Sitting and Smiling
Someone had already been running the water for a while when Gallus entered the dorm showers. Steam drifted around him like fog, rising up to his neck. He wondered if maybe someone had slipped and died accidentally. The thought was scary, because if someone was dead it had to be one of his five best friends, because these were the showers located only in their dorm wing, but it also would’ve been hilarious, because if Smolder died two thousand years before she was supposed to, she’d never hear the end of it once Gallus came to join her in whatever kind of life happened next.
But unfortunately, fortunately, no one had died. Or if someone did, it was probably no one in the shower, because someone inside of it was crying softly. The running water had masked the sound up until now, but it was unmistakable.
Gallus paused. He looked at the little basket of shower things he’d been balancing on his back: some shampoo, a toothbrush, toothpaste...there was nothing in it that could help him comfort a crying friend.
Should he go back? Did he need to clean himself right this second?
“H-Hello?” came a voice from around the corner, inside the showers. Gallus recognized it as Yona’s.
Gallus felt himself begin to sweat. He sniffed himself cautiously, and was not pleased by what he smelled. He needed to bathe.
“Who is there?” Yona called, voice quiet, shaky.
Gallus swore under his breath. He walked forward, turned the corner.
He saw Yona, sitting underneath a shower. Her fur was completely soaked. There was a pleasant, herbal scent wafting through the air. Long tresses of hair spilled down from her head in glorious, elegant waves that were pushed aside to make space for her face. Her eyes were red. She was frowning, but trying not to.
“It’s, uh, just me…” Gallus said.
He saw a look of calculation in her eyes. He realized that he was talking quieter than usual. She knew that he had heard her crying.
What to do? Point it out? Ignore it?
Who was he kidding? Ignoring it was the only option.
He walked to the shower next to Yona’s, deliberately avoiding eye contact until he had turned it on. He could feel her eyes on him.
He blushed, glancing at her with pointed eyes. “You’re staring.”
Yona’s eyes widened. She looked away. “Yona is most definitely not.”
Gallus grunted, no longer wanting to continue that line of discussion. He turned the knob in front of him.
Water poured down from the long, square showerhead above him, flowing down his face, over his body. It was warm, and it was just what he needed after the workout he’d just had. He grabbed some soap and lathered himself.
Yona was still beside him. She was looking away now, not saying anything.
Gallus massaged some soap into his neck fur, feeling the point where the fur turned to feathers, feeling the knots in the muscles underneath. He sighed. feeling himself relaxing already. Physically, at least. His brain was working overtime to figure out what to do about his friend.
Yona was barely even moving. He would’ve thought her dead if it weren’t for the way her tail was twitching slightly as the water flowed off her back.
The soap smelled like basil, and flowers…gardenias? It must have been hoofmade. Gallus wondered if one of the professors had done it, or if they’d mass purchased a bunch of fancy soap bars from somepony in town.
A thought came to him. Did he have to do anything?
Of course he did. But sometimes lack of actions were themselves actions. Did he have the chance to do absolutely nothing will still doing something?
No, said his brain again. You’re being lazy. You’re a lazy piece of shit orphan who has zero work ethic and you’re never going to graduate and you’re going to end up dead in a ditch like your scumbag parents probably are somewhere. Also you look really ugly today.
He ignored his brain. He made it recall a friendship lecture from Professor Fluttershy a few months back.
“Sometimes being nice can mean different things,” she said. “Sometimes being nice means helping to solve somepony’s problems. And sometimes…”
Sometimes it was a warm hug. Sometimes it was just sitting and smiling and being there and being there was enough.
So what did Yona need? A gift? Bits? A talk, a hug, a smile?
He could have just asked her.
But he knew Yona, and he knew that if it was anything that she thought he could help with, she would’ve told him immediately, because that’s how she knew he needed to be informed about emotional sappy stuff. She knew him well, and suddenly there was a pit in his stomach because he felt like maybe he didn’t know her as well as she did him.
He sniffed the air, breathed in the warm, humid mist from the hot water. It cleared his nostrils. To his delight, he could no longer smell his own BO.
