[PRP] Confessions Take Courage

[Kitomyx]

Hard Truths wasn't really sure how he felt about Mooncake's sudden growth. Sure, the flutter had obviously changed a great deal on the outside, but what about the inside? Was he still the same? Had he matured some and maybe considered other things more childish now?

Not that Moon hadn't seemed more mature than other foals his age, but he had been incredibly sensitive, too, Truths found. Sensitive enough to think that the unicorn actually disliked him when in fact the opposite was true. The vermillion phony had admired Moon's will to defend his beliefs and feed his passions even if it made him a little introverted. Truths just wasn't all that keen on being direct enough with expressing himself to explain this.

With the way he had acted around the flutter since they'd met, he doubted Mooncake had ever realized what exactly Truths thought of him, even if Moon thought he knew. How could he have? Unless he was odd like Acid and somehow able to see right through Truths' intentional efforts to be unfriendly, there was no reason he should have known.

It seemed wrong for him not to know, though. With Mooncake having grown up, the unicorn began to wonder what their relationship now was. They could have once been considered frienemies with their grudging friendship, though Moon might have been too offended by Truths to ever consider him to be any sort of friend. Now that he was Old Enough, though, Truths wondered what Mooncake thought of him. If he could put those offenses behind them and they could just be friends once more, that would be ideal, but what if their difference in age had only widened the gap between them?

It was for these reasons that Hard Truths had asked Mooncake to meet him at the edge of the forest where they could talk in private. He needed to know these things so he could put his mind at ease. It had been quite a while since they'd last spoken, after all, and he wondered how the flutter was getting along.

cursedandwandering

((As usual, please let me know if there's anything you'd like me to change!))

 

[cursedandwandering]

Kitomyx

That's fine. I'm assuming they're meeting at the forest and not that Truths is already there waiting for him. Let me know if i'm wrong and i'll change my post. P:

Mooncake wasn't really sure why he'd been asked to the edge of the forest, let alone by Hard Truths. He knew the colt certainly wasn't stupid enough to try to pick a fight with him now that he was an adult. Being a flutter may have made him dainty, but he was still bigger than a foal. Unless, the unicorn had brought others along to beat the older flutter up for their own amusement. The purple stallion snorted at the thought, no phony had such a uncivilized nature, including Hard Truths. It was much more likely that the foal was trying to make a fool of him by having him wait here for someone who was never intending to show up.

Tapping a hoof anxiously, Mooncake glanced around for the little foal he was supposed to be meeting with. Only the gods knew why Truths would think they should meet in such an obscure location. The flutter was sure whatever Truths wanted accomplished could certainly be done just as well indoors, perhaps in a nice warm cafe or the library. Perhaps if the uni didn't suggest it himself once he got here Mooncake would propose it.

With that he glanced towards the sun, then the shadows of the nearby trees in an attempt to guess the time. If only he had put off buying yet another book to invest in a watch. Although typically he ran off his own schedule, only leaving his home to gather more books and work the occasional shift at Latte's. But, it was moments like these that made him desire something more practical than books. How else would he be able to truly know if Truths was playing some sort of annoying prank on him without being able to tell the time? His wings twitched in agitation from the thought as he awaited the colt's arrival.  

[Kitomyx]

It wasn't long before Truths came through the foliage into the clearing he'd specified. Not that Moon would know, but it was this place that Truths often came to practice magic by himself after school. It was his 'secret' special place, but he trusted the flutter with it. He was fairly sure Mooncake knew the importance of having a special, private place to himself, especially with two other siblings, and guessed that he must have had such a place of his own.

"You came," he stated, sounding mildly surprised and perhaps a hint relieved to see the flutter standing there. "I thought you might have been too busy for an old foal friend, now that you're all big and Old Enough." Approaching the slender stalllion, he sat himself down near the center of the small clearing. "That is...if we are friends. Sorry to bring you out all this way," he apologized, "but I wanted somewhere we could talk privately without being interrupted. This was the only place I could be sure of, since I come here often myself to be alone with my thoughts."

cursedandwandering

((No, no, that's perfectly fine. XD I honestly forgot to consider that myself. ^_^; ))

 

[cursedandwandering]

Kitomyx

A sigh of relief escaped the flutter when the little Uni came through the trees, solving the flutter's current watch related dilemma. Although he was rather unsure of how he felt about the colt, it was at least a good thing he showed up. Mooncake wasn't sure if the uni had arrived late or not, but his past relationship with the colt made him almost wish that Truths was.

