doesn't explicitly have to be in the same room as him, it's comforting enough to know that she'll be "around".]
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[He doesn't need her to follow him the whole way, but she kind of wants to, sort of does and goes as far as lingering near the bedroom door until he's slipping into his tank. Then she can manage to give him a wave and go back and fall on the couch, keeping her heels off of it.
What a night.]
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[He won't need to, though. He first settles into his tank like normal, but when Nariko checks on him again--whether that is when she goes to bed herself or just poking her head in to check on him for the sake of checking on him, he's gone.
Kind of.
There's what looks to be a big pile of the rocks that he uses as bedding crowded into the corner of his tank--but on closer inspection, it's actually him, contorted into a shape with his tentacles and his skin colored and textured to match. Only knowing that pile wasn't there before is what gives him away--it's perfect camouflage.
And the fish don't seem to notice one way or the other.]
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And the worst part of it is that she's seen this tank multiple times. You'd think she would know every ridge and detail to it. But All she can really make out are rocks and his fish and just ... No Boxer. Where the fuck was he? But it's like he could have gone past her, or left at some point, she'd been awake the whole time!
So, to be honest, it made complete sense in that moment to get up there and in check herself. Maybe he was just laid out in some way she couldn't see from the outside. That made sense, right?
And that's how Nariko ended up in her bra, panties, and her stockings, feeling around Boxer's tank and unintentionally poking at some part of his body.]
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And he's still out cold.]
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She still doesn't get it for an extra second until she follows the trail of that one tentacle and then her perspective shifts a bit and that's, okay. That's Boxer. Somehow. Why does he look like a rock. She reaches down to pet the tentacle soothingly and then swims a little closer, trying to edge to one side because, well, she already knows what happens if she accidentally surprises him.
That's exactly why Nariko's very careful about poking his ... Well, she hopes that's his shoulder, or maybe some part of his arm? But she tries squeezing a little. Is he okay or is the color changing thing a bad sign???]
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With her gentle touch, he slowly comes to wakefulness. Boxer uncurls from his contorted position wrapped in tentacles reminiscent of blooming, as his skin returns to its black, sinfully smooth texture. He sits up, his head and shoulders coming above the water, and he lets out the water from his respiratory system through his nose and mouth--a weird and kind of gross thing to witness, perhaps, but it'd be something Nariko would have seen numerous times already.]
Hey...what's up?
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You changed colors.
[Which is just a little concerning for her.] Like, all over.
[It was alarming as fuck.]
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That's the first time you've seen me change color?
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Yeah, I'm gonna say this is definitely the first time I've seen you blend in with something.
[Was his mother a chameleon.]
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Oh...sorry about that.
[He yawns.]
It's a hunting tactic. Or, in my case...a self-soothing tactic. Couldn't get to sleep without trying to hide...
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