betterthanaplan | The deck of the Fin and Tonic, Tuesday afternoon

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The deck of the Fin and Tonic, Tuesday afternoon

Duke had gone into town this morning, and come back with an acoustic guitar. It'd been ages since he'd last played, so he set about turning and warming up with unusual focus before eventually starting to play something relatively simple.

"Sorry
Is all that you can't say
Years gone by and still
Words don't come easily
Like sorry, like sorry. . . ."

Should the narrative pretend that his song choice was random? Obviously it was not. It had been running through his head for days.

[for those on the island, and likely slow play!]

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"I know I find fishing a stupid and dull affair, and have said so," Lucifer added, "But I always enjoyed sitting by while you did it. I'm not sure I ever said that properly before."

"Dunno," Duke admitted, tilting his head thoughtfully. "I knew you liked it. The sitting. And that you hated trying to fish yourself. But it's nice to hear it anyway." He gave Lucifer a return cheek kiss. "While we're making sure we're telling each other stuff: thank you. For New Year's Eve. Trying to keep us both as level as possible, even while we were being dense."

And for also pointing out the whole 'Duke's not that precise with words' thing. It was nice hearing someone else get on Octavia about that, so he didn't feel quite so insane thinking it himself.

"I just hope I do more good than harm," Lucifer said wryly. "I've never been the level-headed one before."

"On my end, you do," Duke said. He rested his head on Lucifer's shoulder. "That night especially. You helped me feel less crazy."

"I'm glad," Lucifer said, leaning his cheek against Duke's hair. "You really aren't the only one who makes mistakes in this."

"Am the only one who apparently makes up what I think the other person is saying?"

"I'd call it 'misinterpreting'," Lucifer mused, looking out at the water. "You both do it, but in different ways."

"Yeah?" That was a relief. He'd thought that maybe Octavia did it too, but hearing from someone else that she did helped.

"For Octavia, it's fear," Lucifer mused. "She's afraid of being-- in this case, misunderstood. She gets sharp. Any word that doesn't communicate to her that she is understood becomes a threat. And when she's threatened, well, she's a fight-or-flight girl. Unlike you. You're more of a fight-or-fawner."

"With you two, definitely," Duke admitted. "Don't tell her she's afraid, though. She does not like that."

Lucifer let out a soft huff. "Noted," he said, though he wasn't entirely sure that was a blanket rule. "Now, your misunderstanding habits are sort of related, but not quite. We sort of already talked about that the other day, though."

“Everything goes through a ‘make it about me’ filter,” Duke said ruefully. “It’s not the most attractive.”

"It can be frustrating," Lucifer said. "So can the fawning, though, so I continue to be hopeful we are simply cruising to a new equilibrium."

“I’m trying,” Duke said. “I am still just. So afraid of losing you two. It’s hard not to worry about doing something wrong.”

"I know," Lucifer said. He pressed a kiss into Duke's hair. "Though I'll have you know the closest I ever got to breaking up with you was over my perceived faults, not yours."

"When you thought you couldn't love?" Duke guessed. "We're both a little too good at deciding we're not worth someone's time, huh."

Lucifer let out a soft huff. "When I thought I couldn't be there for you with your brother," he said. "That you had already written me off as being capable of being more than sexy furniture."

Duke closed his eyes. "I am so sorry about that. You've always been more than 'sexy furniture' to me."

"I know that," Lucifer murmured. "I was just predisposed to thinking there had to be something wrong with me."

"Tell you what," Duke said. "I promise to tell you if I'm mad at something you do. I'll even try not to be . . . aggressive about it."

"Thank you," Lucifer said. He gave Duke a squeeze. "Though I've grown much less insecure about that, of late."

"Good. I'm really glad to hear that." Duke nuzzled into his shoulder a little. "Because I want to keep you around for a good, long time."

"The feeling is very mutual," Lucifer murmured. "Regardless of everything else."

"Everything else . . . that we can work on," Duke said. "So long as we have that first bit."

Lucifer nodded. His hand slid up along Duke's arm, and undid Duke's hairtie.

What? He needed to run his fingers through Duke's hair for a moment.

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