MCA #9, Thursday Evening

[okteiviakom]

Octavia didn't have a lot of love for Thanksgiving. It reminded her of Unity Day, up on the Ark, and Unity Day came with too much baggage to be a good association to have with anything.

But Octavia did like food. And so after her handwavy half-day shift at Covent Garden, she'd ended up getting ingredients to bake something. Specifically, pecan pie, because it supposedly went with this holiday but more importantly, it was something she knew she liked. At least when made by someone with actual skill and experience with baking things. And she... had neither of those.

What she did have were a pre-made pie shell along with everything she was supposed to put on it, as well as a restless feeling she desperately needed to shake, brought on by Duke's voicemail from yesterday as well as some severe indecision on whether she should check up on Larceny at the hotel.

And so, baking.

She made kind of a mess of the kitchen, unaccustomed to measuring things out or just generally doing anything like this in an orderly fashion. But that was fine, just meant she'd have the clean-up to occupy her time for a little longer, later. The key thing was that despite the mess, what she ended up putting into the oven was something that actually looked like a pie. Not a pretty pie, not like something you'd sell at a bakery or something, but a pie all the same. And it was hers.

And then it was time for her to sit on the floor in front of the oven, watching the pie baking.

[ooc: Mostly for the bro (with truly epic holiday-related SP), but can be open for others wishing to drop by as well.]

Comments

[notgetkilled]

"What are you doing?" Bellamy asks, coming up behind her and crouching to peer at the pie. "I don't think it's going to attack you."

[okteiviakom]

Octavia glanced back at him, and made a face. Though mostly she just wrinkled her nose. "I'm just -- watching it bake," she said. "I've never seen that before."

Except on TV.

[notgetkilled]

"Is it doing anything interesting?" Bellamy asked, deciding to sit down behind her. "How long are you going to watch it?"

[okteiviakom]

"It needs to bake for at least another half an hour." Octavia's gaze returned to the oven, and she shrugged. "So at least another half an hour. Unless I get bored before that."

She just didn't think she was going to.

"But it's not like I have anything better to be doing."

[notgetkilled]

"Did the recipe tell you to stare at the food while it cooks?" he wondered. "Or is this your own spin on things?"

[okteiviakom]

"It's my own spin," Octavia sighed. Then she shifted a bit, so that she could lean back against his shoulder some. "I just haven't made something like this before, Bel. I'm just... interested."

Possibly in need of distractions. Same diff.

[notgetkilled]

"I'm not criticizing you, O," Bellamy said, shaking his head "I'm just curious. Relax."

[okteiviakom]

Funnily enough, that was exactly what she was doing! You know, with the lean. Maybe not so much otherwise.

But, she nodded at the oven. "Do you think it's gonna be good?" It looked somewhat right, at least. Not skillfully made, but like a pie all the same.

[notgetkilled]

"I think it's better than anything I would have put together," he said, shrugging. "And if it's not any good, I'll lie and say it is."

Because she was his sister and that's how it went.

[okteiviakom]

And it made Octavia smile a little, even if it was lopsided and faint. "And I won't even call you out on telling me that in advance," she replied, somehow without a snort involved.

[notgetkilled]

He shrugged and glanced at the pie. "What flavor is that, anyway?"

[okteiviakom]

"Pecan," Octavia replied. "It's a kind of nut. They had this pie at that fall festival thing."

Well, they'd had a professional's version of it, anyway.

[notgetkilled]

"What made you choose that over all the others?" he asked. "I know there's like a billion different types."

[okteiviakom]

Octavia shrugged, making sure to keep it casual and mild. "Duke likes it." Which was... not much of a reason, because Duke had sailed back to Haven for the holiday. "And so do I."

[notgetkilled]

"Duke likes it?" Bellamy snickered and eyed her in amusement. "Really?"

[okteiviakom]

Octavia sighed.

"What's funny about that?"

[notgetkilled]

"Oh, nothing," Bellamy said, shaking his head. "Nothing at all."

[okteiviakom]

"Sure," Octavia drawled. Then, she too shook her head.

And murmured, "He's my friend." The kind that would get a drunken voicemail from her in a couple of days' time, asking him to not 'float away', but still.

[notgetkilled]

"I didn't say anything," Bellamy pointed out. "I'm glad he's your friend and that he likes pecan pie."

[okteiviakom]

"You were amused," Octavia pointed out, in her best 'you're full of shit, big brother' voice. Still, it came with kind of a snort. "But keep your secrets."

[notgetkilled]

"What's wrong with being amused?" Bellamy asked. "I can't be amused about it?"

