3878/Post-Rabbitation

Post-Rabbitation
Date of Scene:	20 October 2020
Location:	Nessa's Apartment
Synopsis:	Lucifer helps Nessa deal with having been a rabbit.
Cast of Characters:	Lucifer, Nessa Donovan

---

Lucifer has posed:
(( Scene backdate: Just after Nessa was restored to Human form! from log 3706 - Oct 6th. ))

It has been a very, very weird day. Nessa contacted Lucifer about her current status as a rabbit - and not only did he come /talk to her/ (the man can talk with animals, apparently?), but he was able to dispel the curse and free her to her original shape. It was grueling and weird, but no doubt a welcome return from the tiny, helpless feeling of being trapped as a small animal.

"If you want to take a shower, I don't mind entertaining myself here a little while," Lucifer offers as he shuts the door behind them. He's relaxed, but seems like he's concerned about her, keeping an eye on her progress, making sure she doesn't keel over.

Nessa Donovan has posed:
A weird and somewhat terrifying day. On the surface, being a bunny sounds like an amusing prospect... until you're unable to communicate, powerless, and everything could basically kill you. Not quite so funny after all of that. Nessa seems alright on the surface. She's adjusted to being full sized with only a little bit of clumsiness and she hasn't indeed passed out or anything. The suggestion of the shower is entertained and she nods slowly.

"Sure, maybe that's a good idea, if you don't mind."

There's a moment of hesitation, but it's brief as she moves to go towards the bathroom. It's quiet, though, and it's pretty obvious after a moment or two the shower's not on and the door's not even shut.

Lucifer has posed:
"Of course not. You were in a garden for a few days, thought you might want to scrub that experience off," Lucifer chuckles at her. He smiles as she heads away, yawning, and expecting to indeed entertain himself. He shrugs out of his suit jacket, laying it on the back of the couch. He seats himself there, then, rolling his sleeves of his dress shirt to mid-forearm, and begins to fiddle with his phone.

The silence, though, is noticed, and he glances to the bathroom. He waits another little bit, then stands and crosses over towards the door, though he doesn't go in. "Hogwarts?"

Nessa Donovan has posed:
"Luci..?"

Well, she hasn't passed out which could have been a very real possibility, but Nessa's voice is a little shaky for the moment. "Can..." She's not entirely sure what she's asking at first, mostly because communication had been so far before and she'd had time to /think/ about what she was saying. "Can you just come sit?"

Still clothed, it looks like she's found a bare spot of wall to sink down against, knees tucked a bit to her chest as she rests her chin atop them. A lower and smaller position. "Don't laugh."

Lucifer has posed:
"None of this is funny to me," Lucifer responds smoothly, entering the bathroom, and shutting the door. As if he were shutting the rest of the world out, and it will be just the pair of them that matter. He moves over to find some wall - which means he's across from her, since it's a bathroom, and there's not a lot of open spaces. He's ended up by the shower itself.

He stretches one leg out, the other bent, and then extends a hand up and out, fingers slightly curled. "Come here," he says to her smoothly, calm. His aura is strong, in oozes out of him in a lullaby of quiet confidence. Few can coax like Lucifer can, when he's doing it on purpose.

Nessa Donovan has posed:
It's pretty clear that the coaxing is barely necessary. It's not /fun/ being over there curled up on her own, nor does it feel comfortable in the slightest. Nessa crawls her way over to Lucifer, settling herself up against him so she can lean in against his chest. "I'm sorry, this is stupid," she mumbles, though it's pretty clear in her tone that she's not sure why she feels the need to apologize.

"Thanks for bailing me out of that. I appreciate everything you've done for me."

Lucifer has posed:
"Entirely selfish, really; I much prefer looking at you this way. So consider it me doing myself a favor," Lucifer chuckles at her lightly. His tone is playful, but his touch is not, he draws her head to lean it in against him, to sense and feel his solid upper body. It is very human to want this connection, and he doesn't mind it, by all indications.

