//------------------------------// // Chapter 4 // Story: Changes // by Fresh Blood //------------------------------// A series of loud bangs echoed from the hallway and into Vinyl’s bedroom, barely disturbing the sleeping DJ who remained dead to the world and snoring loudly on her back. The knocks came again, a set of three slow and deliberate raps of a hoof on wood, but it only served to cause her right rear leg to twitch in rhythm, the snore breaking off with a snort and being replaced with incoherent mumblings as her dream shifted into a fantasy rave. “Do you have to knock so loud?” A muffled voice crept in from under the door. It sounded groggy and pained, as if its owner was loathed to be there at all. “Maybe she’s already gone to breakfast. Let’s just go back to bed, you can rub my back and I can sleep some more.” “She had almost as much to drink as you last night, she hasn’t gone anywhere.”Another voice responded, this one not so much worse for wear. “So, as tempting as your offer sounds I’m going to have to turn it down. Besides, you’ll feel better once you have some breakfast. We’ll get you some coffee, a couple of muffins and you’ll be right as rain by the afternoon.” Another knock, harder this time and with more urgency, disturbed Vinyl further, causing her to roll over to the edge of the bed and finally manage to jerk her out of her slumber. Her eyes cracked open, and with a wide yawn she tried to prop herself up with a hoof, only to find that it came into contact with nothing but the open space beyond the bed. With a crash and a surprised yelp, she soon found herself face down on the floor. She groaned as she laid there under the sheets, having wrapped them around her midriff in her sleep. The crash must have been heard outside the door because as she contemplated going back to sleep where she lay the DJ heard voices coming from beyond her room. “Scratch, are you alright in there?” A long, drawn out sigh escaped her and Vinyl finally stood up, rubbing the end of her snout with a hoof. She clumsily made her way to her bedroom door, dragging her sheets along with her, and made it into her hallway. “I’m coming,” she grumbled, ignoring the mirror she passed on the way and, too tired to use her body to do it, unlocked her hotel room door with her magic and swung it open. “About time, you sleep like... wow, you look like death. You’re really not a morning pony are you?” Lyra asked, a smile on her face with a raised eyebrow. Bon-Bon stood beside her, shifting her weight from side to side as if she was too weary to stand up straight. Vinyl only sat on her haunches and yawned as a response. “Did you sleep in that?” Vinyl looked down and finally took note of her appearance. Her horn lit up with a light blue aura and the bed sheets came undone, discarded somewhere behind her with a flick of her head, revealing the crinkled and now shabby looking dress from the night before. “Huh... I guess so,” she answered before turning around and moving back into the depths of her room. “Guess you better come in.” Bon-Bon didn’t argue, quickly moving past Lyra with her head low to the floor and following Vinyl into the living space. Lyra simply rolled her eyes, her horn lighting up green as she entered, the door doing the same and closing behind her. Once the mint unicorn joined the other two she found them curled up on opposite ends of the couch, eyes closed and heads resting on the armrests. “You two are hopeless,” she laughed before drawing open the curtains, letting the light from the morning sun fill the gloomy room and earning hisses of discomfort from both Vinyl and Bon-Bon. “Geez, Lyra, give a girl a warning next time,” Vinyl growled, her hooves pressed against her eyes, rubbing them back and forth before slowly bringing herself to stand on her feet again, hunched over and attempting to back herself out of her dress. As amusing as it was to watch, Lyra moved to help, grasping the front of the saddle in her teeth and pulling it over Vinyl’s head. “At least Bon-Bon has an excuse,” she mumbled through clenched teeth. “She doesn’t really drink.” With a final tug, the dress came off, the arms pulling inside out as they clung to Vinyl’s forelegs. “Now go shower, that’ll wake you up. We’ll wait for you here and then we’ll go get some breakfast.” “Yes, mother,” Vinyl replied, sticking her tongue out as she did so and receiving a dress to the face as a response. “Ok... I deserved that.” She mumbled, slinking off down the corridor and into the bathroom. “And that was such a nice dress too.” Bon-Bon lamented, bringing herself off of the couch to stand before the mirror on the wall above the dresser whilst Lyra stared out of the window. A few minutes passed as she ran a hoof through the curls of her mane, a grimace on her