After dinner, Chisato had guessed that Takina would simply return to the futon and collapse on it for the rest of the night. It turned out she had guessed wrong. What Takina had done instead was to rummage through Chisato's impossibly large movie collection before picking out one that appeared to interest her. Before long, Chisato found herself on the couch next to Takina with a rather oversized bowl of microwave popcorn sitting between them

"So, Takina."

"Yeah?"

"Which movie'd you pick?"

"It's this mecha that came out a bit ago. Have you heard of 'Witch From Mercury'?"

Immediately, Chisato's eyes lit up like those of a child in a candy store.

"Oh! The new Gundam! Though I thought that that was a series?"

"Yeah, but you had the blu-ray and we've got some time to kill, so…"

Takina didn't have to say this twice. Chisato took the blu-ray from Takina's hands and got it set up while Takina watched from the couch. Truth be told, Takina was feeling a little tired, but just watching some TV shouldn't be any trouble to get through.

"Alright! We're all set!"

When Chisato returned, however, instead of sitting on the opposite side of the popcorn, she ended up sitting right next to Takina, leaving Takina in between her and the popcorn.

"Chisato?"

"What?"

Takina turned to face Chisato with the intention of questioning her decision, but the moment she saw the cheeky grin on Chisato's face, she realized that Chisato had no intention of moving.

The first episode started and almost immediately, Chisato had taken Takina's hand for herself, her touch slowly travelling up Takina's arm as she held on for dear life. Takina merely tried not to think too hard as Chisato went from ensnaring Takina's arm to wrapping herself over Takina's body. Takina scooted forward, giving Chisato some space behind her to find a comfortable spot. Chisato smiled at this, quickly draping her arms around Takina's neck and leaning against her back. Takina tried and failed to ignore the softness pressing against her back.

"I didn't know you were this accommodating, Takina."

By this point, Takina had nearly shuffled so far forward that she was practically off of the sofa.

"Well, if you're enjoying it, then…"

Chisato saw the blush that was forming on Takina's face from their proximity and in it, she saw an immediate opportunity.

"Well, Takina, it's no fun if you're not just as comfortable as me."

Takina looked on in slight confusion as Chisato hopped off of the couch, looking straight at her.

"Shuffled back a little."

Still not exactly sure what Chisato was doing, Takina obediently shuffled backwards.

"Perfect."

Judging by the monstrous grin on Chisato's face, Takina felt as though she had just left her guard wide open but said nothing as Chisato approached closer and closer until…

"I think that this seat's my favourite!"

She plopped herself directly on Takina's lap.

"So? You seeing the screen ok, Takina?"

"I… uh…"

has crashed.

Restarting…

"Hm. Good talk."

Chisato closed her hands in her lap, looking off to the side while Takina stayed mute for a very long time.

###

Eventually, they were nearing the end of season one. Having not exchanged a single word, Chisato decided to restart the conversation.

"So, how're you liking this?"

Takina wondered why in the world Chisato chose to talk about the fact that she hadn't moved off of Takina once in the past few hours. Nevertheless, social convention demanded that she respond, and as such, she tried her best to formulate any kind of coherent reply.

"Well… It's, uh, very…"

Chisato didn't have to turn around to know that Takina's face was approximately the same colour as a firetruck.

"Yeah? How is it? You liking the service, Takina?~"

Takina's breath hitched as Chisato slid even further back, allowing Takina to catch a whiff of her back. They used the same body wash, but the way that it mingled with Chisato's natural body scent was almost…

"It's really stimulating…"

Time seemed to stand still as both Chisato and Takina were frozen at what Takina had just uttered.

"Hah?"

"U-uh, I mean…"

Takina tried (and failed) to organize her thoughts before merely getting out:

"You're… very stimulating… to me…"

If there was ever a moment where Takina wanted to shrivel up and disappear on the spot, this would be it. She half expected Chisato to turn around and begin either teasing or kissing her on the spot, but rather than that, Chisato appeared to merely scratch her cheek for a moment.

"O-oh? Is that so…"

Chisato appeared to weigh her options, tilting her head back and forth before, after what seemed like forever,

She turned around.

Time was beginning to speed up and Takina wasn't sure what exactly Chisato was doing, only that Chisato's hands had now found their way to the back of her neck. They were still, each of them seeing nothing but the profile of the other until Chisato wrapped her legs around Takina's back, saying:

"In that case, why don't we do something stimulating?"

