13834/The Quiet Hours

The Quiet Hours
Date of Scene:	25 September 2021
Location:	Lucifer's Penthouse, Melville
Synopsis:	A little quandary of post Experiment thought, leads to some odd discoveries.
Cast of Characters:	Sinister, Lucifer

---

Sinister has posed:
It is not that long since temptation has been removed from the orbit of Lux. Oh, the regular kind is fine, comes and goes, stokes the fires and feeds the Lord of Lux with his necessary vicarious sins -- but there's a few things that are just too dangerous to keep around, as is well known.

A long, long, long hot shower was necessary, pumice scrubs indulged in, to the point of making skin tingly and a little raw. Wandering around without saying much, bringing Whiskey to the piano, giving a bit of space by having a cigarello on the balcony overlooking the city.

And now it's four in the morning.

Time doesn't matter much, unless you're giving it a wink and a nod, which has been known to happen. Contemplation of eyelids and all that, which should be attempted for at least a little while before humanity wakes up and gets its day rolling. Nathaniel is considering the ceiling, the flaws on it, from the position of horizontal advantage. The bed is comfortable, after all.

Lucifer has posed:
So one of the pair deals with the loss of temptation and getting it out of their system one way. In the meanwhile, the Lord of Hell, seems to be having his own little affair within the mind. The lack of talking allows Lucifer's mind to wander within and around places that only recently opened up to him as questions. It's a weird existence, his. Sometimes he can get fairly lost in the self reflection.

Whiskey was consumed at some point, though in small quantity and he only played a little on the piano. While Sinister stood on the balcony smoking, and then wound up in the bedroom contemplating the ceiling...Lucifer made his way back into that safe room.

There's a certain scent that lingers here and it's got the man bewildered a bit. He won't be contemplating eyelids tonight it seems. More so has decided to spend his time sitting in a chair in that room, spinning in stationary circles and contemplating himself.

Sinister has posed:
<<Penny for your thoughts?>>

A quiet little intrusion though it is, the deep voice of Essex sounds like it's right there, in the circling orbit of the psyche. On the bed, the doctor's eyes close, lacing fingers over his midriff as his telepathy does the work for him. Knowing where Lucifer is, colours understanding a little however.

<<It's like skunk. No matter how much you clean it up, there's a little undercurrent that lingers for a long, long time afterwards.>>

Lucifer has posed:
<<Where do you want me to start?>>

The response is...slow to form. Like Lucifer's just not sure of some things perhaps. Or maybe he was just dizzu from all the spinning he's been doing. As he hears that next bit from Sinister, he contemplates the implications and then pauses so he's sitting completely still.

<<I could deal with it if it was just a reminence. An echo. This...isn't that. This is...I am questioning myself...and I am not entirely sure if I like what I'm contemplating...>>

Sinister has posed:
<<You could probably start in the middle and ramble all around the cosmos and I'd follow and sort it all out later. I don't think you will though, you usually end up pinning at least something to the board. So wherever you feel like stabbing is probably a good point of entry.>>

Eyes open on the bed and Sinister exhales, rising off of the mattress and floating all through the halls of the penthouse, until he's just outside the room. Touching down there, his footsteps carry him inside and rather than pull up a chair from without, he simply sits on nothing, legs folding as he floats there, elbows on knees, hands loosely steepled infront of himself... facing Lucifer. There's a smile, small and quickly fading, a head tilt and an inquisitive 'listening' face.

Lucifer has posed:
Lucifer is just about to respond back telepathically when he notices that Nathaniel comes to where he's sitting. He would be amused about the position and look that the man takes as well if it wasn't directed at him. This feels more like serious business than something that could be construed as playful in anyway.

"I start by thinking I'm Lucifer fucking Morningstar. I brought Sin to mankind, I feed off of the best of them and the worst are considered morsels. Snacks." He begins and then takes a breath before he begins to spin in a circle again. "Which is fine, because that's them sinning among themselves...and I've taken pleasure and self-sustained in some sick sort of way with my own pleasures and sins of the flesh and so on..."

