sixthiterationlogs | won't let the waves wash me away

Entry tags:

won't let the waves wash me away

WHO: Chloe Decker
WHERE: South Villiage Fountain | Town Hall | Hot Springs
WHEN: Beginning February 10th, from the day she arrives to a couple days later
OPEN TO: OTA
WARNINGS: Nothing, will update if needed

I. THE FOUNTAIN

It's a blessing she long ago learned how to swim in the unpredictable waves of the ocean, because Chloe isn't convinced she wouldn't have drowned just on account of the shock it was to wake up submerged in water. Most of it is a blur now, with clarity arriving only when she is finally pulling herself out, her fingers desperately clinging to the lip of the fountain even as she alternates between gasping for breath and gagging as she forces water out of her lungs. Eventually, she's prone on the ground, eyes staring up into the sky as she tries to force herself to breathe normally, but by then, the fountain-created trauma is now being quickly obscured by general panic, because she has no idea where the hell she is.

Finally finding the strength to push herself onto her knees, she palms wet hair from her face and takes in the uniqueness of her surrounding. This definitely isn't Los Angeles. With her adrenaline waning, she's starting to feel the cold, and the common sense part of her brain is telling her that she needs to get up and get inside, but that small voice is overshadowed by her shock and confusion. Finally, she forces herself to stand up, a bit more wobbly on her feet than she'd like but it's a step in the right direction.

It's then that she feels the weight on her back and she stares down at her shoulder, her forehead wrinkling in confusion as she slips it off of her. "Wha... Why am I wearing a fricking backpack?"

Because that is, of course, the most important question at the moment.

II. TOWN HALL

She's (sort of) clean and dry, and she swapped out her wet creepy scrubs for the equally offensive overalls and undershirt, with the provided coat as an additional layer. Chloe hasn't stayed down for the count long, though; she's already poking around, trying to orient herself to her new surroundings.

Eventually, she finds her way into the town hall, her still somewhat waterlogged hiking boots sucking pathetically against the floor as she rounds into the main room. She's moving slowly, slow enough that her demeanor could be considered timid, but her sharp and narrowed eyes speak to a more confident wariness as she examines the room around her.

"Hello?" Oh, yeah, she's also holding a giant stick she found in the woods, you know, just in case.

III. HOT SPRINGS

Just because she has no idea what's going on doesn't mean she can't take a break. After she's had a little time to settle in and get some more information about the settlement and the surrounding area, Chloe decides to pay a visit to the hot springs. She's been constantly cold, and she feels gross, and a dip in some warm water seems like the least she could do for herself while she tries to grasp what she's going to do next.

Blissfully, it looks like there isn't anyone there when she arrives, especially since she realizes she didn't entirely think through what she was going to wear when she got in the water. Her internal monologue starts a fight between paranoid modesty and practicality and the latter finally wins over, resulting in Chloe depositing everything but her cotton bra and underwear on the rocks before she wades into the water.

She's already starting to feel better once she settles in, letting out a breath as she rests her head against a rock and closes her eyes. This is precisely the kind of respite she needed, although her peace probably is not destined to last for long.

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That voice shatters her silence and Chloe's eyes fly open. She manages to try to stand up and sink down at the same time, nearly flipping over completely and risking her second traumatic water incident for the day.

"Lucifer!" Once she regains her balance she remembers what she's wearing - or rather, what she isn't. Her arms fly over her chest and she ducks down slightly as if she could just roll into a ball and ignore any of the inevitable boob jokes that are about to be launched her way. She does move towards him, though, her teeth clenched together as she hisses, "What are you doing here?"

He could leer, but he's grown somewhat in the last few years (and he's not growing in the obvious places right now because of the respect he's developed for the Detective). It's why he begins to slide off his suit jacket to offer it over to her, also because he doesn't think they treat their hot springs with chemicals and it likely won't stain.

"I believe the more pertinent question is what you're doing enjoying the hot springs without inviting me?" he asks, pressing his palm over his heart, genuinely hurt by the implication. "Steamy fun is right up my alley, though I was led to believe it's no longer up yours."

