Writer's Block

“Would you like some orange juice?”

“Sure…”

Twilight eyed James briefly, then opened the fridge and pulled out a box of orange juice. She remained as casual as she could while she prepared breakfast for them, but would sneak small glances at James whenever she could. What is he thinking right now? Is last night still bothering him?

James had been rather unresponsive and stoic since they had woken up, only talking to her in short mumbled answers whenever possible. His gaze constantly shifted about from the floor to some object on the other side of the room. It pained her to wait as quietly as she had while he worked whatever was going through his mind, but it was one she was willing to bear. Just be patient, he’ll speak when he’s ready. At least, I hope he does…

“Breakfast is ready,” Twilight announced cheerfully, flashing him a smile as she slid him a plate of eggs with toast.

James stared blankly at it for a few moments before nodding his head, and digging in.

Just like she had during preparation, she constantly flashed her eyes at him while they ate, looking for any hint or sign that he would say what was on his mind. The morning however, remained silent save for the bird songs that drifted through the windows.

Twilight daintily wiped her mouth with a napkin and grabbed both their plates. His appetite doesn’t appear to be affected, she noted at the clear plate. She then proceeded to the sink and began cleaning them, all the while resisting the urge to look back at him. What should I do? Should I send him home? Or just keep being quiet until he’s finally ready?

“Twilight.”

“Yes?” Twilight said hopefully, nearly throwing the plate across the room as she turned her head towards him.

James turned towards her and said, “…I’ll try it.”

“Try what?”

“Being… more open with friends, living like you guys do.” James looked back down to where his plate had been. “I’m going to give it a try, sex and all.”

“Are you sure?” Twilight said, immediately discarding the plates into the sink and reseating herself. “I understand it’s not a part of your culture. You’re not obligated to do it.”

“I know.”

“And I don’t want you to feel pressured. This isn’t something you should do lightly.”

“I know, I know,” James said while leaning back into his chair. “I’ve been thinking about it for a while now, and I’ve decided to at least give it a shot.”

“I’m happy to hear that you’re willing to try, but I don’t want you doing it if you’re uncomfortable.”

“Twilight, it’s alright, I-“

“Because if you feel uncomfortable then it’s just forcing it, and forcing it doesn’t help the situation at all because all it will do is make both of you feel weird-“

“Twilight.”

“-and then you won’t be able to look at each other the same way again, forcing the rest of the time spent together to be nerve-wracking fits of awkwardness, then you wish you weren’t here and instead back home-“

"Twilight.”

“-which will lead to even more awful moments and-“

“Twilight!” James exclaimed.

“Huh?” Twilight muttered as she finally looked up to him.

“Are… Are you blushing?”

Twilight stared at him with wide eyes as she registered the heat in her cheeks. “Maybe,” she said, her voice cracking.

“What’s wrong?”

“It’s nothing!” Twilight blurted before jumping from her seat and moving back to the sink. The clinking of plates being furiously scrubbed then filled air the kitchen as James watched Twilight curiously. The fact that she was keeping her head turned and away from him made James blink in confusion.

Nothing was said for some time, until realization hit James harder than the first time Rainbow Dash had tackled him when he had first arrived in Ponyville.

“Twilight… are you hinting at…” James said slowly. The fact that her back straightened as he spoke, and the scrubbing of the plates increased in intensity, were all the more signs to the conclusion James was forming.

“Do you… want to… with me?”

Twilight immediately ceased cleaning the dishes, bringing a stifling silence into the air. Ever so slowly she turned her head in his direction, and looked at him behind her bangs, and with crimson cheeks.

The way her eyes were bent, silently speaking of guilt, embarrassment, and uncertainty, brought a heat to James’ cheeks as well. For him, his chest felt hollow and light, as if it could float away at any second, and his gut heavy and dense, as if it was causing him to sink into the floor. It was a vertigo he was only dimly aware of.

But as quick as the moment had come, so too did it vanish beneath a torrent of thoughts and counters from his mind.

“B-but… you’re a princess! Wouldn’t that be, I don’t know, wrong or something?”

Twilight shifted her gaze away while idly rubbing her leg with the other hoof. “Normally yes. You see, princesses aren’t supposed to be as open as normal ponies. But it’s not like we can’t at all. We just… have to be selective of who we choose to be close with, and were limited in how many we can have.”

“And you think a human is a good choice?”

