From her position lounging face down on the couch, Vinyl heard the door open, and she began to speak as she pushed herself up onto all fours. “So I may or may not have accidentally revealed my biggest secret to Octavia on our date,” she started, “but it was totally worth…”
She never finished her sentence. Lyra walked into the living room, sniffling slightly. Tearstains trailed down her cheeks; it was obvious that she had been crying.
Vinyl sat up. “Protocol seventeen?” she asked.
Lyra nodded.
Vinyl pumped a fist into the air. “Woot! Protocol seventeen!”
Lyra looked at Vinyl, hurt etched on her face. “How is that a good thing?” she demanded.
“It's a protocol seventeen I didn't initiate. Come on, you know that's good!”
The fact that Lyra didn't even crack a smile at that made Vinyl quite literally sprint for the ice cream.
This was mildly hindered by the fact that Vinyl had removed her shoes but not her socks in her quest for lazy comfort, and she slid on the kitchen floor and almost faceplanted on the counter. Still, she managed to stay upright and only hit her hand against one drawer, and there wasn’t any blood anyway so she was fine.
It took almost three bowls before Lyra could bring herself to speak. “I figured it out,” she said dully. “Why Bon Bon was so receptive but aloof at the same time.”
“Why?”
Lyra took another bite before answering. “It just so happens that she recently came off a bad breakup.”
Vinyl winced.
“Oh, it gets better,” Lyra continued. “Turns out her last marefriend? Actually a colt with an affinity for crossdressing.”
Vinyl nearly choked on her ice cream. “How do you not notice something like that? I mean, their stuff is just, like, there, like all outside and weird and stuff.” She held up a hand. “Can I hear it for indoor plumbing?”
Lyra gave a half smile and halfheartedly returned the high five. “Yeah, well, they'd had sex and everything—in the dark, of course—and when she came home early to surprise her, well; she was a he and he was jacking off in her shower. She kicked him out, still butt naked, and she's never recovered.”
“I'm not surprised. Talk about betrayal.” Vinyl served herself some more. “So what'd you do, let her feel you up there in the shop?”
“I did one better. I took her to the bathroom and stripped for her.”
“You didn't,” Vinyl said. Her tone was inviting her to continue, but internally she was shocked. Lyra had a strange double standard about revealing her body. Her breasts were relatively fair game; but Vinyl could count on one hand the number of ponies who had seen Lyra's genitals, and two of those were Vinyl herself and Lyra's mom.
“I did,” Lyra said, halfheartedly shoving another spoonful of ice cream into her mouth. “Took her into the handicapped stall and stripped. 'Hey,' I said, 'it's me and I'm a hundred percent mare, and you can look and touch anything you want to prove it'.”
“How'd she respond?”
“She wanted to,” Lyra started. She paused, staring at her spoon as if it were holding the answers she sought. “I think she wanted to.” Her voice grew quiet. “I hope she wanted to.”
“But...?” Vinyl prompted.
“She kindof did this half reach with her hand, and then she dropped it and said, 'I can't, I can't'; and she turned and sprinted out.”
Vinyl winced. Lyra must have taken that really hard. Offering her greatest treasure, only to be rejected. That must have cut her deeply.
“So there I was, standing butt naked in the bathroom, trying my hardest not to cry, and then I hear a little girl going in there and then she goes, 'Mommy, there's a girl standing to pee in there!'”
Vinyl couldn't suppress a giggle, and Lyra finally cracked a smile.
“Kids, right? So I kindof slid over to the toilet, hope they thought I was wearing a dress I'd just pulled up or something. I just…” She sighed. “I just really thought she was the one.”
Vinyl sat up. “You mean you're going to give up on her?” she asked incredulously.
Lyra dug her magically constructed spoon around in the melted dregs of her bowl. “Well, she said no in kindof a big way, and…”
“She had her heart broken,” Vinyl pointed out. “She's scared. And when you stripped for her, she got scared even more.”
“Why?”
“Because it could work! I mean, no offense, but you look really good naked.”
Lyra shrugged slightly as she looked down, but her cheeks did color the tiniest bit and Vinyl could tell she appreciated the compliment.
“I'd bet she's never had a good relationship,” Vinyl continued. “And with you, she could. You're everything she wants. You like her chocolate, you accept her past, and you've got the equipment she likes. And that scares her.”
Lyra raised an eyebrow. “I find it strange that you of all ponies are giving me love advice.”
Vinyl pointedly ignored this. “Just go to her shop tomorrow, and apologize.”
Caught off guard by this suggestion, Lyra's concentration wavered, and her constructed spoon flickered. “What?”
