> Vinyl and Octavia: Girl Friends - Volume Two
>  by New Canterlot
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> The Date Night
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	When Vinyl stepped off the bus, a brisk breeze immediately caused her whole body to stiffen. Despite the sunny skies, the temperature in the city had dropped close to freezing that morning and had refused to warm up even the slightest. This didn’t bode too well with the DJ. Her detailed outfit was perfect for a deviant sense of fashion, but it didn’t shelter her from the environment much. At the very least, she knew she wouldn’t have to be out here for too long since the entrance to the mall was right across the street. 

In the spirit of the season, the entrance was decorated in a hue of red and green, tinsel and ribbons strewn lazily about in characteristic patterns that signaled one of Vinyl’s favorite holidays. Christmas would’ve been her first pick if it wasn’t for the cold weather, but it was a welcome treat not to be in school right now. This gave her time to shop for gifts, an activity she looked forward to all year. Plus, if she found something she wanted for herself, now would be the perfect opportunity. 

The mass of people entering and exiting the mall made it difficult to see whether or not Lyra was already there waiting for her. It was only until she crossed the street did she see her long time friend standing by the doors farthest away from that one weird guy ringing a bell next to a bucket who took things way too far. It wouldn’t be so annoying if he didn’t get so into it. Vinyl knew she could only listen to someone shaking a bell and ‘ho-ho-hoing’ like an idiot out in the cold for so long. It was kinda funny when she was a kid, but it got old pretty fast when every single exit was covered. Even with the obnoxious distraction, Vinyl did take note of the surprising change in Lyra’s personal appearance. It wasn’t all that new, but her change was so dramatic that Vinyl still found herself taken aback at times.

Now nearly half way through her second year in high school, a new fashion sense had swept through Canterlot High. Instead of simplistic outfits that included pants and printed tops, colorful skirts and blouses had become the next big thing. At first, both Lyra and Vinyl were largely against it, but after realizing how creative and expressive they could be in their outfits, they soon joined the craze. With Lyra, her appearance had changed the most dramatically out of all of Vinyl’s friends. Instead of the tattered black jeans and punkish t-shirts, Lyra wore a yellow skirt and white blouse that complimented her natural skin tone and eye color well. That entire rebellious grunge phase Lyra used to convey through her appearance during their first year of high school was gone, now replaced by a much more feminine look. Her hair was now much longer than before, styled in a lazy yet free flowing way to match her carefree smile. Vinyl would never openly admit this to her, but she did think it made Lyra look pretty cute. Not Octavia level of cute, but it was sorta there. 

Now as for Vinyl, she had taken this chance to express herself a step further. With pink tights and sparkling sneakers, a white jumpsuit style skirt with silver trim, and purple fingerless gloves, Vinyl looked ready for any midnight adventure that required flashing lights, loud music, and erratic body movements. With her purple tinted sunglasses to top everything off, there would be no mistaking her identity even fifty feet away. Her reputation as a party loving electronic music crazed dancing machine was only rivaled by one other girl at Canterlot High, but only Vinyl was the go-to musician for when good times at late hours were had. Like the rest of her friends, Vinyl had leaned out a bit and grown taller despite her increased caffeine intake, something that her mother had brought up as a concern more and more since the start of her second year. In her defense, classes had gotten tougher and school had gotten harder, but at least she had her Octavia with her through it all. Although Vinyl was painfully aware of how much harder things had been for Octavia lately, especially with her parent’s divorce nightmare and all, Vinyl still felt grateful to be a part of her life and having the chance to be there for her. She truly, genuinely, and inexplicably loved that adorable cellist, and it didn’t matter to Vinyl why. All she knew was Octavia would be getting the best Christmas present ever this year, even if she still hadn’t decided what it was this late into the holiday season. At the very least, it had to be better than last year’s gift.

As Vinyl approached the short steps leading up to the entrance, she offered Lyra a wave as she angled herself towards her. Her right sneaker slipped on a small patch of ice, and Lyra immediately shot out a hand to grab her wrist. 

“Smooth, V.” Lyra said with a smirk as she pulled Vinyl up the last step. 

“Shut up, dude.” Vinyl groaned but shot her a smile. “I totally did that on purpose.”

“Yeah, you’re like half ninja or something.” Lyra agreed and rolled her eyes. “Not a good one, but kudos for trying.”

This chick. Vinyl stared blankly at her and dropped her arm. “Can we go in now? I’m freezing my nuts off.”

“Sounds like a personal problem. When was the last time you had a check up?” Lyra asked sarcastically with a giggle. “Actually, that would explain a few things.”

With a sigh, Vinyl exhaled a small puff of air from her lips as she stepped inside the mall, not bothering to hold the door open. Lyra was quick to follow into the warmth of the climate controlled building. As soon as the ceiling vents blasted some hot air onto Vinyl’s face, she smiled and felt her joints relax. The decorative street lamps bathed the interior with a soft glow, and Vinyl took her glasses off to really soak in the holiday spirit oozing out of every corner. With a smile, she turned her head back and forth, her nose following the smell of freshly baked pretzels and cinnamon rolls.

“You can always just take a picture. I know you want to.” Lyra commented next to her.

“What?” Vinyl snapped her head to the side with a look of confusion. “What the heck are you talking about?”

Lyra pointed to the wall in front of them with a massive banner advertisement of a half naked supermodel in holiday lingerie. “I see you looking, V. Don’t worry. I don’t think you’re a creep or anything. I can’t speak for everyone else here, but I got you, girl.”

“Wow…” Vinyl sighed and slowly shook her head. “…Hilarious as always. I get it. I’m into chicks.” She turned away and began walking towards the directory in the middle of the walkway. “Dude, you’ve been telling that joke for over a year now, and it’s still funny to you?”

Lyra stepped along side her and gave a shrug. “It is to me. It’s not like I can make this joke with anyone else.”

“I am so lucky then.” Vinyl said through a long sigh. She stopped in front of the directory and glanced up and down the map.  I am kinda lucky though. She thought as she traced a finger over the backlit arrows pointing to different stores. Well…a whole lot more than just kinda. A slight smirk parted Vinyl’s lips. Octavia is way more than just kinda.

“You’re doing that weird goofy face thing again.” Lyra noted as she stepped beside her.

“What thing?” Vinyl asked, not bothering to turn to her as she scanned the map. 

“The whole dreaming-about-Octavia face.” Lyra audibly choked back a giggle. 

This time, Vinyl did turn to face her. “You know what? I’m sorry I even bothered asking you to come with me. Not even two minutes into this, and you’re already spinning my records the wrong way.”

“I am?” Lyra asked with shock on her face that was anything but genuine. “Aw, come on, V. When have I ever been less than nice to you?”

With an exacerbated sigh, Vinyl shook her head and began walking away. “Jerk…”

Lyra ignored the insult, easily keeping up with Vinyl’s quick strides. “So, where’s our first stop? Are we shopping for Bonny or Octavia first?”

“Bonny.” Vinyl immediately answered. “I still…need some time to think about what to get Tavi.”

“Whoa, really?” Lyra asked with real surprise. “Dude, Christmas is like, right around the corner. You still haven’t figured out what you’re getting her?”

“You’re one to talk. Right now, we’re pretty much in the same boat.” Vinyl retorted back a little too defensively, but since it was her girlfriend they were talking about, in her mind it was justified.

“Not really. I already know what to get Bonny. She’s gotten into cookbooks lately. Oh, and at least I’m not dating her.” Lyra giggled as she rolled her eyes. “It won’t be awkward for me since I’m not trying to get into her pants.”

“I am NOT trying to get into Tavi’s pants.” Vinyl almost instantly retorted back. 

Lyra’s giggling grew louder as she gave Vinyl a pat on the back that made the DJ’s fingers clench. “You’ve always been a crap liar, dude.”

“Thanks.” Vinyl nearly growled. Her fingers relaxed as she looked absently towards another advertisement. She’s right. That was a terrible lie. She really didn’t want to admit that to herself, but a part of her knew that some of the feelings she had for Octavia weren’t exactly pure. If Lyra could pick up on that, then everyone else could too. “Alright, I’m not saying you’re totally wrong, but I’m not just some horndog trying to get laid here.”

“Not yet at least.” Lyra replied before giving a reassuring nod. “Look, we all know it’s more than that, V. We all know you’re actually really into her and stuff, but I’ve seen the way you look at her.”

“And how exactly do I look at her?” Damn-it…I really shouldn’t have asked.

“Hmm…” Lyra put a finger to her chin as if in thought, but Vinyl had a gut feeling she wasn’t really thinking hard. 

Sarcasm on three. One…two…

“Like a creep!” Lyra exclaimed with a nod before pointing both of her index fingers at her while bursting into song. “Cause you’reeeee a creep! You’re a weirdoooo-ooooh…”

Three...and you’re going full crazy on me. Vinyl groaned loudly and shook her head. “What the heck am I doing here with you?” She mumbled, faintly aware of her words nearly matching Lyra’s terrible singing. She waited for her to eventually stop, but when it didn’t happen, Vinyl gave another long sigh that added to the countless others that had piled up during the past four something years she had known the total jerk next to her. Although Vinyl joked about it, she really did sometimes wonder why she was friends with her. It seemed like Lyra had a compulsion to be a complete pickle whenever she could, and Vinyl saw no end in sight. Although, Vinyl had to admit that she did have her moments. Lyra did come through when she needed her, and there was one moment that stood out most in her head that could not have happened without her. Actually…Me and Tavi might not even be a thing without her. Lyra might be a total bitch, but at least she’s got my back. 

“Hey, V? You with me?” Lyra’s voiced seemed to call out from a distance behind her.

Vinyl turned around to see Lyra a few strides behind her standing in front of bookstore, very thankful that she had stopped droning her awful tune. “Oh, uh…yeah. Right.” Her face turned a bit pink upon realizing how lost in thought she was. Vinyl quickly jogged the few steps towards her before rubbing the back of her head. “Guess I missed the sign.” She said, pointing to the backlit sign over the bookstore entrance. 

“Not the first time you’ve missed a sign.” Lyra commented with a nonchalant shrug before taking a step inside. 

“Hey, what’s that supposed to mean?” Vinyl asked with a scowl while trailing behind her past the first display announcing a new addition to some popular book series that she’d probably never read. 

“Seriously?” Lyra turned back to her with that infuriatingly sarcastic smirk. “Two weeks ago, after third period. You were all like ‘Hey Tavi, wanna see a movie this weekend?’ and she was all like ‘Would it be alright if we sat in the back?’ and you were all like ‘I kinda wanna be center row for the sploooozions.’ Remember that?”

Viinyl paused for a moment before answering. She knew Lyra was probably full of it, but some of what she said sounded vaguely familiar. There was a slight chance Lyra might have picked up on something she missed, and that meant that Vinyl really did miss out on one hell of a night. Ok, I’ll bite. With an eyebrow raised, Vinyl asked, “Did that really go down that way?”

“Yeah dude. Totally.” Lyra shrugged slightly. “Well, everything except the whole sit-in-the-back-make-out-grope-sesh thing, but yeah.”

“I hate you so much right now…” Vinyl palmed her face, half disappointed in the truth and half angry at herself for actually believing Lyra might’ve been onto something. 

“You are too easy, V.” Lyra giggled hard as she stepped deeper into the bookstore. “Octavia could totally have you henpecked if she knew how big a horndog you really are.”

“I am NOT a horndog, you jerk!” Vinyl exclaimed in a hoarse whisper as she stepped mere inches away from Lyra’s face. “And Octavia is so not like that.” She tilted her head to the side and narrowed her eyebrows. “You seem to know a lot about relationships for someone who’s never had one.”

“What can I say? Lyra ain’t no one trick chick.” Lyra replied with a very casual and confident cross of her arms and an expression matching the painfully bad southern accent.  

