my_own_advocate | The Cape Rouge, Sunday Afternoon

There'd been solid ground underneath Octavia, and then there wasn't, and then there was again,.

She toppled over with a thump, her gaze darting around wildly as she tried to re-orient herself.

It didn't go very well.

Duke landed on his ass with an aborted squeal, his arm still pressed to his chest and radiating pain. He flopped over onto his side and curled up, eyes shut tight.

He hadn’t consciously registered that they were home just yet, but his guard was already dropping away, in a way it hadn’t in a long time.

In a moment, Lucifer would turn over, or sit up, and see where they were.

This wasn't the moment yet, though.

His eyes remained locked on the heavens. The image of everyone kneeling felt like it had been burned into them.

Octavia was the first to sit up. The world seemed to spin as she did, but then righted itself again, her vision settling down into --

Crates, bench.

Gunwale.

Porgs.

She gasped like someone had punched her in the gut.

Duke’s head jerked up at her gasp, his own pain set aside in favor of worrying about his people.

“Tavi?” he asked. Then registered what he was seeing. “. . . How. . . ?”

They couldn’t be dead. He hurt too much to be dead.

"Hm?" Lucifer managed, turning his head. He registered the whole-- boat-- dully.

Octavia stared at the porg now bumbling its way closer to them, making inquisitive noises.

"We're home."

A laugh bubbled up in Duke’s throat. Pained and relieved in equal measures, but for once not hysterical.

Then he broke off abruptly, rolling over and scrambling on one hand and his knees toward “Lucifer!”

He was dead. He’d said goodbye and then came back and Duke couldn’t process any of it if he didn’t touch the man right the fuck now.

Lucifer was still on his back, but... at least he was seeing Duke barrel towards him? "I'm here," he said, unnecessarily, sitting up as quickly as he could because, well.

That seemed the easiest way to deal with whatever Duke wanted right now.

And Octavia...

Still kind of dazed, let the inquisitive porg clamber onto her lap. "Ha yun, strikon."

Duke made it to Lucifer's side and flopped to the deck again, letting out a pained grunt when he accidentally jostled his arm.

Then laughing again once he could bury his face in Lucifer's shoulder.

He was real. Octavia was talking to a porg.

They were home.

Lucifer's arms came up gingerly, like even he wasn't sure what he was doing. (He was going to need a stiff drink, a nap, and some sex before he was going to bother processing, he thought randomly.) "So we're on a boat," he managed.

Ah, there. He'd figured out how to wrap those arms around Duke.

"The boat," Octavia said. The Rouge. With porgs.

Her eyes were still too wide.

"My boat," Duke said, still laughing. (His arm hurt but right now he didn't care. Lucifer was alive and holding him and they were home.) "Our boat!"

He'd wanted to go home.

A very real possibility struck Lucifer in that moment. But like just about anything else about the past half-hour, he had no idea how to deal with. So he hugged Duke a bit tighter. "Small blessings," he mumbled.

Octavia mostly wondered whether she was going to throw up.

She finally looked over at them. Meanwhile, the porg tried to reach up to chomp at the ends of her hair, and she didn't even notice.

Oh. Oh no, hugging harder hurt.

Another strangled noise pushed its way out Duke's throat next to the laughter, and he curled up, trying to shield his arm without actually pulling away from Lucifer.

"...Sorry," Lucifer said, loosening his grip. What had happened to Duke in his absence? "Are you all right?"

Well, that enough to jolt Octavia into a coherent thought.

"One of your brothers threw a rock at him," she said, a little growlier than before. (Anger, anger was always easy. Simple.) She shifted the bird off her lap so she could move to get up. "He needs to go see a doctor."

"'M fine," Duke said automatically. "Okay, that's a lie. Not fine. Might be broken."

It really hurt a lot, especially as the shock of the last several minutes started to wear off.

Lucifer nodded, retreating. "Right," he said. "We should get you to the clinic."

Something to do, rather than swim around in his overloaded mind. That might help.

"Can you just fly him there?" Octavia asked, trying to regain some of her battlefield poise from earlier, for comfort and stability.

She only felt a little bit woozy, getting up.

"Or -- wish it better or something?" Duke asked, a faint whine in his voice.

They'd just gotten back to his boat. He didn't want to leave again yet! (Not to mention, he wasn't the biggest fan of being poked and prodded by doctors, thanks.)

Lucifer didn't really want to think about wishing anyone anything right now, sorry, Duke. "I can fly him," he said. "They can see if it's broken, at least."