face. “My hair is a mess; I’ll need to go to the salon later.” “You look fine, Bon, you don’t need to go to the salon,” Lyra replied, bringing her attention from the street below and trotting over to stand by her side, ears flicking at the sound of the water in the shower hitting the tub. “I’ll tell you what. We’ll have breakfast and then we’ll head back to our room. You can have a nap, I’ll go work my stand and I’ll close up early this afternoon.” She nuzzled along Bon-Bon’s neck as she spoke, the cream mare’s eyes closed as she enjoyed the sensation. “I’ll help you get all prettied up; even more so than you usually are to me, and we’ll go to Scratch’s gig this evening. Sound good?” “Vinyl’s gig?” Bon-Bon asked, eyes shooting open as she already imagined the booming vibrations rattling around in her skull. “But it’ll be so loud. I really don’t think that’s a good idea, at least not today...” The unicorn laughed, patting her on the back with a reassuring smile. “I’m telling you, Bon, you’ll feel much better later on. Trust me; I know what to do when the morning after comes around.” “Yes, well from all your... experience, you could have stopped me after the first few glasses.” “But you were having such a good time; I didn’t want to spoil your fun. I got you home safe and sound, didn’t I? No bruises on your legs from falling over, no misplaced bags or shoes. Besides, I get all the hugs and kisses I could want when you’re inebriated, might have to get you to do it more often.” “A little too much information there,” Vinyl suddenly called out from behind them, making both mares jump. They turned around to see a sodden mess, two towels magically scrubbing away at her mane and tail as the DJ dried herself. “Well you shouldn’t be sneaking about then, should you?” Lyra replied, a light blush upon her face whilst Bon-Bon chose to concentrate on her reflection again. “Hey, it’s my room; I can sneak around if I want to. You’re just jealous that you have the footsteps of an elephant, you never could sneak back in after curfew,” the DJ replied before casually dropping one of the towels and using the dryer of the two to finish off drying the rest of her coat, leaving her clean, if not mildly damp. She checked her hair in the mirror beside Bon-Bon, and happy that it was in its usual unkempt fashion declared herself ready. “Oh, I almost forgot, you two don’t mind if someone tags along with us today, right?” she asked, looking around the room for something. Both Lyra and Bon-Bon focused their attention, curious about the question before answering. “Who did you have in mind?” Bon-Bon asked, a slight giddy smile on her face as thoughts of all the number of different celebrities Vinyl could bring to breakfast. “The mare from the elevator last night, she asked if she could join us for breakfast.” “... You mean the mare that Bon-Bon told you to kiss?” Lyra asked, the smile on Bon-Bon’s face turning to a mortified expression. “Oh no, I didn’t, did I? Gosh, I’m so embarrassed,” Bon-Bon muttered, her face taking on a deep crimson look behind her fair coat. “Yeah, that’s the one. She seems nice enough, and I thought it was the least I could to say yes, after... well, you know...” Vinyl continued, sauntering off back to her bedroom. A few seconds passed, and something in Lyra’s head clicked. “Vinyl, please tell me you didn’t-” she began, but cut herself off as she saw Vinyl returning with the shoes she’d borrowed off Bon-Bon in her magical aura. “Never mind.” “You thought she was in there, didn’t you?” Vinyl smirked, placing the shoes inside her saddlebag and levitating it onto her back. “I meant after we all embarrassed her in an enclosed space. Get your mind out of the gutter, Lyra.” She snickered, going to the door and opening it up to the corridors beyond. “Vinyl wouldn’t do that, Lyra, you should know better,” Bon-Bon chastised, shaking her head in disapproval as she went to join the DJ outside, leaving a perplexed Lyra behind. Deciding it was best to let it go rather than reveal all the little sordid secrets she knew about Vinyl Scratch, she joined the two outside Vinyl’s room and closed the door. Grumbling quietly to herself she waited patiently at the back of the group whilst Vinyl knocked on the door opposite. A few moments passed and before Vinyl could knock again the door slowly clicked open, revealing the grey mare on the other side, her mane combed impeccably straight and the same bow-tie and collar she wore the day before now neatly tied around her neck. “Good morning, Octavia, ready to-” “I am so sorry about anything I said last night!” Bon-Bon interrupted, bumping Vinyl to the side with her flank and almost pressing her head against Octavia’s. “I had far too much champagne and I’m not used to doing that. It’s all these two’s