Chapter Six
Caffeine-Fueled Daydreams.
As we leave Ghost Writer’s booth, I can’t help but look over my shoulder and watch him wave at us. I know exactly where my uncomfortable feelings are stemming from. I know that he is most likely just an eccentric artistic type-that he is imitating his favorite poet for novelty, but there is this slimy feeling that runs through me that I just can’t shake. “What if he was...hitting on you?” That’s a horrible thought that shouldn’t even cross my mind. Yet it keeps nagging at me in a way that makes a wrenching feeling bubble up from my core. Yes, I did at one time date Doug, but that was different. Something about this situation made me feel...something that I would rather not describe. However, I am hoping that Spike and Twilight remain blissfully oblivious. “Not that I did much to hide my feelings here. Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!”
Then there was the whole bit about a, ‘discount for artists’ and an invitation to a poetry reading and art exhibition. I seriously hope that wasn’t him showing me any form of special treatment. “Oh here’s a pony who is dark, shy, artistic and has a painfully delightful name! I’ll charm her up and if I’m lucky-” I stop myself in the middle of that thought. You have have no reason to believe that he was after that, H.B., none. He was just trying to be friendly. “But if you ask me, that was a little too friendly.”
My eye twitches, who am I kidding? If I was still male and on Ghost Writer’s side? Yes, that would be me trying to hit on someone else. There is no doubt of that in my mind now. I have a good feeling that Twilight is going to have to drag me to wherever these gallery showings are.
When we’ve walked a good distance from Ghost Writer’s booth, Twilight scowls at me. “Well that was pretty rude, Heartbreak.”
I blink. “What was?” I ask.
“The way that you were treating him. He was kindly offering you a discount and making friendly conversation, while you the whole time were avoiding him and accusing him of giving you special treatment.” Twilight said.
I roll my eyes. “Twilight, he was hitting on me.”
Twilight blinks. “What are you talking about? He made absolutely no physical contact.”
I sigh. “No. He was flirting with me, Twilight. “
“What?” Twilight asks confused. “No he wasn’t, that’s how Ghost Writer acts to all ponies.” She explains as we walk past a few more booths.
“So he treats you that way every time you come to his booth?” I ask her. “Have you gotten this, ‘artist’s discount’, before?”
“Well, no, but I’m not an artist, Heartbreak.” Twilight explains.
“But you are a writer and I am sure that you have done one or two things that could qualify as poetry,” I retort. Damn, I knew that Twilight was sometimes oblivious to slight social behaviors, but seriously, could she not see what Ghost Writer was doing?!
“Not enough to qualify me as an artist or poet.” She replies. “And hence, not enough to get Ghost’s attention.”
“He was hitting on me Twilight, alright? And it made me very uncomfortable.” I reply.
“He was just-” Twilight begins.
“Twilight, he was hitting on her.” Spike says, finally looking away from his little notebook.
“Spike!” Twilight says looking a bit shocked.
“What? He was. I should know, I’ve used some of those same moves with Rarity before.” He looks up at the sky thoughtfully. “But I’m way smoother than that.”
I snort a bit and roll my eyes.
“Sure you are, Casanova,” Twilight and I say simultaneously. Twilight looks at me and for a brief moment, I return that look. She chuckles but I instead stifle the laughter that threatens to leap out of my mouth. Twilight blinks at me.
“What?” I ask her.
“You remember that assignment I gave you when we were on the train?” She asks me.
I roll my eyes. “Yes...You told me to smile more, I think. However you aren’t believing me when I say that Ghost Writer was hitting on me.”
Twilight sighs. “Even if he was, that’s no reason to be rude, Heartbreak.”
“So my feeling uncomfortable in the situation doesn’t matter whatsoever?” I ask, feeling a shot of anger spike through me.
“I didn’t say that Heartbreak,” Twilight replies. “I am just saying that you could have handled the situation a bit better and politely told him that, if he was flirting with you, that you weren’t interested. I, personally didn’t see any exchange of flirting take place.”
“Believe me, that was flirting. I should know. I have been in enough relationships to know what casual flirting looks like,” I reply. I desperately want to change the subject. “Though he did give me an idea of something that I want.”
Twilight rolls her eyes at me. Gods, I hope she doesn’t think that I am a slut or anything...”Alright, and what would that be?” She asks.
“Well...something like coffee, tea or possibly...” I pause and realize how tiring walking has become. I plop my butt right on the ground and think about what I am going to say next. “No...you wouldn’t have energy drinks here in Equestria. Soda, perhaps, but no energy drinks.”
“What’s an, ‘energy drink’?” Twilight asks me.
I momentarily ponder the question. “Well. You have coffee and you have tea. Think a really, really strong tea. Or better yet...” I think. “You have carbonated drinks, right? Fizzy sodas, yeah?”
Twilight looks at me questioningly. “Um, yeah.”
“Right, how best to explain this.” I say looking at the ground. “Okay, carbonated drinks have air trapped in them, carbon dioxide to be exact. Hence the name carbonated, but, not the point. Taking your average carbonated drink and freezing it causes the water and carbon dioxide to separate. If you were to have this in a bottle and open it, it would push anything that was suspended in the water before it was frozen, to the top of the bottle. Leaving behind in the case of most fizzy drinks, a concentrated syrup.” I look down at the ground. The sun is still so very very bright. “Drinking that straight alone is sure to give you a burst of energy, but nothing terribly long lasting. If the drink were like strong tea or coffee, the same level as something similar to...oh...espresso? You’d have an ‘energy drink’.” I look over at Twilight who is nodding and slightly astonished.
