With a little snuffling and a lot of groaning, Valey nyup-nyupped and yawned her way into wakefulness.
"Finally decided to join me?" Shinespark asked, sitting in the captain's chair with one hoof keeping Valey from falling out and the other guiding the Dream toward a star-strewn horizon. "You've been out for twelve hours. Must've had quite the night."
"Ow. Bananas..." Valey uncurled and stretched, demonstrating how the chair wasn't sized for two ponies but managing to do it anyway. She groaned and rubbed at her stomach. "Feels like I ate a barrel and then slept on it. Guess those fifteen dinners weren't as much of a dream as I hoped..."
Shinespark let herself glance down to the sarosian in her lap. "You going to be alright?"
"Yeah. Will be." Valey rolled out of the chair and onto her hooves, swishing her tail for balance. "Be right back..."
Several minutes later, Valey returned, her mane properly mussed and looking significantly refreshed. "Whew," she announced. "So. I actually didn't break your toilet, but if I told anyone it was my goal, they'd have pretty good grounds to believe me."
"A romantic good morning to you too," Shinespark replied, Valey's reflection grinning at her from the windshield.
"Dunno what you expected." Valey stepped back over to her side, standing next to the chair and resting her chin on one of the hoofrests. "But hey. I kept my word. And it looks like we've got this place all to ourselves, if you wanna talk, or... do anything."
"For as long as I can stay awake," Shinespark yawned. "I was up early in the morning for meetings, and it's midnight." She looked down at Valey's head on the hoofrest, her friend looking back with lidded eyes. "So..."
Valey shrugged. "Girl, you're gonna have to be more forward if you want me to stop making this awkward. This is how I pass the time."
"And deal with awkwardness yourself, I'll bet." Shinespark turned entirely to face her, folding her forelegs behind her head. "So are you going to say it, or do I have to?"
Valey smirked. "If I say it, you know I'm gonna make it silly."
Shinespark leaned forward until they were nearly nose to nose. "Or you could not," she whispered. "And say what you're really thinking."
Valey reddened. "Not until you blush first."
"You lose," Shinespark replied.
"Bananas." Valey sat back and yawned. "Well, uh... sometimes... you're really hot."
Shinespark raised an eyebrow. "Sometimes?"
"Yeah, sometimes you kind of just flop around and exist without doing anything." Valey nodded sagely. "But those times don't count. And what's hot is when you get back up again. It's kinda personal because I've had some times when I flopped around pretty badly too. So, uh, yeah. I like you. And I'd rather make it awkward with jokes than be the one to straight-up say it first, but look at me being the bigger mare. Now fess up yourself or I'll start talking again about all the stuff I did last night."
Shinespark reddened.
"Come on..." Valey nudged her, grinning.
Shinespark got out of her chair and grabbed her in a tight hug. "You're the most frustrating mare I know, and I don't know what I'd do without you in my life."
"Woah, you've been working out," Valey remarked. "Come on, now. Tell me more..."
Shinespark hugged Valey over the shoulder, so that her cheeks would be less visible as she talked. "Y-You... you know..."
Valey shadow snuck out of it, ducking into the floor and coming back up just in time to catch Shinespark and keep her from tipping over without the support. Before Shinespark could react, she leaned in again so they were nose to nose. "I know a lot of stuff. 'Cuz I'm smart. Got a big brain. You like it?"
"Valey!" Shinespark squeaked. "I'm trying to be serious!"
"Yeah, but I don't do serious." Valey waved a hoof over her shoulder. "I've tried it before and stink pretty bad at it, and you're less happy when you do it too. Unless you wanna be serious? Us tripping over each other and getting tongue-tied is totally fun too."
Shinespark blushed furiously. "Is there a way we can get to the next part without... being so awkward?"
"You ever dated before?" Valey raised an eyebrow.
"What do you think?"
"Oh, I'm not a qualified expert." Valey shrugged and grinned. "But if you ask me, who cares about what's next? I completely trust you, and I know you trust me too. Why not have some fun trampling our dignity together and being completely shameless?"
"I-I'm not sure that suits me," Shinespark stammered, her mane growing untidy.
Valey took a fearless step closer. "Nahhh. Come on, you're so uptight all the time. Sosan princess, nothing but decorum for all your subjects and stuff? You've got the most to gain from letting loose! Go ahead, throw every inhibition you've got to the winds and do something you know I'll tease you about but be totally fine with and keep between us forever. At least think about what you'd do if you did. Show me the look on your face when you're thinking about it..."
Shinespark couldn't hide the look that Valey was looking for. "V-Valey!"
"Nyaah." Valey stuck out her tongue. "Going once, going twice... I'm gonna beat you to it..."
"Fine!"
Shinespark grabbed Valey in another hug, but this one was far from a means of hiding her face. Her hooves held Valey's sides instead of her shoulders, rubbing into her soft fur, and their noses and foreheads bumped for a second before Shinespark turned her head so their mouths could meet too.
Valey didn't try to reply, using one hoof to stabilize them and another to brush Shinespark's mane and rub her ears, meeting the embrace exactly where it was at.
"I..." Shinespark stepped forward during a pause for breath, pushing Valey back up against a wall. "Am going to wake up any minute now..."
"Live your dreams, princess." Valey adjusted her grip for their more upright stance, pressing Shinespark's chest fluff against her own. "Nobody sees, nobody cares. If they do, we don't care. And if we do, I bet you I can kick face while still holding you like this. Just a little one-hoof go away punch. Biff, ka-pow! Knock 'em sillier than we are." She grinned and touched Shinespark's nose again, leaning in for another round...
The unmistakable sound of clicking talons sounded outside the bridge door.
"Gerardo Guillaume, stay out of this room!" Shinespark instantly hollered. "Valey and I are having a moment!"
