Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Alastor woke up by a gentle pat on his face. Another pat came before he had time to open his eyes, now followed by a happy little squeal.

Ah. His permanent smile turned several degrees softer. Lucifer must had regressed during the night. That happened sometimes, but usually only when he’d been suffering from nightmares…

When third pat came, Alastor reached up and caught a poking little hand with his own, earning a set of giggles as he pulled the tiny king atop his chest. He chuckled and pressed a kiss against Lucifer’s forehead before looking at the clock. 6:30am, that’s early…

“Morning, my little darling. My, aren’t you up awfully early today~! Did you not sleep well?” he asked while staring down on bright, gleaming eyes of a person who had, in a relatively short time, become to mean so much to him.

Instead of answering, Lucifer just cooed at him and snuggled closer. He seemed to be in one of his younger mindsets, a baby or a very young toddler.

“I see”, Alastor said anyways, as if they were actually holding a conversation. “And how long have you been awake, hmmm?”

It was his own shadow who decided to give him the answer, taking Lucifer’s duck-shaped alarm clock from the bedside table and turning pointers backwards.

Nearly an hour… Hmm.

“That long? Why was I only made aware of this now?” he asked, keeping his voice casual while giving his shadow a sharp look over Lucifer’s head.

The shadow made many wild gestures with its hands, pointing at Alastor and Lucifer and itself and then back to them, before reaching down to nuzzle Lucifer’s soft hair, much to the little king’s delight.

“I see”, Alastor said testily. So, this stupid shadow of his had wanted some alone-time with Lucifer… Well, his little darling seemed happy enough, so no real harm had been made, and whatever nightmare had woken him up was by now been long since forgotten. “Fine… But do not do this again, you hear me? If there’s anything wrong with him, I want to know about it immediately.”

The shadow made pouty face before nodding. What a brat…   

Shaking his head, Alastor turned his attention back to Lucifer. The little one had found his ears and was now tugging them clumsily.

“Gentle now, darling”, Alastor said with a soft voice while making no effort to stop the small hands from exploring. “Papa’s ears are sensitive, remember?”

Lucifer blinked his eyes at him and let go of his ears, looking unsure.

“It’s okay, love – you can touch, just be careful. Here, Papa will show you…” Alastor took Lucifer’s small hand into his own and by guiding its movements helped the other to stroke his ear gently. After a moment he let go so that Lucifer could keep petting him all by himself.

“Just like that, sweetheart”, Alastor said proudly. “My, what a good child you are ~”

The little king babbled happily, clearly enjoying the softness of his fur.

Up close it was clear to see just how tired and sleepy Lucifer still was. It truly was awfully early for him to be awake, especially considering how late the little king had stayed up last night, unwilling to leave his newest project unfinished…

(“Lucifer, please, it’s way over 1am already.”

“Yup, yup… Just a moment…”

“Dear, I must insist…”

“Five more minutes, Al, pleeeease…!”

“You already said that more than half an hour ago!”)

It would do his little darling good to sleep just for a little longer, and luckily, Alastor knew just the trick to make that happen…

“It’s still little early for breakfast, dear. Would you like a bottle first?”

After hearing one of his favorite words – right after “papa”, “Charlie” and “ducky” – Lucifer squealed again and kicked his legs in delight.

Alastor chuckled and gave him another kiss. “I take that as yes, sweetheart”, he cooed. “Just a moment; let Papa to sit up…”

After little maneuvering, Alastor managed to lean his back against the headboard of the bed and settle cheerfully squirmy Lucifer into his lap. One of his shadow minions handed him the warmed bottle it had just fetched from kitchen and stopped to stand on the bedside, only reluctantly leaving its post when Alastor waved it away with a pointed glare.

Just like his shadow, Alastor’s minions also seemed all to be very fond of Lucifer. It hadn’t escaped from him that whenever the king went into his creative frenzy there was always one or two minions at his side, worrying over him as they tried to get him to drink or eat or go to the bed.    

Lucifer suckled eagerly his bottle, only stopping time and again to giggle at the shadow, who was without a doubt making funny faces at him over Alastor’s shoulder. Damn that thing…

“Now, now”, Alastor scolded softly, “let's not give him a hiccup. You already had time to play with him while I was sleeping.” Yes, he was still being sulky about that.

The shadow crossed its arms petulantly but ceased its antics, nevertheless.

Lucifer ended his bottle with a yawn and snuggled against Alastor’s neck. Just as he’d hoped, the warm liquid in his tummy had made the little king drowsy.

“Still feeling sleepy, my little darling?” Alastor asked. Lucifer yawned again. “I see. Well, how about taking a little nap while Papa makes breakfast, hmm?”

He didn’t wait for answer before getting up and carefully lowering Lucifer to lay in middle of the bed. His shadow pulled the rails out from under the bed and lifted them up while Alastor tucked his little darling in. Then he set a row of pillows against the railings so that Lucifer wouldn’t hurt himself if he happened to roll so far – his darling was never still for a long, not even when he slept – before holding up two of Lucifer’s favorite toys, soft yellow duck with a top hat and a blond doll with red apple cheeks. “Which one wants to sleep with you, baby? Ducky or Char-Char?”

After only slightest hesitation Lucifer reached towards the duck and Alastor placed in his arms. “Ah. So, we have a little baby-boy, today… probably.”

Lucifer’s gender was a flexible one, as might be expected from someone who existed even before physicality itself became a norm. At first, Alastor had found this little odd, but soon realized that he didn’t really mind it, as aside some behavioral patterns female-presenting Lucifer didn’t much differ from the male one – in the most literal sense, even.

(Lucifer had always been rather nonchalant about the whole thing. “I’m an angel”, the king had said once, when they were both more than just a little tipsy and the subject hadn’t felt too awkward. “I wasn’t really created for reproduction purposes. So, no need for genitalia, either… ”

“But you do have a daughter.”

“Ah, yes…” Lucifer had sighed forlornly. “Please remember that I’m also a shapeshifter. It really takes me not that much of an effort to give myself parts necessary for breeding and… the other stuff; I just see no reason to do so outside of those activities.”

Alastor hadn’t said it out loud, but the thought had made him a bit envious.) 

He smiled down at his little one, who was now hugging his plushie with one arm while soundly suckling his thumb, his drowsy eyes already half-closed. Then he leaned in to give Lucifer’s rosy cheek one more kiss. “Sleep well, my darling. My shadow will stay to keep an eye on you, and Papa’s not far, either~ If you need me, I shall be here in a blink of an eye.”

Only thing he got as an answer was a cutest little snore.

After a nap, Lucifer would most likely be back to his usual headspace, whining for coffee – or at least that creamy, over sugared monstrosity that he deemed as a coffee – after which he would probably drag Alastor to his workshop to witness the newest addition in his collection of rubber ducks.

And if not, well… In that case, Alastor would just have to settle for a nice morning spent by playing with his little darling.

Life really only offered him the very best options, these days.

Chapter Text

Alastor could have never guessed that he would one day come to like Lucifer Morningstar, the king of Hell himself, even less to care about him, as it would have been so much more believable for him to hate the man.

That was exactly what he’d been prepared to do when Lilith had first caught him under the contract and then quite literally dropped him into king’s workshop. “You will stay with my ex-husband and help him in every way necessary! Keep him safe, and do not leave his side until I tell you otherwise”, had the queen ordered in one moment, and on the next Alastor had found himself drowning in a pile of rubber ducks.

Not the best start, to say the least, and Alastor had been quite pissed and ready to kill or at least maim the next person he came across; but then he’d heard scared little cry and saw pair of wide, innocent eyes staring at him under the desk, tears rolling on rosy little cheeks. When the king of Hell had then put his thumb in his mouth and started sucking it, Alastor’s anger had first turned into a complete bewilderment and then into something he was hesitant to call fondness only because it had been way too soon to start feeling anything like that towards someone whom he'd only just laid his eyes on for the very first time.

It had taken some time to coax the little king to leave his safe spot under the table, but once it had been established that “Lili” had sent Alastor to take care of him things had started to work out. Lucifer had been in toddler headspace – old enough to walk and speak simple sentences, but definitely not much more than that – and after he’d calmed down it became clear that he was absolutely delighted to have a new friend.

So, they spend the evening playing with Lucifer’s rubber ducks before the little one had started to tire out, at which point Alastor had given him a bottle – there were multiple of those placed all around the room, so Lucifer had apparently been at least aware enough of what was going to happen to get somewhat prepared, even if was just by the bare minimum – and put him into a bed. He hadn’t dared to join in, as it would have been way too awkward to explain if Lucifer happened to be back to his non-regressed self by the morning, but he stayed in the room and ended up falling asleep in an armchair.

The morning had still been awkward enough, with Alastor waking up to see the tiny king of Hell staring at him with glowing eyes, all three pairs of wings in display, and demanding to explanation of what – "in the name of my Father!" – Alastor was doing in his palace.

The explanation Alastor gave had left Lucifer rather distraught, and he’d spent the whole day locked inside his workshop while Alastor was left on his own devises. First thing he’d tried to do was to leave the building, but he soon realized that he couldn’t get more than few steps out of the door before feeling compelled to flee back inside.

So, as getting out wasn’t an option, he’d instead made a little tour inside the palace to get accustomed by his surroundings. The lack of staff had been obvious, and it was clear that no-one had really cleaned the place up for a long time. Alastor had been tempted to summon Niffty to tidy the place up, but he remembered the oath of total radio silence (pun most likely intended, so thank you, Lilith…!) from his side and settled for using his shadow minions to do the dirty work.

Next day Lucifer had finally emerged from his workshop, looking all the ways embarrassed and disgruntled – it must had been heavy blow for a Sin of Pride that lowly Sinner had seen him in such a state – and clearly looking for a fight, and Alastor, well… never to be said that he wasn’t ready to knock some pompous bastard down off his high horse.

The fight that had ensued between them had been something that could be described as legendary, but eventually they had managed to form a truce. Alastor would help Lucifer when he regressed, and as a compensation – and also maybe an apology on behalf of his ex-wife – Lucifer would also provide Alastor some of his angelic blood any time his cannibalistic needs would raise their head. Aside of these instances, they would make their best to keep some distance between them, if for nothing else then at least to limit the collateral damages.

There really wasn’t much else they could had done, as Alastor couldn’t leave the king’s side, and the king, as the coward he was, had no intention to leave the palace any time soon.

And so it had begun.

Alastor had soon found out that not only did Lucifer had different stages of regression, but he also changed his gender quite often – but it wasn’t even a nearly as awkward as what it sounded, and soon enough Alastor had grown used the whole thing and did absolutely adore his bright (if not somewhat bossy) little girl just as much as his cheerful (and rather clumsy) little boy.

It had taken him far longer to warm up to Lucifer in his mature mindset (if the word “mature” was even something that could be used to describe him in any situation!), but after many melancholy evenings spent in the same space, some drunken rambles – at least the king had good taste for alcohol – and music nights that were for one part them trying to one-up each other and for other part them just enjoying that the other was able to keep up with them – they had eventually became something that could be called as friends.

They still enjoyed bickering and even a good fight every now and then, but there was no real malice in it and afterwards neither of them ever felt the need to hold grudge over anything that was said and done. Alastor had learned very early that it was never wise to bring up Lucifer’s wife and especially his daughter during their verbal battles, and Lucifer showed same courtesy towards Alastor’s issues with uncalled touches or everything that even slightly sounded sexual.

And then, after a full year had passed since the two of them became to live together, the next Extermination Day arrived, and Alastor got to witness a full-blown panic attack from Lucifer’s part. Not knowing what else to do, he’d done the same what he always did when regressed Lucifer woke up after a nightmare and spent whole night holding the little king in his arms and just cuddling him, all the while whispering to him utter nonsense with a calm, gentle tone.

After that, it would have felt just silly to hold on even a pretense of animosity between them, and so they just… let it go, and focused only doing what felt good and natural to them. That could include dancing, and cuddling – and bickering, since they weren’t giving up on that, no sir! – and eventually sharing the same room – which was only rational, since Lucifer had a habit to regress with no warning and Alastor was tired of keeping his shadow always on lookout (the shadow hadn’t minded, though) – and even the same bed – since Lucifer, while vaguely male-shaped, wasn’t actually a man at all, and thusly posed no threat for Alastor... but most of the time it was just existing at each other’s proximity, sharing the same place and finding comfort at another’s unassuming company.

And here they were, and while neither of them had any idea what exactly they were, that was quite okay.

To them, this felt just right.

Chapter Text

Alastor was in the kitchen getting things ready for afternoon snack when he heard the thumps of determined little hooves getting closer, and soon clear, childishly high-pitched voice called out, “Papa! Charlie’s hungry!”

Alastor turned around to look at Lucifer, who skipped towards him with her well-beloved Charlie-doll cradled securely in her arms.

“And good afternoon to you, too, my darling little lady. I was just about to come to wake you up from your nap. Did you sleep well?”

“I slept fine”, Lucifer chirped while coming to his side and holding her doll up to his face. “Papa, Charlie’s very hungry!” she repeated.

“Hmm. So I see. Well, I think a small snack should make no harm to any of us. Now, what would our dear Charlie want to eat?”

To this question, Lucifer only ever had one answer ready. “Pancakes~!”

Alastor chuckled fondly and rolled his eyes. “Of course. Now, why don’t you put Charlie in her chair and then come to help Papa to prepare the pancake batter?”

Lucifer nodded eagerly before rushing to set her doll down. Alastor watched her fondly; while Lucifer’s body remained always mostly the same, the way she carried herself as a female was very different than when she was a male: even in her younger headspace, she felt far more attentive, more practical… more self-confident.

Must be those maternal instincts, Alastor thought as Lucifer kissed her doll and told it to be good while “mommy” was gone, and while watching this he felt his good mood souring just a bit for the unfairness of it all.

Since Lucifer could have been a good mother.

Damn you, Lilith.

To hide his irritation Alastor busied himself to bring out Lucifer’s apron – pale red color with ducks; and really, he’d long since stopped wondering what was going on with all these ducks, but what the hell was it with the king and all these ducks?! – and started to ready their worktop.

Lucifer trotted back to his side and Alastor helped her to put the apron on. “Here you go, my little lady; now, let's began…”

(Alastor had met whom he now thought as his lady-king (not a queen, never a queen) first time after he’d been living in the palace three months. At that point he and Lucifer had already fallen into a norm that, outside of fighting, included very little talking, but whenever the king was in particularly gloomy mood he would eventually end up into the same room with Alastor; no comments, no forced closeness – Alastor would continue his own businesses and Lucifer would simply stand there, or sit, and then leave little later without a word.

What a peculiar little creature.

That night Lucifer had stepped into the library where Alastor sat reading and walked to the window, as he often did when he wanted to make himself feel even more pathetic than usual. At first he hadn’t noticed anything different and was completely content to just keep ignoring the other’s presence as usual, but eventually something made him peek a look and then he was forced to sit there and stare.

The king was wearing a skirt.

The outfit didn’t otherwise differ much of his regular clothes – same color-scheme, same jacket, same silly top hat – but the skirt, that was new.

Lucifer must had caught him staring, since the king looked at him and made a little noise somewhere between a hum and a snort. “What are you gawking at?”

Alastor schooled his face into a look of practiced indifference. “Well, sire, it’s not every day one gets to know that the king of hell enjoys cross-dressing”, he said, unable to completely hide his leer.

The king turned his face towards the window and took a small sip from the wineglass he was holding. “Not cross-dressing”, he said simply. “Not a man, currently.”

That threw Alastor little bit out of his depth, and he squinted his eyes as he gave the king another look. And yes, there were some small differences; not easy to spot, but past three months Alastor had spent lots of time with the king and had become familiar with his body (as in, “taking care of his little one” -type of way, not in some… promiscuous one!), and because of that he could rather easily point out that Lucifer face looked tiny bit softer than usually… his lips little fuller… his hips and chest slightly rounder. Not much, he was still a sleek little creature with very little curves, but yes, he – she was definitely a woman.

“I apologize”, he said suavely, “my lady.”

Lucifer shrugged. “No need.” She took another sip of wine, somehow looking more regal than ever before as she stood there by the window and stared at Hell’s red-hued night. “… I just thought that maybe you should know about this. Before it happens when I’m regressing.”

“I see. And are there any specific needs I should be aware off…?”

The king shrugged again. “Not much. I still feel no need for genitalia, which spares you from experiencing that awkwardness.” She then frowned slightly before adding, “I have a doll in my room… Blond, red cheeks… you’ve seen it, right?”

Alastor nodded. “I have.” The doll shared eerie resemblance with princess Charlie, whose pictures Alastor could find decorating the walls everywhere in the palace.

“Keep it close to me. All the time. I tend to grow… terribly distressed if it leaves my sight.”

“I understand.” He didn’t, not really, but the king nodded anyway.

“Good.” Then she just stood there, quietly, lost in her own mind like Alastor had just ceased to exist. He was just about to go back reading, when Lucifer opened her mouth again, and when she spoke Alastor knew she wasn’t really so much talking to him than just reminiscing out loud.

“Lilith always wanted to be a mother. She wanted it more than anything, and I made my best to grant her wish, but it never took. No matter how we tried, year after year after year… Finally, I offered to give her a child in another way.” There was a smirk in Lucifer’s lips, but it wasn’t a happy one. “I don’t think she ever quite forgave me that. After the delivery… well. I knew what I was getting myself into. I’ll never regret for giving the woman I loved a gift of motherhood. It was still hard to watch Lili so happily bottle-feeding her even while my own breasts were leaking and so full it hurt, but… I really had no right to complain. I did it for her. It should have been enough.” Lucifer lowered her gaze and sighed. “…Lilith is an amazing mother. Charlie is so lucky to have her. But I… I really wish that… sometimes, I could have been her mother, too.” One tear fell over the king’s porcelain cheek, followed by another, and still she just stood there, motionless in her silent grief.

And Alastor, who so very rarely felt empathy towards anyone, registered a sudden bang in his gut.

Finally, the king lifted her glass back to her lips and took one final sip before turning around and leaving the library. Neither of them had anything left to say.

That night Alastor didn’t sleep a bit, but lay awake, waiting – hoping – to hear silent steps of little hooved feet and tiny call for “Papa” from the hallway; to be able to pull the sad little king close to him as someone whom he knew how to comfort…

But she never came.)

“How were the pancakes, darling? Did they taste good?”

“They tasted yummy, Papa~! Charlie liked ‘em too!”

Alastor smiled fondly as he gathered the empty plates and put them into sink. “That’s nice to hear! Now, what plans do you have for the next, hmm?”

As he got no answer, Alastor turned around to look at Lucifer. She was still sitting at the table, but now she’d folded her arms in front of her and, leaning her head on them, was giving her doll a look that was full of loathing and disgust.

Ah. “Welcome back, dear. Would you like a cup of afternoon tea?”

Lucifer let out a non-committing noise and kept glaring at the doll. “… I hate that thing”, she finally shouted, her voice full of tears. “I hate it, I hate it, I hate it…!” Then she buried her head into her arms, her lithe shoulders soon shaking from crying.

Alastor left everything else aside and stepped around the table, sitting next to the king. “Lucifer… Lulu, darling…”, he called softly. “My dear, please come here –”

Lucifer offered no resistance when Alastor pulled her into his arms and settled her in his lap. The radio turned on, filling the room with beats of a slow, tender jazz.

He had no idea how long time he just sat there, holding his weeping king, combing his fingers through her fair hair, and whispering sweet nonsense in her ears, but eventually Lucifer’s cries started to settle down and then finally stopped, though she still clung to him tightly.

“I miss my daughter”, she said with shaky voice.

“I know you do, my darling.”

“I want to see her.”

Alastor held her little bit tighter. “I know.”

“Alastor, I miss her so much -!”

“I know, dearest…”

Damn you, Lilith!

(At beginning, it had been easiest way for Alastor to get under the king’s skin when he felt strained and unrested and yearned for a fight to pass some time; just make a snide comment about Lucifer’s lack of presence in his daughter’s life, and watch him to unravel.

Until…

“Do you think that I stay away out of my own will?! You know nothing about it! I’m not allowed to go to see her uninvited! I can’t even call to her in matters any other than those directly concerning Hell’s politics if she doesn’t contact me first…!” And as the king has shouted this, Alastor had seen the chains – not exactly like his, sleeker and more tangible, but set there by the same hand – and then he had finally, finally understood.

Back then, Alastor hadn’t yet cared enough about Lucifer to feel bad for him…

…but after that, he never mentioned Charlie during their fights. After all, there were plenty of other things he could needle the king about – things that didn’t leave him feeling guilty.)

It took long time to Lucifer finally calm down, and by then she’d totally exhausted herself. She had no energy left to do nothing more than just lay against Alastor’s chest and play listlessly with his bowtie.

“Are you feeling any better, my darling?” Alastor asked while pressing little kiss on the top of her head.

Lucifer sighed. “Not really, no…”

“My poor dear”, Alastor cooed and cupped her face to press another kiss right above her left eye. “Is there anything I could do for you? Run a bath, perhaps? Would that be any help?”

The king gave it little thought. “Will you stay with me while I bathe…?” she asked. It wasn’t an invitation to go anywhere further than that, just a desperate plea of a sad mother to not be left alone in her grief.

This time when Alastor kissed her it was a chaste brush of his lips against hers. “I promise I’ll never stray from your side, my lady~”

Chapter Text

Alastor was sitting at royal study, going through massive piles of papers that were all labelled as important, and dividing them in three categories: acceptable, need some clarifications, and trash. He wasn’t sure when exactly his un-existing job description began to also cover secretary’s occupation, but he didn’t really mind; it wasn’t like he had too much to do, nowadays.

After he and Lucifer had become living companions, it had soon become painfully clear that the king really sucked at paperwork. Not that he wasn’t smart enough to deal with them – the little devil was actually very clever, and cunning to the boot –, but because he was easily distracted, couldn’t stay still too long and didn’t handle boredom very well. Eventually Alastor had ended up offering to read through the paperwork for him and wrote summaries for Lucifer to read in plain language. It was a proof of just how deep Lucifer’s trust towards the Overlord went that he’d accepted it with almost no question asked, and later even gave Alastor permission to trash the petitions that he deemed not worthy of the king’s time without even looking at them.

It was just so lucky that Alastor had no intentions to betray that trust, ever.

He was nearing the end of his work for a day when door of the study creaked open just a crack, and little head with fluffy hair peaked in.

“Papa…?”

Alastor smiled gently and put the papers he was holding aside. “Why, hello, sweetheart; do you want to come in?”

Lucifer nodded, and toddled hurriedly across the room to climb on Alastor’s lap. Alastor wrapped his arms securely around the king’s tiny waist and rubbed his nose against his small face, earning sweet giggles from him.

Lucifer had woken up at morning feeling little under weather, putting up his comfy onesies and refusing to leave the comfort of their bed. Alastor had let him be, by now grown used to the little king’s moods and rather sure that he would end up regressing before noon.

Looks like I was right~

“How’s my sweet baby?” Alastor cooed as he stroked Lucifer’s hair adoringly. “Were you looking for me, dear? Did you miss Papa?”

“Yea”, Lucifer said, and wrapped his arms clumsily around Alastor’s neck to give him a hug, “wen’ lookin fo’ Papa.”

“I’m so sorry, honey; but luckily you did find me.”

No luck needed here, of course – Alastor’s shadow had been hovering around Lucifer all day, kept under a strict order to either fetch Alastor immediately if and when regression started, or, alternatively, lead Lucifer to him.

