The diner where I met Raven wasn't the nicest restaurant in the city. In fact, it was kind of a dump but the truth was that, before my promotion, we couldn't have afforded any restaurant where you actually sat down to eat. Raven ordered a burger as if we didn't have access to a million burger stands and kiosks. I took advantage of their 24/7 breakfast menu and got a waffle, which I supposed wasn't much fancier than a burger. An ancient and dilapidated looking drone delivered our food and drinks to the table and we took them from it.
"Zkkt!" Was all it could manage to happily squawk before floating away.
"Happy anniversary, my love," I said, holding up my beer for her to meet with her own.
"Happy anniversary!" She responded. We clinked our glasses together and had a sip before diving into the food. "I've been thinking about the work conference thing you invited me to, Eli. It's one thing to see your little corpo-kink memories after the fact. I don't know if can get over myself long enough to experience it myself."
"You don't have to 'get over yourself'," I said. "I know you're not going to sell out; not like me. I love you for that. You're the little anarchist in the back of my head when the rat race tempts me too much."
She smiled at me in appreciation and then the smile turned into a devious smirk.
"You sure I didn't just hack my voice into your brain, stud?" She taunted, barely containing a laugh.
"I wouldn't put anything past you, goddess," I shot back. We both laughed and then ate our dinner silently for a few moments. As I admired her in the skimpy black minidress she wore, I decided I wouldn't even upset if she had somehow uploaded her voice into my mind..or whatever else she wanted to do with me. I was convinced I could get used to anything she did. The pixels that covered her plunging neckline had grown to automatically turn me on, after all.
"Why not take your friend? What was their name? Aster?" Raven proposed, oblivious to my submissive pondering.
"I could take Aster, I suppose. No one ever said I couldn't take a worker from the data floor," I mused. "You'd be okay with me spending two days with them?"
"They're your fuckbuddy, not your lover. Besides, I get to see all the fun later in your memories," she responded. The implication was that she might be jealous if Aster was my lover, nevermind the fact that Dion was certainly her lover and more. I found the double standard hot but I also knew we would talk through it if I ever found someone else I could really fall in love with.
Looking at her now and taking in her beauty, I couldn't imagine it. I could enjoy all the best sex in the world but I would still come back to her. She alone held my heart and I desperately wanted the universe for her. That's why it was second nature for me to share her heart with a worthy man who made her as happy as he did.
"So how is Dion? I haven't seen him in like two days," I asked.
"He's been working on something with the other 'players'. Apparently it has to do with your company but he hasn't told me anything else," she said. "He's been around though..."
She looked away from me, trying and failing to hide a cute smile before she said, "I got you an anniversary present."
"Really? You didn't have to get me anything," I said, trying to imagine what she could have gotten me.
"I know, I know. Just seeing my pixelated tits is the only gift you'll ever need, right?" she joked.
"Not wrong. But also, what did you get me?" I pressed her.
"Well your CirruVisionX came last week..." she said.
"It did?! Why didn't you tell me? Wait.." My excitement rose exponentially. "Did you already use it?"
She gave me a coy smile and said, "I wanted to do something special with it. Since our anniversary was right around the corner I knew just the thing. You'll have to wait until we get home to find out, though."
"Not a surprise present! I'm gonna die of suspense before we even get home!" I complained jokingly. In truth I thought I might die of anticipation. There were two possibilities, as I saw it. Either I would get a second hand experience of what fucking her would actually be like or she would deny me somehow with some edits to the sensory data. Either way, she would drive me wild like she always did and I couldn't wait. Trying to be a gentleman and not a horny douchebag however, I kept my excitement to myself and let us finish our dinner.
"I never thought I'd be able to be honest about who I am and still have a good man like you," she said as we held hands and walked back to the apartment. The roads glimmered with recent rain and the neon lights of the sleepless city.
"Now you have two!" I said and squeezed her hand. She giggled and then looked at me like she was trying to make sure I was real. She found whatever she was looking for in my eyes and then a smirk grew on her face.
"Dion's more of a bad ass than anything I'd call 'good'," she said. "You're right, though. I have both now. Thank you. Thank you for staying and for..just being you. I love you so much."
She gave me a kiss on the cheek, the mere touch of her lips still leaving me feeling like I might start flying, even after everything.
"I love you too. I'll always stay, no matter where this crazy ride takes us. As long as you're happy, there's no place I'd rather be," I said and returned her gesture with my own kiss on the top of her head.
When we walked through the apartment door, I immediately felt like something was different from when I left that morning for work. Before I could dwell on it, Raven pulled me into a deep kiss. I breathed her in and was intoxicated by her, any and all cares washed away in an instant.
"I'm so excited for you to get your present!" she said with a giddy smile as she pulled me by the hand down the hall. "We mounted the recorder in the bedroom but it covers the whole apartment. Since you're chipped, I think you just have to look at it to activate it."
