The Cape Rouge, Port of Fandom, Monday

[betterthanaplan]

Right. So. This morning was a thing that had happened. On the one hand, Octavia seemed ready to talk, finally. On the other, it felt like Duke had just played "swap the important person in your life who's pissed at you".

"I'll make some coffee," Duke said, leading Octavia into the galley. "And . . . breakfast? Maybe?"

[for the girl]

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[okteiviakom]

"Then don't make me," Octavia told him. Like she was actually asking him to. "Because last time... It was hard enough."

[betterthanaplan]

"Last time. . . ." Duke let out a soft, faintly bitter laugh. "Last time I should have done what you're doing. Made sure you knew I just needed a minute. Not forever."

[okteiviakom]

"Now I know," Octavia said, squeezing him a little tighter to herself. "That matters."

[betterthanaplan]

"Do you forgive me?"

Duke's voice was as wet as they shower was.

[okteiviakom]

That may have influenced how fierce Octavia's answering nod was.

"Ai wigod yu op, snogon."

[betterthanaplan]

Duke's laugh was an echo of the one from Lucifer's. "When you -- you ran like that. After you were a raccoon. I really thought that was it. I'd finally fucked up all the way."

[okteiviakom]

Octavia had done okay keeping everything together until now. But that laugh set her eyes stinging, suddenly.

"I just needed more time," she said, her own voice a little tight, now. "It was too soon. Too sudden."

[betterthanaplan]

"I know," Duke said. And this time he really meant it. "That's just how I felt, after the trouble. Like if I didn't get room right then I was going to explode. . . . I think that's when I really got it. How bad I'd fucked things up in Haven."

[okteiviakom]

Both of Octavia's hands found their way to the back of his neck.

"But we've both come back."

[betterthanaplan]

"And -- you're really not leaving," Duke said, just managing to make it less of a question. "We're gonna put ourselves back together and . . . see where we are? I guess?"

[okteiviakom]

"Yeah," Octavia replied, not much louder than a sigh. She nodded, though, another fierce one. Determined. "It's just going to be like... Something a little more like it was before. When we weren't living together."

[betterthanaplan]

"Okay. Yeah. We can . . . figure each other out again. Like we should have when you first got back."

[okteiviakom]

This sigh managed to be a much quieter one still.

"Yeah," Octavia said, finally letting her head hang forward.

Yeah, that was exactly what they should have done. But she'd been so desperate to cling to him after seven years that there'd been no room for it.

[betterthanaplan]

And he’d been so determined to be everything she needed that he hadn’t stopped to think that maybe they both needed something different.

“Okay,” he said. “Okay. This . . . this is good. It’s going to be good..”

[okteiviakom]

Octavia nodded again.

Then urged him to rest his head against hers.

"I love you," she murmured. "So much. Hod yu in krei bitam. And I want to keep doing that."

[betterthanaplan]

“I love you too,” Duke said, closing his eyes and leaning against her. “More than I even knew I could.”

[okteiviakom]

Octavia shuddered a little, like it was the only way she knew how to relax into the embrace.

Or maybe it was something giving out at the thought that he still loved her.

[betterthanaplan]

He always had. Even when he was shocked or appalled by what she’d done.

He hadn’t lied. That feeling, that core of love, hadn’t changed.

“Let’s rinse off,” he said softly. “And take care of that leg. We don’t want your tattoo to stay wet for too long.”

[okteiviakom]

Octavia had had being mindful of the tattoo in the thoughts when she'd gotten in here. Not so much now.

She gave a tiny nod.

"Okay."

But first, she was going to kiss him. Just to steal that moment before they got back to other things. Or before she lost the nerve to.

[betterthanaplan]

Duke leaned into that kiss, almost hungrily.

He’d missed this so much.

[okteiviakom]

Even with the weekend they'd just had?

Yeah, Octavia could relate. So much so that she found herself pushing him against the wall because hunger invited hunger, and she had missed him.

[betterthanaplan]

Yes. Because doing this as an adult who loved her was a much different—much better—experience than doing it as a teen who thought she was hot.

Shower make-outs might not be entirely in the spirit of the breathing room they’d both agreed they needed, but Duke wasn’t about to point that out. He was going to stay here in this moment as long as he could.

[okteiviakom]

Octavia thought it was kind of a given that the breathing room thing wouldn't kick in until later, anyway. And despite what his brain tried to tell him, she hadn't asked for a break.

And right now, her foolish brain was of the mind that shower makeouts might even help.

But after a moment... okay, several, she pulled back to catch her breath. "Okay," she sighed. "Rinsing off, then leg, then... We see what happens."

She was going to make him put his hands on her leg. She already knew what would happen.