Zeref sat up after he removed the headgear from his head. He sets it down on his nightstand and brings his legs off the bed and sits there for a moment. Rubbing his eyes with both of his hands. The mission was a success. But something was bothering him. How was the Assassin even able to return? He knew the game was resurrected. But clearly with this new found technology and some magic through in the mix. Every AI in the game literally had the mind and thought process of a human. That is something back in his own world that humans haven’t even perfected yet.

“This world amazes me even more each day…”

He said to himself with a light chuckle. He hears a knock at his door.

“Zeref? Are you back? I am going to take a bath before I get dinner started. Just letting you know…”

This was perfect, he was going to see if she wanted to take one before dinner so he could distract her, turns out the plan was falling into place on it’s own. He gets up and walks over to the door, opening it up and nodding to her.

“Sounds good Twi. I will be downstairs in the living room. And no rush. Soak as much as you like.”

She smiled and nodded, though her face changed as she circled her hoof in the floor, a blush forming across her cheeks.

“I have something I wish to ask you during dinner. It is very important.”

“And I will listen Twi, now go and get all squeaky clean. You are starting to look like one of those legit gamer girls who sit in front of the monitor who turn out to be better than their male counterparts. Not that it’s a bad thing. Back where I am from those are rare to find.”

He reached up and pets her on the top of her head as he walks by, this making to young alicorn blush lightly at his touch.

“Go and relax. I will be downstairs.”

He said as he made his way down. Once he knew that she was in the bathroom and heard the water running, he took this time to get things going. If it’s one thing he knew he could do right, it’s cook some good breakfast food. He even got a little something for himself from a griffon merchant. A half pound of bacon. Which he couldn’t wait to eat. Twilight knew that he ate meat, so long as it wasn’t of the equine variety, she didn’t mind. Zeref whisked together the pancake batter with ease, having one skillet work on those while he had another frying up hash browns he had shredded from fresh potatoes, seasoning them and then adding cheese on top of them once they had finished cooking. Cause lets face it, cheese on hashbrowns is pretty good.

While he was doing this however, a song began to come from his lips, something he used to sing to himself who he was cooking at home. He grew up in the ninetys. And so his kind of music wasn’t what kids listened to these days, nor what would the ponies here would quite understand.

["I don't mind stealing' bread...

From the mouths of decadence...

But I can't feed on the powerless

When my cup's overfilled…”](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b0suK0Fl8Ko)

He did his best to sing the song, knowing that singing wasn’t a special talent of his, but he sung it anyways. As he was singing and cooking however, Twilight was watching him from behind the corner, her wide purple eyes watching in amazement as he seemed to do everything so...effortlessly. She had never seen this side of him. And it impressed her. Though the song he was singing seemed so...sad. And yet he sung it with conviction in his voice.

What kind of world did he live in that had this kind of music…?

She thought to herself before quietly walking away, making herself comfortable on the couch. She had finished her bath and was dressed in her usual ‘comfy’ clothes. She looked at the fire that he had set up before he got started. She got lost in her thoughts as well as the fire.

I wonder what he really thinks of me. His attitude is just so...aloof. Sure he is nice and all, but it’s also like he could really couldn’t care one way or the other. He has changed so much since he came here. One day he is holding me at gunpoint..and now...he is making dinner for me. And it’s my favorite!

The alicorn was indeed fighting to bottle up her feelings for the human. She had been doing this for some time now. But she had been hitting the books harder than usual to keep her mind off of it. She was fidgeting with her hands. A heavy blush forming across her cheeks as she lets out a light whining sound.

Oh, what am I going to tell him? Should i just come out and say it? I want to tell him before my estrus comes so he knows that I am serious. But how?! I don’t want things to be awkward between us! I really really like him! He is smart...a good leader...handsome...I just wish he’d loosen up a bit.

Her thoughts were interrupted by his voice, calling out to her.

“Twi, I made dinner. I figured I’d take over tonight so you could relax.”

“I could smell it from upstairs. It smells wonderful, Zeref. And it was very sweet of you to do that. I am sure it will taste great!”

She said as she got up and walked into the dining room. The plates and food were all set, with the bacon by his plate of course. He places a bottle of ketchup and hot sauce with the other food, just in case Twilight wanted either or with her hashbrowns. Though what she eyed the most of his culinary creations was that stack of pancakes. They looked so yummy and fluffy. Nothing like she had ever made before. He even put chocolate chips in it! He knows her all too well it seems. She walks over to the table and sits down, smiling widely up at Zeref as he returns to the table with a glass of milk for her, and himself.

“Thank you so much for this, Zeref...you really didn’t have to do this.”

He shakes his head, sitting at the chair on the other side of the table.

“You have been taking care of me Twi, I should return the favor every now and then.”

