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:

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.

From:

okteiviakom

And Octavia simply said, "I did."

She hadn't pulled her hand back yet.

From:

betterthanaplan

“. . . Why?”

From:

my_own_advocate

"Because we all just went through a traumatic experience and now she just wants to lay down and curl up into a ball with us for eight to twenty-four hours," Lucifer said.

Irritably.

In a second he was going to realize that included him, too. ... Maybe a minute?

From:

okteiviakom

"Everyone was doing what they wanted to be doing --" Hiding, storming off. "-- and this is what I wanted."

Her tone was mild, but the offer of the hand remained.

From:

betterthanaplan

“In here?”

Baby, you were hiding in a secret passage.

From:

my_own_advocate

Lucifer just... stared at him for a moment.

From:

okteiviakom

"I'm pretty sure you were somewhere in the walls," Octavia rasped. "And Lucifer was halfway to his mansion."

The hand was beginning to sink towards the mess of bedding. Her arm was tired.

"Yes, in here."

From:

betterthanaplan

The sight of her hand lowering spurred Duke into motion. He caught it without thinking, giving it a squeeze.

And finally set the bottle down.

“I was,” he admitted, rubbing his mouth with his free hand. His head hurt, and his stomach was screaming at him to put something other than alcohol in it, but all he did was sink down onto the bench seat near her. “I don’t know why.”

Liar.

From:

my_own_advocate

"I came back," Lucifer said.

He was oddly stilted as he turned, and took a step towards her.

"... Because I remembered there was something more important than being right."

Oh look: without anyone continuing to play prickly chicken with him, Lucifer was actually sort of figuring something out.

From:

okteiviakom

Octavia squeezed Duke's hand back, faintly. Let him take some of the weight of her arm, while her face turned a little more towards Lucifer.

"Was that what that was?"

There was no bite, only tired.