“Hear me out. Apologize. Say you're sorry you took it so fast, and you'd be willing to go at her pace. Fifty bits says next time you strip for her, she won't be able to keep her hands off you.”
Lyra gave a half-smile as she took another bite. “I really hope you're right.”
Vinyl grinned as she lifted another bite. “Me too; or else I'm out fifty bits.”
Lyra's smile looked a bit more real this time.
* * *
Lyra took a deep breath, steeling herself. Part of her knew she needed to go in, but another part was doubting her wisdom in taking love advice from Vinyl, who had seen it mentioned in a movie once (and then had firmly believed thereafter) that if you kissed someone, you had to marry them; and then had subsequently struggled to comprehend how actors, who kissed many others during their movies, knew exactly who they were to marry.
She exhaled and looked back inside through the glass. Bon Bon stood there behind the register, smiling as she helped another customer with their purchase. She had the sweetest smile. Sure, her personality could be a bit abrasive when other people annoyed her; but deep down she was just a big softie, especially when Lyra was around. She took another shaky breath. Part of her really hoped it would work out, part of her worried it wouldn't.
And part of her was wondering just how much longer she could stall this meeting before mall security showed up. She was pretty sure that nerdy-looking one with the glasses had a crush on her, and she had no desire to arrange their meeting.
Finally, she grit her teeth and walked in. Bon Bon was behind the counter (of course she was; Lyra had just checked). Bon Bon looked up and paused. An unreadable expression settled on her face.
“Hi, Bonsie,” Lyra said, subconsciously bringing one hand across her body and grabbing her opposite wrist.
Bon Bon shifted nervously, holding onto the sides of the cash register as if hiding behind it. “Hi, Lyra.”
Lyra looked down and then just let it tumble out. “Look, about last time… I took it a little fast, and I'm sorry.”
Bon Bon shook her head. “No, I'm sorry,” she insisted. “I just… needed time to think.”
“To think?”
Bon Bon sighed. “Lyra, I've never had a good relationship before. I got scared. You're… you're perfect. You're too good to be true. It just couldn't be true, I thought. There had to be something else that was wrong.” Bon Bon took a steadying breath. “And then you took off your clothes for me. I was just stunned at how amazing you look. I know mares that would kill for your body. Hey, I'd kill for your body. I’d love to…” Her eyes flickered across Lyra's body before landing on the counter, and she licked her lips.
A slow smile spread across Lyra's face. She'd liked it! She'd really liked it! A surge of confidence coursed through her body, and she subconsciously straightened up, dropped her hands to her sides, and thrust her chest out just a little bit.
Still looking down, she exhaled, and then looked up into Lyra’s eyes. Bon Bon continued. “You were perfect and I… I got scared. Because you not actually being a mare was the last thing I could think of that could be wrong and when I saw that it wasn't—and that you are absolutely beautiful, I might add—I panicked.”
“Don't panic,” Lyra said, as comfortingly as she could. “I'm pretty scared, too. I've never really done this before. Like, have a relationship, I mean. But if I'm with you, I feel… I feel like we can do it.” Lyra paused, realizing that that might have come out wrong. “And by that I mean make our relationship work, not having sex; though I would be opposed to neither.”
Bon Bon cracked a smile. “Well, when you put it that way… Ok. I'm willing to try if you are.”
Lyra's heart began to race. “So, you want to… I dunno… come to dinner with me? On Friday? Maybe afterwards we can, you know, spend some time together, alone? What do you say?”
Bon Bon blinked flatly. “Ma'am, I am working, and your preposition is most inappropriate and unprofessional.”
Lyra's jaw dropped. “But…” she stammered.
Bon Bon's eyes flicked over to behind Lyra before continuing. “If you have any questions pertaining to our products, which actually are for sale, I would be happy to answer them.”
Lyra glanced over to see one of Bon Bon's less-friendly managers standing by, her arms folded and glaring slightly. She gave a nervous chuckle and turned back to Bon Bon. “I mean… I said, four of your white chocolate truffles, please.” She gave what she hoped passed for a disarming smile.
Bon Bon nodded as she scooped them up and rang up Lyra's purchase. As soon as she had paid, Lyra quickly left the store. She didn't want Bon Bon to get in any trouble because of her, and Bon Bon had confided that that particular manager had had it out for her since day one.
When she was out of sight of the sweet shop, Lyra slowed to a stop and sat down on a nearby bench. As long as she had bought these, she might as well enjoy them, right? She frowned as she counted her truffles, and then quickly double-checked her receipt. Then a smile slowly spread across her face.
Bon Bon had given her an extra truffle.
Lyra squeed excitedly and did a little dance in place. Looks like date night is still on, after all!