fault, they let me get carried away and didn’t stop me like the responsible mares I thought they were and I’m really, really, really sorry.” An uncomfortable silence descended on the group, Lyra staring wide eyed whilst Octavia looked like she’d been scared half to death. “So, yeah... Octavia, this is Bon-Bon, she’s a little melodramatic, which I’m sure you’ve already noticed. And this is Lyra, her mare-friend and self-appointed lackey. Lyra, Bon-Bon, this is Octavia.” “I thought I asked you to stop introducing me like that,” Lyra grumbled, to which Vinyl only beamed. The mint unicorn then carefully extracted Bon-Bon from Octavia’s doorway, allowing the poor mare to breath after the sudden invasion of her personal space. “Yes, well, good morning, a pleasure to meet you all properly. And as far as last night goes, you’re forgiven, Bon-Bon, it was easy to see you were out of sorts.” She attempted to smile, putting Bon-Bon at ease a little. “I must say, I didn’t expect you to be up so early, it’s only just gone nine and I figured you’d all be sleeping until at least ten,” she continued, closing the door behind her and standing in the hallway with the rest of them. The four then began to make their way towards the elevator, Octavia and Vinyl leading whilst Lyra and Bon-Bon followed, all four walking at a slow pace for the still worse for wear confectionary maker. “Well Lyra doesn’t like to miss breakfast, so she made sure we were all up in time. She gets cranky if she doesn’t get her morning bagel.” “Vinyl, quit making stuff up, she doesn’t know that you’re joking!” “Yeah, you’re right, sorry, Lyra,” Vinyl apologised, before leaning towards Octavia and whispering, “... she’s cranky all the time.” This elicited a light laugh from Octavia, much to Vinyl’s pleasure and Lyra’s annoyance. “I’m sure that isn’t the case, but they do say breakfast is the most important meal of the day so it’s good that you aren’t missing out,” Octavia replied as they came up to the elevator then pressed the call button. “I assume you’re all here for the convention? You don’t seem like the usual ponies that live in Canterlot.” “We’re all from Ponyville,” Lyra answered before Vinyl could speak, leaving the DJ with her mouth hanging open. “Vinyl and I are actually attending, but Bon-Bon’s my guest.” “But Vinyl stays here in Canterlot all the time, don’t you Vinyl?” Bon-Bon added, deferring towards the DJ with a smile. “Yeah, I hang around in the city for a few weeks at a time every now and then, usually for work. Though it’s a little too stuffy for my tastes, which is why I still have my house in Ponyville.” “I see.” Octavia smiled, keen to enquire further, but before she could the elevator doors pinged open. The four trotted inside and as Lyra pressed the ground floor button she continued. “Well I wouldn’t mind hearing all about Ponyville, it’s become rather popular in the newspapers as of late, it seems like there’s a news story coming out of there almost every week.” “Well we’ll be happy to fill you in on all the juicy gossip at breakfast, just have to make a quick stop at Lyra and Bon-Bon’s room first.” Vinyl announced, motioning for Lyra to select their floor too. When Lyra didn’t budge Vinyl raised an eyebrow. “Uh... Lyra? If you’d be so kind.” “Why do you need to go to our room?” the other unicorn replied, hesitant to let Vinyl anywhere near the controls for the elevator. “To get my glasses of course, and to drop off Bon-Bon’s shoes, I ain’t lugging them around all morning.” “We’re going to breakfast, Scratch; you don’t need your glasses.” “Of course I do, they’re a necessity.” “I didn’t know you wore glasses, Vinyl,” Octavia commented, distracting the unicorns for a moment. “I take it you were wearing contacts last night? That’s what I prefer myself, I’ve lost and broken dozens of pairs of glasses in the past so decided they weren’t worth it, I just have an emergency pair at home.” “She doesn’t wear glasses,” Lyra explained, glaring at Vinyl, “she wants her sunglasses.” “But... it isn’t sunny, and we’ll be indoors.” The grey mare replied, a confused expression adorning her face. “Exactly, which is why she doesn’t need them.” “But, Lyra, it’s all part of her image,” Bon-Bon added, rubbing her forehead with a hoof. “And this bickering is starting to give me a head ache, just let her get her glasses and we’ll be able to get to breakfast in peace.” “Yeah, listen to Bonnie, Lyra, or you’ll be in the dog house,” Vinyl chuckled, and then leapt forwards towards Lyra. With a shriek, the mint unicorn moved out of the way, just in time for Vinyl to click the button for the correct floor before they passed it, the elevator coming to a stop and opening its doors. “Cheers, Bonnie,” she called out, her horn lighting up and stealing the room key