The Rhythm of Love

by lockheed

7: Conducting

I smiled as I opened the door to my home. Lyra and Test Tube both carried a couple boxes with all the flowers in them. I would have carried them myself but both them and the doctor had advised against me doing any sort of lifting until I was used to my new prosthetic. As the thought about it went through my mind, I looked back at the metal 'leg' that I now had. It was weird seeing it attached to my body, like it was my leg but it wasn't my leg. My real leg was in a pile of timberwolf shit somewhere in the Everfree Forest. But, that was my own fault and now the prosthetic was a permanent reminder of my stupidity. "I guess just set them on the kitchen table." I told them as I sat down on the couch. While I may have just been released from the hospital, I was still hopped up on all sorts of drugs and I was just ready for a nap.

"Anything else we can do for you, Rhythm?" Lyra asked from the kitchen as they put the flowers on the table.

"Not that I can think of." I replied as I laid my head back and closed my eyes. The sound of hooves on the wood floor made me open my eyes back up and look over at them as they came back into the living room. They both stopped in front of me and I looked at them in confusion as they continued to look at me.

"Rhythm, we thought it would be best for somepony to stay with you for awhile." Lyra said as she sat down. "Just to make sure you're alright, help you out with the shop, and do anything around here you can't do for yourself right now." She explained as Test Tube sat down beside her. "Test Tube has volunteered to stay with you until you're back to your old self." That made a pit form in my stomach and I could feel my heart pounding in my chest.

"Test Tube, will be staying with me?" I asked her for confirmation and she nodded that she was serious. Oh boy, that was going to be interesting. "Alright, um, I guess I can get the guest room ready if you want to go get some stuff from your house." I said as I turned my head to look at Test. He nodded and said a quick goodbye to us before leaving to go to his house. I sighed and flopped my head back down onto the back of the couch. "Oh dear." I muttered as I looked at the ceiling.

"What's wrong?" Lyra asked as she stood up and came over to sit next to me on the couch.

"Nothing." I said.

"I don't believe you. Come on, I won't tell a soul. Is it that the stallion you're crushing on is staying with you?" She asked me as she placed a hoof on my shoulder in comfort. I hesitated but then nodded that it was indeed that Test Tube was staying with me.

"It's just...he doesn't feel the same way about me as I do about him." I told her with a sigh and I placed my face in my hooves. "I don't think I can handle him staying here without doing something stupid that would jeopardize our friendship." I told her. "I mean, the one night was nice where we just played games but to have him staying with me for at least a couple weeks?" With a sigh, I stood up to head for the guest bedroom. "I guess we'll just have to see how it goes after the first few days."

---

The shrill ringing of my alarm clock made me slowly open my eyes as I reached a hoof over to shut it off. I rubbed my eyes in an attempt to wake up as I slowly sat up in the bed. A yawn escaped my mouth and I looked over at my window as the sun rose over the horizon. The smell of hay bacon, eggs, and coffee hit my nostrils and my stomach growled in response. As I thought about the night prior and Test Tube moving in, I remembered that I had skipped dinner to help him settle in. Well there was no sense in denying my stomach what it wanted. Rolling over to the side of my bed, I grabbed the metal prosthetic that was leaned against my nightstand. I put it on and carefully slid out of bed to stand on the floor. With each step carefully planned out, I made my way to the kitchen where instead of his usual hoodie, I saw Test Tube standing at the stove in a purple dress shirt as he used his magic to pull hay bacon out of a pan. He levitated the plate of hay bacon over to the table next to a plate of eggs and two cups of coffee. When he turned to face the table, he finally noticed me in the doorway and gave me a warm smile.

"Good morning, Sleeping Beauty." He said with a small laugh and I felt my cheeks heat up. "You're mane is all over." Test said, seeming to catch on to my slight embarrassment and to try and defuse the situation. I reached up and smoothed it out a bit with my hoof before sitting down at the table. I reached over and grabbed an egg and a couple strips of hay bacon to put on my plate. "I wasn't sure about how I should dress, or if I should, but I threw on a dress shirt just in case." He told me as he filled up his plate.

"Typically I just go as I am. Comb my mane and that's about it." I replied as I took a bite of my egg. "I only ever put on a shirt if I have something special going on like playing at the dance hall or something." Taking a drink of my coffee, I scrunched up my nose at the taste. "Needs cream and sugar." I said to myself as I stood up to go to the fridge. But as I did so, a sharp pain shot up what was left of my back leg and I felt my legs start to give out. I reached for the table and grabbed a hold of it but my weight proved too much and it tipped, sending me and our breakfasts falling to the floor. I landed with an 'umph' and I felt eggs, hay bacon, and hot coffee hit my back as well a couple plates that just bounced off me. Test Tube was quickly out of his seat and pulling me up with his magic.

"Are you alright?" He asked me with concern as he looked me over to make sure I was fine.

"Yeah. Leg just gave out is all." I told him as he looked at my back.

"The coffee burned your back. Let's get you to the shower and try and keep it from blistering." He said as I wrapped a foreleg around his shoulder for support as we made our way to the bathroom.

