Chapter OneNotes:(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Once the last exorcist returns to Heaven and the smoke of the battle clears, the absences of those who didn't survive the clash cause heavy feelings of guilt to wash over Lucifer and the hotel's residents, with some absences weighing in heavier than others.
Sir Pentious. Gone. Sacrificed himself to fight for a cause that Lucifer's daughter, Charlie, had inspired them all to believe in. Lucifer looks at Charlie, sees the tears falling down her face and feels his stomach tighten in guilt.
If I had gotten here sooner then maybe he would still be here.
Fear, and maybe too much pride, had kept Lucifer at bay. Not just from the fight but from his daughter, too, and now, she is paying the price of his own neglect with her tears. Lucifer's eyes fill with matching wetness as he pulls his daughter into a protective embrace, willing away her sadness as best he can. He holds onto her until the shaking in her shoulders slows to a tentative trembling and her hollow breaths turn into deep, steadying intakes of air.
Lucifer tucks a finger under her chin, guiding her to look at him, and he looks at her with what he hopes is a convincing reassuring smile, although his own tears are still resting in the corners of his eyes.
"I couldn't save him, Dad." Charlie's voice breaks as she chokes back more tears.
"Hey, now, Little Lady, you have still accomplished miraculous things. You are making change, and Sir Pentious believed in that change so much that he was willing to fight with his life to help it come to fruition. Don't tell me that is defeat I see in your eyes." Lucifer is grateful that his voice stays steady despite the lump forming in his throat at his daughter's dejected demeanor.
"Sweetie," Charlie and Lucifer both turn to look at Vaggie when she calls out. "Your dad is right. We can't stop now. We have to keep going. For Sir Pentious."
Angel Dust, Husk, and Niffty all nod their heads in agreement with Vaggie, and when a small but honest smile begins to stretch across Charlie's lips, Lucifer feels his own smile widen from the genuine adoration he holds for his daughter.
"Yeah, Toots, if I ain't givin' up, neither are you." Angel Dust remarks with playful snark paired with a wink and a grin.
"I love you guys!" Charlie exclaims, tears returning, as she holds her arms out for hugs.
Lucifer quickly finds himself pinned uncomfortably in the middle of a group hug, but it's a bit hard to be too disgruntled when he can hear the smile in Charlie's voice as she continues to express her gratitude for her friends. The pile of demons, including Fat Nuggets and KeeKee, stay tightly embraced for an immeasurable amount of minutes before Husk, blessedly, asks to let go.
The group begins to talk excitedly about rebuilding the hotel, Lucifer promising to make it bigger and better than before.
So much better than Alastor did.
Lucifer feels his face contort into confusion as Alastor's name passes through his thoughts, and the previous smugness he was feeling is replaced by something akin to concern. As if sensing a change in his emotions, Charlie looks over at him. He tries to give her another reassuring smile, but as soon as their eyes meet, he sees the panic building in hers and knows that she has also realized the radio demon is absent.
"He was fighting Adam, and then he just disappeared." The stress in Charlie's voice is almost tangible.
Lucifer begins to respond, but Husk cuts in before he can start speaking.
"He's not dead, Princess. Rest assured, we'd know if he was. He's probably just off licking the wounds to his pride." Husk shoots her a convincing enough nonchalant smile, but Lucifer can see a slight twitch in the corner of the bartender's lips.
Charlie seems to accept the answer for now, so Lucifer allows himself to accept it as well. Even if he doesn't believe it, he hopes, for Charlie's sake, that Husk is right. Attempting to keep up his happy-go-lucky facade, Lucifer takes in a calming breath and plasters a smile on his face as he joins the others in digging through the rubble for anything salvageable. Lucifer doesn't pray. He knows first-hand that it doesn't work. Yet and still, he finds himself sending up a prayer that something, whether it be Heaven or fate, will be on his daughter's side long enough to bring the radio demon back to them. He doesn't know if she can take another loss like that so soon. Alastor has to come back.
For Charlie's sake.
Notes:Link to my Tumblr! I post when I make updates!
https://www.tumblr.com/blog/yezoki
Chapter 2: Chapter TwoSummary:Alastor makes his appearance back at the hotel.
Notes:As promised, this chapter is longer than the first! It's almost twice as long :)
Let me know what you guys think in the comments!
Also, I do go back to review chapters myself, but if you guys notice grammatical errors or misspellings, please let me know because my brain will sometimes auto-fill the correct thing even if it's wrong which causes me to miss errors occasionally.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
As Lucifer walks down the hallway towards the hotel's lobby, all he can think is how tired he is. It had taken a week to get the hotel built back, and they just finished yesterday. He couldn't rest now, of course, because the wonderful news of Sir Pentious's successful redemption had finally reached Charlie. She had been ecstatic when Emily relayed the message to the hotel crew, and Lucifer had been there next to his daughter, telling her how proud he was of her accomplishments. Caught up in the joy of the moment, he had agreed to stay up with her and Vaggie, not Maggie, until late last night prepping orientation seminars and welcoming exercises in preparation of, hopefully, many more new guests to the Hazbin Hotel.
Unfortunately, 7AM doesn't look too good when you watched the clock turn to 5AM the night before.
Lucifer has just reached the stairs when a movement out of the corner of his eye catches his attention and draws his gaze to the left down the hallway that leads to the radio demon's tower. Alastor. Lucifer's stomach clenches with anxiety immediately upon thinking about him. They still haven't heard from the demon, and Lucifer has been steadily working up the courage to have the I-don't-think-he's-coming-back conversation with Charlie. Even if Alastor isn't dead, it's still highly possible he tucked tail and ran after losing in his face-off with Adam. Whether it be for pride or self-preservation, Lucifer honestly can't say he wouldn't understand. Would he be pissed at the radio demon for abandoning his daughter who, for fuck-all reasoning, trusts him? Yes. But Lucifer can't expect an overlord to prioritize anything over himself. Lucifer truly does hope Alastor isn't dead, seeing as he was fighting for Charlie, but he doesn't care to know the radio demon's fate.
The strong, oddly familiar scent of cayenne pepper and thyme suddenly penetrates Lucifer's nostrils, and he feels an uneasiness start to soak into his skin. His eyes begin searching for a threat, and they find it in the shape of a red-haired, smiling bastard. Aggravation quickly replaces every emotion flitting through Lucifer's body as he locks eyes with the radio demon, not dead, just walking with that annoyingly peppy walk while he twirls his cane. Alastor flashes a large, fake grin at him, and Lucifer simply rolls his eyes.
"Where the Hell have you been?" Keeping his voice quiet enough to make sure the others don't hear him means Lucifer's voice doesn't hold as much venom as he wishes, but it gets the point across well enough if the tightening of Alastor's smile is anything to go by.
"Good morning to you, too, dear King! I feared that tacky little apple tower might mean you were staying with us, and I see I was correct." Alastor sneers, but something is wrong, off somehow. Lucifer can't directly pin what it is, but he can tell the demon isn't as okay as he's seemingly trying to be. There's a layer of discomfort coating his body language, contorting the usual malice in his smile into an almost pained look. His shoulders are rigid as well as if he's trying not to move them too much.
Holy shit he's hurt.
The realization locks up the sarcasm Lucifer had been holding on the tip of his tongue. All the pieces fall into place and quickly answer every question Lucifer had in regards to the radio demon's absence. He wants to ask; he knows Charlie would want him to help, but he also knows that Alastor will retaliate to any perceived form of pity, likely hurting himself more in the process if his wounded is sensitive enough.
He's standing, walking, so it can't be that bad anymore, yeah?