He leaned back enough to look Duke in the eye. "And then I'll fly you back immediately."

Octavia nodded.

"And I'll check the boat while you're gone."

For... anything the island had broken during their time away? She didn't know, she just needed to make herself useful.

Duke didn't really much want to leave her behind either, but he bit his lip on his protest. The sooner they did this, the sooner he could stop hurting and they could all just be for one goddamn minute.

He nodded to Lucifer and slowly started to pull himself upright without the use of his dominant hand.

"Oh, stop," Lucifer muttered, scooping him up into his arms midway through that ridiculous performance. "This won't be long," he promised Octavia (even though he probably couldn't promise any such thing).

He unfurled his wings and took off, without delay. Maybe he'd feel a bit more settled after this. If he was lucky.

The visit took longer than he'd hoped, but shorter than he'd feared. The same went, more or less, for the extent of the damage in Duke's arm: enough to be splinted now, not bad enough to need any kind of surgery.

"Here we are," he said, as he descended towards the Rouge. "The ship's still in one piece."

Octavia wasn't up on the deck anymore. She was down in the galley, having ended her general check-up around the boat on clearing out things from the fridge that hadn't survived the wait for them.

She'd started tearing up somewhere in the middle of it, for no discernible reason.

(The shock -- the shocks were starting to wear off.)

It had not improved her mood.

The x-rays had hurt, in Duke's opinion, almost as much as the original injury had, and the painkillers they'd given him were doing nothing to help the tanking of his mood as the adrenaline he'd been running on since -- he didn't even know by now -- had drained out of his system.

He wriggled out of Lucifer's arms the moment it was safe, letting out a faintly disgruntled noise, his arm tucked into an ugly beige sling.

"Think I need a drink this time."

Not on those painkillers he didn't.

"Loathe as I am to argue with that," Lucifer said, his fingers falling to the small of Duke's back as soon as the man had stepped away, "What you need is a lie down."

What they all needed was a lie down. Preferably with all the doors locked for the next 24 hours.

Octavia hadn't heard them yet.

And that meant this still felt like the first time she'd been entirely alone since... she wasn't even sure when. And everything was just coming back to her in disjointed flashes, from Jophiel throwing that rock, to the roar of battle, to Lucifer's I love you --

She leaned heavily on her hands against the edge of the counter, and tried not to shake.

Duke didn't pull away from Lucifer's touch, but he also wasn't melting into it the way he usually would, either. He moved a little stiffly to the door to the galley, figuring Lucifer could follow along at will.

"Fine. Bed works too, I guess."

He paused when he saw Octavia.

"Shit. Are you okay? Did something else happen?"

"Do you need a visit to the clinic as well?" Lucifer asked, following right behind.

Unlike the two of them, he hadn't let anything sink in yet.

Octavia had forced a deep breath as soon as she's heard the door open, but it didn't seem to be helping. She told herself to straighten up, to pull herself together, to push this aside.

But instead her brain was now looping around one particular moment.

That was never part of the plan.

That was never part of the plan.

That was never part of the plan.

And she stood there, gripping the edge of the counter in silence, shoulders hunched and tense.

Shit.

Duke shoved his own mood aside and hurried over to her, carefully reaching out to set his good hand on her back.

"Tavi. Hey. It's okay, we're home."

"Octavia?" Lucifer said. He followed Duke, decidedly more hesitant about it.

About everything, really.

And with good reason. Because when Octavia suddenly moved, it was a flail as she whirred around to face them.

To stare at Lucifer, and to wail, like she had no control over the words coming out of her mouth, "You didn't tell us the whole plan!"

Duke jumped back, not in any hurry to get his remaining arm injured, then snapped his gaze over to Lucifer.

Fuck. In all the -- everything -- he'd forgotten that part.

Lucifer opened his mouth, then closed it. "No," he said finally, "I didn't. I-- the Detective came up with the idea at the eleventh hour, and I didn't..."

He trailed off.

And Octavia just --

Exploded.

"Why didn't you?" she demanded. "I get that you two are --" She grasped for a word for a second, for what they were, then gave up. "-- but you put her at risk, and exactly the way it turned out! We could've had her back but you left us out!"

Her hands were tight fists at her sides.

"And for what?"

Yeah, Duke was just . . . not going to insert himself into the middle of that. He headed for his liquor cabinet.

"You could have had her back," Lucifer agreed, "Or you could have died as easily as she did. I wasn't happy with her suggestion, Octavia, but there was no stopping her."

