//------------------------------// // Close // Story: My Roommate Is Onto Me // by AGhost //------------------------------// I was awoken the next morning by sunlight beaming in my eyes. Irritated, I squinted and groaned. Jeez, the world is so damn bright without my shades. Opening them slowly, I realized that Octy and I were lying in her bed, so close that our heads were resting together. Aaaaaaand I don’t care how bright the sun is. I think I’ll just stay here forever, thanks. My head pounded as my mind slowly pieced together what happened last night. It all started coming back to me; the blood bags, the freak out, fixing up Octy, falling asleep in her arms. I couldn’t help but stare at her neck bandage. Poor Octy. She had a terrible frickin’ night. I’m not sure why, but I raised my hoof to gently touch it, wincing when she moved. I thought I’d woken her up, but she simply yawned and wrapped a hoof around my back, pulling me closer to her. A goofy smiled played across my lips as I sighed. Yeeeah, this… this is nice. This is really nice. I could get used to this. I could, couldn’t I? I mean, she did tell me she loved me. That… that was real, right? And… she did kiss me. Like, legit kissed me. What was that about? Was that just to snap me out of… whatever state I was in or… could she really have meant it? I hadn’t had time to think about the kiss while Octy was bleeding to death, but now I had nothing but time. Nothin’ to do but think until she woke up. Darn good kisser, now that I could stop and replay it in my head. She was pretty into it. Well, if I’m ever lucky enough to get another one of those, I’ll be sure to appreciate it this time around. As much as I wanted to lay there all day, I still felt pretty horrible about yesterday. I wanted to do something to make it up to her. Taking her arm and very carefully moving it off of me, I set it down on the bed in between us. I scooted slowly away from her, rolled over, and got up. Trotting towards the kitchen, I walked past the wreckage from last night, stepping over glass and bits of door that littered the floor. I entered the kitchen, immediately smelling blood. Octy hadn’t had the chance to rinse the sink out before… stuff happened last night. Nor did anypony clean up the blood on the floor. The smell was hypnotizing, but I shook my head and pulled myself together. Snap out of it. It’s just like you’re playing Clean Up Crew for another vampire pony. Octy’s not here. Got plenty of time. You can handle this. I breathed in deep, waiting a few seconds before exhaling. Walking to the closet, I took out a towel and bucket and brought them over to the mess on the floor. I leaned over the sink and saw the blood in it, most of it dry now. You got this. ... You got this. I psyched myself up and got to work. _________________________________________________________________________ An hour later, I’d scrubbed the sink, floors, kitchen table, and anywhere else that was splattered with the stuff. I’d also gotten rid of the broken glass from the mirror and propped her door up against the wall. It’d stay there until I found a way to either repair or replace it. As most of the blood had dried by then, it really wasn’t that physically tough to clean it up. I mean, normally blood wasn’t that tough for me to clean. I had to deal with it all the time… but after what happened last night, I definitely wasn’t on my game. Even the smallest memory of me losing control last night was freaking me out. Luckily, Octy wasn’t there so it was a lot easier to focus. I exhaled in relief, admiring my handiwork. Err, hoofiwork? Whatever. Now came the tough part. I’m gonna have to venture into unknown territory: making breakfast. _________________________________________________________________________ Makin’ food for Octy reminded me of the first time I’d ever gotten her to eat something I’d made. Okay, well, I didn’t make it myself, but I paid for it. That still counts, right? “Sorry, wah?” I asked raising an eyebrow. “Meh skarnf… issit okay?” This is gonna be a long night. “Okaaay, so I think the next step is to get you sobered up a bit,” I sighed, putting my elbow on the bar and leaning towards Bar Mare. “Hey, uhh…” Sangria? Margarita? Mimosa? Remember, dammit! Champagne? Naw, Champagne sounds like a stripper name… “… could I get two glasses of water and a plate of nachos for the lady?” Bar Mare gave a little nod and, lifting a sprayer with her