Let Miranda do what she wants

You and Miranda trot into the town. Your horses clop around the street until Miranda spots something that captures her interest. She takes the lead, letting you trail behind her. From behind her, you can see she’s going towards a candy store. You didn’t take her much of a sweet tooth, but after learning about her background, she probably didn’t have much of a chance to get anything sweet to eat.

The front of the store displays different kinds of candies, probably brought in and imported from Canada and some of the Asian countries still offering trade - a rarity this far north. You aren’t sure how you missed this the last time you were here, but you suppose this is kinda tucked away from the road you usually used to travel through.

You see all chocolate, hard candy, oat bars, gums of all types, gummy bears - the whole 9 yards! “You come here often or something?”

Miranda tilts her head. “Not often, but I’ve been here a handful of times before. They have a real good selection.”

“Yeah,” you ride up beside her and stare at the display at the same distance. You see her reflection and look at her. She isn’t smiling or anything, but she does seem to be fixated on what is being flaunted. “I’d say you’re right. Even I haven’t seen some of these treats before. Where does this all come from?”

In the background, you can hear the night crowd starting to grow in size. Carts are being wheeled out and the amount of towns guard increases. Unlike where Tiny’s Tavern was, this place had a budget and a need for a proper police **** to maintain both security and law. Your attention is brought back to Miranda as she climbs off the horse and heads towards the front doors.

She looks at you and tells you to hurry up. You dismount and guide your horse next to hers so you can follow her inside. When you step in, you are greeted by a warm interior that is perfectly lit. There are signs in all languages. You can spot German, Japanese brands, and then some British companies. A clerk walks up, a young girl, probably around 15 greets you. She’s wearing khakis and a white shirt. Over her clothes are covered by a green apron that has the store’s logo.

“Hello there!” She chirps with her hands folded in front of her. “Welcome to Mike’s Sweet Supply! Can I help you find anything?”

You’re about to reject her offer, but Miranda quickly steps forward. “Yes. I want one of everything that is on display out front. Everything.”

The girl stammers. “OH! Uh, yes of course! I believe we had Hersey’s chocolate, Ritter Sport, Meiji-”

“Yes, yes.” Miranda quickly follows and takes out her wallet. “Just get me a box full of your best.”

The clerk nodded and went to do what she was asked to do. In the meantime, Miranda goes on her own and hand selects some of other items that capture her interest. Without anyone to talk to, you also go off and look around. You find a few things that you’d like to try, but figure Miranda is getting enough to feed a small army, so she’ll more than likely share...You hope.

It takes about 15 minutes for everything to be gathered accordingly for Miranda. She transfers the money over and takes her goodies with her, once again leading you to follow her. You give your thanks to the clerk before you step out. The weather had taken another turn for the worse; the snow had renewed it’s fall and the temperature had also continued it’s plummet.

Despite that, without any wind tearing down any of the shops, the locals and new winter-occupants continued to check the valuables the carts had brought out with them. Usually, if you found yourself in the street (or even in town), you’d take a gander of what was good. You tried to do this a few times, but once again, Miranda seemed to have an objective on her mind. You suppose this made more sense than it did you first got here, considering she was now hauling a considerable amount of food with her.

Within a few minutes, you arrive at the locals main attraction...For most anyway, it wasn’t exactly known solely for the hotel you were heading towards. It was the Grand 7 hotel, the tallest building within Lakeside. During spring and summer, it saw the most use. It had clockwork maintenance during winter to make sure the building didn’t completely freeze over - and that it’d be ready for the rush of merchants and contract armies. Anywho, that didn’t really matter right now. All this meant is that you’d have more to the building to yourselves. Most of the engineers and staff would occupy the lower floors and rooms.

“Miranda,” you call out. “Are you planning to stay at the Grand 7? That’ll be pricey.”

“I know,” she slows to get level with you. “Well, it’s a good thing you’re paying then. I’m strapped for cash after the little run through that store.”

“What kind of boyfriend would I be if I didn’t pay for the room tonight?”

“Ha…?”

This time, you’re the one that speeds up in front of her, leading her to chase you towards the entrance. There are few people outside that take care of your “rides” as you go in. This isn’t the first time you’ve been at the Grand 7, but this is the first time you’ve seen it this empty. The interior, much like this part of the United States, wasn’t affected by the brief, but violent nuclear war.

You’re sure if you brought Delilah here, she’d be looking over at everything; admiring the working fountains and plastic flora. Miranda on the other hand is very straight forward. She looks at the front desk and then at you. “Well, your girlfriend is waiting…”

The girl at the front desk was another young girl. Older than the clerk at the candy shop, but twice as pretty. Her green eyes are fixed on Miranda until your toes are against her desk. She blinks and looks at you. “How may I serve you tonight?”

“I’m gonna rent out one of the suites.” You tell her. The girl smiles.

“She’s very pretty, sir. I’m sure you’ll enjoy your stay, even if you don’t take any advantages of the services we provide.” She winks at you, as if suggesting something naughty between you and Miranda…

After paying for the room and signing your signature on a few slips of paper, you are given a key with a number on it. Shortly after that, you reunite yourself with Miranda, who is going through the contents of her box.

She perks when you approach her with the key of the room in your hand. The elevator ride up is filled with some small talk. Miranda seems much...happier than when you first met. Open too. When you go into the room she drops the box on the bed and starts to strip out of her outer clothing. You do the same - her shirt is tucked into her jeans, giving her body a very fit, and attractive look to it.

You walk over to the bed and stuff your hands in your pocket. She smiles and slides a little further to provide you more space on the bed. She takes one of the smaller candies and unwraps it. It looks like chocolate - probably a kiss. She pops it into her mouth and slowly bites down. “Fucking delicious!”

She quickly snatches a bag, labeled as “Sugar Trail Mix”. She splits it open and then grabs a handful and shoves in the contents into her mouth like she hadn’t eaten in days.You watch her chew and swallow. Miranda repeats this process for a few times before she notices you staring at her.

She swallows and then wipes her face. “Do you want to try some too, or do you want to just talk?”