private A Kismetent Honeymoon

[Budding Night 1,043]

@Sterling Crimson

 

Evening got comfy in her seat as the blimp began to take off, all the rich ponies around her made her nervous and shy, but she tried to keep herself from freaking out, besides, she had Sterling there with her. Her mind and heart was racing, just three days ago Sterling had annouced to her that they were going to Mareis and now she was on the blimp with him! She felt a tad quesy as the blimp came off the land, for she'd never been on a transportation in the air before, but it soon settled.

[Inactive01 5,299]

@Budding Night

 

The blimp had finally reached cruising altitude, which was just a few thousand feet. The hostess of the flight, a white mare with a straight blonde mane, motioned for everypony to be free from their seat belts and be free to take a look around at the skies and the ocean below. She also offered drinks of cider as she walked across to the ponies on board this prestigious flight. When she reached Sterling, he gave a mere "no thank you", especially since he had no intention of drinking. Finally, she announced to her fellow passengers that they were free to visit the lower deck of the blimp where dinner would be served and an entertainment room was available for relaxation.

 

As Sterling looked around the skies in his seat, he noticed somepony jugging down on a lot, and A LOT of cider. Furthermore, much to the chagrin of Sterling, it was the same green stallion he saw at the beginning of the flight! Sterling thought to himself as he drank and drank, 'Oh no... I can't believe our seat's just in front of this green stallion... this is will most certainly NOT end well...'

[Budding Night 1,043]

@Sterling Crimson

 

The flight hostess walked around the blimp with a warm smile on her face, the cider she served was apparently weakly alcoholic, but she denied a mug nonetheless. A green stallion somewhere behind them seemed to be drinking a lot, and he was getting a tad swoonish.. She heard heavy hoofsteps coming from behind, she turned her head to see the drunken stallion approaching her with a smug smirk on his face. She keep herself stiff until she felt a hoof on her shoulder "Well hey twere, Sexxaay~" the stallion stammered "W'has a bheauty like yshou doin' here?"

Evening gulped, oh hell no..

[Inactive01 5,299]

@Budding Night

 

(OOC: It's noon time Manehattan time zone. When Evie and Sterling arrive eventually, keep in mind that it'll be dusk.)

 

Sterling knew this green stallion was trouble from the first moment he saw her! He saw Evening being... harassed by the drunk green stallion! It left him very cross to say the least! As he began to speak in a slurred and suggestive tone, Sterling took the green stallion's hoof and sternly replied, nearly shouting in the process "What are you doing with my wife? I don't want anypony... ANYPONY messing with my wife! I don't care if everypony sees me shouting at you, but I do know this! YOU... DESERVE... A... STERN... TELL-OFF!!!" 

 

Just as Sterling said, all the other ponies looked at him and the green stallion with derision and intrigue, including the hostess who just exited the lower room to prepare lunch.

[Budding Night 1,043]

@Sterling Crimson

 

The drunken stallion grinned in his drunken state "Oh Yshea? I don't ghive a dayum if shes yshour wife, I besh she'd perfer mswah" he said, chuckling at the end of his sentence

 

Evening gulped "Um.. No, I-I'm good.." she whispered, looking down at the floor, silently thanking Sterling for trying to protect her, she looked up at the Green Stallion once again hastily, he had a confused look on his face which soon turned to anger, he lifted his hoof high in the air and mumbled something to himself, Evening sqeaked in fear and hid her face, if only she had some rays of sunllight to defend herself with, now it was up to Sterling..

[Inactive01 5,299]

@Budding Night

 

(OOC: Last post for tonight. We can probably go full force again this weekend, starting Friday afternoon my timezone. In the meantime, come up with some more funny ideas and send em via PM.)

 

Sterling could see the look of fear and fright in Evening's face. Deep down Sterling knew this was a poor start to their honeymoon. 'Why in Equestria would they allow such a stallion to even get on this blimp in the first place?! What's he doing drinking during the day too?!' thought an angered as he sought to end this charade once and for all. He got up from his seat and walked over to the hostess who looked at Sterling with dilated eyes. Sterling then asked calmly, "Excuse ma'am. I'm sorry about what happened back there. You see, that green stallion got drunk and was trying to play with my wife while we were beginning to enjoy our honeymoon. I didn't appreciate that one bit, so I gave him a stern tell-off. It looks like he still wants to play with her and unless he's under control, our experience on this blimp will be a very, very poor one."

