19) Money
-Money-
(Crystal Skulls)
Octavia folded herself onto the bench, and put a hoof to her forehead. The audition was over, and had gone well, all told; better than well. Last time, she had been a touch intimidated by the new styles and rhythms that went with playing at her best, but she was slowly becoming more comfortable with them, exploring the avenues and finding more waiting. This time, the judges had declined to speak to her personally, preferring to speak to her manager; of course, that was Vinyl, so she'd gotten all the information as soon as they were done.
"You tired?" Vinyl asked, returning with two ice cream cones circling her head. Her glasses glinted in the sunlight.
"Perhaps a little," Octavia replied cautiously. She had woken up to find herself curled around Vinyl, who was still catatonic at the time. She assumed that she'd done it whilst tossing and turning in her sleep. The task of extricating herself from her sleeping partner first thing in the morning had been both delicate and, perhaps, a little unwelcome; Vinyl had been very warm, and the temptation had been to simply nod back off and deal with it when the DJ awoke.
"I warned you. At least it hit after your performance."
"Mm. What did you think of it, anyway? Any bum notes?" Octavia asked.
"You're better than you were in Ponyville," Vinyl said, and passed her an ice cream. "When all this is over, you'll have to perform privately for me."
"Ah, a compliment from on high. I must be doing very well indeed," she teased. "Where to next?"
"No idea. Usually when I go on shopping trips to Manehattan, I buy stuff as opposed to just looking in all the windows," Vinyl replied, the faintest touch of playfulness in her voice.
"Some of us mere mortals have to watch our bank balance, you know. Not everypony can shop at Hayrods."
"Well, if you want something and I'm with you, get it. It's not like I care about the money."
"I can't do that. You're already spending too much on getting me to and from these auditions as it is. I'm not comfortable with you spending even more," the earth pony frowned.
"Which is why I'm comfortable with spending it. Shows you're not trying to take me for a ride. Not to say I ever thought you were," Vinyl yawned.
"I know, but--"
"I'm your-- well, fillyfriend sounds stupid. I'm your partner. So don't sweat it," Vinyl said, and directed her attention towards her ice cream.
Octavia frowned. She'd lived alone since the day she left home, and taken care of all her expenses by herself. It hadn't always been easy, but she'd done it. To rely financially on somepony else at this point just seemed alien to her.
"You're sweating it, aren't you?" Vinyl asked, pulling down her glasses and peering at her through red eyes.
"It just doesn't seem right to take your money and spend it on myself," Octavia sniffed.
Vinyl was silent for a second. Then, predictably, a smirk spread itself across her face as she hatched her latest scheme.
"In that case, how about we have a contest? We've got until evening before we need to catch the train anyway. We both get fifty bits, we split up, and we buy each other a present. Best present wins."
Octavia finished her ice cream cone and snorted. "Very clever. I don't want to spend your money on me, so I get to spend it on you. I can see why the irony would appeal to you. I am, needless to say, out."
"Doesn't matter. I'm in," Vinyl said, smoke in her voice, and got off the bench. "Which means I have to go and find you a present, whether you like it or not. Meet me back in the hotel room at six. Here's your fifty bits, just in case you decide to play."
"Vinyl!" Octavia started, but the DJ was already on her way, striding along with that Manehattan walk. Seething, she sat down on the bench and took the purse that Vinyl had thrown to her.
For a second, she considered just going back to the room and forgetting all about it. That would be putting her hoof down on the matter. But then, she'd be getting a gift and Vinyl would be getting nothing, which was even less fair than the alternative.
"Thinks she can play me," Octavia sniffed, knowing full well that she was about to go along with it. "I wonder what Mother would do in this situation."
Half an hour later, Vinyl had found what she was looking for, her hooves guided by habit more than anything else. It was dusty little shop on the wrong side of town, complete with filthy windows and an antiquated bell to let the owner shuffle out of the back room whenever a customer came, which was approximately twice a week. It gave a demure little tinkle as the walked in.
"I'll be right there. Hold your horseshoes!" a crochety voice shouted.
Vinyl took a moment to look around. It was a dimly lit shop, just as she remembered it, with a coating of dust for a carpet and no goods on display. She wondered how anypony ever found out what they sold. She couldn't remember how she had. A custard pie, hilariously dust-free in contrast to the rest of the place, lay in a glass case behind the counter.
