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Who: Niles and Azura
When: backdated to around 10/27
Where: Azura's apartment.
What: An Inelegant Proposal
Warnings: Nothin yet.

[After his successful kidnapping and attempted mauling of Connor Niles has been on edge. The spell tag Connor slapped him with knocked him out of his feral state initially, but he feels the fixation, the stalking, the prey drive returning. As much as he hates to admit it, the android was right. He needed a bond. And as far as he could tell he had only one option.

So this morning finds him pacing restlessly outside Azura's door, eyes a little wild, tail a little twitchy, claws occasionally extending and leaving little gouges in the floor. He knocks.]

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[ She knows the feeling. The witch equivalent, anyway. It wasn't a pleasant scenario knowing you were literally getting boiled alive from the inside by magic. She's a ticking time bomb at this point, and she has very few options left, if any.

When she hears the knocking and peers through the peephole, she frowns. Niles? What could he want? Azura smoothes out her frazzled hair and tries to look like she didn't just crawl out of bed, but her bleary blinking at the hall lights is pretty telling. It was too bright out there. She opens the door just a bit. ]

...hello, Niles. [ a pause ] Is there something you need, or is this a social call?

[He leans in and down, putting his face close up to hers through the crack in the door. He ignores her question, instead asking one of his own with a sense of urgency and sincerity far flung from his usual detached and flippant demeanor. ]

Tell me something you know about me. [He blinks, shakes his head, clarifies. ] You told me we are allies in your world. Prove it.

[ jesus, dude ]

The former, then. Hmm...

[ Azura leans against the doorframe and closes her eyes. She's not feeling up for silliness right now, but he seems upset, so she'll try to rifle through her brain for something.

Oh. She's got something. ]

You think of yourself as a hedgehog.

[Yeah that, that proves it alright, his clearly shocked expression revealing he wasn’t expecting her to come up with something satisfactory. But hedgehog...he hadn’t even shared those thoughts with Leo. If the other him trusted her with such a private, honest opinion of himself then that was all he needed to know. He nods solemnly. ]

Alright. I believe I can trust you. [He sits awkwardly, putting himself a little lower than her eye level and puts on hand on the doorframe, in case he has to hold it open if she tries to slam it in his face. ] Will you bond with me?

[ Azura just kind of. Blinks at him for a few seconds.

What did he say?

Oh. Hmm. This is going in a direction she didn't expect. ]

...why me?

[ okay, hedgehog and all, maybe he wasn't the best at making friends, but surely a new person was better than someone he remembered as invading his country? ]

[Niles' eye shifts away, then back. Beyond keeping himself from going feral, Niles had a secondary motive. He'd recently made some powerful enemies, and he's not too proud to say he knows he can't beat a witch.

On his own anyway.]

The only person here I trust is me. And some me trusts you quite a lot apparently.

[ Another pause, and then Azura opens the door. ]

I'd like to discuss it before diving into it, please.

Of course.

[He pushes in past her as soon as he's allowed entrance. His gaze zips around the entryway, head and torso turning to compensate for his limited field of view. A benefit of several extra feet of spine and uncanny flexibility.

He finds a space of empty floor big enough for him and sits, tucking his front paws under himself, mostly to curb the growing urge to claw at the floor and walls.]

What do you need to know?

[ The apartment is...really dark, because Corrin isn't home and Azura's migraines led her to close every curtain in the place.

It's a simple spell, so Azura takes a candle and lights it with her fingertip before settling down on the couch nearby. He looked...way more monster than person, right now, but it was still Niles. She tries to keep that in mind as she talks. ]

I want to know what you expect out of me, for this. How you'd like to handle it. I'm sure you know we'd need to be in close proximity for it to have any positive effects.

[ are you a surprise cuddler, niles? ]

[Niles' monster form grants him keen eyesight even in low light, but he appreciates the candle nonetheless. His slitted pupil shrinks back as the flame jumps to life. He smirks, grin a little lopsided.]

Well I certainly won't ask you to fuck me in my current state, but I'm very good with my hands. [Wait, no, he was supposed to be trying to win her over. He crosses his arms and adds on an important clarification.] At massage, I mean.

[ THERE ARE TWO WOLVES INSIDE OF YOU.

