betterthanaplan | Voicemail

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.

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.

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

In much the same vein, on Friday he received a photo of two porgs somewhere in the rocky bits. The closer of the two was blurry, clearly moving towards the camera/phone for a closer look as the picture was taken.

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.

"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."

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.

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.

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. . . .

I guess

She considered leaving at that. She even looked up at the trees for a short moment before sending anything else.

Some might say i'm hiding

Uh . . . huh.

Are you?

Maybe a little

And kind of uselessly, to boot.

No one would ever think to look for her in the woods!

. . . from what?

Duke knew why he was feeling weird and distracted today, but it hadn't occurred to him that other people might be, too. He kind of just figured it was hormonal thing or something.

The island

Hiding from a place while still being in it was, well...

In case you're wondering, it doesn't actually work

Because she couldn't separate her body from her mind.

Not without leaving it at least, Duke agreed. What's it done now?

Surely, surely his own mood couldn't be the island's fault!

Don't tell me you don't feel it

She was going to be so jealous if it turned out he was immune to this.

Duke got that sinking feeling again, like he had in Nina's class.

FEEL WHAT

The world was just determined to fuck with him today, wasn't it.

Everything could be the island's fault, Duke!

Octavia heaved a sigh, and leaned against a tree as she tried to decide on the right words.

Like with the mistletoe
Except instead of a plant it's your body that's insistent
And instead of kissing it wants way more

No no no no no no no.

Excuse that delay in answering, Octavia, Duke was beating his phone into his head.

please say that means it only lasts a day. Tomorrow we can have sentient chocolate hearts or something, right?

Last two times it was about a week

Guess today wasn't a day for Octavia attempting to be reassuring.

Duke's first response was entirely too accidentally on the nose to actually send.

should we postpone the camping trip?

Because he really couldn't guarantee he wouldn't turn into the adult equivalent of a teenage dirtbag in that kind proximity to her, and he'd promised not to try to push anything she wasn't ready for.

That was... probably a discussion worth revisiting.

Octavia didn't entirely manage to track the logic behind his question back out to that, though, so she found herself lightly frowning at her phone.

Do you want to?

Duke considered that carefully, picturing the two of them, curled up in a single sleeping bag in a cozy little tent, far from any people . . . or porgs. . . .

And had to take a moment to adjust himself, letting out a little growl as he did.

No
But it's a very sexy situation and I don't want to make you uncomfortable

ISLAND's making me uncomfortable

There was another longer pause. Hesitation.

... And really unhelpful mental images that somehow made her both wish she'd called him instead and yet somehow feel grateful she hadn't, because grasping at the right words was difficult enough.

If anything, you're the solution
Or you could be

That set off some more mental images, resulting in another growl from Duke and a fervent wish she were on his boat right now instead of off in the woods.

He leaned back in his seat for a moment, eyes closed, and just let the horny side of his brain just run rampant for a few moments, since keeping it on a leash apparently just wasn't in the cards this week. It . . . didn't help, no.

I'd be happy to I'd that s whT to u want

And yes, that was rather a worse spelled text than he normally sent. The joys of very quick, distracted phone typing. At least autocorrect didn't stick anything too weird in there.

Yeah, Octavia had to take a moment to squint at her phone, deciphering that. And then another, to wonder at how his spelling had gone that badly to trash so quickly. Which... yes, produced some vivid thoughts that made her swear under her breath and push away from the tree again, like pacing around would actually do something.

Great plan, Octavia, spending all day away from people only to eventually text the one person absolutely guaranteed to wreck any progress you'd made!

And calling him was probably an even worse idea.

But she was doing it anyway. She was just -- saving him from typing, and herself from having way too many thoughts about his trashed focus. Totally.

Duke answered immediately. "Yep, that's -- um. Hi. Good plan."

He was not proud of that last text.

Octavia was going to tease him about it eventually. Just probably not this week.

"Hi." Her voice sounded extra raspy. She ended up clearing her throat, before adding, almost hurriedly, "And, I do." A beat. "Want that."

She was so smooth.

At the moment he was just glad she hadn't decided he'd had a stroke.

Duke let out a low, relieved breath. "Well alright then." A beat. ". . . Were you thinking that way before the island basically slipped us both an aphrodisiac?"

If they went for this and she regretted it later, he was going to feel awful.

Octavia managed a snort. "Since New Year's, at latest," she admitted. "Right moment just hasn't come up, 'cause whenever it might have, at least one of us has been drunk or painfully hungover or something."

