Work Text:
It was another day of Lucifer lying on his bed and watching trashy romcoms like there was no tomorrow. His eyes never blinked, completely ingrained in the screen. The one that he was watching was about a hellborn imp spending time on a beachhouse while two other boy imps competed for her love. It was terribly written, but he couldn't look away.
He snuggled deeper into the sheets, his oversized pink sweater riding up his stomach. An itch in his hooves caused him to readjust his pajama pants. But alas, Lucifer felt completely relaxed.
"This is the life," Lucifer spoke to the empty room. He reached over and grabbed his oversized duck plush and cuddled with it for the duration of the romcom episode.
The rest of the episode went as he predicted. The girl was crying, unable to choose the guy she wanted to be with as she ran along the beach. Lucifer was tearing up. The scene was so beautiful, and Lucifer felt a little sad and jealous. How come nobody was fighting for him like the two guys were in the romcom?
He sighed, no longer paying attention to the show but letting the depressive thoughts consume him.
Why was he such a loser? He's the king of Hell. The king of Hell. Shouldn't he be having sinners lined up at the door begging to have his way with him? Or was he truly that unbecoming that nobody wanted to even use him for his body? Lilith left him, and she was his world. Aside from Charlie. Yeah, he loves his daughter, but he's too scared of fucking things up to have a genuine conversation with her. Like, every time he opens his mouth, he's so awkward.
So much for eternity on his people skills.
He sighs. A heavy one that fills the room, reminding him of his sorrowful life.
"Fuck this," Lucifer sat up, snapping himself into weekend clothes—baggy t-shirt and pajama pants—to head downstairs to see if he could help around the hotel.
He walked through the halls, greeting every guest that he walked by. They didn't return his enthusiasm. Just looked at him as if he were a crazy person. Which he is not! Everything normal is what he is. As he made his way to the foyer, he heard the sounds of conversation from familiar voices. Well, familiar in the sense that he's heard them talk, but for the life of him, cannot remember their names. A lot of them aren't important except for Charlie and that stupid bellhop, Alastor.
When he turned the corner, he saw Charlie, her girlfriend, the tall spider, the cat, the maid girl, and Alastor huddling together over a giant piece of poster paper. Charlie's girlfriend was flying above them, trying to find a way to grab the poster from her current position. Lucifer was confused. What were they doing?
Feeling left out, he began walking toward them.
"What's going on, gang?" Lucifer cringed at himself. He's not even close with anyone here.
They all turned around, and Charlie sighed in relief. She seemed genuinely happy to see him, and he felt a sense of warmth inside at the sight of her smile.
"Dad, thank god you came down. Do you think you could help Vaggie with setting this sign straight over the bar here?" She pointed to her girlfriend—Vaggie, that's her name—as she held one side of the sign. He perked up, glad to be responsible for something. He's helping his daughter!
"Righteo, kiddo!" he shot finger guns at her. Another wave of cringe went through him, and he wanted to die. Why was he so awkward?
Charlie did them awkwardly back and made room for Lucifer to fly through and take his part of the sign. Lucifer rolled his shoulders and let his wings out from their little pocket dimension. He stretched, feeling good to let him breathe. Vaggie waited for him to grab his side of the poster before they both flew over to the top of the bar.
Flying over the bar, he saw Alastor staring at him with a stupid smirk on his face. The demon rested his arms against the banister and mouthed something to him. Knowing Alastor, he probably said a completely unrelated insult. And any jab at his pride was a personal offence that he had to defend.
While Vagascene stuck her side of the poster to the bar, Lucifer used his middle finger to rub his eye, directing the motion to Alastor's direction. Then he pulled it down his face, acting as though he was emphasizing his sleepiness. He watched as Alastor's eyes fell, smile still wide.
"Vaggie, sorry dear, but you're going to have to reattach the poster. Our lovely king wasn't holding the sign properly," Alastor said while laying his chin on his palm and balled his fingers around it, ears flicking in superiority. He brought the middle out from the balled fist and tapped it against his lips in retaliation.
Annoyingly, the radio head was right, and the thought made Lucifer's eye twitch in vexation. He was not letting this slide.
"Charlie asked me to help because someone here was too unreliable to do it," Lucifer dropped the poster, flying toward Alastor to get into his face. Alastor's ears peeled back, static halting to a point. The demon opened his mouth to retort, but was stopped by the maid's voice.
"I'll get the poster!" she screamed before diving off the banister to grab it. Lucifer's eyes widened, about to go down and help, before Vagerie flew down, faster than he's ever seen an angel go.
She bolted past him in the air to help the falling maid, sending him off balance in the middle of the air. He faltered, trying to regain the ease of flight he had. As he rapidly fell to the ground, he tried to direct himself to somewhere safe, but his mind was too busy focusing on trying to fly properly that he fell straight on someone. Taking a sinner with him.
And that sinner was Alastor.
He crashed into the demon, sharp static piercing the halls. A groan emitted from both of them as Lucifer steadily opened his eyes. His eyes met with reddish-gray skin and the pores of a human. He felt his mouth pressed against something soft. Something that calmed his senses quickly, and he instinctively leaned into the feeling. It felt really nice to have his lips pressed against the soft thing. However, the fact that his lips were pressed against something soft related to Alastor threw him off guard. Wait a second, what did—
Alastor pushed him back immediately, face slightly flushed and ears pinned back in annoyance. They were both on the floor, panting slightly, and the taste of coffee that wasn't his stained his lips. Lucifer took a shaky hand to them, realizing what just happened.
A golden flush spread across Lucifer's face as he clutched a hand over his mouth. Alastor's smile was shaking, and he refused to look at him. Instead, his eyes stared at the banisters to the side, and he gathered his breath.
"Did I—," Lucifer pointed to himself, "Did we—," then back to Alastor.
The demon snapped his neck back to face him, cocky smile twitching slightly. "We do not speak of this," tone laced with malice. Lucifer felt a little hurt at the tone of voice, but it was soon replaced by mild annoyance. What was so bad about kissing him? He's had a lot of experience! He was able to seduce the most popular women in heaven and at least some sinners. There was no way he was letting this deer fucker talk down his ego.
