Rosa

by awf

Chapter 13: Awkward

Rosa remembered to fetch the things from outside and was just putting the book back on its shelf when Mr. Boone found her.

"Rosa," he said, making her spin around so quickly that the blanket slipped from her back to the floor.

"Sorry, sir! I was outside for a bit after I'd done my chores!" she explained, unable to help feeling a bit guilty despite having done nothing wrong.

The man waved it away. "That's fine. Have the children finished their homework?"

"Yes, Mr. Boone," she lied. Then, on second thought, Rosa realized there was no way she would get away with falsehood for long, so she corrected it almost immediately: "Lillian has. Benjamin said he doesn't need my help."

Her ears were flat and Rosa kept her gaze on the floor. Surely the man would be disappointed. He had asked her specifically to help his son with Maths and she had just admitted she hadn't really.

The expected tongue-lashing didn't come. "Oh," Mr. Boone said. "I'll have a talk with him."

Rosa winced, but fortunately Boone couldn't see her face. Being forced by his father to accept her help wouldn't do her relationship with young Benjamin any favors.

"T-Thank you, sir," she mumbled anyway even while she hoped he wouldn't have any more bright ideas. No wonder, she thought, he was having trouble with his kids. Also, it was a good thing Rosa was there now to try and smooth things over.

"You have everything you need?"

Maybe that was her chance to get something she wanted? "Um, actually-" Rosa bit her tongue, but she had already started so now it had to come out. "I was wondering if I may write a letter to my friends at the School..."

Boone didn't answer immediately so she rushed on to explain herself. "It's just that I promised them and they'll be worrying if they don't hear from me. Um, if- if it isn't too much trouble, sir?"

She glanced up at his face and Mr. Boone seemed a bit confused. "Why would it be any trouble?" he asked.

Giving him the biggest, most pleading pony eyes and her best smile, Rosa explained: "Um- if you would be so kind to drop it in a mailbox somewhere, Mr. Boone? I, uh, I also need a stamp..."

Only then did he realize that she didn't really have access to postal services from his house and she wasn't really allowed to walk around on her own.

"Oh!" the man exclaimed, then shrugged to himself. "Have it ready by tomorrow morning and I'll take care of it when I go to work. Remind me to give you some paper after lunch."

This time her smile was happy and genuine. "Thank you, sir!" she trilled and waited for a moment to see if he would pet her.

Unfortunately Mr. Boone didn't seem inclined to do that. Instead, he turned and walked to the kitchen, only to pause in the doorway. "Oh, and bring the children down in ten minutes for lunch, okay?"

"Yes, sir!"

Rosa gathered up the blanket and inspected the tiles under it closely in case she had brought in any dirt or grass. Once she was satisfied that the floor was nice and clean she lifted the cloth up and slung it over her back again. It should go back where she had found it in the laundry, so Rosa headed there before going to fetch the children. She was not looking forward to lunch with Mrs. Boone again, and to be honest with herself, she was kind of glad that she wouldn't be sitting at the table. That would be worse, Rosa was sure.

Poor Lillian.

Maybe she could sit with the girl on her bed in the evening and read with her a little. The Boone grownups hadn't given her anything to do after washing up the previous day. She could also do with a shower and, while she was at it, new panties since she would have to struggle out of them anyway.

It was a very different life than what Rosa was used to, and she had to remind herself it wasn't all unpleasant. Now she could write about the good bits and tell her old roommates how she was doing, and ask them about the School and about Paolo.

Oh! Rosa had a better idea! She could write a letter together with Lillian and put in a short hello from her as well! She had no doubt the child would instantly like all the girls in Rosa's old room. Not to mention it was another small way for her to socialize more. Sure, it was only pen and paper, but before the week was over, Rosa vowed, Lillian would have four more pony friends!

---

Her mind was wandering as Rosa was staring, unseeing, into the mirror and brushing her teeth. The task used to take a lot of concentration on her hoofwork, but practice did make perfect and now she didn't really have to think about it. It was still funny to remember her early attempts with Instructor Martha guiding her hoof. Rosa had nearly knocked her teeth out on multiple occasions. Thankfully she had gotten a lot better at it over the years. The shower had been pleasant and she was looking forward to sitting with young Lillian and writing a letter to her School friends together. Rosa felt a bit of a chill on her hind legs and she guessed maybe she should have dried her fetlocks a bit better. It was okay, though, and with the towel over her back Rosa was nice and cozy overall.

The bathroom door suddenly opened and her head snapped around to look. It was young Benjamin, staring at her in confusion. She nearly panicked, but realized in time that she was fully covered with the towel. Despite that, Rosa's eyes strayed to the maid's dress on the floor and the panties discarded nearby.

The boy followed her gaze, then backed away. "Oh, I didn't realize you were..."

Was he blushing?! Rosa hurriedly spat out the toothpaste foam. "Don't worry! It's fine!"

It was silly how quickly Mr. Boone's weird notions of modesty had rubbed off on her. For a moment Rosa worried if she would even be able to go out in public 'naked' after her appointment was over. She would just have to keep her mind straight on this, she told herself. Ponies didn't usually wear clothes.