“Papa play?” Lucifer asked hopefully and looked at him with his big, innocent eyes that made it nearly impossible to tell him “no”.

Alastor smiled sadly. “I’m sorry, darling, but Papa still has some work to do. But”, he added as he lifted Lucifer’s chin to kiss him where his nose should be, “it won’t take much longer now, and then Papa will play with you whatever you want.”

Lucifer’s disappointed expression vanished as soon as it had appeared, and his eyes started to shine. “An’thing?”

So precious…! Alastor couldn’t help but kiss him again. “Anything, dearest”, he promised easily. “Now, why don’t you draw Papa some pretty pictures while you wait?” he asked, opening the desk’s topmost drawer and pulling out a sketchpad and a pencil case full of crayons.

(The most endearing thing was that those tools weren’t there necessarily for regressed Lucifer to use, either; like said, the little king had a very short attention span – about as short as his stature was, like Alastor liked to tease –, and to deduct the number of scribbles that happened to appear in official papers whenever Lucifer’s mind started to wander, he’d taken some preventive measures.

Not to say that Alastor had anything against his little king’s habits; actually he did quite enjoy reading Lucifer’s old notes from court meetings, with pages full of clever caricatures of nobles and courtiers.

However, he wasn’t as happy as that when those papers contained markings of two people playing tick-tack-toe or hangman; Alastor wasn’t insecure about his place in Lucifer’s life – the little king had no problems at making his affections loud and clear –, but that didn’t mean he had to like the reminders of that there once was a time when “Lili” had been his darling’s most important person…)

Lucifer clapped his hands happily. “Yey! Draw fo’ Papa!”

“You do that, darling”, Alastor laughed. His shadow appeared carrying a soft blanket, spreading it to cover the floor next to the desk, and Alastor gently lowered his little lamb on it. “Are you feeling comfortable, sweetheart?”

Lucifer nodded, being busy opening his pencil case, holding it upside down and unintentionally letting the crayons fall all over his lap. “Huh?”

He’s so unbelievable adorable…! “Good; just please let Papa know if you need anything, hmm?”

The only answer he got was an absentminded humming, as the little king laid down on his tummy and started to draw.

They worked in moderate silence for about a half an hour, before Alastor put the final paper down and sighed with satisfaction. All done. Two shorter stacks, that Lucifer would have to check through later (most of them only missing signature) were put carefully aside, and the third, tallest pile was whisked away by his shadows; the papers could be used later to light the fireplace.

Alastor looked fondly at Lucifer, who was still engrossed to his drawing, with the tip of his forged tongue peaking out.

“Papa’s work is now all done and ready, sweetheart”, he told the little one.

Lucifer’s head whipped immediately towards him. “Papa play now?”

“I promised, didn’t I, darling?” he reminded amusedly. “Do want to finish your drawing first?”

Lucifer looked at his paper, tilted his head and then said firmly, “Drawing all done!” He picked to paper and held it up for Alastor.

“Thank you, dear”, Alastor said as he took the paper. Lucifer reached his arms up, and with gentle huff Alastor picked him up and placed in his lap, cuddling his sweet little darling as he looked the picture. “This is a very good drawing, baby. Would you like to tell me about it?”

Lucifer nodded. “A duckie with a big party-hat is goin’ to party”, he told with solemn voice.

“Oh, I see. That’s a big hat, indeed. Will there be lots of his friends at the party, too?”

“Yea. All friends.”

“That sounds like fun. Now, my little duckling”, Alastor said as he nuzzled Lucifer’s hair, “Papa promised that we could play whatever you wanted. What would you like to play?”

The little king clapped his hands with delighted expression upon his face. “Tea party!” he cried happily. “Papa, Lulu wants have a tea party wit’ Papa an’ Char-Char an’ Mistah Ducky…!”

Alastor chuckled fondly at his little one’s eagerness. “Why, that sounds like a perfectly splendid idea, my dear!” he said as he stood up, Lucifer still safely gathered in his arms. The little king weighted next to nothing, thanks to his angel anatomy which blessed him with hollow bones, similar to those of a bird. Combined with his small stature it made him feel fragile and way too easy to break, even though Alastor knew by experience that Lucifer was anything but breakable.

At least in physical sense…

Lucifer squirmed around to wrap his arms around Alastor’s neck. “Papa, Lulu wans a pretty dress fo’ a party!”

“Sure”, Alastor said with ease. Lucifer did rarely follow any strict gender norms in what came to dressing up when he was regressed. “Which one would you like? The princess dress or the fairy one?”

Lucifer took his time to think of this dilemma, and it was only after they arrived to their shared bedroom that he answered, “The fairy dress!”

“Good decision, sweetheart”, Alastor said as he gave his shadow a silent order to take the chosen garment out of the closet.

It took them a good while to get ready for the party; first Alastor helped Lucifer to change into his “fairy dress” (a blue tutu with many layers of tulle, a bodice decorated with pink flowers and glowing little fairy-wings in the back; Alastor preferred his real wings, but as Lulu had once informed him, “those are no' fairy wings, Papa!”) and did his hair, after which Lucifer also wanted to do Alastor’s, and soon they were both wearing flowery headbands and had their hair adorned by multiple butterfly clips.

“Papa looks so pretty!” Lucifer squealed and jumped up and down while clapping his hands.

“Thank you, my sweet; you, too, look very lovely and absolutely endearing.”

Lucifer giggled happily and made few twirls so graceful that even Carmilla Carmine would have been proud. “Papa, Papa, dance wit’ Lulu!”

Alastor stood up, letting the tunes of cheerful jazz-beat fill the room and gave Lucifer a graceful bow before taking one of his small hands in his own. He gave the delighted little king few swirls that made him laugh even louder, and couldn’t stop himself from joining the merriment.

Dancing had been one of their favourite pastimes ever since their first animosity had faded, and no matter what age or gender Lucifer currently represented, it was always just as enjoyable. Aside of few of his female friends (which meant Rosie, Niffty and – maybe – Mimzy), there was really not so many people who Alastor could choose to dance with and who, no matter how intense the situation might grow (especially with female-presenting Lucifer), would hold so little expectations of where it all should lead.

Why can’t people just enjoy good things without immediately starting to think that there should be something more behind it? Alastor thought bitterly. And then, when other party refuses to play along, start yelling that they’d been lead on? Why not just take things face value and stop searching for hidden meanings when there is none…?

Then his eyes fell down on Lucifer, shining with happiness and innocent joy, and bitterness vanished from his heart like shadows of night that make way for the the morning’s light. The little king often seemed to have this effect on him, as was just fitting considering his name.

Lucifer Morningstar… the brightest light in my afterlife.

They soon get back to the track and started to set things up for the tea party. They decided to use the conservatory (or “the garden room”, as Lucifer liked to call it) as it seemed most witting to the fairy theme. Lucifer got to chose the tableware (Alastor had wisely made his minions to hide the most fragile china to the top shelves) while Alastor prepared tea – strawberries and cream for Lucifer and their “guests”, lemon and ginger for Alastor – and snacks.

The conservatory, which was connected to the main house by short corridor, was a big, hexagon-shaped room with high dome, and its beautiful interior was most likely built to resemble the Garden of Eden as closely as possible. All the walls were, naturally, made of glass, but those, just like the dome, were tinted in a way that made it impossible from someone standing outside to see inside the conservatory – not that anyone would be standing in palace’s yard, but that was beside the point. What even more important was that it was nearly as hard to see outside from inside, and Alastor suspected that it was the intended reason.

Lucifer had once told him that he’d brought the first seeds with him when he was banished, unsure if they would take root in this hostile landscape, but desperate to take something with him that would remind him of the place that he’d once seen as home, even more so than the Heaven itself. He wasn’t sure if the fact that this had been allowed should be seen as a sign of pity or mercy, or if the officials who had judged him had hoped that seeds wouldn’t sprout which would in turn had driven Lucifer into even deeper despair.

If that had been the plan, then it had definitely failed. The plant life was vast, from flowers to trees and anything in-between. The trees especially were impressive: big and old, some of them as old as the Hell itself. Most of them carry fruits, from exotic ones that Alastor didn’t even know the name of, to a familiar ones like pears and plums and, of course… apples.

(Alastor had always seen it rather ironic that Lucifer loved apples so much, considering that the very same fruit had caused his downfall, but the king had just shrugged and said, “It’s not the fault of the fruit that it tastes too good not to eat”.

“I could say the same about you, my dear~”

“Ow! Dammit, Al, I’m not your juice box!”

“Indeed; a juice box would be far more silent. But as far as the size goes…”

“… You’re easily the most insufferable sinner I’ve ever had the misfortune to meet.”

“Is that so? Then, please, tell my lord; why are you smiling so fondly?”

“Oh, shut up…!”)

Now Alastor watched as Lulu set the table up for the play. Charlie and Mr. Ducky both got multiple books piled on their chairs to raise them up on tabletop level, and little pillows so that it would be softer to sit down.

“Very thoughtful, my dear”, Alastor recommended, and Lucifer beamed happily at him.

Once everything was in place, they too sat down, and the tea party could officially began. Lucifer was being an exceptionally host, pouring tea to his guests, offering snacks and holding up the conversation.

“Is been a wondefu’ weather, don’t it, Miss Char-Char?”

“Do you want more tea, Mistah Ducky?”

“Oh, Sir Papa, you gots butterflies in your head just like I! It’s so pretty!”

“Why, thank you, dear little fairy! Indeed, my hair-dresser is really talented, aren’t he?”

After all the tea had been drank and the plate emptied from all cookies and corncakes, Alastor looked at his pocket watch. “Hmm… it’s nearly time for an afternoon nap…”

Lucifer shook his head. “No, no! Lulu’s not sleepy yet, Papa! Play still!”

He looked at his little one who was staring right back at him with his huge, impressive eyes. Oh, you cunning little Devil, he thought adoringly, you know that no man, dead or alive, can say no to you when you weaponize those puppy-eyes…  Well, thankfully Alastor also had a one weapon in his arsenal that Lucifer had no way to resist…

Feigning a resigned sigh, Alastor put his watch back to his pocket. “Very well, my darling. What should we do next, then? Maybe you would like to draw some more? Or play hide and seek? Or maybe”, Alastor grinned deviously, “maybe you would like Papa to read you a story~?”

Lucifer exhaled and his whole face brightened with sheer delight. “Yes! A story! Pappa, read Lulu a story!”

Hah, gotcha! That trick never failed, and if Lucifer was even a slightest bit tired, then listening a nice story would inevitably lull him to sleep with no fuss at all. Piece of cake!

And people are always complaining just how hard parenting is… well, to be fair, not all little ones can be as easy to please as my sweet angel…!

(It was true that even at his most temperamental moods – which came up rarely, but still did happen time to time – Lucifer was rather quick to settle down. Just allow him to let out some fume, slam few doors – maybe shout, “I hate you, Papa!” or “You’re a meanie!” few times – and then mope in peace until he’s calmed down and ready to apologize. Usually it only took ten to fifteen minutes before the little one rushed back to him, eyes full of tears and regret, and hugged Alastor tightly, sobbing loudly “Sorry, Papa!” and, “I didn’t mean it!”, and “I love you, Papa!”, and, finally, “Please don’t leave me!”; and if he had any irritation left in him towards his little darling, that was the point when it would all melt off.   

Not even once had Alastor felt any need to punish Lucifer for any of his behavior; and maybe that was just him being overly lenient, or maybe not, but… Let's be honest here; who would even have a heart to scold someone as precious as his little king…?)

Alastor smiled at his little darling, who by now had climbed down from his chair, gathered his toys, and was now regarding him with eager, expecting eyes.

He snorted. “Well then, dear; let's go find a nice book, shall we?”

They ended up sitting in the library – since, as you know, “still not sleepy, Papa!” – with Lucifer cuddled happily in Alastor’s lap. The book they read was The Princess and The Goblin, and the radio demon even had vague memories of it from the time he was still alive. He couldn’t help but think if he had once sit just like this with his own mother, claiming not being sleepy while she waited patiently for her spell to make its job…

He felt Lucifer sifting in his lap, and a moment later gentle, nifty fingers started running through his hair.

Aha. “Lucifer…”

“Just keep reading, Al.”

Chuckling softly, Alastor slightly adjusted their position, and continued to do as was asked while enjoying the way Lucifer now was scratching him behind the ears.

They stayed like that quite a while, until the king sighed contently and pressed a tiny kiss against his temple. Alastor closed the book and set it aside. “Feeling better?”

Lucifer hummed. “Much.” Then he giggled, “Why on earth did you allow me to do this to your poor hair?!”, and carefully picked out one butterfly clip that was about to fall off.

Alastor sniffed haughtily. “I’ll let you know, my lord, that my hairdresser made an immaculate job with my hairdo.”

Another giggle. “If you say so~ But in all honestly, Al, you do indulge me and my whims way too much…”

“Nonsense, my dear; what’s the harm to let you put few butterflies in my head, if it makes you happy?”

“Little more than “few”, I would say”, Lucifer answered absentmindedly as he continued to carefully pick out the hairclips. “Aaannnd I gave you so many knots… Will you at least let me brush them off, later?”

“We’ll see”, Alastor said noncommittally.

It was silent for a moment, as they just sat there enjoying each other’s presence. Finally Lucifer sighed and asked, “Do you believe that it’s possible for me to one day learn to cope with my life without regressing?”

Alastor shrugged. “It’s certainly not impossible, my dear; you already do it much less frequently than how it was when I first moved in.”

Lucifer nodded and bit his lip before continuing, “Do you think you’d still stay by my side, even if… if I don’t -”

“What, did you think that I would be so easy to get rid of?” Alastor chuckled. “My lord, I swear I’ll stay by your side as long as I can.” As long as Lilith lets me, he thought bitterly.

Lucifer sighed and cuddled closer to him. “Thank you”, the king said sincerely.

Alastor still wasn’t very good with sappy moments like this, so he coughed awkwardly before changing the subject: “Well then, my lord; since it seems like the play time is over for now, could I maybe interest you to do some paperwork before the dinner?”

Lucifer made a face. “Do I have to?” he whined. “You know that I suck at it!”

“Fear not, my dear; I promise that there’s not too much left to do. Just some declarations which need your official signature, and few letter that you also need to sign so we can get clarifications for couple of issues I have with some of the petitions.”

Lucifer’s pout melt into a affectionate smile. “I can’t believe just how much you’re willing to help me… What would I even do without you?”

“Crash and burn, probably.”

“Ha ha.” Suddenly Lucifer smirked impishly. “Maybe I should just marry you and safe myself from all the hassle? Since you already do most of my work anyway, why not also make your signature legal?”

Alastor grimaced, feeling suddenly hot underneath his collar. “Please resist making jokes like that.”

Lucifer blinked innocently at him. “Who's joking?” Then he let out convivial little scream as Alastor dumbed him on the floor. “Sheehs, Al, you got no sense of humor!” the king laughed.

“I got plenty, my sire; your jokes just aren’t funny”, Alastor bit back, all the while unable to hold back an amused smirk as he gazed fondly at Lucifer who was laying on his back at his feet, looking quite comfortable down there.

“That’s a lie!” Lucifer grinned.

“If it makes you happy to believe that, sir; now, would you please pick yourself up and get some actual work done today? Or if you prefer taking a nap on the floor, then at least change into something more appropriate.”

“What’s wrong with what I’m wearing now?” Lucifer asked, gesturing to his dress.

Alastor sneered. “It gets wrinkled.”

The king snorted and climbed back on his feet, the fairy costume switching simultaneously into his casual wear. “Fine, fine… I’ll go handle that paperwork.”

“I appreciate that, my lord.”

“But first”, Lucifer raised his voice, “let me repay you for at least some of the trouble I’ve caused you today…” The king pressed one of his sharp nails against the flawless skin of his left forearm, and Alastor felt his nose twitch with anticipation even before the first droplets of gold started to seep out from the cut he made.

“Here”, Lucifer said as he offered his arm to Alastor, “take you fill… but if you could please retain yourself from taking a bite out of me this time? I kinda need my arm intact if I’m really meant to get some work done…”

“It’s not even your dominant arm”, Alastor argued out of habit, just to hear more of those lovely chuckles. He could feel Lucifer’s affectionate eyes on him as he latched his mouth on the wound and started ingesting that delicious nectar as ravenously as a starved wolf.

“We’re both so messed up, aren’t we?” the king said, his voice full of wonder.

That we are, my lord, Alastor thought, but that’s just fine.

At least we are in good company.

Chapter Text

It was yet another Extermination Day; the worst day in year to most of the Hell’s denizens (as well as the last day to many of them), and one of the worsts to its king, too. Exterminations took place between the last and the first day of the year, starting at early morning on December 31st and ending at the same time on the January 1st, and during that time, the Exorcist were given a free reign to descend to Pride Ring and kill all the sinners they could find.

Alastor had been readying himself to the worst ever since the years last day started. First, he’d closed all the doors and windows (since, while angels didn’t try to attack Lucifer per se, some sinners might be desperate enough to try and break in, which would of course make the Exorcists to swarm the palace, too, causing ruckus that the king definitely didn’t need), and pulled close all the heavy curtains all over the house. Second, he prepared enough snacks and bottles to last for the next 24 hours, so that Lucifer would always have some comfort food in hand. Third, he collected all his favorite records, which he was planning to play nonstop and loud enough so that no screams of agony could reach Lucifer’s troubled ears.

Lastly, he picked up Lucifer, who’d been hiding in his bathroom, sitting under the boiling hot shower, hugging and rocking himself, completely unaware that his claws had punctured the pale skin of his upper arms, leaving bloody marks behind.

“Come on then, dearest”, Alastor said with soft, gentle voice that lacked his usual radio filter as he leaned down to pick Lucifer up in his arms, “let’s get you dried up and clothed. Which would you like wear this time, Lulu? Pajamas or onesie? Or a nightgown?”

He wasn’t offended by the ack of answer; Lucifer seemed to be in nonverbal state, the one that often succumbed before regressing. Alastor hoped that he would soon regress completely, to escape from his prison figuratively even when he could never do that literally.

He carried the limp little king to their bedroom and immediately turned on one of his records. He then placed the king on their bed, dried him up, and helped him into the soft, blue pajamas with a cute duck pattern which his shadow had so helpfully chosen for him.

Once he was ready, Alastor climbed to the bed with Lucifer, pulled the little king close to his chest, and started petting his still little moist hair.

Lucifer whined, adjusted himself a bit in his arms and then looked up at him, his eyes wide and rimmed with tears.

“Oh, shh… My little darling, it’s alright; everything’s going to be fine. We’ll stay right here, in this nice, cozy, safe room of ours, where we won’t see nor hear anything bad happening…”

He rocked Lucifer gently, hoping to lull him to sleep. If Lucifer could just sleep through most of the day, it would be best for them both.

His shadow swiped the record to another, slower one, and Alastor started humming along, still rocking his little king. Eventually Lucifer’s eyes closed, then his breathing eased out… and he finally fell into slumber.

“Good, my dearest”, Alastor whispered and kissed his rosy cheek, “sleep well and long, little darling… I’ll be there to keep bad dreams in bay.”

Extermination Days were indeed bad – but they weren’t always the worst…

(While living with the King of Hell, Alastor had soon found out that Lucifer had a lot of bad days.

Most of the time those weren’t unmanageable; the king felt under weather, was hazy-minded and whiny (even more than usually), found it hard to get out of the bed, lacked interested towards everything (including his own special interest, like those damned rubber ducks), lost his appetite, and cried, a lot.

Then were the worse days, when Lucifer just wasn’t – well, Lucifer. When he was limp and disorientated, and felt distant and completely disinterested towards anything at all,  including selfcare; days when he followed Alastor’s lead like a mindless puppet, with no fire or spirit in his eyes.

Those days were worrying and very much unpleasant, to say the least; but they still weren’t the worst.

At the worst days, Lucifer’s eyes were wide and frantic, and directed towards something that Alastor couldn’t see. He talked to people who weren’t present, but at the same time remained completely unresponsive to anything Alastor said or did. He could be completely catatonic at one moment and the next to be running around, screaming and sobbing telling those unseen people to leave him alone, and trying to… harm himself; either with his claws or by plucking off his feathers or with anything sharp object he could get in hand. 

Those days… those days were just wrong.)

Lucifer did indeed sleep most of the day. Sometimes he woke, feeling cranky and disorientated, but calmed down again after Alastor offered him either a bottle of milk or a cupcake and then sang him back to sleep.

When the evening settled upon them, the little king started to become more aware of his surroundings – well, aware and aware. He was now heavily in his regressed headspace, but that was fine as it was exactly what Alastor had hoped for. The younger Lucifer was, the less he understood about their current situation, and his fears were also less complex and easier to soothe. He was at some level aware that something was wrong, but as long as Papa was right there, it couldn’t be too bad. Papa would fix it; Papa could fix everything.

(Or at least that’s Lucifer had said when he tried to explain to Alastor how it felt when he was in his headspace.

“It’s… it’s like all worries go away… except, not really, but you stop thinking about them so much; like when you sit in the backseat of a car, and you don’t really know where it’s going and can’t control what route it takes to get there, but you know the person in the drivers seat and trust them to take you safely back home at the end of your journey, so you can just sit back and relax and enjoy the ride… Actually, it’s a bit like when I was a very young angel, before Eden and everything that happened there; back when I still believed that my Father was all-seeing and all-knowing, always loving and always fair; that He would look after us all, and that nothing bad could ever happen to us, as He knew all our thoughts and dreams, and He would tell us what was right and what was wrong…”

“Sounds little like what we were taught in Sunday school”, Alastor had said. “’God knows all, God decides all, nothing happens if God doesn’t will so’, and so on…”

“We were told the same”, Lucifer admitted. “But… if that was true – then didn’t he also know the whole apple-thing before it happened? And if he did, why did he not try to stop me? Or”, the king said with anxious voice, “if it was something, that he always meant to happen, then… then why was I punished, if I was only following his will…?”

To that, Alastor had no answer to offer, expect maybe one…

“Fathers are all assholes.”

“Hey!”

“You don’t count, Lulu; we both know that that word wasn’t really made to describe someone like you.”

“Well, maybe so, but… but there must be good fathers, too – they just can’t all be terrible, that’s impossible!”

Alastor had shrugged and said, “I wouldn’t bet on it. But if you ever meet one, please let me know.”

“Hmm… Well, I think I just might know one… Right, Papa~?”

“… Please don’t ever call me that again when you aren’t regressed.”

“Ha ha!”)      

It was little after midnight when Lucifer came around again and this time Alastor knew immediately that it indeed was him, in full capacity, as he sat down, looked around them with sad, detached expression and then asked, “How long till the morning?”

“Nearly five hours.”

“I see…” Lucifer sighed again and hugged himself. “I hate this.”

“I know”, Alastor answered, and watched carefully Lucifer’s clawed hands. When he saw those sharp points starting to once again press into the skin, he took Lucifer’s hands in his owns and held them gently yet firmly. “No”, he said, “no more of that sort.”

“But I need pain”, Lucifer insisted.

“What you need is to relax”, Alastor argued back. “Please let your wings out; I’ll groom then for you.” That could easily the up to two hours – considering Lucifer had three pairs of wings and the biggest ones were, well, big – and make the little king release enough serotonin to keep him calm until the morning came.

Lucifer looked at him, and once it was clear that Alastor wasn’t going to budge, he let out little huff before releasing his wings. “Just remember that you offered”, he said with sullen voice.

