Bad Habit By: Asynca Nyah nyah, another leeeeemon. Well, not really. I sort-of lemon. No sex, bondage, eletronic toys and/or use of food and elongated fresh vegtables. Some gratuitous love confessions and kissing, but that’s all ^^; Haruka, stuck in her old habit, tossed her coat into a corner, and placed her sachel at the end of her bed. Michiru, smiling to herself, realised although they’d been living together for several weeks, there were some habits that Haruka wouldn’t discard so easily. Most of her habits that Michiru considered, ‘undesirable’, had worn off, in the same way waves might smooth a rock. Haruka no longer let the dishes stack up until the towering piles were on the brink of collapsing and smashing all over the floor, she no longer absent mindedly left the bed unmade, ("I’ll be sleeping in it again tonight, what’s the point of making something if you’re going to unmake in in a few hours?") and she no longer stayed up until all hours of the morning and slept in until lunch time. Michiru, whilst Haruka was undoing her tie, picked up Haruka’s coat, dusted it off and hung it neatly on the door of the closet. The sachel was hung on a hook behind the door, along with Michiru’s sling purse and light coat. Haruka straighed her collar, checked the tie for stains, and then put it back in her sock-and-tie drawer. Michiru noticed a number of non sock or tie objects in the drawer; obviously the drawer needed sorting out again. As Haruka made to leave the bedroom, Michiru was wandering towards the vanity, she heard, "Don’t think I don’t notice you sweeping up after me." Michiru stopped walking, unsure what to make of Haruka’s unexpected appraisal of the situation. "Haruka?" "Don’t you like me the way I am?" "It’s not that, Haruka I suppose we just come from different households. " Michiru hoped Haruka would accept that as an explanation. Rather that arguing, Haruka continued out into the hallway, and trotted down the stairs into the living room. Michiru sat down on her own bed, moisenning her lips with her tongue, and staring at her hands folded neatly in her lap. Four weeks, one day. Two days short of a month; they’d been living together in the same house. Two days short of a month, they’d been without their senshi responsibilities, assured by the inners that things were taken care of. Two days short of a month, they’d been out to dinner or lunch, come back to watch videos and chatted lightheartedly across the bedroom from their separate beds. Two days short of a month, Michiru had longed to sleep against Haruka in her bed... She’d even figured out a way to get into Haruka’s bed; to complain of a terrible nightmare and need comforted, and to feign falling asleep in Haruka’s arms. If Haruka moved, Michiru planned to wake up and be upset. But so far, Michiru hadn’t had the courage to put her plan into action. Haruka, who although was very gentle towards Michiru, had been known to have temper fits about sometimes the smallest things, and Michiru didn’t want to hear Haruka assuring her that it was time she went back to her own bed. Michiru had tried to drop subtle hints here and there about her interest in Haruka; often, behind Haruka on the Motorbike she’d lean her head against Haruka’s back, and sigh lightly. Either Haruka didn’t notice; or she didn’t comment of Michiru’s actions. Occasionally, Michiru would cook a meal that was considered something shared between lovers; simply because the kanji was the same as, "Lover’s Food." The first time she’d cooked it, Haruka had seen the plate, paused for nothing more than a second, and then continued as if nothing had happened. Michiru almost wanted a confrontation, all this beating around the bush was emotionally exhausting. Then again, she’d keep remembering that something that seemed so natural to her would seem strange and wrong to Haruka. Sighing, Michiru pulled herself to stand and made her way down the stairs to the kitchen. Haruka was facing the window, with one hand on her hip, sipping her steaming coffee gingerly. Michiru regarded her senshi partner for a moment, before heading towards the electric jug to pour herself a tea. Haruka turned slightly, "I’m going to have a spa-bath. Are you going to come up as well?" Michiru’s heart jumped; she wasn’t going to miss a chance to sit in steamy, bubbling water with Haruka’s stripped down to bathers. Of course, neither her face nor her reply showed a trace of her immediate eagerness. Instead, she nodded, following Haruka up the stairs. According to the tradition of the last few weeks, Haruka took her bathing suit in the bathroom and changed in there, and Michiru had the bedroom to