My unicorn got run over by a tractor

It had been rather a nasty weekend for the folks living on the Rouge. Friday, of course, was facing down Mara, hopefully for the last time, and the fall out from that had lasted right through the next three days, with all three of them on egg shells with each other as they tried to deal.

Duke, especially, had been doing a lot of thinking. Too much thinking. About all the messy emotions he’d let out at Lucifer with nary a trouble — of his — in sight. The guilt alone should have us him babbling nonsense, and the denial, the grief, the anger, the defensiveness. . . .

But they’d touched him. They’d understood him. No one had started screaming in pain or finding their faces sewn up.

He was afraid to put words to what that meant.

He was also, once the lingering soreness of . . . whatever the hell “exploding” had amounted to, feeling physically better than he had in ages. So when his thoughts proved too much for him to sleep through, he made his way up to the deck and started working through some sun salutations.

He hadn’t noticed the dead plant yet.

[for the fellow boat people! Up a bit early EST for time zones and all the slow play purposes!]

History said that the weirdness in town had probably abated by now, but Duke and his partners had quietly agreed to stay at sea a bit longer. Let things with them settle a bit more, before inviting Fandom chaos back in.

Unfortunately, Fandom chaos wasn't the only kind they had to worry about.

Duke had been feeling increasingly ill as the days went by, and by Wednesday morning, he heaved himself over to the wheel only to pretty much collapse into his seat, panting.

How could just existing be this draining??

[for those on the boat with him, and slow play. NFB due to distance.]

The only decent thing about digging a grave by yourself in Haven, Maine, was that it tended to be misty and cool. So you didn't overheat too quickly.

( No really, Duke's having a REALLY BAD Sunday )

[Follows this. Adapted from 4x08, "Crush", and 4x09, "William". Preplayed as always with the delightful my_own_advocate and okteiviakom. Contains all the usual Haven badness plus grief and charcters losing their ability to connect to reality. FUN!]

[NFB, NFI, OOC welcome! OMG Y'ALL THIS PART IN PARTICULAR TOOK FOREVER I AM PROUD OF US]

Frankly, when Duke's phone actually rang instead of going to voicemail, it was never good. So he could maybe be forgiven for digging it out of his pocket and squinting at it sideways like it might attack him.

The name on the caller ID didn't help.

"Nathan," he said, through faintly clenched teeth, staring out over the water where he stood at the gunwhale on the deck of the Rouge. "To what do I owe this pleasure?"

The conversation was short, since Nathan was anything but chatty. Duke's expression went from annoyed to distressed, then to sort of a resigned depression.

"Don't do anything," he said, all but biting off the words. "Please. I'm heading up, I'll take care of it."

Another few moments of listening to the other end.

"Thanks."

He hung up and stared at his phone for a long moment, then wound up as though to pitch it into the water before just jamming it back in his pocket with a hissed curse.

( And so the next canon catchup begins! )

[Adapted from episode 4x07, "Lay Me Down", and preplayed with the inimitable my_own_advocate and okteiviakom, who have both been INCREDIBLY PATIENT with my general lack of brain since last fall. I love them dearly. LET'S TRAUMATIZE OUR CHARACTERS, WOOOO!>

[also, phone call fine for broadcast, the rest NFB due to distance, natch. NFI, OOC welcome.]