Once Chloe Decker got an idea in her head, there never was. It was something she had in common with the rest of the people he... cared about most.

He wondered if that said anything.

"But she didn't want to tell you, and I wasn't about to put either of you in the same bloody situation."

"So you let us go in blind!"

Because it wasn't just about endangering Chloe. Not really.

The welling in Octavia's eyes finally turned into a tear or two, but she didn't seem to notice. It didn't lessen her fury any; her voice just turned into more cutting gravel.

"I trusted you."

Duke had to dig a little, but he eventually found what he was looking for. He pulled out a bottle of rum with what was clearly a handwritten label and set it on top of the cabinet while he went to look for a glass.

And here Lucifer had managed to live without terrible, soul-destroying feelings of worthlessness for a few hours. It'd been nice, really.

"Yes, I'm terribly sorry I didn't want you dead," he snapped. "What exactly do you think you would've accomplished out there, hm? Clearly you two decided to fight in the end, and Duke fractured his bloody arm."

"You know what helps keep me alive? Telling me what the fucking plan is!"

So apparently Octavia had no intention of getting any less loud right now. Had you missed this, porgs?

"It's not about accomplishing something, it's about not being blindsided by what my side does. It's about you letting her decide that no one else needed to know." Her nails were really starting to dig into her palms now. "So you don't care that we could have helped, fine. But we also could have fucked it up because we didn't know."

"Yes, Duke fractured his fucking arm," Duke said, raising his glass, which now had two fingers of very exclusive rum poured into it. "And is still in kind of a lot of pain about it so can we maybe, like . . . stop yelling? For a minute?"

Well, maybe a headache would distract from the arm pain at least.

"I didn't want you there in the first place," Lucifer snapped, mostly because the words were halfway out of his mouth by the time Duke spoke.

He half-turned to glance at Duke and opted not to finish that thought. "...Didn't the doctor say you weren't supposed to be drinking?"

Octavia, however, stared at Lucifer like he'd just slapped her across the face.

Sorry, coupled with the feelings of betrayal she'd worked herself up into, that last snap was just...

Well, a slap. No matter how unintentional.

Duke looked at his drink, crestfallen.

". . . Fuck. But the pills aren't even working yet!"

He'd taken them like ten minutes ago.

"Generally, the brand of painkillers you received takes at least thirty minutes to begin working," Lucifer told him. He knew a lot about drugs, Duke, all right? "That doesn't mean combining them with alcohol won't murder your liver."

Edited 2021-08-22 19:25 (UTC)

Octavia barely listened.

But when she wrenched her (hurt, betrayed, still angry) gaze away from Lucifer, she stalked over to Duke, with the intention of grabbing the glass out of his hand.

And was entirely successful in doing so.

"Hey, careful," Duke said. "That's some limited edition rum there."

"I'm sure we can pour it back in the bottle," Lucifer said, glancing at Octavia. "While you have a lie down."

He desperately wanted to have that lie down with Duke, actually.

Sorry, did he say something about pouring the rum back in the bottle? Because Octavia seemed to have heard something about downing all of it in one go.

Well, more like half of it.

But still.

Duke made a little noise of protest, then just sighed.

She wasn't even enjoying it.

"Fine. Lying down. All of us, please. Without the shouting?"

Lucifer sighed. "I think that doesn't depend on me," he said, doing a thing with his eyebrows at Octavia.

Who responded by looking away.

And then gulping down the other half.

"Right." Another sigh. "Well, I'm not going anywhere until you two clear this up, then."

He went to cross his arms over his chest automatically, then winced and choked faintly when the movement sent a twinge up the one in the sling.

"Sooner would be nicer than later."

Lucifer let out a difficult, messy sigh. "I don't know what you want me to say," he told Octavia.

"Good, because I don't want to hear any more," Octavia replied, setting the empty glass down louder than necessary.

Duke threw his good arm in the air and shook his head at the ceiling.

"You know what, maybe I will go lie down alone." At this rate, his arm would be healed by the time they stopped trying to stare each other down, wouldn't it.

He wasn't nearly as hurt by Lucifer not letting them in on that part of the plan as Octavia was, though he did see why she was hurt by it.

"When you two get around to remembering that no one's dead who wasn't before we all went into that battle, you get to come join me."

You had a type, Crocker, and unfortunately, this was the way that type tended to resolve - or fail to resolve - their differences.

Lucifer wished he'd beaten Octavia to the expensive booze. "I'm happy to let things lie," he said.

"Surprise," Octavia drawled. "You go with him, then."

