TF: Unexpected Red 10 (old and bad)

It's pretty hard to think straight, but eventually you pull into one of the universities parking structures. You get a few weird looks when you get out of the car to take your number from the ticket-machine-thing with your teeth. You do your best to ignore them, even with your irrational anxiety wrestling for control of your body. You know that nobody cares about how you take a ticket, certainly not enough to actually confront you about it. Still, paranoia has its way of navigating around logic and infiltrating the fortresses of knowledge. Knowledge was a sleeper agent for paranoia anyway.
You clear your mind and get back in the car, putting it back into drive and cruising through the place to find a parking spot. Safely hidden from prying eyes, you manage to beat back your fear, but fear isn't the primary problem here. It took you a while to figure out why it was so hard to think properly on the way here. In retrospect it's pretty obvious, but at the time it was just confusing.

For almost half an hour now, your mind has been clouded with a red haze of lust; And its driving you crazy. Not just because it's distracting, but because it makes no fucking sense. Granted none of this whole pony thing makes sense, but you're putting your hoof down on this one. There is absolutely NO reason whatsoever to be aroused right now, unless you've spontaneously developed a fetish for being stuck in traffic in the last half hour. A few days ago you probably would have found the fetish idea more likely than what you suspect the real problem is. Suspect being the critical word here, you're still clinging to sweet denial. This whole thing is stupid, and you hate it. As if things weren't complicated enough already without you suddenly deciding now would be a great time to get fucked by something. You wish that was a joke, but gods be damned if you don't really, really want to get fucked by something right now. The worst part though, is that you probably wont get fucked by anything, ever again. Not that many suitors out there into the whole pony scene that you know of.

You find an open spot with no other cars around to risk crashing into, and park. Today has not been nice to you, and you've decided that you hate today's guts. Screw today. You slide down and out of the car, smooth over your sweater, and begin walking in the general direction of Lizz's dorm in a very sour mood.



You get a few sidelong glances from other people, probably because of how you're dressed, but you make it to Lizz's place without any problems. Her dorm is on the second floor of one of the older buildings on campus. It isn't nearly as state of the art of some of the newer places, but you've seen the inside more than a few times, and it's cozy despite its small size and painted over cinderblock walls. Your mind instantly begins combing over in detail the more memorable moments you and Lizz have shared there, causing your steps to falter slightly as your knees grow weak at the vividness of your recollection. Got to focus on what you're doing. You raise your arm and rap a hoof on her door a few times. You can hear movement on the other side, and stop knocking. After twenty seconds or so, the lock clicks, and the door opens, revealing a familiar face.

It's Lizz's roommate, whom you can't remember the name of. You draw back a bit at the unexpected and unwelcome sight. The guy isn't hideous, but not nearly in the league of what you would consider attractive. He looks greasy, and all his weight has coalesced in his middle. He certainly had some muscle under there, and he might even be able to be good looking if he bothered to put any effort into it.

"Oh, hey." He says, pushing his clumped black hair out of his eyes to get a better look at you. "Here for Lizz, right?"

"Yeah." You say, truly a master of the art of deadpanning.

"She just went into the bathroom a second ago, should be out in a bit. Want to come in?"

You consider his offer, but decide not to risk him seeing your warped limbs. "No thanks, I'll wait out here. Let her know I'm here when she gets out."

He shrugs and says "Suit yourself." before closing the door in your face.

He either has no tact, or doesn't care enough to try, probably the latter. You sigh and lean against the wall, trying not to think about how wet you are. In more ways than one. Seriously, you're sweating like mad under these clothes, the heat is persisting even long after the sun has gone down. It's even a little muggy out here, which is not helping.

Thankfully, you don't have to wait long, and Lizz opens the door carrying a small pack full of what you assume is overnight supplies. She hesitates and looks around, not noticing you against the wall to her right. A wave of emotions crash over you when you see her, all mixed together and indecipherable. All you really know for sure is that you missed her, and that you are very excited to see her again. She turns her head towards you, and her look of confusion turns to a smile when she notices you.
You want to tell her everything, to gush about what a terrifying day you've had, about how relieved you are to see her again.

But you think that might be a bit overwhelming for her right now, so you go with a more reserved "Hey there, ready to go?"

She nods and lifts her bag up in front of her for a moment, drawing attention to it. For a brief moment you really hope she packed a strap-on or something in there, but you quickly stomp that thought out. Priorities, remember your priorities.

"Mhm, got my stuff packed." She pauses and looks you up and down. "What are you wearing?"

You shake your head. "I'll explain everything later, for now, let's get going."

Her face takes on a more serious expression as she seems to remember what all this is about, and she gives you a searching look. "I assume that means you don't want to tell me the reasons behind all this just yet?"

