Haven, Maine, Break week

[betterthanaplan]

They'd taken their dear, sweet time sailing up the coast, Duke in no real rush to get back to his hometown, and Octavia in no rush to get anywhere with anyone else.

Duke did his best to hide the ball of dread gathering in his stomach as they approached Portland, even knowing that Octavia could probably see right through him. He could easily have insisted on making this drop there, or literally anywhere else along Maine's substantial coastline, but ever since his trip up here to visit Nathan last fall, Haven had lurked in the back of his head like an unpaid debt. He had a responsibility to his hometown somehow, though he had no idea what it was. His father had made that clear before he died. And while part of him just wanted to say "fuck it" and let a 26 year old promise go unfulfilled, he knew how much it would haunt him if he did.

The troubles were back. And while Duke wasn't about to ditch Fandom and move back home in any sort of permanent sense, he could at least check in every now and then, make sure the town hadn't burned down.

[for the snogon with whatever pace of play happens to work this week. Minor OCD on the way.]

Comments

Sailing into port

[betterthanaplan]

Duke had to admit, showing off his old stomping ground to someone who'd never seen it before was kind of fun.

"That island over there?" He pointed to a little lump on the horizon as they sailed past. "That's called Carpenter's Knot. There's an old resort on there that used to be really fancy and popular, but it closed down when I was a kid. Now it's just the caretaker and his wife living there, so naturally it's said to be crazy haunted.

"This strip here is called Kick'Em Jenny Neck. No idea why. It's technically part of the mainland, but the woods are so thick through there that the only way to really get there is by boat.

"And . . . there's Haven." He leaned his elbows on the wheel, letting out a soft little sigh. "Home sweet horrifying home."

Re: Sailing into port

[okteiviakom]

Octavia had pretty much been glued to the windows for the last little while, listening to him and hanging on to his every word. Every view was interesting when you had as little travel experience as she did. But these ones were special.

But now she shifted closer to him, winding her arm around his back. "It looks... nice, I guess?"

Re: Sailing into port

[betterthanaplan]

"It's considered very picturesque," Duke said with a shrug, even as he leaned into her hold. "If there's one thing Haven's always been good at, it's putting on a pretty face. No matter what's actually going on."

And everyone living there learned to do the same.

Re: Sailing into port

[okteiviakom]

Octavia kind of assumed so, yeah.

Her eyes were on the view, but she was leaning into him as much as she could. Providing a good bit of contact. Civilization was already looming close, but it was still just the two of them here.

"At least Fandom's a little more honest," she mused quietly.

Re: Sailing into port

[betterthanaplan]

"You know, I think that part was actually what took the longest to get used to in Fandom. You all would just casually talk about everything."

Vince and Dave would probably die of the vapors if they ever came to visit. (Or possibly lose a war with the squirrels.)

Re: Sailing into port

[okteiviakom]

"I would've thought that's how everywhere does it," Octavia admitted. "It seems... exhausting, to try and talk around the weird things that happen."

Running into some . . . friends

[betterthanaplan]

The Gun and Rose was out of the way enough -- and sketchy enough -- that Duke was pretty sure they could avoid Nathan there.

And, well. Now that he owned a diner, it was kind of fun to see how others were run.

". . . I am totally getting Luke's a random sign that says 'chinese food'. Do they even serve Chinese here?"

Re: Running into some . . . friends

[okteiviakom]

"I still feel like the 'Luke's' sign is random enough," Octavia replied, though a little distractedly. It was a new space, so more of her focus was going towards taking everything in.

It'd pass, after a moment.

Re: Running into some . . . friends

[betterthanaplan]

Duke tilted his head and nodded. "Fair enough."

He flashed a quick, polite smile at the waitress, a dark haired woman in a motorcycle aesthetic, right down to the black leather gloves. Her look in return was more smirk, with a hint of sneer.

It suited the place.

"I suppose I could still rename it. Maybe something classically tavern-y, like this place has. 'The . . . Squirrel and Portal.'" He shook his head. "Or not."

Re: Running into some . . . friends

[okteiviakom]

Predictably, Octavia didn't smile at anyone. She took note of the waitress, though.

... And briefly, for whatever reason, thought of the picture Lucifer had shown her of his friend.

Then she finally glanced over at Duke again. "Is that the typical way for naming places like this?" she asked. "'The Thing and Thing'?"

Re: Running into some . . . friends

[betterthanaplan]

Duke shrugged. "There are a bunch of different ways to name things. That one tends to give a place an Old World kind of feel. Like instead of modern America, your diner's in Elizabethan England or something."

Re: Running into some . . . friends

[okteiviakom]

"Old World," Octavia repeated quietly, with a significantly wry tone.

She knew what he meant, but in the context of her background those words gained some additional meanings.

And a little bit of trouble

[betterthanaplan]

"Well." Duke pushed his hair out of his face, wincing slightly as the tiny bite marks on his fingers twinged. "That sucked."

Gloria let out a little tsk and grabbed his hand, looking those bite marks over with a critical eye. "That's the troubles for you. Always have and always will."

Re: And a little bit of trouble

[okteiviakom]

"Least it wasn't your knee again, this time?" Octavia drawled, mildly.

