[ He picks Elio up when Vermont has started to turn golden and dry and the taste of coffee - a good blend, Kenyan with the perfect undertone of berries - lingers on his tongue as they drop through the barrier afterwards, Elio clinging to him, his weight warm and familiar against him. Even after a thousand years in Hell, he remembers taking Elio to the surface before the winter season, his scent when he'd left him in his bed, the curtains moving gently in the breeze.
Like there's been no intermission at all between then and now. It's a mental illusion, obviously - not only has time passed in Hell, but on Earth, too, Elio's been waiting. It must be such a strange experience, belonging to both spheres equally. Lucifer, well, eons ago at least, he used to belong in Heaven, primarily. Then, he belonged nowhere for a long, long while - even Lux, ages and ages ago, was a temporary place and some time in the future, it'll be ashes and dust, sunk into its own soil.
These days, he belongs only in Hell.
The thought doesn't bother him at all which would've worried him once. Logically, he understands why but he can't actually feel it anymore. The emotional stress of fighting and raging and waging wars has left him in the meantime. When he visits Earth - so rarely and only as planned by the cycle of seasons - he never strays very far, never even considers it. Back in L.A., the world has gone on as it does. Dan Espinoza joined his realm some time ago but the loop isn't calling for change yet so he leaves it be.
It will be resolved, in time.
He sets Elio down, feeling the way he's clinging to him - differently, yes, a bit more desperately - and allows him to interlace their fingers. He gives his hand a little squeeze, too, for good measure. The other man's nervy somehow and Lucifer... well.
Some little time ago, he felt someone arriving. A tinge of familiarity, neither pleasant nor particularly vile but unmistakable. A loop, recognising something within itself, calling out before its time.
So he pulls Elio a little closer. ]
More so than usual? [ He takes them down one of the narrow hallways. Behind Elio, the floor - full of dead, blackened vines - start lightening up, green and blue light flowing through the ground and seeping into everything it touches. ] How come?
[ He falls into step next to Lucifer, the way they've established, King and Queen, side by side, following the narrow hallway where the no longer so dead vines are creeping along the walls, ligtening up the doors in green and blue. He doesn't recognize any of them, and they aren't calling to him yet, so he passes them silently, ignoring the few curious demons peaking out at them through cracked-open doorways. It's become a bit of a draw, over time, when Elio returns. They don't actually celebrate it, they're demons, after all, but they're glad to see him, he has no doubt. Like he's glad to see them in turn, at this point he knows most of them by name. Their right names, too, pronounced correctly.
Grass marks his steps from where they landed and to where they turn a corner now. Lucifer's question doesn't make him pause, though maybe it would have several thousand years ago, cycles and cycles back. It might have made him consider evading, lying, trying not to admit to the fact that his past still haunts him, even down here, even lifetimes later, but Elio's his partner, his co-regent and Lucifer is the only one left who knows him to his core, so he'd have no luck anyway. You can't hide the descend of a soul into Hell from the King of Hell.
Lucifer would know and what he doesn't know, he can sense. ]
I attended Oliver's funeral a couple of weeks ago, his son contacted me and said his dying wish had been to ensure I came. So I came. [ A small shrug, as if to say it was no biggie, but of course it was. They'll both recognize it. The end of an era. A cycle in Elio's own life, broken. He glances at the nearest loop door as they pass it by, the blue greenery lighting it up faintly, enough that he couldn't mistake it for anything else, but even in the dead of night, Elio would know what he was looking at. He falters. Halts.
As if catching on to his attention, suddenly the loop behind it calls out to him, it's low and echoing in his ear, like the tunes of a song you danced to long ago and it never quite left, never quite.
It's the door to his old bedroom, in the summer house. Elio finishes his comment slowly, carefully, swallowing once. ] I came running.
[ Staying very close to Lucifer, he stares at the familiar grains in the wood, the white-painted doorframe, frown finding its way onto his features like a second thought. ]
[ Elio tells him that Oliver has died, the man who robbed him of something so rare and precious that the other man falters, stops, standing so close to him that Lucifer would like nothing better than to put his arm around him. Even out here in the hallway, in full view of the demons peeking out from behind their doors (though honestly - Lucifer stares at one of them, his face expressionless, and with a collective snick, the doors all snap shut at the same time).
He shifts closer and slips his arm around the other man's thin shoulders, feeling how tense he is, how his body seems to be vibrating with it. The door looks familiar, like something he's glimpsed in a dream once and he realises that he has; it's the summer house, the one in Italy. Elio's bedroom door.
