Chapter 8
Octavia groaned and rolled over in the soft bed. She lamented the fact that mattresses were allowed to be this soft and plush, especially when she was forced to live with her terrible lumpy atrocity masquerading as a bed. She let out a quiet sigh and scratched it up as another reason to hate Vinyl. She rolled over and nuzzled back into the soft covers as she attempted to return to sleep.
Wait, Vinyl?
Octavia’s sleepy mind struggled with that last thought for a long moment. She slowly assembled the fragmented thoughts in her mind, and she became aware that she should be concerned about something. She stretched her muscles out with a yawn, and then leaned over the large bed to survey the carpet.
She was greeted with a pony-shaped impression on the plush carpet, but no sign of the unicorn that had made it. Octavia turned to look at the other side of the bed with a fresh surge of panic, but saw that it was clearly undisturbed. She desperately wanted to return to sleep; her entire body was still aching with fatigue. The bed seemed to be attempting to pull her back within its unnatural gravitational force. She attempted to fight it, but shortly felt herself lying back down on the soft mattress.
Something inside her mind was distinctly awake, though. After a long moment of lying there with her eyes closed, nothing happened. She let out a quiet sigh as she ignored her protesting muscles and finally slid herself out of the luxurious bed. She glanced around the room once more, but nothing seemed changed compared to her hazy memories from the night before. She glanced out the window and curiously took note of the sun midway through its descent to the horizon.
“Okay, maybe the morning before then…” she amended under her breath. “How long was I asleep?”
Octavia glanced across the heavily postered wall again, and her eyes were immediately drawn to Vinyl’s image prominently displayed in the center of the collage. She shook her head at the thought of a pony thinking so much about herself, then wandered towards the doorway. Octavia hesitated at the doorway for a moment, unsure if she really wanted to see the rest of Vinyl’s house or not. Her curiosity, as well as a small rumble in her stomach, eventually got the best of her and she pulled the door open with a hoof.
Looking around after she opened the door, Octavia was greeted with what seemed like random stacks of mess piled about the narrow hallway. She had to carefully manage her steps to avoid overturning any of them and spilling the pages covered in an untidy scrawl. As she carefully made her way down the hallway, she noticed that mixed in with the papers were magazines, newspapers, and other various publications. She emerged shortly afterwards into a living room, where she saw Vinyl stretched out on the couch, staring at a clipboard grasped in her magic with her sunglasses resting on the coffee table. Vinyl proceeded to lift a quill in her magic and chew on it absent mindedly as she pondered over whatever it was she was working on. After a few more moments Vinyl turned and saw that she was being observed, to which she brightened up considerably.
“Octybaby! Glad to see you’re up, I was going to call a doctor if you didn’t wake up soon. I was getting a little worried, but I hoped you just needed some good rest,” Vinyl added excitedly as she tossed the clipboard aside.
“Please don’t call me that, Scratch…” Octavia said through a sigh, planting a hoof on her face. “Just because I’m grateful for your hospitality doesn’t mean that I must suffer such ridiculous nicknames.”
“Alright, I’ll just stick with Tavi, then. You could call me Vinyl, too, you know…” she added with a pointed glance. She held that expression for a moment before she dropped it in favor of returning to the brighter expression. “So, are you feeling alright? How much sleep have you had recently?”
“Well…”
“Yeah, thought so. You hungry?” Vinyl asked in a friendly tone.
“Excuse my rudeness, but where am I?” Octavia asked as she looked around the room again.
“Isn’t it obvious? You’re in my awesome abode! No need to thank me, all I did was carry your flank up the stairs to my apartment. Yes, yes, I know I’m awesome. I’ll be signing autographs later.”
“That doesn’t tell me where I am, Scratch. Where am I?” Octavia asked again as she quirked an eyebrow. “Also, why are you being so nice? I just chewed you out and called you several not-nice things. Shouldn’t you be angry at me?”
“You’re in the same building as the recording studio. I own the building, so I have some apartments on the upper floors. Plus, I’m not the type to hold a grudge over something like that. You were barely managing to stay on your hooves; I’m not going to hold anything you said while in that state against you.” Vinyl waved a forehoof dismissively and trotted over towards the kitchen. “So, you hungry or what? You slept nearly all day you know.”
