Seasons - Lucifer's Voicemail

[dadbeatdad]

Why hello there. You've reached Lucifer Morningstar. Sorry I can't come to the phone right now. Leave a message after the tone and I might get back to you. Make it good~ Byyyyyyye~

Comments

late August

[castaside]

[ The number listed on the phone is Macaque's. But there's no text, no talking. All Lucifer can hear is hyperventilating and perhaps the beginnings of words that the speaker gives up on after half a syllable. ]

[ What in the unholy hell...? ]

Re: late August

[dadbeatdad]

Love? Are you okay?

...

Do you need me to come to you?

Re: late August

[castaside]

[ More choked, tearful breathing for a few seconds. Eventually, Macaque pulls himself together enough to spit out: ] Y-yeah.

[ Since talking more is out of the question he drops a map pin. It's out in the forest in the Autumn segment, where he sometimes goes when he's out of sorts. ]

Re: late August

[dadbeatdad]

[Lucifer wastes no time. In a swirl of red smoke he appears at the marker's location. He quickly moves to find Macaque.]

Love, I'm here. I'm here. Do you...need a hug? Physical contact? Grounding?

Re: late August

[castaside]

Macaque has his face in his hands, and by the sound of his breath, he is either currently crying or has been recently.

He nods miserably, never moving his hands. Yes to all of that, please.

Whatever happened had to have been really bad. Macaque doesn't get like this. He prides himself on not breaking.

Re: late August

[dadbeatdad]

Okay. Okay.

[It has to be terrible and his mind goes to the worst things. He gently moves to scoop Macaque up and sits. He pulls his love into his lap and wraps his arms around him. Six soft down feather wings join in, sealing them both off from the world around them.]

I have you. I'm here.

Re: late August

[castaside]

Macaque tips over as he's gathered up, leaning against Lucifer's chest, feeling safer for the moment, hands still covering his face.

It takes a few minutes for him to finally speak with a muffled voice. "I'm the worst father ever." Quite the declaration all of a sudden, especially when he lives for his kids.

Re: late August

[dadbeatdad]

"No. No you are not," Lucifer says softly and pets Macaque's hair.

"You are not the worst father ever. Your children adore you and you adore them."

Re: late August

[castaside]

Macaque shakes his head hard and finally lowers his hands, but he stays tucked against Lucifer's chest.

"We shared a dream. Choco and I. At one of the worlds where she was tortured and I -- I hurt her." Obviously it's a very long story and it's only going to come out in snippets. At least Macaque can talk now?

Re: late August

[dadbeatdad]

Lucifer keeps holding Macaque and running his clawed fingers through Macaque's hair.

"...I am guessing this wasn't simply a shared nightmare, was it? Do you remember exactly what happened? Or is it just pieces like dreams so often are?"

Re: late August

[castaside]

"I remember everything. We were there 18 days, but one of the games lasted several days itself so it felt more like three weeks or longer."

"They put people into teams there and make them compete against each other in the death games. Or other forms of torture." Macaque shudders, wiping at his face. "I couldn't do anything about it. I haven't felt that powerless since Wukong killed me, but this was worse. I had to watch her go through it all. Donnie too. He was there, but didn't share the dream like me and Choco." More like an NPC, but it felt real enough.

Re: late August

[dadbeatdad]

"Okay. That's a long time to share a dream." The how and why can come later. For now, Lucifer wants to just help Macaque talk through it. It won't be fixed during this conversation but at least he is talking about it.

"So you and her were not on the same team or were you forced to spectate?"

Re: late August

[castaside]

He nods. "Yeah. I was on a team with Wash. Donnie and Choco were each on separate teams. I had to sew her back together a few times after bad games."

Re: late August

[dadbeatdad]

"Was this dream perhaps reliving one of the other worlds Choco has been too?"

Re: late August

[castaside]

"It was. The Temple. Some bitchy snake god eating our souls. I had the same taboos and objective etched into my soul that she had. Shadow magic was one of the taboos, meaning that the more I used it, the more it shredded my soul."

Re: late August

[dadbeatdad]

"Please please tell me they aren't somehow still etched into your soul...please."

Re: late August

[castaside]

"I don't know. It was a dream, but that long? Maybe we were really there and they sent us back." Normally they'd return through the research center in that event, but anything's possible.

Re: late August

[dadbeatdad]

Lucifer does not like the sound of this.

"Love...may I look at your soul? Will you lend it to me so I can? To make sure?"

Re: late August

[castaside]

Macaque draws a slow breath. He's not even close to through with the story. But Lucifer seems preoccupied by this, and he can't bear to hurt another person he loves right now.

So he nods.

Re: late August

[dadbeatdad]

[The purple collar and chain appear around Macaque's neck. He starts to gently feel each and every link on the chain.]

Okay love. Continue your tale. I can listen and do this at the same time. You were at this Temple, with these horrible games, if they can even be called that. What happened next?

Re: late August

[castaside]

There is something very wrong with Macaque's soul. Lucifer will be able to tell immediately. The damage from the snake god Qhyone is very evident. Something was feeding on his soul. And the telltale etchings are there.

Was it really only a dream?

"Choco and I went into a game. A memory game. We had to watch events from each other's lives. The most painful ones, naturally. I held her for the first part, hid us with my magic even though it hurt. But I used too much magic, and it ate my soul away. I had what's called a death hangover. And I forgot her."

Re: late August

[dadbeatdad]

[He can feel the evidence of the bites. The damage. He draining. This snake god, Qhyone. Lucifer makes a note that should he and Miyuni ever have a moment together, they are going snake hunting. He usually likes snakes too.

Bastard is giving them a bad name.]

Death hangover. So did you just forget her or other memories? That had to be hard, being in memories with someone you no longer knew.

Re: late August

[castaside]

"I forgot everything. Back to the time when I wanted to kill Wukong. And all I knew was that someone was using shadow magic. My shadow magic. So I hunted her. I tried to kill her. The more magic I used, the worse it got."

Re: late August

[dadbeatdad]

"You tried so you did not succeed? What stopped you?"

Re: late August

[castaside]

"I chose not to. I wanted answers as to how she knew my magic and how to evade me. She told me to use telepathy to delve into her memories. So I pushed my way in. I didn't remember her so I wasn't delicate about it, and now knowing that's her worst fear..."

He has to draw another shaky breath. "So I told her that I didn't know what was going on, but I wasn't her father. You should have heard the way she sobbed."