Shenanigans 2/3

He heard the drumming long before they reached the market. The sound traveled despite being muffled by the ashy air. He hadn't heard anything like it before, and he grabbed Fraq's arm and pulled her to the side. "What's happening?"

She raised her eyebrows and then started laughing. "What do you think it sounds like?"

"A battle?"

She nearly doubled over with mirth. "Don't you know what music is?"

He snorted. He knew music better than any Lilim could imagine, this was not music. "This isn't music."

But Fraq shook her head and grabbed his hand and tugged him along. "No battles, no thunder. Come and see for yourself."

The noise of it only grew louder the closer they got. So loud and so deep he felt his bones vibrate with the strange rhythm. He had his hands over his ears by the time they reached the actual square.

"You're sure this isn't a battle?" he asked Fraq. She didn't hear him. He asked her again, much louder and right next to her ear, and she grinned and tugged him toward it.

The crowd of Lilim in the center of the square were tossing themselves around as though they were fighting, but with no visible opponents. It made no sense. Howling shrieks rose up through the cacophony of noise, the same cry they made when they fought, but again, they all seemed happy with each other at the moment.

Fraq pulled him to the edge of the turmoil and started hopping around and throwing herself about as well.

Was it an illness? He pulled her out. "What is wrong with you?"

"Dancing. Come, you'll like it." She grabbed and pulled him forward again.

He tensed as he entered the fray, expecting some manic possession to overtake him as it had everyone else. He didn't feel any different. Fraq continued holding his hands and jumping around, and then rolled her eyes.

On her tippy toes, she leaned up and yelled into his ear, "You have to move. Jump, do what I do. Feel it!"

Still cautious, he hopped in place. He didn't feel anything other than his bones reverberating from the deep sounds.

A flask moved through the crowd, Lilim drank and then passed it on. Fraq snatched it, took a swallow, and shoved it at him. "Drink!"

Oh. Alcohol. He took a sip. It was much stronger than anything he'd had yet. And sweet, he definitely liked that. He took another long gulp before handing it back to Fraq, and she passed it on to travel the crowd once more.

A familiar smell reached his senses. Hair-moss. A stick of that made its way around as well, Fraq ensured he had a fair turn, and then that too carried on its way.

His limbs began to relax, the sound nestled deep within him, Fraq continued hopping around, and tried again. She grinned and let out a wild howl, and he felt it. The sound moved him. He hopped with the beat, swaying and following Fraq's lead as they pounded the ground together.

But then she grabbed his hand and tugged him out of the circle. Lucifer followed reluctantly. He'd only just found this new pastime, why leave it so soon?

"Dames!" Fraq grinned, her fangs and sharp little front teeth glistening.

Oh right. She wanted more pouches to steal. He let her pull him off to the side.

"Do you want me to create a diversion?"

"The festival is the diversion. Anyway, the Dames won't pay attention to you. You aren't the kind of male they want. When I pass you the pouch, hide it in your cloak. They won't be able to prove I took it if I don't have it on me."

They'd done this before. In the unlikely scenario that Fraq got caught, she'd be searched, and without any evidence of her misdeeds on her, they'd have to let her go without a beating. Anyway, he still needed the hair-moss for Maze. Rillam's shack was close enough for a waiting point.

Rillam grumbled at him when he pushed coin her way. "Move along. Can't have you scaring away my customers."

He rolled his eyes, used to her insults by now, and didn't take it personally. "What is the celebration about?"

She shrugged. "Does it matter? A reason to party is reason enough." Rillam laughed.

There had been celebrations in the Silver City. They were always serious events accompanied by specific rites and songs of praise.

He tucked the hair-moss into his travel bag and turned, casually searching the crowd for Fraq. She was slinking around a group of dames at a leather stall. No one paid her any attention. What was so special about them that…

Oh, there was Izuden. Her dark hair brushed her shoulders, hanging down as far as her spiraling mauve and gold flecked horns rose up, and the colorful leather dress she wore was wrapped tightly around her breast and hips, flowing out around her feet. Her face was painted gold to match her eyes.