Lucifer wants to believe the demon is okay, if only so he can throw insults at the guy without worrying about feeling guilty. He's clearly not though given the way his breathing has a slight shallowness to it if Lucifer listens closely, and although he hates himself for every single ounce of empathy he's feeling for the radio demon, Lucifer decides to give him something familiar to work with.
"Yeah, I've been here working on the hotel this whole time, so I figured I've earned my place. You, though, you're lucky Charlie vouched for you to get your little broadcasting studio since you waited until all the hard work was done to show up." The pissing contest jab appears to have served its purpose since Lucifer sees the demon's shoulders, which had clenched impossibly tighter in the time it took him to respond, finally unwind just a touch more than they were when this entire conversation started.
"I assure you I've been working quite hard. I was almost gone longer, but I heard the magnificent news of Pentious's new residence in Heaven and assumed Charlie will need me present now, what with me being her right-hand man." Alastor's smug little smile doesn't quite hold the same power it usually does, but it still manages to make Lucifer's blood boil. "Well, I'll be heading down to the lobby now. Don't be too long, King."
The moment the radio demon snaps out of sight Lucifer releases the long sigh he's been holding in. He's not sure if it's composed of aggravation, anger, anxiety, or some convoluted cocktail of all three, but he feels the exaggerated exhale all the way down to his bones. His body sags against the stair railing, and he uses the support to steady himself as he takes in deep, calming breaths in a fruitless effort to cease his suddenly racing thoughts. He's not even sure why he's like this, why it feels like an oncoming panic attack. He just knows "unsettled" is an understatement for how he's feeling right now, and he's not sure if in that lobby with that demon is where he needs to be.
But this isn't about me or that damn radio demon. It's about Charlie, and my daughter needs me.
Resolving to push down this discomfort or whatever the fuck it is he's experiencing towards the demon's return, Lucifer forces himself to stand up straight and plasters his best I-am-ready-for-this-shit smile on his face. He does opt to walk to the lobby instead of snapping there in hopes that the additional time will allow his body and mind to relax a bit before throwing himself back into the proverbial Hellfire that is Alastor's presence.
Lucifer arrives downstairs just in time to see the tail-end of the radio demon's hug with his daughter. Alastor must have felt him come down because their eyes meet almost instantaneously, and the demon's mouth spreads wide into an haughty grin. His look falters slightly, however, when Charlie presses her hand against his chest to get his attention. Lucifer bookmarks that observation before walking up to the pair in order to nudge himself between the radio demon and his daughter. He makes it look accidental when his elbow juts into Alastor's chest to make a space for him to move into. He takes note of the twitch in Alastor's lips and the slight darkening of his eyes.
Definitely wounded on his chest then.
Lucifer accepts the new knowledge like a battle plan, stowing it away to be used when needed. Alastor looks at him with calculated contempt almost hidden behind the fake smile he has on display for everyone around him. Lucifer realizes that Alastor must suspect that Lucifer knows he's wounded to at least some extent, and he clearly doesn't like the idea. Lucifer shoots him a look of feigned innocence before turning his attention back to his daughter, where it belongs, as she begins to excitedly explain the action plan for the day.
Notes:I'm not even going to pretend that there will be a schedule for posting, but the goal is at least two chapters per week! I'm a general manager, so it's just a matter of working my writing/editing schedule around my hours and my store's needs.
Chapter 3: Chapter ThreeSummary:Lucifer talks to Husker and Charlie about Alastor.
Notes:I promise Alastor will be in the next chapter! We're pretty much done with the set up and will be getting into the actual plotty stuff then!
I also fixed the error that Luci's direct thoughts weren't italicized in the last chapter. You can definitely tell I'm still getting used to posting on here. 😅
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
The two weeks since Alastor's return to the hotel have been frustrating for reasons much different than Lucifer had anticipated, mostly because his frustration centers around the confusion and curiosity concerning the radio demon's whereabouts. He'd expected the deer bastard to flaunt any ounce of influence he has over Charlie in front Lucifer's face, but the radio demon has been suspiciously scarce while everyone preps to reopen the hotel. If Lucifer didn't know that Alastor is hurt, he would suspect the tacky piece of shit was hiding, lurking in the shadows from the hard work, only to re-emerge once the guests start arriving in order to brag about his role as Charlie's steadfast hotelier. However, he does know that Alastor is hurt. Which means that as much as he wants to be happy the radio demon hasn't been around, he just can't. He needs to know why. Why hasn't he healed yet? Why did he come back to the hotel in such a vulnerable state? Why the fuck hasn't he healed yet?! Lucifer's mind begins to spiral into a now all-too familiar hamster wheel thought process of trying to understand what Alastor's purpose for being here is because having this many sets of eyes to perform for while attempting to heal from an angelic wound is one of the stupidest decisions a demon, let alone an overlord, could make, yet here he was displaying a glowing example of an ego based self-sabotaging stubbornness coupled with one of Hell's grandest disappearing acts.
It's reckless. It's dangerous, and it just doesn't make sense WHY he would be here. Yeah, he obviously didn't realize I would be here, so maybe he thought hiding the wound would be easier. But that just seems like too big of a gamble for him to risk with the amount of sinners expected to start staying at the hotel-
"You need another round, Your Highness?" Husker's smooth voice cuts through Lucifer's thoughts and nearly causes Lucifer to fall off the bar stool when he jumps in shock. Lucifer flushes slightly in embarrassment, and Husker just chuckles at him, holding up a glass as if to punctuate his question.
"Sure, uh, make it a nightcap." Lucifer tries not to look away as he speaks, but the raised eyebrow the bartender throws his way has Lucifer averting his eyes.
"You realize it's one in the afternoon, yeah? A bit early for a nightcap."
"I need a nap?" It's not convincing. Lucifer knows it's not convincing, and Husker is not trying to hide that he is, in fact, not convinced.
"Thinking about Alastor got you that stressed out?"
"What?" Lucifer just barely manages to squeak the word out through the guilt and embarrassment choking him up.
"You've been gripping that glass so tightly I thought it may break. I've only seen you get that frustrated over the boss. Correct me if I'm wrong." Husker examines Lucifer's face as he speaks a small, mischievous smile spreading across his lips. "I've also noticed you watching him when he does decide to come around."
The flush on Lucifer's face deepens and spreads down his neck at the implication in Husker's words. He opens his mouth to defend himself, but every explanation he could give would out Alastor as being wounded which, despite his disdain for the bastard, he doesn't want to do. He opens and closes his mouth repeatedly as he wills his brain to come up with a decent excuse.
"I'm fucking with you, Highness." Husker says through chuckles, and Lucifer forces himself to laugh along with him as casually as he can manage. The bartender slides him another glass of wine instead of a nightcap and clears his throat before speaking again. "I mean, I have noticed you watching him, but I'm assuming you've realized he's hurt."
"You know?" Lucifer feels the shift in his body, the embarrassment fading as the skepticism bleeds in. There's another emotion there too, something else that he can't quite name that makes the hair on the back of his neck stand up.
"Yeah, he's been hiding it well, but I noticed him favoring his chest the first week he came back. That on top of the fact that he's not his usual sadistically chipper and ever-present self led me to realizing he's probably still nursing wounds from the fight."
"Has Charlie noticed?" Lucifer tries to steer the conversation away from being directly centered around Alastor.
"That he's hurt? No, but she's noticed his absences. She thinks it's because of the mutual dislike you two hold for each other." Husker has a knowing smile playing at his lips, and it sets Lucifer on edge. "You didn't hear this from me, but Angel said the princess might ask you to speak to Alastor. Fix the shit going on between you two and all that."