“Gross.” Vinyl rolled her eyes and lazily stepped to the side towards the interior of the store. “But you’re totally right. You’re so not one trick you’re NO trick. Boom. Burn.”

“Ahaha…” Lyra scornfully laughed with a scowl. “Screw you.” She passed Vinyl by towards a bookshelf and pointed towards a corner of the store. “Let’s get this cookbook so you can buy Octavia some lame gift like last year.”

“I didn’t get her a…” Vinyl trailed off as she began to accept the defeat of her argument before it left her mouth. “Ok, yeah…a book is pretty lame. Still…she said she liked it, so it wasn’t all that bad.”

“And the mittens for her birthday?” Lyra added as she picked up a confectionary cookbook to skim through.

“Screw you…” Vinyl shoved her hands into the pockets of her skirt and stared down at the carpet beneath her feet. I really gotta make this a good one.


-o0o-


Christmas Eve fell on a perfect day that year, at least in Vinyl’s opinion. Being Thursday, the city wouldn’t be completely jam packed with families filling up every movie theater or arcade that Vinyl made plans to visit. Sure, they’d be a lot busier than usual, but at least she didn’t have to worry about overcrowded busses. Now that she was on Christmas break, this gave Vinyl the opportunity to actually plan a real date of some kind with Octavia. It wasn’t their first, but with the holiday spirit settling in and the chance to spend much more time with her girlfriend, Vinyl knew this had to be a date to remember. If she doesn’t like my gift…at least she had a good time today. She thought as she glanced from her bathroom mirror back to her bed where a small gift wrapped box sat nestled on a pillow. And if the gift doesn’t blow her socks off, then hopefully the surprise will. 

It wasn’t the fanciest gift or the most expensive, not that she could really afford super fancy or pricy stuff anyhow. Yet, when eventually saw the small display in some frou-frou store at the mall, she knew this had to be the one. Under normal circumstances, Vinyl would never have stepped foot in that place, but desperate times called for desperate measures. If there was anyone on the entire planet worth enough to her to visit a weird frilly dressy shop, Octavia was the girl. 

Vinyl breathed slowly and nervously as she ran her palms down the front of her white and blue trimmed hoodie. She wanted to look her sexiest while throwing in enough casual to not look like a complete freak. The new pair of skinny blue cargo pants helped, but… I dunno…maybe it’s too casual. What kinda fancy lady’s gonna wanna smooch up someone looking like this? She pointed to herself in the mirror, only receiving the same gesture in return from her reflection. She turned back to her bedroom and paced quickly to her dresser to find something else to wear, but to her surprise, the dresser was empty save for a few old t-shirts. Oh no…seriously? Vinyl shook her head upon realizing that the rest of her clothes were already scattered around her room on the bed and floor. Did I…try every single thing I have on? The sound of her doorbell caught her ear from downstairs, and the butterflies in her tummy sped up almost as if she was having a cramp after gym class. Still, despite her nerves, Vinyl smiled with excitement as she raced downstairs to her front door. Her hand paused for a moment on the doorknob as she took a deep breath. 

When she finally opened the door, she was greeted by an even brighter smile from the most beautiful face. In front of her was Octavia, the only girl that could actually bring tears to her eyes. In a black waist high skirt, a white blouse with puffy shoulders, and a grey vest, Octavia looked both ready to perform a classic melody and adorable enough to be a fancy doll. This had always been true for her, but during the past year, she had really grown into her features. She was taller now, but still incredibly slender, and her hair had grown out again down to her waist although the style was still the same. That had been Vinyl’s choice, and it continued to be a perfect decision. It looked like she was holding something behind her back, but Vinyl couldn’t see past her lovely face. ...And her other lovely bits... Vinyl swallowed hard as her fingers tapped against her own thighs. Reel it in, dude...

Octavia’s cheeks had a red-ish hue behind her smile, and Vinyl was happy to see Octavia so pleased by her own appearance. “H-Hey, Tavi.” Vinyl said softly as she slowly opened the front door completely, not caring that she was letting all the heat out. "You...look...so so...so...so...hot."

“Good morning to you too, Vinyl." Octavia replied with an amused little giggle. "Or…should I say, afternoon.” Octavia’s voice was soothingly smooth and sweet in Vinyl’s ears, better than any music she’d ever heard or made before. Her accent still heavily dominated her speech, and Vinyl never wanted that to change. 

“Oh, right. It’s noon or something.” She returned the blush as her hand rubbed the back of her head for a moment. Did I really spend all morning trying on clothes? They stood in front of each other in silence for a moment, neither girl moving or looking away until Vinyl took a small step forward. To her utter surprise, Vinyl saw a blur of motion as one of Octavia’s arms circled around her neck. Her eyes grew wide as she felt Octavia peck her on the lips, and she stood motionless in surprise as Octavia stepped back. 

Her blush grew much deeper as Octavia fidgeted with the bottom button of her vest. “Forgive me, Vinyl…I didn’t feel much like waiting.”

“U-Uh…n-no problem, babe…” Vinyl stuttered through a massive smile, her own cheeks lighting up. “…You know…I was gonna do that later at some point…”

“I know.” Octavia looked up at her with an amused giggle. “…However…I didn’t feel like…waiting today.”

“S-So…you’d uhh…like it better if I kissed you before the date instead of after?” Vinyl asked almost too eagerly. If this really was what she wanted, then Vinyl might just kick her own rear for taking things so slow all this time.

“U-Um…not…not entirely.” Octavia slowly shook her head as her eyes glanced towards the ground with evident embarrassment. “I thought that perhaps…before…and after…would be alright?”

Dude…hell yeah… “S-Sure…yeah.” Vinyl replied as nonchalantly as possible. “I’m good with that. Totally.”

This made Octavia smile again, and she gasped softly as if remembering something. “I-I brought you…this here.” She present a fairly sized box to her, wrapped very ornately in white wrapping paper with two bridged eighth notes covering the surface. 

Vinyl’s eyes grew wide as she took the gift in both hands. She had been expecting a gift, but there was something about the presentation that made it all the more special. The design was simplistic, but something about the musical note arrangement on the wrapping paper spoke to her. She admired it for a long moment and a nod of appreciation. “It’s…it’s beautiful, Tavi.”

Octavia giggled softly again as she brought a hand up to her lips in a polite and equally adorable gesture. “You haven’t even opened it yet.”

“Do you want me to open it? Like…right now?” Vinyl gingerly held the box by the corners as if it was a precious vintage record. “It’s not even Christmas yet.”

“The gift…can wait.” Octavia said with a nod. “If it’s alright with you…I would like see you open it later.”

“Yeah, yeah, totally.” Vinyl agreed as she stepped back inside. She always hated waiting to open presents, but this year waiting was best, especially for her big date night finish. “You wanna come in for a sec? I’m gonna put this upstairs.”

“That would be nice. Thank you, Vinyl.” Octavia politely nodded and followed her into the living room. 

“Be right back.” Vinyl jogged up the stairs to her room before placing Octavia’s gift beside her own on her bed. It wasn’t the best looking holiday spread, but Vinyl had to take a moment to appreciate it. It wasn’t their first Christmas as a couple, but it was their first Christmas together, and the gifts next to each other made Vinyl feel all warm and fuzzy inside. 

“Um…Vinyl?” Octavia asked from her bedroom door. 

Vinyl immediately kicked a large pile of intimates under her bed and turned to face her. “O-Oh, hey, u-uh…sorry about the mess. I kinda went a little crazy earlier.”

Octavia shook her head with a smile before glancing around the room. “It’s quite alright. Before we go…I wanted to ask you for a small favor.”

“What’s that?” Right now, I’d do anything you want. 

“I…well, it seems I left my jacket at home. I don’t suppose…I could borrow one from you, could I?” Octavia’s face turned a bit pleading.

Damnnnn you’re cute… Vinyl nodded as she scooped up a couple articles of clothing from the floor. “Yeah, totally.” She held up a pale white biker style cargo jacket. “Is this ok?”

“It’s perfect. Thank you.” Octavia gratefully took it and slid her arms inside before buttoning it up. She smiled up at Vinyl and carefully stood on her tip toes to kiss her cheek.

Whoa…Tavi is super sweet today. I’m loving this! Vinyl smiled back with a deep blush. And she even looks better in my jacket than I do…

“Um…” Octavia motioned towards her bedroom door. “Shall we depart?”

Vinyl wasn’t sure what that word meant at first, but she was getting better at figuring out all of Octavia’s fancy words. “Yeah. Good idea.” 

After heading back downstairs, the two girls headed out the front door. Vinyl made sure to lock up before hopping the few steps onto the sidewalk. She reached into her hoodie pocket for her favorite sunglasses, and Octavia fell in step with her as they headed towards the bus stop. The two pressed their shoulders together with an exchange of smiles. “So, if I understood your text correctly, you have quite the day planned for us?” Octavia asked as she tucked her arms into her jacket to combat the cold.

“Well, we’re not, like, going to the moon or anything, but yeah. There’s a couple things I wanna do with you today.” Vinyl blushed slightly as she replayed her own words in her head. More than a couple…actually. ‘U-Uh…I figured we could see a movie and hang out somewhere…you know, nothing major. Just as long as we’re doing stuff together…and stuff…”

“That sounds really wonderful, Vinyl. Thank you.” Octavia beamed up at her. “Would…your plans possibly include hot cocoa?”

“Um…yeah, if you want.” Vinyl nodded as they rounded a corner. “I’m sure any coffee shop downtown’s probably serving hot cocoa. We can totally get some.”

“I’d…really like that. Thank you.” Octavia lowered one arm and brushed her fingers against Vinyl’s side. 

It took the DJ more than enough time to figure out what she was trying to do before squeezing and interlocking their fingers together. Octavia again beamed up at her before turning towards the end of the street. The warmth of her soft palm radiated up Vinyl’s arm and to her neck, the nervous excitement of their physical contact making the chill of December almost unnoticeable. Tavi…you’re being extra cute today. Vinyl felt her jitters intensify, and a desire to suddenly kiss Octavia rose in tandem. She wanted desperately to pull her close to her chest and lay a big fat one on her lips, even out in the open like this wasn’t going to stop her. Just getting to feel Octavia’s warmth against her own body was all she could think about right now… 

Dude…cool it. Vinyl internally scolded herself. She felt Octavia wiggle her fingers in her own, and she took a deep breath as quietly as possible. Just…say something. Talk about something…anything! “So, uhh…how was…your morning?” Vinyl felt like pinching herself. How was your morning? Yeah, real smooth.

“It was very uneventful, but…thank you for asking.” Octavia’s face turned solemn for a moment. “Truthfully, you’re the first person I’ve talked to today…” Octavia began to smile again as she glanced up at her. “…and I’m quite happy about that.”

Vinyl felt Octavia’s thumb rub against her wrist, and she instinctively squeezed her fingers tighter. Aw, come on, babe… You’re killing me… “Wow…uh…really?” Vinyl asked with equal parts genuine surprise and nervous interest. “Are…all your maids and stuff taking a break right now?”

“Many of them are.” Octavia nodded, squeezing back on Vinyl’s palm. “With the…with the absence of my mother, many of the staff have left their posts. Apparently…she’s the one who kept them busy.”

For pete’s sake, V. Vinyl bit her tongue. You got her talking about her mom now. What’s wrong with you?!

“And with my father overseas…”

Vinyl, you freaking idiot…

“…my home feels quite bare. It’s a strange feeling, really. It’s as if I have my own home.” Octavia giggled softly as she wiggled her fingers again. “I wonder if I should attend a city counsel meeting now that I’m the only Melody in Melody Manor.”

