mylittlelogs | Come Back, Rebound

Meanwhile, friendship - or an approximation thereof - had at least helped keep Flare stable through the incident. Save for a really poor string of decisions that led to her breakdown on public scrolls the morning after, she had slowly been working herself out of her funk. Convincing herself that she was helping Harvey was helping her, too - she was active, even if it was running errands for her beau and letting him wallow, spending time with him and making sure he wasn't alone.

Unfortunately, it wasn't helping. Harvey wasn't getting any better. Sure, he wasn't getting worse - she saw to that - but even that was a temporary blessing, considering the added tension recently settling over Ponyville. If things went bad, he'd end up blaming himself in those last few days, and if they went well, he'd bemoan his uselessness in another crisis. Something had to be done, and she couldn't do it alone.

The problem is, who could she ask to help her? Dash, Rarity, and Arcee hardly knew Harvey (plus, Arcee at least wouldn't last five minutes without wanting to gouge out his tongue, in the state he was in). Joshua would be busy trying to stop Zetta, plus with the whole "anchor" thing she wasn't sure he could help as much as he wanted to. Lyra was close enough to Harvey, and likely wouldn't be preoccupied... but the three of them had a huge falling out in the meltdown. There was no way she could reconcile that on Harvey's end, even if Lyra would listen to reason by now.

One by one, Flare was singling out everyone she knew, growing more and more despondent as fewer and fewer options seemed viable.

Then, she considered Bertie Wooster. Harvey had a good rapport with him (good enough that fanfillies thought the two were an item, in fact) back when they were performing, there wasn't any lingering bad blood, and... well, honestly, the day she saw Bertie on the front lines would be the day she bought a hat solely to eat it.

Still, would a bit of the old Wooster charisma be enough to at least talk some sense into Harvey? Flare could only hope, as she started writing a message to him.

Hey, Wooster. You said you wanted to help however you could? I don't think Harv is gonna get out of this on his own. I think he needs ~~a shot of optimism right up his flank~~ more chums than me but he doesn't want to make any.

The day for eating hats would have to wait. Bertie had been wondering over what the deuce he could ever hope to do about Zetta in this latest scheme when Flare's message came over the scroll. He'd been meaning to see to Harvey as he had to Flare, but then all the madness with his curse and now Zetta had happened.

Say no more, my good Star. I'll be over in a trice!

And so he is. Bertie raps on the door and puts on his brightest smile when it opens. "What ho! What ho! I've brought presents!"

Harvey really hadn't even intended to go open the door. It's probably just some kinda salesman, or Celestia's Witness, or whatever they've got around here. Or, if it's a real visitor, it's doubtless for Flare. He'll have to mention that he appreciates them not crashin' through the window this time.

But wherever Flare is, she doesn't seem to intend to come answer, and the pounding quickly becomes irritating. Harvey gets up with a groan and stalks over himself, swinging it open harshly. "What."

He immediately regrets it. It's only Bertie. Harvey rolls a hoof quickly over his face, suddenly conscious of the fact that he probably looks like he's been doin' nothin' for the past couple days. The kid don't mean any harm; he doesn't need to deal with all of Harvey's issues. "Oh. Hey, Bertie. You - what?"

Presents? It ain't either of their birthdays.

Flare is a moment later - after all, she hadn't expected Harvey to answer the door. He never had before, unless Flare had explicitly ignored it. This time, it was more a "didn't quite get to it" (she was too busy digging for a dictionary to figure out what "trice" meant)... maybe that was improvement already? She was doing her best to be optimistic, but after a week alone with Harvey that was incredibly difficult.

And then Bertie was blathering on about presents and her hoof went to her face before she even fully entered the living room.

"I didn't say anything about gifts, Wooster. You tryin' to be friendly, or court him?" The tone is a little cutting, but it's mostly mood bleedover - it's more a taunt to try to get mutual consternation towards her. What better way than referencing awful filly fanfiction?

She wouldn't say anything, but a few of them were worth not destroying.

Bertie wilts only just the tiniest bit at Harvey's initial snap. He'd known the other stallion wouldn't likely be in the merriest of moods. That's just a bit of a harsh turn to take, though. Before he can get a word in, though, Flare's shoving in.

