> Up To Scratch
>  by RarityCatchMe
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Not Very Bright
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The sound of the door behind her being flung open only made her quicken her pace as she descended the apartment stairs. She wanted to escape, to disappear into the night and move on with her life.  Her promising career, her social status, her family... it could all be recovered, if she could just-

“Tavi, wait!”

She climbed down faster still, but she was being chased.  She realized it was going to be more complicated than simply walking away.

“Hang on, will you?”

“What do you want, Vinyl?” She had finally stopped and turned, her furious demand coming out as a scream, which echoed through the stairwell.  It stopped Vinyl Scratch in her tracks, standing on the landing only a few steps above Octavia.

She was in a pair of shorts and nothing else, though she was covering her breasts with a shirt she didn't take the time to put on. Vinyl always seemed to naturally exude confidence, it was a part of her image, but standing there now was not the reckless young DJ who was so sure of herself.  She looked terrified and shaken. Her mind was disoriented, all that she wanted to say was jumbled up, and she had no time to sort through anything.  She managed to grab onto a thought, though it hardly seemed like enough.

"I don't want you to go."

“Ah, well, it's a bit late for that.”

Octavia's biting tone and spiteful gaze had Vinyl drawing back, but she wasn't giving up.

“I'm sorry... come back inside, okay? We can talk-”

“Talk?  As in, you will try to charm me, so I'll forgot how horrible you are?”

“No! No, Tavi, I-”

“I'm not like you!”  Octavia pulled the gold ring she had been wearing off of her finger and threw it onto the steps.  Vinyl flinched slightly at the dull clink it made against the floor.

“I'm not a polyamorous... bisexual... sex fiend, alcoholic, narcissistic bitch!”  Octavia's face was flushed and hot, as was the rest of her body.  She was finally releasing anger that was long overdo.  “I don't know what you want from me, and I'm done trying to find out.  I'm done, you understand?”

Vinyl didn't follow as Octavia turned and once again headed down the stairs.  She remained on the landing, clutching her shirt to her chest, listening to the sound of Octavia's footsteps becoming further and further away, until they couldn't be heard anymore.


-----




One month earlier...




“Octavia, we have a problem!”

The violist of Octavia's quartet  was scrambling his way across the room, calling out to her in a panic.  He was less than dextrous on his feet, and was disrupting the party goers who they had already worked so hard to please.  It didn't help that he was always panicky about something unimportant.  She even had a talk with him the day before, telling him not to lose his head unless it was an emergency.  If he wasn't such a viola prodigy, she would have replaced him long ago.

“Excuse me, just a moment.”

She flashed an apologetic smile at the people she had just been chatting with. Her performance had ended roughly half an hour ago, and she had been mingling with the guests and graciously accepting any compliments she received.  She was also listening for anyone who sounded like they were planning future get togethers, as that meant there was a chance she could offer her quartet as entertainment... though no one would want them if Allegro continued to act like a crazy person.

She turned her attention to him as he reached her.  He was violently gasping for air, and Octavia was sure that wasn't necessary.

“Allegro, that embarrassing display was completely uncalled for!”  Her scolding was hushed, though her stern tone was still clear.  “Why on earth are you so worked up?”

“I, I stepped out for a minute, because these crowds, and these walls, and the talking and-”

“Yes yes, you are a basket case. Get to the point.”

“There's some people out there. I overheard them, they're trying to crash us. I mean, crash the party.”

Octavia's eyes widened at this news, though the momentary anxiety she felt disappeared once she reminded herself of Allegro's wild imagination.  “All right, well... if you are sure that's what you heard, show me these 'crashers'.”

“Right, of course!”

Doing a better job of not bumping into guests, Allegro led Octavia out of the ballroom, down the marble staircase, and through the foyer.  Their performance had taken place in an incredible mansion, belonging to Laureate, a widower who was probably in his mid 50s.  Since the death of his wife he had become devoted to making large sums of money and blowing it on things like this.  He had hired Octavia and her quartet to play at his party, which was an annual gathering of high class citizens from all over the world.   It was an incredibly big deal for someone in the classical music business to be hired here.  The pay was astounding, but it wasn't just that.  This party was opening doors for her, and she wasn't going to let anything get in the way of the opportunity to broaden her career.

As Allegro led her through the courtyard, she caught a glimpse of the crashers he had meant, congregated outside the mansions gates.  They looked like they had just come from a completely different sort of party, judging by their attire... or lack thereof.   The men in their group were almost all shirtless, while the majority of the women were in skin tight, ripped up clothing that showed plenty of skin.  They belonged in a trashy nightclub, not loitering outside a mansion.

There were two security guards at the gates, and more of them were posted at other entry points around the mansion.  She was doubting any of them could get through, but as she got closer, it was clear they were trying to plan a way to get in.

Allegro was nervously muttering to himself as they approached the gate.  “Allegro, you can go back inside.  I'll handle this.”

“Yeah, ok, you got this.”

He scurried off, and Octavia turned her attention back to the gathered miscreants.  The gate glowed a dark red and opened for her, one of the guards apparently using his magic to open it. They gave her a nod, but the group she was concerned about didn't seem to notice her.   She was watching them from a short distance away, trying to assess the situation.

It looked like they wanted to scale the tall fence around the mansion.  Or, that was what they were planning, judging from some of the gestures they were using.  They all seemed to be chatting amongst themselves, but at a few points, they all went quiet and looked towards the center of their group, then went back to talking. 

Octavia realized there was a woman sitting on top of a small speaker, right in the middle of them, and whenever she spoke they all intently listened.

Like the others, her clothes didn't cover much, leaving most of her exposed.  Her top looked more like a strapless bra, though she was wearing an unzipped jacket over it, which Octavia thought was rather stupid and defeated the purpose. Her entire midriff was showing, as was most of her legs, since she wore a scanty pair of shorts full of rips. A big pair of boots finished her nonsensical outfit.

Now that she noticed, she was watching Octavia as well, peering at her over a pair of purple tinted glasses.  She was still talking to the people around her, but her eyes remained fixed on Octavia.  It was... strange. But Octavia was staring back.

One of the crashers said, rather loudly, “Let's just do this!” And that was where Octavia decided to confront them.  The girl on the speaker smiled as she walked over, and the others stopped their chatter as she invaded.  

“Are you the ring leader of these clowns?”

The question was directed towards the woman on the speaker.  It was a valid question, since she seemed to be the only one who could grab their attention as she had done several times.

“Yeah, sure. That's me.”  She didn't miss a beat, and continued, “Welcome to the circus, Bowtie!” 

The others snickered, but Octavia ignored them.

“Have you met security yet, or would you like me to introduce you?”  Octavia didn't seem to intimidate her.

“Nah, we met 'em. Not very nice, are they?”

“Not to you, I'm sure.” Octavia crossed her arms,  “You can't hope to get into that party.  Leave before we call the police, all right?”

“What a fucking pessimist this chick is!”  She was talking to her group, as if the scowling cellist wasn't right in front of them.  But she quickly turned her attention back,  “Of course we can get in.  And where's the law that says we can't party?”

“It's called trespassing.”  Octavia folded her arms, “You're not very bright, are you?”

“Bright?” She turned back to her group, looking like she was about to burst into laughter, and as she spoke, several of the others around her started chuckling. They were picking up on something Octavia was missing. “Is it bright in there? We don't do bright.”

Several of them had already begun walking away from the mansion's gates, and the woman who was talking with Octavia stood up.  One of the muscular men grabbed her speaker.  “Maybe next time, Bowtie?”

And they were leaving, just like that.  Octavia was beyond confused as she watched them go, though she eventually decided to return to the mansion, trying not to give the odd encounter any more thought.  She once again began mingling, though about ten minutes later, the party encountered a problem.

The power went out.  Throughout the entire mansion, they had completely lost electricity.  The ballroom erupted with questions of what was happening.  Laureate tried to get the power back on, but failed, and in the end, the party was cut short.  

The outage seemed to be a mystery to everyone, but Octavia had a good guess about how it happened.

Two days later, she decided to return to the mansion, to tell Laureate of her suspicions. She had been allowed through the gates without question, which surprised her, and she was even more surprised when Laureate, who had been lounging in the courtyard with a book, stood to warmly say hello.  They exchanged greetings, and he even remembered Octavia's name.

“You're good with names, Laureate. I'm impressed.”

“Oh, no, I'm terrible with names!” He laughed, rather loudly, then added, “But how could I have forgotten the young cellist and her quartet, the highlight of my party?  It was short, and disastrous towards the end, but looking back, I hope the guest will remember your performance before the power outage!”

“Thank you, that means a lot.”  Octavia hadn't expected any of that to be said, and lost her train of thought for a moment, but reeled it back in. “Laureate, about that power outage...”

“Such embarrassing business that was!”  He was a loud man, Octavia was quickly realizing, but amiable regardless.  “My niece was responsible for that.  She's a bit of a troublemaker, so I asked her to stay out of the party... but she found another way to make trouble, of course!” 

“You have a niece?”  Octavia asked, trying not to jump to any conclusions.

“Yes, she's a lovely young woman, when you get to know her.  But that would involve actually getting her to sit still so you could talk!  She's a bit too energetic for her own good.”

“Ah... does she live with you?”

“No no, I doubt I could handle her!  She lives downtown, in the rather nice apartment. Those are difficult to find in that part of town, but it really is nice, as apartments go.”

“I see...”

Laureate waved for Octavia to follow him inside, “You looked like you wanted to tell me something, and it's rather hot out today. Shall we talk inside?”

“Well, I was actually coming to tell you, I knew who had cut your power.  But it seems you figured it out.”

“Blue hair, never wears enough clothes, has a rather unsavory entourage?”

Octavia nodded.

“Ah, you met her! That's Vinyl Scratch.”  Laureate headed inside his mansion, and Octavia followed. “That's splendid actually, do you think you could do me a favor, Octavia?”

She didn't like where this seemed to be going, but she responded with an agreeable,  “Certainly,  Laureate.”

“I have a package I need delivered to her as soon as possible.”  There was an ornate marble table in the foyer, towards the side of the stairs.  A wooden box was sitting there, and Laureate picked it up.  “Her parents passed a year ago, you see- my brother was a dedicated traveler, but the poor fool died during a zip lining venture in the jungle, along with his wife.”

“That's.. very sad. I'm sorry to hear that.”

“Tragic business, that certainly was.  But, such is life.  Or death, as it happens!”

He spoke of it very casually, and Octavia decided he was just overall an odd man. Though he seemed to have good intentions.  

“Anyway, though we had most of their belongings returned to us with their ashes, some more of their things seem to have turned up.  Octavia, if you could deliver them to her, I would be grateful.  Uppercrust is having a little affair on her yacht next week, I would certainly put in a good word for you, she loves live music.”

She really didn't want to do this, but in her mind, she wasn't being presented a choice.  This was for her career, sacrifices had to be made. 

“I'll head over right now,  Laureate.”  
> Purity
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Octavia didn't make any stops en route to Vinyl's place.  She wanted to get this delivery over with, or else she knew she would end up putting it off, or perhaps not going at all.  She wasn't looking forward to dealing with Vinyl again, but there would be no pleasantries; she would give her the box and leave.

Octavia was now climbing the stairs of the apartment complex Vinyl lived in.  It really was nice, and all of it appeared to be well kept, unlike many other downtown apartments.  There were only three floors, and Vinyl's room was on the top, according to Laureate.  Room 3A, so it should be the room closest to the stairway.

The box wasn't exactly small, it was a foot or so long, and half as wide.  It was light though, and felt like it had several small objects in it. Though she could have, she hadn't opened it, and didn't particularly care to.  All that really mattered about it was, it was her ticket to landing another performance.

She was at the door now, apartment 3A. She sighed, then knocked, trying to ignore the feeling of impending doom she had.  It took a while for someone to answer, Octavia was about ready to knock again once the door finally opened.

“Who are you?  What the hell do you want at this hour?” It was a man, in a pair of boxers and nothing else.

“This hour?  It's two in the afternoon.”

“Oh...”  Octavia held up her wristwatch for him to see.  “Shit.”

He hastily retreated back into the apartment, leaving the door wide open, and also leaving Octavia bewildered in the doorway.  He had rounded a corner, and all she could see was what appeared to be an unoccupied living room. “Hang on, does Vinyl Scratch live here?”  She had said it loud enough, so he could probably hear it. All of the furniture she could see looked to be expensive, and there was a huge flat screen TV on the wall, along with enormous speakers and other pricey looking technology.

Luckily, the man seemed to have caught her question. He called back, “Yeah, she's here!”

Octavia stood there for a minute, contemplating leaving the box at the door.  She didn't know what was inside, it could be something valuable... and even if it wasn't, there was still a chance it could get stolen.   Laureate wouldn't be happy about that.  Maybe she could leave it at the door and watch it from a distance?  That sounded like a good idea to her.  It was better than waiting around for Vinyl Scratch.

Just as she was about to set it down, Vinyl came into view, entering the living room.  “Bowtie!”

She said it like Octavia... 'Bowtie' was an old friend, who she was extremely happy to see.  She was struggling to keep her balance as she put on a pair of jeans in the living room, though she was still grinning at Octavia.  She looked like she had just rolled out of bed, but at least she was wearing a shirt, along with her purple tinted glasses.

“That's not my... nevermind, I have this for you.”   She tapped the box, and Vinyl frowned.

“The hell's that?”

“I'm not sure,  Laureate asked me to give it to you. So I am.  I'll leave it here.”  She started to set it back down on the floor, but Vinyl interrupted.

“Nah, I don't want it.  You can take it back.”

Octavia groaned. “He wanted me to give it to you, and I made the trip down here, so I would appreciate it if you just took it, all right?”

“Nope.”  Vinyl had managed to get her jeans on, and another woman walked past her and disappeared into a different room.  At least she was fully dressed, though. “You can find another way to kiss his ass. It's not difficult.”

Octavia threw her head back, her aggravation growing.  But she calmed herself and decided on another tactic.  “He said this belonged to your parents.”

“Oh, my parents! In that case, fuck no.”  Vinyl was starting to walk into another room, but then turned to Octavia.  “You just gonna stand there, or you wanna come inside?”

“I just want you to take the box!”

“Hmm...”  Vinyl leaned against the doorway she was in, looking contemplative.  “How about you keep me company while I have breakfast, and after that I'll take that box.  And tell Laureate you're a saint, or whatever you're going for.”

Octavia was glaring at Vinyl, who simply smiled in return.  “Fine.”

“Sweet!”  Vinyl skipped over to Octavia and grabbed her free hand, “We're gonna be pals, Bowtie!”

She allowed Vinyl to drag her off to the kitchen, which looked to be renovated.  Octavia couldn't imagine an apartment complex keeping such nice appliances, cabinets and counters for all of their tenants.  Vinyl was probably loaded, thanks to her parents, so she could afford those sorts of things.

She was released once they reached the fridge, and took a seat on a stool beside the island counter, setting the box down as she did.

“You do know it's a bit late for breakfast?”

