“Congratulations, you have now collected all ingredients required for your meal.” The full bucket said at long last as Belle and Sam cuddled over the perished body of a gigantic running plant with its heart carved out and its juices still ejaculating out in periodic bursts, “You may now proceed to the resting room to change and recover for as long as you’d like before your meal.”

A door opened far out in the distance, and Belle lazily opened up the teleporting orbs before the two fell straight through and landed on the ground of the changing room. They have already lost count of how many space habitats that they have been through, how many alien environments they have traversed, and how many monsters they have slain all in the name of getting a single meal.

“I feel like…I want to be vegan after this…” Sam rolled over and covered his face as Belle shuddered next to him.

“You…you did well…you did well to hold on…” Belle planted her face onto his chest, “I can’t believe you made us complete all of the optional challenges too…”

“I am sorry, Belle.” Sam said, looking over as Belle looked up at him with her emerald eyes teary, “I just cannot say no to free paid food. We are getting an extra slice of cake, an extra side dish, a couple sets of raw salads, two extra pudding desserts…and some other shit…”

“That’s how they get you, you know?” Belle chuckled before gingerly sitting up, “Free paid shit. Or paid free shit.”

“Um…can I ask you for something?” Sam said, rolling up and yawning as Belle smiled and said.

“Nap time?”

“Seriously though…” Sam said as their regular clothes were placed on a table that was just a little too far away, “I would kill for a nap right now. I want to take them up on that offer.”

Belle nodded, and she wrapped her arms around Sam’s body before the two of them rolled to the side and stopped in a rectangular square that’s been marked by a green glowing light, and as they stopped there, the entire floor tile was lifted off the ground, and their bodies were trucked along like pieces on an assembly line until reaching what’s designated as the cleaning room.

Belle and Sam were swiftly separated before they were each cleaned separately with jets of warm water being sprayed onto their bodies from all directions. The pressure from those jets was also manipulated in such a way to have a massaging effect, and Sam couldn’t help but let out a few groans and moans as he went past. On the other side of the seemingly flimsy separation screens, however, was Belle, and the jet water contacting her body sounded like the washing of metal drums with loud clanks and strange drum-like echos.

Perhaps she didn’t bother taking off her armor? Sam wondered before he put on a softer set of clothes that were fabricated according to his dimensions and rolled back onto the floor tile that patiently waited on the side when he was cleaned, and it delivered them straight into a dimly lit bedroom with a window of the asteroid field and the distant gas giant as the view.

Taking a seat on one of the beds that’s so soft it felt like he was sinking down infinitely, Sam then looked up at the stars before the doors slid open, and Belle walked in with her hair puffed up from the shower. She wore a light grey gown that fit around her body way too well, and her bangs were brushed to the side and held in place by an adorable bright red hairpin.

“Hey.” She said, tying her black and blonde hair to the side before joining Sam and sitting down as he yawned and leaned back.

“It’s crazy, isn’t it.” Sam reflected, feeling his body lowering into the cushion as the mattress hugged around his body, “All of this…it doesn’t make sense…How I am here…how everything’s been happening…how I am with you…”

“I know I've said this, but...you are doing well.” Belle said, also lying down when the bed underneath them extended out, turning its width-ways into the length-ways, “Most people would have freaked out by all of this, yet…you seemed to just be taking it in stride.”

“I…guess some preferred comfort and safety…” Sam rolled towards Belle and noticed the lines of light slowly pulsing over her skin too, “But…I suppose I have been waiting for something special to happen to me all my life…That’s you. Life was boring before this…but it won’t ever be the same now.”

Belle smiled and didn’t say anything after hearing that, instead, she reached a finger over and poked into Sam’s cheek.

“What?” Sam asked.

“You say that now…” Belle continued the poking, “But that’s just because I am the first one you’ve met from…the outside.”

“And what’s wrong with that?” Sam closed his eyes, “The first one’s always the special one.”

“That’s right…” Belle smiled and rest her hand on Sam’s, and as his breathing became steady, so did hers.

The flow of time made little sense in space, and when Sam next opened his eyes, the asteroid fields and the gas giant over the window still looked the same as it was. Perhaps an hour has passed, or perhaps a day has passed. Belle’s still sleeping on the side next to him as he raised both hands over to stretch as his back cracks again.

As he sat up and took his first step, he finally realized how warranted that nap was, and he felt as if he had just done the hardest workout of his life. As he approached the set of regular clothes that were placed on the table, a monitor appeared which showed how long they’d been in the resting room.

It’s not long enough for him to be fully recovered, but long enough for him to get voraciously hungry. But before they go, he’d better get changed quickly and quietly and wait for Belle wakes up.

“GROOOWL!”

Belle’s eyes opened, and she watched as Sam froze halfway in the motion of putting on his clothes, and she closed her eyes before letting out a sigh and a chuckle.

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“No no no! You can sleep for longer if you’d like.” Sam said quickly as Belle rolled straight off the bed and onto the ground with a loud bang before she rolled onto her knees and straightened herself up.

