The deck of the Cape Rouge, Monday afternoon

[betterthanaplan]

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!]

Comments

[betterthanaplan]

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

[okteiviakom]

"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.

[betterthanaplan]

Duke frowned a little. "Everything okay?"

[okteiviakom]

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

[betterthanaplan]

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

[okteiviakom]

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

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

[betterthanaplan]

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

[okteiviakom]

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

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

[betterthanaplan]

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

[okteiviakom]

"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.

[betterthanaplan]

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

There was definitely something going on with her.

[okteiviakom]

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.

[betterthanaplan]

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.

[okteiviakom]

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.

[betterthanaplan]

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."

[okteiviakom]

"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.

[betterthanaplan]

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

[okteiviakom]

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

So reassuring, Tavi. Really.

[betterthanaplan]

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

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

[okteiviakom]

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

That run had been serious business.

[betterthanaplan]

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.

[okteiviakom]

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."

[betterthanaplan]

"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?

[okteiviakom]

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."

[betterthanaplan]

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