Whew…that was close… Vinyl breathed an audible sigh of relief as she returned the smile, very grateful to see Octavia looking relaxed. “It gets like that for me sometimes too. Mom works graveyard back to back with her normal shift once in a while, and I can get away with sneaking a couple sips.” Vinyl giggledd a little and shrugged. “I’m pretty sure she knows though…”

“Your mother is quite sharp.” Octavia said with a quiet giggle. “How is she doing? I don’t think I’ve seen her for quite some time.”

“She’s good. Always pretty busy, but never more than a text away.” Vinyl gave into her sudden compulsion to rub her thumb against Octavia’s wrist seeing as how the cellist did it first. “She did do something kinda weird last week though.”

“Oh?” Octavia’s blushed returned, this time a bit deeper, and Vinyl could feel her fingers squeeze tighter than before. 

“Yeah, she bought a really beat up car for some reason. Said she wants to turn it into something, but I dunno what.” Vinyl peered down the street to see the bus stop far off in the distance. 

“Perhaps she bought it for you.” Octavia remarked, pressing herself firmly against Vinyl’s shoulder as a gust of wind blew past them. 

Easy there, V… “Uh…yeah, maybe. I can’t drive yet though.” She took another deep breath as Octavia’s hair brushed against her face. “But I guess it’s not impossible. That’d actually…be pretty cool. Stick an amp in that thing with a new deck and I could totally jam my tunes on the road.”

Octavia giggled up at her a bit louder this time, and although the wind had died down, Vinyl could still feel the cellist’s body pressing firmly against her side. “I could easily imagine you doing such a thing, Vinyl.”

I’m imagining a lot of other stuff I could do too… Vinyl’s head snapped to attention as she made a begrudging realization. Damn it...Lyra’s kinda right…I am a bit of a horndog.


-o0o-


With the holiday season came big name family-friendly blockbusters. Good thing too, considering Octavia wasn’t much into hardcore action or horror flicks. After seeing a couple previews on line over the past month about a new animated film that had cool tech stuff and a little action, Vinyl thought it’d be perfect for a big date. Octavia might like it, and Vinyl had a feeling she wouldn’t completely hate it. Even if she did, it didn’t matter all that much. Going to the movies with Octavia was a very guilty pleasure for a completely different reason. Each outing to the theater gave Vinyl the opportunity to snuggle up close to her cellist, no looming or curious eyes, and no interruption until the movie ended. Sure, Vinyl could just snuggle up with her at home, but she could only do that so many times before Octavia might end up getting uncomfortable. It took every fiber of her being to take things as slow as possible, and she was sure it was for the best.

It had been a little ways into the movie when Vinyl finally put an arm around Octavia, and as she expected, Octavia curled up into her side with a smile. With an arm draped around her shoulder, she watched the movie with surprisingly genuine amusement. The tall egg shaped robot was actually funny, and Octavia seemed to like it too since she giggled at the same times as Vinyl. With each giggle, Octavia would snuggle deeper into her side, and there came a point during the movie when Vinyl could no longer pay attention. All of her focus was on the happy bundle of joy next to her, and she was totally cool with it. 

Once the movie ended, most everyone in the audience rose from their seats. Only a handful of people remained seated, including the two musicians. The lights in the theater filled the room with a dim light, and both girls exchanged smiles, neither wanted to break the contact of their comfortable embrace just yet. As a few more stragglers left, Vinyl found herself squeezing her arm around Octavia’s shoulders, gently nuzzling her nose into the top of her head. 

Octavia giggled very softly as she slowly turned to face her, their noses almost touching as a blush matched each other’s faces. “V-Vinyl…” The cellist whispered.

“Y-Yeah?” Vinyl replied just as quietly with a big smile. “What’s up, Tavi?”

Octavia slowly shook her head. “Mn…n-nothing…but…I was wondering if before we left…” She cast her eyes down to the small bucket of popcorn on Vinyl’s lap. 

“W-Wait…really?” Vinyl’s eyes grew wide as she shifted a bit in her seat.

“W-Well…I don’t want to press…the matter…if you don’t want me to.” Octavia shook her head again. “It’s…probably not the most appropriate time, I know…”

“N-No, no, it’s all good…it’s all good, babe.” Vinyl quickly nodded before glancing to the side for a moment. Octavia began to smile again before closing her eyes, and Vinyl immediately leaned forward. Her hands gripped Octavia’s shoulders firmly, causing both girls to tense up and hold their breath. Their lips contacted for a moment before both girls began giggling. Vinyl wasn’t exactly sure why the cellist was being so affectionate today, but if this was Octavia’s new holiday spirit, then she had zero complaints. A tingling mix of giddiness excitement and nervous embarrassment caused the tips of her ears to tingle, and it was dangerous how good it felt. 

“Thank you…” Octavia suddenly whispered, her words only understood because Vinyl could half read her lips. 

“Y-Yeah…totally…” Vinyl whispered back. I’m pretty sure I’m the one who should be thanking you right now… “S-So, u-uh…we should probably get going…” She glanced around the theater again to see an usher pushing a big trash can up the aisle. 

“Y-Yes…you’re right.” Octavia sighed softly as she removed herself from Vinyl’s arms.  She slowly stood and brushed a couple kernels off the front of her skirt. 

Vinyl stood after her and took a very deep breath as quietly as she could. Her heart was still racing, and she was still partially suspended in disbelief. She had a feeling tonight would go well, but she hadn’t counted on things getting this good this fast. Despite the fuel of caffeine for breakfast that morning, Vinyl was slightly worried she couldn’t keep up without tripping over herself and doing something really stupid. Just…hold…your…crap…together... Or maybe at the very least wait until you get home to do something stupid…

They exited the theater without saying anything, mostly due to a crowded and noisy lobby. Once they made it outside, the volume died down, but the cold chill of December had gotten worse. The sun was already on its descent, and Vinyl began to resent not taking a heavier jacket to wear. At least Tavi’s ok in my jacket. That’s what’s important. 

“Are…you alright, Vinyl?” Octavia asked next to her on the sidewalk. “You’re not cold, are you?”

“Nah, I’m fine.” Vinyl forced a cocky grin as she shook her head. 

“Oh, Vinyl…” Octavia giggled up at her and reached out to squeeze her hand. “You’re not a very good liar.”

Why does everybody keep saying that? Vinyl was happy to squeeze her hand back, and she felt much better when Octavia pressed her shoulder against her own. “W-Well…I guess I don’t have a whole lot of practice, which is probably a good thing.” She smiled back as she took a step forward down the street. “So…you wanna stop for some cocoa now? I think if we wait any longer, all the coffee shops will be closed.”

“Oh? Then yes, I would love that.” Octavia replied with a nod. “Are there any coffee shops around here?”

“Uh…there’s one a block over, one way up the street, and a really nice one by the next bus stop a few minutes from here. That one has tons of great cupcakes and muffins too, and their mochas are crazy good. Dunno about their hot cocoa, but it’s gotta be just as good.”

“That sounds lovely. Yes please.” Octavia nodded again and offered the DJ a delightful smile as she pulled Vinyl’s hand in her fingers up to her chest.

Taviiii…stop being so cuuute! Vinyl couldn’t help but chuckle loudly as she wrapped an arm around Octavia’s shoulder. “You are just too much sometimes, babe.” Octavia blushed at the compliment and looked down with a sheepish smile as Vinyl began leading her towards the bus stop. The warmth of Octavia’s form was once again keeping her warm against the elements as she weaved their way through other pedestrians, and although it felt nice, Vinyl was looking forward to the comfort of the heated bus. She was relieved to see it approaching from down the street, but it dawned on her that they had yet to make it to the stop. Oh crap! “Hey, Tavi? Really sorry about this!” As the bus passed them by, Vinyl began weaving in and out of pedestrian traffic as fast as possible. She could hear Octavia giggling behind her, relieved to know she wasn’t distraught by the sudden exertion. In fact, Vinyl was impressed. Octavia seemed to be keeping up pretty well, and she didn’t look like it was bothering her at all. Guess we are getting something out of gym class after all. The cellist’s quick feet and abundantly joyful smile were a stark contrast to a time before their relationship started, and Vinyl felt just as happy to be a part of that change. 

In a whirlwind of youthful energy, both girls leapt aboard the bus moments before departure before taking a seat in the back. The bus began moving down the street as each girl caught their breath. “You’re getting a lot better at this whole city-girl stuff.” Vinyl noted. “If you knock a few people over later, you just might be the real deal.”

“Silly as always, Vinyl.” Octavia giggled as she scooted closer to her. “I think I’ll leave the knocking over to you tonight.”

There’s a dirty joke in there somewhere. Vinyl giggled back with a smirk as she put a hand on Octavia’s knee. “You know…I say this kinda stuff all the time, but…you look really cute today.” Vinyl blushed a bit as she combed her wild hair back. “You’re totally pulling off the whole relaxed-casual thing.”

“Charming as always as well...” Octavia blushed back and shuffled her feet against the floor for a moment. “You…also look rather lovely.”

“Heh…thanks, babe.” Vinyl paused for a moment before turning her entire body to face Octavia, and her expression became a bit more serious. “H-Hey…I was kinda wondering something.”

“Yes?” Octavia looked up at her with fully captive attention. 

“U-Uhh…” Vinyl slowly rubbed the back of her head as she broke eye contact. “I noticed you’re kinda…all up on me tonight. I mean, don’t get me wrong or anything. It’s totally wicked cool. I’m loving it, but…I mean…you don’t have to if you don’t wanna.”

“P-Pardon?” Octavia looked genuinely confused, and Vinyl knew there was a chance she might accidently hurt her feelings somehow. 

“W-Well…I guess…before we go anywhere else and the night goes on…I just wanna make sure you’re not…you know, forcing yourself to be all kissy and...whatever.” Vinyl’s face was now beat red, and she knew too well that hiding it was not an option. 

“I-I…I see…” Octavia dropped her gaze as the smile left her face. “…V-Vinyl, I am so sorry if my…my behavior has been worrying you this evening. Y-You’re right, I-I…I have been noticeably more…affectionate today than usual.” 

“And that’s totally cool with me, babe. Totally!” Vinyl eagerly interjected, much louder than necessary. “I got no problem with it at all, but I just…wanna make sure you’re good with it too.” Octavia didn’t reply, and even after a couple long moments of anxious silence, Vinyl was beginning to wonder just how much damage her question had done. Ohhh…damn-it… I screwed this one up bad… Every few seconds, Vinyl’s heart would race as Octavia raised her head to speak, but each time she said nothing. It was pretty obvious there was something she wanted to say, but Vinyl wasn’t sure if that was good thing or a bad thing. Great, V… You made it through one movie and now you ruined the date.

“There is…” Octavia suddenly spoke up, startling Vinyl from her thoughts. “…something I want to ask you as well, but…not here.”

“O-Ok… Sure thing.” Vinyl slowly nodded as she mentally debated whether or not to withdraw her hand from Octavia’s knee. “Wanna…talk about it at the coffee shop?” The only reply she received in return was a slight nod. This made Vinyl breathe a small sigh of relief. 

They arrived at the next stop a couple painful minutes of silence later. Still, Vinyl kept some hope in her heart alive. She didn’t scoot away from me or anything, so…yeah, that’s something I guess. The doors opened, and Vinyl had to swiftly disembark with Octavia in hand to avoid getting swept back inside from the rush of waiting passengers. The brisk winter breeze made both girls shiver slightly, and Vinyl quickly led her to the coffee shop tucked into a cozy corner of the busy intersection. The interior was pleasantly warm with a delicious mix of different confectionary scents. The coffee shop didn’t quite live up to its description considering the numerous assortments of small treats and wide variety of milkshakes on the menu, but ever since she started high school, Vinyl loved this place. 

“Oh, goodness, Vinyl! This establishment is very festive.” Octavia remarked, their fingers still intertwined. “I can see why you recommended we come here.”

