okteiviakom | Lucifer's Mansion, Sunday Night

"All right, I'll go get it."

She seemed off, tonight. Lucifer didn't want to push - it had never worked well for him in the past - but that left him nothing but playing along with... whatever her mood allowed for them to do.

He got up, and headed towards the fridge to get those desserts.

Admittedly, it was maybe a little harder to maintain the 'keeping it to herself' when there wasn't anyone else to take the focus off her.

Anyway, what he'd find in the fridge was just a simple plate of various bits of fruit inexpertly but thoroughly dipped in white chocolate. And they had set, so good job, Tavi.

She took the now-empty plates and took them over to the sink.

Octavia had never been the best at hiding when she was-- off. And plenty of catastrophes had tuned even Lucifer in to it.

Especially on Date Night.

But again, he was on his best behavior, taking the plate with him to the table. "Delicious," he said. "I'm tickled by the choice for white chocolate."

Octavia gave a tiny snort. "Why's that?"

"It's just a tiny step aside from tradition," Lucifer said, setting the plate down on the table. "And very tasty."

"I didn't even know there was tradition," Octavia admitted, easily enough, as she stepped back towards the table, "but I guess that's normal chocolate?"

"Yes," Lucifer agreed. "A romantic cliché."

"Romantic?"

Look, sometimes she forgot there was more symbolic value in food in this time than just survival.

"Chocolate covered strawberries," Lucifer said, grinning. "Meant for special nights with your beloved, especially if you've only recently gotten together."

"Well that's not us," Octavia rasped. "It's been years."

Not that that was keeping her from sidling close enough to actually lean against his side a little.

"And yet we still fuck like enthusiastic bunnies," Lucifer teased, his arm sliding around her waist. "So I believe we can get away with it."

Snort. "Was that part supposed to change with time?"

"According to cliché," Lucifer said, and kissed the top of her head. "Which you don't respect."

"Damn right I don't," Octavia agreed. "I remember what we were like, that one weekend when I was fifty."

Her recollection weren't crystal clear, of course, but she remembered enough.

"Because we are much better than clichés," Lucifer said, grinning. "And we deserve chocolate-covered strawberries."

"Can't argue with that."

So she was going to lean towards the table a little, and pick up a piece of fruit.

"I didn't think you would," Lucifer said, reaching for some himself.

Octavia gave another soft huff, but said nothing.

Bit busy biting into some pineapple.

"Want to sit down?" Lucifer asked.

And ate that piece of banana happily.

Octavia looked up at him. "Getting tired so soon?"

She was hilarious.

"Hardly," Lucifer chuckled. "Saving my energy for after dinner."

"I think I can live with that," Octavia allowed. "Sitting it is."

"Thank you."

Lucifer would try and steal a kiss first, however.

Oh, well, such thievery would --

Get him a kiss, obviously, Octavia craning her neck to meet him.

Lucifer pulled back slowly, smiling. "Now we can sit," he said, and took a step back so he could pull up a chair for her.

The stepping back part was sad.

And yet Octavia also moved to take the offered seat.

It was very sad. They'd have to fix it in a moment or two.

At least Lucifer chose to take the seat next to her, rather than the one opposite her, as he had done earlier in the night. He reached for the fruit again, finding an actual strawberry. "The classic."

"I would've made them all strawberries if I'd known it was a thing."

Maybe. She had a history of doing her own thing regardless.

Lucifer took an idle bite. (If she were anyone else, he would've offered to feed it to her.) "Ah, but your doing it your own way is part of the charm."

Octavia could get her own strawberry, anyway. (Even if he needn't have been wary of feeding her.)

"Probably would've done it my own way anyway," she admitted.

Look, Octavia and food was always... complicated.

"And that's why I love you," Lucifer chuckled, finishing off his strawberry. "Stubborn and unique."

"And bad at hiding either."

She reached out for another piece.

"Also part of the charm," Lucifer said.

His turn with the pineapple. He sighed happily.

And Octavia turned a little, just so she could stretch up enough to press a brief kiss to his jaw.

He sounded happy and light. There should be a reward.

Someone on the Rouge had to be, and Lucifer was the one with the least amount of problems at this point.

(Not that he thought about this so consciously, but part of him certainly saw it as his duty to be the fun one.)

"I need to let you handle the desserts more often," he said, beaming at her.

Octavia huffed, but there was a warmth to it. "That good?"

"Well, obviously the definition of 'good' is subjective, I'm sure I could make fancier," Lucifer said, "But I'm finding I rather like being surprised by what you come up with, and I've yet to be disappointed."

"'Yet to be disappointed'," Octavia echoed. "Glowing review."

"For me, yes," Lucifer said. "People disappoint me with a frankly disconcerting regularity."

"Even now?"

"Outside of our boat, yes."

He was too much of a softy to qualify Duke's bad days as anywhere near the word disappointment.

It wasn't what Octavia had been thinking about either.

"Well that's depressing."

"Really?" Lucifer said, raising an eyebrow. "I find it quite uplifting, personally."

Octavia raised her eyebrows right back.

"That so many people keep disappointing you?"

"That I get to live with two people who don't," Lucifer said, blinking at her.

"That's two people in the world, Lucifer."

"It's two more than I had previously," Lucifer pointed out. "I so rarely had any before."

"Yes, that's the depressing part, niron."

Lucifer shrugged, and reached for another piece of fruit. "I am choosing not to see it that way."

"Those are my fellow humans, so I don't think I have that choice."

"Why not?" Lucifer asked, and snuck a bite, and swallowed it. "They don't reflect on you."

"But it does," Octavia replied. "I'm one of them."

"... Darling, other humans don't disappoint me because they're humans," Lucifer said, still confused. "Most other humans just disappoint me by being the specific humans that they are."

"Just 'cause you love me doesn't make me different."

Guess this had poked at some of what had been making her restless. Or something that had dragged closer to the surface again, anyway.

Edited 2024-01-29 20:47 (UTC)

"No, I love you because you are different," Lucifer said.

The confusion had now turned into a touch of a frown.

"Not from humanity as a whole, but from most of the other humans I've met."

"When you say 'most', you know that's not far enough from 'everyone' to really count, right?" Octavia replied. Retorted, maybe. "You hear that too?"

She'd forgotten all about the fruit.

This had officially gotten strange.

"No, I don't," Lucifer said. "It is in fact, the most exact number of humans who have disappointed me. Many have. Some haven't."

"'Most' and 'many' are two different things, too," Octavia couldn't help pointing out.

"Darling, what is your goal with this particular line of conversation?" Lucifer finally felt himself compelled to ask. "Because if you desire to get me to say otherwise, I have to remind you I have little interest in lying to you."

"Am I supposed to have a goal?"

Kind of a weird way to ask whether you were supposed to know where all this was coming from, Tavi.

(She didn't, not really. But there was an agitated sort of exasperation to the expression on her face.)

"Well, you're the one currently arguing with me because you find my personal feelings 'depressing'," Lucifer pointed out, "And I have trouble determining why, if it isn't to try and get me to say something that I find untruthful but you find more palatable."

Octavia's brow knit together harder. "I don't think your feelings are depressing, I find the fact that so many people have disappointed you and apparently keep disappointing you depressing."

"Why does it matter?" Lucifer asked, just a touch of desperation in his voice. "I don't care about them, and I don't have to live with them."

"But I did!"

Oh, oh no, that was loud. And almost -- explosive.

Well. That was certainly-- emotional.

Lucifer had no idea what it meant. Not even a little bit.

So he was left there, blinking at her.

Octavia shot up from her chair, since it was the only way to recoil from the situation. Turned away and took two -- no, three steps, hands balling into fists at her sides.

Surely composure would return to her like this?

Or some kind of verbal explanation? Because Lucifer had learned over the years that if he wanted to make the people he actually cared about happy, he needed to-- try not to make everything about him. So he tried.

While at the same time, his every instinct was yelling at him to assume this was about him.

In other words, his mind had a bit of a short circuit situation.

"... Octavia?"

That was safe enough.

Sadly not something Octavia responded to right now. She was doing her level best to take a few deep breaths, in through the nose, slowly out through the mouth.

Her heart was racing. Why was her heart racing?

(Soncha kik thru, noda raz: osleya gon rouz --)

Gingerly, Lucifer rose from his chair.

He took... one step in her direction.

Octavia heard him. Didn't do anything - including not putting more distance between them, so at least there was that.

Breathe in. Breathe out.

Something like shame was starting to trickle through the white noise in her ears. Maybe that was good? Embarrassment had its uses, though finding words would have been better.

Edited 2024-01-29 21:53 (UTC)

"I'm going to touch you now," Lucifer said slowly.

He was. He reached for her shoulder.

Octavia did nothing. So, she let him.

Thinking about blood on concrete. Wasn't that what her mind always did? Eventually all fuzzy chaos began narrowing down to blood.

"Octavia," Lucifer said slowly. "Breathe."

Octavia made the tiniest, softest, affronted-helpless noise.

She was doing her best, here. In, nose, out, mouth.

"Right, right," Lucifer muttered. "Sorry. It's just-- the only thing I can say."

The hand on her shoulder wasn't enough pressure, wasn't enough anything, but Octavia didn't really have the words to communicate that right now. Or anything else useful, either.

She was trying to work up to it, honest, she was.

Her knuckles were white, her nails pressing into her palms.

Lucifer wasn't thinking about pressure, so much. But he did notice her hands.

"Be careful with that," he murmured, sneaking an arm around her so he could... slide his hand over one of those knuckles. "If you need to grip something, grip me."

Octavia's fist jerked away from his hand, in a way that seemed purely reflexive.

The way she practically shoved her back against his chest, less so.

... Erm. Well. All right.

Lucifer's arms slid around her waist in a move part-reflex, part-desperately trying to roll with it.

He didn't know what else to do, either.

