The preserve, Friday morning

[betterthanaplan]

Duke hadn't found Octavia yesterday. Or much of any sign that she'd been out in the woods this week at all. Not that he was some kind of expert tracker or anything, but there were no fresh campfires or abandoned tents or anything. He'd shouted himself nearly hoarse calling for her to no avail.

And so he was back today to look again. The preserve was big. It'd take ages to properly search the whole thing. (It'd take ages for Duke to search enough of it to give up. There was little chance of him actually managing to search the whole thing.) This time, he brought reinforcements.

"So," he said, readjusting Octavia's sword on his back for the umpteenth time. "This you reliving your glory days of pretending to be a cop, or what?"

[for one!]

Comments

[my_own_advocate]

"I was not 'pretending to be a cop'," Lucifer said irritably, "I was a civilian consultant to the LAPD."

He had brushed leaves off of his suit approximately fifteen times now, and yet no sign of Octavia. Today was already officially ruined. "And I can't stand you moping."

Beat.

"And I'm worried."

[betterthanaplan]

"Not moping. Being very reasonably concerned." Duke glanced over again and nodded. "So, you know, glad you caught up there." He cupped his hands around his mouth. "Octavia! Octaviaaa!!!"

[my_own_advocate]

"You don't think she heard you the last five times you bellowed that at the top of your voice?" Lucifer asked, brow crinkling into a frown. "We've barely moved another few meters."

[betterthanaplan]

"Do you have a better plan?" Duke asked. "Or are you just here to provide color commentary?"

[my_own_advocate]

"Now this is beginning to remind me of the LAPD," Lucifer said thoughtfully. "But my brother is the hunter, not me. I would say we should spread out, but that is how horror films start..."

[betterthanaplan]

"Yeah, if something out here took Octavia out. . . ." Duke glanced over at him. ". . . You'll be fine. That whole immortality thing must be really handy."

[my_own_advocate]

"Most of the time," Lucifer agreed. "But there are some things that can even harm a celestial, and I rather like Earth. It'd be extremely irritating to run across some Lovecraftian nightmare and wind up back in Hell."

[betterthanaplan]

"If it makes you feel any better, I will probably beat you down there."

Duke pushed through the ground cover and stepped onto the banks of a creek. The furry fish Octavia had shown him on their first trip out glided happily through the water, but there was no other sign of anyone around.

"Dammit, where the hell is she?"

[my_own_advocate]

"How big is this preserve?" Lucifer asked, and then had to spend a moment cursing as pushing through the growth meant getting twigs tangled in his hair.

[betterthanaplan]

"Very," Duke said. He dug both hands into his hair, looking around at the trees. "It's Fandom. This place is probably bigger than the island itself."

[my_own_advocate]

"Fantastic," Lucifer sighed. "And I suspect I can't get Amenadiel to take a quick flight above the island to see if he can find anything."

[betterthanaplan]

"That your hunter brother? 'Cause, uh. Might be worth asking." Duke was willing to try just about anything by this point. "Seriously, I'm about ready to try interrogating a squirrel."

[my_own_advocate]

"He is dealing with a bit of a pregnant Linda situation," Lucifer pointed out, "But I can always text him."

[betterthanaplan]

"Right." Duke looked around again and sighed. "In the meantime, guess we just . . . keep going."

He was really wishing he'd paid more attention during Nathan's lectures about nature craft growing up.

[my_own_advocate]

"I suppose. Plenty of ground left to cover," Lucifer said, taking out his phone.

Perfect signal.

He typed in a message for Amenadiel and sent it off.

[betterthanaplan]

Yeah, Duke wasn't kidding when he said she usually had signal out here.

"Yeah." He stepped over the creek and glanced back at Lucifer. "Hey. Thanks for helping."

[my_own_advocate]

"It's Octavia," Lucifer said, catching his gaze.

Octavia got that lack-of-the-usual-grin-serious-face a lot more often than Duke did, but he was getting it now. "If she's missing, I'm hardly going to sit it out."

[betterthanaplan]

Well, Octavia was a lot better at meeting the usual grin with seriousness no matter how big said grin was. She did it to Duke, too.

Duke nodded and offered Lucifer a weak smile. "Still. Worth saying thanks." He looked around and picked a direction not entirely at random. "You two have gotten pretty close, huh?"

[my_own_advocate]

"She's been a friend to me," Lucifer said. "Actually, we were doing something like this for you just last week. It's beginning to become a habit."

[betterthanaplan]

"You did, didn't you." Duke rubbed his mouth. "Fuck. I really should have called her from jail."

He'd already learned that lesson, but it was hitting a lot harder just now.

[my_own_advocate]

"It's one thing vanishing in the middle of a prolonged vacation, and quite another disappearing into thin air when you have evening plans," Lucifer informed him.

[betterthanaplan]

"Maybe. Still sucks pretty hard being the one left behind wondering."

[my_own_advocate]

"Yes," Lucifer said, "I know."

Did he sound a smidgen darker? Probably just a trick of the light.

And then his phone rang.

[betterthanaplan]

Duke startled a little harder than that was worth, hand going automatically to his own phone before realizing it was Lucifer's. "Don't suppose that's your brother?"

[my_own_advocate]

"Sadly, yes," Lucifer said, bringing the phone up to his ear. "Amenadiel. Uh huh. Yes. Yes, that's why I was asking. What are you-- you're at lamaze class? Lamaze class is more important than your own brother--?"