Lucifer's Mansion, Wednesday Afternoon

[my_own_advocate]

That whole awkward mess yesterday had ended in Lucifer inviting Octavia over because, well. Because he felt horrifically guilty, and having long emotional chats wasn't really something he was good at when he wasn't in the middle of his own (Eric's) bloody club.

Also, generally, spending time with people went down more smoothly when there were hot tubs involved.

Either way, he was awake and upright. Hadn't bothered to pull on a suit jacket or anything else over his crisp black shirt because, well, this wasn't exactly a formal occasion.

... which hadn't stopped him from getting snacks delivered and breaking out the brandy, mind you. Either way. He was home.

[[ for her ]]

Comments

[okteiviakom]

Octavia hummed a vague sound.

Ate a few bites.

Then spoke again, letting her gaze linger on the plate. "I'm hanging on," she said. "Some days are harder."

[my_own_advocate]

Lucifer nodded.

"Hardly strange," he said, quieter. "Best to take them as they come, really."

As opposed to someone who shall not be named, who may or may not have avoided them too long at his peril.

[okteiviakom]

Octavia gave a quiet sigh.

Her voice got dry again. "Well, I haven't thrown myself off the edge of the Rouge yet, so I guess it's working."

[my_own_advocate]

"Death by drowning is unpleasant, and rather a favorite of the demons down there," Lucifer told her, "So avoiding that is a good idea."

He poured himself a glass of red wine. "I heard Duke's end of the weekend," he said. "How was yours?"

[okteiviakom]

"Not sure how much there is to say," Octavia replied. "We met Gloria, we met the therapist, and then Nathan tried to strangle Duke, so we had to help solve a trouble."

Most people would have considered that plenty to say.

"Haven was Haven."

[my_own_advocate]

"A place of utter misery the man insists on returning to over and over," Lucifer agreed. "...How was your therapist?"

[okteiviakom]

"Okay," Octavia replied mildly, after a pause. Wasn't a question she would answer flippantly. "If I have to have someone prodding at how I think, I could do worse than her."

[my_own_advocate]

"High praise," Lucifer said, lifting his glass. "So you'll keep seeing her?"

[okteiviakom]

"We're looking into video calls."

That answered both the question he was asking, as well as the one he didn't know he was asking.

[my_own_advocate]

"Needed something more personal?" Lucifer asked. "Not that I think it's going to be an issue with you, but sleeping with your therapist is the point where personal begins offering diminishing returns."

[okteiviakom]

Octavia rolled her eyes.

"She's pretty," she drawled, "but I'm not into her like that."

[my_own_advocate]

"It's also apparently ethically wrong," Lucifer added, just to be sure, "according to Linda's employers."

[okteiviakom]

"And it's weird," Octavia pointed out, helpfully.

Well, it was weird to her anyway.

[my_own_advocate]

"She kept staring at me with carnal fascination when we first met, was I supposed to not sleep with her?"

Lucifer. That was not how most people worked.

[okteiviakom]

"If she was going to help you, probably, yeah," Octavia drawled. Though then she shrugged. "But that's way outside my area of expertise."

[my_own_advocate]

"She was very enthusiastic," Lucifer said. "Until she decided to end it anyway. But the therapy's still good."

[okteiviakom]

"Good for you."

That was extremely dry.

[my_own_advocate]

"Just sharing my experiences," Lucifer said.

Look, him digressing into talking about himself was always a real and present risk.

"But it sounds like you figured out how to talk."

[okteiviakom]

Octavia had been mostly making very dry fun of him, anyway.

"It was easier when I could see her," she said, turning her attention back on the plate, finally scooping up the very last bit of cake. "Last week's phone session was... not great."

[my_own_advocate]

"Not great how?" Lucifer asked, leaning forward to cut himself off a piece of the banana cake.

[okteiviakom]

"Like you're supposed to talk in therapy," Octavia rasped, "and I didn't."

Hadn't been able to.

She moved her own plate closer to the banana cake, like a suggestion.

[my_own_advocate]

Lucifer shot her an amused look, and took the first slice, and deposited it on her plate. "What, you just... didn't?"

[okteiviakom]

"No," Octavia said, as she pulled her plate back.

So maybe it was less 'not great' and more 'complete disaster'.

[my_own_advocate]

"Can't say that's ever happened to me," Lucifer offered, "But I'm not the reticent type."

At least, not when he was functioning as normal.

[okteiviakom]

"Yeah," Octavia replied with a tiny snort. "I could see you having the opposite problem."