The Office: An Equestrian Workplace
Cloudy stepped into her new office at the end of the corridor. Well, it wasn't just her office, she shared it with the three other assistants in the department for teleportation magic at Canterlot University, but it was the first office she had ever had, and it was a great feeling. She had her own desk - or, well, she shared it with one of the others - and her own locker to store her personal stuff in.
None of the others were around at the moment so she had the place to herself with plenty of time to settle in before the others would be getting back from setting up at the test range.
The office was kinda small, but very cozy, and everything she had expected from an office at a university. The wall opposite the door was slightly shorter due to the right wall being curved inwards; she guessed it was the outer wall in one of the towers.
The curve in the floor caused a bit of floor to be exposed, showing worn flagstones that she imagined could get rather cold in the winter, but the rest of the floor was completely covered by various rugs, all of which looked well worn in.
Two desks were facing each other in the middle of the room, short ends against an overcrowded bookshelf. In fact, every wall except the curved one was covered in bookshelves, with additional books on a couple of low tables. There were papers everywhere, and a large pile of blankets in a corner.
No... that wasn't a pile of blankets. It took her a while to realise it was actually a misshapen sofa covered in blankets. She grinned, remembering her coltfriend mentioning the notorious piece of furniture.
Her coltfriend, by the way... She imagined he'd be out at the test range now, teleporting things. She wondered how much him being a doctor at the institution would have had to do with her getting space in the office so soon. Normally, she was told, assistants could work for years before getting access to the office. Viator himself had a similar office at the other end of the corridor. Of course, he only shared his with one other pony...
She put her things down at the desk and continued looking around. Viator's office had a large bay window on the outside wall, and so did this one, slightly off center on the curved wall. She walked up to it and looked out at the view, which was rather splendid from this height - or would be if one wing of the university didn't obscure half the view.
The offending wing was a later addition, as was the bay window which wasn't at all in the same heavy style as the wall it was in. Well, it didn't matter, it was still a nice view. She could see large parts of the campus, the surrounding park, and some of Canterlot proper in the distance.
Then she noticed the main feature of the view. She could see the entire stormball field from the window! It was a nearly perfect view along the field without a single obstruction. Stormball season would start in only a couple of months, and she would have one of the best seats in the house!
It couldn't possibly be planning on anyone's part, but it was a very nice coincidence and a definite perk. But for now it was time to get her stuff in her locker.
She turned back to the desk, only to notice a gift-wrapped box standing next to her things. That wasn't there a moment ago. She looked around to spot Viator sitting in the couch, grinning at her.
"Hello, sweetie" she said, walking up to him and giving him a friendly nuzzle. They kissed and he nuzzled her back, rubbing cheeks with her.
"I thought you were at the range?" she asked, smiling at him, and he tossed his head to get the curly mane out of his face. "Finished early, didn't I?" he said cheerfully. "Thought I'd go here and help you move in, give you a tour."
She laughed at the notion of being given a tour of a single, small room, but accepted. "Go ahead, lead the way" she said, chuckling.
He got up and walked over to the window, making a dramatic gesture with his forehoof to indicate the view. "Right here you've got your view of the campus, which was probably a lot better before that wing got added..." He tilted his head a little, watching the building. "Looks about five hundred years more recent than the rest, doesn't it?" He thought about it for a while, then dropped the subject.
"Anyway, you can see the Church of the Three Tribes from here, or at least the roof... and in the mornings the sun comes in at a really annoying angle and you'll want to have the curtains drawn..." - the curtains dramatically pulled themselves shut, painting the entire office in a warm shade of orange - "...like so."
He turned around, nodding at the nearest bookshelf. "Here's the reference shelf. Meteorology is the two middle shelves here." He nodded to indicate the shelves in question. "You'll want to look those over, I don't know what order your predecessor left them in. Requisition whatever's missing from the secretary..."
That's right. She had access to the institution secretary now! She grinned. Fantastic! Her parents should see her now, with an office and a desk and even a secretary! Viator was going on about the next bookshelf over.
"...more recent papers on this and that, I think some of my papers are in here somewhere. Here's your predecessor's research material, you'll want to look through some of this. We didn't really consider the weather much before we got you but there's something about teleporting through clouds here that you ought to read..."