“Yeah, but I'm a wicked cook when it comes to breakfast.”  Despite her claim, all she had grabbed was a jug of milk, then a bowl, a spoon, and finally a box of cereal. 

Octavia found herself rolling her eyes once again, but Vinyl caught her.

“Hey now, it's a delicate process!  The cereal to milk ratio is more important than most people think.”  She was now pouring the milk over her cereal like she was some kind of mad scientist.

The man and woman she had seen earlier walked by the kitchen, the man angrily mentioning something about having missed his shift at work.

“Are those your roommates?”

Vinyl was taking the seat at the island counter, and smiled slightly at Octavia's question. “Nah, playmates.”

“...Charming.”

Vinyl shrugged as she started to eat her cereal.

“So are you a butler or something?  You were dressed like one the other day.”

“Butler??”  Octavia's tone was indignant, “That was the uniform I wear when performing in my string quartet. I'm a cellist.”

“Oh, sweet.  I'm in the music business myself.”

“Wonderful.”

Octavia was clearly fed up, so Vinyl swallowed her last spoonful of cereal and stood.  “All right, I'll humor you.”  She grabbed the box from the counter, deciding to spare Octavia from staying any longer.  “My parents had a lot of junk.  Tons of stupid little trinkets from traveling, maybe worth something, but useless to me.  People keep sending me their shit.”  Vinyl popped open the two clamps on the front of the box as she leaned against the wall. “This is probably a carved totem or something. I got four of those.”

When Vinyl opened the box, she looked confused, then disturbed.  She quickly walked out of the kitchen, returning to the living room and plopping down on the couch.  Octavia hesitantly followed her, and watched from the opposite side of the room as Vinyl started removing sealed envelopes from the box.  She pulled out three, though there looked to be more.  One of the three seemed to have a small bulge in it, though Vinyl opened one of the flat ones first.  Inside was a card, as well as several hundred dollar bills.  She read the card out loud.

“Happy ninth birthday, Vinyl.  We wish we could be there, but we are still thinking of you.  We hope you are having a great day. Love mom and dad.”

She set the card and the money down and opened another envelope, the one with the bulge.

“Happy fifteenth birthday, Vinyl.  We wish you were here with us, so we could all celebrate together.  We thought these earrings would suit you. Love mom and dad.”

The earrings in the envelope were miniature vinyl records, though they were made of gold.  Vinyl looked them over, and then threw them on the floor.

“They didn't even write these.  This isn't their handwriting.”  She began sifting through the other envelopes, “I bet they fucking hired someone to write me letters. But then they forgot to send them.”

Vinyl began ripping up the cards she had just read, shredding them into as tiny pieces as she could, then moved on to the envelopes.  Octavia was feeling rather awkward, like she shouldn't be here... like this was some intimate moment Vinyl was meant to be experiencing alone, and she was intruding. But she couldn't bring herself to walk away.

“Bit of a fucking flaw in your plan, assholes!  Wonder if the writer picked the gifts, too?  

She was shouting now, and the woman, Vinyl's 'playmate' shouted from the next room.  “Shut up Vinyl!”

“You shut up!”

She looked ready to burst into tears.  Before she could think it through, Octavia had sat beside Vinyl on her couch, though she didn't seem to notice.  She had just picked up a new envelope to begin ripping up, but Octavia took it from her, and pulled her into a hug.

Vinyl froze up, but Octavia didn't let her go.  She seemed to be fighting back her emotions, though it didn't work, and she ended up burying her face in Octavia's shoulder as she was overcome by her tears.

Octavia wasn't sure how long it lasted.  A while.  Vinyl was crying herself out, and half way through she had tightly returned Octavia's hug. By the end it had become more of a desperate cling.  Octavia didn't speak at all, unsure of what to say, so she decided on silence.

The man and woman had left her apartment during the waterworks, not even acknowledging Vinyl or Octavia at all.

Vinyl pulled away when her sobs finally died down.  She rubbed her eyes as she caught her breath, and Octavia spotted Vinyl's purple glasses, which had fallen into her lap. 

“I hate crying...”  Vinyl did look like a mess. Though she had managed to dry her face, her eyes and cheeks were still a bit puffy and red.  “It's humiliating.” 

“No, it's not.”  Vinyl didn't seem convinced, still looking embarrassed.  Octavia picked up the glasses and put them back on her.  “There. Like it didn't even happen.”

Vinyl smiled, though it wasn't anything like the confident smirks she had been giving earlier.  It was humbled, even timid, and appreciative.  Octavia couldn't help but smile back.


-----


“If you think that's bad, get this... when I was six, they forgot my name for two weeks -two weeks- before my aunt asked why they kept referring to me with pronouns.  Then she reminded them.”

Vinyl's mood had lightened considerably, and even though she had been sharing stories about her parents for nearly an hour now, they were being accented by laughter and jokes.  Octavia wasn't exactly a psychologist, but she thought it was good Vinyl realized her parents' behavior was ridiculous enough to laugh about.  She seemed to grasp that they were simply neglectful and selfish, rather than thinking it was something about her.

Octavia was sitting in a swivel chair that was shaped like a half circle, and made of some sort of fuzzy, comfortable material.  She had been turned away from Vinyl, who was sitting on her bed, but after the story she had turned back to face her.  “But I'm sure they could name every fine wine under the sun, right?”

Vinyl laughed, “Yeah, actually... did you meet them?”

“Oh thank Celestia, no!”

Vinyl moved to the edge of her bed, and pulled out the bottom shelf of her nightstand, rummaging through whatever was inside it.

“I know we are expected to respect the... dearly departed, but I'm finding it a bit difficult with your parents, Vinyl.”

“Good.  I hate that 'respect the dead' bull people throw around.”  She had found what she was looking for, and pulled out what seemed to be a ring box.  “Everyone thinks people are more worthy of respect once they've died.  I say they get the same amount, dead or alive.  They were assholes when they existed, and we'll remember them as assholes now that they're gone.”  

Octavia couldn't help but laugh at that.  It made sense, or at least, more sense than celebrating the life of someone who didn't do anything to deserve it.

“Anyway, check this out.”

Octavia got up and sat beside Vinyl on her bed.  It was funny to think that earlier today she detested her, but now they were getting along pretty well.  Granted, most of the discussion between them had been related to Vinyl's parents, but she wasn't behaving anything like the trouble making, power cutting woman she had originally met.  She had even abandoned the Bowtie nickname earlier, and asked for Octavia's real one.

Vinyl opened the small box and withdrew a gold ring, which she handed to Octavia.  “Read the side of it.”

Octavia held up the simple gold band, to read the large inscription it bore.  “Love waits?”

“Yeah, it's a purity ring.  They gave it to me when I was sixteen.  People were saying I was sleeping around, so they tried to make me wear that thing, to save their image.”

“How thoughtful of them,”  Octavia shook her head in disbelief as she handed the ring back to Vinyl.  Or tried to. She wasn't taking it.

“You want it? I never wore it.”

Octavia raised an eyebrow. “What would I do with it...?”

“I dunno.  Wear it to keep guys away at bars. Pawn it. Melt it.  Whatever you want.”

“Vinyl, I can't take this...”

Vinyl nudged her, “Take it!  I really don't want it.”

Octavia looked down at the ring in her hand.  It looked like it would actually fit her.  “Well... thank you.”
> People Never Change
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

It had been later the next day when Octavia received word from Laureate about the yacht party.  Though Uppercrust said it was late notice, she had been happy to fit Octavia's quartet into the schedule.  It had been a bit hectic getting her quartet ready for their performance scheduled two days after it had been confirmed with her, but Octavia managed it.  The performance had gone as well as she could have hoped, and Uppercrust had complimented Octavia profusely, clearly impressed.

That was yesterday.  She hadn't been nervous, being nervous about a performance was something she had overcome as a child, and it hadn't ever bothered her since.  Even when talking with important, influential people or was trying to land a performance with some snobby entrepreneur, Octavia was never overcome by her nerves.

But today, Octavia was nervous.

The contact list on her phone had consisted completely of potential employers and the three other members of her quartet, it had been that way for a while... but Vinyl Scratch was the newest addition, and the only one to have no relation to her work.  They had exchanged numbers the day Octavia had stopped by her apartment, and Vinyl had called the next day to convince Octavia to meet her sometime.  They decided on the day after the performance, and Vinyl had left the location and time for Octavia to decide... so they were meeting late that morning at a coffee shop near Octavia's house.

As she headed down the street to meet Vinyl, she could scarcely remember feeling this nervous before.  Her parents made her nervous, especially when showing them her music and compositions, but this was a different type of nervous.

Closing in on the coffee shop, she tried to recall how she had dealt with stage fright as a child, wondering if using the same methods would help here... it was quite a long time ago, or so it felt... she couldn't remember.  She was already here anyway, Vinyl was sitting at a table outside, her blue two toned hair easy to spot... but she was resting her head on the table, on top of her folded arms.

“Vinyl?” Octavia had reached her, and quickly realized  Vinyl was asleep. 

She sat down at the opposite side of the table, finding it amusing how she could just completely pass out in public like that.  After a moment though, she kicked Vinyl's leg to wake her up.

“Ow...”  It took her a second to snap out of dreamland, but when she did she jolted upright.  “Oh, I'm sorry!”

“It' fine,”  Octavia laughed as Vinyl began rubbing her eyes, “Late night?”

“Yeah... It's been years since the last time I woke up this early...”

“Well luckily, this fine establishment is full of caffeine,”  Octavia stood back up, “I'm going to grab a drink, do you want something?”

“I tried a drink earlier...”  Vinyl gagged at the memory, “I have no idea why anyone would do that to themselves.  It tastes like mud.”

“What did you order?”

“Uh, coffee?”

Octavia shook her head.  “You've never had coffee before, and you just started out with black coffee?” 

“Sorry, I didn't read the Guide to Coffee Drinking for Dummies!”

Octavia rolled her eyes as she continued into the coffee shop, though she was smiling.  That girl seemed to have a knack for making her smile, and as she ordered her and Vinyl a drink, she realized her anxiety was gone.  Instead, she felt happy. Really happy.

“What's that?”

Vinyl seemed wary of the drink Octavia placed in front of her.

“White mocha,”  She took her seat and crossed her legs as she watched the cup glow blue and rise up to Vinyl, who was  trying to sniff her drink through the lid.  “It's more your speed.  You'll like it.”

She still seemed skeptical, “If you say so...”  She took a sip, and Octavia had to hold back her laughter as Vinyl's eyes lit up.

“So... any particular reason you wanted to see me today?”

Vinyl had popped off her lid and was looking amazed at the whipped cream on her drink, but glanced back to Octavia once she spoke.  “Not really... oh, I wanted to tell you your performance last night was pretty nice.”

Octavia blinked, looking surprised.  “You were there?”

“Yeah, only stuck around for your quartet. Ducked out after that.”  Octavia's surprised expression didn't change as Vinyl kept talking, “I recognized the first and second pieces you played, but was the third original?”

“Yes, it was.  I composed it.”  Octavia continued as Vinyl imitated a golf clap, “I really didn't take you for a classical music appreciator.”

“Oh, I'm not.  I had a musical history tutor when I was a kid.”  She quit her clapping and rocked back on her chair, her drink floating beside her, “It was fun though, watching you all in the zone.  You're good.”

“Ah... thanks.”  The nervous feeling was encroaching once again, Octavia tried to distract herself by talking.  “So, you said you were a musician? What do you do?”

“I'm glad you asked!”  Vinyl let her chair fall so it was flat on the floor again,  “Close your eyes.”

“What?  Why?”

“Do it!”  Octavia folded her arms, and Vinyl's command became a whine, “C'mon, do it, please?”

Octavia sighed, and finally obliged

“Okay, imagine a room full of people... it's dark, silent, motionless... you can feel the misery like a fog hanging over the room...”  Vinyl paused for a moment, then continued, “Suddenly, music. Incredibly loud, incredibly fierce, impossible to ignore. Each beat pulses life into the listeners, driving them to move, and dance, and feel passion, the same passion that everyone around them feels, and it can only be expressed by dancing like you're fucking insane.”

“So... you're a DJ?  At a club?”

“Yeah! Well, not always clubs.”

Octavia opened her eyes to see Vinyl grinning at her from across the table.  “Well, our genres are very different.  I doubt I could enjoy music blindly, not thinking about it as I listened.  That's what you were describing, correct?”

Vinyl nodded, “But sometimes you gotta stop thinking, and just...do.”

Octavia looked down at her lap for a moment.

“Stop thinking!”

She looked up to see Vinyl smirking at her, and she shot back a playful glare.  “Stop thinking... and do what?”

“Talk.” Vinyl leaned back on her chair once again, “What are your goals?”

“My goals...?  You mean with my music? Or my career...?”

“Yes.”

Octavia took another sip of her drink, and noticed that Vinyl's seemed to be empty. She wondered if she was going to regret giving her caffeine later... but for now she couldn't seem to deny Vinyl's smug little grin.  “Well, right now I'm trying to make a name for myself as a musician.  I have my quartet at the moment, and they're very talented people, but I'd like to be well known, so I may be able to perform solo one day.  It's certainly going to be a challenge.”

Vinyl seemed to be mulling this information over.  “Okay... let's say you're well known.  A household name, when anyone mentions the cello, you come to mind... You've reached your goal, what then?

Octavia gave her an inquisitive look.

“Come on, where do you see yourself once you've made the big time?”

Her eyes reverted to her lap once again.  “I see myself living well off.  Somewhere in the country, probably.  My parents finally leave me alone, and I can just play and compose music for myself.”

She looked up to see Vinyl's smile was gone.  “Your goal is to be alone?”

“You could look at it that way, I suppose.” She sighed.

“Why?”

“Ah...”  Octavia bit her lip, undecided if she should continue or not.  But Vinyl had shared her story, wasn't it only fair?

“My father was a concert pianist, but his career was cut short when he started getting horrible arthritis.  He could still play, but typically not for more than ten minutes.  I was little when that happened, and a few years later I started tinkering with his piano.  It was before grade school, so I was four or five, and he seemed to think I was a natural.” Octavia took another sip of her coffee, and Vinyl patiently waited for her to continue.  “By the time I was in school my parents had gotten me an array of instruments to try, and I was partial to the cello.  It was this huge, powerful, beast of an instrument... It made me feel strong, in a way, and I loved it, so my parents had me focus on it.  I mean, focus on it... when I went to sleep I could see sheet music on the back of my eyelids.”  Before going further she laughed, though it was a humorless one.  “Eventually I became home schooled, and started performing.  I was talented for my age, but playing had become less enjoyable and more of an obligation.  My dad would relive his glory days every time I played, you could see it on his face... and there was so much pressure. I had to be flawless...”

“I bet they haven't let up on the pressure, right?  They're still keeping tabs on you?”

“Yes... good guess.”

“Not a guess... I just know people never change.”

Octavia took her final sip of coffee and pondered over Vinyl's statement for a moment.

“So, wait... did you never have any friends? Since you were home schooled and glued to your cello?”

“Distractions... according to my parents.”

“Damn...”

