The group was nearly done with the lunch dishes when Amethyst excused herself and left for her afternoon classes. Rosa was tempted to follow her, but she still had the question to ask Will. Instead, she shifted to the other stool and started working on the final few plates and bowls, while Will took up drying in addition to stacking.
"So, you and Amethyst are roommates?" he asked after they both got comfortable with their new tasks.
"Yes. We also have some classes together," she clarified.
"That's cool."
Nothing further seemed forthcoming, so Rosa swallowed a lump and looked around for Mrs. Evelyn. The main cook was far enough so she wouldn't hear them. "Um, can I ask you a question?"
"Sure."
Of course the young man didn't pick up on her anxiety and continued to dry the plates she gave him without even glancing in her direction.
"Can you keep it a secret?" she ventured.
This time his hands stopped and Will looked at her with raised eyebrows. "Um... sure?" he replied, a bit uncertainly.
"Promise?"
"This is going to be something illegal, isn't it?"
Rosa scrunched up her muzzle in apprehension. How could he know?!
He looked at her expression for a few seconds, then he sighed and his shoulders sagged. "Okay, I promise I won't tell anyone."
Watch his face closely, trying to spot a lie, Rosa couldn't see it. To the best of her judgement, Will looked like a truthful and earnest young man. Maybe he was hoping for a little something with Amethyst, too, so he'd be extra nice to her friends? Not that he would get anything beside a bit of flirting, Rosa thought. The rules on that sort of thing couldn't be clearer, nor the punishment more dire. Amethyst knew it too, but just flirting, Rosa thought, might be okay.
"If some pony from the School asked me to get them a couple of movies for their iPad - could you help me do that, without telling anyone? It's not exactly allowed..." Her heart was racing as she waited for the outrage and the rush to tattle on her. She hadn't told him any names, so Rosa could just deny everything, she hoped.
He didn't seem inclined to get her in trouble and gave it some serious thought. "I guess," he said slowly, "if I brought my laptop in one day. Is that it?"
Was that it?! He sounded like she had asked for nothing of importance. Didn't he know the rules about electronics in the Pony School?!
"Um. Yes?" she ventured.
"Is that why Amethyst brought you in here?" the young man asked, quite shrewdly in Rosa's opinion.
"Yes."
The admission made her ears lower and that in turn made Will chuckle. "Don't worry about it," he said. "Your secret is safe with me."
Rosa scrambled to try and improve the impression she'd just given. "I still wanna come help sometimes. It's not hard work and I like cookies..."
That just made him laugh harder. "Okay, okay, I believe you. So, what kind of movies?"
Her ears perked up now that the plan had worked and she was about to get something nice for herself and her roommates. "Umm, a couple of romance ones, if you can? Maybe a comedy? Oh, and at least one action movie, please!" She needed to get something for the colts, or she'd never hear the end of it from Paolo.
Will nodded to himself. "Yeah, I've got a few suggestions. Okay, I'll get the movies and tell you or Amethyst when they're ready. I have to read up on how to get them on an iPad, too."
She reached over and hugged the young man in excitement. "Thank you!"
It was a good thing Rosa had just grabbed his shoulders, or the rotating stool would have thrown her off. As it was, she ended up giving Will a somewhat tighter hug than she'd intended.
"Oops, sorry!" the young mare squeaked in surprise.
He caught her around the waist - that was the second time in about as many hours - and again she felt how warm his hands were. She steadied herself with a hoof on the counter as quickly as she could and Will released her, much to the mare's relief. A little longer and she'd have started wondering how those hands would feel elsewhere.
Eep! Rosa looked around for something else to think about.
There was one dish left - a tartar sauce bowl. At least, she thought, Amethyst hadn't licked them clean as she washed. That would have really grossed Rosa out.
She finished the job and passed it over to Will, who wiped it dry and added it to the stack.
"There, I think that's all for now."
He inspected the dishes they'd cleaned up and grinned. "You're right. Good job!" he praised and then waved to the woman. "We're done over here, Mrs. Evelyn!" Will shouted.
The cook turned around and saw that the job was indeed finished, so she came closer to inspect the results. She examined the stack of plates and another of smaller bowls. "Nice job," she praised at last. "I didn't see Amethyst leave."
"Oh, she has classes. She was in a bit of a hurry, I think, so she didn't say bye."
The woman shrugged to herself. "Well, tell her thanks for me, will you? Now, let's get you something nice for your trouble!"
As the plump cook bustled away, Rosa shared a secret smile with Will and he patted her mane. "I'll see you around, I hope?"