“What might you mean by that? I like mending your wings.” Which was true, by the way: it was relaxing, in a same way as knitting was (which he had never tried and never would, thank you very much, and all comments from Lucifer about this issue were disqualified), and it felt rewarding to see those lovely things returned to their true glory… and, of course, it meant less fallen feathers every time Lucifer decided to use his wings (which wasn’t often), not to mention that grooming them regularly saved him from a lot of trouble when molting started.

Of course, Lucifer wasn’t privy to any of these reasons.

“Ha!” the little king shouted. “If that’s true, then why are you always bitching about having to do it?!”

“Simple: it irritates you, dear… and makes you feel just the right amount of guilty for needing to bother me with it, which means it’s easier for me to get things done in my way when we next time disagree about something.”

Lucifer scoffed and laid down on his stomach. “Should have known…”

“Indeed. But now, dear: close your eyes, and let me take care of this mess – and it truly is a mess, I have to say”, Alastor added while taking in all the twisted and dislocated feathers that stuck out from the white-and-red mass. It had, of course, seen them in much worse condition than this – much, much worse – but he’d preferred them to stay in pristine order.

“Hey, it’s not my fault! That kind of happens when I tuck them in!”

“So why don’t you let them to be out, then?”

“What, like, all the time?!”

“Why ever not?”

Lucifer looked him over his shoulder, mouth twisted in unhappy pout as he was about to lay down likely hundred reason why that wasn’t possible – and then went suddenly quiet and just stared at him with that surprised, lost expression that always made Alastor to want to shout someone – usually Lilith, but also angels and, of course, God Himself – to come down here and fix the mess they’d caused – maybe unknowingly, maybe with full intention, but mess was a mess.

“I – I, um… Uh… Well, they aren’t – they don’t look right, and, and they are so big… And Lili thought it safer for me… since, you know, many sinners hate angels – especially after Exterminations started, but even before that, and, and -”

Alastor tilted his head. “Well, they don’t look wrong, either; little different, maybe, but I don’t see why that should be a bad thing… And while I admit it might make you a little too noticeable if you were to walk around Pentagram City with these”, he gave the wing he was holding a gentle shake, “sticking out of your back, but inside your home, at least, you shouldn’t need to bother hiding them.”

“Hmm… maybe… but back then, sinners used to visit the palace much often than – well, often. There were audiences, and galas, and balls… and some sinners even worked here. It… was easier to keep them tucked away all the time then remember to pull them in -”

“Again, in your own home, there shouldn’t have been need for that”, Alastor repeated unyieldingly. “But let’s talk about that in better time – and believe me, we will! – since now, you’re going to shut your eyes – and your mouth – and let me do my work.”

“So bossy…”, Lucifer muttered, but in any case he did just that.

Alastor spent good two hours tending Lucifer’s wings. After he’d fixed all the bended feathers and removed the broken ones, he simply kept carding his fingers through the soft mass – activity that was about as pleasurable for him as it was to Lucifer.

Lucifer was making humming, chirping noises – they reminded Alastor of a purring cat, and similar like cats, Lucifer only made them when he was feeling happy and content.

Suddenly there was a loud crash at the other side of the house, like that of a broken glass, and then a voice, “Knock knock! Is anybody home~?”

Lucifer went still. “Oh, fucking shit!” he hissed, which surprised Alastor a bit – just like him, the king didn’t use swearwords very often – and then he was nearly knocked out of balance as the king jumped on his feet and with little snap of his fingers turned his pajamas into his full attire: white pants, white shirt, red west, white tailcoat and his big silly top hat with crown and all.

It had been some time since Alastor had last seen the king in full regalia, and the fact that he chose to wear it now filled the Radio Demon with worry.

“Yoo-hoo? Lucifer? Hey, Lulubel, can you hear me~?”

Another snap of his fingers made nursing bottles disappear, and then Lucifer turned hastily towards Alastor. “You need to hide, now!”

“What? Why, who’s -?”

“It’s Adam!” Lucifer whispered. “The leader of the Exorcists, and the first man God created… If he sees you here, he might accuse me of breaking the treaty – after killing you first, of course!”

“Wait, Adam? That Adam?! Why is he -”

“I’ll explain it to you later! Now, hurry, we have to -!”

“Oi, Lu-ci-fer~” the singsonging voice called from the hallway, accompanied by heavy footsteps that were nearing up on them alarmingly, “are we playing hide and seek tonight~?”

“We’re out time!” Lucifer squeaked, and before Alastor had time to say a thing, he was pushed inside the kings walk in closet.

“What are you-?” he hissed angrily.

“Please, just stay there for a while!” Lucifer begged. “I’ll put a seal on the door, so he won’t notice or hear you; but best for you to be quiet still, just in case! I’ll try to get him out of here as soon as I can -!”

Then the door was quickly sealed shut, leaving Alastor in full darkness aside the tiny shimmer of light that peeked in the closet through the keyhole.

They were just in time, as it showed, since mere few seconds later the bedroom door was slammed open, followed by a loud yell, “I found you‼”

“Adam”, Alastor heard Lucifer saying with a bored voice, “what a thoroughly unpleasant surprise.”

Cursing long and loudly inside of his head Alastor pressed himself against the closet’s door to peek out of the keyhole; he needed to see what was going on out there.

The big angel, who had just busted in their house, sat on their bed like he had any right to do so and took off his helmet. Alastor was surprised just how ordinary the man looked without it.

Seriously, this is THE Adam?!

“So, how’s it been, Lu~ci~fer? Still caved inside your house, eh?” Adam asked and looked around curiously. “And still obsessed with ducks, I see…”

“Why are you here, Adam?” Lucifer asked with the same bored tone he’d used before.

The First Man shrugged. “Well, it’s been a while since I last visited, sooo…”

“And believe me or not, I wasn’t missing your break-in’s a one bit.”

Adam made a face that was alarmingly close of pouting. “That’s not a very nice way to talk to your old buddy, here!” he said, took the cupcake plate from the table and started to stuff them into his mouth.

Lucifer sighed and rubbed his temple. “I might be more welcoming if you didn’t only show up here at the worst day of the year and with your axe dripping  my citizens’ blood all over my floors…!”

“Huh? Oh, ups… Well, sorry about that!” the angel said with boastful laughter. “It’s been a good hunt, tonight…”

“I can imagine…”

“As what comes to me not visiting more often, well… You know Sera and her rules!” Adam shrugged. “If it was up to me, I would certainly come up more often – or should I say, come down~? Ha ha!”

Now that was a bad joke – even compared to Lucifer’s, and Alastor at least had spent many years now to get accustomed to bad jokes.

“Hilarious.”

“Aww, why are you being so cold to me?”, the first man whined, before he leered at Lucifer in a way that made Alastor feel himself all sorts of uncomfortable while the gaze wasn’t even pointed at him. “I thought that things down here would be much… hotter, eh~? Wink, wink?”

Lucifer let out a long-suffering sigh. “Your puns just keep getting worse and worse”, he groaned.

“Says the master of bad puns”, Adam said and ate the last cupcake before reaching towards the next plate - one that happened hold a stack of cornbread.

Alastor nearly growled – this loud-mouthed intruder didn’t deserve to taste the delicacies made by his mother’s recipes…!

Lucifer seemed to think the same way, as he snatched the plate and moved it further away from Adam. “I think you’ve indulged the sin of gluttony more than enough for this night.”

“Ha! I’m the fucking First Man, babe; I got no sin in me!”

“Or so they say…”, Lucifer muttered.

“Sooooo…”, the man said and tapped the floor with his foot, “why are your wings out? Don’t you normally try hide those hideous things out of sight?”

I’m going to kill him, Alastor thought and felt his antlers getting little bigger and pointier. I’ll slaughter him, cut him and boil him into a stew…!

“Just got them preened; no need to mess them up again right after”, Lucifer said with unbothered voice, but from the way his wings folded little closer to his body Alastor could easily tell just how much the comment had stung.

“Yeah, preening sucks”, Adam said. “…Are we going to fuck or not?”

Alastor almost chocked on his own tongue. Excuse me WHAT?!

Lucifer groaned again. “Unbelievable…”

“What? You knew from the start that that was the reason I came in”, Adam said with a grin.

“Well, looks like you took an useless venture, then, since I’ve already plans for the rest of the night, and those don’t include having sex with you.”

“Oh, come on, Lulubel…! It’s been, like, ages since you’ve had a change to fool around, right? So, put that pretty pussy on, and I’ll give you a ride!”

Lucifer gave the first man a withering glare. “To some people, sex isn’t one of the life’s necessities.”

“Doesn’t still mean that it can’t be fun, does it now? Now, don’t be such a prune, Lulubel – live a little, you’re the fucking Devil!”

“Thank you for reminding me, Adam; and can’t you please stop using that ridiculous nickname, already? It got old when we were still living in Eden, for goodness sake!”

“Never~ Now, come on…! I did cut out my visitations for a couple of years since I thought you might need some time to get over it that Lilith decided to walk out –”

Lucifer growled. “How generous of you…”

“- but it must have been long enough, now. Don’t you miss seeing stars, Lulubel~? I can show you some~!”

Lucifer sighed and rubbed his forehead between his eyes. “… Will it help to get you out of here faster if I just say yes?” he finally asked.

“Maybe~ If you don’t start begging some extra rounds”, Adam said, and Alastor felt his blood boil as he watched, unable to do anything to stop it, how the first man practically ate Lucifer up with his hungry, lustful eyes. And there was something else on his expression, too; something that made it all even more intolerable – something greedy and…. possessive.

Like Lucifer wasn’t really even a person but an object, a thing, a piece of meat; something which Adam owned.

It was the same look that Vox had so often given to him, before Alastor had wised up and decided to terminate their friendship (which had, eventually, lead him stranded at the streets of Pentagram, terribly wounded and no place to hide from the upcoming Extermination; in desperation he’d taken the offered deal, and while he still scorned Lilith for taking his soul, he couldn’t say that he hated the results). Seeing Adam to watch Lucifer with those very same eyes felt… dirty. The king wasn’t innocent, since innocence was always the first thing to die in Hell; but despite him being a fallen angel, he still had this air of purity, which was a rare thing down here and thusly, in Alastor’s mind, more than worthy of protecting.

Lucifer bit his lip, and stole a quick, discreet glance towards the closet where Alastor still stood locked in. It felt like their eyes had met, and while knowing that it was pointless, he shook his head; no, don’t do that; don’t for me, at least…!

But obviously Lucifer couldn’t see his gestures and even if he did, he would most probably have dismissed them anyway. The king took a deep, calming breath and said, “Fine –”

“Ha! One one can resist the original dickmaster‼”

“– but not here. Divorced or not, I’m not letting you bang me in a bed I once shared with Lilith. Come; we’ll take the guest room at East wing.”

“Huh? Why not the one right next to yours?”

“Because I only keep that one ready for… visitors. Which you aren’t, as you’re more of a intruder, but let’s not go to semantics”, Lucifer said while pushing Adam towards the door.

“Oh, so you’re that eager~? Just admit it, you’ve been missing my dick!”

“About as much as your taste of clothing.”

“Ha ha! It’s cute how you’re trying to play hard to get… when we both know that you’re easy as fuck~!”

Lucifer and Adam were already at the door; when Adam stepped out, Lucifer turned around one more time, his eyes once again locked in the closet. Just like before, Alastor felt like their gazes met, and then Lucifer smiled – a little, unhappy smile – and formed the words “stay hidden”, before he followed Adam in the hallway, and the bedroom’s door went shut.

And at the same moment, the seal that locked Alastor in the closet went off, and he nearly stumbled out, hurried to the bedroom door and tried to open it. Locked, of course; and sealed, Alastor realized as he looked closer and saw the symbol drawn just above the door handle shimmering faintly.

(“That? Oh, it’s for privacy”, Lucifer had told Alastor when he asked what the mark was for. “You see, with all the servants and visitors and a literal little child in the house, it’s… not always easy to get any alone time. As a couple, you know? So, we used that to make the room soundproof - and magic-proof, as well. See, angels release this huge wave of strong, positive energy when they have an orgas-”

Alastor had shuddered. “Please spare me from the details!”

“Hey, you’re the one who asked!”

“Maybe; and now I want you to change the topic.”

Lucifer pouted. “I wasn’t planning to describe anything graphic…”

“Good. Now please shut up.”)

Alastor gave the door few good kicks before walking back to the bed and falling down on it. It felt like he’s insides had turned into tight knots; Lucifer’s expression when he left the room… clearly, he’d been just as reluctant to go and do… whatever… with Adam as Alastor had been to let him.

Then why? Why, you stupid little idiot, why did you agree?!

Of course, he knew why: to get Adam out of the room – and preferably out of the whole palace – as soon as possible. But that made it even worse, to know that Lucifer had said “yes” to that disgusting misogynist pig just to protect him, when Alastor had much rather stayed cramped in the closet until the morning came if it meant that the king didn’t need to – to – to offer himself like a sacrificial lamb to be used!

There was no jealousy in Alastor’s anger towards Adam, as the relationship between him and Lucifer wasn’t one of the sorts that demanded it; neither was the disgust he felt in any way pointed towards the king, but the situation itself.  

Because Lucifer clearly hadn't been interested.

While being hesitant to agree, he hadn’t looked scared or distressed about the idea of doing… those sort of things… with Adam, per se; not even specifically uncomfortable – and if he had, then Alastor would have found the way to blast through that damned door no matter what, and hit the First Man with his own stupid-looking axe – but just fully, completely disinterested towards the act… and more than little frustrated for being expected to feel enthusiastic about it.

Alastor had seen that same expression many times, on the faces of seasoned escorts who clearly want their clients to cut the chase and just do the deed so that they can gather their money and go home to sleep.

That wasn’t an expression that belonged to the face of the king of Hell.

And Adam, blinded by his own arrogance, was plainly and nearly painfully oblivious to the fact that Lucifer didn’t perceive the chance to do… that… with him as this great honor that it was apparently meant to be.

He tried to found comfort from the fact that, apparently, this wasn’t the first time something like this happened, and that Lucifer hadn’t feared Adam, merely been irritated by him. So, whatever was happening in the East wing’s guest room (and he refused to let his brains to concentrate on that topic!), it was safe to assume that Lucifer would return to him unharmed.

Hopefully both physically and mentally.

With a sigh, Alastor closed his eyes and, unable to do anything else, proceeded to wait Lucifer’s return.

It was nearly 4am when the symbol on the door finally stopped shimmering, and Alastor was immediately on his feet. Second or few later the door opened, and Lucifer dragged himself in.

He’d abandoned his regal attire and once again wrapped himself in soft pajamas. Moistness of his hair and slight glow of his skin also told that he’d just taken a shower.

The way he kept his eyes on the ground like he wouldn’t dare to meet Alastor’s eyes told him something else, too.

He didn’t waste time when he stepped towards Lucifer and lifted his chin until the other was forced to hesitantly meet his gaze.

Shame. Lucifer was feeling ashamed.

“How are you?” Alastor asked nervously; this was the type of situation that he hadn’t been prepared for and had little to no understanding how to handle it. In his heart he wished that he could contact Rosie and ask her advice…

“I’m fine”, Lucifer mumbled. “I’m so sorry you had to hear all that… Is – is it still okay if – I mean – look, if you don’t feel comfortable sharing the bed with me after witnessing… that, then I understand -”

Alastor shushed Lucifer’s babbling by pressing his thumb over his lips. “Why would I be uncomfortable? You’ve done nothing wrong.”

“But… I know how you feel about – those kinds of things, and I thought that maybe you -”

“Maybe leave the thinking to me, dear; you’ve never been especially good at it.” Just as he had hoped, the snarky comment made Lucifer snort, and little bit tension vanished from his shoulders. Good. “Now then, my darling: are you truly fine? No cuts, no bruises, absolutely zero emotional damage done? Just… completely unharmed?” Alastor’s hands were already feeling Lucifer’s arms and sides, searching for possible wounds.

Lucifer nodded. “Aside just having the most unsatisfying sexual experience that I’ve had since - well, since Adam’s previous visit, I would say that I’m being fine.”

Alastor frowned; as much as he didn’t want to know, he couldn’t keep himself from asking, “What you mean by that?

“Um… let’s just say that Adam has never showed any interest towards his partners’ pleasure. No clue about any sorts of foreplay, whatsoever; he seems to operate simply under the assumption that all he needs to do is to stick it in, by golly…”

“Did he hurt you?”

“Ha! No… but I do admit that I’d almost preferred if he had. Hate sex could at least have been interesting… It has been, in the past.”

Alastor grimaced. “I see”, he said.

Lucifer saw it, and looked immediately apoplectic. “I’m sorry; should we change the subject?”

“I would prefer that. Actually, I would prefer it very much if we never talked about this again… How do you feel?”

“I told you, I -”

“Yes, fine; I heard that, dear… But, and with complete honesty this time, how do you feel?”

Lucifer groaned and pressed his head against Alastor’s chest. “I feel horrible. And nauseous. He came here after more or less bathing in my subjects’ blood, and I… Ugh. It feels like there’s not enough hot water in Hell to wash me clean…”

Alastor nodded. “Thank you for telling me. Now, what would you like me to do? What can I do to make you feel better?”

Lucifer was quiet for a moment. Then he asked, little hesitantly, “Would you cuddle with me, Al?”

“… Whatever you need, Lucifer.”

The last hour of Extermination Day drifted away in silence. Alastor held Lucifer close and draw soothing circles over his back while the king lay still against his chest, with his open eyes staring blankly in nothingness, and his fingers curled tightly in the fabric of Alastor’s shirt.

The clock chimed five, marking the end for Extermination till the next year, and Alastor gave his shadow an order to open the heavy window shutters. Soon the bangs and colorful flashes of distant fireworks carried to their bedroom.

“It’s Charlie”, Lucifer mumbled.

“I know”, Alastor assured.

“I taught her how to do that… I should have taught her so many other things…”

“You’ll still have time, dear”, Alastor promised.

Lucifer hummed. Then, suddenly, he said, “I used to like Adam. Back in Eden. Just as much as I liked Lilith. I loved them both…”  

Alastor didn’t say anything, deciding instead to just be quiet and let Lucifer handle the talking. His hand kept rubbing king’s back, offering both comfort and reassurance.

“We were always together back then, side by side like equals, and I thought that we always would stay like that… but then things started to change, when the council told Adam and Lilith about their great destiny. After that, Adam… he became such a jerk. Tried to boss Lilith around, telling that he was the future Father of Mankind, and Lilith just a vessel to carry his offspring… I don’t know who planted that idea in him, as surely that wasn’t what Father had in mind… I hope so, at least. He tried to boss me around, too; he would never had dared to try anything like that with any other angel, but I’d had spent so much time at Eden putting myself on their level that now it made me in his eyes something… less.”

“I assume that after that you and Lilith started to become closer.”

“Yes… we spent more and more time together, alone, in distant parts of Eden where my wings could carry us in a heartbeat but would take Adam a whole days travel by foot… He, of course, didn’t like that, and so started the rumors that I’d tempted Lilith, while I hadn’t… we hadn’t done anything more than kissing, honest! And I’d kissed Adam, too, before he became a jerk, which made it even more ridiculous…! But, council took his side, and I became a pariah at the eyes of Heaven – well, even more than what I already was…”

Alastor gritted his teeth and hugged Lucifer little closer.

“Then Adam got his second wife, Eve, and… well, you know how that story goes -”

“I know one version”, Alastor admitted. “I wouldn’t mid hearing yours, too.”

“Oh. Well, Eve, she was… she was sweet and kind, but – she didn’t seem to have any dreams or ambitions of her own. She did whatever Adam asked, but if he went away, she would just… sit there with lost look at her face, and stare at her hands and feet like she didn’t know what to do with them. I felt bad for her, but after what happened earlier I was willing to sacrifice her to not anger the Heaven even more; but Lilith didn’t want to even hear about anything like that, and kept telling me that it cannot be good or acceptable if half of the human population are condemned to be just mindless, empty husks, made to serve and to be filled… and since I knew she was right, I told her about the Tree of Knowledge… We offered Eve the apple, she ate it, and so we released evil to this world; unknowingly, perhaps, but that’s a poor excuse for the damage we made.”

Alastor combed his fingers through Lucifer’s hair. “I, for one, have always been thankful for your gift… Evil may exist thanks to you, but if I need to make decision between the world without sin and the free will, I’ll always choose the latter one.”

“…Well, Adam didn’t share that point-of-view; and as he was banished from literal paradise because our meddling, it’s not such a big surprise that he hated Lilith and I with passion. It was him who came up with the whole idea of Exterminations, after all…” Lucifer sighed. “I was fool to agree to that treaty; but what else could we’ve done? Go to war? Again? We’d just barely survived from the previous one! Hell was nearly in ruins! Lilith had been wounded, and I – I saw no other way to avoid the full massacre of both the sinners and the hellborns…”

Alastor frowned. “There has been war between Heaven and Hell?”

“There’s been plenty… But none since the Exterminations started, so – doesn’t that count as pyrrhic victory?” Lucifer laughed unhappily. “Anyway… ever since the first Extermination, Adam got this habit to come and gloat at me… sometimes he even dragged in some sinners just to execute them in front of me, to make me truly feel how powerless I was… But eventually it stopped triggering a big enough reaction in me, and so he had to lern new tricks. One time he started threatening Lilith – even with her status, she’s still a sinner, as you know – and I nearly lost it. After that, I begged her to stay on other Rings during that day…

But as the time passed, he started to appear as less of a threath, and more and more just an annoyance. Someone who breaks into your house, empties your fridge and then follows you around making stupid comments and in one moment is almost acting like you two are good old friends and then the next he says or does something highly insulting or inconsiderate and you’re once again reminded that ‘no, this guy is the worst, and we don’t like him’!”

So, the First Man was apparently a childish, self-important bully…

“But then I started expecting Charlie. And after seeing me with a baby bump Adam… well, he seemed to finally realize that I wasn’t as much of a man than what he’d always assumed. So, at the next Extermination Day he asked if I wanted to have sex; to which I of course answered something along the lines, “No, are you and idiot?!”; but he kept bothering me and finally said that he wouldn’t count any minor injuries he might gain during the act as breaks of the treaty, and so… I was sold.” Lucifer’s voice was once again colored with shame.

“I won’t blame you”, Alastor assured. “I could never fault you for taking an offered opportunity to do even the slightest harm to that pompous moron.”

Lucifer chuckled. “Of course you wouldn’t, Al…”

“What did Lilith think about all that?”

The king flustered. “Well, she didn't exactly like the idea, but that was mostly just because it was Adam; yet she did agree that in my place, she would have probably done the same… See, our relationship has always been pretty open, though it was usually her, who…”

“It’s fine”, Alastor said quickly. He really wasn’t all that interested to hear in detail how Lucifer’s marriage had been operated. “So, that became a thing, then?”

“Something like that… but it was never fixed. Sometimes he turned up, sometimes he didn’t… there were long periods when I didn’t see him at all, and then many years in row when he showed up alarmingly early – like, just few hours after Extermination started – and just loitered around while I tried to ignore him. It was… stressful.”

“And your age regression? Has he ever – when you’ve been -?”

It took Lucifer a second to realize what he was asking. “No! He would never – look, he’s a misogynist jerk, but he’s not a complete asshole, okay? It has always been consensual – more than less; more often than not I just say yes to get rid of him, like tonight – and he has never even met me when I’m in my younger headspace. As you know, my regressions didn’t use to be nearly this strong before Lili… before the divorce, and he hasn’t visited me after that.”