Octavia had been looking down when Vinyl suddenly jumped to her feet, startling her a bit.  “Well that's behind you!  I'll help you make some friends, are you free tonight?”

“I... yes, but what are you planning?”

“I'm guessing you're not one for wild parties, so I'll get some more chill guys and we can have a toned down party.  And you can hear me DJ a bit!  Then you can form an educated opinion on electronic music... this is an awesome idea!”

She had intended to decline, not at all interested in partying, even if it was 'toned down'... but saying no to Vinyl was proving to be incredibly hard.

“Sure... sounds great.”


-----


Lying on her couch, Vinyl was texting the last of her more laid back friends, four of which were already here, sitting in front of her TV and playing a fighting game.  It was about ten at night, and she had recruited two others who were supposed to be on the way over.  If things went according to plan, this was going to be a relaxed get together, and Octavia could get some social experience.

“I'm sick of this, Nano keeps beating everyone.”

One of the girls playing threw down her controller, and the other two players did as well.  The man who had been winning simply smirked at them.

“What? You said don't go easy on you.”

“Whatever. Vinyl, you have some drinks or should I do a beer run?”

“It's gonna be a booze free night... I said that like twice already.” Everyone seemed to groan in unison, and Vinyl rolled her eyes.  “You can go one night without getting smashed, you're not gonna die.”

Vinyl had left her apartment door unlocked so she wouldn't have to keep answering it, and one of her other invited friends came in... along with someone else.

“Aye Vinyl, you said we were gonna chill? My buddy Ganja said he can hook us up.”

His red-eyed, dread-headed companion held up a plastic bag, and Vinyl's eyes widened.

“That's not what I meant!” She jumped to her feet and held up her phone, showing her friend the text she had sent.   “I even said no drugs in the text, man!”

“Oh...” He looked embarrassed, “I kinda only read the first sentence.”

“Well, thanks... Ganja, but get that out of here.  Some other time.”

Another unified groan swept over the other guests as she started to shove the dealer out of her apartment.  But at the door, she was met with a second problem.

There was a mob of people.  She recognized plenty of them, but she hadn't invited them over... she managed to spot the friend she did invite, at the front of the crowd.

“What the hell is this?!”  The mob started to enter her apartment, and Vinyl was shoved to the side in the process.  

The woman who Vinyl had been expecting walked over to her. “I got the word out. You're welcome.”  She smiled and then disappeared into the mob.

“Okay, remain calm, Vinyl... just gotta cancel on Octavia...”  Vinyl was still holding her phone, but the screen was black.  She flipped it over to see that the battery had fallen out in the chaos.  “Shit!”

She began scanning the floor for it, but with no luck. Everyone was inside at this point, and Vinyl followed after them, keeping an eye out for her battery.  Chances were it had been kicked underneath something...

“Shitshitshitshit...”

Someone tapped her shoulder, and Vinyl jumped before turning to see who it was.

"Whoa dude, you're way up tight."  It was Ganja, the newly introduced drug dealer.  "I've seen you before, you used to be super chill.  You were a pretty sick DJ."

"Yeah... I still am.

"Nah dude, you changed.  You've got this negativity... you're not the same wicked DJ who didn't give a fuck.  Whatever's giving you that negative energy, cut it outta your life, dude. You don't need that fuckin' you up."

He disappeared into her apartment, and Vinyl leaned back against a nearby wall.  

"I haven't changed... he's wrong..."  With a new found resolve, Vinyl pushed her way passed the crowd and jumped on top of her living room table.  She had caught their attention, and didn't waste a moment getting out what she needed to say.

"Are you fuckers ready to party?!"
> Face the Music
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Errrrghhhfff...”

She was hardly conscious and her head already hurt.  Actually, most of her hurt, but her head was the worst.  It took Vinyl a few more moments of waking up to realize she was face down on her bedroom floor.  She didn't know how long she had been passed out, but if it had been for a while, that would explain why her body was stiff and painful... hardwood floors aren't very comfortable.

She found the strength to role onto her back, though she regretted it.  Her window was open, letting the sun in and making her eyes ache.  After a minute or so of squinting she sat up, though her head throbbed again.

Her room was covered with trash, spills, and other remnants of the party she had little memory from.  She guessed the rest of her house was in the same state of disarray, so she would probably call a maid later on... but right now she was still trying to fully wake up.

Looking down at herself, Vinyl saw she was wearing a pair of boy shorts and a t-shirt she didn't recognize.  How that had happened, she had no idea, but it didn't really concern her.  She decided she needed some water, so she tried to stand, and after an admirable display of determination, she was on her feet.  With her balance as good as it was going to get, she staggered out of her room with the intention of getting a drink, but froze when she entered her living room.

Octavia was sitting on her couch, reading a book.  She hadn't put the book down or turned to look at Vinyl as she entered, though she still acknowledged her.

“Good morning.”  It was a greeting that typically should have been friendly, though her tone insisted otherwise.

“Uh, hey... um...”  Vinyl had no idea what to say.  She didn't know the details of last night, but could remember ditching her original plans with Octavia to throw a crazy party. She was expecting Octavia to never want to speak with her again, or something of the sort.  Why was she even here?  Actually, that seemed like a good place to start.  “What are you doing here?”

“Reading.” There was an awkward silence for a moment, then Octavia set down her book.  “Oh, you meant, why am I waiting around in the post-party mess of your apartment?”

“... Yes...”

“Well, at first, I hung around to make sure you weren't comatose, because you had been throwing back shots like they were water before you collapsed.”  Octavia stood, and Vinyl looked rather uncomfortable.  “Though, granted, any repercussions you were to suffer would have been self inflicted, and on top of that, well deserved...”  Vinyl took a step back, and ended up against her wall as Octavia stepped towards her.  “So instead, I decided to stay not for you, but for me.  To tell you how upset I was, to vent by yelling, or insulting, or Celestia knows what else? No, that wasn't it... To tell you of my newly inspired, and frankly, rather unflattering opinion of you? No, certainly not.”

As Octavia approached, Vinyl imagined a cornered animal could probably relate to how she felt right now.  Did that make Octavia the predator, coming in for the kill? No, not quite, Vinyl knew she had brought this upon herself.

Regardless, she was right in front of her now, and she looked livid.  “I wanted to tell you that, despite my better judgment, I still like you.  Despite the fact that every part of me was saying I should have lashed out at you, all I wanted to do last night was to save you from your horrible 'friends'.”

“They are my friends...”

“Oh, really?  One of the women you were fooling around with stole your wallet.”  She reached into her own pocket and removed Vinyl's wallet, and handed it back to her. “I recovered it. No need to thank me.”

Vinyl hung her head, and Octavia turned away from her.  “I'm a crazy person! Anyone sane would have left, and cut you out of their life, but not me...  Clearly my own well being comes second next to a woman who wouldn't know self control if it hit her in the face!”

“Octavia, I'm so sorry."  Last night Vinyl had been comfortable with the thought of Octavia cutting her out of her life, as she had put it.  In a way she had been aiming for that, but faced with her now, all she felt was guilt.  "I swear I'll make it up to you.”

Octavia spun around to face her, and Vinyl withdrew once again, pressing herself against the wall.  “I really doubt it, Vinyl.  I imagine it's rather difficult to make amends for something you don't remember.”

"Oct-"

"I got my pointless speech out, and I feel better, for whatever reason.  So I'm going to go wash the smell of marijuana out of my clothes. I'd appreciate it if you left me alone."

And with that she left, slamming the apartment door behind her.


-----


She had been helping to set up their music stands and chairs, as she did every week, typically without interruption.  This was the quartet's weekly practice day, and all four of them always made sure that they were free for a few hours, but someone was pounding on the door to Octavia's house.  It made Allegro jump, and Octavia rolled her eyes at his overreaction.

Her neighborhood was a nice one, full of green lawns, fancy mailboxes, and occasionally even white picket fences.  Nothing like the mansions that could be found in other areas, but it was still nice, and often times a target for solicitors. 

“Probably some salesman...” She left to go answer the door, not expecting anything out of the ordinary.

Yesterday she had confronted Vinyl after her party, and the rest of the day had passed with no contact from her, as had most of today.  She had concluded, a bit hopefully, that she wasn't going to try and get in touch, but as she opened the door, she was proven wrong.

Propped up on what appeared to be some sort of built in kick stand was a... subspecies of cello?  She didn't know what to call it.  It was cello shaped, and cello sized, but the middle portion of it was completely empty, save for the fingerboard that went down the middle. The frame was what made it cello shaped, and when she touched it, she found that it was made of wood.  It was definitely some kind of cello, and there was a case for it on the ground next to it, opened up so she could see the bow it carried.  There was also an envelope, but she ignored that for now.

Upon closer examination, she saw that there was a pick up on it, as an electric guitar would have, and several dials on the side that could also belong to an electric guitar.  Was this an electric cello?

She finally took the envelope and removed the handwritten note that was inside.

Did you know electric cellos are a thing?  I didn't, but this guy in town sells them, along with electric violins, violas, fiddles... who knew, right?

You were spot on yesterday, those people aren't my friends.  I've kept it that way, actually.  I don't like anyone getting too close, but I couldn't keep you at a distance, and I flipped out when I realized that.  I've always been that way, and I wasn't expecting that to change like it did, just out of nowhere.  I'm really sorry I fucked things up.

I understand if you'd rather not see me, but this cello would sound good with some electronic accompaniment.  Come make some music with me?

Even in an apology letter, she couldn't end it without throwing in some unnecessary self confidence.  Octavia guessed she didn't apologized for her behavior often. It was a good first try though... right?

Her better judgment was pulling her back into the apartment, telling her to join her quartet, but something else entirely was nagging her to forgive Vinyl and pay her a visit.  Who was she kidding, she had already forgiven her...  Perhaps it was a bit hypocritical for her to talk about self control, she didn't seem to have any right now.

“Octavia?”

Her violinist was looking around the corner at her, probably trying to find out what was keeping her.  She picked up her new electric cello, which was startlingly light, and brought it inside, along with the case.

“Something's happened, I have to go.”

The violinist eyed the instrument. “You have to go now?”  Octavia nodded. “Well, we can take this week off, I guess... I'll tell the others to pack up.”


-----


Vinyl had answered the door quickly after she heard the knock, and immediately pulled Octavia into a hug.  She ended up dropping her case, but when she looked down she saw it was engulfed in blue magic and safely floating above the ground.

“You don't know how happy I am you're here!”

“Judging by the death grip, a lot?”

“More than a lot!”

Vinyl released her and went back inside, followed by Octavia and her floating case.  The bounce in her step was rather cute, Octavia had to admit.

“Let me hook this up to an amp... the guy who sold it to me played a bit, I swear you're gonna love it!"

She bounced into the doorway of the only room Octavia hadn't seen yet, and waved for her to come over.

“You know, you could have just apologized.  You really didn't need to get me a gift.”

“I wanted to, though.”  Vinyl was unzipping the cello case with her magic as Octavia entered.  She wasn't paying attention to Vinyl, instead gawking at the room before her.

“I mean, this can help us bring our genres together, which means we can actually find a middle ground and jam, and that... Octavia?”

The room was probably supposed to be a second bedroom, but it was instead being used as a room to hold all of Vinyl's DJ gear. It was full of speakers, instruments,and other fancy technology that was foreign to Octavia.  All of the more high-tech equipment was towards the back wall, consoles with countless knobs and dials, a couple turntables, and a computer monitor attached to the wall at eye level.  Vinyl stretched out a glowing hand in that direction, and the monitor sparked to life, along with all of the other technology in the room.

There were several large speakers along the left and right walls, along with different sized amplifiers, a laptop, an electric guitar in its stand, and a keyboard.  The entire room was padded with what Octavia guessed was a material made to absorb noise, the padding was even on the back of the door and along the floor.

“You like it?”  

“I don't know yet...”

Vinyl chuckled, then ushered Octavia into the room, closing the door after her.  “Let me show you how to play this thing.”

Octavia nodded, and Vinyl grabbed the electric cello.  She had already hooked it up to an amp, through what looked like a pedal, and everything was turned on.


“So, this baby has way more options than your regular cello, since every little sound is electronically amplified.  For example...” Vinyl took the bow and tapped it against the strings, making an acoustic, drum-like sound.  Then she plucked the strings a few times, which also resounded loudly, and reminded Octavia a bit of a guitar. “So, there's a lot of new options.  The volume is down here, and... don't mess with the other stuff for now.”

Vinyl picked up the pedal and held it out for Octavia to see.  “This pedal has a few sound altering effects to it, but my favorite thing about it is the looping effect.  It can loop four different things you play, each can be up to 90 seconds long. It's pretty much-”

“Do you think I could mess with it for a bit?”

“Uh, yeah... sure.”  Vinyl set the pedal back down. “I'll give you two some privacy.”  She flashed a smirk on her way out, though Octavia didn't seem to have seen it.

Vinyl plopped down on her couch and turned on her TV, lowering the volume once she did.  She had left the door open, and though Octavia had lowered the volume on the cello, she could still hear her screwing around with it.

It was barely ten minutes later when Vinyl could tell Octavia had turned the volume back up, apparently feeling more confident in her playing.  It didn't sound like a cello though, at first it sounded similar to bongos.  Curious, she turned off the TV so she could listen.

She was using the looping effect, the bongo sound had most likely been her beating on the strings, and the loop was now keeping beat as she continued.  Vinyl couldn't simply sit there anymore, and returned to Octavia, who was sitting on a speaker as she played .  She had just finished making a second loop, which was comprised of long, slow strokes of her bow, making a deep, beautiful sound. She continued on to play a non-looping portion,  her eyes fixed on her instrument, not even noticing Vinyl.

What she was playing now seemed more energetic, but had the beat and lower sounding portion playing over it, though the contrast had to be completely intentional.  The music was strikingly beautiful, and as she continued on, Vinyl was engulfed in it as she watched and listened. She wasn't even aware how long it lasted... long enough for her to get tired of standing, and sit down in the doorway.  She never paused in her playing, or erased the loop, continuing to somehow tie everything she played back to the beat she had started with.  She was so intently focused, her expression revealing no emotion, but her playing had that covered.  Whether intentional or not, there was emotion behind the music, and Vinyl could hear it, even feel it.  The performance with her quartet Vinyl had seen definitely didn't quite... have the same weight to it.

Eventually, and rather abruptly, Octavia stopped.  It seemed like she suddenly snapped out of a trance... but trance or not, Vinyl was in awe.

“Was that recording? Please tell me that was recording.”

Vinyl had jumped to her feet and ran over to Octavia.

“How would I have known how to record it...?”

“Nevermind, doesn't matter...  Octavia, that was great.” She ran over to her equipment, messing with some dials. “I mean, really great.  Mind blowing!”

“You liked it?”

“Anyone who couldn't like that would have to be deaf, Octavia.”  She turned her back to her equipment and started back over to her.  “You could make albums... if you can get out of your little cellist zone and get into it, you could perform live, like a rocker.  People would eat that up, slap a leather jacket on you, groove a bit, with some distortion on that cello... or not.  Whatever you want!  That was amazing, you couldn't go wrong.”

