In the midst of a messy room, a young girl laid sleeping. The green haired draconian teenager twisted and turned between her covers, her mind far away in a realm of living fantasies. The sun did its best to peak through the blinds of her window, and with it, the horrible sting of first light. The girl grumbled, turning away from the rays of sunshine. She didn’t want to wake up, she wanted to stay in bed where it was warm and cozy and she could be alone with her thoughts, her thoughts of a tall handsome dreamboat with curly purple hair.
“Elusive…” she hummed sleepily, subconsciously cuddling up with one of her pillows. “You’re such a gentlemen… yes of course you can give me gemstones.” Her lips pressed against the linin fabric of her pillow. “Mmm, you’re lips are so soft… just like I always hoped…” She dove deeper into the pillow’s embrace, in her mind it was no pillow, but the silky pale lips of her long time crush, the man down the street, the most dashingly handsome person is all of Ponyville, the fashion designer Elusive.
Every time she closed her eyes to sleep she saw him, every time she dozed off during work she saw him. Every time she was alone with him her desires would build up until she wanted to pounce on him like some romantically driven psychopath, tearing off his outfit with her teeth, and just taking him there on the spot.
She pressed the soggy pillow closer to her, dragging her tongue up the pillow Elusive’s face. If only she could get a real taste of him, working so closely with gems he probably got little bits of diamond and ruby dust on his cheeks and nothing would make her happier to clean it up for him. Just the thought was enough to make her drool a little more.
If only she could stay asleep forever. However, nothing gold can stay. Unbeknownst to her, the door of her room squeaked open, and a shadowy figure sneaked inside. Whoever it was, he slithered through the mess of discarded clothes and magazines that littered the floor and crept over the bedframe of the sleeping teenager.
“Surprise!” Dusk Shine shouted at the top of his lungs. The draconian girl literally shot out of her bed screaming, flailing around as she became entangled in her blanket and fell to the ground. Dusk Shine rummaged a hand through this thick dark hair, wondering if perhaps he had been a bit too loud with his little adoptive sister. “Barbra, are you okay?” He asked, leaning over the bed to see the swirly-eyed girl lying on the floor. “Was that a bit too much?”
“Dusk Shine? What the hell?!” Barbra hissed, flashing her fangs at her rude awakener. “I was having the most wonderful dream… and then you showed up to awaken me! Someone better be dying…” She glared at her caretaker. “Or someone will be.”
Dusk just collectively sighed. “Calm down, Barb. There’s no need to be so hostile. I was just trying to surprise you for your special day.” He looked back towards the door and levitated a book from the adjacent library. From it, a large leatherback book floated in a wisp of violet magic and into his hands. He flipped through a few of the pages until he stopped. “Strange, it says here in the book that a surprise is the best way to wake a birthday boy or girl… must be a defective method.”
The green haired girl looked at Dusk quizzically. “Birthday…? Oh my gosh!” She gasped. How could she have forgotten her own birthday? And not just any birthday, this was her eighteenth birthday, the most important of all birthdays. A day she’d been waiting for ever since she was a little girl and first laid eyes on the teenage dreamboat that was Elusive. She had to be cautious of their taboo love no longer! By the Equestrian law, she was an officially a grown woman, and she couldn’t be happier. The now woman untangled herself from her web of bed sheets and began dancing happily around the room, hopping like an energetic rabbit and spinning like a toy top. “Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes!” She grabbed Dusk Shine’s wrists and forced him into her little dance with a fit of girlish laughter. “Yes! Yes! Yes! This is going to be the greatest day ever!”
“Okay!” Dusk Shine droned, trying his best (yet a little sarcastically) to match the draconian’s energy level. He freed himself from her grasp and planted his hands on her shoulders, trying to keep her from bouncing all around the room. “And besides the obvious ‘it’s my birthday’ reason, why is this the best day ever?”
“Because Elusive can finally ask me out!” The love-struck girl sighed. “I’ve been counting the days to my eighteenth birthday ever since I was little, and deep in my heart I know he’s been doing the same thing.”
