The Grey Gull, Haven, Wednesday Evening

[okteiviakom]

Duke	Duke had spent just enough time in the bar to grab some alcohol and dodge Wade’s attempts to “bond”, then darted back out to the end of the dock, where he’d roped off one of the fire pits for a “private event.” The private event was him and his partners’ continued efforts to shake off the events of the day. Because while the Havenites were generally happy to take Duke’s happy mask at face value, Lucifer and Octavia saw right through him. He never would have thought he’d be so happy to be so transparent to anyone.
Octavia	Octavia had been watching the woods in the distance. The urge to go out there and maybe scream a little more was still there, but so far she was managing to hold off on actually doing it. This wasn't about her. All she'd had to do was watch. (Helpless, hopeless.) She looked over when she heard Duke approaching. "Welcome back," she murmured.
Lucifer	Lucifer's coping strategy, for all that, was at least a bit easier to indulge. He had a glass of good scotch in hand, sipping it thoughtfully. Pretending like he wasn't studying Duke's face from over the rim of his glass.
Duke	Duke was pretty sure they were both studying him, yeah. But he just set a big bottle of bourbon and an equally large bottle of pineapple juice down for himself and Octavia, then sank into one of the seats. "So. The minute we have Audrey back and Wade out of town, we're out of here. Agreed?"
Octavia	"Agreed," Octavia replied, reaching out for the juice mostly to give her hands something to do.
Lucifer	"Whatever you need to leave here with some peace of mind," Lucifer agreed. "Ridiculous as this entire town is." He was just glad there was an actual departure point involved.
Duke	"Peace of mind. Yeah." He wasn't sure "peace of mind" was actually possible for him anymore. "Yeah, uh. Audrey will be able to handle the troubles and Wade won't be around troubled blood anymore. Win-win."
Octavia	Was it a little silly to chug pineapple juice straight out of a bottle as if it was booze? Octavia didn't care, she did it anyway.
Lucifer	"And we can go on some kind of prolonged hiking trip somewhere nice and warm and drink copious amounts of-- beverages," Lucifer said, eyeing Octavia and her juice warily.
Duke	Duke was starting to notice that she had a particular reaction every time Audrey came up. “Just say it, Tavi,” he said softly.
Octavia	And the one time it was almost purely coincidental, too. "What?" Octavia asked, wiping a corner of her mouth with the back of her hand. Puzzled, tired. "I don't have anything to say."
Lucifer	"My Octavia-to-English isn't perfect, but I believe that chug was in response to the Haven of it all," Lucifer said helpfully, swinging that glance back to Duke.
Duke	Great. There he went, misreading everything again. “Right. My hometown depresses everyone. Awesome.”
Octavia	Octavia was still looking at him. "What did you think I was saying?" Not saying? Whichever. It was a stupid thing to ask, either way, she could already tell.
Lucifer	"Your hometown depresses you," Lucifer felt the need to point out.
Duke	“Not when Audrey’s in it,” Duke said, soft again, as he watched Octavia. “I know you guys don’t like her. And I know — I know why, and I’m not interested in rehashing that. But Haven’t needs her. Having her here when the troubles are happening is the only way any of these people will survive.”
Octavia	See? A very stupid thing to ask, because now Octavia was forced to think about Audrey, and, honestly? This had been the first day since they'd come here that Octavia hadn't considered Audrey the biggest threat to Duke's well-being in this damn town. Because this entire town was a shitshow. "I haven't said anything to dispute that," she said, much milder now. "And I'm not saying anything like that now."
Lucifer	"Unless she's the entire reason the troubles exist in the first place," Lucifer said, at almost exactly the same time. He poured a hearty gulp of alcohol down his throat seconds later.
Duke	Well. That got Duke to refocus. “What the fuck, Luce?”
Octavia	And now Octavia was going to sink a little further into her seat, like she didn't really want to be a part of that conversation.
Lucifer	Well. Since he was in it, now... "What, you don't think it's a little interesting that this woman with this magical ability to 'fix' these troubles also happens to be the engine through which the troubles dissappear periodically and is potentially capable of ending them for good through murdering someone she loves?" Lucifer asked. He considered his glass. "At the very least, that has Audrey-specific curse written all over it."
Duke	“And I can murder the troubles,” Duke said lowly. “So what does that make me?”
Lucifer	"One of many people afflicted with a trouble," Lucifer said. He sipped his drink. "Unlike her."
Duke	"You've never even met her," Duke growled. "Even if your whole . . . curse theory is true, that makes her another victim of all this."
Lucifer	"I don't need to meet her when everyone in this town carries around their infatuation with her apparently saintly arse like an oversized chip on their shoulders that must never be directly addressed," Lucifer snapped. He waved his arm. "Octavia didn't even bring her up but you couldn't bloody help yourself, could you?"
