Work Text:
Erika had been staring at the search bar on her browser for a long time.
The question was there, she’d been thinking about it for weeks now, she’d even… sort of told Manami about it.
But actually asking it?
She pinched her brow and sighed. I have no idea what I’m doing.
That was why she wanted to find out answers, it would be so easy to ask.
And yet, she hadn’t.
She couldn’t even ask DuckDuckGo.
Come on, just type it, Erika.
Nothing.
Yes, you’re going to see some weird results. That’s just how the internet is, but there will be useful things you’ll find too!
Hesitation.
She. Loves. You. Yeah, asking might make things a little weird, but she’ll understand why you’re doing it! You only want to make sure she’s comfortable, right?!
Erika let her face fall onto her keyboard. When she finally looked up, she chuckled to herself at the incomprehensible string of keystrokes she inadvertently entered into the search bar.
Ctrl+A. Backspace.
Deep breath.
She took a sip of her canned green tea to steady herself.
‘How do you ask your trans girlfriend if she wants to have sex?’
Enter.
Erika blinked rapidly as she scanned her eyes down the list of results. Surprisingly, nothing hateful, yet, but she had chosen DuckDuckGo as her search engine of choice for that reason. A lot of the results were unfortunately for a male-perspective, which she tried to filter out by changing the search prompt to ‘your trans lesbian girlfriend’, but then quickly reverted it back once she noticed the first result was about how to ask your girlfriend to have a threeway.
She leaned back in her chair into a long stretch. She was going to find out how to do this, and how to do it respectfully, even if it took all night.
“Lady Baby Blue…! Lady Baby Blue…!”
Erika grumbled face down into her pillow as she tried to sleep. Stupid noises… I’m tired… I was up late last night.
Eventually, the singing stopped, letting Erika shift herself to a slightly more comfortable position in bed where she…
“Lady Baby Blue…! Lady Baby Blue…!”
Ugh! Who’s calling me so early in the morning?! She rolled over in bed and sandwiched her head between two pillows, trying to muffle out the noise from her phone.
“Lady Baby Blue…! Lady Baby Blue…!”
“Arghh!” Erika screamed into her pillow. Seriously?! Who needs to talk to me so- oh.
She suddenly remembered whose ringtone that was and scrambled to answer her phone.
“Hello! Yes! Yes! Hi, Haru! Sorry, I think I slept in, I-”
“Erika?”
She stopped talking and bit her lip.
“It’s okay, I just… wanted to know if you were still coming?” Haru asked over the phone.
Erika blinked a few times. “Coming?” She slapped her forehead. “Right, yes! Lunch, yes, I totally remembered, I just-” She took her phone away from her ear and tried not to scream when she saw the time.
1:37 PM.
“I’llbethereassoonasIcanjustgonnathrowonaquickchangeofclothesandrunoutthedoorsorryHaruI’llbethereassoonasIcansorrythankyouIloveyoubye!” she said as fast as she could into her phone, dropping it on her bed and peeling off her shirt as fast as she could.
However, she was barely done with taking her shirt off when Haru called her again. Erika bit her lip as she stared at the contact picture of Haru flashing on her phone screen, thinking the chronically anxious and self-conscious girl must be calling to cancel the whole date so it wouldn’t be a hassle for her.
But, ignoring the call would have been much worse, so with a reluctant sigh, she answered. “Haru, I-”
“Just wait,” Haru spoke out with a somewhat uncharacteristically assertive tone. “Erika, how late were you up last night?” she asked.
Erika groaned as she tried to remember just how long her late night web surfing adventure had lasted, and eventually shook her head. “I don’t really remember… but uh, it was pretty late…”
“I see…” Haru’s voice sounded contemplative, not despondent or resigned. Erika smiled. At the very least, it seemed like she was getting better at not catastrophizing about any real or potential setback. “How about I grab some food to go and bring it to your place?” she suggested after a short pause.
Erika blinked. “Over here? My place?” she asked.
