Haven, Maine, Saturday Fandom time
Aug. 1st, 2020 04:31 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
betterthanaplanIt turned out Duke got to Haven just in time. Thanks to some strange, rapid spoilage of local crops, Bill and Geoff and Bill's wife Meg were running around like proverbial chickens trying to make sure they'd have everything ready for the grand opening. It sounded a hell of a lot like a trouble to Duke, but the McShaws didn't even blink when he tried to hint in that direction, and Geoff had gone so far as to scoff about Duke's "superstitious seafaring nature", so he hadn't pressed it. Just kept a close eye on things, and every finger crossed that nothing happened to ruin the opening.
And, you know, avoid eating anything with an expiration date for a couple days. He was hoping to get back to Fandom without any stories of disasters, and telling people he got food poisoning would just be embarrassing.
As luck would have it, he also managed to have booked himself a room at the same hotel where Officer Agent Parker was staying. Which led to an interesting conversation when he got back late Thursday night from helping Geoff check the new restaurant's entire stock.
"Good evening," he greeted with a little nod.
"Hi."
"You look, uh. . . . Nice."
Audrey prickled instantly. "Wait, what's that supposed to mean?"
Duke smirked and leaned in a little. "It means you look nice."
"And yet, somehow, it doesn't sound like a compliment."
Duke huffed, halfway between exasperation and a laugh. "Are you on duty?"
"Why?"
"Well, you're dressed like you're on duty. Don't get me wrong, you pull it off beautifully."
Audrey stuck her hands in the pockets of her cream blazer. "And that doesn't rate better than 'nice'?"
She was a little bit sensitive, wasn't she. And Duke was just batting a thousand when it came to accidentally offending people lately. He turned up the charm to try to cover. He was only in town for a night, but Audrey seemed to be aiming herself straight at the troubles around town with Nathan in tow. It wouldn't be the worst idea to stay on her good side. "You have a certain . . . federal agent chic thing going on."
Audrey chuckled dryly. "Yeah." Duke stepped around her towards his room, and she followed. "Where's your girlfriend?"
"She didn't want to come this time," Duke said. "She's not Haven's biggest fan."
"Why's that?"
"Every time I come here, I either end up beaten or arrested."
"So why do you come back?"
"Question for the ages." Duke held up his key. "If you don't mind. . . ."
"Actually, yeah. I'd like to ask you a couple of questions."
"Are these work-related questions?"
"No, I'm — I'm on my own time. I'm looking into a woman named Lucy."
Duke blinked. He looked from the door to his room and back at her. "You know, I would love to help, but I think I've made it pretty clear: I don't talk to cops. Or at least not to feds. Even feds that I like. Which . . . technically, you would be the only one. So congratulations. But, nonetheless, I still don't do it."
"That was almost a compliment. Heavy on the 'almost'."
"I'll be more careful next time." He tilted his head at his door. "I do have plans. To sleep. Or — not sleep, since I hate hotel rooms — You know it's 3 AM, right?"
"Right. But, see, you're going to disappear again, and then I won't get any answers."
Duke shut his eyes and sighed. "I'm not disappearing until tomorrow night," he said. "You're going to the Second Chance, right? For the opening? There's been trouble, so I assume you're sniffing it out."
Audrey nodded. "I am. With Nathan."
Duke bobbed his head in a nod. "Of course you are. Anyway. I will also be there. And assuming nothing tries to kill any of us, maybe we can talk then. In the meantime." He pointedly unlocked his door. "Sleep."
"You know, I could make you talk to me."
"No. You can't. And frankly I'm getting a little tired of you people saying that." He opened his door. "Go to bed. I'm sure I'll see you tomorrow."
Duke slept roughly that night, his dreams full of spoiled food, Lucy, and blood. He woke up early, wishing Octavia had come with him, and sent her a quick text to say hello, then headed back out to the Second Chance, where he spent the day trying to soothe ragged tempers and tease Geoff about his entire lost flock of captive squab. He ran back to the hotel at the last minute to change into something slightly fancier for the actual opening, and came back just in time to see Nathan pulling out Audrey's chair for her.
