Brookside Gardens, Wheaton, Maryland, Monday afternoon

[betterthanaplan]

Despite the two of them having butterflies, specifically, as a symbol of their relationship with each other, this was the first time that Duke and Octavia had actually managed to remember about National Learn About Butterflies Day in time to actually do something about it.

If you thought that wouldn't result in Duke going all out, you clearly didn't know him well enough.

He'd managed to reserve an entire butterfly conservatory for just the two of them for an hour, one nestled in the middle of a sprawling, well-kept garden park outside of DC. While hte butterflies were clearly the main event, he felt like Octavia might appreciate some time wandering alone in the midst of all the bright, varied plant life as well. The weather, while not quite warm yet, was at least not actively cold either, and bright and sunny to boot.

It was, Duke decided, absolutely perfect.

"You ready for a butterfly date, gona?"

[for the snogon and all the SP. NFB due to distance, natch.]

Comments

[okteiviakom]

"As ready as I'll ever be, jaka," Octavia told him with a crooked little smile. "I'd say I can't believe you pulled this off, but... I've met you."

Also there was that one time they'd broken into the aquarium.

[betterthanaplan]

Right? And here he'd only had to bribe a handful of people. This was practically above board.

"Well then." He offered her his elbow. "Want to wander through the gardens a bit, or should we get right to the main event?"

[okteiviakom]

There was a little bit of a hesitation before Octavia said anything, as she was taking his arm. Serpents and gardens, you see.

But, eventually she hazarded, "Maybe we can take a little look at the gardens."

(It would be good practice for the conservatory itself, but she hadn't realized that yet.)

[betterthanaplan]

Duke smiled down at her and started off down the path.

There were signs here and there, pointing out and describing various plant species, and giving context for their place in the local ecosystem. There were sculptures as well, and water features aplenty, as well as the occasional pile of not-yet-melted snow.

"I like it," Duke decided. "It's . . . peaceful."

[okteiviakom]

Octavia hummed a vague noise in response.

She found herself paying attention to the way the sky was vast and open above them. Or at least feeling very aware of it, even as she took in the plants and everything else.

[betterthanaplan]

Duke stopped trying to make conversation, content to just pace along at whatever pace she chose, watching for squirrels and birds and other creatures playing around through the gardens.

[okteiviakom]

And so they made their way around the gardens, with Octavia making sure to keep that hold on his arm, occasionally leaning in a little more even as she looked at -- whatever she happened to be looking at, at any given moment.

She seemed to be easing into it, slowly.

(There was so much life, here.)

[betterthanaplan]

In every shape and size, too.

There were marks of humans everywhere, too, of course; the path they were walking on, the signs, the sculptures, the water features, and several small wooden structures like gazebos and little decks sprinkled around for people to admire it all from. But they were lucky -- Duke hadn't cleared out the whole park, but there weren't too many other people around, anyway. The occasional older couple, strolling much the same way they did, some folks pushing strollers, park employees.

No litter, though. Duke noticed that. He hadn't spotted so much as a cigarette butt or wad of gum on the path.

[okteiviakom]

Octavia hadn't paid particular attention to that detail (or the absence of some details, rather), though she would have been pleased to realize it.

But if her head tipped a little closer to his shoulder when they passed one of the older couples, look --

Maybe there was life in them, too.

[betterthanaplan]

Duke certainly wasn't going to complain. He was maybe watching hte older couples a bit, too.

(Getting old had been awful when it had all happened over the course of a weekend. But maybe doing it the usual way wouldn't be . . . too bad?)

[okteiviakom]

(Together?)

"This isn't bad," Octavia said, softly, maybe giving away some of her earlier trepidation a little more obviously, this time. "It's... calm."

[betterthanaplan]

(Ideally. He was cautiously optimistic about that possibility.)

"Well, sure," Duke said. "I know better than to think my snogon was looking for something loud."

[okteiviakom]

"It's not that," Octavia said, with a tiny shake of her head, a look towards some plants that probably wouldn't bloom for another few months. "I like some loud things."

Not really what she'd been saying, but sometimes she couldn't help a tangent.

[betterthanaplan]

"Then what is it?" Duke asked, pausing in his walk and looking at her.

He had a lot of questions. Pretty much always. Sometimes it felt like all he did was try to decipher her like a puzzle.

He wondered why he didn't just ask her more often.

[okteiviakom]

Probably because she had a history of refusing straight answers. Or being unable to find them.

Not this time, though. She looked up at him, and said, soft and maybe just a touch helpless, "I burned a garden."

The farm hadn't really been a garden. But it was close enough. (And she found herself wondering whether he even remembered that part. Such a big thing and yet not even nearly the most outrageous of everything she'd done.)

[betterthanaplan]

Duke jerked just a little. “Shit.” He grimaced. “Sorry, I didn’t think. I just — you like nature.”

And this wasn’t quite that, but it was hard to get the real stuff in this area.

[okteiviakom]

Octavia hadn't realized she'd been expecting him to recoil from her before he actually flinched a little.

Which made the actual words out of his mouth not quite what she'd expected.

"No," she said, softer still, "it's -- I think it's good you brought me here."

[betterthanaplan]

Duke tugged her in a little tighter. "Okay. Good, then. I'm glad."

[okteiviakom]

Octavia didn't mean for her little sigh to sound so much like relief.

Maybe he could just consider it the sound of her leaning into that tugging?

[betterthanaplan]

Duke was just going to take it as a general release of tension.

"You want to see the butterflies?" He asked, after a moment of just holding her. "Or should we walk around a bit more first?"

[okteiviakom]

There was maybe a little bit of clinginess happening here.

"I think," Octavia murmured, "I want to see the butterflies."

[betterthanaplan]

Duke was perfectly happy to enable the clinginess right now.

"Butterflies it is. Just down this way. . . ."

He turned them down a path through the trees, which opened up onto a parking lot by a small greenhouse containing tropical-looking plants and decorated with cartoony flowers around the outside.

[okteiviakom]

There was a little note of something hopeful about Octavia's expression as she saw the greenhouse come into view.

"There?"

[betterthanaplan]

Duke nodded. "Looks like." He glanced down at her and smiled at the look on her face. "Looks nice, huh?"

[okteiviakom]

"Yeah," Octavia said, barely more than a sigh.

And she was drawn there, even as something in her still felt a little almost... terrified.

(What if I don't deserve it?)