He was doing what Octavia had oh so clearly instructed him to do. That was all that mattered, whether he knew he was doing it or not.

... Though guess she could pull her verbal skills together enough for at least a little adjustment:

"Tighter."

"Right," Lucifer muttered, faintly apologetic.

He tightened his grip.

He didn't need to be. Octavia might even tell him so, later. He was doing the best he could.

She didn't relax, but there was some kind of shift in her posture as soon as she felt his arms tighten around her. Pressure was better, more grounding, more here. Not as much -- back there.

On a planet with no future.

Her voice sounded thin. "You've seen the... entire human history, and you say most, or many people have disappointed you." She swallowed. Shuddered. Lost even more of her voice. "So what did I fight for?"

"What did you--?"

Sorry, Octavia. Lucifer was struggling to keep up. "What? When?"

"When I became champion." The shuddering would just continue, now. "When I got locked underground with everyone who was left."

Ah, so that was where she'd wound up.

"Niron, even people who've personally disappointed me deserve to live," Lucifer said. "If we start weeding humans out based on personal slights, it gets messy and problematic rather quickly."

Edited 2024-01-29 22:50 (UTC)

"But it's a pattern."

"It doesn't matter," Lucifer said. "The bloody madness of Hell is all these humans storming the gates, demanding to be let in because they're upset with themselves for-- not feeding their puppy or having a bad day in front of their children or just being moderately annoying for a longer period of time. And then they punish themselves forever for some stupid lapse of judgment while real, unrepentant villains walk away untouched."

Right. He should probably get to the bit where this was relevant, wasn't it?

"There has to be a sense of justice to the universe," he said. "We can't just go around condemning people to suffer and die because they were a let down. That's not a crime. That's just-- most humans being a bit shit a lot of the time."

Edited 2024-01-29 22:59 (UTC)

Octavia could not follow how that was relevant, alas. 'I love you because you are different' was one of several things still hanging heavy over this conversation, and for reasons Octavia couldn't really put into words.

"None of that matters."

Not helpful and she knew it, but the most helpful thing she was currently doing was not running away somewhere else to wait for this feeling to pass - and even that was on thin ice right now.

She'd heard that one very differently from how he'd intended it, hadn't she?

"You saving human lives because they didn't deserve to die doesn't matter?" Lucifer asked, frowning. "What does, then?"

Octavia had heard a lot of things differently from how he'd intended them. Was continuing to, even.

"What, when -- No, all of that about Hell and justice doesn't matter." Her face was scrunching up hard, not that he could probably see more than a sliver of it. "It's not about that."

And she had just enough of her faculties to know what question would be coming next if she left it at that.

"It's about -- about feeling worthless because someone ancient, someone who's seen so much of us, doesn't see more good in us."

Edited 2024-01-29 23:52 (UTC)

There was-- a long pause, and a blink (not that she could see it), and then, finally, a, "I think you're reading rather more into this than I intended for there to be, love."

"I can't help it!"

But that much had probably already become clear.

"I noticed." Lucifer's grip tightened yet a little more. "To somewhat echo your earlier point, however, 'disappointing' and 'worthless' are two very different things," he said. "In fact, I'd argue it's rather hard to be disappointed in something you find worthless. Setting aside context, which was about your desserts, and where I would personally say that someone cooking a ribeye well-done was already disappointing... when I am disappointed on some larger scale, it is because I am aware of the great heights humans can reach."

Edited 2024-01-30 09:42 (UTC)

Octavia still felt a little sick, and was finding it hard to put together any sort of an argument when everything was so muddled.

But he was holding her tighter. His chest was warm against her back, even through all the clothes, and the press of his body against hers was a soothing thing.

Something in her shoulders finally gave in, with a shudder. "Go on," she muttered weakly.

"You and Duke are prime examples of it," Lucifer murmured. "As are the Detective, and Linda, and several other humans I've met just in the past decade or so."

He sucked in a breath. (Hoping not to muck this up.) "Take you, for example. Put in impossible circumstances. Plunged so low. And yet here you are, striving to be better, finding new spaces in your heart to fit others in, learning how to do things you might otherwise have no interest in because you want me to be happy. You may not always succeed at what you try to do, but you try. Many humans don't. That is disappointing. Because I look at you, and I see so much goodness, and I know other humans are perfectly capable of it."

He should count himself lucky Octavia let him keep talking beyond 'take you, for example'.

"We already covered why you think I am -- special." It wasn't the right word, but it would have to do. "I don't want to feel like an exception."

Especially when she knew she wasn't one, not by a long shot.

(Every ghost of her past so close to the surface.)

"I named at least three other people, and I haven't exactly met every single human." Lucifer was struggling not to sound exasperated. "More importantly, why does it matter?"

"Because three is nothing."

"They are not nothing to me," Lucifer said.

Found his exasperation snapping into actual hurt and frustration.

"I am not an almighty arbiter of humankind, Octavia, nor the judge, jury and executioner my Father tried to make of me. I am a person. There are people I find special and there are people I find disappointing, and if you are looking for some grand proclamation of human goodness where you are just another face among many, I'll direct you to Amenadiel, that sounds like much more his kink."

Well.

Octavia tried to shove away from him.

Lucifer held on.

Letting her run off alone didn't seem like a grand idea, either.

For some reason, Octavia hadn't expected that.

She tried again, but it lacked... something. The fervor and intent of that first attempt.

"Octavia, please calm down."

He hadn't let go, yet.

Octavia objcted, with a helpless noise in her throat.

Stopped struggling, though. That second attempt had been like pressing against a wall to check it would hold, anyway.

"What is going on?" Lucifer asked. "This can't just be about me refusing to call you 'just another human'."

Octavia shook her head.

"It didn't need to be about goodness," she said, voice quieter now but still a little agitated. "I wasn't asking -- the King of Hell, I was asking you, you who came back to Earth so many times over our entire history. You came here for reasons and it wasn't just to be disappointed over and over until you happened to meet me and Duke and Linda and your Detective."

A breath.

"It didn't need to be about goodness, Lucifer, but I did need to hear something good."

"No, I came here to have brief stretches of fun and distraction from my endless imprisonment, and while I was here, many humans came to me asking favors, and most of them were disappointing," Lucifer sighed. "Some of them were not, but I didn't particularly see the sense in listing them. How many context-free names would you need, exactly, to be satisfied?"

He was still a bit sore about the whole 'if you find most humans disappointing, then that must mean I'm worthless' bit, yes.

So it wasn't just her hearing things in ways they weren't intended.

"Forget it," Octavia said, on a sigh that sounded just... sad. "We're not getting anywhere, and I don't want to talk about this anymore. You don't see the sense in talking to me about things I needed, so what's the point in going on?"

"I just don't understand what you want from me," Lucifer sighed. "To tell you not all humans I've met were terrible? I already have."

"Somewhere in the middle of saying 'disappointing' twenty-five times," Octavia muttered.

"Well, I'm sorry I didn't always experience the best of what humanity had to offer," Lucifer said irritably. "I have met good people. Usually fleetingly, because as you might recall, I didn't usually get to be here for very long periods of time, among many other factors."

"I already said I didn't want to keep talking about this," Octavia replied. Quiet, defeated. "You're just getting mad at me."

"Not talking about it is hardly going to make me less mad or you less-- whatever you seem to be feeling," Lucifer said. (He'd spent the day trying not to comment on Octavia's state of mind, as long as she was trying not to make it obvious. And then, this.) "Do you even understand why this makes me upset?"

"I'd have an easier time getting there if I wasn't upset."

Which was a key reason for why she was trying to get out of this conversation. Everything felt too raw, so everything seemed like knives.

Lucifer let out a loud breath.

He didn't say anything.

Octavia didn't, either.

Something slack about her, now. As much as there could be about someone still standing on her own two feet.

At least her heartbeat had stopped thundering in her ears.

Lucifer had briefly considered letting her go. And then the slackness had set in.

So instead he just remained silent, staring at the back wall.

Octavia needed to go through a few rounds of her breathing, again. Something needed to settle a little before she could do... anything. About anything.

In the silence of the room, the sound felt noisy to her.

It was loud, wasn't it? Almost painfully so.

Lucifer watched the curtains move, just slightly, with a small breeze.

In through the nose, out through the mouth. Over and over.

And over.

Her eyes squeezed shut.

"I don't know what you're upset about," she said, finally. It sounded apologetic, more than anything. And it was quiet. "I've only been half-hearing you."

Lucifer let out a long breath.

"I'm upset," he said finally, "because it feels as if you are treating me as any interchangeable immortal who must have some kind of definitive and objective opinion of humanity, and I am not. I am-- just me."

"Oh," Octavia murmured. "I wasn't trying to. I was just... surprised."

Wait, no, that wasn't it.

"I was shocked," she amended. "That your experience was that bad, even outside of Hell."

"It wasn't bad," Lucifer murmured. "It was certainly better than Hell. I had a lot of great sex and ate incredible food and-- ah, the creative ways humanity has learned to play with alcohol. But I was also blamed for all of humanity's sins. The humans who came to me, did so because they wanted something from me. And they certainly didn't always make the best of what they received."

"But I couldn't even get you to say that much about the good."

Something in her voice broke a little at the end, there.

"I think you got a touch sidetracked by the wrong questions, love," Lucifer said, giving her a bit of a squeeze.

"What were the right ones?"

"You could have just asked me to tell you about good times I did have, or good people I had met," Lucifer said gently. "I have my fair share of stories."

"I was trying to," Octavia murmured. "In ways you weren't hearing."

"It just sounded like you were accusing me of-- well, being too negative about humanity, or being so negative about humanity that you weren't salvagable," Lucifer said slowly. "And you kept telling me to stop calling you special, which, darling, if you want someone to tell you you aren't, you shouldn't be asking one of your life partners."

