The Cape Rouge, Port of Fandom, very early Wednesday morning

Going to bed last night, his actual bed, with Octavia curled up against his chest, Duke had thought that maybe he might finally be turning a corner. Maybe they could get back to some sort of new normal, instead of constantly bouncing off each other the way they'd been doing since she'd gotten back from the Ground. And it had felt like it at first; the ever present music had faded out into the background, and the meteor shower had added quite the light show through the skylights over the bed, and Duke, at least, had drifted off slow and easy in a way he hadn't for he didn't know how long.

It wasn't meant to last.

( Duke's subconscious was not a nice place )

He couldn't pull away at all.

His sheets clung to him, damp with cold sweat. The first thing he saw when he woke was Octavia, dark and indistinct in the faint red glow of the rising sun.

Red sky at morning, Duke thought. And shoved himself away so hard he toppled from the bed and to the floor.

[for the other one in the bed. Content warning: lots of gore and imaginary death under the cut]