betterthanaplan | The deck of the Cape Rouge, Monday afternoon

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The deck of the Cape Rouge, Monday afternoon

Duke woke up . . . feeling perfectly fine, actually. Or as perfectly fine as he ever did. Perhaps his body had built up an immunity to the pollen after all these years. Perhaps he'd eaten some particularly quirky yogurt as a depression snack the day before. Perhaps -- and this was the unlikeliest of all if you asked him -- whatever was in charge of the island's whims and quirks was just giving him a damned break this time.

Whatever it was, he was not feeling any extra-strong urges today. He was, however, bemusedly watching a pair of porgs chase each other around the deck while he drank his first coffee of the day, and wondering if it was a sign that spring had finally sprung.

". . . Aww, c'mon, guys," he said, as one porg finally caught the other. "Get a room. I know you have access to several belowdecks."

He didn't even have a salad for them to be in front of! Come on, now.

[open! I'm trying a whole "30 minutes working, 5 minutes walking" thing after listening to NPR yesterday and it's maybe actually doing a good thing for my brain!]

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Octavia had not been blessed the way he had, which considering Lucifer's immunity meant she was the only affected person on the Rouge. But, she'd also proven in the past that she could muscle through the discomfort of the week, so...

It was what it was.

And right now what it was was her returning from a lengthy hike around the preserve. Energy had to be burned off somehow.

"Ha yun, jaka," she called, from the dock.

"Ha yun, gona," Duke said, saluting her with his mug. "Have a nice walk?"

"It was more of a run," Octavia drawled as she made her way over the gangplank.

Her tone betrayed that she wasn't much of a runner, usually.

Duke frowned a little. "Everything okay?"

"Just burning off energy," Octavia replied, on more of a sigh, coming to a stop by him. "How're you doing?"

Duke shrugged. “I’m alright. Porgs seem to have some extra energy to burn too.”

"Yeah, there were a lot of weird bunnies in the preserve, too."

Which was new, but not surprising, all things considered.

“They must’ve been multiplying like. . . .” Duke trailed off with a snort. “Well. Like bunnies.”

Octavia rolled her eyes, but it was mostly good-natured.

She nodded to his coffee. "Are you willing to share some of that?"

“Sure.” Duke held the mug out for her. “Should be a fairly fresh pot left belowdecks too, if Luce hasn’t drunk it all.”

"I just want a sip," Octavia told him, taking the mug from him, carefully (and also all too aware of the way their fingers brushed against each other). "Probably had enough this morning. Chof."

Okay, so it turned into more of a gulp, but anyway.

“De nada,” Duke said idly, watching her face. “So . . . what’s up?”

There was definitely something going on with her.

Octavia raised her eyebrows just a little. "The pollen?" she said. "Guess I was even more right than I thought when I thought you couldn't feel it this time."

Since he'd actually still been in bed and asleep when she'd woken up this morning. That had very much not been the case last time.

Duke blinked a few times. He looked at the porgs. Then back at her.

". . . Wow, yeah, I'm not feeling it at all."

That was a good thing, right? He suddenly wasn't sure.

It was if you asked Octavia.

"Mm-hmm," Octavia hummed, and stole another sip from his mug before holding it out for him to take back.

It definitely helped him not want to flee the island. Which, considering they had just been on vacation, and shortly after that talked about how uncomfortable Octavia could get on vacation. . . .

Yeah. He was going to go with this being a good thing.

He accepted the mug absently.

"Weird."

"But good," Octavia said, because it probably deserved to be said out loud. Couldn't hurt, anyway.

Even as Octavia was already resigning herself to obsessively working out this week.

"I'm definitely okay with not getting triggered," Duke agreed. "How do, uh. How do you want to handle it?"

"I'm handling it," Octavia replied, a little on the mild side. "You don't have to worry about it."

So reassuring, Tavi. Really.

"Okay." Duke nodded. "I'll do my best."

He was definitely going to worry about it. But hopefully not overly much.

Octavia just nodded. And then said, "I think I need a shower."

