[Canterlot] A Griffin In a Crowd of Ponies [Open]

[CrossStitch]

"Ah, it smells great in here!" Gladwin announced as he walked into the shop. He looked around quickly, taking in the sights before him. It felt like any other Doughnut shop he had been in, which put his mind at east. He wouldn't enjoy eating in a big fancy restaurant. This caused a wide smile to creep across the griffin's beak as he continued to finish his entrance. Several ponies gave a quick glance to the party, but then they looked away. Gladwin gave a small breath of relief.

He walked forward to join Holly and Sketch, feeling more comfortable around the two. He then began walking to a table with four seats around it. Perfect for their party. "Over here looks like a nice spot." He said walking towards the table. "So, Holly, you were saying where you get your accent from...?" He asked. Gladwin felt a little rude not also addressing Conor and Sketch with a question, but Holly made him feel not as out of place in Canterlot.

[Conor Colton]

Colton didn't say anything least he say something wrong and screw up what was already a bit of an odd first impression. He gave a nod to Gladwin as he held the door to symbolize a 'thank you' He followed the group eagerly and tried to get a first impression of the whole group. He couldn't really get much from the male unicorn as he hadn't had a chance to talk to him yet, but when he looked at the female unicorn who he overheard was named 'Holly' he saw that she was a bit mad about something, which was probably her being interrupted earlier, but he kept silent none the less.

When the four reached their table Colton decided to have a seat close to the window. He wasn't bothered by Gladwin only addressing Holly, Colton was too busy wondering over what he might order. He made up his mind rather quickly and then found himself staring out the window, being lost in thought as he processed the events that just took place. He quickly snapped back into reality however when he noticed someone wasn't there, his pet bird Sparks. He turned around and faced the group, he waited for Gladwin and Holly to finish their conversation before he spoke to the group as a whole, "Uh...sorry if this is kinda, off topic but, has anypony seen a sparrow anywhere?" Colton said as he waited eagerly for the groups response.

[knight]

"A sparrow....?" Holly looked outside, and saw a little bird attempting to weasel its way into her magically sealed cart. It didn't worry her, as she knew her fruit was safe, but she assumed by the brown coloration and the rather....tame...appearance, that that was his bird, "Like that one?" She pointed through the window to her cart, "or....Ah guess Ah don't know birds very well...maybe that's not a sparrow."

She blushed a little bit, and dismissed it, leaving the pegasi to either take her suggestion or turn it down, and returned her eyes to the Griffon, who had renewed his interest in her accent, much to her delight, "Ah was raised way up in Roughrider Ridge, in a little town called Beakbreak. Ya mayuv heard of it. Lotta rough and tumble Griffon folk live way up there--lotta outlaws both pony and non-pony alike there, too, cuz it seems ta be outta Celestia's hooves....." she paused, thinking on it, "Ya never realize till ya leave how ya pick up such things. Hard to believe Ah even went to school up thar, huh? Mosta mah friends were griffons."

She smiled as she thought about it, "It's almost weird...when I came down outta the Ridges......there was so much PONYFOLK! Ah mean, sure, Ah'd seen 'em here and there....but the population in Beakbreak was heavily Griffon....hard to believe in Equestria, Griffons are the minority....well, through most of it, anyway..." she tapped her chin with a hoof, "So uh....what about you? Ya say yer a map maker? Where ya from?"

[Imagination]

A sparrow? The one that was with Colton when he arrived? He imagined it must be domesticated, but he wasn't entirely sure how Pony Joe would feel about it being in the shop. Then again he didn't know much about Pony Joe himself to begin with, having only visited this place once before. About to inquire, his attntion was turned to Holly where she pointed out a bird by her cart. Ever the curious one, he took a look himself, but could neither confirm nor deny that it was indeed the sparrow the pegasis was looking for. With that out of the way, and a place to sit being decided, he went with the others to the table and took an empty seat. This was turning out to be an interesting day, indeed! He came to Canterlot to draw a portrait, ran into Gladwin, met another pony who had apparently grown up in his lands, met a pegasis with possibly a pet bird, and now they were about to have dougnuts together!