“Well I'm flattered you think it was that good, but I really couldn't perform with this cello...”

“Why not?”

Octavia was starting to shy away from Vinyl, “It's not traditional, classical music.  That's what I want to perform.”

“Well, the cellist I saw playing just now wanted to perform hooked up to an amp. You didn't play like that before!”  Octavia shook her head, and Vinyl groaned. “Okay, humor me... give me a week."  Octavia shook her head again, "Five days? Give me five days. You come over here, I'll record some jam sessions, maybe dress you up and show you how to rock...maybe not, it's up to you. If you hate it after that, I'll drop it, but if not, give it a chance!  People will love you. ”

“Vinyl...”  'No' is such a tiny word... two letters, one syllable, quick and easy to say... “All right... fine.”

“Nice!”  Vinyl hopped back over to her equipment, muttering to herself as she tried to sort something out that was beyond Octavia's knowledge. She was looking over her new cello, seeing for the first time what a wonderful piece of work it was. It was a high quality instrument, and she already adored it.  She was going to make her own music with it, Vinyl seemed to be encouraging that... her own music, free of any expectations, playing whatever she pleased.  This was what she wanted, why couldn't she just stop worrying and go for it?
> Parental Block
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Vinyl and Octavia had agreed to start their jam sessions at noon each day, and they could go on for as long as Octavia wanted.  The first day they had played and recorded well into the evening, with Octavia trying to resist falling any more in love with her electric cello, but it didn't work.  Vinyl seemed to be enjoying it just as much as Octavia, after the first hour or two of Octavia holding back, they were both in high spirits.  It wasn't just exciting to be doing something new with their music, they seemed to be enjoying the company just as much.

The next day had gone similarly, Vinyl mixed Octavia's cello playing into her own electronic songs, Octavia was becoming more familiar with distortion and other effects that changed her cello's sound, and the two tossed out ideas for a potential album. 

Day three, Vinyl changed the game plan, dressing up Octavia like a punk rocker.  She wasn't sure how she felt about altering her image in the name of marketing, but it ended up being fun.  Vinyl had decided she needed a nickname, because Octavia didn't sound like the name of a rocker, according to her.  She had decided on Tavi, which Octavia had snubbed, but Vinyl insisted she would grow to like it.  She was Tavi for the rest of the jam session, though she really hoped Vinyl would forget the nickname by the next day.

She didn't.  Day four, she was still Tavi, and she was slowly growing to like it.  Not that she admitted it to Vinyl, but she was.  They ended up getting hardly any work done, goofing off instead, and Vinyl said they would have to work harder the next day to make up for it.

It was day five, and Octavia received a call from her parents.  They wanted her to come over for dinner, and when her parents wanted something of her, it really wasn't optional.  She decided to just call Vinyl and reschedule, though she would rather be with her than at her parent's house.

Looking at her phone, she noticed all of her recent calls were to or from Vinyl, excluding the one she had just gotten from her parents.  She wasn't sure how she felt about that, but regardless, she was about to add another to the list.

“Hello, lucky caller number 10, you're on the air!” 

“You're an idiot.”

“I've been told it's endearing.  What's up?”

As expected, Vinyl was fine with the reschedule, and now all she had to worry about was putting on a smile for her parents.  It wasn't unusual for them to call and check on her, but she didn't see them often in person these days.  They didn't live in town, or else she was sure they would be much more involved in her work.  They could be overbearing, so Octavia liked it this way, though visiting them every once in a while couldn't hurt.


-----


They still lived in the house Octavia grew up in.  It was rather rustic on the outside, but the inside had always been much more impressive.  Furnished with hand carved tables, nice chairs, and her father's grand piano, all of it was old, but well kept.  It was the same as it had always been, Octavia couldn't remember it ever being different.

Her mother was happy to see her, though her father was nowhere in sight.  She poured Octavia some tea, then sat across from her, asking questions unrelated to her work.  Octavia answered them absentmindedly, wondering where her father was.

“Is dad here?”

“Yes, he's on the phone.  Should be here any moment.”

Something was off, and it was making her too nervous to keep up the conversation.  Her mother seemed fine with the silence, at least.

She finally heard her father coming down the hallway, the familiar thump of his cane announcing his presence.  When he came into view, he didn't look happy, or even greet her, which set Octavia into a momentary internal panic.

“Octavia, how is your cello playing going?”

“Great... and my composing is going well.  I told you about our last performance, but I didn't mention the quartet played an original piece of mine.”

He sat down beside her mother.  “You really should stick to commonly known works when you perform.”

“Okay...”

“She won't listen to me.”  He was speaking to her mother, who didn't seem too fond of being dragged into this.  Octavia was beyond confused at his anger.

“I always listen to you.”  He huffed in disbelief, and Octavia couldn't figure out why.  “Dad, what's wrong?”

“Octavia...” He seemed to be trying to make a decision, and finally continued.  “It's come to my attention that you've been skipping practice with your quartet.”

“No, I only missed the one...”  Octavia quickly abandoned defending herself, and turned on to the offensive as she realized something. “... How did you know about that?”

Neither of them answered right away, but the way her mother was looking nervously towards her father, Octavia connected the dots.

“Have you been speaking to my quartet?"  He simply scowled. "You have, haven't you?”

“I'm not going to apologize for keeping myself informed.” He folded his arms, “Especially not after you've been skipping practice.”

“I can't... I can't believe this!  I thought I had a bit of freedom, but it was... Ugh!”  Octavia angrily stood, as did her father, though her mother remained seated.  “I missed one practice dad, but Celestia forbid I miss a single practice, forget the fact that I've never missed one before in my life!” She had taken a few steps away, but turned back to him.  “Which one of them is your spy?  Or was it all of them?”

“Octavia, you're my daughter, I have the right to make sure you are doing your best. Someone leaves an odd contraption at your door, and you race off?  Musicians who are distracted so easily don't get far in this business!”

Octavia's face was becoming red, her hands balled into fists, but she took a deep breath to calm herself.

“Well, dad... since you know my quartet so well, do me a favor and tell them I quit.”  Her father's jaw dropped, but she continued.  “I don't want to play classical music for a bunch of stuffy snobs.  I've found something else, something I can actually enjoy, and you sure as hell aren't going to be involved in it!”

Octavia turned on her heel and started out, leaving as fast as she could.  Her father seemed to be too shocked to react right then, but she caught her mother saying, “Oh no...”

Ironically, Vinyl said the same thing when Octavia showed up at her door.

“Oh no... Tavi, what happened?”

She had kept it together on the train ride back, even on the walk to Vinyl's apartment, but once she was climbing the stairs she had started to break down.

Vinyl pulled her inside, shutting the door with a wave of her hand.  She was given a quick, reassuring hug, but then Vinyl grabbed her hand and led her over to her couch and sat her down.  Vinyl herself sat on the coffee table, facing her.

“Do I need to beat someone up?”

“No, I don't want you to beat up my parents, Vinyl.”

She hadn't let go of her hand, and Octavia seemed content to just hold on to it and cry.  Vinyl was trying not to ask any more questions, guessing Octavia would talk when she was ready, but she couldn't stay quiet for long.

“I don't know what happened, but anyone who makes you this upset doesn't deserve to know you.  Even your parents... hell, especially your parents. Not that I know from experience, but they're supposed to be looking out for you, and this is not looking out for you.”  Octavia's crying had stopped, and she was trying to wipe away her eyeliner smudges as Vinyl continued. “If they don't know how awesome you are, fuck them, they're delusional.  Everyone else can see you're this smart, talented, caring, beautiful...”

Octavia was staring at Vinyl, and she suddenly couldn't remember what she was going to say next.

“Beautiful... woman, there we go.  Who has a lot going-”

Octavia had taken her hand away from Vinyl, grabbed her by her shirt and pulled her into a kiss.

And that was all it took.  There had been sparks of attraction between them since they met, which were all ignored or avoided, but it was only a matter of time before something ignited. 

Vinyl was on her lap before she knew it, the two of them kissing with a passion that was as sudden as it was fierce.  Neither of them seemed willing to stop, so Vinyl had repositioned and wrapped Octavia's legs around her waist, making it possible to carry her to their bedroom, lips still attached.

Earlier on Octavia had felt bold, but once the two were on her bed, Vinyl was taking charge.  She had tossed aside her shirt and bra, then deftly began unbuttoning Octavia's blouse like she was being timed.

Their breathing seemed equally ragged, and as Vinyl took it upon herself to undress them both, Octavia couldn't seem to keep her hands off of Vinyl.  Her skin was warm to touch, which somehow seemed odd for someone as pale as her.  She was naturally petite, but had a muscular build, and it all added up to make her feel like heaven beneath her fingers.

Vinyl was still wearing a pair of boxers, but had stopped undressing to look over Octavia, admiring her like some long awaited treasure. Octavia would have expected herself to feel self conscious under that sort of scrutiny, though now she felt anything but. 

Vinyl kissed her again, but only for a moment before she moved further down her body.  She said something, though it came out as a soft, hardly audible murmur, but Octavia had caught it.

"Tavi, I swear, you're perfect."
> Million Bells
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Octavia never slept in.  Her regular mornings ran on a schedule, one which had been slowly deteriorating recently, but she still managed to wake up at 7:00 AM every day.  She had been taught sleeping late was only for lazy, careless individuals... but waking up on her own, free of any alarm, was a great feeling.

According to a digital clock on Vinyl's dresser, it was a quarter until noon.  Oddly enough Vinyl was already up, sitting crossed legging beside Octavia, wearing a tank top and a pair of shorts.  She was typing something on her phone... wait, no.

“Vinyl... Is that my phone?”

“Good morning to you too, Tavi.”

Judging by the smirk she had, Vinyl was up to something.  Even just woken up, Octavia could figure that out.  “What are you doing with my phone?”

“I was changing my name in your contacts.”  Octavia snatched the phone from her, “Hey, grabby!”

“The All Mighty... really, Vinyl?”  Vinyl was trying not to laugh, but lost it when Octavia read the full edited contact. “The All Mighty Virginity Burglar. Real mature...”

Vinyl stopped laughing and watched as Octavia tried to change it back.  “Why is it asking me for a password?”

“I dunno.  Maybe it's a sign you should keep it.” Octavia groaned and started to roll over, but Vinyl grabbed her shoulder to keep her from turning away.  “This fell out of your pocket when I took your phone.”

Vinyl held up her old purity ring, and Octavia turned away from her again, more successfully this time.

“I didn't mean to snoop, but it's sweet that you carry it around.”  Vinyl had quickly transitioned from teasing to sentimental, which was rather unexpected and unlike her.

“Oh Vinyl, you're such a hopeless romantic.”  Octavia sat up and turned back around to see Vinyl dramatically clutching her chest.

“Your sarcasm, it wounds me so!”

Vinyl was holding the ring in her other hand, and Octavia took it back from her as her brief little performance came to a close.

“Seriously, Vinyl... can you tell me the password for my phone?”

“Love waits.”

Vinyl hopped off the bed and started out of the room, though she stopped before reaching the door.   “You should wear it.  I mean, since you already carry it around... What?”

Octavia had been eying her, but  once Vinyl called her on it she dropped her gaze and cracked a smile. Though that only seemed to bother her more.

“What? What was that look for?”

“You actually have a sensitive side... it's cute.”

“No, no I don't.” Vinyl folded her arms, “You're the one with the sensitive side.  I was just saying...”

“Okay, okay.”   Octavia stood and set her phone and the ring down on Vinyl's dresser.  “Do you mind if I take a shower?”

“Yeah... sure.”  Vinyl started down the hallway that led out of her room, still looking a bit unhappy about being called sensitive.  Octavia followed after her, and Vinyl opened a door not far from her room, revealing her bathroom.  “The shower head is kinda fucked up, so don't-”

Octavia had stepped into the bathroom, grabbing Vinyl by the wrist and tugging her in after her as she walked by.


-----


She hadn't announced her presence, or even made any noise, but Octavia could tell Vinyl was right behind her.  She had several sheets of staff paper in front of her, the one she was using now a little under half filled with notations.  Vinyl had developed a habit of sneaking up behind her and reading over her shoulder if Octavia had a book, but apparently it now applied to anything she had in front of her..

“You're composing in pen?” 

At first Vinyl creeping up on her would make her jump, but now she could easily tell when she entered the room... though how she knew was beyond her.  Maybe it was some sort of sixth sense... her Vinyl detection sense.  That was an amusing thought...

“Yes, why?”

“What do you do when you screw up?”

“I don't.  I'm flawless.”

Vinyl scoffed, and Octavia spun around on her stool to face her.  She was in Vinyl's kitchen, sitting at the island counter since Vinyl had been playing some video game earlier, and Octavia wanted some quiet.  She could be at her own home... but the past five days she had spent most of her time here.  Compared to Vinyl's apartment, her house felt... empty.  

“Can I help you with something, or did you just want to insult me?”

Vinyl leaned in to kiss her, but Octavia pulled away.  It was clearly playful, though Octavia had forgotten that playing with Vinyl seemed to always end badly for her.

“Rude... you should loosen up.”  Vinyl took a step back and held up her hand, which began to glow, and Octavia's stool began rapidly spinning.  She screamed and tried to grab on to the counter, but it didn't work.

“Vinyl! Stop it!”  Vinyl simply snickered as Octavia continued to spin.  “I swear I'm going to kill you if you don't-”

The stool came to an immediate stop, and Octavia nearly fell, but managed to grab the counter and save herself.  Her hair was a mess from the spinning, and she looked dizzy enough to be sick.

“There we go, that looks loose enough.”

Octavia had gotten off the stool, worried that Vinyl might start spinning it again,  though she wobbled a bit on her feet.  She ended up nearly falling over, but Vinyl caught her and kept her standing.

“You know what you are, Vinyl?”

She was helping to keep Octavia steady, despite being the cause for her dizziness.  “Hilarious?”

“No... You're that kid in school who teases the girl he has a crush on, because he doesn't know anything about love.”

Vinyl seemed to be taking that comparison into consideration.  “Yeah, that sounds pretty accurate.”

As soon as Octavia felt stable enough to stand on her own, she shoved Vinyl away.  “You're such a jerk.”  She had gathered up her compositions and had started into the living room, with Vinyl following behind her.

“But hey, I'm your jerk!”

Octavia set her papers down and turned back to her.  She took a few steps forward, until the two were right in front of each other, hardly any space between them.   

“Are you now...?” Octavia had begun tracing a finger along Vinyl's jawline, then started down her neck, unaware of the abrupt change in Vinyl's mood.

“Yeah... I'm yours, as long as you want me.”

Octavia stopped her tracing once she realized what Vinyl was saying.  It hadn't been said flirtatiously, there was no suggestive undertone paired with it, nor Vinyl's typical lighthearted smile.  

“I'm not one to commit to anything, especially people.  They're just... messy, you know?  I try to block them out.”  She took Octavia's hand off of her and looked it over, running a finger over the ring she wore.  Octavia insisted the inscription was silly, but after some pestering Vinyl had convinced her to wear it. 