Lucifer groans loudly as he buries his face in his arms. The display is more than a little pathetic, but he just can't bring himself to care. Bartenders are used to seeing people whine like this, so pretense be damned. The very idea of talking to Alastor with the intention of hashing out the tension between them is mortifying. Throw in the fact that the radio demon is highly likely to be on edge due to his injured state, and you've got a recipe for disaster. Lucifer is trying to be as civil as possible with him for Charlie's sake, but any attempt at a fix-it conversation will definitely back-pedal any progress he's made.
The sound of a glass sliding across the bar catches Lucifer's attention. He looks up from his arms to see Husker extending a glass of what looks to be a nightcap towards him. The two extend small, but sincere, smiles before Lucifer drags himself off the bar stool, tired legs pulling him towards his room.
~*~
Just as Lucifer's consciousness begins to drift away, someone knocks on his door, and he jolts up in surprise, nearly falling off his bed in the process.
"Dad?" Charlie's voice, accompanied by the sound of another knock, travels through the door. Lucifer calls her in, and she looks nervous as she walks into his room. "Sorry to bother you. You weren't doing anything important were you?"
"No, Honey, nothing too important that I can't set it aside for you." Lucifer smiles at her through his sleep addled state and is delighted when Charlie returns it.
"You sure? I can come back if-"
"Charlie, really, it's okay." Lucifer does his best to wipe the tiredness from his voice and face in an attempt to look convincing. "What's up?"
"Well, I, uh." She opts to look anywhere but him while she speaks, and Lucifer feels anxiety start twisting in his gut as his conversation with Husker flicks into his brain. "Judging by your expression, I'm assuming you know it's about Alastor." Charlie lets out a nervous laugh as she wrings her hands together.
"What about him? He's not causing trouble is he?" Lucifer forces a casual jest into his voice as he speaks, but Charlie seems to interpret it as a jab at the radio demon since the nervous smile falls from her face, replaced by unfiltered disapproval.
"No, Dad. Alastor hasn't done anything rude since he's came back, and I was really hoping-"
"Woah, hey, Charlie, I was kidding." Lucifer holds his hands up in surrender when his daughter's eyes start turning red. "I-I didn't mean it." He takes her hand in his. "I'm sorry." He offers a reassuring and apologetic smile that she, thankfully, returns again.
"I'm sorry, too. I've just been on edge with the stress of the hotel about to open, and Alastor has been basically MIA. Which I know he probably has reasons for, but it's been hard without him, even with you and Vaggie doing so much." Tears start building in her eyes, and Lucifer quickly pulls her down into a hug.
"It's okay, Char, I'll talk to him." Lucifer wants to kick himself for being the one to suggest it, but he knew that's where this was going anyway. May as well save Charlie the stress of trying to ask it herself. The immediate burst of energy that flows through her makes whatever bullshit he's sure to face worth it.
"Really?! I was hoping you would because I think Alastor is being so reclusive because he wasn't expecting you to be here, but of course, when I asked him he just got all cryptic and said 'I think it's best for me to keep distance from your father'. And he completely refused to explain what that meant, so I was hoping you would, y'know, extend the proverbial olive branch because I'm going to need you both when the hotel opens back up. You're both very important to the continued success of sinners, and I just-"
"Breathe, Honey." Lucifer puts his hands on Charlie's shoulders and demonstrates a deep breath for her to follow along with. She does, and Lucifer waits for her breathing to fully steady again before speaking. "I can't promise I'll fix anything, but I'll talk to him, okay?"
"Promise you won't make it worse?"
"That's, well, I-" Charlie raises a disapproving eyebrow at him, and he lets out a defeated sigh. "I'll do my best; I promise, but I can't say I won't react if he starts shit."
"If he starts to push your buttons, just walk away."
Easier said than done.
"Sure, I'll try that." Charlie's small, expectant smile turns into a full-on grin that Lucifer can't help but match inch for inch.
Charlie pulls him into a tight hug, and Lucifer tries his hardest to ignore the ever-growing anxiety bubbling into his chest from his belly. He happily returns the hug, but his smile fades the second his daughter can no longer see his face. This is bound to be a disaster. He just hopes Charlie doesn't end up catching the brunt of whatever happens, which she surely will if he doesn't play his cards right.
Talk to Alastor about why he's avoiding me and not get into it.
And also ask why he's still hurt.
And definitely not get into a fight with him.
Yeah, sure, easy.
Lucifer groans internally and decides he will most definitely need a nap before doing this shit.
Notes:Here's the Spotify playlist for this fic:
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7pOVrNh1914JwyR50t2uSH?si=58b62ab53f4441e3
Chapter 4: Chapter FourSummary:Lucifer visits Alastor.
Notes:We're getting into the plotty plot now!!
TW: graphic descriptions of infected wounds
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
The attempt at a nap had failed miserably, and Lucifer feels utterly miserable. He's had less than two hours of sleep, has put nothing but alcohol on his stomach, and anxiety has been eating away at him since talking to Husker. Yet and still, here he is dragging his feet down the hallway towards the radio demon's fucking tower. The low-burning anxiety has quickly graduated into a forest fire that seems intent on swallowing up Lucifer's gut, chest, and everything between. He aggressively runs his hands through his hair, erupting in a loud groan as he realizes he left his fucking hat in his room. He buries his face in his hands and contemplates going back for his hat, but really, he's too far down the hallway to turn back. He also can't promise that he will be able to muck up the courage to get this close to Alastor's room again, so forward he goes. Lucifer isn't scared to see the demon per se, but he does not want to do this right now, though he had promised Charlie he would go after his nap which means she expects him to do it today. He didn't actually get to take the nap though, due to his racing mind keeping him awake, so his mood is shit right now which can only have a negative impact on his ability to propose an acceptable, believable truce to Alastor.
Lucifer stops mid-step when he realizes he's standing directly in front of the red door leading to the radio demon's room. It all feels like a cheap horror movie cliche: the bright red door juxtaposed with the dark walls of the hallway, the lit "On Air" sign essentially acting as a warning to beware. As he puts his hand on the door handle, Lucifer feels like the dumbass kid about to unleash the evil, ravenous deer entity upon his family by opening a door that very clearly does not want to be opened.
Maybe I shouldn't interrupt. Charlie said something about not going in when the sign is lit up.
The thought pushes itself into Lucfier's head, his brain's last attempt at salvation. He knows from Angel, who shares the hallway with the radio demon, that the sign has been on for two full consecutive days though, and it's not plausible that Alastor has actually been broadcasting the entire time. He sighs defeatedly, knowing that using the sign as an excuse to not enter would just mean succumbing to the cowardice caused by his fear of fucking this up when he's trying to do something to help Charlie. He has to go into this room to talk to Alastor. They have to do something about the mutual hatred they juggle between themselves, so Lucifer takes a deep breath full of what he hopes is rationality and opens the door.
A disgusting wave of the smell of decay crashes into Lucifer's face. It smells as if a rotting carcass has been placed right at the doorway, and Lucifer has to physically control the urge to vomit. He forces himself to fully enter the room so that he can shut the door and, hopefully, keep the smell from wafting into the hallway. Once inside, he starts to pick up on the faint smell of angelic essence lingering underneath the decomposition. He tries to focus on that sweet scent instead of the decay to keep himself from getting sick because alcohol is a bitch when it comes back up.
Lucifer looks over to Alastor's bed and feels a little bit of panic start building when he realizes it's empty. Forcing himself to stay calm, Lucifer starts examining the room, and he notices an odd forest area built into the room where the bulk of the decaying smell seems to be coming from. He covers his nostrils with one hand, the other tugging nervously at his coat, and he starts walking towards the fucking awful stench. His eyes start burning and watering the closer he gets to the tree line. He wants to run, to get away from the smell. It feels like it's soaking into his clothes and skin, like he may never get the reek of death off himself. He can't leave now though, not without at least knowing if Alastor is dead or not, so he wipes the tears from his eyes and pushes himself to keep going.
