betterthanaplan | Port of Fandom, Sunday evening

The portal let off at the end of the docks. Duke walked through, his head down, shoulders hunched, looking like a man under attack.

He wasn't anymore, at least not from the outside.

He paused just long enough to get his bearings, then started down the docks, not waiting for his partners to follow through the portal. He wanted to -- something. He didn't know what. Yell or hit something or dive into the ocean or maybe get on the OceaNyx and sail off over the horizon and just. Disappear.

He was pretty sure no one was going to let him do that last one, though.

[for said partners, please! And the return and general mood is fine for broadcast, but maybe not the precise details of conversations]

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From:

okteiviakom

"Duke," Octavia called, when she got into the galley and didn't see him.

Too tired to manage making it sounded kinda-sorta like a question, which would have been the usual call of trying to find someoone.

From:

betterthanaplan

Another soft huff. Called it! He was good at recognizing his partners' footsteps.

He didn't say anything though. He wanted to be alone. (He wanted to know if she'd look for him. If she'd worry.) He rested his head against the wall and closed his eyes and listened.

From:

okteiviakom

Of course she looked. In the bedroom, first, then the bathroom just in case.

The walk-in, too.

"I know you're in here somewhere."

From:

betterthanaplan

For most of Duke's life, no one would have. And he'd managed to drink the part of his brain that was better at remembering that he wasn't in that part of his life anymore into a stupor.

He snorted, not particularly softly, and set the bottle down with a thump. His stomach was starting to protest, and he was thinking maybe he should have holed up closer to the bathroom after all.

From:

my_own_advocate

Lucifer had managed to make it about halfway to the mansion before the adrenaline crash began to set in. Part of him tried to grapple on to it, always more comfortable with action rather than contemplation, but the certainty of it all slipped between his fingers at a stubborn, unstoppable pace.

With the fading adrenaline came the reality of his worry for Duke.

He looked up at the mansion, already peeking above the trees. So much easier than anything that awaited in port. He could go, be angry at Octavia, full of violent rage at Haven and Audrey and all that lot, or he could...

He sighed deeply.

"Bloody hell," he muttered, as he turned 'round and walked back towards the Rouge.

From:

okteiviakom

Octavia thought she heard something, but she had no idea where from. And she knew the Rouge was full of little hidey-holes, and that Duke knew all of them much better than she ever would.

And she was so very tired.

"I just don't know where," she called. "But I'm gonna be here in the galley, when you feel like coming back to me."

Except for the next small while. Which involved a return into the bathroom, for a big towel, and then into the bedroom, where she unceremoniously ripped just about all the bedding off the bed to drag it into the galley. If everyone else was going to be hiding or storming off, then she was going to do exactly what she wanted, and apparently that was making a nest on the floor.

(Recreating something that had brought her solace during one of the many times Haven had fucked them over in the past.)

From:

betterthanaplan

Duke had no idea what those sounds were. He weighed his curiosity against his need to ~~make her prove she still loved him~~ be alone. He pressed the bottle against his forehead and grimaced, then pushed to his feet.

There was a more direct route to where it sounded like she was right now, but he was not up to crawling out through a low bookcase in front of anyone right now. Not even her.

From:

my_own_advocate

For a moment or two, Lucifer had had a real inclination to yank the gangplank up behind him, just to make a point.

He didn't, though. Blame the fear or the general tiredness or perhaps the vague conviction he would still leave (to spite her) once he was done (for worry of him).

"Duke?" he called, as he yanked open the hatch.

From:

okteiviakom

Octavia had just shucked off her jacket, and kicked off one of her boots when she heard him.

"Hiding."

And no, she wasn't going to stop doing what she was doing just because he was back, because... Well, she couldn't currently really access any feelings about wherever he chose to be.

So she kicked off the other boot, and set the towel down where it would best protect the sheets if the cuts decided to start bleeding again - and laid down on it. (Still mostly to the left of the center, even alone.)

From:

betterthanaplan

Duke heard Lucifer’s voice, but not what he was saying. He was almost down to the hold again.

He wondered wha had taken him so long to come in.

From:

my_own_advocate

"Well, I did tell you he was a flight risk, didn't I," Lucifer said irritably.

He wasn't here for her (he'd remember to be here for her in a moment). He climbed down into the galley and strode right past her, yelling. "Duke? Duke, are you in here?"

From:

okteiviakom

He was doing about three different irritating things at once (because of course irritation still broke through the haze), so...

Octavia chose to ignore all of them, and stare at the ceiling.

Edited Date: 2023-07-02 08:56 pm (UTC)

From:

betterthanaplan

Well. Now Duke could hear what Lucifer was saying. He was tempted to go back into the passage out of sheer . . . something. Contrariness, maybe.

Instead he dragged himself up the ladder to the deck the galley was on.

“Stop yelling. Jesus.”

From:

my_own_advocate

"Oh thank-- me," Lucifer said, combing his fingers through his, after the past few days, largely ungelled hair. "You're still here."

Was it possible for an angel to look like he hadn't slept in days? Because he did look the part. (It was the worry and the frumpled hair.)

From:

okteiviakom

"Told you," Octavia said, flatly.

Some numbed sense of relief had definitely rolled over her when she'd heard Duke's voice, though. Gaze immediately drawn in his direction.

From:

betterthanaplan

"Where the hell else would I be?" Duke asked, taking a long swig from his bottle. "This is my boat."

Oh. He was doing that thing again now. The "drive them away before they can hurt you" thing. Implying that they didn't now share ownership of the Rouge, in spirit if not in legal fact. Oh good. That would end well.

From:

my_own_advocate

"You could have gone literally anywhere, darling," Lucifer said, eyeing him. "Including vanishing up your own arsehole, if you thought it could get you out of having to deal with our concern."

From:

okteiviakom

Octavia knew what this boat was like without Duke. It was his boat, and that was just a fact.

It was also their home, and if he tried implying anything about that, well...

As things stood, Octavia said nothing. Just slowly pulled her knees up.

From:

betterthanaplan

“Yeah, I’m feeling really overwhelmed by your concern,” Duke said dryly, and took another swig.

His stomach was not excited by him drinking more. But it did serve to punctuate his point reasonably well.

From:

my_own_advocate

Lucifer extended his arms in a deeply dramatic gesture. "I'm deeply sorry I'm responding to your irritatingly defensive attitude with irritation," he snapped. "I can switch back to being concerned if you'd rather go another round about how nothing matters and everything is your fault forever!"

Edited Date: 2023-07-03 03:26 pm (UTC)

From:

okteiviakom

Octavia...

Extended one of her arms in Duke's direction. Held her hand out.

She wasn't really expecting anything to come of it. (Not even the hurt that ought to follow him inevitably rejecting it. Or ignoring it.)

Edited Date: 2023-07-03 03:34 pm (UTC)

From:

betterthanaplan

What about him finally looking at her properly and using it as an excuse not to respond to Lucifer at all?

“Did you — drag all the bedding in here so you could camp out?”

From:

my_own_advocate

"Yes, she's been crafting a very nice nest for the past few minutes," Lucifer sighed. "Thank you for noticing."

You hadn't said anything about it so far, Luce.