"I'm comin', I'm comin'. Crazy whippersnappers, always barging into my shop and tramping their dirty feet around the place like they was customers..." the owner grumbled as he emerged. He was an old unicorn, steel grey, with a pair of glasses a hoof thick. His voice had an audible quaver.
"Hi, Bi. Got any lungs in stock? This place is a health hazard," Vinyl greeted lazily.
"'Hi, Bi'. Very funny, young lady, very funny. You here on business or are you just a comedian? Because if you're a comedian, I've got a custard pie right here with your name on i--"
He adjusted his glasses very slightly, and his face lit up with recognition. "Oh, it's you."
"Phew. Thought your memory had finally gone for a second there."
"Oh, it's all very well for you young'uns. Just wait until your hips start going, and you'll see what it's like," he grumbled. "Didn't think I'd be seeing you back here again anyhow. I told you we have an ordering service. Real discreet."
"I was back in town for a few days, and I wanted something made quickly. Think you're up to it, old man?" she asked, leaning casually against the counter.
"You sure got yappy since I saw you last," he said, not unkindly. "I assume it's the usual. Still the most ridiculous order I ever got."
"Bite me. I need 'em in six hours, Bi."
"Foal's play. I told you years ago I was the best in the business, and by gum I still am, or my name's not Bi Focal," he said grandly and nudged his temple, a mirror image of how Vinyl did it herself. "Lucky I kept spares of all the parts, since stupid kids like you can never take care of the dang things."
"Bite me twice. This pair is still fine," Vinyl said, and motioned to her own shades.
"Ridiculous. I can see the scratches from here. Here, pass 'em over. Shouldn't need to replace the lenses if I give them a decent once-over, and I'm already working today," he said, adding the last part as if it was the worst thing in the world. "I remember back when you played around here every other night. Saw these stupid things on every poster. Utterly ridiculous."
"If you weren't the so-called best in the business, I'd tell you to keep your opinions to yourself. But it's difficult to get a pair like 'em that don't fall apart in two minutes. What'll the damage be?" she asked.
The old stallion mock-sighed. "Much as I hate to let a dang kid like you walk in here and sass me for free, I billed you for the spare parts last time, and any idiot could put 'em together. No charge, Vinyl Scratch."
"You still remember that? You're more on the ball than I thought," she murmured. "Hate to see you starve, though. Call it fifty bits?"
"Fifty bits for some stupid sunglasses? Kids these days don't even know the value of money. You'll end up back on the streets if you keep this up, mark my words," Bi grumbled, taking the payment and beginning his long shuffle to the back room. "I'll throw in some spare lenses to square the cost. Come back in a few hours."
Vinyl nodded. That was her gift done and dusted. She spent a few seconds wondering what Octavia might have gotten her, before remembering that the shop was in fact quite dusty and that she had only been half-joking when she called it a health hazard. As she left, she began to wonder if there were any decent magazines in the city.
When she arrived back at the hotel room (gift in tow, wrapped and boxed by a pair of hooves delicate enough to work with fragile glass) she found Octavia sprawled on the bed like a starfish, snoring quietly with a copy of Horticulturalist Horse Quarterly over her face. Vinyl gave her a gentle nudge.
"Uhm. Wha? Vinyl? I was just taking a nap," the earth pony said, after she'd be jolted awake.
"I'd let you, but we have a train to catch in an hour or two. How did you get on with the shopping?" Vinyl asked.
"Hmph. I like how you just assume I went along with your silly game."
"Did you?"
Octavia sighed and pointed to a gift box in the corner. "Say nothing, Vinyl Scratch."
"Nothing," said Vinyl Scratch, and picked up the box. She shook it and heard something soft hit the sides.
"If I'd known you were going to do that, I'd have gotten you a cake just to see your face when it got smashed against the sides," Octavia yawned, finally dragging herself off the bed.
"For fifty bits, it'd have to be a wedding cake. Don't know if I'm ready for that kind of commitment," the unicorn deadpanned. "Mind if I open it?"
"Please do. If you don't, then I effectively spent an afternoon buying a cardboard box."
Vinyl opened the box, and lifted out the contents: a violet waistcoat and a formal collar much like Octavia's. She looked at them quizzically.
