The Cape Rouge, Port of Fandom, Waaaaay Early Friday Morning

[okteiviakom]

The bob and sway of the Cape Rouge was not the same as the engine thrum of the Ark. But it was similar enough that sometimes there could be something almost soothing about it to a space station baby, like Octavia.

But not tonight.

She feels the vibrations of the Ark through the walls around her. Up in the room, they're much less pronounced, they're just something under your feet, a casual sensation you can feel and dismiss at the same time. But she's not up in the room.

She's down in the hole.

She's under the floor.

She's in a box, and the room above her is nothing but footsteps and muffled voices. Everything else is darkness. She's in a box she can't see, under a room she can only hear, and so all she can do is listen. She can't hear Bellamy up there, but she can hear her mother, the sound of needles and the fabric of strangers' clothes -- but then, the thumping of boots, and it's an inspection, it's always an inspection, a man's voice barking about everything the inspectors always bark about until her mother soothes it over, hushed, quick, she sounds like she's smiling --

I don't have any money.

Her voice is like velvet and burrows into Octavia's ears.

But I can pay you another way.

It's a promise shaped like a body and it feels like sirens and Octavia screams but she can still hear them like they're speaking into her head, like they're in her head, like they're in the box with her.

What about the girl?

Her, too.

And Octavia screams again and kicks her foot out because she has to get away, now now now -- but instead of breaking, the walls of the box around her start sliding closer, the hole around her starts getting smaller, and it feels like she's sinking, right into the ground or space or whatever is underneath a hole underneath a room, and it doesn't matter where she's sinking to because she won't even make it there, because the walls are closing in on her, she's in the hole and the hole is going to crush her.

The hole is going to crush her, and she can't breathe.

She can't breathe.

SHE CAN'T BREATHE.

That was what Octavia woke up to, in the middle of the night, just -- gasping for breath, immediately scrambling up to sitting, trying to desperately force air into her lungs. Her wide eyes stared wildly into the darkness of the room, not really seeing it. Still half dreaming.

Still half back on the Ark.

... Sorry, Duke.

[ooc: For the jaka who has to deal with this mess now. Content warning for (nightmare) allusions to prostitution and child abuse, with general dark backstory stuff to likely follow in the comments.]

Comments

[okteiviakom]

Snort. "Well, you can do that sometime when it's not the middle of the night."

[betterthanaplan]

"Good call." Duke rubbed her arms. "We definitely don't need cooling down right now." He tilted his head. "You ready to go in yet? At least long enough to get some hot cocoa or something? We can come right back out after if you want."

[okteiviakom]

Octavia hesitated. An urge flared up, something to do with the sky and the water and the freedom of open space at night -- but she couldn't really pinpoint what it was.

So she clung to that 'we can come right back out', and nodded. "Sure."

She dropped a quick kiss against his cheek before she started moving to get up.

[betterthanaplan]

That was the trouble, wasn't it, going in required untangling themselves so they could get up.

Duke shifted to make sure she kept the blanket and promised himself he'd grab shoes and a sweater at least when if she needed to come back out again. He really hadn't been thinking past just calming her down earlier.

"Hot cocoa. And I've probably got some cookies around here."

[okteiviakom]

The untangling was Octavia's least favorite thing. Her second least favorite thing was how cold the deck was under her bare feet, now that she was standing up.

Also, she definitely wasn't intending to let him come back outside without more clothes on.

Wrapped up in the blanket like it was a cape, she was already headed back indoors. "I might even take that brandy, now."

[betterthanaplan]

"In the cocoa or with it?" Duke asked as he waved her in ahead of him.

His was getting a splash of whiskey, definitely.

[okteiviakom]

"Don't care."

As soon as Octavia was in, she stopped to shake her feet a couple of times, one after the other, wiggling her toes back and forth. Seriously, it was cold out there. Guess you really missed a lot about what was happening physically when your mind was racing uncontrollably!

A nearby porg hopped from one foot to the other, trying to imitate her.

[betterthanaplan]

Duke gave himself a moment to just aggressively shiver as he came in -- he always wanted to do that more when he was back in a warm space than when he was actually out in the cold, for someone reason -- then went to the liquor cabinet and pulled out a bottle. He took a swig directly from it, then held it out for her to take.

"Should take the edge off the cold while I heat the milk up. It'll probably work pretty well in the cocoa too, if you want more."