"I feel like a damned fool. I'm a grown stallion damn it! I shouldn't need to be cared for like a child." I growled at myself but it was clearly loud enough for Test Tube to hear me.

"Now, now; we all need somepony to make sure we're alright. For you right now, that would be me." We entered the bathroom and he used his magic to place me in the shower. I removed my prosthetic and set it just outside of the shower as he shut the door and turned the water on with his magic. A jet of cold water hit me and made me jump and shout out in surprise. "Sorry for the temperature but the cold will help keep that burn from getting worse." He grabbed the shower head and began to douse my back with the bone chilling water. "Besides, it must get lonely being in this boring old apartment alone. Isn't it nice to have somepony here with you as company?"

"The cats usually do a good enough job doing that." I told him as I thought back to the kitchen. "Speaking of them,"

"I already fed them if that's what you're about to ask me." He said, seeming to read my mind.

"Thank you. I feel so useless. I mean, I'm either a zombie from the painkillers or in too much pain to do anything." He nodded in understanding as he began scrubbing me with a bar of soap. "It was nice having what little breakfast we could eat together though. We should do that more. Even after you move out."

"Well I'm not much of a morning kind of stallion. How about we meet and everyday we'll have lunch and dinner together?" He said with a small laugh at the start but his voice turned soft and caring towards the end.

"You promise?" I asked him. I'd been let down by ponies before. The only way it seemed to get them to actually keep their word was to make them promise.

"I promise. Everyday at noon we'll go to that little cafe from a few weeks ago. Then in the evenings we'll go to that nice little restaurant on the edge of town and get one of the corner booths where we can watch all the ponies dance to the music and we can have martinis and discuss our how our days went. It'll be nice." He said as he finished washing me. I liked the idea of lunch and dinner with him.

"Can we start today? I just want something besides what I've got here or vending machine candy." I told him which made both of us chuckle at that.

"Of course. Now, close your eyes. I don't want to get shampoo in them."

---

I smiled to myself as I looked at my reflection in the mirror. I carefully tied the silver colored tie and tightened it up a bit before turning the collar back down on my aqua shirt. Now that my collar was down, I tightened my tie up until the knot was snug against the top button of my shirt. A small knock at my bedroom door made me look over at it. "Out in a moment." I said to Test Tube who no doubt was now sitting down waiting for me. I looked back in the mirror and replaced a hair in my mane that had decided to stick up. With my black made slicked back, I looked pretty good all dressed up. I opened my door and trotted out into the living room where Test Tube sat in his purple dress shirt with a light grey tie. His mane was combed into a ducktail style and I felt my heart start pounding in my chest at how much more handsome he was. He looked down at the floor and pushed his glasses up.

"I hope I don't look too bad. I know I probably look weird like this." He said, a hint of embarrassment in his voice.

"No, no; you look...nice." I told him, trying to make sure it sounded like a compliment rather than an attempt at flirting. I thought I saw a hint of a blush on his face but brushed it aside as my mind returned to my empty stomach. "Well, shall we go?" He nodded and I led the way out the apartment for us to go to the restaurant. We made most of the walk in silence, only talking to comment how nice of an evening it was or to discuss what we might order to eat. When we finally reached the restaurant, there was just a sliver of pink left on the horizon as darkness set in. I felt cold air hit me as we entered the restaurant and I was glad that my shirt had long sleeves. Test Tube went over and talked to the maitre d' who we then followed to one of the corner booths. When Test made a promise, he certainly kept it. We slid into the booth and the maitre d' gave us both menus to look over until our waiter came over. I smiled to myself as I looked over to the dance floor where several ponies were dancing to the small band on the stage. The band was playing some jazz music that made me want to tap my hoof as I looked back to the menu and scanned it to see what I would enjoy. I finally decided on the Alfredo and a martini just before the waiter arrived to take our orders.

"Do you dance?' A voice asked and I looked over at Test who was looking back at me.

"Not for a long time." I replied as the waiter returned with our martinis. He set them down and smiled to us before trotting off. "The last time I danced was... I think with my grandma before she got sick." I said as I took a sip of my martini. "I used to be good too. Guess I should've kept up on the practice but, with the shop and all, I don't really have time. I also don't have a partner to practice with."

"Well what if you danced with me?" Test asked me and I looked over at him in surprise.

"You can dance?" I asked with an eyebrow raised at him.

"Not one bit." He admitted which made both of us laugh. "But I want to learn and it'll be good practice for you. So it's a win-win situation." He said as he took a sip of his martini. "I can slow dance alright, but usually everypony can. It's when they start playing something like a foxtrot or a waltz that I become useless on the dance floor." He admitted but kept his kind smile. "And I'd much rather learn to do something like that with my best friend. Especially if he needs the practice." Test said as the waiter returned with our food. We both thanked him and looked across the table at each other. My eyes met Test Tube's gorgeous blue ones and it was at that moment I decided that one way or another, I was going to marry that stallion.

Comments

[BeatenLover]

Awww. The ending of this chapter is so lovely...

[lockheed]

7356513
Thank you

[BeatenLover]

7356760
You're welcome. I am looking forward to the next chapter.