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𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐄.
[0𝟗]. 𝐖𝐇𝐀𝐓 𝐖𝐀𝐒 𝐇𝐎𝐏𝐄
𝐃𝐎𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐈𝐍 𝐘𝐎𝐔𝐑 𝐃𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐌𝐒?
【 𝐏𝐀𝐑𝐓 𝐎𝐍𝐄 】
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❛ 𝘌𝘈𝘛 𝘔𝘌, 𝘍𝘙𝘌𝘋𝘋𝘠 𝘒𝘙𝘜𝘌𝘎𝘌𝘙 ❜
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𝐓𝐇𝐑𝐄𝐄 𝐒𝐎𝐋𝐈𝐃 𝐊𝐍𝐎𝐂𝐊𝐒 𝐂𝐀𝐌𝐄 𝐓𝐎 Nathaniel's dorm room, and the nephilim quickly perked up at the sound. It was well passed two in the morning, but Nathaniel's light was still on, and the nephilim was sure it could be seen from the small crevasses of his door. So, instead of feigning sleep, the nephilim silently put his book down on his nightstand and sat up on his bed.

"Come in," Nathaniel huskily said.

And in came Hope- pajamas on, her hair pulled back and not an ounce of makeup in sight. But to Nathaniel, she was still as breathtaking as ever. Which was a weird thought, because the nephilim had seen her that way various times in his life, but that was the first time he was seeing the tribrid in a different light after what had occurred, the thing that changed their dynamic completely.

"Hi," Hope sighed, sitting down on the edge of Nathaniel's bed.

Nathaniel half-smiled. "Hey. What brings you here?"

Hope shrugged. "I couldn't sleep. My mind keeps going in circles after everything that happened today with the whole waking up in the middle of that field and all."

Nathaniel nodded. "Yeah, I get it. I keep trying to remember how the hell we even got there, but I'm only getting back bits and pieces at the moment- have you gotten any luck in recollection?"

There was slight hesitation, but Hope ended up shaking her head. "Not really."

And Nathaniel hummed to that. There was a slight silence, but it didn't take the chance to turn awkward as Nathaniel shifted his hand out of the sheets to take a hold of Hope's. The tribrid smiled at their intertwined fingers, and the nephilim mirrored her expression. They hadn't had the chance to talk about the kiss, but something in Nathaniel told him that it wasn't a fluke. Hope meant her words, and it was the start of something for them. Nathaniel was sure of that.

"I meant what I said earlier," Nathaniel confessed, his heart beating rapidly in his chest. "I've been in love with you since forever and I just now realized it. I'm sorry."

Hope's eyebrows furrowed. "Sorry?"

Nathaniel nodded. "I repressed the whole thing and I know we could have had something before if I hadn't been so keen on looking it over. Also, I was a dick- I mean, I'm still a dick, but I can be nicer."

Hope chuckled slightly. "You were. But we're here. I think that counts for something."

Nathaniel sighed blissfully. "I guess you're right."

There was a minor silence.

Then, someone tsked. "Is she, though?"

Nathaniel head snapped in the direction the voice came from, so fast, the nephilim almost got whiplash. And there, in the corner of his room, stood a tall man in a black suit. Before the nephilim knew it, he was on his feet. And when he turned to Hope, the tribrid wasn't sitting on his bed, nor was she even in the room anymore. A narrow of the nephilim's eyebrows ensued, and Nathaniel quickly landed his eyes on the stranger once again.

"Who the hell are you?" Nathaniel instantly questioned, his tone of voice leaving no room for peacefulness.

The man half-chuckled, taking a seat in Nathaniel's wooden chair, just beside his bedside table. "You're not what I was expecting. Humanity has made you soft."

Nathaniel's eyes narrowed on the stranger. "What you were expecting-? Dude, who the fuck are you?"

That's when the man's eyes turned a dark shade of glowing red irises and Nathaniel's heart dropped to his stomach. The nephilim knew those eyes by memory. There was no confusing them- too ingrained in his mind to be able to. They had been in his dreams since Nathaniel was able to consciously remember them and his nightmares had never been the same once he knew who they belonged to-

"Lucifer."

Lucifer smirked and Nathaniel shuddered. "That's my boy- a smart one he is."

It had to be a nightmare.

