He finds himself grinning wider in response to her smile as he speaks. "Well... there's really only three rooms to show you. I'm not really sure what we would see in the storage room though... well, besides boxes and piles of stuff we really don't have a place for but Dad or Mom used enough to keep around."
"Hey, you never know!" She sticks her tongue out at him. "One of those boxes might have stuff we could use for make believe!" She shrugs, sitting on the counter. "Either way, I want you to choose."
"Well... I'm kind of thirsty so how about the kitchen?" He motions down the hall.
She holds her arms out to him, smiling sweetly. "Carry me?"
He has no defense against that. "Alright." He turns and crouches down just like they did this morning.
Gel eagerly moves forward and hugs him, wrapping her legs around his waist. She nuzzles his cheek, sighing happily. "Much better... I missed this fluffiness of yours..."
"Well good news then, I'm usually even fluffier right after I get clean." He laughs as he heads down the hall.
"Good to know..." She rests her head on his shoulder, closing her eyes. "This may be strange, but... why do you like milk so much?"
"Umm... I dunno. Cause it tastes good?" They enter the kitchen. It's a fair sized room, with plenty of walking space that also doubles as the dining room, as shown by the large four pony table. The floor is tile with a seemingly random pattern of red, black, brown and every color in between, matching well with the wooden cabinets and white counters.
"So just the flavor?" She giggles, shaking her head and nuzzling closer to his shoulder. "I suppose that's fair... you seemed to like that sip of love you had the other day, though..."
"That tasted pretty good, but it made my stomach feel weird. Milk is good for you, it tastes good, it cools spiciness, and pretty much everypony has it." He opens the fridge and grabs the gallon with magic, a dark container catching his eye. "Huh? What's that doing in there?"
She blinks, staring at the thermos of white. "I... I don't know... I thought I hid it under your bed..."
"I guess they found it but didn't realize what it was..." He takes that container out too, closing the fridge and heading over to the counter. He pulls out two plastic glasses, setting the two drinks next to them. "You want me to pour you some love?"
She smiles, gently nipping his neck. "I'd like that... would you like some, too?"
The colt waves a hand as the fur along his spine sticks up from the nip. "Nah, you only have so much, plus I'm really in the mood for milk." He pours half a glass of love and a full glass of milk. "That enough?"
She nods, lifting the glass in her magic and sipping at it. "Honestly, I'm not sure I need this, right now... I'm feeling content, at the moment..."
"Well... maybe it's just something to sip on? I mean I guess we can always pour it back." He, on the other hand, takes the glass of milk and promptly drains half of it.
"So..." She teasingly smirks, bringing her glass up over his. "If I were to put a drop in your milk... would you still drink it?"
"Sure, I don't see why I wouldn't." He shrugs. "I like the taste of both, I was just making sure you had enough."
"Good to know." She promptly tilts her cup, a single drop pouring out and splashing into his cup. She puts her cup back on the counter, looking at him expectantly.
He just smirks at her before taking a generous sip of his drink. "Huh... can't even taste it."
"Good." She nuzzles his cheek, smiling sweetly. "So... where to, next, Rhino?"
"How about... Mom and Dad's room?" His glass floats next to him, ready to accompany them wherever they go.
"Sounds good to me!" She giggles, bringing up her own glass and clinking it against his. "I hope it's as nice as this one."
Down the hall a few doors, Rhino strolls into their next room on the tour. And here we are." The room is about twice the size of the colt's, as is the bed in both width and height with the it in the middle of a wall instead of having one side up against one. Quite a few pieces of furniture are in here, including a bookshelf, armoire, vanity, and large chest of drawers with a mirror. all of the same dark wood.
She looks around, eyes wide in awe, before her nose scrunches up. "Do you... smell that?"
"Smell what?" He looks at her, confused.
"I... I don't know... the air just feels heavier, in here..." She shakes her head, rubbing an eye. "And I just got... really dizzy, all of a sudden... c-can I lay on that bed?"
"Sure, if you want." He walks over, having to back up to the bed so she can get on it, since the top of the bed comes to his chest.
She hoists herself up onto the covers, sighing softly. "Wow, this is comfortable..." She holds her hand out to him, smiling sweetly. "Would you like to come up here with me?"
"Sure!" He doesn't take her hand yet though. Looking up and down the side of the bed, the colt bends his knees and jumps onto it, having to scrabble to get some of his back half on, but still getting there.
She pulls him close, giggling brightly. "This may be soft, but I still prefer you..." She sticks her tongue out at him playfully.
He laughs, nuzzling her. "Yeah... their bed has always been really cushy. You feel better from your dizziness?"
"A little..." She looks at the bookshelf, smiling softly and pulling one of them over. "Maybe a story could help? Pretty please?" She moves to lay on top of him, giving her best doe eyes.
He tries to look away, but he cannot resist the eyes. "Okay okay okay, just stop with the eyes. They're too cute!"
She squeals in excitement, moving to lean against the headboard. She pats the spot next to her in an invitation.
He lays down next to her, holding the arm closest to her up for what he knows is coming.
She hugs him tightly, resting her head on his shoulder. She lays the book on his chest, waiting eagerly for him to pick it up and read to her.
