Chapter 43: Episode 43: Street Food with Adonis

“Absolutely not,” Nikki declared, staring at her reflection in the full-length mirror.

She looked like a grape. A very warm, very well-insulated grape. Adonis had layered her in thermal leggings, a thick pair of sweatpants, two sweaters, and a puffer coat that was so puffy she couldn’t actually lower her arms to her sides.

It was not like they were in winter for her to need them.

They were in summer!

“This is efficient,” Adonis argued, standing behind her with a scarf in his hands, ready to add another layer. “The ambient temperature outside has dropped to 14 degrees. Your biological status—specifically requires warmth to minimize cramping.”

“Adonis,” Nikki sighed, waddling around to face him. “I look like a bear. A grizzly bear that ate another bear. I can’t walk in this! I’ll roll down the street!”

Adonis tilted his head, his blue eyes scanning the layers. The [Heart Protocol] bar above his head flickered a stubborn GRAY.

[STATUS: PROTECTIVE / STUBBORN]

“Mobility is secondary to thermal retention,” he stated.

“Vetoed,” Nikki said, struggling to unzip the massive coat. “If we are going on a date, and this is a date, Mister God of War, I want to look like a woman, not a marshmallow.”

She stripped off the layers until she was back to her underwear. She went to the closet and pulled out a dress she had been eyeing.

It was a long, ribbed knit gown in a deep charcoal grey. It had long sleeves and a high neck for warmth, but the material clung to her body like a second skin, accentuating every curve, dipping in at her waist and flaring slightly at her ankles.

She pulled it on. It was warm, soft, and undeniably sexy.

“There,” Nikki said, smoothing the fabric over her hips. She grabbed a stylish, oversized denim jacket lined with faux fur. “I’ll wear this. It covers the… vital areas… in case of a leak. And it’s warm.”

She turned to Adonis, striking a pose. “Well? Do I pass inspection?”

Adonis’s eyes traveled up her body. The GRAY bar shattered instantly, replaced by a glowing, appreciative GOLD.

[STATUS: APPRECIATION / POSSESSIVENESS]

“Aesthetic value: High,” he murmured, stepping closer to adjust the collar of her jacket. “Thermal insulation: Acceptable. You may proceed.”

He offered her his arm. “Shall we?”

Nikki expected “fresh air” to mean a walk around the sterilized, glass-and-steel gardens of his mansion roof. She did not expect Adonis to lead her to the private elevator, bypass the last floor, take her out into the garage, took a car that led them directly into the heart of Sector 1’s nightlife.

When the doors opened, Nikki’s jaw dropped.

“No way,” she whispered.

It wasn’t the cold, military streets she was used to seeing on the news. It was a rain of neon lights, steam, and noise.

They were at the edge of the “International District”, a sprawling night market that snaked between the skyscrapers. It was a relic of the old world that Adonis had preserved. Lanterns strung between holographic billboards cast a warm, chaotic glow over hundreds of stalls.

The smell hit Nikki and she almost melted into an actual puddle.

“You kept this?” Nikki asked, looking up at him. “I thought… I thought you hated inefficiency. This looks chaotic.”

“Morale is a resource,” Adonis explained, his hand resting securely on the small of her back. “Humans require social lubrication and caloric variety. If I deprived Sector 1 of this, productivity would drop by 18%. Therefore, the Night Market is… necessary.”

“You big softie,” Nikki grinned, squeezing his waist. “You just like seeing them happy.”

“I like seeing the GDP stable,” Adonis corrected, though the corner of his lip twitched.

They walked into the crowd.

Nikki felt a spike of anxiety. “Do you need a mask? Won’t they recognize you? You’re the General.”

Adonis didn’t flinch as a group of teenagers walked past them, laughing. “To their perception filters, I am merely a high-ranking officer. And my sensors create a 3-meter radial map. If any entity approaches with a heart rate indicating hostility or recognition, I will know before they take a breath.”

He looked down at her. “You are safe. Focus on enjoying yourself.”

Nikki didn’t need to be told twice, even before he could finish talking, she dragged the ruler of the free world from stall to stall.

“Oh! Tteokbokki!” Nikki squealed, pointing at a stall where spicy rice cakes were bubbling in red sauce.

Adonis tapped his wrist against the payment scanner without a word. Nikki devoured the spicy, chewy cakes, ignoring the burn on her tongue.

“Crepes!” she gasped three minutes later.

Adonis bought her a crepe filled with Nutella and strawberries. He held her half-eaten rice cakes while she attacked the dessert.

