driftfleet | 3 AM we seemed alright, on our way into the mingle

[He offers her a smile as he walks over. It's not his usual vibrant, crazy smile; worry has strained it a little. Still, at least all his time dealing with other people's problems in various worlds has made him a lot better at comforting people than he is back home. Yay for that life lesson, he guesses.

As such, he'll head over and put a comforting foreleg around her shoulders, pulling her in for a gentle hug.]

Hey, Pinkie. Me and Boneless were worried about how you were holding up.

[He was worried. He is worried.]

[Aw, Cheesy. She nuzzles against him in term.]

Better now that you're here. Nothing REALLY bad happened but... it's kinda not stuff somebody who wasn't somepony would really understand, you know? And I don't wanna make my crewmates feel bad either.

[The nuzzling gives him the warm fuzzies, but he has important things to focus on now. Somepony made her sad and THEY NEED TO PAY.

..Or cheer her up. Either or. ]

Oh, well you tell me all about it. I'll see what I can do to make you feel better about it. Because wow have I learned a thing or two about cross-world whoopsies.

[NO, Cheese, no, yandere is not her type, okay? Okay.]

I bet... [There's actually some light hoof shuffling...] How do you think I look?

[That was not a question he was expecting and for a second he looks like he's teetering between surprise and utter terror. The hoof-shuffling is hard to miss though, and the last thing he wants to do is mess up and hurt her feelings (once was more than enough). ]

L-Liiiiiike in general? [What does that even MEAN, Cheese?] I mean you look just fine to me. Better than fine! I mean you look-

[Adorable. Perky. Beautiful. Sunshine itself. PICK AN ADJECTIVE!!! ]

Like the best strawberry sundae ever.

[Wow. What the hell was that. He stares into the middle distance for a second, before clearing his throat. ]

I mean. Uh. Why do you ask?

[Okay, phew that helps.]

Heh, well... There was this new guy on the comms, and he was having kind of a rough time and getting sick, so I responded... but then when he figured out the communication device and saw my face... he started freaking out WORSE so I switched to text, and THEN he kept saying he wanted to hurl and that there's no way I could exist, and when I finally DID convince him this is my actual face he said he couldn't handle it.

I mean I know some humans are kind of surprised the first time they see me, and most of them are really nice about it, but... I don't look THAT weird, do I?

[Ugh, this. His ears flick back, and he lets out a little snort of annoyance. He's grown used to this sort of thing, you get a hard skin with it, eventually, learn to turn it on them. But Pinkie is still so new to it, so unaware how some humans can actually be. ]

That's nothing to do with you, Pinkie, I promise. It's just some humans, they come from sorts of Earths where nothing different than what they know ever happens. And when you get those kinds of humans who also happen to be big jerks, you get that kind of thing happening. They just see us and think "wow, talking ponies, they shouldn't be a thing that exists!! I'm gonna yell at them more!!".

[He gives her a gentle bump with his shoulder. ]

But that's their problem, not ours. Some of them never come 'round, and there's not a lot you can do about that. You just got to leave them be. But a lot of them do come 'round eventually, realise that not everypony in the universe looks the same as they do. Some even apologise.

[He offers her a small smile. ]

You want me to go find him and stare at him creepily for a while?

[Okay, that does help quite a bit.It's a tall order for her to ever turn it back on somebody that isn't trying to take over Equestria, but maybe turning the other cheek might do for a while.]

No, that's okay. I don't think it'd work anyway; he's still on the Marsiva.

[Sigh.] And at least one of Guy #2's crewmates stood up for me.

[That much, he could understand...for her anyway. She's lived a life of love which she's shared with others. Turning her back isn't something Pinkie would ever be prone to do. He considers that a good thing, all things considered. It meant he had a second chance. ]

Ugh, well that's just rude.

...

Wait, there's a second guy? What did he do?

Uh, well, afterwards there was another guy texting about how his sister had been sent home and that there's gonna be a blood drive soon, so I texted back to say I'm sorry and to offer to make food for after people donate. And before the food came up I'd mentioned I was a pony, and then he asked me if I worked with meat, so I said it's a little awkward for me because there's a lot of sentient species back home. But I didn't wanna be rude since it's not his fault humans NEED protein to survive, so I asked how often he needs to eat it, and THEN he said he eats meat ALL the time and he doesn't think he'd stop at sentient species. And that's when I started getting mad but then his crewmate Allen made him apologize so everything's okay-ish?

[DON'T KILL HIM, CHEESE.]

[Wow that's a lot to take in in such a short space of time. Cheese blinks for a second, before his expression settles into a frown.]

