Aboard the OceaNyx, Wednesday afternoon

[betterthanaplan]

History said that the weirdness in town had probably abated by now, but Duke and his partners had quietly agreed to stay at sea a bit longer. Let things with them settle a bit more, before inviting Fandom chaos back in.

Unfortunately, Fandom chaos wasn't the only kind they had to worry about.

Duke had been feeling increasingly ill as the days went by, and by Wednesday morning, he heaved himself over to the wheel only to pretty much collapse into his seat, panting.

How could just existing be this draining??

[for those on the boat with him, and slow play. NFB due to distance.]

Comments

[betterthanaplan]

“Yeah, well. Now maybe you get why I had to kill that guy.”

He’d been dying anyway. Duke wasn’t going to think about that.

“Mostly they’re more subtle than that.”

[okteiviakom]

Octavia only half-got what he was saying, too caught up in the present moment.

She held out the glass of juice towards Duke, in silent offer. For lack of anything more useful to give.

[my_own_advocate]

Lucifer sighed. "So we have to loiter around waiting for you to manifest something mad and terrible," he said. "Lovely."

[betterthanaplan]

Duke was frustrated and scared and not in the best mood for snark. So he could hopefully be forgiven for snapping.

"So sorry my crisis isn't entertaining enough for you, Luce."

[okteiviakom]

Octavia drew her hand back, since the juice offer didn't seem to go anywhere.

"Guys, it's not the time."

[my_own_advocate]

"I don't mean it's not entertaining, I mean that's bloody terrible for everyone involved," Lucifer snapped back. "Including you."

[betterthanaplan]

"Then congrats on stating the obvious." Duke shoved his hands into his hair.

He was hurting them. He knew it. But he couldn't seem to stop.

[okteiviakom]

Was Octavia even here?

They were about to find out.

"Hey!" she snapped. "Stop."

[my_own_advocate]

Lucifer had been about to say something.

But now he was looking up at her instead, at least?

[betterthanaplan]

Duke flinched faintly. “Sorry.”

[okteiviakom]

"We are all scared," Octavia said, not even trying to really keep her tone even. "And sniping at each other doesn't help anything. We're in this together, remember?"

[my_own_advocate]

"I was just--" Lucifer sighed. "Yes."

[betterthanaplan]

Duke had already said ‘sorry’. So he tugged at his hair and chewed his lower lip and stewed.

[okteiviakom]

Octavia didn't need anyone to say 'sorry' because Octavia didn't need anyone to be sorry.

"I just want us to figure this out," she said, a fraction softer now. "Odds are we'll be right here with a new, unknown trouble more than once, so... We need to figure out a way to find out what it is, and what we can do about it."

[my_own_advocate]

Lucifer threw his hands up. "We could start experimenting, I suppose," he said. "Get some kind of emotional response out of him."

[betterthanaplan]

“I know what some of them are,” Duke said, thinking aloud. (And not giving that ‘make him emotional’ idea the dignity of a response.) “My dad’s journal had a record of them. If I’d known what I was doing, maybe I could’ve, I dunno, requested an easy one.”

[okteiviakom]

Octavia nodded. More for the fact that they were now approaching this from a better angle than anything else.

"Maybe you can learn?" she offered. She really hoped he could, actually.

[my_own_advocate]

Lucifer shrugged. He was already out of suggestions.

[betterthanaplan]

“Maybe,” Duke agreed softly. “I hope so.”

He reached for her hand.

[okteiviakom]

Octavia reached hers out to meet his.

And the second it did, it was as if an electric current rushed through her, only worse: a pain so intense it knocked the legs out from underneath her, sending her falling to the floor with a strangled noise.

Along with the glass of juice that she'd still been holding in her other hand a second ago.

[my_own_advocate]

Lucifer's eyes widened. "Octavia!" he cried, running to her side in an instant.

[betterthanaplan]

Duke jerked his hand back as soon as Octavia reacted, wrapping his arms around his chest, hands in his armpits.

Well. That answered that.

[okteiviakom]

That was the second thing that hit Octavia, right on the heels of the pain:

How this was going to make Duke feel.

"Found the trouble," she said, hoarse and weaker than she wanted to sound. Trying not to sound rattled.

And willing the wetness by her arm to be spilled juice instead of blood from some cut, because she had no idea what had happened to the glass, and could not feel any specific hurt through the full-body ache that lingered past the initial shock.

[my_own_advocate]

"Are you all right?" Lucifer said.

His fingers had already settled on the arm she'd held the glass with, searching for any cuts or bruises.

[betterthanaplan]

Duke watched them, chewing his lip. Trying not to think about how Lucifer could touch Octavia now and he couldn’t.