Steam Gear awoke his head aching severely. As he tried to sit up a sudden pain in his chest made him gasp. It felt as if he'd been shot by a canon. He rolled over to scan his room, trying to remember what happened last night. He had been out drinking with Spitfire and Rainbow Dash at Discordia.
From there it got blurry, but he remembered getting back to the dorm and finding a girl taking a shower. Gear had no idea why that memory was so prominent in his mind. He tried to remember what the girl looked like as he looked at the clock. "Seven thirty" thought Gear "Just enough time for me to figure out what happened last night"
He took his phone out of his pocket, he still had on his clothes from last night, and strolled down his contact list. Just as he expected he found Spitfire and Rainbow Dash. He'd expected something like this to happened based on his past experiences. He shot Spitfire a text message asking her if she remembered last night at all. Rainbow Dash he called, Gear remembered her saying she jogs in the mornings.
The phone rang twice before Rainbow Dash picked it up. If she was jogging, then she had obviously just started, she was hardly out of breath.
"Yes?" asked Rainbow panting slightly
"Hey Rainbow this is Steam Gear" he replied in greeting "Hope I'm not interrupting anything?"
"Nah" said Rainbow in confirmation "I was just on my way back anyways. I think I'm only going to jog for two hours this morning"
"Two hours!" said Gear out loud by accident He'd mentally kick himself later, his brain was obviously not at one-hundred percent yet.
"Yeah I normally go three" said Rainbow Dash pride obvious in her voice even through the phone "But after last night I don't think it's a good idea. Still got the headache you know? I might not drink, but Discordia will still knock me down a peg"
"I can sympathize" said Gear rubbing his own headache "I was actually hoping to talk to you about last night"
"Why not just ask Spitfire?" asked Rainbow curiously
"She's probably still asleep" said Gear in answer "I shot her a text message though"
"Smooth" sighed Rainbow Dash "What is it you want to know?"
"I was just gonna ask if I got into any fights" said Gear rubbing his neck "Got a serious pain in my chest and I have no idea why"
"Well, you didn't get into any fights last night" said Rainbow "Whatever you did happened after you got back to your dorm"
"Alright at least that's good news" said Gear with relief
"Yeah" laughed Rainbow Dash "Don't worry "I watched your back last night"
"That's a lot for the help" said Gear in appreciation
"No problem" said Rainbow Dash "I'm always there for friends in need"
"Sweet" said Gear hear a commotion out in the living room "I'm gonna let ya get back to your jogging"
"Later Gear" said Rainbow hanging up
Gear flipped his phone shut and pocketed it as he headed for his door. Entering the living room he didn't see anything out of the ordinary at first. As he got closer though he realized Scratch was laying on the couch his headphones on. Steam couldn't tell if he was sleeping or not because of the purple shades blocking his eyes.
"Good to see your alive" said Scratch smiling up at his roommate "Sleep well I hope?" She took off her headphones and sat up.
"I've had better" replied Gear taking a seat in the recliner opposite his roommate
"Hangovers suck man" said Scratch sympathetically "Believe me when I say I know from experience"
"I do have a question for you though" said Gear trying to read his roommates expression "Last night when I got back to our room there was a girl"
"Why was there a girl in our dorm?" asked Scratch doing her best to keep up a confused expression
"I'd like to ask you the same question" replied Gear "She told me that you said she could use our shower"
"Oh that girl" said Scratch nonchalantly "That was just my sister. She wanted to shower before she headed back to her dorm. I didn't bother asking why, I just told her she could use ours"
"You never said you had a sister?" asked Gear suspiciously He noted a split-second hesitation on Scratch's expression as he continued "and that she looks almost exactly like you, and goes to this Academy?"
"Is it that hard to believe?" asked Scratch putting on a hurt expression "You've only been my roommate for two weeks now. Don't think you've learned all my secrets just yet"
"Fine" said Gear standing up. He knew that Scratch was lying he could practically feel it in his bones. "If your going to lie straight to my face..." He started to walk towards Scratch's room
"Hey man what are you doing?" she cried jumping after him "That's my room!"
"I know" said Gear opening the door. He waited for Scratch to get closer then suddenly spun off to the left letting Scratch dash head first inside "Which is why I'm letting you go first"
"Get out of here" asked Scratch turning on him, venom in her voice "I'm not hiding anything" She tried to put herself between him and her closet.
"Oh yes I believe you" said Gear in a friendly voice. He attempted to open a dresser and examine the contents, when he felt an incoming fist. He took a step backwards and shot his hand out and acting on instinct grabbed the fist that just missed his jaw. He seized the wrist and pulled sharply towards him.
Scratch a little shocked on how easily her roommate had dodged her attack was dragged off balance. Gear put a sharp hit on the hinge of her arm making her flex and giving him the fulcrum he needed to bring it up and behind her. Scratch gave a sharp intake of breath as her arm reached the back of her neck.
"What the hell?" grunted Scratch in pain
"Not so easy when I'm sober is it?" asked Gear calmly his grip like iron
"How the hell do you remember that?" asked Scratch trying to escape her roommates hold
"I didn't. Was just a guess" said Gear with a smile "but now I do"
"Shit! Should have saw that coming" sighed Scratch "So now what?"
