Monday after Fall Formal; October 3, 1988. Morning.
"Ryder, do you know the answer to this?"
He raised his head in surprise, not expected to be named in class. His mind was in various other places at the time.
“Yes, I do…”
“Will you tell us?”
"Umm... do you know... those sweet potatoes that are quite popular in Jamaica and used in some of their rather spicy and interesting soups and stews?"
"No, that's not quite it."
"I'm sorry, my head isn't screwed on this morning as I'd like it to be."
"Still thinking about Gems?"
"Sorta."
"Well, we're going over the set of questions from the textbook that we answered last week in class. That should get your mind off her for a while."
Mr. Green's playful telling-off roused a few giggles from a class of kids dazed from the events of the past week and from the dance.
With that, Ryder had fully emerged from his insightful daydream, evaluating his relationship with Lemony Gems and formulating a plan as to where it would go from this point forward. He had a rough idea, but it was an empty shell at best.
On his way to his next class, he bumped into her in the corridor, making the pleasant memories from that evening bubble forth, causing him to blush. He stood silently for a second.
She pawed the floor for a few seconds before finally breaking the ice.
“Look… I know we’re good friends and all -- ”
“And kinda ‘in love’ if you’re asking me,” Ryder mindlessly interrupted, not being able to think.
The train of thought momentarily derailed.
“So… with that in mind… would like to, you know… kinda… go out together?”
Ryder was dumbstruck. He’d only met her four or five months ago; he’d only legitimately ‘hung out’ with her only once or twice in that time. Why this sudden leap into serious relations now?
She continued. “Well, we’re not exactly ‘going together’, but you get the point…” Ryder had leaned against the wall, his head tilted upwards, his mind muddled. “...Right?”
He let out a long sigh. “We’ll try it, but just this once.”
“You don’t necessarily have to do it if you’re not in the mood to. I understand.” Gems tried to reason with him.
But then, circumlocution attacked! “It’s just that… this is a bit sudden, that’s all. Not that I don’t like you, Gems, I just want you to realise that…”
“Whoa, whoa, slow your roll, buddy; you’re talking yourself into a frenzy again.” She put her hoof on his shoulder. “How about Tealove’s place, after classes today? You can just walk over there, and we can have a nice little chat.”
“...And sort this whole thing out. I like it… I’ll see you there, then.”
The two parted ways, satisfied with that plan.
In Home Ec that afternoon, after all the equipment was put away for the day, his mates wouldn’t stop buggering him about it.
“Hey, I heard you were dating Gems,” Cheerilee taunted him.
“Well… yes. But only ‘dating’, not officially going ‘together’, y’hear? We agreed to try it once, just to see how it goes. If it works, all’s well and good. If it doesn’t… I‘ll try again with Rose.”
“That’s a bit groady, if you ask me.”
“I know, but it’s a precaution… I’m not into any serious relationships at the moment. Like I said, if it goes well, I’ll consider… you know, ‘going together’... yes?”
“For sure,” Cheerilee agreed with him. “I understand now where you’re going with this.”
“That’s good.” Ryder sighed and leaned his head back in the chair he was sitting in. “She wants to go to Tealove’s tea room on the Embankment after class shuts today.”
“You’re right next to it!”
“Close… it’s six blocks from my building. I can easily walk there.”
“That’s great, Ryder. Are you taking her back to your place?”
“Probably not. We’re still figuring it out.”
“Okay, then…”
The bell rang through the classroom right then and there.
"Well, I've to be off now. I'll see you round."
He made it back home with no difficulties.
...............
As Ryder opened the door, he would usually see Kimberly first thing, getting dinner ready, cleaning, or something of the sort. Today, she was strangely absent, not a trace of her anywhere in sight.
That was, until he discovered a note on the kitchen counter. He picked it up and skimmed over it.
Ryder --
Have to work evening shift. I’ll be back at 10:00 or so. I’ve left some money in an envelope for dinner, you’ll have to fend for yourself.
Kim
He picked up the envelope next to the note, slipped his jacket on, and sailed out the door.
