Octavius

by Master Koschei

Chapter 20

Octavius sat in the darkened diner alone. Night had fallen, and once again he was unable to asleep. He looked down at his broken arm and sighed. He knew he was going to need some serious work on his cello when he was all healed up.

“Hey there,” a familiar voice called from the back area. Looking over, Octavius saw Dash standing there with a grin on her face. “I knew I’d find you out here all by your lonesome.” She sat down across from the cellist, folding her hands on the table. She was wearing a bright blue long sleeved shirt and some black sleeping pants; her feet were bare. “What’s eatin’ atcha?”

He looked down at his broken arm in it’s sling, the stickers that Pinkie had put on them still there, sparkling in the moonlight that filtered in through the frosty windows. “I’m just thinking about how I’m going to be so out of practice by the time I’m healed. My parents may have been rude, but they had a point. I can’t afford this downtime.”

“Dude, just relax, ok?” Dash smiled reassuringly at him. She stood up and went to the coffeemaker, putting in the ingredients to make a refreshing cup of coffee, then walked back to the table and sat across from the cellist. “It’s all gonna be alright. You’re gonna get better, you’re gonna get practicin’ again, and you’re gonna rock everyone’s fucking world!”

Octavius couldn’t help but laugh at Dash’s little speech. He smiled at the woman and nodded in agreement. “You’re right, Dash. I think I will,” he paused, but just for a moment. “Rock their fucking world.” Octavius shuddered slightly at his own foul language, but grinned at Dash. She seemed dumbstruck for a moment, then slowly applauded him, a smile slowly spreading across her face.

“We’ve done it,” she laughed. “We’ve finally corrupted innocent little Tav-Tav!” She laughed even harder, clutching her sides. She wiped a tear from her eye, still giggling. “I suppose hell must’ve frozen over!”

“Laugh it up,” the cellist sighed, but smiled. “You’re the worst influence I’ve ever met.”

“Speaking of bad influences,” Dash said, calming down from her laughing fit. “How was your date with our resident DJ?”

Octavius froze up for a moment, memories of the day’s events flooding his mind. He felt a slight blush creep onto his face when he remembered Vinyl’s question at the end of their day.

“I NEED to know, Octavius; do you like me?”

“Judging from that cute blush,” Dash smirked, looking back from the coffeemaker she was now standing at. “It musta gone well.” She returned to her seat, sipping on the fresh brewed hot liquid.

Octavius sat quietly, wondering what to say. He contemplated telling Dash what had transpired that day. Finally, he sighed and looked at her. “She wants to know how I feel about her. If I like her.”

Dash nearly spit out her coffee, choking on the hot liquid. She pounded her chest, then stared at the man with watering eyes. “W-w-wha? Really?!?” Octavius nodded, looking at her with concern. “Man, tha-hat’s awesome!”

Octavius felt his face get hot again. “I think I’m going to say yes. You know, give her my affection as a Christmas present.”

“Ew, that’s super cliché, man,” she smirked at the man. “But it’s also kinda sweet. At least anniversaries’ll be easy to remember.”

“That’s true,” he smiled. However, his expression turned serious. “So Scootaloo will be here in a few hours. Are you excited?”

“Honestly, I’m more nervous than anything,” Dash muttered, her humorous demeanor gone. “Like, I know we both care about each other, and I don’t mind taking care of her for a day. But I don’t know how I’ll do as a mother figure.”

“Explain?”

“Well, it’s like, up until now I’ve been the super awesome big sister. I take her to air shows, I get her lunch, we go see a movie she’s excited for, you know, fun shit.” Dash looked down nervously. “But now I gotta be a mom. I’ve gotta feed her daily, not just once every couple weeks. I’ve gotta get her through school, be there when she’s had a bad day, celebrate her good days. I’ve got to be better than awesome. And that’s a lot of stress, man.

“I’m not saying I don’t want to adopt the kid. She loves me, and frankly I’ve come to love her right back. She looks up to me like I’m some kind of super hero. In her eyes, I can do no wrong. I’m her whole world. And tomorrow, she’s going to become mine. I have to love and nourish and protect her.”

“You certainly seem to have your work cut out for you there,” Octavius said. He placed a caring hand on Dash’s folded ones, causing her to look up. “But don’t worry. At least for the time being you’ll have Vinyl and I here to help out.”

Dash’s face seemed to light up. “Really?”

“Indeed,” Octavius smiled. “It’s not like I can do much with this.” He weakly moved his broken arm to make his point. Dash placed her hand on top of his, smiling warmly.

“Thank you, Octavius,” she said quietly. “You really are making a major impact, both on my life and Vinyl’s. Especially Vinyl’s.” Dash smirked. “You should’ve heard her when you were in the hospital. You were all she talked about!

“She really cares about you, dude. Don’t cock it up and lose her. Hold on tight and don’t let go.”

Dash smiled and stood, walking back to her room. As the door swung shut behind her, Octavius looked down at his broken arm. He knew it was definitely going to be a hindrance for a while, but it was wholly worth it. The car wreck, the broken arm, the hospital time…

… To him, meeting her had made all of them worth it. He smiled happily, staring out of the frost-covered window. He knew what he was going to say tomorrow, and he had a pretty good idea of how to do it.

Author's Note:

Just a day late with this update. Sorry about that.
I hope you all enjoy this chapter. I'm thinking the next chapter will be the finale. Hopefully I've given you all a good read and kept you entertained with my story here. ^^ This story turned out a bit differently than i had originally intended, but I hope you liked it all the same. Comments and critiques are welcomed and greatly appreciated

Comments

[Pinceau]

Phew, finally caught up with your story. Still so good, and I think you improved your writing since the beginning (not that I'm an expert). You can't imagine how glad I was to see that there was three chapters of your story I hadn't read yet, and boy those chapters were good. :)

[Master Koschei]

5877236 Thank you so very much for your kind words ^_^ it really means a lot to me. I do like to think that as the story went on I've gotten better at my writing. I'm glad I am satisfying you and a few others with my story. It makes me happy to know there are real people who like to read what I write. Again, thank you very much for your kind words about my story. I truly appreciate them.