She wasn't just hurt, she was angry still, too.

"Nope!" Duke said. "No one comes in until you two are actually okay, not just faking it. Enjoy the booze."

With that he headed into the bedroom, shut the door behind him, and face-planted on his bed.

His bed. His wonderful, amazing, comfortable bed with excellent sheets and room for three and . . . fuck, it smelled kinda musty in here.

He let out a long, frustrated groan and tried not to listen to whatever was going to happen in the next room. He was injured, and they were home, so he got to take a time out on trying to manage his two hotheads, dammit.

"Now look what you did," Lucifer said irritably, glancing at the closed door for a moment before bothering to head towards the liquor cabinet.

Octavia gave him a wide berth.

"Oh, it's my fault," she rasped. "Sure."

"You're the one who's being irrational," Lucifer said, opening the doors of the cabinet to collect some of the lesser whiskey.

Well. There was something Octavia was for sure going to be completely rational about!

(Nope.)

"Irrational?" she growled.

"You heard me," Lucifer said, grabbing a glass as well. "All I've been trying to do this entire time is keep you and Duke from getting hurt."

"And you failed," Octavia snapped. "And he --" She stabbed a finger in the direction of the bedroom. "-- doesn't get the full scope of it because he hasn't been to war before, but I have."

"And if all three of you had stayed home like I asked you to, none of this would have happened in the first place," Lucifer snapped back. "We can both play this game into perpetuity, trust me."

"It's not a game!"

Sorry about how the yelling only seemed to have gotten worse, Duke.

"I lost you, Lucifer! I lost you!" Oh, there were the angry tears again. "I had to watch you two pull your stupid secret plan, and then I lost you to it going fucking sideways!"

His return didn't erase that hurt for her when the memory wasn't even an hour old yet.

"And then I had to try and stop him from destroying himself the second you were gone!"

Well.

Lucifer turned around, leaning back against the counter. (The whole morning was still a rush of adrenaline and a thing of impossible hugeness he couldn't process.)

"Ah," he said.

Octavia was still glaring daggers at him, her eyes big and wet and furious.

"But go ahead and tell me again how how you didn't want us there, and how that means I don't need to know all the details," she said, pulling back from all the yelling a little, not it kept her from sounding bitter and hurt. "Tell me I should just suck it up and deal, Lucifer."

"I," Lucifer said, and looked down at his glass. "... I'm sorry."

For hurting her, at least. He wasn't sure what else to say.

At least Octavia stopped yelling at him. Because really, that, that right there was all she'd really wanted him to say much, much earlier in this loud conversation.

Her eyes were welling up worse again, though, as the expression on her face began to slowly crackle from anger to... something else.

Something weaker and smaller.

Edited 2021-08-22 21:20 (UTC)

She'd been yelling at him a second ago. And now her face was doing... that. "Octavia?" Lucifer asked, frowning.

Octavia found herself needing to swallow before she talked again. "That's all you needed to say."

Kind of stung that it took so much yelling, though.

(That part was probably irrational and rum-soaked.)

"That's... all. Everything."

They were both entirely too keyed up to behave like rational beings, to begin with. It wasn't exactly conducive to having a productive conversation about anything.

Lucifer sighed.

"Will you come here, then?" he said, and held out his arms.

Octavia took a step closer and --

Okay, the rum had definitely done something. She didn't usually sway this much.

So Lucifer pushed away from the counter and met her halfway, wrapping his arms around her.

Octavia clung to him almost immediately, leaning heavily against him.

Her expression was full-on crumbling again, but it was getting buried against his chest anyway.

"Octavia," Lucifer said softly, holding her as close as he damned well could. "I'm here, I-- I love you."

Well fuck you, too, Lucifer. Which was to say Octavia was now just fully sobbing, immediately following that.

It didn't sound like 'goodbye' wrapped in prettier clothes, this time.

It just sounded like exactly what it was.

Well. Talking just made her cry harder. So Lucifer... stopped. Just stayed there, his arms wrapped around her, his hand moving over her back with soothing motions.

Sometimes crying harder was good. The yelling had been a release of pressure. Maybe this was the rest of it breaking free.

Whichever it was, she was trembling in his arms, and getting the front of his shirt all damp.

She could get his shirt damp any day. Lucifer held on, and eventually, started talking again. Mostly soothing noises. Just... letting her know he was there, that he was alive. (Eager to climb in bed with her and Duke and forget about the day for as long as he could...)

Eventually, Octavia managed a deeper inhale. It wasn't much steadier, but it was a start, as the sobs shaking her shoulders seemed to ease away.

