Beside the Still Waters (Locked to the_rebel_son)

[tryingitall]

The river is wide and placid, water a deep greenish-brown from a distance, clearer the closer you get, with patches of whitewater toward the center. The rocks Balthazar has set them on are a small island, more than enough space to house dozens of sunbathers, and surrounded by water weeds on all sides. There are chalk drawings on one of the boulders. Looks like a crude mermaid, a few birds, and several games of tic-tac-toe.

Balthazar looks around to make sure they're alone, and then takes Lucifer's hand and holds it against his chest, looking up into his face. "This should be safer."

His wings are still flared, in that quantum state that hides them from human eyes, but visible to Lucifer once more. If anything, they look slightly fluffier. That's either a response to the energy or some kind of semi-physical reaction to arousal. He's blushing a little, too.

Comments

[tryingitall]

Now that makes Balthazar break out laughing. "Oh! Oh, be gentle with him, he's been out of circulation for a while."

He's biased, of course, but he can't help but think it might be nice for Levi to go on a date and have some cuddles. Whether he'd warm up to Lucifer easily, Balthazar doesn't know offhand, but...well. The man certainly loves music, and he's lost a lover and been spurned by the society he lived in. They might even find common ground.

They can cross that bridge later, though.

"Ancient Greek cheesecake?" If he were a puppy, Balthazar's tail would be wagging. "I didn't realize it had been around so long. Oh, he's definitely interested. "I mostly just have Sara Lee and Cheesecake Factory in the freezer, but homemade is always better. Homemade by you..."

There's probably a bad pun in to be made about temptation or something of the kind, but he's too distracted and charmed by the thought of Lucifer making snacks for them to come up with it.

[the_rebel_son]

"I would never let harm come to him." The affection and protectiveness would definitely extend to the vessel no matter which was speaking to him.

Lucifer giggles quietly at the angel's reaction. Unfortunately, the fallen angel isn't one for puns, at least doesn't intentionally seek them out. "I cannot make modern foods. I have not walked here since 1827, but I will cook whatever you wish, including cheesecake. I know several distinct historical cheesecakes."

Lucifer was going to spoil this angel by default, but as the manifestation of the sins it was appropriate, and even more so as a tempter. However, he wasn't thinking of either of those particularly. After feeling the depth of Balthazar's loneliness this was Lucifer's instinct to try and heal that emptiness.. his hopefulness.

[tryingitall]

Warmth floods his Grace briefly at that declaration. Balthazar has more direct affection for his vessel than most angels of his kind do. It's complicated. To accomplish an order, you sometimes have to forget or ignore the fact that you're borrowing another living creature's body. You have to not care. But Balthazar doesn't follow orders any longer, and he cares.

Another angel caring about the human who's given him so much is reassuring.

"I can only make breakfast food and things out of boxes," he chuckles, "As long as the modern equipment isn't going to throw you for a loop, you have free reign in the kitchen as far as I'm concerned. It's an electric range, not gas."

This is beyond a fling; they're talking about playing house now, and Balthazar loves it. It's always best not to put all one's emotional eggs in the same basket, but it's hard not to get carried away in Lucifer's presence, too.

He leads him into a hallway, at the end of which is clearly a large bedroom, then pauses by a closed door, considers a moment, and nudges it open. It's probably meant to be a second bedroom, a small guestroom, but what's inside is actually an easel, some shelves, art books and scattered supplies ranging from charcoals to oil paints to watercolor cakes.

"I'm not actually any good," he says. "But Levi was a painter. I sort of feel obligated to try, since I took him out of circulation."

Pause. "No, that's a lie, actually. I just loved what he could do. I don't think creativity can be taught. But it doesn't hurt anything for me to make the attempt."

[the_rebel_son]

Lucifer looked at the equipment in the kitchen. "Gas stoves were new but, I think I can figure these out." He remembered clearly the last time he cooked and it brought a melancholy smile with the memories. "When I last cooked I was preparing a favorite meal for a dying man. I could not be here without pain after his death."

The next room he was shown was too appropriate for where his mind was currently. He leaned in close to Balthazar to look into the room and placed a kissed his temple. "What do you paint? Is it the same as your vessel's work?"

sorry for the tl;dr

[tryingitall]

He gives him a long, thoughtful look. Angels sometimes have sweet memories of their favored vessels in his own world, but that's few and far between. He does. He knows Raphael did, only because he showed him once, a long time ago.

He's not sure Raphael is that same angel at this point.

Anna had love for the humans she grew up with. The parents that were killed when she began to recover herself. Friends, probably, or more distant family. And Castiel has his regrets regarding the Novak family, as well as his love for the idiot boys who think he's their pet angel. And Balthazar has Levi Gilman.

But he can't think of anyone else who talked of humans with tenderness. Who would cook a meal for a dying human. Who would grieve for one. He says nothing, but his Grace reaches out, nudging against Lucifer like a shy cat looking for petting, giving comfort by giving trust.