Finally. Finally as he breaks into the tree line, his eyes fall on the radio demon, or at least what looks like him, laying on the forest floor about four meters away. What little relief Lucifer feels upon finding him quickly fades as he realizes that the demon doesn't appear to be moving at all, not even to breathe. Tears of a different kind well up Lucifer's eyes as he bolts towards Alastor.
You better not be fucking dead you bastard. Charlie needs you.
Lucifer chokes back a sob when he finally reaches the demon. Alastor has been reduced to the most fragile state Lucifer has seen an overlord in. His coat is gone, and he's curled into a tight ball around his microphone, both him and the cane covered in deep red blood. Lucifer just stands there feeling paralyzed and not knowing what to do. Until he sees a tremble rack its way through Alastor's now feeble body and hears a barely-there sound of labored breathing.
Oh, thank fuck he's alive.
Lucifer moves into action, confirmation that the demon is, in fact, alive giving him all the direction he needs. He carefully scoops up the unnecessarily tall demon in his arms as best he can. The action pulls the horrendous mixture of smokey metallic demonic blood, sickeningly sweet angelic essence, and a rotting wound right under Lucifer's nose. He almost drops Alastor in favor of shielding his nose from the scent, but his fear of injuring the demon more keeps his arms locked under Alastor's neck and the back of his knees. Lucifer locks his sight in on Alastor's bed and blocks every single thought except "get to the bed" out of his mind. He needs to focus if he's going to be able to safely set the demon down, and thus get the stench away from right under his nose, anytime soon.
Placing Alastor on the bed ends up being easier than Lucifer had anticipated. The radio demon seems to prefer fairly low-set beds, which means Lucifer didn't have to stretch awkwardly to lift him high up. He's still gentle with setting him down in order to avoid further injury, and once Alastor is securely on the bed, Lucifer conjures up strawberry-scented nose plugs, a medical kit, and an old shirt. Lucifer checks once more to make sure Alastor's eyes are still closed before he takes off his coat and button-up so that he can put on the old shirt; he also replaces his black gloves with white latex ones. Nose plugs in place, Lucifer turns to face the radio demon once again. He approaches the bed slowly, anxiety causing his entire body to shake slightly. Carefully, he takes the famed microphone in his hands and gently pulls it away from Alastor so that he can get a better access to the demon's chest.
Lucifer takes a steadying breath before tentatively beginning to unbutton Alastor's shirt. Tears start to pool in his eyes again as he reveals the demon's chest bit by bit. The skin is deeply infected with gangrene, there's bloody puss oozing out of the open wound, and surrounding all of it is the light glow of angelic essence preventing any attempts at healing made by his demonic powers. Lucifer knows the pain Alastor has been feeling would be debilitating to most demons, and he's shocked at how long Alastor was able to keep up appearances with Charlie and the rest of the hotel staff while his body was quite literally rotting beneath his smile.
You idiot. I could have helped you.
Guilt rips through Lucifer's body knowing that, yes, he could have healed this before it got this bad, but he was all-too okay with observing from the sidelines, bookmarking the information away to use at the most advantageous time. Hell, he had even taunted Alastor a few times the past few weeks, so why would the radio demon even consider asking him for help?
He didn't even ask Charlie. He got this wound fighting for her, for a cause she believes in, and he didn't ask her to help fix it. He could have-
Lucifer turns away from the radio demon his tears begin fully flowing down his face. Alastor had gotten hurt fighting Adam, a fight he wouldn't have had to take on at all if Lucifer had stopped being a coward sooner, he was fighting for Lucifer's little girl when Lucifer should have been doing it himself. Now, Alastor is barely alive, hanging on by a single, stubborn thread, and Lucifer feels responsible. He turns his gaze back to the radio demon, allowing the guilt to guide his hands back to Alastor's chest where he finishes opening the last button of the shirt. He grabs a pack of gauze pads and a bottle of antiseptic from the medical kit and starts carefully cleaning the skin around the wound in order to get a better idea of exactly how bad the wound is. When Lucifer makes the first wipe, Alastor lets out what sounds like a whine but has too little power behind it to make much noise at all. Guilt tugs at Lucifer again, but he begs the tears to stop so that he can see clearly.
"I-I'm gonna fix you, Alastor. I-I promise."
Notes:I apologize that it's a bit of a cliff-hanger, but it seemed like a good place to stop sooo
Chapter Five tomorrow? Maybe?? Monday at the latest.
Chapter 5: Chapter FiveSummary:Lucifer is a terrible liar.
Notes:This chapter is much longer than the others, but I had a few specific things I wanted here which meant I couldn't really cut it anywhere sooo
TW: panic attack (I'm adding that to the overall fic tags because of Luci) self-harm (kinda???) it's not really, but I wanted to include the TW because Luci does pull his hair and refer to the sensation as 'grounding'.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
The room is almost completely dark when Lucifer wakes up. His knees feel bruised from kneeling, and the bottom halves of his legs are completely numb. His back feels heavily strained from stretching to keep his arms reached out far enough to keep his hands pressed against Alastor's chest. Lucifer directs his gaze towards his hands, the faint golden glow emitting from them acting as the only source of light in the room. He doesn't remember kneeling, and he's almost certain he had fallen asleep standing up. He didn't even know he was capable of healing or using his powers to this extent at all while sleeping, but that steady glow radiating near Alastor's bare chest is proof that he's been going this whole time. Wondering how long he's been in here, Lucifer pulls out his phone to check the time; his eyes widen when he see it's nearly eleven at night.
Oh, fuck, I've been doing this almost six hours. I need to stop; this much angelic power at once may not be good for him, and it's certainly not safe for me to go this long using my powers.
As Lucifer starts to call back his powers and the glow starts fading, Alastor lets out a small whimper. Lucifer pauses, immediately turning to check if the demon is waking up. He can't see anything in the dark though, so keeping one hand on Alastor's chest, Lucifer slowly moves one glowing hand towards the radio demon's face. A relieved sigh escapes his lips when he confirms that Alastor is still asleep or, more accurately, passed out. Lucifer isn't actually done healing him, and he doubts the demon will let him continue after he comes to. Knowing this, Lucifer has also been sending slightly sedative magic through with his healing, but having never done this before, he doesn't know the right amount to keep Alastor asleep without hurting him which means he's only been sending tiny bursts through that could easily be doing absolutely nothing. Whether because of the magic or not, Lucifer is grateful Alastor is still sleeping. His face is scrunched tightly, indicating that he's still very much in pain, but Lucifer still has time to fix that.
Turning his attention back to Alastor's chest, Lucifer resumes calling his power back. He keeps the hand he had used to see Alastor's face off his chest to use as a gauge of when his powers are completely called back,and when none of the glow remains on that hand, he pulls the other from Alastor's chest. Lucifer hopes the small glow still emitting from the radio demon's chest is all his own power and not remnants of fucking Adam. He pointedly ignores the bubbling in his stomach that feels a bit too much like jealously.
When Lucifer stands up, his entire body tries to fight against him. His back burns from the strain, and his legs sting as the nerves recover from being numb for so long. He nearly falls on top of Alastor when his knees buckle, just barely managing to catch himself with one of the bed posts. He leans against the post he grabbed until his body feels mostly usable again, and when the final sting of reawakening nerves passes, he carefully makes his way to Alastor's bathroom to wash his hands. Once they are clean, Lucifer walks to Alastor's nightstands where he lights one small candle to make sure he will be able to see when he comes back. Taking one last look at Alastor's face to confirm he is asleep, he quickly but quietly leaves the room.
