A night on the town

[upgraded]

So Johann didn't always think of everything. He thought of a lot of things, but he had never bothered to set a time for meeting at the bar. Now he'd draw attention to that if he texted to ask. So he'd shown up at the bar too early, killed some time inside, chatted the bartender up for a while. Now he was leaning against the wall a ways from the door, shoulders hunched against the winter chill, blowing fog and smoke out at the sky with his cigarette dangling at his side. He took another drag of the dwindling stick, slowly burning away to ash and filter. Every now and then he convinced himself he was going to quit. Soon as he got around to it. But he never did 'get around to it'.

Glancing up at the starless sky, blotted smokey gray and glowing with the city lights, he let out another long exhale, dropping the cigarette to the ground at his feet and grinding it out. It was getting too cold for this. He needed to head back in. But the slight tingling numbness to his fingers hadn't quite spread yet. Maybe just a few moments longer.

Comments

[heosphoros]

It takes two to tango, and Lucifer hadn't exactly gotten specific about when to meet either, mostly because strictly speaking he didn't need to. He had a way of knowing where people were if he wanted to, but he'd deliberately held off on arriving since he was playing the part of a charming human rather than a fallen angel and it would have looked a little odd for him to show up as, quite frankly, adorably early as Johann had. And just maybe he'd decided to err on the side of being a little fashionably late just to see if the other angel would still stick around.

He'd known what Johann was right away of course, but since he hadn't immediately been recognized he'd gotten curious. It hinted that perhaps this wasn't an entirely good little angel, and Lucifer really liked those.

He came sauntering down the street, seemingly not bothered by the cold in spite of not wearing more than a not very warm looking leather jacket on top of his t-shirt. His attitude was perhaps a touch nonchalant for a guy who'd kept someone waiting for as long as he had, but somehow he didn't think that would put Johann off too much. Some people liked a challenge, and if he'd guessed wrong in thinking Johann was one of them he could always apologize and try to make up for it during the remainder of the evening.

[upgraded]

Johann couldn't have missed Lucifer approaching if he had tried to. His date for the night might have been fashionably late, but he was also fashionably dressed, and Johann had this ridiculous thing about leather that- no okay, not thinking about that right now. Just drinks. Drinks between blokes that Johann would inevitably make awkward by talking about Lucifer's body parts as if they were their own entities before he was even drunk enough to get away with it.

It was a good thing this guy had a sense of humor. How long would it take to exhaust that?

"Man, I feel bad for your date. I think he's really going to be disappointed when he sees you drinking with me."

Which is just Johann's way of deflecting his sudden realization that this guy is probably well out of his league, and covering it up with as much of an over-abundance of self-confidence as he can.

[heosphoros]

"I think he's already left anyway since I'm so ridiculously and rather rudely late."

His smile was wide and warm with perhaps the slightest bit of teasing to it as he offered Johann a hand to shake.

"I'm Nick by the way. I'm afraid you're just 'Nipple guy' in my phone at the moment since you gave me your number but I don't think you ever got around to telling me your name."

Not that he couldn't have found out, but again, playing human here. Had he known what Johann was thinking he would have been very amused by the thought of an angel thinking of him as 'out of his league', but then again he was amused enough by the fact that he was pretty much going on a date with one.

[upgraded]

"Johann." He shook the offered hand and rubbed the back of his head with the other, spiking his hair up on end with a laugh.

"Wow, really? That was classy of me. I'm surprised you kept it at all."

It was hard not to look Nick right in the eyes. Not because Johann didn't want to look at all of the rest of him, because wow, yeah, he really did. But because there was just something about them. Drew him in. Made him think about those poems in high school. Drowning in pools of something or other. He'd never been good at poetry.

"Mind if I take his place for the night. Clearly he doesn't know what he skipped out on. Well worth the extra wait."

[heosphoros]

Lucifer hooked his thumbs through the belt loops of his black jeans and shrugged good-naturedly, still smiling.

"It was a line I hadn't heard before, and I thought you were kind of cute."

And also I want to find out why you're acting as if you have no idea who I am.

"So, Johann? I like it. Think I'll take you up on that offer. Just one question, is it actually possible to have real conversations in there?"

Not that he minded places where the music was so loud you couldn't hear yourself think, quite the opposite, but he did want to talk to Johann. He also didn't mind the eye contact at all, which probably didn't make that situation any easier on the seemingly quite enthralled young man before him.

