13847/Much to do about nothing

Much to do about nothing
Date of Scene:	02 October 2021
Location:	Lucifer's Penthouse, Melville
Synopsis:	Lucifer and Sinister have a normal night in. Seriously. Dinner and conversation. Full stop.
Cast of Characters:	Lucifer, Sinister

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Lucifer has posed:
Fall has definitely put it's stamp on New York. The air is getting cooler, people are bundling up and there's a threat of snow on the horizon. Lucifer doesn't really care about much of it, except he doesn't quite like the cold weather. One can only wonder as to why.

The shell gifted by Nathaniel the other day has been set into the special box of trinkets he has on the bookshelf. The fireplace is currently roaring and keeping the sitting room warm. A bottle of cognac with a couple of glasses rests on the coffee table. Lucifer is currently resting himself across the length of the couch, a cigarette dangling out the corner of his lip and a book in his lap which he's idly reading. Music plays from...somewhere...a bit of Celtic instrumental that's more relaxing than anything else. Nothing going wonky, nothing coming out of the woodworks. A perfectly normal night.

Sinister has posed:
It's probably not rocket science to figure out why the devil doesn't like the cold. Monsieur de Sinistre however, isn't muchly bothered by it. This kind of weather is reminiscent of the broad climate of his homeland after all. The day has kept him busy, with several meetings with charitable organizations which might strike some as odd, the city logistics of the opening of a clinic and at least one meeting with a lobbyist. That dynamic was contrary to expectation; the individual was seeking something out of Nathaniel, not the other way around.

So, as the fire roars and the evening promises to be the cosy kind, the elevator doors ping open and there, with take-out in a paper bag in hand that smells divinely Indian, Sin arrives. "Honey, I'm hoooooome. And I brought pakora."

Lucifer has posed:
"Welcome home, my darling..." Lucifer offers, looking back a little to offer a smile to the man as he comes in. The scent that surrounds, of the Indian type, has the man sitting up just a bit. "Whatever pakora is, it smells delicious.." He offers this much more and takes a drag off his cigarette, flicking ashes. "I take it the day was well for you? Nothing terrible or exciting happened?"

He moves to stand, in an attempt to move towards the kitchen so he can take down plates and divy out food. "I am sort of hoping it either rains or snows tonight because I really want to have just every excuse under the sun to cozy up by the fire with booze and food and you."

Sinister has posed:
"Get a large platter and a few ramikins..." Sinister calls kitchenward, meeting the man there and undoing the bag. It appears to be full of little waxed cardboard cups, full of mint yoghurt dip, a kind of mildly spiced tamarind sauce that's sweet and sour at the same time, and a mango chutney that's more liquid than other chutneys. The rest are brown paper bags filled with tikka and chickpea flour batter covered fingerfood morcels of chicken, cauliflower, mushrooms and onion/potato balls.

"Nothing particularly special. It looks as if I'll have the forms for a new clinic in the Haven-sunnydale region in the works, with a little expediation and the gotham zoo is opening an additional wing of its aquarium. This I'm pleased about..." He smiles with his eyes brighter than he does with his lips which remains more genteel and glances toward the high windows.

"I feel that Hogmanay may be a favourite time of year, if that statement is anything to guage by. Do you actually have a favourite festival?"

Lucifer has posed:
"Even though it's in the fall, and I hate the chill... I am partial to Samhein." Lucifer offers this much as all the food gets laid out on the counter in front of him. Large platter, ramikins, things transferred into ramikins, finger foods spread out across the platter itself. He gets everything set up and then looks to Nathaniel after a moment, listening to him explain his day in the process.

"Oh well. That's good. Do we know what they're going to showcase in the new wing of the aquarium?" He asks this as he takes up the platter and begins to walk it into the living room.

"Though if and when it does snow... I do want to go to the roof...and spend some time in the snow with you. If you'd prefer..."

