My unicorn got run over by a tractor

"There is a sickening lack of lingerie boutiques for guys," Duke declared as they approached the closest thing he'd managed to find to such a thing in about . . . five minutes of googling. "Absolutely sickening. Not that I'm above crossdressing, but still."

"Sing it, girl," said a passerby. Duke flicked them a smile before refocusing on his date for the evening.

"Shall we?"

[for the date, NFB due to distance, with possible NSFW images linked in the comments. Link above is perfectly SFW though!]

Duke had gone into town this morning, and come back with an acoustic guitar. It'd been ages since he'd last played, so he set about turning and warming up with unusual focus before eventually starting to play something relatively simple.

"Sorry
Is all that you can't say
Years gone by and still
Words don't come easily
Like sorry, like sorry. . . ."

Should the narrative pretend that his song choice was random? Obviously it was not. It had been running through his head for days.

[for those on the island, and likely slow play!]

Duke was making great time on the OceaNyx. The wind was strong, the water a bit choppy but not alarmingly so, and the sun was shining. Duke sat at the stern, watching the sail and the whispy clouds behind it, breathing in the salt air for the umpteenth time.

It was exhilarating. Liberating.

Kind of . . . melancholy.

He missed his partners.

( Ye olde yelling at the sea trope )

[establishy, NFB due to distance.]

Duke grinned at the utterly demented exterior of the diner as he and Lucifer approached. "There it is," he said. "The best, weirdest milkshake joint in the state."

"Best" would yet be determined. Weirdest? There was a chartreuse manikin riding a pink and blue cow by the front walk. That he was pretty sure this place had in the bag. Even if you did count Fandom as being "in the state".

[For the date!]

Duke had wandered into town for a bit that afternoon, and returned with some take out (conch salad and guava duff), plenty of fruit . . . and a guitar.

The Fin & Tonic was well stocked, but it had a bit of a dearth of musical instruments, in Duke's opinion.

He set the food up on a blanket on the deck, looking out at the water, along with some cans of goombay punch, then leaned back and started tuning up the guitar. After a bit of noodling about to warm up, he eventually settled into something that seemed at least a little appropriate for the setting, if maybe a touch appropriative.

"Won't you help to sing,
These songs of freedom.
'Cause all I ever have,
Redemption song.
Redemption song."

Islandy and moody, and maybe a bit hopeful. Fit this enforced vacation like a T, if you asked Duke.

[expecting one!]

Despite the two of them having butterflies, specifically, as a symbol of their relationship with each other, this was the first time that Duke and Octavia had actually managed to remember about National Learn About Butterflies Day in time to actually do something about it.

If you thought that wouldn't result in Duke going all out, you clearly didn't know him well enough.

He'd managed to reserve an entire butterfly conservatory for just the two of them for an hour, one nestled in the middle of a sprawling, well-kept garden park outside of DC. While hte butterflies were clearly the main event, he felt like Octavia might appreciate some time wandering alone in the midst of all the bright, varied plant life as well. The weather, while not quite warm yet, was at least not actively cold either, and bright and sunny to boot.

It was, Duke decided, absolutely perfect.

"You ready for a butterfly date, gona?"

[for the snogon and all the SP. NFB due to distance, natch.]

Duke woke unnaturally early this morning. Before dawn early. He lay in bed, staring at the still unfamiliar ceiling of the Fin & Tonic's captain's cabin, and waited to feel tired again. Tried closing his eyes and counting his breaths, meditating himself to sleep, but it was no good. Eventually he extracted himself from his partners, careful not to jostle them into waking (this was easy with Lucifer, who would stubbornly sleep through most things, but much, much harder with Octavia, who would wake up if you blinked too hard), and headed up onto the deck to watch the sunrise.

He was 35 today. Ish. Well, it was his 35th birthday anyway, all time travel silliness aside. It was older than he'd ever thought he'd be when he was growing up, but so much younger than it should be, for all the crap he'd gone through. But he was here, in his favorite part of the world, with his two favorite people in the multiverse here to celebrate with him. He should be happy. (He was happy. His happiness was just more complicated than he wanted it to be.)

Because the two on the boat with him weren't his only favorite people. And he still didn't know if the others were alive or dead. If Audrey had been erased by the barn and overwritten, or thrown from it like he was and lost somewhere, confused and hurting. If Nathan had bled out from his wounds on that bluff, or smashed by a meteor, or somehow, impossibly, survived. If Haven, his Haven, with his Dwight and his Teagues brothers, and his Gloria, even still existed.

He was 35. In paradise. With people he loved and who loved him.

And he didn't deserve it.

[for them who are on the trip with him, and phone calls if anyone wants to call]

Duke had found a moment to slip away from Lucifer and Seivarden, not wanting to have to explain what he was doing to either of them. At least, not yet.

This wasn't entirely a drunken impulse. But it wasn't not one, either.

( In which Duke gets another tattoo )

[NFB, NFI. All Spanish via Google translate, but hopefully simple enough to not be TOO nonsensical. Because sometimes it's fun to make yourself sad!]