Slave to The Rhythm

by The Bricklayer

Rating: teen
Tags: Slice of Life, Human, Drama, Original Character, Comedy, Equestria Girls, Sex, Sunset Shimmer, Profanity
Length: 5578

One moment of bravery leads to a shocking revelation. One moment of desperation may lead to something else.

It's been several years since Nightingale Solstice graduated from high school, actually. On a whim, he finds himself wandering into a strip club. What he did not expect however was who was on stage, with faint hormone-addled feelings buried since before graduation becoming embers once more.

A few weeks later, he finds himself needing a hot date for a party. Dare he pick up that phone, and ask for her help? Oh boy.

Basically, an excuse to write a story focused on sex work that does *not* delve into M-Rated territory, no romance for once. Just friendship. Written for CategoricalGrant's 2021 Cuddlefic Contest.

Proofread by my good friend and sister in all but blood Nailah along with armid.

Published 2021-05-04 19:10:02 UTC
Last updated 2021-05-04 19:10:02 UTC

The rhythm of love, the rhythm of love

He could hear the pounding beat even from the street, the drop of the bass breaching his ears. He saw the world in neon red, sanguine and scarlet spread out before him filling his vision. The crimson lights flickered and flashed like warning signs, three letters letting him know just what lay beyond the threshold.

Several years ago, going to a place like this would have been nearly unthinkable really. Errant thoughts, stray dangerous ideas every now and again. It had been tempting, break the rules and go against common decency. Every so often, he dared to let himself think he could get away with it. Cross that barrier, lie about who he was.

Now he didn’t have to. Once day turned to night, this part of Canterlot became a completely different beast. Every city had one, an easy street where the drinks flowed and everyone went to just lose themselves for a while in their deepest desires. Allowed themselves to taste the forbidden fruit in their own personal Gardens of Eden.

Nightingale tugged at his shirt, feeling rather warm before trying to make himself look as calm and cool as possible. He placed his hands in his pockets, trying to look ‘chill’ as a violet light colored his head. Clothing shimmered and shined in the flashing lights, as people wished themselves away. Electric embers ignited, clowns and demons dancing before him.

Bodies writhed and wormed against the beat, the money flowing faster than the drinks. Dirty dancing up against silver metallic, boots prancing against the floor as money was stuffed into clothing.

It was paradise.

Grimessoothed the weary, serenading those who came to call. The voice had been touched up, primed to perfection to bring out the best in it. Drum and bass thundered out a beat, electronica providing a concerto.

All the while, flesh spun on stage.

The man wondered if anyone could tell he was new here, a debatable luckless loser hoping to get lucky for the first time. He was 24 pushing 25 and he still hadn’t checked off everything on his list.

And now he could strike another thing off his fantasies. Hopefully two things, if the night went well enough.

“Wellllll… wasn’t that just a little taste of heaven? A little cupid flying down on her wings, to strike us all with her arrows of love!” came a voice as one woman left the stage, only for another to take her place. “But how about a little bit of forbidden fruit hhmm?”

The beat picked up, something dangerous practically crawling on stage like a venomous viper.

“You wanna get up, let go, I said no
You wanna get up, let go…”

“How about a devil, hmm? Offering you your last temptation?”

The woman wrapped herself around the pole, crawling up it as she leaned back into the audience and shockingly vividly violently red hair fell into Nightingale’s face, the lights turning her skin almost golden. The woman turned to look at him, a mysterious twinkle in her cyan eyes and a playful smirk dancing on her face. The man’s jaw dropped in recognition.

“No way.”

Let it be said, Nightingale Solstice had always been very familiar with Sunset Shimmer. Back in High School, he’d suffered under her hands back during her almost forgotten alpha bitch phrase and he’d suffered even more when faint embers lit up his heart as he nursed a crush for her. It had been hell at the time, if not a shockingly wonderful form of it.

He’d lost track of her after graduation came, always assuming she’d gone onto greater things. Maybe she’d become a nurse or a scientist, she’d always had the brains for it. She constantly scored the highest grades in the year.

And yet, here she was, on easy street dancing the night away under neon lights and making money in a shockingly shameless fashion.

...funny how things turned out.

