Chapter 7
Groaning, Vinyl rubbed at tired eyes that fairly swam with columns and rows of numbers. Despite the bright lights of Octavia's apartment she seemed to be developing a throbbing headache. "Tavi, would you take a look at this for me?" she implored.
"I don't understand why you don't simply hire an accountant to do this," Octavia replied without looking up from a selection of sheet music she was studying.
"As if I'd trust just anypony with this."
"But you'll trust me, will you?" the cellist asked with a trace of mirth.
"That's different," Vinyl replied gruffly.
Sighing, Octavia set aside her musical scores. "Hoof it over here, you silly pony." Vinyl thankfully levitated the heavy account book across the table still strewn with the detritus of the mares' breakfast, skillfully dropping it between her roommate's syrup-stained plate and empty coffee cup. "But you're going to do the laundry," Octavia replied, already engrossed in the club's expenditures and profits.
"Okay, okay," Vinyl said, already taking her leave of the table. Octavia watched her go, definitely not focusing on any questionable areas of her anatomy.
It’s just laundry; how much trouble could she possibly cause?
Vinyl tromped down the carpeted hallway, muttering to herself as she went. "Stupid Tavi. Why do we gotta do laundry anyway? All she wears is that silly bow tie and I don't even wear clothes at all. I own, like, one pair of socks." Easing open the bathroom door, Vinyl opened one of two doors on their ultracompact washer and dryer combo. With her telekinetic grip she began flinging sundry articles of clothing into the washer; socks, saddles, and about a galaxy worth of pink bow ties. She held one up to her face. "Seriously, how many of these things does she have?" she asked incredulously. That particular article of clothing joined its brethren and in short order the hamper containing to-be-washed was empty, save for one final item resting on the bottom. It paused in its telekinetic transit to hover in front of Vinyl's face, suddenly alight with mischief.
Octavia was still bent over Vinyl's accounts, idly flipping a page with a hoof. "Oooh, Tavi," Vinyl crooned from somewhere behind her. Octavia shivered, the sultry heat Vinyl infused into her affectionate nickname trickling down her spine.
"What, dear?" she replied, turning in her seat to see what nonsense was ahoof. She gasped; Vinyl stood in the doorway, lean white-coated body adorned with a tight-fitting black saddle trimmed in delicate, silken pink swathes that emphasized more than concealed. She wore the biggest smile of anypony the flustered Octavia had ever seen. "W-where did you get that, Vinyl?" she asked, feeling uncomfortable warmth blossom inside her, shortening her breath.
"I could ask you the same question," Vinyl practically purred, slinking towards her with the lithe agility of a cat. She walked in slow circles around the paralyzed cellist, occasionally allowing the soft hair of her tail to brush delicately, almost accidentally, against Octavia's coat. "It certainly isn't one of mine."
Octavia's half-formed answer evaporated like dew as Vinyl reared up behind her, resting her forelegs on the chair's back and deftly catching Octavia's ear between her teeth, nibbling gently. "Aaah," she moaned softly. "I-I bought it as a surprise, for a special occasion."
"Well," Vinyl said, her breath warm against the enraptured cellist's neck, "Why don't we just make it a special occasion now?"
An indeterminate period of time later Octavia found herself back to perusing Vinyl's finances, the smudged ink of her writing slowly driving the perfectionist cellist insane.
Honestly, how does somepony with magic write this terribly? I've seen better calligraphy from earth pony foals.
Elsewhere in the apartment Octavia heard the water to Vinyl's shower cut out. Moments later the mare herself joined the cellist-turned-accountant at the kitchen table, her wet mane for once conforming to a style other than its customary ragged-edged chaos. "So what's it look like, Tavi?"
"It looks like somepony attempted to create modern art in the medium of ink and paper," Octavia said, gesturing to the mostly-legible mess on the page before her.
"Haha, smartflank," Vinyl replied dryly. "I meant did I make any mistakes in balancing the accounts out?"
"No Vinyl, I don't think so. The revenues from the club for the past month exceed the operating expenses and overhead, leaving a considerable profit afterwards."
