Playing It Straight

There it was, right on cue: the priceless face that only came at the very moment when pleasure was spiked with a surge of pain. Mango had seen it countless times on countless ponies, but Summer Heat's expression was particularly exquisite. It started gently: only a slight grimace at first, then a clenched jaw, then eyes squeezed shut, and then Summer Heat threw her head back with a tight-jawed “Nnnnngh!”

Her mane waterfalled across her face and over her shoulders as she braced herself against the bench with one forehoof and pressed the other against her temple. A full-body quiver rippled through Summer Heat's neck, shoulders, flanks, and haunches, locking her in place with muzzle upturned and face scrunched as if in exertion, until her lips parted in a shuddering gasp.

Mango Leaf whistled. "Hoo! That was a good one!"

Summer Heat finally loosened her muscles and huffed out a sigh of relief. Then she shot Mango Leaf a sidelong glance and rolled her eyes. "Very funny. Glad I put on a nice show.”

"Ha! You just ate too fast, tha’s not my fault!” Mango Leaf said through a gigantic grin. “For real though, one of the best things about selling to tourists? Watching 'em get brain freeze like that."

“Yeah, I hear I make good faces,” Summer intoned. "You calling me a 'tourist' now?" She gestured to where a herd of ponies were rambling down the street, all of them brandishing cameras and wearing garish floral-print shirts.

“Well...”

Mango Leaf turned around and busied himself with packing up his frozen yogurt cart. Securing a spot here on the main beach walk had been a stroke of luck, but now the hottest part of the day was over, and the tourists were starting to move on to dinners and shows instead of shopping and sunbathing--might as well pack it in.

"... Kinda hard to call you kama'aina after only a couple years. How come you came back, anyways? You were talkin’ like it was aloha for good."

Summer Heat replied by pouting her lips and batting her lashes. "Maybe I've been craving your delicious yogurt. Just about broke my mouth!"

Mango pressed one hoof to his face as he bent forward in full-voiced laughter. When he recovered, his easy smile had returned. "Well actually, speaking of tourists, my cousin's comin’ from the mainland to visit tomorrow. Maybe you wanna meet him?"

Summer shrugged. "Sounds fun. Actual cousin or the other kind?"

"Other kind. Actually, I just saw him a coupla months ago..."

“Cousins don't shake hooves. They hug. Now come here, you big lump.”

It took a moment before Haystacks hugged back, but when he did, Mango felt himself being wrapped in the restrained power of a born and bred workhorse.

“...You missed me, then?” Mango breathed into Haystacks’ ear.

There was a delay.

Haystacks replied just before Mango would have started tickling him to get him to talk. “Of course I did.”

The power-built country boy’s voice was low and smooth; doubly so when lowered to an intimate murmur. It was the kind of voice that could make anything sound good, even the succinct phrases that Haystacks usually spoke in. A little flicker of coltish excitement passed through Mango Leaf’s gut as he tightened his hold and squeezed their bodies together just a bit harder.

The night was warm, and Haystacks’ coarse coat was even warmer, so the body heat between them was barely within the bounds of ‘pleasant.’ The same could be said of Haystacks’ scent--with his face buried in Haystacks’ shoulder, Mango could smell faint remnants of a long hot day’s worth of dry crops and damp exertion.

“Me too, bud,” said Mango Leaf. He let go of the hug after lingering for just long enough to feel Haystacks fill his broad chest with another deep breath.

Summer Heat had been listening with a hoof-tip resting against her lips. A contemplative frown spread from behind her hoof as Mango finished talking.

“Anyways, uh... so that’s my cousin Haystacks. He’s just one of those really nice guys, you know? It had been a really long time before that, so it was nice.”

Summer nodded slowly. "Sounds like he’s a really, really good guy.”

Mango nodded back, more enthusiastically. “Oh yeah, he really is. I’m lucky to have him as a--”

“You are gonna make your move when he comes, right?" Summer Heat detached her hoof from her mouth and turned it face-up toward Mango. Her voice and her eyes were utterly serious.

"Uh.” Mango Leaf felt his eyes widen. “Now I’m thinkin’ maybe I said too much..."

The smirk on Summer’s face turned into a full-on wolf grin. "Uh huh. Should’ve seen your face while you were describing him. I know that look. ”

"I mean... but...” Mango Leaf waved both hooves in circular gestures, illustrating nothing in particular. “He's pretty much family. I can’t just spring that kinda thing outta nowhere, you know?"

