//------------------------------// // Chapter 47: Extra Noodles // Story: Sucker for a Cute Face // by Eyeswirl the Weirded //------------------------------// Fluttershy, her mother, and Adagio (with Angel still on her shoulder) were seated around the dining room table, where three servings of pasta waited. Adagio spent the first few minutes of the meal trying to determine whether or not this was some kind of joke about her hair, but neither of the Shys were laughing, snickering, or giving her funny looks, so she let the thought pass. However, Mrs. Shy was giving the rabbit on her shoulder a few odd glances, which spurred her to ask. "Um... I'm sorry, are pets not allowed at the dinner table?" Something about the question didn't quite line up right in her mind, what with Angel belonging to this household. "Oh, no," Mrs. Shy said with an airy giggle, "I'm just surprised Angel likes anybody other than Fluttershy. He doesn't even like me holding him!" She turned her head to look at the bunny in question, who nodded affirmatively. "That's a little cold, don't you think?" She had never seen a confused bunny before, but the sight wasn't quite as endearing to her as Fluttershy's usual reactions. "That woman raised your master," she said with an arched eyebrow and a hint of force in her tone, "and if nothing else, at least deserves your respect." She wasn't sure if Angel could actually understand her, but he must have sensed disapproval by the shift in his eyes, ears, and whiskers. She pointed to Fluttershy's mother, which, after a quick glance, Angel followed. He hopped down, scurried over to where she sat, looked back at Adagio again, got a conclusive nod, and gingerly nuzzled her leg. When she shook off the shock, Mrs. Shy picked up Angel along with her jaw, holding and petting him without a fuss. Pleased, Adagio grinned, taking a bite of pasta before looking at Fluttershy. The face she was getting sent a shiver up her spine, Fluttershy's focused, wide-eyed stare speaking of awe, wonder, and a quiet hunger that lit a fire in her belly. No. Bad. Down girl. Save it for when her mother isn't around. Giggling merrily as Angel tickled her face with his little bunny nose and whiskers, Mrs. Shy pat his head and looked to her daughter. "Miracles do happen!" She nodded to Adagio. "Where'd ya find her, anyway?" Adagio seized up. Judging by how Fluttershy did the same thing, she guessed it meant that she hadn't told her mother much about her. Even so, she'd considered the possibility that she'd have to explain this part herself, and mentally prepared for it beforehand. Of course, that was when she'd planned to be a bit less straightforward with it, so she altered the delivery based on Fluttershy's suggestion to be herself. Sitting just slightly rigid, she smiled pleasantly. "I was the mastermind of that Battle of the Bands incident a while back, sank my hooks into most of the school, manipulated someone into trapping Fluttershy and her friends with the intent of draining them of their magic (you've heard about that part before now, right?), using that power to enthrall as many people as we -my followers and I- could, then build our own little commune on a nice, tropical island, where we hoped to live out the rest of our days as goddesses reigning over an adoring army of brainwashed servants." The table was silent. Even Angel Bunny was staring at her, but he kind of did that every time she saw him. "Wow," Mrs. Shy eventually said, "heck of a mouthful there... Are you still, uh, doin' that, or...?" Her smile unbroken (if only due to the tension with which she was holding it in place), Adagio lightly shook her head. "All such plans are postponed indefinitely, to say the least, but luckily for me," she indicated Fluttershy, "I've found new joy in life by riling up your daughter." Fluttershy squeaked for a few different reasons, but she couldn't tell whether or not that was why her mother snickered. "Yea, I get that! Oh, does that mean you're the reason she's washed her bedsheets eight times in the last few weeks?" Nearly dropping her fork, Fluttershy locked up as she let out a strangled noise and the blood rushed to her face, but it was either a blessing or a curse that Adagio didn't look like she understood. "Washing her...?" Looking across the table at Fluttershy, she frowned. "I, are you, having nightmares because of me? Because, a-and I mean this in the nicest possible way, but I'd have thought you already owned a nightlight or-" She trailed off as she took in the subtle details of Fluttershy's expression over the sounds of Mrs. Shy's continued giggles. Fluttershy was embarrassed, but the contours in her face, the look in her eyes, and