Cinnamon's First Date Ch. 01

Hunter, shi thought. Remember, Cin... this isn't for you. This is for him. You want to blow his mind...

Shi thought about some other things getting blown, and hir flanks twitched as another wave of warmth passed through hir nethers. Shi felt hir sheath tighten, hir overstuffed sac seeming to jostle and shift underneath hir quarter blanket. JoAnn tilted her head to one side, as though hearing something faint or distant.

"So... what do you think? You ready, grrl?" Millie was still plucking at Cinnamon's outfit and hir hair, as though trying to put the last few finishing touches on a dish that was about to be judged.

"Are you done plating me yet?" Cinnamon asked archly, a small smile playing across hir lips. Shi was touched at the effort hir friends were putting into this date, even as shi tried to act casual and nonchalant.

"Yes!" JoAnn laughed, pulling Millie away by the elbow. "Come on. Let's go pay. This is on me, Cin, OK? I owe you for all your help in Chem. So I got this... on one condition."

Cinnamon started making hir way to the cashier, a small chorus of 'bye!'s emanating from the store's clerks. "What condition?" shi asked, hir eyes narrowing.

"Get laid!"

---

Fenucci's Pizza was located at the far end of the Landsdowne Mall, just one of several large, loud, informal restaurants. Cinnamon had been there numerous times, starting with one of hir younger birthday parties. Fenucci's had high ceilings, wide aisles between the booths, and at some point in the past had been a 50's diner complete with a checkered dance floor. This made for enough room for Cinnamon to easily stand and maneuver, while hir friends could all pull a couple tables together.

"Hey, you!" smiled the perky young server standing ramrod-straight by the pizzeria's mall entrance. "Long time no see!"

Cinnamon blushed, realizing that shi didn't recognize the sever in the slightest. Shi supposed that shi was slightly more recognizeable than the average high school student. "Hi," shi said absently, fiddling with hir hands and trying not to rummage through hir fanny pack. Millie and JoAnn had tried to get Cinnamon to leave hir fanny pack at home, but in the end the centaur had won out. As a compromise, shi had it hiked up high on hir waist, though, mostly hidden by hir blouse. Shi craned hir neck, searching the crowded restaurant. "Uhm... just... seeing if someone's here..."

"Oh? Who ya lookin' for?"

"Uhm... his name's Hunter... he might have had a reservation?"

"Allrighty!" The server scanned the dry-erase sheet where the night's reservations were written down. "What's his last name?"

Cinnamon froze, horror spreading across hir face. "I... don't know," shi managed, hir heart pounding like an off-balance washing machine. "He... he just... I mean, I don't really..."

The server's face fell, realizing the position she'd just put Cinnamon in. That, coupled with the striking outfit, gave her the context clues she needed. She was about to apologize when a tall, lean, somewhat stunned-looking young man quickly rounded the corner and entered the restaurant's lobby. "That him?" she asked, gesturing with a pen.

Cinnamon turned, still wringing hir hands, and nearly clocked Hunter across the forehead. Shi squeaked, taking two loud clopping steps back. Hunter ducked with surprising speed and came back up, reaching out to grasp Cinnamon's hand. "Whoa, whoa! Sorry! Sorry! I didn't mean to sneak up on you!" he said quickly, his voice soft and reassuring and only slightly terrified.

Cinnamon stared down at him, chest heaving, heart racing. "No, that's ok!" shi gasped, forcing a smile. "I just... I got here a little early, and I got nervous that I'd missed you, or... something."

Hunter smiled, but his eyes widened and drifted down to Cinnamon's wide, deep neckline. "Er..." he stammered, dragging his eyes down to hir hooves, and then back up to hir face. "You didn't miss me! I'm right here. Uhm... I made a reservation..."

"Mister Ashwin, 7pm, party of... three?"

Hunter turned to the server and started making the 'cut it out' motion across his neck. "Yes! I mean..." He turned to face Cinnamon, cheeks burning. "I just wanted to make sure there was enough... seating... room... for... uhm... you..."

Cinnamon chuckled. "That's actually... really considerate," shi said gently. "Thank you."

The server made a little 'aww' sound and gathered up two menus. "Well, if you two lovebirds would follow me?" she chirped, winking lewdly at Cinnamon.

Hunter laughed bashfully, and then realized that he was still holding Cinnamon's hand. With almost imperceptible slowness, he pulled his hand away and coughed. "Uhm... after you?"

