Chapter 1
“You sure you don’t need a ride, Octavia?” Connor, Octavia’s ensemble director asked when she made to leave after that night’s concert.
“Don’t worry about me, I’ve walked home from here plenty of times before.” She assured the man.
“Alright... If you cut through the red light district watch your back, at this time of night there’s more than just drunkards and prostitutes around.” Connor warned her.
“Oh I think I’ll be fine. A cello hurts a lot more than you think when swung at your head.” Octavia said with a bit of a giggle and left.
She was confident she wouldn’t be bothered taking the shortcut, but she still felt nervous as she entered the red light district. The shortcut saved her ten minutes of walking, but it was dangerous sometimes. That comment about the cello was made from experience.
“Hey there pretty lady, spare some cash for a drunkard’s cab?” A particularly drunk man asked as he stumbled into her path.
“Um... fine.” Octavia sighed. She pulled a five from her pocket and handed it to him. He seemed surprised at it and found she had already walked past him.
“Thank you, I never expected anything more than change...” The man said while she was still in hearing range.
“A drunkard may be less than savory, but everyone deserves a safe way home.” Octavia said as she kept her course.
As she walked, as always, she grew disgusted at what the neon signs were advertising and the nerve of the whores who were calling to her for a ‘good night’. For some reason, though, she had a feeling she should take a slightly different route than the one she normally did. Instead of the normal path through the main road, Octavia took a side alley barely wide enough to clear her cello but she managed.
She looked in awe as a massive underground nightclub loomed in her wake. It wasn’t literally underground, at least she didn’t think, instead it was nestled between a few buildings. It looked like a refurbished warehouse, now that she thought about it. She had been seeing posters around lately, and the same one was plastered all over the alley.
It read DJ PON-3 and had the silhouette of a person with lightning blue hair streaked with teal and large purple eyes, probably shades. Normally she avoided nightclubs, but tonight’s concert was particularly successful and she felt the need for a good drink.
Entering, her entire body was assailed by the thump of bass. The music wasn’t entirely bad, it was just too loud. It was a techno beat and the dance floor was a practical mosh pit. The only person in the entire building more energetic and wild as the dance floor was the DJ herself, who Octavia assumed to be this ‘DJ PON-3’ since she looked like the poster.
“You’re a bit classy for a place like this, miss. What’ll it be?” The bartender said, or rather yelled, when she walked to the counter.
“Black Russian if you have it, straight Vodka if you don’t!” Octavia called back. The bartender seemed surprised, he was probably expecting a martini or something.
“Here you are!” He called a moment later with her drink in hand. She nodded and handed him enough money for two, it took more than one to satisfy her. She proceeded to find a table in the corner and attempt to ignore the music.
Meanwhile, Vinyl was having a blast at the mix tables. She had been going for a good long while though, since dark really, without stopping and she was getting exhausted. Deciding to tone it down a bit, she looked around to try and guess what her audience needed to wind down. THat’s what she noticed a rather classy woman in the cornet with an almost empty drink. She looked like she was bored. Deciding on the wind-down track, she queued it up and went to get a drink for herself.
---
Octavia’s head snapped to the mix tables when she heard a very, VERY familiar orchestral piece instead of the loud club music. She found the tables without a DJ and heard a ‘clack’ as her second drink was placed in front of her by said DJ.
“Yo.” VInyl said, sitting opposite her with a jack daniels.
“Um... hello. Why aren’t you up there, and why the orchestral?” Octavia asked.
“I’ve been at it for hours straight, I need a break. I like to play not so wild stuff so the crowd can wind down without complete silence. I noticed you over here looking bored and thought you were kinda classy so i played an orchestral piece.” VInyl answered.
“And my drink?” Octavia asked with a slight giggle.
“Thought yours was running low and Tom said you had a second one waiting. Black Russian though, I wouldn’t even expect that on most of the people here let alone the random classy chick i’ve never seen before.” Vinyl replied.
“Well I imagine you at least know of me... you’re kind of playing my winter performance, and that’s my solo.” Octavia said as a cello solo started. Vinyl looked confused, so Octavia knocked her foot against the cello under the table. Vinyl looked and looked even more surprised.
“Wait, so Octavia Philharmonic is in a random underground Nightclub at one in the morning drinking two Black Russians?” VInyl asked.
“And talking to the DJ who thought I was bored.” Octavia said.
“Right.” Vinyl said with a laugh. They sat around and chatted for a while, after a few drinks Vinyl went back up to the mix tables to put on a random tracklist and sat down to have a few more.
Octavia had seven empty glasses by the time three hit and the nightclub finally started closing. Vinyl had only six, but she was completely wasted. At least Octavia was somewhat coherent.
“Where do you live?” Octavia asked amidst a bout of drunken giggles as the two stumbled out.
