Outside MCA #9, Monday afternoon

[magnusrushesin]

Magnus had gone out to select the best Candlenights tree he could find to share the holiday with Octavia.

"Man, fruitcake aren't really what i was hoping for as a fun fight," he grumbled, hefting the tree up over his shoulder. His big, buff, beefy boy shoulder. "Octavia! I really hope you're home..."

Oh, he really should have checked that first.

[for the gal in question, but hallways are open!]

Comments

[okteiviakom]

"Okay," Octavia replied with a tiny nod. She'd decided to try and just roll with things today. "From what? We might have something for that, but I don't really know about this stuff."

[magnusrushesin]

"So, shiny stuff. Oh! Popcorn! Taako once lectured me about how tacky it is, but he's not here to say no."

Suck it, Taako!

[okteiviakom]

Octavia looked in the general direction of the kitchen, considering it. "Pretty sure we have popcorn, at least," she said, after a moment. "And maybe that... tinfoil stuff?"

[magnusrushesin]

Magnus beamed at that. "See, now you're getting creative!"

[okteiviakom]

Octavia shrugged. "It's just the only shiny thing we have."

Leave it to her to downplay any creative thinking on her part that wasn't directly related to doing battle.

[magnusrushesin]

Magnus would totally cheer for her, though. "So, we can make stars with that. Because those are pretty and festive."

This tree was going to be adorably janky.

[okteiviakom]

It'd be the best Octavia had ever had, either way.

She nodded towards the kitchen. With its sad set-up of a table and just two chairs, yes. "Come on, then."

[magnusrushesin]

"And maybe I can show you how to carve an ornament," he suggested.

[okteiviakom]

"I think I'd like that," Octavia said, as she went to look for the foil. And the popcorn.

It was a knife skill thing, of course she'd like it.

[magnusrushesin]

Yeah, but would she learn the same way he started out? By just viciously attacking some wood.

"Oo! You can turn them into gifts next year!"

[okteiviakom]

This was Octavia: it was only a tiny bit of an exaggeration to say she took any excuse to attack something that she possibly could.

She snorted. "I'm not really thinking that far ahead."

[magnusrushesin]

"But this way you don't have to worry about shopping!" Magnus, seriously. "Also, you're pretty anti-consumerism, so this is good."

[okteiviakom]

Octavia gave him a half-heartedly withering look as she set a packet of microwave popcorn on the table.

"I have never worried about shopping. Ever."

[magnusrushesin]

"Not even a lil' bit?" He teased, utterly unrepentant.

[okteiviakom]

"No," Octavia replied, that withering look getting a little more... full-hearted. "Not unless avoiding Turtle and Canary counts."

Because she'd been doing that for a couple weeks here.

[magnusrushesin]

"What'd they do to make you a void them?" Magnus asked, making a pretty awful looking tinfoil star.

[okteiviakom]

"They didn't do anything," Octavia replied mildly, watching his hands rather than his face.

[magnusrushesin]

"...did they not do sonething? Because not everyone can sell peppermint lattes," Magnus replied.

[okteiviakom]

"No."

Octavia was just going to reach for her own piece of tinfoil, now, and... make it into a very fetching ball.

She sighed. "Shunsui had to go home. He didn't say when he was coming back, and I haven't heard from him since." If the way she rattled off those factoids sounded like she'd had this conversation before and didn't really want to have it again, that was only because both of those things were true.

[magnusrushesin]

And Octavia had abandonment issues that made Merle and Taako seem normal. Her abandonment issues totally had abandonment issues!

"That sucks," Magnus said, not even a hint of teasing this time.

[okteiviakom]

Octavia had subscriptions, to be honest.

"It does."

Well, at least she was trying to fashion her tinfoil ball into something with a kind of a hook on it, for hanging on the tree.

[magnusrushesin]

"Hug and then back to making stars and stuff!" Magnus announced, setting his star monstrosity to the side to hold out his big ol' hugging arms.

[okteiviakom]

Octavia muttered something that sounded suspiciously like "You're so much better at that than anyone else" as she stepped in for the hug.

To be fair, Duke was also getting pretty good. But Magnus was the only one who announced his intentions.

[magnusrushesin]

Yeah, but Magnus hugs were different. He had hug stats!

No. That was a lie.

But not for lack of trying! Damn DM wouldn't allow it. Let him game, Griffin!

"Hugs are the best way to combat feeling lonely," Magnus replied. "Proven fact."

[okteiviakom]

"I'm not feeling lonely," Octavia objected. While kind of clinging to him. That was the thing about her: she was a little weird about physical affection, but would absolutely cling like a limpet given half a chance. "I'm pissed off that yet another person has gone away."

And that all she could do was wait.

And that she seemed to be the only one without the option to go back and forth between Fandom and where she'd come from.