//------------------------------// // A Sweeter Morning After // Story: The New Librarian // by JKinsley //------------------------------// Twilight awoke to bright sunlight streaming into the room. She stirred, feeling around for a comforting presence that wasn’t there. She sat up and propped herself against the headboard. “Celestia?” she called. She blinked the sleep from her eyes. Twilight’s hands reached out further across the bed until one connected with an extraordinarily fuzzy robe. She pulled it closer and a small, hand-written note dropped onto the bed. She picked it up. Good morning, Twilight! I set this out because I didn’t think you’d take breakfast in that pretty dress. Come on downstairs when you’re ready, I’ll have coffee and pancakes waiting for you. ~ Tia Twilight chuckled and pulled the bright orange robe on. It was a little long, well past her knees and the sleeves and shoulders left her arms drowning in a sea of fluffy fabric. She flipped her hair out of it, found a hair tie in the bathroom, and gently descended the stairs. True to her word, Tia was busy at the stove with a large aluminum pan and a bowl of batter. On the island, in addition to the well stocked fruit bowl, Twilight found a selection of syrups, sweeteners, and cream, and a purple mug with the university’s logo full of steaming coffee. “Good morning, sleepy head. Fresh brewed Kona. Pancakes will be a couple minutes. There’s bread for toast if you’d like, and I’ve got a few eggs in the fridge.” “Pancakes are fine,” Twilight said, holding the mug of coffee in both hands. She closed her eyes and smiled while she inhaled. She groaned, sleepily and pleasantly. Good coffee, she thought. “What time is it?” “Shortly after 9.” Celestia flipped a few pancakes over and nudged them around the pan. “Did you have somewhere you needed to be?” She took a sip from a mug next to the stove. Twilight shook her head as she scooped a spoonful of sugar into her cup and stirred. She sipped the warm, still-slightly-bitter liquid and watched as Celestia flipped some of the pancakes out of the pan and onto a plate. “Silverware is in that drawer, if you’d like to grab a knife and fork. Pancakes are ready for you.” Celestia slid the plate across to Twilight, who walked over to the drawer in question and pulled it open. Inside was an assortment of simple-but-hefty stainless steel forks, butter knives, and spoons of varying sizes. Twilight grabbed two forks and two knives. She placed one set with her pancakes and the other on the empty plate near Celestia. “It is a good morning, though. And forgive my sluggishness this morning. I made love to a goddess last night.” Twilight hugged Celestia, and nuzzled her cheek against the taller woman’s equally fluffy navy blue robe. Celestia giggled both at the ticklish nuzzling and at the compliment. “Well, it was my pleasure, Twilight.” She wrapped an arm around Twilight’s waist. “Now let me finish here and we’ll enjoy breakfast together, alright?” Twilight stepped away and took her seat on the island. She grabbed a jar of maple syrup and poured lightly over the stack of pancakes. Celestia plated her own and slid into the chair next to Twilight. She smiled as she grabbed the same syrup and poured a generous amount over her pancakes. “You sure do like things sweet, don’t you?” Twilight giggled. “Perhaps that’s why I’m so taken with you. Calling me a goddess, really.” Celestia smiled brilliantly as Twilight blushed bright red. “So,” Twilight coughed as she tried to hide half of her face in her hands. “We didn’t entirely go over the ground rules of what will happen at work.” Celestia nodded sagely. “We did not. I figured that could wait until you officially started. Raven was going to go over all of this with you then.” “That reminds me. There’s one thing I’m still curious about.” Twilight took a small bite of breakfast. “Where did you disappear to so suddenly after we met at the coffee shop?” Her partner chuckled. “Twilight, I can’t even imagine you being curious about only one thing.” Celestia chuckled harder at Twilight’s eye roll. “I sent a text to Luna and Raven. Luna was going to take over your interview, and Raven met with me to discuss the whole situation.” “The whole situation?” “It would be a bad look for the university if the new librarian was hired because of nepotism.” Celestia sipped her coffee. “I guess it’s a story worth telling.” Several days earlier Celestia sat in a plush leather chair in front of a large, simple wooden desk stained dark brown. She absent-mindedly looked around the room, to the posters with the university’s mission and values statements, to the large calendar on the wall, to the various professional certifications. Anything but to look at the despondent Raven, massaging her temples with her fingers. “You’re telling me that you want to throw the entire job search for a librarian in the garbage because you’re head over heels for the first cute one to walk in the door?” Raven spat. “Do you have any idea how many ways this can go wrong?!” “First,” Celestia cleared her throat. “I said I wanted to go out with her, and I wanted you to help make sure I don’t get the university sued or lose my job. The Board of Regents won’t take too kindly—” “I’m not taking too kindly to this.” Raven grumbled. She sighed, took off