Summer rolled her eyes and made a dismissive “pfft” sound. "So don't! Meet him at the station, maybe bring him one of those what-do-you-call-em flower things, give a nice big hug when you put it on him. If he’s not into stallions, then you have a problem, but I haven’t heard you say that yet.”

“So, what, I should start flirting as soon as his hooves touch the ground? I told you, we’re like cousins, what if--”

Summer hardly slowed down. “Basics of the basics: say stuff that shows how you're looking at him as a STALLION, not a cousin." She jabbed her hoof toward Mango’s chest. “What, worried about ‘making things awkward?’ You’ll regret it if you don’t try, and you know it.”

Mango slumped into the bench’s backrest, contemplating the truth of those words. The sun was sinking behind the high-rise hotels and boutiques, and it was getting dark--time to either go drinking or go home.

"So,” he said, without turning to face Summer Heat, “I guess you fancy yourself a professional at this kinda stuff, huh?"

Summer pushed off the back of the bench, propelling herself so that she landed on the paved walkway with all four hooves. "Please. Professionals get paid. I prefer ‘artist.’ Just make sure you tell me how it went when I come back for more yogurt tomorrow."

Haystacks took a deep, deep breath as he stepped off the last rung of the flimsy portable staircase and onto solid ground. Before yesterday, he had hardly even known what an airship looked like, let alone set hoof inside one, let alone spent all day and all night trapped inside a cramped metal box hanging off the bottom of a balloon that was suspended thousands of feet in the air and vibrating from the force of three massive engines, with nothing but vast ocean beneath for as far as the eye could see.

Haystacks had spent more sleepless nights than he could keep track of on convincing himself to go through with this trip, then several more making arrangements for the time he would be gone. His mother had been soul-rendingly supportive. She had scolded him for worrying about her. Told him to bring back souvenirs. And then beckoned him closer to the hospital bed so that she could kiss him on the cheek and wish him a safe trip.

That was how Haystacks, the country boy who averaged two days away from the farm in a typical year, had up and flown across an ocean and most of a continent to stay on a tiny volcanic island for an entire weekend. That was insane. Impossible. But it had happened. All because of--because what, again? Was there really a reason sufficient to justify it all?

It was too late, of course. He had climbed off the airship, walked into the airship depot, crossed through the airship depot’s departure gate area, and exited onto the streets of a strange city named Hoofolulu. There was an emboldening rush to it, as well as a weakening chill: he had made a great accomplishment, or a great mistake.

“Hey! Who’s that big lump over there who looks exactly just like somepony I know?”

The sound of Mango Leaf’s voice was unmistakable, and it was the first pleasurable thing that Haystacks had experienced since being locked inside the cramped hellhole that was the airship’s cabin. Haystacks turned to face where the voice had come from and--yes, there it was--just like before, the mere sight of Mango Leaf’s warm colors and warmer smile were enough to bring on those feelings of friendship and familiarity; enough to soothe Haystacks’ frayed nerves and make it as if their last meeting had been only yesterday. Today, Mango Leaf was wearing a string of yellow-fringed white flowers as a long necklace, easily reaching mid-chest. Strange, thought Haystacks, but fitting for a tropical island.

“Oh. Nah, nevermind, sorry,” said Mango Leaf as he coasted to a stop in front of Haystacks.

Haystacks opened his mouth and furrowed his brow in confusion. Confusion, and--and maybe he ought to be offended?

Before Haystacks could formulate an objection, Mango spoke again with a dismissive wave.  “The stallion I’m lookin’ for wouldn’t stop working if you offered him a million bits and a date with the sexiest fro-yo vendor in the world.”

Mango Leaf leveled a flat stare at Haystacks for just long enough for the words to sink in, and then he lunged with both hooves outstretched. Before the inevitable hug, something light and slightly itchy was dropped over Haystacks’ head and onto his shoulders. Oh--Mango had given him the flowers. And then they were hugging, of course they were, because cousins didn’t shake hooves.

“I’ve been counting the days, Hay.” Mango Leaf peeled away from the hug and gave Haystacks an odd look. Longing, was that the word? “I just... I’ve been thinkin’ about you a lot since last time.”

Haystacks smiled, though he didn’t know quite what to say. Knowing that he had such a good friend in Mango, well, that felt good, to be sure, and in more ways than one. But Haystacks wasn’t good at accepting flattery, so he just smiled. Then he raised a hoof to his collar and looked down at the odd, organic adornment hanging from his shoulders. “Why did you give me this?”

“It’s called a lei,” said Mango. “And don’t bother making a pun--we’ve all heard the get lei’d joke a million times.”

