Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Alastor

Alastor didn't come back until he could stand without being in excruciating pain. When Adam attacked the others, they knew he was at least severely hurt, so he couldn't keep that secret, but he wasn't going to let them actually see him that weak.

And so he hid and healed. It wasn't a good look for him, as the big, scary radio demon, but it was a calculated risk he took since he'd be able to quickly regain his dangerous image.

What Alastor hadn't expected was for his wound to just stop healing. It had been a month by this point and the injury still looked like it did when he first came back.

He thought that since it had been healing, that it would continue to and wouldn't be a problem. Except that it was a problem now, and it was a big one.

He could only grow in size a little bit and hold his radio dial eyes for a short time before the pain became too much. So much for being able to easily build up his image again. He could still use his tentacle magic and shadow travel, for the most part, so he had that going for him.

Rosie was the one he went to to patch him up initially (Alastor had too much blood loss to stay conscious and so needed someone else to do the stitches), and while she can tear apart a body with admirable efficiency, she doesn't know much about how to fix one. That meant Alastor couldn't go to Rosie again because she wouldn't have any insight on the problem.

Mimzy was definitely out of the question, and while he adored Niffty, she couldn't be trusted to help with an injury. Alastor hated that he needed help, so since his few friends couldn't help, he decided he would keep going like it wasn't a problem. He didn't want anyone in the hotel to know anyway so it was totally fine. He just had to change his bandages every few hours.

Except one day when his pain got inexplicably worse and he blacked out in the hallway. When he woke up, he was in someone else's room.

Chapter Text

Lucifer

Lucifer was happy that he would be staying with Charlie in her hotel, since it would mean he'd get to make up for the seven years he had barely spoken to her while in his self-imposed isolation. He just wished he would've snapped out of his depressive spiral earlier - clearly his daughter didn't hate his guts like he'd been telling himself.

Anyway, he got all caught up on Charlie's life while they were rebuilding the hotel. Lucifer also got to know her girlfriend, Vaggie, better, and he wouldn't mind if she officially became part of the family. Vaggie had blushed profusely when he'd mentioned that, which told him that it was something she wouldn't mind either. He'd made a mental note to give her his blessing later.

Everything was going great until that prick showed up again (after all the reconstruction had been finished). He couldn't figure out why Charlie liked the radio demon, but he figured he could try to get along with him. After all, he reluctantly admitted to himself that it was impressive that the sinner lasted as long as he did against Adam, so maybe he wasn't entirely awful.

To be fair, Lucifer did try, but Alastor immediately started going after him again and his pride made him have to fight back. He also hated the mixed feelings he had towards him - someone that annoying shouldn't be allowed to be that hot.

Nearly every time they interacted Lucifer couldn't help but be entranced by the other man's beauty - and it didn't help that Alastor was tall. Lilith’s height had been one of the things he’d liked most about her appearance.

But he was the King of Hell. He could ignore those kinds of feelings, right? At least, that's what he told himself. He still wanted him gone so it's not like Lucifer was actually into Alastor all that much. [a/n: oh buddy]

He'd had that same train of thought many times and was going through it again when he tripped over something in the hall. He looked to see what it was and saw that it was Alastor sprawled on the floor. How could Lucifer zone out so much that he tripped over an entire person?

"Sorry," he said awkwardly. When there was no response, Lucifer crouched down next to Alastor and felt for a pulse. He was still alive, but was feverish.

Damn it. Ugh I'm gonna have to help this fucker, aren't I? Charlie would be upset if he died.

And so he picked up Alastor in a bridal carry and teleported them to the apple-and-duck-themed room that Lucifer had built for himself. He laid Alastor in the bed and went to get a wet rag to put on his forehead.

When Lucifer came back, Alastor was awake and sitting up, looking confused.

"Hey, dumbass, what have you been doing to take care of your injury?" the short king said, rag in hand.

"Who says I have an injury?" Alastor said.

Lucifer rolled his eyes, he'd sensed the angelic power when Alastor had come back, but didn't say anything since it was faint. But now it was burning with intensity. "I was an angel. I can feel the angelic power. Don't lie to me."

"It is none of your concern." Alastor got out of the bed only to immediately fall over.

Lucifer let him fall. "Yeah, it is my concern. Charlie likes you for some reason so I can't just let you die no matter how much I would love to see you keel over."

Alastor managed to get himself back sitting on the bed and glared at Lucifer. "It's just a flesh wound. It's fine."

"It's an angelic wound. It's not fine," Lucifer shot back. "We can do this the easy way or we can do this the hard way. I suggest you just let me heal you."

"I can deal with it myself. I don't need you," the radio demon snarled. After a moment, he stood himself up and, leaning heavily on his cane, started for the door.

Lucifer sighed. "Hard way it is."

He snapped his fingers and temporarily drained Alastor of his power, making him collapse again.

"What did you do?" Alastor demanded, the demon's eyes wide with surprise.

"You had a choice." Lucifer set down the rag and put his hand over Alastor's shirt where the angelic power was the strongest. He closed his eyes and focused on pulling the angelic energy out.

Alastor involuntarily shouted in pain when Lucifer began. It wouldn't have hurt as much if he was being cooperative and if the shirt weren't in the way, but Alastor chose the hard way.

Alastor tried to push Lucifer off of him, but couldn't. After a few more moments, it was done. The injury was healed. Lucifer got up and gave Alastor his power back.

As soon as he had his power back, Alastor shoved Lucifer against the wall, his claws around the king's throat and black tentacles going through his shoulders, drawing golden blood.

"Weird way to say 'thank you', but okay," Lucifer said, unfazed by the demon's anger. He knows Alastor won't risk trying to legitimately harm him, not without getting in trouble with Charlie at least.

Alastor's grip tightened, his eyes turned to radio dials, and his antlers grew. "Don't ever  'help' me again."

The next moment, Lucifer fell to the ground and was alone. He scoffed.

He thinks he can intimidate me ?

Chapter Text

Alastor

Alastor shadow traveled back to his room where he took off his shirt to examine his wound. It was just a small cut now, like what it would be if it had continued healing naturally.

He knew Lucifer was powerful, but he didn't know that he could make Alastor powerless. He hated it. Even initially after the battle with Adam, he'd still had his powers. He had nothing when Lucifer did that. Alastor was usually able to push Lucifer around, but his limbs were just as weak as his magic.

Why did Lucifer even heal him? He was fine. He wasn't going to die, not immediately anyway. It could've been put off.

And it hurt so much. Lucifer could've actually told him the options.

No, no he couldn't, he just wanted to make me suffer.

Now he was indebted to Lucifer. Ew.

When he tries to cash in, I'll just try to convince him that that was actually him paying me back for parenting Charlie in his place.

It was easy to find that man's weak points.

Lucifer

Alastor avoided Lucifer for two weeks. Or just happened to never be in the same room as him at the same time.

Maybe Lucifer should've tried harder to get Alastor to actually let him heal him. It wouldn't have hurt as much and Lucifer wouldn't have had to drain him. Lucifer didn't use that ability very much since he knew he would hate it if it were used on him. Though the fallen angel knew the radio demon would never admit it, Alastor was probably terrified without his powers, and Lucifer felt a little bad about it.

Stupid good angel heart. That fucker deserved it - I shouldn't feel bad.

The next time Lucifer saw Alastor, he figured he should still apologize. He approached him before Alastor could disappear.

"Sorry about the way I healed you, I could've gone about it better," Lucifer said. He hated apologizing and looked at the wall while he did.

"What do you want?" Lucifer looked up to see Alastor's narrowed eyes.

"I don't want anything? I'm just apologizing?"

"No one 'just' apologizes. What are you trying to get out of me?"

Lucifer stared at him. He knew that Alastor was an Overlord now, but surely apologies were something that were a part of his life when he was alive?

"Huh. You're even more fucked up than I thought you were. Did your mother never teach you what a sincere apology was?" Lucifer said.

Alastor tilted his head and glared at him. Lucifer didn't know what the demon was thinking, but it seemed like he may have struck a nerve - he just didn't know which one. He's called Alastor fucked up before, and he didn't think the apology thing would be it.

"Don't speak about my mother," Alastor growled. Oh, so his mother was the nerve.

Lucifer didn't want to derail the apology any further, so he filed away that new information and said, "Anyway, I'm sorry and I'll see you later."

He could feel Alastor's gaze burn into his back as he walked away, and Lucifer couldn't help but feel smug that he stumped the radio demon that much.

Alastor

Alastor thought he had Lucifer all figured out, but why would the King of Hell apologize to him for doing something that, in the end, helped him?

He was certain that Lucifer was only apologizing to cash in for helping Alastor, but then he walked away without asking for anything. It had to be some sort of manipulation.

Alastor just hoped that Lucifer wouldn't be able to tell that his wound still hadn't closed. It was strange; it hurt a lot less than it used to, and didn't bleed as much, but it hadn't healed any more than what Lucifer had done.

"Can't even forcibly heal someone right, no good son of a..." he continued to mumble under his breath while pacing in his room.

He stopped pacing long enough to change his bandages, then went right back to pacing, racking his brain for why Lucifer would apologize to some sinner. [a/n: He's not just some sinner to Lucifer]

Finally, Alastor decided that it was manipulation - Lucifer was trying to get him to think that he was a good person so that Alastor would be nicer to him and do nice things without him asking. He cringed at the thought. He would never willingly do anything nice for Lucifer.

He would just keep avoiding Lucifer so he couldn't try to get Alastor to do anything. Except he immediately got cornered by Lucifer again.

"Why didn't you tell me I hadn't fully healed your wound? You smell like blood," was the first thing the man said, skipping all formalities.

Alastor glared at him. "Maybe because I hadn't wanted your help in the first place and it was not the most pleasant experience."

Lucifer looked guilty - he was probably faking it though. "I should've explained it to you, but I can finish healing it, and it shouldn't hurt at all if you're cooperative and if I can actually see the wound."

Growling, Alastor replied, "It is of no threat to my life, and therefore does not need to be treated."

"Has it at least healed on its own some? Sometimes angel-inflicted wounds even without the angelic power don't heal without help."

"I assure you I am fine. Charlie will not grieve the loss of another friend."

Lucifer stared at him for a few moments before responding. He hesitated, then said, "Fine, but if it gets worse let me know."

Alastor scoffed. "Why do you care? I'm not going to die anymore, there's no risk of Charlie being hurt."

That seemed to catch Lucifer off guard. He opened and closed his mouth before stammering, "It could get bad enough to the point of killing you again, so… yeah. Charlie could still get hurt."

Alastor raised an eyebrow. He didn't know why the simple question would surprise the short man like that, but it was interesting. If he could figure out why, maybe he could use it against Lucifer in their little quarrels.

Lucifer

Why do you care?

Alastor's question from earlier rang through Lucifer's head as he laid on his bed, staring at the ceiling. Why did he care? The demon had made a good point, which Lucifer didn't like, but he could tell that the wound wasn't life-threatening and likely wouldn't cause Charlie any hurt down the line. There was no reason to care past that.

Lucifer knew he was attracted to Alastor, but he didn't think that was enough to cause him to want his injury to be completely better. Did that mean he'd actually started liking Alastor as a person?

Eww no no no not allowed stop it brain.

He did not like that rude, tacky, annoying demon and he wouldn't let his own brain try to trick him into thinking that.

As Lucifer tried to silence his mind, he instead started thinking about Lilith. How she was a great mother, how she always snorted when she laughed hard, how the hellish sun made her blonde hair look like fire.

He sighed. Lucifer recalled a time when they let Charlie stay up to watch the sunset with them when she was little. She was so excited and Lilith could barely keep her still on her lap. Eventually she stopped trying and just stood with Charlie on her hip.

Charlie said so many silly things at that age that always made both her parents laugh. After Lilith stood with her, she had said something about how she was happy the sun got a break everyday to go home to its family, which brought a smile to the faces of both Lucifer and Lilith.

Lucifer's depression had been bad that day, and he suspected Lilith knew that, and that that was why she suggested letting Charlie watch the sunset. Either way, spending time with both his wife and his daughter always helped to ease his depressive episodes.

He blinked back tears. He had never doubted Lilith's love for him in the millennia they'd known each other - she'd never given him any reason to, not even in the days leading up to her leaving. So why did she disappear? Why did she leave him behind?

Even though Lucifer knew he should be angry at Lilith for abandoning him and their daughter, he only ever missed her and hoped she would come back some day. Maybe she had a really good reason for leaving. Being her husband, he should give her the benefit of the doubt, right? Even if she had cut off all contact for years on end?

He didn’t try to stop the tears this time. He let himself cry over his wife. What was one more time compared to the hundreds of times he'd cried over her during his isolation?

Chapter Text

Alastor

Alastor sat in the meeting room waiting for Charlie to officially start. He didn’t know why she had called the meeting, which was strange since she usually included him on the plan, being partners and all.

Charlie was at the head of the table, with Vaggie on one side of her and Alastor on the other. They usually included everyone in these meetings, but they were apparently only waiting for Lucifer. Based on that, he had a sneaking suspicion that Charlie and Vaggie were going to try to make them get along with each other.

It wasn’t going to work. That man was annoying, tacky, and late to every meeting. Alastor was never late to anything. It’s polite and a basic show of respect and you would think Lucifer would be respectful to his daughter.

I guess that just adds to the long list of reasons of why he’s a lousy father.

“Maybe I should go check on him,” Charlie nervously said.

Vaggie laid a hand over Charlie's. “It's only five after, hon, let's give him a little bit more time before we start worrying.”

“Hm,” Alastor hummed. “A real gentleman would never be even a second late to anything.”

Vaggie rolled her eyes. “Yeah, we get it you're super amazing and old-fashioned.”

“It shouldn't be old-fashioned to be polite,” Alastor said, not changing the ‘super amazing’ comment as it was correct.

“Yes!” Charlie exclaimed. “Everyone should be nice no matter when they were born!”

“No, no,” Alastor said, “polite is not the same as nice. I am not nice, my dear, but I am polite.” [a/n: “I’m not nice. I’m never nice. Nice is a four letter word I will not have-” sorry, not sorry lol. I couldn’t resist the reference, it was right there]

Charlie beamed. “Sure you are, Al!”

Before he was able to reply to her implication, Lucifer portaled in.

“Sorry, sorry, sorry. I didn't mean to be late I just got super focused on a new duck,” the short king hurriedly explained.

Alastor looked at the analog clock on the wall. Seven minutes late. He tsked disdainfully at Lucifer, who looked away from Charlie to glare at him.

“Are you really gonna sit there and pretend like you've never been late to anything in your life and death?” Lucifer questioned.

Alastor grinned ear to ear. Lucifer’s reactions were always so entertaining. “That's because I never have been. It's not that difficult to be on time, maybe you should try it some time.”

“Maybe you shouldn’t be such a fucking-”

“Guys! Stop it!” Vaggie interrupted Lucifer. “This is exactly why Charlie and I called the meeting. You two need to start behaving.”

So Alastor was right about the purpose behind the meeting. He carefully folded his hands together on top of the table and turned to look at Vaggie. “I’m afraid I do behave, he just acts like a child-”

“You’re no better!” Lucifer shouted. “If I’m a child then you’re a newborn!”

Alastor was about to reply, but then realized he would just be proving Vaggie’s point. Charlie sighed and said, “I just care about the both of you so much and I think it’d be really great if my dad and my business partner could get along with each other.”

She flashed them her puppy dog eyes, which didn’t work on Alastor, but one look at Lucifer told him that he’d caved instantly. He rolled his eyes before looking at Charlie again. Eager to get this over with, he asked, “Did you have anything specific in mind, my dear, or are we expected to be better? Because I can definitely be better without having to do anything.”

Vaggie glared at him. “I don’t trust you to just ‘be better.’ Either of you,” Vaggie added when Lucifer gave Alastor a smug look.

“But don’t worry!” Charlie said. She pulled out some color pencil drawings and continued, “I’ve planned a few activities designed to build a bond between you two! It’ll be sooo much fun!”

If it were anyone else, Alastor would’ve said they were being sarcastic. Unfortunately, this was Charlie, and she was dead serious as she explained the drawings of her plan to get them to be nice to each other.

Lucifer

Lucifer waited in the lobby for Alastor. Charlie’s first activity was for the two of them to run some errands together for the hotel. Lucifer wanted to show Charlie that he was willing to really try to be nicer with Alastor, so he was ten minutes early to the agreed upon meeting time.

But now it was three minutes to the agreed meeting time, 3pm, and Alastor was still nowhere to be seen.

He was giving me so much shit for being a few minutes late and this fucker can’t be bothered to show up even a little bit early??

As soon as the clock struck 3 o’clock, Alastor materialized in the lobby. Lucifer glared at him, but then made a conscious effort to look friendly as he remembered the purpose behind them running errands together.

“Ah, so you decided to take my advice to be on time?” Alastor grinned. Well, more than usual.

“I didn’t realize you meant literally on the dot, but yeah, sure, let’s go with that,” Lucifer said, rolling his eyes. “You ready to go?”

Alastor’s grin seemed to deflate a bit at Lucifer not taking the bait, but he replied, “Yes, let’s go run the first errand, shall we?”

The two walked out of the front doors and started down the street. They could have teleported or shadow traveled, but their first stop wasn’t that far away and it was always nice to get a walk in every now and then.

It actually wouldn’t have been that bad of a walk if Alastor could stop humming for just one second. Maybe it could be a good conversation starter - Alastor would have to stop humming in order to talk about the song - he just had to make sure he didn’t come across as rude. After a few moments of mulling it over in his head, Lucifer decided to say, “Fuck that song.”

…Not what he meant. He was going to say “fuck, it’s nice out”, but changed his mind to say “what’s that song?” in the middle of it. Now that he thought about it, who the hell says “fuck, it’s nice out” in the first place? That did not go how he wanted, made obvious when Alastor whipped his head towards him and growled, “What gives you the right to judge good music?”

Lucifer held his hands up defensively. “That didn’t come out the way I meant it.”

“How was it supposed to come out?”

“I was just annoyed by your humming but then I was interested in what the song was and I wanted to start a conversation so I thought maybe I should talk about the weather first but then-”

“Would you stop your incessant rambling?” Alastor cut off Lucifer. “It’s really quite annoying when you go off on some long explanation when you could just say what you meant in the first place instead.”

He was right, Lucifer decided. He was nothing but an annoying piece of trash that couldn’t socialize correctly. He never even got along with the other angels when he was still in Heaven.

“Goodness gracious,” Alastor muttered. “I hadn’t meant to shut you up. I just meant for you to say what you mean.”

“I- you-” Lucifer stuttered. “W-well, what song is it then?”

“Hm,” Alastor said. “Now I’m not going to tell you.”

He stared at Alastor. “What’s the point in that? It’s just a song, why wouldn’t you tell me?”

“Because you couldn’t just say what you meant. It was annoying that I had to tell you. Why should I reward such bad behavior?”

“Oh, fuck you, ‘Mr. Articulate-and-Perfect-at-Talking-Radio-Host’. Jumbling words isn't bad behavior, you bastard,” Lucifer responded.

“My, my, what would our dear Charlie think if she heard you using that kind of language towards me?” Alastor faked an innocent grin.

“What would my daughter think of you making fun of my scrambled brain?”

“I don’t know how much she would want to defend it seeing as it could very well be from the seven years you spent being absent.”

“Listen here, life is not cut and dry. People screw up sometimes. It doesn’t define them. There’s no need for you to be such a jerk,” Lucifer said. He jabbed a finger at Alastor’s chest on the last word. Alastor’s smile almost imperceptibly dropped as he jerked back and brought a hand up to push the king’s finger off of him.

Why did he jump like that? It was a light jab - it wouldn’t have… hurt… fuck, his injury is worse again, isn’t it?

The two stared at each other awkwardly for a minute, neither saying anything about what just happened, then they wordlessly continued walking to the first store.

Lucifer decided he would need to finish healing Alastor’s injury before it got life-threatening again, but he would have to get Alastor to trust him enough to finish the job. Charlie’s bonding activities for them might turn out to actually help them better than she would have thought.

Chapter Text

Alastor

If Alastor had known that Lucifer would touch his injury, he would not have reacted in the way he did. How he reacted just made it obvious that it was getting bad again. He really wished he’d been prepared for Lucifer to do something dumb like that so he could’ve controlled his reaction.

They were almost done with the list of errands, but Lucifer still hadn’t said anything about Alastor’s injury, which only made him suspicious of what he was planning. [a/n: suspicion 100% justified since Lucifer didn’t explain anything about what he was doing the first time]

Now, they were getting more decorations for the hotel to make it “homier”, as Charlie had said. Alastor had been roaming around, not really being of any help, much to Lucifer’s chagrin.

“You gonna actually help with this one at all, Alastor?” Lucifer said to him after seeing Alastor not helping.

“Mmm, no, I don’t believe I will,” Alastor said. “I don’t think Charlie would appreciate my decorative opinions.”

“Makes sense, considering that ugly green bar you put in the original hotel, but you could try to pick stuff out that you think Charlie would like and help me out a bit.”

Alastor squinted at him. He was going to make a comment about Lucifer “dissing” his style, as the kids would say, but decided to settle on making sure Lucifer would know that Alastor didn’t care about other people. “How am I supposed to tell what someone else would like? I think it’s best to leave this to the only one of us used to serving others.”

“Well, if you were really a father figure for Charlie, you would be able to pick out stuff she’d like, but since you’re not, I’ll gladly be able to do this myself,” Lucifer said.

Alastor had expected him to flip out at the “serving others” comment, but the king had instead turned it back on him. While Alastor didn’t actually see Charlie as his child, he wanted Lucifer to keep thinking that he did as an easy way to get under his skin.

“I wouldn’t be too sure of yourself,” Alastor teased. “I’ve learned many new things from being a father to Charlie, I should be able to figure this out, too.”

After another glare was exchanged between the two, they went to different parts of the store to find decorations suited for the bubbly, happy rainbow that was Charlie. Alastor looked for about five minutes before getting sidetracked, which apparently had been enough for Lucifer to find something and find Alastor.

“Watcha lookin at?” he said right next to Alastor’s ear.

Annoying.

Alastor swatted at Lucifer’s head before saying, “It’s an Ekco AC74, it came out the year I died. I was going to get it, but obviously I died before I could.”

“Just looks like some old radio.”

“You may think that, but I am the Radio Demon for a reason. This beauty, designed by Serge Chermayeff, was part of the beginnings of Modernist design in radio sets, and while most other radios at the time used wood, since it was viewed as the superior material at the time, this was one of the first radios to embrace plastic to create its smooth form."

Alastor could have gone on a bit more about it, like how it sold about 140,000 units or how its success encouraged Ekco to hire Chermayeff to design more radios for them, but he figured Lucifer probably didn’t want to know about that.

He peaked at Lucifer, who was staring at him with a weird expression on his face. If he didn’t know better, Alastor would say it almost looked like endearment. By the time he turned to properly look at Lucifer, it was gone.

Just a figment of my imagination.

“Well, if you want it, why not get it while we’re here?” Lucifer asked.

Alastor scoffed. “I already have a plethora of other radio sets at the hotel, there’s no need to spend money on another one.”

“I said ‘if you want it’ not ‘if you need it’, Al,” Lucifer said, with some weird gentle smile on his face.

“The two are synonymous most of the time for those without hoards of wealth.”

Lucifer nodded his head in thought, then picked up the radio. “I’ll get it for you. Go find some more decorations for the hotel.”

Alastor stared at the other man in confusion. “Why? What do you want in exchange?”

“Nothing. Let’s just say it’s a gift.”

“Why would you get a gift for me?”

Lucifer sighed. “Fine, then let’s say it's a thank you. For being there for Charlie when I wasn’t.”

Alastor wanted to refuse, but he also really wanted that AC74, so he told himself that he had manipulated Lucifer into wanting to get it for him, so that he wouldn’t actually be accepting a gift from him. [a/n: the mind gymnastics this guy does istg]

“Fine, I suppose I’ll let you get it for me,” Alastor finally said. He then turned around to find some decorations for Charlie before Lucifer could respond.

Lucifer

Lucifer told himself that he only got the radio for Alastor as part of his plan to get the demon to let him finish healing his injury. That was the only reason. Not because he thought it was adorable that Alastor had seemed so passionate about radios and clearly knew a lot about them, like how Lucifer was with his own obsessions. Nope, it was solely to heal the wound so he wouldn’t have to spend more time than necessary with the demon. [a/n: now the mind gymnastics this guy’s doing]

Lucifer had picked out a few unicorn and dragon figurines to put on the little tables in the hallways. He had made sure to only pick the cutest ones.

Now, he followed Alastor as the other man tried to find something. He wouldn't do as good a job as Lucifer did, of course, but he was curious if Alastor would actually find something somewhat acceptable.

Finally, Alastor stopped to grab two paintings. One was of Hell’s landscape, which was surprisingly beautiful, and the other one was of the exterior of some café.

“Wow,” he said. “I think Charlie would actually like those.“

“Did you ever doubt me?” Alastor responded.

“I 100% did.” Lucifer chuckled and playfully hit Alastor's arm. “But you did good. C'mon let's go pay for these.”

Alastor's smile appeared to become softer and more genuine, but it must have been Lucifer's wishful thinking because the smile turned mischievous quickly. Alastor shoved the paintings into Lucifer's arms and said, “I'll wait for you outside.”

“H-hey! Wait!” Lucifer shouted, but it was too late. Alastor was already out the door.

Grumbling, Lucifer got in line for the checkout. The cashier was only somewhat terrified by the King of Hell, so he was able to pay much quicker than when he normally bought stuff.

When he finally left the store - with two more bags than he came in with - he saw Alastor standing near a light post by the store front. The sun’s position in the sky was in such a way that it gleamed in Alastor’s hair, and brought out the different shades of reds and pinks in both his hair and his outfit. He was stunning and Lucifer couldn’t look away, forcing him to make the realization that he’d been trying to avoid.

Fuck… I’m in deep shit now, aren’t I? A crush? On Alastor? Of all the people to have a crush on…Fuck.

“May I ask why you’re staring at me, Lucifer?” Alastor suddenly said, which forced him out of his thoughts.

“I-I’m not staring at you, you n-narcissist,” Lucifer said, shocked that he’d been caught. He felt his cheeks become unbearably hot. “I-I was just… zoning out! Yeah! I zoned out and happened to be looking in your direction.”

After Alastor silently raised an eyebrow at him, Lucifer nervously chuckled and suggested, “Do you wanna grab some food? Food sounds good right now.”

Alastor squinted his eyes a bit, but didn’t push any further - which Lucifer was beyond thankful for - and replied, “Sure, I know a lovely restaurant nearby, if you’d like to go with me?”

Lucifer nodded and let Alastor take the lead. He didn’t really want to interact with the demon more, but Charlie would be upset if they came back without running all the errands, especially since he wouldn’t be able to bring himself to tell her why.

Ugh, let’s just hope no one notices and that I can heal Alastor soon so I can avoid him and squash these feelings.

Alastor

Alastor held the door open for Lucifer once they got to the restaurant. There was a line, but they skipped the entirety of it.

“Uhh, Al? There’s a line,” Lucifer pointed out.

“Really? I didn’t notice,” Alastor said and rolled his eyes. “I own the owner’s soul, so they are going to do as I say. If I want to skip the line, they’ll let us skip the line or else. Besides, I don’t think they would make the actual King of Hell wait either.”

Lucifer shrugged, made a face that said “fair point,” then responded, “I guess I haven’t really been anywhere that would’ve had a line since Lilith disappeared, so I haven’t used my status in that way for awhile.”

“Are you suggesting that you forgot that you were the king?” Alastor said. He was amused by the implication.

“More like I forgot it came with perks,” Lucifer said with a smile.

“Table for two, dear,” Alastor said to the host.

They swallowed hard and stared at the two with wide eyes. Then they grabbed two menus and said, “T-table or booth, sirs?”

Alastor looked at Lucifer, letting him decide. Lucifer looked slightly surprised. “Uh, booth, I guess.”

The host led them to a booth by one of the windows. “Your server will be by soon.”

They quickly scurried away and left them to sit. Alastor sat down first, then Lucifer sat down on the opposite side of him.

He came here often enough that Alastor didn't need to look at the menu. Instead, he looked at Lucifer. The fallen angel had grabbed his menu with one hand and was tapping the fingers of his other hand on the table.

“They have a fabulous selection of food and a wide variety of meats here,” Alastor mentioned.

“Mm.” Lucifer nodded absentmindedly. The king’s brow was furrowed in concentration as he looked at the menu. It seemed that it was difficult for him to choose what he wanted to eat, which Alastor thought was ridiculous - he was always able to quickly choose a meal for himself.

Alastor was starting to get bored by Lucifer’s indecision, so he was glad when the server finally came to their table.

“H-hi, I’m your server, what can I get started for you t-two today?”

“Hello, dear. I’ll get an unsweet tea and the chef’s surprise with venison,” Alastor ordered. He looked at Lucifer, who appeared very unprepared. He couldn’t wait to see how the other man embarrassed himself.

“And f-for you, your majesty?”

“Umm, I’ll just have a glass of water and…” Lucifer kept staring at the menu. “And… this grilled chicken sandwich.”

The server nodded as she finished writing down their orders, then took the menus from them and walked away. It was disappointing that Lucifer didn’t make a fool of himself.

Alastor figured he should try to make some conversation that wouldn’t turn into a fight, so he said, “ ‘You’re Never Fully Dressed Without a Smile.’ ”

“What?” Lucifer asked in confusion.

“The song I was humming earlier. The one where you said ‘fuck that song.’ ”

“I already told you I didn’t mean to say-” Lucifer started to explain.

“I wasn’t trying to start a fight or anything, I just decided to tell you what it was.”

“Oh. Uh, thanks, I guess.”

Alastor rolled his eyes. “You’re welcome, dear.”

A slight, golden flush appeared on Lucifer’s cheeks after he said the word “dear.” That was the same gold color he had seen on Lucifer's cheeks after asking Lucifer why he was staring at him. Alastor tilted his head. “What?”

“What what?” Lucifer said, flustered.

“What’s that gold on your cheeks?” Alastor asked. Apparently this question only caused the gold to brighten.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Mhm.”

Obviously it was something embarrassing to him, so Alastor would have to figure it out later to make fun of him better. He was trying to think of something else to say when Lucifer asked, “S-so why do you care about radios and music so much? Does it have something to do with when you were alive?”

“Yes, actually,” Alastor responded, somewhat surprised that the angel had been able to ask an actual question without tripping over his own words. “I loved listening to the radio with my mother as a child, and I still loved radio when I grew up, so I became a radio host of my own show.”

“Oh, that must’ve been nice for you then. Though I imagine it was pretty easy for someone as charismatic as you to get into a career like that.”

“It wasn’t, actually. Being mixed meant I had to work harder than my white counterparts to get my own show.”

“Oh shit, sorry. I didn’t know you were mixed.”

“And why would you? I suppose my demon form doesn’t do my heritage any justice.”

“Yeah, that’s one of the things I don’t like about the afterlife for humans - you don’t look like you did when you were alive and while I don’t fully understand the importance, it does seem like that would take away a part of yourself and your identity for some people.”

“Yes, it does.” Alastor was surprised by Lucifer’s acknowledgement of how difficult it was for people whose forms changed drastically from when they were alive. Their server silently dropped their drinks off at their table.

As Alastor sipped his tea, Lucifer said, “It’s also unfair that some people’s appearances don’t change that much while others’ do.”

“Indeed. As the King of Hell, do you have any idea why that is?”

“No, for a while I thought it might be further punishment for those in Hell whose appearance was important to them, but Charlie said that a lot of the human angels had different forms too when she was up there, so now I don’t know what to think.”

“I would have believed that theory. I wonder if there is anyone who knows?”

“God, probably, if He would show His face anywhere.” Lucifer looked out the window.

“Charlie’s not the only one with ‘daddy issues’, huh?” Alastor smirked.

“Yeah well I haven’t heard you talk about your dad. You got issues too?”

Touché.

Alastor glared at him. “How about a truce to not talk about our fathers or the issues they may or may not have caused?”

“Yes, please.”

The two laughed through the reminders of their traumas and their server dropped off their food. They continued to have surprisingly pleasant, intelligent conversation, which Alastor didn't think Lucifer was even remotely capable of, as they ate.

Chapter Text

Alastor

When they finished the errands and came back to the hotel, Alastor and Lucifer went to the meeting room where Charlie and Vaggie were waiting.

“You're back! How was it?” Charlie asked with the most ridiculously genuine smile Alastor had ever seen.

“We were able to get everything,” Lucifer said.

“And how did you two get along?” Vaggie questioned.

“Lucifer is capable of surprisingly intelligent conversation when we're not fighting,” Alastor said.

“Excuse me? ‘Surprisingly?’ And here I thought we might actually be able to get along.” Lucifer glared at Alastor.

“It was a compliment, your majesty,” Alastor lied. “I was simply saying there's more to you than meets the eye.”

Charlie “aww”-ed even while Lucifer glared at him. Alastor considered it a mission accomplished - he appeased Charlie and annoyed Lucifer.

“Ugh, whatever.” Lucifer pulled out the Ekco AC74 and shoved it towards Alastor. “Take your damn radio.”

“Gentle with it!”

“You got a radio, Alastor?” Vaggie asked with an eyebrow raised.

“As a matter of fact, I did not. His majesty got me a radio.”

Both Vaggie’s and Charlie’s eyes got wide at that. Lucifer spluttered, “I-I was just doing something nice since y-you wanted us to get along s-so bad, so I got him that thing because he was reciting a f-five page essay about it!”

“Aww, Dad, that’s so sweet of you!” Charlie beamed at him, which made Lucifer appear much less stressed.

“To be clear, it wasn’t like he was giving me a gift or anything,” Alastor explained. “He only got it because I was manipulating him into buying it so I wouldn’t have to spend my own money.”

Lucifer rolled his eyes. “Yeah, whatever, Bambi.”

Alastor furrowed his brow, then shot up his eyebrows when he realized what the king was talking about. “Oh! The deer from that one book, very clever.”

“It was a movie, dumbass.”

“Uh, Dad, the movie came out after he died,” Charlie said. “And it was a book first.”

“Who’s the ‘dumbass’ now, your highness?” Alastor grinned.

Vaggie groaned. “While this isn’t as bad as your normal fights,” she began, “this still isn’t where we need you two to be at. Why are you so petty with each other?”

Neither of them said anything. Alastor just liked pissing off the King of Hell knowing that nothing would happen to him as a result of Charlie liking him. Though, he did wonder how he got under the other man’s skin so easily. The King of Hell shouldn’t get bothered that easily by a “lowly” sinner.

“Neither of you can even come up with a reason? Seriously? Then stop it,” Vaggie said.

“It’s not that easy!” Lucifer protested.

“Which is why we’re having you do the bonding activities!” Charlie contributed. “To make it easier to not fight with each other! Tomorrow morning, after breakfast, I want you two to join Vaggie and me in the main lounge. We’ll lead you through an activity tomorrow.”

Alastor raised one of his eyebrows. Their presence during their next “bonding activity” would force Lucifer and himself to behave as much as possible instead of being able to occasionally lash out like they had while running errands. He wasn’t sure bottling up everything would end well, but it could be very entertaining so long as Lucifer broke first, which Alastor would make sure he would.

“Of course, my dear,” Alastor replied. “Anything for you.”

Lucifer glared at him before saying, “I’ll also do anything for you, so of course I’ll be there.”

Lucifer

After breakfast, Lucifer and Alastor followed Vaggie and Charlie into the main lobby. There were crayons, colored pencils, and paper strewn across the coffee table. Lucifer raised an eyebrow at his daughter.

“Duckie, what is all this?” he asked.

“You’re going to draw how you see each other!” Charlie excitedly said. “Be honest with your drawings, and we’ll do this same exercise after you go through all the activities I planned to see how much your opinions on each other have changed!”

Lucifer saw a trace of skepticism on Alastor’s face before it disappeared and the demon said, “Are you sure you want honesty, my dear? I can’t say you’ll like how I view your father.”

“Or how I view your business partner,” Lucifer said.

“Yes, I’m sure, it’ll give me a better idea of where you two are at with each other,” Charlie said.

“It’ll also force you two to think about reasons you don’t like each other that we can work on,” Vaggie added.

Lucifer thought that was a good point. He didn’t know specifically why he didn’t like Alastor. It had originally been because he was trying to replace him as Charlie’s father, but now it’s become clear that Charlie accepts them both as her father figures, so he wasn’t even at risk for losing his position anymore.

“Sit, sit, sit!” Charlie dragged Lucifer to one of the armchairs and let Alastor sit down by himself in another one.

“You two can take as much time as you want with your pictures, Vaggie and I are more than capable of running the hotel by ourselves today.”

Lucifer wasn’t worried about that anyway, since their only patron right now was Angeldust, but he thought it was cute that his daughter believed that her hotel would suddenly get really popular any day now. He was so proud that she wasn’t deterred from pursuing her dreams as easily as he was. [a/n: in his defense, he didn’t have the support of his friends and family like she does]

He thought that if it didn’t get popular after they fought against fucking Heaven, then the hotel just wasn’t going to get any traction until they had undeniable proof it worked.

“I feel honored that you don’t feel the need to supervise us on this,” Alastor said, probably sarcastically. It was hard to tell sometimes with that demon. “It sounded like you were going to sit with us the entire time.”

“We were going to, but Charlie said we need to trust you,” Vaggie explained. Clearly, she thought they couldn’t be trusted, but she let her girlfriend do this her way. Secretly, Lucifer was relieved; he didn’t want to accidentally slip up and make it obvious about his… situation in regards to Alastor.

“You can trust us - or at least, you can trust me,” Lucifer said with a smile.

Alastor made a very obvious eye roll. “You can trust me, too.”

With that, the women left the room and Lucifer reached for a paper and some crayons. Usually, he kept his images in his head, but when he felt like he needed to get a certain design on paper, he always used crayons. He didn’t care if it seemed childish.

Alastor grabbed a piece of paper and a black colored pencil. As time went on, he grabbed different colors and returned the ones he wasn’t using at that moment. Meanwhile, Lucifer amassed a small pile of crayons on the chair with him.

When he was done, Lucifer looked at his finished product. He had intentionally drawn the radio demon uglier than he actually was, just to make sure no one could tell that Lucifer thought he was very attractive, and had written some notes on the side:

• Weird ears
• Dumbass haircut
• Stupid
• Stupid radio effects
• Stupid microphone stick
• Stupid smile
• Gross teeth
• Itty bitty pointless antlers
• Tattered coat
• Annoying
• Tacky
• Rude

Lucifer nodded at his good work and turned to look at Alastor, who was still working on his drawing. It didn’t seem like he would be done soon, so Lucifer wasn’t entirely sure what he was supposed to do, but he definitely wasn’t going to sit there in silence anymore.

Alastor [a/n: just changing perspectives mid-scene]

“What’s taking you so long?” Lucifer said. “It’s not like you’re actually a good artist or anything - I saw the picture of the hotel you drew.”

Alastor sighed out his nose and looked up from his paper. “I need to make sure it’s offensive enough. Now, surely you can wait patiently and silently?”

“Mmmmm, nope!”

Why must he be so annoying?

“You were quiet when you were drawing, so just draw something else.”

“But I don’t have anything I wanna draw,” Lucifer pouted. Alastor rolled his eyes and traded his black colored pencil for a golden one.

“Does that matter? You didn’t want to draw me, did you?”

Lucifer appeared stunned and took a moment to respond. “N-n-no! B-but that was for Charlie!”

There it is again - that gold on his cheeks. What is that?

“So draw something else and pretend it’s for Charlie. Just be quiet.”

Lucifer pouted for a few moments, then grabbed another piece of paper. Alastor was relieved that he would be shutting up again.

Alastor put the finishing touches on his drawing and put down the colored pencils. He maybe put a little too much effort into it, but he would definitely be one-upping Lucifer’s drawing, which would probably be really bad. His notes on disliking Lucifer were:

• Dumb hat
• Weird gold sometimes [a/n: with an arrow pointing to his cheeks]
• Short HAHA
• Tacky cane
• Tacky circus design
• Annoying
• No color - too much white
• Stupid hairstyle
• Bad father
• Tacky

“I don’t know if our dear Charlie wants us to wait to show each other our drawings until she’s back, but I am now finished with mine,” Alastor stated.

“I don’t wanna wait. Show yours first,” Lucifer said.

“Why mine first? Why not yours?”

“Because.”

“Let’s just do it at the same time, simpleton.” Alastor rolled his eyes and prepared to turn his paper towards the other man.

“Fine.” Lucifer got ready with his paper.

“3…2…1!” They counted down together, revealing their drawings on one. Alastor immediately started laughing at Lucifer’s. It was very, very, poorly drawn and only vaguely resembled him - it was much worse than he'd been expecting.

“Why are you laughing, asshole? It looks just like you!” Lucifer yelled over Alastor’s laughter. “See? It’s ugly and tacky, like you.”

“You can’t even tell it’s me!” Alastor managed to get out. “Where are my legs? Why is my skin gray?”

“Your legs are right there!” Lucifer pointed to the very short legs he had drawn. “And I didn’t try to find a good color for your skin, so gray it was.”

“Funny that you put ‘too much red’ when your outfit is entirely too much white.”

“What are you, the fashion police? Too much white is better than too much red. Why did you make my cane so small?”

“Because you’re small, obviously.”

Lucifer’s demon form suddenly started to come out, but not because of that comment.

“I am not a bad father,” he said somewhat calmly.

“Oh, I apologize, I didn’t know that abandoning your child for seven years was good parenting.” Alastor stared at him, sure he wouldn’t do anything. He was wrong.

Alastor barely had any time to summon some tentacles to push the king away when he leaped at him. He snarled and grew in size. Alastor got ready for Lucifer’s next attack.

Just when Lucifer came flying at him (literally), Charlie walked in saying, “Just wanted to see how you guys - WHAT ARE YOU DOING?? STOP IT! DAD! ALASTOR!”

Upon hearing his daughter’s voice, Lucifer immediately stopped, but Alastor didn’t stop as quickly, so one of his tentacles still hit Lucifer with enough force to send him across the room.

Oops.

“Sorry about that, my dear,” Alastor said as Lucifer got himself up. “He got a little heated over my drawing of him.”

Charlie covered her mouth. “You weren’t supposed to show each other! Did I forget to tell you? Oh no this is my fault!”

“No it’s not, sweetie. Both of us got a little upset because we just have short tempers. It’s something we need to work on, it’s nothing that’s your fault,” Lucifer soothed Charlie, pulling her into his arms.

“I know, I just- I just want to help,” Charlie said.

Lucifer nodded. “I know, I know. You’re doing the best you can.”

Alastor rolled his eyes as the two continued to be sappy with each other. Alastor thought Charlie wouldn’t have another exercise for them today anyway, so he shadow traveled back to his room.

Once he was fully materialized, he bent over in pain, clutching his chest. Groaning, Alastor took off his coat and shirt to change his bandages. His wound kept getting worse, and recently, whenever Alastor used his powers, the injury would throb in pain. It still wasn’t anything he couldn’t handle, though. He didn’t need Lucifer now, and he never would.

Chapter Text

Lucifer

After Charlie had calmed down, Lucifer grabbed his and Alastor’s drawings to show her. Alastor had disappeared from the room, but that was probably a good thing, since he’d been the one to start the fight.

They sat down on the couch before Lucifer actually showed the pictures to her. Charlie snickered a little bit at Lucifer's drawing, but stopped herself quickly. She held her hands together in front of her mouth and said, “It is very… creative.”

Lucifer chuckled and said, “It's ok, you can say it sucks, I didn't put as much effort into it as Alastor did into his.”

They both laughed a bit at Lucifer's drawing a little more before Charlie took it to look closer at it.

“Looks like most of your issues with him are about his appearance… Are you really that shallow, Dad?”

“No, no, I swear I'm not. It's just…” Lucifer tried to figure out how to explain it. “When I don't like someone, then I nitpick their appearance, but if I like them, then I don't care about how they look. Does that make sense?”

Charlie had a thoughtful expression on her face. “I guess it kinda does…? Would that mean those reasons could go away if we work on the other ones?”

“Probably.”

“Well we can talk to Alastor about being less rude and annoying towards you and maybe using fewer radio effects around you, and that shouldn't be too difficult.”

Lucifer doubted that, but he would let his daughter try to her heart’s content. Charlie put down his drawing and picked up Alastor's.

“Does he not know that the gold is just you blushing? And why are you even blushing around him anyway?” she asked.

Lucifer blushed. “He's not the smartest, so why would he know? B-besides, it's just blood r-rushing to my face from anger,” he lied.

Please believe me or just not push it please Charlie, I don't want you to be scarred.

“Ok…” Charlie didn't seem to believe him, but she didn't say anything. [a/n: to be clear, she thinks Alastor talks about something that embarrasses Lucifer, not that he has a crush on Alastor] Instead, she kept looking at the drawing. Suddenly, her face became very serious.

“Is this what started the fight?” She pointed at the “bad father” that was written on the paper. Lucifer turned his head away and didn’t say anything. She tried to make eye contact with him, but Lucifer couldn't bring himself to look at her.

“You know you're not a bad father, right?” Charlie said gently.

“I tried discouraging you from your dreams and barely talked to you for seven years,” he replied.

“But you feel bad about it and you know you were wrong! That's the sign of a good person and you're trying to make up for it, that's all that matters!”

Lucifer looked at his daughter fondly. He knew she forgave him, but that didn't mean that he didn’t still need to be better. He was going to be a better father to Charlie; she deserved it.

“I know, Char-Char,” he said, “but Alastor clearly doesn't.”

“Hmmm, I've only seen him really get along with women, so I wonder if his father did something to him so he doesn't trust men.”

“He's definitely got daddy issues,” Lucifer mumbled.

Charlie groaned. “And he never opens up about anything and it seems like that's his only real issue with you, how are we supposed to work on that?”

He put a hand on Charlie's shoulder. “He doesn't have to like me, so we don't need to worry about it. We can probably get him to just keep his mouth shut and act civil around me.”

“That might be the best we can hope for.” She sighed. “I just think you two would be really good friends if you could figure everything out.”

“Who knows? Maybe one day in the far, far future we could be.” Lucifer didn’t really believe it, but he wanted to give his daughter some hope, something he hadn’t done much in the last seven years.

“Thanks, Dad,” Charlie said as she got up. “I am going to find Vaggie and make a plan!"

“Okay, sweetie, sounds good.”

Lucifer stayed on the couch, even after Charlie left. He didn’t know what he should do. He wanted to try to be friends with Alastor to make Charlie happy, but he didn’t want to get too close in case the crush mutated into something worse and more serious. Lucifer also didn’t really want to put in the inane amount of effort that would be needed to genuinely bond with him.

However, he wouldn’t need to bond with Alastor to make Charlie happy; he could just try to make it more comfortable for the two of them to be around each other.

Lucifer made his decision. He was going to apologize for the fight, even though Alastor started it, because he was the better man.

Alastor

Alastor had just finished putting his shirt and coat back on after changing his bandages when he heard a small, almost hesitant knock on his door. No one had knocked on his door before - at least, not while he was there to hear it.

Perhaps Charlie wants to be sappy with me now.

He rolled his eyes. Everyone in this hotel was so emotional, especially the Morningstars.

Walking to his door, he grabbed his cane and straightened out his clothes. Once he opened the door, he looked to where Charlie’s face would be. Only, it wasn’t there.

“Down here, asshole,” a familiar and annoying voice said.

Lucifer.

Alastor glared down at the shorter man. “What are you doing here?”

“To apologize, and before you say anything,” Lucifer said after Alastor opened his mouth, “I know you think there’s no reason to actually, genuinely apologize for anything, but I still want to anyway.”

Alastor rolled his eyes. “Well? Go on then.”

“Can I come in?”

“No.”

Lucifer sighed, clearly annoyed. “Fine. I’m sorry for attacking you for writing that I’m a bad father. I… can admit that I haven’t been the best father these last seven years, but I am trying to be better. I know we had a truce to not talk about our fathers, but I want to assure you, that whatever your father did to you-”

“Stop talking.” The sound of radio static increased and Alastor’s voice became harder to pick out.

“I’m just saying you don’t have to worry about me doing the same things to Charlie! I don’t want to hurt her. Ever.”

His brain threatened to bring up memories of his father, but Alastor shoved them back down to never be touched again. “Leave.”

The devil put his hands up in a placating gesture. “I did what I came to do, but just consider that not every man is like your father.”

Before Alastor could yell at him, Lucifer disappeared, presumably to his own room. Alastor stepped back into his room and slammed the door shut. He breathed heavily with his back against the door as he tried to control his emotions.

Finally, he slid down the door and put his face in his hands. He didn’t cry, he never did, but that didn’t mean he was never tempted to. But Alastor was stronger than his feelings, and after what might have been a few minutes or even a few hours, he returned his breathing back to normal and stood back up.

He walked around his room a bit, then gently put his cane down across his desk. Sitting down in the chair, the demon pulled out a pen and one of his notepads. He stared blankly at the notepad with the pen in his hand. He couldn’t focus on anything, but at least he wasn’t thinking about that.

It was going to be another long night for Alastor.

Chapter Text

Lucifer

Lucifer hadn’t seen Alastor in a few days, and, against his wishes, was beginning to worry about him. Was mentioning his father a bad move? What if he pushed Alastor into a bad head space with that?

He felt so bad that he went to the bar to drink for the first time (while at the hotel). Lucifer didn’t drink much, since he knew it wouldn’t help anything, so he’d never really been at the bar for more than a few moments.

The bartender (Hugh? Hudson? Husky? No, that last one was one of those dog things. He was so bad at remembering names if he didn’t have a lot of contact with the person in question) looked a little uncomfortable around him, but still poured him as many drinks as Lucifer asked for.

“Uh, I know it ain’t really my place,” the bartender started, “but since you haven’t really been here before, your majesty, I gotta ask, are you alright? Did somethin’ happen?”

“Yeah, I’m fine. Thanks…” Lucifer tried to make it seem like he trailed off because he was tipsy, not because he’d forgotten his name, but the other man noticed anyway.

“Husk.”

“Sorry,” Lucifer said. He always felt bad for not remembering names because everyone knew him, so he wanted to show that he could remember other people's existence by using their names.

“Nah, it’s all right.” Husk had picked up a dirty glass and was cleaning it now. “I was an overlord once, I understand havin’ too many people around to remember all their names.”

Lucifer stared at the other in shock. He didn’t know that this man had been overlord, then again, he’d never cared for overlord politics in the first place. All he knew were the other Sins and the Goetia, since those didn’t change nearly as much as overlords did and were more important anyway.

“It’s not somethin’ a lotta people know about,” Husk explained, pulling Lucifer back to the moment. “But I got a gamblin’ problem, had it since I was alive, and everythin’ went downhill.”

“Damn. I assume that’s what got you tied up with Alastor?”

The bartender nodded, but didn’t say anything. Lucifer sipped at his alcohol some more as the silence became a little more comfortable now that they had a better understanding of one another.

After a while, Lucifer saw Husk’s ears twitch and a small smile appear on his face. He turned to see what he was looking at, and saw Angeldust (he remembered his name since he was the only guest in the hotel right now) approaching. 

Ohh, I see.

Lucifer smiled. He really liked when it was easy to see when people loved each other - he just thought it was adorable (and it reminded him of his and Lilith’s love). He wondered how long they’d been dating; he hadn’t really talked to either of them much in the month that Lucifer had been at the hotel, so he had no idea. [a/n: they haven’t even confessed to each other yet, just so y’all know what’s really going on]

“Hey, Whiskers, could ya get me a drink?” Angeldust said as he settled down on the bar stool next to Lucifer. 

Aww, they use pet names, too, how cute!

“Sure, you lookin’ for taste or for strength?” his boyfriend asked.

“Mmm, how about taste with a bit a’ strength?” He winked at Husk.

“You got it, Legs.”

Even though he sat down right next to Lucifer, Angeldust seemed to only notice him after Husk turned around to make his drink.

“Oh shit, uh, yer majesty, h-how are ya doin’ today?” he asked nervously.

“You can drop the ‘your majesty’, honestly everyone in the hotel can,” Lucifer said, speaking loud enough to make sure Husk would be able to hear him.

“So, what? Just call ya ‘Lucifer’ then?” Angeldust confirmed.

“That’s perfect.”

The bartender turned around to give the spider demon his drink. Angeldust smiled a little bit before picking up the glass to taste it.

“Holy shit, Husk, this is amazing!” Angel beamed at him, causing Husk to smile back. They happily stared into each other's eyes for a few moments.

“You guys are adorable, how long have you been dating?” Lucifer asked. He couldn’t stand the cuteness anymore and just had to know.

To his surprise, both of them suddenly blushed and Angeldust said, “No, no, no, no, no, it’s- we’re not like that yet. I mean! We’re just not like that. Full stop. No more words.”

His not-boyfriend nodded vigorously as Angel spoke, but stopped once he heard the “yet” and stared at him. Both of them had blushed even more somehow when Angel had said that.

It was obvious they liked each other, but Lucifer decided to not tease them viciously, instead saying, “My mistake, it just seemed like you two were together.”

“Well, we ain't, just so ya know.” Angeldust was looking anywhere but Lucifer’s or Husk’s eyes.

“Hey, good friendships are important, too,” Lucifer said. He did really think that friendships were important, but since their pining was mutual, he thought it would be better for both of them if they were to confess their feelings for each other. Even so, Lucifer wasn’t going to interfere since he was no good in social situations and didn’t want to screw things up for the hopefully soon-to-be couple.

Angel downed the rest of his drink and got up. “Well, it was a long day, so I’m gonna go to my room. See ya guys later.”

He waved goodbye to Lucifer and Husk, both waved back, before going up the stairs quick enough to be noticeably fast, but not quick enough to constitute running.

Lucifer turned around to Husk with an eyebrow raised.

“I ain’t sayin’ nothin’ about it,” Husk said without even looking at him.

Lucifer smirked, glad to have his thoughts confirmed, but he wanted to know more. “Is there anything I could do to get you to talk about it?”

Husk looked at him smugly and said, “Only if you tell me what’s up with you.”

He probably wouldn’t have said anything, but since Husk clearly thought he’d won, Lucifer just had to prove him wrong.

“I have a crush on someone who isn’t my wife, and I’m afraid that I might have hurt them. Your turn,” Lucifer said, causing Husk to drop the glass he was cleaning.

“Fuck.” Husk looked down, but before he could move to clean it up, Lucifer magicked it away.

“You really wanna know that bad?” the bartender asked.

“What can I say? I love love.” Lucifer smiled.

Husk grumbled for a few moments, but then said, “Yes, I like him, but I’m pretty sure he only likes me sexually, not also romantically, and even if he did, he’s tryin’ to go to Heaven and I’m not. It wouldn’t end well.” 

“You’d rather not try at all rather than get the chance to be with him for at least a little while?”

“It’s better this way.” It seemed like Husk was trying to convince himself more than he was trying to convince Lucifer. Before the fallen angel could respond, Husk snapped, “And what do you even care? You’re tryin’ to find a solution at the bottom of a bottle instead of goin’ to see if your crush is even okay after whatever it is that you did.”

Lucifer gaped at him. The only other sinner to have point blank told him the truth about him like that was Alastor.

Husk’s eyes widened. “Uh, shit. Sorry I-I didn’t mean to-”

“It’s okay,” Lucifer cut him off. “Not many people are brave enough to just tell me how it is. And you’re right. I should go see how they are.”

Lucifer finished his drink and headed up the stairs, leaving behind a very nervous and very confused Husk.

Chapter Text

Alastor

For the second time that week, Alastor heard someone knock on his door. He narrowed his eyes at the door. It was most likely Lucifer, since Alastor hadn’t been avoiding anyone else and Charlie was giving them a short reprieve from their bonding exercises. Maybe if he just stayed quiet, Lucifer would go away.

Lucifer knocked again. “Alastor, open up. C’mon I know you’re in there.”

Alastor stayed where he was. The fallen angel was most likely bluffing about knowing that he was in there.

“You know, my knocking is just a courtesy,” Lucifer called out. “It’d be very easy for me to just knock down your door or just portal inside.”

He sighed. Alastor had put enough magic around his room that no sinner would be able to do that; unfortunately, Lucifer wasn’t just any sinner. Very reluctantly, Alastor walked over to the door and opened it.

