The Devil's Nest, Monday Night

[texted3times]

Tiny had five bottles of pumpkin spice Kahlua.

Eric stared at them suspiciously. "I'll allow it," he said slowly, "but don't put any of it into a drink of mine."

The Devil's Nest was open! And seasonal, apparently.

Comments

[okteiviakom]

And now the club had an Octavia in it, too.

Entering quietly, without fanfare.

[texted3times]

Eric grinned at her. "There you are."

[okteiviakom]

"Here I am," Octavia agreed in a drawl, making her way up to the bar. "Against at least some of the odds."

[texted3times]

"Order a drink," Eric said. "Don't let Tiny feed you pumpkin spice Kahlua."

[okteiviakom]

"I'll just take whatever the best brandy is," Octavia replied, with a little nod towards Tiny. "No pumpkin spice, thanks."

As much as she liked it in hee coffee.

[texted3times]

"No pumpkin spice brandy, either," Eric said firmly. "I see you." He turned his attention to Octavia. "Welcome back."

[okteiviakom]

"Thanks. I'm still not fired?"

Deadpan, what else?

[texted3times]

"Nope, but you're definitely out of vacation time," Eric teased.

[okteiviakom]

"I feel like it," Octavia rasped, "so that sounds about right."

She didn't even need to know what 'vacation time' was (beyond the obvious) to make that joke.

[texted3times]

"I heard that Duke was back at the diner as well?" Eric asked.

[okteiviakom]

"He is," Octavia confirmed, as Tiny put her drink in front of her. She gave him another quick nod of thanks. "Lucifer... We're still waiting for Lucifer."

[texted3times]

"I assume by your tone that he's not just being dramatic in his arrival?" Eric replied.

[okteiviakom]

"He's trying to fix his world before he can come back to us."

So simple to put into words, and in no other way.

Octavia took a sip, and added, particularly dry in tone, "Occasionally he manifests fruit or flowers so we know he's still there."

[texted3times]

Eric blinked. "I'll pretend like I knew he could do that."

[okteiviakom]

"Well he is God, so..."

[texted3times]

"That will be two tending the bar, then," Eric said with a little smirk. "Eventually."

And he'd slept with both of them! Everything was coming up Eric.

[okteiviakom]

Despite the extremely dry look Octavia was now giving him, she would've been lying if she'd claimed she hadn't sort of missed this.

"Taking that as reassurance that you think my partner will come back," she rasped, "eventually."

[texted3times]

"Of course he will," Eric said with a small smile. "And if he doesn't, I'm a solid backup plan."

[okteiviakom]

"For what?"

Come on, tell her.

[texted3times]

"A lifetime with a sexy immortal?" Eric said with a grin.

[okteiviakom]

Octavia snorted. "I guess that would be an easy offer for you to make, considering what a typical human lifetime is compared to immortality."

A beat.

"Also because you could snap my neck like a twig in two seconds if you felt like it."

A short lifetime was still a lifetime.

[texted3times]

Eric grinned. Toothily. "I could, but I won't."

[okteiviakom]

"Not right now, but you don't know what it's like to spend years with me."

She was much too casual about saying that, but then that was some of the draw of coming here in the first place. A certain lack of judgement.

[texted3times]

Eric laughed. "Well, I won't take violent murder entirely off the table, then."

[okteiviakom]

Octavia toasted him with her glass. It half-hid the wry little curve of her lips.

"Just as long as you're honest about it."

[texted3times]

"Oh, I'm generally honest," Eric said with a grin. "It's not my fault when people don't believe me."

[okteiviakom]

"Also sometimes people don't like other people being direct," Octavia replied, more as agreement than anything.

Not that she had experience with that. Recently. Of course.

[texted3times]

"They really do not," Eric agreed. "Too bad for them."

[okteiviakom]

Octavia took another sip.

"Duke and I got into a fight," she said. Not out of nowhere. "We... resolved it, things are relatively okay." It was all relative, lately. "But I'm ready for Lucifer to come back."

[texted3times]

"You're off-balance?" Eric guessed.

[okteiviakom]

Octavia nodded. "Whenever one of us is gone, it's... hard."

Understatement of the day.

"And it can get ugly."

[texted3times]

Eric pressed his lips together in thought. "How ugly?" he asked.

[okteiviakom]

"Not talking to each other for several days because both of us feel the other person's trying to silence us."

The previous week had been fun.

[texted3times]

Eric made a face. "That doesn't sound like much fun."

[okteiviakom]

"It wasn't."

That was dry, because yes.

"It feels like there's three of us for a reason."

[texted3times]

Eric nodded. "You're wobbly without him."

[okteiviakom]

"It's the first time in almost five years it's been just us."

That was a yes.

[texted3times]

"Is the stress getting to you both?" Eric asked, taking a sip from his drink. "Or maybe one of you more than the other?"

[okteiviakom]

And there was the brandy again.

"No comment."

[texted3times]

"Ah," Eric said. "I'm sorry."

[okteiviakom]

Octavia shrugged one shoulder, faintly.

"We're learning to manage it," she said, her free hand going absently to the wrist of the one holding the glass. There was a bracelet there, with two little charms. "Either really fast, or after a really long time."

Depended on your point of view.

[texted3times]

"With days of the silent treatment," Eric pointed out.

[okteiviakom]

Octavia gave him a dry look.

And simply said, "After."

[texted3times]

"Well, after, then," Eric said with a little smirk back.