[PRP Honesty Kindness] A Tough Kind of Day (Royal/Tough)

[Magician Arcana]

Tough lounged outside under the shade of a tree. It was a particularly hot day, unseasonably so. Shouldn't snow be falling soon? Then why was it so gosh darn warm? Perhaps they needed to speak to management about the heating situation. Tough didn't mind too much. it was nicer in the bakery, that was true, but he was under shade. Besides going back into the bakery wasn't an... option.

He really didn't mean to be that rude to his sister, but she was being silly and how in the world would watermelon frosting taste good in sugar cookies. No, not ON. IN sugar cookies. He huffed softly and rubbed a hoof to the bridge of his nose. Being a phony was tough and it was worse when you felt the urge to be honest with everyone, even those closest to you. Da was like this, right? He was always telling the truth and not mincing words. It seemed ridiculous to just... to just ignore how badly his sister was going to wreck those cookies!

Biblioburro

 

[Biblioburro]

Cheesecake, carrot cake, cherry pie, cupcake, cookie, coconut cream, cream puff- Crap! What was it that Damsel liked again? Something that started with a C. Churros? Did it even start with a C? Maybe he was mixing her likes with Dragon's. Or maybe she was allergic to something with a C. Coconut? Cherries? Corn? Cornbread? Did she like cornbread?

Royal was no good at this. He had made Damsel cry again, dropping a thoughtless comment and accidentally hurting his sister. He didn't know how to handle it when she cried. He tried apologizing, but just after hurting her it always felt ingenuine. But if he brought back her favorite treat then maybe he might just cheer her up for once. He was still pretty sucky in the whole 'being a decent brother' department.

Black fur on a hot day was not a good combination. He wasn't eager to experience summer, not if fall was already miserable. Skirting along from one patch of shade to another had been serving him well, right about up until he tripped over another foal. So close but so far, the bakery was right over there, but he wasn't a cold enough person to trip over someone and not even apologize.

"Shiiiii-oot. Are you okay? I didn't see you there!" It was a weak excuse. Tough wasn't well hidden, and he didn't blend into his surroundings. Royal had just straight up not been paying attention.

Magician Arcana

idiot brother duo

 

[Magician Arcana]

"What the --" Tough hadn't been paying attention either, as he ruminated quietly over his thoughts. But when he became a proverbial speed bump and was tripped over, well his attention was certainly got. Already in a not terrific mood, he turned sourly and frowned at Royal, "How could you not? I'm not dark furred like you! I don't... Oh... Forget it."

Tough Talker stood and gave himself a shake, eyeing the other phony, "Just watch where you're walking next time. What if I was an old phony and you hurt me? Or was a younger foal? Or there was something bad right there? Walking about without a clue is sure to end with you hurt." He tamped the earth with a hoof.

"Why the heck are you out here, anyway? It's hotter than hades..."

Biblioburro

Boop Beep!

 

[Biblioburro]

Rude. Royal had apologized, and it was an actual genuine apology too! An honest mistake wasn't at all worth this kind of attitude.

"I hate to break it to you, but you're not an aged old woman who broke her hip, and I don't believe anyone's about to leave their newborns out on a day like this. It's unfair to take up that kind of attitude with a foal you barely know over a little love tap." If Tough wanted to start a fight—well Royal would be out of there faster than anyone could say 'no athletic prowess', but if he wanted to gripe, now that Royal could do.

The last question was what threw him off. Why would anyone expect to be answered after the whole sourpuss act?

"Not that I have any obligation to tell you—which I don't by the way—but I'm getting a gift for my sister." After a beat he continued, since that made him sound better than he was. "An apology present.

Magician Arcana

 

[Magician Arcana]

Oh, ho ho? Had he pushed a little button and set off the other foal? Perhaps he could keep poking and prodding and see what happened. Except Tough didn't feel like fighting, and while he might be a little sourpuss, like Royal, he was all bark and no bite.

"An apology present?" Tough sounded clearly interested, "Oh, you were headed to my Ma's bakery." That made sense. Sweets seemed to patch things over neatly. Tough sat back down under the shade and tamped the earth beside him with a hoof, to motion that the other phony should pop a squat too.

"What are you apologizing for?" He thought of his own siblings... Urhg. He needed to apologize to them too, "... That's actually why I'm out here too. Well not getting an apology present, but trying to think of how TO apologize."

Biblioburro

Dumb Brothers Continue to Be Dumb

 

[Biblioburro]

Royal had many buttons. Practically everything was his button, and he could explode rather spectacularly. But an explosion was not eminent. It would take more than mild annoyance to have him flying off the handle, after all he had an image to uphold. Who had this image was a question for another day.

"Ohoho. I see." Such a shame that all the irritation would evaporate the moment he sorted out where Mr. Grumpypant's bad mood had come from. Out goes the pinched brow and in comes the teasing grin. "So from what I'm gathering is that you screwed up, and then took your screw up anger out on a perfectly innocent third party. Oh, how cruel of you."

Royal draped himself on the grass besides Tough, as sitting didn't radiate self satisfaction in quite the way Royal was going for.

"If you must know my pitiful tale of woe, I'll share it with you. My darling, sweet, lovely sibling did not take kindly to calling her rows... and rows... of dolls... and their unblinking saccharine horror 'creepy and possibly haunted'. And started crying. She cries at the drop of a hat- literally- but I feel I may have struck a nerve. The horrible things are near and dear to her after all... Point is! I screwed the pooch which means I've got to make things right." Royal should possibly not be using random terms he's heard like that. But he was a mature pony. He didn't even crawl into his parent's bed during thunder storms anymore. He could use ADULT terms. "Now I believe that you owe me your own dirt since I dished mine."