Having not eaten anything all day, Lucifer decides he will need to visit the kitchen first before stopping by his room. He begins making a mental list of all the things he will need to bring with him back to Alastor's room. He tries to formulate some sort of timeline of how long healing the radio demon will take, but again, he's never done this before. Lucifer nervously runs his fingers through his hair and breathes out a loud sigh.
What the fuck have I gotten myself into?
Lucifer buries his face in his hands as he shuffles his way down the hallway, not having the energy to take actual steps. He startles, nearly shrieking, when he bumps into someone, and a mortifyingly hot blush burns his face when he looks up to see Angel Dust looking down at him with the most incredulous look on his face, eyes darting between Lucifer and the door to a room very obviously not his that he just came out of.
"It's, uh, it's not what you think!" Lucifer's voice is way too loud and nervous to sound anything but guilty, and the sporadic waving of his hands definitely isn't helping his case.
"So, you didn't just sneak out of Freaky Face's room in the middle of the night?" Angel raises an eyebrow at him, and Lucifer wants to fall in a pit.
"Well, I, uh, yeah, but it's not, we weren't, he isn't even awake!" Lucifer regrets it the moment he says it.
"Kinky stuff, Your Highness. I didn't know you guys were into that."
"It's not like that. It's nothing, uh, nothing like you think." Lucifer practically whines out, not having the patience to keep this up.
Fucking shit I wish I could just tell him.
Lucifer's face feels like it's on fire, and his entire body and brain feel defeated. Another long, tired sigh falls from his lips as he drags his hands down his face in frustration.
"You a'right, Your Highness?" Angel has dropped the suggestive tone that usually coats his voice, and Lucifer notices the spider's hands twitching at his sides like he's uncomfortable.
"I'm okay. Just, please, don't tell anyone about this?" Lucifer forces himself to look up to meet Angel's eyes, hoping the desperation he feels shows enough to convince Angel Dust to keep quiet.
"Yeah, sure." Angel shoots him a reassuring smile, and Lucifer does his best to return it despite how utterly worn out he is.
"Thanks." Not expecting a reply, Lucifer moves to walk past Angel, but a hand grabbing his shoulder stops, prompting him to turn back around.
"You look like you need this more than I do." The spider demon says as he extends a plastic bag with what looks like sandwich inside it out to him.
"Thank you, Angel." Lucifer conjures up a more genuine smile as he takes the bag from him.
"Sure thing, Short King." Angel Dust winks at him, and Lucifer lets out a chuckle he didn't even realize he had the energy to give.
As soon as the two part ways, Lucifer rips into the bag. He knows it's likely because he hasn't eaten in so long, but damn, the sandwich is perfect. Grateful he no longer has to stop by the kitchen, Lucifer sets course straight down the hallway towards his tower on the complete other side of the hotel. A small part of him regrets demanding to be as far away from the radio demon's room as possible, but it's only a temporary regret that he knows will pass as soon as Alastor is healed and is back to his usual, annoying self. He briefly considers snapping to his room, but the energy it would use simply isn't worth it, even if being alone with his thoughts right now is terrifying.
It's not like I won't be alone with them when I get back to Alastor's room anyway, so I may as well get used to this shit. Damn Adam for this. Damn him for putting that gash on Alastor's chest, and damn Alastor for letting it fester to the point it has. Now, I have to pay the consequences for both of them because Charlie will be devastated if something happens to the radio bastard.
A shudder runs its way up Lucifer's spine as his thoughts lead him to wondering what would have happened if he had decided not to disregard the broadcasting sign, if he had put off going to talk to Alastor until tomorrow.
Would he be alive? Fuck, what would I have told Charlie?
Lucifer's heart clenches as he imagines how he would have had to tell his daughter that not only was the radio demon dead, but he died because Lucifer himself had been too much of a coward to face him when he was supposed to. Lucifer's breathing becomes shaky, and a wave of panic washes over him when his hands try to fist in his coat only for him to realize it's still on the floor by Alastor's bed. Feeling suddenly exposed, Lucifer wraps his arms around his chest in a mock hug. His fingers begin pulling at the sleeves of his t-shirt, taking the edges of the sleeves and rubbing them between his thumb and index finger. Tears start pooling in his eyes again, and he groans out in pained aggravation because he is so sick of crying. He keeps one hand rubbing at his sleeves but brings the other up to grab a fistful of his hair, not so hard that it's truly painful but enough that the feeling is grounding. Lucifer forces himself to intake a large gulp of air before exhaling it slowly.
Walk. Room. Walk. Room. Walk. Room.
Lucifer repeats the mantra in his head as he continues taking deep breaths in an attempt to steady himself before panic can fully overtake him. The two words play on a loop until he finally sees the door to his room, and the relieved feeling of seeing his goal destination pushes the panic back just enough for him to gain control of his mind again.
Once inside, he starts grabbing everything he knows he will need for an extended stay in the radio demon's room: pillows, blankets, phone charger, snacks, headphones, a few pairs of clothes, and a bottle of wine from the stash under his bed. He tries to pick just one of his duck plushes, but ends up with one white duck and one yellow duck. He wraps the blankets around his shoulders and tries to shove everything else into a duffle bag before deciding it would be easier to just carry the pillows. With everything packed, Lucifer begins the long trek back across the hotel. Back to a, hopefully, still sleeping Alastor.
~*~
It's eight in the morning when Lucifer decides to venture back out of Alastor's room to show his face in front of the staff. He's hoping everyone is already downstairs and thus won't see which direction he's coming down from, and he is, thankfully, correct. No one questions where he's been or gives him an odd look, so Angel Dust must have actually kept his mouth shut.
Thank you.Thank you.Thank you!
Lucifer is excited that he may actually be able to pull this off, "this" being spending the night in Alastor's room for an unknown amount of nights in order to heal the deer bastard. He still doesn't want anyone knowing that Alastor is hurt. He already knows the radio demon is going to flip his shit when he finds out Lucifer is helping him, but he hopes that knowing Lucifer kept it a secret will help soften the blow to the demon's ego.
"Dad! Dad! Come here!" Charlie exasperatedly calls Lucifer to sit with her on the couch. She looks panicked but eager, and Lucifer feels a knot of guilt form in is gut as he realizes he never told her how his "talk" with Alastor had gone.
"Hey, Char-Char." The nerves seep obviously into Lucifer's voice, and he wants to slap himself when Charlie's face twists in confusion.
"Hey, Dad, so how'd it go?" She won't look him in the eyes, so Lucifer knows his daughter is probably just as nervous as he is.
"It went, uh, as expected." Lucifer runs his hands through his hair. "We're gonna, uh, do our best to get along for the sake of the hotel's success." He tries to put on a convincing smile, but even he can tell it's way too wide. His eyes flicker between Vaggie and Husker, both of whom are giving him a deadpan look, before forcing his eyes to focus back on an expectant Charlie.
"So, where is he? I was hoping he would come down to work with us today?"
"Oh, right, well he's busy, yeah? Yeah. He's still doing a very important broadcast." Charlie does not look convinced, and Lucifer has to fight back the nervous laughter building in his throat.
"A very important broadcast?" Vaggie cuts into the conversation, eyebrow raised in suspicion.
"Yeah, it's, uh, for the hotel!" He stands as he throws his arms up dramatically, as if to physically reference the hotel. "So, he's still helping out, but just in is own Alastor way." Lucifer's voice is too loud; he's almost shouting. Charlie stands to walk closer to him, and he has to resist the urge to take a step back.
