Pleather-bound Heart

Enigma's magic trembled as he cut the pleather strips. Tap was right behind him, watching as he worked. “Why do you even need to go out to visit them?”

“Not all designs are as easily transported as this one,” he said softly as he tried to focus.

“You have their measurements though, don't you? Why don't you just do everything here and bring it over when it's finished? Wouldn't that be easier and make them happy since they wouldn't have to bend their lives around your visits?”

He paused and sighed, lowering his head. He couldn't shake the feeling that she was right. Maybe they didn't like having him over and making them bend their lives around his visits was just unfair. He thought they liked having him over, but there was no way to know for sure. Maybe if he just dropped things off everypony would be happier.

“I... I guess.”

She smiled and moved up behind him, giving him a little nuzzle. “We could be together then more, right? And if you do things from home, you'll only have to bother your agent.”

He nodded. “Yeah. I... might have to get a new one soon anyway.”

“What? Why?” There was a sudden tension as he felt her pull back from him. “Because she told me where you live? Are you that made that I found you?”

His eyes widened and he turned back to her. “Wait, what? She told you? I-I thought you'd just tracked me down! I--” The look of anger on her face made him drop the shears. “N-no, of course not. I was planning to fire her because she's been lying about, well, just about everything. I asked her to give me some information about what she's been asking for my works, but she hasn't talked to me in weeks.” He sighed and looked back to the pleather strips, before tossing a few away. “She was the one who told you where I was?”

“Yes. She called me the night before I showed up outside your place. She said you seemed upset.”

Enigma stared at the strips. Of course. He'd asked for that information and so Velvet called his ex and sicked her on him. He looked down at the strips and sighed. “I... need to call her. Is that okay?”

“Of course,” Tap said before holding out his phone to him. He stared at it for a moment before dialing Velvet's number and pulling it to his ear. It kept ringing for a few moments before he got the answering machine. “Velvet, we need to talk. I want those numbers. I have every right to them. Call me back, soon.” He took a deep breath. “Please.” He then closed the phone.

“Was she busy?”

“She's probably avoiding me,” Enigma muttered. “I need to go visit some ponies.” He opened the phone again and started to dial, but it closed on him. “Huh?”

“See? Who?”

“Who?” he asked softly, before his cheeks turned a little red. “I was going to call Silverchain and Jadewing.” He cringed at the annoyance on her face. “I want to ask her if she knows any good agents. Maybe someone I can have look at my contract. It... might cause legal problems. I don't know.”

“Why do you have to talk to her?”

“Because she's more... involved in this kind of stuff than I am,” he said softly, before taking a step back.

“Why can't you just call and talk with her on the phone? You don't have to ”

Enigma gulped. “I... I guess I can. I'll... I'll do that.” He opened the phone and started dialing her number again. Tap just stood there, watching him the whole time. After a few moments it picked up and he cleared his voice. “H-hi. It's me, Enigma. I ummm, wanted to ask if you could help me with something.” He went quiet and listened. “No, it's not. Yes. No. It's about my agent. I... think I might have to... fire her. Or... quit her or... I don't know. I don't know if I can trust her any more and I need to ask if you know anypony.” He nodded and looked towards Tap. She looked annoyed, but wasn't saying a word. After a few moments he gulped. “Y-yes. Hold on. Ummm, Tap, are you okay if they come over here?”

Her eyes widened slightly. “Come over? I suppose, if that's what you want. I'll need to prepare a larger dinner, but that's fine. What day?”

He gulped and chewed on his lower lip. “Can... can they tonight? If that's okay with you?”

She sighed and shook her head. “No, I can't possibly prepare anything so soon. I--”

“I could take us all out! To dinner!” he said quickly. “I-I just got paid so we can afford it!”

Tap's eyes narrowed and for a frightened moment he thought she was going to slap him. Instead, she just smiled. “Well, that sounds delightful. Of course we can.”

He let out a sigh of relief and quickly settled things with the other mare before hanging up the phone, once he was off the smile fell from Tap's face. “Enigma, that was so rude.”

“W-what?”