Red rushed to his face, rivaling her hair as he realized he was staring. Maybe Sunset had caught him, given the secretive little smile she sent in his direction as she twirled on the pole.

“So flexible…” he couldn’t help but think, in spite of himself.

She spun again, keeping her legs wrapped around the pole and flashing a peace sign.

The end couldn’t come soon enough, Nightingale being so very relieved when the woman got off stage and trying to ignore the tightness in his pants.

“...this is what you came here for, right?” the man thought to himself as he searched his wallet and watching the sway of Sunset’s hips as she marched off stage. A choker was around her neck, signifying who she belonged to. How untouchable she really was. “...and yet, here I am about to try my luck.”

Oh yes, he knew he was playing with fire. Sunset blazed like an inferno, she always had after picking herself up out of the depths and rising from the ashes like some kind of phoenix. Nightingale could tell that the once woman of his dreams had put a lot of work into her body since high school, her every muscle tight and her body lean like some kind of dangerous predator.

He’d had to blink a few times, just to make sure his mind wasn’t caught in some sort of wanderlust. That he hadn’t sunken into some old almost forgotten teenage fantasy. What next, Rarity in the middle of some centerfold? Nope, this was real. That really had been her up on that stage.

And now here he was at the bar with her.

“So, I assume this is the part where you lecture me about making some great big mistake right?” Sunset asked him, a playful impish smile soon dancing to her lips. Remembrance was in her eyes. “Where you carry me off into the, excuse the pun, sunset away from this place?”

“Well, I…” Nightingale started. “...well, if that’s what you want?”

Sunset snorted, soon falling into full-on laughter. Van Halen played over the speakers, fiery guitar squealing out a siren song. Somebody Get Me a Doctor, Van Halen II, 1979. “Hell no! I love it here. I’m not living the old cliche of a stripper who secretly hates herself as she dances the night away. Did you like the show?”

Her eyes sparkled with a knowing mirth, yep she'd definitely caught him staring.

“...Well, I’d be lying if I said no,” Nightingale swallowed nervously, embarrassment all over his face again at being caught. “I think you just filled every one of my seventeen-year-old self’s wet dreams.”

She strode behind him, heels clacking against the floor. She had an hourglass-like figure, top busty and sensual, he felt the weight of the world as she pressed them against his back, causing him to swallow the breath he'd been holding.

“You say it like it’s a bad thing…” She purred seductively, in apparent top form tonight. Her voice sounded incredibly practiced, yet came from her lips with great ease. She was clearly reveling in this. “...so is this the part where you pay me to take you backstage for a more private show?”

Nightingale swallowed.

“Gotta say, I was surprised,” he answered as Sunset led him to a booth, with her fingers wrapped around his. She was antsy, expecting to be paid in full for her troubles. Her smile did things to him, ripped him of his carefully crafted armor. Exposed him, which was the point really. He felt like an awkward teenager again. “Wasn’t expecting to find you here of all places.”

“Trust me, it’s not just for the money,” Sunset chuckled. “I’m not doing this to pay my way through some university. I have plenty of funds squared away for stuff like that. Oh no, I’m doing this because I love it.”

They were now sitting in a booth, the woman on his lap with her arms wrapped around him. She stretched herself out, moving her head into his lap now with her legs dangling over the armrest. Reaching over to the table, she downed a drink.

“As I said, it’s a cliche for a prostitute to secretly hate herself. Don’t think I haven’t noticed how many eyes were on me in High School. I figured I could make a career out of that.”

“And so you have,” Nightingale remarked. “...but really, a stripper?”

“An escort. I multitask. I work here every Saturday Night. But every other night, I’m an escort. It’s all completely legal, and as a bonus, I get to help lonely guys who need a woman for the night.”

“...not just for the sex, I assume?” Nightingale remarked.

“Oh no, sometimes they just need a date. Maybe they get ahead of themselves and claim they have a girlfriend when they really don’t. We’ve all been there, right?” Sunset giggled, a jingling sound like a wind chime. “It’s just in my case, whenever they call me I make it a reality. I keep them from making too big of a fool of themselves.”

“...well, I can’t say you’re not enjoying yourself,” Nightingale remarked, remembering the devilish smile she wore while on stage.

