betterthanaplan | The Cape Rouge, Port of Fandom, Monday afternoon

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The Cape Rouge, Port of Fandom, Monday afternoon

As tempting as it was to just stay in their little vacation bubble at sea, Duke and Octavia did have things to do back in Fandom now that the school break was over, so the Cape Rouge chugged back into port in the late afternoon to dock at her usual slip.

It was immediately beset by porgs.

"Alright, alright," Duke said, a laugh underlining the exaggerated annoyed tone of his voice. "I know, I know, how dare I exile you from your homes. I'm a cruel, cruel man."

[open! With slowplay warnings in effect for

okteiviakom]

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"You didn't get me thrown in jail," Octavia murmured. "I did."

Bellamy was unlikely to see it that way.

"Because you were defending me," Duke said. "Which is awesome, don't get me wrong. But none of that would have happened if I wasn't there."

"None of any of it," Octavia retorted. "Including the good parts."

"Not arguing with that," Duke said. "Doesn't mean I'm not at least a little responsible for you getting stuck in a cell again."

"Can I make you responsible for not making me think about it again, instead?" Octavia asked, quietly.

Not an accusation, but... She knew the nightmares were probably coming, again. And she would like to pretend she could somehow avoid them by not thinking about it.

Duke winced a little at that, and nodded. "Yeah, I think I can do that. Managed it pretty well so far."

Their time after Haven had been one long, relaxing distraction, after all.

"Mochof."

Her voice stayed quiet, but it softened again, and took on something faint that sounded like she was smiling a little. Hard to know for sure, though, with her face still half buried against his shoulder.

"Anyway... If we hadn't been there, both of us, I wouldn't have gotten to hear you say you love me."

"I probably would have gotten there eventually," Duke said. "Just . . . might've taken awhile longer."

"And that would've been fine." Not even the dreaded 'fine', but actually fine. "I wasn't really waiting for you to say it, anyway."

She shrugged one shoulder. "Thought I could... just kind of feel it."

"Fair," Duke said with a nod. "I mean, just because I wasn't saying it didn't mean it wasn't true. I guess my heart knew it, and the rest of me had to catch up."

Octavia squeezed him a little tighter, briefly. He was solid and warm against her.

"Not gonna say the rest of you catching up didn't feel good," she admitted quietly. Because it had, it had felt so good.

"It's pretty great on this end, too," Duke admitted. "It takes a weird amount of energy pretending not to feel things."

Look, no one had ever exactly accused him of being stoic.

Yeah.

Octavia tilted her head until she could smile up at him, crooked but warm. "I know, jaka," she murmured. "But it's out in the open now."

"It is," Duke agreed. "No more running away from it."

Part of him, deep, deep down, the part that usually spurred on the running in the first place, wondered if that was part of the plan. If this had all been a long con to draw him in and ruin his life.

That part would probably never go away completely. But he was getting a lot better at ignoring it.

There was a similar quiet part of Octavia that wondered whether by allowing herself to be happy she was just setting herself up for having the rug yanked out from underneath once more.

But it was buried so deep you couldn't see it when she smiled up at him and said, so soft it almost came out sounding reverent somehow, "Yu hod ai in, deimeika."

"Sha, natshana," Duke said, leaning down to give her another kiss. "Otaim."

Octavia was fine with more kisses.

Just as she was fine murmuring her words against his lips. "I really need to pick up calling you 'kitten', too."

Duke snorted into the kiss. "Only if you want me associating you with a grandmotherly figure," he said, then added, in a weirdly accurate imitation of Gloria: "Wildcat."

Octavia couldn't help her little chuckle. (Nor did she even try to.) "Fine," she said. "Then Ill just break it out when that's the vibe I need."

"I look forward to finding out what situation you think needs a grandma vibe."

"When you're something really stupid."

You know, something Gloria would disapprove of.

"As opposed to my normal, standard level of stupid."

"Exactly," Octavia replied without missing a beat. "For that, you just get me."

"'Just', she says." Duke shook his head. "As though there's anything disappointing about Okteivia com Gonakru."

"Didn't say there was anything disappointing," Octavia retorted, although she was smirking up at him in a way that suggested she was more than a little pleased to hear him say that, anyway.

Or maybe it was because of the name.

"I meant it's me with no added frills." A beat. "And trust me, I know you like me without... anything."

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