“Wow...Um, that was quite the explanation. And it sounds exceptionally unhealthy.” She says.
I roll my eyes. “Eeeeyeaaah. But it will keep you awake for a long period of time.”
“I would imagine that it would. Wait, isn’t the primary stimulant in coffee and tea caffeine?” She asks me.
“Um, yes?” I reply.
“Isn’t that Incredibly addictive?” She asks.
“Well, yes. It can be, but better wired than fired.” I explain.
She grimaces. “And how many of these would you drink?”
“I would try to limit myself to three a day. Anymore and I’d likely have a heart attack,” I say. Twilight’s expression is that of wide-eyed disbelief. “And that of course was over a twelve hour period. Drinking them all at once is likely to put you in the hospital to get your stomach pumped,” I say, uncomfortably rubbing my front leg.
Twilight just blinks hard trying to comprehend what I have just told her. “And they make these on the world you’re from?”
“Well...Yes...Though it’s more like there are companies that make them and then sell them in stores...” I reply. Great, I have gone from one uncomfortable topic, to a topic that has a different form of uncomfortable on it. Twilight shakes her head with the question on her mind nearly escaping her lips. “You’re wanting to know why? That is a complicated question. Um...I guess in a world without magic, where a good number of things are machine run, you need to stay awake. And energy drinks help.”
“I’m sure they do,” Twilight replies. “Help you get to an early grave! Eeesh! No offense Heartbreak, but that’s just insane! I can’t see how any species could subject itself to such a thing.”
I feel a bit offended by Twilight’s statement, but at the same time I can’t help but agree with her.”Then there is the fact that if I talk about them any more, it’ll lead off into uncomfortable territory.“ I think to myself. “Right. Enough about them. We’re not going to talk about them anymore,” I bluntly state. “This all started with Ghost Writer and his tea. Short of energy drinks, normally I drink coffee or tea.”
Twilight looks as if she doesn’t know what to say to this. “And you want coffee or tea?” She asks me.
“If that is all that is available to me...yeah. It could help perk me up before I draw. Get those creative juices flowing.” I reply. I think about this for a moment. “I could really go for a nice chai tea about now. That is if you even have chai tea...I would even do rooibos...”
“Um...I’ve never heard of chai tea either,” Twilight responds, looking a bit worried. “It isn’t like an energy drink, is it?”
“What? No. It’s just like tea with spices in it.” I reply.
Twilight nods. “Well, good. Though-and this is completely off topic-I must say I was somewhat impressed.”
“Impressed?” I asked.
“Well, yes.” Twilight replies. “For how horrible these ‘energy drinks’ sound, you showed off that you have a good understanding of scientific knowledge,” Twilight quips.
Now I feel truly offended. At my core I am a geek, a nerd, a science lover. On the Earth that I am from, scientific knowledge and understanding of scientific concepts are very important. Despite what some people think, that is. But if you can’t grasp basic concepts like how the tides work, what a theory is, what evolution is or that the earth is over six thousand years old...You will be met only with ridicule. And the internet shows no quarter, leaves no silly belief untouched and unscathed. “Twilight, are you saying that I come off as having little or no understanding of the Scientific Method?” I ask in a low glower.
Spike’s eyes blink open and he hops off of Twilight’s back. He slowly turns his head to her, looking at her with an expression that I can only guess is meant to convey the message of, ‘Careful Twilight, that question is a minefield.’
Twilight seems to be getting the message, as a wide, unnerved grin and chuckle are her reply. “...No, it’s just that most artists in Equestria tend to be more...flighty, or scatterbrained and when it comes to matters of science...”
My face has twisted into a scowl. “So, because most artists here in Equestria tend to be one hit wonders in their drawings, poetry and art, they can’t understand the more well educated, organized and scientifically literate?”
“Heartbreak, I never said that, I was impressed with your explanation...” Twilight responds giving Spike a ‘help-me’ look.
“No. What you said was that you were, ‘Somewhat impressed’, Twilight,” I sigh. “I am making something out of nothing. This isn’t a big deal, but I am making it into one. Why? Because I find beauty and wonder in matters of science.” I roll my eyes. A quote comes to mind. “To see a world in a grain of sand, And a heaven in a wild flower, Hold infinity in the palm of your h-ha-hoof.. And eternity in an hour.”
“Wow...that was rather beautiful,” Twilight says. “Um...What does it mean?”
“You know, I’m not terribly sure, but every time I hear somep-pony tell me that science can’t be artistic, it annoys me...” I reply. “And one word just totally wrecked a great poets most quoted poem...”
Twilight snorts and smirks at me. “Heartbreak, If you know me as well as you claim, then you’d know that I share this feeling when it comes to what I am assuming is discovery, exploration and the thrill of learning something new.”
A wave of emotion unexpectedly washes over me. Like always, I fight it off. “Yes, I do...it’s just with the way you said it it made it sound like you were questioning my intelligence. Like I have been presenting myself in a way that makes me look like a ditz.” I replied looking away.
“Heartbreak...” Twilight says. Spike on the other hand is rolling his eyes. I admit, the sap level in all of this is pretty high.
My eyes meet Twilight’s. “I mean, you don’t take me for a...bubble...head...do....you?” Something passed Twilight’s head and just over her shoulder. It flies down and vanishes behind the purple unicorn standing before me. Well actually, someone. Well, if we want to be technical, it’s really somepony. “I’ve found the easter egg..” I whisper.