her glasses, and began wiping them on the hem of her cardigan. “Weeks, Celestia! Weeks of work went into sourcing candidates for this position. Do you know how difficult it is to hire librarians for a private university?” “I’m not saying we can’t hire her...” “Of course we can’t hire her! She’s going to think she needs to get in your pants to get in the door!” “You’re not helping, Raven. I’m not looking for a lecture on employment law. I’m looking for a way out of this that means everyone comes out on top.” She paused. “OK, maybe that didn’t...” Raven sighed heavily. “Tell me you at least stopped before you went through with an interview of this girl.” “Woman,” Celestia corrected, “and yes, I asked Luna to step in. She has the assessment forms you so helpfully created for this process.” “Thank goodness for that,” Raven said, equal parts resigned and relieved. “Have you been doing the assessment forms for everyone else?” “Yes...?” Celestia quirked an eyebrow. “They’re online in the tracking system. You haven’t been reviewing them?” Raven coughed lightly. “I’ve been more involved in the pre-screening. I trusted you to give me your shortlist and I’d check then. I didn’t realize you’d go around not thinking with your head.” That earned Raven a deadpan look. Celestia added sarcastically, “Thanks. Glad all that work is appreciated.” Raven tapped several keys on her laptop and peered intently at the screen. She nodded along for a few minutes. “You know, this might actually be the way out for you. So yes, your work is appreciated. As long as we can show that your paramour is the most qualified candidate, we’re covered from a selection standpoint. The offer and the position, however...” Celestia giggled. Raven glared. “The job offer and the job position,” Raven clarified, a little louder than before, “would have to be managed separately. Luna is, on paper, at your level of the university, so we could have your candidate report to her. It would be a little odd to have just one person reporting to Luna from the library, though.” “Maybe we could announce a minor reorganization, moving the entire library to Luna, while saying we want it to be more public-facing and collaborative?” Celestia tapped her fingers against the arm of the chair. “Wouldn’t even be that much of a change, really. We already exchange books regularly with public and private collections.” Raven nodded. “That takes care of the the position issue. We still need to make sure this candidate knows that she can say no to you and yes to us.” “Right,” Celestia sighed. “And how do we do that?” “Pretty much exactly like that. We can just flat out say that she doesn’t need to date you to work here, or that working here means she can’t date you. While generally frowned upon for what I hope are obvious reasons, it is acceptable to have a relationship with someone at a different level of the organization. The issues arise when one person has some level of control over the position of the other, which is why she can’t report directly to you. I forget the statistic, but something like 30 percent of romantic relationships start at work.” Raven tapped her chin with her finger. “Granted, most of those are going to be the result of coworkers working together for some time, not a horny hiring manager using HR as a dating service...”  Celestia shot Raven another deadpan look and rubbed her temples. “Enough with the jabs, Raven. I am well aware that this is an unconventional request. It wasn’t my intention to make this process difficult by crushing on a candidate.”  With a dismissive hand wave, Raven resumed. “So, we’ll evaluate all the candidates when Luna completes her assessment, and if your new girlfriend is selected, the library will move to University Affairs and we, that is, you, Luna, and I, will present the offer and discuss the whole ‘dating the university president’ thing.” Raven grabbed a pen and a monthly planner. After flipping through it, she jotted a couple of notes and closed it. “I think it’s high time for a sexual harassment refresher course, too.”  “Has it really been that long since the last one?”  “Oh, no, it was just at the beginning of summer, when we’re usually onboarding new staff and professors have a lighter class load. You, on the other hand, need an update.” Celestia clenched her jaw. “Fair enough. What are the basics I need to know for today?” “Well, I already spelled it out. It needs to be perfectly clear to the candidate...” Raven shook her head. “I’m sorry, I’m sick of calling her that. What’s her name?” “Twilight.” “Right, it needs to be clear to Twilight that she never needs to choose between her career and you. She can date you and work here and be fine, or she can decide not to date you or break it off and still work for the university. In a way, we’re both deeply concerned and wholy dismissive of your relationship. Bottom line, as long as it never seems like you’re influencing the position, positively or negatively, there’s not an issue while you’re together.” Raven paused. “Assuming that happens,” she added. “We select her, she agrees to your date, et cetera.”  