Novella of Nakari: Starry Night
By: Monica Vix
A quiet sigh puffing out warm vapor came from the shark’s mouth. Indigo eyes stared up at the night sky, the gentle twinkling of the midnight gems captivating her eyes while her mind ran wild. Nakari, wearing a jacket and sweatpants, laid back on the top of the apartment building’s roof to watch the night in her melancholy mood. With the late autumn chill setting in around her, the shark quietly thought to herself.
The only thing Nakari was really aware of with her own body was the cold metal of her prosthetic limbs touching her scaled flesh. It didn’t hurt or disturb her; it was only distracting. Thoughts swam around in her mind, thinking about her body and how all of it felt… off, to say the very least. The main thing wasn’t the missing halves of her limbs, but Nakari was far more troubled with the parts she still had! Being a transgender woman, it was awkward still having the downstairs parts she had, but no stranger ever noticed and friends rarely pointed anything out. The shark passed in every reasonable way; hormones helped develop small breasts, she was already shorter than average, and her figure was a gentle hourglass with barely any curves. Still, things felt off regardless of how others perceived her.
Another thing started to feel off after a moment, although this wasn’t due to thoughts at all; there was a crash from the stairway and a loud ‘FUCK’ that echoed for a moment. Nakari sat up, her metal fingers pressing against the hard and cold surface of the roof to look over her shoulder at the doorway. The clunking and labored sounds of movement came, clearly someone carrying something heavy up to the roof. Occasional groans and huffs from the approaching person showing they were a woman on the way up here, the voice sounding familiar to Nakari. Her indigo eyes stared ahead at the doorway, awaiting the new comer to the roof.
Shuffling up the stairs towards the open door on the roof, a brown bunny came from the door with a huff. Monica, Nakari’s roommate and cuddle buddy, had her head peering up over the stairs. As she approached, a pair of lawn chairs and a cooler were seen in her white paws. Coming over, the brown rabbit huffed while setting down the blue and green folded chairs and the cooler with a thud on the ground. Bright emerald eyes looked down to the shark for a moment, Monica’s maw panting as puffs of warm breath looked like mist in the cold air.
“Is the roof that comfortable?” The lapine said to Nakari, reaching out with one of her hands. “Aren’t you cold?” She spoke in a firm tone, but clearly caring as she was checking on her friend. Grasping the chilled prosthetic hand, Monica shivered as she helped pull the shark up to her feet.
Standing and looking up into the slightly taller rabbit’s eyes, Nakari gave a weak smile. “I guess I just didn’t notice my back getting stiff.” She laughed, stretching with her back popping. “And you know I like the cold. That’s why I don’t have any blankets on my bed most of the year.” The shark joked, leaning over to get one of the fallen chairs and unfold it into her own seat, taking the blue chair and setting it up. “Actually… why are you up here?”
Monica took the other chair and began to unfold it as well, setting it near Nakari’s. “Looking for you. I woke up and didn’t hear you snoring, some something must’ve happened.” She said, groaning as she fell back into her chair. “What about you? Just wanted some alone time or not feeling good?” The bunny took a wild guess, opening the cooler and pulling out an Arnold Palmer can.
Stretching and relaxing in the chair, Nakari groaned while relaxing in the soft cloth that was actually comfortable for her back fin! “I guess just… lost in thought. You know, dysphoria and all that. Couldn’t really… get to sleep, honestly.” She said, reaching over to get a drink from the cooler. Upon pulling out a can like Monica’s, the shark looked at it and looked over curiously at the bunny. “I thought you only had sodas in this?” She inquired, taking a moment to open the can with a small pop.
“I’m trying to cut back on sodas.” Monica sighed, groaning as she turned onto her side to look at the shark. “Do you wanna talk about it? Is it the trans stuff or the prosthetic stuff” She spoke softly, attempting to get a full picture of what Nakari was thinking. Monica then turned away to bite at the wrists of her jacket, pulling the sleeves over her hands. “Ugh, I have no idea how you can stand the cold.”
Nakari didn’t react to the rabbit pulling up her sleeves, but held her own arm up to look at the mechanical hand grasping her drink. “Honestly just… kinda both now that you brought it up. Was having gender dysphoria, but now….” The shark trailed off as she spoke, turning her hand around and reaching up with her other to pull the sleeve down. “It’s… weird. The fact that these aren’t really… mine. Really feels like the only part of me that’s still me is my brain, and you know that’s already a little fucked up.”