Nothing could make him admit it, but it felt good to be in the presence of another angel without it being a fight. He might be the adversary, the accuser, but damn it if he didn't miss his family sometimes. Of course this particular member of it was acting completely unaware of what he was, might even be completely unaware, but that didn't change the fact that it felt good to be around him.

So Lucifer looked into Johann's eyes with an intense focus that made it seem like there was nothing in the world but the two of them and stored this moment somewhere deep down inside himself where he kept the little victories that had nothing to do with his struggle to end his father's reign.

[upgraded]

The intensity with which Nick was looking back at him caught Johann completely off guard. He wasn't used to people looking at him that way unless they were trying to get a confession out of him. Thank you judicial system for being the only people to display a real interest in Johann.

He didn't even respond at first. Yeah. He was lost to the world for a good minute at least before he cleared his throat and fought the dueling urges to run or act smug.

"A bit? It can get kind of loud back there." No. Still not breaking eye contact. This was just supposed to be a drink with the possibility of getting laid, but this guy wanted to talk. Should he be suspicious of being set up by his therapist? Maybe, but fuck it regardless. He could stand to listen to Nick talk a while.

"Or there is always the jazz bar around the corner."

Not his usual style, but sometimes he liked the atmosphere.

[heosphoros]

If there was one thing Lucifer did have, it was time, so he didn't mind waiting while Johann regained his ability to speak, though his intense gaze did soften into something more along the lines of amusement after a while of just silently staring at each other. He knew that he could have a rather overwhelming effect on people sometimes and often used this to his advantage, but he'd been unprepared for it happening to Johann. Angels more or less drowning in his eyes was just not something he tended to count on.

One corner of his mouth lifted in a one-sided smirk at the suggested change of location.

"The Devil's music. Not a bad idea. Let's hurry up though, you look like you're getting pretty cold."

Then, without making it a big deal, he shrugged off his jacket and draped it over Johann's shoulders.

[upgraded]

Okay. Seriously. Where did this guy come from? First he was cool about Johann's terrible pick up lines, his distorted and frankly awful sense of humor and his blatant staring. Now he was giving up his jacket on a frosty-bitten breeze of a night (Leather jacket. Yes. This was staying on him until Nick demanded it back.)

What was he even supposed to think of this guy?

"It's winter. Outdoors is not my usual priority choice." He didn't really mind the cold so much. He just didn't like to stand around in it forever. Sometimes the slight bite of chill was refreshing and other times it just made him want to hide indoors with his laptop.

Pulling the jacket around him felt like a very romcom female role thing to do, but fuck it, why not. He swayed a moment indecisively and started walking for the jazz bar.

He was holding this fucking jacket hostage. If Nick wanted it back he'd follow.

[heosphoros]

Lucifer didn't give a damn about the jacket, but he did follow, easily catching up to Johann and falling into step with him.

"Is it ever your priority choice? You look more like an indoors type of guy to me."

Pale scars could be seen on the exposed skin on his arms, nearly invisible from being so old but coming into view every now and then when the light hit just right.

Slightly more obvious were the broader ones around his wrists, as if something had once chafed there for long enough to create a wound.

He did nothing to draw attention to them, but he also didn't try to hide them at all. He could if he wanted to, but generally speaking didn't deem it necessary. Besides, he had an absurd urge to be as much himself as he could without actually telling Johann that "oh, by the way, I'm your sworn enemy".

[upgraded]

On his own, when Johann noticed them, his first instinct to the broader ones would be that Nick was into the kinky stuff. Not that Johann wasn't ever, but he didn't have much else to draw on for where those scars came from. It didn't really seem like conversation topic.

Hey I just met you, and this is crazy, but you've got scars so tell me about them maybe?

Johann grinned to himself and shook his head. No one should be subjected to his mind.

"It is sometimes, yeah. I like being outside. In small doses. I'm not really an outdoorsy type though. Beyond that."

I am a giant computer nerd hacker. What more do you want from me?

He held the door for Nick, because he couldn't be 'the girl' all the time without injuring his silly pride. Labels were for the government, but he did like to prove self sufficient.

[heosphoros]

He was indeed a big supporter of the kinky stuff, though he tended to leave the actual performing to others, at least when it came to being more on the submissive end of things. Getting tied up just doesn't seem all that appealing when you've been chained up in Hell for an incalculable amount of time, and when you've had your wings crushed by archangels it just doesn't seem like a good time to have someone try to inflict pain on you.

The other way around, however, could be great fun.

Lucifer stepped inside the bar, giving Johann's arm a light squeeze in a gesture of thanks as he passed him and took in the venue with one sweeping look.