Which included having an uncomfortable run-in with someone that had left him devastated and her feeling vaguely like she'd wanted to crawl out of her skin for a few days afterwards.

Just small hurdles like that.

"The island's just making it... obvious."

Duke winced at that reminder. Though -- hey! An effective mood killer! At least for a little while.

Maybe his mom was good for something after all.

"It's definitely doing that," Duke said. "Then yeah. Let's do the camping trip. We'll just maybe do a little less fishing than we initially planned."

Fishing was great and all, but there were so many more fun things they could try.

"We should still do a little fishing," Octavia replied, managing a halfway teasing tone. "So we can say we did."

A beat.

"Also because food's pretty vital to burning energy like that."

"True. And while I was thinking I'd bring provisions," and condoms, he was going to pack so many condoms, "it can't hurt to get some extra protein."

"It's basic survival stuff, anyway," Octavia drawled. "Also shows the island we can ignore it for a while."

It would do no such thing.

“Right. We’ll show this place who’s boss.”

"Exactly."

Well, it was a nice thought, anyway.

Octavia looked up towards the treetops for a little moment. "Hey," she said then, tone a bit softer. "You... wanted to, too, even before the island started getting pushy about it, right?"

She was well aware he had way fewer hang-ups about this than she did. But checking in (and getting reassurance, though she'd be reluctant to admit that was a part of it) rarely seemed like a bad idea.

“For ages,” Duke said, with a small, slightly frustrated laugh. “Been looking forward to it dice our first kiss.”

Octavia's tiny bark of a laugh sounded pretty rough.

"Sorry."

She did not sound sorry.

That was good! It saved Duke the speech about there being nothing for her to be sorry about.

"Hey, it's easy to be patient. You know, when the island isn't screwing with us."

Also, they'd never talked about being exclusive, so he could get his jollies elsewhere as needed.

There was that.

Octavia snorted. "Kind of an unfortunate choice of words, snogon."

"I assure you, that pun was entirely intended," Duke said with a chuckle. "Right, so. We, uh. We waiting for the camping trip to do this, or do you wanna have our first time in a bed?" He frowned. ". . . Also, is this going to be your first time? No judgement, just -- I don't know, I can walk you through things or something if it is."

It was really too bad Octavia had made a private decision to maybe not tell him she loved him every time she particularly felt it. Because this was definitely one of those moments.

Even if she snorted again. "It's not my first time," she said, with some stray bit of wryness. "It's just been a long time."

And, you know. Just the one guy, even back then.

"Good know," Duke said. "Alright then. So . . . do you wanna come over? Or you want to keep hanging out on the preserve? Again, no judgement either way. I can -- sort myself out in the meantime."

"Hot," Octavia replied, gently teasing because she could. Which was a good sign, really! Meant she was comfortable.

...Ish.

She sighed.

She really, really wanted to come over, to the point where she could practically feel his skin against hers, and his mouth on -- anyway. But she'd also put in a lot of effort towards not being a puppet for her urges today, just like she had the last two times, and even though things were different this time around... She wasn't ready to give in just yet.

Because she was a stubborn fool, sometimes. "It's only been a day," she said, after a long pause, sounding vaguely like she regretted it even as she said it. "I don't feel like giving in to the island yet."

Duke let out a small sigh -- kept small mostly for her benefit, since he really didn't want her to think he was pressuring her. "Waiting it is," he said. "The anticipation will just make it that much sweeter."

He was going to keep telling himself that. As firmly as possible.

Octavia felt that sigh on a deeply personal level, and not at all in a pressuring way, just in... her own personal 'why am I like this?' kind of way.

She knew she was choosing to suffer, after all.

"And startle the wildlife worse," she replied, more idly than she felt. "At least Wednesday's going to be amazing."

"It would be anyway," Duke said with a small laugh. "But yeah. It'll be -- next level stuff."

Octavia's pause was a conspicuously long one. Sorry, she was just thinking about 'next level stuff' because her imagination was just way overactive today.

There was something a little gasp-like about her sharp inhale.

"... Okay I need to stop talking to you for now if I want to keep my shit together."

Yeah, that was a good plan. Duke was eyeing the water again. People did winter swimming all the time in northern climates. He'd never been into it before, but it could be worth a shot. . . .

"I've been told I have that effect," he said, unable to keep from doing at least a little more flirtatious teasing before she hung up. "I'll talk to you later, snogon."

Octavia was definitely going to be splashing some cold water from the stream on her face as soon as this call was done.