Celestia hummed for a few moments. “Anything else I need to be aware of? Paperwork we need to sign or something?” She fidgeted with the arms of her chair. “You really want this to work, don’t you?” Raven teased. “No, no paperwork. Workplace romance contracts aren’t all that effective at heading off sexual harassment suits, which would be the whole point of having them. We’d be better served by coaching you and Twilight individually on what is and is not appropriate for the workplace.” Celestia blushed lightly, the barest hint of pink dusting her cheeks. Raven narrowed her eyes. “That means no making out in the stacks, missy.” Celestia covered her mouth and coughed. “I, um, certainly hadn’t—” “You’re a terrible liar when confronted directly,” Raven said. “Anyway. It might also be a good idea to give the entire library a harassment refresher course, too. Call it part of the reorg. It’s all well and good to keep Twilight from suing us, but it would do us no good for you two to cause someone else to feel uncomfortable.” Raven sighed dramatically. “One too many flirty jokes overheard from a bookcase over and it’s employment lawyer city in my office.” She pointed at Celestia. “And you can bet the alumni donations are going to dry up real fast when they find out that we’re bailing your ass out.” Celestia shuddered. “It’s bad enough attending those damned fundraisers. I hate shaking those sweaty hands, but they write big checks.” “So now that we know the stakes, let’s make sure it never comes to that?” “That,” Celestia said, “would be for the best.” She rose. “Anything else?” “No, that really is all.” Raven tapped her fingers together and stood up as well. “I really do appreciate you coming to me first. I was angry when I first heard because I thought you had jeopardized the process, and I’m sorry for that. I would much rather find out about now when I can guide everyone through this properly than find out months later when someone’s pregnant or something.” “Pregnant?” Celestia raised an eyebrow. “I mean, anything’s possible, but that seems pretty unlikely, given...” Raven laughed. “Old example. Don’t worry about it.” Twilight had long since finished her pancakes by the time Celestia told her story. She sipped her second cup of coffee while Celestia ate the last few bites. “Not that I’m opposed to children eventually, but please don’t get me pregnant!” Twilight joked, her flushed face hidden behind her hands. It earned a chuckle. “I have no intention of that.” Celestia stroked Twilight’s cheek. “Raven is a dear friend of mine, and she got her start outside of academia. I suspect she’s dealt with many, many different circumstances, and an infatuated president is par for the course.” She pulled Twilight close and kissed her. The first thing Twilight noticed was how sweet Celestia tasted in the morning; sugar and maple and buttermilk played on her tongue as if she had taken another bite of breakfast. Her eyes fluttered closed at the tingle of fingertips running down her neck and then sliding between the fluffy robe and the bare skin of her shoulder. It took everything she had not to shrug off her robe, and her cheeks burned with the thoughts of what could come after. Twilight’s own hands reached out to stroke Celestia, too; as if in a mirror, one hand clutched her lover’s cheek while the other roamed the soft skin and ticklish fluff of the robe at Celestia’s shoulder. Suddenly, Twilight lurched forward from her chair and fell into Celestia. Both wobbled, with Twilight barely managing to catch her feet underneath her and Celestia firmly gripping the island countertop. With her free hand, Celestia reached out to steady Twilight. “Are you OK?” Her heart hammered in her chest. She tried her sweetest, most reassuring smile even with her breath hitching. Twilight panted. “Yes,” she breathed. She smiled back, “Yes, all the more for you being there to catch me fall.” Celestia’s smile broadened. “Of course. There’s nowhere I’d rather be.” She slipped from her chair gracefully and pulled Twilight in close, arms wrapped around the smaller woman’s waist. She gently lifted Twilight and kissed her again, less intensely but no less lovingly. Two arms snaked around the back of Celestia’s neck and lifted Twilight closer, savoring yet another kiss. Different, but no less special; equally worthy of Twilight’s mental catalog growing longer by the minute. Not too long after the kiss ended, Twilight cleared the plates from the island and got them into the sink. One last kiss, no more than a peck, and Twilight returned to the bedroom—alone, sadly—to change while a taxi was dispatched to take her home. Twilight exited the taxi after it stopped in front of Carousel Boutique. She waved it off and walked a little past the brick-and-glass facade to a door painted to match the exterior of the building, a deep, brownish-red to match the brick. She pulled a key from her clutch and twisted it in the lock; after a metallic slide of the deadbolt, she pulled the door open and latched it shut behind her. She walked down the fluorescent lit hallway, dodging the large blue recycling bins until the marbled linoleum tiles lead her to another door, marked as the suite number of Carousel Boutique’s street address. She turned her key once more and opened the door. Please, she pleaded with herself and the universe, let no one be home this morning so I can change in peace and just not even acknowledge I spent the night with Celestia on a first date. I don’t need those questions