"You'd better be grateful my lips ever landed on your unruly ones!" Lucifer retorted, wings raising in irritation. He might've said that a little too loudly as the room fell quiet.
"Acting like lips like yours aren't a breeding ground for syphilis."
"Acting like you've been with anyone to judge."
"Please, honey, I was the talk of the town on Earth. Though I couldn't care less about the title," Alastor sat up, stalking toward Lucifer to get up in his face. Lucifer followed.
"Okay, well, who was voted the hottest in Hell? Hmm?" he shouted, horns and tail emerging from their respective pocket dimensions. Eyes red with fire, ready to burn anything to the ground. This mother fucker was really getting on his nerves.
"Last time I checked, it was that glorified TV-head. Pissed he's beaten you again at something?" Alastor leaned down and flicked his horns, causing Lucifer to grunt in discomfort.
"You filthy mortal—"
"Ladies! Ladies! Holy shit, either make up already or go take it to another room," Husk complained, throwing a Joker card between their legs. It almost hit their feet.
Both of them stopped, Lucifer's devil form calming down and changing back into his normal state. Alastor rolled his eyes, static cutting to a dull buzz.
He took a deep breath, rolling his shoulders and stretching to get the kinks from the fall out of his body. Then he turned to Alastor, flipped him off, and teleported back to his room. He was not dealing with anything else today.
After the events of the accidental kiss, Alastor hasn't been around the hotel as much. Lucifer was glad, enjoying the comforting silence. No annoying overlord was there to nag him every chance he got, and he was able to have genuine conversations with his daughter. He finally was able to remember her friends' names from one of their interactions.
Despite the relaxing days, something ached inside of Lucifer. He couldn't shake the feeling of how Alastor's lips felt against his. However, at the same time, he wanted to beat the living shit out of Alastor. Everything about him pissed him off, and if he could smite any demon spawn, it would be him.
His mind was conflicted. The thought of melting into those lips was seared into his brain, but the thought of actually being with Alastor like that was fighting those images. He will never admit this feeling to anyone. Nobody can know that he has an overwhelming desire to kiss the radio demon.
So here he was, reorganizing and cleaning the kitchen for the tenth time this week to busy his mind on something. Right now, he was aimlessly piling dishes on top of each other out of boredom with his magic. He lost track of what Charlie tasked him to do, so he let his thoughts of the kiss wander as he stacked dishes to see how many he could before they all fell.
"56, 57, 58...," Lucifer trailed off, reaching for the rest of the dishes, but his hand touched none. "What?" he called out loud, searching for the other stacks that were next to him. This hotel serves like...
Okay, he doesn't know the exact number, but it's quite irresponsible for a hotel to only have fifty-eight dishes to serve everyone when they have over two hundred rooms.
"What are you doing, sire?"
Lucifer jumped, falling off the stool he was sitting on. The dishes rattled next to him, dangerously close to falling. He groaned, rubbing his head from where it made impact with the kitchen floor. When he looked up, he saw the familiar pompous smile that had been haunting his thoughts.
Golden painted his cheeks, and he quickly brushed off the dust from his clothes.
"I'm tending to the kitchen. Being useful and everything. Do you know how to do that?" Lucifer turned away, looking around to find where the stacks of plates might've gone. Maybe he accidentally snapped them into a different part of the kitchen?
"I know useful means that you're not stacking the dishes beyond their limit," Alastor taunted, voice dripping with mockery. Lucifer faced the demon just to roll his eyes at him. He leaned on his staff, watching as Lucifer milled about the stove. Without turning around, Lucifer could practically feel those judgmental eyes boring into his back.
Even though the bellhop was annoying him, he was glad to know he was still sticking around the hotel. But he was curious as to why the demon was just watching him search for the lost stacks of dishes.
"Why are you even here? I haven't seen you in days," Lucifer's voice was a little softer than he meant it to be.
Alastor hummed, picking at the dirt between his claws. "Miss me, your majesty?"
The comment caused him to freeze in his tracks. He did not miss the guy. Totally. The fucker was just teasing him, and he knew it.
“No, I didn’t miss you. Are you so desperate for attention that you come to me for validation? Well, I’m flattered, of course, I am the king of Hell, but that’s pretty low for your standards,” Lucifer taunted, turning around and batting his eyelashes in Alastor’s direction. The demon lowered his eyes with slight agitation, a grin still perking up to his cheeks. Constant static lowered to a steady buzz.
Alastor didn’t retaliate, and Lucifer smirked to himself with the understanding that he won the argument.
He continued to search for the dishes, getting lost in thought, and he ended up searching through the same areas multiple times before he stopped. A realization hit him. Alastor was there for a bit while he was stacking dishes. Did he hide them to fuck with him and send him on a search throughout the kitchen?
Oh, he was not letting this slide.
“You…,” Lucifer felt his horns and tail unfold, turning around sharply to point at the dumb loudspeaker. Alastor’s ears perked up, twitching at the sudden, aggravated Lucifer. His neck snapped, turning instantly to stare intently at him.
“Give me back the dishes,” Lucifer stalked forward, eyes flame-red as his hooves stomped against the kitchen floor. In response, Alastor slightly backed up while still holding that stupid fucking grin.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about, sire,” Alastor laid his staff on top of the table next to the sink, raising his hands in innocence. Lucifer didn’t buy it. He walked forward, fire trailing with each step. The demon stopped backing up, waiting for him to get close and personal. He scoffed, leaning forward to get into Lucifer’s face.
Mimicking a baby voice, Alastor teased, “I think you’re blowing a short fuse.”
Lucifer felt his peacekeeping snap, lunging forward to push Alastor to the ground. The demon dodged, shadowing quickly to appear where Lucifer once was. The king hit the side of the counter with the dishes with his tail. The stacks began shaking violently, but Lucifer didn’t hear it—attention honed on trapping Alastor and throwing ducks in his face.
Alastor's attention honed in on the trembling plates, realizing the severity of the situation.
“Careful, Lucifer, I don’t want to order more fucking dishes,” Alastor warned, but he couldn’t tell if the tone was genuinely considerate or teasing. Lucifer stomped the ground, snapping a rubber duck into existence, ready to throw.