[okteiviakom]

Octavia took the bottle, and then took a hearty swig of her own because despite her earlier objections, it really was that kind of night. And not just because of the cold.

Then she looked over the bottle for a second.

"... Doesn't this basically say 'Duke'?"

[betterthanaplan]

“‘Great Duke, even,” Duke said with a laugh. “Between that and the—“ He clucked his tongue. “—shapely bottle, you can see why it’s my favorite.”

[okteiviakom]

Octavia managed both a tiny snort and a tired eye roll.

"Tripi hef." He wasn't much of a weirdo for that. She just liked saying it. And she shrugged. "It's good, though."

[betterthanaplan]

Teasing him in Trig was a sure sign she was starting to feel better. “You wouldn’t have me any other way.” He stirred the heating milk and flashed her a grin. “Grab us some mugs?”

[okteiviakom]

Octavia set the brandy aside for the time being, as she went to get the mugs with the ease of someone who lived here.

Or at least that of someone whose ease was slightly hampered by wearing a blanket as a cape.

... And who didn't actually live here.

She set the mugs down by him, and reached over to rub her hand against his back. "You warming up?"

[betterthanaplan]

Duke leaned back into her. “I am. And feeling pretty dumb for heading out the in just shorts to begin with.”

[okteiviakom]

And so Octavia leaned into him, sliding one blanketed arm around him, though not in a way that would interfere with his very important hot cocoa work.

"Foshou yu nou don trana bilaik eye candy gon yu gona?"

Teasing him in Trig was one thing, trying to translate 'eye candy' for the sake of a joke was quite another.

[betterthanaplan]

Duke laughed and wobbled the hand that wasn’t stirring the milk in a so-so gesture. “Ai snogon likes me better unfrozen, usually.”

[okteiviakom]

"She really does," Octavia agreed, and dropped a kiss against his shoulder (as far up it as she could reach, anyway). Look at her, remembering how to touch him again! Might've been the brandy. Or a need to compensate for her earlier panic with softness.

Or both.

[betterthanaplan]

Duke wasn’t complaining. Her shutting down like that, face wet with tears. . . . That would probably feature in some of his nightmares, down the line.

The milk began to steam and Duke switched off the burner, whisking in the cocoa. He filled both mugs, leaving room for spiking as needed. Then he toluene in her grip to give her a proper, if somewhat gentle, kiss.

[okteiviakom]

Gentle was just fine. Octavia's hand came up to cup his cheek like she was asking him to linger in the kiss for a moment. Because that was what she wanted, a moment to balance out the very first one after she'd woken up, struggling to breathe and unsure of where she was.

Her heart beat steadily right now, and she knew where she was. She was right here, on the Cape Rouge, kissing her flapkrasha, her jaka, her Duke kom Floukru.

That urge from earlier was also finally starting to take form, in the back of her mind.

[betterthanaplan]

And Duke would happily linger as long as she liked. Even if it meant having to reheat that cocoa. Because she was back, steady and present again, and he wanted to drink that up as long as possible.

[okteiviakom]

It wasn't going to be long enough for the cocoa to need reheating. But maybe just long enough for it to cool down to a nice drinking temperature? Because Octavia was kind of clinging to him, and maybe got -- well, not less gentle, as such. But a little more insistent for a while there, with the kiss.

And when she finally broke it, she whispered, "Thank you."

Not for the kiss.

[betterthanaplan]

"Sha, gona," Duke said, just as soft. "Yumi throu daun ogeda. Even against dreams."

[okteiviakom]

Octavia nodded. Quite a few times, actually, kind of buying time for how the words seem to get caught in her throat for a second, there.

"Yumi throu daun ogeda," she murmured back to him, once she could. Then cleared her throat. Wet her lips with her tongue. "Okay. Cocoa, and... Then there's something I think I have to do."

[betterthanaplan]

Duke reached for the cocoa mugs, keeping hold of her with his other hand as he did. "Of course. Whatever you need."

He didn't even feel weird about promising that and meaning it. Whatever it was she needed, he'd make sure she could do it, and he wasn't even worried it would somehow suck for him.

He trusted her. Holy shit.

[okteiviakom]

It had been about three months since Octavia had first told him they fought together. That was the headstart she'd had, but it was nice that he was catching up.

(It was more than nice, actually.)

Octavia reached for one of the mugs. "You're gonna want to put a little more on." Because yes, they were going back out. "Not that I don't like seeing you like this."