 

The hostess nodded at Sterling solemnly and she responded to Sterling with a comforting smile, "I understand sir. I'll get it straightened out right away." She then motioned to the drunk stallion and moved him to a separate area away from the rest of the passengers who were clearly beginning to understand what happened. The rich ponies murmured to themselves, glad that the drunk pony didn't bother them at all. 

 

Sterling then returned to his seat with a large sigh. He saw Evening still scared of the green stallion and he spoke apologetically, "Oh Evie... I'm sorry about what happened there. I had to keep him away from you because he clearly was up to no good, especially since he was drunk." Afterwards, he placed his hoof under Evening's chin and then gave her a small peck on her cheek in hopes of alleviating the situation.

[Budding Night 1,043]

@Sterling Crimson

 

Evening gave the Crimson stallion a small, sweet smile. "It's alright, Sterling.." she whispered in returned "Theres no need to be sorry. I know you did what you had to" when she finshed her sentence, she nuzzled him, he seemed a tad stressed and Evening felt as though she needed to calm him down, like she could calm him down.

 

Evening tried not to show it, but her mind was shaking with fear, that stallion had been close to hitting her and picking her up. It was a truly scary moment for a fragile pony like herself, also to add that it wasn't the best start to a honeymoon, but they had the rest of the trip to decide if it was good or not.

Edited June 12, 2013 by Budding Night

[Inactive01 5,299]

@Budding Night

 

Sterling nuzzled Evening back as she comforted him after the terrible confrontation he had with the green stallion. 'Good thing he's gone now. He was an awful creature trying to play with my Evie!' thought Sterling with determination as he finished his nuzzle with Evening. He knew it would be a very long ride on the blimp, so he made some plans along the way to keep Evening entertained...

----------------------------------TIME WARP: THAT NIGHT IN THE ATLEIGHTIC...--------------------------

 

It was a very boring ride to say the least. The entertainment room wasn't available for use until now, so when the entertainment room opened, Sterling was so glad he rushed down to it. He quickly motioned for Evening to come with him, "Hey Evie! Come with me! Let's go to the entertainment room!" Sterling rushed down the stairs and past the dining room where dinner would be served soon and continued to motion to Evening to come along to the entertainment room.

 

When Sterling had entered the entertainment room, it reminded him deeply of the entertainment room at the galleon they rode on when he and the rest of DJ's gang got shipwrecked. The floor was filled with hard wood, the tables were also wooden but round, and the chairs were also made of antique wood. What caught Sterling's mind the most was the piano in front of him. He rushed to it as quickly as he could and he started to play some Blue Rhapsody...

 

 

 

 

 

[Budding Night 1,043]

@Sterling Crimson

 

Evening's eyes widened at Sterling's burst of energy, she let go of a small smile and followed him down to the entertainment room. She stopped a bit away from the Piano and half-smiled at Sterling's playing. He was so cute when he got excited, it made her feel warm inside of her heart. His beautiful piano was a nice compliment to a sort of.. boring ride on the blimp, she could hear some other piano walking over to the entertainment room, some where quite drowsy, like they had just woken up. Evening's brain was suddenly smacked back to reality

 

"S-Sterling.." she whispered, half-lovingly half-concerend "Are you sure your allowed to do this..?" she turned around and saw more ponies come down, some of them looked confused, the rest angry or of the same sorts

Edited June 12, 2013 by Budding Night

[Inactive01 5,299]

@Budding Night

 

Sterling shouted to Evening with a carefree attitude as she whispered her concerns, "There should be no worries Evie! After all, this IS the entertainment room!" As the other passengers looked progressively more and more annoyed, the attendant rushed into the room to see what all the ruckus was. When she saw Sterling, she thought with some guilt, 'Oh he's such a good pianist, but it's a huge shame I have to stop him. Well a hostess has to do what she has to do...' She then approached the carefree Sterling and told him, "Excuse me sir. Flight rules say that you can't cause a ruckus on this flight, and includes piano performance. I ask that you please stop playing now." 

 

Sterling gave the attendant a look of disappointment as he stopped. He looked at her with a slight frown as he replied, "B-b-b-but I was merely trying to entertain the masses... it IS an entertainment room right?" The attendant replied, "Yes it is sir, but the other guests don't look very happy right now and we need to keep everypony comfortable." Sterling then saw the look of anger and annoyance in their faces as he sadly walked away from the piano with Evening...