Sinister has posed:
Sinister picks up a bottle of zinfandel from the wine chiller. Underrated and not top of the line, they nevertheless pair well with curry, as they compliment the spicy. So along with whiskey and cognac... voila. Matching stride there's no such thing as having a cork malfunction with Nathaniel around, the stopper removed with a twist of hand and a flick of wrist, he sets it to breathe a little and settles in the short end of the 'L' of the couch so finger foods are in easy reach. "I am helping them to set up a rare opportunity to study deep sea creatures in an aquarium environment, with pressure-simulating conditions and alternate light spectrum. The research center is going to have a barometric air-lock system, jellyfish and syphonofore tank. Of course, the information gleaned is in part proprietary. I will be able to access their breakthroughs." He smiles at that, plucking a mushroom pakora and dipping it in the mango.

"Why Samhein? I mean, I can guess, but I feel there might be stories of a less free-to-roam Lucifer in the past, having vacation days at that time of year." Pausing, he nods. "The snow has hidden secrets. I wouldn't object."

Lucifer has posed:
"Oh... well now that is interesting. Does that mean I can now go to the aquarium and swim with deep sea creatures?" Lucifer asks as they settle onto the couch together. He looks to the bottle of wine that Nathaniel grabbed and gives a bit of a smirk himself. "Well, at least we have a variety of food and drink to enjoy. Each other. Music... which if you want me to change I can. I was just in the mood for some Celtic drums and flutes." This offered as he leans forward to grab a random piece of battered and fried delectable, dips it in yoghurt and then he munches thoughtfully.

"Why? Eh I suppose the vacation day was fun. But seeing how many people actually worship me is good. Plus, I get a lot of favors. People think that talking to me and making deals is easier on Samhein. Also on the Devil's Night the day before..." He shrugs then, picking up another piece of battered goodness, dipping in mango and snacking. "Now then...what to drink..."

Sinister has posed:
"Honestly, try the ZInfandel. I uncorked it deliberately, it's like ... a sweet and sour explosion on the tongue, when you have it with curry and cumin. It's too sweet and wet for most meals, but with something not chili based... MWah!" He kisses bunched up fingers and takes a bhaji pakora. This one gets the tamarind treatment. "You actually want to? Most people don't, even people like us. The alien nature, I suppose, it's hard to look past what your eyes are telling you and admire the adaptability. I'm fond of Siphonophores for reasons that are a bit stereotypically obvious, when you consider they're an organism that's a collective life form, made up of clones. The creature's component parts individually decide what they need to be when they're growing, to function in the collective, but genetically, they're all absolutely identical and individual and make a kind of informed process when growing." He smiles mostly to himself, pours a glass of zinfandel for both, but doesn't press the issue, taking his own to clean his palate off.

"That was mostly what I'd guessed, but the elaboration is interesting-- did they treat you as apart, or integrated to the Bloody feast?"

Lucifer has posed:
"I think I'd want to. I mean if I really wanted we could go to the Mariana Trench and explore the depths of the ocean there. But if it's going to be closer to home.." Lucifer comments and then shrugs. "Also, we're not most people. At all. So there." That grin he has is ever present as he finishes commenting on such things. He takes a few more bites of food, tasting the different dips and the things to dip into them before he cleans off his hands so he can reach for the glass of zinfandel. Swirling it first, he then wafts it under his nose before taking a slow sip of the drink. "Oh...oh yes. That is a bit punchy and yet..sort of refreshing." A pause as he considers. "Oh I like that."

"Depended on the person. And the where. But mostly I'm attributed for owning partial rights to Samhein and all the glory for Devil's Night..." He chuckles then. "I wonder if we should spend it at the Cottage this year. We might even get trick or treaters.."

Sinister has posed:
Sinister smiles at the reaction, laughs at the commentary and simply nods. He can't argue the logic and so makes no attempt to. "I'd love to watch a memory of that, from times gone by. I do suppose that might be an intrusion upon happier times, no?" He grins, takes a chicken pakora and mint yoghurt, along with a few others before he considers himself 'done for now' and settling back with the zinfandel at hand, to chase the spice. He kicks off his boots for a change and stretches out his legs on the short end, leaning on the 'L' junction to watch Lucifer with focus and no small amount of love-tinged fascination.