"I'm not any more busy than i was when i was a colt. I spent most of my time reading and working the occasional shift at Latte's. Nothing has really changed... Yet." He chuckles and shrugs, thinking for a moment of his grander dreams that he was working to accomplish. The friend comment tore him from those thoughts. "I don't know?" He sort of shrugged, glancing away. "So... What is it you want to talk about?"  

[Kitomyx]

"Would you consider that a positive or negative thing?" Truths asked, tilting his head at Moon's comment that nothing had changed. His inquiry seemed neutral, but when his previous statement was dismissed with a mere 'I don't know', the unicorn found himself somewhat annoyed.

"That, actually, was one of several things," he explained. "Aside from how you're getting along, I realized we've never really been clear on how we feel and what we think of each other. Perhaps you don't deem this to be important, but I do, and it occurred to me that there may have been some misconceptions between us to clear up."

cursedandwandering

 

[cursedandwandering]

Kitomyx

"I don't really see anything wrong with it. Why should people have to completely change just because they're a little bit older?" The flutter shrugged, looking around at nothing in particular. He was pretty content with his life, there was still the constant hunger for more literature, but he couldn't really picture that changing, especially given his purpose in life.

"I- Do you even want to be friends?" Mooncake stared at the uni in confusion. With how the colt treated him it certainly a baffling idea. Being referred to as "Pancake" certainly wasn't flattering for starters. "Not that i have many friends, if any in the first place." He pursed his lips, wings twitching as he tried to recall phonies he might consider his friend. "I guess Latte is my friend, even if she's also my boss..." This mumbling was more to himself than to Truths. "Eh, why do you care? I thought you were too cold and blunt to need friends or care what people thought of you?" The stallion snorted.  

[Kitomyx]

"I don't see anything wrong with it either," the young unicorn answered. "Why must you take everything I say as a hostile comment? It's as if you're determined to antagonize me. I don't make judgments on every statement that comes out of your mouth, you know, so you don't need to be so defensive."

Truths sighed heavily at that, sounding as though he were about a hundred years older than he actually was. "Mooncake," he began, doing his best to sound gentle. "I know I can be a little...cryptic to read, but I'm not your average phony when it comes to what's on the surface." He lay down and tucked his legs neatly under him. "Yes, I say what I mean, but that's not all there is to me. There's more to read between the lines."

His golden eyes studied a hoof of his as he seemed intent on avoiding the flutter's gaze. "Normally I don't care if others only see me for who I am superficially, but I've respected you since the moment you stood up for your brother. It's my own kind of one-way friendship, even if you've never thought of me as such."

Truths raised his head at the mention of Moon not having many friends. "I've always considered us to be fairly like-minded, which may be why we don't have too many phonies we can call close friends. It might also be why we're so stubborn when we butt heads in arguments, but I rather enjoy arguing with you. You actually have substance behind your opinions and reasoning."

"But I think it's fair to say that neither of us really feels the need to 'belong' or be accepted into a superficial group and that's one reason I admire you. As a fellow 'loner', I suppose. Not that we necessarily want to be alone," he added, "but that we'd prefer to have a few friends who understand us well or even no friends at all rather than a great many acquaintances who hardly know our names."

He tilted his head as he regarded the Old Enough phony. "I'm afraid I still have trouble being able to tell when you're sarcastic and teasing me rather than actually meaning what you say. It seems you have similar problems knowing when I'm playfully poking fun at you as opposed to actually being irritated and intentionally mean. Like the last time you were sarcastic about being surprised that I have phonies I care about," he pointed out. "I thought you sincerely believed I was incapable of caring."

"So, to avoid that confusion, I'd really like to know - do you really not understand how much I admire and respect you? I'd say 'as a friend', but that generally has to be mutual to be true, and at the moment, I'm not sure where we stand."

cursedandwandering

 

[cursedandwandering]

Kitomyx

Sorry this is so short. @_@ finals. I just wanted to make sure i got a response for you so we could progress.

