okteiviakom | The Cape Rouge, Friday Morning

Duke, on the other hand, was sleeping better than he had in years — and having an easier time waking up because of it.

This morning he woke to the smell of coffee. He stretched idly in bed, noted which of his partners wasn’t still there with him, and swallowed a sigh.

He’d noticed she wasn’t sleeping well, and being Duke, blamed himself.

He got up, slipped on one of Lucifer’s robes, and went out to find her and offer her a quiet kiss goodbye morning.

Octavia leaned into him as soon as he was there. Even past the kiss. The coffee was done, anyway, it didn't need her. And the fruit she'd been very carefully chopping up on a board with very limited use of her right hand? Those could wait, too.

"Ha yun," she said, her voice still a little extra raspy from (attempts to) sleep.

"Ha yun," he said in return, fingers tracing circles on her back. "How's your hand?"

"Still attached to my arm," Octavia replied, managing a tiny wry smile for him. "So could be worse."

"Could be worse," Duke agreed. "How'd you sleep?"

He knew the answer. But wondered what she'd say.

"Not great," Octavia replied, her good hand rubbing idly at his side. "It's fine, I'll live."

"You will," Duke agreed. "Not sure it's 'fine', though." He rubbed her back again. "Anything I can do to help?"

Octavia shrugged one shoulder. "You're here, aren't you?" she replied, a little softer, a little more quiet.

It was enough for her.

"I am," Duke agreed, bending down to kiss her hair again. "And I'm going to be as long as I can."

Octavia slid her arms around him more, even the one where she was minding her hand. Leaned against his chest.

"That's all I'm asking of you."

Right now.

"If you think of something else later," Duke said. "If it's something I can give, I'll do it."

"I know," Octavia told him, rubbing his back now a little bit in turn. "I know, jaka. It's... sort of your thing."

"Well, it definitely was," Duke agreed. "But I'm like . . . fresh new Duke. Duke 2.0. Maybe this time . . . I'll at least be better about asking."

And letting the answer be that, no, there was nothing special he could do to fix things.

That was apparently enough to make Octavia tilt her chin up so she could see his face again.

"We have a... new version?" she asked.

Something careful about her tone.

"I died," Duke said simply. "I didn't come back as a seagull or a fish, but I came back. New life, new Duke." He smiled. "Better Duke."

Octavia's gut was twisting again. She just felt... unsettled, maybe.

She didn't entirely manage to keep it off her face, even as she reached up to cup his cheek with her unbandaged hand.

Duke frowned a little, but leaned into her touch.

"What is it?"

The urge to not try and elaborate was a familiar one.

But:

"You're new?" Octavia asked, quietly, cradling his face.

“I think so. I . . . feel new.”

"How?" Octavia murmured. "How does that feel?"

“Like . . . there’s a weight I used to carry. For so long I forgot it was there. And now it’s gone.” He moved the hand not on her back to trace the line of her brow with a thumb. “I feel weightless.”

Octavia's eyes closed. Just a side effect of him touching her face.

Mostly.

"Sounds... freeing."

For some reason it actually sounded untethered, to her, but she knew better than to say so. Would've just been the knot in her stomach speaking.

‘Untethered’ wasn’t the worst word for it. It was one that, considering how many people had tried to tie him down against his will, Duke would be happy to take up.

“I think so,” he agreed. “Luce and I tested it. I’m trouble-free. Gloria said Haven’s quieted down, too.”

"Yeah, you said." About Gloria. Octavia knew she needed to call her too, but so far she'd been pushing it off. (The odds that she was going to end up sobbing through it were... not small.) "But, you tested it?"

She could guess how.

“Yeah. I kind of had, like. A mini-freak out about it and Lucifer pointed out there was an easy way to check.”

"And you were fine?"

He'd already said so. Let her ask anyway, so she could hear it again.

(Also so she could focus more on that than -- whatever else had just been on her mind.)

“I was fine,” Duke confirmed. “His blood stayed on my skin. My eyes stayed the right color. No urges, no rush.” He felt a bit giddy again thinking about it. “Nothing.”

Octavia couldn't help giving him a little squeeze with her arms.

"Good."

She hadn't expected anything else, but there was joy and relief in having it confirmed.

“So fucking good,” Duke agreed. “And I’m pretty sure it’s not just me. I think it’s all of them.”

"All of the troubles?"

“All of them,” Duke said. “Even yours.”

