Chapter 14 – Never Had I Imagined Living Without Your Smile
Disclaimer: I do not own Ghost Hunt, if I did the series would never have ended and Mai and Naru would have little paranormal grandbabies for Martin and Luella running around by now.
Author's Note: This chapter is mostly just family fluff and bringing the entire Davis crew up to speed on a lot of small details in a very Gene-centric way. Not totally happy with how this chapter ended, but then I find ending every section of the story super awkward, sorry!
I'm planning to mostly gloss over Gene's funeral, since to the people who matter the most in his life, he is still very much a part of their lives. The next chapters should include Mai's introduction to Cambridge and BSPR – and possibly include going on a case with the fam so they can see Mai and Naru in action together. Any suggestions or ideas please feel free to offer them up.
Not yet edited.
In the early evening, just past dusk Luella Davis was pacing up and down the second-floor hallway of the Davis Manor outside the door of her son Oliver's room, debating on whether to go in and wake the occupants up or not. She was still in overload mode from all of the information about Noll's unexpected relationship with the petite auburn-haired girl he brought home with him from Japan, and hesitated due to her disbelief that Mai's status as his "wife" was not just a fanciful dream brought on by the stress of finally dealing with her eldest son's death. Steeling her nerves, Luella stopped pacing and rapped lightly on the door, but there was no reply, so she squared her shoulders and opened the door slightly and poked her head inside the darkened lair of her youngest child. The sight that greeted her definitely told her that the conversation earlier that day was no imagined dream, but real.
Even though the last time anyone had seen Noll he was chasing after a flustered and somewhat angry Mai, the pair sleeping soundly on the bed showed no sign of any discord between them. Oliver was curled protectively around Mai, who was sleeping peacefully with her head pillowed on his shoulder and a small smile on her lips. Luella smiled herself as she took in the scene before her, hating that she would have to disturb their slumber, but she knew from her own experiences with jetlag that they needed to wake up for a few more hours before going back to sleep for the night to fully shake it off.
She walked silently over to her son and gently placed her hand on his free shoulder to shake him awake as she called his name softly, "Oliver, time to get up for a bit son," and smiled once again as he grumbled at the disturbance. Knowing that it would take more than one attempt to actually get him to stir, she repeated the process as she looked around the boy's room and noticed that the atmosphere in the room actually seemed brighter despite the deep mahogany furniture and dark blue hues that it was decorated with and that there were already signs of another person living in the space within such a short period of time. "Oliver, seriously it is time to get up for dinner, everyone else is waiting on you two," Luella said speaking more loudly as she shook his shoulder one last time and still grumbling Oliver opened his eyes to stare blearily at his mother asking, "Is it night already? I feel like I just closed my eyes," when his mother nodded he leaned over to whisper softly in Mai's ear that it was time to wake up.
Mai snuggled closer to Naru, mumbling something nearly inaudible about being warm, before she registered the sound of feminine laughter and froze, waking up instantly upon seeing her fiancé's mother in the room with them and the young woman sputtered, "M..M..Mrs. Davis!" before poking Naru hard in the ribs for not warning her they were not alone. Mai's reaction was so comical to Luella that she burst out laughing, her earlier worries forgotten at seeing the pair act so adorably together and with amusement still in her voice Luella asked Mai while the younger girl was disentangling herself from Oliver's arms, "Do you still call me Mrs. Davis in the future when you two are married?"
Mai, finally free of Naru's still drowsy embrace, shook her head and replied, "No, at first you asked me to call you Luella, and then later on Mum if I wanted to. But this is all so new; I need to show the proper respect to the people who raised Oliver…" Mai's cinnamon-hued eyes met Luella's sapphire-shaded ones that so resembled Naru's and the older woman gently told her, "Then just go ahead and call me Mum now, please. And don't be embarrassed with showing affection to the one you love, Martin and I are terribly cuddly, just ask Noll," she said with a reassuring smile then added, "Now, come on. Up you get, it's time for dinner and I know Madoka and Martin both want to get to know more about you as much as I do." The elegant older woman turned to leave the room with that statement and left Naru and Mai to quickly dress and join them all downstairs.