Twisted maggot-tails. Of course, as luck would have it, Fraq had narrowed in on Izuden for her thieving. He sliced through the throng of Lilim to the stall where Izuden was testing the texture of fine hides, and 'accidentally' bumped Fraq with his hip, sending her sprawling.

She jumped up and the stink eye she sent his way was impressive. He waved her away with a hand behind his back as he stepped up beside her intended target.

"Issiden!" He cleared his throat as she looked his way. Why was he always mucking up her name? "Izuden." On his second try, the word formed more clearly and he grinned. The chances she would acknowledge him were grim. It would do Izuden's social standing no good to consort with a beast like himself, and he fully expected to be outright rejected than receive any kind of friendly greeting. But, at least, his mission to foil Fraq's theft was a success.

"Samael?" She blinked at him and brought her hand up to his face, touched his skin in wonder. "Your skin, how?"

He'd forgotten the last time she saw him had been so different, it was a wonder Izuden recognized him at all. He self-consciously looked down at his hands. "A glamour—"

It caught him completely off guard when she grabbed his hand and dragged him closer to her companions. "This is the living angel! This is Samael, I told you about him."

They stopped and stared, open-mouthed.

"Uh?"

Izuden grinned. "I was there when warrior Mazikeen delivered him to our Soverain," she told the Lilim beside her proudly. Her companion was tall, her nose and both cheeks were bone and sinew, and her eyes an even brighter gold than Izuden's. She was very round and protruding at the waist, a feature the Dame seemed proud of showing off.

"Did Mazikeen bring you out for the festival?" Izuden asked, searching the faces nearby.

"No, I'm here with—" he glanced over at Fraq, still glaring daggers at him. He didn't like the implication that he needed an escort to leave Maze's dome. "I'm here by myself."

Izuden's eyes grew wide. "Wow! Mazikeen let you out on your own?"

"Yes, yes, I've been out on my own before."

Izuden clapped her hands excitedly. "That means you're all mine for the next few fingers of ash. Oh, this is going to be amazing."

"Wait, what?"

"Tatiana, give me your thistles. He likes thistles." She grabbed a sack from her round companion and shook one of the treats onto her palm. "You've been good. Have one."

He gently pushed her hand away from his face. "Uhm, I've—" Maybe insisting he was alone hadn't been such a great idea after all. He gestured toward Fraq to come to his rescue.

Fraq only scowled and shook her head before disappearing back into the crowd. Great.

"Izuden—"

But she was back at grabbing at her companion. "I taught him to talk. Listen to him, he forms words so well now." She turned back to him excitedly. "Say, dizzy-eyed flapdragon for us!"

He should have let Fraq steal Izuden's pouch. "Izuden—"

"You can do it," she encouraged.

"I know I can. I don't want—"

"Don't be shy. I've told all my companions about our journey together."

"Okay, fine. Dizzy-eyed flapdragon."

She squealed and clapped her hands again, looking to her companion with pride. She offered him the thistle again. He swallowed the foul taste creeping up his throat as images of being fed thistles after each Lilim finished coupling with him. But rather than stand and let them look at him as though he didn't understand, he took the treat and forced it down quickly.

"I should get back to Mazikeen," he tried to excuse himself.

"Oh right, I guess you're only allowed out for a short amount of time?"

Lucifer was tempted to roll with that, but indignation got the better of him. "No. I don't need to get back to her, I just—"

"That's perfect, I want to show you the Leisure Hall the Spire put together."

Anything to do with the Spire made his skin crawl, but she had hold of his elbow and was already directing him across the market. He pulled away. "Izuden, no. I don't want to have anything to do with the Spire."

She seemed shocked at first, but then squared her shoulders and gazed intently into his eyes as she placed a hand securely on his arm. "Samael, you don't have to be afraid. I can protect you."