Haystacks rolled his eyes. “I came to see a new place and spend time with my cousin, not get lei’d.”

Mango appeared to falter just a bit, before laying the flattery on even thicker. “Big strong country boy with looks like yours, I bet you have mares and stallions lining up down the block,” said Mango with a mockingly coy lilt. “Wouldn’t blame them.”

“I haven’t met anypony. You know that.” Then he smiled again. Whether Mango knew it or not, the teasing and compliments were a welcome distraction from the stresses of travel. Just one more of the many reasons he was so glad to be near Mango.

“But if I end up with a stallion, I hope he's just like you," said Haystacks. "Cousin," he added.

The answer to that was a brief silence. In fact, they walked side by side without speaking for more than a few seconds. Haystacks felt a sudden twinge of guilt, followed by a deep plunge of worry; had he made Mango Leaf uncomfortable? Haystacks stopped and turned toward his old friend, opening his mouth and trying to find the right apology, but Mango spoke up first.

“Yeah, well, I hope so too, cousin.” Mango Leaf was looking straight ahead and still walking, but at least he was showing teeth with his smile. “C’mon--the place I was taking you for dinner closes early. We should hurry.”

"So...?"

Sure enough, Summer Heat was back for more yogurt. She was early this time; Mango Leaf had barely finished setting up. The mare had a bright, eager expression when she trotted up to the stand, which fell gradually as she got a better look at Mango’s own face.

"He said he’d love to be with a stallion just like me someday."

Summer Heat nodded slowly. Once... twice.

“...Ouch.”

Mango Leaf reared up and leaned on the stand’s counter with both forelegs. “Uh huh. So what kinda fro-yo for you?”

Her eyes flicked across the long list of flavors, lighting on names at random instead of scanning in any kind of pattern. “How long did you say he's here for?" she said, almost absentmindedly.

"Only until monday," said Mango Leaf. “I’m gonna take the weekend off for him. Still wanna meet him?”

Summer Heat didn’t break eye contact with the yogurt menu. "Monday? That’s plenty of time. What’s he up to tomorrow?"

“Hey, I told you, he said...”

Summer raised a hoof, silencing him. “You boys give up so easily. What is he up to tomorrow?”

Mango raised both brows at Summer’s no-nonsense attitude. “Uh.”

Summer continued to scrutinize the menu board for its secrets. “Well?”

“He’s doing some... some tour thing with a group. Today they’re sightseeing, and I think tomorrow is a day at the beach.”

Summer bobbed her head in a single firm nod. "Perfect. Perfect. All right, I’ve got your battle plan. But first?"

She finally looked up from the menu board with a hardened gaze, and spoke with flat conviction.

“Maple-bourbon. Two scoops. Chop-chop.”

White sand, clear skies, vast ocean, and blazing sunlight: Summer in Haywaii. The kind of scenery that pamphlets, artists, and novelists would classify as “beautiful” with almost obligatory ease.

Summer Heat found her rented beach chair, put her new pair of designer sunglasses on, and reached for the bottle of juice that she had left on the little side table. Good--it was still cool to the touch.

There they were, the tour group, all wearing matching green lanyards and setting up the volleyball net, but where... ah, there he was. Mango Leaf’s orange mane and shockingly yellow coat, incoming at top speed from eleven o'clock, were impossible to miss. Which meant that the monotone khaki-tan fellow that he was making a beeline for could only be...

Summer nodded approvingly as the blaze-yellow unicorn intercepted his “target” with a surprise hip-check, which was answered by a stumble, a confused look, and then a playful elbow jab. The two started talking--their words were drowned out by the insistent rush of the ocean, but even from a distance it was clear that they were smiling. Soon, they were chased off the court so that the games could begin.

Volleyball, as it turned out, was a sexy game.

A jet-black stallion reared forcefully, then hopped from his rear hooves for extra height on an overhead spike. His wild seafoam mane was thrown wildly by the breeze and his sinewy haunches strained for every ounce of jump power. He loaded an attack by pulling one forehoof to his shoulder, then whipped an arcing strike up and over his head in one coordinated snap of motion, sending the ball into a lethal line drive.

But the other team--a pair of pegasus mares--would not be so easily defeated. One of them dove for a desperate save, hurling her toned body across the sand and extending her long, lithe limbs as far as she could. The black stallion's spike shot hit her outstretched hoof instead of the sand, and the ball bounced high into the air as she slid a few inches and then picked herself up.