"I'm not trying to court him!" The pegasus' cheeks burn. After all the trouble with that sort of thing, she's really going to aim that low? He's wounded, heart and soul! She likely doesn't mean much by it, though, so the Woosterly spirit is likely to recover.

"Presents for a friend." As proof of this, he pulls out a bowtie with crystal gems. It is, thankfully, slightly less sparkly than it was when it started this life. Bertie's made some efforts to pull off some of the gems.

Edited 2014-09-10 04:24 (UTC)

"What," Harvey repeats, completely unnecessarily, as he buries his face in a hoof. Flare. Flare. Even leaving aside the courting comment - which, he's been seein' her for a while now, he's used to her kinda humor - did she seriously invite Bertie over here to see him? It ain't that he ain't fond of the kid, but he's a little more than Harvey cares to deal with right now.

And he has some terrible taste in fashion. Luckily, Harvey is very good at concealing such sentiments; either that, or he's already so put out by this whole turn of events that there's just no change in his expression as he accepts the bowtie. "Thanks, kid. That's, uh..." He tilts it in his hoof, watching it catch the light. It's still far too sparkly for him. "...that's real nice."

He darts a quick, questioning glance towards Flare as he talks. Why is Bertie here?

The questioning glance is met with a somewhat nonplussed eyebrow quirk. Pony world, friendship is magic, you've moped long enough. That is, if Harvey can read her expressions as well as he can read hers. That said, she does at least do her best to let Bertie down easy, shaking her head.

"You kinda thought in terms of your own look, Wooster. Not that it wouldn't look great on Harv, but his style is much more muted. Simple. One of those types that lets his voice do the talking instead of his clothes, yeah? He's gonna have trouble finding an outfit to go with that blighter." Two thoughts run concurrently through Flare's mind as she says that - oh god now I'm talking like Bertie and please don't take that as an invitation to get him a whole new outfit.

"Really, though, I just wanted to... get someone other than myself talkin' to ya, Harvey. You bottle yourself up so much that you might as well be in a bottle." Was that a subtle jab? Well, subtle for Flare, maybe.

"We could see Dame Rarity about getting you a corking outfit to go with it," Bertie suggests. Flare's made the all-too-common mistake of mentioning the possibility of shopping about the yellow stallion. He's got money now and it's practically burning a hole in his saddlebags. "Something to dazzle and excite once you're singing again."

He trails off. "N-not that that has to be soon, old fruit! Happy to wait forever. I daresay your style's ageless whenever you're feeling up to it."

Bertie glances at Flare Star before drawing out the blade he'd shown her on the scrolls. It almost certainly shouldn't have been able to sit in the bags. Having just given Harvey a lack-luster gift and Flare not actually wanting the thing, he hopes she won't mind him... possibly being vague on the recipient here. "I got this, too."

Harvey can read Flare's expressions well enough, and looks briefly exasperated before breaking off the couple-telepathy conversation to turn his attentions back to Bertie.

"You really don't gotta do that. I can buy my own clothes." That, at least, was something he'd have said at any other time. Even if Bertie would just stand aside and let someone with some kind of sartorial taste pick things out, Harvey didn't really care to have anyone else spendin' that kind of money on him. He did fine on his own.

At least, he used to do fine on his own. Back when he was doin' gigs regularly. This dry spell hasn't lasted near long enough to hit his wallet hard yet, but experience tells Harvey that it certainly can, and he winces a little as Bertie brings it up. "Yeah, I'll, uh...I get to ya when I schedule somethin'." Not making any promises there, not right now.

He just looks down at the blade as it's brought out. It is pretty impressive. "That for Flare?" It doesn't seem like the kind of present Bertie would think to get for him; he doesn't know how to sword-fight. It ain't really Flare's thing either, of course, but it still seems to make more sense to get her weaponry. Bein' made of crystal, it might be decorative anyway, but you can't tell around here.

"Yeah, he showed it to me on the scrolls." She casts a glance towards Bertie, hoping he at least gets the idea that talking about Liz at all is a bad idea. "I ain't much for usin' em, but I can appreciate some good bladework when I see it, especially after spendin' time with Dust." She shakes her head, stepping closer to Harvey and reflexively extending a wing to rest on the earth pony's back.