“Ambushing me like that. I can't very well say no when you're on the phone with her, can I? Then you just make me look like the bad guy. What ever happened to discussing things and talking about them, not just putting me on the spot?”

He lowered his eyes and shook his head. “I'm sorry. I just... I thought...”

“It's fine.” She leaned forward and kissed him on the cheek. “I love you, so I don't mind putting up with your little faults. Let's go get ready for dinner, okay?”

He nodded and followed her into the bedroom, staring at the carpet.

Silverchain couldn't keep the frown from her face as they stood outside the restaurant, scanning over the other ponies. She was wearing a brown sequenced dress while Jadewing was wearing a green sequenced dress. It was a standard display and neither had put much thought into it.

She had heard the desperation and fear in the stallion's voice. The other mare had been there, watching him. She'd seen that sort of behavior before and the thought of one of her friends going through it made her grind a hoof into the ground. He needed them and she had no intention of disappointing.

Her eyes focused on Enigma as he and another unicorn came into view down the street. He was walking just behind her, his head lowered and staring at the ground. They seemed to be talking, but she had no idea what they were saying. The mare was wearing a white dress and he was wearing a bow tie. She couldn't help but snicker slightly at how simple his outfit was in comparison to hers.

“Hello, Enigma,” she said once the two were finally within speaking range. She noted the other mare tense up as they caught each other's eyes. “I am Silverchain and this is my lover, Jadewing. A pleasure to meet you.”

“This is Love Tap,” Enigma said softly as he gave a weak little smile. The mare bowed.

“A pleasure to meet you. I've heard such great things about you two,” Tap said with a smile before straightening up. “I do hope we can be great friends.”

“Of course, shall we?” Silverchain asked before turning and walking in. The mare seemed nice enough. Calm, friendly, but that could mean anything. The four were shown to their tables and she sat close to her little pegasus, a hoof reaching out to stroke hers. “So, Enigma. You wished to discuss business?”

He nodded. “Yes. I... don't think I can trust my agent now. I need to find a new one, who can help me... understand some things. I have the contract, I don't really understand everything in it. I... don't know how to do all this stuff on my own, though. Making these outfits is easy, but finding the buyers isn't. Oh! How have you liked the uhhh... toy?”

Silverchain saw the flicker of annoyance across the mare's face, but she let it slide. After all, if the mare wasn't into this life style, it wasn't surprising she didn't find this sort of talk engaging. Besides, she expected many of her questions to be answered tonight. “It has been functioning delightfully.”

“Yeah,” Jadewing said with a mischievous grin. “We spent almost an hour with it the other night. The cool down session after that was extra fun.” She gave her lover a nuzzle.

“There haven't been any troubles? Nothing too tight? Causing issues?” Enigma asked nervously.

“Not so much as the slightest problem,” Silverchain said with a smile. “How is our next order coming along?”

“Good,” he said before giving Tap a glance. “It's... uhhhh... good.”

“That's wonderful. Now, when it comes to finding another agent, that can be difficult. I'll see what I can find for you, though. I should be able to find you some work, however. Your last creation was quite interesting and I'm certain I can find more ponies interested in it when they visit my shop.”

Tap looked up. “Your shop? Do you make pleather?”

“Oh, no. I own my own sex shop.” She couldn't deny enjoying the way the mare jumped, just a little. She kept her face neutral, however. “Is something wrong?”

“N-no,” the unicorn said softly. “I, err... didn't realize. Why did you need Enigma to make your... thing, if you had access to a shop like that?” There was a hint of anger and jealousy in her tone.

“Enigma had quite the reputation for making safe, exciting devices. I merely wished to test how good he was. I was not disappointed, he has quite the talent.”

Jadewing nodded. “Mmmm hmmm. The pleather is so soft and just molds to me perfectly. I could dangle in it for almost an hour before--”

“I uhhh, need to use the restroom. I'll be right back,” Tap said quickly before getting to her hooves. “Please, continue without me.”

The three nodded. “An hour before I had to worry about falling off or having circulation problems. After...” Jadewing let the words trail off as Tap got out of range, then the two focused on Enigma.

The stallion tensed up. “W-what? What I do?”