You nod emphatically "Yes, which I am sorry for. But I assure you my reasons are good. I need you to trust me on this."

The wind begins to pick up, and she brushes hair out of her face. You take a moment to marvel at how beautiful she is. "Alright, lead the way."

You push away from the wall and start heading towards the stairwell, but stop and turn to face her again, remembering something. "Oh, one more thing."

"Yes?"

"Can you can drive?"

She gives you a weird look when you pull your keys out of your breast pocket with your teeth and throw them to her with a flick of the neck.



You show her back towards the parking structure, initiating forced small talk on the way. The seriousness of the situation and your unwillingness to talk about it just yet make everything feel understandably awkward. You want to tell her everything, but you know she probably wont believe you without proof, which is something you cant give her until you're someplace private. Still, she seems remarkably cooperative and understanding so far, not even mentioning the purpose for you dragging her off in the middle of the night until you both are inside the car.

"So." She says, pausing as the engine roars to life. "How about now? Nobody to overhear us here."

You consider it, but you're still not sure how she will react when you reveal your condition. As she pulls out onto the main road, you decide against it. "I don't think it would be a good idea while you're driving. I'll tell you when we get to my place."

She shoots you a surprised look, but quickly returns her gaze to the road. "That big huh? Alright, but I'm not going to wait through a half hour of that awkward small talk." She smiles again "Mind if I try guessing?"

You tear your gaze away from her, looking out at the road as Lizz makes the turn that leads to the highway. You suppose it wouldn't hurt to let her guess, it isn't like she'll ever get it right. Besides, it might be entertaining. "Sure, why not."

"Alright, first guess." She bites her bottom lip as she thinks, making you think of things that you really shouldn't be thinking about right now. "You killed someone?"

That sends you reeling. Kill somep0ny? You would never! How could she even think you were capable of such a terrible-
You shudder, reigning in your thoughts and trying to think calmly. Before any of this began, you considered yourself perfectly capable of taking a life if the need called for it. it might not have been true, but at least you didn't blanch at the thought. Your mind is changing. You certainly aren't the same person you were a couple days ago. All the same, you answer the question.

"No. Thankfully no."

She sounds genuinely cheerful when she responds. "Well, that's a relief. Not sure what I could have done for you if you had."

You don't dwell too much on the implications of that statement.

"Second guess, somebody is black mailing you or someone you know, and you need help but cant get the police involved." She's definitely enjoying herself now.

"Nope."

"You've stumbled across some kind of alien technology, and you're worried the government might quarantine you if they find out?"

Well, this got weird fast. "No. Well, sort of, but not really."

"You've discovered an actual alien?"

"No, it has nothing to do with aliens. I think. I guess it could, but that would be very strange and unlikely." You don't think aliens would have much interest in a cartoon show for little girls. Then again, you didn't think grown men would either.

"You're secretly a wizard?"

"No."

"You're dying?"

"Not that I know of."

"You've gone insane?"

"N-" You pause. "Maybe."

"Hmm." She rubs her chin deliberately to appear thoughtful. "Alright, I got one more."

"Shoot."

"You and your family are part of a secret organized crime syndicate who specialize in drug trafficking, but either something has gone wrong, or you've gotten too deeply involved and you want out, but you cant do it without somebody else's help."

You cant help but gape at her with that one. "What? No!"

She punches the steering wheel in mock anger. "Damn. That was my trump card."

You sit in silence for a minute, but curiosity gets the better of you. "Why would you even think that?"

Lizz grins "You really want me to go into detail?"

You nod, then remember she's watching the road and probably didn't see you. "Yes, give me the logic behind that."

"Well, when I asked you what you do for a living, you tell me you work in the family business, which you tell me is housing, and that your entire family is into it. I would think the whole housing thing is a cover, but you've taken me to see homes being remodeled before, so I know it's not. It doesn't really explain how your family has gotten so rich though. In the terrible economy right now, the housing market is one of the ones that has suffered the most. If your family WAS a criminal syndicate though, owning so many empty and foreclosed houses would be perfect to act as stashes or meeting places to perform exchanges or shady business. I know you work odd hours and disappear to do random jobs occasionally at your parents call, and sometimes you don't even get back until morning. One has to wonder what exactly it is your doing. You could really be doing last minute delivery jobs or going off to take photos of houses during certain times of day. Or you could be some sort of secret family hitman who keeps her weapons in a camera bag, or spying on the competition or gathering incriminating evidence for blackmail." She trails off when she sees your expression. "Careful you don't start drooling."

You snap your mouth shut. What a story, the creepy part is that it almost made some weird sort of sense. "You put a lot of thought into this, didn't you?"

"Eh, I get bored in class sometimes."