Up To Scratch

Vinyl and Octavia had agreed to start their jam sessions at noon each day, and they could go on for as long as Octavia wanted. The first day they had played and recorded well into the evening, with Octavia trying to resist falling any more in love with her electric cello, but it didn't work. Vinyl seemed to be enjoying it just as much as Octavia, after the first hour or two of Octavia holding back, they were both in high spirits. It wasn't just exciting to be doing something new with their music, they seemed to be enjoying the company just as much.

The next day had gone similarly, Vinyl mixed Octavia's cello playing into her own electronic songs, Octavia was becoming more familiar with distortion and other effects that changed her cello's sound, and the two tossed out ideas for a potential album.

Day three, Vinyl changed the game plan, dressing up Octavia like a punk rocker. She wasn't sure how she felt about altering her image in the name of marketing, but it ended up being fun. Vinyl had decided she needed a nickname, because Octavia didn't sound like the name of a rocker, according to her. She had decided on Tavi, which Octavia had snubbed, but Vinyl insisted she would grow to like it. She was Tavi for the rest of the jam session, though she really hoped Vinyl would forget the nickname by the next day.

She didn't. Day four, she was still Tavi, and she was slowly growing to like it. Not that she admitted it to Vinyl, but she was. They ended up getting hardly any work done, goofing off instead, and Vinyl said they would have to work harder the next day to make up for it.

It was day five, and Octavia received a call from her parents. They wanted her to come over for dinner, and when her parents wanted something of her, it really wasn't optional. She decided to just call Vinyl and reschedule, though she would rather be with her than at her parent's house.

Looking at her phone, she noticed all of her recent calls were to or from Vinyl, excluding the one she had just gotten from her parents. She wasn't sure how she felt about that, but regardless, she was about to add another to the list.

“Hello, lucky caller number 10, you're on the air!”

“You're an idiot.”

“I've been told it's endearing. What's up?”

As expected, Vinyl was fine with the reschedule, and now all she had to worry about was putting on a smile for her parents. It wasn't unusual for them to call and check on her, but she didn't see them often in person these days. They didn't live in town, or else she was sure they would be much more involved in her work. They could be overbearing, so Octavia liked it this way, though visiting them every once in a while couldn't hurt.

They still lived in the house Octavia grew up in. It was rather rustic on the outside, but the inside had always been much more impressive. Furnished with hand carved tables, nice chairs, and her father's grand piano, all of it was old, but well kept. It was the same as it had always been, Octavia couldn't remember it ever being different.

Her mother was happy to see her, though her father was nowhere in sight. She poured Octavia some tea, then sat across from her, asking questions unrelated to her work. Octavia answered them absentmindedly, wondering where her father was.

“Is dad here?”

“Yes, he's on the phone. Should be here any moment.”

Something was off, and it was making her too nervous to keep up the conversation. Her mother seemed fine with the silence, at least.

She finally heard her father coming down the hallway, the familiar thump of his cane announcing his presence. When he came into view, he didn't look happy, or even greet her, which set Octavia into a momentary internal panic.

“Octavia, how is your cello playing going?”

“Great... and my composing is going well. I told you about our last performance, but I didn't mention the quartet played an original piece of mine.”

He sat down beside her mother. “You really should stick to commonly known works when you perform.”

“Okay...”

“She won't listen to me.” He was speaking to her mother, who didn't seem too fond of being dragged into this. Octavia was beyond confused at his anger.

“I always listen to you.” He huffed in disbelief, and Octavia couldn't figure out why. “Dad, what's wrong?”

“Octavia...” He seemed to be trying to make a decision, and finally continued. “It's come to my attention that you've been skipping practice with your quartet.”

“No, I only missed the one...” Octavia quickly abandoned defending herself, and turned on to the offensive as she realized something. “... How did you know about that?”

Neither of them answered right away, but the way her mother was looking nervously towards her father, Octavia connected the dots.