“Oh of course I am. I enjoyed the attention, y’know. Back in High School. It made me feel… validated. Oh for a while, I pretended not to notice or for a while I was treated as less than nothing. But eventually, I reclaimed my former status. I knew the boys ranked me, I’d seen it from time to time whenever I had them drag me into the bathroom for a quickie.”

“Hardly very sanitary, and surely someone must have heard you from time to time.” Nightingale voiced.

“Oh, people did. I’m a screamer. But the thrill of getting caught, well isn’t that so delightfully sexy? I’m not a completely good girl, even after the whole hit by the magic of friendship thing. No no no, because oh no I still like to be a bit wild from time to time,” Sunset grinned, the diamond dangling from her choker so incredibly enticing. “You can say it, no need to beat around the bush. I’m a slut.”

She grinned, owning her words and quite proud of herself. “But does it look like I care what people think of me? I’m a slave to the rhythm, but I love it.”

One of her fingers worked its way down his chin, and Nightingale shuddered at her touch with his heart skipping a beat or two.

“So what do you say, you want me to be your girl for the night? Complete every one of your wildest dreams?” Sunset purred, still snuggled tightly up against him.

“It’d feel wrong, we’re friends right?” Nightingale murmured.

“And oh, there’s a cliche. You’re afraid of ruining our friendship,” Sunset smirked, and Nightingale would admit she got in one. She’d rumbled him, as his grandfather liked to say. Ripped through his lies and denials, as she always had been able to. “And being friends with benefits is a thing too you know. Trust me, stop lying to yourself. We’re barely friends, just acquaintances at best. And well, you came here for a reason right?”

She sighed.

“But if you want to be a bit picky about your poison, well…” Sunset giggled. “You’re a handsome enough man. I’m pretty sure any one of these girls would be lining up to take you for a whirl. It just feels such a shame not to let you go without me having first choice.”

In any event, no matter what happened, Nightingale never left the night unfulfilled.

He didn’t think about Sunset for a few weeks, until something that was really his own fault happened. It had been a proclamation of desperation, really. He couldn’t stop himself from blurting it out.

And so yeah now he found himself needing a date to a party with a girlfriend he didn’t even have.

And yet… His hand went to his dresser drawer as an idea hit him like a thunderbolt. A lipstick-marked business card, a phone number on the other side of it. A prior barely remembered conversation from little under a month before worked its way back into his mind.

“Should I?” Nightingale thought. “This whole idea reeks of desperation, but then again desperation got you into this mess to begin with, didn’t it? And well… Sunset’s always been so incredibly kind, even if working for an escort service isn’t exactly what you thought she had in mind after getting out of high school.”

1-800-Help Lonely Guys for a Living. And apparently incredibly desperate ones as well.

His hand shot to his phone, nothing ventured, nothing gained! Time to cross over another threshold!

She cleaned up nicely, wearing a nice party dress that went down all the way to her feet and sparkled like a hundred diamonds. It was still fairly enticing, dangerous in a way even. Of course, Nightingale knowing what Sunset did for a living didn’t really help. Indeed, even now images of their reunion filled his mind.

“I’m sorry for calling you on such short notice,” he apologized, the two in the back of a limo. Paid for with Sunset’s money of course after he’d explained the situation. One of his party girlfriends who played as hard as she worked. Born into money, and she spent it as much as she earned it. “...but uh, yeah, I was a bit of an idiot. Sorta got backed into a corner really.”

“And so you blurted out that you had me as a girlfriend?” Sunset asked with a knowing smile.

“Well, uh, not you specifically…” Nightingale said. “Just that I had a girlfriend in general. This girl, Velvet Lace… she’s uh, well I can still feel her eyes judging me. Boring into my head, looking into my very soul.”

“Oh yeah, I remember her now…” Sunset nodded as the limo pulled up in front of the museum, spotlights on the entrance. “Was well in line to be my replacement as a Class-A Alpha Bitch after I, uh, ‘retired’ I guess you could say.”

“She’s mellowed out a bit since then,” Nightingale remarked with a fond smile that he only realized he’d made much later. Sunset didn’t miss it though, and her eyes sparkled with realization. “I mean, she’s still Velvet but she’s not completely terrible though.”