She gave a huff at his teasing, but she sounded like maybe she was smiling. "Yeah. You too, snogon."

Click.

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.

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?

I was just looking, it's just something i saw

And that was basically saying the same thing twice, Octavia.

it’s definitely something, Duke agreed. wandering in town today?

A little. So the trees don't get bored of me

The trees were exactly as likely to get bored of her as she was to get bored of them.

if Fandom trees get bored I’m not sure I want to know about it

Did not mean it literally but considering the ferns in the shop...

She wasn't helping, was she?

So basically we should be watching out for a plant invasion, Duke replied. though I guess the ferns were pretty benign. . . .

Creepy, but benign.

Now you're just giving the island ideas

Well, that's what people kept telling her whenever she said something like that.

Anyway, might come to yoga tomorrow

Duke grinned at that, though no one would see it but the porgs.

you should! I'm told my bendiness is very sexy

No one saw Octavia's tiny smirk, either. It was fine.

That doesn't sound very zen for me

Accurate, though!

just makes it more of a challenge, Duke replied. and you know zen isn't everything

Nothing's everything

Quite the observation there, O.

See you and your bendiness tomorrow?

definitely. Looking forward to it!

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

Anything?

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

Do you need anything? besides the obvious?

The 'obvious' was the only thing he could think of.

searching the preserve with lucifer.

you'd say if you sensed anything forcey right?

I would. And I don't sense anything like that.

Which also wasn't necessarily a good thing, either, but she honestly didn't know how that worked.

Duke sighed.

thanks anyway

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.

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.

Edited 2020-06-30 14:17 (UTC)

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.

Significantly later, another photo showed up. No caption this time, either. Just Octavia in a sleek black jumpsuit.

She was still slightly on the fence about it, so. Hence the text.

Octavia. Octavia, what were you doing to him?

Duke sent back a heart-eyed grin emoji. 😍

Subconsciously making up for all the trouble she kept putting him through?

That's good right?

Emoji were weird when you hadn't been texting for most of a decade.

yes. its very good, Duke assured her.

you should give me a whole fashion show when you get home

Maybe

Well. His reactions over text were encouraging, at least.

You'd like that, huh?

(Remember how she'd had the ability to flirt, at one point?)

I would really really like that Duke said. would you?

Maybe

It was an honest answer: he already knew what an unstable mess her feelings on anything seemed to be, lately. But still:

We could give it a shot

and if it sucks we'll stop, Duke agreed. Tonight maybe? Or would you rather play with your new boat first?

If i actually end up with one

Yeah, Octavia was going to believe it once she saw it.

Tonight's good. No point dragging it out and building it up into more than it was. I have time for the boat later

They'd have time for fashion shows later, too, but Duke decided against saying it.

I'll bring the music and the alcohol, Duke promised. maybe some snacks.

Octavia considered telling him not to make a big thing out of it.

But that sounded too much like old times for her to say that. She wanted to try for something that was just like old times.

And I'll bring me

perfect

It wouldn't be a big deal. Just a little one. With music and booze and snacks.

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.]

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?"

Aggressively playing the ukulele is just going to make him smack his head on the lab table, Duke.

“They’re not aimed at the fucking boat! They’ve aimed at the fucking island! I don’t give a shit about your fucking ship, I just need to calibrate my fucking equipment!”

Yeah, that would still seem like a win to Duke.

"If your fucking equipment can get wrecked by a ukulele," Duke said, leaning into the metaphor, "maybe you need better fucking equipment."

How dare you impede science!

“My equipment isn’t shit! It’s sensitive god damn it.”

This was followed by a groan of frustration and the sound of someone tapping their foot impatiently.

“Five grand. Lay off the ukulele for ten minutes and you get five fucking grand. Surely a businessman like yourself can see the ducking opportunity there.”

“Hmm.” Duke strummed thoughtfully. “I guess that’s a reasonable offer. Maybe not quite as reasonable as ten grand....”

There was a long string of angry curses that ended in a long cleansing breath. A moment. And then:

“Fine. Five now and five ten fucking minutes from now, you pirate.”

Honestly, Duke had said 10 in anticipation of being talked down to 7.5, but hey. If he won right away. . . .

"You're a terrible negotiator, Ween," he said cheerfully. "Alright, ten minutes for ten grand. Starting --" he gave his ukulele a final strum "-- now."

Honestly Barry would have paid 15 so who's the bad negotiator now, Duke?

