for Lucifer

[tryingitall]

After the conversation with Dean, Balthazar actually...needs a little while to process it all. The idea of Castiel killing him was a hell of a shock, and yet it was somehow the least of the bombs dropped on him. He goes through all the mortal liquor in his place, then empties the cheesecake out of his freezer and eats it without bothering to thaw it. After that, he feels capable of conversation, at least. Some topics need to be broached, and fast.

He texts Lucifer a brief note: Incoming, darling. I need to talk. And that plus about two seconds is all the warning he gives before flying to his fiance's side. Lucifer has yet to object to him appearing with short notice, after all.

That Balthazar smells more of sugar and scotch than usual might be a sign. He's a little rattled.

Comments

[the_rebel_son]

Lucifer had been working in the garden when the message came in, thankfully, angelic magic works with equal precision and speed. By the time Balthazar appears there is a relaxing seat of soft cushions in the shade where Lucifer is waiting. He could sense that the angel was rattle long before the appearance and smell at arrival. He's ready with open arms and wings for his lover.

"My time is yours, all that you need, my king." Lucifer is gentle and at the same time his telepathy is alerting the rest of the court that he has pressing matters for the evening and that his children will sit in his stead for the evening.

[tryingitall]

He is really too generous. Balthazar can see the cushions set out and knows that was for his benefit. All he really expected was a listening ear, and he gets all of this, plus the most beautiful wings in Creation to hide in. His eyes get a tiny bit damp--which probably means he overdid it on the scotch a bit; he's not usually emotionally volatile--but he's quick to flop onto the cushions and snuggle into Lucifer's arms.

"Marry me," he says as an opening volley. It's a little joke; they've already established that's going to happen, just not where or when or how. His wings unfurl and wrap around under Lucifer's and he holds on for a moment, sighing and pulling himself together.

"Honestly, I just wanted to give you a heads-up about someone from my world showing up here. Dean Winchester, no less. I suppose he's one of the top ten Usual Suspects no matter how you slice it."

[the_rebel_son]

Lucifer smiles and takes Balthazar's hand, kissing over the ring as their wings wrap together. "I will."

He settles in to listen to his lover and enjoying the cuddling even if he wished for better circumstances. "I believe you have mentioned him before but have not told me much of who he is in your creation."

[tryingitall]

And that's something they'll address soon, he hopes. Politics has made it tricky, though, and if events in his world are about to be as catastrophic as Dean implied, they're going to be busy a bit longer.

"The Righteous Man," he says with a bitter snort. "Or, more accurately, one of the universe's two favorite whipping boys. The archangels set up his family bloodline for generations to produce him and his little brother Sam, to be vessels for our world's Michael and Lucifer, for the Apocalypse."

He pauses for a second. "Now that I say that, though...I have to give him credit. He told Michael where to shove it, repeatedly. That alone speaks well of him."

He sighs. "They're frustrating, both Winchesters. Dean tends to be more abrasive than Sam. But I don't dislike them. They just arrive with complications, and Castiel is smitten with them to his own detriment."

[the_rebel_son]

Lucifer swallows a snorted chuckle. "If I meet him shall we share notes about creative ways to tell Michael to shove it?"

The humor is there but Lucifer can appreciate any human ballsy enough to tell an angel to shove off. He's at a loss for the moment though, still too little information to put anything together fully. Castiel's fondness for these people explains why Balthazar feels involved.

"What complications?" Lucifer wants to be prepared for anything he can be before meeting these people or Balthazar asking for his assistance.

[tryingitall]

"If you need an icebreaker, then yes, that might be a good one." Balthazar breaks into a brief, sly grin. He still has some sympathy for his world's archangels, but Michael is his least favorite. Given the opportunity, he might have a few choice words for him, himself.

"The more I think about it," he says, "the more it sounds like our world is some sort of malevolent experiment. It really seems like it was built to break in the worst ways possible. I don't know if that's me being a pessimist or if some entity is actually playing games, but every time I compare notes with other angels it comes off as more bizarre. Yours is a worse situation, but it also makes some sense."

That's not a full answer to the question, though. "The Winchesters...they're hunters, in that they kill supernatural creatures--monsters and demons, mostly--in order to protect humans. And, if we're honest, to defend human supremacy on the planet. There are probably discussions of ethics to be had there, but they do tend not to kill things that haven't gone for their throats first."

"But Sam was treated with demonic blood as a baby, in order to prepare him as our Lucifer's vessel. And at this point, they've both been through the cosmic wringer. That sort of thing leaves a mark on a human, and every angel and demon in our world knows their reputation. If my world has an axis it turns on, it seems like it's them, and it's weird for any one being to have that kind of importance, and I don't like it, and I don't trust it."

He takes a breath. "Which isn't their fault, but it feels like they're a bad omen."

He fidgets a moment, leaning into Lucifer's arms and admitting to himself silently that that is the main thing that bothers him now. The idea of his world's madness leaking into the Nexus, potentially to the detriment of his family here. Not again. He is not going to let the angels here tear themselves apart like his Host back home.

But Lucifer's Court is not the same as his Host, and after a moment he calms again.

"The crisis at hand with Dean," he says, "is that he has a divine curse written on his arm just now. Our world's Mark of Cain. I don't know nearly enough about it to advise him well, but it's...big."

[the_rebel_son]

He strokes Balthazar's back as he starts to talk about his world. "If I had agreed to many things God attempted to demand of me then my Creation may have become as ugly of an experiment as yours."

Lucifer's hand comes to a sudden halt on Balthazar's back. "I do hope you warned him about Moloch if he plans on hunting here otherwise he may find himself in more trouble than he would like."

Much of what is being talked about is unfamiliar to Lucifer. These things are unlike his own world but a thought of sending Beelzebub to possess these angels like they were his vessel briefly lingers in Lucifer's mind. It is an evil thought but one that doesn't seem undeserved. This host was unlikely to fall into anything larger than a scuffle because of the bonds they shared which ran deeper and older than most.

He gives that last comment though a rather nonchalant shrug. "I wear multiple divine curses written into my being and for that I may have insight if you wish me to offer it to this human." Very slowly he smiles and kisses Balthazar's temple. "We have lived with divine curses for eons and I know much about the curses of Cain in my creation."