"Yes!"
She'd have to remember to thank Amethyst later. Coming up with this idea to help the humans in the kitchen had been pure brilliance.
Carefully climbing down from the stool, Rosa gave the temp a big smile. "I'll come and help out sometimes if I don't have classes!" she promised.
He nodded at the young mare, then grabbed the stack of plates and took them away, probably to get them ready for the evening rush. Left alone, Rosa looked idly around the room, trying to guess at the function of some of those big, scary machines, until the cook returned with a small paper bag.
"Chocolate chip. You like chocolate chip, don't you?"
Rosa bobbed her head up and down in delight.
"Good. There's a couple for you and Amethyst and a few extra for your friends in the room. Don't tell anyone, it'll just be our little secret, okay?" The woman winked and Rosa nodded again, smiling happily. Even her tail swished around a little when the cook bent down and let the mare grab the bag with her mouth.
"'aanh 'oo!"
"You're welcome, sweetie. See you around!"
The ending credits started to roll and Rosa was finally able to budge her eyes from the tiny screen. The faint light illuminated just enough for her to see that there wasn't a dry muzzle under the blanket. Even her own eyes were wet and leaking. Next to her, Iskra sniffled and wiped her nose with a foreleg. Her wing, which had crept around Rosa and - undoubtedly - Amethyst on her other side, twitched in a faint hug.
"W-What is it called again?" the pegasus asked in a quiet, husky voice.
"Lake House," Rosa replied, not sounding much better.
Such a beautiful story. So very nearly heartbreaking there at the end, but so satisfying when Alex showed up just before it was over.
Rosa's gaze met Valentina's, who was lying across from her and they both smiled. For her the movie had been upside down, Rosa realized, but the mare hadn't complained.
Poking the device with her nose to stop it, Rosa couldn't help but let out a long, shuddering sigh. "That was beautiful."
There was a chorus of agreements and a few more sniffles. Iskra's wing pressed her friends against the pegasus once more.
"Can you get any m-more?" Felicity asked from the other side. She was perhaps doing better than the rest of the mares and didn't seem too affected by the romantic movie. She stood up and pulled the blanket off to get them all some much-needed fresh air.
The intrusion of the outside world dispelled the magic of the moment a little, but Rosa still nuzzled against Iskra, grateful to have her roommates with her. Had she watched the movie alone, she would undoubtedly have bawled her eyes out. It had all the makings of a very poignant tragedy and the happy ending just made it hit that much harder. It really put into perspective just how sad the movie could have been if Alex had in fact died in that car accident.
While Rosa was taking a couple of deep breaths, Iskra started talking with Amethyst in a reverential whisper. "Do you think they'll be happy together?" the pegasus asked.
Amethyst didn't even have to think about it: "Duh! Of course! Didn't you hear the letters?!"
As they discussed what they'd seen, Rosa gathered up the iPad and the headphones. Martin had kept the charger back so she wouldn't be tempted to steal the marvellous little device. In fact, she was to bring it back to them the minute the movie ended. It had been a condition for the mares borrowing it at all!
The headphones had worked pretty well, Rosa thought. Paolo had really outdone himself. The girls didn't even have to raise the volume all the way and the five of them had heard everything quite comfortably. Voices and music have sounded a bit tinny, but well worth the effort. It had been quite an experience.
"Um, I gotta take this back," Rosa explained as she slid the iPad into the small canvas bag one of the colts had scrounged up somewhere.
"Now?!" Valentina asked. "It's the middle of the night! Can't it wait until morning?"
Rosa had a suspicion she would try and watch another movie once the rest of the room fell asleep. The young mare had been positively entranced by the screen, even before they had started 'The Lake House'.
Taking the iPad away would actually be doing her a kindness, Rosa decided. "Sorry. I promised. I'll borrow it again sometime and I'll see if I can get more movies on it."
"I wouldn't mind watching this again," Iskra said. "It was wonderful!"
Amethyst reached over the pegasus so she could hug Rosa. "Thank you so much, Rosa! I love you!"
The young mare chuckled at the exclamation. They were all a bit emotional after the movie, but Rosa felt proud of herself for arranging that little bit of fun.
"Well, you helped me get it, remember? You're the one who knew Will from the kitchens!"
"Thank you!" Iskra exclaimed and wrapped poor Amethyst in her wings next. After a quick nuzzle she even started kissing her muzzle. "Thank you! Thank you!" she muttered between kisses.
Well, now Rosa knew what kind of movie to get to make Iskra happy.
