Turtle & Canary; Wednesday [11/13].

[sake_shinigami]

Despite the small white bandage on his right cheek (and the much more difficult to notice larger one wrapped around his left side), Shunsui was in an excellent mood as he came into the shop today, humming a tune listlessly as he set to doing the weekly orders in a way that stretched a task that shouldn't take more than a few hours into a whole day affair.

Until Apu came to pester him to remind him that Amaya said to order more of a certain part for the Squishy machine when she was in the other day to fix it.

Shunsui blinked at Apu. "The Squishy machine was broken?"

Which Shunsui instantly regretted asking, because that lead into a whole boring and unneccisarrily long (in Shunsui's opinion) lecture about responsibility and answering his phone or at least replying to messages, and probably some other stuff, too, Shunsui wasn't sure, he'd sort of stopped paying attention and was zoning out through most of it. It was only when Apu began to mention that it was a good thing Amaya was still on the island, or else this place--

"Amaya," Seivarden had mentioned her, too, in the onsen, but he still couldn't quite place her. "Now which one is she again? Mind you, I rarely forget the name of a beautiful woman, Apu-san, but sometimes there's just so many, it can be hard to keep straight ♥."

And so Apu went into a very basic description that should have worked well for anyone, but Shunsui still wore a faintly puzzle, mostly bemused expression on his face until Apu sighed and--very, very reluctantly--mentioned certian particular...endowments she may have possessed.

Which brought a spark of recognition immediately. "Ah, yes ♥! Movie Class-chan ♥! Of course! She's quite the handiwoman around here, isn't she ♥! I'll have to find some way to thank her, won't I ♥?"

Apu opened his mouth to point out that the best thing Shunsui could probably do to thank her was not thank her at all, but then he remembered Amaya's fondness for threatening people with wrenches, and decided to just not say anything at all, turn around, and just get back to work.

"Oh!" But Shunsui apparently had something else, calling after him in a sing-song voice. "Apu~~saaaan~ ♥! Make sure to get all those boxes in the backroom to Seivarden's place today! ....of course I don't know where, Apu-san, can't you just look it up? We have a directory. And, no, actually, no I can't do it myself, I've got all these orders today! There's a good lad ♥!"

Today's Squishy Flavors
Bagel with Cream Cheese and Green Onion
Donut with Cream Cheese and Green Onion*
Red

Turtle & Canary is open!

_____________
*Apparently a real thing
Edit: Now with photographic evidence
You know who you are, and I hope you feel TERRIBLE.

Comments

[okteiviakom]

Today was better than yesterday, but Octavia was still feeling maybe a little run-down. It was understandable, sure, considering she had what was technically a fresh wound running along her upper arm all the way up to her neck, but that didn't mean it wasn't annoying.

When she showed up at the store today, her usual leather jacket was missing in action, replaced by a soft, baggy hoodie that was clearly meant for someone taller and wider. She intended for this to be a short visit: she'd just get a few things and return to the couch at the apartment.

(Yes, having that urge seemed odd to her, too.)

"Hey."

[sake_shinigami]

"Ahhh, Octavia-chan ♥!" Shunsui, of course, beamed when she arrived, and not just for the pleasant interruption in his work, either. "Lovely~~ ♥! I was hoping you'd be in today ♥."

It was, after all, Wednesday.

"How was your appointment, my dear ♥? Probably still too soon to start showing it off, neh?"

[okteiviakom]

"It's still kind of a swollen, oozy mess," Octavia confirmed as she came up to the counter. Once there, though, she tilted her head to one side and indicated with her other hand at the small black tendril conveniently also visible in this icon peeking out from under her collar, just barely rising up the side of her neck. The inked skin was raised a little, and just a little red around the edges.

"This is all the preview I have."

[sake_shinigami]

Leaning in a bit more than was strictly necessary for a look at that peeking little tendril, Shunsui tilted his head and grinned. "Just a small, precious hint of what lies beneath ♥," he noted. "I look forward to seeing it in all its full glory, Octavia-chan. And, now that it's complete..."

He placed two sake cups on the counter between them, pouring them both before handing one over.

"...we should celebrate, of course ♥."

[okteiviakom]

"Of course," Octavia replied, more just echoing his words in a faintly amused manner than actually agreeing. Not that she disagreed, either, because she took the offered cup - still subtle about fingers brushing deliberately against fingers as she did - then held it up a little bit. "To a tattoo session gone well?"

She was learning, when it came to toasts.

[sake_shinigami]

She was! Shunsui's grin was a terribly proud one as he took up his own cup, marginally lifting it to match her own, and nodded. "To a tattoo session gone well," he agreed, and he thought about leaving it at that, but he just couldn't. "And to how even one so incredibly beautiful can manage to become even more so ♥."

She was learning, sure, but, clearly, she still had quite a while to go, when it came to toasts.

[okteiviakom]

Honestly, it was unlikely Octavia was ever going to make it up to his level in that. But she didn't have to, because for now, she had him for the extravagant ones.

The amused look got a little less faint. "You haven't even seen it yet," she pointed out, fully aware that it didn't actually matter any.

[sake_shinigami]

Ahh, and she was likely fully aware of the fact that he was going to point that out to her, too, just as he had been fully aware that she'd likely say exactly that to set him up for it perfectly.

"I don't need to ♥," he said, smirking with unabashed confidence in that. "It's on you, Octavia-chan, so how could it be anything but beautiful ♥?"

[okteiviakom]

It went about how she'd expected it to, yeah.

Octavia snorted softly. "Probably easily," she replied, after a sip, "because I don't really care about 'beautiful'." That was what she kept repeatedly telling Duke, anyway. So it had to be true, right?

