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// Wait, Who? 
// Story: The Days Passed 
// by SilverEyedWolf 
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"Hmm. Do you think I should order a bigger one?"

"I think the one you have is well and big enough for all of us."

"Well, I do want to be sure Fluttershy is happy with it. Are you sure it would be big enough for her?"

"I don't think she worries about size as much as you do."

"Well, it must be of a certain size, dear. No one likes one that is too small after all."

"It still needs to fit, Rares."

"I know, I know, but surely with a bit of time, work, and a good application of grease, anything could fit."

Spike sighed, rubbing his forehead as they stood at the baseboard of Rarity's four-poster bed. "Rarity, really, I think there's plenty of room on this thing to hold all three of us, and maybe Harry too. And again, Fluttershy isn't the type of pony to judge anything based on purely its size. That's a Canterlot thing.

"Plus," he said, looking around the room, "a bigger bed would just start to crowd out the rest of the room, wouldn't it? And you'd have to match your tables," he said as he pointed to the two small dressers, topped with matching lamps.

Rarity gazed around the room, at all of her matching and precisely placed furniture. Biting her lip, she looked up at Spike and started to ask, "Are you-?"

Laughing, Spike placed the palm of one paw over her nose and muzzle. "I'm sure, I'm sure."

Snorting, Rarity glared up at him until he removed his paw, clearing her throat with a pointed 'hem-hem' before saying, "Very well, if you're sure." She was quiet for a tic before muttering, "Still going to ask her though."

Snickering, Spike nodded before walking over to the door that didn't lead out onto the landing of the second floor. "As you will," he said, before opening the door and peering inside. "Wow, you've cleaned out since the last time I saw your closet," he said, whistling as he looked over the smaller room.

"Well, winter is coming dear, and with it racks of new dresses and ideas!" she said, prancing in place with a squee before stopping and clearing her throat again. "A lady must be prepared," she said with a sniff.

"R-i-ght," Spike said, drawing out the i. "Any case, I'm glad that Flutters only keeps a drawer or two's worth of clothing around," he said, idly glancing through Rarity's dress selection.

"Oh dear, she doesn't fold her dresses, does she?"

Spike snorted before shutting the door. "No, but if she wants to keep something warm over here, it's probably not going to be a dress," he said, placing the tip of his claw gently on her nose. "Luckier still, I also don't have much clothing, so your closet is destined to be all yours."

Rarity paused for a moment, looking over at the door before giving Spike a small smile. "Would it be rude of me to admit that I'm relieved?"

"Not rude, just pointing out the obvious," he said, giving her a smirk before moving out of the room and down the stairs. He paused at the bottom of the staircase, looking around the main landing of the boutique before he glanced back up at Rarity, paused four steps up.

"It's sobering," he said, looking around the space, "realizing how little stuff I have. What's the list? A single bed relegated back to Twilight's castle for the time being, and a few boxes and bookshelves of O and O stuff. The couch and stuff belong to the apartment. I guess there was a couple of shelves of comics I haven't read or kept up with for years. My two mugs." He glanced up at Rarity. "What have I been doing the last four years, even?"

He watched Rarity as she took a small breath, looking conflicted for a moment before saying, "Me?"

He snorted, placing the back of a paw onto his nose.

"I was hoping that'd help," she sighed before she joined him on the landing and nudged him with her hip.

"I'd say something deep about living in the here and now instead of lingering in the past, but I don't think I have that right," she said, gazing around the boutique critically and adjusting a hat bust with her magic. "The only thing I can really think to say is, well, I love you, and I am here for you this time."

Smiling, Spike lowered his head and gave her a quick peck on her lips.

His head jolted up when he heard a small squeak from the door. Glancing that way, he smiled at the mare smiling at them behind a curtain of pink hair, holding a picnic basket.

"Hey there 'Shy," he said with a chuckle, walking over to the mare stuttering at the door. "Nice to see you for lunch," he murmured, before reaching down and gently pulling her muzzle up. He placed his lips on hers, silencing her squeaking stuttering before he pulled away, smiling at her.

She grinned up at him and squeaked again, before she cleared her throat and said, "Hi. I, uhm, brought over some fresh vegetables. I thought we could eat and catch up on how the move's going?"