“Have you been speaking to my quartet?" He simply scowled. "You have, haven't you?”

“I'm not going to apologize for keeping myself informed.” He folded his arms, “Especially not after you've been skipping practice.”

“I can't... I can't believe this! I thought I had a bit of freedom, but it was... Ugh!” Octavia angrily stood, as did her father, though her mother remained seated. “I missed one practice dad, but Celestia forbid I miss a single practice, forget the fact that I've never missed one before in my life!” She had taken a few steps away, but turned back to him. “Which one of them is your spy? Or was it all of them?”

“Octavia, you're my daughter, I have the right to make sure you are doing your best. Someone leaves an odd contraption at your door, and you race off? Musicians who are distracted so easily don't get far in this business!”

Octavia's face was becoming red, her hands balled into fists, but she took a deep breath to calm herself.

“Well, dad... since you know my quartet so well, do me a favor and tell them I quit.” Her father's jaw dropped, but she continued. “I don't want to play classical music for a bunch of stuffy snobs. I've found something else, something I can actually enjoy, and you sure as hell aren't going to be involved in it!”

Octavia turned on her heel and started out, leaving as fast as she could. Her father seemed to be too shocked to react right then, but she caught her mother saying, “Oh no...”

Ironically, Vinyl said the same thing when Octavia showed up at her door.

“Oh no... Tavi, what happened?”

She had kept it together on the train ride back, even on the walk to Vinyl's apartment, but once she was climbing the stairs she had started to break down.

Vinyl pulled her inside, shutting the door with a wave of her hand. She was given a quick, reassuring hug, but then Vinyl grabbed her hand and led her over to her couch and sat her down. Vinyl herself sat on the coffee table, facing her.

“Do I need to beat someone up?”

“No, I don't want you to beat up my parents, Vinyl.”

She hadn't let go of her hand, and Octavia seemed content to just hold on to it and cry. Vinyl was trying not to ask any more questions, guessing Octavia would talk when she was ready, but she couldn't stay quiet for long.

“I don't know what happened, but anyone who makes you this upset doesn't deserve to know you. Even your parents... hell, especially your parents. Not that I know from experience, but they're supposed to be looking out for you, and this is not looking out for you.” Octavia's crying had stopped, and she was trying to wipe away her eyeliner smudges as Vinyl continued. “If they don't know how awesome you are, fuck them, they're delusional. Everyone else can see you're this smart, talented, caring, beautiful...”

Octavia was staring at Vinyl, and she suddenly couldn't remember what she was going to say next.

“Beautiful... woman, there we go. Who has a lot going-”

Octavia had taken her hand away from Vinyl, grabbed her by her shirt and pulled her into a kiss.

And that was all it took. There had been sparks of attraction between them since they met, which were all ignored or avoided, but it was only a matter of time before something ignited.

Vinyl was on her lap before she knew it, the two of them kissing with a passion that was as sudden as it was fierce. Neither of them seemed willing to stop, so Vinyl had repositioned and wrapped Octavia's legs around her waist, making it possible to carry her to their bedroom, lips still attached.

Earlier on Octavia had felt bold, but once the two were on her bed, Vinyl was taking charge. She had tossed aside her shirt and bra, then deftly began unbuttoning Octavia's blouse like she was being timed.

Their breathing seemed equally ragged, and as Vinyl took it upon herself to undress them both, Octavia couldn't seem to keep her hands off of Vinyl. Her skin was warm to touch, which somehow seemed odd for someone as pale as her. She was naturally petite, but had a muscular build, and it all added up to make her feel like heaven beneath her fingers.

Vinyl was still wearing a pair of boxers, but had stopped undressing to look over Octavia, admiring her like some long awaited treasure. Octavia would have expected herself to feel self conscious under that sort of scrutiny, though now she felt anything but.

Vinyl kissed her again, but only for a moment before she moved further down her body. She said something, though it came out as a soft, hardly audible murmur, but Octavia had caught it.

"Tavi, I swear, you're perfect."