with a devil on the shoulder

[worldfelldown]

Sometimes, Sam looks across the tiny motel room and at the guy sprawled on his bed and wonders how it ended up like this. Lucifer riding shotgun... the real Lucifer. It's a million kinds of bad news and yet here they are, hunting, and probably slowly driving each other crazy.

Sam knows he's got to be going a little crazy, because sometimes Lucifer's company isn't even really that horrible. He's useful on hunts too. He knows plenty of lore, can pinpoint weaknesses with frightening accuracy.

And for now at least, Lucifer seems to accept that Sam's not going to agree to be his vessel again and that the apocalypse is off the table.

Shaking his head and clearing his thoughts, he nudges his laptop aside. "You want to go out? I'm starving now."

Comments

[worldfelldown]

"Really?" Well, Sam wasn't really feeling all that inclined to lie or anything anyway.

Circling around to get inside the Impala, he pauses and looks up, over at Lucifer. Well, he's only ever been possessed by one other thing -- and that would have been Meg, who had reminded him often that she knew everything in his head. He wasn't all that sure it would be different for Lucifer. "I didn't know you had boundaries for that kind of thing, that's all."

[castfromhome]

"Sam. You were my vessel, someone I'd been waiting for since my creation. I wouldn't violate your memories in such a way."

He slides into the passenger seat. "Even the Devil has boundaries, surprising as that may be."

[worldfelldown]

"Well..." He shakes his head, smiling slightly. It was a relief to know. Sam had always been a private person... having his memories on display for anyone else got under his skin in a way he hated. "I, uh. I appreciate that."

[castfromhome]

Strange, but he's getting used to the pleasant feeling that comes with making Sam smile. Somewhere along the line he'd become more than his vessel, more than the human he was bound to.

"You're welcome. Your memories are your own, Sam."

[worldfelldown]

It felt strange, thanking the devil himself for anything. He drove them to the Chinese lace Lucifer had pointed out and parked in front. "Alright, come on. Let's grab something so we can get back. If we've got a hunt tomorrow, we should take it easy tonight."

[castfromhome]

"I hope their Szechuan is better than the place in Little Rock." Lucifer pulled a face as they approached the door to the restaurant.

"It's just a vetch. Between the three of us, it'll be fine. Vetch don't nest until the full moon, it's just the one."

[worldfelldown]

"Alright, so... what else did you want to do tonight then?" Sam probably just set himself up for something, but the question was already out.

"There's free HBO at the motel... you can watch crap movies all night if you want."

[castfromhome]

"I think seeing 'Sharktopus' and 'Sharknado' in one night was all that I care to see in this or any other lifetime."

He won't admit that he found himself watching Sam more often than the predictable plots and terrible special effects anyway. Lucifer's mouth twitched as he held open the door for Sam.

"Find a way to get back at your brother for all the details that neither of us really want to hear?"

[worldfelldown]

He gave a look as he headed inside and got them a table. "I don't think we're picking up anyone here to do that..."

Though he had a feeling Lucifer wasn't exactly hinting at that. It wasn't like his interest wasn't obvious or that Sam didn't have some curiosity of his own either.

[castfromhome]

"I thought hunters were better at thinking on their feet." Lucifer waved away the menu, ordering in nearly flawless Cantonese for both of them. Hot and spicy for him, plenty of lighter vegetable dishes for Sam.

He'd hardly made it a secret that he was interested, and every day they seemed to get a little closer to the possibility of being intimate. Lucifer was a patient creature; he'd wait for San to be ready.

[worldfelldown]

"I think fine on my feet," Sam protested half-heartedly, shaking his head. He'd trust Lucifer to order for them both -- considering he'd just done it. He was hungry enough to eat whatever at the moment and Lucifer seemed to know what he liked anyway.

He guessed it came with the whole vessel territory.

He leaned back once they were alone and studied Lucifer for a moment, quietly. "So you're suggesting what, we do something that's worth being shared?"

[castfromhome]

Lucifer hadn't pried that deeply into Sam's mind, he was simply observant. Sam favored lighter fare, so he could order with some degree of confidence that whatever he chose for Sam it would suit him.

"I think that would depend on whether or not you wanted to get a little bit of payback or watch your brother refrain from sharing details with anyone ever again."

Taking apart his chopsticks, he tapped one against the table restlessly. "In short, yes." Because he would never lie to Sam, even now.

[worldfelldown]

He laughed at that. "Well, if it's something between me and you, that probably would teach him to not share anymore. You're right."

He's pretty sure picturing Lucifer in any kind of sexual situation is something Dean wasn't all that eager to do after all.

"Dude, come on, don't tap that... The food'll be out soon."

[castfromhome]

Smirk.

"And here I thought we were talking about tapping things."

Unlike his younger brothers, Lucifer had a firm and easy grasp on modern slang. Very little went soaring over his head, as it tended to do around Castiel.

Still, he set down the chopsticks and took another swallow from his beer. An acquired taste, to be sure, but it was like the rest of humanity. It took getting used to. Learning what he did and did not like. Beer was good. Coffee and whiskey were good. Pie was too sweet (although he still stole Dean's just to watch him twitch) and sodas had too much carbonation.

Lucifer had to admit, he had a good teacher in Sam. Sam, who had lived a difficult life and instead of becoming bitter or angry about it, was kind to people. Gentle, despite his size and Lucifer wanted him. Wanted to drag the big hunter against him and drink in his warmth. Bask in it.