Finally, he stops spinning and stands, beginning to pace instead now. "So why does a little part of me, knowing not only that it wasn't *really* me doing the thing, and that even what was being done was in some sort of fake world... feel not only pleasure still from the idea of what was done but - in some weird twist of fate - feel absolutely fucking guilty about doing it at all..."

Sinister has posed:
Sinister rests his chin on his hand a moment or two as Lucifer begins to speak, tracking with his gaze when he stands to pace about in his manner, bringing his chin forward to obscure his mouth on the interlaced knuckles thereafter. Viewing the Devil's dilemma askew, beneath well-winged brows. The inquiry bettles those brows to a frown and there is ultimately a tilt of the head and a shrug with it, that is not remotely helpful in that precise moment. After a bit, the steepled hands settle in his lap as he floats indian style on thin air.

"I think you just kind of answered yourself there. Guilty pleasure. And knowledge. But it's also just because you're you. I feel no guilt at all, but then I rarely ever do. You however, don't force people to sin, they just do it on their own. You don't instigate. And in this instant, you very much did. And you indulged instead of vicariously.... directly. Even knowing that it wasn't real, because you knew I crafted it... You now know it's within you to succumb to that. You've learned something about yourself which his troublesome. I -am- sorry for that, my fault entirely."

Lucifer has posed:
Lucifer pauses in his pacing and then glances to Nathaniel for a moment before seeming to give himself an annoyed look. "Well I suppose I did then. So then it goes a little further. I *liked* it. The hunt, the capture, the way I conveyed and held attention." He says. "Oh to feel another tremble in my arms while I hold their gaze, fighting but they simply can't look away. Can't run. It was...it was..." He almost gets there, right on the tip of his tongue and then it falters away once more.

"See. This is where I'm stuck. And further, then it spirals into a whole thing of what does it all mean. Is there something wrong with me now, because I was involved in that then. And of course I'm not just going to go off and...feast on someone but..." He throws his hands in the air. "It's just a cycle and I can't break out of it with an answer and I hate that."

Sinister has posed:
Sinister's eyes close fleetingly at that. The description, mostly. The parabola of this particular sin-spiral wobbles back in his direction for a moment and .... well, Lucifer's a very perceptive individual. Intuitive, in many ways; clever, observant, oddly altruistic also, but never tell him that to his face or he'd deny it outright. Selfish, right? Yes. Selfish. Opposite of Altruism. But what he might observe is the slight elongation of ear, the ever-so-subtle aspect of hunger that takes Nathaniel's face, making him look a little leaner for it. Shapeshifters. Pfff.

"Seductive. Empowering, too. Addictive. Predatory narcissism --" now that we've had a slew of adjectives, Nathaniel's eyes open again, looking up at Lucifer. "--And that's why we should never, ever let that happen. Not that in your case, it could.. not without your consent. But I can conceive a situation on the very outside of possibilities, where it could happen to me. Well, a bit of me anyway."

He skins his lips back from his teeth in a grimace and even if the other bits were far more subtle, the sharpened canines are not. They're very, very obvious.

Lucifer has posed:
"You're right. No matter the case, no matter how seductive or alluring it is...it should never come to be. Course, I don't know a vampire who roams this land that would ever dare to try to turn me, and Vlad has explicitly said he will not. For both of us. I don't know if a stray vampire would ever gain courage enough to try and turn you.." Lucifer offers this with a bit of a grin as he settles his senses. Yes, it was all those things. Fact is he misses them, but he should get over them....

Then there's Nathaniel. Who's ears get a big longer, and has a *look* about him that screams hungry. Even after the man talks and Lucifer replies he notices how his lips skin back. Those sharpened canines become present and Lucifer gives a very visible shiver.

"Well...that look...that's mostly from being able to...sort of shape shift. Transform... more wolfish..right?"

Sinister has posed:
"I don't know about that," Sinister mutters, after the stray vampire comment, leaning back as if in an arm chair and lifting his formerly laced and steepled fingers to run through long hair, shaking it all out in a mad scramble of motion. "Irregardless, the come-down is strong. I was already much of a mind that remaining like that for too long was going to be dangerous, as irregardless of any truth, it -felt- more powerful than being alive and was becoming addictive. I won't say it felt natural, as it very much did not."