“You still panicked though,” Sunset remarked. Like a true gentleman, he helped her out of the car. Camera phones flashed upon seeing the beautiful girl that was stepping out of the car hand in hand with Nightingale. It was rather nerve-wracking, the judging stares upon him then and there. “Still, I’m actually interested in meeting Velvet for the first time in… oh, half a decade? I’ll take your word for it, see how much she’s changed. I can’t wait to play catch up.”

A few women looked rather jealous actually, seeing this fiery-haired beauty dressed to the nines on his arm. It was an… odd feeling, having these stares upon him for once. It wasn’t like he’d ever been the center of attention, Nightingale mused. Did wonders for a guy’s confidence though.

“This is where the fun begins…” he thought.

“They want what they can’t have,” Sunset patted his arm gripping his arm possessively like a cat. Her heels clacked against the red carpet rolled out for them, and her eyes glinted with mischief clearly enjoying every second of this. “Don’t worry ‘dear’, I won’t let them steal you away.”

Sunset tipped the waiter upon entry, gladly taking a glass of wine.

“Don’t tell me I’ll have to carry your drunk ass to the car upon night’s end!” Nightingale teased.

“I dunno, I’d actually rather like that,” Sunset grinned. “It’s so romantic you know, ‘dear’. I’d love that come to think of it, us getting in the back of the limo and me working my hand into your suit… down your chest…”

Nightingale swallowed, he should have remembered he was playing with fire by asking her to cover for him.

“...so I assume you’re going to do this all night?” he said.

“I mean, if you want me to,” Sunset replied, her eyes still sparkling with mirth. “But relax, it’s just old habits. I’ll keep it in my pants, I know when to be classy. I’m pretty sure your high-class friends wouldn’t be amused if I was getting you off in public.”

“Quite,” Nightingale drawled, already hearing Velvet’s shriek of indignant rage if she were to somehow catch Sunset jerking him off under the table. Next, he deadpanned: “...you’re insatiable you know that right?”

“Well, I am a member of the sex industry, remember?” Sunset whispered in his ear, her breath hot and husky. With a smile, she strode off to greet the masses.

“...huh, so you weren’t lying then were you, Solstice?” came a voice from behind, long pink hair flowing in tresses and framing the owner’s face. A long red dress fell down to Velvet’s knees, a cocktail in her hand. “Color me surprised.”

“Oh ye of little faith,” Nightingale shot back, his voice a perfect deadpan. “Since when have I lied about anything?”

“Oh, don’t worry, I believed you from the start,” Velvet remarked, her voice silky smooth. “My friends didn’t, of course, but that’s their problem. Me, I’ve known you since high school. Sunset Shimmer eh? Okay, unexpected but I approve. She’s always been the best of us really. A shining star in our year.”

“Well Lace,” Nightingale replied. “That might have been you, had you studied just a bit more. Instead of chasing her fame, you could have been the one being chased.”

“Oooooh, sparky,” Velvet said, circling him like a lion before a kill with her heels clacking against the tile floor. “But honestly, good grades never mattered to me. I’m rich enough that I never had to worry about a thing like a ‘job’ honestly. I mean, I work hard but I play even harder.”

“Yes, just ask your many boyfriends,” Nightingale replied with a sigh. “A trail of broken hearts behind you with every step.”

“None of them were really good people, you remember that. They just wanted a piece of ‘the good stuff’, the good stuff being me of course,” Velvet said, her voice haughty but somewhat disappointed as well. “None of them were ever really… fulfilling in ‘that’ way y’know? They were good for a fling, but not much else.”

“You sound disappointed, that’s not like you,” Nightingale remarked, Velvet leading him into a hall of paintings away from all the high-class commotion. “Normally you’ve never given two hoots in hell about who you’ve dated.”

“That was a few years ago, I’ve grown up a bit,” Velvet remarked. “I guess we all have, clearly.”

“Your point?” he asked.

“Well, you’re no longer the dorky little nerd you were in high school. You used to be such a beanpole,” Velvet chuckled. “You were handsome, in a way, but not really the cream of the crop. Hardly a catch. And yet look at you now, with Sunset Shimmer mhmmm?”

