[video; ACTION]

[shifting]

Hey - [Sam looks very busy! He's in his office at Merlotte's, gathering up files, folders...] - wanted to let everybody know to come down to Merlotte's tonight, we've got a few stand-up comics hired for the night show and some drink specials. I won't be there though, I've got to meet with some people about gettin' a loan, but I've got someone I used to work with at Club 24 coverin' for me tonight. She's real sweet, so I want ya'll to make her feel welcome, okay? - And don't think this means you can act up in the club; I'll still be back to kick ya'll in the ass tomorrow if you do.

[he grabs his keys, waves at the NV and sets it face-down on his desk. There's a muffled conversation, and soon after a woman picks the NV up and smirks]

...Hey there. I'm Sandra - I'll be watchin' the bar for Sam tonight. Hope to see you all in.



((APRIL FOOLS - with a little help from the devil, Sam's in touch with his feminine side tonight and plans to troll you all. You can respond to this like a post or start an action thread in the club!))

Comments

[thelightbringer]

[Lucifer is drunk enough to not want to repeat himself, so he'd begun playing with sugar packets, making (or trying to make) a house with them.]

Why not? We're both angels, we're from the same place. We should stick together.

[ofthursday]

[He watches him, and his response to that answer is bitter.]

Angels never want to 'stick together' with me.

[thelightbringer]

Well, isn't that just a coincidence.

Do you see any of our siblings lining up to see me?

[ofthursday]

[He bristles at that.]

With reason.

[thelightbringer]

And what, they should be gathered around singing your praises instead? They have reason to hate you, too.

But I don't hate you, Castiel. [He starts pouring sugar into his brother's drink] not really. I told you this would happen, didn't I? The second I wasn't the big scapegoat, everyone would turn on you. With good reason from what I hear.

[ofthursday]

[Castiel scowls at his bother's words, mostly because he can't argue his points, even if he weren't drunk. He sort of rocks in his seat, frowning, eyes shifting to Lucifer pouring sugar into the coffee.]

I was trying to fix what you and Michael and Raphael started.

[thelightbringer]

You were trying to fix the war...with more war and ultimatums. Really. Who does that sound like? [Innocent smile, as he gestures very slightly at himself.]

[ofthursday]

The only other choice was to let Raphael continue unopposed and the losses would be even greater. There was no good choice and this wasn't anything like what you did. You started a war in the midst of peace.

[He's invested enough in this that he manages to form words decently well, despite the alcohol.]

[thelightbringer]

There would have been peace if you'd let Raphael have his way. [Just like there would have been if Lucifer hadn't defied God. Look at the damn parallels, Castiel, just look at them.]

[ofthursday]

Among angels, yes. Among humans, it would've been widespread death.

[NOT LOOKING]

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[thelightbringer]

Because humans are such a peaceful species.

You suck, Luci

[ofthursday]

They wouldn't take out half the planet.

[thelightbringer]

Wanna bet? Do you even know what a nuclear arms race is? How about global warming?

[ofthursday]

I'm well aware of all of those things. But if they destroy themselves it's far different than being wiped out by angels.

[thelightbringer]

Why? Because they'll take the planet with them? They're vermin, Castiel.

[ofthursday]

No. They're different from us, and that is all.

[There's only a brief hesitation before the alcohol spurs him on.]

You're simply jealous of them, and always have been.

[thelightbringer]

I'm not. [He's deeply honest about it, even moreso because of the alcohol.] I hate them. I don't want to be like them, I don't want anything they have anymore. I'm not envious. I just want them as far from me as possible.

[ofthursday]

[That takes him aback slightly and he doesn't know how to respond for a moment.]

Then stay away from them. You don't have to kill them.

[thelightbringer]

That was the plan. Take Michael, run like hell's on our heels. He isn't on board. Then you throw us in a cage.

So, now I get to rethink all my life's ambitions. Like just how many ways there really are to crack open a human skull. [He grins lazily at his youngest brother] Unless something changes and he decides to ride off with me after all.

[ofthursday]

You don't need Michael to agree with you. You can choose to walk away on your own. He isn't fighting you here.

[He finally picks up his coffee, somewhat unsteadily, and takes a sip.]

[thelightbringer]

He's never agreed with me. But don't you get it? I need him. [He's drunk. Not falling-down blackout drunk, but enough to be more open than he'd normally like.] I love him, more than I love...I don't know.

The same way you needed the Winchesters. But more than that.

[ofthursday]

[Castiel recognizes that Lucifer's drunk too, on some level; that he's being honest and open about this. And it makes Castiel a little curious, but the mention of the Winchesters prompts him to put down his coffee again and make another bitter remark.]

The Winchesters turned on me. I have to get along without them, now, just as you must without Michael.

[He hadn't intended to tell Lucifer about the Winchesters, but it just comes out, and he can't take it back.]

[thelightbringer]

[The difference is he has Michael, he has a shot at turning this around. He's drunk enough to consider an 'I told you so', but sober enough not to even hint that he thought about it.]

And 'getting along' is a lot easier when you have someone who's been turned away from every door and knows what it's like to be on Heaven's Most Wanted.

[ofthursday]

[Castiel has Sam and Dean here too, but even though he and Sam are speaking again, he can't look at him without remembering everything that happened, and his skin still crawls when Sam comes too close. And Dean... After the last things they said to each other at home, even if this Dean is from earlier, Castiel still knows when it comes down to it what Dean will do.

But he's not going to let himself be swayed so easily, either.]

I am nothing like you.

[But though the words are an echo of what he said to Anna, the conviction he'd had then is gone, not just because of the alcohol. He'd said it himself, to Crowley, that he would become the next Lucifer. And he's beginning to be really afraid he has.]

[thelightbringer]

Yes. You are. Do you really want me to list all the ways we're alike, brother? [He moves his hand, like batting away a mosquito]

You don't need me to do that. In all this time, you're the only one who's not only understood what I did while opposing it, but then gone on to do the exact same things for the exact same reasons.

Face it. Without me, you'd be the only one who could fill that space in the balance of things. Not Crowley, not the armies of Hell.

You.