> A late morning. > by Phoenix Kitten > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Warmth > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Twilight yawned softly, her wings rustling impatiently as they attempted to stretch after being furled up all night. A slight tickle at her chest convinced her to put up with the slight discomfort a little longer, even as the morning sun tried to penetrate the light blocking curtains that hung over her bedroom window. Her barely open eyes drifted down to the source of the tickling sensation that ran across her fur, and she found herself unable to resist the urge to smile as she looked at Spike's sleeping form. He was curled slightly around one of her forelegs, the other wrapped around his back as she held him close. Slowly she began to stroke his back, careful to avoid touching his wings and prompting him to mumble incoherently and pull himself closer to her. She felt her smile grow even larger as she gave his forehead a soft kiss, his draconic warmth already fighting off the chill of the late autumn weather. Her ears pricked as she heard a soft rumbling of thunder, and the pitter patter of rain start to fall against her window. Her eyes drifted closed again as she relaxed and let her mind wander. It had been... a month or so, since Sludge had tried to take Spike from her, by pretending to be his father, all for what, a chance to live in luxury? It had very nearly torn the two of them apart, but it had also ended up bringing them closer together. The lavender alicorn was brought out of her thoughts, her eyes opening slightly again as Spike rolled over in her hooves, the motion of which emboldened her to slowly lean up and stretch her wings briefly, before she curled them around him with her forelegs, further shielding him from the light as it threatened to disturb his slumber as she lay back down. Her eyes wandered their shared room, her horn lighting up dimly as she disabled the alarm on the clock at their bedside, the gentle clicking of the lock on their door reaching her ears as she prevented Starlight from being able to enter the room. A content sigh escaped her muzzle as she let her ears droop in relaxation, hugging the young drake even closer. Her sigh very quickly became a cosy nicker as Spike hugged her foreleg again, his claws lightly digging into the skin beneath her fur and causing a pleasant tingle to run up her limb. She gently leaned in and kissed the top of his head. After a few more minutes, she allowed her eyes to close once more, and her thoughts began to wander again. Both she and Spike had gone to their friends and asked their opinion about how they should approach their new view on each other. While the advice they had both received was less than stellar, the support had been phenomenal, and in the end, it had been Trixie's suggestion of just.. talking to each other about it that had been the most helpful. Though the talk itself was.. awkward, to put it mildly, and rather heated at moments as they discussed the rougher points of the past few years, but the two of them ultimately came out of it happier in the end. Twilight opened her eyes again as Spike wiggled about slightly to get cosy, gently squeezing her foreleg and sending the pleasant tingle up her leg again, mumbling softly as he slept, another soft nicker escaping her muzzle as she gently pulled him closer to her. She remembered how just last week she had taken a day trip to Canterlot on princess business, and made a stop in to visit her parents to let them know about the shift in the dynamic of her relationship with Spike. She had been expecting a strong reaction, to be sure. What she had not been expecting, was to nearly be choked unconscious by a dual hug from her ecstatic parents. Thankfully, the letter she had received from Shiny and Cadence had been far less... smothering, though no less jubilant in it's wording. Of course, she had told Celestia too, and received a slightly surprised smirk from her often enigmatic mentor, alongside several sentences of encouragement. A soft yawn floated from her muzzle as she struggled to stay awake, momentarily entertaining the notion of going back to sleep, before lighting up her horn dimly once again, pulling out a small photo album full of pictures of her and Spike as they grew up together, the smile that had been adorning her muzzle remaining in place as she looked through image after image, all of them in a new light. She eventually came across the very first picture of the two of them together, a photo of a five year old unicorn filly with a newly hatched whelp riding on her back as she pranced about, with the words "Twilight's first friend" written under it. Her horn briefly glowed brighter as the words written on the page shifted and warped, and she smiled happily that the three words had become four, before closing the album gently and sliding it back into place on her bookshelf. A soft groaning filled her ears as Spike once again squeezed her foreleg, a yawn ensuring this third squeeze was tighter than the previous two, the pleasant tingling running along her limb once again, not fading quite as fast this time as she fought the nicker back down her throat, smiling sweetly at the dragon as he slowly woke up. "Good morning, sleepy head." She whispered, bringing up her other foreleg to stroke his spines gently. "You look like you slept well." she smiled, giving his forehead another quick kiss. "Mmm..." the groggy drake mumbled. "g'morning, mum." He muttered, his own wings flexing out of stiffness before folding against his back once more, as he brought one of his arms up to rub his eyes, one of his fins perking as he heard the rain. "What time is it?" Twilight felt a pleasant warmth roll through her body as he greeted her. The sensation of him calling her mum was something she hoped would never diminish. "Only seven am." She chuckled softly. "Shouldn't we get up then?" Spike yawned, nuzzling the alicorn warmly. "We have things to do today." "Nothing so important that I can't spend another hour or two laying in bed with my son." Twilight nodded gently, noticing the warm smile that spread across the dragon's face as she said that. "I've been so obsessed with being on time, or early everyday of my life... I think I should start taking some time to appreciate the dragon that matters the most to me." She gently rolled Spike over in her forelegs and hugged him close, her smile growing wider as she felt his arms wrapping around her neck to return the gesture. "The perfectly punctual Princess, sleeping in?" He chuckled. "I'm stunned." A teasing tone present in his voice. "But I'm not going to complain, it is nice to spend time with you, just doing nothing." "It's so tempting to just fall back asleep." Twilight yawned, her wings retreating back to their original positions. "But if we do that..." "It'll be the afternoon before we know it." Spike finished, leaning into the embrace of the alicorn. "Mmhmm." She nodded, before a cosy silence descended on the room, the stillness broken only by the pattering of the rain on the window, which only got heavier as time passed, and the sounds of their breathing. After about an hour, the door rattled slightly a few times, Starlight evidently trying to rouse the pair, a confused noise penetrating the door before her hoofsteps echoed down the hall. "I guess we should get up now." Spike chuckled, wiggling cosily in his equine mother's embrace. "Another hour.. I think." Twilight smiled, nuzzling her draconic son's cheek. "Sound good?" "Sounds perfect." He nodded, and before long, the comfortable silence resumed, the rain finally reaching it's heaviest after another twenty minutes, the pattering had transformed into a gentle, soothing thrum. The remaining forty minutes came and went remarkably quickly, before the door rattling once more shook the pair from the dozing the sound of the rain had lulled them into. "We really do have to get up now." Twilight giggled, gently pulling the blankets back with her magic, reluctantly letting go of Spike. "Before Starlight breaks down the door." "Yeah." He smiled as he performed a long stretch and rolled to his feet, shaking himself out as he did. "As cosy as that is, we do have things we need to do today." "Mmhmm." Twilight simply nodded, leaning over and kissing Spike's cheek. "Love you, son." She smiled, her horn glowing gently as she unlocked the door. Spike chuckled, walking over and hugging the mare, kissing her cheek in return. "Love you too, mum." He smiled back before clambering off the bed and running out into the hall, the glow of Twilight's magic opening the door for him. The lavender alicorn stretched herself as she got out of bed, rolling her neck as she trotted to the nearby vanity and took a brush in her magic to begin straightening her mane and looking at her own smiling muzzle, an aimless and cheery tune floating through the room as she hummed. "Today is going to be a good day."