That’s a relief… Tavi doesn’t seem upset right now. Maybe this isn’t such a big deal after all. “Yeah, Sugarcube Corner is pretty great. They’ll put espresso shots in pretty much anything.” Vinyl vaguely recognized a couple other students from school, but unlike her weirdest friend, she didn’t know everybody’s name. “So, uhh…you wanna sit? I can order us some cocoa.”

“I would love to. Is a window seat alright with you?” Octavia slowly unlocked their fingers and took a step away, an action that brought a bit of sadness to the DJ. 

“Yeah, that’s cool.” Vinyl nodded and waited for Octavia to walk towards an empty table before turning to face the counter. A tall slender man with red hair and freckles greeted her before taking her order, and Vinyl was pleasantly surprised to see no reaction when she asked for a couple espresso shots in her cocoa. The curvy salmon haired lady working the steamer was expectedly quick with preparing her order, and as soon as Vinyl’s fingers gripped the two cups of cocoa, she felt the nipping cold lingering in her fingers melt away. The drinks smelled delicious, and Vinyl knew this would help out with whatever difficult conversation was next. 

She sat down across the small table from Octavia and pushed the regular cocoa towards her. “Oh, this smells simply wonderful, Vinyl. Look, there’s a shape of a tree on the surface!” Octavia exclaimed with a giggle. 

“Yeah, they pull out all the stops for Christmas in the big city.” Vinyl eagerly sipped her hot cup to get a taste before blowing across the surface. She patiently waited for Octavia to take her first sip before speaking up again. “So…about what you were saying earlier.”

“R-Right, of course.” Octavia immediately blushed as she licked a tiny line of cream off her upper lip. 

Vinyl put a lot of mental energy into memorizing that image before replying. “H-Hey…Tavi, listen. We don’t have to talk about it. Like I said, I’m happy with it. I’m totally cool with the way things are.”

“I-I…I know, Vinyl. I am too…” Octavia looked down at her cup for a moment. “However…I’ve been wondering something for quite some time now…something about you a-and…w-well, us really.”

“Y-Yeah?” Vinyl swallowed hard. “Did…did I do something weird? I did, didn’t I? I totally did something weird…” Vinyl sighed and palmed her face. 

“No, Vinyl. It’s not that.” Octavia giggled softly and shook her head as she reached out to squeeze the DJ’s free hand. “True…you’re still very odd at times, but I do love that about you.”

Deep down, Vinyl knew this too, but there was always a lingering fear that one day she’d do something weirder than normal and maybe scare Octavia off. If only she knew just how unfathomably deep their love ran. “That’s…really cool, babe. Thanks. That means a lot.”

Octavia smiled very brightly up at her and squeezed her palm. “I’m glad to hear that.”

Once Vinyl felt both of Octavia’s hands squeeze her palm, her eyes grew a little wider in anticipation. The cellist now had her complete undivided attention. “T-Tavi?”

“I-I…I need to ask you something, Vinyl.” Octavia’s expression grew uncharacteristically serious. “…H-How…come you haven’t…tried…anything…with me?”

The peripheral sight in Vinyl’s eyes began to blur, and the only person she could see clearly through her tunnel vision was right in front of her. Her hearing began tuning out all the background noise as the records in her head began spinning all the way to eleven. W-W-WHAT??? Vinyl swallowed painfully hard as she tried to find her voice. Her first words began with a slight crackle as she finally spoke. “W-Well, I-I…I-I didn’t…want to…go too fast and stuff, y-you know? I didn’t wanna jump into anything and, l-like, freak you out or w-whatever…”

Octavia’s only response was a brief “I see…”

“I-I mean…” Vinyl began laughing very nervously. “…don’t get me wrong. You’re a total babe! I totally would have done stuff!” Vinyl immediately shut her mouth and used her free hand to cover her lips as her cheeks turned bright pink. In her own head, she could hear the taunting laughter and teasing that Lyra was probably holding back. If she ever found out about this conversation… 

Octavia began blushing very intensely as her lips parted into an embarrassed smile, and her eyes drifted away for a moment towards the window. “T-Thank you…Vinyl… That’s all I wanted to hear.”

Now more baffled than ever, Vinyl gasped softly. “R-Really?”

With a slight nod, Octavia began shifting in her seat as if overcome with jitters. She eventually stopped when she finally met Vinyl’s eyes again. “…I…read some informative things on the internet about…kissing. Y-You see…I’ve been wondering if I’d been kissing right.” Octavia frowned slightly as she began staring at the now missing tree from the surface of her cocoa. “We…don’t kiss often…so I feared I was doing it wrong.”

Is…that the impression I gave her? Have…I actually been taking things TOO slow? Vinyl placed her free hand on top of Octavia’s wrist and squeezed. “T-Tavi…I-I…I-I didn’t…” Her words were so caught up in her throat that only her lips formed the letters. 

Octavia didn’t see or hear her speak, proceeding to continue with her story. “After a few…rather, um…proactive hours on my computer…I felt like I had learned a great deal.” She slowly brought her gaze back up, causing Vinyl to hold her breath as their eyes met. “…I-I know…you…probably don’t want to do this with me, b-but…I was wondering if perhaps…” She took a deep breath and gripped Vinyl’s palm as tightly as possible. “...w-we…could…try new t-things together.”

Vinyl exhaled loudly, the rapid beating of her heart a silent scream for oxygen. She ran a hand through her wild electric blue hair as her face turned completely pink with only the tips of her ears and nose visibly white. “W-Well, y-yeah…I-I think that’s a freaking a-awesome idea!” Vinyl nodded as she squeezed both of Octavia’s hands in her fingers while speaking in a loud whisper. “I-I…just can’t believe that…this is actually happening. I totally thought that taking things really slow would be the best thing for us, but… Tavi, I am really sorry. I didn’t know you felt this way…”

Octavia’s eyes lit up in surprise, and she began beaming her adorably joyful smile again. “Y-You really mean that, Vinyl? Y-You’re not just saying that because it’s something I want, a-are you?”

“Noooo, no, no nononono...” Vinyl adamantly shook her head and began laughing. She brought Octavia’s hands up to her face and kissed her knuckles. “I-I’m…I’m…I’m super dead totally serious right now, babe. I...I’ve been wanting to take things a little further for a really long time now!” In reality, it was more than just a little further, but Vinyl did have enough sense not to say as much. Much to her surprise, Octavia suddenly stood from her seat. Equally to her surprise, Vinyl felt compelled to do the same. The cellist then proceeded to squeeze her arms around Vinyl’s waist as tightly as she could, and Vinyl held her very close as she stumbled back a step from the sudden contact. 


-o0o-


By the time Vinyl and Octavia made it to the last bus stop on their route, the sun had begun to dip past the horizon. The cold of the night was already setting in, making the winter chill worse than earlier. However, neither girl even slightly noticed. A strong mix of nervous energy and excitement allowed them to share a pleasant warmth that circulated between their interlocked arms. With each step closer to Vinyl’s home, the DJ could feel her heart beat quicken faster and faster. It was difficult to say how much of her rapid pulse was caused by the caffeine or the anticipation of a next level kiss, but that made no difference to Vinyl’s focus. The thought of getting to SOME deeper level of intimacy in their relationship was more than enough to send the butterflies in her tummy into panicked flight patterns. 

There was just one other little thing Vinyl had to think about. Waiting behind her front door was a surprise that had been planned for weeks, and as much as she was looking forward to it, Vinyl also knew that their shared anticipation to display affection might have to wait if they went inside right away. So, during the last leg of their walk, Vinyl spent the silence of the trip brainstorming. We could go into the bathroom. She thought in haste. Uh…or not. That’d be super weird. Ok, maybe my room… No, not much better… It’s still a total mess in there. Vinyl could start to make out the numbers on her front door, and she began to slow her pace just as Octavia began to quicken her steps. Wait…

Octavia stopped to turn back to her. She squeezed Vinyl’s arm to her chest and gave her a concerned look. “I-Is…everything a-alright, Vinyl?” It was pretty obvious she was just as nervous. 

Vinyl turned to face her and put both hands on her shoulders. “Tavi…uh…” She began blushing again, a warmth moving up her neck to her ears and nose like before. “Before we go inside…I…I…” She took a deep breath and bit her lip to keep from stuttering more. “…I was thinking that maybe right now…”

Octavia’s face began to match hers in color, and she brought a hand up to her lips as her eyes grew wide. “O-Oh, y-you mean to s-say…r-right now?”

“Uhhhhhh…” Vinyl nodded as her lips parted into a massive embarrassed smile. “Y-Yeah, y-you know…to warmth things up…or w-whatever.” Dude…you really are a craptastic liar.

Octavia didn’t respond immediately. Instead, she shifted her feet nervously as her shaky hands slowly found Vinyl’s waist. Once her fingers gripped the hem of Vinyl’s hoodie, she raised her gaze to give her DJ a nod. “I-I’d…love that…”

Whoa…holy crap. That actually worked??? Vinyl felt her shoulders stiffen up as Octavia’s fingers walked a few inches around her waist. She gingerly put both of her arms around the cellist’s shoulders as she stepped ever closer. Her lips parted to say something, anything to move things forward, but all she could do was hold her breath. Octavia looked even more flustered than Vinyl felt, but she held her ground and waited patiently. The longer Vinyl stared into Octavia’s deep violet eyes, her embarrassed hesitation began to melt away as a deep longing began to tighten her chest. She felt strength returning to her limbs as her fingers squeezed Octavia’s shoulders, and after gathering her courage, Vinyl leaned forward to close the distance.

Their lips met, and Vinyl experienced the usual and expected radiant warmth envelope her like every other kiss they shared. This time, however, both girls prolonged the contact. Their embrace tightened around each other, and Vinyl began to worry the enveloping warmth might become too great. She could feel her heart painfully pounding in her chest, and her knees began to shake like having endured another gym class circuit run. As much as she hated hard exercise without loud music and caffeine, Vinyl had no desire to pull away. It was difficult to say, but Vinyl could swear she could feel Octavia’s heartbeat pulsing against her lips. It felt very inviting, almost as if adding a hint of flavor to the kiss each time. Their lips began making very quiet little smacking noises each time either girl had to take a short breath. During that interval, Vinyl felt incredibly content to stay like this, enjoying Octavia’s warmth through all of her five senses

Quiet suddenly and without warning, Vinyl began experiencing something that caused her to open her eyes. She almost couldn’t believe it, but there was no denying it. Is…is she trying to use tongue? It was a ridiculous question to ask considering the answer was literally on the tip of her tongue, but Vinyl was a little hesitant to open her mouth unless she was completely one hundred percent without a doubt certain. Whoa…ok, yeah…no, yeah, yeah…yeah…it’s really happening… Octavia’s tongue gently flicked the very point of her upper lip, causing her to instinctively open her mouth. Whoa! What website is that from?!?!? Vinyl squeezed her fingers hard around Octavia’s shoulders as she began to press forward, understanding now that since she accepted the invitation, she might as well commit. 

What happened next during their embrace, Vinyl could never quite recall. Her memory of this moment, from thereon out, would always be hazy. Bits and pieces of it would stick like the very audible wet noises and the overwhelming heat of the kiss, but the one thing she was sure of was how the embrace made her feel. 

Vinyl had never been a stranger to going out in the world and exploring, trying new things, and making new experiences. Her quest for the perfect beat or her journey to find the best party ever would stick with her for a very long time, but nothing in her entire life had ever given her such a complete sense of soul completing fulfillment as Octavia’s kiss. She had no way of describing this feeling yet, but as their kiss became even deeper, Vinyl began to wonder if she could get lost in the moment and never turn back. No word she had ever learned could fully capture the feeling of Octavia’s heartfelt embrace, but there was some real magic here. It was magic she had first caught a glimpse of during her first freshman music class. The moment her eyes saw the lonely dark haired cellist sitting in front row, Vinyl began to regain some of her faith in magic that she had lost in middle school. It had always been there, but with each and every day she spent with Octavia, she was continuously surprised by how brighter and more vibrant the magic they shared became. Blissfully long minutes rolled by, and for a brief period, Vinyl really did let herself become lost in the experience. She became aware of nothing around her and forgot everything she ever knew, including her own name. 

