Vinyl Scratch and Octavia slammed yet another round of empty shot glasses on the table in front of them, alcohol slashing onto the counter, making it sticky. Octavia felt the warmth of the alcohol slide down her esophagus while the enticing aroma of spaghetti and daises wafted through the entire house. She swayed in her chair, watching Vinyl from a mere six feet away. She felt more comfortable in Vinyl's presence than she had been with anypony else in a long time. There was something about the DJ that just made her feel at home, feel welcome, feel… safe, almost. She liked being around Vinyl. Vinyl didn't get weirded out when she wasn't a perfectly proper mare. Octavia didn't really have a lot of reason to want to leave her side. That could have just been the alcohol thinking for her, though.
Scratch was in slightly better shape than Octavia was. Not to say that she was totally sober, but she had a little more body weight to absorb the green apple poison they were consuming roughly once every fifteen minutes. Never the less, she swayed backwards a bit and caught Octavia staring at her.
"What'reya lookin' at?"
"Nothing."
"Y'are too lookin' at somethin'. Yer lookin' at me. I'm not just somethin'. I'm EVERYTHIN'."
"And if I was looking at 'everything'?"
"Why come?"
Octavia giggled. Vinyl was cute when she was a bit drunk. A guilty blush immediately pushed its way to the surface of Octavia's cheeks, but Scratch had turned back to the food and therefore didn't see. Octavia blushed harder not knowing what had come over her. It wasn't like she liked mares or anything… right?
"I hope yer hungry, Octy. This here's the best spaghetti this side of… um, some place that sells really good spaghetti. And there's lots of it too."
Scratch was used to eating quickly. It was a bad habit that she picked up from her father in fillyhood, only to be reinforced by a busy career that gave her little time to eat. Rather, she would have more time to eat if she woke up before the crack of four in the afternoon. It was no surprise to Scratch when she downed two plates before Octy fully finished one. Octavia ate more slowly, savoring every bite. She had to hoof it to Vinyl, she wasn't a terrible cook. She wanted to eat more, but found that the combination of alcohol and food was making her feel extraordinarily full. Scratch had already cleared her plate and took her seat next to Octavia, talking with her as she attempted to finish. Scratch grinned.
"You full? Pretty good food, ain't it?" The food had done wonders for Scratch's sobriety. Octavia on the other hand, wasn't as lucky.
"No! I still have food left!"
Scratch's grin was beginning to hurt as it stretched into a wide smile.
"I know I'm an awesome cook, but you don't have to finish it all. There's plenty more for if you get hungry later."
"No! I can't waste food! It's against my religion!" Octavia stated through a laugh.
"Well, maybe my friends blowing up because of food is against mine. Gimme that."
Scratch tried to take the plate away from Octavia, only to have her hoof slapped away. Scratch cocked an eyebrow. She couldn't help but love the goofy, feisty side of Octavia. She also felt proud because she figured that not a lot of ponies would be able to see this side of the usually proper pony.
"Come on now, Octy. Are you really going to finish this?"
"Yes! There are sober kids in Appleloosa!"
The house exploded with laugher. Scratch fell back on her haunches, holding her stomach, unable to get air. Octavia's head plopped on the table as she too realized her mistake. Scratch pushed herself up and looked at Octavia who was wiping a laughter-induced tear from her eye.
"You know what? Maybe you SHOULD finish. Celestia knows you could use the food. Ya drunk."
Scratch barely ducked the fork that came hurdling her way.
******
"So what movie do you want to watch?"
Scratch had finally wrestled the plate of spaghetti away from Octavia after she promised not to throw it out, in favor of those sober Appleoosa fillies. The kitchen had been sort of picked up and now the two stood in the living room. Octavia took in the surroundings of the room. The walls were a bright purple, they looked like they had recently been painted. The faded red carpeting on the floor looked like it had seen better days, but she figured the shade of red didn't clash too horribly with the walls. There was a wide window directly across from the TV so that a pony walking by could see what anypony within was watching. Against a wall, to the right of a TV, was a shoddy old loveseat. Octavia sat here, where there just happened to be a foot recliner.