Twilight turned her eyes back to him, but still kept herself beneath her mane. “As long as who we choose are model citizens, it’s okay. There have instances of close guards, chiefs, gardeners, and more being close with Celestia and Luna. Were just held to a higher standard, so we have to be more conservative.”

“But… I don’t…” James flexed his hands as fidgeted in his seat.

“What is it?”

“I just… I don’t want you or me to get in trouble. I mean, I’m not even a citizen yet, and I don’t want anything bad to happen from it. What if ponies get the wrong message?”

Twilight lifted her head, but leaned backwards as she narrowed her eyes at him. “Is that what you’re worried about?” she said quietly, but with a bitter tone.

James did not reply, and instead, simply stared at her with a guilty look.

Twilight’s lips twitched momentarily, then became unusually still. She shifted herself back into a more relaxed posture and flipped her hair out of her face. Her demeanor was passive and calm, not a hint of emotion or shyness she had shown earlier left on her face. “You’re probably right. It was inappropriate of me to seek.”

“Twilight…”

“I’ll let you see yourself out. Have a good day.” Without a second glance, Twilight turned about and walked out of the kitchen casually.

“Twilight!” James scooted his chair back and headed after her. When he entered the living room, he caught the last second of her landing atop the balcony of the stairs and folding her wings. Without looking back, she continued up the rest of the stairs, disappearing into the upper section of the library.

James stared defeatedly up the steps, unable to make a sound from his open mouth. Do I go after her? Or do I leave? Shit, what do I do? James looked about the library for something that might help him decided, but found his eyes moving back and forth from the stairs and to the front door. She went to her bedroom. Maybe she isn’t too pissed at me. This is something girls do isn’t it? But if I do, what would happen then?

The conversation he had just had with her flashed across his mind again. Her coy behavior, her hinting at picking only a few individuals, revealing that he would be considered one of those lucky ones, and the way her face looked beneath her mane with blushing cheeks.

If I go up there… would… we do it?

That was something that James, despite all of the events of the recent days, did not know the answer to, or even knew if he wanted to know.

His knuckles became white as he gripped his hands. What do I do? What should I do? He turned his eyes to the door. Dammit, I don’t want to leave her alone. Not after I hurt her feelings. But I… I don’t know if I…

His eyes flicked back to the balcony. If I just go up there only to talk, I would probably only make her feel worse. And that… is something I don’t want to do…

The tension in James’ fists left as he slowly relaxed his grip, and eventually, left them hanging open. I know what I said this morning, but… I don’t know if this is right.

Staring upwards a few seconds more, James reluctantly turned away, and stepped towards the door. Or maybe I’m just full of shit…

There was no more thinking left for him. Not because the decision was clear, but because he was too overwhelmed at all the possible situations, all the possible perspectives on it, and all the possibly outcomes. He could only numbly follow the one action he knew would lead him out of the situation, and hopefully allow him to mend whatever damages he had caused at another time.

With heavy steps, James stepped outside, and closed the library door behind him, leaving a clear echo that reached even up to the second floor.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

James walked through Ponyville quickly, feeling a small burn in his calves as he kept his legs stiff and constantly moving, never slowly down in the slightest even as he moved past other ponies. He received many curious looks, from those who knew it odd for him to not have greeted them as he passed, and others flinching in surprise as he passed and overtook their leisurely pace. To where he was so determined to get to in such a hurry, none of them knew, not even James.

He was simply walking somewhere, anywhere that his legs and whim felt like going to. He didn’t know what to think, didn’t know what to feel, and he didn’t know how to sort out the flurry of thoughts and emotions that did bounce about inside him.

Eventually however, he was not able to keep up his pace, and he fell into slower gait, and continued to slow, until he found himself no longer able to move. He simply stood there; staring at the ground, letting his mind became a haze from possible decisions, thoughts, and countless doubts. And he did not know how much longer he would have stood there, were it not for the soft shout that faintly reached ears as if it were a breeze.

“Good morning, James.”

James turned his head, and immediately spotted Fluttershy waving at him from a distance. It was then he noticed that he had ended up at the park. The grassy hills were as green as ever, with little buds of flowers beginning to form as spring approached. The trees were vibrant, and the grass swayed from random breezes that seemed to avoid him or Fluttershy. In fact, he noticed curiously that despite some of the more erratic gusts of wind that came, not a single strand of hair of her mane, or feather on her wings ruffled. Not even the red and white speckled picnic cloth that she was laying on ruffled.

