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This certainly had been an emotionally eventful week, hadn't it? For the first time since Duke... exploded... Lucifer found himself in a decent mood, sleeping in to just about noon before cooking himself up a ridiculous breakfast.
Then there was coffee, and a still-somewhat-asleep Devil wandering onto the deck with a large mug that read 'Nail Satan' and a blanket slung over his shoulder. He sat down, facing the boardwalk, and stretched his legs out.
Sigh. A content one, for once. Not entirely without underlying strain, still, but close enough.
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Then there was coffee, and a still-somewhat-asleep Devil wandering onto the deck with a large mug that read 'Nail Satan' and a blanket slung over his shoulder. He sat down, facing the boardwalk, and stretched his legs out.
Sigh. A content one, for once. Not entirely without underlying strain, still, but close enough.
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Date: 27 Oct 2024 15:41 (UTC)His expression softened.
"But I will always want our nights as well, Σελήνη."
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Date: 27 Oct 2024 15:47 (UTC)Could he tell Octavia had been putting herself under a lot of pressure lately? Because her breath caught, and then there were just tears.
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Date: 27 Oct 2024 15:49 (UTC)And then tugged her into his arms.
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Date: 27 Oct 2024 15:52 (UTC)Octavia didn't fight the tugging. She went into it like a ragdoll, if anything. (Sobbing, despite her best efforts.)
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Date: 27 Oct 2024 15:53 (UTC)no subject
Date: 27 Oct 2024 16:02 (UTC)It wasn't supposed to be like this. Octavia was supposed to be stable, solid, able to just take things, whatever came her way. Be osleya again. Wasn't that what was needed of her?
But she was crying helplessly against Lucifer's shoulder instead, her arms winding their way around him to cling.
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Date: 27 Oct 2024 16:09 (UTC)They just needed Octavia. Lucifer just needed Octavia.
And this felt more like her than she had in weeks. So he held her. Murmured, maybe, a soft, "Ai Okteivia," into her ear.
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Date: 27 Oct 2024 16:17 (UTC)And somewhere in between the sobbing Octavia managed a gasp of, "Skaifaya."
Because this was probably the most Octavia she'd been in weeks.
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Date: 27 Oct 2024 16:23 (UTC)"I'm here."
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Date: 27 Oct 2024 16:30 (UTC)Even if that meant that some clarity regarding the situation was beginning to seep in.
She shuddered.
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Date: 27 Oct 2024 16:32 (UTC)He'd ask questions later.
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Date: 27 Oct 2024 16:36 (UTC)Octavia's face burned, for reasons she had not yet processed. But she breathed. Slowly in through the nose. Out through the mouth.
As always.
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Date: 27 Oct 2024 16:38 (UTC)Lucifer let his breathing fall into the rhythm of hers.
In through the nose. Out through the mouth.
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Date: 27 Oct 2024 16:46 (UTC)Her shoulders had stopped shaking, and the sobs had ceased.
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Date: 27 Oct 2024 16:49 (UTC)He just... kept. Going. Waiting. Listening to her breathe, to her settling.
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Date: 27 Oct 2024 16:54 (UTC)Her cheeks felt too warm.
"I'm sorry I thought you didn't want to," she told him, very, very quietly. Her voice sounded like... Well, like she'd been crying her eyes out. No surprise there. "That was stupid."
And it wasn't even the only thing.
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Date: 27 Oct 2024 16:59 (UTC)His hand finally slid up, into her hair. "I'm glad I could at least disabuse you of that thought."
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Date: 27 Oct 2024 17:02 (UTC)But she was already feeling embarrassed, so what was one more thing?
"I almost dropped by the house yesterday," she muttered. "Thought I'd take a bath, maybe. But I -- I couldn't make myself go in. Into the house."
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Date: 27 Oct 2024 17:05 (UTC)"Why not?" he asked. "You know you're always more than welcome to."
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Date: 27 Oct 2024 17:08 (UTC)"Didn't feel... mine. My place."
More in the figurative sense, but it was hard for her to put into words. What with the shame now that some of her thoughts had cleared.
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Date: 27 Oct 2024 17:12 (UTC)Duke and Octavia were going to give him a complex, with how odd they were about his house, honestly.
"It's ours."
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Date: 27 Oct 2024 17:16 (UTC)Hence:
"I know. But I felt like, with the date nights..."
She didn't actually want to finish that thought out loud, so she hoped he could infer enough from her trailing off.
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Date: 27 Oct 2024 17:19 (UTC)"You will always be just as important as Duke," he said. "And just as welcome."
Was it too much? She seemed less caught up in the thought than she'd been a few minutes ago, but...
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Date: 27 Oct 2024 17:27 (UTC)She said the back half of that very fast, with her voice getting a little strained towards the end.
Like she was sorry.
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Date: 27 Oct 2024 17:30 (UTC)His fingers kept moving through her hair.
"I understand," he said. "... What happened, I mean. Why is a mystery to me, as well."
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