Voicemail

[betterthanaplan]

"Buddha says 'All good things come to those who wait.' With that in mind, leave me a message."

*beep*

Comments

[thatwaslucky]

Rey had promised updates, which were late, but she texted. She sent a picture of a porg looking up at her from its spot in the pilot's seat of the Falcon, which was going to both Duke and Octavia.

Everything's fine, should be back Tuesday with no problem.

[okteiviakom]

It was late in the day on Thanksgiving when a text came through from Octavia's number: just a picture of a plate holding something that didn't look very (or at all) skillfully made but which was still recognizable as a slice of pecan pie.

There was no caption.

This was what happened when you gave her your number and left the island, Duke.

[betterthanaplan]

Duke texted back a thumbs up, and a photo of a porg looking moodily out through one of the Cape Rouge's portholes.

[okteiviakom]

And then, so late on Saturday it was actually well into the early hours of Sunday... A voicemail.

"Ha yun, Duke. Jus' wanted to tell you the holiday punch was... good. And red." And very boozy. He could probably tell, right? From the slight slur to her voice. There were faint footsteps in the background: boots on cobblestone, not quite as measured and steady and march-y as they usually were. "And now it's raining --"

Long pause. A little gasp, from tilting her head too far back.

"Hunh. Sugar." Tiny, throaty laugh. "Tastes like sugar? Anyway, you shoulda been there, 't was missin' your floppy hair. I was -- anyway."

Another long pause. This time, her voice returned a little more murmured, and a lot more wistful.

"Komba raun, flapkrasha. Just, don't... don't float away, okay? Okay. Leidon, that's all, bye. Now, how do I --"

Click.

[thatwaslucky]

"Hi, it's Rey. Looks like I'm going to miss yoga this week. I got called back home for a few days so I'm going to be leaving after work. Nothing big, I think."

And then there was a little pause before the, "Hopefully I wasn't too embarrassing the other night. Okay, so, talk to you later."

[thatwaslucky]

It wasn't long between Rey getting back and her sending a text to both Duke and Octavia that contained a picture of the warehouse door with the lightsaber scorches on it, like it was proof that she was here.

Back safe.

[okteiviakom]

Monday was definitely into its evening by the time Octavia texted Duke a photo. It was pretty dark, but with some effort (and maybe turning up the brightness), he should be able to make out the stream in the preserve, moonlight reflecting off the water.

No caption followed.

[betterthanaplan]

Duke wondered at first if he'd been texted a photo of her pocket for a moment, but yeah, after a few moments futzing with it, he made out what it was.

Pretty. Planning where we'll camp this week?

He was hoping his body would have calmed back down by then, or he was possibly going to end up embarrassing himself. . . .

[okteiviakom]

Another Monday evening, another context-free photo from Octavia, though you could tell by the light that she'd taken it earlier in the day.

It was an animal print dress in a shop window.

[betterthanaplan]

That was a surprise! The subject matter, not the text itself. Duke couldn't quite picture Octavia in an animal print -- not unless she killed and skinned the animal herself.

that's quite a look! thinking of changing your aesthetic?

[thatwaslucky]

Sometime Friday afternoon before training, Rey sent a simple text.

Anything?

[betterthanaplan]

Every time someone texted him, Duke hoped it was Octavia. Even when he tried not to. Even when he told himself repeatedly that it probably wasn't.

He barely kept himself from throwing his phone at a tree in frustration.

no

[bookbeltof_love]

It had been, like, a weird-ass day between talking to Summer and her class but, well...

She might not be going to ask Duke for romantic advice these days (having decided that that would be super cruel) but, like, since it was his birthday...

It was child's play to get to his boat and leave, in a conspicuous location, a brightly wrapped box (pink, with a blue ribbon, which probably hinted at who was the culprit). The card was simple, elegant handwriting, with: Happy birthday!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Love, Nina

Elegant was hard to manage with that many exclamation marks, but Nina was practiced at this sort of thing and managed just fine.

Inside the box were a half-dozen Pirate buns.

They were incredibly boozy ginger-citrus buns of deliciousness.

Well, like, as far as Nina was concerned. She wasn't actually sure if he'd like them but she hoped he did.

[okteiviakom]

It had been a long time since any digital hand-holding.

But today, Octavia was out on the mainland and - very carefully not looking at any of the previous messages in the chain - sent Duke a picture of herself in a changing room, wearing a black swimsuit that looked like imitation leather.

There was no caption.

[betterthanaplan]

Holy shit.

Yeah, Duke was going to need a moment of, um, alone time with that picture.

you look amazing, he texted back quickly, because she did not need him to leave her hanging here. Then he went to go take a moment of alone time.

[badassprodigy]

The island had moved again. Which meant that all of Barry's equipment had to be re-calibrated which was currently driving him nuts. Why?

Because the plinking and playing of a ukulele's E string was for some reason not allowing one of his sensors to simmer down long enough to get used to the vibrational harmonics of the island.

Did it take part of the day for Barry to figure it out? Yes. Was he annoyed that a ukulele was messing with his equipment? Yes. So therefore he called and left a message.

"Hey! Don-Fucking-Ho! Do you think you could stop playing Tiny Fucking Bubbles for ten minutes? I got serious fucking work to do and your god damn tiny guitar is making my sensor array go ape shit!"

...

"Oh. And it's Barry. Sorry for the fucking voice mail. But seriously! Stop fucking playing for ten minutes."

How did Barry get Crocker's number? How did he know it was Duke playing the ukulele?

Science. Just roll with it.

[OOC: Yeah. I don't know. I got bored. Just roll with it.]

[betterthanaplan]

This was how you got Duke to come aggressively play ukulele at you, Barry. You knew that, right?