First things first, every time she said his other name he wanted to shudder. "I don't go by the name Samael anymore. My name is Lucifer." And he already knew she couldn't protect him. But that was beside the point. "I'm not frightened. I don't want anything to do with the Spire."

"But it was the handler responsible for your care who hurt you, not the dames. You can't blame the whole Spire for what happened."

Yes he could.

"Then how about the fashion tent instead, then?" She suggested and poked at his cloak and chiton. "Not that these aren't serviceable, but would you like to see what's popular? I'll buy you a flask of fermented tea."

"Why are you insisting I come with you?"

She shrugged and glanced away. "I thought, maybe, we could have fun. Like we did when I first met you on the trail."

"That wasn't fun for me."

"But, I remember you smiled. I remember you laughing as we sounded out words together."

"I was a prisoner."

"But, what about after, in the Spire, when I visited. There were many ashfalls I came to you and we talked. I taught you more words. That wasn't horrible was it?"

"After Maze went away, your visits were all I had to look forward to. You were the only thing left that wasn't horrible. And when you stopped coming..."

Izuden visibly swallowed, and her horns flushed into a deeper purple. She reached out and touched her fingers to his. "Will you come share Fermented tea? I can buy some more thistles."

"No more thistles." Lucifer was the one who took her elbow this time and he steered her away from the snack vendor. "Don't treat me like a beast to be rewarded for performing tricks."

"I thought you liked thistles."

He did like them. Or he used to. He sighed and gestured in the direction they had been going. "The fashion tent?"

"Yes!" she grinned and got excited again, pulling him along as she had before. "They have the best fitted tunics. You need to try them on. And leggings and sandals. We're getting all kinds of new materials from the conquest of Regolith's Collective, it's fantastic."

Lucifer followed, half listening to her chatter on and on about cuts and textures and colors. He really didn't understand the point to it all. Wasn't one body covering the same as any other? It was all inconvenient and restrictive.

The tent was on the edge of the market, far enough away from the booming noise of the drums to be able to hear clearly. She pulled him to the side where all the leathers and vendors were and started pulling off his cloak. "Take your clothes off."

Lucifer glanced around. There were sheltered from the ash here, but Maze had seemed adamant about the necessity of covering his body outside of her dome. He hesitated.

Izuden rolled her eyes. "How else are we to figure out what fits you?"

She had a point. There was a group of female Lilim with their tunics off, standing at another table trying on various tops. And Maze had meant outdoors, hadn't she? He unpinned the chiton.

"Sandals and leggings too," Izuden urged.

There were hides on the ground for walking on, and he certainly wasn't about to argue against taking the sandals off. "Now what?"

"Now, we find things for you to wear." She eyed him critically, and then sorted through a rack of cut leather before pulling one out and holding it up in front of him. "Try this one."

It was just a long piece of leather with two holes in it. "How?"

Izuden turned back to him and blinked. "Oh, yes. I forget you don't know things." She took the piece and held it so his arms went into the holes, and then brought it up to his shoulders and wrapped around the front, the length reaching just above his knees. "How does that feel?" Her body pressed against his as she stood at his back and wrapped her arms around his waist to fasten the belt.

A commotion caught his attention near the entrance…

Maze. His heart and stomach flipped and he wasn't sure if he should be relieved or ashamed. Izuden seemed to have the same reaction and quickly took two steps back, putting distance between them.

"Lucifer," Maze strode up to his side and eyed Izuden with disdain. Her hand came to rest on his shoulder and she stood so close their hips pressed together.

"Mazikeen," Izuden grinned and gestured with quick movements to the leather table. "Doesn't he look fabulous?"

"He does," Maze agreed.

Izuden beamed. "Does the tunic feel good, Lucifer?"

"Yes, actually." The leather was soft, and even the end cut pieces didn't pinch or rub against his skin. Maze's presence and close proximity distracted him from saying more as her hand traveled down his back and to his hip. She stepped to the side, and looked him up and down.

Maze looked back to Izuden, "How about leggings?"

"Oh, yes," Izuden hopped off to search the inventory laid out in front of her.

