betterthanaplan | Aboard the OceaNyx, off the coast of Fandom, Monday afternoon

The trouble -- ha -- with the troubles inside Duke was that the pressure from them was constantly building, even if it didn't constantly register as pain. So what was painful but tolerable last week was now absolutely debilitating.

Fortunately, they had a plan. Well. Of sorts. When Duke got out of bed that morning and promptly passed out, it was decided that enough was enough. He was loaded onto the OceaNyx and he, Octavia, and Lucifer headed out to sea to minimize any possible bystanders getting hit with whatever came out when Duke vented a trouble.

Hopefully, all he would have to do was bleed on Lucifer and he could get some relief without magical hijinks! But let's be real. When had anything in Duke's life gone that smoothly?

[For thems as is in the narrative, please!]

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From:

okteiviakom

"I can't lie to you, either," Octavia muttered, glancing down at their hands.

From:

betterthanaplan

Duke bit back a sigh. “You and Luce. Sometimes lying is good.”

From:

my_own_advocate

"Rarely," Lucifer said, popping back up with a bottle of red wine under his arm (already opened) and a baggy of you-know-what in his hand.

He held the bag out for Duke. "Mind lighting that up while I talk to her for a moment?"

He had barely heard half of that and yet he could sort of tell the vibe here.

From:

okteiviakom

Could he tell the 'I'm not interested in being called to the principal's office' vibe in the look Octavia was giving him, too?

It was incredibly unhelpful of her and she knew it.

From:

betterthanaplan

It was. But Duke was going to do his best to let her do it anyway. Or at least, not be the principal in question.

“I can do that,” he promised, and after giving Octavia’s hand one more squeeze, took the bag.

From:

my_own_advocate

Lucifer eyed that angry raccoon look with something approaching abject, eyebrow-raised confusion. "For a sidebar, darling, not a scolding," he said. "Honestly."

He waved at the cabin with his bottle of wine and raised his eyebrows. Again.

Edited Date: 2024-07-02 08:47 pm (UTC)

From:

okteiviakom

Look, he'd yelled at her in what felt to Octavia like similar circumstances at least once before, and now that was what her subconscious guilt liked to latch on to whether there was any actual evidence that was about to happen or not.

Of course, she didn't want a fucking sidebar, either, so the look didn't change all that much even if some edge went away.

Her hand felt empty.

She marched past Lucifer for the cabin.

From:

betterthanaplan

Duke watched her go and winced. “Good luck.”

From:

my_own_advocate

"Enjoy," Lucifer told him, and then vanished down into the cabin after her.

This was going to be fun.

"Octavia," he said, surpressing a little sigh. "I just wanted to ask why you're so upset."

From:

okteiviakom

"Because this is bullshit!" Octavia exploded (even if it was kind of a hiss, as she at least tried to keep her voice down), whipping around to face him. "There is no way it was that easy!"

From:

my_own_advocate

Lucifer, to his credit, didn't flinch. He'd somewhat expected the anger - and at least this was a reason he could fully understand. "It does feel like there's a shoe hanging in the air somewhere, doesn't it?"

From:

okteiviakom

"Yes," Octavia said, "and I'm worried it's gonna blow up in our faces!"

From:

my_own_advocate

"Possibly quite literally, considering, yes, I saw what happened."

Lucifer raised the wine, and took a swig.

"But the weed should at least keep him at a nice even tempered for the next few hours."

From:

okteiviakom

Octavia scowled.

But she didn't actually have any counterarguments for that logic. So maybe it was just the last of the fear-masked-as-anger working its way out of her system.

Edited Date: 2024-07-02 09:24 pm (UTC)

From:

my_own_advocate

"So my suggestion is we go back out there, we smoke with him, we let him relax and enjoy the moment," Lucifer said, lowering the bottle. "When he passes out, I take the ship back to shore, we take him to the mansion which, unlike the Rouge, is not made of metal nor surrounded by extremely boilable water, and when he wakes up we convince him to stay there for a day while we make sure this is actually over."

From:

okteiviakom

Octavia's aforementioned scowl was slow to shift towards something closer to her more neutral expressions, but shift it did.

"I can't promise enjoying or smoking."

On her own part.

The rest of the plan, she could probably get behind.

From:

my_own_advocate

"Fair enough," Lucifer said, with an incline of his head. "But you'll sit with us?"

Edited Date: 2024-07-03 03:45 am (UTC)

From:

okteiviakom

Octavia exhaled something like a sigh.

(Something more working its way out of her body.)

"Yeah."

From:

my_own_advocate

"Thank you," Lucifer said.

He held out a hand for her.

From:

okteiviakom

Octavia took it.

Gave it a little squeeze, too, after a second or two of hesitation.

From:

my_own_advocate

He squeezed back.

"I've got you, niron," Lucifer murmured. "And we've got him."

From:

okteiviakom

This time, what Octavia exhaled was unquestionably a sigh.

"Yeah, I hope so," she muttered.

From:

my_own_advocate

"That's the spirit," Lucifer said, gentle, only half-teasing.

Then he tugged her back towards the deck.

From:

okteiviakom

Octavia found herself not moving. Didn't let go of his hand, though. In fact, she gave it a yank back. "Wait, look, can I just --"

Oh.

Oh, she was trying to yank him back for a hug. No wonder her voice sounded so wobbly all of a sudden.

Guess she'd learned some good impulses along the way, too.