seaoftroubles | Haven end run preplay part 2: the bloodening

Haven end run preplay part 2: the bloodening

Duke gets his trouble triggered by Octavia in a kitchen accident and our crew discover that post-trouble bomb, it is EVEN MORE DIRE as he goes black-eyed and can't stop himself from trying to stalk whoever set him off
Lucifer and Octavia stop Duke from doing anything bad (has Octavia make him bleed maybe so he can use his massive power supply to knock Duke tf out?). Duke recovers and says "fuck this, we need to end it" and suggests they go back to Haven one final time to figure out how to end the troubles forever.
They arrive in Haven and Duke IMMEDIATELY goes into convulsions and vanishes in a burst of green smoke. OOPS.
Lucifer and Octavia find Gloria (and Dwight maybe? And/or Nathan?), find out about the "no marks killer" who has been going around killing troubled folks -- and all the troubles that are going off like crazy without Audrey around to talk them down. I imagine there's some "okay, that sucks but WHERE THE FUCK IS OUR BOYFRIEND????"
Duke is spotted around town murking folks, but they can't quite catch him
I may or may not write a scene of Duke and Croatoan while Duke is under his control
Trap set for Duke? Not at the police station. Gloria's house or the hospital/morgue, maybe, since she's coronering. Duke takes the bait, Lucifer pounces again to keep him from, getting away. After a false start or two during which Croat!Duke is DEEPLY UPSETTINGLY CREEPY AT THEM, Lucifer and Octavia manage to talk him around. (Possibly using Duke's new joy at being the subbiest sub who ever subbed!)
Duke starts leaking troubles when Croatoan realizes he's broken his hold. He panics, and Octavia or Lucifer cover his eyes to keep the troubles in. Gloria goes "I'll get some drugs!" and scoots to find something to drug Duke with if need be (and gets out of harms way ;D). Duke takes over the eye-covering -- and goes into muscle contractions as Croat tries pull aether out by another route. This doesn't last long before Croatoan APPEARS DRAMATICALLY IN THE DOOR looking like a gremlin cosplaying as a noir detective. Duke can't even see him -- he's covering his eyes -- but goes "FUCK THIS SHIT" and starts launching the troubles he still has control over at the guy. I really like the idea that at least one of them is radioactive. Maybe Croat!Duke killed the lady from the nonsense trouble episode and got her "shooting microwaves" power. Lucifer and Octavia also fight. Eventually Croat EXPLODES (or . . . dissolves . . . or otherwise dies grotesquely) and our three spend a moment just panting for breath and looking at each other, all "omg, is that it? did we win?"
Duke collapses dead. Weeping and gnashing of teeth. Lucifer gods the fuck out, wiping out the troubles in a giant aether-nado, and resurrects Duke, who's spent maybe 30 seconds dead -- but that's [mumble mumble] amount of time in Hell so he's still a littttttle bit fucked.
They go home and have more angsty h/c times yay!
(Also probably Octavia checks on Gloria first and maybe convinces her to retire to Baltimore XP)

Octavia's efforts at learning how to cook more things had been sort of... repeatedly starting and stopping, over the past couple of years. But now, with twice the date nights in some of her weeks, some of the motivation had been seeping back in. So, she'd asked Duke to teach her a dish. To cook it with her, in the mansion's kitchen.

And they were well on their way in doing just that.

"And now I just cut these?" she asked, with a gesture towards the small array of vegetables she'd just rinsed. "Slice and dice?"

Seemed simple enough. She was great with knives.

"That's right," Duke confirmed. "You want them to be about bite-size. Small enough to cook quick but big enough to still feel a little substantial."

"Bite-size?" Octavia repeated with a wryly amused look over at him. "Doesn't that depend on the mouth taking the bites?"

"It's an approximation," Duke said with a playful eye roll. He finished rinsing off the fresh herbs and flicked a little water at her. "Like . . ." He held his hand up, fingers demonstrating the size he meant. ". . . that big."

Octavia snorted at the flick of water, then raised her eyebrows some. "You sure you don't wanna show me how to do it?"

Too bad she'd never seen ~~meta for~~ the movie Ghost. She could've been making a direct reference.

"Do you want me to show you how to do it?" Duke asked with a grin. "I believe in you."

"Hey, if you don't want to take the excuse to get close to me," Octavia rasped, setting the cutting board where she needed it, and picking up the knife, "I'm not going to force you."

"Oh, is that what that was." Duke laughed. "That's good, I like it."

He edged closer into her space.

"You want me to maneuver your hands, too, or is this good?"

"Maneuver, no," Octavia replied, "but guide, maybe?" A beat. "Or pretend to, because I don't actually need it."

