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So it was the morning after Zaire had kissed Jory in the pool, and then some, and Jory wasn't entirely sure where he stood with the mahamba now. There hadn't been a whole lot of talking, and what had been said seemed to hold multiple meanings. Zaire wanted to hang out more, he'd said he liked kissing him, a lot. And of course, the whole bit that had happened after they'd left the pool.

Jory wished he'd asked more questions, gotten some concrete answers so he didn't feel so terribly unsure of himself. He liked Zaire. A lot. He'd thoroughly enjoyed the time they'd spent together the day before, and he really didn't want it to be a one time deal. The thought of that made his insides hurt, a certain dread mixed something something else entirely that felt suspiciously like shame. Fun is fun, but if that was all it had been...

No, the mahamba had reached out to him first. He'd sent the message, reiterating that he'd had fun, that they should do it again. It had turned into an invitation to his dorm and the prospect of sharing a meal.

That was how Jory came to be standing in front of the other monster's door with a pair of lunch trays in his hands and a box of spookies barely tucked under one arm. A moment was spent wondering how the hell he was going to let himself in(Zaire had said the door was unlocked), then he remembered his tail. A soft kick was given to the wood first, announcing himself, then he was turning the handle with that long tail so he could push the door open. "I wasn't sure what you like, so I just got you a bit of everything. I hope that's okay?"

The sight that greeted the fish boil as he entered the room was a very drowsy mahamba rolling up to his feet and grabbing a shirt of the floor. It looked like he'd dozed off, probably had. Made the shorter boil wonder if his friend was actually nocturnal, but every time he'd seen Zaire it had been early afternoon. Friend. It didn't seem like the right word, and pale blue cheeks faded a bit in a blush as he watched the mahamba pull his shirt back over his head. "Hey. Did I wake you up?"

One of the trays was taken, and he offered a grateful smile, catching the spookies just as they started to slip out from under his arm. "Um, I brought snacks, too." He set the box on a dresser before pausing to look around the room brows rising at the lack of other furniture, the clothing scattered about, and the glowing eyes peering at him from the shadows. Quaint. It wasn't exactly neat or tidy, and it didn't have the same feel that his own room did, but it seemed incredibly fitting for a swamp dwelling monster that also happened to be a teenage male.

When directed to make himself at home he moved to take a seat on the bed, nudging a blanket out of his way with one hand, before sitting with his back to the wall, legs folded, tray resting on his lap.

His own plate wasn't half so loaded down. He'd picked fish, fried a golden brown, with a side of what he assumed was some sort of tater tot. Whatever, it smelled good. Picking up his fork, he speared one on the end of it, but hesitated before eating it. "So, um. How's your day been?" Small talk had never been his strong suit.

The afanc had just started to regan his coloring when Zaire made his comment on real sugar, and the boil flushed all over again. Even going so far as to bend over the tray on his lap, hands coming up to hide his face. Jack, that wasn't fair! Zaire knew ho to push his buttons, and he was quickly learning which button did what. "That's not what that was implying." Came his muffled response, tail curling around his own hip and along his knees.

He felt the bed shift, and when he lifted his head from his hands he saw that Zaire and moved to take a seat beside him. It was enough to have him uncurling, straightening up again, and though his skin was still a shade lighter than it usually was, he returned to his dinner. Taking small, careful bites.

Zaire ignored his question to ask one of his own, but Jory didn't mind in the least. He'd been trying for nervous small talk, while the other boil was actually proposing something they could do in the future together. It was a much better topic of conversation, and Jory actually seemed to relax a bit, smiling brightly as he nodded, chewing and swallowing the bit in is mouth before answering more fully. "I have, a few times. It's nice. Waters a little murkier, but I doubt that'll matter to you much" Water beasty that he was.

A picnic at he lake actually sounded really really nice. "Yes, we could spend an afternoon there. There are bits of the shore that boarder on the edge of the woods, so there are more secluded areas." Jory's thoughts wandered towards the romantic at this, Zaire's would likely plunge further into the gutter. "It sounds like a really nice way to spend a day."

Jory pouted, a bite of fish hanging on his fork, halfway to his mouth. Why did he have to ask so outright? Didn't Zaire realize it was hard for the afanc to just admit to what he wanted? He probably did, amused by how flustered the smaller boil got.

He chose to ignore the question, for now, and worked on finishing his dinner. It was crispy, and warm, and delicious, and the casual brush of Zaire's leg had a small smile on the boil's lips. One that grew as Zaire finished his meal, setting his tray aside so he could cuddle up against his shoulder, head resting against his shoulder. The first of Jory's meal was finished off quickly, and reluctantly he moved away from the mahamba's side so he could set it on top of the other.

"What about this Scareday?" With no classes scheduled they'd have the entire day to themselves.

Hands freed up, the boil settled back on the bed, but turning this time so he could crawl across the mattress and blankets towards his handsome friend. He slid in between the other boil's knees, coming up for kiss, a soft brush of pale lip. Making out sounded like a fabulous idea, but there were still worried weighing on the afanc's mind. He drew back enough so he could look up at the other's face. "I really like you."

The promise of pounce and catch Jory saw in the other boil's eyes before features had sobered was promising, and they could return to that, but first Jory had to settle the insecure, nagging little feeling that rested like a sour weight at the pit of his stomach.

He was pouting as Zaire blinked at him, ears drooping back a bit as he listened. "Yes, you did. It's just..." It wasn't that he didn't believe him, he just wanted to be clear on what they were doing together. They hadn't really discussed much beyond a mutual desire to continue hanging out and admissions of fond feelings. "I just wanted to know what this is." He sounded a little lost, but there was no demand in his voice. He wasn't trying to chain the mahamba down, not really, but if he wasn't going to be the only one Zaire hung around with he'd like to know. At least he thought h did.