"Oh I don't care, Vinyl. Surprise me."
"What do you like?"
"Anything."
"You're never going to give me a straight answer, are you?"
"A lady never reveals her secrets."
"What do secrets have to do with movies?"
"What DON'T they have to do with movies?"
Scratch grumbled to herself as she scanned her movie shelf. She was by no means a movie pony so her shelf wasn't exactly full. Movies took too much concentration for a pony who felt like if she sat still for more than thirty seconds she might explode into tiny colored papers of boredom and confusion with a dash of hungry. She'd rather just listen to music.
"If you don't give me an answer, I'm going to throw in the bloodiest movie I own."
"I want another shot."
Vinyl sighed and gave Octavia a look of annoyance which quickly faded when Octavia unleashed her sad lavender eyes. Scratch immediately wondered why she ever told Octavia that pouting was like kryptonite for her.
"I'll get you another shot if you tell me what movie you want to watch."
"Whatever is in your hoof."
"Kill Buck."
"Great. Where's my shot?"
Octavia was borderline belligerent when she was drunk and Scratch loved every second of it. She was so out of character, so unrestrained from the Octavia that was constantly out in public. She seemed free. Scratch could feel herself falling deeper and deeper into a state of no return. She poured the shots and stood for a moment, thinking about her feelings for Octavia. She sighed, knowing there was no way to fight any of it. She had to refill her shot glass an extra time before she got back into the living room.
Octavia was stretched out, her hooves laying on the extended rest of the loveseat. Scratch brought her what had to be their millionth shot. The two toasted and downed the radioactive green liquid. Scratch plopped herself on the loveseat next to Octavia, wondering if Octy would think to question Scratch not sitting across the room on the only other free chair. The movie began to roll as Scratch eyed Octavia nervously. Octavia could feel Scratch's eyes on her. When she turned to look, though, Scratch was looking at the TV. At least it looked like she was looking at the TV. Octavia was never sure with those glasses on. Octavia looked down and realized she had begun to lean very heavily towards her generous host. She was also slowly sliding down the chair, in danger of falling off. She thought about righting herself but instead idly played with her mane nervously and looked up at Scratch.
"How come you wear those glasses all the time?" Octavia said gently.
Scratch jumped a bit. Not because she was watching the movie and got startled, but rather because of the carefulness that laced Octavia's words. Scrach's heart was melting. She practically fell into those eyes.
"Oh. Just because." She said, coolly.
"Vinyl. The lights are off. It's dark outside. The only light we have is the movie. And you're telling me you can see with those things on?"
"It's just kind of my thing. Somepony would have to be pretty special to see me without them. Or worse yet, try to wear them. They're my glasses. Ponies know me by my glasses. Very few ponies outside of my parents and Lyra know the gorgeous face behind the awesome shades. That's just how I roll, babycakes."
"So I'm not somepony special?"
You raging idiot. Had to use the 's' word, didn't you? You're a glutton for punishment.
But Scratch could barely even hold onto those thoughts. Octavia's body began to lean more and more towards Scratch, so much so that she was practically in Scratch's lap. Scratch felt like she was pinned against the back of the couch. She was too excited by the idea of Octavia leaning into her. Scratch figured that Octy liked colts, but body language spoke louder than words, right? The darkness of the room added to Scratch's befuddled thoughts, as she looked down upon Octavia with nothing more than the glow of the TV lighting her features.
"I never said that."
Scratch couldn't raise her voice any higher than a croak. Wordlessly, Octavia slowly reached a hoof up and tapped the glasses. Scratch instinctively jerked away, causing Octavia to look away, dejected.
"Wait."
