//------------------------------// // Not Quite Traditional // Story: Fangs: The Order // by Sapphic //------------------------------// "Man, Fredric sure does live in a fancy part of town." Vinyl said, her head looking at the tall tops of the houses that made up the suburbs where Fredric lived. It was arguably the best part of town, rolling green lawns larger than my entire apartment, ornate gates that stretched farther than the eye could see, houses towering roughly the size of apartment buildings and heavy scenery around every corner. The fact Fredric could afford to live there was a testament to both how far along his career was, and how much his parents aided him financially. He'd more than likely already paid off the house, though saying "He" did anything involving the costs might've been pushing it. Not to say he didn't make substantial amounts of money, though it wasn't from the orchestra so much as it was supplying entertainment for guest parties of the upper crust. Truthfully, I'd never been to Fredric's house, having only gotten details on its size from Beauty and Harpo complaining about how often they had to make the trek out to it. But it seemed that they agreed with me that this kind of rich was a bit too much for anyone but the humble, and the amount of rich and humble in Canterlot was a little bit below zero. "His parents catalyzed his success, and this is the result." I said rather blandly. I might've put out some more emotion, but there was already a certain negative one banging at the edges of my head as it was. "You're not gonna do anything bad are you?" Vinyl asked innocently, but with obvious concern. The tone of her voice was enough to jerk me to a stop for a second, but I continued shortly after. The fact Vinyl sounded concerned about that monster was both intriguing and boggling. "Why-" I began, but a solemn and serious tone cut through my own like a hot knife through butter. "Because I don't want you sinking down as low as him." Her voice spoke volumes about having seen something similar happen countless times before, and that seeing it happen to me would probably hurt me more than I would like to hurt Fredric. I felt a sigh creep out of my lips, taking a bit of anguish out with it, before I looked back up to Vinyl with a small grin. "I won't do anything bad, Vinyl." I said honestly. If it meant that much to her, I had no choice but to oblige her. I'd heard that this love thing was mutual, so it only made sense to try and keep Vinyl happy like how she keeps me happy. Her eyes lit up in a healthy mix of glee and happiness. "Good, cause that's my job." She said happily, a new prance in her step that almost knocked away the umbrella we were both huddled under. I chuckled a bit at her response, but mostly at the fact that I couldn't tell if she was joking or not. "Well, you won't have to wait long. Fredric's house should be close by." I said back, returning the joke on the vague terms that it was actually a truth about her future intentions. There really wasn't many houses on the street where Fredric lived, mainly because the cost of building them and the amount of acreage each house was allotted. But I knew well which house was off of Beauty and Harpo's description. Beauty in particular seemed a bit curious why I was visiting him first thing after my unannounced arrival back in Canterlot, but backed off the question with a blush I could practically hear when she saw Vinyl was with me. "Ohh! Who's house is that?!" Vinyl asked gleefully, pointing towards a house who's roofs ended in medieval style, pointed roofs like that of the manor of a baron during the dark ages. "That's...actually I think that's Fredric's house." I said, a bit surprised that the only house Vinyl had brought attention to was the house that had been Fredric's. Perhaps she knew it was his house, or perhaps she just liked pointy roofs. The former seemed more likely to me for some reason, but the latter was, for Vinyl, just as viable. As I got closer, I noticed Fredric's house was especially ornate and elegant, gate being a clean brass to look like gold and compliment the aged brick, architecture of obviously pricey origins, and a house that looked to be made entirely of mahogany wood. Even the glass in the windows appeared to have small engravings along the edges. The gate, unsurprisingly, was locked with a box similar to that of the box on my parent's gate. A press of the button brought on the voice of a stalwart sounding stallion. "I apologize, but the master of the home has requested no one entry for the time being. If you would like, I can take a message. I'd ask you to keep it curt, as the mas-" The static voice was quickly cut off by a white hoof blowing through the box and into the brick behind it. The suddenness of it had shocked me a little bit, followed by a grin from Vinyl quickly coming into view. "Sounded like 'come in' to me." She said, chuckling a little bit. "Did it now?" I asked rhetorically, watching as she took aim at the pristine, brass, gate. What looked like a flick from the same white hoof turned the beautiful gate into a mangled mess of gold, crumpled and rolling backwards into the lush, green lawn it had been protecting. Even the pillars had seemed to have a layer of brick peel off the columns from the force. "You... seem a bit excited Vinyl." I said, chuckling nervously at the property damage that had been dealt in less than a few seconds, head stretching to the back of my head. She only laughed with a chillingly familiar smile widening on her face. 