The Cape Rouge, Port of Fandom, Sunday Evening

[okteiviakom]

Octavia was still planning to try sailing to Haven. She was just doing it concurrently with trying to figure out how all the places she'd been on the Ground fit on what the east coast looked in this time. The table she was sitting at in the galley was a mess of charts and notes, and in the middle of it all, there was a hand-drawn map. Octavia had sketched out the coastline, and had spent most of the day marking down both the present-day names she could find on her map app as well as the approximate locations of places from the Ground.

It was getting late, but she was still working on it. Right now, she was hard at work trying to figure out whether it could really be as simple as this time's Annapolis turning into Polis by her time.

... Okay, right now, she was kind of slumped over the table, her head cushioned on one arm.

Just resting her eyes, just for a little bit.

[ooc: For that guy that's returning. The tall one.]

Comments

[betterthanaplan]

"No." Duke shook his head against hers. "No, I am. I shouldn't have stayed. I should have caught my first portal. I shouldn't -- I should never have gone back there."

[okteiviakom]

"But you're going to go back again anyway."

She wasn't stupid. She knew he couldn't stay away, not even with this, not even though he should.

"And I'm going with you."

[betterthanaplan]

"Could drug me," Duke murmured. "Keep me from going. 'Swhat Gloria and Danny did, when I kept trying to go even when I couldn't stand up."

[okteiviakom]

Whatever Octavia had been about to say to that faded away as soon as the details processed.

Danny.

"What?"

[betterthanaplan]

"I tried," Duke said, misunderstanding. "As soon as your texts started coming through I wanted to go." His mouth twisted up into that false smile. "Fell on my face. They probably made the right choice."

[okteiviakom]

Octavia wasn't really listening.

"Danny as in Williams?"

[betterthanaplan]

"Yeah?" Duke shrugged. "He showed up right when things went nuts again. Said Haven 'kidnapped' him."

[okteiviakom]

"I saw him a couple of days ago," Octavia replied, slowly.

Something else was worming its way around the guilt.

[betterthanaplan]

"Most have gone right after," Duke said. "He was only around a couple days up there, too." He searched her face. "He helped, Tavi. When I thought I might have to -- to use my trouble. To save my life. He helped."

[okteiviakom]

Octavia's lips were pressing together into a tight line. But it wasn't really about Danny, or anything he had or hadn't done. She was glad that someone had been there.

But she was disapp-- angry that it couldn't have been her.

[betterthanaplan]

"He brought me back to you." Duke leaned down to press a kiss to her hair. "I know you don't like him, but at least give him credit for that?"

[okteiviakom]

"It's not that," Octavia groused, doing her level best to not let it be a snap. "I'm tired of being -- powerless."

And to think she'd had issues around control before...

[betterthanaplan]

"I just got turned into a centenarian by a baby-making siren trouble," Duke said dryly. "I know the feeling."

[okteiviakom]

The anger vanished from Octavia's expression. Now she just looked confused, again. A little lost.

This conversation felt like another concussion. "... You got turned into a what?"

Yeah, she hadn't translated the 'she sucked the life out of me' part into that, funnily enough.

[betterthanaplan]

"I basically aged like 70 years over the weekend," Duke said. "I don't know, maybe it was supposed to . . . give them to Jean or something. If she gets near me, I guess it'll happen all over again."

[okteiviakom]

Octavia looked at the gray on his temples again, in his beard.

Her eyes were wide.

"But nothing happened when she was here," she said, because she couldn't help it. Even though she knew there were probably dozens of possible reasons for that, including just Fandom bullshit.

And that Jean's Duke had already been dead.

[betterthanaplan]

"Guess the troubles were over by then?" Duke shook his head. "Maybe -- when her version of me. . . . That sounds like it counts as 'saving the world' to me."

[okteiviakom]

Yeah, Octavia was really regretting having said that, now.

And yes, the sudden wave of nausea made this feel even more like her concussion.

She didn't know what to say.

[betterthanaplan]

"I know." And she wasn't dealing with post-trouble soreness on top of it all. "I --" He swallowed and laughed softly, his eyes going wet again. "I might be screwed."

[okteiviakom]

"Hey, no," Octavia told him, immediately but with her voice soft. She wanted so badly to cradle his face between her hands, but wouldn't. "You can't think that. We can't think that."

[betterthanaplan]

It was pretty hard not to, right now.

Duke nodded anyway, eyes falling shut again. He swayed faintly into her. He was so tired.

"Yeah. Yeah, we make our own destiny, right?"

[okteiviakom]

"Yumi throu daun ogeda," Octavia murmured, as she wondered how long it had been since he'd gotten some actual rest. "Remember?"

[betterthanaplan]

"Yeah." It had pretty much been since the last time they'd gone to bed together. Unless you counted being unconscious in the ambulance. "I'm just . . . so glad to be home."

[okteiviakom]

"I'm so glad to have you home," Octavia replied, unable to keep the words from being a sigh. "Have you eaten anything?"

[betterthanaplan]

"Not for . . . awhile."

He couldn't actually remember the last time he'd had a decent meal.

"Nearly dying's tough on the appetite."