//------------------------------// // Chapter 1 // Story: A Morning Shared By Two // by Meteor_Mirage //------------------------------// Gallus woke up, and as he opened his eyes he was immediately greeted by an ocean of sea green. It was a fluffy ocean, warm too, and moved gently to the sound of soft breathing nearby. Nuzzling his beak against the ocean of fuzz, Gallus took in the familiar scent of seabreeze and vanilla. Satisfied with this, he nestled deep against his warm, muscular pillow and closed his eyes to drift to sleep again. But the ocean shifted, a foreleg wrapping tightly around Gallus as its owner looked down at him. “G’morning Bluebird~” Sandbar rumbled tiredly, then let out a yawn as large as the stallion himself. “Mornin’ dork.” Gallus said, eagerly leaning to give Sandbar’s cheek a gentle nuzzle. After which, he returned to resting against his boyfriend, though continued to look up at him. “Sleep well? Any more nightmares?” Sandbar scoffed, shaking his head as he gave Gallus a hearty squeeze with his muscular forelegs. “With my favorite griffon plush? No way!” He gave a smirk, though it slowly fell from his face as he pursed his lips. “How about you? Looked like you were having one heck of one when I got back from work.” Gallus winced slightly, a claw instinctively brushing against the light scarring that adorned his chest. Though time had passed for them, they still ached slightly. And yet, Gallus still smiled. Softly and warmly up at Sandbar. “I’m fiiiine. Takes more than a few bad dreams to hurt a griffon!” He said with a cocky grin, though it soon relaxed as he rested against Sandbar’s chest again. “But I do remember starting my nap in my bed, not yours.” Though Sandbar’s face flushed red, he let out a gentle chuckle. “Alriiight, you caught me. I couldn’t let you suffer alone, so I scooped you up and brought you over here.”  “So we can suffer together, huh?” Gallus snarked, burying his beak against Sandbar’s wall of chest fluff. “Makes sense. This kinda suffering is pretty great.” “Mmmmmhm. Suffering never tasted so sweet” Sandbar said, leaning down to give Gallus a gentle nuzzle. “Now shhhh, it’s only, like…” He just barely lifted his head up from his pillow, peering over Gallus to look at his alarm clock. “5:30, so there’s just enough time for more nap.” Gallus hummed softly, not having to be told twice before diving back against Sandbar’s fluffy chest. This sentiment lasted for a small moment, and it was quickly interrupted as Gallus’ head snapped up. “Waaaait, 5:30?” Gallus asked before flipping around in Sandbar’s grasp, staring at the clock to find that it was, indeed, 5:30. Paying this no mind, Sandbar held his grip around Gallus, yawning loudly and pulling the griffon closer against his chest. “Yup, so we’ve only got a few hours to nap before getting ready for class.” He lowered his head, his muzzle brushing against Gallus’ headfeathers. “And there’s no way I’m gonna pass up more naptime.”  Gallus grumbled softly, almost pitifully, at that and pressed the palms of his claws against Sandbar’s forelegs. “Well you’re probably gonna have to nap without me, because I’ve got stuff to take care of.” Though as he said that, he made no attempt to release himself from Sandbar’s grasp. Even the pressing of his claws quickly became gentle kneading of Sandbar’s forelegs.  Sandbar hummed softly. “What happened this time? Rainbow saddle you with another detention for skipping with Smolder?” “Uuugh, if only it was that simple.” Gallus said with a roll of his eyes. “No, apparently my actions have consequences, and I have to make up the quizzes I missed while upping my game at Street Fighter.” Sandbar giggled softly. “Well, whose fault is that?” “Smolder’s! For always playing Sean!” Gallus exclaimed with a huff. “It makes no sense, but she keeps beating me. And my ego won’t let me stop until I win.” Another huff, this time punctuated as he buried his face deeper against Sandbar’s chest. “But it also won’t let me fail a class, so I’ve gotta-” “Nooooo, don’t go~” Before Gallus could begin to move away, Sandbar rolled over to face the wall, pulling his griffon along with him. “You know I can’t nap well without a plush to cuddle~” Much like a plush toy, Gallus squeaked as he was cuddled and held tightly by the exquisitely large Sandbar. Much to the chagrin of Gallus, and amusement of Sandbar. Again, Gallus weakly pressed against the forelegs that were holding him in place. “Saaaandy, come on!” He whined, quite pitifully so, as he tried to loosen the grip enough to slip out. “At this rate I’ll barely have enough time to grab breakfast!” And, just like that, Sandbar’s grip loosened. Although confused, Gallus wasn’t one to question a fortunate situation. He quickly wiggled out of Sandbar’s grasp, flapping his wings once to launch himself towards the middle of the room. Gallus took a second to fix his headfeathers, fixing them back into place after they’d been thoroughly mussed in his sleep. He looked towards Sandbar, about to bid him farewell before heading to the shower, but he was greeted instead with a curious sight. Sandbar had shot up from his prone position and was now staring at him tiredly, one hoof behind him to hold him up while the other leisurely scratched at his chin fluff.  “Did you say… breakfast?” He asked. Gallus blinked. “Well, yeah, I was gonna grab some before-” Quicker than an earth pony should ever move, Sandbar lunged towards Gallus and, before the griffon could fight it, placed him upon his back.  “Breakfast with my boyfriend~ Breakfast with my boyfriend~” Sandbar sang with a light giggle as he danced towards the door to their room.  Though he wrapped his arms around Sandbar’s neck, Gallus wiggled in protest. “W-wait! We've still gotta shower first!” Sandbar hummed softly, then looked back towards Gallus with feigned worry. “There’s no time. If we're gonna make it, we'll have to shower together.” Suddenly, Gallus didn’t mind so much.