Octavia turned her head back up towards Scratch. Again, she slowly reached towards the glasses until she was touching them. Scratch had no idea why she was letting Octavia take her glasses off. Rather, she did, but she didn't care to start tossing around words like that. Carefully, Octavia pulled the purple shades away from the white unicorns face. Scratch kept her eyes closed for a long moment, until she felt Octavaia's hoof on her chin.
"Why won't you let me see? I thought I was special."
Scratch couldn't help but chuckle and shake her head as she slowly opened her eyes. This was a guilt trip that Scratch didn't hate. In fact, she was eating up the extra attention from Octavia. Octavia's eyes grew wider in anticipation until she looked into Scratch's brilliant ruby red eyes. She audibly gasped.
"Why in Equestria would you hide those?" She whispered.
Scratch shrugged, hoping the darkness of the room would hide the glowing red blush on her face.
"Dunno. Like I said. It's just my thing. Just kinda my thing."
Octavia held Scratch's eyes for a long while. She just couldn't bring herself to look away from them. She had never seen anything like them in all of her days. Why would Vinyl try to hide something so amazing from the public? Was it the glasses… or was it something that Scratch wanted to keep a mystery? Octavia examined the glasses in her hooves, finally breaking free from her trance.
Vinyl watched silently as Octavia hooved her glasses. She was staring at them intently, seemingly deep in thought. Then she put them on.
"You're pushing it, Octy."
Octavia and Vinyl locked eyes again. It was weird for Scratch to be on the other side of the purple lenses and equally as weird for Octavia to see the world in a purple haze. Vinyl looked amused rather than the irritation that she tried to inject in her voice. Octavia's lips curled into a brilliant smile. She was positive that Vinyl was enjoying herself as much as she was. Which was far more than she cared to admit, considering she was in the presence of another mare.
"Oh, you're big talk but you don't scare me."
"You clearly have been drinking a bit if I don't scare you. Scratch'll slap a mare."
Octavia responded with a less-than-scared grunt and turned her attention back to the movie. Scratch sank back into the loveseat, but noticed how close she was to Octavia, who still appeared to be leaning towards her. As the movie went on, Scratch noticed Octavia jumping when the going got bloody.
"You're name is Buck… right? And you like to… SLAM"
"Scared pony."
"I am not! I just don't expect things sometimes. I'm not scared. I am not a vile pony who enjoys watching other ponies get their heads slammed in doors."
"As vile as a terrible vampire movie, butt-for-butt."
"You only- wait what did you call me?"
"Butt for butt."
"Whajit… why?"
"OHMYCELESTIABLOOD!" Scratch screamed suddenly.
Octavia gave another small jump and thanked Scratch in the form of a right hoof to the rib cage. Scratch yelped as Octavia continued her attack for what seemed like an eternity. Finally, on her own grounds, Octavia quickly retracted and returned her attention the movie with a smug grin. Scratch noticed the gap between her and Octy had gotten smaller after their tussle. She tried to forget about it and absorb herself in the movie, laughing when most ponies would cringe. That's when she felt a weight gently push on her shoulder. It was all she could do to not freak out and run around the room.
With assistance from a full belly and alcohol, Octavia had fallen asleep. And due to her already leaning posture, she drifted lazily onto Vinyl Scratch's shoulder. Scratch never wanted it to end. Her breath became shallow, not wanting to do anything that could wake Octavia. She savored every second of it. The warmth of her body. Her slow, shallow breaths. The smell of her mane. How adorable she looked with Scratch's glasses still on her face. Scratch grimaced. She usually didn't let anypony wear her glasses. Not even Lyra wore them unless she was trying to piss Scratch off.
The part that bothered her wasn't that Octavia was wearing them, it was that she didn't care. She actually quite liked it. Scratch wasn't sure what Octavia could do to get under her skin. The movie rolled on but Scratch's attention was on Octavia, as per usual. She could have sat there for the rest of the night and just watched the sleepy movements of her beloved. Scratch just wished she could see her face. She wished that she could be holding Octavia in her forehooves as opposed to her just falling asleep on her. She took a chance and used her magic to ease her glasses off of Octavia's face. She had fallen asleep with her glasses on before, it wasn't exactly comfortable. She didn't get the glasses off before Octy started to stir.
