Say So!

Say SO!
B_25

Fluttershy's finger twirled the rim of her glass, her other hand holding a pencil, drawing the name 'Spike' in a little open book. Club music blared above from speakers hidden in the club's dark corners. But the noise was dull on her ears. On the stool next to her, someone tried to take a seat.

A stool meant only for one.

"Sorry," Fluttershy said without looking at him, and a second later, flashing him with a faint, side-long smile. "Already taken."

The colt had muttered something. He walked away without another word, slouching. Fluttershy stopped drawing to check on him. Her eyes soon spotted his white dress shirt among the crowd of mingling people, finding the colt's shoulders already risen and him trying for another stool. Her eyes rolled before returning to her booklet.

Its open pages were filled with all the ways a name could be drawn. Cursive letters with a heart over the 'i' and the ending line of 'e' sprawling into one. It made her smile more. Footsteps sounded from the side. The voice didn't try to speak over the music.

"Already—"

"Just warming it up for your boyfriend."

Fluttershy's slumped as she turned. Rainbow sat on the stool, slouched over the counter, openly grinning at Fluttershy, throwing up a hand to signal for a drink. The bartender came from the other side of the rounded counter. He mixed the drink without comment or payment.

Then looked at Fluttershy. "Refill?"

Fluttershy stopped swirling her finger on the glass. She smiled with closed eyes and a nod. "Still enjoying."

The bartender blushed as though a fresh, scented breeze blew through him. With a slow nod of his own, he turned around, shaking his head, stumbling. Rainbow sighed before taking the drink.

"That last colt was worth talking to."

Fluttershy hummed. "Says who?"

"Me."

"So why don't you go and talk to him?"

Rainbow removed the glass from her lips. She looked over to the little book. Her eyes rolled at the name that decorated the pages. Curiosity twinged in her gaze. Flipping through the previous pages, more and more of his name appeared, each written differently, some fastly inscribed, others slowly sketched out, all etched with a passion.

Some doodles had appeared. One where Spike's back took up the page. The dragon with a shocked expression. Another with him looking shy.

"Seriously?" Rainbow gagged before sliding the notebook back. Fluttershy flipped it to the current page. "The two of you. Still?"

Fluttershy nodded and resumed her drawing.

"What do you even see in that guy?"

Fluttershy glanced over with a look, smiled, then returned to the paper.

"Like I'm not trying to diss him or anything! It's just… he's Spike, y'know?" Rainbow winced at that comment. Fluttershy didn't take offence. Her finger slipped from the glass's rim to its base, bringing it in for a sip. "Known him for a lifetime at this point. He's not a bad guy! He's just… y'know. Spike."

Fluttershy set the glass back on the counter.

"And you're perfection! Like seriously. You're a knockout right now." Rainbow's eyes flew up and down Fluttershy's outfit. Denim jeans roundly stretched out atop the barstool. A tightly-knitted sweater that curved to the shape of Fluttershy's girls. Her slightly frizzed mane set those who looked insane. "You could have anyone. Anyone. Any stud. Any dancer. The world could be yours if you asked it."

"I don't have that sort of affinity for grass," Fluttershy replied. Her finger tapped the counter twice. The bartender came over and refilled her drink. "But I'm sure the world could be yours if you asked it nicely enough."

Rainbow watched Fluttershy take the glass and sip again. Fluttershy's face melted in the taste of alcoholic strawberry; a sweet tingle blessed her tongue.

Rainbow seemed to have taken a moment to think. To really feel the problem out. It was after a couple of seconds of looking around, seeing the dancers on the floor, the lovers in the booths, the friends at the table… that it suddenly clicked. It made sense at that very moment why Fluttershy was at none of those locations.

"You really do like him," Rainbow started as she looked at her best friend, "don't you?"

Fluttershy looked at Rainbow properly this time. With sincerity in her eyes and genuineness in her smile, she nodded.

"Why?"

No offence was taken again. Not a hint of dismay or the need to repress annoyance. Fluttershy took a moment to gently look into her friend's eyes. Then she started to speak again. "If I asked you why you love to fly… you could give me some answers, right?"

