my_own_advocate | Reno, Nevada, Wednesday

Somewhere along the line, Monday's moment of fleeing - embarrassingly, to the top of one of the school towers for a moment, before Lucifer regained some of his sanity - had turned into a car ride. Just... sitting in his classic Corvette, thundering down the highway, clearing his head of old memories and other cobwebs he didn't need.

And then he'd kept on driving. Day had turned into night, and into day again. Now he was here.

He eyed the apartment door in front of him warily for a moment longer. Right. Why had he thought this was a good idea, again?

She saved him from himself by opening the door. "I should've known you couldn't resist," drawled the old woman behind that door, both recognizable and utterly anything but. "You sentimental old fool."

His mouth curved briefly, almost an apology. "Lilith," he said.

"Just get in here," she sighed. "I'm tired."

She really did look old, he reflected, as he sat down in her living room and she made tea. Here in this small, dime-a-dozen apartment, busying herself over the stove, she didn't even look like the Lilith he remembered.

She looked like she was dying.

"So," he said. "Did your experim--"

"It didn't work out," Lilith cut him off sharply. "And I'm not in the mood to talk about it. Why are you here?"

"A trip down memory lane, I suppose," Lucifer said slowly. "I've been... reminded recently of old times. The years before we met, and the time we did."

The tea cup made a rather loud noise as Lilith set it down in front of him. "That doesn't sound like you," she said. "More like a terrible idea."

"Mm," Lucifer hummed. "Did I ever thank you properly for what you did for me?"

She sat down opposite him and studied him. She sipped her tea thoughtfully. "I always knew you'd go soft one day." She set the cup down. "I gave you an army. That is all."

"An army I didn't know I'd need," Lucifer said quietly. "An army that made sure I wasn't utterly alone." It was his turn to look at her, to categorize all the lines in her face that were new, the grayness of her hair. "Have you reconsidered...?"

"No," she said flatly. "Let my children remain motherless."

And so they talked. It wasn't long. Lilith had never been a woman of great patience, and they did not have as much to say to one another as he had hoped. As he only just realized he had hoped.

All the while, he was utterly unaware anyone was playing with portals many miles back in the direction where he'd came from.

[[ open to two folks who know who they are. the ensuing threads are based off of Lucifer 5x04, 'It Never Ends Well For The Chicken'. ]]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Sending Gertie to jail when she already had so little time left with her beloved, it didn't sit right with Lily Rose. So she followed Monroe's instructions and kept mum as the police interviewed her, smiling beatifically as they dragged Willy off into the back of the police car.

She was thinking.

Or rather, she had been thinking. And now she'd made a decision...

"Lilith."

At the sound of her name, her real name, she looked up and caught Lucifer's eye across the street. He'd changed back out of his tux into a more appropriate suit, brown and striped, the chain of a pocket watch running up to his pocket and a dapper hat on his head.

He wasn't going to like this, she reflected.

She walked to him.

Edited 2020-11-27 19:51 (UTC)

Duke was not trying to eavesdrop. He was just looking for any sign of a portal without trying to look like a crazy person.

Eavesdropping was just . . . kind of a bonus.

"So," Lucifer was saying, "Ring returned, favor repaid, see you in a few hundred years." He lifted the flask to his mouth and took a sip.

But there was something in Lilith's expression he didn't recognize. Something confusing.

"No," she said. Not so much quietly as-- different. He didn't know how to place it.

"Well, you drive a hard bargain," he said, trying to get the edge off, "But fine, I'll throw in a castle as well. I have a lovely 22-bedroom in Austria, hardly got bombed at all."

Lilith looked down. Then her eyes flicked up at his face. "I don't want a castle."

Lucifer screwed the cap back onto his flask. "Well, now you're just being difficult."

Octavia wasn't eavesdropping on purpose, either. She just... couldn't stop herself from being attuned to the sound of Lucifer's voice.

Or something.

No one but Duke heard her little huff at that line about being difficult, anyway.

Duke shot her a tiny glance and eye roll. Well, at least they were not-deliberately-eavesdropping together.

Lilith ignored it. She'd known Lucifer for long enough to know when to.

"Cortés," she said. She shook her head. "Montezuma. Willy the Sausage Prince. They all think they want to live forever." She motioned with her hand, looking past him. "But they already have something so much more precious."

She took a breath.

"Gertie was right," she said. "It's knowing there's an end. That's what makes the rest of it count. That's what connects your-- 'little mayflies' -- to one another. What makes them brave when they have no reason to be."

She felt her eyes sting, but she ignored it.

"I think I've been immortal long enough," she said. She slid the ring off of her finger, and cradled it close in her palms. Leaned in, and let her breath carry that part of herself into that long-treasured stone.

Then she folded her hands outward. The stone had turned black.

"I want you to have it," she said.

Was she really--?

Lucifer sucked in a breath, his eyes widening for one nigh-imperceptible second. "Once you do this," he said, picking the ring up from her hands, "There's no going back." He looked up at her. "Are you sure?"

She held up a finger. "Just one thing."

He exhaled. "Well, it never ends with you, does it?" he said, and tried a grin. He slid the ring on his finger. "Though I suppose it will, now."

His expression evened out slowly as reality sunk in.

"Would you like me to bring your children up? To say goodbye?"

Her eyes snapped up to his.

"And undo everything they've learned in Hell?" Lilith snapped. "Never. My children are perfect. They can't be-- banished, because they have no home. They can't be abandoned, because they have no family."

Lucifer stared at her. "They'll never be cast out of the proverbial garden."

"Or the Silver City," Lilith said. Her eyes were fierce. "You can never tell them what I've done today. Not if they're going to be unbreakable."

Lucifer nodded.

"Well," he said, after a moment. "You have my word." Another deep breath. "Well, I never thought I'd say this, but... enjoy the rest of your life."

A soft smile, of a sort, spread across Lilith's face. She cupped his cheek, and leaned in, pressing a soft kiss against his cheek. Lingered there for a moment, then pulled back.

"Right back atcha," she said.

And walked away.

Lucifer slid his hands in his pockets and watched her go, leaving him there, alone, underneath the streetlights.

He felt strangely sad, as if he had lost some kind of anchor in his life. But he wouldn't-- shouldn't be bothered by that.

He let out a sigh, and reached for a cigarette.

Octavia was watching him out of the corner of her eye. The urge to go to him was strong, but she reminded herself it wasn't really him.

(Not her Lucifer, not yet.)

(Not that there was a her Lucifer.)

Still, this felt like witnessing... the beginning of something. Much like last weekend might have, if she'd looked at it any more closely than she had.

She found herself reaching for Duke's hand.

Duke took it. Gave it a squeeze.

Spotted a faint ripple over her shoulder.

"Hey," he said softly. "Let's get out of here, huh? We'll get the real one back when he's ready."

"Sha," Octavia murmured.

Time to go home.

(Whatever that meant, right now.)

Reno, Nevada, Wednesday - and New York City, 1946

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