After such a long night of celebrating, sleeping in is a given but, eventually, Sandbar awakens from his sound sleep as the sound of knocking forces its way into his ears. At first, he tries to defend himself against the noisy intruder but, in the end, he acknowledges his defeat. Slowly, he opens his eyes but the moment the first rays of the midday sun reaches them, he shuts them immediately and covers them with his hooves, trying to protect them at all costs. That's when he hears the sound that started this mess. A knock followed by multiple more, increasing in volume and with less and less pause between them.
“I'm up, I'm up! Give me a second”, Sandbar shouts before uncovering his eyes again, who luckily got used to the sudden difference in brightness, and getting out of his bed. He walks up to his door and, after unlocking it, opens them just to find himself standing face to face with his favorite creature in the world.
“G-Gallus?”, the pony asks, obviously surprised to see him.
He knows that Gallus isn't a morning person so to see him so early and not grumpy is very strange.
“Hey... Sorry for waking you so rudely but it's better when I do it than Silverstream. She was just in my room and asked if I wanted to meet with the others for a late lunch.”
“Lunch? Don't you mean breakfast?”
Hearing that word confuses Sandbar even more, especially when combined with the word right before.
“Breakfast?”, Gallus asks before he realizes the misunderstanding and begins to chuckle a bit.
“What's so funny?”
“Sorry but it's a tad too late for breakfast, Sandy.”
This little comment makes the pony even more unsure but he also feels stupid for asking but, in the end, his curiosity gets the better of him.
“What... What time is it?”
“About 3 pm? Maybe a bit later, not really sure so let's just say about 3 pm.”
“3 pm?! How could I sleep so long? That's insane.”
“Welcome to my world. But, just so you know, Silver slept just as long. Not really surprising if you think about it. We've been out very late last night after all.”
“Oh yeah, the Dance... I remember.”
Their eyes meet for a second before Sandbar averts them, his cheek showing a pink coloring as he remembers the experiences he shared with him last night but then he notices a different thing he mentioned twice now.
“Wait, Silverstream was in your room? Why?”
“Oh, that's a bit of a story so”, Gallus begins to explain before looking to his left and his right, checking the hallway for any other ponies.
A few stallions are walking either from the bathroom to their rooms or are leaving the floor entirely by walking up the stairs.
“Can I... come in? I feel a bit stupid standing here, to be honest.”
“Oh sure! Yeah, come in!”
This little request captured the pony off-guard and, with an even redder face, he steps aside and gives his boyfriend permission to enter. Another chuckle escapes the griffon's beak as he passes the pony and sits down on the bed, which is still warm from before.
“Like I already said, Silverstream came to my room a few minutes ago and woke me up.”
“By banging against the door like a complete maniac like you did?”, Sandbar jokes but Gallus, who knows the pony very well, already expected a remark like that so he prepared a comeback.
“Oh no, I was going easy on you. She acted like two maniacs and a complete nutcase. She was knocking on my door, shouted my name and, according to her own words, even flew outside and tapped against my window multiple times. I didn't see it because I was sleeping but there are claw prints on my window so I don't doubt that for a second.”
Yep, that sounds like Silver, Sandbar thinks to himself, holding back a laughter upon hearing this narration.
“And she wanted to invite you to this late lunch”, Sandbar takes a guess but the griffon just shakes his head.
“You would think that but it's way more complicated. The thing is, I was the first one she asked to join her.”
“Wait... what? She didn't ask Smolder, Yona or Ocellus first? Why? They are living in the same building as her.”
“That's exactly what I said!”, Gallus comments the pony's interjection, throwing his arms into the air before dropping himself on his back, resting his head on a wadded blanket, “She just said something about the alphabet and I stopped listening until she mentioned you and that she would go to your room next. So, to save you from the same experience, I offered to take care of you so she can ask the girls.”
Hearing that makes Sandbar's heart skip a beat, realizing that Gallus tried to protect him from Silverstream's little wake-up-call.
Aw Gallus...
“So we're having lunch soon.”, Sandbar mumbles as he stretches his limbs to wake them up for good, “I could really use something eat now that I think about it so I should better get ready. But first...”
Sandbar steps in front of the lying griffon and taps his knee, causing the griffon to give him his attention and raising his upper-body again until he returns to his former position. The moment he can reach his boyfriend's face, he plants a peck on one of his cheeks before finishing his sentence.
