Passio Patefecit Est

by Senorita-De-La-Nieve

Chapter 8

As long as there was fire in her blood, life in her eyes, and breath in her lungs, she would strive to make sure nothing harmed her lover again. She had made this promise before, almost a year ago when they had finally admitted long hidden feelings for each other, but then Noteworthy had come to town, seeking forgiveness that Octavia was reluctant to share, but now openly welcomed.

She faced her, a sigh of content washing over her blushed face, their exertions had warmed the bed and now they lay happily dreaming, one sleeping, chest rising and falling gracefully, the blush still tinting her cheeks, gray mane shrouding her lidded eyes as she slept, a smile on her face; whereas the other lay there, equally content, stark two-toned blue mane slightly covering one of her crimson eyes as she lay awake, gently stroking her lover's face, but thinking, the proverbial gears ticking in her mind.

If Octavia were to apologize to Noteworthy, and he tried to make her sad, or break her again, she wouldn't let him. Hell hath no fury like that of a mare scorned. And she had a good place where nopony would think to look for the body.

She laughed to herself, she wouldn't stoop that low to exact revenge, no no no, but that slap Octavia gave him must have hurt, and she could do worse. Much, much worse.

With that thought in her mind and a smile, halfway between evil and happy, she finally managed to drift, slowly, surely, contentedly into the arms of Morpheus as he whisked her away to the dream world...

---

Noteworthy did not sleep, he did not dream, he did not feel. He was reminded inadvertently by Daisy how he had sequestered his one chance at love only to squander it down the line for somepony else he only wanted because of lust. It was a foolish mistake to make, and one he wouldn't get the chance to make again.

The doctors were letting him go tomorrow, well, today. It was 5 in the morning, he rolled over and saw Daisy's figure framed against the moonlight, he sighed and shook his head. She really did look beautiful.

He shook his head again, violently, forcefully, in a blatant attempt to safeguard his feelings, lock them up tight like he had trained himself to do almost a year ago. She did look beautiful, but that was basic assumption, right? Besides, she wouldn't go for him, foolhardy and arrogant, useless and self-absorbed.

She deserved better, so he squashed his feelings as best he could before they could solidify in his heavy heart. She stirred and rolled over in her sleep, shuddering a little. Noteworthy frowned, she must've been cold.

He got up, silently, and took his own blanket in his teeth, gently, and, with scarcely a rustle, draped it over her form like an elegant gown. She sighed appreciatively, and reflexively took the blanket in her hooves, drawing it up around her neck in an effort to gain warmth. He smiled at her foal-like behavior, she was adorable.

He turned, smile still on his face despite his recent resolution to not let feelings take him, and clambered back into the bare bed. All that was left was the thin sheet that was cast over the blanket as an extra cushion of warmth, but that was enough. The doctors had unhooked him from the heart monitor earlier that day, just before the final glimpse of sunrise.

As he lay there awake, colder than before, his thoughts once again took a hold.

He had seen her eyes earlier that day, the happiness held within with her lot in life was not faked, he knew how to spot fake happiness a mile away, having had a lot of practice, and there was none in her eyes. Genuine warmth radiated from her, almost as much as it did from his mother.

He sighed yet again, it seemed that he was doing a lot of that lately, but a rush of emotion that couldn't be put into words was often put into a smile, either one of happiness and content, or sadness and debilitating sorrow.

This one was the latter. His mother had been there for him since he was a young colt, and now even she hated him for what he had done to Octavia, she hated him until the day she died, which was the whole reason he was here actually.

As he lay there he saw the faint orange glow of sunrise touch the edge of the horizon. He watched as the orange glow intensified and Daisy huddled under the blankets tighter as the sunrise began to invade the room in a crescendo of reds golds and yellows. Daisy's eyelids fluttered slightly and Noteworthy shut his eyes tightly as she stirred and woke up. He had been laying there close to four hours watching her, he realised, and he was just lost in her beauty as she slept, the way her chest rose and fell majestically in the night, and the way the moonlight illuminated her profile, subtely washed away to the golden colour of the sunrise.