"Halloween at Lux is a bit too much like a hoorah?" he asks, with a chuckle, leaning his head back so he can pillow his cheek against the leather apholstery. "If we do, you will have to make spooky treats. Maybe start a tradition that becomes a word of mouth in our little backwater town, of the best treats, tricks and scares."

Lucifer has posed:
Lucifer seems to think on that a moment and then he gives a sort of scoffed chuckle. "I suppose I do keep those memories a bit more locked away. Happier times yes. Times where I was myself, doing what I do best." He seems to get a bit dreamy eyed with that but it washes away in a blink. A bit more chicken with the mango chutney - which is the dip he seems to prefer from the trio. Then he's licking fingers and settling back with his own glass of zinfandel filled halfway, swirling and tasting it again to meld with the spice.

"Halloween at Lux can be...interesting. Sometimes we do costume contests, sometimes it's just a normal night. At least for the Club. There have been fewer calls on that particular night from people but that could just be me not answering calls all that much." He smirks and gives a chuckle. "We could do a whole haunted house, treats for those who survive, treats for the little ones who likely won't go through. Scares abound. We might be the talk of our little slice for a bit after. If you think you can handle such."

Sinister has posed:
"Me? If I think I can handle such?" Sinister laughs at that, reaching forth to play with the shorter, well-coiffed crop of dark atop Lucifer's head, attending little scratches of fingernails here and there, rubs of pads elsewhere in a proper scalp massage. "Frankly, I think if you end up with a lot of glee surrounding you, you might end up with faceache on a night such as that." The retort is made with a toothy grin and he crosses his ankles, bouncing the uppermost foot.

"I'm actually a fan of longest night. Not many do festivals at that time any more, but there's still a few places that share in old custom. Hogmanay, bloody feast shared, the green man dressed in evergreens, Holly and Ivy and Fir and hot wine. I never celebrated it much though, holidays never seemed worthwhile when alone."

Lucifer has posed:
"It's not a question of if you can handle it, my love.." Lucifer offers, leaning into the play of fingers in his hair. The scratches and rubs of finger pads against his skull. A soft sound from him as the attention turns into a right proper scalp massage. "It's if I can handle sharing it. It makes me...vulnerable I suppose...and shows a side of me no one sees. Has seen. You should see it. That other part that makes me, me." He offers then, leaning into that massage for the moment. Not tonight tho. Nothing tonight. Tonight was designed to be simple and memory hopping can be...not so much.

He listens to that next bit that Nathaniel says and gives a little smile, reaching to try and claim the other hand. "You're not alone, now, my love. And we'll fill the holidays with our own memories. Year after year."

Sinister has posed:
"Wait..." there's a disconnect here that Sinister's picked up on. "...Are we talking about the same thing here?" Pausing the thought train, he massages further down by the base of the skull and neck, working tensions there. Continuing: "I meant the trick or treaters and haunted house. I think you meant delving into your memories of Samhein and Devil's night. Or do you really think I'd have trouble handling kids and candy and spookiness?" There's a chuckle. "Because if you do, well. I might have to just prove you wrong."

The massage is continued for a little while longer, before he ceases and decists, swinging himself around to lay his head in Lucifer's lap, torso twisted in the 'L' but perfectly comfortable for it. He looks up, winks, grins and shuffles shoulders. "Pets now?"

Lucifer has posed:
"Oh. I'm sure you can handle kids, candies, and spooks. I was more talking about... delving into memory lane. But... I really split the topics of conversation there didn't I?" Oh, Nathaniel, your magic fingers may be called upon to do more work later in the evening. Or maybe they just need another spa day. The feel of that massage working out the tension at the base of his skull just makes Lucifer almost melt.

Then it stops, and he watches as Nathaniel twists himself around in such a way so he can wiggle into Lucifer's lap. A smirk and while he knows Nathaniel is comfortable in that position he has to shake his head and wonder if anyone else would be. But yes, pets now, and fingers go to hair, brushing through the locks as eyes gaze down upon his lover with a look that is wholly tender and filled with love. "Of course, darling..."

