"There you go," Joker murmurs. The ghost of a smile lingers on her face. "You remember the lesson. Ask."

Julie grins, her lips brushing gently against Akira's ear in a ghost of a kiss as she whispers more affection.

"Ma belle chérie, my beautiful darling."

She caresses Akira's back tenderly, and then slides her hand down to her waist.

"Mon cœur, my heart."

She captures the edge of her ear between her lips for a bare moment.

"Mon trésor, my treasure."

She presses her body close against Akira's, savoring every inch of contact.

"Je t'aime, I love you."

Akira tenses at the kiss to her ear, but then relaxes a little more. The translations wash over her like waves, and carry warmth and embarrassed happiness all through her body. 

She feels... treasured. 

"... I love you too." Her voice shakes a little, but then she takes a breath and looks Julie seriously in the eyes. 

"I love you."

The answering smile lights up Julie's face. "You have no idea how honored I feel to hear that, mon cœur," she purrs. "None at all, but I will certainly attempt to show you."

She cups Akira's cheeks in her hands and kisses her tenderly, then whispers a question. "May I caress your back more directly, chérie? Under your blouse?"

Akira flushes at the question, but after a moment's consideration she nods.

She nuzzles her cheek against Akira's and buries her right hand in her hair, her left sliding gently down her back, along her waist, and then under her blouse to caress the small of her back. She brushes a light kiss against Akira's ear again, whispering more adoration. 

"Ma bien-aimée, my beloved."

Her hand rises a little higher, stroking along Akira's spine.

"Je t'adore, I adore you."

She nips very gently at Akira's earlobe and caresses higher up her back, her hand soft and warm and strong against Akira's skin.

A soft smile comes to Akira's face. 

She feels... a little freer. Julie cares about her. Julie sees her. 

She glances across at Joker.

"Don't mind me," Joker says. "I'm you, remember? I'd share your memory of this whether I was here or not. This way is more honest."

Akira nods seriously.

... She knows where this is going, and... 

One of her hands goes to her blouse buttons, and pauses there. 

... Julie will take it slow. Julie will give her time. It's okay. 

She starts undoing buttons.

Julie grins, wide enough that Akira can feel it stretching her lips against her ear.

"Oh, mon trésor."

She kisses her way along the edge of Akira's ear, up, around to her temple, and then back around and down to her earlobe.

"Je t'aime," she murmurs between every kiss. "Je t'aime, je t'aime, je t'aime, chérie."

Her hand keeps caressing along Akira's back, tenderly stroking and savoring the gentle contact.

Akira takes her time undoing her blouse. It's tricky to get the buttons one-handed, and there's a few of them. It gives her time to think. 

Eventually, though, her blouse hangs loose on her body, wholly unbuttoned. 

She shrugs it off, and shivers as the cool air hits her shoulders. She's still wearing her bra, bandeau-style with no shoulder straps. 

She hands her discarded blouse to Joker.

Joker takes it, and lets it haphazardly flop over the edge of the pillow pit on her side. 

"Good girl," she says. "You're doing so well."

That gets another flush out of Akira, and she hunches a little, her free arm coming up to shield her breasts from Joker's gaze. 

"I..." She ducks her head.

She nips Akira's ear to drag her focus away from their other headmate. "You have nothing to be embarrassed about, mon cœur. The only people here want you to feel good and cherished and loved."

She kisses along Akira's jaw, then up to press a tender kiss to her lips. "My beautiful chérie, every inch of you is worth more to me than all the jewels of Paris."

Akira gasps at the ear-nip, her attention dragged back to Julie quite effectively.

She flushes, but nods. She leans into Julie again, her now-bare shoulders and side pressing in against her clothes.

Julie's hands rove almost hungrily across Akira's back, caressing the soft skin, relishing everywhere she can touch, across her shoulder blades, down her sides, across her waist, back up her spine.

She kisses a slow trail over Akira's jaw, down her neck, pausing to nip softly, gently, when she gets to the crook.

"Ma belle chérie," she murmurs.

Akira's eyes close and she gasps lightly as those lips go down, down, down her neck. She can feel trails of electric sensation beneath her skin: they flash down her body to curl between her legs.

This is something... entirely new to her. And it's good. It's really good.

And then Julie kisses her way slowly back up, mixing tiny nips and teasing bites in here and there, her lips soft and adoring, every kiss interspersed with more whispers of "chérie" and "trésor" and "bien-aimée" and "ma belle".

Akira exhales, and turns her head to meet Julie's lips with her own, the first time she's initiated a kiss. 

A hint of surprise flashes in Julie's eyes, before it's swallowed by delight as she returns the kiss tenderly. One hand cups Akira's cheek, while the other caresses her back.

Akira kisses gently, her heart racing, her breath coming shallow. It feels like she's doing something forbidden. 

She comes away smiling, though. 

"... Julie..." 

She leans her head against Julie's shoulder for a long moment, and just stays.

Julie is perfectly content to let her rest there. She strokes Akira's hair tenderly, whispering lovingly, "My Akira, ma vérité, my truth, je t'aime tellement."

Akira lays there for a long moment, turning thoughts over in her head. 

She could still turn back, from here. She could stop. It'd be easier, in some ways. She wouldn't have to deal with... that.

She wants to try, though.

She very lightly kisses Julie's shoulder through her blouse.

She grins down tenderly, and brings a hand to the buttons of her blazer. "My beautiful, brave girl. Is this a sign you think I'm un petit peu overdressed, chérie?"

Akira thinks about it. 

After a moment, she nods. It's easier when she doesn't have to put it in words.