But of course Holly had raised so many questions in the unicorn's mind! What was the Griffon's culture like? Their holidays? Their mannerisms? What was the education system like? What about transportation, seeing as the majority of the population had wings? He probably wouldn't get around to asking such questions... or most of them anyway, but between Gladwin and Holly he was likely going to get an education on the Griffon way of life. For now he listened contently, looking to whoever was speaking with his apt attention.

[CrossStitch]

Gladwin leaned forward with an audible 'Ugh,' He looked up at Holly, "A girl like you grew up in Beakbreak?" Gladwin had heard of the town many times, and was told to stray away from it. Of course, the more he is told not to do something, the more he wants to try it. "I went there once," He said, holding up a single claw of his talon, to emphasize, "And I hated it. I got a welcome worse then the one I got here." He let out another sigh, "But, if that's where you're from, I guess that means not all ponies from there are too bad." He added in a little 'Heh.

He looked out the window, the same window the others were looking out of. Colton was looking for his pet sparrow, apparently. Gladwin looked out the window as well, leaning forward to get a better look. Before he could get a close enough look, the table began to tilt. Gladwin slipped forward but caught the table in time, as well as himself. "Heh... My bad..." Was all the Griffin could muster to say, with a warm blush spreading across his face, as well as a nervous smile.

He coughed to clear his throat, and then took a seat once again. "Where I'm from? I was hatched in Talonpolis, but I was raised in Cloudsdale." Gladwin looked down at the table, recalling his first few weeks in Talonpolis before being sent to Cloudsdale, "My parents couldn't support me. So they sent me to live with my aunt and uncle in Cloudsdale." He looked up after finishing the less then pleasant part of his story, he wore a warm smile to reassure everyone that nothing was wrong, "Then I started adventuring." He said with a light laughter. "So how did a Beakbreak pony such as yourself get all the way out here to Canterlot?"

[Conor Colton]

Colton followed everyone's gaze out the window and almost right away he recognised it as his bird, and he was apparently trying to get into Holly's cart outside, "Oh for goodness sake." Colton said as he turned to everyone, "Hang on one second, I'll be back." Colton said as he casually flew out an open window and towards the cart.

"Sparks, What are you doing?" Colton whispered as the bird quickly turned around and put his wings behind his back as some form of attempted innocence, Colton stared with an unamused face, "Sparks, just because I'm gone for a few minuted doesn't mean you can root through other ponies stuff." Colton stated in a stern, almost parent-like tone. The little bird lowered his head as it appeared he was looking for forgiveness.

Colton was having none of it though, he tapped his head to signal that the Sparks should perch himself there to which the bird did in a self pitiful way. Colton slipped in the same window he came, hoping that he didn't attract much attention which he probably had done. He sat back in his chair and put Sparks on the table, he pointed to Holly and looked at Sparks eager for the birds apology, "Well...." Colton stated to Sparks as he waited further. The little bird lowered his and turned to Holly, he twiddled his wings and looked up with big wide eyes, which Colton interpreted for Holly, "He says he's sorry." Colton stated as he still looked at the bird with disappointment

[knight]

Holly gave an amused chuckle at the cute little bird as it apologized to her, "Well, Ah suppose Ah can furgive him." She smiled at the cute little bird, and with a wink said, "But only just this once!"

She kept her smile as she turned from one conversation to return to the first, the griffon once again being the target of her attention, "Well, as far as Beakbreak goes...." her eyes glistened, and a shadow briefly cast itself across her face, "Ah...well, Ah left it all behind me. When Ah discovered mah talent--fruit, that is, Ah decided that Ah needed to get outta that place--it was...rotten. All bad." She downcast her eyes, and rubbed one arm with a hoof, "Too many bad memories..."

Her face brightened as she pushed the nasty memories away, and she smiled, "So, Ah decided Ah was gonna make a livin fur mahself, and struck out as a fruit vendor as soon as Ah was through school!"

"...but 'nuf bout me, what about Cloudsdale?!" Her eyes glistened and gleamed, "Ah've always dreamed of selling mah fruit there. And Talonopolis? Oh, Ah've always wanted ta visit!"

She rested her chin on her hooves, looking up at the tall griffon with gleaming eyes expectingly.

