She started to shift around in her semiconscious state trying to get comfortable but her own movement startled her. Instead of drifting back off to sleep and sleep she really wanted given the throbbing pain between her ears she found her self surfacing into the day.
Before she gathered enough strength from her energy sapped muscles and will from her befuddled mind to even attempt to open her eyes; she noticed something or rather something was missing. She couldn't smell the stench of sweat, or even the pungent odor of alcohol, although she could faintly taste it. There was something there but she couldn't place it. It was a very familiar scent. Her inebriated mind couldn't make the connection. Laying there she thought long and hard about what it reminded her of-violets. It reminded her of violets but that wasn't it. Not entirely. The name of the other aroma came to her slowly but it was the smell of a new book. A crash of thought and emotion seemingly filled her brain. There was only one pony in all of Equestria who could claim that delicate combination of smell and this was Octavia Harmony.
Earlier she couldn't force her eyes open because sleep hadn't completely retreated; now she couldn't open her eyes because of .... what she didn't know. A warm and pleasant idea crossed her mind. She didn't want to spoil herself so quickly. So en lieu of opening her eyes: she stretched out her body hoping to gently caress the object of her musings-but the bed held only her.
Slowly, she opened her eyes only to wish that she hadn't. Light lazily entered the room from a window to her right. It wasn't bright but still it burned into her corneas like the fury of a thousands suns.
~Why could something so liberating as liquor be so cruel~ she thought. Again she opened her eyes, this time plowing through the pain. Sitting up now she glanced around the room.
Hanging on the wall opposite of her hung a watercolor painting of a an egg white vase filled with wildflowers. It would have been beautiful if Vinyl was into those sort of things. Oddly enough if fit Vinyl's idea of Octavia-beautiful, classy, and mischievously yet subtly wild. The painting could have been of any stately flower but it had to be wildflowers. Like wildflowers Octavia was beautiful, and timeless. Now other group of flowers suited her because a stately flower lacked the impromptu charisma that Octavia's musical skill demanded.
On the bed side table sat a clock that read 3:32pm.
~It couldn't be that late.~ she thought. Adjacent to the clock were her signature shades. They sat there more or less alone for just a moment before Vinyl picked them up and put them on.
~So, much better~. She still hadn't gathered the strength to get out of bed so her attention fell on her cell phone and then beyond it to a picture framed in silver. It was a photograph of Octavia when she was still just a blank-flanked filly. Beside her sat a stallion who aside from being much bigger than and definitely more male than Octavia; he looked just like her accept for his eyes. His were chocolate brown and hers was a light purple. The other figure in the photo sat with her side pressed against the stallion and her hoof laid gingerly on Octavia's shoulder. The mare had an off white coat and was graced with a snow white tail and mane. The only thing she held in common with her daughter was her eyes. Vinyl had never seen that picture before nor one of the figures in it. The mare who was undoubtedly Octy's mother who had passed away long before Vinyl and met her.
Vinyl's and Octy's differences were not just limited to their taste in music, it also spilled over into how they lived their lives. Vinyl was exactly as she seemed. She was open, rambunctious, even down right reckless and rude at times. She didn't pull punches and admittedly she didn't think much of anypony who couldn't take her honest yet harsh nature. There were a few exceptions the most notably being Octavia.
Octavia mostly kept to herself and lived in a world almost entirely inside her own head. She was graceful and knew when to speak and when not to speak. Her practiced etiquette gave her an almost unworldly aura at times like she didn't belong in the real world. She was prim and proper, a trait Vinyl remembered Octavia's father called "A tribute to her breeding". What the hay that was supposed to mean, Vinyl didn't know.
Vinyl felt ready to get out of bed to explore what she now assumed was her friend house. Much of the tenseness she had felt earlier was the fear she had woken up in a strangers house. It wouldn't have been the first time. Vinyl held a amusing memory of waking up in the honeymoon sweet of a hotel in bed with no less than three other ponies. The weight of her nightly drinking weighed heavy on her so her first stop was the bathroom.
