Buzz
Buzz
Symphonia and I sat up talking for most of the night. It was nice; I hadn’t realized how much distance keeping just that one thing from Symphonia had put between us. We finally passed out at some point when the sun was on it’s way up. I was exhausted from travel, something that never really made sense if you think about it. Why does sitting and waiting to be moved from one place to another tire somepony out so much?
The next morning, I woke up first, a couple of hours after our first class was supposed to start. A plan quickly formed in my head: a way to apologize fully. I extracted myself from the tangle of limbs and the blanket we’d both curled up under at some point the night prior and slipped out of our dorm. Symphonia’s favorite breakfast bar was just off campus, about a twenty minute hike. I picked up an order for two and hurried back home. Last night’s meal was a peace offering; today, I was just hungry.
I slipped through the door quietly and set the food on the kitchen table. Symphonia was still out on the couch, somehow wrapped up even further in her blanket. Knowing I had as much time as needed, I set up everything on the table before moving to wake my roommate. Which I did with a hoof, just barely tickling the tip of her muzzle. She swatted at me, grumbling at me under her breath. “Go ‘way, Octavia. You kept me up. I wanna sleep.”
“I brought breakfast,” I said quietly, easily avoiding her uncoordinated swipes. “From Icefield’s.”
Her hoof cautiously withdrew. “Icefield’s? Fresh muffins?”
I placed my hoof back on the ground, confident in my victory. “And honey butter.”
Symphonia slowly cracked open one eye and attempted to pull free from the blanket. “I’m up, I’m up. If you pamper Vinyl this much, it’s no wonder she wants to be around you all the time.”
“Is that what it is?” I responded flippantly. I helped her from the blanket and went to start on my own breakfast.
She joined me a few moments later, practically flopping into a chair and sipping at some coffee. “This is fantastic. We need to fight more often, or maybe I should just steal you for myself.”
“Be quiet and drink your caffeine. You’re not you when you’re asleep.”
“Yes, ma’am.” Symphonia quieted down, content to sip at her coffee. From time to time she ripped small chunks off of whatever I was eating to eat herself. I let it happen without comment, this was pretty normal in the mornings. Symphonia had trouble functioning without either coffee or alcohol when it was early.
One cup of coffee and about a third of my own breakfast later, she had her own plate and a second cup. “Are you and Vinyl coming to the show tonight?” Symphonia asked.
I chewed slowly, trying to remember what she was talking about. A month or so before the trip, I vaguely remembered Lunar Note putting out the call for volunteers, but I was so busy preparing for the trip that I didn’t take it. I grimaced, realizing that I hadn’t noticed that Symphonia joined up because I hadn’t really been talking to her. “Of course. Uh, where can I get tickets?”
Symphonia turned and pulled some small slips of paper from a table nearby. She floated them to me. “Here. Everyone working in the music pit got some tickets as thanks. I’ve got a couple left, since I really only have mom to invite. Take one for Vinyl, too, if you want.”
“Thanks.” I shoved the rest of my muffin into my mouth and choked it down. “I’ll go ask her before class. Hopefully she’s awake.”
“I know a way you could wake her up!” Symphonia shouted after me. I looked around for something to throw at her, but our entry hall was suspiciously absent of any suitable missiles. With an annoyed huff I stepped out into the hallway, taking care to close the door harder than strictly necessary. I made it all the way to the stairs before I realized I’d left the tickets on the kitchen table. I returned chastised and left with tickets in hoof, followed by the mental echoes of Symphonia laughing all the way to Vinyl’s door.
To my surprise, Vinyl opened her door on the first knock. I could tell right away that she hadn’t actually gone to bed by the bags visible even under her glasses. “Whassup, Tavi?” she asked, swaying almost imperceptibly.
“I came to give you this,” I said, offering a ticket to Vinyl. She took it from me and quickly skimmed it over. “I’ll be back after class and we can go together. Try to get some sleep, okay?”
“How am I supposed to sleep when I’m so excited for a date?” she asked.
I hadn’t even thought about that; was it a date? I hadn’t planned on asking her on a date; I just thought it was something fun we could do. “I’m sure you’ll manage.” Impulsively, I darted forward to kiss her forehead before hurrying to class.
<><><><><>
“Sometimes I forget this theater does stuff other than orchestra,” Vinyl said as we stood in line for entry. It was a little odd to be on the other side of the auditorium’s closed doors on a show night. We were one of the first few in line, having gone with Symphonia to wish her luck.
“The theater department puts on shows every couple of months, Vinyl. Besides, you’ve only actually been to one orchestra recital, right?” I retorted.
“Well, yeah, but the only time I’m actually here is for orchestra-y stuff. Or to meet you, or Symphonia that one time.”
The doors opened, admitting us into the lobby. A well-rehearsed group of ponies stood inside, waiting to punch tickets and direct patrons to their seats. If sitting outside waiting for entry was weird, finding our seats in the soft-lit house was even stranger. From my place on the stage, I’d always assumed the chairs were uncomfortable. Settling into the plush upholstery, I realized I was only kind of wrong. It was soft and squishy enough, but with a hard plank underneath. Deceptive comfort indeed.
