Love's Many Forms

by DraconequusMaximus


Chapter 11

It was now a little over two months since Noteworthy's accident, he had been given a clean bill of health & was out of his numerous casts & bandages since three days ago. The time had passed quickly, Noteworthy & Cherry's relationship was going well & Cherry had even made some friends around town. Pinkie's obligatory welcome party had gone off without a hitch, due mostly to the fact that everypony was more focused on Noteworthy's health at the time. Cherry had even started visiting Ponyville's public library to further deepen his knowledge of pony kind. He even talked to the library's resident princess on occasion. Today however was an important one, today was moving day.
Noteworthy was healed, but was weaker than normal thanks to being incapacitated so long. Luckily Cherry, Lyra, Bon Bon, & Berry had plenty of strength or magic between them. Cherry & Noteworthy's possessions only filled a few boxes, but Berry had donated the guest bed, & the girls a spare sofa from their basement. After only a little under two hours everything was where it needed to be, their new home was remarkably empty but it was theirs. Their friends stayed over & ordered pizza to celebrate the couple's new home, needless to say there was alcohol courtesy of Berry. Pinchy was staying over at a friends house that night so the little party lasted well into the night. After the mares left a drunk Noteworthy & Cherry passed out on the sofa together.
They were awakened many hours later by the alarm coming from Cherry's watch he had bought himself about a month prior.
"Ugh, is it morning already?" Noteworthy asked getting up from the couch with a forehoof to his throbbing head.
"Unfortunately I think it is, we must have drank too much last night." Cherry said as he tried to get up. He succeeded but toppled over mere seconds later.
After the pair was coherent enough they got themselves cleaned up & ready for the day ahead of them. Cherry was going into work while Noteworthy was going out to look for a new job now that he was able again. Cherry donned his disguise in his usual burst of pink flames, he then gave his coltfriend a quick peck on the cheek.
"I'll see you later Blues, good luck today." He said with a smile before trotting out into the still quiet streets of Ponyville. Noteworthy waved as Cherry slowly left his field of vision. He always enjoyed a kiss from Cherry, even if it was only on the cheek. The two had shared their first kiss only two weeks ago, as both of them were nervous. Any apprehension either of them had harbored melted away that night. Noteworthy often forgot Cherry wasn't a pony, it just didn't matter anymore. Cherry was the strangest, but best coltfriend he had ever had. He knew he was quickly developing feelings for him, & he knew Cherry knew too. But neither stallion had said anything about it yet. Cherry's chitin was repaired now & had even developed a slight glossy quality. He was obviously very healthy now. Every now & again he would get depressed about having to hide from other ponies behind his disguise, but Noteworthy was always there for him.
After a few minutes of happy reflection of the last few months events Noteworthy ventured out into Ponyville. After three hours of entering businesses he was feeling pretty downtrodden. It seemed nopony had any need for new employees, & there was no need for anyone with musical talents in Ponyville either. Eventually he decided to call it quits for the day & went to the store. The house's kitchen had luckily come with kitchen appliances such as an oven, refrigerator, & microwave but they still needed food. After picking up things like eggs, milk, flour, sugar, & some other assorted food basics he returned home to put them away. He himself couldn't manage much more than eggs, but Cherry was quickly becoming a talented cook thanks to Berry & Bon Bon's lessons. After several hours of doing nothing Cherry returned to find him asleep on the sofa.
"Blues? Hello? You in there?" Cherry said nudging the comatose stallion. With a little more effort he eventually woke him.
"Wha... Oh, hey Cherry. Done helping Berry already?" Noteworthy said rubbing the sleep from his eyes.
"Blues, its 5:30 in the afternoon. I'm actually late getting home." Cherry said before dropping his disguise & joining him on the sofa.
"Heh, guess I fell asleep after I got home." He said sheepishly. "Job hunting was a bust, I picked up some groceries before I came back though."
"Well, don't worry about it too much, it's only been a day. You'll find something soon enough, I know you will." Cherry said nuzzling the depressed stallion. This lifted his spirits a bit, though Cherry could tell it was still bothering him. Cherry thought for a minute before getting up & trotting to the hall closet between the living room & the kitchen. He came back a moment later with a familiar case floating in his magical grasp.
"I was going to wait for a special occasion to give this to you, but you seem like you could use a pick-me-up." Cherry said as he levitated the case onto the sofa next to Noteworthy. Noteworthy knew what the case held, but it had been ruined in the same accident that had temporarily crippled him, hadn't it? He undid the clasps on the case & opened it to reveal his saxophone, looking better than it had before the roof collapsed.
"How did? When? What?" Noteworthy said looking back & forth from the instrument to his smiling coltfriend.
"Well, I may have fibbed when I said that I was only reading about pony culture. I also picked up some books about pony magic, there was one about fixing things & I knew this was important to you." Cherry said looking pleased at how happy he had made Noteworthy.
"I can't believe it! I thought I was gonna need to save up for years to get a new sax! Thank you so much!" Noteworthy said with tears of joy in his eyes as he pulled the changeling into a hug. Cherry was very full at the moment, love, happiness, & gratitude were all flowing into him without him even trying to feed. He smiled almost as big as Noteworthy was at the feeling, but more than that, he was happy because Noteworthy was happy. After a few minutes of continuous hugs Noteworthy released him.
