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"Teacher says, every time a bell rings an angel gets his wings." The TV chimed. Sam had no idea why they were watching It's A Wonderful Life, or the tail end of it anyway. If he had to guess, it was because Dean had left the TV on before they went out to the bar and that was what was on when the three of them stumbled back in, the brothers too pleasantly drunk to care what they were watching and Lucifer not really caring either, being tipsy himself after downing a bottle untempered grain alcohol stolen from a police evidence locker at some point, wanting to get in on the celebratory spirit.
"It doesn't work like that." Lucifer mumbled.
Sam turned to look at Lucifer. "Huh?"
"It doesn't work like that. We had our wings the moment Dad made us. Didn't need to earn them or anything. We were all perfect, 'cause we came from Him," Lucifer said somewhat mournfully, "He even thought humans were perfect in His eyes."
Sam cupped Lucifer's face, hoping to distract him and stop a tirade against the human race.
Lucifer leaned into the touch and barely whispered. "I was perfect until I started questioning that."
"Hey," Sam said immediately, seeing tears well in Lucifer's eyes and wanting to stop them at any cost, "You're perfect to me."
"I am?" Lucifer looked at Sam with some sort of wonder and awe, a look that Sam often had when Lucifer told him of millenia of waiting for his existence and that he would try to not burn the world for his sake.
"Yeah," Sam smiled softly, "I'm not perfect to the rest of the world, and you aren't either. But you think I am, and I think you are too. You try for me, and that's all I could ever ask."
Lucifer kept looking at Sam, speechless for a long moment before whispering again. "So I don't have any wings to earn with you either,?"
Sam couldn't help but laugh and shake his head, "If you ever did, you've already earned them."
Outside, on the motel room door, the wind blew the bell attached to a large bow in a half-hearted holiday decorating attempt, causing it to ring just loud enough to be heard in the room.