"Tell me again?" she asked, her voice quiet and thick.

She wouldn't have, without the rum.

Lucifer blew out a long breath. It was funny, how the words had always gotten stuck in his throat before. Something had dislodged them today, and now he didn't know why this used to be so hard.

"I love you," he said softly, "Miss Octavia."

So guess that still caused a little sob-like sound. But Octavia also nuzzled at his chest.

Or maybe she was just shaking her head at her own reaction.

"Ai hod yu in seintaim," she croaked, "skaifaya."

Lucifer huffed softly.

He leaned down just enough to brush a kiss against the top of her head.

Octavia exhaled a long sigh.

"Do you think he'll let us in yet?"

"Well, I don't feel like yelling anymore," Lucifer murmured. "Do you?"

This time, it was definitely a headshake.

"No."

Mostly she just felt exhausted, and maybe a little woozy.

"Then let's go to bed," Lucifer said. He pulled away, but only so he could take her hand. Pull her to the door.

He knocked once. "We come in peace."

Octavia was pretty careful about following him. She didn't remember the galley floor being this uneven!

And when they stopped at the door, she tried to wipe her face with her free hand. It did nothing about how puffy and red her eyes were.

Lucifer glanced back at her, and saw what she was doing. "Oh, hold on," he said. He pulled his pocket square out of his breast pocket and held it out for her.

You were not going to want that back, Luce.

Still, Octavia took it with some gratitude. Worked much better than her hand for cleaning up some of the tears and, okay, snot.

Duke opened the door a crack, his head leaned against the door jam, then flung it the rest of the way and headed back to the bed.

“Thank god. I was a little worried you’d killed each other.”

It had just gone quiet so fast!

Lucifer snorted. "Hardly," he said, passing into the room.

He definitely did not want that handkerchief back, no. But he was too relieved to be here to say so; he tugged Octavia towards the bed and sat down immediately.

Meanwhile, Octavia swayed by the bed, and reclaimed her hand so that she could blow her nose.

Which was an action that was extremely attractive and also not at all loud.

She looked at Duke once she had finished, expression full of regret. "I'm sorry, Duke."

Edited 2021-08-23 05:48 (UTC)

Duke was already sprawling as best he could on the bed, trying to figure out how to best prop his arm up to help the swelling.

“You were upset,” he said, tilting his head at her. “I get it.”

Lucifer tugged off his jacket while they were speaking, and began to work on the buttons of his shirt.

Look, these past few minutes had been messy, and he didn't want to accidentally inspire another bout of that.

Octavia's face did another scrunching up thing, like she was about to start crying again. She swallowed and forced that urge down, then tried shoving Lucifer's handkerchief in her pocket, but missed.

Looked down.

Realized she was still in full armor. The weapons were gone, left in LA, but this was all still here, and her uncoordinated hands went for the first buckle they found.

She couldn't go to bed wearing this. Not this bed.

Duke hadn’t bothered to shed anything but his shoes and his sling. He made no move now to take off anything else, just curled himself around a pillow and watched them both with soft, tired eyes.

"Would you like me to get you out of those trousers?" Lucifer asked him, as he worked on his own.

Octavia kept working at her own clothing.

Remarkably fast for someone having a little bit of trouble standing straight.

“Sure,” Duke said, “sounds like fun.”

But made no move to assist in said process. He was starting to feel those painkillers a bit and that combined with finally being able to relax was making him very sleepy.

Lucifer made a soft, amused noise - the first sound like it he'd made in what felt like forever - and reached to unbutton Duke's trousers, pulling them down his hips. "Yes, yes, you need rest," he said, and leaned in to press a kiss to Duke's forehead.

Octavia finished shedding her armor into a pile on the floor, and crawled onto the bed on the other side of Duke.

Then made a very small, sad sound at realizing she was on the injured side. But curled up there anyway, just... A safe distance away.

Her body was starting to feel heavy. Her head in particular.

Duke looked over at her with a frown at that sound. No one should be making that sound anymore. They were home and safe and everything was going to be good now.

"Why're you way over there?"

Lucifer tossed the trousers aside while Duke was distracted, and pulled up the blanket. "She's worried about your arm."

Octavia nodded, her face all smushed against the pillow. "Your arm's broken," she murmured. "Don't wanna hurt you."

Duke let out a dismissive noise. The painkillers were definitely starting to work now.