"There's a time to be calling me special, niron," Octavia replied gently. "I know I am that to you."

She sighed, and finally opened her eyes again, even if it was just to look at the wall.

"I think what I'm learning here is... That it's still a new luxury for me, being able to think of people as just... indvidual people. Most of my life, every big thing, and all the worst things have revolved around humanity's survival."

And it was a huge thing to carry, even as the background radiation of your life.

"Mm," Lucifer said. "Hence all the arguments about humanity as a whole, and the 'treat me as another human'?"

"I never said that," Octavia muttered. "I was just trying to get you to talk about other examples."

"That is... entirely not what I got from all that," Lucifer admitted.

"Yeah, I've come to understand that." Just getting more muttery. "Sorry."

Lucifer gave her a squeeze. "We talked past each other," he said, "It happens."

"I know."

Didn't stop the hurt. Either way.

"Is there anything you'd like to talk about, now that our moods have settled?" Lucifer murmured.

A pause followed, and then, "You get that I don't expect you to be the arbiter of anything bigger than... strawberries and chocolate, right?"

"I'm getting that sense now, yes," Lucifer said. "But in many ways, I'm rather used to-- well, the opposite problem you have. I've never particularly seen myself as representative as some grander whole. Quite the opposite, really."

"I'm sorry for adding to that," Octavia murmured. "I just -- your life has been so long. And most of the time I don't even remember that, and then suddenly I do."

"Some days I would prefer you forgot about it entirely," Lucifer admitted. "I am much happier now than I ever was before, in Hell or on Earth." He ran a soothing hand up along her body, for as much as he could under the current circumstances. "And I doubt you would have liked me much back then, either."

"It's not really about that," Octavia murmured. "Just about how much you've seen. And how this part is just a happy blip, so far."

"What I have seen is in some ways rather limited," Lucifer said softly. "Fancy castles, naked bodies, dark clubs full of brooding loners..."

"There's worth in that," Octavia replied, softly. "To me."

"It was an escape," Lucifer said. "And for a very long time, that was all the light I had. Even when it was disappointing. It was better than nothing."

"It was light," Octavia murmured. "Even if it wasn't much."

"And now I'm walking in the sunshine," Lucifer murmured. "Specifically of your chocolate-covered fruit, this particular night."

Octavia gave a tiny sigh.

(Those damn fruit.)

"I'm sorry things got so weird."

"I should have expected it, honestly," Lucifer said.

He was rubbing her arm, now. "You've been a touch out of sorts of late."

"I haven't been that bad," Octavia muttered, letting her head fall forward a little, even as she leaned more heavily back against him.

"Just a touch," Lucifer murmured. "Nothing truly alarming."

Octavia made an affronted little noise all the same.

Not at him, though.

"We don't have to talk about it if you don't want to," Lucifer added. "But I thought, since this is our night, and we don't have to worry about Duke..."

"We should trash it more with depressing things?"

That should have been wry. It was nowhere near it.

"We could take the time to air some of those depressing things," Lucifer said softly. "So we can work through it and have an easier time going forward."

"Not everything is something we can work through," Octavia replied, in a mild rasp.

"Is it about him, then?" Lucifer asked.

"No." Okay, that was just a touch dry. "About me."

"Ah," Lucifer said. He squeezed her arm. "We can also sit back down and finish our fruit."

"I don't really feel like it," Octavia admitted, back to a mutter. "Should probably save some to take home for Duke, anyway."

Lucifer nodded slowly. "What would you like to do?"

"I knew that question was coming."

Notice how that didn't mean she had an answer, though.

"It felt like a pertinent question," Lucifer noted. "But if you'd rather not eat or talk, can I suggest we take this cuddle to the sofa?"

"No."

Helpful, Tavi.

Long pause.

"Upstairs? Outside?"

"I don't know."

Look, look, she was trying, even if it maybe didn't look like it.

One of her hands finally came up to her face, rubbing over one eye. "I had... thoughts and ideas, about what I wanted and what I needed, when I came here, and now... I just feel bad."

"I'm sorry," Lucifer said.

His arms slid away from her waist, though his hands remained loosely on her hips. Mostly to reassure her that he wasn't pulling away.

Kind of felt like he was, anyway. Octavia wondered, idly, whether she should have told him earlier what a big help holding her close had been.

Whatever she'd been about to say kind of drifted away.

"Can you turn around for me, at least?" Lucifer asked, soft. "I miss your face."

So Octavia turned.

Her expression looked worn down.

Lucifer cupped her cheek and slid his arm back around her waist. He fought the urge to apologize again.

"There you are," he said instead, still soft.

It wasn't really his to apologize for, anyway.

At least she looked up at him. Turned her head just enough for her skin to press more against his hand.

That made something in the corner of his mouth curve with deep affection.

Lucifer ran his thumb gently along her cheekbone.

Octavia exhaled a very quiet sigh.

The movement was slow, but her hands ended up on his hips eventually.

"Or we can stay here all evening," Lucifer murmured. "I don't mind, as long as you're there with me."

"You should at least stop trying to solve me," Octavia replied quietly, not unkindly. "Whatever will happen... will happen."

"Not trying to solve you," Lucifer replied. "Just trying to make the night... comfortable. But," he added, before she could try to correct him again, "... note taken. No more questions."

"It feels like solving."

Tiny shrug.

"Or maybe I just feel like a problem."

Well. Lucifer had said 'no more questions' and now he was a bit stuck with that.

So he didn't ask the question on his mind, and instead moved his hand, so he could pull her into a proper embrace.

That was what he got for trying to get ahead of her.

She went willingly into the embrace, though. Just sank right in.

Oh, good. Moments like this, Lucifer was always worried his instincts would fail him.

But this was good. She fit perfectly into his arms, as always.

Tucking her head under his chin and everything, yes. Winding her own arms tight around his waist.

Lucifer took a deep breath, and then relaxed into it himself, closing his eyes.

Octavia breathed him in. For a good, long moment. Letting his warmth seep to her through layers of fabric.

Then she murmured, "Sometimes I just feel worse." A little pause for thought, for the right words. "Like everything comes back sharper and stronger."

"Like just now," Lucifer murmured.

He was trying to keep the question mark out of his voice.

"Like for the past two weeks."

They hadn't triggered anything new here.

Lucifer nodded. Very gently. It wasn't like she couldn't feel him doing it. "And then your therapy appointment was cancelled."

Octavia's own nod was similar.

"And the previous session was rough."

And had led to her showing up at the club, and, well.

Edited 2024-01-30 22:00 (UTC)

"I'm sorry," Lucifer murmured. "That can't be easy."

And he just kept stepping in it.

"No," Octavia agreed, "it's not."

Another sigh, almost something frustrated about it.

"I can put more years between myself and it, but there's a six-year black hole in my life and I don't think I will ever be far enough from it that it can't all just come... rushing back."

Lucifer's hand slid up, running over her hair. Trying to soothe, like this little thing might help just a little both.

It didn't, really, but it was a good effort.

"Eventually I always remember I'm a monster."

She said it like a fact, in the same tone she might have stated that she had green eyes.

"You did monstrous things," Lucifer said quietly. "That isn't the same."

"Yes it is if you don't regret all of them."

I'm not so sure, Lucifer wanted to say, but he held it in. "Which ones don't you regret?"

"Do you really want to get into that?"

Her voice had gone lower.

"Only if you want to," Lucifer said. Quiet, but not entirely soft. "But you know who I am, Octavia, you're hardly going to shock my delicate sensibilities."

A short silence followed. Octavia's fingertips tapped a short rhythm against his back - something marchy about it - then stopped.

"I can make this easier." Not emotionally, no. "The one thing I do regret... is burning down the farm."

Which Octavia felt also encompassed everything that had happened after, too.

Lucifer thought about that, and...

"That... makes a surprising amount of sense," he murmured.

"Does it?"

Octavia didn't sound surprised. But then, she didn't sound like much of anything.

"There's a justification beyond the personal for everything that happened in the bunker," Lucifer said. "The farm, however, was all your ambition."

Octavia gave a dry huff - or maybe that was just a breath? "It wasn't ambition," she rasped. "It was fear."

"Fear of loss?"

That was a question, damn it.

Maybe he needed to not impose such strict rules on himself.

"That," Octavia allowed. "And fear of... everything I'd done before then, everything we'd endured, just turning meaningless. Every sacrifice undone."

Lucifer nodded. "And in the process, you made a mistake."

"One way to put it."

Her voice didn't sound pretty, there.

"You did something horrific," Lucifer amended.

Octavia nodded against his chest.

"What I felt like I had to."

"So why do you regret it?" Lucifer asked. "And not the rest?"

He'd more or less given his theory, but, well.

Another short silence, before: "Because it was the only time where it feels like I had a choice."

So... More or less his theory.

Lucifer nodded.

"As I said," he murmured, "It makes sense."

"I asked for other options, other solutions, so many times," Octavia muttered. The Dark Year, in particular, came to mind. "No one ever had anything."

"There was another option, but it involved all of you dying," Lucifer noted. "Your way involved less death. But it did need someone to pull the lever. Someone to bear the blame."

"Me."

Something heavy about it, but guess that was to be expected.

"Osleya."

"And I don't know if I believe you ever should feel remorse for it."

Quiet.

Maybe Octavia found that surprising, but it didn't show.

"I don't know if a lot of people agree with you."

"That's never stopped me from having an opinion," Lucifer noted.

"Hasn't stopped you from a lot of things," Octavia agreed, quieter. Softer?

He was the first person she'd told the whole truth about the bunker to, after all. And he was still here.

Lucifer pressed a kiss to the top of her head. "You survived," he said. "In desperate times."

"And I paid for it." She tried burrowing more against his chest. "So I guess all of this was why it was so hard to take being special, tonight."

Lucifer let out a soft sigh. "Certainly not special like that," he said, hugging her closer.