[worldfelldown]

"Don't be cute." Which might have been a little more effective if Sam's lips didn't curl up slightly in amusement before he tried to hide it.

"And that might be more appropriate to discuss when we're either back in the car or at the room again." Sam couldn't deny that he was interested. For all the times Lucifer could grate on him, there were times when he was fascinating to talk to, invaluable while they hunted.

And Sam liked to believe that others could make the right choice, no matter how far gone they were. A fool's hope, maybe, but he needed to believe it. He needed to know people had a choice even now, could change... even Lucifer himself.

He seemed to be, little by little. He wasn't exactly a threat anymore anyway, even if it was all an act to get closer to the Winchesters.

[castfromhome]

He got a faintly amused smile out of it. Success. Lucifer knows that his mock innocent face gets absolutely no traction with Sam, but he goes for it anyway. "I wouldn't dream of it, Sam."

This would probably be where any other human would get the check and immediately head back to either the car or the motel to have that long-awaited talk. But he was patient. He could wait through dinner, and if Sam was indeed interested, then he could wait too.

Lucifer didn't engage in any real navel-gazing or introspection. There had been time enough for that in the Cage and it had only left him exhausted. So many possibilities, chances not taken, decisions that could have been different. Now that he was human, he wasn't going to waste his now very short life on what if.

He was changing, and fairly certain that it was all due to the young man sitting across from him. Anyone else probably would have killed him on the spot.

"Then we can wait until we get back if that's what you want."

[worldfelldown]

Normally, yeah, if you told someone that... they'd want to get back to privacy as soon as possible. The fact that Lucifer didn't push it almost made him feel... something warm for the fallen angel. He nodded, glimpsing down at his chopsticks absently.

"Probably a good idea," he answers, glimpsing back across the table.

"It's not exactly appropriate to discuss details where people can overhear after all... they might not appreciate it."

[castfromhome]

Lucifer had no intention of pushing Sam into anything that he wasn't ready for. He'd waited for millenia for Sam already, what was a few days longer?

With a pleased sound, he dug into his food as it was delivered. Dark and spicy and exactly what he wanted. As for anything else he wanted? Well. That could wait. Smirking, Lucifer offered him a plate of heavily spiced chicken. "That's your sense of decorum Sam, not mine. If you want to wait, then we'll wait until we're finished."

[worldfelldown]

"Thanks," he muttered, another slight smile tugging onto his lips before he hid it and focused on eating. The food was good -- Lucifer had picked a pretty good place here.

"So, anywhere you need to head to after we finish eating or do you want to get back?"

[castfromhome]

"You're welcome." The meal was exactly what he'd wanted. Food was more than fuel to keep his now human body moving. When he found something he liked, it was something to be appreciated, right down to the tingle the spices left on his lips and tongue.

"We need another box of shotgun shells, rock salt, silver nitrate, three firing pins, sage that doesn't come from a grocery store," and hadn't that been an interesting argument with Dean. Close enough doesn't count in spellwork. "Yarrow and three more journals. But it can wait until the case is over with."

He'd become the defacto inventory specialist for the brothers. Lucifer may have lost his grace, but he hadn't lost his intellect. Everything they used, he remembered and there was a constant running list in his head of anything they might need along the way.

"I don't think FBI agents do much shopping for supplies along those lines."

[worldfelldown]

Sam had to say, he was impressed with the way Lucifer was able to recite all of that from memory and keep stock of it all. Some of that stuff were things even Sam probably wouldn't have remembered if he'd still been in charge of inventory.

"Alright, so, we'll head to the room after this. After we handle the case tomorrow and get out of town, we'll find a place to stop for more supplies." But first, they'd have that talk. Sam couldn't deny he was interested, but he tried to keep it as far from his thoughts as he finished eating.

[castfromhome]

If he was going to be part of their hunt, he might as well make himself useful in more than just his knowledge of lore and picking apart their enemies at first glance.

"Fair enough. The hunt should wrap up fairly quickly tomorrow. A simple vetch hunt and we're out of town again." Lucifer offered Sam over his choice of the fortune cookies. Too sweet for his taste.

Ample time to talk when they got back to the room, really. And if nothing happens beyond that talk, he could wait. Sam was worth waiting for.

[worldfelldown]

When they had finished their food, Sam reached in his pocket for money to cover the check and a tip, tilting his head towards the door. "Come on, let's get going."

Whatever happened when they got back to the room... well, Sam thought he was ready for it. They'd figure it out.

[castfromhome]

He didn't say much on the way back to the motel because there wasn't much left to say, at least not in public. Sam wanted to talk about this in private, so Lucifer had no qualm with waiting.

A part of him wanted to simply pin Sam against the wall and kiss him breathless. He was Lucifer, a former prince of Heaven, King of Hell and he was used to simply taking what he wanted. But Sam was different. Lucifer wanted more than just to take. He wanted it to be mutual. To know that Sam wanted this as much as he did.

He wanted Sam to know that he meant something to him.

Inside the motel, he shrugged out of his jacket and dropped bonelessly to the bed. If they were going to talk, he was at least going to be comfortable.

[worldfelldown]

"Getting comfortable?" Sam asked as he came in to shrug out of his jacket. He wasn't really sure how to start this conversation or really, where it would even go.

He shouldn't want this. This was Lucifer, the Lucifer, and he had to wonder if he was signing yet another ticket to Hell.

But he'd changed. Against all odds, Lucifer was different from the angel he'd met a while ago. There was this draw there that was hard to ignore. Moving forward, he went to settle on the bed next to him.

"So, about what you said in the restaurant..."