the way she started chewing at her lower lip spoke less of shame (as one might feel for wetting the bed) and more of guilt... The only other thing Adagio could think of was... Ooh, la-la~!! Adagio neither had time to think about masking her own expression nor suppress her malevolent chuckles as she took in the pure joy that was Fluttershy's 'She knows!!' look. "So, when I said 'Sweet dreams'...?" "Gchtlbtz!" Even as she felt herself flush much hotter, Fluttershy didn't miss the fact that Adagio and her mother were now giggling together. Considering what she'd spent most of this morning catastrophizing over, it was a trade she was more than willing to make. Mrs. Shy smiled. "What brought you two together, anyway? Partners for a school project, blind date, trapped in a room together?" Certain it would be best to let her cool down a little, Adagio waited until Fluttershy could answer this one herself, however hesitantly as she looked at her mother. "Um... W-well, you know how you drop me off early for school?" "Uh-huh?" "Sh-she, um, she found me waiting a few times, and we got to talking..." She gave Adagio a quick, bashful little smile. "I-I liked sharing the morning treat with her, and over the last few months, we-" "Got to smoochin' on the doorstep?" "MOM!!" Snickering as Her Sweetie lit up again, Adagio couldn't resist. "It goes just a little further than smooching, sometimes..." "Eep!" "Ohhh, is that what she's dreamin' about?" "EEEP!!" "I wouldn't really think so," Adagio answered passively, waiting until Fluttershy's resulting relief had reached its apex. "Just during the school day!" "Ack!" "Really? Wow, I'd'a thought daydreamin' about that kinda action would mess up her report card for sure!" "H-Hablahma-" "Not to worry, your daughter is very diligent in her... studies~!" "S-SQUIRREL!!" Fluttershy took several breaths in the otherwise silent room before realizing what she'd just said. In front of her visibly confused mother. Who did not know about the safeword. She thought about trying to play it off as a squirrel having gotten into the house, but choked at the thought of outright lying to her mother, so she watched with a mix of gratitude and horror as Adagio calmly explained everything. "I tease the poor girl all the time, enough so that we came up with a signal for when she needs me to back down and let her cool off a little." As her mother smiled in understanding, Fluttershy dared think she'd been saved. Then she opened her mouth. "So it's like a safeword!" Dead. Fluttershy was dead, her head exploded, her heart imploded as it pumped all the blood in her body to her face. In reality, she'd only slumped backward in her seat, head lolling to one side as her soul nearly left her body to escape the devastating embarrassment of the whole situation. Or maybe those were just the steam clouds rising from her cheeks. Who knew? Though she quietly treasured the sight, Adagio contained herself to a nod. "Yes, but that was her using it just a moment ago, so she would probably appreciate a change of subject." Mrs. Shy had the decency to look contrite. "Ohh! Sorry, Honey." Though still reeling with humiliation, Fluttershy managed a tiny smile as her heart swelled with love for her merciful goddess. "I really should be more sensitive to this stuff by now," Mrs. Shy said somewhat regretfully as she, slowly, so as not to disturb Angel while he rested in her hair, shook her head, "I've known for years that she takes after her father, Camera Shy." As Adagio accepted the hook with a tell-me-more kind of smile, she went on. "He was such a quiet guy when I met him, a thin little short-stuff who'd gotten into photography because he thought that if he was the guy holding the cameras, they'd never be pointed at him. This was years before selfies were a thing." Adagio immediately decided against saying anything to the effect of 'Good thing he's dead, then,' even in the lightest, most conversational tones imaginable. One's life wasn't a very good trade for not having to face a phobia, no matter how she worded it. "So, I figure her shyness is from his side of the family. Literally!" Her brows furrowed. "Those little jerks in middle school sure as sugar didn't help, something about swords and elves not being 'cool.' And then came the old Sunset Shimmer..." She and Adagio turned to give Fluttershy mildly concerned looks, but she gave them a little smile and a 'what can you do?' shrug back. "They weren't exactly good times, but they helped make me who I am today." She could see in Adagio's face that she was contemplating what she may or may not have been able to do with a list of names, but even if she could remember everyone that had ever