Being the middle of the day, the café was, naturally, bustling with crowds rushing in for their respective lunches. There were many people lined up at the counter, struggling to decide what to eat and drink, and as for those who had already taken to their booths, they were smiling and chatting to one another with looks upon their faces that made it clear that they were all having a good time here. Even the waitress of the place, though clearly very busy, was nevertheless going about her work appearing to enjoy it a great deal, always greeting her customers with a smile and a laugh as she served them their orders. One such set of customers were in a particular corner booth, speaking quietly to each other, but they stopped as the waitress finally brought them a tray with a pair of cups of tea.
"Here's your order, girls."
Sunset and Adagio looked up to her, smiling and nodding as she set the aforementioned cups upon their table. The two gave her appreciative looks, which caused her smile to widen further, before then watching her leave. After picking up their drinks, then blowing on them to cool them off, they each took a small sip, with Adagio letting out a contented sigh as she did so.
"Ah! Always nice to come here, Sunset my dear."
Chuckling, the former unicorn couldn't help but nod in agreement.
"Yeah. it's pretty good. Though I wish the weather was a bit better."
Adagio nodded back to that, turning her attention to the street outside, which was overcast with grey clouds in the sky, as well as the look that it might be raining shortly. But, such things did not seem to phase the Siren all that much.
"Well, just be glad you're in here instead of out there."
Again, Sunset laughed.
"I'll drink to that."
She raised her cup, and Adagio, upon seeing this, gave a short smirk, raising her own cup before gently colliding it with her colleague's. After that, the two took yet another sip of their tea, the warmth of the drink helping them a great deal in the face of the less-than-pleasant weather outside. Then, all of a sudden, Sunset was surprised by a sudden vibrating in her pocket. Reaching into it, she pulled out her cell-phone, looking upon the screen of the thing and smiling.
"It's Flash. He says he cane make it to dinner with me tonight."
Nodding, Adagio leaned back into her side of the booth, looking to Sunset with curiosity.
"Always nice when the lad finds the time for you, Sunset."
An amorous expression soon formed upon her face moments afterwards.
"It's the sign of a good lover, when they go out of their way for you like that."
Putting her phone away, Sunset looked back to her with a degree of incredulity.
"I suppose you, of all people, would know that."
Chuckling, Adagio flipped some of her hair aside.
"Guilty, as charged."
Sunset shook her head to that, sipping her cup yet again before speaking up to her friend once more.
"You know...is it really right for you to think of yourself as an expert on romance?"
Adagio raised an eyebrow to this.
"With all due respect, Sunset, I think I'm a little bit more...experienced in the ways of love than you are."
Frowning slightly, Sunset leaned forward, resting her hands upon the table.
"Adagio...the longest relationship you ever had only lasted the better part of a year."
The Siren looked away briefly.
"I assume you refer to Forte's Father?"
Looking back to her, she saw Sunset give a nod to that, and while there was no look of criticism in the ex-unicorn, Adagio nevertheless seemed to take some slight offense at this.
"I admit...my reasons for being with him might not have been as...innocent as you and your relationship. But for your information, I..."
She hesitated, but only for a moment.
"...I didn't just see him as some part of a larger plan."
Hearing that Sunset seemed confused.
"Well...that's certainly the impression you gave me when you first told me about him."
Taking another sip of tea, Adagio nodded.
"Yes...and perhaps that was an error on my part."
She narrowed her eyes.
"But the truth is...I perhaps did the boy a disservice by speaking of him that way. He had his flaws, to be sure. But..."
Slowly, she looked back up to her friend.
"...there were times...when he proved himself far above other lovers of mine."
Naturally, a remark like that led to an inevitable degree of curiosity on the part of Sunset, who looked down to her cup in silence for a long time. However, when she looked back up again, she bore a determined expression. It was a look that Adagio knew from experience could mean only one thing; Sunset was about to ask something, and she wasn't going to relent until she got an answer. So, after simply waiting, the Siren's patience was rewarded when Sunset finally did speak up again.
"Please...tell me."
Sighing, Adagio took to once more staring at her cup, to her reflection in the surface of the tea.
"Well...it occurred one night...after we had been married for about a month."