She was wearing this dark blue dress with a plunging V neckline. It was spectacular, and not even a little bit cop-like. Nathan was wearing a rather fetching tan jacket over a blue t-shirt.
They were about as pretty as two people could be. It was manifestly unfair.
"Officer Parker," Duke greeted as he walked over, taking a seat at one of the spare chairs at their table. He pointedly didn't look at Nathan until he was already sitting down. "Nathan. Careful now." He leaned towards Audrey. "It's the quiet ones you have to watch out for."
Nathan managed not to immediately threaten to arrest Duke, which was a step in the right direction. He picked up his water glass. "Contribute any contraband to tonight's menu?"
"Well, we'll just have to see what Geoff made," Duke said easily, pleasantly surprised. He caught Audrey's faintly uncomfortable smirk and gestured between the two of them. "Am I interrupting something?"
He had no idea how he felt about the idea of Nathan and Audrey hooking up. His reaction was . . . complex. He resisted the urge to pull his phone out again and text Octavia right away. He was monogamous now — occasional threesome aside. And Octavia really wasn't likely to want to get into bed with Nathan Wuornos.
. . . Audrey he figured was still a distant possibility, though.
He saw Bill and Geoff hovering by the kitchen and got to his feet. "Excuse me, Audrey."
He didn't look back at Nathan.
"Well!" He spread his arms, adopting a Scottish accent as he approached the brothers. "It's all yours now, lads! It's about time."
Geoff looked around, arms crossed over his chef's whites. "It's still hard not to see the folks' place, you know?"
Duke scoffed. "Not unless you deep fry the pigeon."
Bill snorted. "Which might not be such a bad start."
Geoff wasn't laughing. He shot Bill a look, then turned away to face the dining room. "Excuse me. Can I have your attention please?" he asked the guests. "Our first course: a dandelion green salad with crisp basil, fresh from our garden. Enjoy."
Duke ducked back into the kitchen to check on the staff. They were much quieter than his down at Luke's, but he wasn't convinced of his competence yet, no matter how many compliments Geoff heaped on his sous. He glanced out again in time to see Bill leaning over John Roberts, he of the Lobster Pup chain fame, and frowned.
"Now what the hell is that about?"
Audrey swung through, peering at the food. He raised his eyebrows at her and she smiled faintly back, then ducked out again. He wondered when she was planning to corner him about Lucy again. His portal was scheduled to leave not long after the dinner would be over; she didn't have much more time.
Then Bill pulled Geoff aside to question him about some rumor that he was going to sell his half of the place to Roberts, and everything started going to hell.
"Attention please," Geoff said, raising his glass. Duke tensed, wondering if he was about to do something stupid. "It takes patience and effort to make a dream come true," he said. "But once it does . . . you always seem to have another one." He raised his glass. "To a dream come true." Everyone clinked their glasses. "Enjoy the salmon."
Duke grabbed a plate from a passing waiter's tray, figuring he'd have to eat fast if he wanted to try any of Geoff's masterpiece before he had to defuse another McShaw argument. He wasn't fast enough. The fish rotted on the plate before his eyes. He heard complaints and gags from across the restaurant as everyone else's did, too.
Fuck. The very last thing the McShaws needed right now was a trouble.
Duke missed his portal.
Bill and Geoff had a blow out once the last of the ambulances left with the poisoned guests. Geoff quit on the spot, announcing his plan to head back to New York, much to his sous chef's dismay. Bill couldn't keep the place afloat on his own; he and Meg had sunk everything they had into the renovations and reopening.
Duke hadn't seen any of this. He'd been busy questioning everyone in the kitchen about what they'd seen or heard. You know, doing Nathan and Audrey's jobs for them while they hovered inside playing voyeur to the brothers' relationship imploding. He heard it all from Geoff afterwards, as they walked down the docks back to the hotel. Up to and including Geoff shoving the knife, the symbol of their friendship, in Bill's face.
"You really mean it, then?" Duke asked. "You're going back to New York?"
"Would you stay?" Geoff asked, then laughed. "What am I asking? You didn't. You're in, what, Baltimore these days?"
Duke shrugged. "Close enough, yeah."
"We never wanted this, Duke. You and me, we always wanted to get out."