magic, filled two glasses with water. She set them in front of us and went through the back door to where the kitchen was. I looked back over at Grey Mare. (She’d be called that until I knew her name.) She just sort of stared off into space with this sad look on her face. “They’re both for you,” I said pushing the water glasses towards her. “Drink up. We’ll get some food in you and you’ll be fine in no time.” She didn’t turn back to look at me. Just kept staring off somewhere. I sighed. Great. I gotta spend time with a spoiled Canterlot mare who won’t even give me the time of day. “Hey, you in there?” I asked, poking her shoulder with my hoof. She looked up at me startled. “Oh! S-surry, I’b… surry…” The apology was genuine. Maybe she wasn’t being stuck-up. Maybe she’s just… really out of it. “No worries,” I said nudging the waters again. “Just drink, alright? I’m sure you can handle doing that much.” The mare attempted to pick up one of the glasses in her hooves, but almost knocked it over. I floated over a few straws and set them in the water glasses. “Or a straw! Straws are good, too!” She started to drink as I glanced up at the clock on the wall, which read 11:04 pm. Guess I’m stuck babysitting tonight. Ah well. It’s not like I had anything else to do that night anyway. No Special Somepony in my life, no gigs to prepare for in the near future. I’d probably just go home, work on some music, catch an episode of “When Manticores Attack,” then fall asleep around four in the morning, as I usually did. I sighed and looked back to see she’d already gone through the first glass of water and was now working on the second one. “Wow. Guess you’re thirsty,” I smirked putting a hoof under my chin and resting it on the bar. She finished her second water and exhaled in relief. “I feel…. more myself now…” “Well that’s good. I’m glad,” I said smiling. Maybe now she can finally answer some questions. “You don’t look like you’re from around here. What brings you to this part of Manehattan?” Her face fell as she looked down into the empty glass. “I… um... well you see, I’ve been rather down on my luck lately. I do live in Manehattan, actually, though I’ve only been here for... I'd say a little less than a month. I’d been wandering around town and happened upon this… um…” She looked around at the worn-down brick walls, the intoxicated ponies jumping around on the dance floor, and the chairs that vibrated along with the music. “… establishment. I didn’t have anything else to do today, so I came in here and thought I’d have a nice glass of scotch. I didn’t-” “Wait, one glass of Scotch did that to you? Jeez, what a light weight you… scotch…” Scotch! “Scotch!” I yelled loud enough that I could be heard in the back kitchen. Bar Mare came out levitating a plate of nachos. “Yeah?” she answered back. “Your name is Scotch!” I stated excitedly, clapping my hooves together. She raised an eyebrow at me and set down the nachos in front of Grey Mare. “Whaaaaatever, Scratch. You’re weird,” she commented, smiling and going back into the kitchen. She called back to us through the closed doors. “I gotta take care of some stuff! Let me know if anypony needs a drink!” “Gotcha!” I yelled back then looked over at Grey Mare who was staring at the food as if it were some sort of strange alien she’d never seen before. “Now I’m guessing this ain’t really your kinda food, but we don’t got any salads or caviar or anything like that so you’ll just have to deal tonight,” I said pushing the plate towards her. “I… thank you very much,” she said nudging the plate back at me, “but... I don’t have any… I can’t pay for-“ “Hey, don’t sweat it. It’s on the house.” I pushed it back at her. “But-“ “Relax, alright? You need to get some food in you. It’s no problem, really.” I smiled at her. She opened her mouth to speak again, but no words came out. Instead she closed it and smiled back at me. “Thank you… Thank you so much… I mean, I don’t even know you…” “Name’s Vinyl. Vinyl Scratch,” I said extending a hoof to her. “Otherwise known as DJ Pon-3. DJ legend, Music Writing Extraordinaire, and all around bad ass.” She giggled and took my hoof in hers. “Charmed. I’m Octavia,” she said shaking it. “Wow. Fancy name, Octy. I like it!” “Actually, I said ‘Octavi-‘” “There. Now you know me and I know you!” I grinned at her and tapped the plate of nachos. “Now you can eat.” She smiled, shaking her head and pulling the plate closer to