“But it gets... I mean, you're different.  I haven't known you long, but I know you are, and... I don't want to block you out. I guess, I'm trying to say, since we never really talked about it... I just wanted to make sure...”

Octavia had been patiently watching her struggle with her words, but finally decided to interject.  “Are you trying to make us official, Vinyl?”

Vinyl Scratch normally resembled a fiery, uncontrollable animal... wild, unable to be tamed, and she was proud of it.  Yet there were moments like these, where her façade would melt away and reveal the nervous, timid creature hiding underneath.  Seeing her feeling so frightened and insecure,  it somehow managed to break Octavia's heart.

Vinyl simply nodded in response to Octavia's question.

“Yes, of course.  I want to be with you...  I don't come over here because I enjoy your cooking, you know... I have feelings for you.  I thought that was obvious... I'm crazy about you.”

It may have been obvious, but Vinyl seemed relieved just by hearing it out loud.  Her moment of vulnerability was gone, Vinyl quickly regained her self-assured attitude.

“Crazy, huh? How crazy?”

She was confusing, but Octavia was slowly making sense of her.  Part of deciphering her was going with the flow, and right now Vinyl's hands sliding up the back of Octavia's shirt were giving clear hint as to where things were going.

“As crazy as you like.” 

Vinyl jumped slightly as her phone unexpectedly started ringing in her pocket.  She removed one of her hands to retrieve it, and without even looking to see who was calling, she tossed it onto the floor.  It continued to ring, but it went ignored, and quickly forgotten as the two engaged in a mouth to mouth battle for dominance. 

That was how it always seemed to go.  Vinyl inevitably would gain the upper hand, but Octavia would contend for control, at least for a few minutes.  By the time Octavia had lost her fight, she was sitting on the arm of Vinyl's couch, lifting up her arms for a moment as Vinyl pulled off her top.  No sooner had she tossed the garment aside, someone was knocking at her apartment door.

“Fuck's sake...”  Vinyl waited for a moment, listening to hear if their visitor was leaving, but instead the knocking became loud pounding.

“I'll be right back.”

She left at a jog to go answer the door, and when she did she was met by the burly man sporting a fauxhawk and soul patch, though he was a bit too old to pull either of them off.

“Hey, Vinyl! How's your night? Going well, I hope?”

Vinyl recognized him, but her greeting wasn't nearly as enthusiastic, considering she was being interrupted.  Vertigo ran a popular self-titled nightclub in town, and he was a genuinely nice guy, not exactly deserving of Vinyl's rudeness.

“It was, until just now.”  Vinyl's frown was unwavering, as was his friendly grin. “I'm busy, what do you want?”

“You're busy? Cuz, I was hoping you'd do me a favor... I, uh, tried to call on my way up here...”  Vinyl folded her arms and leaned against her doorway as he went on, “My DJ for tonight jumped off a roof and broke his arm, so I'm trying to get a quick replacement.  I know it's short notice, but I'll pay you double for the inconvenience.”

“... Why did your DJ jump off a roof?”

“Because he's stupid... that's my guess.  Put me in a tight spot too, we open in an hour...”  Vertigo looked prepared to start begging if Vinyl wasn't going to accept.

“Fine, I'll help you out. You owe me though, dude.”

Vertigo lit up at that, “You're a life saver, Vinyl!  I've got my van, so we can take your equipment over right now.”

“Wait here, I'll bring you what I need, and you can help me get it down to your van.”

Vertigo happily nodded and Vinyl went back into her apartment, stopping in her living room before going to get her equipment. Octavia had put her shirt back on and was sitting properly on a cushion rather than the armrest.

“A friend who runs this club downtown, his scheduled DJ for tonight broke his arm...”  Vinyl had picked up her phone, then went to sit down beside Octavia.  “He's pretty desperate for a replacement, so I'm gonna help him out.”

Octavia looked uneasy, and seemed about to say something, but Vinyl spoke first.

“You want to come with me, Tavi? Vertigo's a nice club, as far as clubs go.  There's a high cover, so it's not trashy or anything...”

She had clearly caught on to what was making Octavia feel uncomfortable.  The thought of Vinyl going to a nightclub brought back memories of her party, which honestly wasn't that long ago.  Vinyl returning to that sort of scene didn't sit well with Octavia, but the offer made her feel better.

“No, that's okay. You're just going to play music, right?”

“Yeah, that's it.  No dancing, drinking, whatever... I'm just gonna do my job.”

Octavia gave her a quick hug. “All right, I trust you.”

“Did you want to head home?  I could call you a cab... or you can stay here.”  Vinyl glanced at her phone to check the time, “It's only nine, but setting up takes a while... and they close at 2, so I'll be back kinda late.”

“I'll just go home.”  Vinyl nodded and started dialing a number, though quickly stopped, as Octavia had suddenly kissed her. It was brief, but passionate, and when Octavia pulled away, she was donning a devious, suggestive smirk.  “But, if you want, you can stop by once you're done. I don't care how late.”


-----


Vinyl had covered the fair, so when the cab pulled up to Octavia's house, she could have just left immediately.  There was a car she didn't recognize which they had pulled up behind, an expensive looking sports car that was parked right in front of her house.  She was a bit hesitant to get out, unsure who it belonged to.

The driver's door opened, and Laureate stepped out.  Octavia didn't know why he was here, but she was sure he didn't mean any harm, so she decided to get out and greet him.

“Good evening, Octavia!  Pleasure to see you again.”

The cab pulled away as Laureate eagerly approached her.  “Ah... Likewise, Laureate.”

It was odd that he was just waiting here at night, and he seemed to realize that.

“I'm terribly sorry for the lack of notice, it seems your phone goes straight to voice mail.”  That was true, Octavia had been avoiding the dozens of calls she kept getting from her parents. “My apologies if this is an inconvenience, but I will be going out of town for a few days, and I wanted to catch you before I left. I was about to give up though, it's rather late, but I'm glad I didn't!”

“I see... why did you want to catch me?” Laureate began to give her an answer, but she quickly added, “I'm sorry, where are my manners... would you like to talk inside?”

“Certainly, certainly.”

Octavia didn't know what this was about, but she was guessing it was important, judging by how serious he seemed.  She led Laureate up to her door, unlocked it, and held it open for him.  He thanked her, and Octavia followed after him, turning on the lights as she took the lead again and showed him to her living room.

“Please, sit.”  Octavia took the couch, across from the chair Laureate had taken.  “Would you like something to drink...?”

“Oh, no need to trouble yourself, I really don't intend to keep you long. I just wanted to...”  Laureate cleared his throat and hesitated a moment before continuing.  “Well, some time ago, Vinyl Scratch paid me a visit to ask for your address.  My understanding is that she had an apology gift of some sort she wanted delivered, and I had your address from when I sent the check for your performance at my home.”

Octavia wasn't sure where this was going, but regardless, it was making her nervous.  Laureate seemed to feel equally awkward.

“I thought it was rather odd.  Vinyl isn't known for giving gifts or apologies, you see.  Additionally, she was acting out of sorts, clearly upset and being rather hard on herself.  I assure you, I am not typically one to meddle in the affairs of others... but Vinyl, she... she certainly has a good heart, but her moral compass is, perhaps, not fully functional...”

Octavia was stunned and speechless for a moment.  “You're assuming quite a lot, Laureate. And being rather forward about it.”

“I suppose I am assuming.  Are you not involved with Vinyl Scratch?”  

Again she withdrew, and was unsure how to respond. Laureate  sighed.

“Million Bells, my wife, was very close with Vinyl when she was younger.  She was the only person who could keep her in line, which was quite the accomplishment, Vinyl was always getting into trouble.  Around Milli she was an angel, but when they were apart Vinyl would dive right back into lashing out.  She would always tell me Vinyl was changing, making progress towards becoming a happy, well behaved child... but all she was doing was behaving when around someone she cared for.  In the long run, nothing was changing.”

Octavia was still too taken off guard to retort, and he continued.  “I just don't want to see any more people being let down by Vinyl Scratch. It truly hurt my wife.  And Octavia, you have a lot going for you, being the young, gifted cellist that you are.  You shouldn't throw that away... Vinyl is surely not going to throw away her lifestyle.”

“I think you should leave, Laureate.”  The sudden venom in Octavia's tone surprised her, but she didn't make any apology, or even regret it.

“Very well...”  Laureate didn't waste any time showing himself out, as he was asked, though before he left he added a somber, “Be careful, Octavia.”

At the sound of the door closing Octavia collapsed onto her couch, head against the armrest.  That visit was the last thing she needed tonight, she was already so uncomfortable about Vinyl being at a club.  There was no way her mind was going to let this go... not without some sort of reassurance.

Vinyl had originally invited her along, and now she really wished she had accepted.  Though... maybe she could show up later, saying she changed her mind?  That sounded like a good idea... she needed to, or else the uncertainty was going to drive her crazy.
> A Simple Misunderstanding
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

She was quiet, and that was just cause for worry.  Sarabandes was almost always engaged in a conversation about her incredible musical talent, stunning beauty, or anything else that could build up her enormous yet ever growing ego.  As a well know, successful multilingual pop singer, it wasn't hard to find someone who would fawn over her, but now she was curiously detached.  She had been ignoring everyone in the club, and hardly said a word since she arrived.  

For anyone who didn't know her, Sara probably seemed to be spacing out, but that wasn't the case.  If she was silent she was most likely plotting something, it became common knowledge after spending some time around her.

She was intently watching the DJ from a plush couch that lined the back wall of the club, her expression impassive, though she had taken on a faint smirk as she stared.  Her buff, tight shirted boy toy beside her seemed oblivious. She was holding on to his arm, and suddenly tugged him to get his attention. 

“That woman is very attractive.  Do you agree?”

“Wha... the DJ?”  Since it was so loud, they had to yell to be heard, even directly next to each other.  The man looked from her, to the DJ, and then back to her.  He looked nervous about answering, and Sara rolled her eyes.

“The answer is yes, chiquito.”  

“Oh uh... then, yes. But not as attractive as you.”

He tried to kiss her, but she held up her hand.

“Would you like to sleep with her?”  Her eyes remained locked on the DJ on the other side of the room, and the man beside her stammered.  “If you would, you are invited to join us tonight.”

“Wait, like... like a threesome?”

“Yes.”  Sara's tone lacked inflection, but her snide grin remained.

“Why would you want a threesome?  I'm not up for that...”  He seemed upset, and Sara finally turned to look at him.  “Am I not good enough?  I thought we were...”

“Pobrecito mijo!  You are like a tiny love struck kitten...”  Sara dropped the heavy sarcasm, “But I do not care. It will take very little time to replace you.”

Dejected, he hesitantly conceded defeat.  “A threesome sounds great...”

“Yes, it does.”

A young man suddenly plopped down beside Sara, and she noticed the black marker X's on the top of his hands.  He happily greeted her as she eyed him.

“Hey, you're Sara? Like, Sarabandes the singer, Sara?  My dad runs this club, you like it?”

“Who is the DJ?”  Sara's eyes had strayed back to her newly found object of affection, and the newly arrived young man followed her gaze.

“Oh, you like the music?  That's Vinyl Scratch. Went to school with her, a few years behind her though, but-”

Sara stood up and walked off, pulling her date along with her.  They ended up against a different wall, closer to the DJ, and she turned to her date.

“You go away, I will handle this.”

All night, Vinyl had hardly looked up from her work.  It was nearing midnight now, and since the club felt more like a furnace, she had taken off her tank top earlier.  It was stuffed in her back pocket, and she was just wearing a bra and a pair of jeans. Several people had approached her, trying to talk or flirt, but she had disregarded every one of them.  Sara was no different, Vinyl didn't acknowledge her presence at all.  The large headphones she wore helped with ignoring everyone.

Suddenly, Vinyl's headphones were removed from behind her.  She whipped around to glare at the headphone thief, who was a woman she vaguely recognized as some pop singer.  That didn't change her reaction.

“What's your problem?”  Vinyl tried to snatch the headphones from her, but the woman held them behind her back with one hand.  Her other hand was holding an unopened bottle of vodka, which she offered out to Vinyl.

“I'm Sara. Maybe you have heard my music?”

Vinyl looked at the bottle, then returned to glaring at Sara.  “Yeah, but I don't like pop.”

“I would have to agree.  I am what you would call here, a 'sell out'.”

Vinyl glanced at the bottle again. “What do you want?” 

Sara's smile broadened as Vinyl's hostility seemed to turn down a notch. 

“I want what you want. To drink and have a good time... but you have not had a drink all night.”  She thrust the bottle into Vinyl's hands.  “It is sad. You are too... tense.  You need a drink.”

Sara stepped forward, so she was right against Vinyl, and put the headphones back on her.  She lingered a bit longer than she needed to, but eventually left and disappeared into the dancing crowd.  The look she had given Vinyl as she walked away made her guess that wasn't the last she was going to see of Sara.

Vinyl looked down at the bottle she held.  They sold this sort of vodka here, it was expensive, and worth it.  It was great in jello shots... or regular shots, for that matter.  When was the last time she had a shot?  It felt like too long ago.

But she didn't need a drink.  When she would play at clubs, usually she drank, but she didn't need a drink.

Besides, she had told Octavia she wouldn't.


-----


“Can you not put your feet on the window?”

“They're not.... oh shit, yes they are.”  After some struggling, Vinyl repositioned in the back seat of the car.  “My bad driver dude.”

“And I would appreciate it if you put your seat belt on.”

“For sure, that's a good idea!”  A minute or so passed of silence, then Vinyl suddenly whined, “Why do they always make these so hard?”

“Forget it, we're almost there.”

Unrestricted by her supposedly complicated seat belt, Vinyl leaned over into what was certainly the driver's personal space.  “So, I have a question... Do you hate your life?  Because you look like you hate your life.”

They sharply turned, and Vinyl grabbed onto the front passenger seat as if for dear life.  The cabby held back a laugh.

“Dude! I'm drunk and I could drive better than you!”

They came to a screeching halt, and Vinyl clung to the seat again.

“We're here. The fare's thirty-”

Vinyl handed him a bill, and he raised an eyebrow at her.

“Twenty dollar tip, because you hate your life, and that's just depressing.”

She had a hard time opening the car door, but once she figured it out, she was only a few staggering steps away from Octavia's front door.

Luckily for Vinyl, her ability to speak coherently was one of the last abilities she would lose when she drank, but her balance was one of the first.  By the time she was drunk enough to have slurred, mostly incomprehensible speech, walking wasn't even a possibility.

But she was still drunk.  It would be a challenge convincing Octavia she was sober, but if that didn't work she was sure she could defend her decision to have a few drinks.

It was early in the morning, a little past three A.M., but Octavia had said Vinyl was welcome to stop by no matter the time. So, here she was, waiting for Octavia to respond to the knock on the door.

She had knocked... hadn’t she? As Vinyl was trying to remember, the door opened, confirming that she actually had.

Octavia threw her arms around Vinyl almost immediately, and since she was already a little wobbly, the two almost fell over.

“Whoa... did you miss me?”  Vinyl was confused, but she couldn't say this was a bad greeting.

“Of course, but that's not...”  Octavia took Vinyl's hand and led her inside the house, “I'm just really proud of you.”

