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]

Good.

Octavia focused on nothing except that and her breathing (in through the nose, out through the mouth, in through the nose --) and feeling deep-seated tension slowly give way under his hands.

No choice, right? No choice but compliance.

[my_own_advocate]

(Unless she needed one.)

"Good," Lucifer whispered, and pressed his fingers into another knot, and, "Good," he said again, over and over, until he found himself satisfied with the feeling of her--

Relaxed? Was that the word?

[okteiviakom]

Slack, maybe. Her shoulders hung loose and her back wasn't rigid.

All that was there was her breathing, and the echo of his last 'good' hanging in her head.

[my_own_advocate]

Lucifer's hands slipped back onto her thighs. He held them there.

Listened to her breathing, thinking about what should come next.

[okteiviakom]

And once again, Octavia thought about not much at all.

The breathing wasn't quite as loud, anymore. But it was still focused. Held most of her attention.

[my_own_advocate]

And so Lucifer... Well, eventually, he placed his hands on her belly. Feeling her breathe. Letting her know he was feeling it with her.

[okteiviakom]

One of Octavia's hands ended up on his arm. A little hesitantly, really.

Unsure if it was allowed.

[my_own_advocate]

Lucifer didn't stop her. He let his breathing fall into the same rhythm as hers.

[okteiviakom]

Octavia felt it. Thought she felt it?

The movement of the water made things a little hazy. Not to mention the having been breathing in such a focused manner for so long.

[my_own_advocate]

Lucifer was silent for a little while longer.

"Come back," he breathed at last.

[okteiviakom]

Octavia made an inquisitive, almost confused noise that seemed to come through something of a haze, too.

[my_own_advocate]

Or don't.

Lucifer said nothing else.

He pressed his face in the crook of her neck, almost a kiss, but not quite.

[okteiviakom]

Way to confuse a girl, Lucifer.

Octavia frowned faintly to herself.

[my_own_advocate]

Sigh.

"You may move," Lucifer said, when it became obvious she wasn't sure what to do.

[okteiviakom]

"Oh," Octavia breathed, softly. Her eyes opened again, finally. Blinked a few times. Shaking something off.

(Saying goodbye to something that seemed to slip away from her.)

[my_own_advocate]

Only now did Lucifer actually trust himself - trust her - to kiss her shoulder. To show some warmth.

[okteiviakom]

It was...

Disappointing.

Somehow.

Octavia wasn't proud to recognize the feeling. She let out a little sigh, but it felt forced, not quite fake but not quite not. Felt like a disconnect.

[my_own_advocate]

Lucifer frowned. "What's wrong?"

[okteiviakom]

"Nothing."

Well. It was true in the sense that Octavia losing her footing wasn't 'wrong' as in 'out of the ordinary'. She was covering for it, anyway. Or trying to, trying to tilt her head against his.

Something to stop him asking.

[my_own_advocate]

That didn't seem right. Lucifer frowned, his grip on her loosening.

He didn't know what to do. (Hadn't known what else to do, unintentional as their lapse into this scene had been, afraid of disturbing any boundaries.)

[okteiviakom]

Octavia had come back to herself just enough to wonder how much damage it would do to just get up and leave.

She didn't make the same risk assessment for responding to his loosening grip by slipping out of it entirely - which was what she actually did, returning to her original seat next to him. "Thanks for the massage," she murmured as she settled into a lean against his side. "It was nice."

She hoped it didn't sound (and feel) as stilted to him as it did to her.

[my_own_advocate]

Hurting her by going too far was one kind of pain, but disappointing her felt like one all its own.

"You're welcome," Lucifer said.

He certainly sounded like he could hear her stilted tone. He just didn't want to make things worse by calling it out.

He felt pathetic.

[okteiviakom]

And Octavia was beginning to feel embarrassed, so at least no one was having a good time.

She was just trying to fake her way into being relaxed, now. Or something. She didn't know.

[my_own_advocate]

It would be helpful if only she were willing to talk to him. But Lucifer's experiences with forcing it were... Mixed.

"Would you, ah, like a drink?"

[okteiviakom]

"Not really," Octavia murmured. "Thanks, though."