//------------------------------//
// Compliments 
// Story: Doing Loving Things 
// by HeideKnight 
//------------------------------//

And in silence you and Starlight walk the halls. You feel like you’ve been kicked in the gut. You’ve missed your chance. Sure, you can ask tonight when she returns home, or tomorrow, or a week from now, but you suspect you’ll be as unconfident then as you are now. You came to her workplace today because you’d convinced yourself the time was right. You turn the pocketed box in your miserable fingers.

You look at Starlight. Her gait drags. The red in her cheeks has receded, but you preferred embarrassment to melancholy. You decide regrets can wait. Your marefriend’s feelings matter more. 

You both enter Starlight’s office. The line is gone. You assume the students are at lunch. Starlight slumps behind her desk and rests her head. You sit on the couch. 

“Ugh, I’m in so much trouble if anypony saw us,” Starlight says. She mimics Twilight’s voice and says, “You know we don’t condone that kind of behavior during school hours, either from students or faculty.” She groans. “I’m the worst guidance counselor in history.”

You remain silent. You’re sure that’s untrue. You went to human schools, where guidance counselors are middling bureaucrats who sign detention slips. Seeing Starlight like this is a weight in your chest. You tell her you’re sure no one saw you. 

“We’ll figure that out when Twilight gets back,” Starlight says. Her head remains glued to her desk. 

You look at your feet. You suspect coming to Starlight’s job was a bad idea. Another in a long line. You stand. Starlight lifts her head, but you avoid her eyes. You tell her you’ll see her at home, turn, and walk toward the door. 

“Wait.”

Your body freezes. You look down. Starlight’s aura surrounds you. You lift into the air, float through the room, and land on the sofa. Starlight meets your eyes. 

“You don’t have to go,” she says. “I mean… we have time now, anyway.” She smiles. 

You hesitate, then pat the couch. Starlight nods, then teleports beside you. You wrap your arm around her. She rests against you. You stroke her side as she nuzzles your face. 

You tell her she’s beautiful. Your words are easy. They escape without thought. Starlight sighs. Rising with the warm tide in your chest is a niggling. Adrenaline. You squeeze your pantleg. 

It’s time.