'And she was worried about me doing something bad. Poor Fredric.' I thought, turning back toward the now wide open gate and taking my first few steps onto the lawn. Despite how the house had been more than likely paid in a less than independent way, I could help but be a bit envious. The yard stretched to the point where you could think you were in the wilderness, a layer of trees planted at the edge of the lot made it even more convincing. The grass also seemed to have been allowed to grow to the point where even the most gentle of breezes could make them wave. "Do you think he's sorry, Vinyl?" I asked, peeking up from under the umbrella to see the blue sky above as we walked forwards down the smooth stoned path. "I dunno. Maybe. Probably not though since he, you know, kinda wanted me dead and stuff." She said with an honest shrug. I was silent at the response, the truth of it hitting a lot harder when it came from Vinyl's mouth. I was hopeful Fredric had gotten some sort of regret after doing such a thing, but that hope was more or less just a sliver. I did wish him a bit of pay back, but that was only natural, and beyond that I didn't wish anything bad. "Excuse me! You two!" A familiar sounding, stalwart tone called out from in front of us as a tall and bulky looking stallion dressed in a fine suit called as he came out of the front door of the manor. "I'm going to have to ask the both of you to leave. The intercom seemed to have mes-" He seemed to stop himself as something about us, as well as something from behind us, caught his eye. "Y-You're Octavia Melody, yes?" He stammered, eye widening as he craned behind me and Vinyl. I nodded. "W-What in Celestia's name happened to the gate?" He asked, taking a few steps to the side before looking weak in the knees as he spied what must've been the mangled clump of brass that used to be the gate. I gestured my head to the side slightly, drawing his attention to a nervously grinning Vinyl with a hoof stuffed behind her head. "Y-You?" He asked, obviously not believing it. "Might we be able to speak to Fredric?" I asked curtly. I'd normally be more passive about things, but I wanted to see Fredric, and see him now. The more that all of this remained unsolved, the more I felt flustered and disturbed - and Fredric was the obvious way to remedy this feeling. "I-I...he's said for no one to disturb him..." The pauper dressed stallion murmured, still staring at the mess Vinyl had made. Vinyl made a motion as if to approach him, but a glint from the corner of my eye revealed she had found a bit lying on the ground in front of her, and had only bent over to pick it up. "...B-But I'm sure he wouldn't mind t-two lovely l-ladies like yourselves visiting!" He stammered as he seemed to almost cower backwards. "Hm?" Vinyl asked, oblivious as she rose up with a shiny bit clinched in between her lips. I felt a little smirk form on my face as I giggled at her before I began walking, bringing her with me as the dark, mahogany door grew ever closer as the butler nervously lead us up to the door. We paused at the door for some reason, primarily from the hesitation of the butler to go through with opening the door. But while we were paused, I noted the almost elegant pottery sitting on the seals of the windows flanking the doors, flowers taking refuge in the shade below the over hanging porch. They looked well maintained, lively and bursting with color. I wondered for a second if Fredric had cared to them, though it seemed more than likely that the butler had done it. "You have very nice flowers." I said. It felt awkward and forced when it came out my mouth, despite how natural a comment it sounded. He eyed back to me, his scrunched shoulder loosening a bit at the comment, before offering a weak smile to me. "It's one of my few pleasures." He said simply, eyeing Vinyl with fear in his eyes as she stuck her nose near the flowers to sniff them - treating them like something she had never seen before. "Be gentle Vinyl." I said, almost like a parent warning their child not to play with fire. Vinyl looked back to me and offered a nod, gently going about investigating the flowers, much to the butler's relief. "I assume your business with Master Fredric is...sensitive?" He said, grip on the door handle tightening. "...In a way." I said, eyes rolling up to the ceiling before landing on Vinyl, who's mouth was beginning to open - but quickly shut as her eyes locked with mine. "He's seemed a bit distracted recently..." He said, pushing in the door to and holding it open for the both of us. "...I also assume that your visit might remedy that distraction." He said, offering another weak smile. *~~~~*~~~~*~~~~*~~~~*~~~~*~~~~* The inside of Fredric's home was about as impressive as the outside. The entrance went into a cozily sized room reserved for holding coats and other things, going forward before splitting into two rooms. All spaces on the wooden walls were filled with some form of knickknack or space filler while the floors where padded with a thick, brown carpet, making everywhere you went feel incredibly