Splitting at the Seams (RadioApple)

Part 9

The day after that was much more settled and reserved. Lucifer had been engrossed in some good reading for the plurality of the time he spent in Alastor's company, after replacing the fluid in his IV drip once again, and Alastor himself seemed unusually content to lay boneless atop his sheets.

Amen for the strawberry pink plaid pajamas Lucifer had spawned up, they complimented his hair nicely.

There was a matter that needed addressing, though.

"I've been thinking of changing your sleeping position" Lucifer states, watching as his companion rolls his shoulders in a circular motion to test his mobility further, legs dangling limply off the side of the bed. He's given a strange look at the way his words trail off into nothing, so he persists. "You've been breathing kind of irregularly in your sleep still, so I thought that lying flat on your back might be exacerbating that issue."

"Have I, now?" Alastor says, and he sounds bemused. "I must say, I don't normally sleep like this, so I'm sure my body isn't used to it."

"Oh yeah?" Lucifer blinked in curiousity. "How d'you normally do it then?"

"I don't, typically."

"You don't what? Don't sleep?" Lucifer's nose wrinkled. "How-? Oh, wait. Is it like the food thing?"

"Hm. Not quite." Alastor pushed himself up by his elbows, unbrushed hair falling in waves around his face and framing it. Having not re-orientated it back to how he normally wore it... Lucifer had to wonder if his own comment had any influence on that. The concept had him flush. "I simply find the act of sleeping unpleasant" Alastor continued in the same manner of speaking, as if that was a perfectly normal thing to say. "You leave yourself far too at ease and vulnerable, even if you stay hyperalert. I dislike being without my awareness."

"But then you still need it, right? So how's it happen then?"

"I hole up as far into my quarters as I can, set more than enough precautions to wake me in time if anyone dares trespass, and I sleep at the ready" Alastor listed with his fingers, smirking before suddenly pushing himself off the bed to demonstrate, lining up his feet straight. "Like this."

It took Lucifer a second to get it. "You sleep on your feet?!"

"Precisely."

"Oh my... something. Wow. I can feel the lower back and calf pain. Even sleeping in this chair has been killing me!" Lucifer threw his arms up, horrified. "So you never rest then? Never ever!"

"Very rarely" Alastor agreed.

The devil buried his face in his hands, book falling forgotten to his lap. "You're the scariest person down here, and not for the reason you wish you were."

"I'll still take it as a commendation."

"Condemnation, dipshit."

"Hm. Same term."

"Literal antonyms-"

"I'm stood quite well, here" Alastor interrupted, awkwardly moving his arms and swaying slightly back and forth on his feet. They kept moving about, trying to reposition in whichever way could put the least pressure on his lower abdomen. "It's still painful, but it's not unbearable. Walking will remain interesting for quite some time, I'm sure."

"Maybe you'll speed up your recovery if you sleep better."

"You've yet to actually tell me a preferable position."

Ough, the double entendre. "I'll do it tonight, if you're already up now. It'll just need some moving pillows around and a bit of shuffling. It is pretty impressive you're already up and raring to go."