"I'll have to test that," Octavia murmured ~~trying not to Joss the other thread too bad~~. She shook her head a little, her eyes on his. (Warm, brown, like his eyes were supposed to be.) "No wonder Haven's quieted down."

“It can be just a normal town now.” Duke shook his head. “As normal as Maine has ever managed to be, anyway.”

"And with all those people still living there," Octavia had to add, because... Look, some of the people of Haven were characters even without the troubles.

Still, she gave a soft little sigh. "But, good. Good for them."

“Yeah.” Duke nodded and pulled her closer. “They can live their lives and we never have to think about them again.”

"Except Gloria," Octavia murmured, a little more quiet and private.

“Except her,” Duke agreed. “Her we keep.”

Who else was going to call him ‘kitten’?

Octavia would have missed 'Wildcat', too.

She tucked her head under his chin, nuzzling at his chest. "How'd she sound?" she asked, quietly.

“Good,” Duke said. “Sad, but relieved to hear we’re alright. They lost a lot of people. But Aaron and Lincoln are doing fine.”

Octavia's hand rubbed his back as she nuzzled him some more.

"That's important," she murmured. "That she has them. They have her."

“It is,” Duke agreed. “And I may have tried taking her into moving the family to Baltimore.”

Octavia couldn't really pull him any closer to herself, and yet she seemed to try to.

"I'd like that."

Probably not all that surprising.

“I thought you might.” Duke nuzzled her hair. “When you don’t have many people, it’s nice when the ones you do have are close.”

Octavia gave a little hum, half as agreement, half as enjoyment of the nuzzling.

"And she's one of the best people I've ever met."

“She might actually be the best,” Duke said. He grinned. “I love you and Luce more than anything, but Gloria is incredible.”

"I know," Octavia murmured. "She is."

She hesitated.

"And she's... family."

“Sha, gona,” Duke said. “Gloria belaik kru.”

Edited 2025-04-06 21:44 (UTC)

Octavia huffed out a noise that made it sound like something there had surprised her.

But he was right.

"Sha, jaka," she murmured in turn.

Duke laughed a little at the noise. “Did I say it wrong?” he asked. “It’s been a bit since I tried to put together a sentence like that:”

Octavia shook her head a little, pulling back so he could see the wry look on her face. "No, it's not that. Although, bilaik." Details. That really wasn't what was behind her reaction. "It's just been a while since anyone's talked about... kru."

Duke sucked on his teeth. “I knew that didn’t sound quite right,” he mused. He pulled back enough to meet her eye. “It has been a while. But I can’t think of a better word for her.”

Nathan and Audrey were his family too, after all. But they weren’t kru.

"Yeah," Octavia murmured, looking up at him. "Me neither. It's... just what she is."

And that felt good, in ways Octavia couldn't exactly pinpoint.

"You remember that first time I met her?"

“It was . . . at that diner, right? When people were being shitheads to me.”

Octavia nodded. "That entire trip, she was the only one who was on our side."

It had been 'our' in her head back then, and she wasn't going to start thinking otherwise now.

"She didn't have to be, but she was."

Lucifer was the last one to wake. By design, though he wouldn't admit it; he'd been burying himself in any activity that didn't require him to think too hard about what was or was not going on with himself at the moment, and sleep was as good of one as any.

But he couldn't stay asleep forever.

"Is that coffee?" he muttered, stumbling out the door in one of his remaining robes, squinting.

"Yeah," Octavia replied, looking over. Maybe she should've grabbed a robe too, but instead she was going against the trend in shorts and an oversized tee. "Fresh pot. Morning."

"I love you," Lucifer told her, tracking his way into the kitchen. "May I have a cup?"

Octavia picked up a clean cup for him, quietly.

Gearing up for a new day was a slow process lately.

"Thank you," Lucifer said, quietly, and went to go get it.

Octavia handed the cup over, then watched him, picking up one of her pieces off fruit off the cutting board as she did.

"You sleep okay?"

Yeah, yeah, she knew she was the only one actually having trouble with it. Allow her the question anyway.

"Just fine, thank you," Lucifer said, pouring himself a cup. "You didn't, I suppose."

"No," Octavia agreed, simply.

There was no point in pretending otherwise.

Lucifer took a sip of his coffee. "Hopefully with time," he said. "You do need your rest."

"I know."

That she went to pick up her coffee mug again as she said that was a complete coincidence.

"I'll get there. Eventually."

Lucifer let out a little breath.

Then: "How's your trouble?"

Octavia... paused.

Tilted her head just a fraction.

"I haven't thought about it," she admitted.

