Taking Flight

by David Silver

15 - One Divot Per Bed

Bellies filled, the lights blown out, and night rapidly approaching, the two were cozily tucked in for some quality slumber, knowing there would be plenty of work to do the next day.

But neither could sleep easily. They sat there in the quiet darkness, knowing the other was less than a foot away, sharing the same bed. Were they thinking of them? Did they know they were thinking of the other? What was appropriate, or not? It could be argued that even being in that position to start was a breach of propriety, but neither dared moved in the darkness.

"Spike?"

"Yeah?

"Asleep?"

Spike snorted at the question. "If I say yes?"

"I'd call you a liar." She flopped over, facing him. "I can't sleep."

Spike rolled onto his back, looking over at her without turning entirely. "Me neither."

"Spike?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm... really excited... This is a big deal. A really big deal..."

"Sharing a bed?"

"Sharing a bed, alone." She waggled a hand in the gloom. "Just us, together. We're both adults, Spike. We can do whatever we want, and we decided on this... together."

"We sure did." Spike swallowed heavily. "Gabby, I'm not going to... take advantage."

"Spike?"

"Yeah?"

"First, can you stop responding to that the same exact way." She reached out, tapping the end of his snout. "Second, I'm a grown griffon. Respect that. If I didn't want to be here... I wouldn't be. Accept that I made a decision."

"Yeah..." He swallowed thickly. "You did." He propped himself up. "Gabby?"

"I will not say 'yeah'." She sat up, looking over at him. "What's up?"

"Gabby, do you mind?" He reached out. She did not resist as he took her hand, squeezing her fluffy digits between his scaled ones. "Gabby... Thanks, for being here. For accepting me. For... being you."

"Aw." She squeezed in kind, things growing quiet a moment, only to be broken with the sound of an almost silent peck on his cheek. "Spike, let's get some sleep, but I'm not letting go."

So they did finally get some sleep in, hand in hand.

---

The next day, the work came for them. More accurately, they went to the work. Joining the local guild, they lent their hands and wings to the task. A startled cry was followed by a sharp command that seemed to echo as others joined in. Spike leaned over the side, head poking free of the covering cloth that concealed the building. "Everything alright?"

"I'm alright!" assured Gabby, but the fact that she was on a stretcher disagreed with her statement. She was hiding her hand under an arm and her teeth were set, still smiling despite whatever had happened.

Spike landed lightly, descent slowed just enough to make for a proper entry. "What happened?!"

"Just a hand in the wrong place at the wrong time." Gabby rolled her eyes as she was hauled away. "I'll be back on duty in a few minutes. It was more surprising than anything."

"This looks a little more serious than you're giving it credit for. Let me see." He couldn't see the affected hand, hidden as it was. "Should we get a doctor?"

"You should get back to work," she ordered with a little frown. "We're already down one flier, don't make it two."

Spike set a hand on her forehead. "I'm right here. Don't feel bad calling me, alright? Promise me."

"I promise." She stuck out her tongue in defiance of his protectiveness. "I'll be just--oof." She had just been set down, the workers already marching back to work. "See? They got the right idea. Go on, shoo!"

Spike snapped open his wings. "I'll get back to it then, but if you need me, call. Don't hesitate." And soon he was gone, flapping back to where he had been working.

It wasn't even half a shift later that Spike was set down next to her, looking more amused than in pain. "They could use a few safety rules."

"Right?!" Gabby rolled over to face him. "I think they're in a hurry. Everything was fine, then it... wasn't, in a flash."

"That sounds about right. We had a good tempo going." He gestured with one hand, the other not joining the fun. "Board down, nail, inspect, next board down. I didn't finish putting the board down and the nail came."

"Wow, that is exactly what happened to me." Gabby huffed in annoyance. "Those cats need to slow down if they want to get this done." She rose up and peeked at her hand, flexing it softly. "I'm alright now. I'm gonna give them a piece of my mind. If they want this done quickly, they gotta slow down!" She stormed off to do just that.

Spike watched her go from where he was still flopped on his stretcher. He wasn't sure how successful she'd be, but wished her luck regardless. The Abyssians did need to hear the advice.

And so it was that she found one of the forecats in charge of things. "Hey." But he wasn't paying attention to her, instead watching a heavy beam being lowered into position. "Important bit of feedback."

"Wait your turn." He gestured in broad sweeps to the left, then a stop motion. "Because if this comes down wrong, it'll my by hide."

Gabby looked up where the cat was focused to see the beam herself. "Yeah that is kinda big," she allowed, quieting herself until the beam settled down and was swarmed over by scaling cats that began to secure it in place with calls and shouts. "Alright, now are you free?"

The forecat turned towards her. "You're one of the fliers, aren't you?" He directed a finger at the wing that peeked up above her shoulder. "Why are you down here?"

"I was helping, but the workers--" She hiked a thumb at the partially covered building. "--They're in such a rush it isn't safe. I wasn't hurt too bad, but it did knock me out for a few hours, and that's more wasted time than if they just did it right, and safe, the first time."

