Brew at the tavern.

Mixed Brew walked tentatively into the tavern. He needed a certain kind of alcohol to make a hair growth potion. Somepony was losing his coat hair, and he needed to take the potion daily to look normal.

He walked up to the bar, ignoring all the other ponies. They could be trying to get him to be their special somepony or ignoring him altogether. He didn't want to know really. Brew leaned on the bar and asked of the Barmare:

"Hi, do you have any pink rose wine? I need it to make a potion."
"Ah, you're the stallion that runs the potion shop down town square, right?" She replied.
"Correct. Do you have any?"
"Yeah, gimme a sec to grab the bottle...."

She went down and got a bottle of pink rose. Brew paid up, but just as he was leaving the Barmare leaned over and whispered:

"You know, I wouldn't argue to you and me having a little drink together~"

Brew stopped dead for a second and darted out of the tavern in terror. The Barmare laughed. She had heard he reacted like that when somepony tried to make a move on him. Brew sat on a bench outside the tavern, taking deep breaths to calm himself.

When he'd calmed down again, Brew noticed he'd knocked over somepony in his rush to get as far away from the Barmare as he could. He walked over to her and used his magic to lift the bits she dropped into the bag.

"Hi, sorry about that. Barmare freaked the hay out of me and I had to escape."

He shivered a little at the thought. Then again, she was probably just kidding. Nopony could like Brew- even if they did, he just couldn't get past his fear of romance. He regained his composure and smiled at the mare he'd knocked over.

"The name's Mixed Brew. What's yours? And is there anything else I can do to make up for that?"

Brew shook her hoof, resisting the urge to run. Just a friendly gesture. He smiled at her.

"Yeah, that's a point. I'm okay with a chat I suppose."

He was happy that she was being so understanding. Don't see much of that these days, yet this mare was being perfectly nice to a stallion who'd knocked her over and made her drip some money. He could respect that.

"Well whatever the case, nice to meetcha starcatcher. Not sure what you mean by a chat though. We just gonna stand here and talk or did you have a particular place in mind?"

He checked the wine was okay. That stallion needed the potion, and Brew had agreed to deliver it for the next morning. It wasn't particularly late though, so he could afford a natter.

Brew nodded. He supposed a drink would be nice. He went into the tavern, assuming Starcatcher would follow. He went up to the bar, emotionless to the Barmare. He ordered himself a cider. An ideal drink since there's little alcohol actually in it, and Brew wasn't really in the best circumstances to be drunk. He insisted upon paying for it himself though.

"I wronged you, albeit accidentally. I don't think you should pay my friend." He said nonchalantly.

Of course, he let her pay for her own drink. Compromise, as Brew's dad said. She wanted to be nice and he wanted to make it up to her so he paid for himself but let her pay for herself. Made sense to him.

"So, what do you wanna talk about?" Asked Brew.

Brew grinned at the little pose Starcatcher sat in, with her hoof on her chin. It was pretty amusing.

"Not much to tell. I grew up in manehatten, got my cutie mark after brewing a rather difficult potion perfectly on my first go, and...."

He froze up at the thought of the Icy incident. He decided not to mention that part. He'd sound weird, or even give Starcatcher ideas. He sniggered at that thought. How paranoid was he getting? He needed to just relax. This mare was trying to be nice after all. The least he could do was return the favour and not expect her to try anything on.

Still, he felt it best to leave that business out of it. Not a pleasant discussion for either party.

"What about yourself? What's your story, so to speak?"

Brew felt pretty sorry for this mare. Being orphaned must've been rough. He wanted to ask a little more, but a touchy subject that one was. He was considering telling her about the Icy incident- after all, it was ages ago. Maybe talking about it would help. Still, he'd only just met Starcatcher and he wasn't going to tell her something like that until he knew he could trust her.

"That must have been tough. I'm not gonna pretend to understand since I had a pretty middle class family myself. For Manehatten anyway. Still, you have my sympathies. At least you got out of the crapper though."

He drank a little of his cider, trying to think of a new topic. Family would be touchy since she was orphaned. Brew didn't know what there was to say. He glared at the Barmare, who just sniggered. Cheeky cow.