cozy. It made it look like the house was owned by someone who had traveled the world, and it probably did before Fredric's parents bought it and everything in it. The butler led us through a series of rooms, stopping short of a small set of stairs that went into a long hallway. He seemed to not allow himself to go any further, but made no motion to stop us other than making us have to squeeze by him thanks to the narrowness of the halls. "Third door on the right before you reach the end of the hallway." He said. The lights of the house immediately got dim when both me and Vinyl ascended the three or so stairs, the hallway going about as far back as the path leading up to the house. Door after door presented itself, so many that I began to question if anything even hid behind them, but I pushed away temptation as the door the butler had mentioned came into view. I found myself stopping at the door instead of opening it, looking to Vinyl. I didn't know why I did, maybe to just get another good look at her - which sounds odd considering how often I see her already. Vinyl seemed to notice my staring. "Oh, did you want me to bust the door?" She suggested, her hoof raising as she took aim. "No!" I yipped quickly, grasping her raised hoof in what would've been a depressingly vain attempt to stop her if she had chosen to go through with the punch. "Just...looking." I said, blush coming to my face as I admitted it. "Aw! Tavi!" Vinyl cooed, giving me a quick peck on the cheek that only deepened my blush. "Hush you..." I mumbled, trying to hide my blush from view. I would be honestly surprised if Fredric hadn't heard all of that, assuming that this room didn't go any farther in than maybe ten or so feet. I mean, with all of these rooms, they'd have to be rather small, right? A slow turn of the know proved that point wrong. Inside the door was a room larger than the majority of my apartment - which seemed to be a recurring theme in this house - that revealed the back of a stallion lying face down on what looked like a desk. Surrounding the desk was a number of bookshelves, along with a few comfortable recliners with matching tables to accompany them - each with a candle dimly lit. I focused on what had to have been Fredric, finding him breathing evenly to hint that he was asleep. "Is that him?" Vinyl whispered into my ear, breath tickling my ear lightly. I nodded silently, taking the first of what felt like a million steps towards Fredric. I imagined that I looked nervous to Vinyl, and in truth I somewhat was, but with that half feeling of nervousness was the feeling of resolve. I didn't hesitate in my steps towards Fredric, but my thoughts were racing of how this could all go wrong. About three steps away was when his body shook slightly and his steady breathing abruptly stopped before re-steadying at a different pace as he pushed himself off the desk. His eyes looked baggy and tired, and the yawn he let out further proved that point.. I stopped where I was, letting Vinyl stand beside me as we more or less just waited for Fredric to turn. "F-Fredric?" I called out, voice wavering. His eyes threw out fatigue and put on shock, going from blurry and muddled to sharp as knives in without even a blink. He turned to the two of us, one hoof placed on the back of his chair while the other remained out of sight in front of him, eyes narrowing heavily at the sight of who was beside me. You could almost feel the toxicity that filled the air when he saw Vinyl. "You..." He began, nose wrinkling and brows furrowing, visibly seething at just the sight of her. I expected something else to follow it, but he didn't. No questions about why Vinyl was still alive, as I'm sure he could piece that puzzle together fairly quickly; and also no questions about why both Vinyl and I were here in his home, as that was more easy to figure out than why she was still alive. "Hello." Vinyl said, a bit cheerfully, as her glasses dipped down onto the tip of nose, revealing her narrowed, red eyes as she drank in Fredric's response. Fredric turned to me, eyes full of thought as he pieced something together. "You....'helped' her? Then you..." He said, turning to me as he began to understand that I knew what he had done and also what I had done. Briefly, his anger faded and was replaced with confusion - most likely at how his "fool poof" plan had failed and as to how exactly I -of all ponies - managed to help Vinyl from a group of borderline mercenaries. Though the anger came back as quick as it faded however, and seemed doubly present than before. "I want to talk Fredric." I said simply. In truth, I wanted to wail on him until I possible knocked some sense into him - or knock him unconscious, whichever came first - but I had promised myself to at least try and resolve this peacefully. That being said, I was by no means going to go out of my way to make this peaceful. "Then you will do it alone." He said sharply, eyes flickering to Vinyl with a sneer. I let out a sigh. "Vinyl?" I turned to her. She had a brief look of uncertainty, but nodded and turned to the door. In hindsight, I probably put myself at a lot of risk - and Vinyl as well for that matter - but if it meant a peaceful solution, I was still willing to at least go that far. Me and Fredric sort of stared at each other as Vinyl