ONE IS REMEMBERING HOW YOU HOOKED UP WITH A NEAR-STRANGER IN THIS VERY APARTMENT.

THE OTHER IS IMAGINING WHAT IT WOULD BE LIKE TO SLEEP WITH A CENTAUR CAT MAN WITH A STINGER.

YOU ARE HORNY. ]

Ah, that's...um...

[ she's also remembering how she normally tends to leave the room when Niles starts being Himself around her. Oh how times have changed. ]

I don't...mind the fur, or the tail, or--that's not the issue!

[ the issue is that it's Niles and she's not sure she wants him to see both her closet furry side and her hidden horniness because that seems like a recipe for disaster

But. If they're bonded he might know anyway? This sucks. ]

[Niles' eyebrows jump about halfway to his hairline. His tail swishes along the floor in a broad arc, hitting the wall he's sitting against with a soft thmp.]

Oh? Then what is? I know my reputation but I assure you, whatever boundaries you set, I will respect.

[ Of course they did. She's acutely aware that this conversation is taking a predictable turn and really should have seen this coming. ]

...perhaps it would be better if we see where things lead.

[ and, you know, if boning happens, it happens ]

Where are you living, right now?

Edited 2019-11-06 02:15 (UTC)

[Niles turns his head to the side and one hand reaches up to scratch the back of his neck.]

...Hopefully here?

[Staying in half-finished buildings in the refugee district started out of convenience, but after the mist he'd had the secondary motive of remaining hard to find.]

[ Wow, he actually dropped it. +5 respect points. ]

I'll have to ask Corrin if she's alright with that, but I can't see her saying no.

[His ears flick back for a moment and he winces a little. He hadn't exactly treated her too kindly the last time they'd spoken. Still, her whole thing was supposed to be mercy and virtue or whatever right? Yeah, it'll be fine.]

So, does that mean we have a deal?

[They'll need an actual ceremony to make it official, but if she's posing Corrin as the only potential barrier to him staying here, Niles has a good feeling about his chances.]

[ Hey, now. She sees that reaction. Azura leans forward and studies him. ]

...perhaps. Is something the matter?

[He sighs and his tail gives a single long agitated flick.]

Our last conversation was...less than congenial.

[A beat. No sense pulling his punches.]

Words like coward and traitor and foolish kept coming up if my memory serves me.

[ Oh. Oh boy. ]

Excuse me? [ Azura gets to her feet ] Were you planning on telling me this, or just letting me find out the hard way, when Corrin came home tonight?

[ it's less that he had an argument with Corrin (that's it's own can of worms), and more that he failed to mention it at all. She's moving to grab her pocket watch ]

[He hunches and doesn't make eye contact.]

I was gambling on Corrin being the bigger ma- uh. Person. Forgiveness is a virtue, yadda yadda.

[He twirls one hand dismissively through the air before tucking his arms tightly across his chest.]

[ She grits her teeth and fixes him with a very uncharacteristically burning look.

And also literally burning, as the candle's flame flares up. ]

Don't you yadda yadda this. You're asking me to do something very personal with you, and then withholding information that might make me change my decision. This isn't making me eager to say yes.

[ tap tap tap on the watch's screen ]

I have to talk to Corrin about this.

[He huffs and almost pouts while she contacts the princess. His tail is now moving in short jerky swishes across the floor. Fouling it all on the last step, ugh.

But well, she had a point.]

I figured it was a solvable problem that could be addressed later.

[ so he's pretty much 50% cat, now. that would be cute if she wasn't so mad. She just fixes Niles with a thin frown.

She doesn't use the pocketwatch much at all, so it takes her a few minutes to figure out how to send Corrin a text. ]

provided you aren't busy at the moment, your presence is requested at home

[ and uh. there's no clarification??? how ominous. azura why are you like this. ]

What? I'm coming right now!

[Corrin frowned at the message before turning and hurrying back home. She'd been out walking, trying to sort through the many things she was trying to come to terms with at the moment, and all she needed was something to have happened to Azura!]

[It wasn't too long, maybe a few minutes, before she came rushing through the front door, bare feet sliding on the rug.]

Azura? What is...it...

[She trailed off, seeing Niles standing there. And Azura looking a bit of a mess.]

Uh?

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