Octavia Philharmonica pushed the door open and walked into the apartment seething. Her hair clung to her face, mimicking the wet clothes that she had the most obscene desire to escape out of. Her current state was a direct result of the thunderstorm that the weather ponies had slapped the area with for the entire day. "To make up for the storm they postponed for Princess Cadence's wedding." they said. Stupid royals.
Under normal circumstances she’d have stayed out of the rain and wind as much as possible, but her jacket had been in the washer that morning and for the life of her she couldn't find her umbrella. This left her with no option but to run at full sprint from place to place in the vain hope of not being thoroughly soaked before the day was through. To make matters worse, she had several appointments to meet alongside her rehearsal for the orchestra. Which, by the look of things was going to be postponed anyway due to more rain. Because having to make the trip in the freezing rain for something that wasn't going to matter in the first place was a wonderful way to spend the day, don't you know?
"If I ever see another cloud in the sky it'll be too soon." she grumbled as she twisted and dried her mane in front of the sink. Looking at her reflection in the mirror she sighed and pushed her bangs back out of her eyes. She looked about as good as she felt. With the way her luck was going she’d get a cold at this rate; or maybe the flu if she had done something special to anger the Princesses.
Shivering, she peeled her clingy, wet clothes from her body and tossed them to the bathtub. She was feeling too tired to bring them to the washer. Normally she'd have pushed through her shivers and aching joints to put her clothes in their proper place; if only to keep her home tidy. But if she did that then she'd be compelled to also mop up the floor to clean her wet footprints and frankly she didn't want to spend one more moment on her feet today than she had to. So pushing her hair back again, she headed up the stairs to the bedroom, opened the door and sighed at the wonderful, beautiful, glorious sight before her.
“Bed.” she all but cooed before falling face-first down onto the comforter.
She was content to stay here until doomsday, the rest of the world be damned. From downstairs she heard the front door open and close, and the idle question of whether or not she locked the door crossed her mind. But in the end, she honestly couldn’t bring herself to put up the effort to care. It could be Princess Luna herself for all she cared. She was going to lay here, naked, her face planted in the soft pillows, and Celestia help anyone who tried to move her from this spot.
Vinyl shook the rain from her mane as she shut the door and locked it behind her. She let out a sigh of relief and put her head on the frame of the door. She didn’t envy anyone caught out in that storm right now, that was for sure. It almost felt like the weather ponies were feeling vindictive today. With a grunt and a shimmer of her horn, she turned around and tossed her umbrella into the little basket by the door before taking off her jacket and shoes.
Pausing for a moment she glanced around the room, finding it odd that Octavia hadn’t been here to welcome her home as she usually did. Then she noted the trail of wet footprints leading from the door and down the hall to the bathroom. She remembered that she'd heard from Lyra that Bon-Bon had seen her running around with no jacket or umbrella all day.
Following the trail she discovered the wet clothes her marefriend had been wearing today. Yep, soaked through and through. Add in that Octy wasn't somepony to just leave her clothes lying around the house and it was a near certainty that she would be in both a foul mood tonight and even worse; exhausted beyond all measure. Wrinkling her nose a little, Vinyl continued to follow the footprints to the bedroom and was not at all surprised to find her in the exact position she’d predicted: Face down in bed, and not in the least bit willing to move.
Octavia was faintly aware of Vinyl's presence in the room with her but she pointedly ignored it. If she was expecting sex, food, or anything that involved her doing more than just lying here then she was going to be sorely disappointed. She made no move when Vinyl climbed into bed beside her. She did however open one eye when she nuzzled her neck and had the audacity to ask with a straight face. “So how was your day?”
Octavia tried to glare at her but she honestly just couldn't work up the anger to do it. So instead she just sighed and turned away. "That bad, huh?" She slowly nodded her head and Vinyl laughed a little. "Glad to be home?" She closed her eyes and nodded again. She heard another chuckle and felt a gentle kiss on the back of her head. “Then I'll handle dinner tonight. You get some rest, alright?.” Octavia just hummed something incoherent that sounded vaguely appreciative as she felt Vinyl's weight leave the bed before falling back to sleep.
