The beach, Tuesday morning

[betterthanaplan]

Rey was back and she and Duke had settled things, which meant it was business as usual for beach yoga. Unless you thought too hard about the fact that it was the end of February and so far there'd only been one Tuesday cold enough for Duke to decide to move it indoors. That either meant that Duke was a cruel and merciless teacher, or that the environment was taking its revenge and slowly killing the human race.

Duke was trying not to think about either option. As far as he was concerned, this was because Maryland was south, and thus didn't get real winters.

Either way, he was doing some easy stretches while waiting for his usual student today, keeping an eye on the porgs and seeing which movements he could get them to mimic. They were down for any and all arm and leg raising. Bending over and twisting the torso were right out, though.

[open, though will be slow in the afternoon EST due to work training]

Comments

[okteiviakom]

Like she'd said she would, Octavia showed up at the beach - and even looking somewhat dressed for it, for once, in a hoodie and a pair of sweats she didn't tend to wear outside the apartment much.

"Ha yun, snogon," she said as she approached. "Looks like you're gathering an army."

[betterthanaplan]

"Well, someone's got to prep for the attack of the ferns," Duke said. "Ha yun. You look good. Ready to move for more than strictly practical purposes."

[okteiviakom]

Octavia's tiny shrug was much more casual than her tiny smile was. "I figured since I made a plan to come out here and everything... Might as well try to look the part."

Also she'd kind of ended up thinking about clothing an uncharacteristic amount, over the last while.

[betterthanaplan]

"Mission accomplished," Duke said. "Though now I'm going to have to get you to try some poses instead of just watch."

[okteiviakom]

"Kinda expected that to be part of the deal anyway," Octavia admitted. "Not that watching isn't fun."

[betterthanaplan]

"Good. All Lucifer did last week was watch. Which was fun in its own way, but I kinda felt like he should've left a tip."

[okteiviakom]

"Lucifer was here?" Octavia asked, raising her eyebrows a little. Then she snorted. "Now I know who's been making comments about how bendy you are."

[betterthanaplan]

"Man appreciates a good show," Duke said, shrugging. "Said he had some tips, actually. For how you could best take advantage of said bendiness."

[okteiviakom]

Octavia's eye roll was mostly for show. And not at all surprised. "Of course he does," she drawled. "He's just full of helpful suggestions."

Including that maybe she should consider talking to a professional, so. You know.

[betterthanaplan]

"He likes seeing people be happy," Duke said. "Yeah, maybe he's a little over-invested, but apparently his life back home kind of blew up on him, so I think there's a bit of vicarious living going on there, too."

[okteiviakom]

"I've noticed," Octavia replied, tempering her faux annoyance back into general mildness. And no, she didn't specify which part she meant, but...

Look, she had a very definite weakness for people who told her they liked having her around.

She shrugged and glanced down at the toes of her shoes digging into the sand. "He thinks I would like one of his friends."

[betterthanaplan]

"Oh yeah? I'm guessing he didn't mean Chloe."

Chloe was the only one Duke had heard about so far. She did not sound like Octavia's sort of person, if for no other reason than that she'd set up a whole assassination attempt and then didn't go through with it.

[okteiviakom]

Octavia had a few guesses as to who Chloe was, more specifically, but she didn't ask.

She just shook her head. "No, her name's... Maze, I'm pretty sure." A beat. "I hear she has knives."

[betterthanaplan]

"Oh, well. She's right up your alley, then," Duke said, lightly teasing.

[okteiviakom]

Octavia snorted. "I think his hope was that she'd get me 'drunk and in trouble'," she said, with the faintest attempt at mimicking Lucifer's accent.

It wasn't very good. But she didn't need it to be.

[betterthanaplan]

"Hey, some of my favorite memories involve getting 'drunk and in trouble'," Duke said. "Not so sure that's really your style, though."

[okteiviakom]

Octavia shrugged one shoulder.

"It could be. Who knows?"

She was good at drunken voicemails, at least.

[betterthanaplan]

"Well, if you decide to go for it, you should definitely let me know."

[okteiviakom]

"Like I would let you miss it." A beat. "Especially since someone probably needs to help with the aftermath, and it's not going to be Bellamy."

For various reasons.

"Anyway." She shrugged again. "Yoga?"

[betterthanaplan]

"Ooo, yeah, brothers just get judgey when you're drunk and in trouble."

Or they ignored you completely. That happened a lot with Duke's brothers, too.

"Yoga. I'm thinking we should start you with a warrior pose."

[okteiviakom]

"Sounds a little on the nose, but sure," Octavia replied, amused in her own faint way. "Let's do it."

[betterthanaplan]

"I'm told it's actually a really terrible pose, defense-wise," Duke warned her. "But it's very 'power-pose' and tends to be a good stretch, so." He spread his feet wide into a lunge position, his front foot pointed straight ahead, his back foot pointed at a 90-degree angle. He squared his hips and stretched his arms up over his head, arching his back. "Warrior I."

[okteiviakom]

Octavia watched him closely, complete with a small frown of concentration, before she went to copy the pose. And yet she still managed to be only half as serious as she had been when she'd been training with Trikru warriors.

She was still adjusting things when she asked, "Warrior I? Out of how many?"

[betterthanaplan]

"Three," Duke said. "One and two are pretty similar, though." He tilted his head forward to look at her pose and nodded. "Good. Keep your hips square. You should be feeling this through your thighs, hips, chest, and shoulders. Make sure you keep your knee right above your ankle, you don't want to lunge too far forward or back."

[okteiviakom]

Octavia hazarded another glance down.

"What does it mean to keep my hips square?" she asked. "My hips are... hip-shaped."