Dusk Shine rolled his eyes. “Well that’s totally not creepy to think about…”
“It’s not creepy!” Barbra screamed, scrunching her face in a frown. “It’s romantic! We’re like two lovers in a romance novel. The world forbids our union, but deep in our hearts we know we’re meant to be with one another.” Barbra cupped her hands over her chest, blushing a little. “I don’t care if he’s a little older than me, or if we’re not from the same race or worlds, I love him and I know he loves me back and we’re going to spend the rest of our lives together and he’ll make me the most beautiful dresses and treat me like a princess!” She started panting. Her voice had been slowly escalating in volume, and she hadn’t realized she had shouted ‘like a princess’ at the top of her lungs. She became even more flustered in embarrassment. “Sorry… but I’m excited.”
“Yes, I can tell,” Dusk Shine said from the other side of the room. He had managed scale across the room, making some distance between them. It was a rational move, considering he didn’t want to be too close when Barbra went off on her little rant. “Well… whatever makes you happy?” He shrugged. “Either way, I have waffles made in the kitchen for you whenever you decide to get dressed.”
Barbra gave him a strange look, scratching her side as she looked at her current outfit of striped boxers and her favourite oversized ‘Bad Girl’ Tee. “Get changed? On my birthday?”
“Well, Elusive is coming over…”
He didn’t even need to finish his sentence. Barbra was already pulling her shirt off as she slammed the door to the bathroom. Within seconds there was a screech of rushing water, followed by the vroom of a blow-dryer, the brushing of fangs, and lastly the final spit into the sink. The door swung open to the sight of the dressed and groomed Barbra. She hopped a little as she tried to pull up one of her light green stockings, before patting her violet skirt down, followed by straightening up the sleeve of her lavender shirt and making sure her green sweater vest and purple neck ribbon were free of wrinkles and unwanted creases. She gave Dusk a few spins to show off her attire. “So how do I look? Pretty adorable, right?”
Dusk Shine shrugged his shoulders. “Considering that you wear that outfit every day, I’d say you look the same as usual.”
“Oh what do you know!?” She growled, stomping pass her older brother. “So what’s this about waffles?”
“They’re in the kitchen, with a big can of whip cream and gemstones waiting for you, along with some other trimmings.” Dusk Shine smiled. “Your present is also waiting for you on the chair. And to answer your next question, no, it’s not a book; I’ve learned my lesson about that.”
“Thank you!” Barbra squealed, rushing back to hug Dusk Shine. “For everything, really, I know I can be a pain to live with. But to be fair, so can you.”
“I’m going to let that slide because it’s your birthday, young lady,” Dusk Shine said, raising an eyebrow, before chuckling to himself. “But I love you, and you’re the only other person I know that knows the filing system around here. So we’re stuck with each other.”
She gave him a quick kiss on the cheek before galloping to the kitchen where a tall stack of waffles awaited her. She drooled over the spread, waffles, whip cream, strawberries, syrup, and of course the coup de grace, a giant bowl of colourful rocks and gems. Without a moment’s hesitation, she nearly pounced on her chair; moving the present onto the table, and took a handful of strawberries and gems. She dumped them on the platter and proceeded to drown them in syrup and whip cream. With one final lip lick she dug in into the food, throwing manners and common delicacies into the wind. Handful by handful she shoveled the magnificent treats into her mouth. Each new handful that went in was like an explosion of flavour and yumminess. Within minutes she was leaning back into her chair, her plate an empty mess and her hands over her stomach as she groaned from eating too much too fast.
“Maybe that wasn’t the best idea…” she grumbled before smiling. “But it was so good…” she burped a little. “Excuse me.” She spotted the present that she had placed on the table earlier and; using all her energy, completed the rigorous task of leaning forward and nudging the present closer to her with the tip of her nails until it fell into her lap. “Wonder what Dusk got me this year? Definitely looks bigger than any book…” She gave it a few shakes. “And a lot less bulky too.”
She was about to tear it open when she heard the doorbell ring. She perked up, yelling, “I’ll get it!” As she made her way to the front door, it was strange though, usually Dusk Shine closed the Library on her birthday. When she opened the door she closed her eyes, gave a heartwarming smile and recited the regular greeting of…
“Welcome to the Golden Oaks Library. Where the knowledge learnt is worth its weight in gold.”
