[PRP] E-girl eatery (Hush/Expired)

[cursedwanderer]

There was a white mansion within a gated community in Phonyland that was often the recipient of the neighbors ire.  It was not for the occasional wild party that was thrown that the home received so many complaints, but for the egregious amount of cameras and guards that dotted the place.  Even within the house's walls cameras were located in every corner and the occasional visitor remarked over the owner's paranoia.  Beyond the cameras, which the owner often claimed were for streaming purposes with a smile on her face, there was little signs of life in most rooms as the walls were empty and the floors bare.  Only two rooms in the house contained furniture, the bedroom and the office.

Hush Money stood in the stark white kitchen, a line of food delivery bags placed on the marble counters.  Soggy burritos and quesadillas were pulled out of bags with alicorn magic and placed haphazardly on dishes.  Elote covered in something unnaturally red was carefully removed from it's plastic container and plopped on a plate.  Finally a container of saucy wings were dumped into a bowl and Hush jammed the resulting trash into the can without much care for how things looked.

Satisfied, the mare's eyes sparkled with a wicked glee as she surveyed her carefully picked offerings, quite confident that the stallion would be surprised with the bait and switch on each.  She had (more carefully than her plating job) searched for things that would be a shock upon first bite and would be entertaining for the viewers.  Now all she had to do was wait and arrive, her office already set up with cameras and ring lights.

@Yasha

[Yasha]

Expired had been in contact with Hush Money a few times since the speed dating event. Their back and forth was straightforward and much more level headed. No name-calling. No yelling. But it also felt.... business-like? He was unsure of where they stood now. It took a while for their schedules to align, but today was the day. He would be joining her for a food stream of some kind. He felt confident in his ability to talk about food and as a bonus he would get to see her again. He did worry about how the chat would react. Exp did not make a good first impression. He sighed. Exp had a lot to regret about that night, but also he let someone in for the first time in a long time. He was curious to see how the stream would go.

The male unicorn walked down the street with a gift bag magically floating alongside him. Arriving at a long driveway he squinted at his phone to see if he was in the address. He was surprised to see such a big house. Okay...so she probably wasn't looking for a sugar daddy. Streaming was certainly paying the bills. He continued down the driveway until he arrived at a gate and a little intercom system. He took a moment to fix his hair, unsure if there would be video involved and then hit the button.

"Hey Hush, it's Exp... I am here for our stream." He said acting totally cool as he noticed guards outside of her place.

@cursedwanderer

[cursedwanderer]

He was here.

Hush was jolted out of her thoughts by the sound of the doorbell and the following call through the intercom.  She didn't even need to check the camera to recognize that voice after all the talking (and yelling and whispering) they had done at the bar previously, but when she got to the mounted screen by the door she still lingered a moment.  It couldn't hurt to check out the forbidden item on tonight's menu if he didn't know, right?

Taking a deep breath and doing a quick last minute fix of her hair, the alicorn buzzed him in through the gate.  The nerves in her stomach felt almost like the beginning days of streaming, back when she had done things like sucked in too much air while was talking and did embarrassing things like burp as a result. She'd long since outgrown that on stream, but this was different and she was a bit worried about acting like her old self in front of the camera.

Was this enough?  Should she of done something more?  He was a professional food critic, maybe she should of ordered a twelve course meal.  The mare chewed her lip and glanced over her shoulder, suddenly feeling self-conscious about the bareness of her house and the food she'd offered.

With a light tap on her own head, the mare straightened herself out.  She was a professional and this was mostly business (even if she was gaining a little pleasure out of it too).  She could keep her cool as long as she thought of it that way.

Throwing open the door with a smile she took him in and was pleasantly surprised to notice the gift bag she hadn't managed to spot before.  A tingle of excitement ran up her spine, curious what was in the bag.

"You're here!"  She beamed at him then gave a quick glance side to side to make sure there was no one else lingering in her yard.  "Come on in," she ushered.

"I'll take you to the kitchen and we can grab everything, then we'll go up to my office."

@Yasha

[Yasha]

He was buzzed through the gate and made his way up to the white mansion. It was an intimidating place, but his worries melted away seeing Hush. He smiled, taking a moment to marvel at the pale alicorn before him but something caught his eye. He noticed the way her eyes shifted, scanning behind him for a second. Exp looked behind him as he stepped inside.

"Hey there, good to see you again." He said shifting his attention back to Hush not thinking to linger on it much longer. Following her lead as they made a path towards the kitchen. His eyes took in the stunning surroundings, but did notice quite a few guards and cameras. Was she in danger?? Well it made sense, celebrity status came with celebrity problems. He was sure someone had tried to get her attention before. He puffed up trying not to look small compared to the draft bodyguards.

"Yeah. Yeah. That sounds great. Anything else I should know before we go live? Will you continue streaming after our... uh segment??" Expired said not knowing the terminology. He would hope that he could spend some time with her after, but understood if he would be promptly removed from the premises.

"Oh! I got you a little something." The pale green bag with white tissue paper floated in front of them now. "Want to open it now or save it for the streeeam?" He smirked playfully. "I can open it, or security if they are unsure. I am trying to make a good second impression. You deserve better." 


@cursedwanderer

[cursedwanderer]

Hush stroked her chin for a moment as she led him down the hall to the kitchen.  "Normally I would continue streaming, which you are welcome to stay and join me for other activities.  But, if you'd prefer I could take a break for some off stream fun and get back to work whenever you decide that I've tired you out." 

