Framed in Fortune (Arc/Lani, Painters)(NSFW)

He was glad for the lack of bandages. He trusted that she wouldn't hurt him, but they were still kind of scary at times... He was thinking of them, because that's where his eyes happened to wander this time around. "A while..."

She tried to swallow, finding her mouth and throat dry, and immediately tried to find a subtle way to clear it. Finding none, she coughed into her knees, feeling her ears burning from embarrassment. A thousand curses danced in her mind, too many languages to count, though the vast majority of them simply in her native Japanese. "Did you, ah..." Eventually, she might finish a sentence. Eventually.

"Yeah... I think..." Takumi said, nodding his head weakly, and taking a leaf out of her book after taking the chance to glance at her; he drew his knees up as well, a little more comfortable now that he was more hidden.

She squirmed, burying her face the rest of the way behind her knees and legs. This was just great. Was this entire day doomed to be full of awkwardness and tension? Rin almost wanted to hide, but where was there for her to go, really? Takumi could find her anywhere and he was already in her room. Shy of locking herself in the bathroom, there weren't any real places to disappear, not without way more effort than was necessary for such an endeavor. "I..."

It's like every time their relationship progressed, they just had to get stuck in a position like this, neither brave enough to just speak or do for way too long; though, the thought of this progress sent him into another bout of blushing. He would wait, for now, maybe see if she had something to say or was just making sound...

Her ears could still be seen, red as ever, with how she had her head tucked. Shifting occasionally, the blushing would randomly increase, and he'd eventually hear a quiet, though high-pitched whine as she shifted again. Reaching a handout, she eventually got her bandages to more, returning to her and wrapping themselves around her body, hiding the flushing that could be just barely seen beneath the thin white dress. At least she didn't feel so exposed. She wanted to say something, do something, anything, but her mind insisted on drawing a blank in the realms of anything rational. Rin certainly was trying to not to dwell on the more irrational notions, prevalent though that they were.

With her bandages covering her body more thoroughly than the thin gown, it was a little easier to look at her in this state of embarrassment. And that he did, observing her over top his own knees, still reluctant to say anything. Not that much came to mind. He sighed, quietly, when he too drew a blank again.

Honestly, she wanted to hide under the covers, but that would mean moving closer. She wasn't sure if she was ready for that, right now. Instead, she tried to stretch the bandages to reach out for him, to tug her off of her sleeping space as she moved in a wide, uneasy arch towards it, legs wobbling all the while and skin still a faint pink. Whatever the outcome, she'd eventually make it to the other side of the bed, rapidly burying herself under the covers and pulling them tight over her head, forgetting her glasses once more and making a mess of her already loosely tied hair.

Takumi looked between the bandage and her, trying to figure out what anything meant anymore. In the end, he chose to watch her as she moved around the bed to get in the other side, only moving his head once she was beyond where his eyes could move to see her, and only moving his body once the range of motion of his head was used up. In the end, he was still say on the bed, watching the undulating covers where she was hiding. He was still silent, though he was trying his best to figure out something that might solve the situation.

She at least seemed to calm down, then, adjusting until she was in a far more relaxed position, not unlike how she'd slept with him that night. Eventually, she wiggled her head out of the covers, curling around the edges as though cuddling them before pouting and looking around. Hadn't he gotten her a bear? She wanted it, now. After a moment's glance, her eyes focused on Takumi and she blushed again, wiggling beneath the covers. "I... ah.... nap?"

R-really..? Takumi's train of thought was derailed by the sudden, unexpected, and oddly innocent excuse. Or suggestion. He didn't rightly know, with how she said, but either way it was strange. Given the circumstances at hand, it really was out of left field. It managed to let him calm some, though, even despite the fact that if he did take it as the latter, it would mean moving closer. "Uhm..." he started, after wiping the momentary look of confusion from his face. "Sure..?" he said, lowering his knees to reveal his whole face at least.

She smiled at him, squirming and rolling onto her other side to face him. Moving her arms around, she eventually pulled back the covers on the side he was sat on, giving him space to crawl under them beside and in front of her. Logically, reasonably, to really anyone but Rin in this moment, this was most certainly not the best way to get rid of the awkwardness, let alone the palpable sexual tension that stained it. Still, her intentions and thought process were entirely innocent, and perhaps that made all of the difference.

Takumi, sighed, perhaps psyching himself up a little for the lack of distance between the two of them that he was about to agree to create. It was strange how much closeness can be so different depending on the situation. It was so comfortable the knight before, and now, it was awkward and nerve wracking. Even if it was just a nap. Still, he crawled under the covers, all too conscious of her body heat, and managed to settle down. A nap, though, he wasn't quite sure if he could manage.