“... Thanks?”

When they reached Octavia's room, she turned to Vinyl, now looking a bit embarrassed. “I got a little nervous tonight, so I decided to stop by Vertigo...”

Vinyl had turned a bit more pale than what was her natural skin tone, but Octavia didn't seem to notice.

“I saw that trashy pop singer all over you,  and Vinyl, I just...”

Looking undeniably scared, Vinyl stammered. “Okay, listen...”

“I saw you shoo her off, and it just... thank you.”  Octavia gave her a tight hug, which Vinyl hesitantly returned. “I'm sorry I didn't trust you.”

“Uh... no problem.”  Vinyl's drunk brain couldn’t quite piece together what had just happened.  She decided it was best not to question it... this was a good thing.   “Sorry, I'm not really... with it, right now...”

“Yes, being drunk does that... but it's fine.”

This was all going better than Vinyl could have hoped.  Octavia didn't care that she had gotten drunk, was really happy with her because she had seen... something, which Vinyl still didn't understand, but right now she didn't care to.  Octavia had just taken off her shirt, revealing that she wasn't wearing anything underneath, and that smile she had was the best kind of invitation.  What had happened earlier tonight was behind her, and Octavia was in front of her... right now, it was as easy as that.


-----


They had been incredibly productive today.  Octavia had played a bit, but most of the work had actually been done by Vinyl, who was mixing the cello recordings with her own electronic music. Octavia was coming to appreciate Vinyl's genre... and at this point, it was her genre as well.  The cello played a big role in the songs she had created, Octavia would simply play whatever she felt like playing, then Vinyl would work with that.  When it wasn't at an ear-splitting volume, it was actually nice to listen to.

They had already made a number of songs, and originally Vinyl had said she wanted to make an album.  They hadn't discussed it at all though, not since Vinyl had convinced Octavia to cooperate.

Vinyl was intently working, but she would stop the moment Octavia spoke.  Octavia could always command her attention, and she really didn't even need to try.  Vinyl was always eager to be distracted by her, always happy to listen and watch her with what seemed to be boundless admiration.

“Hey, Vinyl...”  As expected, Vinyl stopped her work and turned to Octavia.  “We've made a few songs now, and I was wondering... did you still want to make an album out of these, or something like that?”

“Yeah, of course.”  Vinyl leaned up against the console she had just been tinkering with.  “Is that what you want?”

“I... don't really know how that works.  I'm up for it, but would we need to be working under a record label?”

Vinyl shrugged. “We can figure that out when we come to it.”

Octavia didn't doubt Vinyl knew what she was doing, so she left it at that.  Besides, she looked too tired to discuss it anymore, but that wasn't her fault.  She had been yawning all day, and wasn't quite as energetic as usual, but her late night of DJ'ing, which ended up becoming an even later night at Octavia's house, was the reason for that.  Octavia didn't feel exhausted, but then again, Vinyl had been working while Octavia spent most of the night comfortably in her house.

“Maybe you should get some rest, Vinyl.”

“Yeah... I guess.”  She didn't look thrilled about that suggestion, but was apparently too tired to deny it being a good idea.

The two left the room, Vinyl turning off most of the equipment with her magic as they went. Octavia followed after her, stopping in the living room when Vinyl took out her phone to check the time.

“I guess I'm turning in kinda early.” 

“That's fine... I'll see you later.”  Octavia gave her a goodbye kiss, but when they parted Vinyl was smirking.

“You sure?"  Vinyl tossed her phone onto the nearby couch, so her hands were free to place on Octavia's hips.  "I'm not that tired, you don't have to leave yet...”

“I think a zombie would look more lively than you right now.”  Vinyl looked a little disappointed, but that didn't change Octavia's mind.  “Go get some rest.”

Vinyl didn't need much more convincing, and Octavia suspected she'd probably pass out the moment her head hit the pillow.  Once she had gone off to her bedroom, Octavia went to pick up her jacket, which was lying over the arm of the couch.  As she put it back on, Vinyl's abandoned phone briefly buzzed, and the message of a newly received text flashed on the screen.  Octavia had just glanced at it, not thinking anything of it at first, but the words caught her attention.

Maybe she had misread.  She wasn't reading it up close, so that was possible... but she picked it up and read it closer, and it definitely said....

Sara told me to send u these

Attached to the text were quite a few pictures, but they weren't displayed.  Octavia would have to open them.  

Sara was the shortened name of the singer who she had seen with Vinyl, but apparently, the person who had sent the text wasn't her.  The number wasn't a contact in her phone, so there was no name to put with it.  She couldn't yet bring herself to open the photos, but she didn't want to simply set the phone down and forget about this.  Whatever this was about, it didn't feel right.

It might not have been a wise choice of action, but Octavia called the number that had sent the texts.  She walked into the kitchen as the phone rang, not wanting her conversation to be heard.

It was a man who answered, and he didn't sound happy.

“What do you want?”

He must have thought it was Vinyl, that made sense... Octavia was calling with her phone, after all.

“You just sent my...” She was going to say girlfriend, but for some reason, decided against it.  “You just sent Vinyl a lot of pictures.  Who are you?”

“Who are you?”

It took her a moment to decide how to answer that.  “I'm just a friend of Vinyl's.”

“Right...”  He laughed, though it wasn't exactly a jovial one. “Did you look at the pictures I sent, Ms. just a friend of Vinyl's?”

“Um, no...”

“Well why not? Check em out... maybe tip off a gossip column or something.  I tried telling Sara it was stupid to send them, so it's her fault if they end up on magazine covers, or... whatever.”

Octavia didn't like this one bit, it was all adding up to make her very anxious.  She wanted to hang up there, but she didn't.

“Look, I'm kinda busy... you can call me back later, if you feel like it... not on Vinyl's phone.  Don't want to be reminded of that bitch.”

Octavia wasn't sure what else to say, this had all blindsided her.  It seemed she wasn't expected to say anything more, though.

“My name's Baseline, for future reference.”

With that he hung up, and Octavia looked at the phone's screen again.  Going through Vinyl's phone didn't sit well with her, but it wasn't really an option to her.  Something was off, and she needed to figure out what exactly was going on.
> History
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Being as tired as she was, Vinyl was nearly asleep only a few minutes after collapsing on her bed, but something being tossed onto her back made her roll over and sit up.  Octavia was standing in the doorway to her bedroom, glaring at her.

“What was that for?”

Octavia didn't answer, so Vinyl reached to pick up whatever had landed on her... it was her phone.  When she touched the screen and it lit up, Vinyl's eyes widened.  She looked nothing short of mortified.

There were enough pictures here to fill a photo album, and all of them were of Sara and her.  Vinyl didn't need to scroll through many of them to get the gist, they were all taken the night before, detailing what had really happened between them.  It was a public place, they hadn't had sex, but making out and partial nudity was completely acceptable there.

She couldn't remember giving out her number, but she had been drunk, and not all of the night was crystal clear in her memory.

“What did I see?”  

Vinyl wasn't sure what Octavia meant, until she continued.

“It had looked like you told her to get lost, but obviously that didn't happen.”

That was something Vinyl didn't want to explain.  She and Sara had been arguing about their musical tastes, and it might have looked hostile from a distance, but it had been playful.  And then Sara left to get more drinks... that's the only situation she could remember that might have been misinterpreted like that.

Without any answer, or even a response of any kind, Octavia just shook her head and started to walk away.  Vinyl hopped off of the bed and ran after her, though she didn't know what she was going to do or say just yet.

“Tavi, look-”

She had caught up to her in the living room and grabbed her arm, but Octavia turned on Vinyl, and she found herself backing away.  For every step she took back, Octavia took one forward, and Vinyl couldn't think to do anything else.

“Did you just forget about me for a few hours?  Or am I just not that important to you?”

“No, it was the opposite...”

It was a quiet, nervous answer, and it didn't make any sense to Octavia.

“What...the opposite?”

Vinyl bit her lip.  Since Octavia had stopped advancing she had stopped retreating, but she was being pressed for an answer and all she wanted to do was hide.  She needed to say something though, Octavia wasn't going to stand here forever.

When she finally spoke, her words were rushed, and practically said all in one breath.

“I think about you all the time.  Before last night, I couldn't remember the last time I wasn't thinking about you, or thinking about when I was going to see you next, or how much I... it's bordering obsessed, Tavi. I don't think you get it, and I sure as hell don't, it freaks me out.  You freak me out, I can't control any of this, I mean..."

Octavia looked surprised by how sudden it was, but then again, so did Vinyl.

“What happened with Sara was exactly what happened with that party, a while ago...  I realized how not in control I was, and it scared me. It scared the shit out of me, I can't explain it any better than that. I just wanted to get away from you... I mean, not physically, get my mind away from you.  And I tried, but it didn't work, and if... if you leave now...”

Vinyl was sobbing again, as she only seemed capable of doing around Octavia.  This had taken a  very different turn than Octavia had expected, and she didn't know how to respond.  It did seem a lot like the party she had.  Vinyl had screwed her over, and Octavia couldn't do anything but forgive her.  This was too much though, she couldn't just forgive and forget this sort of thing. Octavia needed to take get herself out of this situation, for her own good.

Instead, she hugged her.  Vinyl crying pathetically into her shoulder, holding on to Octavia like she was the only thing keeping her from floating off into space... it was a familiar feeling.

“Please don't leave...”

Vinyl's request was muffled, but Octavia heard it, though she didn't know how to answer.  Luckily it seemed like her company was all Vinyl really needed.


-----


Vinyl never got to sleep, at least not until Octavia went to bed as well.  She was noticeably worn out for the rest of the day, but she couldn't seem to bring herself to leave Octavia's side.  The pictures on her phone were deleted, but nothing of it had been brought up again.  Octavia wanted to discuss what had happened more seriously, but Vinyl was beat, so she decided to wait until she was rested.

That night they just slept, and in the morning Vinyl was back to normal, as far as Octavia could tell.  Things were as she thought they should be, and even though she wanted to address what had happened, Octavia couldn't bring it up.  Later on in the day, she knew she had to, but not right now.

In the afternoon Vinyl got a call, and it set Octavia slightly on edge.  Vinyl was sitting right next to her, and wasn't at all secretive, but she still listened.

“Hey... I don't care, just whenever.”

Vinyl glanced at Octavia, pointed to her phone and rolled her eyes.  “It doesn't matter... seriously.  I'll be ready whenever you come by.”

When Vinyl hung up she spoke to Octavia.  “Some kid who's making a big deal about his birthday... he's had this party planned for months.”

“You're going to play somewhere tonight?”

“Yeah, at this guy's parents' mansion.  Funny thing is they live kinda close to Laureate.”

Octavia looked at her in disbelief, and Vinyl raised an eyebrow at her.

“You're going out again... after what happened?”

“It's a house party... in some brat's mansion.”  Octavia didn't look the slightest bit comforted by that.  “You should come with me.”

“Or you could cancel.”

Vinyl sighed. “It's not that easy... he booked me five months ago.  I can't bail six hours before...”

Octavia could hardly believe this was coming up, it seemed like common sense to her that Vinyl shouldn't go.  Was there a nicer way to put it?

“I think you should lay off the clubs and parties for a while.”

Vinyl seemed to be getting annoyed.  “It's kind of my job to be there.  It's my source of income.”

“Right, and you're really living paycheck to paycheck, aren't you?”   Vinyl stood, shaking her head and walking away, but Octavia followed.  “Why are you suddenly being an ass?  What happened to 'bordering obsessed' and 'please don't leave me'?”

“... Would you leave me over this?”

Vinyl had stopped, looking more serious now, but that wasn't what Octavia had been going for.

“That's not the point!” Octavia groaned, “Just, please don't go tonight? Tell him you're sick. Or anything... Vinyl, I just don't trust you right now.”

Once she realized Octavia wasn't threatening anything, Vinyl looked perturbed again.

“Fine, okay mom... whatever you say.”

Suddenly, not going wasn't the issue anymore.  Vinyl going from an emotional wreck to an asshole, that was the issue now.

“Are you serious?”  Octavia had become too frustrated to just stand there, so she took a few steps away from Vinyl.  “I'm not anything like your mother!  I care too much, and she didn't care at all.  I'm starting to see why, you're impossible!”

Realizing what she had just said, the regret was almost instant.  When she turned back, Vinyl looked like she had just received an unexpected slap to the face.

“Vinyl, I didn't mean it like that...”

Vinyl didn't answer, and instead walked away again, down the hall that led to her sound room.  This time she didn't stop when Octavia followed after her.

“I just got mad, you know I don't think that.  We really need to talk, so just-”

Vinyl had entered the room, and the now magically glowing door slammed behind her, nearly in Octavia's face.  Music started to play right after, loud enough to shake the door in front of her.

“Oh come on!"  Octavia didn't think she could be heard, which was probably the point of the blaring music.  She stood there for a moment, and decided it would be best if she went home.  She was angry, Vinyl was angry, and nothing good could come out of any more conversation right now.


------


"Hey... I didn't go. I told that brat to go fuck himself... he said I was gonna hear from his lawyer, but I'm pretty sure that's bullshit."

Whoever created voicemail, they needed to be given more credit. It was a genius idea, and Octavia had never been more grateful it existed.

"I'm sorry, I'm really... really hard to deal with. I'm a mess, and an ass, and you don't deserve to be treated like you aren't the best thing that's happened to me.  You wouldn't know it by the way I've acted, right?  You're... an eye opener, and a great reason for me to try and be, you know... not hard to deal with.  You said we need to talk, and we do, so call me back?"

Octavia hadn't gone home, she was at a bar, oddly enough.  Not because she was drinking, but because bars were some of the only places open this late. There was even live music here, which was actually really cringe worthy, but it was something to watch at least.  Even over the sound of the depressingly bad vocals, Octavia had heard her phone ring, but she hadn't picked up.  She wasn't sure if she wanted to talk with Vinyl, but the voicemail she left helped her make up her mind. 

Octavia wanted to talk, though she decided it shouldn't be over the phone.  The bar she had camped out at actually wasn't far from Vinyl's apartment, so having a serious, face-to-face talk seemed like the best option.

And a few blocks away, Vinyl shared that idea.  She wanted to invite her over in the voicemail she had just left, but instead asked her to call.  She wasn't sure how Octavia felt, it had been hours since Vinyl locked herself in a room that was shaking with the force of the bass filled song she had turned on.  Octavia had every right to not speak to her again, but she really hoped she would speak to her anyway.  

Still holding her phone, she sat down on her couch, but at the sudden knock on the door she stood right back up again.  Vinyl had never answered a door that fast in her life, she was sure... but once it was open, she wished she hadn't answered it at all.

"You... aren't who I thought you were."

Sarabandes was standing there, and in a panic, Vinyl tried to slam the door on her.  Sara stuck her foot in the door though, then pushed it back open.

"Not quite the greeting I had hoped for..."

Vinyl stammered out the first question she could think to ask.  "How the hell did you find my apartment?"

"Vertigo said-"

"Nevermind!"  Vinyl was flustered, and Sara seemed to find that funny.  She tried to make her take this seriously.  "You can't be here... please leave. Like, now."