“Why griffon smell so bad?” Yona muttered.
She was talking. That was a good sign! Gallus waved her off. “Workout. Dash gave me a whole regiment and it involves me flying and running a hundred laps each at the end of one day and then taking it easy for the next.”
Yona grunted, but didn’t say anything else.
Gotta keep her talking, Gallus thought to himself. Unless she didn’t want to talk. Then maybe he could just leave her alone.
Maybe he could keep talking? He cleared his throat. “I uh, am really sore. So glad that we have a shower right here in the dorm.”
“Where else would shower be?” Yona asked, turning to face him, raising an eyebrow.
And now she was looking at him! That was even better! He laughed nervously. “Honestly, when Gruff first dragged me to Ponyville I saw the waterfall outside and I figured that they’d make us like, bathe underneath that or something.”
Yona snorted. Gallus could now see the redness in her eyes. The way that her cheeks sagged, provoked by whatever was going on with her to make her frown.
He could hardly stand it. He had seen Yona upset before. Even a little sad. Never this sad.
Never sad enough to not tell him immediately. Or anyone, for that matter. Sometimes it felt like you only had to look at Yona to know what she was thinking. But now it was like Yona was a puzzle.
“Griffon’s the one staring now,” Yona said.
Gallus scoffed. “As if!”
Yona reached for the shampoo that was on the rack in front of her, drizzled a little onto a hoof, and then flicked it backwards, splattering it across her side. She turned and, with surprising flexibility, began to lather it into her fur.
Gallus turned away, beginning to do the same. He still had to get his wings.
What could he do?
“Yona wonder…”
Gallus nodded, “Yeah?”
“Did griffon bathe regularly before pony school?”
Gallus cracked a grin. “Not really. Running water isn’t hard to come by in Griffonstone, but none of it is cheap. And all of it is ice cold.”
“Ice cold baths best!”
“Why’re you taking a warm one, then?”
“Yona said baths, not showers.”
“Got me there,” Gallus said. “...I think.”
“What there to think about?”
“Icy baths sound kinda worse than icy showers.”
“No way!” Yona scoffed. “Ice baths are like…like pony cuteceaneara, but for fur and skin!”
“Now I can guarantee you that’s not true.”
“Oh, suddenly griffon is an ice expert?”
“No! I just know that there’s nothing about feeling like your tender bits are gonna freeze off that can be good.”
Yona laughed, then looked surprised at herself. She laughed again, disbelief growing until suddenly she calmed down, and kept washing herself.
But there was something different in the air now.
Gallus rinsed his wings off, making sure to get deep into the feathers. He was going to have to preen after this, but that was fine. He needed a deep clean like, badly.
Minutes passed as the water flowed and the mist from the heat edged on becoming a cloying cloud of pleasant fragrance. Eventually, there came a point where he felt like he was clean enough. Any more time under the warm water would dry out the skin under his feathers. But Yona was still beside him, muttering to herself quietly as she took her shower. She usually wasn’t one for taking forever with bathing, but she wasn’t crying and she wasn’t looking as sullen as she was earlier, so Gallus didn’t complain.
Still, it didn’t feel right to leave without her. He wasn’t sure why.
He closed his eyes, concentrated on the water.
A question came to him, passing over him like a sudden storm. “You ever wonder why we have showers?”
Yona took a few seconds to reply. “Not really. Griffon still thinking about baths?”
“No. Yes. Look,” Gallus said, scratching his neck nervously. “Why do our dorms have bunk beds?”
“Yona thought we were talking about baths.”
“And now we’re talking about beds.”
“Baths and beds,” Yona said. “Should yak leave shower before griffon says something he might regret?”
“Yak should get her mind out of the gutter.”
“Yak mind have no gutter. Only flawless, spotless earthy ground of yak hut, with yak rugs to keep hooves warm.”
Gallus put his talon on his face. He screamed into it.
Yona laughed again, and Gallus’s talon fell. He opened his eyes and looked to see her grinning.
“Bunk beds for sharing, yes?” she said.