[Imagination]

Sketch had seen domesticated birds before, but there seemed to be something else to this one. He was even courious to ask a question when Colton returned!

"If you don't mind me asking... Colton, was it? How did you come about having a bird as a companion?"

Was always nice to hear pet origin stories! Unless it was 'I saw him/her in a store and I wanted him/her. So here he/she is'. His family never had a pet, his father wasn't keen about having animals in the house domesticated or not. Of course now that he got to thinking about it, he could include some kind of pet/companion aspect into his comic... most inspirations came to him as such, but he felt it would be odd to just get his idea book out and start scribbling after asking a question.

Of course he'd still have some questions for Holly and Gladwin later. Still so much to learn! But for now, he let the two converse.

[CrossStitch]

Gladwin only nodded at her story of Breakbeak, "Nasty old town, it's good to hear you got out of there pronto." He said, with a surprisingly serious tone. "I can't say that I care much for griffin's that give other griffin's a bad reputation. Not all of us are intimidating jerks." He said with a sigh. He watched Holly the whole time during the story though, and it appeared the memories really upset her. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to ask about anything... Upsetting." He said, struggling for the right word to use.

Gladwin suddenly had the conversation flipped to him though with questions of Cloudsdale and Talonpolis. The unicorn stared up in delight at the soon to be told stories. "Cloudsdale, eh?" Gladwin leaned back in his chair and looked up at the ceiling, imagining it was a glass roof through which he could see the cloud city. "Cloudsdale is an amazing place. The ground can be shaped and shifted any way because it's cloud. Rainbows color the city and give it a vibrant glow. Thunder from the weather factory is a sweet lullaby. And the wind feels amazing up there." Gladwin realized he wasn't explaining as much as he was reminiscing. "Sorry, I got a little carried away..." Gladwin added a nervous laugh. "They do make hot air balloons, maybe you could sell fruit there one day. I'd love to give you a tour."

He leaned forward in his seat and places his talons on the table, trying to think back, "Talonpolis on the other hand... I can't remember much of from when I was a chick..." He looked back up, "Last time I was there though, there were huge buildings, and wonderful contraptions. We griffin's can't use magic ya see?" He tapped the middle of his forehead with a claw, indicating the lack of horn, "So we have to come up with other ways to do things around there."

[Conor Colton]

Colton turned to the pony who he had overheard being called 'Sketch' and listened as he asked about how Colton and Sparks formed their companionship, the Pegasus turned towards the little Sparrow and gave a reminiscent smile before turning back to Sketch to elaborate.

Colton let Holly and Gladwin have their conversation also, not wanting to sound rude as they certainly seemed interested in what the other had to say. He turned to Sketch to explain, as he lifted up Sparks, "Well it's actually kind of a long story to be honest, uh...Sketch right?" Colton asked before he continued, "When I lived in Manehatten with my parents I was playing in the back garden one day when I bumped my head on a tree." Colton said as he rubbed the back of his head purely for nostalgia's sake, "And this little bird nest fell on my head, and strangely enough there was a little baby Sparrow there, no feathers and hadn't even opened it's eyes yet." Colton stated as he rubbed Sparks head.

"Anyway, after that I convinced my parents if I could keep him, they said yes but I had to look after him myself, my parents were kinda like that." Colton said as he shrugged, "After he grew a bit I still hadn't given him a name, but one day I was playing up in the sky with some of my friends and I dropped something, we all rushed to get it but guess who caught it in the end." Colton said as he held up Sparks proudly, "Some of my friends suggested Sparks and he must have liked it I guess."

Colton wanted to wrap this up as he saw he was rambling on, "So ever since I left my parents and started travelling me and Sparks here have been together ever since, and trust me Sketch, we have had some pretty odd adventures since then, I'll have to tell you sometime." Colton said as he lowered the bird back on to the table, eager to hear Sketch's response to Colton's rather lengthy response.

[knight]

Holly was positively entranced by the griffon. Her imagination ran wild as he spoke of rainbows and cloud houses and hot air balloons galore! It was positively entrancing. Even the short description of Talonopolis had her mind's creative juices flowing. It all sounded so awesome. And...wait, what was that? A...tour offer?

