Roommates

You decided it would be best if Sky and Ben met at his place, it's more spacious and you haven't been there in way too long. You walk up and press the doorbell, your fluffy Pegasus friend following closely beside you. Ben is quick to arrive, opening the door and greeting you. It's barely a second after he lays eyes on Sky that pure, unrefined glee covers his face.

After prying your overly affectionate human friend off of your surprised pony friend, you and Sky sit down in the living room while Ben gets some snacks. You turn on the TV, looking through the channels for something to watch. Ben comes back while you're browsing, carrying 2 bowls full of chips and popcorn. He gives his opinion and you finally decide what to watch before he leaves again to get some drinks.

You all sit down, finally settling in to watch a romantic movie. The genre choice reminds you of how Ben broke up with his girlfriend recently, you haven't been able to give him the support you want to because of moving, so you're hoping this will make up for it. Sky is between both of you, she begrudgingly accepted to let Ben pet her after a lot of pleading on his part. His face when she said yes could only be described as ecstatic.

The three of you sit for the next couple hours, watching as Kate falls for some random guy. Honestly, you stopped paying attention to the plot. Looking over, Sky looks pretty happy, you started petting her after a few minutes and she lit up immediately, your pets must somehow be better. As the movie comes to an end, the Pegasus is in a dreamy state, being exposed to the affection of two humans. Collectively, you've gotten through about half of the snacks.

After the credits and advertisements, the next movie comes on. It tells the story of a team of engineers on board a half-destroyed starship, trying to fix it and get home while facing the challenges of insanity and a lack of leadership. Unlike the previous movie, it manages to keep your attention throughout its run-length. Sky seems pretty interested in it too, though Ben's mind is elsewhere, he's hooked on petting Sky now. She looks comfortable at least, more used to Ben after a few hours.

The movie comes to a close as the sun sets, bathing the house in soft orange light. You thank Ben for the evening as you head out, but that's never enough of a goodbye for him. Before you turn your back, he wraps his arms around your torso in a hug, which you reciprocate.

"And thank you for coming over, I really needed this," Ben says, his voice barely above a whisper. It's rare to see him in an unhappy state, but now he's got tears in his eyes. He's been bottling up his emotions for too long, so you stand there, holding him for a bit so he can let it all out.

Sky has a smile on her face when Ben finally releases you and you turn around, you roll your eyes at her, musing her mane as you walk past.

You flop onto your bed, sighing. Today felt like a blur, it seemed like you were only at Ben's for an hour, but the day's suddenly gone. You smile knowing that you helped Ben out, those two were inseparable, it must have hurt a lot. You make a note to yourself, you've got to talk to Ben again, soon, 1 on 1, in private.

Even though your mind is wandering all over the place, full of energy, your body is perfectly content to pass out immediately. Sleep takes you in the middle of a thought. You have a bit of a weird dream, there's a lot of focus on someone you've barely talked to, yet somehow the dream narrative brings you closer to each other. Dreams are weird.