"How long will it take though? The hotel's supposed to open again next week. I don't mean to rush him! I was just hoping to solidify a few details with him beforehand." Her eyebrows are drawn together tight in what looks like a mixture of confusion and hurt. Lucifer almost caves, almost tells her the truth, but he can't, not just to save his own neck but to shield his daughter from the guilt he knows she would feel.
"He'll be done before the hotel opens; I know it." Lucifer presses his hand to Charlie's cheek as he speaks. His voice is filled with a strong conviction that definitely doesn't make sense to her, but to him, this is a promise.
I will make sure he's better before the hotel opens. I can do this. I will do this, for you, Charlie.
"Okay, I trust you." Charlie pulls Lucifer into a hug that he quickly reciprocates. "Thanks for talking to him, Dad."
"Yeah, no problem, Sweetheart." Lucifer does his best to keep the guilt from seeping into his voice, and he forces the smile to reach is eyes when Charlie looks at him after pulling away from the hug.
"Well, can I ask you about a few of the things I was going to talk to Al about? I do want another opinion, and Vaggie has her own things she's working on with Niffty." The excitement flows back into Charlie's voice as she easily moves into a new thread of conversation, a quality she has that Lucifer admires.
"Definitely. Whatever I can do to help!" Lucifer hopes the elation he finds in being asked to help by his daughter never fades.
~*~
It's going on seven o'clock by the time Lucifer starts heading back to Alastor's tower that night. He had finished helping Charlie a little after twelve, but she wanted everyone to eat lunch together. He had tried to sneak away to check on the radio demon after eating, but Vaggie and Niffty had cornered him to ask about getting his hands on industrial cleaning supplies since he has access through LuLu World. That had turned into helping them get the approval needed to just order the supplies straight to the hotel instead of him cutting into the supplies at LuLu World. After that, it was just little things that kept taking up time.
Lucifer really does love being included and helping out, being needed, but around three, he had started getting that prickly feeling underneath his skin. Realizing how long he had been away from Alastor had triggered an anxiety spike, especially knowing that he hadn't tried to heal the demon anymore after stopping last night. The possibility of any progress he might have made being lost by Alastor's body relapsing due to a lack of help processing the large amount of angelic essence Lucifer had injected in him is looming over Lucifer like a dark grey raincloud, and Lucifer's chest and belly feel tight with anxious knots as he opens the door to Alastor's room.
The first thing he notices is the lack of a rotting smell, which is wonderful because he hadn't been sure if the smell was actually gone or if he had just gone nose-blind to it overnight. He cuts on the light, and his gaze immediately tunnels in on the demon laying curled up in the middle of the bed exactly how Lucifer had left him this morning. That pained expression is still pinched on Alastor's face though, so Lucifer doesn't allow himself even an ounce of relief. He sets his hat next to his cane on the nightstand before rummaging through his duffle bag for a change of clothes. He quickly exchanges his coat, button-up, and dress pants for a simple tee with a duck on it and some grey sweats. His hands start searching for the medical kit before his brain has time to fully process the thought, and once he grips the kit's handle in his fist, he carefully sits down next to the radio demon.
Alastor's shirt is still fully unbuttoned, so Lucifer can already see the evidence of puss oozing from the wound. He doesn't allow himself to feel defeat. He throws on gloves, grabs the gauze and antiseptic, and begins his gentle ministrations of cleaning the surface damage of the wound. The puss does have the knots in his belly feeling tighter, but he tries not to let it get to him because he knows that the wound itself hadn't been his focus last night. No, he was focused on getting Alastor's body completely wiped clean of Adam's essence since that was what has been keeping his body from healing at all on its own. Anger starts burning in the pit of Lucifer's stomach as he recalls noticing the smell of cigarettes twisted into the sickly sweet angel essence last night. He hadn't noticed Adam's signature stench until after he had started healing the radio demon, and that scent mixed with Alastor's own of cayenne and minty thyme on top of every other smell had made Lucifer's urge to vomit come back. He won't know until he actually starts healing Alastor, starts trying to interact directly with the essence again, if all of Adam is gone, but fucking Hell, he hopes it is. He doesn't think he could handle the sensory overload again.
Once the wound looks clean enough to satisfy him, Lucifer discards the used gauze and gloves before returning the medical kit back to the drawer of the nightstand. He washes his hands in Alastor's bathroom since he's about to directly touch the wound and doesn't want to risk somehow adding infection to it. He walks to the nightstand to light a candle again before turning out the light. Lucifer heads towards his pallet on the floor beside Alastor's bed and fluffs up one of his pillows before kneeling down on it. He puts another pillow on the edge of the bed to support his arms and hopefully keep his back at a better angle. He tucks one last pillow behind his knees in an attempt to keep from bending them in a way that will make his legs to numb again. He cuddles the yellow duck plush between his tummy and the bed for moral support, pulls a blanket over his shoulders, and takes a deep breath to steady himself. Feeling ready, Lucifer slowly stretches his hands towards Alastor's chest; the skin there still feels too hot, feverish. Lucifer starts to frown but realizes he doesn't see any glow emitting from the wound, and his expression morphs into a smug smile. He calls out his powers to the wound, and his shoulders shake from barely concealed chuckles when the stench of Adam is nowhere to be smelt.
Fucking right you don't smell like that bastard anymore.
Lucifer's smug smirk stays planted on his lips until the moment he finally passes out, hands still dutifully pressed against Alastor's chest.
Notes:FIVE CHAPTERS IN YOU GUYS! *dramatic sobs* Thank you guys for reading this so far! I'm so appreciative of each of you, and I am having so much fun writing and sharing this with you all! I struggle with not showing my writing to people until I think it's impossibly perfect, so sharing this PUBLICLY after just a simple edit has been nerve-wracking but also therapeutic. I appreciate every comment and kudos you guys have given me! Thank you <3
Chapter 6: Chapter SixSummary:Alastor wakes up
Notes:The moment you've all been waiting for!
TW: vomitting
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
It's two in the morning, and Lucifer's eyes are burning from sleep deprivation. This is his fifth consecutive night spent healing Alastor, and a dangerous panic has been growing inside Lucifer all day. The wound itself is showing visible improvement, almost completely healed in fact, but Alastor hasn't moved an inch. The radio demon has stayed curled in the same position Lucifer had adjusted him into nearly a week ago, and aside from a few whimpers and his labored breathing, Alastor hasn't made a sound.
What if he's dead? Or, fuck, what is it? Brain dead? What if I did get here too late, and his brain had already shut down? Or worse, what if I did this by giving him too much sedative magic? Am I just keeping his hollow vegetable body alive while his brain has long since lost its capacity to work? Can someone whimper without brain function? Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.
Lucifer pulls his hands back from Alastor's chest. He doesn't need to wash his hands since there's no puss, so he just wipes his sweaty palms on his sleeping pants before reaching for his phone. He quickly opens up a search engine, his stomach knotting painfully as he types in his question about whimpering. Lucifer starts rapidly skimming through article after article looking for an answer, and his heart drops to his knees when one article mentions that sometimes people in a vegetative state make grunting or groaning sounds. He's about to vomit; it's too late to stop it, and he barely manages to make it to the bathroom before throwing up everything he had eaten at dinner with Charlie. Thick, hot tears well up in Lucifer's eyes, and a large knot forms in his throat that makes him gag again. Kneeling with his face over the toilet, the smell of his own vomit starts to make him feel dizzy. His head falls down onto the toilet seat, and he tries his hardest to be quiet as sobs rack their way through his body. His shoulders are shaking. The sensation of snot running down his face mixing with the vomit around his mouth feels disgusting, and Lucifer feels his body contracting, trying to vomit again. He has nothing left though, even the wine he has been sipping on since eleven is in the toilet glaring up at him mockingly.