herself. She changed quickly and neatly, pulling up the strapless bathing suit and checking to make sure it was secure. Folding her clothes, she left them on her bed. She could hear Haruka singing absentmindedly to herself as the taps of the spa were turned on, and a yelp, stopping the song mid-tune as Haruka checked the temperature of the water. Chuckling to herself, Michiru knocked lightly on the door. "Don’t come in, I’m naked." Haruka called. Immediately, Michiru’s mind gave her some visual aid for that response. Michiru blushed. There was a laugh, and Haruka called, "I was joking; I wanted to see if you’d come in anyway." Michiru’s blush deepened. The girl put her hands up to her cheeks to cool them, before pushing the door open. Haruka was wearing her black bathers; the ones her mother gave her but she refused to wear in public unless she was wearing a floppy t-shirt over them. Michiru remembered the first time Haruka put them on; Michiru had to coax blushing Haruka out of the bathroom to show her the bathers; which accentuated her curves and showed Haruka’s normally well hidden cleavage. Haruka had darted back into the bathroom and tried to hide the several times over the last few weeks. Michiru had even rescued them from the bin a couple of times. It seemed strange that Haruka so freely wore them now. "We are both girls, you know." Haruka remarked, her back to Michiru so the other girl was unable to see her face.. Michiru raised an eyebrow questionningly, "Hmm?" "It’s just strange we should change in separate rooms." Haruka turned, and stopped, apparently staring directly at Michiru’s bathers. Michiru looked down to see if everything was covered and there wasn’t any stains. Haruka swallowed as Michiru sprayed herself with the shower hose to get rid of the excess dirt.. "You haven’t worn that since... since..." Haruka didn’t need to finished the sentence, Michiru already knew when she was refering too. Haruka had been slumped on the windowsill, aware of what they had both been about to do, and Michiru had just come up stairs from the pool. ‘I’ll always love your hands...’ Michiru remembered saying, and the intense few minutes that followed. They had been sitting so close; fingers intertwined, unaware of the racket the answering machine was making. Their face were so close Michiru could feel Haruka’s hot breath against her mouth as they panted slightly... Haruka had taken Michiru into her arms, hugging her tightly, her face buried in Michiru’s damp hair. Haruka didn’t need to say anything; her silence spoke volumes. Haruka was apprehensive about what was to come in the cathedral, and emotionally worn out from their long search for the talismans. She needed to be held; to be comforted. Michiru offered her that luxury, stroking Haruka’s sandy coloured hair and letting Haruka cry into her neck; although Haruka did her best to hide the fact she was doing so. "You should wear it more often, Michiru." Michiru smiled, slipping into the deep tub as it filled up. There hadn’t been so much space for it; so they had settle on buy a tub perhaps three feet across and the same depth; with a rim installed so there was somewhere to sit. "Well, you should wear those black bathers more often, then." Haruka blushed lightly, "I’m not wearing these bathers outside the walls of this house." She said firmly, "No matter how ‘sweet’ my mother thinks I look in them." "Pity." Michiru chuckled and fixed her hair so that the water didn’t touch it. Noticing the water’s height, Haruka reached over Michiru and turned on the jets, giving Michiru a startlingly good view down the neck of Haruka’s bathers. Haruka leaned back, and sat, letting her head flop back against the rim of the tub. As she sank down, their legs brushed together, and one of Haruka’s knees settled slightly between Michiru’s. Michiru blushed once again, "We should get a bigger tub." She commented. "Why?" Haruka looked up. "There’s only you and me in this house, and we fit in..." Haruka stopped herself. "That was insensitive of me. If you want to stretch out, I’ll get out and..." "No, don’t get out!" Michiru reached for Haruka’s hand as she made to get out and took it firmly... perhaps a little too eagerly. Haruka looked down at Michiru, and smiled at Michiru’s unplanned panic. Smoothly, she slid back down into the bubbling water across from Michiru. Taking Michiru’s hand, she intertwined Michiru’s fingers with her own, as Michiru watched. Unsure what to make of this sudden intimacy, she just stared at Haruka. Haruka chuckled. "If this was a normal bath, I’d ask you to soap up my back." "Your back?" Michiru began, startled. "Or my front." Haruka