"I'm nowhere near as good," he says of his painting, but enters the room and beckons the other angel after him. "I've got photorealism down, but there was soul in his art that I can't seem to match."

There are some very elegant sketches of architecture on a desk, and there's a painting of a spider in a web on the easel. The details are perfect; Balthazar doesn't have thousands of eyes only to lack in observational skills. They're not bad. Probably he's hypercritical, but there's not much of a statement behind any of his work aside from 'hey, check out this thing I saw!"

He reaches up and draws aside a curtain at one end of the room, which hangs over a collection of framed sketches--and a single painting--on the wall. "These are his. I kept them. Well, I kept the drawings. I bought the painting at auction."

They're very different. Messy, turbulent, active drawings that seem to spring from the page. Less accurate, but there's a lot of passion translated to the paper and the canvas. The three sketches he's got are very obviously angels. One is just a humanoid figure with wings, but the other two are more like an Ofanite's true form, wheels of eyes and flame.

Below them, the painting is of a black man half-sprawled in a chair, with a trumpet in his hands. He's laughing about something and the way the light is rendered on his form is impressionistic, but nothing short of tender.

Sometimes it is necessary

[the_rebel_son]

Lucifer hadn't shut himself down, his presence was still open when Balthazar reached out. Beautiful piano music, in multiple threads were running through Lucifer's essence, felt as much as heard. One stood out, louder and more vivid than the others. The notes were clear, the Moonlight Sonata. He was mourning Beethoven.

The fallen angel had loved Beethoven but not as a partner or even a friend. He looked at the composer like part of himself had somehow been fashioned into a human, a soulmate. Devotion twisted in the thread of music unlike any other Lucifer felt, it was unending. Raw pain still, might always, exist around this one human death.

The essence that leaned into Balthazar was sorrowful and full of joy, but seeking comfort for a wound that nothing could heal.

Lucifer followed into the room looking at the paintings, and provided they were not wet, touched them.

"I was told once 'An artist is someone who has learnt to trust themselves. The eyes of an artist see what God has written into the world, can interpret it so that other men can know God through the artist's work.'" His mind was still on the composer, those words were his, and though Lucifer had no love for God any longer he could still embrace the sentiment.

Lucifer joined Balthazar to look at his vessel's art. "Did he know of angels before you met him or are these impressions of you?"

He loved art, visual arts were not his usual interest, poetry and music were, but he can appreciate the visual. He notices the curtain and can't refrain from asking. "Why do you hide them here when they could be seen?"

It was a curious question. He didn't understand the dynamics between an angel and its vessel, but as far as Lucifer could imagine he would want to see them if they were from a mortal who let him live on Earth.

[tryingitall]

It must be worse, Balthazar thinks, to lose a mortal you know and love, and to be aware they're going where you cannot follow. If his vessel is ever destroyed beyond his ability to save, Levi will go to Heaven with the other Blessed Souls, and he'll be safe there, reliving the sweetest moments of his life for eternity. Balthazar won't be able to see him, though. Not unless Castiel's insane rebellion somehow succeeds.

His Grace curls around Lucifer in a brief flicker of light and affection; empathy for a pain he hasn't experienced yet but probably will some day.

"He was an atheist," he tells him with a little smirk. "Honestly, I don't think I cleared anything up for him. I had to speak to him to talk him into becoming my vessel for my mission, and he drew these while I was talking with him. Over the course of a few weeks. He never saw me physically, you know. Even a true vessel can't bear that without going blind. But he learned enough about me to do that." He points at what must be the later sketches, the ones of the spinning wheels of flame.

"I'm not trying to hide them, just trying to keep them safe," he says. "I have a few more paintings of his in my own world. I bought a gallery in Chicago. They're up there. But...well, these are the most important to me, and to him."

He nods at the painting. "That was his lover. Bartholomew Delaney. I never got to meet him; he'd died before I was sent to Earth. Levi was mourning him. Apparently the man was a musical prodigy. Never found an instrument he couldn't play."

[the_rebel_son]

Lucifer didn't think Beethoven was taken to heaven. After the deafness and madness under cries that God was inflicting it, he suspected his soul was locked away somewhere. Lucifer had searched for it, ocassionally. He had resolved to turn his soul into an angel, if the composer had wanted. That would be an affront to God, not that Lucifer would care.

He curled into the angel's presence like someone might climb into a lap to cry.

"Did he convert or remain an athiest?" Lucifer was genuinely curious about Balthazar's vessel.

Lucifer stared at the drawings making note that these were something he would work on, make indestructible, when he warded the place against fire at some point.

Sympathy was all he could feel for the vessel, and in this moment Lucifer was more susceptible to those feelings than usual. He knew what it was like to love that kind of beauty and lose it, though he suspected that old age and illness might not at play in this situation.