Yes, this would do nicely.

"Corner table over there?"

He gestured towards one in a secluded corner of the place where not many people had decided to sit so far, half turning to give Johann a questioning look.

[upgraded]

Following Nick's gaze was hard to do. It involved meeting it and then forcing himself to look away. Not an easy task, all things considered. But he managed it somehow and followed up the question with a nod, working his way over there.

The jacket didn't come off, even with the warmer temperature of the bar. But Johann took a seat, sprawling back and watching Nick. The jazz bar was always more subdued, less people. It wasn't sleepy and there was still the background noise of people talking filtering over the music, but you didn't have to fight over everyone elses conversations to be heard.

"Do you like Jazz?"

[heosphoros]

Lucifer took a seat, leaning back leisurly to let his long body stretch out as much as possible with a sigh of contentment.

"Yeah, I like it. Like what it represents. Rebellion, beauty born out of opression, the ultimate expression of free will. You can enslave people, treat them like... like they are nothing but so much dirt, and still they will sing. That's beautiful to me."

Every time something was claimed to be of the devil because it broke patterns and shook things up it made him smile, just as it made him smile now as well to think of.

[upgraded]

Johann let the music filter around him while Nick spoke, watching him with fascinated interest, though not all of it could be directed toward the topic at hand. How was he supposed to help it? Nick was stunning and ... there was just something about him Johann couldn't quite put his finger on. But oh he'd love to. Stop that, brain.

"I always just sort of thought of it as calming music, to be honest. I wasn't really thinking about all that. That's a really beautiful idea, though. Like bird cages." Like being thrown in prison for rebelling against your father's refusal to give you the basic acknowledgement he gave his programs. Didn't hold him, though. He couldn't handle living in a cage like that.

"It's funny we supposedly have all this free will and people spend all their lives looking for ways to lock it up and put restraints on it."

He didn't sound like he felt it was very funny at all.

[heosphoros]

"The human mind hasn't quite evolved to the point of being able to cope with infinity. Just look at religion. Best not to think about how enormous the universe is and how small we are and how we have to make all our choices on our own and in the end they don't matter at all in the grand scheme of things."

Lucifer leaned forward to put his elbows on the table, speaking with his hands almost as much as his mouth now.

"Seriously, isn't it astonishingly egocentric to dream up a creator of everything who for some reason has such a hard on for this particular little speck of matter that he is personally invested in every single thing we do? I mean, the concept of sin is just hilarious isn't it?"

[upgraded]

Johann gave a light laugh, ducking his head a bit as he did so.

"We're only human. It scares us to think that our lives have no meaning but a causality of space junk and chemical reactions." He shrugged, looking back up at Nick with a mix of curiosity and amusement. "Egotism is somewhat the inherent character flaw of the human race. We think very highly of ourselves. Even after deciding how massive the universe is, most of the human race believes we're still the only life in it."

Leaning forward, he rested his arms on the table and tilted his head. He couldn't stop watching Nick's hands and mouth, but at least it had pulled him away from those eyes for a few moments.

"I'd rather have my freedom, than some unreachable notion of a 'better place' I can only get into if I'm a good little boy and do what some man with a book tells me."

But Johann never said he didn't believe in God. Because he did. He just didn't want to believe someone who gave humanity this freedom, would be so much of a dick as to then tell them not to use it. Then again, the whole adam and eve thing. Maybe God did exist, and was just a dick of a troll, setting everyone up to fail.

[heosphoros]

Lucifer didn't believe in God. He was well aware of the existence of the Lord, but that isn't the same thing. You don't believe in the air you breathe.

"I just think it's ludicrous to strive for goodness because you're pissing your pants over what might happen to you when you die. Such a brilliant way to completely devalue the good you do.

Don't get me wrong, if you want to be a good boy, more power to you, but be a good boy out of genuine feeling. Not because you think you have to, but because you want to. Take some damn responsibility."

He glanced towards the bar and got to his feet with a grin.

"They're starting to give us sour looks, I'd better buy you a drink. You deserve somecompensation for listening to me on my soap box anyway."

[upgraded]

"I'm enjoying it. You've got a perspective I can relate to." He grinned and shook his head slightly. Hadn't he been the one to offer to buy drinks? But then, never look a gift horse in the mouth, and all that.

"I never turn down a drink." Resting his chin on his palm, he laughed slightly and thought about his life. The little rebellious kid who wouldn't back down and never stopped questioning everything. A reflection of his angelic counterpart, though he was unaware of that.

