first one who touches the ground loses

Last week had been actually pretty okay, and no one was more surprised than Octavia. What a difference it made when you gave in to the... help you had at home, right? Didn't mean it hadn't also still been aggravating and frustrating at times, or that she hadn't still longed to go disappear into the woods and things like that, but it had been good. A weird sort of bonding experience, even.

But having full control over herself was better, so she'd been enjoying this week, too. And now that this week was drawing to a close, she was enjoying it at the mansion, where she was setting the table with some nice seafood pasta she'd ordered from town, while waiting for Duke to show up.

(Look, it was the guys that cooked, mostly. And she'd wanted to keep this one simple.)

[ooc: For the date, duh.]

A lot could happen in a week. Like Octavia doing a 180 on what she considered an appropriate venue for her and Duke's inaugural date night. Not that they hadn't had date nights before (although ones Octavia had probably refused to call that, with her own internal rules about language), but there were date nights, and there were date nights.

There were random events, and there were the beginnings of traditions.

(Hopeful ones, anyway.)

So there Octavia was, already at the house. She'd thought about cooking something herself, maybe paella like Lucifer had taught her to make once, but had ultimately decided against it. This all felt new enough as it was, without adding the unknown factor of her cooking into it.

The trusty Thai she'd ordered had arrived a moment or two ago, and was now sitting on the coffee table in the living room.

Now all she needed was her date.

[ooc: For that guy. No, not that one, the other one.]

Octavia had been feeling kind of... restless, this week. But keeping it to herself, because Duke had been having a rougher time, and anyway, it was fine. This feeling came and went, and Octavia was used to it.

(Though it really would have been great if Dr. Baker had been able to squeeze her in during some other time this week, after the regular Tuesday session got cancelled.)

It was Sunday now, anyway. Food and cider and hopefully a good time? Octavia had even channeled some of her twitchiness into prepping dessert, earlier. "The fruit's all ready in the fridge," she said, as she got up to clear away the dinner plates. "The white chocolate on them should have set by now."

Spoken like she actually knew anything and hadn't just grabbed the instructions from Google this morning.

[ooc: For the guy.]

It had been another weird week. But enough of the weird - both from this week, and the ones before it - had apparently passed for Octavia and Lucifer to meet up at the house again on this Sunday evening for another date night.

The previously unfurnished room on the second floor was no longer unfurnished. Octavia didn't know whether Lucifer had noticed yet, especially since she'd left the door closed after she'd been done with it. She didn't know whether it would come into play yet, anyway.

And either way, they were downstairs, sitting down properly at the dining table. A gesture towards things Lucifer liked. And Octavia had cooked, even if the main had been just a very simple salad, which they were just about finished with. The equally simple dessert was still waiting in the fridge.

"Maybe one of these weeks you could give me a lesson." A beat. "You know, for cooking. We could make a thing of it."

[ooc: For, you guessed it, that guy.]

It was a very 90s alt rock kind of evening at the mansion, this particular Sunday. Which didn't actually mean much except that Octavia had commandeered the living room sound system for a bunch of Jane's Addiction and the like.

And also that dinner was even more of a relaxed affair than it usually was, meaning it was one they could enjoy on the couch. Easy, relatively non-messy finger foods.

"What was this one, again?" Octavia asked, reaching for one of the dessert ones.

[ooc: For that guy.]

Another Sunday, another date night at the mansion, another meal almost finished. The dessert was more chocolate than it was fruit, but the latter was still very much a part of it. The combination seemed to be just the right thing for Octavia, because...

"Is it too much if I lick the bowl?"

The answer was not going to affect her much.

[ooc: For that guy and also glorious SP.]

Octavia had had another weird week. Between the talk with Lucifer on Thursday, therapy and her implant-related doctor visit on Friday (which she should probably have talked to the guys about, but had not), and whatever the hell the dream was that she'd woken up from in the middle of the night last night was...

(Jennifer, smiling.

Jennifer, undressing.

Jennifer --)

... Octavia was ready to try and just maybe chill for a while.

Though whether a date night - even one with very low expectations and the knowledge that she could lead things as she wanted to - would help with that at all remained to be seen. But at least they'd opted for low-key things. Easy finger foods, the kind she'd been able to help make earlier, served in the living room for maximum relaxed coziness.

Almost all of it was gone by now, though.

And Octavia gave a soft sigh as she picked up one of the cheesecake-stuffed strawberries. One of the last, in fact.

[ooc: For the Devil, as usual.]

Octavia had her date nights with Lucifer, and Lucifer had a similar (thought still vastly different) routine going with Duke, but all three of them together hadn't really taken the time to do anything special for an evening in a while. So that was what tonight was for.

Duke had handled sailing the Rouge to a more secluded spot near the preserve. Lucifer was handling the food.

Octavia had... hung up some extra twinkly lights on the deck. That was important too, right? And she'd picked some stuff for the playlist too. Was still picking stuff on her phone, actually.

[ooc: For those two I just gently modded!]

This was... really getting to be a routine, wasn't it? This thing with just Octavia and Lucifer, and dinner, and then whatever else afterwards.

It was the very tail end of that first part, and Octavia leaned back in her chair with a happy little sigh.

"That was a lot of chocolate."

[ooc: For the Devil. NSFW bound.]

This had been a much quieter week than the last several. And easier, at least some of the time. But also more busy, at least at the Samsara, not that it took a lot. Just two planned visits in the same week.

Duke was supposed to come over, once he'd finished up at the diner.

And Octavia was... waiting. And more fidgety about it than she had been about Lucifer's visit on Monday. Nervous. She didn't want to look too closely at why that was. Just went with it, tidying up things around the boat that didn't really need tidying up.

She was down in the cabin, but the hatch to the deck was open. Ocean air wafting in.

... And one curious porg, but she ushered it back up the steps.

[ooc: For that tall pirate dude.]