And She Gives You This Look
Author's Note
This is a short, simplistic story about awkwardness and some good that can come out of making an ass out of yourself. No extra editors, backstory, or anything else. That, and it was late at night... so I typed words and something came of it.
Hope you enjoy!
And She Gives You This Look
Read and Chill
By: Flammenwerfer
Twilight gazed curiously over the top of her book, spying Ryan doing the exact same thing as her: reading and enjoying the silence. This wasn’t an uncommon occurrence at all, and in fact, the two did this as a semi-regular ‘thing’ over the last few months. She and Ryan were essentially on the threshold of ‘good friends,’ especially since the two found out that they shared the common interest in reading until it was considered unhealthy… but this time, it was not an ordinary ‘read and chill,’ as Ryan liked to refer to their little ‘thing’ as.
Twilight had an ulterior motive this time around.
Glancing back down at her book, she attempted to get back into her material, but to little avail. The blonde-haired, amber-eyed human had been consuming her thoughts for the last month or two… but she felt completely lost in how to approach the whole situation... until she happened upon some guidance from Rarity.
As for Ryan, he was blissfully unaware of the mare’s intentions… though he had to admit, when she invited him over for the usual ‘read and chill,’ she seemed a bit overly excited for it; it almost seemed like forced enthusiasm, but he dismissed it eventually, chalking it up to the eccentricities of pony society in general. The majority of his stay had been just flowers and sunshine, literally and figuratively. The populace was incredibly welcoming and understanding, and with the ability to apply his skills at a job that paid him fairly well, he was just fine where he was. One thing he had yet to venture into was the idea of an interspecies relationship… something he really had to get used to if he planned to pursue it eventually.
Ryan, while enjoying his own personal quiet time a bit more than he should, still enjoyed being sociable. He had made great friends in the Elements of Harmony, as well as most of Ponyville, but even the kind, gentle, and often much more physical nature of the ponies would have to work a lot more to wear down his resolve on something that, on his world, was considered taboo. It wasn’t that he didn’t have any prospects… quite the opposite. Many mares had expressed explicit interest by courting him, or by outright making overt sexual advances… but he was simply not ready for it.
As bad as he felt in having to turn down a few feathers from interested pegasi, his own inhibitions had to be hurdled, first.
He shook his head clear of whatever residual thoughts of the subject matter remained and applied meaning to the words in front of him once more. Ryan enjoyed reading textbooks on subjects of Mathematics, Physics, and Chemistry. While he had to have a decent grasp of mathematics for his job, he took an arbitrary, if completely inapplicable interest in the latter sciences, and this was partly the reason that he and Twilight became great friends. Their appetite for what they considered arcane was nigh insatiable, and the two got along quite swimmingly.
Ryan felt a gaze on him, and upon flicking his eyes towards Twilight, she darted her own eyes back into her book… a move that was too quick to be subconscious. He cocked his eyebrow but thought little else on the matter, turning his attention back to the words in front of him.
Okay… the number of distinct combinations of ‘n’ items taking ‘k’ at a time, where order does not matter, is ‘n choose k’…
The fair-skinned human really enjoyed these little quiet study sessions that he had with Twilight, and the fact that the two of them could interact with each other without saying so much as a few sentences through the course of an entire day, said something about their friendship. However, the moment he entered into her library, he could almost sense something different about the atmosphere… and he couldn’t put his finger on what it was. He absentmindedly stroked his chin, feeling the extra detail of the tiniest bit of stubble that had grown.
Once again, he felt a gaze upon him.
Fancying another glance towards Twilight, he found her glancing back at him over the top of her book… but this time, her eyes were half-lidded.
He cocked his right eyebrow out of reflex, not entirely sure what to make of a look that was most certainly directed at him. Twilight, upon seeing his reaction, widened her eyes and darted back behind the cover of the book she was reading… and Ryan could have sworn that he saw the slightest hint of coloring before she covered her face.
Ryan shook his head, running a hand through his short hair before turning the page and setting his mind back on track, sighing out blissfully as he adjusted his sitting position on the massive pillow-seat. After about two more minutes of complete serenity, he sensed movement to his right. His eyes being drawn, he found Twilight adjusting her own position, though she happened to move her own pillow just that much closer to his.
He shrugged and turned back to his book.
