Post by Lancewing on May 2, 2014 14:46:18 GMT -5
Lancer
Lancer walked into the mansion. He was still sweating from soccer practice. He rounded the corner started to pass the corner until he saw something out the corner of his eye. He backed up and took another look. "Mom? Dad?"
"Hello, Lancer," Lancer's mom greeted, before pulling him into a huging him into a hug, "Sorry we're a little late. Had a last-minute meeting to attend."
"Uh, it-it's fine, I just can't believe you're here."
"You better believe it," his father remarked.
Heartbeat was white with red hair. Her cutie mark was a crystal heart. Second to her husband, she has a deep love for her one child, but is often pulled away from him because of hers and Hard Drive's work. She hopes that they could one day spend time together as a real family. She works as a fashion designer.
Hard Drive was a blue pony with light blue hair with small white streaks. His cutie mark is a circuit board. Ever since he was twelve, Hard Drive was a genius when it came to computers. Like Heart Beat, he also has a busy schedule, but he seems to enjoy his work a little more than Heart Beat.
Heartbeat accidentally caught the smell of Lancer's sweat. "I take it you just came back from soccer practice."
"Oh, yeah," Lancer said as he pulled away. "I was on my way to take a shower."
"That's probably a good idea, and maybe when you're done I can make supper?" Heartbeat offered.
"That sounds good. You have no idea how much I missed you both."
A tear formed in Heartbeat's eye, "We've missed you, too."
With that, Lancer walked away. Hard Drive noticed a scrape near Lancer's knee. "What happened to your knee?"
Lancer stopped and looked. "Oh, I didn't even notice that. Must have been from when I tripped. Nothing a bandage can't fix."
"Soccer practice?"
"No, marbles on the sidewalk. Wasn't pretty."
"Oh, my goodness, do you need to be patched up?"
"Need to be cleaned first," he said wih a chuckle, "but like I said, nothing a bandage can't fix."
"Are you sure?"
"Positive."
Heartbeat sighed in defeat, "Okay. I love you."
"I love you too." He darted off toward the bathroom.
Heartbeat glanced at her husband. "Who does he remind me of?"
"Um....my dad?"
"He reminds me of you, but he has my shyness from when I was his age."
"Well, he is OUR son, and that's usually how it works."
"Yeah, but if only we could see him more often..."
"You know that our schedules won't let us. Besides, he's doing alright."
"I know but... I just feel like he'll self-destruct if we keep this up."
"Come on, everything is practically handed to him and he's well-behaved. What could possibly go wrong?"
"He doesn't have our love."
"What? You and I both know we love him, he means the world to me."
"But does he know that?"
There was an awkward silence between the two.
Lancer just got out of the shower. He just applied medicine to his injured knee and was about to wrap the bandage around it when the phone rang. He quickly answered it. "Hello?"
"Hey there Lancer."
"Hey Starlight. How are you?"
"Good actually. Ace said that my passes are getting better."
"Is that so?" He ties the bandage around his knee a little too tightly. "AH!"
"Are you okay?"
"Yeah, just nursing my knee. Pulled on the bandage too tightly."
"Oh, what happened?"
"Slipped on some marbles on the sidewalk."
"Oh, sorry to hear that."
"It's fine. I'll live. Besides... My parents are home."
"They are?"
"Yep, my mom's even making supper, I can't remember the last time I ate something she made."
"I don't even remember seeing your parents."
"That's because they've been busy with their work. They never find time to stay home."
"I see, I'm glad they're here now, though that may complicate things..."
"Like what?"
"Well, it's just we thought you might want to see Bright Eyes' new glasses, but since your parents are visiting and you don't see em that often, maybe some other time'll work."
"Yeah... Hey, maybe they should meet you guys."
"Do you think they'd be okay with that?"
"They need to meet you sooner or later."
"I guess you're right."
"Besides, I'm sure they'll love you guys, especially you, Sweetheart, Bright Eyes, Bon Bon, Bright Eyes-"
“Wait, didn’t you already say Bright Eyes?”
“Uh...Did I?” Lancer began feeling warm.
“Yup...Is there another Bright Eyes or something?”
“No, not that I know of. Must have just been from the excitement.”
“Okay…”
“Yeah… Listen, I have to go now. Mom cooked supper and I REALLY miss her cooking.”
“Oh, I understand, see you later.”
“Bye,” Lancer put the phone back in it’s holder and returned to wrapping his wound.
Lancer, Hard Drive, and Heartbeat were eating dinner at the table. Lancer wasn’t able to say anything, still amazed his parents were at home EATING with him. If only it could happen more often. Then, something occurred to him, “So...When do you need to go again?”
“Well, we can only stay for a week. After that, we need to be leaving again.”
“Oh, okay.”
Heartbeat bit her lip, she really hated doing this to Lancer. She wished she could do something. “BUT we could try meeting your friends.”
“Oh, yeah, I’ll have to ask them over sometime.”