“Is everything alright?” Silverchain asked softly, watching him. He was twitching, trembling. Whenever he drank from his water, the cup would shake. “You seem... tense.”

He looked towards the bathroom for a moment before looking to her. “I... I just... I...” He gulped. “I-I can't talk, I just... it's nothing. I...”

“Did you call that number I gave you?” Silverchain asked softly.

Enigma cringed and shrunk in his chair. “Y-yes. I... I don't... I'm sorry. I didn't mean to... I just, I was over reacting. I thought I...”

“What did they say? Did you tell them about your situation?”

He nodded. “Y-yes. They said I was mistaken and...” He stared into his water. “Being... manipulative. I needed to just let it go.”

Silverchain kept her face neutral as she watched him. “Did they ask about your situation?”

“A... little. She was right. I was just... I...” He looked back towards the bathroom, before looking to her again. “I just... I... I'm scared. She went through my phone and f-found the number. She got really mad about it and... and...”

“She went through your phone?” Jadewing asked.

“Y-yeah. I think I really made her mad. She hasn't let me out of her sight since and... I-I just don't know what to do. I-I'm trying to let everything go, but I just... I feel like I'm drowning, I-I don't know what to do.”

Silverchain gently reached out and covered his hoof with hers. “Enigma, if you need help, all you have to do is ask. You don't deserve to be in this situation if you don't want to be and we can help you get out of it.”

“W-why?” he asked softly, pulling his hoof back. “I can't... I... if I run, I'll just... I'll...”

“You'll what?”

“I'll be alone forever,” he muttered, staring down at the table.

“What? Why do you say that?” Jadewing asked. “You've had other marefriends before, right?”

“I haven't. Aside from Tap I've never even had any ponies interested in me. Not one. I've never had any mares even looking my way.” He wiped his eyes, trying to keep the moisture from forming. “It's not... I don't... I'm pathetic. Why would a mare even be interested in a pony like me? I--”

He locked up as Jadewing suddenly slid in besides him. Silverchain gave a small nod and before he knew it, the pegasus had her hooves on his shoulders and pulled him in for a soft, gentle kiss.

He pulled away quickly, his eyes going wide and red flooding his cheeks. “W-what... w-what did you do that for?”

“Because you're cute, interesting, a bit whiny but considering the situation I think it's understandable,” Jadewing said with a smile. “And you're wrong. There are plenty of mares who would find you interesting. We'd been considering you for a while.”

He stared, his eyes going even wider. “W-what?”

“Don't let your fear of being alone control you,” Silverchain said softly as Jadewing slid back into the seat besides her. “No pony deserves to be in a relationship where they feel scared, frightened or abused. Being a stallion doesn't change that.” She gently put a hoof over his. “We can't force you to leave her if you want to stay. But if you want to escape, we will be there to help you. It's not easy, but you never have to do this alone.”

Enigma nodded and stared. A hoof slowly moved up to his lips, rubbing where she'd kissed him. “I... I need... I-I think I need to go and... think about some things. Is that okay?”

Silverchain nodded. “That's fine. What would you like us to tell Tap?”

“I... I don't care.” He gently placed some bits on the table. “That should cover. I... I just need to think. I'm sorry.” He got to his hooves and walked out from the restaurant.

Jadewing sighed and watched him go. “What do you think he'll do? Do you think we were too forward?”

“No,” Silverchain said with a shake of her head. “I think being direct was the only way to get through to him. Now... I suppose we just wait. See how things go. If he needs our help, he can call us. If he decides he wants our help. If not, there's nothing we can do.”

Jadewing sighed. “We should just be able to swipe him from her and make her let him go.”

“That would be foalnapping,” Silverchain said with a sigh. “He is an adult, if he needs help he can choose where he gets it. He can make his own decisions.”

“Do you think we should just leave? She's been in the bathroom for a long time.”

Silverchain shook her head. “No. It would be rude of us to leave the poor mare without any idea of where we are. Besides, perhaps it is time we got to know her a little better.”

The pegasus grinned wickedly. “Oh, we could get to--”

“No. Actually know her.”

Jadewing deflated. “Fiiiiine. Ugh, so boring.”