"Hm," Triton said, eyeing my body. "Well, you said she likes formal stuff, but you have no idea if she's in a formal setting right now. Oh. I know! You can never go wrong with a white shirt! Closet, give me… hm. Give me my Brioni French cuff, please. The 775 one."
The door gleamed, and a moment later, Triton stuck his hand in and pulled out a really expensive-looking white shirt.
"Only the best for my brother. The cuff links are tridents, so if you think that's tacky…"
"No, anything works," I replied, looking at the shirt like it was made out of diamonds. "How much did you say that shirt was?"
"Well, retail is about $775—not to worry, though. I have ten! So, you can honestly just keep this one. It's nice having someone to share with," Triton smiled kindly at me. He waved his hands. "Go on, put it on. I'll have to think about what pants to put on you."
The shirt was, admittedly, soft. To be fair, I'd never worn anything that cost more than sixty bucks, so I feel like that's to be expected.
Triton looked me up and down again.
"Hm. Maybe some homme plissé issey miyake pants, eh?"
"Triton, I don't know what half of those words mean," I said seriously, but he just busted out laughing as his closet gave him a pair of black pants. "I was being serious."
"No worries, man," Triton tossed me the pants and turned around so I could put them on. He kept talking as I took off my jeans. "We can clean it off with some oxfords. Bam! Fit created. She's gonna love it. What are you getting her?"
"I have to get her something?" I repeated. "Oh, right! Like…flowers or something?"
"Well, yeah. And pay for everything," Triton continued, cycling through some shoes. He held up two pairs, shaking his head and tossing them back into the door. "You do have money, right?"
"Yeah, money's not a problem," It really wasn't. I'd disabled the annoying notifications a long time ago, but I'd still been getting a decent bit of money because of [Fool's Gold] and the Game had spawned a credit card in my [Inventory] as well. I wasn't concerned about buying stuff.
Triton waved his hand, and a bouquet of blue-yellow flowers appeared in his hand. He handed them to me, and I took them graciously.
"Just double-checking, little brother," Triton continued, turning back to the closet. He began humming to himself as he tossed some shoes at me, over his head. "To finish off the look. You want a watch or anything?"
"Nah, I'm good," I replied, completing the process by lacing up the shoes. I had to hand it to Triton—I felt like a million bucks. "Thanks for the help, again."
"Eh, it's no problem. Like I said, keep the clothes, I have too many," Triton assured me, shooting me a thumbs up. "Man! Lucky you, though. I don't go on too many dates around here, gold diggers and all, but I'm super excited you are. I'll just live vicariously through you. Maybe I'll go the overworld someday, find myself a little baddie."
I surprised myself by agreeing, "Yeah, for sure. You could come to visit my mom and me. We definitely have the extra room."
"Man, that sounds like fun. Maybe when you go back for good, I'll come over for a bit," Triton wondered aloud. He started pushing me out of his room with a wink and a smile. "You, on the other hand, are going to be late. I have some things to take care of—but I'll see you when you get back. Have fun, brother."
"Thanks, Triton," I said, a matching grin forming on my face. "For the clothes and flowers, and well, in general."
Triton waved from his door, "No prob. See you soon."
The door closed, and I narrowed my eyes a bit at the abrupt way he'd forced me out of his room, but I put it out of my mind for now. I had a bit of apologizing to do.
I accessed the bond again.
Hey. I'm ready.
Okay.
The feeling was, well, weird. All of the air, er, water, left my body, and I got the sensation of being squeezed really hard. It felt like some giant had picked me up in tried to shove me through a tiny tube.
POP!
The palace faded to darkness. The squeezing feeling continued for a couple of moments, and suddenly, I was spinning into existence in a bedroom.
Holy…what is it with me today and getting into bedrooms that are just way better than mine?
This bedroom was way smaller than Triton's, but it had a cozy feel to it. Whoever designed this bedroom—technically, my wife—went crazy on it.
First of all, there was a nice little pastel color scheme going on. You know, like the light pinks and browns. Don't ask how I know that word. Really. Yeah, let's just keep going.
The carpet was an off shade of pink, but it looked pretty comfy. The room had a few paintings here and there, with a TV mounted on the wall and a mirror beside it. Other than that, there wasn't much going on except for a bed and some floating bookshelves—very New York.
The bed itself was pretty big, and the sheets were perfectly folded. I could definitely fit four of me on that bed. There were a few plants on a windowsill and a bedside table on each side of the bed. Obviously.
Also, there was a—
"Whoa," I blinked a few times, leaning against the wall. A weird sense of vertigo permeated my senses, and I almost slumped to the ground. Being back in the overworld was disorienting. "That was unpleasant."
"Sorry, sorry," Aphrodite said, coming over to me. She oriented my body with surprising strength. "I haven't used that power in a while."
Okay, I'm sorry. I know I say this every time, but damn she's so fine. She looked older than she did last time, almost like she was trying to match my age. Her face was still in the shape it had been last time, but it had matured more, much like I'm sure mine did, too.
Aphrodite's hair color had changed from the platinum blonde it was last time to more of a silvery color that she put into a loose bun. I know they were for style, but she was wearing a pair of adorable glasses, too.
Also, this part had to be magic, because she was wearing a sundress that went down to just above her knees, and it was my favorite shade of yellow with a bunch of flower patterns on it. I'm not even going to bother getting into how nicely the dress fits her—I don't think it's that important.
Okay, fine. She had supermodel legs and a butt that looked round enough to use as a pillow. Happy?
"My place in New York," Aphrodite replied casually, sitting down on the edge of the bed. She leaned back slightly, propping herself up on her hands. "I wanted a home base to rest in between traveling. You know, somewhere to recharge."
"New York?" I echoed, raising an eyebrow. "Why not, I don't know… somewhere like Paris or Milan? You'd fit right in."
"Oh, darling, I do have places there, too. But New York has a certain…energy. It's raw, vibrant, always changing. I like it." She tilted her head, giving me a curious look. "Besides, it's closer to you."