private Learning to Let Go RP (1x1 SoL, Friendship/Romance)

[ReverieRiver 526]

(( OOC Thread ))

 

Galatea sighed as she gently twirled the glass of water between her front hooves. What am I doing here? she asked herself, stealing a glance around. She was in a cafe, filled with other ponies having a pleasant time with one another, whether they were enjoying each other's company as friends or spending time together as a couple. And here she was, sitting at a lonely table, feeling conspicuous if only in the fact that she was the one of the few that was there alone.

 

She didn't even really want to be here in the first place. If she could have helped it, she would have been back in her lab, doing what she seemed to enjoy the most - work. But, Nano had practically pushed her out of the door of the lab, insisting that she go out. He thought that staying cooped up inside all of the time would be bad for her.

 

He just worries to much, Galatea thought as she stared down at her glass, gazing into the clear water. She could see her reflection in the water, now that she was holding the glass still. She stared bemusedly at the small reflection for a long while, a few repressed memories slowly drifting into her consciousness.

 

Then she stopped herself, shoving the shards of memory back down into her subconscious as she shook her head to clear it. This is why I don't like going out. I have too much time alone with my thoughts... The mare sighed again as she looked around once more, wishing that she could be back at the lab - or at the least, have something to do so that she wouldn't get lost in her own thoughts.

 

@@Ampharos,

[Ampharos 1,009]

@@Miss Reaper,

 

A brown pony woke up spontaneously at this time, quite literally jumping out of his bed and tackling the dog at the foot of it. "Come on Nestle! It's wake up time!" The brown hound barked excitedly and set to work with his owner. The two of them began going around the pony's house, finding the loose animals that were kept there to feed them and let them out into the large yard out back. The pony walked out the door with the dog trudging along side him. He let the dog go loose around town as he went into one of his favorite cafes. It seemed a little overcrowded today, but he always like sitting inside. Oh what to do! The pony sighed contently and went to the counter, ordered a pastry and took the nearest seat to him. Which just so happened to be across from somepony else! "Oh hello there! Do you mind if I sit?" 

[ReverieRiver 526]

@@Ampharos,

 

Galatea was almost startled when she heard another pony's voice addressing her. She turned and looked at the source of said voice, and put on a polite smile. "I don't mind at all," she said, even though she herself wasn't entirely sure whether or not she really minded. On the one hoof, she didn't want to be here in the first place and kind of didn't want to be bothered while she was on this forced outing. But on the other... well, at least this curious pony with dog-like ears could keep her company.

 

It was better than being left to her own devices, left alone with her thoughts. At least, that was what she told herself. She looked down at her glass of water once more, again finding herself turning it between her front hooves. She wasn't sure how to make or maintain conversation beyond polite small talk, she realized, where Nano was always fairly amicable with other ponies.

 

Isn't that something? A robot pony is more social than I am, Galatea thought. Then she shook the thought away. She wasn't one for self-pity, usually, and she wasn't about to fall into that sort of habit now.

[Ampharos 1,009]

The pony smiled and took a happy bite out of his pastry. "Awesome! My name's Dog Ears by the way." He gave the red mare another smile and took another bite out of his pastry. He chewed thoughtfully for a moment, looking the mare over quickly. She seemed a little... lost in her thoughts. Also a little as if she didn't want to talk to Dog Ears. Well he was going to fix that up as quick as he could! "I haven't seen you around town recently. Are you from around here?" Maybe small talk would get her to break out of her thoughts.

[ReverieRiver 526]

Galatea returned her attention to the pony at once, feeling mildly abashed for having let her polite facade slip as she put a smile back onto her face. "I'm Galatea. It's nice to meet you, Dog Ears." She found the name a little odd as she uttered it, but it seemed to make sense, giving that he had... well... dog ears. A curious thing indeed. Briefly, she wondered what sort of genetic quirk could cause that kind of mutation; then she remembered that genetics weren't her specialty anyway.

 

Then she paused at his question. Am I from around here? I'm not even from this era, she thought wryly to herself. "I'm not exactly from around here, no. I've been here a while, though, and..." The mare stopped and contemplated her glass of water again for a few moments. "I guess the reason you haven't seen me around is because I guess I spend a lot of time working in my laboratory."

 

As she spoke, she started wondering if Nano was right, after all. Was she spending too much time in her lab? Maybe this would actually be good for her.... Maybe.

[Ampharos 1,009]

@@Miss Reaper,

 

Dog Ears smiled, triumphant at succeeding in his little task. "Galatea... That's a lovely name! Definitely more unique than some of the ones here, that's for sure!" Dog Ears chuckled to himself quietly as he took another bite of his pastry. "Sho... *gulp* So where are you from? I used to live in Fillydelphia. My place was a lot more suited to what I did back there. Can't complain here though. Nice and quaint and stuff." 

