Luke's, Friday after hours

[betterthanaplan]

In an attempt to feel less like their new "space" arrangement was actually a break-up in disguise, Duke and Octavia were having a date tonight.

At Duke's closed down diner. Look, restaurants that were open to the public were not for everyone, okay?

He'd busted his ass to make the place look a little less diner-y and a little more romantic. Most of the tables had been cleared aside and the whole place was lit by candle light, scattered across every surface. He'd made a meal heavy on the fruit, with salmon and pineapple kabobs and Caribbean confetti rice and pan-fried banana for dessert. The champagne cocktails were maybe a bit overboard for a "first date", but Duke didn't care.

Look, he only gave his romantic side free reign on rare occasions. When it happened, he went all out, okay?

[for the one!]

Comments

[betterthanaplan]

He was remembering that right now, yeah. He reached for her hand.

"It's okay if the answer's no. Tavi, it's okay. It was a bad idea."

[okteiviakom]

Octavia pulled her hand back.

Reflex.

"Tonight was supposed to be about us," she said, still seeming -- thrown by the whole thing, for lack of a better word.

[betterthanaplan]

Duke sighed and lifted both his hands. "You're the one who brought him up."

[okteiviakom]

Repeatedly, no less!

"What, so I should have expected this?"

[betterthanaplan]

“So maybe don’t get pissed at me for also talking about him.”

[okteiviakom]

The staring was back. Just a little sharper, this time.

(Anger, it was like a comfortable blanket for her to drape over herself when she didn't know what else to feel. And it was hard to fight the impulse to reach for it.)

"You didn't just talk about him."

[betterthanaplan]

“You basically said he asked you on a date and offered to let me tag along like a puppy.”

[okteiviakom]

"I didn't mean it like that!" Octavia snapped.

Her anger faltered a little, though, even as she did.

[betterthanaplan]

“Yeah, I get that. Because I give you the benefit of the doubt.” Duke sighed. “Can we — start this over?”

[okteiviakom]

Octavia made a frustrated noise, but it sounded like the worst of the fire had died down. She pushed both hands through her hair, her gaze down towards the table now. "How do we start this over?"

It wasn't as if they could make anything unsaid.

[betterthanaplan]

“I don’t know, Tavi.” Duke rubbed both hands down his face. “I don’t actually have any — templates or secret pass phrases. You might have noticed I fucked up all my other relationships, too.”

[okteiviakom]

"You're the one who asked."

She was just... going to take a moment to not look up.

[betterthanaplan]

“There. That. Let’s stop doing that. I know I did it too, but — saying ‘you started it’ doesn’t help anything, right?”

[okteiviakom]

"Fine," Octavia said, her voice a careful, strained flat. "Was just hoping you had a suggestion."

[betterthanaplan]

Duke took a large sip of his champagne cocktail.

“Okay. Okay, let’s try . . . changing the subject. How, uh. How are things on the Samsara?”

[okteiviakom]

Octavia finally looked up at him again. She looked like she wasn't sure that he wasn't joking.

Because seriously, Crocker.

"What?" she said. "Duke, you can't just change the subject."

[betterthanaplan]

Duke grit his teeth and pressed his cocktail glass to his forehead before meeting her gaze.

"Then you try something, Octavia. Because right now all you're doing is getting pissed at me for not doing it right."

[okteiviakom]

Octavia pushed away from the table. Got up.

Not to leave, to pace.

"No," she said, sounding frustrated, more than anything, I'm pissed because you dropped a bomb on me."

[betterthanaplan]

"Really?" Duke asked. "A bomb? He's your best friend, Tavi. We've both gone to him when we're lonely and missing each other. He's come to us. What I suggested . . . it's basically just putting a name to what's already happening. And not feeling guilty about it."

[okteiviakom]

"Yes, a bomb," Octavia retorted. She was pacing back and forth by the table like a caged animal. "Because this is out of nowhere."

Not entirely, but her defenses were going off all over. Made it hard to feel anything else. Or to even realize she was panicking.

"We -- I thought we're still trying to fix us."

She'd circle back to that 'guilty' part in a moment, too.

[betterthanaplan]

"We are! And this could help that!" Duke reached out his hand. "Would you sit down, please? There's nothing to fight in here."

[okteiviakom]

"By adding another person into the mess?"

She did not look like she planned to sit down, no.

[betterthanaplan]

“You said we need balance. You said we need space. Maybe what we need is . . . a stabilizer. It’s easier to balance on three legs than two, right?”

[okteiviakom]

Octavia let her head drop forward, rubbing her forehead with both hands. Shook her head.

"Have you been talking to him about this?"

[betterthanaplan]

"No." Duke shook his head. "And I haven't been planning this." He dropped his head with a rueful sigh. "Obviously I didn't plan this, or I might not be fucking it up so bad. I just -- you mentioned him inviting us for dinner right as we were talking about dinner dates, and, uh. It suddenly made sense."