After such a long night of celebrating, sleeping in is a given but, eventually, Sandbar awakens from his sound sleep as the sound of knocking forces its way into his ears. At first, he tries to defend himself against the noisy intruder but, in the end, he acknowledges his defeat. Slowly, he opens his eyes but the moment the first rays of the midday sun reaches them, he shuts them immediately and covers them with his hooves, trying to protect them at all costs. That's when he hears the sound that started this mess. A knock followed by multiple more, increasing in volume and with less and less pause between them.
“I'm up, I'm up! Give me a second”, Sandbar shouts before uncovering his eyes again, who luckily got used to the sudden difference in brightness, and getting out of his bed. He walks up to his door and, after unlocking it, opens them just to find himself standing face to face with his favorite creature in the world.
“G-Gallus?”, the pony asks, obviously surprised to see him.
He knows that Gallus isn't a morning person so to see him so early and not grumpy is very strange.
“Hey... Sorry for waking you so rudely but it's better when I do it than Silverstream. She was just in my room and asked if I wanted to meet with the others for a late lunch.”
“Lunch? Don't you mean breakfast?”
Hearing that word confuses Sandbar even more, especially when combined with the word right before.
“Breakfast?”, Gallus asks before he realizes the misunderstanding and begins to chuckle a bit.
“What's so funny?”
“Sorry but it's a tad too late for breakfast, Sandy.”
This little comment makes the pony even more unsure but he also feels stupid for asking but, in the end, his curiosity gets the better of him.
“What... What time is it?”
“About 3 pm? Maybe a bit later, not really sure so let's just say about 3 pm.”
“3 pm?! How could I sleep so long? That's insane.”
“Welcome to my world. But, just so you know, Silver slept just as long. Not really surprising if you think about it. We've been out very late last night after all.”
“Oh yeah, the Dance... I remember.”
Their eyes meet for a second before Sandbar averts them, his cheek showing a pink coloring as he remembers the experiences he shared with him last night but then he notices a different thing he mentioned twice now.
“Wait, Silverstream was in your room? Why?”
“Oh, that's a bit of a story so”, Gallus begins to explain before looking to his left and his right, checking the hallway for any other ponies.
A few stallions are walking either from the bathroom to their rooms or are leaving the floor entirely by walking up the stairs.
“Can I... come in? I feel a bit stupid standing here, to be honest.”
“Oh sure! Yeah, come in!”
This little request captured the pony off-guard and, with an even redder face, he steps aside and gives his boyfriend permission to enter. Another chuckle escapes the griffon's beak as he passes the pony and sits down on the bed, which is still warm from before.
“Like I already said, Silverstream came to my room a few minutes ago and woke me up.”
“By banging against the door like a complete maniac like you did?”, Sandbar jokes but Gallus, who knows the pony very well, already expected a remark like that so he prepared a comeback.
“Oh no, I was going easy on you. She acted like two maniacs and a complete nutcase. She was knocking on my door, shouted my name and, according to her own words, even flew outside and tapped against my window multiple times. I didn't see it because I was sleeping but there are claw prints on my window so I don't doubt that for a second.”
Yep, that sounds like Silver, Sandbar thinks to himself, holding back a laughter upon hearing this narration.
“And she wanted to invite you to this late lunch”, Sandbar takes a guess but the griffon just shakes his head.
“You would think that but it's way more complicated. The thing is, I was the first one she asked to join her.”
“Wait... what? She didn't ask Smolder, Yona or Ocellus first? Why? They are living in the same building as her.”
“That's exactly what I said!”, Gallus comments the pony's interjection, throwing his arms into the air before dropping himself on his back, resting his head on a wadded blanket, “She just said something about the alphabet and I stopped listening until she mentioned you and that she would go to your room next. So, to save you from the same experience, I offered to take care of you so she can ask the girls.”
Hearing that makes Sandbar's heart skip a beat, realizing that Gallus tried to protect him from Silverstream's little wake-up-call.
Aw Gallus...
“So we're having lunch soon.”, Sandbar mumbles as he stretches his limbs to wake them up for good, “I could really use something eat now that I think about it so I should better get ready. But first...”
Sandbar steps in front of the lying griffon and taps his knee, causing the griffon to give him his attention and raising his upper-body again until he returns to his former position. The moment he can reach his boyfriend's face, he plants a peck on one of his cheeks before finishing his sentence.
“Good morning Gallus.”
A wink accompanies this greeting, which sends a light chill down the feather-covered male's spine as he gently touches the now completely bright red cheek, almost as if he can't believe what just happened.
“I'll be right back, just need a quick shower”, Sandbar explains as he gathers a few things like his toothbrush, a bottle of shampoo, and a white towel, “Just wait here so we can head right out when I'm back.”