from Lyra’s side bag. “I’ll be back before you know it,” she called out, just as the elevator doors were closing. Before they came to, however, a white foreleg reached into the gap and pressed a good few floor numbers directly below the floor they were on now, and then it was gone, the doors sealing shut. “... I hate that mare.” Lyra deadpanned, staring at the lit up numbers on the elevator panel, knowing they’ll have to stop on each floor that was lit up on their way to the ground floor. Octavia, not wanting to touch a nerve with Lyra, leaned towards Bon-Bon. “Is Vinyl always so eccentric?” she whispered, the elevator descended at a slower pace now that it was scheduled to stop sooner. “Oh yes, but that’s all part of her charm, really,” Bon-Bon answered, forgetting to whisper, causing Lyra to look towards them. “But she and Lyra go way back, they went to school together, even shared a room at the music college when they were older. In fact, it was thanks to Vinyl that Lyra and I met in the first place.” “Really?” “I wouldn’t put it down to Vinyl being directly involved, it was more the fact she’s just lazy,” Lyra answered, a slight smile on her face despite the argument she’d just had. The door opened on a floor, but they ignored it, and it carried on. “She was supposed to meet me for lunch one afternoon and she overslept. And because I was relying on her bringing us some sandwiches I had to go to buy food and it just so happened I stumbled into Bon’s stall at the market.” “Literally stumbled, you had taffy and chocolate all over your coat,” Bon-Bon added, generating an amused smile from Octavia. “Thank you, Bon-Bon, I wasn’t going to provide that bit of information and do NOT let Vinyl find out, she’ll have a field day with that.” The elevator stopped at a few more floors, nopony getting on at any of them, the inconvenience irritating Lyra more and more. As the elevator came to the last lit up button before it was clear sailing to the ground floor it opened to reveal Vinyl. She stood casually, leaning against the wall with her right foreleg crossed over her left and her glasses upon her head once again, concealing her eyes from the world. “Ladies,” She greeted with a smirk, moving to walk into the elevator. “I’m ready for breakfast.” The elevator closed its doors for the final time, taking them towards their destination. Silence persisted for a moment, before Lyra spoke up. “I hate you.” It was a few moments more before Vinyl replied. “I love you too.” -- The hotel provided a full buffet service with enough food to satisfy any pallet. Being in the centre of Canterlot the majority of the food on offer was of a high standard, ranging from complex foods such as breakfast soufflés to more simple fare like alfalfa. It was also very active, with most of the ponies at the hotel up early to see more of the convention and get prime seats for any early conferences or question panels taking place. At a table towards the back of the room, and purposely close to the coffee machine, sat the four mares, each engrossed in conversation with one another. Bon-Bon sat with a modest pile of muffins, and after taking a large gulp of the black, hot coffee Lyra had procured for her, let out a content sigh. “I feel much better. Next time you get us an unlimited number of bottles of champagne, Vinyl, please make sure I only have a few glasses.” Vinyl only laughed, a sizeable portion of apple syrup pancakes in front of her, which was slowly being devoured; her first helping having been consumed as if she hadn’t eaten in days. “But that’s part of the fun! Especially the morning after when you don’t know what happened the night before and you wake up in some stranger’s bed, priceless. Right, Octavia?” Octavia just blinked, half way through taking a sip of the tea she was drinking, her two croissants left half finished on her plate. “Well... I can’t say I’ve ever been in that position, but I think I understand the sentiment. But I also agree with Bon-Bon, everything in moderation.” “Ok... well, Lyra knows what I’m talking about, right?” Vinyl tried again, looking towards her usual comrade in mischief. The mint unicorn was using her magic to wield a fork, impaling the bowl of strawberries she had and eating them one at a time, savouring the taste. “Leave me out of it, you’re a bad influence and I’m much too impressionable to listen to you,” she answered, keeping her head down towards her bowl, eyes focussing on the strawberries. “Yeah, you know what I’m talking about.” Vinyl grinned, taking that as an answer she wanted to hear, much to the confusion of the two earth ponies. Octavia placed her tea back down upon the table, and grasped a fork in her arm, much to the continued amazement of the three at the table. “So do you three have plans