Just a Tinkerer
A loud, irregular chime broke the silence of the room, its source being a hoof-made clock that had seen a few years of careless use. Soon after it’s bothersome noise began, it wobbled off the nightstand it occupied. An unshorn tan hoof soon pounded the space it had moved from, even as the mobile alarm clock moved aimlessly about on the floor. A low groan sounded from the bed's occupant as the hoof withdrew into the bed. The covers rose, revealing a khaki stallion sporting a mass of bedmane the color of light chestnuts. He blearily opened his eyes, shutting them immediately against the morning light assaulting his pupils.
Still lying in bed he moved toward the edge of the bed, a hoof flailing in the direction of the still-sounding alarm. Attention focused on the loud chime, he failed to note the edge of the bed he was approaching. With a solid thump he found himself deposited on the cold floor. His muscles locked up from the sudden chilling contact, then reluctantly relaxed as the stallion resigned himself to the morning. Opening his blue-green eyes, he soon found the alarm and switched it off.
Yawning as he rose to his hooves, Latent Promise felt a shiver run through his body from the brisk morning air. Still only half awake he trotted to the kitchen, ready to go through his morning ritual of breakfast, becoming presentable, and a morning check of his request box.
Granted, the unadorned box was a bit old and had been touched up more than a couple times, but it still worked well in situations his gift didn’t cover. Positioned as it was in his first-floor workshop, protruding on both the inside and outside beside his door, it allowed him to easily access any written requests for a job that anypony needed done that others had submitted.
His routine completed, the tan stallion checked the calendar hanging by the makeshift designing corner for any upcoming appointments. “Nothing going on?” Latent Promise thought to himself. “That’s rare. Ponies would usually be commissioning me for Hearts & Hooves day right about…” He double-checked the date. “Oh, that’s today.”
No longer paying attention to the calendar he sat down, now thinking aloud. “Right, of course my schedule is free; everypony already has whatever they need for today, and…” His voice trailed off as he remembered another reason for why his schedule was empty. “... Trick Shot couldn’t get the day off…” Silence reigned for a full minute before Latent Promise moved. He got to his hooves and walked slowly to his designing area to look at the finished plans for a plush he’d been working on the previous day.
Just as he was levitating the soon to be needed supplies to his workstation there was an urgent knock at the door. Latent Promise had just enough time to direct a slightly puzzled glance at it before it opened, a familiar blue mane and khaki muzzle pushing into the room, the sight of which caused the craftspony to perk up.
“Trick? What’re you doing here?” Promise asked with a raised brow. “I thought you said you had to work today.”
The stallion named Trick Shot grinned at him. “Nice to see you too. Open Gambit decided to take my shift. Apparently his wife woke up and shooed him away.” As he talked his hooves moved animatedly, imitating the ill mare’s movements. “Told him to get out of the house and get some fresh air or something. His golfing pals already had plans for today, so he decided to work today.” He ended his narrative with a shrug. “When he took my place, he told me to, and I quote, ‘get out there and make some memories with my...’” he trailed off, a light blush painting his muzzle, the same blush adorning Promise as well.
They stood in silence for a moment, the plush plans hanging limply in a dark-blue aura. Promise cleared his throat before replacing the plans where they were before. “Well, did you have anything planned?” he asked.
The blush disappeared, replaced with a playful smirk. “We’ve got a day ahead of us, and all of Canterlot at our hooves,” Trick answered. He frowned at the tangled mess of chestnut atop the recently woken pony. “Before we go anywhere, though,” his face morphed back into a smirk even as his horn lit with an orange aura, “I’m going to help you look presentable.” Trick Shot trotted past and Promise, not sure what he was thinking, followed his path until he saw his tail wrapped in the shorter stallion’s magic. A minute of being pulled found the two in the bathroom, Trick working a comb through the taller stallion’s mane, watching and wincing each time the comb snagged a knot.
A few minutes passed and the two walked out into the midmorning sun, each having made sure the other was presentable, the taller of the two wearing a saddlebag. They wandered around city for a while, simply reveling in each others presence. Before long they came by a bowling alley, the muted sound of classic rock sounding from within. Latent Promise turned a confident smile at his special somepony, a question unasked in his eyes. Trick Shot answered with a spoken, “You’re on,” a cocky smirk on his muzzle. They trotted together into the building, psyching themselves up for the soon-coming competition.
