The Cape Rouge, Thursday Afternoon

[my_own_advocate]

The whole Duke-as-an-otter thing had been cute, and then annoying-slash-concerning, and then singing day had happened and now Lucifer was just over it all.

Which would explain why, by the time even the faintest hint of dusk hit the air, he was already on the deck of the Rouge with a bottle of red wine and a distinctly grumpy expression. He glared at the horizon, and then at his wine, and then drank some more.

All right, he did, at times, spare a glance for the door. The last thing they needed tonight was for the otter to escape again.

[[ for thems who live here ]]

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[betterthanaplan]

Duke-the-otter could not relate to Lucifer's grumpiness. From his perspective, the only problem the last week had been not being allowed to jump into the sea.

Even though it was right there!

But that just made things interesting, really. He was finding new and interesting ways to go wiggling in and out of various spaces. And did Octavia and Lucifer know this boat had secret passages? Because Duke-the-otter hadn't, either, but he sure was finding some fun ones!

Some Duke-the-human didn't even know about! Like the fact that an otter could crawl through the ventilation shafts.

So it was a slippery and self-satisfied otter who came crawling over to where Lucifer was sitting. Not through the bulkhead door, no. They'd done a good job guarding those! But through nefarious otter means.

As one does. When one is an otter.

[okteiviakom]

Octavia wasn't grumpy, either. She had patience for the otter thing and was willing to live with it for as long as it went on - but Lucifer's worsening mood had been giving her some concern for a while, now.

Still, she'd been doing her best to just ride that out, too. (While harboring idle thoughts of forcibly dragging them all to Chile after all.) Reading had seemed to help. It was what she was doing just then, too. Had been doing for a while.

The ship had gotten quiet, in the meantime.

... When she'd started reading, she'd still been able to hear Duke puttering around nearby. But now the ship was quiet.

"Duke?"

[my_own_advocate]

"How does that man manage to ruin my mood despite being in a different galaxy," Lucifer was grumbling.

He was entirely too lost in said grumble - and the wine - to notice the approaching otter.

[betterthanaplan]

Sir, that just meant the otter had a clear path to the water.

He was making a break for just that right now, in fact. Planning to slip up and over the gunwale all sneaky-like.

[okteiviakom]

There was no otter down in the ship, as far as Octavia could see.

She came barreling out of the door.

"Duke! Come on!"

[my_own_advocate]

"And that--"

And that was when Lucifer caught the little brown brat in his peripheral vision.

"...And that is Duke! Duke! Come back here!"

He nearly knocked over his wine on his way up.

[betterthanaplan]

Duke made it to the top of the gunwale, readied to jump -- and then shrieked and ended up clinging naked to the side of his own goddamn boat when he very abruptly became human again.

"Um," he said. "Help?"

[okteiviakom]

Octavia gasped when Duke seemed to disappear.

And then rushed forward when she realized what had actually happened. "Lucifer!"

[my_own_advocate]

"Duke!" Lucifer bellowed. He was at the gunwale in a second, hands grappling for the man in question.

[betterthanaplan]

"Thank you," Duke said, breathless and quick. "Not how I like to go diving, oh my god." He pulled himself, with Lucifer's support, back up and over the gunwale onto the deck. "What the ever loving fuck?"

He would have vague impressions of the last couple of weeks, if pressed. Right now, he was sticking with "what the ever loving fuck".

[okteiviakom]

Octavia caught up to them with a soft huff that was almost flustered. Maybe it was warranted, under the circumstances.

"Welcome back."

[my_own_advocate]

"You were an otter," Lucifer said. He stepped out of the way to give Duke space. "A very crafty one."

[betterthanaplan]

Well. That saved Duke from asking what he was being welcomed back from.

“Of course I was,” he said, blinking as he processed that information. He could . . . almost . . . Nope, all he had were vague impressions of water and frustration. “How long was I — out, I guess?”

[okteiviakom]

Octavia had not gotten the memo about giving Duke space, so she was stepping closer with the intention of sliding her arms around him.

She did it slowly, though. Telegraphed, ready to not do it if he looked at all like it'd be too much.

"About two weeks," she said. "Long enough that we got you a tub to hang out in in the bedroom."

[my_own_advocate]

"It was cosy, in a strange and roundabout way," Lucifer agreed. "But you do love to jailbreak."

[betterthanaplan]

Duke was naked and it wasn't exactly warm, so he was happy to get some extra body head if nothing else. (He was also happy to just be held.)

"Well . . . yes. That's always been true."

