"Oreki-san," she says softly at first, so softly that he barely registers until he's on the edge of sleep, so close to that sweet bliss. "Oreki-san," she says it louder and a wrinkle appears between his brows but still stubbornly he refuses to open his eyes.
She drags in a breath and puffs up her cheeks in frustration while Houtarou twitches but he is determined to do nothing.
"Oreki-san," she says accusingly and he bites back a sigh because he can feel how the sleep is getting farther and farther away from him. "Or-e-ki-saaaan," she stretches his name out and lightly pokes his side and he grabs her finger on the second poke.
At this point, he's completely awake, struggling to keep the lazy smirk off his face as she struggles to regain her hand.
Her face is slightly flushed and horrible images run through his mind as he looks up at Eru. Other strenuous activities come to his mind and his cheeks colour. He looks away, fixing his gaze to the white walls of his house.
Suddenly she pulls her hand free from his and puts both of them on his chest, shoving her face close to his while pressing down on his chest. His eyes go wide as he looks at her and she smiles slightly smugly. "Oreki-san, I'm curious."
Houtarou sighs as he gets pulled in by her hypnotic eyes, both hating and loving the effect she has on him. His eyes slip down from hers and follow the slope of her nose down to her mouth where he gets stuck, wondering if those lips are as soft as they look and then inexplicably, he gets the urge to stretch his neck and feel it for himself.
But then he blinks, and it's like a bucket of cold water gets overturned on him and he comes out of his heavy daze. Chitanda sits back, pulling her hands into her lap, her cheeks flooded with colour.
She opens her mouth to apologize but before she can, Houtarou speaks.
"What are you curious about," he asks then as he sits up, sighing mournfully at the loss of his nap. Eru jumps slightly as he speaks and her cheeks flood with more colour as she smiles sheepishly.
"Oh, I forgot," she admits softly and Houtarou stares disbelievingly. He frowns.
"You forgot?" he asks skeptically, not believing that it is possible for Eru to forget the mystery she wants Houtarou to solve.
She puffs up her cheeks, looking a little like a squirrel and definitely looking adorable and Houtarou finds it difficult to bite back his amusement.
"I'm not perfect you know. Mayaka-chan and Satoshi-san keep saying that I am but I'm really not!"
"Hmmm," he hums noncommittally.
"I'm not!" she declares hotly, taking his hum as proof that he disagrees and Houtarou decides to lay down again. He grabs her wrist and softly tugs at it.
"Take a nap, you're tiring me out," he sighs.