betterthanaplan | The Cape Rouge, Port of Fandom, Monday

Bolstered with caffeine thanks to the Perk, Duke had returned to his boat to see just how much damage his younger self had managed to wreak over the weekend. The place was a wreck, especially the galley, with weapons (that had been toys, which was reassuring and terrifying in equal measure) strewn about wherever wee!Duke had happened to drop them, and a sticky film of grape jelly coating pretty much everything. He'd thankfully been quick enough even as a ten year old to keep the small fire he'd started trying to use the waffle iron contained to a very small space, so that wouldn't take much more than replacing the outlet and maybe resanding part of a cabinet.

And, as predicted, there were five pizzas, two giant cookies, and a rather unholy amount of Pepsi leftover in his fridge. Also, most of a frittata, at least half a serving of beef stew, and several stale and/or smashed cookies. He fed those last items to the porgs, who were all terribly pleased to see him, and set about making the Rouge a proper home again.

He had the door to the deck propped open to air out the smell of small semi-feral boy and to be able to hear if Octavia -- or anyone else -- came around. And, well, if he ended up humming some Violent Femmes under his breath while he did, well. Not everything he remembered from being a kid was a bad memory.

[expecting one, but also open]

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From:

betterthanaplan

"Tavi's awesome," Duke said, twisting the meaning a little. "Wouldn't have gone on so many adventures with her if she wasn't." He shrugged, grabbing plates. "You were a cute kid. All . . . wide-eyed and excited and just a little mysterious."

From:

okteiviakom

Octavia snorted, picking her drink back up. "As opposed to now, when I'm kinda cynical, jaded, and still mysterious?"

She'd been called out on her hidden depths enough lately to know that one still applied to adult her, too.

From:

betterthanaplan

"Exactly," Duke said. "Just shows how you've grown as a person."

And/or been repeatedly traumatized.

"I am sorry I called you a dummy, though. Like I said, I was kind of a dick."

From:

okteiviakom

"It's fine," Octavia drawled lightly, picking up the strawberries to bring them over to the table. Something in her expression had a faint flicker of mischief, if you knew how to look. "Branwoda."

Tiny!Duke wasn't alone in being kind of a dick, was her point.

From:

betterthanaplan

Duke chuckled and stuck his tongue out at her.

"Looks like we've got quite the feast going, here. Em laik nom-nom."

That was not how you said that.

From:

okteiviakom

No. But Octavia huffed out a quiet, rough chuckle. "You know that's not right."

From:

betterthanaplan

"Yeah, but your phrase was way longer." He really, honestly misremembered the word being nom-nom, not non-non.

From:

okteiviakom

"Em ste non-non," Octavia corrected, but it didn't matter. He was learning. And she was taking a seat. "Nom-nom sounds cuter, though."

Was it the training in the preserve or this space feeling oddly safe for her that made her throw around a word like 'cute' that comfortably?

Might've been the drink, too.

From:

betterthanaplan

A combination of factors. Duke would like to take some credit for the cozy atmosphere, himself.

"Ste non-non," he repeated, nodding to himself and trying to parse the grammar. "Ste is 'to be' for objects? Or does it mean something else?"

From:

okteiviakom

"It's --"

Yeah, Octavia was no linguist, and neither was anyone she'd learned Trig from, so she was going to have to take a second to think on it.

"It's like the difference between yu ste briyon and yu laik briyon hef," she settled on. "Like if it's 'smart' on it's own, you say ste. But if it's 'smart man', then it's laik. Also if it's just 'man'. Yu laik hef."

Edited Date: 2019-11-19 09:40 pm (UTC)

From:

betterthanaplan

Duke nodded slowly. "So . . . adjectives and nouns. Yeah, alright. I got that." He raised his drink in a toast. "Em ste non-non, and -- how do you say 'we'?"

From:

okteiviakom

"Oso," Octavia provided, because that was easy, at least.

(If only because this was not the time to get started on the difference between oso and osir.

... Or yumi.)

Edited Date: 2019-11-19 10:19 pm (UTC)

From:

betterthanaplan

It really wasn't. For one thing, Duke was not likely to be using osir any time soon.

"Em ste non-non and oso ste meizen," Duke said, finishing his toast. ". . . I should probably learn how to say 'and' at some point, too."

From:

okteiviakom

"En," Octavia replied, so if he'd said his 'and' a little lazily, he'd already been close. She also raised her glass a little. "Good toast," she added, quietly amused. "A lot less wordy than what Shunsui usually goes for."

That was where most of her experience with toasts came from, yes.

From:

betterthanaplan

"That doesn't surprise me at all," Duke said. "I guess I usually beat him to it by just saying kanpai."

From:

okteiviakom

Octavia raised her eyebrows just a little. "What's that mean?"

From:

betterthanaplan

"It's the standard Japanese toast. I think it literally translates to something like 'empty cup'. You ever hear anyone say 'bottom's up' in English before drinking?"

From:

okteiviakom

"That, and 'cheers'," Octavia replied, with a tiny nod. "Good to know. Though mostly I think I'll still just let him make the toasts."

From:

betterthanaplan

"I may have to wait and see what he comes up with, next time," Duke said. "I was just throwing out kanpai to be polite." He'd worked enough with Japanese business men to have a sense for their local alcohol culture, after all.

From:

okteiviakom

Octavia snorted. "Yeah, that is not my thing. Being polite."

Which really made her 'thank you' at the Perk this morning all the more impressive.

From:

betterthanaplan

"Not so much, no," Duke agreed. Which would be part of why he'd tossed such a large tip in the jar for her at the Perk this morning. "You're much more -- to the point."

From:

okteiviakom

"I'm blunt. It's part of my charm."

Yeah, she didn't actually think that. She followed it up with a big bite of pizza and some thoughtful chewing, all the same.

"And it gets things done." That, she actually did believe.

From:

betterthanaplan

"It does," Duke said. "Sometimes. Sometimes it stops things getting done." Ah, the joys of diplomacy. "The trick is knowing which to use when."

From:

okteiviakom

There was another lopsided shrug. "That's for other people to handle."

She worked best if someone else did the diplomatic talking.

From:

betterthanaplan

Duke wondered idly what that was like, being so sure someone else would handle -- basically anything that he needed done.

"Teamwork," he said, picking up a strawberry and taking a bite. "Makes the world go 'round."