He instead strokes her hair, moving it out of the way, and then her neck and shoulder with his fingers, just slow strokes that edge into intimate but not too far. Lucifer likes to stay on that line. But it isn't 'friendly' exactly, it's past that.

"Talk to me if you want to. But we can also sit."

Nessa Donovan has posed:
There's a tiny smile at the suggestion that it's a selfish gesture, but Nessa doesn't argue the point. While it's a very human connection, it's still a bit of a foreign one, so it takes a moment before she lets herself fully relax into the touch. Hard to fight a reflexive worry that is usually a prevailing thought. When she does relax, though, it's a very warm and her arms move to slide around him.

"No, I want to talk. Communicate. That was exhausting figuring out how to say things as simply as possible. It did make me appreciate faces, though. Bunnies aren't terribly good at smiling or doing much other than looking cute or annoyed or both."

Lucifer has posed:
"Hmmmm. What face are you hoping you are making now?" Lucifer asks, smiling at her with a hook of sly grin, bringing his other hand up to tap her chin with a finger. His other arm adjusted to support her with where she's curled up against him, supporting her side and back.

"Tell me how you're feeling," Lucifer suggests, with only a light little pressure of his presence. He didn't do it on purpose; sometimes he leaks power out a little. But she wants to talk anyway, there's no real 'force' here. Just a soft attempt to open the floodgates of her frustrations of the experience.

Nessa Donovan has posed:
"Grateful. Appreciative. Comfortable, though, and maybe still a tiny bit scared. Not because I think anything's going to happen to me, just more that it feels a little weird to adjust to feeling safer," Nessa glances upwards a bit to get a better look at him. "How'm I doing? More expressive?"

She does look that way, but it's more likely that she wants the opportunity to just look at him for a moment or two. A weird sense of safety.

Lucifer has posed:
"I'm pretty scary, I get it," Lucifer stage-whispers down at her, his smile warmed and cheeky as she tilts her head up to him. "Very expressive."

Lucifer drops his head down to give her a kiss, should she not turn her head away. A reminder of her humanity, in a way, is the intent. Or perhaps he's glad she's back, and is expressing that in his own way.

"Nothing is going to come in here; it'd have to come through me," Lucifer says quietly near her ear. There's a mild undertone of a threat against these outside things, that vibrates into some low place from a thing beyond sight. He's letting some of his presence show, just the very edge of it, as if unfurling wings just a little. It's palpable in the room, this deep instinctual sense of Lucifer there. But it's enveloping without suffocating. Lucifer draws his head back, so she can look at him and his expression. He puts his presence away, relaxing that inner muscle such as it is. No need to traumatize her further right now, she's been through enough without adding an experience with the Devil to the list.

"Would you like a hot bath, and maybe a drink afterward?"

Nessa Donovan has posed:
Nessa doesn't move away from the kiss, as it does seem to ground her in being human and being okay. Her arms tighten around him, because she actually /can/ again. She can hold him back, she can kiss him back. So she does. It's not talking, but it's still communicating.

It might be a little odd, but there's something strangely comforting about the strength and instincts there. It doesn't seem to push her back, or scare her, more the opposite.

"I don't think anything can get past you."

With the renewed sense of safety, the suggestion of a hot bath and a drink is less of a looming situation. "Not going to let anything get past me again, either." There's a tone of determination there, and she moves to attempt to get to her feet. "You want to go find a drink? I won't be long."

Lucifer has posed:
"Hopefully you aren't in dire danger in your bathtub," Lucifer says mock fretfully, but then smiles dashingly and gives her a squeeze after following to stand up as well. "If you need any additional help in here--- well: you know where to find me when you want me." As if she might need help getting undressed? Devil, though. Of course he teased.

Lucifer smiles sleekly at her, though, and lets himself out of the bathroom, closing the door quietly behind him with a soft sound.

Nessa Donovan has posed:
Nessa was correct. She's not gone too long, enough time to soak for a few minutes and clean off the scent of the garden. Once she's done, she slips into the bedroom to change. A t-shirt much, much too big for her and a pair of soft sleep shorts seem to be the general lure for comfort. She hangs her towel up in the bathroom before returning to the bedroom, leaving the door open behind her. She crawls into bed, settling in with her back against the headboard, glancing towards the door.

