Splitting at the Seams (RadioApple)

Part 10

"Aaalrighty then. Still feeling up for this?"

Lucifer has a particular way of speaking that Alastor has never encountered before, a light whistling way that grants even simple terms far more levity than they practically mean. In most occasions it fills Alastor with nothing better than indifference, acknowledging the trait and having nothing more to comment on. Right now, however, there's something strange about it.

As usual the shorter man has been speaking amicably to him (as 'usual' as 'for the past 3 or so days' can account for) but his demeanor had shifted in some imperceptible way since that morning. Lucifer goes through all of the motions the same, yes, but what makes his change the most obvious is that he refuses to look Alastor in the eyes.

The overlord has no idea what he's done, and quite frankly, he doesn't truly care to know. It's become disconcerting just how aware he is of Lucifer's behaviours, to the point he can now apparently pick out when they have shifted slightly, and Alastor is smart enough to know that familiarity is only one stage away from care. No matter how little, he cannot afford to care for the king of Hell. A man above his manipulations and machinations, who holds all of the power and has now seen him at his weakest. It would only be trouble to grow close to someone like that.

So perhaps it is a good thing if Lucifer is himself withdrawing from all of this, putting the shutters back down. It saves Alastor the trouble.

(Why the Hell does that thought make him want to hiss or curse?)

Swallowing down anything that would give away his thoughts, Alastor granted the man a thin-lipped closed-eye smile and said "Yes," stepping forward one at a time to embolden his point. Indeed he moves with relative ease now, still hindered somewhat but no longer risking capsizing like a newborn fawn.

The mortification of that parallel pushes him to move faster. At least he now has the aid of Lucifer's staff (until the devil procures a true replacement, he's lended the cannibal his own, transformed into a guised appearance and longer to suit his size. To match, he has a rather generic suit on. It's good enough.) to prevent him from going down from any misstep.

Truly, he's fine. Most of that is admittedly owed to the painkillers that still temporarily circuit his body, the cannula injecting them having been removed an hour ago. Alastor knows the effects can't last all day, that he will certainly begin to feel the brunt of it again by days end, but for now it is adequate. Lucifer surveyed him and told him in those not-quite-clipped tones that while his cells were still depreciated and his blood supply remained at a risky low, neither were fatal any longer. Still, he would have to return to the unpleasantries of the intravenous that night, and the one after, and however long it took for him to ACTUALLY recuperate, instead of merely being fine enough to walk around without for a few hours.

All in all, he feels relatively confident in his capabilities. The only concern will be to downsize his usual activities and put less strain on his body. A piece of cake.

Lucifer shrugs, pushing the door open and giving a butler's bow to allow Alastor out. The shorter man doesn't even provide a stiff 'okay', and it irks the cannibal more than it maybe should.

Had he a view to Lucifer's then-bowed head, he might have seen indecision and resignment painted across his features. But by the time the king raised it, they had been schooled back into a perfect poker.

"Anything I should worry about? Any warning signs that sign me an immediate evacuation?" Alastor pressed as they descended the narrow stairwell, unsure of why he wanted so badly for Lucifer to respond with anything.

Blessed be, the man did respond. "Yeah. If you start feeling a sense of impending doom, listen to it. That's one of the biggest signs that something is wrong - your body KNOWS when it's in the danger zone. You can just wave at me if that happens, or the pain comes back, if you don't want to imply it out loud." Lucifer rolled his shoulders, glancing away. "Or feel free to make some kind of catchphrase, like 'oh no I left the washing machine on'"