There was a mad scramble on the other end of the line and then the sound of someone furiously typing. Five minutes later there was a giant sigh of relief. How big a sigh? Well if it was any other person they might need a cigarette.

"All right, Duke. Play your fucking miniature guitar now. Where do you want your wad of cash transferred to?"

"Me," Duke said. "On my boat. By courier, rickshaw, hell, go for a carrier pigeon if that makes you happy." A jolly strum. "Pleasure doing business."

"Right. Thanks Duke."

twenty minutes later a drone would fly down and drop a heavy manila envelope in front of Duke and fly off.

Inside would be the cash and the following note:

"Thanks for cooperation. Also? Your G string is flat. - Barry."

"It is not," Duke yelled after the drone. Which he was totally referring to as a carrier pigeon. He plucked it.

It was a little flat.

"Fucking geniuses."

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.

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

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?

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.

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

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.

In so many ways.

no objections. He’s totally welcome

We'll be home in a bit, Octavia sent back. Followed by a heart.

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.

Edited 2020-10-18 12:01 (UTC)

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.

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

Snort.

There is

She got several thumbs up emojis in return.

take it you two have talked?

Octavia was still getting used to emojis again, but at least that one was easy to decipher.

Yeah, he came by. I heard about the reindeer, you okay?

got to help blow up a bear later. I'm good

He was maybe banned from Taste of Thai, but he'd deal with that in time.

As long as they still let Octavia order in, they were going to be okay.

Okay, good

Didn't actually mean she didn't have a misplaced sense of guilt about not having stayed on top of him - not dirty - while the island kept being crazy, but anyway.

Sorry i wasnt there

might have saved Lucifer's suit if you were, Duke answered. or you might've gotten brain-napped too

Think i care more about you than lucifers suit

Or about getting brain-napped herself, but she felt that should have gone without saying.

Duke’s reply took awhile in coming.

I stabbed him

Had he told her that part?

He had not.

And this was an incoming call, not a text.

Yeah, Duke probably should have expected that.

“He bled, Tavi.”

"What?"

Maybe she shouldn't have been as surprised as she was.

“It was like getting hit by a tsunami.”

But hey, at least he didn’t have to worry about his trouble trying to kill Lucifer?

That was... a lot to unpack. The other end of the line was quiet for a long moment.

And once she spoke, she sounded hesitant about it. "In a good or a bad way?"

“Apparently I passed out?” Duke said. He wasn’t sure if that was good or bad either. “He had to carry me home.”

"Of course he did," Octavia sighed, and now she was really feeling guilty about not having been there. (Whether it made sense to or not.) "Well, that's... Something, I guess."

"I guess? Gave us a chance to talk, anyway."

He wasn't entirely aware of just how bludgeony Lucifer had found their conversation. Since, you know, no one had told him.

"I meant the --"

The passing out from Lucifer's blood, but now that she began clarifying that, calling that 'something' like it was a good thing didn't seem like such a great idea.

So she trailed off.

"Anyway. Yeah, I heard."

"While you two were discussing semantics?" Duke guessed, faintly amused.

"We didn't discuss them that much," Octavia replied, faintly... something or other. "Just enough."

"Enough to decide we're against the term 'dating'," Duke agreed. "Which does admittedly make it sound like we're bored suburban house- . . . people."

"I've always been against it, for what it's worth."

Complete with those fights years ago with Lucifer about him daring to use it about her and Duke, no less.

"You are both very preoccupied with words, and I should have remembered that," Duke said. "I apologize."

"You don't need to."

Octavia had her own sore spots about how this had gone, but that wasn't really one of them.

She tried for a wry tone. "On the plus side, Lucifer finally gets what I meant about not wanting to use that word. Only took him two thousand years."

Duke had mentioned once that he was used to partners who didn't want to use "official" words to describe their relationship. He wasn't letting himself think about how in the past, that was usually because they were ashamed of dating him.

(He was pretty sure Lucifer was at least a little ashamed of what Duke was proposing here, yeah.)

"Well, you know, he's used to much longer time spans than us mere mortals. It takes him awhile to adjust."

"I think he's just never had to actually think about it before," Octavia said, a little milder. "Not like this."

Duke was starting to develop a pavlovian response to her tone going mild.

"I didn't mean it in a bad way."

"I didn't mean it like that, either."

Maybe they shouldn't have been having this conversation over the phone, but here they were.

"Do you get why we're so... weird about it?"