Sinister has posed:
"Yes my sweet, you did. Hence my supposition." Lashes half lower at the stroke through hair and he wriggles shoulderblades once again, up against Lucifer's thigh as they are. The arm closest to the couch back rests across his diaphragm, the other reaches up with a hand to trail fingers down the jawbone, a beatific smile on his face that well... nobody would believe if they didn't see it. Right?

And to stop the eyeball from trying to contemplate how he bent his spine in that way, he shifts onto his hip, so that it doesn't quite...make the eyeball boggle quite so much. "Weird question for you -- Have you been dreaming more lately? I have. They seem to have remembered to arrive and tickle my subconscious when we rest."

Lucifer has posed:
"I think I'm going to officially ask that we make time to go to your little spa place sometime soon...I could use a mani-pedi at least, and maybe a full body scrub." Lucifer offers this with a smile while still running fingers through Nathaniel's hair. Leaning into the hand that trails his jawbone and down, he nuzzles into it a few times as well. This. This is paradise.

"Dreaming more? Maybe? I haven't really noticed but I don't often let myself dream either. I just sort of run through thoughts about what to do when and where and how for the next few days. Contemplate on the actions of my day...that sort of thing.." He chuckles then. "Are you at least having good dreams?"

Sinister has posed:
"I'll arrange a date then." A grin.

"Sometimes, yes," Sinister's expression becomes thoughtful, slightly far and away, as he thinks about what happens when his subconscious takes over and paints the patterns on his mind. He gazes kind of through Lucifer's face as it shines above him with that look, a peacefulness taking his own. Paradise lost, can be found once again? Perhaps, so. Knowledge is not a curse.

"Last one I remember clearly, was almost a throwback, to when I was in British Columbia -- right at the turn of american/canadian designation of territory. I remembered reading a note pinned to a tree that politely said that you were in Canada. No joke, they kept that note somewhere. I forget where. Explorers, not with Sacagawea, but the French trappers that ended up settling with the natives and becoming Metis..." he murmurs, lashes lowering a little more, so that just a slit of red glows betwixt them. "...I was looking for a man, but I found a diner and it had all these... people in it, from all kinds of times I've lived through. They didn't even look up when I tried to figure out why there was a diner in the eighteenth century."

Lucifer has posed:
"Ha. That's clever, I think. Course back in those times how were they really supposed to achieve the idea of the border?" Lucifer asks this with a little shrug of his shoulders given. "And I suppose the man you were looking for wasn't in the diner and then your subconscious got distracted by diner in the 18th century with all sorts of familiar faces about.." He adds in after a moment and then seems to think on it a bit more.

"I could try to dream. See what happens. Though I do find yours interesting. If it has a sort of message or importance to it in any fashion. How long ago did this dream occur?"

Sinister has posed:
"Let me think," the slit of red flares brighter as mental accuminity is applied to sifting through chronology. "...last saturday, I think. I haven't remembered any since then, I think my psyche decided it was going to clamp down on that nonsense."

Sin's hand drops down, plays with the fabric around the pocket of the devil's waistcoat, a fingertip tracing the line of perfect stitching from the tailor. He then rests his elbow down and settles on rubbing the back of his knuckles against one fabric-clad knee.

"Do you suppose your dreams would be specific, or surreal? Well, I suppose I could just ask about the last one you actually -did- have."

Lucifer has posed:
"I couldn't remember even if I tried. A lot of times the things I see when I close my eyes are just replays of events. Perhaps my mind twists it one way or the other to see how it could have been different but..." Lucifer lifts a single shoulder in a shrug at that. Though perhaps he's being coy, even if he does seem absolutely sincere.

His fingers shift from hair to touch against cheek, run along the jawline, simple touches just to prove he's still there. Finally taking another sip of his zinfandel, he also produces that silver case which holds their cigarettes. "This is nice. Just talking and lounging. Having a bit of normal." Then he laughs. "Where's Constantine when we're finally having normal? At this rate he'll never know we're not just a couple of crazy bastards."

