Under A Stack of Blankets, A Castle on the Coast of Norway, Tuesday Evening

[my_own_advocate]

It wouldn't technically be their anniversary for a few more days - or had already been weeks and/or days ago depending on whether you counted Duke's nearly-bungled proposition and which stage of it - but Fandom had Fandomed, so why wait? Lucifer had bustled everyone into the portal in the morning, and they'd driven up to his castle (which, at least, he'd gotten cleaned prior to the whole repeating Friday debacle), ooh'ed and aah'd at it for about five minutes, and then rushed indoors to get warm.

The old-fashioned way.

... both in terms of nudity and in terms of blankets.

And that was where they remained, under several layers of warm blankets in a room that exuded both modern luxury and medieval castle in equal measure. Lucifer hadn't been here in decades, but he'd made damned sure the place had been ready for their arrival well in advance. The wardrobe was old but cleaned and refurbished, as was the bed, there were mood candles aplenty, a full wine cellar, and... loads of other things he couldn't think about right now, actually.

"I'm never leaving this bed again," he informed Duke's shoulder. "Ever."

[[ for those who are there, and la la, I don't know what you're talking about, I didn't just linkdrop all that so I don't have to keep searching for those threads. ]]

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[okteiviakom]

Octavia wasn't even going to try figuring out how many years it had been for her.

She remembered. That was the point.

"New Year's," she murmured, softer again.

[betterthanaplan]

"You looked gorgeous," Duke agreed. He remembered really well, for all he'd been on at least a few different recreational pharmaceuticals at the time. "Light, and wild, and absolutely free."

He hadn't realized it then of course, but that might have been when he really fell in love with her.

[my_own_advocate]

"You both did," Lucifer said.

He pressed a kiss against the back of Duke's neck.

"I'll never forget."

He'd told Octavia this, once. He didn't remember if he'd ever told Duke.

[okteiviakom]

Octavia remembered that, too. It still amazed her that he'd even paid attention.

"And we had no reason to think you even saw us."

[betterthanaplan]

“You were watching,” Duke said softly. If he had been told, he hadn’t remembered. “We made an impression even then, huh?”

[my_own_advocate]

"Well, I was a bit sad and heartbroken as it was," Lucifer said, his thumb sliding idly up and down Octavia's hip. "And then there the two of you were, looking like some better deity than my Father made you to shine light on the universe itself together."

[okteiviakom]

"We were just dancing," Octavia murmured. She sounded a little far away, because she was thinking back on it. Her memories were fragmented, more like flashes than the entire thing, and still strong. "Drunk, and high."

She paused. Her voice got quieter.

"But we were happy."

[betterthanaplan]

“You. . . .” Duke said. “You were more than happy. You were carefree. I was in awe.”

The next morning she had been anything but.

But she’d also used the L word the first time.

[my_own_advocate]

"Free, and caught up in your passions," Lucifer said softly. "Both of you."

[okteiviakom]

Octavia's hand pulled away from Lucifer's skin - for the moment, anyway - so that she could slide it up to Duke's neck, to the line of his jaw.

"And you were dancing with other people, and then you just... left them."

[betterthanaplan]

Duke shrugged, smiling at her. "You were more interesting." He glanced back at Lucifer. "I'm just kind of sad you didn't join us then."

Not that any of them would have known how to handle that at the time.

[my_own_advocate]

Lucifer snorted softly. "And get my sad old broken heart all over your thrilling young love affair?" he murmured. "No."

[okteiviakom]

"It wasn't a love affair yet."

Didn't it count if they'd only started figuring that part out the morning after?

[betterthanaplan]

"We were too distracted by our own sad broken hearts," Duke said. "But we were about to figure it out."

[my_own_advocate]

Lucifer let out a soft, amused huff.

"It certainly looked like a love affair."

[okteiviakom]

"Maybe sometimes these things look clearer from the outside."

[betterthanaplan]

"Oh, I'm sure it usually does."

[my_own_advocate]

"It looked beautiful, is what it looked like," Lucifer said, pressing another, more thoughtful kiss against Duke's shoulder. "I wasn't in love with either of you then," he said, "But I may have fallen just a bit for your love affair. Visible or not."

[okteiviakom]

"You liked us because we liked each other?" Octavia asked, softer again.

And like she could get that, actually. Was getting that, lately.

[betterthanaplan]

"He's a hopeless romantic," Duke said, faintly teasing. "And we're adorable."

[my_own_advocate]

"Just hopeless, mainly," Lucifer said. He closed his eyes and nuzzled Duke's back gently. "But yes, I suppose. There was just something-- right, about the two of you together."

[okteiviakom]

Octavia shifted a little. Tried to get properly face to face with Duke, now.

"I think I understand," she murmured. "Kind of. From... watching the two of you."

[betterthanaplan]

"Not really one for fate," Duke said, pressing back into Lucifer a bit to give her space to turn. "But if anything's meant to be, might as well be the three of us."

[my_own_advocate]

"I don't know," Lucifer said, with half a laugh, and his hand slid off Octavia for a moment so he could hug Duke close. "I know I am in the one place in the multiverse I want to be. I know the two of you still look perfect together, and I'm... incredibly lucky to be here."

[okteiviakom]

"We're not perfect." Far from it. "But we're trying."

And semi-successfully, lately, more often than not.