Text:"I can't help but notice that you don't have a bed in here," Lucifer said.
More specifically, 'in here' was Alastor's room at the hotel. The two of them were just inside the entryway and Lucifer was taking the opportunity to have a better look at the various radios scattered around. Most of them were rather lovely antiques, at least one was from the Living World, making it a prize amongst prizes. He wondered if Alastor bought all of them or if they'd been gifts, the way people gave you gifts when they discovered your interest in, say, frogs and then for every birthday or party until the end of time, it was always something with frogs. Frog t-shirts, frog coffee mugs, until you were so sick of frogs you could scream but you accepted each gift with a smile and didn't tell them you'd moved on to ducks. When your name was Radio Demon, it did rather take the mystery out of your likes/dislikes.
The number of radios in the room was definitely disproportional to the quantity of sleeping implements. Lucifer had only gotten a quick look around the first time he was here and at the moment, he hadn't noticed the severe lack of snooze time equipment. But unless the sofa folded out or there was a murphy bed hidden in a wall or the ceiling or something, Alastor's room was void of places to take a nap or otherwise indulge in recreational activities.
No wonder they'd always went to Lucifer's room.
"Your skills in observation always leave me in awe and wonder," Alastor replied, because it was early in the day and he had a 'be an asshole' quota to hit. "I don't sleep here."
"Yeah, me and my observation skills got that," Lucifer said. He might've been a little snarkier about it, except for the fact he was following behind Alastor. Who was not wearing his coat and that was a strategic ploy that was working out quite well. His trousers fit like the proverbial glove in the ass and hip region, lovingly cupping the slight curves, and the sway of his hips as he walked was a show of its own. It was enough to distract him from Alastor's display of assholery, but not from the question at hand, "So where do you sleep?"
Alastor paused and glanced back at him with a look of patient derision. "With you, obviously."
The amused glint in his eyes betrayed him and it was very difficult not to smile but Lucifer did his best, it would only encourage him to keep being a brat. "Before you slept with me, asshole."
"Ah, well." Alastor waved a hand as extravagantly as a magician pulling a handkerchief from empty air. "Such mysteries of my past you have yet to unfold."
Oh, this fucking guy.
There were plenty of more recent mysteries he'd prefer to unfold before he got to the enigma of where Alastor used to get in his sack time. Like why Alastor was drunk in the closet last night, what did he mean he wouldn't get to keep this. What the fuck he was thinking when he made a deal with Lucifer's daughter.
None of those were going to be solved right here and now, so Lucifer set them on a mental shelf for perusal later and kept at Alastor's heels, trying to take in at least a little more scenery than the ever-appealing curve of his backside, seriously, no wonder he always wore a coat, hard to appear threatening when you had to fend off anyone trying to play grab-ass downtown.
Mysteries of his past, right, right, and to that Lucifer said, "Okay, Satan, calm down."
"What an insulting thing to call me." Alastor came to the edge of the world and took a step off floorboards into the marshy substrate, flicking his fingers imperiously over his shoulder, "Come along and I'll show you a thing."
"Promises, promises."
An invitation to explore the pocket dimension in Alastor's room wasn't exactly where Lucifer expected today to go when he woke up this morning.
In fact, his expectations were practically non-existent. For once it was like having a very small wish granted and last night there were no nightmares, no Alastor sneaking off in the wee hours to do fuck knew what. When Lucifer woke, it was to Alastor stirring in his arms and he didn't pull away, didn't stumble out of bed by order of electronic beeping. Alastor looked up at Lucifer from where he was tucked into his side, all sleepy eyes and a genuine smile, and not even a hint of a visible hangover, lucky bastard.
"Good morning," Alastor said, and the drowsy, static-gravel of his voice hit Lucifer right at chest level before promptly settling someplace lower and considerably more eager.
The way his smile widened from sleepy to wicked was a top-notch clue he'd felt Lucifer's reaction, as was the way he shifted and stretched, still pressed up against Lucifer and every enticing little movement traveled to him, a ripple in the ocean of seductive.
"Did you want to—" Alastor began and didn't even finish before Lucifer was pushing him backwards and rolling on top of him. He only laughed and spread his knees to let Lucifer settle between them, his slim thighs closing around Lucifer's hips as that laughter was caught between their mouths. He already knew Alastor had a lovely singing voice and Lucifer wanted to find out what kind of notes he could hit while choking out his name.
