betterthanaplan | The Cape Rouge, Port of Fandom, Monday

Bolstered with caffeine thanks to the Perk, Duke had returned to his boat to see just how much damage his younger self had managed to wreak over the weekend. The place was a wreck, especially the galley, with weapons (that had been toys, which was reassuring and terrifying in equal measure) strewn about wherever wee!Duke had happened to drop them, and a sticky film of grape jelly coating pretty much everything. He'd thankfully been quick enough even as a ten year old to keep the small fire he'd started trying to use the waffle iron contained to a very small space, so that wouldn't take much more than replacing the outlet and maybe resanding part of a cabinet.

And, as predicted, there were five pizzas, two giant cookies, and a rather unholy amount of Pepsi leftover in his fridge. Also, most of a frittata, at least half a serving of beef stew, and several stale and/or smashed cookies. He fed those last items to the porgs, who were all terribly pleased to see him, and set about making the Rouge a proper home again.

He had the door to the deck propped open to air out the smell of small semi-feral boy and to be able to hear if Octavia -- or anyone else -- came around. And, well, if he ended up humming some Violent Femmes under his breath while he did, well. Not everything he remembered from being a kid was a bad memory.

[expecting one, but also open]

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From:

okteiviakom

Octavia took her time. Between her extended training bout in the preserve and then returning to the apartment for a shower and tattoo maintenance and then a quick store run in town, the late afternoon was turning into the early evening as the sound of her boots across the gangplank and then along the deck heralded her arrival.

She was carrying a bag from Turtle & Canary which did not have any Oreos in it, thank you very much.

From:

betterthanaplan

That was good -- the porgs were pretty well stuffed on the things.

"That you, Tavi?" Duke called. He was in the midst of ~~swabbing the poop deck~~ mopping the floor (seriously, how had he manged to get everything sticky?), and as such moved a little gingerly to keep from falling as he headed for the hatch. "Careful coming in, the floor's a little wet."

From:

okteiviakom

"It's me," Octavia called back, more comfortable raising her voice now than she would've been before the preserve. Not that it was that necessary a confirmation, considering she was making her way in soon after. Carefully, yes, and raising her eyebrows just a little at the reason for it. "Guess we did some damage."

She was willing to take partial blame/credit. She'd been here for a while yesterday, too.

From:

betterthanaplan

"I think most of it was like this before you got here," Duke admitted. He rubbed a hand through his hair. "I was -- kind of a mess, as a kid."

In so many ways.

From:

okteiviakom

"I noticed."

In so many ways.

Octavia held up the bag. "I brought... some fruit and juice, mostly." She'd had cravings for fresh things after three days on a diet consisting 75% of cookies. "There's some chocolate in there, too."

From:

betterthanaplan

"Oh man, fresh fruit. That sounds really good right now." He'd been rather lacking in that food group himself this weekend, though he did at least manage to get plenty of protein. He wrung out his mop and put it away. "I've got pizza and soda in the fridge. And giant cookies, but, uh. I gather you may have had your fill of those."

From:

okteiviakom

"I never want to see another Oreo again," Octavia drawled dryly, only a little bit hyperbolic. But, hey! She'd managed to get some tones back into her voice since this morning.

And also: "Other kinds might be fine. Guess we'll find out."

From:

betterthanaplan

"They're chocolate chip," Duke said. "Help yourself." He pulled out some plates and cups (which, despite what his ten year old self said, were not actually all that fancy) and set the table. Like a goddamn grownup. "How was the preserve?"

From:

okteiviakom

"Good," Octavia replied, setting one bottle of apple juice down on the table before brushing past him to stick the other one in his fridge, and also to pull out a pizza, probably. "Actually hit the target a few times."

Well, she'd mostly just nicked the corners, but it was a start.

"Beau gave me one of her throwing stars, I was practising with that."

From:

betterthanaplan

"So it's a new toy." Duke nodded. "I was worried there for a minute that your tattoo had messed up your aim or something."

From:

okteiviakom

"It didn't help," Octavia said, like she hadn't already given ample evidence that she'd just ignore pain when she felt like it. "But, no. I use a small target, and the star takes precision."

From:

betterthanaplan

"I can imagine," Duke said. "This is why I stick with what I already know. Though I gotta say, I'm glad the island had the foresight to turn the weapons into toys over the last few days. That . . . could have gone very badly otherwise."

There were so many guns on this boat. So many. There was, in fact, one taped to the underside of the very table he was finishing setting. It had been armed with Nerf darts, which he'd fired at some seagulls.

From:

okteiviakom

Octavia pulled out a pizza box, and peered into it. "My sword was plastic." Along with all her knives, yes. "I don't think I touched it even once all weekend."

Tiny Octavia, you were a disappointment.

(Or possibly not.)

From:

betterthanaplan

"Yeah, I can't really see baby!Tavi with a sword," Duke said, smiling. "You would have spontaneously combusted out of fear of being caught with it."

From:

okteiviakom

"You don't think I would've tried to slice someone's face open?" Octavia drawled, with a glance over at him. "I did grow up on some violent myths."

Yes, but those parts hadn't stuck.

From:

betterthanaplan

"I think now you would. And maybe if they tried to --" What was the term she'd used? "-- Float you. But only if you didn't explode from terror first."

From:

okteiviakom

"Fear is a demon," Octavia drawled with her gaze downcast, sounding like she was quoting something she'd heard more than once. "I knew how to slay it."

Then she looked up again, and nodded at the pizza she was holding. "Warmed up, or are we doing the standard leftover pizza barbarism?"

She could say that because she was kind of a barbarian herself!

From:

betterthanaplan

"Warmed up." Duke tapped the boat's small oven with his foot. "I had plenty enough food barbarism this weekend."

There was a stash of restaurant scraps somewhere around here he still needed to find. Assuming the porgs hadn't already eaten it all.

From:

okteiviakom

Octavia snorted, and said, "Suit yourself." But it was an act, just an affectation for the sake of clinging to the comfort of being something a little more Trikru and something a little less... tiny, scared Space Girl.

She had a healthy appreciation of both ovens as well as warm pizza. Probably evident in the ease with which she went to use the former to make the latter happen right after saying that.

From:

betterthanaplan

"We can always do one cold later." There was so much pizza. "I, uh, was maybe a little bit of a hoarder as a kid."

From:

okteiviakom

"Makes sense," Octavia replied mildly, after taking a second to figure out the oven and get the pizza safely in there. Then she straightened up again. "Get it while you can, that kind of thing."

From:

betterthanaplan

"Pretty much." Duke sipped his apple juice with an ironic little smile. "Wasn't like I was going to get it at home."

From:

okteiviakom

Octavia went to empty the rest of her shopping onto the counter. An entire pineapple (because fruit was better when there was knifework involved), a few oranges, a thing of strawberries. And a bag of those mini peanut butter cups because those were kind of a comfort thing, not that she'd say so.

"It's why I'm half made of Oreos now, too," she said. "And cake."

Liam had used his precocious adorableness for good to get them that.

From:

betterthanaplan

Duke raised his eyebrows at all that, and went to grab his knife roll to pick out the proper one for that pineapple.

"I was very impressed with your stashing abilities, by the way." Even if he'd also been pretty sure Bellamy had kidnapped her for nefarious purposes. "And the cute bunny, too."

From:

okteiviakom

At least going overboard with grocery shopping was still her healthiest coping strategy of the day.

"My mom made it for me," she said, as she popped the strawberry container open. "His name was Bunny."

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Duke Crocker

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