It didn't seem fair that
being dead, or undead, or whatever the hell word Webster would
prescribe for this situation, didn't mean that you could end the day
without gritty-eyed exhaustion. Worse, sleep wasn't exactly the
eight hours of blissful recuperation it had been when Ezekiel was
alive, and more often than not he'd wake up in the middle of the
night, still bone-weary and remembering the stink of sulfur from his
dreams.
All in all, it was better
than nothing, though, and Zeke was thinking longing thoughts about
the lumpy mattress in his room as he unlocked his door. Rarely had
this musty old place looked so beautiful to his tired eyes.
Lacking the strength to even kick the door shut, Ezekiel settled for
leaning against it and trusting gravity to help him close it.
Fumbling for the lock, he gave it a satisfying twist before lurching
towards the bed, happy for once to put all thoughts of demons out of
his mind as he slumped onto it without even toeing off his shoes,
eyes drifting closed...
Only to have a gratingly familiar voice ask, cheerfully, "Lying down
on the job, are we, Mr. Stone?"
"I already did my job today," Zeke sighed, summoning enough strength
to pry his eyes back open so he could glare at the unexpected and
very unwelcome guest sitting primly on the foot of his bed. "And I
got as close to dead as an already dead guy could get in the
process. A little recoup time will help me keep doing my job."
The devil flapped an impatient hand at him, "Yes, yes. I'm well
aware of your antics of the day. Not that any of it really matters
anymore, since I've already kicked all of them out again."
Of all the things Zeke had been expecting to hear, more bluster on
how he didn't need time off, maybe an obscure fact or two about the
next demon, this wasn't anywhere on his list. Not even on the
reserve list. "All of...all of who?"
"Oh, I'm sorry, I seem to be telling the story a little backwards
here." Lucifer stood up, brushing at imaginary wrinkles in his pants
before clasping his hands behind him. "I came here to tell you that
I quit, so I'm afraid our little deal is off."
"Quit," Ezekiel repeated stupidly, and it had to be the exhaustion,
had to be. Some kind of surreal dream brought on by the eternal
weirdness that was his unlife, because he could have sworn he heard
the devil say that he...
"Quit!" Lucifer repeated brightly. "Resigned, renounced, suspended
activities of, surrendered, all that and more."
Zeke winced, rubbing his temples with one hand and holding up the
other to stop the thesaurus pouring out of the devil. "Yeah, I know
what quit means. I just...how can you...?"
Something flitted across Lucifer's smiling face, an emotion that
Ezekiel didn't have a chance to grasp before it vanished. "Oh, it's
not so very difficult, really. Just packed up a few things and
walked out the door." He gestured at the floor and for the first
time Ezekiel saw a leather shoulder bag sitting next to the bed,
zippers straining over whatever was crammed inside.
Surreal, hell. Webster would definitely be getting a workout
defining this day.
Lucifer moved abruptly to flop down on the bed next to him, and
Ezekiel automatically moved back to give him room, somewhat
nonplussed at having the former ruler of hell getting comfortable on
his bed.
"It's been coming for some time now," said Lucifer, crossing his
hands behind his head. "I'm tired of it all. Tired of the
squabbling, tired of the stupidity." He rolled over suddenly,
propping his head on one hand. "Do you have any idea how boring ten
billion years of the same thing day in and day out can get?" Lucifer
snorted loudly. "You people can barely stand watching the summer
reruns."
"I'm sure it's been rough," Ezekiel said, carefully, still not
entirely sure that this wasn't some new game the devil was playing.
"But...if you quit, why are you here?" To send him back was the
obvious answer in his mind, and a stark bolt of terror shot through
him, forcing Zeke to bite his tongue before any of the sudden pleas
rising up inside him could spill out.
"No, no," said the devil, shaking his head dismissively. "Perish the
thought. I've already told you, I'm kicking them out, not inviting
them back in." The implications of that, the idea of countless of
previously hellbound demons roaming the earth, forget hunting just
over a hundred, the sheer horror of it left Ezekiel speechless,
floundering for something to say, for something to feel and
already Lucifer was chuckling again.
"You never did have much of a sense of humor. Calm your sweet little
unbeating heart, Ezekiel. Someone else will take up the reins very
quickly, I'm sure, before too much damage is done. Which is why I'm
here."
"It is?" Zeke asked, warily.
The devil gave him a sour look. "I've got a few millions things to
do now that I'm no longer the ruler of Hell, Ezekiel. I'm showing an
amazing amount of courtesy just stopping by. But, if you'd rather go
back to Hell instead of listening to me..."
"No!" Zeke cried, sitting up so abruptly he almost fell off the
narrow ledge he had left of the bed. "No," he repeated, hastily, and
even insane dreams that mentioned the phrase 'go back to Hell' were
worth a listen.
Lucifer nodded, seemingly satisfied. "Good. You were always quite
entertaining in your fashion so let me give you some advice. If you
don't want to go to Hell, that is."