"Aww yeah! This calls for a celebration!" Vinyl exclaimed, pumping a hoof energetically in the air.
"No! Last time we 'celebrated' the smell of alcohol made me gag for a week afterwards."
"Pssh, you're such a lightweight. Besides, I had something more refined in mind, my dearest Octavia."
"Like what, pray tell?" Octavia asked suspiciously.
"I don't actually know yet. I'll think about it while we're at work tonight."
"Speaking of which, we should probably be going. We still need to clean up from last night."
"Yeah, yeah. I hear ya, Treble Clef," Vinyl said as she settled her opaque glasses over her ruby eyes. "Alright, I'm ready."
Octavia headed out the door, Vinyl lagging behind to secure it before catching up to Octavia to walk alongside her down streets painted by the light of the fading sun.
Octavia sat alone in their apartment. Vinyl was out for the afternoon, working on some esoteric element of her audio setup that the cellist couldn't begin to understand. Octavia sighed and nestled more comfortably onto the couch, content to watch old reruns and sip at a steaming mug of coffee.
The shrill ringing of the telephone shattered the tranquility that reigned over the apartment.
Frowning, Octavia rose and stalked to the offending device. It rang several more times before she managed to grasp it with her awkward hooves and grip it between her head and shoulder. "Hello?" she answered, expecting to hear Vinyl's voice on the other end.
"Good evening, miss Octavia," replied a well-cultured voice that definitely wasn't Vinyl.
"Good evening to you as well, Mr. Bookings. I must confess I wasn't expecting to hear from you."
"I apologize for the suddenness of my call, but I have just received word of an open position that is just what you need to reclaim your position as the foremost cellist of Equestria's elite."
"Truly? Somepony in Canterlot has finally forgotten about the Gala?" Octavia asked, resisting the urge to squee like a schoolfilly.
"Well, in truth, no. What I have is an opening for a cellist for the grand opening of a new five-star hotel in Las Pegasus. Its clientele includes the wealthy and influential of Canterlot, thus a stellar performance on your part will go a long way to returning to their good graces. The opening celebrations will last for a month or so; your room and board will be provided. It's quite the opportunity to get your career back on track."
"I . . . see," Octavia replied carefully, ears drooping. "You must understand this is very sudden. I will need some time to think about it."
"Of course, my dear. But I simply must have your answer within the week."
'I . . . yes, I understand. Thank you for the call, Mr. Bookings. Good day."
Octavia replaced the receiver with a discordant thud. Octavia returned to the couch. Bookings’ words echoed in her head, running in circles through her mind like a demented pegasus.
Las Pegasus . . . I can't go so far away. Not for that long. Vinyl needs me here. Not to mention that I don't want to be away from her that long.
The television continued playing but all Octavia saw was herself, on stage once again. It didn't help that she occasionally glimpsed a pristine white unicorn among the audience, sitting forlorn and alone.
"Vinyl, this looks very . . . expensive," Octavia said, eyeing the elegant settings of a luxurious restaurant in the heart of Canterlot's exclusive Golden Circle district.
"Sure is," Vinyl replied around a mouthful of salad. "Nothing but the best for my mare, after all."
Octavia continued to scan the menu, eventually settling on a rice pilaf made of the finest ingredients any chef in Canterlot could boast. Both mares quickly finished their meals, lingering over dessert and wine.
"Vinyl, do you think you could manage the club without me for a while?" Octavia ventured.
"Umm, ok; I wasn't expecting that one," Vinyl replied, looking quizzically at the grey mare across the table from her. "To be honest, I don't think I could. You do too much stuff for me."
Octavia grimaced, her ears drooping slightly.
I figured you would say that.
"Why? Do you want a vacation or something?" Vinyl asked. "If you wanted a few days off I'm sure I could survive."
"Erm, how about a month off?" Octavia asked with forced cheer.
"Um, where exactly are you going with this, Tavi?"
"Well, I had a call from my agent a few days ago," Octavia explained, morosely picking at the remnants of her sugary confection. "He said he had a job for me, out in Las Pegasus. I would have to be gone for a month."