"Thank you, kind sir," Cinnamon murmured, wishing shi could still hold his hand as they walked. Sadly, the tables weren't THAT far apart. Shi followed the waitress through the middle of the restaurant, weaving deftly between seats filled with local families and rowdy teens. Shi kept hir tail flat against hir quarter blanket, smiling at the shocked expressions shi was long used to receiving.

A minute later shi was standing against the far wall, between the decorative jukebox and a large fake palm tree. Neither one was strictly standard pizzeria decoration, but Fenucci's didn't discriminate. The table came up to hir knees, and a flaw in Hunter's plan became plainly obvious when he pulled out his seat and sat down.

"Uhm," he said, bemused. "I... in my head, I thought this would have worked better."

Cinnamon snickered, staring down at hir date. "How's the weather down there?"

Hunter shook his head in amazement, thumping his forehead. "Oh, it's... super. Hell of a view," he replied, smiling up at hir.

Cinnamon watched as Hunter's eyes traced down hir human aspect, across hir powerful equine shoulders, along hir freshly-brushed and shining pelt... and then along the hem of hir black satin quarter blanket, which he could easily peek under from his angle.

Aw, crap!

His eyes snapped up to hirs, huge and guilty and... excited? Shi wasn't exactly sure how to read his expression, since this was ten kinds of new experience for hir, but he didn't look like he was looking for an excuse to leave. Or if he was, he didn't find it.

"Eyes up here, bucko," shi chuckled softly, taking a half-step back and trying to angle hir hind quarters away from him.

"S-s-sorry," he stammered. "I... jeez... I didn't mean to be rude."

"It's fine," shi said gently. "I'm used to it. You've seen the hallways after AP Chem."

"Hmm?"

"You know... the boys by the water fountain, the boys by the vending machines, the girls by the washroom, the girls by the big window at the end of the hall."

Hunter frowned thoughtfully. "I... think so? What about them?"

It was Cinnamon's turn to blink. "What, really? That never struck you as odd, that they were always there? After the last class of the day? On a Friday?"

"I... it never really occurred to me. They're all there to... uhm..?"

"Stare at the weirdo? Yeah!" Shi shook hir head, hir mostly-tamed mane swishing. "You don't notice much, do you?"

Hunter mumbled something under his breath. He was fiddling with his napkin, which was starting to look like failed origami. Cinnamon watched his shoulders sag, and shi was immediately contrite. Two minutes into hir first date ever, and shi'd already chided him for peeking at hir body and derided his intelligence.

"Pardon?" shi asked, as kindly as shi could. Shi bent hir forelegs, lowering hir body a couple hands.

The young man, who just seemed perpetually wan, continued to stare at his napkin. "Just... saying... most of the time walking out of Chem, I weren't thinkin' bout anything but you."

Cinnamon's jaw dropped slightly, and shi straightened up. "Er... pardon?" shi asked again, having definitely not expected that answer.

Hunter took a deep, slow breath, as though steadying himself. Cinnamon had to remind hirself that, in all likelihood, this was just as stressful for him as it was for hir, possibly even more so. "I wanted to ask you out that first day of class, right at the end of January. You was wearing this pink parka, and mittens, and you had scarves around your... your midsection. But it had been snowing that morning, and you hadn't gotten all of it off ya, so I was sitting in the back corner opposite you, watching all these snowflakes melt and drip... drip down you..."

Cinnamon's face was fully flushed now, and shi could feel it creeping down hir plunging neckline. Shi remembered that day. Shi'd worn hir warmest quarter blanket, thick and plaid, but the driving snow had stuck to the fuzzy material. When it had melted inside the well-heated school, it had become the equine equivalent of a wet t-shirt, clinging to hir overstuffed sac.

"Oh," was all shi could manage.

Hunter seemed to be shrinking in his seat. "Wanted to ask you out that day, but... y'know, it seemed like, if I'd done THAT, it would only have been because of... y'know." With what appeared to be heroic effort, he looked up at hir once more. "Then I wanted to ask you out the next day, but by then I'd worried myself sick. Then the next day. Then the next day..."

Cinnamon's stomach felt as though it were full of weasels, all scrambling over one another. He'd had... a crush on hir?! "You still could have said hi," shi chuckled nervously, unaware that shi was fiddling with hir fanny pack. "I mean, we WERE in the same class. Ask me about an assignment, or something!"

He smiled, just barely. "Yeah, I did, once. But then Mr. Greyborn said something about how your backpack was open, and you thanked him, and then I forgot what I was going to say."