“What do you want? ” he snapped, nearly blasting his radio effects. Taking a few days to thoroughly repress everything made him feel much better, but he still didn’t want to see Lucifer.

“Bringing up your father was uncalled for. So I just wanted to see if you were alright, especially since you’ve been avoiding me,” Lucifer answered, unfazed.

“Are you apologizing? Again?” Alastor rolled his eyes. What was with this guy?

“Yes, but Al, I really do want to know: are you okay?” 

“Of course I am!” Alastor said in a cheery tone, dialing back his radio effects to match his words. “I was only avoiding you because I didn't want to see your stupid face at the risk of another fight starting.”

“Mhm.” Lucifer didn’t seem to believe him, but that didn't mean anything. Rosie was the only  person, living or dead, who could always tell without a doubt when he was lying or when he wasn’t okay. 

“Alrighty, you've seen that I'm very much okay, so run along now,” Alastor said, hoping Lucifer’s dense brain would take the rather obvious hint.

“You don’t have to talk about it, but you don’t have to lie either,” Lucifer said instead of going away.

“Why do you care so much?”

“Charlie really wants us to get along and she even thinks we could even be friends.” Lucifer looked away from Alastor’s eyes. “I always make sure my friends are okay, and if they’re not, I do what I can to make them feel better. If I treat you like a friend, maybe I can trick my brain into not despising you on sight.”

Everything this man does is for Charlie…

Alastor’s father had never done anything for him. Not that he was going to think about that man, but maybe Lucifer wasn’t as bad a father as Alastor had thought.

“I’m surprised to see you’re willing to really try to get along with me for Charlie’s sake,” he said.

Lucifer rolled his eyes. “Yeah, yeah, you think I’m a bad father, but I am willing. So, are you okay?”

Alastor stared at him while deciding what to say. He couldn’t figure out how genuine Lucifer really was, and he just wanted to end the conversation. Finally, he said, “I’m doing much better now than I was.”

Lucifer seemed satisfied with this answer. “Thank you. Let me know if there’s ever anything I can do for you.”

Alastor slowly nodded, then Lucifer portalled away. The demon went back inside and softly closed the door behind him. What was that?  Would it actually be possible for him to be friends with the King of Hell?

As he changed his bandages, he couldn't help but think about Lucifer.

Lucifer

Crush or no, Lucifer would spend as much time as necessary with Alastor to get along with him in front of Charlie and to heal his injury. He could figure out his guilt about having feelings for someone other than his wife later.

After speaking with Alastor, Lucifer went to find Charlie to tell her that they could start up her bonding exercises for them again. Vaggie was sitting on the couch in the lobby and Charlie was laying with her legs over her girlfriend.

He smiled at how comfortable they were with each other. “Hey, Charlie, I talked to Alastor and I think we’re okay enough with one another again to continue with your bonding activities if you wanted.”

Vaggie looked skeptical. “You spoke to Alastor?”

“Yes,” Lucifer said, slightly offended that Vaggie seemed so surprised. “I took the high road and apologized for the fight even though he started it. When I explained that I’m really trying to get along for Charlie’s sake, he was surprised since he still thinks I’m a bad father, but the conversation ended civilly and I think maybe his opinion of me is changing ever so slightly.”

“That’s amazing!” Charlie exclaimed, sitting up with her legs still over Vaggie. “Meet me here tomorrow morning for the next activity! I’ll go tell Alastor!”

Vaggie wrapped her arms around Charlie’s legs before she could move. “Nuh-uh, that can wait. What time is it, Charlie?”

Charlie pouted and crossed her arms. “...Break time.”

“Exactly. Babe, relax, you can tell Alastor after your break time.”

Vaggie released her girlfriend’s legs once she was sure Charlie wouldn’t run away. Lucifer couldn’t help but love Vaggie more; breaks were very important and Charlie had unfortunately gotten Lucifer’s tendency to forget about self-care in the midst of focusing on work. Lilith had always helped him remember to take breaks, and he was glad his daughter had someone to do the same.

“Thank you, Vaggie,” Lucifer said.

Vaggie looked away from Charlie, surprised. “Um, no problem. Sir.”

Lucifer rolled his eyes and grinned. “You can drop the sir, just call me Lucifer.”

“Okay, s- Lucifer,” she said hesitantly.

“Dad works, too.”

Lucifer laughed as Vaggie blushed and Charlie said, “Dad!”

Charlie must have known that he was going to tease them some more because she playfully threw one of the couch pillows at him. He dodged, still laughing, and said, “Alright, alright, I’ll get out of your hair.”

He portalled to his room and took off his coat, hat, and heels. He let himself fall backwards onto his bed with a smile. Lucifer loved seeing his daughter so happy and he felt glad that he hadn’t hurt Alastor too much with the father comment.

Lucifer was also way too happy that Alastor’s opinion on him started to change. He had thought it would never happen, but now that it was, he couldn’t stop his brain from wondering just how much Alastor could end up liking him. Would he ever like like him back?

Oh my dad, stop it! Lucifer thought as his cheeks became very warm. It’s not going to ever happen. The best case scenario is that you become friends, nothing more.

Lucifer covered his face with his hands and willed himself to stop thinking about Alastor. It didn’t work. Instead, he got under the covers and closed his eyes. He would just try to sleep in order to be thoughtless and tomorrow he would continue to work on gaining Alastor’s trust while trying not to fall for him more.

Alastor

Alastor woke up in excruciating pain. He shot up and clutched his chest. After steeling himself, he slowly unbuttoned his pajama shirt. Alastor sharply inhaled. His injury had bled through the bandages and through most of the shirt. The blood made the shirt stick to his skin; which made it painful when Alastor tried peeling his shirt off.

By controlling his breathing and taking his time, he eventually got the shirt off, which he just burned with his magic - he wasn’t going to try to clean all that blood off. Alastor groaned. Taking off the bandages would be worse.

If he were able to stop smiling, he would have done so by now. It still threw him off sometimes, smiling when he had absolutely zero desire to do so, but he didn’t mind it too much. It was just annoying that Alastor couldn’t ever relax the muscles pulling his lips into the constant smile. [a/n: I headcanon that he physically can’t not smile, like maybe it was part of his deal or something]

He finally pulled himself to his feet and went into his connected bathroom. Alastor undressed the rest of the way, dragged the trash next to the shower, and started to shower. He very slowly peeled off the bandages, dropping them into the trash as he reached the end of each one. Once all the bandages were gone, he tried to rinse off all the dried-on blood. After he did the best he could, Alastor stepped out of the shower and carefully dried himself off. He got dressed, leaving his chest bare.

He grabbed the bottle of disinfectant from the counter. He didn’t usually treat his wounds, and hadn’t even started treating this one until recently when it had started looking particularly disgusting. Alastor usually thought it was pointless, but now that it did look so bad, he applied it anyway, wincing the entire time. Once he thought he had put enough on, he wrapped himself in bandages once more.

It took him a bit, but Alastor was able to get fully bandaged and dressed. He looked at his clock and hurriedly melted into the shadows. It was exactly 10am, which was when Charlie had wanted to meet; if he had spent one more minute dealing with his injury, he would have been late.

When he rematerialized, his chest burned with pain to yell at him for using his magic. Alastor bit his tongue to keep himself from showing any outward signs of pain to anyone.

He quickly scanned the room and saw that Charlie, Vaggie, and even Lucifer were already there.

“It’s a miracle! You’re on time again, Lucifer!” Alastor said from right behind Lucifer, but only succeeded in making Charlie and Vaggie jump.

“And you’re not early again, what a surprise,” Lucifer said in a tired voice. Had he gotten any sleep last night? Not that Alastor cared - he was just curious.

“No need to be early, it only matters to be on time.”

Lucifer rolled his eyes, then turned to Charlie and Vaggie. “What do you have planned for us today, Duckie?”

What a silly nickname.

Charlie wrung her hands together. “You two are going to cook dinner tonight. You will have the whole day to agree on a meal and to get any ingredients you might need. We are going to trust that you won’t try poisoning anything to get at the other since everyone in the hotel will be eating this.”

Alastor had been thinking of adding some poison as soon as she said the first sentence. It wouldn’t have harmed Lucifer seriously since he was the King of Hell, but it could’ve made him a little sick which would have made him mildly annoyed.

“Why would we even put poison in there?” Lucifer asked, clearly unaware that Alastor had wanted to poison him.

“I don’t know where you guys are at and I don’t trust you two to not try something stupid,” Vaggie replied.

“Why, my dear, I never try anything stupid,” Alastor said.

Vaggie rolled her eyes. “Yeah, you don’t try, you just do stupid stuff.”

Alastor narrowed his eyes. If she weren’t Charlie’s girlfriend, he probably would have ended her for her blatant disrespect long ago.

“Anyway …” Charlie said, “That’s all we have for you today, I look forward to what you make together!”

Alastor raised an eyebrow and looked over at Lucifer, who was looking at him, too. It would appear neither of them wanted to do this.

Lucifer looked back at his daughter and said, “I’m sure we’ll be able to figure out something.”

He’ll probably want to do something so incredibly simple and lacking culture.

Charlie clapped and bounced up and down. “I can’t wait! Cooking is such a great way to bond!”

She seemed like she was about to go on more, but before she could ramble, Vaggie took her hands and said, “Okay, Charlie, let’s let them get started, if you keep talking they can’t do anything.”

“Oh, right! Ok bye! Have fun!” Charlie shouted as Vaggie dragged her away.

Alastor was a great cook; he’d learned many amazing recipes from his mother growing up. However, he didn’t want to be stuck with Lucifer to cook dinner. He would just do the bare minimum to help with whatever basic dish Lucifer wanted to make.

Lucifer

Lucifer liked to cook, and he wasn’t too bad at it, he just didn’t know very many recipes. He knew Alastor sometimes made food for the hotel, but he’d never had any of it, so Lucifer didn’t know if Alastor was actually any good at cooking either.

The two had sat down on two chairs in the lobby lounge after Charlie and Vaggie left, and it seemed as though both of them were waiting for the other to say something. Lucifer didn’t like it. It felt awkward, and he was the king of awkward.

He had no idea what to make since he hadn’t made anything for the hotel before, so he wanted Alastor to suggest something, anything so they could get started. But that handsome piece of shit was just sitting and grinning at him. It was clear he wasn’t going to say anything soon.

His leg started to aggressively bounce, if there were such a thing, as he became more annoyed by Alastor’s silence. Eventually, he stopped it and sighed before saying, “Okay, why aren’t you talking? You talk all the time - I’m convinced you just love hearing yourself talk.”

“Well I don’t know who wouldn’t like the sound of my voice, but I’m merely waiting for you to say what it is you wish to make,” Alastor said.

“Well, the thing is, I don’t really know many recipes.” Lucifer’s leg began to bounce again. “I like to cook, but I don’t do it very much so I thought we could just make something you wanted to make."

Alastor scoffed. “I highly doubt that you would want anything I would make.”

“You don’t know that for sure! What would you cook?”

“Mmm, then how do you feel about shrimp étouffée?”

“What’s that?”

“A Creole dish I learned from my mother.”

Lucifer paused. He only had a vague idea of what Creole was. He decided to just ask now instead of possibly making a fool of himself later. “Creole’s a language, isn’t it?”

Alastor looked at Lucifer like he just said something stupid. “Yes, but I was talking about the ethnicity.”

“Sorry, I haven’t paid much attention to humans and Earth since the beginning of humanity…”

“I could tell.” Alastor made as much of a disappointed face as he could while maintaining his permanent smile, which just ended up being strangely endearing to Lucifer.

He fought the smile that threatened to make itself known and asked, “Anyway, what’s in shrimp atwo whatever?”

Alastor rolled his eyes. “Ay-too-fay. It’s shrimp and veggies in a sauce served with rice. I don’t think you would like it since my mother’s recipe packs quite a kick, even for Creole food.”

“Why do you think I wouldn’t like spicy food?” Lucifer was genuinely a little offended. He was the King of Hell, a little spice couldn’t best him.

Alastor grinned as he considered the question. “You just seem like the kind of person who doesn’t eat spicy food, but perhaps I’m wrong. Would you like to make the shrimp étouffée?”

Lucifer wasn’t going to turn down such an obvious challenge. “Of course! I’m not going to back down from trying a new food.”

“I’ll start making the list of ingredients we’ll need to get then. Afterwards, we can go buy everything.”

“Do you really need me to come along for shopping?” Lucifer asked. He didn’t like shopping (unless it was for clothes), and he figured Alastor could go by himself since he’d still help with making it when he came back.

Alastor narrowed his eyes. “I’m going to be doing most of the work anyway since I’m the only one who knows the recipe, so you can help with shopping so we can claim that you did something.”

“I’m going to actually help you make the étouffée! You’re not going to kick me out of the kitchen!”

“Fine.” Alastor’s face said that he didn’t like that he’d really be cooking with Lucifer. “But you’re still shopping with me.”

Lucifer groaned. “Fine.”

Chapter Text

Alastor

Alastor made their shopping list very quickly, speedily doing the mental math to make sure that they would make enough to feed everyone. Even though it didn’t take him long, Lucifer was very impatiently waiting for him to finish up. So, he started doodling on the paper to make him wait longer.

“I thought you didn't want to go shopping, so why are you so anxious to leave now?” Alastor asked, still doodling.

“Well because there’s nothing I can really do until you’re done with the list because it supposedly won’t take very long and also the sooner we can go the sooner we can get this over with and then I won’t be bored anymore,” Lucifer said all in one breath.

Alastor smiled ever so slightly at the fallen angel’s impatient explanation on why he was being impatient. He pulled his smile back down to where it was - why in the world would he even smile at that in the first place?

He hummed as he finished up his doodles, then said, “Okay, we can go now.”

“Finally,” Lucifer groaned. “Can we just portal there instead of walking this time?”

“I’m sure we can, but will we?” [a/n: yes, Alastor is 100% that guy]

Lucifer slid his hand over his face in annoyance - Alastor briefly smiled again - and said, “In the name of all that is unholy…”

He muttered some more, then opened a portal. “I’m assuming this place is good enough?”

Alastor peered through the portal to see that it led to Joe’s Grocery [a/n: don’t judge me. I couldn’t come up with a good place name when this is literally the only time it’ll be used]. “Yes, we should be able to find everything except the shrimp here.”

“I’m pretty sure I’ve seen shrimp there before.”

“I’m sure you have, but… it’s not any good,” Alastor lied. He figured Lucifer wouldn’t want to hear about how all their meat was really just sinners who had been magicked into looking like meat.

“Okay...” The king didn’t ask any questions. Then he slightly bowed with an arm pointed out to the portal. “You can go first.”

Alastor grimaced. He would have just shadow traveled separately to their destination to avoid having to use someone else's powers like that, but his injury throbbed merely at the thought of him using his powers like that. After only a moment’s hesitation, he stepped through the portal, with Lucifer right behind him.

“Can I trust you to pick out good yellow onions and garlic?” Alastor asked Lucifer.

“I'm sure you can,” Lucifer tried to mimic how Alastor sounded earlier. He failed.

Alastor stared at Lucifer, absolutely dumbfounded. “That doesn't- that's not- how are you that stupid?”

Lucifer grinned at the insult. “I might not be an expert on grammar, but I succeeded in making you stumble on your words. Anyway, of course I can pick out some vegetables.”

The demon gritted his teeth. He barely ever stumbled on his words, and when he did, it was when he’s rehearsing for his radio show.

He hadn’t trusted Lucifer before that, but Alastor definitely didn’t trust him now. He glared at him, even after Lucifer had turned around to find the onions and garlic.

He sighed and grabbed a basket. He grabbed some bell peppers and jalapeños and tossed them into the basket. He also went to the spice aisle and grabbed paprika and Cajun seasoning (they already had salt and pepper at the hotel). Alastor also grabbed fresh celery, thyme, bay leaves, and green onions.

Where is Lucifer? He still hasn’t come back with the two things I asked him to grab.

As Alastor was grabbing more butter and vegetable oil, since he knew they were almost out at the hotel, Lucifer came up to him with onions and garlic.

“What is that?” Alastor asked, eyes narrowed.

Lucifer tilted his head and furrowed his brows. “Yellow onions and garlic, like you said.”

“No, you grabbed a bunch of rotten vegetables.”

“They’re not rotten.”

Alastor picked an onion up and squished it. “Disgusting. Don’t you know they’re not supposed to do that?”

“I couldn’t remember if it was bad or good if vegetables were squishy, so eventually I just decided on it being good.” That gold appeared on his cheeks. “I-I’ll go get new ones.”

Alastor rolled his eyes as Lucifer went back to grab good onions and garlic. He grabbed shrimp stock while waiting.

Lucifer avoided his eyes when he finally came back with acceptable picks.

“Good job, sir!” Alastor said as condescendingly as he could.

Lucifer growled and crossed his arms. “Is there anything else we need to get while we’re here?”

“No, you took so long making the wrong decision that I was able to get everything else myself.”

Lucifer glared at him before they made their way to checkout. Despite being upset at him, Lucifer still paid for Alastor.

After that, they went to a different store and had no problems getting enough fresh shrimp for the meal. Then, Alastor reluctantly went through another one of Lucifer’s portals back to the hotel.

“This doesn’t take long to make, so if we start making it at 5 o’clock, we can eat around 6 o’clock,” Alastor said as he started putting the ingredients away.

“Let’s start making it at 4:30,” Lucifer said, helping to put everything away. “Since I actually want to learn how to make it, you won’t be able to go as fast as you usually would since you’ll have to teach me.”

He silently sighed in annoyance. “Fine. But you must pay attention because I don’t wish to repeat myself.”

Lucifer eagerly nodded his head. “Got it! Thank you for being willing to teach me, Al, I really appreciate it.”

“Hmm. Well I suppose it’s not a bad thing to teach you a new skill.”

Lucifer gently smiled as a soft gold appeared on his cheeks before disappearing. Alastor dissipated into the shadows back to his radio tower. He dealt with the pain and changed his bandages so he wouldn’t have to while making dinner.

Lucifer

Lucifer was in the kitchen by 4pm; he was super excited to learn how to make a new dish from a new ethnicity. He didn’t know much human food, and most of what he did know seemed to be almost purely European or American. [a/n: he thinks both are countries and he’s very, very confident in that “knowledge”]

He was going to grab all the dishes they would need, but he didn’t know what Alastor would be using, so he ended up not grabbing anything at all. Lucifer suddenly felt silly for being there so fucking early - especially since Alastor wouldn’t show up until exactly 4:30.

Deciding to just wait until Alastor came, Lucifer let his thoughts wander. He twisted the wedding ring he still wore his finger and chewed his lower lip.

Lucifer was still married, technically, so he shouldn’t be entertaining any sort of feelings for other people, but on the other hand, his wife had been missing for over seven years - closer to eight now, actually - which meant that maybe it would be okay to move on.

If she wanted to be in his life - or in their daughter’s life, for that matter - then surely she would have contacted one of them by now. Lilith was the second most powerful being in Hell, there was no way someone hurt her or kidnapped her - her leaving was by choice, and she could have sent a message explaining everything long ago.

Now that he was thinking about it, he shouldn’t even wear the ring anymore! She clearly didn’t care about their marriage anymore, so why should he? Lucifer started to remove it, but stopped when he felt tears sting his eyes.

He rubbed his hands over his face a few times and leaned back in the chair he was sitting in. Obviously, he did still care about his marriage with Lilith and didn’t want to give up just yet, but at the same time, he couldn’t be expected to just be okay with what she’d done to him and Charlie.

Maybe Lucifer could set a date, where if she still wasn’t back, then they weren’t married anymore and he could court other people.

His stomach twisted with guilt. He and Lilith had slept with plenty of other people before, but they had agreed to never enter a romantic relationship with someone else, and he figured that no matter when he set that deadline, Lucifer would still feel like he was cheating on her. Afterall, they had followed that agreement for millennia, and she’d only been gone a few short years in comparison.

He began to spiral about how horrible he was for even thinking about moving on before she’d had a chance to explain herself. Lucifer was yanked out of that once he felt a clawed hand grip into his shoulder and a familiar voice say, “Moping in the kitchen seems out of character for you, your majesty. Have you finally gone insane?”

He groaned as he removed his face from his hands to glare at the grinning demon. It was a welcome distraction from his thoughts, but at the same time, did the distraction have to be Alastor?

“I’m fine.” Lucifer ripped himself out of Alastor’s grasp and got up. He took his coat off and tied on a white apron with a rubber ducky on it. “Let’s just get started.”

Alastor raised an eyebrow up, then said, “Very well.”

He took off his coat and tied a red (of course) apron around his waist. Lucifer peeked to see if he had a cute, little, fluffy deer tail - he was a deer demon, so he had to have one, right? He was very disappointed to see that there wasn’t a tail. [a/n: don’t worry, you guys, Alastor’s just hiding it in his pants]

He watched as Alastor rolled up the sleeves of his shirt and revealed his bare arms. But something about them made Lucifer cock his head at an angle.

“Those aren’t gloves?” Lucifer asked, gesturing to the tan arms that gradually shifted to black hands. He started to roll up his own sleeves to prepare for cooking.

“No. Yours aren’t gloves either?” Alastor was clearly referring to Lucifer’s own white to dark gray forearms and hands.

Lucifer grimly smiled as he held up his hands. “Yeah, well, when you’re falling from Heaven all the way down to Hell, you start going fast enough to light on fire, and that kinda left a bit of a mark.”

“Ha! I’m sure it was only ‘a bit of a mark’ indeed.” Alastor laughed at Lucifer’s minimization of his fall. It sounded like a genuine laugh. Oh Satan, Lucifer really loved the sound of Alastor laughing from something other people might think was funny and not from something disturbing.

Lucifer cleared his throat and asked, “Anyway, where do we start?”

“We’ll start by preparing the vegetables and the shrimp,” Alastor said as he grabbed two knives, two cutting boards, and all the vegetables and shrimp. “You can do the shrimp. I’ll do the vegetables.”

“Okay…” Lucifer didn’t know how to prepare shrimp, but it probably wouldn’t be that difficult. Right? After Alastor turned around to focus on the vegetables, Lucifer picked up one of the shrimp and looked at it. What needed to be done?

Well, you don’t eat the tail, so all I probably need to do is just remove that?

He tried snapping the tail off; it didn’t go to plan, but it did grab Alastor’s attention, who sighed with exasperation.

“If you didn’t know how to prepare shrimp, you should have said so.” Alastor put down what he was working on and stepped into Lucifer’s personal bubble and grabbed the shrimp he was holding.

“Tsk. First, you need to pull off the head and the legs,” Alastor said, while demonstrating with the shrimp he was holding. It was a little difficult to focus once Lucifer realized just how close he was to him, but he tried his best.

“Then you peel off the skin and use the knife to cut along the back and pull out this big vein here, then toss it into the big bowl of ice until we need it.” Alastor raised an eyebrow. “Did you get all that? You seem distracted.”

Lucifer loudly cleared his throat as his face burned up from being caught. “NOPE! Nope! I-I’m good I got it.”

He awkwardly laughed a bit longer until Alastor finally shrugged and went back to the vegetables.

“Wait, you don’t take off the tail?” Lucifer suddenly remembered that Alastor never did that.

“No, of course not! The tail is full of flavor that goes to the rest of the dish while it’s cooking. You just take it off while you’re eating.”

Alastor certainly had a knack for making Lucifer feel dumb for not knowing something specific. Lucifer decided to just laugh it off with, “See? I’m learning from you already.”

“I imagine you have been learning quite a lot from me for a while, seeing as you’re not the sharpest tool in the shed.” Alastor continued to chop while he turned his head to grin mischievously at Lucifer. Lucifer just rolled his eyes and got to work on the shrimp.

They worked in silence, but Lucifer couldn't help himself from sneaking a few peeks at Alastor. He was amazingly adept with a knife and Lucifer could see the muscles in his forearms working. He wondered what it would be like to be held by those arms.

Geez! Lucifer, you're so creepy! What are you doing??

Lucifer silenced his thoughts to try focusing on the shrimp and looking at Alastor, but that kind of failed once he accidentally cut himself with the knife. 

“Ouch!” He examined the line of gold now forming on his thumb. He turned to Alastor, who was already looking at him. 

“Did you give me an angelic blade?? What the fuck??”

Alastor chuckled. “Well, we had a lot left over from the battle with Heaven, so I put some in the kitchen. I thought the great ‘King of Hell’ would know how to handle a knife.”

Lucifer frowned. “I do know how to handle a knife! I just…”

The fallen angel trailed off as he noticed Alastor looking at his cut. His breath hitched when Alastor licked his lips. 

Lucifer snapped out of it and scoffed. He quickly healed his wound and licked off his own blood. “You're not getting a taste of me like that.”

Alastor tilted his head and grinned. “And in what way would I ‘get a taste’ of you?”

Blood rushed to his face as Lucifer realized he had just unintentionally flirted with the demon. “I-I-I-I just meant that… that… y-you wouldn't get my b-blood that easily!”

“You certainly have a way with words that I could never match.” Alastor chuckled as he turned back to the vegetables he was cutting.

“Oh fuck you,” Lucifer said as he turned back to the shrimp. 

“I'd rather not.” 

Lucifer rolled his eyes.

He heard Alastor put down his knife as Lucifer finished peeling and deveining the last shrimp.

“Okay, what next?” Lucifer asked. [a/n: I’m basically just gonna do the recipe now because I’d feel weird for looking up a recipe and not really doing anything with it, so this next part won’t have any story elements, so if you wanna skip it, just go to the ♡♡♡]

“Next, we’ll make the roux with the butter and the oil,” Alastor said. He didn’t let Lucifer touch the whisk, but he seemed fine with him hovering over his shoulder to watch.

After about five minutes, Alastor said, “Now, we’ll add some of the vegetables. Could you pass me the onions, bell peppers, jalapeños, and celery?”

Lucifer did as he said. After another five minutes, he passed the demon the garlic, green onions, and thyme, which Alastor cooked for just a minute.

“We’ll stir in the Cajun seasoning, paprika, salt, and pepper, then add the stock in one cup at a time.”

Alastor whisked the mixture well after each cup of stock was added. Then, he added bay leaf, brought it down to a simmer, then covered it up.

“We have to wait about ten minutes now. I’ll let you stir it occasionally,” Alastor said.

Lucifer rolled his eyes. “Wow, I feel so honored.”

“You should be. I’m going to start the rice now.”

After the appropriate amount of time passed, and the rice was finished, Alastor said, “It’s time to add the shrimp. We’ll simmer this until the shrimp is opaque and cooked through, then remove the bay leaf.”

Afterwards, Alastor sprinkled salt and pepper over the étouffée, moved it into a serving dish, then garnished it with the leftover green onions. Lucifer decided to be helpful and transferred the rice to a couple of serving dishes (he figured one for each end of the table would work well) without Alastor asking him to.

♡♡♡

“Is that everything now?” Lucifer asked.

“Yes, I’ll bring out the food if you could grab bowls and spoons.” Alastor started picking up the dishes.

“Sure.” As Lucifer followed Alastor out to the dining room, he marveled at the astounding aroma coming from the étouffée. As much as he wanted to find out more things he didn’t like about the demon to kill his crush, every new thing he learned about Alastor, he just ended up loving.

If this tastes as good as it smells, this crush might just upgrade to me being in love.

Alastor placed the étouffée in the center of the table and the dishes of rice on either side of it while Lucifer went around and put a bowl and a spoon in every spot. He then snapped his fingers to summon a glass for everyone that would fill with whatever drink they desired.

“Please tell everyone it’s time for dinner, Alastor,” Lucifer said. “I’m going to go wash my hands.”

He could practically hear Alastor roll his eyes when he said, “I did most of the work, but sure, I’ll go grab everybody.”

Lucifer also rolled his eyes as he went back into the kitchen. After he washed his hands, he took off the apron and put his coat back on.

When he went back out to the dining room, he realized that he should have picked out his spot before cleaning up. All the other residents had already picked out their spots, and Lucifer saw with horror that the only remaining spot was to Alastor’s left. On the bright side, he would also be sitting next to Charlie, but he also really didn’t want to sit next to Alastor.

Charlie noticed Lucifer and excitedly waved him over. Putting on a smile, he walked to his designated spot and sat down.

“Dad, this smells so good!” she said.

“Oh, than-”

“I did most of the work since he didn’t know what he was doing,” Alastor interrupted Lucifer.

The fallen angel whipped his head around to glare at Alastor. “We both worked on it, asshole!”

“And I’m sure you both did a wonderful job!” Charlie interjected before Alastor could respond.

“We sure they didn’t poison anythin’?” Husk grumbled as he peered at the étouffée.

“Now, now, Husker! I would never poison you or anyone in this hotel,” Alastor said unconvincingly.

“You literally tried poisonin’ me the first time we met.”

“Details! Anyway, ladies and gentlemen, please have some of the shrimp étouffée and rice that I-”

“We,” Lucifer interrupted.

“-made. A fair warning to all, it has quite the kick to it.”

With that, everyone started serving themselves. Lucifer saw that Alastor put rice in his bowl first, then the étouffée on top, and so he did the same since Alastor would know better how to eat it.

Lucifer put a linen napkin on his lap before scooping a bit of rice and a bit of the étouffée onto his spoon. Once he put it in his mouth, he blushed furiously. That was really good. Like, really, really good.

Fuck. I’m officially in love now. And it’s not with Lilith. Fuck. Fuck fuck fuck.

For the moment, however, he ignored the update (he could try uninstalling it later) and focused on the food. The spice didn’t kick until a few moments after he swallowed that first spoonful. Lucifer wasn’t prepared for that level of spice, but he was still able to handle it.

Looking at the rest of the table though, everyone except Alastor seemed to be dying from it.

“Smiles is tryna kill us!” Angeldust exclaimed.

Alastor grinned and said, “I did warn you. If it’s too much for you, just have more rice with it.”

After coughing from the spice a little, Charlie looked at Lucifer and Alastor and asked, “So, how was cooking together?”

“Al was actually an okay teacher,” Lucifer confessed.

Alastor hummed. “I suppose your father wasn’t nearly in the way as much as I was expecting him to be.”

Lucifer rolled his eyes. “Wow, you’re so nice.”

“I know you’re being sarcastic, but that was me being nice.”

Before they could derail the conversation further, Vaggie said, “I gotta admit, I didn’t think you two would be able to pull it off.”

Lucifer was a little offended that his future daughter-in-law (fingers crossed) hadn’t believed in him.

“Tomorrow, your bonding activity will be with the whole hotel! Isn’t that cool??” Charlie giggled.

Vaggie mouthed, Just go with it.

The king was about to say something nice about it, when Alastor instead said, “No, but I suppose it’s better than having to spend time alone with him.”

“I wouldn’t mind spending time alone with him!” the crazy maid said out of nowhere. Lucifer tried avoiding her whenever he could - he never felt quite safe around her.

“Niffty, dear, trust me, you don’t,” Alastor said. “How is your food? Is it too spicy?”

Lucifer stared at Alastor. He didn’t think that the demon would care about anybody else, especially not for a dish he had already warned was spicy.

Niffty shook her head. “It’s a good pain! I reeallly like it, Alastor!”

Alastor appeared to genuinely smile upon hearing this. “I’m glad you like it so much.”

“Anyway, we’ll start the activity first thing in the morning, since I don’t know how long it will take,” Charlie said.

Lucifer wasn’t sure he’d be able to focus on something that would take as long as his daughter was implying, but he would try. “Okay, sweetie, I’m sure it’ll be fun.”

The rest of the meal was filled with good conversation, occasional dying from the spice, laughter, and Lucifer hoping no one noticed whenever he snuck a look at Alastor.

Chapter Text

Alastor

Alastor woke up later than he wanted to. He usually didn’t sleep, but ever since he got that stupid angelic wound from Adam, his body had been forcing him to.

He groaned as he got up out of his bed and started the time-consuming ordeal of changing his bandages. As he did so, he thought back to last night.

Alastor had finally figured out what the gold on Lucifer’s cheeks was. He was a little disappointed in himself that it took Lucifer accidentally cutting himself to remind Alastor that he had gold blood, and would therefore blush gold.

All that was left to do now, was to figure out what embarrassed the king most. Being called “dear” was one [a/n: he did this in chapter five during their dinner date]. Pointing out that his cheeks were golden always seemed to make him blush more. The king had blushed after eating the étouffée, so perhaps he couldn't handle spice as well as he tried to make it seem like. [a/n: reminder that Lucifer blushed because that was the moment he officially fell in love with Alastor instead of just having a crush on him]

…He would need more than that to effectively mess with Lucifer. Alastor decided to spend the day finding out new ways to embarrass the king.

After wrapping himself in a few extra layers of bandages - since he didn’t know how long the activity would take and he didn’t want to risk the injury bleeding through during it - Alastor walked downstairs and waited to enter the lobby until it was exactly 8 o’clock.

The first thing he noticed were the pieces of paper on the ground and the rearranged furniture. The next thing he noticed was that the only people missing were Lucifer, Husk, and Angeldust.

Husk showed up shortly after Alastor arrived, and Angeldust was a couple minutes after him. Now they were only waiting on Lucifer.

Charlie and Vaggie were whispering to each other, so he wasn’t able to hear, while Angeldust and Husk were speaking normally to each other about something boring. Their conversations weren’t providing him with entertainment and he was starting to get quite bored waiting for Lucifer.

Niffty climbed up onto his head and peered down at him. “Hi, Alastor! Do you know what we’re doing?”

Alastor smiled and replied, “Hello, dear. I’m afraid Charlie has been rather vague about today’s activity and so I don’t know what we’re doing.”

The two delightfully chattered about bugs and murder until Lucifer finally showed up ten minutes late. He looked an absolute mess - his hair was messy, his eyes had bags under them, and he was still in his blue and yellow duck pajamas. He also wasn’t wearing any makeup, but Alastor thought he would look just as good this way if he didn’t have the bags under his eyes. [a/n: o.o]

“Well, well, well, look who decided to show up!” Alastor said. “Did the spice of the étouffée keep you up?”

“No, the spice wasn’t bad,” Lucifer grumbled, rubbing his eyes. “It’s just so damn early. I don’t know how any of you are functioning right now.”

Charlie broke off her conversation with Vaggie and announced, “Now that we have everyone, it’s time to find out what our activity is!”

“Could ya hurry it up? The king has a point - it’s so fuckin’ early,” Angeldust said.

“Patience is a virtue,” Alastor said. He nodded for Charlie to continue.

She clapped her hands together. “You may have noticed all the paper on the floor and that the furniture has been rearranged. That’s because we’re going to play… dun-da-da-dun! The floor is lava!”

Charlie did jazz hands when she said the name of the game.

Vaggie was the only one with a positive reaction, clapping and saying, “Yayy!” Though, it came out a little aggressive, like she was trying to get everyone else to do it, too. (It didn’t work - everyone stayed silent.)

“C’mon, guys! It’ll be fun!” Charlie said.

“This ain’t gonna be any fun,” Angeldust said. “Yer dad and Alastor are just gonna get super competitive and just push everybody off.”

Alastor looked over at Lucifer and saw that he was looking at him as well. Then Lucifer blushed and turned away.

What was that about? Is he embarrassed from being called competitive?

“You won’t have to worry about that, so let’s let Vaggie tell everybody the rules!” Charlie replied.

Vaggie stepped forward and, in a militaristic voice, said, “All right, listen up! The goal of the game is to be the last one standing. You can’t touch the floor or else. You can’t stay in one spot for longer than a minute or you lose. There will be no pushing, either physically or with magic; if you push someone off, you lose and the person who got pushed off is safe. Any questions?”

Niffty jumped off Alastor’s head and ran up to Vaggie, who took a step back. Niffty ran a finger along the edge of a knife and giggled maniacally. “Can I stab people?”

“No,” both Charlie and Vaggie said firmly. Vaggie took the knife away from her.

“Ugh, fine, if we have to do this, then we should make it so Vagina and Lucifer can’t use their wings to stay safe,” Angeldust suggested.

"Use her name," Charlie sternly said as Vaggie made a very irritated face. "But not using wings is a fair point, we can add that to the rules. Oh! And no shapeshifting, Dad.”

Lucifer pouted. “I wouldn’t have shapeshifted into anything with wings.”

“I think we should let him shapeshift, as we all know, there’s no way he could ever have a chance at winning with his current, tiny body,” Alastor said.

“Asshole! I’m going to be the winner without shapeshifting!”

“Sure you will.” Alastor shot Lucifer a big smile that only made the fallen angel glare at him more.

Vaggie whistled to get their attention again, and Charlie said, “Okay, everybody, get to a safe spot and we’ll start in 3… 2… 1!”

Alastor had stepped onto one of the paper pieces, Charlie and Vaggie were on a sofa together, Niffty had hopped onto the ledge above the fireplace somehow, Husk and Angeldust were on the table together, and Lucifer was on an armchair.

Alastor, Charlie, and Angeldust all used their superior height to easily get across most of the gaps between objects, while the others had to jump to make it.

The first two out were Angeldust and Husk, when the bartender had lost his balance and the spider demon had caught him. They both seemed to be surprised by the action because they stood and stared at each other as Angeldust held Husk - Alastor didn’t know why they were so shocked by that, they were friends after all. However, this resulted in them being disqualified for staying in the same spot for too long.

After those two left for the bar, it took awhile for the next one to get out. Vaggie jokingly dared Charlie to go from a chair to a table where the gap was about 10 feet {~3.1m}, and Charlie took it as a challenge. She initially made the jump, impressing everyone, but lost her footing and fell to the floor.

“Oh no, babe!” Vaggie said as she held back laughter.

“Ahh I’m burning!” Charlie said as she dramatically pretended like she was melting in lava.

Alastor rolled his eyes as he continued to move across furniture and paper on the floor. He wasn’t really sure what the bonding element was for this children’s game, but he didn’t mind not putting in any work to try and bond with Lucifer.

“Vaggie, I bet you can’t make that jump that Charlie did,” Lucifer taunted.

“Oh yeah?” Vaggie replied. “How much you wanna bet?”

Lucifer grinned and winked. “I’ll get you any piece of jewelry you wish, if you make it.” [a/n: honestly, win/win for Luci: if Vaggie doesn’t make it - one less competitor. If she does make it - she might get an engagement ring for Charlie]

Vaggie blushed and said, “Okay, you’re on.”

She made her way to the chair that Charlie jumped from and readied herself for the jump. Vaggie almost made it, but fell short by a few inches and slammed her face into the table. Alastor snorted.

“Oh my, are you okay, Vaggie??” Lucifer asked, making his way over to her while avoiding the floor.

Vaggie groaned and Alastor could see gold dripping from her nose. “I’m fiiiiine.”

Just before Lucifer made it over, Charlie grabbed Vaggie and said, “No, you’re bleeding, we’re going to treat this.”

“Sorry…” Lucifer mumbled.

“It was my choice, Lucifer, don’t worry about it,” Vaggie said as Charlie dragged her out of the room.

“Now that Charlie’s out of the room, do we still need to keep playing?” Alastor asked as he moved to a chair.

“I mean, if you don’t want to win, then sure,” Lucifer said smugly.

Alastor rolled his eyes. “I am going to win, since you’re not good enough to.”

The other man narrowed his eyes and the two kept moving. After another few minutes, Lucifer suddenly started heading over to Alastor.

Alastor didn’t know what he was planning, so he just kept moving away from him. Eventually, he found himself trapped on a piece of paper with Lucifer blocking the easiest exit.

He gritted his teeth. Alastor didn’t have many options right now, and he didn’t like any of them. He could admit defeat by either just stepping onto the floor or by disqualifying himself for staying in place. He could try to hop to Lucifer’s spot and try to get past him. His last choice was to try to make the jump onto the ledge on the wall.

It turned out that Alastor didn’t have to make a choice. Before he could do anything, Lucifer hopped onto the piece of paper the demon was on and grabbed onto him to keep his balance. Instead, he sent both of them falling off with Lucifer landing on top of Alastor.

“Haha! I win!” Lucifer shouted as he sat on Alastor.

“Nuh-uh!” The voice came from above them. They both looked up and saw Niffty pull herself onto the chandelier.

“Niffty, how did you get up there?” Alastor asked as he shoved Lucifer off of him.

“I climbed the walls and jumped,” she replied matter-of-factly.

“Well done, my dear,” Alastor said. He stood up and held out his arms to let Niffty jump down safely.

As he carried Niffty out of the room, Alastor looked over at Lucifer, who still appeared to be shocked that he hadn’t won. Alastor smirked. He hadn’t been able to embarrass Lucifer, but at least the king had gotten knocked down a peg.

Chapter Text

Lucifer

Lucifer would never admit it, but he was actually a little upset that he didn’t win the hotel’s game of the floor is lava. He'd come up with this amazing plan to get Alastor out before him, only to still lose because he'd forgotten about Niffty.

After Alastor had left the room, Lucifer sat on the floor in shock for a few moments before getting up and portalling back to his room.

The game had taken about forty minutes, so Lucifer had decided to get a couple extra hours of sleep. By the time he woke up the second time, it was just past 11.

Now, he was following his morning routine, which he'd been too tired to do the first time he woke up. 

Lucifer showered, got dressed, did his hair and makeup, and contemplated removing his wedding ring. It had become part of his routine ever since he moved into the hotel and began interacting with other people more.

The urge to take it off grew everyday, but it was especially strong today. Lucifer still loved Lilith, but he was also in love with Alastor now, which made wearing the ring feel wrong.

Taking a long, deep breath, Lucifer gently took off his wedding ring and set it on the nightstand next to his bed. He hoped Charlie wouldn’t notice right away; he wasn’t quite ready to explain anything yet.

He shook his head free of those thoughts and grabbed his apple-topped cane on his way out of his room. Lucifer was going to try to subtly see how Alastor was doing - when Lucifer fell on top of him during the game that morning (which he hadn't meant to do, but like... he didn't mind that it had happened), he briefly felt a thick layer of bandages and a small amount of angelic energy.

Lucifer was running out of time to help Alastor, and even though it would help his internal dilemma, he still didn’t want the demon to die. He had maybe three weeks before Alastor would be in too much pain to do much of anything, and maybe a week after that before he died.

He decided to check the lobby and kitchen before going to Alastor’s room. He hoped Alastor wouldn’t be in his room; neutral territory would be the best for talking about the likely sensitive topic.

Alastor wasn’t in the lobby, so Lucifer gently opened the door to the kitchen and poked his head in. The demon he was looking for was standing in front of the oven, listening to some old jazz music and swinging his hips as he hummed along.

Lucifer was frozen in place as he watched him - he had never seen the other man this comfortable before. The fallen angel hoped that maybe one day Alastor could be that comfortable around him.

He let out a small sigh without thinking, causing the music to cut out, Alastor’s ears to stick straight up, and for him to stop humming and dancing. When he turned around, Lucifer briefly considered running away to avoid any confrontation, but before he could move, Alastor, through gritted teeth, said, “Your majesty… don’t you know it’s rude to spy on people?”

Lucifer awkwardly laughed and replied, “U-um, I wasn’t spying on you or anything, I was l-looking for you, actually.”

“Hm.” Alastor turned his back to Lucifer and focused on whatever he was making. “And why were you looking for me?”

“Well…” Lucifer went to fidget with his ring, but it wasn’t there anymore, so he settled on fidgeting with his fingers. “I just wanted to see how you were doing.”

“Why? You didn’t do or say anything stupid today, and that’s the only reason you’ve ever wanted to see how I was before.”

“That’s not the only- whatever.” The king exhaled. “I’m trying to treat you like a friend, remember?”

“My friends are more casual when asking me about my day.”

“You have friends?”

Alastor turned his head to glare at Lucifer, then turned his attention back to what he was making. “Indeed I do, and they’re all better than you.”

“Ok! Well! I still want to know how you are, emotionally, mentally, physically…”

Alastor tapped the wooden spoon on the edge of the pan, set it down, and turned around fully to face Lucifer again.

Leaning against the counter, he asked, “Is there something specific you're looking for me to say?”

Shit, is he on to me already? [a/n: you’re not subtle in the slightest, buddy]

“No no no,” Lucifer said while waving his hands. “I-I'm just trying to let you know that you can talk to me about anything.”

Alastor seemed to consider this for a few moments. Then he grinned in a way that made Lucifer nervous.

“Let's play a little game. If you win, I'll answer any question you ask me honestly, and when I win, you'll answer any question I ask you honestly. Is it a deal?”

Lucifer eyed the demon’s outstretched hand suspiciously and scoffed. “I have to make a deal with you to know how you're doing?”

Alastor's grin grew and he didn’t drop his hand.

“The game this morning wasn’t enough for you?” Lucifer sighed. He hated that he was legitimately considering making the deal. “What… what kind of game?”

“Just a simple card game, nothing serious. So?”

Lucifer groaned and he took Alastor’s hand, ignoring the little butterflies in his stomach that spawned at the thought of technically holding his hand. He said, “Don’t make me regret this, Al.”

As they shook on it, Alastor replied, “I make no promises, your majesty.”

Alastor

Alastor shuffled the deck of cards. The two were at the table in the dining room sitting on opposite sides from each other.

He didn’t know for sure, but Alastor thought that Lucifer likely suspected his wound was getting worse. Hopefully, he would be able to distract him from that with the game they were about to play.

“So what are we playing?” Lucifer asked.

“Speed. Do you know how to play?” Alastor started to deal out the cards as the former angel shook his head.

“We each have our own draw pile and five cards in our hands. There are two cards in the middle that we can play on. You can play any card that is one higher or one lower than one of the cards in the middle. As you play cards, you need to draw cards from your draw pile. The winner is the first one to run out of cards.”

“Okay, and what are those piles for?” Lucifer pointed to piles in the middle.

“If both our hands are full and neither of us can play anything, then we flip a card over from both piles to start play again.”

The king cracked his knuckles. “Alright, I think I’ve got this.”

Alastor grinned. “Then let’s begin.”

As soon as they flipped over the cards in the middle, Alastor began rapidly placing down and drawing cards. Lucifer, on the other hand, looked very flustered and could barely get anything in.

There were a few points where Alastor couldn’t play anything and had to wait for Lucifer to play a few cards until he could go again.

In less than two minutes, he’d won. He chuckled at Lucifer’s draw pile; usually when someone won, the other person didn’t have a draw pile anymore.

“No going easy on beginners, huh?” Lucifer asked as he looked between his stack of cards and at Alastor’s lack of cards.

“You said that you got it,” Alastor said innocently.

“Whatever, let’s go again.”

“Ah-ah-ah,” Alastor sang. “Don’t forget our deal.”

“Ugh fine, what do you want to know?”

The demon took his time and pretended he was thinking hard about it. A few moments after Lucifer started looking really annoyed, he asked, “Why do you blush so much?”

The king then blushed, proving his point. “E-everybody’s just different, r-right?”

Alastor tilted his head slightly and raised an eyebrow. That technically was true, but it wasn’t quite what he was looking for.

“L-let’s just play again,” Lucifer hurriedly said. “Same terms.”

So they played another round, and it went much the same way, except Lucifer was able to get rid of a few more cards.

“Why are you trying to be my friend instead of just being amicable with me around Charlie?” Alastor asked.

Lucifer bit his lip before saying, “Because… I don’t actually think you’re all that bad. Um. O-one more game, I’ll win this time!”

That time, Lucifer won - just kidding, Alastor did, but Lucifer at least didn’t have a draw pile remaining at the end.

“What parts about me specifically aren’t all that bad?” Alastor wanted to why the king no longer despised him.

Lucifer’s eyes widened and the gold on his cheeks became very bright. “W-well, you’re kinda funny sometimes, a-and you’re a really good cook, and y-you are usually good mannered, and I-I’m not saying anymore since you already have a b-big ego.”

Hearing Lucifer say all those things about him made Alastor feel funny - usually, hearing how great he was pleased him, but this was something else he was feeling.

“Okay, just one more,” Lucifer said.

Alastor laughed. “I think you may be addicted to this game!”

“Noooooooo…” [a/n: dw Lucifer, I too am addicted to speed - the card game not the drug lmao]

He suddenly noticed that Lucifer wasn’t wearing his wedding ring. “Where’s your ring?”

Lucifer gave him a sly look. “Play me for the info.”

Alastor rolled his eyes and smiled as he shuffled and dealt out another game, which he won. He looked at Lucifer, waiting for the answer.

The king blushed again, then said, “I just thought it was time. I mean, it’s been almost eight years without any kind of communication…”

He looked at the floor and the two sat in silence for a bit. Then Lucifer snapped his head up, awkwardly laughed, and said, “So, uh… let’s play again!”

Alastor got out of his seat. “No, no, I’m afraid I’m done, but you can try playing with the others to get your fix.”

He shadow-traveled to his room, but not before he saw Lucifer lean back in the chair and put his golden face in his hands.

Alastor clutched his chest in pain as the angelic wound punished him for using his powers, but he could only think about how sad Lucifer looked when he talked about why he took off his wedding ring. If only he knew the truth about Lilith, then he probably wouldn’t be nearly as sad about losing her.

Not that I care if he’s sad or not, but Charlie does. [a/n: liar liar pants on fire]

Chapter Text

Alastor

Both Alastor and Lucifer were on time for their meeting with Charlie and Vaggie, but the couple was nowhere to be seen.

“Do you have any idea where they are?” Lucifer asked.

Alastor said, “No. You don’t know where your daughter is?”

Lucifer crossed his arms. “No, but I really hope she’s okay.”

“Don’t worry, our dear Charlie is very capable of taking care of herself.” Alastor smiled at Lucifer’s worry for his daughter, then dropped the smile back down to normal.

He noticed the king tapping his foot impatiently and staring at the door as if they might materialize at any moment.

Alastor rolled his eyes, conjured up a deck of cards, and sat down at the conference room’s table. At the sound of him beginning to shuffle, Lucifer turned his head to look at what he was doing. He grinned as he sat down across from Alastor.

“Charlie and I played quite a bit last night, and I must say that I got pretty good,” Lucifer boasted. “So prepare to answer some questions.”

“I’m not one to back out of a deal, so if you somehow manage to win, I will,” Alastor said.

When they started, Alastor was surprised by how fast Lucifer was moving compared to when they were playing the day before. It was a much closer game, but Alastor still won.

“Well, you certainly have improved by a good deal, though I’m running out of questions.” Alastor tapped his chin. “Let’s see… Out of the other Sins, do you have a favorite?”

Gossip is a popular segment on my radio show, after all.

“I love them all, but… Yes, I do have a favorite,” Lucifer said.

“Who is it?”

“That’s another question, you’ll have to win to get that one.”

They played again, but this time, Lucifer won by one card. Frankly, Alastor was a little shocked.

“What will it be?” he asked.

“Uhh…” Lucifer furrowed his brows. “Do… you think you could ever see me as a friend?”

Alastor wanted to say “no” right away, but he took some time to think about it first to make sure he could give an honest answer. He grimaced once he realized what the answer was.

“I suppose… it is not entirely out of the realm of possibility.” It felt disgusting to admit it out loud, but Lucifer just seemed to be excited about it. “However! It would take a lot to ever get there, so I wouldn’t count on it ever happening.”

“Well,” Lucifer chuckled. “I’m pretty good at making friends when I want to.”

“I’ll believe it when I see it - you don’t seem to have ‘people skills’, your majesty.” [a/n: he stole two wives from one guy, he's gotta have some people skills]

The king groaned. “Just call me by my name, I can’t be friends with somebody who’s totally in awe of my position.”

Alastor scoffed. “Excuse me? I couldn’t care less about you being the king.”

“Good.” Lucifer grinned at him. “Then you won’t have any issue using my name.”

He knew Lucifer didn’t like being reminded of his role in Hell, which was precisely why he used the honorifics, but he didn’t want Lucifer thinking Alastor respected his position or anything like that.

“Hm. Fine. Then let’s play another round, Lucifer,” Alastor said.

Lucifer blushed when Alastor said his name - which was strange since the king was the one who told him to use his name - and gestured for Alastor to deal out another game.

They were about halfway through the game when Alastor heard footsteps approaching the room. He waved his hand and made the cards vanish.

“What the hell was that for?” Lucifer shouted as Charlie and Vaggie entered.

“Oh no, what happened now?” Vaggie sighed.

Lucifer jumped and whipped his head around to look at his daughter and her girlfriend. He waved his hands and hurriedly said, “N-nothing serious! We were just in the middle of playing a game and he made the cards vanish!”

Charlie squealed and smiled. “I’m so glad you’re doing things together without us telling you to! And you guys could have finished your game! You didn’t need to stop playing just ‘cause we came in.”

“It wasn’t anything important,” Alastor said, rolling his eyes. “Now, let’s get on with today’s task.”

“Right. Well. First off, sorry we’re late, but Vaggie and I were setting up one of the conference rooms to be a music room!” She clasped her hands together. “We got a grand piano in there, we put up some soundproofing, we decorated it - I think the two of you will like it!”

Lucifer smiled warmly. “I haven’t had a dedicated space to practice in for a while now. Thank you, Charlie - and Vaggie.”

“I presume this music room is a part of our activity today?” Alastor asked before they could get too sappy.

“It’s for the rest of the week, actually!” Charlie was barely containing her excitement. “Since you both like music and can play instruments, we thought you guys could bond over it, soooo you’ll be putting on a little concert for us at the end of the week!”

Alastor wasn’t impressed with the idea, but he supposed that as long as Lucifer didn’t play the accordion again, it wouldn’t be the worst torture he’d ever been subjected to.

He reluctantly followed Charlie and Vaggie to the new music room.

Lucifer

Lucifer was excited about the music room - he hadn’t done much playing in his isolation, and the last time he played was that weird dad duel duet thing he’d done with Alastor.

He wasn’t entirely sure how he felt about playing with Alastor again. On one hand, he’d be spending time with the guy he liked; on the other hand, he’d have to be careful and pay attention to make sure he either didn’t absentmindedly play a love song or get into another duel with Alastor. Either situation would have very different consequences to deal with.

Charlie was practically bouncing as she opened the door to the room and led them in. The room wasn’t one of the biggest, but it was still spacious. The wallpaper had various musical notations that seemed like someone just threw them on and didn’t care where they ended up. On the wall opposite the door, there was a stained glass window of a few different instruments with music notes coming from them.

A few instrument cubbies were set up along half of the wall to his left, with a rack of stands and a rack of chairs next to them. The grand piano Charlie mentioned was in the middle of the right half of the room.

“Wow, this is amazing!” Lucifer declared. “This must have taken a while! And that window is beautiful!”

“The window was Vaggie’s idea,” Charlie said.

“The whole room was your idea, babe, I just helped,” Vaggie added while blushing.

“You both did a wonderful job.” Lucifer beamed at them.

Then he noticed that Alastor had gone over to the piano and was trailing a finger along it. 

I wish I was that piano.

Wait-

‘I WISH I WAS THAT PIANO’?? Could I BE any more cringy??

Lucifer’s cheeks became very warm and he tried to shake his head free of the thought.

“Anyway,” Vaggie’s voice brought Lucifer back to reality. “You can play whatever songs you want, but try to make the performance at least half an hour to justify making everyone watch this.”

“But there's no upper limit if you guys end up having a bunch of fun and want to do more!” Charlie said, but Vaggie's face said that she disagreed.

“We'll see about that, dear,” Alastor said, still over by the piano.

“Okay, have fun! Don't kill each other!” Vaggie said as she and Charlie left the room.

After the door shut, Alastor sat down on the piano bench and Lucifer tried to not be jealous of the piano when Alastor ran a hand along the keys to make a rising scale.

Lucifer cleared his throat. “So uh… what kind of songs do you want to play?”

Alastor turned his attention over to the king and said, “Jazz.”

“I guess I should have been able to figure that one out, huh?” Lucifer chuckled.

Alastor did not look impressed with him. Turning back to the piano, he said, “I presume you'll be playing violin?”

“Well I was thinking I could play some violin and some accor-”

“No. No accordion.” Alastor shuddered.

Lucifer scoffed. “If you're thinking back to our little duet, I intentionally played it annoyingly. I'm actually quite good at it.”

The demon paused for a moment, then replied, “Accordion’s too similar to piano, let’s have some contrast in the instrumentation.”

He thought Alastor still doubted his accordion playing and was just making up excuses, but he didn’t mind going along with whatever he wanted.

“Fine, I won’t play accordion. Do you have any specific songs that you want to play?”