“Well hello to you too,” a familiar voice said back to her.
She opened her eyes and nearly fainted to see who it was. A tall with deep purple locks that were curled to organized chaos and deep, sparkling blue eyes of an artist that glimmered with the beauty of the finest sapphires. He was adorned in a dark violet vest over his white shirt that he wore well over his hunky body. Elusive stood at the door smiling at Barbra, and she nearly passed out on the spot. “O-o-o-oh! H-hi Elusive,” she gulped, a large nervous lump forming in her voice box. “Y-y-you’re here… I… Hello!” She was in shivers; she never understood why she got so nervous around him nowadays. When she was little it seemed so easy, but that was when things were still cutesy and innocent. But when she had gotten older, and her adult years benched on the horizon, she learnt that there were other things they could do together… romantic and lustful things that she kept locked away in her deepest fantasies. That thought alone was enough to titillate and scare her out of her wits, the result ending with… a slobbering mess of Barbra with a school-girl infatuation and the ability to only spit out incoherent sentences. It was embarrassing, nothing could make this moment worse for her.
“Umm… did you just finish eating?” Elusive asked as he began digging through his shirt pocket for his handkerchief. “You seem to have a little speck of something on your face.”
“I what!?” The young girl shrieked, shuffling over to the window to see her horrifying reflection. A little speck was putting it lightly. She had whip cream and gemstones smeared across her face, surely leftover collateral from her breakfast scrounging. Her cheeks turned a deep red from embarrassment, she felt like a messy little pig. “Oh god, oh god, oh god, oh god, this is so humiliating!” She cried in her mind, turning her back to Elusive and biting her fingernails. She scratched that earlier thought, it could get a lot more embarrassing and it did. She wanted to die, for some mighty force to wipe her off the face of existence and just cease to exist. She covered her dirty cheeks in shame and ran back into her room. She would never be able to face him again after this. She would lock herself in her room and never come out and live off instant noodles, pizza and orange tang.
Elusive scratched his head in confusion as he watched Barbra bolted into her room. “Hmm… must have gone to wash it off.” He was however, a bit thankful that she had left the room, after all, he needed a moment alone with Dusk to go over a few things… “Dusk Shine, are you here? I need a word with you.”
“In the study!” Dusk Shine called, peaking through the door on the other side of the library. “Oh hey Elusive, you’re here earlier than I expected.”
“Am I?” The stylist asked, checking his watch. “Strange, usually I’m right on time for these things.”
“Yeah huh,” Dusk mumbled, disappearing back into the room. “So what do you need, anyways?”
“I need to talk to you… about Barbra.”
*****
“This is the worst day ever!” Barbra wailed, tears streaming down her face as she lay huddled in the corner of her room. She had wiped away the mess that was on her face and had shamefully eaten it as well. She was an emotional wreck, having fallen apart in mere moments. From the tub in her lap, she disgracefully scooped a large spoonful of napoleon ice cream from one of her secret stashes, making sure to only get the chocolate side. It was a little wasteful but the chocolate side was the best side, and she was a little far from the trail of rational thought. “This is all I deserve! Stupid, stupid, stupid!” She continued to mope, taking another scoop of ice cream and tossing away the other two thirds of the box, showing no love for the vanilla and strawberry sections.
The draconian girl wiped some rogue tears from her face, cuddling deeper into isolation. Next to her she spotted one of her favourite pieces of clothing, a bright pink summer top that was exclusively made for her… by him. She grabbed it and held it close to her heart, perhaps thinking that if she wished hard enough on it, she could turn back time and undo this terrible plunder of embarrassment. If only if only.
“Of all days… why did it have to be today?” Barbra muttered, rubbing the shirt against her face, drying her tears. This shirt was the closest thing she had to a piece of his clothing, even after all the years she had it, she could still smell traces of scent, that wonderfully fragranced aroma of cut emeralds and lavender. “Now I’ll never be able to tell you how I feel… I want more ice cream.”
Barbra was about to go looking for another container of napoleon, but her bedroom door started to creak open. She fled from the light coming from the crack, scurrying like a frightened rat.