"Ah'd love to have someone show me around up there...." she sighed dreamily, "Ah sometimes wish Ah had been blessed with wings instead of a horn...gosh, Ah would so love to fly...." She leaned her cheek on a hoof with a sigh. Then, pulling out a shred of boldness, she began with a slight blush ,"So...Gladwin, was it? Maybe after yer done scopin' out the landscape and such....maybe....maybe you and Ah could---"

"WELCOME TO PONY JOE'S!!!" Holly Dash's heart leapt to her throat, as the waiter approached and interrupted all conversation at the table, "What can I get for ya'll today? Jelly doughnuts? Glazed doughnuts? Bear Claws? Cinnamon rolls? Eclairs? You name it, we got it!" The green-pelted, yellow-maned unicorn stallion smiled widely, expectantly of the patrons at his table.

"uhh..." Holly turned to her companions, not wanting to be selfish and order her own personal preference of Eclairs, "Whadda you guys want..?"

[Imagination]

Sketch nodded to confirm he got the name right before the pegasis went on with his story. He had to smile at the fact that this pony was dedicated enough to raise a bird pretty much from its very beginning, and keep it around as a personal companion. "My, that's not the longest story I've ever heard, but certainly worth listening to. Inspiring even! But... anyway, you said you grew up in Manehattan? So did I!" What a coinkidink! Sketch smiled wide, continuing "Did you live there all your live? Attend school and such? Because I can't say I recognize you, but it's certainly nice to meet someone from my area-" But then in comes the waiter! Quite abrupt and unexpected indeed! The unicorn reeled back in a panic, but just as quickly heaved a sigh when he realized the pony was just here to take their order.

"Oh... Oh goodness... Umm... I suppose I'll have two doughnuts. Strawberry frosting, please." Though the pony gave Sketch quite the startle, he had to applaud such enthusiasm. He's gonna get SUCH a tip. Recovering from the attack of the waiter, he sat quietly and politely in his seat as he waited for the others to order.

[CrossStitch]

Gladwin laughed, "Hey, they make hot-air balloons, right? I also heard through the grape vine that there's a cloud walking spell floating around somewhere." Gladwin shrugged, "If push coems to shove I'll just carry ya." Another laugh came from Gladwin. Suddenly, Holly went red, and she was talking in a more nervous manner, which in turn caused Gladwin to grow a bit nervous. "Y-Yeah...?" He asked, curious to her question.

Then, out of nowhere, a loud yell. No, not a yell, but a welcome. Gladwin snapped back to normal, he saw that another pony, presumably Pony Joe, was there to take their orders. Gladwin coughed to clear his throat, a little choked up from the moment earlier. "Uhm, yeah, could I get a chocolate glazed doughnut, a sugar powdered one, and possibly a muffin, please?" He asked, assuming the shop carried those. Gladwin had remembered the order by heart, it was what he got at every doughnut store. It may seem like a lot of food, but Gladwin was feeling particularly famished at the moment.

He coughed again, "And Holly, don't worry about having wings. Magic's a great gift to have, it can do amazing things." He said with a smile. He then turned back to the waiter, "Oh, and a cup of coffee, you DO have coffee here, right?" Gladwin asked, again only assuming things.

The end of Holly's sentence danced around Gladwin's mind. He was curious, and wanted to ask, but was unsure if he should. Over lunch then... He thought, leaning back in his chair. Another growl from Gladwin's stomach. He put a talon over his stomach, Maybe after I get some food I'll feel better. And not so nervous. He leaned back forward, not trusting himself to maintain his balance at the moment.

[Conor Colton]

Colton turned quickly, almost in shock of the suddenly out of nowhere waiter. Colton wondered why when I ever go somewhere, the waiters always find some way to scare me? Colton said as he shrugged off that fact and turned to the waiter, "Uh yeah, I'll have a cinnamon bun and a blueberry shake please." Colton said as he turned back to Sketch.

He tried to remember the question as he was shocked by the waiter but he managed to remember, "Well now that you mention it, I didn't really spend much time in Manehatten, I was mostly raised in Hoffington. The day me and my parents moved to Manehatten there was a huge storm like you wouldn't believe." Colton said as he stared at his cutie mark and almost got lost in thought, but he once again composed himself and continued.