right now. With her shoes off, Twilight ascended the stairs and opened the door at the top of the landing as quietly as possible. Which wasn’t quietly enough. Five pairs of eyes turned to her as soon as she stepped foot in the apartment and Twilight froze in place, a deer in their headlights. Rarity cleared her throat and everyone else seemed to relax just enough. “Twilight, welcome home. I trust your date went well?” she asked, confirming Twilight worst fears about returning. Twilight remained tense, still frozen in the doorway with the door right at her back. “It was fine. Totally ordinary. I’ll just be going now.” Her crimson face tried to hide behind her heels as she shuffled her way out of the kitchen area to the hallway down to the bedrooms and privacy and no more piercing stares or probing questions or rainbow eyebrow wiggling and suggestive hand gestures. “I do hope you’ll join us for mimosas, dear. You missed brunch with the girls and I, but we have time before the spa visit to chat!” Rarity called after her. Can’t walk quickly enough, Twilight cursed to herself. She quickly got out of her dress and hung it to be cleaned later. Her shoes made their way into the bottom of the closet on a rack, and grabbed a towel before stepping across the hall to take a quick shower.  A deep, rueful sigh escaped her lips. “I had a great date. I enjoyed my time with Tia and I plan on seeing her again,” Twilight said to herself, standing in the rush of warm water under the showerhead. “I’m not going to go into details. Yes, I spent the night. Yes, on the first date. Yes, I’m sure it was worth it,” she rattled off in a rote drone as if she were reciting titles in the return bin at the library.  “It was worth it,” she said a little more confidently, a small smile playing across her lips. “I had a wonderful evening.” Her smile broadened as she thought of their first not-so-chance meeting, dinner last night, breakfast this morning, and the tangled sheets in between. Her grinned turned sheepish at that last one, with a faint hint of blush.  She shut the water off, stepped out, dried off, and wrapped a towel around herself. After walking across the hallway back into her room, Twilight dropped the towel and got dressed. A simple light blue tunic paired with dark grey leggings would do nicely for the coming spa visit.  Not that she needed the full visit, having gone with Rarity the day before for some pre-date pampering. “One does not simply skip the biweekly spa visit!” was the common refrain from Rarity any time someone tried to come up with an excuse not to be there. Whether it was harvest season in the fall, roller derby practice, or an upcoming baking contest, no one skipped the visit. Plenty skipped indulging in the spa, particularly Rainbow during roller derby season. One massage with the previous week’s bruises seemed to have soured her on them for a while, a fact Rainbow let anyone with a working pair of ears know every trip they took.  Twilight exited her bedroom and made her way back to the dining room, a little more prepared to deal with the coming wave of questions.  "How'd it go?" "Did you guys f—" followed quickly by an indignant "Rainbow Dash!" "What did she wear?" "Is she nice?"  "It went wonderfully, none of your business, a beautiful blue-to-orange yukata, I'll have to ask for the picture she took, and yes, Fluttershy, she's very nice," Twilight answered in turn. She heaved a relieved sigh and took a seat at the table, after which Applejack slid her a flute of mimosa.  "I think I can speak for all of us," Rarity began, "when I say that we're thrilled for you, darling." She raised her glass. "To Twilight and her new beau!"  "To Twilight!" the rest of the group cheered, and they all drank from their glasses.  "Thank you girls. I'm thrilled, too. Tia's wonderful, and I look forward to our next date."  "Oh ho! Looking to make it a two-night—OW!" Rainbow Dash rubbed her head where Applejack smacked her. "Serves you right, Rainbow," muttered Applejack darkly. "What Twi does with her new partner is her business and her business alone, ya hear?"  "Hit like that, and you'd make roller derby championships for us easy," Rainbow mumbled back.  "So another date?" Rarity asked.  "Mmhmm." "Oh, did you decide where?" Fluttershy chimed in. "I have some suggestions, if you'd like."  "We didn't, uh, decide... on where..." Twilight continued to trail off. "Horsefeathers, I don't think I actually asked her on another date!"  Rarity somehow twirled Twilight's phone in her hand. "I suggest you remedy that straight away then! Romance waits for no woman! And neither will the spa, for that matter, if we delay any longer. Pinkie, I believe it's your turn to order a taxi?"  While Pinkie set to requesting their ride, Applejack excused herself from the table to take her own personal call, and Fluttershy once again brought up, "At what point is one of us going to get a vehicle big enough for all of us?"  "When I can afford both the car payments and rent on this building, which I don't see happening for a little while," Rarity replied for the who-knows-how-many-eth time. "Applejack has her work truck, you have your little hatchback that can really only seat two, and Rainbow has her motorcycle. Pinkie and I don't drive because we work here in the city, and then Twilight has her electric car, but that's it for our vehicles. We could manage with that, but it costs as much to park at the spa as it does for a taxi there and back if we all went. If any of you girls would be due for an upgrade, 7 passengers would be a nice feature!"  