“Until now, you mean.”

“Yes.” Lucifer moaned. “Dear Golly, this is better not to become a regular thing…!”

Alastor hoped the same. He didn’t like to even think Adam at the same room with Lucifer, even less touching him – with hands that didn’t even pay attention if Lucifer was enjoying it or not (just. like. Vox.). “Can’t you keep him out?”

“I wouldn’t want to give Heaven any reason to think that I’m hiding refugees in my palace.”

“Ah, yes… that could cause problems.” Alastor squinted his eyes. “We’ll have to make plans for that, it seems…”

“And by “we”, you mean that you’ll make plans and maybe tell me about them at the last possible minute, right?”

“If it saves me having to deal with you after you’ve unnecessarily stressed yourself out, then yes.”

“It’s cute how you try to hide your care behind those snarky comments… You do know that you’re not fooling anyone, right?”

“I don’t have even the slightest idea what you might be talking about.”

Lucifer scoffed. “Whatever, you big dork…”

“Someone should watch their mouth in case that they still want to eat breakfast today”, Alastor reminded sternly.

“Hmm, that depends… will there be pancakes?”

“You can’t live on mere sugar alone, Lucifer.”

“Ha, of course I can.”

“No, you don’t. And do not argue with me about this subject, your majesty, or I’ll serve you nothing but plain oatmeal for next couple of months… and I’ll also hide the sugar bowl.”

Lucifer gasped. “Oh, you monster!”  

“Demon, my dear”, Alastor reminded with a smirk.

The king giggled. “Fine, fine; never again shall I dare to suggest that the great Radio Demon has emotions.”

“That sounds much better already… Now, if you’re done cuddling, I would like to get up.” He could endure being this close contact with Lucifer far better than with anyone else – even enjoy it – but he still had his limits.

Lucifer pulled back right away. He was exceptionally good at reading Alastor’s tone and reactions and knew exactly when it was okay to whine and be needy and when it was essential to let go.

“Thank you, dear.”

“You don’t need to be so polite about it, you know”, Lucifer said as Alastor stood up and walked towards the bathroom. “You’re allowed to just push me away when it gets too much. I promise I won’t be offended.”

How did this angel end up in Hell, again? Whose great idea it was to throw away the best that Heaven ever had? Because of one miscalculation…?

Well, that’s their loss, Alastor decided.

“I know, Lulu. Oh, and about that breakfast…?”

Lucifer looked at him curiously. “Yes…?”

Alastor smirked. “Bacon and French Toast.”

Happy cheering noises followed even through the closed door.

Chapter Text

Alastor most definitely wasn’t sick.

First of all, he was a demon, and even the wimpiest of their kind were resistant to all kinds of ailments that plagued the living; and secondly, he wasn’t just any demon either, but a great and powerful Overlord, the Radio Demon himself! And as such, there was really nothing that could keep him down.

Headache? Ha! Just a minor inconvenience, one that would eventually go away on its own, so absolutely nothing that demanded too much attention to be given to it.

Too bad that Lucifer seemed to disagree…

“How are you feeling?” the little king asked, for what must had been dozenth time that day. They were sitting on their bedroom – well, Lucifer was sitting, while Alastor had been told (with a tone of voice that accepted no objections) to lay down – and the devil was currently looking down at him (what an unusual occurrence!) with worried look on her face. The room itself was dimly lit, nearly dark, with curtains shutting off any beams of hellish red light coming from outside, but they both had a good night vision and thus could still see each other clearly.

Alastor sighed and turned his head – unwise decision that made electric neon colors flash through his head – to look at her. “Like I’ve already told you – numerous times, my dear – I’m perfectly fine. Just feeling little… lazy today. It’s really nothing for you to be so worried about.”

Lucifer gave him incredulous look and crossed her arms over her chest. “And you seriously expect me to believe that?”

Alastor managed to shrug. “It’s the truth.”

His companion muttered something under her breath – about “stubborn fools” and people “too prideful for their own good” – before asking, with a little strain in her voice, “Fine, be like that. But can I at least bring you something? Like water? Or painkillers?”

“Not need.” The regular painkillers would offer him little to no help, anyway – in nearly hundred years, his tolerance to those had become quite an inconvenience; and while Lucifer surely had some stronger stuff in storage, Alastor had no intention of developing an addiction to those. “Just give me few minutes and I’ll be back on my feet.”

Lucifer narrowed her eyes and regarded him for a moment with tilted head. “Nope”, she then said, popping the “p” with the most annoyingly endearing way, “I don’t believe that. Stay put, I’m going to call Belphy -”

She made the motions to stand up, and Alastor hurried to crab her arm.

“Lulu, that’s completely unnecessary-!” he pleaded. It was bad enough that Lucifer was seeing him like this, anyone else would be way too much…!

Unfortunately, in his rush he ended up jostling his head in rather unpleasant way that immediately gave him a fit of dizziness and nausea.

He felt Lucifer tiny hands come around his face as the king gently placed his head back on the pillow. “I’m sorry, Al, but you’re clearly in pain.”

“Don’t be silly. It was just a minor dizzy spell –”

“Stop. Bullshitting. Me. Alastor, I can literally see that you aren’t feeling well. And I do understand that would rather to not be seen in anything but your top shape, but Belphy is professional, so I can promise you that -”

“There’s really no need, dear –”

“Damn it, Al, can’t you just accept that I’m worried about you?!” Lucifer shouted in frustration.

Alastor felt his ears fold down as the sudden loud voice made him flinch. “And as I keep telling you, dear, that is fully unnecessary. I’m not some weak little fawn, I can –”

“Weak”, Lucifer repeated, with a voice which tone was terrifyingly flat. “You honestly think that being unwell makes you… weak?”

Alastor sighed. “Lulu…”

“That’s what you think, isn’t it? Oh, aren’t that grand! So, at all those times you’ve been helping me when I feel sad or under the weather or just plainly unwell, it was all just me being weak and you indulging me, wasn’t it?”

“Don’t put words to my mouth, Lucifer”, Alastor grunted, starting to feel growing irritation which the pain in his head for sure didn’t help to soothe down. “I’ve never seen you as weakling. This has nothing to do with you, it’s…”

“Nothing to do with me? Is that so? Nothing?”

Alastor flinched again and brought his hand up to rub the bridge of his nose. “I… didn’t mean it like that. Lulu, please; I’m really not in a mood to argue with you right now…” I don’t want to lose my temper and say anything hurtful that I can’t take back later…

Lucifer’s head drooped. “I know. I’m sorry…”

“Do not be, darling. You just can't help worrying over trivial things, can you now? And as unnecessary as it is, I can’t really say that I wouldn’t find it touching…”

For that matter, he really did. Before meeting Lucifer, he couldn’t remember the last time someone had genuinely been worried about his wellbeing. Maybe Rosie could have, but while Alastor saw the fellow Overlord as a good personal friend of his, he’d never tested the strength of their friendship by appearing in front of her in poor shape.

Then the last time must have been when mother was still with me…

“Al?” Lucifer called, bringing his train of thoughts into a halt. “If… if you really don’t want Belphy here then I’ll stop insisting, but in that case can you in turn please stop pretending that everything is fine? I, I want to help you, but to do so I need to know what’s wrong…!”

Alastor was about to once again insist that there was nothing for Lucifer to worry about but decided against it when he saw the shimmer of tears in his companion’s eyes. Maybe hearing the truth would calm her down, he thought with the fondest of exasperation; at least it could assure her that this is nothing serious and will go away on its own… 

He sighed theatrically and said, “Oh, fine. I do admit that I’m feeling rather foul at the moment; but it’s just the migraine I sometimes get, when there’s a disturbance in the radio waves. It can be a pain but causes no serious or lasting damage.”

Lucifer nodded slowly as she digested what she’d been told to. “…Thank you, Al. I understand that for a private person like you that must have been huge thing to reveal.”

“I’d like to think that my secret is safe with you; after all, I’ve gathered enough blackmail material to sink your reign like a ship if you ever decide to tattle on me…”

“Hey!” Lucifer huffed offendedly.

“Just kidding, my dear. I know that you won’t tell.”

“You better… So, how can I help you?”

“Just allow me to rest few more hours, and I should be fine.”

Lucifer pouted. “But I wanna help you for reals!” she nearly whined.

Alastor raised his eyebrow. While whining and pouting weren’t really unusual for Lucifer, it was the sort of behavior that he would have expected from the male Lucifer, not the female one; unless…

Ah… she’s regressing. She’d been stressed up because of his condition, and now the relief must have triggered the reaction.

He studied her posture for a moment. It didn’t seem like she’d regressed too far, at least; somewhere in her early pre-teens, maybe? That would mean 10, maybe 9... could be a little younger, too; female Lucifer was surprisingly mature - for Lucifer, that is.

Alastor smiled and reached forward to gently pinch her cheek; Lucifer’s delightful giggle was followed by, “Ah, Papa! Ssstop!”

“Such a helpful girl you are, sweet pea”, Alastor praised. “If you really want to help me, then I must confess that I’m feeling rather thirsty. Coffee doesn’t sit too well with my type of migraine” – nor was Lucifer able to make a decent cup of coffee even in the state of mind where she was allowed to touch the coffee maker – “but a cup of ginger tea could be nice. Unsweetened, without milk; you think you could handle that, dear?”

Lucifer was nodding eagerly. “Yes, Papa. Can I bring you a snack, too?”  

Alastor thought it a bit. The nausea wasn’t too bad, and frankly, he was starting to feel a bit hungry. Besides, the longer Lucifer would be busy in the kitchen, the longer he would have time to rest… “Well… I wouldn’t say no to an omelette. I did teach you how to do one in a microwave, didn’t I?” While he himself would never step so low as to use that machine instead of a stove, it was still safer for Lucifer to use on her own. “Could you please do one for each of us? Just follow the recipes, and do not touch any sharp knifes!”

“Yes!” Lucifer chirped happily. “I can do that! You rest now, Papa; I will make you a super special omelette that will make you better in no time!” As she talked, the Charlie-doll manifested into her arms, and she held it out to Alastor. “Meanwhile, Charlie can keep you company, so that you don’t feel lonely!”

“Always so thoughtful, my dear”, Alastor said as he took the doll, trying to not look at its painted smile and glassy eyes in way too detailed face that always creeped him out a bit. “For sure I’ll get better soon, with nurses as good as you two. I’ll now rest my eyes for a bit, but don’t hesitate to wake me up if there’s any need, okay?” Normally he would have sent his shadow to look after Lucifer but manifesting it didn’t feel like a good idea right now.

There’s no way that she wouldn't panic and immediately call Belphegor here if I end up vomiting, or worse, passing out…

Lucifer smiled as she hopped down from the bed and bent down to plant a kiss on Alastor’s forehead. “Don’t worry, I will. Sweet dreams, Papa.”  

“Thank you, little sweet pea.”

Alastor must have dozed off soon after that, since he was later woken up by a tasty smell and hushed call.

“Papa? Papa, are you awake? I brought food…”

Blinking his eyes open, Alastor took a moment to focus his gaze before landing it to Lucifer, who stood at the foot of his bed with a serving cart with four mugs on it.

With a stifled groan, Alastor dragged himself into a half-sitting position and was thankful that except for a little dizzy spell it didn’t make him feel much worse. “Hello, my little lady. You were quick.”

Lucifer pursed her lips. “It’s been half an hour, Papa.”

“It has?” Damn, he hadn’t planned to fall fully asleep… “Well, I had a good nap, then.”

Lucifer pushed the cart next to the bed and climbed to sit beside him. “Does it hurt still?” she asked with tiny voice as she cuddled close to him.

Alastor kissed softly her forehead. “Not too much, sweet pea”, he promised. “I’m sure I’ll be good as new as soon as I’ve eaten that omelette you made for me; my, how it smells delicious~!”

That comment was all it took for Lucifer to cheer up and reach to pick up a mug and fork, which she then handed to him. “Taste it, Papa! I made it just for you! I even used to meat from your own stash!”

Well, that explained why it smelled so good… “You didn’t use any sharp knifes, though? Only took the pre-cut slices?”

Lucifer huffed and rolled her eyes. “I only touched the butterknife. Just like I promised, Papa!”

“So you did. Such an obedient girl you are! I’ll for sure make this up to you; maybe you would like to eat some muffins later today…?”

“Nu-huh. You will rest, Papa!”

We’ll see… Alastor took forkful of omelette and brought it to his mouth, munching with care. Along with the eggs and meat, he could also detect the flavors of shredded cheese, tomato, salt and pepper. The taste was decent, if not a little bland, and he made sure to hum approvingly. “This is an excellent omelette indeed, my lady. I believe that you’ll become a great cook one day.”

Lucifer beamed at him. “As good as Papa?”

Alastor chuckled. “Naturally. Now, please pass Papa his tea, and eat your omelette before it gets cold.”

They finished their meal in peace, and later Alastor felt good enough to manifest a few shadow minions to take care of the dishes. It still hurt, but less than taking a knife to an eye does, which meant that it was getting back to the level which he could tolerate.

“Unfortunately, I still need to rest my eyes for a moment, sweet pea. Do you want to stay or go to play in your room? If you stay you need to be quiet.”

Lucifer didn’t hesitate a bit. “I wanna take a nap with you, Papa”, she said firmly.

Smiling, as he’d already guessed that this would be the case, Alastor laid himself back down and lifted the covers a bit so that Lucifer could wiggle her way at his side. “Very well, then. Please tell Charlie that she needs to be quiet, too”, he added while handing the doll back to its owner. 

“She won’t make a sound. Charlie wants you to get better soon, Papa.”

“Hmm. So do I, my sweet pea; so do I…”

After the nap they would no doubt be back to their regular selves. Alastor could finally finish the chores he’d have to cut short thanks to this minor inconvenience, and Lucifer would probably hover around him like a hawk – or a dove, though they usually had no habit of hovering – to make sure that he would not strain himself too much.

Just like Alastor had already figured, he woke up feeling much better. Too bad Lucifer, who also was back in her “rightful” headspace, didn’t allow him to do any work on the rest of the day, instead ordering him to lay low and “take it easy”. Thankfully, cooking was classified in her books under the title of a hobby rather than a chore, so Alastor could still treat his lady king with a plate full of blueberry muffins.

As if by unspoken agreement they both avoided mentioning Alastor’s “ailment” out loud; which explained that if Alastor in next day saw an open booklet named “Migraine : Everything You Should know” sitting face down on Lucifer’s nightstand, he said nothing about it… not even to berate his companion of his treatment of books.

And if he few days later, while organizing the groceries, found a package of tea titled as “Organic Migraine Relief Tea” and a little bottle of magnesium pills from the kitchen cabinet, he still didn’t utter a word; and even though the dinner he served on that evening did include only Lucifer’s most favorite foods, that also wasn't consequential at all.

Chapter Text

“Do you have any regrets?”

Alastor lifted his gaze from the book he was reading and looked at his partner with a raised eyebrow. “Is that your way of telling me that I should start praying for my afterlife? Whatever did I do – put too little sugar in your cup of diabetes, I mean coffee?”

Lucifer scoffed. “No! I meant your living life. The things that landed you here; do you ever regret anything of it?”

“I was under the assumption that my presence in your kingdom was appreciated.”

His partner sighed frustratedly. “Can’t you just give me a straight answer for once?”

“Rather bold for you of all people to ask anyone to be straight.”

“Alastor!” Lucifer whined, and stomped his hoof.

Alastor laughed and put his book aside. He lifted his right leg – which ankle had rested on his left knee – and put his both feet together on the floor so that Lucifer could fit himself to sit next to him on the sofa. “Out of curiosity”, he said as his partner made himself comfortable, “what prompted this question to be asked?”

Lucifer worried his lip between his teeth. “Nothing, really…”

“Lucifer…”

The king looked shortly at him, sighed, and then let gaze wander around the room while speaking, “It’s just… you never really talk to me about things like that – which is fine, really! – but… we’ve been living together for years now, and there’s only few things about my past you don’t know about my past, and yet… aside you being a serial killer and a radio host and having an amazing mother and a wretched stepfather, plus a biological father who was out of the picture before you were even born, I know nothing about the kind of guy you were before you died – and all those things I know are the same unipersonal info I could’ve easily find out simply by reading your profile from the Book of the Damned!”

Alastor considered what his partner had said and admitted that he could understand where he was going from. There was indeed a clear imbalance between how much he knew about Lucifer versus how little of himself he allowed to be seen by him. And yet…

“My past doesn’t really matter, dear”, he said. “And secondly, that doesn’t really answer to my question: what prompted you to ask this now, specifically?”

Lucifer gave him a curt look. “Why does it matter?”

“Because with you, Lulu my dear, the timing is always important. In what regrets of your past you’re wallowing today, that you hope to ease by making me to confess mine?”

While waiting an answer – which his partner was taking his sweet time to provide –, Alastor picked his brains trying to remember if this was one Lucifer’s known trigger days. It wasn’t his wedding day nor an anniversary of either his divorce or his Fall… And it definitely wasn’t Charlie’s birthday, since that had been only a few months ago. Lucifer had sent her a gift and then spent the rest of the day crying over the fact that besides a text-message filled with those garishly smiling faces and glittery hearts he got nothing in response; not even confirmation that the present had been pleasing to its recipient.

(Sometimes Alastor had to grit his teeth to not voice his opinions about the princess, which were of the sort that would inevitably offend his partner. It was true that she wasn’t aware of the deal between her parents, which stated that Lucifer could only contact her daughter if she did the first move; but what kind of child would be content to just sit and wait for a phone call that never came? Any normal young woman would have marched to the palace by now and demanded some answers, which in turn would immediately negate the deal and set Lucifer free to do what was necessary to restore their relationship – but no, not princess Charlie, who’d clearly decided to stay discreet to the point that if she got, let's say, stuck to a quagmire, she might still rather sink and die than call her father to help.

… And all this just because it had never crossed in Lilith’s mind to make changes to their deal once it became clear that her daughter wasn’t going to contact Lucifer on her own volition, or fully dissolve it before she made her disappearing act.

“It’s not like she could’ve foreseen this”, Lucifer had reminded him once, duiring their yet another discussion over the same topic (and Alastor truly hated it how he still kept defending her). “She never thought Charlie would have gone even that long before starting to message me on her own, so when she… left… she must have believed that that, at least, would make Charlie to contact me – instead of me having to find out about it from my own siblings… and come to think of it, Charlie probably thought that Lilith herself had left me a message, like she did for her…”

Oh, yeah… the message.

I have to go to take care of some urgent matters. There’s money for you in your account. If you need anything, please call your dad.

Love you!

~

As if that was enough of an explanation for a child – well, a young woman, but still – who was just cruelly left behind…

“Have I told how much I dislike your ex-wife, dear?”

“You mean, like, have you let me know in general, or just today? … But either way, the answer is still yes.”

“Ah. Well, good to know~”

“Asshole.”)

Eventually Lucifer gave up with his mulish stare and shook his head as a sign of defeat. “I’m starting to think that you might know me little too well by now”, he chuckled with a lopsided smile.

“Nonsense, dear. Despite your regrettable habit of oversharing -”

“Hey!”

“- I don’t believe I could ever have too much of anything with you. You remain utterly fascinating to me”, Alastor concluded with a smirk, and was rewarded by the enchanting golden blush that colored Lucifer’s cheeks. For a king, his partner was delightfully weak for compliments, as long as they were sincere. “Sooo~?” he prodded a bit.

Lucifer sighed. “It’s not a big deal; it’s just… well, this day is an… anniversary, of sort. Of the day my Father – when He created me.”

Alastor startled so violently that he almost fell down of the sofa. “It’s your birthday?!” he screeched, with so static-lade voice that his words came out nearly unrecognizable.

“Well… sort of.”

“Why haven’t you told me?!” he demanded, unable to hide his irritation.

“Because it only happens in every 225 million earth years!”

Alastor fell silent. It was easy to forget – with his airheaded attitude and jovial demeanor – that Lucifer was a being who far exceeded any and all human comprehension, but every now and then he came across a situation which forced him to try – and fail – to gasp the idea of how ancient the little creature sitting just beside him truly was.

“We, as in angels – at least those who were born before earth became a thing – count our lifespan in what you humans like to call as cosmic years”, Lucifer explained, calmed down by Alastor’s silent bewilderment, “which is the time that sun – our sun – takes to orbit around the center of this galaxy.”

Alastor was already recovering from his initial shock. The first thing that came to his mind to say was, “Please don’t tell me you regret of being born.”

“Of course not! Well, not… like that… It’s just”, Lucifer took a shaky breath, “it’s my first birthday after the Fall.”

“I see…” That would indeed be depressing, Alastor thought.

“Yes… also, my first birthday without Michael. We were twins, you know; born at the same moment from the same speck of light. Sera claimed later that I was a rounding error, that Michael was the only one who was supposed to be born that day, but she knows nothing of it…”  

And of course it’s about Michael. If it’s not Charlie, it’s Lilith, and if not her, it’s always him… well, I guess it can’t be helped.

“… and so, I’ve been stuck in my head whole day, thinking about past, about my Fall, and what could I’ve done differently to prevent it from happening. If I’d been more patient, if I had spent a little more time trying to persuade the court to see things from my perspective instead of just acting behind their backs… could it have made a difference? Could the birth of Sin have been avoided? I… I don’t think so, but… shouldn't I still have tried, at least?”  

And that’s why you’re suddenly so keen to hear about my past, Alastor thought. Not that I know how knowing about my past would help you at all, though… Out loud he said, “I’ll make you a cake for afternoon tea.”

Lucifer brightened so immediately that it was almost comical to look at. “Really?”

He has such a one-track mind, doesn’t he? “It’s the least I can do. If you’d informed me about this beforehand, I would have invited the Sins to join us.” But maybe I can still call to them and organize something for tomorrow…

Alastor wasn’t sure if he even wanted to know, but he just had to ask anyway: “How old are you, by the way? In those… cosmic years?”

“54.”

Alastor squinted his eyes. “Nah. You don’t look that old.”

“I never said it’s compatible with human years” Lucifer reminded him with an eye roll, “and angels don’t really age, anyway – well, at least we weren’t supposed to; though Hell’s miasma has been slowly wearing my core down ever since my Fall, which makes me look little older than I used to be…”

“Which is good”, Alastor countered. “Without all those fine little lines around your mouth and eyes you would look even more like a porcelain doll, and that would be just creepy.”

“I thought you liked creepy, Mr. Creeps.”

“Not when I can’t kill it and instead have to live with it.”

“Of course. …So”, Lucifer said and looked at him with expression that was probably meant to be completely irresistible, “now that I’ve told you this, would you maybe kindly answer to my question, next?”

“What was it again?”

“Alastor!”

“My dear, I don’t remember ever promising to you that I would.”

Lucifer pouted. “But its my birthday! Aren’t you supposed to be nice to people on their birthday?”

“I’m never nice”, Alastor argued, but initially he’d already made his decision and was currently organizing his thoughts to create a complete story. “And I’ll tell you nothing if you don’t stop whining.”

Which, of course, made Lucifer immediately abandon his sulky expression and leaned closer to stare at him with sparkling eyes. “Really?” he exclaimed with wonder and a grin so wide that it nearly cut his face in two halves. “You’re really gonna tell me something about your past?”

Alastor sighed. “I believe it’s only fair… but this won’t become a repetitive thing, understood? Unlike you, I don’t like to go around spewing my secrets on right and left.”

Lucifer, too eager to even get offended, simply nodded earnestly, and Alastor couldn’t hold back a fond chuckle as he took a comfier position, leaning against the backrest and crossed his arms behind his head.    