"I asked myself what my mother would do, and the answer was to buy you clothes you didn't want and then force you to wear them," Octavia explained wryly. "I'll help you put the collar on."
"You got all this? For fifty bits? The waistcoat would've been more than that by itself," Vinyl said, shrugging on her new clothes.
Octavia produced a slip of black silk. "Well, fifty bits and some eyelash fluttering. Hold still while I tie the ribbon."
"Y...you tie with your teeth?" the DJ asked, her skin prickling as Octavia's face passed dangerously close to her neck.
"Mmpf. Forgive me for not being a unicorn," she replied, the ribbon still in her mouth. With a few deft movements she had it tied. "There. Now, let me stand back and take a look at you."
She took a long second to appraise her work, then shook her head. "Drat. You don't look nearly as silly as I expected you to. I must lack my mother's talent for the tasteless. Oh well. We can always tie-die the jacket later."
"I like it how it is. Pretty sweet for the formal gigs. Your turn."
Octavia opened the gift box carefully, looked at the contents, and, to Vinyl's surprise and growing concern, began to giggle. Soon it had turned into a full-blown laughing fit.
"Hey, what's the matter? I do something wrong?" Vinyl asked, a little more panic in her voice than she wanted to admit.
"N-no, I just..." Octavia began, then lapsed back into giggles.
"Tavi," she said seriously.
"O-oh. I'm sorry, Vinyl. But you got me a pair of matching glasses," Octavia said, wiping tears from her eyes. "That's adorable."
"Jerk. I only did it because you held on to my other pair so long. I thought you might like a set for yourself," Vinyl muttered darkly.
"I love them. Definitely worth playing this silly game for," she replied, putting them on. The world was suddenly a familiar shade of violet. "I'd say you won, by the way. What do you want for a prize?"
"You to stop stressing about me getting you stuff?"
"We'll see. In the meantime, I believe a kiss is the going rate," Octavia said, and gave her one that was long and lingering. "Now, I ought to get started on packing the luggage."
A hundred bits, Vinyl thought. She'd paid a hundred bits for a single kiss. At that rate, she really might be back on the streets before long. She didn't especially find herself caring. After all, there wasn't anything she'd rather spend the money on. With that in mind, she began to prepare herself for the night's train ride-- and the city of Canterlot that lay beyond it.
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Giggling madly all the way through. Doubly so when Octavia was musing of what her mother would do in that situation.
That said, while the last chapter was adorable, this one was ad'aaaawable. Another fine chapter of Music!
I love your writing and I love this story. Thank you for being awesome.
A hundred bits, Vinyl thought. She'd paid a hundred bits for a single kiss.
If you think about it, she just bought a hooker...
Good chapter. Love this story and can't wait for more.
You're going to have to write more of this iteration of Octavia and Vinyl!
Also, is it wrong that I like these world building chapters more than the story ones?
1976059
I am, as they say, on somewhat of a roll.
1977682
Well, I try! Not always succesfully, of course, but I try.
1978596
At least it's Octavia, so she bought a hooker of the highest class.
1978790
Sadly, I don't actually own any Pink Floyd songs, and I've been chosing the chapter titles from my own music library the whole time. (Also, I pick the songs for how well the title fits the chapter, not how well the actual song fits it. I'm always surprised when people decide to actually listen to the songs from each chapter as they read, since no effort was taken to match sound to words here.)
1979608
Well, I'm an author that loves doing world building and puts a lot of work into it, so it isn't that strange.
Yessss, spontaneous morning cuddles!
It's funny how they both ended up giving the other their own clothes
Best part was definitely Octavia channeling her fabulous mother, though Bi Focal was also a lot of fun. It's also interesting to see a rather well-off Vinyl paired with a less flush Tavi, as that's an inversion of the fanon. I dig it.
Bit of a shame we didn't get to see the actual rehearsal and only got the post-game report, as I really enjoy how you've been exploring both your protagonists through their music, but that's a quibble.
The mind games continue! Gwhaha, Vinyl knew Tavi would play along
I love Tavi buying formal clothes on a discount by some smooth moves and Vinyl getting identical glasses from a cranky but kindly old stallion.
But then the reveal that Vinyl did all this to get Tavi to kiss her! (It's both heart warming and heartbreaking that she's thinks the only way to win her heart is by buying her stuff)
Overall it's a fun read and your character development is perfectly on track.