That all had been... highly reminiscent of Fandom, actually, and she wasn't sure how she felt about it.

Re: And a little bit of trouble

[seaoftroubles]

"Or goat-men," Duke agreed.

Gloria looked over at Octavia, eyebrow raised. "Well don't you sound just like a native," she said. "I know this one's seen a trouble or two in his time, but you, wildcat, you didn't even blink. Where're you from, anyway?"

Re: And a little bit of trouble

[okteiviakom]

Octavia let the question sit there for a few seconds.

Then she shrugged, and said, "Around." That explained the knife skills, sure. "Fandom Island, most recently."

Re: And a little bit of trouble

[betterthanaplan]

"Fandom, huh? Never heard of it."

"It's tiny," Duke said. "Down in Maryland. And even weirder than Haven."

Gloria didn't much look like she believed him, but she wasn't arguing. "Weird enough to teach you two how to handle animated, homicidal toys, anyway. Though I'm pretty sure little Timmy's going to be sad that most of his toy battles won't come with a Lady Kaiju and her sword." She finished examining Duke's hand and gave him a pat on the wrist, then winced and checked her own palm with a click of her tongue. "Damn, looks like one of the little buggers got me, too. You hold tight, I'll grab us both some bandaids."

Duke had stopped listening, though. He was staring at the little smear of Gloria's blood on his wrist and trying not to hyperventilate.

Re: And a little bit of trouble

[okteiviakom]

Octavia didn't miss it, either. All it took was one look at Duke's face and her gaze darting down to what he was looking at.

Fuck.

"Get back," she barked at Gloria, immediately. In fact, even as she did, her hand was already reaching to grab the woman's arm and yank her further away.

And a run in with the cops

[betterthanaplan]

Honestly, Haven just wouldn't be Haven if Duke didn't end up at the police station somehow.

Re: And a run in with the cops

[okteiviakom]

The good news were that Octavia had eventually pushed her panicky flashbacking aside, replacing surface-level fear with anger, that good old usual go-to emotion of hers. The bad news were that this meant she had absolutely tried to kick Nathan in the junk when he'd been getting her out of the car.

... Oh, and also that she was currently back to rotting in a cell, after having been booked and fingerprinted (and identified as 'Tavi Gona' on the paperwork because nothing on her had suggested otherwise, and like fuck was she going to say differently) and thrown in. There was nothing to do but wait - for Duke, for Gloria, for someone. Nothing to do but sit there, or pace around like the caged animal she currently was.

Occasionally, she would kick the bars. They made the most wonderfully annoying clanging sound when the side of her boot hit them.

Re: And a run in with the cops

[seaoftroubles]

Gloria was as good as her word. She and Duke were at the station by the time they'd finished processing Octavia, Gloria making a beeline right for the Chief's office, Duke dogging her heels the whole way. They'd have gotten there sooner, but Gloria had insisted they wait for the "cleaner" to arrive before leaving the scene of little Timmy's trouble.

The "cleaner" was apparently a giant named Dwight. Who'd snorted at the "pest control" line, but agreed at least raccoons were better than another gas leak.

The Chief had given Duke the stink eye when he'd come in -- nothing new there -- but listened to Gloria calmly enough as she explained what had really been happening when Nathan showed up.

"She's the one who took down those action figures, Garland. She didn't even blink when she saw them, just dove in with her sword. You really want to start going around arresting people brave enough to deal with the troubles?"

"Nathan said she punched him," Garland said. He didn't exactly sound like he disapproved.

"Yeah, well," Duke said. "Nathan was being a dick."

Garland sighed. "So what's your story then, Crocker? You back in town for good?"

Duke shuddered. "God no. Leaving the minute I get my friend back."

Garland nodded. "Good." He pushed to his feet. "I'll go talk to Nathan, get him to drop the charges. You go talk to your girl. I know my boy; she ain't getting out without at least an apology here. And don't you go rolling your eyes at me there, beanpole, I'm doing you a favor. Say 'thank you'."

Duke scowled. Gloria elbowed him. Duke's thanks came out through gritted teeth, but Garland nodded anyway and went to find Nathan.

"God, I hate cops," Duke said.

Gloria patted his arm. "I know kitten. I know."

Re: And a run in with the cops

[okteiviakom]

Octavia was still pacing, back and forth right by the bars, occasionally glaring daggers through them. And at them, too.

At least, until --

"Duke!"

Re: And a run in with the cops

[betterthanaplan]

"Tavi." Duke came right up to the bars, reaching for her. "You're alright." It was as much a question as a reassurance. "Gloria's fucking amazing. She's got the Chief of Police talking to Nathan right now. You'll be out in no time."

Re: And a run in with the cops

[okteiviakom]

Octavia thought 'alright' was a stretch, but she wasn't going to be saying that, not with the way she'd rushed the bars and grabbed for his hands.

Her sigh of relief was a little shuddery, and, okay, maybe the 'not alright' was kind of bleeding through in the way her expression twisted into something vaguely pained as she said, "Duke, I hate it here."

It was another hole, after all.

OOC

[betterthanaplan]