#wingsofaqueerking

Luce chuckled softly and took the gift, swiftly kissing Sam as he did. “Thank you, Sam.” He turned the package over, searching for the tape keeping it together, and began peeling off carefully.

“Oh, come on, angel. It’s just newspaper! Tear it off!” Sam laughed.

Lucifer followed his advice and threw the discarded newspaper on the bed. When he finished unwrapping it, he stared at the beautiful design of a black tree over a beige background that was revealed and traced the familiar title at the top of the cover reverently.

To Kill a Mockingbird.

“It’s special edition,” Sam explained enthusiastically. “Remember that case we had like a month ago with the antiques shop? Well, while you and Cas were wrapping things up at the police station, the owner told Dean and I that he would like to give us something for free as a “thank you for saving my ass” gift. I saw this and thought of you. It’s your favorite, after all.”

Lucifer pressed the book against his chest and smiled brightly. “I love it, Sam.”

“Oh, and look at the first page!” Sam added. Lucifer did and gawked at the squiggle in black marker. “It’s Lee’s signature! And it’s legit! The guy at the store showed us a picture of her signing it and everything.”

“Sam… Thank you, really. I don’t understand why you keep insisting on birthday presents, but I think I don’t mind getting them.” He hooked his fingers on the belt loops of the hunter’s jeans and pulled him in for a kiss, but stopped with his face inches away from Sam’s when he heard a barely-there rattle and moved away. “What was…? Wait…” He turned the book over in his hands. “Why is the back cover so thick?”

Stay cool, Winchester. You’re doing great. Sam shoved his hands in his pockets to enhance his “casual” look. “Oh, right. Part of the special edition deal was this… remember the tree with the hole and the gifts?”

“I’ve read the book five times, Sam. Of course I remember “the tree with the hole and the gifts”,” Lucifer teased happily.

“Well, they added a tree with a hole for gifts of their own, which reminds me: there’s a part two to this gift.”

Lucifer raised an eyebrow. “Interesting…” He opened the book and flipped the pages until he reached the back cover. As promised, there was another drawing of a tree there, this one more focused on the trunk, with a trap door cut in the center of it. He pulled at the small brown ribbon attached to the trap door to open it. “What’s this?” he asked, pulling out the flat black box with his index and thumb.

“Open it,” Sam said, digging his fingernails into his palms to keep his voice steady. Being completely honest, he’d give his pokerface during this exchange an A+.

The box clicked open easily, and Lucifer gasped softly when its mechanism made the ring inside spin elegantly. “S-Sam?” He turned around and was momentarily confused by not seeing his human behind him. Gears spinning in his head, he lowered his gaze and there he was: Sam Winchester, down on one knee, looking nervous as Hell. “I-Is this…? Are you…?”

“Lucifer,” Sam began, his vocal cords saying “oh, what the hell, we’re not keeping a secret anymore” and making his voice shake. “I’d, uh… I’d make a speech about soulmates, but I’m pretty sure you already know that bit, seeing that you were the first to point it out when you sneaked into a dream version of my motel room.” Lucifer laughed shakily. “I’ll be honest, it makes a great “How did you guys meet?” story. Anyway, back then you were talking about a completely different type of soulmates, and I was rejecting any type of soulmates, and… and I had prepared something really profound to say after that, but all I remember is something about you changing my life…” Sam felt a knot form in his throat and, with some effort, swallowed to force it down.

“S-Sam?”

“M’okay. I… I'm just gonna skip the whole speech if that's okay with you. So, uh…” He put his right hand up and nodded at the black box clasped tightly between Lucifer’s fingers. “I'm supposed to be holding that.”

“Oh, right.” Lucifer laughed again and placed the open box on Sam’s palm.

“So… Lucifer Morningstar-”

“You do know that's not my last name, right?”

“Shhh. I'm… It's sounds cool, alright? Third time’s a charm. Lucifer Morningstar, will you marry me?” The archangel began nodding vigorously. “I mean, it doesn't have to be in a church, I know you're not a fan of those. And I'm pretty sure Garth once mentioned he got a minister license online, so we don't need an actual priest-”

“By my father, Sam, I already said yes, so you can just give me the ring and we’ll work on the details later.”

Standing up and doing that weird breathy laugh-sob that was characteristic of proposals, Sam removed the ring from it's base and looked up at Lucifer, who was dutifully presenting his right hand. “Other hand, Luce.” At his boyfriend’s eye-roll, he added, “Hey, I'm trying to keep this traditional.” Lucifer switched hands, and Sam gently slipped the ring on.

The ring itself wasn't much, just a silver band with a small cluster of tiny diamonds. Even with his many fake credit cards, Sam had had to keep it simple. Big, pricey rings were more prone to causing a credit card fraud investigation. Lucifer didn't mind; he still loved it. He loved the way the bunker's lights bounced off the gem when he moved his wrist this way or that. He would've admired the new addition to his finger for hours if Sam hadn't tilted his chin up.

"Are you okay?" the hunter asked.

"Why wouldn't I be?"

Sam brushed the pad of his thumb against his cheek. "You're crying, Luce."

Lucifer frowned and ran the back of his hand over his eyes. He stared at the wet patch of skin while his heart danced a funny number. It was the same feeling he had felt when he had seen Sam in person for the first time and his stomach had flip-flopped, and he had realized that, even after eons of Hell and torture, he was still able of feeling love. "It appears that I am," he replied. "It's been a while since I last cried." A while didn't cover it. It had been more than "a while" since any sort of entrance to his Cage had been shut in his face by his big brother and, for the first time in his life, his Grace had been disconnected from the Host. "This feels different, though."

"That's because those are happy tears, Luce, or at least I'm hoping they are."

The archangel snorted. "Definitely happy tears." He tangled his fingers in Sam's hair and dragged him in for a kiss. Their noses bumped and their teeth clashed, but after a little change in position, it turned into something soft like silk.

Sam was the first to move away, nipping Luce's lower lip as an apology when his husband-to-be whined at the loss of his lips. "I have to cook the fancy dinner we're eating tonight with Cas and Dean to celebrate."

Lucifer tapped his lips in mock consideration. "How much fancy are we discussing here?"

"I bought some steak and a bottle of wine at the supermarket."

"For our standards, that's very fancy."