“VINYL! I may have been exhausted, but that does not lessen the impact of anything I said to you. You still need to properly apologize!” Octavia exclaimed fiercely, flaring her nostrils and stomping closer to the offending unicorn. She upset several stacks of papers along the way, but didn’t seem to care.
“Whoa there, Tavi, watch where you’re stomping,” Vinyl said as she backed up against a nearby counter. She held out a forehoof defensively and tried to ward off the oncoming offensive. “I’ve had some time to think about it, and you’re completely right. I acted like a complete ass, if you’ll excuse my mule. I was planning on making a full apology later, but you made me promise to wait for you. So, instead I was hanging around planning out some music.”
Octavia glared at Vinyl for a long moment, doing her best to say that she didn’t trust the unicorn nonverbally. She didn’t know what Vinyl was up to with this new act, but she didn’t like it. Finally she let out a breath with a huff and turned away to stalk back towards the living room.
“Uh… so are we cool?” Vinyl asked with her head poking through the doorway to the living room while using her magic to straighten up the disturbed stacks. “You never told me if you were hungry, either.”
“Yes… I guess we are ‘cool,’ Scratch,” Octavia said through a heavy sigh, and retreated to the couch.
“I’ll just, umm, throw something together to eat then. We can visit Resonance when you’re done eating, okay?” Vinyl offered tentatively.
“Fine…”
“Okay then!” Vinyl exclaimed with false cheeriness and disappeared back into the kitchen.
“Geez, who shoved a bow up her-“ came Vinyl’s grumbling voice from the other room, before it was cut off by the loud noises of Vinyl checking through cabinets.
Octavia shook her head and looked around the room once more, taking in the spectacle of it. The place was such a mess; she could hardly find where she was supposed to step without knocking something over. Yet, Vinyl seemed perfectly at home, even seemingly trotting amongst the stacks with no effort.
“Hey, Tavi! You fine with a sandwich?” Vinyl asked brightly as her head poked through the doorway again.
“Sure, whatever,” Octavia said dismissively. Her eyes fixated on the clipboard that Vinyl had tossed aside earlier. She really wanted to pick it up and find out what Vinyl was so absorbed in earlier, but this was causing a raging internal debate.
If it was some secret plan then she wouldn’t have tossed it aside so carelessly.
But what if that’s what she wants you to think?
Is she really that devious that she would act carelessly towards something super important just to throw me off? Besides, it shouldn’t matter anyway; I’d hate her if she rooted through my personal belongings.
You hate her anyway, don’t you owe it to Resonance to make sure she’s not planning anything?
She did say she was writing a song… I could just pretend to be interested in the music.
Octavia started to reach towards the clipboard, but was interrupted by Vinyl bursting through the doorway. She trotted happily back towards the couch grasping a plate in her magic. She levitated it over towards Octavia so she could see a hastily made daisy sandwich perched on top, and then took her seat on the couch as well.
“There you go, breakfast fit for a princess. Well, lunch… dinner, whatever. You get the idea.”
“Thank you Vinyl,” Octavia said stiffly, struggling to sound like she at least appreciated it. It wasn’t like she ate any better on her current budget, but there was something off about the way Vinyl was acting. The bright and cheery attitude did not fit what she knew of Vinyl at all. The only other explanation that she could think of was more terrible than the idea that it was some grand scheme.
She tried to review the evidence as she stared down her meal. Vinyl had out of the… something of her heart taken her back to her apartment to recover from collapsing in exhaustion. Ever since, Vinyl started acting even stranger than usual, including being happy and over the top friendly. She reasoned after a moment of thought that either Vinyl was plotting some scheme, or even worse, Vinyl wanted to be friends.
Octavia shuddered slightly at the thought and tried to focus back on her meal. The idea of such a thing was actually terrifying to Octavia. She gulped quietly and glanced around the room quickly with a shocked look on her face, as she realized that Vinyl did not even appear to have a dining room. Shaking her head softly she simply made do with what was available to her and laid the plate on the cushion between them. She lifted the sandwich between her hooves, and took a tentative bite.