[Budding Night 1,043]

@Sterling Crimson

 

As her and Sterling sat back in their seats, she could see he was upset from getting told to stop his beautiful playing. She placed her hoof on his farthest cheek and pushed it softly so his head was facing her "Hey.." she said, her as-always soft voice had a sound of caringness in it "Don't worry, they don't know what their missing out on!" she gave him a soft, kiss on the cheek and gave him a nuzzle, she hoped she could comfort him..

[Inactive01 5,299]

@Budding Night

 

Sterling could clearly see the air of confidence she had in him as she took his head and turned it round. Her words were always so comforting to him, even if things went terribly wrong. It made him so giddy to know that such a wonderful mare would be his wife. As he felt the kisses and nuzzles, his smile on his face showed it all; he was clearly feeling a lot better after that minor mishap. He replied to Evening lovingly under the moonlight shining above the blimp, "Oh Evie. You're always such a wonderful support for me. This is already a great start to our honeymoon." He then gave Evening a small kiss at her nose to show his affection for her. After that, he softly rose from his seat and gave out a yawn. He then motioned to Evening, "C'mon Evie. We've got a room downstairs for our beauty rest tonight. We'll be in Prance by tomorrow morning Manehattan time, which is after we sleep hehe." Sterling was clearly feeling delighted at the prospect of him and Evening sleeping together on the same bed as he trotted dreamily to their room for the night.

[Budding Night 1,043]

@Sterling Crimson

 

Evening lay down to him when they got into bed, she smiled at him and whispered him a sweet 'Goodnight' and quickly fell asleep, feeling herself start to dream..

 

-----------------------~~*STARTING DREAM STATE*~~-----------------------

 

 

One hoof after the other, she got closer and closer to it. The each hoofstep echoed in the dark room around her, her legs walked gracefully as they continued to move forward, her whole body rocked steadily and elegantly as she walked slowly towards the glow. Her mouth was open the slightet and her eyes wide as her head slowly traced every edge, every corner of the place around her.

 

This was it, she was finally nearing towards the light blue aura, outlining a closed female eye. She was inches away from touching it, her heart was swelled up in curiousity, fear and determination. She lifted her hoof up, and inched it closer..

[Inactive01 5,299]

@Budding Night

 

Sterling was now trotting dreamily to his bed. It was such a delight for him to be sleeping with Evening for the first time in comfort. The other times he slept with her were overshadowed by adventure and tension because of the journeys that befell him and his friends. The room Sterling entered was smaller than Sterling's bedroom shared with Evening, but the bed looked much larger, large enough to fit two loving ponies, just like the blimp advertised. Now he got to sleep right by Evening as he curled in his bed and began to dream...

 

-----------------------DREAM TIME!------------------------

It was a garden... a beautiful garden... the most beautiful he had ever seen in his whole life... Lilacs, roses, and herbs oh my! The garden was teeming with life as Sterling walked through the fancy white gate... Sterling pondered to himself with intrigue and joy, 'Where exactly am I...? Still, this is a beautiful garden!' As Sterling walked around the garden's pathways, he noticed Evening sitting alone on a wooden bench just painted a snowy white. Sterling trotted to her with happiness as he sat down on the bench beside her. He asked Evening calmly, "Evie... where... where... am I?"  

 

Evening replied to him joyfully and with a wide smile, "Sterling! You're in our garden! Look at it! We made it together! It's grown so much ever since we first set hoof in our humble house in Manehattan! Oh Sterling! It's beautiful! If it weren't for you... this... this would never be real!" Sterling replied with a pleasant but surprised look, "Evie... we... we made this?! It's... It's beautiful! I... I don't know what to say!" Evening then placed her hoof by Sterling's mouth and with a joyful smile she spoke, "Sterling... it's because of our love that we made this. Oh Sterling! This is even better than the garden I found long ago! We're each other's garden Sterling! That's how we made this garden! I love you Sterling!" With that, Evening gave Sterling her most passionate kiss she could give, to which Sterling gave back. They embraced each other tightly as they continued to kiss, the garden continuing to become greener and richer in colour as they kissed... 