Really the idea of Zaire messing about was not a very welcome one, but Jory was scared to ask for something a little more committed. If Zaire said no, that would kind of really suck, and could very likely put an end to whatever they were currently doing, and Jory didn't want that a all.

"And if there were rules...' He trailed off, dropping his gaze from those pretty, glowing blues. He'd fallen back to sit on his knees, hands in his lap, but as tanned fingers slid along his scalp and the back of his neck he shivered. The bump to his tail had him looping is own over the mahamba's much larger one.

Oh, Jory did not like the sound of that exhale. His shoulders sagged, features fighting not to fall in disappointment at the rejection he was sure would follow. Wincing, almost, as he waiting to hear it, a soft dismissal. He shouldn't have asked, he should have left well enough alone and just enjoyed it while he had been allowed, but he'd ruined it with his own insecurities!

Or maybe not.

While it wasn't a rousing declaration of affection, it wasn't, by any means, an end to what was going on between them. Pale features smoothed, more puzzled now than worried, but the pout remained. This wasn't an easy thing for him to bring up, he wasn't at all sure what a normal sort of relationship entailed. What he'd had with Nat had been fun, but it had been confusing. Enough in life confused Jory, he wanted a little surety every so often.

Zaire's admission that he wasn't really sure what they were doing either was neither comforting, nor dread inducing. It didn't help, but it didn't make it worst. A little crease formed between snowy brows as features turned thoughtful, lips tugging gently to one side. When that cool hand slid around from the back of his neck to cup his chin baby blues rolled up again, meeting the other monster's gaze. He looked borderline pathetic, unsure of himself and, and unsure if he should lay out what it was he really wanted. "I don't know how to do this," he admitted softly. "I've never had a...a boilfriend, and I don't think I had a ghoulfriend either." She had never come right out and said it, but Jory had gotten the sense that as much as Natalia liked him, that didn't mean they were actually dating. Not like what he'd seen in movies or read in books.

"I don't wanna do what we're doing with anyone else." That the afanc was sure of. What he wanted to say was the thought of Zaire doing what they'd done together with anyone else made his insides twist up unpleasantly, but even that seemed somehow demanding, and he just didn't have it in him to admit it.

Instead he leaned forward again, actually crawling until the other boil's lap as he circled his neck with pale arms and pressed his face against the strong line of Zaire's throat. As much as he wanted to know what they meant to each other, the conversation was making him incredibly anxious, and it showed in the droop of long ears, the tension in his shoulders as he clung to the other boil, and his tail tightening around Zaire's.

The smaller boil was very nearly shaking as he heard, and felt, that growled 'no' that followed his hapless rambling. A soft whimper followed, arms tightening slightly around Zaire's shoulders before that deep voice spoke up. it made him go still, an ear lifting so he could catch every word, because he could hardly believe what he was hearing. Hesitantly he lifted his head enough to roll blue eyes up to watch Zaire's face through a veil of his own white bangs.

He did want to date, he wanted to hold Zaire's hand, and curl up with him on the bank of the lake, and Kiss, and everything else that came along with the title of boilfriend. Jory wasn't really possessive, he shared everything, his food, his things, his money, but he didn't want to share Zaire. For once the monster boil wanted to be just a little selfish.

By inches, and with the help of the hands rubbing in soothing circles along his back, the afanc began to relax again. He was still clinging, arms anchored around the back of Zaire's neck, but he wasn't anxious now. He even smiled as the taller boil reiterated his affection, brow bumping against that tanned jaw.

It was his elevated stance above spookies that would have him drawing back enough to stare at the boil in utter shock. Zaire's first love was food, mainly sweets. That he'd place the afanc on a pedestal above one of his favorite snacks had a bright, happy grin spreading along soft blue lips. Lips that would be crushed against the other boil's seconds later as Jory's thinner frame fell back against that muscled chest.

The kiss left his fingers tingling, stomach flipping like wings, and he looked a little dazed when he pulled back nearly a minute later. Cheek moving to rub against Zaire's cheek, he'd breath in deep, taking in that wet, earthy scent of the other boil before his breath eased against the other boil's ear fin. "I want to be your boilfriend."

It was good the mahamba wasn't put off by clinginess, or he and Jory would simply never work. The boil was little better than a puppy around those he was comfortable with, following them around, always touching, cuddling up to them whenever he was able. He couldn't help it, it was just the way he was. Quite possibly a throw back to his childhood, a distinct lack of friends and parents that tried not to be terribly coddling.

Jory wasn't sure, he'd never tried to analyze himself before.

From his comfortable seat on Zaire's lap he did indeed notice how the taller boil reacted to the pass of warm air along his ear. It was a curiously familiar reaction, and he couldn't help a soft chuckle, remembering the way Zaire's soft nibbling against his own ear had made him shiver. It was something to note, an important little tidbit to store away and recall as he wanted.

And then he was being rolled onto his back and pressed into the bed, a deep growl thrumming through Zaire's chest and into his own, making his pulse speed as he looked up to meet those pretty blue eyes. A smile showed, and he made a soft, excited little laugh before Zaire was muffling the sound with the press of his lips.

Jack, it felt like weight on his shoulders had been lifted. His chest wasn't tight anymore, and instead he felt that same, heady swelling that'd welled up the day before in the pool. Pinned down, he brought his legs up, knees framing the other boil's hips, the length of his tail looping over the other boil's much thicker one. Pale hands had started on tanned cheeks, but they'd moved back, combing through dark hair as he'd tilted his head so the kiss could deepen.