Mai and Naru joined the others in the kitchen just as Luella pulled the last casserole dish out of the oven. Everyone in the kitchen loaded up their plates with salad, freshly baked rolls and the twins' favorite shepherd's pie before retreating back to the same dining room they all used that morning. When Mai noticed what their dinner consisted of she sent a telepathic message to Naru, "Mum made your favorite dinner, you know that Gene is gonna knock on our connection and beg to get a taste of it too don't you?" Oliver nodded at her as they sat in their normal places around the dining table and replied back to her telepathically, "It's his favorite meal too, so I'm surprised he's waited this long." Naru paused and widened his mental connections to include Gene in a three person conversation with Mai and said, "Gene, give us a few minutes to ease into the channeling for Mum and Dad and then I am sure Mai will be happy to let you get a bite of dinner, just don't overdo it and give her a stomachache from eating too much or too fast," and then there was a somewhat sleepy sounding but quick reply as Eugene responded to the invitation, "You got it, the casserole in Japan was pretty good, but this is our Mum's cooking! I never thought I could taste it again… Mai, you are the best little sister in the entire world, even if you do like Noll better than me," the ghostly twin chuckled, then added, "I'll knock in about 10 minutes, that sound good?" Both Mai and Naru nodded in unison to answer his query not realizing that once again they were being carefully observed by everyone else in the room.
Martin cleared his throat and once his son looked up from his plate he asked, "Has something happened to make you dislike tea suddenly? This morning you exchanged your tea for Mai's juice and tonight you are drinking water instead, usually you would ask your mother to make you some black tea," he gave his son a quizzical stare and Noll shrugged and replied, "Mai just woke up, it didn't seem fitting to ask her to make me any tea when she is still so exhausted from the trip here."
Martin cocked his head to the side in curiosity before saying, "Why would you ask Mai to make you tea? Don't tell me that you bully this young woman to serve you even when she isn't working?" Mai laughed at the skeptical look on Martin's face before answering his question on her own, "Actually, Naru seems to only drink my tea these days, and I don't serve him, ever. He's my partner, I make him tea because I know what he is like if he doesn't get about 12 liters of it a day," she giggled and winked at her soon to be in-laws. "Right now, he is being very considerate to not even ask for any, although I will be happy to make some after dinner for everyone if you would like," she paused a moment before continuing with a determined look on her face, "Actually there is something I need to discuss before we are interrupted."
Oliver spoke up when Mai finished talking and said, "I know it is very soon, but Mum you know this is the dinner that you made for Gene and I when you first brought us home, and he would very much like to enjoy your cooking again if you would allow Mai to channel him during dinner. He already promised not to make her overstuff herself with his gluttonous appetite, and we've discovered that if Mai's body eats while she is possessed by his spirit that Gene experiences the sensation as if he was alive and eating himself." As he spoke those words Mai nodded slowly and added, "I don't mind, while I find your dinner to be delicious, I think that perhaps my Onii-san might be even more appreciative than I am," and Mai gave Naru and Gene's flabbergasted parents a small smile while she waited for their assent.
Luella nodded her head quickly, her hand grasping for her husband's as he sat beside her while they both watched the amiable young woman across from them smile radiantly before she sat back in her chair and closed her eyes as she evened her breathing out to a simple rhythm.
For Lin and Naru who had each seen this process at least once before, it still astounded them how the petite ginger could so quickly appear to physically resemble Eugene even though her actual features never altered. For the other three in the room with them, the process was even more awe inspiring as it seemed to them that Mai's delicate feminine features took on a more masculine form that they all recognized as being the identical copy of the handsome young man sitting beside her… and when she opened her mouth and a slightly more feminine version of Eugene's distinct speech patterns and tone emitted from her, and surprised gasps erupted from each of those witnessing the phenomena for the first time.
