The Taste of Seduction

"Where do you want to go?" Atlas asked, walking alongside Meredith with his arm wrapped around her shoulder.

"Hmm… since we woke up this morning, we didn\'t have a proper meal," Meredith commented, already looking left and right for a restaurant.

Atlas couldn\'t help but chuckle. With his laugh getting Meredith\'s attention, she looked at him and wondered why he was laughing.

"What? Is there something on my face?"

"Nothing," Atlas replied, giving her a kiss on top of her head. "It\'s just that you\'re cute, looking for a place to eat."

"Oh, come on… bread and coffee is not much of a yummy breakfast. We\'re on earth, why not we eat something different for a change?" Meredith suggested, Atlas pulling her closer to him as he agreed.

"Alright… what do you have in mind?"

Meredith didn\'t answer for a while. As she was quickly looking at one restaurant to another, finally one had caught her attention.

The restaurant was clearly Japanese. Kanji was written on the decorations and the customers were eating ramen or sushi. Every time they have new customers, employees would shout "Irrashaimase!" in unison, a greeting meaning "welcome."

With that, Meredith and Atlas looked at each other the moment they stopped walking for a moment.

"Have you tried Asian cuisine?"

Atlas shook his head. "Not so much… though I have tried some Chinese ones. The famous fried rice."

"Bah…" Meredith answered, shaking her hand as she thought of it as a usual mean one would it when trying out Asian cuisine. "Too common. Let\'s have ramen!"

Atlas arched a brow at her. "Well… have you had ramen?"

"Only once. Not the cup noodles, alright. The authentic one. I tried the dipping ramen, but their menu sounds interesting!"

Meredith pointed at the hanging menu of the restaurant that can be seen from where they are. They serve four kinds of ramen. They have the pork ramen, the spicy ramen, the dipping ramen, and the miso ramen. As they also looked at the content of each ramen, it did pique their interest.

"Want to try it out together?"

"Sure," Atlas answered, now holding her hand as they walked towards the restaurant. "It\'s always good trying out new things with you."

They were in a short queue. In the line, they are the third customers. Seeing as to how it is not rush hour, they have already waited for their turn to be led to their tables in just five minutes.

"Ooooh… I\'m so excited!" Meredith said, already settling on her seat across Atlas\'. He smiled at her as he watched how eager she is to have Japanese ramen with him.

"Irrashaimase! Do you already have an order in mind?" The waiter asked and greeted them, Meredith already answering him in a heartbeat as if already having their food thought of before they even sat down.

"Yes! I\'d have the miso ramen, and he\'d have the pork ramen. Also, can we have an extra order of one tamago each and then chashu as well. Oh! We\'ll also want to taste the tempura--to share. And we\'d both have mixed berries for drinks.

Thank you."

"Understood," the waiter said, already writing down their order. "We\'ll be right back with your food. For now, enjoy with our free appetizer, deep fried crunchy noodles."

"Ooh~!"

The waiter already left and Meredith started munching on the deep fried crunchy noodles. With Atlas tasting it as well, he found it satisfactory for a snack right before they have their big meal. However, he could not help but comment how Meredith was set on their food without even consulting him.

"You really decided for me, huh?" he said, making Meredith playfully roll her eyes at him.

"Oh, shush… anything with meat, you\'d prefer. So I know you\'d choose the pork ramen. I chose a different ramen for mine as well so that when you want to taste, you can. Also, tempura is good!," she answered, Atlas grinning at her from ear to ear.

"You do know me well," he agreed, asking her another question. "And… what is the thing that you said… \'tamago\' and \'chashu\'?"

"Oh! \'Tamago\' is a Japanese word for egg. And \'chashu\' is sliced pork meat. I thought we\'d have ordered that because you love meat so much."

Atlas narrowed his eyes at her. "And will you be able to finish your food? Last night, you made me finish yours."

"Oh, I will be able to finish mine~! I\'m starving! You\'ll see!"

Meredith got a big chunk of crunchy noodles. She reached out to Atlas across the table and fed him with it, Atlas gladly taking it from her.

"Have you already informed Sofia and your little brother that you\'re going to visit them?" Atlas asked, Meredith nodding to answer his question.

"Yes. I messaged them while we were on the trip going here. Did you message Ace?"

"Yup. He\'s actually not expecting for me, but he\'d make sure to make time for me."

Their drinks came first. As the fruity scent of the mixed berry caught their attention, they both took a sip to taste, both of their expressions surprised with how sweet and fruity it tasted.

"Wow. This will really help balance the taste of the savory ramen later. It\'s a good pair," Meredith commented, putting it aside. "I\'m not going to take another sip. I\'m going to save it up until I finish my ramen."

Atlas laughed. "You could order another glass, you know. You don\'t have to be so frugal with your money."

"Oh, it\'s quite pricey, the drinks," Meredith replied.

"You have me to pay for our food today. I insist," Atlas said, followed by a laughter when he saw that Meredith immediately got her glass on the side, and took a longer sip of her drink.

"Then thank you very much for the treat, Atlas."

Before they even knew it, their food had already arrived. As they got their chopsticks on the side, they started eating and talking to each other before they seriously go on with their plans.