It was then James realized that she was looking at him expectantly, and he recalled that she had waved him over. Welcoming a distraction to his turmoil, James strode over. “Morning, Fluttershy.”

“How are you today James?”

James’ eyes hardened faintly. “I’m doing good.”

“I’m glad,” Fluttershy said, smiling softly. “Would you like to join me?”

“I already had breakfast, but I wouldn’t mind something to drink.” James sat down and crossed his legs, and looked over the assortment of tupperware and baskets. There was at least three kinds of pie, four types of sandwiches cut into tiny squares, and over a dozen different cupcakes, all of it spread about the blanket in a decorative fashion.

“Sure you got enough food?”

Fluttershy let her hair fall in front of her as she reached for a nearby pitcher. “Oh no, it isn’t all for me. I’m actually waiting for a friend to arrive. Is orange juice okay?”

“Yeah, that’s alright.”

James waited quietly as she poured a cup for him and handed it over. After taking a whiff of the drink, letting the smell of the oranges stew his anticipation, he a series of sips, and gave out a small ‘hmm’. After downing a third of it in a few seconds, James pulled it away and let out a ‘ahh’ from the refreshing drink. “I don’t know how many times I will say it, but your guys’ fruit taste so much better than mine back at home.”

“I’m sure if you lived near a farm that grew them, they would be just as delicious,” Fluttershy said.

Always the first to defend something, even if it’s someone you don’t know, James thought happily. “Maybe, but who knows if I will ever find out.”

“Oh my goodness, I’m sorry!” Fluttershy immediately spouted. “I didn’t mean to make you miss home!”

“It’s alright,” James simply said, knowing full well that if he gave it her imagined slight any more attention, she would only continue to profusely apologized. He instead did what he normally did around her, something that he had grown used to over his time in Ponyville, and something he felt confident she enjoyed as well.

He remained silent, and leaned back and enjoyed the day.

Silence wasn’t something he got often with the rest of the girls, or any other pony for that matter except for the ones that directly avoided him. But with Fluttershy it was easy to obtain, and even better, it felt natural. It wasn’t that they didn’t talk at all, just that it had become normal for the two of them to simply enjoy each other’s company without the need to speak, and take in the moment of wherever the two of them were.

When he first spent time around her, he was worried that the repeated silence was a sign there was something wrong between him and her. He had no problem working off conversations others started until he grew more accustomed to them. But finding that he would need to be the one to start nearly every conversation with Fluttershy caused him to lock up, and just continue to remain quiet. Thankfully, he found out what would be an awkward thing between others, was a welcomed—and at times even looked forward to—mutual and pleasant time.

It was because of that that Fluttershy had worked up the courage to begin talking to him more, and he found that ever so slowly, she was beginning to initiate talking with him on a regular basis. But today didn’t appear to be one of those days. Instead, they sat there as they usually did, enjoying the refreshments of the picnic, and the sweet spring air that was prevalent around them.

Wait… spring?

James straightened his back and began inspecting the park with closer detail. Indeed, the flowers were just barely beginning to form, and the grass was green from all the fresh rain. The problem however, was that it was currently summer.

“Uh... Fluttershy.”

“Yes?”

“I know ponies can change the seasons, but can they reverse them?”

“You mean, like winter into fall?”

“Yeah, but more like summer into spring.”

“Oh,” Fluttershy exclaimed before looking around her as well. She only glanced about before a few moments before giggling lightly and turning back to him. “That’s just the way he likes it when we go for picnics.”

“The friend you’re meeting?”

“Hmhmm,” Fluttershy hummed with a bright smile.

“And who exactly is he?”

“Who indeed?” a voice suddenly said.

James turned his head about in every direction, searching for the source of the voice. It was masculine, it purred with a sense of smugness, and it was very familiar.

“You should really try swimming in it next time, helps clean the oils right from your skin.”

James turned his eyes downward, and into his cup. Inside, doing a backstroke, was a small figure who looked to be thoroughly enjoying himself, and flashed a toothy grin up to James.

Discord, James thought in disbelief.

With a snap of his tiny claw, he immediately vanished, and reappeared by a nearby tree. “Nothing like a morning swim to build up your appetite!” He casually reached for the bark of the tree, and pulled it off like it had been merely velcroed to it. Bending it in a way that defied its normal flexibility, Discord dried himself off with the makeshift towel, humming happily as did. “Innovative advice, drying yourself off with bark doubles as a massage.”

