>After the events of last night, you could hardly sleep.
>But you managed anyways and got up well rested.
>At the market you had sold some of your work as well.
>While the conversations you had with customers were friendly, you could hardly focus on them.
>You didn’t even care about how much you made today either.
>This happiness you’ve been feeling is overwhelming, it’s the most you have felt since...Well, since ever!
>It finally feels like everything is starting to go right for you, but you know that you have to be careful regardless.
>You and Mellow have known each other for such a long time, so you don’t want to screw this up.
>Though you don’t have the usual doubts like you had with your previous dates.
>It helps that you know so much about one another, it’s almost like you were already dating.
>The thought of that makes you giggle like a schoolfilly, it’s so refreshing to feel it.
“I really have to contain myself though, I’d rather not go around like this when we are out later.”
>You compose yourself and open the closet to look for something to wear.
“While he didn’t say where we are going, I should still find something nice.”
>A dress might be a bit too much, you’re almost certain he won’t take you somewhere fancy.
>Then again, he might surprise you like he has before.
>You grab a few outfits and try each on, posing in front of the mirror.
“This one? No that’s too much. How about this? Nah, don’t want to look like a waitress.”
>However you start to feel frustrated as you’re unable to decide.
“Why is this so hard? I should be able to figure out something...”
>As you rub your chin, you let out a sigh.
>It’s probably safer to go with something simple.
“You know what, screw it. I’ll just wear a bow and some makeup, no point in complicating things.”
>Though as you put away the outfits, you worry you will mess this up somehow.
>It never stopped you from doing it before on other dates.

>You wrestle with those thoughts, because you know they’re wrong.
>The previous dates were with stallions who flirted with you like the other day at the market.
>They had sweet talked you into dinner or lunch, didn’t matter what as the end result was always the same.
>This is Mellow though, he would never say or do anything like the others.
“I’m stressing over nothing, just have to finish getting ready and wait it out.”
>You head into the bathroom and gently apply some eye shadow.
>Nothing too fancy of course, though you also decide to put on some earrings as well.
“Not half bad Paper, I think this will impress Mellow enough.” Fluttering your eyelashes at your reflection.
>With that taken care of, you head to the living room and check the time.
>Still have plenty left before he shows, good thing too. You’ll be able to relax a little.
>Though what to do?
>Could make origami...No, you make plenty everyday, you can take a break from it.
>Can’t stand around and do nothing though.
>Letting out a sigh, your eyes wander and settle on your unused bookshelf
“Haven’t read a book in a while. Guess I’ve been busy”
>Or more like you don’t have a life.
>No, have to stop thinking about that.
>You go to grab a book and blow away a small bit of dust, it has been awhile.
“A-ah-achoo!”
>That was a mistake, you rub your muzzle and take a seat on the couch.
>You look over the book and see it’s a romance novel, what a coincidence.
>Looks like you were already reading it before as you see there is a bookmark.
>Opening to checking where you left off, you see why you stopped reading.
>It was the part where the couple were fighting over something stupid.
>Never really enjoyed seeing such drama in stories, but it’s necessary to drive the story forward.
>Time seemingly flies as you read and finally, you hear a knock on the door.
“Good, he’s here. Just remember to keep it together.” Saying as you set the book aside.

>You take a breath and release it before opening the door.
>Mellow is standing there looking handsome as usual, though wearing a different bandanna.
“Hey there.” You say with a smile.
>His eyes widen and quickly looks over you.
>A few seconds pass, guess you really out did yourself.
>He shakes his head. ”Uh, hey. You look...Amazing, not that you don’t looking amazing usually.”
>You barely stifle a giggle, he seems pretty flustered.
>Mellow smiles and reveals a beautiful bouquet of flowers, causing you to gasp in surprise.
>”These are for you of course.”
“They’re so pretty, thank you Mellow.” As you take the flowers he continues.
>”Not as pretty as you.”
>That was cheesy, but very sweet.
>You feel your cheeks heat up and your smile widens.
“Such flattery tonight.” You giggle and go put the flowers in a vase.
>”Well this is a date, so that helps.” He smirks
>You return back to him and feel very excited.
“So, where are you taking me?” You flutter your eyelashes at him.
>He looks a little flustered again, but responds. “I got some reservations at The Stage.”
>You’ve heard of it before, but never been.
“That’s wonderful, I look forward to it.”
>”Shall we then?” He points out towards the road and you nod in glee.
>The two of you start to make your way to the restaurant.
>However, you’d rather not trot the whole way in silence.
“So how did the play go tonight?”
>”About the same as yesterday, so pretty well.”
“Good to hear, by the way, how did you get the ticket for yesterday?”
>His face tenses for a second. “I had help from another actor, Cliff, the one that plays Sombra.”
>You figured that he had help, since it was last minute.
>”How about you? How’d the market go today?”
“Not too bad, though to be honest...I wasn’t paying too much attention, was too focused on tonight.”
>Your words must’ve had an impact, as you see that he blushes a little.