“...I was wrong.” Nightingale sighed.

“Mhmm?”

“I was wrong,” he repeated to her inquisitive face. “...you really haven’t changed much at all.”

Leaving her behind, Nightingale made his way back to Sunset finding her entertaining several other party patrons. Laughter flooded his ears, his mock girlfriend in the midst of a very enthralling story apparently.

“Sometimes I really hate her…” Nightingale sighed, looking back into the crowd that Velvet was now making her way into. “Like, uh, I thought she changed. Grew up a bit more. She’s still shallow as ever.”

He explained what had happened. What Velvet had said.

Grumbling, he muttered: “Prissy bitch.”

Sunset leaned over, curious.

“I honestly thought she’d changed, but nope she still can’t look past the surface,” he uttered in response.

“Mhmm, maybe she just hasn’t met the right guy yet eh?” Sunset said with a little shrug. “Someone who can change her ways?”

“It’d have to be a hell of a guy,” Nightingale muttered. “Like he’d have to be Thor or Zeus or someone. A god!”

“Well, maybe not Zeus,” Sunset paused. “Notorious poonhound after all. But I dunno, if Thor showed up on this museum’s doorstep I certainly wouldn’t complain! Like yum Chris Hemsworth is truly a god amongst men!”

“I doubt he looks like Hemsworth,” Nightingale said.

“...you never know!” Sunset replied.

“...are you hoping for Thor to sweep Lace away, or for him to sweep you away?” Nightingale deadpanned.

Sunset didn’t answer, perhaps still drooling.

“You didn’t have to come you know,” she finally commented. “No shame in thinking up an excuse, you could have lied. Said your stomach wasn’t feeling well. That you’d eaten a bad batch of beef.”

Nightingale sighed, running a hand through his sun-kissed hair.

“Please, Velvet would have smelled a lie a mile off, she would have known I was backing down like a coward, That’s what I’ve always liked about her,” he explained, Sunset smirking at his choice of words. “She has this great ability to cut through the bullshit.”

“You’re a bit weird you know, one minute you hate Velvet and the next…” Sunset chuckled. “You’re singing her praises.”

“Well, she was never all bad,” her date sighed, rubbing his temples. “It’s… oh, how do I explain it? She’s hard to put into words. She exudes such an… is aura the right word?”

Here he looked to Sunset, who could only shrug.

“Alright, I’ll run with it. I’ll assume it is. She has this aura of power about her, the ability to command a room the moment she steps in.”

His date snorted into her wine glass.

“What?”

“You sure you just don’t want her to step on you?” Sunset remarked, again with that damnable smirk stretched all over her face. He’d seen it before, back in high school as she apparently worked out everything about you and how best to use it against you at some later date.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Nightingale dared to ask.

“Oh honey, trust me on this. I’ve seen a lot of guys, and I know when they’re that right mix of intimidated and head over heels,” Sunset went on. “And you, trust me, you have got it bad. Like you are simping. Not that there’s anything mediocre about Ms. Lace...”

Nightingale tried to ignore that possibility. Like, ewwww.

There came the chime of a glass, all attention drawn towards Velvet Lace as she stood up at the end of the room, atop a staircase.

Honestly, Nightingale wanted to tune most of it out and despite himself he couldn’t. Sunset, he noticed out of the corner of his eye, was giving him a strange look.

“Honestly, I want to thank you for coming out tonight for this party, like I can’t thank you enough,” Velvet started. “You’re all too kind, I’m proud to call you all my friends. ...you know, when I was young, I was very lonely. It was just me and my daddy and the rest of the trust fund babies. I admit, I don’t know half of you as well as I should and the other half I know better than I’d like but I’m glad you all came.”

Her voice was warbling, obviously drunk and Nightingale knew something was up. Like there was no way Velvet would normally dish out the public insults like this. If she wanted to keep her friends, that is.

“Maybe some of you are fakers and maybe some of you aren’t, I don’t care who is who here. I’m… I’m just so glad you all came out tonight. I can get to know you all so much better and I…” she started down the steps, nearly tripping over her own heels before catching herself. “..and I’ll figure out who is who by the end of the night eh?”