“So… my regrets, eh? Hmm, can’t say that I have many – although sometimes I hope that I’d killed my stepfather earlier, or done it more slowly… it took me time to hone my skills to their current level, after all…” He sighed. “But… if I must be completely honest with this… then, there were few times things didn’t go quite according to my plans, and I ended up having to hurt – to kill – people who didn’t quite deserve it.”

Lucifer had sifted to sit sideways on the sofa, legs crossed, with his elbows on his knees, and rested his chin on his hands. He didn’t say anything – instead of that it looked like he even did his best to breathe as quietly as possible to not interrupt anything – but his huge eyes followed keenly Alastor’s every expression. 

“Do you know how I used to choose my prey?” Alastor asked.

“Um – they were all mean people…?”

“That, too”, Alastor agreed, “but more precisely, they were all people who reminded me of my stepfather.” He gaggled. “Killing them felt like killing him over and over again -”

“Freud would have had a field day with you.”

“Who’s that?”

“A doctor… never mind; please, go on.”

“As you wish.” Alastor cleared his throat. “My first kill was, as said, my stepfather. It was a clumsy act, which I carried out with all the skill and tact of a wounded beast.”

“How old -”

Alastor placed a finger against his partner’s mouth. “No more interruptions, please. Where was I…? Oh, yes; I was sixteen at that time – not a child anymore, but too young to be seen as an adult, either. That still wouldn’t have saved me from being hanged, though… thankfully, it was something I’d been planning a long time then, and thus I’d it all thought ahead. See, I was planning to move out my parent’s house soon, to go and try to start a career in the city, and there was no way I could leave my mother alone with that beast of a man. So, I waited until he told me to accompany him on the hunting trip, and once we were alone in the bayou… well, I’m sure you can use your imagination there. And what came to getting rid of the evidence… The alligators helped with that”, he added with wide grin. “How ironic… after spending so many years hunting those animals, he ended up as their meal!”

“What happened then?”

“I went home and told my mother that her husband had an accident while hunting. She most likely didn’t believe me, but didn’t say anything, either. I think she’d been expecting me to do it one day, despite of her reminding me repeatedly that “vengeance belongs to God”; but what comes to me, I’ve always preferred the proverb self-help is the best help -”  

“Did no one suspect a thing?”

Alastor shrugged. “Some might have, but my stepfather wasn’t really a likable man, and accidents happen – especially when you go hunting after you’ve knocked down little too much moonshine… in the middle of the night… at the area known for its high percentage of alligators. Anyway, after all that”, he continued, “life became… well, not good, exactly, but… better. Easier. My mother grieved her lost husband for a while but not very much, and so life went on. I moved out, became a radio host, and thought that that was it, this was how I would spend the rest of my days. I never thought that I would kill again, didn’t feel the urge… until I did.”

“My second kill was one of Mimzy’s boyfriends – my friend Mimzy; surely I’ve mentioned her to you? – who I witnessed pushing her around after she’d gotten too flirty with a customer. It reminded me too much of my stepfather, and before I even realized, I’d already took a knife – we were at the kitchen; I helped her out after her regular cook got ill and they barked in to hide their argument from the customers and other staff – and stabbed him. Repeatedly.” Alastor shook his head. “In front of Mimzy; how amateurish!

Now, Mimzy was – is – a smart girl. She calmed me down and helped to hide the evidence. Of course, she would later use the situation to milk favors from me, but what else would you expect? After all, a girl has to do what girl has to do…”

And she’s still extorting those same favors from me, even in Hell… some people just never learn, do they?

“My third kill”, Alastor continued, “happened soon after that, and fourth and fifth followed. I’d gotten a taste for it – for killing, not yet eating my kills; that came later.

…It was my sixth kill when things went wrong.”

Lucifer opened his mouth, probably to ask, “what happened?”, but thought better of it.

Alastor went on, “Like I said, I was still just an amateur. My kills were rushed, messy and sloppy; after what happened with Mimzy I’d been more careful in what came to witnesses, but I was young and arrogant -” at this point Lucifer snorted, as if to say, “and now you aren’t?” “- which  is never a good combination, and thus it was inevitable that I would eventually slip up.”

“My sixth prey was a step-up from my usual range: a corrupted cop, known to abuse his position to harass women and business owners. His wife was often spotting bruises somewhere on her face or arms, and their kid seemed to be frightened even by his own shadow.

I admit I never paid too much attention to the victims of my kills, and it always amused me and Mimzy alike how, as my fame grew, some people slowly came to see me as some kind of a vigilante, while in reality I just couldn’t care less. All I wanted was to get revenge on my stepfather by killing those who reminded me of him. Their victims held no importance to me, nor did I spare them any sympathy; I rather despised them, for they were too weak to stand up against their abusers like I’d done.” He chuckled. “Which I know was rather hypocritical from me, as I never placed same blame on my own mother… but let’s not dwell on it.”

Alastor took a short pause. He really didn’t want Lucifer to know what he was about to reveal, but saw no way around it. After all, he’d made a promise, and it would feel deceitful to cover his tracks now – especially so since Lucifer was really good at sniffing out lies and half-truths; and although Alastor was quite sure that he wouldn’t be called out for it even if he did so, he still didn’t see it as a great practice to betray his partner’s trust like that.

He just hoped that this wouldn’t change Lucifer’s perception of him for good, that he could still accept him. He was rather attached to the simple comforts of their coexistence – delightful banter, easy companionship, unambiguous closeness; the way how neither demanded from the other anything that they weren’t willing to offer – and he didn’t wish it to end.

Now, Alastor knew that his partner wasn’t unreasonable. They were in Hell, and no one was sent down here for petty little things like crossing the street at a red light; but this… this would be a hard pill to swallow for anyone, and especially to a parent.

“So, my sixth… I’d stalked him for quite a while, and knew when his wife was about to visit her parents. That’s when I decided to act, so I broke into his house when he was supposed to be all alone and surprised him. It was an easy kill – he was drunk, and could only take few swings at me – none of them hit – before I finished him off. That’s all it should have taken – but…”

“But he wasn’t alone”, Lucifer said softly.

Alastor shook his head. “She appeared as if from nowhere. The wife. She saw her husband, laying there in a puddle of blood, and started screaming. She cried for that bastard who’d cheated on her – abused her – for years. She still loved him!” He laughed a little hysterically. Can you believe it?!”

Lucifer’s eyes told him that yes, he could.

Alastor sighed. “I had no other choices.”

“So, you killed her?” There was no accusation in Lucifer's voice.

“I had no choice. I had to silence her before her screams could alarm the whole neighborhood, and she’d seen my face – I had no choice.”

“And the child…?”

At first, Alastor said nothing, and that in itself was enough of an answer. “He heard us”, he said eventually. “He came downstairs, calling for her mama – he saw her, first, and then he saw me.” He frowned. “If he’d just stayed upstairs… He was sick, that’s why his mother had canceled their visit… If he’d only slept little deeper, then… But it couldn’t be helped. He was a witness, and so…”

“Dear Golly…”

“I made it quickly”, Alastor hurried to explain. He took Lucifer’s hands in his owns and held them tightly, looking him deep into his eyes as he begged his partner to understand. “He didn’t have to suffer… his neck was so frail and thin – just one quick slash of my knife and he was already standing on the Heaven’s Gates along with his mother…!” At least Alastor hoped that both of his victims had gotten up there, and were now enjoying their afterlife happy and carefree.

Lucifer said nothing; instead, he just let Alastor keep holding his hands while giving him this expression that was full of both pity and sadness.

“He didn’t suffer”, Alastor repeated, like that one thing was all that mattered.

Still Lucifer nothing. 

Alastor felt the first signs of panic starting to rise inside him. “Lucifer…? Lucifer, please, just… say something…!”

Probably seeing his terror, his partner finally opened his mouth. “… What do you need me to say?”

“That you forgive me.”

Lucifer’s expression grew, if possible, even more sad. “Alastor… You know it's not in my power to pardon you, but…”

“No need. I don’t care about their forgiveness, or the lack of it; I care about yours.”

“There’s nothing for me to forgive -”

“Yes there is!” Alastor insisted. “I took your gift, the wonderful gift of free will that you fought so hard to give us, and made mockery of it. I know it hurts you every time someone falls down to this pit, because you blame it on yourself. And I would feel so sorry about it if I’d only killed those who deserved it, because they were already heading down here, and didn’t deserve your pity, anyway; but these two… they were innocent. As long as I know, at least…”

Lucifer tilted his head. “So… what you’re saying, is… that you only regret doing what you did because it makes you feel bad that I’m sad about it?”

Alastor considered it for a moment. “Mostly, yes. I still hope that I’d been more careful back then and made sure he truly was alone so that all this could have been avoided; but if I’d end up in that same situation again, standing with that bloody knife in my hand over that pig when his wife walked in… I would still do just the same.”

“Even with the kid?”

This time he considered it a little longer. “I believe I would have tried to hide and caught him from behind without getting seen, in which case I would only had to knock him unconscious… but if that hadn’t worked, then yes – I would still had done it.”

“And that doesn’t bother you at all?” Lucifer asked. His voice held no accusation or reproach towards him, and Alastor let himself relax a bit.

“I wouldn’t say “not at all”, but not too much, either”, he admitted, “and I did learn from my mistake, since that was the last time I took my prey in their own house. There were no more… accidents.”

“None at all?”

Alastor hesitated before answering, “No more children.”

Lucifer looked at him – still sad, but beneath it there was warmth, care… like he was sad for Alastor’s sake more than himself. “I think it might have affected you more than you want to admit”, he said eventually.

Alastor scoffed. “Nonsense.”

“Well, you told me before how you avoid having to deal with children…”

“Only because a find them tedious, noisy and unmannerly – the current company notwithstanding. Don’t get me wrong, dear, for you still are all of those things, but only when you’re in your regular headspace~”

“Wow, thanks – and here I thought I was supposed to fascinating!”

“Whoever told you such a thing should donate their brain for scientific research - they clearly represent some completely new form of unintelligent life.”

“You are aware that you just insulted yourself, aren’t you?”

Alastor tilted his head and gave his partner a feigned look of curiosity. “Sire, are you quite alright? I fear you might be hearing things, again…”

Lucifer laughed, and that sound in itself was like a balsam for Alastor’s fractured soul. Lucifer didn’t repel him, he didn’t pull away, they were still talking and teasing each other with the same familiar ease…

But if he thought, even for a moment, that this would be enough to lead his partner off the trail, Lucifer’s next words proved this hope in vain: “But, seriously speaking… are you sure that that’s the only reason? That your avoidance towards children isn’t, even a bit, a result of that one encounter?”

Alastor didn’t answer; he honestly didn’t know what he even could say to that.

Lucifer looked at him with those silent, solemn eyes, before he sighed and leaned forward to brush his face lightly against Alastor’s jaw. “It’s all right”, he assured, “you don’t need to say anything. But… I’m not saying that you should have yourself psychoanalyzed or anything, but maybe just give it a thought? Why knows, you may surprise yourself.”

Alastor, still feeling a little stunned, gave him a little nod to acknowledge his advice, though without any intention of following it. The sooner he could hide the memory of that brat gasping breath with his neck slit wide open under the lock and key, the better.

“Okay… so… I was promised a cake today, so when were you planning to get that started?”

Alastor stared at his partner with a floored expression. “Really? That’s what you’re worried about? The cake? I just told you that I killed a mother and child -”

“Yes, well… Not gonna lie, it is a bit bummer, but… at least you aren’t happy about it, right?” Lucifer finally pulled one of his hands away from Alastor’s grip so that he could use it to cup his cheek instead. “Hey… stop looking so sad, now. I’m not throwing you out, if that’s what you fear. I’ve known all along that you must have done some really fucked up things to end up down here, so why should this change a thing?”

The relief he felt after hearing that was so immense that Alastor had a hard time coming up with a suitably snarky retort. “You’re the one who looks sad”, he said lamely.

“That’s because I don’t like seeing you sad. You shouldn’t even be sad in the first place; that’s my thing.”

“Oh, are you saying that sadness is a privilege that belongs only to you? How very greedy, my lord.”

Lucifer smiled arrogantly. “What can I say? I’m good at it”, he claimed.

Alastor grinned. “Can’t argue with that.”

“So… the cake?”

“You truly have a one-track mind…”

“Only for sweets”, Lucifer said cheekily and scooted closer to his partner until he could give him a hug.

Alastor hummed, relaxing into his partner’s touch in a way that he’d previously only experienced with his mother. Even Rosie couldn’t get this close to him; they were friends, but only as far as two overlords could ever be, and there had always been a conditional aspect in their friendship which limits neither of them had dared to approach.

With Lucifer such limits didn’t exist: the king, as the strongest being in Hell, was untouchable, and could create anything he ever wanted without even paying attention to it, and thereby didn’t need anything from Alastor other than his companionship, which was easy enough to give.

Without thinking, Alastor wrapped his own arms around Lucifer’s waist and pulled the smaller man to his lap, tucked his head against his neck and nuzzled his face into other’s soft hair. “Why did you ask me to tell you all that?” he asked softly. “How did it make you feel any better?”

For a moment, Lucifer said nothing. Then, “Curiosity… partly, at least. I have so many things I regret, even though I knew that given a chance to re-do it all, I would still choose to do just the same. I… I think I just wanted to know if you have those kinds of thoughts, too.”

“Not very often”, Alastor reminded him.

“Yes… I’m fine with that.”

“Even with the fact that I don’t even regret killing innocent people to avoid getting caught?”

“Like I said, you aren’t exactly happy about it, either… and”, Lucifer pulled back enough to gaze in Alastor’s eyes and gave him a wobbly little smile, “you never blamed me for it. Instead, you felt bad, for me, for misusing my gift like that… Don’t you know just how rare that is?”

Alastor scoffed. “Cowardly fools who lack convictions and don't even dare to take pride of their own deeds… you shouldn't waste your time listening to complaints from people like that.”

“Yeah, I shouldn’t, should I?” Lucifer said with wonder. He chuckled softly, shook his head and then gave Alastor an expecting look. “Now, are you going to make that cake for me sometime this year?”

“What’s the hurry? You’ll definitely get one before your next birthday”, Alastor teased, though he was already removing Lucifer from his lap and starting to get up. “I’ll make you a doberge cake. What flavors would you prefer?” he asked while stretching his legs.

“Hmm… chocolate and strawberries?”

“Why are you voicing that like a question? It’s your birthday, pick whatever you want.”

“Then I want it made with strawberry budding and chocolate butter creme ”, Lucifer said. “But… you could always make it two-flavored one, and have the other side done for your tastes…?”

“Like carcass?”

“Alastor!”

Alastor laughed, and leaned down to press a soft kiss on his pouting partner’s brown. “Very well, I’ll think about that. What are you planning to do in the meantime?”

“Eh, I think I might just read something.”

“Would you like my shadow to keep you company?”

Lucifer huffed. “What, are you afraid that I’ll fall into depression or regress the moment you turn your back? But sure, he can stay; the poor dear deserves better company than the grumpy old you.”

“You should be more careful with how you address someone whose about to handle your cake, I just say.”

“Yes, yes, yes, I love your grumpy ass. No go and make me my cake before I die of old age while waiting for it!”

“You’re such a child sometimes”, Alastor groaned, but did as he was told. He glanced at his partner one more time before leaving the room, and saw him lounging on the sofa, with Alastor’s shadow sprawled beside him with its head on his lap. Lucifer scratched its ears with one hand while the other held a book, and they both looked peaceful and contented.

Satisfied that his shadow would keep the little king’s darker thoughts at bay Alastor turned and walked towards the kitchen, whistling as he went. He had a cake to make, and once he was at it, he might just as well to contact certain Queen of Gluttony and ask if she’d anything planned for tomorrow… and if not, well…

Alastor could offer her some ideas.

The cake, by the way, turned out perfectly (not that Alastor ever expected anything less), and Lucifer's happy expression when he saw it would have been worth capturing in a painting. Half of the cake was made according to Lucifer’s wishes, while the other half had dark chocolate, nuts and coffee in it.

“So, did you find this birthday satisfactory?” Alastor asked his partner later that evening, when they were getting ready for a bed.

“Hmm… I got cake, you told me about yourself, and I didn’t need to do any paperwork the whole day… I would say that on a scale of one to ten, it was a solid eight.”

“Only an eight?”, Alastor resisted.

“Well, I didn’t get any presents…”, Lucifer said coyly.

“You spoiled brat”, Alastor laughed. “Do I need to remind you that it’s your own fault for not mentioning it in advance?”

“But now that you know, there’s nothing stopping you from giving me one afterwards… like, tomorrow, for example?”

“Hmm. I’ll think about it.”

“Yay!”

“That wasn’t a promise to actually give you anything! I just said I would think about it, nothing more.”

“Whatever you say, Al…”

Alastor shook his head and got to bed. It didn’t take long for Lucifer to join him, with the smaller one pressing his body against Alastor’s back and squeezing him a bit.

“Thank you. This was a wonderful birthday.”

Alastor hummed. “Your next one will be even better.”

“It won’t be in 225 million years, though. Are you sure you’re willing to stick around that long?”

“You won’t be getting rid of me, dear.”

Lucifer chuckled. “Good… I would like that.” Then he yawned and pulled away to curl up on his side of the bed. “Goodnight, Al. Have sweet dreams.”

“Good night, dear.”

And sweet dreams to you, too…

Chapter Text

“Al…?”

Alastor, who was lounging quite comfortably on the couch in Lucifer's spacious study, lifted his eyes from the book he’d been reading and looked at his companion. “Yes, dear?”

The king, who was sitting at his large desk, gave him a pitiful look from between two stacks of papers. “Al… Al, I think I’m dying here…”

Alastor rolled his eyes. “Now don’t be overdramatic. You promised me yesterday that you would work from lunch until teatime today, and it hasn't even been –“, Alastor glanced at the big grandfather clock, “a half of an hour since we ate.”

Lucifer groaned loudly and leaned back in his chair. “But there’s so much of it! Al, where did these all come for?!”

Alastor snickered softly at his king’s ridiculousness before saying, “Ah, that’s simply something that tends to happen when you laze around the whole day doing nothing: work piles up.”

“It was my birthday”, Lucifer complained. “I’m allowed to take the day off at my birthday.”

“Be that as it may, sire, but sadly the Hell doesn’t stop rotating just because you decide to take downtime.”

Another groan from Lucifer followed, and he started to kick the legs of his chair like a child preparing himself for a tantrum.

“Dear, stop that. You’ll break the chair.”

No answer.

Alastor sighed. “Sire? Lucifer… Lulu. I know you hate paperwork. But do I have to remind you that the sooner you stop hindering and get things done here, the sooner you can get back to doing... whatever it is that you'd rather be doing than this.”

“I know”, Lucifer muttered, and then, as his final act of mutiny, added, “And I still think that there is far too much paperwork for it all to have been accumulated in just one day…”

Alastor smirked, but said nothing. What could he even have said? After all, Lucifer was absolutely right…

(Alastor wasn’t the type who normally allows anyone else to take control in any situation, instead preferring to hold all the reins firmly in his own hands. Yet, when he had called to Beelzebub yesterday (via landline, of course; none of those modern contraptions for him!) and informed her what a very specific day she was currently missing, it hadn’t taken a lot of persuasion from her side to convince him to leave it to her to handle all the preparations.

“After all, if we want to surprise Lucifer for real, someone has to stay with him to keep him distracted.”

It made sense, yet Alastor simply couldn’t agree to anything before at least putting up a façade of resistance. “My shadow can do that.”

“But he’ll start wondering where you went”, the Sin commented simply, and that marked the end of that argument. “Just leave everything to me. First I’ll call to the other Sins and make sure they’ll be there in time, and then make a list of all Lulu-Bird’s favorite snacks and treats, so that I won’t miss anything in a hurry. And then I…”

“Please do not overdo it. You know Lucifer can't handle big events too well these days”, Alastor warned her firmly. “This is going to be a gentle surprise.”

“So you won’t be leading him into a dark room where we guests are hiding in silence until he turns the lights on and we all jump up screaming Happy Birthday?”

“I would advise against that, yes… If you lot still want to be in possession of all your limbs even after the party is over, that is.”

Beelzebub sighed. “Well, I suppose you would know the best… Okay, no jumping and screaming, check.”

It was agreed that the party should be held in the Garden Room, both because it was Lucifer’s favorite place in the palace, and because it was little separated from the rest of the building, making it easier to move supplies and equipment’s around without being noticed. Magic couldn’t be used, as Lucifer would detect it immediately, but Beelzebub promised to bring imps and hellhounds with her to get preparations done well before afternoon teatime.

“Oh, I can’t wait~! What should I bring Lulu-bird for a present? Is he still into ducks?”

“I don't think that will ever change… But honestly, he’ll love anything you give to him, as long as it’s something sickeningly cute.” After a moment of thought, he added, “Please let lord Asmodeus and lord Mammon know that any gifts deemed either lewd or vulgar will be immediately rejected.”

Beelzebub laughed. “Still feeling salty about that one Sinsmas? Worry not, I believe that everyone has learned their lessons by now!”

“Better be… Call know before you start bringing your supplies, so that I know to keep Lucifer upstairs.”

“Okay. Have you already decided how to manage that?”

Alastor grinned. “Oh, there should be plenty of unfinished paperwork in his office to keep him busy~ like all those unurgent petitions that I've put aside for quiet days’ sake…”

Beelzebub laughed. “Oh, you villain! What has poor Lucifer done to you to deserve such a cruel and unnatural punishment?”

“Work before pleasure, as my dear mother used to say~ and speaking of work, I should finish Lucifer’s cake done before he gets tired of waiting and comes to see what’s taking so long.”

“Hmm… Well, I suppose a little bit of tough love has never harmed anyone… You know Alastor, we all had our doubts about you in the beginning – well, some of us still do, but…  you've done good to him, you know?”

Alastor scoffed. “Obviously.”

“Of course. So… I’ll start the preparations down here, and inform you once we’re ready to come and set everything up, okay?”

“Sounds good. Well, thank you for your cooperation, your highness. See you soon~!”

Then he ended the call without bothering to listen if the Sin had anything else to say, and went back to finish Lucifer’s cake.)

Alastor was brought back to the present by another, totally undignified wail from Lucifer, and looked over just in time to see him throw his hands in the air as a sign of surrender. “I give up! This is ridiculous! I’ll – I’ll appoint someone else as king, then move to Wrath and start a hell-duck farm; yeah, that’s what I shall do! Will you be my farmhand, Al?”

“That’s the… strangest proposal you’ve given me so far. My congratulations, sire; you never fail to exceed my expectations.”

“… You’d rather be the king, wouldn’t you?”

“No one is going to be the king but you, Lucifer. Now, pick up your pen and stop making such a fuss. You've come a long way – see? A quarter of the work is already done.”

“A quarter?!” Lucifer screeched. “Ugh, it’s all hopeless – I'll never get this done…!”

“Nonsense, dear. You are doing great; I’m very proud of you.”

Alastor had a mixed feelings of how even the tiniest praise could make Lucifer light up like a candle with the golden blush coloring his cheeks; on the one hand it was an extremely precious sight to see, but on the other hand it was just… sad. Pitiful, even. One of the greatest beings in all of universe, the creator of stars, the Sin of Pride himself… so desperate just for a little word of approval.

“Really?” the king asked.

“Really”, Alastor affirmed. “Hurry up now. I would like us to get this done before the teatime.”

