Grizzly Peaks (Grizz to his friends) was a gryphon of habit: work during the day, go out drinking at night, hopefully find a younger stallion to take home and roughly fuck, and then in the morning do it all over again. His job changed over the years, from pulling chariots to providing security to stints on weather crews to his most recent job, tying down airships at the Undershaft Mining Company Airport. His airport work was more dangerous than most, since it required flying around engines blasting unbearable heat, that could chew him up if a stray current knocked him to close, and that were attached to ships of enormous size that could crush him effortlessly. But he was proud of being able to do the work.

The airport belonged to a town that had no name, in an arid mountain range on the border between Equestria and the Gryphon lands. The land was nearly impassible by ground and completely inhospitable to pony and gryphon alike. No grass grew on its sheer unstable cliffsides, no prey animals dared wander the sun-baked earth during the scorching days or the chilling nights, and clay dust choked the air.

But where most saw death, the mining mogul Dowser Undershaft had seen opportunity. A land untouched by living things meant a land ripe for harvesting. So, armed with nothing but a dream, millions of bits of venture capital, and a special talent for locating water and precious metals beneath the eath, Dowser built a mine deep in the mountains, a day's flight from any civilization. And to feed and house the workers she built the town, where every business was owned by her, miles away from any competition.

When Grizz arrived to begin his stint as an airport technician, he had a sinking suspicion that he would never leave. Griz was a bulky intimidating hippogryph stallion, his sturdy form the result of forty years of labor. He wasn't weak or frail, but after he saw a stallion fall from unstable scaffolding on his first month, he knew that this place was a graveyard for ponies waiting to die. After he accepted this, he stopped fearing death, and started seeking out the little pleasures while he waited for death to claim him.

And yet, when something caught on his safety cable during a routine tie-down, throwing him violently toward the ground, he still felt like it happened too soon. He didn't remember what happened after that.

---

Grizz was unconscious on a stretcher, his face covered in a breathing mask, and the entire left side of his body covered in bandages. His feathers were normally brown (with silver tips revealing his age), but right now they had been tainted russet with his own blood. Two nurses pushed him into the a bare-bones hospital room. It reeked of antiseptic and consisted of a plain wooden cabinet and table strategically placed to try and cover dark stains on the floor, and two beds, one already occupied. The nurses unloaded him onto the bed near a window looking out away from the settlement, showing a rocky descent that would threaten to give any non-winged pony vertigo.

In his state of semi-consciousness, Grizz heard the other occupant voice their annoyance: "Hey! What the heck? I thought you said I'd have this room to myself!" The voice was youthful, but deep and strong. A pony stallion.

"This is a hospital, not a day spa, Ms. Geode. We ha-"

The other's patient's rebuke was immediate and forceful. "Mister! Mr. Geode! It's not hard!"

But the nurse was equally stern. "Geode, he's staying. Maybe you'll make a new friend."

Through hazy vision, Grizz was able to make out the other stallion (not much more than a grey-blue blur) bunching his blanket begin his legs. Then staying awake became a bit too much for him and the world went dark.

---

Grizz returned to consciousness slowly. He was awake, but he couldn't give anything his attention. His head felt foggy, and his entire body was numb from the anesthetic and painkillers that had been pumped into him. He couldn't lift his head, only roll it so he was staring out the window. He couldn't remember what he was doing here, all he knew was he was missing work. He really couldn't afford to miss a day's wages. He tried to sit up and pull himself off the bed, but his arms felt like dead weight. All he could do was watch shadows settle over the landscape out the window.

Eventually he felt like he could move again. But it still took all his effort to lift an limb, and when he did pain shot through his entire body, despite the numbness, and he recoiled back into the bed, moaning. This was when he first noticed the bandages covering his left half, including his left wing. "Fuck..." he moaned, a combination of fear, pain, confusion, and frustration.

He had already forgotten about his roommate, their brief encounter no more real than any of his other fevered dreams. But then the roommate spoke: "You shouldn't push yourself like that. Just take it easy. Injuries like that... they'll at least cover your wages for your time out."

Grizz's first reaction was surprise, then annoyance. Take it easy? He couldn't afford to take it easy. He tried to laugh, but regretted it when he couldn't get the air back and was reduced to wheezing. He waited until he was taking measured even breaths before trying to speak again.

"You're an optimist, kid. How old are you anyway?" he said. His voice was rough, even for him. "I know how this goes. They say they'll cover me, but they'll find a loophole. They always do. And when they send me a bill I can't afford to pay, I'll be working to pay off their debt until the day I die." But please, keep on believing in the goodwill of your masters, see how far it gets you." That was why he couldn't stay he a moment longer than he had to. Each minute resting was more debt, more of his soul that now belonged to this Roc-damned mining town.

He turned his head as far as he could, hoping to catch a glimpse of the pony he was talking to out of the corner of his vision. He seemed unremarkable. His coat was a dull grey, even his amethyst mane had an earthy saturation to it. And he was scrawny, barely a stallion. Grizz wasn't impressed. The other stallion seemed rightly miffed by their conversation too, but if Grizz was going to be stuck here, he wasn't in any mood to listen to some youngster's idealism.

"Okay, fine," said the pony. "But you still shouldn't move, or you could... I dunno, open some stitches or stress a burn, or... what even happened to you, anyway?"

"What happened to me? Your guess is as good as mine. Last I remember, I was gone to lunch after tying down the shuttle that came in today. What about you?" He saw that the colt's leg was raised, and how the sheets were bunched up between his legs. "Did you catch something nasty from a two-bit whore?"

"Hey look. Maybe you're old and bitter and hate your job, but after the gem fields near my home dried up, it was either this or have my cutie mark gnaw at me while I didn't follow it. It might not be glamorous, but a job's a job."

