"That was incredible...damn, wish I'd thought to put them in Treasury so I could make copies whenever I wanted," I sighed contentedly, patting my stomach.

"I can make it again sometime if you want," She offered with a smile.

"Oh, I'll definitely be taking you up on that," I grinned in response, before standing up and picking up my plate as she began to clear the dishes.

"Hey, no, sit back down. I'm the host here, so there's no way I can let you clean up," She frowned sternly.

"Come on, it's the least I can do after you went through all this trouble for-...," I began.

"I said no. This was my idea, and my goal is to make sure you have a great time tonight. This is non-negotiable, Kai," She stated firmly.

"Alright, if you insist," I relented, feeling a bit bad as I sat back down.

I'll have to think of a way to repay her for tonight, I won't take this for granted.

She stacked up the empty dishes before carrying them back to the kitchen, before returning a few seconds later with a small dish in her hands, along with a couple of bowls and spoons.

"Hope you're not too full for dessert," She remarked with a smile, as she set the dish down and handed me one of the bowls.

I mean, I am kinda stuffed, but hey, there's always room for dessert.

I grabbed the serving spoon and scooped out a piece of the dessert, before dropping it into my bowl. Hm, it looks like a mousse, but there are some small chunks in it.

"Mm...have you mixed crumbled pieces of brownie into mousse?" I guessed, as I took a bite.

"Yup, but that's not all," She responded, before I curiously took another bite.

"Oh, there's crumbled cookies too. This is good, it's so rich but not overwhelmingly sweet, and it's pretty light too," I mused, dipping my spoon back in.

The mousse is soft, creamy and fluffy, and the contrasting crunch of the cookie and brownie crumbles complements it nicely.

"Actually, I was originally trying to make something else, I wanted to recreate one of the desserts from Decadence.

But I messed up, I tried to make, like, a sheet layer of brownie and cookie, but I think I made the layers too thin, cuz they broke apart.

But they were still good, so I figured I'd smash them up and mix them into the mousse instead of wasting," She admitted sheepishly.

"Mind if I go for a second serving?"

"Huh? Yeah, of course, I don't mind at all! I made it for you, so have as much as you want!" She grinned excitedly, a gleam in her eyes.

"Alright, then I won't hold back," I declared with a smirk, before refilling my bowl and digging in.

She helped herself too, and it didn't take long before the entire dish was cleaned out, barely a spec of the dessert left in it.

I stifled a burp as slumped back in my seat, stuffed to the absolute brim. I don't think I've ever been this full before, my gluttony really came to the forefront tonight.

"Want some more, Kai?" Aria asked me.

"Appreciate the offer, but I'm stuffed. I can't eat another bite," I shook my head with a wry smile.

"Yeah, same here, might have made a bit too much food," She responded with a laugh, as she cleared the table and took the dessert dish and bowls back to the kitchen.

"So, what have you got planned next?" I inquired, as she returned.

"Well, um...it's nothing too special, I just thought we could hang out and, um...chat," She replied, fidgeting awkwardly.

She'd been pretty nervous after I first came over, but she seemed to ease those nerves during our meal. And now, it looks like those nerves have come back in full force.

"Sure, sounds good to me," I smiled, before she walked over and took hold of my hand.

"I, um...follow me," She mumbled, before leading me to her room as I stood up and let her pull me along.

I looked around as she opened the door and led me in, shutting the door behind us. The room was lit up in a dim glow, she must have set up a starry night projector or something like that.

It was a pleasant, comforting glow, there was a nice, relaxing vibe in the room. There were a large number of pillows placed around the headrest of her bed, with a thick, cozy blanket neatly folded across the mattress.

She quietly led me towards the bed, hopping on and taking a seat on the left side, before patting the spot next to her.

I obliged and took a seat beside her, before she pulled the blanket over us and shuffled closer, her arm bumping against mine as she rested her head on my shoulder.

"So, um...do you mind if we play a game?"

"Yeah, sure. What kind of game?" I responded softly, in an effort to ease her nerves.

"Well, I was thinking, something like two truths, one lie? Like, we both take turns saying three statements, one of which is a lie, and we have to each guess which one's the lie.

I, um...I thought it'd be a good way to, like, get to know each other better and stuff," She muttered, fidgeting about nervously.

My passive lie detection went off at that last part, which means she's got a different reason for wanting to play this game.

Hm, and speaking of my lie detection...

Hey, Ai, could you suppress it, for now?

<Very well>

<It's done>

Cool, thanks.

"Sure, count me in. Although, I don't know that there's much about me that you don't already know at this point," I mused thoughtfully.

"Y-Yeah, same here...but that's what makes it fun, we both have to think about stuff that we don't know about each other," She pointed out, before adding, "Okay, um...I'll start."

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.