WHO: Allison Hargreeves & Lucifer Morningstar WHEN: Room 3, Day 1 WHERE: Lucifer's doorway and then Allison & Five's place WHAT: Lucifer is drinking, so Allison goes to scold him and then they both end up drinking together anyway TRIGGERS: Mentions of death and general bad family experiences on both sides
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Allison couldn’t talk, which meant she certainly couldn’t yell, but she was schooling her expression into what she hoped was a very potent form of disappointment. He hadn’t promised not to get himself into trouble, so she couldn’t say he’d lied. He’d all but stated he would end up in trouble, but she was still annoyed and frustrated. It was still very similar to past interactions with Klaus that her concern had reared its head and wasn’t likely to go away until she was sure he was okay.
She knocked on the door, still not really in the frame of mind where she’d just barge into someone’s room. He shared with someone else and she didn’t know them, so she could manage to have manners. She crossed her arms over her chest as she waited for him to drag himself to the door or let her know she could come in. This was truly the danger of making friends.
Lucifer may have hesitated to get to the door, but his roommate was clearly in a mood so he didn't want Allison to have to knock again. Grabbing the bottle, he made his way across the room and swinging the door open.
"Allison!" he greeted. "You really came over!"
Glancing back at Kylo, he decided against inviting her in. "I think… we better find somewhere else to go. My roommate needs some alone time." And he wasn't exactly sober, but he could walk. Or stumble. Whichever. "I do believe I'm more intoxicated than I thought," he said to her, smiling. Maybe there was a hallway or somewhere they could go. Or maybe her roommate didn't look like they wanted to murder someone. Either option was more appealing.
Allison looked generally unimpressed as she looked Lucifer over. She had more than enough things to say and exactly no way to say them without writing them, which took a while.
She stepped back to let him walk out, her expression shifting into faux surprise. She made a point to be obvious about how put on it was. It was the nonverbal way of saying you think? She let out a small sigh, moving a little closer to the lift before letting herself look him over without a fine misting of disappointment.
His face. She frowned slightly at that before stepping a little closer. She reached out to touch the reddened area before reminding herself she was still mad. Turning away, she rolled her bit of paper up and turned around, whacking him in the forehead with it. Then she gestured to his face with an arched eyebrow.
Allison touched him and Lucifer pulled back, not because it hurt, only on instinct. "Yes, yes… I had to see if I was mortal here," he said, answering her unspoken question. "I think my roommate needed it, to be honest. So win win, don't you think?" He flashed her a grin, feeling where his face was swollen as he did so, managing to not wince, at least. Even with mortality at play, the devil still had a high tolerance for pain.
That punch had almost made him feel more alive, even.
"You know where we can go?" he asked. "Somewhere not outside. It's too bloody cold out there."
She mouthed the words you are an idiot. She couldn’t talk, but her mouth could still form the words she needed to. She didn’t return his smile. She simply rolled her eyes and turned. If they had to go somewhere, she could show him where she was staying. Five probably wouldn’t murder company. As long as Allison brought them with her.
She gestured for him to follow her.
So he did, following her to her room, where he took one look at her roommate and decided that she had to have claimed the bed on the basis of height alone and gestured toward the bedroom. Once in there, he sat down on the bed, opened the bottle back up and took a swig, before handing it off to her.
"Here. Drink this. It'll be more fun if you do," he said, not wanting another disapproving look from her.
Allison did her best not to make it seem weird as she walked toward the bedroom. She hoped that her siblings knew her well enough to not assume anything more was happening than it was.
Looking between the bottle and Lucifer’s face, Allison almost wanted to smack him again. Instead she just took the bottle and sat down near her friend, letting out another sigh. Of all the drinks they could give them. Peppermint schnapps. She’d have preferred almost anything else.
She wrote down you’re still an idiot. You could have hurt yourself.
"I'm fine, really," he said, looking at her. "Normally mortals can't hurt me but you should see the fights my brother and I get into. Or when Mum got disappointed and threw the both of us across the room. Ruined a perfectly good piano."
