Mechanic Hearts And Postage Stamps

by Ebony Runwick

Chapter 6, Movie Date And Snuggles

It had been two days since the stallions’ first date, and since the rain had happened. Both had gotten sick, so they had to stay in. But with that small bout of the common cold over with, Circuit and Adhesive were now deciding on a second date. At the moment, they were on the phone with each other, let’s see where this goes shall we?

“Since we did dinner already, how about just a movie at one of our places? Just something simple and relaxing. No crazy waiters coming after us and no rain, no matter how much fun that was.” The mail stallion chuckled over the line at the ‘pegasus’. Circuit smiled warmly at the other stallions words. A day in sounded perfect.

“That sounds wonderful. What time were you thinking?” There was a small pause before Adhesive’s voice came over the line again.

“How about one o’clock, your place? Mine is kind of, well let’s just say I’ve got some annoying roommates that would bother us.” Stamp let out a soft chuckle of embarrassment before clearing his throat. “Does that work for you?”

“Sounds good to me...That is of course...If you don’t mind Ebony hanging around here. She sorta planted herself here when I got sick to make sure I didn’t like, die or something.” He let out a soft, amused sounding snort. The stallion on the other end let out a small snort of laughter before replying to that.

“Not a problem, honestly she’s not all that bad. It’s nice to have friends who worry about you.” He said in a tone that almost definitely had a smile behind it.

“Sounds great, I’ll see you then!” Circuit grinned into the phone, not bothering to hide his excitement. He couldn’t wait for the other stallion to arrive.
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Circuit quietly passed around his living room, flicking his gaze around to see if there were any spots he’d missed. Since his phone call with Adhesive, he’d spent his time almost obsessively cleaning his ‘living room’ and trying to make it look a little less bare. While it was a little bit nicer looking now, it still gave off the appearance of barely being lived in.

It was at that moment that Ebony decided to come out of the, let's call it ‘guest bedroom’. Though the mare had spruced it up over the years by adding a real bed, some rugs and draped darkly colored fabric over the walls. The hybrid preferred to call it ‘the lair’, but that’s beside the point.

“Wow, this looks a lot cleaner than when I went to sleep. What’s the occasion?” The tan mare asked, rubbing the sleep from her green orbs.

“Oh right, I didn’t tell you. Adhesive is coming over soon so I figured I’d attempt to make things look a little more...Home like.” He awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck as he looked over the living room. “It’s still not great but..It looks better, right?” She shrugged.

“It looks cleaner yes, are you going to ask for my help or are you too stubborn?” Ebony let out a laugh before materializing a brush to untangle her mess of a mane. It was quite insane, crimson puffed up everywhere in spikes and all tangled.

“Oh shush, it isn’t like you haven’t seen my bed head before Circuit.” The hybrid stuck her tongue out at her friend playfully with a smile. The ‘pegasus’ let out a soft snort, rolling his dark green eyes.

“Fine fine….Oh great and powerful Ebony, will you help me make my living room look less crappy for my date?” He bowed as he spoke, his voice filled with teasing and mirth. The mare, with her mane and tail now tamed to be the regular straight and spiky, stood tall and proud with her nose in the air in a humorous manner.

“The most merciful Ebony will grant your wish, I shall use my magical talents to make your living room livable.” One of her emerald orbs opened to look at her friend before she broke out into loud guffaws of laughter and fell on the floor in mirth. Circuit just snorted and straightened out again, rolling his eyes at the mare.

“Yeah yeah alright, enough joking around. We need to get this place looking nice, he’ll be here any minute.” He lightly kicked the mare on the floor, trying to get her to get up and get moving.

“Oh don’t worry, I got this, remember all that extra material in the lair from when I was decorating it last month? For like the fourth time…” She chuckled before clearing her throat.

“Yeah, anyway, I can make this work just watch.” The mare then cracked her neck and took a deep breath before summoning bolts of fabric from the other room and began to drape them over hooks in the walls that were once home to curtain rods. These simple loops of fabric made the room a lot more cozy as well as feeling more lived in.

To top it off, she reupholstered the couch and armchair in the same material and brought a quilt to drape over the back of it and a few throw pillows. The fabric itself was just the right color, a neutral pale green with sky blue swirls and designs as well as a few dark blue flowers in different places.

“That should about do it, not my best work, but not too shabby if I do say so myself.” The changeling hybrid smiled in victory, admiring her quick work.