her. “You are something else, Vinyl Scratch.” She pointed down at the nachos. “Now, might I have a fork and knife so I can enjoy these?” I stared at her. Oh Goddesses, did she just- No, Vinyl- But she- Don’t do it, Vinyl! For nachos?! VINYL- I couldn’t help it. I burst out laughing at her. _________________________________________________________________________ “Come on ya stupid… ugh, come on!” I groaned as I scraped and stabbed the pan with the spoon. Never had to cook anything in this kitchen so, not knowing where the spatula was kept, I improvised. I’d attempted to make scrambled eggs, but instead I created something that resembled a black, squishy burned-on-the-bottom rock, which was now stuck to the pan. It was already creating a sickening smell, but suddenly I smelled something worse beside me: smoke. I looked over to see black plumes of it coming out of the toaster. “Crap!” I dropped what I was doing, galloped over to the toaster, and pressed the switch upwards to release the toast. Nothing happened. I growled and kept flipping it up and down, fearing the toast would catch fire if it was in there any longer. I put my head over it to check for fire and pushed the switch up with all my might, breaking it off; two slices of toast shot out and beamed me in the face. Not thinking, I caught them in my hooves before they fell, burning myself. “OW! Ow ow ow ochies ow!” I hissed waving my hooves around and blowing on them. Turning on the sink, I let the water flow over them. Helped a bit, but I was pissed. “Dammit! I don’t understand it! I put it on the lowest setting and it still burned every piece of bread! I just don't know what went wrong!” I yelled out in annoyance. “There goes pieces 23 and 24. Those were my last shots...” I turned off the sink and went over to the toaster, clenching my sore hooves. “Come on, ya jerk. You could’ve saved me at least one piece!” I punched it in it’s stupid toaster face. It sputtered a few times and a knob flew off and hit me in the nose. “Ow! You stupid piece of-!” I grabbed it and rammed it into the wall, then slammed it onto the floor. It broke into about 20 pieces. I stood over it, grinding my teeth and panting in fury. My hooves were throbbing in pain, but that felt really good. "Smoke! Fire?! Where!" I heard Octy yell from her room. Crap. Hope I didn’t wake her. I walked over to her room and peaked my head in the doorway. She was still in bed, lifting her head up to look at me. "Just making breakfast," I explained cheerily. "I didn't know you could burn juice," she smirked, sitting up and resting her back against the wall. "Shaddup!" I laughed at her, happy she was back to her old self. "I tried making a hey-sorry-for-trying-to-kill-you breakfast in bed, but I don't think it's very good." That might be an understatement… "It's the thought that counts, right? How bad can it be?" she asked smiling at me. I sighed with relief. "Whew, that's good. You're gonna need a spatula to scrape the eggs off of the frying pan. Oh, and we're all out of toast." "I just bought an entire loaf!" "Well, the toaster didn't agree. Also, uhh…" I lifted up the toaster’s switch that I’d kept clenched in my hoof. “… we need a new one.” _________________________________________________________________________ “Please, Vinyl?” “No.” “Pleeeease? Just once more?” I sighed. “Alright, fine, but this is the last time, kay?” She nodded obediently. I took a breath in then let it out, focusing myself on the transformation. Opening my mouth, I felt my fangs slowly peeking out and Octy gazed on in amazement, taking them in. I didn’t exactly like it, transforming in front of her. But she insisted, so I did as she asked. Guess I’d find it pretty interesting, too, if I suddenly found out my friend was a vampire. She never took her eyes off them, even as I changed back to normal and they disappeared inside my mouth once again. "Pretty cool, right?" I asked flashing a smile at her, my regular teeth now showing. She giggled. “Very, very cool." I spread some strawberry jam over my pancakes, cut out another chunk, and continued eating. Octy was a pretty damn good cook and had made us some pretty kick ass pancakes after we’d cleaned up my mess, (egg, burnt toast, toaster parts.) I glanced over at her neck bandage, a wave of guilt rushing through me. Octy was absolutely one of a kind. I almost kill her and she makes me pancakes. I try to make her an apology breakfast and