...But Duct Tape is Silver

by Vermilion and Sage

Planning to Fail

Octavia sat, feeling the cool water drip off her mane and coat to thunk on the bathtub before slowly running to the drain. She’d turned off the shower thirty minutes ago to avoid running up the water bill, and to start drip-drying as reaching her towel was out of the question. For that matter, anything outside the shower was out of reach for the time being, and finding a way out would be difficult in the pitch darkness. Vinyl apparently had the courtesy to turn off the lights before leaving.

Over that last half hour, Octavia had tried pushing up and down every possible point on the door, looking for a weak point. The tape-job had proved to be seamless. There was no way she’d even entertain the idea of climbing out, so that left two very boring options. The first would be to the run the shower for several hours on very hot, fill the room with steam, and hope that it would cause the tape to weaken. That didn’t seem very likely to Octavia, so she’d opted to shut off the water, wait for the tub to dry, then very carefully buck the metal end on the door until it opened. Trying to kick it down before everything was dry would likely result in a slip, and then kicking right through the glass on the shower.

Waiting also gave the slight off-chance that Vinyl would come back and peel away all the tape, but Octavia knew that both of them knew that she’d used up all her mercy for the day already. Having shown uncharacteristic restraint during breakfast, after being goaded over toast and cheated out of a good time with Bevel last night, Octavia really wanted very little more than some peace. It had taken all her willpower to walk away and stop to take a soothing shower, but she’d managed. Then Vinyl had waltzed in and dumped a bucket of glacial water over Octavia’s head. And here I’d hoped for an apology, or at the least neutrality.

There was exactly one good thing to be had, despite the utter humiliation of the situation. Between being unable to get out and do anything productive, barred from drying off her mane and coat, denied the chance to go and finish her breakfast, and forced to urinate in the least hygienic manner, there was one glimmer of light. Well, it was actually too dark for her to see her own hooves, but a bit of optimism that could lead to hope still graced her. There was more than enough time to plan exactly how to get back at Vinyl.

--------------------------------------------

A series of drum-kicks threw Vinyl roughly from slumber, and she fell off the bed to the floor as the alarm thundered on. The yellow light of early twilight was streaming in through the window, falling on her strangely headache-free forehead as she shut the alarm off. Wait...oh shit!

Each step retraced itself as she stood up. After shutting Octavia in the shower, Vinyl had run laughing back to her room, and threw herself onto her bed until the laughing fit had passed. Then, she’d tried to decide what to do while she waited for Octavia to calm down enough to the point where she wouldn’t murder anything. At some point along the way, Vinyl realized she must have dozed off, and stayed asleep for a solid seven hours. That was a good deal longer than the ten or fifteen minutes she’d planned on leaving her roommate stuck.

Octy is gonna kill me dead. Time to let her out, and apologize very nicely. Vinyl trotted over to the door, walked right into it, and fell dazed to the floor. Stars ran crazily in every direction for a while until she sat up and frowned at the door. There hadn’t been a time in two months that it had been left all the way shut and latched, precisely for the purpose of barging through whenever a grand adventure (or trip to the bar) was about to start. Grumbling to herself, she stood back up, pushed the latch down on the door, and shoved.

It budged a millimeter, if Vinyl could trust her overactive imagination to not make that much up, and no more. Faster, and with growing desperation, she pounded on the door, accomplishing nothing more than denting the cheap wood that it was built from. My set is on in an hour, this can’t be happening to me! I know there’s some kind of poetic justice in this, but I didn’t make her miss work! I need to do this so I can eat...and drink.

Stepping back, Vinyl noticed a small scrap of paper next to her forehooves. Upon closer inspection, it was revealed to be one of the stationary letters that Octavia kept on her desk, and had probably been shoved under the door. Turning to hold it in the light, Vinyl read the letter with growing sorrow, apprehension, and bladder pressure.

Dear Vinyl,

If you’ve managed to find this letter, you’ve probably realized exactly how I felt for the last few hours, minus being soaking wet and left in the dark. While you may think this petty of me, and I shall certainly agree with that notion, I must say that it seems quite fitting. I can understand that it is your nature to do barbaric things such as dumping ice on a pony while she is in the shower, but locking her in is outright malicious. In the three hours it took me to get out, I missed rehearsal. In case you have forgotten, I get paid to do that. That’s important, because I need to eat too.

At this point, I see little other option than for us to come to some sort of agreement to cease this behavior. It will only escalate to the point that we destroy our property, our home, and our lives. Consider this an offer to make up, and an apology for starting it. If you do not wish to work for a better end, I’m sure you’ll be able to reach the fire escape, and get to your performance tonight.

Octavia

Dropping the letter, Vinyl ran over to the window and threw it open. The fire escape was there alright, well out of reach, and further than she’d be willing to jump for anything short of her room and tail being on fire. With a defeated sigh, she turned back toward the door and yelled for all she was worth.

“Ok, Octavia, I want to talk it over!”

From somewhere below, Octavia’s muffled reply sounded. “Fine, hold on, I’ll let you out.”

Vinyl heard hoofsteps approaching, and then a ripping noise as a long strand of tape was removed from the outside of her door. And then another, and another. The noises were high up, and slowly moving down, so Vinyl sat down to wait. As soon as she did, her eyes opened wide and she stood right back up.

“Octy, hurry! I need to pee!”

Author's Note:

Second to last chapter. Here's to hoping they choose peace!

Comments

[Luna Aeterna Solutae]

This fic will be a challenging concept for me.

[Vermilion and Sage]

5170245

I'm curious as to what is so difficult about it?

[Luna Aeterna Solutae]

5170369
OctaScratch is fairly well expected.
Also the whole "they hate one another's genre" is stupid.

[Vermilion and Sage]

5170603

This product is 100% shipping free. There is no romance tag, and at no point does 'OctaScratch' take place. The sex tag is strictly for the humor.

As for 'hate each other,' well, I wouldn't go that far, but if you've ever had a crummy roomate...petty things happen. I'm sorry if it's not quite your cup of tea.

-Sage

[Luna Aeterna Solutae]

5170757
It just shows a lack of knowledge of how classical and electronic musicians comport themselves in real life and how each genre is produced (hint, very similarly.)

[Vermilion and Sage]

I'm somewhat familiar with the production, having taken part in it myself. That being said, you are quite correct that I know little to nothing about how professional musicians conduct themselves in a professional setting. I am afraid however, that a deep inspection of that is beyond the scope of this story.