“Good morning Gallus.”
A wink accompanies this greeting, which sends a light chill down the feather-covered male's spine as he gently touches the now completely bright red cheek, almost as if he can't believe what just happened.
“I'll be right back, just need a quick shower”, Sandbar explains as he gathers a few things like his toothbrush, a bottle of shampoo, and a white towel, “Just wait here so we can head right out when I'm back.”
“S-Sure thing! I'll be right here, don't worry”, Gallus calls back with a slightly shaking voice and a weak, almost nervous-sounding laughter before dropping back on his back the moment the pony closes the door behind himself.
Yeah... I could really get used to this..., the blue-yellow male gushes over the recent kiss, hugging the pillow not far from him and squeezing it tightly, his entire head slowly taking on the same hue his cheeks have shown ever since.
The hallway is completely empty so it surprises Sandbar a bit when he sees a couple of ponies in the bathroom, three in total but all of them are minding their own business. A dark-gray pony Sandbar knows from his Honesty class is washing his white mane while a pale yellow unicorn right next to him helps him by holding the supplies he currently doesn't need, like a towel or a comb. The last pony, a red pegasus, is brushing his teeth while checking himself out in the mirror. Upon noticing the new visitor, the unicorn greets Sandbar with a friendly smile and, almost as if that move triggered the remaining ones, the other two wave in his direction. He waves back before heading for the shower room in which eight separate shower stalls are lined up in two rows, four on each side and each of them has a different curtain attached to it to give its user the most privacy possible. Currently, none of these are in use so Sandbar chooses the one in the furthest left corner, the stall with the blue curtain, and hangs the towel right next to it on a hook before placing his shampoo bottle and the utensils he needs for brushing his teeth in two of the three holders meant for shampoo, conditioner, spray or anything else a pony could need to make the most of the situation. Slowly, he turns the two knobs meant for temperature regulation until he reaches his favorite setting. The first time he used one of these showers, he spends almost ten minutes trying to find the right temperature and upon finding it, he immediately memories the amount of turning he had to do on each knob so it only takes a few seconds to reconstruct it. After that, he pulls a lever to activate the pump and get the water running. Usually, he spends fifteen to twenty minutes in the shower, relaxing and thinking about all sorts of things but not this time. He knows that Gallus and the rest of his friends are waiting for him, so he wastes no time and after six minutes he turns off the water and takes his towel into the stall to dry his coat, tail and especially his mane, which is now covering one of his eyes completely. After completely drying off his coat, Sandbar gathers his stuff and leaves the stall to head for one of the unoccupied sinks. The bathroom is completely empty now which gives him all the privacy he desires though he doesn't have much time to enjoy it. He squeezes some of the toothpaste onto his toothbrush before putting it into his mouth, cleaning his teeth for two minutes before spitting the rest out. After that, he takes a sip of tap-water to neutralize the lingering minty aftertaste.
And now my br- Hey, where is my brush? I had it with me... right?
The earthpony recalls all of his actions from the moment he gathered his stuff to now.
No, I forgot it in my room. No biggie, I'll just do it there.
With a new intermediate object in mind, he cleans his toothbrush before packing everything together and leaving the room.
This time a mare is in the hallways, standing in front of one of the doors, and, upon noticing Sandbar, she waves at him. With a smile, the stallion waves back before grabbing the handle of his own room's door. With a push, he opens the door, which startles Gallus, who is still laying on his bed, so much that he jumps to his feet while throwing the pillow back on its original place, his eyes wide open as he stares at the pony, whose movement completely ceases.
“Sorry, didn't mean to scare you like that”, the pony excuses while trying his best to hold back a chuckle.
“Scared? Me? You didn't scare me”, Gallus, who relaxes a bit, explains as he sits down on the bed again, “You just surprised me because I didn't expect you to be back so early. Usually, you need twenty minutes or more to shower.”
“Usually, I have enough time to spare to do that but I didn't want to keep you and rest waiting.”
He smiles at his griffon-friend before opening one of the drawers of his desk to retrieve the brown brush hidden inside.
“So”, Gallus asks his friend as he observes his actions from the bed he is sitting on, “Does that mean you're ready to go?”