[sake_shinigami]

"So ka ♥?" Shunsui asked, and he might have sounded very impressed by this, if it weren't for the laugh that followed spoiling the effect a bit. "Well. Good thing beautiful doesn't care whether or not you care about beautiful, Octavia-chan ♥."

[okteiviakom]

"No, but I could easily get an unattractive tattoo."

She hadn't, but just saying! Especially considering a lot of Grounder tattoos put symbolic value higher than the aesthetic side of it.

Though she was really arguing it only for the sake of banter.

[sake_shinigami]

"That's a wonderful idea, Octavia-chan ♥," said Shunsui easily. "As it would not only showcase how beautiful you are, but also how kind, to go and elevate a lowly, unattractive tattoo with your own loveliness ♥. After all, you've got more than enough to spare ♥."

[okteiviakom]

Okay, so maybe the reason she argued was actually just to hear his counter-arguments.

The laugh that ensued was short and really more huffed through her nose than her mouth. Still didn't mean it wasn't one. "Right," she said. "I forgot I was all-powerful like that."

[bookbeltof_love]

The only people who ought to feel bad were the ones that had come up with the monstrosity of an everything bagel donut with cream cheese and green onion! Seriously, it's so awful.

"Good afternooooooooooooooon!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Nina sang as she bounced on in, feeling a bit rushed but, like, mostly because she was full of flail, as there was plenty of time before she was meeting Owen...

[sake_shinigami]

Although the people who felt hte need to spread the knowledge of such monstrosities deserved at least an honorable mention.

But how could one be anything but absolutely charmed by an entrance such as that, and Shunsui had to chuckle a little. "Nina-chan~~ ♥ ♥ ♥!" he sang back, though obviously not nearly as sweet and lovely as her own greeting. "What an absolute delight to see you, my little gosling ♥. How have you been and to what do I owe the pleasure of such a radiant beam of sunshine to come waltzing into my shop today ♥"

[bookbeltof_love]

"I've been positively tremendous!!!!!!!!!!!!!" she said, radiating a smile at him for his own, delightful greeting. "And, like, I--------------oh, you've cut your cheek!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Are you okay???????????????"

[sake_shinigami]

Shunsui's smile went a little sheepish at the question; he'd honestly mostly forgotten about the thing with the cheek, what with his side demanding far more of his attention in that respect, and chuckled as he lifted a hand ginglerly to it for a moment, then waved it off.

"Just a scratch, duckling, nothing to worry about ♥," he informed her. "It should heal up quickly enough."

Unlike the other wound, so perhaps it had been a good thing he'd managed to get the most out of the onsen this week after all.

"And certainly not something to take over a conversation when positively tremendous is on the table. That hardly sounds like just an ordinary, everyday sort of mood, Nina-chan ♥."

[bookbeltof_love]

She still looked a bit concerned mostly because, really, in her experience boys were sort of dumb about the whole injury thing...

"Okaaaaaaaaaaay," she said dubiously, "but, like, I can heal it if you want me to.............."

Because, seriously, injuries to the face were such a hit to the vanity.

"And, no, I'm not happy in an ordinary, everyday sort of way," she admitted, since, honestly, Nina would rather talk about her news that she, uh, wasn't sick of talking about yet.

Oh, Nina.

[sake_shinigami]

Ahhh, but injuries to the face also inspired concern from sympathetic ladies and led kind-hearted little goslings to offer to heal them, too.

"The offer is greatly appreciated, Nina-chan ♥," Shunsui assured her with a grateful nod of his head, "but I'm sure it will be fine. How about I take you up on the offer in a few days if it has not, in fact, gotten better, hmm ♥? After all, I'd much rather talk about what in the world could cause such a lovely bout of extraordinary happiness. It wouldn't happen to be....romance-related, by any chance, would it ♥?"

And even though that would have been his first guess anyway when dealing with an enthusiastically happy teenaged girl, Shunsui had also met you, Nina, even if only just the once, but that once was enough.

[bookbeltof_love]

"Well, alright," she said, since he was twisting her rubber arm here to talk about the thing she'd rather talk about anyway. "But if you need healing, please let me know, okay?????????????????"

Then she giggled.

"And, like, it is actually romance-related," she confessed, going a bit pink. "I have my first date on Friday, you see......................"

She was going to be so devastated about this later.

[sake_shinigami]

"Your very first date, Nina-chan ♥?" asked Shunsui, almost beaming over the idea like a proud parent. "I can see why that would be an extraordinary occassion for such a extraordinary mood ♥ ♥ ♥! And who might be this incredibly lucky date that gets to look forward to taking such a charming vision such as yourself out on the town ♥?"

[bookbeltof_love]

"Actually," she admitted, "I'm the one taking him out on the town................"

Which, she thought, Shunsui might actually understand why she thought that was so weird.

"I'm still really excited!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! But it does feel a bit backwards..............."

[sake_shinigami]

"Backwards?" asked Shunsui, sounding amused, because there really was one trait that he had that made him absolutely not an ally with you on this one, Nina, and that was how, no matter how much he truly did adore pampering and showering women with attention, he also had an incredible fondness for doing as much work as possible, too. "If anything, it sounds like perhaps your paramour is even luckier than I'd originally given him credit for! He must be someone pretty special, neh, Nina-chan ♥?"

[bookbeltof_love]

"I wouldn't say he's my paramour," she protested, blushing even more brightly. "Though he is pretty special..............."

[sake_shinigami]

"Soon-to-be paramour, then ♥," Shunsui amended with a chuckle. "And he must be special, to have caught the attention and affections of such a lovely young lady ♥. If only we could all be so lucky."