"I figured, if spendin' time around people that gave a damn helped me work my way out... maybe we could help you out. Wasn't expecting it to be a giftstravaganza, though."

"Oh, pish!" Bertie says, trying to rally himself for a bit more cheer. He's been denied the opportunity to go shopping with Harvey - though he suspects he may be able to talk the other stallion around on that - but he's here to make Harvey feel better, not himself. The implicit nudge in res: Liz is heard loud and clear, at least. That's not a subject he planned on touching upon. "Two gifts is hardly extravagant." He passes the blade off to her for something to do.

"I could go rally a cart-load or two of this and that if you're keen, though." He'd meant it more as a joke, but now that he's thinking about it. "I don't suppose you could use some new sofas? Or quills? I rather fancy that shop."

"That shop makes no sense," Harvey comments vaguely, simply because that has always bothered him. And the guy never goes outta business, either. Weird. "And don't you dare. We're fine."

How long is that actually going to work? Suddenly, he's pretty sure he's going to be getting a load of unwanted gifts from Bertie in the near future. It feels too much like takin' advantage to him; he'll have to work out some kinda return policy. "If we need anythin', we'll go get it ourselves." Or Flare will. Whichever.

"Yeah. We will." Flare makes the statement a bit pointed, not actually intending the harshness to be directed towards Bertie so much as the other stallion in the room.

There's a bit of an awkward silence, complete with Flare clearing her throat. "And I did get somethin' I needed myself." Of course, figuring that won't make sense to either of them, she just slowly facepalms. "Thing is, Wooster... I don't think this is an issue that money will fix. We're pretty comfortable. This is... this is definitely a 'friendship' deal. C'mon in, take a seat."

...then, a few moments later. "You gotta open up to someone, Harv. You tell me what's bothering you, but not how t'fix it."

Well, why can't friendship involving buying his chums things?" Bertie's a little put out by the reluctance to accept his gifts, but doesn't let it keep him down. This is for Harvey, he has to remind himself. Flare seems to have a better idea how to go about bucking him up at the moment.

Bertie follows her in and takes a seat on the sofa in the living room. He's not wholly sure what he's meant to be doing here. The last few times he and Harvey had tried to talk about anything... well. Chaps just really aren't the sort to do that, whatever mares might think is best. And if they are, then they're probably scared out of their wits about homicidal robots who have come back from the shadows to take over a friend.

"Well, then," the pegasus says, trying to cross his hind legs as he might do if he were human and utterly failing at the motion when he hocks don't bend the proper way. "Yes. Well. Hah! I know it's awfully hard losing somepony. I'd normally take you out for a drink, but things being as they are... I thought everypony was rotten, the way they went off of you and Flare. I'm sorry, old thing."

Harvey wanders in to sit as well, ignoring Flare's barb. Yeah, yeah, he'll get back to runnin' errands sooner or later. Probably later. To be honest, he ain't really sure what this is meant to accomplish. Even if he were one for talkin' about his feelings, Bertie sure as hay ain't. Every time they've tried to engage one another in that kinda conversation, it always ended in awkward silence.

"It's fine, kid. Ain't your fault." It's for the best Bertie already knows not to offer a drink, because at this point Harvey knows that he'd probably accept. "And I don't know what you want me to say, Flare. If I knew how to fix it, I'd fix it." At this point, he wasn't even sure it could be fixed, whatever it was. There's a whole host of things wrong here.

Flare sighs, hanging her head and covering her face with a hoof. "Flanks and fetlocks, it's the stoppable force versus the movable object." While the mutter is possibly too low to make sense of, Flare steps closer and shakes her head. "Thing is? A fat lot of 'em were assholes, yeah. We won't even talk about Goggles and his gigantic ego. But at the same time? A few of 'em pushed. They didn't just tell me I was terrible, they asked why. Talked to me. And y'know what? That helped. Helped me out of my hole. You, though, Harv... you've hardly opened up to anyone, be it feelin's or just conversation."

