The day fizzled out from a warm afternoon to a cool evening. Duquesne and Fair Root walked home after a long night of partying. Or rather, Root was accompanying Duke back from the party. Even though he had attended the same party as Duke, he was never the partying type. He wasn’t a drinker, a smoker, or one who would become intimate with the mares. Ironically, it was actually Root who suggested to Duke that he relax and attend a party. Duke had recently broken up with his girlfriend and Root, being a good friend, hoped that a party would cheer him up.
“You sure you had fun?” Duke asked.
“Oh yeah, I did!” Root said, with a small, feinting chuckle.
“All right, whatever you say,” Duke capitulated.
“How about you, did you have fun?”
“Yeah. You know what, I did. Thanks.” He patted his left hoof on Root’s back. Root jumped a tad bit. “Woah, you okay?”
“Oh um, yeah heh, it’s nothing,” he said, trying to regain his composure.
“Jeez, sounds like you needed to drink a bit.”
Root nervously chuckled the suggestion off.
Duke was taking the lead and climbed the stairs up to the efficiency first. Root was just a hoofstep behind. Root never liked leading. He felt safer when Duke was leading. They approached the door and Duke was looking for his keys.
“Ugh, did I forget them again?”
“Oh, here, I’ve got them.”
“Thanks Root. Jeez, stop making me look bad.”
Root blushed a tinge and drew a small grin. Duke levitated the keys out of Root’s hoof and unlocked the door.
“Ah,” Duke took a deep breath, “home sweet home. Hey, I’m gonna hit the shower. That okay with you?”
“Er- uh, yeah, sure.” He started walking to his side of the bed.
Duke started to undress. He took off his button up and his blue t-shirt underneath. Root was sitting at his study desk and when Duke started to undress, Root quickly looked down at his planner and opened it up. He was quietly blushing and hoped that Duke didn’t catch him peeking. Duke saw Root frantically flipping through pages in his planner and shook his head before entering the bathroom.
“Jeez, all that guy ever cares about is his homework. Whatever.”
Once the door closed, Root looked back and saw the closed door, a faded light underneath at the bottom. He made a deep sigh and closed his planner. Uncertainty ran across his mind.
Root walked over to the left side of the bed. The both of them had shared a bed in their little efficiency. Root’s side was on the left and he was thankful that he choose it so that he wouldn’t have to always face the bathroom and see Duke enter and leave. Root sat gently down. He was in heavy contemplation. The shower faucet turned on and Root’s ears pricked up. He looked behind him at the door again. Root’s countenance turned into a frown and he turned his head back, looking down at his legs.
“What if he doesn’t like me? He... he doesn’t see me that way. I’m nothing more than a friend to him. But why? Why can’t I hide my feelings for him?” Root sniffed. He felt like crying but kept it in.
“I can’t... I can’t tell him how I feel. I have to keep these feelings inside. Duke just broke up with his girlfriend and what he needs now is a good friend to help him up, not a...”
His mind trailed off. He sniffed again. He breathed in a deep sigh and could hear his heartbeat.
“I don’t know why I can’t contain my feelings for him... I don’t know why I can’t hold them back. Ever since cal two - since the day I met him - he never shunned me away.” Root’s right hoof was trembling just gently. “But when I heard he had a girlfriend... I didn’t know how to feel. I was happy for him... but I was jealous. I knew it was too good to think that he can like me. And now... after their breakup...”
Root looked to the right of him at his bedstand. It was a picture of him and Duke with Duke’s right hoof around Root’s neck. Duke’s smile represented a strong will which contrasted with Root’s shying grin and a faded blush.
A moment passed and Root fell on his right side, his head on his pillow. He was like a lifeless doll. The strings that had moved him were now slack. As the flurry of emotions ran through him, he remembered one memory during the week that Duke’s girlfriend broke up with him. The both of them were in bed yet Duke was tossing and turning. He shivered as the sheets fell off his body. Root had not yet fallen asleep and felt the shivers through the bed. He looked over, a worried look on his face, and brought the sheets back to Duke’s body. The shivering had stopped.
When the memory was finished, Root closed his eyes hard and then opened them. No tears. Root heard the water shut off and quickly sprung back up. He hurried to fix his posture and expression before Duke came in. He didn’t want to see the mess that he was in.
The door opened and a familiar smell filled the room in a steamy mist.
“Oh hey, I ran out of my shampoo so I used yours. Hope that was all right. I was going to get out of the shower and tell you but I know you get all jittery about that.”
Root tried not to blush. “Yeah uh, heh, it’s fine.”
“I owe you one.” Duke took off his towel while he was looking through his drawer for a t-shirt to wear. Root quickly looked away.
“Whew.”
“Hey,” Duke said as he put on a new t-shirt, “this stuff’s got a fragrance to it. And how do you not get all the mares again?”
“Uh...”
“Well, I like it. Maybe I’ll buy some more at the store next time.”
“Oh it’s only available at The Scents of Trottingham.”
“ ‘The Scents of Trottingham?’ Haven’t heard of that place.”
“Yeah I... it’s not that popular.”
Duke went back inside the bathroom to brush his teeth.
“You know,” Duke said with his toothbrush in his mouth, “I don’t think I ever told you how I was going to pay you back.”
“It’s not really a big deal, heh.”
Duke spat. “I’ll find something later.” He was now gargling.
“N-no, no, it’s quite all right.” Root looked the other way to hide his blush.
Duke spat again. He left exited the bathroom and went over to the left side of the bed. “I guess there’s no point in trying to argue with you, is there?” He sat down. Root felt a tad uncomfortable.
The fragrance was stronger. At this point, Root’s heartbeat rose and he could feel the faint heat radiating from Duke’s body.
“I-I don’t know. I’m just trying to be a good friend,” Root said, looking at his hind legs.
“I kind of wish I were like you.”
Root was shocked, “R-really?”
“Yeah, you don’t get bothered easily. Unlike me, I was a mess after the breakup.”
“But it was only natural that you were to get hurt. Anypony would have gotten hurt.”
“I guess you’re right. You’re usually right.”
Duke was looking down at his hind legs now but Root was looking at Duke’s face.
“I just want to be there for you, to be your friend. Friend. That’s what I am.”
“But you’re more than that. You’re a good friend.”
Root looked forward. His eyes, trailing to the bottom right. “I-”
“No, no ‘I don’t know’s’. You are.”
Root wanted to resist but he took the compliment.
“You really need to start taking compliments more. It’s okay to be selfish once in a while.”
“Duke... but I can’t.”
There was a silence.
“But I mean it. It’s okay to want something and have it. I think you deserve it. I mean, you’ve helped me so much and you were there for me. I think it’s time you deserve a break too.”
Root’s heart was beating faster. The heartbeats were like the sounds of a drum. The sounds were almost painful.
“I...”
“You know, you’re the only friend I really talk to about these things. The other guys... they don’t understand me like you do. They just laughed at me and you were the only one to talk to me. So thank you. You don’t know how much you mean to me.”
“I...”
A moment passed. Duke and Root both turned to each other at the same time. Duke’s grin reassured Root of his belief in him. Yet there was a worried look on Root’s face that Duke had not yet seen. Before Duke could think about this, Root leaned over and kissed Duke.