Vinyl gaped at her. "A whole month? But, Tavi . . ." Vinyl trailed off.
"I know, Vinyl. A month is a long time. I really want to take this opportunity to start fixing my career, but I don't want to be away for that long either."
"Your career, right," Vinyl answered. "I forgot the whole deal with you working at the club was just a temporary thing until you could get work as a cellist again."
"Vinyl . . ."
"And I guess I was just a consolation prize to tide you over until things started going right again, huh?" Vinyl continued, downcast.
"NO," Octavia hissed with more force than she planned. "Vinyl, you are not a consolation prize; you're the best thing to ever happen to me. Don't ever say that again, don't even dare!"
Vinyl looked up to meet Octavia's gaze; the passionate heat simmering in them relieved the sudden ache that had frozen its way into her heart. "Thanks, Tavi. But you're still going out there, aren't you?"
"I don't know, Vinyl. I just don't know."
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Hmm.... I shall wait to see where this goes...
*drops everything (Skyrim: Dawnguard) and starts reading*
Will edit.
EDIT: O.o
You have my attention.
Only problem I saw was ...slinking towards her with the lithe agility of a cat...
lithe implies being agile. Okay, so technically not a problem, just unnecessary verbiage.
Still loving this story!
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!
i actually said that my friend jumped out of his skin it was funny as all hell.
anyway tavi is not aloud to leave just no.
Forget the Canterlot elite Octavia! You've got Vinyl and you're happy, what else is there to want?
924329 That's…a cryptically generic response. Did you have anything meaningfully specific to say, or were you going to leave it as a generic copy/paste response that just so happens to be the very first one for the chapter? I don't know why you would have to even mention waiting to see where this goes; everyone else is already doing just that. Given the story thus far, it's easy to see what general direction it's going in, and what problems they're going to have to face in the very near future; all that's left is what happens next and how they move on from there. If you have something constructive to say, or some form of speculation you'd like to share, then by all means do so; but if you can't be bothered at the moment to actually put any thought into posting something worthwhile, then why post at all?
Even a simple "This is awesome, I can't wait for the next one," would have been better, as it helps to reinforce the author's confidence and incentive to write more. Something like: "You forgot the apostrophe in 'It's just laundry…' but otherwise, this is pretty good," would be even better, because it provides a bit of constructive criticism to keep him on his toes, and helps him to fix his mistakes (BTW, that's an actual mistake I spotted).
924380
Lithe: flexible or supple (like a yoga instructor)
Agile: quick in movement; nimble (like a motorcycle weaving through traffic)
Not necessarily the same thing (one does not necessarily imply the other), though they are relatively closely linked on the word web.
924451 The chance to stand up to those elitist pricks and rub it in their stuck-up faces.
le gasp!!! what will Octavia decide for!?dl.dropbox.com/u/31471793/FiMFiction/emoticons/misc_Octavia_O_O.png
924453 Sorry, to tired at the moment to make a decent comment. The fact that it was first actually surprised me... I could have swore the update had been sitting in my to read pile for like, an hour. Regardless;
@Author: You truly are doing a wonderful job and verily I do enjoy this work of fiction. Please continue to come up with new material for all of our reading pleasure. Like a sir.
nooo tavi stay with vinyl you love her and you know it
FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU
O.o H-HELP! M-MY GRIP! I-IT'S SLIPPING!
assets.diylol.com/hfs/809/fad/866/resized/cliffhanger-meme-generator-hanging-on-to-a-cliff-for-dear-life-let-me-just-check-my-survival-manual-d1434e.jpg?1312683254.jpg
Wait. What happened after the previous chapter and how did they come to be together? One moment their snuggled up and watching a movie on the big screen. Next, their in a relationship. I was hoping you would expand on the end of the previous chapter.
Thought this was a other story that had a somewhat similar name, can't remember it right now. Glad I decided to check, this is a wonderful story and I look forward to MAAAAAAAANNY more chapters!