Mai's form smirked in the way that only Eugene had ever done and said, "And you guys, thought I was good? Meet the perfect medium 2.0," Gene said with a chuckle and to everyone watching it appeared as if the girl seated with them ceased to exist, and only Eugene Davis sat there. Eugene took a deep breathe and looked down at the plate in front of him while he softly said, " I am so sorry. I never meant for anything that happened to occur when I went to Japan… I wish I had waited for Noll to finish his classes and come with me but, then it could have been him that died, or both of us. I never wanted to run the risk of leaving any of you, I love you all so much more than you know," the spirit of the eldest Davis twin said, extreme sorrow evident in his voice as he looked up from Mai's plate full of dinner.
Martin and Luella Davis stared with an awed reverence as they saw and heard their son speak to them for the first time since they learned of his death through Oliver's psychometric vision, and surprisingly it was Martin who spoke first, "Gene, foresight has never been one of your psychic gifts so there is no way you could have known to make different choices. No one blames you son, and we love you just as much as we ever have. With our profession and your skills, do you really believe that whether you were alive or dead would matter to us? Yes, logistically it matters since you do not reside on the same plane as us now, and yes, at some point you will need to move on so as not to risk your soul twisting in an unnatural way, but right now you are home, and we are all safe, and our family is whole again. Now, stop fidgeting and finish your dinner as your mother worked hard to make that for all of us," the professor stated, as if talking to the spirit of his deceased son while said spirit was possessing the body of his other son's fiancée was an everyday experience.
The mini lecture from their father worked though, and Gene began to lowly eat the dinner on the plate in front of him, and when the taste finally hit his borrowed taste buds, a look of contentment coming through on his expression and between bites he said, "Mum, this is the best food I have ever tasted in my afterlife! You are still the best cook in the entire world," he said giving Luella a happy grin as he looked over at her, and then noticing her lack of response as she simply stared at him, he went on, "Mum, it's ok. I'm home now, ok? I'm not going anywhere for a while you know. I don't think everyone's favorite OTP got to tell you why our future vision ended did they?"
Luella shook her head gently, letting out a slow exhale as she continued to simply stare in wonder at her oldest son's visage on Mai's face before saying, "No, did the story just run its course?" She reached over and grasped her son's loaned hand in hers and was surprised at the pulse of static energy that flowed from the spot where their hands met and to encourage him to continue Luella said, "We're listening though, please continue and tell us anything you think we should know that we don't know yet."
Gene glanced over at his younger brother, to see Noll watching him intently before beginning this explanation, "During the shared vision, near the end I called both Mai and Noll into the astral plane so I could teach Mai a new skill, mental projection. This was around seven years from the current time, and I was still mentally and emotionally the same as I have always been, with no signs of turning into a corrupted spirit, but I had decided it was time to move on. Noll and Mai would shortly find out they were going to have a child and it was my intention in the vision to begin the reincarnation process to return as either their kid or maybe Madoka and Lin's second kid, because they were going to find out they were expecting again too around that time," Gene said giving the other couple a small smile as they stared dumbly at him until his words fully sunk in.
Madoka especially was dumbstruck at the news proffered by Eugene, and after taking a deep breath to steady her nerves, she asked, "Second child? You mean, Koujo and I are going to be parents?!" Madoka turned to Lin and hugged him to her tightly saying, "Did you hear that Kou, we're going to have our own family one day," her smile as she looked at her normally stern boyfriend as radiant as the sun, and Lin couldn't resist the urge to smile back at her once he saw her joyous expression and said, "Noll, did mention something about them being godparents to our toddler but it was the first night I met Mai, and they were in the middle of playing a prank on me at the time so I didn't realize he was serious about that. Yet, Madoka the thought of us experiencing parenthood together is one that I have hoped for since our relationship began to flourish," Lin admitted quietly as he reached over and held the pretty pink-haired woman's hand tenderly within his own.
Eugene's gentle voice can be heard in the background saying, "You two are excellent parents too, and that's why I was willing to possibly join your family myself. I knew that no matter which couple I was born to that I would have a loving home and amazing parents… although whether I would remember my past life is something I was not allowed to know before making my decision to re-incarnate," and his spirit looked over at his parents, Martin and Luella and he continued, "I also knew that no matter who my parents would be in my new life, that you two would still be a large part of it. I knew that was also a way to return to you in life, and that by telling Mai and Noll my plans, you would know I still had not left you and that you would never truly lose me," Eugene smiled before stuffing the last bite of shepherd's pie into his mouth to chew while everyone else took the opportunity to think on what he had revealed before he twitched in discomfort.