"Now you tell me who that girl from last night really was" said Gear letting go of her wrist and letting her face him "Don't lie to me this time"
"If I tell you" asked Scratch giving her roommate a very serious stare from behind her shades "Do you promise to keep it a secret?"
"If it's that important to you" said Gear sincerely "Then I give you my word"
"The girl you saw last night was me" said Scratch a little awkwardly
Gear looked "her" up and down suspiciously. "Now that you mention it..."
Scratch took of her green hoodie, revealing the t-shirt underneath. She could tell from Gear's sudden change of expression, he believed her now. After he had stared at her for a while she decided to take charge of the conversation once more.
"What are you looking at?" asked Scratch trying to guess what her roommate was thinking
"I'm not quite sure anymore" said Gear taking a seat on the open windowsill "My roommate is a girl masquerading as a guy" He looked at Scratch for what she thought felt like an eternity. "I guess it's all rather humorous"
"You think it's funny?" asked Scratch confused "That the guy you're rooming with is a girl that lied to you from the get go"
"Well, I already agreed to be your roommate. Now I've promised to keep this a secret" said Gear with a laugh "I'm a man of my word if nothing else. So it would seem your stuck with me for awhile Miss?"
"My name really is Vinyl Scratch" replied Scratch a look of disgust on her face. No one calls her Miss EVER. "I didn't see any reason to lie about who I am. Also I'd prefer it if you didn't call me Miss"
"Only what you are..." finished Gear with a smile "No more Miss indeed"
"Don't think this means you can treat me differently" warned Scratch "If I catch you trying to be gallant in any way...." She let her voice trail off
"Alright" replied Gear putting his hands up in a gesture of compliance "Besides I think you'll have more problems with Octavia anyways"
"What?" asked Scratch confused "How'd you..." Then realizing she'd done it again smacked her forehead with her palm
"Your phone has been vibrating this whole time" pointed out Gear with a smile tossing Scratch her phone "I'd measure she's been trying to reach you all morning"
"Oh Shit" said Scratch sliding her phone open
As the Dj desperately tried to calm her new girlfriend's assault of text messages, Gear decided to take his leave. As he exited into the dorm hallway he made a right. He hadn't taken five steps before he slammed into someone. He managed to keep on his feet, but the other person wasn't so lucky. Gear looked to see who he bumped into, with startling results.
"Octavia?" asked Gear helping the cellist to her feet "What are you doing here"
"Apparently running into you" said Octavia dusting herself off She was wearing a rather expensive looking gray strapless dress with purple trim "I do hope you watch where you're going more carefully next time"
"Sorry about that" said Gear apologetically "You okay?"
"I'm fine" responded Octavia running a hand through her hair to straighten it back out "Though I can't say the same for your roommate. I've been trying to reach that idiot all morning"
"He's not much of a morning person" said Gear with a smile "Though I am curious what happened between you two last night"
"We worked on a musical collaboration" said Octavia with a heavy certainty "Nothing else" She took a look at her phone while Gear continued
"All right, I was just wondering" replied Gear in a friendly tone as the door opened and Scratch's head stuck out the door. She had donned her hoodie once more he realized.
"Octavia there you are!" said Scratch stepping out into the hall to join them "I just got your messages"
"Have you been asleep this entire time?!" asked Octavia angrily "What happened to 'feel free to message me anytime'?"
"Hey you can message me anytime" replied Scratch truthfully "But I think I'd have to be awake to answer back, right?"
"I can't believe how lazy you are sometimes" continued Octavia "Just look at what your wearing" she gestured to the hoodie and baggy pants "Dreadful"
"I don't tell you how to dress, you stuck up priss" spat back Scratch furiously "Like I give a shit what you think!"
"Alright I think I'm gonna make my exit before you two rip each others heads off" said Gear backing away slowly. Their voices died off he rounded the corner and took a breath. He'd been in a lot of fights before, but that was by far the scariest. As he tried to decide what to do next his phone vibrated in his pocket. It was Spitfire...
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"Do you think he bought it?" asked Octavia curiously looking down the hallway
"Did you see the way he ran off with his tail between his legs?" laughed Scratch putting an arm around the cellist and pulling her close "I'm sure he bought it"
Octavia blushed a little bit at Scratch's obvious public display of affection and pushed herself out of the embrace. "I'm still not sure about this whole thing"
"Your the one who wanted to keep it a secret" said Scratch shaking her head a little disappointed at the Cellist's indecision
"It's just that if my symphony found out..." started Octavia rubbing her shoulder awkwardly
"That you were dating a crazy bastard like me, you'd probably be kicked out of the symphony" finished Scratch with an exasperated sigh "I get it"
"One step at a time Vinyl" said Octavia putting a hand on Scratch's shoulder
"Why don't you call me Scratch like everybody else?" asked Scratch a little annoyed
"I like Vinyl better" said Octavia with a smile
"I think that's the first time I've ever seen you smile" said Scratch with a smug grin "Looks good on you Tavi"
"Tavi?" asked Octavia confused
"You get to call me Vinyl" said Scratch in explanation "I get to call you Tavi"
"It'll take some getting used to" said Octavia uncomfortably "But it is manageable I guess. I hope you have some table manners?"
"You may be surprised" winked Scratch
"That's what I'm afraid of" sighed Octavia leading the way