"So anyway I was actually about thirteen when I moved to Manehatten and that same year was the year I found Sparks." Colton said as he once again rubbed the birds head, "And when I hit seventeen I decided that I would leave because of..." Colton cut himself off and quickly rephrased the answer, "And I've been travelling ever since." Colton said as he wanted to change the subject, "But either way it's still nice to meet you too Sketch."

[knight]

[[feel free to use the waiter for your own purposes, guys! XD]]

Holly blinked and chuckled a little, still a little frazzled from the sudden greeting of the waiter, still ringing in her ear. She had actually thought they were all going to order together. She turned to the waiter, her hair flipping slightly, "Um...can Ah get some of those teeny...mini-eclairs?...Ya know...the ones that.....you usually serve...foals...."

She blushed, a little embarassed by her order, but the waiter didn't seem to mind, "Alrighty! I got two strawberry glazed doughnuts, a glazed doughnut, a sugar powdered doughnut, a muffin, a coffee, a cinnamon bun a blueberry shake and an order of mini eclairs!" The stallion grinned widely, obviously proud of his memorization skills, "Comin' right up!"

As the amusing stallion walked away, Holly turned back to the table, suddenly a little unnerved at having an incomplete question floating between her and the griffon. She poked her front hooves together, and cast her eyes to the table, dizzy with her nerves, "Uh...so...um....as Ah was saying......Gladwin, if you wanted to...after this, Ah mean...maybe you and Ah could go o--"

"HEEEEEERE'S YOUR ECLAIRS, ma'am!" It's like the waiter was doing it on purpose. Darn him and his well...doing a good job...ness. It flustered her so. She watched him as he went around, magicking the stacks of doughnuts to the three males at the table, and setting the coffee and shake down neatly on napkins without so much as a dribble. She chuckled lightly, becoming further frazzled by the second.

She sighed, giving up and deciding to wait for the waiter to leave, she magicked one of the tiny, caterpillar-sized eclairs to her mouth to nibble on it in defeat, casting her eyes towards the other two males at the table to avoid the gaze of Gladwin.

[Imagination]

He was about to speak again when the waiter returned promptly with their order! He didn't remember this kind of service last time he traveled to Canterlot, but it was certainly going to have him return. Even if just to come back to Pony Joe's! After giving the waiter a 'thank you', he looked back to Colton to continue their conversation. "That would probably be why, then. I've lived in Manehattan all my life. I'd like to leave someday, but right now it's where my studio is, and luckily the area's big enough that I get somewhat regular business... But I'd love to branch out to other places as soon as I get my project off the ground." Finally he took a bite out of his doughnut. Delicious! It was no surprise that people spoke so highly of the place. So far everything about this place made him want to shout 'Shut up and take my money'. It was certainly worth it.

Of course, he was going to avoid the sudden topic change he had earlier. What was he avoiding? Either way, he felt it wasn't his business to ask about. He just met the pegasis, no point in poking into his personal affairs. "Traveling? Sounds like an interesting life. You've been all over I assume?"

[Conor Colton]

Colton turned to face the waiter and collect his food, "Thanks buddy." Colton said as he passed the blueberry shake to Sparks, "Tuck in Sparks, I know I will." Colton said as both he and Sparks started their snacks. He took a bite from his bun and turned once again to Sketch, he listened and promptly responded to the unicorn's question.

"Oh yeah, me and Sparks here have been all over Equestria, and some parts of Aquellia too." Colton said as he swallowed some of his bun, "I'd love to tell you about some of the places but trust me, that would take way too long." Colton said as he paused for breath, "Mostly me and Sparks are hired from distant places to do specific jobs, but sometimes we go somewhere for some leisure time." Colton said as he tried to put his experiences into words, but luckily he remembered he didn't have too.

Colton reached into his bag and pulled out a small travel journal, which contained information on all of the pegasus and bird's adventures, He put it on the table and slid it carefully over to Sketch, "Take a look." Colton said to a rather confused unicorn, "Oh sorry, it's my travel log, anything you want to know about my travels is in that book." Colton said as he lightly tapped the books cover and awaited the unicorns response.