He said before he started eating, going for most of the bacon first, however. As they ate, it was quiet. Twilight’s mind however, was not quiet. She could stop staring at him every so often. Her heart was starting to beat quickly.

C-calm down….it’s just dinner time. Why are you so nervous?!

Zeref looked up at her every now and then as well. He could see that something was bothering her, clearly. Maybe it is part of why she wanted to talk to him? If she didn’t ask him about it during dinner, he’d bring it up after. It never did come up during the meal, as they both sat in the living room, reading their favorite book. Zeref looked over the top of his book at the alicorn and sighs lightly.

“Alright Twi. You said earlier you wanted to speak with me. I am rather curious about what.”

He said as he arches a brow at her with his arms crossed as he sat back on the couch. This made her jump a bit. She lowered her book with a heavy blush but kept her eyes on his. The poor alicorn not having much experience in the ways of romance. But she was going to take this chance. She liked him too much to hide her feelings any longer.

“Zeref...do you like this world? Do you like staying here…?”

He arches a brow at her question, but nods.

“Yeah, I was pretty mad at first, but as you can see I do enjoy living here. And having you as my roomie has been pretty sweet as well. You are a fun pony to be around Twi. Well, at least to me anyways. I love your stunning intellect, you are quite resourceful. I’d say all in all, being brought her against my will turned out to be one of the best things ever. I still can’t believe this is all real. It makes me think I am inside a pony version of the matrix...while playing the matrix. Matrixception.”

He chuckled to himself at that last part. Though he noticed Twilight standing up and walking over to him, his gaze following her every move until she had made her way into his lap. She straddled over him, blushing heavily as she does this. Zeref’s body tensed up quickly, his heartbeat running ninety miles an hour.

“I know that you have noticed my feelings towards you Zeref. I know you act like you don’t care. But is that really how you feel about me…?”

Zeref turned his head to the side, though Twilight gently cups his jaw in her hands and gently turns it back to face her..

“Zeref..please look at me…”

He sighs lightly and locks eyes with her.

“Twi, I won’t lie to you. I really, really like you. But all this seems too good to be true. A small part of my mind thinks that this has all been just a long dream I have yet to wake up from. Or that I am in some kind of state where my headgear malfunctioned and I am stuck in this kind of...mental limbo state. So my question is. How do I know all this is real? It is like Morpheus said. “What is real? How do you define real?” It’s just how I look at thi-...”

He was cut off by the soft lips of Twilight pressing against his own, her arms wrapping around his form as she silences him with a long awaited kiss. Zeref’s eyes widened in surprise, he lightly placed his hands on her sides, wanting to push her away, but at the same time, he wanted to embrace her and hold her closely. After the kiss, Twilight looked into his eyes once more that blush still heavy on her cheeks.

“Zeref...this is real. And my feelings for you are even more so…”

“Twi...I..”

He looks down for a moment,then back up to her.

“Are you sure that this is okay? I mean, I am not a pony...nor am I of any kind of being of this world. And I know as a princess, you have to be careful who you associate with.”

Twilight shook her head with a slight smile, her tail swaying behind her, lightly hitting his legs.

“Well, I am a princess after all. I can be with whoever I want. And I want to be with you, Zeref. And if anypony has an issue with that, too bad.”

Zeref looked up at her once more. He could tell that she was serious. By the way her voice sounded and the eye contact she had maintained with him. And this was definitely not the influence of her heat.

“Alright Twi. I am willing to see this play out. I have the same feelings for you as you do with me. It is time I make them known.”

He said as he wraps his arms around her lovingly, locking lips with her now, leaning into the kiss to show her just how much he wanted to be with her. Her wings popup in both surprise and happiness. She places her hands on his shoulders lovingly and whimpers a bit as she was kissed by the human she had become so very fond of. Her heart was fluttering, and his mind was rushing. All he needed was reassurance it seemed. Zeref wasn’t much of a briny. But he really did have a think for the purple bookworm pony. Her personality, the way she gets flustered about things was very adorable to him. Many more qualities about her, he liked. But never in a million year did he think he’d ever be sharing a kiss with her, let alone with her in a form like this. Once the kiss breaks, she clings to him and nuzzles into his chest, her eyes peering up at him.

“Zeref...would it be okay if I slept with you tonight? I certainly wouldn’t mind having a companion to snuggle up with to keep me warm…”

Zeref’s face turned just as red as hers was now. This is the first female he would have share a bed with him. He could tell she just didn’t want to be alone, and nodded.

“Sounds good to me Twi. This will be my first time sleeping with another in my bed...so sorry if I roll over on you.”

She couldn’t help but giggle at him, continuing to nuzzle in his chest.

“I am not worried...at all.”

Author's Note

I figured it's about time for the relationship to begin. So here ya go!

May the darkness grant you peace.