//------------------------------//
// Chapter 4 
// Story: Moonlight Promenade 
// by Valorousspectre 
//------------------------------//

He had a headache. That was obvious to him at least. It originated from the back of his head. And his nose. Or something. It hurts. Septimus groaned and put a hand to his head. His bed was soft, and it was nice to have his head against his pillows, the sheets over his shirtless torso and...

Wait, shirtless?

His eyes opened and he frowned, holding his head painfully. The room was dark, but he was fairly certain he didn't have a fourpost bed. Or silk sheets. And he certainly didn't sleep without a shirt on. Or his pants. He was wearing underwear, thankfully, but his shirt was gone, and his cargo pants were gone. So was his headphones. This sent up warning flags in his head. Well, aside from his missing shirt. Those headphones were costly, and he really didn't want to lose them.

He looked around the room slowly, his concern growing quite quickly. He didn't have a room with blue drapes, nor a bed with curtains, or a bed covered in pillows and a Celestia plushy. There was a vanity on the right hand side of the room, with several different brushes on it, several cast in silver. directly on his left, after the expanse of pure bed, was a small table with a lamp and a few other small things on it. There was a big chest of drawers next to the vanity, and a big cupboard, probably filled with various dresses and things, jackets and stuff. 

"What the hell..?" He said quietly, trying to figure out how the hell he got where he was, where the hell he was in the first place, and where the hell his clothing had gone. It was dark, but that may have been because of the heavy drapes over the windows, and that the chandelier above his the bed that he could only just see through the wispy curtains wasn't lit. It was only then that he noticed, on the far right on the room was a big flatscreen television on a cabinet. At least 32 inch, way more expensive than anything he could afford. Wrapping a sheet around himself slowly, the confused stallion left the bed, the massive sheet trailing along behind him. His hair was in complete disarray. Bed hair, as one would say. The off white hair was disheveled and in desperate need of a brush. He walked slowly over to the cabinet in question and examined the TV curiously.

"Damn..." He said softly to himself, "What I wouldn't give..."

He ran his hand gently along the top edge of the television. It was larger than he though. Much bigger than Thirty-two, as his original estimate. And it was nice. Well preserved. It looked fresh out of the box. Septimus hadn't owned a television before, and at a casual examination, he hadn't owned a console since he was a boy, unlike the pony of whom this room belonged to. A next gen console rested just under the television, probably from sony, given the design. Simple, two prongs, triggers on the back. Sort of. More like buttons to be entirely honest. He wasn't sure if he liked them. They looked flimsy, useless even. Or, they did from casual observation. He wasn't exactly taking especially good time to observe them.

"D'you like it?"

The familiar voice made him jerk and spin around, almost knocking the tv off the cabinet as he did so. Behind him, in the doorway, stood Princess Luna, the mare he'd known as Lulu until recently. She was wearing a simple blue dress, cut up the side so she could walk. She was slim, as he thought she would be, and had a modest smile on her face.

"Sister bought it for me, two Hearth's Warmings ago. 'till then, I only had a little one. It's hard to play the better games on a small screen though."

Septimus dropped to one knee in a bow, panicking. Luna groaned and rolled her eyes.

"Oh come on. You spoke to me normal and everything when I was talking on the promenade, why not now?"

"Th-that was before I knew..." He stammered, his face in the floor, "You're the princess! I have to..."

"Get up," She grumbled, "I was trying to befriend someone who wouldn't bow to me in the first place, and now you go and do it anyway."

He stood up quickly and jerkily. So this was Luna's room. That certainly explained a lot. Except for the plushy of Princess Celestia. That one he had a little trouble with.

"S-sorry Princess..." He mumbled. She groaned again and stumped over to her bed, sitting down on it, clearly annoyed.

"And don't call me that either!" She replied in exasperation, "Goddess, I need a vacation."

Septimus paused, assessing the situation and, deeming it necessary to ask first, he hesitantly began.

"Um... Princess?"

"Don't call me that!" She scolded and he flinched.

"Luna?"

She raised her head and looked at him irritably. He sighed softly.

"Lulu?"

"Yes Septimus?" She said crossly. He flinched again and fingered the sheet he was holding around himself.

"Um..." He began hesitantly again, "Where in Samhain are my clothes?"

She blushed brightly and sat up, turning away from him almost shyly.

"Oh... they got a little dirty when I accidentally dropped you."

"You did what!?" He asked in utter disbelief, looking at her with wide eyes. She coughed nervously.

"I... accidentally dropped you," She said again sheepishly, "You sort of black out and your head kinda hit my chest and... well.."

"You freaked out didn't you?" He asked bluntly, his lids dropping down over his eyes halfway. She flushed scarlet. It was kind of cute.

"W-well yes!" She replied hotly, "What lady wouldn't? When some random pony's head falls into one's bosom, of course a lady would panic a little!"

"I was unconscious, it's not like it was intentional or that I even knew!" he shouted back, bewildered. She stood up and stamped her foot angrily.

"Unconscious or no, it's not appropriate for one's head to land in the bosom of a lady!" She nearly shouted back. Septimus felt a rush of heated blood to his head.