“Go away, Dusk,” she moped. “I don’t want to talk to you right now.”
“Afraid I’m not Dusk Shine, Barbra,” Elusive said, walking into the room. “Do you have a second?”
The sight of her love only made the wrecked Barbra cower even deeper into the shadows. “G-g-go away! I don’t want you to see me like this! I’m just a filthy little lizard girl!”
“Now don’t you talk like that,” Elusive sternly said. “Just because you’ve had one tiny embarrassing moment, doesn’t mean you should give up on life. I know I certainly don’t care that you had a few gems stuck on your cheek. I thought it was rather adorable. In fact, if you hadn’t run off I would have gladly wiped it off for you.”
“I could have had Elusive caress my cheek with his silky smooth hand!? Barbra, you’re an idiot!” She moaned within her thoughts, mentally face-palming herself. But she also looked up from her sob fest and into the kind eyes of the stylist. He was so… unjudging, she had made a complete fool of herself and he was willing to overlook it, he was an angel. “S-s-so y-you don’t think I’m a fa-fa-filthy little porky piggy?”
“Why on earth would I think that, dear?” Elusive asked, appalled that she would say such a thing. “Such thoughts are uncouth, improper… Why, I’d say they’re down right ungentlemanly, and I would never sully a thought with such a dreadful accusation, especially one that is not where close to the truth.”
“He’s a real gentlemen, isn’t he?” She swooned in her mind. He was the one; she knew that they were destined to be together, her illogical, hormonal mind said so. “Well… thank you,” she blushed, weakly smiling up at him.
“You’re very welcome, dear,” Elusive said. “And as a way to make it up to you, and because it’s your birthday, I would be honoured if I could take you out for dinner tonight.”
Did she hear that right? Did he actually say the small collection of words to create the most beautiful sentence in the Equestrian language? She pinched herself to make sure she wasn’t dreaming. “Yes!” She shouted gleefully at the top of her lungs, before quickly composing herself, trying to be suave and cool. “I mean… sure, that’d be nice.”
Elusive beamed. “Wonderful, I have a few things to sort through with an order, but I’ll swing by at eight to escort you to dinner.” He turned around and left the room, but before he closed the door, he turned around and winked. “See you then, beautiful.”
He closed the door, and after the sound of his footsteps disappeared Barbra died of joy. She squealed and rolled around the floor happily, almost having a nosebleed from sheer excitement. “This is the best day ever, again!” She cried happily. But her happiness was cut short by the sudden realization of her new problem. “Oh my god, I don’t know what to wear!” She panicked, looking around her room of discarded clothing. “What should I go with, maybe something casual?” She picked up a simple looking tee and shorts, holding them against her body, trying to imagine what it’d look like on her.
She also tried to imagine what she’d say to him.
“Oh hey, Elusive,” the young woman said in an off-the-cuff voice. “Oh this? I just threw something together last minute...” She cringed, throwing the outfit aside. “Threw together last minute? Come on, Barbra! This is the biggest dinner of your life… maybe something a little sexier…” She ran to her closet, sifting through her shirts and dresses before pulling out a button up blouse and a mini skirt and holding them up to her form again. “Oh… hey there,” she cooed seductively, looking down at the shirt and skirt. “Oh this? Just something that’s been buried in my closet, do you like it?”
She shook her head.
“Damn it, this won’t work either!” Barbra groaned. “Elusive is a classy guy, he won’t go for this stripper crap.” She tossed this outfit aside as well and started searching the closet again, throwing shirt after jeans after cute top out of the closet until there was a large lump of clothing piled on the floor, but nothing was good enough for her, nothing was good enough for him. Defeated she collapsed onto her bed. “This sucks… I finally get a date with Elusive and I have nothing to wear.”
However, just when all looked lost, a miracle knocked on her door and Dusk Shine peaked in. “Knock, knock. Are you okay? I heard a lot of… noises and you were talking to yourself again.”
“Oh it’s just hopeless, Dusk,” Barbra muttered into her pillow. “Elusive asked me out.”
Dusk scratched his head. “Wait… isn’t that what you wanted? Why is it hopeless?”