We were seated in the middle of our row, towards the front of the stage. What I’d always taken as a gentle hum of conversation before a concert was much louder when down in the middle of it, almost more like the background noise of Night-Glo than the traditional quiet of the theater. Vinyl settled for barely a minute before bouncing back up, muttering something about going to the restroom. I shook my head and looked around the room.
Much to my surprise, many more ponies than I’d thought had dressed up for the occasion. I knew Symphonia did, because she had to be mostly invisible in the music pit, but neither Vinyl nor myself had. The second thing I noticed was the sheer amount of obvious couples in the crowd. Vinyl made a joke about it being a date earlier today, but did she really think it was? I hadn’t asked her, properly, and asking her now had a good chance of hurting her feelings and ruining the evening.
If Vinyl thought we were on a proper date, would she be expecting anything? Fancy dinner? Drinks? Or maybe—
“Whatcha thinking, Tavi?” Vinyl breathed into my ear.
I bit down on my tongue, replacing my surprise with a faint taste of iron. Without turning around, I placed a hoof on the side of Vinyl’s head and pushed her away with a sigh. “I was enjoying the peace and quiet,” I lied over the rampant beating of my heart.
Vinyl’s retort was cut off by the buzzer, signaling the start of the play. Even though I knew, from personal experience, that the ponies making up the orchestra were recessed into the floor and asked to wear black clothing, I still tried and failed to pick out Symphonia. Or any of the musical cast for that matter, normally at least one of them forgot.
Vinyl lent into my side as the opening fanfare started and whispered, “what’s this play even about?”
I opened my mouth to answer, and froze. I hadn’t looked, and Symphonia hadn’t said. “Good question.”
The question went unanswered for most of the first act. Our story followed a dorky document clerk and her fumbling romance with an easily-flustered nanny. It seemed like a pretty standard romance, albeit a little rushed. Vinyl seemed to be enjoying herself, which was good. Ten minutes into the show, she’d decided to raise the hoofrest between our chairs and nestle into my side. She might have been sleeping, I couldn’t tell, but I also couldn’t bring myself to check just in case she was.
Right before intermission a new character was introduced: an impish, whimsical socialite now vying for the clerk’s affections. The curtain dropped, the house lights rose, and ponies began moving around. Vinyl did the same, finally detaching from my side and standing slowly.
“Done with your nap?” I teased. “Didn’t I say I’d be upset if you slept through the play?”
“I wasn’t sleeping,” she replied defensively, pulling on my hoof until I stood as well. I nearly fell; sitting in one position for so long had put my legs to sleep. Vinyl laughed and helped steady me. “And you want to give me a hard time for sleeping.”
“I was too busy being a pillow to sleep,” I retorted. I started walking towards the lobby, intending to use the restroom and get something to drink. “What do you think of the play so far?”
She shrugged. “It’s fine. Not the sort of thing I thought you’d go for, to be honest.”
“Symphonia’s helping with the music.”
“Ah.” Vinyl nodded. “That makes sense.”
I bought us drinks and a quick snack, which we ate while wandering around the spacious lobby. We made our way back inside before the warning buzzer sounded. I made Vinyl sit first, so I could try to get comfortable before she held me in place for the next hour. The chair was already getting a little uncomfortable before intermission, and while standing for a while did help, I had a feeling it was going to get worse fast.
As expected, Vinyl flopped into my side as the buzzer sounded the second half of the play. It was surprisingly good, keeping at least me in suspense on what was going to happen until the very end. I won’t spoil the ending, in case you get a chance to see it yourself, but it almost seemed like the playwright didn’t really know who was going to “win” until the very end.
Vinyl bounced up as soon as the curtain dropped. I stretched slowly, feeling out and enjoying every pop as my joints resettled. We joined the slow-moving lines back out the doors to the lobby where we instead joined the crowds of ponies still milling around.
“Have a good time?” I asked, trying to find us a mostly empty spot to wait for the traffic jam at the door to die down.
Vinyl nodded. “Yeah. I was surprised, though, I kind of thought you’d want some time to yourself since we just spent the last week together.”
“Symphonia said the same thing, but I didn’t want to suffer alone.”
“Well, I’m happy to suffer with you.”
I smiled and shook my head, turning my gaze back towards the main entrance and the throng of ponies leaving in pairs. Even though I hadn’t planned for it, the night had felt kind of date-y, but after everything Vinyl did and planned for us in Las Pegasus, it didn’t quite feel fair to call it that. To me, a date was something that should be planned out, or at least approached with more care than none at all.
“So,” Vinyl said. “Did you, uh, want to do anything else? Any other plans?”
“I hadn’t planned on it, no,” I responded, carefully watching her face. Would she be upset? Disappointed? Hurt that I hadn’t put any thought behind the first thing we did after coming home when she dropped everything to make our vacation to Las Pegasus fun and interesting?
“Alright. I’m feeling kind of hungry, wanna grab a late dinner?”
My heart fell. Vinyl didn’t sound sad or upset, but I couldn’t help but feel I’d let her down. “Sure. Any place in mind?”