Which meant Lucifer did something to reconnect himself through Angel radio to be able to communicate with Nathaniel- but Alaric had made sure that couldn't happen anymore, or that's what they had thought. Freya had made a spell through his request. This wasn't supposed to be happening anymore. The Mikaelson witch had severed the connection between father and son. And Nathaniel hadn't dreamt of Lucifer in over a decade.

It was either that, or the devil broke out of hell and Nathaniel could only wonder-

Was that what the demons were trying to tell him?

"I'm dreaming," Nathaniel stated. And though the nephilim wasn't sure of the statement, he spoke it like he knew it as fact. "You aren't real."

Lucifer chuckled. "You really want to bet on that?"

Nathaniel shrugged in disinterest, his expression hard and closed off. "Humor me, Dad. Let's pretend for a second I think you're actually real- why are you even here? Because I'm sure you wouldn't be looking for some father-son bonding time."

Lucifer huffed in amusement with a shake of his head as his eyebrows shot up. "You're one tough cookie, I'll give you that- Well, son, after I was so rudely interrupted from ending the world by being locked up, I figured the first thing I'd do after getting out would be starting from where I left off."

"Which is," Nathaniel encouraged.

"With you, silly," Lucifer smirked at Nathaniel's confusion before making a pouty face. "Oh, don't look so glim. You belong to hell, Nathaniel. I'm here to take you home- unless you give me what I want."

Nathaniel's eyebrows furrowed. "What you want?"

"Don't play dumb," Lucifer snorted.

"I don't know what the hell you're talking about."

That's when Lucifer's face fell. "Wrong choice."

And before Nathaniel saw what was coming, Lucifer's hands took a hold of the nephilim's forearms. An intense burning sensation began to rise Nathaniel's arms, and when the nephilim looked down in a panic, he noticed the skin surrounding Lucifer's hands began to blister. That was something foreign. Nephilim skin didn't react that way to anything.

"Give me what I want, Nate," Lucifer spat.

Nathaniel gritted his teeth. "Go to hell."

Lucifer snorted. "But I'm taking you with me."

As Nathaniel felt the ground swallowing him up, there was a flash of a woman wearing a black Victorian dress, along with a matching black veil. And as the uneasy feeling in his chest increased, everything stopped.

And Nathaniel awoke with a jump.

A gasp followed, and the burning sensation on Nathaniel's arms didn't fade- in fact, the feeling remained. And when the nephilim looked down, there were two hands printed into his skin, like it had been burnt into them. The concern that followed only made Nathaniel jump out of bed and head for Doctor Saltzman's office.

And when Nathaniel found Hope there as well, the nephilim turned apprehensive.

"What's wrong?"

Alaric Saltzman was the first to notice Nathaniel, and when the question was asked, Hope instantly turned to the nephilim with slight surprise, though the tribrid hid it quite well. Nathaniel had walked in on something, and he felt out of the loop. They had never left the nephilim out of the loop. Something was wrong.

"A little late, isn't it?" Nathaniel inquired.

Alaric cleared his throat. "Hope and I were just discussing what monster could be coming next."

Nathaniel hummed. "Without me?"

Hope in return sighed lightly. "I was going to talk to you about it tomorrow."

Nathaniel nodded slowly, still skeptical about the conversation he had walked in on but deciding on not mentioning it. "Well, I don't think that'll be necessary."

Alaric's eyebrows furrowed. "Why?"

There was a slight pause as Nathaniel extended his arms before Hope and Alaric, revealing the nasty red handprints on his forearms. Astonished looks ensued and Nathaniel shook his head, looking down at the marks with a worried expression. If that didn't mean there was a new monster, then Lucifer had indeed invaded the nephilim's head and that was dangerous.

"What happened?" Hope instantly asked, holding the nephilim's arms and caressing the marks.

Nathaniel shrugged, his whole demeanor signaling the nephilim was worried. "I was having a nightmare- Lucifer was there and he tried pulling me back to hell. When I woke up the marks were still there and they're not healing- Ric, they're supposed to be healing."

"Okay, okay, calm down," Alaric quickly was out of his seat and guiding the nephilim to sit on a chair. "Sit down, let's not get worked up."

Nathaniel nodded as he sat. "Freya's spell either malfunctioned, or there's a new monster that found a loophole. If these marks aren't healing, then they're directly from hell. Lucifer has complete connection with me now."

Alaric breathed heavily. "Okay, let's deal with one thing at a time. Do you remember anything else from your nightmare?"

There was a slight pause as Nathaniel thought back.

And then it came to him.