“Because I have nothing to wear!” She moaned, pointing to the pile of clothing she had created. “All the things I own already suck noodles. I don’t have any fancy clothes that aren’t from three or so years ago. I don’t want to wear something he’s already seen, I want to wear something new and classy. But I don’t have anything light that. If this was a movie it’d be the all is lost moment…”
“Really,” her adoptive brother said smugly, waving a colourfully wrapped present in his hand. “Well, if this was a movie, this would also be the… I don’t know, not all is lost moment or something… I don’t watch movies, you know that.”
“Present?” Barbra asked, looking up from her tear soaked pillow. Dusk Shine tossed the box over to her and she shifted over to her side to open it. Tearing off the paper she saw the box underneath and opened it… “Oh my… is this real?”
“Sure is,” Dusk smiled, turning around and heading back to his study. “Happy birthday, Barbra.”
“Thank you,” she smiled, wiping a tear from her eye, not a tear of sadness but a tear of joy. “Thank you so much! This is perfect! He’ll love this.” She cheeked the time, realizing it was almost one o’clock. “Holy crap! I hardly have any time to get ready!”
*****
By the time eight o’clock rolled around, the sun had already begun to set, and nighttime’s shade darkened the skies. Elusive walked towards the Golden Oaks Library, adorned in his finest tuxedo, free of any specks or hairs, his suit was polished to the point of perfection, nothing less would suffice. Once he got to the front door, he knocked three times, quickly adjusting his tie before Dusk Shine opened the door.
“Hey Elusive,” Dusk said, munching on a bag of potato chips. “Barbra’s still getting ready.”
“Hmm, must be putting the finishing touches,” Elusive said, standing idly by in the doorframe. “How long as she been in her room?”
Dusk Shine checked the wall clock. “About seven hours. I gave her my gift and she hasn’t left her room since. I thought she might of died but there’s a large amount of… how do I put this… squealing. It keeps scaring Owlicious.”
“I see… well perhaps if she knows that I’m here she’ll come out.”
“Worth a shot,” Dusk Shine shrugged, turning around and shouting out, “Barbra! Your date is here!” At the top of his lungs, causing Elusive to blush a bit.
“Coming!” Barbra shouted from her room. There was a bit of rummaging before she finally opened the door and walked out. “So… what do you think?” She asked nervously. “I-I-I tried something different, you know, s-s-since it’s my birthday.”
She was wearing Dusk Shine present, a beautiful black ball gown. It hung gracefully around her thin form, the darkness of the dress really making her fair skin pop out. She wore little make-up, not wanting to appear too trashy, but she did style her hair differently, brushing it out over her right eye instead of having it all spikey. Each one of her nails were painted an acid green, the same colour as the small, spaghetti string purse that she hung around her shoulder. Her face was cherry red though as she did her best to avoid any eye contact.
“This is so stupid… I don’t deserve it.” She mumbled within her head. But when she peeped up to see the classically dressed man waiting to take her to dinner, she tried to shake all forms of doubt out of her mind. “No! I have to do this… I’ve waited to long for this, and I’m not going to chicken out on the greatest night of my life! So suck it up, buttercup!”
Even with that pep talk, she still felt all jittery in her stomach, and kept her flustered face pointed directly at the floor, even as she walked past Elusive and into the night. Elusive looked puzzled but followed her, waving goodbye to Dusk Shine who closed the door behind him. He had to fasten his walk in order to keep up with Barbra. “Slow down Barbra, we’ve got all night,” he chuckled, lightly grabbing her by the shoulder. “Besides, it’d be unfitting to me if I wasn’t able to escort you to your birthday dinner.” He slipped his arm underneath hers and intertwined their hands.
Barbra felt the smooth lining of his jacket against her arm, his very touch seamlessly lit her soul on fire and steam arose from her nose. “OMG, he’s touching me! He’s actually touching me! This is so cool… oh god no. Damn it nose, stop smoking and ruining this moment!” She freaked out and slapped her face, covering the grey smoke coming from nostrils. Her draconic nature was going to be her doom, and prayed that Elusive didn’t notice that he was literally making her steam.
“Are you okay?”
