Adagio released a contented sigh as she flipped through an old fashion magazine, listening to the background noise of explosions on the television, the clicking noises of Aria’s game controller, and Sonata’s amused giggles. It was a collection of sounds she’d heard for years, and it left her feeling almost nostalgic. Just like old times… she thought to herself, before glancing across the couch. …mostly.
Unlike old times, Sonata was curled up in Aria’s lap, eyes glued to the television as the controller hovered in her own lap, Aria’s arms wrapped loosely around her waist to hold it. Adorable Adagio thought, though she couldn’t stop the small pang of what was definitely not jealousy that ran through the back of her mind.
Adagio rolled her eyes. It was a ridiculous thought, her being jealous of those two. Adagio Dazzle did not get jealous! It was her who made others jealous! Speaking of, she belatedly realized she hadn’t teased anyone today, well besides Aria, but that hardly counted. I wonder when Sunset will be home… she thought, not noticing the slight pink tinge it brought to her cheeks.
A moment later, the distinct sound of a key being fumbled into a lock made its way from the front door, and Adagio couldn’t help the small grin that spread across her face. “Speak of the devil…”
“Wha?” Asked Aria, before catching on to the noises coming from the front door. “Crap!” She muttered, before tossing Sonata off her lap in a panic.
Sonata landed in a heap on the carpet between the couch and the tv. “Owie...” she managed to groan,
“Sorry babe.” Aria whispered, while trying to look as aloof and casual as possible.
--------------------------
Sunset paused as the key slid fully into the lock, taking a deep breath and eyeing her two friends to her left. “Brace yourselves girls, I don’t know what fresh hell awaits us inside, but I heard some kind of commotion in there.”
Twilight just rolled her eyes good natured-ly while Rarity giggled.
“Oh don’t be so mean darling, that could be your future wife in there!” Rarity teased, a twinkle in her eyes.
Sunset flushed red while trying very hard to not think about their discussion back at the boutique. “Sh-shut up! ‘What happens at the boutique stays at the boutique.’ is your rule! And that goes for what I said about both Adagio and Principal Celestia!”
“Fine, fine dear, our lips are sealed.” Rarity assured her, making a dismissive motion with a hand. “Regardless, I was promised wine and romance movies, so let’s get a move on.” She urged, gesturing for the door.
“Yeah, alright.” Sunset nodded, before taking another deep breath and swinging the door open.
To say she wasn’t expecting the scene that greeted her was an understatement, but that was becoming an increasingly regular occurrence.
“Uh, hi Aria, Sonata, what are you girls doing here?”
“We came to bring some of Adagio’s stuff from the apartment, then figured we’d hang for a bit.” Aria offered noncommittally, her attention focused mostly on the video game she was playing.
“I see...” Sunset answered, a bemused look on her face as her eyes moved from Aria to Sonata. “Uh, Sonata, why are you lying on the floor...face first...”
“Ih’s comfy...” Sonata muttered, sounding both sulky and not particularly comfortable.
“Um...k.” Sunset shook her head, then looked to Adagio offering a sheepish smile. “Hey Dagi…” she stopped short, realizing she had used the cutesy nickname without thinking about it, but decided to push through the blush it had caused. “I’m, uh, sorry we had to ditch you at lunch.”
Adagio turned a little pink herself, hiding it behind her magazine as she tried not to think of the last time Sunset had called her that. “It’s fine, I didn’t end up staying anyways, somebody had to come let these two in.” She explained, neglecting to mention the little verbal slap fight she’d had with Celestia.
“Rain check?” Sunset asked hopefully, though why it was suddenly so important to her, she couldn’t fathom.
“Of course.” Adagio purred, flipping the top of her magazine down enough to flash Sunset some mild bedroom eyes. “Maybe we can go just the two of us sometime.”
Sunset stiffened a little, but found the idea didn’t sound quite as horrible as she would’ve assumed. “Y-yeah, maybe…”
“Darling, you’re blocking the door, and I was promised wine!” Rarity called as she prodded Sunset in the back, causing the girl to jump slightly with an “Eeep!” and clearing the blocked entrance for herself and Twilight.
“Alright alright, I got it!” Sunset practically shouted as she speed-walked towards the kitchen, hoping nobody noticed how talking with Adagio had made her forget everyone else in the room. She opened a cabinet and pulled out a large cardboard box, hoisting it onto the counter. “Hope you don’t mind that it’s warm.”
Adagio glanced over, well pretended to glance over, maybe she’d been covertly watching Sunset the entire time, but who was counting, and groaned at seeing the box. “You can’t serve that tripe to our guests, Sunny. Hold on, I think I have something better in the stuff Aria and Sonata brought.”
Adagio bounced up from her position on the couch, doing a dramatic stretch before powering off towards her room, conveniently catching everyone’s attention while Aria discreetly helped her secret girlfriend up off the floor with an apology kiss on the cheek. After a few moments, she returned, her arms filled with a collection of dusty bottles.
Proceeding into the kitchen, she began examining labels as she deposited each bottle on the counter. “Hmmmmm, late 70’s Italian, these should be just about at their peak.” She mumbled before casting about for a cork screw
“You have a vintage wine collection?” Sunset asked, raising a brow as she pulled a cheap plastic cork screw from a drawer.
“One tends to accumulate things when you live for centuries, might as well try and find the ones that get better with age.” Adagio explained with an airy chuckle.
“Makes sense I suppose.” Sunset agreed with a shrug, before pulling out her phone curiously. After tapping on it for a moment, she held it up next to one of the bottles, her jaw dropping. “Holy shit, some of these bottles are worth like a thousand dollars!”
Adagio just shrugged. “I have plenty more, neither of us is hurting for money, and like I said, a few more years and these will be past their prime anyways. Besides I didn’t buy any of my little collection without the intent to drink it.”