"I can't thank you enough Cherry, you're the best thing to ever happen to me. I know you can probably already tell, but I-I love you Cherry." Noteworthy said teary eyed looking directly at the changeling. It was now Cherry's turn for extremely emotional hugging, he pulled Noteworthy as close as he could to himself.
"I love you to Blues!" He said through his own tears.
The stallions stayed like that for sometime until a rumbling brought them back to reality. They separated & both looked down at Noteworthy's stomach, Noteworthy blushed as Cherry would have if he was capable of it.
"Well, looks like I need to start dinner huh?" Cherry said before hopping off the couch & trotting off to the kitchen. Noteworthy followed behind him intending to help.
"Is there anything I can do? I feel bad that you go to work & make dinner for me when you don't really need money or food to keep going." Noteworthy said with drooped ears. Cherry just smiled at him.
"You know you feed me just as much as I feed you, & you're giving me a place to live & you genuinely care for me. I really don't you should feel that way." Cherry said before thinking for a minute. "But, if you feel like doing something I still haven't heard you play before. After dinner you can play me a song, & we'll call it even." Cherry said as he pulled various ingredients from the refrigerator.
"All right then, but I haven't got to play in awhile so don't blame me if it isn't up to your expectations." Noteworthy said nervously. Cherry rolled his eyes & shooed him out of the kitchen so he could cook.
After about forty five minutes of cooking Cherry returned to the living room with a stack of fried corn cakes, it wasn't fancy but they were on a budget & Noteworthy wasn't a picky eater. They didn't yet have a dining room table so they ate in the living room on the sofa while setting their plates on their less than new coffee table. They chatted for awhile, mostly about Cherry's day since he had more interaction. Noteworthy volunteered to clean up the dishes after they had finished he returned to find Cherry examining his sax in his magical aura curiously.
"What are you doing?" Noteworthy asked his confused looking coltfriend. Cherry didn't bother to look up, & kept examining it as he answered.
"I was thinking, how are you supposed to play this with hooves? It seems impossible to me, I can't see how it'd work unless you had magic. The little button-like things look like they were designed for fingers." Cherry said still gazing at the saxophone skeptically. Noteworthy rolled his eyes & took the instrument from Cherry's ethereal hold. He sat on the couch & took it into his forehooves & began to play. Cherry was mystified, he knew next to nothing about music, but he knew he liked this. He listened intently as Noteworthy masterfully played his instrument, he moved his hooves across the button like parts of the saxophone somehow working them as if he did have fingers. After a few minutes he finished his song & took his lips from the mouthpiece. He set it back into it's case & looked over to Cherry who was slack jawed at the masterful performance.
"I have no idea how you did that without magic, but it was amazing! How are you not a professional at this?" Cherry said excitedly. Noteworthy blushed a bit at the praise.
"Well, I don't do as well when I have an audience. When it's just me & you like this it's not a problem." Noteworthy said looking from Cherry down to his newly repaired instrument.
"Why don't we work on that then? I'm sure the girls would be happy to listen to you play." Cherry said looking at Noteworthy hopefully.
"Well, if they're okay with it I guess I could give it a shot." Noteworthy said obviously skeptical of his skills. Cherry figured this was as good as it was going to get for the moment, & decided to let it be for now.
"Alright I'll ask the girls tomorrow, for right now we should probably get some rest." Cherry said before yawning into one of his holed forehooves. Noteworthy had taken a pretty long nap earlier, so he wasn't that tired. He went along however, tonight was the first night they would actually sleep in the same bed. Neither were quite ready before, & it would have been difficult with Noteworthy's injuries anyway. The two had chosen the upstairs bedroom as their own. As of right now it was still largely empty except for the donated bed & blankets. They climbed in & got under the covers & snuggled, the scene was adorable & peaceful & the pair was enjoying the closeness. Cherry up closer, which Noteworthy didn't mind. Or at least didn't mind, until a certain biological reaction spoiled the tenderness of the moment. The awkward silence was almost suffocating, Noteworthy felt as though he had just ruined everything, which he might have.
"Cherry... I-I can go sleep on the couch if this is too awkward right now." Noteworthy said shame evident in his voice & apparent in the air to Cherry.
"Well... actually... It's not like I haven't thought about that sort of thing. Especially after Lyra gave me that trashy romance novel. It's just... I've never... you know?" Cherry said with his wings buzzing in his state of nervousness & excitement. Noteworthy had thought about certain bedroom activities from time to time but generally pushed them from his mind. There were a lot of things to wonder about.
"So... you want to try? Are we... anatomically similar enough for that?" Noteworthy said with a very red face. Cherry didn't meet his eyes but answered all the same.
"Y-yes, I looked that up in the library too. We're essentially the same, so... if you wanted to... I don't have any objections." Cherry said over the buzzing of his nervous wings wearing a slight grin. Noteworthy didn't respond, but leaned in & kissed his love deeply. After that nothing needed to be said, it wasn't perfect but it didn't need to be it was special for both of them. The pair looked at each other with tired smiles before drifting off to sleep. The last thing either of them heard was "I love you." Spoken at the same time by both of them. They slept peacefully until morning, wrapped in each other's warm embrace.