At this point, Flare walks around to better look at the other two as she talks, doing her best to keep her emotions in check. "You basically waved Neph off without so much as a thanks, which I can't blame ya for given the timing, but... you're not GONNA get better if you just sit here. I'm..." The emotion gets the better of her and Flare has to stop, taking a deep breath to keep from screaming or crying. Or both. "I'm tryin' to help the guy I love, okay? If havin' some damn friends helped me out, maybe it'll help you, too."

Bertie ducks his head a bit as Flare carries on. He's feeling not a little bit of a failure here. She's brought him in to help - he wants to be here to help - and the best he can manage is stumbling through a few half-hearted platitudes.

Well, then, it's time to turn to the Code. It's not good for a great deal these days, but it covers helping out a pal in the lurch in solid, bold letters. Whatever must be done, should be done. That includes overcoming his own discomfort.

"Please, Harvey," he says, expression and tone earnest as he takes heart from Flare's display. "I'd like to hear what you've got to say. I want to know what got the Finevoice ginger up at everypony else, even before they were acting like pills."

Edited 2014-09-18 01:51 (UTC)

Harvey's ears flatten, and he fixes his eyes firmly on the ground in front of him as Flare talks. He'd be lyin' if he said this didn't feel familiar. And the emotion, too - he flinches slightly, even if there aren't actually any tears this time. The only difference here is that Flare has actually managed to keep him from drownin' himself in booze...well, that and there's someone here besides her.

Still, he sometimes wonders if this won't go exactly the same as before. And this time, there ain't gonna be a Linkara to pick him up outta the gutter. Maybe that'd be for the best.

He doesn't look up at Bertie as the pegasus speaks either; only a flick of the ear shows that he even heard him. "That?" His voice starts out quiet, and he clears his throat before continuing. "That was stupid. I was drunk, and mad - Don didn't do anythin' wrong." That really is all there is to it. Of course there were reasons, but they weren't good ones, any more than startin' a bar fight 'cause you don't like a guy's face is. "And Linksano's a jackass, but he didn't say anythin' that wasn't true."

The stallion leans forward to lay down on the couch, resting his chin on his hooves. "Still kinda want to kick him a few times, but I'd probably get a Luna-damned posse after me." Maybe he should try murdering him instead. Since, you know, murderers never actually get punished around here.

If Flare knew what Harvey was thinking, she would backhoof him so hard for playing into exactly what Linksano was suggesting he was like. Sadly, she's not a mindreader so she has to do with being painfully aware of how awkward things have gotten because of her.

"Actually, the whole Don thing was mostly me. We were angry at Goggles and I took it out on him. After all, maybe if he hadn't've gone and stabbed a pony, maybe this wouldn't've started. Sure as heck felt that way when I was three sheets to the wind. Thinkin' about it after the fact, I guess it makes sense that the Pale Pony had her eyes on this place from before we even showed up. Still, I just... I wish this place wasn't so bucked up that it'd give someone a complex." Multiple people, really, but Flare had mostly assumed that Bertie had worked through his own problems with feeling unhelpful after finding himself back in money again, to say nothing of the relationship with Dante.

His relationship with Dante is, in Bertie's mind, at least, being kept well under the hat. And a fellow who's worried about being murdered by Mechakara and turning into a seapony does have a few more pressing things on his mind than his general inadequacy. Bertie's sorted himself out enough to manage. He's British. He would carry on even if he hadn't. That's just the done thing; no sense in worrying your pals half to death over your own problems. Well, no sense if you're a Wooster. The Finevoices of the world are a different breed and held to other standards.

"He did say something not true, though." Bertie hadn't entirely understood the conversation they were having - too many events and people he didn't know, but there had been one thing to stand out. "He said you were useless, but..." Bertie glances at Flare Star. "You helped me when Don went mad on the commune, when Nemo- when the Pale Pony-" He takes a breath and smooth out the emotion in his voice. That's really very much uncalled for. "You know, I never thought I'd be able to do a job? I'm an absolute ass; I mucked up everything anybody ever got me into. But you let me help you with your music. I think my Aunt Agatha might swoon if she knew I was some sort of 'entertainer,' but it's... I like it. It's fun. Working with you is fun. And having a chum who, well, somepony to look out for me that I'm not paying for the pleasure - I-I know I'm not Ms. Liz or your Linkara or anyone really important. You've helped me, though. I think... I think I'm a better chap - a more regular sort, certainly, because of you.

