betterthanaplan | Aboard the Fin & Tonic, Bahamas, Thursday

Duke had spent most of the last few days in the water. Not being able to decompress from the events in LA with a good swim had not done wonders for his headspace, and being here, sans cast, meant he felt more like himself than he had in ages. He'd even managed some light yoga this morning, being gentle with his wrist as he rebuilt the muscle tone, which had also done wonders for his sense of peace and calm.

And, yeah, okay, doing a bit of rescheduled therapy with Linda over the phone, to make up for the appointment he'd missed by being an entirely different version of himself over the weekend, had helped, too.

Now, he was just sitting at the boat's stern, feet dangling in the water as he soaked in the tropical sun, his head blessedly empty as he watched the light sparkle against the water.

[nfb due to distance. Expecting one, but open to both those here with him, and any phone calls or texts!]

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From:

okteiviakom

"Comfortable."

So the resemblance to 'comfy' wasn't accidental.

From:

betterthanaplan

"Really?" Duke laughed. "Yumi komfi, sha."

From:

okteiviakom

"Krei komfi."

The kiss she pressed to his cheek was kind of loud. Lucifer's bad influence, clearly.

From:

betterthanaplan

Oh clearly. And Duke loved that, too.

"Tell me more," he said. "En dison sleng."

From:

okteiviakom

"Gon disha sleng,," Octavia murmured. Correcting someone's grammar always went best with kissing their temple, right? "Gon disha sleng, jaka."

Her tone went much softer fast, though. After a second or two of hesitation.

"En, disha sleng bilaik... bilaik sleng kom ai tombom, nami?" she said. "Ai dig yu na sen daun in. Bilaik yu gaf sen em in."

From:

betterthanaplan

Duke mouthed the corrected phrase to himself, making sure not to interrupt her, then listened carefully to what she was saying.

"It's the language of your heart. You . . . like when I . . . speak it? Sen in?"

He'd work through the last bit next. He had a feeling this one was important too, though.

From:

okteiviakom

"Hear it," Octavia told him, leaning her head against his again. "Or, listen. Either."

Her free hand was creeping up to his hair, finally.

From:

betterthanaplan

"You like when I listen," Duke said, smiling. "It's like I . . . get it? Understand?"

From:

okteiviakom

"Like you want to hear it."

From:

betterthanaplan

"Disha sleng bilaik sleng kom yu tombom," Duke said, carefully echoing her earlier statement. "Ai gaf sen em in otaim, sha."

Edited Date: 2021-10-08 09:30 pm (UTC)

From:

okteiviakom

Octavia's fingers pushed further into his hair, on one side. She nuzzled at the other side. "Mochof, flapkrasha," she murmured. "Yu nou get in ha meija daun's gon ai."

This was a part of her that sang with him.

From:

betterthanaplan

Duke turned his head just a little, trying to look at her face. he frowned.

"Where's this coming from?" he asked softly. "Did I make you think I didn't like it?"

From:

okteiviakom

Octavia was very quick to shake her head. Even if the movement itself was slight, so as not to jostle him.

"No."

Not him.

From:

betterthanaplan

That didn't leave many people whose opinion she found worthwhile.

"Luce?" he guessed.

From:

okteiviakom

Guess it got pretty obvious when you thought about like that.

Octavia dropped her gaze towards the floor. "Yeah."

From:

betterthanaplan

“What’d he say?”

From:

okteiviakom

"More like what he didn't," Octavia muttered. "He doesn't speak Trig back to me. Says he wants you and me to have our own things." Which made sense from one angle, yet kind of hurt from another. "But he also doesn't seem to like that he calls you his boyfriend and I call you my snogon, so..."

Tavi, honey, that 'so' wasn't likely to be obvious to anyone but you.

From:

betterthanaplan

Duke could guess where that “so” went, but guessing had not historically gone well for him, here.

“So?”

From:

okteiviakom

"It feels like he just doesn't want it."

That came out smaller than she'd wanted.

"So I've... stopped."

Everything. Even calling Lucifer skaifaya.

From:

betterthanaplan

That sounded like a big miscommunication to Duke. But he wasn’t her therapist, and he couldn’t fix everything, so he stuck with “I’m sorry.”

From:

okteiviakom

Probably, but Octavia hadn't made it past the hurt enough yet to wonder about that.

She shrugged faintly.

"Can't have everything, right?"

From:

betterthanaplan

"No," Duke agreed. "But . . . this is kind of a big deal for you. It had to hurt."

From:

okteiviakom

"Sha," Octavia muttered.

But a thought was finally occurring to her. While she was gently twisting some of his hair gently around her fingers.

"En ai nou don tel em op, seintaim."