Grizz tried laughing again, and found it only marginally less painful than before. "A job's a job? You have no idea," The kid was way too young to really understand, he thought. Poor guy probably thought that a riskless, thankless, cushiony job was a burden to bear. Just wait until he got out into the real world...

Then the pony continued: "Anyway, since you asked, My leg was crushed by a cave in, if you must know. Damn shorers didn't put the support in right and it came down on three of us. I happened to be the fastest, so I just get a crushed hoof and your lovely company." He sighed to himself, probably wondering why he was even bothering with this conversation. He reached for a book on his bedside table and began reading it to escape from this conversation.

And all the words Grizz was going to say died as realized the full implications of what he was being told. And he didn't know what to say other than that if the kid had just witnessed two ponies die right next to him, he deserved a little bit more than Grizz had been giving. "I'm sorry," he said. "You're too young for this. Go get wasted and save the dangerous work to old geezers like me who no one's gonna miss." He fell silent, unsure of what else he could say. "Were you close to them?"

"Not really. One of them's still fine... or as fine as you can be after an accident like that. The other..." He sighed, closing his book. "It was at least fast. He barely even knew the rocks were falling." He looked up at his leg, locked in a cast and completely immobile. "And I can't afford to go get wasted. Anything that isn't going to keeping me alive is going to my sisters." He actually smirked after that. "They're going to get a nice bonus, and I get a few days off... And you should see the payout if I die. I'm not aiming for that to happen, not by a long shot, but..." His grin grew. "If you knew you were throwing your life away, you got to bargain. I feel bad for the ones suckered into it."

With the heat of the argument dying down, Grizz felt a brief moment of kinship. [i]When you know you're throwing your life way, you get to bargain.[/i] Grizz knew what he signed up for up. And it sounded like this pony did too. Which at his age, just seemed unfair.

The pony lay back after that, looking up at the ceiling. "And I don't know about you, but dad was glad to be rid of me. I think they'd throw a party if I died..." He sighed once more. "Freaks of nature aren't exactly celebrated in the boonies."

Grizz made delibarate eye contact with the kid, and when he did he saw the age and experience in the younger pony's face. And from the way he was talking, it was clear Grizz didn't have the whole picture. Maybe he was being stubborn. But he couldn't back out now and still save face. "You're going to talk to this face about being a freak of nature?" He had intended to lift one of his talons and draw a circle around his beaked face, but his arm, still under anesthesia, decided to instead flop uselessly in his lap. "But let's not having a pissing contest, alright? I don't know what your problem is, since you look fine. Maybe you're a sperg or a fag or something. Whatever it is doesn't bother me, alright? But it's not going to get you sympathy either. I just want to lay that down right now. You're just gonna be... shit, I never got your name. I'm Grizz."

"I'm Geode." Geode looked over at the angry hippogryph, and he finally smiled. " And... Ya ain't a freak to me, Grizz. Though I could hardly tell what you were through those bandages."

"Damn right I'm not a freak, and any pony or gryphon who thinks otherwise can suck it!" chirped Grizz. "And as far as I'm concerned, neither are you."

Geode gave Grizz a certain bemused look, like Grizz didn't know what he was talking about, but the sentiment was appreciated all the same. "Alright, thanks. Just heal up, okay? I ain't gonna be happy if my new friend dies right after giving me his name. I haven't lived long enough for friends to be quitting on me on a daily basis." Geode returned to his book, smiling a bit to himself.

Grizz hesitated when Geode called him his friend. They barely knew each other! But he wasn't going to argue it. "Hey, if you're gonna sad if I die, just imagine how I'd feel." He laughed again, and this time he was able to do it without wheezing.

The conversation reached a naturally lull, but neither of them seemed to mind. Geode had his book, and Grizz was just happy to not have to exert himself. Talking had taken more out of him than he'd previously thought. But it was fine: they'd have a while to chat with each other.

The two sat in silence for a little while, Geode reading his book, Grizz recovering and trying not to wheeze, until a nurse walked in. She looked at the two patients, and apparently decided that Geode would be the easier one to deal with at first. "How are you doing? Do you need anything? Pillow fluffed, information, a bed pan... You aren't allowed to walk for at least a week I'm afraid, but I could possibly find a wheelchair to bring you to a restroom."

Geode rolled his eyes, not stopping his reading. "I'm alright. When is the food coming in? I'm a little hungry, and h-EY HEY HEY!" He tossed the book down, reaching down for the base of his bed as the nurse lifted up the sheets, making sure that there wasn't anything obviously wrong with him. When he stopped her, she had the blanket in the air, showing the whole world what had him counted as a 'freak': a set of pussy lips right where his pecker was supposed to be. "Put that down! I'm fine, dammit, so stop it!"

"Lunch will come by at noon sharp." The nurse said as she dropped the sheet, looking a little ticked off, before she walked over to Grizz. "Is there anything I can get you?"

Grizz saw Geode's genitals, but didn't say anything other than raising his eyebrows. Like he said earlier, it was none of his business. Instead he stared down the nurse. He had been wallowing in his own impatience and bitterness just fine without her, thank you very much. "You can start by telling me what I'm doing here and when I can leave," he said. "Not that I'm not loving being stuck in a bed and all, but I have a life."

The nurse looked at him with pity. He hated that but waited impatiently for an answer. "One of the ships broke from its mooring and it became entangled in the cable on your harness. According to the gryphon who took you here, you were dragged a hundred yards across the stone before someone was able to cut you free."

That explained why half of him was in bandages. "Great. When can I get back to work?"