The pony shakes his head before showing Gallus the object in his hoof.
“Almost. Just gotta take care of my tail and mane or else it will get tangled and I hate that.”
With that, he sits down and starts with his tail, brushing it multiple times and straightening it all the way before curling it a bit to return it to its usual style. Gallus, who seems to be a bit hypnotizes by the way the hair moves, stares at his boyfriend, not daring to look away even for a second.
“Alright, that's that”, Sandbar mumbles as he moves the hairbrush away from his rump and begins to brush his hair but a barely audible mumble catches his attention.
“Hm? Did you say something?”, the pony asks his classmate, whose entire face turned bright red the moment Sandbar reacted.
“M-M-Me? N-No, nothing! I mean yeah, I did say something but nothing important so don't mind me. You just keep brushing your nice mane and I will just sit here and watch you do it.”
That... was strange..., Sandbar thinks to himself as he looks at his friend before shooting a glimpse at his brush, if I didn't know any better, I'd think that... hmmm...
“Okay, if you say so.”
With that, the pony returns to his activity but only a few seconds later grunts of annoyance can be heard, sounds that immediately catch Gallus' attention.
“Hey Sandy, is everything okay?”
“Oh, erm, yeah. It's just... Usually, I'm doing this in the bathroom with a mirror to look at but now, without being able to see what I'm doing, it just won't work. The tail was easy because I saw it but this”, he points at his mane, “is really annoying me. Could you help me?”
This sudden request catches the griffon completely off-guard and, as if an electric shock runs through his body, he jumps off the bed before asking his partner what he means by it.
“H-Help? How? Do you want me to get a mirror or something? I think the pony who lives across from my room has one. I could ask if I could bor-”
“No no no, I don't need a mirror. I was thinking that... maybe you could brush it. If you don't want to then that's fine too, no pressure! It was just an idea and I thought that, maybe, you would like to give it a shot but, I mean, you obviously don't ne-”
“Sure!”
The sudden enthusiasm in Gallus' voice surprises Sandbar a bit and it seems like even he himself didn't expect such a reaction from himself.
How embarrassing! I really want to but that was so unlike me. Play it cool, play it cool...
“erm...”, the griffon tries to put his plan into action by clearing his throat and acting as if this never happened while walking over until standing right behind him, “I mean... I would give it a try, I guess.”
With a smirk, the earthpony hands him the hairbrush and closes his eyes, waiting for the treatment to start. The griffon sits down and, as careful as possible, begins to brush the first strands of hair. In the meantime, he uses his free hand to twirl them a bit and straighten them out before putting them in the right place to recreate the pony's usual style.
“I feel like I'm at the barber”, Sandbar jokes, and Gallus is ready to play along.
“What kind of style may it be today, Sir? Something crazy? Fancy? Maybe we should shave it all off.”
“Don't you dare”, the pony answers with a fake glare.
The two giggle for a bit before continuing their little act.
“Make it cool... but classy. Not too nice and well-behaved looking but not too naughty either. A handsome look without making it too vainly. You know what I mean?”
“Oh yes”, the griffon, who comes a bit closer to the stallion's ear, whispers, “I've got the perfect style for that.”
That sudden change in his voice sends a chill down his spine and heat into his head, turning his cheeks bright red.
Minutes go by in which Gallus is completely busy with brushing, pulling, placing, and correcting countless strands of hair. In the end, he places his free claw directly on the pony's head and ruffles the entire mane one more time, causing its owner to laugh.
“Haha, what was that all about?”
“The final touch of course. Now, let us talk about my payment.”
“Huh? What payment?”
“As a trained barber, I obviously deserve something for such a good job, don't you think?”
Sandbar notices a little smirk on the griffon's face and, as if a light bulb suddenly turned on inside of his head, he understands his boyfriend's hint.
Oh, so we are still doing this. Okay, I'm fine with that.
“Of course”, he resumes his role, “What do you have in mind? Bits?”
“Hmm tempting but I was thinking about some good food with you.”
The pony, amused by the act they are putting on, giggles a bit before giving his partner a very satisfying answer.
“Yeah, I think that can be arranged. We could go to town and get something or the caf... Sweet Celestia! The cafeteria!”
