Visage yawned and looked himself over in his mirror. He had bags under his eyes because he didn't get any sleep. Even after twenty years of his life, he's still afraid of thunder. And there was one helluva storm last night. It all sounded so close too. But instead of try to sleep, he decided he'd get out today and be a little more active then he normally would be. So, he brushed his teeth, had a shower, and packed his saddle bags.

"Ugh... I'm already regretting getting up this morning..." Visage whined.

He double checked all the rooms to make sure the lights were off before putting out the fireplace, which he had forgot about last night. Yet it still burned away.
"Well. Here we go." He said, twisting the door handle pulling it open and trotting out. He closed the door and locked it behind him before taking a deep breath of the fresh country air.

"Where to first, though..." He asked himself just before his stomach grumbled. "Ah yes, food. Right."

Visage began trotting towards his favorite breakfast diner, The Titanboa. Which was a very appropriate name with it's style and shape. That and the original owner happens to have been an archaeologist that was obsessed with the behemoth that was the titanboa. Pushing the doors open and trotting in, the smell of waffles attacked his senses.
"Woah, that's a little too much waff for me." He said, jokingly.
The stallion behind the counter looked to the voice and almost didn't see Visage, but locking on to his face as to not just simply forget, the stallion said,

"Mornin' Visage. How can I help ya?" The stallion asked.

"Uhm... I'll have whatever today's special is, if you don't mind." Visage said, trotting up to the counter.

"Pancake and three syrup special up front!" The stallion shouted out behind him, all the while looking at Visage.

"You know, you're the only pony that knows to keep your eyes on me, Spade."

"Yeah well you're a good guy. Oh, and that actually reminds me. There's somepony new in town who doesn't have the money for the overpriced houses here. Now this is just a suggestion, but you being the nice, kind, friendly, understanding pony you are, you could totally bunk with them till they get a job to make the money they need."

"I wouldn't mind if I wasn't invisible. Last thing I'd want is to go home to somepony thinking I'm breaking in." Visage said, sifting through his saddle bags for his bits.

"Well it was just a suggestion," Spade said as a plate of the pancake special was set on the counter. "That'll be 12 bits. You get a drink with it too."

"I'll just take a water." Visage said simply, counting up 12 bits and placing them on the counter while Spade reached under it and hoofed Visage a bottle of water.

"Let me know if you like the three syrup combo and have a good day, pal." Spade said, taking the bits and waving Visage off.

"Oh, you know I'll try." He said back, tossing the water bottle into his bags and picking up the plate with a hoof. Turning around, he observed the booths that lined the wall. They were all packed. Save for one in the back with a lone mare that Visage didn't recognize.
"Oh well, she won't even notice me." He thought to himself.

Visage silently trotted over to the booth and slipped in the other side, placing his plate down. However, the mare did notice.

"Hi." She said simply while reading today's newspaper.

"Uh... Hi. Sorry if I'm disturbing you. This was the only booth without 4 other ponies." Visage conveyed, pulling the water bottle out of his bags and placing that beside his food.

"No I don't mind. The names Clover. What's yours?" The mare asked, all the while not taking her eyes off the newspaper.

"Visage, nice to meet you." He responded simply.

The suddenly, the mare's eyes darted up at Visage, like his name set her off or something. "You mean the Visage that's invisible unless you make eye contact?" She asked, doing exactly that.

"Uh. Yeah. I didn't know I had a reputation to me."

She looked over his figure that covered hers eyes with a hoof. "I've just looked at you and memorised what you look like. I'll tell you what I seen even though I can't see." She said.

"O...kay?" Was all Visage could say, confused. "Go ahead. Doubt you'll get anything though."

"Don't be so quick to assume. You have an almost jet black mane and dark gray coat. Oh, and green eyes. AND you're an eathpony." Clover said, matter of factly.

Sure, it was impressive that she got it, but surely it was a coincidence.

"You'd be right... But why?" He asked.

"But why what?" Clover asked, removing her hoof from her eyes to look at Visage.

"Why would you care to try to guess..?"

"Because I know how to get rid of your little issue. That and I can see straight through it." She answered, smiling confidently.

"Yeah, right. I'd be 'forever at your service' if you could fix this, blah blah blah all that mumbo jumbo. I appreciate you trying to be nice but I doubt you can do anything. Also, I don't believe you can 'see straight through it'." Visage said, a little annoyed, oddly.