He is being particularly well-behaved, but Chloe has at least learned to expect that much from him. Their ill-fated attempt at dating seemed to quell the inappropriate comments, which Chloe knew she should be perfectly content with. Still, there's a little part of her that misses when his interest in her was more obvious because his disinterest, well... It still hurts a little.

She takes the jacket from him and pulls it over her shoulders, shivering slightly now that she isn't submerged in the warmth.

"One, I'm allowed to enjoy a dip in a hot spring now and again, okay? And two, I didn't invite you because I was trying to give myself a moment to figure things out and, oh yeah, I had no idea you were here." She pulls his jacket around her and splashes out of the water, standing in front of him and peering up at him defiantly.

If only she knew that the interest had simply been locked away in a secure cabinet, kept there because of his knowledge that Chloe had little to no choice in her feelings, because she had been a pawn in his father's game. If she had the free will to decide, then Lucifer would happily unlock each layer of security.

If only.

"You're absolutely allowed, but given your teenage whims and the DVD recording, you had to expect some comments," he replies cheerfully, already beginning to take off his shirt. "Are we not going to take a dip?" he asks, genuinely hurt that she might be getting out and leaving just as he's arriving.

He does so love a good soak, after all.

She reaches out to grab his arm, hopefully stalling his attempt at undressing for the moment. Chloe isn't taking this quite as in stride as he is, and any thoughts of a relaxing momentary escape into the hot water is miles away from her thoughts now.

"No, we're not going to 'take a dip.'" She mocks his cadence and accent obnoxiously, pulling his arm towards her and away from the pool. If he had hoped to have this conversation in the warmth of the water, he's sorely mistaken for the moment. "You're going to tell me everything that's happened you since you got here."

Lucifer does stop, but not without a great deal of sulking. Why is it that responsibility always prevents him from having fun, especially when he has absolutely no idea why they can't multitask? "I don't see why I can't tell you everything that's happened and enjoy myself in the hot springs, can you?"

He tries to get back to stripping, even if he intends to preserve her modesty and keep his briefs on, only because he's wearing the ones they provided today and he doesn't mind if they're ruined.

"Live just a little, Detective," he coaxes. "You'll feel better for it."

Chloe presses her lips together, considering his words. It is pretty cold, and she's not exactly accustomed to this kind of weather by any means. And Lucifer can be stubborn, so maybe it's worth it to suck him up and meet him in the middle on this one. He does seem pretty dead-set on it and her toes are starting to go numb.

"Fine. But, briefs stay on," she says, waving vaguely in the direction of his pants. Ending up half-naked in front of him is turning into a theme, and it's not like it isn't anything he hasn't seen before, so she sighs and pulls off his coat and thrusts it towards him, averting her eyes shyly so she can at least pretend she isn't standing in front of him in her underwear.

"You don't seem phased by this at all. Isn't this freaking you out just a little?"

"Your wish is my command, Detective," he replies, even if his tone implies that other things can be all hers too, with the right question. He's pleased to get right back to his briefs, sliding back into the water and relaxing into the warmth as he debates her question.

"Why should I be unnerved? Hot springs, attractive people," he lists. "Of course, someone stealing certain possessions of mine is far from what I want, but at the same time, it's not the first time it's happened. Dad does so like to punish me," he notes. He's sure it has to do with Pierce, because it can't be a coincidence that he's decided to help remove his mark and suddenly he's here.

"Would it make you feel better if I panicked more?"

"Not really," she admits, sighing defeatedly as she follows him back into the water. She hates to admit he's right, but talking inside of a warm spring really is much more comfortable than grilling him outside of one.

"I don't think the place has anything to do with your dad." Sometimes she thinks he overblows whatever crappy relationship he and his father have, especially when it comes to paranoia on this level. There was no way a single person could coordinate a mass kidnapping like this, unless it turns out his dad is part of something a lot bigger than Lucifer's let on.

Knowing him, she's more likely to chalk this up to more paranoia.

"We've been forcibly moved out of L.A. and into some kind of weird, old-fashioned settlement with no decent clothes and really questionable food sources, and you're upset that you don't have your stuff?"