“Oh... erm... sure, I guess”, Gallus, who did not expect that reaction, tries to hide his slight disappointment, “Not that creative but it has food so I'm down for it.”
“No! We are going to be late! The others are probably already waiting for us!”
The smile on the griffon's face disappears as he looks Sandbar in the eyes, shock written all over his face.
“Shoot! You're right. We should get going!”
The two jump to their feet and Gallus runs towards the door but, after shooting a quick look over his shoulder and noticing Sandbar looking for something, he stops and asks him what's wrong.
“Is something missing?”
“I need to find my Bits first or I can't buy anyt-”
“Forget that, I'll take care of that, okay? Just come.”
The griffon already opened the door and is now holding it open so his partner can leave the room. Sandbar can't really tell if it's the way Gallus said it or just the gestures itself but, somehow, he can't stop himself from blushing as he gives up his search and trots past him. He waits for Gallus to close the door and then locks it so no one can enter. After that, the two begin their walk but, while passing by the bathroom, the pony excuses himself and rushes inside. A few seconds later he leaves it again with a satisfied smile on his.
“You really nailed my style, Gallus”, he compliments the griffon, who begins to scratch the back of his head upon hearing that.
“T-Thanks. I told you I knew exactly what I was doing. Ready now?”
“Totally. Let's go.”
With that, they continue their short trip to the cafeteria, meeting a few classmates on their way and even Secretary Spike, who is currently doing a little tour around the school to plan some changes that would happen during the winter break.
Upon entering the garden-area their group uses as their favorite meeting point, the two immediately notice Silverstream charging at them with her arms open as wide as possible and, before either of them can react, the hippogriff already captures the two in a big hug.
“There you are! I was getting worried, you know. I really thought you wouldn't show up.”
“Yeah, sorry about that. We-”, Sandbar tries to explain but his female friend, who released the two from her hug and moves behind them, covers his mouth with her claw, shutting him up mid-sentence.
“No time! The others are already waiting. Come on!”
With a surprising amount of strength, Silverstream manages to push the two towards the entrance or a moment until the two, who were never planning on fighting it, just begin to walk on their own. The cafeteria is not completely empty but one can clearly feel that school is no longer in session and that those few students are just here to eat before minding their own businesses again. Smolder, Yona and Ocellus are sitting at a table closets to the serving counter. Upon spotting the two males, the three creatures wave at them and signal them to come over and join them. Yona and Ocellus both have a tray in front of them, filled with delicious treats and there are four cups on the table as well, one for each of them.
“Look who showed up”, the energetic hippogriff cheers before taking her spot next to Yona and taking a quick sip from her beverage.
“Glad you made it”, Ocellus greets the two, who greet her back with a smile on their faces.
“A bit late but better than not at all”, Smolder comments on her friends' tardiness, causing the males to blush a bit before Sandbar tries to explain themselves.
“Sorry, I... erm... You see, I-”
“I just couldn't get him to wake up”, Gallus jumps in after noticing how his partner struggles with finding a believable story, “He slept like a baby griffon after three days of non-stop flying. I knocked on his door, kicked it, shouted over and over again. I'm pretty sure I waked every other pony but him.”
“Yeah... Same here. Silverstream was so loud that, even after she left, I had to apologize to every other pony on my floor”, the dragon admits in a mildly annoyed tone, giving her feathered friend an angry glare which she completely misses.
“Same here”, Yona agrees with her before yawning excessively.
An uncomfortable moment of silence sets in until Gallus tells Sandbar to sit down while he gets something to eat. That catches every single one at the table, except for the two males, completely off guard. The four watch Gallus as he puts food on the two trays before switching to Sandbar, who answers their shocked looks with a confused one.
“He's getting you food? And is he paying for it too?”, Silverstream asks the pony across from her, who, after a short pause, nods with a weak smile.
“WHAT?! How did you do that?”
“Did what?”
The griffon, who just returned from his little mission and overheard the hippogriff's reaction (which was not very hard), asks his friend what the meaning of it was before placing one of his tray in front of Sandbar, who he sits down next to. Right after that, he begins to eat from his own tray. He chose two of his beloved griffon scones and an apple alongside a cup of water. Sandbar's tray is filled with a salad, a tomato and cucumber sandwich and a chocolate-frosted cupcake. The pony gives the male next to him a big smile of gratitude before taking a big bite from the delicious sandwich, but he immediately chokes on it the moment he hears Smolder's answer to Gallus question.