“Yeah,” Haru answered. “So, you can use that time to get properly cleaned up and… well… knowing how things probably are after you have a late night sleep in… have a shower. Sorry.”
“Right… yeah…” Erika trailed off as she looked to her side. After a moment’s hesitation, she raised her arm and tried to get a whiff of the scent underneath, resulting in her wincing and wrinkling her nose. “Okay, um… yeah… sorry… I’ll uh… do that…”
There was a short pause as she didn’t know what to say next, but Haru took care of that for her.
“Erika?”
She was about to put her phone down when she heard her voice. “Hmm?”
“We’ll have a great time, okay?”
Erika tried to hold back but couldn’t help but laugh a bit, though she quickly explained why so Haru wouldn’t get the wrong idea. “Since when were you the one reassuring me, Haru?”
“First time for everything, I suppose?” Haru answered, and they both laughed together afterward.
“Alright babe, I’ll get myself and my place nice and prettied up for when you arrive, okay?” Erika said.
“Sounds great, I’ll see you soon. I love you.”
“I love you too.”
And they both hung up.
Erika sat down on a nearby chair and looked across her room. Even knowing that Haru could and sometimes did come over whenever she felt like it, she still hadn’t gotten very good at keeping her apartment room clean and clutter free. Worn clothes littered the floor, empty cans dotted around her tables, her desk, and the kitchen counter, along with an empty pizza box on the coffee table, and she had a small pile of dirty dishes sticking up out of the kitchen sink.
Erika sighed. “I have got to get better at this if we’re ever going to get a place together,” she said aloud to herself.
“Erika…? You there? Hope you don’t mind, but I let myself in!”
Erika heard Haru while she was kneeling in front of the toilet in her bathroom, trying to finish scrubbing the whole room down to make sure the apartment was as clean as possible for her girlfriend.
She had not, as Haru had suggested, taken a shower.
“Haru?!” she called back, trying to raise her head and turn around, but colliding with the underside of the basin with a painful ‘thunk’ and yelped, “Ow!” before she thought to crawl back a bit first and then stand up.
Haru heard her wince from the impact and rushed into the apartment proper, coming face to face with Erika just as she got on her feet and turned around. “Erika, are you okay?” she asked.
Erika looked briefly at the bag and the cardboard drink tray with two cups Haru carried before she glanced up at her eyes and smiled. “Just… beaned my head a little… ow…” she explained while rubbing the sore spot on her scalp. “Did… did you bring coffee too?” she asked.
“Oh, I just thought you might appreciate it if you were up so late,” Haru explained as she found the nearby coffee table and set everything down. She took one of the paper cups and held it out for Erika to take. “Soy vanilla latte from that fair trade place down the block,” she explained.
Erika gingerly took the cup and savoured the feeling of warmth in her hands for a moment, even bending over to get a small whiff of the pleasant smell seeping out from the sip hole. She took a small sip and smiled even more brightly afterward.
“I think I love you,” Erika said with joy.
Haru giggled briefly, getting Erika’s attention. “You think?” she teased.
Erika laughed back. “No, you’re right, I do love you.”
Haru closed the distance between them and placed a quick kiss on her lips. “I love you too,” she said, smiling right up against her.
Erika then wrapped her arms around Haru while still holding her cup of coffee and brought her close for a longer and deeper kiss, with Haru quickly hugging Erika back. She tilted her head slightly back and to the side to account for their differences in height while still committing to pressing her lips up against her girlfriend’s, but the longer they remained in their embrace, the more Haru leaned into her, taking the initiative and squeezing her harder.
Heh, once she gets confident, she never wants to let go.
But, eventually, they did, with both women taking a moment to catch their breaths after they broke their lips away, but kept their arms loosely wrapped around each other.
“Oh… sorry… just…” Haru started to apologise, but Erika stopped her with a quick finger to the lips before she pecked her one last time.
