Find Her, Keep Her

In February of the following year, Kyle was forced to get up early so that he could be to work at 8:00 AM, and clock out at 4:30 PM. Being a night-owl, he was utterly angered by the schedule he had been giving for the week, especially since he did have to wake up early very often, and it badly threw off his internal clock; he could not fall asleep until late into the night, and he would awaken in the early hours of the morning, unable to fall back asleep, and leaving him with little energy. Once he was able to recuperate from it and get his internal clock readjusted, he was scheduled the same early shifts once again, restarting the process.

Another thing that angered him about it was that he could not get his time of peace that he would typically have in the late hours of night. If having his only part of the day that mattered to him the most was taken from him, he always gave up all hope for the week, and could only look forward to his time off that was quite far away.

On the start of his workweek, the alarm on Kyle's phone woke him with a jolt, but he was still extremely drowsy, wanting to fall back asleep. He did not get enough sleep. One might say "you should have gone to bed earlier," but he did go to bed at 9:00 PM, and his body would not let him fall into a state of sleep until hours later.

"Ahh..." came Lyra's sleepy voice. "...what was that...?"

"...It was just my alarm..." Kyle said, sitting up. "...I have to go to work today... but you can go back to sleep if you want, Lyra..."

Lyra yawned. "...Okay..." she uttered.

While the filly trudged over to a pile of sheets in the closet and fell back asleep once she had sufficiently concealed herself, Kyle quietly got his uniform on, went upstairs, ate a poor breakfast with the only good part being the coffee, and proceeded to the grocery store. As always, he was astounded that he was able to drive properly in such a condition.

(XXXX)

Today, Kyle was a utility clerk, meaning that they would have him do whatever they needed, such as bagging, checking, cart retrieval, and maintenance. And, of course, they put him on a checkstand, but what was worse... it was an Express Lane. He hated being put on them as often as he was, especially since he had to do the bagging on his own, and nearly every customer tried to go to them, even if they had more than the limit of fifteen items.

Standing at the checkstand, he pulled out a notepad and pen and pretended to be writing something to make himself look like he was occupied... but the ever-so-ignorant customers have it go right over their heads, thinking that only they matter.

"Well, look at that!" an old man said as he approached Kyle with a small cart of groceries. "He was lookin' for some work, and was waitin' just for me! What a guy!"

Kyle screamed inside his brain.

How dare you have the NERVE to think that you are entitled! Nobody is more entitled than anyone else! he thought.

But of course, he simply carried out the transaction and interacted with the customer in a way that he hoped would pan out well and not get him fired... all while having to carry the soul-crushing false-smile on his face. Given that he did not enjoy this job, forcing happiness does not work out too well for his psychological wellbeing.

(XXXX)

Later that day, Kyle had to go out to retrieve carts and bring them to the front entrance of the store for one hour. It absolutely annoyed him that people did not return their carts to the corrals, and even when they did, they did not do it properly, leaving the corral in disarray.

He was pushing a line of six carts, which was the maximum that employees were allowed to push at one time, from one of the corrals to the front entrance. There was an old woman at the front who noticed him and appeared to try and get his attention.

"Hey, could you get a cart for me?" the woman asked.

"Okay." Kyle said, taking the cart from the back off and leaving it for the woman.

He could not stop and block the entrance just to give a single customer a cart, because there was a great volume of people going into, and coming out of, the store... but given what would transpire next, made it seem like a lose-lose situation.

The old woman gave him a cold scowl. “You just left it there and didn't roll it over to me, you lazy child?” she said in an unforgiving tone.

Well, I couldn't exactly stop and block other customers with the line of carts... then they would be yelling at me! And you think I'm LAZY for pushing carts!? You should be thankful that I even acknowledged you and left the damn cart for you! Kyle thought.

“YOU STUPID MILLENNIALS WHO DON'T KNOW A DAMN THING!” The old woman thundered.

You think you're any better by going off the rail instead of being a little more forgiving!? You are NOT entitled! No one is more entitled than anyone! And I know QUITE a lot more about the modern world than you, you stupid old bitch! This is a different world than what YOU grew up in! Kyle thought.

Again, like always, he was forced to simply apologize (which, like always, did not help), and just take whatever came to him.

(XXXX)

Nearing the end of his shift, Kyle was on maintenance, and was mopping the floors, dipping the mop in the bucket, wringing the mop, and repeat. He would look for any dirt or filth on the floor (which there was a lot of, nearly all the time), and just mop it clean, only to come back later to find it like how it was before he cleaned it.

He continued cleaning when a man approached him.

" 'Scuse me." the man said. "Y'know where I could find corn oil?"

"Uh..." Kyle said, racking his brain to think of where it could be. "...I'm not exactly sure."

The man looked annoyed.

"Would you like to ask someone in customer service?" Kyle offered, motion his arm in the direction of the service desk.

"Never mind, you're worthless!" the man said. "I don't know how you're even working here if you don't know where shit is!"

Because utility clerks are not REQUIRED to know where shit is! Kyle thought. If you need to know where something is, ASK A GROCERY CLERK! It's not fricking rocket science!

But of course, he apologized, and the man just left in a brisk, angry manner.

(XXXX)

Following his work day, Kyle returned home to see that Ed had set up tables, chairs, snacks, and drinks for the 2017 Super Bowl in Houston.

"Now, I'm gonna be havin' some coworkers and friends over for the Super Bowl." Ed said. "You are to stay downstairs, and not bother us! Do I make myself clear?"

"Okay..." Kyle said.

He tried to refrain from shuddering, especially with the maelstrom of anger, hurt, and fatigue he was experiencing from his dreadful day.

"Well, go on! Move it!" Ed said.