Alastor snapped his fingers and Lucifer suddenly had a small pile of sheet music in his hands. Smiling, he put the music under one arm and went to grab a music stand.

After he put the stand down near the piano and put the music on it, Alastor said, “Grab your violin and let’s begin.”

“Hang on, you need to give me a second to look through this.”

“Don’t tell me it’s too difficult for you.”

“I’ve been playing violin since it was invented - it’s not going to be ‘too difficult’. I just haven’t read sheet music in a couple decades. I usually just improvise or play from memory.”

“Very well.” Alastor began flipping through his own sheet music. “Just let me know when you’re ready to play, Lucifer.”

Lucifer blushed, but not as much as the first time he said his name. If he’d known how much he was going to like the way it sounded when Alastor said his name, Lucifer probably wouldn’t have told him to use it in the first place.

Once he felt confident enough in his sheet music reading ability, he summoned his golden violin and carefully tuned it.

Alastor had been fiddling on the piano, but stopped to watch when Lucifer began tuning. Lucifer felt his heart begin to race when he realized he was the object of Alastor's attention. 

He quickly finished tuning and nearly shouted, “OKAY I’m ready to play now!”

“Finally,” Alastor said as he rolled his eyes. “Let’s play through all of these pieces and you can decide how many of them you like.”

Lucifer nodded and they began to play. He hadn’t really paid attention to Alastor’s piano playing during their earlier duet, but now that they were playing together and not against each other, he had to pay attention and he was not disappointed.

Alastor was really good at piano and the two were able to mesh their playing together as easily as if they’d been playing together for ages.

The music that filled the room was packed with life and passion. They set aside their respective egos to trade off the melody and back off when they didn’t have it. It was beautiful.

After they were done with each song, they decided together if they had enough fun with the piece to work on making it better and to perform it. There were only a few songs that Alastor had picked out that Lucifer didn’t like playing, which made Lucifer appreciate Alastor’s taste in music.

Once they made it through all the songs Alastor had picked out, he asked, “Do you have any songs you want to play through, Lucifer?”

“No.”

Alastor sighed. “Let me rephrase: pick at least one song for us to play. I picked what we cooked for dinner, I can’t also pick all of the songs. You need to get your opinions in.”

He… wants me to put in my opinions?

Most people didn’t really care for Lucifer’s opinions, especially since being a former angel meant he wasn’t nearly as evil as a lot of the other beings in Hell. They only ever listened because he was more powerful than them. The only ones who actually almost never minded his input were Charlie, the other Sins, and Lilith.

“Umm…” Lucifer wasn’t sure what to choose, but he wanted to choose something since Alastor seemed to want to include him more.

Suddenly, it hit him. He quickly made an arrangement for piano and violin and summoned the sheet music into existence.

“No title?” Alastor said as he examined the new music. “What is this?”

“It’s a lullaby I used to sing to Charlie when she was little and Lilith couldn’t get her to sleep,” Lucifer replied, smiling at the memory of when his daughter was still a child. He didn’t notice Alastor’s ears twitch at the mention of Lilith.

Alastor put his hands on the keys once more and Lucifer brought the violin up to his chin. The demon played his part beautifully, and Lucifer had to blink back tears a few times.

“It’s not bad,” Alastor said once they finished.

“You’re damn right it’s not bad! I made the song myself,” Lucifer bragged.

Alastor stood and gathered all the music they decided to play. “Let’s meet back here at 10 o’clock in the morning tomorrow. Or is that too early?”

Lucifer glared at his stupid grin. “No, it’s not.”

“Good.” Alastor took his music and disappeared into the shadows. Lucifer tried to ignore the flare of angelic energy that he felt from Alastor’s injury. No matter how much he wanted to help him, he knew Alastor wouldn’t let him do anything right now, so it was just better to not think of the pain he must be in.

Chapter Text

Alastor

Alastor leans against the wall of a building in the alley. He has one hand on the wall and the other on the gaping wound in his abdomen.

He’d successfully taken the other Overlord’s soul and broadcasted her screams, but she had managed to stab him before he defeated her.

Alastor has been stabbed in life and in Hell before, but this feels different. The knife she’d used looked silver white and was shiny. He doesn’t know where she got it, but he knows that it wasn’t an ordinary weapon.

He risks a look at his stab wound and immediately covers it back up with his hand. There is too much blood gushing from it to see anything.

He struggles to breathe as he slides down the wall to sit. He finally drops his smile in favor of a frown, too tired to try to keep it up.

Moments after Alastor closes his eyes, he hears footsteps. It’s difficult, but he manages to open his eyes again to see a tall figure with blonde hair approaching him.

He puts on his smile again and calls out, “I’d rethink coming over here if I were you, dear.”

The figure giggles. “It’s adorable that you think you could hurt me, especially in your current state.”

Once the mysterious person stops in front of him, he sees that it’s a woman and he feels like he should know who she is.

“I’ve heard about you, you’re the one the sinners have been calling The Radio Demon, aren’t you?” she asks.

“Yes, so if you wish to keep your soul intact, you will leave me be,” he snarls.

She pouts. “I’m disappointed that you don’t recognize me. I know I don’t go out much, but everyone should still know what their queen looks like.”

Alastor’s eyes go wide with realization. “Lilith.”

She smiles and crouches down next to him. “There we go. No more threats from you now that you know who I am, darling.”

He averts his eyes and says, “Yes, your majesty.”

“I’ve never seen a mortal soul so powerful before, it’d be a shame to let you die.” [a/n: I think it’s more interesting for Alastor’s deal to be because of his power instead of the other way around]

“And what do you plan to do about it?”

She tilts her head and takes what feels like an eternity to respond. “I do have healing magic, so I could help you out, but what’s in it for me? Other than entertainment, of course.”

Alastor knows what she’s going to ask him for, but he’s going to try to keep that from happening.

“I will take out any Overlords you desire,” he offers. It’s getting harder to stay awake, but he can’t let her have what she wants that easily.

“Oh, Mr. Radio Demon,” she says mockingly, “I think you know better than that - I’ve heard that you’ve already made plenty of deals for souls in your short time here.”

He finally loses his smile when he coughs up blood, but he just wipes the blood off with his free hand and looks her in the eye. “My soul is worth more than just my life.”

“Very well, we can discuss more terms. What else would you like from me?”

They go back and forth, even as Alastor continues to cough up blood and gets closer to losing consciousness. Eventually, they reach an agreement.

“I believe this is satisfactory for both parties now. In exchange for your soul and your silence about who owns you, you get healed, one favor that I can choose to deny, and you will never stop smiling. Do we have a deal?” Lilith recaps.

“W-wait,” Alastor says, barely holding on to his afterlife now. “What h-happens to the souls I own?”

“You will still own them, but I will also own them, and you will still be able to make deals to gain more souls if you wish,” she says.

Alastor grits his teeth. In the months that he’s been in Hell, he had decided he was never going to sell his soul, and now here he was, forced to sell his soul or die.

He holds out his hand. “Deal.”

Lilith takes his hand in her own and shakes it. There’s a glow of purple light and Alastor feels warm energy seeping into his abdomen and closing his wound. He also feels his soul become tethered to hers, but in the opposite way he’s used to.

When the light is gone, so is Lilith. Alastor examines where his wound was to find perfect skin, with not even a scar to go with the injury.

He tries to frown, but finds that he can’t. He’s glad that the rest of the deal they made seems to be good, but he’s no longer free.

Alastor was able to do whatever he wanted in Hell, unlike in life when he’d had to deal with racism and capitalism, but now he can feel the last of his newfound freedom slipping away from him.

Alastor woke up in a cold sweat. He panted as he tried to figure out where he was.

He felt comfort settle in his bones when he remembered that he was in Hell and that she would have to come down herself to take him back to Heaven - he didn’t even need to think about her.

He groaned as he got out of his bed. Alastor had overexerted himself the previous day when he summoned the sheet music and cards, vanished the cards, and shadow traveled out of the music room, but he didn’t want to make Lucifer suspicious.

Gasping, he put a hand over his chest as the injury decided that even thinking about his magic usage from yesterday was too much for it.

Alastor breathed through the pain and started getting ready for the day. He would have to hurry through changing his bandages since he was meeting Lucifer in the music room in half an hour.

The strangest thing was that Alastor was excited - only slightly, though [a/n: suuure] - to play music with Lucifer again. When the fallen angel wasn’t playing out of anger, he could put a lot of thought and passion into the music and it was surprisingly moving.

They probably wouldn’t need to do much more practicing, in all honesty, since they played together really well, but they could try making changes to the music to make the performance more of their own. Alastor was already thinking of a few spots where they could play with tempo, dynamics, and articulations.

He considered shadow traveling to the room, but since his injury was being a big pain today, he decided against it. Alastor happily hummed on his way out of his room, down the stairs, and to the music room.

He only stepped into the room the moment it turned 10 o’clock. Alastor had very briefly considered being early so they could start playing sooner, but he didn’t want Lucifer thinking he was excited to play with him or anything of the sort.

Lucifer was just finishing tuning his violin when Alastor entered. The other man smiled and said, “Hey, Al! I have a few ideas for little changes we could make to the music.”

Alastor returned the smile and replied, “As do I.”

“Great minds think alike, amirite?”

He quickly lost the smile (as much as he could anyway), and said, “You do not have a great mind.”

Lucifer lost his smile, too. “Are you even trying to get along with me?”

“Not particularly, no.”

Lucifer sighed and rolled his eyes. “If you won’t do it for Charlie’s sake, I have no choice but to show off how awesome I am so that you’ll want to be my friend.”

“Ha!” Alastor laughed as he made his way to the piano. “What a laughable notion! I have no desire to be your friend.”

“You say that now…” Lucifer pointed his violin bow at him. “But once we’re friends, you’ll love it.”

“Certainly not! Now, let’s take a look at your suggested changes,” the demon said.

Lucifer’s eyes lit up as he came over to the piano with his music and a pencil. “So here I was thinking we could add a ritardando leading into this new section and…”

Alastor listened patiently as Lucifer went through all the changes he wanted to make and put in his own opinions on the possible changes. Then, Alastor took Lucifer through the changes he wanted to make, and the former angel agreed to all of them.

“You’re okay with all of these?” Alastor asked. “You’re not very picky when it comes to music, are you?”

Lucifer said, “Just because I like all of your changes doesn’t mean that I’m not picky, just that you’re smart with music.”

Lucifer’s eyes widened and he blushed. “P-probably the only thing that you’re smart about HAHAHA.”

The laugh was very clearly forced and Alastor got the impression that he was trying to hide something. He raised an eyebrow and said, “Are you this rude to all your friends?”

“Making fun of my friends is just how I show my love - my PLATONIC love! I feel a LOT of PLATONIC love for my FRIENDS!”

Alastor raised his other eyebrow at the king’s lack of social skills. Lucifer awkwardly chuckled then hurried back to his music stand. “Sh-should we start practicing the changes, then?”

“Very well, we’re wasting time talking anyway,” Alastor said and the two started going through the changed music.

Lucifer

That week Lucifer spent with Alastor was the most fun he’d had in a long time, which wasn’t a difficult task, as he’d spent a lot of time in isolation, but still. He had fun, and he thought that Alastor had fun too, even if he wouldn’t admit it.

However, there was the one time that Lucifer got jealous of the piano again with how Alastor was caressing the keys to make the music, which wasn’t fun because Alastor noticed him staring at the piano and confronted him about it.

Lucifer had stumbled through an explanation, which hadn’t been very convincing, but had been enough to keep Alastor from asking any more questions. He really needed to get over his jealousy of the piano…

Their little concert was tomorrow night, but for now, he sat at the bar sipping the delicious concoction that Husk had made for him. They hadn’t spoken so far, except for the basic greetings when Lucifer had first sat down.

He wanted to tell Husk that he’d gone from having a crush to being in love, but he didn’t know how to start that conversation. Luckily, he didn’t have to.

“So, uh, you ain't gotta say nothin’, but I'm just curious, how’s your crush situation?” the feline asked him.

“Um. Depending on how you view it, it's either gotten worse or it's gotten better.”

“Did they do somethin’?”

“Not really, but I think it would've happened no matter what they did.” Lucifer took a deep breath. “I'm in love with them now.”

“Okay…” Husk leaned against the counter. “And how do you feel about that?”

Lucifer bit his lower lip. “Confused. Guilty.”

“Why do you feel guilty for bein’ in love?”

“Because I'm still technically married, even if I haven't heard from my wife in nearly eight years,” Lucifer said. He showed off his lack of a wedding ring. “I took the ring off earlier this week because it just felt like I was lying. Thankfully, Charlie hasn't noticed yet, I don’t know how I’d explain it to her.”

The bartender was intently listening to him speak, and now looked thoughtful. Then he hesitantly asked, “If I tell you what I think, are you gonna smite me?”

Lucifer laughed. “Only if you're mean about Charlie, otherwise no.”

Husk took a deep breath in and slowly exhaled. “I think your wife don't deserve you or Charlie for fuckin’ off like she did, so if you wanna move on, I say do it.”

“Like, pretend we're not together anymore?”

“It wouldn't really be pretendin’ if you haven't actually been together for years, so why not make a move on your person?”

Lucifer blushed. “Thanks, but I-I-I don't think he- they like me in that way, s-so I should just do nothing.”

Husk shrugged and said, “It's up to you, but I don't think there's harm in tryin’. But whatever you do, just remember that you don't owe Lilith nothin’.”

The king softly smiled. Husk was right - Lilith was the one who left, not him, so he didn't owe her anything. It would take a while for him to successfully move on, but he should start the process. 

“Thanks, Husk. Hey, maybe if you ask out Angeldust, I'll ask out my person.”

Husk blushed and grumbled something Lucifer couldn't make out.

Lucifer grinned and said, “Hey, there's no harm in trying, right?”

“Don't go throwin’ my own words back at me.”

Lucifer laughed and Husk glared at him.

“No but really, thank you for helping me feel less guilty about my feelings, you’re pretty wise when it comes to these things, so maybe you should take your own advice sometime,” Lucifer said after finishing his drink.

Husk looked down at the floor and with a wistful smile, said, “Maybe I will. One day.”

Smiling softly, Lucifer got off the barstool. “Well, tomorrow’s a big day, so I’m going to go get some rest. I hope things go well for you.”

“Thanks, I hope you do good at your concert.”

“Well, you can be the judge of that,” Lucifer said as he headed towards his room.

Once he was in his room, he magicked himself into pajamas and flopped himself onto his bed. He stared up at the ceiling and thought about tomorrow.

It was going to be bittersweet, he decided. Lucifer really enjoyed playing with a talented musician like Alastor, but it was very unlikely that he would want to continue playing with Lucifer. On the other hand, he wouldn’t have to worry about being jealous of a piano anymore.

He grabbed a pillow and put it over his face. Jealous. Of a piano. It was so incredibly embarrassing. Hopefully, no one would be able to tell at the concert.

Alastor

While he was changing his bandages, Alastor begrudgingly admitted to himself that he’d had fun playing with a talented musician, even if that musician was Lucifer. Most of the people he knew could sing, but not many could play instruments, so that week playing with Lucifer had been a nice change of pace.

He was feeling somewhat sad that it would be over soon and it was disgusting. The only reason Alastor was feeling like that was because he didn’t play music with other people. Not because he enjoyed Lucifer’s musical prowess, but because he just liked playing with others.

Alastor finished wrapping himself in fresh bandages and went down to the lobby. He had invited Rosie to the concert, and she was sure to arrive any moment now.

Just like that, there was a knock on the door. He opened it up with a huge smile and gave Rosie a big hug before she could even enter.

“Alastor, darling! How are you?” she asked.

“Oh, absolutely delightful! And you, my dear?”

“Couldn’t be better!”

“Wonderful! Well, come in, come in!”

Alastor moved out of the way so Rosie could enter. It was Rosie’s first time in the hotel, so he locked arms with her and gave her a tour. It was going great until they ran into Lucifer.

“Al,” Rosie urgently whispered, tugging on his sleeve. “Is that who I think it is?”

He sighed. “Yes… Would you like me to introduce you?”

She nodded eagerly and he reluctantly brought her over.

“Lucifer! I have someone who would like to meet you!” he called out.

The king smiled awkwardly at first, but quickly put on a more debonair one as he approached Rosie. She curtsied and said, “It’s a pleasure to meetcha, your highness.”

He took her hand and kissed it. “The pleasure’s all mine. And who might you be?”

“My name is Rosie. I’m the Overlord of Cannibal Town.”

“And what a mighty Overlord! She both charms and terrifies most people she meets,” Alastor added on.

Lucifer smirked. “No wonder you like her then. I am assuming you two are friends?”

“We are indeed. I told you I have friends,” Alastor said.

“We go way back to just after Al got here,” Rosie said.

“Well it was nice meeting you, but I promised Charlie I would help set up for the concert,” Lucifer said as he started to walk away. “But let’s talk more after!”

“Wow,” Rosie said after he was gone. “He’s just as charming as everyone says he is!”

Alastor scoffed. “No, he’s not. He is usually a bumbling oaf. I don’t know how in the world he managed to be so put together just then.” [a/n: maybe he’s only like that around you because you make his heart do flips]

She giggled. “Oh, Alastor, you’re so rude. Maybe I’ll sit by him during the concert.”

“Well, no. You won’t.”

“Okay, I know you don’t like him, but you can’t choose who I do and don’t sit with.”

“I meant that you won’t be able to - he’s in the concert with me.”

Rosie playfully slapped his arm. “You’re playing with the King of Hell and you didn’t tell me?”

Alastor shrugged. “I just didn’t think it was worth mentioning since he’s not all he’s cracked up to be.”

“Oh, you!”

They finished up the tour and he brought Rosie back to the lobby where there was now a makeshift stage and multiple folding chairs in front of it. The grand piano was on the stage, but Alastor wasn’t sure the stage would be able to hold its weight along with him and Lucifer on it.

Oh well. It could be very entertaining if the stage fell apart while they were in the middle of playing. He’d just have to be prepared to shadow travel away the moment it started to give way.

“Why don’t you go sit by Charlie, dear? She’s been dying to see you again,” Alastor suggested.

Rosie smiled. “And I’ve been dying to find out how her romance drama played out.”

Alastor rolled his eyes as she excitedly scurried over to where Charlie and Vaggie were talking. He could hear Charlie squeal with delight from the other side of the room when she saw Rosie.

He walked up to the stage and with each step, tested if the stage would hold him. It didn’t fall apart immediately, so he supposed that was good news. Shortly after, Lucifer joined him on stage and adjusted his music stand.

“Do you need any tuning notes?” Alastor asked as he sat at the piano bench.

Lucifer shook his head. “I already tuned.”

“Look at you being all prepared and on time, let’s hope you can also get through the concert without messing up,” Alastor teased.

The other man rolled his eyes, but before he could say anything back, Charlie got up on the stage as well.

“Thank you everybody for coming!” she started.

“Ya forced us to,” Angeldust reminded her.

“Shut the fuck up and listen to Charlie,” Vaggie said, slapping the back of his head. Even if Vaggie was disrespectful to Alastor, she did provide entertainment with the way she handled the spider demon.

“Anyways, my dad and Alastor have been working together all week on this music so they can learn to be nicer to each other. And I personally haven’t caught them fighting at all this week, so I think it’s maybe working! So let’s hear what they have for us!”

Rosie, Vaggie, and Niffty all clapped as Charlie went back to her seat, but Husk and Angeldust didn’t.

Alastor and Lucifer looked at each other to match tempos and to start together. Once they started playing, they easily fell into each other’s style. For most of the songs, it was the best they’d ever played them.

Originally, Alastor had wanted to play Lucifer’s lullaby first to get it out of the way to move on to the jazz pieces he’d picked out, but Lucifer said Charlie would probably get emotional and that they should save it for the end. Knowing how the two of them were, he’d agreed.

Once they started the lullaby, he heard Charlie gasp. They weren’t even two measures in and she was already getting emotional. Alastor had to admit that Lucifer was right to suggest putting it in at the end.

When they finished, they both stood up and bowed, and everyone clapped this time. Unfortunately, the stage never collapsed.

Charlie ran up on the stage with tears in her eyes to hug her father. Alastor still thought she had forgiven him too quickly, but he supposed it was thoughtful of Lucifer to play a song he knew meant so much to her.

Alastor left the stage and went over to where Rosie and Niffty were standing. Niffty hopped onto his chest and grabbed the lapels of his jacket to stay on.

“That sounded really good!” she said.

“Why thank you, my dear.” Alastor was used to Niffty climbing him, but he wasn’t used to her putting her face so close to his.

“Oh!” Niffty hopped off and pulled out her sewing needle knife. “I’m gonna go kill those roaches!”

Alastor laughed as Niffty ran off and stabbed the floor every few steps. Rosie put a hand on his shoulder and said, “That darling girl is still as crazy as I remember her.”

“Yes, and I hope she never changes,” he replied.

“As do I.” She smiled at him and hugged him. “You did wonderfully! But what was that last song that made Charlie cry? It didn’t seem like your type of music.”

“Oh. That.” Alastor rolled his eyes. “Just a lullaby Lucifer used to sing to her when she was younger. I insisted he pick at least one song and that was what he picked.”

“Hm.” Rosie looked thoughtful.

After a few moments where she didn’t say anything further, Alastor asked, “Were you planning on staying a bit longer or did you want to leave now?”

“Huh? Oh, I’ll stay a bit longer, but first, I need to talk to Lucifer.”

Alastor looked at her with a confused expression, but she didn’t explain herself and instead made a beeline for Lucifer. She had said that last part in the voice she normally used when she was going to threaten somebody or yell at them.

What did she have planned?

Chapter Text

Lucifer

Lucifer hugged his little girl tightly as she joyfully sobbed into his shoulder. He knew playing the lullaby would make her emotional, but he didn’t think it would be to this degree.

“Oh, honey, I didn’t mean to make you cry,” he apologized.

Charlie chuckled. “No, no, it’s happy crying.”

His daughter pulled away to wipe at her eyes and said, “Thank you, Dad. I didn’t think you would have remembered that song, it was so long ago.”

“I’ll never forget it, Charlie, that song means a lot to me, too,” Lucifer said.

They embraced once more, and when they pulled away, he felt a small tap on his shoulder. Lucifer turned to see that it was Rosie, waiting patiently with a pleasant smile.

“Excuse me, dear, could I steal your father for a few moments?” she asked Charlie.

Charlie looked at Rosie, then Lucifer, then Rosie again, and said, “Um, sure…? I’ll see you later, Dad.”

Lucifer waved goodbye and let Rosie take him behind the stage.

“What can I do for you?” he asked.

Her smile became less friendly as she demanded, “What are your intentions with Alastor?”

“I- what?”

“What. Are. Your. Intentions. With. Alastor?” she repeated, enunciating each syllable slowly to make sure Lucifer got it.

“I-I don’t have any ‘intentions’ with him. He’s just m-my daughter’s business partner,” he said, eyes wide.

Rosie narrowed her eyes and lost her smile. “I saw the way you looked at him during your little concert. Don’t lie to me, darling.”

Lucifer felt heat creep into his cheeks and his heart dropped. This woman didn’t know him at all - was he really being that obvious?

“N-nothing, I swear! H-he doesn’t even like me as a person, much less as a-anything else.”

“The last guy who said that still forced himself on Alastor, how do I know I can I trust you?”

“I would never do anything that would make anyone uncomfortable like that. I may be the King of Hell, but I do have morals.”

He lost the stutter and fully stood once she implied that he might try to coerce Alastor into some sort of relationship. He felt very strongly that everyone’s bodies were their own and that no one else should be able to do anything in that manner without permission. That was part of the reason why he was able to steal Lilith and Eve away from Adam so easily.

Rosie’s expression turned into relief and she slowly exhaled. “I believe you. I’m sorry, your majesty, there have just been a whole lotta people who’ve wanted to be with The Radio Demon and couldn’t take ‘no’ for an answer.”

“It’s okay, you’re just being a good friend,” Lucifer said. “I had no idea about any of that.”

“Please don’t let Alastor know that you know, it’s a bit of a… touchy subject for him.”

Lucifer nodded. “I understand.”

“Thank you for humoring my little interrogation, your majesty.” Rosie curtsied as she spoke.

“No worries, and I’ll uh… I’ll try to be less obvious.” Lucifer smiled sheepishly.

Rosie giggled. “Well I’m something of a romance expert. I don’t think you were all that obvious, I think I’m simply too good.”

“Oh and you’re humble,” he joked.

“I haven’t a clue why Alastor doesn’t seem to like you! You’re absolutely darling!”

Lucifer mentally rolled his eyes - he knew he wasn’t really all that charming, only ever for a few moments, but they’ve interacted for too long for her to still think that he’s anywhere near cool.

“Ya know…” Rosie winked. “If you’re okay just being friends, Alastor likes people who provide good gossip and prefer radio to television.”

“Th-thanks, Charlie would like it if we could be friends,” Lucifer said. “Um, what kind of gossip does he like?”

She tapped a finger against her lips while she thought. “He likes hearing about absurd things people do, especially if it’s betrayal - that’s juicy. But so long as you stay away from romance and especially… intimacy, he should be entertained by any gossip you have.”

Lucifer tilted his head and furrowed his brows. “But the best gossip is usually who’s sleeping with who, why wouldn’t he like that?”

Rosie chuckled. “Oh my stars, you have no idea! Well, let’s just say he’s our ace in the hole!”

The Overlord acted like it was some inside joke he was supposed to understand, but he didn’t know what being a hidden advantage had to do with not liking gossip about sex. [a/n: you’ll have to excuse him, he doesn’t pay enough attention to humans to know their words for romantic and sexual orientations - Lucifer doesn’t even know that he’s bi, just that he likes guys and girls]

“Rosie! What’s so funny?”

Lucifer only just barely kept himself from jumping at the new voice. Unfortunately, it wasn’t a new voice, as he knew it belonged to Alastor. He turned to the demon and said, “Oh, we’re just talking shit about you.”

Alastor glared at Lucifer, then looked at Rosie with mild annoyance, but mostly with affection. How could he get Alastor to look at him like that?

“Why don’t we have tea in my room, my dear?” Alastor suggested to Rosie.

Rosie glanced at Lucifer and grinned. “Can his royal majesty join us?”

Alastor didn’t say anything, but made a face at Rosie instead. She then made a face back at him. The two went back and forth making faces, and Lucifer realized they were talking to each other without speaking.

After a few more moments of them silently arguing while Lucifer awkwardly stood to the side waiting for the verdict, Alastor groaned and turned to him. With his smile looking extra forced, he asked, “Would you like to join us for tea, Lucifer?”

“Uh…” Lucifer looked at Rosie’s encouraging face. “Sure.”

“Lovely,” Alastor said in a voice that made it clear he didn’t actually think it was lovely. “Follow me.”

It was only when they reached the hallway leading to Alastor’s room that Lucifer realized it would be the first time he would be entering Alastor’s room.

He wondered what it would be like. Probably super pristine and organized with only a few personal effects. 

Alastor opened the door and let Rosie then Lucifer enter before coming in himself.  As Alastor closed the door, Lucifer took in the room. It wasn't at all what he was expecting.

There was a cute, little sitting area in front of a fireplace; a bed shoved in the corner; a desk and a chair off to the side; and three doors in addition to the entrance (he assumed one was for a bathroom, one for a closet, and maybe the third one was another closet?).

There were papers scattered across most of the surfaces and a few posters on the walls advertising radio in general and Alastor's show specifically.

His heart jumped a little when he saw the radio he'd bought for Alastor [a/n: he did this in chapter five when they were running errands for the hotel] sitting on the ledge on top of the fireplace.

He liked it in here - it felt homey and cozy. If it weren’t for Alastor’s death glare in Lucifer’s direction, he wouldn’t have minded spending a lot of time here.

Wait no, it’s weird for friends to spend a lot of time in each other’s bedrooms, right?

“Go ahead and have a seat, I’ll get us some tea,” Alastor said.

Rosie sat down on one of the armchairs in front of the fireplace, where the fireplace was on her left, so Lucifer sat down on the armchair where the fireplace would be on his right so that Alastor would be able to sit next to his friend.

[a/n: the seating arrangement is something like this:

           Fireplace

Rosie     Table      Lucifer

           Alastor   ]

Not liking the fact that Rosie wasn’t speaking, Lucifer asked her, “So, how did you and Alastor meet?”

Rosie folded her hands in her lap and smiled. “Oh, it was actually during Alastor’s first Overlord meeting, but he likes to say it was when he first visited Cannibal Town and that once we saw each other for the first time we immediately tried to hunt down and eat the other.”

She chuckled as if that were a totally normal thing to say and that it was somehow endearing. Lucifer politely smiled as he tried not to be disturbed by this.

How much longer for the tea? Hurry up, Alastor!

Alastor

Alastor tapped his foot as he impatiently waited for the kettle to heat up. He didn’t like that Rosie and Lucifer were acting so chummy after only a few interactions. It probably hadn’t been a good idea to leave them alone together, but it was too late now.

Rosie was a good judge of character, so if she liked Lucifer, maybe he should give him a chance. No, that didn’t sound right - she’d just misjudged this one person this one time, that’s all.

The kettle finally started whistling and Alastor quickly made his way back to where he left the other two. They were both smiling, Lucifer’s being more awkward than Rosie’s, and watched as he put the tea, cups, sugar, and honey on the table.

The sugar and honey were more for Rosie since Alastor didn’t like sweets, but he supposed Lucifer would be adding some to his own tea.

After pouring tea for everyone, Alastor sat down in the remaining chair. He waited until the others had put sugar and honey in their tea before saying, “Anything new in Cannibal Town since I last visited, Rosie?”

“Oo!” Rosie excitedly scooted to the edge of her seat. “You know that dress that Mary kept going on and on about wanting to get?”

“She would never let me forget!” Alastor said as he rolled his eyes.

“She finally got it!”

“Ugh, is it as garish on her as I thought it would be?”

“It’s worse!”

“Oh dear!”

Alastor and Rosie laughed as they thought about it. He didn’t really have an opinion on Mary, but her fashion sense was absolutely dreadful.

“Who uh, who's Mary?” Lucifer asked. 

Alastor had managed to forget about him completely within those thirty seconds and now he had to be reminded of his existence. 

“No one important!” Alastor laughed, causing Lucifer to awkwardly laugh too.

Alastor and Rosie continued to gossip, with Lucifer chiming in when he could. While Rosie was definitely the superior source of gossip, Lucifer wasn’t too bad either.

“It’s starting to get late, so I think I’m going to go back to my room,” Lucifer said as he got up. “But um, thank you for letting me join you two.”

“Of course!” Rosie got up and hugged him, surprising him as well as Alastor.

Alastor did the polite thing and stood up and opened the door for Lucifer. Neither of the men said anything, but Lucifer faintly smiled and quickly waved to him before leaving. Alastor didn’t return the wave, instead standing for a few more moments at the door wondering why he was leaving. He had thought they were actually getting along for once.

“Alastor?” Rosie’s voice pulled him out of his thoughts, which was a good thing because his brain had almost convinced him that he had enjoyed Lucifer’s company.

“Yes?” Alastor responded as he closed the door and made his way back to her.

“Are you lying to me?”

“Whatever about?”

Rosie was not impressed with this response. “You two got along well and you seemed a little upset that he was leaving. Are you sure you’re not friends?”

He looked at her, appalled. Now she was trying to convince him of this?

“Fine. If you won’t just tell me, we’ll go about it differently,” Rosie said. “Why don’t you like him?”

Alastor rolled his eyes. “He’s tacky and annoying and… hasn’t been a good father to Charlie.”

Rosie’s pure black eyes looked at him with sympathy. She was the only one he'd ever told about what his father did to him and his maman. She reached out and grabbed his hand.

“He’s nothing like your father. He’s actively trying to be better for Charlie and he would never hit her.”

“I know that, it’s just… hard to look past the fact that he wasn’t always good to his child,” Alastor said.

Rosie nodded and patted his hand. “I understand. Let’s try this: what are some things about him that you do like?”

“Things that I do like? Well, let me think…”

Alastor stared at the flames licking the wood in the fireplace as he reflected on the time they’d spent together both during and outside of Charlie’s activities for them. When Lucifer had bought the Ekco AC74 [a/n: the radio] for him, whenever they teased each other, when they’d played speed together, and when they had made music together.

“Hm,” Alastor hummed. “I suppose he can be considerate and generous at times. He’s entertaining occasionally. And objectively speaking, he’s not too terrible at the violin.”

Rosie smiled softly at him. “See? He’s not all bad. I think he could be a good friend for you.”

He dramatically sighed. “Fine. I guess I can put some actual effort into trying to get along with the man.”

“How horrible!” she giggled. “Look on the bright side, imagine what having the King of Hell on your side could do for you.”

“I don’t need him on my side, I’m doing just fine.”

She rolled her eyes at him. “Are you really being petty over him being more powerful than you? He’s the Lucifer from the actual Bible, of course you’re not going to be as strong as him.”

Alastor avoided Rosie’s eyes, which he knew would let her know that she was right, but he didn’t want to look at the smug face she made whenever she was right.

“Oh, Alastor, you’re such a hoot!”

“Let’s talk about something else!” Alastor said, making Rosie laugh even more.

They talked for a few more hours about various goings-on in Hell before calling it a night. After Alastor had escorted Rosie back down to the hotel entrance, he thought about their earlier conversation.

He decided he really was going to try to get along with Lucifer instead of just telling Rosie he would. Alastor wasn’t going to go out of his way though. If this proved to be too much effort, he would stop trying altogether. [a/n: progress?]

Chapter Text

Alastor

Alastor sat at the table in the meeting room once again waiting to find out what “foolproof” activity had been planned for the day. Lucifer was late again, but only by a minute and a half this time.

The only thing different about this meeting from the others they’d had, was that Alastor was actually going to put effort into whatever Charlie and Vaggie were going to have them do. He wasn’t looking forward to it, but he’d told Rosie he’d try, so that was what he was going to do.

“Today,” Charlie said, “we’re going to have Alastor interview Dad on his radio show!”

…He could start trying tomorrow - this was too great an opportunity to pass up.

“What an excellent idea, my dear!” he said, letting too much of his twisted excitement show as he spoke.

“Aaand that’s why we have a list of the questions you’re allowed to ask him,” Vaggie said.

“Well that’s a lot less fun,” Alastor said.

“It’s been awhile since I’ve done an interview,” Lucifer said.

“And we’ll be in the room with you,” Charlie added.

Alastor grimaced. “Absolutely not, princess. Can’t have my studio crowded with superfluous bodies while I’m trying to do my work.”

Vaggie scoffed. “We need to make sure you don’t ask anything not on the list.”

Alastor gritted his teeth. He didn’t want to have more people in his personal sanctuary than he had to have.

“I mean, you could always just listen to the radio show outside of the room and come in if he gets off track,” Lucifer suddenly said.

It was not smart for Lucifer to aid Alastor in this, considering what he was planning, but Lucifer seemed to be erroneously giving him the benefit of the doubt. Alastor smirked; this was going to be much easier than initially suspected.

Charlie looked at Vaggie, who squinted in thought before shrugging. The princess then turned to beam at Lucifer.

“So long as it’s okay for the both of you if we just listen outside the room, I don’t think there’s a problem with that,” she said.

As Alastor led the way to his radio studio, he realized that he hadn’t been this excited about a broadcast since the peak of his career while he was still alive. It was likely only due to the fact that he’d never interviewed someone in such a high position of power.

Lucifer

The group stopped outside Alastor’s room, where he had Charlie and Vaggie sit at a nearby table with an old-timey radio in the hallway, then Lucifer followed him into his room.

His heart constricted once he passed over the threshold and he tried his best to ignore the feeling.

Alastor led him to one of the doors he had thought was for a closet. However, when the demon opened the door to let him in, he saw that it led to a radio recording broadcasting studio place thingy… whatever it was called.

“Welcome to the studio!” Alastor announced. “Take a seat and we’ll begin shortly.”

Lucifer waited until Alastor had rolled his eyes and taken his seat before taking his own. He didn’t understand how everything was set up and didn’t want to risk sitting in the wrong spot.

He watched Alastor quickly skim through the piece of paper that Charlie and Vaggie had given him. He did not look like he enjoyed what the questions were, which meant hopefully Lucifer would.

“Hm,” Alastor hummed as he set the paper down with resignation. He hit some buttons on his table and put his microphone cane between the two men.

“Salutations, denizens of Hell!” Alastor’s voice was very captivating. “We have a new guest with us today, and before you turn off your radio: no, it is not a new soul with their screams.”

Alastor laughed and Lucifer couldn’t help but look at the smile lines forming on his cheeks and around his eyes. They made him look more like an actual person instead of some monster.

“...King of Hell, Lucifer!”

Apparently Alastor had still been talking. Lucifer snapped himself out of it and said, “Hello.”

That was okay, right? What do radio guests even say?

Alastor looked like he was holding back some laughter, so that was probably not it. The other man said, “Yes, hello, your majesty. Is there anything you would like to say before we get into it?”

Lucifer shook his head, which made Alastor laugh again for some reason.

“They can not see you shake your head! This is not that blasted television technology, you must rely on your voice alone.”

“Right,” Lucifer laughed it off. It was fine - he wasn’t failing just because he forgot that it wasn’t just him and Alastor and that the audience couldn’t see him.

“Let’s begin,” Alastor said. [a/n: he didn’t sing it like in Stayed Gone, but it probably would have killed Lucifer then and there if he had lol]

“Yes, let’s.” Lucifer was ready for any question that came his way.

“What’s your favorite color?”

He loved his daughter, but was that what all the questions were going to be like? He couldn’t believe Alastor would be okay going with such lackluster content.

He shrugged and thought about the answer to the question for a moment.

“Purple,” Lucifer answered. It was Lilith’s preferred color.

“I would have thought it was white, considering you can’t wear anything else!”

“Haha very funny, but believe it or not, you don’t have to wear only your favorite color. But if that’s how you think, then red’s your favorite color, right?”

Alastor glared at him, which only caused Lucifer to smile at him smugly. “I’ll be asking the questions, your majesty.”

Lucifer didn’t like Alastor going back to calling him “your majesty,” but he understood it - he didn’t want the general masses of Hell thinking it was okay to call him “Lucifer” when he didn’t know them.

“Next question,” Alastor continued. “Although I’m fairly certain of the answer already, what is your favorite animal?”

“Ducks, duh. They’re the best animal ever and there’s no doubt about it. Ducks can have different accents with their quacking, they are super social with each other, females choose their mates by who the best dancer is, they can easily do stuff in water, air, and land, and-”

Lucifer cut himself off, but it was probably too late. He should have thought about it first so that he wouldn’t have rambled. He needs to get better at self-control. No one wants to hear about ducks.

Stupid.

He bit his tongue to keep himself from spiraling further. Lucifer was surprised when he looked back at Alastor - he seemed to have been actually listening.

It was weird since Lilith had always tuned him out (she thought he couldn’t tell, but he could) and Charlie gave him her attention, but he could tell that she was always just waiting for him to be done speaking.

Neither of them ever remembered any of the facts he spouted, but something told him that Alastor would be able to repeat back at least most of what he had just said. Why? [a/n: he did all this thinking within the span of a few seconds]

“Sounds like there’s a lot more to ducks than people know,” Alastor said when it became clear that Lucifer was done. 

Lucifer nodded, then remembered to say, “Yes, there is.”

They looked at each other for a few moments before one of Alastor’s ears twitched and he moved onto the next question. The king wished he could know what Alastor was thinking.

Lucifer made it through the rest of the questions that Charlie and Vaggie made beforehand without embarrassing himself more. All of the questions were mild and easy to answer.

“Thanks for joining us, folks, but that’s all we have for our king for now. Have a dreadful day!” Alastor said. He hit some more buttons once he finished speaking.

Lucifer closed his eyes and silently let out a shaky breath. He opened his eyes and began to get up, when he felt a hand grip around his wrist.

“Wait just a moment, Lucifer,” the demon said, dropping his voice lower when saying the name.

Lucifer swallowed and sat back down. “What is it? Aren’t we done?”

Alastor let go of him and his grin grew mischievously. “I want to ask you some of my own questions.”

“Charlie and Vaggie wouldn’t let you.”

“Which is why I made it sound like the broadcast was done. They’ll turn off the radio and go away, leaving me free to ask you anything.”

Lucifer could see the malevolent intelligence working in Alastor’s eyes. “You’re up to something. I’m not going to do this.”

“Are you scared of the words of a sinner?”

Lucifer bit his lower lip. He knew Alastor was just playing to his ego and that no one would think that he was scared if Lucifer didn’t do another round of questioning. His ego beat reason.

Alastor

Alastor pressed the necessary buttons to begin broadcasting once more. He couldn’t help the self-satisfied smiling that his face currently had, not when he had played Lucifer so easily.

“Welcome back, everyone,” he said. “We’re going to be asking the king some real questions now. My king, what was your reasoning for allowing the Exterminations to happen?”

Lucifer’s eyes narrowed. “It was a difficult decision that both myself and Lilith had to make. We knew they weren’t going to take no for an answer, so we had to figure out how to minimize the number of deaths that would happen. Eventually, we decided to protect hellborn since they didn’t choose to be born here, and to let sinners fend for themselves since their actions on Earth were what landed them here.”

“And how does that fit with Princess Charlie’s hotel where sinners can try to improve from what they did on Earth?”

“The Exterminations are postponed indefinitely, so it doesn’t really matter, but if they were to resume once more, I would protect the ones who genuinely want to improve.”

Alastor had expected that pointing out the hypocrisy would stump the king and make him lose composure, but Lucifer had handled it well. He wouldn’t handle the next questions nearly as well.

“Why did you estrange yourself from your daughter for so many years?”

Lucifer took a deep breath. “I didn’t mean to ‘estrange myself,’ but in the midst of my own problems, I wasn’t able to focus on much of anything, not even my own daughter. I regret this deeply and I should have tried harder to get over it.”

Alastor could tell Lucifer’s mood had changed greatly from being confident and ready to argue, to despondent and withdrawn. He could push him some more and it would be fine.

“Was one of the problems you were facing the disappearance of your wife?”

“Yes.”

When he didn’t elaborate, Alastor asked, “Why did the queen leave?”

“I don’t know.”

“Where is she now?”

“I don’t know.”

“Did she leave on her own?” Alastor could sense his shadow growing in size as he continued to badger Lucifer.

“I. Don’t. Know!”

“What do you think happened to her?”

“I DON’T KNOW!”

“Was it your fault?”

That was the question that broke the camel’s back. Lucifer’s eyes became glossy with tears and parts of his demon form were starting to come out.

“I DON’T KNOW, ALRIGHT? I don’t know where she is or what she’s doing or why she left! And I won’t care about any of it until she comes back!” Lucifer screamed at Alastor.

“Seems like you care now.”

Lucifer yelled and it appeared like he was going to hit Alastor, but then he gritted his teeth and opened a portal.

“Don’t talk to me again, jackass,” he muttered as he stepped through the portal.

That was the kind of entertaining reaction he had been trying to get, but something felt off. He watched the portal fizzle out after Lucifer had left.

“Well, since the king stormed off, that will truly conclude this segment. Enjoy some jazz for a few hours,” Alastor said before turning off the broadcast.

His stomach felt tight and he felt a strange mix of joy and some other bad feeling that he didn’t like. Alastor hadn’t felt this other feeling since he was alive, so it took him a while to identify it.

Why do I feel guilty? That type of outburst was due to happen sooner or later, all I did was make it happen sooner.

Logically, there was no reason for Alastor to be feeling this way. He sat, unmoving, just trying to figure out what exactly made him feel guilty about making Lucifer upset, but still came up with nothing.

At some point, his shadow crept from behind him into his view. It was frowning at him and had its arms crossed.

Alastor scoffed. “Don’t do that. You don’t know any more than I do.”

All his shadow ever did was show his true emotions and let Alastor use it for travel and as a weapon. It genuinely didn’t know any more than he did. [a/n: but maybe it knows and shows what Alastor represses]

Chapter Text

Lucifer

The portal Lucifer had used to escape Alastor’s radio studio went straight to his own room. He yelled in frustration once the portal closed behind him. Hot tears stung his eyes and left blazing paths down his cheeks.

He screamed in a mix of anger and misery as he took off his heels and threw them across the room. He stomped to the door to make sure it was locked then plopped himself on the floor with his back against it. Lucifer cradled his face in his hands.

He knew Alastor was going to try pulling something and yet he still agreed to go through his second round of questioning. He was mad at himself for agreeing to it and mad at Alastor for pulling that bullshit in the first place.

Lucifer thought things were going well after talking with Rosie and Alastor - it had seemed like Alastor was going to make an attempt at friendship with him.

He knew his feelings would never be reciprocated, but was it really too much to ask for them to be friends? What had happened?

Letting his hands fall, he tilted his head back against the door and stared at the ceiling. It was obvious that letting the Exterminations happen and his relationship with his daughter would be sore spots for him, but how did Alastor know that Lilith leaving had hurt him so much and still did?

Alastor doing that to him wasn’t the worst part of it either - it was that Lucifer still loved him despite it. He was pissed, sure, and it would take a lot for him to be forgiven, but he still loved Alastor.

As his heart sank lower and lower with the pain of being betrayed, his tears started drying up. He felt the all too familiar numbing claws of depression take hold of him.

He magicked himself into pajamas and fell face first into his bed before the darkness rendered him immobile.

How could I be so stupid? He’s never going to love me and he’s never going to be my friend.

Lucifer didn’t bother to move into a more comfortable position or even get under the covers. He waited for sleep to take him and silence his feelings for just a little while.

Alastor

Alastor hadn’t had much time to ponder why he felt guilty for the line of questioning he’d taken with Lucifer before he heard the commotion coming from his room.

He glared at his shadow, which still looked mad at him, before opening the door to see Charlie and Vaggie in his bedroom. It would seem they hadn’t turned off the radio and walked away as he had thought they would.

“Al!” Charlie shouted as her horns started protruding from her skull. “What in the hell was that?”

“What was what, darling?” Alastor decided to play dumb for the moment - he didn’t know which part specifically she was referring to anyhow.

He slowly blinked at the angelic spear that was now a hair’s breadth away from his nose. Its wielder growled, “When you asked Lucifer about stuff you knew he would get emotional about, you pendejo!”

While he didn’t know much Spanish, he was able to tell when Vaggie was using profanity towards him. Although, in this situation, it might not have been as unwarranted as when she usually said such things.

“I had my audience to think about, dears,” Alastor said, pushing the spear to the side with one claw. “Quite frankly, the questions you two put together were sure to only put my listeners to sleep. I simply had to give them something with more substance.”

He tuned out the admonishment he received in return, which let him notice his shadow appearing behind the two women. It still looked mad at him and its position made it seem like it was taking their side.

Traitor.

To be perfectly candid, he was surprised his shadow was even doing anything. His shadow always did whatever Alastor wanted - to the point where he didn’t even notice it most of the time. He didn’t understand why it was so upset with him that it was making itself known.

“...and you better hope he’s okay!” Charlie finished her rant as Alastor tuned back in. At some point, her eyes had gone red.

“I’m sure he’ll be perfectly fine after some time to himself!” Alastor nonchalantly disregarded the concern the princess had for her father.

Vaggie brandished her spear in his face once more and said, “If that’s not the case, you’re gonna be very sorry.”

Alastor only titled his head and smiled wider at her. She scoffed and grabbed Charlie’s arm to lead her out.

Lucifer

Lucifer wasn’t able to stay asleep for very long at a time, but since he never left his bed, he just kept going back to sleep.

He didn’t know how long he’d been in his bed for, but he didn’t really care either. He’d finally gotten himself underneath one of his blankets and was now on his side instead of his stomach.

The king was about to close his eyes again when he heard a knock on his door.

Go away.

He had no desire to speak to anyone right now.

“Dad? It’s me,” his daughter’s voice said from outside his bedroom door.

Lucifer closed his eyes and sighed. He couldn’t let her know how badly he was doing; he needed to find the energy to speak. What kind of father was he if he couldn’t be happy for her?

“I just wanted to see how you were doing. Vaggie and I turned the radio back on when neither of you came out of Alastor’s room for a while,” she continued.

It wasn’t that bad, I’m fine, he tried to tell her.

“Um. I guess I also didn’t know that you had no idea where Mom was, so we could talk about her being gone if you wanted.”

She’ll be back one day, don’t worry, honey.

“I’m sorry.” There was a long enough pause that Lucifer had begun to think that she had left. “I should have insisted on being in there with you. Alastor wouldn’t have done anything then. I’m sorry for causing this.”

Lucifer was finally able to speak. “It’s not your fault, sweetie. It’s Alastor’s. And I’m fine, I just need a bit more time, okay?”

“O-oh, okay. I can give you more alone time if it’ll help you. Um. I’ll see you later.”

He didn’t have enough energy left over to say goodbye to her, but from the sound of her departing footsteps, it sounded like Charlie hadn’t waited long for him to do so. She had lowered her already very low expectations of him even further.

Alastor was right all along - Lucifer wasn’t a good father.

Alastor

The next morning, Alastor went through his standard routine and then made his way to the meeting room.

The tension in the room could have been cut with a butter knife. It would appear Charlie and Vaggie still hadn’t forgiven him for his little stunt quite yet. Not that it mattered, he was going to put real effort in today and whatever residual emotions Lucifer had from yesterday would dissipate quickly once they started on the activity.

Ten minutes passed and the fallen angel still wasn’t in the room. It wasn’t the latest he’d ever been to a meeting, so it wasn’t any cause for concern.

Once an additional ten minutes passed, Charlie nervously said, “Maybe he just forgot. It’s been a while since we had a new activity daily, so th-that could be it, right?”

Vaggie knit her eyebrows in empathy for her girlfriend. “I can go get him, babe, no problem.”

“Thank you,” Charlie said.

Alastor wasn’t able to keep the knot from forming in his stomach again. He felt like he was going to be sick - it was not pleasant. He hated feeling guilty, especially when there had been no harm done.

He impatiently tapped his fingers against the table while he waited for Vaggie to return with Lucifer.

Lucifer

There was a knock at Lucifer’s door. It was soft, but it was enough to wake him from his restless sleep.

“Lucifer? You in there?” the person on the other side of the door asked. He recognized it to be Vaggie’s voice.

She continued, “We’re waiting for you in the conference room. We figured you just forgot about the meeting.”

He didn’t want to do anything today; he needed to come up with a good excuse to keep Charlie from worrying.

“I’m not feeling well today,” Lucifer said. “I think I ate something bad yesterday, tell Charlie I’m sorry.”

“Uh…” 

He could tell she didn’t believe him, but he hoped that she would still leave him alone.

“Okay,” Vaggie sounded reluctant. “I hope you feel better soon.”

“Thank you.”

He buried his face in his pillows as he listened to Vaggie walk away. He really needed to get over this; there was only so long he could wallow before Charlie would get tremendously worried.

Lucifer lost track of how much time was passing, but he was pretty sure that he had wasted the entire day. Charlie had stopped by twice more and Vaggie once. Neither tried for very long. Surprisingly, Husk stopped by once; he was very brief and awkward sounding. He didn’t try much either.

He wasn’t even really thinking anymore at this point - he had just given himself fully over to depression. It was the times like these that he wished he could just fall asleep and never wake up, but as a former seraphim, it wasn’t possible for Lucifer. The king would just have to settle for pretending.

Chapter Text

Alastor

When Vaggie had returned saying that Lucifer was sick and wouldn’t be able to partake in the day’s activity, Alastor knew that the king had lied - the only question was why?

Alastor had immediately left the meeting room to go back to his room. He didn’t want to be in there when Charlie was obviously going to be upset about her father’s current state.

Once he was in his room, Alastor sat on his bed and leaned his cane against it. After a few moments, he let himself fall back and he knit his hands together on his stomach.

The demon hadn’t expected Lucifer to take the little broadcast joke to heart that much. He thought he would’ve reacted in an entertaining manner as usual and that he would just be mad at him for a bit. He never would have thought that it would have hurt him in this way.

If Alastor had known, he wouldn’t have done it. He would never have felt guilty and they would have stumbled through Charlie’s bonding activities as usual.

Judging from Charlie’s reaction, Lucifer has hidden away like this before. Knowing that he had been the one to cause this, and since he felt so guilty, he figured he should probably try to make him feel better.

Alastor groaned. He wasn’t one to care about other people’s emotions if he wasn’t super close to them, and he didn’t know why he cared now. He certainly didn’t want to try to console someone he didn’t know.

But he had started to come to know Lucifer, and Rosie had convinced him to attempt friendship with him. Part of friendship is caring about each other.

Ugh, gross.

Unsurprisingly, Alastor wasn’t always the best at making others feel better, so maybe it would be better if he didn’t try. The glare he received from his shadow made him roll his eyes.

“Fine,” he told his shadow. “I’ll try to cheer him up, but only after the others have tried some more. We don’t want to make him worse, do we?”

Alastor’s shadow clearly wasn’t impressed, but it left him alone.

His angelic wound suddenly flared with pain and Alastor had to bite his tongue to keep from making any noise. He breathed heavily through his nose through each wave of pain until it eventually subsided.

This thing was getting more and more annoying and Alastor did not like it one bit. Maybe he should ask Rosie if she knows anyone with healing magic. [a/n: or, y’know, you could ask Lucifer to heal you, who lives in the same place as you…]

He closed his eyes and napped for much longer than he had intended.

Lucifer

When Lucifer woke up again, it was clearly night.

So I did waste the day. Great.

He buried his face in a pillow. Why couldn’t he just bury his emotions as easily as he could his face? Then he wouldn’t be such a burden to everyone else.

Tears started to escape his eyes again when he thought of Charlie being worried, which would make Vaggie worry, too. Why couldn’t Lucifer be someone to go to when they were worried instead of being the person they worried over?

He was such a waste of space. No wonder Lilith left. No wonder Charlie didn’t try rekindling their relationship until she needed him.

He was only worth something when he was helping the people who mattered, but he was completely useless like this.

Thinking of how useless he was only made him feel worse. It didn’t give him the motivation to quit it already.

Lucifer rolled onto his back and stared at the ceiling until sleep took him once more.

Alastor

By the time Alastor woke from his nap, it was well into the night and his shadow appeared to be both concerned for him and upset with him.

He groggily got off of his bed and went to change his bandages. His wound wasn’t giving him as much trouble as usual, so perhaps all the extra sleep had done something useful.

After putting new bandages on, Alastor asked his shadow, “Would you be so kind as to see if he’s left his room yet?”

His shadow rolled its eyes at him, but left to do as he asked. A few moments later, it returned and shook its head.

Damn. I am going to have to try to make him feel better still.

Inexplicably, he was nervous. He found that he legitimately didn’t want to screw it up and make Lucifer worse.

Alastor groaned as he made his way to the opposite end of the floor where Lucifer's room was located. His hand hesitated over the handle for just a moment before grabbing onto it and opening it. 

Except it didn’t open; the door was locked. He could ask to be let in, but if Lucifer hadn't even let his own daughter in, why would he let Alastor in? 

Alastor could feel that there wasn't any magic or anything that would prevent him from shadow traveling into the room. His injury throbbed as a warning the moment he had the idea.

He bit his lower lip. Was it really worth the pain to maybe help Lucifer feel better? 

His shadow waited expectantly. Alastor had a feeling it might try forcing him to travel if he didn't initiate it himself, which would hurt if he didn't cooperate with the travel. 

Sighing, the demon let his shadow take him into the room. Alastor almost bit his tongue off when he rematerialized from how much the injury flared. 

It felt like he'd been punched in the gut and gotten the wind knocked out of him. 

Alastor took a few silent moments to recover, then looked around the room. He hadn’t taken much time to observe it the last time he was in here, since that hadn’t been pleasant. [a/n: it was just when he got healed the first time]

The room was very messy, littered with little, yellow rubber ducks and clothes, clean and dirty, were strewn across the room. Alastor would never let his own room be sullied in this way - he couldn’t even imagine it. He narrowed his eyes at the figure in the bed.

How does he live in this mess?

Alastor was looking for another excuse to delay further, but his shadow pushed him before he could think of anything. He loudly bumped into a chest in front of the foot of the bed.

He whipped his head to see if Lucifer woke up from that, but he was still motionless on the bed.

Phew. That was a close o-

“Get out,” Lucifer quietly said.

