[PRP] Someone To Talk To

[Atmadja]

Midnight Snack mopped his bar for the fourth time, looking down at the gleaming surface with satisfaction. He turned and entered his kitchen, where several sauces were silently simmering away, readying for the dinner crowd. It was the long stretch between lunch and supper, when Midnight could collect himself and finalize his nightly menu, and enjoy the silence of Cloud Nine.

Everything was in order. The place was spotless. The profits were good, especially given the capable hands of his business-minded mare-extraordinaire, Pink Lemonade. What a peerless queen she was. How grateful he was that she cared for him! She had brought him endless happiness, Cloud Nine, a place to work with his effervescent sister and PL's own, most excellent family.

He really was grateful for all of it. The random drama, the stress, the gossip -- everything that came with it. Even if he WAS confused with what'd happened with Fruit Punch's love life and had absolutely no idea where BC went sometimes and had to field constant demands for grand kids from his not-really-quite-yet in laws.

And anyway, the gratitude made the food taste better, he thought. Happy a artists made tasty art.

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fweeee! <333

 

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Today had not gone the way Banana Creme had wanted it to. Fruit Punch had called her late, late last night, drunk and excited to tell her about his date. She had listened like a good sister for about five minutes before her patience had run out. She'd told FP to shut up and go to sleep already, ending the call and setting her phone back on her nightstand, only to be assaulted by a barrage of text messages with details she didn't want to know about her brother's recent escapades with whatever his name was. At that point, she'd thrown her phone across the room and covered her head with her pillow to try and get some sleep. The next morning, however, she'd discovered that she'd cracked the screen to her phone with her outburst of irritation, and the lcd screen had been partially damaged by the glass. Excellent.

But whatever, that could be dealt with later. She had to get to the bar and check her customer order list to start making her delicatessens. Dumb phone problems could be shirked for now. But the small annoyances hadn't stopped there. All day, she couldn't get her mind off of what had gone so horribly wrong with her newfound nephew Knockout, wondering if she was doing the right thing for the both of them by attempting to be friends still. There was an air of awkwardness between the two of them now, undoubtedly, but she really did like hanging out with the younger stallion, aside from the chemistry she had felt with him before the truth bomb had been dropped on her on that day at the bar. All of these thoughts had distracted her terribly, and the first order of hot pepper macarons had gone terribly wrong when the mare had accidentally put two cups of chili powder into the mix instead of just one...

A disappointed customer call later, Creme knew she wouldn't be getting that one back for purchases ever again. However, the blond mare had to continue her day despite her exhaustion and self-disappointment. She'd learned once she had become an adult that the world would not stop for you if you decided to have a pity party. But, ohhh, a pity party sounded pretty good right about now (maybe she could have one with Sweet Surrender later, if they could meet up once she was done with work). After that chili powder fiasco, things just seemed to get worse. Due to her broken phone, Banana Creme had mixed up the phone numbers and addresses for the next two deliveries, making her apologize profusely for getting them wrong once she was at their doorsteps, promising that it would never happen again if they were to reorder from her.

After that third delivery, Creme decided that she was done. She was absolutely done for the day, and she just wanted to disappear into the ground of the bar as she walked in, dropped her delivery saddle bag on the floor beside the bar stool and sat, her face down against the bar itself as her shoulders went limp. "... Please let today be over, already..." She thought for a moment about calling up her best friend Tinker Toy to come and help her cheer up, but she remembered that he was attempting to get a date from that far prettier phony, making her feel inferior yet again. Tink was her best friend, yeah, and they'd never discussed or even hinted at anything beyond that, but Creme couldn't help herself but have a tiny crush on her handsome friend... He was charming and had way more friends than she could have ever dreamed of having... So he was always busy... But still...

" Ugh....!!" The mare almost whimpered into the bar, having to keep her heart from knotting up in frustration from all of today's events combined into that lack of sleep thanks to Fruit Punch. She wished she had someone to talk to right now that wasn't her brother or either of her mothers-- Or even Pink Lemonade at this point. PL was amazing at cheering her up, but sometimes, Creme didn't want to be simply cheered up. Sometimes things didn't just work that way, and even though PL was the most amazing listener and sister that phonyville had ever seen, Banana Creme just didn't want her family trying to do sweet family things for her right now. Sweet (despite it being BC's favourite flavour) was not what she wanted.

Atmadja

!!!!! sorry this is so long lolollol

 

[Atmadja]

Midnight Snack's head lifted as he heard Banana Creme's soft exclamation, and almost immediately the smile melted off of his face. He knew a bad day when he saw it, and it seemed to him that the mare was suffering from the worst of it. Immediately, the molecular gastronomist looked around himself, his knee-jerk reaction saying 'food! food makes things better!'

But, alas. He knew there was almost nothing ready, not yet, to offer her.

He'd have to go with Plan B. And Plan B was...

Well, talking. If she'd talk to him, of course.

"Hey, BC," he called, fluttering his wings and waving one hoof. "You alright there?"

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Nearly jumping in her seat when she heard Midnight Snack's voice, she looked up from her slumped position in her seat, seeing the real concern that was written on her practically-brother-in-law's face, and she simply cracked. Sliding off of her bar stool, she walked up to the bigger stallion, pressing her forehead against his chest as she sat, glad that there were no customers around to stare at her right now. The break between lunch and dinner was a welcome one, right now.

"... No. No, I'm not. I had a shitty day, and I just want today to be over. I messed everything up. I was distracted. I ruined customers' orders, and lost business. I broke my phone, and I got zero sleep." Well. She hadn't expected that to come out as easily as it did, but she felt at ease around Midnight Snack like she did around Lemon Lime, without the added pressure of telling your troubles to a parent. ...He was just as comforting, though. "... Mid, I feel like a whiny failure."