If Vinyl really did want to be friends, then it clearly meant she was being sincere about her intentions to apologize. If that were the case, then her actions could be explained away as the offering of the proverbial olive branch. Octavia knew that couldn’t possibly be it, though. She had yelled at Vinyl several times now to no avail. If there was one thing she knew about the unicorn, it was that she was stubborn as a mule. So if she wasn’t sorry, then only one explanation was left for the strange behavior.
She tried to find another way around it, but the conclusion that Vinyl was merely trying to get rid of her kept coming to the surface. She couldn’t think of any other reason for the insistence of going to the hospital to apologize right away. Octavia reasoned that Vinyl probably just wanted to figure something out on her own time. Vinyl would like that too; not having to worry about having somepony watching over what she was doing, or worrying over Resonance.
That had to be it she concluded, Vinyl clearly didn’t have a plan yet. Instead, she was trying to get rid of her by making a show of remorse. Well, she wouldn’t let that happen. Octavia merely needed a way to make herself useful. Her eyes glanced over towards the clipboard once again curiously. Knowing what Vinyl was planning would certainly make this whole thing easier, but she would have to get rid of Vinyl to take a peek.
“Hey, Vinyl? Can you be a dear and get me something to drink?” Octavia asked innocently.
Vinyl’s mouth dropped open slightly as she stared at Octavia for a long moment and leaned backwards slightly. The unicorn very slowly nodded and walked towards the kitchen without the previous bounce in her step. Octavia didn’t go for the clipboard immediately, she knew better than that. Sure enough, a few moments later Vinyl reappeared through the doorway.
“What do you want? I have apple juice, lemonade, carrot juice, maybe plain old water?” Vinyl asked slowly while still giving Octavia a funny look.
“Lemonade would be great, thank you, Vinyl,” Octavia said through a forced smile. She ignored the repeated look of shock and the slow reluctant withdrawal to the kitchen.
Finally, after Vinyl disappeared Octavia knew this was her chance and she wouldn’t have long. She put the sandwich back down hastily and lunged over to pick up the clipboard. She didn’t see anything out of the ordinary on the first page, just a few random musical notes, but that was to be expected. If Vinyl was plotting something, then she wasn’t very likely to put it on the first page where anypony could see it. No, Vinyl was clearly smarter than that, she merely had to flip through the pages and find-
“Sheet music? What the buck?” she muttered under her breath.
Octavia flipped frantically through the pages only to find random fragments of sheet music scattered across the pages. Most of the music was hoofwritten by the appearance and Octavia’s mouth hung open as she continued to flip through the pages. She slowed down and lost all sense of the fact that she was supposed to be acting stealthy as she looked closer at the music in front of her.
She started flipping back and forth between the pages as she started focusing in on the song itself. It had seemed rather random at first, but now, under closer inspection, she could see the beginnings of a musical tapestry being woven together. There were shared elements between all the apparently randomly selected bits of music, and the repetition could easily fit together into an overall harmony. Octavia recognized some of the bits of music here and there, but never had seen them put to such use before.
“Oh, hey, you like the song? That’s what I was working on while you were asleep.” Vinyl shifted the glass to her hoof so she could move the coffee table closer with her magic. That being done, she placed the drink on the table within hoof’s reach of Octavia. “You could have asked if you wanted to see it, though.”
“Y-yeah… I’ve never seen anything like it,” Octavia said honestly. Mixed amongst the bars of music were strange bits of gibberish that she couldn’t decipher. She recognized some musical terms sprinkled throughout, and there were notations on scratching and mixing speeds, but what those actually meant was griffon to her.
“If you look near the back, there’s some music for you that I was working on. That is, if you decide to stick around, I was going to have you work on recording that bit. If you decide not, then I think I have a favor I can call in to get you a concert.”
Octavia’s jaw felt like it must have hit the couch. That settled it, something was clearly wrong. Vinyl offering to help her play in her own show was clearly too much. She now had no doubt in her mind that the unicorn was just trying to get rid of her. The concert was clearly supposed to be the more attractive options so that Vinyl could use it to get rid of her.
