The Snow on Her Cheek

Chapter Three

Round Midnight

***

"Well, this is my place," Octavia said, closing the door behind the two musicians, nodding in the direction of her sofa, and the table, and the whole spacious room.

Vinyl gasped in awe. If she weren't wearing her goggles (why do I even call them 'goggles'? They're all-around awesome sunglasses!), she would have rubbed her eyes in disbelief. "Damn it, filly! As if I weren't already impressed  by that sky-scraping thingy!"

"It's called a 'skyscraper', Vinyl," the cellist said with a smile as she trotted towards the centre of the room, where her friend (my first real friend) was standing, eyeing the room from behind her goggles.

"Makes sense." Vinyl nodded with a grin, looking at Octavia, who was warmed up inside by the mere fact of the pianist's presense. She could certainly get used to the feeling, its being one of the few pleasant ones she'd got to experience.

Vinyl shifted from hoof to hoof uneasily, desperately trying to stop thinking about the figure of the grey mare before her. And that was a challenge, for she was so slender, so curvy... If she ever had just a single chance to... No, no, no! Break the silence. Break the silence, Vinyl. Immediately! "So... D'you have any whisky?" she blurted out, not forgetting to give her brain a mental kick afterwards.

Octavia blinked. "Well, as a matter of fact, I do... but we've a lesson ahead and-"

"Pfft, filly! Who in Equestria plays jazz without a shot or two?" Vinyl smirked, seeing Octavia's dumbfounded expression. "I'll tell you - nopony. At least not in this town." An expression of confidence and certainty appeared on the unicorn's face, an expression that Octavia couldn't argue with. Not that she wanted, of course. Maybe, just maybe, a glass or two could easen the mood... Yes, and she would jump straight into bed with you, Octavia. Keep dreaming. The cellist chuckled at her own thoughts.

"Why, yes, I may have a bottle... Follow me, please," she said, trotting towards the kitchen, not thinking (totally thinking) about the white unicorn greedily eyeing her flank from behind. Okay, at least she's interested in certain parts of mine, the cellist said to herself, smiling. In fact, throughout the night, she had smiled way more than throughout her whole life. And it felt good. And nothing seemed strange, at all. It felt as if everything was supposed to be this way. The cellist had to shut her eyes for a second, so that she wouldn't fall into one of those fatalistic mental loops of hers.

As they sat down at table, Octavia poured a glass to Vinyl and half a glass to herself.

"Uh-uh." Vinyl shook her head and grabbed the bottle in her telekinetic grip, making Octavia's glass full. "That's better." She grinned.

The cellist smiled and took a sip. A conversation. What they needed was a conversation.

"So... you live here all alone?"  Vinyl asked finally, immediately wondering if she was leaving too far out of bounds.

Octavia nodded in return, feeling stinging sadness awaken inside her heart. "Yes. My family lives in another town." The two ponies remained silent for a moment, uneasiness creeping towards them. Should I tell her more? No, Octavia, that's stupid! she argued with herself. You have to be polite and ask her to tell something about herself! Sure. Ask. But what?.. "What about you, Vinyl? Where do you live?" the cellist finally wondered, smiling gently at the beautiful white unicorn.

Vinyl played with her striking electric-blue mane for a moment, before answering, "On the outskirts, not far from the bar. My folks kicked me out a while ago, so I kinda live alone too." She smiled sadly. "To loneliness!" She raised her glass in a clumsy toast. I can't tell her everything... Vinyl glanced at Octavia, staring into her beautiful, sad eyes for a moment. Not yet.

Octavia downed her glass as well. "How could they?" she finally asked in disbelief. "They're family! You're family!" Being raised as she was, the cellist couldn't get a grip at such a concept. Or... No! ...could she?

"Let's just say..." The white mare chuckled solemnly. "They couldn't put up with some... quirks of mine." She poured herself another glass, and Octavia copied the gesture. Yeah, quirks, like rutting mares... Vinyl thought, hiding her pain behind the usual glass of whisky and bawdiness.

Her 'quirks'... Octavia mused. And then she thought about her own quirks. And then-

"The fact that you... like mares... right?"

It was a blind guess. It was a sheer leap of faith, an all-or-nothing speculation. It had to be true; or else...

"Yes," Vinyl whispered, looking around fervently. Her eyes widened behind the goggles, hiding her fear. "Don't tell anypony," she added hastingly, looking at the grey mare. Dammit, filly, you're smart! she thought to herself, not without a hint of strange, unexplainable pride.

"Of course...." Octavia blushed. "You know, I..." No, Octavia, don't you- "...kinda like mares too." Did I really say that? Oh my sweet Celestia, did I really say that just now?!

"Oh." Vinyl downed the glass in a single gulp. Strangely enough, her phrasing fully resembled her thoughts right now. Oh. It was a revelation, not a shocking one, but a rather pleasant and soothing one, not just because that meant that the cellist wouldn't give away her secret, but also-

If she likes mares, that doesn't necessarily mean she likes you, both ponies thought in unison and blushed simultaneously, pretending not to have noticed each other's dismay.

"Um... So, how about we practice now?" Octavia suggested, breaking the uneasy silence. She desperately needed to tame that growing passion of hers. There was no passion in Manehattan, she'd learned it well.

Vinyl jumped up, glad that she was in a familiar environment again. A grin once more made its way to her face.