Lucifer glanced at Maze, "How did you know where to find me?"

"Your little whelp friend came running, said you'd been stolen by dames." She smirked. "I have to admit, this is not what I expected to find."

Lucifer glanced over at Izuden. "She said there was fermented tea here."

Izuden returned and passed a pile of leggins to Maze.

"Try these on," Maze passed them to Lucifer, and it did not escape his notice that Maze had placed herself as intermediary between himself and Izuden. The sudden shift in power dynamics confused him. Izuden was a dame and technically Maze's superior, but Maze assumed authority despite what he understood about social hierarchy. The roles here weren't rigid, and seemed as chaotic as everything else he'd encountered so far.

Izuden continued following Maze's lead, sorting through the garments and passing the ones Maze expressed interest in. Maze took over helping him with the complicated garments and showed him how to correctly put each one on, all while avoiding making him feel ignorant for not knowing things he'd never encountered before. It was a welcome contrast to how felt with Izuden's help.

There were so many outfit changes, by the end, he knew the ins and outs of how to pull on and off the body coverings about as well as any Lilim did.

When Maze seemed satisfied with the result, she tugged him off to the side where a tall black slab of stone leaned against tent wall. "See?"

The polished black surface reflected an undistorted reflection. Lucifer grinned and admired the image looking back at him. Perhaps this whole body covering thing wasn't so bad after all.

Next came the sandals and it wasn't nearly as torturous as he expected. He couldn't believe how soft they were. Izuden grew brave again and even spoke to him directly despite Maze's presence.

"Can you put these on yourself?"

Maze scoffed and intervened. "Of course he can," she answered in his stead and stood aside as he crouched and fastened the sandals.

Satisfied, Izuden stuffed his old clothing into his travel bag. "Now that his attire is presentable. We need to work on his face. Mazikeen?"

Maze eyed him critically.

He brought a hand up to his cheek, worried his glamor had slipped. But no, he felt only smooth perfect skin. "There's nothing wrong with my face."

Maze gave Izuden a nod, and the dame broke into a huge smile. "You're going to love this," she promised and dragged him to the other side of the tent. There were various tables set up with all kinds of paint, sticks, and powders. She picked up an assorted tray and brought it to a collection of soft mats on the ground.

Lucifer sat and poked at the various tools on the tray. "What is all this?" he asked and picked at a dark stick out of a little pot and drew it across the back of his hand. It left a thick dark mark.

"You've never decorated your face?" Izuden asked eagerly.

"Why would I? It's perfect as it is." His fingertips were smeared where he'd touched it, and he looked around for something to wipe them on, finally deciding on the inside of his travel bag. Even then the marking didn't come completely off.

"Stay still," Maze murmured plucked the little stick out of the jar and reached at him. "This is kohl."

Lucifer leaned away.

"You want to see what this does or not?" Maze asked.

"Fine."

She reached for him again, the kohl stick in her hand aiming straight for his eye and he reeled away.

Maze sighed. "Izuden, do me first, so he can see what its for."

The dame nearly bounced with excitement as she took the same stick from Maze and got really close to her face. Maze looked up at the ceiling, and Izuden started tracing the kohl around her eyes. Lucifer watched with rapt attention.

The stick wasn't going in the eye after all, only outlining the area around it, making the eye seem larger. Brighter.

"Why have you never done this before?"

Maze shrugged, careful not to move and disturb Izuden's line. "Haven't had a reason to."

Izuden's tongue poked out of her lips as she concentrated, and then ended with a flourishing line out at the side.

Mazikeen blinked a couple of times, and then smiled. She turned to Lucifer. "Ready?"

He nodded and did as she had and looked up at the ceiling and resisted the urge to blink or turn away. Maze didn't stop with outlining his eye. She made extra sweeps with the stick, dabbing more paint as she continued. He waited patiently, trying to blink as little as possible until she finished.

She leaned back and grinned. "I like it. Go look in the mirror," she suggested.

