betterthanaplan | The Cape Rouge, Port of Fandom, Christmas Eve

As a rule, he didn't tend to do much for the winter holidays -- unless you counted "go somewhere it's not winter" -- but some combination of Fandom's festivities and the cold weather had actually put him into something of a Christmas-y mood this year, so the Rouge's deck was -- well. Decked. There were string lights and garlands all over the open deck area, especially around the table holding the big thermos of hot, buttered rum. He'd set up a little fire pit on the metal cargo-bay doors, and the door to the galley and lounge below-decks was propped open with a now-dormant loaf of yesterday's fruitcake, in case people preferred to go in where it was warmer.

As discussed, Duke had only mentioned the party to a few people since planning it with Rey. It was Christmas, though, so if people decided to wander up and say hi, he wouldn't turn them away.

[up early and ready for all the slowplay. A few people in the know expected, but as it says in the narrative, it's open for wandering in if you want, too!]

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"Octavia," Lucy said, giving her a wave and a bright smile. "Punch anybody recently?"

It was an honest, even enthusiastic question. A lot of her friends on the small box hit bad guys and that made them heroes. Which she just assumed that Octavia was.

Because of the punching, see?

Some part of Octavia would probably have agreed with that assessment. But mostly she thought the violence just made her a person who did what was necessary.

She snorted. "Not recently." Not since the aquarium, actually. She paused, her head tilting just a fraction. "How have you been?"

It was a sincere question. Octavia had no interest in learning how to perform small talk.

"Learning a lot," Larceny said, also sincere. "I watch my friends on the small box and make Duke cook for me."

She wasn't allowed to use the stove yet. Which--fair.

"There is so much food here!" Beat. "Oh, this attacked me so I killed it. Want some?" She held up a handful of fruitcake.

[I am so sorry for the delay]

Edited 2020-01-02 08:52 (UTC)

"Sure," Octavia replied with a little shrug, as she reached for the piece of cake. She'd always been practical about food. "And, yeah," she added. "It's... one of the things I like best about here. The food."

See also: her shameless hoarding of it at every goddamned picnic.

[ooc: No problem, bb. <3]

"It is so easy," Larceny agreed, shoving more into her face. "And most of it never fights back or runs away. You just...eat it."

After Duke cooked it, of course.

It was one of Duke's best skills, after all.

Octavia agreed with a little hum. Despite the others attending this tiny party, and despite the extreme circumstances of their first meeting, Larceny was still mostly a stranger, and that always brought out the stoic in Octavia.

(Although if Larceny had caught her talking to Duke earlier, she'd know Octavia could also appear much, much softer when the circumstances were right.)

She picked at her chunk of cake. "Food wasn't as easy where you came from, either, huh?"

Larceny shook her head. "There is much competition," she said. "And some things that would even make prey of me."

Damn sharks.

"And I need much nutrition for...how I live." It wasn't uncommon to swim twenty or so miles within a day and that burned through a lot.

... There was a new bracelet on Octavia's left wrist. With a metal shark on it.

Sorry about siding with the predators, Lucy!

She nodded, because she got that. Not the exact way Larceny meant it, of course, but close. (Not that she was always smart about keeping herself fed when there was fighting to be done. Much to Duke's despair.) "I think sometimes people here eat just for fun," she said, with a faint drawl. "It's weird."

Boooo, Octavia! Boooo!

"How do you...eat for fun?" Lucy asked, confused by the concept. Eating was very important to her and she was hungry almost constantly, but that wasn't the same as swimming with dolphins or basking in the sunshine or even watching the box with her friends in it.

Octavia couldn't help identifying with the concept of a feeding frenzy, okay? She just had bladed weapons instead of multiple rows of teeth, it was a whole thing.

Also, blame Duke.

Octavia shrugged one shoulder, though just barely. "Like snacks when they're not hungry, or they just don't have anything to be doing, or something just tastes good."

"I can't imagine having that much food," Larceny said. "That must be very nice."

Sometimes she kept eating even after she was no longer hungry, but that was because she was still getting used to the concept of not having to worry about food.

"They have that around here," Octavia said. This time, the shrug was more of a tone thing than a physical one. "They have these gatherings up at the school --" And here she was hoping Duke had already covered what 'school' was. "-- and every time, it seems they have more food out there than I saw in my entire life combined before I ended up here."

Because Ark rations and whatever they'd had to sustain them on the Ground had not exactly been plentiful.

To be fair, food was fairly plentiful under the sea, but it wasn't exactly easy to get, considering it was still alive and there were multiple other predators going for the same prey. Larceny had never exactly gone hungry, she'd just never really been full, either.

"And they just...share? With everyone?"

"Yeah."

She might've added a 'for free' but she still thought that should have been a given. And anyway, she had the feeling Larceny wasn't any more used to paying for food than she was.

"They let you take some with you, too. For later."

"I'm not allowed to have food in my room anymore," Larceny said solemnly.

Okay, that deserved a slight eyebrow raise.

"Why not?"

What did you do, Lucy?

"Not me!" Lucy declared. "Bird-things started it!"

There had been a fight.

"The bird-things --" Octavia started, before some suspicions clicked. And she shook her head. "Okay, I don't want to know."

She was very fond of the porgs, okay.

"Okay," Larceny said, easily.

There was a pause and then, "I don't know what to say to you next."

Octavia huffed out a snort, almost despite herself. One side of her mouth ticked up, just barely.

I bet she could use a perspective like yours.

"That's fine," she rasped. "I don't know half the time, either."

"Because I'm weird?"

Octavia shook her head. It was only a tiny movement.

"Because I'm weird, too."

The Cape Rouge, Port of Fandom, Christmas Eve

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