The Devil's Nest, Tuesday Night

[my_own_advocate]

"When I find myself in times of trouble, Mother Mary comes to me. Speaking words of wisdom, let it be..."

It wasn't the first time this one rang through the Devil's Nest on a Tuesday, but-- honestly-- sometimes there was a time and a place and the music just needed to be what it was.

The gremlin big band was still in the house, backing him up.

"And in my hour of darkness, she is standing right in front of me: speaking words of wisdom, let it be. Let it be, let it be..."

The Devil's Nest was open, and the devil was at the piano.

Comments

Re: Talk to Lucifer

[okteiviakom]

Octavia hung on to the moment for as long as it took for the song to fully fade out.

Then she blinked her eyes open - and almost immediately brought the glass of brandy up to her lips for a nice big gulp.

Re: Talk to Lucifer

[my_own_advocate]

"Congratulations," Lucifer said, grinning pleasantly. "You just performed for an audience." A pause. "Made up mostly of gremlins, Tiny, and those two lads from the post office, but still."

Re: Talk to Lucifer

[okteiviakom]

Octavia all but squirmed in her seat.

"Ugh, don't."

Re: Talk to Lucifer

[my_own_advocate]

Lucifer chuckled. "How about I get you more brandy instead?" he said. "And a seat outside the spotlight."

Re: Talk to Lucifer

[okteiviakom]

"Please."

She was already getting up.

Re: Talk to Lucifer

[my_own_advocate]

Lucifer moved with her, walking towards the dimly-lit seating section near the back. "Tiny?" he called.

Re: Talk to Lucifer

[okteiviakom]

Octavia only felt a little bit ridiculous about how much she didn't want to be where the light was bright. "Think I want a Jack Rose."

Instead of more straight-up brandy.

Re: Talk to Lucifer

[my_own_advocate]

"You heard our warrior princess," Lucifer said, grinning at Tiny as he sank into a seat. "Make it two, actually. And a martini."

Re: Talk to Lucifer

[okteiviakom]

"Not a princess," Octavia said with a soft snort as she took a seat by his side. "That was someone else's nickname."

Re: Talk to Lucifer

[my_own_advocate]

"I'm just trying some out, no need to get shirty," Lucifer said lightly. "Do I want to know whose it was?"

Re: Talk to Lucifer

[okteiviakom]

"Just someone I knew back on the ground," Octavia shrugged, leaning back in her seat a little. "My brother would call her that, and not in a nice way."

Re: Talk to Lucifer

[my_own_advocate]

"All royalty-related nicknames are out, got it," Lucifer said. "I'll just have to stew on more for a while longer."

Re: Talk to Lucifer

[okteiviakom]

"Aren't you a king, anyway?" Octavia drawled lightly. "I wouldn't wanna be fake royalty next to that."

Well. That comment wasn't going to age well.

Re: Talk to Lucifer

[my_own_advocate]

"I was a king," Lucifer said. "Then I quit."

Re: Talk to Lucifer

[okteiviakom]

"Fair," Octavia replied. "But, still."

She had a feeling it wasn't quite that simple to just quit being a king, but she wasn't going to say that out loud.

... And then she didn't say anything else, either. Just watched his face for a moment, trying to decide whether she wanted to ask a question that was bubbling up.

Re: Talk to Lucifer

[my_own_advocate]

"I rather enjoy not being royalty," Lucifer pointed out, "And bringing it down to everyone else's level, so don't worry about the nicknames."

Re: Talk to Lucifer

[okteiviakom]

"I don't."

She shoved her question aside, looking towards the bar.

"I haven't actually blocked anyone from calling me by a name before, either."

Re: Talk to Lucifer

[my_own_advocate]

"I know, but you were all concerned," Lucifer said, his tone amused. He didn't think she actually had been, after all.

Re: Talk to Lucifer

[okteiviakom]

"I wasn't," Octavia replied, flicking her gaze back to him just for the eyeroll that followed. "Which you know, but I'm saying so anyway. Just to make it clear."

Re: Talk to Lucifer

[my_own_advocate]

"Ah, but you sounded so put out about it," Lucifer teased. "I try to keep ahead of everyone's sensitivities."

No, he didn't.

"Within reason."

Re: Talk to Lucifer

[okteiviakom]

"Mm-hm."

Octavia brought her hand up to her neck, and hooked one finger under her collar, to pull a leather cord necklace out from under her shirt.

"Here's one nickname that I still don't see myself in."

There was a pendant on the cord: a small, dainty silver dove, with something engraved on one side of it.

Re: Talk to Lucifer

[my_own_advocate]

"'Dove'?" Lucifer said.

He sounded dubious.

Re: Talk to Lucifer

[okteiviakom]

"'Sorrow dove who sings her song before the day begins'," Octavia filled in with a wry, lopsided ghost of a smile, looking down at the pendant, dangling from its cord between two fingers. "'Sorrow dove' for short."

The pendant even said kanashimi no hato in kanji.

"But usually, lately just 'dove', yeah."

Re: Talk to Lucifer

[my_own_advocate]

"That sounds..." Lucifer groped for a word that was nice, and then decided he didn't want to. "Condescending."

Re: Talk to Lucifer

[okteiviakom]

Octavia looked up. "Why do you think that?"

She didn't agree, and that much was probably obvious from the way she wore the nickname on her body, the same way she did the paracord bracelet with the metal clasp in the shape of a shark that was wrapped around her left wrist.

But that wasn't going to stop her being curious.