Jay opened her eyes on the darkened apartment. Her first instinct was to flick on the light, but it hit her. She had guests. Louis and Sandra were sleeping together peacefully. She watched them instead a moment with a little smile. Having people in her space was still a little new. But new things could be good, and she decided that this was one such case.
She quietly slid out of bed, collected her pants, and dressed for the day. Jay padded around the apartment and started to tidy up. She got a few curious looks from both the ponies as they awoke, but she didn't speak up.
Sandra took care of that, rolling to her haunches, eyes on Jay. "You're like a different person when you first wake up. Not a bad thing, just a thing, but, hm. I don't know." She stretched slowly before shifting to human form with a thought.
"I just know how I am, and it's not like I change my ways for anybody." Jay grabbed up her laptop and plugged it in at her computer desk. "I'm not human until I get some coffee in me, but I do like cute things being what I wake up to. But they should get their own coffee and let me think my thoughts. A woman likes her morning silence."
Louis leaned up and kissed Sandra on the cheek. "I could get used to that. Good morning." He gave her a little squeeze. "I don't want to wear out my welcome, but this has been nice."
Sandra returned the hug with a happy snuggle. "Yeah, very nice." She squeezed her boyfriend and slipped from his grip. "I'm going to get breakfast going for all of us. Let's start the day right. Sound good?"
Jay shook her head. "You are cute together, but it's no excuse for being so damn loud." She was seated at her computer desk already, logging in.
Louis stood up and stretched slowly. "We're both morning people. I think it's a pony average. Most I know are mornings. He jogged off into the bathroom to start his day.
Sandra considered what he had said and blinked a few times. "Are we? I don't know if I'm average." She wandered over to the kitchen and started pulling out ingredients. Most were things she had gotten herself. How Jay survived with so few things to cook, she had no idea. She soon had eggs sizzling on a pan, humming soft cheerful tones.
Jay perked, the smell reaching her as a few veggies added to the melody of scents. "There'll be some for me, right? That smells really good."
Sandra smiled warmly. "I'm making plenty for all of us. Eggs, veggies, and toast. Nothing too special." Reminded of the toast, she got two slices cooking. "Just a nice start of a day. I feel good today."
Louis wandered back in with a smile on his face. "So do I. Even if Jay isn't a morning person." He walked over to where Jay was sitting and peered over her shoulder. The screen was a dense maze of numbers and lines, but he kept looking. "Huh."
Jay chuckled at that. "Does any of this make sense to you?"
"Actually." Louis reached out a pointing finger. "Right, there. Looks like maybe an infiltration attempt? Ah, you caught it." He smiled as Jay blocked the incoming intrusion. "Nice!"
Jay nodded with a grunt. "Just the start of my own day." She held out a hand as Sandra arrived with a plate. "Thanks." She didn't even look away from her monitor as she got some bites in. "Mmm, okay. Maybe the noise is worth it. It's good."
Sandra just grinned and bumped into Louis. "So, we're morning people. Is it bad?"
Louis shook his head. "Not at all. Makes for a lot of early breakfasts." He hummed happily as he ate, standing close to Sandra. "Though, I don't think either of us have made much progress on that book."
Sandra snerked into her own meal. "When did you even start trying? I thought it was my thing?"
Louis shrugged. "I was curious. Nothing ever happened, and I don't speak Chinese, or whatever that was."
Jay finished off her plate. "Yes, well, reading about magic in languages you can't understand is probably for the best." She pulled herself in closer to her station and set down her plate. "Now, today's a fine day. I have business. I have to safeguard the networks of three different companies or I dont get paid, and I need my money like anyone else."
Sandra cleared her throat gently. "Can I tell people about Jim?"
"Who?" Jay answered immediately, but there was a pause before she added, "Oh, right, Jacob's hat." She shook her head. "I wouldn't go discussing it with sleepers, but if you want to bring it up to fellow ponies, have at it. As long as you don't let anyone get any funny ideas, I won't worry about it. And he is a fancy hat. Nobody can take that from you."
Sandra smiled and spun around. "Not even if they tried." She reached up for that hat. A quick pull proved that it remained just as firmly stuck in place as ever before. "Even me. If I was thinking to take it off, it wouldn't come off. Even if I were asleep, or unconscious."
Louis snorted softly. "That sounds dangerous. How would you get it off if you needed to?"
Sandra bumped against him. "I wouldn't. Welcome to magic hats." She skirted around him towards the spare computer. "Do you work today?"
Louis watched her go with a smile on his face. "Actually, I'm free today." He put his hands on his hips. "Maybe we could do something? Outside?"
Sandra raised an eyebrow at him. "Do something? Like, um." She considered, hand at her chin. "I wasn't expecting a fun day, but I won't say no. Did you have something in mind? Do you want to meet the herd?"
Louis scratched at the back of his neck gently. "Maybe some other time? Not that I don't want to meet them, but this feels like it should be just us." He fell to all fours, swishing his tail. "I say we get away from here, out to nature. Let's get our hooves under us and gallop like we mean it."
Sandra tilted her head. "Not a bad idea! Hey Jay, what do you think?"
