Nakahama

The Bayushi leans back and just stays there looking at her and smirking.

"A game, perhaps? Of brutal honesty? With questions like: what are you thinking right now? Or just an answer and another game."

She opened her eyes. Feeling very warm.

A deep breath. A sip of tea. Many thoughts on her mind. Had the game started, or was that just an example? She blushed deeper thinking about the unspeakably carnal sensations she had been savoring.

"A game sounds fun." Breathe. Breathe. "Brutal honesty, hmmm? Alright. Who was the first person you ever kissed? And what was the ... the context."

"Oh!" Her eyes gleam. "We have a cheater on the premises!" She exclaims and laughs.

"My first kiss. Yes. It was with a clsssmate of mine while studying for a class... about... Human anatomy. And feelings."

She looks at the other woman and smirks. "Won't you tell me what you were thinking?"

Was it possible for her cheeks to burn more? Caught! Ah, it just seemed to intensify everything she was feeling. Shame. Ache. Desire.

She looked down. Breathe.

A classmate! So young. So daring!

And now... the question.

"I was imagining your kisses. Your touch to my hair and chin. I was feeling it with my whole body. Warm and ..." There were no words. "...needful. It was like I could feel you again. Imagine you. And it was heating me. Racing my heart. Like... like a series of chords that stop just before resolution to harmony. Un...unresolved. Almost tense. Ahhh. But good. Dizzying."

Senshu almost gulps at her words. Nope. No further. Not unless she says so.

She reaches for her cup of tea and takes a sip. Her own cheeks are burning this time.

"Your next question?"

It was her turn!

And a chance to catch her breath. More sips. She sat a little steadier and straighter in her chair.

"What is the most romantic thing that anyone has ever done for you? What was your favorite thing, even if it wasn't specifically romantic?"

She seems to be thinking for quite sometime before shrugging and giving up in the end.

"I'm not sure why, but I am the one who puts the effort. The one who will have all the ideas, who will make arrangements, who will have little, cute surprises. I don't complain. I love doing it, but I can think of no answer to your question."

She takes a moment before speaking again. "How would the perfect date be for you? What would your expectations be?"

Haruhi frowned. That didn't seem right.

She reached across the table and gently placed her hand on top of Senshuken's.

"I would like the chance to delight you. I am, I think, on my perfect date. You are extraordinarily good at gestures of thoughtfulness and care. The ideas, the arrangements, the surprises. But I'd like to try. Some other night. If you have time."

"Would you like that?"

And there it was. Her question.

Her eyes slowly rise to meet Haruhi's. "Utterly and devastatingly much." She only says.

Ah, she felt such relief. There would be a next date.

She was wanted. And she was on the right track. Something Senshu would genuinely enjoy!

Her mind was racing trying to begin plotting out how to best dazzle and delight the woman who was so good at doing that for others but no. It could wait. She was here. Now. Savor this moment.

"Perhaps in two days? So I have time to plan?"

"And I think it is your turn to ask a question. If you'd like."

She nods eagerly and squeezes her hand before falling into a short silence.

"My main question right now, the one that occupies my brain, is whether you would want to move closer. I'm a sucker for cuddles."

Move closer?

That did sound promising.

"I am curious to learn more about cuddling. With you."

She shifted around the low table, so she was at her side. Not touching but well within reach.

Senshuken watches her shift and something in her softens.

She turns her body toward Haruhi with slow, fluid grace, closing the space between them without urgency. One arm slides behind her back, guiding her gently into the quiet shelter of her embrace. It isn’t tight. Just enough to cradle.

Senshuken tilts her head and kisses her, tenderly, a brush of lips that lingers like a promise meant only for this moment. Warmth shared. Warmth savored.

When she draws back, her voice is only a low murmur

“That's nice. It's time for your question, I believe.”

Haruhi snuggles against her, resting her head on her shoulder after that welcoming kiss. She can feel the weight of that arm over her shoulders. The hand holding her gently in place.

It feels so good. So right.

Her question? Oh... She had been lost in sensation for a moment. The discovery of cuddling. Addictive!

She was hungry to know more about her. How could she plan a date to spoil her without knowing more? Not to simply copy whatever she said, but to take inspiration from it...

"What is the most delicious meal you ever tasted?"

"I am so inclined to say your lips." A soft chuckle and a sigh follows. "I like salmon quite a lot. In maki rolls. With cucumber. I remember our old chef making them while I was younger. She was also great at making mochi, especially vanilla ones. Her recipe was kami sent." She smiles broadly for a few moments before laying another kiss at the top of Haruhi's head this time. "Okay my turn and since I went down the memory lane, I'd like to know your happiest and your saddest memory from your childhood."

Her lips! Ah, had she ever heard anything so romantic?

She listened closely to the favorite foods. Excellent to know.

Hmmm.... she thought back to her childhood. She had already told her about the little songbird and how it had failed to sing as planned at their performance.

"My happiest... maybe it was spending time with my dad while he was doing his calligraphy and ink paintings. My mother had told me I had to be perfectly quiet. That nothing should disturb him. And I was. I can't remember where my sister and my mom were that day. An errand? But he looked over at me sitting there on the floor so quiet with my little doll, and he said it was too quiet and that made it hard for him to concentrate and so could I sing him a little song, anything that came to me, just make it up, and I was so little, I hadn't gone to Academy yet, I didn't know anything about music, I didn't see it in my head as lines of music, I just burbled and hummed and made up words and melodies, and he said it was beautiful and he showed me his ink paining after, and it was beautiful, and he said I helped, and it made me feel special and talented and loved.

"My saddest... I think it was the day my sister left for school. She went to Doji school for courtiers. Everyone was so proud and happy. But she was my best and only friend and I was going to miss her. She was always the ringleader in our games. She was so clever and fun and bold. I did miss her terribly."

She snuggled tighter to her, and the date continued in this fashion. Talking. Snuggling. Kissing. A date to remember!

(And oh she had a next date to plan!)