Marshmallow Dreams

by Halira

Chapter 74: Gas

We all sat at the table as my stepdad and Russel's dad served us food. It was rude to start eating before everyone was served and they had joined us, so there were a few moments of awkward silence.

Mom unfolded her napkin and put it on her lap. "So, Russell, my daughter hasn't said too much about you. She goes on a great deal about your wonderful dates and your charming personality, but she hasn't said much about what kinds of plans you have for the future—professional, I mean, your career goals."

"My boy—" Mama Jas began, but Russell put a hand on her leg, which paused her.

"Let me talk for myself, Ma," Russell said with a smile. "I know I haven't talked much about that stuff with Becca. I'm looking at going into graphic marketing. Print media like magazines are having a renaissance right now, and many positions are opening for work in advertising. I haven't started looking at any particular workplaces yet, since I want to have a strong academic record for at least two full years along with a larger portfolio before I do to help show my capabilities, but I plan on beginning my early job searches early next year."

Mom blinked. "I'll admit, that was a much better-reasoned answer than I was expecting—no offense intended. I didn't expect that good an answer out of any second-year student. I would be interested in seeing your portfolio when you feel confident in it. Perhaps I can have a word with some people or put a recommendation in for you. I'm not sure Rebecca mentioned it, but I am one of the assistant vice presidents at PonyCo, although marketing isn't my department."

"My boy has a good head on his shoulders. Good and sensible," Mama Jas beamed with pride. Her smile slipped. "Boy can't cook to save his life, though. Sad thing."

Stepdad stared intently at the food at the end of his fork. "Is that… shrimp?"

Mama Jas lifted a similar-looking morsel of food into her mouth and began chewing for a few seconds before swallowing. "Yep! Shrimp it is! Took me years to figure out how to prepare it right, so it didn't have me pukin' my guts out all over the place. Still haven' figured out how to do the same with chicken or beef or anythin' else, but I keep tryin'. I'll get it yet."

"And keep throwin' up all over the place in the meantime," Terrell commented dryly before taking another bite.

"I keep a bucket!" Mama Jas protested. "Craft takes work. Nopony ever accomplished nothin' of note if they ain't willin' to get sick for it."

My parents just stared at her, dumbstruck, as they watched her take another bite of shrimp. I looked at my food and felt a little queasy. Shrimp was meat. Ponies couldn't digest meat. Had she just been trying at it for so long that she had built up some tolerance for it? I hadn't tried any of her food, and now I was scared to. I didn't want to get sick the day before my parents were going to take me to the airport for my trip to Equestria. I also didn't want to insult her by not eating her food. My stomach started to feel bad even thinking about it.

Terrell smiled at my parents. "You may think my wife is makin' things up or deluded. I don't blame you. I thought the same thing when she said she managed it. I was waiting for her to get sick, but she didn't. Then I was waiting for her to have the worst case of the shits ever, but everything came out perfectly fine—I even insisted on checkin' because I couldn't believe it. She served some to a neighbor, and they didn't get sick either. It took her nearly twelve years of trial and error to figure out, but she did it. When Jasmine puts her mind to figuring out food, she won't stop, and her persistence paid off."

That didn't help. The stress from having to deal with both sets of parents at once and the thought of eating shrimp was making me feel woozy. Should I excuse myself? No, I couldn't do that. I would insult Mama Jas.

"Ma and Pa aren't lying," Russell said. "I wouldn't let them serve Becca any food that I thought might make her sick."

Russell believed the food was okay. I gave the shrimp in the dish an edgy look. Should I try it? I wanted to show Russell I trusted him, and I wanted to make a good impression with his parents. Still… it was meat, and everything I had ever known said don't eat meat. My gut felt really bad. I might get sick now, even if it were okay. I just felt so much pressure that I felt like I was going to—

THPPTPHTPHPHHPH

I froze in horror. I couldn't believe that I just did that! I didn't just fart; I let out one of the loudest, nastiest sounding farts I had ever passed. It had even blown my tail back. The smell was filling the room, and I could see everyone wrinkling their noses. However, my brain started kicking in, and I tried to start thinking of a joke to make this work. This wasn't something that had happened before, so I didn't have anything ready, and that started me stressing more.

Russell sprang up and opened the front door to air the room. "I am so sorry!" he called out. "I shouldn't have eaten all those beans for lunch today!"