>”So, here we are.” He points ahead to The Stage, you’ve passed by it many times.
>You feel a little nervous, but you’re able to keep it check for him.
>He opens the door for you. “After you.”
>You raise your hoof to your chest and feel touched.
“Such a gentlecolt.” You smile to him.
>You enter with him quickly joining your side.
>The host notices you both. “Do you have reservations?”
>”Yes we do, Mellow Drama, party of two.”
>The host looks over the book and back to you two with a smile. “Right this way.”
>You both follow him into a larger room with many tables and booths along with an actual stage.
>Guess the rumors are true then, they do have dinner and a show.
>You’re lead over to a booth and take your respective seats.
>As he leaves you two, a waiter comes over and gives a pair of menus. “What can I get you two to drink tonight?”
>A quick glance over the drink section reveals a selection of expensive alcohol.
>You’re not much of a drinker, Mellow knows this as he responds. “Some tea and water please.”
>The waiter nods and trots off, leaving you two alone.
>You look over the menu a few times, settling on a garden salad.
>As you set it aside, you see Mellow is still looking over his.
>You take this time to look over the rest of the place.
>It is quite fancy, you’ve heard that bands, comedians, or even magicians perform here.
>As if on cue the curtain pulls back revealing a band.
“That was unexpected.”
>Your words pull Mellow away from the menu to see what you’re talking about.
>”Oh neat, wonder what they will play. You found something you want?” He motions to your menu.
“Yeah, I’m going with a garden salad.”
>He eyes scan the menu again. “Sounds good, I’ll probably get the same.”
>You arch an eyebrow, but say nothing. It’s likely that he didn’t know what to get.
>Then again, everything on the menu is expensive. It worries you how much he spending.

>You set your menu aside, and look into Paper’s eyes.
>They’re so pretty tonight, she used a shade of eye shadow that matched up with her mane and highlighted her eyes.
>Sure that’s what it’s supposed to do, but you haven’t been able to stare into them before. At least not before tonight that is.
>When you told Cliff of your success, he congratulated you.
>But without her there tonight, you had some difficulty acting. She really gave you strength yesterday.
>Thankfully you made it through and practically galloped home to get ready.
>Then you got stuck trying to decide on whether or not to wear a suit.
>You made the right choice on sticking with your classic look, and Paper must’ve thought the same.
>Except the earrings and makeup that is, but that doesn’t count!
>Your knocked out of your thoughts as the band starts to play.
https://youtu.be/ZEcqHA7dbwM
>As it plays, you feel yourself blush. Is this some kind of cliche?
>You can see Paper also blush, likely feeling the same.
>Before you can say anything, the waiter returns with drinks. “Here you are. Are you both ready to order?”
>Thank Celestia…
“Yes, we’ll have two garden salads.” You point to it on the menu.
>He nods and writes it down. “Anything else?”
>You’re about to say no, but you remember something, desert.
“Yeah actually, for desert can we have a chocolate Sunday?”
>He arches an eyebrow, but writes it down. “Alright the, I’ll take these and be back soon.”
>Looking back to Paper, you can see she is slightly surprised.
“I figured that would be a nice way to end the meal.” You shrug.
>She flutters her eyelashes again, you’re really liking that. “It sounds good, I like Sundays.”
>Just another reason to love this mare.
>…
>Love? Shouldn’t say that out loud too soon. Don’t want to rush things.
>”So what’s the next play that you will be in?”
>She always seems to be able to stop you from thinking too much.

“What a coincidence, I asked that today. Was told that it’s going to be something more heartwarming. Considering this one was a bit...tragic.”
>Paper nods with her bow bouncing like always. “That’s good, I know you enjoy tragedy, but it’s nice to enjoy something a bit more comforting.”
>That’s always been the case, even when you were little.
>Really didn’t help you make friends, the other foals called you creepy for reading such dark stuff.
>It’s so much more interesting though, especially since most stories have a happy ending.
“Do you know when you’ll be teaching at the school again?”
>She smiles. “Mhm, next week. Going to be showing them some more complicated forms of origami like wet-folding. Though if that’s too much, I can show them strip folding instead.”
>Though you nod, you’re not certain of what she is talking about exactly, but you’ve always listened to her.
>”I really want to show them action or modular origami, but those are pretty complicated even for an adult.” She beams.
>You’re happy to see her so enthusiastic about her art.
>The waiter returns with your food, setting the plates down in front of you two.
>”Here are you, if need anything, don’t hesitate to ask.” He turns and leaves as you nod.
>You take your first bite and find yourself surprised with the taste.
>In truth, you only picked the garden salad because not only was it cheaper, but you couldn’t really decide.
>Getting reservations was a pain as well, as this place forced you to dig into your savings.
>Doesn’t matter now, you’ve been wanting to do this for a long time now.
>So far, everything has gone near perfect and it looks like Paper is enjoying herself as well.
>This whole thing is more or less the same as usual, just now it’s a date.
>Regardless, you’re looking forward to showing her the other surprise you have planned.