After, while they were lying together sated but before Lucifer found the strength to snap them clean was when the topic of a road trip came up. Well, a down the hallway trip, anyway, and Lucifer was lying on top of Alastor while trying to work up the energy to roll to the side. Not that Alastor was hurrying him along, not at all. Sharp fingertips were trailing up and down along his spine, dabbling against his sweat-damp skin and prickling pleasantly on the verge of discomfort. It was difficult not to squirm when they slid over the place where his tail would emerge. Alastor was right about that, tails were pretty damn sensitive; eventually he'd share that with him, Lucifer suspected it was something Alastor might like but for the moment, he had enough vulnerabilities on display.
"You said you wanted a closer look at my room," Alastor spoke up abruptly, "I have some time now, if you'd like."
It was more than a little unexpected. Lucifer assumed the offer of 'someday' was an idle one, soon forgotten. Lucifer lifted his head enough to look at him, resting the point of his chin on Alastor's sternum. "Really?"
"Of course," Alastor said, swatting him until he moved his head to a less uncomfortable place. "Would I have offered otherwise?"
"I have no idea when it comes to you, you always make me feel like the second I step on a rug you might rip it out from under me."
"Nonsense," Alastor sniffed. It was difficult to tell if he was actually offended or only playing it on the radio. "I've never said anything to you I didn't mean and besides, you can fly. Did you want a tour or not?"
"Yes, certainly, and absolutely," Lucifer said, with complete honesty. Even if he wasn't genuinely interested and he absolutely was, anything was better than sitting around waiting for information from Husk or for Alastor to be called away.
It was enough for his smirk to ease into something more honest, vividly pleased, and it was that expression right there, that smile, that always sent a thrill through Lucifer, squeezed the unspoken emotions in his chest.
"Let's, then." He squirmed a little, shifting Lucifer's not inconsiderable weight, hey, angelic glory took up some space in several dimensions even if it was on the tarnished side. "You'll have to get off me first."
"Nope, changed my mind, then," Lucifer decided. He wriggled a little to settle in, all elbows and sharp hip bones, and Alastor winced, although Lucifer was relieved to see his black eye was completely gone. "I'm staying right here."
One corner of Alastor's mouth tipped higher, the only warning he offered before he dissolved into shadow to reform standing at the side of the bed, leaving Lucifer to fall into the wet spot, ugh, this was his punishment for getting lax about cleanup.
"I'm taking a shower," Alastor announced. His stroll to the bathroom door wouldn't have been out of place at a fashion expo, if he were dressed, that was, or else one with a very specific clientele. The sway of his bare hips was mesmerizing, the soft, mussed point of his tail begging for a hand to muss it further. Trailing down the inside of one slim thigh was a naughty droplet of gold-tinged come, leaving a thin line behind that begged for someone to clean it away or to follow its path back up. For all they'd barely finished, Lucifer distantly noticed whatever blood had managed to find its way back to his head was quickly draining back southward.
Alastor hesitated at the bathroom door, leaning out to ask, "Were you coming?"
"I really hope so," Lucifer said roughly and scrambled to his feet. The sound of Alastor's laughter echoing through the bathroom was only eclipsed by his moans.
Somehow, Alastor managed to eventually get them both washed and dressed despite Lucifer's efforts towards the opposite, and now he was leading the way into the marshy landscape tucked away at the back of his room, like an overgrown wardrobe sprawling out into Narnia.
Going from firm floorboards to marshy terrain was odd under his boots, especially inside a building. Once again, Lucifer could only admire Alastor's work. It wasn't simply about raw power, anyone could wield that, bludgeon the world by force and Alastor already did it often enough. But it took an impressive amount of talent to craft an alternate slice of reality and then rip a hole into Hell itself to plop it down. Not many Hellborn demons could manage it, certainly not many sinners; Lucifer would have bet a package of Swedish fish that no sinner could have done it and he'd've lost a perfectly decent bag of candy.
Right at the entrance there was a plain wooden table with a single chair sitting incongruously on a dry outcropping. Alastor didn't give it so much as a glance, walking on past into the twilight depths and Lucifer followed.
"Watch your step," Alastor cautioned, at exactly the moment Lucifer's foot sank ankle-deep into the marsh. He yelped, arms windmilling to keep his balance and Alastor only stood back, hands clasped behind him, instead of, you know, offering to help as he watched Lucifer curse and wrench loose of the sucking mud without losing his boot.