“That was amazing,” she told her, making sure to smile before she left Haru’s grasp and walked over to the coffee table where the bag of food was laid. “So, what did you get?” she asked as she removed the pair of take out containers from the bag.
“Chilled soba and some potato croquettes,” Haru said just as Erika opened the lid and marvelled at the delicious contents inside.
Almost right away the sight of food reminded Erika that she had not eaten anything the entire day, and it was almost two o’clock. She felt her stomach as it rumbled, and wasted no time in grabbing a pair of chopsticks and sitting down on the ground between the coffee table and her sofa to eat.
“Fank you sho muf,” she said with a string of soba noodles hanging out her mouth. She sucked them up and swallowed before she added, “It’s delicious.”
Haru nodded and sat down next to Erika with her own meal. “Glad you like.”
“Want to watch something while we eat? Probably not going to be talking much.”
“Oh… sure! Yeah, I found this cool YouTube channel called ‘guitarhero’ that does covers of songs and some original stuff, and I think the player might be trans too? I saw a trans flag pin on the guitar strap in one video.”
“Oh! That’s pretty damn cool!”
“Can I use your laptop?
“Sure! It’s over on my desk, just bring it over.”
Haru got up to retrieve Erika’s laptop, but just as she sat back down with the computer and fiddled with the mouse to wake it up, she remembered that she had not closed any of the tabs she had opened in her late night ‘study session’.
Time seemed to slow to a crawl in that moment as Erika tried to stop her girlfriend by grabbing her arm. “Waaaaaiiiitttt!!!!”
But she was too slow. The screen flickered on, and right there occupying the whole screen was a browser tab on reddit where she had posted to r/asktransgender.
‘What's a polite way to ask a transgender partner if they'd like to have sex?’
Erika blinked. Haru stared at the screen for an uncomfortably long time.
‘PS sorry if my words are strange I do not know English that well and I am using Google translate.’
Erika wanted to slam her forehead against the coffee table, but instead just sat still while a quiet, high-pitched whine faintly escaped her throat. She watched as Haru stared at the open tab for an uncomfortably long time, not even blinking, until she finally moved the mouse to the top of the screen and closed the tab, only for the next one to be a Japanese-translated copy of the zine, ‘Fucking Trans Women’, and when that was soon closed all that was left was nearly a dozen more tabs of various DuckDuckGo searches she’d done on the topic, each as incriminating as the last.
Eventually, Haru closed the browser entirely and reopened a fresh window where she quickly typed in ‘youtube.com’ and opened the page. Erika blinked as Haru searched for the channel she had mentioned, seemingly indifferent to everything she had seen.
“Uh… Haru?”
“Hmm?”
“Are you… um… are we just going to uh… ignore what we both saw…”
Haru paused in her typing and scrolling for a moment. She blinked, as if thinking of what to say.
“I feel like it would be uh… more awkward to ignore it…” Erika added, squeezing her eyes shut so she didn’t see her girlfriend’s reaction.
However, to her surprise, Haru put her hand atop her thigh in somewhat of a comforting gesture. “I mean… I’m not exactly… surprised…” she admitted.
Erika opened her eyes and saw that Haru was blushing heavily while still looking at her laptop screen. “You mean you… were thinking of this too?” she asked.
Haru turned her head partway, but not fully toward Erika and nodded slightly. “Even if it wasn’t on my mind as I talked to and helped Manami understand her feelings… I think I would have considered it and started to think about it regardless.”
Erika leaned in closer. “In what way…?” she asked.
“Well…” Haru looked down, still blushing, and squeezed her hands together. “Maybe, um, can we eat first? That’ll maybe give me time to put it into words,” she replied.
Erika blinked and leaned back against the couch. “Of course! Right, sorry I uh… distracted…”
“It’s okay, Erika,” Haru said, smiling.
Erika smiled back. “Hey, I love you,” she said out of the blue.
Haru giggled quietly as she picked up her bowl of soba. “I love you too… always feels nice to hear that.”