The nurse gave that same look as she manipulated some levers out of view on the bed, which tilted the mattress to rotate Grizz onto his side. "Your physical therapist will judge that. It's not my place to say when, or if, you can resume your old job. I'm sorry. Can I help you with anything else?"

But Grizz didn't answer. He was too busy trying to come to grips with what he had just learned. After not getting a response, the nurse nodded to Geode and let herself out.

Grizz was angry. He wasn't angry at anyone in particular, but he had to direct his rage somewhere, and he chose the only other pony in the room. "So that's your freak flag?" he asked. "You're really a mare?"

"I'm not a mare, dammit, I'm a stallion!" Geode yelled it at the top of his lungs. "Stallion brain, stallion body, stallion voice, stallion everything! I'm stronger than half my damn team and twice the stallion some of those assholes are, and you know what happens? They treat me like I'm less. They treat me like some kind of wimp just because one part of me isn't normal. My own dad decided I wasn't fit to work for him, not that I wanted to. I was 'damaged goods' just because some trick of nature had me born like this!" He leaned over on his bed, looking Grizz in the eyes. "And I don't care how injured you are, you tell another soul and I will end you. I am a Celestia-damned stallion and I refuse to be treated any differently!"

He huffed for a few moments, the rant having built inside him... well, since he'd gotten to this work site at least. It's the reason he'd gotten out of the communal bunks and showers as fast as possible. More than a few stallions had tried... all kinds of things with him, and he'd left all of them crying in the corner, far less a stallion than Geode. "Dammit, I knew this was going to happen as soon as that damn nurse pulled the sheets off."

Still... after the news Grizz had just gotten, perhaps the explosion wasn't the right reaction. "Look... I didn't mean to yell, dude, I just... I'm friggin done with it. Done with the jokes that I don't have the balls to be in the mining business. Done with being looked down on by both stallions and mares because I'm so different... Doesn't mean I should've snapped." He tapped his hoof against the bed annoyedly, shifting his sheets to make sure they covered up his lower bits, giving the suggestion of a stallionhood, maybe, in the right light. "And... I'm sorry about what happened to you. You... definitely didn't deserve that one. But you're gonna be fine when this is all over. You've got to hope for the best. It's all there is out here."

Grizz felt like he'd been slapped. He knew that Geode was a stallion, or at least was trying to pass as one, so he'd expected the kid to push back. But he hadn't expected an explosion like that. He sat still, silent and wide-eyed, as he endured Geode's tirade. He waited to make sure that he was all finished before he spoke.

"You really are an optimist. You really feel like everything's going to magically work out for everyone but you." he said. His chest felt fragile. He knew he was holding something in, but he wasn't sure if it was laughter or tears. He sighed. "You're a stallion," he repeated. "If that temper of yours is proof of anything, you're stallion enough to be whatever the hell you want. You got the balls, they're just inside you. It's not like I was going to tell anyone anyway. There's no reason to. Your secret's safe with me. You don't even have to worry about me getting keen on you. I'm a cocksucker, through and through."

Geode felt kind of horrible for going off like he did, but... well, Grizz had instantly become the coolest stallion he'd ever run into with his reaction. Geode really felt bad for the guy. "I'm sure things will work out for me too. But if they don't, I'd be ready for it. I'd rather things go bad for me and everyone else is happy than the other way around, ya know? Better I suffer a bit now and the family be happy than the family suffer while I piss away their only chance at getting back on their hooves."

The conversation was getting a little too heavy, and Grizz needed something new to talk about, something to distract them from... from all this. He remembered something from earlier. "Have you really never been wasted?" he asked. "At your age, you'll never have a better opportunity. The window's closing on your youth, kid. Make the most of it."

"Oh, I've been wasted once or twice," Geode confessed. "It's okay, I guess. But being wasted on your own isn't hardly worth the time. You just end up sitting there, dwelling on the past and getting sour." He thought about it for a few moments, then chuckled to himself. "Tell ya what. Since you ain't interested in me and you're in such a dire spot: when we get out of here, you're going to be my drinking buddy. You get to show me just what's so special about getting drunk, 'cause I don't see the appeal." He sat back once more, breathing more calmly as he got out his book. "There. Now you have to pull out of this. You've got a 'date' waiting for you."

Geode had become a lot less annoying over the span of the last few hours. In fact, Grizz was actually paying attention to his insights. He still felt like the kid was too young to have any real wisdom, but there was this budding self-awareness about him that he recognized as the seeds of future wisdom. When he spoke, it was genuine, and Grizz respected that. "That's not a bad philosophy, and I'd do the same for my family in a heartbeat. But you deserve a little excitement in your life too. So I'm going to take you up on that drinking buddy offer, and I'm going to get you completely shitfaced. My treat."

Geode had succeeded in getting Grizz out of his funk. "What are you reading, anyway?" he asked. "By how engrossed you are in that thing, I'd swear it was telling you your own future."

"When the options are sitting here doing nothing or reading, I'd prefer getting my mind on something. But it's nothing profound. Just a Daring Do novel. But if you're up for a conversation, I could do that too. It's not like the book's going anywhere." He chuckled. "It's not like we are, either..."

---

After a few days of being stuck in a hospital room together, Grizz the hippogryph and Geode the earth pony were beginning to get used to each other's company. Neither were able to go anywhere still, but Geode had gotten to his third Daring Do book, reading it when things got quiet or conversation died down. He also had a tendency to stay up a little later than he probably should have, but as long as Grizz didn't complain, he wasn't about to stop.

It had been really easy for Grizz to forget about Geode's unique anatomy. He had met the kid as a stallion, and it was hard not to see him that way. For the first day or so, every time he saw Geode uncovered had been a little shock, but he was surprised how quickly he had gotten used to it and learned to treat Geode like the stallion he was.