"A woman," Nathaniel huffed, the nephilim's eyebrows knitting in. "She had this Victorian-type black dress and a veil. I saw her just before waking up- Lucifer was telling me to give him what he wanted. I'm gonna take a guess and say he wants that urn for her."

With that, Alaric was out of his seat and reaching for a book on one of his shelves. "Every culture on earth has legends about creatures that only appear in dreams. But a woman in a black dress and a veil is pretty specific."

A Night Hag.

A malevolent spirit.

And she could only interact through dreams.

Come morning, Alaric was to announce their newfound creature and evacuations were quickly put into play. And as the announcement was made, and everyone began to disperse- some for class, others for evacuation- Nathaniel's eyes caught Landon Kirby walking up to Hope and starting up a conversation with the tribrid. Consequently, nephilim jealousy ensued.

"Move," Nathaniel pulled at Landon's shoulder once the nephilim reached him.

And without much, Nathaniel was stood before Hope, pulling at the back of the tribrid's neck to bring her in for a solemn kiss. The nephilim could practically feel the surprise radiating from Landon, which made Nathaniel smile over Hope's lips.

"Hey," Nathaniel separated himself with a giddy smile on his face.

And Hope mirrored it. "Hey."

"So, seemingly, there will be no shuteye for any of us," Nathaniel recapped, entwining his fingers with Hope's.

Hope nodded, squeezing Nathaniel's hand. "It appears to be so."

Nathaniel hummed. "How about a coffee?"

"Yes, please," Hope smiled before swiftly turning to Landon Kirby. "Talk later?"

Landon seemed upset. "Sure."

And with that, Hope was whisked away by Nathaniel, who wasn't too keen on the idea of Hope and Landon having a future interaction, but the nephilim decided on letting it go. There were more important things than dwelling on Wednesday having Hope's attention. Like researching Night Hag information with Hope Mikaelson, to end the nephilim's misery of not being able to take a well-deserved nap.

"How are the marks?" Hope inquired, her hand caressing the nephilim's arm.

Nathaniel sighed. "They don't hurt anymore. I'm just annoyed they won't go away."

Hope grimaced slightly. "Hopefully they'll be gone once we take this thing down."

"Yeah," Nathaniel huffed. "Hopefully."

A snort followed. "How sure are you on that?"

Nathaniel went completely rigid before turning towards Lucifer. The fallen angel sat on a sofa as he smirked openly at the nephilim. Something in Nathaniel stirred. And just like before, Hope was nowhere to be found. The nephilim was once again alone with his father.

"When the hell did I fall asleep again?" Nathaniel questioned frustratingly; the annoyance evident in the nephilim's tone.

Lucifer shrugged with a snort. "Am I annoying you?"

"No," Nathaniel smiled sarcastically. "I'm fucking ecstatic that my deadbeat dad has decided on taking a stroll through my subconscious- by the way, you aren't getting that urn."

Lucifer pouted. "You're such a buzz-kill."

"Eat me, Freddy Krueger."

"Rude," Lucifer scoffed.

Nathaniel rolled his eyes. "Tell it to me straight, Lucy. Why the hell are you helping a Night Hag? There has to be something in it for you."

Lucifer perked up at that. "You've exceeded my expectations on your intuition- but, tell me, why would there be something in it for me?"

"You're a powerful being," Nathaniel crossed his arms over his chest. "It's not hard to deduce the first fallen angel wouldn't do something for anyone without there being something in it for him. The questions is: are you going to tell me what it is?"

Lucifer hummed. "Well, if you must know- your little Night Hag friend and I made a deal: once that pesky little urn is returned to the Wall-mart version of hell, I'll be released from the cage you put me in."

Nathaniel shook his head. "You're being played."

"How much are you willing to bet on that?"

"Cut the shit, Lucifer," Nathaniel scoffed, narrowing his eyes on Lucifer. "If you can't get yourself out of that cage, what the hell makes you think a Night Hag can-?"

There was silence as Nathaniel got lost in thought.

And after a moment, the nephilim finally understood.

"It's going to kill me."

Lucifer smirked wickedly. "We've got a winner."

Things were about to get a hell of a lot more complicated for the nephilim.

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unedited.
shit is starting to hit the fan! i'm sad
nathaniel never gets a break, my poor
baby. but! you're getting nate x hope
scenes, (even if you don't know if
they're dreams or not lmao).
any ideas if Lucifer is even real?