And Lucifer went, he stared at his reflection, at his outfit and his outlined eyes. It looked strange. There were smudges running from the outline, dipping outwards, seeming to fade as they went. So different than who he used to be. Excellent. He returned to Maze and Izuden and looked over the rest of the tray. There was so much more than kohl to play with. "What else is there?"

Izuden hummed. "There is paint for the lips, and for the eye lids. We can also make a design along your face if you want."

He grinned. "I want it all."

Maze brought fermented tea and assorted edible — things on a tray— back to where they sat on the mats. They drank as Izuden and Maze took turns with the colorful pastes in the pots.

Izuden chose blue paint for her lips, and Mazikeen went with purple. Lucifer chose black for himself. Then came the cheeks, he found something with a gold tinge to it and passed it to Maze to paint on him. Maze chose a combination of colours in swirls, and Izuden added some designs in blue to the gold she already had painted on her.

The tea was both bitter and sweet, and left a tingling sensation on Lucifer's tongue that he enjoyed, even though it did make speaking Lilim somewhat sloppier than usual.

"Issooden," he said and tilted his head to the side when the fancy dame looked his way. "Repeat after me." He slowly sounded out a wave of song.

She made a face and laughed before taking another sip of her own tea. "What is that supposed to mean?"

Maze flicked the younger Lilim's arm. "Just do it, it makes him happy to show off."

With a slight frown, Izuden copied the noises.

Lucifer laughed loudly and rolled onto his back. "No, not like that." He repeated again, the song slow and clear. "Again, come on."

She tried. She sounded it out, followed his careful instructions, and finally was able to form something relatively close to what he'd told her. He offered her a small flesh object that he assumed was edible and she accepted.

Izuden rolled her eyes. "Those weren't words."

"Angel words," Maze interjected.

Izuden puzzled over it. "What did I say?"

"I don't know how to translate it," he laughed and finally sat up when Izuden growled. "Okay, okay, I'll try," he said, still laughing. "Time bends in waves of light."

Lucifer laughed all the harder as both Maze and Izuden looked confused.

"Is that supposed to mean something?"

Lucifer rolled his eyes. "About as much as dizzy-eyed flapdragon means to me."

Maze cleared her throat and let out a warbling off key grunt and Lucifer smiled with delight.

"My name!" he leaned in close to her and playfully nipped at her neck. "So you are teachable," he teased, then laughed again at the marks left on her throat from his painted lips.

Izuden poured him more fermented tea, and he eagerly drank it up.

He watched the Lilim around them, sorting through the piles of leather coverings and painting themselves and others. A male was having his horns decorated with a glittery paste that reminded him of distant twinkling stars. Would any of his siblings appreciate these things as much as he did?

Fingers snapped in front of his face and he blinked. Maze sat glowering at him, "Where'd you go?"

"Somewhere I doubt I'll ever go again," he said, feeling a tightness in his chest at the thought.

Maze stared at him, "Its time to head back." She stood up and reached for Lucifer's hand. He stood with her but wobbled a moment before finding his balance. His lips and fingers and toes felt numb and his eyes felt slow as everything moved around him in a swaying fashion. It was delightful. Maze kept a firm grip on his arm, a steady force in the shifting world around him.

Izuden was suddenly at him, her arms around his neck and nuzzling his face. He smiled and blinked at the attention as she pulled away and whispered something to Maze that made them both laugh.

Everything looked new like this. Colorful in a way it never was with clear eyes. "Maze, the drums, I want you to listen to the drums," he tugged her toward the throng of wildly moving Lilim and she followed. Or was she leading? It was hard to tell.

The closer they got to the drumming the more he could feel the rhythm pounding in his bones, and he started hopping along with the rest of them. Maze joined, her hand never leaving his.

Everything else fell away, there was just the beat and there was Maze, the way things should be. The pounding rhythm changed and the Lilim around them howled and screeched, and he let out a noise along with them that set Maze laughing. He did it again and she copied, and everything felt good and alive.