The king still hadn’t moved at all, so he must’ve been awake this whole time. Had he been aware of Alastor’s presence the entire time? That might mean that he knew about how bad Alastor’s injury was… That wasn’t good.

Alastor cleared his throat. “I’m afraid I’m not going to leave you. Not yet, anyway.”

Lucifer groaned loudly with his head still buried into a pillow. “Alastor? Ugh, you’re the last person I want near me right now.”

“Understandable. However, since everyone else respects you too much to knock down your door to actually speak with you, I’m likely the only one with a real chance of making you feel better.”

When Lucifer didn’t respond, Alastor said, “I thought I could explain what I had meant to happen with the broadcast.”

After a moment, the other man rolled in the bed so that he could look at Alastor and grumbled, “Well? Go on.”

“Right. Well.” Alastor took a few steps closer to Lucifer’s bed. “I thought I would just get a rise out of you for some entertainment. I had thought that you would be mad for a bit, but that you would then get over it quickly.”

Lucifer scoffed scornfully. “Maybe when we first met, but things have changed.”

“How so?”

“Doesn’t matter.”

Alastor sat down on the foot of Lucifer’s bed. “Something tells me if I know what changed for you, we can ‘talk’ about it and you’ll feel better.”

“Nothing is going to make me just ‘feel better,’ ” Lucifer sighed. “Lilith always tried to keep these episodes from happening, but after she figured out that she couldn’t get me out of one, she never did anything during one and just let me take as long as I needed. If my wife for millennia hadn’t been able to help, what makes you think you can?”

Alastor’s stomach twisted at the mention of Lilith. It was strange hearing someone talk about her fondly when Alastor knew the kind of person she really was.

“Now, back in my day, mental health may have been a bit of a taboo subject of discussion, but I’m fairly certain you’re not supposed to do nothing,” he said.

“It’s fine. You can just leave and tell Charlie that you tried. I don’t know why she even sent you in the first place.”

“Charlie didn’t send me.”

Lucifer rolled his eyes. “Yeah, right, let’s see, you… were amazed with yourself for sending the King of Hell into a depressive spiral and you just had to check out your work.”

“No, I…” Alastor trailed off as he tried to think of a good excuse, but he quickly realized that he was going to have to tell the truth. Ew.

“I felt guilty,” he continued. “I had promised Rosie that I would try to be friends with you and instead instantly played a cruel joke on you. I didn’t mean for you to suffer like this. I- I’m… sso- soorrr.”

He’d never apologized to anyone other than his maman before; this was much more difficult than he remembered. “Ugh. I’m sorr…sorry.”

Lucifer looked at Alastor like he wasn’t sure if he could trust what just came out of his mouth. “What happened to ‘there’s no reason for anyone to actually apologize’?”

“That’s what I used to think,” Alastor said. “I never apologized for anything I did except for when I was a child. You’re the first person to receive an apology from me since I died - you should be honored.”

The corner of Lucifer’s mouth lifted almost imperceptibly as he sarcastically said, “Oh yay, the big, bad Radio Demon apologized to li’l ol’ me of all people.”

Alastor resisted the urge to growl at him. Arguing with him probably would not make Lucifer feel better right now. He settled on saying, “Are you better now?”

“Yup. 100 percent,” Lucifer said. “You can go now.”

Alastor may not have known much about other people’s emotions, but he could at least tell when Lucifer was lying. He called his bluff, “Prove it, then.”

“Ugh.” Lucifer grabbed a pillow and put it over his face. “Just go away already.”

“Mmmmm, no,” Alastor hummed.

The other man groaned but didn’t say anything more. After another moment, he began to start making very fake snores - likely in an attempt to get Alastor to leave.

“Just tell me what changed to cause this and I’ll leave for a bit,” Alastor offered.

More fake snores.

“I know you’re faking.”

More fake snores.

(...Were they fake?)

Alastor felt a metaphorical lightbulb light up. He quickly conjured a deck of cards and only winced a little bit when his wound chastised him.

“We can play for it.” He began to shuffle the cards. “I’m only going to continue speaking since I know that you are, in fact, not asleep.”

Lucifer halfheartedly tossed the pillow at Alastor and said, “I don’t have the energy for it. So, again, just go away.”

Alastor started to deal out a game of speed. “I’ll go slow for you.”

Lucifer raised an eyebrow. “You? Go slow for somebody? You’re lying.”

“I don’t want to be here anymore than you want me here,” Alastor explained. “If going slow means I get the information and we can make at least some progress, then I’m willing to do so.”

Lucifer didn’t say anything - he just looked at the newly dealt out cards. He sighed and sat up, which looked like it took a lot more effort than it should have.

Strange.

“Same conditions?” The king asked despondently.

Alastor nodded. Their first game took a really long time since they were both moving slowly and Alastor let Lucifer win.

Lucifer rolled his eyes. “Why did you let me win?”

“Is that your question?”

“Uhh, no,” Lucifer tapped his chin. “What… What's your least favorite thing about me?”

“Pardon me, did you say ‘least’ and not ‘most’?” Alastor clarified. Lucifer only averted his gaze and slowly nodded.

Annoyed, Alastor said, “It used to be that I thought you were a bad father, but now it’s the fact that you’re feeling sorry for yourself when you have power, fame, wealth, and people who care about you. Why are you trying to get me to give you fuel for your self-hatred?”

Lucifer looked shocked that Alastor had figured it out. Trying not to let it show on his face, Alastor felt a little smug that he had read Lucifer so quickly that he surprised him. If he could just understand the former angel’s thought process, he could easily manipulate him into feeling better. [a/n: I mean, that's basically what cheering someone up is, right?]

He smirked to himself as he dealt out another round. Perhaps it wouldn’t be so difficult to cheer up Lucifer as he had originally thought.

Chapter Text

Lucifer

As Alastor dealt out a second game of speed, Lucifer tried to figure out the demon’s ulterior motive.

They weren't friends. Even if Rosie had actually convinced Alastor to try to be friendly with him, he hadn't started doing that yet. He didn't have any obligation to Lucifer yet. 

Maybe Alastor was going to ask Lucifer for something in exchange for helping him. 

I guess so long as it doesn't hurt anybody…

Helping others was the only thing he was good for anyway. 

Lucifer picked up his cards once Alastor finished dealing and they started playing. Lucifer still didn't have energy for much of anything, so he went very slow again. He won that game, too.

He gritted his teeth. “Okay, I'm actually asking this time: why are you letting me win?”

Alastor shrugged as he gathered up the cards and said, “I thought it prudent to build some sense of accomplishment so you're in a better headspace before I have you answer emotionally draining questions.”

“Yeah, ‘cause winning only since you let me is a really huge accomplishment.”

“Hmmm,” Alastor hummed in thought. “I presume you haven't taken care of yourself since locking yourself up, would you feel more accomplished if you took a shower or brushed your hair?”

Lucifer looked away. “I don't even have the energy to leave my bed, much less take care of myself.”

Alastor smiled smugly as he dealt. “So this is the only kind of thing you're able to accomplish right now?”

The fallen angel rolled his eyes. “Well… I still don't want you to let me win. It just makes me feel…”

Pathetic.  

He didn't really want to voice that to Alastor, though. He was the King of Hell; he wasn’t supposed to be weak like this. [a/n: this goes for everyone, it’s not weak to have emotions]

“Not great,” he settled on saying.

“Very well,” Alastor said. “I'll still go slow for you.”

Lucifer squinted his eyes. He wasn’t sure why Alastor would still bother going slow, especially since Lucifer had just told him that he didn’t want Alastor to let him win anymore.

The third game went a little faster now that Alastor wasn’t letting Lucifer win, which also meant that Alastor finally won.

“Why do you have so little energy?” Alastor asked.

Lucifer stared at him. “That’s not what you said you were gonna ask.”

The demon grinned. “Guess we’ll have to play again after you answer it.”

Lucifer sighed and answered, “Because I’m so depressed? I’m trapped in my negative thoughts and emotions and it’s drowning me and sapping my energy.”

Alastor’s grin fell a little bit. “I… didn’t know that that’s what depression was like.”

“It’s different from person to person.” Lucifer shrugged. “I wouldn’t expect anybody to know what mine is like.”

Alastor looked at him with… Lucifer wasn’t sure what. It almost looked like he cared and was upset to know what he was going through, but he knew that wasn’t true because Alastor didn’t care, and he never would.

After a few moments, Alastor broke eye contact to grab the cards, shuffle them, and deal again. Alastor won the fourth game as well.

He took a deep breath before asking, “What changed between us to cause this reaction from what I did?”

Lucifer shifted uncomfortably and averted his gaze. The conditions of this game were that he had to answer honestly, but he didn’t want Alastor to know that he was in love with him. He had to figure out a different way to word it that would still be true.

“Well,” Lucifer started, “After spending more time with you with Charlie’s activities, I started to… realize that you weren’t so bad, and after some more time, I started caring about you and I wanted to actually be friends.”

Lucifer decided that a lie of omission wasn’t really a lie, especially since everything else he said was true.

“So when you did what you did on your show,” he continued, “I felt betrayed since I thought you had started viewing me in a better light and that you also wanted to be friends. It just hurts to know how wrong I was.”

He finally looked back at Alastor and saw that he appeared conflicted. Lucifer wasn’t sure what to make of it. He wished he could know what the other man was thinking.

Suddenly, Alastor stood up and headed to the door. As he put his hand on the doorknob, he said, “You weren’t wrong.”

Lucifer was so stunned by this sudden change that he wasn’t able to say anything as Alastor left and softly closed the door behind him. Once he started to come out of the shock, he locked the door with magic and laid back down under his covers.

You weren’t wrong.

What was that supposed to mean? That Alastor did care about him and wanted to be his friend? As unlikely as it seemed, the thought did bring some warm, fuzzy feelings to his chest. It wasn’t enough to make Lucifer smile again, but it was close.

Alastor

Hearing Lucifer say that he was in that state because he thought he was wrong about Alastor wanting to be friends with him didn’t make Alastor feel good. The knot in his stomach had tightened the moment he had heard that.

Alastor had started to view Lucifer a little better and was willing to be friends, he just thought there wouldn’t be any harm in playing a joke like that first before trying. He didn’t think it would change anything.

He’d left quickly because he felt… Well, he wasn’t sure how he felt, but he knew that he needed to get out of there. As soon as he had closed Lucifer’s door, Alastor had started speed walking back to his side of the floor.

He thought trying to make Lucifer feel better would lessen his guilt, but learning more about what was going on only made him feel worse. He was frustrated that he was feeling so horrible when just a week ago, he probably wouldn’t have cared at all. Where did all these emotions come from? Alastor didn’t like any of them.

He finally made it back to his room and flopped onto his bed with an annoyed groan. He didn’t like feeling so much.

The sooner Lucifer gets better, the sooner I stop feeling.

Alastor closed his eyes and went to sleep. Once he woke up, he changed his bandages and started making his way back to Lucifer’s room. It was likely that he’d locked the door again, but shadow traveling from this distance would hurt a great deal, so it was better to at least get closer to the room first.

He was trying to think of the correct words to cheer Lucifer up today when he stopped in his tracks. Vaggie and Charlie were approaching Lucifer’s door from the other side.

He stiffened and turned away, but only got a few steps away when Charlie called out his name. Alastor sighed and turned around to face them.

“Hello, dears,” Alastor said. “May I inquire as to why you two are up here?”

Vaggie scoffed. “Lucifer still hasn’t gotten any better because of your little stunt, so we’re here to talk to him together.”

“I wouldn’t say that he hasn’t gotten better,” Alastor said.

“He still hasn’t left his room, Alastor,” Charlie pointed out, devoid of her usual cheerful manner.

“Well yes, but I almost made him smile last night, so I would assume that’s better than he has been doing.”

“You talked to him?” Charlie asked in disbelief.

“How do you even know he almost smiled?” Vaggie asked. “Did he let you in?”

“He let you in?” the princess asked hopefully.

Fffffuck.

He hadn’t meant to let them know that he’d been in Lucifer’s room, especially since they weren’t going to be happy with how he got in.

“Well?” Vaggie pressed.

“He… didn’t quite let me in,” Alastor said. “I may have… let myself in.”

“You just ignored the locked door??” Vaggie stared at him incredulously.

Alastor chuckled. “You all have been treating the locked door as some sort of impenetrable gate, but one can sense there is no magic or anything to prevent one from entering by other means.”

“Just because you can doesn’t mean you should, Al!” Charlie quietly exclaimed. “Were you not paying attention to our lessons and activities on boundaries?”

He gave her a look that he hoped conveyed that she should already know the answer. He assumed she got it when she groaned.

Vaggie put a hand on Charlie’s arm. “Let’s just talk to Lucifer, okay? We can deal with Alastor later.”

Alastor stood nearby as he waited for his turn. The two women ignored him as they tried to get Lucifer to talk to them. They filled him in on the progress Angeldust has been making, talked about what they had for breakfast and if he wanted any, and if he was okay or needed anything.

Lucifer barely responded to them; if they were lucky, they got a four word response.

Interesting…

Lucifer had been like that with him initially last night, but he had started giving Alastor full sentence responses after a while. However, with his daughter and her girlfriend, he never started giving them full answers.

After Vaggie and Charlie had spoken with him for about ten minutes, they said goodbye to Lucifer. Charlie looked at Alastor and sighed.

“I know I can’t stop you from shadow traveling in there,” Charlie started, “but can you at least try getting him to actually let you in first before you invade his space like that?”

“Hmm, fair enough,” Alastor agreed.

Charlie gave him a silent thanks, looked at Lucifer’s door dejectedly, and walked down the hall with Vaggie. Once the two women were farther away, Alastor knocked on the door.

“Good morning, Lucifer,” he said. “Would you let me in? You know if you don’t I’ll let myself in.”

He heard the lock unlatch and Lucifer say, “Fine. Come in.”

Alastor entered the room and saw that Lucifer was in his bed with his back facing the door. He closed the door behind him and went to sit on the foot of the other man’s bed like last time.

“I’m surprised you let me in!” Alastor remarked.

“Yeah, well, I didn’t want you to hurt yourse- uh, I-I mean, I figured I may as well since you would have j-just done it yourself,” Lucifer responded.

Alastor stilled. So Lucifer was aware of how bad his injury was and that it hurt to shadow travel. Why was he trying to hide the fact that he knew?

“Wh-what’s your brilliant plan for today?” Lucifer asked, still facing away from Alastor.

Though he’d had plenty of time to think of something, Alastor still hadn’t decided on a plan of attack for his interaction with Lucifer today. Although, he was a little annoyed that Lucifer was still buried in his blankets instead of looking at him.

Instead of answering Lucifer’s question, Alastor grabbed two fistfuls of his blanket, ripped it away, and threw it on the floor. Lucifer curled in on himself further and whipped his head towards Alastor to yell, “What the hell?? Fuck was that for??”

“Hmp.” Alastor turned his focus to his claws. “Don’t you know it’s rude not to look at someone when they’re talking to you?”

“Asshole,” Lucifer muttered. He used magic to bring the blanket back to him from the floor, but turned so that he would be facing Alastor now.

“Why have you been saying more with me than you have with your own daughter?” Alastor asked. At Lucifer’s confused face, he added, “You’ve only been saying a few words at a time with Charlie, but with me, you’ve said entire sentences. I’m just wondering why that is.”

Lucifer shrugged. “I dunno… I guess I just don’t want her to think less of me.”

“You don’t care if I think less of you?”

“I do, but I don’t care about your opinion as much hers and you haven’t been in my life as long - if I lost you, it wouldn’t hurt as much.”

Alastor nodded. “I suppose that makes sense. However, she appears very distressed with the fact that you aren’t speaking much and that you’re not leaving your room. She might feel better if you spoke with her about this.”

The king groaned. “She’ll just worry more if I tell her everything that’s going on. I’m her father, I shouldn’t be dumping my stuff on her.”

“I think she likely just wants to be let in instead of shut out.”

“I’m not shutting her out.”

“What would you call locking yourself in your room and refusing her entry?”

Lucifer rolled away. Perhaps this wasn’t the best way to make him feel better.

“What are some of your favorite memories?” Alastor asked, trying a different tactic.

The fallen angel turned to look at him again. “What?”

“Let’s stop focusing on the bad emotions you’re feeling, and think of happier times,” Alastor explained. “What are some of your favorite memories?”

Lucifer seemed unsure, but soon after he started talking about Charlie when she was young, he quickly became more comfortable and seemed excited to share these memories. Alastor listened to every detail Lucifer shared, even when he spoke about Lilith in such a fond way that made the demon feel strange.

Alastor smiled genuinely when he saw Lucifer smile a few times as he recounted good memories. Alastor realized that Lucifer had a beautiful smile that lit up his whole face when he wasn’t forcing one on. He hoped he’d get to see it many more times.

Wait, what?

Chapter Text

Lucifer

After talking about his good memories, Lucifer felt better - he wasn’t quite ready to end his isolation yet, but he was closer now.

Of course not thinking about all the bad things would make him feel better, so he felt stupid that Alastor had to tell him to think about good things. [a/n: it can be hard to shift to good thoughts when you’re stuck in bad ones]

Lucifer could feel his brain trying to take him down again because he felt stupid, but he didn’t let it happen. Instead, he closed his eyes and took several deep breaths and thought back to that morning with Alastor.

The other man had been genuinely listening to him ramble about his good memories, and at times, his expression was soft, almost like Alastor enjoyed hearing Lucifer go on about what made him happy.

Maybe… maybe he does.

It wasn’t impossible, after all, if he did want to try being friends with Lucifer, so maybe he did care about him a little bit.

Alastor had looked a little strange when he’d talked about Lilith, but Lucifer was probably reading too much into that. After all, if Alastor had felt too weird, he wouldn't have said that he would come back tonight.

The king had more energy now after his time with Alastor, so he didn't want to just stay in his bed, but he didn't have enough where he felt he could leave his room. 

He got himself up out of his bed and walked over to his worktable. It was mostly covered in rubber ducks, but there were a few rubber snakes, too.

Lucifer picked up the duck that looked like Lilith. It had been an anniversary present for her. She had looked overjoyed when he'd given it to her, but it hadn't been one of the things she'd brought with her when she'd left. 

When he moved into the hotel, Lucifer had brought it with him so he could keep it safe. Lilith had probably left it behind in the first place so that it wouldn't get damaged, right?

He sighed and put it underneath a pile of papers. He couldn't stand to see the reminder of her right now.

Lucifer pulled out the chair and sat at the worktable. He began absentmindedly working on a new rubber duck. 

He wasn't really paying attention to what he was doing until he realized that he'd given the duck pinkish-red hair with black ends and a monocle.

Heat flushed his cheeks when Lucifer realized he'd started making an Alastor duck. He didn't even know why he started doing that. [a/n: he was thinking about how he gave Lilith a duck that looked like her as a romantic gesture… guess who he romantically likes now lol]

I guess I may as well finish it now.

Smiling softly at the duck, he added fluffy ears, a little staff, and a red and black colored tail. He was still holding out hope that Alastor had an adorable little tail. [a/n: he does, don’t worry]

Lucifer hadn't noticed how much time had passed until he felt a clawed hand gently grip his shoulder.

“I do believe you've made a few mistakes! That doesn't look anything like me!”

Lucifer's heart plummeted once he recognized Alastor's voice. What did this look like to the demon?

Hoping to cover up his panic with anger, he snapped his head towards Alastor and almost shouted, “What do you mean by that?? It looks just like you!”

Alastor smiled and tenderly removed the duck from Lucifer’s hand, turning it over in his own hand to observe it. “Well, for one, I am not a duck-”

“I-I-It's supposed to be a duck that looks like you, n-not an action figure with your exact image!”

“-the ears are not quite large enough to proportionally match mine, and I do not have a tail,” Alastor finished, handing the duck back to Lucifer.

His blush of embarrassment was made brighter when Lucifer became annoyed with Alastor.

“Again, it's not s-supposed to look exactly like you, a-and ducks have tails and you're a deer demon, so I made the duck tail a d-deer tail instead,” he hastily explained. “A-and it's not like you were ever supposed to see it anyway!”

Lucifer regretted that last sentence as he was speaking it. 

“Is that so?” Alastor tilted his head and his smile was indecipherable. “You were just making a duck that's supposed to look like me for…what? For fun?”

His heart dropped even lower as he searched for a semi-acceptable excuse. After a few moments, he said, “N-no! It's just that nobody ever sees my ducks - I m-make them to keep my hands busy and th-then just throw them into a pile and f-forget about them!”

“Hmm.”

Alastor was clearly thinking about it, and Lucifer was nervous to find out just how creepy he thought the duck was. 

“Could I keep it, then, after you fix the ears?” was nowhere near the response Lucifer was expecting. 

He stared at Alastor in surprise. “What?”

Alastor's ears turned back a little and he looked away as he explained, “If you're just going to forget about it, then I could have it, right? I can't deny that it's… an interesting concept to have a duck that looks like me.”

Lucifer couldn't believe what he was hearing. After processing for a second, he blushed even more at the thought of Alastor wanting something that Lucifer had made.

“Uh… s-sure,” he finally managed to say.

Lucifer’s cheeks were getting so warm he was concerned that he burst into flames. He turned away from Alastor to hide the growing blush and took off the ears to make larger ones. As he worked on the new ears, he could feel Alastor watching his every move. It made his heart pound, but he didn’t really mind that he was the object of Alastor’s attention.

Alastor

Alastor couldn’t help but watch Lucifer work on the rubber duck that was meant to look like him. He had surprised even himself when he asked to keep it, but his shadow had seemed happy with him for it.

With how the king’s entire face had turned gold, Alastor suspected there was another reason that Lucifer had been making the duck apart from to “keep his hands busy,” but he wasn’t sure what it was. Perhaps he had just been embarrassed to have been caught making a duck in the first place? Though, Alastor didn’t think that was it, since the entire bedroom was covered in rubber ducks.

As it was pointless to speculate without any further evidence, he turned his attention back to Lucifer. He had finished the ears and was now carefully and precisely placing them on top of the duck’s head. Alastor smiled - it was nice to see Lucifer doing something that made him happy.

Why?

Could it be that Alastor had started thinking of Lucifer as an actual friend and not just a potential friend? He enjoyed seeing Rosie make clothes and bake sweets, even though he didn’t personally enjoy the activities very much, because he liked seeing her so happy and in her element. The same likely now applied to Lucifer.

Interesting.

“H-here it is! The new and improved Alastor duckie!” Lucifer suddenly announced with an awkward smile. The hand holding the duck was stretched out towards Alastor. 

He took it out of Lucifer's hand and gazed at it. The ears matched much better now in proportion to the rest of the duck.

Lucifer appeared to have believed him when he said he didn't have a tail, but Alastor was still a little suspicious because of how accurate the tail was. It was very fluffy with the same pinkish-red and black tips as his hair. 

Had he seen it at some point and was just keeping his knowledge of it secret? Alastor didn't know, but he didn't want to interrogate him in case Lucifer didn't know.

After examining it for a few moments, he said, “Much better now. I must say you have extraordinary craftsmanship when it comes to these rubber duck items.”

He gestured to the many ducks covering the room. Many of them looked quite unique, and only sometimes in a bad way. 

Lucifer scratched the back of his head sheepishly. “O-oh, thank you, but you don't have to lie.”

Alastor tilted his head at the other man. “If I had wanted to lie, I would have told you that your creations were ghastly, but I decided to tell you what I really think.”

Lucifer stared at Alastor for a few moments, then ducked his head as he gave thanks once more.

“Well, now that that's finished,” Alastor said as he carefully put the duck in one of his inner coat pockets. “How are you feeling?”

“Better now.” Lucifer dropped his smile. “I uh, wasn’t expecting the one who made this happen to also be the one to help me out of it.”

Alastor’s stomach twisted slightly. He tried his best to make his smile seem confident before saying, “Hmmm. Both were a result of me disregarding boundaries, so I don’t believe I did ‘help’ all that much.”

Lucifer shrugged, but didn’t say anything. Alastor sat down on a nearby armchair that was mostly cleared of ducks. He waited patiently for Lucifer to speak again.

The king took a deep breath, then looked towards Alastor. He said, “You… you’ve spent more time with Charlie than I have recently…”

He started fidgeting his fingers. Alastor raised an eyebrow for him to continue. After another deep breath, Lucifer continued, “Wh-what would be the best way to apologize to her about…”

He gestured vaguely at himself and his room.

“Hmm.” Alastor clasped his hands in his lap as he thought about what he’d bothered to learn about Charlie. “I’m not sure what Vaggie did to apologize to her after the whole secretly-an-angel conundrum, but I think Rosie ended up doing a large portion of the work while we were in Cannibal Town to get forces.”

Lucifer visibly deflated, but before he could say anything, Alastor pushed on, “However, I would not think it farfetched to say that she would appreciate something in a similar manner to how she apologizes to others.

“What I’ve seen from when Charlie apologizes to others, is that she will say ‘I’m sorry’ many, many times, and even if the other party thinks that is good enough, she will typically also hand make something for them - a lesson plan or a card or a treat or something else.”

Lucifer bolted upright in his chair and his eyes caught a little gleam, which Alastor hadn’t seen for a few days. It felt right that Lucifer had that light in his eyes again, and it made Alastor feel more at ease.

“Um, I don’t wake up early on my own very well,” Lucifer started. “And I think Charlie would like it if I made pancakes for her like I did when she was still living in the palace with us, so I want to wake up early enough so that they’re all ready by the time everyone else in the hotel wakes up. So, uh, would you mind waking me up tomorrow? Y-you don’t have to help with the pancakes or a-anything.”

Alastor never liked any pancakes made for him before, as he didn’t care much for sweets, but he had a feeling it would be better for Lucifer and their new friendship if he did help. Suppressing a sigh, he reluctantly offered, “I can wake you up and help you with the pancakes.”

“You don’t have to-”

“I want to.” Alastor wasn’t going to let Lucifer not accept his very generous offer of help. He should feel lucky that Alastor was offering any help at all!

The golden blush on Lucifer’s cheeks had gone away by this point, but now it faintly crept back as the former angel smiled softly and said, “Thanks, Alastor.”

“It’s no problem at all, Lucifer.” It still felt weird to call him by his name. “Now, Charlie is quite the early bird, so you should head to bed now and get some rest before we start.”

“Oh, I-I don’t think I’ll get much in the way of sleep.” Lucifer looked out the window, which blocked the view of his face from where Alastor was sitting. “I’m kind of nervous now about how Charlie is going to feel, but it’s fine, I don’t really need to sleep.”

Even though he couldn’t see Lucifer’s face and vice versa, Alastor still made a questioning face at him. “I do believe sleep is rather important for most life forms. Surely there is a way to quiet your unease enough for you to sleep?”

Lucifer shrugged. “Lilith and I never figured anything out, but we also never bothered trying unless I hadn’t slept in a few days, which only ever happened maybe thrice in the entire time we were together.”

Alastor was starting to get more and more annoyed every time Lucifer mentioned Lilith. He really didn’t like her, and he didn’t like that his new “friend” liked her so much. [a/n: yeah, that’s tooootally the only reason]

Instead of letting his annoyance show, Alastor closed his eyes and hummed as he thought of what his maman would do to get him to sleep when he was young. He opened his eyes once he decided what might work for Lucifer.

“Let me try a few things my mother did to get me to sleep,” Alastor said as he pushed off the armchair to get himself standing.

“Uhh, okay? I guess it wouldn’t hurt to let you try.” Lucifer looked skeptical.

“Go sit on your bed.”

As Lucifer did what he said, the demon closed the blinds on the windows, then scanned the room for a hairbrush. He was beginning to think he’d have to summon one and upset his wound, when he finally spotted one on the nightstand near Lucifer’s bed. With only a few quick steps, Alastor stood in front of Lucifer, who looked confused.

Alastor cleared his throat as he grabbed the brush. “Turn your head to the side.”

Once he had turned his head, Alastor began to gently work through the mess of snarls and tangles in the other man’s delicate blonde hair. Despite having not showered for a few days, his hair was very soft and didn’t feel very oily.

How does it feel when it has been washed?

Alastor ignored that thought and began to quietly sing a song his maman sang to him when brushing his hair. He didn’t remember all of the words, and his Creole was broken at best, so he just hummed when he couldn’t remember a word or how to pronounce it.

Since Lucifer had put “stupid radio effects” as part of his drawing on why he didn’t like Alastor [a/n: reference chapters 6 and 7], he dropped the radio filter to better soothe Lucifer. He noticed that Lucifer stiffened and his breathing hitched when Alastor started singing, but he relaxed somewhat quickly, so Alastor didn’t think anything of it.

“Turn your head to the other side,” he commanded. As Lucifer did, Alastor caught a glimpse of a slight gold covering his cheeks and almost reaching across his nose.

Alastor swallowed and started singing a different Creole song while working through this side of Lucifer’s hair. He had never brushed another person’s hair before, and he found that it relaxed not just Lucifer, but himself as well. There was just something about working through a mess and making it smooth and flawless that appealed to Alastor, even though he typically lived for chaos.

Once he finished that side, he cleared his throat and said, “All done - you can get under your blankets now if you wish.”

It appeared as though it took a moment for Lucifer to process that Alastor was done and had spoken. When it seemed like Lucifer had processed, he began to get under the covers on his bed and asked, “Is that everything?”

Alastor pulled a chair up to the edge of the bed so he could sit down. “No. Unless… you want that to be all.”

The other man shook his head, and Alastor was glad. He felt like he was honoring his maman by helping someone else the same way she helped him.

“Alrighty then.” Alastor spoke in a soft, quiet voice. “Would you rather I turn on some music or tell you a story? Either way, I’m not leaving until you’re asleep.”

“That seems like a waste of your time. What if I can’t fall asleep?” Lucifer looked at Alastor with a gaze that seemed to ask if Alastor really wanted to do this.

Yes, I do.

“Then I will be by your side all night,” Alastor said. He wasn't lying about it, although, he was hoping it wouldn’t come to that - he would like to sleep in his own bed. “Now, music or story?”

He watched as Lucifer blushed slightly and tried to cover it up with his blanket. He waited for Lucifer to tell him his decision. After another few seconds, the king said, “Story.”

“What would you like the story to be about?”

“Uhh, tell me… about you- about your life on Earth. Any story you want to share.”

Alastor had been expecting to have to tell a story about ducks, but he knew that that wasn’t the only thing Lucifer liked and was interested in, and he should have been prepared for anything else. Even this.

“Are you sure?” he asked. “I wasn’t a good person and I don’t have many happy stories.”

Lucifer nodded. “Mhm. I just wanna learn more about you, and I can tell you more about me later in return, if you want.”

“Hmm. Okay, I’ll take you up on that eventually,” Alastor replied. “Now let’s see…”

Lucifer watched him as Alastor thought about what to tell him about. Finally, without his radio filter, Alastor spoke in what he hoped was a low, soporific voice.

“I’m going to tell you about my mother, who was always ‘maman’ to me. She was one of the kindest, smartest, and most caring people in the world. One time…”

[a/n: just a disclaimer that I am bs-ing all of this. I’m going with his mother was practically a saint and a pacifist who would protect him from his father’s abuse, and that Alastor didn’t start being psychopathic until after he killed his first victim]

He told Lucifer about some of the normal mischief he got into as a child (contrary to popular belief, he did not exhibit psychotic traits when he was young), and how his maman dealt with him in a nice, but effective way every time. Like how whenever he got into scuffles with other children, she would tell him that violence was never the answer, and that he needed to talk with the others instead of fighting them.

He talked about how she was adamant about the children in the neighborhood needing to learn to read and write, so while his father was at work or with his White family, she would teach Alastor and all the other children these skills. She wanted to make sure that these children would have a better chance to succeed in life instead of being forced into whatever society wanted them to do just because they were colored and didn’t go to school.

He shared how his maman forbade him from working as a child, even though most of the other children in the neighborhood worked to help bring in money, because she didn’t want him to have to worry about that at such a young age. [a/n: child labor didn’t end in the US until 1938]

Alastor was thinking about touching on how his father and mother weren’t married [a/n: interracial marriage in Louisiana was outlawed until the late 1960s/early 70s] and that his father only sometimes stayed with them because he wanted to make sure his secret didn’t get out, but then he noticed that Lucifer was asleep.

His chest was peacefully rising and lowering with every breath he took. He was drooling a little bit and his hair was in his face. Alastor reached over to tuck some of the stray hair behind Lucifer’s ear, then yanked his hand away.

What am I doing??

Satisfied that Lucifer was asleep, Alastor quickly left the bedroom and made his way back to his own. He was going to go to sleep and not think about whatever the hell had just happened.

Lucifer

Alastor pulls Lucifer closer to him as the music swells dramatically.

“Wh-what are you doing?” Lucifer asks as he gazes into Alastor’s magnificent, red eyes.

“Isn’t it obvious?” Alastor speaks in his beautiful, deep, unfiltered voice. “I love you and I would like to kiss you.”

Lucifer starts to lean in for the kiss when Alastor says, “Lucifer. Lucifer. Lucifer. Lucifer. Wake up.”

Lucifer’s eyes snapped open and he saw Alastor staring at him as he prodded him with his cane. He remembered the dream he was having and bolted upright, almost hitting Alastor with his head, as his cheeks exploded with heat.

“You should be careful,” Alastor said with a grin. “You could lose your head that way!”

“Wh-wh-what are you d-doing in my room?!” Lucifer demanded as he tried to get his blush under control.

Alastor chuckled. “Did you forget that you wanted me to wake you up? We were going to make pancakes for the hotel!”

“R-right...”

He started to remember the other events of last night and felt his ears begin to heat up as well.

“Uh, g-go stand outside the d-door in the hall while I get changed. P-please,” Lucifer added. He didn’t want Alastor to see him freak out.

The demon shrugged and said, “Fair enough!”

Once he shut the door behind him, Lucifer covered his face with his hands. So much had happened last night - Alastor being so gentle and friendly with him; Alastor wanting to keep the duck Lucifer made; Alastor brushing his hair; Alastor singing in something that sounded similar to French; Alastor telling Lucifer about his mother; Alastor singing and speaking without his radio filter effects.

He took a deep breath. It was like his heart had stopped beating once he’d heard Alastor sing without his normal filter. Lucifer loved Alastor’s real voice and wished he would speak without the radio sounds more often.

He shook his head to calm down and to stop thinking about all that. He got up and changed into a simple, white button-up shirt and some worn-down, black slacks. Lucifer went into his bathroom to wash his face, put on his makeup, and do his hair.

As Lucifer ran his hands through his hair with the gel, he couldn’t help but think about how delicately Alastor had brushed through the mess that was his hair the previous night. The other man’s claws felt surprisingly nice along his scalp.

“Stoppp. Itt,” he groaned to himself.

Snapping himself out of it as best he could, Lucifer opened his bedroom door and crossed over the threshold. It felt weird to do after almost four days of staying in his room.

Alastor hummed cheerfully as they made their way down the stairs and to the kitchen. Lucifer had no idea how that man had that much energy so early in the morning - especially since he could tell that Alastor’s wound was getting worse and probably hurt a lot.

Now that he’s being nicer and is trying to make a friendship between us work, maybe he’ll let me or maybe even ask me to heal his injury…

Alastor stepped ahead of Lucifer to open the door for him with a mock bow. Lucifer rolled his eyes and fought a smile as he entered the kitchen. It was good to know that their current dynamic wasn’t going to change much with friendship.

“How do you like your pancakes?” Lucifer asked as he summoned two aprons.

Alastor hesitantly took one of the aprons, then said, “I don’t.”

“You don’t?” Lucifer tied the apron around himself. “Why not?”

“I don’t care for sweets.”

The fallen angel put a hand on his chin and the other on his hip as he thought. If Alastor was going to help with the pancakes, then he should be able to eat them, but if he doesn’t like sweets, then what could he do so that Alastor wouldn’t be left out during breakfast?

“Oo!” Lucifer clapped his hands together once. “I can make you some savory pancakes instead of normal sweet ones!”

Alastor waved his hand. “I assure you, that is not necessary.”

“It might not be ‘necessary,’ but I want to,” Lucifer said.

“If you insist,” Alastor acquiesced.

Lucifer grinned and the two began to work on making stacks of pancakes for everyone (including a small one for the pets to share).

Chapter Text

Lucifer

Lucifer and Alastor had just started making the final batch of pancakes when Charlie entered the kitchen. She loudly gasped once she saw Lucifer and ran to give him a hug.

“Dad! You’re not in your room anymore!” Charlie pulled away but kept her hands on his shoulders. “Are you feeling better? Did Alastor actually help you? Why are both of you in here? What are you making? Why are you cooking? W-”

“Charlie, slow down,” Lucifer laughed. “Yes, I am feeling better, and yes, surprisingly Alastor did help me.”

“Honestly, darling, is it really so shocking that I might help someone else?” Alastor said with a wicked grin.

“Yes,” Charlie and Lucifer said at the same time, causing the two to laugh.

The princess pulled him into another hug and squealed. “I’m so happy you’re okay! And don’t worry, if Alastor ever pulls anything like that again, I’ll destroy him.” [a/n: dial it back a notch, Charlie - it’s not time for the shovel talk…yet. lol]

…That seemed uncharacteristic of her to say, and Alastor’s skeptical face appeared to agree with that. Lucifer asked, “Where did that come from, sweetie?”

“Well, maybe just his reputation or something,” she clarified. “I don’t think I could actually destroy his soul - that’d be so mean.”

Lucifer smiled. “Anyway, he’s helping me make pancakes for everybody as an apology for locking myself up for so long. I’m sorry for hiding away and shutting you out when you just wanted to help.”

She pulled away and gripped his shoulders again. Her eyes were wide and sincere when she said, “You have nothing to apologize for, Dad.”

He gently removed her hands and held them in his own instead. “You’re sweet, but I do need to apologize, and I promise to be better about not shutting everyone out when something like this happens again.”

“Well I forgive you.”

Alastor loudly cleared his throat. “Are we going to finish these sweet abominations or not?”

Lucifer rolled his eyes and let go of Charlie’s hands. “I’ll call you when the pancakes are all done.”

“I-I could help you guys!” Charlie offered.

“You don’t need to.”

“But-”

Lucifer sighed with joke resignation. “I guess if you have to help, you could set the table.”

She beamed at having something helpful to do and said, “Thanks, Dad!”

During Lucifer’s conversation with his daughter, Alastor had finished adding all the ingredients and mixing together the final batch of batter for the sweet pancakes.

Lucifer yanked the mixing bowl from his hands and portioned it out evenly onto the griddle.

“You can cook those while I get started on yours,” he said to Alastor.

“Oh, goody,” the demon said with fake enthusiasm.

As Alastor took over the griddle, Lucifer began to work on the savory pancakes. He decided to use a normal pancake batter (minus most of the sugar), and added small slices of venison, as well as the Creole holy trinity (onion, celery, and green bell peppers) that he remembered using for Alastor’s shrimp étouffée. He’d never made this before, so he hoped it wouldn’t taste horrible. [a/n: I’m also just making this up, so I have no clue if it would actually be any good]

Lucifer finished mixing up Alastor's pancake batter just after Alastor finished cooking the last of the sweet pancakes. Alastor started cleaning up while Lucifer started cooking the savory pancakes.

“Why don't you start bringing pancakes out? I'm almost done with these, so I'll help out in a sec,” he said when Alastor finished cleaning up what he could.

The demon seemed like he wanted to say something, but decided against it [a/n: it was going to be something snarky and mean]. Instead, he silently grabbed most of the plates and balanced them on his arms. Lucifer was sure if he tried that, he would drop all of the plates. He briefly wondered if Alastor had worked at a restaurant at some point in his life.

Lucifer finished up the savory pancakes and put them on a plate. The only pancakes Alastor hadn’t already taken were his and the small stack they made for the pets. By the time Lucifer brought the two plates out, almost everyone was sitting at the table. Charlie was filling water glasses all around the table and Alastor was putting down the last plate he had brought out.

He set down the pancakes for Razzle and KeeKee on the floor, then brought Alastor’s pancakes to the last spot that needed pancakes at the table. Which… Lucifer looked around the table. The way Alastor had set down the pancakes and with where everyone decided to sit, a seat was left open for Lucifer right next to Alastor.

The king blushed. Alastor could have told someone to move, but he was letting Lucifer sit by him by choice. He knew it wasn’t all that special - they’d sat by each other before - but something about it this time melted his heart.

Lucifer cleared his throat to get everyone’s attention and to focus on different thoughts. Charlie and Vaggie paused their conversation right away, while Angeldust and Husk took a few more moments to stop, and Alastor and Niffty… he wasn’t really sure what was going on there, to be honest, but their deranged laughter ended a little later.

Everyone except Alastor looked at him with unease.

None of them fully know what happened or how I’m doing…

He tried his best to ignore the uncomfortable atmosphere and said, “So… I don’t know how much Charlie and Vaggie have told you, since I’m assuming Alastor said nothing.” A glance at Alastor told him he was right. “But the reason I haven’t left my room in a few days is because I had a little bit of a tiny, minor depressive episode.”

“It’s been four days, king! Whaddya call a major episode??” Angeldust blurted out. He slapped two of his hands over his mouth and waved a third one. “I-I didn’t mean nothin’ by it.”

“I-It’s fine, you can say what you want to say,” Lucifer assured. “And I mean, my previous one lasted seven years so… this one was just a minor one - I’m perfectly fine now.”

He chuckled to try to lighten the mood, but it ended up being awkward and it seemed like it just disturbed everyone at the table.

“Umm, a-anyway, I made pancakes with Alastor’s help to say sorry for isolating myself!”

Lucifer put on the best suave smile he could manage and he sat down. Since everyone was still staring at him, he added, “Go ahead - dig in! They’re delicious, I promise!”

Charlie was the first to turn her attention to the food, likely since it’d been a long time since she had had his pancakes, and everyone except Lucifer and Alastor followed suit. It still felt tense and no one spoke as they hesitantly started eating their pancakes.

Great.

He turned to Alastor, who still hadn’t taken a bite and was still looking at him. Lucifer groaned and asked, “What? Do I have something on my face?”

Alastor’s eyes widened for a second before he found some non-existent wrinkles in his shirt to smooth out. “No, nothing like that. However, I do believe your little apology announcement could have gone better.”

“Thanks, asshole.”

Lucifer stabbed a fork into his stack of pancakes with a little more force than necessary. He may have been annoyed with Alastor since if he hadn't caused Lucifer to go down a depressive spiral in the first place, he wouldn’t have needed to apologize.

It mostly dissipated once he put the bite of pancakes in his mouth. Lucifer was so fucking good at making pancakes.

There’s one thing I can do right.

“Looks like everyone is enjoying your atrocities,” Alastor said.

Lucifer looked up to see that the rest of the demons at the table were no longer hesitant and were now happily gobbling up the pancakes and had started up conversations again. One look at Alastor’s plate showed that he still hadn’t touched it.

“Everyone except you,” Lucifer responded. “You scared you’re going to like it?”

Alastor scoffed. “Not even close! You’re in a rather fragile state still and I don’t think it would be any good for you if I couldn’t keep it down!”

“Yeah, right. Like you actually care about what would be good for me.”

Alastor was silent for a few moments before quietly saying, “I cared enough to make you feel better, didn’t I?”

Lucifer’s brain stopped working. What exactly was Alastor saying? Was it just to be a jackass to say that he might not actually keep the pancakes down? Or was it to say that he did care about Lucifer?

The demon chuckled. “You keep your mouth open like that and you’re going to catch flies!”

“THAT’S MY JOB WHERE ARE THE FLIES??” Lucifer had forgotten that Niffty was on the other side of Alastor and jumped out of his skin at her sudden intrusion.

“Apologies, my dear,” Alastor said. “It was just an expression. I’m afraid there aren’t any bugs for you at the moment.”

Niffty slumped over and set down the steak knife she had somehow obtained. She whined, “But I really wanted to kill.”

Alastor patted her head. “I’m sure there will be something for you to kill after you finish eating.”

It was a little disturbing to see Alastor treat Niffty almost like a daughter, especially since he always supported her murderous desires. Although, it did show that he didn’t actually treat Charlie like a daughter, since he never acted the same way with her.

But what if he becomes Charlie’s stepfather one day?

Lucifer snapped his attention back to his pancakes to hide the sudden flush that came to his face. That was never going to happen. [a/n: idk… never say never lol]

Once he was sure he was no longer a bright gold, he snuck a peek back over at Alastor. He had now picked up his fork and was finally starting on his savory pancakes. Lucifer paused his own eating as he watched for Alastor’s reaction to the pancakes.

He slowly brought the fork up to his mouth and wrapped his lips around the entirety of the bite. He closed his eyes and leisurely pulled the fork out. Alastor chewed thoughtfully before swallowing and opening his eyes again. He smirked and turned to face Lucifer.

“Did you need to watch me take the first bite?” Alastor raised an eyebrow.

Lucifer tried to make words but his mouth just opened and shut without making any noise. Eventually, he managed to get out, “N-n-n-no! I-I-I-I was j-just uh… H-how’s it t-taste?”

Alastor held a hand over his mouth as he tried not to laugh at Lucifer. The king tried not to squirm from embarrassment under his gaze.

“Unlike your poetic way with words, these ‘savory’ pancakes you made aren’t all that bad,” Alastor said when he got his laughter under control.

“Th-they’re not? I-I mean, of course they’re not!” Lucifer added.

Lucifer turned his attention back to his own pancakes once more and pointedly made sure to not look at Alastor again. Except for the times when he did. Which he didn’t do much because he had self-control. Partially. Some of the time.

Okay maybe he didn’t have much in the way of self-control. And maybe he looked at Alastor about a million more times over the course of breakfast. And maybe-

You know what, I’m just not gonna think about that anymore…

He was just happy that Alastor liked the food Lucifer made for him, was that so bad? He managed to make it through breakfast with occasional conversation with everyone at the table (so it didn’t look like he was picking favorites - but his favorites were Charlie, Alastor, and Vaggie… don’t tell anyone).

After breakfast, Charlie and Alastor helped Lucifer clean up.

“Thanks, Dad, for breakfast,” Charlie said as she grabbed the last plate off the table. “I think everyone enjoyed it, but you didn’t have to do this. It wasn’t your fault - you can’t help it.”

She glared at Alastor for a moment before returning back to a smile.

“I know it wasn’t my fault that it happened, but I could have let you in when you tried helping,” Lucifer explained again.

“Or she could have just broken down your door,” Alastor suggested. “Then she could have forced her help upon you like she tries to do with all these hopeless sinners.”

Lucifer just rolled his eyes, but Charlie chewed her lower lip. She mumbled, “Am I forcing others to accept my help?”

“Of course not, sweetheart, he’s just an asshole,” Lucifer assured.

Charlie’s widened eyes and shocked expression told him that she thought she had spoken quietly enough to not be heard. It didn’t take long for her to regain composure and gently smile at him. “Thanks.”

He saw Alastor roll his eyes, but after that, the rest of the cleanup went smoothly. Lucifer was glad to put this whole mess behind him. Hopefully, he wouldn’t have another episode during his time at the hotel.

Chapter Text

Alastor

Alastor had gone to his room immediately after they had finished cleaning up breakfast. He’d felt a bead of blood roll down his abdomen and knew he needed to go back. He had gone too long without changing his bandages.

He knew that his undershirt was likely ruined, but he was very much hoping that his jacket would still be fine. He let out a sigh of relief after he took it off and didn’t find any blood in his examination.

As Alastor went through the time-consuming process of changing his bandages and disposing of his ruined undershirt (without magic, ugh), he reflected on that morning.

Alastor and Lucifer had only worked together in the kitchen once before, and that had been Alastor showing Lucifer what to do [a/n: reference chapter 10]. It was weird to have the roles reversed and to have Lucifer tell Alastor what to do. Although, Lucifer had looked very adorable excited to show someone else how to make his pancakes.

He would never admit that the reason he waited so long to touch his own pancakes was that he was watching Lucifer. Alastor had wanted to make sure that Lucifer looked like he was in a good mood - he didn't want the king to be thrown right back into another depressive episode.

As expected, Alastor had done an excellent job. He considered the Lucifer depression crisis thoroughly handled.

When Alastor had finally started eating his own pancakes, he was surprised by how good they tasted. He'd never had pancakes he liked before. He felt weird [a/n: appreciative - this guy doesn't know feelings] that Lucifer had remembered the Creole holy trinity and had decided to include it in the pancakes.

It doesn’t matter, I won’t be having them again.

There was a strange twinge in his stomach at that thought, but it would be better if Alastor didn’t acknowledge his desire to have those pancakes again.

He huffed and finished buttoning up his jacket. There was no point in trying to analyze his thoughts and emotions if he could just repress them instead. [a/n: …don’t do this]

Alastor straightened his bowtie and smoothed out all wrinkles in his outfit. It had been about half an hour; all the others had likely dispersed throughout the hotel now, and he was sure no one would see him. He grabbed his cane and headed to the music room, whistling some jazz along the way.

He didn’t run into anyone on his walk down - which he was glad about - but he froze outside the door to the music room with his hand hovering over the handle.

A lone violin was playing on the other side of the door. Alastor had to strain his ears to hear it through the soundproofing. The sound coming from the instrument was full of yearning and melancholy. The demon was entranced; he gently pressed one of his deer ears to the door to try and listen better.

He wondered who else knew violin - Lucifer had never played anything like this before. Granted, the music they chose for their concert was almost exclusively jazz, but Lucifer would fiddle on his, well, fiddle sometimes during practice - it was always something upbeat and exciting, nothing like this.

Perhaps Charlie had taken after her father, but he knew she would likely play happy, bubbly music. Vaggie seemed too violent to take up an instrument that requires such gentleness and precision. Alastor knew for a fact that neither Husk nor Niffty could play, and Angeldust didn’t even cross his mind as a possibility.

Maybe Husk decided to learn for Angeldust without Alastor finding out? Maybe Charlie isn’t as happy-go-lucky as she appears?

In the end, it didn’t matter who it was. Closing his eyes, he allowed himself to enjoy the music a little longer. There were very few not-jazz songs that Alastor enjoyed, but this one had just found its way onto that exclusive list.

Suddenly, the violin cut out and Alastor heard footsteps approaching the door. He hurriedly pulled his head back and moved a few steps away.

“Sorry, was I too loud?” Lucifer asked as he opened the door.

Lucifer?

“Not at all,” Alastor nearly stuttered.

“Al? What are you doing here?”

Alastor squeezed past Lucifer to enter the music room. “Perhaps you've gone senile, but you might remember that I, too, play music.”

“Of course I remember!” Lucifer said indignantly. “I just meant that I haven't seen you here since the concert!”

Alastor hummed as he walked to the piano. “That doesn't mean I wouldn't use the room eventually.”

“Why now though?”

“I'm fairly certain I could ask you the same.”

Alastor gently propped up the lid of the grand piano as he waited for Lucifer's response. After a few moments of silence, Alastor strode over to where the other man was and made eye contact. 

Lucifer looked away and shook his head. “Whatever. I'll just leave.”

When he turned to put his golden violin in its case, Alastor suddenly reached out a hand and grabbed Lucifer's shoulder. Lucifer looked at him with surprise. 

“You…” Alastor began. “You don't need to leave.”

It would appear that he wanted to play with Lucifer again. Alastor himself wasn’t even aware of that fact until just then. He let go of Lucifer. 

“Uh… I, um… Okay,” Lucifer slowly said. ”Um, w-what do you want to p-play? Or do you just w-want to do your own thing?”

Alastor walked back to the piano. “What was it you were playing before? That didn't sound horrible.”

He expected at least an eye roll, but Lucifer just seemed sheepish as he held his right arm and said, “Oh y-you heard me? I usually don't play that k-kind of stuff around other people…”

The demon hadn't meant to let Lucifer know that he'd heard, but it was too late now - better to double down.

“Indeed I did. Why would you try to hide that from others? It was lov- not bad,” he corrected himself.

A faint, golden flush appeared across Lucifer's cheeks. “I-I dunno… I just… I dunno. But um, thanks. I-I guess.”

Alastor turned around and went back to the piano without a word. As soon as he was sitting comfortably on the bench, he placed his fingers on the keys and began to play a delicate tune that would accompany what Lucifer had been playing quite well. It took Lucifer a few moments to realize what he was doing, but once he did, he picked up his violin and started playing again, even softer than before.

Alastor didn’t pay attention to how much time was going by. He was having fun.

Lucifer

He could have just gone to his room, but Lucifer had gone to the music room after breakfast because he liked the acoustics and he thought no one ever used the room. He still had some lingering depression hanging out, so he wanted to work it out by playing his violin.

He was so absorbed in what he was doing that he didn’t sense the presence outside the door right away, but the moment he did, he became self-conscious and stopped playing. He shouldn’t have been so surprised - he knew Alastor liked music, after all - but Lucifer hadn’t considered that he would eventually use the room as well.

The reason he never played his depression music in front of other people was because he wanted to try to maintain an image of happiness around them as much as he could. Alastor had called it “not bad”, but Lucifer noticed that he’d almost said “lovely”, which made him feel fuzzy.

When Alastor started playing, Lucifer was going to basically just sit and listen, but then he realized that it would work with the music he’d been playing before. On the off chance he was wrong, the king very lightly dragged his bow across the violin strings to play quietly.

The demon raised an eyebrow at him, likely for Lucifer’s timid playing. Lucifer ducked his head and slowly crescendoed to try to make his initial quietness seem intentional instead of self-conscious. He assumed he probably succeeded since Alastor dropped the eyebrow and smiled brighter as he turned his attention back to the piano.

Lucifer never thought he’d get to play music with Alastor again after the concert was done, making him very happy that he was playing with him again now.

He didn’t know how much time was passing, but after a while, he eventually didn’t feel any of the depression still lingering. Lucifer smiled and shook his head in disbelief. Alastor had helped him yet again, and he’d hardly even said anything this time - he just played as accompaniment to him.

Actually, the fact that Alastor hadn’t tried to take the melody once while playing was a little strange. Maybe Alastor did care about Lucifer enough now to recognize when he needs something and can set aside his ego to give Lucifer that.

For the other man to do something so considerate like that was rare, and he didn’t want this to end just yet. Even though Lucifer didn’t feel the need to play the sad music anymore, he kept it up anyway since Alastor seemed to like it.

He subtly looked at Alastor out of the corner of his eye. He wondered if he was right about why Alastor wasn’t trying to take the melody. Maybe Alastor was just doing it to manipulate him somehow. Maybe he was just happy to improv a background that sounded good and he didn’t feel like he needed to improv a melody.

Even after all this time, the man was such a mystery, and while Lucifer would like to say he could tell what Alastor was thinking and feeling, he still hasn’t managed to figure him out. Lucifer was able to tell when Alastor wasn’t actually happy - his ears flattened, his nose flared, his eyes narrowed, his body tensed - but he was almost never able to pinpoint the true emotion. He wanted to understand that mind of Alastor’s so badly. [a/n: me too, bud, me too]

Snapping himself out of his thoughts, Lucifer turned his attention back to what he was actually playing. His cheeks quickly started to burn as he realized his music had turned from sad and depressed to wistful and pining. He speedily glanced back at Alastor, who had just gone along with it. The former angel made the song come to an end.

“Taking a break or changing tunes?” Alastor asked. His hands were clasped in his lap as he waited for a response - it was kind of cute.

Lucifer cleared his throat and shook his head. “No, I’m going to be done now, I’ve been at this for a while.”

“...Oh.”

Alastor slumped slightly and his deer ears turned back a little. Was-

Was Alastor… disappointed?

Before Lucifer could think about the implications, Alastor quickly regained his composure and said, “No matter! I’m much better when I don’t have an incompetent musician playing with me!”

Lucifer rolled his eyes and smirked as he put the fiddle away. That quick insult had only proved his first thought to be correct and that Alastor had wanted to continue playing with him. The demon started playing a jazz tune - to no one’s surprise - and Lucifer left the room.

He rubbed his face in embarrassment. He’d gotten over the last of his depression episode, but he still couldn’t get over his stupid feelings for that wonderful asshole. They weren’t going to get him anywhere and they were completely pointless to have, but he just couldn’t help himself.

The king groaned and found himself in one of the hotel’s lounges that overlooked the courtyard. Lucifer sat down on a cushy armchair and tried to stop thinking about Alastor. When that didn’t work, he pulled out his cellphone. He’d slept too much the last few days for him to be able to stop his thoughts that way, but he could play mind-numbing games on his phone instead.

