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wantedthedevil (wantedthedevil) wrote in colligo_threads,
@ 2012-12-07 03:05:00

Entry tags:

adam milligan, lucifer

WHO: Adam Milligan & Lucifer (as "Lucy")
WHAT: Lucifer wants to try and be nice to Adam, but Emma threatened him with pain of death if he bothered him. So instead, he's going to do it as someone else. That doesn't count, right?
WHEN: December 7th; Afternoon
WHERE: The Local Chinese Restaurant
RATING: PG
STATUS: In Progress

It had been a matter of a few days worth of tracking, staying cloaked and just out of sight as he watched the young man get on with his business. To be fair, it wasn't really much. Apartment and food was all he seemed to do. He didn't even look to be going to visit family or really talking to anyone. That wouldn't do. It wouldn't do at all. And as Lucifer continued to watch, he had slowly devised a plan to try and at least get Adam Milligan to start breaking out of the rut he had dug for himself.

It started simple enough. Lucifer had just had to figure out which restaurant Adam was going to go to on a certain day. Following him long enough had yielded a pattern, and Fridays were almost always Chinese nights. Step two was waiting at the restaurant until his order came in, paying special attention to exactly what was on it. Step three had taken some preparation, devising an appearance that wouldn't reflect on any of the people already here that he knew of, but it had been well worth it when Lucifer... Lucy had placed an order identical to Adam's and sat down to wait for the young man to come in.

Odd little coincidences like this sparked conversations all the time, right? And no healthy young man could resist talking to a pretty young girl. Lucifer was sure that that was going to work. And maybe, once Adam had an outlet, he'd stop being so closed off from everyone else. It was a perfect plan as far as he was concerned, and he was sure it would go off without a hitch.

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wantedthedevil
2012-12-16 06:50 am UTC (link)

Lucifer could see the tension that spread through Adam. While a local probably wouldn't have noticed it, the way every muscle in his body seemed to be fighting against the very things that Adam was forcing it to do, Lucifer did. It was worrying while at the same time encouraging that Adam was able to fight against his own instinctive responses to what may turn into a threatening situation. An open area with the possibility of anyone or anything coming out of anywhere. It had to be a terrifying thought to the man who had been locking himself away for weeks. Lucifer knew that a pretty face could help solve a lot of things. Even if it wasn't real.

"Just near the entrance," Lucifer said, turning to look at Adam for a moment before reaching out to cup a hand around his arm. It was a simple gesture, one that Lucifer was sure any human would make even if they weren't sure what the problem was or the extent of it, to try and offer support and comfort. Even as Adam had flinched at the smallest touch before, Lucifer figured this was worth the risk in the moment because it fit. And if he pulled away again, there wasn't any harm in it because he knew why. There wouldn't be any girly overreaction coming from him.

"The view, if you sit at the right table, spreads all the way back to the edge of the lake on the horizon," Lucifer said. "Even if you're surrounded by parking lot, it's pretty easy to pretend that you're in the midst of nature. Besides, there's not really anywhere good to sit in the actual park. Not unless you're willing to risk sitting in the wonderful leaving of nature."

And yes, sitting in poop was not really the best way to start dinner conversation, but hey, at least it was interesting.

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notdewyeyed
2012-12-16 07:06 am UTC (link)

The edge of the park, by the parking lot. Okay. Adam could handle that. True, the area was still open all around him, but at least it wasn't in the middle of the woods where he could get lost, or go missing, without anyone any the wiser. That was about as much of a plus as he was going to find, given the circumstances. And sure, he could go right ahead and say no, still, if he wanted. It wasn't as though she was forcing him to go with her or anything. But a part of him wanted to say yes, wanted to at least try to be normal for an afternoon, and that part was quickly starting to win out the more Lucy looked his way.

Of course, pretty or not, when she placed her hand on him, Adam still flinched away from the contact. He frowned a bit afterward, frustrated with his body's inability to withstand human contact, but made no apologies for having done so. Instead he just slid his free hand into the pocket of his jacket, turned his attention to the road spread out before them, and said softly, "That sounds nice." Blinking a bit, he cast a faint grin in Lucy's direction. "The place you described, not sitting in crap, obviously," he elaborated. And for that one, brief moment while doing so, he looked like his old self too.