"But you promised your parents."
Geoff sighed. "But I promised our parents. We'd always keep the place in the family."
"They were good people," Duke said, pacing slowly down the dock, watching his feet. "Hell of a lot better than mine were."
"No offense, Duke, but that bar's so low it's not even on the ground."
"Six feet under," Duke agreed. "Still. What happened to second chances?"
"Try third," Geoff said. "Fourth. Fifteenth. I'm drowning here, man. You know how that feels." Duke nodded. "I'm not meant for this. I'm meant for New York. Haute cuisine. Michelin stars. You might be happy running a podunk diner, but that's not me."
Duke shook his head. "I gotta introduce you to Lucifer one of these days."
"You know a guy named Lucifer?"
"Yup. He's a snob. You'll love him." Duke stopped by hotel's waterfront deck. "You want to come up? We could hang out, have a drink. I'll tell you about him."
Geoff shook his head, hand pressed to his stomach. "No, man. I gotta get home. This whole night has me sick to my stomach."
"Yeah. . . . No offense, man, but you may have managed to put me off salmon forever."
"You? Off fish?" Geoff scoffed. "It'll never happen."
Duke clapped him on the back. "It'll be okay. Whatever you decide. You and Bill are solid. Family. He wants what's best for you."
"He wants us to be 18 again."
"Hey, who doesn't want that?" Duke walked backwards towards the door. "I gotta go let my girl know I'm staying an extra day. Go get some sleep, and we'll make a game plan in the morning."
Geoff nodded. "Thanks for coming and helping."
"Anytime, man. It's what I do."
Duke turned and headed in. He heard an odd sound as he mounted the stairs, but shook it off as exhaustion and paranoia, and went to bed.
He'd never entirely forgive himself for not looking back.
Duke woke to sirens and flashing lights the next morning. The cleaning staff had found Geoff floating in the water not far from where he'd left him.
Drowned.
Duke kept his distance, letting the police and the coroner do their jobs. He kept his hands shoved deep in his jacket, staring out at the water, then pulled his phone from his pocket.
looks like I'll be here a couple more days, he texted Octavia. He closed his eyes and swallowed, then added Geoff is dead
He felt eyes on him and looked over to see Audrey studying him with a frown. He stared right back, none of his usual teasing in his face, then turned to head back into the hotel.
Fucking Haven.
[NFB, NFI, OOC welcome. Adapted from ep 1x04, Consumed]
And, you know, avoid eating anything with an expiration date for a couple days. He was hoping to get back to Fandom without any stories of disasters, and telling people he got food poisoning would just be embarrassing.
As luck would have it, he also managed to have booked himself a room at the same hotel where Officer Agent Parker was staying. Which led to an interesting conversation when he got back late Thursday night from helping Geoff check the new restaurant's entire stock.
"Good evening," he greeted with a little nod.
"Hi."
"You look, uh. . . . Nice."
Audrey prickled instantly. "Wait, what's that supposed to mean?"
Duke smirked and leaned in a little. "It means you look nice."
"And yet, somehow, it doesn't sound like a compliment."
Duke huffed, halfway between exasperation and a laugh. "Are you on duty?"
"Why?"
"Well, you're dressed like you're on duty. Don't get me wrong, you pull it off beautifully."
Audrey stuck her hands in the pockets of her cream blazer. "And that doesn't rate better than 'nice'?"
She was a little bit sensitive, wasn't she. And Duke was just batting a thousand when it came to accidentally offending people lately. He turned up the charm to try to cover. He was only in town for a night, but Audrey seemed to be aiming herself straight at the troubles around town with Nathan in tow. It wouldn't be the worst idea to stay on her good side. "You have a certain . . . federal agent chic thing going on."
Audrey chuckled dryly. "Yeah." Duke stepped around her towards his room, and she followed. "Where's your girlfriend?"
"She didn't want to come this time," Duke said. "She's not Haven's biggest fan."
"Why's that?"
"Every time I come here, I either end up beaten or arrested."
"So why do you come back?"
"Question for the ages." Duke held up his key. "If you don't mind. . . ."
"Actually, yeah. I'd like to ask you a couple of questions."
"Are these work-related questions?"