"Thanks for the warning," Lucifer said irritably, inspecting his boot. At least now he knew they were definitely waterproof.
Alastor only smirked and turned back towards the dubious path. "Not at all."
They traveled deeper in through the bogland, stepping over the knobby roots of the cypress trees, ducking under branches heavy with spanish moss that hung like the beards of very old men, gray and still. Skirting what looked to be perfectly innocuous land only for Lucifer to discover if he wasn't careful where he put his feet, quicksand would try to gobble up his boots. He was careful after that to only step in the same places Alastor did, following behind him as he made his way easily through the hummocks and hidden mires, for once unconcerned about his shoes.
They'd been walking for some time when Alastor slowed, the path in front of them widening and becoming an actual path rather than the suggestion of one.
Ahead, Lucifer could see a wooden structure, and as they got closer he discovered it was a pier. Well, calling it a pier would be a little generous, it was more like a wooden ledge with a sagging roof overhead, a dock extending into the marshy water. There was a small, rickety skiff tied to one of the supports, but Alastor made no move towards it, only walked out to stand at the end of the dock, his hands clasped behind him as he looked out into the water pensively.
Lucifer joined him, standing silently as he took in the view. The marsh opened up into a large pond, the surface of it perfectly still, a scum of duckweed scattered across it like little islands and reflecting back the softened light of the fireflies hovering overhead. Clusters of lily pads were tucked into the corners, some small as dinner plates, others enormous as a full-size man with furled flowers hidden within them, scatters of yellow blooms. The shore was lined with waterlogged trees, their heavy branches reaching for the dark waters, heavy with a coat of moss and vines.
Even the air was heavy, thick with humidity, with the smell of greenness, of rot, of the life buzzing around them, a faint, sticky breeze caressing his face.
It was strange and beautiful and eerie, a hidden pocket of peace tucked away unknown in a corner of the chaos of Hell.
Lucifer conjured a pebble and tossed it in the still water, watched the ripples circle out from it to vanish into the shore. The water calmed again almost immediately, easy and tranquil, and Lucifer was almost reluctant to break the silence.
Almost.
"Is this a real place in the Living World?" Lucifer asked curiously.
Alastor didn't look at him. He tipped his head to the side, and rocked from toe to heel as he considered the question.
"Yes…and no," Alastor said, slowly. "I suppose it's my idealized memory of it. Any memory from my childhood would be an idealized one."
Lucifer wasn't sure if that was an invitation to ask and he was too afraid of overstepping to risk it. Instead, he looked around again at the strange beauty of this little pocket of a world that came from what was surely a strange child's mind.
Although…
"You know," Lucifer said, carefully, "I haven't been to the Living World in a long time…"
"If you're about to offer a critique, may I remind you that youasked for this." There was a certain sharpness to that, a warning, but what Lucifer heard was a herald to hurt, from one who'd cautiously offered a vulnerable place inside himself, opening up to the possibility of rejection and ready to snatch it back at the first hint that his trust was misplaced.
"Not a critique!" Lucifer protested, and he set what he hoped was a reassuring hand at the small of Alastor's back, right above where his own hands were clasped. He could feel the tension in Alastor, vibrating at an unknown frequency. "It's beautiful! I just recall a lot more mosquitoes up top around this sort of waterscape."
Alastor didn't laugh but he did exhale a touch too hard, breathy amusement and some of the stiffness relaxed under Lucifer's hand. "There is a case to be made for taking realism too far."
"Are there any creatures here, aside from fireflies?" Lucifer peered into the water and it was impressively clear, he could see tree roots and stones, logs rotting away, but no fish to his eye.
"Yes, some," Alastor said, "There is game here but only what I can hunt. I suppose one could hunt a mosquito but only the most absurd connoisseur would use it for a protein."
Hm, interesting. Lucifer toed at the water with his boot, the one that was already muddy. "So, no crocodiles in there?"
"It would be alligators, you rube, but no." Alastor turned to him, his head tipping to the side curiously, "Why, are you considering taking a dip? I'm afraid you wouldn't find it very pleasant; you have a rather 'indoor pool' aura to you."
"Hey, I went swimming in the original outdoor playzone. But yeah, probably not dressed like this." He shifted into a snake form, slithering along the rough boards, all sleek white scales and flickering tongue. "Much better!"