The meal went by relatively quietly between them. They listened to some of guitarhero’s songs on youtube and enjoyed their soba and croquettes, but as they finished their meals and the last song they listened to came to a close, Erika felt her anxiety begin to pick up again as she waited for Haru to say what was on her mind.
“I’m not against the idea.”
Erika blinked. Had she heard what she thought Haru said?
“Against what idea?” she asked back, fully aware of just what the idea was but trying to be as careful as possible.
“You know,” Haru quietly answered, clearing her throat before she finished. “Sex.”
There was no avoiding it now, so Erika took a deep breath and slowly exhaled.
“And you’re open to the idea of… sex, even while you haven’t had bottom surgery?” Erika asked, then, remembering what she had read up on, hastily added more before Haru could respond. “Not that sex necessarily has to involve what’s… down there, just, you know, want you to know that I’m… well… I want you to be comfortable, yeah…”
She felt like slapping herself for how awkwardly that came out, but to her surprise, Haru seemed to take it well, and nodded back before she elaborated.
“Truthfully, I don’t actually know how uncomfortable or comfortable I am with… what my body has,” she explained, taking a moment to exhale sharply before she continued. “Throughout my life it’s mostly been about how it makes the people around me uncomfortable, and how it affects my legal status… dysphoria is really complicated. Do I feel wrong in my current body and want bottom surgery because I actually want a vagina? Or do I only have that uncomfortableness and want it changed because it would let me legally live as a woman and not have to worry about all these issues anymore?” Haru paused to sigh and looked downward slightly. “And then, if I did do all this to get my legal gender changed, unless the laws change, I still wouldn’t be able to get married to another woman, all that would be available are civil partnerships… so no matter what path I take, the laws just form a barrier I can’t get past.”
Erika blinked several times and gasped slightly. “Wow, Haru, I uh… never really considered all that before,” she admitted, feeling a slight pang of guilt that Haru instantly seemed to notice.
“Hey, I didn’t really start thinking about it myself until… well… after we started dating,” she said, looking back up and putting on a smile for her girlfriend to hopefully help her feel better. “It just dawned on me that I want to make the choice I want to make, not the one I need to make, you know?”
Erika nodded. “And you know whatever choice you do decide on won’t change how I feel about you. All I care about is how you feel, okay?” she said.
Haru smiled a little more brightly. “Thank you, I appreciate it.” She and Erika both went silent for a moment, at least until Haru started to think about what Erika had really said, at which point she began to raise her eyebrows and look somewhat puzzlingly at her girlfriend.
Erika noticed after a couple of seconds. “Huh? Is there something on my face?” she asked.
Haru blinked a few times. “Wait, are you saying… you don’t mind that I have…”
“A penis?” Erika finished for her.
Haru squeezed her eyes shut and shuddered. “Ah! Please don’t say that so openly…!”
Erika frowned. “Ah, my apologies.”
“It’s okay, just…” Haru sighed and rubbed her hands together. “You… really don’t mind if that part of me is still male?”
“It’s not male, though,” Erika quickly retorted, leaning forward and rubbing Haru just between her shoulders. “It’s just yours, and that may feel different to you, but it doesn’t to me.”
Haru blinked a few times and turned her head toward Erika. “What do you mean?” she asked.
Erika smiled and took a moment to stretch her arms out. “Well, I did a lot of research on the subject, and I came away with the view that genitalia aren’t inherently gendered. For example, there are lots of people born with ambiguous genitalia, or chromosomally XY women who have uteruses because the Y chromosome is just never expressed. Like, did you know that it’s estimated that 1% of all people in the world are intersex? That would make them more common than people with red hair!” she explained.
Haru’s eyes widened. “Wow, I… had no idea about all that.”
“Neither did I!” Erika added.
A brief silence fell between them as both thought about what to say next. Eventually, Haru lightly swallowed and wrapped her arms around her chest.
“I don’t know if this exactly… changes how I feel… but thank you for trying to make things feel more comfortable,” Haru said meekly.