"Sometimes when all this comes back, I feel like humanity's worst," Octavia admitted. Quiet and mild. "Makes it hard."

Also made it easy to flip out.

"Especially when I start sorting humans into piles of who I like and who I don't like, hm?"

Octavia nodded. "Talking about how many people are disappointing when I'm somehow not."

Lucifer nodded.

Another kiss to the top of her head.

"Like if I did all that and thought I became the worst for it, and then it turns out everyone else is supposedly worse..."

She shook her head. Gently, though, not wanting to jostle him.

"I'm sorry." Yes, still. "Usually I'm better at containing the crazy to therapy."

"It's all right," Lucifer said softly. "You stayed. That's what matters."

"You held on," Octavia murmured in response.

"I know you sometimes need me to," Lucifer said, barely a whisper.

Octavia responded in kind, hushed. "Sometimes I want to stay but I can't do it on my own."

"I'm glad I could help."

His arms slid up, around her shoulders, so he could pull her in even closer.

As smushed against him as she already seemed to be.

"You do it so much more than you even realize."

Look, there was a reason Lucifer had suggested sitting down. They got clingy.

"Well," he said. "I'm-- glad."

You'd already said that, Morningstar.

"And I'm still sorry." She'd also already said that. Multiple times. "But I'm grateful. And maybe we can still make something out of tonight."

"I think we already are," Lucifer said, a little fondly. "But... yes. Moreso."

"Something less depressing," Octavia amended, reaching for a wry tone but not entirely hitting it just yet.

"Did you have any ideas?" Lucifer asked.

"I did when I first came here. Does that count?"

There was a sliver of something wry. Good job, Octavia.

"It's a place to start?" Lucifer offered. He finally leaned back a touch, but only far enough to see her face.

Octavia knew what he was doing, so she obliged him, tilting her face up towards his, almost but not quite resting her chin against the top of his chest.'

"I've had a restless couple of weeks," she said, and yes, they'd been thoroughly covering that for the past while but it was still relevant enough to repeat here. "So I had been thinking that... I still don't have any experience being restrained, with the frame."

"Ah," Lucifer said, studying her face. "Are you sure you'd want to try that? That you could be comfortable with that kind of restraint?"

Octavia gave a tiny shrug. "Enough to give it a shot?" she said. "Though maybe with some of the scarves instead of the cuffs."

Though now, under his gaze, she was wondering whether he thought it was a bad idea.

Lucifer didn't, he just... had thought he had a sense of where the boundaries were, and so this request surprised him. "Well, I'm willing to give it a shot," he said, "But you have to be clear if you're uncomfortable."

"Would it feel easier if it was the way we did it the first time we tried it with you?" Octavia offered. "Just holding on to the rings." Tiny shrug. "Words can be a pretty good bond, too."

Maybe tonight had been a little too rough so far for her to want to put them in what ws looking to be like too much of an 'extra care' situation.

"It could be a start," Lucifer said again, running his hand up along her hair. "We can always push further later, if it turns out you like it."

"I didn't get the bench that fits into the frame expecting not to like it."

As far as teasing went, it was pretty mild. But still. Something wry had finally managed to creep into her expression.

"It could have just been your way of getting to me while I was in the frame," Lucifer pointed out. He smiled. "Shall we go upstairs, then?"

Octavia snorted. "Not before you explain how what you just said makes any sense."

"You like getting to me while I'm in the frame," Lucifer said. "I honestly thought that was the only point of it. Hadn't even thought about it fitting in the frame, except I suppose to assume you'd use it to put new restraints up there."

"... I can't believe this was something that needed explaining. To you. Out of everyone."

She would not say 'of all people' right now, no.

"You've never seemed particularly fond of restraints," Lucifer felt obliged to point out.

"Well, restraints no, but restraint, yes." She could give him that much. "And I won't be getting near any rope around my wrists any time soon."

"Duly noted," Lucifer said. "But that is why it didn't even occur to me."

"I didn't know I'd made it such a firm boundary." And maybe it had been, once upon a time. "But things change. There's a lot we do now that I probably wouldn't have done when we were... starting out."

When this was all even more part-therapy than it was now.

Lucifer's hand slid back down. He found hers, and gave it a squeeze. "Well," he said, "Then tonight is an excellent time to explore a bit."

Octavia gave his hand a squeeze back. And pulled back a little.

"Guess so."

"Shall we?" Lucifer asked, nodding towards the stairs.

Octavia nodded, because what else was there to do?

"Lead the way, niron."

And Lucifer did, tugging her to the stairs, and then upwards. There wasn't much ceremony about it, this time.

Just arrival, and then entry, into the room she had so thoughtfully built for them.

Even Octavia could do without ceremony, sometimes.

"Well, here we are."

"So we are," Lucifer agreed, turning to face her. "Now, darling, you'd better get up on that bench so I can kiss you properly."

No need to abruptly switch the mood the way they'd done in the past at times, either.

Octavia gave one of her soft huffs, but also brought his hand up to her mouth so she could press a quick kiss against the back of his hand. Just a light, easy thing.

"Why don't you lift me up onto it?"

"Oh, I see that's how it is," Lucifer sighed, smiling at her. But obligingly, he pulled his hand away so he could just... pick her up by her waist, carrying her to the bench.

Octavia chuckled low in her throat at how easily her feet left the ground. It was almost a shame when they met the bench, still in its usual spot, behind (or in front of, depending on the point of view) the frame itself. For now.

"You like doing the work sometimes."

"I like touching you," Lucifer laughed. "That's a different thing."

Though he would demonstrate, now, by leaning in to kiss her.

Octavia would have argued like the brat that she was, only it was much nicer to just give into the kiss, cupping the side of his neck while she was at it.

Lucifer enjoyed this much better, yes. He nipped at her bottom lip, then pressed closer.

Arms sliding back around her waist.

Octavia's arms slid over his shoulders in return, as her lips tried to tug into a smile.

Nice to not be craning her neck, for once.

"Hello, beautiful," Lucifer murmured, in-between kisses. "I am hatching plans to ravish you tonight."

(Look, if anyone could get away with old-timey clichés like that, it was Lucifer.)

(And if there was a best audience for them, it may have been Octavia, with no ear for either old-timey or cliché in this realm.)

"Plans, hm?" A little hum, also between kisses. "Ones you're willing to share, or should I just wait to be surprised?"

"Well, first, I'm going to make you grip that frame tight," Lucifer murmured against her lips. "And then I'm going to get my hands all over you. Might even make you come that way, if you're good."

"A big if," Octavia replied, and nipped at his bottom lip. Because it was there.

"Otherwise there will be punishment, of course." Lucifer's hand slid down to her arse.

"Of course," Octavia breathed.

On a little shiver she didn't try to hide.

"But that is all in your own hands," Lucifer breathed.

And kissed her, one more time

Octavia leaned into it with fervor and feeling.

She could read these situations enough to know this part would go away soon. Might as well get all she could, give all she could.

Lucifer had no objections. None at all. He matched her feevor with his own, imbuing the kiss with every scrap of affection in his body.

Some of it was anticipation, but maybe most of it was still some attempt to make up for earlier, or to be grateful for earlier.

Whatever it was, her hands ended up cradling his face.

Lucifer smiled against her mouth. "I am so grateful for you," he whispered.

"That's my line," Octavia sighed, only teasing with her chiding.

Lucifer laughed softly. "I'm going to move the bench now."

"Okay," Octavia replied, stealing one last nip on his lip before pulling back a little. "You want me to step down for a second?"

"If I could think of a sexy way to carry you, I would," Lucifer said wryly. "But yes."

"Guess you'll just have to work on it for another time," Octavia said, and smirked.

And stepped easily off the bench.

Lucifer bent over to pick it up, moving it until it say in the frame. "There you are," he said. "Get back up there."

And just as easily, Octavia stepped back up on it.

"Well this is new."

"Howso?" Lucifer asked, watching her.

Octavia was looking up at the frame, directly above her now.

"The angle."

"Mm, that is something, I suppose," Lucifer mused, following her line of sight.

"Grip it."

Octavia reached up obligingly, feeling around for a second for a good hold on the top of the frame.

It was a sturdy thing, and her hands weren't exactly big.

"Hm," Lucifer said. "I'll get the scarves, just in case." He moved away.

Octavia, for her part, tried out sliding her hands down to some of the rings, meant for various restraints. They were big enough that she could get two fingers through them on each hand.

Not ideal, but could work.

Lucifer found the scarves quickly, returning to her with two in hand. "Might be more physically comfortable?"

Octavia gave a little shrug, which was really more of a flex against the frame than anything.

"We can try?"

"Just tell me if you feel trapped," Lucifer said. He stepped up to her, raising one scarf.

He moved to tie one wrist to the frame with it.

"In the wrong way," Octavia replied, a little wryly, looking up to watch his hands work.

"Yes," Lucifer chuckled. He knew how to tie these knots; he kept hers reasonably loose, so she could free herself if she really wanted to, but she could still feel the bite against her wrist.

"Good?"

Octavia gave the scarf an experimental, gentle tug.

"It's not my favorite material," she admitted, in the spirit of open communication. "But other than that, I think it's okay."

"Is there anything you might prefer in the future?" Lucifer asked. He moved on to the next wrist, tugging it up a little bit before he began to tie it.

Octavia would have shrugged, but that was fast becoming harder to do.

"Leather's always good."

"That might be a good investment," Lucifer agreed.

He tightened the knot.

Octavia inhaled just a little sharper.

"At least I should try on the leather cuffs we already have, at some point."

"Suppose I'm just thinking too far ahead," Lucifer chuckled.

He took a step back.

"Comfortable? Relatively speaking."

"Relatively speaking," Octavia confirmed with a crooked smirk, giving the scarves another little testing tug.

They were holding, and there wasn't a ton of range of movement. Good.