"Duke thinks it might be gone," Lucifer said carefully. "It wouldn't hurt to test it."

"You're probably right," Octavia replied, but it was on the slow side. Like she was still thinking it over as she said that, and the thinking had more of her focus.

"If you'd like, of course," Lucifer added swiftly.

It drew Octavia out of her haze of introspection, at least.

"What's that mean?" she asked. It didn't sound like an accusation, for what it was worth: just a genuine bit of slightly odd confusion.

"... you seemed thoughtful," Lucifer said. "I didn't want to, ah, shove the idea on you."

"Oh," Octavia said. Her hand came up, to tuck her hair behind her ear - then fell again, because it was the one she was trying not to use. "Well, I'm not feeling... shoved, so. You're fine."

Lucifer nodded. "... Are you all right?"

"I don't know," Octavia said.

It was one of the most honest things she'd said all week, probably. And followed up with a sigh.

A nod. "Fair enough," Lucifer allowed. "At least there is time to find out. I suppose."

"If I'm all right or not?"

It was a very weak attempt at a joke.

She was just going to pick up her coffee again, now.

"... Yes, I suppose."

Lucifer took another sip of his coffee. "We could go for a walk, in a bit?"

"If you want?" Octavia offered, with a shrug in her tone but not really in her shoulders.

She took a long sip.

Lucifer's mouth opened to ask her if she wanted it, but he realized that way laid madness. "I would enjoy it," he said instead.

This time, the shrug was actually physical. "Then sure," Octavia said. "Fresh air, could be good."

"Good," Lucifer said, nodding.

He turned his attention to his coffee for a moment.

Octavia took it as an opportunity to quietly watch him, over her own coffee mug.

She'd been stealing these moments here and there, over the past week. As if there was something... different, that she might spot.

If Lucifer was-- entirely honest, it made him a touch nervous. As if he should have a different... something.

He still hadn't heard from Amenadiel.

"Mhm," he hummed, reaching for the whiskey. Not because he needed his coffee spiked, but because it was better than lingering on why she was... lingering.

At least Octavia wasn't staring?

And after taking her moment, she put her coffee down and went to finish her bits of fruit. You no longer had a spotlight on you, Lucifer.

Something in Lucifer's shoulders relaxed.

He drank his spiked coffee in silence. And-- "Perhaps we can pick up ice cream on the way."

He had a craving.

"Sure, if you'd like," Octavia replied, mild but soft enough - and popped her last bit of mango into her mouth.

The urge to say '... if you'd like' again was strong. But Lucifer repressed it. He nodded. "Onwards, then?"

"After changing," Octavia replied.

Reconsidered, and added, "I mean, I will. You can do what you want."

He looked good in a robe, after all, sue her.

"... Right."

Lucifer pointed back, towards his walk-in. "I'll... be a minute... then..."

He was moving. And fine and completely not thrown at all!

He had a funny way of looking and sounding it anyway!

Octavia watched him go for a beat or two, then suppressed a sigh before going to get her own clothes.

Lucifer appeared on deck some ten minutes later, dressed to the nines in a classic black and white suit. He was sipping from another (once again, spiked) cup of coffee.

He eyed the horizon.

Octavia showed up soon after, in jeans and a leather jacket - a little bit more on the armor side of her typical street clothes.

She had no coffee, and considering how much of it she'd already chugged this morning, that was a good thing.

"Penny for your thoughts?" she asked, mildly. Not one of her usual turns of phrase, but he seemed to favor it, so...

"Hm?" Lucifer said, and glanced over his shoulder at her. "I believe that's usually my line."

"I'm stealing it," Octavia deadpanned. "Sorry."

"Well, it's a lovely morning for ice cream and thievery," Lucifer said, clearing his throat as he straightened up. "Shall we get going?"

Yes, he knew he wasn't exactly subtle about dodging the question.

"And now you're stealing my evasive thing," Octavia noted, a little dry, even as she nodded.

They could go. It was fine.

"I'm just not entirely sure what to say," Lucifer admitted, as he stepped off the ship onto the boardwalk. "You're being odd, which appears to be making me odd."

"I'm not being odd." Well, Octavia thought she was about the same level of odd as she always was after traumatic events, anyway, which she felt counted. For something, at least. "You definitely are, though."

But she followed him off the ship, and moved to fall into step beside him.

"You're being all mild and monosyllabic and quietly observant," Lucifer argued back. "Am I not supposed to respond to that oddly?"