Sinister has posed:
"Eeh, normality and us is a gradient. What's normal for us is nowhere close to it for almost anyone else, I would wager." -- Nathaniel stills at the little pets, smiling just a fleeting little thing, stolen from his face by the touch of fingertips, he turns toward digits as they make a pass along his jaw and kisses one as it travels. "It is nice though..." there is a sigh, albeit. A sigh because he shuffles himself up to semi-lounging, then swings legs around so he's sat next to Lucifer instead, reaching for his wine to down the last of it, even as whiskey is floating over -- it's a glenfiddig, but probably of a significant year. After all, this penthouse has an entire wall devoted JUST to whiskey -- Two glasses follow it, one with rocks in it. The heathen. A smoke is reached for, plucked out and lit.

"I wonder if that's because you're not human. Honestly, there's a lot of things that probably don't quite have a correlation between Homo-Celesti and homo-sapiens." There's a subtle emphasis that suggests the first had capital letters, dontchaknow. "I've studied what I can, but the mysteries of you are deep."

Lucifer has posed:
Lucifer raises a brow gently at that sigh while Nathaniel sits up and then shifts so he's more sitting aside him. Though this is likely because of drink and smoke being proffered at the moment. "Well no, I'm sure that our kind of normal.. is not this. This is.. below normal. This is... sub par for us." He grins. "But it's NICE...I like it anyway..." Watching the glasses float by, he wiggles and flicks fingers which turns the ice cubes into literal - albeit still cold as if frozen - smooth rocks.

"Maybe that's it. Who knows. Dreams were never really something for me to have or care about until you came into my life. Not a slight, a good thing, but it's still not something I really keep hold of. I'm just saying I could - and would - make an effort to try .. should I dream at all." He says this much and then there's a smirk. "Have you really studied all you can, or only all you can without getting me on a slab and *really* testing me?" He leans over then. "Which I think you've wanted to do, a few times now, but refrain because you love me..."

Sinister has posed:
Sinister's honesty remains, even when put on the spot with a Truth. He nods to Lucifer, sucking on his cigarette enough to hollow his cheeks deeply, looking sidelong at the archangel on the couch with him. "What other celestial am I ever going to have to probe and learn from? On the scientific level that is, as I can learn plenty from simply interacting with you." Sinister reaches an arm around his lover's shoulders and shifts around a little to get them both comfortable in an interlocking position, letting his lazy halfsmile tick his lips up at the transmogrification of ice. He makes no comment on it though. "Cloning you does not produce the same results. I inspected the human you that I made from your DNA, but in all ways other than complete genetic perfection, sans anomalies of any kind and with those perfect telomeres of yours... any clone I make of you is simply a human in literally perfect health. And I'm only able to do it because I literally -forced apart- the barriers that were preventing me extracting anything out of the samples I have of you."

There's probably a helluvalot more there, given that it apparently was a ton of work to do.

"And splitting even the human DNA, resists a multitude of efforts. That alone, is staggeringly fascinating."

Lucifer has posed:
"Human Lucifer. Practically perfect in every way but not really. Susceptible to disease, vampirism, and death. Able to experience every high of mankind and beyond." Lucifer announces. "However, defies any attempts in showing the secret behind the Celesti-Human." Sort of summarizing all that Nathaniel just said. "If you want to actually do any experiments or other scientific bits...all you have to do is ask. I think we've discussed this before, but I am serious about it. Even open to it. Hell I might learn a thing or two right along side you." This as he takes a drag off his cigarette, blowing the smoke upwards and then drinks down a bit more of that zinfandel.

Sinister has posed:
"Pesky emotion makes me hesitant. THat's the problem with letting yourself, or rather finding yourself feeling things, they're annoyingly hard to switch off, don't you find?" Sinister takes up his whiskey, sipping it over the icy rocks that will not dilute the firewater any, lifting the glass in a toast thereafter.

"But tell me what would I do, that would require me to test the entire living organism? Stress tests? Pounds per square inch of pressure exerted? Resilliance to damage and other things? There must be a few poisons and diseases that are not precisely... human in origin that might stand a chance, but again, I find I don't much want to see if I can infect you with anything."

