"Come in," I said as I opened the door to see Twilight, wearing her usual small purple skirt with stars and her lined blue shirt with a cute little bow tie. It had been a few weeks since we'd started going out, and we had planned to hang out all day on this Friday since it was a P.A. Day.
Twilight briefly glanced around. "I see this place isn't any cleaner than before," she said with mild unhappiness.
I followed her gaze and answered, "I don't see a problem with it. Rainbow sure thinks it's clean."
Twilight gave me an unamused stare. "It's Rainbow. Do you really think taking cleaning advice from her is a good idea?"
"Point taken," I admitted, before walking over to the couch and plopping down. I patted the area beside me.
Twilight walked over and sat down, scooching over till we were touching, and we leaned against each other slightly. I relished in the warmth of Twilight's body, and sighed with relaxation.
"So, what do you want to do?" Twilight asked.
I moved my head to rest on Twilight's shoulder, making her slightly blush. "Well, you know how I've been telling you to watch that show for a long time?"
"Power Ponies? Yeah, I know."
"Well..." I glanced back and forth between the old TV in front of us and Twilight, waiting for her to take the hint.
She sighed, and replied, "Fine. I don't think it's my kind of show, but if you want me to that much, I guess I'll watch it. Watching it with you will at least make the experience a little better."
"Just wait and see. I think you'll like it a bit more you think." I smiled, knowing how good the first episode was. I grabbed the remote on the table in front of us and turned the TV on. I then went to Netflix and selected Power Ponies.
Since I'd already watched this episode dozens of times, I mostly paid attention to Twilight. She seemed pretty bored the whole time, to my disappointment. I kept commenting on different cool things throughout the episode, but Twilight responded with nothing more than basic acknowledgment.
Twilight was holding her head up with her fist, and was leaning heavily into my body. "Just about what I expected. It's just a bunch of cliches with cheesy jokes and corny dialogue."
I struggled to come up with a remark to that. "But, but, the action's so cool, and the one liners were all so awesome."
Twilight blinked slowly, then said, "Yeah, but other than that it just sucks." I frowned at that comment. Maybe it didn't matter to her, but those words coming from Twilight cut deep. She must've seen my hurt eyes, because she quickly changed her tone and remedied her statement. "I'm sorry, Sunset. It's fine if you like it. It's just not the show for me." She gave me an apologetic hug, which I returned.
We let go of each other eventually and I asked the obvious question. "Alright...so now that we've decided Power Ponies is not the show for you, what do you want to do?"
Twilight moved her eyes around, thinking about various options. "A trip to get ice cream sounds nice. It is pretty hot today."
It really was. Even inside, I felt the sun beating down on my body, and an ice cream cone sounded like the perfect way to mitigate that heat.
"Sounds good. Let me just grab my wallet and phone real quick." I dashed to my backpack, which contained both essential items, and dashed back.
We headed to the door and after locking up, we began our walk to the nearest ice cream shop a few blocks away. I unceremoniously slipped my hand into Twilight's and we simply walked together quietly for a while. I bathed in the warm sunlight and even heard some birds chirping. All I needed now to complete the scene was to be in bed waking up.
Once we had reached the ice cream store, I turned to Twilight and asked, "Single or double?"
Twilight giggled and stated, "Single, duh!"
I nodded and we entered the shop in unison, still loosely holding hands. Before we got to the woman working at the cash register, Twilight randomly blurted, "I believe I'll pay for the whole thing this time."
I looked at her in confusion. "Um...we can split the bill 50-50."
"I know, but I want to pay for it." Twilight's face told me that that was a lie, but I didn't want to have an argument about it in the middle of a shop.
"Sure," I answered with my eyes slightly narrowed. Something was up. But I would inquire about it later.
I let Twilight pay for the bill and we got a two-scoop vanilla ice cream. I wanted to question Twilight about her sudden decision to pay, but then again, the ice cream could melt...My curiosity can wait. Ice cream comes first!
We dug into the pure white treat together while we walked out of the store and back to my house. We messily ate the desert with no semblance of order. Twilight tried to take a bite from the top but I was too fast and bit off just the top part. She glared at me, before we both burst out laughing with vanilla at the sides of our mouths.
Soon, the whole cone was finished, and as we simultaneously finished the last of the cone, we ate from opposite ends, causing our lips to meet, and we gently closed our eyes.
Let me tell you. Ice cream kisses are definitely interesting. It's pretty sticky, but also kind of incredible and obviously sweet. When we parted lips, we slowly opened our eyes again and wiped our mouths of the remaining ice cream.
