Lucifer's Mansion, Sunday Night

[okteiviakom]

It had been another weird week. But enough of the weird - both from this week, and the ones before it - had apparently passed for Octavia and Lucifer to meet up at the house again on this Sunday evening for another date night.

The previously unfurnished room on the second floor was no longer unfurnished. Octavia didn't know whether Lucifer had noticed yet, especially since she'd left the door closed after she'd been done with it. She didn't know whether it would come into play yet, anyway.

And either way, they were downstairs, sitting down properly at the dining table. A gesture towards things Lucifer liked. And Octavia had cooked, even if the main had been just a very simple salad, which they were just about finished with. The equally simple dessert was still waiting in the fridge.

"Maybe one of these weeks you could give me a lesson." A beat. "You know, for cooking. We could make a thing of it."

[ooc: For, you guessed it, that guy.]

Comments

[okteiviakom]

Octavia finally dug into her own bowl. She'd tasted the combination before, of course, and it had worked for her, but...

Well, there was something to be said for how it tasted now that she had his approval, too.

[my_own_advocate]

It felt good. Getting this right, this time. Remembering to see this as her work, with everything that that meant, rather than just another dish presented to him.

Remembering to see the world a little bit more through her eyes.

Lucifer was smiling to himself as he finished his bowl. It reached all the way up to his eyes.

[okteiviakom]

It felt good to have her work acknowledged and appreciated, too. For what it was: an attempt that wasn't going to be perfect but still had value. And heart.

And Octavia, behind it.

It did not go unnoticed that he was smiling, even if Octavia seemed to be a little shy about her glances up at his face while she was working through her own bowl.

[my_own_advocate]

"Thank you," Lucifer said, as he set his - demonstrably empty - bowl aside. "For making dinner."

[okteiviakom]

Octavia nodded. Scraping some of the last onto her spoon.

"It was good."

Eating, yes, but -- giving it to him, too.

[my_own_advocate]

"Beginning to get a taste for cooking?" Lucifer asked.

[okteiviakom]

"When there's a point."

Or a goal.

[my_own_advocate]

"And I'm a point," Lucifer said softly.

Not teasing.

[okteiviakom]

Octavia nodded. No teasing there, either.

"One of the most important ones."

[my_own_advocate]

"A humbling thing to say," Lucifer said softly.

[okteiviakom]

"And yet it's the truth."

[my_own_advocate]

"Thank you," Lucifer said. He picked up his wine glass. "And... I'm sorry, for all the times I may not have appreciated it as much as I should have."

[okteiviakom]

Something in Octavia's expression turned a little more wry.

"We're all trying to learn."

[my_own_advocate]

"Some of us take longer than others," Lucifer said, just as wry.

[okteiviakom]

"Well, some of us are forgiven for that."

[my_own_advocate]

Lucifer let out a soft little huff.

"Ai hod yu in."

[okteiviakom]

And finally, Octavia smiled a little bit again.

"Ai hod yu in seintaim, skaifaya."

[my_own_advocate]

"Shall I clean up?" Lucifer asked, smile still gentle.

[okteiviakom]

And another tiny nod.

"Please do."

[my_own_advocate]

Lucifer nodded, and rose, collecting their bowls and glasses and other items. Something felt... warm, and gentle, and cosy and-- fragile about this moment.

He didn't want to ruin it by talking too much, so he focused on the dishes.

[okteiviakom]

And Octavia just watched.

Something of the smile still lingered in her expression, even though it wasn't really in the curve of her lips anymore.

[my_own_advocate]

Lucifer had stripped his sleeves up to his elbows, to keep the suds from staining it. He cleaned off the bowls and the cutlery and put them neatly in the rack, and then turned for the towel, to dry off his hands.

Then he turned, and leaned back against the counter, and looked at her.

[okteiviakom]

And she was still watching him.

"Hi," she said, when she caught his eye.

[my_own_advocate]

"Hi," Lucifer said. His mouth curved a touch more. "How did a Devil like me find himself lucky enough to find a niron like you?"

[okteiviakom]

"Took over the right club at the right time?" Octavia suggested.

Well, it was close to what Duke tended to tell her when she asked similar questions about them. (Clearly the Devil's Nest was a foundational part of this entire throuple.)