Like essentially every other day, Octavia started the morning by starting a breakfast. Often, she would make something quick. A buttered toast, or various fruits. Rarely, did she do a full spread. During the work weeks, she didn’t have the time and during the weekend, she didn’t have the drive. It was even rarer that she made food for someone else, the last time Vinyl had been in her house the only notable one she could remember.
Which made actually using her well-stocked kitchen feel strange, alien. She really worked for it; haybacon, fruits, pancakes, waffles, syrups laid out, so much more than she would ever need to do. Despite the oddity of the task, something about it felt satisfying, relaxing. Perhaps knowing that most of the food would go to somepony else made the whole situation easier to deal with. Vinyl clearly needed the food, and Octavia knew she’d likely be too sore to leave today. That’s what happened when wounds were that extensive, that encompassing.
She set the last plate, smiling slightly at her hoofwork. She’d done well. Unsurprisingly, Vinyl hadn’t exited the room Octavia had left her in, sleeping in instead. After the night the two of them had, Octavia wanted to as well. Yet, her body never let her. Seven A.M, on the dot, every day. Such a shame Octavia couldn’t stand tardiness. At the very least, it had gifted her the time to make this for her new friend.
And speaking of, she turned on her hooves, stepping carefully over to Vinyl’s door. She raised one of her hooves and gave three sharp knocks in quick succession. “Vinyl?” she called, through the door. “May I come in?”
Silence. At least, silence for a few seconds. The door glowed a bright cyan, jerking inwards with a sharp motion. Oh. Magic, right.
Octavia stepped in, looking towards the bed. Vinyl still lay, prone, on her side, facing away from the door. Her barrel fell in short, quick breaths, a pillow still smothering most of her head. “I’m still tired, Tavi,” she grumbled, her voice muffled.
“Oh, I can tell,” Octavia answered, stepping close to the bed’s edge. “But we need to check on your cuts, make sure that they aren’t still bleeding. Can you open your eye?” she asked, quietly. Hopefully, the swelling would have gone down a bit, but Octavia imagined that Vinyl’s head would still ache.
Vinyl groaned again, rolling over onto her back and moving the pillow aside with a quick burst of magic. Her eyes were open, the red easily spotted among the rest of her white. The one that’d been swollen shut was only barely open though, a single crack and nothing more. “It still hurts,” Vinyl complained. Some of the bandages had come off during the night as well, the loose strands stained with the dark red of dried blood. It wasn’t bad though and as far as Octavia could see from a cursory look, none had gotten on the sheets.
“Well of course it does.” Octavia ambled around the edge of the bed, going to the other side so she could get a closer look at her patient. “Honestly, you were really roughed up when you got here. Can you stand up? I’d like to take a look at the bandages and see how bad off they are. That, and I’ve made breakfast, and if you get up you can have as much as you like.”
It may have been a little bit of a bribe. Or a lot of a bribe. Regardless, it seemed to work as Vinyl rolled over in the bed, rolling off entirely and onto her hooves. She nearly crashed right into Octavia, only the latter’s quick movements bringing her out of range of the white unicorn.
The thought would certainly be rude to say, but Octavia couldn’t help but look at Vinyl like a particularly pathetic mummy. With the bandages hanging off of her, the white fur, and the swollen eye, she looked like a halloween costume gone wrong. Or gone right, depending on who you asked. She couldn’t help but let a small smile cross her lips, but she kept her laughter to herself.
“Sorry, sorry,” Vinyl mumbled out an apology. She dropped her head, letting her hair cover most of her face. “My head hurts, Tavi. How does everything look?” she asked, peeking from behind the curtain.
Octavia pursed her lips as she looked, circling around the mare. She reached forward, working on unraveling the bandages, taking them off. A few came with a bit of difficulty, dried blood keeping them to the spot. “It’s not bad at all. The cuts look shallow, though there are quite a few of them. Why don’t you take a shower before joining me for breakfast?” she asked. “I believe there should be spare bathrobe in that bathroom as well. How does that sound?” Octavia stopped when she was in front of Vinyl again. She really wasn’t used to being this gentle!
Vinyl simply looked at her for a few minutes, a frustrated look on her face. It slowly melted away to something more neutral, almost satisfied. And if not satisfied, resigned. “Sure. I’ll just uh, I’ll just be a few seconds, Tavi. Thanks,” She added, almost as an afterthought.
If she hadn’t been smiling before, Octavia definitely did now. She beamed at the thanks, her heart warming and a pleasant feeling spreading through her. “Of course. Think nothing of it. Do have a pleasant shower, Vinyl,” she said, the name rolling off her tongue oh so pleasantly. She honestly couldn’t remember the last time she’d used somepony’s first name.
Out Octavia went, instantly heading back to the kitchen. Not content to simply set the table, she instead worked on divvying up portions of the food onto each of their plates. She even went as far as to pour a glass of orange juice for herself and Vinyl, as well as a glass of water for Vinyl. Just in case she didn’t want the same drink, of course.