Not all of the competitors were quite so impressive, of course, but all the same, Summer Heat was glad she had decided to watch.

It took several matches before Mango Leaf and the pony who could only be Haystacks got their turn on the court. It was plain to see that Haystacks was reluctant--Mango all but dragged him into position--but it was equally obvious that where Mango went, Haystacks would follow.

Mango took his place on the back line and started the game with a clean overhoof serve. Not that Summer didn't already know about Mango Leaf's body, but his coordinated flowing form showed that there was a fine physique beneath that blinding coat.

The opponents returned with a long lob that landed in the sand directly behind Haystacks.

To Haystacks’ credit, his skills improved remarkably quickly as the match progressed. Soon, instead of watching balls fall, he was hustling to lead their paths and positioning himself to return or set-up. He and Mango were still losing, of course, which made it all the more fortunate that the turning point happened when it did.

Mango and Haystacks both dove to save the same spike, resulting in a painful-looking full-body collision. Haystacks picked himself up without too much trouble, then pulled Mango to his hooves, only to be thrown forcibly back to the ground as Mango locked him into a wrestler's grip and used the element of surprise to yank the larger stallion off his hooves.

"Nice," Summer Heat muttered.

Haystacks reversed Mango and took the top position with a sudden surge of strength, forcing Mango onto the sand with his belly facing the sun. As the larger stallion pressed down onto his kicking and arching "cousin," Summer placed the bottle of juice to her lips and took a long, slow drink. Immoral though the thought was, she found herself wishing for a camera. Or at least some popcorn.

The blue-orange-grey of the evening sky was suddenly obscured by the head and torso of a smirking earth pony mare leaning into Mango Leaf’s field of vision.

"Had fun today?" Summer Heat said.

“Somethin’ like that,” Mango Leaf said, rolling off of the bench where he had been reclining. “The group went off to see a show, but he’s with me tomorrow, then I’m puttin’ him up for his last night before going back. It’s perfect!”

“Well, well. So much confidence. What changed?"

Mango snorted. “Oh come on, do you think I’m blind? You were watching the whole time. You sure like watching big sweaty stallions jumpin’ around and divin’ for balls, huh?"

Summer turned up her nose in mock offense. "I was only there in a professional capacity, rest assured."

"You said you were an artist, not a professional,” Mango returned. “Or, what, are you saying that you wanna be paid now?"

Summer tapped her lips with a hoof. Her eyes fell onto the yogurt menu.

“One extra large, half honeydew-mint and half lilikoi, with condensed milk on top, and we'll call it square."

"Hoo, that’s one hard bargain you’re drivin’ for your services. Two flavors and the condensed milk?"

Summer clicked her tongue. “You want the best, you pay for the best.”

Mango Leaf smiled at her, then turned his back to get to work on her ‘payment.’ It wasn’t until he was leaned all the way into his cart that a question from before started to tug at his mind.

"So, you know... I was just thinking.”

“Don’t hurt yourself.”

“Ha.”

The lilikoi was easy enough, but the honeydew wasn’t a popular flavor. Mango Leaf had to stretch in order to reach it.

“Like I was saying. You came back, you tracked me down, and then you... well, you know, you did all this for me, even though we hadn’t talked in years. It kinda doesn’t make sense?"

Summer Heat didn’t reply immediately. When she did, it was without her characteristic sass.

“Something wrong with that? Seems like it worked out for you.”

“Oh yeah! You’re like a cousin I didn't know I needed.” With both flavors of yogurt scooped and ready, he finally leaned back from the cart’s refrigerated interior and turned toward his basket of toppings. “It’s just, I didn't think you were the type to, you know... care.”

There wasn’t an answer from Summer through the entire time Mango Leaf spent drizzling condensed milk for her.

“I mean, sorry if that sounds harsh, but--”

“Sorry, are you talking to me?” said the green unicorn standing at the counter.

Some distance away, a cutie mark depicting a sprinkle of flower petals folded itself into a crowd, and then was gone.

Bottle of top-grade 'okolehao set on the table like a centerpiece. Check.

A record of the closest approximation of mood music that Haywaii’s local musicians had to offer. Check.

Scented candles perched at random around the perimeter of the living room. Perhaps a bit frivolous, but check.

Lights turned down low. Laundry shoved in the closet. Bedroom cleaned. Head full of alternately heart-melting and blush-inducing images of the night to come. Check, check, check, check. Buying time by “heading to the store for some things” and instructing Haystacks to bring home the take-out once it was ready had definitely been a good move. Rude for a host, perhaps, but Haystacks wasn’t the type to get uppity about such things, and with any luck, it would all be worth it.