Lucifer grumbled a bit, but the happy little smile on his face didn’t dim or vanish even as he returned to his work.

Alastor looked at him fondly, but at the same time couldn't help but think of something very disturbing:

How easy it would be to use this for my own benefit.

It wasn’t the first time that this thought – or something very similar – crossed his mind. Despite all the power he held, Lucifer was vulnerable, and having gained the king's trust, it would have been child's play to manipulate him, feed on his insecurities to make him feel weak and dependent while offering just the right amount of affection to keep his hopes up, until Alastor had such a firm grip on him that he could no longer manage even the simplest tasks without his help.

How easy it would be to mold Lucifer into a puppet king, or perhaps a docile little pet…

There was no denying that the thought of ​​that kind of power and influence sent thrills down on Alastor’s spine, but at the same time, it made him feel indescribable nauseous – for reasons that weren’t quite clear to him, which bothered him a bit.

The thing was that Alastor had never been squeamish about using people for his advantage; even his friends – even those rare few whom he genuinely liked – weren’t an exception. He didn’t feel bad for deceiving or betraying them, as those were just the rules of the game, and people who didn’t get that shouldn’t have participated in the first place. That’s why Vox overblown reaction after he found out that while Alastor hadn’t had any problems to exploit his friend’s eagerness to prove ability, he never had the slightest intention to really consider him as a business partner (or any partner at all) still puzzled him so much. Why was he taking it so personally? Why did he – or people in general – always have to get so damn emotional over every little thing?

Rosie – who’d always understood Alastor’s messed-up mind better than anyone, including himself – once called what he was experiencing as a “low empathy”; and Belphegor, once they met, had been pretty quick to diagnose him as a sociopath.

So why was it, then, that Alastor, while having no problems of taking advance of literally anyone else, felt so disgusted even by the mere thought of doing so to Lucifer? The deal with Lilith did naturally hold him back a bit – as she’d made it very clear that he was not to harm, hurt, or mistreat Lucifer; neither was he allowed to use the king’s vulnerable state manipulate him, make deal with him or use any information he might gain duiring his stay with Lucifer against him once his deal with Lilith was done – but there were many ways which a smart demon like him could twist the terms into his benefit without really going against them if he ever wanted to; the question was, why hadn’t he? Why wasn’t he even particularly tempted to?

That was something what he’d been wondering about for a long time now, and far more often than what he wanted even to admit.

Once again he hoped that he could just ask Rosie, as surely she would have an answer for him… but that was, sadly, still quite impossible. Maybe, once Lucifer gained more confidence and got little more control over his regressive episodes, maybe then they could visit her together; Rosie would adore Lucifer, that he knew for sure (since who wouldn’t?), and potential new friendship would do good to his king.

And that was another thing that kept confusing Alastor: the fact that not only was he apparently willing to share Lucifer (a little begrudgingly, perhaps, but still willing), but he also truly wanted him to get better, for him to be something more, something greater than this defeated, tired little man with a broken ego and mind. He wanted to see the real Lucifer, the King of Hell in all his fearsome and awe-inspiring glory, like he’d once been… before the Heavens unrelenting fear and hatred and injustice finally brought him to his knees.  

The light bringer, modeler of stars; the trickster, the Prometheus, the giver of Free Will; the noble and prideful angel who saw the hidden potential of humanity, the accused who refused to bow, the condemned who built an empire out of the dust of his shattered bones and ashes of his burnt wings, and became its righteous king, fierce and benevolent; the rebel, the leader, the keeper; the Morningstar, beautiful yet terrifying…

Lucifer, who once was herald as the most brilliant of all beings.

That was the Lucifer Alastor was yearning to meet, the one against whom he wanted to try his wits, despite how suicidal that might sound. That was the being he’d seen glimpses of in Lucifer’s eyes when he received letters from Heaven, whom he’d seen in the twist of his lips and in the glint of his bared teeth when he snarled… and he’d know that if he could ever encounter Lucifer in his true hellish glory, it would be a sigh to behold and cherish beyond anything, and maybe – maybe – even worth of worshipping…

A sharp jab against his calf brought Alastor back to reality. He looked down and saw his shadow, which he’d left behind in the lobby to keep an eye on the landline. Now it had slipped in and, after seeing that it’d been noticed, made a frenzied pantomime to indicate that the phone was ringing.

Alastor nodded slightly and got up. “Hmm… I believe it would be a good time for a little refreshment… What should I bring to you, my dear?”

“How about a flamethrower?”, Lucifer grumbled. Alastor glanced at him and almost chuckled as he saw the king staring at the paper he was currently holding like it had just personally insulted him – as it very well might have done.   

“More complaints?” he asked.

“It’s that annoying old hag from the Cannibal Town again…! Now she’s bitching about how there’s ‘too much red’ in here – this is a fucking Hell! What was she expecting?!”

Ah… Susan. He’d completely forgotten that he had added in a few absolute gems from her one-sided yet persistent correspondence… “How tiresome. Would you rather have coffee or soda?”

“…A soda.”

“Coming right up, sire.”

Alastor dissolved into the shadows and resurfaced inside the lobby, quickly answering the call. “Yes~?”

Beelzebub didn’t waste time to courtesies. “We’re ready to head out. Is the route clear?”

“As clear as Lucifer’s desk will soon be.”

The Sin snorted. “You miscreant… See you soon~!”

After a brief stop in the kitchen, Alastor returned to Lucifer, just in time to prevent him from setting his desk on fire. “Break time~! I brought your soda and some snacks… Eat and cheer up, dear; there’s only a little more left, now~!”

“If not a duck farm, then how about platypuses? You like platypuses, don’t you?”

“Hush. Finish your cheese straws and I'll let you take a fifteen-minute break. Maybe you could draw a nice picture of Susan set on fire?”

Lucifer bit his snack in a way that made Alastor believe that he was dreaming of biting a certain cannibal’s head off. “Maybe I will…”

He didn’t. Instead, he drew a very beautiful picture of Susan being attacked by a herd of very bloodthirsty-looking platypuses.

“I wasn’t aware that platypuses even have teeth, let alone fangs.”

“Those are called artistic liberties.”

“I see… Is that also the reason why they all wear fedoras?”

“No, that’s because it looks cute! See? Cute!”

“Ah, so they’re supposed to be cute bloodthirsty beasts.”

“Exactly – just like you.”

“…I’m not cute.”

“Keep telling that to yourself, Al~”

“Get back to work, Lucifer.”

The grandfather clock kept ticking monotonously, with the pendulum swinging side to side. Minutes passed… turned into an hour… then two hours… until, finally –

“It’s over!” Lucifer shouted, jumping on his hoofs as soon as the clock started to strike three. “The torture and agony are finally over!”

“Hmm… I’m not sure. It seems like you still have a bit of work to do”, Alastor said and glanced pointedly at the last stack of unfinished papers on his desk.

“Oh, come on! The agreement was that I would continue working until teatime, and guess what? It is the teatime now!”   

Oh, this ridiculous little creature, Alastor thought with a touch of adoration. “Very well. I guess it should be okay if you finish the job at another day”, he said, furtively motioning his shadow to go to check how far along the preparations were.

“Yay!”

“Come along, then; let's go change your clothes.”

Lucifer blinked at him. “Um – why?”

Alastor smirked. “That, my dear fellow, is a surprise.”

And once again it was proven that there were, indeed, only a very few things in the universe that made Lucifer move faster than a promise of any kind of surprise…

“Where are we going?” Lucifer asked for what must have been third or fourth time as they walked through the spiraling hallways.

“As I have told you, dear – repeatedly: you’ll see once we get there.”

“But we’re walking in circles‼” Lucifer kept complaining – and it was strange how something so irritating could also be so endearing, but that was often the case with his little king.

“That’s only to keep you guessing.” And to give the Sins enough time to settle down. His shadow had informed that the party preparations were done, and the guest had arrived, but there was still little – should we say, disarray – among them – which Alastor hoped would get solved very soon, for their own good…

Lucifer sighed, loudly and dramatically, and tugged his cuff in frustration. Having yielded to Alastor's request to dress nicely, he had, after some thought (and against all the rules of good taste known by humanity) decided to go with something he playfully called a “musketeer-pirate-ringmaster”-style. The costume was very androgynous, combining freely both masculine and feminine elements, and either acted as a statement of some kind about how the king saw himself, or then not; when it came to Lucifer, gender was a rather abstract concept overall.

He was wearing a raspberry red, knee-length godet waistcoat with gold cord braiding and epaulettes, a white poet blouse with extravagant ruffles, white breeches, and a pair of raspberry red boots. The whole outfit was sprinkled with little details, from the beautiful golden embroidery on the back of his coat’s that resembled a pair of folded wings, down to the silly little pompoms in his boots and to a real rapier he was carrying around (and apparently using as a replacement for his cane); but the thing that really caught the eye was the hat.

Lucifer had abandoned his beloved top hat in favor of another, a bit smaller one, which easily doubled in size thanks to the elaborate arrangement piled on the top of it: there was ribbons and bows, lace and ruffles, pompoms and feathers and all sorts of things that Alastor didn’t even have a name for, and on top of all that, a teeny-tiny pair of golden circus elephants.

It was utterly ridiculous and, like everything Lucifer ever decided to do, went completely over the top; but even then it still went without saying that he looked absolutely lovely.

Alastor had also tidied himself up and put on a new overcoat more suitable for his role as a companion and an unofficial adviser to the ruler of Hell; the one which had golden buttons and sophisticated embroidery. Nothing too eye-catching, as that wasn’t really his style, but at least no one could say that he’d attended Lucifer’s party underdressed.  

“Al, when shall we…”

“A-a! Remember, my dear: patience is a virtue.”

“I’m the devil, I don’t need to be virtuous! And whoever idiot it was who came up with that phrase clearly never met a person as annoying as -”

A little movement at the edge of Alastor’s peripheral vision told him that his shadow had returned, and when he glanced at it, it raised both of its thumbs up: all set.

Well, finally! “Looks like we’re almost there~! Follow me, Lucifer.”

“That’s literally what I’ve been doing all this time!” The little king nearly growled in frustration. “Really, Al, if I didn’t know that by now you probably know this damn place even better than myself, I would suspect that you’ve gotten lost.”

“Hah! Your jokes just keep getting worse and worse, dear.”

“Oh, and now you listen, you -! Hey, are we going to the Garden room?” Lucifer asked suddenly, blinking his eyes as they took a turn to the very familiar corridor – the one that they’d been circling around for some time now.

“Why of course!”

“And you couldn’t tell me that, because…?”

“Because”, Alastor said as they arrived in front of the heavy wooden doors, “that could have spoiled the surprise~” He gave Lucifer’s attire a onceover and fixed the frills from the collar of his blouse. “Now, before we enter, there’s two things you must remember. The first one is that I’ll be right beside you the whole time, and if at any point you start feeling anxious or overwhelmed, just tell me and we’re out -”

Lucifer frowned. “Well, doesn’t that just sound ominous as heck -?”

“Nonsense! – and secondly”, Alastor smirked wickedly as he put his hand on the door handle, “don’t forget to smile~!”

Then he pushed the door open, and Lucifer inside.

“Ah, Lulu-bird~! Just in time to cut the cake!”

Alastor watched in amusement as Lucifer stared at the party waiting for him with wide, rapidly blinking eyes. The garden room – yes, Alastor was calling it that now – was decorated from top to bottom with circus-themed pennant strings, paper streamers and duck-shaped balloons, and there was a huge banderol with a text “Happy Birthday, Dear Lulu!” printed on it hanging above the buffet table. The table itself was laden with all Lucifer’s favorite snacks: there were many Ferris wheel and carousel -shaped display trays full of pastries, cookies, candy apples and other sweet treats, vintage-styled popcorn, cotton candy, snow cone and soda machines, buckets full of fried chicken, corn dogs and peanuts, a huge punch bowl (made of tinted carnival glass, and decorated with eight little elephants standing around it on their hind legs, holding the punch glasses with their trunks) full of – what else than – beelzejuice, and in the middle of the table, a big cake in the shape of a circus tent.

It was tacky, and chaotic, and exactly the way Lucifer liked it.

In the middle of it all stood the Sins, clapping their hands with wide grins on their faces; well, all but Belphegor, who’d fallen asleep, and only woke up when Asmodeus nudged her, after which she waved a tiny cocktail flag and yawned, “Hurray…”

Lucifer looked at Alastor, as if searching for counsel, and then turned again to stare at his siblings. “Wh- what? How? Why?”

“Aww, you found me, Lulu-bird”, Beelzebub said with a pout. “Did you really think that I would pass a change to throw a birthday party to my favourite angel?”

“Or that I would pass a free meal?” Mammon added, reaching out for a fried chicken basked, only to have his hand slapped by Leviathan. “Hey, ouch!”

“Wait for your turn”, Leviathan’s right head growled, while the left one crooned, “Silly little Lou-Lou~ Of course we came as soon as we were informed!”

“But how did you – oh, right; Alastor.” Lucifer glanced at him, with a little frown that wasn’t exactly disapproving but still slightly reproachful. Alastor grinned right back at him and shrugged, feeling no remorse at all.

“Though it pisses me off that we had to found out about your big day from your lackey’s mouth!” Satan roared, making them all jump a bit as he strode across the room – Alastor held back a growl – and swept Lucifer off his feet, clutching him against his huge, muscular chest. “That’s not fair, Lucifer! You should not keep secrets like this from your own siblings! Have we really wronged you so badly that you wouldn’t even invite us over on your birthday?!”

“It’s not like that…!” Lucifer shouted as he wiggled around to free himself from Sin of Wrath’s nearly suffocating hug. “I swear, it’s not! I just… it’s… I didn’t know it would be such a big deal to you -!”

Asmodeus stepped closer and picked up Lucifer’s hat, which had fallen when Satan caught him. “Of course it’s a big deal”, he said. “We’re family, aren’t we? We want to be there for you… if you let us to.”

Alastor nearly scoffed. Oh, so now you want to be there for him…?

Lucifer frowned. “I wasn’t trying to hide it”, he muttered, looking both sullen and guilty. “I honestly just didn’t think to bother you with something this minor…”

“But we want you to bother us!” Beelzebub shouted.

“Don’t you remember what happened last time when we decided to not bother each other?” Asmodeus added. “You tried so hard to not trouble us with your problems that eventually you distanced yourself from us almost completely, and we in turn were so afraid of breaching your boundaries that we just let it happen.”

“Not this time”, Leviathan’s right head hissed, while the left one nodded in agreement. “Never again will we let things go so bad that we lose touch with each other.”

“Which means that you, too, need to man up and do your part!” Satan growled, but seemed to finally have calmed down enough to lower Lucifer back on the ground.

“So, then”, Asmodeus said, as he gently placed the king’s hat back on his head, “how about we let the party begin?”

“About time!” Mammon shouted. “Come on, Delulu;  cut the cake! Those damn nitpickers won’t let anyone to taste it before you!”

Alastor had to held back a sneer; oh, he didn’t like that clownish leech – not at all! – and if it was up to him, Mammon would have been forever uninvited; but he was Lucifer’s sibling, and for some incomprehensible reason he seemed to like the loudmouth quite a bit.

Lucifer looked again at his siblings, then back towards Alastor – like he was still seeking for advice or reassurance – and only after getting a slight nod from him did the little king finally smile (and what a helplessly hopeful expression it was) and then walk leisurely over to Mammon. “Fine, fine! Just hold your horses, Mamo…!”

“Easy for you to say! You aren’t the one who had to stand here, nearly starving to death in front of the banquet, all the while being bullied by our cruel and heartless sisters -!”

Lucifer laughed. “Oh, the poor little you! Lena, Ellie, how could you be so mean to our brother? Shame on you!”

Leviathan and Beelzebub simply rolled their eyes before also picking up their plates and going to take their share of the cake.

Alastor glanced at Asmodeus and Satan. “Aren’t you joining them?” he asked politely, playing a good host while being totally uninterested.

Satan made a noise resembling a horse’s snort. “I don’t eat sweets.”

Alastor already knew that much, but still feigned to be astonished. “Oh, really?! How surprising that we have that much in common, my good Sir~!”  

The Sin of Wrath gave him the same irritated look as one would give to an unusually persistent mosquito. “Don’t stretch your luck, sinner. It’s only a matter of time before Lucifer gets bored of you”, Satan snarled. “And once he does…”

Alastor rolled his eyes. And here we go: the same old threats as always… he thought as he tuned out Satan’s long and very detailed lecture of which body parts of his he would remove first, and how, and what he would do with them afterwards.

Gory and violent, but not even the least creative or inspired. If I was a nicer person, I would give him some tips on how to broaden his repertoire.

Asmodeus, who usually took the role of a moderator in situations like this, clapped his brother on the back. “Hey, if you keep showing a sour face like that, it’ll diminish Luci’s joy!”

“My face is always sour!” Satan argued heatedly.

Asmodeus rolled his eyes. “Be that as might, this is a party, so stop wasting your time squabbling with the deer-boy and come have fun with our little starbright!”

Mine, not yours, Alastor thought, but had enough self-preservation skills to not let his displeasure be seen. He knew that Lucifer’s siblings wouldn’t share his point of view, no matter how accurate it was.

Lucifer was his. Not in a literal sense, like Niffty or Husker – he wasn’t property, and neither did Alastor want him to be – but more like… like Rosie, yet… differently. Since while he was fond of Rosie and guarded their friendship like a dragon its gold, there was this certain… aspect… in his relationship with Lucifer that didn’t exist between him and Rosie. This level of closeness – comfort and care, trust and loyalty – that he couldn’t compare to anything he’d ever experienced in life or afterlife, aside maybe his love for his dear maman; but even then, it was still different.

(And he was also Lucifer’s Papa. Not that it was relevant in any way, but still worth remembering. After all, it was him, not them, who Lucifer would cry out for whenever he woke up regressed and disorientated.)

Meanwhile Satan had given in to Asmodeus' persuasion and joined his other siblings by the buffet table, leaving only the Sin of Lust standing beside Alastor.

“How has he been?” Asmodeus asked with a lowered voice. He didn’t specify who, but that was rather clear even without.

“Steady”, Alastor said. “Though he was feeling a bit depressed yesterday. Michael”, he added, trusting that that was all he needed to say for the other to understand.

Asmodeus sighed. “I’d hope that that wound, at least, would have been healed by now…”

“Scars itch too, my Lord”, Alastor pointed out almost absentmindedly, his attention on Lucifer, who right now was talking animatedly with his siblings, but might need him again all suddenly.     

The Sin most likely noticed this, as he hummed smugly. “Always on the duty, eh?”

Alastor shrugged. “Perhaps.”

“Are you worried that we exhaust him? Mentally? Or that he regresses?”

Alastor simply shrugged again.  

The silence that followed was awkward. Alastor had hoped that Asmodeus would take the hint already and go to join his siblings, but of course he didn’t. It wasn’t that Alastor didn’t tolerate him – despite the sin he represented, Asmodeus was mostly fine by his books – but he wasn’t in the mood for a small talk right now; with him and Lucifer surrounded by so many “outsiders” at once he was too much on the edge to enjoy the chatter.

The Sin cleared his throat. “Soooo… how did the last Extermination Day go? Neither of you did contact us afterwards, so I suppose that Adam didn’t show up to bother him this time around?”

“Nope. He stayed pleasantly absent the whole night.” And it’s best to stay that way, too…

“Good. Good…”

After that it seemed that Asmodeus had finally run out of topics to open the conversation, and so he slinked away with a defeated little wave of his hand.

Good riddance, Alastor had time to think, before he was alerted by another presence at his vicinity.

“Not going to join in the circus?” he asked without looking.

“Later”, came the reply with a drowsy voice. “Once they stop… mingling at the buffet table and… go sit down…”

Alastor glanced at his side, where Belphegor was flowing atop a pink cloud. “Sounds reasonable”, he admitted before turning back to keep an eye on Lucifer. His angel was currently sitting on Satan’s shoulder, a candy apple in one and a corn dog in another hand, and Alastor was little surprised that he managed to not drop either of them with the way he kept waving his arms while speaking.

“It’s good… to see him so… unburdened”, Belphegor muttered. “He looks happy.”

“He is”, Alastor confirmed proudly, like it was all to his credit (which it definitely was). “Most of the time.”

“That’s good… And you?” Belphegor asked suddenly.

Alastor blinked and looked at her again. “What about me?”

“Have you been… feeling well? You’ve been staying here iso- isolated, helping him… taking care of him… Has there been… any issues?”

“My Lady, do I need to remind you that I’m not, in fact, one of your patients?”

“Can’t I still… ask as an… associate? Our Lulu-lamb…depends on… you a lot. If… anything happened to you, he… would be inconsolable.”

Alastor squinted his eyes. “What are you proposing?” he asked suspiciously.

“A consultation. Once a… few weeks. That’s all.”

The sheer audacity of this woman…! “Haha! No.”

“Hmm. Why not?” Belphegor asked with unbothered voice.

“I don’t need to be probed or analyzed!” Alastor hissed angrily. “I’m as sane as I need to be!”

“Never said… you aren’t. Sane people… can sometimes be troubled… too.”

“I’m not troubled!!”

In his irritation, Alastor forgot to mind his voice, and the raised tone made the others stop their chattering – some cases in mid-sentence – and turn to look at them. He met Lucifer’s eyes, and from his worried gaze he could read the question, are you alright? Do I need to tell her to back off?

Alastor waved his hand dismissively. Be at ease, there’s nothing to worry about. For others’ sake he hollered, “Forgive me for the interruption! Our dear Lady Belphegor here managed to catch me by surprise, which caused this sudden outburst. Please continue your gossip.”

No-one looked convinced, but eventually they just shrugged and began chattering again.

Alastor turned back to Belphegor. “Thank you for the gracious offer, my Lady, but I must decline. I’m not in need of a therapy.”

“Not therapy”, the Sin of Sloth declined. “Maybe I… wasn’t clear enough with… my explanation. Just a change to- to unwind. Safely… Confidentially… With no… strings attached. Of topics you… might not feel comfortable to… talk about with Lucifer.”  

“There’s no such things”, Alastor claimed.

“No? Don’t you ever… feel exhausted? Handling things for… him? Help- helping him to… maintain… a stable state of mind? Is there no… days when you… feel irritated by his nee- neediness?”

Alastor wanted to deny everything what she was saying, but he… couldn’t. Just couldn’t.

During the years they’d spent together Lucifer, who’d always been abysmal at reading the room, had become more or less an expert at the art of reading Alastor instead. It was quite rare that he went too far with the whole “I’m just an incompetent little clown” -act (as it really was an act, for the most part, at least; his part in the play, as given to him by Heaven, which Lucifer since then had adapted so perfectly that the line between the role and the reality was since then blurred nearly unrecognizable) and truly got on Alastor’s nerves… and yet, sometimes he did (even though the disloyalty required by this admission burned him as if someone had just poured poisonous acid right into his stomach).

But there was more in it, too. Bad days when Alastor desperately tried to come up with a method to help his king without having to drug him out of his mind. Emotional days, which nearly made him pray for Rosie's wisdom and insight.

Days that, even after they ended, left him both physically and mentally drained.

“It’s not a bad… thing”, Belphegor said, almost like reading his mind (what an unpleasant notion!). “All who are close… to people with dem- demanding needs… go through the… same. All parents, as well. It’s… fully nor- normal. Even a Saint will lose… their patience at one point… and there’s no… Saints in H-ell…” 

“Be that as might”, Alastor said, “but in my case, your concern still remains unfounded.”

“Why does… the idea of cons- consultation bother you… so much? Weren’t you the one… who convinced Lulu-lamb to- to start his… therapy session a- again?”

“That’s a different thing, and you know it!”

“Is it? How… so? To me, it looks… like you’re just… setting a bad ex- example…”

“My Lady, you aren’t playing fairly…!”

“Mmm, not my jo- job to be… fair…”

Noting how slurred Belphegor’s speech was getting Alastor could deduce that this conversation was nearing its end. It would be a good time to once again decline her gracious offer, bow and escape… but he didn’t.

Instead, he gave a counteroffer. “Every a few months”, he said. “I’ll agree to attend these silly little “consultations”, if they are to be held every few months, and not in every few weeks.”

Belphegor frowned sleepily. “Once a month”, she argued. “If Lulu-lamb… can manage that… so can- can you…”

Alastor sighed theatrically. “Agreed, once a month it is.”

“Splendid…”

Then Belphegor started snoozing and her cloud slowly floated away. Alastor watched how it bounced languidly against trees and got stuck in tree branches until Satan snatched it from the air, shook Belphegor down onto his arm, and placed her – with unexpected gentleness – on a chair at the table to continue her nap.

To let a woman who spends most of her days nearly in a comatose state to get an upper hand on me in a negotiation, Alastor thought with an air of distaste. Am I losing my touch…?

“Al~!”

Alastor felt his sour mood brightening again absurdly fast as soon as he heard that chirping voice call to him, and turned his head in its direction just in time to see Lucifer jogging towards him with a big, happy smile on his face.

“Al!” the king chirped again as he came to stand in front of him.

“Lucifer”, Alastor replied with a smile that was way softer than what he would offer to anyone else. “Are you enjoying yourself?”

“Yup! It’s been long since I’ve met all my siblings at once!”

“I’m happy for you… Though I have to say that you probably would meet them much more frequently if you actually bothered to attend their meetings, my dear.”

Lucifer grimaced. “But those meetings are always so dull!” he whined. “The cases are never interesting or even all that important, yet we keep arguing over every single thing, and in the end we never find a decent solution which would please everyone, so someone is always left feeling disappointed! And usually that one is me! And then my daugh- my subjects will also get disappointed in me, because I didn’t protect their interests enough! No matter what I do, someone always gets miserable because of it, so what’s the point to do anything at all?” Then Lucifer seemed to realize how far he’d gotten off the topic, blushed and said quickly, “…Anyway, the point is that it simply wouldn’t be the same thing at all.”

Although a bit disturbed by the fact that Lucifer didn't even seem to realize how… alarming… undertones his little tirade had taken on, Alastor somehow managed to keep up his composure. Today was not the right time to start delving into the pitfalls of Lucifer's self-blaming mindset.

Though I must remember to mention this to Belphegor; could be a good topic to discuss during their little sessions…

“I know, I know!”, he assured cheerily. “I was just teasing you.”

“Well, stop it!” Lucifer huffed. “Anyways, would you please, please, please come to join us? We’re about to sit down, and there’s coffee, and besides Ellie brought some special snacks just for you so it would be incredibly rude of you not to come and take a bite!”  

“She did? Well, in that case, I guess I have no other options than to come and express my gratitude to her for her thoughtfulness!”

Lucifer smirked. “Always the gentleman, eh?”

“You can thank my mother for that.” Alastor bowed and offered Lucifer his arm. “Shall we, then?”

As they walked, Lucifer peeked at him inquisitively from the corner of his eye before asking, “Sooo… what were you and Belphy talking about? You seemed a little rattled.” He clearly made the effort to sound nonchalant, but his voice still came out charged with concern.

“Ah… Just her usual nonsense, my dear. Nothing for you to be worried about.”

“You sure?” the king confirmed.

“Absolutely.”

Lucifer looked at him a moment longer before nodding. “Okay, then.” And the way he said it made it clear that he truly was content with the answer he got.

Alastor resisted the urge to do something silly and overly sentimental, like giving Lucifer a hug. Of course, he would never act with that much intimacy in front of outsiders – be they Lucifer’s siblings or not – but he also couldn’t help but feel like his king deserved a little reward for his willingness to respect the boundaries Alastor had set.

So, he took Lucifer’s hand, raised it to his lips and grazed his gloved knuckles lightly with his lips.

“Thank you, my dear.”

“For what?” Lucifer asked, looking confused.

Alastor smirked. “Nothing much”, he said. “Just being you. That’s more than enough.”

“Oi, you two!” Mammon’s irritating voice hollered, completely ruining the moment. “Cut the lovey-dovey crap and get over here, already!”

Alastor held back a snarl, and his antlers grew a bit as he glared the offensive Sin. “There’s indeed something here I would like to cut…!”

Lucifer simply rolled his eyes before hollering back, “No one said you needed to wait for us, you know?”

“But Delulu, that creepy butler of yours keeps hogging your attention!” Mammon whined, which inspired Leviathan’s left head to add, “Yeah, Lou-Lou, he really does! And that’s not fair, he already has you all by himself at all hours! We want to hog you, too!”

“It’s the host’s duty to attend his guests!” Satan roared.

Lucifer gave Alastor a funny look, as if to ask, can you believe these guys?, before shouting, “Fine, fine! We’re coming alright, so keep it down! Sorry about them”, he then said to Alastor. “We’ve always been a loud bunch.”

Alastor shrugged. “Can’t really be too angry at them just because they are eager to spend time with you, can I, now? Even if they are being unnecessary obnoxious about it…”

Lucifer giggled happily, and Alastor felt his mood lift again. Funny how little he needs to do to manage that…

Feasting with the Sins was an… experience, to put it kindly. Lucifer hadn’t lied when he called them a loud punch, which Alastor had already known, having met them on multiple occasions. But then it had only ever been a Sin or two at the time, not whole six of them (plus Lucifer) at once, and nothing could have prepared him for the full chaos they could unleash.

Talking was one thing, but why must they talk when there’s food in their mouths? And because no one wanted to give up the floor to someone else, everyone just kept talking over each other’s so that it soon became nearly impossible to understand anything that was said.

To think that they aren’t even drunk, yet…!

And then there was the bickering… the constant, meaningless, irksome bickering.

“Hey, that was -!”

“Keep your hands off -!”

“Give that -!”

“Oi!”

“Let me -!”

“Look out, or I’ll -!”

“Could we just -?”

“You coward, you -!”

Like a group of particularly unruly, quarrelsome children.

And then there was, of course…

“Oi, Delulu, come here to sit with me!”

“No, Lou wants to sit with us!”

“Lulu-bird, did you taste this one yet?”

“Lou-Lou! Smile for the camera~!”

“Everyone stop hogging Lucifer right now!”

“Hey, Luci!”

Alastor made his best to ignore everyone else and focused on enjoying the little meat pies Beelzebub had so graciously reserved for him. They were quite tasty, indeed, and while they in deliciousness didn’t come even close to his mother’s unparalleled Louisiana Meat Pies, he was still determined to get his hands on their recipe.

In the middle of all this, it wasn’t all that surprising that Lucifer’s sudden silence went unnoticed by everyone, including Alastor; that was until he felt a nudge on his side, and turned to see Lucifer standing beside him, missing his hat (it was later found under one of the tables and returned to Alastor) and rapier (left leaning against the buffet table), and with somewhat closed-up look in his eyes.

Before Alastor had time to say anything or even fully process what he was seeing, the little king had already climbed onto his lap and hid his face against his chest.

Alastor blinked. “Lucifer…?”

He received no verbal answer. Instead, Lucifer just let out a soft, whimpering sound, and pressed even closer.

At which point Alastor, recognizing the symptoms, immediately put his cutlery aside in favor of hugging Lucifer instead.

“I see”, he said with a hushed, warm voice as he started to comb his fingers through Lucifer’s hair. “Too much excitement, huh?”

The other Sins noticed what was going on, and turned to look at them with varying amounts of curiosity, worry and suspicion.

“What’s going on?”

“What’s the matter, Lou-Lou?”

“What did you do to him this time, lackey?!”

“Did he eat something he didn’t like?”

“Delulu, the party just started! You can’t be drunk already, you used to handle Beelzejuice better than this!”

“Is everything all right?”

“Ah… he’s doing it, then?”

The last sentence came from Belphegor, and the other Sins turned to look at her instead.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Doing what?”

“Can someone finally tell us what’s going on here?!”

Alastor paid them no attention; let Belphegor handle the explanations (if she managed to stay awake long enough), for he had something much more important to do. Namely, to find out if Lucifer even was okay with his siblings seeing him in this state. By now they were all already aware of Lucifer’s regressive episodes (although Alastor did not expect any deeper understanding of the matter from them), but that still didn’t mean that Lucifer would be comfortable with them witnessing it with their own eyes.

Gently he pried Lucifer’s face off his chest so that he could look at his eyes – they’d went a bit hazy – and rubbed his cheek to gain his attention before asking with a hushed voice, “Lucifer? Lucifer, dear heart, you need to listen to what I say, okay? You’re regressing. Your siblings – the Sins – are here with us. Do you need me to take you somewhere else?”

Lucifer whined like a sleepy child and tried to bury his head back Alastor’s warmth, but the radio demon stopped him.

“Lucifer, please. I know it’s hard for you to concentrate right now, but you need to answer me, dear. Do you want to stay here, with your siblings, or do you want us, me and you, to go back to our room?” As the angel just blinked his eyes at him, Alastor tried again. “Look at me, Lucifer. One nod is yes, two is no. Okay? Nod if you understand.”

Lucifer frowned, like he was fighting to make sense of his words. Finally, he nodded.

“You understand?” Another nod. “Good! Good, you’re doing so good. Now, listen closely: do you want to stay here, at the party? Nod once for yes, twice for no. Do we stay?”

This time it took longer, but finally Lucifer nodded again, once.

“Yes? You want to stay?”

Lucifer nodded one more time, and then tried again to bury himself in Alastor’s warmth. This time he allowed it, hugging the little king securely close to him and pressing his lips against his soft hair. “Thank you, Lucifer. You did so well. You can let go now, my dear; I’ll be here. I will take care of everything, okay?”

Lucifer, who by now seemed to have exhausted both his ability and desire to understand anything that was being said or done around him, simply let out a happy little sigh as he nuzzled his face deeper onto Alastor’s chest.

For a short moment Alastor stayed like that – eyes closed, unmoving, rubbing circles on Lucifer’s back – and pretended that it was just another day, that there were no nosey onlookers around, staring at him as he cradled the King of Hell in his arms, and that his reputation as the fearsome Radio Demon wasn’t shattering to pieces right here and now.

I swear, if any of them dares to attempt to take a photo of us, then Sin or not, they won’t live to see another day…!

Eventually he had no choice than acknowledge the Sins, who had leaned as close to them as they possibly could while still staying seated. Their expressions still held some wariness (and ire, when it came to Satan), but mostly they looked curious and even exited.

“So, this is what happens when he regresses…?” Beelzebub whispered, like she was worried that speaking too loudly about his… well, condition, would startle or offend Lucifer.

Alastor only hesitated a second or few before answering, “Sometimes. Other times he just slips into it, nearly midsentence. It depends on the situation and how stressed out he feels. This?” he pointed Lucifer, who was cuddling him like a baby koala it’s mother, “This is what I like to call his “pre-regression” -state. Lady Belphegor could probably find it a more medical term, but it serves its purpose. This is the state where he can still bounce back without regressing all the way, or just let it go and see what happens. Usually it’s the latter one.”

“And he will really think he is fucking a baby, eh?” Mammon confirmed.

Alastor gave him a venomous look. Watch your tongue, you boorish heathen, there’s a little one in our company! “A baby, a toddler, a pre-teen… it varies. His brain or subconscious or whatever you like to call it decides what he needs, and proceeds according to it.”

“That’s all? Because I’ve seen people who are really into shit like that. You sure that there ain’t anything kinky going on between you two?”

Alastor bristled, and barely managed to hold back a snarl. “None, my lord”, he hissed like an angry cat. “And if you appreciate having a tongue, you should stop using it to voice such obscene ideas…!”

Mammon raised his arms. “Wow, dude, take it easy! Not trying to accuse you of anything, but man just has to look after his little bro, you know? There are all kinds of freaks loose in this place, and our Delulu has always been a bit too much of a sweetheart to look twice before crossing the street, if you catch my meaning…”

Alastor's expression became, if possible, even more threatening upon hearing this, but he’s upcoming retort was interrupted by Leviathan – her right head, this time – who asked, “Will he recognize us?”

Taking a strained breath to curb his anger, Alastor turned to look at her. “I'm not sure. As long as I've known him, he's always seemed to recognize Lady Belphegor, but that didn't seem to be the case with Lord Asmodeus. From that, I'd conclude that he only recognizes those he's met before during his regressive episodes.”

Asmodeus sifted nervously in his seat. “Does this mean he will remember the, erm, the way I reacted to you…?”

“You mean how you attacked me, shouting like a lunatic and scaring him enough to take refuge underneath the coffee table, and didn’t calm down before I had you to alert Lady Belphegor to the scene?” Alastor asked with a vicious little smirk. “Oh, he most likely will~!”

With a pitiful groan, the Sin buried his face in his arms.

Alastor took a look at their surrounding and, after taking notice of the – thankfully still almost full – punch bowl, he frowned and turned towards the Sin of Gluttony, who was currently trying to cheer up her bemoaning brother. “Lady Beelzebub, can I ask you to remove that”, he nodded his head towards the bowl, “from the premises? I have a habit of not tolerating any alcohol around Lucifer when he’s like this.” Especially since I don’t know what type of drunks you are…

This alone was enough to raise some whining and groaning in the audience, but Alastor wasn’t done yet – oh, no, he’d barely even began…!

“You should also watch your language. I don’t want to hear any curse words from any of you, is that clear? No cussing. No shouting, either. You’re all adults, you’re capable of minding your voices. And absolutely no fighting, you hear me? Because I’m not a kindergarten teacher, I don’t play fair nor do I care who started it and who didn’t, the first one who loses their temper is the first one to leave, get it? And those of you who find it too demanding to follow these simple rules are fully welcome to save us all time and just leave at any given time.”

Alastor looked at the stunned rulers of Hell without even trying to hide his glee. It was clear that none of the Sins – even those who held the most positive attitude towards Alastor – were happy at being ordered around like this by a mere lowly Sinner – but none of them wanted to appear in the light that their pride and self-indulgence was more important to them than Lucifer, either, which meant that everyone remained seated.

Doesn’t it just feel a special kind of good to be able wield such power over the ancient forces like them…? All thanks to my darling king, of course~!

There was a tense, silent moment, when no one seemed to know how to proceed; but then, little by little, the conversations started again – uncertain at first, but growing bolder and livelier as they went on, although never quite reaching the previous level of loudness and rambunctiousness… which, in Alastor’s humble opinion, was a clear improvement.

While the other Sins relaxed, Satan continued his huffing and puffing and growling. The way he kept glaring at Alastor made it was clear that he wanted to pick a fight, roar and pummel the poor, innocent sinner to the ground, and was gravely frustrated when he couldn't do just that. Couldn’t, because Lucifer was right there, dozing in Alastor’s lap, and would most likely frighten and start crying if anyone even laughed too loudly, let alone started yelling.

(Not that Satan could have harmed Alastor anyway; the handy little amulet he possessed – one given to him by worried Lucifer after the Sins first began to visit them one by one – made him nearly untouchable for anyone who approached him with ill intentions. The thing just was that Satan never let such a minor inconvenience to bother him whenever he went to the rampage, which had been the cause of multiple collateral damages in the past, as his punches just kept bouncing back as if they were met by an invisible shield.)

So, with the things being as they were, the Sin of Wrath couldn’t do anything but sit there, fuming, while justifiably smug Alastor kept fussing over his king and having a muted conversation with Belphegor about something she called baby sign language, which could make their communication little easier whenever Lucifer’s ability to express himself through speech was decreased.

“It’s a very… simple language”, the Sin explained. “Not suitable for complex communication, but it… could be useful for you.”

“Hm… Interesting. And you’re sure that Lucifer would be able to learn and use it? Even while regressed?”

“It's designed to be easy to… learn. Even a baby can do it… literally. Every sign… is its own sentence. Easy to… adapt, too. To fit your… needs…”

“And how come such a convenient little method was only now recommended to me, my Lady?” Alastor asked casually. “It couldn’t be that you simply… forgot?”

Belphegor blinked sleepily. “It never seemed necessary… before. You always seemed to be… able to understand his demands perfectly we-… well even without it. But it… might make it easier… to ask for his consent… when he finds it hard to-… to concentrate…” 

Noticing that the Sin was quickly falling back to slumber, Alastor hurried to ask, “So, how I’m I supposed to -?”

Belphegor yawned, and rested her on the table, atop of her crossed arms. “I’ll sent you a bo-…a booklet… later…”, she mumbled in a monotone voice, which trailed off as she started to snore.

Alastor rolled his eyes. How typical…

There was a slight tug at his lapel, which made him look down. Lucifer looked back with solemn eyes, and for a moment Alastor had time to think that maybe he hadn’t regressed after all – but then the king started sucking his thumb, and that possibility was ruled out.

“Hello, darling”, he said softly. “How are you feeling?”

Lucifer blinked at him a few times before letting out a cute, gurgling giggle. He took the thumb out of his mouth and wrapped his arms clumsily around Alastor’s neck, pressed his face against Alastor’s cheek and kissed it loudly. “Mmmmah!”

“Why, thank you, dear. Aren’t we feeling extra affectionate today, hmm?”

Alastor looked around and saw all the Sins – minus Belphegor, who just kept snoozing – staring eagerly at them; well, in Satan’s case “scandalized” could have been a more appropriate term to use.

With an exasperated sigh – I suppose I’m expected to do this, then? – he gently picked Lucifer up and placed him back in his lap sideways, facing the Sins. “We have company, sweetheart”, he said. “Would you like to greet them?”

To be honest, Alastor was also curious to see how this would play out. In all the time he had spent with Lucifer, he hadn’t yet witnessed him interacting with other people. They lived largely in isolation, and while there had been some occasions when visitor happened to drop by just when Lucifer was regressed – once with Asmodeus and a few times with Belphegor –, those occasions had been brief, and even then Alastor had spent most of his time shielding Lucifer from their guests rather than encouraging him to socialize with them.

Lucifer looked at the Sins, seeming hesitant but timidly curious. His eyes drifted over Mammon and Leviathan – her left head squealed and waved at Lucifer, who mirrored to the gesture before giggling shyly and sucking his thumb back to his mouth – to Beelzebub, who looked like she could also start squealing at any given moment. Seeing Satan made him startle a bit (which was about the only sane reaction anyone could have upon facing an ill-tempered behemoth like him), and Asmodeus he observed with clear caution (which was understandable given how their previous meeting went, but it still seemed to break the good-natured Sin's heart), but it was Belphegor – Belphegor, who was still sleeping, and looked about just as threatening as a big, lumpy pillow – who seemed to cause him most apprehension.

Alastor, of course, knew exactly why that was the case, but he felt relieved that no one else seemed to take notice, since – like said – this wasn’t the right day to walk through Lucifer’s personal traumas.

“Lulu, darling”, he said, “these are your siblings. They are here because we’re having a party, for you. Today, we’re all going to have fun together and eat lots of sweets. Does that sound nice?”

When he said the word “sweets”, Lucifer’s head whipped around, and he beamed brightly at him.

“Oh? You would like some sweets, then, my duckling?” Alastor teased, giving his tummy a little tickle – Lucifer giggled, some Sin’s swooned, and Satan glowered even harder – and turned to look at Beelzebub. “My lady, can I ask you to prepare a plate for him? A diverse selection of small portions, but preferably not only from the sweet variety. We don’t need him to get sick all over his pretty clothes.”

“Coming right up!” the Sin whooped, and leaped to the action.

“How old you think he think he is?” Leviathan – the left head – asked as she gawked Lucifer with huge, gleaming eyes.

“I would say… a toddler; somewhere between the first and second year if compared to the development of human children.”

“If you’re worried about him mess up his clothes, then why don’t you just change him into something less fancy?” Leviathan - the right head - asked.

Alastor tried his best not to bristle and remind himself that she (most likely) wasn’t trying to criticize him. Curious; she’s just curious. This is new to them. No one’s trying to challenge you as his caretaker. “No”, he said with an even voice. “He took a long time to choose this outfit, and seems to like it. Besides, it’s not like he’s about to do much more mess now than usual, anyway.”

“But shouldn’t Lou-Lou be wearing, like, you know – baby clothes? Since he thinks he’s a baby, now?” Leviathan - the left one – inquired.

“There’s no rules about what he should or shouldn’t wear”, Alastor said rather strictly. “As long as he feels comfortable, and there’s nothing in his clothes which he could try to swallow or which could hinder his movements or in any other way be dangerous to him, then I’m fine with it. Besides, we don’t really have any proper “baby clothes” for him, nor have I ever thought that those would be necessary. The onesies he uses whenever he feels a need for some extra comfort are more than enough to fill that gap.”

“If he’s a toddler, shouldn’t he be able to talk already?” Leviathan - the left one, again – kept questioning. “Because my friends have kids about that age, and they’re always spouting some adorable little nonsense with their cute baby lisps.”

“He’s likely just feeling a bit shy right now”, Alastor admitted. “I’m sure he’ll find his voice, eventually… But he should be able to understand what you’re saying – the most of it, at least.”

Asmodeus cleared his throat. “In that case, is it okay if I would… speak to him?”

Alastor shrugged. “Sure. Why not? Just don’t upset him, again, so that I don’t need to bite your head off.” Oh, did I say that out loud? How inhospitable of me~!

Looking uncertain, the Sin of Lust leaned a bit closer and smiled timidly at Lucifer. “Eh… Luci? You probably remember me…” – the way Lucifer ducked his head under Alastor’s chin was rather clear indicator that this was, indeed, the case –, “and I’m very sorry for scaring you like that. It’s – I didn’t know you had a…”, he glanced at Alastor – “…papa, now, and was worried that you were in danger. It was silly, yes”, he added with a nervous chuckle when Lucifer frowned at him, “and I should not have shouted like that. Can you forgive me?”

It was unclear how much Lucifer was really able to understand of what was being said, but the lack of linguistic skills didn’t stop his empathy for kicking in as soon as he heard the sorrow in Sins’s voice, as was proofed when he reached towards Asmodeus and – when the Sin, having receiving Alastor’s permission, leaned even closer – patted him on the face.

The Sin blinked his eyes at Lucifer, who was now consoling him by humming softly with the same, cooing tone he would use on his toys whenever they got “ouchies”, and promptly fell into tears.

“Even like this, he’s such a generous, pure-hearted angel…”, he whispered.

Lucifer’s eyes widened. “Nuh, nuh!” he whined. “Don’ cry, oh no, no!” He looked at Alastor, eyes wide and trusting, fully expecting him to know how to fix whatever went broken within this big blue rooster-man.

“It’s alright, lovely”, Alastor assured, while glaring at Asmodeus; hadn’t he just told him to not upset Lucifer? “He’s not sad. He cries because he feels so happy that you aren’t mad at him. He’s a bit silly, isn’t he?”

Thankfully Lucifer, as he was, accepted what he was saying with the same surety he’d once believed in God’s gospel, and calmed down immediately.

That was when Beelzebub returned, placing a full plate – which thankfully had some savory thing on it, too - and a mug in front of Lucifer. “There you go, sweetie~! All sorts of yummy yummy things, all for our cute little Lulu-bird~!”