Popping open her own tab and scooting closer, Monica looked at the intricate machinery of Nakari’s prosthetic arm now on display. The white plastic covered the dark material underneath, the vague whirring of mechanics within the limb controlling every tiny motion. “To be uncharacteristically positive, at least you don’t get cold hands. The extremities like that are the worst for the cold, and since you like the cold so much… at least there’s a small upside?” The bunny said in a rising tone, sighing and slumping back into her chair. “Sorry if that… made it a little worse.” Monica mumbled, a yawn coming out of her maw after apologizing.
Surprising the bunny, Nakari laughed at her comment. “That’s true. Only thing these do for me is move and tell me how hard I’m pressing on things or how hard they press on me.” Nakari sighed curiously while eyeing her limb.
“They don’t tell you how hard they press on your mind, though! I don’t think they scream out, ‘Oh, Nakari, know you’ll never suffer with cold hands again!’ or anything like that.” Monica joked and laughed, her vibrant eyes tracking the free hand of her roommate as it laid limp by the chair. She instinctively cringed, waiting for the moment the joke turned out to be in bad taste and hurt her fishy friend.
Nakari snickered while taking a long, slow sip from the can in her mechanical hand. The shark closed her eyes as she drank, enveloping herself in the gentle movements of her limb. “Oh no, the horror! Good thing these things don’t talk and have a mind of their own!” She joked in return, jerking her hand around and splashing a little bit of her drink onto the roof. Laughing and sighing after a moment, Nakari addressed Monica without looking to her, only staring at the night sky. “Thank you for coming out here. It feels… better to just talk.”
Unable to say anything back, the brown bunny looked over to the shark with a wordless admiration. Monica’s white furred hand peaked out from her green jacket and reached over to hold the shark’s prosthetic hand. For a moment, it seemed like Nakari didn’t notice, so the bunny just left her hand within the shark’s grasp in a very loose position. It was a silent ‘you’re welcome’ from the lapine as she sat there in silence, a big smile on her face. The smile quickly faded as surprise filled her expression, Monica looking down to see Nakari’s hand grasping her own!
The shark looked over and gave a smile back to Monica, locking eyes for a moment. Vibrant indigo eyes stared into the lapine’s emerald eyes, continuing the wordless thanks for company. A smile crossed the rabbit’s face as she looked at Nakari, seeing that her roommate was enjoying herself being fulfilling enough for the bunny. Adverting her gaze towards the sky, Monica let out a loud sigh.
“Your hand is really, REALLY cold, Nakari.” She stated dryly after a moment, clearly aware of how much it diverted the tone of that wordless encounter. As soon as she said that, Monica squeezed her hand tightly around the shark’s mechanical fingers, keeping her hand close to continue holding hands. “I have that problem, too. My hands are always freezing, even in summer.” It was her awkward way of talking and trying to relate to Nakari.
Smiling with the comment, the shark felt the pressure from the grasp. “I wouldn’t know. We never really… touch in a way where I’ll know. How cold are your hands normally? Like… you’ve been out in winter without gloves?” She said trying to relate back to Monica, thinking back of when she was a kid, that smile melting away. Those thoughts instilled a slow, creeping feeling of dysphoria of who she used to be, being… very different than what she is now. Different name, different pronouns, a completely different and thankfully distant life that Nakari wanted to forget; those memories bubbling up again with the conversation.
Something distracted the shark as she found herself spiraling in thought for a moment, looking up to see Monica in front of her. The bunny set her drink down and stood in front of Nakari, gazing at the fish curiously. “I’m not… really sure how to describe it. Would you rather feel it?” She asked, watching the pretty eyes of the shark before her with baited breath. “Are you okay? You seem a little… distracted. Still not feeling the best?”
“O-oh, uh…” Nakari trailed off, realizing she was diving deep into some unsavory internal territory, “I’m doing better, thanks.” She said, momentarily looking away from the bunny in front of her before locking eyes with her once again. “And I guess?” The shark was curious, looking at Monica’s mixed expression. The bunny was caught between her interest with the shark and the uncertainty of how to help her friend.
With a short nod, Monica’s hands reached up to Nakari’s face, gently cupping her cheeks. Feeling the corners of the shark’s mouth rise up into a wide grin again, it got the bunny smiling just as much in turn. There was a low burning desire in Monica’s mind, wanting to just lean forward and give a kiss to this shark to show that… something! To show something, the eternally confusing feelings of attraction mixing with the complexity of Nakari’s mood and how the bunny wanted to whisk her away from these feelings of despair. After a moment, Monica began to move her hands away from the shark’s cheeks, stopping as she felt the chilled prosthetic hands reach up and hold both of her hands.