made her way to the door, only beginning to talk when he heard the sound of the door softly click shut. His eyes immediately softened. "Why do you help that bint? Is it some physical attraction? Mental? She's a monster you know. Hellbent on sucking the blood from you." He began, his voice an eerie - and desperate - calm. "That perspective is called ignorance, you know." I said simply. "And yours is bias." He countered coolly, stepping from the chair and striding off to the side where he seemed to shuffle through one of the book shelves. He seemed oddly more composed than before, and for no apparent reason either. Perhaps it was Vinyl's absence, but he didn't seem to be disappointed in me - or even angry - only sad. "I didn't believe it at first, but enough digging revealed dark secrets you'd never hope to find about this town. And her breed is one of them. A cult with a need to be culled." He said solemnly, essentially insulting Vinyl's entire race while not even offering her the chance to look him in the eyes as he did it. I was sure Vinyl heard it though, but I had no idea what her response would be. "Do you even feel bad for what you did?" I asked. It might've been just me being hopeful and naive, but I still did think that he could be reasoned with. He turned his head slightly and flashed a brutally honest, cold stare. "I feel bad because it failed." His voice was the metaphorical equivalent of a kick to the gut. His words were hurtful, but the glimmer in his eye told me that he wasn't going to lie to me. "Tell me Octavia, why is it that you're so attracted to her?" He said, his voice turning back to it's previous, calm nature. If he wasn't going to lie to me, I wouldn't lie to him either. "I doubt I could explain it." I said honestly. Truth be told I never imagined myself being so infatuated with someone, so curious about who they were and what they thought about things. And above that I never imagined myself finding someone I could say that I "loved" at my current age - I assumed that it would come with age. In truth, you could argue that Vinyl stole that from me - not by direct force, but by my curiosity and manners. Someone saves your life from a back alley experience, suddenly starts acting like they might be falling victim to illness, and then ends up being something of legends. How could you not be intrigued? Not to mention that Vinyl was apparently homeless at the time, which seemed a bit too perfect for that situation. Irregardless, as soon as I had gotten an interest in Vinyl, and she had one in me, it may as well have been set in stone. I couldn't leave her or stop thinking about her, she was something out of fiction come to life, and my conscious just wouldn't let me let her go. I guess it didn't start out as love, but it turned into it. "I mean honestly, do you think that you'll get anywhere significant with her? She's an anchor to success and you know it as well." He said, and sadly enough, he was correct. "She's a parasite Octavia, leeching off of you in order sustain herself. You may not see it that way, but objectively -and literally - that is what it is. How could you possibly say that you lov-" "Stop!" I snapped sharply, eyes narrowing on him as he turned to me with a bit of surprise. "Do you even know what you did? You nearly got both me and Vinyl killed. And for what? Some sickly obsession to disdain people who aren't the same social class? She's more than proved herself to me - and even to you with her skills in an art you claim to be the best at." I said, voice more clam, but still carrying heat. The way he winced and flattened his ears told me that I had both caught him off guard, and hit a sensitive spot. "You're blind, all because of someone who is different having relations to me." I said, looking down and away from him as my voice trailed off in a bit of a blush. "'Obsession'." He said to himself, turning back to the bookcase. The room went eerily silent as I assumed that maybe, just maybe, I had managed to speak some sense into him. "You're just as blind." He whispered to himself. I was about to say something, but he had turned towards me with a dead look in his eyes that stopped me from speaking. He walked over slowly, eyes never straying from mine, until he was hardly a foot away from me. "I apologize." He said, his face riddled with the look of a sad and tired stallion. Fredric moved his hoof from behind him with the glint of something coming from somewhere in its grasp. By the time I had realized he had something, his hoof was already mere inches away from me with a delusional look in his eyes - almost as if they were glazed over with some kind of sick drive. But who was I to judge say that his drive was sick, in his mind it was more than just - righteous even. I couldn't blame him for his delusions, just his actions to rid himself of those delusions. We all have similar griefs, but the difference is that we learn to overcome them, not destroy them. I realized he had a knife in his hoof, aimed at me. It stopped with maybe a hair's length from my neck, an oddly practiced motion that seemed mechanical in precision. "Fredric..." Was all I could say, no emotion coming to mind, though it sounded sad. In truth I was sad to see him reduced to a husk of a stallion, but at the same time I was not willing to give