À partir de Bourgeons à Fleurs

by Indulgence

Une Question

High above the streets of Manehattan, into which the shadow of evening was gradually creeping (along with some of the night’s far less subtle denizens), in a smooth tower of glass and stone surrounded by the hoardings of balconies, a single apartment quietly shone with pale pink lights. The world within, past a wall of clear sliding panels, was a mirror to the city without, being simple, minimalist and open in design and yet filled with the chaos of life. From the kitchen section of this single spacious room (excluding the bathroom set separate) came the most prominent of these rose tinged glows, where a plethora of vegetables floated to a chopping board through the air. Whilst a similarly drifting wok came to rest on the stove to heat up, a knife went to work cutting through the board’s new residence in preparation. Elsewhere meanwhile in the central lowered nexus of the space (a seating area bisecting it in two to divide the bedroom from the kitchenette) the rest of the lights played about amongst a circle of sofas, on one of which a slender unicorn lounged, her coat a match for the home’s modernist whiteness.

Fleur De Lis wore a visage set as a blank marble piece of carefree focus, seemingly heedless of the myriad of actions her magic was at once preforming. As well as cooking, she was also making an attempt to tidy some of the mess of clothes and paper which had been allowed to accumulate on every available surface and at the same time was experimenting with the mass of chains, fixings and charms set before her on the newly cleared coffee table. A set of pliers moved to close a final link around an earring’s fishhook, completing a pair of cascades of silver stars. Jewellery making was ultimately very new to her (alongside a variety of other things in her life at that moment) and her own slight efforts were still a long way from mastery, but if Coco could do it minus magic she was determined to conquer the skill, having embarked on a metal working course to that effect. The boutique was after all jointly hers and she planned to carve out her own niche within it, thus far enjoying as much as her partner the newfound freedom for creation, her own thoughts and designs as much as Coco’s adorning the once plain walls of the apartment.

A low *click* of key in lock sounded from the front door, followed by the call of a soft voice as its owner entered. ‘Hey, sorry I’m so late.’

The unicorn stayed in place, maintaining the bubble of energy about her horn and the various things to which it was linked, only moving to brush the pink and white striped strands of her mane to one side as her gaze went to her arriving marefriend.

‘Sorry, I know it was my night to cook but…’

An obviously flustered (although somehow able to be infinitely cute with it) earth mare came to Fleur, who proceeded to silence her apologising with a kiss, whilst her magic sloshed oil into the waiting wok where it immediately started sizzling. ‘It’s all cool, my class ended early anyway. Now go hit the shower, and by the time you’re out food’ll be done.’

Coco’s lips made their reply without need of words, as she carelessly let her saddlebags slip to the floor, eyes closed contentedly, before catching her breath and skipping away to the bathroom with a final glance back.

Fleur meanwhile watched her disappear, having to catch herself and the bowel of vegetables as the tempting thought of following created a more than sizeable distraction. This was not helped in that the mare in question noticed the slip up, adding a knowing wink as she closed the door behind her.

---

An amalgam of intense scents, sweet soy, rich herbs and the underlying saltiness of peanuts, filled Coco’s nostrils as she stepped out through a haze of steam into the dry cooked warmth of the apartment. Until then hunger had by no means been the foremost thought on her mind, but this changed instantly once within the savoury clouds of deliciousness, setting her mouth to watering after only a couple of inhales. The source and its creator were however nowhere in sight, leaving her mildly confused as she proceeded further into the space.

When are you going to ask her?

‘Eeep!’ Surprised she let out a small squeak as she suddenly felt herself enwrapped by a pink aura and, being levitated just off the ground, floating weightless out through one of the room’s sliding windows which she had failed to notice was open. Now outside she was met by the grinning face of the elusive chef. Fleur herself was sprawled on her side across one of the balcony’s benches, the furniture being newly covered in cushions, beneath a blanket. ‘Put me down!’ The white unicorn did not immediately comply to her demand, instead opening the folds of the covers and pulling her partner in close, laying the other mare at her side within them. ‘You know I hate it when you do that’ Coco pouted, any displeasure purely for show, disappearing as she felt the dual embrace of both the blanket and a set of hooves at her back, her head coming to rest against a shared pillow.

‘True, but that doesn’t make your reaction any less adorable’ Fleur giggled, nuzzling into her partner’s mane. Foregoing any other utensils a single fork plunged into the steaming wok, which had materialised from somewhere behind the bench. The cutlery moved dextrously, spearing a selection of its contents and then spinning a scarf of noodles around its prongs, moving on to offer the choice mouthful to Coco. ‘So, how was your day?’ she enquired, drawing her own spiral from the pan in turn.

‘Pretty usual till the end. I finished a couple of orders, set to work prepping the show pieces we talked about, and then Princess Luna walked in.’

‘What?!’ the unicorn coughed, almost choking on her forkful.

‘Yep’ Coco confirmed, ‘she pretty much just strode in off the street and commissioned some formal wear, with more or less free reign as to its design.’

‘Well buck!’

‘My reaction exactly.’

‘So what’s your plan; you thinking long train or short?’

‘Ah, that’s the one condition: no dresses’ Coco corrected through another proffered mouthful.

‘Cool’ Fleur shrugged, ‘it’ll be nice to see one of the princesses in something other than a dress for a change. Plus I guess that means you get to indulge your thing for mares in suits’ she added with a nudge.

The designer simply raised an eyebrow against the prod, rising above as she returned: ‘No, just a suit doesn’t seem right you know. I’ll have to give it some thought.’

‘What’s she like then?’

‘Ultimately we only met very briefly.’ Coco paused for a moment in consideration. ‘Normal I guess, nothing like the regal image, but weirdly open for what you might expect. It was kind of like… like she wanted to consciously be an open book and to be read, if that makes any sense.’ She turned to frowning; it was hard to describe. What had they actually talked about? If she was honest Luna had been the one to do most of the talking, whereas she had been kind of silenced and put on autopilot by the mere presence of royalty. In spite of this though it felt like a lot had been said, from which the words ‘momentum’ and ‘seize the day’ stood prominent, both begging a tacit question of her.

What’s stopping you?

And with that her mind was made up. ‘Erm… Fleur, I want to ask you something and it’s pretty major, actually really major’ Coco struggled, stumbling over the few words despite their simplicity, almost as if her voice was procrastinating against her speech’s end.

‘Ask away.’

‘And I really hope you’ll say yes, but… well erm… what I’m trying to say is…’

‘Yes.’

‘Pardon?’ the earth mare stumbled again as she was interrupted.

‘Yes’ Fleur repeated simply. ‘I’ve been proposed to before you know, although all in all this is the nicest for being without all the emotional blackmail of the bended knee and ceremony crap, and if you’re really sure my answer is a definite yes.’

A broad smile broke across Coco’s features, an intense pressure released from within her to set her afloat again as her heart jumped for joy. Her body meanwhile could do nothing but snuggle deeper into the embrace of the taller mare behind her, enjoying the feeling of being entirely surrounded in their cocoon. ‘So what happens now?’ she asked as an unsure after thought.

‘Dunno, I’ve never said yes before, but we’ll figure it out’ Fleur answered flippantly, content but internally in shocked elation as she held her partner tighter against her, whilst all around night finally fell, bringing with it the ethereal glow of its stars.

Author's Note:

Title: A Question (French)

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