It was the first time he'd really switched forms around Alastor and he wasn't precisely nervous, more curious of his reaction. Lilith never minded him changing it up, but she couldn't join him, so he rarely did it.
Alastor only tipped his head to the side, watching as Lucifer slipped into the water. It was warmer than he'd expected, rich with life, swamp weeds and trailing roots, and Lucifer wriggled through it enthusiastically, heading for the outcropping of lily pads.
His senses were different as a snake, tongue flicking out to taste the air and that greenness that was part of Alastor's scent was there, the gentle rotting of vegetation, of the swamp, and if Lucifer had hands, he would have slapped his forehead with one. Of course his powers would have a connection to the bayou, it was obvious now that it was right in front of his face.
He couldn't have said the last time he'd been swimming, much less swimming as a snake and Lucifer eased up on a lily pad, following the green discs of them along like a path and ducking under rotten logs where they ended. Slipping back into the inviting water, undulating easily through it while fireflies danced above him.
He was having too much fun winding through the maze of branches and roots, investigating the lily flowers and even accidentally swimming through a patch of mucky, clinging duckweed, ducking under into the clearer water to clean it away. He took far longer exploring than he'd meant before guiltily turning back and swimming towards the dock.
Alastor was only sitting on the dock, watching him, pants cuffed midway up his calves and his bare feet dangling in the water. He'd pulled his hair back again after their shower and only a few strands fell forward to frame his face. Elbows resting on his knees, chin propped on one hand and he looked so frankly adorable something cramped in Lucifer's tiny, snakey chest.
There was a smile on his face that Lucifer had never seen on Alastor before, strangely soft. Indulgent, Lucifer decided, and mentally added it to his Alastor Lexicon. It was an expression that fairly begged for closeness and Lucifer slithered up to Alastor's foot, winding around his leg, crawling upward like he would a tree until he could set his little snake head on Alastor's knee.
"Oh, heavens, I'm caught," Alastor drawled, making not the slightest effort to move. "However shall I escape?"
"You can't," Lucifer told him happily, "You're in my coils now." He tightened said coils around Alastor's ankle, wholly wrapped around him from toes to thigh.
"I shall try to keep back my panic." Alastor smoothed a gentle hand over Lucifer, fingertips sliding over his damp scales and it felt unexpectedly lovely, his tail curling in pleasure. Lucifer allowed it for a moment before swaying over to wind around Alastor's arm instead, who lifted it to inspect Lucifer more closely, crimson eyes sliding over him much the same way his hand had.
Lucifer booped his snout against Alastor's nose, startling a genuine laugh out of him, and couldn't help wriggling with his delight. Alastor kissed him on top of his head, the dry brush of lips against his scales unbearably sensitive, strange and enchanting. No one had ever kissed his snake form before and Lucifer wouldn't have minded a repeat of the gesture.
"You're quite lovely like this," Alastor told him, "your scales practically shine even in this light." He gestured around them at the perpetual twilight. "Although I will say I prefer the original packaging."
With a liquid ripple of power Lucifer shifted back, naked and still damp, straddling Alastor's lap and sliding his arms around his neck. There was a unique sense of delicious vulnerability to being bare against someone who was fully clothed, the gentle abrasion of cloth against his inner thighs, his belly, his backside.
Alastor caught hold of his hips, his hands dry and warm against Lucifer's damp skin as he palmed the narrow angles, sending a shiver through him. Lucifer let his forehead rest against Alastor's, so close his eyes threatened to cross. "Even this isn't my original packaging."
Although after some ten thousand years, Lucifer couldn't imagine choosing anything else. He could shift into any creature in existence but this would be the form he always returned to, settling into the comfort of his own skin.
"I expect not," Alastor said. He shifted his hold, one hand sliding up Lucifer's back to settle into his hair, combing gently through the damp strands. "But it's how I first saw you and that is original enough for me."
"Mmhmm," Lucifer mumbled, only half-listening as he leaned into that touch, sighing in pleasure.
Alastor went on, unconcerned about Lucifer's attention span. "Do you know what I noticed? When you walk, you tend to lead with your head, which is interesting for one who lacks a nose. It comes to me now that it's rather a snakelike tendency, how does one without a visible olfactory orifice smell?"
"Like apples, I'm told," Lucifer said, deadpan and he grinned when Alastor rolled his eyes. "Beats me, I didn't design the package, I just drive it."