By the time Rarity finished her weekly driving rant, Twilight tapped out and sent her text. Tia! We never set up our next date this morning. Anything special you have in mind? "Tia, you missed brunch," Luna said brusquely as soon as Celestia took a seat across from her at the little cafe in their neighborhood.  "I did miss brunch," Tia replied as nonchalantly as she could manage while she picked up the cup in front of her. The staff knew her and her sister well enough to have a table set aside and drinks prepared every Saturday at noon. Leaving a sizeable tip surely helped ensure they weren't forgotten. "First date, and she's already got you in bed?" Luna quirked an eyebrow.  "One," Celestia raised her index finger while she sipped her latte, "as you and Raven have both made perfectly, crystal clear, what Twilight and I get up to off campus is entirely our business. Two, while I feel I shouldn't have to answer to you about anything that goes in my romantic life, I can assure you that the desire was mutual. And three, you're just jealous. When was the last time someone asked you on a date?"  Luna shot her a well-deserved dark look. "It has been some time since Roseluck and I ended things," she said through grit teeth. "Point well taken."  Celestia smiled softly. "I'm sorry for bringing it up, that was low and uncalled for. But Twilight and I had a wonderful evening, Luna. I can tell she'll make me very happy, and I hope to make her as happy." "Apology accepted. And I'm sorry for being confrontational about something I've said I don't want to hear about." "Apology accepted." Celestia raised her coffee cup and clinked it against Luna's. "Say, where's Cadance? I thought she would be joining us this week." "Alas, no. It seems I am the single woman out," Luna said, and Celestia stifled a giggle. "She's off on some full week cruise until tomorrow with her boyfriend. The police detective or whatever his thing is."  "No, detective sounds right. Shining Armor, maybe?" Celestia took another sip of her latte. "Aside from Twilight's glowing reference and letter of recommendation, we haven't spoken much with her lately, have we?" "It certainly seems that way, yes. Which all the more shameful, because I would've delighted in her reaction to you taking one of her former charges..." Luna smirked. "Oh, we'll have to invite her out soon. I do hope you won't spoil the surprise?"  "I hadn't planned on it. I was hoping to tell her today, but I totally forgot about her trip. I don't know when she can make time next." Celestia's phone buzzed. "Hm?" She read the message and broke out into a wide grin.  "It certainly looks like she'll make you happy," Luna commented. "But so help me, if that woman breaks your heart..."  "Luna, you're her manager. As tough as it might be, I don't want you to torpedo her career if I got heartbroken. That's... that's out of line." Celestia paused and collected herself. "I can tell why managers dating their reports causes problems." "Is that going stop you?" Luna asked pointedly.  "No." Celestia began tapping a reply on her phone.  Of course I want to see you again! I'm having coffee with your boss and trying to convince her to stay off your back, because she has in her mind that you're some heartbreaker, but I know otherwise. I don't have anything special in mind right now. I'd suggest a bookstore, but I think you'll get enough books starting Monday. Celestia set her phone down on the table and picked up her coffee to take another drink. "I don't know how I want to announce the library moving under you. Just a quick little, 'hey, this happened' email or a big 'congrats to Luna for taking on this new role, so excited for her to help the library grow and collaborate more' thing."  "Perhaps a little low key right now, and have a big announcement later." "Mm." Celestia took a sip. "I'd rather not draw too much attention to the change right now, that's for sure."  "It is intimidating enough starting a new role. Adding the stress of being part of a big announcement might panic your new partner." Celestia nodded slowly. "Maybe." Her phone buzzed again.  You're right! Haha, I tend to get lost in my own world in a bookstore. My friends usually go off to something else and come collect me after a while. Speaking of, my friend Fluttershy suggested the city gardens! I know, dead of winter, not much growing, but they put on a beautiful light show at night! I went a couple of years ago, and had a great time with my friends. I think spending the night with you there would be even more special An easy, contented smile graced Celestia's face, and she quickly replied.  The gardens sound lovely. Maybe we'll go next Saturday night then? 7:00? And I'll always see you Monday.  Celestia barely had time to set her phone down before the next message arrived.  It's a date! I'll see you Monday morning and Saturday night! xoxo "xoxo? Seriously, Twi?" Rainbow asked. "What are you, sixteen?" "Twenty five, thank you very much. And I'd appreciate it if you didn't read over my shoulder."