“This is probably the best garden salad I’ve ever had.”
>Paper takes a sip of her tea and nods. “Yeah I agree, didn’t expect...This to be honest.”
“What can I say? I’ve been wanting to ask you out for a long time.” You shrug.
>”I’ve got to know, how long have you felt this way about me?”
>You knew she would ask that eventually.
“I liked you the moment I met you at the theater, but I wasn’t certain till I told you about my scar.” You smile.
>She tilts her head in a cute way. “That long? I suspected it was a while, but never guessed that long.”
>Nodding, you ask as well as you finish eating.
“How about you?”
>Paper takes a moment. “I started to have feelings sometime after the theater as well.” Your eyes widen and she continues. “It grew as we spent more time together, I eventually realized it one day while I making origami to sell.”
>Alright, didn’t expect that.
>”I remembered how you listened to me, actually listened. I kept thinking how you understood me, it was there-” She’s cut off by the waiter bringing the Sunday.
>”Here you are, I’ll take those.” He says as he takes your plates and leaving again.
>Paper smiles. “I think you get the picture.”
>You nod and the two of you start to eat the Sunday.
>As you two take your first bites, you both let out a moan of satisfaction, catching each other off guard.
>You both blush and nearly snort at each other’s reaction.
>This is almost perfect, and you can’t get enough of it.
“Sorry, didn’t mean to laugh.” You offer up.
>She shakes her head. “It’s fine, was just surprising is all. This is really good.”
>You nod as you take another bite, savoring this moment.
>Everything is going so well, but that nagging fear inside keeps taunting that you will fail.
>Though as you long as you are with Paper, you can never fail, you’re invincible.
>You both finish and the waiter rejoins you conveniently. “Are you two finished?”

“Yeah, it was great. We’ll be leaving now.” You nod.
>You two get up and head back to the front to pay.
>You physically cringe when you see the bill, but you expected this.
>Leaving your bits behind, you both depart back outside once more.
>”That was wonderful Mellow.” Paper says as you two trot along.
“It’s not over just yet.”
>From the corner of your eye, you can see she is surprised.
>”You mean there is more?”
“Just one final stop, it’s a surprise.” You nod.
>She looks so excited now, and has a little bounce in her step.
>Fortunately the moon is full tonight and high above, perfect for what you have planned.
>You lead her into the park, it’s dimly lit by moonlight and lanterns, giving off a cozy feeling.
>”So it’s here in the park?”
“Yes indeed, just be patient.”
>Though she nods, you can tell she can barely contain herself.
>The two of you travel over to the nearby forest, to the area you were told about.
>You stop and pull back the brush to go into the hidden alcove.
“Here we are.” You wave Paper in.
>As she steps in, her eyes slowly widen.
“So what do you think? Pretty aren’t they?”
>She says nothing taking the various flowers in.
“Those ones are called moonflowers or moon vine.” Point to the ones nearby.
>Her eyes follow and she snaps out of her daze.
>”How do you know all this?”
>Not gonna lie to her, you never can.
“I asked the flower sisters and they told me about this place. They say the magic here allows the various flowers to live in harmony. Even so, they told me about the ones that bloom at night.”
>She slowly blinks and her eyes moisten. “This is so touching Mellow, I don’t know what to say.”
“You don’t have to say anything, just enjoy this. It is a date after all.” You smile at her.
>You sit there for a bit, watching her look at each flower with glee.
>Eventually, you have to leave, and you bring her home.

>As you stand with her at the door you get ready to say your goodbyes.
>”I had fun tonight Mellow, probably the most I’ve had in a long time.” She shyly says.
“I did too, I’m glad I finally asked you out.”
>She nods and says nothing.
“Good night Paper.”
>As you’re about to leave she quickly pulls you into a kiss.
>You’re eyes widen and you feel so many emotions at once.
>Slowly, you melt into it, finally getting what you’ve been wanting for so very long.
>The two of you pull away from one another, with a hazy look in each other’s eye.
>As you two look at one another, Paper finally breaks the silence.
>”Um, sorry about that. Couldn’t let you leave without a kiss.” Her face is a bit red.
“Y-yeah, of course! I mean, yeah.”
>Stumbling again…
>”Good night Mellow.” She says as she enters her home.
>You stand there for a second, letting everything register.
>As you start to trot home, you feel yourself laugh with a large smile.
“I DID IT!”