"Sorry, I'm going all soppy. I just mean to say, if it's a use you want, you've certainly got one. It's not grand, I'll grant you, but everything you've done for me- I really do appreciate it. And I wish I could buy you everything you deserve to repay it. I don't know how I would have managed after Nemo, Mechakara, Jeeves... without you, old thing."

Oh, so the Finevoices are held to lower standards? Thanks, Bertie.

But Harvey's not a mind-reader either, so he's left to focus on what the pegasus actually has to say. And some of that is...actually really nice. "I like workin' with you too, kid," Harvey replies. "Don't say you ain't important. But I ain't done much good lookin' out for you - if I had, you wouldn'tve had to deal with Mechakara at all."

This is an old point of contention for him, and his voice raises as he continues. He's never actually said any of this to Bertie before, but he's always thought it. "I knew the whole time he was Mechakara. But Luna and Don and them all said they had it under control, so I left it alone. Even though I knew they didn't! I knew he was gonna kill again. It's just the way he is, we've never been able to get rid of that guy for more than a year. I should've gotten him off the commune myself," he insists. "Or at least told everyone, so they'd know. But I just let them hide a psychopath among a bunch of innocent people 'cause they said they could handle it!"

The way he spits that out, it's clear that he doesn't think very highly of the way the Mechakara situation was handled. "And then the way I went off on ya on Nightmare Night..." Harvey shakes his head and lets the subject drop. Bertie won't want to discuss that incident in front of Flare, or probably ever again. They went through it as much as they were going to already, and obviously it hadn't technically been him. But it wouldn't have happened at all if he hadn't been stupid enough to get himself hoovered up by another Outer God thing.

It's probably for the best that Flare doesn't know about what happened between the two of them in the Everfree on the last Nightmare Night. After all, it was very much a product of their worlds, and it was also intentionally tailored to play to Bertie's worst fears at the time. Even still, she might not be able to be on the level with her boyfriend if that was the case. That said, when Harvey starts to get started about Mechakara, Flare can't help but sigh - a very definite 'here we go again' noise, one she hopes he didn't pay any mind to.

"You knew if you told them, Harv, they'd try even harder to help him. Put themselves in danger for something you thought was a lost cause. We've been over this." To say that the Mechakara debate was a point of contention in the household even before Liz's disappearance went without saying. "You didn't think there was a Pollo in there to save until Bertie and them apparently dove into th'guy and pried the two of 'em apart." It doesn't mean that she believes Mechakara is any more redeemable than he does, but at least she acknowledged that there was another pony inside that the thing was basically holding hostage. Harvey's solution would've been to just shoot both of 'em to be safe.

"And one of the ponies that would've tried to help would've been Bertie. Yeah, he found out anyway, but look at it this way. You kept it so that he was ready when he rushed in, as opposed to just..." Flare trails off. "...what happened during the fog. Look, what I'm saying is that you didn't screw up half as much as you thought you did. Hell, Mechakara didn't kill anyone, did he? They stopped him before he even started."

"He didn't kill anypony this time," Bertie says quietly. He's looking at Harvey with some concern. Harvey had known about Pollo. Who else had? Why hadn't anyone told him? Not that it would have made any great difference. Flare has the right of it there. But at least he might have known what to be on the look-out for during the fog.

Not particularly wanting to bang on about what is clearly a sore subject, he sets that to one side, though. "I think I was probably the only one who hurt anypony over it." Bertie winces at the memory of his poor showing at the Equestrian Games. "And you helped with that, too, Harvey. Looking out for someone isn't always stopping them running into danger, is it? It's helping them through the after when you can't just bally well teleport everywhere at once."

"He didn't kill anyone this time," Harvey repeats, narrowing his eyes, "but he sure as hell killed Bertie the first time." And, as previously discussed, that had been his fault.

"If I'd been doin' what I was supposed to be doin', that wouldn't have happened. Just because the ponies in charge here weren't willing to take any goddamned responsibility doesn't mean I should've sat around on my ass waitin' for people to die!" He'd done small things, of course, tried to keep some kind of watch on the murderer, but even that was only after the killing had already passed. He'd just let Luna and Don and even Iron talk him out of action, when he knew perfectly well they were being naive.