He said what? I mean, I know humans can be pretty barbaric with their meat thing and everything, but I've never had one say they'd eat me before! What a jerk!

[Still, Allen's good people...he guesses so. ]

Allen told him to apologise you said?

Ugh, I know. I mean everybody here's been really nice about it. Heck, I don't think Finn's BEEN eating meat onboard since I came back even though I say it's fine if he needs to. Why does THIS guy need to like it so much and be a jerk about it?

But yup, Allen made him apologize and promise not to eat anything he could have a conversation with. Although now I'm kinda worried if the Atroma bring somebody MUTE to the fleet.

Wow, really? You've got some pretty great crewmates. [Most of his still eat meat, they just try to avoid doing it in his presence. ] I guess some humans just are jerks by nature. You know, like griffons or dragons that aren't the little one that hangs around with you gals.

[Huh. ]

Allen's pretty okay. He wished me a happy Hearthswarming last winter without me even having to tell him about it. He remembered it from the ponies he met before.

[He offers her a smile. ]

Aaaand if that's the case, we're just gonna have to be extra sure to stick up from them right? We'll make sure they're okay.

[She smiles a little more now.]

Yeah, we will.

Speaking of which, though, not ALL griffons and non-Spike-y dragons are bad, Cheesy. Some of them are just hard to get to know.

[Stop the racism, do you want Windingos to freeze the ship?]

Edited (Now 90% less friendship speech-y.) 2016-06-10 19:01 (UTC)

[He remains unconvinced. ]

I dunno. I met a couple on my travels and they were pretty jerky. Buuuuuut I'm not exactly as great at the friendship thing as you gals are, so it's probably that.

Wait, you're not? I mean I know you were shy when you were littler, but...

[That... would explain why only a couple of people gave a straight "yes" whenever she asked them if they were Cheese's friend, though.]

[That would be exactly why. He waves a hoof a little, trying to brush it off as not a big deal. Mostly because this falls into Talking About His Past territory, and who wants that? Not him, that's for sure. ]

Oh sure, I'm better at talking to folks now and throwing them great parties. But the whole making a friendship and making it last thing? Thaaaat's a whole lot trickier.

Aw, Cheesy...

[She nuzzles into the hug even more, giving him a soft, tender smile.]

Do you wanna get better at that? Ever since Twilight got her new castle and the Friendship Map we've been going all over Equestria and past it to help with friendship problems, so we've got some practice. If you want, anyway.

[Pinkie, snuggling closer, offering to help him form deeper connections, is he in heaven yet?]

[He died and he went to pony heaven, this is what has happened right now. It's the only explanation. He clears his throat, somewhat nervously because wow, just WOW. The quiet traces of the shy colt that is always lurking under the surface comes a little more to the forefront. ]

Wow, well, gosh, sure! I mean- yeah. That would be just great,

[Aw, he's adorable. See, he doesn't need to be happy and hyper ALL the time if he doesn't want to.]

It's a deal, then! You can teach me more about how to handle humans, and I'll teach you about making longer lasting friendships!

[Now seal it with a kiss...]

[She is good to him. ]

You know, that sounds like a perfect deal to me, Pinkie Pie.

[He needs to level up in romance first, he's at like LEVEL SUB ZERO. ]

Hee, and it gives me an excuse to see you more often too~ When works best for you?

[Iiiis she flirting with him?]

[IS she? Sweet Celestia he has no idea. He is the worst at this. Still, an attempt will be made! He'll try a smile, it's awkward as hell, but it's there. ]

Well, you never need to have an excuse to spend time with me~

...Because I like you're company. And also. We're friends. And the....only ponies on the Fleet...

[Okay, that was awful. ]

Uh. Which I mean is anytime really. Yep. Free most of the time. That's me.

Hee that works for me! Usually I'm here making sure the engines and shields are hunky-dory, chatting with these guys and checking the comms, so you can come over anytime. If you let me know beforehand, me and Qing can make some munchies~ [Wink!]

[Then her smile softens and she gives him one more nuzzle.]

Thanks, Cheese. I feel LOTS better now....

Ooooh munchies! I promise to give you a holler before I drop by.

[He'll even be brave enough to nuzzle back this time. Inwardly having a MASSIVE FREAK OUT about it, but he does his best not to show that on the outside. ]

I'm really glad, Pinkie. You know you can always count on me if you're feeling a little blue. I'll always be here for you.

3 AM we seemed alright, on our way into the mingle

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I'm so sorry for the text wall.

the GLORIOUS wall text you mean

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