Okay, on the one hand Octavia managed to avoid the whole 'keep it a secret until the last second' mistake. On the other, this opens up a whole other can of worms.
Damn it Octy! If you go I'm going to sic angry Fluttershy and psycho Pinkie on you......
...
...
...
...
...
No, it's cool, I didn't need my heart and tears anyway.
924542
Between The Lions, you clever sonuvabitch. That is great. My face when:
fc00.deviantart.net/fs70/f/2012/181/8/f/my_face_when_everything_by_spitfireblaze-d55esli.png
Short but sweet. I like the newest side of Vinyl. As always, I watch, I wait. I have long since faved upvoted, etc., so there is just the wait.
924779 Between the Lions? Clueless Face, activate! Derp Derp!
Wow, I read the first chapter a while back, and it wasn't my cup of tea. When I saw this in the featured box I thought "This looks interesting, I'll give it a go." (Yes, I forgot that I read the first chapter until I checked my history
)
I'm glad I gave this another chance. Scratchtavia has become one of my favorite shippings since then, and I love how it's not just, "Hey! We both like music, just different kinds. How will we ever survive sharing a room, while in a relationship?" (Pretty much a sitcom setup.) It's a realistic working partnership that blossoms into something more.
Now... Vinyl gazing at Tavi's plot.... dl.dropbox.com/u/31471793/FiMFiction/emoticons/misc_Octavia_plot.png dl.dropbox.com/u/31471793/FiMFiction/emoticons/misc_Vinyl_Scratch.png
enjoy dl.dropbox.com/u/31471793/FiMFiction/emoticons/misc_Octavia.png
I have really enjoyed all seven chapters thus far; I find most attempts to ship Vinyl and Octavia fall flat given how little they each have in common, but having Octavia work in Vinyl's club was a delicious twist that hooked me in. Now, here comes the bad: you do a very admirable job of setting up dramatic/suspenseful moments, but then it feels like you rush through them too quickly for full impact.
Off the top of my head; the scene where Octavia is accosted by the drunk and needs to be rescued, the first time the two of them become intimate, and then the fall out over dinner. These three scenes in particular I felt would have benefited greatly from some more "padding", allowing the suspense to build up. Having said that, I look forward to seeing where you plan on taking the story now that it's reached a turning point. Keep up the good work.
924453
Best way to stand up to them is not give them the quality they want. They would love to hear Octavia's cello, even if they think she's a disgrace. So don't show. :V
My heart nearly died when Vinyl said she was just a consolation prize but then Tavi was all NO! which helped my heart restart.
Now write the next part
Ah want moar! IOT too good ta not have moar!
I'm loving this story so far, thought it was a bit confusing with them watching a movie and then suddenly being in a relationship, but that isn't a complaint as much as an observation. I can fill in that little story gap in my mind.
I look forward to future updates
924579
The whole sequence with the snuggling was meant to be the signal to you (in a general sense) that the shipping has commenced in earnest.
I don't know about you, but I don't "snuggle" with my friends, even my closest. That's pretty much reserved for romance.
Accidental Harmony, My Roommate is a Vampire, and Vinyl and Octavia's University Days were all updated on the same day. I couldn't be any happier right now. Thank you very much for your time and effort, but I must ask for MOAR!
hmm they can think of something, I hope. maybe octy can call the hotel herself and work out some kind of an arrangement
Ummmm. Uhhhhh! A little help here porkins?
Kinda short, and I wish you had put something in between of the snuggling and the lingerie-ing. Made me feel like I skipped a chapter or something.
As for the content... I feel like something's missing. Dunno what, but the ending left me dissappointed, I was expecting something else
925402 The whole point is that the Canterlot elite don't want to see or hear her perform (hence why she wasn't able to get a job playing Cello anywhere in Canterlot in the first place), but the folks hosting the event in Las Pegasus do want her. Her reputation is already damaged, to skip out on a gig given by folks who are actually willing to hire her would only damage it further, and that wouldn't be sticking it to the Canterlot elite at all; it would only reinforce their existing negative opinion of her, which is no skin off their noses. The best way to stick it to the elite is to have them be there, unaware that she's the one playing, and then giving them a jaw-dropping performance that will make them want to hire her again, only for her to snub them as they once snubbed her. She can't refuse what isn't offered to her, and they're not aware of what they're missing out on because of her reputation. So first, she'd have to make them aware, and rebuild her reputation and desirability before she can actually stick it to them.
