The night waned, and Septimus was forced to return for his bag, and his shirt before the night was finished. He made it home with barely an hour to spare. But it was alright, he only worked the late afternoons anyway. Being a sound technician for a nightclub that employed five made work easy, but also pay little. So he got a little sleep that day. But he did have to ignore his room mates as they went about their loud days.
But, as the time rolled around, he had to get up and work, as usual. His boss yelled at him between songs, his coworkers ignore him, as usual, the musicians didn’t care or thank him.
Another day in the grinder, another day to die.
So he found himself seated upon a building once again. Not the same as the night before, but a building he had sat upon before. It was nightfall, or approaching it, and once more, he was contemplating what to do. His hair was almost over his eyes again, and his converse were already in his bag, stowed away from a long day. But he was considering if he wanted to meet his mysterious visitor from the previous night.
With a depressed sigh, he slowly took off his shirt, stowing it away in his bag and hiding the bag in the normal spot, and looked off the roof. The view was amazing, the moon just peaking over the horizon. He spied his way down and smiled, turning around , standing on the edge of the roof, crossing his arms over his chest, and letting himself fall backwards off the roof. For a moment, the only feeling he had was the adrenaline through his system and the wind through his hair, then he hit his mark, plunging into the tall mound of hay piled up in a cart. He sank down to the bottom and hit the cart with a faint thud, managing to slowly crawl out, free of pain. He set off, running through the darkened streets of Canterlot. He’d been to many cities, but out of all of them, Canterlot was his favorite to do this in. Manehatten was close, but there was always ponies out after dark. In Canterlot, there was nopony after dark.
He vaulted over a bench, landing on his feet and continuing to run. The night air whistled past him as he ran, then hit a retaining wall, hit it with one foot and flipped off of it, just barely making it. After a moment to catch his breath, he headed off again, making his way through the city.
Somehow, he ended up on the familiar promenade, moonlight spilling over the beautiful surrounds. It was just as beautiful as before. With a cursory look around, he confirmed his mysterious visitor wasn’t anywhere to be found and he sighed, seating himself once more upon the railings, to stare out at the moon.
"Should have known she wouldn’t be here," he said softly to himself, "I’m not…"
Familiar hands wrapped around his waist and a rich laugh filled his ears as he felt a face press into his chilly fur.
"You came~" She said warmly, "Thank you Septimus."
"I.." he started, blushing as he felt her modest breasts press against him as well, "Th-that’s fine…"
"The night’s caress is always nicer with someone else," She said quietly. He blushed a little harder. The way she said that made him… nevermind.
"I… I guess so," He said awkwardly, "Hey… last night, you left before telling me your name."
"Oh," She said gently, "You can just call me Lulu."
"Alright then," He replied with a relieved sigh. He shivered, however, when he felt her hands gently caressing his abdomen.
"I saw you running," She said softly, "Do you do that often?"
"W-well," He answered, swallowing his nerves, "Yeah. I do it a lot. It’s called parkour, and it’s… it’s freeing, you know? To have no restrictions and no road. Nowhere to tell me where I should go, you know?"
"A little," Lulu said, "I like a prank now and then, but I’ve never been able to do something like that. I have too many responsibilities."
"But you can sneak out here?" he asked, confused. Lulu giggled and her hands left him, and she leaned against the railing. No matter how much he wanted to though, he couldn’t move his head to face her, but he could see her hands again.
"Well, sometimes sis has a… lapse, in her guard," She said with a giggle, "So I can get out now and again, yes."
There was a moment of silence under the moonlight on the promenade. Lulu lifted one of her hands up and rested it upon his thigh.
"So…" he started lamely, "You live with your sister?"
He heard Lulu hum in affirmative.
"Mhmm. My sister and I are pretty much all we have, but we’re expected to act a certain way, so it gets tiring quickly."
"I know what you mean," He said softly, "Society is the same. I’m meant to have a well paid job, and be respected and happy, like everyone else."
"You’re… not happy?" Lulu asked. Septimus laughed.
"I’m manic depressive Lulu, being happy is hard when you can’t help but be depressed."
"Oh," she answered, "I… I understand. I know what it’s like… thinking you’re not worth anything, and how hard it is to please everyone, let alone anyone."
Septimus grunted in affirmative. It was difficult, and he knew that too. With a sigh, he relayed his day to Lulu, leaving out very little, mostly his roommates. She listened quietly, occasionally stroking his thigh with her hand.
"You can’t let it get to you," Lulu finally said gently, "It never works out well."
The gentle squeeze on his thigh, though most likely meant to reassure, irked him somehow.
"What do you know?" He spat bitterly. She flinched, but he paid no heed, "You live in the upper parts of Canterlot with the fashion and the fine dining and the money, away from the working class and their cruelty towards ponies like me, away from the nasty side of the music industry. You’ve got high society, and a sister who looks after you and, no doubt, everyone who meets you loves you. What do you know about pain?"
There was silence again, the pale moonlight somehow seeming sad and wispy, paler than usual. Her hand left his thigh and she sighed, moving away.
"I know the feeling. Being unwanted, unneeded… I know better than anyone, trapped in the shadow of my older sister," She finally said darkly, "And trust me," She continued, "It’s a long shadow. And for a long time, I thought my skills unappreciated, and there’s absolutely nobody out there that can do what I do."
"You make it sound like you paint the night sky," He shot back, not noticing her stiffen behind him, not even looking at her, "But nobody’s that special… nobody except the Princesses. And they’re loved by everyone."
"Not… Not always," came Lulu’s reply, "Remember? There was the time when Princess Luna had troubles."
"The tale of Nightmare moon?" He scoffed, "Please. Luna was justified in her anger in that. The only problem was the transition, and it’s been accepted that even that wasn’t entirely her fault."
He shook his head with a growling sigh.
"No, Princess Luna was never wrong. Me? I’m… I’m different. Everything I’ve done, it’s been my own fault. I’m not good enough to impress the music industry. Not a good enough tech to satisfy them."
"No, Septimus," Lulu said with a sigh, folding her arms around his waist again. He was starting to wonder about her strange fetish with hugging him from behind, "No, they’re just… It’s not you, I promise."
Septimus snorted.
"Then why the abuse?" He asked shortly. Lulu stammered, trying to come up with an answer she simply didn’t know.
"I’ll tell you why," He said darkly, "Why the abuse? Because all a bully needs is a goddamn excuse."
Lulu sighed and pressed cheek to his back.
"Look, Septimus," She said, "There’s always going to be ponies out there looking to put down the up and coming in favor for their own gains. There’s nothing anyone can do about those ponies, and for that, I’m sorry."
He grunted in reply and she smiled against his fur,
"But I promise, it only gets better from here. Things always seem their worst before they get better."
"Yeah, I’ve heard that before," Sep sighed, "It’s looked so bad for so long though…" he paused as he felt a gentle peck of something soft against his spine, the up a little higher and he frowned.
"What are you doing..?" he asked nervously. He heard her wings open and felt the telltale gush of air as she lifted into flight and, as he realised with a light blush she was planting kisses up his back, and one on his neck.
"Giving you some incentive," She said slyly before running a hand through his hair, "And wash your hair before tomorrow night please? It’s a little oily."
"I… sure…" he responded distantly. She giggled and placed one final gentle and chaste kiss on his shoulder blade before whispering a goodbye and, just as quickly as before, vanishing into the night. Septimus gulped as his hand subconsciously made his way to the kissed area on the back of his neck.
"I guess…"