genessia | Dream A Little Dream...

Entry tags:

Dream A Little Dream...

Who: Chloe Decker
What: Arrival
When: Today
Where: The Dream Bay
Warnings:
Notes:

There are things in this world that shouldn't be possible. Things that would unravel the fabric of reality like a snag in a favourite sweater, so when Chloe Decker opened her eyes, she's pretty damn sure this is exactly what's happened. She'd seen Lucifer's face and--

And what?

Everything he'd said was true. He was actually The Devil, with capitals and everything. Yeah. She was going to just lay her for awhile and try to shake this grogginess, though she wasn't sure exactly what the cause was yet. A few deep breaths, maybe. Quiet reflection, compartmentalising, shoving her shock into a metaphorical basement. That was the best idea for now because this sure as hell isn't Los Angeles. It doesn't smell or feel right, nevermind where she is at the moment. Further investigation finds the pamphlet, the money, the phone, the necklace. Maybe it's the whole Devil thing but Chloe is oddly calm about waking up somewhere weird. Understatement of the century, maybe, but whatever. Someone has to deal with crazy in a responsible manner.

That falls to her like it always has.

So she gets up, gets out, listens to the hologram, pockets whatever she can, and immediately takes another moment to lean into the nearest solid object. It's as solid as anything else she'd touched. Her voice echoed as she snapped at herself.

"Get a grip, Decker."

She looked down at her pendant and grimaced before pulling out her phone and examining her instructions. She had her badge, her gun, her ID, but this place? This wasn't Heaven or Hell. This was some next level Narnia bullshit and she's pretty sure that's what Lopez would be saying about now, only Chloe was alone. She pulled her leather jacket around her a little tighter like it was her armor.

"Screw this," she murmured, firing off a text before striding out into the daylight of Genessia City.

It simply read:
LAPD. DECKER.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[And of course it hadn't taken him long to find her.]

That would have been faster.

[She'd been thinking of him and--]

Smartass.

[She blinked furiously for a good moment or two. Nope. Emotions in check. Calm under pressure. Just another day of excruciatingly weird. In another. Universe.

With Lucifer.]

Come get me. Now.

[He can be there in a flash, as soon as he knows one thing.]

Where are you?

Bay. Outside.

[She's good. Really. But she's pacing, her jaw tight and she has to close her eyes tight and take a breath in to stuff the whirling chaos of this right back into its little box once more. Focus and clarity are much better than spiralling out of control. If she let herself go, there'd be questions that would swallow her whole.

She'd take this a step at a time. Or moment by moment, if she had to because that was what she knew worked best.]

[It doesn't take him long to get there, because he was still in the building where new arrivals live, although he won't have to be there for much longer.

He comes strolling over quickly enough to make good progress, but still slowly enough not to be obvious that he's in a hurry.

It's fine. Chloe's here. No big deal.

And he's dressed, as usual, in an impeccably-tailored, expensive suit.]

Detective?

[She's moving before she even starts to think, crossing the space a beat faster than he does but before she can actually crash into him, she stops herself and sort of hovers for a moment as she looks up at him.

At his face, his eyes.

A strangely painful relief shoots straight through her. It's there on her face for about two seconds before her forehead touches that stupidly expensive shirt of his and her arms go around him. Texts are words on a screen.

He's solid.

Real.

And in all the madness of this place, he's the only thing that feels anything close to genuine.

As if he could ever be anyone else than Lucifer Morningstar, right down to damn shoes.]

Detective?

[He doesn't know what to do when there are no words; he hasn't figured out yet how to read those other clues. But then the clues get a little more obvious, and he puts first one arm around her, then the other, his hands resting lightly on her back. Maybe one day he'll get the hang of this.

Maybe one day he'll be used to it. Maybe he'll expect this kind of reaction. But today he still doesn't know what to do with it all.]

[She's okay to some degree - holding it together. But she's also wrung out and just worn in so many different directions. Pierce. Charlotte. Luficer. The last moments she remembers, which she's desperately trying not to dwell on even if it keeps crawling out of its box to scream in her face.