Duke	"She didn't have to! She started chugging the moment I mentioned her name!"
Octavia	Octavia suppressed sigh, and forced some words, instead. "Because I didn't know what to say about any of this." Still didn't, honestly. As much as it hurt to watch them fight.
Lucifer	"And I mean, really, do you want to have this argument, Duke?" Lucifer asked flatly. "Because you're not going to change our minds by continuing to interpret the myriad of red flags on display here through puppy love-tinted glasses, so the least you can do is let us chug our bloody drinks while not saying anything."
Duke	"Oh yeah, no, passive aggression is definitely going to work better to counter my 'puppy-love'." Duke rolled his eyes. "She's my friend, okay? And yeah. She's fucked up before. Weirdly, I'm not willing to write off an entire person because they fuck up sometimes."
Octavia	Octavia was very careful about quietly setting the bottle back onto the table. Since drinking from it was apparently now passive-aggressive and not helplessness. (And Audrey manipulating people was just 'fucking up sometimes'.) She should've gone into the woods.
Lucifer	"She manipulated you into murdering someone!" Lucifer snarled. "What'll we call it if she-- makes you blow up a church or cut off all your limbs, an 'oopsie-whoopsie'?!"
Duke	"What the fuck else was she supposed to do?" Duke asked. "Hundreds of children would have died! After murdering their families. I don't know if you noticed this today, but sometimes my trouble is the only thing that works."
Octavia	And sometimes something other than Audrey forced him to use it. This time, when Octavia was quiet, she was really trying not to think about his silver eyes again. Or how he'd sounded.
Lucifer	"She was supposed to let you make your own choices and respect them," Lucifer snapped. "Like you did just now!" He shook his head. "There's no point to this," he said. "I can't speak for Octavia, Duke, but I am not a liar, and I will not become a liar just because it will make you feel better. You can deal with my quote-unquote passive-aggressive silence, or you can deal with my unsalted opinion. It's your choice."
Duke . . . & Jennifer	"You know what?" Duke said, shaking his head. "I'm going to say it: the lives of hundreds of children are more important than my personal comfort levels --" He threw his arms open in a broad gesture -- And nearly whacked Jennifer in the face. "Um!" she squeaked. "Sorry. Sorry, I don't want to -- this seems like a super personal moment, but. Um." She grimaced, twitching her hand in the air. "I heard something new? Audrey's alive. But, uh. Maybe not for long."
Octavia	Octavia had things to say, about personal comfort and the lives of hundreds -- It was probably for the best that she didn't get the chance to. But her expression had gone very flat, there. "Well," she said, quietly, "here we go."
Lucifer	"Oh, for fuck's sake," Lucifer groaned, turning away to rub at his forehead. And maybe down his whole drink.
Jennifer & Duke	"Sorry?" Jennifer offered awkwardly. She leaned slightly towards Duke. "I thought that was mostly good news." "It's -- awkward news," Duke told her. He passed her his phone. "Here. Call Nathan. We'll come find you in a few."
Octavia	Octavia hadn't turned away, at least. She just watched them quietly. Which maybe wasn't much better.
Lucifer	Lucifer, for his part, just marched towards the liquor. He needed more.
Jennifer & Duke	Jennifer looked at them uncomfortably for another moment, then nodded and darted back off, poking at Duke's phone. "Right," Duke said on a long, tired sigh. "Well. At least we're going to be a step closer to getting the hell out, soon."
Octavia	Octavia looked out over the water. "Should've asked her what she's heard, now," she noted. Mild. Like an afterthought.
Lucifer	Lucifer poured himself a firm glass of scotch. "No doubt stretches of utterly useless banter."
Duke	"We can ask her in a minute," Duke pointed out. "She's going to have to tell Nathan about it word for word when he gets here, anyway." He looked between them, expression softening a little. "Look. I'm annoyed. You guys are probably annoyed. But -- we're okay, right?" It made him feel like a little kid, but he had to ask.
Octavia	Octavia recognized a plea for reassurance when she heard one. But, something about the last few moments had made her feel... heavy. Her gaze slid back to Duke. "This is Haven, jaka." Nothing and no one was okay.
Lucifer	Lucifer half-turned to look at him. "I'm never going to be happy about this Audrey situation," he said. He glanced towards Octavia. "Haven aside, we are okay."
Duke	Duke let out a soft breath. "Right. Haven aside." He had to give them that. He rolled his shoulders back, sliding his slightly manic 'let's stop the end of the world' mask into place. "Whelp. Let's go see what Jennifer heard, then."
Octavia	Octavia's tiny shrug seemed to say 'let's', though she was still stuck in that mild stone-facing mode as she got to her feet. She'd shake it off after a while. (Hopefully.)
Lucifer	"Right," Lucifer sighed, and went to swipe some scotch from the bar before he followed suit.

[ooc: NFB, NFI, you know the drill. Preplayed with the wonderful betterthanaplan and my_own_advocate, follows this, (heavily) adapted from Haven S04E03 Bad Blood.]