“I am rested,” Belle said, walking past Sam to her own pile of clothes as she tossed the grey down to the side. Then, the pieces of armor on her body rolled around in waves before they flipped over to the other side, replacing the regular skin color with individual glowing metallic pieces with different colors, “Let's get some food.”

“Your armor…where did you get it from?” Sam asked as Belle tossed her clothes over the body and looked over her shoulder.

“If I’d tell you that it’s from the center of the universe, would you believe it?”

“That will be about as crazy as everything else I've heard today...It’s just…fixed to your body?”

“It is my body.” Belle said, turning around and gesturing for Sam to come as the doors to the restaurant opened, “Are you freaked out by it? The only thing fleshy about it is that it’s soft to the touch…sometimes.”

“Why would I?” Sam leaned in and took her hand, “It’s the coolest shit I have ever seen.”

Belle smiled and she dragged Sam forward as they skipped their way into the diningroom. Though as their hands were in touch with one another, Sam had paid special attention to how it felt, and he couldn’t tell any difference at all.

Looking up ahead, two floating chairs cushions were positioned in front of a table and a red curtain beyond. Those cushions rotated outward upon sensing Sam and Belle’s approach and welcomed their butt. There was not even a chance for chivalry before Belle took her seat, and as the floating cushions rotated them to face the curtains, it unveiled, revealing the floating bucket and a robot chef with eight arms standing right across from them.

“This is it…the hibachi…” Belle whispered to Sam as the eyes of the robot chef lit up, and a hologram was projected onto his skeleton as a human male dressed in a typical outfit greeted them, "The main event."

“Are you ready to have your minds blown?” The chef asked.

“Yes.” Belle said excitedly as she looked over at Sam, “My brain and tastes still work the same way, don’t worry!”

The robot chef spun around 180 degrees, instantly breaking the anatomical believability of the holographic human before he grabbed onto sets of raw meat from one of the two’s countless hunts, slicing it into thin strips before squeezing some citrusy juices right over.

Then, with one hand as a small drill, it chipped off some mineral granules and sprinkled it over the top. A blow torch was ready next as a quick burst of flames briefly toasted the meat as light layers of char turned the skin crispy.

“First dish is ready.” The chef said, pushing the plate between Sam and Belle as the two of them shifted their body with excitement, and Sam reached forward with a chopstick as Belle did the same.

“Go for it.” They said at the same time before they stared at one another, and each hovered the tips of their chopsticks right over the dish.

“You go first.” Sam said, pulling his chopsticks back, “You did all of the hard work today.”

“No, you are the one that’s more tired and hungry.” Belle said, reaching ahead and parrying her chopstick against his, “Your stomach woke me up, remember?”

“It’s not even that loud!”

“Well, it’s loud enough for me to know you are hungry!” Belle said before Sam finally relented, and he picked up the first piece of the fish before dipping it in the pool of juices. Then, he lifted it up to the levels of their mouth and sent it by Belle’s mouth.

“Ah…” Sam said.

“Wh-” Belle asked when Sam took advantage of that opening and delivered the piece of fish into her mouth. Then, he moved back just as quickly as she closed her mouth. Before she could protest, the flavors exploded from within her mouth. The fish was roasted to perfection with the meaty flesh coming apart in her mouth upon the first instant of chewing. The perfectly seasoned sauce mixed with the deep salty flavor from the salt minerals, the crispy and lightly bitter skin, and the tender meat melted all over her tongue before it was all swallowed into her stomach.

Belle’s eyes lit up, and she looked towards Sam with her eyebrows lifted up into the stratosphere and her body frozen.

“It’s good?” Sam asked when Belle nodded, closed her eyes, and did a little dance, the pieces of her body armor glowing various colors in sequence like a party light machine. He smiled and took a piece for himself, and when the piece of fish made contact with his tongue, a third eye was opened within him.

Everything came all at once.

The explosions of flavor crushed him like the storm front of a hurricane before his entire existence of was swept away by the raging waves of emotions. Tears flooded out from his eyes without him even knowing, and his body flopped back as all of his neurons became stimulated at the same time. The single bite of fish felt grandeurs like a meal fitting only for the kings, while close and personal enough like mom’s cooking after a long day of playing outside.

“Holy shit…” Life had finally returned to Sam’s body after the first bite was swallowed, and he straightened his body before looking at Belle who was still relishing the first bite. Then, both of their eyes were locked on the final piece of meat remaining in the dish.

Thanks to it being at the very bottom, it’s now been sitting in the juice for a handful of minutes now, soaking up all that goodness and ready to be devoured.

God damn. Now, this is a true test of chivalry, a true test of his character. He's made it to the meal with the hottie, but can he keep her here?

Every cell in Sam’s body was asking for it. With every ounce of his being, he wanted it. His motor neurons were ready to activate and fight for the right to take that one last bite, and he looked toward Belle as her eyes were also ready to see blood. The blood of the meat, and whoever's going to take it away from her.

“Let’s…split it.” Sam said after great contemplation.

“…An fair solution.” Belle agreed, and the robot chef reached forward and sliced it perfectly down the middle with a single cut.

“Tell me, travelers.” The holographic chef asked, “Are your minds not blown?”