The Devil's Nest, Friday Evening

[my_own_advocate]

Lucifer had rather drawn out his vacation longer than necessary, hadn't he?

Ah, well.

He was back at the piano tonight. Apparently he was in a mood for something smooth and light, as evidenced by the gentle classical music flowing through the venue tonight.

Perhaps he'd work his way up to something louder later. Or he'd join Tiny at the bar to serve customers. He'd see how things worked out.

[[ open ]]

Comments

[hasaknightjob]

Marc wasn't exactly a classical fan but he didn't mind quiet from time to time. Made a nice change of pace, considering.

He headed over to the bar to order a whiskey from whoever was serving.

[my_own_advocate]

It was Tiny, who shoved a glass across the bar without much comment.

But Lucifer, for his part, was finishing up.

[hasaknightjob]

Marc gave a salute with the glass to show appreciation for the drink (and perhaps also the lack of comment). He took a swallow of it and watched Lucifer to see if the music selection was about to change drastically.

[my_own_advocate]

Not really. Lucifer let the last chords die away.

Once the drama had dissipated, he rose and walked to the bar. "Well, fancy seeing you here."

[hasaknightjob]

"It's where the alcohol is," Marc said.

Okay so was his home and his - so fucking help him - office but still. Alcohol he didn't have to replenish personally.

"Nicer than the Perk too."

Again, the alcohol.

[my_own_advocate]

"We do try to aspire to something a touch above the Perk, yes," Lucifer said, rising an eyebrow. "Had a poor week, did we?"

[hasaknightjob]

Marc waved it off. "It's fine. Things getting back to normal. For us anyway. Not that I know what normal is. How about you? How's Duke?"

No offense to Ocatvia there if she was having a rough time of it, Marc just knew about Duke going through some shit last time they'd talked.

[my_own_advocate]

"Recovering," Lucifer said, waving at Tiny to bring him a drink. "Being in Chile helped, I believe."

[hasaknightjob]

Marc filed that away for future reference. Much as he bothered to remember things about people, sometimes stuff stuck with him. Not for any reason he'd lay claim to though.

"That's something," Marc said. "Guess distractions help?"

Not that Marc was pondering his own life and things he - well not couldn't do anymore but wasn't doing, which still left a bit of a void in his calendar, so to speak.

[my_own_advocate]

"Certainly," Lucifer said, snagging the glass as soon as it was given to him. "But I believe so does the quiet. And the presence of safety and affection." Beat. "And the sex."

[hasaknightjob]

Marc took a second to reflect - no pun intended - on how that was a pretty good list of things he neither had nor felt in particular need of.

Well, except the quiet. But he'd given up on that. Surprisingly literally.

"Good. Nice it's working out for him. Not always easy to let that kind of thing go."

[my_own_advocate]

"Well, not if you don't put your back into it."

Look, Lucifer, himself, was very good at denial as a coping strategy.

[hasaknightjob]

If Marc laid claim to appreciating things about people, he might appreciate that about him.

Instead Marc pondered the mental image he'd just been gifted and said, "Something tells me you're not the kind of guy who needs a warm up stretch."

What? Just because Marc wasn't a hedonist didn't mean he was a prude.

[my_own_advocate]

"Not particularly," Lucifer agreed. "In fact I was a ten times a day Devil, back in the day. But I realize that's not reasonable to put on just two human beings."

[hasaknightjob]

"Only ten?" Marc said. Kidding. You know, for him. "Guess that's one way the extra partners help. Stamina."

Marc had nothing against polyamory. He was just very aware that he'd been unable to truly handle a single partner on an emotional level was all.

[my_own_advocate]

"It is a perk," Lucifer agreed, sipping his drink. "Frankly, I would prefer for us all to be back in Chile still, but Octavia gets restless after a bit."

[hasaknightjob]

Marc wasn't super familiar with Octavia but, "Steven likes her. Thinks she's interesting. She's been nice to him far as I can tell, so."

Marc shrugged. Nice to Steven always earned some points with him.

[my_own_advocate]

"She does like adorable baby birds and big-eyed wildlife," Lucifer mused.

[hasaknightjob]

"Yeah that's Steven," Marc said. "Including leaving the nest when he isn't supposed to."

[my_own_advocate]

"Do I detect some concern?"

[hasaknightjob]

"It's not as bad as it was," Marc had to admit. If they never relived the period just before they moved to Fandom it would be too soon, that was for sure. "But he pokes his nose in where he shouldn't. He needs to leave some shit alone. Not everything needs him digging in."

[my_own_advocate]

"Hm," Lucifer mused. "Speaking from experience, I must say, I've never encountered any situation where telling someone to 'leave shit alone' led to anything besides shit getting thoroughly disturbed."

Usually by him!

[hasaknightjob]

"Yeah, that's Steven," Marc said, rubbing his face tiredly. "Fucking stubborn."

Unlike Marc, of course.

"Luckily there's not too much for him to get into now but - " another shrug. "Be nice if he learned to leave well enough alone."

[my_own_advocate]

"He won't," Lucifer said, with authority, and took a swig of his drink. "But it's adorable that you're so-- whatever this is about it."

[hasaknightjob]

"Story of my life," Marc said with a sigh. Since that both covered the this as well as acknowledging that Lucifer was probably right.

[my_own_advocate]

"More booze?" Lucifer inquired.

[hasaknightjob]

Marc finished off his drink and held out the empty glass as a yes.

[my_own_advocate]

"Tiny," Lucifer said, snapping his fingers. (Tiny rolled his eyes and went to refill Marc's glass.) "And any news from your own front, so to speak?"

[hasaknightjob]

"Not much," Marc said. "Steven had some shit to deal with so I was staying out of his way."

And feeling incredibly guilty since said shit was technically Marc's fault, but Marc wasn't going to say that out loud.

"Mainly trying to get the lay of the land again now that he's back on saying I need the body more."

[my_own_advocate]

"You say that as if it's almost a bad thing," Lucifer said, eyeing him strangely.

[hasaknightjob]

"He nags," Marc said. "Sometimes I miss when he and I didn't talk."

Sometimes. Which, yanno, big admission from Marc there to imply that by extension he liked a thing.

[my_own_advocate]

"Right, well, sometimes fresh air and fresh alcohol is good for the soul," Lucifer said gravely, "So he may have a point."