"H-Hey, Kai, come on in. You, um...you look good," Aria greeted me with a nervous smile, as she opened the door and let me in.

"Thanks, you're looking pretty good yourself," I responded as I walked in, before she shut the door behind me.

It was the next day, the 16th of October, 2169, around 8 PM. Aria had texted me this morning with what time to drop by her place...and considering that she's right next door, there was no way I could let myself be late.

I also figured that I should get dressed up for the occasion, it felt wrong to show up in casual clothes. While I'm not a big fan of formal outfits, I did buy a few a while back, just in case I'd ever need such outfits, and I'm glad I did.

I was wearing a black shirt tucked into black trousers, under a black blazer. I'd also neatened and tidied up my hair a bit, nothing too drastic. Simple, yet elegant, I-...

<As always, this is way too much black>

<You could've at least opted for one article of clothing in a different color, you know>

Nah, I think this looks pretty good as is. And besides, I don't own any formal clothes in other colors.

<You could've gone out to buy one, or at least ordered one online>

<I suppose it looks decent enough, but still>

<If nothing else, she appears to have put a lot more effort into her outfit>

Well, yeah, I won't deny that.

She was wearing a long-sleeved dark blue dress that went down to her knees, with a black sash tied around her waist, knotted in a ribbon over her left hip. The sleeves extended over the back of her hands and looped around her middle fingers.

She'd tied her hair up in a shortish ponytail, and applied subtle makeup, with a slight, glittery dark pink eyeshadow and light pink lipstick, her fingernails painted a matching color.

She was wearing black tights under her dress, and red heels on her feet, along with a silver necklace and earrings that were embedded with small green stones that matched her eyes.

She looks so-...

"Hm? Um, is something wrong? You're staring," She remarked, snapping me out of it.

"Huh? Oh, uh...yeah, I'm good. Sorry, didn't mean to stare...you just look really beautiful, I was kinda in awe," I smiled, her face turning red as she averted her gaze.

"Th-Thanks, I...I appreciate you saying that. Um, you don't think it's too much? Like, I didn't go overboard, did I?" She mumbled, fidgeting as her gaze darted about.

I stepped towards her and placed my hand on her head, smiling as she bashfully met my gaze, before responding...

"No, not at all. You look amazing, Aria. I mean, you're always cute, but you look absolutely stunning right now.

I can tell that you've put a lot of thought and effort into this, and I really appreciate that. Your efforts definitely paid off, because I can't take my eyes off you."

"I-I, um...g-good, that's exactly what I was going for!" She blurted out, her face bright red as she tried to play it cool, before adding, "Anyway, um...a-are you hungry?"

"Hm? Yeah, I suppose I am," I nodded, her eyes brightening.

"Okay, great! Here, take a seat and close you eyes. Don't open them until I say so, okay?" She instructed, as she led me to a table she'd set up in the middle of her hall.

It had a white tablecloth placed on it and two chairs on either side of it. She'd set up plates and cutlery in front of each of the chairs, along with glasses, and there was a glass jug of water on the side of the table. She'd even placed neatly-folded napkins under the cutlery.

"Wow, this is amazing, it looks like a table you'd be seated at in a fancy restaurant. You sure went all out, didn't you?" I smiled, as I took a seat.

"Y-Yeah...I thought about setting up some flowers in the middle of the table, but then we wouldn't be able to see each other properly, and there wouldn't be room for the food either," She sighed, before adding, "Alright, now close your eyes. No peeking, promise?"

"Sure, I promise," I replied, as I shut my eyes and made myself comfortable.

The sound of her footsteps receding echoing out, before returning a few seconds later, a pleasant scent flowing into my nostrils.

A quiet thud rang out as she placed something on the table, before her footsteps receded again.

This scent, is it...fried chicken?

Damn, it smells good, my mouth's watering. There's a sweet and spicy scent too, maybe some kind of sauce?

Oh, I hear her coming back again.

"W-Woah! Whew, th-that was close, almost dropped it," She muttered, before soft thuds and clinks rang out.

Sounds like she's setting down several dishes, all the scents are mixing together so it's hard to say what they are...that said, this all smells really good.

Hm? Sounds like she's leaving again...just how much food did she get?

"Okay, that's the last of it," She sighed, a thud echoing out by where the water jug was, before she added as the sound of liquid pouring rang out in front of me, "Alright, you can open your eyes now, Kai."

I opened my eyes with a sense of anticipation, gulping slightly as I took in the sight of the feast in front of me.

In the middle of the table, was a tray piled high with golden chicken strips and a large bowl stacked with a mountain of french fries, with three small bowls of sauces filled to the brim around them, a spicy-looking light red sauce, a white sauce and the third seemed to be a mix of the first two.

There was a large burger on my plate, almost as wide as the plate itself, with several layers inside. There were also several meat skewers on either side of the burger, chicken to the left and beef-...no, I think its lamb..-to the right.

And next to the water jug, a pitcher of juice had been placed, it was a yellowish light green, with ice cubes floating at the top and crushed fruit at the bottom, she'd placed second glasses by each of our plates and poured the juice into them.

"Wow, this looks amazing," I remarked, my mouth salivating intensely.

"There's more if this isn't enough, so don't hold back, okay? Go on, dig in," She smiled, watching me eagerly as I glanced between the options with a gulp, not sure where to start...

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