The Deck of the Cape Rouge, Port of Fandom, Saturday Afternoon

[okteiviakom]

After the handwavy fussy-complainy phone call from Lucifer about how Duke was a kid right now, and apparently wandering around town after leaving the mansion, the first thing Octavia had done had been to come over to the Cape Rouge to check if he was there.

The second thing she'd done, after finding no sign of him, had been to check some of Duke's weapon stashes around the ship. All the ones she looked at were toys, now. Good.

The third thing had been to place a couple of takeout orders. Things she could throw in the fridge, things that would be fine microwaved. Just in case.

And now she was... just sitting on the deck of the Rouge, with a book she wasn't actually reading, but was trying to convince herself she was. Some of the porgs were crowding around her, probably hoping for snacks.

She wasn't too worried.

(She was a little worried.)

[ooc: Open!]

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[betterthanaplan]

Duke had managed to wrangle a muffin out of the Perk, thanks to Danny's assistance, and was starting to recognize this town from the last time he'd woken up randomly not in Haven for a weekend, and thus starting to relax.

He was pretty sure last time this had happened, people had insisted he had a boat. The stuffy old dude from the fancy mansion had mentioned the boat, too. So Duke made his way over to the docks, nibbling on the remains of his muffin, to see if it was still there.

He stopped when he saw Octavia, though. Had the fancy people who really owned the thing come back to lay claim to it? She certainly looked fancy. In, like, an aggressively casual kind of way. Like a celebrity on their off hours in the magazines at the grocery store.

[okteiviakom]

There was a kid by the boat. A kid who - even though he was too far away for her to really be sure - Octavia was guessing was Duke.

Oh, this was going to be weird.

She lifted one hand in a small wave.

[betterthanaplan]

He was wearing tiny versions of typical Duke clothes, so it was a very reasonable guess.

He lifted his own hand in a hesitant wave in return. Well. At least she wasn't yelling at him or threatening to lock him up somewhere?

[okteiviakom]

And she would continue to do neither of those things.

"Hey," Octavia called. "You wanna come aboard?"

The porgs by the bench made inquisitive noises.

[betterthanaplan]

". . . Maybe," Duke said, very deliberately casual. "Thinking about it. Is this your boat?"

[okteiviakom]

"No." Octavia nodded towards the Samsara. Or in its general direction, anyway. Wasn't like there was an abundance of boats in this port. "Mine's the small one."

[betterthanaplan]

Duke perked up a little. "Are you stealing this boat?"

[okteiviakom]

Yeah, this was definitely Duke.

"Maybe," Octavia decided. "Why, you looking to be an accomplice?"

[betterthanaplan]

"Maybe," Duke said back. He climbed about halfway up the gangplank, hands in his pockets. "Maybe I lived here last time I was in town."

[okteiviakom]

Some of the porgs waddled towards him.

"Good choice," Octavia rasped. "If you did."

[betterthanaplan]

"There was only one boat back then," Duke noted. He laughed. "It kind of looks like this one has a little baby boat."

[okteiviakom]

"Kinda does, doesn't it," Octavia agreed, as the porgs stopped at the edge of the gangplank. "She's called the Samsara."

[betterthanaplan]

"Samsara," Duke said, savoring the word. "What's that mean?"

[okteiviakom]

Octavia's lips tilted into something more wry. "The circle of being born and living and dying, and then being reborn again," she said. "I think it's a Buddhist thing."

The boat's original owners, of course, had been a couple who'd thought it was a cute way to combine their names into one, and hadn't ever really bothered looking into what it actually meant.

Sadly, Octavia didn't know that anecdote.

[betterthanaplan]

"Oh yeah?" Duke wandered very casually up the rest of the gangplank. "Are you a Buddhist?"

He distrusted Christians on sight thanks to the Rev, but he was pretty fascinated by other religions.

[okteiviakom]

The porgs burbled up at him, even as some of them actually waddled out of his way. Had he brought food?

"Not really," Octavia shrugged. "But I've spent a lot of time with one."

[betterthanaplan]

Duke was distracted by the porgs.

"The fuck is wrong with these birds?"

[okteiviakom]

One of them was trying to nip at his shoe, so...

"No one knows." Sorry, little guys. "But they're called porgs."

[betterthanaplan]

"They look like someone tried to crossbreed seagulls and puppies." Duke crouched down to get closer to them. "Which is kind of cool."

[okteiviakom]

Crouching kind of felt like a food thing, so guess who was now being crowded by porgs!

While Octavia looked on from her seat, faintly amused.

"Sometimes they eat rocks."

[betterthanaplan]

Duke laughed. “That’s so dumb.”

He dug into his pockets looking for something stupid to try to feed them.

[okteiviakom]

"It is."

What, like she was going to try and dispute that.

[betterthanaplan]

Duke looked up at her. “I’m Duke.”

[okteiviakom]

"Hi, Duke."

That was just a fraction softer than anything she'd said before. She couldn't help it.

"I'm Octavia."

[betterthanaplan]

"Octavia," Duke said, savoring that one even more than he had 'Samsara'. "That's a cool name."