for the rest of the day?” she enquired, taking another attempt at her pastries, daintily cutting away manageable portions and carefully taking them into her mouth with the fork. Knowing it was rude to stare, the three mares returned to their own meals when Octavia looked back up, Vinyl stuffing her mouth with a fork full of pancake and leaving the other two to respond. “Well Lyra has a stall to run today; she sells records of her music. She plays the lyre so beautifully,” Bon-Bon swooned, making Lyra puff out her chest with pride. “And Vinyl is performing this evening in one of the concert halls.” “Oh, well I may have to stop by later, Lyra, I do enjoy the lyre, though I’ve never been very proficient at it.” “What about you, Octavia? Are you just visiting the convention or are you a part of it?” Vinyl asked, gasping somewhat after almost choking on her breakfast, she took a large mouthful of orange juice to make sure. “I’m here with the Canterlot Symphony Orchestra, we played last night but my attendance covers the entire time the convention is running,” the mare explained, trying to ignore the sudden interest Bon-Bon was showing her. “Oh I love orchestral music; it’s so wonderful and full of emotion. What instrument do you play?” “I’m the principal cellist; it’s my role to determine bowings for the whole cellist section in conjunction with other string principals, and playing solos.” Octavia smiled, more than happy to discuss it with another pony who shared her love of the orchestra. “So that’s why you’re so good with your hooves.” Vinyl pointed out, nodding her head towards the fork still in Octavia’s grip. “Ponies aren’t particularly good at playing strings with their hooves.” “Hey, I can play the lyre with my hooves.” Lyra piped up, receiving a nudge to the ribs from the DJ. “Oh please, if you don’t use your magic then it sounds like you’re strangling a baby manticore,” Vinyl laughed, before a strawberry whizzed through the air and bounced off the side of her head. “Alright... maybe you’re not that bad.” Octavia chose to ignore the faux pas of throwing food at the table and instead focused on what she heard from Bon-Bon before. “And you have a concert later, Vinyl? What instrument do you play?” She asked, stopping Vinyl from forming the idea of flicking a sugar cube from the bowel on the table at Lyra. “It's more of a gig than a concert. And I don’t play an instrument, I’m a DJ,” she answered, earning a confused look from Octavia. “A disc jockey? I didn’t think that was considered a true musical profession, not like singing or being a composer.” “It’s as much a profession as yours is, Tavi; mine just revolves around mixing tracks and getting them to play just right. You’d be surprised what you could do with music once it’s been attached to a machine and you can manipulate it in any way you see fit.” “Tavi?” Octavia asked, unsure of what to make of what Vinyl had called her. “Yeah, or do you prefer something else, maybe Octy? I like Octy.” There didn’t seem to be a look of jest about Vinyl as she asked, leading Octavia to believe she was being serious. “Consider yourself lucky,” Lyra stepped in, finishing the last of her strawberries. “Vinyl only gives nicknames to the ponies she likes, despite how you feel about it.” “I... see,” Octavia said, still uncertain. “Well I suppose you can use whichever one you prefer Vinyl, if it makes you feel better.” “But wait,” Bon-Bon suddenly spoke, causing the three to turn towards her. “If Vinyl does that with the ponies she likes, and Octavia has one and I have one... what’s yours, Lyra?” she asked, looking back and forth between the two unicorns, who didn’t reply immediately. The two looked at each other, and as if rehearsed, looked back at Bon-Bon and answered in unison, “Classified.” “Aww, come on, I want to know, please? I thought we told each other everything,” Bon-Bon whined, but the looks on the unicorns faces told her she wasn’t going to get her answer. “Fine, whatever, I don’t want to know. I’m going for more coffee,” She finished, picking up her cup in her mouth and storming off. “I’ll come with you, Bon-Bon; I’d like some more tea,” Octavia called after her before excusing herself from the table and following, leaving the two unicorns by themselves. “I have no idea what I was thinking when I made up that nickname for you, it was far too cute,” Vinyl finally spoke up when the two earth ponies were out of ear shot. “But Octy’s nice, isn’t she? I thought she’d be all stuck up and snooty like the rest of the ponies around here but she’s more... mellow.” “Like me?” Lyra asked, using her magic to stack her empty dishes and plates to one side of the table. “Nah, she actually belongs here, you’re just a commoner trying to fit in... you’re like me!” she replied, a