"Good."

Something appreciative, perhaps even a little predatory, sparked in his eye.

He looked her over. Considered her.

Octavia had been looking up at the restraints. Now that she looked at his face again... She liked what she saw.

"I can practically hear the gears turning," she rasped.

"I have some ideas," Lucifer said, voice a touch lower than before.

He slipped around her. Behind her.

"Good," Octavia sighed.

She followed him with her gaze for as long as she could.

Soon, Lucifer was out of sight.

Which was exactly when his hands wound back up on her body. Slipping underneath her shirt, sliding right up as he pressed himself up against her.

"Oh right, you did say you were going to get handsy..."

She did not sound like she minded one bit.

"What can I say? You're hard to resist," Lucifer murmured, pushing his hands roughly up over her bra, kneading.

He had no intentions of going too intense tonight, but the scenario did invite a bit of... rough handling.

Honestly, what was the point of restraining your partner and not indulging in at least a little bit of rough handling?

Octavia made a noise that seemed to say as much. Or at least something approving. "I know I am."

"Such self-confidence," Lucifer chuckled by her ear, clever fingers finding her nipples over the fabric. "I think I'll play with you for a while."

They were already on their way to stiffer peaks. In case he was wondering how Octavia was doing so far.

"Well," she sighed, "I guess the scarves say 'be my guest'."

"Not much you can do about it," Lucifer agreed.

One of his hands slid down, towards her waistband. The other played with her, without pause.

Octavia arched her back just a little. Or maybe pushed her ass against his hips? Why not both.

"Should've been a leggings night," she mused. Unfortunately regular pants were much more date night like. (Especially in winter.)

"Would've been easier," Lucifer agreed. "But not by that much."

It didn't take him much effort to undo her trousers.

Of course not. He was him.

"I still think about you ripping that one pair, sometimes."

"What can I say," Lucifer murmured, sliding his fingers over the front of her panties. "Sometimes the urge to fuck you is just so... strong."

"It was an action that communicated louder than words," Octavia sighed. Only slightly distracted.

But still, slightly distracted. Both hands deserved some of her attention.

"I think one of these days I'll buy you a body suit," Lucifer mused. His fingers worked one cup of the bra up, over her breast. "And then I'll spend an entire afternoon ripping bit by bit, whatever I need to get to where I want to be..."

Octavia shivered. It was not subtle.

Neither was the state of her nipples, fast to harden. The edge of the cup pressed into her breast in just the right way.

"Sounds like a good time."

"Or perhaps I'll just rip it in one place," Lucifer mused.

His fingers pressed down, between her legs. "And fuck you there."

Octavia made a perfectly dignified noise. It may have been more for the words (the mental image) than the hand just yet, but the two worked well together, no doubt about it.

"Well," she breathed, "would be your choice."

"It would have to be tight," Lucifer mused, rubbing her almost-- idly. "Tight enough you'd feel it pressing against your skin no matter how you moved."

"Like my leathers." Oh, of course her voice had dipped a little lower, a little raspier. Her eyes closed. "So I know where my edges are."

"And all the places where I push past them," Lucifer murmured.

He gave a squeeze in one place, and-- pushed down the fabric of her panties in the other.

Octavia gasped, softly.

"Wherever you want." She licked her lip, mouth feeling a little dry suddenly. "However you want."

"You know what I love about this?" Lucifer whispered, fingers dipping in, running over bare skin.

Dipping in between her legs, properly.

"You're still fully dressed in all your edges right now, and yet here I am..."

"Right on my skin," Octavia breathed - and squirmed, just a little, like she couldn't hold it in.

"Because you're mine," Lucifer breathed.

One hand squeezed.

He dragged his fingers between her folds, and dragged them up.

"All of me," Octavia agreed quietly, her voice hitching.

She could feel herself getting more... welcoming under his fingers, moment by moment.

"Always."

He pressed a biting little kiss to her shoulder (so glad for the lack of a height difference, for once). "No matter where you are."

He rubbed the pad of one finger over her clit as he spoke. Pressure, and not too light.

The bench really came in handy, didn't it?

Octavia shuddered a bit, again, a little noise in her throat, fingers curling around the scarves for extra... something.

Edited 2024-02-02 08:51 (UTC)

"And you'll always feel me with you," Lucifer murmured.

He kissed her jaw.

He pushed her bra up higher. He rubbed her in firm circles.

Sometimes it didn't take much to put Octavia in some kind of a headspace. Something... a little vulnerable, in this case.

The little whimper was still a little embarrassing.

"Yes," Lucifer breathed. "I'm here. Are you here with me?"

"Yes."

How could something so small and quiet still have so much feeling? Something a little choked off about it, too.

"Good."

Lucifer pressed kisses against her neck.

He was in no hurry. His fingers found a nipple and pinched it, playing with it; his other hand worked her and worked her with slow, steady circles.

"I'm going to claim you," he murmured. "Perhaps before you come. Perhaps after, when you are loose, and I can take up all the space that I want."

Octavia was starting to feel the strain in her arms.

Or would have, if there had been any attention left to spare for that after splitting it between every spot he was touching her and his voice. Everything he was putting in her head, everything he was making her feel.

She could feel herself wet and warm under one of his hands, soft and sensitive under the other. His stubble against her neck. Everything connected. "Whenever you want," she whispered, like a promise.

There had been, at one point or another, a plan to get a toy and make this... playful.

Now the thought of leaving her alone here for even a moment seemed monstrous.

"Do you want it?" Lucifer whispered, and then his fingers were in her, teasing, promising.

So Octavia's intended response came out just a little more hitched and garbled than she'd meant it to.

It was still a 'yes', though.

"I want it," Lucifer whispered, his hand sliding down from her shirt to push her waistband down further. "I want to be in you so deeply it is all you can feel."

He worked his fingers into her as he moved her trousers, slow but steady. "I want to come in you," he said, rubbing his cheek against hers. "I want to leave a piece of me there, so you'll never forget."

The room wasn't cold, and yet Octavia could really feel the air touching every inch of newly-bare skin as the pants got pushed lower.

Though that probably wasn't why she shivered again.

"I want you to," she breathed, again like a vow of some kind. Her eyes stung a little, under their closed lids, and she barely noticed. "Please, I want you to."

"As you wish," Lucifer murmured.

He pressed a kiss into her neck. "I'm yours as well, after all."

His hand curled around his length. He guided himself into her, slow but certain.

Octavia's gasp was all at once soft and wounded and grateful.

Something about this in particular brought it home how little range of movement she had. Just standing, hanging there, and taking whatever he chose to give.

And now she knew the appeal of that date night they'd had not too long ago, when their positions were reversed.

"That's it," Lucifer cooed softly. His hand strayed up, settling over her stomach. As if waiting to feel himself in there.

He moved until he was done. Until she was filled.

And that was another thing: the angle. Not entirely new, but definitely different.

And yes, filling.

All Octavia managed was a shuddery breath.

"Perfect," Lucifer whispered.

He took a moment. Lingered.

So Octavia lingered with him.

Took a few deep, slow breaths, and just let herself feel.

"You're perfect," Lucifer murmured. "You feel incredible."

"You're perfect," Octavia murmured, like an objection.

"Then we fit perfectly," Lucifer chuckled.

His hips shifted against her, just a touch.

It was just a little movement, and it still made Octavia make a little 'ngh' noise.

Guess she was primed to be stupidly sensitive right now.

"And now..."

Lucifer drew back. Nice and slow, and not entirely the whole way.

Apparently Octavia was also just very shivery tonight. Because that was one, complete with a tiny gasp.

He had her mesmerized.

And with a pleased, hot sigh, Lucifer pushed back in.

Oh, but that felt sweet. He didn't know why he'd considered toying with her any longer than this.

Sometimes he had foolish ideas. Thankfully he also sometimes knew to swerve away from them when the mood called for it.

Octavia wasn't thinking at all about anything except the present. The little strain in her arms, the way she could feel her pants and panties bunched up around her legs, his breath on her neck, on her cheek.

And, of course, the way he was filling her all up. He had her, he was here with her.

"Yes," she breathed. "Please."

The mood was different from what either of them had expected when they'd come here for dinner tonight. But that was all right.

Sometimes you just... needed to reaffirm love and connection like this, gentler, kinder.

"Anything you want," Lucifer whispered, and moved, gentle, slow, his body pressed up against hers in every other place.

Octavia really hadn't expected to feel so absolutely safe.

Oh, her eyes were stinging worse, now. And the shudder in her breath was even more obvious.

Lucifer fell silent. He left kisses against her neck, her cheek. One hand on her hip, one still settled over her stomach.

He kept to his rhythm.

Slow like torture. Enough to keep her body keyed up, but not overpowering enough to distract her from this feeling of being -- held. In every possible way.

Her yes blinked open, and a tear finally rolled down her cheek, followed by another.

"Octavia?" Lucifer murmured, lips brushing against her cheek.

Octavia drew in another shuddery breath.

It sounded a little wet.

Are you all right, he almost asked.

"Are you with me, darling?" Lucifer whispered instead. Hoping not to break the moment, if she was.

"Y-yes."

Just crying a little bit. And not even managing to mind that she had no way of really hiding it, and no way of wiping her wet cheeks.

"I love you."

He kissed her cheek.

And let his consciousness slide back down into himself, in the wondrous feeling of her around him, and the hypnotism of his own rhythm-- a little faster, perhaps, as he gave up on pulling out of her very far at all.

He'd rather stay with her.

Octavia sank more into it, too. The tears were still doing their own thing, all that feeling was still there, but also...

The rest of her body was beginning to take up a little more space, so to speak.

Her eyes slid almost closed again. Her head tilted back just a little.

Lucifer's hand slid up her chest, over her shirt, lingering briefly on her breast before his fingers ran ever-gently over her throat.

