InsaneJournal

Los Angeles had been weird, and had left Lucifer feeling unsettled by the time their trip had continued on. The building that housed Lux was there, but it wasn’t Lux, may never have been Lux. And that was odd. He’d taken Hawke by it all the same, but he’d been relieved once the trip had continued on, and he could leave the memories of the detective and the life he’d once known behind him.

Now they were walking down the beach in Mexico, and Lucifer didn’t even care how cliché that was. “If Hawaii wasn’t on the list in a few days, I’d say we should just stay here and not go back,” he mentioned to Hawke, breaking the silence of the past few moments.

Somehow they’d gotten to the point where they were comfortable enough around each other to not always have to fill the space between them with words. Or at least, it seemed so to him.

The last time Hawke had been to any kind of beach, it had gone very terribly for everyone. Actually, that was generally her entire experience with anything involving sand, water, or both. It had been an amazingly peaceful walk, one that made her happy they'd moved on to Mexico from Los Angeles. That place was far too busy for her liking, though it had been nice to at least see the place where Lux would have gone.

"It's the most peaceful place we've been in a long time," Hawke replied, smiling at him. At the moment she felt more at ease with him than she'd felt in a while, and she wanted to revel in that feeling for as long as it lasted. "I quite like the fact that there are no biting squirrels or angry... anything. Hawaii does sound like a paradise, though. I wonder what they'd do to us if we just lost our ID's and never boarded the ship again?"

“Biting squirrels, eh?” Lucifer asked, casting an amused glance at Hawke. He slipped his arm around her and said, “No, nothing angry, other than the ocean, and we’re keeping it at bay. Though that does remind me… You should learn to swim,” he mentioned. “Maybe we could go skinny-dipping, as an added incentive to learning.”

"Well..." Hawke said, while eyeing the water dubiously. She decided she quite liked it when he put his arm around her, just that extra tiny bit of closeness. It wasn't exactly cold along the beach, but the wind coming off the ocean was cool enough that the proximity to him came off comfortingly warm. "That's not exactly the best idea you've ever had. Though look at you, tempting me to try it via means of nakedness. How can I even resist another look at your bare self?"

She paused and smirked, "I don't think I can. But are you certain I won't drown out there? Because if they find my naked body the next day I'm coming back to haunt you."

“Oh, I didn’t mean out in the ocean, with the creatures that undoubtedly make it their home,” Lucifer replied. “I meant somewhere safe, like in a pool. I’m sure we can find somewhere in Hawaii, as it tends to have its own natural pools separated from the ocean.”

He grinned at her. “I would punch a shark for you though you’d probably have better luck against it than I would. With your magical punches and all.”

"Oh, Lucifer. You say the most romantic things to me." Hawke joked, though she knew in her heart that he really would punch a shark for her if she was in danger. "I know I can take care of myself, but sometimes it's nice when someone else punches a shark for you. Even if I do have magical punches that could throw people across the room."

She wrapped an arm around him and squeezed just slightly. "Learning to swim in a controlled environment like a pool sounds like a better idea. I really would like to try and enjoy the water. Perhaps it'd make me less shy of boating, too."

Hawke only crossed the Waking Sea when it was absolutely necessary. The last time she'd bothered, the world had nearly literally been ending.

“Yes, well, that was my aim. To be romantic,” he said, sounding quite skeptical of the fact. “And anything that makes you less scared of the water is a good thing,” he mentioned turning to look at her with the slightest trace of a smirk on his face. “Even if I am willing to continually save your life,” he teased.

"Am I scared of anything at all?" Hawke said, teasingly. She was, and he was definitely aware of that, "I don't think the storied Champion of Kirkwall knows what fear is. Of course, the Champion never had to do much swimming, either. So I suppose it would have been a different tale entirely if it was set somewhere on a paradise island."

Of course hopefully, if her story had taken place in paradise, nothing she'd been through would have needed a story at all. She smooched his cheek, then, and added. "You really are my hero sometimes, you know."

“Hero at what?” Lucifer teased. “Keeping you humble?”

Glancing out at the water, he mentioned, “A lot of important moments of my life on earth have taken place on the beach. Maybe that’s why I like it so much.” He shrugged, and then added, “Guess it doesn’t matter so much anymore.”

"I maintain that you very nearly saved my life in those botanical gardens, even if the water wasn't that deep." Hawke replied, chuckling. Then she grew a little more serious, eyes scanning over his face as he looked out across the water, and frowned.

"It always matters, Lucifer. Those events shaped you. They're always going to be a part of you, there's no dodging that any more than me trying to dodge everything else. We may be in a
different place and time now, but that doesn't erase ours from existence."

“I still wonder, sometimes, if my father has a hand in all of this or if I’ve now moved beyond his reach,” Lucifer admitted. “And I don’t know which I would prefer.”

This was not his typical sort of confession, to anyone. But here he was, speaking to Hawke without reservation.

Hawke's eyes scanned the ocean and its waves for a few moments, not exactly sure what to say. She was glad that he could speak to her about these things, though, and she didn't want to discourage that. "If it were me... I think I'd embrace the idea that no one could ever manipulate my life like that again. You're already aware of how I feel about someone else controlling my existence."

She glanced at him, and added, "But I know it's got to be more complicated than that."

It was complicated. But at least whatever happened, he wasn’t alone. For now.

And that was enough for the moment. Looking at the ocean once more before guiding Hawke back toward the resort, he said, “I can’t believe you thought I was going to teach you to swim with sharks. Really? Do I come across as that mental?” he teased her.

"Well, I originally was mainly thinking there was a high chance I'd drown. Then you went on about punching sharks, and I think it'd be rather entertaining to watch you do it. I almost want to program some sort of hologram situation where we get beset upon by them just so you get to punch one." Hawke said, chuckling. That was an amazing idea, or at least she thought so. Picturing Lucifer at least mostly naked and in all of his glory, punching the wildlife of the sea.

"But I suppose it was wrong of me to think you'd just throw me right out there into the ocean, regardless." She added, wrinkling her nose a bit.

“Yeah, I kind of care about you,” Lucifer told her. “And that means I need to keep you around.”

If she wanted to talk about him saying romantic things, that was probably atop the list. In his own, Luciferian way. “Let’s go get food and drinks. I still need to eat everything I can while here on earth,” he said. “To make up for months on a spaceship.”

"And I... need to gorge myself on delicious food as well. Perhaps then we could find some way to work off all of those calories. YOU might have a perfect physique but this body requires work," Hawke said, winking at him.

It was open-ended, of course. At the resort there were no lack of choices when it came to pleasurable ways to burn some excess calories. It also wasn't a secret how attracted to him she was, but Hawke was keeping things light. No matter where their evening ended up, she was certain to enjoy herself. Especially if it started with luxurious food and a few good drinks.