924810
It was kind of like the Reading Rainbow of the 2000's, I'm not sure if it is still on. That cliffhanging guy was one of their skits. Used to watch that show all the time when I hung out with my Dad's friends littler kids.
img.ponibooru.org/_images/c7b416c97a66b13c9c7fd79aa877a4be/6839%20-%20between_the_lions%20tv_meme%20twilight_sparkle.png
929235 Sad thing is, that pic looks familiar, but that's it. No names, not voices, nothin. XD So odds are, I saw, maybe, one show. XD
925837 Sorry, worded it kind of poorly
I understand what was implied, It was kind of off putting is all. It felt odd considering that, previously, we followed them both through the happenings as the relationship slowly grew, and then their together. There was no moment which originally confirmed their partnership, instead starting after it. I got the idea that I missed something important and went back to check. Though this may because the majority of fictions I read expand deeply on the whole 'get together' scene 
I'm not complaining, It just seems odd.
929146
I hope that the reason you feel that way is because I originally intended for this chapter to go on a bit longer, but I decided that material would be best if I gave it its own chapter.
929433
I guess I thought I was being clever, skipping over that part and letting readers fill in the blanks.
I'm already planning some revisions to earlier chapters; I may add some material focused more on the "getting together" part.
Wish I had something more to say then my usual "good story so far, am seriously enjoying, etc." but I really don't, so please, take this generic comment of intended praise, and enjoy the fact that we enjoy your story.
Great work so far, although I caught one little error early in this chapter. It looks like you reworded this at some point and missed deleting a word.
"But you're going to the do the laundry,"
Beyond that everything is looking good, so I will be watching to see where this goes.
924810
One does not simply... callously throw out memes when one does not know where it came from.
>>Author
I think you masterfully pulled off subtlety. We've all read a million- no, a dozen- actually, just a handful- of Scratchtavia fics. We've read the fall-in-love think over and over again. You jumped right into the drama of the story, thank you for not selling out.
and you had to end it there why?
finally got around to reading this after sitting in my read laters for probably weeks. faved and upvoted, i eagerly await more.
DON'T DO IT 'TAVI! VINYL NEEDS YOU AND YOU NEED HER! DON'T GIVE IT UP!!!
Under most other circumstances I'd be all for the idea but not with these two. They must be together. THEY MUST!
i this anything like "Like Music" the descriptions sounds just like the story, kinda! i hope that either author inst taking too much from the other story! not to say plagiarism is here, just saying reading two fics based on the same thing!
On the subject of them being a couple, I figured that after the last chapter, it was the sexy times that me off guard. Vinyl putting thatsaddle on and being all, "let's makes this a special occasion" and I was like, "whoa! When did they get to that point?" ...unless that was supposed to be their first...roll in the hay...seemed a little casual for that though. -shrug-
Dun dun DUN, DRAMA! :D
Im scared to read on,but I must,i must,i must!!!
Seems kinda pointless having two socks when you have four hooves.
can't tell if dj pon3 is just flirting or being serious
Uh oh. DRAMATIC SEQUENCE SCENE AHEAD?
wel hm let me see... KISS and on that note a ramdome plot of my fav pony dl.dropbox.com/u/31471793/FiMFiction/emoticons/misc_Octavia_plot.png
1348466 pair in there world mostlikely means 4
No clop?...
....but I thought...
*sniff*. I thought they would share that wonderful experience with us.
Not just for clop, but for showing us how comfortable they can get to each other. To me, that's the part that shows HOW much they love each other, not just that they do love each other.
please take it into consideration
....wait... when did they become a couple? That came out of NOWHERE, until you mentioned sexy-time clothing...