Now, though, Mango Leaf was afraid that he might have bought himself too much time; the anticipation was threatening to shake his resolve.

Eventually, Mango Leaf managed to stop pacing around his house looking for something else to prepare or clean up, and stepped out through his front door to stare up at the stars--something that always calmed him. Really, it should have been obvious: Summer Heat hadn't done a thing to help seduce Haystacks. What she had done was convince Mango Leaf to find out if Haystacks felt the same way, after all this time.

Ten minutes passed. Fifteen.

It was then that Mango Leaf first smelled the smoke.

“Hey there.”

“...Hey.”

The air-conditioned interior of the depot was mercifully empty, with only a few travelers and inter-island commuters standing at counters and waiting in lines. Even through the concrete walls, the thrumming of gigantic propellers could be heard whenever a ship came in for a landing. Haystacks was going to be boarding one of those ships.

"Here to see him off?"

See him off. The words fell heavy on Mango Leaf’s ears, full of oppressive finality. That was it, then. Haystacks was about to board an airship all the way back to his home in the heart of mainland Equestria, and there was no telling how long it would be until the next chance to see him again.

“Already did.”

Summer Heat didn’t speak up for a few seconds. Waiting, maybe. Mango didn’t oblige her. If she had taken the trip out to the depot just to hear the report, well, he didn’t feel like sharing right now.

"That bad, huh?"

“Mm.”

Mango Leaf failed to muster the effort of explaining how he and Haystacks had been forced to crash at an auntie’s house after Mango had accidentally set his couch on fire with a scented candle.

"The whole thing didn’t really happen. Sorry. I know you wanted to help.”

The worst was realizing, in hindsight, that he could have gotten a hotel room, could have brought Haystacks out to sleep beneath the stars, could have, would have, should have... but it didn’t matter now. At the time, Mango Leaf had been too exhausted, too devastated, and too guilty to think of doing anything except seek out a solution the best way he knew how: by calling upon his ‘family’ of friends.

And that was it. Mango Leaf had missed his chance, likely the only one he would get for years. Years that he would spend wondering if Haystacks felt the same way.

“Don’t be sorry. Hey.”

Mango was dimly aware that a small weight had been laid across his shoulders. He didn’t respond.

“You love him. If he loves you, that won’t change no matter how long you’re apart, no matter how much you both change. No matter what.”

“No matter what...”

The change was instantaneous. Mango Leaf yanked Summer Heat into a rough hug, planted a peck on her cheek, then turned and bolted off in the direction of Haystacks’ departure gate.

He left so quickly that he didn't see the expression on Summer Heat's face as he ran off, or how she watched for a little longer than necessary before turning back to the ticket counter she had been standing at before talking to Mango.

"Aloha, Mango Leaf," she said softly.

“...But don't worry. If we think about it together, and walk the same road, then I'm sure we'll make some sense out of it. But you promise you'll chase your dreams, right?”

Haystacks didn’t answer right away, so Mango gave him a nudge. “No matter what happens.”

When Mango Leaf tried to lock eyes with Haystacks, he saw that Haystacks had his eyes squeezed shut, and was nodding as hard as he could instead of talking.

“Whatever they might be,” Haystacks finally said, once his eyes were dry. There was only a slight waver to his voice. “I promise.”

The doors opened. The stairs were wheeled into place. The airship loomed in all its terrifying immensity.

Welp.

It had been a good trip, all told. The simple fact of how decadent it felt to take a real vacation had been one of the greatest new experiences of all.

And he had gotten to spend time with Mango, even if that time had ended with an unpleasant surprise and an unintended adventure. Not a failure, no, but... unsatisfying, really. More than a little unsatisfying, since he never would have come here if not for...

“Haystacks! Haystacks!”

The voice alone caused Haystacks’ breath to catch in his chest. Then the voice’s owner knocked the rest of the breath out of him by ramming into him with a forceful, almost desperate hug.

“What I said last time,” Mango said breathlessly, “The campfire. That’s why you came all the way out here. Because I made you promise...”

Haystacks swallowed hard, and nodded harder. It came all at once, the feelings, the memories, the warmth, all of it, and suddenly the thing that Haystacks had been hiding from everypony, even himself, was hard--impossible--to contain. “D-dreams,” he choked. “No matter what happens.”

“No matter what happens.” Tears brimmed in Mango Leaf’s eyes as he curled one hoof around the back of Haystacks’ head. “Whatever they might be.”