Lucifer has posed:
"But isn't that the beauty of such? And we have measures in place that can heal me should you actually wind up infecting me with anything. I cannot be harmed except by a divine blade. Human poisons cannot affect me. Alien ones... well I am not sure. Never been tested so we don't know." This much and then he takes another drag off his cigarette, then contemplates it for a moment.

Without warning, he takes the cigarette and mashes the lit end into his arm, watching as the skin sizzles a moment, but then sort of...drinks it in? There's no real way to describe it except the fire seems to go into Lucifer and then the cigarette is out. There's no real wound on his arm as it fast-heals, and then he incenerates the butt that's left. "I think having those feelings might be beneficial. It means you care a bit more for different reasons, and will see more to it that I am not truly harmed or taken ill in any way. We could always try a thing or two, and if you just can't... then we won't."

Sinister has posed:
Sinister watches the extinguishing of the cigarette with a mild interest, but he's aware of the affinity for fire that Lucifer possesses. He looks from arm to face, studying as if to find any kind of clue as to the depth of feeling related to this, but comes up mostly with curiosity. "Hmm. Maybe it's because you've never actually been mortal, other than when I made you so... most people would be considerably more wary of letting me of all people, go to town on them." He sucks on his smoke another long pull and blows a couple of smoke rings. "I think you and I are about matched strengthwise. There are definitely individuals in the world stronger than the pair of us, however. I am not indestructable, though. I do suffer damage, some types are considerably more dangerous to me than others. I think I probably ought to inform you of which kinds, for the sake of you knowing." And that's a trust too, whilst we're at it.

One more drag and he extinguishes his cigarette in much the same way as Lucifer had, by stubbing it in his own arm. The smell of singed hair and burned flesh though can be smelled, but by the time he pulls the butt free, his skin is pink, then smooth and implacable once again. "THat which disrupts molecular cohesion, is damaging to me. Extreme concussion causes shockwaves through me which disrupts the molecular bonds and I can fall apart, be damaged and I think I could even be killed that way, if someone tried hard enough."

Lucifer has posed:
Lucifer wrinkles his nose at the scne of burned flesh and hair before he huffs out through his nose to clear it out again. Respectfully so, however. "Maybe. Also, I think we're matched when I'm in this form. I do not think we would be matched if I went all out with the Celestial form. Nothing stands a chance. I could probably even destroy Hulk if I really wanted to." He chuckles and shakes his head then, finishing his zinfandel before leaning forward to set the glass on the table once more. Relaxing back, he drapes his closer arm around Nathaniel's shoulders, squeezing gently.

Sinister has posed:
Sinister leans into the arm around his shoulder, eyeing the spot where he was burned for a couple more moments before smoothing his sleeve over it and turning to look at Lucifer's profile. "Not that I can imagine you don't that, but the hulk did cream Loki. That might be a match to witness..." he pauses, purses his lips. "Is that in part why you don't adopt your true form all that often, because this form self-limits you down to a workable level?"

Lucifer has posed:
"Part of it. Most of it. I also just think I look a helluvalot better in this form. There's also a sort of presence, an aura of sorts, that surrounds us in our true Celestial forms. And while the world has become addaptive to the strange and abnormal...I suppose now it's just comfort and habit." Lucifer offers before considering things a moment and then he shakes his head and shrugs his shoulders. His fingers at the back of Nathaniel's shoulders begin to scritch and then press a little harder like an idle drifting massage. "And if I really think about it, I can be as Celestial as I wish in whatever form, so really it's all me just holding back." A pause. "Until I'm pushed too far..." Which has been seen. Several times.

Sinister has posed:
Sinister's head bows forward a little, leans away from the massaging hands with his head to keep hair from being caught, allowing access for the rubs which is quite pleasant overall, thankyouverymuch. "I actually think you look extremely attractive in both faces -- this one speaks to stereotype, but you have your own foxy edge. The true you is beautiful. I suppose that's an odd term for a man, but you're handsome too, it's simply the divine ratio in quite literal demonstration." A gesture in the air, creates the illusion of Michaelangelo's man as indicating the divine ratio of body length, span of arms, proportions and symmetry. It vanishes thereafter. "I will admit I got struck by the aura when I saw your true face the first time. Left me in tears I couldn't help, which was interesting."