"Why the hell do you have sensors aimed at my boat?"

[thatwaslucky]

Rey didn't know if this would go through. But the day after Octavia's visit, she gave in to worry just enough to send a text.

You had better be coming back here.

And she was absolutely not going to check if it was delivered and would just trust that it would be at some point.

[okteiviakom]

Octavia hadn't exactly stopped trying since Saturday. She'd sent a smattering of texts on Sunday, mostly various curses and helpless reminders for him to call the minute any of her texts went through, followed by a Told Rey you're maybe missing, and now i feel im being paranoid.

Her strategy on Monday was different. There were several emoji - a knife, a heart, a sun - all sent as individual texts. And then, Thought maybe if i keep texting, theyll eventually dislodge the earlier ones and theyll get to you.

A photo got sent on Tuesday morning, the beach with the weird huge manatee-type things in the water off in the distance, and some inner tubes laying on the sand.

Then, later: Portalocity says haven is cut off. Couldnt tell me more than that.

And yet a little later: Just please stay safe. I love you

Then finally, in the middle of the night between Tuesday and Wednesday:

Gysdd yiu reaally ernt. Home

[okteiviakom]

There were no new attempts at texts for a couple of days.

But then there was one on Friday. First, a photo of Magnus' pet fish Stephven in his glass ball, making a goldfish face. In the background, mostly blurry, was the hallway at the MCA.

It was then followed by an actual text:

Magnus is helping empty the apartment. Gonna put it all down in the hold on the rouge. If you dont like that youre going to have to come tell me yourself.

Worth a shot, right?

[my_own_advocate]

And by Wednesday, somewhere between all those panicked text messages sat one from Lucifer:

I normally don't hate to say I told you so, but in this case I almost do.

[badassprodigy]

"Crocker. Got a handwavy shipment for you to pick in Baltimore. Let me know what day is good for you for a pick up."

[okteiviakom]

A text came in on Sunday night, while Octavia was at the Devil's Nest.

Objections to lucifer staying over with us tonight?

And then almost immediately after, a clarification that... wasn't much of a clarification: Not a threesome thing. Maybe. I dont know

This week had been a lot.

[betterthanaplan]

In so many ways.

no objections. He’s totally welcome

[my_own_advocate]

The first text, sent Saturday evening, was probably the most cryptic.
😈👿🐱‍🏍🔧🔥✈🦝🍸?

The second and third, sent on Sunday, were slightly less so.

i'm back from hell and your other half is presently a garbage-munching cretin of an underworld much worse than even my own. Please tell me you're returning from bloody Maine soon because I have some bourbon that desperately needs to get drunk, and doing it on my own is utterly depressing.

A few moments later:

also, please tell me you haven't been murdered somehow.

Those stabby emoji's at the end were probably unnecessary.

[okteiviakom]

Weve decided we like "uncharted territory" better than "dating"

That wasn't a text that needed more context, was it? Octavia didn't seem to think so.

[betterthanaplan]

you can call it whatever you want so long as there's still kissing and nudity involved

[okteiviakom]

Octavia's habit of texting context-free photos had been a little more sparse since her return, but here was one:

The stream, in the preserve. With the fish.

[betterthanaplan]

Duke had missed these.

furbearing trout!

[okteiviakom]

Guess im going to a pool party tomorrow

It seemed like the kind of thing that deserved an FYI text.

[betterthanaplan]

!!!!

you want company?

[my_own_advocate]

It took less than an hour after Lucifer had exhited Karolina's office for him to text Duke.

... text him a string of names and numbers, to be specific.

[my_own_advocate]

It was followed shortly afterwards by, CALL THEM

[my_own_advocate]

Lucifer wasn't sentimental enough to send voicemails to a man he knew couldn't receive them anyway.

He was just bored, in the midst of a long tidying session, was all.

"I just want you to know that I bloody hate Maine," he said. "Never been to the state, but clearly I'm not missing out on anything. Shellfish, seafood, stealing people out of their beds in the night, not exactly a rousing reputation."

A pause.

"She's not doing very well," he added, "I mean, she's doing better than the first few days, but she's still not doing very well. And I keep telling her you're alive and you're coming back, so you'd better not even think about making a liar out of me."

A longer pause.

"I miss you."

...

"I'm chucking your phone out the window before you can hear this."

Beep.

[my_own_advocate]

A few days later:

"So I should mention, don't bother calling Octavia when you get your reception back. She smashed her phone in a counterproductive rage the day we found out you were gone."

A long pause.

"We got your letter," he said. "And if you think either of us is abandoning your boat, you're bloody mad, Crocker. Lay off the weed and get back here, we need someone to drive this tub."

Beep.

Wacky Phone/Texting Day

[crimson_sister]

Lucille didn't use her phone to communicate often, but this was important. She sent a message to all her employees.

Don't forget that there is a discount on the birds if anyone can catch them.

Re: Wacky Phone/Texting Day

[betterthanaplan]

[reply goes here!]

Phone Day!

[lilac_eyed_lieutenant]

The call Tisarwat had received was a bit confusing and strange, and she figured the only way to get more clarification was to call back, since apparently Lucille wasn't home? Otherwise, it would seem she could just come over to Tisarwat's room, but whatever.

"I guess it is hard to miss someone when you live with them, right? Are you feeling okay? Where are you? Call me back. Or come over. My door's open..."

Re: Phone Day!

[betterthanaplan]

[this one went here!]

Wacky Phone Day!

[apocalypsehow]

This was better than the message he got from Diego, so she got an actual response rather than rage.

What kind of drunk makeovers?

He was asking the real questions here, okay?

Re: Wacky Phone Day!

[betterthanaplan]

[this went here!]