“Thataway!” She exclaimed, pointing to a trash can. “Wait, no thataway...” She continued, pointing back towards the nightclub. “Wait... I dunno!” She went on, giggling as she nearly fell over again.
“Right... my place it is then.” Octavia sighed. SHe didn’t know why, but she didn’t even need to think about that conclusion. It was probably the alcohol in her system, but she really liked this woman.
“YAY SLUMBER PARTY!” VInyl exclaimed loudly, earning a bout of laughter from the other. Seems she had no objections.
It took a while, since Vinyl was barely conscious most of the time and completely unconscious the rest, but they finally reached Octavia’s apartment. Somehow managing to use her teeth to unlock the door in a drunken spout of skill and dexterity, she kicked the door closed and was about to plop the drunken woman at her side onto the couch. As she put her cello near the closet, she remembered her guest room.
“Guess that lucky deal wasn’t for naught...” Octavia said to herself as she stumbled towards it. When she had rented the apartment not too long ago, there were no single rooms available so he gave her a good deal on the two bedroom. The building was very small, only a few rooms, and currently she was the only one living there besides the landlord.
She plopped VInyl down on the guest bed but apparently didn’t notice that she had mistaken her room for the guest room and that it was her own bed she had dropped the drunken woman on. She was too tired and too drunk. She was also too tired and too drunk to fight back as Vinyl dragged her down as well. She was not, however, too drunk and too tired to ignore the fact that said drunken woman was now kissing her.
“V-Vinyl?!” Octavia exclaimed lowly as she pulled away, but the DJ was out cold. She had no idea how to react to it, it may have been when they were both wasted but a kiss is a kiss.
Especially when it was her first.
She decided she should probably go back to what she thought was her room, but Vinyl had a strong hold of her and had somehow moved around in her sleep so that she was using her chest as a pillow. She didn’t know why, but suddenly she wasn’t confused anymore. She was more comfortable than she’d ever been and at that very moment more exhausted. She was out the next moment and unconsciously wrapped her arms around Vinyl in return.
---
Vinyl woke up with her head pounding. Normally, that would be on the top of her ‘shit to deal with waking up hungover’ list. But there were three things that were a bit higher. The fact that she wasn’t in her own bed, or even her own home, the fact that she was using an unfamiliar woman’s chest as a pillow and the fact that she couldn’t remember why either of these things happened.
She made to get up, but found both her own arms and the woman’s arms were wrapped around each other. She looked up to try and see her partner’s face and froze when she saw it. She didn’t recognize her at first, but soon a name matched a face and her eyes widened because there was a pair of amethyst eyes looking back at her.
“About damn time...” Octavia muttered.
“Oh god we didn’t...” Vinyl started.
“We didn’t, at least not all the way.” Octavia said, trying to ignore the pounding in her head, as she got up from the bed. They both suddenly found themselves oddly cold.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Vinyl said with a bit of annoyance, pinching the bridge of her nose as her head nearly split and she couldn’t think.
“Before you passed out you kissed me...” Octavia said, entering an adjacent room. Before Vinyl could say anything, the door shut and she heard a shower start.
“I did?...” She said to herself. That was strange, despite what most people think she’s not the kind of girl that goes making out with random people when she’s drunk.
After about ten minutes, Octavia came out of the room wearing fresh clothes on, drying her hair with a towel. She tossed an old shirt and a worn pair of jeans to her.
“Towels are in the closet next to the door.” Octavia said with a hint of a smile.
“I’m getting mixed signals from you, you seem like you’re pissed at me but at the same time happy?” Vinyl said.
“Well I still haven’t decided which yet. I get to stumble home with a DJ so drunk she can’t remember where she lives who winds up being my first kiss unintentionally that drags me into the bed with her and passes out.” Octavia said, leaning on the doorway.
“Yeah... Trust me when I say I normally don’t do that... I must have been so wasted...” Vinyl said, rubbing her head.
“I think if you were any more then you’d have died from it... But for the record, that was probably the most comfortable morning I’ve had in a long time.” Octavia said, finishing with a shrug and walking out. Vinyl didn’t know how to respond to that and decided to just take a shower.
Ten minutes later, she left the bedroom wearing the borrowed clothes and almost fell over. Something smelled good. Not just good, though. It smelled so absolutely divine she couldn’t think of anything else. Because of this, Octavia was thrown into a fit of laughter when a matted head of two-tone blue hair slowly peeked into the kitchen.
“What?” Octavia said.
“That is seriously the best thing I have ever smelled in my entire life... What is it?!” Vinyl exclaimed.
“Pancakes loaded with cinnamon filled with apple pie filling and syrup and flash cooked so the center is still a bit gooey.” Octavia answered. Vinyl would have fallen over if she wasn’t holding on to the doorway.