"Your skill as a driver is noted," Alastor said and kissed him.
It really should be embarrassing how eagerly this body reacted to Alastor, to the simple press of lips against his own. They'd already spent the morning fooling around in and out of the shower and even now his cock was already perking up, precedent leading the belief that sex might be on the line. It was a good thing a refractory period wasn't included in his angelic package deal.
He couldn't say if Alastor had the same perk, or if he'd even care if he did. He hadn't come at all this morning, not unexpected, and now Lucifer could feel him hardening through his trousers.
Lucifer reached down between them with both hands to cup the length of him lightly through the fabric, drawing his thumbs down either side of his erection. Alastor only hummed into his mouth and allowed it, touching his cock wasn't entirely off the table so long as he didn't push for an unwanted orgasm and it wasn't always unwanted, maybe Alastor was in the mood for one now, maybe not, never hurt to ask.
With a last flick of his tongue, still long and pointed, he was still feeling a little snaky, Lucifer drew back to murmur, "You should let me suck you off again sometime."
Alastor let out a noncommittal hum, leaning again to brush their lips together, though he didn't deepen the kiss. "Perhaps. My first experience with it did turn out pleasant enough."
"First time…no one else ever?" He'd suspected that was the case, never really thought Alastor would confirm it, huh, look at all the talking progress they were making, Charlie would be so proud in whatever alternate universe existed out there where Lucifer would discuss his sex life with his daughter.
If it needed to be confirmed, this was not that universe.
"The idea never appealed before," Alastor admitted. He reached down and caught Lucifer's hands, stilling them, and he obeyed the unspoken request without protest. Not this time, then, and that was only a mild disappointment, barely worth noting, and Alastor's next kiss was gently appreciative. "You've proven to be quite the exception to my normal modus operandi but then, you also allow me to enjoy our encounters as I prefer. I find that to be a far more appealing than any use of your mouth."
"What about your mouth?" Lucifer said impulsively.
"What of it?"
"You offered to use it on me before," Lucifer reminded him. "To 'make use of your tongue in other locales', you said."
If Lucifer were honest, he hadn't really given it much thought beyond the knee-jerk reaction that he didn't want to be fucked. He still didn't, but getting a little tongue action in wasn't fucking, not really, and now that the idea was settling in, he thought he might be willing to give it a try. If Alastor could eat pussy with the same skill he ate ass, it would be worth his time, geez, it always came back to eating with this guy, didn't it.
And…and Alastor was willing to let him into not only his radio tower but into this place, an obviously cherished and precious memory. They were sharing their vulnerable places, tearing themselves open a little at a time and besides, if he trusted Alastor enough to let him touch his wings, surely this didn't even compare. Not like he was a virgin to it, anyway, not exactly the first time anyone cunned a little lingus on him.
Alastor's eyebrows climbed upward towards his hairline. "I was given to understand you preferred that particular locale to remain untouched and unsown."
Well, yeah but that was last week, times moved on, keep up. "Can't a person change their mind?"
"Often." Alastor tightened an arm around him and reversed their position in a showy use of both strength and flexibility that left Lucifer lying back on the warm, dry wood of the dock with Alastor kneeling between his legs. Alastor pressed an open-mouthed kiss against the inside of his knee, warm and wet. "I'm more than agreeable to that."
Lucifer nodded, head wobbling unsteadily, ignoring the sudden flutter of queasiness settling in his middle.
He was only nervous, he told himself, it'd been a long time, centuries, and he tipped his head back, looking up at the dark sky above them, suddenly noticing the stars overhead. Absently, he noticed the constellations were correct, such attention to detail—
"Nng!" He choked on his breath as Alastor kissed his inner thigh, reflexively drawing up his knees a little and nearly closing them together on Alastor's head, coming dangerously close to getting impaled on an antler.
No, stop it. Quit being silly, it was sex, not even anything new. He could do this. Lucifer let his knees fall open again on either side of Alastor, raising his hips invitingly. His cock was still hard, lying out of the way on his belly, his pussy nestled beneath his balls and Alastor took a moment to observe, crimson eyes half-shut and close enough his breath stirred damp blond curls. His tongue curled over his teeth and Lucifer shivered.
"You've done this before?" Lucifer asked abruptly. There was a tremble in his voice and Lucifer swallowed hard, willing it to be gone.