With a satisfied smile, Discord drew the bark into a rattail, and whipped the tree, causing it to jump out of the ground with what James swore was an audible yelp, before it reappeared around the tree as if it had never left.

“Discord,” Fluttershy said with her hooves on her hips.

“Terribly sorry Fluttershy, it just looked like it could do with a bit of stretching and I thought a friendly locker-room prank would help it out,” Discord replied innocently.

“Just please, don’t do that again. Trees have feelings to you know. At least, I think they do.”

“They most certainly do!” Discord replied cheerfully. “But with exercise set aside, good morning Fluttershy! How are you today?”

“I’m doing fine, thank you,” Fluttershy said, her smile now returned to her face. “Discord, I would like you to meet someone,” she said without skipping a beat as she stretched a hoof towards James. Were it not for the fact that Discord gave him a devilish smile with the widest eyes James had ever seen, he would have thought it odd for Fluttershy of all ponies to start the introductions. “Discord, James. James, Discord.”

“Ah, so this is the human I have heard so much about!” Discord plopped his lion arm with his claw, and held the disconnected limb towards James. “Charmed to meet you.”

James stared at the severed arm briefly, before cautiously reaching out and grasping it. He surprised every urge to scream when it casually gripped his hand for a shake. “N-nice to finally meet you too.”

“Finally?” Discord asked aloud. But his look of confusion changed into a fit of laughter. “I forgot, you’re from there. Oh, how silly of me.”

James then felt a grip on his right shoulder, and turned to see Discord’s claw resting on him, with his face appearing moments afterward from somewhere behinds James vision. “Tell me, how does Equestria stand up to its televised counterpart?”

It was one thing to know about Discord and what he was capable of. It was another to actually see him in person and flex his chaotic powers. It had left James with a sense of awe, and fear that made him remained stiff the entire time. “I… I think… I mean, it’s different…”

“Come come now, don’t be shy. I simply must hear your opinion on everything. It’s not like its normal to have a human come here.”

“Normal? You mean… it’s happened before?” That bit of information had James’ attention, allowing him the strength of mind to get past his reality defining abilities and speak more assuredly.

“No, you misunderstand,” Discord said as he slithered past James and sat atop a pitcher as if it were a chair. “You happen to be the first human to arrive in Equestria. But does that not mean you will be the last.”

“What do you mean?” James said, leaning forward intently. “Do you understand how I got here?”

“Understand? No,” Discord replied as he picked up a muffin, undid the wrapper, and revealing a pool of liquid already within it, the same juice James reasoned that he was sitting atop of. “Expect it however, most definitely.”

“Expect it? How?” James asked eagerly. Discord did not respond at first, choosing to instead sip from his cupcake cup of juice every so daintily. “What do you know?” James asked insistently.

“Not much concerning anything useful,” Discord replied with a content smile. “It just so happens that I have been waiting for the barriers between worlds to fluctuate just right to allow one to travel from one to another. You, my dear fellow,” Discord said while pointing his tail at James, “are merely the first I’ve come across.”

James’ mind reeled over at the potential implications Discord was revealing. There had been no clues on how he had arrived here, or if it was even possible for him to get back. Not Twilight, Celestia, or Luna were able to offer any insight on the matter. And though James had briefly considered Discord being a potential source of information, his absence since his arrival had gone by as normal while life in Equestria had swept him up and kept him busy.

“Can you send me back?” James asked breathlessly.

Discord merely closed his eyes and returned to sipping his drink.

“Discord,” Fluttershy said curiously, ”is it possible?”

He opened his eye a fraction and looked back and forth between Fluttershy and James, before exhaling and setting his cup onto an invisible ledge. “No, I cannot. Nor can I offer any help in achieving a way to sending you back.”

“That’s bullshit,” James said right away. Discord raised an eye brow at him and looked at him in a bored like fashion. “You are practically a god of chaos, there’s nothing you can’t do.” James forced himself to not grit his teeth as he spoke. “Sending me back should be as simple as snapping your hands.”

“Unfortunately, I am nowhere near a god, nor do I have the means to send you back. I won’t repeat myself,” Discord stated.

“And why’s that? Exactly what rules does chaos follow that doesn’t allow him to?” James pressed.

