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]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only | Expand All

From:

okteiviakom

It hadn't been easy to go off sailing, either. Except for Octavia taking part in the school trip last spring, they hadn't really been apart in any significant way since the time she'd still been on the ground while he'd been in Fandom.

And before that, when she'd been in prison.

It might've all played into why she rushed to him just about as soon as she saw him.

"Bell!"

From:

notgetkilled

It's a relief to see her again. She looks happy and healthy and in one piece so some of his trepidation eases and he smiles at her.

"Hey. You looked tanned. Glad to see a shark didn't get you." Or whatever was out there in this weird ocean.

From:

okteiviakom

"Not sure they even have sharks between here and Maine," Octavia retorted as she wrapped her arms around him for a tight hug. (Shh, being away from him for a full week was weird, no matter how much she absolutely adored spending time with Duke.) "I'm fine."

That... really seemed like something she should state clearly, yeah.

From:

notgetkilled

"Good," he mumbles, returning her embrace and sighing, grateful to see her again. "Did you have a good time?"

From:

okteiviakom

"Yeah," Octavia sighed. "Haven's... really similar to Fandom, actually." And that meant it was less terrifying to her than the mainland tended to be. "Also we spent a couple days camping on a small island."

Of course she wasn't going to lead with having gotten arrested. In fact, she was kind of hoping to get away not talking about it at all.

From:

notgetkilled

"Just you and him, huh?" Yes, she was an adult but that doesn't matter. He's still older. "Everything go okay?"

From:

okteiviakom

"Just me and him, yeah," Octavia confirmed with a little snort, trying to act put off by the question but failing, half because 'just me and him' was a big source of happiness, but half because oddly enough, so was Bellamy's protectiveness. In this context.

"Everything on the island went well. Everything in Haven... went well, too."

Mostly.

From:

notgetkilled

"Why did you pause?" Bellamy asked, eyeing her suspiciously. "Did it go well or go...well?"

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."