Owner	Pose
Sinister	Fire and brimstone, showmanship and stage presence, then unexpected observations made and accepted. That's what came before. And what came after were quiet words and retiring. THIS bed. Nevertheless, was there still work to do? There was, to make this bed what it's supposed to be, for the Prince of Hell. Regarding it, Sinister had nodded to himself and apparently made some kind of decision, before slipping into it and allowing the fun of unwrapping the present to get to the gift inside. Now several hours later, eyelid contemplation ought to be occuring. It's probably close to four in the morning and it's as dark as it will get...
Lucifer	Unwrapping the gift was an extra surprise that Lucifer didn't expect, and immensely enjoyed. A wonderful way to end an evening that started with fire and brimstone. Once again, the Devil's quandry was appeased by Essex, and Lucifer is all the happier for it. Contemplating eyelids would be a thing, except Lucifer still has a couple things on his mind. Most importantly, trying to figure out why his mind took him back to the first time he had really interacted with Decker. Part of him wondering if there's something more to it - or maybe his mind is just making things up. At the moment, he sits at the island counter in the kitchen and sups on a cup of homebrewed coffee.
Sinister	At some point, Sinister putters out of the bedroom in the buff and after a pause to enter the code, putters into the lock room. He emerges after a bit with a floating heftybag's worth of soil and putters back to the bedroom. Only to emerge again, backwards to look over his shoulder at the Devil. "All right, what's tickling your grey cells, my dear?" its asked as he rubs palms together, seemingly 'warming up'.
Lucifer	Lucifer watches as Sinister comes out of the bedroom, buff as can be, and goes into the lock room. When he comes out with a floating hefty bag, Lucifer lofts a brow upwards but doesn't say anything. He simply continues to sip coffee. After all, stranger things have happened in this house if he was quite honest. It's when Sinister back pedals a bit and inquires that Lucifer seems to become aware. "Hmm? Oh. Just... mulling over the dream that was shared. Voluntarily, sure, but I opened myself to any dream that wanted to pop out. And am now puzzling over why that particular dream." He smiles. "I haven't spoken to the detective in a while. I hope she's okay."
Sinister	"That is a curiosity. Maybe your subconscious was just making you aware you ought to give her a phonecall sometime, maybe do lunch? Put what was underneath in the fore?" Sinister offers with his head cocked, gives a small smile and nods, heading on into the bedroom again, still rubbing his hands together. After a bit, grunts of effort sound from in there and after about twenty minutes, he walks out with slightly wobbly legs and heads straight for the fridge.
Lucifer	"Perhaps. It's just been so long. I doubt she'd want to even have lunch with me at this point." Lucifer quips, downing the rest of his coffee while watching Nathaniel go back towards the bedroom. There's a curiosity, but he won't get in the way of the man's work. So it's not until Nathaniel is coming back into the kitchen, wobbly legged, that he inquires. "What are you up to in the middle of the night with trash bags and...over exertion of your personal energy?"
Sinister	Open fridge, stare at contents, quart of milk and block of cheese, some turkey slices and three raw eggs, all of that is gathered up and floated out -- eggs put into a glass with the milk, turkey slices just rolled up and stuffed in his mouth, Sin leans elbows on the counter as he chews and swallows, chasing with the bodybuilder breakfast o' champs. The egg shells are grabbed, crushed and absorbed through his hand. "I figured... if it wasn't going to work, by now Vlad would've told me, so I made the sheets. For the bed. Two fitted sheets for mattress topping, so he can sleep there." With a grimace, the empty glass is rinsed out and set on the rack to dry. "It's been bothering me and I've felt guilty for not taking care of that one last barrier for you."
Lucifer	Lucifer blinks and tilts his head a bit while watching Nathaniel eat sliced turkey and drink...eggs mixed in milk? That had to be...tasty? "Well. I...appreciate the emotional investment. Though, in defense of it, we haven't been staying here much. Sort of...took off for the Savage Lands and haven't really been back until just now." He offers and then winces. "That is to say, there wasn't a real...need for it? Just yet? Though, alternate retrospect, I do thank you for taking care of that." He steps over then, wrapping arms around the man to nuzzle into him. "And you're absolutely certain you're okay with Vlad living here with us?"