“I’m so glad you asked!” he replied, his eccentric behavior swinging back into force. With a snap, the red squares from the picnic blanket swam to the pitcher, up its side, and onto Discord’s body. It a few moments, they settled all about his body in the form of a plaid jacket. With a swing of his wrist, a pair of bulky glasses appeared on his face, and he coughed politely into his hand.

“I’m assuming you know what a computer is?”

“Yeah… do you?”

“Ah ah ah, save all questions until the end of the presentation,” Discord tutted with a wave of his finger. “Now, imagine a series of folders on a hard drive.” Discord showcased the front of his jacket, which displayed the plaid squares rearranging into a series of vertical folders.

“Each folder represents a different world, dimension, reality. Take your pick, each file type is valid.” Tapping on one of them, it expanded outward to the right. “In each folder, is every file pertaining to that world. Every flora, fauna, and object are files that can work within their respective permissions, and interact with other files.”

“Equestria for example,” Discord did a scrolling motion with his fingers, and opened up another box down the way, “has Celestia as an object which has permissions over ‘Sun.exe’.”

Fluttershy stared dumbfounded at the display on the jacket, having been lost on figuring out what a hard drive was. James on the other hand, had his eyes growing wider as he pieced it together. “Discord… you aren’t implying what I think you are…”

“That the universe is nothing but a simulation?” Discord answered. James looked up to him with his mouth open, and a long pause was had between them. “Nothing of the sort,” Discord finally said with a chuckle. “This just happens to be the easiest way for you to comprehend it. Implications aside, things are actually a lot more complicated and simple than just being a simulation.”

James said nothing as he perspective on existence was ushered back into a more relieved state. It’s probably something I don’t even know if I want to know.

Discord was closing folders and wrapping up the presentation as per the squares beginning to flow back to the blanket when James spoke up. “Wait, so where does that put you? And why can’t you send me back?”

“Me? Why, I’m one of the ‘special’ files,” he replied happily. “Think of it like this. I have full admin permissions for the Equestria folder, allowing me to do nearly anything I want save some permission restrictions that exceed my own. I can modify, copy, create, and even delete.” As if it needed an example, Discord pulled out a bouquet of roses from nowhere, before promptly throwing them up into the air and turning them into soap bubbles. “Most sections of free will on objects being one of the areas I can’t access. Have to use a hack for that just to get anywhere in that business.”

A ‘humf’ from Fluttershy caused Discord to bend his head backwards and give a shrug. “Apologies, Fluttershy, but it was a different time and a different me. Long before your magical touch helped me see things better.”

Fluttershy gave a skeptical look, before she shook her head side to side and gave him a smile. “It’s alright, I already forgave you for that.” Discord gave her a playful wink, then came back to the conversation.

“However,” Discord said as his head slid beneath him, and somehow back into position, “those rights do not extend to your folder. I have absolutely no permissions outside of Equestria. Make sense?”

James looked up to Discord with a blankly, barely even able to nod his head up and down. “Yeah… I think it does…”

“Good. Now, let’s not waste any more of this lovely meal that Fluttershy has so kindly put together for us.”

The rest of the time was spent with Discord and Fluttershy chatting amongst each other on whatever topic, with James only adding a word here or there. He was still focused on the explanation of things Discord had given him, and what had happened with Twilight only earlier that morning. If it wasn’t for his mind being blown on how existence might have worked, James might have excused himself then and there.

An hour or so later, and with all the snacks devoured—mostly by Discord in unusual methods—Fluttershy began wrapping the blanket up into the basket, while Discord had the plates do an elaborate dance number before piling themselves neatly.

James stared idly at the dancing platter where, smiling slightly at the display. He was unaware that during this time, Discord's keen focus on him.

After the last fork did a double-back flip into the basket, Discord snapped his claw, and the flowers in the field suddenly bloomed in spectacular display. It took James a few moments to realize that all he had done was simply set the season in the park back to the current time, and with it the smell of the summer breeze.

James stared idly off at the sudden change before Discord spoke up, catching his attention. “It looks like something is bothering you, my boy.”

James gave a raised brow at the sudden title, but shrugged it off like his answer. “Just… thinking.”

“About home?”

“Yeah…”

Discord observed him for a moment, before putting his hands behind his back and walking over with a smug toothy grin. “Are you sure it isn’t about the new love life potentials you seem to be avidly failing to avoid?”

James felt his cheeks become hot again, and whipped his head upwards.

