Nevin did not fit under the table at all. It was a bit too low, so when the sisters had left him, he had ended up sitting a bit away from the table, his legs folded, knees resting against it. He hoped he didn't look as awkward as he felt. As he sat there, he heard rustling in the other room - the girls, dressing Eteri up. He took a deep breath and concentrated on himself, on the issue that he had learned was happening inside of himself.
That burning in his throat had gone away. Instead there was a pleasant coolness instead that had flowed through his throat, then up to his ears. A bit of it had even reached his head, his brain, and if he hadn't figured out that it was his own magic reacting to a certain problem, he would have been greatly concerned. As it was, he was just mildly concerned. Because how in the hell had his magic decided this was OK?
The reason he had lost control of himself and basically lapped up his girlfriend’s blood was simple. Disturbing, but simple. He had needed it for - well, her language, apparently. After he had coated his tongue, it had sunk in, permeating his tongue with the flavor of sharp copper - and strangely, a sweet aftertaste that tingled his tongue. Since he normally only drank his blood potions, this was the first time he had ever sampled blood directly - were flavors like that normal? He shook his head to dispelled the tangent.
Outside of the restaurant, as they walked, he had been slowly adjusting to the changes that his magic had thrown at him. With some difficulty, he was starting to understand what the sisters were saying to each other - but it still hadn't become clear, not yet. He had pieced together enough to know that something was wrong - but considering his beloved had an angry, volatile piece of soul inside of her, saying something was wrong was rather stating the obvious.
The sound of a door opening brought his attention out of his thoughts. Dark eyes swept up to take in - Nevin stiffened. And he stiffened. Eteri was wearing an entirely different outfit - no single, long dress. She was dressed in what looked like a shirt and skirt combination - a white shirt, with long sleeves tied to her wrists by bright red ribbons. The sides of the shirt hung down onto her short, very flowy skirt. Very short, very flowy. It exposed her long, creamy legs, and Nevin was painfully reminded that he had been behaving out of concern for her and never tried to initiate what she called the ‘in-tents- feels.
So he knew his body was reacting as she gently chimed over to him, bells ringing from her ears and her tail. A soft veil just barely draped from her head, obscuring her face just the slightest of bits, giving her a mysterious air. And since she had said that public displays of affection were not approved of at all, he knew he couldn't hug her like he wanted to. Or, show his rather obvious attraction to her appearance. So, he cheated.
Threads shot out from the side of his leg and wrapped around said display of attraction, and yanked it back down, securing it against the inside of his leg. He shifted a bit in pain, and gave his love a smile as he tried to mask that uncomfortable shift by rearranging his legs to more closely match how she was sitting.
“I… Gather that this is a ceremonial occurrence. What..” He took a breath, and reached out to lace his fingers with hers before looking to Ayaka. He watched her, then shook his head. He knew he wouldn't be told anything about private ceremony. Instead he cleared his throat.
“I think I will need to know the location of an inn that won't turn away foreigners.” His voice was steady, though a bit strained.
