The beach, Tuesday morning

[betterthanaplan]

After spending most of yesterday explaining simple concepts like fishing and names to Larceny, Duke was more than happy to come out to the beach this morning for his weekly yoga appointment with Rey.

Whose name he didn't come up with randomly in a brain fart. Who didn't speak in weird little catchphrases she learned on the internet. He'd bitten off rather more than he could chew by volunteering his spare room to the random homeless woman he found living in an aquarium.

He had a whole complement of porgs with him this morning, hopping around and burbling at each other, but he was used to them by now, and hardly did more than swipe a hand at the one who started gnawing on his mat. He felt almost -- peaceful. He hadn't quite managed to get to that point doing yoga on the island before.

One of the porgs coughed up a rock.

Well. Better out than in.

[open!]

Comments

[thatwaslucky]

Rey arrived on time, smiling slightly.

"Are they coming in from the rocky bits, or are they following you here from home?"

[betterthanaplan]

Duke shook his head. "Honestly, it could go either way." Especially considering that he couldn't swear his new roommate wouldn't try to eat them. "Or maybe we're just in their territory. They do seem like seabirds, after all."

[thatwaslucky]

"They are," Rey said, watching them. "They're from an island, nothing as far as the eye can see but water."

[betterthanaplan]

"Sounds like my kind of place." He offered one of the nearby porgs his fist. "Nice habitat choice, buddy."

The porg sniffed his hand, then jumped on top of it and started scaling his arm.

Close enough.

[thatwaslucky]

Rey grinned at that.

"How are you doing this morning?"

[betterthanaplan]

"Alright." Duke smiled. "Actually managing some zen today. You?"

[thatwaslucky]

"Good, actually," she said, maybe a little surprised by her own answer. "Any reason for the zen today?"

[betterthanaplan]

"The boat's been chaos," Duke said. "New roommate, who somehow is new to . . . basically everything about daily life. Coming out here for yoga has been an amazing dose of normal."

[thatwaslucky]

""When you say new to daily life..." Becaise Rey's at least felt like that when she got here, and she figured it'd be similar.

It would not.

[okteiviakom]

"You ever find any stories about heroes and gods and goddesses?" Octavia drawled in greeting, though she also gave Rey a little nod to go with it.

It'd been a week. She was good with acknowledging that weekend by now. Progress!

[thatwaslucky]

"I actually did," Rey smiled. "I haven't gotten through all of it yet, but you have good taste."

[okteiviakom]

Octavia snorted. And shook her head, although the movement was subtle and slight, the way hers usually were.

At this age.

"Less about taste and more just that those are all I ever heard until... way later."

[thatwaslucky]

"What do you go for now?" Rey wondered.

[okteiviakom]

"I don't, mostly." Go for anything, she meant. She wasn't much of a reader. Still, she shrugged a bit, and admitted, "But, the same myths, really."

Because they reminded her of the happy things in her childhood.

[thatwaslucky]

"I'm not really used to reading stuff like it," Rey admitted. "Before Fandom I had things like manuals. Just learning materials."

[okteiviakom]

"Yeah, I read some of those too, now," Octavia replied, before her expression got a little more quizzical. In an Octavia way, so... not very. "You didn't have stories where you grew up?"

[thatwaslucky]

"Verbal. Especially from offworld traders." The Wookiees had been her favorites. "But all I really had to read was what I pulled off the computer of a downed ship. There was quite a bit on there, at least."

[okteiviakom]

Normally, Octavia tended to stay away from Duke and Rey's Tuesday yoga. She knew it was an open thing, held in an open place but -- still felt weirdly like intruding, somehow. Don't ask her to explain.

But, it was Tuesday, and Octavia hadn't checked in with Duke since presumably leaving him at his boat with the odd woman from the aquarium on Saturday night, and she hadn't checked in with Rey - as an adult - since Rey had had returned from her trip, which was just way too long ago. So.

Two birds, one stone.

And Octavia, showing up on the beach. "Hey."

[betterthanaplan]

Duke looked up with a surprised smile. "Hey! Come to learn the fine art of yoga?"

He had suggested she learn to meditate. Doing so in motion would probably be much easier for her than trying to just sit still.

[okteiviakom]

Octavia shrugged. "Wasn't the plan, but the day's very young." She hadn't forgotten he'd suggested that, no. "But mostly I'm just checking in."

[betterthanaplan]

Duke nodded. "Our new friend's doing alright. I think, anyway. She seems to have learned English overnight, so -- that's a thing. Also, she's decided her name is Larceny."

He gave her a little 'what can you do?' shrug that belied his personal responsibility for the woman taking a crime as her name.

[okteiviakom]

Octavia nodded at 'doing alright', raised her eyebrows just a little at 'learned English' -- only for them to settle down into somewhere between confused and unimpressed.

"Larceny," she repeated. "Doesn't that mean stealing things?"

[betterthanaplan]

"It does," Duke said, sounding vaguely resigned. "I'm not sure she knows that, though."

'You like larceny?' she'd asked. 'I like it, too.'

"Or -- maybe she does. I had to explain what waffles were, but she knew squats were an exercise and called me 'bro', so who really knows?"

[okteiviakom]

"I would've taken 'bro' on Saturday," Octavia drawled. "I mean, great that she can communicate now, but..."

She shrugged.

"Sounds like she's still learning."

[betterthanaplan]

"I hope so. Really makes me wonder where she came from, though. It's like she's never had to function in the world as a human, you know? Not just the modern world, any world."