“S-Sure thing! I'll be right here, don't worry”, Gallus calls back with a slightly shaking voice and a weak, almost nervous-sounding laughter before dropping back on his back the moment the pony closes the door behind himself.
Yeah... I could really get used to this..., the blue-yellow male gushes over the recent kiss, hugging the pillow not far from him and squeezing it tightly, his entire head slowly taking on the same hue his cheeks have shown ever since.
The hallway is completely empty so it surprises Sandbar a bit when he sees a couple of ponies in the bathroom, three in total but all of them are minding their own business. A dark-gray pony Sandbar knows from his Honesty class is washing his white mane while a pale yellow unicorn right next to him helps him by holding the supplies he currently doesn't need, like a towel or a comb. The last pony, a red pegasus, is brushing his teeth while checking himself out in the mirror. Upon noticing the new visitor, the unicorn greets Sandbar with a friendly smile and, almost as if that move triggered the remaining ones, the other two wave in his direction. He waves back before heading for the shower room in which eight separate shower stalls are lined up in two rows, four on each side and each of them has a different curtain attached to it to give its user the most privacy possible. Currently, none of these are in use so Sandbar chooses the one in the furthest left corner, the stall with the blue curtain, and hangs the towel right next to it on a hook before placing his shampoo bottle and the utensils he needs for brushing his teeth in two of the three holders meant for shampoo, conditioner, spray or anything else a pony could need to make the most of the situation. Slowly, he turns the two knobs meant for temperature regulation until he reaches his favorite setting. The first time he used one of these showers, he spends almost ten minutes trying to find the right temperature and upon finding it, he immediately memories the amount of turning he had to do on each knob so it only takes a few seconds to reconstruct it. After that, he pulls a lever to activate the pump and get the water running. Usually, he spends fifteen to twenty minutes in the shower, relaxing and thinking about all sorts of things but not this time. He knows that Gallus and the rest of his friends are waiting for him, so he wastes no time and after six minutes he turns off the water and takes his towel into the stall to dry his coat, tail and especially his mane, which is now covering one of his eyes completely. After completely drying off his coat, Sandbar gathers his stuff and leaves the stall to head for one of the unoccupied sinks. The bathroom is completely empty now which gives him all the privacy he desires though he doesn't have much time to enjoy it. He squeezes some of the toothpaste onto his toothbrush before putting it into his mouth, cleaning his teeth for two minutes before spitting the rest out. After that, he takes a sip of tap-water to neutralize the lingering minty aftertaste.
And now my br- Hey, where is my brush? I had it with me... right?
The earthpony recalls all of his actions from the moment he gathered his stuff to now.
No, I forgot it in my room. No biggie, I'll just do it there.
With a new intermediate object in mind, he cleans his toothbrush before packing everything together and leaving the room.
This time a mare is in the hallways, standing in front of one of the doors, and, upon noticing Sandbar, she waves at him. With a smile, the stallion waves back before grabbing the handle of his own room's door. With a push, he opens the door, which startles Gallus, who is still laying on his bed, so much that he jumps to his feet while throwing the pillow back on its original place, his eyes wide open as he stares at the pony, whose movement completely ceases.
“Sorry, didn't mean to scare you like that”, the pony excuses while trying his best to hold back a chuckle.
“Scared? Me? You didn't scare me”, Gallus, who relaxes a bit, explains as he sits down on the bed again, “You just surprised me because I didn't expect you to be back so early. Usually, you need twenty minutes or more to shower.”
“Usually, I have enough time to spare to do that but I didn't want to keep you and rest waiting.”
He smiles at his griffon-friend before opening one of the drawers of his desk to retrieve the brown brush hidden inside.
“So”, Gallus asks his friend as he observes his actions from the bed he is sitting on, “Does that mean you're ready to go?”
The pony shakes his head before showing Gallus the object in his hoof.
“Almost. Just gotta take care of my tail and mane or else it will get tangled and I hate that.”
With that, he sits down and starts with his tail, brushing it multiple times and straightening it all the way before curling it a bit to return it to its usual style. Gallus, who seems to be a bit hypnotizes by the way the hair moves, stares at his boyfriend, not daring to look away even for a second.
“Alright, that's that”, Sandbar mumbles as he moves the hairbrush away from his rump and begins to brush his hair but a barely audible mumble catches his attention.
“Hm? Did you say something?”, the pony asks his classmate, whose entire face turned bright red the moment Sandbar reacted.
“M-M-Me? N-No, nothing! I mean yeah, I did say something but nothing important so don't mind me. You just keep brushing your nice mane and I will just sit here and watch you do it.”
That... was strange..., Sandbar thinks to himself as he looks at his friend before shooting a glimpse at his brush, if I didn't know any better, I'd think that... hmmm...