I wanted to just enjoy the moment a little longer, but I'd be able to better enjoy myself if I could get the question in the back of my mind out of it. We were almost back at my place, so I decided to wait to ask Twilight. I wasn't exactly sure why it bugged me so much. It was just a simple decision. But something about the secretive face she'd made had me concerned. It was probably nothing. But I had to be sure.
I let us in and this time I led Twilight to the top part of my place where my bed was (get your mind out of the gutter, we weren't nearly at that stage yet), and I directed us to sit down facing each other cross legged. "So," I started. "What exactly is with you paying when we usually split the bill?"
Twilight fidgeted a bit on the bed and briefly looked to the side. "Is that really so unnatural? Couples pay for each other all the time."
"Yeah, but it was just so random, how you suddenly said it right before we got to the desk, as if you realized something that made you want to pay."
"I don't," she began, before sighing. "Alright. I didn't just pay for it because I felt like it. And honest communication is supposed to be an essential thing for relationships." I nodded at both statements, but didn't interject. "Anyways, I guess I just thought back to how crowded and tiny your place is, and how you have to support yourself. Paying for you seems like a good way to relieve some of the burden on your shoulders."
I folded my arms as I contemplated that, trying to project a confident image. But my pride was a bit wounded. It was stupid, but I really didn't want to rely on Twilight. "I see," I mumbled instinctively. "Well, thanks, but I'm not in dire straits or anything. My job and money from the government is enough to support me."
Twilight stared down at her lap, obviously reading my mind. "I'm sorry if I offended you," she mumbled.
I looked at her forlorn state, and smiled, prepared to be the bigger person. I placed a hand on her shoulder, which made her look up, and I said in a soothing voice, "You don't need to apologize. You were just trying to help. I appreciate it."
Twilight smiled back at me and asked, "So...do you mind if I sometimes paid more than you, considering, well, my own financial situation?"
I stared sheepishly at her, not wanting to turn her down again, yet also still holding onto my pride. "Um...well, we can discuss that later."
Twilight grimaced, moving her glasses a bit and looking into my eyes. "I guess if you want." The air was filled with no sound for a second, until she continued. "Well, we're back here now. How about I introduce you to a show now?"
I wanted to talk about Twilight's unsatisfied expression, but realized that topic was over for now and shrugged. "Sounds cool."
We watched a bunch of episodes of a romantic comedy that I was surprised Twilight liked. I also liked it, and so by the time Twilight had to leave, we were almost done the first season and we were both feeling pretty good.
Like always, I walked Twilight back to her house, enjoying a conversation about the show so far with her, until we were at her block. Then I decided to change the topic. "Yeah, I think he's really cool, but anyways, Twilight," I said her name to capture her attention. "About the money thing earlier...I thought about it, and realized...it does make a certain sense. It's not a huge amount anyways, but I guess getting a little help wouldn't hurt. So if you still want, I won't argue with you about paying more often."
"Oh," She responded, rubbing her chin. "I was just about to say the opposite. I know you have a bit of pride, and I should've realized that.” She paused briefly before continuing. “If you want to pay for your own share, I won't stop you."
We were at an impasse, and there wasn't much time left until Twilight entered her house. There was only one way to settle this. Realizing that my choice was logically more sound and my pride was kinda dumb? Nah.
"Rock," we chanted. "Paper..." We moved our fists in time with the beat, until we revealed our choices as I shouted, "Scissors!"
I chose Scissors, and Twilight had picked..."Draw," Twilight declared. We withdrew our fists and stared at each other. "Wanna just go with your thing?" She asked.
"Sure," I responded. "But you should know I'm not just gonna become some sort of penny-pincher."
"I didn't expect that. Just don't pretend to be fine if you're in a rough financial spot."
"Deal," I said, stretching out my hand. We shook, before flaring our hands up into the air and bringing them back together to fist bump, ending in a pretend explosion. We giggled before arriving at Twilight's place.
"See you soon?" I asked.
"See you soon," she affirmed. I started to turn around, before I dashed back. Twilight turned around at the sound of my approaching steps and I planted a kiss on her lips. Her cheeks lit up, then she relaxed and kissed in response.
When we separated again, I waved goodbye and smiled, then began the relatively short walk back.
To be honest, I was sort of relieved. I was telling the truth when I'd said that I was in an okay financial situation, but it definitely could've been better. And dates cost a considerable amount of money, so Twilight paying even slightly more than me would overall be helpful. But I was gonna try to work harder and get a job with a higher income. I didn't want to rely on her for help. For now, though, I was relatively content with accepting it.