Sinister	Sinister doesn't seem to have cared all that much about the taste, more about the calories, protein and cholesterol. He grimaces again at the first words, bringing a sigh with it. "And that's probably not helped his mystical need, either, unless he's been jetting back to Transylvania to take naps, which is entirely possible I suppose." Essex gazes across the kitchen at that, lost in the moment and looking terribly withdrawn for a moment. But then there's warmth and the feeling of a nuzzle, which brings him back to himself and to looking the short way down to his lover. Head tilt, blink. Inhale. "No, I'm not. But I'm also adaptable and logical. It -is- the best solution and I -will- adjust. Trust me, on that."
Lucifer	The thing of that is, Lucifer believes Nathaniel shouldn't have to adjust. None of this would have happened if Lucifer just figured out some way to spend time with both. Nothing he could do about that now, and he keeps that thought tucked away. If Nathaniel is willing, then Lucifer was also, to see and make sure that it works. "Thank you, love." He offers this much, nuzzles again, and a third time. "...Shall we go contemplate eyelids for a while longer now then?"
Sinister	Sinister exhales a great weight, one that he wasn't entirely aware he'd been carrying and folds against Lucifer, knees buckling. Some quick carrying capacity may have to be exerted.
Lucifer	Lucifer blinks but also quickly shifts to catch Nathaniel, lifting him up threshold style quite easily. A look of concern crosses the Devil's face and he takes that as a sure sign that whether they contemplate eyelids or just talk to each other, the man needs to lay down. So, Lucifer carries the man back to bed, laying him down and tucking him in just so. "...Are you alright? Just a little over worked from making those sheets?"
Sinister	"Yes," Sinister manages after a couple of moments just breathing and being mildly embarassed. "I mean, it's silly really, it shouldn't normally take so much out of me, given what I do with myself on a daily basis, but -- making a polymer with a foreign particle, without losing the integrity of the foreign substance and make sure we don't end up with dirt up our backs all the time... Well. Ah." He trails off. It just seems awkward to say.
Lucifer	Lucifer strokes fingers through Nathaniel's hair, once and then again, adding little scritches to the scalp here and there. He then shifts so he can get into bed next to the man and then continues to give scalp massages and hair strokes. "Well...what? Was there something more you wanted to add there?"
Sinister	"I had to very carefully encapsulate all the soil in the cotton rayon polymer of me, so that the fibre is /around/ the soil, not ingrained with it, as would be just a dirty sheet. That's just difficult to do, when you can't do it in a lab for fear of damaging the mysticism in the soil, so I couldn't do so with microscope and equipment, only with me. It was harder than I thought it would be, just to make two sheets. It feels silly that it took so much. I'm accustomed to not having to worry about losing integrity of something, because the something is always me that I manipulate. You know? Maybe you know. I don't know if you know or not. It's difficult to explain." Nathaniel rests his head on the pillow and gazes at Lucifer, the red in his eyes rather dim. He smiles vaguely, an exhausted kind of smile. "Still, it was easier than pulling the immortality out of you." He winks, then rubs his left forearm a couple of times, gently. "Are you happy?"
Lucifer	"I do and I don't know. I understand, I think is a better way to put it." Lucifer offers with a smile and then nuzzles into Nathaniel once more. Those scalp scritches and hair strokes continue, while he looks into pale red eyes. "You have the look of someone who is tired. The red will brighten once more yes?" He asks, still concerned in a few ways. Like he almost feels that Nathaniel is some how wasting away in front of him...but that just can't be right. That last question has Lucifer giving a single blink and then he nods his head. "I am. Very happy." A pause. "Have I done something to make you think I am not?"
Sinister	Sinister shakes his head a bit. "No, just making sure..." there's a dry, breathy laugh and he closes those faded eyes, indulging in the simple affections, exhaling in a serene way. "Yes, the red will brighten again. I'm probably going to actually sleep tonight, which likely means I might have some pretty bizarre dreams. I haven't actually slept since I was her, truly." Fingers reach out then, splayed and touch oh-so-light against the devil's chest, an action that brings his eyes open again. He considers, then with a faint frown, the diamond fades into his skull, as skintone manifests in tanned but still pale englishness. He opens his greyblues to look, which don't have a light that fades out, just exhaustion that shows in the normal way. "Is that more reassuring?" he asks. "You know, it was odd to see you in the presence of Sutekh. I was actually mildly surprised."
Lucifer	"If you're asking about being reassured that you're okay because you are actually showing signs of exhaustion, then yes. Perhaps I will allow myself to actually sleep as well..." Lucifer offers with a smile, enjoying the oh-so-light touch of fingers against his chest. A breath is taken in, then slowly exhaled out while he continues his own affectionate touch. Playing with hair strands, perhaps giving them a light tug here and there. "Oh? What about me in the presence of Sutekh surprised you?"