"I have," Alastor said. His eyes flicked up to meet Lucifer's. "If your concern is the teeth, if I can manage to suck your cock without injury, I'm sure this will offer no significant issue." His smile widened. "I'm told I have quite a talent."
He offered no other details. Like whom he'd gotten to hone that talent on, and the faint pinch of jealousy was unwarranted and unwanted.
The only person Lucifer could be sure it wasn't was Rosie, Alastor had been quite clear about that. Anyone else with the proper equipment was up for grabs…okay, not anyone, he was more than sure he could keep Niffty and Vaggie off the Bingo card and Charlie better not have gotten so much as a halfhearted glance.
Maybe that Whimzy woman was who he'd had in the backseat of his father's Packard, wasn't that what Alastor said, the prom queen with her skirt rucked up around her hips while Alastor buried his face in her cunt and devoured her in a much more pleasant fashion than he would others later in his life.
Lucifer didn't want to think about that right now, didn't want to imagine who else Alastor might've been with. He looked back up at the sky, holding his breath, legs spread and waiting.
The first touch of tongue caught him off-guard, and Lucifer barely managed to bite back a yelp, struggling to keep his legs open as Alastor licked him, the wet glide of his tongue up the slit to his clit, nimbly toying with it, then lower, the tip parting the lips of his cunt to barely press inside, licking into him without the barest hint of teeth.
It felt…it felt good and awful, an unwelcome intrusion, an invasion of his private places mingling uncomfortably with pleasure. Alastor wasn't wrong, Lucifer noticed distantly, he was talented at this, every swipe of his tongue left behind unwanted tingling jolts and if he kept it up, Lucifer could probably come from this. Probably. A gentle suck on his clit, wet and clever, dragged a clotted, shrill squeal from him and Lucifer clenched his hands and kept his eyes on the stars. He could do this, he could, he—
He blinked, startled, when it abruptly stopped. Alastor was sitting up between his legs, wiping his sleeve across his mouth and his expression was one Lucifer didn't know, couldn't read.
"All right, that's enough," Alastor announced, "I'm not doing this."
"Wha-? Why not?" Lucifer said, confused and guiltily relieved as one. Alastor crawled upward to crouch over him, leaning on one elbow and reaching up with the other hand. He touched Lucifer's cheek and held it up in front of his eyes, showing the wetness at the tips and Lucifer reached up to touch himself, distantly astonished at his own tears.
"I'm not doing this," Alastor repeated firmly. "I'm not sure what you're trying to prove, but you certainly don't need to prove it to me."
"I'm not proving anything!" Lucifer snapped, "I can do this!" I want this, he tried to say, and the words caught, trapped unspoken.
"But I can't." Lucifer only looked at him mutely, not understanding and Alastor sighed. "My dear, if you think I can stand to be anywhere near your cunt while listening to you weep, you've a much lower opinion of me than I ever expected."
"I don't have a low opinion of you!"
Alastor only looked at him, resolute and unmoved, his smile a bare curve of closed lips. "Then don't ask this of me."
All Lucifer could do was impatiently wipe away the tears still clinging to his cheeks, frustrated and humiliated, what the fuck was wrong with him that he couldn't enjoy his own junk? He didn't know, probably wasn't going to figure it out today and tomorrow's calendar wasn't looking good.
"Fine," Lucifer managed, finally, curtly, all those unspoken words curdling inside him. He had to get out of here, he had to, he couldn't stay with Alastor looking at him like that, the crimson of his eyes studying him pityingly. He couldn't, couldn't stand it, he couldn't.
He sat up, drawing in his legs, hiding what was between them and roughly shoving Alastor out of his way. Only in his need to escape, he shoved too hard, knocking Alastor off balance and backward, his hands reaching back into empty space to catch himself on nothing at all.
He had just enough time to see Alastor's bright eyes go wide right before he toppled off the end of the dock into the water, the sudden shriek of static cutting off abruptly as a miniature tidal wave swept over the worn boards.
"Shit!" Lucifer scrambled forward to see Alastor was already getting to his feet in the shallows, drenched and dripping with swamp water and clinging weeds. He slogged over to the side of the dock, glaring balefully, and slapped Lucifer's hands away when he tried to help him back on dry land.
"Fuck, I'm sorry! I didn't mean to do that, I'm so sorry—" Lucifer clapped a hand over his mouth to keep more apologies from spilling out, torn between Alastor's dislike of them and their necessity.