“Okay. I would especially like to meet with this Bright Eyes you keep mentioning.”
“Oh...I talk about her a lot?”
“Oh yeah,” Hard Drive remarked, “If I didn’t know any better, I’d say that you like her.”
Lancer’s cheeks turned red, “N-no, I just...really hit it off with her.”
“I see…”
“Y-yeah… We do have a lot in common.”
“Hmm...I see,” Hard drive had a mischievous grin on his face.
Lancer could see it on his face. “Dad, I know that look. Please don’t do it. Teddy and Ace had that look when they had an idea to get me and Bright Eyes paired for a roller skate dance contest. It didn’t end well.”
“I see… so you’re just friends, huh?”
“Uh-huh, just friends…”
“Well, that’s nice,” Heartbeat grinned.
Lancer took another bite, but soon pulled a hair out of his mouth. “That was random.”
“What was?”
“I almost swallowed a hair.”
“Oh, I’m sorry sweetie, was it one of mine?”
He looked at it carefully and sighed. “It was.”
“Oh, I’m so sorry, I don’t know how that happened.”
“It’s okay, Mom. I had a good meal, despite the hair.”
“Thanks,” Heartbeat smiled.
“No problem.”
Lancer took his plate and went to the kitchen and put his plate in the dishwasher. After that, he walked back to his room and started on his homework. Suddenly, the phone rang. Lancer rushed over and picked up the receiver. “Hello?”
“Hi, Lancer.” Bright Eyes greeted.
“Hey Bright Eyes. What’s up?”
“Um...I was thinking...about you.”
“Y-You were?”
“Um...yeah. How are you?”
“Excited actually. My parents are home.”
“That’s good.”
“But only for a week.”
“Oh, that’s not so good.”
“Yeah, but at least they’re here, it’s been forever.”
“Y-yeah…”
“So how are you?”
“Good actually. I’m about to watch a movie with my dad.”
“Neat! What movie?”
“A documentary on stress.”
Lancer chuckled. “Something we all need to manage.”
“Yeah…”
“So...did you get your homework done?” As soon as the words left his mouth, Lancer regretted it, kids don’t ask kids about homework.
“Of course I did,” Bright Eyes said, “Why would you ask that?”
“I...I dunno, I was gonna start, but then you called and, I…”
“Oh. Okay. Do you need help with anything?”
“I was just about to start. Why?”
“I was just asking.”
“Oh...Um...Maybe, but I wouldn’t mind some company. Company my own age, I mean.”
“Uh, sure, I’ll be over in fifteen minutes.”
“O-okay, see you then.”
“Okay… Bye…”
Lancer hung up and returned to phone to the receiver. An odd sense of excitement came over him, one he had never felt before. Why? He’s known her for years. Surely he’d feel the same, right? Just cuz she knew his feelings about her didn’t mean anything, right?
Yeah...Right.
About fifteen minutes later, there was a knock at the door. Lancer bolted to the door, but Heartbeat opened it. It was Bright Eyes. “Can I help you?”
“Um...hello...I came by to see Lancer, is he here?”
“Yes… but who are you?”
“Oh, my name’s Bright Eyes. I’m a friend of his.”
“Oh...Bright Eyes. Lancer’s told us so much about you.”
“Mom,” Lancer moaned as he walked up. “Hey Bright Eyes.”
“Uh...Hi Lancer… Do you still have that homework?”
“Yeah, fifteen minutes only gets me done with half of a subject.”
“Okay. Which subject?”
“History.”
“Ah. I hear you. Takes longer than math.”
“Yeah, but still a fun subject, but not as fun as literature.”
“Oh I’d disagree; science is the best.”
"Well, I guess I'll leave you two to it." Heartbeat grinned, "Would you like a snack?"
“No, it’s alright,” Bright Eyes answered, “I couldn’t.”
"Well, alright, but if you need anything, let me know."
"Okay, thank you, ma'am." Bright Eyes grinned. She turned to Lancer. “So history?”
“Yeah. Let’s get started before something happens.”
“Yeah… Let’s…” They walked over to the dining room table and began working.
In the living room, Hard Drive and Heartbeat were talking.
“We’re seriously missing out on Lancer’s life. I mean, we come home and now he has a girlfriend,” Heartbeat said.
“I thought they were just friends,” Hard Drive replied.
“Oh come off of it, it’s obvious on his face.”
"Well… I guess...but I thought boys thought girls had cooties at his age?"
“This is Lancer we’re talking about. He’s not like the other boys.”
"I suppose...but I'm not sure why it's necessarily a bad thing."
“I think we need to give him ‘the talk’ if someone never gave it to him already.”
"Maybe one of the servants explained it to him?"
"I doubt it...."
"I hope so, I'm not sure I want to give it to him," he chuckled.
“This is serious; he’s growing up!”
“Alright, alright. Can’t wait until his mood changes when he gets there.”