And now this Genessia place out of way, way left field. Extreme. Left.

All she wants to do is ask if he's okay and after a few more moments, she pulls back to do that only to stare up at his face again. There's a wobbly bit of herself somewhere that's spinning and reeling but despite that, her hands find his cheeks. Her throat closes a few times but eventually, something comes out.]

I think.

[She swallows hard as her throat goes dry and tight.]

I needed you to be here.

Here I am.

[And he has no plans to go anywhere, not that it would matter if he did. He stuck here, and now so is she. Though being stuck in a place that has no connection to his father is a relief, and he'd rather be stuck here with her than with anyone else. He's met some interesting people already, too.]

What happened right before you came here?

Mhm. You are.

[Chloe is quiet for a long while, her expression soft and her thumbs brushing against his cheekbones.]

The last thing I remember was [she let out a soft sigh] that I found out that you really had never lied to me, Lucifer. I'm still...wrapping my head around it all but.

Lucifer, I--

[Sure, it had been a shock and maybe it still was. Maybe she has a million more questions now but...baby steps. Really tiny baby steps. But it doesn't mean she's not going to very, very gently lean up to kiss him, her lips brushing against his as she murmurs.]

...thank you.

[Being able to show her that he was telling the truth, that was what he had wanted, and then it was bad timing and his own conscience that had kept him from being able to do it. Then it had happened anyway, when he hadn't meant it to, hadn't been able to prepare either of them for what came after.

And the possibility of what came after was what had kept him from doing it earlier. Because originally the only people who had seen his face were those who had deserved it for some reason. And because of what had happened when he had showed Linda. He didn't want to risk scaring Chloe away.

But now he knows two things. One: she saw his face.

Two: she's still here. For some reason he doesn't know, she hasn't fled from him.]

For what?

For being the one person in my life who has always been honest with me.

[She's. Trying to not get emotional. But her eyes sting and fill as she leans her forehead against his. Maybe he hadn't always told her everything and there were probably a host of things she didn't know but he had never lied to her about who...or what...he was.

And she loved him for that, especially after the last few weeks. Years.]

After all we've been through lately, it means everything to me.

[Maybe more so since Marcus. Cain, actually. Dan as well, if she was being honest. But Lucifer... He'd never lie to her.]

Edited 2019-01-04 03:43 (UTC)

I can't lie. Not to you, not to anyone. [Which doesn't mean that anyone actually believes him.] Everyone thinks I'm a master at it, but I've never been able to do it in my life.

[Even if he could lie to her, he wouldn't. She deserves better than that. She deserves the best of everything, and he's still not sure that's him.]

Now you know. I am the Devil.

But even if you could lie, I don't think you'd choose to - we're more than that, maybe we always have been.

And yes, you're The Devil, Lucifer.

[She nudges his nose with hers as her tears spill over, her voice hoarse. Her palms are warm against his face as they curve.]

But I know you, whatever face you wear. [She kisses him again just as gently.] I don't care what face it is I see because I-- I have always seen who you really are.

[He doesn't even know who he really is, how can she? He lost his Devil face and gained his wings back -- but wasn't an angel -- and then got his Devil face back. With a Devil face and angel wings, what is he?

He's got her figured out but has no idea what's going on inside himself.]

What am I, really?

You're a good person, Lucifer. I have watched you fight for others because you genuinely care about what happens to them to the point of your own health and safety - or your comfort. Maybe you hide that with some pretty stupid humour, with jokes and teasing, but I've seen situations touch you in ways they maybe didn't when I first met you.

[She rests against him, letting her fingers fall against his neck.]

I mean, the way you look at me, the way you are with me, even when you're being ridiculous on every level, has come so far since the day I first met you. The face I see, the person I know chooses to be good with me and those he cares for to the best he can.