instead, she makes me an “I’m-sorry-you-can’t-cook-to-make-me-an-apology-breakfast” breakfast. I was failing all over the place lately. Besides the sound of us eating, it was dead quiet. A sort of awkward silence had taken the place of conversation as… well, I wasn’t totally sure what to talk about. There was tons of stuff on my mind, of course but, like… how do you talk about all that? I couldn’t just bring it up. So, um, you know how I’m a vampire and stuff? You can’t tell anypony or this secret organization of supernaturals might murder you in your sleep. Just fyi. Pass the butter, wouldja? I looked over at her bandage again. My eyes couldn’t stop wandering to it. She coughed, drawing my attention away from it. "So, um, Vinyl." "Yeah?" "How much do you need to drink?" I frowned at her. This is what she wants to talk about? After I almost sucked her body dry of blood last night? "Well, I guess normally one blood bag a month." "All at once?" "Nah. I'd much rather mix it in with my drink or something." "You haven't slipped that into our meals, have you?" She looked terrified. I smiled evilly. "Vinyl!" she shrieked, pounding a hoof on the table. "That is disgusting!" "Oh come on, you've tried it already—" "That doesn't mean I like the taste! So you have, haven't you?" "Nah." She sighed in relief, but I was having too much fun with this. "Well maybe once or twice..." "Vinyl!" I laughed at her, shaking my head. My horn glowed as I began levitating my fork, but she continued the conversation. "So have you worked out some kind of deal with the hospital? Is that why they let you have some every once in a while?" I dropped the fork. "I can't tell you that,” I said seriously. She may know my secret, but I wasn’t about to reveal everything to her. It could endanger her even further. "Oh. Come on now. Is it Vampires Anonymous?" "I'm sorry,” I apologized shaking my head. “I wish I could tell you, Octavia. It's... confidential." She shrank and looked back down at the table. "In any case, I'm sorry about wasting one of them," she murmured. "What?” Wasted… oh, the blood bag. “Oh. Ah, don't worry about it,” I said waving my hoof. “I think I got plenty when I uh, erm… You know—" "Yes… when you drank." "… Yeah." I glanced at her bandage again, then cleared my throat and took a bite of pancake and jam. "Have you ever fed?" "What?" I said with my mouth full. "You know. Drank blood from a pony," she said titling her head a little to the side. I almost choked on my food. "Oh, Celestia! No! No, you were my first," I laughed, covering my face with a hoof. "And I've never killed anypony, if that's what you wanna know." She sighed with relief. "I can't be living with a murderer, now can I?" she laughed nervously, then wiped her lips on a napkin. "Now you must tell me how I tasted." I felt my face heat up. "Octy! I - I can't!" "I'm just curious," she laughed. "Was I salty? Or sweet? Bitter?" I shook my head. "Tell me!" "No!" "Please?" I sighed in exhaustion. She wasn’t gonna let this go. I rolled my eyes, feeling horribly embarrassed. "You tasted... very nice. Sweet." She raised an eyebrow. "Like candy?" "More like... cough syrup." She burst out laughing, shaking her head and pointing at me. I felt my face redden further and poked at my breakfast with my fork. Wait for her to change the subject, wait for her to change the subject… "Are you immortal?" she asked once her laughing had died down. "Heck no. And I'm glad," I said swallowing another bite. "I mean, who wants to live forever?" "There has to be some benefits, Vinyl. Insurance?" That earned a small chuckle from me. Oh yeah, suuuure. We get our own special vampire insurance, Vampsurance. And if we flash our “I’m a vampire” card at the local donut shop, we get a 5% discount! Join the club! She gasped. "Can you turn into a bat?" "No! I wish!" I laughed at her. She had been way too into those vampire novels if she thought that. I pushed myself out of my chair and trotted into the living room. "The usual, I guess. Super strength." I lifted the couch with one hoof, watching her jaw drop. "My eyes and ears are sharper, and I can smell a lot better. I heal a bit quicker than most ponies, but it's not anything spectacular." I set it down and returned to my seat. "And you won't go poof in the sun, will you?" she asked, genuinely worried. "I won't sparkle, that's for sure," I laughed, shaking my head. "Octy, it's not like that. It's just really