Upholding his end of the deal was boring. Klaven at least had something to do. He, however, had nothing.
"He better have shown himself by now." Restel spoke quietly to himself. An old habit that slowly returned the longer he was by himself.
A cloudless, sunny sky spread above Manehattan's many buildings. A disguised, green earth pony Restel was too busy trotting up and down the streets, counting how many ponies he passed to notice. It felt like ages since he left Pegasus Cloud in favor of aimlessly wandering the streets of the city.
"I swear I've seen that same guy like, four times now. And my legs are getting tired."
Stop talking to yourself.
Restel shook his head lightly, spotting the nearest bench, and quickly filled its vacancy. Restel sat, leaned back with both his forelegs hung off the backrest, resuming counting ponies as they walked past.
184... 185...
"No, she doesn't count. Seen her before," Restel whispered to himself.
Giving up, Restel leaned his head back, and closed his eyes. Possibly not the most appropriate places to let one's guard down, but in such boredom, what else was there to do? Surely by now, Cyril and Faltic were in her new room, moving things in. Getting to know each other...very well.
Restel's eyebrows scrunched up. "Ew."
At least, he only hoped they wouldn't be anywhere near or on his bed.
Except... they wouldn't be? Klaven explained yesterday that their date would be moving into her room, which meant they wouldn't be in his, right?
Restel's eyes popped open, squinting them immediately at the sunlight attacking his eyes. Restel brought shade to his eyes with a foreleg, peering down the block.
If I walk slow, I could go back now.
It didn't take long for Restel's body and mind to come to the same conclusion. Standing up, Restel began a slow walk in the direction of the Pegasus Cloud.
"It's been almost an hour, surely. I'll stop by with Klaven first."
Restel never realized until now just how boring a pony he was without his friends.
Technically, he was still staying away, even if he was just in the lobby. It's where Klaven was, so if it counts for him, it would count for Restel too.
Restel shrugged his shoulders at his thoughts.
Oh well.
*****
The lobby was surprisingly empty as Restel entered. Not even Klaven was behind the counter. At least, not up front. It was about a twenty minute walk back here, after what felt like hours of mindless walking up and down the streets.
Restel made his way to the front counter. Klaven wasn't anywhere to be seen. Yet. From the corner of his eye, he spotted a service bell. Restel took one quick scan around the lobby to make sure it was empty, and returned his gaze to the bell. Restel grinned as he lifted a hoof, and dinged the bell once, quietly, flinching slightly at the sound. Looking around both behind the counter and around the lobby, there was no response. This time, Restel brought his hoof down harder on the bell, dinging it several times intermittently.
From around the corner appeared a garnet unicorn with a black mane and tail, who approached the counter opposite of Restel wordlessly, staring at Restel with a deadpan face.
Restel's eyes flitted between the service bell and Klaven as he continued to ding the bell. Once it became apparent that Klaven wasn't reacting, Restel's energy on the bell waned, as he dinged it quieter and less often, his smile fading too. Once he stopped, his hoof settled back to the ground.
Restel coughed in the brief moment of silence, reigniting his smile as he looked at Klaven.
"I'm not giving you my customer service smile," Klaven said calmly.
"Oh c'mon. Is that any way to treat a patron?" Restel joked.
Klaven slid the bell off the counter, hiding it away from Restel. "That 'ring the service bell when the employee is already here' happens so much that I can't even fake smile at it anymore."
Restel's smile turned sheepish. "Sorry."
"Don't worry about it." Klaven lifted his hooves to the table, resting his chin on them. "Are you bored out of your mind too?"
Restel nodded. "Definitely. I've been wandering the streets for what's felt like hours."
"Couldn't think of anywhere to go, or something to do?" Klaven asked.
"Nope. Why's it not so busy here?" Restel broadly gestured around the lobby.
"Well, it's past a majority of ponies' check-in and check-out times. So mostly it's just them coming to and from their rooms." Klaven blew a puff of air at nothing after his answer.
"Makes sense. I was thinking actually I sho-" Restel was quickly cut off by Klaven, who perked his head up as he did. "You think? I didn't know." Klaven was smiling as Restel gave him a raised eyebrow.
Both changelings shared a short chuckle before Restel rolled his eyes. "I think you're stupid. Anyway, I was actually thinking about going back up to the room."
Klaven's expression shifted to worry. "What? Why? We said we'd stay away."
Restel avoided Klaven's eyes as he explained himself. "You did say their date today would be in her room, not ours. I'm really craving my bed right about now."