Alastor

Shortly after Lucifer left the music room, Alastor stopped playing the piano. He was quite annoyed that he was bothered so much by the other man leaving. Sure, Lucifer was a good musician, but so was he! He didn’t need another person to enjoy playing music!

…Yet he found himself suddenly lacking the motivation.

What is the matter with me?

Alastor had come down to the music room with the intent to play alone anyway, so why didn’t he want to do so anymore? He sat for a long time and growled in frustration when he still hadn’t come up with anything reasonable.

He gently closed the lid of the grand piano and opened the door to leave the room. He decided that he just didn’t feel like playing anymore, and that it just happened to coincide with Lucifer leaving.

Yeah, that’s it. [a/n: that was not it]

The demon twirled his cane as he made his way to the hotel entrance. He would go on a walk to clear his troubled mind.

He normally never checked the mailbox - the majority of the mail was for Charlie and not Alastor anyway - but for whatever reason, he decided to do so before leaving for his walk. There was exactly one piece of mail in the box and Alastor pulled it out to look at who it was for.

On the center of the envelope, it very clearly said Alastor the Radio Demon, but there was no return address or any other indication of who had sent it.

Well that’s strange.

In the old days, he would just burn up any mail he received that wasn’t clearly sent by someone he respected, but Rosie had created something called an “email account” for him a couple decades ago. Even though Alastor never touched it and Rosie was the one who ran it, most people would email “him” instead of sending him real mail.

Since it had been so long since he’d received paper mail, he was curious what it was. He used one of his claws to carefully rip open the envelope. Alastor quickly read the letter and nearly dropped it after he was done.

Fffffuck.

Lucifer

Lucifer didn’t notice Angeldust enter the lounge until he was right next to him and said, “Heya, daddy.”

He slightly jumped from surprise and looked at the spider demon. He usually looked very confident and comfortable, but now he appeared like he was faking it and was nervous.

“Hey…” Lucifer looked to see if anyone else was there. There wasn’t. “You talking to me?”

Angeldust laughed and nodded. “There anybody else I’d wanna talk to?”

“Husk, probably,” Lucifer said without thinking, causing Angel to pause and his cheeks to slightly flush red. He shook his head and put back on his confident façade as he settled down into the armchair next to Lucifer’s.

“That… That’s actually what I kinda wanted to talk about with ya.” Angel ducked his head shyly.

Lucifer’s eyes widened and he put away his phone to give him his complete attention. “Go on…”

Angeldust rubbed both sets of hands together as he said, “Well I-I been wantin’ to get some… advice, but Charlie an’ Vaggie are always so happy an’ bubbly with their relationship, an’ I don’t think they’d be any good, but knowin’ that ya ain’t always that way but ya still bagged the first two women makes me think ya might be better to ask.”

Lucifer had a pretty good idea what this was about, so he had to fight the grin that wanted to make itself known. As coolly as he could, he asked the other man, “What did you want advice about?”

“Uh…” Angel quickly whipped his head around, presumably looking to see if anybody else was around. He leaned in closer and said, “Ya can’t tell anybody ‘bout this.”

“I won’t, I swear on all that is unholy.”

“Okay, okay okay.” Angel rapidly took a deep breath. “I… I like Husk. Like, in a way I ain’t ever really cared about anybody else before. Like, I think I might be… like, in love with him or somethin’.”

Lucifer let the grin grow on his face now. “I had no idea.”

“Oh, shuddup! I know ya thought we were datin’ an’ whatever, but we ain’t nowhere near that - at least, I don’t think so.”

Lucifer chuckled. “In my defense, the way you two act around each other makes it seem like you two are deeply in love.”

“See, that’s kinda what my gal pal Cherri has been sayin’, but I dunno if Husk actually likes me back, an’ I wanna find out without lettin’ him know that I like him.”

He debated whether he should tell Angeldust that he knows Husk likes him, but decided he shouldn’t betray Husk’s trust like that, especially since he wasn’t telling anybody that Lucifer had a crush. Instead, he said, “Well. Out of the two women I ‘bagged’, I was only in love with one of them, Lilith.” It still pained him to say her name. “And she was the one who made the first move.”

Angel slumped. “Oh. Well that’s fine, ya don’t needa worry ‘bout it. Actually, just fugget about it.”

He started to get up, but Lucifer said, “Woah woah woah, hang on a second. That doesn’t mean I can’t still help.”

Sitting back down, Angel’s upper set of arms covered his face, and his lower set hugged himself. “This shit’s just so fuckin’ embarrassin’.”

The fallen angel briefly thought about Alastor. “I know what you mean, but it’s good to have someone in the know who will try to help you.”

Peeking through his hands, Angel asked, “Ya mean it? Ya would really try to help me?”

“Of course.” Lucifer smiled at him warmly.

Angeldust sighed in relief and slowly removed his hands from his face, which was now bright red. “In that case, whaddya think I should do?”

“Hmm, I would say just ask him out, but you said you’ve never liked anyone like this before, right?” After receiving a timid nod, he continued, “So I think instead, it’d be easier for you to maybe try to subtly figure out what his type is and what he expects in a relationship. You two seem to be pretty good friends, so he would probably feel comfortable telling you about it. If Husk just acts nervous and continuously dodges your inquiries, then he probably likes you.”

“I guess I only ever asked him ‘bout that stuff back in the beginnin’ when I was just tryna sleep with him…”

Remembering that Husk thought Angel only liked him sexually, but wanted him to like him romantically too, Lucifer added, “And you should try flirting with him, too, but try to make it more romantic than sexual. He seems like he’d like that better.”

“Thanks, Lucifer, for the advice,” Angeldust said as he looked at the ground with a small smile. “I think ya just helped me lots.”

Lucifer beamed at him. “Always happy to help. Let me know how it goes!”

As the spider demon got up, he said, “I will. Thanks again!”

The king happily sat in the lounge long after Angel had left, trying to keep himself from squealing and kicking his feet. Those two had so much romantic tension and he wanted them to be happy together so badly.

Maybe if he hadn’t been so distracted by how excited he was, Lucifer would’ve looked out the window and seen Alastor read that letter. Then he would have known what was coming. Maybe he wouldn’t have come across him half-dead in that very lounge a few days later.

Chapter Text

Alastor

Alastor read the letter one more time to see if there was a chance he’d misread it. There wasn’t.

Fuck. Fuck fuck fuck.

It was from some loan sharks:

That bitch Mimzy owes us 100 grand and we know yous got her. We giving you two days to bring her to us before we come destroy that hotel of yours

He groaned and crumpled it up. These kinds of sinners were normally no threat, and were a delicious snack, but he felt his angelic wound violently throb at the thought of him fighting. How was Alastor supposed to defend the hotel if he couldn’t use his powers?

He hadn’t even seen Mimzy since the first time she’d brought loan sharks to the hotel, and if it was anything like last time, there would be a ton of them, too. He rubbed a hand over his face in exasperation.

No matter! I am the Radio Demon! I can handle it even with this cursed injury.

Alastor would just have to do some extra preparations before those thugs came. He tapped a claw against his chin. Perhaps Rosie knew of some elixir or something that could give him some extra strength or could simply dull his pain.

He twirled his cane once before leaving for Cannibal Town. Getting ready for the impending attack should at least be able to help take Alastor’s mind off of Lucifer.

Lucifer

Once Lucifer had finally calmed down after his talk with Angeldust [a/n: i.e. stopped fangirling over huskerdust lol], it occurred to him that he should see about having dinner with Charlie and Vaggie to see how they were doing. He still hadn’t really had any one-on-one time with them since this was still just his first day after his depressive episode. How badly had his isolation hurt them?

Determined, he hopped out of his chair and marched to find them. His steps slowed down as nerves started to get the best of him. What if they didn't want to? 

Lucifer quickly shook his head clear, but still went at the slower speed. He was going to check Charlie’s and Vaggie's room, but as he was approaching the last turn, he heard Charlie's voice and hid behind the wall.

“...must be busy, but um, I just wanted to give you an update since my last voicemail was a while ago now. Soo anyways, we fought Heaven and won! Alastor was super helpful in distracting Adam and Dad came in and helped too after Heaven broke the deal and killed-” her voice broke “-Dazzle…

“E-everyone was upset about that after the battle when everything started sinking in, and by now we’ve mostly moved on but Razzle is still super sad. Sir Pentious died too by sacrificing himself to try to take out Adam. And the whole hotel got destroyed in the battle, but everyone pitched in to help rebuild it.”

Not Alastor. Lucifer rolled his eyes; he was still a little annoyed that the demon didn’t show up until after everything was done.

“And it’s even better than it used to be! There, uh, still aren’t any new patrons, but we’re gonna keep trying to get more and to keep helping the one we still have left. Dad’s stayed to help out too and I think it’s been good for him except…

“Well, him and Alastor haven’t been getting along very well and um… Well Vaggie and I have been trying to get them to at least be able to like, be around each other without fighting and I thought it was going fine but then… um, one of the activities went badly and it made Dad isolate himself. I wish you were here, I feel like Dad always at least let you into the same room as him, even if you weren’t always able to help him.”

Charlie cleared her throat. “Anyways, I don’t want to keep you too long since you’re so busy, so I’m going to say goodbye now. Um, I love you, Mom, and I hope you’re able to get away to see us soon. Bye.”

Lucifer stayed behind the wall. He’d known that Lilith had abandoned the both of them, but he never really knew how much Charlie missed her. He’d given up hope a few years ago and optimism had become a foreign concept to him, but Charlie was still hopeful about Lilith’s return. He wasn’t sure whether to be happy that she could still be optimistic after eight years or to feel bad that she’d placed hope in a seemingly hopeless cause (possibly even more hopeless than redeeming sinners).

He took a deep breath and blinked back the tears he felt pricking his eyes. Lucifer took another deep breath, then finally turned the corner. Charlie was facing away from him and had a hand up to her face.

“Charlie?” he called out softly.

She whipped around and quickly wiped at her eyes. “Dad! I-I was just uh… I-I’m fine.”

The smile plastered on her face was unconvincing. Lucifer furrowed his brows. “You don’t have to pretend for me, sweetheart.”

Her smile mostly dropped. “I-It’s nothing I can’t handle, I promise.”

“If you say so.”

“Um, did you need me?”

“Oh yeah! Um, I w-was wondering if you and Vaggie were maybe available to have dinner with… me. tonight. maybe? I-If you want?” Lucifer asked.

Charlie pulled out her phone. “Lemme just check my schedule real quick…”

Lucifer swallowed and fidgeted with his cane as he waited. Maybe he should just take the offer back-

“Okay we’re free! Let’s do dinner around 7?”

“S-Sure! That’d be g-great!”

Lucifer felt so accomplished for getting to have dinner with his daughter and her girlfriend and he couldn’t wipe the self-satisfied grin off his face as he headed back to his room.

Alastor

When Alastor walked into Rosie’s Emporium, he initially went unnoticed. Rosie was completely focused on a conversation she was having with a client, so he slowly looked at what she had on display today. There were some dresses, hearts, suits, fingers, ties, eyeballs, shoes, tongues, and hair bows.

“Oh my stars! Alastor, you sly fox! When did you get in here?” he heard Rosie’s voice call out.

He turned his head to see Rosie making her way over to him. She wrapped him up in a tight hug, which he enthusiastically returned.

“I haven’t been here long, my dear!” he answered.

Rosie pulled away and held onto his shoulders at arm’s length for a moment longer. “What are you doing here, dear? Not that I don’t like your presence, of course!”

Alastor quickly scanned the store, but there were no more customers in the store. “You remember my injury you helped me sew up a couple months ago?”

“Yes,” Rosie said as she led him to a table. “That was awful, is it healed up yet?”

“Well… It may or may not be worse now.”

“Alastor! Have you not been properly taking care of it?” Rosie admonished.

He waved his hand in dismissal. “I started to, but it doesn’t seem to do anything to the pesky thing.”

She sighed in exasperation. “Why don’t you ask Lucifer if he can heal it? He used to be an angel, surely that’s something he can do?”

Alastor thought of when Lucifer had forcibly tried to heal his injury and he had to stop himself from cringing. “No, he can’t.”

Rosie’s expression was one of disappointment. “You’re lying to me.”

“...Yes.”

“Didn’t you say you were going to try to be friends with him? Friends help each other.”

“I neither want nor need his help.” Alastor rolled his eyes. “I don’t need the injury healed either, that’s not what I’m here for.”

“What are you here for, then?” Rosie asked.

Alastor clasped his hands together on top of his microphone cane. “I am going to have to fight for the Hazbin Hotel and I would like to know whether you have something to give me some extra strength or painkillers or anything else that could help me.”

“Your hotel is filled with capable fighters and you have the most powerful being in Hell there - you don’t even need to be the one to fight whoever this is, dear.”

“It is my responsibility to keep the hotel safe,” he growled. “Will you be helping me or not?”

Rosie sighed. “There’s no way I can talk you out of this, is there?”

Alastor shook his head and Rosie continued, “Fine. I’ll help you, but you should know that, should this go badly, I will say ‘I told you so’.”

“I am aware.” He smiled fondly.

“Now, let me think about what I have…”

She tapped a finger against her chin while Alastor patiently waited for her to come up with something. He knew she would try her best to help, even though she clearly wanted him to do anything other than fighting this threat by himself.

Rosie stood up. “I think I have a couple things that could help. Follow me to the back, darling.”

Alastor rose out of his seat after her. “Thank you, my dear, I know you don’t like this.”

“You’re damn right I don’t like this! But I can’t stop you and I don’t want you getting yourself killed for being an idiot!”

He chuckled softly. Once they were in the back, Rosie started grabbing various bottles and throwing them at him while telling him instructions.

“Take a sip of this one for extra strength.”

“Drink that whole bottle to avoid feeling pain.”

“Add a drop of that to a glass of water to make your skin harder to pierce.”

And so on and so forth. While she said her rapid-fire instructions, Alastor made sure to associate each bottle with their proper details. After Rosie had given him everything she thought would help him, she grabbed a giant bag for him to put the bottles in.

As she helped him pack the bag, she offered, “I could send some of my cannibals to you if you don’t want the people at the hotel fighting.”

“No, thank you. It will be a very simple fight and can easily be handled alone - the injury is the only thing that will make it any sort of difficult, which is now dealt with thanks to you,” he responded.

She sighed and pulled him into another hug. “Don’t die or I’ll kill you.”

“I promise I won’t get myself killed.”

Chapter Text

Lucifer

Lucifer was in his room, deciding what he should wear to dinner with Charlie and Vaggie. It was still a few hours away, but he just wanted to be as prepared as he could be. [a/n: not only is Luci the king of hell, he is also the king of overthinking, as you will see]

Should I dress up or just dress casually?

He could choose two outfits and wear one - if it’s wrong, he could just snap his fingers and change into the other prepared outfit. But would casual or formal be more likely to be correct?

As Lucifer looked through his wardrobe, he tried to figure out that question. It’s just a dinner between father and daughter and daughter’s girlfriend, so it could be casual, but they are royalty of Hell, so maybe they should be formal anyway. If they stay in, casual could be more likely, but if they go out formal likely would be. Wait-

What are we even doing for dinner??

Were they going to go out? Were they going to make something at home? Lucifer groaned. He was so excited about Charlie saying yes to dinner that he forgot that they would need to actually plan something. Is it too late to go ask her? Is she expecting him to have it all planned out? He was the one to ask her.

Lucifer sighed as he set the two outfits he had picked on his bed. His formal one was a black tuxedo with gold adornments and his casual outfit was a pair of simple black slacks and a light pink V-neck. He didn’t usually wear shirts that weren’t button-downs, but he felt like that would just make it seem more casual.

Picking out two separate outfits was ridiculous. He needed to figure out what they were doing. Pulling out his phone, Lucifer quickly pulled up Charlie’s contact. He usually called, but that was always awkward and they had just talked, so maybe he should text her.

He stared at the keyboard as he tried to figure out what to send her. Should he take the lead or should he see if she already came up with something? Eventually, he typed up and sent a message:

Hey CharChar 4 dinner tonite we could stay here and I can cook?? We can do smth else tho if u want just lmk

He’d learned some texting lingo a while back and always put it to good use when texting Charlie to impress her with his knowledge of young people things. A few moments later, she replied:

Sure, sounds good dad! See you tonight!

[a/n: as you can see, Charlie tooootally uses the young people texting lingo]

Lucifer flapped one of his hands with excitement as the other held his phone. He started putting on his casual attire. He could probably start cooking in a couple of hours.

Alastor

Alastor surveyed the courtyard. He needed to determine good spots for traps that no one in the hotel would accidentally trigger. 

He frowned as much as he could without breaking the smile. He’d never relied on traps before and now that he had to, he decided he didn't like it one bit.

It was quite unbecoming of the Radio Demon, in his opinion, to rely on anything other than his own sheer power. The fact that he was using relics and ordinary objects instead of his magic didn't make anything better either, but he needed to conserve his power for the fight.

Depending on when those loan sharks consider two days, they would either come tomorrow or the day after that. Considering how impatient they usually were, it would most likely be tomorrow. 

Alastor continued laying down traps and preparing. 

Lucifer

The thick aroma of juicy chicken and creamy mushroom sauce swirled together in a dance through the room as Lucifer bounced between dishes to make sure nothing burned.

He mindlessly hummed and mumbled some made-up lyrics as he cooked. Lucifer always did this when he cooked by himself - he may not have much sanity left from all his isolation, but doing this helped him focus a little.

A few short strands of hair came loose and hung loosely around his face. Lucifer probably looked like a crazy man (which wasn't too far off from the truth) with his mumbled singing, his eyes quickly flicking between dishes, his poor dancing, and his hair coming undone.

It's fiiiine, I'll just “un-crazy” before Charlie and Vaggie see me.  

Once he was satisfied with the food, he grabbed plates and served up a piece of grilled chicken topped with a generous portion of the creamy mushroom sauce on each plate. He took off the apron and smoothed his hair back. The king balanced all three portions between his arms and headed to where the other two were waiting at the table.

“Dad!” Charlie exclaimed as she rushed up to him. “You said you'd tell me when you were done so I could help!”

Lucifer laughed as he dodged Charlie's attempts to grab even one plate from him. “Yeah… I told you that so I could do it myself! You don't need to help everyone all the time, Duckie!”

Vaggie snickered a little bit, but Charlie did not look pleased with him. Looking a little grumpy, she sat down after Lucifer started placing the food down.

“Bon appétit!”

After taking a few bites, Vaggie beamed at Lucifer and said, “This is amazing, thank you so much for cooking for us, your m- Lucifer!”

She still slipped up sometimes where she didn't say his name right away, even though it’d been awhile since he'd told her to use his name, but Lucifer didn't mind since she was obviously trying.

Charlie's mouth was full, but she vigorously nodded in agreement. Lucifer smiled and replied, “No, thank you for having dinner with me.”

His daughter swallowed down her food. “Of course, Dad! It’s been waaay too long since we could eat with just us.”

“Yeah, this is nice,” Lucifer agreed. “Soooooo… Did I miss anything important while I was… in my room?”

“Oh. Um. No, not rea-” Charlie started.

“Yes,” Vaggie interrupted. “Charlie started making a new lesson plan for everyone in the hotel, not just the usual group.”

“Oh?”

“It’s really nothing big.” Charlie avoided eye contact with him. “I was just… I thought maybe- Well since you weren’t letting anyone in, I-I thought maybe…”

“It’s a lesson plan on being emotionally open and honest with others,” Vaggie finished for her girlfriend. An eye roll accompanied the next part. “And Alastor would be included, too, for obvious reasons.”

Lucifer’s chicken suddenly felt dry in his mouth. His little girl had been trying to help him during his short isolation even when she wasn’t at his door. He didn’t deserve someone as amazing and loving as her. He breathed in and exhaled slowly before saying, “I think it’s a wonderful idea and that it’d be very helpful.”

Charlie hesitantly met his eyes. “Do you really think so?”

He nodded. “Yes, I do, sweetie.”

Lucifer watched as the nervousness in his daughter’s eyes slowly transformed into excitement. She set down her fork and clapped her hands together as she leaned forward and said, “I’ve actually been working on it since soon after Alastor… well, you know. Anyways, I think I have created a foolproof lesson to get everyone to be more open to the others in the hotel, which I would love for it to really work since I just want to know how people are doing and what I can do to help them feel their happiest.”

“We could do it whenever you feel like it’s ready.”

“Well…”

“There might be a few kinks left to work out, but she thinks it’s ready,” Vaggie explained, putting a hand on top of Charlie’s.

Charlie lightly chuckled. “Yeah… I don’t know if you’d want to do something in the same group as Alastor so soon after… but if you’re okay with it since he did end up helping you, maybe we could do it as part of tomorrow’s activities for the hotel?”

“Ummm…” Lucifer was still a little upset with Alastor, but he would rather do something in a group with him rather than do one of Charlie’s one-on-one bonding activities with him. “Sure, we could do that.”

Charlie’s elated smile twinkled at him and warmed him up inside. He loved seeing her so passionate, even if it was about something as small as a lesson plan.

Alastor

Alastor waited in the lobby for everyone else to show up. Only Charlie, Vaggie, and himself were in the room so far. This was nothing out of the ordinary, but he was still impatient. He was sure the loan sharks were going to be coming soon. He wanted to get this ridiculous lesson out of the way already so he could deal with them - he’d already taken the potions and elixirs Rosie had given him.

At least the demon could slip out unnoticed during the lesson if it didn’t finish soon enough, especially since shadow travel should be fine to use with everything he had already taken. His shadow was waiting outside and would come to him the moment it saw them coming.

It didn’t take too long for Lucifer and Niffty to show up, but it took another five minutes before Angeldust and Husk finally came in. Alastor tried to cover up his irritation at their tardiness with fake enthusiasm.

“What do you have planned for us today, my dear?” he asked Charlie in a chipper voice.

Charlie smiled with teeth and excitedly moved in front of the board. It was essentially a big pad of paper propped up on what looked to be an easel. [a/n: you guys know what I’m talking about? Idk what it’s called] She flipped the blank paper in front to reveal what was presumably the title of her little lesson: BEING EMOTIONALLY OPEN AND HONEST

Alastor grimaced. “Is it necessary for me to be here?”

“Yes,” Charlie, Vaggie, and Lucifer all said at once.

“No offense, Al,” Charlie continued, “but no one ever knows what’s going on with you.”

He flicked his wrist. “And no one needs to know, darling.”

Vaggie sighed in annoyance and gave him a pointed stare. She said, “Well too bad - you’re learning this lesson whether you want to or not.”

Charlie nervously chuckled. “What she means is that it would be a good thing for you to learn so you can at least practice it with your closest friends.”

Alastor rolled his eyes. “Continue.”

He kept his eyes on the board and appeared to be paying attention, but he started tuning out the princess and her girlfriend the moment they began the lesson. After all, he had much more important things to worry about at the moment.

After about half an hour, he saw his shadow creep into the room. It hovered by Lucifer for a few moments and he could tell it wanted Alastor to tell him about the loan sharks and ask him for help. He narrowed his eyes and gave an infinitesimally small shake of his head. He summoned the shadow to discreetly take him outside.

Lucifer

Charlie’s lesson was very well thought out and Lucifer loved how excited she was about it. He thought he was learning some good stuff from it too.

He didn’t know when Alastor left, but he eventually noticed his absence after about forty minutes from when the lesson started. He clenched his jaw. Of course the other man wouldn’t bother to stay for something as beneficial as this.

Oh well. Nothing I can do about it, I just hope whatever he decided wasn’t something stupid.

[a/n: it was something stupid]

Alastor

Alastor rematerialized in front of the hotel entrance. His wound throbbed, but it didn’t hurt as much as usual. What Rosie had given him was clearly working.

He strolled forward to meet the loan sharks as they were approaching.

“One last chance,” one of them said. “Where’s that bitch?”

“I’m afraid your information is incorrect,” Alastor replied. “Mimzy hasn’t even been near here since last time”

“Nice try, fucker. Now we’s gonna burn this place to the ground.”

He tried to lunge at Alastor, but he dodged. Alastor began to grow in size and he heard his antlers cracking as they grew as well. His eyes turned to radio dials, a loud tick-tick-tick sounding. His limbs got elongated and his claws sharper. Tentacles were summoned, crackling electricity running along them, and lifted his already enlarged body into the air further. He snapped his neck to the side and laughed.

“Don’t mess with The Radio Demon!”

The loan sharks tried shooting at him with their variety of guns, but he barely felt any of it. He shot tentacles at a few of them and ripped them in half while he grabbed others with his hands and dropped them into his mouth. The whole time, his wound throbbed with pain, but he hardly felt any of it. This was the most fun he had had in a long time.

The fight was over all too soon. Alastor shrank and returned to his normal form. He surveyed the carnage with glee. It was good to know that he hadn’t lost his edge, but he suddenly felt tired.

The demon headed back to the hotel entrance, but his hand hovered over the handle. They were doing the lesson in the lobby. If he came back in now, they would notice him. He still didn’t feel too bad…

He shadow traveled to one of the lounges in the hotel instead.

Lucifer

Charlie had just finished her lesson a few minutes ago. She had said they would continue with it in the future since it was the kind of thing that would need to be worked on continuously.

Lucifer was going to go check in with Angeldust to see if he had done anything with Husk yet, but then he saw Alastor’s shadow near the edge of the room and walked to it instead.

“You just missed the end of the lesson, Alastor,” he said as he approached the shadow. “It was a pretty good one, too.”

He looked around the corner to where he expected Alastor to be, but he wasn’t there. Lucifer furrowed his brows and looked back to Alastor’s shadow. “Where’s your…” - Master? Owner? - “Where’s Al?” he decided on saying.

It was then that the king finally noticed how nervous the shadow looked. His heart dropped like a stone.

“Did something happen?”

The shadow frantically nodded and grabbed his arm to tug him. Lucifer brushed its hands off and said, “Take me to him.”

It quickly turned and glided out of the room. They went through multiple corridors and up a flight of stairs. He soon realized they were going to the same lounge that he talked with Angeldust in, but what greeted him there this time was much worse. Alastor was sprawled on the floor and the angelic energy that came off of him was stronger than Lucifer had ever sensed before.

Alastor was dying.

Chapter Text

Alastor

Once Alastor shadow traveled inside to the lounge, his angelic injury immediately flared with an intensity of pain he hadn’t felt before.

Ah.

It would appear Rosie’s elixirs had worn off and it would seem he had potentially overextended himself when dealing with those loan sharks. [a/n: oh really? Ya think?]

The wound blazed through his being with another round of agonizing pain. He dropped to his knees on the floor and pressed both hands to his chest.

He hunched over from the agony and coughed up blood. He was in no condition to shadow travel a second time, but maybe his shadow could help him get to his room. Alastor looked up to find his shadow, but it was nowhere to be seen.

Dammit.

With how his shadow had been acting recently, it was probably off to grab Lucifer. He really didn’t like that it had decided to have a mind of its own recently. It was not supposed to do that – it was supposed to just reflect his own thoughts and feelings, but it clearly liked Lucifer more than Alastor actually did.

Alastor needed to get as far away as he could before Lucifer could try anything. He slowly got himself to his feet and took two steps before collapsing. His arms shook as he tried to push himself back up.

Just as he got back on his feet after clutching onto the coffee table, he heard footsteps running towards the lounge. Alastor groaned as he turned to see Lucifer and his shadow at the entrance.

“Go… away…” Alastor managed to get out between wheezes, his radio filter thick and fuzzy.

Instead of listening to him, Lucifer approached him with a worried look on his face. He said, “Holy shit, Al, I didn’t realize it was already this bad. You should’ve had at least another week and a half… Please let me heal you – you’re not going to make it much longer like this.”

Alastor snarled at him, which made Lucifer take a step back with his hands up. The other man looked almost desperate as he stared at Alastor like some pathetic, helpless animal.

“I don’t… need… your pity.”

Lucifer exhaled. “Look, I’ll do whatever you want – we could even make a deal – but please, just let me heal you.”

The demon glared at him and stood to as much of his full height as he could manage.

“Why… do you want… to heal me?”

“I-I-I…” Lucifer looked around the room and avoided eye contact before snapping at him, “Well you already know I care about you! And we’re friends, dumbass! Of course I want you to be better!”

“I’ll be… fine without… you.”

To emphasize his point, Alastor managed to walk and push past Lucifer to make it to the door, but then he stumbled.

He felt the familiar hands of his shadow, but also felt an additional set of hands bracing him.

“Jeez, let’s just get you to your room first and we can talk more then,” Lucifer said.

Alastor didn’t say anything, but didn’t push Lucifer away either. Taking that as acceptance, the other man started to walk in the direction of Alastor’s room while supporting him – which must have looked ridiculous, as Lucifer was much, much shorter. [a/n: even dying he can’t give Luci a break lmao]

“I can’t make a portal since the angelic power it uses will just exacerbate your injury, which would probably kill you on the spot, so we’ll have to walk all the way there,” Lucifer explained. “Can your shadow watch to see if anyone’s coming and warn us?”

“Easily…” Alastor trailed off, causing his shadow to look more panicked. It quickly went on ahead and motioned for them to follow after it looked for any potential witnesses.

They proceeded like that until they finally made it to Alastor’s room. Before he could even begin to grab the key from his pocket, Lucifer waved a hand and opened the door. He helped Alastor get to one of his armchairs by the fireplace then waved his hand again to close the door.

Alastor only just noticed that both of their hands were covered in blood and that the injury had bled through his overcoat. He groaned.

“Okay okay okay,” Lucifer said, rubbing his hands together nervously. “If you cooperate, this won’t hurt like last time.”

Alastor winced at the reminder.

“Um, anyway, w-what do you want from me if you let me heal you?” the king asked.

Alastor’s chest felt like it was on fire and he was hardly able to breathe. He just wanted it to end.

“Y-you don’t have to talk if that’ll take too much out of you!” Lucifer said. “How about we j-just talk about it a-after you’re healed?”

The demon slowly nodded his head. Lucifer took off his coat and started rolling up his sleeves.

“Since you’re allowing m-me to help this time, it won’t hurt, but I n-need to be able to see the injury to k-know when it’s actually healed,” Lucifer said as he knelt in front of Alastor.

Alastor grimaced and slowly worked his fingers on the buttons of his coat. Lucifer reached to help him once, but he slapped his hands away. It was degrading enough that he was partially undressing in front of him, he didn’t need Lucifer to help undress him. Lucifer seemed to understand and didn’t try again.

Alastor hadn’t tucked his tail in his pants that morning, so when he took off the coat, he made sure he put it down in such a way that it still covered his tail. He slowly unbuttoned his shirt next and let it hang on his shoulders instead of taking it fully off.

“Fuck…” Lucifer muttered while looking at the injury.

He hesitantly brought his hands towards Alastor’s chest, his face silently asking if that was okay. Alastor partially rolled his eyes, silently gesturing for him to continue, and the fallen angel began to remove the soaked bandages that were dripping with blood.

The air felt cold on his wound once all the bandages were gone and it was just the dried blood covering it. Then Lucifer put both of his warm hands on the injury. His small hands didn't quite cover its full expanse.

Golden light came from Lucifer’s hands and spread across Alastor’s injury. It was almost as stunning as the man it emanated from.

The last time Lucifer had “healed” him, it had hurt immensely and had felt like fire was searing across his wound, but this time, it was a pleasant warmth that spread over his chest.

He could see the ends of the wound pulling itself together and closing. With each passing second, he could breathe easier. He hadn't even realized the extent of the pain he'd been feeling until it was finally going away. Alastor had forgotten what it was like to not be in constant, excruciating pain.

The light faded out and Alastor saw Lucifer summon a wet rag and began to scrub his chest. He grabbed the former angel’s hand and snatched the rag away.

“I can do that myself,” he said firmly.

“That’s f-fine, there’s just so much b-blood and I can't tell i-if it’s really gone. I don't wanna m-make the same mistake again,” Lucifer replied, still looking very nervous.

Alastor let go of Lucifer's hand and scrubbed at his chest until it was clear that there was nothing left of the wound, to which he heard Lucifer sigh with relief.

Lucifer had been much more worried about the whole “Alastor-almost-dying” thing than Alastor himself had been.

Interesting…

Lucifer

Even though there was absolutely nothing left of Alastor's injury, Lucifer's heart was still pounding. He'd been so scared that Alastor wouldn't let him heal him even at death's door.

Yes, Lucifer was in love with Alastor, but that hadn't been his sole reason for the fear. He'd grown accustomed to the demon’s presence and they'd only just begun to be friends. He didn't want to be forced to live without his first new friend in years. 

As the adrenaline finally began to wear off, Lucifer realized Alastor's shirt was still unbuttoned and that he was still kneeling in front of him. His chest wasn’t furry like he’d thought it would be.

He felt his face explode with heat and he quickly stood up and looked away while clearing his throat.

“AHEM! So. Um. Uh,” Lucifer eloquently said and Alastor raised an eyebrow in amusement. “Y-YOU STILL NEED-”

Calm down, Lucifer, jeez.

“Ahem. You still need t-to tell me what you want in e-exchange for healing you,” he said, much calmer.

Alastor squinted at him and tilted his head. He seemed to be studying Lucifer. Each second the demon looked at him, the more self-conscious Lucifer became. Finally, Alastor said, “In this kind of situation, usually the one doing the healing would get something. Why are you giving me something?”

“B-because you’re a stubborn, stupid, egotistical man and I-I knew you would have never admitted any form of weakness without getting s-something in return.”

Alastor narrowed his eyes and growled at him, which only caused Lucifer to fight back a grin. The other man just looked so adorable when he was mildly upset.

“A-anyway, what’ll it be?” he quickly continued before Alastor could notice his blush deepening.

“Hmm,” Alastor hummed, looking very smug.

Shit. I didn’t put any limits on it – what’s he planning?

“How about a simple favor at a time of my choosing?” he suggested. “After all, what’s a favor between friends?”

Lucifer narrowed his eyes. Alastor seemed nonchalant about it, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t planning for it to be a huge favor. “I won’t give you more power – we all know you don’t need it. I won’t torture anyone, and if it harms anyone, I have to be okay with it first.”

“Of course! A favor at a time of my choosing where you don’t give me power, torture anyone, or hurt anyone without your blessing.” He grinned menacingly. As Alastor held out his hand, it glowed green. “Do we have a deal?”

“Fine.” Lucifer took his hand and quickly shook it.

“Now get out of here,” Alastor said. Before Lucifer could be offended, he continued, “I would like to clean this blood off and I should think you wouldn’t want to watch.”

Lucifer’s eyes widened and his face erupted in heat. Even though he quickly locked up those thoughts, he still helplessly opened and shut his mouth a few times before giving up on words altogether and he spun around to leave.

“Lucifer.”

His hand was already on the doorknob, but the king still turned his head to look at the other man. He appeared to be mulling something over.

After a minute or two, Alastor finally said, “Thank… you. For healing me. Begone now.”

Lucifer smirked and said “You’re welcome” as he left the room.

Has he even said “thank you” before? Definitely not to me…

As Lucifer walked back to his room, he looked down at himself.

Huh. Hopefully no one sees me.

He was covered in Alastor’s blood and was slightly disheveled. He really didn’t want to explain anything to anyone.

Luckily, he made it back to his room without running into anyone. He quickly disposed of his ruined clothes and took a shower.

He remembered when he first found out he hadn’t completely healed the injury. Back then, Lucifer was planning to heal Alastor then ignore him and never spend more time than he had to with him. He couldn’t imagine doing that now – not when they were actually friends now.

Alastor

To be honest, Alastor didn’t know what he wanted from Lucifer – that was why he just asked for a favor instead of something specific. He’d just keep it handy in the back of his mind like he was doing with Charlie’s favor.

He’d thought it was annoying when Lucifer came to heal him (and that his own shadow had grabbed him), but he had to say that it was extremely satisfactory to be able to use his abilities without being in pain. He’d even been able to burn his bloodied shirt without any retaliating pain coming from his chest.

Alastor was in his bathroom now, examining his chest. Begrudgingly, he admitted that it was incredible that Lucifer had made the wound go from spanning his entire chest and constantly bleeding, to just a faint scar that didn't even cover the entire former length.

He ran a couple fingers over it. The scar didn't feel any different from the rest of his skin. If the injury had healed naturally, it likely would never have been this clean of a scar.

Would he be able to get rid of the scar entirely?

He hadn't seen Lucifer use much of his powers and so didn't know much about them, but he got the feeling that what he had seen so far was nowhere near the extent of the fallen angel’s abilities. The thought of his power made a bolt of electricity run down Alastor’s spine.

What was that about?

[a/n: it’s called ✩✩ attraction ✩✩ – reminder that it’s not sexual]

Alastor didn’t give it more thought and had started to get ready for bed, when he realized he wasn’t tired at all.

Of course! Now that he didn’t have that pesky angelic injury, he was no longer being drained of so much energy. The demon could go back to his normal sleep schedule of a few times a month. [a/n: 0/10 would not recommend]

This revelation made him very glad, as he thought sleep was an annoying and useless activity. Alastor put on his regular attire instead of nighttime wear, and began to roam the hotel like he did before the injury.

Lucifer

Lucifer tossed and turned in his bed – he’d been trying to go to sleep now for a couple hours, but he still hadn’t succeeded. Maybe this was just going to be another sleepless night. He didn’t understand it – sometimes he slept like the dead, and other times he couldn’t go to sleep at all. It was incredibly frustrating.

Eventually, he gave up and sat up with a groan.

I’m so fucking tired… Why can’t I just go the fuck to sleep??

At first, he’d thought it was still the adrenaline from the whole thing with Alastor, but that was hours ago and he didn’t feel any of that now.

After rubbing his face with a hand, Lucifer stood up. Maybe the bar would have something that could knock him out – alcohol didn't affect him nearly as much as everyone else since he used to be an angel, but sometimes strong enough liquor could do the trick.

He clumsily grabbed his fluffy, pink robe and slipped it on, not bothering to tie it, and he stepped into his matching slippers. The slippers were a little awkward to wear because of his hooves, but he made it work.

Lucifer carefully made his way out of his room and down the stairs to the bar. He stumbled a few times, but only because it was dark – not because he was clumsy! [a/n: it was both]

Instead of going behind the counter, Lucifer just tried to reach over it to grab a glass. He was too tired to use his brain, okay?

Just as he successfully grabbed a glass, he heard footsteps behind him. The tap-tap-tap of boots was cacophonous in the otherwise quiet hotel. Lucifer quickly turned his head towards the sound, but there was nothing there.

Shit I must be hearing things.

“A little late for a drink, isn’t it?”

Lucifer jumped when he heard Alastor’s voice come from right beside him. “Fucking hell! Don’t do that!”

Alastor smirked. “Don't do what?”

“Ughhh. Sneak up on me like that!”

The other man was fully dressed and looked very put together. Lucifer suddenly felt self-conscious in his pajamas, robe, and slippers. He wasn't wearing any makeup either and his hair was probably a mess. 

No. No. Hang on. He's the weird one here – it's the middle of the night. Who the fuck is completely composed in the middle of the night??

Ugh. He didn’t care what Alastor was doing awake; his mission still hadn’t changed. He reached back over the counter to grab a bottle of vodka, but he couldn’t reach it.

“Having some trouble?” Alastor laughed.

Lucifer glared at him. It was nice that he was feeling better after that injury, but did he really have to go after him right away?

Alastor grabbed the bottle he was trying to grab. Lucifer started to say “thanks” as he went to grab it from him, but the demon yanked it out of reach at the last second.

“What the fuck, asshole?” he exclaimed.

“Why are you drinking this late? Or is it early for you?” Alastor asked.

Lucifer groaned. “I’m just trying to go to sleep, dipshit. Now gimme the bottle.”

Alastor continued to hold it out of reach and he now looked a little… concerned? He said, “I am fairly certain drinking yourself to sleep is not healthy.”

“I’m an angel – it’s fine.” Lucifer jumped in an attempt to snatch the vodka from Alastor, but he managed to react in time to keep it away.

“You used to be an angel.”

“Same thing.”

“Hmm.” Alastor set the bottle of vodka farther than where it was originally and grabbed onto Lucifer’s hand.

The king’s cheeks got warm. “Wh-what are you…”

With his other hand, Alastor took the glass out of Lucifer’s hands and put it away.

“Hey! I was going to use that!”

“Not anymore.”

Lucifer folded his arms and glared at Alastor. “Why do you care if I drink myself to sleep or not?”

“I believe you were the one who said you cared about me because we’re friends,” Alastor said. “Why can’t the same go for me?”

Did-

Did Alastor just admit that he cared about Lucifer?

He had to fight the smile threatening to make itself known.

Remember that he’s still keeping you from your alcohol!

Right.

“Well,” he said, “if you care about me, don’t you want me to get some sleep?”

Alastor narrowed his eyes. “You will not be getting me to help you hurt yourself.”

“It’s not going to hurt me!”

“Come.”

Alastor didn’t give Lucifer the chance to choose to go with him, instead gripping tightly onto his arm and dragging him away.

“Wha- let go of me!” Lucifer shouted.

“Shh. I believe the others are trying to sleep.”

“Where are you even taking me??” he asked a little quieter.

“My studio.”

Lucifer made a face. The last time they were in there together, Alastor made him go into a depressive spiral.

“I promise that… it will be better. This time.” Alastor must have been able to guess what Lucifer was thinking.

“Fine. Y-you can let go of me, I’ll follow you,” Lucifer said. His arm was starting to get uncomfortably warm from the contact.

The demon raised an eyebrow, but did end up letting go of his arm. It didn’t take long for the two to reach Alastor’s room. It was strange entering it again so soon after healing Alastor here. It was even stranger entering the studio.

Lucifer sat down in the same seat as last time as Alastor sat down in front of the controls.

“Alright, what’s your plan this time?” Lucifer asked, not looking forward to whatever was going to be happening.

“I know we played a lot of jazz before, but is that your favorite genre? Or is it something else?” Alastor dodged the question.

“Uhhh… I mean, I like most kinds of music, but like… I don’t really have a favorite? Why?”

The other man tapped his long claws along the control panel. “What are your top two genres, then?”

He didn’t like that Alastor wasn’t answering his questions. “What’s this all about?”

“Answer my questions and then I might answer yours.”

Lucifer scoffed. “And how’s that fair?”

“This is Hell! When is anything fair?”

They stared at each other for a few moments before Lucifer finally sighed and said, “Jazz and polka are probably my favorite two. Now what’s going on?”

Instead of answering, Alastor silently got up and looked through some records on a shelf. There might’ve been hundreds on that collection of shelves. After a minute or two, he finally chose one and put it on a turntable by the control panel. Once he put the needle on the record, some lively polka music began to play.

Alastor seemed like he was going out of his way to avoid eye contact – making minute adjustments to some of the dials, finding specks of dust on the counter, smoothing out nonexistent wrinkles on his clothes – which made it difficult for Lucifer to figure out his ulterior motive. Finally, he gave up and said, “Okay, what is this?”

“Polka,” Alastor responded, still not making eye contact.

The fallen angel rolled his eyes. “Yes, I could tell. What I meant was: why are you playing it?”

“You said it was one of your favorite genres.”

He suppressed a groan – he was annoyed that he was going to have to spell it out to get an answer from the demon. “Yes, I did say that, but I meant why-are-you-playing-music I like?”

Alastor cleared his throat and picked at his claws. “I think if you can’t sleep, it’s better to pass the time enjoyably rather than potentially harming yourself to sleep.”

“Again, it wouldn't have hurt me.”

“Maybe not physically.”

Had it seriously taken Alastor hurting Lucifer's mental state for the man to care about its well-being? He rolled his eyes and decided to just be happy that he cared now.

After a few songs had played without them speaking to each other, Alastor started talking about the music on the record and where he got the album. Once he started talking about radio things, Lucifer wasn't really able to contribute anything, but he listened intently anyway.

The two spent the rest of the night listening to music and talking. Alastor picked most of the records, but he let Lucifer pick out a few, too. They were actually starting to be real friends!

Chapter Text

Alastor

Alastor couldn’t believe that Lucifer had been trying to drink himself to sleep within mere days since his isolation. When he’d realized what the former angel was trying to do, he was reminded of his father (though his father never drank in order to sleep, he just drank so much that he ended up falling asleep), and he did not want to associate Lucifer with his father if they were going to be friends.

He was hoping Lucifer would doze off to sleep while listening to music and talking, but he never did, which concerned worried annoyed Alastor a little. The man usually slept, which means he must need the sleep, right?

Lucifer was saying something, but Alastor didn’t pay attention and instead let his gaze drift over to one of his shelves where the rubber duckie that looked like him sat. [a/n: reference chap 20] It was incredibly detailed and had astounding craftsmanship – though, he didn’t know why Lucifer would put that much effort into something he was just going to “forget about.” He wanted to know why Lucifer really made it, but he couldn’t think of anything that made sense.

The duck was, ugh, adorable, and something in Alastor’s likeness shouldn’t be so adorable - it did not help his reputation of being terrifying. But… he didn’t really mind it for some reason, and so long as the public never saw it, why should he?

“Uhhh… Al? Did you hear me?”

Right. Lucifer had been talking. Before Alastor could respond, Lucifer continued, “What are you looking at?”

As the other man turned his head to find it, Alastor couldn’t help but feel embarrassed that he’d been caught, which was ridiculous – it’s his own possession! He could look at it as much as he desired!

Lucifer froze. “You- you still have the duck?”

Alastor rolled his eyes and scoffed. “It’s only been a couple of days! Why would I take it just to get rid of it immediately?”

Lucifer shrugged and looked sheepish. “I-I dunno… M-maybe you regretted taking it after leaving my room…?”

“You are not very smart.”

“Hey!”

Alastor tapped the top of Lucifer’s head with his cane. “Stop telling yourself things that aren’t true – or at least don’t believe them!”

Lucifer swatted at the cane and gave him a strange look. Then he glanced at a clock on the wall. “It’s already 8 in the morning??”

Alastor looked at the clock, too, and saw that it was just past eight. “Yes, it would appear your eyes do work despite your advanced age.”

“Hardy-har-har.” Lucifer rolled his eyes and got out of his seat.

“Are you leaving now?”

…That came out sounding more disappointed than Alastor would have liked. Thankfully, Lucifer didn’t appear to pick up on that.

“Yeah, well I should have a few cups of coffee or something since I didn’t get any sleep,” the king responded.

“So be it.”

Alastor stood up as well and walked him to the door. When he opened it, he was greeted with Charlie standing right outside with her hand up, as if to knock.

“Oh, Alastor!” she said with an awkward chuckle. “I was just about to knock! I wanted to talk to you about- wait.” She looked down and her brows furrowed. “Dad? What are you doing in Alastor’s room so early?”

“Oh, uh…”

“We spent the night together,” Alastor finished for Lucifer. For whatever reason, that response made both of the Morningstars freeze and Lucifer’s face quickly became a bright gold. He looked at both of them with confusion.

What in the world did I say?

Lucifer was the one to break the silence with a loud, “N-N-NOT LIKE THAT!”

Not like what?

The other man cleared his throat. “AHEM. I mean, I couldn’t sleep a-and he was also up and so h-he kept me company.”

“Kept you company?” Charlie echoed.

Lucifer’s ears were now golden as well. “I already said it wasn’t like that! We just talked and listened to music.”

What is going through their brains?

She still looked skeptical, but said, “Okay… And why did he do that with you?”

Alastor said, “He was being pathetic!” at the same time Lucifer said, “Because we’re friends now!”

The princess now looked even more skeptical. “Riiiiight. I’m sorry, but I’m not quite buying that.”

“I know!” Alastor laughed. “He’s hardly worthy of my friendship but it's true!”

He kept his eyes on Charlie, but he could feel Lucifer’s glare. Charlie clasped her hands together and pointed her index fingers at Alastor. “See, ‘cause that doesn’t exactly scream friendship to me.”

“I think he just doesn’t know how friendship works, to be honest,” Lucifer said.

“That is not true! I have plenty of friends, including our dear Charlie here.”

Charlie smiled at him. “Awww.”

“Are you kidding? You can be nice to her but not to me?” Lucifer asked.

“I am nice to you! I let you be in my room, didn’t I?”

“Oh yeah how kind,” he said sarcastically. “I still think you should take a class on how to be a friend.”

“Well then, if we're talking about classes we need, you would require a course in speaking, seeing as you always stutter so much!” Alastor retaliated.

“Asshole! Maybe you-”

“O-KAY,” Charlie said, drawing out the word to get their attention. “I think maybe both of you could work on being better.”

“But-” Lucifer started.

“SO! Let’s keep doing the bonding activities, okay? I think it’ll help you two be closer as friends so that you actually act like it.”

“I think we’re doing fine on our own. Right, Lucifer?” Alastor looked at him, expecting agreement, but the other man wouldn’t make eye contact with him. He scoffed. “You really want to do Charlie’s activities again?”

“I… don’t think it’s a bad idea…”

“What do you say, Al?” Charlie asked. “It’ll help your friendship – if you care about it, then you should want to strengthen it, right?”

Alastor smirked – the princess was getting better at manipulation. It wouldn’t have worked on him, but he thought it would build her confidence and improve her skills in the future if he just agreed. “Very well. When do we begin again?”

“Uh… Good question… let me do some planning with Vaggie first and I’ll let you know later!” She did finger guns at them as she backed away until she eventually turned around to find her girlfriend.

Alastor and Lucifer stood there in silence for a few moments before Lucifer asked, “Didn’t she have something she wanted to talk to you about?”

“I believe so – our friendship must have distracted her,” Alastor replied. “Well, that means I just have less to worry about today!”

Lucifer rolled his eyes. “No, because you’re going to ask her about it in case it was something important.”

“If it was important, how would she have forgotten it?”

“Because she’s my daughter, and anything can be forgotten with a good enough distraction.”

Alastor grinned and teasingly raised an eyebrow at him. Lucifer stuck his tongue out at him and flipped him off as he walked away. [a/n: awww, my boys are so mature]

Lucifer

Back in his room, Lucifer went through his morning routine like normal (except for the fact that he had to use extra makeup to conceal his eye bags from lack of sleep). He tried not to think about what had happened outside of Alastor’s room, but he failed.

That had been so embarrassing! Charlie had looked like she was going to throw up when Alastor said they’d spent the night together. The other man had looked confused, so he probably didn’t even realize what he’d implied, but still. It was all his fault.

Luckily, when they’d started arguing, Charlie looked like she finally believed that they weren’t sleeping together. Lucifer didn’t even let himself fantasize about sex with Alastor [a/n: which will end up being a good thing], so it was appalling that his daughter had thought that that was happening for even one second.

Lucifer shook his head. It was fine. It was all cleared up and everything was fine. Plus, he’d get to spend more time with Alastor doing Charlie’s activities. Considering how Alastor typically acted, he could use it.

He put on his normal outfit, complete with his hat and cane, and exited his room to go down to the kitchen. He was incredibly tired and definitely needed some coffee.

When Lucifer opened the door to the kitchen, he saw Angeldust digging in the fridge for something.

“Morning!” Lucifer said as he made his way to the coffee maker.

“Oh, hey,” Angeldust replied. He closed the fridge and looked at the kitchen door like he wanted to leave. Lucifer narrowed his eyes – he wasn’t going to be leaving without spilling some tea.

“Sooooooo.”

“Y-yes?”

“How’s it been going with you-know-who?” Lucifer asked as he started the coffee maker.

“Right. That. Um.” Angel wrung his bottom two hands together while one of his top hands rubbed the back of his neck. “Y-yeah it’s uh, it’s goin’ great! I-I’m flirtin’ real good!”

Lucifer crossed his arms and sang, “You’re lying.”

The spider demon’s face flushed red. “No I’m not!”

They stared at each for a few moments before Angeldust sighed. “Okay yeah I am – it’s just! I-I’m scared, okay?”

“Why?” Lucifer softened his gaze.

“Well, ‘cause what if it ruins our friendship? I can handle not bein’ with him, but I can’t handle him not bein’ in my life at all.”

“Angel…”

“Ya don’t understand! We don’t even own our souls! Val doesn’t, like, summon me anywhere, but he calls me into the studio all the time no matter what I’m doin’ and Smiles could whisk Husk away to some other place in less than a second. They could separate us on purpose if they found out about us!” Angeldust looked at the floor and lowered his voice. “How could we possibly have a real relationship if we can’t even guarantee that we’ll be able to be in each other’s lives?”

Lucifer took a minute to ponder over what he just said. “Well…” he carefully started, “As the King of Hell, I can break deals.”

Angeldust softly gasped and his eyes filled with hope for just a moment before it flickered out. “No, not- Not right now, at least.” He sighed. “Val would just try killin’ me and Alastor, well, he’s a fuckin’ psychopath – who knows what he’d do to Husk?”

How do I always forget that Alastor is nuts?

“If that’s what you think is best…”

Angel nodded. “Yeah… I think it is…”

He left the kitchen without another word. Lucifer turned around to pick up his coffee. There had to be a way he could help those two get together without getting them in trouble, right?

Chapter Text

Alastor

Alastor didn’t wait long after Lucifer left to find Charlie – what if what she’d wanted to talk to him about was important?

When he found her, she was in the lobby speaking with Vaggie in low voices. He began to walk towards them, then remembered he was healed from that angelic wound – he could shadow travel and give them a scare instead!

Alastor materialized right in between the two women with a cheery, “He-llo!”

They both jumped and Charlie looked slightly annoyed while Vaggie glared at him with murderous intent. He smiled wider before focusing on the former.

“Charlie, my dear, earlier you were going to talk to me about something?” he prompted.

“Oh!” Charlie clapped her hands together. “That’s right! I totally forgot.”

“I figured as much.”

“I wanted to get your input on an advertising idea me and Vaggie had since you’re the ‘facilities manager’ and all,” she said excitedly.

Alastor laughed and flicked his wrist. “Dear, I don’t think there’d be a single method of advertisement that would successfully bring anyone in the door! This is Hell, after all!”

Charlie ignored him and continued, “Anyway, it’s not like a commercial or anything like what we’ve already tried. This time, we’re thinking of doing… a party!”

“A party!” Vaggie said half a beat after Charlie.

The princess turned to her girlfriend and whispered, “Vaggie! We practiced this!”

“I know, I know, sorry, babe,” she responded, also in a whisper.

He waved to get Charlie’s attention and repeated, “A party?”

“Yeah!” She rubbed her hands together and started bouncing. “It could be soo much fun! Just think about it! We’ll invite a whole bunch of sinners, maybe overlords too – not sure yet. But we’ll have music and dancing and drinks and food and people can learn about the hotel and our mission and we could have games and- oh! We could have a THEME! Ooooooo, what should the theme be?? And maybe-”

“I’ve heard enough,” Alastor cut her off; her bubbly attitude had clearly started to rub off on Vaggie, who now looked excited as well, and he did not want to risk that rubbing off on him.

“Oh! Okay!” Her excitement didn’t dampen at all from his unenthused response, which likely meant it wouldn’t matter what he said – they were going to be doing this party. “Soooo, whaddya think?!”

That didn’t mean he couldn’t try to stop it anyway. “Charlie, this ill-conceived idea of yours will only bring disaster! Best to stick to your already tried and true methods that don’t work wonders!”

Charlie pouted, which made Vaggie pin Alastor with an angry glare before putting her hands softly on Charlie’s shoulders. “It’s okay, babe, you’re the owner of the hotel – you’re his boss and he has to listen to you.”

The princess nodded with determination. “Th-that’s right! Alastor, we are doing this party whether you like it or not! And if you don’t want to help, you… you can leave! Yeah!”

She looked at Vaggie with a hesitant smile, who gave her two thumbs up.

Damn. At least I tried.

“Very well, but I’m not doing any frivolous parts of the planning, such as picking out a ‘theme’ or anything else so needlessly superfluous,” Alastor responded.

Charlie rolled her eyes. “You never want to do anything fun. But whatever. I’ll take what I can get from you. Which, speaking of… Could you tell my dad that your next activity will be tomorrow afternoon in the lobby?”

Alastor pursed his lips. “Of course, how could I forget about your absolutely delectable activities?” His smile strained. “And what exactly will we be doing?”

“We’re floating a few ideas right now, nothing set in stone yet.”

“Lovely.”

He used his shadows to escape from the useless conversation. Alastor could have gone back to his own room, but he went to Lucifer’s instead – he could inform him of tomorrow’s activity to get that boring task out of the way.