"You look alright." His shoulders lifted in a limp display of a lack of empathy.

Gabby threw an arm around the cat, directing him towards where Spike was laid out on a stretcher. "You got two fliers and you managed to knock them both out in the same day. We want to help, we totally do. Don't make it more dangerous than building already is."

"Look." The forecat folded his clipboard under an arm. "You are not in our usual operational book. Not to say we mind the help. We're ahead of schedule, and that's great." He fired a thumbs up for emphasis. "But this is the pace we work at. It works for us. You're the new ones, not us."

Gabby could but stare at him a moment, struck to silence by the refusal to slow down. "And you don't ever get in accidents?"

"Me? Hope not. The workers? Sometimes, but not often." He shrugged softly. "They don't get paid much not workin'. My crew knows what they're doing. We have a solid record."

"I see." Gabby wandered away with a frown, tapping at her beak as she returned to Spike's side.

"How'd it go?" He was sitting up, but did not move to rise. "You don't look like they said 'sure'."

"He didn't... But he did say something that got me thinking." She sank down next to him. "And I feel kinda dumb, since I've said this about griffons before. You can't 'fix' people like that. They do things their way. You have to... get on their level. They're not being fast. We're slow."

"Slow? I didn't--"

She put a finger to his lips, earning his quiet. "We're the new ones here. They got a tempo going. It's working for them. If we want to be good guests, we match them, not ask them to match us."

"Huh..." Spike smiled. "Wow, that's some deep thought right there. Good on you."

"I have those once in a while." She stuck out her tongue as she hopped back to her feet. "I'm gonna get back to it. And I'm gonna keep up with the cats!"

Spike watched her stride away with renewed confidence. "Knock 'em dead." He'd seen her look like that before. She was hard to dissuade in that mode. It made him want to get involved. He flexed his hand experimentally, but didn't rise. "If I can't keep up, I'll just get in the way." He kept himself seated rather than trying to force himself to go get hurt again. "Do as the cats do."

So Gabby got to it, hastening herself to match the flow of those around her, even if it felt like she was hustling. The cats were going at that speed without prompting. Nobody was shouting at them to hurry up, except her when she fell behind. It was just the pace that the abyssians liked to do the work at.

Accelerating to match, no more accidents came to harass her that day. The shrill whistle of the end of the day sounded and she landed triumphantly. "Good job!" She shared a few shoulder pats and high fives with cats going past her, getting promises of another day of work the next day. She found Spike, standing. "Feeling better?"

"Yeah, but I didn't get much more work done," he admitted, rubbing behind his head. "Unlike you. They were talking about you."

Gabby lit up. "Good things, I hope!"

"Very good things. You surprised them." He took her hand and they started back towards their hotel. "They thought we were both slow and not very good at this and you just came back like a hurricane. Really impressed them."

"Wow, gosh." Gabby burst into merry giggles. "I was just going with the flow. I wasn't any faster than they were."

"Must have been a big difference." He stole a kiss from her cheek, getting a fresh giggle from her. "I'll match it tomorrow, promise. Let's knock this project out."

"Together!" She thrust up her free hand. "Gonna be great. If we keep going at this pace, shouldn't take long. How many are we helping with, actually?"

"That is a great question." In their room, he grabbed a scroll and got to writing. "And I know how to find out."

Dear Princess Celestia Twilight,

Just kidding! We're on the job and making progress. How many arrival docks do you want us to oversee? Just checking in, not complaining, promise. We're doing good so far, after some adjusting. These cats are fast!

Your Faithful Brother,
Spike

Gabby held out a hand until the quill was surrendered. She added 'And Gabby!' and a big heart next to it. "There."

Spike nodded with all proper gravity. "And to send this off." He puffed flames in a delicate green swirl that engulfed and sent the letter away in a cloud of sparkles. "One advantage to being larger is the return postage is a lot less awkward."

Gabby raised a brow. "Hey, yeah... weren't you attached to the old princess?"

"Was." He wagged a lone finger. "But new head princess, new attachment. My letters come and go from Twilight now. Which I'm alright with. As I wrote, she is my sister. I want to get her letters."

Gabby slid around behind him, easily done with him sitting. She hugged him from behind, hands on his chest as she stood. "Does it bother you, doing that?"

"Why should it?" Spike shrugged softly. "It's a magic I'm good at. If you could do it, I bet you would too."

Gabby was lost in her imagination. "If I had mail breath... Wow, that'd be neat!" It was in that moment that it clicked. "Oh. Yeah, guess I wouldn't be upset either. That's a neat super power. I don't have any of those." She shrugged helplessly. "Just a griffon."

"Just the best griffon." He rose to kiss her. He had meant to get her cheek, but ended up getting her beak instead as she turned at the wrong, or right, moment. It was the first, not the last, kiss of the evening.

Author's Note:

When in Rome, do as the Romans do, they say. There is truth in it. Hopefully Spike's letter was typo free.

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Comments

[Cosmic ember]

holding hands scandalous

[The Sandwich Guardian]

Spike be careful, holding hand might get her pregnant!!!

Good chapter.