Discord and Twilight remained in the foyer of the building for a moment as they took a moment to gather their thoughts, neither of them realising they were leaving Rarity hanging after her greeting.
"Erm... Are you two alright?" Rarity hesitantly asked, noticing the relative silence between the pair. Twilight suddenly perked up upon hearing this, wheeling her gaze from the tiling of the floor over in Rarity's direction.
"O-Oh, yes. We're fine, Rarity; thank you for asking," Twilight sputtered, her head still partially remaining in the immediate past. "We were just stopping by to see you, since Discord here has agreed to go out with me today to-" Twilight caught herself, coughing awkwardly before continuing, "I-I mean, he has agreed to come out to spend some time with his friends in my company, as he still feels bad for the Tirek incident and wants to continue his making of amends." Twilight nodded to herself upon giving this explanation, as she felt satisfied with her half-truth; however, this merely masked her true reason for coming here in that she needed an excuse to prolong the date, as she currently felt no closer to figuring out Discord's intentions than when they first set out.
Discord was putting up a good fight, that was for sure; Twilight felt relieved that he had chosen to attempt to use her as leverage in whatever scheme he was planning, as she was sure that any of her other friends would have fallen for his charms by now. There was simply not a chance that Discord could genuinely hold positive feelings for her, and even if he did, there was even less of a chance that she would ever consider reciprocating said feelings for a precarious individual such as Discord ... Right?
Discord looked at his seemingly satisfied companion with a curious glance and a downtrodden look that followed it. It seemed that he had still not gotten through to her; she still holds suspicion of him, and this upset Discord very much. What's it going to take...? Discord sighed sadly, holding his arms up to his chest as he looked off forlornly into the boutique, causing him to miss Twilight's unsure expression as she mulled something over in her head.
Rarity, ever on the prowl for gossip or drama, had been watching the minute expressions flowing across her friends' faces with a burning intensity upon sensing a weight hanging in the air, trying her damnedest to figure out just what was going through their heads in relation to one another. A sudden realisation hit her like a freight train upon witnessing the pair of awkward expressions, causing her to gasp explosively, which drew the attention of her friends before she coughed politely and apologised.
"My apologies, darlings, I just remembered I have some supplies to arrange in my office that are quite urgent; please, make yourselves at home on those couches over there, and I'll be back through in just a moment!" rarity dashed off and up into her office once this was said, locking the door behind her as she made her way over to her work desk. My, my, my, isn't this exciting! Rarity began giggling and dancing in place, I simply can't believe what I'm seeing here! I'd know those looks anywhere! Letting her excitement die down so that she could return to her friends post-haste, rarity decided she might have a little bit of fun with this situation, as it seemed clear that neither one of them had any idea what the other was thinking. Don't you worry, darlings; Rarity the matchmaker is here to help you out!
Rarity sighed dreamily, the sweet, reluctantly affectionate emotions the two clearly had in common making her squee with delight. She vowed to perhaps try to help push things along, yet still remain careful as to allow things to develop naturally, lest she risk being shown to be meddling where she had no right to be doing so. Nodding to herself enthusiastically, Rarity cleared her throat before pushing her way back out of her office and towards the living space where her two guests were now seated in silence.
Rarity let out a small, satisfied sigh as she ruffled her mane with a hoof upon approaching the pair. "Right, darlings, all done! So, what would you have us do to pass the time?" Rarity proposed, taking a seat across from the pair as she folded her rear legs up onto the comfortable couch and awaited a response with a cheerful expression written across her fair features.
Twilight looked slightly befuddled for a moment, most likely as a response to her period of silence spent with Discord, before she composed herself and matched Rarity's expression. "Well, I guess we could start by allowing you and Discord to get to know each other a little more! After all, you two don't really talk all that much, and I'm sure Discord would be fascinated to hear all about your work and... S-Stuff!" Twilight's smile grew a little forced, as her tone threatened to break towards the end of the sentence. She nudged Discord in the side as she finished, glancing awkwardly up towards the Draconequus perched on the couch beside her.