Lunchtime saw the couple at a café not far from the bowling alley, the current conversation about the last round they'd bowled.
"I still don't understand how you pulled off that shot," Latent groused. "I gave my ball a spin like you said, but it only clipped the edge pin.” He took a bite of his sandwich as he waited for his companions reply.
“Like I said earlier,” Trick replied patiently, “you’ve gotta get the spin just right. Too much spin will land the ball in the gutter, while too little will only knock the edge pins down.” He continued eating as he waited for his stallionfriend to speak again.
Latent Promise opened his mouth to speak, but the words died as a full-body shiver overtook him. Moving quickly he shifted his food aside, clearing a space for the paper he’d taken from his bag. moving intuitively he levitated a pencil to the paper and sketched a vague design to the paper. Trick, with the patience of somepony who had seen this happen before, had ensured that nothing had been knocked over in his companions rush, earning him a thankful glance.
Still moving quickly, Latent filled in the vague outline until it became something recognizable. He finished the drawing with a set of numbers scattered throughout it. Putting the pencil away, he lifted the sketch for them both to see.
Trick was the first to speak. “So that’s what the Tinker Tingle gave you this time huh?” Latent Promise gave him a long suffering sigh. “Oh come on,” he smiled, “you know you like the name.”
“It’s called ‘Promise Sense,’” the crafter corrected. “‘Tinker Tingle’ just sounds-”
“Catchy!” the blue maned stallion interjected. He looked closer at the drawing. “So what are we looking at this time?”
Shaking his head, Latent also gave the drawing another look. “… Looks like a firing mechanism for a cannon.” He smiled at the other stallion’s puzzled look. “I’ve made them before. There’s a mare in Ponyville that orders a new one from me from time to time.” He looked back to the sketch. “I can probably get away with waiting until tomorrow to start working on it.” He slipped the paper back into his saddlebag.
Trick meanwhile had finished his meal and was waiting on his companion to finish as well. “That’s about half the day done. What do you wanna do now?”
Promise paused at that. “I don’t know. I try to keep to a nine-to-five working schedule, so I’m not sure what’d be good.” He frowned a bit. “You usually work overnight at the casino; what do you usually do now?”
“Well, usually I’d be waking up about now, so…” the smaller stallion let his thought trail off. “Y’wanna stop by my work? I want to make sure I’ve got tonight off too.” He winked at his companion. “I’d like to spend the whole day with you for once, not have to rush off to work at the tail end of our date.”
They made their way through Canterlot, confirming that Trick Shot did in fact have the night off as well. They passed the rest of the day wandering around the city, sharing comfortable conversation with the occasional affectionate nuzzle. By the time they walked back to Promise’s house, Celestia had lowered her sun to the horizon, making room for the night sky.
Latent Promise turned to his coltfriend with a smile as they got to his door. “Come on in, I rented a crystal from that corner store a couple days ago.”
Trick smiled back as they entered the domestic part of Promise’s house. “Sounds good.” His eyes narrowed in suspicion. “It isn’t another one of those extreme romances is it?”
The taller stallion snorted, his smile widening marginally. “What, you didn’t like the last one we watched together?” He put a hoof on his chest with a hurt expression. “I can’t believe you don’t like my taste in movies.” His joke was met with a cushion hitting the back of his head.
Promise laughed weakly. “Seriously though, I didn’t know it would be that bad.” He motioned toward a device set up in front of a couch, a video crystal already set to project the movie on the wall. “This one’s supposed to be a comedy.” His smile returned. “Make yourself comfortable; I’ll fix us up something for dinner.”
They ate together, allowing the conversation to pass from topic to topic. Once they finished their meal they walked the short distance to the couch by the crystal-viewer. Situating themselves against each other on the furniture, they watched the movie, sharing the occasional laugh as the night progressed. By the time the movie ended and the crystal powered itself down, the two were leaned against each other, the tension of the day released as they basked in each others warmth. Neither were willing to move, so Latent Promise pulled a blanket over the two of them. They nuzzled each other in an unspoken “good night,” and rested their heads on each other, both sharing one final thought under Luna’s moon.
This was a good Hearts & Hooves day.