"And don't talk to me about Pollo - if he were as great as all that, he'dve left instead of putting everyone in danger." By now, Harvey has really pretty much accepted that Pollo is a real thing. But that doesn't make what he did any better. In fact, it might make it worse - that means he maybe did care about the people he was endangering, and he just went and did it anyway.

Sadly, Bertie's point is being totally ignored. Harvey is perfectly willing to bang away at the sore subject of his own failings.

"That was his Shadow, Harvey. My Shadow was about ready to murder someone, too, but I don't see you blaming me for that! And you don't see me blaming you for your Shadow being exactly like you're acting right now!" Flare was starting to lose control of her voice, and it was pretty clear that Harvey's refusal to budge was the reason she'd called Bertie over in the first place.

"And you don't fix a problem by runnin' from it!"

This is devolving much more quickly than Bertie knows how to handle. He feels just a little like that Dutch chappie with his finger in the dyke. There's a well of anger and hurt in Harvey that seems be overflowing at the moment and Flare's fix seems to be diving head-first into the water.

He needs a better distraction, one so thoroughly off topic, not even Harvey can bring it round to all this Pollo nonsense. Bertie shouts out the first one to come into his head.

"I've started seeing Dante!"

Oh. That... may be a little too off topic.

"Your Shadow didn't murder anyone!" Harvey returns, his voice raising as well as he lifts himself up from the couch. "Because last I checked, you ain't killed an entire planet! And how do you expect me to fix somethin' that already - "

Bertie's sudden outburst cuts him off, and Harvey turns to look at the pegasus in confusion. "...what?" His first thought is that he'd been under the impression Dante was datin' one of the Rarities now.

His second is that if Dante bucks this up, he is going to become Harvey Finevoice, Dragonslayer.

If nothing else, Bertie successfully defused the situation with his outburst, the growing fight ending not with a bang, but a confused 'bwuh?'. "Weren't you still pining for Jeeves, anyway? I didn't expect you'd be the type to seek comfort in the lap of a guy five times your size."

Then again, Flare didn't expect Bertie to be the type to seek comfort in a relationship anyway.

If nothing else, Dante could totally get Harvey and Flare working together in the time-honored tradition of beating the hell out of him if he so much as ruffled a feather on Bertie's wing.

Edited 2014-09-23 14:46 (UTC)

"Hayate said it was all right," Bertie returns defensively, wings pulling tight to him. Why had he said that? He'd really meant to keep it closer to the vest. "I-I mean, not Dante. But I like him. I like Jeeves, too, but..." But it's been months, half a year. Hearing her incredulity makes him cringe, though. He shouldn't be with Dante. Shouldn't like kissing him. What might he say to Jeeves when they rescue him from the Pale Pony? 'Sorry, old fruit! I just got tired of waiting, you know?'

"Dante shrinks down, and he kissed me, and I didn't turn back into a seapony"- never mind that several other ponies had kissed him -"and he's-he's awfully charming and fit, and he saved me from a volcano!" The words come tumbling out before he can really sort through the best way to present them.

"Okay okay okay."

Harvey says it quickly, trying to stem the tide of Wooster Panic, before taking a breath himself. Should've realized Bertie'd be that anxious about...well, any relationship he was in, even after that talk they'd had. "It's fine, kid, you don't gotta ask anyone's permission. I mean geez, it's been months. Not like you're married to Jeeves." He might be slightly biased in that Jeeves kinda rubbed him the wrong way anyhow, but either way Bertie's gotta move on eventually.

He may be a complete hypocrite for thinking so, but it ain't good to pine forever.

Of course, he doesn't really think that whole curse business proves anything. Nothing related to Discord can. But Dante's a good guy, if a little...out there. And if Harvey thinks maybe someone should go talk to him to make sure he takes this seriously - he glances at Flare slightly conspiratorially - then, well, he doesn't have to say as much to Bertie.

It's about then that something else registers. "Wait, when the hay were you in a volcano?"

