Lost and Found

[seaoftroubles]

We're skipping the trouble here (I am SO EXCITED to skip this trouble!), so this one should be a bit quicker. Basically:

1. Octavia wakes up the boys with a nightmare and they are cuddly and supportive and maybe also awkward because Haven sucks for EVERYONE

2. Jennifer heard Audrey hear that she needs to go through a door or she'll die. Duke agrees to help her try to hear more from the Barn while Nathan helps Dwight deal with a missing kids trouble (so, basically, we set up the structure of the ep here)

3. Duke, Octavia, and Lucifer all try their own methods to help Jennifer relax so she can hear what's going on in the Barn properly. Duke tries yoga/meditation. The other two are welcome to try their own methods. Canonically, it's playing quarters for beer that works, which I figure Lucifer will roll his eyes at the low-brow nature of but otherwise approve?

4. Jennifer hears that they need to find a door in Haven that they'll have to open at the same time as Audrey opens her door in the Barn, or she's screwed. She also hears fog horns. Nathan tries to butt in via phone and Duke is all "YOU ARE THE OPPOSITE OF CHILL GO AWAY". They work out that the fog horn that Jennifer is hearing must be coming into the Barn through the door in Haven, so they can triangulate the door's location from that.

5. SHOW DOWN ON THE BIG EMPTY HILL! Jennifer found the door, but no one else can see it (unless maybe Lucifer can?) until Audrey opens here door. And Jennifer can't open it. Jordan and the Guard show, and then Vince and Dave, and there's lots of yelling as Dave claims that they can't open the door without letting out a great evil (I'm SURE Luce and Octavia will have Opinions on this!). Nathan opens the door anyway, and they can see Audrey in her door past the Void fog and Audrey jumps -- AND BOOM. Splosions.

6. 'Splosion knows them all over (except maybe Lucifer? Though he would then probably see William coming through too? Unless he's blinded and/or distracted trying to rouse Duke and Octavia. . . .), and when they come to, the door is gone, but there is an Audrey shaped person in their midst! Yay! Nathan immediately hands her a gun and tells her to kill him, because Nathan's gonna Nathan, and Audrey goes "wtf, I'm not going to kill a complete stranger, who tf are you people?" DUN DUN DUN.

Ep out.

Comments

Nightmare thread!

[seaoftroubles]

After staying up a bit late with Jennifer at the Gull, hearing her recap word for word as best she could for Nathan what little she'd heard from Audrey -- literally just that she was somewhere that wasn't real, and that she had to get out or she'd die -- they'd finally managed to convince Nathan that they were too tired to do any investigating about it that night, and they'd work on it again in the morning.

And Duke, Octavia, and Lucifer headed back to the Sanguine Moon. It was too small a boat for the tensions still radiating between them, but they still managed to tumble into bed together anyway.

For a night of restless sleep, and uneasy dreams.

[let me know if this summary/modding needs adjusting!]

Morning regroup

[seaoftroubles]

This doesn't need to be a long thread, just getting some exposition down about why the larger group is splitting up and our folks are sticking around the docks to try and get Jennifer to remember things.

Relaxation montage!

[seaoftroubles]

Do we want to do three sub-threads or just roll right along and in one? I can see either, really. When it doesn't work, Jennifer will be pretty quick and open about it not working (see canon, where she nearly kicks Duke in the face trying a handstand during the yoga bit, and he's like "uhhhh, moving on.")

Fog horns!

[seaoftroubles]

Nathan calls Duke to ask what's taking so long and Duke snarks at him -- only to realize that maybe the fog horns are coming through the door yada yada yada.

The door on the bluff

[seaoftroubles]

They find the door! The Guard shows up! The Teagues show up! How does LITERALLY ANYTHING IN THIS TOWN REMAIN SECRET IF THERE'S A GIANT SECRET MILITIA SHOWING UP ALL THE TIME AND PEOPLE YELLING????

'Splosions and SURPRISE!

[seaoftroubles]

This maybe doesn't need to be a separate thread at all? IDK. Whatever.

OOC

[seaoftroubles]

I tried to find the handstand gif for this thread but Duck Duck Go, while better at privacy and security, is not great at gif location. *sads*

Re: Nightmare thread!

[okteiviakom]

Octavia had been uneasy all evening long, but had miraculously fallen asleep pretty quickly once they'd retreated back to their cramped bed on the Sanguine Moon.

That was about where her luck had ended, though. Uneasy dreams was right, because tonight, she found herself somewhere she hadn't been in a long time.

She was always here.

Watching over the pit as its floor got splattered in fresh streaks of crimson. Watching him as he tore apart everyone that had once been her people, who would hope to once be hers again, who would never be because there was no match for him.

