I had succeeded in keeping Ria away from the room that contained her brand-new computer, all thanks to the help Em had provided by giving us a call. It had lasted just long enough for Ria’s sleepiness to catch up with her. When I had put her in bed, she was out in mere seconds. The presence of Shima did help with that. Warm cats are notorious for making people fall asleep, after all.

As for me, I didn’t sleep immediately as I was just petting Shima for quite a while. There was something hypnotic about cats that makes petting them for extended periods of time something you really want to do. At least, until the cat herself decides she’s had enough and threatens with a couple of whacks from her paws or some nommerinos with her teeth. Not that she could hurt me, but I didn’t want to scare her away either.

After that catty happiness, I did manage to sleep a bit. But it didn’t take long for me to open my eyes again. The sun was shining quite brightly into the room. We hadn’t bothered closing the curtains yesterday evening. Ria didn’t seem too bothered as she just kept snoozing along and Shima was just sitting on the windowsill, looking outside.

From the look of the clear sky it seemed as though it was going to be a nice day outside, no snow, no rain, just some good weather to take a trip to the store in.

A quick glance at my phone told me the time. It was still a bit too early for Ria to get up, and I didn’t want to wake her up by trying to get out either. So for the moment my fate was sealed. I would have to spend an hour or so cuddling my warm girlfriend. -Woe is me. How will I ever survive this?-

While I was cuddling up to Ria, Shima had enough of staring at the outside world and, instead, had decided that the piece of pillow, right above Ria’s head, was prime real estate to go and sleep on.

With Shima showing no intent whatsoever of moving, I could only do one more thing. That thing being, to take a picture of Ria with her cathat to show it to her and Em later.

At around 9:30 in the morning, Ria’s body began to stir. Before she even opened her eyes, one of her hands went for Shima who was still laying on top of her head.

“Hmmm, Shima.” She smiled like an idiot without even opening her eyes. “What are you doing there, little cat?”

“Looking cute, just like you.” I booped my girlfriend on the nose with my index finger.

This made her open her eyes, smiling brightly at me. “Good morning, Rora.”

“Good morning. Did you sleep well?”

“Mhmm.” She nodded. “Like a rose.”

“Looks like it’s going to be good weather outside for our little shopping trip today. Want to get some breakfast and then head out?”

“Sounds like a good idea....” While she had said that, the somewhat naughty look on her face made me think she wanted to say something more.

“Something else?”

“Nothing.” Ria squished her lips together.

“You sure? That doesn’t sound like nothing to me.”

“Well… If you insist… With this cat on my head, it’s a little bit hard to move, you see.”

I chuckled. “Do you want to get served breakfast on bed?”

“Maybe.” She smiled coyly.

“I can make that happen.” I rolled my eyes and smiled. “Scrambled eggs, bacon and orange juice?”

“Can it be apple juice?”

“Everything for my princess.” I leaned over and kissed her on the lips. “Just give me a bit, okay.”

“Alright.”

I sat upright in bed, but before I could stand up and throw on a shirt, Ria spoke to me again.

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“Rora, are you going to make breakfast only in an apron?”

The question surprised me so I looked back at her, Ria had brought the blanket up just over her nose so I could only see the top of her blushing cheeks and her cheeky eyes. “No, I will not, because it’s going to be rather cold.”

“Aww, there goes my mental image.”

“Since when are you so lewd-minded?” I chuckled. “You should praise yourself lucky that Shima is lying on top of your head, otherwise I’d have thrown my pillow at you.”

Ria lowered the blanket just a little so she could stick her tongue out at me. “Well, at least I got to see you naked for a little bit longer.”

I nodded and bit my lip. Quickly getting my t-shirt on. “Please remind me to tell Em how bratty you have been this morning. I’m sure we can find a way to return the favor.”

“Hehe.”

