Bedside Astrology

[Lucifer]

The sun had risen long ago, and yet the inside of the Morning Star's bedroom was still shrouded in darkness, thick curtains warding off the morning's rays. Slowly, beneath the soft covers of the queen bed, a figure began to stir. Stretching lightly, Lucifer blinked herself awake, slowly coming to the realization that there was another warm presence in the bed beside her. It had been more than just a dream. More than just a relief from nightmare...

Shifting onto her side, Lucifer slide closer to the warmth of the Leo that shared her bed, sliding an arm around her waist and snuggling into the crook of the sleeping Lioness' neck.

"Good morning," she whispered, planting a soft kiss on the Lioness' shoulder.

Still half floating on the tide of dream, she couldn't remember a time when she'd ever felt this safe and warm.

[Echo]

It wasn't the warmth, (thought it helped) but the scent, that had Echo curling deeper into the blankets and the pillows.

Sleepy and satiated, surrounded by a scent that spoke of the divine, Echo hadn't wanted to move, but when that contrary voice, barbwire wrapped in silken care, sounded oh so near (and delightfully dear) that she had to open her eyes, had to know if this was just a heartsick concoction or a wonderful truth she had never beheld in the waking world.

"Good morning," she mews, with a yawn. Eyes half mast as she gazes upon a delightful dream come true.

[Lucifer]

Lucifer grinned as the Lioness stirred, her nose scrunching up as a waft of yawning morning breath caught her.

"I think we forgot to brush our teeth last night," Lucifer murmured, leaning in to give Echo a peck on the tip of her nose before snuggling back down beneath the covers, luxuriating in the warmth of fuzzy blankets and companionship. She had shared a bed with many since her return from the thorns, though it had never been like this, always a power struggle, always a strategy to get what she needed. But now, she felt at peace. There was nothing conniving about the woman next to her, nothing sadistic. She was as soft and vulnerable as any Lucifer had met, yet she was vibrant and caring, and had sharp claws, too...

"When are you moving in?" she asked drowsily, her eyes falling closed again.

[Echo]

"I think we did." Echo giggles even as she snuggles close. There was wishes, and planning. She'd only dreamed the former, negating the latter because while she knew herself, she y'know. Knew herself. Clingy and needy, twisted by wanting.

Now as the dawn light filtered through the drawn curtains she wished she went with her instinct. Morning kisses were precious gifts, but not when they could be spoiled by morning breath.

Her sleepy thoughts halt, crashing and burning as Lucifer speaks next. She pulls away, sitting. Her tail flicking, her ears twisting and not having any idea where to lay as her eyes shine wide.

Her heart beats a terrible tattoo against her breast as a lump forms within her throat.

Her mouth opens and closes, words caught and fight to be released. Sound escapes, but words don't form, not yet. Was this (A mockery? A threat? A test?) happening? Has she slipped into the dreamers paradise while she snuggled close?

"What...?" inelegant, but it's the only word that slips passed her lips.

[Lucifer]

Lucifer had been expecting some amount of surprise when she'd sprung the question, but she felt her heart lurch when the Lioness pulled away so abruptly, and her hand lashed out unconsciously, reaching for Echo's hand. She grasped it, her fingers curling possessively around that tawny, glass tipped had, and sat up so that their eyes could meet, uncaring that the blankets had slid off.

"Echo," Lucifer began, her melodious voice husky, a harp plucked with sandpaper. "If we had never been taken across the thorns, if I was nothing but a bitter, failed dancer and you were but a mayfly, perhaps this would be insane. But we're not."

She reached out with another elegant hand, gently cupping the lioness' cheek.

"There are Things that are hunting for us, and the only allies we have are traumatized, twisted people with all the pettiness and instability of the mortal world still embedded in them. We can't just worry about our credit scores and whether or not our social media accounts make our friends jealous. We live in a world separated from any illusions of safety, Echo, and I...I want to feel safe. I to know that there is someone who will know if I don't come home. Someone that will be here, beside me, when I finally close my eyes to sleep. You can understand that, can't you?"

The shadowed beauty's Capricorn eyes were shining, even in the curtain drawn darkness, with the possibility of tears spilling so beautifully down those exquisitely sculpted cheeks.

"Stay with me, Echo. Move in with me. I don't know if I love you...but we can find out."