The question though, catches him and he looks mildly puzzled. "Hmm?"

Lucifer has posed:
Lucifer raises a brow. "What? You don't... follow me?" A tilt of his head then, perhaps so he assures himself he's rally seeing what he thinks he's seeing. "Your ears got a point to them and...well for all intents and purposes, my darling, you've dropped fangs..." He steps up closer to Sinister, a hand lifting to pull fingers through the man's hair. "...Oh to feel those canines pierce my skin..." He whispers, leaning in just a bit to perhaps gain a scent from Sinister himself.

Sinister has posed:
Sinister blinks, though it's /after/ the pull of fingers through his hair. He smells as he usually does, but with a little extra spice to him at the moment, thanks to the pumice rub that he scoured himself with. The shampoo has a tang to it too, slightly grapefruity, beneath coconut oil. For the shine, you know. He reaches thumb to his right ear and traces the point, tongue finding the canine and doing likewise. "Well, I'll be a monkey's uncle. What the heck do you think you're playing at, hmm?" This is apparently directed at himself, as he concentrates and sorts through a few things he can 'feel' about himself at the moment.

The lean in gets focus though, staring at the neck that appears in his vision for a good couple of seconds of consideration. "I suppose this makes a measure of sense," he murmurs to himself, snorts and chuckles. "Were I wolfish..." eyes swim to golden, ears get a lot longer, black fur all over the place and he steps down from the air to elongate, grow taller and bulk out considerably. Shadowlord if they lived in a world of Darkness, but quite Lycan in this parallel. "I practiced being a monster some time ago..." MAN that voice is deep. The furry chest is about at eye level with the devil, making the overall bulk about nine foot tall.

Lucifer has posed:
Lucifer has to draw back once Nathaniel decides to go all lycan on him and grow a couple more feet, become all hairy and ... oh that voice. The rumble of bass, that depth, and yet how it still carries Nathaniel's lilt with it. "Haven't we all practiced at some point, my heart..." He offers this as eyes lift to meet the golden orbs of Nathaniel's own.

Lucifer is still shivering.

"So what was the other thing then? I am now... slightly even more confused than before." A hand reaching to tease fingers through that fur then.

Sinister has posed:
Sinister brings sharp-taloned hands to stubbled cheek, turning the knuckles about to stroke down. He then makes good use of bear-like claws to run them down shirt and waistcoat, making the fabric make all kinds of interesting noises. And of course, making five points of pressure on the body behind it. "Some of us more than others," he rumbles, the cultured english tone just all kinds of strange when spoken with a wolf's muzzle. But unlike a werewolf driven by certain instinct, the mind in that head is still diamond sharp. Golden eyes give way back to red and glowing, because they can. "You can't /possibly/ be cold, can you?" laughter in this form, even a little chuckle, is very animalistic.

Then it melts away, the hair retracting, shrinking muscles, the pop and crack of bones going back to their usual configuration and the wolf melds back to the man, though still taller than Lucifer now. Back to the RIGHT height dynamic. "You woke up the vampire, I think. I had no idea I'd changed, though, which is a little... disturbing. Sneaky bastard, he was."

Lucifer has posed:
There's a grunted moan that comes when those points of pressure from wolf claws meet his chest, rake down his clothing. Then he takes a sharp inhale - not that he needs it - but oh does that make things accent a bit. "Cold? No. Not at all. These are not the shivers of a man who is *cold*, my love.."

Then Nathaniel shrinks back down to his own size and as he offers that Lucifer woke up the vampire, he raises a brow. "Woke up the... but how could I wake up something that you never were? That was all an experiment. Right?" It's still an interesting choice of words even if Nathaniel didn't mean *actual* full on vampire. "...and is there a way to keep him awake all night?"

Sinister has posed:
Sinister raises both eyebrows at this, letting his lips turn wry. He raises a human hand to his temple and taps index and middle finger there a few times. "I remember. Therefore, I can. I know what it feels like, what changes are wrought and lo...." the feral look returns, drawing down of skin to just that little bit more lean, ears elongate again and with a grin to show off the teeth, the canines elongate once again. With a flex of his jaw, they drop down to full length and therefore require full and careful enunciation. "I could be like this whenever I choose to be. Including..." he sniffs the air, ears twitching juuuuuust a little "...the senses." Fangs flick back up once again.