Rin, in all her blissful ignorance, seemed almost to be going out of her way to not help matters. Hardly had he settled in beside her before she scooted closer, one leg draping over his hip and wrapping weakly, comfortably around his leg as she curled up against him. She seemed to be using both his chest and her arm as a pillow, cuddling soundly and pleasantly, though in such a way that she most definitely wasn't keeping any distance from him, and it was probably making things all the more difficult for his poor, fragile sanity.

When Rin had hooked her leg around his own and before she had settled up against him, he felt like he was in a car about to swerve off the road. You expect things to go one way, but then it happens another. The close save happened when she did in fact just cuddle. While it was still making him way more aware of her body than he was comfortable with in the circumstances, the fact that she was just cuddling was in a way also normal enough that it didn't make everything go haywire. There was the small issue of the arm that she wasn't using as a pillow. He'd have liked to keep at least a little distance, but the comfortable places to place it were either atop her thigh, her waist, all the way around her, or between them. After a quick rhyme in his head, he settled on her waist, though it was no better than the other choices.

She squirmed and cuddled closer as he held her, not asleep but seeming such as she cooed and held gently, yet firmly to him. Rin certainly seemed content, either not yet realizing the compromising position she'd thrown them both in, not caring, or blatantly taunting him at this point. Whatever the case, she knew that he would be nothing but a gentleman with her. Of course, she had also proven that if she pushed him enough he would, eventually take things into his own hands. That meant that he was probably fighting some small war with himself, but she didn't seem aware of it. Eventually, when he seemed to have settled enough that she thought him to be asleep, she reached up and kissed the nearest bit of exposed flesh she found --- the soft pulse point at his neck ended up being it. Oops.

And at just about the time that Takumi thought himself to be about as relaxed as he was going to get, the eternal wisdom of Rin decided to make him rethink it. The kiss sent a shiver down his spine and made him gasp in surprise, while grasping at what little material was between Rin's waist proper and his hand. Red shot right back up to his ears and he made a soft, quiet whine in protest of the action. It wasn't helpful in the least!

She let out something akin to a yipe, though a softer sound. Clearly, she'd startled him and in doing so had gotten herself startled in turn. Embarrassed, his arm at her back had her arching and pressing closer to him and, red-faced, she tilted her head upwards to look at him, eyes wide with confusion, concern, and a hint of excitement. Too close, proper training told her. Too close. The words were followed up instantly by an almost rabid internal exclamation of hypocrite! But she strongly favored entirely ignoring the voice that liked to say that. Instead, she just stared, pressed up against him, leg hooked around him and face flushed. Welp. So much for that nap.

The whole action was just him tensing up in surprise, but it did in fact lead to something arguably worse. He did let off, lifting his arm, even, though he had no idea what to do with it then. He turned his face away, whining again but mostly at himself. Damn it. All of this and more...

Rin let herself freeze up for a moment, for a beat more, watching him and thinking. Her mind was so loud and her heartbeat was hammering in her ears. Eventually, she let out another whine, reaching up to tug at the front of this shirt; the goal, should he turn back to look at her, was to drag him down enough for her to reach up and press an eager kiss to his lips.

While looking away from her he was just trying his best to swallow, now that he realised that somehow his throat became all dry, and to try not to think about the contact between them. He wasn't expecting to be pulling on her clothes, so he did look down, if for no other reason than the surprise. At having a kiss suddenly pressed to his lips, he gasped again even if less so and then just leaned into it. Damn it... he thought again, as he gave in. There was no winning.

Rin almost cooed back at him as he seemed to give in, adjusting the arm at his shirt to the nape of his neck. Her finger idly twirled his hair as she slid herself flush to him. The kiss certainly seemed innocent enough, seemed like she could be trusted to behave, though her movements made it obvious that she was hoping for more, even if she could handle being turned down. Pushing him too far too fast was only going to break him, after all. She didn't want to do that.

Being ever closer didn't help Takumi one bit. In fact, it was quickly making him think that he should really just give in to more than just the kiss. It seemed like Rin was pushing it and in that direction too. Really, with everything, he couldn't really come to any other conclusion. He broke their kiss, redder than even before, but with an expression that was something between displeased, embarrassed and thoughtful. He was thinking of something, while looking very firmly right at Rin's face. Unusual for him to do so while in this sort of state...

She came out of the kiss a little dazed and breathless, eyes lidded and unfocused when they fully opened. Blinking several times, she slowly registered his face, brow raising quizzically as she gave him something of a concerned face. Had she pushed too much? If she was being perfectly honest with herself then the answer was probably yes, but now she was worried that he might be upset with her. That wouldn't do at all.

Takumi breathed in and out exaggeratedly as his expression softened and then hid his face in her shoulder, speaking ever so quietly. Of course, he slipped into Japanese, as those words seemed easier to get out when he was nervous. "If you want something, just say so..."