Covent Garden Flowers, Thursday

[okteiviakom]

Easter had come and gone, and with it all its various themed arrangements and bouquets, so Octavia's shift at the flower shop was once more a little more quiet. And that meant some more downtime during the day.

And Octavia was finding herself mostly using that downtime on her phone, scrolling through the photos and videos from the weekend. Mostly of Vanessa, naturally, but there was some Jean in there too.

She missed both of them. Even though, for whatever reason, she felt like she maybe shouldn't have.

[ooc: Open!]

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[betterthanaplan]

Duke swung by at the usual time, with carry out from the diner.

"Ha yun, gona. What're you up to?"

[okteiviakom]

"Ha yun, jaka," Octavia replied, straightening up from being hunched over the counter with her phone. "I don't know. Reminiscing, I guess?"

She rolled her shoulders. Maybe she'd been stuck in the same position for kind of a while.

"Haven't had a lot of orders come through."

[betterthanaplan]

"Ah, the lull before Mother's Day," Duke said, nodding. "Should probably enjoy that while it lasts." He craned his neck, as though to look at her phone, not that he could see the screen from his angle anyway. "Reminiscing about what?"

[okteiviakom]

Octavia flipped her phone over and held it out so that he could see what was on the screen.

It was a photo of Vanessa gleefully posing with Octavia's sword, which she'd only barely been able to lift.

[betterthanaplan]

"Ah." Duke leaned on the counter and smiled at the photo, then at Octavia. "You miss her already, huh?"

He did too.

[okteiviakom]

"Already," Octavia scoffed. "Like I haven't missed them both since the second they were gone."

Though granted, the first day afterwards had still been heavy with the relief of not having kids around.

[betterthanaplan]

"Both of them," Duke said softly, the smile fading away. He'd seen how she acted around Jean, both the trepidation at what the girl represented, but also the care and concern for her. "We're not going to get both, are we."

[okteiviakom]

They fought together, and Octavia included his kids in that without a second thought. It felt as natural as breathing.

She shook her head. It was only a slight movement.

"No."

[betterthanaplan]

Duke ran his hand through his hair. "This is so weird. Even for Fandom. I'm not in any kind of rush to die but I'd feel pretty bad if Jean just never even existed."

[okteiviakom]

"Yeah," Octavia sighed, sliding her phone back into her pocket. "I know."

[betterthanaplan]

Duke let that hang for a moment, then made a face at himself. "I'm bringing down the room. What do you think we're like, where Vanessa's from?"

[okteiviakom]

Octavia reached out over the counter to brush her fingertips down one side of his face.

"Happy," she said. "That's the blindingly obvious one."

She hoped it wasn't just her who'd gotten that impression.

[betterthanaplan]

Duke looked up at her, leaning into her touch. "Definitely," he said. "A whole family. Mom, Dad, and kid. Who would have thought?"

[okteiviakom]

"Not me," Octavia admitted, as her hand ended up cradling his cheek. "Never really thought of myself as someone who'd do that."

Have that.

[betterthanaplan]

"Me neither. And I definitely wouldn't have thought I might be good at it."

Vanessa was a little biased, but she was also seemingly very well-adjusted.

[okteiviakom]

"I would have."

Of course, Octavia was biased too. But it was still her honest opinion.

"You're a good person who had bad parents. I can't imagine you not making an effort to make sure your kid never feels the same way."

[betterthanaplan]

"I don't even know what good parents are supposed to look like," Duke pointed out. "I can only imagine how much that other me must have fucked up when Vanessa was little."

[okteiviakom]

"You care," Octavia retorted. "I think that gets you a long way. Fucking up happens."

[betterthanaplan]

"You help," Duke said. "With the caring."

He cared anyway, but he was getting way more practice in showing it since they got together. At least doing so deliberately, anyway.

[okteiviakom]

"Yeah, well," Octavia replied softly. "You weren't raising Vanessa by yourself, were you?"

They had each other's backs the same way in that time as they did right here.

[betterthanaplan]

"Nou," Duke agreed. "Yumi throu daun ogeda, even with kids. What's 'daughter' in Trig?"

[okteiviakom]

Octavia's lips curved.

"Nomfri."

[betterthanaplan]

"Nomfri. And her nontu en noma. Their own little Floukru."

[okteiviakom]

"Nomon," Octavia corrected softly, mostly to distract (herself) from the way the Floukru thing made her a little emotional.

But it was still evident in the way her next breath was a little unsteady, the way her smile wobbled.

"She also called me 'mama finrona' once."

[betterthanaplan]

"Mama finrona." Duke let out a little laugh, unable to keep a dopey smile off his face. "That's adorable. Did she mention we used to sing the song I sang you after your nightmare when she couldn't sleep?"