“How he managed to tame you so well”, the dragon asks teasingly with a snicker.
Excuse me? What did she say? Taming me? That's complete nonsense!
“W-What?! No one can tame me! Griffon's are wild and independent by nature!”, the blue-yellow feathered male fights back, his cheeks taking on a very faint hue of red.
This reaction causes Silverstream to laugh as well while Ocellus is busy helping her coughing friend by gently tapping the pony's back so he can calm down again. She succeeds and, immediately after his last cough, Sandbar takes a sip from the nearest cup he can see. Refreshing water begins to run down his throat, eliminating the last few bits of food that irritate him, while his Changeling friend uses one of her napkins to dry the pony's tears.
“You okay?”, she whispers and, much to her relief, Sandbar nods and, after swallowing the last bit of water, thanks her properly for her help.
In the meantime, the dragon's teasing continues, which slowly enrages the griffon more and more.
“Since when do independent griffons buy stuff for other creatures? Isn't money the most important thing for you?”
“If you haven't noticed it yet, I am NOT like other griffons! Other griffons wouldn't even talk to you without asking for some Bits first.”
“ENOUGH! Friends should NOT be mean to each other! Yona wants to enjoy her last day with friends!”
The yak's sudden outburst shuts the two friends up but also the rest of the cafeteria, who are now all looking at her for a moment before minding their own business again and the sound of students talking returns.
“Yeah... You're right. We really shouldn't fight now. I want to look forward to seeing you again and not be mad at anyone here”, Silverstream agrees before apologizing to the griffon-boy, “Sorry for that, Gallus. I didn't mean to make you angry.”
“Huh? Oh, don't worry about that but”, Gallus accepts his friend's apology, “what do you guys mean with that?”
“With that?”, Yona asks him.
“That whole 'last day with friends' and 'looking forward to' stuff. Are you going anywhere?”
The remaining five friends look at each other before Ocellus explains to him what her friends meant with those comments.
“All the tests are over, remember? School's out for winter vacation so we are all going home to celebrate with our families. Aren't you going back to Griffonstone as well?”
It seems like this explanation catches the griffon off-guard but he immediately recovers from it, running one of his claws through the feathers on his head as he explains his reaction.
“Oh, yeah, totally! Of course I'll go back. Can't wait to be home and celebrate with... all the other griffons. I guess I completely forgot about it because of the exams and everything. So when, uh, when are you guys leaving?”
“Tomorrow in the afternoon”, Ocellus explains and Smolder continues.
“All of our trains leave at around the same time so we decided to meet up at the train station.”
“You guys should come too! That way we can say goodbye one more time and I think there's a train that leaves for the Griffonstone Station too! Isn't that great?”, Silverstream interrupts the dragon with her idea and, after exchanging glances, Sandbar nods with a smile. Gallus follows suit but he's a bit more hesitant The group switches to a different topic and talk about the exams and the dance for a bit until the two girls finish their food.
“Yona gonna miss food here. It tastes so good!”
The rest of the girls agree and Ocellus and Yona get up to return their trays.
“We're gonna head back to our rooms. We still got a lot to pack and we'd rather get it done sooner than later. Is that okay?”, Smolder asks the guys who nod and wish them good luck.
The four ladies say goodbye for now and Silverstream reminds them of their upcoming meeting tomorrow.
“Don't forget! Late afternoon, 4pm to be precise, at the Ponyville train station. See you there!”
“We'll be there!”, Sandbar promises and waves the girls goodbye while Gallus is looking at his food, noticeably distracted by something.
The stallion notices the griffon's behavior and tries to get his attention by saying his name but without any success. He begins to poke his shoulder repeatedly and, eventually, wakes the griffon up from his trance.
“H-Huh? What?”
“Everything okay? You didn't say anything to Silverstream.”
“Oh”, Gallus looks around and finds that a majority of his group is now missing, “I guess I was busy thinking about what the others said about leaving for the holidays and everything.”
“Yeah, I also completely forgot about that but I guess we had other things on our minds”, the stallion agrees and bumps his shoulder into the griffon's, who blushes slightly when he realizes what his boyfriend meant with that, “but I'm glad that they get to enjoy the holidays with their family. After all, I'll be doing the same.”