He was still sullen and desperate to escape, but his demeanor seemed to improve a little whenever he and Geode talked. And they could talk about anything, it was all better than staying quiet and letting the stillness drive him mad.

Right about now, though, there was a new problem making them both antsy: their bladders. Lunch had been a while ago, and he'd been meaning to ask for a bedpan since breakfast, since he couldn't get up to get to a bathroom. It wasn't exactly dignified, but he'd made it a point to look away when Grizz was whizzing, and the nurses were understanding. Right now, with his bladder achingly full, he was hardly able to keep still, his rear end wiggling on the bed as he played with the book page, unable to keep his attention on the words.

Grizz also had to pee but he felt he was disciplined enough not to show it. He could hold it until the nurses came back around. That was the other thing about the hospital; it felt like it was scraping by on a minimal budget. No catheters, no way to call for a nurse, and the nurses sometimes only came by at mealtime. He wondered how many nurses there were, and how many patients they had to share.

Grizz also had another problem. He was used to going out every night, and getting laid nearly as often. But these past few days he'd been stuck in bed, which had made him antsy and horny. One of the nurses was really cute and made him pop an erection whenever he came in to rotate him or change the sheets, which embarrassed him to no end. He was desperate for release, but had been to stubborn to masturbate with Geode in the room.

Right now his cock was hanging limply out of his sheath, due to his need to urinate. He didn't like it just being on display like that, but he wasn't really in a position to hide it. Geode probably didn't like [i]his[/i] bits being on display either, so at least they were in this together. He tried to distract himself by watching Geode's wiggling. "You trying to dance or something?" he asked. "I feel you. I want to fly so bad, fuck doctor's orders." But his left wing was still in bandages like the rest of that half of his body.

Geode's response was neutral enough that Grizz couldn't tell if his lame attempt at humor was endearing or annoying. "I'm not trying to dance, I'm trying not to pee. The nurses are sure taking their sweet time getting over here, and I really need to go. I think they'd just ~nnrh~ get pissed if I... well, pissed." He crossed his leg over the injured one, but with the angle that hardly helped. All it meant was that the opening was a little different, the very smallest drop of urine teasing its way out of his hole.

He shook his head, though he looked like he was almost crying. "I'm going to wait... I'm going to wait and it's going to be fine. But if a NURSE COULD SHOW UP, IT'D BE GOOD ABOUT NOW!" He yelled that at the top of his lungs, and to his embarrassment that was enough to push out just the smallest little squirt of liquid, making him blush and specifically look away from Grizz as he tried desperately to keep the rest in.

Grizz was silent about his own need, but only because he didn't want to piss off hospital staff that was taking care of him. Geode was saying everything Grizz was thinking, it just seemed that the younger pony was less concerned about being polite. Griz had to admire him for that.

"On the bright side, if you piss yourself once they probably won't leave us alone like this again," he said. Up until now, Grizz had been following the doctor's orders obediently, if begrudgingly. But if the doctor wasn't going to respect them, he didn't see the need to respect back. "I guess the only thing left to do is take this into our own claws," he said. He stretched his front legs, and although they were still very stiff, he felt loads better than he had when he'd arrived. He took a deep breath to prepare himself, and then he pulled himself into a sitting position. His back screamed in pain, and he felt his own lower body spasm, a squirt of urine shooting against his sheets before he clamped down on it. "There might be a bedpan under one of our beds," he said. "I'm going to stop lying about and find it for you, okay?"

He swung his rear legs over the side of the bed, gritting his teeth against the pain as he did so. He pushed off of the bed, feeling temporarily triumphant for standing on his own four limbs again. Geode reached over; he looked like he was about to say something. But he stopped as another trickle of urine escaped him, making him blush. Then Grizz's knees buckled and he fell to the floor. He felt a warmth spreading around his thighs. Fuck, was this how weak he was, that he would piss himself after falling down? He shut his eyes and grit his teeth. He was pathetic. He couldn't work, couldn't walk, and now couldn't even piss right.

"No!" Geode shouted. "Darn it, you should've let me... I'm not in nearly as bad a shape. Just..." Every motion was making him leak, but that didn't stop him from sliding his hoof free from the support it was locked in. He rolled himself off of the bed: his rear hoof clearly wasn't ready for this, but his three good ones took most of the weight. "Alright... Unless you actually see a bedpan in here, I'm just going to help you back up onto the bed. You aren't allowed to hurt yourself on my account, old man."

He staggered over to Griz and leaned down to help him up, but even that motion pushed a thin stream out of him. He shook his head. "Look at the mess we are... hospitals suck." At this point he was releasing a slow, constant stream that splashed behind him as he tried to help Grizz up out of the puddle he was making.

Grizz felt like crying, which wasn't an emotion he was used to. But here was Geode, helping him up. Geode had shown him nothing but tolerance and compassion during these days, which made him impossible to stay mad at. So as much as Grizz wanted to push him away and fall into a deep sleep, he raised his head and managed to pull himself back into a sitting position. It was utterly humiliating. But at least they were both in a similar embarrassing boat. He opened his eyes, and got a eyefull of Geode's crotch, leaking a steady stream of golden liquid.

And he was captivated. He couldn't stop staring.

Seeing or hearing others pee always made Grizz need to pee too, and watching Geode made the pressure in his bladder explode in intensity. He couldn't hold back, and he began spraying urine up in an arc onto Geode's chest. Both stallion's eyes went wide in panic, and Grizz scrambled to get it under control, pulling his penis away and cascading droplets staining the floor, the bed, and his own coat. But it was too little too late: getting peed on like this made Geode truly let go, his little tinkle turning into a full on stream, even making him shudder with relief.