him any pity. There of course was fear, as all it took was a simple motion of his hoof to either side and my life would be over. He seemed to waver a little at that, something that I realized he wouldn't do again. I reared my neck back and away from the knife as one of my hind legs batted into his chest, shoving as hard as I could and sending him back to the desk where he had been when me and Vinyl came in as I fell to the floor. He was quick to recover from nearly falling over the desk. "You little bit-" He began as he looked back to me and started to run. I scrambled to get up, thinking of how I could stop him as I watched him draw ever closer to me. Irregardless of how I tried to stop him, he'd get a hit in. By the same token, also realized, that that meant Vinyl would pick up that smell and come bursting in. Still, judging by the ever more crazy look in Fredric's eyes, I was worried what Fredric could do in that time. Though, at the same time as the blade glinted as it grew closer, so did something else. What looked like plastic, near the back of the room. Glasses. And purple ones at that. I strained a little more as I tried to focus, and sure enough, I saw a set of crimson eyes starting at me with a growing smile. Even if they were hid in the shadows of the bookshelves, there was no denying that that was Vinyl. If it wasn't, then I would truly be scared. I looked back to Fredric charging, now a mere foot away from me, realizing now that Vinyl had a plan. All I needed to do was try an disarm Fredric. Oddly enough, despite all I had been through - even fighting Vinyl - there was more anxiety about facing this oncoming knife than there was anything I had ever felt. Of course, that might just be because I can see it coming. As Fredric came within distance and drew back his hoof that carried the blade, I readied my own hoof and aimed it at his. Then, our hooves met. Mine went upwards aimed at the wrist of his hoof, my intent being to knock his hoof back so that Vinyl could do something about it, as his came down. I hit on target, but at the same time that only caused his wrist to bend down and bring the knife across my own hoof. The blade stung as it slid across, red beginning to quickly seep out, but I managed to accomplish my goal and send his hoof staggering backwards. I recoiled from the pain of the knife myself, and fell to the floor. My punch knocked him off balance, his arm going back just as a set of white teeth clench around the blade, stopping it in its tracks. The most noticeable feature about said teeth, the cute looking canines. "What the-" Fredric said, turning just slightly enough to let me catch a glimpse of the head that those adorable fangs were attached to. Vinyl stood there with a smile, a smile that held a knife in it. At first I thought Vinyl was simply going to stop the blade by flashily catching it with her teeth. She seemed to have some sort of drive to demoralize Fredric, and that would certainly be a way to do it. And stop the blade did, but as time slowly ticked on, I saw small cracks beginning to run through the ornate blade of the knife. 'What the...' I began to think, but even my thoughts suddenly were interrupted by the sound of shattering metal as Vinyl bit through the knife completely, leaving little pieces of shrapnel flowing through the air. As the sound seemed to fade, I was left setting on the floor with a gaping mouth and wide eyes, Fredric wearing a similar expression as he stared at the shattered remains of the knife. The feat wasn't all that impressive considering it was Vinyl, but that didn't make it any less impressive to watch. Vinyl, on the other hoof, straightened herself back up, just as a pair of purple glasses landed on her head, matching up perfectly to use her horn as a sort of prop. "You said something about being sad that you failed?" Vinyl said, sounding a little unsure herself, but the expression she wore as she turned to Fredric was one that spelled out that she knew exactly what she was doing. "Maybe you'd like a retry?" Vinyl said suddenly, her voice cutting through the air as it changed tone. A glance over revealed her eyes focused onto Fredric, to the point where her pupils may as well have been the size of a pin point. Fredric stiffened at her voice alone. "Don't test me." Fredric warned, though it was very clear he was at her mercy. "Try and stop me." Vinyl shot back, her tone a bit more playful this time, while her gaze seeming to be sparking with a yearning for Fredric to try and do something. She was itching to hit him, but she wasn't going to do something unless it was absolutely necessary. "I won't stop until you're gone. As long as you live, I will do everything in my power to have you brought down." Fredric said, sounding more and more like a villain, though at the same time he was sounding more and more desperate to hurt Vinyl in any sort of way. "If you want to keep sending people to try and take care of me. Do it. It'll keep my life interesting for a little while." Vinyl said with a genuine smile before looking to Fredric with a red gaze that seemed oddly warm. "But you better give them really good instructions, cause if Tavi gets hurt...well, uh, you will too." She said, pausing mid sentence as her threat sort of falling apart at the end as she failed to pick the right