[crow]

Why didn't he just spit it out if he was trying to ask her something? She was in no mood for riddles, and riddles weren't usually Jack's modus operandi.

But then she remembered about the bet that Maple had mentioned, and sighed. "You can stop trying," she said. "Maple already knows I forgot. She caught me at my place... saw the calendar and everything." After all, Lacuna had wanted to deny it too. She couldn't, given the amount of evidence. There wasn't any hope left for poor Jack.

[crow]

She wondered how much they had wagered between them over the matter. Probably not all that much, actually.

First of all, neither of them were rich. And secondly, they wagered strictly for fun, so the money didn't really matter so much as the satisfaction of being the winner. Of course, on the flip side, if you were the loser, you had all the dismay that that could offer you... Which, given the lack of significant amounts involved, wasn't as much as it could be.

[crow]

But they took it seriously enough, all issues of money aside. Jack sighed, loudly. "Come on, Lacuna! Really? We all had the date set aside!" he said. She knew that he was saying this not because he was really upset for her sake, or even for Pep and Cocoa's sakes, but because this was a bet she had lost. It didn't keep her from feeling guilty about it though.

"Sorry," she said a little sheepishly. "I didn't mean to, but... you know how I get sometimes."

[crow]

Jack sighed again, dramatically, but then cheered right back up. "So? Why did you come out to see me? It's not just so Maple can collect, right?"

"If you think you can weasel out of paying that easily, think again," said Maple. "I'll take it out of your cash register."

"No, not Reggie!" said Jack, feigning horror for all of two seconds, before opening it up and saying, "Well alright, if you insist." He took out a few bills and handed them over, waiting patiently while Maple counted them to make sure he wasn't ripping her off.

[crow]

"It's all there," she concluded at last, and tucked her winnings away, probably to be savored later.

Jack made a face and spoke about being affronted that she thought he might try to cheat her, but she wasn't entirely unfounded in her concerns. He wouldn't have done it mean spiritedly, but he might have done it as a prank before he let her have the real, true amount. And if she fell for it and had forgotten to count, well... that was on her, wasn't it?

[crow]

A few dollars more or less really didn't matter to the two of them, but that sense of victory did. And there was more than one way of winning at this sort of game. Being right was one. Managing to pull the wool over your opponent's eyes was another. No prize for guessing which one someone like Jack preferred.

His question had remained unanswered, so Lacuna chose to answer it now. "We came to see if you wanted to go get lunch," she said.

[crow]

That had, after all, been what they had come to do. And now that Maple's personal business with him was done, they might as well go eat something. She was feeling pretty hungry, now that she was no longer covered in sweat from being outside.

Jack's store had good air conditioning, which meant that it was sometimes the haunt of a lot of foals who didn't even really want to buy anything, but would be chased out of any other establishment for loitering.

[crow]

Jack, of course, didn't mind the loiterers, much less tried to chase them away. As long as they weren't stealing or vandalizing anything, it wasn't like they were costing him extra air con money by being there.

Moreover, just their presence made his store look busier, which he said was good for business in its own way. A lot of ponies did still judge a book by its cover, even though everyone learned as kids that you weren't supposed to do it. A full shop looked more appealing.

[crow]

An empty shop looked creepier, just by the fact that no one else seemed interested in its contents. It might not have been fair, and it certainly wasn't always true, but that was just how perception worked.

"As I see it," Jack had once said, "It's essentially free publicity, isn't it? And the might see something in here that they absolutely have to have, in which case I've made a sale. It definitely means they're bringing me new clients, since not all the friends they bring along are regulars, you know?"

[crow]

So the shop was a real hub for foals who wanted to beat the heat, especially ones who were already predisposed to any kind of mischief making. Which was perfectly fine with Jack, who enjoyed the company of like minds.

Maybe because of that positive feedback loop, the air con he could afford was pretty good these days. It cooled Lacuna off pretty quick. And now that she was no longer sweating like, excuse the term, a pig, she had it in herself to feel hungry.

[crow]

It had been a while since she last ate, but she didn't remember things like that when she worked. And when she was too hot, however hungry she might otherwise have been, all appetite deserted her automatically.

"Lunch, huh? Well, it's more or less time for my break anyway," said Jack, pretending to muse over the matter. There was, in reality, nothing for him to think about. There shouldn't have been, anyway. He ran his own business, which meant he chose his own hours.

[crow]

Of course, he still had to abide by when other ponies would actually want to do business with him, but within that range there was still plenty of room for flexibility.

His lunch break was in practice whenever he wanted it to be, anytime between ten and two in the afternoon, depending on how peckish he felt on the day. Sometimes he had two. Sometimes he ate at the counter, and kept the shop running, so it wasn't really much of a break at all.

[crow]

He was just pretending to think about it to inspire a sense of anticipation, which of course it didn't. Maple and Lacuna were both his friends, and had been almost since he had moved out to the city. They knew all of this about him, which was why they didn't dignify this with a reaction.

They merely waited for him to come to the conclusion that, yes, he believed that he could spare himself from the demanding task of running his shop. "Where are we going for lunch?"

[crow]

"Old Salt's," said Maple, without any preamble. But then, it was right around the corner. So to speak. Specifically it was just two doors down in a straight line, no corners involved. At any rate, it wasn't a big surprise. "You coming, or what?"

"Old Salt's? Why didn't you just say so?" said Jack, genuinely lighting up for the first time since they walked in. Or, well, for the second time, Lacuna supposed. He had been genuinely glad, and a little surprised, to see her.

[crow]

Just as she knew him, and knew his work schedule and flexibility thereof, he'd been friends with her a long time too. Because friendship went both ways like that, like most reciprocal things.

And because he'd known her for that long, he also knew more or less what she was like when she got holed up in the writing cave. He probably hadn't expected to see her until the party itself thanks to this established friendship knowledge. It was a reasonable assumption, as assumptions went.