Worst of all, something about this was making his meat stiffen into a half-chub, something that didn't go unnoticed by Geode. "Heh, and you said you were a true blue cock-sucker," he teased. He couldn't help that his own lower lips were glistening slightly with his own arousal; something about this embarrassing situation really turning him on.

"Shut up. I haven't touched myself in days because I'm stuck with you. Cut me some slack." After giving it a moment's thought, he added, "Consider this extra proof that you're a stallion."

Geode grinned and lifted Grizz, dragging the hippogryph toward his bed. He was stronger than he looked, and soon he had the big ol' guy back on his bed... but not before he'd spread a spray of piss in an arc, leaving the poor guy peeing on his own chest. His stream was still hitting the floor, and he wasn't going to change that. "And ponies say they get more control with cocks..." He smirked, then turned around, giving Grizz a perfect view of him relieving himself as he began to limp across the slippery floor back to his bed, keeping his cast above the puddle by sheer force of will.

He watched Geode retreat, once again captivated by what was now a steady torrent of urine spilling out from a spot below his wrinkled labia. The whole scene was just so absurd, rebellious almost, and undeniably naughty. Grizz couldn't help but laugh. "The nurses are going to be so pissed when they come back and learn what we've done," he said. He could only imagine. "That'll teach them to leave us alone." And then he laughed. He wasn't ashamed at all anymore, because they had done this together.

Grizz didn't have to like mares or mare bits in order to be turned on by this, as his cock hardened further, extending fully from its sheath. His claw lowered to his member, ostensibly to control the flow and stop him from peeing onto his chest, but really so that he could gently stroke it. He managed not to make a sound, but his face flushed slightly. He redirected his stream so that he was peeing off the side of the bed onto the floor. He squeezed with one talon at a time, relishing the touch he'd been denied these past few days.

As Geode slid back into bed, keeping his rear end near the edge to keep his mattress from getting wet, he looked over at Grizz and just smirked. "Hey, stroke 'em if you got 'em. Don't let me stop you from having a good time. I'll just look the other way and pretend your bed is extra squeaky." He places his own hoof between his legs, gently teasing at his clit for just a moment before sighing, his steady stream of piss finally beginning to trickle off. He laughed as he pulled himself back into his harness, his cast somehow coming out of all of this mess unscathed. "They leave us so long we piss ourselves, they get to deal with the mess. Heck, you could even add to it if you really needed to. The white'd probably fade before they got in here." His cheeks had been burning when all of this had started, but by now... it wasn't so bad.

Grizz relaxed into his bed and struggled to catch his breath. He didn't want Geode to see how much the last minute had winded him. At this point, peeing and masturbating in front of his roommate didn't embarrass him, but admitting how weak he felt would. He still gripped his hard shaft tightly with one claw, jerking it down and relaxing as he pulled back up. It had been too long since he last came, and he was feeling pent up. He was too used to picking up stallions and drakes nightly, and right now his body was begging him for some tail.

While he did all this, he continued to look at Geode. He wasn't masturbating to Geode, not consciously, at least. He just felt comfortable enough now that he didn't feel the need to hide what he was doing. "You don't need to look away unless this is making you uncomfortable," he said, bringing his claw up to the head of his shaft and squeezing it. "And I probably will. Add to it, I mean. Fuck, I needed this." He was leaking pre from the tip, which smeared against the head of his cock and the sheets. "While we're on the subject, can I ask you something? I've met two types of stallions in my life: stallions who masturbate and filthy liars. Are you... do you give yourself relief? How does that... I don't want to be rude or say the wrong thing. I'm just curious and bored and we've got plenty of time."

Geode wouldn't admit the idea of a stallion masturbating to him was very flattering, but seeing Grizz there, cock out, looking at him and stroking... It made him feel good in ways he didn't even know he'd been missing. "Everypony wanks it, or whatever the equivalent is. For me, it's just a lot more work, and I haven't stuck anything inside myself or anything like that, so I couldn't tell you there. But there's... well, you probably know what a vagina at least looks like, right? There's the clit, and then the slit, and that leads all the way in, there's more than enough in the ring around the edge to set you off, and the clit's like a cock head when it comes to sensitivity." 

Grizz didn't think he was ignorant about mare's anatomy. There was a special breed of stallion that he knew had a complete disregard for mares as people and as such insisted that they understood mares' anatomy better than mares themselves. He was better than those stallions. But he confessed that he did have a certain ignorance about their biology, if only because it didn't interest him as much as cocks did. So he genuinely appreciated the description. "Yeah, I've seen one before. I mean, I've seen yours. But I guess I never really thought about what it feels like. Like, I heard that mares..." he clamped his beak shut before he could finish. Based on the way Geode looked at him, the slip hadn't gone unnoticed. "I mean, folk with vaginas," Grizz tried to correct himself, and Geode relaxed, seeming to appreciate that extra bit of verbal effort. "...that they cum a lot harder than folks with penises, that their whole body goes into it. It makes me..." Jealous would be the wrong word, he thought, since it ignored the challenges that Geode undoubtedly faced. "It makes me curious what's it like."

Geode thought about how to explain it. "It's... well, I'd say it's nothing special, but I suppose it would be, wouldn't it? At least half the world will never experience it... though the half that can won't experience a cock firing off while attached them, so I suppose your orgasm is as foreign to me as mine is to you." He slid his hoof down his body, seeming to debate whether or not he could masturbate himself in front of Grizz... He must be feeling pent up too, but... With that cock being stroked right in front of him... Slowly, he began to rub his hoof over his clit, rolling it around and pressing it lightly into his body, reaching down to his slit proper and collecting the wetness that was already there... Yeah, he needed this. "You just rub until it feels like your stomach's about to knot up, and then it snaps back like a spring and your whole body shudders with release... And I know I end up making a mess beneath me when that happens... might just add to the floor myself, while I'm at it."

