Track Switch - Steel Dreams
by Celefin
This time I give up on the door after the second try, but only because Irek shoves me aside with gentle force. To my shame, I have drooled on the key yet he does not comment on it and merely wipes his hand on his trousers after he has coaxed the lock open.
“Hey, that’s a nice little place you got here,” he lies.
I appreciate it nonetheless as I stumble over to the sink beside my stove. The water coming out the spigot is icy cold and almost hurts when I stick my head under it. I am so killing my circadian rhythm right now and all I got for it was a crisis.
When I have most of my senses back and shut off the water, Irek stands by my side with a towel that he throws over my head. The darkness is nice and I do not even bother with trying to dry myself off. He is doing that for me and it feels good.
“Thanks,” I murmur and head to the bathroom. Human toilets are stupid, but I did not even try to get my landlord to install a fitting one. Some things you just have to live with.
With great care, I manage not to slip on the beer crates I have stacked around it and do not even get my tail wet despite being drunk. Well done, Nightline. At least I have avoided that embarrassment.
When I’m done, Irek is standing by the door and looks ready to leave. “Are you okay then?”
Of course he hasn’t got the day off tomorrow and I feel bad. I look away and hang my head, but I already hate myself so I might as well. “Can… Can you stay a little longer? Please?” I am so pathetic.
To my surprise, he gives a quiet chuckle and takes off his vest. “Anytime, for a friend.”
This is not how things are supposed to work around here. “But we’ve only just met?”
[“Do be pony way not? Learn Pendulum.”]
His pronunciation is dreadful and barely intelligible, but I still gape at him. I did not expect that. I give him a mute nod and dammit, I am close to crying again. Pull yourself together, Night.
“Shut your mouth or you’ll catch a moth or something,” he says with a grin and a second later pinches the bridge of his nose with a deep sigh. “Sorry, forgot who I’m talking to. Please don’t take this the wrong way.”
“Actually, I caught two on my way to the pub.” I cannot believe I just said that.
He bursts out laughing and damn if it isn’t infectious. Now I am crying a little bit, but it is the good kind of crying.
“Come here, you,” he says and goes down on one knee, holding his arms open.
Irek’s embrace is wonderful and as I nuzzle him on the side of his head, I can feel him grin. A minute later he looks down on the floor beside him and releases me. “Hey, I don’t think I’ve ever seen one of those before.”
My mood sours instantly when I see what he means.
He has picked up the letter from Equestria. “You know how much handcrafted paper of this quality costs here? And the stamp is amazing. Can I have the envelope? I’ve got a friend who collects stamps and I think he’d kill for this one, stamped or not.”
“Yeah, you can have it and burn it if you want,” I bite out and regret my tone a moment later when I see how he stiffens. I sigh. “Sorry, not your fault.”
He turns his head and looks at me with raised eyebrows. “Your ex?”
“Yeah, and don’t try to tell me I should at least give him a chance. I want nothing to do with that pile of horseapples anymore. I don’t want to know what he wants to say to me. I’m done!” I realise I have taken a step back and raised my voice again.
Irek holds up his hands, palms out. “Hey, hold the horse and calm down. I know exactly how you feel, I’ve been there.” He gives a deep sigh. “Just be glad you didn’t have kids. I had to let go of the two of mine.” Another sigh. “Well, I got over it eventually, even if it still hurts sometimes. Penny helped me a lot.”
As quickly as I got angry I deflate again. “Sorry. It’s just…” I hold up my hooves and let them drop to the floor. There is that old feeling once more, that I was somehow cheated. I get up with a sigh and walk over to my bed. I feel a headache coming on.
I hop onto the bed and look over the shoulder. “Join me?”
Irek looks down at himself. “In my work clothes? Not sure you want that on your bedlinen.”
I shrug my wings. “Don’t care as long as you take off your shoes, you got an advantage there.”
“You know,” he says as he walks over, “I’m not sure if I’m creeped out by your membrane wings or if they are super adorable on you.”
I can be sweet, or so I have been told. So I tilt my head a little and look up to him with ears pointed forward. “Why don’t you come here and have a closer look then?” I say and bare my fangs.
“Uhm.”
I cannot keep that expression for more than a few seconds before I have to laugh and pat the spot beside me.
“Tell me about yourself,” he says after he has made himself comfortable. “Like, how did a bat become an engineer?”
Suddenly my head is full of images and memories I had buried a long time ago and I have to smile. The light of the moon glinting on the rails down the coast from Baltimare. My exasperated master in the smithy binding my wings because I was too exited to keep them folded and risked burning holes in them.
Nighttime on the Red Wing of Manehattan, a glowing arrow cutting through the darkness on the plains. The red-hot heartbeat of the steel beast pounding in my chest, the thousand hisses and whispers of the valves and cylinders. The dreams and souls of engineers.
I lean against Irek as a tear runs down my cheek and he puts his arm over my back.
It takes some effort to return to the real world. “Okay, but only if you do what you did in the pub.”
“Hmm? Oh.” He chuckles and puts his hand on my head, scratching between my ears.
Oh sweet Princess of Dreams, I am not sure if I can form a coherent sentence under these conditions. Staying upright is definitively not an option, so I stretch out on my bed and put my head in his lap. I assume he is okay with that, at least he does not object. Good enough.
“Don’t stop,” I murmur. He smells of power tools, train station and pub.