Jay wasn't listening, hunched over her keyboard. She tapped out several commands. "Hm?" She glanced over her shoulder. "Me and the wilderness are not friends. Don't piss off any wolves on the way, not that I imagine you doing that easily. Or at all." She smirked. "I'm working, but have fun."
Sandra touched noses with Louis before trotting for the door. "We will!" She clapped a hand against her outter thigh. "Up! We're not in the wilderness yet. You need to be on feet until we are." She opened the door with her free hand and laughed at the puzzled look Louis gave her. "This is my life, sometimes."
Louis chuckled softly as he turned back to human form and stood up. "I can get used to it." He got a quick one-armed hug from her on the way past, both heading out of the apartment. "My car's just out front, this way. Or we could walk? I bet we're not that far from something, or is your range pretty big?"
Sandra rolled her shoulders slowly as she thought. "My range is what it is, but I don't think there's any fun spots close enough to just walk to. I say we take the car." She stepped into the elevator and held the door for Louis to duck in. "I like your first idea. Let's get out, really out. A forest hike sounds like fun. And maybe after that we could go see a movie, or find some local diner or something. Like an adventure!"
Louis grinned at that. "Yes! Something wild and fun, just us."
The two emerged at the ground floor, both looking eager to enjoy the day. "This is nice." He drew her closer. "We need a day without drama. That's all I'm hoping for."
Sandra leaned into his embrace as they headed for the car. "Sounds good to me. Just an easy, lazy day." She kissed him on the cheek. "I didn't bring anything." She patted herself down lightly. "But I don't really need it."
Louis huffed out a soft breath. "Exactly." He hopped into the car and waited for her to get in on the passenger side. "Just us." The two shared a kiss, then he sped out into the road smoothly. "Let's get out of here. Enough crazy stuff for a whole year."
The ride was smooth as Louis drove them towards nature. "Hey, uh, you don't have any strange encounters that you're not telling me about, right?" He chuckled nervously. "Don't get me wrong, I love spending time with you, but these magical things seem to happen around you."
Sandra folded her arms. "It's not like I'm looking for them." She looked up at her hat. "This is the latest, if you don't count the book. I left the book behind, so we won't be having any of that, at least."
Louis huffed gently as he drove. "Yeah, I don't know if that was a good idea. I saw it just lying there, when you were out cold. It looks important, and here we are leaving it behind."
Sandra waved that away. "Jay's right there. I doubt she'll let anything happen to it. She knows more about magic stuff than either of us, really. This is her field. We should leave it to the experts."
Louis gripped the steering wheel tighter. "I don't think she knows as much as she wants us to believe. I get the feeling, what, you know, it's like none of us really know what we're in the middle of." He turned onto the interstate easily. "We're all just kinda making it up as we go."
Sandra quirked her lips to one side as she thought that over. "I guess? But we're okay for now. We can worry about big mysterious forces later. Right now, it's just you and me." She considered stealing a kiss, but he was driving. She saved the idea for a later time. "Today, let's just let our tails low and enjoy what we find."
Louis smiled at that. "Yeah. I hope you're ready for adventure, because I feel like there's going to be one." He nodded towards the back seat. "The emergency pack has snacks in it, in case we need them."
Sandra clapped at that idea. "Ooo, did you get some tortilla chips? You know I love those. Any dip?"
Louis chuckled warmly. "They're still emergency supplies. Don't count on a feast."
"Well then I'm glad I already had breakfast." Sandra puffed out a breath of air. "Mmm, that was nice." She settled back to relax. The few cars that were on the road with them, she ignored. It felt like a better time to just relax and wait to arrive. "You haven't had a chance to really gallop in a while too, right?"
Louis rolled his shoulders slowly. "I feel like I've been running every which way. I could do with a real run."
Sandra let out a short burst of laughter. "I love the way you put that. All this rushing around, but no running. Yeah, that sounds right. Let's fix that. What about parking? Are we going to go off-roading?"
Louis glanced at her with a smile. "There's a place for parking that isn't far. I wouldn't want to leave my car at random." He drew off the highway towards a park. "Easy access to the wilderness without being in the middle of literal nowhere. What do you think?"
Sandra took in the scenery as they arrived. It was wooded and grassy. The parking lot was empty. "I'm glad it's still so early. No people to deal with, not yet." She checked herself quickly, then stepped out of the parked car. "This park generally safe, you know, to let it all hang out?"
Louis turned off the engine and slipped out of the car, quickly becoming a pony. "Of course! This is why I like this place. It's public land, but it's one of those weird spots where nothing really goes on."
She fell next to him with a little whicker. "Let's go." She sped forward, just to pause and look up. "Silly hat." It was still there, perched on her head. It didn't seem to care if she was a human or a pony. "Guess you get to come along with us."
Louis laughed and joined her. "C'mon. It's this way!" He took off with an excited neigh. "Let's see who can get there first!"
Sandra had wings, which was cheating, but that just made it more fun. She picked up and soared just over his head to come down beyond him, galloping ahead of him with a laugh.
Running makes a pony feel good. Horses love to run.
I hope that they get their "day without drama", but I won't be holding my breath.
Very cute, though perhaps they'll need to be careful soon.