The Serpent and the Lotus Blooms

A Charming Mouth Belies a Scheming Heart

 (CW: Manipulation))
((TW: Dubcon))

   A few weeks passed by in this strange standoff.  Lucifer and Serinity argued incessantly, but as long as he paid for his room and didn’t try to run off with Saalah, Serinity let him continue to stay. Then, something strange began to happen. Something Saalah had never anticipated. Lucifer began to flirt with him. It was subtle at first, to the point that Saalah had not even noticed he was flirting. He had been more confused with the encounter than anything else. The whole situation he was in confused him, and he had been trying to puzzle out what exactly he was doing here in the first place? Saalah turned the question over in his brain as he flipped mindlessly through yet another book before putting it back on the shelf. Serinity had offered him the study across from the room he was occupying as a quiet place to unwind away from the chaos of the bar and whatever strange dysfunctional relationship was happening between her and Lucifer. It was obvious they had history of some kind, and they would go from coldly civil to arguing at the drop of a hat. 

He picked up another book, leafing through it and setting it back. He should probably find a way to leave...He let out a deep, frustrated sigh, not his first of the evening and paced back to the fireplace, staring into the leaping flames. But how was he going to leave? Lucifer seemed to be waiting for the perfect moment to strike, waiting for him to leave the relative safety of Serinity's property. And as for Serinity herself...She was an enigma. She was quirky and perky, and most of all she was nice. Nice to him of all people. He had never really had someone be nice to him with no ulterior motive, and yet she was not showing her hand to him. She was coyly keeping her intentions secret. And she had to have them, secret intentions, that is. Otherwise, why would a member of the High Court have any interest in him? 

She must want Vadin. But, she had shown no interest in the sword at all. The only time she had even mentioned Vadin had been when she announced that she knew of him through Vadin. And her own weapon was leagues above his own. That scythe that she had used so casually to put a wedge between him and Lucifer when he had first arrived had been a large, wicked thing, pulsing with energy that far exceeded Vadin's. 

Maybe she wanted the bounty on his head for herself? He crouched down and grabbed the poker to stoke the fire, grimacing. She was rich, though. She had to be absolutely loaded. Her "Bar and Tavern" was an immaculate palace. Everything he looked at here looked incredibly expensive all the way down to the clothes she had secretly deposited at his door every morning since he arrived. He was lost in his musings when someone cleared their throat by the doorway. Saalah jumped, his hand flying to Vadin as he took an offensive stance, meeting the eyes of the man who leaned casually in the entrance, his fist pressed to his mouth. 

"Saalah, was it? I didn't expect to find you in here," Lucifer's voice was smoky and warm, sounding much more refined than the few times he had run into the man thus far. He pushed up from the doorframe, loosening his tie as he approached. "No need to draw your sword. I wouldn't dare defy Serinity. If there is one thing the High Court takes seriously, it is matters of territory, and I am not looking to incur the Inferno family’s wrath in that matter."

The man passed by him, brushing his shoulder as he made his way across the room to the minibar, rummaging through it to pull a fine whiskey from the shelf, pouring himself a glass. "You know, this used to be my study. It's good to see Serinity has kept it mostly the same." He pulled out another glass, glancing back to Saalah who had turned to face him again, looking tense, his hand still curled around Vadin's hilt. "Would you like a glass? It'll take the edge off." Saalah eyed him for a long moment, and he smirked, picking up his own and taking a sip before handing it to him. Saalah took it, looking into the amber liquid before taking a sip himself. It was smooth, smoky, burning just a little on the way down. He coughed lightly, and Lucifer didn't comment as he poured himself another.