 

As Sterling and Evening continued to kiss, birds of all colours began to chirp in chorus to celebrate this wonderful love. Sterling couldn't end it; he wanted to keep it going forever... Since the invention of the kiss, there have been only five kisses that were rated the most passionate, the most pure. This one left them ALL behind... 

--------------------END DREAM SEQUENCE------------------

Sterling continued to sleep with a deep, but joyous sigh as he continued to dream happily into the night sky beside Evening...

Edited June 13, 2013 by Sterling Crimson

[Budding Night 1,043]

@Sterling Crimson

 

(Part Two of Dream State!)

 

As she touched an edge of the closed feminine eye, she walked backwards cautiously and gazed up at the eye. It started to open, a blinding white light came from it, it opened slowly, the more it opened the bright the light got, soon she found herself holding her hoof up to cover her eyes. She felt the light completely overcome her and all the darkness around her, soft lashes caressed her softly. She felt a warm yet cold rush of air run through her mane, but it died down and hung in the air instead when the light died and she took her hoof away from her eyes.

 

She looked around, she had been moved to another place. She was outside a small building, it had stairs leading up to a door and a ramp leading up to it against the side, all the doors and windows were closed and portrayed a big desk with a laptop and papers on it, sitting next to a large whiteboard, small desks and chairs, all in groups, clustered all around in the middle of the room. All apart from one desk, at the back of the classroom, the top of the desk was covered in notebooks, paper and books, covered in doodles and writing. Infront of the steps was a tall, skinny tree with spiraling branches and beautiful leaves everywhere, the shining sun was bordered behind a heart made from the leaves a branches, diagonally to the left-front of it was a shed, the garage door was made of a sort of metal and was closed, padlocked to the ground.

 

Another bright light came, but it was dimmer than last time, but she still had to close her eyes and hold her standing stance on the ground as the wind came again, but colder. When she opened her eyes, she was under a small, dying tree with only three leaves on two thin branches. The tree was on a hill, or rather to slope of a hill, next to a bunch of large, beautiful  deciduous trees with golden, orange and green leaves. On the bottom of the hill was a large field, with a large sporting turf, behind it the classroom from before and far the left was a large playground and difficult obstacle course.

 

Once again the light came, but all she had to do now was squint, but fell to her knees as the wind got stronger. She was now infront of the shed from before, but it was open and ponies were inside of it, moving around soccer and rugby balls. A bell had just finished echoing around the place, ponies were walking behind her, she felt airy tears run down her cheeks as the ponies behind her laughed. Multiple masculine looking boy ponies ran up to her and started trying to hit her shoulder, with a ghostly and jaggering movement, the laughter echoing in the air..

Edited June 13, 2013 by Budding Night

[Inactive01 5,299]

@Budding Night

 

Sterling continued to sleep onward as his thoughts shifted into one more dream before the light from Hoorope awoke him...

 

--------------------DREAM SEQUENCE... hehehehehe...--------------

 

Sterling was at the beach. He was relaxing comfortably on the yellow sand by the calm sea shore as he closed his eyes into the relaxing breeze from the sea. He thought to himself, 'Ahh... this is the life... relaxation all around...' Little did he know that a certain purple mare was having much attraction towards the unsuspecting Sterling. As Sterling continued to relax on the sand, he noticed a purple mare walking very slyly in front of him. She gave Sterling a very intent look as she approached Sterling very slowly with a wet mane. 

 

As the purple mare approached Sterling, he couldn't help but notice two things: One was that his eyes popped open as she approached, signalling attraction. The other was that she looked very familiar... like Evening... it confused him to say the least. 'Wait why is Evie walking to me like that?' The purple unicorn continued to give Sterling an intent look and a devious smile as she began to dance around him. Her pink tail also brushed Sterling's skin during her dance, leaving him blushing and very flustered. As she continued to dance, Sterling couldn't help but feel attracted to this mare... she was so... so... inviting... and he enjoyed every minute of it... 'Wait, why am I enjoying this?! This is NOT good! This is lust!' thought a fearful Sterling as the purple mare finished her dance...