[knight]

[[You skipped cross stitch, there, Colton.]]

[CrossStitch]

(( It's fine, lol. Just resume normal posting order after this. ))

Holly began asking the same question, he assumed. Part of him was excited to hear it, the other half of him was getting too nervous to bear. How are you making me this nervous!? Gladwin thought in his mind. "Y-Yeah...?" Gladwin said, letting the unicorn know he was listening to her. She looked so nervous, what was on her mind? He leaned forward slightly, his curious nature taking over in place of his nervousness, which he had no problem with.

Suddenly another noise, it was the same waiter. Gladwin let out a sigh as the waiter returned, Between these two, I'll be dead before I make it out of the door. He thought to himself. "Thanks, pal." Gladwin said as he took his food. His stomach was still flipping and flopping from the nervousness of Holly's question earlier. He tried not to think about it. But he couldn't ignore it. It played about the edges of his mind.

Gladwin took his coffee in his talon, took a large drink from the cup, ignoring the heat. He set it down, a little hard. Now or never. He thought to himself. "Hey Holly, how about after this, you show me around Canterlot?" He said with a warm smile. Heat suddenly engulfed his face. Was it the coffee? He doubted it. In fact, he knew all too well why his face was hot. It was the blood rushing to his face to complete the blush he already had. It'd be nice to see more of the city... Gladwin thought to himself, he let his eyes fall from Holly, and he took another sip of his coffee, as to distract himself, And a great chance to hang out with her... Gladwins eyes rose again back to Holly. He didn't lower his cup though, anything to hide his out of character blush.

Gladwin took a quick look around to make sure the waiter was not around, And don't you even THINK about coming back...

[knight]

Holly returned her vision to the griffon, and a smile slipped across her face, "Ah--Ah'd love to, Ah really would!" She eyed the griffon fondly and munched on her mini eclairs. That was not EXACTLY what she was going to ask him, but it worked just fine for getting her a little more time with the handsome griffon.

...handsome? Her face darkened, and she felt like she must have been blushing from her tail tip to the top of her horn. She could swear she could even feel her ivory horn heat up. She felt absolutely silly, even thinking such a thing. She had only met this griffon. And...and what was she about to ask him? On a date!!?

Her mind reeled. What was she thinking? She had never been so...so....spontaneous....or....or....romantical or....

She felt her head spinning and found herself more gobbling than eating her food, shoving the little pastries by the hoof full into her mouth as she attempted to drive away the nasty nerves.

"HRRRRRMF!!" her eyes went buggy as she found herself faced with a particularily...choking problem. She banged the table with a hoof, the other at her throat, trying to convey her predicament. As a waitress pony trotted by with a tray of water cups, she pulled a water to herself and chugged it, forcing down the lodged item before gasping for breath.

She wheezed briefly, getting a weird look from the waitress before she walked off with a shrug. She looked up at Gladwin, now even more embarrassed that she had just choked. She cast her eyes downward, hiding her face as her bangs swung down across her eyes. She felt so stupid.

[Imagination]

He nodded to Colton, smiling as he took another bite of his doughnut. "Very interesting! Ah... the way mister Gladwin and yourself talk about traveling almost makes me wish I could do so myself, but I'm afraid I've always been a 'stay at home' pony. Maybe someday..." Of course it was easier for Gladwin and Colton because they had one key characteristic that he did not: Wings! Sometimes when he was little he wished he were born a pegasis. To be able to see the world the way only they can... and get to those hard-to-reach places. And hide and seek was much more challenging when playing with a pegasis. But that was back then. Now that he was older he saw great benefits to being a unicorn, even if he wasn't overly gifted with magic.

When the book slid his way, he shot a glance to the other two just to see what was going on since he wasn't entirely following their conversation. Of course, at seeing the looks on their faces he just shot them a knowing smile before returning his attention to Colton. "Very nice! I hope you don't mind if I take a loo-"

But then, commotion! Holly was choking! Panic set in for the short moment between it happenign and the waitress' arrival. When she sucked in a breath, he let out a sigh of relief. "Oh, thank Celestia... are you alright Miss?" he asked, genuinely concerned. Of course during the ordeal he realized he didn't know CPR! Maybe a thing for the future... but at least she appeared to not need such service any longer.

