The Side Character is a Deer

by Deergenerate

Chapter 30: Bedroom Talk

Johan let out a sigh as he scratched the side of his head. It had been at least an hour of staring down at the dog in front of him, and he was still no closer to finding a name for the poor mutt. He was considering just giving up, but he was still obligated to come up with something, otherwise, the poor dog would be relegated to being named after his species for the rest of his life.

That'd be like calling him Deer, or calling Twilight Alicorn. Johan grimaced for a second, pursing his lips before he heard some rustling outside his and Derek's bedroom door. He turned just in time to see it open and Spike walk inside, humming to himself as he carried a dustpan and brush.

Derek blinked for a second as he watched the dragon quickly get to work in the room, getting down on his hands and knees to brush up some of Aralez's shed fur. Johan instantly cringed.

"Oh... you really don't have to do that." He said as he kicked out of bed and quickly tried to stand up. "He's my dog, I feel bad making you have to clean up after him."

"Eh, it's fine. I'm used to it." Spike chuckled as he stood up. "So long as he's potty trained that is. That is where I draw the line."

"Used to it?" Johan asked, his frown deepening. The deer let out a sudden sigh. "Well, between this, and you sleeping in a basket I'm starting to get really worried about what your position is in this house..."

"What, that I'm a slave or something?" Spike snorted, grinning as he did. "Well, to put you at ease I'm not. To be honest, the basket thing is just because before Twilight and I lived in a library with only a single bedroom back in the day. Not exactly enough room for me to get a bed in there. It was either a basket or the floor, so I chose the basket. Now I got my own room though so it's all good."

Johan nodded for a second, but his grimace didn't exactly go away. "Please don't take this the wrong way or anything Spike, but... Well, what exactly is your relationship with Twilight like?"

"Eh, it's nothing exactly sinister, though I do have a lot of dragons and ponies thinking I was kidnapped as an egg or something. Nah, the truth is that Twilight kinda sorta used magic to hatch me when she was eight, and then she and her family took me in. Everyone in the Sparkle family treats me as her little brother, so I guess that's what I am." Spike shrugged as he spoke, rolling his brush through the air idly. "As for why I'm always doing chores... eh. I just see it as helping around the house and pulling my weight. It gives me something to do, and it's better than just lounging around like a bum. I've met a lot of stallions who don't work and don't help around the house. I don't want to be anything like them, trust me."

"Ok then, that makes me a little less worried about things... wait a second... you said she hatched you when she was eight? Isn't she twenty-eight now? Wait..." Johan did a double take, his jaw-dropping. "You're twenty?!?

Spike pursed his lips slightly. "Yeah, I know. I ain't exactly the tallest dragon around. But yeah, I'm twenty. Legally an adult in both Equestria and the Dragonlands. Whoop-de-doo." He sighed.

Johan cringed, obviously he could tell that he struck a nerve. "Sorry, sorry. I didn't mean it like that. I'm actually rather relieved, all this time I thought the only person in Equestria I've really managed to hit it off with was an actual child. Good to know you're the same age as me." The deer chuckled slightly, rubbing the back of his head as a blush came to his face.

Spike echoed his laugh, shrugging. "Hey, it's cool. Don't worry about me, I'm very hard to make mad." The dragon said, a blush of his own coming to his face. "Besides, I think it's kinda cute that you thought I was younger than I am."

Instantly after the words left his mouth did he realize what he just said. His hands instantly clasped over his mouth. Johan's eyes widened for a moment, blinking twice. Both of their collective blushes grew even larger, prompting Aralez to cock his head to the side and let out a confused whine.

"Urm... I mean..." Spike stammered for a moment, unable to get any words out. Johan was similarly speechless for a moment, but before either of them could say any more, Aralez sniffed the air, turning his head to the door. Just then, it slammed open, Derek panting in the doorframe as he held up a piece of paper next to his head with a levitation spell.

Johan and Spike instantly turned their heads to the alicorn, chuckling, and embarrassedly rubbing their shoulders in mirrored unison.

"Johan. You'll never believe what this is." Derek said, a goofy smile spreading across his mouth. Johan raised an eyebrow, turning his head towards the floating parchment, wrapped in gold as it was. He only had to read the first two words to instantly get a grip on what it was.

Homeowners Deed.

Johan's eyes widened. "How did you..."

"Well, I was walking through town and these two mares came up to me. We talked and I told them about how we were crashing at Twilight's castle. They told me to talk to the mayor about getting a house for us so we have somewhere proper to live. So I did it, and since I saved the town and all the other day, bam, she hit me with this, and now we own a home near the edge of town!" Derek cried in a barely intelligible spew of words. "Come on get all your stuff and I'll gather everyone! I wanna show this place off!"

The alicorn didn't even give the stunned Johan a chance to respond, instantly turning and running out of the room, kicking up dust as he did. The deer, Aralez, and Spike were left alone for a moment before they turned to each other. Johan shrugged. "So uh... think we should humor him?" He said with a slight smirk.

Spike laughed, avoiding eye contact with the deer. "Yeah, sure." The dragon said. Aralez yipped before quickly taking to the air and zooming out of the room as Johan and Spike followed after him.

Through it all, Johan heard the voice of Jelen pipe up in his head. "Seems the inescapable charm of my good looks has claimed yet another male. Get used to this, you're likely to build a harem in the coming months."

'Shut up.' Johan thought back, blushing.

"Heh, deny it all you want. It's still going to happen." Jelen laughed, "Good luck managing it without my help though. Unfortunately, my heart belongs to one and one only."

Johan instantly cringed thinking back to what he had seen last night. "I'm... sorry that happened to him."

Johan could tell Jelen flinched even without seeing him. "Ah... unfortunately, though it is likely cruel to say, as I did love that poor stag, and my father took him from me too soon... He isn't the one."

Author's Note:

Oooo, spicy romance moments. Cute.

Anyway, hope everyone enjoyed the chapter and I hope everyone like's the new cover art! I certainly love how both turned out, though the cover is 100% a highlight.

Comments

[Senpai_Tempest]

So just to clarify Johan is gay right. I wasn’t really sure till now.

[Deergenerate]

11403621
Yes.

Jelen is hyper gay. Though Johan himself is just normal gay.

[Senpai_Tempest]

11403622
Alright cool

[Smugleaf]

Love to see more stories with M/M in them.

[Vaalintine]

Homeowners Deer.

I think it's meant to be "Homeowner's Deed", otherwise the Mayor is a bit of a dick.

[Deergenerate]

11403796
Oopsie. Thanks for pointing that out lol

[PhycoKrusk]

11403622
The Legendary Super Gayan?

[PhycoKrusk]

11405456
... huh.

Seems obvious, in hindsight.

[Deergenerate]

11403718
?????

I think I should delete that before anyone clicks it.