//------------------------------//
// Chapter 37 
// Story: Off Duty 
// by awf 
//------------------------------//

Finally things were getting back on track for Celestia. Rawsthorne had accepted her advances, her help on the court case was 'invaluable', according to Miriam, and even Denis was acting with something akin to professionalism. The only problem was... one she imagined Heavy Hoof had. Every night she and her human fell on each other and most mornings, too. It wasn't really the pony way, but Rawsthorne seemed insatiable and some of it rubbed off on the mare.

She felt like she was constantly in heat, albeit a mild one. It was a good thing she didn't have to work in the same office as her human. His smell would have driven her insane. As it was, they had indulged in a little flirting at the workplace, but only when they were both absolutely sure no one could see.  A quick peck on the cheek in the elevator. A hand laid 'carelessly' on her rump, a wing on a shoulder, such things.

It took all of her powers of concentration to keep herself from taking it any further, a fact which seemed to amuse Rawsthorne no end. His self-control seemed effortless, so it was not fair. The alicorn did her best to get through the day and planned fearsome revenge each minute she had to sit still and think of icebergs. Unfortunately, somehow, any thought of vengeance vanished the instant they arrived home.

She forgave as soon as their lips locked together.

The mare tried to put it out of her mind as she went to fetch herself a coffee. The things she suffered for her subjects were stuff of legend, but she would be steadfast in her duties. The Princess would not complain. History would never know just what she went through each day.

Rawsthorne was in the little coffee room. The mare smiled, despite her mild annoyance over a particularly difficult text. "Hey you."

The human took her cup from the magical grasp and put it down beside his to fill with the black, delicious, life-saving drink. Even an alicorn had her limits. Working through all the history of kidnapping cases was... taxing.

"How is it going?" he asked. He had offered his help whenever she might need it, but Celestia took it as a point of pride that she could research every detail on her own. She looked out into the hallway for their coworkers, laid her muzzle on Rawsthorne's shoulder and quickly nuzzled his neck.

"It is good. Some of the cases are... difficult. Traumatizing. I study them bit by bit, with more mundane ones between each part."

Rawsthorne nodded. "Yeah, they can be pretty bad. That's part of the reason I got out of criminal law. Is Denis being an ass, by the way?"

The mare sighed and leaned her head to the side. "Not more so than usual."

"Good. That's good."

It was hard to have a discussion like that. So close, practically enveloped by his scent and unable to touch him. Well, really touch him. If she could be sure they had a few minutes, the alicorn would have knelt down and made sure the human was a little flustered for a change. Her head would be at the perfect height, she thought.

"Uh... excuse me a minute!" Wrong thoughts! Celestia had been lucky so far, but she knew the humans might spot it if she worked herself up into a frenzy, however little they knew of pony body language, and however weak their noses were.

She couldn't afford it, not now. It was going too well with Miriam and the case!

The bathrooms! They had been her salvation several times. The strong chemical smell, combined with the perfume in the soap and the glaring, almost painful light, were able to push thought of inpropriety out of her mind.

The pony rushed through the halls and into the blessedly empty room. She locked herself into a stall, then she sighed. "Come on, Celestia, you're not a hormonal teenager. Control!" Easy to say. The mare waited until she calmed down, before coming out. She went for the sink next. Cold water on hooves helped. Only then did she let herself out of the bathroom.

She passed by Wendy's desk and the receptionist waved her over. "Hi! You were in quite a rush. Forgotten again?"

It had been a convenient excuse. Not to mention that it was the truth sometimes. The mare worked with such focus that she forgot to tend to her bodily needs. Only when a flood was imminent did she realize, a mistake which had prompted a few urgent gallops to the little fillies' room.

"It is the coffee. I am not used to how fast it works, Wendy."

Since she was there, the alicorn took a small nibble from the vase of daisies the receptionist kept on her desk lately. After that first time, the woman found it immensely funny whenever Celestia did that, so she made sure the flowers were fresh each day. The receptionist also brought donuts to many of her coworkers and brewed coffee whenever the pot ran low, so this wasn't any special treatment.

The mare was still grateful for the consideration. "These are lovely, Wendy. Thank you! I do not know how you find time to do everything around here."

She got a modest wave of a hand in reply. The woman liked to downplay her vital role in the firm. "Don't you worry about that, Celestia. We all do our bit. You and Mr. Rawsthorne and Denis do the difficult, brainy bits. I fetch the coffee and flowers. To each his own, right?"

The mare gave the woman a bright smile. "Indeed. I'll stop by over lunch for a chat!" As she walked back to the coffee room, the alicorn mused on the way the receptionist had spoken. Her human was always 'Mr. Rawsthorne', but Denis was just the first name.

Maybe it was the way he acted. The tall lawyer kept making inappropriate jokes. He was quite popular with some coworkers and even Rawsthorne seemed to like the man. Maybe, after working with him long enough to stop being on the receiving end of his innuendo, Celestia would grow fond of Denis as well? As far as she could determine, despite his faults and attitude, the lawyer was dependable and always ready to help - provided you could put up with the jabs as he did so.