Klaven was looking even more worried now, tapping his hooves together. "What if you interrupt them? Like, they're right about to do something and then boom, Restel shows up and puts a stop to it."
Once again, Restel's eyebrow raised. "Like those clichés in stories? The two lovers are about to kiss and then something stops them?" Klaven nodded quickly.
"...Don't ask me how I know that. Faltic talks to me about those stories sometimes. But, trust me. I'll slip into our room so fast they won't even hear the door open or close." Restel tried to reassure Klaven, but it seemed to do little to help.
"How about this-'' Klaven started. "-You wait down here a bit longer, just to avoid that cliché, and then you go up. And... Please be fast, and quiet. Don't let Faltic know you're there." Still, Klaven fiddled with his hooves in angst, not wanting to ruin anything for Faltic.
Restel's shoulder slumped as he groaned. "Fine. I'll wait." Right after, Restel started to make his way to the couches in the corner of the lobby.
"Oh, and could you do me a favor when you go up?" Klaven asked, grabbing Restel's attention. "Yeah?"
"Could you grab my book off my nightstand? Not Faltic's one. And can you grab my good quill? This one writes bad." Klaven held up a quill to demonstrate his point to Restel.
Puffing his chest up in mock pride, Restel saluted Klaven. "Aye aye, captain. Right after I crash on this couch for a few." Completely ignoring past wishes to take care of the lobby furniture, Restel leaped to the air, and landed his full weight along the length of the couches cushions from armrest to armrest.
*****
It couldn't be more perfect. A smile tugged at the corners of Faltic's lips, and no matter how tired his cheeks felt, it just wouldn't go away. Little was his mind focused on the actual game being played, rather, more was it focused on the disguised Cyril across from him.
The two laid on the bed with the Ponoply board between them. Paper money scattered the bed, and the game was in the middle stages of being played.
Whimsy poked her chin in thought, eyeing the board carefully. "I'll trade you... Appleoosa for Ponyville. Whaddya say?"
Faltic still couldn't shake the possibly dumb looking grin on his face. "Ehh, I don't know. I'd need a bit more for that." Whimsy rolled her eyes and smiled in response. Faltic's chest fluttered as he watched her scoot forward, leaning her head fully across the board, closing the gap between the two and planting a quick peck of a kiss on Faltic's lips.
"How's that?" Whimsy said as she pulled back to her side of the board.
"You've got yourself a deal!" Faltic said, almost in childlike fashion as he couldn't contain his happiness. The two exchanged their property cards and continued the game.
The only thought Faltic had was of being secluded in this small room with Cyril. Not only that, but getting to finally be with her.
Technically, they weren't an official thing, but all the hugs and kisses sure made it feel like it. Faltic owed a huge thanks to Klaven and Restel for leaving him be right now. Restel especially, since trying to find something to do alone was not his strong suit.
Still, now that the topic of actually asking Whimsy... or Cyril, out barged its way into Faltic's thoughts. Of course he wanted to ask, but hesitation was the decisive winner. Why ruin a perfectly good moment?
Whimsy was noticeably slow with taking her turn this time, and it didn't go unnoticed. Faltic immediately jumped on it. "You alright?"
Whimsy didn't bother to move her piece. In fact, she looked as if she was looking for an excuse to talk. "Oh, yeah. I'm fine. But, you live next door right?"
Faltic slowly nodded in response. "Yeah. Why?"
Whimsy's eyes diverted from Faltic's and looked towards the door. "Well, I was just curious. You want to show me around there? You've seen my room, now let me see yours."
For the first time in a hot minute, Faltic's unwavering smile faltered. "Oh, my room? I uh, don't imagine it would look much different from this one." The grin on Faltic's lips began to shift from happiness to worry as he chuckled at the end of his response.
"Maybe it'll look the same, but it'll feel different. It's your place, you live there, I want to check it out with you. Heck, you're always at my place or coming to me. Let's go where you stay for a change. If that makes sense." Whimsy was smiling the whole way through her speech. It tugged at Faltic, egging him on to never want to see her lose it.
After tilting his head side to side a few times, Faltic spoke up. "Fine, fine. Since you want to see it so bad."
"Yay!" Whimsy immediately perked up, shuffling her way off the bed to all fours, not worrying that she had disturbed the pieces of their game. Faltic climbed off the bed, shaking off any stiffness that had crept its way into his legs. The two exited from Whimsy's new room, and were now in the open hallway. It wasn't until now when Faltic had begun to feel a little weary, and not just from Cyril siphoning his love. It wasn't the plan to leave the room.