Then, just as suddenly as Octavia’s invitation, Vinyl felt a tangible shooting pain in her chest. Her eyes slowly opened, and her mind pulled out of its stupor to regain control. Her body moved on its own, pulling back from the kiss as a massive breath of icy cold air filled her lungs. She began panting, and as oxygen returned to her brain, she realized that Octavia was doing the same. Their arms still held each other together as they caught their breath, and as they began to relax, both girls smiled very warmly at each other with rosy cheeks. Their smiles were unique among most, completely genuine and filled with real love that seemed to radiate from their physical forms. 

“W-Who-oa…” Vinyl exhaled softly in a hoarse whisper. “T-Tavi…”

Octavia merely gave a slow nod. “V-Vinyl…”

There came a flash of pure white light from the living room window, and both girls turned towards the house as they heard faint whispers from behind the front door. Under normal circumstances, Vinyl would’ve probably been pretty mad, but she was actually a little grateful for the reminder of what waited inside. “O-Ohhh, uh…that’s right.”

“Is…someone in your home?” Octavia asked with concern.

“Uh…yeah…” But they kinda ruined the whole damn surprise. Super. Vinyl sighed loudly as she unlocked her front door. They very instant the tumblers in the lock engaged the key, the front door blew open. 

“MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!” A pink haired, life-sized firework jumped out from the doorway. To say her appearance was festive could not be more of an understatement. A seemingly permanent smile connected her lips to her cheeks as she hopped into the air and nearly tackled Octavia to the ground. She spun the confused cellist around in a circle before carrying her inside like a repairman carrying a ladder. All the while, Octavia screamed in surprise before getting tossed onto the couch. Vinyl followed after them as all the lights in the house came on to reveal a completely different home from earlier that afternoon. Someone REALLY liked tinsel and streamers. 

Vinyl immediately turned to the girl by the living room window and proceeded her to show her just how nice her middle finger was doing. Lyra was happy to return the gesture while snickering loudly, her phone in her other hand. Bon Bon stood behind her, shaking her head yet smiling with amusement. In the middle of the living room was her mother, her silver hair sported nearly the same as her own and an equally amused smile on her face. It was pretty obvious she had seen everything too, but Vinyl felt weirdly lucky to have a cool enough mom that let her bat a strong base hit on her front lawn. 

“Vinyl!” Octavia exclaimed in a panicked laugh. “What is the meaning of this???”

Vinyl turned to her and shrugged with a smirk across her face. “Merry Christmas, babe!”
> The Fifth Wheel
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Yes!”

Vinyl slid her phone from the pocket of her white zip-up hoodie as she awkwardly stuffed her ridiculously shaped blue plastic spoonful of extremely sugar laden cereal into her mouth. The loud crunching, the dripping milk from her chin and spoon, and her total lack of spatial awareness as she demolished her cereal caused her mother to sigh heavily and put her no-spill thermos full of coffee down on the kitchen counter. “Vine, can you get some of that in your mouth next time? I swear, the older you get, the more you eat like a toddler.”

“Yes!”

“And slow down! With those energy drinks you chug everyday, I can’t understand how you’re so hungry all the time.” 

With tremendous effort, Vinyl looked up from her phone to meet her mother’s gaze. Instead of wiping her mouth with something appropriate like a paper towel or napkin, Vinyl chose the more eco-friendly option of loudly slurping the dribble of milk going down her chin with such force that her entire back arched. “Yeah, sorry mom.” 

As Silver glanced down at the face of Vinyl’s phone, she scowled slightly, perhaps in disappointment to see her daughter so engrossed by an image of an angry cat face with its head shaking and mouth scrunched up. “This is why you can’t even eat with your mouth over the bowl?”

“Yes!” 

A message notification popped up on screen, covering the cat’s forehead. Vinyl immediately snatched up the phone and slid her now wet finger across the screen. It took several tries to unlock it, but she was rewarded with something that caused her to giggle, making her spill milk in a dribble down her chin onto the counter. “Oh come on, Vine!” Silver, exclaimed as she grabbed a paper towel and started wiping the surrounding surface. “You’re old enough for a driver’s permit, and you can’t even eat like a normal human being.”

“Sorry, mom. It’s just, I started showing memes to Tavi, and she’s putting these funny filters around them. See?” Vinyl holds up her phone to Silver. There’s an undeniable excitement and adoration in her eyes as she explains the situation. 

With an even bigger sigh and a long roll of her eyes, Silver grabs another paper towel and wipes her daughter’s face, earning her a complaining whine from Vinyl. “When I was your age, we used to give each other candy or pick flowers.”

Vinyl hurriedly defends herself by turning her head away and wiping her face herself with the back of her hand. “Yeah right, you? Flowers? I call bull.” She shakes her head and starts pouring more cereal into her bowl.

“Oh no no no you don’t! That’s your third bowl, and you need to eat something decent.” She quickly snatched the bowl up and dumped the contents in the sink before retrieving a banana from the fridge. “Here, eat this. You need something with vitamins.”

“Oh gross. Who eats the top of a banana split by itself?” Vinyl whines as she dramatically reels back from the sight of the fruit. “That’s like drinking orange juice by itself without the vodka.”

“Yes!” Vinyl’s phone exclaimed in agreement as it frantically vibrated itself off the counter. 

“UGHH…” Silver palms her face and slides her fingers through her naturally glistening silver hair. “Well, at least you're not failing any of your classes.” She says as she watches Vinyl fall out of her stool while reaching for her phone. “And is that her voice as your ringtone?”

“What?” Vinyl asks as she pops her head up while climbing back onto her stool. Her electric blue hair now scattered about every which way until she finally combed it to one side only after checking her phone again. “Oh, you mean Tavi’s?” With a rapidly growing blush across her face, Vinyl began straightening herself up with a nervous forced giggle. “Uhhh...heh...yeah that’s her voice. I forgot I left that on. Didn’t want to miss any of her messages.”

With a slow shake of her head and grin across her face, Silver picks her coffee back up and gives her daughter’s hair a wild ruffling. “It’s really cute how much you love that girl.”

“Moooom!” Vinyl quickly fends off her mother’s attack and frantically fixes her hair, taking careful consideration to keep her favorite pair of sunglasses perfectly square atop her head. “Don’t say stuff like that...It’s weird.”

“You better finish getting dressed before you miss the bus.” Silver says as she checks her watch. “I have a long double shift today, but I’ll be home all day tomorrow. If you need anything, message me tonight, and I’ll pick it up on my home in the morning.” With another roll of her eyes, Silver steps out of the kitchen towards the front door. “And don’t forget to give Tavi back her laundry I found in the drier.”

“MOOOM!!” Vinyl, now nearly petrified with embarrassment, quickly pulls her sunglasses over her eyes and stiffly gets up from the kitchen counter. She quickly marches towards the stairs of their small house, banana in hand, the hood of her sweater over her head, and nothing else on other than striped knee high socks with a firework pattern on them and a pair of pink and blue intimates that sported a screaming unicorn blasting rainbow lazer beams all across her rear end. If the clash of colors was any indication, at least her mother was relieved her daughter did at least plan to put something else on too.

Vinyl could hear her mother laugh as she exited the front door, but her blush continued to burn her cheeks and tingle her ears with the same intensity. She immediately went to her room and found a purple skirt to shove herself into very hurriedly. She had found the skirt on sale one day during Christmas break while shopping for different amplifier plugs at the music store, and as soon as the reflection of her matching colored sunglasses met the skirt on display, she knew it had to be hers. Now, this particular skirt was one of her favorites since Octavia happened to compliment on their first day back to school. 

As soon as she remembered back on that moment, Vinyl began to blush just as intensely again. “Accckkk!” Although totally alone, Vinyl pulled her hoodie over her eyes, making her sunglasses fall onto the floor in front of her. I do love that girl...damn do I love that girl… 

“Yes!”

“AHH!” Vinyl nearly fell back onto her bed as her phone decided to be a hot potato in her hands. She fumbled her phone back into her hands after heartlessly letting the banana fall onto the sheets. Once she managed to open the lock screen, she was greeted by another revision of the cat meme, this time with a heart filter that read DAMN UR CUTE. “Awww..” Vinyl immediately sent back a few heart eyed faces in response. She pulled her hoodie off her head and closed the messaging app to stare longingly at her custom home screen of Octavia giving her a little peck on the cheek with both of them looking at the camera. Lyra just so happened to be in the background holding a lunch tray as a shield and a ruler as a sword while standing on the lunch table, yelling at the ceiling. At the end of the lunch table was Bon Bon, eating her chicken salad with an impressive level of indifference. Seems as though she’s gotten quite used to Lyra’s antics.

A knock on the front door snapped Vinyl’s eyes away from her phone towards the stairs down the all. She slid her phone back into her hoodie pocket and began approaching the stairs cautiously. The knock wasn’t unnerving because of how early it was in the morning, but by the fact that it kept to a rhythm and didn’t stop. If fact, it sounded a little familiar, which only made it slightly disarming. 

It wasn’t until Vinyl heard an even more familiar voice yell out “MYYYY SHARONA!” did Vinyl breathe a sigh of relief and walk downstairs to the door. During mid intro, Vinyl swung the door open and was greeted by Lyra with arm raised, poised to hit the door again.

“Hey, V! Ready for school?” Lyra asked with a ridiculously carefree smile. Her hair had grown out even more over winter break, now slightly above her waist. A very warm looking pair of rose colored ear muffs. She wore a forest green parka that looked perfect for the icy cold evidenced by her visible breath. A frilly blue skirt covered her bottom while a pair of cozy looking orange leg warmers that matched her eyes also made Vinyl very aware of the bitter cold entering the open door and assaulting her lack of layers. 

“Get inside before I freeze my nuts off, dude.” Vinyl said as she pulled Lyra inside and shut the door as quickly as she could. A disorienting shiver nearly buckled her knees before she stuffed her feet into her low cut tattered skate shoes and slid her arms into her bright red fleece jacket. “And don’t bang on my door like that! I was in the middle of getting dressed and almost fell down in my underwear!” 

“Well you would’ve been one sexy patient for Octavia to visit in the hospital then.” Lyra retorted without any reservation or shame. “Besides, you were supposed to meet me at my house today, not the other way around. Figured this way at least you won’t forget to give me back my mic.”

Vinyl’s eyes grow wide in realization before she nods her head. “Ohhh right right, yeah sorry I totally would’ve forgotten if you didn’t remind me.” She turns back towards the stairs and slowly jogs up to her room with Lyra in tow.

“Spending all morning texting Octavia, huh?”

“W-What? No, no I didn’t that at all. I was talking to my mom, actually. About her shift at work and stuff.” 

“Oh, your mom gonna be gone all night again? We should totally all sleep over tonight. She still have any of that green apple vodka?”

They both enter Vinyl’s room, clothes and cables for musical equipment all kicked to one side of the room with a small foot traffic heavy trail through the mess leading to the bed. “You not supposed to know about that, so stop bringing it up everytime you’re here. One of these days, my mom is gonna overhear.”

“I’m not so sure that’s exactly what you’re worried about your mom overhearing.” Lyra snickers as she sits on Vinyl’s bed and starts bouncing up and down, making the bed springs creak a bit. She then, in her best yet crude imitation of Octavia’s accent, screams out “Oh, Viiiiinyl! Oh Viiiinyl! Aye-um almost air!” The banana so easily forgot now sprang up and smacked Lyra in the face. “What the…” With an abrupt smirk and a loud giggle, Lyra held the banana up. “I’m not that far off, am I?”

