The beach- Wednesday morning

[thatwaslucky]

Rey got to the beach on time, and for probably the first time she was the first one there. She took a seat on the sand and waited, watching the water and figuring it'd be a couple minutes.

It was a little longer than a few minutes. She was used to waiting so that part wasn't the problem, but she was starting to worry. She sent a quick text to Duke to check if they were still doing this today. The next step would be heading to the boat, but she'd give it a few more minutes.


[Open!]

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[betterthanaplan]

Duke was extremely hungover. More hungover than he'd been since he was a teenager. He was also of the firm belief that standing people up was about the rudest thing you could do, so he was here.

Late.

With Starbucks a large Perk coffee clutched in his hands and a hat pulled down low to shade his eyes from the cruel, cruel sun.

"Morning."

[thatwaslucky]

"Morning," she said, peering up at him. "Rough day?"

[betterthanaplan]

"Mmm." Duke sipped his coffee and wished the caffeine would work faster. "Long night."

Very drunk night, rather. After a very long day yesterday.

[thatwaslucky]

"Want to talk about it?" she asked. "Or at least sit?"

He looked like maybe he should sit.

[betterthanaplan]

He should definitely probably sit.

Very gingerly, as changing altitudes made his head throb.

"Did you listen to radio today?"

Because of course Nina had mentioned it.

[thatwaslucky]

"No, but now I definitely will," she answered.

[betterthanaplan]

Duke sighed. "Yeah, I walked into that." He set his coffee down and slumped a little over his knees. "Thought I had a lead on Octavia yesterday. Turns out . . . I was getting sucked in by a cult."

Because that was how his life worked. Things never went easy or well.

[thatwaslucky]

Rey had a lot of questions all at once, so she whittled it down to, "...How?"

[betterthanaplan]

"They said they'd seen her," Duke said softly. "And I was dumb enough to believe them."

[thatwaslucky]

Rey blew out a breath. "I'm sorry."

[betterthanaplan]

Duke shook his head and shrugged. "Should've known better. She's just -- gone. That's how it goes sometimes."

[thatwaslucky]

Rey had a hard time just accepting that because of who she was, but she'd also had everything she'd thought about that situation turned on its head so she couldn't in good faith just say everything was fine.

"I wish I had something," she said. "Information, a feeling."

[betterthanaplan]

“Yeah. Me too.” Duke looked out at the water. “I think she got taken back to the Ground.”

[thatwaslucky]

"What makes you think that?" she wondered.

[betterthanaplan]

"Murphy's Law?" Duke shrugged. "Anything else, and -- she would have found a way to let us know."

[thatwaslucky]

"Yeah," Rey nodded, hoping he'd had something more concrete. "I've wondered if it's not something like how I got here. Touch something you're not supposed to and you're somewhere else."

[betterthanaplan]

"That's how she got here. Minus the touching things. Apparently one minute she was on the Ground, the next in the preserve."

Which was a deeply disturbing thought when you came right down to it.

[thatwaslucky]

Sounded about right.

"How are you doing? Besides..." The long night and the cult.

[betterthanaplan]

“I feel like shit,” Duke said blandly. (She could thank Danny for that level of honesty. If he could admit to being fucked up, so could Duke!) “Like . . . I’m some kind of universal punching bag. And it shouldn’t even be about me, it’s about her, but —“

He leaned his elbows on his knees and stared out at the water. “I just really miss her.”

[thatwaslucky]

"I know," she said softly. "You're allowed to feel all this, too. It's a hard place to be in."

[betterthanaplan]

"So glad I have permission," Duke grumbled, but there was no heat in it. He was too tired and hungover for anger right now.

(The anger would come later. Mostly directed at himself. A little directed at Fandom. And some even directed at Octavia herself.)

"I hate this. This is why I never stayed anywhere, so I didn't have to feel like this."

[thatwaslucky]

"Was it worth it until now, though?" she asked.

[betterthanaplan]

"I don't know." Duke closed his eyes. "Ask me again when my head's not exploding."

He'd drunk so much vodka last night. On top of whatever the hell the cult had drugged him with.

[thatwaslucky]

"You could have canceled today, you know," Rey said. "I wouldn't have minded."

[betterthanaplan]

Duke shook his head. "No." He glanced over at her. "You've had too many people disappear on you, too."

Which . . . meant he had to come out and pretend they were going to do yoga, apparently.

[thatwaslucky]

"That's sweet," she said, and meant it. "But you didn't have to do that for me. And I'm a little worried it'll be corpse pose all morning."

[betterthanaplan]

"It . . . might be corpse pose all morning," Duke admitted. "Sorry."

[thatwaslucky]

"Completely fine," she assured him with a tiny smile. "Feels like the day for it."

[betterthanaplan]

"We can pretend it's meditation practice if you want. Timing our breaths with the water or something."

[thatwaslucky]

"You're going to fall asleep on the beach," she warned.

[betterthanaplan]

"Yeah, probably," Duke agreed. "Just wake me up before the tide comes in."

[thatwaslucky]

"Got it. No drowning," she said.

[betterthanaplan]

"No drowning," Duke agreed. "That's an absolutely terrible way to die. Not that there are good ways."

[thatwaslucky]

"I'm sure there's one or two," Rey said with a shrug. "Not that I'm trying to think about that at all."

[betterthanaplan]

“Good. ‘Cause I would really prefer not to lose you, too.”

[thatwaslucky]

"I'm sticking around," she told him.