"I'm all done, if you're still awake in there," she calls towards the other room.

Lucifer has posed:
Nessa need not fear she's alone: there's sounds of Lucifer in the kitchen, finding things, opening cupboards. A 'homey' sound, maybe, that general activity and clatter as he locates a teakettle and gets it going. Shortly after, the bedroom door moves some as he comes to lean in her doorway, smiling at her, with his arms crossed. As if he were always here, in her apartment, and just fits in, like a hand neatly into a warm glove. Lucifer is /like/ that, just somehow suits the place he's in, as if it were always like that.

That aura of ease comes with him, an exhalation of breath. Lucifer smiles at her, still in the door. "Barely gave me time to shut my eyes; swift, you are." He smirks a bit at her position. "Well, don't you look comfy."

Nessa Donovan has posed:
Nessa looks over from the bed, rubbing her bare forearms for a moment. "Yeah, yeah, not really like I tend to dress to impress when I'm at my place," she offers him an amused look. "It's nice to have you here, though. It's interesting to see you out of Lux... out of your /domain/." It's certainly a bit of a joke on multiple fronts there.

"I'm... really glad I don't have to be alone right now," she admits.

Lucifer has posed:
"We have a few minutes to kill before I can bring you tea in bed," Lucifer chuckles, a smirk appearing. He crosses over to seat himself hear her knee on her bed, his legs towards the floor. He's comfortably dressed - but still quite formal, as far as things go. Lucifer doesn't wear t-shirts, though; that much would just be very strange on him.

"Unless you want something a bit more fierce. I could understand that, given the time you've had, wanting to just pass out as quickly as possible," Lucifer comments.

Nessa Donovan has posed:
Nessa moves to rest a hand on his arm, shaking her head a bit. "Tea is fine, it's probably a lot more soothing than anything. I'm not sure how well I'm going to sleep either way," she notes. There's still clearly a lot going on in her head she's trying to sort through. "I just like being able to talk. To communicate. That was the worst, I just wanted to tell people what I was thinking and how I was feeling and just not being able to express it."

She glances over at him. "It was all just a very surreal experience and not one I'd care to repeat in any form. Nice to know what areas of magic to /avoid/."

Lucifer has posed:
"Shapeshifting itself isn't a bad art to know. Then, well. Hard to trap someone that can just revert back, isn't it," Lucifer says, moving his hand to pat hers once, and then curl his fingers over her fingers. Mostly for the human feel of it, hands.

He was looking steadily at her, and he glances down to her hand.. Then back up. His eyes /were/ blue, weren't they? They're brown now. Maybe it was nothing. Or maybe something. He could be lightly playing with her. Whichever it is, they're just as natural now. He liquidly smiles and lifts her hand to kiss the edge of her thumb.

Nessa Donovan has posed:
It's an odd color change, especially because she did recall them being blue before. Nessa studies him for a moment. "Yeah, I suppose it would be nice to be able to turn myself back, certainly. It'd be kind of amusing to see the look on Loki's face if I had just /turned back/ right then. Not that it'd be a great thing, he'd probably be pretty mad but... it would have felt nice." She nudges him just slightly with her knee. "But being able to change things about you at will might be a nice skill."

There's a teasing tone, mostly just to poke at the eye color without directly asking. After all, if he didn't realize he was doing it--that'd be an entirely different and very interesting conversation.

Lucifer has posed:
"Well. There's all /sorts/ of realms of magic, of course. Some are more natural than others. Ice, of course, being something that you find close to your own heart. Some magic may entirely be beyond you, as well. I do not think I could make an ice cube without a very long ritual, and even then, it would not be what you make with barely a thought," Lucifer smiles at her. He starts to say more, but the kettle screams. "Just a moment."