He does so, and the two begin to delve into the book... only to dive out fifteen minutes later as the colt sticks out his tongue and sets it to the side. "Bleh, I don't get that book. It was just some mare talking about how she wanted a guy that another mare already had and insulting her for it."
"That wasn't the best book in any sense of the word..." She sighs, sitting up and stretching luxuriously. "I prefer the story with the mouse..."
"Me too." He agrees wholeheartedly, his horn lighting up and putting the book back where it goes. "Do you want to move on to the last room before mine?"
She nods, smiling softly and scooting to the foot of the bed. "Whenever you're ready, my loyal knight."
"Right!" He slides off first, going over to the side she is on and offering his back once more.
The girl happily jumps on, nuzzling his cheek and hugging him as close as possible. "Sorry for the dud of a book, by the way... I thought for sure 'Secret of a Sorceress' would've been an adventure story..."
"You and me both, I thought there would at least be cool magic." He trudges out of the room, shutting the door with magic behind them as he heads to the end of the hall, opening the door and walking in. The spare bedroom, as it was officially, does actually sport an older bed in the center, not nearly as nice as the other two in the house, but what draws the eyes the most is the secondary use of the room: storage. Boxes are stacked one or two high throughout the room, some looking like they are opened quite frequently while other bear dust of non-usage.
She blinks, staring at the boxes for a moment before pulling a long stick out of one nearby. She turns it curiously in her hands before them, looking to him in confusion. "So... who was interested in hockey?"
He looks to the stick, but just shrugs, as harder as that action is with somepony on your back. "I think my dad at one point... he's more into golf now."
She slips off him and starts nosing through one of the boxes by the door. She shifts a few of the items around, pulling a statuette out at one point, but eventually shakes her head. "All there are in this one is trinkets... nothing really useful..."
"I don't even know half of what's in here. Could be anything really." He starts slowly digging around as well, pulling out a book with a strange symbol on the cover. "Huh? What's this?" Cracking it open, he sees more symbols he doesn't know, and sketches of what appear to be circles that have these runes in them. He blinks at this, looking at it curiously before shaking his head and setting it to the side. "Some kind of magic, but I have no idea what that is."
Gel, curious, walks over to where he is, picking it up and skimming through the few pages with writing on them. "It seems... familiar... I think mom showed me something like this, once..." She shrugs and puts it on the bed, moving around to the far corner, careful to avoid getting dust on her body. She grabs out what appears to be a photo album, flipping it open and laughing almost immediately. "O-oh my gosh! R-Rhino, are these y-your parents?"
"Hmm?" He walks over, seeing that she's looking at a young pegasus and unicorn couple. The mare has a wide smile and frizzy hair while the stallion sports a large thick mustache. The colt laughs. "Yeah, that's them. They looked really different when they were younger, huh?"
"From what little I saw of them? Definitely." She chuckles softly, turning the page and seeing what appears to be an almost-all-white photo. She blinks, staring blankly for a moment before turning to him. "I... I don't know what to make of this one..."
He peeks closely before recognition dawns in his face. "Oh, that's when they got married!"
She tilts her head, scratching her cheek as she thinks silently. She shakes her head, sighing softly. "I... I don't really know what that means..."
"That's, umm..." Again, the colt finds himself trying to explain what is usually common knowledge to someone who doesn't know it. "It's when... two ponies who love each other, go through this ceremony to sort of... announce it. They promise that they'll only ever be with that pony for the rest of their lives. They usually wear a lot of white."
She blinks, considering his a moment before slowly nodding. "I... I think I understand..." She smiles, disappearing in a burst of blue flame to be replaced with the form from the previous night. She looks down at her ivory hands, flexing them experimentally. "Does white fur work?"
"For what?" He asks, unsure of where she is going with this.
"Getting married, silly!" She giggles, playfully sticking her tongue out at him.
"Well..." He looks back at the photo. "I mean, I guess it could... I think they usually wear a white dress but if the fur is white, I don't know how they account for that."
She blinks, thinking on his words and groaning softly. "Oh... I guess it was a little silly to want to marry you without the clothes, huh?" She bows her head, her golden mane falling in front of her face. "Sorry..."
"Wait, what? Marry me?" He scratches his head, unsure of how to react to that.
"Well... we're special someponies, aren't we?" She shyly smiles, shrinking in on herself. "I just... felt it was a natural step... s-sorry..."
"Hey, it's okay. I just thought that was usual something grownups did." He hugs her, nuzzle her comfortingly. "But umm, I think if I did marry you, you'd have to be blue, not white."
"I... what?" She looks up at him, frowning in confusion. "I would? Why?"
He smiles knowingly at her. "Because Angel is the white one, Gel is the blue one."
She quirks an eyebrow at him. "Are... are you sure you want to be with oddball Gel? I mean... I'm not welcomed by most ponies... remember?"
He just keeps smiling. "From what I know, you don't marry most ponies. You marry your special somepony, and your special somepony likes Gel better."
She blushes softly, her eyes flicking to the side before she nods. "O-okay... um, you might want to step back... j-just in case..."
He does so, yet still smiles.