Magician Arcana

 

[Magician Arcana]

"Innocent third party my flank," Tough scowled, "You tripped over me! But... Maybe you're a little right." Sighing, he listened to the other phony's story.

Rows of unblinking dolls huh? Tough shuddered a little at the very thought. That would be... Unnerving, to say the very least. The young foal's ear twitched at such an adult statement. Not that... he knew what it meant either, but he had heard it uttered in an angry tone. It must have meant something went wrong. Next time he saw Da, he'd try to use it and see if it passed correctly.

"My story is... Not too much different than yours," Tough admitted glumly, "My one sister, she adores to make these creations. Fancies herself to be a great baker or chef... But they're... Inedible is a little too light of a descriptor. They're abominations, wanting to crawl off the plate and into the sewer to grow into fetid monsters.

“She wanted to make sugar cookies, but wanted to replace the sugar in them with watermelon frosting," Tough shuddered and shook his head "I told her they sounded disgusting and that would never work and she... Became very sad and my other sibling became very cross with me saying so. So I was kicked from the bakery." Tough rubbed his hoof in the dirt slowly.

"I guess we're both a little too honest..."

Biblioburro

 

[Biblioburro]

No really, it was best he didn't carry on any terms he used from Royal. Just because he knew where babies came from, and had the entire first-to-third seasons of Neighs of Our Lives memorized did not mean he was a mature pony by any stretch of imagination. Just that his parents really ought to put parental settings on their TV.

Royal's snout wrinkled as Tough went on. He wasn't much of a cook, or to be more specific, he was banned from the kitchen. So he didn't have much of a clue how that was likely to turn out, but from what Tough said he figured he could piece together the end result.

"I suppose we are... But I'm afraid that's where we differ. See, I'm out on a journey to regain my dear sister's love and heal the slight I have made against her. With cake. I think. Still not sure what it is she likes best- candy? Crap, should I go get candy? Carrots? Whoops, I've digressed a tad. Point is that I'm constructing a concession through careful consideration, where as you're a crotchety little curmudgeon who's completely companionless. I see a lot of complaining, but very little correction." Royal looked like the cat that caught the canary and this alliteration was getting out of hand. He seemed to have C words on the brain.

"My point here is, you're so obviously in the wrong. Perhaps her cookies would have tasted like hot tar, but it was her prerogative to make literal garbage if she so pleased. I hardly see how it would be any harm to let her try something and fail. And if by pure luck she strikes gold, then all the better." Somewhere in the middle of waving a hoof about dramatically it swung down, jabbing Tough gently in the snout. "And what better way to apologize than by helping her make her awful cookies? Even if they're awful it's still time spent with someone you love." A broken clock was at least right twice a day, and would you look at the time. It occurred to him that perhaps Tough wasn't the only one who should be taking his advice. Perhaps he should have donated his time before jumping straight to peace offerings.

Magician Arcana

 

[Magician Arcana]

"Ach!" Tough jerked backward and raised a hoof to rub at his nose sore snout. First tripped over, now lightly punched? What was this dudes deal?! But even if he had wanted to be angry, he was caught more with the desire to listen. This advice wasn't bad. As a matter of fact... It was quite, quite good.

"Help her..?" Well it wasn't like the thought had never occurred to him, but it was horribly difficult to stand idly by while your sister made cake monsters out of frosting, sprinkles, and sour apple soda. Then there was the one time that the cake literally exploded in the oven and that was NOT fun to clean out. Magic or not, Tough was exhausted by the end of that little foray into mad baking. Still, "I guess I could... I thought she liked making them alone, but maybe if I offered her a hoof she'd appreciate it. Let's just hope she won't make anyone eat what she makes...

"Oh! I guess if it turned out really bad I could be honest and tell her I'd rather not eat it?" It might offend her, but it wouldn't cause her to be as sad as she was now. That was an option that the phony had never considered. Huh. A different kind of honesty.

Feeling immensely better, he looked at Royal and realized that they still needed to deal with his issues. Smiling a little, Tough stood up and shook himself out, "I think you should get her cupcakes. They're sweet and you can get a bunch of flavors for the price of one regular cake. So that way you'll learn what she likes... And I can give you a little discount too, for erm..." Suddenly embarrassed, he cleared his throat and looked away, "H-helpin' me and all..."

Biblioburro

 

[Biblioburro]

Royal was a tad aggressive with his affection. Also a jerk. The jerk part was very important to remember.

Trust him, he understood the deep desire to right the wrong that was a sibling's horrible decision making. He'd once hidden one of Damsel's sparkly pink jackets in hopes that it would be good for her, all he managed was making her cry. Which he was very good at. If there were awards for making Damsel cry he would win them all and then some. Royal's very being was linked to his sister's tears and this was not a fact that he was at all proud of.

"Hey, now you're thinking." Their flanks bumped together gently, just a soft nudge from Royal. It was just about the nicest motion he'd made toward Tough all afternoon. "That way your sister can make all the disasters she wants, and you can reap the spoils by... not... reaping... the spoils... you get what I mean." Royal waved a hoof dismissively, still trying his best to look cool.

His best crumbled to a fine dust when Tough offered a discount. Oh he would try to slap it back on, but the damage had been done and a genuine smile spread over his face. "You know, I hate to say this, but I think you're right." Eh screw it, an air of haughty unattachment wasn't what had gotten him a sweet discount (that was a painful pun and he was so very sorry). Tough was sucking it up through legitimate niceness, the least Royal could do was the same. "Thanks. for that by the way."

A playful wink said that honesty hour was over. Now was time for discounts and enough cupcakes to give his whole family cavities. "I expect you to help me pick out the best flavors, since you're the mastermind behind this idea." And maybe if he was really lucky he could talk Tough into throwing in a few freebies.

Magician Arcana

Do you wanna end here?