okteiviakom | From the Beach to Lucifer's Mansion, Monday Morning

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From the Beach to Lucifer's Mansion, Monday Morning

This wasn't the first time Octavia had ever woken up on a rocky shore, coughing up water and feeling battered and cold all over. But the familiarity didn't really do anything to make her more comfortable. The opposite, if anything.

Just like she supposed she should've been glad the island had at least seen fit to turn her back in the clothes she'd gone to bed in on Friday night, but it was hard to find any comfort in a soaked tank top and pajama pants clinging to your skin on a chilly morning in January.

Octavia clambered up on her feet - great, no shoes either - and looked around. Didn't take long for her to figure she was -- well, not right by where Lucifer's house was, but still much closer to it than she was to the port.

And several far too long moments later, she was outside the mansion. She banged on the front door, and muttered to herself, "You better not be at the Rouge."

She hadn't noticed the seaweed stuck in her hair, yet.

Or the way she was beginning to shake from the cold.

[ooc: Primarily for the two, unless you really want to cross paths with her on the trek from the beach!]

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"Yeah."

She'd hoped she'd be able to get through one word and not have it sound heavy and off.

She'd been wrong.

Lucifer looked up at her.

He hadn't actually gotten dressed yet, bar the robe he was wearing. So the bit of water that was already spilling on him didn't matter quite that much. "Octavia?" he asked softly, reaching for her back.

Octavia shuddered when his hand made contact. Her shoulders tensed, trying to hold back a sob.

She was... halfway successful?

Lucifer let out a quiet sigh.

He let go of her just long enough to slide out of his robe.

Then his arms slid gingerly around her waist, taking care not to move too fast.

Octavia held very still.

But she wasn't protesting.

"Had a bad wake-up?" Lucifer asked quietly.

And hugged her closer, until the delicate caution left him entirely.

At which point Octavia finally pressed back into him, too. And just nodded. Even that seemed a little shaky.

It would have been a sharp drop from being a happy mermaid to being her even without the wakeup itself dragging up memories of --

Well.

Other sharp drops.

Duke woke up to the sound of the shower. He stayed in bed for several long moments, enjoying the rarity of waking up at Lucifer’s without any immediate, island-driven drama.

Then remembered the island’s last eat weekend nonsense and rolled out of bed, grabbing for his pants, and heading for the bathroom to remind Lucifer that they needed to go find Octavia before she froze to death or drowned —

And saw them both there. Clinging to each other in the steaming shower. He slumped against the doorway in relief.

“Glad to see you completed that royal quest, gona.”

Lucifer glanced up and looked at him. His expression screamed worried.

He made a gesture with his head: get in here.

"She had a bad morning," he said quietly.

Octavia was content to let Lucifer speak for her there. Anything she would say herself, right now, was bound to just sound wet and pathetic.

Although her back was pressed tightly against Lucifer's chest, her arms hung limply at her sides. Until, at least, one of them made the faintest beckoning gesture towards Duke.

Or where she assumed he had to be, anyway. She wasn't turning back to look.

Duke had barely gotten his pants over his hips, so it was nothing to slip them back off again. He was already moving to join them when Octavia beckoned.

"Was worried we'd have to go find you," he told her, and he slipped into place to sandwich her between them. "Should have known you'd find your own way."

"Grumpily, to my doorstep, soaking wet," Lucifer agreed, glancing briefly at Duke's face for one more moment before settling into place, shifting to make sure Duke had enough space without letting go of Octavia.

The movement was slow, but once Duke was there, Octavia brought her arms up to slide them around him. And buried her face against his chest.

At least her skin was warming up. And the seaweed from her hair was somewhere on the floor.

(Sorry, Lucifer.)

Duke reached up to comb his fingers through her hair. "That sounds awful. I'm so glad you're safe."

Lucifer sighed softly, keeping his arms wrapped around her. "Are you warming up a bit?" he asked quietly.

Oh, now Octavia was going to have to use her words. She didnt want to nod because she didn't want to move and disturb Duke's hand in her hair.

"Yeah."

It was low and kind of mumbly, but it beat her last attempt at the same word. Maybe because the actual crying had subsided by now.

"I think we should all stay here today," Duke said. "You have a snuggie for Octavia? Seems like a good day for staying in and cozy."

"Of course I do," Lucifer said, one of his hands idly moving up to rub at Octavia's arm, like that would warm it up quicker.

It probably wouldn't, but it was nice all the same. Both of them were warm, and so was the water still spraying over the three of them. And Octavia felt...

Safe was the wrong word. But also the closest she could come up with.

She sighed, very quietly. Then spoke again. "Woke up on rocks, on the shore."

"Sounds . . . cold," Duke said. "Did you at least have some fun this weekend?"

"You were very..."

Lucifer searched for the right word.

"... obscenely chipper."

"It was okay," Octavia said, a little absently. It wasn't really what she was thinking about.

(She was on the rocky bank of the river, still halfway in the water, and the thing nudging her hand was Helios, licking at her bloodied knuckles...)

"Are you just cold?" Duke asked softly. "Or is there something else?"

"You seemed upset earlier," Lucifer said, glancing up at Duke again.

Octavia hadn't looked at either of them since she'd stepped into the shower, and she wasn't about to start now. So she didn't catch that look.

Her eyes were closed, and her face remained pressed against Duke's chest.

"When Echo ran me through," she said slowly, raspy and mild out of necessity, "I fell off a cliff. Into a river."

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