[okteiviakom]

Unless someone beat her to it, Octavia was probably going to start nudging him indoors in a moment here.

But right now, she wrapped her arms around him, and her embrace was firm (and more than one kind of warm). "Just usually not so... literally slippery."

[my_own_advocate]

At least they were all of the same mind. "Though now that he's less literally slippery," Lucifer said, "Shall we drag him back inside and get him some blankets? He is rather less... furry at the moment."

[betterthanaplan]

"A smidge," Duke agreed. He nodded, feeling his jaw trying to quiver as his body wanted to start shivering. "Yes, please. Blankets and snuggling indoors sounds good."

[okteiviakom]

Octavia pulled back again, but not quite all the way. She reached up for his shoulders, to gently turn him around for the right direction.

(One hundred percent just an excuse to touch him again.)

"Let's go."

[my_own_advocate]

"Yes, let's," Lucifer said, already sprinting ahead of them.

He was absolutely going to be waiting for Duke with a blanket the second he was inside.

[betterthanaplan]

Duke let himself be guided and then led towards the galley.

“I was a cute otter, right?”

[okteiviakom]

"The cutest, snogon," Octavia assured him, as she marched him into the ship with the gentle pressure of her hands against his back. "We've got pictures and video."

[my_own_advocate]

And as soon as they were in the galley, Lucifer draped the blanket around Duke's shoulders from the front. "We spent several nights in bed just watching you splash about," he said. "Adorably."

[betterthanaplan]

"I think we need to spend some time in bed watching it again only on video," Duke decided. "If I can't remember it, I should at least get to see how cute I was, right?"

He had. So many complicated feelings about this.

[okteiviakom]

Octavia made sure the blanket wrapped properly around him in the back, too. It was a team effort.

"Exactly."

[my_own_advocate]

"I would have no trouble at all locking ourselves in the bedroom with nothing but our phones for the time being," Lucifer siad, fussing with the blanket on his end. "Though moreso if we can move this boat to Chile."

[betterthanaplan]

"Okay," Duke said. He frowned at Lucifer curiously, then looked at Octavia. "What happened while I was . . . splashing?"

[okteiviakom]

Octavia leaned against his back - well, maybe more his side, so she could look up at him. Her arm settled around his waist, for the moment.

"There was a... singing thing," she said. A little hesitant. Not glancing at Lucifer as she said it.

[my_own_advocate]

"The jury's still out on whether it was the island or my Father," Lucifer growled. "But it was very irritating."

[betterthanaplan]

"I mean," Duke said, leaning into both of them as best he could. "It kinda sounds like maybe it was the island. It does like to mess with us."

And the idea that Lucifer's father was doing it was too terrifying to contemplate.

[okteiviakom]

Welcome to what Octavia had been contending with for the past few days, Duke.

Octavia nodded vaguely against his shoulder, but didn't say anything.

[my_own_advocate]

Lucifer was starting to move again. He was, perhaps, also making an attempt to tug Duke-and-thus-Octavia with him, towards the bedroom. "So does He," he said.

[betterthanaplan]

"Okay," Duke said, following along, his hands fisted in the blanket. "But the island is right here."

And hopefully Lucifer's dad was far, far away.

[okteiviakom]

Octavia followed along, too. Half clinging, half ushering Duke along.

(Maybe just entirely clinging.)

"I've been saying that," she murmured, very quietly.

[my_own_advocate]

The real problem was that Lucifer's anxiety about anything getting in the way of their happily ever after had only barely managed to settle before this-- happened.

He stepped out of the way as soon as they were through the doorway, briskly gesturing for the two of them to go to the bed.

"So?" he said. "The island doesn't have it in for me personally!"

[betterthanaplan]

Duke caught sight of the tub and tilted his head a little.

It was actually pretty familiar, huh.

"Were you the only one singing?"

[okteiviakom]

"He wasn't, and it wasn't just us," Octavia said, as she slipped out from behind Duke to try and tug him along to the bed by his hand, instead. "But that's not sufficient proof of anything."

[my_own_advocate]

"People were singing at me," Lucifer insisted.

He eyed the door and actually contemplated locking it.

But then, finally, decided to shake off his jacket instead.

[betterthanaplan]

"Did you try listening to the radio?" Duke asked, letting Octavia guide him, even as he kept his eyes on Lucifer now. "To see if they were singing at other people too?"

[okteiviakom]

"I sang at Dr. Baker," Octavia said, with the tone of someone who might have tried to bring that angle up before, too.

She got one knee on the bed, then the other. Then tugged Duke on there with her. Tried to, anyway.