Finishing his last bite and swallowing, Gene said, "So, another experience I have never had, Mai is poking me mentally, and boy does that feel weird. This is also something I never accomplished as a medium myself, but while channeling my spirit, Mai and I can hold a conversation between the two of us. I've never heard of a medium still being aware to that extent during a session, and I don't know if that is because of our connection or if it is just another purely Mai skill. What do you think Noll?" he asked his brother, who had an intrigued expression on his face and responded, "Definitely something we need to test. When Mai channels another spirit in a controlled environment…" Oliver, once he realized everyone was staring at him stopped speaking and cleared his throat before adding, "Oh, right, sorry. Mai's developing skills are so fascinating that whenever we find something new she might be able to do, I can't help but "Naru" as she puts it."
Luella, who had been watching the group with interest since Gene spoke of her possible future grandchildren, gave her sons a wistful smile before saying, "Gene, you will never not be a part of our family, alive, deceased or reincarnated. We love you my boy, we love all of you, and to be honest… I don't feel like you're lost to us anymore. I'm still sad that your physical presence is missing, but by some miracle you are still with us, and knowing that eventually your soul will return physically as well I can understand Oliver's change in emotional status," the twin's mother said, her eyes bright with unshed tears before she went on, "For those in our lives that are not going to be privy to this information we might look quite heartless and cold, but I cannot see myself mourning as deeply now as I was prior to Noll bringing you home, or even prior to dear Mai allowing us the opportunity to have you returned to our lives this way. We were planning a very small memorial service mid-week for our extended family, your friends and for your BSPR colleagues to pay their respects. Will you be alright with us following through with that plan?" she asked her son's spirit and sighed in relief when he nodded his agreement.
"Considering Oliver's idea of using Mai's experiences at channeling your spirit and comparing them to the same process with other spirits in the future, it will be possible that some of the other staff at the Society will learn that your spirit is still with us soon enough," Martin interjected. The sharp-eyed professor gave the others at the dining room table an assessing look before he continued, "Every person at this table already has an important role within the administration of the Society, barring Mai at present, but considering the data we have been presented concerning her partnership with Oliver I feel it is safe to pre-emptively extend the same authority to her as well. Oliver, you were correct in your assessment that I would agree with your decision to hire a new employee, and on a personal level I think that you have made a wonderful choice in this young woman to share your life with," he said, and a light dusting of red covered his cheeks as Luella turned to give him an adoring look, approval and love shining in her eyes at his words. "Once we get Mai settled in and introduced to the rest of the researchers and investigators at the office, any doubts of her abilities and Gene's continued presence in our lives will surely be erased, and our supposed lack of mourning for our son's death will no doubt be more easily understood. After all, why shouldn't anyone in our field expect our medium son to linger on even after his own demise to continue to help other spirits?" Martin mused and offered a logical explanation for any questions that outsiders might have concerning a perceived lack of grief by the family.
Gene rolled his eyes in an annoyed fashion before leaning back against his chair, his energy beginning to wane as he said, "Not that it is really anyone's business but ours. Dinner was the best Mum, I love you all so much, but I really think that I need a nap. I'm exhausted and I don't want to sap all of Mai's energy either, so come gimme a hug and I'll go get some rest until the next time we chat. And remember, I'm often nearby so I'm still in touch with everything going on," he said and stood up from the table holding out Mai's arms towards his parents who both rushed forward to envelop his borrowed body in a loving family hug. After several minutes the fervent hugging finally subsided and he sat back down in Mai's chair and after cheekily blowing a kiss to the room, he closed his eyes to allow Mai to return to the forefront of her mind.
