"Nico was being sincere too! I just couldn't hold back." Nico pouts, cheeks puffing beneath Akiha's palm. Well, this reaction was only to be expected -- but she still wishes Akiha could've just accepted it this once. Spoilsport. "If you're going to be that cute, you'll have to be prepared for the consequences," she scolds back.

But the next moment Nico sighs, and her shoulders slouch as if the fight's been drained out of her. They could go back and forth like this forever; in the end, Akiha's the type of person who'd only take her words at face value if they're uttered in complete seriousness. Anything less, and she'll think it's a joke.

So she's going to make herself perfectly clear.

Nico shifts on top of her, until her thighs are straddling Akiha's waist. Then, she spends a moment just looking down at her, humor gone from her features, lashes hanging low over her eyes.

She leans down, and her hand presses flat against the center of her collarbone, before trailing a steady path across the strip of skin exposed by the opened three buttons. It comes to rest right between Akiha's breasts, over the material of her bra.

Her voice is lower when she speaks again -- Nico's real voice, when she isn't acting cute or playing around. Maybe even a little lower than that.

"But, really... when Akiha said that, I was so happy I thought my heart was going to burst." She locks her intent gaze onto Akiha's as she touches their foreheads together, the eye contact made from far too close to be comfortable. "Do you think I'm not serious?"