Erika put her hand on Haru’s shoulder and gave her a light, reassuring squeeze. “Hey, I don’t expect to completely change how you feel just like that, but, hoping maybe over time knowing these can help. That’s all.” She smiled, and Haru nodded. Erika picked her chopsticks back up. “Now then, why don’t we finish lunch and worry about this later?” she suggested.
Haru picked up her chopsticks and smiled.
After finishing eating, the two girls snuggled together atop Erika’s bunk bed, Haru being little spoon, absent-mindedly browsing through sites on her smartphone while Erika took the big spoon position, gently hugging her girlfriend with one arm under her neck and the other draped around her midsection.
They had thought about going to see a movie, but soon after finishing their lunches Erika yawned three times in close succession, which prompted Haru to suggest they just stay in and have a lazy day off together.
“What about this one?” Haru asked, holding her phone over her shoulder for Erika to see.
Erika squinted at the posting. “Oh, that’s a nice looking coupe. What year is it?”
“2009.”
“For that price? That’s not bad,” Erika pointed out, then paused to bite her lip for a second. “But…”
“Hmm? But what?” Haru asked.
Erika sighed. “I dunno. How much would having a car really change? We’ve both been getting by fine with public transit.”
“I just think it would be nice to have one for ourselves. That way we wouldn’t need to always ask Tatsuya when we needed one, and we could help Manami out if she needs a drive and he’s busy,” Haru explained.
“Yeah, yeah…” Erika muttered, sighing again before she looked down and lightly kissed the back of Haru’s neck. “But still… it’s such a rare occurrence, and it would be a big expense.”
“Yeah,” Haru softly agreed, putting her phone down for a moment and wiggling herself further into Erika’s embrace. She found Erika’s arm draped over her side and squeezed her hand. “What if we got a cargo bike for getting groceries and the such after we get a place together?”
“Oh, that could work really well, yeah!” Erika answered. “A little extra exercise also wouldn’t hurt, if we’re both going to be saddled with desk jobs at work.”
“It’s something else to think about, at the very least,” Haru added.
The two stayed quiet for a while after that, just enjoying each other’s presence in bed. They rubbed their bare feet together a couple of times, and Erika eventually started slowly rubbing her hand over Haru’s t-shirt covering her stomach, before eventually pulling her hand back and running it up from her hip to the side of her chest.
Haru giggled quietly as Erika ran her hands back down to her thigh. “What are you doing?” she asked.
Erika smiled even as Haru couldn’t see her face. “Just admiring your hips,” she answered.
Haru softly sighed. “They’re not that visible…” she bemoaned.
“They are there, and I can feel them,” Erika was quick to counter, lightly squeezing her hip for emphasis. “They’re yours, and I love them.”
Haru felt a little grateful that she was facing away from Erika as she blushed. “I just wish estrogen worked faster,” she said, sighing as she felt her own budding chest. “I don’t like how boyish my body still looks.”
“Honey, that’s dysphoria talking,” Erika said, finding Haru’s hand and squeezing it. “I don’t want to deny how you feel, but I assure you, you look very feminine and you’re very pretty.”
Haru brought Erika’s hand to her lips and kissed it. “Thank you,” she quietly said, voice cracking slightly.
Feeling particularly emboldened, Erika smiled and leaned over Haru’s shoulder to whisper into her ear. “In fact, I think you're pretty hot, Haru.”
For a few seconds, the only noise in the room after that was Erika’s wall clock ticking.
Haru felt her whole body freeze and her face turn a shade of white. Erika didn't just think she was cute, or feminine, or pretty; she thought she was hot?
Hot as in- sexually appealing?
Haru’s whole body shivered once with the thought. “Y-You r-r-really t-think that I-I’m h-h-hot?” she squeaked out.
Erika leaned further over Haru’s shoulder and kissed her ear before she lay back down on the bed. “Only the hottest girl I've ever known!” she boasted, leaning her cheek against the back of Haru’s head as she continued to praise her. “I can't get over how you're taller than me, how amazing your legs look in those stockings and skirt I got you, how goddamn pretty your hair is when you let it out, how gleaming your eyes are.”
