Alex and his houseguest had a contenting supper, and being Alex had to be to work early, he showed Sarah to the spare bedroom. She walked around the room, examining and touching the ornate wooden furniture.
Dash noted the furniture was cool and smooth to her touch, albeit quite dusty. This room must not have been dusted in weeks. In the center of the room against the wall sat a huge wooden bed. She was willing to bet her saddle it was warm and comfy, the covers were a lovely royal blue color, the bed frame itself, being cherry, offset the blue nicely. She asked Alex who this room belonged to. He said it belonged to no one in particular. It was sort of a storage room that housed all of his furniture projects. He had to keep busy in the winter somehow.
Alex watched Dash wander about the bedroom and could see the amazement in her eyes. Wherever she came from must not have seen furniture like this before. He smiled; elated to know someone appreciated his work. He took to his own bedroom after letting Sarah know she was welcome to anything she may want in the fridge or cupboards. He also mentioned that there was a TV in the other room if she couldn’t sleep right away. He slept in the back of the house, so he wouldn’t hear it.
Dash thanked Alex for offering his home to her, and stretched a little bit. She hadn’t realized how mentally weary she was until this moment. He left with a small bow (he felt like being cheesy), and proceeded to leave her to herself.
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Alex walked into his bedroom. It was much messier than the rest of the house. He didn’t spend enough time in the kitchen or living room to leave messes. But here was where he slept and oftentimes would be back in here right before and after work. And his days off were usually spent running errands. The bed and dresser were the only things not cluttered with random bits and pieces of stuff. Clothes mostly, but here and there were small piles of nails or screws that he tended to find in his pockets after work and a random tool here or there.
He landed on his bed with a soft “whump” noise. His body slowly eased into relaxation mode. More than likely he was going to be awake for a while yet, but if he didn’t lay down he was definitely going to be up a lot longer than he intended. He just realized it was closing on midnight and sighed. 8am came too early for his liking, but he only had about six hours’ work left to do and he was free for the rest of the day tomorrow. He decided he would help Sarah get home tomorrow afternoon. He liked having her around, but she had a home to go back to, and she was a college student no less. He wasn’t much older than her, but the fact remained.
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Dash gingerly sat on the huge bed and instantly felt waves of relaxation course over her body. It felt just like the clouds and squishy hay mattresses back home. She didn’t have much time. She had to figure out how to break the truth to Alex, as kind and attractive as he was, otherwise she may never get home until Twilight figured it out. She came to the only real inevitable conclusion after a couple hours of agonizing thinking that manifested itself as a migraine headache. She would just have to be out with it and hope Alex was a sensible person, and didn’t put her out to the frigid streets. The truth was gonna hurt to tell, but what alternative was there? A massive lie that would probably bite her in her flank later, and also smash whatever trust he had for her. Either way, the migraine wasn’t making things easier, so she decided to sleep it off.
Alex awoke early the next day. Even though work didn’t start till 9pm, he had to be up to shower, shave, and find some clean clothes, which were becoming scarce. As the 7am alarm still echoed in his head, he suddenly remembered he had a guest who was probably hungry if she wasn’t sleeping. He decided to make some breakfast after showering, shaving, and changing. As Breakfast was finishing cooking, he knocked gently on the spare bedroom door. He poked his head in after no answer, and couldn’t help but “aww” to himself as he saw what lay before him.---
Sarah was buried up to her head in covers, snoring gently. He was glad at that moment that he had not woken up the sleeping girl. She looked so young and innocent, as her age was nearly indeterminable from the sheer amount of blankets and sheets. He closed the door gently and proceeded to the kitchen to eat his portion of breakfast, and head off to work. He left a note and a plate of breakfast in the microwave for Sarah. He had even set the timer so all she had to do was heat & eat.
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Dash awoke groggily. Looking around, she was frightened for a split second before remembering everything from the previous night as it flooded her mind. After the initial shock, she noticed that soft, warm sunlight was streaming in, between folds of cream-colored curtains. She smiled stupidly at the warmth that surrounded her, between the blankets and the sunlight. The weather inside was much like a summer day in Ponyville. She sunk back into the bed and dozed for another few minutes. She had a feeling Alex was already gone off to work.
Alex arrived at the jobsite, cup of coffee in hand and a piece of a bagel hanging out of his mouth. He opted for a small breakfast, as he was short on both time and appetite. Snapping up the last bite of the deliciously crispy bread product, and washing it down with a sip of coffee, he hopped out of the truck. The sight from this morning was still in his head and gave him warm fuzzies. A frazzled looking underling approached to foreman’s right-hand man, scared out of his wits. Locking his gaze upon the young man, Alex was handed a list of things that had been finished and needed his approval. Foreman John wouldn’t be here for another hour, so he was in charge. As he proceeded around the jobsite, everything was in check (much to his surprise), so he decided to get on with his work after slogging down his now cold coffee.