He looks up at that profile again, reaching out to touch a fingertip to the bridge of Lucifer's nose which is just a little roman. It makes him smile. Then to the shape of lips, putting fingertip to the dip of the cupid's bow. "Boop."

Lucifer has posed:
"It's fine, I'm written as being the most beautiful, the most handsome of all the Angels. Which is likely why you had tears when you first looked upon it. It really does render the truest of emotions, your body doesn't have any way to compress the feeling nor can it really express it properly. So... you cry." Lucifer says this much while his fingers continue to work on massaging Nathaniel's back. He even shifts to turn more towards the other man to sort of focus on such massaging motions.

Though as that finger touches his nose, and then fits in the dip of his cupid's bow, he smirks. "Boop? Are we feeling a little on the cute side right now, my love?"

Sinister has posed:
"I couldn't say. It just looked like it needed booping," Sinister lets himself simply feel for a while longer, then shifts to straddle Lucifer's lap, a knee on either side of hip, facing him. It provides all access to sides and back by reaching around, an easier kind of canvas to work with. "I think it's called ecstatic response; sometimes you reach a state of euphoria so high that it is the only release. Other eccstatics used to dance themselves into trances, into a state of seizure to reach the same loss of emotional control, and physical I suppose as a kind of side-effect."

He leans closer, placing both hands on shoulders and working along the collarbone and pecs with his thumbs, looking eye to eye unflinching.

"By the by, you are quite magnificent when you're furious."

Lucifer has posed:
"Sounds about right, yes..." Lucifer says this much before finding a Nathaniel in his lap. He grins and continues to work fingers over the man's back while he then feels those hands on his shoulders. "Am I? I do not quite like getting so upset.. but at times.. it works out that way..."

His hands continue to work, digging in a little deeper, a bit rougher. Working out spots of tension he might actually feel here and there. A breath taken in, he tilts his head. "What's on your mind, Nathaniel? If I may ask."

Sinister has posed:
"Wrath, it is a sin that's quite dramatic when it happens, I suppose. I don't much like losing my temper either, I find that there's rather more collateral damage than I'd like, when I do. Keep the even keel, you act more precisely and effectively. I have thrown some serious wobblers in the past though," Iceman actually prompted quite an epic one, by outsmarting Sinister. The shame of that. The shame! There aren't all that many knots though, he is quite relaxed, but there are a few areas of tension. He tends to carry his tension in his upper back and lumbar region, which is common for people that carry themselves extremely straight and upright.

The hands on shoulders work up and around the back of the neck, working on the muscles between the vertibrae and the fixator muscles of the trapezoid. "What's on my mind? Very little, I'm afraid. I'm currently rather focused on a generalized feeling of wellbeing. Counting my blessings, I suppose and being again... rather surprised I have them. That sense of wonder is novel, you see. I think that's why I keep coming back to it. Wonderment is a sensibility that tends to fade with age."

Lucifer has posed:
Lucifer nods a little at what he's hearing, keeping his hands where he's feeling the small points of tension in Nathaniel's upper back. "You've seen me a few times. There have been a few other moments of near epic proportion in my past. People who have tried to skip out on payments owed. Though I suppose even then, it's only been in recent years that I've been top side. I didn't give a shit when I was still in Hell, but living out days here... people can sometimes and often drive my temper wild."

A soft moan is offered as those hands work around his shoulders and such places. "I'm actually happy that nothing much is on your mind. That it's a bit more clear and open to focus on what's going on now. Enjoying it and such. Committing it to a memory that we can share. Important things that." He offers with a smirk, leaning forward to capture lips in a tender kiss meant to linger.

Sinister has posed:
Oh, but that's just an invite. What might have been a tender kiss meant to linger is pressed into, arms enfolding behind the neck and caving into it completely -- a surrender to the moment, his knees squeeze as he leans forth with it. There's quite a few moments of dancing there, tasting, breathing in, holding on.