large grin on her face. “Thanks for that, Scratch,” Lyra sighed, turning her head to watch Bon-Bon and Octavia from afar as they helped each other with their drinks. “So you like her, huh? I take it you let her join us because you’re going to ask her out?” “Nah, like I said yesterday, I’m not interested in any of that at the moment, she’s just a new friend,” the DJ replied, watching the same direction. “Hmm... I wonder if she could help me make some contacts in the upper classes like Opal asked me to. I bet she knows a few ponies high up in her industry.” “Probably, especially if she has a decent place in the Orchestra, sounds like she has a few connections,” Lyra replied, turning back from the two as they began to walk back, looking towards scratch with a scowl. “Just make sure you don’t lead her on, you’re good at doing that when you don’t realise it.” “I wouldn’t dream of it,” Vinyl replied, a mock look of hurt on her face which quickly vanished as both Bon-Bon and Octavia rejoined them. “So, Octavia, plans for the rest of the day?” Vinyl quickly asked as they took their seats, taking the grey mare by surprise. “Oh, well actually, no, I was just going to walk around the different stalls and take part in any activities that were going to take place,” she replied, sipping on her tea once more. “As I said, I performed last night so I can do pretty much anything I feel like... though I suppose I should make appearances at different venues, it would make for good publicity.” “Publicity?” Lyra asked, moving to the side a little as a waiter removed her used plates and dishes and then doing the same for Vinyl. “I would have thought being in the Orchestra would be publicity enough.” “Well I also perform with smaller groups. I lead an ensemble with a few other members of the Orchestra. We cater for different events such as the Gala. We even performed for Nightmare Night in Ponyville, but unfortunately I wasn’t able to attend, I wasn’t feeling well that day.” “Or you’re a little filly afraid of the big bad monsters and didn’t want to see Lyra dressed up as a Mummy-Pony,” Vinyl snickered, earning a disapproving look from Lyra and an amused smile from Octavia. “I worked hard on that costume,” Bon-Bon muttered, finishing off her last muffin, her coffee left cooling in its cup nearby. “Looks like you’re hanging with me then, Octy,” Vinyl then suddenly announced, scooting around the table to drape an arm around the cellist’s shoulders. “I’ve got lots of time to kill before I need to start getting ready for my set tonight. Oh, maybe you can help me with that too, this’ll be so awesome!” Octavia’s ears twitched as the prospect of spending a day alone with Vinyl dawned on her, especially now that she knew Vinyl seemed to be a lot to handle in big doses. She looked towards Lyra and Bon-Bon who just smiled back at her, so she sighed and accepted her fate. “A-alright then, but I-” “Great!” Vinyl interrupted, startling Octavia into silence. “And don’t worry, we’ll stop by Lyra’s stall at some point and bug her until she gives us some of the candy that Bon-Bon will no doubt stash away for her.” “Vinyl, I can give you some candy too, if you’d like,” Bon-Bon then offered, but Vinyl shook her head. “Nah, Lyra’s always tastes so much better, and it’s more fun that way too.” “Fantastic,” was all Lyra could say as she began to stand, voice laced with sarcasm. “Well I guess I’ll look forwards to your wonderful visit. Come on Bon-Bon, let’s go back to the room, I need to get ready.” The mint unicorn then turned towards Octavia, nodding towards her with a smile. “It was a pleasure to meet you Octavia; I’ll see you later, providing Vinyl hasn’t scared you off. I’ll look forward to showing you some of my music.” “The pleasure was all mine,” the cellist replied, smiling back at Lyra and Bon-Bon, who now stood beside the mint unicorn after downing her coffee. “I’d love to hear your music, perhaps we could play together some time.” And with that, the group separated, a farewell wave between Vinyl and Lyra and an exchange of smiles between Octavia and Bon-Bon. It was after she lost sight of her two new friends did Octavia turn back towards Vinyl, who seemed to be staring at her. “Is there a problem?” she asked, shifting a little under the disconcerting gaze; she couldn’t tell what the eyes were looking at behind the glasses. “So... if we’re going to hang out today are you going to lose that bow tie or not?” she asked, revealing what it was she was so engrossed with. “Are you going to lose those glasses?” Octavia replied, the quick retort catching Vinyl completely off guard. Octavia’s expressionless face was almost perfect in its attempt to hide it, but Vinyl caught the slight twitch of a hidden smile, causing the DJ to break into a grin. “Touché.”