That smile, that look she had, it was all unpleasantly familiar.  Despite that, Vinyl hoped that she would cooperate with her and actually leave.

"I was expecting you to call, but you did not... even after I sent you a friendly reminder." 

"A friendly... those pictures?" Sara nodded, and Vinyl snapped,  "Yeah, I didn't call because that really fucked me over."

"Let me guess... you are in a relationship, and me being here would cause trouble for you?"

"Yes, exactly."

Rather than being understanding or respectfully leaving, Sara pushed her way passed Vinyl and entered the apartment.

"You see, I love trouble."

She was wearing what was probably an extremely expensive leather jacket, though she had just shrugged it off and dropped it on the floor.

"No, jacket goes back on... you really need to leave!"  Vinyl had darted after her, and tried to pick up the jacket, but Sara kicked it out of her reach.  "Why are you even here?  If you want to have sex, the guy next door blasts your music all the time, I'm pretty sure he'd be way more into this."

"I have never made love to a woman, and I find you attractive. I thought you would be a good place to start. Besides... I am still here."  Vinyl looked puzzled by that statement, so Sara calmly clarified.  "You are very 'in to this.'  If not, you would have thrown me out."

Vinyl look taken aback by that, and was about to retort, but Sara shushed her, and she stopped.

She stopped. She didn't have to listen to this woman, it was her home, but she stopped.

"Please, relax."  Sara walked around her, back to the front door, but all she did was close and lock it.  "I get what I want, Vinyl Scratch.  I am never denied, and you have no reason to deny me... does she have a key?"

"No..."

"Then what is the problem?  You are not home..."

Vinyl was, in fact, a woman who wouldn't know self control if it hit her in the face.  She offered no more objections, but still looked uncomfortable as Sara walked back over to her. 

She shoved Vinyl up against the nearest wall, which was right across from the front door, and Vinyl turned away to nervously glance at it.  Sara turned her head back, and kissed her roughly, adamantly.  

Somewhere along the way Vinyl had stopped fighting it.  Sara knew how to ease a guilty conscious, and Vinyl knew how to give in.  The knock at the door instantly brought it all back, but Sara put a hand over her mouth.  That was a good call, since she nearly gasped.

The two of them were naked from the waist up, and still against the wall, so Vinyl had a clear view of the door.  Sara quietly laughed again at how flustered Vinyl had become. She still had her hand over her mouth, but her other was still free.  Vinyl didn't know she could use magic, but quickly found out as Sara had stretched out her hand.  The door glowed a bright pink, the lock turned, and it flew open.

Sara simply waved to Octavia.  Vinyl couldn't have expected that any less, she looked from Octavia to Sara in shock.  And when she looked back to the door, Octavia wasn't there anymore.

"Oh, she's pretty."

Vinyl looked back to Sara, who simply shrugged.

"Why the hell did you do that?!"

Sara stepped back, her smirk returning to her as she did.  "I believe I told you... I love trouble."

Using her magic again she closed the door, but Vinyl dove for it anyway, picking up a shirt from the floor as she left the apartment.


-----


Really, the rest is history.
> High Rise Records
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Forming unlikely friendships from bonding over equally unpleasant past experiences... perhaps it was an odd way to have become so close with her once roommate, and now best friend, but how it happened hardly mattered anymore.  They were often times inseparable, and the originally awkward question that always came up was nothing but a source of laughter now.

“So... she's here a lot...  Are you two together?” 

It was to be expected, no one was immune to the curiosity.  Even his coach, who the pair had known for months, had finally caved.

“Psh, no.  Have you seen the way she dresses?”  Baseline jabbed Octavia with his elbow, “Clearly a lesbian, am I right?”

“Well, you're certainly effeminate enough to be a woman.  If it wasn't for that whole penis thing...”

Maybe they were too close, but neither of them had any complaints.  His coach looked like he might have one, but Octavia had wandered off before he had a chance to vocalize it.

When Octavia had met him, Baseline was a dedicated tennis player aspiring to be pro, and now he had reached that goal.  She was proud to say she had been beside him the whole time, and he even credited part of his success to Octavia.  He said she had helped him out of a pretty terrible relationship, which had always held him back.

The gratitude was mutual, Octavia didn't think she would have been quite as successful without his support.  She had given up her career for a relationship that had ended badly, pushed away her family, and probably compromised bits of her sanity as well.  A financial crisis had been looming over her around the time she and Baseline were becoming good friends, so when he had mentioned the idea of renting an apartment together, Octavia happily obliged.  They agreed to move out of town, both wanting to put some distance between themselves and the city where they had been royally fucked over.

Still out of work, and having realized she didn't have an interest in performing classical music for a living, Octavia was left to her compositions.  As it happened, there was a surplus of film writers and directors that couldn't resist hiring her to compose original music for their movies.  So, that's what she did, and nearly three years later, her name was already in hundreds of credits.  It wasn't the sort of career she had expected, but it was both enjoyable and payed well enough to be a viable living.

If you had asked her at nearly any point in her life where she believed she would end up at age twenty-six, the answer wouldn't have been here.  But she was happy, and couldn't complain.

She had just left the court where Baseline had won yet another regional tournament.  Earlier on in his career she would wait for him to head home as well, but now that he had become something of a tennis star, the media always dragged things out.  Octavia had no idea how many sports channels there actually were, and how many actually featured tennis, but apparently there were a lot... and all of them were deeming Baseline this year's player to watch.

Chances were they would see each other later anyway, and Octavia had some work to catch up on.  The deadline for a piece she needed to complete was only a week away, but the movie it was for was really... dumb.  A cliché action movie, and though it was a challenge to work with something that didn't inspire her, at this point she knew what sort of music the directors of overrated action movies loved.  She just had to set aside her own preferences and make something that she would normally consider extremely obnoxious.

It was later in the afternoon when a knock on her door made her look up from her work.  Chances were it was Baseline, though he usually didn't come by without calling, so when she answered the door she decided to jokingly give him a hard time.

“So you just show up now? Completely unannounced?”

“Yep.”  He nonchalantly stepped around her, removing the headphones he had in when he entered.  “If you were busy with a hot woman in your bedroom, you have my sincerest apologies.”

He had stopped in the middle of the room and was scrolling through music on his MP3 player, though Octavia shoved him as she walked by, back towards her study.

“Yes, that's exactly what was just happening two minutes ago.”

“Nah...”  He was following her, but hadn't looked up from his music, apparently trying to find something. “That would require you to look up from your desk... hey, check this out.”

Poking fun at each other was pretty common for them, so Octavia had shrugged off his comment and took the MP3 player as it was handed to her.

“There's this free download that was set up yesterday, it's ten songs that... it's kinda weird to describe, but you'll love it.  Just listen.”

Looking at the screen, the songs were simply titled Track 1, Track 2, and so on.  Octavia didn't know what to expect, but put on the headphones anyway.

“See? It's pretty unique.  Who knew there was an electric cello, right?”  Octavia looked stunned, and offered no comment on the music, so Baseline assumed she was enjoying it.  “It doesn't have an artist on there, I'm hoping they'll let us know at some point who this is, they're good...”

“It's me.” She started scrolling through the other songs listed there, still looking shocked.  “That's me on the cello.”

Baseline looked a bit confused now. “...Really?”

Octavia didn't respond for a few minutes, apparently listening to the music, so Baseline simply took a seat nearby.  

“I recorded these with Vinyl.  She mixed the electronic parts, and... from what I can tell, they haven't  been changed at all. They're exactly how they sounded back then.”

Octavia took off the headphones and handed the MP3 player back to Baseline.  He glanced at her, then back to the device in his hands.

“This site has them posted as some sort of promotional thing.”  Baseline looked a bit uneasy, seeing Octavia didn't seem at all happy with this.  “You could probably sue. Or, I don't know... does it bother you? You could get them taken down.”

“I don't want anything to do with them.”

Baseline dropped it there, and quickly made an effort to change the topic.


------


It really, really bothered her.  Ignoring it was impossible, and the fact that she couldn't just let it go was another source of frustration for her.  It wasn't upsetting that she wasn't getting any credit or profit, she just hadn't wanted to be reminded that those songs existed.

Octavia had checked the source of where they were being made available.  The download was being hosted on the website of a company called High Rise Records, which looked to be a pretty large, well known company.  On their site they had listed every artist under their label, and not only was the list enormous, Octavia recognized many of the bands and musicians.

She had gone on for a few days trying to forget it, keep herself busy and distracted with anything else, but it didn't work at all.  She finally took Baseline's original suggestion into consideration... it might be difficult, but she was thinking of trying to get in contact with someone from High Rise Records.

When she called their listed help desk number, she was already expecting to be shot down, so she really had nothing to lose.

Octavia ended up having to listen to a monotone voice offer her various categories, each one paired with a number to press if her problem fell under that category.  Then when a number was pressed, the category  broke down into more specific categories... after a while of frustrating number pressing, she was finally placed on hold for 'the next available specialist dealing with issues of Copyright and Fair Use.'

No one had even spoken to her yet and she already wanted to hang up, though luckily the phone was answered surprisingly quickly.  The perky voiced woman on the other end happily greeted Octavia.

And then it got strange.  Once Octavia had said she was calling about a possible copyright issue with the free to download songs on their site, the woman asked her name...

“I see.  One moment, Ms. Octavia.”

She was on hold again, and she didn't know why.  She stayed on the line, and a minute later someone picked up.  The man who spoke had an incredibly deep voice, which was quite a contrast to the woman she had just spoken with.

“Ms. Octavia, I apologize for any inconvenience this has caused.  You are calling about your contributions to several of our songs, correct?”

“... Yes.”

“Again, I apologize for our lack of communication prior to making the songs available.  When these tracks were purchased the seller named you as the featured cellist, but we were given no contact information.  The tracks are now legally owned by High Rise Records, but a portion of the amount paid to the seller has been reserved, as compensation if you did ever contact us.”

Well, that was unexpected.

“I wasn't really calling about being paid for them... who exactly sold you those songs?”

“Respecting the agreement that was made with the seller, I cannot discuss that information with you over the phone.  However, your name was mentioned in the agreement, and we will gladly cover any transportation costs so we may discuss this with you at our main office.”

“I... if I have to speak with the seller, I'd really rather not.”

“We no longer keep contact with the seller.  This can most likely be settled by simply speaking with a representative at our main office, Ms Octavia.”

In the end, Octavia had decided to meet with... whoever, though she really didn't know what she was doing.  If nothing else it seemed she'd receive a check, but ideally she wanted to have them taken down.  An appointment was made, and she received a free train ride out to the city their company was based in.

Most of the city consisted of sky high office buildings, or at least the part of the city she was in.  The office belonging to High Rise Records was no different, though they had a giant HRR logo at the top of the building.

Through the large motion activated front doors was the lobby, with several receptionists seated on the opposite wall, a few elevators and lots of men and women dressed in business attire.  It seemed the building was designed with a clear color scheme of black, red, and brown, with black desks and other furniture, red carpet floors, and brown hardwood walls.

There was a hulk of a man standing beside the receptionist desk, and he seemed to match the color scheme perfectly.  His tie and the large wings on his back were the same deep shade of red, he wore a black suit, and his skin was dark brown... Octavia wondered if that was a coincidence or intentional.  

He spotted her and started to walk over, with Octavia meeting him half way.

“A pleasure, Ms. Octavia.” He offered her his hand, “My name is McTwist.  I spoke with you over the phone.”

He really didn't need to add that last part, his voice was easily recognizable.  Octavia shook his hand, though she really didn't know what to say after that.  He seemed to understand, and started speaking again as he led her over to an elevator.

“Your meeting is on the top floor, though the representative I had wanted to speak with you may be running a little late.” McTwist had hit the number four once they were in the elevator.  “Typically we aren't so unprofessional. You have my apologies.”

“No, you seem very professional...  It's fine.”

This was starting to seem like something bigger than Octavia had anticipated... like something important wasn't being told to her.  She really hadn't been told much, but hopefully that's why she was here, so this could all be cleared up.

The elevator opened and Octavia followed her guide down a hallway.  At the end was an unmarked door, though it looked like it typically had a name plate of some kind attached to it, which had been taken down.  McTwist held the door open for her.

“I'm sure they won't be long.  Have a seat.”

The room was pretty large for an office, but that's all it was.  A tidy desk, a chair behind it and another chair facing it...  Octavia's study at home could have been pretty similar, if she could afford to blow tons of money on her furniture.  There weren't any windows, simply the hardwood walls that were used everywhere, but the room was well lit by a big standing lamp in the corner.  The office had a a few other features, but  nothing out of the ordinary.

Octavia took the seat facing the desk, and McTwist started to leave, but as soon as he stepped through the doorway he must have spotted something in the hall, as he stepped back inside.

“Octavia, please meet the CEO of High Rise Records...”

Vinyl Scratch had stepped into the room and slapped McTwist on the arm as she walked around to the other side of the desk.  She was wearing a white suit with a light blue collared shirt underneath and matching light blue tie.  Octavia already knew those were her favorite colors.

Vinyl took off the purple tinted glasses she wore, folded them and set them on her desk.  “No need for introductions. We've already met.”

She flashed a smile at Octavia, who looked like she was still trying to process this. So, instead, Vinyl turned to McTwist.  He was standing by her desk, looking too serious for her tastes.

“Come on, you're my partner in crime...  lighten up!”  Vinyl put an arm around his broad shoulders and jostled him, though he hardly reacted, still looking solemn and professional.  She addressed Octavia instead of him,  “Believe it or not, this guy is one hell of a skateboarder.  I don't know what he's doing here with me, when he's got talent like that... man, what are you doing here?”

Vinyl had gone to sit at her chair, but McTwist finally smiled a bit and glanced at her.

“Because I love this company, and respect what you do.”

“Aw...”  Vinyl swiveled around in her chair so she was facing him, and traced an outline of a heart in the air with her fingers.  He chuckled, and she turned back to Octavia. “He's basically a three hundred pound teddy bear.”

“What the hell is this?”

Octavia finally spoke, and she didn't sound the least bit amused.

“What the hell is... what, exactly?  I'm Vinyl Scratch, that's Mcwist... this is my company, and I sort of tricked you to come pay me a visit.”

Octavia's surprise had become anger, and she abruptly stood.  “Keep the songs, and any 'compensation'... if it means not having to deal with you it's well worth it.”

With that she stormed out of Vinyl's office, though Vinyl looked undisturbed.  She stood, and McTwist glanced at her again.

“Should I... do something?”

“No need.”  Vinyl pointed to what appeared to be a phone, hooked up to the wall behind her desk.  “Have we ever used that?”

“The PA system? I don't think so.”

“Well, let's hope it actually works.”

McTwist watched curiously as she picked it up and began speaking.

“I had something to say, Octavia.  See... everything here was built from the ground up.  I worked myself ragged for three years to make this, and get here, but it wasn't just about this company.”

Her voice was definitely being heard throughout the entire building, and she didn't sound like she was joking around any more.