He saw Lemony Gems, in a simple shawl, standing outside the window awaiting his arrival. She hoofed open the door and allowed herself and Ryder to enter.
They were greeted by the proprietor Tealove, a gentle and generous green Earth pony, who escorted the pair to an empty table in the middle of the room.
“I’ve got some water heating up for you… I’ll get it as soon as it’s ready. There’s some sugar and milk on the table, as well as some tea bags.”
“Thanks,” Ryder said.
Once the water arrived, Gems and Ryder retrieved two cups and two saucers from the center of the table.
Ryder picked a lovely black tea, while Gems selected a traditional green tea; they both then proceeded to prepare it as they liked - Ryder with enough lumps of sugar to make it remarkably sweet, Gems with just a small pinch of sugar.
He stirred his tea around and sipped from time to time as it cooled down, looking at the steam rising into the air and fading away.
"Listen..." Gems began, "I know you're confused."
Ryder stared mindlessly into his teacup, thinking of nothing.
"Hello? Ryder..."
"Whoa... where was I?"
"You looked like you were in another world there."
"I know, I know. So where are we?"
"We're in relationship negotiation mode."
At this point, Ryder clammed up, suddenly hesitant to speak.
"Like I said... I've absolutely no clue how we're going about a relationship. Feels like I'm rough waters."
"I'm in the same boat, so to speak," Gems concurred. "Apart from Fall Formal, we haven't, ya know, seen each other."
"I'd prefer that we stay close friends," Ryder suggested. "I'm not seeing a serious relationship in the cards."
Gems suddenly began dispensing compliments. "I don't just see a friend; you're nice, friendly, smart, truthful, you have great looks, you're sociable, you're everything anypony could want in a friend..."
Ryder was just worried about her yammering her head off.
"Slow your roll, sister..." He stopped her. "I think it's quite clear that we get along."
"So we can be an item?"
"I don't want to say 'item', but if that's the appropriate term," Ryder conceded, "then sure, I guess we're an item."
The yellow mare squealed in excitement.
"But here's the thing..." She calmed herself so she could hear everything.
"We take it slow. We don't do anything outright serious or, shall we say, suggestive, until we're absolutely certain of the relationship. If it doesn't work out, then I guess we'll go back to being good friends."
"Sounds good to me," Gems replied, sealing the deal and opening the door to further relations while they were at it. Mutually agreeing, they finished their tea and paid up before readying to head back to the apartment.
Their stroll back to the apartment was stately one. When they reached an alley right next to the building, Ryder suddenly tripped over a hole in the walk and lost his step. The watery, muddy puddle that he landed in managed to soak his clothes, leave a decent-sized mud stain on his shirt as well as splatter some on his face and in his hair, and rip a small hole in his trousers.
"Are you okay?" Gems asked, concerned. He simply bolted for the entrance to the building, leaving her to climb seventeen flights of stairs to get to his door. Once she reached it, she saw Ryder curled up over an air vent on the kitchen floor, stripped down to his skivvies with his wet and soiled clothes in a pile nearby, trying to warm up.
"You poor thing," she sympathised with him. "I'll go get a couple of towels... the mud totally got me as well. Do you know where they're at?"
"By the upstairs bathroom, in a closet. They should be there."
She wasted no time in retrieving them. Ryder snatched one and rapidly shook it through, drying off his hair and wiping himself clean.
"I can shampoo your mane, if you want."
"You wanna?"
"Totally."
"Over the sink?"
"Unless you prefer washing up in the shower..." Gems taunted, feeling a bit mischievous.
"Ha ha, very funny, Gems."
"Seriously, dude. You wanna shower together?"
"I'd rather not," Ryder replied in a terse tone of voice to show that he was not interested.
In lieu of not actually having shampoo to spare, she settled for using her magic and drying his hair with the towel. Once it was fairly dry, he took his filthy clothes into the laundry corner and set them on the top of the washing machine for later.