The centaur raked hir fingers back through hir hair. Shi wanted to canter in place, shi was so full of nervous energy. Hir flanks were twitching, and the weight under hir quarter blanket was only going up. "So... what was the trigger this time? Why now?"

Hunter shrugged. "I was yakking with some friends at my locker about going to see Dead Rising, and that slowed me down. When I came out I saw you talking with Millie and JoAnn, and I heard you say you were going to Dead Rising. And, it just occurred to me... if I'm already going to be there, and you're already going to be there, why not... try and see... if you wanted to go... with me... I mean, no harm, no foul, since we're already both going, and-"

Cinnamon stepped carefully around the small table they shared. Shi dropped one heavy, rubber-soled hoof right next to his sneaker, pushing it forwards until hir cannon was pressed against his calf. Hir breast, broad and well-muscled, filled his vision. Shi leaned forwards slightly, bending at the waist, and put hir hand on his shoulder. "You," shi said carefully, "need to relax. You asked me out... I said yes... I'm not going anywhere. At least not tonight." Hir grin deepened. "And definitely not until you buy me a ticket to Dead Rising. So just... chill out."

It was Hunter's turn to blush. He stared up at hir, an expression of puppyish adoration passing across his face before returning to his normal, inscrutable self. "Thank you," he said, patting hir hand.

"Awww!" piped the server, who was standing on Hunter's other side. "That was so SWEET! Can I get you two anything to drink?"

A few minutes later, having apparently reached some sort of first-date stress apex and then skated down the far side, Cinnamon and Hunter were sipping their colas and laughing, swapping stories of their respective classes that the other did not take. Hunter was in Drama and Shop, which were fertile grounds for hijinks, while most of Cinnamon's stories about AP Bio involved people trying not to yartz during graphic videos.

Eventually, their pizza arrived. Cinnamon had confessed somewhat bashfully that hir caloric needs were significantly higher than the average teen, and so they'd ordered an Extra Large Italian Special. The centaur had a lifetime's worth of practice eating subtly, and so Hunter was surprised when he finished his second slice, and realized that his date was on hir sixth.

At least twice, Cinnamon had seen Millie and JoAnn walking past the Fenucci's mall entrance, smiling and waving at hir. Shi sighed and rolled hir eyes, trying to put them out of mind. They're just checking up on you, shi chided hirself. They're wondering how your date is going!

Well, so am I! Cinnamon thought back. Is this going well? I don't know! He knows how much pizza I can eat, and that's about it! That didn't scare him off, at least.

It was only when shi'd polished off the rest of the pizza, Hunter insisting he was impressed while he paid the bill, that shi tried to venture out of banal small talk. "So, uhm," shi asked, trying to sound nonchalant. "Where are you at? I mean, where do you live? Not, like, your address or anything, just... are you near the school, or out in the sticks, like me?"

Smooth, shi thought.

Shut up! shi replied.

Hunter laughed. "Out in the sticks, I suppose. My folks run the Iron Horse Ranch, out towards Sputnamburg."

Cinnamon coughed into hir cola, but managed not to completely make a fool out of hirself. "Iron Horse? Your folks own Iron Horse??"

"Run Iron Horse," he smiled, clearly used to this sort of a reaction. "They don't own it, they manage it."

"Even so! That's... pretty cool." Cinnamon struggled to remember what shi knew of the Iron Horse, beyond that it was about as well-known in this part of the world as Wal-Mart and homophobic chicken. The Magic 8-Ball was a humble 240 acres, larger than the quarter sections around them, but still small considering the size of the county. The Iron Horse, on the other hand, was spread across two counties, and shi could swear it was something like 11,000 acres. "So you're a hayseed like me then!"

For the first time, Hunter's eyes sparkled with something akin to life. "Not... quite like you," he grinned, nodding at hir lower body. "But yeah, I s'pose. They've run a couple ranches like that around the state, so I've bounced around a lot. Couple high schools. Been here for two years, so that's close to a record."

"Aww," Cinnamon frowned. "I mean, it's cool you get to travel, but I've lived at the Magic 8-Ball my whole life, back when it was the Dog River U-Pick. Furthest I've ever been from home is this mall." Hunter chuckled, but Cinnamon's frown deepened. "I don't think I was joking."

"Oh."

Shi waved a hand, trying to put it out of mind. "It's all right. I mean, I'm not getting on an airplane like this, right? Or a bus. Or a train, unless I'm in the cargo car. My mom has a five-ton that we used to use to take me to the vet-... er, the doctor's, when they couldn't do house calls, but I hate that thing."

