[prp] Overtures of love (Mooncake and Lemure)

[cursedandwandering]

This was a risk and Mooncake had just barely worked up the nerve to take it. It was nearing Lemure's birthday and he wanted to do something special for his foxy phantom before the holiday. Now this wasn't like the average date or party. No, the flutter was planning to ask her to spend the rest of her life (and afterlife even) with him.

This whole preparation was turning out to be quite nerve-wracking for the young stallion. He'd managed to rent out a cozy restaurant decorated in a gothic style for dinner, which he'd spent hours outfitting for the event. The table was covered with a lacy table cloth and a bowl full of walnuts was placed in the center. The shells were filled with fortunes written in milk or rather in this case, professions of love, meant to be warmed over one of the many candles that lit the room. A large antique mirror rested alongside the table, intentionally left in a somewhat dirty state. Two apples had been carved into love peels, which were shaped in the first letters of their names and placed alongside the seeing glass.

Of course, after all this work Mooncake was not the least bit sure she'd like it. In fact, he was quite worried she'd hate it and never want to see him again. Too bad he'd already dropped off a letter inviting her earlier in the day. So, he was left to compulsively check his appearance in the mirror and straighten out the table cloth as he waited for her to arrive.

StarieMichie

Well, now we have awkward wedding proposal involving halloween superstitions/games from the middle ages.

 

[StarieMichie]

Lemure was excited for dinner. Her relationship with Mooncake was getting pretty serious. They'd been dating for a while now, and she loved all the small, romantic gestures he did for her. A mysterious letter inviting her to dinner was definitely one of the best surprises though.

She arrived at the restaurant promptly at the requested time. The mare was wearing a long, black dress. It was something simple, yet eloquent, and had little decorations, but did drape around her. She also had applied tasteful makeup. Her eyes were surrounded by smokey makeup that made them look mysterious. She wanted to appear like one of the goddesses in Mooncake's myths.

When she entered, she couldn't believe what she saw! The room was decorated just beautifully! It was dark, and lit only by soft candle glow.

"Oh Mooncake!" she sighed as her wide eyes scanned the room. Lemure ran over to him gave him a big hug.

cursedandwandering

This is so cute!

 

[cursedandwandering]

StarieMichie

Hee hee, yay!

The moment was finally here. Lemure had arrived and was looking as beautiful as ever. The flutter was so awestruck by her appearance in the half light from the candles that for a brief moment he could do nothing but stare until she threw her hooves around him.

"Lemure, you look heavenly." The blood rushed to Mooncake's cheeks as he spoke. Even if things didn't go well at least he would have this memory. The mare's appearance at the restaurant had at least raised his spirits a little and he was trying to swat away the doubting thoughts from his mind.

Trying to muster his confidence, the stallion took a deep breath. He should just start off with some small talk. That would be nice and easy. Then maybe he could suggest some warmed walnuts, which would reveal the written surprises when opened.

"Your dress looks beautiful. I hope it wasn't any trouble getting here. The invitation was rather sudden i realize."  

[StarieMichie]

"It was a little short notice, but you know I always come when you call. You have me ensnared." Lemure said teasingly. She moved to the table, and waited as he was a gentlephony and pulled out her chair for her.

"Besides, I was at a good stopping point in the book I'm reading. The gang of werezebras had just been driven out of town by the local pack of werebobcats with the help of Zanya the Blue Magician. It was a pretty epic battle, and the bobcat alpha confessed his love to Zanya. Of course, their relationship had been on the rocks because he was fooling around with a lesser demon in the last book."

She shrugged as if this kind of stuff happened every day. "But enough about me, how was your day? You did so much work to set this up, you must have been really busy."

cursedandwandering

 

[cursedandwandering]

StarieMichie

Once Lemure was seated the flutter took his place across from her at the table. The napkin that rested folded before him was quickly grabbed and shaken out nervously.

"Well, i'm very glad you could make it." Mooncake was doing his best to come across as relaxed. He didn't need to give away his intentions too early or fumble things. "You've had my heart for quite a long time."

For the moment he stared at her, enamored with her appearance and how she spoke. "Werezebras and werebobcats? Sounds quite complex. I suppose the bobcats have the advantage of tooth and claw in battle." He looked down at his own legs, "but hooves can be quite dangerous too."

Busy was sort of an understatement for Mooncake, at least compared to the usual daily activities of reading. He'd painstakingly planned this over the course of days, gathering materials in secret and researching traditions. Now was the time to make it all worth it. "I've been here for a couple hours, but i wanted to make everything perfect for you."

He gestured towards the bowl resting on the table, though actually getting the words out to suggest them was making his stomach twist in knots. "Do- Do you like toasted walnuts?"

Oh god, what if she hated them or thought the tiny notes tucked inside were stupid? He might just die of embarrassment.  

