//------------------------------// // Every time we touch // Story: On Feathered Wings and Midnight Daydreams // by Rusty_Kettle //------------------------------// Cold wind blew under Sunup’s wings as he made his descent towards the sky terminal. By now he had the route memorized to the point where he didn’t even need to think about it. This was good, since it allowed him to think freely about stuff. Stuff like Blue Skies. Or more specifically, Blue Skies’ wing. The way the limb just… refused to work was both baffling and beyond frustrating. By all means it made no sense, the muscles had healed, the joints and bones were perfectly fine, and he didn’t have any sort of nerve damage. Yet despite all this, the wing still adamantly refused to function properly. Try as he might, Blue had found himself unable to fully extend it on his own accord, and the dexterity of his feathers was almost nonexistent. He couldn’t grasp objects or exert any sort of force with it. The only thing he could really do was tuck it on his side, but only for a short time before the strain became too much and the wing dropped back down. His hooves met the concrete floor of the sky terminal just as the big orange carriage that brought Blue back from work pulled into the station. The four pegasi that pulled it unclasped their harnesses and walked off, leaving the train car-esque carriage behind. The orange doors of the carriage slid open, letting out a hoofful of unicorns with business suits that took off talking about some meeting they had to attend. And from behind them emerged Blue Skies, dressed in his dark orange weather factory jumpsuit and wearing the red sling that kept his wing in place. Sunup’s heart started to beat slightly faster when the pegasus’ eyes met his own. And it beat faster still when Blue’s tired stare brightened, the slightest hint of a smile curling the corners of his mouth. Over these past weeks, Sunup had become keenly aware of the effect that seeing Blue smile had on him. He just… couldn’t help but feel happy too, especially if he was the reason for that smile. “Why hello there,” Sunup said, giving the pegasus an exaggerated bow, “Would you be interested in my exclusive transport service?” Blue Skies rolled his eyes. “Hi Sunup,” He said, unamused, “Just take me home, I need to lie down,” He added, taking off his hardhat and tucking it under his left wing. “Say no more!” The bat pony responded with a wide grin. Just as he had been doing ever since Blue had started working again, Sunup carried the pegasus all the way from the terminal to their apartment. There was one thing that made this occasion different from the others, however, and it was what Blue did almost immediately after they had taken off. Granted, the pegasus never talked during these flights, this time, however, he not only remained quiet, but he also slowly nuzzled his head against Sunup’s foreleg. The bat pony looked down curiously as he noticed the pegasus had dozed off in his hooves. Sunup looked ahead again and noticed that he was nearly at the apartment… that wouldn’t do, not at all. Sunup flapped his wings as gently as he could, overshooting the apartment completely. He didn’t really need to be home right now, but Blue clearly needed to sleep. These past weeks had really helped build up Sunup’s flight endurance, and this was an ideal moment to put it to the test. His wings unfurled fully, letting him glide through the air with ease. He made especially sure to keep his movements as smooth as possible so as to not wake the sleeping pegasus. They must’ve flown for almost half an hour before Sunup’s wings started to ache too much to keep going. Not that he would have to, since the gray pegasus in his grasp had woken up just as he started on the final approach to the apartment. “Huh…?” Blue said, still groggy, “Where…? Did I fall asleep?” He asked, looking up at Sunup with lidded eyes. The bat pony chuckled before replying. “Yeah, I took a bit of a detour so you wouldn’t wake up,” He said. Blue Skies furrowed his brow for a moment before his cheeks suddenly went bright red. “Y- you flew me around town while I was asleep?!” He exploded. “Yeah?” Sunup answered, raising an eyebrow. “Are you crazy? What if somepony saw us?” The pegasus demanded. “I like… fly you around all the time,” Sunup said back, chuckling. “Yeah but…” Blue started, “...okay yeah… fair…” He finished. “Besides! Ponies never look up,” The bat stallion added as the pair finally reached the apartment. Blue Skies touched down first and ran up to the door almost at a gallop. Definitely a far cry from his usual exhausted demeanor after getting home from work. Apparently, the short nap had been more than enough to recharge his batteries. “How was work today?” The purple stallion asked. The pegasus’ chipper attitude dimmed significantly. Sunup mentally kicked himself for ruining his roommate's good mood. “Still terrible,” Blue said, taking a carton of mango juice out of the fridge, “But you know what the worst part is?” He added with the slightest hint of… a grin? “What is?” Sunup asked curiously. “The worst part is that work sucks so bad that it legitimately has me looking forward to being with you,” The gray pegasus said, chuckling as he poured himself a glass of juice. “Sweet Celestia, is it that bad?” Sunup asked with feigned concern, “Maybe you should get a new job after all!”  “Hardy har,” Blue answered, setting down his glass on the living room table, “Get this damn sling off me,” The pegasus turned slightly to give Sunup easier access to the wing. In a way, it was almost funny how this little song and dance had become a usual part of their routine. Yet even with it being a daily occurrence, Blue still couldn’t fully stifle the blush that appeared on his cheeks whenever Sunup massaged the feathery limb. And neither could the bat stallion avoid getting carried away with caressing Blue’s soft feathers. It was just too good, the silky smooth sensation was like the softest clouds you could possibly find, yet at the same time they had a slight warmth to them. But alas, sunup cut the moment short before it got too awkward. He straightened himself out and turned around, silently thankful for his purple coat hiding his blush slightly. “Y- you’re all good!” The bat stallion stuttered, clearing his throat, “I’m sure you’ll get better any day now,” He added. “You still think I’ll get better?” Blue asked, his ears drooping slightly. “Hey,” Sunup said, putting his hoof on the pegasus’ shoulder, “It’s not over until I say it’s over, you’ll get better, believe me,” Blue Skies gave him a half-hearted smile.  “Guess I’ll keep on waiting then,” He said, “Are you going to make dinner?” Sunup chuckled and started walking towards the kitchen. “Yeah, sure,” He answered. The bat pony opened the fridge and pulled out the first thing he could find: half a bag of tater tots and a box of microwave rice. Not ideal, but the store was out of mango pizza rolls the last time he had gone, much to his dismay. “You wanna eat-“ Sunup started as he walked out of the kitchen, but his tongue seemed to tie itself into a knot as soon as his eyes fell on Blue Skies. The pegasus was sitting next to the living room table with his back turned to the bat pony. He was in the middle of slipping out of his factory uniform, with his surprisingly fit back on full display. The gray stallion’s droopy right wing hung to his side while the left one struggled slightly to help pull his foreleg out of the jumpsuit sleeve. Sunup cleared his throat, taking a few steps back into the kitchen to hide his deeply blushed face. “What was that?” Blue Skies asked. “I- I was asking if you wanted to eat tater tots and rice,” The bat pony said, shaking his head slightly to try and dispel the image of his roommate’s back from his mind. “Microwave food again?” The pegasus whined, “Can we just eat something good like… at least once a week?” Sunup poked his head out of the kitchen with a furrowed brow.  “What’s wrong with tater tots?” He asked. Blue Skies threw his head back and groaned before turning to look at him and speaking. “There’s nothing wrong with them, we’ve just had them for dinner three days in a fucking row,” He said. “Learn to cook then, genius!” Sunup said with a chuckle, taking one of the tater tots out of the bag, “Think fast!” He shouted, throwing it directly at Blue’s head. “Wh-?!” The gray pegasus managed to say before something incredible happened. With incredible speed, the stallion’s right wing shot upwards by reflex. Despite the small frozen bite not being much larger than Blue’s nose, his wing still managed to strike it dead center and slap it into the far wall of the living room. Sunup and Blue’s jaws beat the tater tot to the floor as both stallions focused on the pegasus’s outstretched right wing. The limb folded back onto Blue’s side before being stretched back out.  “Wh- what?” The gray stallion said, his voice quivering. “Your wing!” Sunup exclaimed. “My wing!” Blue replied, giving it a tentative flap. The pegasus exploded into laughter. Jumping off the floor with both his wings outstretched. He flapped them with all his might, but his eyes went wide as he spun around wildly in the air. The gray stallion crashed onto the floor in a mess of legs and wings. “Blue!” Sunup shouted, running up to the pegasus’ side, “Are you all right?” He asked. “Y- yeah… guess it isn’t strong enough to fly yet…” He muttered. The gray stallion’s expression quickly brightened, however, when he stretched the wing out again and held it out in front of him. Sunup watched as Blue moved the appendage around in circles, slowly adjusting each of his primary feathers. The look of joy on the pegasus’ face was just… too good.  “You know what? Screw the microwave food, I’m going to go buy hayburgers,” Sunup said. “Really?” Blue Skies asked, looking at the bat stallion with an even wider grin. “Damn right! We have to celebrate!” Sunup said, chuckling. Blue threw his wings around the bat pony, wrapping him in a wide wing-hug. Sunup felt his entire coat stand on end at the sudden sensation of being enveloped by the pegasus’ impossibly soft wings. The bat pony could still feel that the right wing was weaker than the left, but there was some strength behind it. Sunup couldn’t help but wonder how tight the hug would be if both of his roommate’s wings were at full strength- His face turned beet red at the thought, but he was able to pull himself free of the hug and turn around to face the door.  “I- I’ll be right back!” He said before running over to the door so quickly he almost tripped over his own hooves. Sunup darted out of the apartment, trying desperately to shake the strange thought that were flooding his mind as he remembered how soft Blue’s feathers were… how toned his back was… how adorable his happy face looked when he noticed that his wing was working again… “Dammit Sunup! Get your act together, just be happy that he got his wing back!” The bat pony shouted at himself as he tried to fly to the burger place a few blocks away. Try as he may, however, he just couldn’t seem to fly straight, with his slightly stiff wings only allowing him to wobbly glide towards his destination. The bat stallion mostly managed to control his wings by the time his order was prepared, but he couldn’t keep the fluttering in his stomach down as he landed in front of the apartment again. “Okay, just go in there and celebrate with him, nothing more!” Sunup told himself before taking a deep breath and walking into the apartment. The inside was pretty much exactly as he had left it a few minutes ago, the only difference was Blue’s absence. Sunup eyed the place curiously before he finally realized where the pegasus had gone. “Blue? You there?” He asked, noticing that the door to his friend’s room was open. “Yeah, yeah!” The pegasus replied, his voice halfway between happy and annoyed The gray pony walked out of his room, where Sunup noticed that the primary feathers on his right wing were stained with paint. His brow, which had been slightly furrowed when he walked out, relaxed immediately when he looked at the purple stallion. “No onions, tomatoes, or pickles?” Blue asked, raising an eyebrow. “No sir! Tailor-made for you, sir!” Sunup replied, giving the pegasus a mock salute with one of his wings. “Fuck off,” The gray stallion said, rolling his eyes. The stallions sat down at the table and dug in right away, where Blue was overjoyed to find that he could hold onto his food with his right wing. That was, of course, after Sunup insisted on him washing the paint off. The food was excellent… or at least as excellent as fast food could get.  Once they were finished, Sunup took it upon himself to throw the garbage away, picking up all the boxes and bags in his wings. He hadn’t made it halfway to the kitchen before Blue cleared his throat, forcing the bat pony to stop in place and turn his head to listen to whatever he was about to say. “Heyyyy…” The pegasus started, scratching behind his ear with a hoof, “I kinda… don’t have anything to paint…” He added, keeping his eyes fixed on the floor. “So…?” Sunup asked, cocking his head to the side. “W- well I uhh… was wondering…” Blue stuttered, blushing slightly, “If I could like… paint you?” Sunup gave the pegasus a long stare as he tried to process what he had just heard. There was no way he had heard that right, was there? Blue never let him watch while he painted. Now he wasn’t just offering to let him watch, but also to be the subject of one of his paintings?  “Are y- you sure?” The bat pony asked. Blue Skies immediately took a step back, laughing nervously. “Whaaat? Nah, I was just pulling your leg… haha…” He said, “No way you’d just stare at a wall for an hour… right?”  “I mean… if it made you feel better, I would,” Sunup responded, still trying to keep his professional tone, “It might uhh… help you recover some motor skills… yeah,” The gray pegasus’ wings poofed out ever so slightly at the bat pony’s words. “O- okay then uhh… do you want to like… come in?” He stuttered, gesturing towards his bedroom. Sunup unceremoniously dumped the garbage into the trash can before walking up to the gray pegasus and into his room.  He rarely came into this part of the apartment, but it was still pretty much what he expected. A pile of half-finished paintings covered the wall that their bedrooms shared, while the middle of the room was commanded by a canvas stand and a small stool. In the corner of the room opposite from the door sat the pegasus’ bed, which was impeccably made. “Want me to stand here?” Sunup asked, pointing at the small spot between the canvas and the bed. “N- no…” Blue said, staring at the floor, “I- I was actually thinking of painting a flying piece, you know… since my wing works and all…” He added, giving a nervous glance to his bed.  “How would you… oh,” Sunup said as he understood what the pegasus was trying to say, “Want me t- to lie down there?” He asked. “Yeah…?” Blue said, almost pleadingly.  “Okay, okay,” The bat pony said, walking up to the bed and lying on top of it.  He silently prayed to whoever was listening that his cheeks didn’t have a red tone to match the fluttering of his stomach. There was nothing wrong here! He was just helping Blue… yeah! Just some help… “I’ll get to the wings later, I just need a general idea for the rest of the painting first,” The graph pegasus explained as he dipped the tips of his feathers into one of the little paint blobs on his palette. The stallion took a seat on the stool behind the canvas and stretched his back slightly before getting to work. Sunup tried to remain as still as he could while he watched Blue work… or well… not really watch as much as hear. Since the canvas was facing directly away from him, all Sunup could do was hear the scraping of Blue’s feathers against the piece of cloth. He also tried his best to not have his wings poof out like they were spring-loaded whenever he felt Blue’s attentive gaze pass over his entire body… every last bit of him that could be seen was seen, and it was seen with such meticulous attention that the bat pony could all but physically feel his friend’s eyes on his coat. “Okay! Try to open your wings as if you were flying,” Blue directed. Sunup’s semi-stiff wings stretched out behind him, about as far as he could. “Like this?” He asked. “No, no, try to like… bend them as if you were mid-flap,” The pegasus instructed. Sunup furrowed his brow as he tried to think of how to get into position. He couldn’t just bend his wings halfway, they were either extended upward or extended downward! That bend would only happen if he were pushing against the air. “How…?” He asked. “Like… you know… half-tuck them?” Blue Skies said, peeking out from behind the canvas. Sunup did as the pegasus instructed, but when he turned around to look at his wing he noticed that it wasn’t right. It didn’t look like he was flying, it just looked like he was halfway done with tucking his wing onto his side. “I’m pretty sure I can’t hold my wing like that,” The bat stallion said. “No! You’re doing it wrong,” Blue groaned. “Well, why don’t you just show me how you want me to hold the wing then?” Sunup exclaimed, frustrated. The pegasus huffed and got up from the stool, walking up to the bat pony. Sunup gasped as his left wing was suddenly grabbed by Blue’s hooves and pulled open slightly. The shorter stallion stood up on his rear hooves to try and open Sunup’s wing further, straining slightly as he did. “Look out, dumbass, you’re going to fall-“ Sunup started, but he was forced to shut up when Blue did exactly that. In some vain attempt to get out of the way, Sunup rolled away from the falling pegasus, not realizing that the pony was still clutching the tip of his left wing. Blue’s wings flapped wildly as they tried to break his fall, but it was no use. The loss of balance added to the sudden yank from the bat pony not only made him fall, but made him fall directly onto the purple stallion. Once the momentary flailing of legs and wings stopped, Sunup became keenly aware that there was something soft and warm pressed against his chest. He looked down to spot Blue Skies, who had fallen onto him. The pegasus had a blush so deep that it almost hid his freckles completely. His eyes were screwed shut, but he ever so slightly peeked out, quickly realizing where he had fallen. Pomf! Blue Skies’ wings extended violently, opening wide behind him as his blush somehow grew even deeper. The gray stallion pressed his forehooves on either side of Sunup, all but launching himself off the Purple stallion. “I- I- I… I’m sorry about that,” He stuttered, trying desperately to reel his wings back in. “I- It’s okay…” Sunup answered, desperately trying to think of something to say and fix the awkward moment. “No! I mean… yes…? I mean…” Blue said, bringing a forehoof up to try and hide his blushing face, “I uhh… I can finish it by myself! Y- yeah you can just go to sleep!” Sunup got up from the pegasus’ bed, trying to keep his own wings from stretching out as well. “Y- yeah! Uhh… good luck with the… uhh… painting! Yeah!” He said, swiftly running out of the room and into his own, nearly ripping the door off its hinges with how hard he slammed it shut. “Fuuuuuuuuck,” He whispered to himself as he slid onto the floor just beside his door. His mind was a veritable maelstrom of… strange thoughts and emotions… feelings even. “Get it together, Sunup! It was just a dumb accident, don’t look into it,” He said to himself, “J- just go to sleep, and you’ll apologize for not doing what he asked tomorrow! Yeah!” It was at that moment that the bat pony remembered that the next day would be the first day of the weekend… meaning that he and Blue would have to spend all day at the apartment…  “Fuuuuuuck,” The bat stallion said as he thought about just how awkward the next day would be.