Unfinished Mentions

by Rose Quill

It's Not Ok

I shut the door and leaned against it, sliding down to the floor. I stared forward, the wall at the far end of my home’s entranceway not really registering with me. Instead, I heard the snickers and whispered comments again.

Who does he think he’s fooling?

Look, it’s wearing a skirt today.

Freak of nature.

I pulled my glasses off and dropped them beside me as I squeezed my eyes shut, hands covering my face. I was home, and I didn’t have to hear them right now. My head rested against the cool metal of the door as a tear slipped free.

“Is that you, Vinyl?”

Dammit, I thought for sure Octavia would have been at the rehearsal hall tonight. I had hoped for an hour or two to compose myself.

“Yeah, Tavi,” I whispered. “It’s me.”

My wife rounded the corner and when she saw me her smile fled and I saw the anger in her eyes rise up.

“Was it the same crowd again?” Her voice was cool and even, but I knew from experience that her anger was a cold flame.

I sighed and shook my head. “No, but I ran into them coming from the interview.” A new club had advertised a DJ opening and I never passed up the opportunity to play at a new venue. Nothing made me feel better or more alive than spinning the rounds and pumping out maximum wubs. It was second only to Octavia.

“Honestly, Vi,” Tavi tutted, coming and sitting next to me on the floor of our foyer. “Why do you let them get to you? You know they don’t matter in the grand scheme of things.”

I nodded, giving a little sniff. I caught a hint of her perfume as I caught her eyes. My hands were already moving, matching my thoughts in a habit I had been trying to break for a few months.

But I still hear it, I signed before sliding my glasses back on.

She saw it and pulled me into a hug. She always knew what it meant when I fell back into using Sign. It meant I didn’t trust my voice. I didn’t trust myself to speak for whatever reason. And I just let her hold me and stroke my hair.

“Vi,” she whispered. “They aren’t right, you know. There’s nothing further from the truth.”

“I know that here,” I whispered, tapping my head. “But sometimes it really stings here.” I put a hand over my heart. I felt her sigh. “It’s ok, though. I’m used to it.”

She pulled me upright and shifted to look me in the eyes, one hand removing my shades.

“It’s not ok, Vinyl,” she said softly but firmly. “You are a wonderful, loving heart and I am beyond happy to come home to you every night. Between your friends and I, that’s all that should matter.”

She pulled me to my feet and started walking, fingers twining into my own. “Come along,” she declared. She pulled me into our office, where we both had desks set up for paperwork, booking dates, and accounting. A place where we had to focus on business instead of the fun of music. She stopped and pointed at my desk, where a picture of us on our wedding day was sitting and I couldn’t stop the smile. We both smiled with the biggest grins, decked out in pure white and touches of sapphire in Octavia’s hair. Even though we had gone to the courthouse instead of having a big affair, Pinkie had found out somehow and threw us a fantastic reception, just us and our friends and family.

I wonder how it was she always found out.

“That alone should be enough to tell you what really matters,” Tavi whispered, arms sliding over my shoulders. Her right hand opened slightly, thumb, pinkie, and index extending. Then it flowed into another sign, both hands moving. Then it formed a fist and moved away from my chin. Then she captured my hands in hers and brought them up to my chest, her hands closing into fists again, raising her thumbs before lowering and raising again, lowering a second time and pulling me closer.

I love you…
Everything
Adoration
Sweetheart

And I couldn’t miss the fact that she didn’t just hug me. She deliberately crossed her arms over me to place a closed hand on each shoulder.

“I trust I made myself clear?”

I giggled and turned to hold her as well.

“Loud and clear,” I said, resting my head against hers.

“Loud and clear.”

Author's Note:

So, in the Homecoming continuity, I had notes about various side characters that I planned on showing or exploring later on. Vinyl being trans was one of them. It follows a lot of my own misgivings, not trusting my voice half the time, wearing glasses to soften my face, and hearing the whispers whenever I go about.

Also having someone to come home to that makes everything worth it.

Comments

[ScisetShimmerEvan]

Poor vinyl, still I can see was this story was abandoned.

It's sad but I've been there in regards to making stories on this site.