A few moments of silence passed before Lucifer turned, wrapped his arms around Balthazar and kissed him. So many things drove him to that kiss; passion, love, fear of loss, and the intimacy he attached to Balthazar sharing this artwork with him.

[tryingitall]

"Neither, I don't think," he says with a little snort. "Like I said, I couldn't help much. I told him the truth. I never once spoke with our Father. I couldn't exactly guarantee He existed. But I told him about my brothers. He believes in angels."

His hands drop to his sides. "I'm not sure he should, some days, honestly, but what else do we have but to make do with what's in front of us? Maybe he's the smarter one. I honored his love and his grief, and that's...why he said yes to me. Sometimes the big picture is much too big."

He turns at the same moment Lucifer does, as if he senses the flicker of intent, the upwelling of emotion, and he sinks into the kiss without hesitation.

[the_rebel_son]

"My wings will cause him less problems, at least." Lucifer had been concerned that who he was might cause an issue if Levi woke up. It was helpful to know the mindset just in case. "I would not want him, anyone, to follow the Father I have."

Lucifer needed the closeness. He broke the kiss and whispered. "Thank you."

Something about sharing the history of his vessel felt important, intimate, and an act of respect. He held the angel feeling overwhelmed again but coming around more quickly than he had earlier.

[tryingitall]

"Oh, I'd hate for him to be injured by looking at you," Balthazar huffs a sigh. "I'm glad you can temper your appearance somewhat. Our archangels never did learn the knack. They can't even talk quietly enough not to kill people unless they're in a vessel. And their vessels don't hold up well."

"I wonder what that says about my world. I don't think it's power so much as finesse."

Balthazar is happy to linger in the kiss for as long as it's wanted, opening himself up to the softer feelings, meeting tenderness with tenderness. When it breaks, he nudges his forehead against Lucifer's lightly and smiles, eyes closed.

"I don't actually need sleep, and neither do you I imagine," he murmurs, "but come lie in bed with me? I'll play the radio and we can just...be."

Normally he'd suggest combining this proposal with drinks but he doesn't actually want liquor right now. Just this. He backs out of the studio and leads Lucifer into the master bedroom, which...really does live up to its name. Balthazar's style of decor favors clean lines and high contrast colors--sable on white, black and burgundy and flashes of champagne-gold--but all the fabrics, including the thick area rug, are sinfully soft. His sheets are silk, the duvet is velvet, and there are cashmere and angora throws available for good measure, probably because the bed is a massive california-style king bed with sturdy oak head and footboards.

The radio on the dresser cuts on as he walks past; evidently he can operate it telekinetically.

[the_rebel_son]

"Subduing presence is common in my creation. Michael and Moloch are exceptions. They do not seem to care. Most of the Heavenly angels can hide thier wings but the Fallen usually cannot." Lucifer was sure Michael refused restraint because he was a horrible being clothed in a mantle of falsehood. Moloch was worse in some ways, maybe if only because Lucifer couldn't be rid of him.

Lucifer nuzzled against Balthazar's forehead. The gentleness was something he had missed. "I do not need to unless I am healing."

He follows the other angel's lead and feels the same. Even his lust is subdued which is rare. He's craving closeness and peace. This is the kind of bedroom he expected from the angel, soft, sensual, warm colors. Lucifer did appreciate comfort.

He stretched his wings, as much as the room will allow. "Dressed or undressed?"

He asks running his hand over the wood of the footboard.

[tryingitall]

"Haven't met Moloch," he says. "I think he's a Canaanite god, not one of my family. Between you and me, though, our Michael is a great big bag of dicks."

Figuratively speaking, that is. There's a flare of something in Balthazar's Grace that Lucifer can no doubt feel. Something personal. He judges it's better not to discuss such things when they can curl up together and feel good instead, though.

It being the Nexus, the radio is playing some kind of romantic ballad from an alien planet. It's soft and sweet but with a touch of electronica in the backbeat. "Ohh...undressed, I think," Balthazar murmurs, and more or less shakes off his own clothing, letting it dissolve and reform as it hits the floor. "I got nice sheets so I could enjoy the way they feel on my skin, after all."

[the_rebel_son]

"You are better off if you never do." Lucifer sighed. "In my creation he's a fallen archangel who they should have strapped with the sin of Pride instead of me." There's anger in Lucifer's presence and disdain as he talks about Moloch. Lucifer laughs at the comment about Michael.

Lucifer pulls his wings closed, shaking them out. He just imagined his clothes elsewhere, neatly piled and folded somewhere convenient before crawling into the bed. He laid on his stomach, wings arched up, waiting for Balthazar to join him.

"Are you planning on keeping me here all night?" Lucifer was teasing and happy to stay awhile longer. Hell could maintain itself for a day.

