Erina capped the lipstick in her hand and pursed her lips. It was her final night in Japan, and Soma was taking her out one last time before she'd have to take her 10AM flight to New York in the morning. She glanced up at the mirror and twirled her hips a little, letting the skirt of her dress billow out slightly. It was a simple white skater dress— it's only unique feature the low back— and she had compensated for the dress's simplicity by putting her hair up in two elaborate braids that criss-crossed her head like a crown, and of course, by finishing the look with some dark red lipstick. The mirror reflected a result that she was quite pleased with.

She then saw the door to the bathroom open and Yukihira Soma walked out, fixing his hair into place. He was wearing this dark-blue checkered shirt tucked into a pair of black dress pants, except he'd rolled up the sleeves showing off his toned arms, and Erina couldn't help staring.

"Hello, gorgeous," Erina said, still looking at him through the mirror's reflection. A small smile played at her lips as she noticed Soma's eyes trailing down her exposed back.

"Right back at ya," he said.

"You ready?" She asked, turning around and taking in his full appearance. Oh wow.

"Always," his eyes sparkled. It was then that Erina noticed the little black velvet box in his hand and she felt the blood drain out of her face. No way- he wouldn't... not now!

She schooled her face back into neutrality and gestured, "What's that?"

Soma laughed. "You notice everything don't you?" He took a few steps closer to her. "Turn around," he said.

"What?" She wondered if he could hear the drum of her heart.

"Just do it, Nakiri."

Erina turned around. Soma opened the box and Erina caught sight of a silver glint inside. Oh god. And then Soma took out the item and Erina let out the breath she didn't even know she had been holding. A necklace. It's just a necklace. It was breathtakingly beautiful necklace though— the pendant was an ornately filigreed, silver moon cradling a pearlest gem that shimmered in muted rainbow colours when it caught the light, all dangling on a simple silver chain. Despite the intricacy of the pendant it was about as large as Erina's fingernail. Soma laid it gently on her skin and clasped it behind her neck. His hands lingered, skimming lower down her bare back. She shivered.

"What do you think? It's moonstone." He murmured into her ear. "I was going to give it to you at the end of tonight, but then I saw what you were wearing." He shrugged. "I thought it would look nice with the dress."

"It's beautiful," she said. "I love it." She let out a breath. "But, oh my god, you terrified me, I thought you were going to propose!"

Soma's eyes widened. "God, no!" Then he laughed. "I'd never do it so casually!"

"I'd hope not!"

"Would you have said yes?" His voice was teasing

She smiled up at him. "Well, you're just going to have to ask and find out."

Soma smiled back at her. "One day, Nakiri Erina. Just you wait."

"Yeah yeah."

Dinner was lovely. And over too soon. Erina could have sworn she had just walked into the establishment five minutes ago. Someone had just taken her coat, Soma had just pulled out her chair, they had just ordered. But before she knew it, she was already walking out of the restaurant, Soma's hand playing deliciously at her back. Time with him always seemed to fly. A night felt like five minutes, a month had felt like a day. She groaned.

"What?" Soma asked.

"It's not fair," she said.

"What isn't?" He asked but the way he was looking at her, Erina had a suspicion he already knew what she was going to say.

"How quickly time seems to just," she gestured at the air, "disappear when I'm with you."

"Aww." He tucked her in closer to her. "Hey, here's a wild, completely new idea. Have you ever considered—"

Erina laughed, cutting him off. She knew exactly how that sentence was going to end; she's heard it plenty of times before. "I'm still leaving, Soma. The flight's booked, the suitcases are packed."

Now Soma groaned. "But I love you," he pouted at her.

"And I love you," she replied. "Come visit when you can."

"You're ruthless."

Erina laughed.

As soon as they got home, Soma disappeared into the kitchen and called out "Don't come in!"

Erina rolled her eyes. "Does this have anything with you telling me not to order dessert?"

There was a pause. And then, "Maybe…"

Erina laughed. "Well I'm going to change and take off my makeup."