Wait… what?

Terrell waved a hand in front of his face. "Dammit, boy! How many beans did you eat? Why'd you even do that when you were goin' to have dinner with your filly friend? Were you trying to embarrass her?"

"Boy! I raised you better!" Mama Jas said as she waved a hoof in front of her face.

"Sorry, Pa. Sorry, Becca. Sorry, Becca's parents," Russell said as he fanned the fart fumes outside.

Seriously. What? They had to know it was me. My tail had shot outward like a wind vane, flagging me as the culprit. Mama Jas was a pony; she should be able to smell where it was coming from instantly. There was no mistaking me for Russell. I don't know how anyone could mistake my toot for someone else's.

Stepdad waved a hand in front of his face. "Don't worry about it. Bodily functions happen."

"But that was m—" I began.

Mom cut me off. "Mighty powerful! Rebecca, why don't you walk outside with Russell for a few minutes while he airs out? The parents would like to discuss some things, and I know this date is supposed to be for the two of you. Take some time to talk together without us interfering. This is your last chance to see each other for over a week."

People didn't need to personally air out after a fart. The room might, but the person didn't. Still, I wasn't going to object to time alone with Russell. I left my chair and hurried outside with him.

We partially closed the door and walked out to the far edge of the driveway before we started talking. "I'm so sorry they are blaming you for—" I began, but stopped when Russell started laughing. "What's funny?"

Russell grinned at me. "Becca, everybody knows that you did it, but a gentleman protects his special someone's dignity however he can. They know, and they know too that I was taking the blame for it on purpose. If you ever blow off like that, it is my duty to help you blow it off. I know you're very adept at self-deprecating jokes when you do something that makes you feel embarrassed, but I'm not going to leave you hanging."

I felt warm and tingly inside. I leaped into the air and flew just high enough to kiss him. Not being the best flyer, I missed his lips and got his chin, but he reached out and grabbed me, pulling me close to him, like I didn't weigh much at all, and gave me a proper kiss. I turned into a regular melted marshmallow in his arms.

"Thank you," I said quietly as I laid my head against him. "That has never happened to me before. I think it was a stress reaction, and because part of my stress involved food, my digestive tract was all wound up. I had been half-expecting to throw up. I didn't expect my other end would be the side I needed to worry about. That wasn't normal for me, and I didn't know how to respond."

"I kinda figured that," he replied. "Normally, you're practically instant with something to brighten the mood after a mishap happens, it's part of what I love about you, but I saw you freeze up and couldn't leave you feeling mortified. Believe me; my parents don't care about it. You have no idea how bad my Ma's farts are after she has been experimenting with food. My first thought was that she had let one off."

I hugged closer to him. "I'm sorry. I didn't know what to do. I didn't feel safe eating your mom's food, and I didn't want to insult her, and I wanted you to believe I trusted what you said, but my stomach said no and— I'm sorry."

"It's alright," he replied. "Ma had no business including her specially prepared shrimp in her food tonight. She was trying to show off, and it was not the time or place to do it. I didn't even realize she had done it until I looked at my plate, and by then, I was stuck having to make sure everyone knew it was safe. It is safe. I wasn't fibbing to cover for her. My mom really figured out a way of preparing shrimp that doesn't make ponies sick. Now, if she tries to serve you any other type of meat, run and run fast."

My stomach gurgled, and it wasn't a feed me gurgle. "Maybe I'll try it some other time, but hard as it might be to believe, I have lost my appetite tonight. Also, I apologize ahead of time if I throw up all over you."

He chuckled. "Apology accepted ahead of time."

I snuggled tighter against his chest and closed my eyes. He was strong. I was not a light pony, but he didn't seem to get tired at all from holding me. I was sure he was getting tired and would need to let me down soon, but right now, I was enjoying being close to him like this.

"I'm going to miss you over the next week. I won't even be able to call you," I said.

"I'll miss you too, but I hope you and your friends have fun doing whatever it is you are doing," he replied. I caught something in his tone.

I opened my eyes. "You know this isn't just a trip we won, don't you?"

He nodded. I didn't see it, but I felt his body move. "Yeah, I do. It's hard to believe that three close friends all won the same exclusive nationwide contest. I suppose it's possible, but it seems like it's a stretch."