“Okay, if you say so.”
With that, the pony returns to his activity but only a few seconds later grunts of annoyance can be heard, sounds that immediately catch Gallus' attention.
“Hey Sandy, is everything okay?”
“Oh, erm, yeah. It's just... Usually, I'm doing this in the bathroom with a mirror to look at but now, without being able to see what I'm doing, it just won't work. The tail was easy because I saw it but this”, he points at his mane, “is really annoying me. Could you help me?”
This sudden request catches the griffon completely off-guard and, as if an electric shock runs through his body, he jumps off the bed before asking his partner what he means by it.
“H-Help? How? Do you want me to get a mirror or something? I think the pony who lives across from my room has one. I could ask if I could bor-”
“No no no, I don't need a mirror. I was thinking that... maybe you could brush it. If you don't want to then that's fine too, no pressure! It was just an idea and I thought that, maybe, you would like to give it a shot but, I mean, you obviously don't ne-”
“Sure!”
The sudden enthusiasm in Gallus' voice surprises Sandbar a bit and it seems like even he himself didn't expect such a reaction from himself.
How embarrassing! I really want to but that was so unlike me. Play it cool, play it cool...
“erm...”, the griffon tries to put his plan into action by clearing his throat and acting as if this never happened while walking over until standing right behind him, “I mean... I would give it a try, I guess.”
With a smirk, the earthpony hands him the hairbrush and closes his eyes, waiting for the treatment to start. The griffon sits down and, as careful as possible, begins to brush the first strands of hair. In the meantime, he uses his free hand to twirl them a bit and straighten them out before putting them in the right place to recreate the pony's usual style.
“I feel like I'm at the barber”, Sandbar jokes, and Gallus is ready to play along.
“What kind of style may it be today, Sir? Something crazy? Fancy? Maybe we should shave it all off.”
“Don't you dare”, the pony answers with a fake glare.
The two giggle for a bit before continuing their little act.
“Make it cool... but classy. Not too nice and well-behaved looking but not too naughty either. A handsome look without making it too vainly. You know what I mean?”
“Oh yes”, the griffon, who comes a bit closer to the stallion's ear, whispers, “I've got the perfect style for that.”
That sudden change in his voice sends a chill down his spine and heat into his head, turning his cheeks bright red.
Minutes go by in which Gallus is completely busy with brushing, pulling, placing, and correcting countless strands of hair. In the end, he places his free claw directly on the pony's head and ruffles the entire mane one more time, causing its owner to laugh.
“Haha, what was that all about?”
“The final touch of course. Now, let us talk about my payment.”
“Huh? What payment?”
“As a trained barber, I obviously deserve something for such a good job, don't you think?”
Sandbar notices a little smirk on the griffon's face and, as if a light bulb suddenly turned on inside of his head, he understands his boyfriend's hint.
Oh, so we are still doing this. Okay, I'm fine with that.
“Of course”, he resumes his role, “What do you have in mind? Bits?”
“Hmm tempting but I was thinking about some good food with you.”
The pony, amused by the act they are putting on, giggles a bit before giving his partner a very satisfying answer.
“Yeah, I think that can be arranged. We could go to town and get something or the caf... Sweet Celestia! The cafeteria!”
“Oh... erm... sure, I guess”, Gallus, who did not expect that reaction, tries to hide his slight disappointment, “Not that creative but it has food so I'm down for it.”
“No! We are going to be late! The others are probably already waiting for us!”
The smile on the griffon's face disappears as he looks Sandbar in the eyes, shock written all over his face.
“Shoot! You're right. We should get going!”
The two jump to their feet and Gallus runs towards the door but, after shooting a quick look over his shoulder and noticing Sandbar looking for something, he stops and asks him what's wrong.
“Is something missing?”
“I need to find my Bits first or I can't buy anyt-”
“Forget that, I'll take care of that, okay? Just come.”
The griffon already opened the door and is now holding it open so his partner can leave the room. Sandbar can't really tell if it's the way Gallus said it or just the gestures itself but, somehow, he can't stop himself from blushing as he gives up his search and trots past him. He waits for Gallus to close the door and then locks it so no one can enter. After that, the two begin their walk but, while passing by the bathroom, the pony excuses himself and rushes inside. A few seconds later he leaves it again with a satisfied smile on his.
“You really nailed my style, Gallus”, he compliments the griffon, who begins to scratch the back of his head upon hearing that.
“T-Thanks. I told you I knew exactly what I was doing. Ready now?”
“Totally. Let's go.”
With that, they continue their short trip to the cafeteria, meeting a few classmates on their way and even Secretary Spike, who is currently doing a little tour around the school to plan some changes that would happen during the winter break.