Damn it… “N-No, dude it’s...whatever, just give me that!” Vinyl scowled and blushed with angry embarrassment as she began shoving scattered but barely used textbooks into her backpack, almost making the mistake of putting the banana in first. “Real innapropes. We’ve only ever kissed. That’s it. Plus, you’re gonna make my neighbors think weird stuff if you keep that up.”

“Oh relax, V. Everyone’s at or on their way to work. Oh hey, my mic.” She unplugs a somewhat sturdy portable usb microphone from Vinyl’s laptop beside her pillow and wraps the cable around the body of the device. “You like it? It captures a lot of sound in one direction, so you don’t pick up a lot of stuff in the background.”

“Yeah, I was kinda surprised. Seems like a pretty good buy for what it is. I might have to get one.” She recalls why Lyra bought the microphone. “You still like playing the harp?”

Lyra gets up from the bed and follows Vinyl out of her room back downstairs to the front door. “Yeah it’s pretty fun. Honestly never wanted to play anything until I started playing it in music class before the summer. That and my parents were like, freaking out that I was actually interested in something that they bought one online. Sort of a beginners one with colored strings and stuff, but I like it.”

“I was kinda surprised too. Well, that and you totally changed your look over the summer.” Vinyl says as she locks the front door and begins walking to the bus stop with Lyra beside her, both of them with their hands conserving warmth in the pockets of their overcoats. 

“Pretty sure I told you why I did that, I think.”

“Yeah, you did. Trust me, I was there for that and you dragged me all over the mall looking for a new wardrobe as if I know alot about chick fashion.” Vinyl says with a giggle, happy to enjoy her friend’s embarrassment for a change and not the other way around as usual. This subject, however, Vinyl would never tease her about. She knew it took some real courage for Lyra to approach her about it. “I didn’t know you could be such a romantic, Lye.”

“Don’t call me that, V.” This time, it was Lyra’s turn to blush as she put her the oversized sleeves of her parka over her face. “O-Only Bon Bon gets to call me that. How would you feel if I started saying ‘Tavi’?”

“I’m just teasing you, dude.” Vinyl said with another giggle. “But I mean, you really classed up. Was it because I started getting all lovey dovey over Tavi when she showed up?”

“W-What? No, I mean, I don’t know…” Lyra lowered her hands and adjusted her backpack a bit while kicking a patch of snow from the sidewalk corner into a gutter. “I just wanted to be...cuter. You got Tavi all cute and stuff, and I figured that…” She turned her head to Vinyl, her blush now replaced with an indignant furrowing of her eyebrows as she bumps Vinyl in the shoulder with her own. “You already get it, so stop making me say it.”

“Yeah yeah, alright.” Vinyl let out one last giggle before giving her longest friend a nudge with her elbow. “But dressing more girly like Bon Bon might not be enough.”

“Can we talk about something else, please?” Lyra asked as she drove her hands deeper into her pockets. “Like how your mom is gonna be gone all night and the four of us should totally hang out.”

“Ok ok, fine we can do that, but you gotta bring your controllers with you after school.”

“You don’t want to play spin the bottle?”

“Now you knock it off.”

“Seven minutes in heaven?”

“You’re about to get seven minutes with your face in the snow.” Vinyl says with a slight tingle in her ears. She tried her best to sound agitated, but the wavering little flutter in her voice suggested that she rather enjoyed the idea. That and our longest kiss only lasted like...ten seconds. I mean, I got to touch her butt at least, so that was pretty-

“Really, that’s the best you could come up with?” Lyra asks, breaking Vinyl’s internal contemplation. “You guys have been dating for over a year, and you barely hung out over Christmas break. She might go for it if you ask her.”

Vinyl took much longer to reply to that statement, also suggesting that she may be actually considering the idea. Seven minutes...just straight kissing and feeling her so close and… Her face turned bright red almost instantly as she caught Lyra’s expectant and amused gaze. “W-What? No way! S-She’s way too proper and stuff to...I-I mean, I’m not like that!”

“Mhm. Sure. You just like watching her walk away.” Lyra said, earning herself a snowball down the back of her parka. 


-o0o-


In contrast to the January cold, the inside of Canterlot High was well heated, making nearly every student congregate inside during lunch. This meant each club room, recreational classroom, the cafeteria, and even a few of the hallways were filled with students. The noise of everyone’s conversations would’ve been much too loud if each little group hadn’t spaced themselves out, and Vinyl and her group made sure to do the same. They had found themselves their own unofficial spot at the end of the hallway outside the music room between the instrument storage room and the backdoor to the theater stage. It wasn’t much, but it was perfect for four people and their belongings.

With Vinyl and Octavia sitting very close together facing one door, and Lyra and Bon Bon facing the other, all four girls eagerly ate as they chatted. 

“I’ve read the book, and the pacing makes more sense in the book than the movie.” Bon Bon said as she daintily nibbled on her peanut butter sandwich. “You didn’t even make it through the whole thing, so I don’t know what you’re complaining about.”

Lyra sighs and puts her half eaten yogurt down for a moment. “Well can you just give me like...and idea on how to start the book report? I already sorta skimmed over a wiki on it, but that didn’t even make sense.”

“Here, let me see what you have.” Bon Bon takes the barely started paper from Lyra’s lap and eyes it for a moment. This gives Lyra the welcome opportunity to scooch herself over to her, their thighs almost touching. Bon Bon doesn’t seem to notice, whether that’s a good or bad thing, only she knows. “Ok, soooo...you don’t have a thesis statement, probably because you didn’t even get through the whole plot.”

“I know that, Bonnie...I just need to stretch out like a big part of it for two pages and then fill in the rest with-”

“How much?”

With as much forced surprise as she could muster, Lyra brought her hands up and shook her head. “Oh no, I should probably do this one on my own.”

“Yeah, and if you do that, then I’m gonna get a call the night before and end up doing it for you anyways, so what are you offering?”Bon Bon returned Lyra her paper and apathetically rested her elbow on her knee and her chin in her palm. Wearing her favorite white dress, her long navy blue and fuscia pink hair curled at the ends, and her soft lemon complexion complimented by the same navy blue shade of lipstick, she struck an admirably pretty pose while using a doting expression towards Lyra.

“U-Um…” Lyra quickly turned away, trying to appear very pensive in thought to hide her blush as she nervously tapped a finger to her chin. “I have ten bucks and a half finished punch card to the Sweet Shoppe.”

“I’ll have it done by third period.” Bon Bon said before taking another bite of her peanut butter sandwich.

Vinyl couldn’t help raise an eyebrow as she popped the last fruit chew into her mouth and cracked open a fresh energy drink. “Hey you charged me twenty bucks for my chemistry worksheet.”

“I’m not even in chemistry. I’m taking biology first, so there’s a surcharge for subjects I haven’t taken yet.” Bon Bon flicked a piece of her bread crust at Vinyl’s face. 

Octavia made the most adorable distressed squeak as she shielded her face with her hands. Having taken the most comfortable on the floor possible, between Vinyls legs with her back leaning against Vinyl’s chest, she found herself a civilian casualty of the skirmish. “Oi! Not me, not me!” As the bread crust fell onto her lap, she immediately swept it off onto the floor before brushing any more crumbs off her boldly tight fitting white jeans that she may or may not have taken a liking to after borrowing from Vinyl. She still continued to sport a white blousy dress shirt and purple bow tie that matched her pupils. “Vinyl...you have to protect me. I can’t finish my cucumbers if I’m your human shield.” She said as she tilted her head back and looked up at her with her giant purple eyes. 

Bon Bon, without even turning her head, gave Lyra a smack on the knee, having anticipated some barely witty remark about Octavia’s lunch. “No.”

“What? I didn’t even say anything!” Lyra complained as she overtly dramatically rubbed her knee. 

So cute...damn it… Vinyl swallowed hard on nothing as she blushed. Her pale complexion, as always, betraying her. “S-Sorry, babe. I’ll use my kung-fu next time and rabbit punch the next piece of bread right back at her. If you want, you can have my banana instead.”

Another smack landed on Lyra’s thigh, and the mint haired girl actually had her lips parted that time. “Yep, yep...you were right to do that.” She said as she rubbed the back of her head. 

As a gift to express her gratitude, Octavia brought a slice of cucumber up to Vinyl’s lips. In response, Vinyl happily accepted the gift and squeezed her arms around Octavia’s waist very tightly for a moment. “A-Ack, Vinyl!” Octavia exclaimed as her eyes grew wide from the near strangulating hold. She gasped softly as Vinyl released her hold. Both girls blushed faintly and smile at each other for a long moment. 

“Anywayyyy.” Lyra suddenly spoke up, a faint blush also across her face with a faint expression of jealousy. “Vinyl said she was feeling lonely this morning and wants everyone to stay over at her place tonight.”
“I did not say that, dude!” Vinyl loudly interjected. “But yeah, my mom is working all night tonight, so if you guys wanna hang out, that’s cool with me.”

“On a school night?” Bon Bon asked, raising an eyebrow. “Which made up project are we working on this time?”

“Diorama?” Vinyl suggested.

“We’re not in fourth grade, V.” Lyra said with a roll of her eyes.


“Science project, then?” Bon Bon asked.

“I think we’ve tried that one.” Vinyl admitted. “At least twice this year, and there’s only four of us, so it might be a hard sell for your parents.”

“How about a music project?” Octavia added as she neatly placed her empty plastic bags once containing her lunch into a rather remarkably sensible and functionable looking bento style lunch box bound in the center with a leather strap. Not only did her lunch box of all things speak to her family’s affluence, but it also seemed somewhat old and well cared for. It even had what might possibly be mistaken as some sort of European coat of arms embossed into the leather.

All the girls looked at each other, waiting for someone to interject with a valid reason to shoot the idea down, but none came. “Yeah, I guess that could work, but I don’t play any instruments.” Bon Bon said.

“Didn’t you take piano lessons when you were in middle school?” Lyra asked. “I think we were supposed to play something together that one time for a school play.”

“I guess...but if I tell my parents that, then they might sign me up for lessons again.”

“Whatever’s the matter with that?” Octavia asked. 

“Nothing. I just didn’t like taking lessons after school.” Bon Bon raised her eyes up to the ceiling as she recalled something. “Well, after I met you two and made some friends. It was more fun to just hang out.” 

“Awww.” Lyra slowly wrapped her arms around Bon Bon’s shoulders and hugged as tightly as she can without restricting her breathing. 

“Ok, ok, knock it off….ugh.” Bon Bon complained with a sigh as she turned her head away. Despite putting on airs of annoyance, she offered no resistance to the embrace. In fact, based on the rosey tint of her cheeks, her display of annoyance might suggest a masking of possible enjoyment of the affection. She waited for Lyra to finish the hug before continuing. “What about you, Octavia? Will your dad be ok with it?”

Octavia nodded and blinked hard for a moment as Vinyl brushed a lock of her bangs around her ear before jabbing her girlfriend in the cheek with a finger. “My father wishes for me to stay out of the manor as much as possible while it’s being renovated. Most of the staff are furloughed on half pay, and my father is back overseas.” No one said anything for a moment, choosing to tread lightly on the subject of Octavia’s family. After a moment, Octavia spoke up again. 

“So my house after school?” Vinyl suddenly asked.

“Maybe a couple hours after. I want to stop by the bookstore and drop a few things off at home. Plus, my parents are real sticklers about dirty dishes” Bon Bon said, holding up her plastic tupperware she once housed her lunch in. 

“Works for me.” Lyra said. 

“Yes, your paper.” Bon Bon smiled and rolled her eyes as she got up from the floor and rubbed her legs for a moment. “I’m gonna get to class early before someone takes my favorite lab table.”