Then it was gone, the merriment giving way to the heaviness that seemed to plague him every moment of every day, waking or not. Clenching the hand in his pocket into a fist as a means of having something to focus on to keep him in the here and now, Adam suggested, "I, uh, guess we should get going, before the food gets cold."

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wantedthedevil
2012-12-16 07:25 am UTC (link)

Lucifer didn't say anything when Adam pulled out of the touch, doing little more than cast him a quietly curious glance before sliding his hand back into his pocket and nodding at Adam's last statement, "We probably should," He said before chuckling. "Even if it still tastes good cold, in my opinion. There's no point to Chinese food if it goes off before you've had it before at least a week. It's designed for leftovers."

It was surprisingly easy, sliding into this role, even if acting like sickeningly sweet was a bit of a strain, discussing normal issues wasn't really that far off of the things he was capable of. He'd gotten rather used to Earth, what it had become, not only in his time out of the cage but in the extra time that he'd spent here. Pretending really wasn't so hard. Especially when you were just making someone up as you went.

"Obviously," Lucifer echoed with a laugh, a bit of a snort punctuating the action that he quickly covered with an embarrassed hand to the face. Not very ladylike, an action like that, and showing a little embarrassment would help sell it even more. "Sorry. Just happens sometimes," He said as they headed towards the park, shifting the hand that had covered his face to move his hair back out of his face. How did women even operate like this? It was like walking around with a curtain on your head that could fall down in front of your eyes at any second.

"Have you been here long?" He asked, the question coming quickly, as though it was meant to cover-up what had just happened. "I know it tends to vary for you guys."

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notdewyeyed
2012-12-16 07:47 am UTC (link)

Had Adam's memories not extended beyond his initial demise in his own reality, had he been the Adam who had been in pre-med, working toward becoming a doctor, he probably would have teased Lucy for her rather unladylike snorting. It would have been playful teasing, of course, and probably used as a means to break the ice between them even more, but he would have at least done something about the noise. Instead, he barely reacted externally. His gaze simply slid to her, his mouth twitching a bit at a faintly amused ghost of a smile, and then he was turning his attention right back to the sidewalk in front of them.

At her question, he hesitated. What was considered long, exactly, he wondered. Time took on a funny meaning in Lucifer's cage. Days felt as though they took weeks. Weeks tended to feel like months. And centuries... he didn't even want to think about how long it had taken for those to trickle past.

Finally, not sure whether or not his time really qualified as lengthy enough, he shrugged. "One month and twenty-six days," he replied. Thirteen hours, eighteen minutes, and forty-four seconds, he tacked on mentally. Not that he was going to tell her that. No way. Out loud, he simply added, "Not as long as some folks, I guess, but long enough to get a feel for the place."

Falling silent for a second or two, Adam realized her next question was probably going to be about where he'd come from. Considering he didn't have a cover story ready, and wasn't nearly gifted enough of a liar to come up with one on the spot, he quickly tried to think of something that would deter her. The best he could come up with on such short notice was a simple, but curious, "What about you?" Realizing he probably sounded like an idiot, considering she was a local, he elaborated, "I mean... were you born here, in the city? Or..."

Trailing off, Adam gave a sudden, sharp, humorless bark of laughter. "Man," he said with a shake of his head after a second, "I just realized how totally crap that sounded. Sorry. I just meant, I know there are some locals who show up here after others..." Die. "Leave. I wasn't sure if you were one of those or what."

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wantedthedevil
2012-12-16 08:09 am UTC (link)

"You want to know whether I'm a replacement or not," Lucifer stated simply, figuring there were probably more awkward questions that Adam could have come up with. 'What's up with that total mental shutdown you guys have?' being the chiefest among the ones that sprung into Lucifer's mind. As it was, this was a simple enough question to come up with an answer for even if Lucifer had to fabricate it out of thin air. "I've been lucky enough to avoid dying so far," He said, pausing as Lucy to rap his knuckles against a tree that they were passing.

"I don't think I was...born here. It's sort of like my memories only start at a certain point, if that makes any sense," Lucifer said, glancing over at Adam with a bit of a smile. "Not that that really makes any difference in how I live my life. History's important, but the lack or the content of it really shouldn't dictate how we live our lives. It's the now that matters, not the before or after."

Pausing as they reached sight of the park, Lucifer turned, walking backwards to face Adam with a playful expression, "And I'm rather enjoying the present," He said before turning on his heel and calling over his shoulder. "Race you the rest of the way!" before taking off.

