[ The barrier parts with a swiftness that feels new, almost, or perhaps it's simply been too long. Either way, they go up, up, and Lucifer's going so fast that he almost can't think to answer when Elio wraps his arm around his neck and asks him where. They're bursting over the sky, cloudy now, and beneath them, the fog clears within something less than seconds to reveal the ocean, dark and unruly, night time reflected upon its surface in various shades of black. He doesn't pause, not even then, simply takes them over the shore and into the forest area north of Bordighera.
They land in a small clearing close to a stream, the ground crumbling and scorching beneath his bare feet, the air heating up where he walks. It's pitch black around them, the sky clouded still, starless. He comes to a crouch on the ground, keeping Elio safe between his arms, cradled against his chest still. Only then does he speak, his voice gravelly and strange, the shadows resonating with it. ]
Earth.
[ He looks up between the tree tops, his red eyes narrowed in warning, stance tight. Come at me at your fucking peril, it means, but as usual, no one's listening in. That's how these things go. ]
Don't speak.
[ He muzzles Elio's hair with his lips. Everything in his body is on fire, high alert, his flight-or-fight response aching to release itself upwards. Instead, he stays right where he is, speaking against Elio's hot scalp, the ground cold beneath his feet. Slowly, he folds his wings around them, cocooning Elio within them along with himself. ]
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They land in a small clearing close to a stream, the ground crumbling and scorching beneath his bare feet, the air heating up where he walks. It's pitch black around them, the sky clouded still, starless. He comes to a crouch on the ground, keeping Elio safe between his arms, cradled against his chest still. Only then does he speak, his voice gravelly and strange, the shadows resonating with it. ]
Earth.
[ He looks up between the tree tops, his red eyes narrowed in warning, stance tight. Come at me at your fucking peril, it means, but as usual, no one's listening in. That's how these things go. ]
Don't speak.
[ He muzzles Elio's hair with his lips. Everything in his body is on fire, high alert, his flight-or-fight response aching to release itself upwards. Instead, he stays right where he is, speaking against Elio's hot scalp, the ground cold beneath his feet. Slowly, he folds his wings around them, cocooning Elio within them along with himself. ]
Sleep.