words to make a more creative threat. Despite the awkward composition of the sentence, it seemed to hit Fredric harder than anything up to this point, sending him fumbling to his knees in a silence that could only be interpreted as defeat. It was understandable as well, because he wanted to bring pain to Vinyl, but this demonstration and Vinyl's explanation of it "kept life interesting" were enough to convince him that that wasn't going to actually do anything. Even with a slashed hoof I couldn't help but feel the smallest bit of pity for him. Even if he had essentially commissioned someone to end Vinyl's life, seeing someone look so broken just wasn't right. It was similar to seeing Vinyl back at The Order's base, where she simply wasn't present in some regard. "Fredric...please try and see the good in people. What do you think separates the princesses from nobles?" I tried to reason. I knew it was useless, and that he didn't even deserve my pity, but he was - though not anymore - my friend. "That they're not in a position to do the darker deeds that keep this city in check." He spat, crumpled on the floor. I shook my head sadly. I believe the expression my father commonly used was: 'There is no point trying to convince a brick wall to move.' "Goodbye, Fredric." I said solemnly, turning away from him with a frown and a bloody hoof cradled against my chest. *~~~~*~~~~*~~~~*~~~~*~~~~*~~~~* The second we were out of Fredric's house, Vinyl almost broke down. Her act of being carefree shattering like the knife she had broken with her bare teeth. "Oh my Luna Tavi, are you okay?" She said, practically clinging to me as she looked at my wrist with hurt eyes. It seemed like she thought she had something to do with the fact that I got hurt, and she was beating herself up about it - to the point where the magic holding the umbrella up was wavering occasionally. In truth, I was glad she hadn't immediately interfered. She saved me time and time again without any help on my part, it was time I start contributing to my own safety - or at least share the wounds. "I'm fine Vinyl." I said, smiling at her. "But... you're bleeding." She said, her eyes muddling a little bit as she stared at the open wound. Now, at that moment, two things popped into my mind. In particular, it was two ways to go about this. The first, was that I could insist I was fine and stop by a hospital and bandage up my hoof and be on our way home where Vinyl would probably stare at my hoof both out of concern and something else. My hoof would heal up naturally and I'd probably have a good memento of what had happened today in the form of a scar on my hoof. The second, was a bit more... playful. Vinyl had an obvious hunger in her eyes as she stared at my bleeding hoof, and I noticed an interesting side affect of when she had fed off of me before - which was that the holes on my neck always seemed to heal up and never leave a scar past a week or so. It would definitely bring the reddest blush to my face in a while, but I could perhaps let Vinyl...indulge herself in the hopes of not having a scar on my hoof. Here's to dumb ideas. "Erhm, Vinyl?" I began, voice catching on itself as the blush already began to form on my cheeks. 'Oh Celestia what am I doing.' "Huh?" Vinyl said, snapping out of what looked like a trance. "Well, I, uh, have noticed in the past that when you would feed from my neck there wouldn't be a scar after a week or so and...well..." I began to trail off. "And...?" She said. 'How can she be as oblivious as me?!' I inwardly screamed as my blush continued to build. "Could you...maybe..." I began again, fumbling for words. I quick glance revealed her to still be just as oblivious to my request, in fact she looked even more worried when she noticed the blush on my cheeks, an uncharacteristic frown forming on her face. I clenched my eyes and thrust out my hoof. "H-Here..." I said simply. "W-What?" She stammered. "Drink it!" I shouted, surprised that the amount of blood in my cheeks was still allowing my hoof to keep bleeding. "T-Tavi..." I heard her stammer, now just a whisper. With my eyes closed, I couldn't see her reaction, but I'm sure if I did I'd have another bleed coming from my nose from how cute it was. I the small planting of soft lips on my cheek, which shook me from both thought and closing my eyes. I looked to see Vinyl smiling widely at me, a blush on her own face. "I-I love you Tavi." She said quickly, obviously embarrassed, but doing it nonetheless. I gulped. "I-I love you too Vinyl." I said, equally embarrassed. I watched as she gently bent towards my hoof, tickling me as she licked off the surface of blood that had already been spilling out. "Y-You don't have to make a show out of it." I stammered, but earned no response as Vinyl continued on with her "process". She then latched on, a gentle suckling feeling coming from my hoof as she slowly drank, a heavy blush on her face and a smile on her lips. Not to mention that as soon as she started, simply judging by the look of content on her face, getting her off would be one step past impossible - which meant that we'd have to take the more secluded and scenic route, which I didn't mind too much since I wasn't bleeding out anymore. It definitely wasn't a traditional relationship, but I wouldn't trade it for anything.