He pressed a kiss under her ear.

Octavia's breath hitched a little.

He probably felt it as much as heard it.

And Lucifer-- flattened his palm against her throat.

He didn't squeeze or apply any kind of pressure. He just left it there, as he pressed back into her again, chasing pleasure.

There was no extra pressure, but there was some pressure inherently involved, something a little uncomfortable, and yet --

Not. Not right now. In the headspace Octavia was in right now, it was just another way to be held, something almost perversely adding to the safety of the moment.

Her heart beat faster against his palm.

"I've got you," Lucifer whispered. "I've got you."

It became a chant, of sorts, increasingly breathless. He forced his hips to stay slow, even as the craving for more built.

The sound helped.

It was meditative, almost. Hearing him. The words seemed to rapidly lose meaning, becoming pure feeling instead. He had her.

Without Octavia even realizing, her breathing was already tilting towards panting.

At some point or another, he'd think to touch her elsewhere, to help her along. But Lucifer, too, was caught in the moment.

(That was the beauty of Date Night. So few distractions. So many opportunities to get lost in each other to this degree.)

Lucifer traced kisses against her skin, anywhere he could reach without moving too far. Spellbound.

Octavia wasn't missing any other kind of touch. She wasn't missing anything at all.

The tears had dried up, for the most part - for now. It felt like a 'for now'. Her head was staying tilted back, so that he could have absolutely all of the column of her throat to hold in his hand. Her arms burned, but it was a gentle, almost pleasant thing. Her body rocked faintly with each of his thrusts.

And his lips on her skin were soft.

"I love you," she breathed, even though everything else seemed to already be saying it.

"I love you too," Lucifer whispered.

His hand curved further around her throat, taking each inch of skin as a gift. "That you let me hold you like this..."

"It's yours," Octavia said, breathed, something. "I'm yours."

That didn't seem like enough to her. But words were hard, and she gasped, trying to find more.

"And you're what -- safe feels like."

"You will always be safe with me," Lucifer whispered.

Why did his throat feel so tight, all of a sudden?

"I know you." He rocked into her a little harder. "I know all of you."

He nipped at her jaw. "And I love her," he whispered.

So nevermind about those tears of hers having dried up. They were back, complete with a ragged whimper of a noise. It could have been for the sharper thrust, but let's face it, it wasn't.

She felt like she was just all emotion right now.

She swallowed. He could probably feel it, because he could probably feel almost anything and everything she did right now. "She l-loves you, too." Every part of her.

Even the rotten ones.

Lucifer made a soft noise against her skin, affection and emotion all packed together in one small hitch of his breath.

He pressed into her, deep, and lingered. Thrust into her in the smallest of ways, barely a motion.

It made Octavia shudder, all the way from her upstretched arms down to the small of her back.

Just something about being so utterly... joined together.

The word was barely a breath.

"Perfect."

It was still the loudest thing in the room.

Octavia made another one of those noises that could only really be classified as a wounded and weak sound of agreement. And oh, was that a little clench, a little flutter around him?

Yes.

Another little-- shift of his hips. The smallest thrust.

"Perfect," he murmured again, and kissed her cheek, his fingers fanning out, brushing against her jaw.

Another little whimper.

And her head tilting just a little bit, into the touch.

And slowly, with each little shimmy, Lucifer-- resumed fucking her, slow and sure.

This time, though, he let go of any thoughts that might-- restrain him. He gave in to the pleasure building in him.

Good. That was good, and right, and... all those things. Felt like intent, to Octavia.

"I can take it," she breathed, without a fully coherent thought behind it.

"I know, darling," Lucifer whispered.

Harder.

"I want to come in you so badly..."

"Please."

It was as vehement as it was pleading. She tugged on her restraints a little, for the first time.

"Shh-sh-sh," Lucifer hushed, the slightest bit of pressure in his hands.

He fucked into her faster. Rougher.

Octavia's next noise was a little choked, but not because of the added pressure - not like that, anyway.

It was a moan, a ragged little thing.

Lucifer had no more words for her. Just a loud groan, rumbling through his chest, against her body. He could feel the edge hurtling towards him, and he let himself-- push-- forward.

So close.

There was no need for words. He had her, and there was no need for anything else. Octavia was just helpless, and blissfully so, hands tugging on the scarves with each of his thrusts.

Her heartbeat strong and fast against his hand, and her own panting loud in her ears - and yet not as loud as his groan.

Yes, Lucifer thought, and Yes, and Yes, and--

"Octavia," he gasped, as release rolled over him, one hand steady, then gripping, on her hip. He let it take him.

Let her take him.

Perfect. "I have you," Octavia breathed in a daze. "I've got you."

Shuddering.

"Thank you," Lucifer whispered, hands falling away to--

To let his arms wind themselves around her waist, pulling her into him. All the way.

Oh.

Just like that, Octavia suddenly felt almost impossibly small. Slumping into his embrace as best she could.

Lucifer took a few shallow breaths, his face pressed into her neck.

Then, as if awakening from a dream, one of his hands slid down, between her legs.

Oh.

"It's my turn?" Octavia murmured, her voice almost laughably small. Young.

"I want you to come, darling," Lucifer whispered, finding her clit, rubbing her firmly. "I want you to do it while I'm still in you."

"O-okay."

And that was ridiculously sincere, especially considering the little moan that tried to escape right in the middle of it.

Her head tipped further against his.

Lucifer nipped gently at her jaw.

He could feel himself when his fingers strayed, briefly, tracing the line of himself where it met her body and pressed inside.

But it was only a stray moment. After that, he found himself focused-- on her, on the sensitive skin under his fingers, on how he knew she liked to be touched.

Octavia wanted to give him anything and everything he wanted. So she leaned against him as heavily as her restraints allowed, just giving herself over to what he was doing.

Focused on the pleasure, like he wanted her to. Focused on letting it build up - which it was, rapidly.

"That's it," Lucifer whispered, his lips skimming over her cheek. "I love you, darling."

They'd said it a dozen times tonight. He didn't care. When she was like this, when she felt like this, he wanted to tell her a thousand times more.

He hadn't been saying it enough in his lifetime, anyway, and Octavia wasn't ever going to tire of hearing it.

Especially right now, when it made her breath shudder even more than it already was, in the tiny moments between the soft gasps and tiny moans that were beginning to escape her.

She could already feel it, the end. In little flutters, the rising tension in the pit of her stomach and the tops of her thighs.

"I love you," Lucifer whispered against her ear.

"I love you," he whispered against her jaw.

"I love you," he murmured into her neck. "Every part."

That was emotional terrorism. Or something. Good thing Octavia's eyes had never entirely stopped welling up again, so it didn't make too much of a difference on that front.

She shuddered against him.

Breathed.

Tensed, made one of those tiny whimpery noises -- and her body just finally gave in under his fingers. Pleasure spread out through her like a slow, warm wave, overtaking all other feeling.

"Love you..." Lucifer breathed, eyes shut.

He felt her give in. It was hard not to, with her so close, so-- around him, and yet. He shuddered against her, arm tighter around her waist.

Close.

Together.

Octavia shivered her way through it, helpless.

Her knees kind of wanted to buckle, but there was nowhere for her to go.

"Yes," Lucifer murmured.

His hand slipped back up.

He held on.

It took a moment for the last of the orgasm to fade.

And then all Octavia could do was breathe.

"I love you."

Lucifer nuzzled her jaw.

And finally, he reached up to undo the scarves, one by one.

So Octavia's arms sort of... flopped down, one and the other.

She'd remember she could do more things with them, in a moment.

It was all right. Lucifer could hug her close, like this, while she figured it out.

The first thing she found herself doing - slowly, but still - was covering one of his arms around her with hers.

Progress. And soft.

"You were perfect," Lucifer whispered. "You can relax, now."

"Trying," Octavia murmured.

Her voice sounded a little hoarse, and stuffed up, and -- oh, right she could actually wipe her cheeks, now.

"Can I take you out of the frame?" Lucifer murmured.

"Yes," Octavia mumbled, "please."

Lucifer nodded. He slid back, ignoring the pang of loss as he left her body.

Just a moment later, he was hoisting her into his arms.

Octavia made a soft 'oof' noise for no real discernible reason.

Call it slowly returning into her body, or something.

"It's all right," Lucifer murmured. "I'll take care of you."

It felt natural to leave the room, on that note. To carry her upstairs.

Octavia wondered, faintly, whether she should've been asking for a bath.

But that was apparently too complex of a thought to be voicing right now, so what actually came out was, "'Kay."

They could always have a bath later.

For now, Lucifer took her up into his bedroom. He laid her down on the bed and crawled into it with her, reaching out immediately to pull her into him once they were there.

Octavia was yet to find much initiative in herself, so she just let him maneuver her.

She would eventually stop feeling so limp.

Lucifer wanted to give her time. And comfort.

He held her close. He breathed her in.

(He felt so lucky.)

Octavia was mostly just breathing. Feeling her arms getting used to no longer being stretched up towards the ceiling. Finding whatever relaxing her body was able to do.

"My entire ass is still hanging out of my jeans."

Oh, and that too.

"I won't stop you from taking them off," Lucifer chuckled, surprised.

Octavia made a tired huff of a noise, and slowly reached down to try and shimmy her way fully out of the pants and panties still stuck somewhere just above her knees.

Took a little wriggling, but she managed.

"Better?" Lucifer asked.

"Enh." So maybe not quite. "Can you get my shirt?"

He was the reason her bra was all sorts of awkward underneath it, after all.

"Give me a moment," Lucifer said.

He reached under her shirt to undo the clasp on her bra first - that seemed more pressing - and then pushed her shirt up, over her head.

Octavia was awkward and uncoordinated about bringing her arms up for it but whatever, it got the job done.

"Chof."

