A few days passed since my Parents came for their all too brief visit. It was Thursday now and I needed to run so I could clear my head of the thunderstorm of thoughts and emotions inside. Why did she do that? Why did I let her? Was it a onetime thing? Was that her first time? (If it was I couldn’t tell, she was a damn good kisser) Did she want to do it again? Does she want to go further than that? If so, HOW much farther, but the question and emotion that weighed heaviest on my mind was the very question I asked myself the moment she pushed herself into me. Did she do it because she loves me?
By the time I got back to my apartment I’d chalked it up to the fact that it was a highly emotional, highly sensitive environment and she just couldn’t respond any other way. She’s still a pony princess and I’m still a normal guy with guilt issues, I doubt she really meant anything by it. I mean, hell we’ve barely known each other for a week, it never happens that fast. Or at least I don’t think it happens that fast…
I opened the door to see Luna staring blankly at the Skyrim loader screen. We hadn’t really spoken to one another since Monday, for obvious reasons. Maybe she was going through the same thing that I’ve been going through. If she was she didn’t show it though, she’d been playing that game for the past few days, splitting her time between a Breton mage and a Dark Elf thief. I always played as a Nord or an Argonian, but that wasn’t really important. What was important was that we’d said nothing more than a ‘hello’ since we walked back inside Monday. It was so damn quiet around this place minus the occasional ‘arrow to the knee’ statement a guard would say when she walked past someone. I might not really care much for talk, but hearing nothing from Luna somehow was driving me crazy.
I sat next to her, watching her play for a few minutes. It mostly consisted of her riding through the mountains on her horse. Sure I’ve done that many times, but the lack of conversation was just too much for me. I needed to start something so I decided to use the game as the reason to start something.
“Did you just ride a horse up the side of a mountain?” I asked.
“Yes I did…” she said, growing a cute smile.
“Doesn’t that defy physics?”
“After everything that’s happened over the past week…” she said finally looking over to me, “You truly think that physics is relevant?”
“I guess you’ve got me on that one…” I said, “What are you doing anyway?”
“I must take down the one they call Mercer…” she explained, “He has dishonored our guild and must pay for his misdeeds.”
“Glad you take your duties so seriously…” I said letting out a chuckle, “You mind pausing that for a second?”
“Sure…” she said laying the controller on the table, “Where shall we be going?”
“We really aren’t going anywhere…” I said turning the Xbox and T.V. off. “I wanted to talk…”
I could see the blood run from her face, but that didn’t stop me from continuing what I was going to say. “About Monday…” I began, “Did… did you-“
“It was an impulse…” she interrupted, looking away. “I was… I was emotional and what I did was very unbecoming of a princess…”
“But every other time,” I said, making her look back at me. “You just gave me a hug… that time… THAT time…”
“That time was different…” she answered. “I really don’t know what had come over me… but this past week… you’ve been there… more than anyone else ever has been… I… I just felt… something, something that just overtook me, I acted upon my impulse.”
“Just an impulse?”
“Yes…” Luna answered quickly, “Just an impulse.”
“Well…” I said smiling, “That’s one hell of an impulse…”
“Absolutely…” She said laughing slightly, “one hell of an impulse indeed…”
I slipped back into the couch and let out a sigh of relief, finally something that didn’t end awkward for me. After a few hours of watching Luna slay dragons, slaughter droves of bandits and return the Thieves’ Guild to its former glory, a question popped into my head. I’ve told Luna so much about our world, but I’d never asked her about hers’.
“So what’s it like?” I asked.
“This world is truly fascinating…” Luna said the moment a cinematic for a dragon kill popped. “I could be anything I wish, do anything I want and yet I still may never accomplish everything this game has to offer.”
“Not what I meant…” I replied rolling my eyes. “What’s Equestria like?”
Luna dropped the controller, her mouth gaping and pupils transforming into tiny dots. I guess she really hadn’t thought about her original home for a while, odd, given the fact that I was trying to get her home. Then I thought I hadn’t really done that either, maybe tomorrow we could hit up the university and ask a few questions. Then again when I started asking questions the professor may ask questions neither of us wanted to answer.
“I… I really wouldn’t be able to tell you much…” Luna said snapping me out of my thoughts. “I was still very young for an alicorn when I fell into madness, so my memory isn’t the best… and I have very little knowledge of the world outside the castle walls.”
“You seem to carry yourself well in our world.”
“Because I have one to guide me and give me confidence…” She said with a smile, “In Equestria it was not so much the case.”
“I believe I don’t follow…” I said, “What do you mean by all that?”
“I was never… well… as ‘graced’ as my sister when it came to social skills…” She answered, “And being one of the few known alicorns I was never really that… approachable.”
“I would never in a million years think you’d be unapproachable.” I said with a smile, “With a face like that I’m sure they’d show up in droves.”
“You’re too kind Aedan,” she said trying to hide the red in her cheeks, “But that is simply not the case.”
“Well you’ve had to at least make a few friends…” I said, apparently that made her react the same as when I asked about her home.
“No… not many friends…” she said, “Again, as I have said before, I’m not that approachable.”
“I guess that means you’ve never really had someone ask you out?”
“Oh, heavens no!” Luna said her face, “Never in my long life have I had a suitor, well... there was one who tried, but my sister and I trapped him in the frozen north.”
“That seems a bit much, don’t you think?”
“Well he DID enslave an entire race so he could forcefully take my hoof…”
“I guess that would rate your reaction.”
“I believe that too…” Luna said laughing at the thought. “And in truth… well… um… I… uh… never considered… um…”
“Considered what?” I asked.
“Well… I never… Um… I never… considered… taking one…” She answered, nervously twirling her hair.
“Are you telling me that in over a thousand years of life…” I said raising my eyebrow. “You’ve never had a boyfriend?”