“Hmm?” She asked through her fingers. “Oh yeah, fine. Just about to steam—sneeze! I was about to sneeze…” She turned away, gulping as she tried to quietly suck up her nose smoke. When she was done she forced an obnoxiously large and overly happy smile to her date to assure things were alright. He smiled back and she went back to being nervous.
The short walk to the restaurant seemed like a marathon, but they finally made it to the brightly lit establishment. Barbra was shocked to see that Elusive had taken her to the most romantic place in Ponyville, The Firefly Docks next to Ponyville Lake. The airy restaurant was made from an overgrown tree and tangled roots, and was hallowed and curtained to allow the night sky in but not the night air. But the most prominent spots weren’t the ones inside, but by the waterfront overlooking the lake. It was said at night the fireflies would dance on the surface of the water, and any who witnessed the spectacle would say that it’s the most beautiful sensation.
The two of them approached the host’s booth, where a cherry looking girl greeted them. “Welcome to the Firefly, do you have a reservation?”
“Indeed, ma’am,” Elusive nodded. “Elusive for two, waterfront table I believe.”
She looked over a list of names. “Ah, here it is. Follow me this way you two.” She picked up a few menus and led them through the restaurant. “They seemed quite busy this night and Barbra noticed there was a lot of happy couples sitting and laughing with each other… starring lustfully into one another’s eyes, cuddling in their booths. Women walking their fingers drunkenly up their dates arms. Was she expected to do these things with Elusive? She thought of being so direct was a little frightening… and a little exciting. But knowing herself her nerves would fry before she could do anything.
“Keep it together, girl!” Barbra growled in her head. “You want this! You can do this! You’re brave, you’re sexy, and Elusive would be lucky to have you and not the other way around.”
They were soon seated and handed some menus by their waiter. “Is there anything I can start you two off with, something to drink perhaps?”
“Actually, a bottle of wine would be delightful,” Elusive said, flipping his menu around and pointing to the wine he wanted.
“Excellent choice,” the waitress said, turning to Barbra. “I’m just going to have to ask you for some ID.”
The draconian girl reached into her purse and fumbled with her wallet and pulled out her Equestrian Identification Card. “Will this do?”
“Hmm,” their waiter hummed to herself. “Yes it is, happy birthday by the way.”
“Thanks.”
Their waiter returned Barbra’s ID back to her and skipped off, leaving Elusive and Barbra at their table, all alone, where they waited anxiously in the silence and Barbra to cower behind her menu. She used this time to think about what to do, what to say. “Maybe there’s something happening at another table that I can mimic?” She thought. Darting around, she eavesdropped on a couple sitting a few tables from them. They seemed to be admiring the night. Not exactly innovative in terms of dinner conversation, but it could at least break the silence. “It’s such a beautiful night out, tonight, isn’t it?”
“Yes it is,” Elusive smiled. “And such a wonderful view.”
“View… right,” she giggled timidly. When he said view, did he really mean her? He did look at her when he said it… no, had to be misdirection, it was polite to look at the person you were talking to. She had to think of something new to say. “So… what are you going to order?”
“No idea,” her date said, stealing another glance at her. “Everything looks so delicious.”
“He did it again!” She gasped, diving back into her menu. “That time I’m sure he looked at me… is he doing this on purpose? Is this some sort of weird adult signal or something? I don’t know! I’ve been an adult for less than a day; I don’t know this crap yet.” Elusive was still browsing the menu; he’d be completely vulnerable for a few more moments. If she was going to make a move, it’d have to be now. ”Alright, Barb, time to buck up or shut up. I’m just going to casually slide my chair over to his side…”
She grabbed the bottom of her chair and began to sneakily slide it over closer to Elusive… however, Barbra realized that no matter how hard you try, no matter how careful you lift or quiet you want to be… there is no way to discreetly move a chair. The legs of the chair screeched against the ground, and Barbra swore that at that moment the whole place went silent, and all eyes were staring at her, looking curiously at her. All these people were watching her, wondering why she made that noise. The cherry red colour once again returned to her cheeks as she tried to sink under the table.
“Stupid! Stupid! Stupid! What the hell were you thinking girl?”
