//------------------------------// // Chapter 3: A strange date // Story: A one week stand // by Jeweled Pen //------------------------------// Vinyl hummed a little as she stared at herself in the mirror, holding a dull, red dress over herself. She didn't really know anything about being all hoity toity and dressed up. Sure, she'd been to a few major events. Even DJ'd at a wedding once for a friend. But at most she'd dressed casual-nice. Octavia was probably expecting something more... just... more. She shrugged and tossed the dress to the side. The cellist was interested, but he knew she wasn't that kind of girl. He was probably expecting something a bit more fun. She grinned from ear to ear and cracked her knuckles. Oh, she could do 'fun'. ------ Octavia felt like a bloody fool. He was wearing a black suit and pants set, standing in the middle of the city square. His hair was even tied back neatly into a ponytail. He felt quite well put up, though he still felt silly. It was already ten minutes after noon and there was no sign of the DJ. She stood him up, he couldn't... well, he could completely believe it. It wasn't the first time. There was no future in their relationship, they both knew that. He traveled a lot, she had a job. Albeit one she didn't go to very often it seemed. She didn't seem to like it much, either. Then again, he traveled the country going from concert to concert, so it wasn't like he could talk. He just wished she'd had the nerve to tell him to his face. He could completely understand her not having any interest. But he didn't like her pranking him like this. She was an interesting woman who... well, an interesting woman. He felt tense around her, but he also felt relaxed. Worried at any moment she might go off like some firework, but also relaxed because a part of him felt no matter what he did, she'd just shake it off. Well, so long as he didn't mean anything bad by it. After all, he'd already punched her in the face and she let that slide. Maybe it was all just payback for the blow. He'd never meant to hurt her. Bah, he didn't know why he cared. It wasn't like it really mattered to-- “Sorry I'm late!” Yay she came! “It's quite alright,” he said before looking over and letting out a light gasp. “You look... errrr...” “Fun, right?” she asked before taking his hand. “That's a word for it,” he said carefully as he looked her over. She was wearing a... well, the remains of what had once been a red dress. It looked like she'd torn off part of the skirt to make it come a few inches over her knees and the sleeves had been torn off as well. There weren't any loose strings he could see, but the ends were obviously hacked away. However, the back part of the dress looked fine, giving it a sort of cape appearance as the long back half of the skirt went down to her ankles. She was wearing low heeled shoes and her hair was tied back into a simple ponytail as well. “Didn't really know what we were going to do today, so I thought I should choose something I can run from the law in. What do you think?” “It's quite homie,” he said quickly. “Looks very unique.” “You don't like it, do you?” “What? No! I like it, I...” He sighed and shook his head. “I'm not really a good judge, honestly. It looks fine, really.” He gulped as she moved in closer, staring into his eyes. After a few moments she nodded, seemingly satisfied. “Well then, onto our next order of business!” “Next?” “Yes, eating! Come on!” She took his hand. “You're going to love this. I bet you've never eaten anything like this before.” He followed behind her, a small smile on his face. He could now imagine where she was taking him. Probably some fast food restaurant. Of course having him get dressed up before hand was all a-- The color drained from his face. “What, exactly, is that?” “Food trucks. They're awesome.” “W-what? But it's not... why would you... is that a--” “A jelly bean pizza? Yeah, they're awesome. Come on, where else can you get spaghetti sushi, or chocolate and ham gordita or a strawberry ice scream?” “Ice cream? Anywhere, I imagine.” “No no, strawberry ice SCREAM. You see, they freeze up the strawberries, beef, chicken and--” “I... I've heard enough. I'll take something... something simple. Please.” She chuckled and nodded. “Fine. But I'm getting a jelly bean pizza.” He nodded and grumbled as he followed behind her. To his surprise, there were plenty of normal items on the menu, too. But each one seemed to have some strange items he couldn't identify. Just what in the blazes was bubble tea? He followed behind her and let her order for him. However, when he reached for his