"We literally just met so you don't have any reason to believe me, I get that. Buuuut it would be nice if there was even a Smidge of trust?" Clover asked him, with hopeful eyes.

"Why are you even trying to help? Like you said, we literally just met." Visage said, finally remembering his breakfast and digging in with a fork.

"I have my reasons. That and I heard you talking to the stallion up there who suggested we bunk together till I get my own house." She replied simply.

"Seriously..? That's what this is about? Whatever. 102 on the east side of town. Extra key's under the welcome mat." Visage stuffed the pancakes into his mouth and got up to leave. He's just told this random mare where his house and spare key was, and he wasn't sure why. Maybe perhaps part of him wanted to believe the unbelievable things she said?

"I... What? Really? I thought I was gonna have to work for it... Huh..." Clover said, sitting back in the booth with a baffled look.

Chewing up and gulping down the delicious waffles, Visage took a quick swig of water before saying, "If you really do mean what you said about helping, I expect you be at my place by 9pm. Sharp. Not later." Visage said plainly, trotting towards the door.

The newly excited mare hops out of her see and scurries after him. "Wait! How about I join you today? so we can get to know each other and so we don't feel super uncomfortable as strangers sleeping in the same house." The mare suggested, catching up and trotting beside him.

"All I'm doing is shopping. Its almost 11am actually, so I'm gonna be running around town a lot..." He said, half hoping she'd go, but half hoping she'd stay. He was conflicted in other words.

"Oh come on! Time will fly if you have somepony to chat with! I'll help you with what you gotta do." She chimed, with a skip in her step.

"You're pretty insistent on helping me... And I still don't understand why."

"Like I said," Clover began while humming for a second, "I have my reasons."

"Riiight... Well you can come along as long as you promise to behave." Visage said, as he thought to himself, "This mare, Clover... There's just something about her... I mean yeah, she's kinda... Good looking, but there's something else about her..."

"I'll try. So where to first?" She asked, looking over to Visage for a moment.

Visage pondered it for a second before saying, "I guess we can hit the markets first. There's a good couple of things I need and I'd rather get it before it gets too busy out."

"Okay, what do we need from there?" Clover asked, emphasizing the we.

Visage pulled a little list out of his saddle bag and ripped it in half, passing half over to Clover.

"I need everything on that list. But can I trust you to get all that without running off with the bits I'll give you?"

"Don't worry about me trying to run away, I won't. You have my word." She responded, looking at the list of foods.

Visage tossed her a sack of bits, which Clover graciously caught with her mouth.

"Mphkay I'll go gepth tha shtuff." Clover said muffled with the bag in her mouth, to which Visage couldn't help but let out a little chuckle at her jumbled words.

"Kinda cute." Visage thought to himself as Clover trotted in the direction to some stands.

Visage went about his shopping all the while thinking about Clover, who we just couldn't get off his mind. "I'd be lying to myself if I said I wasn't a little interested in Clover... She's a little weird but that adds to the cute factor... And I like the weirdness... Sh- ...Wait what the hell? you two met a little over an hour ago! There's no way in tartarus you're into her like that already!" He shouted out... Internally.

He was suddenly shaken out of his thoughts by that very mare trotting up beside him with all the stuff from the list.
"I've got everything we need!"

Ok, maybe she was serious about 'seeing through' Visage's little curse because he wasn't even facing her, she just knew he was there.

"Oh, uh good. I've got everything too. There was a lot more then I thought there would be so it's probably best if we drop this off at my place. There's a few more places I wanna go afterwards." Visage said turning the direction of his home. "Let's go."

It was a mostly quiet trip across town. Neither Clover or Visage had anything to say. Mainly because they were both internally monologuing. Sooner then later, though, they reached their destination. Taking his key out of his bag, Visage inserted it into the lock, twisted it, and pushed the door open, natural sunlight flooding inside.

"Kitchen is down the hall and to the right." Visage said simply, closing the door once the two of them were inside.

"Ok, I'll go see what I can do." Clover replied as she trotted towards said kitchen.

Visage took off his saddle bags and tossed them to the side, but couldn't help but catch a glimpse at Clover's behind. "Damn, dude, stop it. Celesita only knows how stupid you are to already be into this mare after just meeting earlier. Get a hold of yourself." He thought internally.
After another few seconds of rudely staring at the mare's flank, Visage smacked himself and trotted towards where she went to put away the groceries.

