coffee date (prompt)

Destiny tapped her hoof on the table, eyes scanning the menu in front of her. On any normal day, she would order one of her favorite items without so much as a glance at the card, or pop in for a simple drink and be well on her way. However, this was far from a normal grabbing-coffee-on-lunch-break day; in fact, she was going to stick around for longer than usual and wasn't going to do it alone. That called for ordering something different, something seasonal.

Numerous blind dating events popped up around Burrowgatory and this cafe she frequented was no different. She signed up out of a mix of curiosity and desire, as she tended to let those two dictate a lot of her decisions. The thrill of not knowing who she was paired up with accentuated the anticipation. The only information she was given was a name, vague description, a table number, and the silent confirmation that her date's preferences were aligned with hers.

Destiny looked up towards the door when another guest came in, and sighed quietly watching them head to another table. She flipped the menu around to busy herself with debating her drink of choice still, to be ready to order when her date finally shows up. Any moment now.

—

As if on cue, entered a pale-colored pride bun, her sharp emerald eyes darted around the cafe and its patrons quickly to locate her date. While she was by no means late, she hated having others wait on her and was doing her best to appear presentable. After all, first impressions were important in situations like this. She took a deep breath in and exhaled quietly, just like how they taught her. What kind of nurse would she be if she could not calm herself down before something as casual as a date? Even though she kept her composure, her tail swayed nervously as she approached the winged bun that fit the description of who was expecting her company today.

"Hello, are you Destiny?" She asked quietly, trying not to startle the lust bun by her sudden arrival.

—

Destiny's attention was turned away from the door long enough that the arrival of another bun to her table came unnoticed until they were only a few steps away. The large pride horns and soft beige fur matched what she was told about her date; paired with her calling out Destiny's name, it left no room for mistakes. Her wings fluttered with otherwise well-concealed excitement and she sat up straight, offering a coy smile.

"Yes, that's me! You must be Mary, then." She chimed and gestured to the free chair across from her as an invitation to take a seat where a second menu card waited. All the while she studied her date, trying to read anything and everything she could before the conversation would take off. "Shall we order something right away? I'm a little thirsty."

—

"Yes! That's me!" Mary nodded, immediately sliding into the free chair across from Destiny. "Oh you didn't have to wait for me to buy yourself a drink, I hope you didn’t wait too long for me." Mary hung her head low, the thought of the other bun waiting on her made her feel a tinge of guilt. The smile that Destiny gave her made Mary chuckle a little awkwardly. If she had a mirror, she would have noticed that her cheeks were growing pinker by the second. Something about that smile made her wish she could just scream into a pillow.

"Of course, please, go on ahead!" Mary exclaimed, a little too enthusiastically. It took her a moment to realize that she spoke a little too loudly and quickly picked up the menu to hide her face when she noticed several other buns turned to look at her. She only coughed into her hoof nervously before flipping through the menu, "Do you maybe have any recommendations? There are so many options to choose from..."

—

"Oh no, I didn't wait long at all! Just enough to decide what I want." Destiny replied genuinely and waved off any worries of Mary possibly inconveniencing her. Her excitement and a little bit of bashfulness didn't go unnoticed and even made Destiny giggle, covering her mouth with her hoof. She was almost a little disappointed by the menu blocking her view, but she would have plenty of time to admire her date once these pesky things would be put aside.

"Hm, I'd say just have coffee the way you like it! As for the sweets... should we get something seasonal?" She tapped the page with a list of special items for the month - a small but varied selection of desserts, from frosted cupcakes to strawberry tiramisu. "Says here they're two for one for pairs. See anything you like?"

—

"Oh, that's a relief!" The reassurance from her date really did put Marilyn at ease, she herself holding up the menu to block Destiny's view of her face gave her some time to regain her bearings. "Oh, of course! I'll probably get something with caramel or chocolate in it, something sweet would be nice right now!" She responded with a light giggle, clapping her hooves together when the lust bun sitting opposite from her suggested a dessert to pair nicely with their drinks.