Grizz tried to imagine what that was like, but it was just too alien. Still, he was curious. He slapped his dick against his belly, the pre sticking to his coat as he watched Geode rub himself. "Do you have a lot of past experiences with... I guess with mares or stallions or drakes or hens or diamond dogs... hell, with people, how's that? You ever been with another person before? You ever seen another person cum before?" He felt himself getting close, but he tried to hold it off.

Geode's face was beginning to flush from pleasure as he continued to touch himself, his hips squirming under his hoof... He normally didn't go off nearly this fast, but... the sight of Grizz, the pre clinging between his cock and his fur... It sparked something deep inside him, making him let out a cute little moan before he bit his tongue, not wanting to sound so... girly. "I've... never been with anyone else, but I have seen ponies cum. I spent a little time in the bunkhouse, and some stallions in there just couldn't hold back. Granted, if they'd known about me..." He was normally horrified by the thought of all of those bodies pressing against him, trying to get at those tender netherlips of his, but right at this moment, with his arousal level... the shudder was equal parts fear and excitement.

Grizz tried to imagine being in Geode's position, surrounded by horny stallions looking for ways to get off. His heart went out in sympathy for what Geode had to endure. "I'm so sorry," he said. "But, I know about you. And I'm clearly a stallion that's desperate for release. Are you worried about me?"

At this point, he let out a guttural groan as he came. His cock twitched, shooting ropes of semen into his lap. He rode it out, his breath ragged as he basked in the sweet release.

Geode heard the question, and he had to think about it for a little while... at least until Grizz came, his cum firing into the air and landing on his lap. Geode smiled. "Well... You seem ~mmmmh~ to be doing just fine on your own. And you said you were gay all the wa~aaay~AH!" Geode let out a very feminine moan as he came, his entire body shaking from the touch of his hoof, clear liquid shooting from his crotch in a visible arc to splash down with the puddle beneath his bed. He continued to shake for a little bit, squirming on the bed, before letting out a sigh, visibly relaxing and almost melting into the pillow. He then grinned Grizz's way, his face flushed with arousal. "I've got the right gender, but the wrong equipment for you. And even if I didn't, right now, in your condition... I couldn't be worried if I tried."

If there was one thing that got Grizz's blood pumping, it was a threat to his physical prowess. He was proud of his strength, and he wasn't going to take a challenge lying down. "Are you so sure about that?" he asked. "Given your condition, maybe you should be worried. All I have to do is crawl over there, and there's no way you'd be able to get your leg out of that cast, especially if I'm weighing you down. And we both know how negligent the nurses are. No one would be able to hear us."

He knew he was entering "not funny" territory, so he watched Geode's reaction carefully to make sure he wasn't taking things too far. But he was having fun with this, and he hoped his roommate was too.

"I mine for a living. You think I can't life up your scrawny form? I threw you on the bed fine enough. And the cast's a weapon, not a hindrance." Geode wasn't about to have his strength challenged, not even in the midst of afterglow. "And you think nopony's tried? There's a reason I have my own house now, and it's not because anything bad happened to me." He grinned, then flexed one of his forehooves, the strength muscles showing beneath what looked like non-muscular flab. "I just don't care about looking ripped. I ain't trying to get a mare's attention, and the stallions that go for that would be very disappointed in my equipment."

So Geode didn't seem to be bothered too much by his boasting and joking. That was good, since Grizz felt like he was enjoying himself. "Scrawny? Don't get lean muscle confused with scrawniness. The only reason you could lift me was because I don't have any body fat. I've been toning this body longer than you've been alive. Unless you've ever anchored an airship in a storm, don't even try to compare yourself to me."

He swung his legs off the bed and locked eyes with Geode. "You really think you can out-wrestle me? Because I guarantee that won't end well for you." He shifted his weight slowly, making sure that his hind legs were supporting him before he lowered his front legs. Then, one careful and painful step at a time, he cleared the distance to Geode's bed.

For Geode, watching Grizz conquer both his pain and the slippery and wet floor was, honestly, impressive. But Geode didn't move at all, only smirking and watching the hippogryph make his way over. Right as Grizz got close, he rolled his eyes. "Really? You did all of this for a joke? Or was it to prove your strength?" He sighed, lifting his leg enough to slip it out of the restraint and lower it to the bed, with only a very small thought that he'd have to defend himself. "If I'm going to have to help you back to your bed, I'm going to be really pissed. And if I do manage to lose the wrestling match, I'm not above injuring a broken bird. I really don't want to hurt you though. I was just really starting to like you."

Geode's smirk and dismissive attitude only egged Grizz on. He didn't want to hurt him either, but as long as they were playing, he wanted to wipe that smirk off his face. "Of course it's a joke, but that doesn't mean there's not a point to it. Just admit I'm as strong as you before I have to prove it." He put on claw on each of Geode's fetlocks, rubbing his soft coat. "You said you don't like mares, and stallions get disappointed by you. I bet you haven't gotten much attention down there at all. I'm the closest a friendly stallion has gotten to you. Maybe you don't even want me to stop." This was all still meant in jest, but since he hadn't yet seen any signs from Geode that told him the younger colt was uncomfortable, Grizz kept going to see how far he could take this.

The second Grizz touched him Geode tensed up, and as the words ended he launched forward, tackling the injured hippogryph to the floor. The tackle took Grizz completely by surprise, and for the first couple seconds, he was stunned and completely stupified. He watched Geode raise a hoof, ready to punch. Grizz's first instinct was to fight back, but he was too weak and dazed to even defend himself. 