“It looks perfect, a lot better than it did before.” The stallion’s praise was cut short by a gentle rapping on the front door. “Just in time too, looks like he’s here.” He smiled and quickly hugged the mare before booting her from the room. “Alright now shoo, I don’t need your fangirling getting in the way of my date~” His voice was teasing, showing the other he was only kidding. With a laugh and a quick wish of good luck, Ebony retreated to the ‘kitchen’ to do her own thing and leave the couple alone.

Adhesive was at the door, shifting slightly as a cold breeze whipped around him. Should’ve grabbed my coat… He thought, cursing not checking what the weather would be scheduled to be. Circuit, after double checking that Ebony had actually retreated into the kitchen and wasn’t hiding somewhere to watch them, opened the door, quickly ushering Stamp inside.

“Come in, come in, you must be freezing.” A little smile twitched at his lips, though he pushed it down. Had they been completely alone he would have let it show, but since there were others in the house he didn’t. He still had a grumpy image to keep after all.

The white stallion smiled and ducked inside the warm laboratory looking around the living room. Stamp blinked in surprise at the new look the room had but smiled none the less.

“It looks different from the other day, but nice. I like it, good choice of fabric.” Blue eyes turned to look into green as a goofy grin settled on the mailpony’s face.

“Thanks..I figured I’d ah..Spruce it up a bit. Ebony was a big help, she’s the one who picked out the fabric.” The stallion was unable to stop the smile this time as he lead Adhesive over to the couch. “So, what sort of movie were you thinking of watching? I’m ah...Afraid I don’t have that big of a selection…” He gestured to the small amount of dvds he’d laid out on the coffee table. The green maned stallion sat down on the couch and looked over the small array of dvds.

“Hmm, Space Invaders 3, Ponies Ascending...Hmm, what’s this one?” He picked up one that was nearly covered by the others and inspected it. “Titanic, starring Kate ‘Whinny’ Winslet and Leonardo DiCapricorn. What about this one? Seems good enough.” Adhesive smiled and settled back on the couch, holding the dvd case to Circuit. Circuit slowly took the slightly worn dvd from him, slowly looking it over.

“You sure? It’s pretty sad. Er, at least that’s what I’ve heard…” A light blush spread across his cheeks as he flusteredly looked away, not wanting to admit to the other stallion that he’d watched it practically a million times. Said stallion just shrugged and offered a smile before nodding.

“Yeah I’m sure, I’ve heard it’s good but haven’t had a chance to see it myself. Let's give it a go.” And with that, the two booted up the movie and dimmed the lights so the living room was completely dark except for the TV screen and the small light coming from the kitchen. The ‘pegasus’ smiled as he settled down onto the couch, grabbing a blanket off the back of it and draping it over them to keep out the chill. He had rather shoddy heating, but he was always too lazy to fix it, thus he had a multitude of blankets scattered around the house. He made himself comfortable as the previews began, settling back against the couch cushions.

That’s when the white stallion got an idea, he smiled to himself as he leaned into Circuit and snuggled up into the stallion’s side.

“There, much more comfortable.” Adhesive’s face started to blush, thankfully the darkness of the room hid it for the most part. The mailpony had made a bold move, and Ebony admired that. Of course she was watching from the kitchen, and also baking Hearth’s Warming Eve cookies. Just because she can, no biggie. The gray stallion smiled flusteredly, gently draping his arm over the mailpony’s shoulder so he could pull him closer. He happily snuggled up with the other, his own face starting to redden as well. The room then fell silent aside from the previews and occasional noise from the kitchen.

The menu came up, displaying two ponies on the prow of the ship. A mare with her arms extended and a stallion behind her holding onto her waist.

“That’s kinda cute actually.” The white stallion commented before smiling deviously. “But not as cute as you.” Circuit let out a slightly strangled sputtering noise, his face only getting redder.

“Y-you little….Just hush up and watch the movie…” The flustered stallion grumbled as he snatched up the remote, pressing the play button before settling down again. He shifted them slightly so he could sprawl out on his back, pulling Adhesive onto his chest so he could snuggle there. Now it was the mailpony’s turn to blush bright red as he stuttered to form coherent words.

“I-I… Oh screw it.” The green maned pony relaxed with a shrug and rested his head in the crook of Circuit’s neck and sighed in content. The movie played on, promising shallow plotlines and clique romance, but he didn’t care. All the two needed was this. Just a relaxing date and cuddles. What could possibly go wrong?

“Oh hey guys, who wants cookies?!” A mare’s voice rang out from the other room.