“Vinyl, do you really have to wear a tux?” Octavia frowned as she took a T-shirt that proclaimed I’m a cellist and all my puns fall flat on the audience in a small bold typeset. “It’s just a rehearsal, no need to get all fancy.”

“Still better than this silly shirt of yours,” Vinyl remarked, checking her bow tie. With a grin, she spun on her heels. “Heh, who would ever have thought I would wear a tux and you would opt for a T-shirt?”

“That’s one of the few T-shirts I took to your place when we moved in,” Octavia said automatically, taking off her soft shorts reserved for wearing indoors. Suddenly, the realisation of what she’d said sank in, and her lavender eyes widened in fear. “I mean!” She quickly turned towards her friend, but Vinyl was smiling warmly at her.

“That’s all right, Tavi. Friends move in together too.” The DJ winked at the slightly embarrassed cellist. “And they often…” Vinyl licked her lips sensually. “They often become more than friends afterwards.”

“Vinyl…” Octavia shut her eyes tight. “Please don’t tease me. Just tell me if you like me or not! I cannot bear this any longer…” There were almost tears in her eyes, but Octavia held them back. “I need to know if I… I need to know if we like each other. Because our relationship is weird as fuck.”

“Wow, you actually said ‘as fuck’ instead of ‘af’.” Seeing gravity in Octavia’s eyes, Vinyl sighed and motioned for the woman to sit next to her in the chair. “I don’t know if I like you. And please don’t tell me if you like me or not. I cannot know yet. I don’t know if I’ll react appropriately and we don’t need more rewinds.” The spinner smiled softly at her cellist friend. “Your health is very important to me, Tavi.”

Octavia sighed in return and placed her legs on Vinyl’s, effectively sitting in the spinner’s lap.

“I’m just scared of having a relationship.” Vinyl stroked Octavia’s knee in such a fashion that made the cellist want to jump her friend there and then and not care about rewinds or anything else. “I had a girlfriend, I trusted her with my life, hell, I thought I loved her, but-” The woman gulped, her hands instinctively springing up to protect her neck.

“Tell me, Vinyl.” Octavia stroked the back of her friend’s hand gently, with a sad, understanding smile. “I’ll be your shrink, your confessor, your everything. Just talk to me.”

Vinyl paused, then gritted her teeth, then broke into tears. “Margaret,” she said finally, her sobs quieting gradually. “Her name was Margaret. She…” Once more, the sobbing intensified, and tears made their triumphant comeback. “She said ‘I decide whether you live or die - and I decided you should die’. And she- she choked me!” Vinyl squeezed Octavia’s hand so tight it hurt the cellist, but the cellist in question remained silent, standing - or, rather, sitting - steadfast for her friend. “It wasn’t a game anymore. I couldn’t use the safe word, I- I- Can you rewind?” Vinyl asked suddenly, looking up at Octavia’s face with her puffy red eyes.

“W-what?” Octavia feigned ignorance.

“You’ll still know the truth, but you will save me from the emotional breakdown of telling you.” Vinyl shut her eyes tight. “I know it hurts your health, but I think I need it. Tavi, can you rewind? Please?”

With a sigh of defeat, Octavia threw out her hand, and the blue fire appeared in it, winking at its mistress mischievously. However, no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t make it grow redder. The fears of yesterday surfaced once again. “I- I can’t…” She looked at her friend with deep fear in her eyes. “It’s not that I don’t want to. I just… can’t. I cannot rewind anymore!”

“Shh,” Vinyl immediately chimed in, grabbing the cellist by the waist. “It’s all right, Octavia. It’s all right. Don’t worry, your powers will come back eventually.” As soon as Octavia opened her mouth, Vinyl swiftly supplied, “And even if they don’t… You’ll always be my little Tavi.” The woman stroked Octavia’s cheek with the back of her index finger.

Octavia chuckled, her spirits somewhat brighter. “I’m three years older than you.”

“And still as beautiful as the day we met.” Vinyl lowered her lips and kissed Octavia’s knuckles. “Can I still watch that sexy naked body of yours while you get dressed?”

Octavia smirked with confidence. “You bet.”

***

“Ah, Octavia, fashionably late, as I see?”