"Hey, uh, after we pack these away I want to hit the flea market for somethings I've been looking for. After that, want to go out and grab some lunch? Those pancakes weren't enough." Visage said as he began packing things away, not even noticing the mare stopped in her tracks.

"You want to... Like... Go on a lunch date?" She asked quietly.

"What? That's not wha-"

"Yeah, sure! That'd be nice!" Clover squeaked cutely, cutting Visage off.

Visage froze still before saying in his head, "Ohhh crap... Did I accidently make it come off as asking her to a... Date? That's not what I meant at all! ...though maybe that wouldn't be so bad..." He sighed and couldn't help but let a little smile appear onto his face. He was admittedly ok with his question coming off as a date plan. After a moment of silence, he gave in to the idea. Though it probably wasn't a good one. "Well... Where should we go then?" He asked, nervously.

"I don't know... I haven't been around town that much." Clover replied, packing the rest of the groceries that she had hauled back.

"Okay... I'll figure something out then." He said, scrunching the grocery bags into a ball and tossing it onto the island.

Meanwhile, Clover was freaking out in her head. "We JUST met and he's already asking me out? I mean yeah, he's pretty handsome but why would he want to go out with me? And why am I so happy about it? Ugh sooo many questions but no time to get answers! But wait... I've never been on a date before... I don't know what to do... Oh this is going to be a disaster isn't it? Damn it Clover! Never prepared for anything!"

Fortunately, Visage noticed her growing worried expression and decided to speak up. "Hey Clover, you ok? You look a little worried."

At hearing his words, Clover began to hyperventilate. And she wasn't exactly too sure why...

With her rapid breathing increasing, Visage himself began to worry. It was time to step in and help. He's dealt with a few of these in his life, so he knew what it was and how to help.

"Hey hey hey, Clover, look at me," He said, panicked. And Clover did just that, "Breath through you nose and try to calm down a bit," He continued, and Clover obeyed by placing a hoof to her mouth as extra measure. It did help her somewhat, but not completely.
"Ok good, close your eyes and try to take in a deep breath." Clover inhaled deeply through her nose and held it. "Now let it out, slowly." Visage finished, to which Clover did. And just like that, she was back to breathing (somewhat) normally. Huh, that wasn't as bad as one would've thought.

"There we go... Are you ok? What was that about?" Visage asked, still with a hint of worry in his words.

"I... I don't know... I haven't lost it like that in years..." She answered, not knowing of a tear that had formed in her eye.

"You know what? Screw the flea market. You need some time to calm down. Come on," Visage said, leading her out to the living room.

"Huh? No no I'm fine we can st-"

Visage cut Clover off and said, "No, it's fine. You need to relax and ease up a bit. Besides, I'd rather stay here instead." He gestured to Clover to sit down on the couch, which she did. "Do you prefer tea or coffee?" He asked her.

"Um. Tea, Please and thank you." She responded, quietly, her breathe still a little shaky. She had a horrible record of hyperventilating every other day only a few years ago. She did manage to get past it eventually though.

Visage trotted back to the kitchen and put on some water. He then leaned up against the little kitchen window that led to the living room.
It was then he finally got a good proper look at the mare. She was a pegasus with a porcelain white coat and a smokey gray mane, which is complemented by beautiful clover green eyes. She was a looker, that's for sure.

"Hey Clover, you ok over there?" Visage asked the uneasy looking mare.

"Yeah, yeah I'll be fine... For now..." She replied, mumbling the last part.

"Might I ask why your name is Clover? I mean, you don't exactly look the part. Aside from your eyes."

"Yeah, I know. I am lucky though. Sometimes. Usually..." She said, finally with her shaky breathing back under control.

Visage looked at her flank to see what her cutie mark was, "A clover. Yeah, that figures." He thought in his head. "So... Mind telling me about how exactly you can quote on quote 'see through' my little 'curse'?"

"I don't exactly know how. I just know that you weren't the only one with the same problem. An old friend of mine went through the same thing, yet I could still see her fine." Clover explained.

"Ah... Well what about how you knew about me?" Visage questioned.

"Somepony moved into the city that was from here and wouldn't shut up about a certain Visage. So I came to investigate." Clover replied, all the while Visage was making a cup of tea for his guest.

"And to offer me help? I'm not convinced that that's all you came to town for." Visage stated as he finished stirring up the cup of tea before trotting out to the living room.

"Well... The pony that wouldn't stop talking about you claimed to be your ex."

