Lucifer's Mansion, Sunday Night

[my_own_advocate]

It had certainly been a complicated week, hadn't it? Luckily, it had ended before the weekend, and Lucifer, Duke and Octavia had had all Saturday to recover.

That didn't mean Lucifer hadn't been slightly surprised that Octavia was still game for date night. But he had grasped it with every bit of enthusiasm he could foster. And yes, that did mean dinner had featured a genuinely ridiculous amount of tropical fruit.

"Suppose I should've put a protein in there," he mused, settling back and eyeing his empty dessert bowl with satisfaction.

[[ for her and sp. eta: nsfw-bound... ish? ]]

Comments

[okteiviakom]

"See? Embarrassing," Octavia replied, now with a little more rasp. (At least she finally sounded like herself.) "'Cause I just thought you'd changed your mind."

Yes, there was an implication here that had to do with whether his 'could tell' was actually accurate.

[my_own_advocate]

"I hadn't," Lucifer said, blowing out a breath. "But you weren't really-- responding. And we'd started under rather different circumstances than usual, so I didn't... want to assume."

[okteiviakom]

Octavia gave a quiet sigh and let her head hang forward.

"Was I responding to anything else?" she muttered. "I just... I just wanted someone else to take the lead."

[my_own_advocate]

"I need more than that in a moment that's... fuzzy about sex," Lucifer sighed. "At least an agreement up front that that's an all right thing to do. Because if I touched you there and you didn't want me to, I'd-- that would be horrifying."

[okteiviakom]

"But you did touch me," Octavia replied, mildly. "And nothing happened."

In many senses of the phrase.

"And I didn't know you'd had any reason to get scared. I just thought you were... going to get back to it later."

[my_own_advocate]

"Well, I'm sorry," Lucifer sighed. "I could have, and spared us both rather a bit of flailing."

[okteiviakom]

Octavia just barely lifted one shoulder.

"Sometimes this just happens."

[my_own_advocate]

"Yes, but it makes us both feel awful, so I'd rather avoid it if at all possible."

[okteiviakom]

"And sometimes it's not."

[my_own_advocate]

Lucifer sighed, and let him sink much further into the hot tub, until the water was above his shoulders.

[okteiviakom]

Octavia glanced over from the corner of her eye. Looked towards the skyline.

Squeezed her eyes shut.

"Can I get out now?" she muttered. "I don't think I'm into this anymore." And she was still feeling something of a desperate need to cover herself up.

[my_own_advocate]

"Of course," Lucifer said. "I won't keep you."

Even if this made him feel like even more of a failure.

[okteiviakom]

That made two of them.

"Thanks."

She moved to get up, looking around for any convenient towels.

[my_own_advocate]

There were some right by the hot tub, neatly stacked and ready for use. Lucifer reached up and pinched the bridge of his nose.

Funny. Now he felt helpless.

[okteiviakom]

Octavia grabbed one of the towels to wrap it around herself.

Inevitably found herself watching him out of the corner of her eye as she was doing it, though.

[my_own_advocate]

There was very little that made him feel as much like a failure as... this. Not getting it right in the arena where he was supposed to be best. Making her feel that uneasy instead.

Lucifer was trying not to look as fundamentally hopeless as he felt, but he was bent over a bit, not looking at her.

[okteiviakom]

Fuck.

Octavia swallowed a sigh, barely, and stepped back up to the tub. One of her hands was holding up her makeshift towel toga, keeping it at least somewhat secure around her, but the other...

Ended up at the back of his neck. Rubbed it gently.

[my_own_advocate]

Lucifer barely noticed for a moment.

But when he did, he did so with an exhale. "I'm sorry, darling," he said. "I don't mean to be ridiculous about it."

[okteiviakom]

"Yeah, well," Octavia muttered, as her touch grew just a little firmer. "Feeling's mutual, I guess."

[my_own_advocate]

"I love you," Lucifer said. Slowly, his shoulders relaxed some. "I just want to be able to give you what you need without derailing us so often."

[okteiviakom]

"You already do," Octavia told him quietly. "This doesn't happen that often. And it's not your fault, niron."

[my_own_advocate]

Lucifer tilted his head back as well as he could under the circumstances. "Am I going to sound very pathetic if I ask for a kiss?"

[okteiviakom]

"Depends on if you ask pathetically."

She was already leaning down.

[my_own_advocate]

"May I have a kiss?" Lucifer asked.

Reaching up to cup the back of her head.

[okteiviakom]

It didn't really need an answer at this point. So, Octavia's half-whispered "sha" was just a formality.

Right before she kissed him. Soft, but like it had meaning. Maybe an apology. Or something reaffirming. Reassuring.