"No, I'm — I'm on my own time. I'm looking into a woman named Lucy."
Duke blinked. He looked from the door to his room and back at her. "You know, I would love to help, but I think I've made it pretty clear: I don't talk to cops. Or at least not to feds. Even feds that I like. Which . . . technically, you would be the only one. So congratulations. But, nonetheless, I still don't do it."
"That was almost a compliment. Heavy on the 'almost'."
"I'll be more careful next time." He tilted his head at his door. "I do have plans. To sleep. Or — not sleep, since I hate hotel rooms — You know it's 3 AM, right?"
"Right. But, see, you're going to disappear again, and then I won't get any answers."
Duke shut his eyes and sighed. "I'm not disappearing until tomorrow night," he said. "You're going to the Second Chance, right? For the opening? There's been trouble, so I assume you're sniffing it out."
Audrey nodded. "I am. With Nathan."
Duke bobbed his head in a nod. "Of course you are. Anyway. I will also be there. And assuming nothing tries to kill any of us, maybe we can talk then. In the meantime." He pointedly unlocked his door. "Sleep."
"You know, I could make you talk to me."
"No. You can't. And frankly I'm getting a little tired of you people saying that." He opened his door. "Go to bed. I'm sure I'll see you tomorrow."
Duke slept roughly that night, his dreams full of spoiled food, Lucy, and blood. He woke up early, wishing Octavia had come with him, and sent her a quick text to say hello, then headed back out to the Second Chance, where he spent the day trying to soothe ragged tempers and tease Geoff about his entire lost flock of captive squab. He ran back to the hotel at the last minute to change into something slightly fancier for the actual opening, and came back just in time to see Nathan pulling out Audrey's chair for her.
She was wearing this dark blue dress with a plunging V neckline. It was spectacular, and not even a little bit cop-like. Nathan was wearing a rather fetching tan jacket over a blue t-shirt.
They were about as pretty as two people could be. It was manifestly unfair.
"Officer Parker," Duke greeted as he walked over, taking a seat at one of the spare chairs at their table. He pointedly didn't look at Nathan until he was already sitting down. "Nathan. Careful now." He leaned towards Audrey. "It's the quiet ones you have to watch out for."
Nathan managed not to immediately threaten to arrest Duke, which was a step in the right direction. He picked up his water glass. "Contribute any contraband to tonight's menu?"
"Well, we'll just have to see what Geoff made," Duke said easily, pleasantly surprised. He caught Audrey's faintly uncomfortable smirk and gestured between the two of them. "Am I interrupting something?"
He had no idea how he felt about the idea of Nathan and Audrey hooking up. His reaction was . . . complex. He resisted the urge to pull his phone out again and text Octavia right away. He was monogamous now — occasional threesome aside. And Octavia really wasn't likely to want to get into bed with Nathan Wuornos.
. . . Audrey he figured was still a distant possibility, though.
He saw Bill and Geoff hovering by the kitchen and got to his feet. "Excuse me, Audrey."
He didn't look back at Nathan.
"Well!" He spread his arms, adopting a Scottish accent as he approached the brothers. "It's all yours now, lads! It's about time."
Geoff looked around, arms crossed over his chef's whites. "It's still hard not to see the folks' place, you know?"
Duke scoffed. "Not unless you deep fry the pigeon."
Bill snorted. "Which might not be such a bad start."
Geoff wasn't laughing. He shot Bill a look, then turned away to face the dining room. "Excuse me. Can I have your attention please?" he asked the guests. "Our first course: a dandelion green salad with crisp basil, fresh from our garden. Enjoy."
Duke ducked back into the kitchen to check on the staff. They were much quieter than his down at Luke's, but he wasn't convinced of his competence yet, no matter how many compliments Geoff heaped on his sous. He glanced out again in time to see Bill leaning over John Roberts, he of the Lobster Pup chain fame, and frowned.
"Now what the hell is that about?"
Audrey swung through, peering at the food. He raised his eyebrows at her and she smiled faintly back, then ducked out again. He wondered when she was planning to corner him about Lucy again. His portal was scheduled to leave not long after the dinner would be over; she didn't have much more time.