That run had been serious business.

Duke nodded, reaching out automatically to brush her hair behind her ear -- then pausing a few inches away when he remembered that that might not be quite helpful in this particular situation.

"Sounds like a plan," he said, leaving his hand hovering rather than pull it back directly. Letting her decide if she wanted to lean into the touch or pull away.

Octavia gave a very soft (and maybe a little weak) snort, and leaned into it.

"You can touch me," she murmured, attempting a wry little quirk of her lips for him, too. "It's fine."

"Especially since you're about to go shower?" Duke noted with a wry quirk of his own. He brushed his thumb gently over her cheek. "Just, you know. Seemed like a good idea to let you keep the lead here."

Yeah, he was letting some of his own issues with this week show through. But hey, when was getting consent the wrong thing to do?

Never, and Octavia hoped he wouldn't think she didn't appreciate the care.

"I get it," she promised. Smirked, faintly. "Though the shower time does help."

"Well, sure. Who among us hasn't needed a shower like that from time to time? Pollen or not."

Snort. "It's still also a shower for just the sweat."

"And the pollen," Duke said. He brushed his thumb against her one more time and pulled his hand away. "Which is probably stuck in the sweat."

That was kind of a sexy thought, actually. Her all sweaty and . . . dusty. But, like. A normal amount of sexy thought. For him at least.

Octavia could practically still feel his touch even after he pulled his hand away, although she managed to at least keep herself from swaying after it.

Just made her think about his hands even more.

"Yeah, I'm not expecting to wash that off."

"Not out of your sinuses, anyway," Duke noted. He remembered all too well what the pollen felt like. (It occasionally still featured in his nightmares.) "Go wash up. Then maybe we'll find another way for you to burn energy."

Possibly including sexy-times. Duke was cool with that if she was -- it wasn't him feeling pollen-pressured. And he wasn't about to pretend like Octavia didn't know her own mind about things.

Odds were Octavia was going to be stupidly stubborn about trying to just tough it out. Because something, something, not making this anyone else's problem, she was stronger than her body, all that stuff.

It was also probably not going to last.

"Chof, snogon," she said, and briefly swayed in his direction like she almost went for a kiss, then thought better of it. "Right, shower."

Hey, if she wanted to tease herself like that. . . .

She would also be teasing Duke. He was a little sad when she didn't actually kiss him.

"Shower," he said, and reached out to give her a little nudge in the right direction. "I'll be here when you're done."

Octavia's hand brushed against his right after his nudge, completely by accident. Compleeetely by accident. Yes.

"I won't be long."

But she was going now, finally.

“Enjoy,” Duke said, and watched her go.

Just because he wasn’t pollen-horny didn’t mean he wasn’t horny at all.

Octavia had never really had to work too hard to get either of their attention in that regard, had she?

She made her way down into the boat, and got herself a nice, cool shower. And, okay, maybe it involved a little bit of... something else, just to take the edge off. As fruitless as she knew it to be in the long run.

Soon enough, she was dressed again, drying her hair while wandering into the galley for Lucifer's leftover mangos from the night before. Needed a quick snack before she'd brave the deck again.

Duke was happy enough waiting, watching the water of the port and idly wondering if the pollen affected the fish as well as the porgs.

Eventually Octavia re-emerged, with a cup of freshly-chopped mango and looking shower fresh.

And maybe a little more relaxed, but also a little wry.

"Well, I'm back."

“You are!” Duke agreed. “Congratulations.”

Octavia gave a soft snort as she padded over closer to him. "Mochof. Everything still alright out here?"

Lucifer stumbled onto the deck a while later, wearing precious little besides very short pyjama bottoms and a luxurious bathrobe. He squinted.

"Is it me, or do they seem frisky today?"

Edited 2024-03-25 17:14 (UTC)

"Not just you. I have a feeling we're going to get a . . . flock? Litter? A bunch of tiny porgs. Soon."

Lucifer squinted. "... Well, make sure they don't nest anywhere annoying," he said. "I don't want to have another two-week 'humane shower pause'."