"I assure you, everything has to do with my father, one way or the other," Lucifer guarantees, with the bitterness of someone who'd found that out the terribly hard way. Dear old Dad didn't like to let anyone have true free will, not when you got down to it.

Perhaps that's why hell is a torture of people's own making? Lucifer had to rebel, didn't he? Even in his punishment, he'd striven for it.

Relaxing into the hot springs, it is rather annoying to not be fully naked, but he supposes he can let it be, just this once. "Of course I'm upset," he protests. "I've been given clothes again and product and granted, it's a start," he allows, "but no Lux, no Maze, no bar, and no..."

No wings. No devil face. No power.

"Perhaps it's lucky we won't be investigating here. I've lost my ability to coax out people's deepest desires," he says, biting the words out, as they are quite hard to admit.

Well, he has Chloe now, at least, however far that will get him. She'll be thankful for him in time, too, once she's done sulking and trying not to think about how bitter she is that he has his clothes back.

She doesn't have her daughter. And it's taking more strength than she knew she had to not completely meltdown over not knowing when she'll see her again.

"You're telling me that your mojo is broken?" Her tone is nearly teasing, but she is actually disappointed. While Lucifer's ability had never had any effect on her, it had done them plenty of favors in the past when they were trying to get the truth out of someone. And that is an ability that would be outrageously convenient considering, so it's not lost on Chloe that it is also now conveniently missing. "And who said we're not investigating here? You seriously don't want to figure out what's going on?"

It had always been broken around her, but it seems that particular trouble has leaked out and infected the whole world, which is not how he wanted any of this to go. It reeks of family interference in a way that he doesn't even want to think about.

Dad always did ruin everything.

He hadn't even begun to imagine investigating here, but his eyes widen with delight when the Detective brings it up. "I thought that since no one had turned up bloody and dead, there wouldn't be a cause for it." He's beginning to feel hopeful once more, though. Perhaps it's not as awful as he'd imagined.

He is sitting in a glorified hot tub, after all.

She wrinkles her forehead, frowning at him. Sometimes, she really just does not get him. Actually, that's true 99% of the time, and Chloe has to not think about how much their arrangement doesn't make any sense in order to accept that they are partners. He's become an integral part of her life in a way she's not sure she's ever going to understand.

"No one has to die for there to be a mystery to solve, Lucifer." He seems pleased enough, though, and Chloe isn't beyond taking complete advantage of that delight when it means she can use it for her own purposes, and especially if it could help them figure out a way home.

"The real question is, where do we even start?"

He supposes that she's right, seeing as he'd very much like to solve the mystery of who stole his wings, though he already knows that. He'd much rather punish the fool who did it, but it feels like it's going to be him trying very hard to get back at his father, which never ends well.

Given what's been happening with Pierce, he also isn't so sure that he's so blameless.

"I'm a big fan of us soaking in a hot tub as steps number one through three," he says, quite enthusiastically. "From there, I suppose beating up anyone suspicious looking for answers?" No, he clearly has not learned any procedure in the years they've been working together.

"Yeah, no. We're not beating anyone up for answers. Have you paid attention to anything the last year?"

The answer is an obvious "of course not," but in all fairness to Lucifer, what he did pay attention to was severely selective. He certainly learned something, even if it wasn't quite as much as what Chloe would expect (or even what Chloe would wish he'd take away from any given situation) and for how long he's come in the meantime, it's hard to fault him for it, even when it means having to veer him back on track.

"Keep in mind that most of the people here are as much victims as we are," she states. "Not that I think that means that we should trust them, but it does probably mean we need to tread softly. Someone here knows more than they are letting on." She waves her hands through the warm water absentmindedly. "Who have you met here since you arrived?"

"It's always more fun in the movies," he sulks a touch, and rolls his eyes because yes, Detective, he has been paying attention. He's noticed all the boring little rules that go along with procedure and has done his level best to ignore them.

When she talks about the victims, this is where he can get on board. "They're victims, indeed. Poor souls, trapped here by whatever cruel trick my father wants to play on us. Me, especially, but he seems to have rounded up a rather maudlin and mismatched cast of characters," he notes. "I've met several people, from the past, even. Did you know Leonardo da Vinci is here?" he asks her, rather thrilled to say it.