They'd had kind of an unsteady go at date nights. She was trying to bring in something a little more... playful, into things.

Duke was very glad to follow that lead. He looped one arm around her waist and rested the fingers of the other by the edge of the cutting board.

“Guidance. I can do that.”

"Thought you might," Octavia replied, and turned her head to steal a quick kiss against his cheek.

Like he'd earned something by following her lead.

Duke wasn't going to complain about that.

He was going to tease her mercilessly, though.

"Okay, so first off, let's look at what you're cutting, not your handsome snogon."

Octavia snorted, as she turned her attention back to the cutting board (where she'd kept the knife very safely against it, thank you) and reached for one of the vegetables.

"Okay, any other helpful tips?"

Of course she had! That was what made his joke funny.

"Mmm, let's see how you do," he said. "Ah, wait, hang on, there is this first."

He kissed her cheek in return.

"Now you're ready."

"Ridiculous man," Octavia huffed, not selling any sort of offense even a little bit.

She made her first cut, confident.

“I’m the tripiest,” Duke agreed. He leaned into just a little as he watched her work.

He loved watching her work. Loved watching her do just about anything, really.

Octavia had a lot of competence in her favor in doing a lot of things, and a big stubborn streak to make up for the things where she didn't. This was more the former, even if only a fraction of her knife skills had been developed cutting vegetables or fruit. She kept cutting the one at hand, not necessarily with practiced ease, but ease all the same.

But then there was a part that was harder, an unfortunate surprise, and the blade slipped. Cut her finger. And not a little nick, but a gash.

Which would've still been fine if she just hadn't moved. The blood would've stayed where it was.

But impulse had her hiss and yank the hand back.

Duke reacted fast, pulling back and away the moment she hissed -- but it wasn't fast enough. A drop of blood hit the last knuckle on his index finger. He had just enough time to spot it before it soaked in --

And his body reacted.

The rush wasn't the same as it had been before Mara pumped so much more aether into him. It wasn't a wave that rolled over and through him that he could ride out. It was a sledgehammer. A wrecking ball. A wall. He stiffened, trying desperately to control the urge to lunge for Octavia and that injured finger, to rip into her and devour the trouble he could sense inside her.

He managed to croak out a single, agonized syllable before he couldn't fight it anymore.

"Run."

Edited 2024-11-13 16:17 (UTC)

Octavia felt him pull back, and immediately realized what had happened. What she'd done.

(Stupid, careless --)

Instinct took over immediately and she ducked away from him before whipping around - which was when she saw his eyes. Black, not silver. Not his usual trouble, something worse, something Mara.

He managed his one strained syllable right as she bolted for the door.

At least they were on the same page!

Though unfortunately the best Duke could do to control this latest horrifying iteration of Haven fuckery was restrain himself to a stalk as he went after her.

She wouldn't be able to convince him of her lack of trouble anymore. He could sense it in her; not just the unusual resistance to radiation that set his old trouble off. He could specifically sense the aether.

And he -- or the lizard brain part of him now fully under the sway of his own aether -- wanted it.

Edited 2024-11-13 18:42 (UTC)

This was definitely different. He'd been able to contain it, before, especially with what had had to have been barely a drop of blood. He hadn't come after her like this.

Octavia didn't look back. She rushed out into the hallway, nearly stumbling on the way, catching the door frame just in time.

All she had to do right now was get out of the house. That was all that mattered, she couldn't let herself get trapped.

Duke kept himself from rushing, but that didn't help his long legs from eating up the distance as she ran.

He didn't stumble. He didn't pause. (He tried to, oh god, he tried!) He just. Kept. Coming.

Yeah. Yeah, he did. Octavia couldn't let herself think about how terrifying that was.

But he was still in there. Right? He was.

"I'm gonna fix this!"

She skittered to the front door. She'd just have to get it open. That was all. Then she'd be able to run down the street. Open space.

Duke managed another strangled syllable. "How?"

Oh god, he wanted. He always wanted her, but now, he wanted what was in her. All his darker impulses were roaring for it, along with a force he only barely understood.

He wasn't full of troubles anymore. And something inside him needed them. And would get them at any cost.

Octavia got to the door, unwilling to look back, much too aware he was right at her heels. The distances inside the house were too short.

"Lucifer."

She tore the door open, and bolted out.

Re: The bloodening and the decision

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Re: The bloodening and the decision

Re: The bloodening and the decision

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Re: The bloodening and the decision

Re: The bloodening and the decision

Re: The bloodening and the decision

Re: The bloodening and the decision

Re: The bloodening and the decision

Re: The bloodening and the decision

Re: The bloodening and the decision

Re: The bloodening and the decision

Re: The bloodening and the decision

Re: The bloodening and the decision

Re: The bloodening and the decision