“Are you alright, Barbra?” Elusive asked. “You tried to move your seat.”
“Yeah… it just that… I umm… there’s a…” She couldn’t think of anything to say, and there was no way she could tell him what she was really trying to do.
Thankfully, Elusive had an answer for her. “You’re cold, aren’t you?” He asked. “I did feel a little bit of a draft when we first in. If you want to move your seat closer to my side of the table you’re more than welcome to join me.”
The last words echoed through her head. The beating of her heart tango danced in her chest as she slid her chair closer to him until they were side by side. It was impossible for her to keep her cool while so close to him, and it was inevitable that a thin stream of grey smoke started to leak through her nose. She did her best to cover up her face and nose, but it was a lot harder to hide this time. A few puffs of the grey smoke escaped her clutches and mixed in with the aroma, and Elusive noticed.
“Is someone smoking in here?” He wondered. “I thought there was a no smoking policy here.” Elusive took another sniff of the air. “Is… Barbra, are you all right?”
She turned pale. “Ju-just a little hiccup, that’s all,” she panicked, turning to cough and fan the smoke away. “It’s not like I’m nervous or anything, that’d be crazy… yeah.”
Elusive chuckled a little, tenderly placing an arm around her, his strong, gentle arm that made her feel like she was the only flower in a green field. “Barbra, you don’t have to be so nervous tonight, it’s your birthday after all.”
“I know…” she mumbled. “But it’s—I want to tell you that I love you…” Those last words echoed through her mind, how she longed for the courage to finally say those sweet little words. But if she couldn’t keep her draconian nature under control, how would she confess her biggest secret?
Fortunately, fate had other plans. Their waiter came back with their wine and poured them each a glass, and, after they gave her their dinner orders, they were alone once again. She quickly took a few sips of the bitter berry wine, not exactly the greatest flavour on earth, but she already felt her chest loosen up a bit. She took a few big breaths, if she was going to do this, it would have to be now.
“Elusive…”
“Yes?” He asked back, turning to her with a smile and captivating her with those sapphire eyes. Those delectable gem-looking round orbs that evaporated her worries, replacing them with new feelings of the greatest reward of yes, or the disappointing glare of no. Her nerves were almost disarmed again from his glance, but she powered through it, she had to.
“T-there’s something I’ve been wanting to tell you for a very long time,” she could feel her face getting hotter, scolding even. “A-a-and if I don’t do it now, then I’m afraid I’ll never be able to say it to you.” Elusive looked intrigued, and let her continue. She took another big breath. “We’ve known each other for a very long time… and I don’t know if you’re aware of my feelings towards you and how they’re more than just… well our friendship. And I really do cherish it… but I want it to be more… because Elusive, I—“
She couldn’t finish that last sentence, not because she couldn’t muster up the courage, but because a pair of fingers placed upon her lips made her gasp. Elusive had stopped her because he already knew what she was going to say. His arms fell to her shoulders and they’re faces inched closer to one another. Barbra eyes widened, her mouth slightly opening as their lips met for the first time.
He took her breath away, suckling on her bottom lips while his fingers made their way down her back. His fingers were like ice against her sensitive skin, as she arched away instinctively from their touch, only to push herself closer to the man she loved. Barbra’s eyes fluttered lazily with lust as she became all but consumed by Elusive’s kiss, her fears washing away. She felt like her heart was about to stop, but it was racing far too fast, especially when their tongue’s met in a savory dance, lashing and curling around one another. As seconds ticked by at the pace of a blissful eternity, they had to part ways. Barbra wasn’t ready to give up the kiss, her neck leaning forward as Elusive parted, leaving her closed eyed and hungry for more.
“Easy now, dear,” Elusive winked. “You’ll spoil your appetite.”
“Graaah…” Barbra moaned happily, slinking into her chair. A meteor could hit this town right now and she wouldn’t even flinch. That had to have been the single greatest thing to ever happen to her in her entire life, and she once ate an entire barrel of gems. However, her curiosity did entice her to ask if there would be any more kissing in the future… and perhaps… something more. “So… uhh, what does this mean? Are we dating now?”
“If that’s what you would like, Barbra,” Elusive smiled. “Now you were about to say something before I so rudely cut you off?”
The green-haired draconian girl smiled, leaning on her official new (and first) boyfriend, cuddling up on his shoulder. “Oh… I’ll tell you later,” she said, it’s not like she was in a rush anymore.
*****
The rest of dinner went rather smoothly, that kiss had really loosened Barbra up and extinguished her fears. They talked about things, nothing really particularly important or interesting if you didn’t get the pretext, but it was something to talk about. Eventually they finished eating, paid the bill and left the restaurant, taking the long way home through the park. The stars were in full bloom now, it was as if the Prince of the Night knew it was a special night and wanted to show off just for Barbra. In any case if was no less romantic.
“I had a really great time, Elusive,” Barbra sighed, her arm was still intertwined with Elusive’s. She never wanted to let go. “We should really do this again sometime.”
“How about next weekend?” Her boyfriend suggested. “That is, if you don’t already have prior plans.”
“No, no!” She stammered. “I’ll always have time for you…” She groaned at her next thought. “Even if Dusk Shine works me like a horse sometimes.”
“Don’t be so hard on him, he tries his best,” Elusive chuckled. “Besides, he’s not all bad. He did buy you that wonderfully elegant dress after all, and he did do one more favour when I talked to him this morning…”
Her ear’s perked up. “Oh really?”
“When I first came over him and I had a little chat about your curfew. Normally I’d respect his rules, but I thought tonight as long as you were accompanied by myself that we could, perhaps… bend the rules tonight.”
Now she was starting to turn red. What was he scheming?
“So tonight, we can do whatever you want, Barbra,” he smiled. “Anything in the world.”
“A-a-anything?” She gulped, a whole new set of pressure setting in. It was surprising that Elusive would drop something like this on her, it didn’t seem like him. She tried to figure out if there was some sort of alterior motive behind it. Anything she wanted could mean a lot of things. Was this perhaps code for… well that? The more she thought about it, the more her head hurt. She’d be lying to herself if she said she didn’t want to do that, but it seemed too soon. They had just kissed for the first time for pete’s sake! Did he really expect her to jump into bed with him on the first date? Was that really all he saw in her, could even her perfect angel be that pig-headed?
No… no he couldn’t be. Elusive was a gentleman, he had codes and standards that he lived by, and he always preached about the three date rule, it would be hypocritical for him to acted against it. Besides, the look in his eyes weren’t scheming or deviant, they were innocent and friendly. If anything, he meant anything except for that. She really needed to stop overthinking things before she became Dusk Shine.
“So… anything I want?” Barbra asked devilishly, a little plan formulating in her mind. She flicked out one of her acid green fingernails and dragged it across Elusive’s chest. For the first time that night, it was he who was getting a little flustered at Barbra’s sudden directness. “So… I could do this perhaps?” She plucked a single string of thread from the flap of Elsusive’s suit.
“B-Barbra!” He mumbled, shocked that she would do something like that. “This suit had a three thousand thread count, now it’s one lower! Could you give it back to me?”
“Oh sure I can…” she smirked bolting off into the opposite direction from him laughing as she called, “But you’ll have to catch me first!”
“H-hey! Barbra!” He called back, chasing after her. “Come back here, this is a crime against fashion!”
Barbra didn’t care though, she continued to run off into the park, having Elusive chase her around. She may have turned into an adult that day, but she was still a kid at heart, and was in no rush to grow up too fast. She knew that Elusive eventually realized that Barbra was playing a trick against him and he too started to laugh through his pants of exhaustion. Barbra would eventually give the thread back, only to have Elusive grab her purse and run off, starting the chase once again. It was a nice way to spend the rest of the night, and the two eventually collapsed under a large oak tree, withered from running so much in formal attire. Sleep overtook the two lovers, and while Barbra clung close to Elusive for warmth, she remembered that she had totally forgotten to tell him she loved him. But alas, he was fast asleep. It didn’t matter too much to her though.
She did after all… Have the rest of her life to tell him that she loved him.
THE END
Author's Note
This is a first for me personally, doing humanization and R63 in one go. Hope you all liked it!
