Necessary Recovery.

Thunderclap shook his head. "I'm not falling asleep. I slept enough yesterday. Besides, I'm going out soon." Thunderclap shifted in his seat. He still found it slightly odd that Arpeggio was so hooves on.

"Alrighty. Have fun, bud; tell your not-date that I say 'hi', okay?" He chuckled, but noticed the shift. "...Eh... I hope I'm not making you uncomfortable; my parents were very hooves-on with their affection; my mother loved giving hugs."

Thunderclap laughed. "Teasing me again, eh?" He laughed. "Call her my date all you want. I wouldn't mind if she was." He laughed some more and smiled. "Aww, are you jealous? There is enough Thunderclap for both of you."

"I just find it a little odd. Physical contact in my family was few and far between. It was very affectionate when it did happen, but it was really rare." He said. He looked up at his friend. "Sorry, it is nothing against you. You are areally nice guy."

"Well, I'm glad." He put on a fake indignant face and over-exaggerated. "I won't let no mare steal mah stallion away from me!" He held the face for about two seconds before bursting out laughing.

"It's okay, Thunder, and I'm glad you think I'm a nice guy. I think you are, too; don't worry, I'll desensitize you to that yet."

Thunderclap laughed along with his friend. "Your stallion? You may want to have a conversation with my mother about that!" He said as he continued to laugh. "Very protective, she is. You have no idea how hard it was to convince her to let me leave home."

"And desensitize me? What do you plan on doing? Making me your pillow every night?" He asked as he smiled at his friend.

"Is that so? Then I can't wait to meet her, she sounds like a wonderful mare. As for the second thing..." He smirked. "Maaaaaybe. You're certainly comfortable enough that I wouldn't mind~" He chuckled.

"Well I plan on traveling home in a couple of days, you are free to join me." He smiled. He lied down and let his friend continue to rub his back. "What you should know about my mother is she is probably one of the sweetest mares you ever will meet. She will fiercely protect whatever is hers. I got my need to help other ponies from her."

"Now my father is the joker of my family. But he is also incredibly hard working. Makes sense since he worked double time as farmer and blacksmith. I get my sense of humor from him." Thunderclap stretched out his wings, then let them fall to his sides.

He kept rubbing Thunder's back for a while before moving his hooves to his friend's wings and rubbing those. "Oh yeah? Then I definitely look forward to meeting them; if your dad's sense of humor is where you got yours, I'll have either a great, hysterical time, or will be blushing from embarrassment half the time. We'll see what happens, I guess."

"Ya, my dad will love talking to you. If you can get him to take of his goggles that is. He wears goggles to keep his eyes safe while working with metal. As a result they get covered with soot and ashes. So he can't see you unless he takes them off." Thunderclap chuckled. "Drives my mom crazy when he doesn't take them off."

The massage of his wings felt incredible. "You have magic hooves my friend." He sighed in content.

"Hahah~ Is that so? I get the feeling I'm going to love meeting your folks. I'll have to introduce you to mine sometime, too."

"Oh, do I?" He began deeply kneading his friend's wings.

Thunderclap shrugged. "Ya, meeting your parents would be cool. I would not mind that. Even though they are probably crazy Cloudsdale folks." He said and laughed.

"And yes you do. You really know how to treat a stallion right." He said, enjoying the massage.

He rolled his eyes. "Eh, depends on your definition of 'crazy Cloudsdale folks.' My dad's kinda eccentric, but he's an artist just like me... only his art is architecture. My mom's a little more 'down-to-earth'. And I'm glad you're enjoying the massage; I enjoy giving them." He began massaging Thunder's rib area.

"Eh, whatever they are like, I guess I'll find out soon enough. But I'm sure I'll enjoy them." He chuckled. He then moaned in delight as Arpeggio began to rub his ribs. "Well I don't know why you like giving massages so much. Besides, my big, strong muscles must get hard on your hooves." He joked, making fun of his friends earlier slip of the tongue.

He blushed at Thunder's teasing of the slip, averting his eyes. "I like giving massages 'cause they help others feel good... and my hooves are fine." He continued massaging Thunder's ribs, massaging the sides of his stomach as well.

Thunderclap noticed the blush. He contemplated whether or not to push it. "Well I think you are the right stallion for the job. Besides I gotta be ready and rested for my night out." He chuckled. "So I thank you for that."

"You're very welcome, Thunder." He was still blushing a bit, massaging the Pegasus' ribs and belly. "Anywhere else you need massaged, bud?"

Thunderclap shook his head. "No, I think I'm good. Thanks for asking." He said. He still noticed his friend's blush. 'He seems quite embarrassed over a small slip of the tongue' He thought. "So you can stop whenever you feel like it." He said, then winked.

'Nnngh... dangit, I wonder if he's figured it out...' He had continued massaging until Thunder's last statement, when he pulled his hooves back quickly. "A-Alright..." He seemed a little flustered. "I-If it's close to time, you don't wanna keep her waiting..."

Thunderclap noticed that Arpeggio got very flustered, so he decided not to push it. "Ya, I guess I should get going." He said. He walked out the front door. "See ya later Arpeggio!" He called as he flew off.

"Seeya..." He waved as Thunder left, then shook his head, burying his face in his hooves. "What in the world am I thinking... Cripes, I didn't know about this... I'm going to scare him off or he'll think I'm weird..."

Thunderclap continued to fly towards his destination. "What did I do to make Arpeggio so flustered? I should apologize when I get back." He said to himself. He flew off to town square, his head full of thoughts.

Arpeggio was at a loss. "Uggghhh... what do I do? He probably won't be back for a while, so that gives me a little time to plan... do I confess? Pretend it never happened? Nngh... He's such an awesome friend and I don't wanna lose that..."

He got up, leaving the house and heading towards the tea place he'd heard about. "I need to think about this..."

(Assuming a time warp)

Thunderclap landed back on the porch for the house. It was late and he was dead tired. He walked into the house, trying to be quiet in case Arpeggio was asleep. He poured himself a glass of water and downed it. "Man I am thirsty!" He said. Thunderclap then sat on the couch, too tired to make it to his bed.

(Time Warp works...)

Arpeggio had been downstairs but came up when he heard Thunder enter. "Hey..." He sat down next to Thunder on the couch. "How'd it go?"

"It was fun" he said. "Spring Shower is very nice and fun. I should introduce you sometime." Thunderclap then yawned and rested his head on Arpeggio. "But I'm beat. I may just sleep right here " He said.