Such a lousy excuse for a human being, Oliver. Hopefully, Lucifer's got a cameo somewhere in there - he did punish him once, back on Earth. It wasn't nearly enough, evidently; goes to show that you can't avenge other people on their behalves, not if their own hearts aren't truly in it. Lucifer's always known, of course. But it had been a temptation and he's the Devil so what do you really expect?
In any case.
I came running says Elio, sweet, beautiful Elio and Lucifer pulls him away from the door a little. ]
You don't have to, you know. [ He nods at the door. ] His soul can stand to stew a little.
[ His soul can stand to stew a little, Lucifer says, putting his arm around Elio's shoulder and pulling him a couple of steps away from the door, which in itself it almost painful and Elio has to fight himself not to turn his neck after it. After him. Still? Still, after all this time? He's been given everything, a purpose in life, a job, a home, powers, a partner who is actually as unwavering as only the eternalness of divinity can be. Angel wings. Devil face. Those kinds of features. Elio has been given these things, along with liberty from death, but one look at what once struck the greatest fear in him that he's ever known and he's sinking right back into that cesspool.
He shakes his head. Honestly, he doesn't know whether he's telling Lucifer no or yes.
Blinking a couple of times, he finally, finally turns his attention away from Oliver's door and looks up at the other man, the steadiness of him, the strength, the presence and weight of his body against Elio's side. His beautiful Lucifer who's never hurt him and who's never left without a promise of return and who took him with him to avoid having to do so. His beautiful Lucifer whom he chose.
This isn't about Oliver at all. This is about Elio, Elio letting go. You can't grab what you want with hands that are already full. You certainly can't hold on. So, Elio smiles, it's wider now, if saddened. ]
But mine can't, Lucifer.
[ My soul can't take any more of this, it means. Leaning up on his toes, he presses a kiss to the other man's lips, soft, non-intrusive. The demons have all scrambled. He sinks back down, perfect jawline height. ]
I'll do it for me. I've done enough for Oliver already.
[ He can feel the other man fighting, though he isn't quite sure whether he's fighting against the urge to leave or the pull of the door. Mine can't he says and gets on his tiptoes, pressing a soft kiss to Lucifer's lips that he doesn't manage to return before it's gone. He licks his lips instead, his chest aching for the other man and for himself, too, though he's fairly certain both pains are old and unimportant. You hurt and then, some day, if you play your cards right and pull away enough from the flame to actually heal, you don't anymore.
Elio's been playing with fire for long enough.
So Lucifer swallows down his objections - because he does have them, like, why does this man need even half a second more of your time and your presence, why do you need to give it to him, whywhywhy. But all those questions trace back to something else, something far more ancient than Elio, even now, though he's many thousands years older than he looks. He's learned to look at it, Lucifer, like he's learned to look at himself in his Devil form, changed and unchanged at the same time, without his gaze slipping away in denial.
Instead, he runs his fingers lightly through Elio's curls, often enough touched by God in the shape of whatever tiny creature he mimics when he visits Elio's realm.
Then, he steps away. ]
Call for me if necessary.
[ With that, he holds Elio's gaze for another long moment before he glares openly at the door, something red glittering behind his irises. Back straight, he turns away and heads down the hallway, leaving Elio behind to do what he must, to look at his own Devil-face and begin his transformation. ]
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Like there's been no intermission at all between then and now. It's a mental illusion, obviously - not only has time passed in Hell, but on Earth, too, Elio's been waiting. It must be such a strange experience, belonging to both spheres equally. Lucifer, well, eons ago at least, he used to belong in Heaven, primarily. Then, he belonged nowhere for a long, long while - even Lux, ages and ages ago, was a temporary place and some time in the future, it'll be ashes and dust, sunk into its own soil.
These days, he belongs only in Hell.
The thought doesn't bother him at all which would've worried him once. Logically, he understands why but he can't actually feel it anymore. The emotional stress of fighting and raging and waging wars has left him in the meantime. When he visits Earth - so rarely and only as planned by the cycle of seasons - he never strays very far, never even considers it. Back in L.A., the world has gone on as it does. Dan Espinoza joined his realm some time ago but the loop isn't calling for change yet so he leaves it be.
It will be resolved, in time.
He sets Elio down, feeling the way he's clinging to him - differently, yes, a bit more desperately - and allows him to interlace their fingers. He gives his hand a little squeeze, too, for good measure. The other man's nervy somehow and Lucifer... well.
Some little time ago, he felt someone arriving. A tinge of familiarity, neither pleasant nor particularly vile but unmistakable. A loop, recognising something within itself, calling out before its time.