Brew thought for a moment about his questions. Well, it wouldn't hurt, since she seemed okay with it. She didn't seen too happy though- should he ask? Brew debated it in his head before strengthening his resolve and asking:

"This might be a tough question, and you don't have to answer but did you know any of your biological family? Also, who took care of you, or did you grow up on the streets? Finally, how did you pull yourself out?"

He shifted uncomfortably in his seat. Starcatcher was telling him something very personal. Should he tell her about Icy? He supposed he'd wait until she answered his questions then see how vague she got.

Brew listened to Starcatcher's story. Celestia had she had a hard time. He gave her a pat on the back and said:

"Damn. You have all the sympathy I can muster, that's for sure. How did your friend get you out of the gutter then?"

If what she said was particularly harsh, he'd tell her about Icy. He was starting to trust Starcatcher- she seemed like a decent enough pony.

"Also, how were you being a burden? Looking after a filly can't be that hard- just give her some food and a bed. At least that's my opinion. Oh yeah, didn't you ever get taken to an orphanage? I'd have thought you'd go to one of those."

Brew nodded at Starcatcher's comments.

"Understandable. I've been in a couple of orphanages for deliveries. The foals there aren't exactly miserable but you can see the disappointment in their faces when it's just the stallion with the potions, rather than a new parent."

Something occurred to him. He remembered a little event he once saw.

" I remember this one time I brought cough medicine to a colt in an orphanage. Once I'd administered it to him, he gives me this adorable little look and asks me if I was there to adopt him. Broke his little heart when I told him I wasn't."

He sighed. He'd wanted to adopt the kid, but he didn't have the cash, patience or responsibility to raise the little fella.

Brew noticed Starcatcher was looking pretty miserable. Best not tell her about Icy- not a happy story. He drank his cider and racked his brain for possible happier discussions. He came up with squat. He sighed. Fine, he'll tell her about Icy.

"Star- I hope you don't mind me calling you star- I've got a story to tell, and I've sort of been debating over telling you. I haven't told anypony else since I came here, mainly 'cause I don't have many friends."

He sipped his cider and continued.

"This explains why I barged into you back there. See, when I was a teen I decided to make a life potion. I'd found it in a recipe book and didn't know what it actually did. I followed the instructions on the page, but didn't realise I was looking at the opposite page which detailed a love potion. I took it into school one day to test it. I pretended it was a brand new drink I'd invented, and since I'm a good cook everypony believed it. I held a raffle and the winner got the potion. A mare by the name of Icy Word. She looked in my eyes and fell in insane love with me. She hugs me really tight, calls me these weird pet names then finally...when I try to explain...she kisses me. She wouldn't get off, and I wasn't enjoying it no sir. My friends got her off but only when they noticed I was crying."

He wiped his eyes as he finished the story.

(Sowwy that's so long but it wouldn't work if I broke it up into little bits.)

Brew twitched a little at the touch. He suppresses the urge to run. It was just an act of sympathy, nothing more. Wait....she was blushing! She was making a move!

Brew quickly shook his head and took a deep breath to calm himself down. She was blushing because she knew he'd react like that. He weakly smiled at her.

"I-It's fine. Just P-please don't do that again. I get really uncomfortable. Celestia am I pathetic...."

He took a drink, calming down a little more, though still on edge. He was such a freak, having a nervous breakdown if a mare so much as touched him.....

He also noticed a weird look on Star's face.

"Hey, are you alright? You seem a little off..."

Brew raised an eyebrow. Why was she panicking so much? Was it medical? Did she have asthma of something? He quickly passed her a drink.

"If you're choking drink this. It should help. If you're panicking, drink this calming potion. It'll help you think straight."

He passed her one of the potions out of his bag.

"Also, me, you and Shy? What, are you getting s-shy around me?"

He quickly drank to calm himself. She wasn't, she wasn't. She simply had something up.

Brew shrugged.

"The amount needed depends on the pony and the severity of the Shyness. And it's fine- I completely understand. After all, it's a pretty weird thing I have to be honest."

He put the potion back into his bag and decided he wasn't going to order anything else.

"I'll be off then. Keep the potion- it'll make a good backup if you forget whatever it is keeping your emotions under control. Nice speaking with you though. Pop by my shop in the town square if you fancy a chat again or need a potion."

He got up and left the tavern, satisfied he'd at least had a decent conversation with a mare.