"Whew, finally! We can take these things off!" Aria sighed in relief, pulling her wig off before removing the hairnet, shaking her head before brushing her hair down with her hands.

I wasted no time in doing the same, desperate to scratch my head.

Today's the 25th of October, 2169, and we'd just arrived at a fancy restaurant, having booked a private booth for ourselves.

We'd contacted the place ahead of time to let them know that we'd be coming in disguises, and the staff assured us that we wouldn't have to worry about being bothered by anyone once we were seated.

We went with the color-swap disguises, me with a red wig and green contact lenses, and Aria with a black wig and purple contacts.

"My head's pretty sweaty, but they've got the A/C on blast, so it should dry up soon," I mused, as I pushed my hair back.

So itchy, I don't think I want this to be a regular option, it's way too uncomfortable.

"Yeah, hope so, mine's feeling kinda matted down," She nodded in agreement, before taking her contacts out.

I followed her lead, before blinking a couple of times. Those were a bit uncomfortable too, not as bad as the wigs, but they were definitely bothering me too.

Well, it's fine, it was a small price to pay...

"By the way, you look amazing. I can't take my eyes off you," I smiled, as she bashfully averted her gaze.

She was wearing a sleeveless black dress with a narrow purple sash wrapped around the waist, the dress went down to her knees.

She was wearing a pretty pair of gold earrings and a matching necklace, she'd applied some subtle makeup too, with red lipstick and black eyeshadow.

She had a silver bracelet on her left wrist, she'd painted her nails a light pink, and had red heels on too. She looks absolutely incredible.

"Oh, um...thanks, Kai, and I'm glad you like it. You look great too, I know you don't like formal clothes, but you look really cool," She replied, as she reached over and placed her hand on mine.

Maybe, but she definitely put a lot more effort into her outfit than I did. I was wearing a dark blue shirt under a black blazer, along with black trousers and shoes. I had on a silvery light gray tie, and...yeah, that's about it.

I wanted to neaten my hair, but both of us were currently sporting pretty messy hair, thanks to the wigs. I don't mind at all though, the juxtaposition between her elegant dress and makeup, and her messy hair, is kinda doing something for me, I'm finding this look really appealing for some reason.

"Thanks, Aria, I appreciate that. Hm...by the way, what do you think of romantic nicknames? You know, stuff like babe, darling, honey, sweetie and whatnot," I remarked curiously.

"Huh, I've never actually thought about that before. But...I don't know, thinking of calling you by those names, or being called those names by you, kinda makes me cringe a bit," She smiled sheepishly.

"Heh, yeah, same here. Who knows, maybe that'll change later on in our relationship, but for now, I kinda feel like I'd be forcing it if I tried calling you by one of those names. Guess we're on the same page, babe," I grinned playfully.

"Mhm, sure seems that way, honey," She giggled in response.

"I love you, sweetie."

"Love you too, darling."

"..."

"..."

"Huh..."

"You know..."

"This might not be so bad, after all," We both uttered in unison, staring at each other in bemusement for a moment before bursting out into laughter.

Man, I love spending time with her, she makes me so happy.

"So, then, are we gonna call each other by romantic nicknames, after all?" She inquired wryly.

"Hm...sure, let's try it out every now and then, see how it feels," I suggested, after mulling it over for a moment.

"Okay, sure. Are there any other ones we haven't used?"

"Uh, let me think...well, there's sweet pea, princess, sunshine, pookie, pumpkin, cupcake, snookums-...," I began.

"E-Ew, stop! Yeah, hard pass on those, hearing you say them made me cringe...well, I guess princess isn't too bad, but the others sound way too cheesy," She shook her head firmly.

Yeah, I felt kinda embarrassed just saying them, even with the context of it.

"Alright, I'll only add princess to the list, then," I nodded wryly.

"O-Okay...um, is there an equivalent term to use for you? Saying prince or my prince is kinda cringy too," She mused in response.

Agreed.

"Yup, let's not use those," I nodded without hesitation.

"Alright, then, that only leaves one option...I'll just have to call you princess too," She smirked teasingly.

"Huh...that could be pretty funny, actually," I replied with a chuckle.

"Wait, you'd be okay with that?"

"I mean, so long as it doesn't end up becoming unironic, I'm cool with it if it's just as a joke," I grinned, as she nodded thoughtfully.

"Alright, got it, princess," She responded, trying to keep a straight face before letting out a cute little giggle.

"Heh, and maybe I could call you bro or dude," I smirked.

"I...think I wouldn't mind that, actually," She replied, after taking a moment to mull it over.

"Gotta say, this wasn't a conversation I was expecting to have tonight," I laughed in amusement.

"Yeah, but I'm having fun. Although, I always have fun when I'm with you, Kai," She smiled warmly.

"Likewise, every time I'm at my happiest, it's always when I'm with you," I replied, as I tenderly clutched her hand.

"Come on, you're gonna make me blush..."

"Well, I mean, you blush pretty easily, and a lot," I teased her with a smirk.

"Hey," She pouted indignantly.

"Sorry, I couldn't resist-...," I began sheepishly, before adding as the sound of approaching footsteps echoed out from outside the door of the booth, "Oh, looks like our food's here. Nice, let's get ready to dig in."

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