Dash finally climbed out of bed at about 10pm, judging by the sunlight, which had moved away from the windows now. She shook her head and wondered what there was to be eaten. Now that she was settling into being here, and had finally made up her mind about how to break the truth to Alex, she could relax and concentrate, and maybe enjoy her time here. To be honest being in a house wasn’t as horrible as being out in the streets. She explored the different rooms and the furniture. Much of it was new to her, as Ponyville was of minor means. She had seen things like radios in Manehattan and Canterlot, but here was a new thing with wires connecting two pieces of equipment, and then all the wires running into holes in the wall.
She pushed a button on it, and it beeped and whirred, and the upper piece of machinery, that resembled a smaller TV, popped into life with a static sound, like after Dash had gotten too close to the carpets in Fluttershy’s house. She touched the screen and it zapped her. She yelped at the zap and frowned in a most comical manner, her bottom lip puffing out. She wouldn’t touch that again for as long as she was here. She wandered about the living room, flicking the TV on with a touch of a button. TV’s were really new to Equestria, and only the richest cities had them. One had yet to be seen in Ponyville. She got bored of the talking humans and turned it off.
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Dash moseyed on into the kitchen and found a note sitting on the front of a black box with a door. All it said was “push the silver button and wait. Breakfast is inside.” So she did. It whirred, and a light popped on, and she stepped back, not knowing what it would do. After a few moments, it beeped at her and she opened the door. Inside was a steaming plate of eggs and two slices of toast. She touched the plate, to be sure it wasn’t hot, and pulled it from the microwave. She sat and the table and ate, looking around the kitchen. There was the black box with the door, a refrigerator, and an oven like inside Sugarcube corner. She noted the oven was immaculately clean, as if it had never been used.
While at work, Alex’s mood was relatively light all day which was strange to him. Normally some lackey screwed up something, or did something stupid like drop a crate of nails down two stories. At this rate he would be home before he was required to leave. Then he heard the crash and swore so loudly that the whole site heard it. He jogged over to the source of the crash, hoping nobody fell off a scaffolding or ladder. When he arrived, all he saw was wood and sheetrock scraps littering the ground. Somebody had apparently forgotten to look outside of what was supposed to be a doorframe before dumping their scrap pieces into a dumpster that wasn’t there. He bellowed at the lackey to show himself. This was gonna take a hell of a lot of explaining, and Alex wasn’t about to go it alone. Especially with the Foreman hot on his heels within minutes.
Dash left her bare plate in the sink and smiled happily. This human could cook something fierce. She was uncertain if he was the only one that cooked like that, but she wasn’t regretting eating the entire plate. She decided to explore upstairs a bit. There wasn’t much else up there besides a huge storage closet and a bathroom. The bathroom was the exact same design as the bathrooms back home. A toilet sat in front of a sink, and a standing shower was on the other wall. She walked outside and took a look around. Where Alex lived was quite different from where she found him the previous night.
She was in a residential part of the city, with no building taller than a story or two, much like Ponyville. The smell of fresh grass wafted her way and she could see the skyline of the city from here, but it was far enough away to not detract from the picturesque neighborhood. She heard young voices playing and laughing, and a sort of buzzing-clipping noise. Dogs were barking too. She decided she didn’t mind being in the neighborhood at all and sat gingerly on the steps. Even if she never got home, she would happily stay here.
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Alex could feel the Foreman literally breathing down his neck. He was never one to be scared of other people, but if he deemed fit, the foreman could take any person’s job and throw it out the window, even someone with such high regard and rank as Alex. As Alex gingerly explained the situation to his immediate superior, he was backed up with nods and agreements from the lackey who had made the huge mess. Apparently, the dumpster was supposed to be moved to this side of the house so they could prime the rest of the house’s Eastern wall for painting.
Foreman John wasn’t a bad man, but he hated when stupid mistakes were made, like a lackey dumping a wheelbarrow fill to the max with debris into his jobsite. Usually his right-hand man, Alex, would deal with punishment for said lackey, but this was not the first time a stupid mistake was made by this particular worker. Just a day or two ago he had nearly fallen off of a scaffold by reaching over way too far to nab a hammer from a neighboring scaffold. If he had fallen, there was an instant lawsuit and instant loss of credibility, even if it was the kid’s own stupidity. Good thing the others on the neighboring scaffold had grabbed him.
Alex sighed, with a little too much ease. At least his job wasn’t on the line anymore. The lackey would probably not fare so well. A formal written warning usually meant a week’s pay gone. A third screw up, and he was searching for another job, the poor kid. He was all too often a victim of his own stupidity. Alex was only able to hide what the foreman didn’t hear or see. Alex saw himself in the kid, so he often took pity on him. But if he didn’t learn like Alex did, and soon, he was screwed.
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Dash enjoyed the warmth of the front porch, then popped back inside. Thoroughly bored now, she perused the bookshelf in the living room for something to read. Then she saw some books with similar covers to the Daring-Do novels she loved. She immediately pulled a couple from the shelf, noting where they were, and started to read. She had gotten about halfway through the first of the two when the front door startled her. Quickly dropping the book on the couch with a soft thud, Dash hid behind the huge chair in the living room, shaking, waiting, her breath held. As she heard the door close, she shrunk even more into the back of the chair. Then she saw Alex walking in and dropping his sweater on a nail in the wall. She was overjoyed to see him, but waited until he was out of sight before leaving her hiding spot. She DID NOT want to startle the big man.