Lucifer cast the shirt aside, and then took a moment to run his fingers along her cheek. "Sorry about the discomfort."

"It's part of the deal," Octavia murmured, as she finally looked up at him, for the first time in a while.

Her eyes were just a little bit red, just faintly puffy.

Lucifer noticed. The line of his mouth softened. "How do you feel?"

"Tired."

It was the topmost emotion, though not the only one.

"Well, we can get some sleep," Lucifer said softly.

"Tired, not sleepy," Octavia corrected, with something approaching a gentle tone.

"Fair enough," Lucifer said.

He reached up to run his fingers along her cheek.

Octavia gave a faint 'hmh' of acknowledgement, her gaze sliding away from his face again.

Thinking.

"Hm," Lucifer hummed, but he fell silent. Waiting to see if she'd share something.

There was kind of a long quiet. Slow processing.

"You're still overdressed," she muttered, eventually. And then, almost like an afterthought, "Is it too cold out for the hot tub?"

Lucifer blinked, surprised. "It's not freezing," he said, "So the hot tub is certainly an option."

"Why do you seem surprised?"

Octavia just sounded a little mild.

"It's just not what I expected you to say," Lucifer admitted. He cleared his throat. "Shall we go, then?"

"Yeah, let's," Octavia mumbled, already pushing herself a little more upright.

Lucifer slipped out of bed, and... quickly stripped out of his remaining clothes.

A hot bath would be good. "It should be warm," he added, "But feel free to check the water."

Octavia gave another vague hum, padding to the balcony door, then opening it.

Actually stepping outside wearing nothing was... well, she definitely felt a little more awake, now. But when she stuck her hand in the water, at least that was actually warm. "Water's fine."

"Then let's not wait out in this cold," Lucifer said, joining her on the balcony a moment later. "Get on in."

Well, Octavia didn't really need to say anything to that.

Just make her way into the tub, exhaling a soft sigh as she sank onto the seat, the water like a warm blanket all the way up to her shoulders.

Edited 2024-02-11 10:57 (UTC)

Lucifer followed her a moment later, letting out a soft sigh of pleasure as his feet, and then his legs, touched the warm water. "Excellent idea," he said, as he sank into it.

"Have them sometimes," Octavia said, mildly but on another sigh, leaning back.

"You do," Lucifer said, looking at her a touch curiously.

He reached out with one foot to tap hers.

Octavia gave a soft snort in response.

That was a good sign, right?

It seemed so, though that kind of mildness always put Lucifer just a little bit on edge.

He relaxed ever slightly, though, and settled into the warm water. "Mmm."

At least Octavia's hand found his in the water, too.

She was just... processing, she supposed. Everything.

Lucifer's fingers tangled through hers.

He considered talking to fill the silence, but-- demurred.

Smart.

Octavia shifted a little, until she could lean against his shoulder. "So that didn't turn out very playful, huh?" she said, softer now, rather than mild.

"No," Lucifer allowed softly. "I think the frame may not be the best place for that sort of thing, actually."

"Not the best place," Octavia agreed. "Probably could still work sometimes."

When that was the mood in the first place.

"When there's a touch less baggage going in," Lucifer agreed. "...Or more than a touch, frankly."

"There's always baggage," Octavia muttered, turning her face into his shoulder for a nuzzle. "But I know what you mean."

"Are you feeling all right?" Lucifer checked, gently.

"I've been hanging from a frame and crying," Octavia murmured, "so I guess I'm tired."

"And beyond that?" Lucifer asked. Squeezing her fingers.

A soft silence followed.

"It's just a lot."

How 'just' and 'a lot' were supposed to fit together, don't ask her.

"I'm sorry."

He wasn't fully sure what he was apologizing for, besides apparently causing her some turmoil, but-- still.

Oh, right. It kind of sounded like that, didn't it? Like he might have something to apologize for.

"You didn't do anything wrong," Octavia told him, shifting just enough to press a kiss to his cheek. Light, soft.

"I just... follow the feeling," Lucifer admitted. "Sometimes it doesn't steer me right."

Octavia lingered, though it turned a little more into just smushing her cheek against his than a kiss.

"I don't think there's always a wrong and a right," she murmured. "Just different outcomes."

"Hopefully none-too-terrible ones, ultimately," Lucifer said.

He half-turned his head, hoping to catch her lips.

He did, at least once Octavia figured out that was what he was doing. It was a slow, gentle kiss.

Maybe she felt the need to soothe him a little.

Lucifer pulled back with a little sigh. "My apologies," he said. "I didn't mean to make this all about me."

Octavia's free hand came up from the water, to caress his cheek. (Getting it wet, but he would just have to live with that.) "What if I like it that way?"

"You enjoy me making this about myself?" Lucifer asked, eyebrows raised. "I can't say I've ever gotten that reaction before..."

Octavia shrugged one shoulder.

"Takes the pressure off me."

"... All right," Lucifer said. "Huh."

"Is it really that surprising?"

"Perhaps a touch."

Octavia's thumb brushed over his cheek.

"Why?"

"Well, I have spent a rather large amount of time being yelled at for it," Lucifer pointed out. "I have been trying to do it less. But perhaps I chose poorly."

Please don't enable that, Octavia.

"... I didn't mean you should always make things about yourself."

She wouldn't do that to the world at large.

"... Right, but when should I?"

Luce. Please.

"Right now," Octavia said, because it was all she had. "You're doing a great job of it."

That was only narrowly not dry.

"Hm," Lucifer hummed, thoughtful. "Duly noted. Do let me know again in the future if it is at all necessary."

"I think that'll kind of defeat the purpose," Octavia murmured. "But, maybe."

It was Lucifer's turn to lean in and kiss her cheek. "Thank you," he said. "And I'm more than happy to change the subject, as well."

"Mochof," Octavia murmured.

Stealing a little nuzzle.

Lucifer let go of her hand. He slid the arm around her shoulders instead. "We should get more accessories for the rack room," he mused.

"Accessories like what?" Octavia asked, settling into his new embrace.

He could change the subject, she could help with some prompting.

"More... furniture, for a start," Lucifer mused. "You know you can get benches that are shaped so it puts the person on them into the position, so to speak? Crosses and cages might be a touch too military prison-fantasy for our tastes, but a good bondage chair or a pillory..."

"What's a pillory?"

He should have expected this question.

"Oh, you might actually like this," Lucifer laughed. "So back in medieval times, some criminals who hadn't committed terrible enough crimes to be imprisoned or executed would, instead, be sentenced to public humiliation. A pillory was this contraption made of wood with holes for the hands and the head, and the criminal would be trapped in it for whatever duration of time the local government felt they deserved to be shamed."

He smirked. "And then whoever came by could do whatever they wished."

"... I don't think you should start with 'you might like this', and then follow it up with depressing history facts," Octavia couldn't help saying.

Though there was interest in her eyes, all the same.

Lucifer rolled his eyes. "Just giving context," he said. "I thought you might like the 'shaming' part."

"I do." Well, no point disputing that. "It has... potential."

It was a pretty weighty word, here.

"These days, 'pillory' refers to any bit of BDSM furniture that involves securing the neck and the limbs," Lucifer added, smirking. "And usually propping your arse up."

"See, you should've led with that," Octavia replied, half teasing. (And yes, obviously interested now. Predictably.) "Because it sounds good when you say it like that."

"I'm thinking we could get one that puts particular emphasis on your neck," Lucifer mused. "And, mm... facilitates a bit of spanking an arse-play, in an equal-opportunity sense."

"I like that thinking." He could probably tell by the particular glint in her eyes, not to mention the growing smirk, but it rarely hurt to also put it plainly. "Good excuse to get more... other stuff for both of those things, too."

"Obviously we'd have to buy more toys to work with the new furniture," Lucifer agreed. "Ooh, we could get a paddle."

"Yes." What? Enthusiasm was allowed! "Think we have a small leather one, but I think we need more."

"Sometimes you just need to be able to hit a little harder," Lucifer agreed, nodding sagely.

Octavia snickered, just a little. Which was a pretty good sign she'd managed to climb out of her drop, at least for the most part.

"Don't they have ones that leave some kind of... extra mark, too? Like text or something?"

"If you're into that sort of thing, yes," Lucifer said, and raised an eyebrow. "Why? Did you have any ideas?"

"No, I just remembered that's a thing." A beat. "Also thought Duke might think heart-shaped bruises or something were funny."

Lucifer tilted his head, and chuckled. "Yes," he said. "If you ever want to involve him in that sort of thing."

Snort. "Only one of us has bruises that go away before we even manage to leave the room, let alone go back to the Rouge."

"Well, I'm not above being strung up and paddled while he watches," Lucifer said merrily.

Of course he wasn't.

"Not what I was going for, but good to know."

Also deeply unsurprising.

"I'm just giving you options," Lucifer chuckled. "Depending on the mood."

"I think that's an option you're gonna have to present to him, not me."

"I believe your comfort is rather a big deal in that one as well, love," Lucifer pointed out.

"True," Octavia allowed, smirk faltering further into something more wry. "And it would have to be a really playful situation for me to... do that to you in front of him."

"So a scenario with the absolute minimum amount of baggage possible going into it," Lucifer said.

He patted her arm. "But there are plenty of other possibilities," he said. "I think I'd rather like seeing you trussed up in a pillory."

"You like seeing me just about any way," Octavia scoffed, though not without fondness. "Looking to humiliate me?"

"Sometimes you like being humiliated."

Lucifer's kinks were really rather simple when you thought about them.

Hers, just reflected back at her?

"Sometimes I do," Octavia agreed lightly.

Ding ding ding ding, yes.

"And I like being creative about it."

"Oh, is the pillory going to bring out creativity?"

"Yes," Lucifer said brightly. "And verisimilitude."

"... Which is ...?"

Sorry, that was not within Octavia's vocabulary.

Lucifer chuckled. "The illusion of being real."

