It had been an eventful day, of that there could be no question.

Between having to calm Beebee down, put out the fire on his bed, then rush to the store to buy new blankets (and a fire extinguisher, just in case) and explaining the situation to Fluttershy when she basically came sprinting to the house, Eventide was understandably winded when all was said and done. Now in the living room, Eventide watched Beebee waddle around the room with the stuffed ant toy nestled between his wings on his back. Buddha was following closely behind as if to make sure he didn’t hurt himself, occasionally nudging him with her nose if he wandered too close to her food bowl or toys. Satisfied that the two would be safe for the moment, Eventide slumped into his living room chair with a heavy sigh while clasping his hands over his face. Fluttershy, for her part, opted to sit down on the edge of the coffee table to watch the two quadrupeds as they wandered around.

“Well… he doesn’t seem any worse for wear,” she pointed out after a few minutes, sounding relieved.

Eventide snorted. “Yeah, but in his defense, I kinda yanked him off of my bed the second the fire started and put him in the bathroom sink with the water on. Then I had to put out the fire,” he explained before letting his hands fall back to his sides with a tired groan.

Fluttershy blinked and shot Eventide a queer look. “You put him in the sink?”

“It’s been a long day…”

Fluttershy couldn’t help it; she chuckled slightly at his expense, the merry sound being enough to at least ease some of his stress. “Sounds like you had a busy day,” she said lightly. Again, Eventide snorted.

“It’s only half past two! Ugh… I sure hope Beebee doesn’t have any more surprises for me…” he grumbled irritably before turning his eyes to watch the bug tapping his hooves against the bottom of the kitchen counter. The sight of Beebee really starting to get the hang of his new body and additional limbs, as well as the happy smile on his face, was enough to wash away even more of Eventide’s stress. “...He’s more adorable when I know what to expect.”

Fluttershy giggled quietly and nodded in agreement. “Yeah… aw, look at them…” she cooed when Beebee turned to Buddha and playfully swatted her on the nose. Buddha recoiled from the contact with a half bark of protest, then lowered her chest to the ground while wagging her tail. So Beebee smacked her on the nose again with a giggle. Buddha barked in indignation to the touch before scampering back and running in a quick circle.

Eventide’s own smile grew somewhat as he watched the proceeding playtime unfold. “Heh… yeah. The two get along pretty well. A lot better than when they first met, anyway. I had to order Buddha to stay where she was, or she probably would have eaten him...” he mused under his breath.

Beebee went to follow Buddha, stumbling a couple of times as he went, before jumping at her face with a quick buzz of his wings. His toy ant fell to the floor as he went, and Buddha raised her head to avoid the imminent collision. Beebee still impacted her throat, and he wrapped his hooves around her and held on with tiny squeals of delight.

Fluttershy and Eventide watched the two continue to play for several minutes, just trying to relax in the aftermath of the destroyed blankets. However, maybe ten minutes later, the light-hearted atmosphere around them would, sadly, be shattered. Beebee, after climbing all over Buddha, much to her resigned contempt, had started to crawl along her sides. But when he reached up to try and pull himself up onto her back, his hooves began shaking. And then his entire body. A squeak of discomfort tore itself from his lungs before his grip was lost and he fell to the floor with a thud and a cry of pain.

Almost instantly, Eventide shot up from his seat and ran over before Fluttershy had even processed what had happened. She watched as he slid to a stop on his knees, nudging Buddha aside and looking at Beebee on the ground. Her eyes widened when she saw that the bug-like equine was gasping for breath and shaking horribly all across his body like he had just run a marathon and his body had given out.

She stood back up and ran over to join Eventide by his side, similarly falling to her knees to get a closer look. “What happened?!” she asked, reaching down and lightly cupping the back of Beebee’s head with her hand.

“I dunno!” Eventide replied in a raised, worried voice. “He just fell! Oh, jeez… look at him… you alright, bud?”

Beebee could only gasp and pant, looking like he was suffering from an extreme amount of pain. His eyes darting around made it quite clear that he was just as confused as they were. His wings fluttered weakly on his back of a few times, but he otherwise didn’t move. Fluttershy slowly leaned down to press her ears against his chest, listening for his heart. With that close proximity, not only could she hear how quickly his heart was beating, but she could also feel his tiny hooves weakly trying to hold onto her hair. Her brow furrowed and her lips pursed with thought. “Hmmm… It looks like he’s exhausted.”

Eventide blinked in surprise, reached a hand of his own down to gently take one of Beebee’s hooves in his own. “How come? He was climbing on Buddha, sure, but until he fell he was doing fine!”

Fluttershy shrugged helplessly. “I… I dunno. He might have just been excited and didn’t know that he was pushing himself too hard. It would explain why he fell off the wall last night, too.”

Eventide sighed softly and gingerly lifted Beebee up to hold him against his chest. His heart broke a little bit when he heard Beebee’s high-pitched voice groaning in discomfort from the movement. “Alright… I’ll take him back to the bed, let him rest. Buddha?”

The dog, on hearing her name spoken, looked up at Eventide with worry and curiosity. A few quiet whines slipped out of her, and she pawed at Eventide’s leg, clearly worried about Beebee. And really, Eventide couldn’t blame her. Still, he pointed a finger at her and gave a simple command.

“Stay.”