"Not really," Duke admitted. Because he didn't want the reason he could think of to be true. "But -- I mean, does it matter if I get it? I'm happy to use whatever terms you guys want."

"It matters to me," Octavia replied softly.

"Okay," Duke said slowly. "I'm not supposed to just guess, am I?"

"No, snogon," Octavia murmured. (Was the word choice on purpose, there? She wouldn't say.) "And I won't speak for Lucifer, because... That's his business."

Even if she had guesses, and all of them centered around a certain detective.

"But I know I got uncomfortable because 'dating' sounds so -- definite. Like it's defined from the outside, because that comes with expectations and baggage."

Duke was pretty sure for Lucifer it had everything to do with a certain detective. And wanting a back door.

He was pretty used to people wanting those with him, too.

"There are people who like the fact that it's clearly defined," he pointed out. "And I know you like knowing what to expect from things. You think maybe it's more that it's defined by the 20th century, and not your own culture?"

"Defined from the outside," Octavia pointed out. "That's included in that. But no, this isn't my culture. Which makes it worse somehow, because that means it's a word that means more to the people on the outside than it does to me."

It meant something to Duke too, though. But all he said was "Alright, then. Thanks for telling me."

There was a short silence.

Then: "That's all?"

Duke wasn't sure what else she wanted him to say.

"I get it," he said. "I'm not going to wholeheartedly agree, but I respect it. We won't use that word."

Octavia sounded a little taken aback.

"I just thought you might want to --" Talk to her. "-- tell me what your thoughts are."

Edited 2020-12-22 18:40 (UTC)

Duke honestly had been sure if she'd care. He hadn't consciously thought about it, but -- well, she always just kind of barreled ahead with her own opinions, and let him follow along.

"I think it's just a word," he said slowly. "One that means spending time together romantically. I mean, it doesn't even have to mean being sexual or exclusive, just -- getting together with the full intention of being romantic about it."

And Octavia was trying to be better about not letting him let her do that.

(It was like the one relationship skill she was consciously trying to learn. Bringing her toolkit up to a total of... maybe two and a half skills.)

"And does it matter to you?" she asked, voice just a little quieter.

"No," Duke said, with a small smile that tinged his tone. "You know the words we use have never mattered to me as much as what we're actually doing."

She wanted to put her own labels on things. Words like snogon, which meant as much as "boyfriend" ever had, just in her own language.

"It's not like you're pretending it isn't happening, right?"

"Of course not," Octavia said, with a small hint of relief. "I've never told anyone you and me are dating, but that doesn't mean I haven't made sure they know we're together."

"There you go, then," Duke said. "And -- I mean, as long as Lucifer doesn't go around telling people he hates us or something, he can call it what he likes, too."

Yes, Duke had absolutely had partners in the past who'd claimed to hate him when talking to other people. Not just Nathan, either. It was practically a theme of his love life, before Evi.

(It probably explained some things about his relationship with Evi, really. She gloried in calling him her husband, after all.)

All these years, and Octavia still wanted to punch every last one of his exes.

"And Lucifer doesn't lie," she said, "so he's not going to do that."

He was definitely going to be telling people they were unnecessarily complicated, though.

Well, they were human. Being complicated was basically a genetic predisposition.

"That's true. He does like to spend a lot of his time making fun of me, though."

"Well, that's different."

"Dr. Linda says it's from a place of love."

"I think she might be right." They all had their love languages, after all. "Anyway... There's something you and me didn't talk about, which we maybe should."

"Alright. You want to do it on the phone now? Or maybe come over?"

"It's not a huge deal," Octavia said, because she felt like she should. Before she worried him, or anything.

And no, that wasn't actually answer to his question. Also, what was that noise in the background? Just something she was realizing she could and should have done earlier in this conversation.

“I’m glad to hear that,” Duke said. “Question still stands, though.”

He really wasn’t sure about that noise, either.

Octavia sighed. Not -- actually at him, though.

"That was me trying to get the porgs to get out of my way so I can leave."

"You're coming over," Duke guessed. He got up and headed towards the galley. "I guess that is an answer to my question."

"I'm coming over," Octavia confirmed. There was an indistinct bit of Trig after that, followed by an indignant squawk in the background.

And then there was no background noise once her boots hit the dock. "Not because this needs a face-to-face. I just want to see you."

"Well. I'm not going to argue with that. You want some coffee or something? Or I could maybe start up some ingredients for a hot toddy. . . ."

"If you want."

She didn't really have a very strong opinion either way.