wallet to pay, she smacked it away. “I asked you out, chose where to eat and ordered the food. I think at this point it's my responsibility to pay.” “Err... okay?” Octavia said, more confusion on his face. He felt as if he was being swept along in some great tide, drawing him out to sea. The woman was absolutely crazy, he was sure of it. There was no doubt in his mind at this point. But he couldn't help but enjoy it. At least a little bit. Maybe the week would be a little fun after all. “Besides, after this I've got something reallllllly fun planned. You'll love it.” Or maybe he was doomed. ------ “I really should have seen this coming,” Octavia said with a shake of his head. “It was this or paint ball. Besides, this is cheaper, requires less clean up and is still a lot of fun,” Vinyl said as she dragged him along. “Besides, with all the running we'll have to do it'll help burn off the calories from the pizza dogs.” She dragged him forward towards the great metal doors of the laser tag arena. It seemed like just the kind of thing he'd like. Well, actually it seemed like a good idea at the time when they passed by, but hey, when life throws a lemon in your eye you wash it out with water. Or something to that effect. “Come on, it'll be fun.” “I'll take your word for it. I've never done anything like this before.” “Me either.” “Wait, what?” “Two please!” Vinyl said as she stepped up to the counter. “Adults.” She hummed happily as she pulled out her wallet. “Wait, you've never done this before?” “No, of course not. Why?” “Then why did you decide to--” “It's no fun to try new things alone. Besides, it'll be fun. See, less loud music and you get to shoot anyone who comes too close. Isn't that just the kind of thing you'd like?” “I've never actually used a gun...” “So? It's like using those toy guns when you were a kid and you never used those, either, did you?” He shook his head. “I'm afraid my parents did not condone such objects. The closest I ever got to a weapon was the bow of my fiddle.” “Oh. Well, it'll still be fun. You get to shoot people with laser beams! Oh, don't aim for the eyes.” He sighed, but gave a nod. “As you wish.” “Trust me, you'll have a lot of fun.” ------ Octavia could not believe it. He was actually having a lot of fun. His suit wasn't exactly made with the idea of the wearer running and leaping about, but he had plenty more and the tears were fixable. He was covered in sweat and thankful he had tied his hair back, otherwise it would have been flying everywhere. He couldn't understand why this was so much fun. It was running around in a dimly lit room, shooting people with little lasers. But he got a quick thrill every time he actually managed to land a shot. Sadly, he really wasn't landing many shots. He was shooting at people, but he had never really aimed one of these before and it was a lot harder than it looked. Vinyl, on the other hand, was running and jumping around like a excited kitten, shooting everything that came near(including him a few times). He swore he even saw her run up a wall and back flip over a guy, but he was sure it was just the dark and flashing lights playing with his mind. He ducked behind some cover(a giant plastic box) as beams of light flashed all around him, barely avoiding the small group who came across the hall from him. He took a deep breath and readied his gun before standing up, ready to go in a blaze of glory. Vinyl was standing there, surrounded by the quickly dispersing group. “You okay?” she asked with a wide grin. “How... how do you do that?” “I don't know. I just like it. Ohhh, come on!” She ran off again and he struggled to keep up. He wondered where her boundless energy came from, though he did find it a little intoxicating. The woman was insane. Deranged. Completely crazy. Yet there was just something about her. About the way she moved, never stopped. Seemed to live purely on instinct. As he watched, he couldn't help but imagine her movements matched some kind of beat. It took him a few more moments to realize they WERE following a beat. She was moving perfectly in tune with the music blaring over the loud speakers. It was like her own little dance, every step she took was just another way for her to express it. He wondered if she could even listen to music without-- There was a loud beeping and he looked down. He got tagged, he was out. “Sorry, Vinyl. Good luck.” He quickly made his way towards the waiting area. He couldn't deny feeling kind of awkward and nervous while he waited. He swore he was the only one here over the age of sixteen, though he still wasn't the tallest. He moved near the vending machine and crossed his arms, leaning back against the wall. A few minutes later Vinyl came out, dripping with sweat and lightly panting. “So, you have fun?” “You know what? I really did,” Octavia said before pushing off the wall. “A bit tired, but nothing too bad. This has been a pretty pleasant experience.” “You just sound so thrilled when you say it like that. 