When Takumi picked Eri up after work, he kissed her gently for several minutes before asking, "How does grilled steak sound?"
Eri looked at him blankly. After a moment she replied doubtfully, "Expensive?"
He blinked at her, and then told her quickly, "It wasn't bad today, so I got a pound. I'm asking how you'd like it cooked? If you don't want it I can chop it for stir fry and freeze it?"
"Oh." She considered it for a moment before responding more positively, "It sounds good then."
He kissed her again, and then buckled her into her helmet, and took her home.
--
While he was cooking Takumi said thoughtfully, "Maybe I should start looking for a bigger apartment."
Eri looked over at him unhappily and protested, "Takumi, I still don't know if I want to move in with you."
He looked up at her and opened his mouth, but then closed it again and considered her quietly. After a moment he replied neutrally, "If you still don't want the baby when it arrives, I'll need a bigger place even if you won't stay with me. And in the meantime, I think I want a real refrigerator instead of this mini. I've got it completely crammed."
"Oh." She apologized guiltily, "Sorry."
"It's not your fault," he assured her softly.
She looked at him doubtfully and he repeated it.
--
After dinner Takumi cuddled up to Eri and asked, "Is there anything I can do to make you feel happier right now?"
She leaned against him as she told him seriously, "I'm okay." He looked like he didn't believe her, so she hesitantly tried to explain, "I really don't feel unhappy, I just feel kind of numb…" She blushed as she admitted, "Except when we're having sex."
"Oh." He suggested more cheerfully, "Let's do it all night then."
"Okay," she agreed, and her lips reddened as she lifted her face for his kiss.
He smiled as he informed her, "You are so cute."
He kissed her until she was breathless, and then he started to undress her. Once they had both been freed of any unnecessary articles of clothing, they were intensely aware of the lack of the usual remaining barrier between them.
--
They didn't actually continue for the entire night, but Takumi felt worried by the way Eri lay passively beside him when they stopped, and he asked, "What's wrong?"
She looked at him sleepily and complained, "You do too much to me. Sometimes can you just do it like the first time again, where you didn't keep doing more?"
"Yes," he agreed.
She smiled a little and her eyes closed and didn't open again. He tucked her in against him and pulled the covers over her gently.
Takumi was almost asleep when Eri's phone went off. He looked at her but she didn't even twitch at the sound. He sat up and looked at it. The call was from her mother, so he answered it.
"Oh!" Miyuki said in a shocked tone when she saw his bare shoulders in the dim light. "Were you already sleeping Takeshi-kun?"
"Eri is, I wasn't quite asleep yet," he replied quickly.
"It's okay," she assured him. "I just wanted to ask if you'd both come to lunch tomorrow at about two? Yuki is coming home for a visit."
"Eri's sister?" he asked after a moment.
"Yes, and her husband Eiji," Miyuki informed him cheerfully.
"Okay, I'll bring her," Takumi agreed.
After bidding her mother goodnight, he cuddled back up to Eri and fell asleep.
--
Takumi woke up with Eri on top of him. After he regained his senses, he stared up at her in confusion.
"Are you really awake now?" Eri asked with embarrassment. She'd been woken by his movements against her, and hadn't realized that he wasn't truly awake at first.
Her blush wasn't limited to her cheeks, and he grinned up at her. "Yes," he agreed. "I really need you to marry me so I can wake up this way for the rest of my life!"
He regretted his half joking words when she immediately started to cry.
Takumi pulled her down against him and asked anxiously, "Eri? I was just teasing you, not really demanding anything? I'm sorry."
"It's not that," she protested.
"What is it then?" he asked worriedly.
"When I woke up you were… and when I moved you pulled me onto you. I thought you were awake at first, but you didn't seem to hear me," she explained unhappily.
"I'm sorry," he replied uncertainly. "I was probably dreaming."
"Yes," Eri agreed miserably. "You were. You moaned someone else's name, something like Reiko. And then you woke up for real."
Takumi flushed as he responded with mortification, "Gods, I'm sorry Eri. I don't know what to say. Or what I can do about it?"
"I don't know," she replied sadly.
He stared at her wordlessly, afraid to touch her and see her pull away, but reluctant to let her go. Suddenly he asked, "You didn't finish yet did you?"
She met his eyes with confusion, and shook her head.
"I love you Eri," he told her seriously. "I have no idea what I was dreaming, and I can't promise it will never happen again, but I really love you. I'll do anything you want."
She just stared at him.
A little desperately he asked, "What have we done that you've liked best, if there's nothing new you want to try?"
She didn't resist the suggestion, and after a moment she asked hesitantly, "Could we try it in the tub?"
Her blush renewed itself like fire as he replied, "Hell yes."
He rolled out of bed, dashed into the bathroom and started the bath.
--
It wasn't as fun as Eri had imagined at first, but Takumi adjusted what he was doing until she enjoyed it.
Afterward, she laughed.
Takumi smiled with relief to see her laughing again. A few minutes later, he finally remembered to tell her, "I forgot to tell you when we woke up, but your mother called after you were asleep. Your sister is visiting and I said we'd go have lunch with your family at two."
Eri looked at him with surprise but she only said agreeably, "Okay."