"A very reasonable proposition," Gerardo called back through the door. "I merely thought to relieve you of your shift. I'll be stargazing if you change your minds!"
The sound of talons walked away. Shinespark turned redder, and Valey stared intently into her eyes, arching an eyebrow of her own. "Having a moment, huh?" Their noses were still touching. "Guess someone's not as shy about announcing it to the world as they pretend."
"I-It's true, though." Shinespark reddened further, and her ears went back. "An... adult moment."
"Nahhh." Valey reached up and tried to push Shinespark's ears back up with her hooves, which wasn't very successful. "This is definitely more of a teenage moment."
"Valey!"
Valey shrugged. "So, what, we wanna stay locked up in here? Because technically, no one is piloting the ship, and Birdo just offered to do it for us. Unless you think it would be hot to try piloting while we're snogging?"
Shinespark's eyes glazed over, imagining it.
"Yep," Valey went on, rubbing Shinespark's back. "Imagine you're sitting there all stoic and cool, and pulling double duty watching for sky icebergs or whatever at the same time as holding me close, and it's weird and heroic because you're sacrificing a little attention you could be paying to me for the sky instead, which makes you crazy hot 'cuz you're like keeping us safe, and-"
"Wait. Sky icebergs?" Shinespark blinked.
"We're over an ocean, aren't we?" Valey shrugged. "What else are we gonna hit, some random mountain? I dunno what piloting involves, it's all flying in a straight line to me. It sure sounds hot, though."
"...We're handing off to Gerardo." Shinespark shook her head, slipping free from the embrace and resting on all four hooves. "And then sitting on the deck, or something."
Valey fixed her hat and stretched her wings. "Sounds groovy to me."
After a lot of furtive glances from Valey Shinespark wasn't nearly shameless enough to repay, the captain's shift had been handed off and Gerardo Guillaume now sat alone on the bridge, separated by a brand new door from anything that could happen on the deck. They weren't high in the sky, the ship skimming along at a low enough altitude individual waves were visible below, but even a clear view of the stars didn't stop the night from growing chilly. Valey slipped Shinespark her hat for warmth, the duo sitting side by side at the starboard railing, Shinespark wrapped in Valey's wing.
"You make more of a difference than the hat does," Shinespark murmured.
"Nyeh. It's a cute gesture." Valey leaned her cheek against Shinespark's shoulder, and Shinespark leaned hers against the top of Valey's head. "So, uh... I guess we like each other."
"I guess we do."
"Do you care a whole lot about the difference between like and love?"
"How do you mean?"
Valey shrugged. "I dunno. Like... bananas, you know how much I care about you. At least, I hope you do. I beat up Herman himself because your cute butt was in trouble, and that was before we went through a bunch of stuff together. At the same time, caring too much about doing relationships the 'right' way has, uhh... made me not very happy in the past. So, like, I know I teased you into making a move back there, but for real... I kinda don't want to get too caught up in the semantics of what this relationship is. You get me? Because that leads to thinking about what it's supposed to be. And I know you're supposed to be all 'oh bananas I love you' and everything, which... I dunno. Makes me a little wigged out. Because I don't wanna have the kind of relationship where I've gotta walk on pins and needles to keep from messing something up. I'm a messy girl! Making messes is my thing. You know?"
"I don't know what I'm doing," Shinespark replied. "If there were guidelines on how this was supposed to go, I could use them. I'd also accidentally break them a lot."
"Well, what do you want from me?" Valey shifted against Shinespark's shoulder. "With you, like... I wanna feel like when I get a little stiff in the wings at my best friend, you're in on it too. I trust you with pretty much anything, and I want more opportunities to, like... do stuff with that trust. Stuff that's different from needing to save each other every once in a while from some evil bad guy. Like touching each other's fluff. How about you?"
Shinespark thought for a moment. "I suppose that's accurate," she eventually said. "I want to feel less reserved about enjoying your company. And... I'd like it if we were comfortable enough with each other that it didn't have to be quite so awkward when we talk about this."
"Yeah, I think we're past that." Valey winked. "Maybe. No promises. I get that, though. Like... bananas. You've never been in a relationship. I've never been in a real one. I don't wanna have to know where we're going. I just want you to know that I think you're real swell. And if I'm weird and don't wanna be all 'hey I love you' because I've got a complex about that and don't wanna make myself feel like this is a Real Relationship that I've gotta do right..." She waggled the tips of her wings in emphasis. "Well, I wanna know that you get it and know how I feel anyway."
"Good," Shinespark sighed. "If there are any formalities or decorum involved with a Real Relationship, I can't live with them either. You're probably already aware, but once we get back to Ironridge, us being very public about our affection for each other could be... interesting."
"Hoo boy." Valey whistled. "Yeah, that would be fun. Honestly, I kinda want to do it anyway, just to collectively blow the city's minds, but yeah, it would probably help them take us more seriously if we were more serious around them. Which only matters if we want something from them, so hey, it's our call. But now that there's no Garsheeva heresy to execute us if we mess up, if they wanna say us making out is naughty, that just makes doing it behind closed doors a lot more fun."
Shinespark chuckled. "Heheh... Yeah. I suppose it does. My point still stands, though. If you ever want something from me out of this, just ask, because I don't have a rulebook to read that says what to do for you and when."
"I should write one of those," Valey remarked. "Dating Advice, by Valey... Bet it would be a best-seller. Complete nonsense, too. Imagine if I wrote that you were expected to do a flamingo dance every time your lover steps on a manhole and not tell them why. The world would be in complete chaos if even a tenth of ponies took it seriously."
"I like your imagination, you know," Shinespark added. "You're very... colorful."
"And you're easy to tease." Valey snuggled her shoulder. "But if you're saying you wanna listen to me spout off whatever comes to mind, hey. I got all night."