"Ahh, I love the discounts that Matentines bring about... oh, strawberry tiramisu..." Marilyn was not even trying to hide her love for her favorite fruit. "Something with strawberries, that's for sure. I think you did help me make up my mind with that suggestion! I would like a strawberry tiramisu, please. If anything, you can get something different, we can always share the desserts if you'd like... you don't have to but I think it'd be good to try each other's desserts!" Marilyn trailed off. She could not understand why she was acting this way, but she already felt so embarrassed by her disastrous dating etiquette. "Sorry, it's just my nerves getting to me, this is the first time I'm trying out these dating services..." The angora bun sighed, trying to calm herself down as she lowered her menu.

—

Mary continuing to ramble after Destiny's question was so endearing, she had to hold back another chuckle. She rested her cheek on her hoof and just looked on with a giddy smile, already beginning to take mental notes of her favorite things. She really wasn't expecting her match to be this cute right off the bat. Her heart skipped a tiny beat at the suggestion to get different desserts and let one another try them, followed by a little wag of her tail. "That's a great idea! I think I'll take the red velvet cake ,then." She replied almost a bit too quickly, like the enthusiasm was rubbing off on her.

It was oh, so hard to look away from the bun in front of her, even just to briefly glance at the menu again. "Oh, don't worry about that at all! It's adorable, truly." Destiny cooed lightheartedly and leaned further over the table, now bringing both her hooves under her chin. Her insatiable curiosity was steadily making its way to the forefront of her mind now. "So you've never been on a date before? Oh, I hope I can take the pressure of being your first!"

—

"That's a good choice!" Marilyn agreed, interrupting Destiny unintentionally when she almost instantly responded to her suggestion. She slapped a hoof to her mouth in trying to prevent any more words from flooding out. She sat there in silence as Destiny called over one of the wait staff to place their orders, after Mary ultimately decided to get a caramel latte. The unexpected compliment from her date had her screaming internally, biting her cheeks to prevent her impromptu impression of a whistling kettle.

"Oh! Haha, no, I have never been on a date before!" Marilyn confirmed, waving her hooves out in front of her face and chuckling nervously. "W-was it that obvious?" Tilting her head caused the bell that she kept on her collar to make a soothing jingle. "Well, I already enjoy your company, and it's been barely five minutes." The pride bun commented, with the utmost straightforward honesty, leaning on one of her hooves a little. "Though, I would love to know more about you, Destiny. Is this your first time on such a date? You seem more put together than me, that's for sure."

—

"Mmm, maybe a little bit. There's nothing wrong with that, though." Destiny assured and moved both of the menus to the side, no longer needed now. Mary's following comment made her light up even more, her ear twitching a little at the melody of the bell. "I'm glad to hear that. You make for fine company as well, cutie." She winked at Mary, the flirtatious smirk not leaving her lips. While usually she was eager to break out the more or less personal questions, she was more than willing to entertain a bit of a change of pace first.

"Far from the first, actually... but my first one this time around. I love meeting new people and this is an interesting way to do so, no? All kinds of buns looking for all kinds of things, you never know where it'll lead." She rambled while lightly rubbing the fur on her cheek, gaze drifting about to peek at the other couples populating the cafe. "So I wonder what led you here, too. What do you do for work?"

—

"You really think so?" Destiny suddenly throwing Marilyn a compliment made her instantly go red in the face. She was so damn smooth with that devilish tongue of hers, it took the pride bun a few moments to actually register the flirting. "Oh-oh? Really-?" The angora bun laughed awkwardly, beginning to pull her collar away from her neck as her emerald gaze tried to focus on something else. "Well- you're pretty cute yourself.. uh, I mean, you are also very pretty..." She blabbered out. Oh, how much of a disaster she was on her first date.