“Are you sure we didn’t do anything? I mean, we wake up hungover... You let me shower, give me spare clothes to wear and then make breakfast?” Vinyl asked when she set a plate of them in front of her.
“I’m sure, I’m just friendly like that. Besides, I at least remember last night and you’re not a total ass at least.” Octavia said with a giggle as she sat down with her own plate.
“Love you too.” Vinyl chuckled. She took a bite of the first pancake and froze. It took her a full minute and a half for her to chew that first bite and swallow before she finished the rest in half that time.
“OH. MY. GOD. THESE ARE THE BEST THING I HAVE EVER EATEN EVER IN MY ENTIRE LIFE!” Vinyl exclaimed when she finished.
“I do enjoy cooking, I guess i’m better at it than I thought.” Octavia giggled, eating her share much less ravenously.
“Seriously... The only thing i take as seriously as my music is my food. And these pancakes just blew the past year of good gigs out of the water. I would kiss the hell out of you right now...” Vinyl explained with a very serious tone. Octavia chuckled, but that last part caught her attention. She thought a moment before smirking.
“Then do it. You passed out before finishing last night’s.” She said, not quite jokingly, as she took a drink of coffee. Suddenly there was the sound of a chair being pushed out, the few footsteps separating the two and now Octavia found Scratch had followed through without hesitation. She had no idea why, but Octavia decided to return it. SHe didn’t regret that decision, not in the slightest. The kiss deepened and lasted a full minute before they separated.
“Wow, that was certainly unexpected...” Vinyl said, her face tinted thoroughly with red. Octavia, though, had an odd look on her face.
“You’re telling me...” She said softly before starting another kiss. It was Vinyl’s turn to be surprised, but she returned it almost immediately. Another minute saw them separated again and Vinyl was grinning like an idiot.
“Well that was certainly interesting.” She said.
“For some DJ I just met and got wasted with, you intrigue me.” Octavia said, a blush forming as she put a finger to her chin.
“Intrigue?” Vinyl asked.
“Like I said before... uh... You’re my first kiss. I’ve never even been interested in anything like that before... And here we are, making out the morning after we just met.” Octavia explained.
“Well, I’ve never made out with a chick before and I have to admit that was probably the best i’ve had.” Vinyl said with a grin, leaning back on the counter.
“And exactly how many is ever had?” Octavia asked.
“Less than you’d think, I’m a virgin bro.” Vinyl replied.
“I guessed. So, what the hell does this all mean?” Octavia asked. Vinyl had no idea how she guessed, but she ignored that for now.
“Well I don’t know about you, but I like you and you’re pretty damn awesome. I’ve got a friend who got the chick pregnant in a one night stand and they’ve been married for three years now. That whole ‘love at first sight’ thing isn’t too farfetched, y’know?” Vinyl said.
“Well, I don’t know about love, but I like you too. I’ve never been in anything close to a relationship so I don’t exactly know what I’m doing, but I’d be willing to give it a try.” Octavia said.
“Eh who gives a damn about all of that. There’s nothing to it. You just be yourself and be the best friend you can be. The only difference between a best friend and a girlfriend is the bonus benefits.” Vinyl said.
“... That’s incredibly intelligent.” Octavia said.
“I do that sometimes. I came up with this saying one time before I got into all the DJ stuff. ‘Your best friend doesn’t have to be your girlfriend, but your girlfriend has to be your best friend.’ The guy told me later that it helped him a lot so I’ve kept with it.” Vinyl explained.
“You know, that sounds like some sort of life philosophy.” Octavia said, shocked at how true it was. Vinyl shrugged and pushed off of the counter to bring her face just an inch away from Octavia’s.
“I can tell you’re a very good friend. A true friend is rare in this day and age. You don’t have to go out me if you don’t want to, I’d rather have a best friend.” Vinyl said softly, how serious she was taking this surprised Octavia. It only took a moment of thought, she cupped the DJ’s face in her hands and pecked her on the lips.
“I’m the one who hinted at that particular suggestion, remember?” She said with a giggle. Vinyl grinned and pecked her back.
“Sweet...” She said.
“Well, this was certainly an interesting morning. If you want I’ll wash your dirty clothes, I doubt you want to go home in borrowed spare clothes that are too big for you.” Octavia said.
“Sure, though now that I think of it I don’t understand why this shirt is so baggy when I’m a bit bigger than you.” Vinyl said. It took a moment, but Octavia realized why.
“Well, now that i’m looking, you’re not quite bigger than me if you know what I mean.” She said, poking Vinyl’s chest. Vinyl looked at her chest, then at Octavia’s, then back at her own and groaned.
“Aww! I thought I got to be the one with bigger tits...” She said sadly. This earned a bout of laughter from Octavia, who proceeded to enter the bathroom and gather dirty clothes.