realised what she’d said, and her hand passed up to her face and covered her mouth for a moment, and she looked away, pulling her hand away from Michiru’s. "Gomen...I didn’t mean to say that..." Had she just heard correctly? Haruka had just... come on to her...? The racer may have been able to pretend that it wasn’t that, except that she had already appologised for her remark, making it clear that there had been intentions behind it. Perhaps it was safe to make a move of her own? "Why are we wearing bathers in a spa anyway? It feels much better without them." Michiru put two thumbs into the top of her strapless bathers beside her breasts, and pulled them deliberately down over her chest, her torso, and wriggled her legs out of them, discarding them on the edge of the tub. Reaching back, Michiru put her arms on the rim, so her nipples sat just above the level of the water. Haruka stared, her eyes wider that Michiru had ever seen before, and unblinking. Finally Haruka looked away, and tugged half-heartedly at one of the straps over her black bathers. Michiru laughed nervously. "If you just sit and stare at me naked, I’ll think you’re a hentai." As Haruka looked helplessly at Michiru her face slowly turned from peach to deep pink, Haruka’s hand darted up again, and she cleared her throat, before slowly and a little hesitantly pulling her bathers over her own breasts and sinking down in the water until her chin was just above the waterline. The black bathers and the hand supporting them appeared out of the water, and the hand placed Haruka’s bathers on top of Michiru’s. "Do you have something to hide?" Michiru asked innocently, as Haruka’s pink face sunk further into the water, her response bubbles; only her eyes were above the water. Haruka sat up a little, "I...it’s...it’s just that...well, no one’s actually ever seen my.. seen me like this before." "No one? Not even your parents?" Haruka shook her head, her wet hair flipping from side to side and smacking her in the face. "Not for years and years...I suppose this is where you tell me you’ve been with lots of men..." "Men?" Michiru shook her head purposefully. "I just assumed that..." "Never assume." Michiru scolded, then thinking, added, "Actually... I think only my goldfish have seen me naked over the last couple of years... My parents aren’t home all that often." "Lucky goldfish." Haruka remarked, then stopped herself again, her blush deepening. "Come up out of the water, you said before, ‘we’re both girls’; I know what you look like, you won’t shock me." Haruka considered that for a moment, the slow emerged out of the water, sinking back against the opposite wall and crossing her arms protectively across her chest. Michiru laughed, "You spend your life hiding them; relax a little for a while." Haruka took a deep breath, moving her arms away from her chest, but being far from relaxed. Michiru smiled, "Here, I’ll give you a massage, it’ll relax you a little. Don’t worry." She added, as Haruka tensed up again. "You can kneel on the seat thing." Michiru instructed, and Haruka, possibly a little too bewildered to consider disagreeing, obliged. Michiru lifted her hands to Haruka’s broad shoulders, the warmpth of the other’s skin surprising her a little, as she began to work at the muscles underneath Haruka’s skin with her fingers. Haruka’s solidity was astounding; Michiru could only begin to wonder how many hours had gone into toning up Haruka’s body to produce such results. Still, Haruka still slumped foreward a little, unconciously trying to hide as much of her as she could. Poor Haruka, Michiru sighed, she’s got such a wonderful body, yet she’s so ashamed of it... "Haruka, don’t hide your body, it would be such a waste." Haruka said nothing, almost as if she hadn’t heard. Rather than repeat her remark, Michiru took a breath, and then leaned foreward, slipping her arms around Haruka’s waist and hugging the tall girl against her. Michiru was acutely aware of their skin against skin, her breasts pressed against Haruka’s back. Haruka groaned a little, Michiru wasn’t sure if it was because of Michiru’s sudden wieght on her back, or something else. "Michiru..." "Haruka." Michiru leaned her cheek against the back of Haruka’s neck, closing her eyes. Haruka was so warm, and her skin was so yielding...she didn’t want to move. Could this really be happening? She wondered vaguely...what I’ve always dreamed about, springing to life. Haruka’s hand’s covered hers on Haruka’s stomach, and they sat that way for several minutes, breathing deeply and listening to the jets and the gurgling of the water. Eventually, Haruka shifted a little, "Michiru...my