Octavia shrugged. "I'm not the one that wondered about the odd," she pointed out, not unkindly - at least to someone as well-versed as he was in listening to her. "I'm just wondering how you're doing."

"I'm--"

All right, he wanted to say, but that would be lying.

"--Something."

"You're God," Octavia said. What, it was true, and sometimes she struggled with not being blunt.

Even if it was quiet.

Even if she then added, "It's fine if you're not okay with that."

Lucifer opened his mouth to say something.

And then... he didn't.

Octavia watched him for a second, waiting. When nothing came, she just shrugged faintly.

And went to link her arm with his.

"I'm sure I can... take another few months," Lucifer settled on. He let her take his arm. "Make sure I don't go in half-cocked."

"That's not a lot of time to prepare yourself," Octavia replied, quiet and even.

Holding his arm.

That 'yourself' was really working overtime in that sentence.

"We'll see about the, ah. Runway."

He really did not want to think about the runway. He did not want to be running anywhere.

Octavia didn't really know what that meant, so... Sorry.

"The runway?"

"To... godhood," Lucifer said slowly. "You know. The runway to... liftoff."

"... Right," Octavia replied, just as slowly.

With a faintly confused frown.

"... You've never been on a plane before, have you."

Octavia shook her head.

"Not even once."

And space ships didn't quite work the same.

Lucifer sighed. "Well, when you go on a plane, first it has to drive down the runway for a bit," he said. "Pick up speed, get itself oriented properly. Only then can the plane... lift off and fly."

"Right," Octavia said, her head doing that very faint tilting thing. "So you're thinking about... needing to pick up speed."

"Having a runway," Lucifer agreed.

"And what's that... supposed to look like?"

It was the best way she could come up with to word that.

"I... will... see?"

No, Lucifer had no plan. All he had was terror.

Octavia's hand squeezed his arm.

"We," she said, simply. "We will see."

"Yes." What way was Chilly Boulder again? He'd completely forgotten. "We."

Octavia gave up on the arm to take his hand instead.

Her fingers pushed between his, and gave his a squeeze.

Lucifer's fingers gripped her back.

Perhaps more firmly than even he had anticipated.

Or Octavia, yes.

But she took it in stride.

"Yu laik ai seingeda," she said, quiet but steady. "Son of Aurora."

"I know," Lucifer said softly. "I just need to come up with a brilliant way to be able to both be God and be home in time for supper every day."

Octavia had her private thoughts about how feasible that was.

But this was not the time to voice them.

"We'll try to figure it out."

"No need to rush."

He had definitely taken a wrong turn. Oh well. The long way 'round to Chilly Boulder, it was.

Octavia was just following along. It was fine.

It was all fine.

"Sure," she murmured. "But it's better to be prepared."

"I'm not entirely sure how we prepare," Lucifer admitted. "This has never happened before."

"I don't have any ideas yet, either," Octavia admitted, voice dipping into something just a little more dry. "But I don't want a repeat of how going to Haven went."

"Well, I don't think anyone is going to whisk me off as soon as we set foot in LA," Lucifer said. "I'm... the top dog in that department now, I suppose."

"That's not the only thing that can happen," Octavia replied, although with a sigh that sounded a little bit resigned already.

Since she'd known him for a while, now.

"What are you afraid of, then?" Lucifer asked.

"Surprises."

Him just vanishing was only one concern.

Lucifer nodded. But he didn't respond, feeling his thoughts pulling him inward, rather than out.

Octavia didn't try to prod anything out of him, at least not right this second.

She kept walking. And holding his hand.

They did keep walking, and Lucifer-- found his eyes drawn to small things around their path. A particularly cheerful bird, flapping past. The ocean pushing some bottle onto the sand.

The way the sun peeked through the trees as they passed.

Octavia was more about hearing things. The sound of the waves in the distance, rustling, rickshaws on cobblestone. She was always listening for things that suggested the landscape around her continued well beyond what she could see.

She was trying not to think about much at all.

It was going about as well as could be expected.

"Father was supposed to be omniscient," Lucifer said finally, almost surprised by his own voice. "He knew everything."

Octavia turned her face a little more towards him, and made a faint, soft noise.

Half prompt, half question.

"It was impossible to surprise Him," Lucifer said, staring at the horizon.

Saying this felt like a risk, but:

"That doesn't mean that's going to be you, too," Octavia told him.

"Doesn't it?" Lucifer said.

He sounded more than a little helpless.

"I... like life's many and varied mysteries, Octavia," he said. "I love surprises."