The cellist blushed slightly at the remark as she hurried towards the stage, Vinyl gracefully carrying her cello case. “I’m sorry, Mr Catcher, it’s just that something held me up,” she blurted out, not even able to come up with a decent lie. When you can no longer rewind, she mused, you have to be careful with what you say.

“Oh.” The black man smiled radiantly, motioning with his violin bow towards the empty stool on the stage. “It wouldn’t happen to be your lovely girlfriend, would it?” The conductor glanced at Vinyl with the same smile he reserved for everyone equally. Everyone but Harpo, it seemed. “Who can sit in the front row if she wants to watch the rehearsal. Quietly.”

“Of course I want to watch!” Vinyl grinned at everyone, winking at Octavia, who’d unpacked her instrument and was adjusting it, a thin blush still covering her tan cheeks. “I watch her shower, so why don’t I watch her perform?”

“I like her,” Harpo remarked with a grin, turning to Beatrice. “I like her a lot. Do you think we can have a foursome with her and Octavia?” Receiving a nice, well-estimated slap on the back of his head from the woman, the man frowned and nodded. “I understand. No foursomes for poor Harpo. Only the sanctity of a relationship.”

“Wait, what?” Octavia raised her head quizzically as she picked up her bow. “You two are an item now?” Was it… Did what I said to Bea back then contribute to this? Do all of my actions actually have consequences?.. The raven-haired woman looked at her shoulders for guidance, but the little angel and devil weren’t there.

“If you had been attending the daily rehearsals,” Frederic chimed in amicably but sternly from his place at the grand piano, “you would have found out much interesting.”

“And when are you getting a girlfriend, you benevolent benefactor?” Vinyl snarled, making Octavia giggle in delight at how her girlfriend was misusing big words. Suddenly, she grew sombre. Friend. Not really girlfriend. Damn. “Or, rather, judging by your looks, a boyfriend.” A grin from Vinyl was all that was needed for Frederic’s brow to twitch and for him to turn back to the sheet music.

“So, um, Vinyl, is it?” Catcher didn’t even drop his smile, which was unnerving the spinner more than a little, as was evident by the growing anxiety in her facial expression - that only Octavia was able to notice, as it seemed. “When I said you should sit quietly, I meant it. After all, you’re the one who’s been keeping my prized cellist from her daily rehearsals.”

“Oh, you know, we just have to keep up with the schedule,” Vinyl explained eagerly - maybe a little too eagerly to Octavia’s liking. “And, by ‘the schedule’, I mean hot, kinky, fervent sex.”

“Which is why Frederic doesn’t need a woman to slow him down,” the conductor concluded seriously, his smile dropping at last.

“Wow,” Vinyl whispered audibly in Octavia’s general direction. “Looks like he wants a piece of that meat himself.”

Octavia giggled, but stopped at Mr Catcher’s insistent glare. What’s his problem anyway? It’s not like our lives begin and end with the ensemble… Well, maybe Frederic’s.

“Okay, everyone. Before we begin, I’d like to remind you that the competition for Best Young Musician will take place tomorrow at six at the usual venue.” The bald man threw his arms wide, as if in greeting. “And you are all invited! So long as you cheer for Frederic, of course.”

“Oh, Catch!” Harpo slammed his hand against his forehead. “I totally forgot. Bea and I were planning on going to the ci-” At which point he received a kick from the mare in question. “On going to see Bea’s aunt, I mean. Who’s really, really sick. The aunt, not Bea.”

“Mr Parish Nadermane,” Catcher said in a tone that allowed no argument. “Either you attend tomorrow’s performance - or you are fired.”

“Ouch.” Vinyl winced from her solitary confinement in the audience. “Do you kiss your mother with that mouth?”

Mr Catcher sighed and rubbed his eyelids with his free hand. “Is she going to do that all the time?” he addressed Octavia in a half-moaning, half-begging voice.

Vinyl smirked, reiterating Octavia’s confidence from the morning. “You bet.”

***

“You were amazing.”

Octavia smiled, her head on Vinyl’s belly as the two women lay in the spinner’s spacious bed. She sighed and closed her eyes, watching the shapes of the day dance before her eyelids. “Thank you, Vinyl.”

Vinyl began to toy with Octavia’s long, gorgeous hair, making sure to sniff it well beforehand. “You smell like strawberries, Tavi.” She scratched Octavia’s scalp with the tips of her fingers. “And your performance was spectacular.”