This little information peaks Gallus' interest and, with a questioning look, he asks what his plans are for the holidays.
“My dad is coming tomorrow and helps me pick up a few things before we leave together and go home to celebrate our Heart's Warming Eve. And you? I mean, you obviously take the train tomorrow but what will you be doing when you're home?”
This question catches the griffon by surprise and, after a bit of stuttering, mumbling and looking around the room for a bit, the other male answers while scratching the back of his head.
“Oh, you know, nothing big. Griffons aren't really good at festivities and stuff like that so it's not really important but, say, do you need help packing? I don't need much time so I can help you for a bit.”
“R-Really? That would be awesome! Thanks.”
Gallus smiles, happy that he could be helpful, and the two continue their meal and, after finishing it, Sandbar returns the trays and the two make their way back to Sandbar's room.
“So” the griffon asks, “How should we start? Do you got boxes or plastic-bags or something like that?
“I got some cardboard boxes stashed in my closet from when I came here. I'm sure we can use those. I'll look for them, will only take a second or so.”
Sandbar opens his closet and moves a few things around until he finally finds a small stack of folded up boxes, which he picks up with his mouth.
“Found them! Gallus, could you help me and unfold these?”, Sandbar asks but thanks to the objects between his teeth, the words are a bit harder to understand so he tries it again.
Hey Gallus! Could you he-”
“Sandy?”, the griffon answers after snooping around in the drawers of the pony's desk, “Did your little sister lose her toy or something? Because I found something that could totally be hers. Look!”
He shows his friend a little, red plushy in the shape of a fish with black eyes and a wide smile. Upon seeing the object of interest, the pony's face turns completely red and his jaw drops open, causing the pieces of cardboard to fall out of his mouth. Before Gallus can even react to that, Sandbar snatches the fish out of the griffon's claw and hides it behind his back.
“That's nothing! Just, erm, a toy, yeah! Guess little Coral must have dropped into my boxes and I put it there to not lose it. She will be so glad to see it back. Now, how about you put those claws to good use and unfold those boxes over there?”
“You mean the ones you dropped? The ones that are already unfolded and ready to go?”
Sandbar sees in which direction his boyfriend is pointing and nods but, upon hearing the last part, he immediately turns around to see this little wonder in person.
“W-Wait! They are? How did that happen, I literally just dro... Huh? They are still as flat as a flounder!
That's exactly the moment the griffon has been waiting for and he puts his new plan into action. Suddenly, something stronger than him pulls on the little toy and steals it right out of his hoof.
“G-Gallus! Give Pip back!”
P...Pip? Is that this thing's name? Pip... Interesting, the griffon wonders as he takes a closer look at the little plush.
“It's kinda cute actually. Looks like something you can buy at the beach as a souvenir or something but, at the same time, like something you can't buy at all. Huh... wait, what's that?”
Upon closer examination, he finds something interesting on the back of it. A few words are stitched into it with a darker hue of red thread. It is a bit difficult to read but, eventually, he manages to decipher it.
“For Sandbar, may he never really leave you... What does that mea- ... Sandy?”
After reading the message, he shoots a quick glimpse at the pony, whose face shows sadness but also something more intense hidden behind that expression.
“Ah! S-Sorry! I didn't mean to, I mean... H-Here, take it”, the griffon, filled with panic, reaches out his shaking claw and offers the pony the fish, “I shouldn't have tricked you! That was not cool at all! I have no idea what got into me, I just really wanted to know what it was but I really shouldn't have done that. I'll just... go over there and get to work, okay? And after that I'll sit there quietly and wait for you to tell me wha-”
“My grandfather”, Sandbar suddenly begins to explain as he takes the fish and looks at it, “made this for me many years ago when I was a foal. I started school that year. I was scared and, at first, didn't want to go but my parents and grandparents told me how exciting and fun it would be so I gave in... They were wrong. I made no friends at all and spend most of the time alone. My parents were worried about me and, to help me a bit, they got me a fish to keep me company. I loved that fish. He was so easy to talk to, unlike other colts and filly at my age. You may don't believe it but I wasn't as chill and outgoing as I am today. I was actually pretty shy and insecure when I was a colt. I was very young but I still remember how, one day, he wasn't moving around anymore and just floated in his bowl. I tried talking to it but nothing happened. I sat there and waited for it to swim around again but it didn't move a fin all day. My mom tried to explain to me what happened but I was too sad to understand it. To others, it was just a fish but to me, he was my only friend. I cried a lot and spend most of the day in my room and even missed school because I wouldn't come out. One day, I got a package and there it was. It looked just like him, almost as if he came back for me. I kept it around as a lucky charm and it really helped me become more confident because I knew Pip would be there for me no matter what. These days, I don't really need it anymore but sometimes, when I feel bad or miss my grandfather, I look at it and remember the times I spend with him. Without him, I wouldn't be the pony I am today. He taught me so much and showed so many wonderful things... I'm very happy to have this... to remember him by.”