She waited with a bit of anxiety still plaguing her. Part of her couldn’t help but suspect that Vinyl lied - yes, she had no real reason to, but the situation was rather outlandish, and Octavia considered herself a skeptic during the best of times.
Eventually, Vinyl rejoined her. The mare had definitely cleaned up nicely, stripping her way out of most of the bandages. Her eye was still rather swollen, but most of the cuts were shallow now that they’d had a day to clear up and get the worst of the filth away from them. Her white coat was once more pristine, practically glittering in the early morning light. A still wet mane clung to her neck and throat, only away from her eyes because of Vinyl’s horn. She slid into the chair opposite Octavia with an easy gait, only wincing once as she sat.
“Are you feeling better today, Vinyl?” Octavia asked. She didn’t look at her food yet - yes, she was hungry, but the guest took precedence.
Octavia received a shrug in response. “Yea. It’s definitely better, I think. I dunno, I’m still pretty sore, Tavi. Um.. you mind if I start eating or anything? I know you’re high class, right? So you probably have all sorts of manners. I’ll probably fuck them up, so you know, my bad on that one,” Vinyl explained. Despite the excuse, she somehow still managed to sound easy going to Octavia.
“Please, go right ahead. Think nothing of it. You are my guest, and thus, anything you need I’d be happy to fulfill,” Octavia answered back. She smiled a soft, caring smile. Vinyl gave her a goal, gave her something to do. She hadn’t had something like that at home for….well, a very long time. Practicing not withstanding, she didn’t exactly have many hobbies. Perhaps it was rude to consider another pony a hobby? Regardless, Vinyl at least gave her mind something to concentrate on.
Thankfully, she wouldn’t have to think very hard on that dilemma. Vinyl muttered a mumbled thanks before instantly diving into the food, much like a starving bear would jump on a fresh deer in the woods. Octavia quickly surmised that Vinyl hadn’t been eating a lot over the last few days. Perhaps her story held its water and she had been harassed. That would explain the voracity with which Vinyl attacked her food.
In the meantime, Octavia busied herself with her own. More delicately, of course, but she still ate. The silence between them was comfortable rather than awkward as both of them sated their needs. Naturally, Octavia finished first, Vinyl apparently having a near bottomless appetite.
“Would you want seconds?” Octavia asked, breaking the silence. She couldn’t help but be a tad bit curious as to how much Vinyl would be able to stomach. Could she clean out everything that Octavia prepared? That would be quite the feat.
Vinyl shook her head, mouth still full of something or the other. She swallowed hard, chasing it down with half of the cup of water. “No thanks, Tavi. I’m good. Damn, where’d you learn to cook like that anyways? I thought you’d have servants or something.”
Octavia giggled a small, little giggle. “Oh no. I used to, but once I became complete owner of the estate, I let most of them go with glowing recommendations. I prefer to be a private pony in the end. That, and I honestly enjoy cooking. Why should I let somepony else do one of the things I get pleasure from?” she asked, tilting her head ever so slightly to the side.
“Oh. Yea, sure. I get that. Cooking can be fun sometimes. Fuck the mess though, you know?” Vinyl explained, waving a fork in the air for...emphasis? Octavia couldn’t help but wonder what she was doing.
“It’s not so bad. Just clean as you work. It makes it more simple, not as much time. With cooking, you’re waiting a lot of the time anyways, so there isn’t any reason not to,” she explained. “However… I do hate to change the subject so readily, but there is quite a few things that we still need to discuss. First of all, exactly how long do you need to stay here?” she asked.
Vinyl froze, suddenly looking at Octavia with a certain amount of trepidation. She looked over Octavia’s body, going up and down slowly. “You aren’t… you aren’t going to kick me out, are you Tavi? Look, I can’t go back out there. Please. I can’t deal with that. They’ll find me and-and they’ll make this,” she gestured to herself, “look like foal’s play, you got that? They’ll kill me, Octavia, please. I just need to stay a little lo-”
Octavia held up a hoof, silencing her breakfast mate. “Miss Scratch, I have no intention of kicking you out. I merely need to plan how much food to buy and how my plans are affected by having a housemate,” she offered. She smiled, trying to assure the more skittish mare of her good intentions. “Please, don’t worry about it. You’re welcome to stay here as long as you need. Though, I do hope you’ll be more inclined to give me the full story once we’ve had a little bit of time to get better acquainted. Would you be willing to go that far for me?” she asked. She inched a little closer, eyes trained on Vinyl.
Octavia saw the white mare’s ears droop first. She looked down towards her plate, sagging in the chair. She let out a quiet sigh, obvious worry getting to her. Octavia could easily see the mare fidget, though Octavia had no issue with simply letting the girl take her time to think.
Finally, her efforts would be paid off. “Okay. Okay. Yea. Sure. I get it. I… would a couple of months be out of the question?” Vinyl asked. She sat up a little straighter in her chair, one of her ears perking up.
Octavia’s heart swelled, and she suddenly felt almost responsible for the other mare. She couldn’t disappoint Vinyl. “Of course, Miss Scratch. A couple of months will be just fine,” she agreed.