"When he lights his street lamp, it is as if he brought one more star to life, or one flower. When he puts out his lamp, he sends the flower, or the star, to sleep. That is a beautiful occupation. And since it is beautiful, it is truly useful." Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, The Little Prince.

...

Luce stood just beside the car, on the sidewalk, staring across the street at a little green park. A tree stood beside a gazebo and reached up into the sky, laced over and across with blue and white lights. A glittering, glowing star perched at its top and at its roots large generators made to look like wrapped gifts sat heavily in the dirt.

The shining lights on its boughs illuminated its surroundings and reflected bright in the lenses hiding Luce's blue eyes.

"What is that?"

Elikai grinned, wrapping his fingers around Luce's wrist. "A Christmas tree." He tugged Luce away from the car, gently, and slipped his arm around the man's waist. "To celebrate a generally Christian winter holiday, although it's spreading to be much more mainstream than religious." He led Luce down the sidewalk with a grin. Luce sniffled and leaned against him.

"It's very beautiful." He trailed his gaze along the other various light-decked trees edging the sidewalks and peeking out from shop windows. "Everything is so bright." He couldn't help but stare. His scarf flapped in the slight cool breeze—even in sixty degree weather he refused to take it off. (His fever made him colder than normal, anyhow.) He let out slow, slightly congested breaths. "Where are we going?"

Elikai glanced at him sidelong. "To see a man about a fake passport."

Luce frowned. "Isn't that illegal?"

"Well, yes." Elikai squeezed Luce's hip, leaning his cheek against the softness of his blond hair. "But I'd rather get fake identification for you than attempt to smuggle you across the Mexican border." He tilted his head just enough to press a kiss against Luce's temple. Luce turned his face up and caught a second kiss on his eyebrow, and Elikai accidentally bumped his glasses with his chin.

He laughed and tugged Luce closer toward a storefront, to be out of the way of the people walking along the nighttime sidewalk as he laid his hand along Luce's cheek and kissed him soft and chaste. He pulled Luce's glasses off for convenience, too, and cupped his jaw with gentle fingers. Luce grasped a fistful of Elikai's jacket, distracted and leaning into him. He had to pull back to breathe every few seconds, with the way his nose was stuffed up, but it was just a small hitch in the grand scheme of things.

Elikai stepped back after a moment, parting from their closeness with a quick peck to the cheek. Lucifer pouted and plucked at the fabric of his jacket. His forehead crinkled. He looked up at Elikai with an imploring expression. Elikai snorted.

"Let's go find you a fake ID, Lu." He ruffled Luce's hair. "Kissing can wait."

Luce tilted his head. "What about more than kissing?"

Elikai spluttered and blushed. "Excuse me?"

"Well," Luce shrugged, shuffling his feet. "I'm curious. About sex."

"I—" Elikai let out a quiet huff, mouth curving at the edges. "Fine. We'll get to that after your passport though, okay?"

Luce nodded.

...

Luce sat on the bed with a blank passport in his hands. Not a fake, but rather a stolen blank the he had spent almost all day filling out with Elikai's help. He flipped it about a little bit, and slipped it into the backpack he had taken to carrying with him. Glanced up, to watch Elikai sitting on the other bed, browsing the internet. He adjusted his glasses. Folded his hands in his lap. Fidgeted, and bit his lip.

After what seemed like an eternity Eli finally looked up with a raised eyebrow. He smirked. "Something wrong, Lu?" He earned a petulant glare for that. Quickly caved, and gestured Luce over. "C'mere." He shut his laptop and pushed it to the side.

With a sudden blooming grin, Luce slunk from one bed to the other and draped himself across Elikai's lap. His scarf got caught under his knee, so he uncoiled it from his neck and let it drop to the sheets, circling his arms around Elikai's neck. Elikai rolled his eyes but he pushed Luce over onto his back and down against the blankets, and kissed him. Luce squirmed around to get more comfortable beneath Elikai, wrapping his legs loosely about his waist.

Elikai pushed their mouths together, slow and careful.

The sheets rustled. Luce melted. He liked how warm Elikai was—how when his palms brushed along Luce's waist a thrum of heat hummed through him. How his mouth was hot on Luce's face. How his gray eyes weren't cold, but held a soft, sunny glow like clouds at dusk, when he looked at Luce. Maybe that was just a trick of the light but it set Luce's heart going at an unfamiliar pace, and he shut his eyes and brought his hands to rest against the base of Elikai's head, and caged him closer with raised knees.

He wanted to spend the rest of his life like that—not needing to do a thing. Just lazily kissing, close and maybe a little overheated.

And Eli never ranged anywhere unfamiliar. He kept his hands along the skin of Luce's back and stomach and around his face, just exploring and slow and gentle.

Luce appreciated it. He appreciated that if he felt uncomfortable with any kind of touch, he didn't need to speak it out loud. Elikai could tell, so he would never let his hand stray below the belt and he would never touch Luce's throat and he would be gentle around his shoulder blades and smooth his palms up the skin along Luce's sides. And that was all. And that was nice. Just modest kisses and chaste touches.

Though, Luce wondered... He propped himself up on his elbows and muttered, "This is different from in the movies."

Elikai grinned. "Yes, it is." He pushed at the spiky tufts of Luce's hair. "Movies are very different from real life."

Luce looked at him with slightly crossed eyes.

"Okay." He smiled. "That's good, because the way people kiss in movies is mildly revolting."

Elikai just laughed, and rolled onto his side next to Luce, with one arm draped across the stouter man's stomach. He raised an eyebrow and watched Luce—Luce stared back at him with low-lidded eyes and deep concentration like he might be able to memorize Eli's face if he gazed at it for long enough. And maybe he could. But that wasn't really his purpose—of course not.

He just liked to look at Elikai.