Alastor rematerialized in the center of the king’s bedroom and looked around. Lucifer was not there. He rolled his eyes and traveled to the kitchen. There was still some coffee left in the pot, but no Lucifer in the kitchen. He sighed in annoyance as he was left with no choice but to walk around the hotel to search for the other man.

Lucifer

Lucifer had four cups of coffee in the kitchen before taking his fifth one with him to a lounge on the first floor. He went to this one specifically for the large whiteboard on wheels Charlie keeps in there.

He leaned back in an armchair and carefully sipped from his mug as he studied what he had on the whiteboard. Everything he knew about Angeldust’s and Husk’s situations was written down on the board and Lucifer was now studying it to get ideas. It was clearly hurting those two to not be together, and Lucifer wanted to help them.

If only Angel let me break their deals…

He typically didn't take note of his surroundings when he was absorbed in a task, but by some miracle, he was able to notice Alastor's figure by the door before it melted away. 

Lucifer slammed his coffee mug on the table and lunged at the whiteboard. He toppled it over and spread his body out to cover everything he'd written before Alastor could reappear. 

“What a surprising display of agility from you!” an annoying voice remarked. “What’s so important you can’t let me see?”

Lucifer lifted his head just enough to be met with Alastor’s shit-eating grin, who was bent at the waist so their faces were in front of each other.

“Shut up. What are you doing here?” Lucifer didn't need Alastor ruining his dreams of Husk and Angel being together. [a/n: he’s such a Huskerdust shipper lol]

Alastor straightened out and hummed. “I could ask you the same.”

“It's a… project… I'm working on,” he replied. It wasn't technically a lie.

The demon raised an eyebrow, but thankfully, didn't press it further. Instead, he inspected one of his claws and said, “Charlie sent me to tell you we'll be resuming those dreadful bonding exercises tomorrow afternoon in the lobby. 

“Oh. That's it?”

“And what were you expecting?”

Lucifer felt his cheeks start to get warm from embarrassment. “I-I don't know! I thought it would've been… I dunno, just something else. Like, if that was it, why didn't she just say it with both of us there earlier?”

“Oh you silly man!” Alastor laughed. “That wasn't the important thing she wanted to talk to me about.”

“Then what was it?”

Alastor grinned. “If our dear Charlie hasn't already told you about her plan, I don't believe I should betray her trust like that.”

“You don't give two shits about her trust in you.”

“But you care about her trust in you.”

Lucifer frowned. “Fine. Don't tell me. Now get out of here so I can get up.”

“And if I don't?”

Alastor bent down and put his face right in front of the former angel's. Lucifer’s eyes flicked down to Alastor's lips for just a split second. Their proximity was tantalizing.

His entire face exploded with heat.

UM, WHAT THE FUCK???? NOT ALLOWED????

Lucifer coughed and looked away. “Th-th-then I-I’ll just stay h-here. N-nothing ‘entertaining’ would h-happen.”

“Hmmm.” Lucifer could hear the smirk in Alastor's voice, but he still wasn't going to look at the other man again after what he'd just wanted to do.

He didn't look back until after he heard footsteps walking away and sighed in relief when he saw Alastor was actually gone. This was becoming a serious problem. Now he had two things he needed to work on:

1. Getting Angeldust and Husk together without getting them in trouble

and,

2. Getting rid of these stupid feelings for Alastor.

Chapter Text

Alastor

Alastor waited in the lobby with Charlie and Vaggie for Lucifer. The king was only a minute late so far, but Alastor thought that was much too late already.

Neither of the women had yet to give any indication of what the activity was going to be, but there was a whiteboard on wheels in the room, similar to what Lucifer had been using the previous day.

He'd only been able to glimpse a few words on the board that Lucifer hadn't been able to fully cover, but not enough to understand what it was. It was extremely annoying not knowing what Lucifer was hiding from him – especially since it clearly involves Alastor somehow.

The demon was taken out of his thoughts when Lucifer finally showed up to the lobby three minutes late.

“How kind of you to finally show up!” Alastor remarked.

“Shut up,” Lucifer responded. “I was working on… something… and wasn't paying attention to the time. And it's not even that late!”

“Hmm. In my opinion, even a second late is too late. Do you expect everyone else to push pause on their lives just to accommodate your laziness and inability to be on time?”

Lucifer bit his lower lip and his eyes flickered with anger. After a few moments of tense silence, he inhaled to speak, but Charlie got there before he could.

“You two sure you're friends?” she asked with a worried look.

Lucifer sighed and said, “Yeah…” while Alastor said, “Regrettably.”

“Riiiiiight. Let’s just start the activity.” Charlie uncapped a dry erase marker and drew a line down the middle of the whiteboard. She then wrote “Lucifer” on top of the left half and “Alastor” on top of the right half.

“You can sit down,” Vaggie said as her girlfriend turned around to face them again.

Alastor waited until Lucifer had sat down before doing so himself. One was more vulnerable sitting down after all and he didn’t want to leave himself open.

“Okay so this is going to have kind of the same idea as when you drew each other,” Charlie said. [a/n: reference chaps 6 & 7] “Except this time, instead of thinking about what you don’t like about each other, you have to think about what you do like! You two will take turns saying one good thing about the other until we have five from both of you.”

Is there anything I like about him?

It looked like Charlie’s plan might backfire. Alastor wasn’t all too sure what he liked about Lucifer – maybe they shouldn’t be friends.

“Dad, would you mind starting?” the princess asked.

“O-oh, uh, sure, I-I guess,” Lucifer stuttered.

Charlie clapped and wrote “1)” on Lucifer’s side of the board. She looked at her father expectantly with her marker at the ready. His face gained a light golden color as he thought.

“Well…” Lucifer started as he fidgeted with his hands. “He’s funny… sometimes.”

“Might’ve been better without the ‘sometimes’, but that works for me,” Charlie commented, writing “funny” on the board. “Your turn, Alastor.”

Alastor tapped his fingers along the armrest while he racked his brain for something nice to say. It was a foreign thing for him to do, and he took much longer than Lucifer did. “It is quite entertaining when he gets upset!”

Vaggie loudly imitated a buzzer. “BZZZZT. Try again.”

He rolled his eyes and sighed, shifting to rest his chin in his hand. “I suppose he occasionally makes for acceptable conversation.”

“Good enough!” The princess wrote “good conversation” on Alastor’s side of the board.

“I don’t believe I called his conversation ‘good’, my dear,” Alastor corrected.

“Okay, Dad, what’s your next one?” Charlie ignored his input.

“He’s actually kind of good at cooking.” Lucifer appeared to have not taken any time to think about that. “2) Good cook” got added to the board.

“And now Alastor’s turn…”

He harrumphed and took a few moments to think of something else. “He… has fine craftsmanship.”

“Awww,” Charlie cooed and scribbled “craftsmanship” on the board. “Did he show you his ducks?? They’re really good, aren’t they?”

“Charlie…” Lucifer looked embarrassed.

“He did indeed,” Alastor answered.

It took at least half an hour just to get the third and fourth nice things on the whiteboard for the both of them – Lucifer said Alastor was a good radio host when he wasn’t goading Lucifer and that he had good taste in music; Alastor said Lucifer was becoming a better father to Charlie and that he also had good taste in music – but getting the last one was taking a long time for the both of them.

Lucifer

Lucifer could have easily said a million nice things about Alastor, but he didn’t want to make his feelings for him obvious to everybody else, so he didn’t. However, it was difficult to think of nice things that would sound normal to the others.

His genuine smiles are beautiful, his eyes are captivating, he can be very soft and gentle, his unfiltered voice is incredible, I like being around him, he’s so confident…

He could go on and on but he thought those all sounded a little too much like he was paying too much attention to Alastor. He needed something better…

“It’s been fifteen minutes, Dad, we can come back,” Charlie said. “Alastor, do you have anything right now?”

“Mmmm, no, I don’t,” Alastor replied with a big grin. “Perhaps we should call it a day.”

“No, we are not going to do that, we will stay here for however long it takes.”

Lucifer chewed his lower lip as he frantically tried to think of something – it was clear that none of them wanted to be here, and he didn’t want to be the one keeping them there. It would be so fucking easy if he didn’t have these stupid feelings! He glared at Alastor as discreetly as he could. In a way, it was his fault for being so easy to fall for.

“He…” Lucifer started, hoping it would give him an idea. “Oo! I got it! He’s fun to play cards with!”

“Finally,” Vaggie muttered as Charlie excitedly wrote down the final nice thing on Lucifer’s side of the board.

“We’re almost done, you two!” his daughter exclaimed. “Okay, Al, just one last nice thing about my dad and you can go.”

Everyone turned to look at Alastor expectantly, who was very clearly bored and not happy to be there. He raised an eyebrow at them. “Do you think I suddenly have something? Be patient.”

“Right! Of course!” Charlie's smile was looking more and more strained.

Despite how bubbly it made him feel to hear what Alastor liked about him, Lucifer was starting to get fairly bored as well with how much time he was taking. 

“He has soft hair…” Alastor eventually murmured, as if he didn't mean to say it out loud. 

Everyone froze immediately. Alastor dug his claws into the armrests of his chair as his deer ears flattened. Lucifer's heart skipped a beat and he felt his face become flushed with heat.

What??

Charlie was the first to recover, slowly writing “soft hair” with her dry erase marker, except she was looking more at Alastor than the board, so it was very crooked and much less neat than the rest of her writing.

Lucifer hardly took heed of the squeaking of the marker as he stared at Alastor in surprise. He was trying to figure out how the demon would possibly know how his hair felt, but the gears in his brain just weren’t moving.

“You…” Vaggie started, though she still seemed too shocked to speak well. “He- his- you- OKAY. So. You’re gonna have to… explain some things to me, like, how do you know what his hair feels like??”

“R-right.” Alastor adjusted in his seat; Lucifer could see a smattering of red on the other man’s cheeks (he didn’t know what to do with that information). “Well, as you know, during Lucifer’s isolation after the radio show debacle, I went into his room a few times. On one of those occasions, I brushed his hair – simple as that.” [a/n: reference chap 20]

“That… that’s actually really sweet of you!” Charlie exclaimed as she held a hand to her heart. “I was worried about what you might’ve been doing to him, but-”

“It wasn’t sweet,” Alastor interrupted. “Don’t say that.”

Vaggie rolled her eyes and scoffed. “Oh yeah, the big, bad Radio Demon can’t possibly be sweet to a few people and horrible to all the rest.”

Alastor narrowed his eyes. Lucifer was expecting a verbal fight that he and Charlie would have to break up, but Alastor simply shadow traveled away.

“At least we finished the activity, even if we didn’t get to talk about it like I wanted to,” Charlie said. She turned to Lucifer. “How come you didn’t tell me about that? I would’ve believed you a lot easier when you said you two were friends if I’d known.”

“Oh, uh…” The king wasn’t sure right away, but he soon realized that Alastor gently brushing his hair had felt like a private moment that he wanted to cherish by himself. He couldn’t tell Charlie that, though. “I-I just… it just didn’t c-come up. In a conversation. With y-you?”

She pouted in response, but looked like she believed him. “I guess that makes sense… But that sounds so adorable! I would’ve loved to have known about it!”

Lucifer laughed. “I’ll be sure to fill you in on all the adorableness that happens from now on.”

“Good,” Charlie said before she started laughing.

“Okay, um, anyways,” Lucifer said, “this took forever, so I’m just going to go up to my room now…”

“Oh, okay, good night!”

“Good night!”

Once he teleported back to his room, Lucifer slowly changed into his pajamas. He was still a bit in shock from what Alastor had just confessed. As soon as he was done, he flopped onto his bed and stared at the ceiling. His heart thumped so loudly he was sure someone else would be able to hear it, but he couldn’t calm down.

He likes the feel of my hair? HE LIKES IT??

It would’ve been one thing if Alastor had just been stating an objective fact or something like that, but the whole point of the activity was things they liked about each other. Should he ask Alastor to brush his hair more? Lucifer liked how gentle he had been and how nice his claws had felt on his scalp – if Alastor liked that, then he would want to do it again, right?

Lucifer reached for a pillow and covered his face with it. No, he couldn’t ask Alastor to brush his hair – that would do absolutely nothing to get rid of his feelings. Maybe once the king got that out of the way, then he would ask Alastor. Until then, Lucifer would just have to keep himself from engaging in any sort of close activity with him. That shouldn’t be too difficult, right?

Chapter Text

Alastor

What had Alastor been thinking? Why did he say that he liked Lucifer’s soft hair out loud? It was the truth, but it had been so embarrassing – the way everyone else stopped and stared at him in shock was decidedly not fun.

He cringed and dug his claws into the armrests of his chair. He was in the safety of his room now, but he should have shadow traveled here sooner; he shouldn’t have even finished Charlie’s blasted activity. What kind of an activity was that anyway? People didn’t just say what they liked about each other! What nonsense was that?

Alastor had been able to play it off coolly by just saying exactly how it was he knew what Lucifer’s hair felt like, and everyone seemed to accept it, but knowing all of that did nothing to assuage the embarrassment. This was the worst feeling in the world and he wanted it to stop right away, but it was stubborn and just kept sticking around.

By the time the sun set and the moon rose, Alastor felt better, but he still wasn’t over it. It was ridiculous how much time he was spending thinking about that stupid incident. He was so restless, that for the entire night he paced from one end of the hotel to the other, over and over again. By morning, he was outwardly fine, but his mind was still fixated on the embarrassment of the previous day.

Alastor growled and made his way to the kitchen. A few cups of pure, black coffee always worked to calm himself. [a/n: this man is neurodivergent and you can’t take that away from me]

As he started the coffee, he heard someone enter. He readied himself and turned to look at who it was.

Of course it would be him.

Lucifer looked stunned to see him, but he quickly recovered (somewhat) and overly casually went to the cupboard to grab himself a mug. “How, uh, how are you d-doing this morning?”

Alastor rolled his eyes as he finished making his coffee. “I’m quite fine. And how are you?”

The two switched positions so Lucifer could start his coffee. They both were avoiding eye contact.

“Same,” Lucifer answered. “So, um…”

No. No no no. He’s not going to mention yesterday, is he?

They didn’t have to talk about it – they could just ignore the massive elephant in the room. It wasn’t anything that needed to be talked about.

“About yesterday…”

NOooOOooOoOoooOOo

“Must we talk about yesterday, my dear?” Alastor said in as nonchalant a voice as he could manage before sipping his coffee.

Lucifer’s face flushed gold and he started fidgeting with the sugar he was putting in his coffee. He cleared his throat a few times and waited a few moments before continuing, “I-I wasn’t going to talk about that part of it, though I-.”

Alastor’s eyes narrowed. “Which part then, were you going to talk about?”

“When you- you said that I was becoming a better father to Charlie… Did you mean it or d-did you just… say it to make her happy?” Lucifer stared into his coffee after putting milk in it.

“Hmmm,” Alastor hummed into his coffee mug. He’d forgotten that he’d also said that yesterday during the activity. “I don’t lie often.”

“I-I-I- s-so wa-was that one of the few times you did lie or…?”

The demon sighed. “No, I meant it.”

“Oh.” Lucifer smiled a bit. “Thank you. D-do you mind saying what made you change your opinion? Maybe? If you feel like it?”

Alastor rolled his eyes, set his mug down on the counter, stepped in front of Lucifer, and used one finger to lift the other man’s chin up so they could make eye contact. “You can be more direct when asking someone something. There’s no need to be so shy. We're friends, aren't we?”

Lucifer seemed very stunned and looked like he forgot how to breathe. Alastor dug his claw into his smooth skin a little deeper to force him to focus. Lucifer’s mouth opened and shut many times before anything came out. “W-w-w-w-w-w-w-what ch-changed y-y-your opi-opinion then?”

Alastor admired his handiwork – Lucifer’s alabaster face turned golden yellow – before letting go of him and going back to his coffee. “Was that so difficult?”

The king put a hand over his chest as he worked on breathing again. “Wh-whatever, dipshit, just a-answer the question.”

Alastor chuckled.

What’s got him so worked up? [a/n: you. duh.]

“Let’s see…” Alastor put a finger up with each reason. “You’ve stayed here much longer than I thought you would, you’ve been actively working on your relationship with her, you’ve been putting in effort for her ridiculous activities and ideas, and you’re bonding with people important to her.”

Lucifer had grabbed his coffee again sometime while Alastor was talking, and had just let out a soft chuckle into it. They sat in a comfortable silence as they finished off their coffees. Alastor filled his mug again, then started to leave the kitchen.

“Wait-”

Alastor turned around to look at the king, who looked surprised that he had even spoken. He raised an eyebrow. “Well?”

“I- uh- yo- I d-don’t even know wh-what I was g-going to say,” Lucifer stuttered. He covered his golden face with a hand.

“You may be becoming a better father, but you are still a very strange man,” Alastor said as he walked away.

He was already halfway down the hall before he heard Lucifer shout back, “Fuck you!”

The demon smirked as he sauntered to the meeting room. Charlie had arranged a meeting with him for today before the disaster of an activity the previous day; he still intended to go to it – and on time.

He arrived at the same time as Charlie and Vaggie were approaching the room.

“Good morning!” Alastor greeted.

Vaggie only muttered a quick, “Morning,” but Charlie gave him an enthusiastic, “Good morning to you too, Al!”

Charlie held open the door for the other two. She was much too excited to do so – this meeting was about something she thought was incredible, which likely meant it wasn’t. Alastor successfully kept himself from groaning by taking a drink of his coffee.

When he sat down in one of the chairs surrounding a square table, he asked, “So what’s this meeting about today, darling?”

“The party,” Vaggie said, and after seeing Alastor’s blank expression, she added, “The one we told you about a couple days ago?”

Right. He had forgotten that the two had come up with the “brilliant” idea of a party as an advertisement for the hotel.

“How could I forget?” Alastor’s smile became strained.

“Okay so!” Charlie had been bouncing while standing, and now that she was sitting, she was somehow still bouncing. This level of excitement did not bode well for him. “This meeting is to talk about our ideas for the party – yours included!”

“Charlie, believe me when I say I don’t and won’t have any ideas for this party of yours.”

She pouted for only a moment before barreling on. “Well that’s okay, you can comment on our ideas and maybe you’ll get some ideas of your own from ours! You never know!”

As the two women began to go over their ideas, Alastor started to tune them out. He tried to think of ideas for his radio show, but, for some reason, his mind kept wandering back to Lucifer.

Chapter Text

Lucifer

Lucifer took his coffee back to his room so he could freak out in peace because-

WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT???

His heart was still thumping, threatening to beat right out of his chest. He brought a hand up to the spot under his chin where Alastor’s claw had tilted his head up. The other man had gotten so close to him…

Lucifer groaned. Was he really so touch-starved that that got him all worked up? [a/n: yes]

He slowly took a sip of coffee to try to calm down, but it just made him realize that his face was warmer than the coffee, which made him feel more embarrassed.

“UGHH!”

He put the coffee on a dresser and slapped both his cheeks.

Snap out of it! Stop being so embarrassing!

Lucifer flopped onto his bed and covered his face with his cheeks. At least it was still early in the day so he had time to calm down before his meeting with Charlie and Vaggie – they were finally going to tell him what they’d been working on with Alastor.

He breathed deeply and tried to think of anything except for what had just happened in the kitchen.

Alastor

“Alastor, do you have any ideas yet?”

“Hm?”

He hadn't been listening to what Charlie and Vaggie had been saying. He knew that they were talking about this party they wanted to do, but he didn't know anything past that.

Vaggie groaned. “Have you even been paying attention?”

“Of course I have!” Alastor lied as he scanned the whiteboard they'd been writing their party ideas on.

“And you still don't have anything?” Charlie asked.

“No.” His eyes widened. “Streamers? Are you trying to be tacky?”

“Oh so you weren't paying attention.” Vaggie smirked. “Well as you can see, streamers are in the ‘definitely do’ column, so it's going to happen whether you like it or not. Should've said something when you had the chance.”

Alastor's smile strained. “Very well. Tacky streamers it is.”

“You know, you could contribute instead of criticizing what we're doing,” Charlie suggested.

“And why would I do that when criticism is both necessary and entertaining?”

Vaggie groaned in exasperation. “Whatever. Charlie, do you think we should have a dress code?”

“Uhh, we could probably just let them wear whatever they want,” Charlie replied.

“Sounds go-”

“Absolutely not,” Alastor interrupted.

“Oh you have an opinion now,” Vaggie said, clearly unenthused by the development. “And why can't we let people wear what they want to a party?”

Alastor flicked his wrist. “My dears, our goal here is to discourage sin, is it not?” He waited for the two women to nod before continuing, “Those things most sinners wear here in Hell is not conducive to that goal, now is it?”

“You have a point.” Charlie tapped a finger on her chin. “Okay, so… do we go for something like ‘formal’ or just say they can wear anything so long as it's not too revealing?”

“The average sinner won’t wanna get very dressed up,” Vaggie said, “so we should probably just check outfits at the door?”

“I think formal is a much more appropriate way to go,” Alastor chimed in. “You could think of it as a kind of test for these sinners. From what I’ve gathered from Angeldust, being a part of this hotel means doing things one doesn’t want to do. If they can dress up, then they have shown that they’re willing to make that sacrifice.”

“Oooo yeah!” Charlie looked excited; Vaggie rolled her eyes, but didn’t say anything. Charlie grabbed Vaggie’s waist and said, “Plus, I bet you would look hot all dressed up.”

Vaggie giggled as Charlie rubbed her nose against hers. “Chaarliee!”

He rolled his eyes. Alastor mostly tuned out the rest of the meeting (he paid just enough attention in case there was anything else he needed to veto), especially since the two kept flirting with each other, but he was glad that there would be a formal dress code. He liked to dress up – it was why he wore suits everyday – but he didn’t get many chances to do so, and if he was going to be forced to attend this party, then he wanted to enjoy himself damn it!

As soon as it seemed like they were wrapping up (after about two hours of boring drivel), Alastor stood to leave.

“Oh! Wait, Alastor!” Charlie called before he could shadow travel away.

He stifled a sigh. “Yes? Did you have something else?”

“My dad should be here any minute now – I’d like to fill him in on the party,” she answered.

“Do you need me for that? I’m sure you can handle it on your own.”

“I just thought that as the facilities manager you’d want to join in for that, but we could also just do your next bonding activity afterwards.”

The demon didn’t bother to stifle the sigh this time. “Very well, but if he isn’t here in three minutes I’m leaving.”

Lucifer

Once Lucifer had successfully calmed down, he got off his bed. He started heading to his door when something caught his eye.

Oh.

His coffee was still on the table, barely touched. It was always a shame when coffee went unfinished. He sighed and magicked the mug away to the kitchen sink. Even though he didn’t have much of the coffee, he still felt much more energized than he normally was in the mornings. He supposed he could probably credit that to the whole situation with Alastor.

Ugh. I’m hopeless.

Lucifer finally left his room and headed downstairs to the conference room. At least he could avoid Alastor for the rest of the day – as far as he was aware, they weren’t going to have an activity that day.

Outside the door, he took a deep breath and shook out the last of his nerves so Charlie and Vaggie wouldn’t notice that anything was up. He didn’t want to have to figure out some lame excuse to try to throw them off the scent.

Of fucking course the first person he sees when he opens the door is Alastor. Alastor looked mildly annoyed, but smiled and raised an eyebrow when Lucifer’s mouth dropped. He quickly cleared his throat and regained his composure (mostly).

“H-hey Char-Char!” Lucifer called out to Charlie, pointedly ignoring Alastor. “How, uh, how’s it going?”

Charlie beamed at him. “Great! I’m really super duper excited for this idea me and Vaggie have!”

His smile became more relaxed as he chuckled at seeing his daughter be so energetic for something. He pulled out a chair at the table and sat down. “Why don’t you tell me all about it? You look like you’re going to burst from excitement!”

She squealed and together with Vaggie, they took off a cloth that was covering a whiteboard that was filled with handwritten notes, but at the very top, “Advertisement Party!!!” was written in neat cursive.

“A party huh?” he said. “It’s been awhile since we’ve thrown one of those. Did you ever help us with the planning for one?”

“No…”

“I didn't think so. Charlie, it takes a lot to plan a big party, and I just want to make sure you know that this isn't something that will come together in a few days or even a week.”

“I know that, Dad,” Charlie groaned.

“Okay, okay.” Lucifer put his hands up in a placating gesture. “Just didn’t want you getting in over your head. Why don’t you show me your plans so far?”

“...Alright.” The princess tried to remain annoyed, but it was clear she was still excited to talk about the party as she moved to point at the whiteboard.

It took about twenty minutes for Charlie and Vaggie to get through everything since Lucifer stopped them a few times to ask some questions – how did they start picking specific songs for the playlist but forget that they’ll need to feed the party guests? – and Alastor didn’t speak until the end when they talked about the dress code.

“I always like it when there’s a formal dress code, good idea, Charlie!” Lucifer complimented.

“Actually, it was my idea,” Alastor corrected.

“Wow you contributed one whole idea? I bet that took a lot more thinking than normal, you should be careful for the rest of the day, you don't wanna fry your brain,” he responded before thinking. 

“Need I remind you how easy your brain is to fry?” Alastor smirked.

That morning flashed in his mind; he pushed it down, but he wasn't able to keep his face from heating up from embarrassment. “Well you-”

Vaggie groaned loudly. “Can't you two go five minutes without arguing?”

“Y-yeah,” Lucifer said indignantly. “Maybe he only picks fights when we're around other people or something.”

“How preposterous!” Alastor exclaimed. “I don't care who sees us fighting or getting along.”

You say that but…

Alastor was no longer making eye contact with anybody and his smile almost imperceptibly dropped. Like, very imperceptibly. Like, so imperceptibly that the others probably didn’t notice. Lucifer cringed internally.

I’ve been looking at Alastor’s face waaaay too much…

“Okay I don’t care if it only happens when we’re around,” Charlie said while pinching the bridge of her nose, pulling Lucifer out of his thoughts. “I just need you two to not fight like this all the time.”

“I- I’m sorry, Charlie. I’ll try to be better.” Lucifer hated it when Charlie was disappointed in him.

Charlie gave him a small, grateful smile before continuing, “It’s- it’s fine, we’ll just keep doing bonding exercises and eventually you guys will be better, right?”

“Of course!” Lucifer said at the same time Alastor said, “Unlikely.”

The king glared at Alastor before turning back to Charlie. “It’s bound to work eventually, sweetie, I’m sure.”

“Thanks. Um, anyway, did you have anything to add to the party so far, other than we should feed people?” His daughter awkwardly laughed. He smiled endearingly before saying his suggestions. Lucifer didn’t want to take over too much, but he was hoping to be involved in the planning of the party a lot more now – it would take his mind off Alastor. Hopefully.

Chapter Text

Alastor

Alastor somehow managed to make it through the rest of the meeting without dying a second death from boredom. It was ridiculous that he’d had to sit through Charlie and Vaggie’s party planning twice - once for them to tell him, and once for them to tell Lucifer. Then he was finally having some fun arguing with Lucifer and those two women stopped it for no good reason!

That was when he stopped paying attention entirely. All their voices faded into background noise and Alastor blankly stared off into space.

He was brought out of his trance when he heard Charlie say, “...and now for us to reveal your activity today!”

Finally.

“No need to drag it out, my dear! Please, do enlighten us!” Alastor said.

“Okay so like the Floor is Lava activity, this one will also be with the whole hotel. Tonight, we’ll be playing Never Have I Ever in the lobby!”

“That one’s a uh, a drinking game, right?” Lucifer asked.

“Yup!” Charlie confirmed. “And we’ll go over all the rules and everything with everyone before we start so we’re all on the same page.”

“And are we done now?” Alastor inquired.

Vaggie rolled her eyes. “Yes, Alastor, we’re done now.”

She had barely just finished her sentence before Alastor disappeared into the shadows. He reappeared at the end of the hall where he knew Lucifer would walk by and waited.

When Lucifer finally left the conference room and headed down the hallway, Alastor stepped out into the middle of the hall to block his path, with the former almost running into the latter.

“JEEZ, Al, what the hell??” Lucifer exclaimed.

“I’m going for a walk,” Alastor said.

“Okay??”

Alastor rolled his eyes. “Come.”

“Are- are you asking me to go on a walk with you?”

“You are so incredibly dense sometimes.” Alastor rolled his eyes again even as his ears flattened. Before Lucifer could retaliate, he continued, “I'm not asking you, I'm telling you to come with me.”

Lucifer arrogantly smirked. “Right. Of course. Well, lead the way.”

Alastor growled but turned and started towards the building’s exit without a word. After Lucifer caught up, the two walked side by side in an uncomfortable silence.

“So why’d you want me to come with you?” the king asked after a few minutes.

To be honest, he wasn't really sure what exactly compelled him to drag Lucifer on a walk – he didn't even have a route or a destination or anything planned for them – it was just an impulsive decision. It was probably only because arguing with him had been the only entertainment Alastor had had during that whole meeting. He also just wanted to spend more time with Lucifer.

“Do I need a reason?” Alastor decided on saying.

“Well, I mean, this isn’t exactly something I would expect you to do, so I thought there might be some ulterior motive.”

“Ulterior motive?”

“N-not like something bad , I-I just meant you might have…” Lucifer awkwardly chuckled. “Okay I guess there’s not really another way to say that to make it sound any better.”

They lapsed into another silence. Perhaps taking Lucifer along hadn’t been such a good idea after all.

“So… um…” Lucifer’s attempt at making conversation was pathetic. “Uh… W-what do you think of our activity tonight?”

“Hm. I’ve never played a drinking game before – I didn’t have many friends when I was alive and not many people want to drink with the Radio Demon – but I think it could be interesting,” Alastor admitted.

“I’ve played drinking games before, but only with the other Sins, and never with such a young group.”

Alastor grinned. “For an old man such as yourself, you must feel honored that some of the youth wish to spend time with you!”

“Oh fuck you,” Lucifer said as he rolled his eyes, but Alastor could see he was trying not to smile. “I’ve also never played this specific one.”

“As I understand it, it's quite simple.”

“Oh so it's something you'd be able to figure out!” Lucifer said sarcastically.

Alastor narrowed his eyes. “However, as simple as it is, maybe it's not simple enough for you, as you have a much smaller mental capacity than I.”

“Wow. What an original comeback,” Lucifer deadpanned. “I am devastated.”

“Fuck you,” he growled.

His reply only made the other man snort in an undignified way.

“Shouldn’t royalty behave in a more refined manner?”

“I can do whatever the fuck I want,” Lucifer said as nonchalantly as he could while still laughing.

“Except be intelligent,” Alastor added.

“Please, who needs intelligence when you have a face like mine?” Lucifer gestured to his face, which now wore a lopsided grin.

“Your face is precisely why intelligence would be useful to you.”

Although he’d responded with yet another quip, Alastor was still able to recognize Lucifer’s beauty. He had soft, blemish-free skin, a strong jawline, silky looking and feeling hair, and a certain sparkle in his eyes. This was all objective fact, of course, but Alastor suddenly felt the need to look away from him. The hellish sun must be even hotter than normal because his face was warm now.

“Well we can’t all have beauty and brains like you,” Lucifer responded.

Alastor snapped his head back to look at Lucifer with a loud crack! from his neck. “What was that?”

“Uhhhh…” Lucifer’s entire face was bathed in bright gold; even his ears were flushed. “Y-you heard me. I s-s-said what I said.”

Neither of them said anything more and it was definitely hotter out than normal because Alastor was starting to overheat. He had his tail tucked into his pants, so he took off his overcoat and magicked it back to his room, then rolled up his shirt sleeves.

There. That’s better.

He took another peek at Lucifer and caught him staring at his arms. He'd done the same thing when they were cooking together, too [a/n: ref chap 10].

Alastor cleared his throat. “Why are you looking at my arms?”

The fallen angel choked on seemingly nothing and his mouth helplessly opened and shut several times. Alastor raised his eyebrows at him and crossed his arms, waiting for him to pull himself together.

After about another minute of the feeble display, Alastor stopped walking and said, “You are so very articulate.”

Lucifer stopped too after a moment and turned around to look at him.

Alastor said, “I asked you a question. Are you not going to answer it?”

“I-I…” Lucifer was finally capable of making sound. “I wasn’t… looking? A-at your arms?”

Alastor scoffed. “You’d think the Sin of Pride would be able to lie better.”

“Wh-wh-what do you want me to say??”

“The truth.”

Lucifer sighed and rubbed his face with both hands, then, with his hands still covering his face, said, “I-it’s just… weird. To see your arms. J-just ‘cause they’re always c-covered. S-so there. I was looking because it’s w-weird to see them.”

When Alastor didn’t say anything, Lucifer slowly removed his hands and looked at him. “Well?”

“Hm.” The demon began to walk again. “Good enough.”

“Th-that’s it?” Lucifer hurried to catch up with him. “Y-you’re not gonna, like, tell me I’m weird and to go away?”

“Heavens no!” Alastor laughed. “You are weird, but I’m not going to make you go away because of it. What kind of a friend would that make me?”

The other man smiled softly and the two fell into another silence, only this time, it wasn’t uncomfortable.

Lucifer

Lucifer really needed to get himself under control. He couldn’t believe that Alastor had caught him staring at his arms! That was so embarrassing and he wanted to die. It was incredibly lucky that Alastor didn’t seem weirded or grossed out from it, but that didn’t help any.

He looked at Alastor out of the corner of his eye. The demon appeared to be perfectly content with everything right now – he was even humming. Unfortunately, he still had his radio filter on over it. Lucifer loved how his natural voice sounds, and he loved his singing voice even more.

Realizing what he was just thinking about, Lucifer choked on air and looked away. He could feel Alastor’s amused gaze on him, but he refused to look back – he didn’t trust himself to be any less awkward and seeing that perfect face would not help matters.

“I’ve noticed you sometimes choke on nothing,” Alastor said. “Why is that?”

Still not looking at him, Lucifer replied, “E-everyone does that sometimes.”

“No one quite as much as you!” Alastor laughed. “It is truly astonishing how much of an awkward mess you are!”

Lucifer frowned and finally looked at Alastor just to glare at him. “I’m not always an awkward mess!”

“I have yet to see any evidence of that.”

“...Jackass.”

Alastor’s infectious laugh got to him, and he couldn’t help but chuckle a little too.

He’s too much of a fuckin’ charming asshole.

The rest of the walk was fairly uneventful, a few more jabs at each other, some actual conversation, and Lucifer embarrassed himself a couple more times. When they finally made it back to the hotel, it was almost time to play that drinking game Charlie talked about.

He was excited for it – Alastor was a bit of a jerk, but he wasn’t entirely wrong about him being happy that young people wanted to spend time with an ancient being like him. He likely wouldn’t drink enough to actually affect him, as he did have the physical makeup of an angel, but he was still a little bit nervous about embarrassing himself. [a/n: whaaat? He never embarrasses himself]

“I’m going to my room,” Alastor said once they entered.

“Okay? Is this like when you asked me on the walk and you want me to go with you?” Lucifer teased.

Alastor rolled his eyes and growled. “I already told you I didn’t ask you on the walk, and no, I do not want you to come with me. I’m merely grabbing my jacket and tidying myself up.”

“Okay, okay, just don’t be late for the game.”

“I’m never late.” Alastor grinned and the last part of his sentence became heavy with the radio filter as he melted into shadow.

Lucifer took a few deep breaths and made his way to the lobby to wait for the others. He was determined not to make a fool of himself tonight.

Chapter Text

Alastor

In his room, Alastor quickly unrolled his shirt sleeves and put his jacket back on, smoothing out any wrinkles. He was determined not to think about the walk or about Lucifer, so he kept focusing on little tasks.

I should brush my hair.

I should make sure my makeup’s perfect.

I should sharpen my claws.

Et cetera et cetera. He gave himself enough tasks to keep him busy until it was time for the game, and he had successfully not thought about Lucifer. Until just now, when he was thinking about how he hadn’t been thinking about him.

“Quit it!” he told his shadow when he saw it silently snickering at him. It did stop, but it still had a knowing grin on its face. Alastor wasn’t exactly sure what it was it thought it knew, though. The fact that he’d been thinking about Lucifer more than normal the last few days didn’t mean anything. [a/n: riiight.]

“Don’t make me leave you behind,” Alastor threatened.

His shadow appeared to roll its eyes, but it didn't pull any more funny business.

“That's what I thought.”

Alastor headed out of his room and down the stairs to the lobby. He could have just shadow traveled, but he would kill more time this way. He waited until it just struck the hour to step in. 

He settled down into an armchair that was across the room from where Lucifer was sitting – not that he even noticed the man's presence, of course. Vaggie and Charlie were sharing a couch to Lucifer's right; Angeldust and Husk were sharing a couch to the couple's right; and Niffty clambered onto Alastor's armrest. 

[a/n: layout like this:

                |Vaggie   Charlie|   |Lucifer|

Angeldust

Husk

                |Alastor and Niffty| ]

Charlie stood up and clapped her hands together once to get everyone’s attention. “Alrighty! Now that we have everyone, let’s get started! Today we’re going to play Never Have I Ever, which is why I asked Husk to bring some alcohol out here and-”

“Honey, yer gonna need a lot more alcohol, ‘cause I done a lotta shit in my life and death,” Angeldust interrupted with a wink. Lucifer seemed annoyed at his interruption.

Charlie awkwardly laughed. “I-if we need more, we can get it later, okay, Angel?”

Angeldust shrugged in reply. Lucifer seemed less annoyed now.

“Okay, anyway, um, we’re not going to do points or anything, we’ll just keep going until we feel like it, and to play what we’ll do is take turns saying something we’ve never done, and if you have done it, then you take a drink,” she explained. “So I’ll go first just to show everyone how it works. Never have I ever pushed all the buttons in an elevator! So now you drink if you have done that! Dad.”

Lucifer sheepishly grinned and took a sip, but he was the only one. “Can't believe you're still not over that.”

Angeldust laughed and asked, “Why would ya push all the buttons?”

“Well I’d never done it before and I was really tempted to and I thought maybe Charlie would find it funny since she was only, like, seven, so I let the intrusive thought win and I did it,” Lucifer hurriedly explained himself. He crossed his arms and pouted. “Then she gave me a whole lecture on why it was rude.”

“Because it was!” Charlie exclaimed. “There was another person in there!”

“There was?!” Angeldust loudly cackled.

“It was just her uncle Ozzie! It wasn't even a stranger!”

“He didn't think it was funny either,” Charlie said. 

“He thinks it's funny now!”

“Only because I lectured you!”

“Okay okay.” Lucifer put a hand on his forehead. “Let's just move on – we could argue about this forever.”

Charlie sighed dramatically. “Alright… it's your turn then, Dad.”

“Oh okay uh…” Lucifer rubbed his chin in thought. “Never have I ever… had an emo phase.”

He grinned as Charlie rolled her eyes and took a sip, but she wasn't the only one this time – Niffty and Angeldust also drank.

“Okay Niffty makes sense, but weren't you mafia, Angel?” Husk asked. 

“Well yeah, but that don't mean I can't still have an emo phase, Whiskers,” the spider demon responded, with a slight red flush in his face.

Husk softly smiled – as he only does with Angeldust – and gazed at him adoringly. Alastor rolled his eyes as he tuned out the rest of their conversation. It was ridiculously obvious how much those two liked each other – after all, it was obvious enough for Alastor to notice and he never caught on to that kind of thing. They should stop embarrassing themselves and just enter a courtship already.

Why hasn't that happened yet? Are they worried about me? I don't care what Husker does in his private life.

No matter. It does not concern me.

Alastor stared off into space until Niffty loudly interrupted their conversation with, “My turn now!!”

Charlie laughed, clearly enjoying her enthusiasm, and said, “Okay, Niffty, go ahead!”

Niffty giggled and said, “Never have I ever shown a bug mercy!”

“Oh my darling Niffty,” Alastor said, fondly patting her head as he – and everyone else – drank.

“Not even when ya were alive?” Angeldust asked.

“Never,” she growled. She then laughed maniacally and made everyone else uncomfortable, except for Alastor, who laughed with her. He could feel Lucifer’s gaze on him.

“Uhhh, Alastor! Why don’t you go next?” Charlie asked while chuckling nervously.

He grinned, eliciting a groan from Vaggie. Lucifer didn’t seem to mind. “Hmm. Never have I ever… lost my soul in a poker game!”

He looked at Husk and cackled as he took a sip while staring daggers at Alastor.

“Um, Alastor? Maybe we shouldn’t maliciously target people with this game?” Charlie was trying to be gentle, but all he heard was criticism. “It’s supposed to be a little more… fun.”

Alastor scoffed. “You and your father were targeting each other!”

“It was clearly good-natured,” Vaggie said in support of her girlfriend. “Yours wasn’t.”

“I thought it was funny!” He looked around the room to find only Niffty smiling alongside him. Lucifer looked… disappointed in him. He groaned. “Fine. I’ll try to be nicer about it from now on, but I make no promises.”

Lucifer smiled at him.

“Thank you,” Charlie said sincerely. She turned to face Husk, “Okay, it’s your turn now, and please don’t try to get back at Alastor – I would like this to be a good experience for everyone.”

Husk grumbled while he thought. Finally, he said, “Never have I ever been awake for more than 48 hours at a time.”

Alastor, Lucifer, Niffty, and Charlie all drank. He knew Niffty had because she sometimes just stayed up with him for no reason, and he’d witnessed Charlie stay up multiple nights in a row to work on the hotel, but he hadn’t personally experienced Lucifer stay up that long.

“I presume you’re like your daughter and stay up without realizing it, Lucifer?” Alastor asked out of curiosity and also out of concern.

“Hm? Oh, yeah.” He chuckled and scratched his head. “I just get absorbed in whatever I’m doing, but it doesn't even matter – it’s not like I really even need sleep to live or anything.”

“You should still get sleep though, Dad,” Charlie gently said.

The fallen angel waved a hand. “I know I know, you don’t need to tell me.”

“Okay, Angeldust,” Charlie sighed apprehensively, “it’s your turn.”

“Oh ho ho!” Angeldust laughed as he rubbed his bottom two hands together. “Let’s see here!”

“Please don’t make it too sexual,” Vaggie groaned.

“Don’t worry, sweet cheeks. There ain’t a lotta stuff like that left that I ain’t done before so I can’t even use it.”

“I’m sure you’d find a way,” she grumbled.

He thought for a moment, then smiled and said, “Never have I ever been in an open relationship.”

He looked immediately to Husk, but Lucifer was the only one to drink.

“Lucifer?”

“Dad??”

Lucifer blushed slightly and fidgeted with his drink glass. “Well, I mean, Charlie, you already know your mother and I didn’t have the most traditional relationship…”

“How many people have ya slept with?” Angel eagerly asked.

Vaggie covered Charlie’s ears, who put her hands on top of her girlfriend’s for extra protection. After Charlie couldn’t hear, Lucifer answered, “Uh… I’m not entirely sure of the exact number, but our relationship had been open since the beginning, so probably somewhere around five hundred?”

Husk whistled. “I only been with fifteen at most.”

“I honestly might be close to tying our king here,” Angeldust contributed.

“No one’s surprised by that,” Vaggie said. “Charlie's the only one I've ever been with.”

“I’ve stabbed most of the ones I’ve been with!” Niffty excitedly yelled.

“Ooooooo-kaaay… And what about you, tall, dark, and creepy?” Angeldust leaned towards Alastor. “How many people ya been with?”

A pit formed in Alastor’s stomach, though he wasn’t entirely sure why. He knew this type of thing was something everyone does, but he’d never had the desire to do so before. He didn’t mind being the odd one out – that’s just how it had always been, ever since he was alive – but this had always made him feel inferior, as if he’d missed an important milestone.

He covered it up with a smile and whipped his head to the side, cracking his neck, to glare at the idiotic spider demon. However, before he could say anything, Husk hurriedly pulled Angel back and said, “He’s old-fashioned, remember? Don’t ask him that shit.”

Husk gave Alastor a small nod. [a/n: Husk totally knows Al’s ace] Although Alastor didn’t like being called “old-fashioned”, he was grateful to Husk for helping him avoid the question, but he’d never let him know that.

“Uh…” Vaggie eloquently said. “Is Charlie gonna be safe now? Can I uncover her ears?”

Lucifer nodded vigorously, his face still slightly golden. “I-it’s your turn anyway n-now, right?”

“Uh, yeah.” She removed her hands from Charlie. “It is my turn now, huh? Umm… Never have I ever… sent an anonymous love letter.”

She gazed lovingly at her girlfriend as she drank. Those two were truly sickening sometimes. But Lucifer seemed to enjoy their PDA.

“Husk?!” Angeldust exclaimed. “I had no idea ya were such a romantic!”

Husk hid a sheepish grin behind his glass and said, “There’s a lot you don’t know about me.”

Angeldust tightened the feline’s bowtie while he suggested, “Why don’t ya show me what I don’t know sometime?”

Husk pushed him away playfully, but neither denied nor accepted the offer. Why did every couple – and every soon-to-be couple – have to flirt so much in Alastor’s presence? He rolled his eyes at the pathetic display. He couldn’t wait to retire to his room after this activity was over with.

Lucifer

They’d been at it for about a couple hours now. Husk had cut off Niffty when she couldn’t keep herself balanced on Alastor’s armrest anymore and had to lay on his lap. She was now fast asleep, but Alastor didn’t appear to mind like Lucifer would have thought. There must be something special about Niffty to him.

Everyone else had been becoming inebriated, too, even Husk and Angeldust who already had higher tolerances than normal.

Lucifer was maybe a little buzzed. It was kind of annoying sometimes, the way alcohol didn’t have a huge effect on him unless he drank inane amounts of it, because he wasn’t at the same point as the others and Charlie wouldn’t let him just chug alcohol until he matched them.

Besides himself, Alastor was probably the next most sober – he hadn’t done as much as Lucifer would have thought. Lucifer also couldn’t help but notice that Alastor never drank to doing something even remotely sexual.

Is he a virgin?

He resisted the urge to slap himself to shut up his brain. He needed to focus; Charlie was probably going to decide on what to say soon.

“Oo!” his daughter suddenly squealed. “Never have I ever called someone by the wrong name!”

Everyone except Charlie drank. “Seriously, guys?? How do you forget someone’s name??”

Angeldust shrugged. “I do it on purpose to be mean or to play hard to get sometimes.”

“Names are j-just hard for me,” Lucifer said indignantly.

“They are for me, too, sometimes,” Vaggie agreed.

“I don’t care,” Alastor and Husk said at the same time. Husk did not look happy that that had just happened, and Alastor seemed pleasantly surprised.

“WhatevERRR,” Charlie said. She was adorable when she was drunk – she gained attitude and confidence, but sometimes she also got overly emotional by how much she loves everyone. Adorable.

Charlie tapped Lucifer’s arm a few times. “’S your turn.”

Lucifer snickered. “I think you’re drunk, sweetheart.”

“Mm-mm.” She quickly shook her head to prove her point.

“Sure.” He smiled and fondly patted her arm. “Okay, never have I ever… umm… re-gifted a gift.”

Charlie gasped when Husk and Angeldust both drank. “How- how- how could you do that? Someone gave you something b-because they c-cared and you- you j-just gave it away? That- that’s so-”

She started sobbing. Angeldust reached over to pat her leg once. He said, “If it makes ya feel better, it was something Val gave me and I ain’t keepin’ anythin’ he gives me – unless it’s really nice and expensive I s’pose, then I prolly would.”

Charlie wiped at her eyes and took a few deep breaths. “Wh-what about you, H-Husk? Was it f-from someone that cared a-about you?”

“Uhhh…” Husk trailed off. He looked at Lucifer in such a way that told him the answer.

Just lie to her, Lucifer mouthed.

Husk cleared his throat. “Uh, no. No it wasn’t from anybody special or nothin’.”

“Okay.” Charlie sniffled. “Okay, I g-guess that’s not a-as bad.”

Lucifer squeezed her hand for comfort before looking at Alastor. “Your turn.”

Alastor avoided his eyes quickly and hummed as he thought.

That was weird. Usually he’s waaaay better than me at eye contact.

“Never have I ever…” Alastor’s radio filter wasn’t as strong, and his deep voice resonated with Lucifer’s soul despite being on the opposite side of the room. “Been arrested.”

“Bullshit,” Lucifer said. “There’s no way you were never arrested.”

Alastor grinned. “I was a model citizen and died before the police even started to suspect me of being the serial killer they were looking for.”

“You are a lucky asshole.”

“I was just smart. I didn’t need luck.”

“Whatever.” Lucifer rolled his eyes. “Did any of you ever get arrested?”

“Eh, I did some time, but the family always, uh… convinced them to drop the charges,” Angeldust said.

“I got arrested a few times,” Husk said, but he didn’t elaborate. “Never have I ever… forgotten an anniversary.”

No one drank.

“I think that’s the first time that’s happened, right?” Vaggie asked.

“At least you remember anniversaries even if you don’t remember names,” Charlie mumbled.

Lucifer smiled – she could get hung up on the smallest things and never let them go, like the elevator thing. “How about we move onto Angel?”

Charlie nodded and they waited on Angeldust.

He groaned. “I’m runnin’ outta ideas here.”

“Just take your time and come up with something,” Charlie said.

Angeldust rested his head on one of his lower arms. “Hmmmm… Never have I ever… uhm… played strip poker!”

“You haven’t?” Husk asked as he and Lucifer both took a sip.

“Nope. There was this one film, but we didn’t really play,” Angeldust explained. Then he smiled and looked between the two who had drunk. “But I wouldn’t mind havin’ ya usin’ yer experience to teach me.”

How was Husk supposed to know Angeldust actually liked him if he kept flirting with everybody? Lucifer leaned back and rolled his eyes. He caught Alastor glaring at Angeldust.

Why would he be upset with that? It’s not like Angel’s flirting with him this ti-

Oh.

Lucifer’s heart sank.

He likes Angeldust. That’s why.

I-it’s fine. He can like someone other than me. I already knew he didn’t like me like that. It’s fine. [a/n: aaand he came to the wrong conclusion]

Husk chuckled, taking Lucifer out of his thoughts. “Maybe I’ll teach you regular poker sometime.”

“O-okay.” Angel smiled. “That works.”

Vaggie raised an eyebrow and smirked. “Do it where we don’t have to hear you ‘play poker’.”

“Oh shuddup, Vagina,” he maturely responded.

The former exorcist buried her face in her hands and groaned in frustration. 

“Hey, she clearly doesn't like being called that,” Lucifer said. He knew that Angeldust had done this before, and he decided it was time to put in his two cents. “It's just rude to keep calling her a name she hates.”

Vaggie lifted her head up to look at Lucifer in surprise. “Th-thanks, Lucifer.”

“No problem!” He grinned. “After all, I want all my family members to be happy!”

Vaggie blushed and peeked at Charlie.

“I-I’m sorry, Lucifer,” Angeldust said. He looked ashamed.

“The hotel’s all about second chances, but I’m not the one you should be apologizing to.”

Angeldust looked over at Vaggie and quickly said, “I’m sorry for calling you by the wrong name. Vaggie.”

He looked away again. Vaggie put a hand on one of Angel’s arms. “Thank you. It means a lot to me that you’re trying to be less rude.”

Charlie had been watching the entire exchange with wide, teary eyes, and now she started bawling once more. Again, Lucifer loved the combination of her being an emotional drunk while also becoming more confident and giving attitude.

“Maybe we stop after you do yours, Vaggie,” Lucifer suggested. He didn’t want his daughter to get too drunk and hurt herself.

“Yeah… I think that’s probably for the best,” Vaggie replied. Charlie had buried herself into Vaggie’s chest as she tried to stop crying. Vaggie rubbed her back. “Babe, are you okay to do one more?”

Charlie extracted herself from her girlfriend, wiped her eyes, sniffled, and nodded.

“Okay… Uh… Damn, I’m out of ideas too… I gotta think a bit,” Vaggie said. She furrowed her brow as she tried to think of something. “Never have I ever… oh! Been in love with a man!”

Charlie, Angeldust, Husk, and Lucifer all drank. He glanced at Alastor as he drank, but the other man didn’t drink.

Maybe it’s only a crush?

He hated how much hope he gained from that. It was never going to happen and he needed to get over it.

“DAD??” Charlie sounded like she just discovered something scandalous.

Wait-

“I thought you said that Mom’s the only one you’ve ever been in love with!” She sounded accusatory. “Did you lie to me?!”

He could tell that everyone was staring at him, just watching the drama unfold from the sidelines.

“Uhhhhh…” was all Lucifer could muster. Without thinking, his eyes flicked over to Alastor – the culprit responsible for this whole ordeal. He finally snapped himself out of it and cleared his throat. “N-no, Charlie, I didn’t lie to you when I-I said that, it’s j-just changed since then.”

“I want you to tell me aaaalllll about ‘im, Dad.” She yawned and cuddled up into Vaggie. “Tomorrow. After I gets me some sleepies.”

Thank fuck. I so don’t want to do this now, and in front of everyone.

“O-okay, sweetheart.”

Maybe she’s drunk enough that she won’t remember it tomorrow.

Okay maybe he was a horrible father for thinking that, but he was just so embarrassed by the whole being-in-love-with-Alastor situation and he didn’t need Charlie knowing about it. She would probably try to help him get with Alastor, and that was the exact opposite of what would actually need to happen.

He downed the rest of his drink, then teleported to his room to get away from it all.

Alastor

Alastor learned a lot of pointless information from the game of Never Have I Ever, but not all of it was useless. He learned he didn’t like Angeldust flirting with Lucifer, though he had no idea why and should probably look into that later, but he also learned that Lucifer was either currently or recently in love with someone other than his wife.

Interesting.

That had been his first thought when he saw Lucifer drink after Vaggie’s statement. His next thoughts were focused on how to find out who it was and how he could somehow use that information against Lilith.

Chapter Text

Lucifer

When Lucifer woke up, he felt strangely well rested. Then he remembered the previous night and he suddenly felt like he should go to sleep again.

Lucifer buried his face into his pillow and groaned. He couldn’t believe that he hadn’t stopped to think that he shouldn’t drink to being in love with a man. Now everyone knew, and it’d only be a matter of time before he accidentally said something that made it obvious it was Alastor he was in love with.

And Charlie wanted him to tell her all about whoever he was in love with and he wouldn’t be able to lie to her. He could only hope she didn’t remember last night, even though that was a horrible thing for him to hope for.

“You left quite quickly last night,” a voice with a radio filter suddenly said.

“FUCK!” Lucifer exclaimed as he rapidly sat up. Once he saw Alastor’s shit-eating grin, he groaned. “Oh it’s just you. What are you doing in my room?”

“You’re not excited to see a friend?”

“Not when that ‘friend’ shows up unannounced in my bedroom.” Lucifer stared at Alastor and waited for the explanation. “Well? What are you doing here?”

“I merely wanted to chat about some of the interesting tidbits that were revealed last evening.” Alastor smiled.

Lucifer sighed. “Okay. Fine. Me first. Why were you glaring at Angeldust last night when he was flirting with me and Husk?”

Alastor tensed up for a moment before relaxing. “I… don’t know and I haven’t figured it out yet.”

“Do you have any semblance of an idea why?”

“Hmm.” The demon furrowed his brows as he appeared to genuinely think about it. “Perhaps I didn’t like him flirting with you because I know he and Husk like each other and it’s annoying that they keep dancing around it.”

Lucifer gaped at him. “YOU KNOW??”

Alastor rolled his eyes. “Unfortunately, they are exceedingly obvious about their feelings. Trust me, I would rather not know as I do not care about these things.”

“You don’t care?”

“No?”

“Angel was worried you’d, like, make Husk go away or something.”

“If I were to send him away, it would be for something more entertaining.”

Lucifer swallowed. “So you weren’t jealous or anything?”

“Jealous of what?”

“That he was flirting with somebody other than you?”

“Heavens no!” Alastor flicked his wrist. “I much prefer it when he doesn’t do that – it’s quite annoying and I’m actually grateful that he’s directed his efforts towards others as opposed to me recently.”

Lucifer nearly sighed in relief, which was stupid since just because Alastor didn’t like Angeldust, didn’t mean that he would like Lucifer.

“Why do you care if I was jealous anyhow?” Alastor asked.

