The Cape Rouge, Port of Fandom, Saturday

[betterthanaplan]

Duke woke up to find a strange gray crystal stuck to the skin of his stomach, like an excessively large bellybutton ring. No amount of tugging could pull it out, which meant it was absolutely some kind of unnecessary Fandom thing.

It was making him extremely nervous.

He could head out to sea, but that was where he’d disappeared from last time, and also, what if the boat sank? He could try heading to the mainland, but that’d involve going through town, where sometimes there were killer clowns or brainwashing reindeer. And anyway, Baltimore had things like cults. And also his mother.

Nope, the only thing for it was to stay right where he was and hope for the best. And prepare for the worst. By triple-checking the locations of all his weaponry. And maybe barricading the doors.

Shit. Did it smell like gas in here? His sense of smell wasn’t great, how could he tell if there was a gas leak? Sure, okay, his stove didn’t even run on gas, but still.

The porgs. Miners used birds to be able to tell when there was bad air. We’re the porgs acting strangely? He nudged Polly with his toe. Polly didn’t move from his admittedly comfy looking spot on the counter. Duke nudged him harder until Polly grunted and shifted. Duke let out a shaky breath.

“Okay, good. You’re not dead.”

. . . For now. . . .

[open]

Comments

[okteiviakom]

Octavia was, as of yet, unaware of the whole crystal situation. She didn't have one, and she'd slipped away for a shower just a little before he'd even woken up.

That was probably about to change, though, now that she returned into the galley all wrapped up in a towel.

"Thought I heard you were up."

[betterthanaplan]

Duke startled a little, but managed to cover. “Yeah,” he said. “. . . Does Polly look sick to you?”

[okteiviakom]

Octavia's brow furrowed as she came over for a closer look at the bird in question.

"... Isn't that how he always looks when he's sleeping?"

[betterthanaplan]

Duke stared at the bird for a long moment, resisting the urge to poke him again. "You're probably right."

Something thunked softly up on deck, a crate tipping just a little from a slightly larger than average wave. The sort of sound Duke had long since gotten used to.

But that was what they wanted him to think.

He straightened from his scrutiny of the porg, eyes sharp as he stared at the door to the deck. Fingers twitching for the gun taped under the table.

. . . That was what who wanted him to think?

[okteiviakom]

It was the sort of sound even Octavia was used to by now. So that wasn't what caught her attention: the shift in his demeanor did.

That made her a little more alert, too.

"What is it?"

[betterthanaplan]

Duke glanced at her, then held up a hand to indicate she should keep back. He edged towards the door, ears straining.

It was quiet. Too quiet.

[okteiviakom]

Octavia's brow was furrowing again. Her eyes darted towards the door.

She kept quiet.

[betterthanaplan]

Duke crept closer, hand still out.

Nothing happened.

Were they waiting out there? Crouching in wait?

Or was he going insane?

[okteiviakom]

Yeah, Octavia wasn't hearing a damn thing to explain what he'd reacted to.

But this was Fandom on a Saturday morning...

"Duke," she hissed, "what is it?"

[betterthanaplan]

Duke slowly lowered his hand. He didn't relax.

"I don't know," he admitted. "There's . . . something."

[okteiviakom]

"Like you heard something?"

[betterthanaplan]

"Yeah," Duke said. ". . . No. Maybe? Or smelled something. Or . . . something."

[okteiviakom]

"... Like you smelled something."

Octavia didn't relax, but her attention was now almost entirely off the door, at least.

[betterthanaplan]

"Do you think the air might be bad?" Duke asked. "Or -- maybe something's on fire?"

[okteiviakom]

"I don't smell anything weird," Octavia told him, shaking her head. And yeah, her confusion was now starting to turn into concern. "Duke, what's going on?"

[betterthanaplan]

"I don't know," Duke admitted. "But I'm freaking out so something is wrong."

[okteiviakom]

"Okay," Octavia said. The nod was almost automatic: reassurance. "Then we'll figure it out."

She was way underdressed for this.

[betterthanaplan]

"Yeah." Duke nodded back. "Yeah, yeah. Also there's this thing on my stomach."

He maybe could have lead with that.

[okteiviakom]

Yeah. He really could have.