"Oh, the move's done," Spike said, gently taking the basket and walking towards the kitchen. "Turns out, I live like a monk devoted to minimalism. I only had, what, three boxes?" he asked Rarity, who nodded. "Most of that's under her bed now."

"Our bed," Rarity said, inclining her head to Fluttershy. "I wanted to get your input on it as well."

"Oh, there's no need," Fluttershy started.

"I insist," Rarity cut off, lifting an eyebrow and smiling at her. "After all, I do have every hope of you two joining me at some point, and I want all of us to be comfortable."

Fluttershy blushed and bit her lip slightly, before smiling and nodding.

"And how exactly were you planning on making sure we all fit, Miss Rarity?" Spike asked over his shoulder as he moved into the kitchen, placing the basket on the table as he started poking through it. "Fluttershy might have something to do after lunch, you pervert you."

Rarity made a smothered noise in her throat while Fluttershy giggled and sat one of the chairs around the table.

"Yeah, uh-huh," Spike murmured at her, raising an eyebrow with a grin at Fluttershy before pulling out some carrots, an onion, a head of cauliflower, and some potatoes. "We both know about your plans and your 'Afternoon Delight's."

Fluttershy pressed her hooves to her snout while Rarity sighed and gave up, sitting next to her.

"So, Fluttershy," she said, turning away from Spike, "how has your day gone? Did all of your animals do well in your absence?"

"Well," she said, looking down at her hooves for a moment as she gathered her thoughts, "when I looked over everything this morning everything was mostly good except for my bags of birdseed. I found the leftovers of them with holes in the corners, so I think some naughty dears must have gone through the whole things." She frowned. "I hope they didn't give themselves stomachaches," she murmured worriedly.

Spike snorted from the sink he was at, rinsing the veggies before placing them on a cutting board. "It was probably the squirrels," he said, opening a drawer and pulling out a short, squarish knife. "I hope they shared," he muttered as he started peeling some of the food on the board.

"Oh, dear," Fluttershy said, frowning further. "I hope so too, there are only three families and they went through a full bag."

Spike paused and snorted, hiding a smirk, before continuing his prep.

"But everything else was fine?" Rarity asked, leaning in a bit. "No new friends under your bed or couch or anything?"

"Like, babies? Oh no," Fluttershy giggled. "It's a little late in the year for those kinds of surprises. Oh, but, I did get to see one of the porcupettes this morning! His little waddle was so cute," she squeaked, giggling and pressing her hooves together. "He ran away from me at first, but his momma introduced us and he is just so sweet."

Rarity giggled and smiled back, more at Fluttershy than her tale. "Well I'm glad to hear you had a good morning," she said, raising a hoof to Fluttershy.

Hesitating for a moment, Fluttershy quickly raised her own hoof and pressed back against Rarity's with a smile. "What about you two?" she asked, looking back over to Spike chopping away at the board. "What have you been doing after the move?"

"Mostly just going around the boutique," Spike said back, kneeling for a moment and pulling out a large shallow pan and placing it on the stove-top. "Discussing what could need to be replaced or moved to better situate it for the three of us. I know," he said, pausing and looking at Fluttershy, "that you're not sure about, like, fully moving in, but we both still want this to be a more comfortable place for you.

" We wanna see you here often and whatnot," he said with a thin smile before dumping some of the vegetables and a bit of oil into the pan and lighting the range.

Fluttershy frowned and started to object, but Rarity's lifted eyebrow was enough to stop her.

"Fluttershy," she said, leaning forward. "I know that we don't have to. I know that I don't have to," she said, raising a leg to gently place her hoof on Fluttershy's shoulder, "but I want to. I want to have every excuse possible to invite you here, to be with me, and to be with us."

Fluttershy blushed, smiling down at the table and over at Spike (who was smiling over his shoulder) and then back to Rarity.

"That sounds nice," she said, pausing before winking. "Eventually."

Rarity leaned back and let her laughter fill the room, Spike's gentle chuckling adding to the base sounds.

"Eventually then," Rarity said, wiping a tear from one of her eyes before scooting her chair closer and wrapping her forelegs around Fluttershy. "But not too long.

"Spike," she said, still holding on to Fluttershy but mock glaring over at the drake, "in his infinite gentledrakeness, has refused to," she paused, lifting an eyebrow before whispering into Fluttershy's ear, the yellow mare turning a beet red, "until you two do so first. And a mare has needs, you'll no doubt know."

