Privately, Kuroo was enjoying his time with Nami. Having another wolf around that enjoyed fishing in the bay as much as he did was splendid. Wonderful, really. Truly no words to describe how happy it made him to not bore something to death with his fascination. Plus, spending the evenings with her on the beach, watching sunsets was pretty nice too. In a... he didn't really have a name or a word for it. Something about being beside her, munching on some fresh fish, enjoying a cool evening made his belly stir. Stir in a way he hadn't felt before.

Openly though, he tried to make sure Nami felt included, as if she belonged. Even if he was the only one making the effort, he hoped it was enough. So when he surprisingly saw the night sky light up bright with the aurora borealis, he invited Nami out to Swallet Ring. Without the bamboo and palms to obscure the sky, it would be an even better sight out in the open. In case Nami got hungry, Kuroo carried over his back a bundled up pelt, a refreshment, and snacks. There was clearly a bounce in his step as he led her out to the farther edge of the sand bars that made up the ring.

"How's this spot?" Kuroo turns to look at Nami, a bright smile on his face and his tail wagging happily as he stops on a sand bar wide enough for both of them to fit.

"Speech"

Spending time with Kuroo was something that Nami was enjoying quite a bit - in fact, she wasn't sure she could ever get enough of it. Finding wolves that she felt this similar too wasn't something that happened often, so she was happy to enjoy it while she could. Not that she expected Kuroo would leave, or even that she would. She definitely didn't plan to, but she'd wasn't overly optimistic about the good things lasting forever. At the very least she'd enjoy them while she could. Tomorrow wasn't promised, but today was still here, and she was going to enjoy it while it was still here. Though the sun had long since set, night falling over the lands, Nami didn't quite feel like the day was almost over. Kuroo had planned an activity for the two of them and she was touched at his thoughtfulness. The two of them set out away from the bamboo out toward the farthest reaches of Swallet Ring. It felt particularly like a special occasion when the strange lights began to dance across the sky. The northern lights weren't unfamiliar to her but she hadn't seen them since she'd left home, so she felt a little nostalgic at the sight, which made the gesture all the more special - not that Kuroo knew the significance of them for her. Following along with him, she paused as they reached the spot he'd picked. Nami nodded along excitedly. "It's perfect!" She all but exclaimed, happy with the small sliver of sand that he'd found. The tide was in right now, so they wouldn't risk losing their spot here, which was basically right against the water - in a way only wolves like the two of them would enjoy. "These lights - have you ever seen anything like them before?" She stopped to help him with the things he'd brought as they made themselves comfortable here, pausing briefly to look up at the night sky.

Kuroo's tail wags excitedly behind him, unable to hide the happiness he feels when Nami agrees that its perfect. Once everything is setup and laid out just so, he plops down on the pelt blanket, leaving enough room for Nami to lay beside him. Stretching out his legs just enough that his toes dip into the waters that lap around the sand bar around them, he looks up to the sky she talks about.

Blinking slowly, he tilts his head curiously for a moment before shaking it to tell a silent no. "I have heard tale of them, but my brother and I, since arriving to Auster, have always really been here. We traveled north to Boreas a time or two like when we had first met, but never during the time of year or north enough to really witness them first paw," he continues to look up at the colorful myriad of stars and light for a moment before looking down at Nami. "Have you?" Kuroo questions back, one brow slightly raised in curiosity.

"Speech"

The joy that flooded her at spending precious time with Kuroo filled her with a comforting warmth. For a long time, she'd always felt like she didn't belong anywhere, like she was someone that others could tolerate in small amounts and not much beyond that. It was refreshing that being here in Tojo-Kai didn't feel temporary now that she'd started to really settle in and feel like this was her home. She helped pull the other corner of the blanket, moving to sit alongside him. "I have, many times," she answered him easily. Kuroo explained he and his brother hadn't gone far beyond Auster since coming here. "I was born in the far north. Not Boreas, but my homeland, which is quite far from here." Nami didn't know how to explain how one might find their way back to those land but in her heart she knew she could return if she needed to make such a journey, not that she expected she ever would. "There I saw them all the time. We were taught that those lights were actually reflections of fish scales - they came from large shoals of fish just off the shore, and were said to signify good fishing in the coming days." Was it something she believed? She wasn't sure, but it was a nice thought nonetheless, and thinking about the lights brought back fond childhood memories. "They're pretty, aren't they?" Curiously she tilted her head toward Kuroo, watching the way the lights reflected in his eyes. "I never thought I'd see them here. It's so strange that they could be seen this far south..." She mused, turning her attention back to them. They were exactly like the ones she remembered from her youth, wide streak of green-blue stretching across the sky, growing even more bright the darker it got. Words: 304 Total Words: 1,053

A sense of belonging was funny to Kuroo now that he had been here awhile. He suspected Nami would eventually feel the same way and only hoped he helped her feel better the more time they spent together. Which was exactly why he had brought her out here. Not that he had any clue about the lights in the sky having meaning to her upbringing, but because it was beautiful and it was a moment he wanted to share with her. Just the two of them beneath the starry blue and green sky with the water and sand being the only things around them.

He listens intently, soaking up every word she has to say. Nami mentioning her homeland has him thinking of his own. Was his father there? Was anyone from his past still there? Hattori hadn't given them much news as of late so perhaps the empires really had fallen. Coming back from thoughts he didn't like to dwell on, he smiles softly, meeting her gaze as she explains what the lights were to her when she was younger.

"As a pup, I would've believed that story. Usagi and I came from a small village where fishing was quite prominent. It's where my love of it came from," he comments, eyes still meeting her gaze, feeling the moment between them as if he could touch it with his paw. "They're beautiful," Kuroo whispers under his breath, still gazing at Nami even as she turns away to look back at the sky. With the lights reflected on her face, he can't deny the way his stomach turns in knots and his heart that tries to climb into his throat. "Just like you," he adds after a moment, giving her time to admire the sky before he interrupts her stargazing.

"Speech"

The story she told meant a lot to her, even if she didn't necessarily believe it now. It was part of her upbringing, and the stories she'd been taught stuck with her to this day. Being able to tell Kuroo some of them felt special, and made her heart feel a little lighter, like home wasn't quite such a distant memory. The way she feels about her past is hard to convey - she felt so many things when she imagined her youth, some good, some quite bad. Not in the moment she wouldn't dwell on any of the bad. "Did you?" She sounded enthralled with what he was saying already, genuinely interested in learning more about him. The similarities between the two of them made her feel even more drawn to him. "That sounds like where I grew up, too. Fishing was our lifeblood. We were taught to swim about as soon as we were able walk," she reflected fondly. She nodded lightly along with his statement. The lights truly were beautiful, and she felt grateful to be seeing them so far from home. What exactly that meant she wasn't sure, but she was far more interested in enjoying the sights right now with Kuroo at her side. The next thing he said caught her off-guard, not in a bad way but she found herself stalling, for once at a loss for words. Was it possible he really felt that way about her? She'd never imagined he might, as much as he enjoyed spending time with him - she didn't think the feeling would be reciprocated. "Oh," she said after a moment, feeling sudden heat rush to her face. "You don't mean that," Nami said softly. She didn't mean it in a coy sort of way, nor a self-deprecating one, she just had a hard time imagining Kuroo really felt that way about her. "Do you?"