Octavia was already moving closer. "What thing?"

[betterthanaplan]

Duke started to pull his shirt up, then froze, head jerking up at the caw of a seagull outside.

She could probably see the bottom edge of the crystal at least.

[okteiviakom]

She could. And that meant she was reaching out to try and pull his shirt a little further up herself as her frown deepened.

By kind of a lot.

"What the hell... ?"

[betterthanaplan]

Duke was too distracted to try to stop her.

"Did you hear that?" He turned his head, listening for something that definitely wasn't there. "Is someone on the deck?"

[okteiviakom]

Octavia hadn't heard anything. Of course, she was a bit busy staring at the crystal.

"There's a rock on your stomach."

[betterthanaplan]

“Yeah,” Duke said, giving her a ‘duh’ kind of look. “Fandom is doing a thing. We have to be ready for anything.”

[okteiviakom]

Octavia gave him a faintly exasperated look right back. But it was a quick one.

Because she was still staring at the crystal, for the most part.

"Yeah, well, that's definitely something."

[betterthanaplan]

"I think it did something to the boat," Duke said. "Or -- or maybe it has friends who are invading?"

The sick feeling in his stomach told him there was definitely something wrong. Something more than a weird crystal embedded in his skin.

[okteiviakom]

"Boat's fine, Duke," Octavia said slowly. (Well, it was fine as far as she could tell, anyway.) "And there's no one invading."

[betterthanaplan]

"There's something," Duke insisted. "I just can't figure out what."

[okteiviakom]

Octavia let his shirt drop.

"Well, I don't have one of those," she said, parting the towel to show him just that: nothing on her stomach except pale skin and the usual scars. "And I haven't noticed anything going on."

[betterthanaplan]

Duke frowned, reaching out to run his fingers over her bare stomach.

"So. . . ." he said slowly. "Maybe the stone lets me notice what's happening."

Or made him think something was happening that wasn't.

[okteiviakom]

"Maybe," Octavia said.

To her credit, it was only a little bit dry.

[betterthanaplan]

Duke's eyes slid sideways, his fingers twitching. He looked at Polly, watching for long moments for the tiny rise and fall of his chest.

"Are you sure he looks okay?"

[okteiviakom]

Octavia wrapped the towel around herself again. And while he watched Polly, she was watching him.

Whatever he was feeling, it was real to him.

She pressed against his sode a little. "I'm sure, jaka," she said a little more softly, looking the bird over again. "He's just resting. Probably sleeping off eating a few too many rocks."

[betterthanaplan]

"What if the rocks were bad?" Duke asked. "O-or something was on them? Fandom doesn't even have a vet. And who would know how to treat porgs anyway?" He shoved his hands in his hair and paced a few steps away, full of anxious energy.

Maybe he really was going insane.

[okteiviakom]

Octavia was now regretting saying that, yeah. And definitely considering waking up the poor bird just to prove a point.

"He's fine," she tried, her hand dropping from where she'd just been about to put it against the small of Duke's back. "I'm sorry I said that, okay? He's just sleeping."

[betterthanaplan]

Duke let out a shaking breath. "Yeah," he said. "Yeah. Sorry." A frustrated growl. "I don't know what's wrong with me."

[okteiviakom]

"I think," Octavia said, carefully, taking a step closer to him again, "it might be that... crystal thing."

Well, it was definitely involved in some way.

"I think it might be doing this to you."

[betterthanaplan]

"Okay," Duke said. "Well, that's a problem. Because I tried pulling on it and it's not coming out."

And he wasn't so freaked out as to consider cutting it off as a viable option.

[okteiviakom]

Octavia didn't like the sound of that, but she did not let that show.

"It's Saturday," she pointed out. "Odds are it's another stupid Fandom thing. You know, where it'll just be gone on Monday."

[betterthanaplan]

Duke nodded, then jerked at yet another perfectly normal boat sound.

“That’s assuming I don’t have a heart attack before then.”

[okteiviakom]

"Hey," Octavia said, reaching for his arm, giving him a look that was somewhere between reassuring and imploring. "Yumi throu daun ogeda. I'm not gonna let you have a heart attack."

She was, however, going to throw far too much of her energy into trying to keep him at some level of grounded over the weekend.