"Mental yoga. No-mind, open to the experience of simply existing in the same space, of having that space filled up to overflowing -- to comprehend what you have, where you are, what you do, why you do and appreciate all of a moment, your cup must be empty, yes?" he replies, a kind of lipreading that's very different from a visual one. "Pookie, you make me happy." He has to laugh, as that'd be the first time he's actually used that jokingly proffered pet name since he originally suggested it. Shoulders shake but that grin is infectious. Hello to those dimples Lucifer's fond of.

Lucifer has posed:
That moment is taken in, drinking in that surrender, loving the dance and taste that comes from it. Oh if this moment would last for now, Lucifer would be completely satisfied. Yet there is a bit of a conversation to finish and so the moment is relinquished for now.

"You make me happy too, dearling." He still hasn't come up with any sort of cuteie nickname for Nathaniel and maybe that's a good thing. Cuteie things coming out of Lucifer's mouth might just sound weird. "I've got half a mind to pick you up and haul you to the bedroom to finish what that kiss most certainly started."

Sinister has posed:
Nonsense. The ability of Lucifer, in private that is, to make fun of himself, is one of the things that endears. Mind, so to is the ability of the archangel to genuinely think about another in a way that if it was used maliciously would be incredibly hurtful. But there's an irony to noting that the King of Hell does not at times, seem to have a hurtful bone in his body. Sure, he's occasionally obnoxious by simple lack of comprehension of that which he does, but the man's a tart and he only just recently realized that he was one and modified his behaviour accordingly, so as not to lose what he cared for. Personal growth! But the editor waffles.

"I'm not going to protest a happy ending to this night, don't get me wrong. But..." Nathaniel threw a but in there. HORROR! "...I feel generalized happiness is immensely underrated. Well-being. I haven't had this much sense of personal well-being in a very long time." He shakes his head, trying to put a pin on something that refuses to stay still to be pinned to the mental corkboard and shrugs, giving up. "Blah! I sound like an advert for some positivity group. That's not what I was aiming for."

Lucifer has posed:
Mistakes have been made. And paid for. And then made again. Then paid for. Almost like a revolving door. Then, finally, Lucifer began an upwards climb while getting his hands and feet wet in the whole romantic relationship department. So he's come out on top, for the most part.

"So you're more liking what we're doing now. Just being here, sitting together, and talking." Lucifer offers. "So while we could go to bed and become animals and bring this night to a close... you're more seeming of the mind to stay here, enjoy, and relax?"

Sinister has posed:
Nathaniel squints one eye a little more than the other when considering this. Occasionally, when dealing with a billions of years old superbeing that has the emotional range of the amount of time that he's been able to engage properly with another living being, one has to adjust for them not being entirely versed in interpersonal dynamics. "Kind of?" he tries that out, with a tilt of his head and a peer at the bookshelf behind. "But not really. I just felt it needed appreciation." He unfolds his arms from behind Lucifer's head, looks him in the eye and cups his cheeks, gazing there for a good thirty seconds of warmth of expression and smile. "Like that. I suppose it's simpler and more easily understood when I just say 'click', eh?" he bounces his eyebrows up and down the once then slips off the couch, sending the leftover pakora to be placed on the platter, into the fridge and reaching both hands outward to the devil.

"Taking your moment, before you forget everything in a bask of pleasure and wild rumpus. Mindboggling endorphine rushes tend to distract from what you were attempting to fix in memory, y'know. You've had a lot of practice." That said with a bow of the head in respect, he waits, hands out.

Lucifer has posed:
Lucifer tilts his head a bit and then, once all is explained a bit further and Nathaniel offers he should have said 'click' there's a bit of an 'ah-ha' moment. "Maybe, but I like it when you explain things to me as well. It helps it all come together and I don't have to rely on a 'click'..cause not everyone is going to know that trick right?" Saying this much more before he stands in following Nathaniel's motion, watching as food is put up in the fridge and he sees those hands reaching. "Committing them to memory in more ways than one. I like it..." He offers and then moves to take those hands so that they can retire to the bedroom for a night of further enjoying each others company.