"Perhaps it's because last time i checked you were rather fond of hostile comments as they were better than lying about your opinion." Mooncake shook his head, his eyes rolling. He didn't particularly mind arguments with Truths, even if the colt was frequently quite rude. The adrenaline rush was an interesting sensation for him, more powerful than the ones he felt when reading a good book. Their arguments or debates rather felt like a good exercise for his mind at times when life was getting too boring. "I can't say i hate talking to you," was murmured while the flutter stared the younger male down.

"I do believe that is technically lying by omission if you're just deceiving others to protect yourself. But, if you would like us to be friends... Shouldn't you just say so?" The purple stallion chuckled, tossing his head before returning his gave to the little uni. "I'm sure most phonies consider us... frenemies? I think that's the appropriate slang." A small frown appeared on the flutter's face as he recalled a particularly silly comment his brother had made about his relation with Truths. "Paper even had the audacity to accuse me of having 'feelings' for you." He couldn't help but snort at that. "Don't worry, you're nowhere near my type."

 

[Kitomyx]

"Oh...?" At Moon's admission of what he 'couldn't say he hated', Truths' ears perked and he couldn't help it as the corner of his mouth lifted. "What a choice of words; managing to be negative without being positive."

"Bah...'lying by ommission' is such a baseless concept. What defines a lie as a lie if it's not even spoken? Ludicrous," he grumbled. "And I am not deceiving others to protect myself. I suppose it's subjective, but I don't view myself as deceiving anyone at all. People make their own assumptions. What fault is it of mine if they're incorrect?" He made a face. "Even so, I like to think of it as a...test of sorts. There are those who know me better than I believed they could and there are those who don't. You are simply a rare exception because I'm not even sure where you stand regarding those two categories. Even if I know where I'd like you to be."

Hard Truth's lips parted slightly and his eyes widened at Mooncake's question. Well. He hadn't expected him to put it as simply as that. Now he just felt stupid. Looking away in embarrassment, the foal took a deep breath before thinking up a response. "Ah...yes, I think you're right," he agreed. "After all...I believe the saying goes, 'keep your friends close and your enemies closer'. 'Frienemies' seems like an accurate term to describe our relationship."

There was a minute of silence from the unicorn before he got back to his hooves and stomped over to Mooncake, nostrils flared. "He said WHAT?!" Ohhh, there would be words to be had the next time he saw Paper Lantern. "I should hope not! Honestly, that brother of yours..."

Another pause.

"...Wait." Truths cast the stallion a dubious look. "If you're sure of something like that, that means you already know your type," he reasoned aloud. "Pancake," he said, shaking his head, "you've holding out on me. Now you have to tell me the truth. What, pray tell, is your type?" A sly smirk crept across his mouth. "Or should I ask, 'who'?"

cursedandwandering

((Oh no, please don't apologize. XD Size doesn't matter to me. <3 I'm just so sorry it took me so long to respond with finals, holidays, events, new years, real life, etc. I hope your finals and holidays went well, though! So happy to be rping with you again~!))

 

[cursedandwandering]

Kitomyx

Mooncake and Truths rps for lifeeeeeeee
No apologizing from you either. XD

Mooncake snorted, feeling awkward and somewhat frustrated. "What? Would you prefer i say that i enjoy arguing with you? It is much more interesting than most conversation due to our opinions." His wings twitched, agitated as he looked away.

The flutter rolled his eyes, "so you're saying if, for example, you were in a relationship with one person and kissed another person, not telling the person you were in the relationship wouldn't be deceiving them?" He quirked an eyebrow, waiting for the response. "Truths, why can't you just say anything straight? Do you want me to assume you'd like the positive when you are constantly saying negative things?"

Mooncake couldn't help but giggle at Truths' reaction to what his brother had said. "Paper says silly things all the time. I wouldn't let it bother me, if i were you." There was a small smirk on the stallions face as he watched the smaller uni. "You should hear what he says about our mother."

A splutter as the foal seemed to have caught the words that the flutter had hoped he would have simply passed over. the stallion nearly choked on his own spit, growing flushed. "Wh-who said there was a specific somephony? I didn't say i liked someone specific!"  

[Kitomyx]

Though of course he wasn't willing to say so, the Old Enough flutter's words deeply pleased Hard Truths. He almost wanted to laugh at Moon's awkward behavior, but then he was being asked about omission.