“Uh…” Lucifer cleared his throat. “B-because I want H-Husk and Angel to be t-together and if you liked h-him then that would g-get in the way?”

The demon rolled his eyes. “Why do you want that?”

“Just ‘cause I think they’d be happier if they were together romantically.”

“Hm. Speaking of romance…”

Lucifer put his face in his hands and groaned. He could hear Alastor’s grin as he continued, “Are you still in love with this mystery man?”

“Why should I tell you? I thought you didn’t care about these kinds of things,” Lucifer said.

“I typically don’t, but I am… intrigued this time. So?”

Lucifer felt his face heat up and he chewed his lower lip before finally saying, “...Yes. Unfortunately.”

“‘Unfortunately’?”

“I don’t even like the guy!” Lucifer said.

Well. That was a lie; Lucifer liked a lot about Alastor. He just didn’t like that he was in love with him.

“Then why are you in love?” Alastor asked.

Lucifer laughed scornfully. “Because love doesn’t make sense. Life would be so much easier if it did, but it doesn’t and life sucks.”

“You think your life sucks? Well that’s an utterly ridiculous thought.”

“Hey! I know my life doesn’t suck it just feels that way sometimes.” Lucifer looked away. “You don’t need to call it ridiculous.”

“I didn’t realize it would cause such a reaction.”

Lucifer looked back at Alastor to see the other man’s eyes carefully studying him.

“Okay, seriously, get out of my room now,” Lucifer said, throwing a pillow at him.

Alastor easily dodged. “But we’re in the middle of a conversation!”

“And we can have it later. Get out.”

Alastor scoffed. “All this from one little comment about how your life doesn’t suck?”

Lucifer rolled his eyes. “It’s not just that. It’s early and I’m too tired to talk about this, okay?”

“So be it.”

Alastor melted into darkness and disappeared from the room. Lucifer kind of already missed him – he liked talking to Alastor, even if it was about something so embarrassing.

He sighed and rubbed his face. He finally got himself out of bed and went through his morning routine. He still needed to find out how much Charlie remembered from last night. He was not looking forward to this.

He steeled himself and went to the lobby where he thought Charlie might be. He turned the corner and… nothing. No one. Husk wasn’t even at the bar.

Where is everybody?

Lucifer started checking all the different lounges on the different floors, but he couldn’t find anyone. Then it hit him. They were all hungover and still sleeping.

“Ugghhh…”

Now he had to wait even longer to find out what Charlie remembered!

Alastor’s probably the only one awake right now…

“Alright then,” Lucifer said out loud. “Guess I’ve got nothing to do other than to talk to Alastor. And myself I guess.”

He teleported outside Alastor’s bedroom door and knocked.

Alastor

Lucifer had been avoidant with Alastor’s questions that morning, but at least he found out that Lucifer was still in love with this mystery man – that would hurt Lilith more than if he had only recently been in love with someone else.

Perhaps it’s someone I would know and that’s why he’s withholding.

Alastor knew a lot of sinners – it came with being an Overlord – but he knew Lucifer wouldn’t. So the object of his affections was likely someone who was demon royalty. Lucifer had said the Sins were like family to him, so that would only leave someone from the Goetia, which was still a fairly large group, but at least he had narrowed it down some.

He was mulling this over as he walked down to the lobby, when he heard a knock come from the front door. Seeing that there was absolutely no one awake and nearby, he sighed and took it upon himself to open the door. [a/n: wow how noble]

“Rosie!” Alastor exclaimed upon seeing who it was. “What are you doing here, darling?”

Rosie did not smile at him, and instead punched his arm. Hard.

“What was that for?” Alastor asked as calmly as he could, which wasn’t very.

She scoffed. “Are you serious? Mister, you came to me asking for a bunch of potions and elixirs and you made it seem like you were going on some sort of suicide mission and I’ve had to go days without hearing from you and I’d starting thinking the worst had happened!”

Alastor decided that she may have had a point. “I apologize, my dear, I should have told you I was perfectly fine after everything went down.”

Rosie gently pushed past Alastor into the hotel and said, “To make it up to me, you can tell me what happened.”

He groaned. “You don’t need to know what happened – I’m fine.”

“Are you?” She glanced at his chest.

“Yes,” Alastor said tersely. “Better than fine, actually.”

“Well I want you to prove it. Tell me everything.”

Alastor rolled his eyes, said, “Fine,” and led Rosie to his room.

Chapter Text

Alastor

“Why don’t you ever listen to me? I’ve always said –”

“‘That Mimzy is a bitch’” Alastor said with Rosie. “Yes, I know what you think, my dear, but if she had intended for this to happen, she would have been here. She would rather be with whoever’s protecting her rather than wait somewhere else.”

Rosie scoffed and rolled her eyes. “That doesn’t mean she’s not still a horrible bitch.”

Alastor didn’t think Mimzy was all that bad, but the two would never agree on her – that was just the way it had always been and the way it would always be.

“Anyway,” Alastor continued, “after the fight, I… was not in great shape, and my traitorous shadow grabbed Lucifer and he healed me, even though it was unnecessary.”

Rosie’s giggle from looking at something behind him told him that his shadow had just rolled its nonexistent eyes.

“So is it completely healed now?” she asked.

Alastor nodded. “Correct. You can’t tell it was ever there either.”

“That’s great! Thank you, darling, for telling me what happened, I know you didn’t want to.”

He hummed indifferently, to which Rosie rolled her eyes.

“Well now that that’s all out of the way,” she said, propping her chin on her hand. “Anything a lil’ more entertaining happen around the hotel since we've last spoken?”

She was clearly looking for gossip judging from the glint in her eye.

Alastor said, “Well, we did play Never Have I Ever last night.”

Rosie gasped in excitement. “Oh my stars! There must have been so many juicy details dropped!”

Alastor tsked disdainfully. “Unfortunately not. The only thing of note is that Lucifer is in love with a man right now.”

“Oh?” Rosie raised her eyebrows. “I wouldn’t think that would be something ‘of note’ to you, Alastor.”

“It normally wouldn’t,” Alastor said, his face uncharacteristically heating up. “However, if I can use the information well, it could help me out with something else.”

“And what’s that?”

“I… can’t say. If I could, I would tell you.”

“Hmm.” Rosie narrowed her eyes in thought before relaxing her face. “Ohhh. Is this related to why you can’t tell me where you were for seven years?”

Alastor nodded.

“I see.”

Rosie probably had it figured out, which was fine – it was not part of his and Lilith’s deal that he couldn’t give people hints about the deal, only that he couldn’t talk about it.

“So…” Rosie said. “Who’s he in love with?”

“I don’t know yet,” Alastor responded. “I have it narrowed down to the Goetia, but that’s still a rather large group.”

She raised an eyebrow. “The Goetia? Are you sure?” [a/n: reminder that Rosie knows who Lucifer is in love with – reference chap 15]

“Quite. He doesn’t know many sinners and has said on multiple occasions that the other Sins are like family.”

“You’re… sure it’s not one of the few sinners he knows?”

“Yes.” He was starting to get annoyed at Rosie not believing him – he knew what he was talking about (he didn’t). “His only reason for hiding it from me must mean that it’s likely someone I also know, and the only overlap there would be between our circles of sinners would be those at the hotel, and the only men there are Husk and Angeldust, who he wants to get together.”

Rosie put up her hands but didn’t drop her smile. “You’ve clearly thought about this a lot. Is the only reason to use the information to help you out?”

Alastor cocked his head to the side. “What other reason could there possibly be?”

She sat back in her chair and observed him. “I was just curious – clearly there isn’t.”

“You clearly think there is-”

KNOCK KNOCK

They both looked at the door.

“Excuse me,” Alastor said as politely as he could and walked to the door. When he opened it, he saw Lucifer. “Speak of the devil.”

Lucifer rolled his eyes. “Haha. Very funny.”

Alastor hadn’t even realized – he was just using the phrase, but he wasn’t going to let Lucifer know that. Smiling, he replied, “Yes, I do like to think of myself as being very funny as well.”

“It was sarcasm. You’re not funny at all.”

“You’ve genuinely laughed before at my words, so I would have to disagree.”

“Ok well-”

“Alastor?” Rosie called out. “Is that His Majesty I hear?”

He’d forgotten she was there.

“Oh. Sorry I didn’t know you had company it’s just that no one else is up so I thought maybe we could talk or hang out or something so that I wouldn’t be bored but I’ll just go and not bother you then,” Lucifer said hurriedly.

As the other man turned around, Alastor grabbed onto his apple cane to stop him from leaving. “Nonsense. You can join us.”

“You… you sure?”

Alastor scoffed. “I wouldn’t offer if I wasn’t.”

Lucifer smiled softly and carefully made his way into the room. He nodded at Rosie. “Good to see you again, Rosie!”

Rosie rose out of her seat and curtsied. “A pleasure as always, Your Majesty.”

“Oh, please.” Lucifer waved a hand. “No need to use titles or anything. You can just call me Lucifer.”

“Alright then, ‘Lucifer’ it is!” Rosie grinned. “Sit, sit! Alastor was just telling me about your game of Never Have I Ever!”

Alastor rolled his eyes. Rosie was an expert when it came to romance, so she would likely be able to figure it out, but she couldn’t have used a little more tact or subtlety?

Really? Alastor conveyed with his face.

Rosie smiled and gave him a look that said, Just trust me.

If you say so.

Lucifer nervously laughed and stared at her as he sat down in an armchair. “O-oh? Wha- Which parts- um… Wh-what have you be- you two b-been talking about e-exactly?”

“Don’t worry too much about it – we were merely hypothesizing about something you revealed during the game.”

The king appeared to relax ever so slightly. “J-just making guesses?”

Rosie nodded.

She knows something, doesn’t she?

Alastor suspiciously looked between the other two. Rosie knew something and Lucifer knew that she knew. Fuck it. If Rosie wasn’t going to be subtle, then he wasn’t going to be either.

“It seems as though you two have had this conversation before,” Alastor said, not liking that he wasn’t in the know with them.

Lucifer froze in place, but Rosie smoothly said, “No. Not exactly, anyway.”

Alastor narrowed his eyes. He was going to figure this out – whether they liked it or not. “And what exactly have you spoken about?”

Rosie glanced at Lucifer, who looked petrified. “I don’t think I’m at liberty to say, dear.”

“You know who it is, don’t you?”

She didn’t say anything, and Lucifer somehow looked even more uncomfortable.

The demon scoffed. “You know and you won’t tell me?”

“Darling. If Lucifer doesn’t want you to know, then it’s not my place to say anything.”

Alastor folded his arms and pouted as much as he could while still smiling. “Fine. Be that way. I don’t care about it anyway.”

Rosie shot him a look that said, Bullshit. He shot back one that said, I don’t need the information.

She raised an eyebrow at him.

“I…” Lucifer had moved enough to make noise, but he still appeared stuck in place. He cleared his throat. “Th-there’s clearly something g-going on between you t-two, so… I’m just gonna…”

He got up and started inching towards the door. “Yeah… I’m j-just gonna go.”

Lucifer whipped around and left quickly, as though he thought Alastor was going to stop him again, but he was too focused on Rosie’s betrayal.

“You’ve always indulged me in details before whether or not someone wanted me to know,” Alastor said a few moments after the former angel left. “Why do you have a problem with it now?”

“It’s different this time,” she said simply.

He waited for her to elaborate. When she didn’t, he asked, “And why is that?”

“Well he’s the King, for one.”

Right. Alastor always knew that in the back of his head, but with how much time he’d spent with Lucifer, it was easy to forget that that could actually come with consequences for others if the man so desired.

After a brief period of silence, Alastor grumbled, “While I suppose I understand where you’re coming from, it is still annoying that you won’t say. I think I’d prefer it if you left now.”

“Al…” Rosie started.

“I don’t want to say anything I’ll regret, so it’s best if you leave.”

Rosie looked at him with just a twinge of pity (which he resented) and got up. With her hand on the handle, she turned back and said, “Until next time?”

Alastor nodded. “Until next time.”

Chapter Text

Lucifer

Lucifer pouted in his room. He’d gone to Alastor’s room to alleviate his boredom, which technically worked, since he was now incredibly anxious instead of bored.

On one hand, he was glad that Rosie wouldn’t tell Alastor that he’s in love with him, but on the other hand, there was now a rift in their relationship because of him. Lucifer felt like he should tell Alastor to mend his friendship with Rosie, but he didn’t want to risk his own friendship with Alastor by exposing his feelings either. If he was a good person, he would take the risk. But he wasn’t. There was a reason he was thrown out of Heaven after all.

He sighed and sat on his bed.

Everything in his life was so fucking complicated! Why did he have to be so bad? Why wasn’t he able to be good for once in his life? He was too bad to be an angel, yet still too good to be The Devil everyone expected, and sometimes even wanted, him to be.

Lucifer flopped onto his back and stared blankly at the ceiling.

Great. More depression. Just what I needed.

His mind eventually slowed down and he became numb. He was just starting to drift off to sleep, when he heard knocking on his bedroom door. His stomach sank.

Is Charlie up now?

Steeling himself, Lucifer pulled himself up and opened the door, but it wasn’t Charlie. It was Alastor.

“I-I’m sorry f-for everything w-with Rosie,” he said right away. That was probably why Alastor was here anyway, right? To get mad at him for ruining his friendship with Rosie? [a/n: it’ll take a lot more than that to ruin their bond]

Alastor’s smile tightened and he took a moment to respond. “It’s alright.”

“Really?”

“Hmm. No, not really, but it will be. Eventually.”

“I-I am sorry. I swear,” Lucifer said. “It’s just- it’s embarrassing and I-I’d really rather n-not have it known.”

“While I understand, I am still a little… unhappy with not knowing.” Alastor pushed past Lucifer and into his room. “Tell me about yourself.”

“Wh-what?”

“When I was helping you in your isolation, I told you about myself and you said you would do the same for me later,” Alastor explained [a/n: ref chap 20]. “So either tell me about yourself or tell me who you’re in love with.”

That was… unexpected.

Lucifer realized he was still standing holding the door open, so he hastily closed it and turned to face Alastor.

He rubbed his neck and said, “W-well, I don’t know how much there really is to tell, everyone a-already knows all the interesting parts of my life.”

“You’re talking about the fall?” Alastor asked as he settled into an armchair that was, mostly, free of rubber ducks.

Lucifer nodded. “And you already know about Charlie, too.”

Alastor shrugged. “Then tell me about the less interesting parts.”

“I know you like entertainment.” Lucifer scoffed. “You don’t really want to hear about that.”

“Don’t tell me what I do and don’t want to hear.” The demon narrowed his eyes in a way that dared him to say it again. Lucifer was really tempted, but he didn’t. Instead, he cleared the armchair on the other side of Alastor and sat down.

“Okay fine,” he said. “Um… Is there anything… specific you want to know? I’ve been alive for kind of a long time, so I don’t even know where to start.”

Alastor twirled his cane beside the chair as he thought. “I told you about my mother, do you have one?”

Lucifer smiled scornfully. “Nope, I am stuck with just a father, who hates me. Just like all my siblings.”

“Hm. My father also hated me, and while I never had any siblings, I doubt that all of yours hate you.”

“Considering everyone threw me out, I’m gonna go out on a limb and say they hate me.”

“Charlie said Sera was quite civil to her, so perhaps that’s not the case. Anymore, at least,” Alastor suggested.

“Well Charlie’s awesome, so that makes sense. It doesn’t say anything about me.”

Alastor put his hands up. “If you insist.” He hesitated for only a moment before continuing, “Did… you like it better in Heaven?”

He was about to answer, “Yes,” but then realized that wasn’t quite true. 

“I miss Heaven but… if I hadn’t gone to Hell, then I never would’ve had Charlie, and she’s the most important thing to have happened to me ever. It’s not the worst here either – I don’t have to try to follow any rules, since I can just make them all up, and my family here has grown so much.”

Alastor picked at his claws. “Would you say family is very important to you?”

“Yeah, it is. I just wish my family in Heaven would have liked me as much as I like them.”

“You still like them after they violently threw you out?” Alastor asked incredulously.

Lucifer fidgeted with some rubber ducks that he’d put on the armchair. “I was so angry at them for so long, and I tried my best to hate them, but it’s hard to let the one bad event that happened overshadow all the good times we had together. It just… hurts more now to think about them.”

“Hm.” Alastor furrowed his brows in thought. “I can not relate, as my mother was always great, and my father had abused us for years before he… did something irreversible and I killed him for it.”

“You killed your own father?”

The other man nodded curtly. “Yes. He… deserved it, to say the least.”

“I w-won’t force you to talk about anything you don’t want to, but… what did he… do?”

“Like I said, he abused my mother and me.” Alastor set his jaw. “My mother meant more to me than anything. And he- he killed her. So I killed him.”

“That’s… awful. I’m sorry that happened to you.”

“Don’t be sorry for me,” Alastor growled. “I don’t need it.”

Lucifer put up his hands. “Fine, I take it back. I just can’t imagine that – my father was never really in my life and I could never do anything even remotely close to that to Charlie.”

Alastor relaxed ever so slightly. “I know. You’re a good father.”

The king smiled softly at him. “Thanks. Um… Was there anything else? I think I’ve learned more about you than you have about me.”

“Not right now.” Alastor stood up. “We can continue this later. I am going to go talk to Rosie now that I’m calmer.”

“O-okay, um. See you later, then.”

Alastor nodded in acknowledgement as he started melting into the shadows.

Lucifer leaned back into his chair. He had no idea about anything Alastor’s dad did before today. He was surprised that Alastor shared something that personal with him, but he was also very upset by it.

Humans had so many horrible things happen to each other, and they would not have had to deal with any of it if he had never given them free will. At the same time, the Alastor he was currently in love with would have been different if he’d never gone through any of that. No, that wasn’t worth the pain Alastor had. He deserved better than that. He deserved better than Lucifer.

Chapter Text

Alastor

Alastor decided to walk to Cannibal Town. He could have shadow traveled, but he needed time to plan what exactly he was going to say to Rosie. He couldn’t possibly apologize to her for how he acted, but he couldn’t blame it all on her either – that would not go over well.

He grumbled. It would be so much easier to think of what to say if he didn’t keep thinking about Lucifer instead. He didn’t know what had possessed him to go speak to Lucifer after his argument with Rosie. He just wanted to see him. When Alastor found himself at his door, he figured he may as well keep trying to find out who Lucifer was in love with, but then Lucifer had seemed as though he were giving himself such a hard time – which could have worked for Alastor if he’d kept pushing, but it hadn’t seemed like a good idea for whatever reason. He didn’t want to hurt him.

Focus!

He was nearly at Cannibal Town and he still had no idea what he was going to say once he got there. It was rare that he wasn’t able to come up with a game plan, and he was decidedly not enjoying it. Alastor would need to have another conversation with Lucifer when he got back to fix this.

And… Alastor just made it to Cannibal Town. And he hadn’t thought of anything. Great.

He cleared his mind as best as he could and made his way to Rosie’s Emporium. He could just improvise.

The Emporium was unusually empty, meaning Rosie spotted Alastor as soon as he stepped foot into the shop.

“It’s been less than a day! Did you miss me that much?” Rosie smiled and laughed, but she approached him with caution. “Have you had enough time to…”

“Calm down?” Alastor finished for her. “Yes.”

Rosie waited for him to continue. Alastor tapped his claws along his cane.

“I… understand that Lucifer is the King, and you don’t wish to cross him,” Alastor said slowly, thinking of what he was going to say as he was speaking. “So I will… forgive you. For hiding something that could help me. So long as you don’t do it again.”

Rosie visibly relaxed. “Thank you. And I forgive you for freaking out right away instead of hearing me out.”

Alastor nodded in acknowledgement. “Tea?” he suggested.

“I thought you’d never ask!” Rosie laughed and took his arm to lead him to a back room.

Neither of them had actually apologized, but Alastor trusted that she was sorry and he knew that she was doing the same. They’d been friends for so long that it would have been silly to stay mad at each other for something as small as this.

Lucifer

Lucifer braved leaving his room again. He couldn’t stay there forever just to avoid an awkward conversation with Charlie.

It was nearly midday now, and there was definitely more activity than there had been earlier in the day. Charlie wasn’t in the lobby, so he went to the kitchen, and there she was with Vaggie, the two making themselves some coffee in their pajamas.

“Good morning, sweetheart!” Lucifer greeted.

Charlie and Vaggie both winced. Charlie held a hand to her temple and croaked, “Could you be a little quieter? Maybe? If you feel like it?”

He hadn’t spoken any louder than normal – she must be having a rough hangover. He whispered, “Sorry. How bad is it?”

His daughter groaned. “It’s gotta be one of the worst hangovers I’ve ever had. How much did I have to drink last night?”

“A lot,” Vaggie and Lucifer said at the same time.

“I don’t even remember anything past my turn when I said I’d never called somebody by the wrong name,” she said as Vaggie passed her a cup of coffee, which she clung onto like it was the meaning of life.

Thank all that is unholy that she doesn’t remember.

Now that he didn’t have to be worried anymore, he could tease her! Lucifer grinned. “You started bawling when Husk and Angeldust said that they’d regifted gifts before.”

“Noooooooo…” Charlie covered her face with one of her hands. “Did I really cry in front of everyone?”

“Yeah, but it was cute, babe. I promise,” Vaggie contributed, patting her girlfriend’s arm.

“And you didn’t really miss much,” Lucifer added, hoping Vaggie would catch on.

“Really?” Charlie removed her hand and looked at Vaggie.

Vaggie glanced at Lucifer for a moment before replying, “Yeah, you didn’t miss anything.”

“That’s not so bad, I guess.” She topped off her coffee. “I’m gonna go back to bed.”

“I’ll join you,” Vaggie said. “You go on ahead, I’ll come up with snacks.”

Charlie smiled and kissed Vaggie on the top of the head. “You’re the best!”

Vaggie smiled softly and watched as she left the kitchen. Once she was out, Vaggie looked at Lucifer and raised an eyebrow. “Well?”

Lucifer nervously chuckled. “W-Well what?”

She rolled her eyes. “You know what. Why am I lying to my girlfriend for you?”

“I…” He took a deep breath. “I-It’s embarrassing a-and I’m not r-really… ready to talk to h-her about it y-yet.”

“Okay,” Vaggie sighed. “Just don’t take very long to tell her. I don’t want to keep secrets from her anymore.”

“Thank you. I promise I’ll do it soon…ish.”

She rolled her eyes and started gathering snacks. “I’ll give you two months before I tell her myself.”

“Two months?? That’s… very g-generous of you.”

If Vaggie were going to give him a deadline, Lucifer would have expected a deadline of a week or two.

She paused. “I understand how difficult it is to come clean about something, so I want to give you plenty of time to do it, but it’ll be better for you and Charlie if you do it sooner rather than later.” She grinned. “So… who is it?”

Lucifer covered his face with his hands as his cheeks started to flush. “That’s the embarrassing part…”

“That just makes me want to know more!” Vaggie laughed.

“If I’m not ready to tell my own daughter, I’m not ready to tell you,” he said as he removed his hands from his face and rolled his eyes.

“Alright fine…” Vaggie smiled as she moved to leave the kitchen with a horde of snacks. “But seriously, don’t take too long to do it.”

“I won’t.”

A pit formed in his stomach when he realized that he was going to push the deadline for it instead of being smart and just telling Charlie sooner.

How can she trust me if I keep this from her?

He breathed in and out. It would be fine. It would have to be. He wouldn't be able to handle it if it didn't turn out fine.

Lucifer moved into the lobby and sat in an armchair to think about what he was going to do.

Alastor

Alastor marched into the hotel to confront Lucifer. He didn't yet know how he was going to approach this, especially since he didn't tell Rosie about Lucifer being stuck in his head to get advice, but he'd improvised the conversation with Rosie, he could improvise another one.

He didn’t have to wait long to speak with him, as he was right in the lobby.

“Lucifer!” Alastor called out. “We need to talk.”

“Ugh,” Lucifer groaned and curled up in his armchair more. “What now?”

“I merely wish to know what you did,” Alastor answered.

“What do you mean?” Lucifer sighed.

Alastor growled. “You know what.”

“I don’t. Why don’t you just tell me?” Lucifer rolled his eyes.

Alastor narrowed his eyes. “You did something to me.”

The king furrowed his brows in confusion. “What? What did I do?”

“You must have placed some sort of hex on me, and I would like to know what it is.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. Did someone do something to you? What’s happening?” Lucifer sat up in his seat and was looking increasingly concerned.

Does he really have nothing to do with this?

“Does that mean you’re… not making me think about you?” Alastor asked, though he regretted it the moment it came out of his mouth. He didn’t really want Lucifer to know about that.

Lucifer’s face quickly gained a golden hue and he stammered, “Y-You’re thinking about m-me? Like- like i-in what way?”

“It’s not as though I think about something in particular about you, I just think about you in general and it annoys me.”

Lucifer scoffed. “It annoys you to think about me?”

The demon grinned. “Of course it does – you’re an annoying man.”

“Well as much as you might hate it, I don’t think there’s a hex on you, buddy,” Lucifer said with a smirk. “I think you’re just thinking about a friend because you care about me.”

“Nonsense.” Alastor flicked his wrist.

Shrugging, the other man sang, “If you say so.”

Alastor snarled at his accusation and shadow traveled back to his room. It was impossible for the reason behind him thinking about Lucifer so much to just be that he’s a friend. Rosie was his closest friend, and he never thought about her that much. If Lucifer hadn’t done this to him, then who did? What was happening to him? [a/n: I might have a few ideas lol]

Chapter Text

Lucifer

Heeheehee he thinks about meeeee!

Lucifer was much more excited about this than he should have been. So what if Alastor thought about him? They’re friends. It made sense.

That didn’t stop him from feeling giddy and wanting to kick his feet and giggle. Lucifer groaned and hid his burning face in his hands. This was so stupid!

“Uhhh… Lucifer, are ya okay?” Angeldust asked out of nowhere.

Lucifer jumped and realized that he hadn’t left the lobby to freak out about this, and now Angeldust had seen him. He said, “Uh, yup! Yup yup yup! I am… all good! One hundred percent!”

“Riiiight.” The spider demon did not seem to be buying it. “Anyway, I was just gonna go to the bar… Um, did ya wanna come with?”

“Sure.” Maybe some alcohol would calm him down. “Wait, did you not get enough alcohol last night?”

“Pshh I get drunk every night, last night was nothin’.” Angel waved his hand in dismissal.

“That… doesn’t seem very healthy,” Lucifer said.

Angeldust clenched his jaw. “It’s fine. Now are ya comin’ or not?”

Apparently he had unknowingly hit a sore spot. “S-Sorry, yeah, I’m coming.”

He scrambled out of his chair and followed Angeldust to the bar, trying not to think too much about the awkward silence.

As Angeldust easily sat down at the bar, Lucifer climbed a barstool to get seated. Husk groaned once they were seated.

“Angeldust, what’re you doin’ here? You had enough last night,” he chastised.

At least someone agrees with me.

Angel tucked a piece of hair behind an imaginary ear and avoided eye contact. “Well I don’t really need any alcohol, I just wanna talk with ya…”

Lucifer gaped at Angel, but the spider demon’s attention seemed to be entirely on Husk. Why didn’t Angeldust get upset with Husk for saying that like he did with Lucifer? He knew Angel had a crush on Husk, but Lucifer was just trying to help too. He rolled his eyes.

Whatever.

“I’ll still take something,” Lucifer said. “My alcohol tolerance is much higher, being a seraphim and all, so I didn’t get drunk at all last night.”

Husk raised an eyebrow, but got to work making him a drink.

“Thank you.” Lucifer took the drink Husk passed him and sipped at it. “That’s really good!”

Husk nodded, then focused on Angeldust. He leaned against the bar counter, almost like he was trying to be closer to him. “Alright. Whaddya wanna talk about?”

“Hmm.” Angeldust tapped his chin with a finger. “I ever tell ya ‘bout the time I called a guy bein’ gay five years before he knew?”

“No, but it must’ve been really obvious to get it five years before or he knew the whole time and didn’t say anythin’.”

Angel sat forward and grinned. “Neither. My gaydar is just that good.”

Husk chuckled, but Lucifer furrowed his brows and asked, “What’s a ‘gaydar’?”

“Ya don’t know??” Angeldust’s eyebrows shot up incredulously. Once Lucifer shook his head, the spider demon explained, “It’s a gay radar. Ya can tell if someone’s gay just from their vibes.”

“Oooohh. I think I understand now. Does it only work on some people or does it work on everyone?”

“Everyone.”

“That’s not true,” Husk said, rolling his eyes. “There are some people that you just can't tell.”

“Not for me,” Angeldust sang as he propped his chin on his upper two hands.

“Bullshit.”

“One look at you and I knew you were pan.”

“That's not exactly a difficult conclusion.”

“What's pan?” Lucifer asked. He regretted asking as soon as the other two looked at him like he was stupid.

“It's a sexuality where gender don't matter for attraction,” Husk explained.

“It’s similar to bein’ bi, like you,” Angeldust chipped in.

“Bi…”

“Are ya not?” Angel asked in disbelief.

Husk laughed. “No, he’s definitely bi – he just don’t know what it means again!”

“I know what it means! It’s uh, it’s…” Lucifer licked his lips as he tried to make up something.

“Ya don’t like just one gender,” Angeldust said, smiling. “Yer daughter’s the same way.”

Lucifer nodded. “Yeah, I remember her ex-boyfriend. He was the son of some family friends but he was kinda a piece of shit to her. I’m so glad she’s got someone like Vaggie now.”

Angeldust rolled his eyes. “They’re so sweet to each other it’s gross.”

“I dunno, I think it’d be nice to be in that kinda relationship,” Husk murmured, causing Angeldust to quickly back track.

“I-I think it’d be nice too, but ya know, o-only when i-it’s me an’ not somebody else.”

The two smiled and looked into each other’s eyes. It was nice to see, but it still annoyed Lucifer that they could act like this and still doubt whether the other feels the same.

“Anyway…” Lucifer snapped the two out of it. “Do you know everybody’s sexuality here?”

“Most of ‘em,” Angeldust answered once he recovered.

“Thought you said you could tell for everyone,” Husk teased.

“I can!” Angel protested as the feline chuckled. “It’s just- Okay. So. You – pan. Charlie, Lucifer – bi. Vaggie – lesbian. Niffty – straight. And it’s not that I can’t tell with Smiles, it’s just that I don’t know what exactly he is.”

“Alastor’s the only one you don’t know is gay or not?” Lucifer asked. He was just curious, that was all. He was dying to know if there was even the slightest chance Alastor could feel the same way.

“I can tell ya for a fact that he is 100% not straight,” Angeldust clarified. “I just don’t know anythin’ past that. I wanna say he’s gay, but that don’t seem like it’s quite right either.”

He’s not straight…

“Wait!” Angel suddenly exclaimed. “Husk, you’ve known him forever! What is he?”

“Oh no. Nope. I ain’t gettin' involved in this.” Husk crossed his arms.

“Why not?” Angeldust pouted.

“He would kill me if he knew I was talking ‘bout this.”

“Does that mean ya know for sure?”

Husk hesitated for a moment before saying, “I don’t think he even knows, but… Yes. I’m pretty sure I know what he is.”

“Can ya at least tell me if I’m right about him not bein' straight?”

Lucifer was holding his breath.

The bartender grinned and rolled his eyes, but he did say, “Yes.”

“Fuck yeah!” The spider demon pumped two of his fists in the air.

Alastor isn’t straight. He- He could actually like me. Like, like like me. Is that why he thinks about me?

Lucifer felt heat rise in his cheeks, so he cleared his throat and pointed to his empty glass. “H-Hey, can I have another one o-of these?”

“Hm? Oh, sure,” Husk said as though he had forgotten that Lucifer was there.

He probably did forget with the way all his attention is on Angel.

The king smiled – they were so cute together and they weren’t even together together. Yet. Lucifer was going to make it happen one way or another. He knew Alastor didn’t care, so that was one obstacle out of the way, but how was he going to get Angel’s soul’s owner – Valerie? Valentine? Vance? – to break the deal or at least not use a relationship against Angel?

Once Husk gave Lucifer another drink, he resumed chattering with Angeldust. It was clear to Lucifer that they were in their own world, so he took his drink and left. As he walked to his room, he should have been thinking about how to deal with the one V guy, but his mind kept circling back to Alastor not being straight before he could think of anything useful.

ARGH why do I have to be like this??

So what if Alastor might like guys? It didn’t mean he liked Lucifer. In fact, this knowledge didn’t change anything – it was still indisputable that Alastor didn’t feel that way. He only barely liked him as a friend anyway. It was only torture to think anything else.

Chapter Text

Alastor

Alastor was pouting thinking in his room. If Lucifer hadn’t done anything to him, then why was it so difficult to think about anything other than the king?

This was annoying and he hated it. He paced the room and grumbled to himself.

He needed something to take his mind off Lucifer. Perhaps Charlie would have a task for him to do for the hotel. Yes, that was it! He could just throw himself fully into it and he wouldn’t even have time to think about that irritating man!

Feeling quite pleased with himself, Alastor melted into the shadows and rematerialized in the kitchen. He couldn’t start in the lobby, after all, Lucifer was likely still there. The only person in the kitchen was Niffty, and she seemed like she was waiting to kill something under the fridge.

“What are you doing, my darling Niffty?” Alastor asked.

“Waiting for some roaches to come out of hiding,” Niffty replied without moving her head. Then, she growled, “I know they’re in there.”

Alastor smiled. “Do you know where Charlie is?”

“Mm-mm.” She shook her head, still focused on the gap beneath the fridge.

“Thank you, dear. Good luck on your hunt!”

“Bye, Alastor!”

Alastor stepped back into the hallway and decided he would have to risk checking the lobby. Carefully, he poked his head out just enough to see. He could have his shadow do it, but he didn't want there to be any miscommunication. He wanted to see Lucifer again.

He didn't see anyone right away, not even Lucifer, but then he let his gaze move over to the bar. There, he saw the king, Husker, and the annoying one, but no Charlie. He lingered for a moment before bringing his head back into the hall.

Alastor could check her room, but he would need to take precautions. He hadn’t seen Vaggie either, so the two were probably together, and he did not need to see anything those two may be doing.

He shadow traveled to outside their door. He straightened out his bowtie and knocked on the door. He waited for a few moments before knocking again. It took him knocking a third time before a groggy Charlie answered the door.

“Alastor?” she croaked. “What are you doing here so early?”

He took a peek at his watch. “It’s a quarter to 3, dear, it’s not early.”

“Okay, whatever.” She waved a hand. “What are you doing here?”

“I wanted to know if you had any tasks for the hotel that I could do for you today?”

“Umm…” Charlie rubbed her face with her hand, then perked up. “Oh! Wait here a sec.”

Alastor heard what sounded like someone tripping over something, then Charlie came back holding a couple papers. She passed them to him and explained, “These are some designs for the clothes Vaggie and I want to wear for the party, and since I know it’ll take awhile to make, I’d like to get these to Rosie sooner rather than later. But I am very hungover right now, so if you could take these I would be very grateful.”

I was just there…

“Not a problem, darling! Anything else?”

“Why don’t you take my dad with you?” she suggested. “It can be a bonding activity for you two.”

Alastor’s smile strained – the whole point of him volunteering to do something was to get away from that infernal man. “We did Never Have I Ever just last night.”

“Yeah, but that was with the whole hotel, and not just you two.”

“And the last one with ‘just us two’ was the day before with the compliment exchange.”

“You can never have too many bonding activities!” She beamed. When Alastor growled, she added, “I’ll ask my dad how it went later.”

Now I can’t even pretend I took him since that man is a horrible liar.

“Fine.”

“Thank you, Al!” Charlie happily chirped before closing her door.

He grumbled a few curses to himself before reluctantly shadow traveling to the bar to get Lucifer. When he rematerialized, he only saw Husk and Angeldust.

“Husker!” he suddenly called out, making both of them look at him. “Where did the king go?”

The bartender scoffed and pointed to one of the bar stools. “He’s right ther- oh.” He seemed as though he only just noticed his absence – which seemed impossible to do when Lucifer had such a presence to Alastor – and shrugged. “He was just right here.”

“Come to think of it, he hasn’t said nothin’ in a while,” Angeldust chipped in.

Alastor stared at them. “Neither of you noticed him leave? Do you at least know where he went?”

“I dunno, boss. Whaddya want with him?” Husk replied.

Alastor only rolled his eyes before disappearing. He didn’t need to tell them anything.

The next place Alastor was going to check was Lucifer’s bedroom. He’d noticed that the former angel liked to retreat there often – not that he was paying any special attention to his location.

As he was reappearing, he started to call out, “Hello, Lucifer! Your daughte-”

Alastor froze. Lucifer was facing away from him, but was shirtless. At Alastor’s voice, he turned around and quickly froze with a pajama shirt in front of his chest. For his small stature, he had a remarkably muscular body that was hard to look away from.

After a few moments of shocked silence staring at each other, Alastor finally stuttered, “I-I’ll wait for you o-outside your door.”

He quickly traveled just outside the king’s room and tried to calm his racing heart. What was this reaction? He’d seen other men shirtless before, whether he liked it or not, and never reacted like this before.

He wanted to see him shirtless again.

This must be some sort of curse!

Alastor couldn’t believe he had let himself believe it could be anything else. The only problem was that Lucifer had seemed as shocked as him – there was no way he was the one doing this to him.

Then who?

Who would want him to think about Lucifer in such a strange way? Not Charlie or Vaggie, they might think it would help the two get along, but they weren’t competent enough to figure something like that out. Not Husk or Niffty because they know what he would do to them, but Angeldust wasn't smart enough and would have no motive to do something like this either. Was it someone outside of the hotel?

He clutched a chunk of his hair. He just wanted to know what was happening to him already.

Lucifer

It wasn’t until a few moments after Alastor left the room that Lucifer was able to even think again. The demon had appeared in his room unannounced before, but it was never when he was changing!

He turned to face one of the mirrors in his room and clenched the pajama shirt in one of his hands. Lucifer’s skin was completely golden from the shoulders up.

Fffffffuck. I can’t face him like this.

He scoffed.

I can’t face him at all after that. I should just disappear. Maybe just avoid him forever so I can still spend time with Charlie?

He buried his face in his hands. He knew he couldn’t do either of those, but he wanted to so badly. The only silver lining was that Alastor had stumbled over his words, which he never did, so he must be disturbed by the whole thing and wouldn’t want to talk about it.

If we both ignore it, it’ll be fine.

Lucifer closed his eyes and breathed deeply a few times. He needed to calm the fuck down or Alastor would think something was going on.

He couldn’t remember what Alastor was saying when he first arrived, but he should probably put on a regular shirt instead of a pajama one. He just needed to remember where he kept his clothes so he could find one.

It took another few moments for Lucifer’s brain to function enough for him to grab a light pink button-up and slowly do each of the buttons (except the very top one). He didn’t bother putting on his jacket.

Lucifer looked in the mirror one more time to check how much he was still blushing. It was still pretty bad, but it wasn’t his entire face anymore, just a bright gold across his cheeks and nose. He could live with that.

He took one more deep breath and steeled himself. He opened the door.

“So…” he started out awkwardly, “Wh-what, uh, what’d you n-need me for?”

Alastor quickly turned his head to look at him and cleared his throat. Were his cheeks slightly red?

“Your daughter would like us to go to Rosie’s to give her designs for her and Vaggie’s clothes for the party,” he answered. How had he managed to say that so smoothly when just minutes ago he was struggling to speak?

Lucifer nodded. “Right. Well. L-Let’s get on our way, then.”

Alastor slightly nodded back and took off for the exit to the hotel. Lucifer internally sighed from relief – it looked like they weren’t going to talk about it.

Chapter Text

Lucifer

Lucifer kept looking at Alastor as they walked to Rosie’s Emporium. He couldn’t help himself, the other man had just seen him shirtless! His ears burned just thinking about it.

There were a few times when Lucifer could've sworn he saw Alastor's head turning away when he went to look at him, but it must've just been a figment of his imagination. Clearly, Alastor would be avoiding looking at him after that whole debacle. There was still a little part of him that hoped he was wrong.

Lucifer just hoped Alastor wasn't so disturbed by seeing him shirtless that he decided he didn't want to be friends anymore. He didn't even want to think about that happening. Alastor meant so much to him and he didn't want him to leave his life just like-

Just like Lilith did.

He shook his head and took another peek at the demon. He looked like he was deep in thought. Neither of them had said a word since leaving for Rosie's and Lucifer really didn't like this awkward silence, but he didn't know how to break it.

It wasn't horrible, he supposed. Alastor looked adorable like this. The slight furrow of his brows, the slight parting of his lips, the little crinkle around his nose, the-

Stooooop.

Lucifer made himself look away. He wasn't ever going to get rid of his feelings if he kept letting himself get caught up like that.

“So…” Lucifer said, without knowing what he even wanted to say. “Um… wh-what do…the d-designs for their o-outfits look like?”

“Hm?” Alastor's deer ears perked up a bit at Lucifer's voice. “Oh. Here.”

Alastor handed him the papers from his jacket’s inner pocket. Lucifer smiled when he saw them. They weren't the most well drawn, but one could still clearly see that a lot of love and effort went into them.

It appeared to be a sparkling red dress for Vaggie and a matching suit for Charlie. How cute that they were doing a couple's outfit!

“I don't know why they're bothering to have new clothes made for this ridiculous party,” Alastor said as he examined his claws. “It likely won't be a success.”

Lucifer rolled his eyes at him. “Because that would be a horrible attitude to have. How can you be so pessimistic?”

“If you expect the worst, you can't be disappointed.”

“Alastor…” Lucifer didn’t know what to say to that – it was just such a depressing insight into the other man’s mind.

“Not that I do that for my own ventures,” Alastor clarified. “But it is very entertaining to push that mindset onto others. They get so disheartened so quickly.” He paused. “Usually. Your Charlotte is quite stubborn.”

“Charlie.”

“Yes. I believe it comes from you.” Alastor smiled.

“I mean, probably, but I meant that her name is ‘Charlie’ not ‘Charlotte’.”

“Is Charlie not short for Charlotte?” Alastor furrowed his brows.

“No.”

“She’s never said anything.”

Lucifer scoffed. “Because she’s worried she’ll come off as rude if she corrects someone for fucking up her name.”

He loved his daughter more than anything, but he wished she would stand up for herself more often. When Charlie transitioned, she made it very clear to Lucifer and Lilith that she wanted to keep her gender-neutral nickname as her real name before they used both of their magic to give her the body she wanted. Why couldn’t she make it clear for other people?

“Don’t you worry, Lucifer,” Alastor said. “I’ll give her the confidence she needs to do that.”

The king rolled his eyes. “If it was that easy, don’t you think Lilith and I would have already broken her out of that?”

At the mention of Lilith, Alastor’s smile became less genuine and his deer ears flicked back.

Why?

“Well, neither of you are me,” Alastor responded, with no trace of the uncomfortableness in his voice, even though his body was dripping in it.

Lucifer stuck out his forked tongue in a very mature way, to which Alastor rolled his eyes.

“Why did you decide to name her ‘Charlie’ and not ‘Charlotte’?” Alastor asked.

“Oh, well actually she chose it.”

Alastor furrowed his brows in confusion.

“I-It’s not like we just didn’t name her or anything,” Lucifer hurriedly said. “It’s just-”

Lucifer bit his lip. If Charlie hadn’t said anything to Alastor, then it wasn’t his place to tell him. He continued, “Once she was older, she… preferred ‘Charlie’ to the name we gave her.”

“So it’s just a phase?” Alastor asked.

“Of course not! Charlie did this… Jeez, how long has it been? Around 170 years ago? Maybe more than that?”

The demon’s eyes widened. “She’s older than me?”

“Yeah.” After a moment, Lucifer cackled. “It doesn’t even make sense for you to be a father figure to her!”

Alastor growled, which did nothing to stop Lucifer’s bout of laughing.

Alastor

It made Alastor happy to see Lucifer laughing.

Alastor liked making Lucifer laugh.

Lucifer’s laughter was annoying.

There we go. That’s correct.

“Age has nothing to do with it!” Alastor said to Lucifer, whose laughter had started to die down. “It’s about maturity, and obviously I’m more mature.”

Lucifer raised an eyebrow. “You’re more mature?” He laughed again. “No, no, Charlie is more mature.”

Alastor scoffed. “Oh really? Then why is she looking to me for guidance?”

He could’ve added something about why she didn’t go to Lucifer for guidance, but he thought that might hurt the other man, so he refrained.

“Well…” Lucifer seemed to be having trouble coming up with a retort, but his eyes lit up a split second later. “It’s because she’s so nice and she wants to make you feel like you’re doing something!”

“If that were the case, she doesn’t need to give me so many tasks,” he responded as he rolled his eyes.

“I wish Charlie gave me more to do, but I think she just feels weird giving her real dad stuff to do.” Lucifer smirked.

“Would you like some of my work? I could do with some more free time,” Alastor offered, ignoring the "real dad" comment.

The fallen angel snorted. “You hardly do anything now, what would you even do with more free time?”

Spend more time with you.

“I believe that is my business and my business alone,” he said instead. He wasn’t going to bother unpacking that anyway.

“Whatever. You can keep all your duties then.” Lucifer rolled his eyes.

Alastor studied Lucifer’s face once more. For some unfathomable reason, he was still thinking about Lucifer being shirtless. When the other man had started up some conversation, he thought it would distract him from the thought, but he was wrong. All it did was let him notice that Lucifer’s top button wasn’t done on his shirt and that he could see a bit of collarbone showing. Why his brain thought that was important to note, Alastor didn’t know.

He shook his head and tore his gaze away. His eyes widened once he saw Rosie’s Emporium. The walk had felt much shorter than normal, but he couldn’t work out why.

“Oh, we’re here already!” Lucifer echoed his thoughts. “That was quick!”

“Yes, it was,” Alastor replied.

Alastor had his hand on the handle when he noticed Lucifer was distracted and looking at something in the display window. He moved closer to him so he could see as well. There were a few outfits in the window, but it seemed like Lucifer was looking at a green suit.

“That suit would look horrible on you,” Alastor said, bending down so his head was next to Lucifer’s. “Green is not your color.”

The king whipped his head around and furrowed his brows. “Huh?”

“The suit you’re looking at?” Alastor gestured to the display window.

Lucifer looked back. “Oohh. Yeah, that one would be ugly. I was looking at that dress.” He pointed to a blue dress with golden sequins along the hem and coming up from the bottom. There was also a band of golden sequins around the waist. It appeared to have a mostly open back and it had spaghetti straps.

Alastor’s heart skipped a beat just picturing Lucifer wearing it. He cleared his throat. “A dress? Don’t women wear those?”

Lucifer rolled his eyes and put a hand on his hip, using the other hand to wave a finger around. “Men can wear dresses, too – and lemme tell you, I absolutely rock a dress.”

He smiled at how defiant and confident Lucifer had just become. Alastor looked at the dress again; it was likely for someone much taller than the short man. “It’s too long for you anyway.”

“I would have them make one for me anyway so it fits me perfectly,” Lucifer said like it was obvious.

Alastor looked at him fondly with annoyance. “Perhaps Rosie would be willing to do that for you. Let us go finish our job first.”

“Oh, right. I guess let’s do that first.” Lucifer grinned sheepishly.

Not giving any response other than an eye roll, Alastor went back to the door and held it open for Lucifer, who gave an exaggerated bow as thanks.

“Alastor? Back again already?” Rosie called out. No one else was in the store.

“Hello, Rosie,” Alastor said as he and Lucifer approached the counter. “Charlie and Vaggie sent us – I don’t think she knew that I’d already been here today.”

Rosie chuckled.

“Well then, what do they want from me? Not another army?” she joked.

“No, no.” Alastor waved a hand. “They would like you to make some clothes for them. Lucifer?”

“Hm? Oh!” Lucifer dug in his pockets and pulled out the sketches to hand them to Rosie.

“Hmm…” Rosie looked over the designs, but she didn’t seem particularly impressed. “I can’t do this.”

“What?” Lucifer looked like he was about to fight her.

How silly.

“It’s simply not good enough for women like them,” Rosie clarified. “I’ll keep some of their original design elements, but I will be making it much better.”

“So you’re still making their clothes?” Lucifer asked.

“Of course I am! I would do anything for my clients.”

Lucifer started fidgeting with his hands. Alastor rolled his eyes.

“Lucifer had something to ask you, as well,” he prompted.

“I’m all ears.” Rosie smiled friendly.

The former angel cleared his throat. “W-Well I saw that b-blue and golden dress i-in the display a-and I would- I was wondering-”

“He wants to know if you would make that dress for him,” Alastor finished for him. It was just pathetic how nervous Lucifer was about asking.

“No problem, sweetheart!” Rosie put a hand on Lucifer’s arm. “I’ll just need to take your measurements.”

She grabbed a tape measure from a counter and moved over to Lucifer’s side. As she measured him, Alastor felt a little uncomfortable about seeing how close Rosie was getting to him, but he didn’t want to think about why.

At one point, Rosie looked at Alastor with an eyebrow raised, but he ignored her.

“All done, dears,” Rosie announced. “I’ll have all three of these done within a couple weeks.”

As she stepped away from Lucifer, Alastor felt more comfortable.

“Thank you so much!” Lucifer beamed.

“Anything else I can do for you?” Rosie asked.

“I believe we’re done here today,” Alastor said firmly.

Rosie smirked. “Alright then.”

They said their farewells and left the store.

“Had enough of Rosie?” Lucifer chuckled.

“Hm?” Alastor raised an eyebrow.

“Because you seemed to wanna get out of there pretty quick.”

Alastor’s cheeks heated up ever so slightly. “It’s not that. It’s just that I have now been there twice today and I would like to stay at home.”

“That makes sense. I also like staying home.” Lucifer smiled.

Alastor smiled back.

Plop!

He looked up. Acid rain. He should just shadow travel home, but he didn’t want to stop talking with Lucifer. Before he could make the choice of whether or not he should brave the corrosive weather, he heard a whoosh! and saw Lucifer release his wings. He positioned one of them above Alastor’s head.

Lucifer turned his head away when Alastor stared at him in surprise. He hadn’t even thought of that as a possibility. As the rain came down, he didn’t feel a drop.

“Doesn’t that hurt you?” he asked.

The other man shrugged. “My feathers don’t really feel anything.”

Alastor noticed that Lucifer did have a wing over his own head as well, likely serving to protect himself.

“Well. I suppose that it is a kind thing for you to do,” Alastor said.

“Was that a thank you?” Lucifer smirked.

Alastor scoffed. “Of course not.”

The two continued talking the entire way home, and surprisingly, Alastor never bored of hearing Lucifer speak. He even liked it.

Chapter Text

Lucifer

The sun woke Lucifer up. He’d forgotten to close the curtains the previous night, letting in the beginnings of gentle sunlight. But it was way too early for that shit, nearly 5 AM, so Lucifer didn't think it was actually gentle; it was just rude.

He threw himself out of bed, yanked the curtains shut, and plopped back in bed in less than a minute. He might be able to go back to sleep since he barely woke up.

...

Nope. Lucifer tried to get as comfy as he could, but nothing worked. He sighed as he realized that he was awake for the day.

He took his time getting ready, then wandered down to the kitchen for coffee. He breathed in the heavenly aroma for a few moments before drinking any.

Since he didn't sleep in as much as he'd wanted, the former angel wanted to make sure he had enough energy for this meeting with caffeine. When he and Alastor had gotten back the previous day, Charlie had intercepted them in the lobby.

“I have something important to tell you!” she had said, bouncing on her feet. Not waiting for a response, she had continued, “We're going to tell the rest of the hotel about the party! Tomorrow! First thing in the morning!”

That meeting wasn't for another two hours, but he doubted Angeldust and Husk would wake up in time for that, so it would likely be pushed off by at least another half hour.

He groaned as he realized just how much time he had to kill. He considered downing some alcohol to go back to sleep, but he’d likely sleep through the meeting if he did that.

He was pouring a second cup of coffee when he heard, “Hello!”

Lucifer managed to not spill any coffee as he jumped at the sudden noise. He looked down and saw the creepy maid.

“H-Hi.” He cleared his throat and gestured to the coffee. “Would you like some?”

Niffty cackled maniacally and steepled her hands, tapping her fingers together. “YES! COFFEE!”

Lucifer paused and stared at her with concern for the safety of the hotel. Did he make a mistake offering her caffeine?

…Probably, but he didn't want to seem rude since he'd already offered, so he poured a half full cup for her anyway. He carefully held the mug out.

Niffty wasted no time snatching the coffee out of his hands. She downed it without any concern for the heat.

Lucifer had thought she was jittery before, but now she was vibrating and appeared mere moments away from bouncing off the walls. He pried the empty cup from her hands and set it by the sink. This was definitely a mistake…

“Alastor doesn't let me have coffee,” she rapidly mentioned as she scrambled up the side of the fridge. “I don't know why, it's delicious!”

“Yeah…”

As Niffty jumped across the counters and appliances, Lucifer definitely saw why now. He desperately hoped Alastor wouldn't find out.

“I want more!” She pounced towards the coffee pot, but Lucifer moved it out of the way just in time.

“You've had enough. Forever,” Lucifer said, muttering the last word to himself.

She apparently didn't like that, as she positioned herself on all fours and growled at him.

What the fuck??

He gulped as he waited for her next move. When she prepared to jump, Lucifer started to bring his arms out to protect his face. The king closed his eyes and braced himself the moment he heard Niffty yell as she launched herself. She wouldn't be able to seriously hurt him, but it would be so inconvenient to heal whatever little bites and scratches she would give him.

Niffty never reached him.

“You nincompoop, you gave her coffee, didn't you?” a familiar radio-filtered voice admonished.

Lucifer opened his eyes to see Alastor holding Niffty by the scruff as she crossed her arms and pouted.

“Umm… noooo?” he lied.

Alastor glared at him, then focused on Niffty. He set her down and gave her a push towards the door. “Run along now, my dear.”

She glared at both of them before scurrying away.

“Should… she be unsupervised right now?” Lucifer asked, very concerned about the potential damage she could cause with all her excess energy.

“It'll be fine.” Alastor waved a hand in dismissal. “Why did you think that was a good idea in the first place?”

“I- wh- she- uh,” Lucifer floundered.

Alastor smirked.

“I-I don't know how to interact with her!” he shouted – Alastor's arrogance had rubbed him the wrong way. “Offering coffee was just the first thing that popped into my head!”

“In other words, you were merely acting like the idiot you are.”

“I'm not an idiot! I j-just made a mistake. Everybody makes mistakes!”

“Not me.” Alastor smiled and batted his eyelashes innocently.

“HA!” The fallen angel rolled his eyes. “You don't think putting off healing an angelic wound was a mistake?”

The other man shrugged. “It worked out in the end.”

“After you almost died!”

Alastor flicked his wrist. “Details.”

“What about sending me into a bad depressive episode?”

There was a record scratch and Alastor’s deer ears flattened completely. He sucked in a breath at the same time, but didn't say anything.

Got him. I win.

However, Lucifer didn't feel good about winning, not this time. He enjoys arguing with Alastor, but maybe he went a little far this time.

“Hey.” He reached to pat Alastor’s arm in solace, but decided against it and awkwardly withdrew his hand. “I don’t actually hold it against you or anything. Not anymore.”

“Hmph. It doesn’t matter to me anyhow.”

Lucifer rolled his eyes as he moved to pour himself a third cup of coffee. “Suuuure.”

Alastor tapped his claws along his microphone cane for a moment before leaving the room without another word. Lucifer smiled into his coffee.

Once he finished off the cup, he poured himself just one more and started another pot for when the others woke up. He teleported to his room and sat down at his desk. He started making a new rubber duckie.

Alastor

Alastor stepped into the conference room the second the meeting was supposed to start. Charlie and Vaggie were already there and Lucifer entered seconds after Alastor.

“Late,” he said.

Lucifer furrowed his brows and pursed his lips. “It doesn’t count as late if I’m on time!”

“You came in a few seconds after the start of the meeting, therefore you are late,” Alastor explained slowly.

Alastor’s grin grew as Lucifer appeared to get more and more annoyed.

Vaggie groaned. “Can you two focus on something other than insulting the other? Just this once?”

Lucifer rubbed the back of his neck and smiled sheepishly. “Sorry.”

Alastor rolled his eyes and took a seat at the table. To appease the women, he said, “I suppose it’s better to be as late as you rather than as late as the others are going to be.”