He's not going to tell her about what he may or may not have invented in a bedroom with the man, though. That's his personal business.

"Leave it to you to find any way to name drop."

It's so tempting to just completely ignore his comment, especially because she has grown so used to his seemingly useless prattle and obnoxious nonsequiturs over the time they've spent together that ignoring it is far easier than thinking too long about the implications.

Unfortunately, given the situation, Chloe's own penchant for being severely selective is not doing her any favors and isn't going to as long as she refuses to address what is obviously in front of her.

"How is it possible? That there are people here from the future and the past? How is any of this possible?" The fact that she's looking at Lucifer for any coherent answer is probably an indication of how in over her head she really is.

"I can introduce you, if you'd like. I think I moved myself quite upward in his esteem, very quickly," he brags, his eyes bright as he sinks into the warmth of the hot springs just a little deeper, enjoying the way it allows his muscles to simply relax.

When the Detective begins asking questions that he thinks he could answer, it will require her to take a leap of faith, which she's never been willing to do in the past. "Do you want the truth? Usually when I tell you it, you don't believe me and instead insist on my insanity. I'm not sure we should be going down that path again, but we can attempt it?"

"I never said you were insane."

She's never thought he is, either. Broken, in pain, in denial over things that have happened to him, sure. Occasionally slightly unhinged. But they both have their own coping mechanisms, and while his often frustrate her, she's never judged him for them, either.

Granted, they have never been in a situation quite like this.

"And you said you never lie. So, yes, I obviously want the truth, but I could do without your metaphors in the meantime."

"They're not metaphors," he says sharply, which is the problem they keep coming to. She's never going to believe him, not without proof, and that's not something that he can give her, especially not now that Dad has seen fit to rob him of anything that he could use to prove it to her.

How very clever of him, rendering him on a level playing field with her.

"This is some revenge scheme my father has concocted," he strives forward anyway, because what is there to lose. "I'm working against him to undo his work and he's put me here as a result, likely with other people in similar situations."

"I... That doesn't..."

She huffs an irritated sigh. Somehow, Lucifer always manages to make everything about his drama, but in this case, maybe it wouldn't hurt to at least entertain the idea.

"Fine. If that's the case, though, this place has been here a hell of a lot longer than we have. Why would your father create some massive kidnapping plan and not make you the first target? And why am I here?"

The answer to the second question is more than obvious, but she's not going to dwell on it. Regardless of her complicated feelings for him, Lucifer has had plenty of relationships. It doesn't make any sense that she would stand out that much.

"You're here to punish me," Lucifer assures her, seeing as he already knows this much. After all, she almost died because of his choices before, so to trap her in this place with him while he can't prove anything without his powers seems completely like Dad to do.

He's only surprised that he got away with it for so long. "I'm presuming this is purgatory. That means that of course there would be people here before," he says, as though that's the simplest explanation. "Dad works in mysterious ways, after all."

"I'm here to punish you? Wow."

She takes that entirely the wrong way, of course, crossing her arms in the water and shooting him a cold look. His words are about as far away from assurance as they could possibly get.

"This isn't purgatory. That's ridiculous. Why would purgatory have these?" She raises her arm from the water, gesturing to the band on her wrist. "And supposedly we have powers? I really don't think your dad is behind this."

"That's not what I meant," he huffs out, frustrated that the Detective clearly is jumping to the worst possible explanation when Lucifer is just trying to say that as a result of how important she is, Dad is going out of his way to make sure that he reaps the consequences of that.

Obviously, it's not working.

"He took away my powers. Why wouldn't he distribute them equally to people, in a place where no matter how they use them, they can't escape?" Give them the appearance of free will, with no control or power to get out. It seems plenty obvious to him.

"Then what did you mean, Lucifer? Believe me, I want to be here about as much as you apparently want me here."

And while he's never been particularly good at communicating, she isn't always particularly good at hearing what he's trying to say.

His following explanations are just as unfulfilling, but if he's determined to think his father is behind this, Chloe already knows from experience that there won't be much dissuading him on that fact.

"Fine. He took away all your powers and gave you a new, useless one. That still doesn't explain how he's behind all of this."

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