knees..." Michiru laughed, and let Haruka turn over so she was sitting. She was then faced with another dilemma; was it too much too soon to sit on Haruka’s lap? However, Haruka solved that problem before it was an issue but pulling Michiru’s waist slightly so she sat sideways on Haruka’s thighs. Haruka blushed slightly, and chuckled, "I always wondered whether...that hair was the same colour as the hair on your head." Michiru laughed, "What other colour would it be?" She hugged the blonde girl warmly, before, on a whim, kissing Haruka’s blushing cheek. "Haruka...I...like this." Haruka’s eyes were closed; Michiru couldn’t tell what the girl was thinking. "It’s so wrong.." Michiru felt her temperature rise and her heart slow, before Haruka added, "Then why does it feel so right?" Michiru pulled away a little, to face Haruka, who was hanging her head slightly. "How can it be wrong? Is the fact that I love you wrong? Is my love worth any less because...it’s for a girl? Does that devalue my love?" Michiru softened her voice, "Don’t tell me you haven’t noticed how much I care for you." At Michiru’s confessional outburst, Haruka looked up, their faces suddenly very close. Again, Michiru could feel Haruka’s warm breath on her moist lips. Haruka’s eyes locked on Michiru’s, and Haruka whispered, "I wanted to tell you for so long...but you’re so beautiful...I thought..." She searched for the right words, "I thought it might alienate you...That you might not want to move into our own house, or want to move out..." Haruka’s breath tickled Michiru’s lips as she spoke, and Michiru could only think of one way to sooth the tingling. Waiting only until Haruka finished speaking, she pressed her lips lightly against Haruka’s. For a moment, neither of them moved, both too surprised by Michiru’s sudden actions. Eventually, the couple relaxed enough to elaborate the kiss a little; their lips moving over each others rhythmically. It was more than Michiru had even let herself dream for; Haruka on the other end of her lips, just as willing for this to happen as she. She moved her hands up to Haruka’s jaw line, tracing it gently, and feeling the soft skin underneath Haruka’s chin. Her curious fingers wandered around to the back of Haruka’s neck, and for a moment played with the dowdy point of hair growing there. Then...did she dare? She traced over Haruka’s collarbones and down her front until her hands met the swelling of Haruka’s soft breasts. The rest of the sprinter’s toned body was so firm and hard; her breasts were such a contrast...She cupped them and kneaded them gently, exploring Haruka’s hidden femininity. Once it was established that that sort of intimacy was acceptable, Haruka’s own hands wandered down to brush Michiru’s full breasts. Haruka broke away, gasping, "Your breasts..." She murmured, and then leaned foreward into the kiss again, kissing down Michiru’s neck, and between her collarbones as Michiru stretched upwards. Pausing for a second to gather herself, Haruka lightly kissed one of Michiru’s nipples several times, and then placed her lips over it and swirled her tongue against Michiru’s soft skin. Just the realisation that Haruka...her Haruka was at her breasts was enough to bring a content sigh to Michiru’s lips; more a feeling of intense comfort and happiness than anything else. Haruka finally turned her attention to Michiru’s other breast, giving it the same affection. Michiru stroked Haruka’s soggy hair, watching her newfound lover’s progress, before sinking back down in Haruka lap to part the girl’s lips with her own. Pressed against each other; Michiru felt a tremendous sense of oneness, of comfort and safety in Haruka’s arms. Sighing, they pulled their lips from each others’ and hugged. Eventually, the bubbling water because chilly, and the couple had to pull themselves out of the tub, and dry off quickly , to avoid the coldness bathrooms always seem to have about them. Draping towls around them, they pattered across the bathroom floor and into their bedroom, then laughing, dropped their towls and hugged again, before Michiru annouced that she needed some chocolate. Haruka, heroic as always, rushed down the stairs to bring her some. Enjoying their newfound freedom and intimacy, Michiru climbed into Haruka’s bed, and sat, coocooned under the covered, waiting for her lover to return. Haruka spun around the doorway, and tossed the chocolate at Michiru, who caught it, and invited Haruka underneath her own blankets. Switching off the bedside light, the two chatted, snuggled and exchanged chocolate underneath the covers of the bed until the two drifted off, nestled in each other’s arms.