The king smiled, clearly pleased with the not-apology. Most of the seats were empty, yet he chose to sit right next to him. Alastor’s smile became more genuine at the same time, but the two were completely unrelated events. [a/n: he’s the king of denial]

A couple minutes later, Niffty came through the door looking very tired. She nearly crawled her way to Alastor’s lap. He patted her head a few times.

“Oh no! Niffty, what happened?” Charlie asked, worry clear in her eyes.

“I need more energy juice…”

The princess looked to Alastor for a translation.

“Lucifer decided it would be a good idea to give her coffee.”

“Dad? Why’d you think that?” She turned her head to look at him.

“I-I-I didn’t think it was a-a good idea, it w-was just an idea I h-had, and I acted w-without thinking first,” he hurriedly explained.

Charlie and Alastor smiled fondly. “You still need to work on your impulse control.”

Lucifer covered his eyes with one hand and waved the other. “Yeah, yeah, I know.”

It was another fifteen minutes before Angeldust and Husk arrived together.

“Can’t you two ever show up to anything on time?” Vaggie chastised.

Angeldust shrugged as he unceremoniously plopped into a chair. “Sorry, toots. Can’t help it.”

Vaggie rolled her eyes and turned her attention to Husk. “And what’s your excuse?”

“I just don’t care about bein’ on time for shit,” he answered.

“A-At least you’re honest!” Charlie chimed in, finding a silver lining as usual, flimsy as it was.

“Can ya tell us why we’re havin’ a meetin’?” Angel asked.

“Right.” Charlie cleared her throat. “I have very exciting news to share! Vaggie, Dad, Alastor, and I have all been working on something special and I want to share it with you now!”

“Why are they here if they already know ‘bout it?” The spider demon jabbed a thumb roughly in Lucifer and Alastor’s direction.

“Because,” Charlie said. Alastor would guess her patience was starting to run thin with Angeldust. She continued, “It’s more fun to have everyone together! Anyway!

“We all know that we’ve had some… difficulties with attracting new guests to the hotel. I love you, Angel, but we need more guests if we’re ever going to show Heaven redemption is possible, especially since we lost Sir Pentious.

“That’s why Vaggie and I came up with the idea of a party! We’ll throw a party to advertise the hotel and get more people interested in bettering themselves!”

Charlie smiled and looked at them expectantly.

Husk grumbled, “Am I s’pose to be happy with more work?”

“Awww, don’t be like that, Whiskers,” Angeldust said, inching closer to Husk. “A party could be fun, and I’m sure I can find an outfit to wear that you’d like.”

“There is a dress code,” Vaggie pointed out.

Angel pulled back to his seat and pouted. “Where’s the fun in that?”

“We’re trying to get people to better themselves, not get them to engage in more sin, pendejo.”

Charlie rested a hand on Vaggie’s shoulder and said, “It’ll be a nice party where everybody will get to dress up all fancy! You guys can help pick some of the food and music too, if you want!”

“As long as it’s sensible,” Vaggie added, giving Angeldust a very pointed stare.

“Fine,” Angel dramatically sighed.

“Do you have any questions about the party?” Charlie asked.

It was essentially the end of the meeting, so Alastor decided he was done being in it. He gently took Niffty off his lap before shadows brought him back to his room, where he didn’t have to think about that ridiculous party.

Chapter Text

Lucifer

When Lucifer noticed Alastor had left, he wasn’t able to focus on the questions Angeldust and Husk asked about the party, even though they didn’t have many. He knew Alastor didn’t care for meetings, but he still usually stayed until they were actually done.

Is something wrong?

He wanted to find out, but knew Alastor would just avoid the subject altogether. He rolled his eyes. Lucifer would get Alastor to say something one way or another.

As soon as the meeting was officially done, he went to find him. Lucifer figured the demon was likely in his room, so he teleported outside his bedroom door and knocked. He heard some shuffling on the other side of the door, then it opened.

“What are you doing here?” Alastor asked, not seeming pleased to see him in the slightest.

“You usually stick around to the end of a meeting even if you hate it, but you didn’t today, so I just wanted to make sure that you were okay,” Lucifer explained.

“The meeting was done by the time I left.”

“It… wasn’t.”

“It was finished by my standards.” Alastor’s smile began to strain. “Is that all?”

Alastor hadn’t actually answered the question Lucifer had implied, so he directly asked, “Are you okay?”

“Yes,” he groaned. “Now go away.”

“I don’t believe you.” Lucifer summoned a deck of cards and grinned. “I’ll play you for the truth.”

Alastor scoffed. “Are you prepared to answer my question when you lose?”

Lucifer paused. He would likely ask who Lucifer was in love with, and the king wasn’t sure he would be able to tell Alastor. He mulled it for a few more moments, then decided he really wanted to know why Alastor left early and why this party seemed to bother him so much.

“Yes,” Lucifer finally answered.

Alastor raised an eyebrow, then stepped aside to let him in. Lucifer sat down in one of the armchairs by the fireplace. Alastor sat opposite him while he shuffled and dealt out a game of speed. They wasted no time in getting started with the game – which Alastor won.

The demon smirked and looked at Lucifer. “Who are you in love with?”

Lucifer’s mouth went dry and his heart dropped. “U-Uh… Um…”

Alastor sighed impatiently and crossed his legs.

“Um, I a-am… in l-love with…” Lucifer sucked in a breath as he realized a way out. “A man.”

“I know that already!” Alastor growled. “What is the name of the man you’re in love with?”

“Nuh-uh, that’s another question. You need to win again if you want the answer to that.”

Alastor glared at him, then grabbed all the cards so he could shuffle and deal, all while angrily mumbling to himself. Lucifer fought back a grin at how adorable Alastor looked when he was annoyed.

Much to Lucifer’s relief, he won the second game. He asked, “Why does this party bother you so much?”

The other man grumbled and crossed his arms. “It’s not that it bothers me, it’s that I will be required to be there and to talk to a large quantity of people I have no desire associating with.”

“Wait- Oh shit!” Lucifer leaned forward. “Your social battery gets drained, too??”

Alastor scoffed and flicked his wrist. “Don’t be ridiculous. I simply don’t enjoy so many pointless interactions.”

Lucifer grinned. “Your battery totally gets drained! Mine also does! Though probably quicker than yours does.”

Alastor rolled his eyes and scoffed again. He gathered the cards and started dealing out another game. Lucifer’s hands went clammy as he realized he would have to risk telling Alastor he’s in love with him if he played another game.

“Well, uh… I-I should get g-going. I woke up waaay t-too early, so I should g-go back to sleep,” he said, awkwardly chuckling. Hopefully he could get out of potentially having to reveal his secret.

“You can play once more.” Alastor narrowed his eyes, then smiled with fake warmth. “I already finished dealing, so we may as well play. It’ll only take a minute or two, and then you’re on your way to bed.”

Fuck that silver tongue of his.

“...Fine.”

Lucifer reluctantly grabbed his cards and prepared himself to play the game of his life. He had to win this or his friendship with Alastor would be jeopardized. As soon as they started, he used all of the focus and speed he could possibly muster and didn’t pay attention to Alastor’s diminishing hand size. He placed down his last card just a moment before his opponent did.

“Whoo-hoo!” He got out of his seat and jumped up and down.

“Why the dickens are you so adamant on keeping who you’re in love with a secret?” Alastor asked as he examined Lucifer’s celebration with indifference.

Lucifer cleared his throat and calmly(-ish) sat back down. “I’ve told you before: i-it’s embarrassing.”

“Very well.” Alastor threw his hands up. “What is your question?”

“Oh. Right. Uh…” He hadn’t thought this far ahead. “...Um… Why… d-do you want to know who I’m in love with so much?”

“Hmm.” The demon tapped his chin with one of his long claws. “Knowing who you’re in love with… That’s information I could use.”

“Information you could use?” Lucifer repeated. “Are you planning to use it against me or Charlie somehow?”

“Of course not! It’s for something else.”

Lucifer crossed his arms as he waited for Alastor to continue. When he didn’t, he prompted, “What is it for, then?”

Alastor sighed. “Nothing that concerns you, so don’t worry your little head about it.”

“How does it not concern me?” Lucifer shouted. “It’s who I’m in love with!”

“It won’t affect you!” Alastor growled. Under his breath, he added, “Couyon.”

Lucifer scoffed. It sounded like Alastor had said “couillon” but had pronounced the “n”. Either way, he did not appreciate being called a fool.

“I heard that,” he said.

Alastor looked like a deer in headlights for a few moments before his ears turned back and he rose out of his chair. He snarled, “Get out.”

“What, just ‘cause I called you out?”

“Get out!” Alastor’s radio filter was incredibly thick now.

“Fine.” Lucifer walked out and slammed the door behind him. He stomped all the way across the hall and into his room, and slammed his own door too, for good measure. He slumped in a chair, folded his arms, and pouted.

Stupid Alastor. Being so… stupid.

He liked their banter, but he didn’t like it when they actually fought. It was all Alastor’s fault anyway. Why wouldn’t he just tell Lucifer?

He has to be hiding something…

Lucifer groaned and rubbed his face. He was too tired to deal with this right now. He pulled himself out of the chair to go to his bed. By the time he woke up, Alastor would probably be over it all anyway.

Alastor

Alastor couldn’t believe he had let “couyon” slip out. When he was alive, speaking any Louisiana Creole was heavily discouraged in public. In order to make it easier for him to progress in his field, he cut his Creole vocabulary out of his professional speech and his everyday speech.

Even though it had been about a century since that decision, sometimes a word or two still slipped out. The last time he’d accidently spoken Creole, he was drunk; this time, he had been of sound mind. He growled at himself and clawed both armrests of the chair he was sitting on.

The worst part was that Lucifer had heard it, and that he seemed to know what it meant. He didn’t think Lucifer knew very many languages, and he definitely didn’t expect him to know Creole. The man didn’t even have a clear idea of what Creole was when they had cooked together, so how could he possibly know the language?

Perhaps Lucifer knew French? Alastor didn’t know French, but he knew Creole was based on it, so it was possible that many of the words share meanings. He hoped Lucifer wouldn’t try speaking French with him once he wasn’t mad at Alastor anymore. That would be annoying, and if Alastor didn’t speak Creole with him, Lucifer would use how pathetic and sad he’d look to convince him to say at least a few words.

Ugh. He’d probably want me to teach him Creole, too.

Alastor would never take the time to teach him. He didn’t care about the other man enough to.

Alastor sighed as he realized that was a lie. He would do it if Lucifer really wanted, even if he didn’t think it would go well. Why did this man have such a hold on him? There was nothing special about him. Other than being the King of Hell.

He sprang out of his chair and grabbed his cane. He shadow traveled to the kitchen – some good food always helped to cheer him up. Alastor was starting to feel better already just thinking about what he would make, but it was all spoiled when he saw Angeldust rooting around in the fridge.

Angeldust jumped and put a hand to his heart when he finally turned around with a soda and saw Alastor glaring at him. “H-Hey, uh, how l-long ya been standin’ there, Smiles?”

“Get out of my kitchen,” Alastor said.

The spider demon put his bottom set of hands on his hips and responded, “The kitchen ain’t even yours, it’s Charlie’s.”

Alastor tilted his head so fast his neck cracked. “Who uses it more?”

“Everybody uses it, maybe not for cookin’, but all the food is in here.”

“Shouldn’t you be futilely flirting with Husk instead of standing in my kitchen?”

This seemed to catch Angel off guard, as he opened and shut his mouth multiple times before finally saying, “I-I-I don’t know what yer talkin’ about.”

“Please.” Alastor rolled his eyes. “Anyone can tell how much you two like each other. All the flirting is disgusting and annoying, but if it gets you out of my kitchen, then go do it.”

“Fine. I’ll leave. Yer so fuckin’ uptight.” Angeldust muttered as he made his way to the door. Just before leaving, he added, with a wink, “Ya should get some – it’ll relax ya a bit.”

Get some what?

Alastor shook his head. It didn’t matter, he was just glad to have the kitchen to himself. He should consider adding his own kitchen to his room so he wouldn’t have to deal with the others just to cook some food. He filed the thought away for a future project.

He shrugged off his jacket, rolled up his sleeves, and tied a red apron around himself. Alastor wished they still had some angel meat left – it was incredibly delicious – but the others had found keeping their corpses disturbing and only let him keep a couple.

At least the meat didn’t go to waste. Everyone in Cannibal Town must be enjoying themselves.

Deciding to use venison instead, Alastor got to work making a jambalaya. As he fell into the familiar rhythms of cooking, he could feel all the tension in his body release. The rich aromas from the vegetables and meat cleared up his head enough that he no longer cared about slipping up with his language. He knew he’d be able to clear up all this with Lucifer and everything would go back to normal.

Chapter Text

Alastor

Alastor is too exhausted from the fight with the Vees to shadow travel, so he is forced to walk back to his radio tower.

Vox had gotten plenty of good hits in, but Alastor still would have beaten him if Valentino hadn’t jumped in to help him. If Alastor hadn’t already been so battered, he could have taken the both of them on for much longer than he had.

He groans and peels back his hand to peek at the gash in his abdomen. It doesn’t seem too bad, but it definitely smarts.

By the time he gets back to his radio tower, he is exhausted. Alastor wants nothing more than to just rest and heal, but he isn’t that lucky. When he climbs in, he is greeted by the sight of someone he hasn’t seen in decades. Before she can even turn to face him, he growls, “Lilith.”

She turns her body before her head, taking one last look out the window. Her arms are crossed and her blonde hair is over her right shoulder. She seems a little troubled, but Alastor doesn’t care. He doesn’t want anything to do with her.

“You’re hurt,” she points out the obvious.

“Why are you here?” he asks, ignoring her statement.

Lilith ignores his question in return and approaches him. She reaches out one of her hands close to Alastor’s wound, but not touching, and a soft purple glow emanates from her hand and spreads across his injury. He growls at her after she’s done.

She rolls her eyes. “Oh, shush. I know we haven’t seen each other in decades, but surely you remember that I own your soul?”

Alastor bares his teeth at her, but doesn’t answer.

A troubled look flashes across Lilith’s face before she settles back into a confident smile. “Pack up anything you want to bring with you.”

“Why?” he asks, dreading the answer.

“We’re leaving Hell.”

Alastor laughs. “We cannot leave Hell, Your Highness.”

She bites her lower lip. “I made a deal with an angel. We’re going to Heaven.”

His eyes widen. There is no way that demons would ever be allowed in Heaven. He briefly wonders what it’s like – sane citizens, perfect weather, no chaos. He shudders. That would be a fate worse than Hell.

“She’s letting me bring in a few of my demon servants,” Lilith continued. “You’re one of them.”

Alastor snarls. He knows he’s lucky that Lilith has left him alone these last few decades instead of actively using him, but he hates that he doesn’t have a choice in this. All he can do is try to convince her to stay in Hell.

“Are you sure whoever you picked to rule in King Lucifer’s stead will do a good job?”

She furrows her brows. “How do you mean?”

“Assuming this is some sort of family vacation-”

“It’s just me.”

“...For how long?”

Lilith closes her eyes and takes a deep breath. “Indefinitely.”

Alastor’s eyes widen. “You want me to leave Hell indefinitely?”

“Yes.”

He can’t let this happen. His next best move is to go for emotional manipulation. “What about your family? Are you leaving them behind ‘indefinitely’?”

She bites down on her bottom lip hard and looks up while blinking rapidly, likely to avoid crying. After another deep breath, she says, “Yes. For now, at least.”

“And what of your daughter?”

“She’s an adult, she doesn’t need me. And she has a dream to live for anyway.”

“And your husband?”

Lilith hesitates. “He… He’ll manage.”

Alastor raises an eyebrow at the weak spot she has just shown him. “Will he?”

“Pack your things!” she suddenly shouted, her face twisting in fury. “I know what you’re trying to do, but you cannot talk me out of this!”

Fuck.

Alastor’s heart sinks as he realizes the inevitability of the situation. He can’t possibly disobey her – she owns his soul – and she has clearly made up her mind. He snarls at her one last time before finally dragging his feet to grab what he needs. With any luck, no one will ever know where he’s going to be, and he will be able to escape back to comfort in Hell in no time.

With a jolt, Alastor sat up in his bed. He hissed as he remembered the memory that had surfaced during his sleep. It was the first time he’d even slept since Lucifer healed his angelic injury. Why was he thinking about Lilith so much recently? He did not like it, and he just wanted to forget her altogether. It was probably Lucifer’s fault, since she’s his wife.

Speaking of Lucifer, he still had to clear up the incident from the previous day. He rubbed his face and groaned. Alastor wanted to avoid the entire conversation, but he knew that would be impossible.

By the time Alastor was out of his bed, it was only about eight in the morning, and Lucifer was likely not awake yet. Taking his time, he went about getting dressed and ready for the day. He was about to shadow travel to his room to wake him up, but stopped as soon as he remembered the last time he did that. Confusingly, a part of him wanted to see Lucifer shirtless again, causing his cheeks to flush with heat.

Alastor growled at the thought and started stomping down the hall to the opposite side where Lucifer’s room was. He could’ve shadow traveled outside the door, but he wanted some time to get his heart beating regularly again. He turned his thoughts to the party and how much he disliked the idea to distract himself.

By the time Alastor reached the door, he felt more composed. He knocked using his cane. When there was no response, he knocked louder. Still no response. Annoyed, he tried to open the door – it was unlocked. After a momentary pause, he opened it.

The room was slightly cleaner than the last time he had been in it, but there were still many piles of rubber ducks and clothes around the room. Alastor looked towards the bed and saw the slow rising and falling of Lucifer’s chest. Quietly, he moved closer to get a better look. The king was lying on his stomach, on top of his left arm, his right arm and leg dangling off the edge of the bed, and his left leg stretching far to the left side of the bed. Lucifer’s sleeping position seemed wildly uncomfortable, yet he showed no sign of waking.

How is he still asleep??

Alastor smirked when he saw Lucifer was drooling. Adorable.

What?

He shook his head and lightly knocked his cane on Lucifer’s head. “Wake up, Lucifer!”

“Huh- Wha- Huh-” Lucifer jumped awake and blinked his eyes until he was more aware. When he finally focused on Alastor, he rolled his eyes. “What are you doing in my room?”

“Waking you up!”

Lucifer grumbled and rubbed his eyes. “Why?”

Alastor avoided Lucifer’s eyes and cleared his throat. “I thought that, perhaps, we should discuss what happened yesterday.”

“Oh yeah…” Lucifer frowned as he sat up. “What part of it do you want to talk about? Not telling me why you want to know who I’m in love with? The insult in butchered French? The temper tantrum when I called out the insult?”

Alastor grit his teeth. “...It was Creole, not French…” he muttered, deciding to take on the easiest part.

“Huh?”

The demon looked away as he said, “I was not butchering French, I simply said a word in Louisiana Creole. I don’t know why, I haven’t spoken it in so long.”

Lucifer sat up straighter. “I actually don’t know much about Creole, but from just the one word I heard, I’m guessing it’s probably similar to French?”

“It primarily comes from French, and to a lesser extent some West African languages.”

The king’s eyes lit up as he asked, “Ah! I know French, and most root languages, so I could probably learn it pretty quick. We could speak in Creole with each other!”

I knew he would get overly excited about this.

Alastor rolled his eyes. “There is no need for that; as I already said, that singular word was the first time I’d uttered the language in a very long time.”

Lucifer pouted. “Why not? English is boring.”

“I was already mixed, I didn’t need to be discriminated against any further by speaking a different language,” Alastor explained, starting to get annoyed with Lucifer.

“Ughhhh humans are honestly so much worse than demons,” Lucifer groaned.

Alastor couldn’t help the small chuckle that escaped him. He knew Lucifer hadn’t spent much time, if any, on Earth with living humans, but it was always entertaining to see how out of touch he was. A golden flush dusted Lucifer’s cheeks and he avoided Alastor’s gaze. Was it because of the chuckle?

“Quoi qu'il en soit, je ne pense pas que ce serait une mauvaise chose pour toi de parler créole en enfer,” Lucifer said.

Alastor wasn’t entirely sure what all of it meant, but he figured that the gist of it was that Lucifer probably didn’t think it was bad to speak Creole in Hell.

“Lang à pa menm,” Alastor said. (The languages are not the same.)

The resulting smile from Lucifer was incredibly bright and stretched from ear to ear. “Okay, so they’re not exactly the same, but I could still tell what you were saying, did you understand what I said?”

The radio demon sighed as his cheeks heated. “Most of it…”

“It could be like speaking in code! Charlie has learned quite a few languages, so I think she’d be the only one who could understand us, but other than that no one would know what we’re saying!”

“What use would we have for speaking in code around the hotel?” Alastor asked as he flicked his wrist.

Lucifer leaned back on his arms. “Okay, so it wouldn’t be necessary, but it could be fun!”

Alastor rolled his eyes. “I already shouldn’t have said the one sentence to you.”

“Why not though?”

“I am still a radio host.”

“But it’s your show, you can speak whatever you want, and even if you don’t want to speak Creole on the show, there’s nothing stopping you from speaking it in your everyday life.”

Alastor sighed in annoyance. “If I speak in Creole at all I run the risk of it slipping out more often, like it did yesterday.”

Lucifer sighed in defeat. “I’m not going to try to force you to speak it, but I personally think it sounds cool and makes you seem more interesting.”

“Well.” He had been expecting more pushback than that from the other man. “Thank you for giving up.”

“I don’t know whether to be amazed that you thanked me or upset that you only said it because I gave up.” Lucifer crossed his arms.

Alastor smirked. “Why not both?”

“Sure,” Lucifer chuckled. He stretched and yawned. “I suppose I should actually get up.”

“Yes,” Alastor agreed, “it is quite unbecoming of a king to still be in his pajamas a quarter after eleven in the morning.”

“Shit!” Lucifer scrambled off the bed, nearly falling off. “It’s that late already?”

Alastor grinned as he nodded.

“I wanted to be productive today,” Lucifer groaned.

“Don’t be overdramatic – you still have time to be productive today.”

“Yeah yeah.” Lucifer waved a hand while he went over to his wardrobe.

Oh. He’s going to change.

The demon shadow traveled to the lobby without a word.

Lucifer

Lucifer was essentially vibrating from excitement after learning that Alastor knew Louisiana Creole. He loved every part of languages, learning all of its intricacies, what makes it unique, the patterns. He didn’t care if Creole wasn’t a widely spoken language, he always loved learning new languages.

He had probably been close to wearing down Alastor, but he knew he had also been close to making him irrationally angry, so he’d stopped. Maybe if he casually said a few words in French every now and then, he could get Alastor to slip up again.

Over the next week, he began to slip more and more French into his everyday speech. Alastor still hadn’t slipped up, which was annoying, but Lucifer knew he needed to be patient.

“Dad?” Charlie asked.

“Oh, sorry, je réfléchis encore,” Lucifer replied. (I’m still thinking.)

They were in the middle of an activity, he couldn’t be drifting off like this. He noticed Alastor roll his eyes at the French.

“Dad, Vaggie doesn’t know French.”

“Oh, right – todavía estoy pensando,” he translated for her.

Vaggie’s eyes lit up. “¿Sabe español?” (You know Spanish?)

It was Charlie’s turn to roll her eyes. “He knows, like, every language – don’t get him started or he won’t stop showing off what he knows.”

“I don’t know every language,” Lucifer said while looking at Alastor. He turned back to Charlie and Vaggie. “And I don’t show off.”

“You totally do!” Charlie giggled.

He rolled his eyes and waved a hand. “Whatever.”

The rest of the activity went off without a hitch, but Alastor still didn’t slip up. Lucifer didn’t give up, though.

He got so used to slipping in French around Alastor, that he started speaking it even when the other man wasn’t around. The following week, when Husk asked him what he wanted to drink, he responded with, “Surprends-moi.” (Surprise me.)

Husk raised an eyebrow and got to work on a drink. “I don’t know French, but I know Spanish and Italian, and I’m guessin’ that was ‘surprise me’.”

“Y-Yeah.” Lucifer blushed from embarrassment. “Didn’t mean to speak French, oops.”

“Ya can speak Italian??” Angeldust asked, ignoring Lucifer.

The bartender smirked. “Posso. Non te lo aspettavi, vero?” (I can. You didn’t expect that, did you?)

Angel choked on his drink and his cheeks went red, which only made Husk chuckle.

“Sono piacevolmente sorpreso,” he said once he recovered. (I’m pleasantly surprised.)

After a few moments of them smiling and staring at each other, Lucifer cleared his throat, causing both of them to jump and remember his existence. Seriously, the more time he spent around these two, the more control it took not to push their heads together to make them kiss.

“R-Right, uh, here.” Husk hastily finished up making Lucifer’s drink and passed it to him.

“Don’t worry, we weren’t talkin’ about ya or nothin’,” Angeldust explained.

“I know Italian so… yeah. I know you weren’t.”

“O-Oh. How many languages do ya know?”

Lucifer slowly let out a breath. “Ummm, too many for me to count right now.”

“Well, I only know Italian and English,” Angeldust said. “How many do ya know, Husk?”

“Let’s see…” Husk put up a claw with each language he said. “Obviously English, and I already said Italian and Spanish, but also German, Russian, Mandarin, and Japanese.”

“Wow…” The spider demon sighed dreamily.

“You’ve got a pretty good basis, so you could probably learn more languages without too much trouble,” Lucifer said.

Husk shrugged. “I ain’t got much use for knowin’ so many languages anymore.”

“I mean… Speakin’ other languages is fuckin’ hot,” said Angeldust, who turned beet red a moment after he finished talking. “S-So ya could use it t-to flirt in y-yer personal life. I-If ya wanted to.”

Husk was clearly shocked, but had regained his normal air of confidence while Angel had stumbled through his weak coverup.

“I think I’m good on that for now, but I’ll keep it in mind.” Husk winked at him.

I should leave these two alone…

“Arrivederci!” Lucifer interrupted so Angel wouldn’t have to flounder trying to respond to that. (Goodbye!)

“Uh-huh,” Angel barely acknowledged him leave.

As the king left to get a snack from the kitchen, he heard them continue conversing in Italian. He hadn’t meant to speak French around them, but he’d helped them find another thing they had in common, so that was definitely a win.

“Hey, Dad!” Charlie suddenly chirped, making Lucifer jump away from the cupboard he was rooting around in.

“H-Hey, Duckie, caught me off guard there,” he replied.

Charlie laughed. “Sorry, I just wanted to let you know that Rosie called me and said that all three of our clothes are ready. Did you order something too, Dad?”

“Did I forget to tell you?”

She nodded.

“Oops.” Lucifer sheepishly scratched his head. “Yeah, I got a dress.”

“Ooooo!” Charlie clapped. “Is it pretty?”

“It’s gorgeous! I saw it in the store display window and couldn’t help myself.”

“I can’t wait to see it!”

“You can see it the day of the party.” Lucifer grinned.

His daughter groaned, but still with a smile on her face. “I have to wait until the day after tomorrow??”

“The party’s that soon already? Rosie cut it kinda close.”

Charlie shrugged. “I trust her, so I knew she’d get it done in time, even if it might end up being a little close.”

He smiled. She normally got so worried over everything, but it was nice to see that she didn’t even give the clothes a second thought. “Would you like me to pick it all up?”

“That would be great! Thank you so much!”

“No problem, kiddo.”

His daughter hummed and practically skipped out of the kitchen. This party was making her really happy – he hoped it would be successful. They’d been advertising it pretty well over the past couple weeks, so there should definitely be people at it, but whether or not they’d take the hotel’s mission seriously was another matter. Lucifer supposed all they could do now was wait and see.

Chapter Text

Alastor

Alastor had been working on new material for his radio show when he heard knocking on his bedroom door. He snapped to make the door open and didn’t even look at the door to see who was walking in. The demon didn’t need to – who could it be but Lucifer?

“You’re just letting me in right away? No interrogation at the door?” Lucifer incredulously asked as he walked in.

Alastor rolled his eyes. “Why bother?” He neatened his desk and looked at Lucifer. “What do you want?”

“Why do you assume I want something? Maybe I just want to spend time with you.”

“You don’t want something?”

Lucifer grinned. “No, I do.”

Alastor squinted in confusion. “Then why would you make a fuss about my assumption?”

He shrugged. “Just ‘cause.”

“What is it you want?” Alastor scoffed.

The king sat down in a chair across from him. “Charlie said that Rosie got all the clothes finished up. I told her I’d pick them up – wanna come with?”

“I believe you can teleport three outfits without difficulty. Why do you want me to come with?”

“Je veux passer du temps avec mon ami.”

Alastor raised an eyebrow. “I didn’t get most of that.”

“Oh, I said ‘I want to spend time with my friend.’ Is it much different in Creole?”

“Yes.”

“How do you say it?”

Alastor rolled his eyes. Lucifer hadn’t been particularly subtle these past couple weeks about trying to get him to speak Creole with him. “You’ll have to do better than that.”

“I was close though, right?” When Alastor shook his head, Lucifer said, “Damn! Anyway, do you want to come with me or not?”

The demon pretended to think about it, when in reality he had already decided as soon as Lucifer had asked. “Fine. I suppose I have nothing better to do at the moment and it never hurts to see Rosie.”

Lucifer scoffed and rolled his eyes. “Good enough for me.”

He conjured up a portal for the two of them. Alastor was a little disappointed; he had thought they would walk together to Rosie’s. He followed Lucifer through the portal to see that it only went just outside the entrance to the hotel. His smile grew a little wider.

The walk was over much too soon. Lucifer had actually been able to provide good conversation, even with his obvious attempts to get Alastor to slip into Creole. They reached Rosie’s Emporium seemingly moments after they left the hotel.

As Lucifer opened the door for him, Alastor remarked, “Why did you order something for yourself? Surely you have mounds of formal clothing.”

“I didn’t have that dress specifically, and I wanted it, okay, mec?”

Alastor raised an eyebrow. “I didn’t take you for the type to use the word ‘bro’.”

“I meant it as ‘dude’.” Lucifer stuck out his tongue.

“Still.”

“Oh yeah? Well… at least I can expand my wardrobe beyond my normal colors!” The king crossed his arms. “I bet you’re just going to show up to the party in red since you don’t own anything in other colors!”

“I have garments that aren’t red” – I think – “but there’s no need for me to change up what I wear for the party.”

“C’mon, don’t be boring.”

“Ahem,” Rosie cleared her throat to get their attention.

“My darling, apologies for keeping you waiting,” Alastor said as he greeted her with a hug.

“Nonsense! It’s good to see you being friendly with someone else.”

Alastor rolled his eyes. “It’s not like I’m never friendly to others.”

“Yeah, but it doesn’t happen a lot,” Lucifer chipped in.

He glared at Lucifer. “I don’t need to be friendly if I can still function socially, unlike someone I know.”

“Bâtard.” (Bastard.)

“What an original comeback!”

Before Lucifer could reply, likely with another name-calling, Rosie said, “I take it back.”

“S-Sorry,” Lucifer said while Alastor said nothing.

She smiled fondly. “That’s quite all right, darling. He can get combative at times.”

“More like all the time,” Lucifer muttered.

“Anyhoo,” Rosie said as she guided them to a rack of clothes behind the counter, “I’ve got your items right here!”

“How much do I owe you?” Lucifer asked.

As she picked out the correct clothes and laid them on the counter, she said, “That’s alright, dear. Consider this a gift.”

“A-Are you sure? ‘Cause money isn’t an issue for me.”

Alastor tuned out their conversation about payment when he saw Lucifer’s dress. For whatever reason, seeing it in a size that would truly fit the man made his brain short-circuit. It was much easier to imagine him wearing it now, and the thought of all that exposed skin made Alastor feel…

He didn’t know, and he didn’t want to know. He shook his head to clear those thoughts.

“...says he doesn’t see the point in changing his color scheme for the party. He probably doesn’t even have anything that’s not red.”

Evidently, they were done talking about payment.

Rosie grinned at Alastor. “I wouldn’t be surprised!”

Alastor rolled his eyes. “If I don’t wear red to the party, will you two knock it off?”

“Yes!” Lucifer’s eyes lit up.

“I might have to come to the party just to see that!” Rosie remarked.

“This matter is utterly inconsequential and should not hold this much weight on your lives.”

Rosie and Lucifer snickered. Lucifer said, “Awww, I think he’s embarrassed.”

Alastor pursed his lips and headed towards the exit.

“Al, we’re just joshing around!” Rosie called out as she continued to giggle.

He left and started walking home; he knew Lucifer would catch up eventually. The demon would go through his wardrobe once they returned to the hotel. He was somewhat sure he had something that wasn’t red, but he might need to do an extensive search.

The party was tomorrow night; if it took too long to find something, he would be forced to wear red. He wouldn’t personally mind it, but he felt like that would be letting Lucifer down. He groaned. Why did he care what that man thought about him so much?

Lucifer

After Alastor stormed out like a toddler, it took a little while for Lucifer and Rosie to stop laughing. A little teasing was apparently all it took to get him to wear something other than red.

Once they finally settled down and caught their breath, Lucifer said, “Thank you for making these and for accepting my tip.”

“You’re too kind,” Rosie said. “I can hardly wait until tomorrow night – I’m sure the party will be a success for our dear princess.”

“I hope so.”

“Even if it doesn’t go well, she’s got a lot of fight in her. I know she won’t let anything stop her.”

“I’m so proud of her. I couldn’t have asked for a better daughter.”

“You’re such a sap,” she said. “Good.”

Lucifer smiled and gathered up the clothes that Rosie had put in black dry cleaning bags. “Thanks for everything, Rosie.”

“It’s my pleasure.” She curtsied as he left the building.

Alastor wasn’t just waiting right outside, so he either started walking back to the hotel or he just shadow traveled. Lucifer hoped it was the former so he could spend a bit more time with him.

After jogging for a few minutes, he caught up to Alastor, who appeared deep in thought. He didn’t even notice when Lucifer started walking alongside him.

Cute.

Wait no! He’s not cute because I don’t like him like that! The… bushes are cute?

He just barely refrained from groaning in disappointment. He still couldn’t get rid of his feelings for Alastor and it was honestly getting annoying.

“When did you catch up?” Alastor suddenly asked, causing Lucifer to jump a tiny bit.

“U-Um, just a-a minute or s-so ago.”

“Hm.”

They walked in silence for a few moments before Lucifer asked, “What were you thinking about?”

An almost imperceptible amount of red appeared on Alastor’s cheeks. “When?”

“When I caught up, you looked like you were thinking about something.”

Alastor hesitated. “It… was nothing important.”

“Suuure.” Lucifer rolled his eyes. “You’re probably trying to figure out if you can just paint some of your clothes so that they’re not red.”

The demon stared at him with a look that said he thought Lucifer was being stupid. “Why would I paint clothes?”

“Because you’re… desperate and… stupid.”

“HA! If one of us is daft, it is surely you.”

Lucifer grinned as they fell into their familiar pattern of bickering. It was potentially ridiculous, sure, but it was fun. It was over all too soon as the hotel abruptly came into view.

As they entered, he said, “I guess I’ll just give Charlie and Vaggie their clothes now.”

“Yes…”

Lucifer awkwardly nodded and started walking away. He stopped and looked back when Alastor said, “I… could make us a late lunch, if you desire.”

He couldn’t help the small smile that creeped onto his face. “Sure, I’ll be back down in a few minutes.”

He made a portal that went right outside his daughter and future daughter-in-law’s room. He knocked on the door and called out, “I have your clothes from Rosie.”

There were some shuffling noises and a couple crashes from behind the door. Just when he was going to ask if they were okay, Charlie swung the door open.

“H-Hey, Dad, I- we were just, uh…” she started. Her hair was undone and messy, and her clothes were definitely put on hastily. “W-We were working on some um…”

“Uh… don’t worry about it.” He awkwardly handed over the bags with their party clothes. “You can get back to, um, work.”

His daughter’s face went completely red. “U-Um, thanks, for g-grabbing these.”

“Yeah…”

He turned around to go back through the portal.

Well that was awkward.

He knew she was over 200 years old now, but it was still bizarre to think that she was doing… that. She was still just a baby to him, after all.

Lucifer shook his head. That felt so gross to think about. He started thinking about Alastor instead as moved towards the kitchen. He wondered what he would be making for them to eat. He couldn’t wait to taste Alastor’s cooking again. It might even be better than Lilith’s.

He stopped walking. A familiar pang hit his heart at the thought of his wife. He really was starting to move on from her, wasn’t he?

It’s okay. She’s been gone for nearly eight years.

The king closed his eyes and took a deep breath before opening his eyes again and continuing on his way to the kitchen. He gently opened the door to see Alastor begin to dish out something.

“What did you make, Al?” he asked.

Without looking at him, Alastor said, “My maman’s jambalaya recipe.”

“Oh wow, this is probably pretty special to you then, isn’t it?”

Instead of answering, Alastor shoved a bowl into Lucifer’s hands. He grinned when he realized that the other man was trying to be nice by sharing something important with him. Lucifer grabbed a fork and took a bite. “It’s good!”

Alastor smiled smugly. “Of course it is, I made it.”

Lucifer rolled his eyes and took another bite. They didn’t talk very much as they ate, but it was a comfortable silence. Once Alastor finished, he gave a brief farewell and shadow traveled to… somewhere; Lucifer didn’t actually have a way of telling.

That was nice.

He wasn’t sure he would ever be able to get rid of his feelings for Alastor – especially not if he kept being nice to him.

Alastor

As soon as he rematerialized in his room, Alastor started rooting around through his wardrobe.

Red, red, red, red, red, red, red, red…

Did he really not have any other colors? He kept digging and eventually found a black tuxedo. He put it aside – a little standard, but it at least wasn’t red. Now he just needed to find an undershirt to go with it.

After a few more minutes, Alastor finally found two shirts that weren’t red. One was blue and the other was dark green. Something pulled him towards the blue, so he put that one with the tuxedo and reorganized his wardrobe.

He rolled his eyes at the effort it took to find clothes that weren’t red, all for Lucifer. And Rosie, too, he supposed. This party had better be worth the effort – though he didn’t have much hope knowing the general gist of the plans for it.

The following day, Charlie and Vaggie had everyone working to get the hotel ready for the party. Angeldust was in charge of rearranging furniture to make a dance floor and stage for live music, as well as setting up some chairs and tables for food and refreshments. Husk joined him once he had alcoholic and nonalcoholic drinks set out. Charlie and Vaggie were working on putting up far too many decorations.

The women in charge were finally starting to realize that Alastor wouldn’t do tasks that he didn’t like, so they left him in charge of the food – with the caveat that he couldn’t make all the food spicy, the spoilsports. When Lucifer finally woke up, they had him help. The former angel was surprisingly helpful and didn’t get in the way. He must have actually learned a few things when they had cooked together before.

By the time the food was done and the two had used magic to float it over to the tables, everything was ready. Alastor tried not to gag at the sheer volume of tacky decorations.

“Wow!” Lucifer exclaimed. “It looks great!”

Of course he thinks tacky decorations look great.

Charlie replied, “Thanks, Dad!” She pulled out a clipboard and a glitter pen. “Okay, so I think we have everything ready now… Oh! I wanted to ask if you two would do one more thing?”

Alastor rolled his eyes, but Lucifer spoke before he could, “Of course! Anything you desire!”

“Thank you! Um, so. The other day, Vaggie brought up kind of a good point to me,” she said. “Basically, she was certain that some people would come for the sole purpose of causing trouble or wouldn’t actually be curious about the hotel’s mission. Which, obviously, wouldn’t be very ideal for the success of the party, so we would need a way to counteract that, and we were bouncing around a few ideas and-”

“What exactly is it you want us to do?” Alastor said, radio filter a little thick from annoyance. He didn’t need a whole story to explain why she wanted them to do something, he just needed to know what the task was so he could decline it.

“R-Right.” The princess held the clipboard to her chest. “Would you two mind standing at the door to make sure anyone suspicious is, like, questioned or something before being let in?”

“Hmmm.” Alastor tapped his chin. “If they fail questioning, can I kill them?”

“What? No!” Charlie appeared horrified.

“What about almost killing them?”

“No!”

“Well. If there isn’t going to be any violence I don’t see any point in doing it.”

She sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. “Dad, would you be fine doing it by yourself? I can just have Alastor greet the guests and let them know where everything is.”

Lucifer giggled at the look of disgust Alastor made. “I’m fine to do it by myself, yes, but I don’t think Alastor would be very happy with that replacement job.”

Charlie rolled her eyes. “Okay, well, it’s either be a bouncer or greet guests.”

Alastor glared at her, but said, “Fine. Lucifer is probably incapable of doing it by himself anyway.”

“Fuck you! You could just say you don’t want to socialize instead of insulting me!” Lucifer said.

“Why can’t I do both?” Alastor grinned.

Before Lucifer could respond, Charlie groaned, “Please cut it out! Guests will start coming in two hours.”

“Right. Well that should be just about enough time to get ready!” Lucifer said.

“It takes you that long to get ready?” Alastor asked incredulously.

Lucifer rolled his eyes as he summoned a portal to his room. He flipped Alastor off just before the portal closed.

“Actually, I should start getting ready, too,” Charlie remarked to no one in particular.

Alastor decided that needed no response and shadow traveled to his room. Although he didn’t need the full two hours to get ready like the Morningstars apparently did, he did start getting ready. It wasn’t like he would somehow ruin his outfit, especially since there was no more food preparation to be done.

He was about to travel back to the lobby after putting on the tuxedo, when an idea suddenly popped into his head. He didn’t know where it came from, or why he thought it was a good idea, but he decided to do it anyway.

Chapter Text

Lucifer

Despite what Alastor seemed to think, Lucifer had needed the two hours to shower, get dressed, find the heels he wanted to wear, do his makeup, and put his hair into a neat bun. By the time he was done, he only had about fifteen minutes left to spare.

Lucifer decided to not take his cane with him as he portalled back to the lobby. It didn’t take long for him to find Charlie in her purple suit designed with shiny gold flowers swirling across the fabric. The braid over her right shoulder had little gold clips shaped like butterflies in it. Vaggie was next to her in a matching purple and gold dress.

“Aww, honey, you two look so pretty!” Lucifer gushed.

“Thanks! And oh my gosh, Dad! You were right – that dress is gorgeous!”

“Why thank you!” He curtsied.

“Um, Alastor is outside the front entrance already, could you talk to him about maybe not killing people?”

Lucifer chuckled. “No problem, sweetie.”

“Thanks!” Charlie said before going back to making minute adjustments to some of the decorations.

As he was opening the front door, he said, “Al, Charlie wants me to–”

The door closed behind him as he froze and forgot how to breathe. The tuxedo Alastor was wearing fit him well and didn’t have any red on it. The most shocking part, though, was that his hair was tied up in a neat ponytail, with the shorter parts of his hair framing his face.

Once Lucifer remembered how to breathe, he was able to say, “U-Uh, your h-hairtie is, uh, is red, so you d-didn’t not wear red.”

After a few moments Alastor cleared his throat and said, “Y-Yes, well. I didn’t think I needed to entirely do away with red just for your sake.”

“I guess y-your hair looks good a-anyway, so it doesn’t r-really matter.”

Alastor’s eyes went wide for a moment and he gave a quick nod. The two continued to stare at each other for a little while longer before Lucifer remembered to say, “R-Remember that Charlie doesn’t want you killing people.”

The demon rolled his eyes. “I will make no promises on that matter.”

Lucifer grinned. “Honestly, I don’t care what you do to them, but try not to kill them and make sure it’s justified.”

“I didn’t think you could go against your daughter’s wishes!” Alastor raised his eyebrows in surprise, even as his grin grew.

Lucifer shrugged. “I mean, she knows it’s unlikely for you to completely refrain anyway, so if you keep it to a minimum, she’ll take it as a success.”

“How benevolent of you to let me let off a little steam!” Alastor laughed.

“W-Well that’s just–”

“E-Excuse me,” a voice suddenly said.

When Lucifer turned to face the voice, he saw that while they had been talking, a line had started forming.

“This is where the party is, right?”

“Uh, yeah,” Lucifer eloquently answered. He conjured his phone – there were no pockets in his dress, unfortunately – to check the time. “It’s only two minutes away, so we could probably start letting pe–”

“No,” Alastor interrupted. “They can wait.”

Lucifer rolled his eyes while he made his phone disappear. “Fine, whatever.”

The demon that had spoken earlier suddenly gasped. “Wait- You’re-” They suddenly bowed.

Lucifer groaned. “Please don’t do that.”

“Sorry.” They stood up straight. “It’s just not everyday that you meet the handsome King of Hell.”

He smiled uncomfortably. “Oh… Thanks, I guess.”

As more people gathered in the line, he heard more and more people realizing that he was there.

“The king is here?!”

“He’s hotter than in the pictures!”

“The rumors are true!”

“Do you think he’s DTF?”

“Why isn’t he at his palace?”

“This is his daughter’s place, isn’t it?”

Lucifer internally groaned as he realized the night he was in for.

“We can open the doors now,” Alastor suddenly said.

The other man looked a little tense, but it was understandable – the line of people only kept growing.

It’s gonna take awhile to get everybody in…

Lucifer opened the doors and the two began to let people in. There were a few right away that they had to turn away because they didn’t follow the dress code. At all. About a fourth of them, whether they were allowed in or not, tried flirting with him. Most stopped once it became clear to them that Lucifer wasn’t interested.

This one wasn’t taking the hint. “Like I already said, I’m flattered, but I am in no way interested,” he said again.

The sinner still wasn’t deterred; instead, he stepped closer to Lucifer and put a hand on his shoulder, “Oh but I’m sure I cou–”

Before Lucifer could push this guy’s hand off, spindly black tendrils suddenly wrapped around the sinner and pulled him away. The next second, he was launched far, far away. The chatter from the line stopped as everyone stared at Alastor in shock.

“Um, I was perfectly capable of handling that,” Lucifer told him as he crossed his arms. “You didn’t need to throw him violently like that.”

The radio demon clenched his teeth before saying, “You were wasting time by trying to be peaceful. I simply got rid of him quickly in order to continue going through the line.”

“Whatever,” he said. He smirked. “I guess it meant you got to indulge in some violence, and it was justified.”

“Precisely.” Alastor faced the line and grinned. “Who’s next?”

The people in line looked terrified, and no one stepped forward until one was eventually shoved towards the two. Lucifer tried not to laugh at how scared they all were just because Alastor threw one guy.

It was taking quite awhile to screen everybody and let people in or keep them out, but Lucifer didn’t mind it, for the most part. He didn’t have to actually socialize with the guests coming in and he got to spend time with Alastor.

Alastor

It was utterly unreasonable the number of people that were flirting with Lucifer. Alastor was incredibly annoyed with each and every one of them for attempting it. He didn’t give much thought as to why he was so bothered by it.

He also couldn’t help but stare at Lucifer multiple times while they were checking all the guests. It was clear that the former angel was immensely confident in his outfit, which showed off his muscles while also showing his slender physique. Alastor didn’t know why he felt the need to keep looking at him, but he didn’t give it much thought.

Alastor threw a sinner that had a few guns on her, then looked at Lucifer, who rolled his eyes while trying not to smile. There were also a few sinners that were perfectly fine that Alastor launched into oblivion just to get Lucifer’s attention. He didn’t give much thought as to why he wanted his attention.

Actually, now that he thought about it, Alastor wasn’t letting himself think about much at the moment. He didn’t give much thought as to why he wasn’t thinking.

The line was finally nearing its end. Even though Alastor had been enjoying this time with Lucifer, he didn’t want to interact with the general populace of Hell anymore – not that he had even wanted to interact with them in the first place.

Charlie stepped out from inside the hotel and tapped her father’s shoulder. “After these last few guests, you two can go enjoy the party. There probably won’t be many people coming by later and if anyone does, it’ll probably be fine.”

“No problem, sweetie!” Lucifer gave her a thumbs up.

“So long as I’m still not required to interact with any of them,” Alastor said.

Charlie rolled her eyes and said, “No, you don’t have to interact with them. But, Dad, if you’re willing, I’d appreciate it if you could socialize a little bit.”

“Uh, I guess a little bit wouldn’t hurt.”

Alastor grinned as she went back inside. He and Lucifer made quick work of the last sinners in line.

“So,” Lucifer said after the last one was let in. “Do you not want to interact with the guests because you don’t like people or simply because you don’t want to interact with people?”

“Hmm. Yes,” Alastor replied, eliciting a chuckle from Lucifer. “Well, shall we?”

“Yes, I do believe we shall,” Lucifer said with a very exaggerated accent and curtsy.

Alastor rolled his eyes and just started walking in without waiting for him. Lucifer caught up to his side quickly and followed him to the bar. Husk was in a dark red suit, had switched his red bowtie for a black one, and wasn’t wearing his hat.

“You’re fully dressed, Husker!” Alastor remarked.

Husk glared at him, but didn’t say anything.

“I think you look good,” Lucifer said.

“Thanks, Lucifer, you look good, too,” Husk said, then he pointed at both of them. “Were you two plannin’ to match?”

“What??” Lucifer exclaimed.

Both Alastor and Lucifer started looking at each other’s outfit and their own.

That’s why I was drawn to the blue shirt! It’s the same color as Lucifer’s dress!

Alastor’s cheeks heated up in embarrassment. “Pure coincidence. I wouldn’t knowingly match with this man.”

“Gee, thanks.”

“Anyhow,” Alastor said, eager to shift the attention. “Pour me a few fingers of rye, Husker.”

The feline demon grumbled as he did as he was told.

“I’ll just have whatever you make me, please,” Lucifer said politely.

Husk didn’t grumble this time. Alastor rolled his eyes as he sipped his whiskey. As soon as Lucifer had a drink in his hand, the radio demon walked to one of the high tables that were set up nearby.

The two didn’t get much time to talk before partygoers started continuously interrupting them to talk to Lucifer, which was just plain annoying. After a while, Lucifer said, “I told Charlie I would do a little socializing, and if people are going to keep coming up to me, I might as well just go interact with them now, right?”

As much he wanted him to stay, Alastor knew Lucifer would want to keep his promise to Charlie. “Go ahead, we can talk later.”

Lucifer nodded in acknowledgement before he left. Alastor stared at him as he talked to other people. Objectively, he looked good, great even, in his dress. Alastor ripped his gaze away from the king and watched the guests with reproach. If they weren’t here, he could keep spending time with Lucifer.

Chapter Text

Lucifer

It had been a long time since he had interacted with this many sinners. Probably not since he had tried redeeming sinners himself, all those centuries ago. He was glad that even though he hadn’t won against Heaven, Charlie had. Her dream didn’t need to die. He would see to it personally – whether it meant going against heaven again or simply interacting with some sinners.

Lucifer actually didn’t mind interacting with them when they weren’t flirting with him. A lot of them had interesting stories and a tiny amount were already considering staying at the hotel, but weren’t quite sold on it yet. He’d told Charlie that they would fill this hotel with more sinners than she could dream, and that was what he was going to try to do. He hoped having the King of Hell endorse the Hazbin Hotel would eventually sway those few, though Niffty occasionally weaving through people's legs chasing after bugs might make his endorsement useless.

However… it was starting to get really exhausting to keep talking to all these sinners about the hotel when most of them were only focused on the party. When he talked with Alastor, the other man at least pretended to be interested in what he was saying, but a few of these sinners were just brushing off his attempts to talk about the hotel entirely.

The things I do for my daughter…

His social battery was really starting to drain and he was out of the drink Husk made him. He really needed to take a break from talking to all these strangers. Maybe he could find Alastor again…

“Would you like to dance?” someone suddenly asked.

Lucifer turned around to see the man he was just thinking about. The demon quickly averted his eyes and Lucifer could see a slight red start to cover the other man’s cheeks. Lucifer felt his own cheeks heat up when he actually processed the question.

“You… want to dance? With me?” Lucifer was dumbfounded.

“Yes.” Alastor’s ears turned back and his cheeks reddened further. “What else would that question have meant, you idiot?”

Seeing Alastor this nervous let Lucifer ignore the “you idiot” part, grin, and say, “Okay, yeah, let’s… let’s dance!”

As they made their way to the dance floor, a new song started playing.

“Actually… d-do you wanna wait until it goes back to the kind of music it was playing before?” Lucifer asked once he realized that the song was one they’d have to do some sort of partner dance for. He had thought they were going to do, like, their own dances near each other, not a dance where they would be holding onto each other.

“Why?” Alastor tilted his head. “Do you not know how to properly dance?”

Lucifer let his ego get the best of him. “Of course I do! I j-just thought that maybe you-”

“HA!” Alastor took one of Lucifer’s hands in his own and grabbed onto his shoulder on the opposite side. “I am very proficient in multiple forms of dance.”

Lucifer smiled and blushed more as he put his free hand on Alastor’s waist and they began to dance. It turned out that Alastor was good at dancing. In fact, there were times Lucifer was struggling to keep up with him; it’d been a little too long since the last time he had done any sort of formal dancing.

He tried to ingrain each individual moment into his memory. He knew Alastor would never like him in the way that Lucifer liked him, but he was still planning to freak out over this dance many times in the future.

Eventually, it felt like Lucifer and Alastor were the only ones in the room. Time slowed down when Alastor leaned Lucifer into a half-dip and the sparkly purple decorations Charlie had used were blurring behind them. Lucifer felt that as they looked into each other’s eyes, time had nearly frozen, long enough that someone could have drawn them in that pose. [a/n: it’s me, I drew them like that hehe – I’ll link it at the end]

It occurred to Lucifer that this was the first time they had ever really touched each other. They’d nudged each other a few times, but they’d never hugged or anything like that before. Alastor held on to him firmly and Lucifer felt safe in his arms – which was ridiculous, Lucifer was literally the strongest being in Hell, but he couldn’t help feeling like Alastor would shield him from anything that would cause him discomfort.

The song ended too soon for his liking as he felt Alastor let go of him. He hadn’t even noticed Alastor’s body heat until it was gone.

“Uh…” Lucifer eloquently said, but Alastor was staring and quietly growling at something Lucifer couldn’t see.

“I’ll be back,” Alastor said.

“O-Okay,” he said as the other man walked away. How was he supposed to distract himself from thinking about what just happened?

Alastor

The only reason Alastor asked Lucifer to dance was because the former angel had looked like he needed a break from interacting with the sinners. That was it.

He wanted to be close to him.

He wanted to hold him.

He wanted his attention.

He didn’t need to think about it, because there was no other reason. He would’ve danced another song or two, but that was when he spotted Vox at the edge of the dance floor watching him with venom in his gaze. What was that piece of shit television set doing here?

When Vox saw Alastor coming towards him, he calmly went out into the quiet hallway, away from the party. Alastor had a bad feeling about this, but followed him anyway.

“Why are you here, old pal?” Alastor asked, radio filter thicker than he meant it to be.

Vox grinned. “I’m just enjoying the little princess’ party. She’s really got something going here.”

“You and I both know you don’t care about anything happening here.”

“Oh, you’d be surprised.” Vox started picking at his claws. “I had pretty good coverage of that fight you put up with Heaven.”

Alastor clenched his teeth. Of course he’d been watching.

“It was a good show you all put on,” Vox continued. “I had really clear shots, since someone wasn’t interfering with the radio waves my cameras use.”

Shit.

“Probably too focused on getting your ass kicked by Adam, huh?” Vox chuckled as Alastor growled.

“Get to the point.”

“Now where’s the fun in that?” After Alastor glared at him, he continued, “Alright, alright. One of the benefits of when I was your friend, was that I learned just how important your reputation is to you. Now, sure, it might be impressive how many hits you got on Adam, but when you took one hit and ran away like a fucking pussy? Suddenly you’re not the same fearmongering Radio Demon.”

Alastor balled his hands into fists. “What exactly are you saying?”

“Oh I think you’re well aware.” Vox’s grin covered most of his screen as he waited for Alastor’s response.

“Blackmail,” he spat out.

“Ding ding ding! I, of course, saved that video, so unless you want people to see you like that, you’re going to do exactly as I say.”

Alastor scoffed. “I’m not just going to do anything to prevent some little video from going out.”

“Don’t worry! It’s perfectly simple.” Vox laughed. “You see, myself and the other Vees, we don’t want any more of our sinners coming to this stupid hotel to ‘redeem’ themselves. So, all you have to do, is destroy the princess’ hopes of redeeming anyone so much that she gives up entirely!”