"Oh." Octavia would not be dropping 'verisimilitude' into a conversation any time soon, but still, useful to know. Maybe. "Yeah, I can see how that would work."

"Mhm," Lucifer hummed happily. "Plenty of options for play both serious and not."

"Humiliation's always serious or it doesn't work." Not the point, Tavi, and you know it. "But yes."

"Well, to be fair to you, you don't seem to be able to keep that playful," Lucifer teased. "Which isn't a complaint, merely an observation."

Octavia's face scrunched up in mild confusion. "... Which part?"

"That we go from playful to very serious as soon as humiliation comes into it with you," Lucifer said, head tilted. "It's like something just switches on in your head."

Octavia's head was tilted in the opposite dorection.

"... Because if it's playful it's not humiliation."

"It can still be playful, if it's a joke you're both in on," Lucifer murmured. He ran his fingers along Octavia's arm. "You're simply not someone who would ever treat it as one."

"How would it ever be playful?"

Lucifer let out a soft laugh. He leaned in to kiss her cheek. "Hard to explain without showing it to you," he said, "And I don't think that's really worth our time."

Octavia snorted.

"Well think about that next time before you start saying confusing things that make no sense."

"I swear I will never attempt to explain to you why other people do sex differently than you ever again," Lucifer laughed.

"You started talking about how I'm unable to do something," Octavia pointed out. "That's not the same thing."

Lucifer sighed. "There's clearly no point in arguing this," he said. "Either way, I'm going to put a pillory on our shopping list."

"You do that, love."

There was quite clearly something she wasn't saying, there.

Lucifer nodded. Squinted. Said, "Sorry, am I missing something here?"

Octavia fell silent. Did some cost-benefit analysis on whether being honest was worth anything (as if she hadn't already made the choice when she'd let her wry smirk falter, just now).

Sighed.

"If I'm finding out I'm apparently doing something differently from other people, I'd just like it not to be about not being able to do it like the other people. That's all."

"Right," Lucifer said slowly. "I'm sorry. I didn't realize that may come across as some kind of... statement of a deficit."

"And I know you said it wasn't a complaint," Octavia muttered, mostly because this started seeming silly as soon as she actually said all of this out loud, "but that's not a... magic phrase."

"I'm sorry," Lucifer repeated. He pressed a kiss against her temple. "I find you a fascinating delight in bed, darling. And if you were worried, no, I never find myself making comparisons when we have sex, or judging you against anyone I've slept with before."

"I wasn't," Octavia murmured, curling into him a little more. "It's just a really... touchy thing, you know?"

The way she wasn't even saying the actual word 'humiliation' out loud right now probably spoke to that.

"It doesn't really leave this house."

"I know," Lucifer said quietly. "I didn't mean to treat it so frivolously."

"I know I was talking pretty freely about it," Octavia replied, her face safely smushed into his neck again. "But that's just because I've gotten comfortable enough for that, by now."

Lucifer nodded. "Well, that was part of the point of these evenings," he murmured. "A set time and a set place we could make... comfortable."

"Been pretty successful, don't you think?" Octavia murmured.

"It has," Lucifer said. "Despite our many fumbles."

Octavia pressed a kiss against his jaw, soft and light.

"Well I think learning was a part of this, too."

"Learning," Lucifer said, voice going softer, "Has made much more than this space... comfortable."

"How so?" Octavia asked, softly.

She thought she knew, or at least had a guess, but she wanted to hear it all the same.

"I understand you better," Lucifer said quietly. "We still have our moments of... mismatch, as just now. But they are much rarer now. Outside, as well."

"Mmm," Octavia hummed. It was agreement, even if the sound was kind of vague. "I think you're right. I think we... communicate better."

"And I'm grateful for that," Lucifer said. "As much as I am for the incredible sex."

"Incredible, really?"

Shut up, he'd accidentally dealt her a little blow earlier, she was allowed to have this.

"Superlative," Lucifer agreed, grinning. "Intense, fascinating, loving, and extremely sexy. No notes."

"I can't argue with intense," Octavia said. "And I won't argue with the rest because I love hearing it."

Lucifer laughed. "Good," he said, "Because if you argued I'd have to come up with even more words."

"Oh, I knew I should have argued."

Lucifer pressed a big wet kiss against her cheek. "Too late now, I fear."

"Fine, then I'll just have to tell you myself that the sex is hot," Octavia retorted, "and... healing."

Lucifer softened again. "And healing," he agreed.

"And because of that... important, too," Octavia added, and nuzzled at his cheek a little.

"Yes," Lucifer said, leaning into her further. "I love that we can do... all of this."

"I love that we were able to carve out a space for it," Octavia agreed, very softly. "It's not just sex."

"It's understanding," Lucifer murmured. "Compassion. Love." His fingers slid up along her cheek. "And tonight, I wanted it to be acceptance."

Octavia's lips curved into something a little more wry. "I noticed."

"It wasn't a conscious choice," Lucifer said, with a little self-conscious laugh. "But..."

"But the mood led you there?" Octavia suggested.

"Yes."

"Your mood wasn't wrong," Octavia told him. "I probably needed something like that."

Lucifer nodded slowly, but made no attempt to put even the least bit of distance between them, so it was a bit of a nod against her skin. "I'm so glad you're willing to share all that with me."

"And I'm so glad you're willing to understand that you can deliver acceptance with your hand around my neck."

There was still a bit of a wry look on her face, but the sentiment was sincere.

"I had a sense," Lucifer admitted, "that you might like me touching you like that for reasons that have little to do with violence or humiliation."

"Well, I wouldn't mind being touched like that for violence or humiliation." Just to get that out there. "But..."

She nodded, slowly.

"It worked. Made me feel safe in a really weird way."

"Good," Lucifer said quietly. "Because you are safe with me. Always."

"I know," Octavia murmured, "but I guess sometimes I need weird ways of you telling me so."

"Duly noted."

He pressed a kiss against the nearest available patch of her skin.

Somewhere on her face. Her eyes closed.

"Though I guess none of this is really weird."

"What do you mean?" Lucifer asked.

Curious, nothing else.

"For something to be weird, something else has to be normal," Octavia explained. Somewhat. "But all of this exists... just between us."

She looked up at his face.

"So normal is whatever we make it."

Lucifer let out a soft, thoughtful huff. "You're right," he murmured. "In this house, 'normal' is what we decide to do with each other."

"Exactly," Octavia murmured. "It doesn't have to work for anyone but us."

"And it works," Lucifer said softly. "Very well."

"Aside from the occasional bump," Octavia agreed. "Nothing we haven't been able to handle."

"That's just us figuring ourselves and each other out better, I think," Lucifer said. "Terrifying and frustrating as it can be."

"It's learning," Octavia said. "Figuring out what works, where the boundaries are." Mostly hers. "What we need."

Lucifer nodded.

"Did you... learn anything today?" he asked.

"Well, the hand around my neck works," Octavia said, getting something obvious out of the way first as she thought about the rest. "And apparently I'm more fine with scarves for restraints than I thought I would be, though we should still look into leather." A pause. "And, oh. I guess restraints in general aren't an issue."

"Very good things to know," Lucifer agreed. "And we do still have those cuffs. I just think we can get more creative. Especially combined with your harness."

"Tell me more?" Octavia prompted. Gently, trying for playful.

"You do have a lot of straps," Lucifer mused. "A lot of places to tie things to."

Octavia gave a soft huff.

"Hmm, thinking of tying me up by my straps?"

"We could see if we can put you up in that frame without the bench," Lucifer said merrily.

Okay, he was earning some raised eyebrows for that one.

"Like... suspension? Ambitious."

"Definitely something from the 'advanced' book, yes," Lucifer said. "I've done it before, however." He tilted his head. "We can also tie you to the bench, and use the frame as a way to make you... well, stretch."

"Stretch?"

"Stretching arms or legs just far enough to be slightly uncomfortable," Lucifer said. "Oh. There are also numerous ways to tie someone up that stops you from moving one way but not another..."

"Oh, you'll have to show me sometime," Octavia smirked. "All of it."

Greedy, her? Never.

"It works best with ropes," Lucifer noted, "But I'm not sure how you'd feel about those."

"Not great," Octavia admitted, "but I'm sure we could figure something out."

Or she could see what bondage rope was like and realize it was nothing to worry about. Whichever came to pass quicker.

"In all honestly, we shoudld go to one of the big stores on the mainland sometime soon," Lucifer said, after a moment. "So we can, ah, shop visually."

"Been awhile since we've been," Octavia noted, nodding. "I'd like that."

"We'll make it a day trip," Lucifer murmured. "I'll bring lunch, we'll go to the store, do up some ideas, then have a nice picnic in a park somewhere."

"Well that sounds like a plan if I ever heard one."

Lucifer chuckled, low in his throat, and kissed her cheek. "Excellent."

Octavia smiled. "I like this," she said. "I had kind of a rough time coming out of the... moment." Session, or whatever word you preferred. "Thinking about the future seems to help."

"I'm sorry," Lucifer said tilting his head. "Should I have handled that differently?"

"No, and I'm telling you this just because it worked," Octavia said. "Not as a complaint."

"All right." Lucifer gave her a happy squeeze. "Lucky for us, there's plenty of future to go around."

"That's what I'm counting on," Octavia admitted. "More time. And more things to discover."

"So far, we haven't come anywhere near plumbing the depths," Lucifer said happily.

"Oh, I think you've been pretty deep in some depths."

Hilarious, Tavi.

"Can always plumb deeper."

Octavia snorted. "I think the way I was going for, it's just gonna hurt."

"Don't ruin a perfectly good dirty joke, miss Octavia," Lucifer sniffed.

"You did it first."

"No, I started the joke," Lucifer said primly.

Snort. "Okay. Have it your way."

Lucifer's Mansion, Sunday Night

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