betterthanaplan | The Cape Rouge, Port of Fandom, Sunday evening

The joys of sailing in from 2008, Duke was not dealing with a giant winter storm as he made his way down the coast from Maine. The weather had in fact been perfectly fine until he crossed into Fandom waters and the first of the white flakes hit the boat. He'd had some warning about this, sort of, thanks to Octavia's voicemail, but it still took him a couple minutes to work out that it really was powdered sugar falling from the sky instead of snow.

He managed to get his boat docked without getting too much of a contact sugar high, and paused on the deck for a few moments to just watch it drift in the glow of his string lights. It didn't sparkle quite the same way a good snowfall would, but it was pretty enough in its own way, and with the hood of his slicker pulled to protect his hair, he could let himself relax for a minute and just enjoy it.

A porg landed on the deck, liberally dusted and practically buzzing like a hummingbird as it rolled around in a small sugar drift. He was going to be cleaning up tiny sugar porg prints for days. Duke watched it for a moment, then turned his face back up towards the sky, tasting sugar on his lips.

"Home sweet Fandom."

This couldn't possibly be good for the fish.

[can be open, sure!]

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From:

okteiviakom

"Maybe even Shunsui has to leave something for other people," Octavia replied, glancing up without lifting her chin. "Besides, he's..." She trailed off for a second, thinking about how to put it. "He doesn't go for my legs, he tells me I'm lovely."

His was an all-encompassing sort of flirting.

From:

betterthanaplan

"He's not wrong about that," Duke said. "But sometimes it's nice to hear the reasons why you're lovely."

From:

okteiviakom

"It is."

It was a quiet Sunday night, and it was just them (and the porgs). Maybe that helped Octavia go for something more honest than the kneejerk 'I guess'.

"Whether I buy them or not," she added, wryly.

From:

betterthanaplan

"Just means I'm gonna keep pointing them out until you do," Duke said.

Another porg showed up to start licking his pants. It was a very strange sensation.

From:

okteiviakom

Right? Octavia had mentioned it for a reason.

"Limb by limb?" she asked with a lopsided little smile.

From:

betterthanaplan

Duke leaned over the table, reaching for one of her hands. "Finger by finger if I have to."

From:

okteiviakom

Octavia thought the thrill that ran down her spine was an overblown reaction to just some words.

And yet still a welcome one.

She let him take her hand. Actually, she slid it closer to him when she realized he was reaching for it. "Sounds pretty dedicated."

From:

betterthanaplan

"Some things are worth dedicating yourself to."

From:

okteiviakom

"That's a lot to put on a girl," Octavia joked quietly.

She gave his hand a squeeze.

From:

betterthanaplan

"Does that mean you want me to stop?" Duke was pretty sure he knew the answer to that already, yeah.

From:

okteiviakom

"Do you want me to stop being happy when you come back?"

That probably still qualified as the answer he was expecting.

From:

betterthanaplan

"Mmm." Duke leaned his chin on his hand. "That is . . . very weird. But no, I don't."

He figured it would, sooner or later, and it was going to hurt like hell when it did, but he was just foolish enough to want it anyway.

From:

okteiviakom

This time, when Octavia mirrored his position, she did it on purpose. There was something playful about her doing it - which meant, in her book, that there was also something vulnerable about it.

And that meant trust.

"It's not that weird, flapkrasha." And this time, there was no mistaking that word for an insult. Not with the soft fondness she put into it. "You... you make me want to laugh with you. If not wanting to give that up is weird, then so's you wanting to keep telling me part by part what's supposed to be so lovely about me."

She shrugged a tiny bit, and looked down at their joined hands.

(And no, she hadn't missed that this had been the first time he'd reached for hers first.)

"I'm not saying it's smart --" She'd been hurt enough times by things beyond her control to expect that to come eventually. "-- but it's not that weird. "

From:

betterthanaplan

Didn't they make a pessimistic little pair.

"It's -- unique, then. Most people are relieved when I leave."

Most people, he left before they had time to become attached. To make sure they couldn't leave him first.

From:

okteiviakom

"I'm not 'everyone'," Octavia replied, "and I'm not 'most people', either."

She was fine with being unique.

From:

betterthanaplan

"Of course not," Duke said. "You're Okteivia kom Gonakru. It's just -- taking some getting used to. That's all."

From:

okteiviakom

"I know," Octavia sighed, her gaze flicking back up to his face. "Believe me, I do. If someone had told me three months ago this would be the situation now..."

The only reason she wouldn't have laughed in their face would've been that she'd mostly only regained that ability within the last three months.

From:

betterthanaplan

"You'd have stared at them blankly until they went away?" Duke asked.

From:

okteiviakom

Octavia snorted. "Or until I decided to walk away. Whichever happened quicker."

From:

betterthanaplan

"That's a tough call," Duke mused. "On the one hand, you have a very intimidating blank stare. On the other, very limited tolerance for idiots."

Basically, himself and Magnus. He figured that was it.