“As if I could,” he says in a soft voice and then scratches me behind an ear. “I see you like that,” he says at my undignified groan and chuckles. “But it’s late. Story time!” Having my back petted is not nearly as good, but I doubt I could tell him much otherwise. It is still nice though.
***
I feel bad for Irek when we walk up the street to Frankfurt Central in the early morning. I am tired, but that is because it is nearing my usual bedtime. He is tired because he has only slept about three hours or so because of me.
Now he has a full day of work before him but he is having none of my apologies. “Okay, okay. So where are we going?”
He yawns. “Starbucks, right across from the station. We meet up there once a week for breakfast.” He smiles. “Or dinner, in your case.”
When we enter the shop, I spot Penny at a table in the far corner. Jan is with her, as well as a dark-skinned man who seems vaguely familiar. They wave us over.
Irek grins as we reach them, turns to Penny and clears his throat. [“Hey Pendulum Ball, how are you?”]
Penny’s field flickers and dies, the floating muffin she was nibbling at dropping onto the table. Other than that, she does not miss a beat though. “Ah Irek, beautiful you say my name!”
Irek does a fist-pump and they give each other a high-hoof. The others give a round of applause.
Penny levitates a chair from another table over for Irek to sit on while I have to dodge a broad cushion meant for me.
Some tourists at the counter briefly forget what they were doing and stare at the unicorn until the bored staff bring them back to reality. Starbucks has moved with the times though. The customers have the option of rainbow sprinkles on their cappuccinos.
“So, how have you two been?” Penny asks as we sit down. She narrows her eyes at Irek and looks him up and down. “Just like I thought, combine an electrician and the driver of an electric locomotive and you get a charged atmosphere.”
Did she just…?
Irek blinks. “What on earth are you talking about?”
“This.” She grins and plucks one of my mane hairs from his thigh. “Or do you know any other females with natural blue hair?”
“Now listen here!” Irek begins.
“Don’t blow a fu-use,” she counters in a sweet sing-song.
“Goddammit Penny, you’re impossible! Get your mind out of the gutter; it was nothing of the sort!”
She pouts and lifts her hooves. “I’m just jealous,” she says and turns to me. “Ear-scritches?”
I feel my face heat up. “Uh, w-well.” I begin and look away before adding a quiet, “A few?”
Penny grins. “Great! You definitively look much better today. But we’re forgetting something here.” She points across the table. “Meet Justin, the missing member of our dream-team. Justin, meet Nightline.
I look at the man and smile and try to remember why I have the impression I should recognize him. Then my brain catches up to recent events. “Wait, aren’t you the father of that boy in the tram yesterday?”
He flashes me a brilliant smile. [“You gave him the best gift, Miss Nightline. Thank you.”]
Other than from official translators I have never heard so well pronounced Equestrian from a human. [“You are very good at this, Justin. Say hi to your boy from me.”] This man is only a cleaner? Human society is weird at times.
Penny interrupts us. “Ponies are not pets! Simply assuming they will consent to petting or pony rides is insulting and speciecist! Equestrians are naturally kind and will often say it’s okay when it isn’t!” Penny says with the tone of rightful indignation and adds, “Hashtag interspecies-respect, hashtag speciecism, hashtag ponyproblems.”
She clears her throat in the ensuing silence. “What? I just checked YouTube and my tumblr. The video of you is really sweet, even with the creative editing.”
“Seriously? I need to look at this later!” I shake my head with a grin. “Hashtag Ponytroll.”
“Can I have your contact?” Jan asks. “I want to help you!”
There is a chorus of agreement and I can feel myself blushing again, I am not used to this kind of attention. But it feels good. “Are you adopting me?” I ask, and I want it to sound funny but it sounds feeble instead.
“It sure looks like it!” Penny says. “Welcome to the team! Give us a shoutout next time you come to Frankfurt.”
Suddenly there is a pang of guilt and a second later I also feel incredibly stupid, but I have to say it. “I, uh, I can’t neglect my girl too much though.”
“Your girl?” Irek asks, he looks and sounds… disappointed?
“I know it’s stupid, but, well.” I look at the table and draw a circle with the tip of my hoof. “I call her Trax, and I love her,” I say and smile. “She’s-“
Irek frowns and interrupts me. “Is that an Equestrian name?”
Justin shakes his head while Penny just looks at me with raised eyebrows.
“Stop it; it’s not what you think,” I say and have to giggle.
But before I can elaborate, Jan pre-empts me by laughing out loud and slapping the table several times with his right hand. He gasps for air and gives me a calculating look when he has calmed down. “Is Trax’ surname E one-hundred and eighty-six?”
I gape at him.
If Jan’s grin gets any wider, his head is going to fall off. “Oh man, Guys. Trax’ full name is Trax F140 MS2 class E one-hundred and eighty-six and she’s an electric locomotive from Bombardier. Eighty-five tons, one-hundred and forty kilometres an hour top speed, three-hundred kilo-newtons tractive force and 7500 horsepower. Right?”
How on Earth? I nod, dumbfounded.
He fist-pumps. “Am I good or what?!”
Penny gives him a long look. “The fuck?”
“Hey, I love trains!” Jan says, appearing extremely pleased with himself.
“I guess you learn something new every day,” Penny says. She turns to Irek with half-lidded eyes and drawls, “I’m so sorry my friend, but size obviously matters to your girl.”
If Irek’s gaze could kill, she would be a small pile of smouldering ash. “I hate you so much right now.”
Meanwhile, I just want to crawl under the table and die.