//------------------------------//
// Chapter 17 
// Story: Octavius 
// by Master Koschei 
//------------------------------//

	The door swung open, and Octavius was face to face with a tall, slightly chubby middle-aged man.  The man had short hair and red eyes like Vinyl’s.  Octavius also took note of the dimly lit room behind the man.  Octavius figured the man was Vinyl’s dad, and he had the same condition as Vinyl.
“Can I help you?”  The man eyed Octavius questioningly.
“Excuse me,” Dash spoke up.  “Are you mister Scratch?”
“Yes I am,” he replied, looking at the woman.  “And you’re Dash, aren’t you?  Violet has told me about you.  Mostly good things.”  He smiled a little at her.  He turned back to Octavius.  “Who are you?”
“I’m Octavius,” the cellist replied, extending his hand.  “Octavius Melody.”
Mister Scratch, who had been reaching for Octavius’ hand, suddenly stopped.  “I’m sorry, did you say ‘Melody’?”
Octavius stared at him, slightly puzzled.  “Um, yes sir,” he said, dropping his hand.
The door slammed in Octavius’ face, causing the two to jump.  “What the hell?”  Dash looked extremely offended.  “Talk about rude!”
“I think we should just go,” Octavius said.
“Oh, no,” Dash protested.  “That dumb ass fuck face can’t possibly think he can treat us like that!  I’ve had too much shit today as it is!”  She pounded her fist on the door loudly.
At first, no response came.  However, as Dash was about to knock again, the door opened, this time by a woman with black hair.  “May I help you?”
“Yes, you can,” Octavius said.  “We were wondering if Violet was here?”
“She is,” the woman replied.  “Would you like to come in?”  Dash and Octavius nodded, and they followed missus Scratch inside.  The house was very dimly lit, blinds closed and curtains drawn shut.  There were some stairs leading to a second floor, where there were some shut wooden doors.  The floor was carpeted dark blue, and the walls were painted white.  There were also some family photos hanging around the wall.  “Make yourselves comfortable.”  Missus Scratch gestured to the three seat dark brown couch.
“Thank you, ma’am,” Octavius smiled kindly as he and Dash sat down.
“Hold on, I’ll get Violet,” missus Scratch smiled politely and disappeared up the stairs.  As she vanished, though, mister Scratch came from the kitchen.
“You!”  Mister Scratch glared angrily at Octavius.  “What the HELL are you doing in my house?”
“He was invited in!”  Dash glared back at the older man.
“OUT!”  Mister Scratch pointed to the door.  “I refuse to allow a Melody into my home!  I want you OUT!”
“Daddy, stop it,” Vinyl spoke up from the top of the stairs.  “Leave him alone.”  She came down the stairs, her cheeks tear stained.
“Violet, you know how I –“
“It’s fine,” Vinyl cut him off.  Mister Scratch grumbled angrily and stalked upstairs.
Octavius stood up, approaching the DJ.  “Vinyl, I just wanted to –“
“How DARE you come here?!”  Vinyl glared at Octavius and Dash.  “I told you I want nothing to do with you!”
“But why?”  Dash jumped up and approached the other woman.
“BECAUSE!”  At this point, Vinyl was practically yelling.  “You, Dash, YOU are the one who brought them to the diner!”
“That’s not my fault!”  Dash yelled back.  “They practically stalked me!”
“And you,” she rounded on Octavius, ignoring Dash.  “What the hell happened with you?!  You’re a full grown man, but you can’t even stand up to your own parents?!  You’re PATHETIC!”
“You wanna blame me?  Fine!”  Dash pulled Vinyl close by the collar.  “But you know for a FACT that Octavius can’t help it!”
“No, Dash,” Octavius muttered, his eyes locked on his feet.  “She’s right.  I’m weak.  I needed to stand up, but I laid down and let her get hurt.”
“But, Tavi –“ Dash tried to speak up, but was cut off by Vinyl.
“I think you both should leave.”  Vinyl turned to go back up the stairs.  “I said I don’t want anything to do with you two, and I meant it.”
Dash stared incredulously at Vinyl, then at Octavius.  “Really, Vinyl?  Don’t you think this is a bit much?”
“Let’s go, Dash,” Octavius gently pulled Dash by her arm.  Dash sighed and followed him, casting one last glance at the blue haired woman.
“I’m sorry, Vinyl,” Dash muttered as she passed her.
Octavius and Dash walked out of the house, pulling the door closed behind them.  Dash turned to Octavius.  “How the hell can we just walk out like that?”
“She wants space,” Octavius replied.  “Let’s give it to her.”
“Fine, next question,” Dash said.  “Why does her dad hate you so much?”
“I really don’t know,” Octavius cast his gaze down briefly.  “My parents never said anything about the Scratch’s.  Until today, I’d never seen that man.”
Dash raised her hand, as if to continue the conversation, but dropped it in defeat.  “Fine,” she muttered, walking with Octavius back to the diner.  “What’ll we do about her, though?  We can’t let her mope forever!”
“I know,” Octavius replied.  “Like I said, we’re going to give her the space she asked for.  I think that when she’s ready, she’ll come talk to us.  We’ll get this all sorted out.”
“I hope you’re right, Tavi.”  Dash cast a glance over her shoulder at the house one last time, the view slightly obstructed by the falling snow.  Suddenly, the door swung open, revealing mister Scratch.  “What the fuck?”  Dash watched as the man walked up to the pair, a look of hate in his eyes.
He approached Octavius.  “Alright, Melody, what the hell did you do to my daughter?”
“Sir, I didn’t do –“  Octavius started, but was quickly cut off.
“She comes home in tears, then you show up and leave her in a worse state!  You’re family is nothing but spoiled brats!  Do you think you can treat her like that just because she didn’t have a big fancy upbringing like you did?  Because she actually had to work for what she has and didn’t just have it all handed to her?”
“No,” Octavius replied calmly.  “If I may talk, sir, I didn’t do anything.  It was my parents who –“
“You’re parents?!  Oh, that explains EVERYTHING!”  Mister Scratch took a step back.  “Those good for nothing jerk offs were the worst people I’d ever had the misfortune to meet.  They treated everyone like dirt.”
“Why?”  Dash spoke up, her curiosity getting the better of her.
“They both come from insanely powerful families.  Not quite royalty, but pretty damn close.”  Mister Scratch looked over at Octavius.  “I’d have figured pretty boy over there would’ve shared all this by now, though.”
“I never knew my grand parents,” Octavius stated simply.  “My parents didn’t talk about them much.  Typically all I heard from them was, ‘get back to practice, boy’.”
“Well,” mister Scratch continued.  “Why don’t we continue this conversation back inside?  Vinyl might be interested in hearing about this as well.”
The trio agreed, and headed back to the Scratch house.