Along the Fandom Shoreline, Tuesday Morning

[my_own_advocate]

"So," Lucifer said, "Is there any difference between fishing in Chile and fishing here? Are the fish bitier, perhaps? Or more boring? Would you rate Fandom above or below Chile on the boredom scale where it comes to fishing? I have hard time telling the difference, personally."

Yes, Lucifer did still enjoy inviting him along on Duke's fishing trips. And yes, he did still sort of trash talk fishing by proxy while doing it.

But it was a nice morning, and they were having a nice wander along the beach to whatever point Duke had in mind for his next fishing... adventure. And it was nice to be home.

"No, what makes for a good fishing spot?"

He was trying!

[[ for him ]]

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[betterthanaplan]

Lucifer was very lucky that Duke wasn’t the sort of fisherman who got mad when you were too chatty. Instead, he was giving Lucifer a fond, rueful smile.

“You look for somewhere quiet, first. So Chile is a little easier there — everywhere is quiet.”

[my_own_advocate]

"Why the quiet?" Lucifer inquired. "Are you afraid the fish might run away if someone keeps the telly on too loud or something?"

[betterthanaplan]

"Yep," Duke said easily. "Sound travels really well through water, actually. Not in ways humans can pick up, but fish definitely do. And they generally kind of hate it."

[my_own_advocate]

Lucifer thought about it.

"I often forget fish have ears," he said.

[betterthanaplan]

"How often are you thinking about whether fish have ears?" Duke asked.

[my_own_advocate]

"Never," Lucifer said, deadly serious. "It's hardly relevant."

[betterthanaplan]

"So it's not so much 'forgetting' as 'not needing to know'," Duke said. He moved to bump his shoulder against Lucifer's as they walked. His hands were too full for holding hands or anything like that, after all. "Especially when you have a boat person to keep track of these details for you."

[my_own_advocate]

Lucifer bumped back companionably either way.

"Not just a boat person, but a fishing person," he said. Then, another thought: "How does one get into that lifestyle, anyway?"

[betterthanaplan]

"I mean, how did I get into it, or how do most people? Because I'm guessing in the US at least, my story's kind of rare."

[my_own_advocate]

"You, specifically," Lucifer clarified. "I don't care about most people."

[betterthanaplan]

"Well, then," Duke said with a soft, deeply wry laugh. "I didn't have parents who fed me. And the water was right there. . . . I think I actually tried spear fishing with a sharpened stick first." He shook his head. "No, no, I tried stealing fish from boats first. Then spear fishing. Then more stealing. Then I found a rod someone ditched somewhere and I was off to the races."

He was reasonably sure that one of the local fishermen had left it out on purpose just for that. But no one had ever copped to it.

[my_own_advocate]

"Is that how you learned to cook fish as well?" Lucifer inquired. They were coming up on a quieter stretch of beach, and his hands had wound up in his pockets.

[betterthanaplan]

"Actually, that was my friends' folks. They owned the place where the Grey Gull is now. It was a fried chicken place when we were kids."

[my_own_advocate]

"But I imagine they made more than just fried chicken, then," Lucifer noted.

[betterthanaplan]

"It was a whole little restaurant, yeah," Duke said. "Geoff and I were kind of fascinated by it all. Bill didn't care as much; he's a woodworker, not a chef."

He went quiet for a moment, looking off into the distance.

"Geoff died a few years back. His sous chef poisoned him with something he was allergic to, trying to punish him for not wanting to bring her with him to New York. Was, uh. One of the first cases I ended up involved in with Audrey in Haven."

[my_own_advocate]

"Did you tell me about this at some point or another?" Lucifer asked.

They had slowed somewhere along the way. Now, he stopped. "Though that does sound tragically and unfortunately like Haven."

[betterthanaplan]

"Maybe?" Duke shrugged. "I don't talk about him that much. Bill and I still talk sometimes, but -- it's hard, you know? I think I remind him that his brother's gone. Just, like. By existing."

He'd managed to internalize a lot of "guilt by existence", so he said this extremely casually.

[my_own_advocate]

"Well, that's hardly your fault," Lucifer pointed out. "If so, he should get over it."

[betterthanaplan]

"It's alright," Duke insisted. "His trouble's nasty, it's --" He stopped walking, blinking at the distance. "-- gone. His trouble's gone. I should maybe call him, actually."

[my_own_advocate]

"See?" Lucifer said, with a wide motion with his hand. "He should be grateful, instead."

[betterthanaplan]

"That would require me, like, telling people what I did," Duke noted. "That's not really my style."

He was entirely too willing to fade into the background when it came to Haven's populace, yes. (And the fact that not talking about it too much helped keep him from thinking about having died too often, so.)

[my_own_advocate]

Lucifer shrugged. "That is your choice to make," he said. "But at least do remember you saved him from his trouble, the next time you decide to blame yourself for reminding him of his dead brother."

[betterthanaplan]

"I will," Duke promised him earnestly. He bumped his shoulder into Lucifer again. "Thanks for keeping me honest as usual, babe."

[my_own_advocate]

"Always happy to help," Lucifer said, giving him a pat on the shoulder and then-- a kiss on the cheek. "Now go set up your bloody fishing gear already."

[betterthanaplan]

Duke laughed. "Sha -- we don't have trig nicknames for each other, do we?"

Not that he felt the need for one, but it did kind of ruin the rhythm of his "sha gona" response he liked to use with Octavia.