Sinister	"I suppose it never occured to me, that you're only rebellious to the one god. The others are not to blame," Sinister replies, turning his head a little into the touches, catlike. "It just never actually popped up in my mind, until there you were, in the presence of an Egyptian. It was odd seeing you well... it wasn't obeisance, but it was at the same time. Respectful, I suppose." Fingers come together on Lucifer's breastbone and he rubs the tips up and down. That's the sole affection of the moment though, is running the fingertips over the archangel's heart, where it thumps. He smiles. "The divine are strange. It strikes me from time to time, that the Greeks had it quite right."
Lucifer	"Oh well, yeah. Of course. The jealous, vengeful asshat of a dad... you're right. None of the others had anything to do with it, and in fact, they suffer from his jealousy as well. His people going around spreading the rumor that he's the only one who has the true path to blissful eternity..." Lucifer vents a bit and then sighs, feeling those strokes on his heart and then he smiles. "Forgive. I know my argument can get very old very quickly when you hear it over and over..." A tilt of his head is given then and he smirks. "Only the Greeks?"
Sinister	"Well... the Norse did as well, but their gods were a little less human magnified. The edda had their hyperbole, the hero's arcs much as any great storytelling tradition did, but the Greeks? They really had the exaggeration of the gods down pat. They respected them, but the message was clear: Do not do as they do, they're idiots half the time, be more philosophical in your approaches." Sinister grins a little cheesily, to take the sting out of the observation. "You know, I've met three gods. That's more than I ever would have considered possible, a century ago."
Sinister	"No, wait... four. Four gods." The scientist corrects himself. "I forgot about the sea-side and the Ospreys."
Lucifer	"I've met a few. It only surprises me to see them when they arrive outside of their...realm? Time? Like take Aphrodite for example. I would be less surprised to see her in the Spring or maybe even early Summer than I would be if she showed up in Winter." Lucifer explains and then shrugs. "But yes. Most of the Divine are inherently dumb. Don't get me started on Hermes."
Sinister	"Oh, I can only imagine," Now, the entire palm rests down upon the devil's chest, steady over that heart. "And we once-mortals, we fall for the divine time and time again. It usually doesn't end well, I suppose. But there are enough demi-gods out there that clearly it doesn't always go completely catastrophically. I keep holding on to the fact that in most cases in antiquity and classical studies, mere mortals inevitably end up cared for by the god, ultimately expiring and that's the crux of that, because of the vastly different lifespans. I know it's folly, but I still have moments of... of..." he laughs "...well, folly. To be redundant."
Lucifer	Lucifer shifts his free hand to gently lay over the Nathaniel-hand that's over his heart. He squeezes upon it gently while listening and gives a nod of his head. "It's an ebb and flow of what does and doesn't work. Sometimes it goes tits up, sometimes it all evens out. We're in a pattern of evening out for the most part, so that's a good thing I suppose." He offers this and then takes a breath. "Still, should the divine present themselves before us again, at least now you know that I will show most all of them a certain reverance and respect." Then he pauses. Thinks. And simply offers, "I love you."
Sinister	It's quick. Two tears well up, fall left, then right down Sinister's cheeks, though he leans in afterwards to silence those last words with a kiss, inhaling at the same time. His hand is warm, the affection also, is warm and vital. The contact trembles at the end, as the emotion overriding the not-so-good Doctor causes the tremulousness and he breaks the kiss only to rest his forehead against the devil's with an exhalation, short and abrupt. "I love you, too. /So/ very much," he swore he would say it more often and he is a man of his word. An inhale is taken, a sniff, another sniff, then he caves to rest his cheek on chest, fingertips pressing in against the skin over that heart. He shifts his thumb so that it points downard, along the very bottom of the sternum and spreads fingers wide. Five points, in an inverted pentagram.
Lucifer	"My dearest..." Lucifer offers softly after that kiss is broken. Feeling the trembling form of a man whom he doesn't quite know is simply wracked with emotions. "Is something wrong?" Asked, before those words are spoken back and Lucifer smiles and nuzzles and holds. "Oh come here you..." And even with the inverted pentagram splayed on his chest while Sinister is against him with so many points of contact, the Devil manages blanket over them both and uses the moment to further cuddle and snuggle Sinister against him. "Rest yourself now, my love, it's been a rather emotional day and night for us both in many ways."