And when there was no one left, when it was just him, covered, drenched in blood, he looked up towards her on her throne, his eyes glowing silver --

And she was down in the pit with him, face to face.

The silver dimmed. He fell to his knees, and she stepped up, cradling his face. Bloodying her hands - then painting his forehead in red, with her mark, her warpaint.

Sending him collapsing to the floor, shaking, convulsing --

Octavia woke up with a start, a gasp, and found herself trembling.

Re: Nightmare thread!

[betterthanaplan]

The gasp and tremble were enough to shake Duke's own sleep -- thought not quite enough to wake him entirely. So while he rolled over to face her and wrap his arms around her, he didn't really open his eyes or register exactly why he suddenly had the urge to hang onto her.

Re: Nightmare thread!

[my_own_advocate]

Duke was moving, and Lucifer-- had reached that part of his sleep where he drifted closely near waking, if not close enough to wake up.

Until Duke was moving, at least.

He mumbled something indecipherable to himself and pressed his eyes shut even harder, in the hopes of going back to sleep.

Re: Nightmare thread!

[okteiviakom]

Oh, well.

Now Octavia was trapped.

She tried to be very still. But she couldn't help her gasp for breath, which seemed far too loud in her ears for the quiet of the boat.

Re: Nightmare thread!

[betterthanaplan]

It was loud enough, certainly, considering how close her snogon was cuddling.

He blearily blinked open his eyes, going still, trying to work out what had woken him up. And noticed how tense the person in his arms was.

"Tavi?"

Re: Nightmare thread!

[my_own_advocate]

"Oh, we're awake," Lucifer mumbled.

Damn it.

Re: Nightmare thread!

[okteiviakom]

"Everything's fine," Octavia said, as if on a reflex, but the tight quality of her whisper didn't really support her claim. (Neither did the tension Duke had already noticed.) "Go back to sleep."

In the dark of the boat, she was still trying to push the image of the pit from her mind.

Re: Nightmare thread!

[betterthanaplan]

"Uh huh," Duke said, thoroughly awake now. "I'll go back to sleep when you do."

If he didn't get away with saying things were fine, neither did she.

Re: Nightmare thread!

[my_own_advocate]

"If everything were fine you'd be sleepier," Lucifer sighed. He tried to half-roll onto his back and perhaps stretch, but his hand immediately hit the wall.

This boat was too bloody small.

Re: Nightmare thread!

[okteiviakom]

Octavia considered arguing more.

But instead she just... sighed. And then slowly sat up (trying not to jostle Duke's embrace too much), rubbing her hands over her face. Like maybe that would help.

(It involved closing her eyes, so it did not.)

Re: Nightmare thread!

[betterthanaplan]

Duke loosened her grip to let her move, then settled his arms around her again, his head against her hip, when she was done.

(It was too small in here, especially with three of them. But it made for a good excuse to stay very close and handsy.)

"You want me to sing?"

Re: Nightmare thread!

[my_own_advocate]

It wasn't like Lucifer could exactly move away from them either, so he shifted until he was sitting up as well, pressed firmly against Duke's side.

He wisely didn't comment on Duke's singing. He looked at Octavia's face, instead.

Re: Nightmare thread!

[okteiviakom]

Octavia was staring across the cabin, just because she wasn't sure she could look at them right now and not see blood.

On at least one of their faces, anyway.

"Sure," she muttered. It couldn't hurt.

Re: Nightmare thread!

[betterthanaplan]

Duke nodded against her, then started, soft and easy.

"Ia ora te natura
E mea arofa teie ao nei. . . ."

Re: Nightmare thread!

[my_own_advocate]

There was a time Lucifer would once again bemoan being with two people for whom that was a moving touchstone.

But this wasn't it.

He was watching Octavia, still. Watching her not watch them.

His hand snuck over to hers.

Re: Nightmare thread!

[okteiviakom]

Octavia kept not looking at them. She was trying to focus on Duke's voice, the familiar melody, the words. Couldn't make herself try and hum along, though.

No real response to Lucifer's hand, either. Not immediately, anyway.

Re: Nightmare thread!

[betterthanaplan]

Sorry for your partners' musical tastes, Lucifer.

Duke kept singing, soft and easy, watching from below as she didn't look at either of them.

He hoped this would still worm its way under her fear. It worked in Fandom, but -- well, in Fandom she didn't just have to deal with a sentient puddle of blood, did she.

Re: Nightmare thread!

[my_own_advocate]

Lucifer wondered if he should pull it away from her. Then he... didn't, if only because he could feel a hint of Duke just under his arm, steady and trying.

He gave her hand a squeeze, instead.