Shi coughed and scuffed hir hooves. "Uhm... that probably got a lot more personal than I was intending..."

Hunter started to fiddle with his napkin again, noticed it, and forced himself to put it down. "It's not so great when you only get to see different parts of the flattest state in the union," he said dourly. "Bouncing from school to school. I work evenings and weekends for my folks. I had to trade hours with two of the ranch hands just to get tonight off, and Dad's still gonna kill me if he finds out."

"Oh."

He waved a hand. "Bah. Trust me, this is worth it. You're worth it." His face brightened. "You saying yes made it all worth it."

Cinnamon was capering softly again, hir tail swishing. "OK, now you're just showing off," shi smiled, blushing furiously. "But... don't let that stop you from stroking my... ego."

Hunter's eyes widened. He sat stock-still while the server returned with the receipt and his credit card. His eyes remained unfocused, but his fingers went right back to fiddling with the napkin, now apparently trying to create some kind of origami goose.

"Maybe we should go," Cinnamon winked, feeling that pleasant tingling returning.

---

The pair attracted quite a bit of attention at the Movieplex 16, the colossal theatre that dominated the north side of the Derby Mall. Cinnamon had been there numerous times over the past year in an attempt to desensitize hirself to being the center of attention, with Millie and JoAnn acting as a support failsafe.

No one had ever seen the statuesque centaur at the movies with a boy, though, particularly a boy that no one really seemed to recognize.

"I always have to stand at the back," shi explained loudly, the Saturday night movie crowd being quite boisterous. "For... various reasons."

"Makes sense," Hunter nodded. "Sorry about having to buy-"

"It's FINE!" shi laughed, holding hir trio of tickets, which shi'd paid for hirself. "I know I have to buy three seats every time, it's fine."

"I could have bought them-"

"I know, Mr. Rich Britches," shi giggled. "And I'll make you pay next time. This is just so... you know... fair's fair."

Hunter's brow furrowed, not quite following how his date paying for hir own movie was fair if he just ended up paying for it next time, but he wasn't about to argue.

"Besides," shi added with a conspiratorial whisper, slipping an arm around his shoulder and pulling hirself down close to his ear. "You're paying for the popcorn. And... I go through a lot of popcorn..."

Normally the lineups going into a new release were packed like sardines, but Cinnamon seemed to carry a small no-fly zone around hirself at all times. No one wanted to bump into the infamous thousand-pound teen and either get knocked over, kicked, or find they'd jostled up against somewhere inappropriate (or, shi thought cynically, they DID want to jostle somewhere inappropriate, and merely didn't want to get kicked BECAUSE of it). When shi saw Hunter inching away from hir, apparently observing the unspoken rule, shi reached out again and pulled him close. His body stiffened (and thinking about that double entendre started Cinnamon tingling again), and he looked up at hir apologetically.

"What?" shi asked, as they approached the dark double-doors of Theater 12: Dead Rising. "I'm not going to break."

He chuckled. "Didn't think you were. You seem very... sturdy."

"It's not nice to make fun of a gal's weight."

"I wasn't...!"

Cinnamon laughed, squeezing him close as shi ducked under the door frame. "Just kidding! God, you are easy to mess with, aren't you? Here, scootch over, I gotta take the aisle..."

Traffic was momentarily held up as Hunter was hustled into the back row, and Cinnamon very carefully navigated hir way between the rows of seats. Even with the seats flipped up, this was a little bit tricky in the near darkness. Shi was eyeing hir flanks, trying to make sure shi wouldn't thwap anyone in the next row with hir tail, when shi bumped into Hunter staring in bemusement at his own seat.

"What is it?" shi asked, juggling hir twin bags of popcorn to hir other arm.

"I really didn't think about the, you know, logistics of this," he grumbled. "If I'm sitting, I'm just gonna be at your knee level the whole time."

Cinnamon shrugged. "I figured. I don't mind, though. You can hug my knee if it gets too scary for you," shi winked. "Though while you're down there, don't let me catch you ch-... hey, whatcha doing?"

Hunter tilted his seat down with one foot and hopped up, bringing his head almost level with Cinnamon's. He even held his palm flat against the top of his head and tried to gauge the difference, and rolled his eyes when he realized Cinnamon could still see over him. "Always been a sucker for the tall ones," he exhaled dramatically. "But how's this?"

"You can't stand for the entire movie!"

Hunter shrugged. "Why not? You are."

"Yeah, but... I kinda have to!"