After what seemed like five minutes later, Twilight scooted herself even closer to him, though curiously, she did not reveal her face from behind her book… giving off (hopefully, for her sake) the impression that it was done subconsciously. Ryan, by reflex, looked in her direction but quickly righted his gaze back to the pages in front of him.
She scooted right next to him.
This time, he decided not to pay her actions any mind… clearly she had a reason for doing so. That was his approach, at least, until he felt her eyes upon him yet again. Turning his head, his eyes locked with her purple orbs, and this time, without the shroud of her book, Twilight held the same gaze as before; half-lidded and with an accompanying smirk.
“Ummm… you okay?” Ryan finally spoke, his curiosity getting the better of him. He was pretty sure that he was seeing through her attempted ruse.
One cannot out-ruse a ruse-master, after all.
“Mhmmmmm…” Twilight hummed in affirmation with an accompanying nod and full, teeth-baring smile. Twilight then tried to lick her lips seductively but, from Ryan’s point of view, she looked as if she just slobbered her tongue around her mouth.
“…Alright then,” he replied with a nod, turning another page and burying his nose back in the text. Yep, she was definitely up to something. After that display, he could have sworn that he heard her huff a curse word under her breath. Nothing seemed to happen for the next few minutes, and Ryan thought that Twilight’s… outward displays… were over with.
At least, until she scooted closer to him, to the point where they barely had two inches between their bodies.
Movement to his right triggered yet another fleeting glance, and he found Twilight giving the fakest yawn he had ever seen, pressing her front legs out and stretching her back and rump out into the air.
“Sorry…” Twilight commented. “I didn’t sleep right, last night, so I need to streeeeeetch…” her word stretched with her body when she laid out on her side and bowed her back inward, giving him a full view of her stomach and chest. This was all the confirmation Ryan needed, and, since Twilight was his good friend, he wasn’t going to make this awkward for her. Thus, he’d employ the ‘ignore it and it’ll go away’ action. She was acting ridiculous and she’d see the error of her ways soon enough.
“It’s fine,” he replied blandly, not offering so much as a positive nor negative reaction.
Twilight reoriented herself and this time, pressed herself up against his side, doing well to nuzzle her head and body into his right leg. This went on for a few moments until she rested her head right on his thigh, looking up at him with her (what Ryan had to at least admit) pretty eyes. The moment he looked down to investigate the new feeling, she fluttered her eyelashes at him.
“Comfy?” he asked with stoic emotion.
“Oh yeah…” Twilight replied with an overly-seductive voice and unneeded emphasis in the middle of her first word. She lowered her eyelids again and attempted to throw a lip-bite into the mix. Instead, however, her teeth now covered most of her lower lip and, to Ryan, it looked like she just had a slight overbite.
He nodded and turned back to his book for the umpteenth time, paying little heed to the unicorn partially laying in his lap. She scrunched her face up in frustration and, after a minute or two, pulled herself off of him and decided to sit up.
Twilight turned ninety degrees to the right relative to him and performed the same stretch that she did initially, effectively pushing her ass straight up into the side of Ryan’s face to the point where, if he were to look, he’d get a face full of succulent rear.
Nope.
Ryan continued to read, moving onto a section titled ‘Multinomial Coefficients’ and acting oblivious to what was happening right next to him. He wasn’t able to see a determined expression on Twilight’s face, one which held the resolve of a thousand bookworms. She continued to hold her position, faking a deep stretch and inching her way closer to him, her haunches getting that much closer to his cheek to the point where she thought she’d have to press up against him to elicit a reaction.
When her ass got within about an inch of his skin, Ryan merely arched his head to the left slightly. He thought he heard Twilight groan, but regardless, she pressed her rear back in another fake stretch. He angled his head away, accordingly. She tried to sway her rear to garner his attention, but the sheer size of Ryan’s willpower and ability to give no fucks was winning the battle. He had to admit, though, she was kinda cute when flustered, and these antics were hilarious.
There’s no possible way that’s comfortable for her.
Seeing that she was getting absolutely nowhere, Twilight rhythmically pushed her ass back towards his face… yet each time, he angled himself accordingly, keeping a constant distance between her rear and his upper body.
