betterthanaplan | Luke's, Friday after hours

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!]

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From:

okteiviakom

"Now he just sounds like family."

It didn't mean the feeling of cheating was entirely gone, but...

"Anyway. He doesn't speak it to me often. Think I said something once when I was drunk that made him think I don't like it when he does. And I haven't corrected him."

From:

betterthanaplan

"Why not?" Duke asked. "He is family, isn't he? Or am I getting the 'Children of Aurora' thing wrong again?"

From:

okteiviakom

Another head shake.

"I don't know why."

From:

betterthanaplan

Duke shrugged back. "Well. Something else to think about." He smiled at her. "Now. Think we can try having dinner, again?"

From:

okteiviakom

He made it really easy, sometimes, to slip away from difficult conversations.

But Octavia wasn't taking the out. "No," she said softly.

From:

betterthanaplan

Avoidance was one of Duke's favorite coping mechanisms, this was true.

". . . Okay," he said, smile dropping away. "Then, uh. What are we going to do instead?"

From:

okteiviakom

They were going to find out whether his seat was sturdy enough to hold two. Because Octavia was shifting to climb onto his lap.

At least she'd finally figured out she needed more contact.

From:

betterthanaplan

The chair creaked a little, but held. Duke let out a soft, surprised laugh, even as he settled his arms more firmly around her.

“Yeah. This seems like a plan.”

From:

okteiviakom

"This was never something we should've talked about with a table between us," Octavia said, winding her arms around his neck.

Yes. This was better.

From:

betterthanaplan

"I'm sorry," Duke said, leaning to rest his chin on her shoulder. "I made a pretty big mess of all this, huh."

From:

okteiviakom

Octavia's head tilted against his. "Kind of, yeah," she said. Maybe the way her fingers found their way into his hair would make up for how blunt that was. "You... startled me."

Flung her into a panic, more like, but saying that would have meant acknowledging it first.

From:

betterthanaplan

"To say the least. You really thought I was rejecting you?"

From:

okteiviakom

"No," Octavia muttered. Only, then she had to amend it to, "Not really."

A part of her had just jumped to terror.

"It's not that simple, jaka."

From:

betterthanaplan

"Nothing ever is," Duke said ruefully. "And there's no rush on anything, you know that, right? We have time."

You know, assuming Lucifer didn't run off again for some reason. Or Haven didn't decide it was time to yank Duke back. Or the island didn't try to kill any of them again. . . .

From:

okteiviakom

"Doesn't feel like it." Well, hadn't felt like it, anyway. In that first moment.

Her fingers played with the ends of his hair.

"Can you tell me more about how you feel?"

From:

betterthanaplan

"About Luce?" Duke asked. He gave her waist a little squeeze as he tilted his head thoughtfully. "I mean. . . . It's comfortable. Spending time with him. And he's extremely hot, obviously. But also . . . I like that we can make him comfortable, you know? I like that I can do that for both of you."

From:

okteiviakom

"I don't think I've been making him comfortable lately," Octavia muttered.

That didn't mean she didn't see his point.

From:

betterthanaplan

"This might help with that," Duke said. "If it's a, uh. Sexual tension thing. He promised not to hit on you, right? Maybe he's being careful not to, and that's making things awkward?"