//------------------------------//
// Velvet Things 
// Story: The Things Tavi Says 
// by shortskirtsandexplosions 
//------------------------------//

	"Well, that was rather pleasant," Octavia coos.  The cool breeze of our home's air conditioning greets us with a delightfully chilly embrace.  She gently pushes me and my wheelchair into the domain, stopping several times so as to avoid running over a little fuzzball's tiny tail.  "Wouldn't you agree, Vine?"

I barely register her purple words.  An entire afternoon of estrogenical conversation and gossip has spun wild circles around my head.  We must have been sitting and chatting inside that bakery for hours.  As of right now, the sun has fallen, and the cool green hum of the world melts under the icy pressure of turquoise night.

I can barely keep my eyes open, and I think Octavia knows it.

"Heehee..."  A pulse of violet, and she glides me towards the couch where my pillows and a length of bedsheets await me in unfolded laziness.  "You were quite the good sport today, Vinyl.  I know that you're... not too terribly fond of extraordinarily long conversations."

I sigh, smiling into the magenta cloud of my lethargy.

There are some things about me that Octavia will never understand.

I can't remember the last time I felt so peaceful.

"I just... feel so at peace with myself," Octavia slurs, startling me.  "I mean... can you believe it?  We just had doughnuts and conversation with the Princess and all her friends!  Oh, certainly, Twilight had humble beginnings like you and... well... like most of us.  But even still, it's enough of a blessing to be in her presence to begin with... to be minstrels in her Castle!  But to be treated as her very own friends?  And to get along so swimmingly?"

I yawn, blinking at a tuxedo blur as it hops up onto the couch's hoofrest.  Orange purrs baptize my ears while I become the half-witting victim of a feline tail rub.

With light clacking noises, Octavia brakes the wheelchair in place and lends her hooves.  "Let's face it.  Things are looking up, Vine.  We are practically living on the scale of Royalty now!"  She sighs dreamily while helping me hobble over into the couch.  "And to think... for so long I was simply obsessed with getting a boost to my career from this.  After such lovely company... I swear... it almost feels like a fringe benefit!"

Wincing slightly, I flop onto the couch cushions.  Any momentary discomfort is immediately dissolved by the delicious feeling of sinking into the sofa and its cold, comfy sheets.  I can already feel my consciousness draining.  I curl up into the back of the couch, smiling blissfully into the furthest shadows of the room.

I guess this day has worn me out more than I imagined.

Warm, soft hooves fold the sheets over me, tucking me in.

"Ohhhh... who am I kidding, Vine?"  I open my eyes to see a goofy smile hanging off of Tavi's muzle.  She sighs and strips off her bow-tie... which is how we both know she's "home" at last.  "I'm still in this for the chance at first chair in the Canterlot Symphony Orchestra."  She gazes off, smiling thinly as she reaches out to pet Scribbler.  "Still, today was just so lovely.  It... it almost makes me feel sad that... in all this time I... I haven't really bothered to have any... I mean to have myself a lot of..."

She winces, and I sense her shoulders shuddering, as if she's reticent to look my way.

"Of c-course I don't mean it that way, love.  You're the best friend I've ever had, and I'm so delighted to share a living with you.  But even you could attest to the fact that... I-I much prefer a simpler, introverted lifestyle.  But... after today..."  She shrugs.  "...the other side of the equation doesn't feel quite so bad.  I almost feel bad for Twilight, now.  Rumor is, the Princess was quite antisocial before... eheh... becoming the Princess of Friendship.  I wonder if she and I once had a lot in common."

Silence.

"Ah well... this afternoon has gotten the conversational circles in my head spinning."  She reaches over to fluff my pillow once, twice, then slide it more comfortably under my head.  "I do believe we're both exhausted.  I shall let you have your rest, Vine.  You deserve no less... especially after what you've been through as of late."

I shrug, yawn, and shrug again.  I close my eyes, pull my shades off, and reach blindly for the table.

"Allow me..."  And I feel the velvety softness of her fetlock as she grasps the shades from my hoof and places it on the table beside me.  After the violet aura has cleared, I sense the crimson clops of her hoofsteps as she strolls into the kitchen to pour Scribbler a bowl of food.  "It's strange.  A shower almost feels redundant after a squeaky clean day like today."  A brief pause, and her laugh ripples richly from the kitchen.  "Oh, I kid, of course.  I was born to take showers."

I curl tighter beneath the bedsheets, feeling the world drift away into a turquoise blur.

"Everything's coming together, Vine..."  Her words grow more and more distant, a purple haze in the back of my mind, warming, comforting, supporting.  Like her.  "...truly blessed..."  The voice fades, the meaning beyond the mirth becoming more and more indistinct.  "... ... ...like fine wine... ... ...wholesome... ... ...beautiful... ... ..."

I've fallen truly deep now... deep into a place where the colors serve me.  I try orchestrating something out of it, and my mind picks up on several delightfully blue notes that I've come to memorize as of late.

I'm so deeply enraptured in this silken slumber that the sudden cloud of violet brushes over me like a duvet.  I shiver briefly, then give into its warm embrace.

"... ... ...and yours is the greatest blessing of all, love... ... ..."

It's a whisper... one that lingers in my ears... gliding over my cheeks like a velvet handkerchief.

A century later, my eyes flash open.  The blinding pain only serves to wake me, and I see a dark foyer lit up by stars.  Squinting, I bring a hoof to my cheek, rubbing the fuzz of my coat as I try to recreate the curious sensation.

And just like that, the violet in my ear fades, and I hear rushing water.  Behind the couch—behind me—the door to the bathroom muffles the gentle roar of Octavia's shower.

I stare into darkness.  For once, all other colors have frozen.  When they cascade all over me again, I clench my eyes shut, curling away from the clouds of confusion as I drift once more into blissful slumber.