The sun had set beyond the horizon, and all throughout the city, lights were going out with the coming of the night. Cool was the air as this darkness began to set in, at least for most people. But for her, here in this tower chamber, with a roaring fire close by, the cold was no issue whatsoever. Adagio, Princess of this domain, looked over the Kingdom she desired as her own, and smiled sweetly to herself. Her garb was a long purple night gown, which stretched down to her ankles, combined with similarly-coloured slippers. Turning, her eyes fell upon her sisters, who were beside a nearby dressing table, complete with a mirror. Aria and Sonata was dressed in an identical manner to her, though their colours were green and pink respectively. And right now, Sonata was looking preoccupied.
"I think that stable boy likes me."
Aria rolled her eyes.
"Of course he likes you! You've been flirting with him for a week already!"
Sonata frowned as she looked to Aria's reflection in the mirror before her.
"Just because you keep turning down the advances of the men around here doesn't mean the rest of us should go without!"
The middle sister folded her arms.
"Have you seen most of those men, Sonata?"
Aria frowned as she said that, but before could speak further to her younger sibling, Adagio cut her off, stepping closer to them both.
"Enough! It's like being with a pair of children!"
Looking to her elder sister, Aria raised an eyebrow.
"Don't mind us, Adagio. We're just a little...impatient."
Moving closer, Adagio placed her hands upon her hips.
"I realise this plan is taking longer than we expected, but we have to stick to it."
Aria chuckled to that.
"You're the one who needs to get pregnant, Adagio, not us. So if anybody here needs to be "sticking to it" it's you."
Of course, such a remark earned her nothing but a frown from Adagio.
"I assure you, it is not through lack of trying, sister."
Aria opened her mouth, looking very much like she wanted to comment further on this. But, to the surprise of all of them, she was kept from doing so by the loud creaking of the door of the chamber. All three of the Siren sisters turned, and saw, standing in the doorway, the Prince himself. He seemed as nervous as ever, clearing his throat in that uncertain way of his. Even so, Aria and Sonata took on the well-practised role of the demure ladies-in-waiting, clasping their hands in front of them while looking down to the ground. As for Adagio, she took to her role of the dutiful wife, giving a slight curtsey to her husband.
"Welcome back, my Prince. How has your day fared?"
The boy smiled to this, stepping into the room in earnest.
"It went well, my love."
Slowly, he turned to the other two girls.
"My ladies...if you would."
They didn't need any clarification on that, and so gave their sister a quick nod before promptly starting to make their way out of the room. Adagio watched them, taking her seat beside the dressing table as they vacated the chamber entirely, with the Prince closing the door as they departed. Looking once more to his wife, the Prince looked on as she started to take up a brush, before gracefully tracing it through her copious hair. Gulping, the boy took slow steps towards her, seeming as if a great deal was on his mind. Eventually, he reached her, and when this happened, Adagio looked to his reflection before her.
"My love? Is there something wrong?"
He didn't said anything, and instead, after looking around the room for a few seconds, he closed his eyes, taking in a deep breath before looking to Adagio with determination upon his face.
"Yes...there is."
Although understandably confused at her husband's remark, Adagio soon found herself very much taken aback by what happened next. For just then, the boy gently placed his hands upon the soft spots between her neck and shoulders, before then starting to gently massage her there.
"What are...oh...oooooh!"
Adagio's contented sounds brought a smile to the Prince's face, and as he continued in this, his wife found herself increasingly relaxed.
"My Prince...this is most unexpected. This is...quite unlike you."
Sadness crossed the boy's face at that, and within moments, he stopped what he was doing. Realising this, Adagio turned her head to face him, seeing him move around the chair to kneel beside her, reaching out his hand to rest upon hers on her knee. He looked at her, right into her eyes, with a look of earnestness and sincerity.
"Adagio...you are my wife. And yet...it occurs to me that, in our time together...I have not treated you like you should be."
Guilt crossed his face.
"I have been naught but a fool. Unappreciative of the gift I've been given."
For the first time in this, Adagio took on a look of confusion, prompting the Prince to continue.
"You have made me...very happy, wife. You have stood by my side, brought a smile to me face...and made me feel...like a better man."
To say Adagio was unsure of how to respond to that would have been an understatement, but, she was even more surprised when, just then, her husband leaned forward, planting a tender kiss upon her lips. However, the look of surprise soon gave way to further contentment, as she closed her eyes, lifting her hands and placing them upon the sides of her husband's face as he continued to kiss her. When they parted, he looked to her yet again with clear determination.
"My negligence will not continue!"