"What?" Visage asked back almost immediately. "Their name?"

"It was like... Pearl or something. She said you up and left her for no reason, though..."

"That little... I did leave her, but that's because she was going at it with some rich prick that was passing by behind my back." Visage spat out, flopping down onto the couch and placing the mug of tea on the table.

"Oh... Well she had a lot to say about you... A lot of nice things." Clover said, unsure.

"...Like what?" Visage asked cautiously. If that evil little mare pearl ever turned up in town again he'd have a nice long talk with her for what she did to him in the past.

"A lot of rather graphic things..." Clover answered, simply. A moment of awkward silence passed between them.

"She was probably trying to make it sound like my fault... We went through so many precautions to make sure she didn't forget I existed, so that sure wasn't the reason she ran off to some other stallion without a second thought."

"If that's the case then she was trying real hard to make everypony feel sorry for her and to hate you..." Clover said, "Oh, and thanks for the tea." She said as she picked up the mug to take a sip.

"Hey, no problem. Kinda glad you didn't ask for coffee because I don't have any. Tea's more my thing." Visage said, laying back on the couch. "Oh and uh... If I'm gonna be completely honest... When I asked you if you wanted to go for lunch, I didn't mean for it to sound like I was asking you out for a date..."

"O-oh... I uh... Sor-"

"But I'm kinda glad you thought that's what I meant." Visage said, interrupting clover.

"Really..?" Clover asked shyly.

"Yeah! I'd be lying if I were to say that the thought didn't cross my mind a few times before that..." He said, beginning to feel a little nervous and shy himself with his confession.

Clover was silent upon hearing his words. When Visage looked over to the mare, she had a gentle blush on her face. Which was just adorable to Visage.

"Can... Can I ask you for a favor? It's a huge one and I completely understand if you refuse..." Clover said, taking another sip of her tea. Which was delicious.

"Ask away, I'm all ears." Visage said, eyeing the mare curiously.

"This may just sound like a huuuge excuse, but do you think that maybe... We could... Sleep together?.."

"...Wat?" Was all Visage could manage. We was baffled by the request, but Clover was quick to finish what she was saying,

"It's just that... Everytime I had a bit of an episode, I would usually wake up in the middle of the night with another one... I was thinking that maybe we we slept in the same bed, it would be safer cause if that DID happen, you'd probably notice it and be able to help me again..? Maybe?" Clover finished, avoiding eye contact because of her bizarre request.

Visage sat there with wide unsure eyes. He wasn't sure what to say let alone do. Here he was, sitting beside a gorgeous mare who had just asked to sleep with him IN HIS BED because of some hyperventilation episode... Eh, whatever. What's the worst that can happen?

Visage eventually decided to try to answer her question, which just came out as a bunch of mumbo jumbo. "Uhm... I mean, it depends? I guess it kinda makes sense, but really? If it doesn't bother you, then I guess... We could give that a shot?"

The two silently agreed and just sat there in a long awkward silence. Neither daring to speak up.

"Smooth, dude. You just agreed to letting a random mare sleep with ya. Good job?" Visage thought to himself.

"I don't know what to think anymore... The smart thing would be to just leave and go home, right? ...right..?" Clover thought to herself.

With a silent sigh, Visage continued in his head, "Why do I feel so stressed all of the sudden? Should I NOT let her sleep with me? Sure, I just met this mare today because of my ex pearl... Clover's pretty good looking though, so why am I complaining?"

Meanwhile, Clover was also still talking to herself mentally. "Just breath, Clover, breath... You're just sleeping in his bed for one night, just one. After that you'll get a job, buy a house, and maybe, just maybe get into some sort of relationship with Visage... Just maybe....Ugh, why does this all make me feel so stressed?!"

After a little while longer of silence passed by, Visage and Clover looked at each other expectadly at the same time before Clover spoke up and simply said,

"...Stress sex?"

"Yep, let's go." Visage said, getting up and signaling Clover to follow him. To which she did, leaving a now cold tea behind.

To Be Continued?

Author's Note

Yeah... This is a thing... A friend wanted me to write something like this, so here it is. Tadda! He just said to go at it however I want so I am.

Also, to anyone who might have read and enjoyed this, should I write a little bonus chapter about the last happenings of this chapter? Just curious. If not now, there definitely will be clop later on in the story too. (EDIT: Never mind this paragraph because said 'bonus chapter' won't happen.)

So yeah, enjoy? Possibly? Potentially?