//------------------------------// // 'Idyll' // Story: Words // by TheIdyllStar //------------------------------// Words 'Idyll' A perfect bliss exists in the universe for all beings. Some in life, the enjoyment of the natural and artificial world around them. The vibrant colors surrounding them, the feeling of cold or hot on their skin, the sounds of beautiful musicians in the world, breaking the silence. For others though, the perfect existence is in only one moment. Whether that be their first kiss, their marriage, the unrequited love of another, or even in death. Many actually live for that final moment, to look back upon themselves and see who they've become, what they have done. It is a vain glory for some. It is a escape for others. And few... few get to experience it as everything and nothing at once. An idyll. The frost of the fall air began to sink, the mornings growing colder. More distant. Reflecting his broken reality. Adaptive had become a walking husk of a pony, the only remaining driving force being in the form of a ever cracking dream, doomed to one day shatter like all things. His trail growing ever longer with each passing day. A month had passed, making his path feel like an eternity, plagued by endless dreams and harrows. So unblinkingly lost among the world, everything seemed to congeal into one massive blur of time and space. The only highlights standing out were with Words. Unable to remember anything now, not even what he had done less than a day ago, he could recall every second with him. No matter how mundane. Even the most trivial things, such as the way he pondered a line of text only to find the perfect follow up to continue his stories. The expressions, actions, everything remained. It all remained inside his mind. An endless loop. With each instance the memories played, his feelings grew, adding to his want to defy everything before him. To reach the star, even if he was burnt to a crisp long before. In his mind, Adaptive knew he would one day do this, even if the only thing that followed was absence. He would. Arriving at his now repetitive, lackluster existence of a job, he clocked in. Faking his emotions to his employer and customers alike. To them, he appeared happy, almost joyful of what he did. But in reality it all felt empty. A blank flow, hidden under a false skin. The day would pass as usual, his hours dragging on till it was time for lunch, an event he did truly look forward to. He got to see Words. They would meet at a diner near the midpoint of either's occupation. Everyday they would sit and talk about what was, what wasn't, how they handled their day. But mostly, they spoke of his tales. Ideas would regularly flow from one mind to another, bouncing of one another till something beautiful had been pondered. Words, the author, he would write these down, claiming to work on them in time. And often he was true, if not then the realization that the idea in the first place was not good. Either way, Adaptive was okay. Today was different. Arriving and taking his place at their booth, he ordered his usual and awaited his company. Confident today would be something special, as he thought of all days with Words. He waited. The hour passed, alone. Unbeknownst to him, this would be the beginning of a new trend. Something to reoccur more and more frequently. Reason being, his companion was gaining fame for his work, being published locally and even getting recognized by some well known local authors. But for today, it just seemed as if he were busy. That was all. Returning to work, Adaptive's doubts stepped into his mind once again. Despite his usual ability to separate his mind from his work, he had a difficult time concentrating. The hours seemed to go more slowly than usual and he couldn't wait to arrive at Words' off campus work space. Upon clocking out once again and locking the store behind him, he rushed to the apartment, an unreasoned feverish pace driving him. His path narrowed as he arrived, taking him up the steps to the buzzer. Pressing, he waited a minute for a reply or the door unlock. Neither occurred. 'Words, please open the door. I need to know you're okay. That you're not ignoring me or hurt. I couldn't bare either. Please, please open. Minutes passed and three more rings of the buzzer led to nothing. No response. Just cold, uncaring silence entombed him outside. Adaptive irrationally waited outside, seated on the solid ground, ringing the buzzer every so often. Making sure he would be heard. As the night fell upon the city, so did his hopes. An unresponsive ring did nothing to calm him. He wanted more than anything to simply confirm Words was alright. In his mind, he made the decision to stay until he felt he wouldn't come. But, his mind began to sink once more to his emotions, fading into a horrible decay of self doubt. Maybe he simply decided to not leave campus today, he was probably sick or something. He wouldn't ignore me, stand me up for no good reason. He's my friend, he's my friend, he's my friend... right? I mean, it's possible he's never liked me and he only hung out with me to make me feel better, but then why help me in the first place? If he didn't care, if he didn't want me around, why even bother with me? I don't understand. "Hey," Hearing his voice, Adaptive's head shot up, meeting eye contact with Words. "What are you doing here? It's quite late Adaptive." Looking him over, Words begrudgingly came to the conclusion that he had been here a while. "Please tell me you haven't been here all afternoon right?" "Uh, no,no... Well... yeah. I kinda have," Standing to his hooves, Adaptive approached his friend, trying to be as calm as he could. "It's just... you didn't visit me at lunch, and I got worried, and I wanted to see you. Make sure you were okay. Please don't be creeped out, I'm sorry." "It's okay, seriously. I just can't believe you've been waiting around for me this entire time." Words headed past him and unlocked the door, leading them inside. Silently traveling the halls as to not disturb the other residents. Careful of the noise, he opened the apartment door for the two of them. Letting Adaptive in first. "Hey, about me hanging outside for so long, I just... I just worry. Okay?" Adaptive had faced words and was trying to be his most sincere, making himself seem alright despite his emotionally distressed state. A bold lie. "Like I said, it's okay. Just, don't worry. I'll be fine. It's not like I'm a big risk taker." Words placed his saddlebags beside his desk as usual and headed for the kitchen. Taking notice, Adaptive headed him off. "Listen, I've been sitting around all day, let me. What do you want?" Visibly shocked and slightly annoyed, Words just simply stepped past and opened the cupboards. Gathering materials for his meals. "Okay then, I won't help." The blue earth pony's tone apparently upset by Words' decision to not include him. His back turned, Words' rebuttal shocked him. To say the least. "You're not my girlfriend, you don't need to make my meals nor wait around for me. I can't let you. If I did, it'd only lead to you assuming that I'm okay with that. I'm not. We're not dating, so don't do things that may make it seem that way. We're friends. Just friends." Adaptive knew exactly why he stated what he did, to keep a distance. Ever looming over, taunting. As long as he kept his ground, didn't give him any signs of change, Adaptive would eventually, reluctantly, give. Words knew this. He knew this. It was a specter screaming inside his mind. "I... I'm sorry. I just figured I could help. I'll leave now. Sorry for bothering you." Words thought on stopping him, trying to once again explain why he made statements like that, but he simply had grown tired of the antics. Silently, he watched the defeated little pony accept his stance and head out the door. Knowing well that he was wrong for causing this, but right in holding his ground. It was a necessary evil for him to endure. For them both. A quick "humph" could be heard as Adaptive stepped outside to the night. The lights of the city were dim here and he was to treck home in this bitter darkness. Once again left out to dry by the one he felt he loved. The feelings of unfair ignorance growing deep inside him once more. It all seemed so recent, he knew this. It was happening again, and he couldn't, no... wouldn't avoid it.