“Yes,” Gallus sighed. “Yes. They’re there because Twilight values sleepovers because sleepovers are good for making friends, and not everyone wants to share a bed with their friend at a sleepover.”
Yona tapped her chin. “Griffon makes sense.”
“I think we have showers for the same reason,” said Gallus. “But I think it’s for a better one.”
“Go on.”
“Showers are a necessary thing. You need to take them every day.”
“Every day,” Yona repeated. “Yak agree. Smolder wrong.”
“She’s very wrong. You need to take them every day. And when you’re in the shower your mind tends to wander, right?”
“Yes.”
“And sometimes when your mind wanders…” Gallus said. “Sometimes it wanders into the wrong places.”
“Baths and beds kind of places?”
“Tears get shed kind of places.”
“Oh.” Yona’s boisterous smile, faded quickly.
Gallus felt a rush of anxiety at the sight, but he forced his mind into order. He had a point to make.
“I think that sometimes it’s nice to just sit and relax and be by yourself, don’t get me wrong,” Gallus said, “but I think that our showers are communal because it’s nice to relax and not say anything and just…be beside your friends at the same time, sometimes. And Yona, I’m glad that you were here.”
Yona blinked. “You. Glad. Me? Here?”
“Was that bad grammar or bad Equestrian?” Gallus said.
Yona flicked water at his face. He chuckled dryly.
“Sorry. I mean—yeah. Yes. I’m glad you were here. I needed someone to talk to.”
Yona’s jaw fell. She looked like she was waiting for something.
But there wasn’t a punchline. Gallus spread his wings slightly. He held out a fist. “Thanks for being here, Yona. I’m here if you ever wanna talk.”
Yona stared at his fist for a moment, then met it with a hoof.
She beamed at him, full force. “Yona and friend should dry and get milkshakes. Yona had a terrible day.”
“Oh?” Gallus asked. “What happened?”
In tandem they turned their showers off. To the sound of the water dropping, she began to tell him.
And with this story, my little trio of stories starring odd Student Six pairs is complete!
Next for me is a cute little multi-chapter story featuring EVERYCREATUREONE instead of just two of them, as well as more updates to my longer drama fic Never Seen!
Hope your years are starting off right! Mine is looking pretty good 
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Lovely. Also great to see your addition to the "Smolder doesn't like to shower every day" extended universe.
Yona and Gallus aren't really an obvious pair, but they really do play off each other well. Now I just want to know what made Yona sad so I can make sure nothing makes her sad ever again. I've been loving these little weird pairings you've been writing, can't wait for more :)
Yona's mannerisms are fun to read and write. An interesting duo, and emotionally impactful as always.
this was just
wholesome
like Yak bread
need more pairs like this
Excellent work!
That was adorable
This was really cute!
Cute
I'm going to read this in the shower for double the immersion.
Geez man now that is a definition negative thinking
It's really nice to see gallus helping Yona to feel a little better in his own way and hey it really worked out it's always nice to say something like that and having conversation to let out your frustration sometimes again this was a pretty good story keep up the good work
You know, I could see either scenario being the right one? Or even both simultaneously, if I'm being perfectly honest.
I can relate so much to Gallus here--I'm not the sort that deals with opening up about feelings, especially the feelings of other people, very well. Thus it makes trying to be a source of comfort for someone else, particularly when unplanned, awkward and difficult to do, because you don't know if anything you do will actually help, make things worse, or just bring you embarrassment in trying. The gut instinct is to just avoid getting into such a situation and avoid facing it altogether. But as this fic nicely demonstrates...trying anyway, especially for a friend, is worth doing.
Smolder very wrong, but this fic very right. Spot-on characterizations, fun dialogue, and solid emotional impact makes it hard to believe it was only 2k words. Great, quick read. Thank you for sharing.
D’awwwww
Howdy, hi!
I continue to love how you write the young six. Like I normally just don't think of them, but you make me want to read about them all the time. How you characterize them and how you write them interacting is just fantastic. This was super sweet, super-nice, and an excellent quick read. Thanks for the story!
after a reread, i find myself wondering, what exactly upset her?
Sandbar turn her down or something?
Pals!