fandomhigh | Swimming With the Fishes, Tuesday, period 1

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Swimming With the Fishes, Tuesday, period 1

"Surfing," Duke said. The waves were back to normal this week. Which meant they existed, not that they were anything to really write home about. "We've got some nice beginner surf going on here, so lets give it a try. If you're not a beginner . . . well, there are sea turtles out here, too. Maybe they can show us a few tricks.

"There are boards here for everyone. Pick one out, and we'll get started."

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Ready to hang ten!

Danny Williams

Astrid Magnussen

Octavia Blake

Okuyasu Nijimura

Stark

Shuri

Grog Strongjaw

Duke's here to walk the newbies through the basics. The rest of you can go find a turtle or two to hang with.

Yeah, even Danny was going to judge these waves a little for surfing. Not that he wanted to go out on the crazy ones like some people, but still.

It was the surf version of the bunny hill.

"You just stay over there and I'll stay over here," he told one of the turtles as it swam along near him. all endangered and all that.

Octavia turned up just a little late. She'd stayed back on the Rouge to rip off the bandaid. Which was to say, to call Dr. Callahan. (Claire. Apparently she was supposed to call her Claire.) And she had.

And now she had an actual phone appointment for Thursday.

And a feeling of trepidation twisting up inside her.

She was back in her most wetsuit-like swimsuit, and she was getting herself a board, but... This might end up being another class where she spent more of her time watching the animals than actually doing the activity.

Okuyasu was having the time of his life.

He also was taking selfies with sea turtles to send to Josuke and Jotaro.

Surfing was not a thing Stark had ever even considered doing. This was probably not going to end well. Maybe he would just lie on the board and watch the turtles.

Yeeeah no, this wasn't going to go well. Goliaths were not meant to try to be on top of the water unless it was frozen.

He's definitely in the "this surf is too small to be interesting" category. But hey, everyone's gotta start somewhere.

Octavia didn't come over before it was the end of class. And no, she hadn't done much with her board but let the small waves move her about while she watched the turtles. Some days that was all you needed. Or wanted.

"Called her," she rasped.

That might have had something to do with it, too. She hadn't said that was what she'd stayed back to do, but it probably hadn't been too hard to guess, either.

Duke gave her a bright smile anyway. She was outside. Around other people. Sometimes that was enough.

"Yeah? How'd that go?"

Considering Octavia had also made it to Shunsui's class the previous day, she was clearly on a roll here.

There was a tiny lift of one of her shoulders. "First proper session on Thursday."

... So probably not bad?

Duke nodded. "Before or after lunch?"

"Before."

Who wanted to waste half their day waiting for an uncomfortable thing to happen? Not Octavia.

"Then come to the diner after. I'll make you a treat."

Octavia almost told him 'no meat', like a reflex, but managed to stop herself. He knew. And not only did he know, but he also hadn't hassled her about why.

And she was thankful for that.

She nodded. "Okay," she said. "I might need it."

"You might," Duke agreed. "I can't say mine was easy. But . . . it also wasn't bad. Claire's pretty funny when she wants to be."

Octavia gave him a dry look.

It was kind of half-hearted.

"I'm not in this for funny."

"Of course not," Duke agreed. "But that doesn't mean you can't get some funny along the way. Humor can be healing."

He wasn't wrong, probably. Octavia still rolled her eyes.

(But that was good, too. Expressive.)

"Anyway," she drawled. "I'm probably heading to the preserve, now."

"Need some time with the trees?" Duke asked. He reached over to brush some hair off her shoulder. Completely unnecessarily. "Check in on the furry fish?"

The ends of her hair were still a little wet, and kind of trying to stick to her shoulders. That made it completely necessary.

Octavia's voice ended up a murmur. "That first one, mostly."

Duke nodded. "Sounds like fun. Text me photos?"

He wasn't going to suggest going along. He knew she needed her in-the-woods-alone time before, it didn't surprise him that she might need it now.

Yeah, Octavia needed this for herself.

"Maybe."

That also went with how this was a solo trip. Right now, she didn't feel like she'd be handling her phone all that much, out there. (But she would. The urge to reassure him she was still there, to hold his hand, would eventually get to her.)

She reached up to press a quick kiss to his cheek. "I'll be home later."

It was weird to say that so easily.

"I'll be there," Duke said. And so would the boat. He was not going to run off on her again.

"Os, jaka."

One of these days, Octavia would get back to using the other nicknames, too. But for now, she'd say this one softly, like it encompassed all of them.

And then she went on her way.

Edited 2020-07-21 15:42 (UTC)

this is a v good gif.

I KNOW RIGHT?

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Swimming With the Fishes, Tuesday, period 1

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Surfing with sea turtles

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