“Oh,” Octavia jested, her heart beating faster at Vinyl’s ministrations, “you do know that word.” She opened her eyes and watched the blue flame dance in her palm. Would she freak out people in the streets if she were to do that in public? Or was it only she who could see the little blue flame? But Vinyl could see it too… Octavia’s blood ran cold. What if Vinyl, too, was just part of her imagination? Just like this whole time-reversal, and the angel and the devil on her shoulders. What was real and what was fantasy?

Suddenly, the cellist really craved her medicine that she’d neglected for the past couple of days. But she couldn’t show Vinyl her weakness. She had to be strong. Maybe then Vinyl would sort out her feelings and embrace her, Octavia, with open arms?

“Tavi,” Vinyl’s voice reached the cellist’s ears. “Can you kiss me? Just kiss me, no strings attached? I don’t want a relationship yet… But maybe a kiss will bring it closer?”

Oh, how Octavia wanted to give in and drag the spinner into a deep, fervent kiss! How she wanted to conquer that woman, to give herself unto her, to drink of her, to quench her thirst in this eternal heat! But she had to stay strong. She had to be adamant and unwavering. She did want a relationship. And Vinyl had to get the damn memo.

“Well, my dear Vinyl…” Octavia drawled, feeling the spinner’s hectic heartbeat, the heat of her body, the anxiety. “I am a cellist, so I would rather wait and have a proper kiss, with strings attached.”

Vinyl’s heartbeat slowed down somewhat, and Octavia realised the spinner was preparing some witty remark to conceal her disappointment. Well, she thought, if she is disappointed, she has a right to that. But I also have a right to be disappointed when the object of my desires can’t make up her damn mind! Devil Octavia cheered from her shoulder: You show her, girl! Octavia smiled: Missed you guys. Where’s the angel? Devil Octavia shrugged.

“You know, Octavia,” Vinyl drawled, drawing the cellist’s immediate attention. “You are disregarding my lust for your luscious lips, so I’d say you should sleep on the couch.”

Octavia could practically see the grin with her closed eyes. “First of all, you don’t have a couch. And second of all, avoid. Alliteration. Always.”

Vinyl laughed and pressed her lips against Octavia’s forehead. “Huh?” The lips soon turned into the back of the spinner’s hand. “You’re burning, Tavi. How could you catch a fever in such heat?”

“If I have a fever,” Octavia purred, feeling better than ever, “it is because you give me fever,” she sang in a fake bass, and Vinyl soon joined in:

“In the morning,” Vinyl sang, “Fever all through the night.”

***

The children were still burning.

Only, this time, Octavia was burning them.

With mad laughter, she directed the blue fires at the young ones, watching Time itself rip apart, watching the children grow, age, and die, all the while burning in the terrible hellfire. Then she put up the other hand, and the adults became children, and the whole process began from the start, again and again.

Suddenly, Octavia felt a tug at her hand. Turning round, she saw Vinyl’s sad, lamenting eyes. The flames died in the cellist’s hands.

“Tavi,” Vinyl begged her, pressing her lips against Octavia’s hands, “Tavi, you have to stop. Please. You are hurting all of us.”

“I saved you!” Octavia attempted to redeem herself, only now realising that she was effectively killing all these people, and that she was feeling unspoken joy at that. “I saved you… twice.”

“Octavia, I love you,” Vinyl said simply and earnestly. “I love you, and I know you need to stop.”

Octavia didn’t mean to burn her. The fires danced automatically as she watched, helplessly, as Vinyl turned into a piece of burning flesh before her own eyes, dying with an unrecognisable last word on her lips.

But, of course, Octavia recognised it at once.

***

Octavia woke up with a scream.

Vinyl mumbled something next to her in bed, then opened her eyes suddenly, her unseeing eyes focusing on her friend for a moment. “Bad dream, Tavi?” she asked automatically, placing her arm over the cellist’s belly.

“More than a dream, Vinyl,” Octavia whispered more to herself than to the spinner, still clutching the arm to her breast. “I fear it’s gonna be real.”

“Dreams don’t come true, Tavi.” Vinyl yawned and nuzzled into the pillow, soon drifting off to snory sleep.

“Dreams don’t,” Octavia whispered almost inaudibly. “But nightmares do.”