Haru started to let out a low pitched whine. “T-Those all m-m-make me h-hot?” she asked.
“All the time, Haru,” Erika quickly answered. “And… I know you wish they were bigger, but I think your breasts are wonderful, and if you feel up to it, I'd love to give them a feel like you did for me.”
Haru breathed in sharply and almost choked, coughing a few times. “Oh my God, I… I…” She started to shudder, and a moment later, she suddenly started crying.
Erika quickly pushed herself up on her side and hovered over Haru. “Oh, fuck, was that too much, Haru?” she asked in a panic, watching her girlfriend’s tears start to drip down and stain the bedsheets. “Fuck! I'm sorry, I just- wanted you to feel good, I didn't mean to-”
“No-!” Haru choked out, finding time to halt her crying to take a couple of deep breaths. “I just…” She stopped to cough once and take another deep breath. Erika leaned back and waited for her, and Haru eventually rolled over and looked at her with tear-laden eyes. “Did you really mean all that?” she asked, voice cracking.
Erika put her hand on Haru’s cheek and leaned in to kiss her. “Every word,” she said as she pulled away from her lips.
Erika saw Haru try to speak, watched her move her lips but only managed to squeak or whine.
Eventually, she just asked, “Can I kiss you?”
Erika smiled. “Anytime.”
Haru didn’t waste a second, and crashed her lips into Erika’s the moment she had gotten her consent. She wrapped her free arm around Erika’s side and held her close as they traded tongues, only breaking away for brief moments to breathe. They intertwined their legs together, and eventually Haru rolled over on top of Erika, who opened her eyes wide at her girlfriend’s eagerness for a brief moment as the two caught their breath. It was only a moment, though, as Haru quickly lowered herself onto Erika and resumed kissing her, taking small moments to also kiss her cheeks, chin, nose, and neck, Erika giggling with joy whenever her lips were free. She hooked her legs around the back of Haru’s and hugged across her back, and for a while, they each slowly rubbed parts of their bodies against each other as their kisses became slower and less instinctual, but more deliberate and prolonged.
And then Haru suddenly stopped.
She backed off, pushed herself off Erika, and turned her eyes away, looking quite uncomfortable. Erika put her legs down to Haru’s sides and quickly pushed back up on her elbows and tried to comfort her.
“What’s wrong?” she asked. When several seconds passed and Haru still did not answer, she started to get worried. “Did I-?”
“No,” Haru interrupted, her voice croaking. She leaned back until she was sitting, then pulled her knees close to her chest. Erika slowly gathered herself until she sat cross-legged across from her. Haru continued to look off to the side, eventually sighing, and Erika sat quietly and patiently until she was ready to talk. “That was really good, the best I’ve ever felt. Ever,” Haru said, turning her head back toward Erika, but not looking directly at her, before she continued. “It’s just… I noticed I felt… I was… um… and then we started rubbing together…” she clumsily explained, rubbing her hands together.
Erika nodded. “Was it making you uncomfortable?” she asked.
Haru sighed again before she finally looked her in the eyes. “I don’t know, really. I think I just got worried about you feeling uncomfortable, because… well…
Erika reached over and rubbed Haru’s shoulder. “Haru, it doesn’t bother or concern me. I promise.”
“I-I know, but…” Haru took a deep breath and held it for a moment before she exhaled in a big gasp. “M-Maybe things just… moved a little too fast and I got scared because I didn’t know what would happen and even though I knew you were fine I didn’t know how you might react to feeling or noticing how I was getting excited and I just really didn’t want to ruin the moment by freaking out and oh baka mitai that’s what I’m doing I’m-” Haru suddenly yelped as she bit her tongue and started covering her cheek while she continued to talk. “-ruining the moment, I-”
“Haru, please, just stop,” Erika calmly interrupted, moving her hand from her shoulder to caressing her other cheek. “I get it. I really do. I’d never ask or want you to do anything you didn’t want to, so the second you start to feel unsure, we can always stop what we’re doing. No judgment, I promise.”