"I know."

In fact, the first thing that had come to mind when he'd said the previous thing had been how he sounded whenever she managed to surprise him. The little delighted laugh --

Her hand held his a little tighter.

"But he's supposed to be all-powerful, too, right? What sort of power is not being able to choose to block things out?"

"I don't know," Lucifer admitted.

He let out a loud exhale.

"You think I could?"

"I think if you want it," Octavia replied, "you could make it happen."

She sounded like she believed that, yes.

"You may have more faith in me than I do in myself," Lucifer admitted.

He took a turn, beginning their trek back towards the city. "I feel like," he added, slowly, "...omniscience may have been a mistake."

Octavia gave a little hum. At the first part - which wasn't news, and wasn't the first time - and then the other one.

"No single being should know everything. Or have to."

"How can you understand what it's like to never know for sure, if you always know?" Lucifer said. "How can you possibly wrap your head around life?"

Octavia's fingers tightened a little around his, again.

"It's an outside perspective," she replied, quietly. Faintly raspy. "Theoretical."

And Lucifer's fingers tightened in turn.

"I want to stay me," he said, quieter. "I'm afraid I might not."

Octavia's chest hurt.

"You've been you for a very long time," she said. Even quieter, too. "Even sometimes when it's got in your own way. This isn't going to be the end of that."

She had no idea.

"I am not theoretical," Lucifer said. He blinked back some unexpected wetness. "I have never been. I refuse to be."

"And that's why I have faith in you."

And if her voice caught a little, who could blame her?

Lucifer swallowed.

"Help me?" he asked. "Help me stay myself? Whatever happens. Please."

Octavia stopped walking.

And provided he didn't try to keep going, she tugged on his hand to get him to face her.

He didn't. He stopped almost the moment she did; it betrayed how much he'd been paying attention to her in these past few moments.

Lucifer looked at her, turning to meet her gaze.

The instinct to reach up to touch his face was there and strong. But so was the urge to keep holding his hand like her life depended on it.

So staring up at him with her eyes big and serious it was.

"I will never let you go," she said. "Ever."

Lucifer nodded. The motion was a little jerky, and his eyes were getting a touch red.

"We did it for him," Octavia told him. Duke had been... overtaken (it hurt to remember), and they'd fought that, too. "You're no different, niron."

Oh, her voice was hitching again.

It just made her sound more fierce.

"You're mine."

Not for the world to take away.

His beautiful warrior queen, Lucifer thought, unbidden. She could make the earth itself part with her stubbornness.

"I love you," he whispered.

"Ai hod yu in."

What else was there to say? It almost sounded like a threat.

Just not towards him.

"I don't know what I'd do without you," Lucifer managed.

He sounded a touch desperate.

Octavia was really, really squeezing his hand now.

"I want you to never find out."

Lucifer pulled her into him, letting go of her hand only so he could wrap his arms around her.

It was easier said that done, getting Octavia to let go of his hand - but she did.

And clung to him.

Normally, he might have said something along the lines of my Octavia. Something to ground him that way.

This time, though...

"I'm yours," Lucifer whispered. "I'm yours first."

"Yes," Octavia breathed against his chest, full of feeling.

"I don't--"

She already knew what he didn't want to. So he shut up, and just. Stayed.

And so did Octavia, holding him tight like he was at a risk of vanishing right then and there. And like she was confident she could keep it from happening if she just put her entire body into it.

It was all she had.

"I--"

Lucifer pressed his face into her hair.

"I really am looking forward to ice cream."

"Want me to order for you?" Octavia murmured.

It made sense in her head, with some of the previous things said.

Lucifer let out a soft, surprised laugh. "Yes," he said. "Yes, I would very much like that."

"Then I will," Octavia replied, looking up again. Without pulling back much at all. "And you can just be surprised."

"Thank you," Lucifer whispered. Heartfelt.

Octavia's arms gave him anotyer squeeze.

Then she leaned up and pressed a kiss against his lips. Not much more than a peck but not lacking in feeling behind it.

He let her.

Lingered a touch.

"You and Duke," Lucifer murmured. "You make my extraordinarily long life worth living. Everything else is secondary."

Octavia found she didn't even know what to say to that.

So she just nodded, a slight and shaky little movement.

"Okay," Lucifer said, his own voice shaking. "Ice cream, now, darling."

"Okay," Octavia murmured. She stole another soft peck, but then pulled away, taking his hand again.

And led the way.

The Cape Rouge, Friday Morning

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