He dug through the sheaves of papers until he found the right bundle and dumped it on the desk next to her things and her present before going on to the final bookshelf.
"This has more reference stuff and some lighter reading, and the box of snacks." He pulled out what she had assumed to be three volumes of a dictionary but that turned out to be a camoflaged box which he opened, withdrawing two muffins which he put next to the present on her desk before putting the box back up in its place. "You're expected to help keep it filled." He turned to her with a mock stern look on his face and she nodded solemnly.
"Now, the desks... we don't actually know how they got here. There are no records of them being put in here. This one's yours." He tapped his hoof on it. "You have one lockable drawer, here's the key..." A small key on a string appeared on the desk next to the rest of her things, and she assumed he must have teleported it from the drawer. "Writing material is here, paper of various kinds is here, candy is here, hygiene products are here, first aid kit is here, and here is a trumpet." He opened and closed the various drawers and cabinets in the desks as he went on.
Noticing her surprised face he paused to explain. "The others will tell you about the trumpet later."
"Now, try not to spill on the carpets..." he said, tapping one of them with a forehoof. "Everyone does and it adds to the ambience, but don't add too much ambience or we'll have to send them off to be cleaned, and that means seeing what's under the carpets..." He made a frightened face at her before grinning again and going over to the couch.
"Now this" he explained "is where I slept the first couple of weeks before I got my first apartment here."
Oh, yes! Cloudy remembered Mercury telling her about how Viator had lived in the office for five weeks, but she had sort of assumed it was his own office. Then again, he wouldn't have had that to begin with... She figured it must have been pretty awkward to live in the same office that he worked in and shared with others, especially given that the only bathroom was one corridor down and rather cramped. And it didn't have a shower, which Mercury had been very careful to point out with a meaningful nod.
"Now, it's a rather old couch, but it's very comfortable" Viator pointed out, falling sideways into it. It really did look extremely comfortable, and Cloudy settled down with him. There wasn't a lot of room with Viator sprawled sideways over it, but she snuggled up partially on top, and it was actually really comfortable.
"It really is quite comfortable" she agreed, nodding. "I could sleep in this." He smiled. "Go ahead." he said, nuzzling her mane softly, grooming it with his muzzle. She relaxed and closed her eyes, resting her head on his foreleg as he kept brushing her mane.
"So how was your day?" he asked. "Got any reading done?" She nodded and he kept grooming her, rubbing his muzzle down along her neck. She cuddled up closer as he reached the nape of her neck and kissed it before moving on.
"Mmm, I got mostly through the first chapter on magical notation" she begun, a little distracted by her coltfriend's attentions. "I recognise most of the symbols and... ooh!" He had reached down between her wings, and she blushed a little as they involuntarily opened. At least the right one did, the left just pressed harder against his body, feathers spreading out and brushing over him.
She shifted a bit to accomodate for her wing, and then she could feel the touch of his telekinesy on her open right wing. She'd stopped feeling uncomfortable with his touch long ago, and in fact had started to like his preening her like that.
It was weird, but she had started being able to tell the difference between different unicorns' telekinetic touch. Not that she had been subjected to it much before she got her coltfriend, it had only been her doctors, and the occasional tailor... well, that and a couple of rude stallions in bars.
The doctors had been scary at first, the disembodied prodding rather eerie until she got tentatively used to it. Now that she'd started to be able to tell the different touches apart she had started to feel the feeling behind it. At least she thought so. Maybe she imagined it? She wasn't sure, and she hadn't really brought it up with anyone yet.
The doctors were both gentle, concerned for her health - one more than the other. The wing specialist had been very careful and efficient in his handling, not like Viator's still somewhat amateurish preening. Amateurish, but gentle. She was never afraid he'd hurt her, she'd seen him handle his models, paintbrushes, crystals and other delicate objects telekinetically, not to mention seeing him folding paper cranes without even looking.
And he was getting a lot better at handling her wings, too...
The doctors were still better with wings than her coltfriend, but he made up for it with curiosity. Plus the doctors were all efficient and professionally aloof. There was nothing aloof about the way her coltfriend handled her wings. No, nothing at all...
She closed her eyes to the soft warm light of the office and enjoyed the preening, letting out a soft sigh. Suddenly there was a soft metal clack from the door, and she realised Viator had probably latched it shut.
She didn't mind that at all.