Rainbow's eyes scrunched. "S-Sorta, yeah."

Fluttershy smiled. "But you would have to think. And no matter what reason you gave… it would never feel as strong as the feeling you have when you're flying." She nodded. "It's like that with Spike. Maybe I could give you a reason or two… but it's just a feeling I have." Fluttershy's head shook. "A reason I don't want to ruin with words."

"Wow." Rainbow stared with amused disbelief on her face. "What's a girl to say to that, huh? So you really dig the guy, then." She turned forward with a tilt of her head. Silhouettes passed around them. Others sat at the bar. "I dig it. I guess I dig it, then."

Flutters sat forward as well. "Thank you."

Rainbow seemed to struggle with words like someone recently converted. Not wanting to attack but desiring to know more. "So… the two of you then. Have you—"

"No."

Rainbow glanced at her friend. "But this has been going on for months! How haven't you—"

"He needs to be the one to do it." Fluttershy nodded sternly. "It can't be me. Or else we would already be in my…" Her words fell short, and pink burned her cheeks brightly.

Rainbow grinned and leaned close. "What? The two of you would be where?"

Fluttershy expanded her wings into a dome around her body, blocking out the friend, who only wiggled into the tight space.

They were face to face when Rainbow spoke again. "So confident and assured. But I guess old parts of you are still in there, aren't they?"

Fluttershy returned her wings and stared at her drink. Rainbow leaned back and eased on the tension. She gave Fluttershy another look. "Though, you'll probably knock him dead in that. How many outfits did you go through before this one? I don't think he's seen you dress sexy casual yet."

Fluttershy swallowed and looked away. "T-Three."

Rainbow smiled. Interlocking her hands together, she looked down at them. "That's good. It's nice to have someone that makes you go that extra distance. That's how you know you have something special." Dressing to perfection hadn't been Fluttershy's hobby. Lately, she focused on her appearance. "But that outfit's going to be torture for him. You know that, right?"

Fluttershy glanced over, suddenly scared.

"I'm already craving to know how you look underneath it all," Rainbow said with a thumb jabbing her chest. "What do you think it's going to do to him?"

Fluttershy's eyes flared as an angry blush washed across her face. She glared at her laughing friend before crossing her arms. "Not funny."

"But it's true." Rainbow wiped away a tear. "You really are perfect, Fluttershy. In everything. Spike's lucky to have you." She looked over at her friend. "But does he know that? I know you've been dropping your hints, but… damn it, Shy. You're perfect. You really are perfect. You're sweet to nearly everyone."

Rainbow held her breath before speaking again. "Does he know what the two of you have is special? That he stands a chance at an invitation upstairs?"

"If he wants it," Fluttershy followed in coming out of her trance, "then he'll have to say so."

Rainbow smiled and closed her eyes. "Then you'll have to give him a reason to say it." Checking over her shoulder after those words, she came to smile, rising from the seat, leaving bits on the table and taking the glass. "And you'll have to make him say it soon."

Fluttershy looked to see Rainbow striding away. Her lips opened to say something… but the words died on her tongue. She kept still for a moment in thought. She wanted the dragon. More than anything else in the world. Wanted him enough to come to Manehatten nearly every weekend to be with him. Stayed at a hotel and bar that soon started to cost more than her home.

"Aha!" That voice. That sprinkling of excitement despite the tiredness hidden in the back of his tone. Or the strong arms wrapping around her stomach and lifting her from the stool. Fluttershy kicked happily in the air, feeling scales and warmth flush into her fur. "There's my favorite girl."

Fluttershy's lips couldn't stretch further in being lowered to the ground. She turned around to face him, at level with his broad chest, forced to look upward to meet his eyes. Blackness tinged around their shape as weariness consumed the rest of his expression. But his smile, the peek at a few white fangs, burned through all that.

She then crossed her arms, looked aside, and pouted. "How many times have I told you not to grab me out of nowhere?"

Spike chuckled inside the tension. "Sorry. I know you don't like it. It's just when I see you—I dunno! An uncontrollable urge comes over me and I can't help myself." He made a sad face and started to turn around. "I'm sorry. I should get going."