"And I will never claim to want to be a good boy. Not so long as a little rebellion is so satisfying." He wouldn't consider himself a bad person, either. Other people would. He was a 'criminal' after all. But he'd never done anything with maliciously cruel intent. Just a bit of bitterness here and there.

"I like your soap box. I think we should get you back up on it when we have drinks in hand."

[heosphoros]

"You're just completely adorable all the time, aren't you?"

He put his hands on the table for some support as he leaned down to press his lips against Johann's cheek, close enough to his mouth that it was just barley not a meeting of lips.

"What would you like in hand, then?"

[upgraded]

Okay. Score another several points for Nick. Johann refused to even consider whether or not that had brought a flush to his cheeks. He gave a smug grin instead, just barely resisting the urge to turn his head enough to make them meet. Yeah, so he moved a little fast. It was a fast-paced world and Nick was really hard to even want to resist.

Now his mind was on things he'd like in hand and none of them were drinks. He was pretty sure he could assign a descriptive personification to several other body parts besides Nick's nipples at this point.

"How many points do I lose if I pick the 'wrong' drink?"

It was mostly a joke, but then, you never knew. Some days you lost a chance just for liking black coffee rather than a latte.

"How about a Gin Buck."

[heosphoros]

"I'm a very firm believer in people's right to make their own choices free from judgment."

He straightened back up and reached out to briefly ruffle Johann's hair. Not the most seductive gesture imaginable, but he just couldn't help himself. The guy was just so damn young.

"I'll be right back."

He headed over to the bar to place their orders, and it was kind of obvious that the bartender was being deliberately slow to keep him standing there. Lucifer didn't seem to mind, casually leaning against the counter and exchanging a few friendly words while waiting. What he was saying couldn't be heard, but the sound of his voice still seemed to carry all over the room. It was a soft voice, made for seduction and persuasion, and he knew how to use it.

Once he had his hands on the drinks he returned to Johann, offering him his. For himself he'd just gone with a beer, it seemed to fit who he was passing himself of as.

"This is probably the most carefully poured beer I've ever had."

[upgraded]

Jealousy is something Johann rarely experiences, and even watching Nick have a friendly conversation with the bartender, he doesn't manage to get dragged into that. Partly because his eyes are distracted with watching him. There is something inherently wrong in how attractive this man manages to be at every second of his existence so far.

Johann has to straighten back up when Nick returns, a playful smirk on his lips as he took the drink. Was it any wonder he'd be willing to let Nick ramble on his soapbox forever with a voice like that?

Taking a slow drink of the Gin Buck, he shifted forward in his seat, eyes still on Nick, as they had been all night, more or less. And would continue to be.

"Think he'd have liked to be serving you something else. Can't really blame him. I would, too."

Was that too forward? It probably was. He just really enjoyed Nick's company. and Nick. and watching Nick. And possibly imagining Nick without his clothes when he was up at the bar.

...Johann had a problem, clearly.

"Did he slip you his number on a drink napkin?"

[heosphoros]

Lucifer laughed and settled back into his chair, shaking his head.

"No number, but we'll see what happens when I go back for the next round."

He took a sip of his beer and gave Johann a more proper once over whilst doing so, not hiding this fact even a little bit.

"But if you're offering I don't think I'll be needing his services."

Lucifer had a lot of problems, but he didn't think this situation was one of them.

[upgraded]

When his brain decided to start functioning again, Johann decided he would blame the way his mouth went dry on the alcohol. He had to work really hard to regain his mental functions, and sincerely hope Nick hadn't noticed his reaction to that comment. Or maybe hope he did.

Wetting his lips, he shifted in his seat, a soft, awkward laugh as he took another drink to clear his throat.

"I really don't think you'll find yourself needing his services."

Johann hoped he did not. He really wanted to be the one to be providing those services. Which was ridiculous, considering how little he knew Nick, or about him. But he'd left bars with people with less information before. Not often, whatever people might think of him. But long-term dating never worked well for him, and maybe he didn't need sex, but he did enjoy it. A lot.

"At least, not beyond more drinks, if we need them." Yes. Play smug. That's never gotten an eye-roll and a fuck-off before. But at least Nick seemed interested.

[heosphoros]

It was a little hard to miss Johann's reaction, but since it was a very pleasant one Lucifer didn't mind at all. Especially since his comment had been a pretty blatant expression of interest from his end.

He smiled a little at Johann, with a decidedly indecent look in his eyes, and saluted him with his glass.

"I'm very pleased to hear that. It's always nice when people know what they want and aren't afraid to go for it."