“I wanted to make myself into someone I'd be proud of, and if it wasn't for you I'd still be a deadbeat.  I said you were an eye opener, and I meant it. You inspired me to become better, and I wanted you to come here so I could say thank you, whether you wanted to hear it or not.  High Rise Records partners and employees, please thank Octavia.  She's the reason we're here.”

Vinyl hung up the phone, but after a second picked it back up.

“She's the really angry looking woman making a beeline for the exit.”

She hung up again, and this time left it there.

With a sigh she plopped back down in her chair, and McTwist took the chance to offer a comment.

“That was really sweet...”

Vinyl laughed, “Man, you really are a giant teddy bear...”


-----


Big record labels like High Rise Records, or even big companies in general, weren't known for their morally sound business tactics.  Octavia was sure a simple search on the web would reveal that Vinyl had more reasons to be ashamed than reasons to be proud.

Not even a block away from Vinyl's office, Octavia had turned to her phone for help, ignoring the missed call from Baseline as she quickly opened a search engine.  She knew it wouldn't be a challenge finding unsavory, incriminating details about High Rise Records, or Vinyl herself, so that's what she was going to do.

Skimming over the titles of online articles and news reports, Octavia hadn't stopped to analyze her actions, or try to figure out why this was suddenly such a big deal to her... she only stopped to think once she realized the titles were not at all what she had wanted to find.


High Rise Records First to Initiate Company Wide Renewable Energy Sources via Solar Panels, Celestia Gives Her Full Support

High Rise Records CEO and Founder Sets New Record for Largest Donation Made to Everfree Wildlife Conservation Society 

Dozens of Instruments and Musical Education Tools Donated to Schools Nation Wide Courtesy of High Rise Records

CEO and Founder of High Rise Records Personally Organizes National Recovery Effort for Victims of Recent Parasprite Swarm Devastation

It went on and on... and it was completely unbelievable. Vinyl Scratch was a corporate saint, and Octavia couldn't wrap her head around it.  How had she even managed all of this in three years?

It didn't add up, nothing here made sense.  This whole thing had her feeling mentally spent, and really not up to making the train ride home.  Getting a hotel room sounded good right now, so she could recuperate after the surprise and confusion today had brought her.


-----


“Hit me. What's today look like?”

Vinyl was seated at the end of the large table that was typically used for meetings, but right now it was only her and Quick Fix, the man in charge of juggling her meetings and appointments.  He was the most organized person she had ever met, and after two years of having him manage her schedule, Vinyl had no complaints.  He wasn't exactly someone to go to for casual conversation, but when it came to his job he was a pro. His claustrophobia often kept him out of the office, but every morning the two of them would meet in the largest room in the building, so as to avoid any panic attacks.

“You'll be nearly booked until about 4 P.M., starting in one hour with a telephone conference with Ginseng about a partnership over seas.  Our translator will be arriving in 45 minutes, so we don't encounter any misunderstandings, as we did last time.  That phone conference should take a hour, but your next appointment is set for a hour and thirty minutes later, on the off chance it runs late.  Next...”

A man had quietly entered the room, and Quick Fix glared at him.  He was hesitant to speak, until Vinyl turned her attention to him.

He still looked uncomfortable under the glare he was receiving, but explained himself anyway.  “Ma'am, you said to let you know if someone named Octavia called, and, well...there's a woman named Octavia in the lobby...”

Vinyl nearly knocked over her chair by standing too fast.

“Cancel everything.  Reschedule for tomorrow, or whenever you can.”

Quick Fix's jaw dropped  “What... are you serious?”

Vinyl was already at the other side of the room, and didn't say anything more to him, instead thanking the man who had come to let her know about Octavia's arrival.  He had trouble keeping up with her as she walked, until she had entered the lobby and suddenly stopped, though he practically ran into her.

She took a deep breath to help her relax before she walked over to Octavia, who was standing beside a desk listening to the receptionist go on about something.  When Vinyl joined them the receptionist offered a cheerful singsong greeting, and Octavia turned around to face her.

“Welcome back.”  Vinyl looked comfortable, even confident as she spoke to Octavia, though she felt anything but.  “You decided to stay in town another day?  I had that train ride back set up for you.”

Octavia didn't hide her own unease as well as Vinyl, or maybe she wasn't trying quite as hard.  “Yes, I... didn't feel like going back just yet.”

“I don't blame you...”  Vinyl was smiling as she removed her glasses and hooked them on the breast pocket of her jacket.  “There's a lot to see around here, it's pretty hard to soak it all up in just one day.  You want a tour?”

Octavia hadn't expected that sort of offer, but then again, when did Vinyl ever do anything she expected?  She had come on a whim, which was probably a really stupid whim, but she had wanted to talk to Vinyl.  After what Vinyl had said yesterday, and after Octavia had stopped being mad, she thought she might say thank you... or maybe your welcome.  Or both.  

And she had expected Vinyl would want to talk as well, but instead she had offered to show Octavia around the city.

“All right... that sounds nice.”

Another stupid whim that Octavia didn't really give herself the chance to consider.

“Great!”  Vinyl started towards the front door, with Octavia at her side. “The business district doesn't have much worth looking at, but a few blocks down from here it gets to be less of an eye sore.”


-----


It had stopped feeling awkward, though Octavia couldn't say exactly when that had changed.  It was weird, and then it wasn't.  Hanging around Vinyl had become more like hanging around an old friend, with nothing about their previous romance having been brought up, and Vinyl seemed content to keep it that way.  Octavia was thankful for that.

The town Vinyl now called home was a bustling metropolis, and even though it was huge, walking seemed to be how a lot of people got around.  The streets were always jammed with cars, but there were still plenty of cabs in case walking wasn't an option.

It was already late in the afternoon and Octavia had to admit Vinyl was right about there being a lot to see.  Museums, land marks, tourist spots, street performers, and the list went on... in the hours they had spent sight seeing Octavia still felt they hadn't yet made much of a dent in all of the possible attractions.  Vinyl seemed eager and determined to show it all to her in one day, though she had grabbed a taxi for them both, as she said she wanted to quickly change out of her business attire.  Apparently she liked to wear suits to work, but spending hours trekking around in one wasn't very practical.

The taxi was still in front of Vinyl's house... or rather, Vinyl's mansion.  It was impressive, Octavia would have bet the price Vinyl payed each month to take care of her lawn was bigger than her own monthly mortgage.  The taxi driver didn't seem fazed by the sight of it, but then again, if he lived in the area he was probably used to seeing homes like this.

Vinyl had said she would be right back and darted into her mansion to change, so Octavia had stayed in the car.  A few minutes later Vinyl reemerged, wearing a pair of jeans, a tank top and a jacket.  She turned around on the way back to the cab, proudly displaying the High Rise Records logo on the back of her jacket.  Vinyl's nonchalant demeanor was probably what helped remove the awkwardness from this situation.  She was exuberant and just seemed happy to be here, Octavia really couldn't have stayed uncomfortable even if she tried.

Vinyl had just reached the car when Octavia opened her door and stepped out of it.

“You think we could take a break?”

“Sure...”  Vinyl looked puzzled, though she remembered Octavia had mentioned she was staying in a hotel. “Did you want a ride back to your hotel?”

Octavia shrugged. “I can stay here for a bit. We should catch up.”

Still a bit wary, Vinyl eyed her for a moment before paying the driver.  Once the cab pulled away though, she appeared to be fine, and the two of them walked into the mansion.

There were so many windows Octavia doubted Vinyl needed any sort of lighting during the day.  She lived outside the city limits, as did most of the wealthier citizens, Octavia guessed.  The lakeside view from the mansion, which was on top of a small hill, made the windows even more appealing, and since she was on a large plot of land privacy probably wasn't such a big issue.

“Vinyl, how did you do all of this?”

They had chatted a lot today, but none of their conversation had been serious, or at all about the past.  Octavia was curious how Vinyl had accomplishing what she had in such a short amount of time.

“Laureate helped, when I was starting things off.”  Vinyl had walked over to a nearby glass door that led on to her porch, and was sliding it open as she answered. “He passed away, and left everything he had to me.  He was getting pretty sick, and he left this letter... saying he was glad I was finally doing something right, and trusted I'd do something good with his money.”

Vinyl didn't go outside, apparently just opening the door to let in the breeze.  She started into a nearby living room, and Octavia joined her in a nicely decorated living room.  Nearly everything in here was the clean shade of white Vinyl seemed to like so much, but one piece didn't quite match.  She was going to offer her condolences about Laureate, but her mind had immediately wandered away from that.

“The rest of it was just working my ass off.  If you can set a company apart from the rest, make it unique and attract people's attention... that was a big part of it. And having a nice starter fund helped, of course... people keep trying to say I'm too young to be doing this, but the way I see it, I'm not bankrupt yet. Far from it, actually.”

Vinyl had laid down on her white leather couch, but Octavia was still standing, staring at the dark gray electric cello set up on the other side of the room as if it were a decoration.  Vinyl didn't need to see what she was looking at to know that it had caught her attention.

For Octavia, it had become weird again.  What had possessed her to go see Vinyl, and to spend time with her?  And she had spent that time as if they were friends, rather than telling Vinyl how much Octavia despised her.

Why was she here? What had she been thinking?  Vinyl couldn't answer those questions, but there was one question Octavia was wondering which she probably could.

“Why did you keep it?”

“What was I going to do with it... throw it in a landfill?”  Vinyl gestured for her to sit, and Octavia finally pulled her gaze away from the cello, though she didn't take a seat.  “How are you and your parents?”

Even if she wasn't staring at the cello anymore, Octavia's thoughts weren't on what Vinyl was asking her.  She didn't answer right away, and Vinyl groaned.

“You're really failing at catching up, Octavia...”

“Well, I'm sure you can understand that this is a bit odd for me.”

“It doesn't have to be.”

Vinyl's nonchalance was starting to bother Octavia rather than ease her frustration, and her tone of voice was making that clear.  “Considering how we left things, I think it does.”

A tense silence filled the air between them.  Octavia was feeling overcome with regret, she should have left on the complimentary train ride out of here and never looked back.  

When Vinyl broke the silence she was looking at the ceiling rather than Octavia.  “I haven't been with anyone.  Not since we last saw each other.”

“And why not?”  Calling out Vinyl was a great way for Octavia to avoid asking herself similarly difficult questions that she didn't know how to answer. Vinyl didn't say anything though, instead she had gotten off the couch and walked over to a nearby wall, leaned against it and looked deep in thought.  Octavia wasn't going to let up on her though.  “You need to move on.  I did, and you should too.”

Vinyl's stare was cast to the floor.  She looked to be thinking very hard, resembling how someone would look if they were trying to solve a difficult math problem in her head.  Octavia couldn't see any reason to stay, but as she turned to leave Vinyl started talking.

“When I was a kid, I liked music... electronic music especially.”  Vinyl was speaking softly, though she was still loud enough to be heard.  “Later on I realized I liked making it and playing it more than just listening. I could make people move just by sitting behind some screens and buttons... it felt good, I felt like I belonged there.  It took two seconds for me to decide I wanted to do this forever...  Maybe you felt that way with the cello.”

Octavia had turned back around to listen to Vinyl's musings.  Vinyl kept it together, but she seemed to become more passionate in what she was saying as she went on.

“I think most people only feel that once, but I feel it every time I look at you. Like, hey, I'm meant to do this... I'm meant to be here, with her.  But if I've just fucked it up too badly, or if you've moved on, you should go.  I'll leave you alone.”

Vinyl was still calm, but hearing the way she had spoken and seeing the way she looked, Octavia didn't doubt the sincerity of anything she had said.  Even what she had mentioned earlier, about not being with anyone else all this time.  It was completely believable, though what Octavia found far less believable was the sudden disappearance of her anger.  At least she could begin to connect the dots, to understand the driving force behind most of her actions today and piece together the bigger image of what she had hoped to accomplish.

Octavia had wanted peace of mind.  Vinyl was somehow still in love after not seeing her for three years, and it was clearly hard for her, but she wasn't being selfish about it.  She wasn't begging for her to stay this time.

Vinyl couldn't hold Octavia's gaze and quickly looked away from her, only to have her eyes drawn back once she realized she was walking towards her rather than walking away.  Maybe she had expected to be slapped, because she seemed surprised, even as Octavia grabbed her by her jacket and gave her the quiet but adamant command of, “C'mere.”  Even as she pulled Vinyl into a kiss, and Vinyl pulled her into her bedroom, followed by the pulling off of clothes, she still felt like she was in a confused stupor.

Only when she woke up the next morning with her arms around Octavia could she say it had finally begun to sink in.  Somehow things had been set right again, and if it was up to Vinyl, this was how they were going to stay.
> Epilogue: In Case You Were Wondering...
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Vinyl smiled and held out her hand, but Baseline didn't take it right away.  He was eyeing her with what seemed to be contempt, and when he finally shook her hand, it was paired with a warning.  

“If you break her heart again...”

With as much confidence she could muster while seemingly being threatened, Vinyl replied with a stern, “I won't.”

Baseline dropped her hand and laughed, as did Octavia, and Vinyl glanced between them, apparently having missed something.

“I know you won't, just couldn't pass up the chance to scare the shit out of you.”

Baseline had lightened up in a flash, which was a pleasant surprise, since Vinyl had thought he was being serious.  Octavia had started ahead of them, snagging the only vacant outside table at the coffeehouse.  Even though he had been kidding, Vinyl thought she'd add some reassurance just in case.

“Seriously though, she means the world to me. I wouldn't hurt her again, you have nothing to worry about.”

“I better not have anything to worry about.”

Vinyl glanced at him again, but he was now taking a seat at the table, putting on a smile again for Octavia.  Vinyl decided to disregard his comment and sat down as well.

“I'm glad you two can finally meet... formally, of course.”

Traveling around to compete in various tennis tournaments had taken up most of his time these past months, and though he and Octavia had been in touch, there was no date he could give for when he was coming back, until recently.

“Yeah... can't say I've been looking forward to it.”

His hostility had become evident again, and Octavia frowned.  Vinyl didn't seem as put off by it this time though, as she had gotten an idea.

“Were you following that whole surgery deal with Sara?”

She had attracted both Octavia and Baseline's complete attention with that comment, though the question was for Baseline.

“Sort of.  She got a messed up nose job, or something? Serves her right.”

“Yeah... I did that.”  Vinyl snickered, but at the questioning looks from the other two she collected herself and explained. “I punched her in the face and broke her nose pretty bad.  Looks like she tried surgeries and magic treatments to fix it, but they kinda made it worse.”

Octavia laughed a bit at that, but Baseline's jaw dropped as he looked at Vinyl with a mixture of awe and admiration.

“That was because of you...?”

“Yeah... Two weeks of solid community service for assault, but it was completely worth it.”

Octavia had to admit she was a bit worried they wouldn't get along, but as Baseline made it clear he considered her act of violence to be more an act of heroism, and Vinyl happily accepted his compliments, she realized there was nothing to worry about.

Vinyl had put her arm around Octavia, and as the other two had begun discussing sports, Octavia was content to tune out of the conversation and simply enjoy their company.