Heartbeat glared at Hard Drive.
"Sorry..."
******
“Bright Eyes, could I ask you something?”
“Sure. What’s on your mind?”
“How do you cope with only one parent with you all the time while both of mine are constantly away?
“Oh. That. Well, my mother died of cancer when I was six years old, but he wasn’t at home all the time.”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, he’d have long shifts with the paper once every two weeks. I know how you feel.”
“Oh. I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay. Just something I never mentioned.”
“Alright... So how did you cope?”
"Well, sometimes it isn't easy, but I just try and think of what how much worse it could be."
"Oh... But how could it be worse?"
“I could lose him too.”
“Oh…”
“Yeah. It could always be worse, but my dad means the world to me.”
"Yeah, and I guess I couldn't even have my parents at all..."
“Yeah. I do remember this truth: You don’t know what you have until you don’t have it anymore. You and I both know that personally.”
“Yeah.”
“Why don’t you talk with them when you get the chance; let them know how you feel.”
"I-I don't know… I mean what if-”
Lancer’s parents were about to enter from behind when Bright Eyes suddenly took Lancer’s hoof. They stopped in their tracks when they heard Bright Eyes say, “Please? You can’t keep hiding it from them.”
"I-I know, but I'm worried it'll upset them."
“I’m sure they’ll understand if it does. Just don’t be too harsh on them.”
“Alright. I’ll tell them.”
"Thank you, would you like me to do it with you?"
“No, I-” Lancer looked out of the corner of his eye and jumped. “Whoa! Didn’t see you there.” He instantly saw the awkward looks on their faces. For the first time ever, he wished his parents weren’t around. “Um… Question: How long have you been standing there?”
“Right after you started holding hooves and Bright Eyes said ‘Please? You can’t keep hiding this from them’,” Heartbeat said.
“And doing it with her? What is she talking about,” Hard Drive asked.
"U-Umm… Well…”
“He was talking about how you two are away too often,” Bright Eyes said.
“Wait, that was it,” Heartbeat asked.
“Yeah,” Lancer said, “What did you think we were talking about?”
The two parents looked at each other, then Lancer. “That’s for another conversation.”
“You mean ‘the talk’,” Lancer asked, “Bright Eyes’s dad already filled me in after my foreleg found its way around Bright Eyes without my knowing… It was pretty awkward for all of us.”
“Oh. But as far as being away a lot… Well…”
“You’re going to be upset, I know it. I’m sorry I brought that up.”
“No, actually we feel the same way.”
“Wait, what?”
After what seemed like an hour, everything that Lancer and his parents was feeling were brought to the table. Bright Eyes was writing all of the words that were said down and carefully analyzing them, in order to come up with a solution that would work for the family.
“Okay, so let me see if I got this right: Lancer, you barely see your parents, right,” Bright Eyes asked.
“Yes.”
Her attention was then turned to the parents. “And you two want to spend time with him, but you have busy work schedules, correct?”
“Yes,” They both said.
“Okay, could any of those hours be reduced when possible?”
“Well, we do need to make money in order to support Lancer,” Heartbeat said.
“Trust me, I think he’s good, but I think your ultimate form of support is just being there.”
"I guess," Hard Drive confessed, "Its just we want the absolute best for Lancer."
“And I do thank you for that,” Lancer said, “but to me, it all means nothing if you aren’t around.”
“I see,” Heartbeat said, “Well, I guess I could start coming every weekend at least. It’s a start until I can get something figured out.”
"R-really?"
"Of course, you mean the world to me, Lancer, if I didn't have you in my life..."
“That’s what I said about my dad,” Bright Eyes said, “He actually played the role of both mother and father after my mom passed away four years ago. I don’t care what hero they come up with, there’s no greater hero than him.”
"That's really sweet," Heartbeat smiled.
"Mm..." Was all Hard Drive could say.
"Is something wrong?" Lancer asked.
"No...not really, just feeling...inadequate, I guess."
“Why?”
“Well, You go on and on about how great your father is and my son’s not doing the same.”
“That’s because you aren’t really there for him. Trust me, you’ll have him talking if you spend more time with him.”
“Hm… Maybe I could work something out.”
“That’s more like it.” Bright Eyes looked at her watch. “Well, I better get home before my dad gets worried.”
“Okay, and thank you for helping us through this,” Heartbeat said.
“Anything for a friend.”
“Be careful.”
“I will.” With that, Bright Eyes was out the door.
“I better head to bed. Good night,” Lancer said. He started to head to his room, but before he could even leave the room…
“Lancer?”
He stopped and turned around. “Yes Mom?”
“Do you think it would be possible if you slept with us?”
Lancer gave it some thought. It did seem a little odd since he was six years old when he last went to bed with them, but since they were able to fix this bond that was bruised since then, he figured, ‘Why not?’ “I think that would be very much possible."
And with that, all three ponies walked into the bedroom. For the first time in years, they truly felt like they were a family.
