The two walked the streets of Novis Sanguis, enjoying the sights and smells. They first stopped at a food stall, buying a meal to enjoy.
The vendor was shocked seeing the Princess he had just seen on TV before him, but he was happy to serve. When they walked away, they found that her portion was bigger than his.
They both laughed at that, switching food. Aurora would be incapable of finishing it, and they both ordered the same thing.
After that, the two went to a movie theater, to check up on the movies there. They hadn't thought about watching a movie, just checking for a good one, but they ended up enjoying one after the manager came in.
They had been standing in front of the list of movies, ignoring the whispers of people around them, when suddenly the manager appeared. He seemed happy to have them, suggesting movies to them for a good 10 minutes.
In the end, they chose one, being guided to a private room with a giant screen. The two watched the movie, laughs filling the room, as they enjoyed a large box of popcorn.
'The manager was probably after money.' Grey thought. The room they chose was much better and hence much more expensive than a normal movie theater room, and that was probably the manager's goal.
Grey felt something was off when the manager came, but he didn't care. He was there to have fun with Aurora and get to know her, not count pennies.
Next, they went to an arcade. Grey had loved his first trip to the arcade, so going to the arcade in Novis Sanguis was a nice surprise. The arcade there was massive compared to the one in Arkus, surpassing Grey's wildest dreams.
It was several more stories tall, packed with people, and had a wider array of electronics to enjoy.
Aurora dragged Grey toward the claw machine, asking him to get something for her; to which he happily agreed. They left the claw machine with several teddies in hand, heading to the VR pods.
In Arkus, the only VR game they had was a coliseum-type game, whilst here they had several more types. The games focused mostly on fighting, but there were a few that were different —racing, lifestyle, and most importantly, cooking.
They spent hours in the pods, holding cooking competitions against each other. Grey had learned to cook, but he only really knew the basics, whilst Aurora had loved to cook as a child, and had a maid teach her.
Aurora dominated the competition, going 10-0 before Grey got any better. By the end of it, the score was 30-7.
They exited the arcade with smiles on their faces, Aurora laughing at Grey.
When they stepped out of the VR pod, Grey muttered 'I will train and destroy you' under his breath, and Aurora caught that. It turns out that he had a bit of a competitive side.
"I finally found something you're not good at!" She said with tears in her eyes. She had entered that competition expecting to be destroyed, so destroying him was a shock.
"Oh really?" Grey said. He wasn't salty, but he couldn't stand it. Laughing at him? Okay. Destroying him? That's fine. But doing both? Yeah, he was going to utterly annihilate her next time. His competitiveness couldn't stand it.
Of course, that was only his competitive self, he couldn't truly care. He was just unknowingly finding an excuse to spend more time with her.
After that, Aurora had to go to the bathroom, so Grey found an opportunity to do something nice.
She was gone for five minutes, but when she came back, he was holding a basket that wasn't there before.
A red and white plaid blanket on top. 'A picnic?' She realized.
Grey grabbed her hand, too in the moment to know what he had done, and guided her through the streets. Aurora blushed, warm inside at the thought that he had made a picnic for her.
She had been on a picnic before, but it was just an excuse for a noble elf to brag about himself to her. He hadn't paid her any attention, speaking the entire time. He didn't accomplish what her father wanted. After that, Aurora said to herself that she wouldn't accept invitations from potential suitors, simply because most of them were nauseating.
---
By then, it was late at night, around 10:00. The sky was darkening, and they were sitting outside the city on a hill.
Outside the city perimeter, to the northwest, was a small hill range, and that was where they sat. On the largest hill, Grey laid out the blanket, placing down the food in a way he thought was appetizing.
Once he was done, he turned to Aurora.
"My lady." He teased, bowing and sticking out her hand.
She played along, exaggeratedly grabbing his hand, and he guided her to the blanket.
He helped her sit down before sitting down himself and then speaking. "Dig in."
The food platter consisted of food Grey had noticed Aurora enjoyed —ribs, an omelet, noodles, and more. There was even curry, a food Grey had specifically been told about by the Queen.
They stuck in, devouring the ribs and then the omelet. They finished with the noodles and curry, letting out a sigh when they finished.
Grey moved the plates back into the basket, lying down to see the stars.
Aurora joined him, lying down at his side.
"You know, most men don't like women who eat like that." He joked, receiving a light tap on the side. "Don't worry, I'm not most men."
- Wow, how romantic. - Fallen Star laughed at his joke, and then at him. Since Grey was too busy looking at the stars, neither could see Aurora's face. It was beet red.
"Well, most women don't like men making jokes about them. But don't worry, I'm not most women."
Hearing that, they both burst into laughter.
"Aurora, that was so bad! Haha, you should have done another one."
"Well, you should have complimented me, not teased me. Besides, it's not my fault I'm bad with jokes."
"I see, I was meant to compliment you. My bad." Grey shifted onto his side, staring at her instead of the stars.
"I wanted to look at the stars, but you shine so bright they're not visible." He said with a straight face, enjoying her reaction.
"I was really surprised today. Everything we did was so much better than usual, and the only difference was you. I guess you make my world better." At that, he broke down, bursting into laughter. Aurora's bright red face didn't help either.
Once he calmed down, he stared at her one more time before turning away to look at the stars.
"You're rather cute, you know." He said quietly, blushing. Neither of them was used to this, mainly because they were too focused on other things.
The things they were feeling were new, but neither disliked it.
Aurora suddenly had a bold idea, and she capitalized on the chance of Grey's distraction.
Chu-
She planted a small kiss on his cheek, running away right after. She even took off her heels to ensure that she ran faster.
Grey froze, confused, shocked, and happy.
'Did she just?'
- Oh my, in all the ways I thought this night could go, that was not one of them. - Even Fallen Star was shocked.
Grey remained frozen, staring at the stars whilst his brain worked in overdrive, trying to comprehend what happened and why. All the knowledge in the world wouldn't make him better at understanding the reasoning.
---
Aurora walked through the halls of the castle, shoes in hand, and very, very, embarrassed.
'What did I just do?! Why did I do that?' Even she couldn't comprehend her reasoning. 'What if he thinks I'm insane?'
Aurora panicked more and more, delving into different theories of possible future events. All of her ideas, however, were negative, and far from what would happen.
In the end, she went to bed, too flustered to do anything else.
---
[The Royal Bedroom]
The Queen lay in bed, reading a book, when suddenly, someone knocked on the door.
"Come in." The Queen said.
Anise walked in, adjusting her maid outfit as if she had just put it on.
"So? How was it?" The Queen asked cryptically.
"It was better than your predictions, your Majesty. Food, movies, arcade, picnic... kiss." Anise listed all of the activities that Grey and Aurora did that day, revealing that she had been watching them!
The Queen nodded along, smiling when she heard 'movie'. However, when Anise said 'kiss', she did a double take.
"Kiss you say?!" She exclaimed. "Are you sure?"
Anise nodded.
"Wow. Grey is better than I thought." The Queen began to mutter about how Grey was bolder than she expected, and that she might have to change a few things to her plans.
"Your Majesty," Anise spoke up.
"Yes?"
"Whilst it was Grey who planned everything, it was Aurora who kissed him. On the cheek."
"It was Aurora?" The Queen was surprised. 'Aurora took the initiative? Even if it was on the cheek, she went first? Impressive.'