She squeaked again, holding her hooves up to her mouth. "Th-th-that's no-no-not nec-nec-nec-"

"Oh, I know dear," Rarity said, sighing and throwing her hoof up to rest below her horn, leaning over and against Fluttershy, "but I'm afraid he insists, and unfortunately I do not believe it to be a horrible idea. He's just getting a kick out of teasing me, I swear to Celestia," she sighed, fluttering her eyelashes up at the ceiling.

"You leave my mom out of your bedroom talk," Spike called over the sizzling of the vegetables, before stage whispering to himself, "you hussy."

"Hussy! Hussy he says!" Rarity positively crowed, throwing herself into a giggling Fluttershy's lap. "Such an insult I have weathered before, but from my paramour directly! Oh, the stain! Oh, my heartbreak! Oh-"

"Oh your mouth," Spike said, grabbing a wooden spoon from a drawer and stirring the pan, smells of carrot and onion and garlic filling the room.

"Speaking of," Rarity said, dropping her pretenses and sitting upright, primping her hair back into style, "that smells heavenly Spike. What are you planning for that medley?"

"Some veggie stock, some rice," he said, pulling a pot from the cabinets and filling it with water before plunking it down on the stove. "Some spices," he said blandly, opening the cupboard next to and above her range, the clattering of glass jars audible.

"Some spices?" Rarity asked, licking her lips and praying the sweat wasn't showing. "Which ones, Spike?"

A chuckle was his only answer.

"Oh," Rarity said, her ears drooping a bit. "I was afraid you'd say that." She turned with a sigh. "Did you know that, once, I brought dear Spike leftovers from one of the spicier dishes at The Tasty Treat that I couldn't finish? He loved it so much that he asked me to introduce him to the chef. One, one, weekend later, he was whipping up the spiciest things," she said, biting her lip at the memory as a shiver worked over her coat. "I couldn't see clients after certain lunches without accidentally," another shiver, "burping fire at them. Me! Belching! Ugh."

Fluttershy giggled at the thought, while Spike wasn't half as conservative with his chuckling.

"But the taste Rarity! You never, ever, once ever complained about the flavor," he said, tapping the sizzling pan with the edge of his spoon.

She sighed, nodding. "No, no I didn't," she admitted, nodding. "Just the same, I'm glad I don't have any clients scheduled for today. Or the rest of the week," she said, narrowing her eyes at the paper calendar on her fridge. "Thanks to some-drake, I had to cancel all of my appointments. At the last minute too, for some of them."

Spike sighed, his shoulders slumping.

"Oh, I'm sorry dear," Rarity said, her expression falling. "That was supposed to just be another jab, you're much more important to me than some silly pony's complaints."

He smiled over his shoulder at her, but it didn't quite reach his eyes. "I know Rarity, but..." He paused, sighed, and put his spoon aside and turned around, saying, "But that's one of the things you used to complain about. Me trying to set up dates or lunches, and you'd tell me that you had a client that day, and lecture me about how bad it looks for you to cancel appointments suddenly."

Rarity flinched, frowning as she bit her lip and quietly thought to herself.

"Oh, well, damn," she said quietly. "I'm, I'm so sorry Spike. Uhm," she said, rolling a hoof through the air. "Uhm, I feel like I could justify myself, or just apologize, so again, I'm sorry Spike."

He smiled back at her, genuinely this time, nodding as he said, "Yeah, thank you."

Rarity gave him a sad smile as he turned around, but it just wouldn't stay. After a moment she put her head on the table, her eyes distant as she stared at Spike's back.

"How many others?"

"Hmm?"

"How many other things like that did I do to you?"

Spike shrugged, tossing the vegetables around the pan. "I didn't keep track. Felt mean to do. Plus it... It started adding up too quickly."

Rarity sighed and nodded. "You'll bring it up now, though, right?" She didn't quite give him long enough to reply before she tacked on, "Please?"

He nodded, reaching over and checking the pot next to the pan on the stove before giving it a stir. "I promise," he said easily, nodding to himself and the hot dishes before him as he reached up into a different cabinet and withdrew three bowls. He ladled the rice into them first before pouring a bit of the vegetable mixture over it, which had become a thick golden-brown gravy.