While Adagio would have probably wanted to ask what he meant by that, she soon got her answer. For it was here that the Prince, while standing back up, scooped up his wife in his arms, and was now carrying her, bridal-style, to their bed. Adagio, for her part, didn't know quite how to feel about this, and so, as she was gently lowered down to the bed, with her slippers falling off in the process, she looked to her husband with perhaps the first honest look of uncertainty she'd had in their entire relationship. As for the Prince, while still looking nervous, he still tried his best to steel himself, and so began to climb onto the bed to join her. Slowly, her lowered himself towards her, kissing the side of her neck. Like the massage, this relaxed her greatly, as evidenced by her contented moans.
"Hmmm...that's nice, husband."
Shifting slightly, the boy looked her in the eye again.
"Adagio...tonight...we are not husband and wife. We are not Prince and Princess. And I will not see you simply as the Mother of my future child."
He lowered himself again, giving her yet another tender kiss upon her lips. When he parted from her, he looked to her with utter honesty, as well as near fear over what he was about to say.
"Tonight...I am merely a boy...doing what I can to please the Goddess that you are."
With words like that, what else could Adagio do but smile? Slowly, she raised her arms, wrapping them around his neck and drawing him closer, bringing him into yet another kiss. This one was much more on her side of things, as she expertly held him to her, with the Prince utterly lost in what she now gave him. When the kiss ended, Adagio looked to him with affection.
"In that case, my love...by all means...please me."
Nostalgia was very much prevalent in Adagio's expression right now, and she sensually traced her finger around the rim of her tea cup. Sunset watched, clearly enraptured with what she'd been told, but remained silent as her Siren companion began to speak once more.
"I remember it well, Sunset. Never before had he done so much to make me satisfied. Never before had he been so...so active."
A flirtatious smirk grew on her face.
"He called me a Goddess...and he truly treated my like one that night. I felt...like I was the only person that truly mattered to him."
Looking back to Sunset, Adagio gave a brief wink.
"I tell you...I can still feel the sweat I had from that effort."
Sipping her tea, Sunset looked to her with a blush upon her cheeks.
"Well...I guess you had an enjoyable night?"
Chuckling, Adagio took a sip of her own tea before nodding.
"Indeed. And...it was strange."
Curiosity took hold of Sunset, and she wanted as Adagio carried on.
"I'd never really regarded my husband as anything other than a step in my plans until that night. But the way he looked at me...the way he loved me...it was quite unusual."
She looked out of the window, and slowly, a smile formed on her face.
"He wanted to be with me simply because he wanted to be with me. I hadn't seduced or enchanted him...he simply wanted me. And as for my side of things..."
Briefly, she paused, actually seeming amused by something.
"...I actually wanted him there. He was inexperienced...clumsy...even, by today's standards, dorky. And yet...I'd never thought of a human as someone I'd want near me for reasons beyond the physical...until then."
Slowly, she looked back to Sunset, and here, she noticed that the ex-unicorn was looking to her with a knowing smirk, leading to a frown on the part of the Siren.
"What?"
Giggling, Sunset answered.
"You really did love him, didn't you?"
Adagio looked away, scoffing somewhat.
"No, Sunset. I might have found a fondness for him in that one moment...but that was what it was...one moment."
She looked down to her cup again.
"I never felt for him the way you feel for Flash. I was still...different back then, remember?"
Sunset's smile faded a little, though she said nothing as Adagio looked to her and spoke up again.
"Although...I suppose it is interesting that it was that night that finally led to my son's conception."
Hearing that, Sunset's smile returned.
"How sweet. Your son was born from an act of true affection."
Naturally, Adagio rolled her eyes.
"Do try and refrain from too many romantic thoughts, Sunset."
Sunset shook her head in disapproval of Adagio's words, but the latter soon paused, thinking things over before speaking out once more.
"But...I suppose I can safely say that I miss him. He was good to me...and to my sisters. He made me feel wanted more than most. And...he gave me my son. So..."
A brief dry laugh escaped her, and when she looked back to Sunset, it was with a genuine smile.
"...I suppose I'll always have a soft spot for him."
That, at the very least, caused Sunset to look to her with a degree of satisfaction.
"Well...I guess that's as good a way to leave things off with him as any."
Looking back to her cup, Adagio nodded, a sweet-looking smile growing on her lips.
"Hmmm...a lover I think of even after thousands of years and hundreds of others sharing my bed. Yes...I suppose that's as good a legacy as he could have."