[tryingitall]

"What, there's not enough sin to go around in your world? Darling, you can't go around hoarding all the sin; people need that to get through their day. Like coffee."

He's being silly on purpose, grinning as he flops lightly onto the bed beside him and rolls closer until he's tucked under a wing. Oh, oh, this is perfect. It's like having a wish fulfilled before he even knew he wished it. "Bold of you to assume I'm planning that far ahead. Just tell me if you get restless?"

[the_rebel_son]

"Greed?" Lucifer grinned joining the silly banter. "I cannot help myself."

Lucifer rested his wing over the other angel like a canopy and stole a quick kiss when he was cuddled. "Plans can be spontaneous."

"I can stay for awhile but I do have to attend to my kingdom." He could easily stay here and not leave. It had a feeling like laying in the grass in Eden which brought a calm happiness.

[tryingitall]

Balthazar blinks up at him as if startled. "Oh, damn! That's a sin, too. That makes for a bit of a Catch-22, doesn't it?"

He returns the kiss, Grace thrumming with contentment, then tucks his head against Lucifer's shoulder. "I actually have a few errands to attend to before tomorrow. I've got a human friend who's ailing; I'm trying to bring him books and such to keep his spirits up. And I should probably check on the gallery in my own world."

"But I think I can spare a few hours for this."

[the_rebel_son]

"I am also temperance." Lucifer laughs because of all the sins and virtues that was the one Lucifer knew he was least in-line with, maybe never had it.

Lucifer nods his understanding of having duties. It made the idea of leaving easier to come to terms with. They both had things needing thier attention. Lucifer's energy had calmed to a serene quiet and got lost in whatever music was playing. New music had a way of taking hold of his attention. Absently he commented. "I do not usually listen to music, though I am very fond of music."

[tryingitall]

He kisses his cheek, arching his back a little to get in contact with the wing over him, then stretches like a cat and rests his head on his folded arms. "I'll put together a mixtape for you. Or a playlist for our sex tape."

Balthazar, please.

"Actually, never mind about the sex tape. It would just melt at the crucial moment and we'd never get to rewatch it."

[the_rebel_son]

Lucifer leaned closer, letting his wings brush across the angel as he moved. His voice low and seductive."If you were not so concupiscent, I would not set things on fire." The choice of a word derived from Cupid was purposeful and too perfect to resist.

He came back to rest on his elbows, cheek leaning against his clasped hands, as he looked over at Balthazar. He was haughty and proud. "Why would I want to watch something I could be enjoying in the flesh?"

[tryingitall]

"You and your vocabulary," he purrs, amused. He's just as familiar with this word as he was with impuissant, but it's fun to tease.

Hair mussed, drowsy-eyed and golden, Balthazar is a picture of indolent contentment. "Well, some humans like that kind of thing," he tells Lucifer with a grin. "But you're right, I prefer live theatre, rather than a recording."

[the_rebel_son]

This was indulgent and Lucifer wallowed in every moment. Turning just enough to free his hand, he slid it between his wing and the angel. Hand lazily, sensually, drifting over every inch of skin he could comfortably reach. He was enamored with this angel, laying here in peace those emotions were coming to the forefront.

Lucifer fell into silence for a long time, losing himself in Balthazar's presence, before grinning. "Sacrilege should always be this decadent."

[tryingitall]

"Oh...oh." Balthazar's teasing smirk softens into a blissful smile. Touch is always nice, but the peaceful tenderness washing over him makes it even headier. This could be addictive.

Nothing really needs to be said, with this kind of intimacy hanging in the air between them. He tilts his head to kiss Lucifer's shoulder lazily once, twice, and relaxes again. "Decadent's the right word, yes. I've been lonely."

Letting his bright blue eyes blink half-open, he gives Lucifer a beatific smile. "This was an eventful first date. How am I ever going to top this?"

[the_rebel_son]

"You do not have to be lonely anymore." The words came out spontaneously, instinctively, so much so that it even caught Lucifer a bit off guard that he had spoke them. Lucifer's wing tucked tighter against the angel, hugging him. He was in free fall at this point, there was no way he could stop from falling in love with this angel. It might take time to blossom but he was too invested now to back out, not that he had any intention of stopping what was happening.

Lucifer grinned playfully."I believe I owe you an evening of cheesecake and wine from my orchards."

[tryingitall]

"Are you trying to spoil me?" He asks, pauses, then laughs. "That was a foolish question, wasn't it?"

Balthazar seems all too happy to be spoiled, honestly. He curls closer in response to the hug, resolutely pushing away any bitter emotions in favor of savoring the sweetness. This is happening very quickly, especially considering how long their lifespans are, but when you can blend both body and mind the way an angel can--and dare to do so--perhaps there's a shorter timeline on emotional attachments.

"I'd love that," he says. "Dessert, wine...maybe a movie? Some general debauchery..."