How did I talk about this? "I can't give full details … not yet, anyway, but it is a part of a job interview. Only one person is getting hired, so there's a chance I won't get this job. It's a pretty big deal if I get it. It could impact our relationship."

"Will you have to travel a lot if you do?" he asked.

Phobia Remedy had mentioned me traveling way back, so I could put my talents to use. "There's a good chance that I would," I answered with my ears sagging.

"How would that impact your schoolwork, or is this going to just be your career, and you don't need to finish college?" he asked.

That was something I hadn't considered much, but really should have. "I don't know."

He paused for a second. "And...how does that impact us?"

I looked up at his face and met his brown eyes. "Are you a test?" I asked him. "Everything seems like it is a test with this interview process. I don't want you to be a test. I want you to be real."

He looked me back in the eyes with concern. "I'm no test. I wish I knew what kind of job would even make you think they would put someone up to something like that. That would be cruel. I'm not sure I would be happy hearing you working for someone you thought would do something like that to you."

I closed my eyes and leaned back into him, and took a deep breath. It was time to do something stupid again. "I wasn't going to say anything unless I knew I had gotten the job, but you suspect something is up, and this could change everything with us. It's for the soon-to-be-open Dreamwarden position," I whispered. "And this isn't a joke."

He didn't release me or say anything for a moment. I held my breath.

"When do they tell you if you've gotten it or not?" he asked at last.

"I'm not sure…. Wait… you believe me? You aren't going to even question it?" I asked in disbelief, not sure what answer I was hoping for.

"It's not what I expected, and it's certainly weird, but I believe you," he answered, and he took another deep breath. "I have gotten pretty good at telling when you're serious and when you aren't. It's a lot to take in, but I'm not going to freak out about it."

I wrapped a wing around him. "You can't tell anyone. I trust you, but people can't know any of us are candidates. Some people will try to influence us, or hurt us, or try to influence the decision process… or even try to hurt people close to us—like you. I have been worrying about what to do if I get into a relationship for years, just because I thought I might be a candidate when the time came. I had been a candidate back when Miss— when Yinyu was going to try to run away to Equestria to retire, even if that didn't work out. Ever since then, I have been worried about getting into a relationship and messing up someone's life just by being close to them."

"Rebecca, I-"

I started to cry right over what he was saying. "It's okay if you don't want to be with me, knowing that being with me could mean people trying to hurt us, and that isn't even counting the fact that if I were to get the job, things might get weird with me. I understand."

He started to bend down, and I got ready for him to set me down on the ground, but he kept a hold of me instead while he sat down on the ground and made a lap for me to sit on.

"I'm not cutting out on you," he gently said, rubbing my ears. "What drew me to you was how unique you were and how big a personality you have, and I'm sure that's why they would want you for that job. You bring something different to the table, where over half their number are so dull and stoic, and half of them are literally dead; you are full of life and know how to lighten things up. Being around you won't ruin my life. You make my life more interesting—I think this counts as interesting."

I leaned into him again. "Are you sure you aren't someone the Dreamwardens are using to test me?"

He chuckled. "I'm pretty sure I would know if I was. I'm not a test, and I won't tell anyone about you or your friends."

I started to grin, but it turned into a frown as I pulled back from him and looked him in the face again. "You need to know that if I become Dreamwarden, it could impact my personality a little. Dreamwardens inherit things that enhance their traits from previous Dreamwardens. I'm not sure what I would inherit or how it would change how I act."

"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it," he said, hand still rubbing my ears. "If I can't deal with it, then I can't deal with it, and then we part ways with me still keeping your secrets. However, I can't imagine it changing you so much I won't like you. You just said it; it enhances what's already there, and I love what's already there."

I smiled and settled back against him. "I love you."

My eyes popped wide-open as I realized I had just said the L-word. Was that too soon? Was I a silly filly who jumped into things too fast? It had only been a month.

"I love you too," he replied and then lifted my chin gently with a finger and kissed me. I melted again.

"Hey! Are you two going to spend the whole night out in the driveway? Come back in! The smell is gone," my stepdad called out from the doorway.

I reluctantly got off Russell's lap, and he got back to his feet. Time to go back in and face the parents again. I wasn't nervous anymore, though.

Comments

[harts fire]

caught up and looking for more of this grate story.
i have a few ideas of how this is going to play out but i am keeping them to my self to see if i am right.