[okteiviakom]

"You can be amused," Octavia retorted. "I just tried to ask you why."

She already assumed she wasn't going to get anything out of him, so that was technically not her asking again.

[notgetkilled]

"Because you made a pie based partially on what someone likes," Bellamy said, shrugging. "It's amusing. You must like him."

As a friend.

[okteiviakom]

"I do."

She didn't think there was anything amusing about it.

In fact, sometimes she found it a little terrifying.

[notgetkilled]

"And that's why I'm amused," he said. He doesn't start pushing her on this topic though because he knows that won't get him anywhere. "Must be a good guy."

[okteiviakom]

"Mm."

Octavia spent a little while just watching the pie as it baked. Just... thinking. About how weird almost the entirety of this situation was. That they were here in the first place, they had an oven, she had friends. Everything.

"He calls me Tavi," she said, softly.

[notgetkilled]

"Tavi?" Huh. She doesn't seem too opposed to it even if it's not a name he'd ever heard anyone use for her. "Do you like like this guy, Octavia?"

She sure sounded like she did.

[okteiviakom]

Apart from Bellamy himself, no one had ever even tried giving Octavia a nickname. And yes, she found she liked it that Duke had.

(Shunsui also called her his 'sorrow dove', and it was a similar thing, yet still different.)

"I think I do, Bel."

[notgetkilled]

"Does he know that?" Bellamy asked her quietly.

[okteiviakom]

"He does."

Octavia turned her head and finally looked at him again. Her voice wasn't very loud, either.

"He likes me too."

[notgetkilled]

"Huh." Well, that's a thing. "Just be careful."

And know that if anything happened, he'd kill this guy.

[okteiviakom]

Octavia snorted, though that too was a pretty soft sound.

"I know, Bel," she murmured. It went both for being careful as well as for the likely-implied death threat. "It's... We're just spending time together." And that was still novel for her. Wasn't like she'd had a lot of time to just sit and talk with Lincoln, back on the ground.

[notgetkilled]

"That's fine. You deserve something like that," Bellamy told her quietly. "I just want you to be careful. That's all."

[okteiviakom]

"What's the worst that can happen?" Octavia asked him, lightly. By her own standards, anyway.

[notgetkilled]

"Did you really just say that?" Bellamy asked, shaking his head.

[okteiviakom]

"I did." She shrugged. "I mean, come on. What's one guy against everything else that's gone wrong for me before?"

Getting hurt was a very real possibility. Actually, it was one she was pretty much expecting.

[notgetkilled]

"Because emotions are involved," Bellamy pointed out. He might not be smart in some things but there were other things he knew. "And those can really hurt."

[okteiviakom]

"I know," Octavia replied quietly. It had practically taken her the past two years to move past the pain of getting ripped away from Lincoln. She was aware of how much emotions cold hurt, thanks.

She shrugged a little. "He sailed back home for the rest of the week, for this holiday. A part of me expects him not to come back."

She had maybe developed some trust issues with the way the multiverse had pulled out rugs from under her feet in the past.

[notgetkilled]

"I'm sure he'll be back," Bellamy told her, nodding. "If he knows what's good for him, he'll come back."

[okteiviakom]

Octavia snorted. "Yeah, I know," she said. "I think he knows I'm not the only person who'd be pissed if he didn't come back, either."

He probably also knew 'pissed' wasn't all she'd be.

[notgetkilled]

"I'm sure it'll be fine," Bellamy told her. "Just...keep making pies until he's back or something."

[okteiviakom]

"That's supposed to be Monday." That wasn't very far away at all, but it felt that way to the squirrelly parts of her. "That's a lot of pies."

[notgetkilled]

"I don't see anything wrong with that," Bellamy said, snickering. "I like pie."

[okteiviakom]

"At least that's a couple days for them to improve," Octavia joked wryly, "if this one turns out to be... like a catastrophe."

It looked okay, and the smell wafting out of the oven seemed right, but there was no telling for sure until it was actually out and on a plate.

[notgetkilled]

"It's going to be fine and we're going to eat and it's going to be a good day," he told her. "Stop worrying."

[okteiviakom]

Octavia made a slight face. "Not worrying."

Yes she was.

Just not about the pie.

She let her head rest against his shoulder. "It's going to be an okay day."

[notgetkilled]

"It is."

He stood up and squeezed her shoulder.

"Let me know when the pie's done."

[okteiviakom]

"Okay," Octavia replied with a little nod.

He was a smart man for not trying to pry her away from the oven. She was going to sit right here until that damned thing was done baking.