No doubt if she agreed to calling in this “favor,” it would wind up getting cancelled at the last moment, or some other conflict out of her control would arise. No, she wouldn’t fall for that. If Vinyl wanted Octavia out of her mane then she would definitely have to stick around and make things difficult for the unicorn. She barely remembered to at least take a cursory glance over the music Vinyl had drawn up for her in the back. It appeared to be a contemporary arrangement of a few Beethoofen pieces.
“Err… I guess I could record a few more numbers. That is, if you want me to stick around then we play by my rules Scratch,” she said forcefully.
“Your rules? And what would those be?”
“No more crazy nicknames, my name is Octavia, not Octobutt,” she said through a dire look that threatened bodily harm. To her dismay, Vinyl merely laughed hysterically.
“Oh man, I forgot about that one… Octobu- I mean, yeah I guess that’s no problem, Tavi,” she said carefully. She reached a hoof up to clear a tear away from her eye and fought back some visible chuckles.
“Humph, I guess Tavi is fine, but don’t wear it out. Second, no yelling, if you really are sorry, then we need to break you of the habit. If you start degrading me again at any point, then I’m leaving early for the day and not taking a cut in pay.”
Vinyl opened her mouth and raised a hoof to protest, but apparently thought better after a moment. She let her hoof rest back down next to her. “Fine…” she said bitterly. Octavia, on the other hoof, glared at her for a long moment, her gaze rife with suspicion over how easily Vinyl was acquiescing to her demands.
“And you’ll make sure that Resonance still has a job if she wants it. You will also make it clear that you will follow these rules for her too. No more yelling and no more degrading for her either.”
“What? You think I wasn’t going to? I mean, that is if she can still play…” Vinyl began to protest but gulped and leaned backwards at the fierce gaze being thrown at her. “Fine, fine, if she can’t I’ll find her something else to do! Chill.”
“Just let me finish up real quick,” Octavia replied quietly. She stared at Vinyl wide-eyed for a long moment before a look from Vinyl reminded her that she was supposed to be eating. She absolutely knew that Vinyl was up to something, but after her agreement to the demands, nothing made sense. Octavia would clearly just have to keep a close eye on the unicorn. She hurried ate the rest of her sandwich and gulped the lemonade down unceremoniously before she slid off the couch and nodded.
Vinyl bustled around the room checking to see if there was anything that she needed before they left. She didn’t seem to want to bring anything with her, though. She stopped halfway to the doorway and grasped her sunglasses in her magic preparing to slip them on when Octavia reached out and yanked them out of the air.
“No. No hiding behind your glasses. You are going to look her in the eyes and make a good show of being sincere. We both know that you’re not going to be, but you’re going to make sure she damned well thinks you are. Got it?” Octavia asked fiercely as she tossed the sunglasses back on the couch.
“I suppose that trying to convince you that I actually am being sincere is a lost cause at this point?” Vinyl asked through a heavy sigh.
“I think you’re smarter than that, Scratch. Now let’s get going okay?”
“Fine, but you’re going to have to realize that I actually am sorry, eventually. You know that, right?”
“No, Scratch, I don’t think I will.”
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This chapter was fun, it has a lot of nuance. Hope you all enjoy it.
Jeez, Octavia knows how to hold one heck of a grudge. Chill out, already.
I'm so eager to see how Scratch could ever gain Octavia's respect again. that is, if she ever does.
Eeyup. This is going to be a long ride for the two of them.
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There is a plan, it should be becoming a little bit more clear in the next few chapters if you read between the lines.
wow octy is being a real bch I mean yea she had a point with her previous arguement about how resonance would have felt about that kind of appology but damn
942689 dammit, now i wanna listen to that song by Stone Temple Pilots
CRAP! I HAVE TO EAT BEFORE I CAN READ!!! Oh welldl.dropbox.com/u/31471793/FiMFiction/emoticons/shrug_Luna_apple.png , I'll edit this when I finish stuffing hot food down my throat.dl.dropbox.com/u/31471793/FiMFiction/Vinyl_Scratch_lolface.png
EDIT:
A great look into Vinyls personality. Despite being a cynical bitch of a boss, she still seems to be a rather laid back person in her everyday life, and can even be downright pleasant when she tries. Octavia, however, is starting to become a bit of a cynic herself. She is so set on the idea that Scratch cares only for herself and her business, that she refuses to see the (possible) sincerity. I can not stress how exciting this is to read, even though their is no action, I still wait with bated breath to see her reactions.