Without missing a beat, Flare slips back into that rough, crude manner she tends to gravitate towards for various reasons. "Coulda been a figurative volcano. Y'know, smouldering magma churning beneath the surface, building up pressure and waiting to erupt..."

Harvey did have a point; the two weren't joined at the hip. And besides, apparently Bertie's track record with the ladies wasn't too hot before, either. Maybe he's just a bit of an easy date.

"His cave was in a volcano," Bertie clarifies, looking mildly scandalized by Flare's suggestion. "I, um... I suppose he didn't realize." He shuffles his hooves. "Spot of bother when it blew its top while we were in it. I tried to get a few clouds together once we'd gotten drinks to take care of the ash... and the magma." Little things, you know?

"B-but, well, I mean, I'm only sort of seeing him." Best to clarify. "He's staying with Vergil while he looks for a new home. Ah, you wouldn't happen to know of any mountain caves on the market?"

Are you tellin' him that a volcano exploded near town and no one noticed, Bertie?

And also that you're not living with Dante and don't even know if you're actually datin' or not? Harvey rubs at his eyes, working to keep his voice from sounding testy. "No, I don't. Bertie, have you actually talked to Dante since all the kissin' and the savin'? About that?"

In Bertie's defense, the two of them were pretty much hiding under a rock when that all happened, so maybe they're the ones out of the loop.

That other point, though... "I didn't know there was a market for mountain caves. Don't think you're the one who should really be lookin' at real estate though, not after last time." Unless Dante wanted a summer home in Tartarus, that is.

Talking about it? Perish the thought! He'd done most everything not to talk about it. "I never had to talk to Jeeves..." The other stallion had known what was best. Or guessed at it. Deferring to the fellow's brilliance was always just easier with that sort of thing. Beyond their first discussion, he'd been happy enough to keep talk of such things to the absolute minimum. He'd sort of assumed the understanding with Dante was implicit-ish. They'd shared a kiss and gone to get drunk, like he'd done with Jeeves!

Cave-shopping is a much less troubling topic, anyway. Or Harvey's upset. It might be best to go back to that. "And it's not as though I'm going to use the same real estate agent." Square Deal is on his blacklist. "You-you were saying something about Pollo, though, old thing?" He looks hopefully to Harvey's ire.

"Yeah, you better not," Harvey grumbles at the mention of Square Deal. He's on Harvey's blacklist too, which is much longer and likely a worse place to be than Bertie's.

And speaking of... "Yeah, I was." He raises an eyebrow at the mention of Pollo. Usually people don't want to hear him rant about that. Which means that Bertie's just usin' it as an excuse to get outta talking more. "But look, you really can't live under the same roof as the guy without workin' out what's what."

Harvey doesn't want to speak about his feelings any more than you do, Bertie.

At the point that Harvey's enormous hate-on for Mechakara becomes the favored conversation, Flare just groans and buries her face in her hooves. This wasn't getting much of anywhere. Thankfully, Harvey steers it back on topic, allowing Flare to regain her composure and glance over.

"Gotta side with Harv there, at least. Remember what happened last time you figured your feelings would work themselves out? Fluttershy happened." You don't want to go through that again, do you, Bertie?

Bertie casts a look of mild betrayal at Flare. That's a low blow to strike, even if she does have a point. "Vergil's there, too," he says, a note of petulance creeping in. "Look, we're meant to be talking about you, Harvey, not me." Well, if indirect deflections don't work... "I'll have a talk with Dante later." Much later. Possibly reaching into a later long enough to be never.

Edited 2014-09-27 05:49 (UTC)

"I'm fine." That is a blatant lie, and Harvey honestly doesn't even pretend to think anyone will believe it. If it puts things off of him for a few minutes longer, that's good enough. "And seriously, you really should. I'd hate to see ya rush into somethin' not knowin' what it was."

Who knows if Dante is taking this as seriously as Bertie seems to be? In Harvey's experience, he isn't the most serious individual.

Slowly, but surely, a smile sneaks across Flare's face. Actually, why she'd originally asked Bertie there was to get some life in Harvey again. Judging by how he was ready to worry about the pegasus jumping into a relationship he wasn't ready for, she'd say focusing on anything BUT Harvey was the right direction... even if she needed to tackle those underlying problems eventually.