She woke and yawned, then looked down, confused; she remembered last night she had been cold, so where did this duvet come from? She cast a glance at the stallion in the bed and noticed he only had the thin blanket over him. She blinked and smiled, realising what he had done. Not knowing that he in fact was awake, she clambered down off the chair and set the blanket back over his prone form and gave him a fleeting kiss on his cheek. She blushed as she pulled away, and were it not for Noteworthy's control he would've felt his face heat up too if he had not repressed the feelings to the extent of near non-existance.

She gave his mane a light stroke before he heard hoofalls moving away from the bed and the door opening and closing. He sat up and put a hoof to his cheek, scarcely believing what had just transpired.

He rubbed the cheek absentmindedly as he lay there, and try as he might he could not stop a smile growing on his lips as the memory ghosted over his cheeks. They finally flushed in a pink tone.

He heard hoofsteps and he quickly dove back into his prone position and shut his eyes, hearing the door open and two ponies conversing as they walked in, but at a whispered level. He had to strain his ears, but he heard what they were saying with almost stark clarity.

"Nurse, are you sure he's going to be alright?" a voice, he assumed was Daisy, asked, and he heard the nurse give a light chuckle.

Noteworthy cracked his eyes open a fraction of an inch to see what the nurse and Daisy were doing.

"Yes, dear, he'll be fine, better than new. He certainly can't get any worse than when he came to us," she said, and Daisy took a sip of the coffee she was holding in one of her hooves.

"About that, I've been meaning to ask him about it, but I tried to get him to tell me about his past yesterday, and, well, he sort of withdrew," she said, and the Nurse nodded, thoughtful.

"Well, that could be a common response to a traumatizing past, or maybe there's just some bad memories there, he'll open up in time," she said with a light smile, and Daisy nodded again.

"I'm just worried about him, he rarely smiles, he rarely talks about himself, always asking about me, when Octavia left he was keen to leave the subject alone for the brief time we talked before he was sleeping, and..."

Daisy was cut off by the Nurse.

"You like him don't you?" she asked, and Daisy stopped dead, hoof frozen, coffee shaking, almost imperceptible to the untrained eye. Noteworthy subconsciously held his breath.

"Well, I, uh, well, that is, uh..." Daisy said, blushing furiously, Noteworthy had to exercise all of his self control to keep from gasping in surprise, though he knew one of his eyebrows involuntarily hitched high on his brow.

The Nurse giggled again and Daisy blushed harder at being so flustered.

"It's okay Daisy, your secret's safe with me," she said with a wink, and turned to give Noteworthy a knowing glance as if she knew he was watching, which caused him to nearly blush. She turned back to Daisy again, this time with a serious demeanour.

"But, a word of caution, Octavia probably had a good reason to slap him, not that he deserved it, but she is usually a 'forgive and forget' type of mare, he did something to her that got her mad, really mad, and whatever it was probably had something to do with him ending up here," she said, and Daisy furrowed her brow.

"What's that supposed to mean?" she asked somewhat defensively, and the Nurse held up a hoof to her friend's chest.

"Nothing, I'm just saying, make sure he doesn't break your heart when you tell him, okay?" she said, and then turned to the door, walking out.

She turned around with another one of her smiles.

"Of course, there is a slight chance he already knows about your feelings," she stated cryptically as she walked out of the door, leaving a confused, blushing Daisy to turn to the 'sleeping' form of Noteworthy.

Comments

[Kapuchu]

Somehow, making Daisy fall in love with Notes, is the worst punishment he can receive.

Being tested in such a way will... Well, it will be a harsh test of his character if they wind up together, and if he really has changed, then his punishment will end up becoming a reward.

At least that's how I see it.

[stardust flare]

1240398 the one thing on this planet harder to truly understand that politics the workings of a mares heart ^^