The beach- Wednesday afternoon

[thatwaslucky]

The day after a crisis was always a little off, and while Rey herself was fine, she knew enough people who might not be. And one who definitely wasn't. So she figured what might help was to get somewhere that was the opposite of where Duke had just spent several days.

Therefore, the beach.

Though once they got there and started walking, she noticed a couple of porgs squawking and landing to trail along behind them, and she noted, "I'm starting to think they're all following you specifically."


[For he who is mentioned!]

Comments

[betterthanaplan]

Duke glanced back at them and snorted. "My fan club."

Because sure, why wouldn't he have his own flock of porgs.

"Depending on how fast they grow up, some of them might have imprinted on me at birth."

There'd been a few porglings hatched on the Rouge by now, after all.

[thatwaslucky]

"Which would be just terrible for all involved," Rey said with a little smile.

[betterthanaplan]

Duke shrugged. "Never imagined myself as a father-type."

[thatwaslucky]

"Does it help that it's to tiny birds from space who can't talk back?" Rey asked. "At the very least they're decent company."

[betterthanaplan]

"It kind of does," Duke admitted. "Maybe not the 'from space' part." That part was just weird. "So, uh. Thank you, by the way. You were kind of instrumental in getting us all down yesterday."

[thatwaslucky]

Was it a good sign or a bad one that she hadn't known what that thank you was headed at first?

"Oh," she said, and she didn't want to say it wasn't a big deal, but she still tended towards downplaying things even when people saw otherwise. "It's just what I'm training to do. People needed help."

[betterthanaplan]

"Well, I for one am very glad you got that training," Duke said. "I spent, like, an entire day convinced we were going to end up in the lava trying to get out."

[thatwaslucky]

"How long were you like that?" Rey asked. "Was it a whole day?"

[betterthanaplan]

"Don't know," Duke admitted. "It was kind of hard to keep track after awhile. We got fed twice, in the evenings, I think. Tried to escape on the third feeding, which was when the, uh. Tying up happened. Goat-guy got cranky." He took a deep breath, staring out to sea. "Got back to the Rouge around evening yesterday, so I'm going to guess not quite a whole 24 hours."

[thatwaslucky]

"That's a lot," she said, shocked. "I'm sorry."

[betterthanaplan]

"It . . . wasn't great," Duke agreed, rubbing the back of his neck. "But hey, at least we weren't being brainwashed in toy prison, so . . . I guess this kind of thing is just par for the course around here, right?"

[thatwaslucky]

"Sometimes. Some of these things are easier than others, I think," Rey said. She'd generally gotten off pretty easy so far. "If I can ever get this... bad feeling thing working right I'll give you a warning when things happen."

[betterthanaplan]

"Could be worth a shot," Duke said, shrugging. "I'm guessing Fandom would just find a way around it, though."

Who would win in a fight, Fandom, or the Force?

[thatwaslucky]

"Maybe," Rey agreed. "But it's worth a shot."

[betterthanaplan]

"I'm beginning to get why most people don't see the whole 'here, have a girl body for a week' thing as a big deal."

It wasn't. Not even a little. Not compared to kidnapping and brainwashing and monster toys.

[thatwaslucky]

"In comparison that's pretty easy for most people," she nodded. "Adjustment after the big stuff gets easier, too."

Depending on how bad you got hit, anyway.

[betterthanaplan]

"That's --" Duke dropped his head and shook it, his hands braced on the back of his neck, then looked at her. "You know that's not good, right? There's even some quote about it. Being well-adjusted to a fucked up world just means you're also fucked up."

[thatwaslucky]

"I know. But if you look at what my life is like outside of here, this makes it easier to handle," Rey pointed out.

[betterthanaplan]

"Can't argue with that," Duke admitted. "Much as I wish I could. Fuck, this is probably good training for dealing with Haven's troubles, too."

[thatwaslucky]

"It's not terrible for that. You've already gotten semi-used to a girl who can levitate you," Rey said. "I'm not sure how much lava comes up in Haven."

[betterthanaplan]

"Depends on the trouble, I'm guessing." He did have a canonical post-volcano icon, though. He looked over at her. "You know, you're the only person I'd want levitating me out of danger. I know Skywalker is your trainer and all, but the guy threw me into a wall when that pit first opened. You're clearly the superior levitator."

[thatwaslucky]

Rey frowned over at him. "He threw you into a wall?"

[betterthanaplan]

"Not on purpose," Duke said. "I don't think." They hadn't really talked to each other before, so he was pretty sure Anakin didn't hold a grudge against him or anything. "He was trying to get people out of the way. I don't think he likes volcanoes very much."

[thatwaslucky]

"I don't think many people do," Rey said evenly. "I don't knkw, if it's been me I might not have been any better."

He would have ended up in a wall but harder, probably.

"Are you okay, though? Physically?"

[betterthanaplan]

Duke nodded. "Got a bite on my leg I'm keeping an eye on, but other than that . . . mostly just sore."