 

The mare then approached Sterling and began to lick him very softly on his cheeks. Sterling could feel his cheeks tickled graciously and happily by the mare's tongue. Sterling gave out an even deeper sigh of satisfaction as she continued to lick him. After the lick, she whispered softly and seductively, "Oh Sterling. I know you want this. I can see it in the look of your eyes... Let me just give you a nice little kiss... because... teehehe. I love you Sterling." At this point, Sterling couldn't resist. The mention of love left him reeling... it was probably Evie after all... He replied back with a giggle, "Hehehe... I... want... to... you know... hehehehe..."  The purple mare then replied, "Hehehe. I know Sterling. I know. You can do it all you want hehehehe..." as she slowly and teasingly kissed Sterling repeatedly on the lips. Sterling's hooves raised out to hold her... to cling to her... to hug her... as they kissed repeatedly underneath the sunset on the beach...

 

-------------END DREAM SEQUENCE--------------

Sterling awoke with a slight gasp from his slumber. He then pondered to himself, 'why did I dream that... what... was that all about?' as he began to look out the room's window. He outside of it, he saw a new land as the sun shone brightly in the Mareisian afternoon... He saw the distinctly Prench cottages and brick roadways, getting excited to see that they were very close to their destination. He noticed that Evening was still asleep, so he made sure to quietly prepare his things for arrival...

[Budding Night 1,043]

@Sterling Crimson

 

(Part Three!)

 

The light came once again, but was now a light grey, she hardly need to close her eyes at all anymore. The scene had changed  a.. Bedroom? A Queen size bed took up most of the space in the small room with two sloping walls, at the head and tail of the bed. She stood in a gap between the wall that the door was on and the edge of the bed, used tissues were scattered over the bed, two empty boxes of tissues were on the floor and one more was sitting on the bed. The pillows were soaked in water, but it didn't seem like… water.

 

The light came another time, now an average grey, the wind was getting extremely cold and strong too… She was now, walking into another classroom area, a small court surrounded by five classrooms, children and trees, she walked up stairs towards the smallest classroom and put a shoulder bag she was wearing on a hook in a cloak bay, she had some hair infront of her left arm. But.. Evening's mane didn't hang infront of her face...

 

The light, or more darkness came around, with wind so cold she was shaking. Everything faded to blue, stars swirling around everywhere, she had some hair hanging out of the corner of her left eye. There was nothing in the room but stars, her and.. a mirror on the floor a few steps infront of her, she walked over to it and picked it up to look at her reflection. As it moved slowly in the direction of her face, Evening could see things that... didn't seem right, it was soon enough up to her eyes, looking back into her. There was.. a difference, her eyes weren't dull green anymore, they were a strong green. And Her Mane.. oh her mane; it long at the front and a mix of curly and wavy, its colour... was brown. Her coat, wasn't the same either, it was a dark blue..

She felt the mirror drop out of her hoof, everything went slow-motion as the camera changed to watching the mirror smash slowly on the floor, she felt something shaking the whole room, stars stared exploding...

