Gehenna's Gate

Emergence

The pair had spent hours together admiring different furniture and decorations, hopping to a few different stores to find some of the other things they needed before finally all was taken care of.

"Do you want me to take you home, or would you like to spend the night with me?" The question almost made the girl choke on the water she'd been drinking, but thankfully she recovered without embarrassing herself.

Judging by the tone of his voice, he probably didn't even mean it in a sexual way, but she couldn't help how her brain had practically been rerouted since their most intimate moment days ago.

Previously, she'd never even dream of staying overnight at another person's house that hadn't been Rae. It was a mixture of not trusting anyone else and not feeling safe, but also just generally being uncomfortable. Vena had a routine of sorts that she liked to stick to, and if she didn't, it could completely throw off her ability to get any form of solid sleep. Yet, nothing about the thought of staying overnight with Xiao felt negative or like it would be an inconvenience.

"I mean, if you don't mind... I'd like to stay with you. That sounds nice." Her voice was light, acutely aware of the pace of her heart thumping away against her ribcage as she gave her answer.

"Baby girl, you could move in permanently if you wanted to. Waking up to you every day sounds like a dream come true." Xiao didn't take his eyes off the road, but one of his hands did move to rest on her upper thigh, giving a firm little squeeze as a smile made its way onto his face at the thought.

"I-" Vena quit while she was ahead, knowing she wasn't going to be able to form any coherent thoughts right now even if she tried, instead choosing to simply press her lips together in a hard line and give a single nod of her head.

Instead, she vied to gently rest one of her own hands on top of his, noticing his grin widen out of the corner of her eye.

"Oh, but- I don't have a change of clothes." She sheepishly spoke up, eyes drifting down to her own choice of attire, now regretting it a bit.

While it was fairly cute, it wasn't practical or comfortable to sleep in by any means. She was dressed in a pair of pitch black skinny jeans and her favorite platform boots, her shirt being one of her favorite crop tops, yet it was currently covered by Xiao's hoodie since it was quite cold outside today and the clouds practically spelled out that there would be heavy rain soon.

While a crop top was possible to sleep in, the jeans definitely wouldn't be.

The man shot her a mischievous sideways glance, grin only deepening further, but the look on his girlfriend's face only caused him to laugh like a devious fox.

"I'm kidding, darling. You can wear some of my clothes to get comfortable."

The man's devious little tendencies may be something she never got used to. It always caused a nervous feeling to erupt in her chest and practically short circuited her mind almost every time.

It was an additive and delicious feeling, not that she was complaining. She just wished she could flirt back without stuttering like a moron or her mind going blank.

"I do like your clothes." The girl gave a coy response as her gaze drifted down to rest on his hoodie she was currently wearing, deciding to settle on something safe and not risk embarrassing herself today.

"What's mine is yours." Xiao had parked now, smoothly turning off the car and hopping out, always the gentleman as he came over to her side to open the door for her and help her out.

Not that he needed to, but it was something small he'd always done, and it made her heart flutter every time.

"Hungry? I can order food." Thoughtful as ever.