Oliver pulled Mai's slowly rousing form into his lap and stroked her hair gently, leaning down to whisper in her ear, "You are so amazing my love, time to come back to us and let everyone else see that you are still ok. Then we can go back to bed, I know you must be exhausted," and the girl sleepily opened her eyes, gazing up at her love she said, "I really am tired now, but I am so glad that I could do that for you. I heard everything you all discussed while I was riding shotgun," she said as she grinned past Naru's shoulder to look at the rest of her new family. She snuggled closer to Naru's chest, enjoying the comfort that contact with him always brought her and said, "I can go make some tea for my narcissist here, and anyone else who would like some? After that I think I need to go bond with our bed, my physical body is still learning to adapt the skills I am trained in mentally and emotionally from the vision we have told you all about," and Mai made an effort to get up from Naru's lap but he held her tightly against him and said in a tone that allowed no argument, "Tea can wait, you need rest. If everyone will excuse us, I'm going to take Mai upstairs so she can prepare for bed."
As Oliver stood up, Mai still in his arms and exited the room, once again he left everyone staring after him. Luella, looking over at Martin in astonishment asked, "Did he just say tea could wait?" Martin shrugged his shoulders, his own face alight with surprise and asked no one in particular, "We are sure that Mai was the only one possessed, right?"
As everyone was getting ready for a hopefully restful night, each of the three very different couples were each having very different conversations in their bedrooms.
Martin and Luella retired to the manor's master suite and were currently discussing all of the surprising information they learned that day. Luella was sitting at her dressing table, brushing her blonde hair in front of the mirror that reflected her husband who was seated in an armchair nearby reading a parapsychology magazine and speaking to his reflection she said, "Well, that happened, huh? I'm still a bit annoyed that Nolly kept so many secrets from us this, but at the same time I am so incredibly happy," and she set down her brush turning around to look at her husband's face without the mirror as a buffer.
Martin gave Luella a small smile and said, "As much as we often accuse Oliver of not quite understanding other's emotional struggles, I think he understands more than we give him credit for. He knew you needed to grieve for Gene's loss before finding out that part of him is still with us. This way you and I will both have an easier time reconciling his lack of physical presence with us all the time, and be more receptive to having him spiritually near us. Dear, you're the psychologist, think about the situation if it was a patient of your own," he said and putting down his trade journal, Martin got up to pull his wife into his arms for a tender hug. "We raised two very different, talented and wonderfully amazing sons, who each in their own way love us very much. I'm not going to pretend that Noll bringing home a woman with the intention of marrying her doesn't shock me to my core, but you know as well as I do that Oliver never does anything without being completely certain it is the right course of action for him," he soothed as he rubbed his hand across Luella's back with gentle strokes.
Luella sank into her husband's arms as he embraced her lovingly, and she nodded against his chest before quietly saying, "I know you're right, and I like Mai. She seems to be a wonderful young woman, and I can see the extent of how much she has already pulled Nolly out of his shell. I have never seen our son openly affectionate with anyone, and it's almost like the two of them need to be constantly in contact with the other when possible, have you noticed?" Luella smiled into his chest as she heard him grunt in agreement before continuing, " We need to get those two married as soon as possible, I know Noll said they didn't intend to give us grandchildren any time soon but teenagers have hormones… I can still remember Gene's first foray into dating… but I never thought we would need to worry about Noll," she groaned.
"Don't worry my love, we raised our boys to me smart and responsible, hormonal teenagers or not, but I do agree that cementing their relationship is a good idea. Mai seems to have a grounding effect on Oliver that even Eugene didn't have, not to mention her presence also has him far more emotionally open to all of us. Then there are her skills as a psychic, I can't wait to see what she has to offer for us professionally! Can you imagine Luella, the girl can keep our Oliver safe from his dangerous powers, and boost them at the same time?!" In his excitement Martin whirled his startled wife around in his arms and swept her into an excited dance and even though there was no audible music in the room, the two whirled gracefully around their bedchamber in glee for several moments. Reaching up to give her husband a tender kiss, Luella grasped his hands and pulled him over to bed saying, "Come on you darling man, let's get some rest. After all we don't know what surprises those two will have in store for us tomorrow."