"Of course! Let's go; show me what you've got!' She trotted out of the kitchen. As Octavia followed her with a smile, she heard the unicorn shout, "Music, I mean! Show me what you've got... in musical terms!"

The cellist snickered. For some reason, it amused her to see the pianist embarrassed. She was so cute that way... Music, Octavia. Think about music, not about her face... and flank.

As Octavia entered the room, she saw the white unicorn at her piano, playing some twiddle, just a warm-up. The cellist was mesmerised at how relaxed, how collected Vinyl was, how her hooves obeyed her perfectly. The grey earth pony smiled and took her cello, placing herself on her back hooves, taking the bow in her right hoof, while her left hoof gently slid up and down the instrument's neck. Her eyes closed automatically as she began to play, regal notes coming from the cello, stately music enveloping the whole room.

Suddenly, she felt a hoof being placed on her own, making her yelp, embarrassed, and stop playing. She opened her eyes and saw the white mare balancing on her back hooves uneasily, visibly not used to such a position, her hoof  resting atop Octavia's.

"Filly, you're doing it wrong. You need to relax," the pianist cooed, stroking the grey hoof, sending shivers of pleasure down Octavia's spine. "There... all better," Vinyl concluded, feeling the tension leave the grey hoof beneath her own.

That's because you are touching me, Octavia thought, but decided to keep her speculations to herself.

"Now, play like you feel it, Octavia. Not like you know it."

Vinyl's words sounded calm and encouraging, and Octavia resolved to try. Alas, her hoof didn't obey her. Just as she tried to break the firm tempo, her senses immediately brought the melody back to its rhytmic course.

Vinyl shook her head disapprovingly, and Octavia blushed in reply. She didn't want to fail this amazing mare (Since when am I thinking of her like that?!), but years of practice were still binding her well.

"Try again, Tavi. Just let go of everything that's holding you. Feel it, Tavi. You need to drive into it."

Octavia tried again, and again, and again, but each attempt resulted in failure. She was angry at herself. She was angry at everything. Every time she tried to swing, her inner senses prevented her from doing so. Every slide was muffled, every note ended in a classical vibrato.

"Come on, Tavi, just do it! Just go wild and it will all happen naturally!" Vinyl shouted impatiently.

"Oh?" Octavia turned her face, red with anger, towards the white unicorn. "Maybe you will help me, miss I-Know-How-To-Go-Wild?" She was angry, and embarrassed, and hopeless. She simply couldn't get a slightest little grip on how to "drive into" that kind of music! But she so, so wanted to!

The unicorn blinked and took a hesitant step towards the mare, a step way too large; a step that almost brought their muzzles together. I'm not gonna do it, right? Vinyl could feel Octavia's breath on her cheek, hot and fast, with a hint of alcohol. Oh, Celestia, I'm totally not gonna-

"Vinyl, I-I-I-" Octavia stammered, her face turning red, her eyes widening. She... She's going to... Feelings of uncertainty and fear were immediately replaced with determination and desire. Everything looked so surreal; everything was happening so fast, and yet... not fast enough. Just do it already! Octavia screamed mentally, losing her mind for a second. And a second was more than enough.

"That's how you go wild," Vinyl said and, with that, brought her face closer to Octavia's, kissing the grey mare on the lips. The cellist sighed into the kiss, her body immediately relaxing, her mouth embracing the unicorn's tongue. While she herself couldn't play jazz yet, she was content that their tongues were now dancing, swinging in a bawdy, inappropriate way. And nothing could be better than this. They were playing jazz, sure, in a rather bizzare manner, but Octavia was sure that that was how jazz felt. That was how jazz tasted.

Vinyl finally broke the kiss, not wiping her muzzle, a drop of saliva falling from her mouth and onto the floor. Both ponies were panting heavily, and neither was sure what to do next.

"I think..." Octavia blushed fiercely. "I think I will need a more... detailed explanation." I can't believe I just said that! Tavi, you're making progress! she congratulated herself, using the nickname this wonderful white mare had invented for her.

"That's how you let go of everything!" Vinyl cheered with a grin and levitated the grey pony onto the sofa. Not that Octavia minded, anyway. The white pony crawled onto the sofa herself and was immediately met with a clumsy kiss from the grey mare.

Wow. She's good, the pianist made a  mental remark as she let herself bathe in the feeling.

"You're learning, Tavi," Vinyl whispered into the cellist's ear in a sultry tone, due to which the grey mare turned completely red; though, still not breaking the eye contact.

"Vinyl..." Octavia moaned as the unicorn began nibbling on her ear, planting small kisses all over her muzzle, moving lower, to her neck. "I... I've never been..." OH CELESTIA! "...With a mare before and..."  OH THAT FEELS GOOD! "...I don't know what to do." Amazing, Octavia. You are definitely the brightest mare this world has ever seen. You couldn't have done better... Still, such sarcastic thoughts were drowned by the overwhelming sensation.

Vinyl stopped kissing Octavia's neck and grinned, taking off her goggles, revealing her beautiful red eyes to the cellist, who immediately fell in love with them. "That's why I'm here, Tavi. To teach you."

With that, Octavia relaxed, feeling the last bits of tension leave her body. Tonight, she was going to let go of everything. Tonight, she was going to go wild. Tonight, she was going to finally feel jazz, which took the form of this sexy white unicorn, a mare who had conquered her heart.