Just as brilliant as the previous chapters, absolutely fantastic.
EDIT:
Woo! The feature that you deserve, again!
Man, Octavia needs to chill.
942689
Lovely. Looking forward to it.
Huzzah for controversies! If Tavi chillaxes, though, that would ruin half of the fun! Unless you got to the shipping/dating aspect of it, then all sorts of OTHER hijinks could happen! xD
Octy your being such a dick…just give her a secant chace
Octy, is a paranoid one. Very paranoid. Maybe effects from being hurt bad by her old co workers.
942689 Sometimes, I have trouble reading between the lines.
I still love forward to seeing how this becomes a 'Romance' though.
Vinyl's going to have to change a lot
CHAPTER Y U NO GO LONGER
im enjoying this take of the couple i didnt expect it :3 please continue!
Well unless im seeing things the fact that Octy is so dead set on sticking around implys a deeper meaning of attraction. Considering she did a 180 from the direction she was going in. This story is accualy doing a method to get to a relationship that I haven't read yet. I am not sure i like it yet................. ok I lie I love it.
More, more, more! Please do continue, but please take your time. I saw you make some flaws, but who cares? I'm loving the story and eating it right up. Keep up the amazing work! And thank you for this wonderful story you made! Really, i do appreciate it!
Octa-bitch >=(
Ahhh. Been waiting for this to update for some time now. :)
And you certainly didn't disappoint. Octavia is definitely playing the part of "the bitch" now, but I feel that it's more than justified for the time being. One thing I will say is that I was a bit thrown off by how quickly Vinyl's attitude turned around. I suppose, in story time, she's had a full day to think everything through now, but it's still slightly disorienting to see her just shrugging off all of the talk that had her literally cringing in fear in the previous chapter.
A good chapter, regardless. Can't wait for the next!
Wow Octavia is cynical. But with her life I guess she's earned the right to be. I just hope at some point she gives Vinyl a chance. And that she sorts out her.... situation with Resonance.
Octavia needs to take the stick out of her rump. dl.dropbox.com/u/31471793/FiMFiction/emoticons/misc_Octavia_plot.png dl.dropbox.com/u/31471793/FiMFiction/emoticons/misc_Vinyl_Scratch.png
But if that gets fixed soon it will definitely stay in my favorites list for quite a while!
finally saw this in box. Nearly
a brick.
I was surprised Octavia forgot to throw in a "no groping" rule.
Well, I was planning on giving you a nice well thought out... group of nice words, but apparently, I am to tired for that. Let the knowledge that you kept me up with anticipation be kind words enough for you
.
Vinyl totally fancies octobutt
Wow that's a lot of comments haven't been home for a while.
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Thanks a lot for the praise, I'm having a lot of fun writing it and like I said there was a lot of fun nuance on this last chapter too.
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Currently not writing the next chapter yet, because I'm attending a pony convention this weekend, but I'll be back to it soon.
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Heehee you flatterer.
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You tree'd a brick? How does that even work?
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Thanks, fixed that.
950100
Preposterous!
Your not writing the next chapter yet?!
Eh,dl.dropbox.com/u/31471793/FiMFiction/emoticons/shrug_Rainbow_Dash.png no reason to rush awesomeness, and it's still for ponies, so it's not like complaints can be made.
Anyways, all the little things that you do is what makes this story so awesome (in the original, not modern, meaning) for me. Epic characterization, now I want to go watch Epic Wub Time again for some reason... Oh well, hope you have fun at the convention. & which one is it, Trotcon?
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Yeah Trotcon, I live in Columbus so I couldn't not go. Tired, but had to eat before bed. I'm glad this story is getting such good reactions, though, I honestly thought people would dislike it since I was breaking out of the Taviscratch mold. Thanks for all the awesome comments.
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I see that. Well sir.. screw you. I live near one of the biggest cities in amercian and we have no convention I am aware of. HOW IN LUNA'S SWEET NAME DOES ATLANTA NOT HAVE A CONVENTION?!!?!?!?!?!?!?!?! This. Is. The. Worst. Thing. Ever.