Closing her eyes with a long sigh, Nakari pressed the bunny’s cool hands to her face. “This feels really nice. Thanks for just… being here. Talking. And, well, doing this. It…” She breathed in, “means way more than I can really say.” Snickering for a moment as her robotic fingers squeezed around Monica’s palms, those indigo eyes stared into the curious and wanting eyes of the bunny. “Reminds me of something. Cold hands, warm heart, something, something. Heard it from an anime.”
“You watched ‘K-On!’ too? I didn’t think slice of life was your style.” Monica spoke near instantly after the shark before her spoke, leaning in closer. “I thought you were more into… I don’t even know.” Her own enthusiasm got herself distracted from the compliment, the slow realization making her blush under the brown and white fur. “Oh, uh… I just realized what you meant. I’m glad I can… help you feel better. Especially if my cold hands make you feel warm inside?” Monica laughed at herself, looking away from Nakari while shaking her head. It was a stupid, overly poetic and unnecessary thing to say, but it just rushed off the tip of her tongue.
Nakari watched and listened to every word the bunny touching her face said. The scatterbrained Monica stealing all of her attention away from the unsavory, sour thoughts and memories. “Yep. Definitely a little warmer.” She said, slowly leaning in closer to the rabbit. The shark’s own interest in the lapine was growing, the opportunity for an intimate connection tantalizingly close. “Do you…” Nakari began to talk, stopping herself before fully committing to the idea.
Staring deeply into the shark’s eyes, Monica knew exactly what she meant. Her blush grew as her maw fell slightly agape, nodding slowly to confirm what was happening. The bunny even felt her hands warming against Nakari’s cheeks, the blushing shark before her warming her palms! Monica took the first step, sliding in closer while brushing her legs against her roommate’s. The transition from metal to flesh was able to be felt even through the sweatpants. Creeping closer, the inches shrinking between their lips.
Taking the reins of the situation, Nakari pushed her face through the bunny’s hands, pressing forward to lock lips with the unsuspecting Monica! Storming in like the predatory fish she was, the shark kissed the rabbit with a startling intensity. The entire sensation was just fireworks within both of their minds, melting any shyness within the very instant of impact. It didn’t go further than just lips on lips, but the expression on Nakari’s face as she pulled away made it seem completely orgasmic. Mouth agape, Monica stared forward through half closed eyes, seemingly wanting more.
“M-more?” Monica sighed out with a lustful, needy air in her voice. The single kiss with this girl she’s known for a year was earth-breaking, completely shattering to her expectations. Eagerly watching with emerald eyes as Nakari nodded, the bunny pressed in to give another shockwave of a kiss to the shark. That electrifying feeling erupted through their systems again upon the second impact, enough to momentarily overwhelm the shark.
As her prosthetic limbs twitched and darted in a random, overloaded way, Nakari forced herself to wrap her arms around Monica’s midsection. The shark drew the rabbit in close, making the brown bunny sit in her lap without breaking the second kiss. Falling into the lap of her roommate, Monica grunted and refused to let go! Her arms wrapped around Nakari’s shoulders, ensnaring the shark in the net of her warmth.
Upon breaking the second shock of a kiss, Monica panted and looked down into Nakari’s eyes with a wide, blushing grin. Completely taken back from the sensation, the bunny let herself go limp in the shark’s lap, feeling the bulge begin to grow in her new seat’s pants. There was no way for Monica to even come close to saying anything against it, only holding Nakari’s head close to her chest.
A true silence came over the pair as they sat together, one in the other’s lap, panting and sighing in the hours before dawn. Nakari’s ear pressed to Monica’s breast gave her a comforting noise to listen to: the thumping and quiet beating of the bunny’s heart. It was enough to lull the shark off to sleep, slowly luring the fish to fall asleep while holding her roommate. The kiss took a lot out of the two of them emotionally, enough to get each of them almost falling asleep.
“Hey… Nakari?” Monica yawned, sitting up in the shark’s lap. “Should we go back inside? Get some sleep for real?” The bunny suggested, moving away from her friend and placing one of her now warm hands on her shoulder. “Maybe… we can sleep together for the first time?” She asked, unsure of what the sleepy reply would be. Sighing and melting into the warmth of the shark’s torso, Monica slumped down and slid across Nakari’s front, their breasts touching as she rests fully on her. “Can I… call you my girlfriend? Or a gal pal with benefits? Something a little more than cuddle buddy?” Monica whispered quietly; her nose nestled into the crook of the shark’s neck to hide her blushing face.