After freshening up a bit she headed down the hall to the kitchen. The house was very quite. ~Octy must not be home~ The Kitchen was small. It had everything a kitchen was supposed to have just in a much smaller space than it would have otherwise occupied. She peaked in the fridge and found it to be very tidy and orderly. A place for everything and every in its place. If she didn't feel so sluggish she would have rearranged it, just to screw with Octy's head.
~She was so cute when she was mad. Her checks would flair red and her eyes would burn like embers.~ Vinyl wished that Octy would look at her like that for other reasons. She had just picked up an apple when a single beep ushered an end to the silence followed by a very welcoming sound, the sound of coffee brewing.
"Oh, sweet Celestia!" Vinyl gleamed.
She strode over to watch the machine work its magic but an envelop on the kitchen counter caught her attention. Emblazoned on the front was a Single Word, Vinyl. Vinyl quickly scooped it up and tore it open. She then began to read it.
Dear Vinyl,
Before I get any further with this letter I would like to put your mind at ease. You and I did not sleep together last night.
Vinyl chuckled to herself ~ Would that have been so bad.~ She entertained the thought of what an orgasmic Octavia might look like. Blushing at her own thoughts, she started to feel kind of disappointed. Soon she returned to the letter.
I was not however due to your lack of trying. If I were a mare with a weaker will. I may have succumbed to your wiles. Back to the point of this letter.
You do not know how much you frightened me when you called me so late last night. How would any pony act when one of her friends called saying they needed help just a little past midnight. I don't know how much you remember but you became awfully inebriated last night and that coupled with all the sirens and the rushing of paramedic ponies because of the fire at the club you were playing at; not only didn't alleviate my fears it only made them worse.I know how loyal you are to your fans so I want you to know that nopony in attendance were injured beyond smoke inhalation and some minor cuts and bruises.
I wished you had let me know you were opening for 50Bit. Not that I appreciate his style of music, in fact I find it rather distasteful. Especially his verbose usages of such derogatory words such as fillyfooler and coltcuddler. A few of my closest and dearest friends are of that persuasion.
~If she only knew~ added Vinyl who smiled at the irony of her friends words.
But, opening for 50Bit is a big thing, even some one as out of the loop as I know that. I would have been there fore you. Thinking back now I believe you did tell me. I apologize...sometimes I don't know when you are joking and when you are telling the truth.
Anyhoof, I am rambling. So let me get to the point. I brought you back to my place because it seemed to be right more welcoming than that awful excuse for a hotel you had booked. That place isn't decent, its one of those kind of hotels that charges patrons by the hour and not by the night. I am rambling again aren't I..he he.
I hope you aren't too terribly embarrassed but I took the liberty to clean you up a bit before letting you sleep in my bed.
Vinyl again entertained perverse thoughts.
So after I cleaned you up I helped you into my bed. You know, you are such a nuisance sometimes. The entire time I bathed you, you never stopped flirting with me and even when I laid you down to sleep you kept nagging me. You even went as far as to plead with me to play spoons with you. I finally told you no, but then you gave me your best imitation of a sad puppy with those big rubies you call eyes. I had to throw you a bone, pun intended. We came to an agreement that we would share the bed as long as we kept it foal rated.
You are such a liar, you know that. First you nibbled on my ear and I disregarded that...then you kissed the back of my neck...that kinda felt...I turned over and then you tried to kiss me full on and I got agitated so I turned back around and then you...you... I don't even want to say it. It ended with me leaving the bedroom to sleep on the couch.
I tried to sleep but oddly enough I couldn't so that is why I wrote you this letter. I feel all fuzzy inside. I guess its just my lack of sleep. I feel like I've drank a pot of coffee and I haven't even tasted a drop. I suppose this letter is as much for me as it is for you. I am just writing out the event of the night from my point of view and trying to rationalize the events of this night. It's already passed 4am and I still can't sleep.
