Cape Rouge, Fandom, to Los Angeles (eventually), Monday Afternoon

[my_own_advocate]

Lucifer had been having a nice day. A bottle of red. The galley. Something enjoyable to watch on his phone.

"Brother."

Lucifer had been having a nice day. And now he was up on the deck of the Rouge, barking into the phone. "Amenadiel," he said, "Don't you have a child to rear or something?"

"Charlie is fine," Amenadiel said, on the other side of the phone. "He's also in Los Angeles. As am I."

"Ah, so you've moved? How nice, LA weather is excellent this time of year," Lucifer said, already halfway to turning off the phone. "But this could have been an email. Now, if you'd excuse me, I have an excellent Orion Swift waiting for me--"

"No, I mean he is in Los Angeles," Amenadiel repeated slowly. "Our Los Angeles. Time has resumed flowing." His voice brightened considerably. "I'm so glad you've finally embraced your Godhood, Lucifer!"

Oh, no.

"Oh, no," Lucifer said.

[[ for them who live here, please ]]

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[okteiviakom]

Octavia pulled back soon after. All of this time felt stolen, somehow.

"Come on," she muttered. "Shouldn't leave him alone for too long right now."

[betterthanaplan]

"Briyon gona," Duke murmured, turning towards the galley. "Let's go see if we can soothe our Devil."

[okteiviakom]

Octavia pulled away - almost. Her hand slid down to take his.

And then she pulled him along to the galley.

[betterthanaplan]

Duke let her, giving her hand another squeeze.

"Luce," he called, voice carefully light. The good old (old) patented Duke Crocker irreverence in full force. "We're coming back in. If you drank the good bourbon, you really will be paying me back!"

[my_own_advocate]

Oh, hell. Lucifer stared down the almost-empty bottle, and straightened his shoulders. (How his hair had gotten in that state in that short of a time? Impossible to know.)

"Just the wine," he called. "I haven't had enough time for the bourbon."

[okteiviakom]

"Told you," Octavia muttered to Duke.

It was supposed to be kind of a joke, if a dark one, about what she'd said about the wine up on deck. But it was pretty flat.

[betterthanaplan]

Duke hummed a little agreement. Once Lucifer was in sight, he glued a smile to his face.

“Hey babe. Is the wine helping?”

It clearly was not.

[my_own_advocate]

"I clearly need more of it," Lucifer said, holding up the bottle.

So no.

[okteiviakom]

Octavia gave Duke's hand one last squeeze, then let go.

She wasn't smiling, but the few moments up on deck with Duke had softened her demeanor some. "Maybe you need something else to go with it."

No, not more alcohol.

[betterthanaplan]

“I could whip something up,” Duke suggested. “A frittata, maybe?”

[my_own_advocate]

In a few hours, Lucifer would find the wherewithal to ask for ice cream.

For now, he just blinked, half-shook his head, and then said, "...a frittata would be all right, I suppose."

[okteiviakom]

Octavia looked to Duke and gave an encouraging, grateful little nod.

(One step at a time.)

[betterthanaplan]

Making ice cream was a bit harder than making a fritatta, and Duke didn't know for sure if they had ingredients on hand to make anything to satisfy Lucifer's well-known sweet tooth. But calories were calories, and protein was never a bad idea for most humans, and Duke knew he made a mean frittata. So fritatta it was. He set to bustling about, getting peppers and onions and eggs and some baby spinach from the fridge.

"Would hacking at something with a knife help either of you with emotions right now?"

[my_own_advocate]

Well. That one didn't take much thinking.

"Not even a little bit," Lucifer said. "I'm sorry. I'm just... brooding."

And in need of a distraction.

(Ben and Jerry's would've done fine, Crocker.)

[okteiviakom]

"I can help?" Octavia offered.

She wasn't going to be touching whether it would to do anything for her.

[betterthanaplan]

Sorry Duke wasn't intuitively knowing that you really wanted ice cream, Luce. He was also still firmly in 'I will do something useful!' mode, and Ben & Jerry's didn't involve nearly enough doing.

"Thanks." he offered Octavia a smile and a pepper, then started cracking the eggs. "So. We'll eat. Check in with Maze. Maybe let Linda know where we are?"

[my_own_advocate]

"If my brother hasn't already warned her," Lucifer sighed. "I'm surprised she isn't blowing up my phone as it is."

[okteiviakom]

"'Warned'," Octavia muttered under her breath as she got to work with the pepper.

[betterthanaplan]

Duke flicked her a knowing glance.

“Since she’s not, maybe it’s a good idea to call her. Check in, right?”

Maybe he’d do the same with Gloria. She was still making noises about moving down to Maryland with her grandson; she’d be pretty pissed if she got there and Duke and Octavia weren’t even around.

[my_own_advocate]

"... In time. Wouldn't want to, ah, steal Amenadiel's thunder."

Truthfully, Lucifer really would have preferred to lock himself up on the boat and refuse to come out for the next while.

[okteiviakom]

"What's weather got to do with anything?"

She had probably heard that saying before, but... Well, brains were feeling a little scrambled.

[betterthanaplan]

"Metaphor, gona. He wants to let Amenadiel talk to her first." He started whisking the eggs, getting them good and scrambled -- like their brains! -- before adding the milk. "If you need more time to sulk, Luce, just let me know. I'll stop suggesting things."

[my_own_advocate]

"I'm not-- sulking," Lucifer muttered, strained. "... But I would like to wait a bit before we call in the troops. So to speak."

[okteiviakom]

Octavia accepted Duke's explanation without further comment, although grateful to have gotten one. She'd just file the phrase away for later.

As for Lucifer... She nodded, vaguely. Didn't really look up from her chopping. (Bad things had happened recently when she'd gotten distracted while chopping something.) "We can do that."

[betterthanaplan]

“Absolutely,” Duke agreed. “We’ve here for you, man. Just let us know what you need.”