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:

betterthanaplan

Duke laughed. "Yeah man, I know." He'd even managed to say the L word out loud after busting her out of jail. Or -- the H word, technically, since it had been in Trig, but still. This was major progress for Duke. "So how was the Philippines? You spend the entire time in bed, or did you at least take some time to look around?"

From:

my_own_advocate

"Please, I went out, I met people, I spent time on the beach, got plenty of massages, and even tried the wild water rides," Lucifer said, grinning. "Ended the whole thing on a foursome. I have no complaints."

From:

betterthanaplan

"Oh man. I haven't had a good foursome in . . . ages." That was one major drawback to monogamy, right there. "You hit up any of the food carts? That part of the world has some of the best street food."

From:

my_own_advocate

Lucifer looked squinty. "No," he said. "I went from the beach to the clubs to the fancy restaurants. Maybe next time?"

A beat.

"The foursome was excellent, though. Can't imagine giving that up."

... sure, the fact he had one real friend involved was probably the only thing that had kept it from feeling empty inside, but that was a depressing thought he was not going to waste time on lest it draw him to Coldplay again.

From:

betterthanaplan

As a piano player, Lucifer especially had to be careful of such things. There was only so much piano based pop out there, after all!

"Yeah, it's . . . kind of weirdly okay," Duke said. "At least so far. I mean, this is my first real monogamous relationship since, like, high school. My relationship with my wife was pretty much entirely based on orgies." A shrug. "You know, and crime."

Duke and Evi were all class, really.

From:

my_own_advocate

"Not a terrible basis for a relationship," Lucifer pointed out. He smirked. "Not that I begrudge you the monogamy, but..."

He had no romantic feelings towards anyone on this island, or really anyone on this planet, beyond a not-to-be-named detective of his acquaintance. And he was still miles from acknowledging that he'd be feeling much worse about these random hookups if he hadn't had a friend by his side while he had them.

From:

betterthanaplan

"You're sad a couple hot pieces of ass like me and Tavi have been taken off the menu?" Duke asked with a smirk.

From:

my_own_advocate

"I will carry my fond memories of your hot piece of ass into eternity with me," Lucifer promised. "... But it is a shame about miss Octavia."

From:

betterthanaplan

"That is . . . a hell of a way to live forever," Duke said, grinning. "I'm sure Octavia's managed to leave her own impression on you, though."

From:

my_own_advocate

"Now, I never forget a good lay," Lucifer said, ignoring that last part for... reasons. "That would be rude. And disrespectful."

From:

betterthanaplan

"But I'm guessing there's a lot of competition," Duke said. "So I guess I'm glad to hear I rank."

From:

my_own_advocate

"You do have that whole charming 'my hair is down and I'm up for anything' vibe," Lucifer said merrily. "... I can recommend the water slides in Boracay, though. But I hear the bat caves were... well, shit."

From:

betterthanaplan

"I don't think I've been on a water slide since I was like --" Duke paused, frowning as he thought back. "-- possibly ever." They didn't have a lot of them in Haven, and he hadn't really made them a priority once he got out into the wider world. "But yeah, I've seen plenty of bats. That guano ends up everywhere."

From:

my_own_advocate

"And they arrange trips to go wade through the guano, apparently," Lucifer said. "I'm still struggling to grasp why."

From:

betterthanaplan

"Because tourists are impressed by the stupidest things," Duke said. "Seriously, man, when I was a kid I used to make extra cash by giving tours of the sea caves back home. They're literally just large, smelly holes in rocks, but people went ape over them." He smiled. "Especially when you tell them they were frequented by, like, pirates and bootleggers and shit."

Some of them probably even were. But all Duke knew as a kid was that they were large, smelly holes in rocks.

From:

my_own_advocate

"And?" Lucifer asked, grinning. "Are they?"

From:

betterthanaplan

Duke shrugged. “Probably at some point. Not in the 80s though.”

From:

my_own_advocate

"Sounds like something a pirate would say," Lucifer said. "Even a young, budding one."

From:

betterthanaplan

"More an enthusiastic hopeful in those days," Duke said with a wry smile. "More of a tiny con man than anything else. I hadn't even mastered picking pockets yet."

From:

my_own_advocate

"But learning quickly, if I'm reading behind the lines correctly," Lucifer mused.

From:

betterthanaplan

"Well, I had to pay the bills somehow."

Because grade school kids were well known for having to pay bills.

From:

my_own_advocate

"Had something of a mortgage, did you?" Lucifer said, amused.

From:

betterthanaplan

"Something like that," Duke said, shrugging. "I've been on my own for a really long time."

From:

my_own_advocate

Lucifer blinked, and... tilted his head. "Absent parent issues?"

He had absolutely no idea what those were like.

From:

betterthanaplan

"Dead parent," Duke said. "The other was just . . . deeply uninterested."

That was about the kindest way he could describe his mother. Also the closest he was going to get to describing her without much more alcohol involved.

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