There was a thought that had formed, a sensation, a feeling. A thought that had ruined what had been perfection: The bed was warm, too warm.
It was the sort of thought that was, in its own way, both innocent and hateful. Since such a thought almost always meant an undesired change would take place. For some, it meant that the dance of sheets would begin again, as bedding and body were tossed, flipped, covered and exposed until that perfect balance could be struck again. For others, it meant endurance in unconsciousness or resigned surrender. Other factors played in as well. Such as what awaited beyond the bedding. After all, days like today were perfect for laziness, perfect for sleeping in.
However, the fact remained: The bed was too warm. Celestia's sun had begun its climb into the heavens and the half-light of cool morning had begun to burn more brightly as the minutes ticked away, leading into that hellish hour where it was just cool enough to remain in blissful bedding, but just warm enough to disturb its perfect comfort. That alone would have been bad enough, but there was another factor, a final factor beyond the bedding or the day itself, one that had thrown the entire system into chaos. Above all else, this much was also true: There were two bodies beneath the covers, not one.
Faded rainbows lay draped across the pillow, intertwined with sleek black as they crowned bodies of black and gray fur. Beneath the covers, wings and an octet of limbs had become entangled during the night, born of the endless subtle shifting of two bodies as they slept. Cuddling, snuggling, call it what you will, throughout the night the pair had found their positions of relative comfort, gently sleeping the starlit hours away. No nightmare had broken their dreams, no call of nature had forced them to rise. The night had left them alone to settle into their shared embrace as sand settles into seabed.
However, now the bed was too warm and the growing heat had begun to drag at least one of the pair from Luna's realm. The effort was met with inner protest, imperious demands and subconscious threats, but still, wakefulness began to claim Dust Jacket, the unicorn that found himself buried in the grip of his pegasus lover, Dream Catcher. His body moved involuntarily as it prepared to awaken, giving warnings with a twitch of an ear, or a flutter of an eyelid.
Despite his subconscious effort to remain asleep, Dust Jacket was fighting a losing battle. The position complicated things as, while he had found the closeness of their barrels, the fluffiness of the other stallion's fur and even his strong embrace more than suited for cuddling, it now was the source of the increasing warmth. Even Dream Catcher's slow, steady breathing, once a powerful means to lull his partner into dreamland, now only made the air about his head seem stuffy.
Dust had not truly awoken, not yet, he was still caught in between as his body reacted for him. With an involuntary slowness, the unicorn began to nuzzle his lover, gently trying to prod the larger stallion into letting go or shifting his position and, for a moment at least, it seemed to be working. Dream Catcher was slow moving in the daytime at the best of times, nocturnal as he was required to be for his work, but still, he shifted slightly in the bed. This act had offered some small relief to the other stallion, releasing some of the pent up heat and allowing cooler air to flow.
Even so, it was not enough. It was nowhere near enough to release the heat in full that had been trapped by body, wing and blanket. It did provoke another reaction though, as the stallion gave a murmur and one of his hooves began to idly stroke the unicorn's back as if the smaller pony was some massive cat. A faint smile formed on the muzzle of the unicorn and if anypony had been there to listen in, the stallion might well have been purring.
For a time it seemed the gentle petting had soothed the unicorn back into dreamland. It had been much the same sort of gentle motion that had lulled Dust Jacket to sleep in the first place. However, the call of Luna's realm did not hold for longr long as the pony shuddered and shifted, squirming in Dream Catcher's grasp. This was no mere shifting, but the sort of twitching and squirming that brought with it sensations of stiff joints and cramped limbs, sensations that would destroy any hope of staying put.
The elusive realm of sleep was fading. Tragically, once it had fled it would take with it the prospect of more lazy cuddling, more nuzzling and, worst of all, would mean having to get up, a fate one could not wish upon an enemy. An involuntary frown formed on the unicorn's muzzle as envy coiled around Dust Jacket's waking mind, fueling jealousy directed at the pegasus that shared his bed and felt like a furnace. Somehow, Dream Catcher was able to sleep through this ordeal, with only an occasional snore to offer when he shifted in the bed. It simply wasn't fair.
Unwilling to lose the battle, unwilling to give up his place and surrender to the demands of the day, the unicorn was somehow able to turn in the bed. Little by little, through the same micro-movements that had entwined the two, with stretching, kicking and fidgeting, the stallion managed to roll over in the pegasai's grip, exposing his muzzle to the cooler, fresher air that waited invitingly outside the covers. That seemed to be all that was needed to undo the effects of the growing heat. Even as the larger stallion pulled Dust into position as the little spoon, the act held no discomfort.
The waking world could wait a little longer. After all, the bed was warm, nice and warm.