The pale mare gave a small laugh and a wink before she turned into the kitchen doorway. She approached the counter to swoop up a plate of burritos and quesadilla slices with a hoof before casting a coy glance in Expired's direction.

"Of course, if you ever get uncomfortable you can have a safe word you can use and then I'll know to change topics."    There was a mischievous glint in her eye as she picked up the plate of Elote with her magic.  She nodded towards the bowl that was remaining for him to pick it up. "I can open it on stream.  Unless you'd prefer if i opened it offline," Hush murmured, a faint blush to her cheeks. 

He wanted to make a good second impression?  That was... Cute. She found herself leaning towards him, she wanted to be closer and was feeling almost hopeful.  She'd built walls to protect herself but it was beginning to get... Lonely.  The relationships she had with her mods, staff, and regulars were nice, but they were beginning to feel superficial.  People came and went.  She wanted something more, but she wanted security with it.

With a toss of her mane she began heading out of the kitchen, expecting him to follow with the bag and the bowl.  "Don't worry, I told everyone yesterday that they better play nice so they shouldn't rip you apart too badly in the comments.  There's a lot of inside jokes too so don't worry if you don't get something they're saying."

"Swatting is usually my biggest security issue here, but this place is alarmed out the ass so you better stay on my good side." She snorted.  She had done her best to make sure this house was as safe as possible, even going so far as to hire multiple security specialists to advise her on features.

Heading up the stairs, she approached the top then turned down the hall to the left.  "This room is my bedroom and the office is right over here.  We'll set things up then get started whenever you're ready," she said with a nod to the two doorways.  The bedroom was mostly empty excluding a large canopy bed with some sort of video game character on the comforter.

The office on the other hand was the only decorated room in the house. A large desk was placed  close to one wall with enough space for a ringlight and camera on a tripod in front of it.  A gaming chair was tucked in under the desk and a recliner looked out of place beside it.  On the opposite wall was a shelf of knick knacks and collectibles and a neon sign light up the room.  The remaining walls were covered in sound proofing foam.


@Yasha

[Yasha]

"Tire— me out? Wait, what??" Expired stumbled over his words, dumbfounded. He stalled out, error 404, as he tried to comprehend what she was saying. Hush, not slowing down, left him in a stupor in the hallway by himself. In her absence he was able to shake off the paralyzation and darted into the kitchen after her. He skipped to a stop and they were now face to face again. It felt like when he cut her off at the bar. Heat. Dizziness. Desire. The only thing different this time was the lack of booze on their breaths. 

Exp felt his face heated up as she continued to tease him. Winking? Safe-words? He was certainly in over his head, but he couldn't pull away. He wondered if all alicorns had this power, this allure? Whatever it was, he was happy to play along for now.

With another graceful turn, Hush was making her way out of the kitchen. Once again, Exp was happy to have magic to tow along the rest of the meal with him. As they dashed up the stairs, strange aromas wafted from the various plates and bowls. His curiosity was piqued. It helped pull him back to serious business phony mode. After all, He was here for work.

He didn't linger in the hall for too long, wanting to go ahead and get this thing started. Exp set down the various platters and tried not to visually dissect them too much.  He wanted to have a clear mind when tasting them each for the first time. "I'm guessing the recliner is for me?" Food and a recliner? That was dangerous nap territory.

The green gift bag caught his attention again.  He scooted the present down the table towards Hush. "You should go ahead and open it.... Who knows, part of it might be relevant for a test test stream ." He said with a cheeky smile.


(Wasn't sure how to handle this and also keep the story moving along so the spoiler is kind of my next reply early so she can react to it)
[spoiler]
Buried in a small mountain of tissue paper, there is a stuffed leopard plushie, with pale sparkly golden eyes. He saw it in a store shortly after their first meeting and thought the eyes reminded him of her. The cute plush is holding on to a bag of spicy vegan siracha jerk along with a note. The note reads 'Sorry for being a jerk-y...'

(Haha, I couldn't help myself.)[/spoiler]

@cursedwanderer

[cursedwanderer]

It was hard for Hush not to giggle at Exp's flustered reaction.  For such a fiery stallion, it was interesting seeing him appear so innocent.  She'd slowed her pace to give him time to catch up and recollect himself.

Once she reached her desk, the alicorn began setting the food down and adjusting the camera.  To the stallion's question she gave a brief nod as she fiddled with knobs and pushed a soundboard to the side.

"Of course.  I can't just have you sitting on the floor.  I'd rather have you comfortable and in view of the camera," she said while she plopped her own rump into the gaming chair. 

She tapped a few keys on the keyboard, awaking her monitor from sleep. "I don't usually have guests on me stream that are actually in my house though.  Typically if I'm streaming with someone else we're both just in a voice or video call together. It's always fun to try new things though."

With the computer set up and ready to record, she stopped to take a moment to open the gift before her desk got dirty from the various yummy treats she'd had prepared. 

Using her magic she plucked each piece of tissue paper out one by one with a flourish before letting them float to the floor behind her chair.  Practically squirming with excitement at this point, she levitated the plush out of the bag, it's eyes catching the neon light.

"AWWWW!"  She practically squealed before she froze up, realizing she'd probably looked silly yelling over a stuffed animal.  Her cheeks blushed crimson and she cleared her throat before pulling the note and jerky out with her hooves. 

"Ahem, apology accepted."

She placed the stuffed animal beside her on the chair, pausing to admire it for a moment. 

"Whenever you're ready we can get started.  We should do a brief intro to say who you are and what you do and then you're welcome to begin with whatever food you'd like."

@Yasha