//------------------------------// // Sleep is for the Weak! // Story: The Formative Years // by Lonepone //------------------------------// I wake up in my bed. This isn’t where I collapsed. I turn my head to the side, and am rewarded with a resurgence of blackness and pain. I wait for the throbbing to pass, and open my eyes. It’s dark. There’s an indistinct blob not far from my bed. The shades are pulled. I stand up. I’m a little sore, but I stretch it out. After that, I feel surprisingly good for having just passed out. A snore from the blob interrupts my thoughts. I step towards it before I realize it’s Octavia. Odd. She looks up, awake. “Ah, good. You’re awake” “No shit, really? I had no fucking clue I was up. I thought this was all just a hallucination” “Vinyl, that language is very rude” She says. “Shits given: zero” I reply “Why were you watching me sleep?” “When I got home you were passed out on the floor. I picked you up, put you in your bed, and then waited until you awoke, so you could tell me why exactly you were passed out on the floor” I think of how to explain this to her. The only way I can is by scaring the shit out of her. sounds fun. “Watch this” I say. I focus on what she looks like. The blue flames erupt around me, and when they dissipate, Octavia is looking at a mirror image of herself. “Tada” She jumps in shock. “Vinyl, is that you? But... How... You... What?” She stutters. “Half Changeling, remember? I guess I got more than I bargained for. I can shapeshift” “Oh...” “Yeah, oh. I can shapeshift” The conversation hits an anti climactic point. “So...” I say. Someone knocks on the door, saving me from an awkward moment. “I’ll get it” I walk to the door, and open it. Hard Sound is standing in the doorway, grinning ear to ear. “You have a job?” Is all he asks. “Nah. Why?” “I work for a radio station here in town. We need a new DJ for the night shift. Feel up to it?” “Who is it, Vinyl?” Octavia calls from the living room. “No one you need to know” I cut her off. “I interrupt something?” He asks. “No. So tell me more about this job” I say. “Well, you’ll be on from about 9 P.M. till about 4 in the morning. You don’t get a lot of requests at that time, so you’ll be free to play just about anything. Pay is about 10 bits an hour” I do the mental math. 7 hours a night, which means 70 bits each night I’m on air. “I’ll take it. When can I start?” “Two days from now, when our current DJ is signing off for the last time. Oh, and try to think of a name before then, alright?” He leaves, and walks down the hall. I walk in front of the tv, and turn my xbox on. “What was that about?” Octavia asks. “You can be really annoying, you know that? A job offer” “For what?” “Why do you care? I’ll be DJing for the night shift at the radio station” “Alright. I’m getting some sleep. You should too, It’s almost ten o’clock” “Meh, sleep is for the weak” I say, referencing my favourite internet meme. “I’ve been passed out for a few hours, so I don’t need it. Anyways, I gotta get used to no sleep for the job” “One day, all this pop drinking, partying, and sleep deprivation will catch up to you” She says ominously. I snort. “Partying? It was only that one time” “Yes, and you got completely wasted, and where hammering on my door at three in the morning. “You can be really annoying, you know that?’” She says, mimicking my voice so well that it’s scary. “Meh, still only one time. Anyways, if I’m going to be a world famous deejay, I need to get used to all this” Octavia shakes her head. I shapeshift into her, and mimic her shaking her head. This pisses her off, as expected. “Vinyl, stop acting childish” the first Octavia says. “Vinyl, stop acting childish” I say. “Ah, fine. You feel weird, anyways” The blue flames flare up around me, and I try to shapeshift back to myself. “I’m not kidding, Vinyl. Go back to yourself” I look down at myself. I’m still her. “Ah! What the hell?” I focus on myself, on how I look. The flames flare up, again. I check myself. I’m an interesting mix between her and me. Her hair style, my hair color. My eyes. Her body color, my cutie mark. My tail, her color. “Well, this is interesting” I say. “Vinyl, bloody hell. That looks...” Octavia says. “Fucking awesome” I finish for her. “I wonder...” The blue flames flare up. I’m me, but a little different. I laugh. Octavia shakes her head. “There is something seriously messed up about that. You know what, I’m done. I’m going to sleep” She walks off to her bedroom. “Guess I’m too awesome to handle as a guy” I say I sit down in front of my Xbox, and start playing call of duty.