Octavia curled herself into a ball, bringing herself closer to Scratch. Her forehooves entwined themselves around Scratch's right forehoof. Octavia repositioned her head, bringing her muzzle into Scratch's neck. Scratch could have mirrored a statue, she was so still. She now had a decent view of Octavia's content, sleeping face, but the feeling of electric, raw joy coursing through Vinyl's body made it hard for her to focus again. She tried to calm the jolts in her chest to little avail. For a moment she closed her eyes and just savored the moment.
You know, when I said I wanted to SLEEP with Octy… ah, who am I kidding. This is more perfect than anything I could have asked for.
Octavia woke up and looked up to see where she was. She wasn't in her own bed, she knew that much. And she was quite warm considering the lack of covers on her pony. She saw a dark… something. Why did everything look so funny? Then it occurred to her. She took Vinyl's glasses off as she sat up and smiled, trying to avoid eye contact. She couldn't stay away from those gems for too long, though.
"I, uh, sorry about that, Vinyl…"
"Ah, no sweat Octy. It's all daisies."
"How long was I asleep?"
"Not sure. Movie's been over for at least a couple minutes though."
"You could have woken me."
"Nah. You looked peaceful. Besides, you weren't hurting anypony."
"Isn't there a second part to this movie?"
"Yeah. There is. Want me to put it in?"
Octavia nodded as Scratch immaturely giggled at her own innuendo. Octavia smiled as she curled into a ball facing the opposite way of Scratch's seat. Scratch grimaced, wondering if she had read Octavia's body language wrong. As a test, Scratch sat down in the same spot, leaving a strategic amount of room between the two. There was slightly more room that before, but there would barely be enough room for a cat to curl between them. Though she was sure a cat would definitely try. Octavia looked over her shoulder once and held bare eye contact for a long moment, then returned her attention to the movie. Scratch wasn't sure why her chest felt empty all of a sudden.
About a half hour into the movie, Scratch leaned forward to try to see if Octy was sleeping. The grey mare's eyes were closed, her breathing soft. She looked a little chilly so Scratch got up from the couch and grabbed the comforter from the big chair in the corner. She gently laid it over Octavia and grinned when she cuddled into the warm blanket. Scratch stood over Octavia for a long minute, taking in every feature of her face. She smiled down at the sleepy pony but the smile never touched her eyes. With nopony around to see, Scratch didn't have to pretend to be cool or in control. She felt disappointment bubbling to the surface. Octavia would never be in her forelegs, wrapped into a warm embrace on a cold winter night. She would never get to kiss Octy good night. As her feelings grew, she became more uncertain that Octavia was somepony special for her.
Over the weeks, she had been more and more convinced that she met Octavia because of some reason she didn't really know of. It wasn't just a chance, it was somehow just supposed to happen. She was all too well aware of how stupid it sounded, and she was sure that anypony she told would immediately dismiss her theory. But how else could she explain the rapid fluttery feeling in her chest whenever Octavia was around? How else could she describe the hold Octavia had on her that nopony else ever could dream of having? Scratch wasn't the kind of pony to dive into things so suddenly. Nothing about anything made sense.
As Scratch dejectedly turned to walk down the hall and into her bedroom, she realized that she didn't want to be away from Octavia. Scratch turned around and quietly tip hooved into the living room. Octavia was still out cold, snuggled tightly into her blanket. Scratch smiled as she suddenly felt any unsure feelings slip away and disappear into the darkness like an animal roaming in the night. Looking at Octavia… Scratch felt empowered. She felt a grin sneak on her face as she took her place in the chair across the room and curled into a ball. She could almost smell Octavia's mane on her shoulder.
"I won't give up on you Octy. I won't give up on us."
Scratch rolled over and fell into a deep sleep all the while dreaming of holding Octavia just one time.