Ezekiel leaned forward, not quite believing that his former...well,
whatever he had been, was going to tell him anything about how to
escape from Hell. Something wasn't quite right with this...OK,
nothing was quite right with this, and he wondered briefly if demons
could go insane.
His tired ponderings on the mental status of demons had distracted
him enough that it took him a moment to realize Lucifer had stopped
talking. Too good to be true, just like he'd suspected but it didn't
stop the harsh slap of disappointed from coming, even as he waited
for this dream or whatever it was to end.
Only it wasn't ending, and he blinked, recoiling slightly as he
found Lucifer's eyes directly in front of his own. For a long moment
they stared in silence, Zeke's gaze caught in Lucifer's unblinking
one. Then devil's mouth twisted into something resembling a smile,
the very tip of his tongue wetting his lips before he murmured, "Oh,
what the hell."
Stunningly soft lips brushed against Zeke's, and he inhaled sharply,
sucking unnecessary breath into his lungs as Lucifer promptly took
the unwittingly offered ground, nudging a wet, supple tongue between
Zeke's parted lips and it was weird how human this felt, and
suddenly not human at all, a blurred jumble of unreality that found
him suddenly very much without the clothes he distinctly remembered
going to bed in, with a very similarly naked Lucifer devouring his
mouth, biting bruisingly hard at his lips, if Ezekiel had been able
to bruise properly, and a very hot, stingingly hot hand was
touching him, wrapped around his cock and stroking just a little too
hard and, fuck, this was...this was completely...
"Fuck..." he hissed, pulling away from that ruthless mouth to suck
in another useless breath, only to choke on it as Lucifer bit his
way lower, licking hard at the head of his cock before sucking it
in, the harsh scrape of teeth making Zeke arch up in silent protest
that quickly melted into very verbal agreement.
"Ah...yeah, yeah...ah Jesus...God!" An outpouring of all the wrong
names which earned him a sharper bite and a hard suck that was much
more than a man who'd lived without sex for a decade and a half
could stand, even one who was in a demon body. He came hard, hands
clenched in Lucifer's hair and his mouth stretched in a silent
scream, melting into that non-reality sort of feeling that found him
blinking and panting...and fully dressed, still sitting exactly as
he'd been before Lucifer had kissed him.
He watched, still trembling, as Lucifer stood and neatly pinched the
creases back into his pants.
"Another perk of quitting my day job is that the rules don't quite
apply in the same way as they did before." Lucifer smiled again, all
sharp-edges and he caught the tip of his tongue between his teeth
before he added softly, "Yes, you were always most entertaining. I
daresay you're the only thing I'm going to miss. If I had the
chance..." He shook his head, shrugging a little. "Too much to do,
I'm afraid. So let me give you a little tip, shall I? As a going
away present."
Reaching out, he tilted Zeke's chin up with the tip of his index
finger. "It's something that I only just remembered myself. You
don't have to stay anywhere forever."
Ezekiel blinked once, slowly, too exhausted and confused to even
think of what he could possibly say. Maybe-dreams, could-be advice,
and possibly-sex were even more tiring than demon hunting.
Lucifer frowned when he didn't get an answer, dark eyes searching
Zeke's. "Do you understand me? You don't have to stay anywhere
forever. Got it?"
"I guess so," said Ezekiel, thickly, when it finally filtered into
his thoughts that Lucifer wasn't going to leave unless he said
something.
The devil rolled his eyes. "Then I guess that will have to do. See
you around, Ezekiel." One last smile and then he was...not there,
and Zeke was sitting up in his bed, abruptly wide-awake and feeling,
if not perfectly rested then at least less like the floor of a
taxicab.
"I need help," he muttered, crawling out of bed and towards the
bathroom. He stripped absently, wondering if he'd get committed
instantly at the mention of being dead or if maybe he'd at least get
a full session first, when he stopped cold at the sight of himself
in the mirror over the sink.
The tattoos were gone.
Shuffling unsteadily forward, Zeke ran a disbelieving finger over
his shoulder and down his arm, seeing nothing but naked flesh
against naked flesh. Gone, down to the very last mark.
"He quit," Zeke whispered, flinching at the sound of his own voice.
"He quit. He...quit." His knees gave without warning and Ezekiel
sank down on the cool tile, still murmuring, wonderingly, "He
quit...he just quit."
'You don't have to stay anywhere forever.' Came to him, as clearly
as if it had been spoken out loud. He thought of Lucifer's packed
bag and the odd clean heat of his mouth, and Zeke was on his feet,
snatching his clothes back on before he'd even thought of what he
was doing. Only a few moments to gather his meager belongings and
Zeke was out the door, giving a quick, cheerful wave to Maxine and
suppressed a twinge of guilt, knowing he wouldn't be back.
" 'Don't have to stay anywhere forever,'" he muttered again, just
for the pleasure of saying it as he made his way down the sidewalk,
eager to find someplace else he could be.
For a little while.
-finis-
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