You always meet twice

Metal just finished working in his shop and went to the tavern for some relaxing. He sat down and ordered a drink not expecting anything special to happen

Nestling into his second cider, Aero sat quietly at the bar. He stared at pale orange liquid in his glass, swivelling the bubbles around as he held the glass.

He sat alone, once again his thoughts were his own, no one to share with. He sighed, thinking about Sunrise. It was a shame things hadn't seemed to work out.

Aero heard the shuffle of a new arrival and peered over his shoulder to see Metal Spark. An uncommon smile crossed his lips as he turned to the unicorn.

"Metal. Good to see you."

"Oh, hello! Havent met you in a while. Hows it going?" Metal said. Taking a sip of his drink

There was a momentary pause as Aero conjured a response. His eyes looked away momentarily to hide his emotional process as he took a sip of his drink.

"I'm well," he said, a little tersely, "How about you?"

"Quite a few has changed" Metal said looking inside his glass

"Oh," Aero questioned, intrigued by Metal's answer. "Have they changed for the better or worse?"

Aero was usually very stoic and good at sounding neutral, but there was a slight hint of concern in his voice.

"My wife left me a few months ago" Metal said being a bit upset

Worse, then. The cold, bluntness of Metal's statement made Aero immediately straighten with surprise.

"Ah, I see. I'm sorry to hear that." He looked away briefly, a little uncertain of how to respond. "If it's any consolation, I had a break up a while ago."

Aero chuckled inwardly. Figures that they would before end up meeting here in the tavern then. He gestured to the bartender for two drinks, one for himself and one for Metal. It sounded like they were going to need them.

"Well anyway, I met a mare named Dreamscape lately. And ot looks like were going to marry"

"Good to hear. Congratulations," Aero said, allowing a little smile. At least things seemed to have worked out well for Metal. I suppose somepony should get to be happy.

Taking his half-empty glass in his hooves, he raised it to the unicorn. "Here's to you."

Without waiting for a response, Aero downed the rest of his cider before sliding the empty glass away and reaching for his next.

Metal took a few sips before looking at him "Hey, I think my sister would like to meet you sometime"
He said smiling a bit

Aero was known to be calm and collected, often giving little away about his thoughts and feelings to others. This was not one of those occasions.

At Metal's words, Aero spluttered and spat cider out across the bar. He coughed to clear his throat as he gave the bartender an apologetic look.

"S-she does?" he asked, with a slight tone of surprise, before noticing Metal's smile. "Oh, haha."

Clearing his throat again, Aero shook his head. "Listen, I, erm, appreciate the thought but I don't think I can jump into anything else quite yet. Gotta let the dust settle, you know?"

"I dont think of that, She would just be happy to get to know you" He said drinking his cider

Aero considered what Metal said as he sipped his own drink. He had spent plenty of time on his own recently and while he enjoyed his own company, he did think he should still interact with other's every so often. Besides, not every friendship had to go any further than that. In fact, Aero couldn't think of that many ponies that he was actually friends with...

"Hmmm, maybe I'll see if she around sometime soon," he reasoned. "So how's work been?"

"A few customers here and there, well I made a long break after all that happened"

Aero nodded. "That's understandable."

He sat quietly for a moment, mulling over his glass, as if entranced by the swirling liquid. He considered his next words carefully, so as not to reveal too much to Metal.

"Don't suppose you have much extra work going? Like, deliveries?"

"I have. Star Spark tries to help me out with them" He said drinking the last bit in his glass

Aero simply nodded, turning away slightly as he took another swig of cider.

"Ah, I see. No spare jobs going then?" he asked, cringing a little by his own bluntness.

It wasn't that he was struggling desperately for bits, but Aero hadn't been able to push past his mental block to focus on work. If anything, he'd just been hoping for a distraction of some sort from his own thoughts.

"You can help me with deliveries" Metal said "I pay pretty well"

Straightening in his seat, Aero mentally cursed to himself. He hated the seriousness of the topic he'd approached and instantly regretted bringing it up. His cold eyes set on the alcoholic beverage at his hooves. Curse you cider.

"That would be...helpful. And great," he replied earnestly, "I'm not looking for charity. Don't avoid making me do anything hard."