[Chloe smiles warmly, though this is super touchy and very, very feely, and probably more exhausting than it has any right to be. Most of her weight leans into him as she closes her eyes. It's been coming for a long time, well beyond the shock of his Devil face. It's been coming at the both of them like a freight train.]

No matter what happens, in the end, I will always choose and always believe in us. Whatever that is or will be or...whatever shape it takes.

[She knows him as well as he knows her, it seems, though he wonders: does she know the reason for the jokes and teasing? Does she know that it's a shield against anything that might one day hurt him again, like he had once been so irreparably hurt by his whole family?

Probably, since she knows everything else.

There's so much she doesn't know, too. Things she hasn't seen, that he didn't tell her about. Things he did for her.

One hand moves up behind her head, to support it, or to keep it where it is, close to him.]

Chloe.

We're out in public where anyone can see us.

I-- We should probably--

[Of all the stupid, stupid things, right now, he's stealing her lines and she's on an emotional rollercoaster. Chloe sniffs a little and does her best to pull her shit back together. It's exhausting, really. Going from his Devil face to this clearly even more ridiculous world makes her bones ache or her psyche or everything.

But if they're not in their own universe anymore...who is even here to care? It dawns on her, rather suddenly, that she's freezing.]

Find somewhere warm and I think I could use a drink. Maybe two.

[There's a beat or two before she adds very quietly.]

My nose is cold.

I know a few bars. [Because of course he does.] We could find one. Warm up your nose. [And the rest, too.]

Here. [He takes off his jacket and drapes it over her shoulders. Not because he doesn't feel the cold (he does) but because it's the least of what he's willing to do for her. (Enjoy the sensation of expensive clothes, Chloe.)] There's a good one not far from here.

My nose appreciates that.

[Actually, her everything appreciates that. California girl in a really nippy city where there's snow. And...yeah, snow. Lucifer has given her his jacket...and she's careful with it as she works her arms through. Her fingertips disappear as she murmurs a soft thank you.

She's definitely enjoying the jacket, though not for the fact that it's expensive.]

How long have you been here?

[Small talk, no feelings. Okay, lots of feelings because they don't just go away when Lucifer does things like...this. A bar. Drinks. He owes her that date. She hasn't forgotten it. And she needs to take a breath because between one moment and another, things have gotten crazier than they have ever been.

Part of her is terrified but she's doing her best to let that not bother her. Slowly she pulls away because neither one of them are going anywhere if she doesn't. Chloe misses the warmth immediately but gestures, doing her best to ignore it.]

About a month. [He answers as he leads them in the direction of the nearest bar. He hasn't forgotten the date that wasn't, either. Maybe this is the way to start with that. Drinks. Something simple.

Although this might not be the best time to worry about that, with her having just arrived.]

My treat. We can celebrate.

[Celebrate so many things.]

That's...a while.

[She hasn't forgotten the date either. It still lingers in the back of her mind as she walks beside him. Occasionally, she brushes into him as if making sure he's still there. There are so many elements about this place that just freak her right out. But like all the Devil shit (even if it's true), sometimes the best way to deal with it is to just accept it.

That's where drinks come in, mostly.

Chloe glances up at him and laughs quietly.]

I guess we do have a few things to celebrate.

Like you being here? [It's the closest he has come -- in her hearing -- to admitting to having feelings of any sort, even if it's been obvious for some time now. But it is also a question, too. What does she think they have to celebrate?]

I just found a [he makes a face] job.

And you being here.

[Really. They should celebrate that, both of them in this crazy place. She hears him, though. She always does. Her head tilts so she can eye him for a while, a little smile touching her lips at the face he makes.]

Oh no. [There's a mock gasp.] A job, what's the world coming to? [She's teasing him and it's playful without weight behind it.]

What kind of job have you found?

Both of us. We make a good team. [So far they've only made a good team at solving murders, but they haven't found a murder yet that they can't solve.

Jobs mean rules, Chloe, and someone else being charge. At least he found one he can tolerate.] In a nightclub. As a performer.

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