picked on her, she wasn't sure siccing Adagio on them was the right thing to do. It would probably hurt Adagio's reputation further if she enacted vigilante humiliation, or worse, on people for crimes they might not even remember, but darned if Fluttershy wasn't already kind of growing to like the fantasy. "I am justice," growled the statuesque figure standing on the corner of a high rooftop under a waning moon, "I am the night," garbed in a tight, black, shiny suit of bullet-proof latex, her every tantalizing curve on full display, mocking any who would tease others about their bodies by already baring her own, next to nothing left to the imagination from her sleek, high-heeled boots to the pointy ears of her bat-like cowl, the taut muscles of her- Fluttershy snapped to attention, blushing vibrantly and growing steadily warmer as she realized where her mind was going during dinner with her mother and girlfriend. Luckily, they weren't focused on her at the time, her mother smiling as she told Adagio about Camera Shy. "-ink having her helped him come out of his shell, because when she was an itty-bitty thing, he'd beg like a kid to get her to tell us what she wanted when she showed even the teeniest bit of interest in something." She tittered. "Oh, he'd always go-" she pantomimed begging motions, "-'Pleeease, Fluttershy? Tell me what it is, you can trust me, I'll be your bestest friend, ohh, tell me, tell me, tell me, please, please, pretty pleeeease?'" Adagio was already giggling, but saying "Usually in public!" made her laugh hard enough that she had to wipe a tear away. Mrs. Shy internally jumped with maternal glee when the pretty poof turned to her daughter with the kind of smile Fluttershy herself usually gave baby bunnies. "Did he really?" "Uhm," Fluttershy answered with a sheepish grin, at least able to play off her blush as having primarily come from her memories of such incidents, "y-yes, and the only way I could get him to stop was to just say what it was I wanted." Though distantly aware of the irony, the thought of a teeny tiny Fluttershy getting all embarrassed was a little too much for Adagio, who drew her hands to her cheeks as she grinned like a dolt and let out a dignity-melting "Awwww!" This, for Fluttershy, was another new face to cherish. Mrs. Shy giggled as the two love-birds smiled and blushed at each other. "Yea, she was even more of a little cutie when she was younger, and I've got the photo albums to prove it!" Fluttershy paled a little, turning to her with wide, horrified eyes that rapidly darted between her and a clearly intrigued Adagio. "Ohh, don't worry, I won't bring out the baby pictures or anything." Adagio gave her a slightly disappointed stare as Fluttershy sighed with relief. Then, hoping that safeword thing wasn't still on, Mrs. Shy beamed. "That's for much later! You two haven't made hanky-panky yet, right?" Fluttershy locked up as though she'd been turned to stone, a long, high-pitched, barely-audible squeak-groan the only sound she could make. Adagio, however, calmly shook her head, her tone perfectly even. "No ma'am, we have not." She shot Fluttershy a sly look. "Not until she's ready." The squeak-groan picked up by a few decibels. Fluttershy couldn't even feel her face. "Well okay then," giggled her mother. "I figured I should hold off on that stuff because baby pictures oughta be small potatoes once you've noodled her caboodle." Fluttershy felt like she was falling in every direction at once, trying not to think about how dinner tonight was pasta. Letting out an amused snort, Adagio looked down at her lap. "I'm afraid I don't have a 'noodle' with which to do anything with her 'caboodle,' unless I could find some 'noodle' impliments. Or, failing that," she gave Fluttershy what may have been her most sharkish smile to date, "I suppose we'd have to get creative..." The two waited for a reaction from the red lighthouse of a girl across the table, but she seemed well and truly petrified. Adagio stood up, walked around, and waved a hand in front of her face, eliciting no reaction. She snapped her fingers, tapped Fluttershy's shoulder, and lightly ruffled her hair before looking to her mother with an apologetic frown. "I'm afraid that some day, I really am going to break your daughter." "Naw," she said with a laugh and a dismissive handwave before gently lifting the rabbit that had gone to sleep on her head and setting him on the table, "she's a heck of a lot tougher than she looks. Can you help me get the dishes to the kitchen?" More than eager to prove her good intentions, Adagio smiled and got right on it, the two carrying all plates and silverware from the room as Fluttershy