[CrossStitch]

Gladwin smiled, his cheeks still red, "G-great then!" Gladwin ate a bit faster now, eager to finish his food. He tried not to seem too obvious though. Gladwin could only stare back at Holly with a small smile as he also chocked down his food. His eagerness, and his hunger, kept telling him to eat faster. Don't want to choke after all... He thought to himself.

Gladwin started wondering how their date would go. He could imagine the- Wait, date? Was it a date? Did it count...? Gladwin kept asking himself questions. A quizzical look appeared on his face as he had mental discussions with himself. Maybe-

Something startled Gladwin out of his mental trance. Was that coughing? He looked back up to Holly, was... Was she choking!? Gladwin felt himself freeze up. Through gritted teeth he yelled at himself to move. Eventually his legs unlocked and actually allowed him to stand. Gladwin's wings picked him up and carried him over the table beside Holly. As he reached her though, she had already choked down a glass of water and had seemed to cure the problem herself. Gladwin, without thinking, began patting her back, "Holly, you OK?" ​His voice was slightly shaky. Not from nervousness, but from adrenaline. She looked... Upset. Her head was hung, her bangs in her eyes. The pats on her back turned softer, almost to petting. Gladwin had no clue how to cheer the unicorn up, so he tried whatever first came to mind.

[Conor Colton]

(Sorry about the skip there, won't happen again I promise )

Colton was happily conversing with Sketch, paying little mind to the others conversation, but from a few slight glance he had the general idea. He smiled lightly as he thought that he might be, well to put it bluntly, killing Gladwin's buzz unintentionally.

"Uh guys, maybe I should g-"

Colton was interrupted as he heard a very odd noise he turned to investigate and found Holly, seemingly chocking he. Both his and Sparks' eyes burst open as they realized that Holly was chocking, he did much of the same as the others and slightly froze up thinking to himself how to proceed, Okay, just relax Colton...just think things through and- Colton's train of thought stopped as he noticed that Holly had downed a nearby glass of water and stopped whatever was chocking her. Oh...well then, nevermind I guess. Colton thought as he sat back in his chair in silence as Gladwin tried to, what looked to him as, cheer Holly up. Colton didn't dare utter a word as he felt there was literally no need.

[knight]

Holly gave a small shudder as she felt the griffon paw on her back. At first it felt a little awkward, but as small pats turned into a gentle rub, she found herself relaxing into the griffon's touch. It was soothing, really. As she thought about it, it...it was the first time someone had ever done something so nice. It was a simple thing, really, but to her it meant a lot. Not even her parents had ever been so tender with her. It made her feel kind of....special.

"Um...th...thank you, Gladwin...." she managed, stumbling a bit over her words. She turned and smiled sheepishly at the other two at the table, who looked concerned about her, "Ah...Ah'm fine...really. Just...didn't swallow right, ya know?" She chuckled, trying to play off the choke as nothing.

She turned to the griffon at her side, who still had a paw on her back, "You're really sweet, ya know? Ah barely just met ya and yur flyin across tables for me." She giggled a little bit, and with a sudden rush of boldness, reached up and placed a peck on the griffons cheek, and, feeling not only eccstatic with herself, but a little embarrassed, she began munching on her remaining eclairs at a normal pace, a wide grin plastered to her face.

[Imagination]

Quite the interesting spot he found himself in indeed! It seemed his assumptions were correct, even if he didn't voice them. Before the choking incident, it seemed Colton was thinking the same as he was. Of course he wasn't entirely sure what to do at this point. He didn't wish to impost, but flat out dismissing himself to leave tem seemed a bit rude. For now he sat put for now, looking to Colton's book as he picked up his second doughnut. But then he remembered what he and the pegasis were discussing before! "Oh! Uh, Colton, as I was about to ask I hope you don't mind if I take a look at your book...?"

As he awaited an answer, he took a quick look around. Everything was still pretty calm. Seemed the situation defused itself as soon as it began.