"Hot toddy it is," Duke decided. "Or maybe I'll start a batch of spiced butter for hot buttered rum. It'll be nice to have on hand for the holiday."

"Jaka, I'm going to be there in like a minute," Octavia pointed out, faintly amused - and almost to the Rouge, now. "Dunno how much you're getting done."

"I'm thinking out loud," Duke said with small laugh. "You think I can't spice some butter while we talk?"

"I honestly don't know," Octavia replied. "But I'm almost h-- almost there, so I'm hanging up now."

And she did.

And then she crossed the gangplank. And then it wasn't long at all before she appeared in the galley.

Even with the sleeves rolled some of the way up, the sweater she'd stolen from him several weeks ago hung far too big on her.

"Ha yun, jaka."

Duke looked her over. "I was wondering where that went," he said, giving her a smile. "Ha yun, gona."

"Stole it," Octavia said, stepping closer and reaching up for a quick kiss hello. "Sorry."

She wasn't. She'd been wearing it a lot when she was by herself.

“Looks better on you,” Duke said, reaching for her waist. “Keep it.”

Octavia's hands ended up on his shoulders.

"I might still make you wear it sometimes," she said, quietly.

It was part of the appeal, shh.

"Oh, you're going to make me do it, are you?" Duke said with a grin. "Well. I'll look forward to that."

Assuming what he'd learned about her time in the bunker didn't make their little power play games turn suddenly spooky.

There was a definite risk of that. But him talking about it with a grin on his face might help alleviate that some.

Octavia leaned against him a little more.

"We had something to talk about."

Well, she had. She was just changing topics gently.

"True," Duke said, dramatically changing his expression to something serious on a dime. "What's up?"

"Nothing that needs that big a change," Octavia replied, reaching up to tap a finger against his nose, with a soft snort.

But then her own expression softened again.

"It's about you and me and Lucifer." He'd probably already gotten that part, though. "And sex."

"You and me and Lucifer and sex and it's not serious or bad," Duke said. He smiled. "I think I might like this conversation."

"It's a request," Octavia said, watching him. Trying not to suddenly feel like this should make her nervous to do. (Trying not to feel like it was making her nervous.) "That you don't sleep with him before we do. I mean, before we all do. Together."

Tiny shrug.

Vulnerable.

"Just feels like... a step we should take together, if we're going to."

Duke leaned in to give her a soft kiss on the forehead.

"Okay. I won't."

"Mochof," Octavia murmured, eyes fluttering closed. "Feels dumb to ask, but..."

Seemed like something to be honest and open about.

"I was a little hurt when you talked to him without telling me first. Did you really think I wouldn't understand wanting to wait until the three of us are together to have sex again?"

"It's not that I didn't think you'd understand," Octavia said, as her eyes opened again. "I'm just figuring out how to stay on the same page with you."

"Well, good," Duke said, and leaned in to kiss her again, this time on the lips. "And I appreciate you making that effort."

Octavia reached up to meet him.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you."

"Nah," Duke said. "I didn't tell you not to. I'm assuming kissing is okay?"

Octavia nodded. "Kissing is okay." Wait, what had Lucifer called it? Her lips tilted into something wry. "First base, apparently."

"Ah yes," Duke said, grinning. "I prefer the four Fs. Which base are we allowed to get to?"

Octavia's head tilted a little. "Just how many systems are there for this?"

Sorry, she was going to get distracted by that for a second.

"Several," Duke said. "Four Fs are nice and easy to remember, though." He held up his hand and counted off on his fingers. "French, feel, finger, fuck."

And despite Octavia's slight squinting --

"Okay, those make more sense than the bases."

"Right?" Duke said cheerfully. "So, uh. Which base are we allowed to get to by ourselves?"

He was assuming that he and Octavia would refrain without Lucifer for a bit, as well.

Octavia hadn't thought of it like that. So now she was assuming he was just talking about himself and Lucifer.

Communication was hard.

"Probably the second one?" she offered after a second of faintly hesitant chewing on her lip. "Though I don't know how much feeling there is for you to even do."

Duke frowned. "I can feel plenty," he said. "I don't have Nathan's trouble."

"Not like that." Come on, Duke. "Look, just -- maybe stay above the waist. For now. Okay?"

"Plenty to explore above the waist," Duke said, sliding his fingers along the hem of her shirt.

. . . Maybe that was a hint of what he'd been thinking, yeah.

"I guess," Octavia said, trying for slightly lighter nd more teasing, now, "but it's not like you have to hold back with me."

