Octavius

by Master Koschei

Chapter 2

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK

Octavius’ eyes shot open. He glanced at the clock beside his bed.

8:32 in the morning.

He groaned and rolled over, trying to go back to sleep.

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK

He sighed and stood, pulling off his shorts and putting on some jeans and a new tee shirt, quickly putting on some deodorant and shaking out his hair. He moved to the door and pulled it open, being greeted by Vinyl.

“Hey, Octy!” She smiled at him and waved, looking very happy.

“Vinyl,” he acknowledged, wiping the sleep from his eyes. “What are you doing here?”

“I was wondering if you wanted to hang out today!”

Octavius considered. Her hair color and style signaled she liked to party and be wild. Her shades told him she had something to hide. She had her headphones around her neck, so he knew she was at least a fan of music, if not a performer herself. She was very clean and smelled lovely, so she wasn’t an alcoholic or a druggie, though her long fingerless gloves could be hiding some marks from injections. She seemed like decent company for now, though.

“Let me shower,” he muttered as he turned back into his room.

“All right, I’ll meetcha down in the lobby, Tavi!” She waved at him as she headed back to the elevator. Octavius half-heartedly waved back. He closed his door and headed into his bathroom for a quick shower and to freshen up a bit.

Octavius made his way down to the lobby, Vinyl waiting for him by the door. She had on a hoodie and jeans again, but her headphones were missing; once again, though, she had on her purple sunglasses. She also had on a small backpack full of God only knew what. “There you are, slow poke!” She ran up to him and dragged him along through the door and out into the cloudy day. Octavius instinctively moved towards his car, but Vinyl pulled him the other way, telling him they were walking today. Octavius grumbled but followed her.

Their first stop was breakfast at a local restaurant called Coffee-‘n-More. They stepped in through the door, and the first thing Octavius noticed was the smell. Coffee hung heavy in the air, as he expected, given the name of the place. He and Vinyl went and sat at a table together, picking up menus.

“So Tavi-“

“Don’t call me that.”

“-What should we do today?”

Octavius stared at her blankly. She had invited him out, yet she was curious what he wanted to do? She was an odd person indeed. He considered her question for a moment, then said, “I’ll let the lady decide.”

Vinyl laughed. “Dude, why so formal?”

“Well, I pride myself in my behavior and linguistics, so it should stand to reason-“

“BORING!” Vinyl waved the waitress over to their table and ordered milk and half a dozen donuts. Octavius merely asked for some coffee. “Dude,” Vinyl started as the waitress walked away. “You need to learn to relax! You seem so uptight, man. Chill out!”

“Vinyl,” Octavius sighed, moving his arms out of the way as the waitress brought back his coffee. “I am not a relaxation kind of guy. I must be formal and professional in appearance at all times.”

Vinyl groaned. “Man, there’s more to life than that!” She took a bite out of one of her donuts. “You gotta learn to be loose and have some fun!” A stray crumb flew out of her mouth, landing on Octavius’ chest. He groaned in disgust and wiped it away.

“Yeah, no.”

Vinyl rolled her eyes and took another bite of her donut. She stared at the cellist through her purple sunglasses, contemplating his looks. She thought and thought, then had an idea.

“Octy,” she started, ignoring the groan from the man. “I have the best idea! Like, in the history of forever!”

Octavius rolled his eyes. “Forgive me if I with hold my enthusiasm.”

Vinyl took out her wallet and looked inside, only to stare into an empty pocket. She looked at Octavius, who sighed and paid for the meal with his credit card. Then he and Vinyl departed the restaurant with Vinyl in the lead.

Octavius followed her a couple blocks to an old looking building. The sign above the door read, ‘Dash’s’. Octavius was confused as to why they stopped here; the sign said it was closed, and there were no lights on inside, and there weren’t any cars parked out front. But Vinyl simply strolled in, pulling the hesitant man behind her.