That did bring up Dr. Linda again, and Lucifer felt a twinge of guilt. He took the bottle back from her momentarily to take another swig and then, in handing it back, said, "You honestly should drink that." Just so he wouldn't.
"Besides, you were good before. Surely it's safe to enjoy yourself a little now?"
His ability to say things that both didn’t and did make sense. Their father had never thrown them, but he did put them in dangerous situations. Her brothers tended to be the ones getting into fights. It seemed, even in other families this was the same.
She frowned, setting the bottle further out of reach. This is still dangerous and we don’t know what could happen. All I’ve got for me right know is being able to fight if someone attacks me. Which will be hard if I’m drunk. In Canada, she was less worried about someone sneaking up and trying something, but the longer she was here, the less she trusted it.
Sighing again, she opened the bottle and took a sip, nose wrinkling.
Lucifer grinned as she finally relented. "It helps if you drink enough to where you don't notice the taste anymore," he offered. "And I'm not pushing you to get drunk. Just get a nice buzz going… It would even dull the pain in a fight."
Looking to where she had her neck covered he asked, "How's your neck doing, anyway? Somehow I don't think they even have a veterinarian available here."
She wasn’t sure there was a point where she’d dislike the taste less. It didn’t stop her from taking another sip anyway. It still tasted bad after the second sip.
It’s fine. She reached up, fingers lightly tracing around the bandage covering her throat. I think I’m on my own here. Unless we get some doctors or something. She shrugged at that, chewing the inside of her lip. She didn’t want to worry too much about it and she already worried she’d mentioned it too many times.
She pointed to her first sentence. It’s fine.
He nodded. "Don't suppose you have a surplus of bandages, do you?" That might be something he'd have to learn where to find to smuggle some in. He hadn't checked to see if this Communist's paradise had any sort of first-aid, but he highly doubted that. Whatever game they were now in seemed like it was going to revolve around them making choices of what to give up or what to risk.
"And you're not on your own here," he informed her, giving her some serious side-eye. He was very much present, in case she couldn't tell.
She shook her head. She didn’t even have an extra. Still regretting it. But she was kind of hoping somehow she might manage to find something or maybe trade the cigarettes and alcohol for some first aid supplies. Otherwise she might end up in trouble. If she had to, she’d go to a doctor she didn’t trust.
Meaning what? Cause she felt like she knew she wasn’t alone. She had three out of six siblings and she guessed Lucifer was about as close to a friend as she’d actually had. But probably he had something specific in mind.
"Meaning I'm right here, obviously," he pointed out. But he saw the look on her face when she shook her head. "But if you need anything, there's a guy… There's always a guy." He frowned.
"Usually that guy is me."
Drunk rambling was definitely something. She was sure she’d done it before, but she couldn’t ramble now if she wanted to. Her brows furrowed a little and she nearly smiled from amusement.
So you’re the guy. It was tragically bland without the vocal assistance to add the sarcasm. I have you and three siblings. I’ll figure it out.
"Yes, I'm that guy," Lucifer repeated. "The one who usually handles favors and the like. I don't like not having that sort of control here."
He could tell she was teasing him though, so he nudged her with his elbow. "If you're not going to drink that, hand it back," he said. "I had to give up a chocolate egg and icing for it."
Favors. Allison shook her head. She wasn’t sure she was overly excited about the idea of it. Don’t get in trouble for me. She could get in trouble for herself. She gave him a pointed look all the same to make sure he understood she was serious about it.
You don’t need any more, she wrote back. She wasn’t sure if that meant she was going to need to drink more of it. She supposed she did, so she drank more of it. It was still terrible. She would probably regret this later. But this was self sacrifice for the sake of another person’s...whatever it was. It was to keep Lucifer from drinking more.
"Yes that's better," he nodded. "Can't be the only one here with a buzz. Besides, you've had enough on your mind since you joined this merry band of miscreants. Doesn't hurt to relax every once in a while, does it?"