[Echo]

The Leo is frozen, but a glass sculpture in seeming truth, save for the neurons firing within her halted mind, save the thunderous pulse of her veins, save the traitorous muscle beating an irrevocable tattoo against her breast.

Her mouth parts as Lucifer's hand comes close, she leans in before she could think. She breathes in the newly familiar scent.

Before she can halt them, tear tumble after gathering, slipping down her cheeks only to be caught by tawny fur. "Y-you really mean it." she whispers, or tries to. She doesn't really know if she's got a handle on modulating her volume right now. "I was going to be cool and y'know. Not. Me. So...I...distance and stuff," her lips quiver, "I'm clingy and needy. I give to much and go to soon...I..I.." she imitates a carp for a moment, swallowing and shaking. "I don't....I thought....we talked about this...but....was I that good in bed?" she laughs, but there's a displacement of emotion behind it.

Wiping her tears and smearing whatever remained of her makeup, "I know that's not-I..." she shakes her head, laughing more to herself, she throws herself at Lucifer, nuzzling into her.

"I was never not going to say yes."

[Lucifer]

A quiet "ooof" sounded at the lioness tackled the capricorn back onto the bed. Lucifer realized that she was smiling, though, even with such indelicate treatment. The twin trails of saltwater, the warmth, the infectious nuzzling, it woke something shriveled within her, something that had been starved and ignored for too long, and soon the smile crumpled and she began to cry, too.

The sun continued to rise until, finally, its rays had moved beyond the bedroom window, and darkness descended once more upon the two Lost.

"If we had a servant," Lucifer joked, "then I would suggest we simply stay in bed all day. I enjoy being with you, Echo. I enjoy being worshiped, and I enjoy feeling...safe. I've had many that are willing to do the former, but very few who have ever managed the latter. What of you? You cannot tell me that since your return from the Thorns you've been without your share of partners."

The aspiring Queen shifted beneath the Lioness until their eyes met in their shadowed embrace.

[Echo]

Cats purr when they are happy, and when they need comfort. Echo's throaty purr is her need for both. She is blissfully, unabashedly joyous!

Tears cascades down Lucifer's cheeks, and Echo's joy turns to panic, her tail thrashes and ears flatten, the little leo clings and purrs, offering what comfort she can, for as long as Lucifer needs.

"If we were to be indolent wretches, I would happily play servant. Loath I am to part from your embrace." smiling up from where she lay, purring as her fangs flash at the admission that she made the untouchable Autumn feel safe "A fair share, yes. Never for long. A night or some weeks. I didn't want to allow myself to love them. Loving a human...that leads to torment." she sighs, "I use them as they once used me. I need Desire and as simplistic and lazy as it seems, sex is a reliable way for me to harvest."

[Lucifer]

"Clearly, the mortals gain far more than you after a night in your bed," Lucifer replied, cupping Echo's face between her hands before leaning in for a kiss. It was strange, this feeling inside her as their lips met. It was not like the businessmen she'd preyed upon, nor like the Sylvan Emissary, the Witch of the Bitter Winds, or even the Iron Adjutant of Los Angeles. This was not just the pleasure of flesh meeting, but something more, and with reluctance, she parted once more. It was too dangerous to linger here, feeling as thousands of butterflies were so delicately dancing across her skin.

"I want to know more about you," Lucifer prompted, slipping away from Echo and rising from the bed. She strode to where a silk robe hung and slipped it on, the chill of the AC discouraging her from luxuriating bare before her companion's eyes.

"Come, tell me while I brush my teeth. What do you do for money? What do you do when you're not...harvesting?" she called over her shoulder, disappearing into the master bath.

[Echo]

Mirror bright, blade sharp eyes twinkle, "Maybe, but supping on their Desire is sweet as any sin, and worth much to me, Clauses and Contracts favour me not. Especially under the sun," she reminds her Lucifer, a feather soft whisper against her plush lips.

Echo laughs, bright and free, "As I you," shifting to sit, watching the other women's path to the bathroom, she kicks her legs over the side of the bed.

"Nothing so glamorous, I have plans. Distant as they are, but for now I am but a simple bartender." she offers a silly little bow from where she sits, "And you my love? What holds your attentions, and claims your time?"