Turtle & Canary; Wednesday [02/26].

[sake_shinigami]

Not long after Shunsui had gotten into the store that..."morning", Apu was there to hand him a piece of paper.

"What is this?" he asked.

It was a bill, apparently, for the repairs on the door.

"What door?"

And Apu incredulously asked if Shunsui had even been aware that the cheese panda had thrown around cheese to a point where he'd actually broken one of the freezer doors and that it needed to be replaced, which just seemed to get a chuckle out of the Shinigami.

"Of course not ♥," he beamed, almost fondly at Apu's irritation. "I don't handle any of that stuff! Why else do you think I hired Summer-chan back on ♥?"

Apu murmured an answer that was definitely not safe for work or for a public community that Shunsui absolutely heard.

"Well, yes, of course ♥," he said. "That, too ♥."

Today's Squishy Flavors
Pistachio
Denim?
Red

Turtle & Canary is open!

[[ and blah blah blah SP because everything from here on out will be a crazy blur ]]

Comments

[sake_shinigami]

"I should certainly hope so ♥," Shunsui noted with a faint chuckle as he now poured his own cup. "Otherwise, I would have no choice but to question Duke-san's effectiveness as an instructor ♥."

[okteiviakom]

"He's pretty effective in most things he does."

In Octavia's highly unbiased opinion, of course.

[sake_shinigami]

Oh, yes. Truly, entirely impartial and unswayed. The tilt of Shunsui's grin went a bit knowing.

"I'm glad to hear it, Octavia-chan," he said, "that he would be as competent and..."

Pause? What lingering, teasing pause do you speak of?

"...capable as he seems ♥."

[okteiviakom]

Octavia's little eye roll was not very sharp.

Or at all.

Her gaze ended up down towards the counter at the end of it. "He makes me happy." This time, she even managed to not sound grumpy about it, like she had when she'd said it to Lucifer. (And yes, this was only the second time she was even admitting as much out loud. No matter how obvious it may have been between the lines before.) "It's enough."

It was way more than that.

[sake_shinigami]

Shunsui's smile softened and warmed at that, even if she might not see it with her eyes averted as they were. But she should know it was there by the tone of his voice.

"It's a good thing," he said. "You deserve to be happy, Octavia-chan ♥."

[okteiviakom]

"Do I?" Octavia asked, raising her gaze again.

It was meant to sound joking, and she hit that target about halfway.

She'd just had a lot of things happen to her over the years that had made her wonder whether actually being happy was in the cards for her. Even if it had been just quiet, private question she'd asked herself.

[sake_shinigami]

Even half off the mark was too much for a retort like that, but Shunsui was incredibly well practiced in maintaining that soft, gentle smile without even a moment's falter.

And he answered it with a question of his own, which sounded like he was going for blithe, but didn't quite get there.

Which would have been precisely where he'd hoped it would land.

"Why wouldn't you?"

[okteiviakom]

Although Octavia's tone stayed light, her expression turned a little wry. And maybe a little sad around the edges. (Around the eyes.) "Because every time I've had it before, it's been taken away."

Her mother, being able to leave the quarters on the Ark, those first steps on the ground, Lincoln. All gone.