Bringing out the card to his room revealed those nerves. Faltic had missed the entry slot for the card once, then twice, then flinched when he heard the hoofsteps of somepony else approaching, dropping the card in the process. Whimsy was chuckling behind him. "Are you alright?"
Faltic looked around, seeing that the sounds of the hoofsteps was somepony he didn't even know. He made his way to pick up the dropped card as he answered. "Yeah, yeah. Just... cold. Either your room is colder than I thought, or it's freezing in these hallways."
"This is coming from somepony who wears no clothing out in this Manehattan cold." Before Faltic could respond, two embracing legs wrapped around his shoulders. Whimsy was hugging him from behind, speaking a little quieter than normal. "Don't worry, I'll keep you warm in here."
As much as the warmth put Faltic at ease, his brain shutting down from Whimsy's hug almost caused him to fumble the card again. Thankfully, he managed the door, and the two were inside. Faltic came in second, shutting the door behind them swiftly and quietly.
Whimsy had stopped just a few steps in, turning back to look at Faltic. "Two beds?"
Faltic's eyes quickly switched between her and the beds. "Cheaper."
There was a brief moment of silence before Whimsy simply shrugged her shoulders. "I guess. Oh wait-" Whimsy quickly trotted over to the window, peeking outside. "The view is so much different over here."
Faltic tilted his head, moving across the room to meet by Whimsy's side, staring out the window together at the street below them. "So much different. Just like, fifteen feet over."
"Oh shut up." Whimsy lightly nudged Faltic's shoulder. "It's different. To me at least."
A lightbulb went off in Faltic's head. "Well, since it's so different, why don't you-" Faltic grabbed Whimsy's leg, tugging her around him. "-tell me how different the bed is?"
With little resistance, Whimsy was twirled around Faltic's body. "Oh psh. Which one?"
"This one!" Faltic chuckled as he pulled Whimsy just a little harder, and released, tossing her towards Restel's bed. Surely he wouldn't mind. Whimsy stopped herself just before the bed, her momentum causing her to teeter over the side of it. After a moment of holding her balance, she leaped onto the bed, flopping onto it before sitting up. "It's so different." Whimsy lost herself in a fit of chuckling before continuing. "Is this the one you sleep in? I can feel the dent where you lay on it."
Restel's dent, but close enough. Faltic nodded as he came over to the side of the bed. "Yup. Now, how about-" Again, Faltic grabbed at Whimsy's foreleg. This time, Whimsy put up more resistance. "-You tell me how different the floor feels."
Whimsy was fighting through her continued fit of laughs to speak. "No! Stop that! Enthrall-" She pulled against Faltic's grasp, sliding the blanket around in the process.
"C'moonn you. To the floor you go!" Faltic's cheerful smile returned as he playfully fought with Whimsy for control. Though ultimately, Faltic would gain control over her, wrapping his forelegs around her and dragging her off the bed, setting her down gently on the floor. Despite Whimsy's efforts, her snickering never ceased.
"You get to lay on the different floor. And I get to lay on the different bed." Faltic climbed onto the bed, looking down at Whimsy, who had accepted the floor as she laid on her back.
"I'm going to give you a different kind of hitting-you-across-the-face once I get off the floor." Whimsy did her best to look angry, but it ultimately failed. Faltic leaned and reached down to poke her snout with his hoof, to which it scrunched up slightly.
"Hah. Like that'll happen." Faltic pulled his head back up and looked around the room for once. Right away, he spotted a book that wasn't his on the nightstand beside his bed, on top of it was a quill.
Weird. That's Klaven's good quill that he uses for work. He's at work.
The thought quickly passed through his mind. Returning his attention back to Whimsy on the ground, the thought slammed itself to the front of his mind again. Faltic's eyes widened.
He always uses that quill at work. Wait-
Just then, a sound reached Faltic's ears. The sound of the door clicking, the last thing he wanted to hear. It would wake him up from a thousand nightmares. Sadly, he hadn't woken up yet. Swiveling his head hard enough that half his body turned, Faltic looked directly at the door, just to watch as a disguised Restel came in, closing the door behind him.
"Faltic? Hey! What're you doing here? Thought you were in there with Cyril."
Faltic's body trembled.
From beside him, Faltic heard the shuffling of Cyril positioning herself upright, sitting up and poking her head over the bed. "Wh- what did you just say?"