On the other hoof, Rawsthorne was a bit... aloof. The mare saw why he didn't have too many close friends. He was a bit on the uptight side and always strictly professional. Their relationship seemed to be changing that somewhat and the man smiled sometimes, but it would take more time to undo decades of... being himself.

She pushed it out of her mind as she stepped into the small kitchen again. "Sorry."

Her cup was filled and had lots of cream and sugar, just the way she liked it. Rawsthorne's was black and probably very bitter. That reminded her. The alicorn had taken the time last evening, at great personal inconvenience and discomfort, to do a little baking. She had foregone a bath in order to make it all fit in the time she had before bed. Hopefully, Rawsthorne would appreciate the sacrifice.

Celestia focused for a moment and deftly maneuvered a plastic box from her desk in Denis' office to the kitchen. "Here, this is for you."

It was a cream roll, but the human cookbook had called it a 'Swiss roll'. Mostly it looked and tasted like a sponge cake, but filled with whipped cream and fresh fruit. How the markets managed to get strawberries that red and juicy in the middle of winter was beyond her, but Celestia was grateful for it.

"I don't think-" Rawsthorne began, fending the container off with a hand, but the mare interrupted:

"You don't have to think. A bit of cake is a perfectly good snack with coffee!"

He looked ready to argue, but the alicorn narrowed her eyes. She still had the Utmost Holy and Just Quest to Make Gregory Enjoy Pastries!

She levitated up a smaller piece and held it before his face. "Open!" He didn't fight the command. The lips split apart and the pony pushed the sweet inside. "Chew!" Rawsthorne nearly smiled! She was sure she saw it! A very encouraging result! "Now swallow!"

He did so, without complaint. As a reward, the alicorn gave him a grin of her own. A most beautiful one, reserved for when she was very pleased with his actions.

"Good. Now just keep repeating that until the tray is empty, understand?" The way Rawsthorne looked helplessly at the food was incredibly funny. But the Princess was a merciful tyrant. "I will help."

She sipped a bit of the coffee and mixed the flavour with some cream roll. Perhaps she was a little biased, but the craftsmareship was immaculate! The taste blended and filled and refreshed. The biscuit melted on the tongue and filled the stomach most pleasingly. She pretended not to, but Celestia saw that her human ate his share without much prompting. He looked like he was enjoying it, especially when it mixed with his bitter and sugarless coffee. Maybe one of these days she could convince him to add a bit of cream... Between them, the dish was quickly depleted. There was another box in her pack, but that one was for Wendy.

Celestia would not give in to the alluring smell and devour it herself after lunch. Not again, at any rate. She didn't like the resulting shame at her weak self-control. Why had she not given it to Wendy yet, then?

One of these days the mare would deliver a treat to the receptionist. She just had to bake some more. At least she didn't mind sharing with Rawsthorne. A sacrifice, yes, but an important one for the completion of her Quest.

Now came the reward for her valiant hero. The pony leaned her head into the hallway and looked both ways to make sure they would be alone for a few seconds more, then she kissed him. After a moment, his hands ended up on her neck and the fingers played with her mane. The alicorn barely bit back a whinny of pleasure. The kiss was taking somewhat longer, but she didn't mind.

Until...

She heard footsteps approaching and tried to pull away, but the hands held her steady and she somehow didn't have the strength to break that gentle grip. At the last possible second she managed to get her face away. Of course it was Denis! He had probably been alerted by the floating cake!

"Having a nice little snack?" he asked and smirked.

The mare knew she hadn't blushed! She was sure of it! It was impossible for the annoying human to read her expression, but he grinned even more insolently than usually and tapped his nose. He knew! Celestia nearly panicked.

"Don't worry, your secret is safe with me!" he promised, but that didn't fill the mare with confidence. She looked to her human for help.

Rawsthorne, expression immaculate, just shrugged and took a sip of his coffee. "You watch too much hentai."

For a moment the tall lawyer seemed a bit uncomfortable. Celestia vowed to herself she would learn what 'hentai' meant. It sounded like a useful tool for dealing with Denis. After a moment of decidedly tense silence, both humans chuckled and anything her temporary boss might have suspected about her and Rawsthorne was forgotten. It was just as well. Denis probably wouldn't cause them any problems, but his jokes and indecent offers would undoubtedly intensify, and Celestia still wasn't sure if the proposals were serious or not. 

She was half expecting something quite inappropriate, but the human asked instead: "So, Celestia. Need any help on that dissertation for Miriam?"

It took her a second to switch tracks in her mind. "On pony art? No, I finished that this morning. I'm reading cases again."

She had written essays upon essays about pony society, culture, virtues, even myth and folklore. Everything to prove that they were an entire civilization of sentient, intelligent beings. Worthy of the same rights humans enjoyed on Earth, in short. According to Miriam, they were making a very compelling case, but the woman still came up with suggestions and comments for nearly all of her work and Celestia wrote and rewrote entire papers until the DA was happy.