Buddha dutifully sat down and stayed still, watching and whining while Eventide took Beebee back to the bedroom, the little guy’s exhausted panting still clearly audible. After a few moments, Eventide came back out and closed the door all but a crack. Fluttershy rose up to a standing position as he came back out. “I’ll go keep an eye on him; make sure he doesn't burn anything down. You,” she poked him in the chest when he got close. “Sit down and relax for a little while. Put on some TV, pet Buddha. Just… take it easy.”

Eventide didn’t protest in the slightest, marching over to his chair and flopping down into it with a heavy sigh. He gave Fluttershy a nod, and she took that as her cue. Without another word, she turned and disappeared into Eventide’s room, gently closing the door behind her and plunging the house into silence.

Eventide hadn’t realized he had fallen asleep until he found himself waking up several hours later. His eyes slowly opened to see that the sun had started setting outside, casting stripes of gold and orange light across the room. Buddha and Fluttershy were both conspicuously absent, although there was a folded up piece of paper on the arm of the chair. Curious, he unfolded the paper and looked at the words written on it.

Beebee’s sleeping and I am taking Buddha for a walk while you get some rest. I think I know what’s wrong with Beebee, and I’ll explain when I come back. -Fluttershy.

Eventide set the note down and slowly got back to his feet, giving a stretch as he went. He glanced out the window at CHS across the street, seeing a lot of the repair and construction equipment sitting idle, only a couple of people still hanging around them at the moment. Ever since the damage, they had made pretty significant progress on repairs. It probably wouldn’t be a whole lot longer before school was back in session.

Which meant that Fluttershy would have even less time to help him take care of Beebee.

With that somber thought burning a nice new hole in the back of his mind, Eventide made his way for his bedroom. He gently nudged the door open to find that Beebee was still curled up right where he had put him. One of his eyes was open just a crack, watching Eventide curiously.

“Hey, buddy…” Eventide whispered softly while strolling over to the edge of the bed and sitting down. “You okay?”

Beebee chirped drowsily at him, opening his other eye.

Eventide smiled and laughed half-heartedly under his breath. “You gave me a heart attack, man… I was worried about you.”

Beebee blinked at his words, the glow in his eyes pulsing irregularly for a few seconds. A look of sympathy spread on his face, then, before he got up onto his hooves and slowly dragged himself over to Eventide. When he wasn’t offered any resistance, Beebee slowly crawled into Eventide’s lap and rested his chin on his right knee. He draped his forelegs over the limb and nuzzling into it. Somehow, Eventide just knew what Beebee was trying to tell him.

I’m sorry for worrying you.

Smiling softly, Eventide reached a hand down to start petting Beebee on the back of the head, making him relax and murmur with content. His wings gave a few errant twitches here and there, and Eventide felt his heart melting just a little bit at the sight. “But you’re okay, Bee… that’s what matters. I’m glad you’re alright…”

Beebee nuzzled into his knee, his grip tightening somewhat.

They stayed like that for a good long while, and the last flickers of the sun’s waning light were starting to vanish when they jointly heard the doors of the house being opened. After a few seconds of waiting, Eventide smiled when he saw Fluttershy step into the bedroom. A smile that she returned on seeing the tender scene.

“How is he?” she asked in a near whisper.

Beebee lifted his head towards Fluttershy and chirped at her.

“He’s doing better,” Eventide replied softly, not once stopping his petting motions. Beebee couldn’t keep his head lifted for long under that gentle touch, and let his chin rest on Eventide’s leg again, cooing in relaxation. Eventide smiled at that, then gave Fluttershy a more serious look. “What was wrong with him?”

Fluttershy slowly sat down next to them on the bed, her eyes resting on Beebee. “I did some research on your computer and called a few people. I think he had a huge burst of energy when he got out of his larval skin, but… well… look at him.”

Eventide did as he was instructed, watching with curiosity as Fluttershy began to point at various parts of his body.

“He’s skinny,” she began softly, taking one of Beebee’s hooves in her hand. “More than I would expect for his body shape. And based on what happened earlier, he’s physically weak. The poor guy’s probably going to have a hard time being very physically active for more than short bursts from now on…”

Beebee, as if understanding her, pulled his hoof back before throwing himself against Eventide’s shirt, clinging onto him tightly and letting out a few tiny squeaks of distress. Eventide was quick to wrap his arms around Beebee and hold him close. His face was contorted with pity and sorrow from Fluttershy’s diagnosis, and he lifted his eyes to look into hers pleadingly. “Is there anything we can do for him?”

Fluttershy sighed and shrugged. “I dunno. I might be wrong about his condition, too… I hope I am. But if he is weak, then we’re just going to have to be patient and make sure he doesn’t over exert himself.”

Eventide nodded slowly, starting to rock himself and Beebee back and forth. “I understand… thanks, Fluttershy,” he muttered, gently petting Beebee on the back of the head to try and soothe him.

Fluttershy gave a slow nod before standing back up. “I wish I could stay longer, but I have to get back to my house. I’m late as it is,” she explained before heading for the doorway. “I’ll call you in the morning to see how he’s doing, okay?”

Eventide nodded. “Sure thing. I’ll see you around,” he replied softly before turning his attention entirely to Beebee.

Fluttershy watched the two for a few minutes before smiling softly. “Okay… goodnight, Eventide. Goodnight, Beebee,” she called before turning and walking out of the house, leaving the man and his bug to their own devices.

Beebee is physically frail.

Send me your tears in a cup. I will need the fuel.