“...what the hell was that?” Nightingale wondered to himself, and it seemed he wasn’t alone given the curious whispers now filling the hall. There were a few concerned looks, notably one tossed from this orange-haired guy in a purple suit.

“...it’s like she’s trying to commit social suicide,” Sunset uttered. “Like, uh… whoof. Wow! You were right… she really has changed.”

“Yeah…” her partner for the night couldn’t help but reply, his voice trailing off into the calamity of the crowd.

“I mean, it’s not a terrible change,” Sunset observed, grabbing another glass of wine. “She’s right you know, half of these people are fakers anyways.”

“...actually come to think of it, she showed a bit of regret for her previous boyfriends earlier tonight, during our previous conversation,” Nightingale remembered. “I thought it was nothing at the time, maybe it still is. She was still pretty cruel about it, no obvious regrets about leaving a trail of broken-hearted boys behind.”

“I mean, I don’t have any regrets either for doing similar things,” Sunset commented. “But at least in my case, my dates know it’s never going to be anything long-term. It’s just business, admittedly very good business-” here she gave a lavcious grin. “-but that’s all it is.”

“You think we should talk to her?” Nightingale asked. “...given you had this whole empathy thing going on with everyone back in Canterlot High.”

“I still do, there’s just a lot more sex involved,” Sunset pointed out before taking another sip of her wine. “Like I said, it’s very good business.”

Nightingale muttered something under his breath, as they wandered through the crowd in hopes of finding Velvet again. He honestly didn’t know why he was so concerned, the woman had always been incredibly shallow.

It wasn’t like they were friends or anything.

Eventually, they did find her a bit away from the rest of the party-goers.

“...that was some speech,” Nightingale couldn’t help but utter, his former classmate leaning up against a wall and looking remarkably tired. He wasn’t sure how to describe it honestly, it was like looking at a completely different woman.

A faint voice in the back of his mind proposed to him that maybe he was finally seeing Velvet’s true self but it was quickly ignored.

“...yes, well, I had to get it out of my system, right?” Velvet replied, her voice obviously slurred a bit. “You always said I was a cruel and heartless bitch right? I guess I’m now living up to my reputation.”

“Alright, that’s enough wine for you tonight little missy,” Sunset said kindly, prying the wine glass out of her hands before, hypocritically, downing it herself.

“...that’s the good stuff, from my father’s cabinet, so sue me,” Velvet slurred some more. “Nice tall glass…”

“No, it’s Franzia Cabernet Sauvignon,” Sunset corrected her, that same doctor from before passing them by. He tossed them a concerned look and for the first time, Nightingale noticed he bore black streaks in his otherwise tangerine hair. “I’ve had it a few times, regretted it. It’s the cheap stuff, you have it but you only have it once.”

“I didn’t know you knew so much about wines,” Velvet said, surprised and not even annoyed at being caught out. Her voice, despite still being a bit slurred, sounded approving. “I’m actually impressed, Shimmer.”

“It helps to know the brands in my line of work,” Sunset remarked, somewhat vaguely.

“...you know I never caught what you do!” Velvet started and Nightingale’s breath caught in his throat as he pleaded to whatever deity that was listening that Sunset wouldn’t answer. The last thing he needed was to die of embarrassment from his oldest enemy learning that his ‘date’ was an escort.

“I… help people get ease of mind, I guess you’d say,” Sunset said delicately, and Nightingale let out a sigh of relief he hadn’t realized he’d been holding.

“Oh, you’re a therapist?” Velvet said, and she nodded. “...well, that makes sense, I mean you might need a drink after dealing with some clients…”

“You sure you’re alright?” Sunset asked, still concerned.

“I… I’m just being myself I guess, I feel honestly pretty free now that I don’t have to conform to what I’ve been expected to be like,” Velvet replied, with obviously the liquid courage playing a part in her decision. “...I know the papers will be all abuzz about my remarks in the morning but I don’t particularly give a shit right now. I feel very… liberated.”

“...if you say so…”

“Honestly Solstice,” Velvet remarked with a unique edge to her tone. “You should feel lucky to have a girlfriend like Sunny here. She’s a keeper!”

She wobbled off humming a tune in an off-key tone, Sunset still watching her in concern.