In a quick flash of blue, she turns back to her normal self, shivering as the air hits her now-furless hide. She turns to the scrapbook and turns the page, giggling brightly at the picture before her. "Aw, Rhino! You looked so cute!"
He once again leans over her shoulder, now peering at what is obviously a baby him, tucked into a blanket being held in his mother's arms. The colt smiles warmly at the picture. "Heh, yeah... weird how little we all start out, huh?"
"You were still bigger than I was..." She elbows his side, winking at him before turning the page, staring at the new picture blankly. "Um... where's your diaper?"
Rhino feels a small bit of warmth come to his face at the sight of the typical 'naked baby on their stomach on a rug' picture. "Apparently I somehow got away without it for a moment..."
She rolls her eyes, tenderly nuzzling his cheek. "It's still cute, Rhino..." She closes the book, putting it off to the side and laying back on the bed. She turns this way and that, trying to get comfortable before giving up, covering her face and groaning. "This is so painful... I didn't realize anything could feel like this..." She sits up, rubbing the small of her back.
“Huh?" He walks around her, trying to see what the problem is. A small lump in the mattress appears to be the culprit and after a small poke resulting in a 'twang', it becomes clear. "Oh, right... the reason this bed is back here is because a few of the springs are loose and stick into your back... You okay?"
She gawks at the spring, stunned. "That was what was poking me?" She shakes her head, standing up and turning away from him. "Is anything damaged back there?"
He runs a hand an eye over her back closely. "It looks like... just one scratch here, nothing bad."
"Oh, good..." She sighs softly, the tension leaving her body like air from a balloon. "I was worried it hurt my wings..." She carefully extends them, flicking them once or twice for him. "They're alright, right?"
He nods, gently touching one. "Yep! Still cool, still pretty."
She squeaks, the clear wings extending fully at his touch. "Um... g-glad you like looking at them..."
He laughs. "They're just neat. I bet they'll be even cooler when you can fly with them."
"I guess so..." She smiles softly, flapping them a couple times before turning to him. "Maybe I'll take you on a flight, sometime." She winks, playfully booping his nose and turning to a box of toys.
He cringes slightly behind her back. "Maybe..." Clearing his throat, he continues. "Did you want to look through more boxes in here?"
"I think that sounds good. I mean, look at this!" She turns around, holding a plastic crown. She puts it on her head and giggles, holding a baton she found earlier like a scepter. "Call me Princess Gel!"
"Yes, your Highness!" Rhino does a salute, beaming all the while.
"As your Princess," she leans forward, blushing softly, "I request a kiss from my valiant knight."
The colts blinks at the request, but after a moments nods. "Ok..." He gulps, leaning forward and softly pressing his lips to hers.
She presses against him briefly before pulling away, playing with her tail shyly. "I liked it... though it was a bit timid..." She shrugs and pulls a wooden sword from the box, smiling warmly. "Look what I found, though!"
His eyes go wide. "Woah, cool! That'll be great when we're playing knights! Way to go!"
"Yep!" She gives it to him and starts rooting through another box. "There's no telling what else we can find in here! Maybe we could even find a makeshift shield for you!" She pauses, her tail flicking as she thinks to herself. "Or maybe we could find another photo album of your baby pictures..."
"Eheh..." He chuckles nervously. "Maybe we just look for the shield? I mean we wanted to do more today than just look through boxes, right?"
"Yea." She giggles, tossing a plastic tray onto the bed. "I was hoping I'd be able to get a massage from you..." She pulls out a whisk, mulling it for a moment before shrugging and throwing it onto the mattress as well.
"A massage?" He tilts his head at her. "Well... I don't really know how to do a massage... I guess I can try though."
She smiles as she turns and embraces him, happily kissing him. She breaks it to nuzzle his cheek, blushing softly. "Thank you, Rhino..."
He blushes as well, hugging her back. "Heh... no problem. Just let me know when you want it I guess."
"Sure thing!" She holds points to the bed, where she'd tossed a few items. "So... which of these is most like a shield?"
He picks up the most obvious one, a plastic tub lid. "This might work... if we get some rope or vines or somethign to where we can actually wear it..."
"Maybe..." She nods, tapping her chin thoughtfully. "Don't you have some of that behind your house?"
"I think so, yeah..." He smiles, determined. "Looks like our next pretend session is gonna be a lot more fun."
"Oh, definitely!" She grins, patting the pile of items on the bed. "All of this could be turned into something amazing with a little imagination!"
"Awesome!" He looks at the loot pile with a thoughtful gaze. "But... where do we put it all until we need it?"
She pulls out the complement to his 'shield', smiling proudly. "In this tub, of course! We decide on what we want to do, grab what we need, and then head on out! Great idea, right?"
"Yeah, but where do we put the tub?" He persists. "In my closet or something?"
"Exactly!" She giggles, tapping his nose. "It's like you're reading my mind!"
"Heh, yeah, that would be neat." His horn lights up and envelops everything in his green aura, putting it in the tub before sealing it. "Alright then, shall we return to our castle with the loot?"
"We shall!" She leaps onto his back, laughing playfully. "Lead the way, Sir Rhino!"