fandomtownies | Turtle & Canary; Wednesday [09/28].

By the time Shunsui flitted into the store that day, Apu had gotten himself all set up by the Squishy machine with a chair and a bunch of cushions and pillows spread out before him. He sat there waiting, expectantly, for something to happen, beside a sign that proudly declared:

Happy Red a Child a Book You Like Day!

Join Join Storytime with Apu!

All Day Long!

Which, in general, didn't seem like a terrible idea. Except that there weren't a whole lot of little children around the island, were there? And the book that Apu liked that he'd chosen to share with them if any did show up was, apparently, War and Peace. But the spirit was there. And if anyone wanted to get comfortable and listen, they were more than welcome.

Shunsui was going to just nap and maybe work a little bit on his own book in the meantime between customers. Nanao-chan's visit over the weekend reminded him, as always, of the paper-thin pretense that brought him back here in the first place of getting to that next book, although that was absolutely not a book that should be read to children.

Today's Squishy Flavors
Strawberry Creme Pie
Milk
Red

Turtle & Canary is open!

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"Is this a book store, now?"

Hello to you too, Octavia. And your rasp of an indeterminate level of joking.

"Well, we do sell almost everything ♥," Shunsui greeted her back with a crooked grin that matched his head lolling her way, the words as drawled out as ever, "so I suppose it always has been, Octavia-chan ♥. In the mood for a story? You're a bit above the age-range, but I'm sure Apu-san will happily make an exception to have an audience of some kind ♥."

"I already have people to read to me at home," Octavia said, after a beat where she had not actually considered the offer in any serious manner, no. "I'm good."

"Well, if you're not here for the storytime, Octavia-chan," said Shunsui, sounding oh-so-truly stunned by this shocking turn of events, "whatever could you have come in for ♥?"

Octavia's demeanor shifted a little, losing the dryness of it all, because she did actually have something specific she was after, for once. A project she'd been putting off for a couple of weeks.

"I need sewing stuff," she said. "Needles, thread -- all of it, really."

And Shunsui's expression shifted in kind, too, the smirk exactly where it had been, but somehow a little softer around everything as the tilt in his head gained a bit more genuine curiosity. "Well, then," he said, "it's a good thing we have those things as well ♥. Right over in Aisle...."

There was a faint squint.

"Apu-san, what aisle would the sewing supplies be in again?"

There was a sigh, and an answer.

"Ah, yes, of course, Aisle [Handwavey] ♥. Have a bit of mending to tend to, Octavia-chan ♥?"

"Sort of," Octavia replied, with a little shrug that had something soft about it. "There's a jacket I'm trying to make... bigger."

Or would be trying to, once she had her things.

"Mmmmm ♥," Shunsui hummed, a little thoughtfully, a finger brushing across his chin for a moment And then, as he seemed to consider this a little more, his hand retreated, as if reminded that thinking came much better with a little help from a jug and a couple of cups. "Surely that would call for more material, then? Do you already have that, or would that be something else you'd need? I don't think we have much selection, in that respect, not quite a lot of demand, really, but I could always make a note about a special order, if you don't already have it ♥."

And he had used the time spent talking, of course, to pour from the jug into the cups, almost perfectly timed so that, by the time he was finished, the cups were scooped up into his hand and his hand was being helded out with a smile and an offer.

"Either way," he said, "I simply can't allow you to go shopping for needles and threads empty handed, Octavia-chan ♥."

"Not that much bigger," Octavia clarified, as she was reaching out for her usual cup. "Should be enough to just let out the seam a little."

A slight sense of distraction was present in the way she picked up the cup, but her fingertips still brushed against his palm as she lifted it.

"I mean, otherwise, the whole thing's fucked."

"Oh," said Shunsui, with a little tsk of his tongue as he waited a moment until well after Octavia's hand had retreated with her cup before drawing his closer to himself, "now, I'm sure it wouldn't be fucked...entirely. Nothing a good tailor couldn't fix if things got a little....out of hand ♥..."

This was, of course, mere conjecture, as he went about trying to piece together exactly what it was she had in mind with this project from the little morsels of information she'd given to him. Theories. Ideas. Conjectures.

Probably not a one of them actually correct, but perhaps time would tell!

"If it's beyond what I can do," Octavia replied, as she was bringing the cup up to her mouth, "it's fucked." A beat. "Or my efforts with it are, anyway."

Maybe the part where she did something to the jacket mattered, yeah.

The quirk of Shunsui's eyebrow was a bit...dubious, but the smirk remained, as he lifted his cup just that little bit more and bowed his head in deference.

"Then here's to not letting it get fucked, Octavia-chan ♥."

"Sure, I'll drink to that," Octavia replied, not really hitting any kind of a rasp - probably another way it showed that this was a thing of some importance to her.

But she lifted the cup, then sipped.

Turtle & Canary; Wednesday [09/28].

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