uncomfortable. It might be a nice sunny day for you, but for me, it's really hot." Hell, as long as we’re talking about this, I might as well bring it up. "Octavia? … When you said you loved me..." I asked slowly, earning a surprised look from her. "You remember?" "Kinda,” I groaned rubbing my head. "It's like there's this huge blank space in my head. One second I was talking with you and then I was on top of you, and your neck was gushing blood..." The thought sent chills down my spine. "I've never lost control like that." "It must have been scary," she agreed quietly, running her hoof along the tablecloth. "It was awful!" I shuddered at the thought and hugged myself. "I thought I had everything under control, this curse! It was finally becoming manageable. But now I'm not so sure." "I'm sure it'll be fine." There was no way to tell that, but it was nice she was trying to help me. "I'm afraid the next time I'll lose it, I'll turn into a…" I gulped, "… a monster, and you won't be able to bring me back.” She looked up at me, her face serious. “Don't talk like that. It won't happen again." "But Octy—" "Shut up." I opened my mouth to speak, but when no words came out, I closed it. I was quiet for a bit, looking around the room. Trying to decide what to talk about next. No. You’ve brought it up. Might as well finish the conversation. You’ll never forgive yourself if you don’t find out. "Anyways,” I continued, “when you said it, it snapped me outta it, but only for a second. That kiss though… that definitely set me straight.” I looked over at her. “Did you mean it though?" "Yes, Vinyl!" she exclaimed, looking a little hurt that I would think otherwise. "I meant it! With all of my heart." My heart skipped a beat. Holy crap. Holy crap holy crap, don’t screw this up! "So you will be my very special somepony?" I asked, trying to remain as calm as I could. I was on the edge of my seat as I waited for her response. "Yes,” she said smiling. “I'd love to be your very special somepony.” I don’t think I’ve ever smiled that wide in my entire life. It was like somepony had set off a bunch of fireworks inside my chest. I was filled with such total, pure happiness that I just wanted to race up to the roof and scream, “HEY! I GOT THE BEST MAREFRIEND EVER! YEEEEEEAH!” I raised my hooves in the air, about to yell out in joy when Octy stopped me. "But!” I froze in place. “But, you have to promise me something. No more secrets. No more lies. I want to know the real Vinyl Scratch. You already know so much about me, and I don't know anything about you." "Okay. I can do that," I agreed immediately. Yeah, sure! Whatever you want! You want me to tap dance in a clown costume? Ride a unicycle while juggling flaming bowling pins? Hell, I’ll ride a unicycle that’s on fire while I’m on fire juggling flaming bowling pins! Whatever you want, babe! "Yes! Finally!” I bounced around the room. “Oh sweet Celestia, whoo-hoo! It took six freakin' months—" "What?" "—for you to finally get a clue!" "For your information, Vinyl Scratch, I was not a complete dolt the entire time!" she huffed. "I knew that you liked me. I just wasn't sure if I... liked you back." I stopped bouncing and looked back at her. "I tried being subtle about it..." "Oh puh-leez!” she said rolling her eyes. “You were about as subtle as Princess Celestia in a BANANA SUIT!" "Yesyesyesyes!" I continued bouncing/hopping/skipping/any kind of moving around that was fueled by excitement. "YesyesYESyesYES!" "Sit down and eat your pancakes." I stopped hopping and slowly made my way back to my seat. "Yes, mom,” I droned, sticking my tongue out at her. Lyra would be happy to hear about this, that’s for sure. Though I knew I’d never hear the end of the “I told you so”s that this would cause. She loved being right and, (unfortunately for me,) she was right quite a lot, especially when I was involved. "Oh man, I can't wait to tell Lyra..." I said as I spread some more jam. Octy coughed. "Uh, Vinyl? Can we keep this under wraps for the time being?" she asked. I looked up from my plate. "Still in the shed?" As if I have to ask... "Some of us aren't as comfortable as you are, Vinyl,” she reminded me with a concerned look on her face. “You know where we are." "Ah, so what? Forget Canterlot! They can kiss my fat flank for all I care," I smirked at her, continuing to eat my breakfast. The cogs in my mind started to turn and a devious thought occurred. "You