Octavia wasn't entirely sure how long she'd been allowed to sleep before she was woken from her nap by an astonishingly pleasant sensation running up and down her back. Even half-conscious she couldn't quite stop herself from humming in contentment. As more of her faculties returned to her, she recognized the sensation being that of somepony gently scratching her back. Allowing her eyes to open again, she looked back and saw Vinyl sitting on the bed again and moving her nails back and forth on either side of her spine.
After the day she'd had it felt absolutely sublime, and from the smile she saw on Vinyl's face she knew it too. She opened her mouth to speak before Vinyl leaned down and nibbled on her ear. It was enough to make her suck in a short gasp of air. "Please don't tempt me, Vinyl." she murmured, her toes curling at the continued attention. "I'm too worn out today."
Vinyl just laughed, moving her nails to Octavia's shoulder blades and leaving her ear alone for now. "What, can't I do something nice for my marefriend without wanting something out of it?"
Octavia hummed to herself, considering a playful retort before closing her eyes again with a wry smile. Best not to bite the hand that scratches, after all. "I'm just letting you know." Vinyl chuckled again and kept right on scratching her back, sending some amazing tingles through her body with every drag of her nails. They were both quiet for a while, just enjoying each others company and listening to the storm outside before Octavia spoke up again. "Thank you for this, Vinyl. Truthfully."
Vinyl grinned and leaned down to give her a kiss, and Octavia's body deigned to give her the strength to rise onto her elbows to return it. They held the kiss for a moment before breaking and Vinyl winked at her. "Anything for you, lover mine." To her brief disappointment one of her hands left her back, but found a wonderful new place to ply their trade; namely her mess of a mane that she'd been in no mood to really comb after getting home. She heard Vinyl hum softly to herself as she brushed her mane with one hand and used the other to scratch her back. "You hungry, Octy? I could get you something to eat if you want."
Octavia regarded her for a moment, considering the offer. On one hand, she was feeling rather peckish and some warm food would be nice to have as a counter to the rain outside. On the other, she'd taken a solemn oath not to move from this spot and she really didn't want Vinyl's hands to go away for even a moment. Such a quandary. She was about to answer when her stomach gurgled insistently, much to her embarrassment and Vinyl's amusement.
Vinyl, taking her stomach's answer as her own leaned down and gave her another kiss, whispering. "I'll be right back, lover mine." It was all Octavia could do not to vocalize her dismay as Vinyl and her wonderful hands left, heading downstairs with a spring in her step.
That was really her relationship with Vinyl in a nutshell, now that she thought of it. Whenever Octavia was feeling blue, or she had a rare day like today where she just wanted to curl up in bed and do nothing, Vinyl - the consummate slacker - would be there to help out and pick up the slack. Not to say that Vinyl was lazy, of course. Vinyl was many things; loud, obnoxious, and childlike to name a few. But lazy was not one of them. She was always moving; always searching out that next fun idea that no doubt sounded brilliant at the moment of it's inception.
It was honestly rather nice having somepony like that in her life. She wasn't a very spontaneous person herself, brought up to be a prim and proper mare; classy and sophisticated. Vinyl made a habit of pushing her out of her comfort zone to try new things and broaden her admittedly slim horizons. Some things were better than others, but she couldn't ever really say she felt bad for having tried something new at Vinyl's behest.
Like blooming onions. Oh Celestia above; how had she gone through so much of her life without knowing the wonderful taste of a blooming onion? She didn't care if they were greasy low-class food the likes of which no respectable pony would eat, nor that they were not in the least bit healthy for her, they were incredible all the same. She could almost smell them right now and it made her mouth water. Perhaps tomorrow she and Vinyl could go out and get some at that bar Vinyl fancied. It had been some time since they'd been on a proper date, and she was hard pressed at the moment to think of a better evening than relaxing with a big plate of delicious blooming onions.