Diving in with both hands, he sweeps Lucifer's jacket aside, to bury limbs in their wings, settling at the waist to draw closer, with a couple of steps. "Have you not had enough of this of late? Will that not make forgetting about it that much harder?"

Lucifer has posed:
"Ah. I see. Well that is interesting..." Lucifer offers while watching as Nathaniel then demonstrates as he explains. The feralty in his look, how he slims down in a precise sort of way. Ears go long, fangs protrude, and Lucifer simply stares for a moment. A certain desire shows in his gaze as well, but he seems able to shake it off in a thought or two.

Then he's pulled close, arms within his jacket so he really couldn't escape even if he wanted to. "No. not enough. With the way it made me feel, the things it opened up in my mind... likely never enough.." He offers this while tilting his head to catch a red gaze with his own blues. "But to relive it...every so often...might help in the long run. I can indulge..without giving in.." Addicted? No. Of course not. Lucifer can't get *addicted* to things. Right?

Sinister has posed:
Sinister closes his eyes as Lucifer speaks that last, the gaze met for a brief amount of time. He nods, opening them again to looking out of the safe room door, at the luxury beyond... and back. "Have I told you lately, what a dichotomy of opposition you happen to be? You will take me lifetimes to fathom out and likely I never will know the whole story. You, so strong and powerful..." he pulls the man closer, bumping hip to hip. "...all twitterpated and a'tremble and wanting to surrender. It -must- have a root somewhere in that glorious mind of yours... deep in the depths of your inhuman and human experience."

He draws back then, hands leaving waist, until they're held out as he withdraws, walking backwards with grace and a steady, penetrating regard, out of the room, into the lap of luxury. And the digits, they wiggle. Come come, little fish.

Lucifer has posed:
"Mmn, perhaps not lately, but I do think I like being a conundrum to you..." Lucifer admits with a chuckle. "Means I always keep you on your toes..." Then their hips bump and he chuckles. "It likely has a root, but what that root is, I have no idea. Sometimes I wonder, other times....I don't really care. Though I'm sure it's something that has you chomping at the bits to figure out in all your scientific ways." He chuckles at that.

Then Nathaniel is moving back...back..withdrawing and also beckoning. Lucifer follows like a dutiful lover. Come into my parlor little fly, says the spider. A bit of a stalker, hunter look takes over but all in all Lucifer simply follows the beckoning.

Sinister has posed:
Sinister backs up without words, knowing where he's going by instinct and memory and likely by hearing the obstacles behind himself by the change in his footsteps. He doesn't take his eyes off of Lucifer, even as he backs up to the balcony windows and opens them behind his back with a adroit and dextrous movement. Fresh air punctuates the nostrils, the faint smell of the ocean with it, but mostly the very distinct aroma of living in a gigantic interconnection of cities. The wind has made it mostly clean up here though and it blusters across faces, swishes short hair, whips long. Only when the railing is at his thighs, does Sinister stop an inch or so from it, letting the devil catch up. Red eyes deepen in hue to bloody as he opens his arms wider, an invitation to closer proximity.

"Under the stars, seems somehow more appropriate, don't you think?" is asked, as he levitates up and over the edge of the balcony, arms still open.

Lucifer has posed:
At some point, it's almost like Lucifer is in a sort of trance, as he follows without question wherever Nathaniel is want to lead him. He shifts when Nathaniel shifts to avoid obstacles in the way and then feels that rush of fresh air when the balcony doors open. Then Nathaniel pauses a moment, Lucifer catches up, just before he levitates up and over the edge of the balcony.

A smirk, wings flare, and Lucifer follows still. "Under the stars will be amazing, I think." He offers, because he is listening and can be responsive. "Up and elsewhere?"

Sinister has posed:
Sinister nods to the question, smiling wide and sharp, as wings flare. A look is sent to each magnificent white wing with a happy sigh, thereafter focused on Lucifer Morningstar himself. "Up and elsewhere," and he turns where he floats, looks up to the sky and zooms, taken by nothing but mind, no wind and no wing to lift him.