Atmadja

 

[Atmadja]

Midnight let out a quiet sound when Banana Creme thumped into him, the distress in her far more serious than he'd anticipated. Instantly, his expression shifted, melting into a small, sympathetic smile, although his brow remained furrowed. He patted her with a very soft hoof on the head and let her vent.

"A whiny failure? You? C'mon. You must have the wrong mare. That's never you." He said, his voice soothing. "We all have crap days in the food industry. One time I thought I was being really clever and served two guests on a date a dessert that accidentally exploded in their faces. Took the mare's lashes right off." He laughed, trying to prompt a smile out of her.

"Crap days happen. But you make great desserts, and people'll continue to tell each other about how great you are. Don't be mad just cause you can't bat a thousand. None of us can."

He craned his neck, trying to peer down at her. "But if you want to get it all off your chest, I'm here for you just the same. "

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Taking a deep breath, Banana Creme listened to Midnight, her shoulders softening as she leaned into his touch.

We all have crap days. Yeah, that was true. Creme had had more than one crap day in her existence... But... Wait. Didn't that mean that Midnight, the nicest and smoothest guy she knew...--? Blinking a little, the mare stepped back to look up at Midnight Snack, her eyes widening a bit with her new question. "Wait... So... You've had a crap day, too? I mean, there's no way you could have ever screwed up three orders in a row due to something so stupid as thinking about someone else!" In her haste to know the truth about Midnight Snack, the mare hadn't realized the slip of her own tongue, betraying her thoughts about someone else. But really, knowing about the stallion's own "supposed" bad days.

Atmadja

 

[Atmadja]

Midnight Snack shook his head, happy to see her shoulders relaxing. He knew that nothing stuck in a chef's or baker's craw like messing up an order -- especially one as talented as Banana Creme. And it was worse when the chef was talented, and did know better, and took so much pride in their work.

"Yep," he said without thinking, smiling a bit fondly at the memory. "This one night, when I started catching on that maybe, just maybe, PL might like..." His mind caught up to him, and he faltered as he spoke, shock slowly spreading over his face. "... might like me..."

He paused, looking down at Banana Creme and then away, trying not to make her uncomfortable. "Which -- I mean, that isn't to say that sort of thing was what you were thinking about," he prompted gently. "But if it was, you know that's okay, too, right?"

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Banana Creme listened when Midnight Snack spoke, a smile spreading across her face when she watched him bring up the subject of her sister, absolutely loving just how much he adored Pink Lemonade. "You two were meant to be together. I don't care how long you guys skirt around the subject." When the stallion told her that it was okay to have problems because she was maybe thinking about something similar, Creme's face lit up with a blush, but all she did was look down at her hooves, a soft sigh escaping her lips. She paused for a moment to think, shuffling ever so slightly before she moved to take her previous seat at the bar.

"...Midnight..? Can I talk to you about something? And um. You have to promise not to tell anyone." Looking over at the stallion, she motioned for him to join her at the bar, trying to pull a smile out. "I don't really like... To think about it. Or talk about it, even. I mean... All that stuff with uh. With Knockout-- Ah... My uh. My um. ...Nephew." Fiddling slightly with her saddle bag, Banana Creme sighed again, resting the side of her face against the cool of the bar. "It's been messing with me for awhile. And I mean, I've been trying to move past it. We're... Still talking. So everything's fine, but I still get those weird feelings from it, and... I met this guy on one of my deliveries, Midnight. He's really sweet, and I... Maybe I like him? I don't know. He's really... different. But sweet. And I can't stop thinking about them. How am I supposed to concentrate, Mid? How did you do it?

Atmadja

 

[Atmadja]

Midnight gave a soft laugh as Banana Creme spoke. He was happy that Pink Lemonade's siblings approved of him -- heck, he was overjoyed to get along with them so well. So many people sat in his restaurant moaning about problems in their family lives; their terrible brothers-and-mothers-and-sisters-and-fathers-in-law. If he and PL ever did take that next step, well... maybe he wouldn't have to worry about such things. After all, he already did look at Pink Lemonade's family as his own.

Well, not that there'd be no problems, as Banana Creme's speech evidenced.

He hadn't quite been privy to what had happened between the shy mare and her boisterous technical-nephew. The entire thing with Fruit Punch's kids was strange and difficult to wrap his own head around -- let alone being in a situation like Banana Creme's.

"First of all, I promise I won't tell a soul. Cross my heart," he began, settling back and listening to her as she spoke. He let her finish completely before continuing. "Second of all... that's a really confusing situation with Knockout, and of course it's going to make you feel a little weird. I don't know, maybe you two need to talk or something, get all the awkwardness cleared? If you feel uncomfortable, you don't need to hold it inside and let it get worse."

He straightened, putting a hoof through his hair. "As for your delivery guy... what's wrong with that? If he's sweet, that's a great thing!" Midnight broke into a smile. "The best way to deal with it is to try to see him again and see if your first impression of him is the right one. If you guys like each other, see more of each other, no biggie! With me..."

He laughed then, looking slightly sheepish. "With me, I just thought of stupid reasons to talk to PL all the time. Made new recipes for her to try, helped her with menial tasks I knew nobody else wanted to do. Just to be near her a little bit, it gives me a boost for the rest of the day. It's hard to get others out of your mind when you think you might care for them -- my advice is not to bother. Seek 'em out. You won't stop thinking about them until you can be with them just a little bit more."

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