The beach, Wednesday morning

[betterthanaplan]

According to Lucifer, last night had been Tuesday. Which meant that today was Wednesday morning, and Duke had a standing Wednesday morning appointment. So after waking up to find himself sprawled against Lucifer with his arm wrapped around a raccoon, he'd given himself a very disappointing sponge bath using bottled water, left Lucifer a note promising waffles when he got back, and headed down to the beach, hyperactive Octavia in tow.

Apparently she was still very into PSLs even as a raccoon.

Would any actual yoga happen? Doubtful. But he was kind of desperate to reset his brain to Fandom time now that he was back. And Rey gave some really excellent hugs. So he sent her a text and settled in to watch the waves. And the porgs. And the raccoon.

"Oh hey. Another shell." He accepted the broken thing Octavia handed him with great dignity and grace. "Thank you, Tavi." He waited for her to scurry off, then set it on the small pile of beach detritus she'd gathered for him already.

She looked happier like this than she had in months. You know, assuming he was anthropomorphizing her correctly and all. Duke was kind of wishing he could be a raccoon for awhile, too.

[open!]

Comments

[thatwaslucky]

As promised, Rey left her place after the text and headed to the beach.

With a pumpkin spice latte in hand, shut up, this was her day.

"Welcome back," she greeted him, smiling.

[betterthanaplan]

Duke had absolutely nothing against the PSL. Except when it came out of the taps instead of water.

"Thanks." He offered Rey a small smile in return. "Anything interesting happen while I was gone?"

[thatwaslucky]

"Fall break. Cats in hats," she said, taking a seat next to him. "What about you?"

[betterthanaplan]

"Nearly died a few times. Killed a guy. Became a widower." He nodded to Octavia. "Maybe broke up with Octavia, and now she's a raccoon."

[thatwaslucky]

"Wow. Okay," she said, frowning as she tried to process that list. "Which of those do you want to get into first?"

[betterthanaplan]

"It was Haven," Duke said with a little shrug. "I'm just glad to be back here, instead."

[thatwaslucky]

"That's a lot, Duke," she said.

[betterthanaplan]

"I'm aware," Duke said, lying back on the sand and draping his arm over his eyes. "We're lucky I knew it was Wednesday."

[thatwaslucky]

"So I guess that answers how you're doing." Like she even needed to ask by now.

[betterthanaplan]

"Guess so," Duke agreed. He was pretty sure Danny made sure to say he'd meet him for lunch at the diner so he could check Duke was still alive. "Do me a favor: next time I say I'm going back to Haven, knock me out and lock me up somewhere. That's apparently an approved method of making sure I'm not acting like an idiot."

[thatwaslucky]

"Do you actually mean that or are you venting?" Since last time he'd talked about his people needing him and all, but she'd also tell him not to go back if he meant it because he was coming back like this a lot.

[betterthanaplan]

"Not sure," Duke admitted. "Probably venting. But I am pretty sure now that Nathan's gonna be the one who eventually kills me, so. . . . I maybe kind of mean it, too."

[thatwaslucky]

"How do you know that?" Rey asked. The frown was just going to stay there.

[betterthanaplan]

"He got the tattoo," Duke said. He dropped his arm off his face and stared up at the sky. "Said if the person who kills me has it, he needs to be on the 'approved list'."

[thatwaslucky]

"I'm missing some information," she told him. "The approved list?"

[betterthanaplan]

"Did I not tell you about my death prophesy?" Duke asked. "Apparently the last thing I'll see before I die is a guy with this particular tattoo on his arm grabbing my face."

[thatwaslucky]

"You did." She was trying to repress it. "But I don't know why he'd get it."

[betterthanaplan]

“So he can kill me,” Duke said, much too casually. “He’s been threatening to do it for ages.”

[thatwaslucky]

"This doesn't make sense to me," she admitted.

[betterthanaplan]

“Well, you’re a better person than he is,” Duke said with a shrug. “Apparently Nathan is . . . unusually dramatic.”

[thatwaslucky]

"At least it's easy enough to avoid him," Rey said slowly. Even if the rest of it completely sucked.

And, you know, provided that Duke actually stayed here.

[betterthanaplan]

"Theoretically," Duke agreed. "He has shown up here unexpectedly before."

[thatwaslucky]

"The squirrels stalk everyone and half the people here have weapons," Rey pointed out.

[betterthanaplan]

Duke gave her a small smile. "Both very true. Thanks."

[thatwaslucky]

"I'm still sorry you even have to think about it," Rey said.