Studying (with) You

Path 1: Birds of different Feathers can still fall in Love

S-S-Sandy!? What is he doing here? What's the stuff in the box for? When did he get in and how? I didn't hear the door... I closed the door, right? Shoot, I don't think so! Or maybe I did? I don't remember! And why... is he looking at me like tha-a-a-AHHHH! Did he hear me? Was I that loud? Of course he did! That's a disaster! How... How much did he hear? Not all of it, right? Yeah, I'm sure he heard only parts of it! Or maybe he really heard nothing. Calm down! Nothing to worry about, nothing to worry about Gallus... No, I'm doomed! Okay, okay... We can fix it, we can fix it! Just play it cool... Actually, no. I. am. doomed.
As the thoughts flood his brain like water floods a valley after the local dam broke, his body completely tenses up, leaving him almost paralyzed as the only movement he is able to show is a faint quivering as his mind begins to drift into more uncomfortable territory. As a result of that loss of control and the slight shaking, the object between his talons slowly escapes his grip and drops to the floor. It ricochets a bit before suddenly rolling slowly but surely across the room until it bumps into the stallion's hoof, killing its momentum entirely. During its entire journey, the eyes of the two males are glued to it, following it all the way from start to finish. Upon reaching the pony, Gallus immediately averts his eyes again, focusing on the plant in front of him. The other seed remains in his now clenched fist. Sandbar, who was completely still ever since dropping the box, eventually picks the little object up with his hoof and brings it closer to his face. He stares at it for moment, takes in the colors and the different hues it portrays, before refocusing his eyes on the griffon across from him. His mind is busier than a rain cloud that tries to replant a dessert and keep it green. With an inconspicuous smile, Sandbar slowly but steadily moves closer and closer to the griffon, who is just about to wrap up his inner planning session, ready to go along with whatever he came up with. A few steps away Sandbar stops, seemingly arguing with himself how he wants to start a conversation.
"H-Hey Gallus, didn't mean to startle you."
Upon hearing the pony's voice, he turns around with an obviously put-on surprised reaction.
"Oh! Sandy, when did you get here? I totally didn't notice you come in or being here or anything. I was too busy taking care of... some things. Like... watering the flower! Gotta drink to stay healthy and green, right?"
Okay... Distracting him from something he could have possibly heard was the plan but babbling nonsense was not what I had in mind. Anyway, let's just hope it works!
A bit put off by the griffon's strange reaction, Sandbar just disregards it as his head making it look more unusual than it really sounds and looks and, with a nervous chuckle, he agrees with his friend.
"Well... Yeah, a flower's gotta drink to stay green and bloomy... Speaking of that! Here, I found it on the floor."
He holds out the hoof with the seed, trying to return it to the male who lost it.
"Oh yeah! That pretty San- seed, seed! Such nice colors, right? It must have fallen fo- I mean, it must have fallen down and roll around a bit. Thanks", Gallus says with a slightly shaky voice as he stares a bit at the seed before taking it and putting both of them back in the pot.
Damn it! Keep it together Gallus! Distract him, not remind him!
"Hey... um", the pony attempts to say something but his volume turns into a quiet mumble as soon as he started, making the rest that he says completely incomprehensible.
"Huh?", the griffon reacts to the voice behind him and he takes a peek over his shoulder, "Did you say something?"
The stallion's face shows a hint of nervousness as he takes a few seconds to collect his thoughts and weighs the risks and the reward of asking. The risk seem low as the worst thing he can think of is Gallus just saying no.
"I promise I didn't mean to eavesdropping or anything but", he asks as he scratches the back of his head with his hoof, "were you, by any chance, talking about something a moment ago? I could have sworn I heard you."
Hearing this verifies the griffon's fear, who immediately begins to panic and, almost with a jump, turns around to face his classmate.
"I-I-I-I wasn't talking, not at all! Maybe you heard me whistling. I do that sometimes when I'm busy. See."
Out of sheer panic, the griffon tries to demonstrate what he meant but... completely forgot that he can't pipe at all. One would think that someone with a beak would be able to do that... but no. Birds are good at it, griffons, or at least this griffon, not so much apparently.
Stop! No whistling!
He immediately stops and scratches the back of his head, embarrassed and a bit red around the beak.
"Or maybe you heard me humming. It can sound like mumbling but it's not."
"Hmm but I... I guess... Maybe I just heard wrong", the stallion gives up in defeat as he lowers his head a bit, realizing that his mind must have played a trick on him.
The voice he heard was pretty quiet after all. Maybe he was really just humming and his mind created the sounds he wanted to hear. At least that is the explanation his mind is coming up with. Gallus, glad that he was able to get out of this dilemma, is caught off-guard when he hears a hint of disappointment in the earth-stallion's voice. Not the usual kind of disappointment one has when getting something wrong. It sounds like he is really sad about something.
What is wrong? Why is he so bummed out? Maybe... no! That's impossible... right?
"Yeah, that must have been it. Sorry for that weird misunderstanding... Anyway, I brought something for you. You said you wanted to sew something so I searched and brought you a few things that could be helpful. Let me just get them."
Sandbar, hoping to move on from that incident, turns around and trots towards the box on the floor. There, he kneels down and begins to put the reels of thread back where they belong. Gallus is too busy thinking about the possibility this situation provides and the idea of a sign springs back into his memory.
He heard me, I'm sure of it! And his reaction... as if he was disappointed it did not happen. It sounds completely insane but maybe... that's the sign I was waiting for! Sandbar randomly showing up and overhearing my confession must mean something. This gotta be it! Now or never, Gallus! Stop being a chicken and start being a griffon, at least once in your life! But I should ease into it before getting to the point. I could be wrong after all. Baby steps... baby steps... And I think I already have an idea how to...
After finishing this thought, he joins the now kneeling pony and begins to help him packing the box again.
"Say... Just out of curiosity. What did you think I said? You got me a bit curious there", Gallus tries to revive the topic as he stands next to him and also takes on the of the reels into his claw.
"Oh! N-Nothing big! Just something silly, not worth mentioning", Sandbar tries to dodge the topic by increasing his speed of picking up things, his cheeks now colored in a deep red.
"If it were that you wouldn't have asked. Come on, I want to know... Here's a deal. Lets do it this way. I will tell you something in return. I'll even start, okay?"
Without even giving a time window big enough to think about it and answer, the griffon begins to admit something he tried to keep hidden the entire time, hoping that he made the right choice and understood the signs correctly.