I have a few things scheduled for tomorrow but they shouldn't keep me away any latter than 2pm, so please make some time for me in your schedule, ok. You owe me that much after what you put me through.
Yours Truly,
Octavia.
Instantly worry crossed Vinlys face. She gazed over to the clock on the microwave, it read 4:53. With the desire for a cup of coffee completely fleeing her mind. She read the letter over again paying close attention to when Octavia said she would be back. Vinyl had read it correctly the first time. Octavia said she would be back by 2pm.
Pacing now, Vinyl remembered her phone. She rushed back to the bedroom.
~I'll just call her and see what's keeping her.~ she snatched up her phone. To her disappointment and horror it was dead. Her ears dropped in defeat. That lasted a few moments when another idea struck her.
~I know I'll use Octy's home phone.~ She distinctly remembered seeing one hanging on the wall beside the door that lead to Octy's living room.~ She rushed back to the kitchen her dead cell phone in tow. After she set her cell phone down on the kitchen table reminding her self to put it on charge the moment she had a second to spare. Picking up the phone she listened for a dail tone. After she heard the droll of the tone she started to dial...but there was a flaw in her plan. She was about to use Octy's phone to call Octy and she couldn't remember if she had a cell phone or not, let alone remember what the number could be. She stood there for a few moments. Her nose scrunched up as she directed all of her faculties to remember what Octy's number could be. In a flash of brilliance she had a great idea.
~Octy does have a cell phone and I have her number save in my contact list, duh.
~ She reached for her phone and did the little thing to unlock it. Staring blankly at the unlit screen she started to bop her self in the head. Each time her hoof hit her temple she recited, "Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!" like a mantra.
"Why...!" she whimpered.
~Well I guess I'll just have to wait for Octavia to get back when she gets back. At the very least I could watch T.V.~ Pushing her way through the door leading to the living room she hadn't yet noticed the sleeping form as she entered. The sight of the sleeping pony didn't register until Vinyl was about to sit on said pony.Vinyl was both shocked and elated. Her worry had be just that, a worry. A baseless and rather incoherent thought.
~Of course, Octy had already attended to her appointments. Octavia was anything if not a punctual pony after all. I was still a sleep so she took a nap. I did keep her up awfully late.~ Vinyl felt kind of bad about that. Pony logic isn't always that logical and Vinyl started to read the signs of why her thoughts may not be quite correct.
Octavia wasn't wearing her signature bow tie. Her normally pristine mane was disheveled and messy. It gingerly draped over her thin shoulders and had already began to wildly adhere to the fabric of the sofa. Her fur was matted with Celestia knows what and the room smelt not at all like Octy's bed room. It smelled faintly of smoke and sweat. Vinyl took off her glasses so that she could admire her friends sleeping form unfiltered. She sat there just feet away entranced by Octy's slow rhythmic breathing. Octavia was so exhausted after her late night shenanigans with a certain party hardy unicorn that she had slept through her appointments.
Vinyl had never actually seen Octavia sleep before. The two of them had shared many a night together but it always been at Octavia's place, weather it was at her current residence or those that she had lived in before. Octavia had always retreated to the privacy of her room away from the prying eyes of anypony else.
Despite the grit and grime that plagued her sleeping friend, in all of Vinyl's life she had never seen somepony so perfect. The way she had held one hoof out from her and the other stretched out above her head. One of her rear hooves pulled gently into the crease behind the knee of the other leg. ~She looked like a dancer as she slept. If was as if she had to keep her poise even when her mind faded from the need to impress.~ Thought Vinyl dreamily. She lay there so open, so exposed. Vinyl was dumbstruck by her sleeping angel.
Humming to herself Vinyl ushered up the courage. She stepped closer to the sleeping mare and lowered her head until she was just a hairsbreadth from Octavia's exposed ear and whispered, "I love you."
Octavia slowly opened the eye closest to Vinyl. Vinyl backed away just a bit and then her world was lit up by Ocy's smile.