fandomtownies | The Streets of Fandom, Late Sunday Morning

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The Streets of Fandom, Late Sunday Morning

Bellamy had not taken well to Octavia's disappearing act on Friday. There'd been kind of an argument over it, actually, because come ooooooon, Bel, she'd already been here a bunch of times and nothing had happened to her! And she usually never got to go anywhere on her won, because she never got to go anywhere at all! It wasn't fair!

There'd maybe been some tears, actually.

But she'd stuck around him for all of Saturday because she hated making him worry.

... But then Bellamy had slept in on Sunday and experience had taught her it might be the last day, and Friday had been fine and so she'd snuck out again, still wearing a jacket that was too big for her and that had a small stuffed bunny peering out from one of the pockets, though the pockets weren't filled with cookies anymore.

Because there were also a couple of sandwiches in there. Along with all the cookies, because, cookies.

And now she was just roaming the streets around the island with no particular destination in mind. Sometimes, she hid behind corners when she saw strangers coming down the street - because while she thought she was safe, unfamiliar adults still kind of concerned her - but mostly she was just excitedly peering in through shop windows, occasionally ducking with a tiny 'eep!' when she caught someone actually looking back out at her.

[ooc: Open streets, open post!]

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"Exploring, eh?" asked Shunsui, lifting his brows a little as he nibbled on the next cookie. "Find anything really good yet?"

And then he laughed, just a little, looking around. "Other than the best hiding spots, I guess!"

Oh, Shunsui, you really weren't gaining a fan, here. Octavia bristled some more at that last comment, even if she didn't say anything about it.

"I just like the island."

She had favorites, but not telling him what she'd found was her being petty, yes.

But he'd meant it as a compliment! Knowing the good hiding spots was important; he had dozens of them around the estate, after all, but they were just for hiding from his brother, not random strangers.

But if there was any bristling or pettiness on Octavia's part, Shunsui was probably going to be the last to notice it.

"I like the ducks and the pond," he decided, after a moment. "I'd bet it'd be nice to be a duck."

"The flamingos are better," Octavia told him firmly.

Possibly even combatively.

To that, Shunsui just shrugged, taking another nibble of his cookie.

"They're prettier," he allowed, after a moment. E "But they seem kind of awkward, don't you think? And all that pink!" Which he actually really liked as a color, but it wasn't like he could just say that! "So flamboyant!"

And, quieter, a moment later, "Too noticeable. Ducks just sort of..." Another shrug. "Blend in."

That seemed to take some of the wind out of Octavia's sails again. She dug into her pockets for a cookie for herself. "Yeah, but, like, if you had a choice? Wouldn't you rather stand out?"

She'd love the option of being a flamingo.

Shunsui had to stop and blink at Octavia a little at that one. If he had...a choice? What kind of question was that? He'd never have a choice, and, even when he did stand out, even just by accident, just like his brother said, it was in all the wrong ways...

And the only attention he'd get that was the right way was attention he definitely didn't want.

Boy, he probably looked like a flamingo now; his face felt like it was burning up enough! So he was just going to laugh it away, like he always did.

"No way!" he said between his laughter. "Not in a million years!"

Or, well, maybe more like a hundred...

...or maybe just even two or three...once he realized that it might actually be okay to be a flamingo rather than a duck.

Edited 2019-11-17 23:59 (UTC)

Octavia frowned a little at that reaction. "Oh," she said. Just a quiet little sound, probably hallf lost in his laughter, as she wondered whether she was somehow dumb for wanting to stand out.

Or wanting the choice, the option to.

Now Shunsui was a little more aware of some of the nuances in Octavia's response, especially when it was just that quiet little oh, especially when he now just wanted to detract from his own response.

"Er, well, I mean," he started, "you could be a flamingo, Octavia-chan, if you wanted to....that actually makes more sense! Female ducks are so drab, after all, and you're so pretty. I think you'd make an excellent flamingo...if you wanted."

And then came the shrug that tried to push away anything that may have been determined and impassioned in that appeal.

"It's just not really for me."

"I guess," Octavia replied, still with something of a pout. But, also: "You think I'm pretty?"

"Well, yeah," said Shunsui, like it was the most obvious thing, because, hey, he'd just told her that and he'd said it the other day, too, didn't he? How many times did he have to say it? Yeesh. "I told you that when we first me, didn't I?"

It had helped that she also had cookies, but...y'know...

Octavia shook her head. Pretty firmly, actually. "No, you said I was cute."

It was not the same thing!

Not that she'd known what to do with that, either.

Geez. What a pain! Now Shunsui was almost regretting having said anything, but he didn't roll his eyes, he just sort of shrugged and leaned against the wall of the building they were next to, putting up on foot against it and lifting his arms to tuck behind his head.

"Cute. Pretty. Beautiful." One arm lifted just to sort of wave his hand, before it bent back behind his head. "It's all just different words for the same thing. And, either way, they all count, because you're easily the prettiest girl I've met on this island, anyway."

He also hadn't exactly met any other girls on this island so far, really, but...

Octavia found that kind of hard to believe, although she also hadn't met any other girls yet. She just didn't think she was anything all that special.

"Thanks?"

... Yeah, Octavia at every age was bad at accepting this particular compliment. Though this tiny version at least did so with a hesitant smile.

Even when she'd directly asked for the confirmation of the compliment herself, too, apparently!

So Shunsui was maybe feeling a little dubious about her own awkward response, until he saw that smile and found her couldn't help giving a hesitant one back, that actually grew a little bit more when he shrugged, as if trying to counteract it.

"No problem."

The confirmation had been in the hopes that it would make her feel more certain about how it made her feel! But, no dice.

Octavia's own smile widened a bit, too, and she did nothing to try and lessen it. Although she did, after a second, lean out of the hiding spot a bit to take a look down the street. "I think everyone's gone again. So, um... I can probably move."

"...do you want company?" Shunsui asked, since he wasn't exactly doing much right now, anyway, and he was okay with continuing to not do much, but the thing he was doing was pretty much the same thing Octavia was doing, by the sound of it, so, either way, he'd just be continuing to not do much, but if he went with her, he'd at least not be doing much with someone else.

But he figured it'd be a lot more difficult for her to hide if she wanted to with him dragging himself along with her, so he wasn't really expecting she'd take him up on the offer.

Yeah, he had really not made a great impression with how he'd approached her today. That was probably at the heart of the uncertain and slightly wary look Octavia was giving him, right after his question.

But on the other hand, company that wasn't her mother or brother was a rare and novel thing...

"Can you be quiet if we have to hide?"

".......yes," said Shunsui.

Although that incredibly long pause before he said it should probably be a little concerning.

But he would try!

That was a super long pause. It led to Octavia fixing him with a look that she hoped looked very very serious, because this was very, very serious. If you asked her.

"Can you really?"

Shunsui blinked at Octavia and her very very serious look, his shoulders maybe slowly creeping up a little under it, because this was starting to feel like an awful lot of responsibility, and he wasn't too good with responsibility.

But then his eyes drifted downward, toward his feet, which were clad in wooden geta sandals, which he now dutifully bent over to slip off and hold in his hands.

"Yes," he assured her now with a nod of a bit more confidence.

...although, really, Shunsui, it probably was not the potential noise of your geta on cobblestones that would be the issue here.

But, like the narrative said, he would try!

Octavia had not even noticed his sandals before, no. But she appreciated the effort all the same. At least after a few seconds of careful deliberation, after which she nodded.

"Okay," she said. "Then you can come."

But if he made any noise at the wrong time, she was probably ditching him. For her own safety!

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The Streets of Fandom, Late Sunday Morning

Seivarden

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