I'm sorry, Charlie. I don't know if I can do this shit. Fuck. I'm so sorry, Alastor. I'm-
Lucifer whips his head around at the sound of a whimper. Grey spots fill his vision from the sudden movement, but he forces down the dizziness as he stands. He moves as quickly as he can to flush the toilet, wash his face, and rinse the vomit taste from his mouth. Just as he starts to leave the bathroom, Alastor whines out another whimper, and Lucifer, despite everything, feels hope start pushing away the anxiety warring inside his mind and body. The light from the bathroom is bleeding into the main part of the bedroom enough for Lucifer to see the radio demon on the bed; more specifically, he can see that Alastor is moving, his hands clutching into the open sides of the shirt Lucifer still hasn't found the courage to take completely off despite how fucking filthy it is. Taking a deep breath, Lucifer starts taking small steps towards the bed, towards Alastor. Once he gets close enough to see Alastor's expression, Lucifer immediately notices a difference.
Holy shit, he's crying.
Lucifer pauses about two feet from the bed, questioning whether or not he should move closer. He knows he should be elated to see that the radio demon is alive, but he now has to face a very real fear that Alastor could wake up any second. He has no idea how Alastor will react once he realizes what Lucifer has been doing the past week, and Lucifer has been hoping he could be out of Alastor's room before that happens. As it stands though, Alastor is obviously still in pain and not completely healed, so Lucifer can't leave. He started this shit, and he will finish it. His daughter needs this radio bastard, and on his name, Lucifer will make sure Charlie has him.
Courage restored, Lucifer moves forward. He notices that Alastor's eyes are tightly squeezed shut, and he finds himself sending up yet another prayer he doesn't believe in; this time hoping that Alastor keeps those eyes closed just long enough for Lucifer to finish healing him. Lucifer takes a deep, calming breath then presses his hands to the radio demon's exposed chest. Alastor visibly flinches, letting out a long whimper, and Lucifer feels his entire body go stiff with anticipation. After a few seconds without another reaction, Lucifer finally calls out his powers to his hands, and the moment the glow begins seeping into Alastor's skin, Lucifer sees the tension start loosening in his body. The hands previously clutching his shirt relax, with one falling to land on top of Lucifer's hands before noticeably pausing. Lucifer feels his own body tense up again, ready to run the moment the hand takes on a fighting form. It doesn't though. Lucifer watches with mixed fascination and horror as the gloved hand twists into the space between Alastor's chest and Lucifer's hand before threading their fingers together tightly enough for their palms to be pressed fully against one another. He rips his gaze away from the terrifyingly gentle display to stare at the radio demon's face, to confirm if his eyes are still closed. Not only are they still closed, but Alastor's entire expression has started to soften. The tears seem to have stopped, leaving only glimmering tear tracks running down the radio demon's cheeks.
Lucifer feels the hand holding his own start moving, but he can't look away, feeling transfixed by the radio demon's face. He stares at the grey skin, noticing it's no longer abnormally pale. He notices the red, fluffy ears aren't pressed fully against Alastor's head anymore but are, instead, slightly drooped in what looks like relaxation. Lucifer begins to notice the all the subtle changes in Alastor's face that show he is so close to completely better, but when his gaze falls to Alastor's lips, Lucifer feels an alarming tightness fill his chest. A blush starts creeping its way onto Lucifer's face as he stares at the small, content smile spread across the radio demon's lips.
This is the first time he's smiled since I found him, and it has to be the only honest smile I've ever seen from him. Oh fuck, he's, he looks. Shit, he looks almost-
Lucifer shakes his head in an attempt to stop his thoughts, but he can't stop the heat that's rapidly flushing his face and neck. His blush only deepens when he finally looks back to Alastor's chest to see that the radio demon is cradling their held hands close to his collar bone. It's an awkward position for Lucifer's arms to be pulled into, but he refuses to risk waking Alastor up by letting his hand go. Resolving himself to the fact that this will be just another uncomfortable night, he tries to force his body to relax as much as he can. He shoves his face into his pillow to fight the urge to look at Alastor again, and eventually, he starts to feel sleep start fogging his mind.
~*~
Sharp pain shoots through Lucifer's head as it collides harshly with the floor. Lucifer jolts up on high alert, ignoring the pulsating throb behind his eyes. Alastor's bed is empty which answers the question of who attacked him. Lucifer starts scanning the room, hoping to find the radio demon before he can lunge at him again. Lucifer can feel his skin tingling under Alastor's predatory gaze, but the demon is nowhere to be seen.
"Alastor?" Lucifer calls out. "I know you're still in here."
Alastor's shadow arms grab Lucifer and fling him back to the ground before he can counter. Lucifer cries out when his head knocks painfully against the floor again.
"You cop one feel, and now we're on a first-name basis?" Alastor's voice comes out as a snarl, harsh static coating his words with eerie crackling.
"What? I wasn't- oh, shit, I kinda was, but Al-"
Lucifer cuts himself off when he feels the shadows tighten like they're about to throw him again. He manages to wrap one of his hands around a handful Alastor's hair just before he gets flung, and the action catches Alastor, who clearly wasn't expecting him to fight back, off guard. They both fall to the floor where they end up wrestling for the upper-hand before Lucifer throws politeness out the window. Knowing he is stronger than Alastor, Lucifer uses his strength to push Alastor off of him, and he quickly throws his legs over Alastor's waist then uses his arms and legs to fully pin Alastor beneath him. He summons his Hellfire, using it to force the shadows around Alastor to recoil back into the radio demon's body. Alastor has his signature glare-smile pointedly plastered on his face as he meets Lucifer's eyes, and as fucked as it is, part of Lucifer is happy to see it there; another part of him thinks it's some sick perversion of the gentle smile he saw graced upon those lips just hours before.
"You need to chill the fuck out, Alastor. I didn't spend a week healing you just for you to hurt yourself again." Lucifer tries to sound more concerned than angry, but the growl that naturally seeps into his voice when he goes demonic makes that difficult.
"I didn't ask for your help."
"Yeah, because you were too fucking close to death to speak." Lucifer's voice breaks when he speaks, and he feels Alastor's body tense beneath him.
"I didn't realize you cared so much, King." The snarl has fallen from Alastor's voice, replaced by the sound of sadistic amusement.
"Charlie needs you, Shit Stain, and that means you don't get to die just because you're too prideful to ask for fucking help."
"You are the expert on pride, aren't you? What if I ask for help right now, hm? Could you do me a favor?" Alastor's smile has twisted into something deceptively kind, and it set's Lucifer on edge.
"I'm not getting off." Lucifer says, assuming that's where the whole 'favor' this is going.
"Oh, thank Heavens for that!" Alastor's voice suddenly turns mockingly gleeful, and it takes Lucifer a second too long to realize his wording misstep.
"Wait, was that a-"
Lucifer stops mid-sentence as the full picture of their position dawns on him. He is full-on straddling Alastor, whose chest is still exposed, and he has the radio demon's wrists pinned above his head. They are both panting from the fight, and the entire scene is overtly suggestive in a way that he knows couldn't be innocently explained away from an outside perspective. Embarrassment floods its way through Lucifer's body, and his demon features fade away, rapidly being replaced by a deep red flush.
Taking advantage of the distraction, Alastor shoots out his shadows and wraps them tightly around Lucifer's body. He lifts Lucifer up so that he comes eye to eye with hate-filled, radio dial eyes.
