Nosy Moms and Cover Ups
"I just told you I got home from work early." His mother said while walking through the door.
Don got up quickly and stood in front of where Derpy was sitting at the table. The pegasus looked up at Don confused as to what was happening at the moment.
"Don what's going on?" Derpy asked.
The only thing Derpy saw was Don motioning something with his hands. She wasn’t sure what he was trying to tell her, so she decided to fly up to his shoulder and look. She peeked and only saw another human at the door.
"Who's that Don?" Derpy asked.
Don visibly flinched a little at Derpy's voice being so close to his ear.
"Uh..." he stammered. He quickly turned around and faced Derpy. "Stay hidden and keep quiet." he whispered.
"Okay Don!" she said somewhat loudly while giving a small salute.
"What was that Don?" His mother asked while stepping further into the house.
He turned around again to face her, "N-NOTHING, Nothing!" I was just uh... having a snack...and...I…wasn't expecting you home this early." He stammered giving an uneasy laugh.
"If I didn't know any better I'd say you were trying to hide something from me." his mom said while raising an eyebrow at him.
Don felt a bead of sweat develop on his head, "Me? No, of course not. Why would I?"
She started for the kitchen, "Well, if you say so."
As she moved passed him he mirrored her movements to cover Derpy.
"Well, I'd love to stay and chat mom, but I got homework to do and what not, you know all that college stuff and all that jazz." He said as he grabbed Derpy with one hand.
Derpy gave out a small yelp which Don immediately tried to cover with a fit of self-induced coughing. He nervously laughed and excused himself to his room and shut the door. He sighed in relief and released Derpy from his grasp.
"Sorry about that, I'm not sure how other people would react to a real live pegasus." He said.
“Who was that Don?” Derpy asked again.
He sat down at his desk, “That was my mom. She wouldn’t react well seeing you either. Especially one that talks like you.”
“Why not? I think you took it rather well.” She said.
“Rather well? I went babbling on for three minutes and then you kicked me in the face to bring me back to reality… or at least what I think is reality.” He said.
“Don you left your fruit-what are you doing?” His mom asked coming into the room suddenly.
Currently, Don was with his elbow on the desk while facing the doorway to his room giving a stupid smile.
“Just… sitting here… doing nothing…” he said while giving a nervous laugh.
His mom gave him a raised eyebrow again, “Are you looking at adult-“
“WHAT? NO! WHY WOULD YOU ASSUME SOMETHING LIKE THAT? THE COMPUTER ISN’T EVEN ON!” He shouted.
His mom laughed, “I’m only kidding, I came to bring you your fruit, which you didn’t even finish, are you sure you’re feeling okay?”
“Yeah totally fine, why?” he asked.
“Because it looks like this grape was only nibbled on. Since when does somebody nibble grapes?” She asked while inspecting a grape up close.
He began to feel sweat bead on the back of his head again.
“It’s because… uh, I already ate a whole bunch earlier when I got home.” He said.
“So you’re finished eating then?” She asked.
Don nodded, his agreement was interrupted when he felt poking on his arm and remembered Derpy.
“Uh, I mean no! I’m not done.” He said quickly and reached for the plate. “Can’t let food go to waste you know?”
His mom stared at him for a good ten seconds before reluctantly letting go of the plate.
“Okay… if you say so…” she said and turned to leave while shaking her head.
“Thank God…” He said while he buried his face in his hands.
Derpy walked over to him and sat down looking at him. She noticed that whatever he just went through was a rough experience and he needed some kind of way to be brought down from all that tension. She reached back and pulled out a tiny muffin.
“Muffin?” she asked looking up to the mentally haggard human.
He opened his fingers to see through them, “What? Muffin?”
He looked down and saw the tiny pastry somehow grasped by her hoof.
“What? Where did you get that? And how you are you gripping it for that matter?” He asked.
Derpy only shrugged and re-extended her foreleg insisting that he take the muffin. He sighed and grasped the pastry with his thumb and index finger. If he had to estimate the size of it was about the size of an “A” button on an Xbox Control.
“Thanks, I guess.” Was all he said before popping the muffin in his mouth.
“Wow, this thing is sweeter than I thought it would be given its size. Just what is in this thing???” He asked.
Derpy started jumping up and down, “Isn’t it great? My friend Pinkie Pie makes the best muffins!”
He felt like he should know that name somehow, but quickly dismissed it. He doubted that anything like that could hold any relevance to his situation at hand. His gaze returned to Derpy who had returned to eating the grape from before.
“In the meantime, Fruit Snack Time continues.”
A sudden problem dawned upon him; who would watch Derpy while he went to school? He couldn’t take her with him beings that everyone would see her. The last thing he needed was a mob of curious people, Lewis, or the government to pester him about Derpy. He thought about this for a good while trying to come up with some sort of solution.
Maybe he could wear a shirt with a pocket and she could ride around in it? Then again, people would see her and think she’s some sort of toy or plush and would want to touch and handle her. Then the aforementioned forces would come barreling in. Hide her in a hat? That wouldn’t work either since she’d probably get hot, and the last thing he needed to worry about was a dehydrated pegasus.
Don ran through every possible solution with no clear cut idea that stood out as a success. He exhaled through his nose and finally decided one thing:
Derpy would have to stay home alone tomorrow.