“Um…” Luna said looking off into space, “No… I haven’t… In fact…”
Luna drifted off into silence, peaking my interest even further. “In fact… what?”
“Well… you… you were my first kiss…”
Oh, shit… this just got awkward. I mean, I’ve kissed a lot of women; I’ve slept with a lot of women. Hell, before my little code I cheated on almost all my girlfriends, but after Sara died I decided that I would change. I didn’t want her looking down on me and seeing me do stuff like that. Then Amanda happened, giving me a dose of my own medicine, I probably deserved that. Now Luna’s telling me that I’m the first male of any race that she’s kissed? I didn’t deserve that honor, not after what I’ve done to amazing girls like her before, even if she tried a hostile takeover of her home world, but that was ages ago.
“Aedan?” Luna asked, taping me on my shoulder and effectively bringing me out of my thoughts.
“I’m good.” I said, blinking rapidly. “Um… anything else you want to talk about?”
Luna pondered my question for a moment before looking back to me with a smile so seductive that I became positive that all the times she ‘unwittingly’ teased me she was doing it on purpose.
“Well…” she began running her hand across my chest, “There IS something that I could think of…”
“A-and THAT would be?” I stuttered, fearing the answer.
“I can’t seem to find the dadreic dagger that has the chance to kill an opponent instantly.” She said turning back to the T.V. “Do you know where to find it?”
“Yeah!” I answered relieved “I know how to trigger that quest.”
So with that I carefully walked Luna through hours of questing through the vastness of Skyrim. It actually almost made me forget about what happened on Monday, but I did catch myself staring at Luna more often than not during her seemingly endless questing.
The hours turned into night quicker than both of us anticipated and by God we were both tired. Luna lazily threw the controller on the table and stumbled over to the T.V. to turn it off, even though the remote was right next to her. I didn’t bother telling her, I just sat back and enjoyed the spectacle before me. It was fun watching her try to fine the off button, not to mention she had the classic combo of one of my shirts and no pants on… (I’m not perfect)
After a few seconds I finally decided to just flip the remote to turn the thing off. It surprised Luna a little, but she just shrugged it off slugged her way back to the bedroom.
“Good night Aedan…” she yawned.
“Night Luna…”
“Would you wish to join me?”
“Say what now?!” I said spinning around in my seat.
“The bed is large enough for two…” She explained rubbing her eyes, “I don’t know why we haven’t just shared it this whole time.”
“I-I…” My eyes widened at the very thought of doing what she proposed, “I need an adult…”
“We both are adults…” Luna said with a confused look.
“I’ll be fine out here Luna.” I said quickly, “Hell, this might be the most comfy couch on the planet.” (That was a lie, but I really needed a scapegoat.)
“Very well…” Luna said turning back to the bedroom. “Sleep well Aedan, may nightmares never greet you.”
“You too…” I said turning back to the T.V. “Night…”
There was no response after that, so I’d assumed that she’d just fallen into bed. I sat there for a few minutes, staring into nothing, dead tired but wide awake. Then I remembered something, the whole reason Luna was staying with me in the first place. I ran to my phone and dialed a few numbers, hopefully he wasn’t asleep yet.
“This is Gordon Freeman…” the voice on the opposite end mumbled, “Now to whom do I have the pleasure of speaking to after I’ve finally gotten into bed?”
“Wake up and smell the ashes Mr. Freeman…” I said sarcastically, “It’s Aedan.”
“Oh, hey Aedan.” Gordon replied, his voice springing to life. “Whatcha need?”
“Another favor…”
“Alright… what is it this time? A giraffe that you have to convince everyone is a Mexican luchador?”
“Well it’s not that complicated.” I chuckled, “But I am gonna need to get into the university.”
“Can’t you just walk in?”
“Not if I want a one on one with the professor who’s going to explain to me the multiverse theory.”
“Oh, yeah…” he said, I could hear him fumbling around, no doubt looking for his suit case. A couple minutes of silence and I finally got the answer I wanted. “Ok… the guy you’ll be looking for is a Professor Harold Moore. He’s got a few theories that may or may not explain Luna’s being here.”
“Thanks Gordon.” I said, “What about-“
“He’s apparently not doing any classes this semester,” Gordon interrupted, “but you still may be able to find him around the campus.”
“Where the hell am I supposed to find him on a college campus?”
“Oh… I don’t know…” Gordon said. I could feel the sarcasm in his voice, “The science wing?”
“Ok… Luna and I’ll head up there tomorrow… and Gordon…”
“Yeah buddy?”
“Luna kissed me…” Now why in God’s name did I tell Gordon that? He didn’t need to know that happened. I could hear the phone hit the ground I was brought back to reality, awaiting Gordon’s more than likely fanboy response.
“Aedan… man…” he said, “Why?”
“She learned about Sara…” I said reluctantly. “My parents decided to make a surprise visit… and then things escalated from there.”
“Wow…” Gordon said, pausing to think about what to say. “Did you like it?”
“What?!” I exclaimed. “No! Well… maybe… I don’t know… We were… I was… Oh for God sake Gordon what do you think?” (What the hell was going on with me right now? This quite literally has never happened to me.)
“I don’t know what to tell ya Aedan…” Gordon said, “I really can’t tell you anything more than to just be careful… as much as I’d love her to stay here, We both now she doesn’t belong in our world.”
“I know…” I sighed, “and you know that I’ll get her back… because I made her a promise…”
“And if you make a girl a promise…” Gordon began, horribly impersonating Master Chief, “You keep it.”
“We’ll head to the university tomorrow…” I said, “Hopefully this guy you found will be there.”
“Good luck Aedan…” Gordon said yawning fiercely, “You’ll need it.”