While telling the story, a few tears roll down Sandbar's cheek and, upon finishing it, he closes his eyes and hugs the toys tightly.
Wow... That's... so sad. I never saw him this serious or... pessimistic before. I just want to... SCREW IT!
A familiar feeling suddenly surrounds him and causes the pony's eyes to open slightly. He sees a bit of pale-yellow fur near his face and the feeling of a claw gently combing his mane calms him down until he closes his eyes again and gently buries his face in the fur-pillow offered to him. Gallus debates for himself if he should say something or not but ultimately decides to stay silent and give his boyfriend emotional support by holding him like that for a long as he likes. It takes a few minutes, but eventually, Sandbar removes his head from the griffon's chest, wiping one last tear away with his hoof, and hands him the little plush-fish, which Gallus carefully places back in the desk's drawer.
“Do you want to take a break?”, the griffon asks but Sandbar declines that offer with a gentle smile.
“It's okay... I'm fine now. It actually really helps to talk about it so thanks for listening. Let's get this over with. Could you take care of the boxes?”
Gallus puts one of his claw against his forehead, like a soldier who salutes, and immediately starts to unfold the first of many small boxes. After a short moment, Sandbar joins his boyfriend by sitting right next to him and begins to pack a few smaller things into the finished boxes like books, comics and the scrolls he wrote. After a bit of time, he taps the griffon's shoulder, causing him to turn his face in his direction. At that exact moment, the pony leans into Gallus' direction and plants a kiss on his beak before continuing his original activity while color begins to flush into his cheeks, turning them more and more red. The same happens to Gallus, who just stares at the stallion with wide eyes. After a few seconds, a wide smile appears on the griffon's face and he begins to unfold the next cardboard box while leaning his body a bit to the side until his shoulder touches the pony's who answers this movement by pressing against it with equal strength. A smile decorates his face as well and they continue their work until all the boxes are prepared. After that, Gallus takes on the job of fetching the items Sandbar asks him for and together they manage to pack all the necessary items in less than an hour of time.
With a clearly audible sigh, Gallus flops himself onto the pony's bed while Sandbar secures the last few boxes with some duct-tape. He closes his eyes for a moment and doesn't even notice that he begins to drift off into a slumber but the pony's voice brings him back to reality.
“Almost done here and we still got some time. I know you said that you didn't any help with packing since you barely pack anything but I'd be happy to help you. We have one or two more boxes here that you can take if you want.”
For a moment, Gallus doesn't answer his partner, hoping for him to drop that topic quickly but Sandbar asks once more which makes it obvious that he expects an answer.
“Nah, all good. I told you it's barely any work for me but thanks for the offer. I'll get to it later or maybe tomorrow. Right now I just want to relax a bit and enjoy the day.”
Sandbar giggles as he hears that and, after taping the last box shut, sits next to his boyfriend on the bed, looking at him with a gentle smile decorating his face.
“That sounds nice. If you want you can stay here and relax a bit. I need to talk to Headmare Twilight but I'll be back soon. See you later.”
Gently, Sandbar places his lips on the griffon's cheek before heading out. The griffon-male hears how the door of the room opens and closes itself, leaving him alone in the room with something on his mind that he wishes he could just blank out. With a pained expression, Gallus begins to turn and wiggle on top of the soft blanket and begins to wrap himself in it. The feeling of warmth and safety calms his nerves and be dozes off into a deep slumber that prevents him from hearing the door of the room open again and the sound of steps that come closer and closer to the bed.