“Don’t worry, I’ve made it so Fluttershy can’t hear us talking man to man. Or rather, man to draconequus,” Discord said with a wink.

“You expect me to trust you with my problems?” James said with a frown.

“Not at all,” he replied rather proudly. “But that doesn’t mean I’m not aware of them. After all, how could I not pay attention to such an interesting person.” Discord craned his head downwards and sideways. “After all, you have such an interesting soul. Much more varied and dare I say, chaotic than a pony's.”

James hardly felt it would help, but he crossed his arms in front of his chest and leaned away. “And what’s that supposed to mean?”

“Oh, nothing much,” he replied as he straightened out and made his way back to help Fluttershy finish packing. “Just that I will be keeping an eye on you. I’m sure you will be quite entertaining as you figure things out.”

James was at a loss for words, before embarrassment and irritation caught up with him. “Y-you! You better not be secretly watching me!”

Whether Discord heard it over his humming however, or was simply ignoring it, James wasn’t sure. He kept an eye on him the rest of the time, and even threw glances over his shoulder constantly as they said their goodbyes and departed the park, with Discord joining Fluttershy for some afternoon tea at her cottage.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The rest of the day proved uneventful . James managed to squeeze a bit of shopping in, a load of laundry, and some cleaning done. He noted that when he had time to do nearly every chore needed for the house done with, it was a sure sign that his mind was weighed heavily with problems. It was here that he found himself lying in covers, Luna’s moon rising into the sky, and completely awake as he stared up at the ceiling.

What the hell am I going to do?

Twilight popped into his mind. What should I have done? I didn’t want to hurt her feelings anymore, but I didn’t want to do something wrong either. She’s a princess for god sake! I would be lying if I didn’t consider her as a possibility though. We get along pretty well, she has an amazing mind, and she’s not bad looking for a pony. At least, I don’t think she is.

The look on her face when he denied her however, reappeared. What did she expect popping that up so quickly? I only just decided that morning to try it out. I figured I had at least a week or something to prepare myself for it. It’s not like she was interested in me the entire time and has been secretly holding feelings out for me.

Or has she? Memories of the talks they’ve shared, the laughs they’ve had, and the intensity their conversations had at times danced across his mind. Shit, did she? God, why am I so bad at reading girls?

Applejack was next in line. What am I going to do about that? She already knows I’ve broken down. And it’s not as easy as she makes it sound to be to just be open about it. How the hell does she just expect me to do that? I barely even know all of them! James furrowed his brows at the ceiling, dismissing the few cricket noises that made their way through the windows. No… that’s not true. In fact, I know them better than anyone back home. And I think… they know me better than anyone else either. Shit…

A toothy grin of Discord appeared next. And just what the hell am I supposed to take away from that?

Closing his eyes, James breathed in heavily as he attempted to force himself to calm down, clearing everything from his mind as she tried to fall asleep and put the day behind him. But as the images of everyone faded, one of Rainbow Dash formed clearly in his mind. Rainbow Dash…

His eyes opened in half slits. And what am I supposed to do with you as well?

Memories of her smiling face, her mane blowing in the wind, and the night she had fallen asleep in his lap, looking more peaceful than he had ever seen of her. James let out a small chuckle at the recollection of how she suddenly snorted herself awake and looked about in confusion. He had told her that she had fallen asleep on him. He couldn’t recall if she had blushed at the time, but she had suddenly shifted herself away from him, and kept her attention on the fire for the rest of the night.

It was then he realized, that moment while they were out camping, that that had been one of the happiest, and peaceful moment he had since arriving.

Rainbow… what do you want? What do I want?

The longer he thought about it, the more it became too much. And soon, the thoughts of everyone else came rushing back into his mind. It was just all becoming too much, and there wasn’t a clear answer, or a way out for him for any of the situations. So he turned to the only reasonable option. The only thing that could help vent some frustration, and help him fall asleep.

Fuck it, I’m just going to rub one out, then go to bed.

Turning to his side, James began to reach for his drawer for the stash of tissue paper, but stopped before pulling on the knob. Recalling the conversation he had at the park, James lifted his head and peered about the room suspiciously. He scanned every object, every nook, and every shadow for anything that may have not been there before, or looked different than he remembered.

“…Discord?” James cautiously called out.

There was no reply.

Waiting a minute longer, James grunted and buried himself back into the blankets. Great, now I’m never going to be able to masturbate again.