"C'mon, Wooster. S'only right to worry about people who're close, right? We don't wanna see you get hurt, so we worry. You want to see Harvey feel better, so you worry about him. S'how it all goes, yeah?"

Bertie scoffs openly at Harvey's assurances. "My dear fellow, the only thing fine about you is your voice." If they were going to needle at him, he'd be petulant right back. "And I do care. I'm not rushing into anything, anyway. It's not as though a proposal's been made, an engagement set, rings exchanged. We've just-just had a, well, a very nice press of the dittos and a lovely drink after!" He can feel his face going scarlet as he looks away. "I'm sure we'll manage.

"And talking of managing, what have you told your agent about all this, Harvey?" There. Let's put the attention back where it belongs. "Have you had a chat with them? I could see to it, if you'd like." He could see to it right this very moment, in fact.

"No." Harvey considers for a second, before adding, "Well, I fired 'im. I'm bein' my own agent now." And obviously doing a fantastic job, judging by the huge number of gigs he's booked himself lately. But that is very much not the point of this conversation - or, rather, he doesn't want it to be. "But hey, I hear there's a bunch of slots open down at the Decanter if you're lookin' for somethin' to do."

He doubts Bertie really wants to be some kinda solo jazz pianist. That's not why he was askin' about agents. But hey - if he's really bored enough to go for it.

"I've considered takin' the job outta his hooves, but I figure the two of us fight enough as it is, and besides, I doubt I could take a gig for him without throttlin' some poor skinflint's neck." Flare shakes her head, relaxing slightly.

"It was when the jerkwad decided t'hijack his scroll t'shill him out to fans for the Summer Sun Festival, if you remember that. Th'whole 'billing him with Sapphire Shores' deal was just salt in th'wound." Not that she had a problem with the pop diva, but... well, did Harvey look to be the type who would work well with pop music from this century?

....then again, it's not like either of the other ponies in the room would know pop music from this century.

"You didn't care for Ms. Shores' music, then?" Yes, let's discuss Harvey's storied musical career in Equestria. Bertie's not even going to bother replying re: his own ambitions. They're non-existent. Although, he supposes it couldn't hurt to have something to keep bits rolling in rather than just rolling out. It's a tragedy that he's got to start thinking like Bingo or Tuppy, but the world as it is, he can't rely wholly on gambling, and he certainly doesn't want to go touching Dante or Vergil for a bit of the oof if he ever finds himself wanting.

"I don't suppose there are any famous pony singers you might like to partner with?"

Harvey waves a hoof dismissively. "Nah. I'm sure she's real nice and all, just ain't my kinda gig." As for other pony singers...his thoughts flash quickly to Lyra, before he shakes his head.

"I don't think I really need any partners." Because he's still taking a break, largely. Back home he never partnered with anyone, but that was more for lack of opportunity than anything else; he wouldn't be averse to it in the right circumstances.

"...He really doesn't." Flare is quick to chime in, glancing away. "That's more ponies that the fanfillies will see as potential. They already want you two to be a couple, or him and Lady Jess. S'even ignoring the ones dumb enough to think he'd wanna get that close to his daughter." Well, surrogate daughter, but it's better not to bring that up yet.

"If he stays a solo act, then maybe now and then I can enjoy datin' him without someone a quarter of my age judgin' me for it."

"They what?" Oh, sorry, Flare. Bertie has, until just now, been rather blissfully unaware of the shipping wars within the Finevoice fandom. "But- they. What?" He can feel his hackles rising. "I'm not in love with Harvey!" At least he certainly isn't, now. How the deuce could a lot of fillies have nosed out what he was feeling ages ago?

"Y-you should join his act, Flare. If that's all they're minding."

"Flare - "

Luna dammit it's too late she already told him about the fanfiction. Harvey briefly covers his eyes with a hoof. "Can we please not talk about my fans right now? You shouldn't let 'em bother ya anyway, they're just..." Creepy? Disturbing? "Whatever, they're my problem. I'm sure most of 'em ain't that bad anyway, it's just that only the weird ones say anythin'."

Come Back, Rebound

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All facehooves for good measure!

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