Just barely awake enough to hear the bunny’s muttered questions, Nakari only squeezed around her tighter. The shaky, mechanical hand ran up and down her new girlfriend’s back, feeling the corset piercings through the jacket and shirt. “Yea… to both….” She admitted, hugging Monica tight in the warmth that was shared only between the two of them. Nakari slowly entwinned her legs around the bunny’s, squeezing her close from another angle. “You get up first.” The shark snickered while relaxing her grasp, the small spasms of her prosthetics reduced to barely twitches.
Groaning with the command to get up first, the brown bunny planted her white furred hands on the shark’s shoulders. Slowly pushing herself away, Monica looked down at Nakari with a grin that slowly grew into a smirk. “Okay, if you carry the chairs back down.” She spoke firmly, clearly not having it any other way as she pushed herself to her knees. The bunny squeezed her legs around the shark’s, wedging free her calves and holding Nakari down by the knees.
Laughing and rolling her indigo eyes, the shark smiled and snickered while locking eyes with Monica. “Okay, okay, you don’t have to tell me twice.” She was treating it like it was just a normal night between the two of them, not like the two of them were now… considered girlfriends. “You can get off, now. I thought you didn’t want the cold? Why are you still waiting?” Nakari joked, letting go of the rabbit completely to give her room to move.
Monica stood up and leaned over, the warm puffs of her breath falling into the shark’s face. “I’m waiting because I like being close to you. You’re a warm fish.” She teased with a small kiss to the nose, quickly accommodating to the more involved relationship the two had. “I’ll meet you in our room, okay? Gonna get some blankets on your bed for myself.” The bunny simply spoke, getting off the shark to grab the cooler by the handle.
“Okay, I’ll… see you in OUR bed in a few minutes.” Nakari teased, putting a little more emphasis on their new status of ‘dating’ to try to mess with Monica. As the rabbit giggled and walked away, the shark just watched with a content, satisfied look. “Wow…” The shark spoke to herself, leaning back in the chair for a moment, “This is… a lot. A good kind of a lot.” She spoke to no one as she looked up to the starry night sky above her, completely satisfied in the moment.
Standing up finally, putting her robotic limbs to use again, Nakari started to fold up her own chair. Thoughts began to bubble up in her mind, primarily on the words Monica whispered into her ear. ‘Can I call you my girlfriend?’; those words echoing in the shark’s mind was enough to get her blushing and squirming while fitting the chair into its bag. That alone was the kind of gender affirmation that Nakari wanted if not needed to hear and feel radiating through her body. It made her feel like she was seen as a woman to others, an intoxicating feeling that barely came to her due to being a sportier girl overall.
Starting to pack the other chair and unpacking her thoughts, Nakari knelt on the cold roof floor. The sheer warmth that Monica instilled in her mind was everlasting. The way that she came up only to sit and make sure the shark was okay wasn’t expected at all. That rabbit was usually nice and caring, yes, but wouldn’t go directly out of her way like that before all too often. The only time Nakari could recall Monica doing something so far out of her way for someone like that was her last boyfriend, which….
“Oh fuck, she’s been into me for a while.” The shark vocally expressed her realization with wide eyes, finding herself half done with storing the bag as she became aware to her surroundings again. Thoughts took all of her attention as her body went on autopilot; kneeling on the roof and looking longingly towards the open door and the warm glow from it. Nakari pulled herself up off of the ground, taking the two chair bags in her arms, and began to walk towards the homely glow of her home apartment building.
Shutting the door before walking down the stairs, the shark was bathed in the warmth of the stairway. Each step brought her closer to their floor, the familiar yet normal looking corridor being presented before Nakari before long. She walked with thoughts swimming around in her head, taking her mind off of the weirdness with her prosthetics for the time being. Just the intoxicating, stunning thoughts of the affirmation and euphoria that Monica gave Nakari in this one, short night that was coming to an end was stellar.
Stepping into the apartment, Nakari could hear the soft rustling of blankets and covers from her room. Yawning herself, the shark walked in and set the chairs down as quietly as possible, turning and locking the door behind her. The tired shark, anticipating the rabbit she’ll find in her bed, quickly walked towards her shared room with Monica. Stepping into the room, Nakari was completely stunned to see the brown bunny in the bed, her clothes tossed to the side, poking out from under a set of black covers.