know what would really get their britches in a bunch? Us kissing." Octy choked on her orange juice. "We should just walk out into the street, and start like, making out." "Vinyl!" she coughed, her eyes wide. "And we should make it extra messy, with lots of tongue action. It'll be hilarious." I smiled at the thought. It’d be a huge “buck you” to all the prissy, rich Canterlot snobs who’s values were still living in the dark ages and thought marriage should only be between a colt and a mare. "You know, we don't need an excuse to make out." Did it suddenly get, like, 1,000 degrees hotter in here? I smiled smugly and scooted my chair over to hers as close as I could get. Time to turn on the ol’ Scratch charm. “Oh really?” I asked, giving her “the look.” That look had been 100% successful in getting me any mare I wanted. Didn’t use it a ton, so that might be why it had such a high success rate, but… okay, that’s not the point. I puckered my lips, leaned in and… received a hoof to my face. "First, brush your teeth. And watch those fangs." "Aw,” I whined as she brought down my 100% successful rating down to a 95%. Octy leaned over and kissed my cheek. Yup. Melting now. Don’t even care. Don’t even care what happens the rest of the day. _________________________________________________________________________ As I brushed my teeth, all I could think of was how happy I was that Octy liked me. I mean, liked me more than a friend. It felt incredible. It was like Hearth’s Warming Eve, Nightmare Night, and my birthday all at once. Octy deserved the best. And if she chose me, then I’d have to be the best for her. It’s been two years since I’ve had a legit marefriend. Hope I’m not rusty at the whole “romance” thing. I rinsed my mouth and left the bathroom, switching off the light on my way out. Making my way into my room, I went into my closet and opened the bottom drawer of the dresser inside. It was full of sunglasses, in all shapes and sizes, a few that were exact replicas of the ones Octy had smashed off my face the previous night. I levitated up one of those ones and threw them on my face. Walking to the living room, I noticed Octy reading from “The History of Vampires” on the couch. “Vinyl, is it true vampires and lycans are enemies? Or is that just a-“ She stopped in the middle of her sentence after I’d turned to face her. She sighed. “Oh for goodness sake, could you not wear those dreadful things for five seconds?” “What? You don’t like my shades?” I asked raising an eyebrow at her. “It’s not that, it’s just… without them, I can really see you, you know? What emotions you’re feeling, what you’re thinking,” she explained trotting over to me. She lifted her hooves and gently removed my sunglasses. “They’re only glasses,” I smirked at her, blinking at the sudden change of lighting. “Just for a few hours, alright?” she reasoned with me. I pouted. “Please?” Ugh. I can’t say “no” to that face. “Alright, alright,” I sighed. “Just for a bit, though. I don’t like ponies looking at em’.” “Why would you want to hide away those beautiful eyes?” she asked sadly. “I mean... ya know, sometimes they flicker red even when I’m not in vampire mode. That’s a definite giveaway if I happen to be talking to a closet vampire hunter or something. Plus, I got picked on as a kid cause of them. I just… I don’t want you thinking I’m a freak or something.” “Vinyl,” Octy said with an unamused face, “last night you pinned me to a bed and tried to drink my blood. I think we’re a little past that by now.” “… Yeah. Yeah, I guess you’re right,” I laughed. “You… really think they’re beautiful?” “They’re gorgeous, Vinyl, really,” she said nodding at me. I smiled at her. Felt really good that she liked my eyes. It was a part of me I never let anypony else see, not even close friends from Ponyville. The only one of them who’d ever seen my eyes was Lyra and it was an accident. A very drunk accident. “Ah. Well… thanks,” I said scratching the back of my head bashfully. “The dinner with Mother and Father is tomorrow. Oh, I wish I could take the day off,” she sighed and began pacing back and forth. “But I’ve got that meeting tonight and I need to teach you how to behave like a lady and I also need to practice the piece we’re performing-“ I gently grabbed her shoulders and looked her in the eyes. “Octy. You almost got mauled yesterday. It’s not a bad idea to take some time off,” I said nodding my head. “You’re right. Why