Little did he know, the jaune, jocular young mare was waiting in the living room with her towel in a bind. Upon his entering the area to watch a little TV, the towel snapped at his legs. He then chased after her around the entire flat with a towel in hand, only this time, he was aiming the towel towards her flank.
"I've got you now," Ryder boasted as he backed her into Kimberly's closet. Gems retaliated by tickling his underarms with her magic, making him laugh hysterically. She ran after him into the living room, where she tackled him onto the couch and kissed him, much to his surprise. Ryder simply stared into her eyes, shocked. His heartbeat was through the roof, and his hairs were standing on end.
That was when he took the lead: he clasped his arms around her neck, laid his hands on the back of her head in a prime position to stroke her mane, turned her on her side, and commenced his assault on her lips.
Funny noises escaped from their throats; moans of pleasure and longing rang through the flat. He tugged on her mane and flicked her ears. His left hand drifted down her back - teasing her withers and massaging her croup - as the spit-swapping festivities edged closer towards a climax.
Being the testosterone-fueled adolescent male that he was… his, shall we say, ‘little soldier’... rose to attention, causing his underwear to tent up. The kissing was momentarily interrupted when she took notice.
“Ohh… is my Ryder-bug getting all worked up?”
He couldn’t deny it. “Stooooop… I’m not ready for sex. We only went on, like two dates!” He begged of her to stop.
“But it’s all your fault… I want you so much,” she said, grinding her hindquarters against him.
“I want you too,” Ryder said, “but like I said, I’m not ready yet...” His hand was against her cutie mark. He rubbed her behind and patted it a few times.
“But your cock says you are…” she whispered. “I can feel how ready you are…” She magically slid off his underpants, exposing both his erect cock and the accompanying scrotum, with the testicles inside pulled into him. “Ohh, baby, you’ve got me all worked up…”
She sat down directly on his crotch - his penis ended up lodged within the warm valley between the pair of ample teats that hung from her nether regions; his swollen jewels sat opposite her dripping wet femininity, that entrance to heaven, that gateway to her womb, her very soul!
“I’m gonna take you for a ride, cowboy…”
“Oh, shit…” He’s in for quite a ride.
She began sliding up and down on his cock like a bucking bronco, building her arousal even more. Her nether regions rubbed against his balls every once and a while. Back up top, their lips reunited once again.
Meanwhile, Ryder put his hands to work. He put his fingers at the dock of her tail and pulled it back towards him, causing her to moan in delight as her tail flagged and her sopping wet rear end was trusted into the air.
“Do that again! Do that again! Do that again!” she demanded.
“Oh, alright…” He pulled at her tail again and again, making her scream louder and higher. He lifted his nasty bits to hers so she could continue grinding on him. He also tugged on her mane. All this sensory attention made them both explode with pleasure before collapsing on the couch in a tired, worn-out heap.
They were still breathing heavily when they finally got off the couch and discovered a wet spot on the cushion.
“What’re you going to do about it?”
“I’ll put a towel over it.”
Ryder, still naked, walked over to the fridge and got himself a beer. He then made his way back to the couch.
“You know… we could have satisfied ourselves without that whole… thing.” Ryder said.
“Don’t worry about it… we will.”
“The thing is, I don’t have a lot of experience… that is, when it comes to sex… I haven’t the slightest clue how to do it… to satisfy mares, I mean.”
“Just wait until I go into heat,” Gems warned, “then I’ll really show you how you satisfy a mare…”
“If I didn’t know you any better, I’d think you were sleeping around.”
“I’d never sleep around.”
“I know that… but just for the record, you were the one who threw me on the couch… and did most of the teasing.”
“You’re a massive tease and you know it!”
“Wait… I am,” Ryder realised before collapsing in laughter.
“I’ve got to be going now,” Gems told him. “It’s getting late.”
“Alrighty, see you later.” Ryder hugged her and planted a single kiss upon her forehead before she left.
“Take care, toots.”
At that point, he just threw a towel on the wet spot from the steamy make-out session earlier, lied down on the couch, finished his beer, and basked in the glorious afterglow.