'A pleasant experience'. It was a date, not a wedding. Come on, show a little spirit.” “I have plenty of spirit,” he said with a shrug. “I just happen to be less of a cheerleader than you.” “Ohhhh, what I hear there is you want to see me in a cheer leading outfit. Kinky.” “Sure, I'll get Beauty to lend you his.” That caught the woman by surprise and for a few seconds she didn't say anything. Finally, she coughed into her hand. “Does... does he really have something like that?” “Probably. He has dozens of little outfits I've never seen. I hate to say it, but in many of them he looks quite good.” “Oh.” There was another pause. “Have you and he ever... you know... a little bit of... made out?” Octavia snickered. “Of course not. He's like a brother or sister to me. We've never done anything less chaste than holding each others hands.” “Oh.” Pause. “I bet if you looked online, you'd find all kinds of stories about--” “Thank you very much but I am not interested in hearing about what people have written or fantasize about me. They are free to imagine whatever they like so long as I do not have to get involved in it.” “Really? That's... I figured you'd get upset by things like that.” “I've had people trying to destroy my reputation ever since we became popular. People calling Beauty and I sinful creatures for the way we look. Well, the way he dresses and the way we look. During our first year every town we went to there would be picket lines and constant death threats, not to mention people saying we were both going to hell for being abominations.” Vinyl nodded slowly. “O-oh. I didn't realize--” “It wore off quickly. Once the initial tensions wore off, people began to care less and there was a lot less hostility in the air. People like that often burn bright and loud, but they move on quickly once they don't get the attention they feel they deserve. The first year was quite hectic and, at some times, dangerous.” The woman reached down and cupped his hand in hers. “You don't get those now, do you?” “Not as much as I used to. I still get three or four death threats a week on our fan site. Fortunately, we don't tend to attract those kind of people to our shows. Usually. I do get a few dozen people wanting to give me spiritual guidance each week, though.” She chuckled. “If it helps, I used to get those a lot too. Not that many, but then I never really made it that big.” “Really? But your songs were doing really well last night. I may not understand everything about that type of music, but even I could see that everyone was dancing heavily to it. That is the desired effect, yes?” Vinyl let out a sigh. “Yeah, but those aren't my songs. All I get to do there is remixes of the songs they have the licenses too. I've made a few of my own songs, but they never seem to go over quite as well or get too popular. I can't play them at the club, either. My mixes tend to be pretty popular, but I can't sell those. There's a lot of legal hurdles to go through to do that legally.” “You don't play your own music there?” “No. I've tried to get permission a few times, but the owner says it's impossible for now. Well... at least, I don't want to do it the way she wants to do it.” “How?” “If I play them there, she wants full rights to them. Meaning she'll own my music, I won't anymore. She's nice enough, but frankly I've worked hard on these and even if I can't make much on them, I still want them to be mine. You know?” He nodded. “I see. I can understand that. I've dealt with more than a few groups who wanted to own everything that we worked on just for the privilege of them working with us on something. I'd love to hear some of your songs sometime.” “Really? Well, we could swing by my place and I could play some for you.” Octavia chuckled. “Really? Inviting me back to your place on the first date? Aren't you rushing things a bit?” “My room mate will be there, so not as much as you'd hope. But hey, play your cards right and I might be able to convince her to leave. That or she'll taze you.” He nodded before sighing. “It is your friend, isn't it?” “Yep. Silver. Don't worry, she's awesome. Trust me, you'll love our place.” Octavia nodded and, once again, found himself dragged along the city to who knows where.