“I’m wearing underwear, just so you know.” Monica said in a whispery voice, trying to be quiet. “Want me to look away, or are you gonna sleep in that?” She asked, pulling away the black blankets to reveal her mismatched black and white bra and panties. “You’ll probably get hot if you wore that. Well, hotter, I mean.” Monica attempted to give a little compliment while rolling over onto her side, revealing her black ribbon corset piercings on her back.
Nakari was completely stunned for a moment, even though it’s a sight she’s seen a good bit just by being roommates with her. It was mainly the fact that Monica was in her bed while mostly naked that caught her off guard. Regardless, the quiet and blushing shark began to strip herself, taking off the jacket to reveal a grey sports bra underneath. “O-okay, uh… will you help me take off my prosthetics, too?” She asked, sitting on the edge of the bed with her arm prosthetics on full display, showing them being put to work by taking off her sweatpants. Nakari wore a pair of black panties under her sweatpants, shuddering with the warm hand of the bunny touching her arm.
“I always do, don’t I? Been helping you with this since I moved into the same room as you. Honestly made it easier, less in the way.” Running her white fingers gingerly along the shark’s flesh near the device, Monica sighed. “Just let me know when you’re ready.” She whispered out, getting closer to Nakari.
Sitting up straight with the touch to her flesh directly, the shark let out a shaky breath. “O-okay, I’m ready. Also, uh… Monica? How long did you… have a thing for me?” She asked, slowly turning to face the bunny behind her before pricking up in pain. The gentle clicks of the prosthetic being taken off and the nerves going inactive wasn’t the worst shock, just barely worse than poking a thorn, but was enough to startle the shark. “I know you don’t… really go out of your way to help a lot, but you really did tonight. Is this… a recent thing? Like, last I remember seeing this was with your ex. O-ow…” Nakari whined as her second arm was taken off.
Monica set the prosthetic limbs in their charging port by the side of the bed, returning to the shark to drape her arms over her shoulders. “Huh? I don’t go out of my way to help because I’m romantic with them. Just means I actually like them. And, uh…” She gave an awkward laugh, “I liked you for a while. I really… admire you for a lot of things. I’ve been helping you out since we met because there was just something that… clicked.” The rabbit rolled off of Nakari’s shoulders, laying down next to the shark’s lap to get the second set of prosthetics.
“You… admire me? Why? What did I do?” There was intense surprise in the shark’s voice as she spoke, highlighted with a hiss of pain as her first calf was taken off. “Aren’t you saying that because you feel bad for me in some way? I mean, I can’t even wear my own body parts to sleep, ‘cause they go nuts with dreams.” Nakari sighed as she finished her sentence, looking at her stumpy half-limbs. Gazing past the limbs to see the white furred hands set on her final prosthetic, the shark was disinterested until Monica disconnected it rather painfully. “Ow, ow! What was that for?” The shark snarled in pain, reaching forward with her half arms to grasp her leg, although the limbs were too short.
Rolling her eyes, Monica laid back in the bed and pulled Nakari in close. Maneuvering the immobile shark to face her, the rabbit had a stern look in her eyes. “Oh, I don’t know, what isn’t there to appreciate? You do baseball with people with all their parts while you have FOUR prosthetic limbs. You’re trans and you keep going relentlessly despite the transphobic shit you go through, even internalized. You’re a disabled shark who can run faster than ME, a literal rabbit.” One of her white paws reached up, grabbing Nakari by the jaw and forcing those indigo eyes to stare deep into her angry emerald orbs. “If I had a mirror, I’d make you look at yourself to see how great of a person you are. You’re one that deserves to be admired.”
The harsh tone of the words spoke with such ferocity got the shark a bit startled, eyes wide and staring into the fierce green eyes of her new partner. “I-I… don’t know what to say….” Nakari said simply, looking forward with a blushing expression. It was an overwhelming amount of support so late at night with a tiredness rolling over her. There was no way to comprehend it other than a pair of simple words. “Th-thank you….”
With that, Monica pulled the black covers over the two of them, drawing the amputee shark close to her warm, fluffy body. Sighing softly, the bunny pressed her forehead against Nakari’s, embracing the shark tight enough to never let go. “Good night, Nakari. Sleep well.” The bunny whispered, the angry edge fading away from her voice.
“Good night. I… love you.” Nakari whispered back, wrapping her stumpy limbs around the bunny’s midsection.
Hesitating for a moment, growing tense, Monica sighed and gave a silent kiss to the shark’s lips. “I love you, too.”