Then Bill pulled Geoff aside to question him about some rumor that he was going to sell his half of the place to Roberts, and everything started going to hell.
"Attention please," Geoff said, raising his glass. Duke tensed, wondering if he was about to do something stupid. "It takes patience and effort to make a dream come true," he said. "But once it does . . . you always seem to have another one." He raised his glass. "To a dream come true." Everyone clinked their glasses. "Enjoy the salmon."
Duke grabbed a plate from a passing waiter's tray, figuring he'd have to eat fast if he wanted to try any of Geoff's masterpiece before he had to defuse another McShaw argument. He wasn't fast enough. The fish rotted on the plate before his eyes. He heard complaints and gags from across the restaurant as everyone else's did, too.
Fuck. The very last thing the McShaws needed right now was a trouble.
Duke missed his portal.
Bill and Geoff had a blow out once the last of the ambulances left with the poisoned guests. Geoff quit on the spot, announcing his plan to head back to New York, much to his sous chef's dismay. Bill couldn't keep the place afloat on his own; he and Meg had sunk everything they had into the renovations and reopening.
Duke hadn't seen any of this. He'd been busy questioning everyone in the kitchen about what they'd seen or heard. You know, doing Nathan and Audrey's jobs for them while they hovered inside playing voyeur to the brothers' relationship imploding. He heard it all from Geoff afterwards, as they walked down the docks back to the hotel. Up to and including Geoff shoving the knife, the symbol of their friendship, in Bill's face.
"You really mean it, then?" Duke asked. "You're going back to New York?"
"Would you stay?" Geoff asked, then laughed. "What am I asking? You didn't. You're in, what, Baltimore these days?"
Duke shrugged. "Close enough, yeah."
"We never wanted this, Duke. You and me, we always wanted to get out."
"But you promised your parents."
Geoff sighed. "But I promised our parents. We'd always keep the place in the family."
"They were good people," Duke said, pacing slowly down the dock, watching his feet. "Hell of a lot better than mine were."
"No offense, Duke, but that bar's so low it's not even on the ground."
"Six feet under," Duke agreed. "Still. What happened to second chances?"
"Try third," Geoff said. "Fourth. Fifteenth. I'm drowning here, man. You know how that feels." Duke nodded. "I'm not meant for this. I'm meant for New York. Haute cuisine. Michelin stars. You might be happy running a podunk diner, but that's not me."
Duke shook his head. "I gotta introduce you to Lucifer one of these days."
"You know a guy named Lucifer?"
"Yup. He's a snob. You'll love him." Duke stopped by hotel's waterfront deck. "You want to come up? We could hang out, have a drink. I'll tell you about him."
Geoff shook his head, hand pressed to his stomach. "No, man. I gotta get home. This whole night has me sick to my stomach."
"Yeah. . . . No offense, man, but you may have managed to put me off salmon forever."
"You? Off fish?" Geoff scoffed. "It'll never happen."
Duke clapped him on the back. "It'll be okay. Whatever you decide. You and Bill are solid. Family. He wants what's best for you."
"He wants us to be 18 again."
"Hey, who doesn't want that?" Duke walked backwards towards the door. "I gotta go let my girl know I'm staying an extra day. Go get some sleep, and we'll make a game plan in the morning."
Geoff nodded. "Thanks for coming and helping."
"Anytime, man. It's what I do."
Duke turned and headed in. He heard an odd sound as he mounted the stairs, but shook it off as exhaustion and paranoia, and went to bed.
He'd never entirely forgive himself for not looking back.
Duke woke to sirens and flashing lights the next morning. The cleaning staff had found Geoff floating in the water not far from where he'd left him.
Drowned.
Duke kept his distance, letting the police and the coroner do their jobs. He kept his hands shoved deep in his jacket, staring out at the water, then pulled his phone from his pocket.
looks like I'll be here a couple more days, he texted Octavia. He closed his eyes and swallowed, then added Geoff is dead
He felt eyes on him and looked over to see Audrey studying him with a frown. He stared right back, none of his usual teasing in his face, then turned to head back into the hotel.
Fucking Haven.
[NFB, NFI, OOC welcome. Adapted from ep 1x04, Consumed]