A woman with rainbow colored hair stepped from behind a door, holding a handgun up at the two. “All right, buddy, I –“ She noticed who was standing before her and a smile grew on her face, placing the gun behind the counter. “Vinyl!”

“Hey, Dash!” Vinyl smiled back and pulled the other woman into a tight hug, which was reciprocated. “Dash,” Vinyl said as she stepped back. “This is my buddy Octavius!”

Octavius stepped forward with his hand extended. “A pleasure, miss Dash.”

Dash took his outstretched hand and pulled him into a tight hug, making him groan in pain. He was surprised how strong this woman was for having such a small frame. When she released him, Octavius did a quick assessment. She was indeed small, but very well built. She seemed to exercise a lot, going by the massive personal space violation he had received. She had a smile on her face as big as Vinyl’s, so she was a relatively happy person; the two women were also obviously friends, given their greeting to one another. She had on a light blue tee shirt and blue jeans with some red shin high boots over the legs of said pants. Her rainbow hair was a mess; she liked to look good, but wasn’t obsessed with it.

Octavius rubbed his ribs to return feeling to them as he smiled weakly at her. She smiled back and turned to Vinyl. “Is he you’re new boy toy, Vi?”

Vinyl’s pale face heated up quickly. “No, we just met!”

Dash turned back to the man. She looked him up and down, a slow smile forming on her nice lips. Octavius noticed she wasn’t wearing any make up. “So he’s up for grabs?”

Octavius felt his own face get hot. Vinyl laughed and said, “Dash, he’s not your type. He’s a pompous, stuck up stick in the mud. He plays cello and likes wine and shit like that.”

Dash smirked at Octavius. “Always did want a gentleman to treat me like a real woman instead of a piece of ass.”

Octavius forced a smile and said, “Miss Dash, while I’m sure you are indeed a very charming young woman, I am not interested in a relationship at this time, least of all with some person I just met.”

Dash smirked again at the man. “Well,” she moved closer, half closing her eyes seductively and placing her hand lightly on Octavius’ heart. “Maybe we should get to know each other better…”

Before Octavius could retort, Vinyl stepped in. “Okay, Dash, let’s leave the poor guy alone. Tavi here was just looking for a good day on the town, seeing as he’s new here and all.”

“Actually, you invited me –“

“A good time, huh?” Dash looked at Vinyl, then back to Octavius. “Well, TAVI, let’s see…” She thought a moment, Octavius groaning internally at the ridiculous nickname he seemed stuck with. “How about you, me and Vinyl go to the mall?”

Vinyl got really excited. “Yeah, Octy! Let’s go!”

“But I’d rather –“ Any protest the man was going to make was drowned out by the two women prattling excitedly to one another as they grabbed his hands and dragged him back out into the now warm sun. Vinyl took off her hoodie and shoved it into her backpack, slinging the bag back over her shoulder. Octavius, being a proper gentleman, offered to carry it for her.

“Vinyl and Tavi, sittin’ in a tree,” Dash sang mockingly, dancing in front of them as Vinyl handed him the bag. “F-U-C-K-I-N-G.” Octavius took a note of this woman’s foul mouth and cruel sense of humor as he slid on the backpack, Vinyl blushing a bit.

“Whatever, Dash!” Vinyl tried to laugh off the taunts. Dash laughed to herself, eyeing the two people before her.

“So miss Dash,” Octavius started. “Where exactly is this ‘mall’ we are going to?”

“Not far, man,” Vinyl answered for the other woman. “It’s just a couple blocks this way.”

Dash looked at Vinyl. She smirked at the other woman. “Hey, Vi! Race ya!”

Vinyl laughed and took off after Dash. Octavius watched them quietly, not partaking in something so crude. Dash and Vinyl ran between the few people on the streets, eliciting a few angry grumbles about ‘grown women’ and ‘maturity’. Octavius shook his head and followed the pair.