Yeah, no hints taken.

Duke’s hand stopped where it was.

“Ah,” he said. “Right. I guess that makes sense.”

Well, now she got that maybe they weren't on the smae page.

She looked confused.

"What?"

“I thought we were, you know, also holding off. Until all three of us could do it.”

"... Should we?"

That wasn't her objecting. She just genuinely had not thought of it that way.

"We want to start this on even footing, right?" Duke asked. "Really be the three of us, and not just us as a couple asking him to be an occasional third?"

As someone who'd been that 'occasional third' for people over the years, Duke had fairly strong opinions about that role.

Octavia was pretty sure Lucifer wasn't ready to be part of a 'the three of us'.

But she didn't have a reason not to go with what he was actually proposing. "Oh," she said. "Well, okay."

"I mean, that's what I was thinking," Duke said. "It doesn't have to be what you're thinking. We can talk about this."

"I just think... he didn't ask for anything like that," Octavia pointed out gently, after a little pause.

"Do you think he's be mad if he knew we were waiting until he was around?"

It was an honest question. Duke had no idea.

Octavia's expression turned faintly amused, even if it was with a wry tilt. "He likes it when he can claim he got me laid, so..."

She'd heard that today, no less. And not for the first time.

Duke laughed. “So we should have sex as a tributes to him?”

Some of the wry fell away. "I don't think he'd hate it," Octavia told him. "Especially if we talk about the things we might want to do with him later."

It'd be like he was there!

“Okay, I can totally get behind this idea,” Duke said, leaning in to kiss her again. “You start.”

So Octavia did. The details were sparse but... effective, and in large part obviously inspired by their weekend as teens.

And then she kissed him like she didn't intend to stop any time soon.

(All the pent-up energy from Lucifer's visit had to go somewhere.)

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.

Duke had missed these.

furbearing trout!

Theyre still there, Octavia sent back. I know i shouldnt be surprised

The fish hadn't been the ones to vanish for seven years.

youre different, Duke noted. and everything else is the same

He got a little bit of that when he went back to Haven. Though of course it wasn't even remotely on the same scale.

I guess so.

Yeah. That was exactly it.

Theyre pretty

And she should probably not have been kneeling on the cold ground by the side of the stream for as long as she already had, but... There was something soothing about the sight of them.

Edited 2021-01-08 15:26 (UTC)

you have that in common, Duke said. Then: good day?

Decent

That was about as far as she was willing to go, the majority of the time.

Its quiet out here

Well. There was a reason Duke didn't ask if it was 'fun'.

quiet can be good

It was a good move.

It is, Octavia sent back. Calmer out here than in town

The wording there was ambiguous on purpose.

generally, I’m guessing

He was also pretty sure it was easier for her not to think about the recent developments in their relationship.

Sometimes a woman just needed more breathing room. And to feel a little... outside of time and space.

There was so little to worry about out here except paying attention to the terrain under her boots.

Yeah
Been here a lot this week

town’s felt kinda noisy, huh?

Something like that

'Noisy' didn't feel like quite right word. But she trusted him to have the concept right.

We should come out here together when its warmer

we should. Or maybe try to recreate our Valentine’s Day trip.

The parts that didn’t involve her bleeding and him making an impromptu pile of gravel, anyway.

It took Octavia a moment to connect the dots in her memory. But she did.

And it was a good memory.

Maybe yeah

Octavia looked at the text after she'd sent it, and -- No, actually, that was far too mild.

Id like that

Better.

The mildness wasn’t a surprise, but Duke appreciated the follow-up anyway.

me too. I like getting cozy with you

I remember camping being pretty cozy

And somehow she even remembered that was what it was called.

He was so proud of her!

easy enough to dig out the tent again. when do you want to do it?

Octavia thought about it for a moment before sending a reply.

Next week?

Sometimes it didn't pay off to wait.

next week works. Got plans on Tuesday, but we could do the end of the week, maybe

It was his diner, he could play hooky from it if he wanted to.

Have the club on wednesday, but thursday onwards is fine

She wasn't terribly attached to her bartending shift, but she had already skipped several shifts lately.

thursday night? Duke suggested.

He'd skipped several lately, too.

Thursday night works

Octavia sent that, then... wrote something else. Deleted it. Wrote another version.

Deleted that, too.

Which left Duke with lots of 'typing' bubbles.

He leaned back in his seat and tried not to read too much into how long they were sitting there for.

