The Deck of the Cape Rouge, Port of Fandom, Thursday Evening

[okteiviakom]

Yesterday hadn't been great. Much like Lucifer, Octavia had come back to the Rouge for the night, but mostly because not doing so unannounced was something she was trying not to do, while doing so announced had felt like it would invite too many questions and make it all into far bigger of a deal than it had to be.

So she'd dragged her drunk self home. And in the morning, had made her hungover self stay with them all through breakfast. And then when the time had come for Duke to head into work, she'd taken off. Disappeared into the preserve, because if there was a place that could fix at least some of what she'd been feeling this week, it was there.

No comments on whether it had worked at all. But she was back, now. Sitting on one of the crates on the deck of the ship, holding a bottle of beer that she'd picked up from the Samsara, along with the sweater she'd stolen from Duke back when she'd moved back onto her own boat.

She hadn't gone below decks, yet. Hadn't announced her arrival, if anyone else was even in.

It was quiet, in the port. And she just wanted to listen to this silence for at least a few moments longer.

[ooc: Opennn.]

Comments

[betterthanaplan]

Duke sighed. "I got brainwashed by a nine year old a couple weeks ago," he said. "Because she liked me. I can't process anything right now."

[okteiviakom]

Octavia's eyebrows went up at the same time as her gaze snapped to Duke's face.

"You what?"

[my_own_advocate]

"Yes, you're going to want to expound on that," Lucifer agreed.

[betterthanaplan]

"Traumatized kid with a mind control trouble," Duke said. "Wanted to play pirates. I'm probably lucky we found her dad so she didn't just order me to adopt her or something."

[okteiviakom]

"Right," Octavia said, still eyeing him with some concern.

You know, if there'd been any justice in the multiverse, that would have been the worst of the stories he'd come home with.

But there wasn't.

[my_own_advocate]

Lucifer rubbed his forehead. "What is Haven's problem with you, exactly?" he said. "... No, don't answer that."

[betterthanaplan]

Duke ducked his head and nodded.

"I mean. At least I'm not the one who literally died?"

[okteiviakom]

"No," Octavia agreed, "you're not."

She was trying really hard not to hug him right now, unsure of how that would go over.

It was a weird feeling.

[my_own_advocate]

Lucifer eyed him again. "You are making this 'don't be too nice to you' thing very hard," he said.

[betterthanaplan]

Duke snorted. "I'm pretty pathetic, yeah."

[okteiviakom]

Okay, this sigh wasn't quiet.

"Would you cut it out?" Octavia said, raising her eyebrows. "You're not pathetic, you're just -- human."

[my_own_advocate]

"Yes, we want to be nice to you because we don't enjoy seeing you in pain, you daft bloody pirate," Lucifer sighed. "I mean, you actually have a good reason to be an absolute mess right now, we just want to help."

[betterthanaplan]

Duke made a face at himself and nodded. He wanted to say sorry, but caught it before it came out. They didn't need more of his self-pity.

"Right," he said instead. "Well. Um. Thank you."

[okteiviakom]

Octavia didn't know what more to say right now.

So she drank the little that was left in her glass. But slowly.

[my_own_advocate]

"How do you manage to edit your own editing?" Lucifer asked. He took a sip of his drink. "Do you want us to leave you alone more?"

[betterthanaplan]

“No,” Duke said quickly. “Edit my own what?”

He didn’t want to be alone. Now that they’d talked it out a bit, he found he wanted what he’d been so afraid of all day. He wanted that warm, safe, small feeling.

In a few minutes, maybe he’d even figure out how to ask for it.

[okteiviakom]

Or maybe one of them would dare to offer.

It probably wouldn't be Octavia, though. She was taking a second to watch the water. That question was for Lucifer, and she was taking the opportunity to breathe.

[my_own_advocate]

"It's fascinating," Lucifer said, "you want to say something, decide you shouldn't, then back up and second-guess that thought. It's a miracle you ever say anything."

As opposed to Lucifer, who just said whatever jumped to mind.

[betterthanaplan]

Duke blinked at him. “You, uh, noticed that?” He took a big sip of his drink. “Here I thought I was more subtle than that.”

[okteiviakom]

Octavia couldn't help her very soft snort. "You're a lot of things, flapkrasha," she said. "Subtle is not one of them."

[my_own_advocate]

"I'm usually terrible at noticing that kind of thing," Lucifer said, nodding.

[betterthanaplan]

Duke made a show of gaping at them, pressing his hand to his chest. Clowning it up as usual. "Hey! That is -- yeah, probably fair, actually, okay." He sighed, letting the performance go as quickly as he'd picked it up. ". . . Can we try the cuddling thing again?"

[okteiviakom]

Octavia looked at him again. The nod was almost immediate. "Yeah," she said. "Where and however you want."

As if any of that was a hardship, or something they'd deny him.

[my_own_advocate]

Lucifer reached for Duke's hand, in fact. "We can head back inside," he agreed.

[betterthanaplan]

Duke took his hand and tossed back the rest of his drink. “Sounds good.” He reached out with his arm to loop it over Octavia’s shoulders. “I don’t have to clean up the nest if you don’t want.”