Fluttershy's eyebrows lifted. He's calling my bluff!

"Oh no, you don't!" Fluttershy said that caused the dragon to turn back around, just in time to catch the girl who jumped at him, crossing her legs around his waist, her arms around his neck, with lips coming within inches of hers. His claws claimed the back of her thighs, sinking into the denim, squishing into the warmed softness beneath. "You're not leaving until you've apologized properly."

Spike's smile stretched to an impossible size. There was a delight in holding a girl like this, the two of them so close together. Their little game of words and teasing brought out sides to them not experienced when they were apart. "And just how do I do that, the most beautiful girl to have ever lived?"

Fluttershy leaned back in his arms, scooting enough that his claws slid to the back of her pants, feeling her desire through the material. His claws kneaded without meaning to, squishing and spreading the canary dough beneath, working the globes he'd been given to play with.

Some looked over.

None interrupted.

"By kissing me," Fluttershy warmly whispered into his lips, brushing her fur on his scales, teasing him to break the distance between them. "And then kissing me more." There wasn't further need for permission. His lips came in and stole over hers. That smooth shape, that supple shape she had to push into. His kisses were an addiction that nothing in the world could cure.

They kissed. Then kissed again. Her body leaned into his, a subtle rocking that flushed Fluttershy's covered chest into his. Their lips met, and their tongues danced, separating for only seconds at a time, before they went in again, all to indulge in the feeling of meeting over and over.

Soon enough, warmth had flushed through their existence. The two were properly buzzed enough to make it through the night without their skin touching.

Spike had set Fluttershy down on the seat, not without a tight squeeze of her rump, something that brought a tilt of the head, the falling of mane over her face, and a gasp from the girl. Pink coloured her face in coming to hold her lower back. Playfully glaring at the dragon from behind her hair, she swore revenge in her own way.

The dragon took a seat next to her and tapped the counter. Across the counter, the bartender watched him swirl a talon twice, then tap one. The bartender nodded and brought over a bottle of something—taking the bits Rainbow had left.

Spike brought the drink to his lips before something caught the corner of his eyes. "What's with the notebook?"

Fluttershy blushed intensely and slammed it shut "N-Nothing!" She shuffled the book inside her purse and zipped it. "Just sketches of a few bunnies! They… didn't come out very well."

Spike chuckled. "Now I doubt that." He took a swig of his drink, a few more sips than usual, his eyes closing, something else overcoming him. Fluttershy saw it at once. How he slouched and the way his eyes refused to open. After setting the finished bottle on the counter, he cracked his neck and opened his eyes.

He spoke in a smoother voice. "Any page is made better with your signature."

Fluttershy smiled and clasped her hands together. "Even if it has your name on it?"

"The value only drops somewhat slightly."

Both chuckled. Fluttershy checked him from the corner of her eyes as Spike ordered another drink. His high and excitement seemed gone, surprising her. He always seemed tired. Ever since moving out here. Ever since they started meeting during the week like this.

"Did I pull you from another long shift?"

Spike's face lit in surprise. His mouth opened and then closed. He thought for a moment before speaking. "N-No. It's just…" He sighed and slumped. "Work will be work. It's been tougher, lately. Not too many of the guys are happy to be there, anymore. I'm doing my best, but… ah, it's been a struggle."

Fluttershy's happiness dropped. She looked away for a moment. The whole reason they'd gotten together was to wake him up, somehow. They'd meet at a cafe for coffee and snacks. He'd always show up so tired, so depressed, so out of it. Everything in her craved to warm up that soul, to see that face burn a little more.

And she had kissed him to see how his face would light up.

But now, it didn't do him much, although they were happier together. Fluttershy wanted to bring him back home. That she could support him as he decided what to do next with his life. But that was something that real couples did. Not just a couple of lovebirds only a few months into their relationship.

Or hadn't shared a bed together.

You let him do all that touching…

… shouldn't he know by now?

"Spike?"

"Mhm?"

"Would you like to go dancing with me?"