He certainly was more relaxed than he'd been swept away my their mysterious captors. "You think the peppermint would make it sting more if you used that as an antiseptic?"
She rolled her eyes. You act like I’ve never relaxed in my life. Which, if she thought about it too much, might not have been wrong. She was an actress, a parent, and then had to spend a good portion of time worrying about not using her powers. That wasn’t to mention her childhood. Relaxing was not something she did a lot of, but she knew she probably didn’t relax too much.
She made a face. I’d prefer flavorless vodka. If she was going to use anything for antiseptic. She really hoped she wouldn’t need to use peppermint alcohol to clean her neck. It’s terrible to think about. Now she was drinking for two reasons. To keep Lucifer from drinking and to keep him from using it as an antiseptic.
His eyes widened as she drank more, as she caught him by surprise. "If you actually do get drunk, that's on you," he said. He reached quickly for the bottle and then secured the cap on it before tossing it aside. Maybe the devil could show some self-restraint.
Leaning into her, he pointed at where she'd come back at him about relaxing. "Well maybe once or twice," he teased. "You haven't exactly had it easy, though. I mean your family could genuinely give mine a run for its money if we didn't have eons on you."
This is self preservation. I don’t want peppermint antiseptic! Was there a hint of a smile? Maybe. But it was weirdly nice to have someone outside of everyone else in her life to talk to. She arched an eyebrow when he took the bottle and threw it away, a hint of amusement in her expression. She wanted to note that Five was deadlier than he seemed, but she was trying to keep her promise to Vanya, so she didn’t.
What with throwing each other around and the fighting, I can see how it’s hard to keep up. She swatted playfully at his hand, letting herself lean into him a little as well.
So are you always like this when you’re mortal-ish or is this just some form of coping mechanism?
"I'm just being resourceful," Lucifer protested. "I wouldn't want it either. In fact, it wouldn't taste half as good if it wasn't working." He paused, wishing he hadn't tossed the bottle aside so he'd have a distraction. "The last time I was able to get drunk, I'd just killed my brother. So it wasn't quite the same, drinking away the guilt and all." Another pause. "Maybe you won't ever catch up…"
She rolled her eyes. I’ve clearly not gotten to the part where I’m taking to it. But it was more than she’d had since getting here. So far it didn’t seem to be an issue. Or maybe it was just that it hadn’t hit her yet. She hoped it was a soft hit if anything. I’m okay with being woefully behind.
She studied him quietly for a moment. We can talk about something else if you want.
"Anything else would be better that discussing my dearly departed brother," Lucifer agreed, then proceeded to talk about it anyway. "Did I tell you how when I got trapped in hell… he was my hell?"
Allison arched an eyebrow as he continued to talk about his brother. She did her best to keep the amusement to a minimum. No. I think you skipped over that part. How does that work? He just continuously exists in your space?
"Yes, sort of," Lucifer said, turning away from Allison, his eyes searching out some spot in the distance that wasn't to be found anywhere in the room. "I went down there to save someone, needed to die and go to hell, as it were, to find what I needed to save her. I did that, no problem. But then…"
His voice had grown strained, and she was being granted a look into a side of him few had the opportunity to see, but he could hardly consider her fortunate for that. "You see, in hell you're punished with that you feel guiltiest about. So suddenly there I was in Lux, staring at my brother. He shouldn't have been there… The way I killed him should have simply destroyed him."
He yearned for whiskey. Not Rumple Minze, not vodka, just whiskey, but having none continued on without it. "I belonged there, though. And over and over and over again the blade was in my hand, and then I stabbed him. Then suddenly, there it was in my hand again."
He finally turned toward Allison again, his eyes haunted. "I couldn't have left on my own. Only way you can is to alleviate that guilt. Mum had to rescue me."
