Sunday had arrived, and as such, Sugar Cube Corner wasn't getting the kinds of bustling crowds it would have normally wanted on a working day. Still, at the very least, there were three people here who had decided to be here for the day. On one side of a corner booth was Timber Spruce, sitting next to Tom, who, as usual, was dressed far more formally for the occasion than perhaps he should have been. On the other side of the booth was Wiz Kid, who, at this very moment, was staring intently at his watch. This soon caught Timber's attention, and he raised an eyebrow at the younger boy.
"So...when is Flash getting here?"
Sighing, Wiz put his hand down, shrugging his shoulders.
"No idea. He's usually not so late for this kind of stuff. But...ah!"
His face lit up, prompting both Timber and Tom to turn and see where he was looking. There, just entering the Corner now, was Flash Sentry himself. However, while the other boys were, at first, glad to see him, their smiles, or at least Wiz's and Timber's, faded when they noted how he was walking. He appeared to have a slight limp, as though every step was somehow more difficult than normal. But, onwards he kept going, until finally, he reached their booth. Slowly and carefully, he lowered himself onto his spot, right next to Wiz, and let out a sigh.
"Ugh...hey, guys."
That was not the voice of someone who had a lot of energy, leading to an understandable degree of concern between Wiz and Timber, with the latter choosing to ask the obvious question.
"So...um...been up to anything...interesting?"
Flash's expression was blank as he answered.
"Oh...you know...stuff."
Timber raised an eyebrow to that, glanced briefly at Wiz, then scratched the back of his head.
"Right. Well...I think I'll just...get our shakes."
With that, the green-haired boy got up, heading straight for the counter, where Mrs Cake was waiting. While Timber was gone, Wiz looked to Flash, still worried.
"So...what is wrong, Flash?"
Slowly, Flash turned to him, his eyes never betraying whatever emotions he was feeling right now.
"Wiz...I am destroyed. I am a used-up mine. A dry well. An exhausted resource."
The other boy blinked slowly.
"Um...what?"
Flash sighed again.
"Equestrian girls, Wiz...just you wait."
Instantly, the other boy gained a fierce blush, coughing nervously and averting his gaze from Flash. And not a moment too soon, as it was here that Timber returned, carrying a tray of four milkshakes. Sitting down, he offered one to each of the other three boys, which they graciously accepted. After a few moments of silent slurping however, Flash finally addressed Timber directly.
"So, how's your sister?"
Timber looked to him and gave an appreciative smile.
"She's doing well. Thanks for asking. I mean..."
He looked away, appearing thoughtful.
"...what she went through was bad, but I'm doing everything I can to make her feel better."
Flash nodded.
"If you like, I can ask Sunset to go and speak to her at some point. Long story short, she kinda went through something similar once, so maybe she could offer some advice?"
Timber considered that, then smiled back warmly, raising his glass to Flash.
"That sounds pretty decent, Flash."
Flash raised his own glass in response, and after the two had taken a brief sip of their drinks, it was now Tom's turn to add his voice to matters, speaking directly to Wiz.
"How are things going with you and Aria?"
Wiz turned to him and smiled.
"Good, actually. She even offered to help me practice my basketball for that big try-out coming up."
Flash turned to him, looking curious.
"How'd that go?"
Looking to him, Wiz raised an eyebrow.
"About as well as you'd expect."
Flash nodded in an understanding way.
"Ah, she beat you?"
Sighing, Wiz slumped his shoulders.
"Twenty-seven baskets to nothing. And she actually wonders why I don't join her for her gym sessions. I don't even wanna think how badly she'd destroy me there!"
There was a round of laughter after that from all except Tom, who simply stuck to drinking his milkshake. However, upon noticing the latter's continued silence, Tiber looked to him with interest.
"Tom? You said you like...mould and stuff?"
Tom nodded slowly, before speaking in his usual monotone voice.
"Indeed. Maud's helped me set up a new sample to cultivate. I've been making good notes for three weeks now."
The other boys looked to each other with uncertainty, until Flash summed up the feelings of all of them.
"Well that sounds...interesting."
Tom nodded.
"Yes...it was."
He took another sip of his milkshake after that, leaving all four boys in yet another lengthy silence. As much as it looked as if they wanted to enjoy this moment, it also appeared as though none of them really knew what to say or do right now while they were together. So, after staring at his own drink for a while, Wiz cleared his throat, gaining the attention of the others.
"Say, um...does it ever sometimes feel like...well..."
The boy hesitated, then let out a sigh.
"Does it ever feel like our girlfriends have way more interesting lives than we do?"
Silence returned, and as it did, the boys looked to one another, letting that question sink in. It was as if the notion hadn't really occurred to them until Wiz had just started talking about it. However, this moment did not last long, as Flash simply shrugged his shoulders.
"Well...yeah. But that's not really a problem, Wiz."
Wiz looked to him, prompting Flash to continue.
"Think about it. Our girlfriends are pretty much superhumans at this point. So of course their lives seem more interesting."
Tom looked to him with his usual blank expression.
"My girlfriend isn't a superhuman."
Flash looked back to him with some incredulity.
"Dude...have you seen what she can do with rocks?"
Tom considered this in silence before looking back to his milkshake.
"I withdraw my previous statement."
Flash sighed before glancing back to Wiz.
"The point is...yeah, it's all well and good to be heroes who save the world from magic and stuff but...personally, I'd rather just be...not that."
Timber chuckled.
"Good point. If we were, next thing you know we'd be called on to stop and fight some big demon from another dimension."
Flash nodded.
"For our town, that'd probably be five for five."
Laughter spread around the table, with the usual exception of Tom, and when it ended, Flash sighed, raising his drinks.
"Well...here's to being the ordinary guys who'll always try to be there for the extra-ordinary ladies."
The other three boys joined in, colliding their glasses with his and drinking at the same time. When they were done with that, however, Wiz looked to Flash yet again.
"So...how long do you think it'll be before we find some new magical person who ends up being our friend in the end?"
Flash gave another shrug of his shoulders.
"Knowing our track record, probably about the middle-to-late part of the year."
Wiz nodded, looking back to his drink.
"Alright then...I'll make sure to leave my schedule free."