950100
that's cool, we can all wait. ill tell you now, ive waited for a fanfiction chapter for 2 years... mhm.
have fun at the convention!
My internet cut out while I was reading chapter 2. Right as I'm reading a good new story, too. But thankfully I was able to get on another computer and download all the chapters on a memory stick and get them on my computer. Managed to last until my internet was back on. Glad I found this before my internet cut out.
Good story so far. I don't think I've seen Vinyl or Octavia portrayed this way. Should be interesting.
this is a good story so far, looking forward to reading more
Some things the proofreading let slip through (will edit if there are any more):
1. She lamented the fact that mattresses shouldn’t be allowed to be this soft and plush -- "lament" is the same as "regret", so it says the opposite of what you intended. She lamented the fact that some mattresses were allowed to be this soft and plush, especially when she was forced to live with her terrible lumpy atrocity masquerading as a bed would be logically correct.
2. Laying used where you meant lying. Lying is something you do yourself on the floor/bed, laying is something you to objects that results in them lying.
3. You most probably meant luxurious, not luxuriant. The latter refers to rich plant growth or things that are very detailed, rather than things which are of superior quality by the virtue of being expensive enough to allow that.
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So I got home after the convention saw your comment, and didn't understand it at all. Now with sleep I get what you're saying now. Thanks for the feedback I'll get on that.
I want to punch Octobutt in the face. I don't like people who hold grudges over nothing. Sure, Resonance was seriously injured, but Vinyl believed that what she was doing was for her good.
OCTAVIA WHY U MAD
Dear me, the drama here is sweet and thick like honey...
Albeit very odd honey that has bacon smothered on top of it.
Definitely a joy to see how the romance will play out here.
Opposites attract, and it seems to be more prominent here than
most OctyScratch stories that I have read.
On that note, I think it would be prominent to end this little comment oh mine with
a song to rival the epicness that is being witnessed here at this very moment.
Enjoy my comrades.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x2YlbiyiuMc&feature=related
I loved it. The most original of this pairing I've read. I have no complaints, though. Hopefully an update comes soon!
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I'm working on it, I have a progress bar thingy on my profile though. The estimated date becomes more accurate as the progress bar fills, right now it's just a guess.
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"Read Between the Lines..."
*Shows Up A fist*
*Opens the Hand*
*Removes all the fingers except the middle one* (considering the other fingers as lines and the center one as the "Between")
Is that what You Mean???
967927
Nah nah you're supposed to hold your hand open, close your thumb and pinkie so the three in the middle are extended. Then say read between the lines.
*Ahem* No, that's not what I meant, just that there's a lot of subtlety in this chapter and a little bit more hinting in the next one too.
Ok. Major whit is about to go down.
First: Vinyl possibly already has a crush on Octavia (not sure she's ever dealt with anyone quite like her from what is implied) so she's really trying to get on Octy's good side.
2nd: Octavia it seems is developing a crush on Vinyl (started when she first saw her eyes I'm guessing.) Vinyl will probably take Octy's unwillingness to leave as a discreet sign of returned affection (which it might actually be... never know.)
3rd: the possible wild card otherwise known as Resonance. It's obvious she has a crush Octy and probably believes its returned, a
notion our gray protagonist is doing little to dispel with all these acts
of "spontaneous kindness " which will be very easy to misinterpret. So, when she inevitably does figure itout
Well... I can't see her being happy about this whole thing.
TLDR:shenannigans
(Sorry bout the cutoff. Typing on a kindle sucks.)
979276
Even though I rarely reply to comments like this because I can't without talking about plot, I like reading them. They give me an idea on what you all are thinking. :3
982573 glad it makes you happy =3
can't wait for next chapter. I'm interested in seeing where you take this and how it will come out, so keep up the good work. Best. Story. Ever.
Am I the only one who finds Octavia isn't over reacting and is handling the situation rather well?
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Thanks, the next chapter isn't that far off now.
1088676
It seems as if most people currently disagree with you, yes. I however, remain neutral, because I know what's going to happen.