Valentina stretched and slipped from the bed. "Anyway, I have classes in the morning, so if you don't mind, I'll turn in."
"Yeah, me too," Felicity added and followed suit.
Rosa scooped the headphones into the bag with the iPad, which just left the two ponies on Iskra's bed. That had been picked because it was the softest. Iskra had complained about her wings so she had gotten a special mattress for pegasi.
Right then, though, she and Amethyst seemed to be cuddling so Rosa just covered them both with their blanket and patted it a few times, gently, with her hoof. "Good night, you two," she told them.
She took the bag in her mouth, made her way to the door and leaned a careful ear to the wood. Now that she was thinking about it, maybe she should have left someone at the door in case the night guard came. On the other hand, both her and Felicity had good ears and they would probably have heard the footsteps.
In any case, it was too late for that, and besides, nothing had happened.
The hallway seemed quiet, so Rosa carefully pushed the door open and set hoof outside. It was tiles, loud compared to the carpet in the room, and she placed each step very cautiously so as not to make any noise. She shut the door behind her and started making her way down the hall to the colts' room.
As she was carefully walking, her ears kept alternating between fully upright to scan for any unusual sounds and completely flat out of guilt and embarrassment for all the rules she was breaking. It wasn't too bad what she was doing, Rosa told herself. It was just a fun movie for her and the girls and now she was taking the colts' iPad back to them. She was not disturbing anyone.
In fact, she was walking extra quietly so she wouldn't draw any attention. Rosa understood why the rule was there, but breaking it like this wasn't too bad, right? Still in deep thought, she made it to the correct door and gave it a very gentle knock. She heard a small gasp from inside and then hooves landing on the carpet. Rosa hoped it would be Paolo who opened the door.
It was! His familiar blue coat looked almost black in the dim light, but his mane was much lighter, unmistakably identifying the pegasus.
Rosa sat on her haunches and dropped the bag into her hooves so she could offer it to the other pony. "Hi! I brought the iPad back," she whispered.
"Oh!" The young colt smiled at her and that made her heart beat faster. She couldn't help grinning right back.
"How was the movie?"
Again Rosa sighed and closed her eyes as she remembered that last scene with the kiss. "We all loved it," she murmured. In the spur of the moment she laid the bag on the floor and reached over so she could hug the colt. "Thank you so, so much!"
She pressed his muzzle against hers while the colt stiffened in surprise. She gave him a quick nuzzle and that relaxed him right back until Rosa was almost worried he'd drag them both down to the floor. He couldn't, not a light pegasus like him, even if he was a colt, but his reaction almost made her giggle.
She guiltily remembered Amethyst's admonition not to get too close, but Rosa couldn't help it right then. The movie had been too romantic!
"Thanks," she whispered again and gave Paolo's cheek a small kiss.
"Mmmhm," the colt murmured, completely failing to say a word.
The young mare released him and nudged the bag closer to his hoof. Paolo didn't seem to notice it with his eyes closed and a cute little smile on his muzzle. He shifted and turned partly away, as if he was hiding something.
Rosa had a pretty good idea what he was trying to conceal and it made her blush heavily. Suddenly she didn't think it was a good idea to be out at night.
"Anyway, I'm gonna go back to bed. See you tomorrow."
That finally woke the colt up and he heaved a forlorn sigh. "Yeah. You can borrow this whenever you want, okay? I'll talk with Martin."
"Thanks!" She stood up and turned to leave, but Paolo's whisper made her pause.
"Um, Rosa?"
"Yes?"
When she glanced back, the colt couldn't quite meet her eyes. "Um, we could w-watch a movie... you know. Together. Sometime..."
He was having such trouble with the sentence that Rosa nearly giggled again. Her mischievous streak flared up and she knew the perfect reply. "Sure! I think the girls would like that!"
She was almost sorry when she saw the bewildered and disappointed look on his muzzle. "N-No!" he said quickly in a loud whisper. "I m-mean, um. I mean j-just us. You and, uh, me. You know?"
Rosa turned back to give him a quick nuzzle goodbye. "I know. Yes, maybe. Good night!"
With that she hurried away. She knew her hooves were loud and the sound seemed to echo across the hall, but for some reason she wanted to leave quickly, before her resolve weakened. Flirting was okay, but anything more serious would get them both in trouble. Paolo much more than her, in fact.
If she really did like the colt, she would make it clear to him that nothing could happen. Rosa decided she would let him dream that night and then have a heart to heart with him the next day after class. Who knew - maybe she could dream for one night as well? With the movie she had just seen, Rosa had a pretty good feeling what sort of a dream it would be.