The topic returning back to Destiny was a relief for Marilyn, who nodded as she listened to her speak. "I agree with you, I know many buns who have been meeting others so casually like this. Guess we got to thank the Church for hosting these blind speed dates." She said, leaning up against her hoof, intrigued with the other bun's view on these events. She took a moment to compose herself - deep breath in, deep breath out - before she answered Destiny's question. "Well, my co-workers actually suggested I take a few days off and go see if anyone catches my eye. Guess I hit the jackpot on my very first try." Destiny would easily see how those adoring emerald eyes would linger on her before quickly looking away when she was caught making eye contact.

"I work at the hospital as a nurse. I also volunteer at the Church of Sulphur during the breeding season to aid with delivery of baby buns." She explained, her cheeks a little pinker as she spoke about herself. "How about you?"

—

Destiny was no stranger to compliments, and so they didn't have quite as strong of an effect on her, but it was Mary's adorable fumbling of words that made her chuckle once more. However, seeing her embarrassment, she decided to just leave it be. There were more interesting things to talk about.

"Hit a jackpot, you say? Quite early for such judgement, but I'm very much flattered." Destiny ran a hoof down one of her ears and tilted her head in the process, eager to hear more as her eyes lingered on Mary with intensity and desire. She's already counted the freckles on her face three times over while listening. "That sounds lovely, even if it's a bit of a tough one. I admire your ambition! Are you this much of a sweetheart at work, too, or were you saving it for me?" She teased and fluttered her wings again, reluctantly taking her gaze off of Mary when a waitress passed them by, with somebody else's order.

"I design clothes and dabble in knitting and the like... have yet to really take off, though. I work at a textile shop for the time being, not as impressive but everyone's got their calling. Mine has always been fashion."

—

"Well, I wasn't expecting to find someone this nice off the bat." Marilyn pouted slightly, the teasing was making her more flustered by the second. Another compliment thrown her way had Marilyn blush even more, now hiding half her face in her fluffy ears, "Oh, you are such a tease, Destiny! Don't give me that look!" She chipped back and threw her head back, laughing. Clearly, the pride bun was enjoying her time with her date, everything Destiny was saying to her was definitely hitting all the spots.

Her emerald gaze fixed on those lovely pink eyes as she listened to Destiny talk about herself, "I'd love to look at some of your pieces for sure!" She replied, a little too enthusiastically as well, she almost seemed offended on Destiny's behalf that she wasn't a famous fashionista now. "I'm not the most stylish bun around, but you on the other hand..." Her eyes flickered over to the silver accessories that the other bun wore. "I agree that everyone's got their calling. I hope you'll be recognized soon enough, you deserve it!"

—

Making Marylin so obviously flustered gave Destiny a kind of satisfaction. The best part was that her compliments were entirely genuine and, even though it was merely their first meeting together, she could already feel a sliver of connection between them. "And I'd be happy to show you some! Perhaps after we get out of here if you have the time? Your encouragement means a lot." She nodded eagerly with a grin.

Soon enough their orders finally arrived at their table; time flew by even quicker while there was coffee to drink and cake to eat. Eventually, Destiny put down her empty cup - nothing but almost melted ice cubes left inside - and looked over to Mary with anticipation and a content smile, having nearly exhausted all the conversation topics for a first date by now. "So, what did you think?"

—

"Oh, I have the entire day off!" Marilyn replied with a wave of her hoof, perking up slightly when she noticed that a server had brought them their food. The date was a success in her eyes. She enjoyed every moment she had with Destiny while the two changed the topic of conversation throughout the meal, it was clear that she was taking just as much enjoyment from this interaction as well.

It went so well that she even failed to notice that the both of them had already finished all their food, only snapping back to reality when she realized she had been drinking from a cup full of air. Embarrassed, she sheepishly wiped her mouth with a napkin before turning to look at the other bun. "I did enjoy our time together, Destiny..." She replied, a little meekly but with complete honesty, her emerald eyes lingering on Destiny's as she spoke. "I hope we can do something like this in the future again."