Rosa slipped from the stool she had used to reach the sink and the mirror, then stepped toward the young human with determination. Luckily he hadn't yet run away. She made her voice as nonchalant as she could. "Hey, nothing to be embarrassed about, Benjamin. I'm just a pony. We don't normally wear clothes. It's not weird!"

Too bad it sounded as if she was trying to convince herself, rather than the boy. He gave a half-hearted nod, but backed away further and turned. It was fortunate that none of the grownups were out in the hallway, so Rosa pushed her luck some more. Maybe sharing an embarrassing moment and then laughing about it would bring her and the young man closer.

"Here, you can go in if you have to. I'm basically done anyway," she assured the lad and tried to nuzzle his hand. The fingers jerked away, but at least Benjamin looked at her again. She was doing her very best to act nonchalant and casual, so Rosa walked back into the bathroom and started gathering up her discarded maid's uniform.

"Here, I'll just take this to the laundry. Um, the tiles are a bit wet - ponies have a lot of fur and it drips." By that point she was almost babbling, just to keep talking. If she were to stop, Rosa was sure the awkward level would go through the roof. "Make sure you don't slip, okay? I'll come and wipe everything down when you're done."

The clothes were soon on her back and she paused as she was walking by young master Benjamin. She gave him a big, natural-looking smile and poked his rump with her muzzle. "Go on. All yours! Um, I don't really mind, but knock next time just in case, okay?"

The boy mumbled something affirmative and stumbled inside. He turned around, as if he was going to say something else, but shut his mouth and then closed the door.

Rosa breathed a sigh of relief. That could have gone so much worse! What if he had gone and told his father, for example? Only her second day and she would already be breaking Mr. Boone's rules! She should have remembered her pony-shaped bathrobe! Either that, or she should take showers when the family wasn't home, just in case.

Right then she was still in danger, so she scurried to her room and closed the door. Only then did she relax. She let the uniform slide from her back, followed closely by the towel. Before anything else, she went to her closet and got out her nightgown. It was a thing of a moment to get it on, even if she was not wearing panties like Mr. Boone had ordered. With luck no one would notice and she could work on those in the morning. Getting her tail through that hole was just such a pain in the rump!

Literally!

Rosa took a moment to collect herself, then picked up the uniform and spread it over a chair so it wouldn't get wrinkled. It wasn't really dirty and she could probably use it one more day before washing it. Then Rosa fetched fresh panties from the drawer and laid them on top, so she wouldn't forget. She looked around for her old ones, but they weren't there. Uh oh. For a moment her blood ran cold. She had forgotten them in the bathroom in her haste! Hopefully young Benjamin wouldn't mind too much, but she would have to get them the moment he was done, before Mr. Boone could see. Rosa opened her door so she would hear when the young man was finished, then she went to sit on her bed to wait. Living with those humans was turning out more complicated than Rosa had thought. Not necessarily bad, she felt, just... complicated.

No doubt it would get easier as she settled into the routine. The mare was lost in thought when a noise made her look up. Of course, there were also rewards. She smiled at young Lillian.

"Hello!"

The girl came in and went right ahead to pat her mane. It was still damp, but she didn't seem to mind. "Um, hi..." she murmured.

"I was going to write a letter to my pony friends at the School. Would you like to help? You can write them a little something too!"

Lillian's face split into a wide grin. "Yes!" she said with enthusiasm, and Rosa's smile soon matched hers.

She led the girl to the desk and sat her down on the chair. She only had the one, so Rosa would have to stand on her hind legs and steady herself with her hooves on the desk, but that was okay. The door was left open and Rosa kept an ear on the hallway, so she could slip out and get her underwear the moment Benjamin left the bathroom.

Mr. Boone had already given her some lined paper and a pen. "Okay, so I'll start," Rosa told Lillian, then reached to take the pen in her mouth. She paused just before taking it when she got an idea. "Hey! Can you read what I write and make sure I don't make any mistakes?"

Why not help the girl with her writing and reading skills while she was at it? Especially if Rosa was able to turn it into a little game.

The child blushed and looked away modestly. "I'm n-not too good with cu-cursive yet..."

Rosa smile encouragingly. "That's okay. I won't write in cursive. We can practice sometime if you'd like! I also had a lot of trouble with it when I was little!"

The child was back to happy and nodded her head at the mare. "Okay!"

Such a good job she was doing with Lillian, Rosa thought. Now if she could do half as well with Benjamin, Mr. Boone would be sure to donate a ton of money to the School in gratitude! She really had to capitalize on the blunder earlier and get the boy to laugh it off. That would surely break the ice! For now, Rosa picked up the pen in her mouth and started writing while Lillian read the words aloud.

"Um, hello my fri- friends. I'm doing... doing well and am..."

Rosa paused when the girl fell silent, and spit the pen out. "Don't worry, it's a tricky word."

Lillian frowned in concentration. "Coo- Qui- um.. quite!"

She earned herself a little nuzzle as a reward.

"Am quite happy!"

"That's very good!" Rosa picked the pen up again, but this time she wrote slower so Lillian had an easier time keeping up. Despite her slight trouble Rosa decided not to make it any simpler. Seeing an occasional difficult word would ultimately help the girl, even if it took her a bit to grasp it. That was why Rosa was there to help, after all! Besides, it was barely sundown and they could spend an hour or two writing the letter. It wasn't like Rosa had anything better to do.