Sometimes Octavia just got caught on the smallest things, and wondering whether she should say something that seemed small and vulnerable and whether it would seem dumb, somehow.

Because once the bubbles finally materialized into a text, this was what it was:

Feels like we haven't made plans in a long time. It's nice

Guess I kinda blew up the last one we made

Their date at the diner. And then nearly blew up the ones with Lucifer after that.

He was suddenly very paranoid about how this camping trip would go.

Octavia looked at the text, and couldn't help sighing.

Don't think about that one

She was trying to tell him how nice it was to have something to look forward to.

I'm not counting that one

too late :P

Duke shook his head at himself.

I promise to try not to overthink this one

Octavia should've left it at the 'typing' bubbles. That's what it felt like now, anyway.

Too late, she sent back.

Duke was pretty sure he had, in fact, already blown this trip up.

Thursday, he sent back, trying to get back to the nice feeling. you, me, a tent, and the woods

He kind of had. But now he had most of a week to try and make it better again.

Like he was already trying to. Octavia could see that much.

And warm things

all the warm things. I bet I could find some fruit pies we could cook over a fire

Id like those

And cooking over a fire just in general, let's be honest.

And hot drinks

They would end up eating so many kabobs.

oh totally. got a matcha hot cocoa I'm dying to try out

Dont know what that is, but i trust you

Seeing that word, trust, made something unknot deep in Duke's chest.

anything you want to bring along, too? maybe we can tell stories by the fire

Maybe they needed this, right now.

Dont know yet but ill think of something. Maybe ill bring a book

Maybe she'd read myths to him.

He'd love that. Curling up with her by the fire while she read.

looking forward to it

Octavia wasn't necessarily great with emoji.

But this one was easy:

❤

Guess im going to a pool party tomorrow

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

!!!!

you want company?

Lucifers coming

Just in case it somehow seemed like she could have gotten to this decision all on her own. Because, no. They weren't there yet.

But yes

Ah. That explained a lot, really.

then I’ll come too. Where?

Apparently at summers place?
I dont know where that is yet

no idea. she has a pool?

Apparently?

She knew nothing, it turned out.

guess so. hopefully we won't show up in bathing suits and find out she meant the game

Im not showing up in a bathing suit anyway
But lucifer said speedo, so...

So, whatever happened, they could at least count on Lucifer being a distraction. For everyone.

Sorry for the long pause there, Octavia, Duke was preoccupied enjoying the mental image of Lucifer in a speedo.

you don't want to maybe go for a swim if it's that kind of pool party?

Would he chalk Octavia's long pause also to happy mental images? When in reality it was just about her sighing about how to answer that question.

Only know how to float, remember

It wasn't a lie. The three times she'd visited the pool on the mainland this week hadn't been enough for her to progress much past that, especially with her reluctance to actually ask anyone for guidance.

Youtube videos and other tutorials were kind of hard to recall in the water.

Duke started to type something about how it wouldn't be that hard if she tried it, then caught himself and quickly erased it again.

then we'll hang out on the pool-side together :)

It was probably for the best if they both just tried to steer clear of that subject for the next while, yes.

Octavia sent him back a Thank you, followed by a heart emoji.

(Even with Lucifer's promises of running interference in case of annoyance, she really didn't want to do a party without him.)

Edited 2021-02-05 21:58 (UTC)

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.

It was followed shortly afterwards by, CALL THEM

Duke just kind of stared at those names and numbers for awhile. Then answered:

for what?

sorry i should be clearer they're therapists. going to try to take octavia to a psychiatrist

And now Duke was staring even harder.

thx

Lucifer had done some of the leg work for him. Taking away one of the excuses he had for not having found someone to replace Claire yet.

He was pretty sure being faintly annoyed wasn't the correct response here.

He could be faintly annoyed all he wanted, Lucifer wasn't interested.

you're welcome.

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.

Edited 2021-02-28 19:36 (UTC)

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.

When Lucifer called in this time, he sounded much lighter. Matter-of-fact, as well.

Duke might recognize it as his 'no, everything is fine, and also can you give me some tips on how to break up with my stalker girlfriend' voice.

"So I contacted Miss Smith and she's bringing her portal gun out to bring us and the Rouge back to Fandom," he said. "She says she does this all the time, but just in case she zaps us to a locked-down Pancake Cafe world and your boat shatters on top of a poorly-designed fast food building or something, I'm sorry about that."

Beep.

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.

[reply goes here!]

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..."

[this one went here!]

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?

[this went here!]

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