God's Gone AWOL

[10] Stargazing

Micaiah let Lucifer sit on his own for a little while. However, the tea that she had so lovingly made would eventually grow cold if he didn't drink it. So after some time, she coaxed him into joining her in the backyard for a little fresh air.

Now the two were standing amidst the long, dewy grass and sealed flower buds. Their heads were tilted upwards towards the stretching inky blackness hanging above. Billions of twinkling stars reflected themselves in their eyes, shimmering in the balance of the spiraling cosmos. For some time, neither said anything. They just remained in a mutual —yet sad— sort of silence, sipping away at their cups of tea without so much as a whisper in the rustling night air.

Once or twice, Lucifer shot a glance over in Micaiah's direction. But amidst the smell of wet ground and honey-sweetened tea, she did not look at him at all. Her eyes were only focused on the universe beyond them. As always.

Lucifer was deep in contemplation. There was always a part of him that wondered at the thoughts running through Micaiah's head. Even after all these years, he still couldn't begin to guess what went on in her mind. She always knew exactly what he was thinking at any given time, but he couldn't even read her expressions without second-guessing himself. Sometimes it was rather frustrating, but sometimes it didn't matter. There were just too many layers to Micaiah as a being, there might not even be a word in any existing language that could properly describe her.

His own mind was certainly filled with all sorts of thoughts —none of which were welcome or favorable in that moment, but they just kept floating to the surface without being beckoned. Micaiah's complex character, the oncoming storm between Heaven and Hell, and the daunting thought of the future beyond. All of these things were swirling around, preventing him from focusing on anything in particular. It was mildly infuriating.

"How often do you go stargazing, Lucy?" Micaiah asked after some time.

"Every time I look in the mirror," he answered, expressionless.

"I'm serious. When was the last time you looked up and admired the beauty of creation?"

"Why are you asking?" Lucifer raised an eyebrow, "You already know everything about me."

"I want to hear you say it out loud,"

Suddenly the glittering space overhead wasn't particularly pleasant to look at anymore. Lucy let out a reluctant sigh and thought up a nice answer that wouldn't leave him too vulnerable to Micaiah's emotional attacks.

"There's already too much going on down here. I can't distract myself by looking up at the sky anymore," he told her.

"Yeah, that's a common problem these days. Everyone, angels, demons, crocodiles, humans... they're so busy trying to perfect the world around them. Nobody ever takes the time to appreciate the certain aspects that might already be beautiful enough." She nodded upwards, "Like the stars."

"They're exploding balls of hydrogen. You really think they're beautiful?"

Micaiah smiled lightly. Then she raised her hand, pointing up at a particularly bright little light, twinkling in the darkness. Although it only appeared to be a metre or so from the great, sprawling milky way, it was actually almost 37,000 light years from the center. The little light shone alone, without very many stars around it, hovering in the great void by itself.

"I think that one is beautiful," Micaiah said gently, "I named it after you, remember? The Bringer of Light,"

"That's the planet Venus," Lucifer replied flatly.

But Micaiah wasn't even the slightest bit disturbed by his tone. In fact, she just offered him a little laugh.

"That's the name people call it now, sure," She said, "After the goddess of beauty,"