Deck of the Cape Rouge to Elsewhere, Thursday Morning

[my_own_advocate]

Yesterday had not been good.

And now, a day later, they were still holed up within the bowels of the Cape Rouge. But Lucifer-- well, Lucifer needed some air.

He unlocked the door carefully, and stuck his head outside. No strange women so far...

[[ for two plus one ]]

Comments

[my_own_advocate]

"Better yet," Lucifer said, as a terrifying thought hit him, "Where is my wardrobe?"

[betterthanaplan]

“What?!” Duke squeaked.

You were maybe lucky Duke was too discombobulated to threaten to dump you on the spot, Luce.

[okteiviakom]

"Ignore him," Octavia said, because someone needed to be the somewhat calm and collected one right now, and guess this time it would be her. "I think -- whatever that girl did to us, it just affected us, not the ship."

[my_own_advocate]

"There's some really one-of-a-kind Di Stefanos on your ship!" Lucifer told him, loudly.

He'd hear Octavia in a minute.

Because right now he was staring at the flipflops on his feet in horror.

"And my Louboutins!"

[betterthanaplan]

Duke sank his head into his hands and started laughing again.

At least this time it was more resigned than hysterical.

[okteiviakom]

Octavia rubbed his back a little helplessly.

And also shot Lucifer a mildly exasperated look.

[my_own_advocate]

Lucifer didn't see it, because he was too busy stripping the flipflops from his feet.

[betterthanaplan]

Duke ducked his head and watched the water trickle up around his toes.

This was not how he'd have chosen to start his Bahamas vacation. But -- at least he was here?

He stood abruptly, mindless of Octavia at his back, and darted forward into the surf. Suddenly all he wanted was the weightless feeling of being under the water.

[okteiviakom]

Startled, Octavia almost toppled over into the sand.

Then just watched, feeling helpless.

[my_own_advocate]

Well, suppose that was an interesting turn-around.

"He's not trying to drown himself, is he?" Lucifer asked, as he finally noticed something - and stepped up beside her, flipflops in hand.

[betterthanaplan]

He was not.

He did dive under the water the moment it was deep enough, though, disappearing from view for almost a minute before he surfaced again, yards further out.

He took a long, deliberate breath, eyes closed, then dove under again.

And screamed the breath back out.

It was so much better than using a pillow.

[okteiviakom]

Even when he resurfaced, Octavia was still worried. It felt like something constricting her chest.

All she could do was watch.

[my_own_advocate]

"Well, that's ominous," Lucifer commented.

He collapsed in the sand beside her.

And sipped his Mai Tai.

[betterthanaplan]

That was just how he felt, when she disappeared on them.

Screaming underwater didn't do much for how long you could hold your breath, so he surfaced again a few moments later. This time he lay back, stretching his arms out to either side and sprawling over the water's surface to float.

It was a bit choppy, and he got water slashing onto his face pretty much constantly, but he didn't care. He needed this.

[okteiviakom]

Something in Octavia unclenched a little. "At least he's above the surface now," she muttered, to Lucifer.

Of course she still couldn't take her eyes off of Duke.

[my_own_advocate]

"I don't think he's actually going to hurt himself," Lucifer offered. "I think he's just having a bit of an escape-to-natural-habitat moment."

[okteiviakom]

"Still."

Maybe the abrupt way he'd rushed for the water had scared her a little.

[my_own_advocate]

"If I had a heart attack every time you did something like that I may well be dead," Lucifer said, and stretched.

He should probably take off his jacket.

[okteiviakom]

Well.

Octavia didn't really have anything she could say to that. So she didn't. Just... kept her eyes firmly on Duke, floating about.

[my_own_advocate]

"At least the water's warm enough for him here," Lucifer said, working his way out of his jacket.

[okteiviakom]

Octavia felt the urge to make at least some kind of noise of agreement, but nothing actually made it past her throat.

Maybe at some point here she would actually notice how she was dressed now.

[my_own_advocate]

"I can't believe she gave you a change of clothes and all I got was a Mai Tai and flipflops," Lucifer groused.

[okteiviakom]

Octavia looked down, more reflex than a conscious choice.

"Oh."

That sounded mild, lacking in real surprise. (The gruesome scar on her stomach was on show. Just one of the reasons you could tell this wasn't an outfit she had chosen.)

[betterthanaplan]

The water was helping, but not as much or as fast as he'd hoped. (It wasn't a cure-all. It never had been, but he forgot that sometimes, when he couldn't go swimming for a long time.) He dropped his legs and treaded water for a few moments, looking out towards the horizon.

He took a couple long, clearing breaths, then breathed in deep and dove again.

It wasn't deep enough here for him to really go into a deep dive, but he stretched himself out against the sandy bottom and just . . . hung there for a few minutes.

[my_own_advocate]

Hopefully not actually a few minutes. Because that was a bit long, as it was. Lucifer frowned, squinting at the water. "Duke?" he asked, as he sat up. "Duke?!"