Placing one of the bowls on his forearm, he pulled three spoons out of a drawer before grabbing the other two bowls in his paws and turning around.

"Enough of that though," he said, taking a couple of steps and placing the bowls before the ladies and grabbing a chair for himself. "If you're wanting to get all of us crying, then wait until the spice hits so we have an excuse."

Rarity and Fluttershy chuckled, Rarity stopping Spike from completely sitting down. "Uhm, I have some bottles of milk in my fridge, please?"

Chuckling, Spike walked over to the fridge and opened it. "Do you want a glass or a bottle?"

Rarity opened her mouth to reply, but paused to sniff delicately at the food in front of her. "Erm, a bottle, if you will, please."

Chuckling, Spike withdrew two bottles, about a quart apiece, and grabbed two glasses from the cupboard. He set one of the bottles right beside Rarity's bowl, before pouring a glass and setting it beside Fluttershy's.

Settling, he cleared his throat before looking around the table, smirking as Rarity swallowed dryly. Picking up his spoon, he twirled it once between his digits before looking across the table.

"Feel free to begin," he said, before taking a heaping spoonful and placing it in his mouth.

Fluttershy copied him, shivering at the first taste and humming before taking another spoonful. "It's very good Spike, thank you for making lunch for us."

"Of course," he said with a smile before he cocked an eyebrow as Rarity gathered up her first spoonful. "Oh, and Rares?" She paused and looked at him, and he gave her a wide grin as he said, "I just wanted you to know that I held back, before. Not this time."

Rarity eyed the dish again and sighed. "Of course," she murmured, before visibly steeling herself and taking the first bite.

***** ***** ***** ***** *****

Fluttershy scraped the bottom of her bowl gently, piling up the rest of the coated rice and gravy into a last bite. After swallowing, she took a final sip of her glass, sighing and smiling over at Spike. "That was perfect," she said, giggling as he wiped his lips before stretching over to kiss her gently.

"I'm glad you thought so too," he said with a smile, before returning his gaze to beside her. "Are you almost done with yours?"

Rarity didn't reply for a moment, much too busy staring at the ceiling vacantly, slowly smacking her cherry-red lips together. Her ear twitched, and she lowered her head in a slow, loose rolling of the neck to stare down at her bowl. She blinked vacantly at the small mound of food left there, maybe a fourth of her serving.

"Rarity?" Spike asked, concern starting to eke into his voice. "I know we've been having a time out of making fun, but don't feel like you need to finish it if it's actually hurting you," he said, reaching a paw out to her.

Some animal part of her brain activated, and she let out a short, guttural growl before her hooves slammed onto the table and she scooped up the bowl, tossing it back and emptying the food into her mouth. With a keening whimper, she audibly swallowed the lot of it. With an exhalation, she dropped the bowl to the tabletop and grabbed the bottle of milk and threw her head back, draining it.

"Well alright then," Spike said, his paw landing flat on the table between them as he watched her pant for a second.

A growling, grinding, rumbling noise began to fill the small room, and Rarity lowered her muzzle and covered the very tip of her mouth and nose.

"Rarity?" Spike had time to ask, before she dropped her hoof and her jaw to begin what Spike was sure was a record rending belch, starting from the very bottom of her stomach and ricocheting its way up her windpipe, accompanied by a thin, bright, butane-blue gout of flame that completely enveloped Spike's entire head.

After a moment of surprise, Fluttershy leaned back and away from the torrent of fire being released from her marefriend, pressing a hoof to her own mouth to keep back either a giggle or a scream, she wasn't sure.

Spike was either entranced or uncomprehending, staying completely still for the entirety of the flame. Once Rarity had it out of her system, the flame died as abruptly as the ear-shattering squall, leaving Spike's soot-covered, deadpanning face to stare at her, slowly raising an eyebrow ridge.

"That was a full minute, Rarity," he said, reaching across the table and sliding the bowl away from her. "You'd have the record if you'd kept it up for, like, fifteen more seconds."

"Excuse me, dear," she said back, vacantly dabbing at her bottom lip with glassy eyes.

Shaking his head, Spike grinned nonetheless as he grabbed the bowls and stood to give them a quick rinse, along with his cooking utensils, before ducking his head under the spout and rinsing the soot away. Stopping the flow of water he blindly reached out and grabbed a kitchen towel before using it to dry his head.