As he rounded the corner that Vinyl and Dash had disappeared around, he saw them in front of a very large man.

“We’re sorry, mister,” Dash was saying, Vinyl standing behind her. The man didn’t look very happy.

“You bitches ‘ad be’er explain yourselves! You nearly knocked me on me arse you twats!”

Vinyl looked at the man. “Look dude, we said sorry. We were playing around and didn’t see you.”

“Well, ‘ere! Maybe this’ll ‘elp ‘em eyes ‘o yours!” He swung hard and knocked Vinyl’s glasses off her face; he also knocked the woman to the ground. She fell quietly, out cold.

“Hey!” Dash jumped the man, trying to take him down. He merely knocked her aside and to the ground. However, she retained consciousness, looking defiantly up at him. Octavius looked around, but there was no one to help. This street was completely empty. He sighed and decided to save the two women.

“Excuse me, sir,” Octavius approached the man coolly.

“Whadda you wan’, tiny?” The other man sneered at the cellist.

“That was not a very nice thing to do,” Octavius replied calmly. He noticed the larger man was favoring his right leg. “You need to apologize. Now.”

“An’ if I don’, shrimpo? What then?”

“You have until the count of three,” Octavius said. “One.” Knife in the man’s belt. Inaccessible at this point. “Two.” The man popped his neck loudly. A bit too loudly. “Three.” Octavius swiftly kicked the man in his left knee, dropping him quickly, then brought his foot up into the mans throat, knocking him back and making him choke for air. The fight was over in five seconds.

Dash stared at Octavius in awe. The man who had so easily knocked her down now lay in a mess at Octavius’ feet. Vinyl slowly came to as well, dazed but unhurt otherwise. Octavius turned his attention to them, looking down at them.

Vinyl started to panic and kept her eyes squeezed shut. “The light hurts! Glasses! Glasses!” She pawed frantically at the ground, trying desperately to find her purple sunglasses. Octavius knelt and picked them up for her, handing them to her quietly. Dash watched in silence as her best friend slipped on her signature shades.

“Better?” Octavius asked the woman as he helped her to her feet. She smiled a bit and nodded as Octavius turned and helped up Dash.

“Thanks,” both women said in unison.

Octavius smiled slightly and nodded. “So, where exactly is this ‘mall’?”

Dash smiled back. “Right around the corner there.” She led her small group to the corner, and splayed out her arms to display her point. Before them sat a rather large building, the lot in front of it full of cars and people.

“There it is, Octy –“

“Octavius.”

“- The Central Town Mall. Not a creative name, yeah, but a name.” Vinyl smiled at him happily. There was a bit of dried blood on her lip. Octavius involuntarily grimaced, remembering the hit she took. Did she remember it? Did she remember hitting the ground? Did she know he had saved them?

“Let’s go!” Dash started to run ahead, but quickly thought better of it, walking calmly with her friend and Octavius.

When the trio stepped over the threshold, Octavius immediately took note of his surroundings. He was in the middle of a large crowd, who were all moving noisily between the shops. He felt his heart rate quicken as his claustrophobia started to act up. He looked at Dash and Vinyl, both wide eyed and staring at everything. He took a deep breath and held it, then let it out slowly.

“Octy?” Vinyl looked the man, concerned. “Hey, Octavius? You okay?”

He nodded and flashed a smile. He didn’t want to ruin their fun. “I’m fantastic, thanks. How are you and miss Dash?”

Dash looked at him for a moment and smiled warmly. “Dude,” she said, reaching over to him with her hand. “You’re claustrophobic. You don’t like this. It’s all right, man, we’re here for ya. Dashie won’t let anything happen to her Tav-Tav!” She winked and laughed, taking his hand in hers. Vinyl grabbed his other hand with a reassuring smile. While Octavius was not the biggest fan of touching, especially by people he barely knew, somehow their simple act helped him relax somewhat. With that, the trio headed deeper into the store.

Author's Note:

Thoughts?