With that, Kyle went straight into the basement. Where he pulled off his uniform, put on a sleeveless undershirt and nylon basketball shorts, and collapsed on his bed.

"...Increase Tolerance." he said.

He did not bother to open his laptop to pretend to be working on some artwork.

Lyra emerged from the ajar closet door and climbed onto the bed.

"Hey, Kyle." she said, just before noticing his mood. "Oh... what's wrong?"

Kyle began to tear up for a moment, before he began to fully let off the waterworks.

"...I-I had..." he struggled to speak. "...a h-horrible day..."

Lyra looked immensely saddened. "Oh... I'm sorry, Kyle!" she said, coming closer and hugging him.

He returned the hug to the filly.

Kyle did not like to admit it, but he was a crier. Several nights of his life, he would often reach the point where suppressing his emotions would only go so far, and he had to have some release. Having no one to talk to whom he could fully trust, or who could understand him, he resorted to crying himself to sleep on certain nights, and has been doing so for the past couple of years.

"So... just tell me what happened." Lyra said.

He told her everything; the egocentric, happy-go-lucky, old man, the mad old lady who wanted a cart, and the man who wanted info outside of Kyle's department from him. After hearing exactly when they became furious with him, Lyra figured that their anger was completely unjust.

"I'm so sorry that you have to put up with this, Kyle." Lyra said. "You don't deserve any of it!"

"Thanks, Lyra..." Kyle said.

"And, so what if you made a few mistakes? Everyone does! It doesn't make you a bad person! I know that you are a very good person, Kyle. Those people at the grocery store seem like bad people; if they get angry for the slightest thing, they shouldn't even go out in public! So, my point is, Kyle... you are a much better person than those people you put up with! You never get angry unless it's completely necessary, and that's a good thing that a lot of people here, I've noticed, don't have." Lyra said.

Kyle wiped his face, and gave the filly a warm smile. Once again, he pulled her into another hug, and she wrapped her forelegs around him in return. He could not possibly express how grateful he was for Lyra to be there for him, especially when he needed someone to talk to who would listen to and understand him.

Sure enough, he was eventually able to stop crying, and he felt a lot better with Lyra's consolation.

(XXXX)

It was a little later in the evening that Ed's friends all showed up to the house, eating and drinking and watching the Super Bowl. They were all causing quite a ruckus, which was still loud even downstairs.

“Why are they all getting so loud?” Lyra asked.

“They're watching football. It's a type of sport that's very popular here... but I'm not a big fan of sports.” Kyle said. “For whatever reason, the fans just like to go off the rail and cheer like no mañana every time they hear the word 'Touchdown!', which basically means 'goal'. And it seems to be a really big deal with this particular game, the Super Bowl, which is the most anticipated game of the season.”

Lyra pursed her lips together. "Seems kinda extreme... especially with all the unnecessarily loud cheering." she said.

With nothing else to do, they decided to stream some movies on Netflix.

After watching the way Kyle would sit upright, Lyra decided to try it out for herself. They were both sitting on the futon sofa, watching the movie Finding Dory, when Lyra switched from her normal “pony-style” sitting position to an upright position, like how she did in the MLP episode “Dragonshy”. Kyle happened to noticed, but did not mention anything.

So, she learned that from me, huh...? he thought. That's interesting. Her entire fandom, all of her theories... it was all started by me. Heh heh...

By the time the movie was over, the game was still going on, and the cheering was getting out of hand.

"What's say we head out for a while? Just get away from here?" Kyle suggested.

Lyra shrugged. "Sure. I've been cooped up in here for the past couple of days. It would be nice to have a night out!" she said.

Kyle then grabbed his phone, wallet, and car keys before they left. Creeping out of the basement through the back door, the two made it to Kyle's borrowed car and revved up the engine, driving as quickly but quietly as they could.

"Fasten your seatbelt! It's gonna be a bumpy ride!" Kyle said.

Lyra put the seatbelt on, and they both quickly drove off from the street.

"What's say we grab a bite to eat?" Kyle offered.

"Yeah! That'll be great!" Lyra said. "I'm starving!"

Kyle decided to take Lyra to Wendy's for their dinner. He did not have a habit of eating fast food very often, because it was unhealthy in excess, and would cost him too much. But, for Lyra, it was worth it.

He decided to order himself a burger combo meal, and get Lyra a salad, since it was probably best for her to stick to vegetarian foods. Whilst in the Drive-Thru, Lyra hid underneath a jacket in the back seat of the car, just so she would not be spotted by the server. She returned to the front seat once they were park in a secluded spot.

"Bon appetite!" Kyle said, giving the filly her meal.

As they ate, Lyra noticed Kyle grabbing and lifting food with the strange, small appendages sticking out of the... things... where his hooves would be if he were a pony.

"Um, Kyle... I've been meaning to ask for a while..." the filly spoke. "...what are these?"

She touched Kyle's hand with her hoof. He was a bit surprised by the question, but remembering her fan theories, decided to answer.

"They're called hands." Kyle said. "They are the result of human evolution that allows us to grasp and hold objects."

Lyra held Kyle's hand in both of her hooves, rolling and examining it. Then she looked at her own hoof. She looked back at his hand again for a moment... and then back at her hoof.

“I wish I had hands...” she said, sadly.

Wow, more and more, I'm leaning her towards her fanbase theories... Kyle thought. ...I'm actually kinda surprised that they were true!

Aside from the matter, the two simply decided to enjoy the remainder of the evening with each other. After they finished eating, Kyle took her on a delightful drive through the fields, woods, and other neighboring regions of his neighborhood. Being driven around was a thrilling sensation for Lyra, especially when Kyle rolled the windows down to get some of the cool, pleasant night air. It was such a rejuvenating experience that neither of them wanted to have end...