Discord looked downtrodden, with his left elbow leaning on the arm of the seat and his chin resting in the palm of his talon as he looked out of a window and into the marketplace in a daze. Upon receiving the nudge to his side, Discord reluctantly returned his attention to the situation at hand, choosing to ignore the angry glare he was receiving from Twilight and the scolding remarks she was muttering under her breath to him. Rarity's face had remained a mask of a joyous nature, her composure not cracking in the slightest as she observed the interaction with a keen sense. After what seemed like a millennium, Discord finally decided to respond to Twilight's pressuring suggestion. "Yes, well, as 'fascinated' as I would likely be, I'm sure Miss Rarity spends plenty of time spouting about her life to enough ponies already," Discord chided, pausing to smooth his beard out with a claw as a grin returned to his face. As he did this, Rarity did not crumble in the slightest, intent on hearing Discord out until he had given his piece in full. She also breathed a small sigh of relief, as she silently agreed that sharing life stories would perhaps be a little dull. Twilight, on the other hand, looked like she was ready to explode, distraught by how rude Discord was currently being to the pony who had given up her time to humour them in her own home. "And so, I would propose that we partake in something a little more... Interesting..."
Upon hearing this, Twilight seemed to cool down a little, seemingly glad that he had not simply decided to ignore their friend; however, she remained on high alert, as a suggestion from Discord was a potentially dangerous situation to get tangled up in. Rarity, with her interest having been piqued, tilted her head towards Discord so as to encourage him to continue. "Oh? And what would that be, darling?"
"Is your little sister around by any chance, my dear?" Discord asked, strumming his talons across the arm of the couch as he looked down at rarity from the corner of his eyes. Rarity looked a little taken aback by the question, before quickly recovering and replying with a steady, unsure tone.
"W-Well, she has been out with her friends for today, actually; she comes and goes as she pleases on weekends, so she could be back any time..." Rarity paused for a moment, lifting a hoof to her lips as she looked thoroughly confused and slightly concerned as to why the Lord of Chaos would request an audience with her darling little sister, of all the things he could have suggested. "Why do you ask...?"
Twilight matched Rarity's expression as she began to feel her alarm bells ringing. "Yeah, what would you require Sweetie Belle for that we can't do by ourselves?" Twilight asked, raising an eyebrow in Discord's direction.
Discord brought his paw to his mouth for a moment in a silent chuckle, as he felt his mischievous side begin to take over and drown out all his emotional concerns, like a drug passing through his veins. "Oh, I just figured that for what I have in mind, it would be the more the merrier. Never mind, though, she is not particularly important for it, but she might regret missing out..."
As if on queue, the door to the boutique swung open towards the end of Discord's sentence, eliciting a bubbly response from the excitable little filly who made her way into the foyer. "Missing out on what?! Did you mean me?! I wanna join! I wanna join!" Immediately, Discord felt his mood sour a little at the filly's screeching little voice, wincing for a moment before turning and addressing her directly.
"Oh... Well, I don't know if you would want to join in with this game; it's for big ponies only..." Discord said in a patronising tone, watching with mirth as the little filly excitedly slammed the door and snapped on the bait he never even needed to cast in the first place.
"I am a big pony!" Sweetie Belle shouted, puffing up her little chest as she stood as tall as she possibly could. Discord had been dangling a fish hook in front of her face as she did this, dressed in a full set of fishing gear. Upon receiving accusatory glances from the two mares and a confused head tilt from the little filly, Discord deadpanned before snapping his talons and leaving himself bereft of all clothing and accessories once more, leaning back into the couch and folding his arms behind his head as he relented.
"Alright, alright, no need to shout, little one. However, you should beware, as what I have in mind is only suitable for those with a strong stomach, and an even stronger mind..." Discord said in a hushed tone, leaning down from his pose and waving his arms towards the ponies in his presence as he did so, as though he were a magician about to reveal his secrets. In response, the three ponies naturally gravitated towards him, leaning forwards as their interest reached its peak.
Silence hung in the air as the three eagerly awaited the big reveal; scarcely a breath was taken between them, as Discord left them hanging as long as he could get away with. He raised a talon and took a breath as if to begin an explanation, before suddenly pausing and feigning an unsure expression, holding his talons across his chin as if in deep thought. "Are you sure you want to go through with this?" Discord warned, raising an eyebrow towards the trio as one of them finally snapped.
"Ugh! Just tell us already!" Twilight pleaded, throwing up her hooves in exasperation as the other two remained intently focused upon their tormentor, with eyes sparkling in silent agreement.
Discord smirked at his precious, purple little crush before he finally relented, interlocking his talons with the fingers of his paws and pushing them out in front oh him, causing them to crack in unison. As he let his arms fall back to his sides, he cracked his neck slightly before taking in an exaggeratedly deep breath and slowly saying,
"Well..."