...But Duct Tape is Silver

by Vermilion and Sage


Descent into Pettiness

Clink. Clinkclink. Clink. Clink!

One push at a time, Vinyl wordlessly chased the handle of the spoon, forcing it around in a circle inside of the mug. The mix of Braytish cream and coffee had long since settled into a dull brown, but there was something about hitting the side of the mug that was soothing. It was probably that it sounded vaguely like the synth in a song she’d heard a few nights back, and now it was time to re-create that as enthusiastically as was possible before having consumed the coffee.

“Will you cut that out and just drink it already?!” snapped Octavia from across the table. She was holding a steaming mug of some kind of tea, and glowering at Vinyl over the toast on her plate.

“What?” protested Vinyl. “Don’t you know how I eat breakfast?”

“No, because you’ve never gotten up before noon in the last four months.”

“Well, what’s so terrible about it?” Vinyl clinked her spoon one more time, and held the grin inside as Octavia shuddered.

“Well, you’re drinking liqueur with breakfast, not eating any actual food, and making a racket with your spoon, after I’ve asked you to stop. Does that make sense to you?”

“Plenty.” Ever so daintily, the spoon floated out of the coffee to rest on and stain the tablecloth. At the sight of the caramel-colored liquid slowly spreading through the white cloth, Octavia inhaled deeply, and rose from her seat. Malice burned in her eyes, and she started to walk slowly toward Vinyl, who was shivering at the sight. Raising her foreleg high to strike, she glared down on the unworthy soul who had so deliberately enraged her. Vinyl gulped. The hoof came down -- to pick up the spoon.

Still breathing slowly, Octavia took the spoon away from the table, leaving it to rest in the sink. Not once turning back, she disappeared up the stairs, leaving Vinyl to gasp and cough. Life had just come dangerously close to bringing out a tombstone with her name on it. Further tempting that fate was not a bright idea.

The sound of the shower starting wafted down from upstairs, and Vinyl shrugged. Time to do something stupid.

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Being sneaky or subtle had never really been one of Vinyl’s strong points, but right now she was stuck with trying to embrace her inner ninja. Trying to open the bathroom door with just hooves while holding up dozens of strips of duct tape via telekinesis required more fine control than she usually practiced. Once again her hooves slipped off the handle, and Vinyl huffed. She’d always been more of the pirate type anyways.

On the fourth try, the handle neatly turned, opening silently to reveal the bathroom shrouded in steam. The glass door to the shower was completely fogged up, and somewhere behind that door Octavia was humming a gentle tune. One by one, the lengths of tape settled on the shower door, adhering both to the glass and the wall beside it. At long last when they were all in place, Vinyl let out a long sigh. It was nice to not be manipulating so many objects all at once. That relief disappeared as Octavia stopped humming.

“Vinyl?! You snuck in here and…”

“No, no, no! It’s not like that!”

“Spying on me while I’m in the shower so you can get yourself off? Have you no shame at all?”

“Look, Octy, you’re about to find out why I’m here.” Vinyl backpedaled toward the hall, and picked up the bucket with her teeth, trying not to laugh and spill the contents.

“Oh for the love of goodness, if you won’t get out I will throw you out.” A tap rang out from a hoof placed against the glass, and then a second as the door bent ever so slightly forward. Despite the shoving, grunting, and gasping, it seemed that Octavia would not be getting the door open anytime soon. Vinyl set the bucket down just in time to break out laughing, while slowly lifting it up with magic.

“Vinyl, you let me out right now!”

“Naw, I think I’ll wait til you’ve cooled off a little bit.”

“What the hell is that supposed to mean?!”

“Octavia Melody! I hereby nominate you for the ice bu--”

The rest of Vinyl’s proclamation was cut off by Octavia’s shrieks as the bucket was tipped up over the top of the shower to release the deluge within. Most of the ice had already melted, so there was just a loud splash behind the scream. Vinyl doubled over laughing as Octavia shoved against the shower door again, still to no avail.