Vinyl motioned towards the door and started walking. “Nah. Somewhere cheap and unhealthy.”
“My favorite.” I followed after her, slipping through the theater doors with no problem. We walked across and left the campus randomly hunting for somewhere cheap, unhealthy, open, and not packed. A broad set of restrictions, but we found one eventually. It was a small little diner, located a fair walk away from college. It was a small, seat yourself sort of place, with a single page menu and only two ponies visibly working outside the kitchen.
I ordered something small and light, and watched Vinyl. She’d been uncharacteristically quiet the entire walk, but didn’t seem unhappy. I watched as she put in her order and started looking around the room, decorated to look like a wooden saloon from the frontier. “How did we never find this place?” she asked.
“It is a little out of the way,” I replied. It did seem like the sort of place she liked, even if it wasn’t quite to my own tastes. “If it’s good we can always come back.”
Our food showed up soon thereafter, and was quickly devoured. At least in Vinyl’s case; I hadn’t been very hungry in the first place and had only really tagged along to keep her company. Watching her bowl of fried something vanish did nothing to help my appetite. I picked at my garden salad, moving the various bits and pieces around more than actually eating. Every time she looked at me, I made sure to take a bite, but even with her much larger meal, she finished long before I did.
“You okay, Tavi?” she asked as she pushed her empty bowl away.
“Yeah, I just… have some things on my mind. I’m not very hungry.” It wasn’t technically a lie. There’d been that little part in the back of my head being loud all day long, and only getting louder as the night went on. I was completely worn out, and apparently unable to hide it. Giving up on any pretense of eating more, I also slid my plate away.
“What’s wrong? Want to talk about it?” Vinyl rose from her seat and moved to sit right beside me.
Her closeness really wasn’t helping anything. “There isn’t much to talk about. The trip was kind of stressful, and as soon as I got back I received the date for my audition.”
“I thought you weren’t doing it?”
“I’m not, but I said something to Father about it during the trip, and now he expects me to. I’ve tried to turn it down twice, but Bent Bow refused to revoke the recommendation.” I sighed and bit my tongue, hoping that little bit of it would be enough to satisfy her.
“You could do it, I know you could. I told you as much in Las Pegasus. I’m sure Legatus said the same, and that’s why Bent Bow won’t let you back out. Everypony says you can do it, Tavi, you might as well give it a shot.” Vinyl smiled at me reassuringly. “There’s always the chance you don’t make it, but at least nopony can say you didn’t try.”
I shook my head. “You don’t understand, Vinyl, there are four ponies from the Conservatory that are auditioning too.”
“And?”
“A-And that is their entire focus of study! They’ve probably been playing their entire lives—”
“Aren’t you here studying music theory, too? And I know for a fact you’ve been playing your entire life,” Vinyl said, cutting me off. “And have you ever actually seen these ponies play? Like, actually been to one of their performances?”
I opened my mouth to retort, then paused. “No. No, I have not.”
“So you could be better?” Vinyl was starting to get that excited hitch in her voice. She leaned in just a little closer, so I could see the reflection of my own eyes in her glasses. “You could kill that audition, show all those snobs what’s up, and get the career you want?”
“I suppose it is technically possible,” I conceded, pushing on her chest gently until she backed up. “But you don’t just apply to the Conservatory. They seek out the best musicians in all of Equestria and bring them to Canterlot.”
“Didn’t you turn them down, though?”
Anger flared in my chest, fueled by her constant, instantaneous rebuttals. I bit down my immediate response and slid from the other side of our booth. “I did, Vinyl, but I do not wish to speak of it anymore. I am rather tired, so I think I’m going to head back. Have a good night.”
I didn’t wait for her response, just left enough bits to cover our meal on the table and walked through the doors into the lit streets of Canterlot.
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Just do the audition Octavia!! Even if you don't get it the experience from it is a learning experience too!!
10346251
Right? I've always hated how weird it is to write characters in character making goofy or dumb decisions. I just want my girls to be happy...
Geez, Octavia is so adorable. The swirling stress that she has is a 'feels bad man' moment, but I'm pretty sure she'll be fine. She's that kinda gal. I expect Octavia to do what everyone is telling her she can do, go to the audition be kinda stressed about it, suck it up, then belt out the best-goshdarned cello song they've ever heard then be like "hey yeah, I can do that, huh."
World: Feel stressed
Octavia: nah
It's also nice to see her warming up to vinyl. The quick kiss in the hallway when she was delivering the tickets, plus the 'didn't bat an eyelash' at vinyl's cuddling during the play. She's gotten used to it I think, (loving their relationship btw) and she's also being more concerned about making vinyl happy instead of just being concerned in general. And vinyl is just being great throughout the whole thing. "I'm happy to suffer with you" is the perfect line to describe how much vinyl cares, an element of loyalty level of 'never gonna give you up.'
Squeeee! They're both so great! Excitement for next chapter is real! (don't rush it though, take your time)
-Noobblue
C'mon, Octavia!!
Now this is a mare with good taste.