[ReverieRiver 526]

@@Ampharos,

 

Galatea could feel the color rising in her cheeks as she blushed slightly, realizing that it had been a long while since she'd heard a compliment - even if it was for something so simple as her name. "Thanks," she said, glad that the red tint to her cheeks was mostly concealed beneath her darker red fur.

 

Then he asked about where she was from. Uh... Oh, dear. Didn't think this one through. She briefly fretted to herself; Diadem City, where she really came from, hadn't come to exist yet. She'd have to make up something. "Well, I'm from... Baltimare." She'd paused in hesitation, but the name of that town had somehow come into her mind, even though she wasn't all too familiar with the cities and towns that existed in this time period.

 

With that, the rest came fairly easily. "I had to move due to... certain circumstances, but I enjoy it here. It is nice, and peaceful..." Her last statement was, at least, more or less true - even if she didn't typically leave the lab long enough to enjoy the quiet atmosphere or breathe in the fresh air.

[Ampharos 1,009]

"Baltimare huh? I've got some friends from there! It's pretty nice over there too, although I enjoy this place a lot more."  Dog Ears noticed just a tiny hint of redness on Galatea's already red face. Was it hot in here? Maybe the body heat from all the ponies in here was making her a little warm. Completely leaving that train of thought back at the brain station, Dog Ears decided to continued conversing with this new pony. "So you said you were in a lab right? What do you do there?"

[ReverieRiver 526]

Galatea smiled and nodded in acknowledgement as Dog Ears went on about friends and such in Baltimare. She couldn't really add anything to it, considering that she didn't know anything about the town other than the fact that it was indeed a town. (How did she know its name, anyway? It seemed as if she'd heard it somewhere, but couldn't remember where from...)

 

Moving onto the subject of her work was considerably easier than anything else so far. It was the one thing she could talk about enthusiastically. "I work as an engineer. I design and experiment with various technology." She almost went on to talk about her greatest creation, Nano - but she stopped herself. No pony that hadn't met the sentient robot personally would be likely to believe her if she claimed to create such a thing.

[Ampharos 1,009]

"Oh cool! I'm sort of a vet, or something like that. I have a shelter and stuff- and by that I mean my own house- to take care of animals that my dog and I find injured or abandoned. Maybe you could stop by some time! Find someone you like." Dog Ears gave Galatea another smile and looked out the window briefly, seeing if Nestle happened to be anywhere in the area- which he wasn't.

[ReverieRiver 526]

"A vet?" Galatea echoed, raising her eyebrows just slightly. That makes sense, I suppose, given his name, and his... dog ears. He must have an affinity with animals. In fact... "That reminds me of somepony else," she ended up thinking aloud. "Oh, what was her name... Fluttershy? I heard she takes care of animals, too. Although, I suppose I shouldn't be surprised. After all, there isn't just one veterinarian in Equestria!" She let out a slight, somewhat awkward laugh, now finding that she was rambling a little.

 

As for herself... Galatea didn't have much experience with animals at all. She simply hadn't encountered them very often; not that there was much of a chance for her to when she preferred her lab to the outdoors. So when Dog Ears suggested that she could stop by his animal shelter/home, she hesitated a little - for more reasons than one. "Maybe, yeah..." she said slowly, her tone betraying her doubt.

[Ampharos 1,009]

@@Miss Reaper,

 

Dog Ears' ears perked up at the mention of Fluttershy. "Oh yes! I've associated with her before. She has a natural talent with animals I tell you. Better than me, I think! But yea, I think it's be really cool for you to grab a little pet for your lab. Just don't conduct any tests on it." Dog Ears chuckled to himself at his mediocre humor. "And don't worry, some pets like indoors more than outdoors, if that was even something you were worrying about."  

[ReverieRiver 526]

Galatea appeared to consider it for a few moments, but was still quite uncertain. "I don't know... I'm not sure if having an animal around the lab would be very good," she said. Images of a little animal running about wreaking havoc in her lab, knocking over meticulously designed projects, found their way into her mind, and she mentally cringed at the thought of it. "I can't say whether or not I'd be very good with animals, but I'm kind of doubtful on that."

 

Then she remembered that she didn't live alone, and ended up thinking aloud, "Although, Nano might be good with them... He's certainly spent enough time around Fluttershy to learn a thing or two." Nano's AI was programmed to work adaptively; he eventually learned to adopt traits from the ponies he spent time with. Considering that he had been around that kind yellow pegasus ever since arriving in Ponyville, surely he'd picked up at least some of her affinity with animals?