The trembling from his stomp displaced the dishes again, right on the verge of falling. Alastor’s eyes widened, staring at the stack about to fall over right on top of Lucifer. He stepped forward in an attempt to grab his staff so he could snap the dishes away, but the movement was mistaken as a declaration of war from Lucifer.
He threw the duck, and the speed at which it flew was the final straw for the stack.
Alastor dodged the duck, lunging forward to save Lucifer from the falling porcelain. He knew this was going to hurt.
“Hey, what—,”
Lucifer was cut off by a body smashing into his, pushing him forward into the floor. The last thing he saw before he braced for impact was Alastor’s smile shifting into a frown. They both fell against the tile, faces smashed into each other.
Lucifer felt the familiar feeling of the softness of Alastor’s skin against his. Lips melting into the feeling of Alastor. His eyes fell closed, leaning up into the sensation. It was amazing, and Lucifer’s anger was mitigated in exchange for the heavenly feeling of physical touch from someone.
For a split second, Lucifer thought Alastor was pushing back into the kiss.
Then the demon stood up, ears pinned back with a hand running through his fluffy hair. His smile was back, slightly faltered.
Lucifer’s horns and tail retracted, and he stared at Alastor with an embarrassed flush across his face. Both of them were looking at each other with worried looks in their eyes. Alastor was stunned, permanently in the same position, while Lucifer’s body was rapidly heating up.
None of them broke the silence for a bit. Their ragged breaths filled the room as a random dish fell to the floor. The sound echoed around the room, cutting the tension. The randomness of the crash made Lucifer laugh—a loud one that caused tears to form in his eyes.
He sat up, arching his back from lying on the floor for too long. Alastor’s ears perked back up, and he stood up to grab his staff from the counter. Looking at Alastor’s back, he noticed he seemed tense. They’ve argued with each other so many times that Lucifer can tell any form of agitation from the demon.
“We won’t speak of this. Again,” Alastor grumbled, smoothing the dust from his coat. Lucifer’s hounds of laughter died down to a casual snicker.
“You keep on kissing me. Do you like me, Bambi?” Lucifer teased, leaning forward and poking Alastor’s red coat. He turned to the side to glare at him. Lucifer knew he had the upper hand in this situation, so he decided to be a little cocky about it.
“It seems your fall granted you a bit of amnesia. Do you not remember you’re the one who landed on me the first time?” Alastor waved his staff, jabbing him in the chest with it. The action pushed Lucifer back, hooves clacking against the floor.
Lucifer scoffed, throwing his hands in the air from the annoying yet totally truthful comment. He decided to change the subject and began cleaning up the broken plates on the floor.
As he began using his magic to compile the minuscule, jagged shards on the floor, a shadow pool formed in front of him. Tiny, puppet-like creatures came from the pool, carrying cleaning supplies. Lucifer was confused and turned around to see Alastor sitting on his heels to keep even height.
The action brought their lips insanely close again, and Lucifer instinctively pulled back. He ended up falling on the floor again, and Alastor stared with an egotistical grin.
“Why don’t we take the day off? I’ll have Nifty and my little minions take care of your mess,” Alastor snapped his fingers, commanding the little puppets to start sweeping.
Lucifer nodded, ignoring the rude comment toward him. It was just Alastor being a prick as usual. Although deep down, his mind was telling him all the unhelpful things he's done over the past few days. The thoughts of everything being his fault were forming in their respective parts of his consciousness, and he felt the beginning of a slump coming on.
With a sigh, Lucifer snapped his fingers to teleport himself back to his room, leaving emotionally drained.
Days passed with no sight of Alastor again. The demon wasn’t even cooking dinner for everyone or finishing paperwork for the hotel. Vaggie was in charge of the whole hotel while he was gone, and her cooking was subpar compared to Alastor’s. He hated to admit it, but he began to deeply miss the demon.
Not just his lips, but his presence. Their consistent arguing made his eternal punishment more bearable than anything else, as it busied his mind from thoughts of suicide. It's not like he could die anyway, but there were ways to torture himself. Spending time with Charlie was nice, but every conversation reminded him of how distant they still were.
He sighed, sitting in his vast, empty room covered with rubber ducks. His wings were out as they needed to be groomed once in a while, but he lost track because he was stacking rubber ducks like red solo cups. It was fascinating. He doesn't need to breathe, but he's caught himself holding his breath for longer than he should. The ducks were somehow flat enough to be stacked in rows.
Knock Knock.
"Dad? Are you there?" The familiar voice of his daughter made him lose focus, dropping one of the ducks on top of the stack, causing it to fall over. Quacks filled the room in a roar, and Lucifer silently cursed to himself. His daughter for sure heard that.
"Y-Yeah?" Lucifer answered, responding more like a question than a statement. He wanted to be alone right now.
"I need a favor from you. Please."
She sounded desperate, and Lucifer couldn't resist anything from her. Also, did he hear that right? She needed help...from him? Wonderful! His mood perked right up, and he changed into his coat before opening the door.
"Hey, Char Char," he inhaled sharply, feeling awkward, "What's up?"
"Oh my god. Okay, so, like, Angel. You remember Angel, right? So basically, he hasn't been at the hotel for a few days, and I'm really worried about what's happening with him. I know ever since the whole Vox stuff, he's had to sneak into the hotel, but I'm afraid he got caught, and I just don't know what to do—," she took a big gulp of air, "Basically, could you and Alastor go try to save him? Or at least make sure he's okay?"
Lucifer's eyes widened at the mention of Alastor. Charlie seemed to notice too.
An awkward silence settled over them.
"Are you guys...okay?" She clasped her hands together, tilting her head to look down at him. Lucifer awkwardly shifted his gaze to the side, voice drawing out his hesitation. He didn't know what was going on with them.
"Dad, come on, tell me," she pried, resting her hands on his shoulders.
When he made eye contact with Charlie again, she was doing her babydoll eyes. The same ones she used on him when she was a kid to grab his attention.
"Okay, fine," he groaned, throwing his hands in the air.
He took a deep breath, mentally preparing himself for what he was about to confess to his daughter. Lucifer was choking on his pride, but he knew he couldn't keep something like this from Charlie. His love for her overruled any kind of secret he had. Even if the secret was so embarrassing, he couldn't admit it to himself.
Charlie stared at him expectantly.
"So basically—So like," Lucifer waved his hands around, trying to compile how he was going to say this. "Remember the day Nifty jumped off the banister?"
Charlie nodded, apologizing for the incident again. "I remember you falling. It must've hurt, but I figured since you're like immortal and all, you'd be fine." Yeah, she was right on that one. He was physically fine.
Lucifer rubbed the sides of his forehead, "Yeah, yeah, I know, but like..."
He trailed off, finding it really difficult to admit it out loud. Everyone there that day didn't see them kiss. Their attention was honed on Vaggie saving Nifty, and they only looked at them when their arguments grew too loud.
Lucifer moaned in frustration. Fuck it. He was going to say it all at once.
"Alastor and I kissed by accident. It was an unfortunate casualty, but like I didn't think it was that bad. Then, like last week or something, he was screwing with me in the kitchen—"
"WAIT. Wait. I'm sorry," she grabbed his shoulders tightly and leaned in, "You and Alastor kissed!?"
"Yes, we did. Now let me continue," Lucifer grabbed her hands and set them back at her sides. He took another breath before continuing.
"He was being annoying in the kitchen, and then he accidentally knocked the stacks of dishes over. By the way, it was totally his fault, not mine. I swear," he clarified, but he knew it was mainly his fault. However, it's not like Alastor is ever going to correct her. "Anyways, he pushed me out of the way, and then we fell to the floor in another accidental kiss."
Charlie's jaw dropped, and she pinched herself to make sure she wasn't dreaming. After an uncomfortable silence, she screamed and hugged Lucifer. He was confused and felt like clarifying something because the hug implied she was happy they were dating. Which they weren't. Yeah, he's thought of dating Alastor before, but it's so unrealistic that they just make him sad.
"I think I like him now? I don't know. We're not dating," Lucifer stated warily, being completely smothered by his daughter's loving hug. She continued to scream, and he realized that his words fell upon deaf ears.
"Hold on, Charlie—,"
Before he could finish, she called out Alastor's name repeatedly. He felt a sudden onset of dread wash over him, and he knew he was fucked.
A pool of shadows spawned in front of them, and Alastor appeared holding a stack of papers in one hand and a cup of coffee in another. Charlie jumped over to Alastor, giggling like a schoolgirl. If Alastor was confused, he didn't know it.
"You and my dad are going to go on a rescue mission! Fun!" she began jumping around Alastor, laughing like a maniac. Both he and Alastor made eye contact, and Lucifer could tell that Alastor was not having it. Then her voice went serious. "Please save Angel. We miss him—mainly Husk."
"Okay, bye, guys!" she skipped away, "Vaggie, I need to tell you something!"
Charlie left both of them together, standing in the middle of his bedroom hallway. An uncomfortable silence washed over them, and Lucifer wanted to dig a hole and shove his face in it. Out of sight, out of mind.
Alastor was the first to speak up.
"Shall we?"
Both of them made the trek toward the tower. It felt weird to be walking around the pride ring. He can’t remember the last time he genuinely strolled the town. Lucifer spent most of his time hoarding ducks in his room during the years of isolation, away from the multitude of sinners.
He walked side to side with Alastor in silence, and he purposely avoided looking in the demon’s direction.
Hellborn and sinners hid at the sight of them, but others took pictures and made calls in the shadows. The ones who took photos of Alastor had their phones glitch out, and Lucifer was relieved for the sinner’s ability to mess with video. He didn’t want to deal with the potential rumors of them walking together.
“Can’t you just shadow us to the tower?” Lucifer groaned, childishly dragging his feet.
Alastor rolled his eyes, mumbling something under his breath instead of responding. Lucifer grumbled internally, choosing to ignore the lack of response from him. They continued their walk in silence.
Soon enough, they made it to the entrance of the tower.
The Vees' tower was tall, and he figured that the porno guy's headquarters were at the top of it. They couldn't just walk in. After the whole Vox episode, security increased drastically. It seemed they didn't want anyone with a vendetta going after their precious TV-head.
"You know, I could fly both of us up there," Lucifer pointed to an open window halfway up the tower. It wasn't the room Angel was probably in, but at least it got them inside. However, Alastor scoffed at the idea.
"I'm not trusting your flying skills after what happened with the poster," he hissed, voice hardly above a whisper. Lucifer flushed, remembering their accidental kissing. Then it quickly went away at the jab at his flying abilities.
"I've been flying longer than you've been alive, you bloated, overrated loudspeaker," Lucifer flipped him off, not being able to do any physical harm to the guy. Alastor rolled his eyes and submitted to his shadows.
"Hey!" Lucifer hissed, trying not to be loud to attract attention.
The demon shadowed behind the building, away from the view field of the guards. He paused, looking to the side before shadowing to one of the smaller huts above the bottom floor. Watching Alastor shadow around was really cool, actually. Blending in with the shadows seemed to help him a lot.
Once Alastor was right next to the window, he ducked and headed inside.
"Oh shit," Lucifer realized he was still on the ground, and began flying up. He flew quickly, going fast enough that he went by in a blur. Nobody should've seen him go in.
Once Lucifer made it to the window, he crouched, trying to slither inside. Alastor stood, staring at his attempts to get inside. His stupid wings were caught on something, and he couldn’t get in smoothly.
The demon continued to watch his pathetic attempts at entering through the window, and didn’t offer a sliver of help. He couldn’t retract his wings since they needed to be not in motion for them to go back to their slits. Lucifer groaned, slipping slightly back outside and taking a breath before attempting to enter the window again.
Once he stretched his wings and let them settle, they were able to go back into their slits, allowing Lucifer to enter the window.
Alastor chuckled, walking further into the room.
Lucifer’s eyesight adapted quickly to the dark room, noticing that the only light emitting was further into the space they were in.
The room they were in was a bedroom. Mannequins littered the walls, layered with beautifully designed outfits from different eras. A king-sized canopy bed lay to the side of the room with dark pink satin sheets. On the other side of the room was a massive wardrobe that held a giant mirror that seemed suspiciously similar to a phone.
“Whoa,” Lucifer walked forward, taking in all the details of the creatively crafted room. Alastor stayed where they were, tinkering with his staff.
Behind him, static buzzed, illuminating the area around them a bit. Alastor’s radio stick emitted light, allowing them to see more of the room.
A giant framed poster hung above the bed, showing off a sinner in a martini glass with her hair drenched. It was titled, “Love Potion.” Lucifer tilted his head, trying to figure out what it was advertising.
“This is Velvette’s room,” he stated, trotting to the room’s door.
“Yeah, yeah, her,” Lucifer had no clue who that was. He just followed Alastor to the door.
He reached for the doorknob, opening the door to reveal the entrance into the hallway, but was met with a closet full of clothes. But it held mannequins that were covered to the brim in dust. Seems like those were the rejects.
Alastor groaned, slamming the door and investigating the room further.
“Shh!” Lucifer hushed loudly, bolting toward the demon as quickly as he could. “Don’t we need to be quiet? Stop slamming doors!” His voice was barely above a whisper.
“You practically woke up all the pride ring with your little wing stunt earlier!” Alastor shout-whispered, neck snapping back to poke at his forehead. Lucifer scoffed, summoning a rubber duck to chuck at the demon’s face.
He raised his arm, ready to throw, but Alastor caught his arm. He hissed, “That duck is going to make a lot more noise than either of us, you neanderthal!”
Lucifer struggled against Alastor’s grasp, and the realization of how strong he actually was sent a weird feeling throughout his body. Instead of letting his mind wander at those implications, he grumbled, letting his arm fall back to his side. The duck was turned into a flame, and Lucifer used it to light his way around the room.
It’s not like he really needed the light. He could see perfectly fine, but it was an excuse to walk away from Alastor.
There seemed to be no other door to leave the room, so Lucifer tried his luck in the somewhat endless-looking wardrobe.
It really did look endless. He couldn’t even see the end of it from the entrance. Each side was littered with clothes, shoes, accessories—anything dressing-up related. However, in the middle—which the rest of the wardrobe circled—was a giant mirror. Now that he’s looking at it, the mirror seems to be glowing.
He felt pulled toward it. Lucifer decided to put his weight against it, and he felt himself fall slightly in.
“Oh my god!” Lucifer screeched, almost falling over. He composed himself, heart beating slightly. Falling is not his strong suit.
“What did you find?” Alastor appeared behind, scaring Lucifer. The action caused him to jump, falling into the glowing mirror.
Half his body fell through, and he was prepared to fall into a void, but was met with carpet flooring. When he looked up, he was met with a blue/red/pink hallway theme that stretched for like a mile. His eyes turned to look at the door his body was in. The mirror was like a portal, which he figured was how the room owner was able to get in.
Lucifer scooted the rest of the way out, standing up and patting himself down. A couple of seconds later, Alastor followed, ears flicking in irritation. He visibly shivered, smile unwavering. Both of them looked around, trying to find other doors. It seemed as though this whole hallway was reserved for this room.
They walked down the hallway in silence, Lucifer's boots thudding against the carpet. He turned to the side to see Alastor standing tall, facing ahead. Their quietness disturbed him. It made him anxious. Anxiety left his mind swarming with thoughts. Those thoughts regarding bubbling feelings about kissing Alastor.
Sure, they argued a lot. But the arguments felt a little different lately. They felt more teasing instead of genuine jabs at each other's throats. Lucifer didn't want to admit it to himself, but he was starting to gain feelings for the demon.
The feelings mainly stemmed from kissing Alastor as his lips felt extremely satisfying and soothing. Then there was his personality, which was borderline psychopathic. Actually, the demon might as well be a psychopath with the way he acts.
"This way," Alastor broke his train of thought. Lucifer focused back on his surroundings and realized he was about to hit a wall.
He followed Alastor down a separate hallway that was blended with golds and pinks. Red hearts were engraved into the sides. It was dark, and Lucifer walked in front of Alastor as the demon could barely see with his illuminated light. He was so mesmerized by the intricate patterns on the wall that the two robot guards sitting to the sides went right by him.
As he walked by them, their eyes glowed red. Lucifer halted in his tracks, followed by Alastor bumping into him.
The guards jumped in front of him, their bodies glowing and vibrating in vibrant alarm colors. As they came closer, their mouths opened, and he knew they were screwed.
"Oh shit," Lucifer quickly turned into his demon form, but he wasn't fast enough.
"INTRUDER! INTRUDER!"
Alarms blasted throughout the whole building, sending a fiery vibration in their ears. Alastor seemed more affected as he faltered a bit, ears pinned back. His smile was crooked, and Alastor couldn't focus on anything but the incessant ringing in his ears.
Through blurry eyes, Lucifer grabbed Alastor and held onto him tightly as they ran in the opposite direction. Not before sending an explosion to those robot guards. Thank god he did because the harshness of the ringing faded, but the alarm still flared violently.
Lucifer held onto Alastor with an iron grip. He kept on running and didn't stop. Alastor was keeping the same pace, surprisingly. Who knew the radio demon also dabbled in a bit of cardio? And just as he thought of cardio, his mind ventured toward the alternate version of cardio.
"Stop!" Alastor halted, pulling Lucifer with him. The king slammed into Alastor, tail flicking in agitation.
Alastor dragged them both into a room that seemed like a small storage closet. Boxes labeled like "N1" and "N2" were littered across the shelves. They weren't dusty at all, and Lucifer was curious as to what they held. Alastor closed the door behind them, catching his breath. Lucifer unraveled his wings, feeling anxious again. The alarms were still blaring, but they were safe. For now.
"How the fuck do you trigger an alarm? Aren't you supposed to resemble a goat? Don't goats have amazing night vision!?" Alastor shouted, the tiny atlers atop his head growing bigger than he's ever seen. His scherla turned pitch black.
Lucifer felt a sharp heat coil in his gut. His vision flushed red as he strode toward Alastor, each step hitting the ground hard. “Don’t deer have night vision too!?"
"No, you imbecile!" Alastor groaned loudly, punching the wall.
Drywall crumbled below the punch mark, staining part of Alastor's claw. Lucifer grumbled, feeling a bit bummed over the mission. This was the one thing Charlie asked him to do that was above simple housekeeping duties, and he screwed it up.
Why was he so bad at fixing things? He fucked up the Vox stuff, almost destroyed the pride ring by being manipulated by the guy, and now this. To top it all off, his mixed feelings with Alastor were screwing with his head. Even though they just had another argument, Lucifer still wanted to be near the demon. He wanted his validation.
Lucifer sighed, staring at Alastor mumbling to himself against the wall.
He decided to peek out of the room to see if they could escape back to where they came in. When he opened the door, he was immediately stopped by a grip on his tail.
Alastor clutched Lucifer's tail, yanking him back. He yelped, legs giving out as he gripped his tail with adrenaline-riddled strength. Guards ran past the area they were in, and if the demon hadn't pulled him back, they would've been caught. Their heavy breathing was the only sound between them aside from the blaring alarm.
The guards ran by, but Alastor was still holding onto his tail.
"Uhh, Bambi?" Lucifer questioned, pointing to the balled fist seizing his devil appendage.
"“Oh. Right.” Alastor released him, and Lucifer hit the floor with a heavy, room-shaking thud. A rough, irritated groan escaped him as his tail snapped in agitation. He arched his back to undo the cramped angle he’d landed in, then pushed himself upright. For an instant—so brief he questioned it—he caught the demon watching him.
Alastor's ears flicked in every direction, listening intently to the sounds all around them. Lucifer couldn't hear that well, so he watched the demon's expressions. That's when he heard familiar voices coming from down the hall. And they were getting closer.
"¡Voy a matar a quien haya interrumpido mi tiempo de rodaje!" an irritated voice came from the hall. "¡No puedo con hoy!"
"Calm your shit, Val. We'll just kill whoever it is. I can go back to my dress rehearsal, and you can continue your porno business," a slightly annoyed voice responded to the other's rants.
Shit. Shit. They were coming right towards them! Lucifer didn't know what to do. He was too focused on Alastor's ear movements and the voices that he forgot to close the slightly ajar door. They were absolutely going to check this room.
"We're so fuc—,"
His sentence was abruptly cut off as Alastor grabbed him and smashed their lips together. Lucifer let out a sharp, startled cry, mind scrambling to register the sudden contact, but the moment his lips fell against those soft ones, he melted. Alastor’s hand traced along his waist, lifting him effortlessly to close the height difference. The other caught his tail, fingers winding around it and circling the base in a slow, coaxing motion.
Lucifer let out a low, unrestrained moan, his body instinctively arching into the contact. The feeling of his lips against Alastor's, and with him taking the lead—it was everything Lucifer wanted. He craved touch after being deprived of it for so long. He tried to follow Alastor’s rhythm, matching the pace as best he could, but the pleasure blurred his focus. A faint dizziness crept in, leaving him breathless and reeling under the intensity of it.
Unsteady arms slid around Alastor’s neck, dragging him closer. Alastor let out a heavy breath, and Lucifer felt the tension in his posture loosen, shoulders dropping. The demon was just as hungry to kiss him.
Then the door opened further.
"Ohh, what do we have here?" a sultry voice teased from behind them.
At that moment, Alastor rubbed into the base of his tail and pulled it, eliciting a rather crude moan from his mouth.
"Val, come on, just leave them be. We've got no time to indulge in your voyuerism bullshit," the feminine voice scolded the other. The other guy—Val—scoffed at her response. They closed the door, leaving Alastor and Lucifer alone. After a couple of seconds, they stopped their kissing, listening to footsteps slowly trickling away.
Lucifer, still holding onto Alastor, looked up at him with pleading eyes. He wanted to continue kissing the demon, but Alastor's expression sent a sinking feeling in his chest. The demon looked irritated, yet something was different about the expression. Lucifer was about to comment on it before Alastor turned his head to avoid the look on his face. Lucifer looked down in shame. Of course. It was simple.
Alastor had kissed him, knowing they wouldn't be wasting their time checking out the room if they were in an intense make-out session.
It was nothing more than a diversion.
With dread filling his body, he unwrapped his arms from Alastor's neck, surprised the demon hadn't shoved him back immediately. The feelings of disappointment and rejection filled his mind, consuming everything else.
"Let's head back," Lucifer expressed, voice shaky, staring at the floor in humiliation. He was not about to cry in front of Alastor.
"Lucifer—"
Before he could let him finish his statement, Lucifer had already opened a portal back to the hotel. He ran through, stepping foot into the hotel lobby and immediately flying up the stairs back to his room. Behind him, he heard the sounds of his daughter calling out to ask about the mission. Everything felt numb, and he needed to get away from it all. Not even Charlie could help him right now.
For the next couple of weeks, Lucifer spent the time holed up in his room. A depressive slump fully hit him, and he had zero plans to get up to do anything.
His body was face-planted into his pillow, and clusters of his favorite rubber ducks surrounded him. He dressed himself in his favorite pajamas, striped pants with a baggy plain t-shirt. At least three layers of blankets surrounded him, covering every ounce of his body. A heavy sigh escaped his lips, pillow damp from the steady stream of tears.
At one point during the week, Charlie knocked on his door to tell him Angel showed up a little bit after we came back. She was talking about how he was able to get time off from work because Valentino was mad for the rest of the day. Apparently, he was “too mad at some bitches” to put any effort into his films.
He acknowledged her, but he didn’t respond. A couple of minutes after that, she left.
The rest of the time was spent in isolation. In isolation and a slump, the only form of entertainment for Lucifer was his onslaught of hurtful thoughts. These thoughts were especially bad because before it was just a mix of memories of Lilith and Charlie, but this time it also included the dumb red loudspeaker.
God, why was he so dumb? Why did he grow attached to Alastor? He knew it would never work out; the demon didn’t even tolerate his presence. But he couldn’t help but ache inside over how similar Lilith's leaving him felt to this.
Lucifer was pathetically sobbing into his pillow. He made a complete fool of himself in front of Alastor, and he felt pathetic. Out of everyone he could yearn to touch from, it had to be the one sinner that absolutely despised him.
Everything was numbing, and today was an especially hard day. His stomach was growling, and his Sinstagram feed decided to screw him over by showing hellborn couples living happy, married lives. He reported all of them out of anger and blamed his 'for you page' as revenge from the Vees.
A slow, polite knock on his door caught his attention.
“Lucifer?” came a familiar voice outside of his room. He stopped sobbing, holding in his tears as his body froze. Alastor was behind the door.
He knocked against the wooden frame, and Lucifer felt his heart lighten up a bit. Was he here to check up on him on his own accord?
“Charlie asked me to check up on you. Well, more like she begged. It took a minute of her pleading eyes and Vaggie’s death stares before I decided maybe something was going on with you.”
Lucifer sat up slightly, chin resting on top of the pillow instead of face-first. He sighed. Of course, he should’ve known by now. The radio demon doesn’t do feelings. It’s just a transaction between him and Charlie.
There was another pause between them. Lucifer didn’t feel like responding to Alastor, but another part of him wanted to talk. He was mad, but at the same time, craved for an apology or any kind of vulnerability.
"I know you're in there, sire." Alastor's voice was a little bit softer than normal. Lucifer would know since his stupid voice has been ridiculing him in his mind all week. He continued to be unresponsive, his constant sobbing dulling to a slow stream.
“Can you stop ignoring….me,” he gritted out the last part, “And let me in?”
With the way his voice sounded, Lucifer couldn’t help but cave in. He sounded desperate, and Lucifer felt his guilt wash over him at his tone. How miserable could he be that he causes Alastor to change his attitude toward him?
With a tiny flick of his wrist, he unlocked the door with his magic, leaving it slightly agape. Lucifer rolled over in the bed, snaking under the covers more until everything was black. He heard the thematic thud of Alastor’s heels grow closer until they were in the same proximity.
Alastor sat down to the side of him on the bed, dipping the weight. A low hum of static filled the air, and it reminded Lucifer of the kisses they shared. How the static would filter out whenever their lips touched.
Lucifer felt the tension in the room rise, and he was waiting for Alastor to talk first. The demon obviously came to talk. He shuffled under the sheets, biting the inside of his cheek in waiting.
“You haven’t done your duties in a while,” Alastor spoke up, setting his staff down on the bed sheets. Lucifer grumbled, pulling the blanket over his head so only his eyes poked out. He saw Alastor staring straight ahead, avoiding eye contact. “You also haven’t joined your daughter for dinner.”
“I’ve eaten with her,” Lucifer lied, knowing Alastor never showed up to the staff dinners despite making all the food. The demon has always taken a plate and retreated to his room, enjoying the silence.
“Don’t lie to me. It’s disrespectful that you even attempt to fabricate the truth near me,” he raised his voice, ears flicking in annoyance. Lucifer felt embarrassed. Another stab to his pride of being caught in a lie.
He scoffed, “There’s no way you could tell! You never even show up to dinners anyway.”
“For your information, I’ve been at every dinner since your reclusiveness, little Miss Dickison,” Alastor flicked his hand in aggravation at Lucifer. He rolled his eyes. Of course, how could he forget? It's the avid book reader he's talking to. The arguing and comments fueled the bubbling anger in his stomach, and all the emotions over the past two weeks burst.
“Why do you do this?” Lucifer sat up in bed, flinging the blanket over his body. “Every time we talk, you can never do anything but piss me off, start arguments, tuck tail and hide!”
“Well, if you were a more enjoyable person to be around, maybe I wouldn’t feel inclined to ridicule you at every chance I got!” Alastor spat, scooting closer to Lucifer. The statement felt like an angelic spear to the heart.
“I already know that, and you repeating it pisses me off!” tears bridged the corners of his eyes, and Lucifer felt the wave of anger dissipate into a numbing, seeping sadness. He took in a heavy breath, choking on air in an attempt not to start sobbing.
Alastor stared at Lucifer’s pathetic state, and the cocky smile plastered against his face, for the first time, turned into a genuine grimace. His ears fell flat against his head, and just a little bit, could Lucifer notice an embarrassed flush across the demon’s cheeks.
The tears clumping in his eyes finally fell, and Lucifer just accepted his fate. Crying in front of his enemy/crush was not something he thought his prideful self would ever do. To top it all off, Alastor still stayed silent through his breakdown.
“Lucifer, look…,” Alastor began, running his claws through his hair. “You are…above tolerable on most days. Bordering on extremely pleasant to be around.” The demon struggled to say the words.
Lucifer's blubering sobs steadied out to a soft one, and he perked up at the statement. The way Alastor phrased it was funny, and he giggled a little bit through his sniffling. Alastor’s ears shot up, surprised at his laugh.
“When you’re not pissing me off, which is not often, you add a little bit of variety to my days,” his voice was soft, considerate. The way he spoke was different from his usual slanderous speech.
“And recently, I’ve started realizing I’ve quite liked indulging in your…,” he gestured to all of him, “Lucifer flare.”
Lucifer felt heat rise across his cheeks as he sniffled. A faint ringing crept into his ears while his heartbeat accelerated. He was getting his hopes up, and they were too high to be shot down.
“I’m not—I don’t—,” Alastor sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. Lucifer scooted closer to the demon, clutching a rubber duck like a body pillow.
“I’m not one to particularly like people. I tolerate everyone here at best. But you rank a little bit above that. Maybe more if I’m having a good day.”
His heart practically exploded out of his chest. Is Alastor saying what he thinks he’s saying? An excited, golden flush complemented his cheeks, and Lucifer stared at Alastor with pleading eyes, chin resting against the duck plush. Lucifer’s mouth was muffled in the giant duck.
Alastor finally made eye contact with Lucifer, and when he saw him, the demon almost burst out in hysterics. The visual of the king clutching onto the ridiculously large duck while looking up at him like he was the best thing in the world was beyond any form of imagination.
Lucifer felt his body flush in embarrassment as Alastor doubled over laughing. He was about to complain about Alastor’s appearance, but the demon turned back to him with a wide smile on his face. He was still laughing his ass off, but Lucifer could tell it was a genuine smile and not a cocky one.
After a few more seconds, the laughter died down. Lucifer shifted in his bed a bit, waiting for Alastor to continue talking. There has still been no apology or direct statement regarding the demon’s feelings.