Childish? Yes. A way to avoid Adam protesting the assertion that he'd just made? Definitely.

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notdewyeyed
2012-12-17 05:02 am UTC (link)

Once upon a time, Adam would have agreed completely with Lucy's sentiment. Growing up, he had never been one to really worry about the past or think too long on the future. Sure, he'd made plans, had worked hard in school to see them achieved, and gone off to college with an idea of what he wanted to do with the rest of his life. But aside from making sure he had the means to pay his own way in life? Yeah. He hadn't given a damn about the rest of it. What would happen when he was older, or especially once he died, had been the furthest things from his mind.

And then he'd actually died.

Yet, even then, once he was back alive once more, he really hadn't thought much beyond his desire to see his mother again. What might happen if he said yes to Michael, or what would happen if he didn't, none of it had mattered. Where he might wind up when he died again certainly hadn't registered.

Until, of course, he'd actually died... and wound up in Hell. Then, then it had mattered quite a bit. And now that he was once again alive, and he knew exactly what waited for him when he died again, Adam realized just how much the before and after really mattered. Appreciating the moment was all fine and good, of course, but making sure to learn from your mistakes, and the mistakes of others, and doing your best to live the sort of life that guaranteed you would not wind up in Hell when it was all said and done? Those things mattered more than he could ever truly express.

Nor would he get the chance to do so now, he realized as Lucy quickly made a change in the subject and challenged him to a race, of all things. Which normally might have been fine, if not for the fact that the last time Adam had run anywhere, it had been in an attempt to put as much distance between himself and the at-the-time communal housing area that all of the non-locals in Colligo had been forced to share. Before that? He couldn't even remember when he ran last. Sometime within the first decade of being in Lucifer's cage, he thought maybe, but he wouldn't swear to it. Not that it mattered, either. The point was, the idea of running now - and just because it was fun - wasn't something he was sure he was really up for doing.

Except Lucy was already running. And if Adam didn't run, she was probably going to get a little peeved. And, despite the fact that she was a local - or maybe because she was - Adam really didn't want her peeved at him. Not to mention, it wasn't like it would hurt him to race her and would be pretty rude of him if he didn't, all things considered.

Ultimately, it wasn't the thought of it being rude that made him break into a sprint to catch up with her. Instead, it was the thought of her deciding he really wasn't worth the effort she'd put into him, and him ultimately having to go home and eat his dinner alone. Which was a strange feeling to have, really, considering how not ten minutes earlier he'd wanted to do precisely that. Now that he had a choice between sharing a meal with a pretty girl, or not, though, he was definitely going with the first option. Which apparently meant having to run.

So he did. Making his legs move faster than they had since shortly after his arrival in the city, Adam gripped his bag of food tightly and slowly but surely began closing the distance between himself and Lucy. He wasn't the fastest runner in the world, and she had quite a lead already, but he managed to catch up with her just as they'd reached the parking lot. More importantly than that, though, by the time it was all said and done, and they'd reached the picnic table, Adam was smiling in a carefree sort of way that he hadn't thought himself capable of any more. Sure, he'd lost the race, but for one, brief moment, he'd also forgotten about all of the terrible things that plagued him every moment of every day. And that, alone, was well worth it.

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wantedthedevil
2012-12-20 04:40 am UTC (link)

Adam was smiling. It was the sort of thing that didn't happen often and certainly not without a really good reason, and Lucifer liked the idea that he was a good enough reason to smile for. Well, Lucy, not him, but it sort of amounted to the same thing in the end. At least, in Lucifer's mind. It was all going to work out, cure Adam of his phobia of him and teach him that there were things out there in the world that he had to be prepared to accept should they come to him. Be in a pretty girl or just the opportunity to have a bit of fun, there was no reason that he should be afraid of any of that here.

Sure, it was occasionally crazy here, sometimes even to a dangerous degree, but altogether, there was way more to embrace than there was to avoid.

"He who hesitates loses," Lucifer said with a playful grin before sticking his tongue out at Adam before plopping himself down at the closest picnic table with a laugh, making a good show of having to catch his breath as he flopped his head down on the wood. "Then again, she who throws her all into things ends up exhausted as the end of them, so I think it balances out. What do you think?" Lucifer asked, lifting his head back up and glancing back at Adam before patting the area of the bench next to him. "Come on. I'm not going to bite."

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