fandomhigh | The Art of Napping; Monday, First Period [07/20].

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napping

The Art of Napping; Monday, First Period [07/20].

Class that morning would be meeting in what appeared to be a mattress showcase floor, but, you know, like, a nice one, not one that was very clearly and obviously just a front for laundering drug money. Either way, it was probably not too difficult to discern what today's lesson would be about...

"Welcome back, ducklings ♥!" Shunsui greeted his students with a smile that had clearly already passed a class on being sleepy. "Last week, we spent a good deal of time talking about the importance of a good pillow for a nap, and if a good pillow is that important, then I'm sure you can only imagine how crucial it may be to ensure that you have a good mattress, too ♥! Now, of course, an expert napper can truly nap anywhere, from the cold hard ground to the most luxuriant pile of fluff every created, but why should one have to resort to such things if one doesn't necessarily have to? And, just like pillows, mattresses are hardly one size fits all ♥! Some prefer a good, sturdy mattress with no give; others like to sink in, like drowning on a cloud ♥. And the only way to know for sure what works before for you is to simply try them and see.

"Now," his grin seemed to gain a little more energy, "I could start delving into the thrilling yarn that is the history of the mattress, but our time here is so short, and I'd like you to all get the most out of your mattress trying time ♥. So the rest of the class is yours to look around and explore so that you might be able to find the best mattress to suit your own napping needs ♥. Embark on this exploration on your lonesome or even pair up if you like...napping, after all, is especially nice when done with frineds ♥. Your mattress journey is up to you, your cushion fate is in your hands ♥. So, go, go..." He waved his hands as if to send this little sleepy flock scattering to the mattress winds like so many mixed-metaphor cherry blossoms. "Find your mattresses, and at the end of the class, perhaps we can reconvene to discuss our findings ♥."

Was this lesson really just an excuse to lay around on comfy mattresses for the duration of the class?

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Octavia's eyes weren't closed. She'd pretended they were, for a moment, but even then she could still see a sliver of the room around her. There were only a handful of people here, but there were still too many for her to be comfortable letting her guard down like that.

And then she saw Shunsui approaching her, and stopped pretending entirely. "I guess it's the moose," she rasped, looking up at him. "I'm supposed to be here, and in Duke's class. Apparently."

Napping and swimming, like the island was trying to tell her something.

"That pesky moose ♥," Shunsui chuckled, finding it particularly interesting that she, of all people, would be somewhere because she was supposed to be there and not because she wanted to be there.

"Well," he continued cheerfully, with a wave of his hand, as if brushing the moose and that thought aside, "on the bright side, you haven't missed much ♥. Just pillows and napping nests ♥. But, luckily for you, Octavia-chan, I'd be more than happy to offer a few private lessons if you feel yourself struggling to catch up ♥."

The 'supposed to' wasn't necessarily much of a factor in how Octavia had actually decided to end up here, let's be honest.

Her snort was only a soft sound. "Well," she rasped, "that would eliminate the issue where this is too many strangers for me to nap around."

The acceptable number of strangers was zero.

"It also wouldn't take much," said Shunsui, nothing small or soft in the way his grin tilted, "to make them not strangers ♥."

"Too much," Octavia replied. Raspy, but kind of light.

And still so very definite.

"One thing at a time, Shunsui."

"Of course," Shunsui allowed, his smile, his voice, his everything, softening quite a bit with the aquiescent duck of his head. Then he was quiet for a moment before offering, "I've never been one for multitasking much myself, either ♥."

"I'm supposed to call a therapist this week," Octavia admitted after a moment, pushing herself up on her elbows. (The same senses that told her not to close her eyes were also telling her not to just stay fully laying down. Maybe Lucifer had had a point about paranoia.) "That's enough for a while."

Shunsui made a soft sound, as if mildly amused by the idea, before his haori swept out a little to make his descent to sit down on the edge of the mattress particularly smooth and flowy, emphasized even more by the complete lack of disturbance other than that fluttering wave of pink that quickly settled.

"A therapist." How novel. And there were those words again. Supposed to. He turned his head enough to quirk a brow at her. "You know those expect you to talk to them, Octavia-chan? Not only that, they also expect you to pay for the privilege."

It would probably come as no surprise Octavia had not even thought about the money aspect. She didn't have any. Presumably Duke was handling it for the both of them.

She brushed that part aside.

"I know about the talking," she said, dryly, though the tone seemed to also conceal a little sigh. "I've made a promise. To try."

"Well..." said Shunsui, who then ducked his head a little as if granting some sort of favor with his response, "then, in that case...I wish you luck, Octavia-chan, and I hope it goes well."

As he tried not to take it a little personally that she seemed more willing to talk to a professional stranger rather than an old friend, but maybe the problem was that no one had yet suggested that she was supposed to, and he'd hate for that to be the reason, anyway.

"You'll have to let me know if it does ♥."

There were heavy reasons behind Octavia's promise, ones that couldn't be appeased just talking to friends. Not even when your friends happened to be devils and death gods.

"Sure," she said, the word almost evasive in its mildness, as she finally pushed herself all the way up to sitting.

Probably should've come up with something to follow that up with, but she didn't.

Shunsui watched quietly as she shifted up, with a faint, almost distant sort of grin on his face, thinking that this therapist would certainly have her work cut out for her, and that wasn't even getting into what would happen if she actually did manage to get more than five words out of her per session.

But, it would seem, he would have his work cut out for him as an instructor, as well.

"You know, Octavia-chan," he said, the grin becoming part more present, "napping while sitting up is a highly advanced technique ♥. You're a very capable woman, my dear, but I'm not sure you're ready for it. Of course, it is your first class, so I really haven't gotten a guage for your level yet. You may surprise me yet ♥."

"Don't get your hopes up," Octavia replied, a little more of the dry rasp creeping back into the mild. "There aren't enough weeks for me to get comfortable sleeping in public."

Especially since she had no inclination to, you know, actually try to get to that point. But that was clearly neither here nor there.

The fact that she had even bothered to try to get to the point of even coming to class was honestly a bit more than Shunsui had been expecting.

"All the more reason, then," he told her with a grin, "to take advantage of all the private lessons you can, neh ♥?"

Octavia snorted.

(And that, that was why she even there. Not because of any hidden interest in napping, but because it was his class.)

"Maybe you could come by the boat sometime," she offered, after a short pause. "Not the Rouge, mine."

Ahhh, but the napping could make for such a nice added bonus...!

"Yours," consider the lift of his brow this one as intrigued as it seemed amused, "Octavia-chan ♥?"

Octavia shrugged one shoulder.

"It's the only other boat in the port," she said, as if that answered anything. "The Samsara."

"Samsara," Shunsui repeated it in a deep, reflective drawl with a faint chuckle at the end. "Fitting name for a boat ♥. Kawa o watattara bōto o hakobimasu ka, Octavia-chan?"

He paused to let that linger a little in its purposeful obtuseness with a smile to match beofre adding, "Boats are excellent places for napping, too, we could do some very good catch up work ♥."

"Ai fig raun ai don get 'floudon' in," Octavia drawled, because she couldn't help herself, "ba ostof..."

She trailed off with a little shrug. Pushed her hair back and away from her face. No braids these days, not anymore.

"Anyway, I guess we'll see."

And while Shunsui really had no idea what it was that Octavia said (though, admittedly, he probably had a better chance at guessing), he was mostly just glad to get to hear it.

"I suppose we will," he agreed. "I'm looking forward to it, Octavia-chan ♥."

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The Art of Napping; Monday, First Period [07/20].

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Re: Embark on your Mattress Journey - AoN, 07/20.