"It's not like there's much there to begin with!" He shot back angrily. Her fists clenched and she seethed as she yelled back.

"At least I'm not some failed musician who can't get his own workmates to respect him!"

Septimus stepped towards the angered monarch, sheet forgotten in the heat of the moment as it fell to the floor.

"At least I haven't let my negativity get the better of me!" He snapped back, "And tried to turn the whole of Equestria into a black hole!"

She too took a step forward as the two argued.

"I live in a castle, whilst you live in a dump with your deadbeat roommates!" She screeched back, "Who can't even find girlfriends who are faithful!"

"At least I have roommates!"

"I run a damn country!"

"At least I have fr-"

And he stopped. He didn't actually have friends, now that he thought on it, and it wasn't a nice feeling. His anger drained out of him and he looked away, automatically slouching to seem less obvious. Luna raised an eyebrow, obviously still annoyed.

"Well!?" She demanded, "What was that? You were going to say I have no friends, weren't you!?"

Septimus didn't answer, just turned away and picked up the sheet from the floor, wrapping it around him again, not even neutral enough to speak or blush as his mood plummeted.

"Well!?" She continued, still obviously angry, "Say it! Go on! Say it!"

"It doesn't matter..." He said darkly, "You've got more friends than me..."

That stopped her dead. His tone seemed to belong more to a stallion on death's row than one in her room, in his underwear no less. She frowned, concerned.

"Well," She said confused, "I doubt that... What d'you mean? You were so angry before."

"It doesn't matter okay?" he replied in that same, defeated tone, "I'll just... I'll get my clothing and go."

Her eyes fell open and jaw almost dropped.

"What!?" She asked, shocked, "What are you saying, you're not going to stay?"

"Why bother?" he asked spitefully, "I'm clearly not welcome in your house, and I'm already certain you sister doesn't like me."

"Who, Tia?" She asked, now confused, "How could she not like you?"

"It doesn't matter!" he said, more forcefully now. The only thing Sep could think of was leaving. Fast, "I'll take my clothing and leave.

He went to walk out. He did really try. The sheet clutched around him, he stalked in the direction of the doorway. Luna's disbelieving face followed him the whole time, until finally she spurred herself into action, lunging after and grabbing her sheet.

"Wait!"

In this instant, way too many coincidences happened to be strictly possible. Or rather, it was incredibly improbable that so many would happen. Firstly, in her almost drunken lunge for him, Luna stepped upon the long, trailing tail of the sheet turned robe, stopping Septimus with a jerk, pulling him backwards. This of course led to him hitting her outstretched hand as his hands flailed out instinctively for something to grab onto. Luna's hand found his shoulder as he was pulled back and the impact spun him around as they fell. Luna landed hard on her back, her breath bursting out of her chest in a gasp. Septimus, on the other hand, fell atop her, his hands fell either side of her neck, holding himself up above her. The sheet fell over the pair of them, blanketing them both in a light shade.

Luna breathed heavily, trying to get her breath back, her chest heaving. Septimus above her, looking at her with wide eyes. One of the shoulder straps of her dress had slipped down her arm, leaving her shoulder and the curve of her neck exposed. It was a little distracting to say the least. 

"Well," Luna said finally, flushing at their predicament and awkwardly looking away from the now fiercely blushing Septimus, "This isn't exactly what I had planned..."

Septimus couldn't help but stare. Luna may not have been as well endowed as her sun blessed sister, but she was just as beautiful, if not more. Even from the little he could see. The curve as her shoulder formed into her neck alone captured his entire attention. It was divine on its own. Her hair, light blue, fanned under her head and neck, made her look even better. She was like an angel, and he had an insane urge to simply lean down and... 

He didn't know. What does one do in this situation?

"I... uh..." He said awkwardly, "Um..."

Luna looked at him, still blushing a little, then giggled at his awkwardness. It was kind of cute really. She laid both hands gently on his bare chest and pushed him a little.

"You um... You want to play a game of something?" She asked with another little giggle, "This position might give ponies the wrong idea. Especially if my sister decides to make an impromptu visit."

Septimus' blush reached titanic proportions and, after a brief pause, he scurried off of Luna in a flurry of movement, leaving her wide eyed in surprise.

"I um... I mean I would... I mean... yeah, sure," he said awkwardly, drawing the sheets back around his shirtless torso. Luna sat up slowly, the shoulder strap of her dress slipping down further before she finally noticed and quickly pulled it back up, but not before revealing some of her collar bone.

"Oh um... good. I uh... I have a bit of a selection if you'd care...?"

"C-certainly..." he replied with a gulp. This was going to be interesting.

Three hours and several long games later, Luna and Septimus rested upon the carpeted floor, Luna resting her head upon Septimus' chest, despite Septimus' gentle and polite objections.

"Mhmm~" She giggled softly, curling the fingers of one palm to run over his shoulder, "We'll have to do this again."

"I... perhaps?" Septimus said a little nervously, "It... might be a little difficult to get out of work..."

"Oh, don't you worry about that~" She giggled, "If I feel like playing a game with you, you'll know it~"