As he loaded the sink-load into the dish cleanser between the stove and the sink, he heard Fluttershy murmuring at the table. Closing the swing-down door, he turned.

"Did she hurt herself?"

Fluttershy giggled as she fed Rarity another glass of milk from her own cup. "Maybe a little, but nothing that she isn't strong enough to recover from in a bit. Maybe next time you make a curry we can go the mild route?"

"So, what, four tabasco peppers instead of five?" he asked, frowning.

"How about one or two," Fluttershy giggled, patting Rarity gently on the back and getting another, much shorter belch followed by a hiccup and a quiet, "Excuse me."

He creased his eyebrows and scowled heavily at her, before shrugging and smiling. "I'll stick to something less extreme next time," he promised, turning around and returning the spices to the cabinet. Holding up the tall glass cylinder, he narrowed his eyes at the pods inside of it. "These might be bird's eye chilies," he muttered.

"Oh dear," Fluttershy giggled, pressing a hoof to her mouth to hold back her smile. "I thought it was quite spicy."

"Hmph," Spike snorted, before putting the rest of the stuff back into the cupboard and walking over to Rarity, bending his knees and placing a paw on her shoulder. "You okay?" he asked, tapping her nose a couple of times. "Anypony home?"

Rarity hiccuped again and muttered something under her breath before absently running her tongue up his finger. "Terribly rude of you to keep that candy cane from me, darling," she muttered when he whipped his paw away before she resumed blinking up at the ceiling.

Spike and Fluttershy both shared a worried glance before Spike spread his arms and his paws. Waiting for Fluttershy to cover her ears, he slammed his palms together with a massive THWAK.

Rarity flinched and blinked, blinked, blinked, before making a quiet whining noise in her throat and reaching out for the glass of milk with both hooves.

After draining half of it, she gave Spike one of the dirtiest looks he'd ever received from anypony.

"If you want to kill me then just do it," she squeaked, before swishing with another drink of the milk. "Or is this payback?"

Spike snorted, gently clapping a paw onto Rarity's shoulder as he looked at Fluttershy. "Yeah, she'll be okay," he said, clapping Rarity's shoulder again before retaking his seat. "So, what're we doing for the rest of the day?" he asked the table, settling his weight onto his elbows placed on the table. "I've been moved, Fluttershy's dealt with her birdseed, and Rarity has regained both her consciousness and her sanity. I'm open for the rest of the day, so...?" he finished, letting the last word dangle meaningfully.

"Oh, well, I needed to restock most of my animal feeds, but I did that easily enough from my storage," Fluttershy said, scratching an ear. "Uhm, I should check over my chickens and some of the smaller mammals, to make sure they haven't had any troubles with some of my more carnivorous friends."

"I don't have much honestly," Rarity murmured, setting down her glass. "I could do some designing, but I suppose getting my appointment schedule back up and running should take precedence."

Spike nodded. "Alright, then I could help you with the written side of that, I remember your format well enough I think. How many-"

A knocking interrupted, from the front of the boutique.

Spike cocked his head and glanced at Rarity, who shrugged. "I don't have anypony supposed to come over today. Maybe it's a package?" She touched her lips with a wince and fluttered her eyelashes at Spike. "Would you mind?"

Snorting, Spike gave her a small grin and moved through the building to answer the door, smiling back at Fluttershy as he heard her peek around the doorway.

Facing the door, he lowered his head as he opened it. "I'm sorry, but the boutique-"

"Spike Ignis?" the pony outside of the door deadpanned, looking up at him. It was the same dark, wine-colored pony from the train station that had been so terse with him. "I don't know if you remember me, but Princess Celestia has assigned me to assist you in your training to understand your powers better."

"We know each other?" Spike asked before his brain hiccuped and he said, "Help me understand my 'powers' better?"

She looked up at him for a moment before she smirked.

"Princess Celestia thought my training under the Storm King might assist you in the control of your emotions," she said, before sticking a hoof out to him. "I don't go by the name anymore, but you probably remember me better under his name for me.

"It used to be Tempest Shadow," she said, still smirking up at him, "but I go by my birth name these days. Captain Fizzlepop Berrytwist, sir, of her highness's Airship Battery Squadron."