“...ah, now I’m beginning to see…” she mused before chuckling. “No wonder you were so hesitant to do the deed with me…”

“Eh?” Nightingale asked dumbly.

“I see why you brought me here, maybe you didn’t know it except perhaps subconsciously but it’s clear I’m not the one you really want to date…” Sunset smirked.

“...wait, what?” Nightingale asked, with his date chuckling.

“Don’t play dumb,” she said with yet another knowing look. “It doesn’t suit you. I can only guess that two people that passionately hate each other this much also secretly want to bang each other so badly. It’s like an inferno, love. Don’t even bother trying to quench it with denial. I mean, here you are saying you hate the woman and yet you were the first one to show concern for her.”

1…

2…

3…

“Oh my god…” the man realized after a moment of thought. He broke into a run, quickly catching up with Velvet as she tripped down some stairs. Nightingale’s arm shot out, as if my instinct to catch her.

“...mhmm?” the woman asked, numbly.

“Come on, let’s get you home…” Nightingale said. “Sunset’s quite right, you’ve had quite enough for tonight.”

She stumbled into Sunset’s limo, her attentive partner holding her hand all the while. Velvet found herself resting her head on Nightingale’s lap, just as Sunset had a few weeks before.

“Shhh…” the man said, reaching to run a calming hand through her salmon hair.

“Don’t do that, please don’t stroke my hair like we’re dating. If you touch me, I'm going to puke and then die,” Velvet uttered, annoyed and sounding like a classic tsundere. “...I think I’m going to puke and die anyways, like ugh I’m already starting to regret downing so much wine. Hooray for liquid courage right?”

Nightingale just held her closer.

“...why are you…?” Velvet said, still in a drunken haze. “...don’t you have a girlfriend to do this with, treat her like a plush toy instead?”

“She’s not my girlfriend,” Nightingale said, her head on his chest. “You were right, I was lying. I… yeah, you backed me into a corner so I had to say something right?”

“Eh, fair…” Velvet replied, the heiress to the Lace fortune not even bothering to protest where her head was. Instead, like a pillow she just snuggled in closer, apparently grateful for something to rest up against after a long night. “It’s just… I dunno, you gave me that sort of vibe right? I know you were crushing hard on the woman back at Canterlot High and so I just assumed…”

“No no no,” her friend-and-hopefully-more-if-he-had-his-way replied. Still holding the sleepy woman close to him, he shut off the lights in the limo. “We’re not that, we’re not even friends with benefits.”

“Well…” Sunset grinned. “A certain woman does beg to differ…”

“Shut up…” Nightingale muttered, before looking back down at Velvet Lace. “It’s… just, well maybe I was trying to distract myself from the truth that lay in front of me. It’s you Vel.”

“M-Me?” Velvet said before snorting. “...oh please, we’ve hated each other for years. You’re seriously not suggesting we’re part of that whole enemies to lovers trope rot right? Stop thinking like a romance novel and wake up to reality. I hate you, you hate me. That’s how it’s supposed to be.”

She was soon snoring, and fast asleep after such a long night. Even as the limo pulled up to the Lace mansion drive, tall spruce trees lining them on both sides, the occupants shared a look. In the distance, you could see the lights of the city and up ahead the lights of the family home.

“...oh well, maybe one day,” Nightingale sighed, holding his friend-but-only-for-now close as he could. She was right, he knew. Years of resentment suddenly just wouldn’t turn into love overnight. “Maybe one day.”

“Trust me, she’ll see the light sooner or later,” Sunset smiled as they got out of the limo, her date carrying Velvet bridal style up the drive. “Honestly, if you ask me? It’s kinda a great start.”

Author's Note

So, yep, this is what I come out of my temporary retirement with. Not what you expected, right?

That's entirely the point. I wanted to do something different for once, focus on an OC for the entire story. Not use him as a bit or side character, place him front and center. I don't want to do wish fufillment. It'd have been way too easy to make it a Sunset/OC romance, and frankly those are a dime a dozen.

So hooray for subverting expectations? I honestly agonized over this piece's pacing for ages, and it took me a bit till I was happy with it. Till I considered it at a respectable length.