So he pulls Elio a little closer. ]
More so than usual? [ He takes them down one of the narrow hallways. Behind Elio, the floor - full of dead, blackened vines - start lightening up, green and blue light flowing through the ground and seeping into everything it touches. ] How come?
no subject
[ He falls into step next to Lucifer, the way they've established, King and Queen, side by side, following the narrow hallway where the no longer so dead vines are creeping along the walls, ligtening up the doors in green and blue. He doesn't recognize any of them, and they aren't calling to him yet, so he passes them silently, ignoring the few curious demons peaking out at them through cracked-open doorways. It's become a bit of a draw, over time, when Elio returns. They don't actually celebrate it, they're demons, after all, but they're glad to see him, he has no doubt. Like he's glad to see them in turn, at this point he knows most of them by name. Their right names, too, pronounced correctly.
Grass marks his steps from where they landed and to where they turn a corner now. Lucifer's question doesn't make him pause, though maybe it would have several thousand years ago, cycles and cycles back. It might have made him consider evading, lying, trying not to admit to the fact that his past still haunts him, even down here, even lifetimes later, but Elio's his partner, his co-regent and Lucifer is the only one left who knows him to his core, so he'd have no luck anyway. You can't hide the descend of a soul into Hell from the King of Hell.
Lucifer would know and what he doesn't know, he can sense. ]
I attended Oliver's funeral a couple of weeks ago, his son contacted me and said his dying wish had been to ensure I came. So I came. [ A small shrug, as if to say it was no biggie, but of course it was. They'll both recognize it. The end of an era. A cycle in Elio's own life, broken. He glances at the nearest loop door as they pass it by, the blue greenery lighting it up faintly, enough that he couldn't mistake it for anything else, but even in the dead of night, Elio would know what he was looking at. He falters. Halts.
As if catching on to his attention, suddenly the loop behind it calls out to him, it's low and echoing in his ear, like the tunes of a song you danced to long ago and it never quite left, never quite.
It's the door to his old bedroom, in the summer house. Elio finishes his comment slowly, carefully, swallowing once. ] I came running.
[ Staying very close to Lucifer, he stares at the familiar grains in the wood, the white-painted doorframe, frown finding its way onto his features like a second thought. ]
no subject
He shifts closer and slips his arm around the other man's thin shoulders, feeling how tense he is, how his body seems to be vibrating with it. The door looks familiar, like something he's glimpsed in a dream once and he realises that he has; it's the summer house, the one in Italy. Elio's bedroom door.
Such a lousy excuse for a human being, Oliver. Hopefully, Lucifer's got a cameo somewhere in there - he did punish him once, back on Earth. It wasn't nearly enough, evidently; goes to show that you can't avenge other people on their behalves, not if their own hearts aren't truly in it. Lucifer's always known, of course. But it had been a temptation and he's the Devil so what do you really expect?
In any case.
I came running says Elio, sweet, beautiful Elio and Lucifer pulls him away from the door a little. ]
You don't have to, you know. [ He nods at the door. ] His soul can stand to stew a little.
no subject
He shakes his head. Honestly, he doesn't know whether he's telling Lucifer no or yes.
Blinking a couple of times, he finally, finally turns his attention away from Oliver's door and looks up at the other man, the steadiness of him, the strength, the presence and weight of his body against Elio's side. His beautiful Lucifer who's never hurt him and who's never left without a promise of return and who took him with him to avoid having to do so. His beautiful Lucifer whom he chose.
This isn't about Oliver at all. This is about Elio, Elio letting go. You can't grab what you want with hands that are already full. You certainly can't hold on. So, Elio smiles, it's wider now, if saddened. ]
But mine can't, Lucifer.
[ My soul can't take any more of this, it means. Leaning up on his toes, he presses a kiss to the other man's lips, soft, non-intrusive. The demons have all scrambled. He sinks back down, perfect jawline height. ]
I'll do it for me. I've done enough for Oliver already.
no subject
Elio's been playing with fire for long enough.
So Lucifer swallows down his objections - because he does have them, like, why does this man need even half a second more of your time and your presence, why do you need to give it to him, whywhywhy. But all those questions trace back to something else, something far more ancient than Elio, even now, though he's many thousands years older than he looks. He's learned to look at it, Lucifer, like he's learned to look at himself in his Devil form, changed and unchanged at the same time, without his gaze slipping away in denial.
Instead, he runs his fingers lightly through Elio's curls, often enough touched by God in the shape of whatever tiny creature he mimics when he visits Elio's realm.
Then, he steps away. ]
Call for me if necessary.
[ With that, he holds Elio's gaze for another long moment before he glares openly at the door, something red glittering behind his irises. Back straight, he turns away and heads down the hallway, leaving Elio behind to do what he must, to look at his own Devil-face and begin his transformation. ]