It took a few seconds, but eventually, Haru nodded. “Okay,” she croaked out, voice weak, but not faltering. She then leaned forward and hugged Erika, who was quick to return the gesture, patting and rubbing Haru on her back while she breathed calmly into her shoulder.
“Hey, Haru?” Erika asked in the midst of their hug.
“Hmm?” Haru hummed back, tilting her head to the side so she was looking at the side of her face.
Erika smiled softly. “I have an idea… maybe something in between cuddling, making out, and… well… sex.”
Haru leaned back so they were looking each other in the eyes. “What is it?” she asked.
“You ready?” Erika called out through the closed bathroom door.
Haru sat naked within the hot, steaming water of Erika’s bathtub surrounded by bubbles and took a quick look around. Once she was sure she couldn’t see any part of her bare body through the bubbles aside from her arms out of the water, she called back to her.
“You can come in!”
The door opened slowly, and Haru watched as Erika walked in with nothing but a towel wrapped around her body. She quickly half-looked away and blushed.
“S’alright! That’s what this is all about, you know?” Erika said as she closed the door behind her and approached the bathtub.
Haru gulped loudly but still did not fully look at Erika, instead flashing her eyes bath and forth, as if unable to commit to either. “Just… just need a moment.”
Erika nodded and waited.
Haru sank back in the water some more and took a deep breath.
Erika smiled.
Haru splashed some hot water in her face and looked up at her girlfriend’s face. “Okay.”
“I am going to have to remove this towel to get in the water with you,” she reminded her.
“Go ahead.” Haru nodded.
Erika pulled the knot out at the top of her towel and let it fall to the floor around her. Haru tried her hardest not to gasp too hard.
She knew the overall shape of her girlfriend, and had seen her topless more than a few times, but never before had she seen her completely naked like this, standing before her with her lightly tanned complexion, breasts that cupped in her hands perfectly, smooth stomach with just a hint of a paunch, hips that made her jealous with how well they flared out in a dress, and her…
Haru gulped.
Now she knew what Erika’s natural hair colour must be.
Then, Haru remembered she was naked too, and looked down again. The bubbles still concealed her, and she breathed a slight sigh of relief.
“So, should I get in front, or behind?” Erika asked.
The question brought her back to her senses. “Oh, um…” Haru slowly started to shift forward, and Erika took it as a cue to get in behind her, which she did, slowly stepping in and sitting down with her legs stretched out across Haru’s sides.
“Congrats, Haru,” Erika said. “You’re taking a bath with your girlfriend.”
There was a short pause. Both girls started laughing.
Erika took her time washing Haru’s hair, lathering her long locks up with shampoo and conditioner and running her fingers down the strands. When she was done, Haru leaned her back against her in the bath, enjoying the soothing heat and aroma provided by some of Erika’s home spa products in the water.
“Hey, Erika?” Haru eventually called out.
Erika leaned over her shoulder. “What is it?”
Haru gulped. “Would it be okay… could you…” she stuttered. Erika waited for her. Haru grabbed one of Erika’s hands and squeezed. “Can you try touching my breasts?” she quietly asked.
Erika let Haru guide her hand around her side and toward the front of her chest.
Her breast was small, still budding, but even in the hot bathwater, her nipple poked out, hard, and when Erika brushed the tip of her fingers against it, she shuddered.
She felt the skin around her areola. Squeezed it lightly. Haru gasped.
Erika smiled. She pinched Haru’s nipple, and she tensed up hard, gasping afterward.
“Okay?” Erika asked.
“Okay…” Haru answered, sighing. “That was good… amazing, even… but…”
“I understand,” Erika said as she wrapped her arms around Haru and gently hugged her.
Each little step counted. They both knew that.