It was his turn to appear awkward as he avoided meeting Moon's eyes. "Well...it wouldn't be lying, I don't believe. Deception is based on intent, so that's something different," he concluded. The followng question was slightly more difficult to answer.

He inhaled and exhaled deeply. "Remember that day in the library when I told you there was a reason I acted the way I did?" Truths asked. "Well the truth is that I firmly believe people are more likely to be honest to someone they dislike rather than someone they do like because they wouldn't want to risk disappointing or upsetting the latter." he explained.

"I like people to be honest with me and it's not always as easy as asking them to be. There's a reason why those who spout profanity are more easily trusted by others than those who maintain polite and controlled. That's why I'm rude and blunt. If I can only be either honest or polite, I'd rather be honest. Ironically, as you pointed out, that generally involves some deception on my part regarding my projected self-image."

"My behavior tends to anger others, it's true, but it's not as if I enjoy doing so. I simply don't change my ways because if the saying is true that you can tell the most about someone by how they handle what vexes them, I figured that meant I could get a unique insight of what others are really like. As someone that everyone hated, I could get a glimpse of their true colors. I'm not like Acid Beat who can tell what someone is like by mere careful observation and the sound of their voice. I have to be more direct in my approach."

Frowning at Mooncake's words on his brother, Truths looked scandalized. "Your mother? Why in Phonyland would he say things about his own mother?" That silly flutter. Truths could only imagine.

His smirk broadened into a grin at the stallion's reaction. "You did just now," he pointed out with relish. "So spill it. Who is this special somephony? Do they know?" If Moon's behavior was anything to go by, he sincerely doubted it.

cursedandwandering

((XD heart ))

 

[cursedandwandering]

Kitomyx

"How would that not be lying?" Mooncake stared at Truth's, incredulous. "In that situation, not telling would be deceiving the person into believing they were the only one for you so as to maintain a relationship!" The flutter shook his head. For a colt with such strong feelings toward honesty, it was hard to believe what was coming out of his mouth.

"Now that's just silly." The stallion couldn't help but snort. It seemed absolutely absurd. "Truths, why would i tell someone i hate my secrets? I certainly wouldn't tell them anything that could be perceived as a weakness as it could be used against me. The only thing someone disliked is likely to hear honestly about is how much they are disliked and people may even lie about that as they're worried it would upset others." His wings twitched as he stared down at the uni colt. "Honesty is about trust. If you trust someone then you'll reveal your deepest darkest secrets to them without fear that they'll judge you. You'll even gossip to them about it casually if you're really that close."

"All you're learning about someone is how they react to rudeness," he chuckled, crossing his hooves. "I'm sure there are phonies out there that fake niceness, but you're certainly not going to see anything other than sickly sweetness from them to protect their image. If you wanted to know all the nasty things they actually think about others you'd have to be a close friend. Close and trusted friends are the ones people reveal things to, not enemies."

A giggle escaped him, his younger brother was almost always spouting off nonsense about somephony or something. "Brother isn't very good about censoring himself. Sometimes he just parrots back things mother said to him in secret, like how she finds various phonies attractive."

"W-what?" Mooncake was growing extremely flustered. "No! Nobody knows anything!" He flushed, thankful for his purple coloration. Oh no, his cheeks were totally this shade all the time, he wasn't blushing, nope. "It doesn't matter anyway. I'm sure i'd be turned down."  

[Kitomyx]

"That's not deliberate deception, though," the unicorn answered, frowning slightly. "They could have just forgotten to tell them or assumed they already knew or any number of things. In my opinion, a lie is an untrue statement made with the deliberate intent of deceiving another. I'm not saying omission wouldn't be wrong or dishonest," he added, "But I don't think it counts as a lie. Not as the absence of an actual statement and words."

The foal pawed the ground slightly. "Mmm...maybe not things like secrets or weaknesses, but that's not what I'm talking about. What I mean is people don't generally care what others hear if they don't care about their opinion. There's no filter on their speech. In addition, just perceiving the way that someone handles their anger tells a lot about them, like if they keep it inside or let it all out. And what specifically angers them says a lot in itself. For example, I could tell you were very passionate, sensitive, caring, and protective of your brother when you first lashed out at me."