-Ria had awoken and she had chosen cheekiness.-

Before I went to work on our miss’ breakfast, I got out some fresh food for Shima too. She had her super awesomely amazing Amicat 5000 for her water and her dry feed, but some wet feed once in a while was something Shima appreciated. And sometimes she’d get some nice pieces of fishies too.

Scrambled eggs, bacon and orange juice didn’t take long to make, so with two plates of food and a glass of juice loaded up on a platter, I headed back upstairs. Ria had sat herself back against the headboard of the bed.

“So fast!” She clapped her hands enthusiastically.

“Could be faster if I didn’t feed Shima, but otherwise she’d come and steal your bacon.”

“Nooo! Not my bacon!”

“Shush.” I rolled my eyes and smiled, putting the platter on top of the bed, making sure Ria got a hold of the glass of juice first before getting on the bed myself.

I had cooked the bacon to perfection if I say so myself, such an amazing crisp. The eggs… well, they were eggs. Can’t really do much wrong with scrambled eggs, can you? As long as you spice them well and don’t let them burn.

Ria drank from her juice and then put the glass on the night stand, a smart choice because that was a lot sturdier. After which, she shoved her cellphone over to me, its screen unlocked. “Look at this, Rora.”

“Hmm?” I put a piece of bacon in my mouth and then looked at her cellphone. She’d apparently looked up a store called ‘Divine Fragrance’. “What’s this?”

“It’s a store where we can buy massage oils, and they have scented candles too.”

“Oh.” I took her phone in my hand and scrolled through their front page. “Looks like you can get practically everything you need for massages.”

“Mhmm!” She nodded.

“Is it nearby?”

“I think it’s about a ten minute walk.”

I looked at the map in the contact information part of the website, it was indeed not that far off. “Alright, looks like we’ve got our destination.” I quickly checked their opening times too but luckily it seemed that they were going to be open for the entire day today.

“But first food!”

“Indeed, first some food.” I chuckled.

With egg and bacon in our bellies, we got ready to move out. A quick morning shower was always nice when it was cold outside. We said goodbye to our little cat as I closed the door behind us.

“It was this way, right?” I started walking in the direction of the main church, which indicated the geographical center of our city.

“Yeah!” Ria quickly waddled along to catch up to me. When she did, she immediately took her hand in mine. “Don’t walk too fast, okay? We can take our time.”

“For sure.” I smiled. “We’ve got all the time in the world. Plus, it would be a shame if you slipped and dirtied your clothes.” While it hadn’t snowed, the freezing temperatures did mean that the snow that was still around had become quite slippery. Most of the sidewalks had cleared a path for people to walk, but not everyone had been as diligent with keeping their stuff safe.

But all in all we managed to safely get to the more walkable parts of the city where cars had been completely banned. That also resulted in areas that were way better maintained for pedestrians to walk on, with barely any slippery spots around.

As we passed through the main shopping street where I’d caught the pickpocketer some time ago, it was outright brimming with people. There was a band playing some Christmas songs, and a couple of stands with several Christmas related snacks and drinks that also drew a lot of people. Together with the decorated shop windows, the entire street had quite the inviting atmosphere. But sadly, we just had to cross the street rather than walk through it.

“Rora.” Ria pouted, pulling me to a stop by my hand.

“Mhmm? Shop’s that way, right?” I sheepishly pointed across the street.

“Why are you just directly going to the store? We can have a look around too, can’t we? It looks so convivial here.”

I apologetically scratched the back of my head. “Yeah… you are right, sorry. I sometimes get a bit too focused on the task at hand.” I chuckled awkwardly.

Ria bumped softly against my shoulder and giggled. “Geez, just after you said we had all the time in the world.”

“I know, I know, you need to keep in mind that I only have a peanut this size for my brain.” I pointed at the puff ball on her hat.

“That’s a rather big peanut, though.”

“Luckily for me, it is.”

We both started laughing, drawing a bit of attention from the crowd around us. But honestly, we couldn’t care less.