“Tavi~,” a singsong voice called out. Octavius groaned and blearily opened his eyes, being met with Vinyl’s grinning face.
“Good morning,” Octavius greeted her, wiping the sleep from his eyes with his usable hand. He carefully stood from the chair he’d slept in, raising his left arm above his head and arching his back slightly. “How are you today?” He cast a glance at his analog clock hanging on the wall. It read 8:30.
“I’m actually doing a lot better,” she smiled at him. “I’m glad you and Ditzy are ok.”
“You and me both,” Octavius grinned. “May I ask why you woke me up so early?”
“I figured maybe you’d want some breakfast,” she jerked her thumb over her shoulder to the hall, which led to the dining room. “Dash said she had something really super important she wanted to talk to us about.”
Octavius sighed. He didn’t really like to be woken up, but he figured he could put on a show for her. He smiled. “I’ll be out in a moment.”
Vinyl nodded with a smile, then left the room, shutting the door behind her. He walked over to his mirror and combed out his hair, then pulled on a pair of jeans carefully, trying to avoid hurting himself. Once he was dressed, he walked out of his room and down the hall to join Vinyl, who was sitting at a table with Dash.
“Hey there, Tav-Tav!” Dash grinned wide and pulled a chair out for the cellist. “Please, come sit with your two lovely lady friends.”
Octavius rolled his eyes, but joined the pair anyway. He sat down and smiled at the women. “So, Dash,” he started. “Vinyl said you wanted to talk about something.”
Dash nodded. “It’s about Scootaloo. I wanted to tell you guys that she’ll be living here starting Christmas day.”
Vinyl’s face lit up with a magnificent smile. “Dash, that’s amazing!” She jumped out of her chair and hugged the other woman around her neck tightly. “I’m so happy for you!”
Dash laughed, a little embarrassed. “Thanks, Vi,” she beamed at her friend. “I’m glad to have your support on this.”
“You know this won’t be easy,” Octavius warned Dash. “You’ll be responsible for that girl. Food, clothes, a roof over her head, her education, that’ll all be on you.”
“I know,” Dash nodded at him. “I’ve got her enrolled at Central Middle School, and I’ve got another one of the rooms in the back cleaned out of the back.”
Octavius eyed the woman slightly skeptically. “Why exactly are there rooms behind a diner, anyway? I don’t think I’ve ever hear of that before.”
“I bought it like this,” she explained. “Apparently the previous owner didn’t wanna have to travel for work, so he put a bunch of rooms in the back for himself and his family. When his wife divorced him, though, he decided he didn’t want to live here anymore, something about it reminding him of her.” She shrugged. “He sold me the place for cheap, and I’ve been living here since, keeping up the restaurant and such.”
“I see,” Octavius said quietly, deciding to drop the subject.
Vinyl grinned at the rainbow haired woman. “I’m proud of you, Dash,” she smiled at Dash. “You’re actually being a grown up!”
“Fuck you,” Dash playfully shoved the DJ off of her. “At least I’m not spending my weekends out at strange bars getting wasted and playing dubstep!”
“Bitch, you know that shit is the hypest job in the world!”
Octavius watched the two bicker playfully back and forth. He lost himself to his thoughts while they fought.
He wondered what it would be like with another person living here. Maybe it’d be good for Dash to have to finally take responsibility for something. From what he’d observed of her, she was certainly very laid back and lazy, not really interested in doing much. He wondered if Scootaloo could become the captain of the Wonderbolts under Dash’s roof.
“Hey, Tavi!”
Octavius was jolted out of his thoughts. “Yes, Vinyl?”
“Were you paying any attention?” She jokingly scolded the man, who had clearly been spacing out. “Or do we just bore you that much?”
“I’m sorry,” he apologized, turning to face them. “What were you saying?”
“We were just saying how the Christmas party is on Friday, and how all our friends will be there, and how Dash will tell Scootaloo that she’s going to live here then. Who knows?” The blue haired DJ grinned at the cellist. “Maybe you could meet some new pretty girls to swoon.”
Octavius rolled his eyes again. Sometimes these women really were too much. “I highly doubt that,” he smirked evilly. “Violet.”
Both women eyes went wide as Vinyl’s face lit up crimson. Dash started laughing hysterically. “You’re name’s VIOLET?! HOLY SHIT!” She clapped her hands together as she laughed harder. “I know your parents are all hoity toity, but damn, I didn’t know they gave you a name like VIOLET!”
Vinyl cast her gaze down, not looking at the other woman. Octavius felt really bad. Perhaps he had overstepped a line. He decided to speak up for the DJ. “I, for one, think it’s a lovely name,” he said, cutting off the rainbow haired woman’s laughter. “It’s beautiful and suits her very well in my opinion.”
Vinyl smiled up at him, staring into his eyes from behind her shades. “Thank you, Tavi,” she giggled. “I think you have a nice name, too.”
Dash stuck her tongue out in mock disgust. “Get a room, you two,” she groaned playfully. “All this flirty lovey dovey crap is gross.”
“Shut up, Dash,” Vinyl laughed, smacking her friend on the forehead.