 

~~~**END OF DREAM STATE**~~~

 

Evening woke up with a gasp, she was shivering and sweaty, she stood up quickly and looked over to Sterling with scared eyes..

Edited June 13, 2013 by Budding Night

[Inactive01 5,299]

@Budding Night

 

Sterling looked around the bedroom with a slightly confused look as he reflected on the dream he just had... 'Why am I thinking such things? Love isn't about that... why was my head thinking about it with Evening's... body...?' While he was looking around, he noticed that Evening had awoke from her slumber. He saw a scared look in her eyes, leaving Sterling concerned. He approached Evening and gave her a light peck before he gave her a side hug. He asked her, careful not to scare her even further, "Evie... what happened? Did... something happen while you slept?"

[Budding Night 1,043]

@Sterling Crimson

 

Evening nodded slowly and gloomly, unsure of what he had asked. Her eyes were souless, absoulutley un-moving. It was all too familiar, she'd seen the rooms, she'd walk those floors. Once apon a time, but.. but..

She didn't know, but she knew she had to figure out what it meant. One day, maybe.

Edited June 13, 2013 by Budding Night

[Inactive01 5,299]

@Budding Night

 

(Last post for tonight. You can post one more tonight and I'll post in the morning. We can then keep going this weekend.)

 

As Sterling looked at Evening noticing the gloomy face, he heard the attendant's voice from the room's intercom system. It signaled the passengers to prepare for landing and to head to the top deck ready to fasten their seat-belts. Sterling helped Evening out of her bed and held her in his hooves, hoping that his tender love would cheer her up from what she experienced during the night...

 

Once Sterling prepared himself at his seat, he felt the blimp descending slowly. He could see the Neighfell Tower and the Hoovre from the distance. He even saw the Cathedral of Notre Mare, which left him very excited and amazed. 'Oh boy! I can't wait until we start sightseeing everything in Mareis with my beautiful Evie!' thought a very excited Sterling as the blimp finally landed in Mareis' landing pad. The hostess gladly welcomed them to Mareis as all the passengers, even the drunk green stallion, disembarked. 

 

Sterling then traveled to the baggage claim area as he waited for his baggage to arrive. Little did he know that it would be a lot harder to reclaim the couple's baggage...

[Budding Night 1,043]

@Sterling Crimson

 

Evening stayed very close to Sterling as they approached the baggage area, but she just had to look out the gigantic windows at the magical country of Mareis, she couldn't really see much of it but she could see beautiful flowers all around and that the locals were just lovely ponies. She gave a small, cautious and fragile smile through her bag-handle to each pony that looked her way and to her surprise, nearly every one of them returned it.

 

As the couple arrived at their baggage claiming area, she put her light-blue bag in front of her and looked around at all the other luggage. She could see plenty of expensive luggage from all the rich ponies on the blimp, she could see the now sober(ish) green stallion stumbling off with a medium-sized tan coloured bag, she turned back to the conveyor belt with an in-mind sigh. She hoped they didn't have to wait too long for their luggage, it had been a while already and they hadn't either of their bags.

[Inactive01 5,299]

@Budding Night

 

When Sterling got to the baggage area, he felt a sense of adrenaline in him. He wanted to get all his bags out into the hotel and he wanted to explore Mareis right away! So when he and Evening, who was close by him, arrived at the baggage area, he was expecting his baggage to arrive right away. However, as time dragged on and on for what seemed like ages, he noticed other passengers from other journeys beginning to reclaim their baggage. That, along with the fact Sterling began to notice the sun beginning to set, left him very irritated. With a cross face, he thought, 'Where is our luggage? We should have had them over an hour ago... Plus, I'm getting tired waiting around here...'

Edited June 14, 2013 by Sterling Crimson

[Budding Night 1,043]

@Sterling Crimson

 

Evening was getting tired and sore from waiting, were in the heck was their luggage? She turned to Sterling "S-S-Sterling?" she said, worried tone in her voice "We.. we have waiting here for h-hours.. There's n-n-no baggage left on the be-belt. Should we.. go talk to someone, or just leave for the hotel?"

Edited June 14, 2013 by Budding Night

[Inactive01 5,299]

@Budding Night

 

Sterling continued to wait for what seemed like ages for the luggage to arrive. Just as he was about to motion Evening to leave for the hotel, one of the security officers from Mareis' blimp hub arrived. He was wearing the typical Prench uniform of blue and red. He was a grey stallion wearing a blue cap. He asked the couple with a Prench accent, "Excuse me sir... are... you Sterling Crimson?" Sterling replied with some annoyance, "Yes..." The officer replied apologetically, "Well Mr. Sterling, if you'll come with us, we managed to find your baggage safe and sound. Come with us please." 

 

Sterling walked with the officer through the hub. It seemed like an eternity but eventually they arrived at a security office within the blimp hub. When Sterling retrieved his luggage with Evening, he noticed that it felt lighter than usual... When Sterling worryingly opened the luggage, he noticed that some of his tourist clothes were missing along with some of his essentials, like toothbrushes and camera. It left Sterling even more annoyed, directing his irritation at the security guard, "Sir, some of my stuff is missing! What happened to it?!"

[Budding Night 1,043]

@Sterling Crimson

 

Evening could see the worry in the guard's eyes "Um, Yes. About that, sir.." he said with a rough voice "There has been a 'baggage' thief on the team for a while now. He was one of the ponies that loads the bags off the plane when they arrive. Since there are.. a few of them, we haven't been able to locate who he is and where he's hiding the stolen items. We are on the case though sir so we very well may have your missing items in a few days"

 

Evening stood there with her mouth open, she couldn't believe they let a criminal on their team, did he not have a criminal record at all? She couldn't do much but stare at him with disbelief, he seemed to notice her and gulp heavily, but then looked back to Sterling with a easily identified fake smile on his face.