When Erina reemerged from their bedroom, wearing an oversized t-shirt, that she was pretty sure belonged to Soma, and nothing else except underwear, she was greeted with the delicious smell of something chocolatey baking in the oven and the sight of Soma pouring out a glass of wine. "Mmmm, smells good," she said, curling up on the couch and stretching out her hand for Soma to pass her the wine. But instead of handing her the glass, Soma took her hand into his own, his head tilted down, hair hiding his eyes. Erina couldn't quite make out his expression and so didn't know how to react to his sudden solemnity. He pressed a thumb against her open wrist, right over the criss-crossing of her veins. Then ran the thumb up to the soft inside of her elbow. The touch was light, sensual. She shuddered at the contact. "Soma," she whispered.

It seemed to Erina as if something cracked in him at the sound of his name. He pulled her in, suddenly, capturing her lips in a searing kiss— if it could even be called that, all clashing teeth and bruising force. She let out a startled moan against his mouth, but his lips were insistent against hers. She closed her eyes, lost in Soma's sudden passion. Erina felt his hands travel up her arms, into her hair. He pulled at the strands, hard enough to make her hiss. She felt her arms going around him, pulling him closer into her.

Her whole body felt suddenly on fire. His hands started roaming over her skin, a palm went under her top, scratching at her back, then moving to her front and pinching at her nipples. She cried out against his mouth at that, but Soma's hands had already moved on to her stomach, her waist, her thighs. Her head spun, entirely overwhelmed at this sudden onslaught of sensation. She was suddenly reminded of some of their very first kisses at Totsuki— when they'd been hungry, wild teenagers, unable to get their hands on each other fast enough. There was a certain desperation to Soma's movements— hands gripping tightly into the fabric of her clothes— as if he was scared she would slip away from her. She supposed his fear wasn't unwarranted.

It was then that the oven timer went off and Soma pulled away from her. She blinked up at him. She imagined she looked equally as wrecked as he did— clothes all crumpled up, eyes glazed with desire, lips swollen, hair wild. She could feel her breath coming out in pants. "Wow," she said. She didn't know what else to say.

He ran a hand through his hair and chuckled. "Sorry, I just—" He shook his head and ran his hand through his hair again. "Wait, I'll get that."

Erina stared after him as he got up to get whatever he'd left in the oven, slightly grateful for the pause as it gave her a chance to catch her breath. He came back holding a tray with two ramekins and a little white sauce boat with something red and fruity in it.

"Oooh chocolate souffle," Erina said as she noticed the dessert rising above the two white containers. "How romantic."

Soma laughed. "Mademoiselle," he said and handed her one of the ramekins along with a little spoon.

"Merci," she replied, winking at him. Soma had finished off the souffle with a dusting of powdered sugar and three raspberries on top. Her brain instinctively picked apart the dessert. She appreciated the rise of the souffle well above the rim of the dish, and as her spoon bit into the top, she delighted in its faultless consistency— the perfectly crusty exterior, the slightly wet center, the light sponge to the dessert. But it wasn't until she put the spoon in her mouth that she understood the true depth of the dish Soma had prepared for her.

The first thing she noticed was the airiness of the desert contrasting the deep chocolate flavour, and she couldn't help let out a moan of pleasure as the sweetness spread in her mouth. It was overwhelming her senses; it felt like she was gliding on clouds, the souffle seemed to be caressing her skin into airy lightness. She took another bite and closed her eyes, revelling in the sensations. Her brow furrowed as her tongue picked apart flavours she hadn't previously noticed. She picked up traces of citrus and a slight tinge of alcohol, and realised Soma had mixed in some orange liqueur. Probably Grand Marnier. She knew the alcohol had long since evaporated and she'd only had one bite, but she could have sworn she felt heady and a little drunk. Her tongue picked apart a strange bitterness as well, and she opened her eyes re-examining the dessert. As she looked closer, she realised that it wasn't just powdered sugar that Soma had dusted the top with, but dark cocoa powder as well. The contrast of sweet and bitter from the sugar and cocoa powder respectively, along with the slight sour of the orange liqueur and the bitter of the remaining alcohol was heavenly. She felt like she was floating, and it took her a second to realise that Soma was pouring the red liquid from the saucier into the middle of her souffle, which was, amazingly, half gone already.