“Well then that’s, uh…” Sunset scratched her head, still trying to wrap her head around the values of the bottles, before deciding it wasn’t really important right now. “It’s very sweet of you to share these with us.” Was what she settled on, adding a genuine little smile.
“You’re welcome.” Adagio said with a wink before scooping up two of the bottles and heading towards the living room. “Bring some glasses please!”
Sunset turned to another cabinet and opened it, reaching to the top shelf where she had a barely used set of long stem wine glasses. The box wine would have gone into disposable cups, but this situation called for something with a bit more polish.
Returning to the living room, Sunset found that Twilight had pulled a chair up next to the couch, and both her and Sonata had taken to watching Aria resume her video game, while Rarity was excitedly jumping up and down as Adagio smugly presented her with the pair of wine bottles.
Noticing Sunset had arrived with the glasses, Adagio set to opening each one, casting an eye around the room. “Alright, who wants red, and who wants white?”
“I’ll try the red please dear.” Rarity said with excitement, before giving Sunset a small frown. “And unfortunately Sunset must only have the white, she, uh….reacts poorly to red wine.”
Sunset grimaced, hiding her face in a palm.
Adagio just chuckled and began filling a glass from each bottle. “So I’ve heard.” She handed each girl a full glass, adding an apologetic smile for Sunset, then looked to the others. “What’ll it be girls?”
Aria grunted, pausing the game and rummaging in a plastic bag next to her to pull out a can of alcoholic energy drink. Adagio wrinkled her nose in disgust, but knew better than to try and convince the girl to drink something quality for a change.
“I’ll have the white please!” Sonata gasped, raising her hand as if answering a question in school.
“Um, make that two…please?” Twilight added hesitantly.
Adagio nodded, filling two more glasses with the bottle of white wine and doling them out, before turning back to the red for herself. When the task was finished, she raised it towards Sunset and Rarity. “You’ve caught me in a particularly good mood, so I’ll humor you and say ’to friends, old and new.’“
Sunset and Rarity both giggled a little at her reluctance before clinking their glasses and all three took a long sip.
“Mmmm, Sunset if you don’t marry this girl, I may have to.” Rarity mumbled with a blissful sigh.
“What?” Sunset and Adagio asked in unison.
“Hm? Nothing dears, just commenting on how delicious the wine is!” Rarity managed, taking another large sip to stop herself from laughing nervously. They both gave her odd looks but eventually returned to their own glasses, making their own series of approving noises.
“You two go sit down while I open another bottle of white, since this one is almost done.” Adagio offered, examining the mostly empty bottle. Rarity and Sunset shrugged, heading for nearby seats, while Adagio turned towards the kitchen, but not without Aria taking notice.
“Hey Nata, take over for me for a minute?” Aria asked, tossing her the controller.
“You got it boss!” Sonata said with a smart salute, while somehow managing to simultaneously walk the game character off a cliff.
Walking into the kitchen, Aria approached Adagio as she was working on opening a bottle with the less than adequate cork screw. “Need any help?”
“Nah, I got it.” Adagio said with a small grunt of effort, only getting the cork out halfway.
“Gimme that.” Aria said, rolling her eyes as she snapped up the bottle and gave the cork screw a seemingly effortless tug that popped the cork immediately.
“I suppose you were always better than me with pointy objects.” Adagio admitted with a wry grin.
Aria chuckled, before giving Adagio a more serious look. “So, you’ve got it pretty bad huh?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about!” Adagio answered nervously. “Didn’t we already have this conversation a few hours ago?”
“Daj, you wouldn’t even share your collection with us.” Aria deadpanned, “Now you’re sharing it with an entire room full of people, just so you can share it with her.”
Adagio looked away, hugging her shoulders. “I-I just wanted to be a good host!”
Aria grinned wickedly, putting a comforting hand on her shoulder. “Man, you used to be such a good liar, what has ‘Team Friendship” been doing to you these past few days?”
Adagio wilted, her shoulders slumping as she leaned against the counter, but there was a rueful smile on her face. “This is pretty much just her influence.”
Aria chuckled darkly. “That sounds dangerously close to just admitting you’re into her.”
“I, but, urghhhhh…fine, maybe I have, just a bit, developed a glimmer of affection for her.”
“That’s right, let it allllll out.” Aria quipped sardonically.
“Go choke on a barnacle.” Adagio grumbled, though she couldn’t help the edges of her mouth twisting into a smile.
"Seriously, why don't you just put the moves on her like usual?" Aria asked, a look of genuine curiosity on her face. "Your slowest record before now has been like 8 hours, and that girl was a 17th century Nun! I mean sure they wanted to burn you for witchcraft afterwards and we had to run for our lives, but Massachusetts sucked anyways."
"It's complicated." Adagio huffed, before giving a small, hesitant frown. "Most of my tactics just make her uncomfortable, which is super fun and cute to watch, but not exactly getting me anywhere." She took a moment to look around, ensuring nobody was eavesdropping on them before lowering her voice to a whisper. "And if I'm really being honest, I...I don't want just some one night stand...I want more than that" she admitted, her face heating up.
Aria gave an amused snort. "You sound like a simpering idiot right now."
Adagio glared, before taking up a wolflike grin. "So in other words, like I'm totally your type?"
Aria opened her mouth to retort, before glancing over her shoulder to see Sonata giggling merrily as she blew her own game character up repeatedly with her own rocket launcher. Rolling her eyes, she turned back to Adagio and shrugged. "What can I say, I like em dumb and cute I guess."
They both giggled for a moment before Aria turned back towards the living room. “Anyways, come on, you have glasses to refill, and I have another can of sugary crap to open, besides I wanna see what happens when you and bacon bits get drunk together!”