“I’m curious.” Tavie says, taking a sip from her teacup. “Why don’t you take off your sunglasses? It's not very bright in here, I can’t imagine you can see very well.”

“I…” I pause a moment wondering if I should just tell her. “Better to not say too much.” I think to myself. “I only take them off in front of ponies I’m really comfortable with. None of my one night stands have even seen me with them off.”

“You don’t feel comfortable with me?” Tavie asks in a sad tone.

“Tavie, we're talking only five ponies here.” I say, holding up my hoof to tap on as I count. “There’s my mom, my dad. My sister, my best friend. And…” I quickly cut myself off and correct my speech. ”Not even, it's just those four. No one else has seen.”

Tavie flashes a confused look for a second, but it disappears before she talks. “I get it, please forgive me if I seemed like I was pressuring you.” Tavie picks up her tea cup and places it on the tray next to the empty tea pot.

I finish off mine and place it on the tray as well. “Don’t sweat it, a lot of ponies ask about them.” I follow Tavie into the kitchen and move towards the other door. “I guess I should get going.”

“Oh, I suppose it is getting quite late, can you get back to your place alright?” Tavie sets the tea set in the sink and turns to look at me.

“Yeah, I’ll be fine.” I wait a moment before asking. “Hey, can I use your bathroom before I go?”

“Sure” Tavie walks up next to me and points a hoof down the hall of doors. “It's that door on the right.”

“Thanks, I’ll be quick.” I walk down the hallway and duck into the right door, locking it behind it. Once in the privacy of the bathroom I let out a sigh and look in the mirror. “What are you doing?” I ask myself as I remove my glasses. I gaze into the mirror, my crimson eyes piercing right back into me, the small scar on my left eye making it appear more red.. “Damn it. What do I do?” I wonder, tightening my grip on my shades. I eventually let out a sigh, put my glasses back on, and walk out the door.

I walk back up toward the front door where Tavie is still standing. “You waited?” I ask in a somewhat surprised tone.

Tavie fidgets with her hooves slightly. “I wanted to see you off.” She then moves out of the way, opening the door behind her. “Have a safe trip home.”

“I’m going to regret this.” I say, much to Tavie’s confusion. I then in one swift motion pull Octavia in for a deep passionate kiss. Despite the mild tea we just had, her mouth had so much flavor. There were so many conflicting emotions for what I was doing, but I didn’t care, I could only focus on her taste. Then, just as quickly as it started, I pulled away, walked out the door, and shut it tight behind me, not saying a single word.

“Usually I’d just take her there.” I think to myself as I descend the stairs. “One night stands are simple, but something felt so wrong about doing that, but at the same time, leaving without doing anything even though she was clearly into me also felt really wrong.” I let out a sigh as I push the front door of the apartment building open. “I need to figure out what to do next time I see her.”

* * *

As the electronic beats pound in my head and through my hooves, the bright lights flashing and shining in my eye I feel alive. Unfortunately I only have two songs left until my show ends and I have to go home for the night. I’ve always loved my work, I really do, but if I do too much then I crash and burn out. As my current song winds down and I get ready to put on my next one, I notice a familiar face in the crowd.

“Why is she here?” I think to myself, trying to avoid looking at the mare. “I just need to finish my last song and then I can slip out of the club before she tries to talk to me.” I solidify my plan and switch out my records to start my last song. “How’s everyone’s night going!?” I call to the crowd, trying to get them to make some noise, which I receive in bulk.

“We’re running low on time here, so this will be the last song of the night, so make this last dance count.” I call out. “all I have to do is act normal, if she thinks I don’t know she’s here then I have a better chance of slipping out.” I think to myself as I start up the last song.

As the song plays I don’t add in as many extra touches as I usually do, instead I subtly pack up most of my equipment under the table. Thankfully I didn’t have to bring my own turntable to this club otherwise there’d be no avoiding a certain somepony. As the song starts coming to a close I get ready to head straight for the door, hoping to avoid any uncomfortable conversations.

The second the song ends I carefully grab my last two records in my magic along with everything else and go out on to the dance floor. I take a glance around and my stomach knots. “I lost sight of her, damn this isn’t good.” I think, tightening my grip on my bags. I see a break in the crowd and decide it’s better to just bolt for the exit than worry about where the mare slipped off to. I trot toward the door though the crowd and manage to make it off the dance floor.

“Hey Vinyl” I hear a familiar voice say, a hoof landing on my shoulder. “Long time no see, I missed you.”

“Foal of a bitch.” I curse in my head, a phrase I hardly ever use, but at this moment I was so pissed I probably would have used any curse or slur. But I manage to keep my composure and simply turn to face the mare. Saying in an even, deadpan tone. “What do you want, Golden Bass?”

Author's Note

A/N
In case it wasn't obvious because of the music thing Golden Bass is pronounced Golden Base.