betterthanaplan | 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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From:

okteiviakom

Octavia finally pulled back from the hug. Shrugged, vaguely, on one side. "We just got into a fight," she said. "Not with each other, obviously, but -- We ended up fighting a bunch of animated toys."

Because when she said Haven was kind of like Fandom, she really meant it.

Edited Date: 2020-03-11 11:10 am (UTC)

From:

notgetkilled

"A...what?"

Had he heard that right?

"Animated toys?"

From:

okteiviakom

"Yeah," Octavia said, the expression on her face tilting a little wry. But in a very dry sort of way. "Some people there have these... these things called troubles? And some kid's trouble was that he can make his toys come to life."

From:

notgetkilled

"Are we talking stuffed animals or like...toy soldiers?" Bellamy asked even though either one of those coming to life didn't sound great.

From:

okteiviakom

"Like those..."

Octavia groped for the right word for a second, frowning. Even after two years here in this time, she was still sometimes a little lost.

"Action figures?" she landed on. "So kinda like toy soldiers. Small people-shaped things. They stayed tiny, though, so there's that."

From:

notgetkilled

"How did you...solve that?" Bellamy asked, unsure if he even wants to know.

From:

okteiviakom

"With my sword," Octavia shrugged.

Like she solved most things, really.

From:

notgetkilled

"So, you killed toys." That's...a story. "I don't know whether to say way to go or just shake my head."

From:

okteiviakom

Octavia's repeated shrug was a little more vague than the last one.

"It's really not that different from everything that happens here," she said. There'd been some creepy toys involved when Krampus had kidnapped a bunch of people earlier this year, even. "But you know, that was just... one thing."

She glanced around the deck of the Cape Rouge, her lips tilting into a tiny smile that was both faint as well as distinctly fond.

"It was mostly a really good week."

From:

notgetkilled

"You know I'm going to ask right? You know I am? One thing? What aren't you telling me, Octavia?"

Spit it out, please.

From:

okteiviakom

Octavia's shoulders slumped a tiny bit. She didn't want to tell him.

She couldn't not tell him. Not him, not when he asked directly.

"Duke's ex showed up," she said mildly, keeping her eyes on one of the crates that were a little further down the deck. "He's a cop, and he didn't like what we were doing."

Because he didn't like whatever Duke was doing, ever.

From:

notgetkilled

"Duke ex who's a cop showed up and didn't like that you were trying to fight toys?" Does he have that right? Because this is a weird story if so.

From:

okteiviakom

Every story in her life was a weird story.

Octavia wasn't looking at him as she shrugged a little. "He was giving Duke grief, practically like it was all his fault," she said, her voice utterly mild but also a little quieter now. "So I punched him."

A pause - and she really wasn't looking at him now.

"And he arrested me."

From:

notgetkilled

"What??" Bellamy gave her a look and then sighed, shaking his head. "He arrested you because you took a swing at him? Octavia, come on."

That could have ended really badly.

From:

okteiviakom

Octavia's panic when it had happened said it had already ended badly.

But she wasn't going to say that.

"He was being a dick to Duke," she replied, finally looking up at him. "That's why he arrested me. The punch was an excuse."

From:

notgetkilled

"I'm a dick to everyone, Octavia but I don't go around punching them no matter how much I want to because that's..."

He sighed.

"That could have ended really badly."

From:

okteiviakom

"You don't think I know that?"

She was the one who'd been in prison for a year. But there was no heat in her voice: if anything, she sounded resigned.

And then her voice dropped into a murmur. "Duke wouldn't have left me to rot."

From:

notgetkilled

"I didn't say he would but — " Bellamy trailed off and sighed. "What if he couldn't get you out?"

From:

okteiviakom

"He would've gotten me out," Octavia replied, a little more vehemently this time.

She said it like there hadn't been any other option.

Possibly because she couldn't consider the possibility that there had been.

From:

notgetkilled

"You can say that now because he did but you don't know that," Bellamy told her, shaking his head. "You're an adult, you can make your choices but that was a stupid one."

Said the king of stupid choices.

From:

okteiviakom

"Well, it already happened," Octavia said, with a little scowl that was still on the mild side. "And I already paid for it. We both did."

She'd seen how much it had freaked Duke out when Nathan had dragged her away.

From:

notgetkilled

He scowled and then sighed. There was nothing to be done about it now, was there?

"Are you okay? Is he?"

From:

okteiviakom

Octavia's expression smoothed back into something mild, but still soft. "We're both fine, Bel," she said. "We had a few days to just... calm down."

She was going to have so many jail cell themed nightmares, though. She already knew it.