She sniffed the air when she heard Vinyl walking back upstairs, no doubt intending for them to have dinner in bed. Octavia was usually loathe to eat anywhere but at the dinner table, but Vinyl had guessed - correctly, of course - that she would make a special exception tonight. As the faint smell of her approaching dinner flowed up her nose and into her brain, her eyes shot open in recognition of the scent. No... Turning around to look at the door, she found that her nose did not deceive her. In walked Vinyl with a tray carrying a big plate of delicious, succulent smelling blooming onions.
Octavia could only stare in wonder as she fully turned around, propping herself up on her elbows as Vinyl set down the tray. She was beaming at her in that infectious way of hers. "Just as planned." that smile said, and Octavia couldn't help but beam back.
"Vinyl..." she started, plucking some of the onion from the flower and popping it in her mouth. A small shudder of bliss ran through her body as she chewed it, savoring her guilty pleasure. "You really didn't have to go to this much trouble on my account."
"Nah, but I wanted to." Vinyl chuckled, climbing into bed next to her and nuzzling her neck with a playful grin as she reached to steal a bit of the onion. "Besides, maybe I'll get lucky and you'll find yourself with a hidden reserve of energy."
Octavia raised a delicate eyebrow, unable to keep from smiling. "If this is your idea of bribery, Vinyl," She leaned over and nuzzled Vinyl's neck, trailing up and giving her ear a playful nibble. "you make a very compelling offer," Vinyl grinned ear to ear as Octavia leaned back and popped another bite into her mouth. "that on any other night I'd have happily accepted."
Vinyl's smile dropped into a pout and she crossed her arms, looking a bit dejected and earning her a soft laugh for her trouble. Leaning back over Octavia turned Vinyl's head and gave her a kiss, the taste of her meal still on her lips. "But honestly thank you again, Vinyl. You've turned what was a very bad day into an absolutely wonderful evening."
Vinyl smiled back and kissed Octavia again, her eyes shining with delight at having made her marefriend happy. "Anything for you, Octy." They remained in bed for some time after that, sharing their meal and cuddling before a thought occurred to Octavia.
"You know, I don't remember us having any onions in the fridge." She glanced at Vinyl as they finished off the last bit of the onion.
Vinyl grinned and shrugged. "Yeah, we didn't. Had to go out and grab some while you were asleep."
Octavia's eyebrows shot up into her bangs and she looked from Vinyl to the window where the storm continued to snarl and pelt the ground. "In this weather?"
Vinyl's grin grew wider as she stretched and used her magic to set the tray on the bedside table. It was starting to get late and though Octavia had taken a late nap, the idea of lying down with Vinyl after such a wonderful evening was incredibly appealing. "What's that phrase you like? Carpet Denim?"
Octavia would have rolled her eyes in annoyance at any other time, but given the wonderful back-scratching earlier and the delicious treat that Vinyl had apparently gone the extra mile to bring to her she couldn't quite work up more than a giggle and a kiss on the cheek. "It's Carpe Diem, my love. It means 'Seize the Day'."
"I don't speak Germane." Okay, now she rolled her eyes, but it was more of a bemused roll than an annoyed one. Octavia found it was honestly very difficult to be annoyed with somepony who brought you a plate of blooming onions. "I think I'll just stick with 'yolo'."
"You do that." she smiled, slipping under the covers with Vinyl and cuddling up to her. She sighed as she felt Vinyl wrap her arms around her and nuzzle her shoulder. She truly was blessed to have a wonderful pony like Vinyl in her life. Somepony who didn't just enjoy going that extra mile for her, but did it just to see her smile after a rough day. Meeting Vinyl's eyes she brushed some of her bangs back and gave her another kiss, promising to make it up to her when she was feeling better. For now though, she just wanted to rest and Vinyl was happy enough to just cuddle and let her. "Good night Vinyl. I love you."
Vinyl beamed and kissed her forehead and the last thing Octavia heard before she drifted off was "Love you too, Octy."