Alastor only shook his head, his propensity for vague mind reading coming through in the lurch.
"I believe this once an apology is due," Alastor said, fruitlessly shaking off his arms, splattering the dock with water and weeds. His drenched clothes hung on him, the ends of his tie dangling sadly. He sighed, more rueful than angry. "You do seem to be determined to make yourself an exception to my every rule."
It was so strange to see him like this, a new version of Alastor as surely no one had ever seen him. Lucifer certainly doubted anyone else in Hell had ever seen Alastor half-drowned and dripping wet, the entire backside of him muddy all the way up to his collar. The tip of one antler somehow managed to spear a leaf and there it sat atop it like a medal, clumps of wet reeds strewn over his shoulders. He looked like the swamp thing Lucifer once accused him of being, beyond the point of silly and well into ludicrous.
Lucifer tried to hold it back. He'd argue it to his last days at the end of the universe while dying stars winked out around him, he really tried. He covered his mouth with both hands trying to hold it in and only succeeded in having his cheeks puff out, the golden rush of blood flooding his face until it was closer to gaudy opulence than a mere blush. Until he finally gave up, gave in before he exploded or imploded and took the entire Pride ring with him, flopping back on the dock and howling laughter.
Alastor only stood there, dripping with as much petulant regality he could muster and waiting with resigned patience until Lucifer got under control. Every time he came close, laughter dwindling to desperate panting, he'd catch sight of Alastor and it would set him off again. Until he was lying weakly on the dock, fresh tears streaming from his eyes as laughter dissolved into hiccoughs.
"Are you quite finished?" Alastor said, impressively dry for one whose soggy ears were hanging over his forehead, sagging and drippy.
Lucifer nodded, gathering himself enough to snap his fingers, leaving Alastor clean and mostly dry. Only his hair poofed out unexpectedly, curling up against his cheeks, and Lucifer did not tell him. Oh, he'd say something before they went out in public but right now it was rather absurdly cute, and he may as well enjoy it while he could.
"Now," Alastor said, shifting to sit cross-legged next to Lucifer, tucking his bare, hoofy feet under his knees, "to the topic at hand. Or tongue as it were."
"Aw, come on," Lucifer groaned, flopping backwards on the boards. He didn't even bother to snap this time to dress himself, needing the armor of clothing against what he knew was coming. "Do we have to discuss this?"
"If you wanted to change the subject of conversation," Alastor said tartly, "there are better ways than attempted drowning. Less fun, perhaps, but better. In any case, as the wounded party, I vote that yes, we are discussing this."
"Go ahead," Lucifer sighed. "Get it out there, why not, I could always use an extra dose of humiliation."
Alastor's brow furrowed. "Humiliation? From what? My dear, as much as I am always delighted to stir anguish from the hearts of my fellow man, which you are not, I don't see grounds for it here."
"You can't be serious."
"But I am," Alastor said, "My principle emotion right now is confusion. Have I given you the idea somehow that I am dissatisfied with our current arrangement? Because let me assure you, you've drawn the wrong conclusion, I'm more than content to stay in the role of penetratee rather than penetrator."
"Why?" Lucifer asked miserably.
"I beg your pardon?"
"Why? Why is it okay for me to fuck you but I can't let you do it to me?" Even now the thought of it made him want to curl up, to press his hands between his legs like a protective shield. What he wanted was for his focus to be on his cock and everything else tucked away and left alone, he hadn't felt so dysphoric since his pregnancy…though now that he thought of it, he couldn't recall if he'd used that particular set of equipment since he'd given birth to Charlie.
Surely, he had, surely he and Lilith…hadn't they?
He tried to think and couldn't recall the two of them having sex after Charlie was born and it was an unpleasant realization. He'd known things were already rocky between them when she'd asked him for a baby, how had he not known just how true that was? Denial? A refusal to see what was right in front of him? Or was he just that much of an idiot, he didn't know, and couldn't deal with that right now.
Alastor broke through his pained reflection, saying, "I'm sure I don't know your reasoning but mine is quite simple. I like things the way they are."
"You like it," Lucifer repeated, tasting the words. He knew them to be true, Alastor had his moments of deceit but even he couldn't be a good enough actor to pretend at how much he was enjoying their sex.
