You open door carrying a considerable amount of weight on your back. Taking the key used for unlocking said door out of the keyhole, you push it open enough to let in your most precious cargo.
Vinyl Scratch, leaning against you, slowly trots in beside you as the door slowly closes. Her warm fur tickles you as the two of you move together. The two of you had a wild night. It was one of Vinyl’s usual gigs down at the club, but the turnout was great and their energy was incredible.
Not as incredible as Vinyl Scratch, though. She was able to keep up her high flying spirits from the start of her set to finish, dancing along with the crowd like nopony’s business.
You were there for your usual duties; signalling to Vinyl to adjust her songs as need be and carrying supplies. You couldn’t hear the music, but you could help her with your deep sense of bass and rhythm. The records, wires, cables, and turntable used tonight are starting to wear on your back since the long walk to the store. You can’t wait to put this down, but you wait for Vinyl.
She’s so amazing. You can see she really gave it her all out there tonight. She moves so softly and gently that you might even think she’s asleep on her hooves. You wonder how much of a privilege it is for her to allow you to see her like this. It means so much to you.
Three little words bounce around in your head. Words you want to communicate, but the process to do so seems like it’d be a bit too troublesome for Vinyl. You decide to wait.
When the door closes, you turn the latch, setting the deadbolt. Leading her to the stairs, you pull the chain down with one hoof before nudging Vinyl with your other foreleg. She gets the signal and very slowly brings a hoof up over your back for support. Letting the chain go slack, you walk up the first couple stairs before reaching with a hind hoof and hooking the chain back up. You’ve gotten good at that.
Opening the door at the top of the stairs, you let Vinyl take her hoof back, but she still leans against you for support and guidance. She’s so tired as you can feel her soft breathing against you. You give her a little nuzzle, but even with her smile growing a tiny bit, the act isn’t enough for you to feel like you’ve done enough.
You want to tell her. You wish you could tell her, but unfortunately you haven’t learned to speak and there isn’t anything for you to write it down on.
The words still yearn in your mind and heart for release as you open the door to the lab. You give Vinyl another nudge, signalling that she’ll have to support her own weight for just a bit. She understands as you walk away, no longer feeling her warmth beside you. Setting the turntable down on the floor, you unhook the saddle bags and lay them next to it. The protective cases in the bag should protect the records until Vinyl can put them back in the morning. She has a system for it that you couldn’t quite figure out.
Leaning against Vinyl again causes her to shift her weight back onto you. You exit the lab and turn towards a different door, this time the carpet under your hooves going to tile. Walking into the bathroom, you turn to Vinyl and very slowly and carefully take off her signature purple shades. Her eyes are closed underneath. They probably have been the entire time, her trusting you to lead her back to home and comfort.
Setting the glasses down on the counter, you turn the two of you towards the shower. You turn on the water and flip a switch which causes it to come spraying from the showerhead up top. Testing the water with a hoof, you make adjustments until the water is perfect. When it is, you take Vinyl’s hoof and guide it up over the lip of the tub, where you repeat the process until she’s all the way in the shower. She sits down, letting the water wash all over her as you climb in as well, pulling the curtain closed.
Steam already begins to fill the small bathroom as you reach over Vinyl to splash and wet yourself with the shower water. While Vinyl had definitely been the most crazy tonight, that didn’t mean that you were not in need of a cleaning, too. When you’ve completely wetted down your fur, you take a bottle of shampoo sitting on the corner of the tub behind you. Popping the cap open hits your nostrils with the scent of a very pleasing and familiar vanilla. You had never asked, but you know that this is Vinyl’s favorite kind. Hoping she won’t mind, you squeeze out a small hoofful and start rubbing it over yourself. It has a very fine lather that easily spreads over your mane and coat. You let it sit as you turn your attention back to your shower-mate.
Squeezing out another small amount, you set down the bottle and rub the goo between your hooves before starting to rub it into her mane, getting it all clean. Then, you start on her back, going much, much slower than how your lathered yourself. You work the shampoo around in circles, going down as far as you were comfortable with. Reaching around, you apply some lather to her chest, her hind knees down to her hooves, and then her forelegs. Although your touch is gentle, she still sways from side to side slightly as you push and work the lather around.
You squirt just a tiny bit more into your hooves before going to the same spot on her back you started at and then going up. Working the lather up around her neck, you keep moving your hooves around there, gently massaging her shoulders. You can feel her muscles are absolutely exhausted from tonight’s activities.
As you continue your massage, you look to Vinyl’s face. Her eyes are still closed, but her mouth is open in a big smile as you see her breathing in more deeply. You wonder if she’s saying something, but dismiss the thought.