“I’ll walk you.” Lyra said almost immediately she jumped up, instantly regretting it as she got a bit lightheaded after sitting for so long. She teetered for a moment as she balanced herself with a hand on Bon Bon’s shoulders. 

“You good, dude?” Vinyl asked as she slowly stood up, making sure not to bump Octavia with her knees as she did so before slinging her backpack over her shoulder. She also rubbed her legs, feeling a radiating warmth to the rhythm of her heartbeat slowly reach her toes. She then extended a hand to assist Octavia in standing, and afterward they held hands. 

“Yeah, my bad. My legs are totally asleep. We should find a table next time.” 

Bon Bon gave Lyra a slight nudge to keep her from leaning to far and to help her stand up straight. She then patted down the seat of her dress to rid herself of any possible dust. “Remember, 10 bucks and the punch card.”

“Yeah yeah, I won’t forget. I’ll bring them to Vinyl’s. I’ll throw in an extra five if you get me an A.” 

Bon Bon rolled her eyes and giggled. “I’m holding you to that.” She said as she waved goodbye to everyone and began walking down the hall with Lyra. “But no promises. I’m getting it done during class, so worst case, a B minus. I at least know how to format a paper.”

Lyra proceeded to then, in decreasing volume, insist that she at least get a B plus. Both girls continued to debate the future results of the assignment as they walked away. Vinyl looked to her girlfriend with a smile and softly cleared her throat, her voice now a tad nervous as she squeezed Octavia’s hand a bit harder. “So, want me to walk you to you locker?”

“Always.” The cellist said with a wonderfully cute smile. “Besides, I wish to talk to you about...something.”

Such a statement may have given Vinyl some anxiety, but the slight blush on Octavia’s face and a returned squeeze of her own hand filled her with a bit of giddy excitement. “Oh? What about, babe?”

“Well…” Octavia pulled Vinyl’s hand behind her hip, signalling her girlfriend to step closer. With over a year of close friendship behind them, Octavia had become much more outspoken and upfront in her displays of affection. She’d grown too, evidenced by a somewhat jealously well proportioned figure that filled out Vinyl’s pants slightly better than she herself could. “I was rather hoping that…”

So cute...damn it… Vinyl let go of Octavia’s hand and placed both of her own on the cellist’s waist while returning the blush much more intensely. Both girls smiled at each other, and Vinyl planted a quick little kiss on Octavia’s cheek, knowing she was waiting for one before continuing her sentence. 

“...Would you take me to the mall sometime and...help me shop for some clothes? I’d be ever in your debt…” Octavia said as she beamed a very happy smile up at Vinyl who stood a couple inches taller than her. “It would seem...I’ve grown out of most of my wardrobe.”

Answering the question right away was entirely impossible as Vinyl’s imagination ran rampant. She could already picture Octavia stepping out of a dressing room, displaying herself in a new outfit of her choosing. As Octavia’s face turned from embarrassed to expectant, Vinyl brought herself back into herself and softly cleared her throat while glancing at the ceiling. “Y-Yeah, sure totally. I’d be happy to help. I mean, whatever, you know. It’s no biggie.”

“Mmnnn.” Octavia wrapped her arms around Vinyl’s neck and hugged herself tightly to her girlfriend for a long moment in gratitude. “Thank you, thank you oh so very much, Vinyl. I’d be too nervous to shop for myself on my own.”

Vanilla, and a hint of cinnamon. She smells so good...I love this girl so much...I wanna burst. Vinyl returned the embrace by circling her arms just as tightly around Octavia’s waist and found herself inhaling deeply. Her eyes closed as she lifted her girlfriend off the ground for a split second while maintaining the hug. A small rush of exhilarating heat exploded from her chest that moved down her torso and up her neck into her head, and she received a bittersweet peck on the cheek  as Octavia pulled back so their eyes could meet. “I-I’m always willing to do stuff for you, babe. H-Heh.” She barely choked out coherently as she blinked hard a couple times. 

“Can I buy you lunch that day as a thank you?” Octavia asked, her face now bright red as she made broken eye contact. It would seem the embrace might have been a tad too much for her too. “I-If...that’s ok?”

It took every effort she could muster not to pick Octavia up and plant the wettest and loudest kiss on her girlfriend’s cheek. She’s so cute… She thought as her fingers nervously tapped against Octavia’s slender waist. “Yeah, totally. I’m down. We’ll make a date of it then? Maybe a movie too?”

Octavia nodded very enthusiastically and gave another quick hug. “Yes please.” She said as she rested her hands on Vinyl’s shoulders. Her face deepened its shade of pink as Vinyl’s nose almost touched her own. “U-Um...Vinyl? Someone might…”

Vinyl glanced to her right down the hallway. The occasional student passed the hallway’s entrance while the open theater classroom and music classroom doors echoed with the conversations of other students inside. For now, the coast seemed clear for an actual kiss, but Vinyl dutifully hesitated. “I can wait until after school if...that’s what you want.” She said, trying not to sound disappointed. She watched as Octavia went through several facial expressions. Apprehension first, relief second, and resolve third. 

“It’s isn’t..actually. I really...do want to.” Octavia said in the sweetest of melodic voices that seemed to be carried along an intoxicatingly accent heavy crescendo as her voice increased in volume. “S-So...if you’d please, V-Vinyl?”

“I love you, Octavia.” Vinyl suddenly heard herself say in a somewhat hoarse whisper which Octavia barely heard in its entirety. She leaned forward the remaining couple of inches so their lips could meet, and as she felt the sudden warmth and plush softness of Octavia’s kiss, her fingers dug slightly into her cellist’s sides while her feet shuffled ever so slightly to counteract a slight shiver that started in her lower back. 

As the kiss finally ended, both girls took a slow breath. Vinyl could only surmise that her own blush had to be even brighter as she gazed up Octavia’s beaming face. “I-I love you too, Vinyl.”


-o0o-


Vinyl awoke abruptly in a haze as she lifted her head off her desk in Mr. Doodle’s class. He was yammering on about something related to the early capital city of Fillydelphia as she rubbed her eyes and stifled a yawn. With great effort, she reached into her backpack under her desk and carefully cracked open the tab of a fresh energy drink. It made a quiet little hiss for a long moment before she brought it up to her lips. She was forced to resign herself to the remaining hour of class as she glanced at the clock, realizing her nap did not in fact propel her into the future as she had hoped. Just ten minutes? Come on, man... 

The classroom door opened slowly, and a rather awkward girl with sunflower yellow eyes and matching mid-shoulder length unkempt hair walked in, disrupting Mr. Doodle’s grouchy ramblings. The girl wore a plain green skirt, a sky blue button up long sleeve collared shirt with the sleeves rolled up, and a simple necktie that matched her yellow eyes and hair. She was significantly taller than the rest of the students, and Vinyl had to admit she was also significantly more developed. She smiled apologetically, having realized that she had interrupted his lesson. 

“Is there a reason you’re interrupting my class, Ms.?” Crank asked, his chin resting forward in agitation. 

“Sorry, Mr. Doodle.” Said the strange girl. “I think I got lost.” She held out a slip of paper which Mr. Doodle took. Vinyl watched with true apathy as Mr. Doodle read the slip and waved dismissively towards the back of the classroom. The straw haired girl began walking towards the empty seat beside her in the back of the classroom. 

Vinyl sat up a bit straighter, realizing the rest of the class was staring at the new girl approaching the back, and she began to wonder what was so fascinating that made this somewhat plain girl capture the attention of the entire class. As the new classmate approached and sat down in the chair next to her, nearly missing her seat and falling onto the floor, she realized with a certain level of embarrassment and shame why. I probably shouldn’t stare either...am I staring? I think I’m still looking at her… Come on, dude, do something! Vinyl whipped her head forward and took a long swig of her energy drink. 

“Only water in class!” Came an angry and gruff voice. “We’ve talked about this, Ms. Scratch.”

Smart move, dumbass. “Ah, yeah my bad, Mr. Doodle.” Vinyl immediately responded as she placed the half empty can under her desk. “I forgot.”

Either Mr. Doodle had forgotten this very excuse had been made at least once every week, or he simply could care anymore than doing the bare minimum as a high school. Without any more to say on the matter, he scoffed and returned to the lesson, using a yardstick to point indolently at the whiteboard to nothing in particular on the old map of the city. Vinyl sighed softly with relief, both at being left alone with her energy drink and because the rest of the class stopped looking at her and the stranger in the back. That was super awkward. Speaking of, Vinyl stole a glance towards the newcomer beside her who was in the process of unpacking her brown canvas shoulder bag that reminded her of a mail carrier’s satchel just without any logos or identifiable markings except a single word written in silver marker on the flap. Derpy?

“Hi.” The girl said very quietly with a smile and a slight wave. Now making direct eye contact, Vinyl could see very clearly the curiously odd lack of centering in the girl’s eyes. One pupil seemed to look at her sunglasses atop her head while the other met her gaze. 

“Uh, hey.” Vinyl uttered, relieved that at least there was one eye she could politely make eye-contact with.

“Can I borrow a pencil? I think I lost mine.” She said, a bit louder than necessary. A couple other students glanced back at them while Mr. Doodle continued droning about something related to the early days of city planning. 

“Sure.” Vinyl reached into her backpack and retrieved a pencil for her. As she was holding it up for her to take, she watched as the clumsy girl paused for a moment to visually find the object. Yikes...maybe next time I’ll just put it on her desk. She’s kinda cute though...

“Thanks.” With a big smile, the girl began writing in almost comically large and slightly staggered letters on a piece of notebook paper. 

I mean...at least she takes some kind of notes. I’m probably gonna cram for the test and skate by with a C… Vinyl relaxed as the excitement of the moment passed, and she snuck another sip of her energy drink before resting her chin on her hands. Her eyelids started to feel heavy again which came as a bit of surprise since the caffeine usually woke her back up after lunch, but she didn’t think anything else of it as she fell back into a light sleep on her desk. With a few other students always doing the same in Mr. Doodle’s class, the hour passed by much more quickly. 

She was again stirred from her slumber by something lightly jabbing her shoulder. She turned her head with half closed eyes and looked up to see the same smiling face and her pencil held out to her. “Huh?” Vinyl stifled another yawn, but this time unable to keep her lips closed. She took her pencil and examined it unnecessarily for a moment as she pushed the fog out of her head. Oh, right. 

“Thank you.” The girl said, her smile growing. She did in fact look cute. Her facial features and figure were well proportioned, and her plain outfit actually complimented her color scheme. 

Vinyl began to feel a bit guilty over her internal reaction to the girl’s eyes, now realizing she had overlooked so much more about her new classmate that appealed to her. Is she new? I don’t think I’ve seen her around before. “You’re welcome. My name’s Vinyl, by the way. Sorry I didn’t ask for your name earlier. I sorta fell asleep.”  She took  a second to look around the room. The clock was nearly at the top of the hour, meaning class was about to end once the bell rings. Mr. Doodle was gone, probably to use the restroom like clockwork every third period on even days. The rest of the students had taken advantage of the relaxed atmosphere to chat amongst themselves.

“It’s ok. You looked tired. I’m Ditsy.” She said as her eyes slowly traded their visual positions. This nearly made Vinyl laugh. “You’re Vinyl Scratch, right?”

“Yeah, that’s me. How’d you know?” Vinyl asked, quite confident that she had never seen or even hung out with this girl before. So why does her bag say Derpy?

“You were the sound music girl person at our middle school dance.” Ditsy said as she stuffed her roughly scrambled notes into her backpack. 

Due to the size of the lettering, Vinyl was able to easily glance at them. Despite the rather crude and infantile handwriting, the words actually spelled some long multi syllable words that she knew she’d never be able to spell let alone knew what they meant. “Oh, you mean the DJ? Yeah, that was my first ever gig. Was kinda nervous actually.” She said as she rubbed the back of her head and smiled a bit. “Well, really nervous. Super nervous. I think I went way too overboard on the glowsticks.”