And then Geode stopped and realized who was underneath him. He started to shake, moving both of his hooves up and covering his face. "Oh geez... I'm sorry, I really am, but I warned you. I..." He had tears at the edge of his eyes as he stood up. "And now you're covered in piss again, and I..." Immediately his tears turned to anger, his hoof slamming down next to Grizz's shoulder, sending up a splash and cracking the tile there.

Grizz realized he had fucked up, and badly. He wasn't shaking, he was rigidly frozen, but he was frantic on the inside, desperate to find a way to fix the damage he'd just done. "No, fuck, no, I'm the one who should be sorry..." 

The two stayed like that for a moment, then Geode went slack, tears actually dripping from his cheeks. "Look, just... let's forget it. You're as strong as me, I'm a hotheaded little asshole... a lot has happened over the last few minutes... How about we both just get back on our own beds and wait to see the nurse's reaction when they get here. That'll be fun, right?" His eyes were rimmed with red as he tried to fight back his tears, faking a smirk like he always had.

Grizz was struggling to catch a breath and stumbling over his words. "You're not an asshole, you're not even hotheaded. You were being really calm, and I thought that meant it was okay, but... I was pushy, and I took this further than I should have. I wasn't really going to... I just wanted to see you... fuck, I didn't mean it, Geode. You don't have to pretend that everything's okay after I did that to you..."

There were no words to fix the shame Grizz was feeling right now. How far would he have gone, if Geode had decided not to fight back? Even though he'd been looking for signs of discomfort, he'd interpreted his silence as consent, when it was obvious now in hindsight that it definitely wasn't.

He slid out from under Geode and crawled to his hooves. He couldn't make eye contact right now. "I'm sorry, kid," he said, as if that would fix anything. "I should have left you alone. I don't know what it's like to be in your hooves, so..." he crawled away and climbed back into his bed. He looked out the window, wishing he could take it all back.

"Grizz, don't..." Geode stood frozen as he watched Grizz crawling back to his bed. He wanted to do something, but... he just couldn't. He physically couldn't bring himself to do anything but stand where he was and shake angrily. Angry at himself. Angry at Grizz. Angry at the nurse... He limped his way over to Grizz, seeing the hippogryph looking out the window, and leaned down, hugging the big guy. "Look... I fucked up too. I don't... know how to..." He sighed, starting to limp back to his bed. "You were right, anyway. I've still got my V-card, ain't even been touched by somepony that wasn't a doctor... at least, not in any way that didn't leave their face bleeding. And I just..." He sat down, his head hanging. "I... might've been wondering how far you'd go... how far I'd let you. Too far, not far enough... who fuckin' knows?" He flopped down on the bed, curling up into the tightest ball he could as he turned away from Grizz. "I give. You're way stronger than I am. You at least know what you want and what you are..."

Grizz didn't react to the hug. He just let Geode say his piece and go. Grizz didn't deserve to defend himself. He thought very carefully about what Geode had said, and he thought even more carefully about what he might say in return.

"This isn't your fault," he finally said at length. He knew that, at least. "If you fucked up, it was because you're young. I don't have that excuse. I should have known better." He turned to look at Geode now, to see how much damage he'd caused to the younger stallion, but Geode was turned away from him, betraying nothing. "It's okay that you didn't know what to do. It's not okay that I expected you to know. How far I wouldn't have gone, whether I would have stopped, whether I would have tried to put it in you... doesn't fucking matter. If you want to lose your virginity, that should be on your terms. And who cares if you don't know what you want? I thought I knew what I wanted at your age, but I was fucking idiot who didn't question anything, so you're already ahead of that guy."

He uncurled and just laid in his bed facing the ceiling. "I don't know. If you want to figure out what you want, maybe this is your time to figure it out. Maybe I can help. What have you already figured out?"

"I've figured out I am tired of being who I am." Geode didn't turn back or anything. He just remained curled up. "I've been fighting this forever, against horny colts that just want to take advantage of me, against being some weak little mare under some big strong stallion... but that's what I am, isn't it?" He rolled over, and tears were flowing from his eyes. "Think about it! How many ponies, no, how many anythings do you know with a vag that ain't female? I shoulda just accepted the fact years ago! Screw the jawline, the deep voice, the everything! How I think, how I feel... It doesn't matter! I don't matter. I'm just some fucking mare that should be out there... doing anything else. Anywhere but here..." His hooves when over his face again, dragging down it tiredly. "I should've never signed my contract. I should've... I just..." His hooves clenched. "I just want to matter to somepony! And not as some freak, or some piece of meat, or a place money comes from... I don't even want to do great things. I don't want to change the world... Just how some tiny part of it looks at me. And I just tried to beat up the closest thing I've ever found towards a step in the right direction."

Grizz wanted to say something to comfort him, but how could he say anything with certainty, when he had no clue what Geode was going through? Anything he could possibly say would seem like a lie, because it wasn't backed by anything. Still, he knew that he had to say [i]something.[/i]

"Maybe you're a mare, maybe not," he said. "Maybe you'd be happier living as a mare, and maybe you wouldn't. I know even less about that than you do. But don't say you don't fucking matter. I would have gone crazy cooped in this room without you. And all the stallions and drakes I fuck? Not one of them has been as good at conversation as you. You've made a fucking cocksucker give you his undivided attention, so I think you fucking matter a lot more than you think you do."