remained rooted to her chair, not a muscle moved. "I am the night!!" Fluttershy's nose was bleeding. --- Meanwhile, in the kitchen, Adagio tried to keep herself from grinning with too much pride at how well she was handling the familiar task of storing leftovers and cleaning dishes alongside Fluttershy's mother, who, fortunately, didn't seem to notice anyway. "So, sorry if this seems kinda sneaky of me, but... " Ah, thought Adagio, here it is. "How serious are you about her? I'm not askin' ya to pop up with a ring within the next week, but I'd like to at least know in advance if this just gonna be a learning experience for her." She hoped that didn't sound too accusing, because even what she'd seen in the last week or two was more than she anticipated Fluttershy getting to see within the next few years. She didn't slow in her tasks as she answered. "Frighteningly so, actually. Before her, I'd never..." Now was a bad time to get all hazy from the fuzzy heart-vice, but she felt herself blush just the same. "l-loved, anyone like, or..." Mrs. Shy spared her dignity by finishing for her with a little giggle. "So she's your first too? Not that that ain't cute and all, but for a pretty thing like you, I'm a little surprised there wasn't a waiting list." "We -my two oldest friends and I- aren't exactly popular at Canterlot High. Even prior to that, we were never the dating types before, sooo..." Setting a freshly-cleaned plate down, she shrugged. "Truth be told, I'm about as clueless as she is in all this, if not more-so." "I dunno about that, you've already worked out about how much she can take, right? You've gotta have some experience." And there was that 'walking garbage' feeling again. "...Not in anything wholesome, Mrs. Shy." "That's what I meant!" Now Adagio turned to her, perplexed, to find her smiling. "I mean, I know that as a parent, I'm supposed to act like having a sex drive is all bad all the time, but I know I raised a good girl with a good head on her shoulders and you two won't get up to anything you really, really shouldn't." Given the changes she'd seen in Fluttershy's behavior over the last few months, nevermind the perverse glee she felt in knowing it was because of her, Adagio looked away in shame. "I don't know how much longer that'll last." She was surprised when Mrs. Shy gently pulled her around to face her with a hand on her shoulder. The smile she was getting was warm and sympathetic, almost like... like this person had spent years taking care of someone. Or something like that. "I may not know everything you two do together, but I know being around you makes her very, very happy. Heck, I'd say you've been good for her all around!" Her grin weakened a little as her daughter's first love stared back at her with uncertainty. "To be totally honest, I do worry about her, a lot, especially when she came home late that one time-" an eyebrow was waggled, "you remember, eh? Eh?" She giggled as Adagio turned all rosy and gave her a sheepish smile. "-but well, you know how she can be, right? Her confidence shakes so easily that if I got mad at her at all, she might regress by a few years (which kinda happened at the end of middle school, my fault, but we worked through it before Sunset showed up for the first time), then lock herself in the house or at best the back rooms of the animal shelter rather than goin' out and finding what makes her happy." Adagio nodded thoughtfully. "Her friends do take good care of her, if it's any consolation." Mrs. Shy tittered. "Ohh, I know, but it's gotta be nothing compared to what you do for her. Since she started seeing you, I've caught her walking with her head up more, asking for things without two or three preamble askings to ask if it was okay to ask for things, trying on saucier clothes (not buying, but baby steps!), and the manager of the animal shelter tells me she goes up to the roof sometimes just to strut around and shake her tail feathers!" Adagio giggled, but Mrs. Shy didn't want her to miss the point here. "She's never been this confident in her life, and maybe even just as happy, so whatever you're doing, please keep doing it. Okay?" Again, Adagio couldn't help feeling guilty as she smiled back. "I'll do my best, Mrs. Shy." "Super! You two can set up the sleepover stuff, right? I don't have anywhere I need to be, but I figured it'd be best if you two had some privacy." Even if she appreciated the directness, Adagio was a little taken aback at just how frank Fluttershy's mother was proving to be. "Uhm... I-I think we'll be fine, yes." It was a mystery to her how sleepovers were even begun without hammocks anywhere, but she was sure Fluttershy would know what to do.