Trouble With The Trickster || Gabriel - Supernatural

-33-

"Beth? Where has he taken you?" Gabe's voice came into my head as Lucifer led me into a clearing in the woods we had originally come through. I could hear the panic in his tone as I gathered he'd only just realised we weren't still in the room - the shock must've really shaken him up...

"Clearing outside town. How are you feeling?" I replied and Luci gave me a knowing look as I assumed he knew I was talking to Gabe in my mind.

We came to a stop in the midst of the trees where the forest floor made way for dirt and rocks and Lucifer turned expectantly to me, raising an eyebrow. I blatantly ignored him, hearing him sigh as Gabe continued to talk internally, "Better... I know I kinda overreacted back there... You want me to come help?"

I looked up at Luci and he shook his head, probably listening in which I was understandably annoyed about. This guy had no concept of privacy... "No, Gabe. I think we need space to do this." After that I shut his voice off, blocking out the muffled protests somehow as he tried to argue something. Turning back to the man in front of me, I put a hand on my hip, "Were you listening in?"

"Maybe," he smirked, pushing his hands into his pockets, "Anyway, I'm teaching you things, remember?"

"About that... what exactly do you aim to teach me? And how will teaching me things benefit you in any way since Gabe is fine?" I cocked an eyebrow at him as he shrugged.

"I may still need a back up plan, you ever think of that?" Luce pointed out, "Plus, I wanted to spend some time with you... is that such a crime?"

I placed a hand on my hip and shifted my weight onto my other leg, looking at him unimpressed, "Depends on your definition of 'spending time'. I can guarantee yours is much different to mine... remember I have a boyfriend..."

"Yeah, yeah, and he'll somehow beat my ass if I so much as touch you. I get it." He rolled his eyes, "Gabriel already gave me an earful about it... can I please just teach you some tricks?"

"Why can't Gabe teach me? Surely he knows everything you know?" I was being stubborn and annoying but I felt I had a right to be edgy around the literal Devil.

Luci blew out an exasperated sigh, running a hand through his hair before staring directly at me, "You truly think I'd teach my annoying little brother everything? I had to hold something back otherwise he'd be a nightmare... We may get along now but he did nothing but get on my nerves in the few millennia before I fell..."

The new information didn't exactly surprise me - it wasn't hard to imagine Gabe getting on someone's nerves... "Why do you want to teach me those things then?"

"What's with all the questions?" he replied, answering my question with one of his own, "Because I feel like it, okay? You're very powerful and you can be my little prodigy. I'm a sucker for fame. Now, can we get on with it?"

"Yeah, okay," I smiled cheerfully and sarcastically as Lucifer grimaced in annoyance.

"If I'd known you'd be like this, I wouldn't have bothered..." he muttered before clapping his hands and getting my attention, "Right! First things first, you need to start small... I know, I know, it's annoying, but you can't create realistic humans or anything like that without making smaller things as a starting point..."

"Oh..." I said sadly, downhearted by this flaw in the plan, "Okay..."

"Don't give me that look."

"What look?"

"The 'I'm sad, pity me' look. I created that look! You can't use my own look against me!" A laugh escaped my lips as he mirrored my face perfectly. "See? My look... I am the creator of the look and only I am permitted to use it."

I rolled my eyes at his petulance, "Okay, whatever you say, oh creator of the look... Can we get on with learning?"

"Of course, young grasshopper," Luci mimicked the stereotypical ninja master voice, making me smile, "but first, you must learn the secrets of... the pin!" He made dramatic gestures which looked more like a distressed monkey, "Hey, less of the monkey!"

"The pin?" I raised an eyebrow and he nodded curtly, "What?"

"Hold your hand out in front of you," he instructed and I did, "Palm up, idiot. Unless you wanna drop it?" I flipped my hand over, flipping him off in the process as he chuckled, "Now, picture a pin - just a simple pin - and imagine it sitting in the palm of your hand..."

"O-kay..." I trailed off, losing my words in concentration as I focused on the image of a pin in my head. It was quite easy to picture due to the fact that, up until a few years ago, I had a corkboard in my bedroom with multicoloured pins stuck in it - fake mom took it away shortly after my fifteenth birthday, convinced that I was using them to hurt myself but I could still remember what they looked like.

As I thought, I felt a burning sensation tingling over the soft skin of my hand, followed by a sharp prick, making my eyes fly open. I looked down and found a small pin in my hand, as I'd imagined, but the point had landed straight down, submerging itself in my flesh. It didn't really hurt but I still cursed through my teeth, "Shit..."

"You should probably pull that out," Lucifer gestured as I pulled a face at him, gripping the top with my nails and prying it out of the skin it was embedded in, "I'm impressed. It took Gabriel the equivalent of about seven earth months to pick that up..."

"I'm beginning to think Gabe isn't as great as he thinks he is..." I shook my hand as the slight pain subsided in a warm glow which spread over the punctured flesh - my half grace trying its best. It could heal small wounds very simply but so help me if I was mortally injured...

"He got better with time. So will you." Luci examined the pin that I handed over, "Not bad... Let's go a bit bigger this time, maybe without any sharp edges?"