The Devil's Nest, Wednesday Evening

[okteiviakom]

The axes were finally normal. Or at least seemed that way: Octavia hadn't actually bothered to throw one and try the range out. Didn't feel like it tonight, for whatever reason.

The sound system was also behaving better than it had last night, and the soundtrack of the evening was loud rock music, heavy on the drums. Just ignore the way Octavia's fingers tapping to the rhythm against the edge of the bar occasionally became a slightly more complicated two-hand thing.

Because Octavia sure was.

[ooc: No ocd because it took me over an hour to manage to post this.]

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[sake_shinigami]

Well, if there was one thing to say about T&C, it was that it was certainly quieter, but that didn't seem to bother Shunsui much as he fluttered his way over to the bar.

"Octavia~chaaan~ ♡♡♡," he sang out brightly. Lightly. "I come bearing fruit ♡!"

And indeed he had, lifting and then setting down one of those cut-fruit trays with sliced melon and strawberries and apples, and also a bag of easy-peel clementine because google had said something about them being in season in winter, and what did she expect? Like he was some sort of grocer of something?

He also set down the jug with water from under the counter.

[okteiviakom]

It was always a little odd to see him here, Octavia thought. Not that he necessarily made much sense in the environment where she saw him in most, either, but...

He seemed to fit the aesthetic here even less.

But it was not an unwelcome thing. Even if there was something wryly amused about the way she eyed what he'd brought - the jug, in particular. "You know, we have various drinks here, too, Shunsui."

She knew that was not the point.

[sake_shinigami]

"So kaaa~ ♡?" asked Shunsui, drawing it out with tones of intrigue and surprise, perhaps a bit unconvincing with the grin on his face. And then, in English: "Is that so? Why, I had no idea; clearly, I really do need to be coming here more often ♡?"

As he marveled at this revelation, he was, of course, already settling two cups in his hand and picking up the jug to pour, so that when he was finished, he could hold them both out for her to take one, throwing in a wink for good measure.

"Mizu, Octavia-chan ♡? Although this feels a bit backwards, maybe now you should be the one offering me the drink ♡."

[okteiviakom]

"I can do that after," Octavia told him as she reached out for one of the cups.

This part, right here, worked the same wherever they were.

[sake_shinigami]

It most certainly did, and Shunsui was just going to take a moment to quietly enjoy that fact as Octavia chose her cup, and, once he could be absolutely certain that it had made a safe and successful passage between hands, he lifted his own in a toast.

"Cheers, Octavia-chan ♥," he said. "To me finally getting the chance to make it out here and it only taking an unfortunate encounter with a man in a bathtub to do it ♥."

[okteiviakom]

Octavia snorted softly as she raised her own cup a little. "Cheers," she replied. "To Apu and his bathtub."

A beat.

"Now there's a sentence I will never say again."

[sake_shinigami]

The bark of Shunsui's laugh and the accompanying grin did more than enough to make up for Octavia's own soft snort.

"We can only be so lucky ♡," he declared, then tossed the water in the cup back in a single gulp, returning to fill it up again with the next round.

"But how have you been, Octavia-chan ♡?" he asked. "Have you had a good week ♡?"

[okteiviakom]

"I guess," Octavia replied lightly, after a sip. They seemed to all be pretty decent, lately. It was weird. "Haven't been doing much worth mentioning, but we visited Lucifer's new club out on the mainland. That's coming along okay, I guess."

No, she didn't know a whole lot about clubs.

Yes, she worked at one.

[sake_shinigami]

Like Shunsui really knew that much about groceries, and he owned the store.

"Usually," he noted with a grin, "the things not much worth mentioning are the ones I enjoy the most ♥. A new club, though, hmm? One with presumably fewer axes ♥?"

[okteiviakom]

"No axes at all, so far." And Octavia hadn't even tried to advocate for them! So far.

She downed her water, and set the cup on the bar, but still held it between her fingers. Like she hadn't decided yet whether to go for a refill or not. "He had a club back in Los Angeles, too," she added. "This is... kind of a big deal."

Why did that feel like a secret?

[sake_shinigami]

"Oh ♥?" Shunsui prompted. Tilted, really, as such a simple inquiry seemed to knock everything from his head to his brow to the jug now in his hand again questioningly.

[okteiviakom]

"It's... roots."

And there went the cup, being held out for a refill, if only for an excuse for Octavia's gaze following her hand.

"It's a commitment to staying here for now." You know, as much as they'd had a choice in the matter in recent years.

[sake_shinigami]

Adding for now seemed to contradict the idea of a commitment to Shunsui, but who was he to mince words? He certainly wasn't going to mention it, especially since he was hardly an expert on the matter.

But he was a bit more of an expert on the performative, and the fact that the strongest roots weren't really ones you needed to see, anyway...

So he just hummed a little thoughtfully as he poured Octavia her second round. "That is pretty big, then," he agreed. "I hope that it goes well for him. If he ever needs any help livening the place up on any given night, do let him know I'd be happy to help. I've been known to dabble in a few circles out that way ♥."

It wasn't like he was just napping and drinking by his lonesome all the time, after all.

[okteiviakom]

It was a pretty significant 'for now'. And not as much of a contradiction as it may have sounded.

But Octavia definitely wasn't rushing to explain that part any further. Not when she could latch on to something that made her expression tilt a little amused. "And how would you liven the place up, hmm?"

[sake_shinigami]

"Spoken," Shunsui said, feigning offense for the briefest of moments that she should even have to ask, spoiled almost immediately by his grin, "like someone who clearly has not spent nearly enough time with me at a party ♥."

Just not usually Fandom ones, because a million other people were fighting for what little bandwidth was available at those.

"I suppose," he added with a touch of loftiness as he sipped at his water, "you'll just have to wait and see ♥."

[okteiviakom]

Octavia snorted.

"I mean, bear in mind it's Lucifer' club," she rasped. "That doesn't exactly convince me you're going to beat him in livening things up."

It sounded like it might be hilarious to see, though.