He smiled a bit sheepishly. "I suppose I get your meaning...but I also don't think others worry about how those they dislike or don't care about will judge them either. Did you ever care what I thought of you?" he wondered aloud. Teasingly, he added, "And what would I want to hear a bunch of deep, dark secrets for? It's not fun unless you can use them against their owners and that would defeat the whole purpose of obtaining their trust in the first place."

"Actually, if I annoy them enough, I'm certain I can break through that sickening sweetness eventually," he answered with a wink. "Besides, I have my own image to maintain. If I'm nice to everyone, what would my friendship mean? Almost nothing, because it would be too easy to earn. I'd prefer to keep just a few close friends. Frenemies. Like the ones I have now - they're enough for me."

"Mm...sounds like Paper," he murmured, shaking his head as he smirked off to one side. And then Mooncake was blushing and babbling.

"You see? There! You didn't tell me about this girl of yours. That would be omission. Would you say you lied to me?" Truths demanded to know, an eager, somewhat wicked grin on his face. "Even worse, you're lying to her! And your mother and everyone you haven't told. Shame on you, Pancake!"

cursedandwandering

 

[cursedandwandering]

Kitomyx

Mooncake shook his head, growing frustrated with the argument that felt like it would probably end up going in circles if he kept at it. "Fine," he sighed and waved a hoof in surrender. He may have disagreed, but he didn't want to get stuck arguing about it all day.

He snorted at that. The idea that people didn't care what their enemies thought about them and would then reveal their true colors. "You're wrong. If anything we care more about how our enemies perceive us, because we want to be seen as superior to them. That's why you fight with them, to prove you're better." The flutter smirked and quirked an eyebrow. "And doing that you never get to see how they act in times of kindness. I'd think that would be far more important. What's the likelihood you'd see a phony who considers you an enemy helping someone out of the kindness of their hearts? You're just making it so that you're only exposed to the negative sides of everyone else."

"It's not that i didn't care what you thought about me. It's more that i cared what other people thought of me in comparison to you. Who was wrong and who was right? If people witness us arguing, don't you want them to be on your side and think you're the one in the right? You don't want them to think you're stupid or a jerk." The stallion snorted. "I'm pretty sure friends actually do get to use their friends' secrets against them as pranks. They just aren't malicious about it."

A laugh escaped the flutter. "You can be nice to everyone without being friends with them. It's called being polite. Generally polite people only consider those with similar interests to them their friends."

"Because she isn't mine!" Mooncake stomped a hoof against the grass, quite red in the face. "Telling her is pointless. There is no way someone so stunning would be the least bit interested in a bookworm like me."
 

[Kitomyx]

"Hrm..." The foal considered Moon's comment regarding wanting to be seen as superior to one's enemies. He supposed that was correct to an extent, as the only one who really wouldn't care was a truly neutral person without enemies. "In that case, then...wouldn't that mean I'd get to see them try their hardest to prove they're superior to me?"

He smiled at the mention of kindness. "And then if I'm kind to them, it'll catch them off-guard. They won't know what to think." Oh, yes, that sounded very appealing indeed. "It wouldn't be hard to catch them in the act of being kind to someone else if they truly are a kind phony. Maybe just not kind to me. I don't see why it would stop anyone from being kind to anyone else just because I was watching."

"And we return again to the fact that I don't care. I honestly don't mind if they think I'm a jerk," Truths huffed. "Well...most of them, anyway." Fillies were a different matter. "If they're sharp they'll figure out there's more to me than that. If they're not, I don't know why I should bother wasting time on them. Those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind." His grin returned at Mooncake's comment about pranks. "Oh, good. Then you won't mind if anything happens to come up in the near future."

The unicorn scoffed at the flutter's statement regarding politeness. "Polite people also tend to be the most disgustingly deceptive and dishonest. The whole concept is ludicrous. I refuse to conform to such standards of society so long as I live." He flicked his tail, lifting his nose in the air.

"In any case, you didn't tell me about her," Truths retorted, his mouth curled up ever so slightly in a smug little smirk. "So just who is this stunning female phony? I've known you to be many things, but self-conscious about your reading habits hasn't been one of them. Giving up before you even try?"

cursedandwandering