Good lord she’s relentless…
Finally, Twilight finished her faux-stretch and kept herself standing. Immediately, she donned a mischievous smirk and walked behind Ryan, making sure to drag her tail up his arm and around his back as she began walking slow circles around him… like a shark with its prey. On her second lap, she would ‘accidentally’ bump her hips into his arm and brush against his back while her tail would coil slightly around his neck. Ryan had to give her credit, it was becoming increasingly hard to pay no mind to.
Each time she lapped him, Twilight did her best to add more sway to her hips, as well as to be more ‘disruptive’ with her tail in attempting to get a reaction out of him.
“Whoa… gorgeous!” Ryan finally muttered in a pleased manner when Twilight passed in front of him again with her butt on full display. Twilight immediately looked at him excitedly… only to find him still buried in the book.
“Now that is a gorgeous proof. So simple yet it defines so much… Twi, you’d appreciate this!” Ryan said in his own excitement, turning the book around and showing it to the unicorn.
“UGH! Seriously?!” she protested before magically removing the book from his hands and setting it aside.
“What? You didn’t even look at it…”
“I’m putting myself on display here and you’re not even batting an eye!” she followed up, completely ignoring his last comment.
“Well, I was kinda waiting for you to stop…” he replied level-headedly.
“You could’ve said something!”
“Last time I checked, this was ‘read and chill.’ Normally, we don’t tend to talk a lot during our reading sessions,” he reasoned. Twilight merely huffed in annoyance and turned to walk away, only to feel her tail being pulled taut and preventing her leaving.
“Unless… there’s something you wanna talk about?”
“I… I just…” Twilight began losing her words, attempting to compile her thoughts into something coherent. “I just thought that if… you know…”
“Force your ass in my face, among other things?” Ryan finished her sentence with a half-smirk, confirming to her that he knew full-well what she was doing. She only blushed heavily, lowering her head as her ears flattened. “How long?”
“Almost two months,” she replied, as if ashamed.
“Why didn’t you tell me how you were feeling?”
“Because you always say you’re not ready whenever someone new tries to proposition you… so I thought that if I tried and played my cards right…” Twilight tried to explain and rationalize her actions, but he was quick to stop her rambling with a gentle outstretch of his hand.
“That wouldn’t have changed anything, Twi. But… I have to give you credit, you were truly relentless. Regardless, it doesn’t change the fact that I’m not ready, but it won’t be like that forever, I assure you,” he said, countering her theory, which only served to make her feel worse about herself.
“Great… I embarrassed myself completely in front of you,” she said bitterly, reflecting upon her actions and realizing how terribly overt and awkward she was acting. Ryan, however, was quick to act before any real damage was dealt to her self-esteem. She may have acted completely out of her nature, but she was still his good friend. Ryan still had to admit that she was a pretty mare, and while he was still trying to iron out past habits, he had no issues with admitting things like this to himself and others.
“Oh stop it, you… c’mere,” he beckoned, opening his right side to her. Twilight wordlessly accepted his invitation after a few moments, laying down beside him. Ryan pulled her into his side and ran his hand through her coat up and down her side. “How’s this?”
“Mmmm… that’s nice,” Twilight cooed, her eyes fluttering shut as she laid her head on his leg, her earlier worries seeming to melt away, if temporarily.
“Look,” he began speaking once more. “I’m not ready to advance to that level… not because I only want to see you as a friend, or because you’re not pretty enough… please don’t get those ideas. Take it at face value: I’m not ready. Gimme some time to rationalize things through and, if you’re still interested, you’ll be the first to know, how’s that?” he asked knowingly. Ryan figured that, since he was eventually going to get over his unfounded fears, he might as well start with a mare that he could trust above all the rest.
“I’d… I’d like that,” Twilight replied with a sincere smile, one that accentuated her beauty rather than make her look awkward and ridiculous. Ryan reciprocated the gesture heartily.
“Awesome. In the meantime, I don’t mind adding this…” he spoke once more, punctuating by running his fingers down her spine, causing a pleasurable shiver to run up the reverse direction. “…to our ‘Read and Chill.’”
With another massive smile, Twilight magically brought both of their respective books back and set them in front of each other. There, the two devolved into a usual, comfortable silence, reading to their hearts content. Ryan continued to absentmindedly run his hand through Twilight’s impossibly soft coat, tracing his fingers on her skin while Twilight nuzzled comfortably into his side. The unicorn could most certainly live with this for the meantime… and Ryan echoed an identical sentiment.
Today was a good day.