“It was a good time. Your music was fun.” Ditzy remarked as she closed her messenger bag. “I didn’t really dance, but the lights and the music were super cool.”

“Oh, thanks!” Vinyl blushed slightly, beaming with pride for a moment as she tossed her wild hair and ran her fingers through her electric blue locks. “I put a lot of work into that show, so...thanks, Ditzy.” 

“Mhm!” Ditzy nodded and beamed even more, looking very happy that she shared some joy with someone. 

Huh...she is actually pretty cute. The end of third period bell rang, and the overwhelming clash of desks being nudged and scooted around the floor immediately drowned out the bell as the class got up from their seats and made their way to the door. Vinyl did the same, pausing to stretch her arms out over her head as she yawned very heavily. “Um, so are you a new student here?”

“No, I just transferred to this history class last minute this semester. I was supposed to take it last year, but um…” Ditzy seemed to lose a slight sliver of glint from her smile for a moment. “Well I had to leave school for a while.”

“Oh, sorry to hear that. Did you get sick or something?” Vinyl asked as she picked up her backpack and brought it up to her shoulder without putting it on. She may need to maneuver the backpack a bit through the mad rush of students leaving school. She almost forgot to pick up her now flat energy drink from under her desk.

Ditsy began following Vinyl out of class, sticking close behind. She appeared to be very nearsighted due to the careful steps she took around the desks. “Kinda. I started having headaches and ended up seeing a doctor after Christmas break last year. After that...I kinda had to take some time off.”

“Sounds...serious?” Vinyl replied, somewhat confused as they exited the classroom and entered the hallways. “You had to miss, what, like a year of school or something?”

“Something like that. It’s ok though. I’m doing much better now.”

“That’s cool. Glad to hear it.” Vinyl said as she turned a corner to make her way to her locker. “I guess that explains why you’re sorta taller than me.” And then some… Vinyl internally lamented as she compared her own assets to Ditzys.

“Mhm.” Keeping just a few paces behind, she continued to follow Vinyl down the hallway. 

She’s still following me. Why is that? “Sooo...is your locker around here?” She asked as she approached her own locker. With a very practiced hand, she input the combination and began stuffing books inside without much regard to organization. 

“Um...I’m not really sure. My old locker belongs to someone else now, and I haven’t gotten a new one yet.” Ditzy awkwardly stood next to her a bit too closely and shook her head. “I’ll ask Vice Principal Luna about it tomorrow.”

“Oh, ok.” Vinyl shut her locker, relieved that her backpack now felt much lighter with just the essentials inside. She made a mental note that she was down to her last energy drink. I don’t think they’re as strong as they used to be. She thought as she immediately polished off the remnants of the can still in her hand before tossing it in an arching throw into the trash can across the hall. This earned her a thumbs up from a rainbow haired girl in track shorts carrying a soccer ball which she returned with the same enthusiasm while sliding her sunglasses over her eyes. Chicks dig me, dude. “So, I guess uh… I’ll see you around. I’m gonna meet up with my friends.”

“Oh….sure. Ok, I’ll see you around.” Ditzy said, her face losing a great deal of its usual happy sweetness to it. She clutched the shoulder strap of her messenger bag and visually sighed. At least, Vinyl thought she did. It was hard to hear anything quiet over the sound of the students rushing through the halls. 

Damn...She looks sad. Probably doesn’t have any friends…She’s really nice...cute too, but I mean... Vinyl shrugged for a long moment before turning to the taller girl, struggling to meet her gaze again as those eyes shifted their positions once more. “You wanna meet them? I mean, if you’re not doing anything. You probably have like an after school thing to get to.”

“No, not really. I mean, I don’t have any plans or anything.” Ditzy began to smile again, much to Vinyl’s relief. “Are you sure it’s ok?”

“Yeah, it’s fine. They’re nice girls. Come on, I’ll introduce you.” Vinyl motioned for her to follow as she made her way to the side door through the same theater and music hallway she had eaten lunch in. 

Once they stepped outside, Vinyl was greeted by the cold winter air tempered by the sun shining in the cloudless sky. She zipped her hoodie up and approached Lyra and Bon Bon standing next to an outdoor trash can. Lyra had her backpack on the ground beside it with her eyes glued to a small stack of papers in her hands. “Yeah… this looks great! I honestly don’t know what you’re talking about here, but it sounds sorta smart and stuff.”

“If you actually read the book yourself, or at the very least, watched the movie, you might be able to follow along.” Bon Bon said as she pulled her blue and fuscia jacket tighter around her waist. “You know how hard it is to write a paper and make it sound a little dumbed down?” 

“I’m not that dumb, Bonnie.” Lyra said with a scowl towards Bon Bon’s rather amused smirk. “But thanks. I really appreciate you doing this for me.”

“Hey guys.” Vinyl threw up a hand and exchanged a high five with Lyra. “How’s it going? Turn out ok?”

“She’ll get an A for sure.” Bon Bon interjected. “I know what I’m doing.”

“Oh, hey are there supposed to be, like, references or something at the end?” Lyra asked, turning the last page over. 

“It’s a book report, dummy.” Bon Bon said with a dramatically loud sigh while crossing her arms, keeping her hands warm against her sides. “You don’t need references. I’m surprised you know what they are, though.”

“Whatever.” Lyra rolled her eyes and stuffed the pages into a pocket in the front of her backpack before putting it on. “You get your nap in, V?” 

“Yeah, sorta.” Vinyl pulled her backpack forward over her hip and retrieved her last energy drink. After opening it, she took a large gulp. “I slept almost the whole period, so I’m down to clown all night.”

“You were gonna do that anyway.” Bon Bon remarked as she looked at the open can for a moment. “Is that your third one today? You had one when you got to school and one at lunch.”

“Fourth one actually.” Vinyl said with pride as she raised the can as if making a toast. “Why? Are you counting them now? Geez, mom.”

“Yeah, mom. What are you, Vinyl’’s mom now, mom?” Lyra added with a giggle. 

“Seriously, where do you get the money for all those things?” Bon Bon asked with a somewhat serious tone, ignoring the teasing. “Drinking that many in less than eight hours can’t be good for you.”

“Ughhh…” Vinyl tossed her head back with a loud sigh. “Ok, mom. Whatever, mom. I’ll eat my vegetables, mom. I’ll wear my helmet when I ride my bike, mom. Ok, mom? Gahhh!”

“You do whatever you want, V.” Bon Bon said as she put her hands up for a second. “But seriously, you drink a ton of those. That’s gotta be expensive.”

“My mom gets them from work.” Vinyl held up the can for the other two to see clearly. “It’s generic I think. Her work buys cases of this stuff at the dollar store for the employees.”

“And your mom just brings them home for you? Wow...that’s crazy. That’s actually crazy. Seriously, that’s kinda gross. You’re get sick eventually.” 

“Ughhhh! Ok, mom!!” Lyra and Vinyl both chanted loudly in unison. 

Bon Bon shook her head and rolled her eyes for a long moment, her gaze falling upon a lone girl standing several feet behind Vinyl. She tilted her head slightly as if straining to clearly look at something before blushing slightly with embarrassment. “Hello?”

Vinyl whipped her head around and gasped. “Oh! Right, sorry Ditzy. That’s my bad. I totally forgot.” She motioned for the newcomer to step closer, and as Ditzy entered their little conversation circle, she pointed to her. “This is Ditzy. She’s in my third period history class. The mom of our group there is Bon Bon. She might complain about it, but she likes helping us out. Over her is Lyra. I think aliens dropped her off one day, and she’s trying to blend in or something.”

“I’m mint, not green, jerkface.” Lyra said with a huff and jabbed Vinyl in the side with her elbow. “We’ve been friends for the longest.”

“Hi…” Ditzy nearly mumbled as she blushed heavily, appearing very self conscious as Lyra squinted at her and leaned forward. “It’s nice to meet you all.”

Bon Bon stepped firmly on Lyra’s foot after realizing she was staring a bit too keenly at  Ditzy’s eyes. “Knock it off, Lyra.” She said in a sharp whisper which prompted Lyra to back off a bit and pretend to see something much more interesting somewhere near the roof of the school. “It’s nice to meet you too, Ditzy.”

There came a short but awkward silence that Vinyl felt it was her obligation to break. “U-Um, so Ditzy school last year, and she doesn’t have a whole lot of people to hang out with soooo...I figured she could meet you guys.”

“Hey, that’s cool!” Lyra suddenly shouted. “You got to skip school for a year? Lucky! Your parents travel a lot or something?”

“Lyra, cool it.” Bon Bon muttered very forcefully. “Just ignore her. She has zero filter. I mean, zero filter. I think she’s got brain damage or something.”

This made Vinyl giggle slightly, but Ditzy wasn’t nearly as amused for some reason. “I-It’s ok. It’s just nice getting to talk to some other girls.”
“Aw…” Bon Bon smiled warmly and gave Ditzy a little hug around her arms. Due to Ditzy’s significantly taller height than the rest, she had to hug around her elbows instead of her shoulders. “Well, you’re welcome to hang out with us anytime. We could use another friend in our group that isn’t totally off their marbles or dating someone off their marbles.”

Ditzy’s face lit up with an immense level of joy as she returned the hug. “Thanks, Bon Bon. That’s really nice of you. Thanks, girls.”

“Yeah, don’t mention it. We’re easy to get along with as long as you can stomach Vinyl and Octavia losing their minds over each other everyday.” Lyra added with a laugh. ‘

“Hey! Don’t be jealous, loser.” Vinyl poked Lyra firmly in the side, rewarding herself with a pained gasp from Lyra and a sneering face. 

“O-Octavia?” Ditzy asked. “You’re dating someone?”

“Oh...heh...uh, yeah I probably should’ve mentioned it earlier.” Vinyl said as her face flushed bright red. I mean...not that cause dating is weird...but she’s a...and I’m a…

“Am I correct in hearing someone say my name?” Asked a melodious voice from outside the little circle by the side door. There stood Octavia in a very sharp dark grey pant suit jacket with a little purple pocket square matching her bow tie. 

“Babe!” Vinyl immediately turned around and quickly stepped towards her before throwing her arms around Octavia’s shoulders. Unlike the hug Bon Bon and Ditzy shared, this hug was very tight and close with both girls gripping each other with an intense clingy tightness reserved only for long awaited reunions in movies or just two girls desperately in love with more innocence than experience. “I missed you, babe!”

“I wasn’t gone but for perhaps two hours, no more, Vinyl.” Octavia said with a soft giggle, her hands resting against Vinyl’s waist as she rubbed her cheek against Vinyl’s arm still around her shoulder. “I did indeed missed you too, though…”

“Here it comes.” Lyra whispered with a slight snicker and a smirk. Both Vinyl and Octavia leaned forward just enough so their noses touched for a second. They exchanged a very quick little peck on the lips before both of them gave each other a somewhat silly little giggle. “Count dowwwwn to pound towwwww-OOWW!” 

Bon Bon sighed heavily again after pinching Lyra’s slender waist through her winter jacket which was no small feat. She had a lot of practice, after all. “Like I said, just ignore her.” 

Ditzy didn’t do or say anything after watching the affectionate embrace unfold in front of her, but she did blush harder than even the two love birds did while her smile grew again. “O-Oh.” Was all she could come up with. 

Lyra rubbed her side frantically while grimacing. “Yeah, it’s like that with them all the time. Like, alllll the time.”

Vinyl glanced back at Lyra a bit angrily before turning back to Octavia. “You want to ride the bus home with us today?” She asked as she slowly dropped her arms and interlocked the fingers of one hand through the fingers of Octavia’s