"Your confidence in my ability to control the porgs is . . . I dunno, endearing or something. But I definitely cannot control the porgs."

They were all lucky that none of the porgs had decided they wanted to share the big bed with them.

Aw, they could've woken up to the dulcet tones of porgs fucking.

"Are you sure?" Lucifer said, frowning. "They seem to listen to you more."

“If they listen to anyone, it’s Tavi,” Duke protested. “She’s got a way with her strikons.”

"Do they, or does she just exist near them better than either of us?" Lucifer asked, sitting down.

“Not sure the two are that different,” Duke said with a shrug. He leaned against the railing, sipping his coffee. “They’re wild, and on some level so is she.”

"I suppose," Lucifer said. He sounded skeptical.

He looked up at Duke. "So how are you this morning, excitable porgs aside?"

Duke bobbed his head. "I'm doing okay. Didn't manage to get up before noon, but now that I am up, things aren't looking too bad."

"Good," Lucifer said, with a little curve of his mouth. "Perhaps we can go out and pick up some proper coffee and some pastries soon? A proper breakfast."

"I could be down with that," Duke agreed. "Oh, hey, I found an interesting looking milkshake place in Baltimore I've been meaning to try."

"Oooh?" Lucifer perked up.

Duke grinned. "Piqued your interest, did I?"

"Well, you do know what milkshakes bring me to the yard," Lucifer said, grinning.

"The most decadent ones possible," Duke answered.

Lucifer was going to hate the interior. But the milkshakes would purportedly make up for it!

"And I'm immediately game," Lucifer said, delighted. "Date night?"

"Hell yeah." Duke pulled his phone out and poked around a little. "Looks like the place is closed Monday and Tuesday . . . Wednesday? While Tavi's doing her shift at the Nest?"

"Sounds perfect," Lucifer said, grinning. "I'll be free and entirely yours for the evening."

"Entirely mine," Duke teased. "I like the sound of that."

"I thought you might," Lucifer said, rising back up out of his seat. He joined Duke instead.

Duke slid his arm around Lucifer’s waist.

“Fair warning, it’s apparently pollen time again. I’m not feeling anything, but Tavi says she is.” He nodded towards the porgs. “And if the local wildlife is any indication. . . .”

"I think you're the one we're generally most concerned with this time of year," Lucifer noted, as he leaned slightly into Duke's arm. "You'll let me know if anything starts... tingling?"

“Pretty sure I wouldn’t be able to keep that secret if I tried,” Duke said.

He tended to get viciously irritable at minimum when triggered like that.

"Just making sure," Lucifer sighed. "Now I take it Octavia is being stubborn about it?"

“It’s almost like you know her,” Duke teased. “She’s trying for stoic.”

"Suppose I should make sure I'll be there when she inevitably implodes," Lucifer said. "At least she had her fill last night."

Duke chuckled. "And a glorious time was had by all, I'm sure. But yeah. I offered to help her out when she needs it, too." He shrugged. "It's not so bad when I'm not the one with the . . . itch."

Edited 2024-03-26 16:03 (UTC)

"You know you don't have to if it does make you uncomfortable in some fashion," Lucifer offered, sliding an arm around Duke's shoulders.

"I do," Duke confirmed. And gave Lucifer a peck on the cheek. "But I appreciate you checking to make sure."

"All right, then," Lucifer said.

He turned his head. Mainly to give Duke a proper kiss in response.

Duke wasn't about to argue with that. He kept it simple on his part though, a little more shy about it than he usually would be.

The porgs were watching, after all.

(And, you know, maybe there was still a little discomfort hiding in the back of his mind.)

Lucifer hadn't intended to make it into a thing, either.

Just... a show of affection.

"Shall we go and get some pastries, then?" he said, pulling back. "She might need them later."

“You don’t want to make them yourself?” Duke teased. He was already finishing off his coffee to get ready to go.

"Baking is a mood," Lucifer said with dignity, "That I don't currently have."

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The deck of the Cape Rouge, Monday afternoon

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