"It's all wrapped up," he said. He brought the arm in question up over his head and rested it gingerly against the headboard, giving her a whole nice expanse of side to lie against. "We can work around it."

Lucifer huffed. "Spoken like Duke," he said, draping himself against Duke's side, and pressing a kiss to his shoulder.

Octavia spent a beat looking at Duke's arm with concern.

Then she gave in to the siren call of his side, wiggling her way closer until she could curl up against him, although she made sure to get nowhere near his shoulder.

"I love you so much," she mumbled.

"I know." Duke gave her a smile, wishing she was closer so he could kiss her, but not willing to press his luck on getting her even this close when he had a goddamn splint on his arm. "I love you too." He looked over at Lucifer. "Both of you."

Lucifer slid a careful arm around Duke's waist. "And we love you," he said. "... I love you."

Saying that felt like a superpower he could lose at any moment. He needed to use it while he could.

And Octavia didn't sob over it, this time! Though may have still made a soft noise. Hush.

Her arm slid around Duke, too, and her hand settled on Lucifer's arm.

Duke's eyes went wide, his mouth a round little "o" before it split into a broad grin. "Yeah?"

"Yes," Lucifer confirmed.

He kissed the corner of Duke's grin.

"Should tell 'im again too," Octavia mumbled, her eyes already closed. She was very close to just dozing off, between the rum and the crying and oh, everything over the course of the day.

And the warmth of Duke's skin, and the feel of the mattress dipping under the weight of them.

Duke nodded rapidly in agreement. "Yeah," he said, breathless. "Octavia can tell you, I don't always believe it the first time."

Lucifer chuckled. "Fine," he said. He kissed Duke's jaw right below his ear and said, "I love you," voice soft. "You ridiculous pirate."

That was extremely sweet, and something Octavia would love to have heard, buuut she was already out. Though thankfully not snoring.

Yet.

She missed Duke tearing up, too.

Duke wrapped his good arm around Lucifer's neck as best he could without disturbing her or his other arm, and tucked his face into Lucifer's hair.

"I am so proud of you," he said, soft and faintly choked.

Lucifer huffed. It sounded shaky, but in a good way. "I'm sorry it took me this long," he said, closing his eyes.

Duke let out a soft hum, not an argument or an agreement.

He was bracketed by people who loved him. Who'd say it out loud, even when things were fine, even when there was nothing in particular they wanted from him. People who worried about him and made him take care of himself, and listened to him even when what he had to say wasn't something they wanted to or even could properly hear, just then.

He let a couple of tears fall, still burrowed into Lucifer's hair, and let himself relax as much as he could while still making sure not to shift his injured arm too much.

"You're here," he said. "That's all I really need."

And Lucifer couldn't even find it in him to make gentle fun of that emotion. In fact, a third "I love you," fell out of his mouth before he even realized it, as he settled into the pillow and Duke both.

Duke chuckled, soft and low.

"I love you, too." He let his head land on its own pillow and ran his good hand through Lucifer's hair a few times before dropping it on Lucifer's shoulder. "Now go to sleep, babe."

"Only if you do too," Lucifer said.

His voice sounded heavier already, though. It had... definitely been a day.

"That is 100% the plan," Duke agreed. He shut his eyes, started to drop his other arm onto Octavia, and caught himself at the last moment. Instead he just shifted a little more firmly into her, even as he kept his head turned towards Lucifer. "Pills're working now. 'Snice."

"Mhm," Lucifer sighed. "Sweet trip..."

And there went the last of his supply of awake.

Another chuckle, and Duke found himself the last one awake. Octavia had even started to snore.

He stayed that way for a good while, just lying there, eyes closed, listening to the two of them breathe. Trying not to think about anything at all, and as a result thinking about everything.

About God and the Goddess. About Amenadiel and Linda and Charlie. Chloe and poor Trixie. Dan. That poor dead angel, whose name he couldn't remember off the top of his head. The funerals and the arguments and the smashed glasses. Dinners and barbecues and late night sandwiches while waiting to see if Lucifer would come home.

Hospitals. Panic attacks.

The full, honest-to-God-who-might-just-art-in-his-bed-right-now battle.

Lucifer saying goodbye.

It all swam in and out, blurring together in his head, and after a while he gave in and just let it, silent tears running down his face from time to time. Linda might've been proud, but honestly he was just too tired to try not to feel any of it right now. To try to push any of it away.

Eventually the tears ran out. And then so did the thoughts.

And slowly, without ever entirely noticing, Duke drifted off to sleep himself.

The Cape Rouge, Sunday Afternoon

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject