Chapter Text
Days have passed and it’s as if the moment between them never happened. Alastor is a master of hiding his true thoughts, and for all Lucifer can tell, the radio demon is completely indifferent. He hasn’t exactly been avoiding Lucifer – it’s not like they’re besties that hang out together regularly. But Lucifer hasn’t been able to get Alastor alone in order to actually bring the topic up.
The lobby of the hotel is bustling, which is to say, there are 6 demons in it. Lucifer scowls as he watches Alastor converse with Charlie and Vaggie across the room, and nurses his drink at the bar. His gaze flicks over Alastor’s body: the way he holds himself straight as an arrow, the confident sway of slender body, the elegance in his hand gestures..
The fallen angel isn’t brooding, that would be ridiculous. But any time Alastor laughs or pays attention to someone else, the king’s eyes narrow in irritation.
How dare he just… brush it off. Wasn’t his mind reeling? Hadn’t he been thinking about it every waking moment, too? Was Lucifer the only one affected by what happened in the library?
“Ya know, short king, if ya keep makin’ that face it’s gonna get stuck that way,” comes a brassy voice next to him, startling him out of his intense focus on the radio demon. He looks up to see Angel Dust looking at him with a sly smile and a tilt to his head. “What’s got ya royal panties in a twist, huh? Ya scowlin’ at Alastor like he stole ya favorite duck or somethin’.”
Lucifer scowls at having been found out, and looks away, taking a sip of his drink and shrugging one shoulder in a dismissive gesture. “It’s nothing, just… you know, that stupid deer is being his usual smug, insufferable self, and it’s annoying.”
“Mhmm,” the tall, lanky spider demon replies, obviously unconvinced. “Ya both fight like an old married couple, I swear.”
The king chokes on his drink, quickly setting his glass down and wheezing. “what?” He coughs, and Angel hits him on the back with one hand, smirking at the response with a knowing gaze. “We-- we do not fight like an old married couple. I should know, I was part of the oldest married couple. Lili and I didn’t always get along, but she didn’t drive me crazy like Alastor does!”
“Well, maybe that’s why she’s ya exwife, then?” The porn star winks one pink eye, crossing his long legs and leaning towards the shorter blonde. “Maybe ya was missin’ that spark ya got with Al. All I know is, ya lookin’ in his direction every couple a’ seconds, and eyein’ him like he’s the last shot a’ whiskey n’ ya been dry for a week.”
Lucifer flounders in denial, sputtering as he tries to come up with a way to counter what Angel is saying. “What?! I… I have no idea what you mean, I just .. he’s annoying, that’s all!”
His eyes dart around the room for some kind of escape from this embarrassing conversation, and finally he pushes himself off his seat and turns to Angel with a frustrated huff. “I… I need a smoke. Or a walk. Or something.”
“Yeah, good luck with that, ya royal kingliness… try not ta look too obvious when ya starin’ at Al’s ass as ya walk by.” Angel replies as Lucifer heads toward the entrance of the hotel.
He needs a breath of fresh air – or, at least, outside air, everything smells vaguely of brimstone in Hell. Stepping out onto the steps of the hotel, he hesitates mid-step as he notices the source of his irritation leaning against a balustrade and smoking a cigarette.
This is his shot, he finally has Alastor alone, and they can talk without anyone else around to hear. He takes a deep breath, straightening his suit, and walks over to where the tall redhead is standing. Lucifer leans on the railing with one elbow, giving the radio demon a toothy smile.
“Hey there, Al.. how’s it hangin’?”
The tension between them is palpable, and the king’s lame greeting doesn’t help anything. Alastor stiffens, ears going straight up at alert, and his head tilts as he grins down at the blonde with narrow red eyes.
“Oh, goodness… I didn’t see you there, your Majesty, I must’ve overlooked you. I’m sure it happens to you all the time.”
Lucifer lets out a scoff, rolling his yellow eyes at the obvious jab at his height. He crosses his arms and scowls. “Really? Another short joke? You need to get some new material.” His tone is sarcastic, but his eyes drop from the radio demon’s face to scan down his body. His slender build, the way the cut of his suit accentuates his tiny waist, those long legs..
Alastor’s smile turns into a sneer as he notices the change in Lucifer’s gaze. He tosses his cigarette to the ground and stomps it out, dangerously close to stomping on one of Lucifer’s booted hooves. “If you have nothing of consequence to discuss, I have more pressing matters to attend to. Good evening, sire.”
Eyes narrowing into an irritated scowl, the fallen angel grabs one of the redhead’s wrists to prevent him from leaving. “Wait, no, you’re not running off. We need to talk.” His words are practically an order – he’s tired of this avoidance.
“No sire, I don’t believe I have anything to discuss with you. If it’s something related to the hotel I suggest you bring it up to Charlie, I’m sure she’d be overjoyed to have her father show any interest at all in her passions.” Alastor yanks his wrist away with a sharp jerk, curling his lip. Static fills the ambient radio noise surrounding him.
Caught by surprise at the sudden movement, Lucifer loses his grip on the other demon’s wrist. In frustration he nearly growls, “Don’t bring Charlie into this, it’s about you and me.” He moves closer, closing the distance between them. His eyes rake over Alastor, who watches with narrow eyes and bared teeth. “Why are you avoiding me?”
One red eye twitches before the radio demon’s smile blooms into a fake, wide grin, voice returning to that chipper mid-atlantic radio host tone. “Why, your majesty! I realize I’m quite the charming companion, but I had no idea you craved my company so much! I’m afraid I’m much in demand and can’t give all my,” he drops his gaze to look over the shorter blonde as if looking at something unappealing he found on the bottom of his shoe, “fan boys the one-on-one experience the may hope for.”
“Ok, jackass, first of all, I don’t ‘crave your attention’.” The fallen angel snaps, annoyed. “You’ve just been avoiding me since… that night. You can’t just ghost me like that!”
“I’m dead, Lucifer, I’m afraid ghostliness comes with the territory.”
“Shut up, you know what I mean, you—” The king takes a deep breath, trying to calm his frustration before this turns into just a screaming match. “I’m not in the mood for your damn jokes, Al. You know what I’m talking about. You’re avoiding me because of what happened between us.”
The deer demon’s grin spreads into something more feral and his lips curl as he realizes the other demon isn’t going to drop it. “What happened is that you applied dirty, underhanded tactics because you’re too cowardly to actually fight me.”
Lucifer’s frustration quickly dissolves into confusion. “What? No, that’s…”
He takes a moment to process what the radio demon just said, and when it finally sinks in, he’s dumbfounded. “Are you… serious? You think I was just trying to ‘win’ our fight?”
“Yes!” The sound of rapidly shifting radio channels fill the silence around them as Alastor’s anger starts to surpass his patience. “You saw that you were outmatched and sought to distract me when you couldn’t come up with any good arguments!” His eyes scan down Lucifer’s body, and he scoffs.
The fallen angel’s mouth hangs open for a moment as he processes what Alastor is saying. “Are you really so dense that you think that’s what happened? That I tried to.. what, seduce you as a distraction?” He furrows his brow, expression one of incredulity.
He lets out a scoff of disbelief before continuing, “I wasn’t trying to distract you, you arrogant bastard, I was just…” He trails off and averts his gaze as a golden flush of embarrassment grows on his face.
He’s not sure what he “was just”. The decision to kiss the radio demon in the middle of a heated argument took him by surprise even as much as it surprised Alastor. He was just so angry and the deer demon was so damned smug.
The tall radio demon steps closer, looming over the short blonde. “You’re just afraid to fight me and lose,” his voice lowers, dropping the radio filter, “like the pathetic creature you know you are.”
Eyes inverting with anger, the devil’s sclera go red and his irises gold. “I’m not afraid of you, you pompous, arrogant, smug bastard! I hate you!” He glares up at the taller demon, fists clenched tightly at his sides. The thought of Alastor thinking he was some kind of coward ignites a fire in his chest, angering him more than he will ever admit.
Alastor’s antlers creak slightly as they grow an inch, the sound audible in the quiet. He leans closer, bending at the waist to bring his glare closer, showing he’s not intimidated by the shorter blonde’s more demonic features making an appearance. “The feeling is mutual, your majesty.” He growls, grin curling to bear more teeth as his eyes narrow into slits.
They’re so close Lucifer can feel the heat emanating from the radio demon, can smell the tobacco and the coppery tang of blood on his breath. “Good. At least we can agree on that.” He says with a sneer, trying to keep up his angry demeanor despite the rapid beat of his heart, the fluttering in his stomach, his sudden shortness of breath..
He licks his lips, and Alastor’s gaze drops to watch the movement, a hiss of radio feedback sounding before the tall redhead suddenly stands upright again.
“Good! Good. Then goodnight, your Majesty.” Without further warning, the deer demon lets himself be swallowed up by his shadows and sinks into the ground.
Was Alastor.. blushing?
Oh, hell no, we’re not doing this again, Lucifer thinks as the radio demon disappears into shadow, and forces open a portal in a spray of gold glitter, stepping through into Alastor’s bedroom.