Chills woke up the next morning alone in his bed. Straining his ears, he hears the shower running and a quiet singing coming from the bathroom. Grinning, he gets up painfully from his bed, moaning from the cramps he was getting in his sides. Slowly and unsteadily he makes his way to the kitchen, hoping to make himself a spot of breakfast to start out his day. Not to his surprise, however, there is nothing good in the kitchen to eat. All that’s left is a moldy head of lettuce and an old piece of cheese.

He sighs and heads back to his room to wait for Destiny to finish. As he passes the bathroom he knocks on the door once and says, “Hey, other people like warm showers too, ya know.” A giggle comes from behind the door and he smiles.

After a few minutes Destiny comes out of the bathroom, mane wet and lacking her trademark tie, and heads into the bedroom. “Shower’s open,” she says casually as she searches for her tie, “Did you see where I put my tie? I can’t seem to find it.”

He blushes at the sight of her mane. Despite his attitude, he had always been a stallion who enjoyed a wet mane. Not that he would admit it, of course. “I think I saw it on the bedside table.”

She spots it and picks it up. “Nice one, Chills. I knew you’d be able to help,” she says, smiling.

“Y-yeah, of course I can.”

She notices his nervousness and homes in like a shark. “Something the matter Chills? Got a thing for wet manes?”

He blushes brighter and shakes his head vigorously. “N-no, that’s not it at all.”

She comes closer to him, swaying her hips. “Yes it is. Don’t lie to me. You like this.” She tosses her mane to the side and gives him the bedroom eyes.

“N-no! I told you I can’t do that with you so early in our relationship!”

She begins to laugh. She laughs so hard that she falls the floor, clutching her sides and tears rolling down her face. Eventually, when she finds enough breath, she says, “I can’t believe you fell for that!”

He steps back, shocked. “You mean to tell me that that was a joke?”

She laughs even harder at that. Slowly, he begins to chuckle. It begins to build on itself until it is a full out guffaw and he’s rolling on the floor next to Destiny. Eventually they both calm down enough to stand up. Wiping tears from her eyes and chuckling softly, Destiny ties her tie around her neck. Chills makes his way into the bathroom and turns on the shower. He places a hoof under the water to test it, and pulls back almost instantly because of the freezing cold temperature. “DESTINY!”

Another round of laughter floats its way in from the bedroom. Seething, Chills turns off the shower and stomps into the bedroom. “What did I tell you about using all the hot water?!”

She slowly calms down again and wipes more tears from her eyes. “Geez, Chills, you act like it’s the end of the world.”

He tugs at his mane in frustration. “I can’t take a shower now! I’ll smell terrible!”

She chuckles again. “You can take a shower later. It’s not like you have to leave right away.”

He looks at her angrily. “I have to go out and get food for the week! I can’t go the market looking and smelling like this…”

She stops laughing and looks at her hooves. “Oh my, I didn’t know…”

He groans and sits down heavily on the bed. Suddenly, Destiny raises her head. “I’ve got it!” She exclaims.

He looks up slowly. “What? What could you possibly do that could fix this?”

She grins so widely that the top of her head looks like it might slide off. “I’ll buy your groceries.” He snorts in disbelief. “I will!”

He sighs in defeat. “Fine, I’ll make you up a list. I just need a quill and a scroll.” He rummages through his table. “I can’t find any. Do you think you can remember what I need?”

She nods. “I think so, yeah.”

“Okay, I need a bag of each of these: wheat, oats, daisies, carrots, celery stalks, and sugar cubes. But not just any sugar cubes, but the really good ones.”

“So you want all that? Wow, you must go through a lot of food.”

“Yeah, well, I eat big meals. I trust you’ll be able to handle this?”

She nods again. “Of course.”

He tosses a cloth sack to her. “Here’s the grocery allowance.”

She catches the bag and smiles. “See ya later Chills.”

She walks out the door. Just before she shuts it, she says, “I’ll be back in a jiffy. Love you.”

He blushes. “I love you too.”

She makes her way down the crowded streets towards the market. Being Sunday, the streets were bustling with ponies trying to prepare for the new week. The market is the worst as most ponies do their shopping on Sundays. She mutters the list to herself as she looks around for the first stall. She spots a carrot vendor and attempts to make a beeline to it, but she is stopped by the press of bodies. She shoves her way through, much to the complaining of the other ponies, and reaches the carrot stall.

She smiles sweetly at the vendor. “I need a bag of carrots please.”

The vendor deadpans. “That will be ten bits.”

Destiny pulls out the bag and counts out ten golden coins. She passes the coins to the vendor and accepts the bag of carrots she pulls up from under the counter. Destiny thanks the vendor and walks back through the crowd. The rest of the shopping continues in a similar fashion until she reaches the sugar cube vendor.

“I’d like a bag of your gourmet sugar cubes, please.”

The vendor frowns. “Sorry, we just ran out. Will the regular ones be okay?”

Destiny runs a hoof through her mane. “Umm… No, sorry, he asked specifically for the good ones.”

The vendor’s frown deepens. “Sorry, but I just sold the last bag to that unicorn stallion over there.” She points at a bright red stallion standing about ten feet away. “You can come back tomorrow. We’ll have more then.”

Destiny nods slowly. “No… I think that I know what to do. Thanks anyway.”

She trots over to the stallion. “Hey, can I buy those sugar cubes off of you? I really need them. My friend asked for them specifically and you bought the last bag.”

He shakes his head. “Sorry, but I need this for my club. Can’t you come back tomorrow?”

Destiny pouts. “No, I can’t. Please?”

He grins. “Oh, okay then. I’m a sucker for a pouting lip.” He floats the bag over to her. “I’m Inferno Tempest, by the way.” He holds out a hoof. She shakes it.

“Destiny. Pleased to meet you.”

“Pleased to meet you too, Destiny. If you ever find the time, you should stop by my club in Manehatten.”

“I’ll certainly do that if I’m in the neighborhood. I hope to see you again.” She walks through the crowds and back to Chills’ house. She shuts the door behind her and walks to the kitchen, laying the bags on the counter. “Chills?”

The house is completely silent. Quietly, Destiny creeps up the hallway and to the bedroom. Cracking the door, she peeks inside and sees Chills peacefully sleeping on the bed. Smiling softly, she shuts the door silently and walks back to the kitchen. She puts away the food in the fridge and walks back to the bedroom as quietly as possible to prepare for their date later tonight.

Author's Note

Hey guys, Salamander here. I just want you to know that my upload days will normally be Tuesday, Wednesday, and possibly Friday. And despite the sex and gore tags, there isn't anything seriously explicit. This is not a clop-fic or a horror show. And getting the chapters over a thousand words is a tough thing to do, but I plan to stick to my resolution and keep the chapters between one thousand and two thousand words.