[StarieMichie]

"I'm glad you invited me," she beamed back at him. "And I'm so impressed at everything you did to set this up." She couldn't get over how wonderful the room looked. Not a single item was out of place. It had all been set down with great care.

Lemure did agree that some of the books she read were kind of complex. "Well, it's the 22nd book in the series. The author is kind of running out of ideas at this point, so it's starting to get a little strange." She sighed, "I'm not even sure why I'm still reading it. I guess I'm just invested at this point."

To say that everything was perfect wasn't even close to describing it. "You're so sweet and wonderful!" Lemure squeed a little too loudly for the setting. She was prone to outbursts when it came to romantic things. She just loved love. The ghostly mare couldn't help it.

"And of course I like walnuts!" Most boys would have gotten chocolates, but Mooncake got her walnuts. It was cute.

cursedandwandering

 

[cursedandwandering]

StarieMichie

The mare's words warmed him. It was relieving knowing she at least liked the setup, despite how strange it was.

"Twenty second book in the series?" The flutter spluttered, eyes wide. "How thick are these books that the author can drag on for that long?" The length of the series was admittedly impressive, though it was bound for the quality of writing to decrease at some point as all the possible plot points became exhausted. Though religious tales seemed to have no trouble with acquiring add ons. Like Zeus and his many mistresses.

Oh thank goodness, she liked it all. Mooncake was relieved, although he doubt the feeling in his stomach would go away until after he'd popped the question and gotten his answer. He just needed to wait for the right moment.

"I'm so happy you like it." The flutter didn't want to ruin the surprise of the walnuts, but he was beginning to get anxious. "In the middle ages they had a game with walnuts where you warmed them before you cracked them open," he suggested. The milk writing would burn when the walnut was warmed, revealing any messages. It would be quite similar to opening a fortune cookie from that point.
 

[StarieMichie]

She had to admit that a lot of paranormal romance authors had a tendency to drag out a series and beat it into the ground. "A lot of them crank out a short book once a year. There's just enough time between installments that I forget how bad they are and get tricked into buying them." Lemure didn't have a problem admitting that she read a lot of trash. She got really involved in the characters, and kept reading even after the plot went downhill.

Warming the walnuts first? That was a new idea. Although they did it with chestnuts too, right? She took one out of the bowl, and held it over the candle. Slowly, a message appeared. "OH MY GOODNESS!" She couldn't contain her excitement.

cursedandwandering

 

[cursedandwandering]

StarieMichie

Writing a new book every year was pretty mind-blowing. Many authors took years just to complete one book, so to hear of multiple authors pumping out so many was astounding, even if they weren't well written. "As long as you enjoy it enough that you have fond memories of the ones you've already read then that's what matters most. A little bit of dragging on can be ignored for that."

Here it was, some of that hard work was paying off and at her excited squeal he couldn't help beaming. Each walnut had a different little message professing his love and adoration. One said he loved her legs, another about how he enjoyed listening to her talk about books, in addition ones talking about how cute it was when she was excited, and other situations. This particular one had I could spend forever reading with you scrawled as neatly as he could on such small space. Though he certainly didn't expect her to look at the entire bowl of them given what he was planning on doing in a moment.

"They're sort of like fortune cookies," he explained as he edged out of his seat. This felt like the right moment, didn't it? She was happy and excited, which would work in his favor.

"Lemure, i was wondering..." He murmured, flitting over to stand beside her seat. The flutter lowered himself into a bow, his head down, but his eyes peeked up towards her. "If you would do me the honor of spending forever with me?"  

[StarieMichie]

Tears welled up in Lemure's eyes. Forever?

"Are...are...are you asking me to marry you?!"

There was nothing else Lemure wanted to do than to spend forever with Mooncake. This was so amazing! No wonder he had gone though all the trouble to set up this entire night. He wanted to make it perfect to impress her. Really, all he needed to do to impress her were the little things that he did every day. Life with Mooncake was wonderful. She was so happy that he wanted to commit to her forever.

"YES!" She said while almost knocking him over with another big hug. "I love you so much! I don't even have the words to tell you how amazing you are. You treat me like a queen of yore. I hope that I can love you as much as you love me."

cursedandwandering

 

[cursedandwandering]

StarieMichie

I think we can end it here?

Mooncake's face had never been redder in his life, as he waited for the response that would change his life. The flutter gave a small nod at the question, unaware of what would come next.

As the mare agreed a huge grin split his face and even being tackled by a hug wasn't enough to remove it. It had all paid off, all the hard work of setting this up, and she was worth it. No matter her response, she would always be worth it.

"R-really?" The stallion couldn't believe it. He was so lucky! "Oh no! You love me far more than i could expect anyone could already!" He laughed, closing his eyes as he leaned forward to kiss her cheek. "Thank you!"  

[StarieMichie]

"You're welcome," she said softly, and kissed him.

Lemure was going to get her happily ever after.

cursedandwandering

<3 The end!