“Shawarma!”

“Corn dogs with the potatoes stuck to the outside!”

“Bubble tea!”

Nikki was a whirlwind of gluttony. She tried Japanese takoyaki, burning her mouth on the hot octopus balls. She tried Turkish delight. She tried something that looked like a deep-fried cloud.

Adonis followed her like a dutiful shadow. He didn’t eat, he had no use for it, but he held her bags, he held her half-finished cups, and he wiped a smudge of chocolate off her cheek with his thumb.

At one point, Nikki stopped in front of a stall selling flower-shaped cotton candy.

“It’s too much sugar,” Nikki whispered, clutching her stomach. “But it’s so pretty.”

“Inefficient to desire what you cannot consume,” Adonis noted, looking at the giant pink cloud.

Then he tapped the scanner. “One. The largest size.”

He handed it to her.

“You’re spoiling me,” Nikki laughed, burying her face in the sugar.

“I am optimizing your happiness levels,” Adonis replied.

The crowd flowed around them. Some people glanced at Adonis, he was, after all, seven feet of perfection in a military coat, but his subtle posture, the way he shielded the girl in the knit dress, signaled ’Do Not Approach’. It was a bubble of privacy in the middle of chaos.

After an hour, Nikki hit a wall.

The sugar crash combined with the heavy food and her uterus deciding to remind her of its existence made her stumble slightly.

“Okay,” she wheezed, clutching her denim jacket. “Time out.”

Adonis scanned her instantly.

“Nausea detected,” he noted dryly. “And abdominal cramping has returned. Come.”

He steered her away from the noise, finding a quiet bench near a holographic fountain that projected water made of light.

Nikki sat down heavily, leaning back and groaning. “I regret nothing. But I might explode.”

Adonis sat next to her. He placed his arm along the back of the bench, creating a shelter for her. He reached over with his other hand, placing his warm palm on her stomach over the knit dress.

The heat seeped through the fabric, soothing the cramps that the spicy rice cakes had probably agitated.

“Better?” he asked.

“Mmm,” Nikki hummed, resting her head on his shoulder. “Much better. Thank you for carrying all the food I didn’t finish.”

She looked at the bag next to him, filled with leftovers.

“I will deposit it at the orphanage sector tomorrow,” Adonis said. “Nothing will be wasted.”

Nikki looked up at him. The neon lights of the market reflected in his blue eyes, making them look like galaxies. He was perfect. He was a machine who ran the world, destroyed councils, and yet sat on a bench rubbing her stomach because she ate too many multi-cultural delicacies.

The air was cool, but she was warm. The cramps were fading, replaced by a heavy, languid feeling that had nothing to do with digestion.

She looked at his lips.

A thought, unbidden and reckless, popped into her head.

We’re outside. In public. In the dark.

She remembered the way he had looked at her in the bedroom with the stars projected on the ceiling. She wondered what he would look like here, under the real stars and the fake neon, pushed up against the side of a building in an alleyway.

“Adonis,” she whispered, a seductive grin curling at the corner her lips. “What do you think about… outside?”

Adonis turned to look at her. The [Heart Protocol] bar flickered GOLD.

“Outside?” he repeated. “Clarify.”

“You know,” Nikki bit her lip, tracing a pattern on his knee. “Variables. Risk. Chaos. Public indecency.”

Adonis’s eyes flickered as he immediately understood what she meant, he smiled as his hand on her stomach stilled, pressing harder.

“You are insatiable,” he chuckled. “And reckless. Do you wish to be taken against a wall, Master?”

Nikki opened her mouth to say Yes, absolutely yes, but before the word could leave her lips—

A massive, intrusive system window slammed into her vision, blocking out Adonis’s sexy, dangerous face.

[NEW QUEST AVAILABLE: “THE GHOST IN THE MACHINE”]

[LOCATION: HARP & LINE CORP. HEADQUARTERS (TOWER ZERO)]

[OBJECTIVE: TOUR THE FACILITY & ARCHIVES.]

[REASON: YOU KNOW HIS BODY. NOW YOU MUST UNDERSTAND HIS MIND.]

“Nikki?” Adonis asked, his brow furrowing as he sensed her shift in focus. “Did the pain return?”

Nikki jolted awake as she shook her head, the screen disappeared and this handsome man was in front of her again.

“No,” she said softly. “I was just thinking…”

She turned to him, her eyes wide and earnest.

“Can we go to your company tomorrow?”

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