"If you ever lay a hand on me again, all of Hell will become privy to the knowledge of how their king sounds when he begs for mercy." Alastor's bloodcurdling voice echos in Lucifer's ears, and the sight of the radio demon's true form sends genuine fear down Lucifer's spine.
Alastor jerks open his bedroom door, and his shadows aggressively toss Lucifer against the hallway wall. The back of Lucifer's head crashes into the wall, the impact blurring his vision as grey spots crowd in his eyes. He can barely make out the outline of Alastor coming back to stand in the doorway before a pillow collides with his face. One thing after another, Alastor throws all of Lucifer's shit in his face. Lucifer flinches at the sound of a wine bottle shattering against the wall right above his head, and shame builds in his body when he feels the wine start running down the wall and seeping into his clothes. After Lucifer finally hears Alastor shut the door, he buries his face into his knees. A sob starts to choke its way up Lucifer's throat, but he is so sick of crying that he uses all the energy he can to swallow it back down. He can't stop the trembling in his body though, so Lucifer resolves himself to sitting in the hallway drenched in red wine and dejection with his head pounding until he feels steady enough to stand.
After a few minutes, Lucifer hears the sound of a door opening down the hallway, and the reality of how loud his fight with Alastor was finally hits him. The whole crew likely heard them; Charlie probably heard them. Lucifer doesn't know how to explain this to her without admitting that he lied about them getting along. He still doesn't want her to know Alastor was hurt, not just to keep his daughter from worrying but also the keep Alastor from getting even more pissed than he is. Lucifer honestly does want them to at least tolerate one another successfully for Charlie's sake. He thought he was doing the right thing by helping Alastor, but all he did was make their non-relationship worsesomehow.
I'm such a fucking idiot.
"So, I take it the honeymoon is over then?" Angel Dust's voice startles Lucifer, and he can't control his expression in time to keep from glaring at the spider demon. The smile on Angel's face falls immediately, replaced with a concerned frown. "Shit, you okay, Your Highness?"
"I don't know anymore." Lucifer croaks out, hiding his face in his hands as he tries to keep tears from building.
"Can I help?"
"What can you do?" Lucifer knows Angel Dust doesn't deserve the condescension aimed at him, but he's too physically and emotionally drained to control his tone.
"I can carry the pillows." Instead of sounding offended like Lucifer expected, Angel Dust's voice is laced with equal parts concern and humor. It prompts Lucifer to look up at him, and he is met with a toothy grin directed at him as Angel proudly stands with his third set of arms at-the-ready to help. Lucifer feels tears of relief start spilling over.
"Thank you, Angel Dust." Lucifer smiles through his tears, sniffling as he tries to pull himself together so that they can start cleaning up his things.
"Don't mention it, Your Highness." Angel extends a hand out to help Lucifer stand.
Angel starts picking up the pillows and blankets while Lucifer picks up all the smaller things to shove into his bag. He pauses when he sees the stain where the wine has soaked into the carpet, glass shards littering the area. Lucifer considers himself lucky that the bottle hadn't knocked him in the face like everything else had, but he also wonders why. Alastor had thrown everything else with flawless aim.
"I'll let Niff know that's here. She'll be excited to try one of those new cleaners you got her signed up for." Angel says, misunderstanding why Lucifer was staring at the mess.
Instead of responding, Lucifer just smiles at Angel, and the two start walking towards Lucifer's bedroom in oddly comfortable silence. Lucifer feels like he has silently grown to trust Angel Dust in the past week since that night Angel spotted him sneaking out of Alastor's room. They haven't necessarily interacted one-on-one since then, but every single morning as he left Alastor's room, Lucifer has been greeted by Angel with a crooked, toothy grin planted on his face. Angel never said a word; just smiled, did a once-over as if he was making sure Lucifer was okay, then proceeded to head towards the lobby to help on whatever project Charlie had for him that day. Charlie usually paired Angel with Husker while Lucifer was almost always working with Charlie, so Angel and Lucifer rarely saw each other throughout the day. At the end of each day though, the two wound up walking up the stairs and down their temporarily shared hall together; they would exchange quick goodnight wishes, and that was the extent of their companionship. It's not an intricate friendship by any means, but Lucifer appreciates the solidarity he feels in knowing his whereabouts the past week have been kept safe with the spider demon.
"So, Husker said you're helping Smiles with something, or were I guess if the break-up scene was anything to go by, but he wouldn't say what. Just said you two definitely weren't fucking." Angel Dust's voice cuts into the silence, and it catches Lucifer so off guard that his brain lags a bit before processing what Angel said.
"You told Husker I was in Alastor's room? I told you not to tell anyone!" Lucifer's voice comes out as an exasperated half-whisper, but he manages not to yell which is a win to him.
"Yeah, but Husk is my exception?" The genuine confusion coating Angel Dust's voice is enough to cool the aggravation in Lucifer's nerves enough to for him to unclench his fist from his bag's handle.
"What does that mean?"
"Everyone has that one person that doesn't count when someone says 'don't tell anyone', yeah? Husker is mine, Charlie and Vaggie are each others. We just don't really keep secrets from our exception. The whole crew knows who is whose exception, so I, well, I thought you knew." Angel's voice is permeated with nerves, and the way he's rubbing the back of his neck lets Lucifer know that Angel Dust really did think he knew about this already. "If I had realized you didn't know, I wouldn't have-"
"No, it's fine. Well, it's not, but it's, yeah." Lucifer takes a deep breath, forcing himself to look up fully at the spider demon's face. "You didn't know. I'm not mad; I'm just, fuck, I don't know. This week has been a lot."
"If it helps, I was a bit jealous when I thought Freaky Face was down to fuck you but not me. No offense, but from what I hear, you don't even have experience with guys." Angel laughs, clearly cracking a joke to lighten the tension, but Lucifer feels his face burn in embarrassment.
"Yeah, well, it can't be that different from doing it on myself, right?" Lucifer's face burns painfully as Angel's light laugh turns into howls.
"It's so different." Angel gets out between his laughter. "You ever been pegged, Your Highness?"
Lucifer can't answer. Won't. He feels too self-conscious. Instead, he walks silently next to Angel with his face burning painfully as he waits for Angel Dust to stop laughing, and by the time the laughter starts to die down, they are in front of Lucifer's room. Lucifer opens his door, gesturing for Angel to go in first before following after him.
"Just, uh, put everything on the floor. I'll need to wash it since it's all soaked in wine." Lucifer manages to choke out through the awkwardness that's suddenly enveloped the two of them.
"Listen, Your Highness, I wasn't trying to make you uncomfortable, and if you're into Freaky Face, I might can help?" Angel Dust looks at Lucifer with an apologetic smile that matches his tone.
"That's not necessary. I'm not 'into' Alastor. I was helping him with a problem, and now that problem has been resolved. There's nothing you need to help me with." An unexpected bitterness creeps into Lucifer's voice, and he's not sure if it's directed at Angel, Alastor, or himself.
"Right. If you change your mind, you know where I am." Angel, obviously certain the bitterness isn't directed at him, pats Lucifer's shoulder as he starts to leave the room. "See ya downstairs, Your Highness." He shoots Lucifer another toothy grin before shutting the door behind himself.
Alone again, Lucifer looks down at all shit on the floor that he has to wash, wondering what it will take to convince Niffty to do it for him. He groans loudly, sinking to the floor next to his bed before searching through his bag for his phone. His stomach knots painfully when he sees a notification that he has a text from Charlie. Fingers shaking, he opens the text.
Charlie: Hey, Dad, everything okay up there?
Fuck me. What am I gonna tell her?