Lucifer releases her hand and departs the room. The sounds suggest he figured the kettle out, and not long after, he returns with two cups, teabags inserted. "I took the liberty of guessing what you like in it," he says, offering it. "It's /very/ hot, mind." He's holding it from the bottom like a weirdo that doesn't get burned.

Nessa Donovan has posed:
"That's a nice way of making me feel like I've got some talent," Nessa teases him as he disappears to go get the tea. When he returns, she shifts to sit up just a bit more, moving to take the handle of her cup. "I will be careful not to overwhelm myself with heat and pass out. That'd be embarrassing." She gazes back over at him for a long moment, then just decides to ask.

"So is the eye color thing intentional? Or is that some mysterious Lucifer thing that just happens." After all, there's a lot about him she can't explain... and hasn't really asked him to, either. Perhaps because she doesn't need all of the answers to understand.

Lucifer has posed:
"Can it be both?" Lucifer asks her, with a gesture of hand for her to scooch over a little. He smirks some and moves to sit next to her, though entirely on top of the covers, reclining a tad, like a lord.

Lucifer then weighs her a little bit, over his cup, which he drinks from thoughtfully. "Generally, I seem to end up returning to what you see here, regardless. Or something like it. Sometimes an ability can seep in so deeply that it can happen just as much as breathing," Lucifer explains, his voice relaxed, and entirely honest, as always. "Though I can control some of it, yes. But not everything. I'm no god." A wink follows.

Nessa Donovan has posed:
Nessa very carefully makes a spot for him, careful not to spill her tea in the process. Once they're both settled back in, she leans in against him a bit. Not much, just enough to make a connection. Perhaps for some kind of reassurance. "So the blue's not your default?" She asks, sounding a bit curious. "I can kind of understand the change, sure. It's nice to know there's some extent to what you can do, though." She looks amused. "I was starting to wonder if you were too unrealistically perfect. Kat didn't believe you existed, really."

She looks into her cup, carefully trying a sip before she decides to let it cool just a touch more. "Lucifer's just as flawed as the rest of us. Besides, wouldn't being a god be boring? There's no room to grow."

Lucifer has posed:
"Oh, it is. My natural state is fiendishly handsome and heartbreaking. I do this for your safety," Lucifer teases her, playful now, widening his eyes as if to further suggest his complete innocence here.

"Doesn't exist? Finest trick I've ever played, convincing the world of that," Lucifer answers, smirking. "Too good, maybe; you seem convinced," Lucifer adds, but turns his head to lean across, brush his nose near her cheek, and offer a rather strong kiss with very little warning.

Lucifer ends the kiss with a cheeky, aloof smile, and leans back again... to then have some of his tea, while still looking at her. He has indeed reverted back to brown. Or was it blue? He watches her a little while, before prompting, "Sorry, you mentioned communication, talking. Please, proceed."

Nessa Donovan has posed:
While the kiss does catch her a little off-guard, Nessa is careful not to spill her tea in the process. She does make the slightest sound of amusement as she's caught slightly off guard, but she manages to keep from spilling it on herself. Once he's just looking at her again, she laughs.

"You're delightfully perplexing, I hope you know that," Nessa points out, moving to take a sip of her tea. "I must say, though, that was pretty direct communication right there." She grins, nudging him just slightly with her elbow. Just a playful little connection before she goes for another sip. It's at least cool enough where she can sip at it and not spill it if he surprises her again.

"I'm not sure what to say, though. I'm just relieved that if I want to say something, I can. There's less of a desperation to be understood. You're pretty good at figuring me out without me having to communicate much anyway. Not sure I'll ever be capable of returning that understanding. Like I said, perplexing. Not in a bad way, mind you."

Lucifer has posed:
"Well. It helps that I speak rabbit," Lucifer reminds her, with a relaxed manner, as if that were similar to it being helpful that he knows how to make tea. Simple things? "And Nessa-speak, maybe, as well. But that's no magic, it's just paying attention," Lucifer promises. He takes a deep drink of his own tea, then leans away to set it down on her bedside table area, instead moving to settle his arm behind her shoulders into her comfy pillows there.