Erina swallowed and had to mentally prepare herself for the second part of this dessert— wondering how Soma would transform this already complicated dessert with the addition of, what she guessed was, raspberry sauce. Erina took a bite of the soft center along with the fruit sauce and let out another bordering-on-obscene moan. The raspberry sauce was tart and fresh, but still had a deeper, almost wine-like taste to it. She wondered if Soma had mixed in a red into the sauce, she certainly wouldn't be surprised— the sauce had a deep, almost seductive depth to it. If the souffle alone had made her feel like floating, the addition of the raspberry sauce brought her painfully back to her physical body, hyper-aware of every part of it. She could have sworn her whole body tingled as she fully tasted the mix of chocolate and raspberry and wine on her tongue. It was almost erotic how good it tasted, and the mouth feel and aftertaste of the rich dessert left her only craving more. As she scraped the ramekin for the last bite, she realised that Soma was looking at her intensely. He had already finished his souffle, but she'd been savouring hers. It occurred to her that she hadn't said anything the whole time.

"Good?" he asked.

Erina kept her silence. Instead, she just took Soma's face in her hands and attacked him. She matched his fervour from earlier, wanting him more then than she had ever before. Their lips met in a passionate kiss and their empty ramekins and spoons clattered onto the floor as Erina positioned her legs around Soma's waist. She didn't care. She cared for very little in that moment except for the man in front of her.

"I'll take that as a yes," Soma said, a little breathless.

Erina fiddled with the buttons on Soma's shirt, only bothering to open a couple on top before saying, "Off," and motioning for him to take it off over his head. Soma kindly obliged. She knew all his weak spots by now and pressed her nails into his sides, leaving crescents in his skin— she knew he was sensitive there, and possibly ticklish too. She was gifted with a hiss, and wanting more of his sounds, Erina bit down on that spot on neck below his ear that he loved so much. Soma's answering groan only made her bolder. Erina had always had a slight kink for marking her lovers, and she didn't know what it was— perhaps Soma's earlier kiss, or maybe the Souffle, or maybe the fact that she was leaving tomorrow, not knowing when she'd see him again— but it was a kink she very much wanted to indulge in at that moment. Erina trailed her hand up Soma's back and dragged her nails down, sure she was leaving trails of red. She felt feisty, a little feral, and wholly desperate.

Soma matched her passion, kiss for kiss. Before Erina knew it, her top was off and she was being pressed into the sofa. As Soma repositioned them, his hand clattered against the table and the little saucier of raspberry sauce spilled, splashing onto Erina's stomach and chest. She let out a little shriek, but Soma silenced her with a kiss.

"Hush, I'll clean it up," his voice was low and throaty and the smirk he gave her was the kind of look she imagined Eros wore when he lured even the most rational, innocent humans into his lair. Soma's head bent against her skin and as his tongue slid along her skin, licking up the sweet red sauce, her head fell back against the arm of the sofa, eyes fluttering closed. Her entire body felt focussed into the points on skin against Soma's mouth. And as he finally, achingly, took off her last item of clothing, Erina sucked in a sharp breath. Soma's lips travelled lower and lower and soon enough Erina's toes curled, teeth biting down on her lower lip as her world exploded into starlight and waves of pleasure.

After they were both spent, Erina leaned back against Soma's chest, her head in the crook of his neck. His hands trailed lazily up her arms, down her back, into her hair. They sipped on wine and listened to mellow music on Erina's speakers and spoke of everything and nothing. The bottle dwindled over the course of the night, and Erina knew she wouldn't be sleeping tonight. There was no point in wasting her time with Soma for something as frivolous as sleep; there would be plenty of time on the flight. She leaned into him, breathing in the salt and lemon scent of his skin, memorising it. She ran her fingers along his skin and hair, storing the texture in a compartment of her brain to reexamine later. Later when he won't be there with me. Erina shut her eyes hard.

It was early morning now, and she kissed him soft and sweet just as the first rays of sunlight broke through her window. His eyes glinted golden, reflecting the sunrise, the dawn of a new day, and Erina sighed. It was going to be time soon. They had spent the night together but the day belonged to her. And she would seize it, for every opportunity that it was worth.

As the slight motion of the flight lulled Erina into sleep, she couldn't help but clutch the pendant around her throat— like she could cling onto their night together if only she held the moon tight enough. But sleep threatened to overtake her, and as her eyes fluttered closed, she could see the sun glinting among the clouds through the window, so beautifully reminiscent of Soma's golden eyes, and she could still smell Soma's scent lingering on her skin and the feel of his hands in her hair, and she fell into the memories as if into a dream.