When they reached the gasoline station, Kisha allowed the group to rest. The shelves were ransacked and the place looked like it had survived a hurricane, but the glass windows and doors remained intact, and there were only a few zombies around. This likely explained why the place had been looted so thoroughly.
Kisha and the rest could rest there peacefully, gathering their strength and tending to their aching muscles.
"Are you alright?" Duke asked, sitting down beside Kisha and handing her a cold bottle of water. He was faring well due to his extensive training and monstrous stamina, but his people were different; they were gasping for air. Kisha would have been almost as exhausted, if not for the additional +10 points in all her stats due to her title.
Seeing Duke act as if he had just gone for a jog rubbed Kisha the wrong way. His unfairly superior physique was evident then and now. Noticing the envy in her eyes, Duke chuckled and gently placed the water bottle in her hands. As Kisha sat on a stool, Duke crouched down, gingerly lifted one of her legs, and rested it on his knee before he started massaging her calf and leg muscles.
Kisha yelped at first because Duke had used too much force. Hearing her exclaim, he adjusted his pressure and watched her reaction closely. After readjusting a few times, he finally saw Kisha’s eyes turn to crescents in delight. In return, as Duke massaged her legs, Kisha took out her favorite melon bread, crusty on the outside and soft on the inside.
She tore off a bite-sized piece and held it up to Duke’s lips with a smile.
When Duke noticed that Kisha was offering him some food, he looked up at her with a playful glint in his eyes before taking a bite. He couldn’t resist teasing her by gently licking her fingers. He felt confident doing so because he knew Kisha had thoroughly washed her hands with soap several times before feeding him.
After feeling the dampness on her fingers, Kisha felt a jolt of electricity course from her fingertips to her scalp and down to her belly button. Her eyes fluttered, and she bit her lip, trying to suppress the ticklish sensation. "Are you a dog?" Kisha asked, her voice tinged with embarrassment while her cheeks turned bright red.
Despite her embarrassment, Kisha continued feeding Duke. He, in turn, didn’t stop massaging her legs, grinning like a kid who had successfully pulled off a prank. Kisha narrowed her eyes, not in anger, but finding him irresistibly cute and lovable. Her lips curved into a smile, and she felt an urge to pat his head, thinking he looked like a mischievous big black dog.
Instead of pinching his cheeks as her hands itched to do, she took some lemonade from her inventory, inserted a straw, and brought it closer to Duke. "Could you please chill this a bit?" she asked.
Duke shot Kisha an aggrieved look, feeling momentarily like she was treating him like a human cooler. But he quickly pushed that thought aside, realizing it was better to be useful than useless. Placing his index finger under the bottle, he used his awakened ability to chill the drink, enveloping it in a thin layer of soft ice. The lemonade became refreshingly cool, but not too cold.
When the lemonade was cold enough, Kisha brought it closer to Duke’s lips. "Drink, I’ll hold it for you," she said with a deadpan expression, though Duke could see the tips of her ears turning red. Happily, he took a sip. He hadn’t realized the lemonade was meant for him; if he had known, he wouldn’t have felt aggrieved even for a second. He felt happier than a kid with candy.
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