He sat up in his bed. This was no time to be lounging about. "And I don't know what's it like to be you, but I know what it's like to feel like an outcast. I've never met anyone like me either. I don't have any hippogryph role models because they aren't any. I've never felt at home in Equestria or the gryphon lands because no matter where I went, I was that kid. The only ones who were kind to me did it because they felt sorry, like I was their responsibility. And the worst part was how everyone, ponies and gryphon alike, always assumed that I was..." he tried to find the right words to convey that unique internalized shame that came with being of two worlds that as a rule did not mingle. "...that I was a product of tragedy. Because fuck the possibility that my parents might actually love each other, and love me. So maybe I don't know what you're going through, but I know what it's like to be a freak."

A aching silent filled the room as Geode processed this. Feelings of sympathy and frustration and shame coalesced into some nameless emotion as old emotional wound opened to mix with the physical aches that were keeping them stuck in this suffocating room.

Finally, Geode formulated his response. "But hippogryphs at least exist. Search hard enough, and you could probably get a group of you guys together in a room, able to share your pain. But me..." Geode let out an annoyed grunt from where he lay. "I looked. I looked hard. You know what I found? Mares with dicks happened with surprising frequency. They had groups, they had names for themselves... They were rare, but they existed. Guys like me?" He sighed. "In all recorded medical history, there was one. And he'd been affectionately termed 'the cuntcolt'. Do you know how degrading that is? How depressing to know you're all alone in the entire world, and don't even amount to more than what's between your legs?" He rolled over on the bed to be looking at Grizz. "I hid it as hard as I could. Always had on clothes, smuggled around dildos and socks so I at least bulged right... And I'd look normal. Heck, I'd blend right in. Then one mistake, one pantsing or time when we go swimming... It's all over. Suddenly, I'm not a stallion, I'm not people's friends... I'm that guy with a pussy. And mares aren't any nicer. Half of them thought it was some magic trick to get in them, and the other half just constantly made fun of me for being the ugliest mare in the building. And nobody to turn to. At all. Not even my parents. I would've taken pity kindness..." 

Geode sighed, almost looking deflated, like his ego had been pouring out of him with his words, leaving a tired husk of a stallion. "So I'm glad I made you happy. I enjoy my time with you, and will all the way up to when we get out, you going one way, me going the other. Then I'll be back in the mines, hoping beyond hope that nobody saw my 'condition' while they carted me away, and you'll just... be gone, having a blast and banging some sweet smelling stallion into the bedsheets. I wish you the best when it comes to there, but right now... Right now..." He closed his eyes. "I don't know. Just..." He trailed off. He didn't know what he wanted, or what he wanted Grizz to do... He just hoped at this point that the nurse would come in and get mad at them or something... Something to get him out of his own head.

But no nurse came. It was as if the world beyond their hospital room didn't even exist right now.

"Hey, look at me," Grizz ordered. He waited for Geode to open his eyes. "No one said we had to go our separate ways. My wing's probably never going to be what it used to, so I'm not going to have my airport job anymore when I get out of here. But I took out too much credit at the company store to be able to just lay on my back like this, and they'll find something ugly for me to do, just so they can get that value back out of me. My life is basically over, and I'm going to be in a bad place for a while. Truth be told, I think I'm going to need a friend who knows what it's like to be shat on to keep me company and make me a little less miserable. So I'm really glad I met you, kid. Because all this 'banging sweet smelling stallions' can get boring and lonely without someone to brag to about it. So don't bail on me now, kid, when I need you the most."

Geode's features softened. He didn't seem quite as miserable anymore. "I wasn't wishing you away... I just suspected you'd probably go back off. You're gonna heal fine... maybe not one hundred percent, but it can't be that bad, can it? And after you heal, what use would you have to hang out with some mopey confused 'kid' like me? Especially one who walls himself off and spends all his time in a dark cave searching for gems in what must be one of the most barren mountain ranges in Equestria." He smiled though. Weakly, but a smile nonetheless. "So if you don't go off to fame and glory, sure. We can stick together. I'm willing to help however I can. But don't you feel held back or anything if it's not what you're thinking."

He sat there for a little while before swinging up his rear hoof, getting it back in its sling and returning to the healing he was supposed to be doing. Once that was done, though, he smiled. "For the record... I'd've been proud to have a kid like you. Hippogryphs are awesome."

Geode was satisfied with how everything seemed to be coming together. Of course he'd want to stay with Geode. He hadn't felt this close to another person in a long time. But his smile turned into a bitter frown at the kid's last line. He swallowed hard to stop himself from saying something he might regret.

"I know you didn't mean it that way, but don't ever say that again," he said. "You don't know what it's like to be me, so don't wish that on another innocent soul. And you don't want to be the parent of a hippogryph, trust me. The looks that my parents got every time they were out with me, or out with each other... just don't turn me into your fetish, alright? How'd you like it if I said I wanted to raise a cuntcolt?"

Geode frowned. "I didn't mean it like that. You know I didn't. And those aren't the same; I'd be honored. It'd mean you cared enough about them to be willing to take on all of those challenges and help shepherd them through it instead of tossing them aside like they're broken. But I can see your perspective too..." He sighed. "It wasn't a fetish... I just... nevermind. I'm sticking my hoof all kinds of places it doesn't belong..."

Moments later a nurse walked by the room, nearly dropping the bedpans he was holding as he saw the mess on the floor. "What the ever loving fuck--?!"

Grizz surveyed the carnage that the hapless nurse would need to clean up. "Oh yeah, I already forgot about that."

Geode just grinned at the poor stallion. "I was wondering when you'd show up."

The two patients, physically and mentally exhausted, did the only thing they could: laugh their assess off and take refuge in absurdity. And theresultant flurry of activity, from the spongebath to the cleaning, the scolding, the complaint filing... it all definitely helped their minds back to a better place.

Maybe this wouldn't be so bad after all. If this was going to be the end of their lives as they knew it... at least they each had a new friend.