Things were much more serious and Allison was suddenly glad she couldn’t speak because there wasn’t anything to say. Also she really didn’t want to explain what her choices likely were. Here he was, sharing things that were deeply personal and she was stuck keeping the darkest parts of her to herself, which was a selfish move, but that didn’t stop her from keeping them to herself either. Admitting you abused your powers was...complicated. Especially when it came to how. Why was easy. She knew why she did it and she wasn’t sure she could or would change all of it. She’d want the wake up call to be earlier, maybe, so she didn’t lose her daughter, so everything wouldn’t fall apart the way it did.
Her brow furrowed and she reached over, putting a hand on his arm and lightly squeezing. I’m sorry the words mouthed this time instead of written down. She couldn’t imagine living through something over and over or dying and going to hell to save someone, but she could tell it still stuck with him.
"Yes, well. In the end, I escaped and the detective was saved," he said, offering her a slight smile, with just enough truth behind it to count. "And this place? Nothing on eternal damnation. So that's good news, right? Anyway, new topic. Can't have the devil being a buzzkill."
She squeezed his arm again before letting it go. She didn’t move away, though. She was considering things she could say that would both shift topics and lighten the mood. Once my brother and I drank very old sodas and it was a very bad idea. I still regret it to this day. It was so bad. She didn’t think it really broke the rules. It was just something that happened and it wasn’t technically anything of any use. It was vague enough. Don’t save things from your childhood and think they’ll still be good when you’re almost 30. They are not.
"You know those things come with expiration dates?" Lucifer asked, looking at Allison. The pivot away to something nonsensical was just what he needed and as she removed her hand, he nudged her arm, teasing her. "Just think, the Rumple Minze has to taste better than that."
Allison laughed a little, though no sound came out. Oh, the Rumple Minze absolutely tastes better than that, she agreed, shaking her head slightly. I will never make that mistake again. She lightly bumped his shoulder. Don’t tell me you’ve never regretted something you ever ate or drank.
"Do you know how long I've been around?" Lucifer asked. "Of course I have. Like Rumple Minze…"
He laughed at that, as he was only half joking. "How are you feeling, by the way? It's no fun if the mouthwash doesn't get you buzzed."
She smiled widely. A little warm, she noted. But nothing I couldn’t still fight through. Which was the most important thing. Not that she thought she was bound to be accosted currently. They’d have to get through Five first. So don’t get any funny ideas cause I can still kick your ass. A smile tugged at the corners of her lips despite her attempt to appear serious.
Lucifer just looked at her, amused. "Kicking a devil while he's down?" he asked, bringing his hand to his face. "You really ought to wait until I've stumbled across some extra bandages first."
I made it through a shoot out at a bowling alley and at a theater of sorts. I think I can make it through this. She shrugged slightly. But I guess I won’t add to your colorful facial injuries. glanced up at his face again, studying his cheek. It’s gonna be one hell of a bruise.
Raising a brow, Lucifer smirked. "One day, we're going to have to swap stories." He'd certainly been in a few shoot outs, especially since teaming up with the detective. "Relive all the danger and thrills of actual mortality. Seems like it's all being wasted here, but maybe Soviet Christmasworld will prove me wrong."
He glanced back at the bottle. "I still could really go for a decent bottle of vodka."
She had plenty of stories. There were a lot from their childhood. Fighting crime was an unusual business and she’d been around a lot of guns, but she could always use her powers against the people around her to keep her from getting into danger and to keep her siblings from it as well. Except for Ben. She couldn’t save Ben in the end. And then she got far too used to her powers. I doubt it will end in any shoot outs. Probably fortunate, honestly.
She watched him, looking between the bottle and him. Well, if we’re going to drink more, I’m going to make myself more comfortable, so you should probably let me know if the bottle’s going to end up over here again.
Quirking a brow up with a smirk to match, Lucifer reached for the bottle.
"Well go on then," he said. "Make yourself more comfortable."
She smiled before moving back on the bed and propping the pillows up. Leaning against them, she stretched her legs out in front of herself. All right. I’m more comfortable
He moved back to join her, taking a swig of that blasted peppermint drink before passing the bottle over, willing the next ration box to have vodka instead.