During the same time, in a different bedroom at the end of the left wing on the second-floor hallway another anxious couple was also getting ready to go to bed for the night. Madoka Mori, the pink-haired ghost hunting mentor of the Davis' twins sat cross-legged on the top of the bed she shared with Koujo Lin whenever they stayed over at the Davis homestead and in a quiet tone, that was extremely unlike her normal boisterous personality, she said, "Kou, do you think what Gene said is true? Seven years from now, will we still be together and have a family? I know how your family feels about the Japanese; do you really think we will accept our children? I'm not worried about me, I know you love me… but our kids will deserve to be loved by their whole family," she gave him a worried glance and leaned into his side, sighing softly as she sagged against his strong frame.
The stoic Chinese man pulled his trembling girlfriend into his arms to reassure her, and said, "Madi, listen to me. My family isn't in love with you, I am. I know that I am not the kind of man that speaks of his feelings often, but you need to know that they are true, and I do love you, no matter what your heritage is. Yes, my heritage is very important to me, and to my family, but like Eugene once told me, who you were born as is out of your control and you should be judged by who you are, not where your ancestors came from. I know that I can still find it hard to accept people of Japanese descent at times, but I am working on that so that I can be the man that you deserve. I don't want to harbor ill will towards an entire ethnicity, especially when like Noll said when asked about Mai; I will not hide the fact that I am completely, irrevocably and desperately in love with you Madoka Mori. I will be blessed the day that you agree to marry me and begin our own family, free of any hatreds from the past, and if my family does not agree then they do not have to be part of our lives until they free themselves from such needless animosity," Lin exclaimed passionately to his wide-eyed girlfriend.
Madoka was not used to hearing Lin say so much at one time, or speak so ardently without any warning; the man she knows so well and loves is typically an unflappable master of Zen, who can stay calm even if the rest of the world was to crumble around them. She was so amazed at his downright chatty reaction that it took several long moments for his actual words to register in her mind, and once they did she squealed and launched herself fully into his lap, and said breathlessly, "Koujo Lin, did you just ask me to marry you, without actually asking me to marry you, you insufferable giant you! I agree by the way, but you owe me better! No wonder Noll is always so apathetic about these things when he has you as his main example," she huffed out in exasperation before lifting her face from his chest and staring pensively into his beautiful mismatched eyes. Madoka reflected that one of those stunning eyes he always hid away from a sometimes cruel world, only ever freely showing it to her; then she scowled at him as she noticed that both of those eyes were filled with barely held in laughter at her tirade.
"Madi, calm down, don't glare at me like that. It isn't you I am laughing at, its me," he quickly defended his laughter and then told her about Noll's inadvertent proposal to Mai the night they met, and how closely it actually resembled his own thoughtless admission to her. Looking chagrinned he admitted, "You're right, I guess my quirks have helped to shape Oliver's personality more than I was aware, and you're right I owe you all the romance you can handle, for putting up with a serious soul like me. But, Madi, I love you. If Noll can learn to open his heart and show it to those he cares about I can work on that too, but I can't promise that it will be an easy process," Lin said while looking earnestly at his blushing girlfriend as she sat cradled in his lap. He gingerly took both of her hands in his and went on, "Can you stand beside me as I work to better myself for our future? Madoka Mori, will you stand beside me for the rest of our lives and please marry me?" Gazing forthrightly back into Madoka's eyes Lin could see happiness shining from deep within, and he leaned over and kissed her senseless and the two of them quickly became lost in their own little world.
On the opposite side of the manor at the end of the right wing of the second-floor hallway, Naru and Mai were exhaustedly preparing themselves to sleep off the last of their jetlag. Mai finished her quick shower in the attached bathroom and came out into the room in one of the sets of nightwear that Ayako had chosen for her. This was not by design, but because when she looked into their closet she only found all of her new clothing, and none of her older wardrobe – she had to ask housekeeper tomorrow where the other staff might have been stored. Mai sighed, but decided even though Ayako picked out some rather risqué attire for the younger girl, that in reality it wasn't like it was anything Naru hadn't already seen in the future anyway, and that she was just too tired to be worried about his reaction to seeing so much of her on display.
