Outside A Store, Baltimore, Wednesday Afternoon

[okteiviakom]

Yesterday had been something of a mess, and while Octavia had fought off the worst of it, she was still feeling a little twitchy and a little restless today. So what better time to cash in Lucifer's promise to help her make some purchases that he had more expertise on than she did?

She'd left it up to him to scout them a shop on the mainland that was up to his standards. (Sorry, 'Dites, half the point of this was a little half-day trip off the island.) And now it seemed they'd made it to their destination.

"This is the place?" she checked, looking at the storefront.

Yup, that was definitely an adult toy store.

[ooc: NFB, for the Devil, and definitely at least some shade of NSFW.]

Comments

[okteiviakom]

Octavia's answering frown was quizzical.

So she probably needed him to elaborate before she could answer.

[my_own_advocate]

Lucifer pushed past her, rummaging around a bit before he found a very NSFW box with a helpful picture, and held it up.

[okteiviakom]

"... Yeah, that's too much," Octavia said.

Her expression came off looking a little more conflicted than that, though.

[my_own_advocate]

"Is it?" Lucifer asked.

...Genuinely.

[okteiviakom]

"It's..."

Octavia's expression shifted from something open to more scrunched up and back again as she looked for the words to put to this feeling.

Unsuccessfully.

"I don't know."

[my_own_advocate]

"Well," Lucifer said slowly, "I think you're allowed to try things on, if you're unsure. Or you just want to put on like five harnesses and see what you like best."

[okteiviakom]

Octavia's eyes were still glued to the box. Like she couldn't help it. "It's not about how it looks."

It was, though.

It was, like so many things, complicated.

[my_own_advocate]

"Shall I just put it away, then?"

See, she said one thing, and then she kept staring in another thing.

[okteiviakom]

Well, Octavia finally realized she was staring, at least.

"Yeah," she said, wrenching her gaze away, looking off to the side at nothing in particular. Her lips pressed into a thin line.

[my_own_advocate]

"As you wish," Lucifer said, putting it back where he'd found it. "No going near this end of the aisle then, either."

[okteiviakom]

"Okay," Octavia muttered, into the middle distance. She was just taking a moment to shake off whatever this was.

(To bury the longing.)

[my_own_advocate]

"Octavia?" Lucifer asked.

Quieter, if still quizzical. "It wasn't how it looked, it was...?"

[okteiviakom]

Another trademark Octavia silence followed. And then her voice was low and mild.

"I'm used to buckling my body up in straps of leather."

[my_own_advocate]

"Ah," Lucifer said. Still watching her. "The bunker."

[okteiviakom]

"Her."

It sounded heavy, for being just one word.

[my_own_advocate]

"Mhm," Lucifer said. "And you'd rather not have the reminder."

[okteiviakom]

Oh hey, another long silence. Though this one seemed intent on just stretching and stretching.

It was complicated.

[my_own_advocate]

Lucifer watched her curiously for a moment longer.

"You know," he said, breaking that silence at last, "Not everything we get has to be for Duke."

[okteiviakom]

Octavia's head didn't turn, but her eyes flicked back up and over at him.

She said nothing.

[my_own_advocate]

He waited another beat for an answer.

Then: "If you want."

[okteiviakom]

Octavia really didn't know what she wanted. Even being here was suddenly starting to feel absurd, somehow.

Even as her expression softened, became more lost than guarded, she didn't know what to say to him.

[my_own_advocate]

Lucifer let out a soft sigh, more somewhat helpless affection than anything else.

"I'll buy it," he said, "And I'll put it somewhere in my house. All right?"

[okteiviakom]

"All right," Octavia echoed. If she just used his words, she absolved herself of all responsibility for the decision.

She looked away again. Pushed her hair back from her face and tried to pull herself back together.

[my_own_advocate]

Lucifer reached for her hand.

"Let's go look at the dildos for a moment," he said, voice entirely too soft for that statement.

[okteiviakom]

Octavia let him. Her fingers pushed between his as soon as they could.

She didn't say anything. Just drew in a deep breath and squared her shoulders.