A Nice and Secluded Bit of the Preserve, Saturday

[okteiviakom]

The preserve was a fair bit more popular these days than it had been when Octavia had first began roaming around in it years and years ago, but she and Duke had still managed to find a nice spot for their little camping trip that people were unlikely to randomly stumble upon. There was a clearing, along a sort of a little cove.

Between the water and the trees, it was perfect.

Octavia had taken on the task of getting the tent set up, while she'd entrusted the hammock to Duke. (Would they even need both? Remained to be seen, but it was nice to have them.) And right now? She straightened up from hammering the last tent peg into the ground.

"Just needs the twinkly lights, I think."

[ooc: For that guyyy.]

Comments

[okteiviakom]

"I think it looks great," Octavia said, taking a few steps towards it for a closer look. "Is that a net to keep bugs out? Convenient."

[betterthanaplan]

“Yep,” Duke confirmed. “It’s specifically a hammock for camping. Has a tarp that can be strung over it too if it rains, but I figure that’s what our tent is for.”

[okteiviakom]

"Briyon jaka." What, it was very smart to her! And totally worth sidling up to him, and giving his arm a little bump. "I think we've thought of everything."

[betterthanaplan]

"Probably not everything," Duke said with a snort. "But whatever we haven't thought of, I'm sure we can handle in the moment."

[okteiviakom]

"Everything that was reasonable to think of," Octavia retorted, with a tiny eyeroll, "you knew what I meant."

[betterthanaplan]

"Uh huh. Might have forgotten one or two of those, too," Duke said with a shrug. "And yet. We'd still handle any of it."

Forgetting was just something people did. He was working on letting himself accept that. 'Cause, you know. Therapy.

(Not that he'd discussed it with Dr. Solares or anything, they'd only had one session so far. He was just . . . getting a head start? Overthinking it all? One of those.)

[okteiviakom]

'Overthinking' was Octavia's guess.

She slid both arms around his waist, and drew him in. "Uh huh," she said. "And did we come out here to have a nice time, or wonder about how prepared we are to be out here?"

[betterthanaplan]

". . . We can't do both?" Duke asked. He gave her a rueful chuckle. "Am I being too much?"

[okteiviakom]

"You're being you."

There was no judgment in that. Octavia had also been Octavia in some spectacular ways, lately.

Her lips curved into something a little more wry. "How was therapy, snogon? If I can ask."

[betterthanaplan]

Duke sighed. "I don't know. It was -- fine. The doc was fine. Didn't run screaming or anything. So that's a start."

[okteiviakom]

"It's a good start," Octavia told him. "Lucifer took me too see like five different shrinks, and I'm pretty sure I was ready to punch people by the time we finally got to Dr. Baker."

[betterthanaplan]

"That sounds -- absolutely exhausting," Duke said. "I don't think I would have made it that far."

[okteiviakom]

"It wasn't fun," Octavia rasped, making it sound like an understatement. "But it was worth it."

[betterthanaplan]

Duke nodded, pulling away from her just far enough that he could make sure she saw his small smile.

"I'm really proud of you, you know."

[okteiviakom]

"Thanks, I've been working really hard," Octavia replied, only faintly wry. "It has very much been the process that Dr. Baker said it would be."

And Claire, before her.

[betterthanaplan]

"You have," Duke agreed, without any wryness at all. "And it has. I can tell. It's . . . a little intimidating, gotta admit."

Or, you know, completely terrifying. Duke as smart enough to know that he wasn't subtle about being totally terrified, even after managing to have a decent conversation with a new therapist already.

[okteiviakom]

Octavia shook her head just a little bit.

"It's all just a bunch of little steps," she said. "One after another." A beat. "Sometimes backwards. Which sucks, but it's also... okay."

As irritating as she found it.

[betterthanaplan]

Duke nodded, swallowing back the protests that wanted to come bubbling up. The last thing he wanted was to somehow undermine how she felt about her own progress with his fears about doing it himself.

But even little steps didn't sound reassuring right now. Not when there were so many of them. Stretching out indefinitely.

There was a reason he and Lucifer kept butting heads over reincarnation versus eternity in an afterlife. Duke didn't handle the idea of 'eternity' well.

[okteiviakom]

Neither did Octavia.

She watched him for a little moment. Reading his face.

Guessing, really.

"Just one step at a time," she said, a little softer because she couldn't help herself. "No further than that."

[betterthanaplan]

Duke took a long, slow breath. Pulled a more positive expression into place.

"Guess, uh. Guess I can handle that."

He didn't have much of a choice, did he.

[okteiviakom]

Octavia watched his expression change. And reached up and brushed her fingertips over his cheek.

"Yeah, you can."

[betterthanaplan]

"You'll be with me. You and Luce. The whole time."

He tried to sound more confident about that than he was.

[okteiviakom]

"The whole time," Octavia agreed with a nod, even though she knew she couldn't promise that. Not when they lived between the pull of Haven and Los Angeles and the rest of the multiverse. "You have us."

[betterthanaplan]

Well, that was kind of like Duke protesting that they couldn't prepare for everything. It didn't have to be precise to be accurate in spirit.

He tugged her in tight against his side and kissed her hair.

"Mochof."

[okteiviakom]

"De nada."

She gave him a little squeeze.

"We just want good things for you."