"Being silent seems dreadful. I am sorry you went through that." He stretches just a little, then relaxes where he is. His aura does the same little flux: gone, then slowly returning out like an opening flower.

Nessa Donovan has posed:
There's another warm sip or two of her tea as Nessa leans against him a little more. "It's not so much being silent. I like the quiet. Silence can speak wonders when used properly. Sometimes it's what you don't say that has a lot of meaning. It's more just being unable to communicate with those around me. Wanting to assure people I was alright, even if it was an altogether terrifying experience. Being a bunny was alright other than the whole /nearly dying/ part. I could handle just being an animal, but being a scared and confused animal who really had barely a chance to communicate? That's the part I don't like."

One more sip of tea, then she scoots to set it aside as well, mostly so she can settle in more comfortably against Lucifer. "I don't usually have touch. Touch is a form of communication. So I've learned how to adapt to it in other ways. Not being able to use anything was? it was like learning to deal without touch all over again. It's not an experience I ever wanted to experience, but now I know what it feels like all over again."

Lucifer has posed:
"Of course. Touch is part of it. I suppose as a rabbit you didn't have to fear harming anyone with your ice, though?" Lucifer asks. He draws one hand in to lay it on the skin of her forearm, just to leave it there: a piece that proves again that he is in fact listening, and paying attention to those gaps between her armor.

"Well. Remind yourself that you're back. And safe at home," Lucifer reminds her, tone soothing, a mild coax in it that suggests that it's safe to relax and lean into that.

Nessa Donovan has posed:
"You're right. A couple of people picked me up just fine," Nessa notes. "Which was nice, honestly. It was nice to experience something different in that way. Most of it was awful but pretty much everyone who helped in the situation was incredibly soothing. For the record, being petted as an animal is pretty amazing. Only good thing to come out of it, I think." She leans her head in against him, resting her face in against his shoulder a bit.

"But I'm back and safe... and even if they can't really touch me, I can communicate. I'm alright with it just being you, though. It feels less like something looming over me constantly. Less like I'm wandering in a fog."

Lucifer has posed:
"I don't think it has much to do with being an animal, exactly," Lucifer smiles some, adjusting his body a little, and then begins to stroke his hand into her hair, fingers deep to touch scalp slowly. It's methodical, strokes intended to soothe and maybe seduce a little: such is the intrinsic nature of Lucifer, of course. "Can you elaborate a little on the fog?"

Nessa Donovan has posed:
Nessa leans in against the touch, eyes shutting for the moment. It certainly is a soothing gesture, and it does a good job of drawing her in. There's a contented noise for a moment before she gets around to answering the question. "Without being able to touch anyone, it was overwhelming at times. It's always something I think about, certainly, but knowing what that touch was like and not being able to have it whenever I wanted was an oppressing force. Like being in a fog and not being able to find the people you know are around you, not having that connection."

She peeks open her eyes a bit to look at Lucifer. "It's not gone, though. It's still something I worry about hurting people with, certainly. But it's less oppressive now. It feels less like a desperate need and something I can work on as I learn how to deal with it. You're a spot of light in the fog. So honestly, I don't mind it so much." She pauses. "I don't think it'd be the same if it was someone else, though. It's not just the touch, it's a connection."

Lucifer has posed:
"Well, if I start to blind you, make sure you shut your eyes," Lucifer chuckles at her, a distance in his tone, but still pleasant. He knows quite what he is, and for how long will all of this last? Hard to know. Humans have short lives. But they burn brightly in those, too.

"I think.... perhaps you might want to shut them anyway, and get some real rest. But it's up to you." Always with the choice, this guy.

Nessa Donovan has posed:
Nessa glances over at him again. "Not sure I'm staring so hard I'll get blinded, but I'll take that into consideration." At his mention of shutting her eyes, though she does seem to be realizing just how tired she is. "Mm, I suppose you have a point." Setting her cup aside, she moves to settle more into bed. "Just... promise not to..."

But the weight of the day's events have already taken their toll, and she's asleep before even finishing what she was saying.