don’t we just chill tonight, alright? You can call your meeting or whatever and say you’re sick, I’ll get somepony to cover for me at work, and we can order some take out and just relax. Sound good?” “Vinyl, I-“ “You’ve got a lot of stress building up in you,” I continued, stroking her mane. “Just… let it go. Just for a few hours.” She pouted. “Please?” I said smiling at her. She thought for a few seconds then sighed. “Yes. Yes, you’re right, Vinyl.” “Aahhh a sentence I rarely hear,” I smirked, taking it in. "Would ya mind saying it again? I wanna remember this." She hit me lightly on the shoulder. _________________________________________________________________________ We laid in Octy’s bed together, her head resting on my chest. It was around three in the afternoon and she didn’t wanna take a nap in my room cause in her words, “It’s so dark in there that we might not wake up until tomorrow morning.” I could understand what she meant, but even in her room we might not wake up until the next morning. I could’ve laid there with her forever. I wanted to take it slow with Octy. Didn’t wanna risk messing anything up. Plus, I was pretty sure this was her first relationship. Though from the looks of it, she was already pretty comfy getting close to me. She drew little circles on my stomach with her hoof and sighed into my chest. The world was much brighter without my glasses, but I couldn’t focus much on anything except the grey wonder resting on my stomach. “Hey, uh... have you ever been in a relationship with anypony, Octy?” I asked as she nuzzled me. “Well… no, actually” she answered, then looked up at me. “Why do you ask?” “Dunno. You just… guess it just comes naturally to you,” I said amused, stroking her mane. “Usually I’m the one who’s cool and collected, but sometimes… I dunno. Relationships make me doubt myself, I guess. I'm afraid I'm gonna do something wrong.” “I just do what feels right,” she giggled, continuing to trace on my stomach. “… What about you? Have you been in a relationship before?” I paused for a moment, unsure of how to answer. “… Let’s not talk about that right now, alright?” She raised an eyebrow, giving me a concerned look. “I promise I’ll tell you everything one day. Every last detail. Just… not right now, okay?” I knew she wanted to press further, but instead she gave me a little nod of understanding. I looked up at the ceiling, feeling totally relaxed. Things were great. She looked so cute laying there one me that I wanted nothing more than to kiss her and kiss her until I couldn’t anymore. That, however, would not be taking things slow like I wanted. So I’d wait. Until she wanted to. Couldn’t take that long, right? How long’s it been, four seconds? That’s enough time I think. That’s enough time, right? … Ugh, relax. … Well, we could at least talk about it, right? “Guess our first kiss already happened, huh?” I asked smiling at her. She looked up at me. “What? You’ve forgotten already?” she asked jokingly. Then suddenly her expression morphed from playful to mortified as she turned bright red. “Am I not a good kisser? Oh, I’m sorry, Vinyl! I’d never kissed anypony before! Is there a manual somewhere I can read or-“ “No, no, it totally rocked!” I said putting up my hooves defensively. “Seriously! It was great! It’s just… ya know…” I looked around the room, my ears tucking down. “I wish I could’ve appreciated it when it happened. I was trying to kill you at the time and all and… ya know. I was pretty out of it, so…” “Aah. Yes, I can understand that,” she agreed. “It was nice, but… we weren’t quite ourselves.” Come on, man. Say “Maybe we should change that…” then kiss her. It’ll be super romantic and awesome. No, Vinyl. You wanna take it slow, so take it slow. By then, I was totally used to my body arguing with my head. Not only did I have to deal with it as often as I would if I were a normal pony, but cause of my vampirism, I had to deal with it every time somepony scraped their knee or had a nose bleed or got a paper cut. With me, head VS heart was far from a rare thing. Do it. Don’t. Seriously. No, you seriously. Don’t. “I’m so happy, do you know that?” she asked sleepily. I felt some very serious déjà vu. Looking down at her, my mouth slightly agape in disbelief, I watched her breathing steadily with her ear on my chest. A wide smile slowly crept across my face. “… Yeah…” I agreed as we both drifted off to sleep. “… Me... me, too.”