Her face is so cute. It’s almost like the expression she wore at the club, playing for all those ponies. An expression that only her passion could bring out. Her passion... and you.
You feel your chest thumping again as the words want to escape. You wish, you really wish you could just say it to her, whisper it, yell it from the rooftops, anything. For one night, this night, please Celestia, give you the ability to tell her what she means to you.
You reach your hooves around her again and hold her tightly. Her soapy mane rubs against your cheek as she lets herself be pulled back into you. The two of you sit together under the downpour of water until all of the shampoo on either of you has been washed down the drain.
Giving her one final squeeze in your hug, you reach out with a hoof to shut off the water. As the last few drops fall, the steam persists in the room as you pull back the curtain. You lead Vinyl out of the tub again, being extra careful with the wet and slippery tub floor this time. When both of you are out, she sits down on the green bath mat in front of the tub as you take a white as snow towel off the rack on the wall.
Putting the towel over her head, you carefully wipe down her mane to dry it without putting any painful tangles in it. When you pull the towel back, her electric blue mane sits neatly flat down her neck and over her shoulders. Surely this too was a very rare sighting of Vinyl that you cannot help but smile at. Carefully taking the towel again, your rub off most of her coat of moisture before giving yourself a quick dry and shake. You toss the towel into a small wicker hamper by the sink. Picking her shades up off the counter again, you nudge Vinyl to signal her to lean against you once more. Clicking off the light, you two leave the bathroom and head towards your final destination.
Opening the door to her bedroom, you see that the condition of it still hasn’t improved much since you've started working with her. Crumpled papers still litter the floor all around.
You breath catches in your throat as you realize that this is your last opportunity to say something tonight. However, turning to Vinyl, she’s at the point where you can see her head start to dip down already, almost ready to collapse on her hooves altogether. You don’t think you could ask her to spare the physical or mental energy at the moment. For now, you lead her over to her bed and pull up the blue blanket before letting her crawl in.
She settles down immediately with her head sinking into the pillow. Her chest rises and falls showing that she took in and then released a great amount of air. She still has a hoof wrapped around your foreleg as you just sit beside her and enjoy the last of her company you could tonight. Your own bed back home was calling as Vinyl’s previous action also made you feel the need to breathe out greatly.
You wait for a moment, simply admiring her sleeping form. Her grip around you grows weaker and weaker and eventually her hoof drops lifelessly, signalling that she’s now peacefully in the land of slumber. Carefully, you scoot her hoof back onto the mattress with her and pull the blanket up over her shoulders.
Taking a step back away from her bed, you notice something on the nightstand. A notebook open to a fresh page with a pen sitting next to it. You look to Vinyl and then the notebook again before picking up the pen in your mouth. You jot down a note, finally releasing the words you’ve been cursed to keep inside all this time. You know that you won’t be around when she reads it, but as long as she sees it, it doesn’t matter.
You smile as you finish, turning the notebook ever so slightly as to catch her eye in the morning. Before you leave, you carefully step back towards her to plant a light kiss on her forehead. You smell the scent of her vanilla shampoo one last time. She stirs lightly, making you worry for a moment that you might have woken her, but she settles right back down.
Sighing with relief, you slowly turn away, carefully step over the crumpled notes, and close the door behind you.
~~~~~
Birds chirp with Celestia’s sun as Vinyl Scratch sits up with big stretch and a loud yawn. Smacking her lips a couple times, she scratches her chest before turning to the side, allowing her hindlegs to dangle off the side of the bed.
Man, last night was incredible. The place was rocking, the crowd was pumped, and of course she had her favorite pony with her the entire time. She still feels a little sore from how much she danced to her own music.
Thankfully, today is a slow day on her schedule. Normal hours running the shop with her evening free and clear. A little beat research with her aforementioned favorite pony and perhaps a nice little dinner out with him. She did just make quite a few bits last night. She’ll have to deposit the check sometime today, though. It’s probably where he left the rest of her stuff.
She smiles a little more when she thinks about him. Nothing keeps him down. Not even his disability. Such an awesome pony. So brave to face every day with his smile. So cool to be able to help her during gigs and then help her back home. What did she ever do before him?
Breathing out one last yawn through her nose, she notices something on the nightstand. A notebook with something written in it. He must have left her a message before he left.
She shakes her head and readies her magic to lift it up to her. Her eyes go over the words.
Her eyes go over the words again.
Her eyes go over the words a third time, and a fourth time. As she reads them more, they start to get blurry. She blinks her eyes to fight back the moisture as a hoof instinctively reaches up towards her ever-growing smile.