“At the Vees’ tower, I would like to apologize. I made a rather crash decision,” Alastor’s ears pinned back again. “I’m not good with feelings. I don’t understand them too well, and I don’t enjoy touch either.”
There was a pause between them. Lucifer’s eyes widened. Everything finally made sense. Each instance they’ve accidentally kissed, Alastor has been freaking out—blowing things out of proportion. Then, at other times, he avoided him completely. It seemed so odd to Lucifer, but he realized the demon was probably processing everything.
While Lucifer was taking in everything, he felt a hand fall atop his head. Then a gentle pat. He looked up, staring into Alastor’s expression.
His eyes were twitching slightly, and he seemed incredibly uncomfortable with everything going on.
“Alright, those are my two cents,” he retracted his hand and patted down his coat. Alastor seemed ready to leave, but Lucifer jumped out of the sheets to grab onto the demon’s arm.
Both of them halted, and Lucifer bore daggers into him. He took a deep breath before speaking.
“I l-like you. Shit, ignore that stutter,” Lucifer ran a shaky hand through his hair, his other hand still holding onto Alastor. He noticed his ears were pinned back, and he remembered the comment about physical touch. “Sorry,” Lucifer let go. Alastor shrugged it off, staying next to Lucifer.
“It’s really confusing for me too. When we kissed the first time, I noticed I started feeling different toward you,” Lucifer awkwardly scratched the back of his neck. In response, Alastor flicked an ear.
“I’m not a joyful person. Ever since Lilith, I’ve always seen the worst in things, and I would rather hole myself up in my room than confront my problems.”
“Yes, ever prideful you are,” Alastor chuckled. Lucifer sighed in response, rolling his eyes.
“Then at the tower, I understood that you were rejecting me,” Lucifer leaned forward, scooching right next to Alastor but not touching. At that moment, Alastor’s expression faltered. He looked guilty and decided to respond by clearing things up.
“It’s not like I hated the kiss. It’s just my people, and touch quota was filled for the day, and I wasn’t comfortable with any more.”
The truth of the statement lifted a heavy weight inside of Lucifer’s chest. All the thoughts of his slump disappeared, and he felt normal again. Well, normal enough that his depression wasn’t constantly nagging at him for the whole day.
“I like you too, Lucifer,” Alastor confessed, picking at his claws.
A rush of warmth flickered through his head, light enough that it almost made him dizzy. The radio demon actually liked him back! Alastor, the demon that was feared by all, liked him back. Everything felt like a dream, and he had an overwhelming urge to envelop Alastor in a hug.
“Can I hug you? Please?” Lucifer begged, excitement bubbling up so much his tail unraveled from its pocket dimension and started wagging. Alastor flushed, mouth agape in shock.
“Sorry, it’s just…the king of Hell, begging?” he teased, leaning in to boop him on the nose. Lucifer groaned, slapping the hand away, pretending to sulk. He looked away from Alastor, feeling a little embarrassed.
“Last form of physical touch for the night, and we’re done. I’ve already exasperated my feelings talk.”
“Yay!” Lucifer exclaimed, jumping into the deer’s arms. He lay between the demon’s legs, wrapping pale arms around his chest. His tail flicked side to side, seeming content with the touch. Lucifer melted, his deprivation of touch finally being satiated after over a decade. Alastor awkwardly placed a hand on his back, patting it slightly.
He held on tighter, face planted into the demon’s red coat. When he looked up, he saw Alastor’s expression twitching, but his ears stayed upright. A few more seconds would do.
“By the way, I wasn’t the one who messed with your dishes on that day,” Alastor brought the hand that was patting his back into the hair that rested on the back of his neck.
“Where were they then?” Lucifer asked, head tilting against his chest.
“When I talked to Nifty, she said there was ‘a stack behind your stack’,” Alastor used air quotes, continuing to scratch the patch of blonde hair back there. Lucifer sighed into the touch, trying to think back to that day.
That’s when he realized.
He wanted to rest his arm against the side of the table, so he moved one of the stacks behind his main one. The fact that he completely forgot about that was really embarrassing. God, he got worked up all for nothing over that.
Being enveloped in his touch was so fucking satisfying, and Lucifer wanted more. He nuzzled into Alastor’s chest, squeezing tighter. A little bit of greed never hurt nobody.
"I do really like you," Lucifer blurted out, scooting up further onto his chest. The action caused Alastor to reel back, lightly pushing Lucifer back into a seated position. He cleared his throat.
"That's enough touching for today," Alastor patted him on the head, smiling. Lucifer whined and blushed, still not used to the affection from the demon. He pushes himself up from a cross-legged position using his fists for support. He still couldn't believe that they both liked each other.
“I want more,” he sighed, staring up at Alastor with pleading eyes. All that came was an eye roll in response, so Lucifer let his thoughts consume him.
He imagined spending nights together in bed, cuddling, and Alastor would play with his hair as he ranted about his day. Then, on another day, Lucifer would show off his castle to Alastor, where his shrines of rubber ducks were held. Speaking of rubber ducks, he needs to make one look like Alastor! That would be such a cool gift to give to him. They could also get matching pajamas, mugs, shirts, rings, and phone cases! Actually, Alastor doesn't use a phone. Never mind.
But it would take a while if it were to happen. It kind of sucks that Alastor doesn't really enjoy physical touch while Lucifer is all about showing his affection that way. However, he can get used to it. Alastor likes him, and that's all that matters.
Then Lucifer realized something else. He perked up, tilting into Alastor's face.
"Does this mean you want to date!?" Lucifer smiled widely, tail wagging rapidly side to side again.
"Hold on a bit before we put a label on it. I would like to take you on a proper date first."
"Oh, right," Lucifer chuckled, falling back and rubbing his neck awkwardly. Alastor responded with a light-hearted laugh. He proceeded to stretch his limbs, groaning over a loud pop. Both of them enjoyed the comfortable silence that followed, but Lucifer had the urge to busy his mind. Alastor was obviously drained from the day, so Lucifer took out his phone and started scrolling on Sinstagram.
Alastor summoned a book into existence, and both of them paid mind to their own things. Lucifer didn't know where their relationship was heading exactly, but he was excited for what was to come.