Second after second passed, Chisato leaned into Takina who fully reciprocated her kiss, their lips and then their tongues crashing against one another. Takina tugged at Chisato's waist and Chisato held onto Takina for dear life with all 4 of her limbs, each of them holding the other in an embrace not unlike but still different to anything they'd done previously.

Ah… This is…

The tension in Takina uncoiled, her grip tightening around Chisato as their passion was left to run wild outside of the gaze of the public. Takina's mind was almost dancing with desire, the sounds of lust coming from Chisato's mouth not serving to dampen this in the slightest. The tension inside of Takina that had just unwound began to tighten once more as a realization came through her brain.

It wasn't a matter of if Takina wanted to do things like this, nor was it a matter of if they would eventually end up 'connecting' on their futon. It was a matter of how much Takina wanted to do it and when they would.

And then, Takina came to another realization: one that caused her to break apart from Chisato while clamping her hand over her own mouth with shock:

This was terrifying.

"Hm? Takina?"

Takina knew that she shouldn't look at Chisato right now. She knew that one look at the needy expression on Chisato's face would send her over the edge.

So why was she already opening her eyes?

"Chisato…"

They stared at each other in silence for what seemed like forever. The strand of saliva that connected them snapped and just as Takina was going to lean in to make another one…

*GROWL*

Takina's gaze shot from Chisato's lips to her stomach as her brain reset. Her entire body froze, and Chisato, noticing this, took a hand off of the back of Takina's neck, hesitantly pointing towards the kitchen.

"You wanna get dinner?"

Takina didn't move a muscle. Chisato could see that every muscle fibre in Takina's body was screaming to do any number of different things. In the end, though, after having gone bright red and covered her face, Takina replied with a simple gesture.

*nod*

With that, Chisato simply hopped off of Takina and headed into the kitchen, leaving Takina alone with her thoughts came and went, whizzing about her head as she struggled to discern them from one another. While most came and went, a singular thought lingered, first at the back of her mind before jumping to the forefront.

What would have happened if Chisato's stomach hadn't rumbled?

###

After eating, cleaning up, watching a movie with significantly less contact (albeit, still holding hands the whole time), it was finally bedtime. By this point, Chisato and Takina had completely given up on the idea of a single futon and now shared the larger one that had already been there when they'd first arrived.

"Hey, Takina."

As the first to get to bed today, Takina was the one to open the covers and invite Chisato inside. After struggling to think of something to say for a few moments, Chisato was the first to break the silence.

"Takina? You still awake?"

Takina nodded.

"I just let you in a few seconds ago, didn't I?"

"Heh. Right."

Their backs were turned against each other now. To Takina, this had been a sign of trust. That they trusted one another enough to show their back to each other. But now, it was coupled with an odd sense of distance. Chisato's voice was careful and wary, as if she was afraid of saying something wrong.

"Uh, how do I put this? Well… Sorry."

Takina raised an eyebrow, turning to face Chisato. When she did, she saw that Chisato was already facing her, albeit, with a sheepish expression. Takina was slightly surprised at both this and the apology, raising an eyebrow.

"Hm? What are you sorry for?"

Chisato cupped her hands in one another, trying to find the right words before moving her hands behind her back and saying:

"It's just… I was being a little aggressive earlier, and I kinda felt like I was sort of… pressuring you into doing stuff you were uncomfortable with. Y'know?"

Takina blinked twice, trying to process this new information. Chisato thought that she was making Takina feel uncomfortable? Did Takina make it look that way?

"That's not what I was trying to do…"

Chisato waited for Takina's response, watching as Takina shifted her hands and her gaze left and right before taking a deep breath.

"I guess… I guess that I'm just a little worried. It's' not like I don't have any desire at all…"

Takina and Chisato both went flush at this, though Takina was many times redder than the girl across from her as she struggled to find the right words to articulate her thoughts.

"It's… I'm scared. We've only been dating for a few weeks, so I'm… I'm scared that we're moving too fast or something- ah, though it's not as if I don't want to do it at all."

The 2 of them stayed quiet for a bit longer but just as Takina was about to turn around again, Chisato stopped her, her face turning the colour of her ribbon as she said:

"Just so you know, I'll wait for you for as long as you need to feel comfortable. After all, there's no point in doing anything if both of us aren't enjoying it. But also…"

Chisato appeared to hesitate for a moment before saying:

"I'm ready whenever you are."

But before Takina could fully process what this meant, she felt a quick kiss on the lips as Chisato turned around, going to bed. As the weight of what Chisato had just uttered sank in, Takina's face burned bright red, but eventually, she too managed to drift off to sleep.