"I do," Alastor agreed, plainly honest in a way he rarely was. "I like the feel of you inside me. I like the intimacy it affords me. I like your expression when you come. I've come to rather enjoy the entire package and I don't see a need for a change." He reached over and took Lucifer's hand with caution, squeezing it gently when Lucifer offered no protest. "You were the one who suggested that the both of us enjoy sex the way we like it, I've really no idea why you would attempt otherwise."
"Because I have it!" Lucifer gestured downward with his free hand, flapping it impatiently, "I should be able to use it!"
But it wasn't the flesh that was unwilling, it was Lucifer, and though some part of him whispered he should be able to get past it, the rest of him vehemently denied it.
"Should you?" Alastor asked, dubiously. "I'm not so certain. I'd also like to point out that I often don't get an erection during sex, which strikes me as inconvenient to a change in roles. My experience on that side of the equation is, of course, limited, but I expect the results would be like trying to stuff a cooked spaghetti noodle through a straw."
Lucifer burst out with a watery laugh at the unexpected visual. "Okay. Okay, I get it, we won't try this again."
"For now," Alastor agreed. "If you wish to revisit it at some point, we can, but not simply because you feel you should."
Revisit it at some point, some point in the future, the one that last night Alastor didn't believe they would have, there was the rub, the sticking point, and so long as the tranquility here was already broken, may as well wade deeper into the mud.
Lucifer took a deep breath and asked, "Look, what are we?"
"What do you mean?" Alastor said, but his eyes were knowing.
Lucifer smiled, a little, and shifted his hand to thread his fingers with Alastor's, slender digits curling around his own. "I mean, what do I call you?"
"I believe we established some time ago that my name is Alastor, that it was a pleasure to be meeting you, and more recently that you've acquired a variety of appalling nicknames for me."
Such a brat, even now. "Not what I mean, coffee bean."
"I know," Alastor sighed and looked away, across the pond that lay as placid as it had when they'd arrived, unmarked by swimming or falling, or anything in-between. The fireflies still danced, the lily pads floated, this little slice of world did not change, but whoever was within it had no such luxury. "I'm not particularly fond of labels."
"Me either," Lucifer admitted. "Half the time they're only for gossip and spite." Silver-tongued came to mind.
"Then for the time being we shall go without," Alastor decided. "But if you find one you'd prefer, do let me know."
His hair was curling even more as it dried and Lucifer realized he must straighten it. Huh, he wondered why, it was a little floofy unstyled as it was, but he looked cute with curls framing his face.
Of course, cute wasn't exactly the look Alastor tended to go for, so might have answered his own question there.
"Come on," Alastor stood and took Lucifer's hand with him, pulling him to his feet. "We'll have to go back the way we came, I'd prefer you didn't attempt to open any portals in here, it might introduce instability."
"Sure." Lucifer looked around again at the pond and the trees, then up at the stars. He hadn't seen the stars in the Living World in a long, long time, and even knowing this was simply a recreation of a time that never really existed, he could forget a little as he watched them twinkle overhead. "It really is lovely here."
"I find the calm helps me think, at times," Alastor said. He was straightening his clothes, smoothing away any wrinkles left by his unplanned swim, before bending over to slip on his shoes. To Lucifer's dismay, Alastor also ran his fingers through his hair and it fell neatly, disappointingly, into place. Ah, that was a shame, that was, Lucifer was getting to like the messy curls, Alastor as no one else saw him. "You're welcome to come back any time you like but I warn you, it goes farther than you might think. Don't wander from the path."
Lucifer believed it. If he listened past the simple use of ears, he could hear the creatures Alastor spoke of moving in the distance amongst the twisted, bitter trees in the darker places of the marsh, their silhouettes menacing as they moved through the muck, waiting to be hunted by something else entirely, something that would scream laughter before gruesomely tearing into them, consuming them down to the bone and marrow.
He could see all of that so clearly and nothing of it dimmed the way his heart chose to fill with warmth as Alastor leaned in to give him a soft kiss, adoration cramping in his chest from nothing more than a brush of lips against his before he turned towards the path.
This time Lucifer reluctantly gave up the view to keep Alastor's hand in his, walking beside him instead of behind. "Let's go," Lucifer said, determinedly, "I could use some coffee."
Alastor nodded. "In that we are in agreement."
The pair of them walked along the path, leaving this small, timeless world behind them as they headed out into the bigger one and all it entailed, pain and pride, affection and amusements, all of it waiting out there for them both.
And, most importantly, coffee.
-finis-