She was ever more glad that this woman was on their side. With her attention to detail and insight into the proceedings, victory truly was in sight. They had discussed the possibility of Celestia, or one of her pony friends to appear as a special witness, but the alicorn couldn't trust such an important role to anypony in the group, however much she liked them and she remained unwilling to appear herself. With a bit of luck, her written work would be sufficient. There was still much to do and Miriam would be around later to align their schedules and bring her comments on the previous few papers.

As pleasurable as it was, flirting would have to wait. The mare glanced at Rawsthorne again. "I better get back to work. Please remind me when it is time for lunch." He nodded and the pony walked out, leaving the two men alone in the coffee kitchen.


"We'll have most of next week off," Rawsthorne said quietly as they drove back home. Silence suited Celestia. After dealing with Denis, being friendly with Wendy, flirting with her human and the meeting with Miriam, the mare was exhausted. She still felt a little conflicted. A few days off was at the same time very welcome news and entirely unacceptable. She would fall so far behind!

"But why? Miriam needs me to finish the papers!"

Her human glanced over. "No, she won't need you next week."

"Why?"

The pony was truly baffled now. When Rawsthorne looked at her again, he grinned in amusement. "Don't you know what date it is? Or do you not celebrate?"

The alicorn tried to remember. She had seen the calendar, but hadn't paid it too much attention. Then she gave a small gasp as she figured it out. It was late December, after all! How could she have forgotten? "Hearth's Warming! Of course!"

Now it was Rawsthorne's turn to look baffled. "Hearth's Warming? No, it's Christmas."

Celestia remembered the word from her friends. Glitter Dust had mentioned it. It was when her friend came to visit. Her first human. "Oh yes. Different name, but I think the holiday is much the same. Family and togetherness and gifts."

Rawsthorne nodded to it all. "That's right. Now, I don't normally put up a tree, but maybe we could make an exception this year."

Celestia grinned and clapped her forehooves together in anticipation. "Yes! Yes yes yes, please!"

Her enthusiasm was infectious and Rawsthorne also smiled. "Okay. Then it's settled."

The mare had been thinking about Glitter Dust and remembered to bring up the question she had forgotten. "Oh, by the way, Greg. What is 'weed'?"

There was silence and the alicorn looked to her human, only to find him staring at the road in shock. "What?! Where did you hear that?"

It made the pony a little uneasy. "Uh, Glitter Dust mentioned it. One of her human friends comes for a visit around Heart's- uh, Christmas and she said they like to smoke some kind of tobacco called 'weed'."

The man sighed. He didn't look at her, but the mare got a strong impression that he disapproved. "I'll pretend I didn't hear that. It's really called 'marijuana'. Weed is just the slang name, and it is illegal in this state. If that friend is ever found out, he could be in some trouble and so could Glitter Dust. I hope you won't get mixed up in that - it might seriously damage any work you've done for Miriam."

That was the last thing the alicorn wanted! The way her pegasus friend had described this smoking sounded fun, but not if it was illegal! She would have to have words with Glitter Dust! "Oh. I'll be sure to tell her. Maybe she doesn't know?"

The human sounded doubtful, but he agreed. "Maybe."

"Anyway, I would still like to meet her friend. Do you think you could drive me for a visit someday?"

Again he was silent for a while. Then the human sighed. "Yes, but only if you promise you won't take part in drugs and go easy on alcohol." Her human paused, then barked a laugh. "I can't believe I just said that."

It did sound a little like something a father might say to a daughter. The mare giggled at the thought. "I promise... Master."

It just made him groan a little.

Celestia had a nice chuckle about that, then changed the topic. "Anyway, I was thinking I might take a bath tonight. You will join me, right?" When Rawsthorne didn't answer right away, she placed a hoof carefully on his leg. "Come on! It will be fun!"

Without all the awkward embarrassment from their last time, having the human in the tub could be particularly enjoyable. He could wash her mane, and her tail. And she could teach him to preen her wings. Quite possibly she could somehow return the favor, maybe with her tongue and mouth... The mare shuddered and ruthlessly stomped out that line of thought before it ran away with her. It could wait until they were at home.

First she would need a 'yes'. "Say yes, or I will give you the Look again."

The human tried to control his face very hard, but Celestia saw his mouth turn up in a smile. "Okay, yes."

She wondered if she could push it a little further today. "You will also have the last piece of cream roll cake with me."

"After dinner?" the human asked nervously. With the piece he had already eaten over coffee, Rawsthorne had had more sweets in this one day than in an entire week previously.

"Instead of dinner." It was cute the way he winced. Cute and funny. The alicorn laughed pleasantly and laid a gentle wing on her human's shoulder. "You'll need the energy. For later tonight."

Now he was blushing. So was the mare, but it was still funny. "I'm starting to think that contract you and Plain made me sign had been a sham," Rawsthorne said darkly.

Celestia shook her head and explained: "No, but if you remember it, there were all the things you must or mustn't do to me, but none of the things I should or shouldn't do myself."

The human blinked and fell silent for a while as he thought back. "Oh yes. Why haven't I noticed that before?"

Celestia puffed out her chest a little in pride. "I'm very good with contracts, Greg. Very good."