Not surprisingly, Naru's position in his room reflected that of his father's in his own room in the center of the manor; he was currently lounging in an armchair near the room's bay window, reading a trade journal in his pajamas whilst he waited for Mai to exit the bathroom. He was just as tired as his fiancé, but he refused to go to bed before her, in case she succumbed to her exhaustion, and needed him to help her get settled in. So there Oliver sat, only half paying attention to an article in the journal that he had wanted to read, when he heard the bathroom door open and Mai stepped out of the steam-filled bathroom. The sight that met his eyes, when Mai headed his way, caused him to blink his eyes, certain his exhausted brain was playing tricks on him, but even after blinking Mai was still wearing the same sheer dark blue thigh-length nightgown that was held up by skimpy spaghetti straps. When Mai turned to grab her hairbrush of the nearby dresser, he saw that the fabric of her nightgown barely covered her back, and exposed much more of her creamy skin that it covered, and Oliver swallowed heavily as the easily recognizable scent of freshly showered Mai wafted his way and he suddenly regretted their decision not to engage in any adult activities for the time being.
Standing up, and putting his journal down, Naru walked over to stand behind Mai and gently took her hairbrush from her so he could brush her silky auburn locks for her. Mai smiled at the tender way he took care of her, and when he finished brushing her hair she turned around in his arms and leant up to kiss the tip of his nose. Naru stiffened slightly, before a smirk appeared on his handsome face and he lowered his head to whisper into her ear teasingly, "Mai, love, you really are temptation personified. If I had less practice in self-control I'm not sure I could ignore how sinfully tantalizing you are right now; even knowing that we decided to wait until later to explore our physical attraction I am so tempted to ravish you right where we stand," his voice husky with emotion as he began to place soft kisses on the shell of her ear and trailed them down the swell of her neck until his lips reached the collarbone that the thin blue strap of her gown rested on.
Mai, a light blush stretching across her features, melts tiredly into the handsome narcissist's embrace, her own feelings of desire for him momentarily clouding her judgment as she feels the heat of his lips caress her bare skin, and she whimpers, "Oliver, you think I'm temptation? I know you have seen the very likeness of a Greek God staring back at you from your mirror every day, so trust me I know temptation." Breathing raggedly, Mai grabbed the back of his neck and pulled his face closer to hers, until their lips met, each of them trying to tempt the other just slightly further with the heady sensations that their love made when given physical form. Exhaustion, finally won over forbidden pleasure though, and with a groan Naru pulled slightly away from Mai's arms as they both started sway unsteadily on their feet; energy levels dropping quickly until they both ran the risk of passing out where they stood. Oliver quickly picked Mai up, carrying her over to the large bed in the middle of the room and placed his fiancé tenderly on the side of the bed she prefers before he moved to his side of the bed and lay down beside her.
Mai giggled and said, "We're too tired to get too out of hand anyway. I'm sure we would both like to remember the second, first time we do that just as well as we do the first. You really are too sexy for my own good Naru, but I love that about you just as much as I love your snark." Mai wiggled closer to Naru in the bed, wrapping her arm around his waist and nuzzling her head into his shoulder before saying, "Blame Ayako for insisting I needed new stuff to sleep in, and the person who unpacked us who hid all my safe pajamas… Oh God, Naru! What if Mum comes in to wake us up again in the morning and sees how I'm dressed?" Mai stressed, her body fidgeting against his as the last thought crossed her mind, and he kissed the top of her head softly and tightened his arms around her before replying, "Think ahead to the future, that rarely ever happens, remember? Mum will give us the proper privacy unless there are extenuating circumstances, don't worry, love. And blame Ayako? No, remind me to thank her and ask her to pick out all of your lingerie from now on. You are utterly breathtaking no matter what you wear, but seeing you this way, dressed as only I am allowed to see you, is even more special in so many ways." He said and pulled her tightly against him in preparation for going to sleep before mumbling against her hair, "Just relax for now my love, I'm sure we have another long day ahead of us tomorrow. I love you," and before Oliver could make another sound he fell into a sound sleep, his deep even breaths comforting Mai until she quickly followed him into slumber.