Lucifer took one look at the plate and clapped his hands. He looked at Alastor, pointed at his plate and squalled eagerly.

“I see, dear. Now, what should we say to the nice lady who brought you all these snacks…?”

Lucifer looked at Beelzebub, smiling shyly as he said, “Tank you…!” Then he giggled again and hugged Alastor's arm, hiding his face in his sleeve.

“Awww~! Thank you, sweetie!” Beelzebub swooned. “Fu- augh, gee, you’re just way too cute~! You’re so cute I could eat you right up…!”

“You’re not the only one”, Leviathan’s right head muttered.

“I know, right~!?”, her left head squalled. “I swear he’s giving me a cute aggression with how impossibly cute he is! Gah, his face looks so soft and squishable -!”

“Yeah, not gonna argue; he is sickeningly cute”, Mammon admitted.

Alastor frowned in distaste. He was well aware of just how adorable Lucifer could be, but he still didn’t like the way everyone was practically gushing over him just because of it. It might just be an exaggeration from his side, but he just couldn’t help but feel like it came little too close to objectification for his comfort, and he found himself hugging Lucifer just a little bit tighter.

For once, he was actually a little bit grateful of Satan’s presence, as the Sin of Wrath, after watching his siblings for a moment with ever-growing irritation, barked out, “Stop that right now!” Then, after noticing how his raised voice made Lucifer startle, he continued with much lower voice, “Whether he knows it right now or not, Lucifer’s still a grown ass man – being, and not a… dang baby. Show him some respect!”

“Not that we don’t find Lucifer in his normal headspace just as cute and cuddly”, Asmodeus said, “but Satan is, surprisingly enough, right about this. We should really tone it down, in case that our overblown affection might made him feel… uncomfortable… afterwards.”

Satan glared at him. “What do you mean, ‘surprisingly enough’?! I’m always right! That’s why I’m the boss down here!”

“Don’t you mean like, a second in command?” Leviathan’s left head asked innocently, which earned her a deathly glare from her brother, too. The woman maybe didn’t notice this or, more likely, didn’t care at all, as she continued, “Isn’t like, Lucifer, the one whose really in charge here?”

“Well, I’m the one in charge during his absence”, Satan whisper-roared, before pointing at Lucifer, who was currently busy playing with animal-shaped chicken nuggets while simultaneously stuffing his face with pieces of doughnut, “and as you can see, he’s being very much absent from duty right now! Hence, the boss is me!”

Alastor shook his head for all this ridiculousness. “Your sibling’s sure are being noisy, aren’t they, dear?” he stage-whispered to Lucifer, who looked up at him and tilted his head a bit before offering him one of his – a bit mashed-up and drooled-over – nuggets.

“Papa eats!”

“Oh, is that for me? Why, thank you!” he said cheerily, hiding his tiny shudder of disgust as he took the offered treat.

Lucifer beamed at him before returning to his own plays. As soon as his back was turned, Alastor quickly threw the nugget to his shadow, who ate it up with no complaints and then joined Lucifer, holding up a lion-shaped nugget and making it “eat” Lucifer’s cheek.

The little king giggled with honest delight.

Alastor noticed that he could no longer hear Belphegor’s snoring. He looked at her to see that she had opened one of her eyes and was now looking at Lucifer, with a tender, wistful expression on her face. She noticed Alastor’s gaze and met his eyes, giving him a small nod to let him know that she wasn’t planning to approach Lucifer or even let him see that she’d woken up, and was contend with just being able to see him enjoying himself.

Alastor had to admit that he respected her a bit more just because of that.

After Lucifer finished eating – Alastor even managed to get him to try some nuggets, though most of them ended up into his shadow’s mouth – his curiosity seemed to have won over his shyness, and so he began to approach their visitors. He still bypassed Belphegor from afar, but had no such reservations in what came to sitting beside Asmodeus or Beelzebub and accepting little treats from them, or playing peek-a-poo with Leviathan. He laughed at the funny faces Mammon made for him – the Sin of Greed for once living up his appearance as the clown of this circus – and, after testing waters by poking Satan and then climbing in and out of his lap a few times, finally proceeded to use  his tallest sibling as his personal jungle gym.

The Sins were all absolutely enamored with him. Even Satan, who was trying to pretend that he found the little angel sitting on his shoulder irritating, and was failing miserably. Lucifer was singing and swaying and swinging his legs, and clearly enjoying all the attention he was getting.

“Be careful that he won’t fall!” Leviathan – the left head – worried.

“Like I would let him to! Besides, he’s got wings!”

“Does he know how to fly when he’s like this?” Asmodeus asked Alastor.

“Sometimes he flutters a bit, but I could hardly call it flying.”

“And yet you still allow him to do this?!” Satan growled, and put his hand protectively under Lucifer’s feet, ready to catch him if he took a tumble.

Alastor gave him a sneer. “Do you really think that I’m not supervising his every movement? Or that I own no means to catch him if he happens to stumble? Let's not forget that I've lived with him for years, and the fact that in that time the only scratches, bumps and cuts he's ever received are the ones he's inflicted on himself – on purpose and in his right mind, I might add – should tell you more than enough about just how effective I am in taking care of him.”

Asmodeus frowned. “What do you mean, on purpose and in his right mind?”

Alastor sighed. “It’s fully consensual and not your business at all, but sometimes he decides to… grant me a little treat, so to say. To show his gratitude for the good service I’m providing.”

It took a little longer than he’d anticipated for the Sins to finally figure out what he meant with that. Come on, people, for goodness’ sake, you know that I’m a cannibal, how hard it really is to put two and two together…?

Beelzebub was the first one to caught up. “Wait – Lulu-bird actually lets you to feed on him?”

Alastor shrugged. “Occasionally.”

Mammon blinked stupidly. “Dude, what the -? I know that all people have their kinks, but that? That sounds just nasty.”

Alastor gritted his teeth. “Get your head out of the gutter right now, thank you. There’s decidedly nothing… sexual in it – just trust and nourishment.”

Satan was fuming. “You con him to give you his blood…?” he started, his voice, raising, until he remembered Lucifer – who still perched on his shoulder, but for certain wouldn’t be doing so much longer, if the barbaric lizard couldn’t control his temper…

“Like I said”, Alastor started with forced calmness, “it’s fully consensual. And I count it as a great honor to be trusted enough by Lucifer for him to allow me to drink lifeblood fresh from his vein.” Which sure hadn’t been the case at the very start of their companionship. Back then, Lucifer had been extremely stingy with his blood, only allowing Alastor to have some when it became an absolute necessity, and even then he had to settle with the bottled blood; which wasn’t unreasonable, as there was still little to no trust existing between them, and Lucifer was – even wisely – hesitant to give Alastor the power boost that came with his angelic blood when it was still warm and fresh and throbbing with divine energy…  

But that, of course, was a long, long time ago.

Satan looked like he really wanted to keep arguing – or better yet, take Lucifer somewhere far from Alastor – Hah! Let’s see him try… – but Asmodeus, once again trying to act as the voice of reason within his gaggle of siblings, pointed out that this might not be the right time for this conversation.

“If you have some problem with it, maybe take it up with Lucifer once he’s returned to normal”, he said.

And before the Sin of Wrath had time to answer to that, Beelzebub added: “Besides, I don’t see any reason why it should be anyone’s problem if Lulu-bird sometimes wants to give his friend here a little extra snack. If it’s voluntary, mind you, and I see no reason to suspect that it wouldn’t be.”

“…You’re all allied against me”, Satan grumbled. Lucifer must have found his petulant face hilarious, since he screeched with laughter, making Satan look even sulkier.

“Aww, Lou-Lou, you’re just so precious~!” Leviathan – the left head; ach, this was getting too repetitive! From now on, Alastor swore, I’ll just use the nicknames Lucifer gave to them and refer to her right head as Lena and the left one as Annie – chuckled, and spread her arms. “Come on, let’s leave the sulky old Sasa alone; would you instead want to help me to make some pretty flower crowns to us all?”

Lucifer’s eyes gleamed happily, and he flow down from Satan’s shoulder and right to Leviathan’s arms. Annie squealed with delight and immediately went to hug him, while Lena frowned and looked at Alastor. “Is this fine with you? Not that I care, but I’m trying to avoid stepping on your toes, here.”

No, Alastor wanted to say – shout, even – but managed to control himself before ruining Lucifer’s big day with his jealousy. Instead, he shrugged and said, “As long as he wants to… Just don’t let him handle any poisonous flowers”, feeling like this was easily one of the most altruistic things he’d ever done. If only my dear mother could see me now, she would be so proud…

With a little whoop, Annie got on her feet and Lucifer’s hand in her own. “Come on, Lou-Lou; let’s take a little walk and see what flowers we can find~!”

Lucifer went to follow her, took a few steps and then stopped. He looked back at Alastor with apprehension, apparently only now realizing that he wasn’t coming with them.

“Papa come too…?”

Alastor smiled encouragingly at him. “Papa really isn’t any good at making flower crowns, darling. I’ll be waiting here, okay? You got your sister with you, and my shadow too will stay right by your side the whole time –“ at this point, his shadow nuzzled Lucifer’s cheek adoringly, “– so if you need me, just call “papa”, and I’ll be there at once.”

Lucifer hesitated, then let go off Leviathan’s hand and rushed to him, jumping to his lap before asking, “Papa won’t leave?”

Alastor shook his head. “Never, sweetheart. Papa will be right here, waiting for you.” He pressed soft kiss against Lucifer’s forehead. “Please trust me in this, okay? I won’t ever leave you, dear. And you know why?”

Lucifer tilted his head. “Why?”

Alastor chuckled, and hugged him closer to whisper in his ear, “Because Papa loves you, darling.” And then he gave Lucifer a little tickle.

Laughing, Lucifer wrapped his arms around Alastor’s neck. “Lulu loves papa, too!”

“That’s very nice to hear, dear. Now, go and have fun with your sister. Papa will be waiting right here when you’re done.”

This seemed to be all the encouragement Lucifer needed, as he then slid off from Alastor’s lap and went to his sister, taking her offered hand, and after waving back at Alastor – “Bye bye, papa!” – let her lead him away, farther in the Garden Room.

So off they went, Leviathan and Lucifer, followed by his shadow, and with Beelzebub joining them in their quests to find some flowers. The rest of the company fell in silence, with Satan sulking and Mammon gobbling up more food, and Asmodeus avoiding saying anything as not to rock the boat.

Alastor didn’t feel the need to strike conversation, either. He finished his meal – it was still tasty, even after having cooled down a bit – and then summoned is minions to fetch him a cup of good, dark coffee.

Although he made his best to hide his restlessness – some might even call it anxiety – under his calm demeanor, he couldn’t help the way his eyes kept drifting back to the spot where Lucifer had vanished amidst the lush greenery. Had he done the right choice? Would Leviathan and Beelzebub be able to look after his angel? Would they know how to calm him down if he got startled by something?

… Would Lucifer get so attached to them that he would no longer see Alastor as someone special…?

Nonsense, he told himself. Lucifer having fun with his siblings a few hours today won’t just simply obliterate the four years we’ve spend together, and you’re making yourself look absolutely ridiculous by overthinking it…

“It’s endearing, you know… the way you keep fighting your nature to ensure that he has this change to form a bond with his siblings in this state, too…”

It was of course Belphegor who was mumbling these things, and with a long-suffering sigh Alastor turned to look at her. The Sin of Sloth was still resting her head on her arms, but her eyes were open, and sharp, and looking straight at Alastor with perspicacity which he absolutely loathed, because no one had any right to be able to read him that well.

“My lady, I swear I have no idea what you’re talking about”, he said quickly. “I just took my change to sit back, relax and let someone else to run after our very much hyperactive little king for once.”

Belphegor snorted. “Relax, you say…? Then how come you’re as stiff as a violin string…?”

Alastor immediately let his posture loosen up. “Hah! Preposterous”, he insisted. “See? I’m the very picture of peaceful and calm.”

Belphegor hummed inattentively. “Say what you want, Alastor… but it’s still… en…dearing.”

Alastor rolled his eyes. She really can’t stay alert any longer than a minute or two at the time, can she? “So, what’s with the flower crowns, out of all things? I can believe Lady Annie having some sort of interest to things like that, but I hardly expected that Lady Lena would allow her to waste their time for something as trivial as flowers.”

A soft, longing expression crept onto Belphegor’s face. “…Lulu-lamb taught us”, she mumbled. “A long time ago… when we were young… when he still had dreams, and hope in his eyes… Before Hell became… such a difficult place for him to live…”

“Ah.” So, it has sentimental values, then? “That makes sense, I suppose.” He could very well imagine how it had been, with Lucifer sitting on the meadow, surrounded be the Sins – had they been smaller back then, too? Lucifer had once confessed to him that his siblings had gotten bigger over the time –, tying flowers stems together and hanging them as crowns on their heads (he very deliberately didn’t dwell on the fact that Lilith had most likely been there, too). Alastor couldn’t help but wonder how had Lucifer been back then, when he’d already lost so much – his home, his family, his twin – and was hurt, and angry, but not yet broken. How did he look, with his smile so bright and full of self-esteem, his head held high with stubbornness and pride, and his eyes shining with hopes, dreams and determination…?

And how long did it take for that radiance to dim once all his endeavors kept getting crushed one by one?

“I envy them… a bit”, Belphegor murmured, her voice so low that even Alastor’s keen ears had hard time to catch it. “They’re interacting with him so easily… and meanwhile… I only invoke fear in him… which I can’t blame him for, but… it still… keeps hurting…”

Alastor nodded. “To be honest, I’ve been wondering it ever since I saw him being so quick to forgive Lord Asmodeus earlier today. It doesn’t look like he holds a grudge, so why -?”

Belphegor sighed. “Our brother might have scared him a bit, but what I did to poor Lulu-lamb was something… so much worse. And while Lucifer has long since forgiven me for my mistakes… the trauma is still there. And in this younger headspace he doesn’t have the same… cognitive capacities to deal with said trauma as his adult self has. Besides”, Belphegor added with bitter smile, “remorse is far easier feeling to recognize and react to than guilt…” 

Well, that made sense, but… “Is there then nothing we could do to help the younger him to deal with his trauma?”

“Therapy usually helps… but I’m his therapist, so…”, Belphegor shrugged. “It’s fine, though… I still have older Lulu-lamb to adore…”

“And who adores you”, Alastor said, feeling especially gracious today. But not as much as he adores me.

The Sin of Sloth snorted again. “So noble of you to say that…”

“So, what are you two scheming here?” the rude voice interrupted them, and Alastor cursed under his breath before he looked up at Mammon, who’d waddled over and was now standing in front of their table.

“Scheming, lord Mammon?” Alastor asked. “Why would you say that? Lady Belphegor and I are just continuing our earlier conversation.” 

“If that’s so, then why bothering to whisper?”

“Because it’s a private conversation. Surely my lord is familiar with the term?” Alastor said, and maybe he was laying his voice a little heavy with sarcasm, but then again, he’d never even tried to pretend to like Mammon, so it didn’t matter whatsoever.

Mammon guffawed. “Always the sassy one, lackey! But seriously, what are you two talking about? Since I heard you mention Lucifer quite a lot, and if there’s something going on with him then leaving the rest of us in a loop ain’t a cool move, dudes!”

The usage of the word “dude” made Alastor grimace. Best hope his bad language doesn't catch on with Lucifer…

“I’m not dude…”, Belphegor yawned. “And we’re just taking advantage of the situation to set a schedule for Lucifer’s new appointments… Alastor keeps records of those for him…”, she yawned again, “so… it really has nothing to do with you… Mamo.”

Mammon looked suspicious, but finally he just shrugged, said, “Okay, sure, whatever”, and walked away.

“Please be patient with us”, Asmodeus said from the next table as he leaned little closer with an apologetic smile. “It’s not easy to us, you know, to trust just anyone when it’s about Luci… and especially a sinner. Don’t get me wrong”, he hurried to continue, “we can all see that you’re doing a good job with him, but… we’re still getting used to the situation.”

A situation that has already been going on like this for years, and which I wouldn't have even been involved in in the first place if you had just done your job properly, you mean… “Of course I understand, lord Asmodeus.”

“I still don’t buy it”, Satan muttered, but got ignored, as Lucifer took that specific moment to skip back to the clearing, followed closely by his sisters. Alastor felt something inside of him settle as soon as the little king rushed to him with a loud “Papa!”, climbed onto his lap and hugged him tightly.

“Welcome back, darling”, Alastor said as he wrapped his arms around his angel. “Did you have fun with your sisters?”

Lucifer nodded, and then pulled back enough to look at him. “Papa! I made fo’ you!” he cried cheerfully, and held out a circlet of flowers, many of which had lost most of their petals. The crown overall looked like it could fall apart at any moment, but Lucifer seemed proud of his achievement, and seeing him present something like that so eagerly – without any fear of rejection or ridicule – made Alastor almost wish he were less of a gentleman and childish enough to flip a bird towards the upstairs.

“Thank you, sweetheart. It’s very beautiful.”

Lucifer lifted his arms higher. “Papa puts it on!”

“Of course, dear.” Obediently, Alastor lowered his head enough for Lucifer to reach up and place the crown on his head – well, actually it was left hanging off one of his ears. “How does it look? Is Papa all pretty now?”

Lucifer grinned and clapped his hands. “Papa looks pretty!”

“Thank you.”

Leviathan walked to them and placed another flower crown – this one was much more neatly done – on Lucifer’s head. “I thought it would be best if I carried this, I case that sweet Lou-Lou would drop it in his hurry to get back to his Papa~!” Annie said, and smiled impishly at Alastor, who couldn’t quite decide if he appreciated this usage of his tittle or not.

Lucifer touched his crown and giggled. “Now Lulu is pretty too!”

“Lulu is always pretty”, Alastor corrected gently.

“But now he looks like a dashing little prince of a Flower kingdom~!”

Lena groaned and hit Annie upside of her head – come to think of it, how did that even work? They shared the same body, so did they also feel what the other head felt, too? Did she just hit herself…? – before hissing, “Stop that!”, at her.

“Aww, but whyyy-?”

Ignoring her, Lena turned to Alastor and said, “We returned, because he was starting to get sloppy and loose focus. Beelzebub thought that he might be tired. Does he usually take naps when he’s like this?”

Alastor nodded. “Usually, yes.” He looked down at Lucifer. “Are you feeling little sleepy, sweetheart?”

The king shook his head. “Nuh! No sleep! Lulu plays more!” Too bad that he then yawned right after saying this, which regrettably stole some credibility from his argument.

Alastor smiled. “I see. Well, then… if you aren’t sleepy, should we read a story…?”

“Yea! Story! Papa reads Lulu a story!”

“Of course, dear. But first”, Alastor said, “you should thank ladies Leviathan and Beelzebub for teaching you to do flower crowns -”

“Thank you!” Lucifer hollered.

“- as well as thank all your siblings for coming here today, and tell them goodbye.”

Lucifer started, and his eyes suddenly went very wide. He looked quickly up at the closest of his siblings – who happened to be Leviathan – and asked, “You go bye-bye? No stay with Lulu?” His lower lip was trembling alarmingly.

Alastor knew he was heartless – he’d heard people say that little too often to not believe it, both before his death and after – so why, why did his non-existing heart suddenly feel like it was breaking…?

Annie looked like she was about to cry. “Awww, baby Lou-Lou…”

“…Yeah, kid”, said Lena, looking extremely uncomfortable. “We had fun, but now it’s about the time to us to go home…”

“No!” Lucifer cried, big tears falling down his cheeks and chin. “No go home! Stay! Play with Lulu!”

Okay, this was a bad mistake…

“Is he okay?” Asmodeus asked worriedly.

“Yes”, Alastor sighed as he started drawing circles on Lucifer’s back with his palm. “He always gets clingy and emotional when he feels tired.” Which was true, even if it was only half of the truth. “Maybe you should stay a little longer and only leave once he’s fallen asleep?”

“Won’t he then miss us once he’s woken up, though?” Beelzebub asked.

“By then he’s most likely already returned to his normal headspace. And if not, well… I’ll come up with something.” Alastor bounced Lucifer carefully in his arms. “Shh, shh… It’s alright, dear, it’s alright; no one is leaving, little apple. Everyone’s going to stay and read a story with Lulu.” The king blinked his teary eyes at him, and Alastor smiled reassuringly. “Did you hear me, sweetheart? We’re all going to read a story together.”

Lucifer hiccupped and rubbed his eyes. “All stay?”

Alastor leaned forward to place a gentle kiss on his forehead. “Yes, dear: everyone is going to stay. There’s no need to cry anymore.” He gave his shadow a look, and it vanished, only to return mere seconds later with a well-loved book – one of those which have worn covers, slightly broken spines and pages that has all been dog-eared more than ten times – which it placed to the table next to him. “Now, see what we have here~!”   

Lucifer looked, saw the book, and let out a delighted little cry. “The Little Prince!”

“Yes, the Little Prince; your favorite book of all times”, Alastor said as he picked the book up. “Shall we read it, then?”

Lucifer nodded, and leaned his head on Alastor’s shoulder. The Radio Demon noticed that the Sins were also gathering closer, looks of vague recognition on their faces, which made him wonder if Lucifer had been gushing about the “best book in history” ever since it was first published.

Now, some lesser beings (cough, Vox, cough) might have felt nervous, perhaps even intimidated, by the audience like this; but Alastor prided himself as the advocate of the greatest media outlet of all time, and as a professional radio host, he knew how to use his voice to ensnare his listeners until they sat like glued at the very edge on their seats.

So, as soon as he opened the book, he willed the whole world around them to fade away in obscurity, until all that was left was the little bubble inside of which he sat with Lucifer in his arms. He imagined he was back in his old studio, unseen and untouchable, and in his mind’s eyes could see himself was holding Lucifer’s hand in his own as he carefully guided him through the workings of the audio equipment…

And then… he started reading.

By the time the pilot drew the Little Prince a lamb, Lucifer was sucking his thumb as he lay curled against Alastor’s chest. He blinked sleepily when Little Prince spoke about his love for sunsets, and started dozing around the time when Alastor got to the part where the Little Prince met his Rose. When the Little Prince talked with the King, Lucifer was already snoring quietly, but Alastor kept reading a bit longer just to be sure that he was really sleeping.

Once the Little Prince had safely left the star where the Vain Man lived, Alastor closed the book and, with Lucifer held securely in his arms, he stood up and with a low voice told to their guests, “Thank you all for coming today; it was such a joy to have you here. My minions shall see you out. Please feel free to take any leftovers you might want with you. I’ll take care of the cleaning after I’ve first tucked my little king in his bed.”

There was some pouting and murmuring, but thankfully no one dared to raise their voice in objection. Not wanting to get caught into any bothersome displays of everyone wishing farewell and goodbye to each others, Alastor gave the Sins a respectful – but not very deep – bow, and then let his shadows to take him out of the room.

The party was over.

Later that evening, Lucifer opened his eyes and sat up in his bed, looked around until he saw Alastor sitting on his chair near the bed and blinked his eyes at him like a very confused little owl.

“Welcome back, sleepyhead”, Alastor greeted him. “I hope you slept well.”

“Alastor…? Whu- Wait, what happened? Where is everybody?” the king asked and looked around again, like he was expecting to see the Sins jumping out of the closet at any minute now.

“Our guests? I’m afraid they had to leave quite a while ago. Don’t be alarmed if you missed that; you were quite asleep by then.”

“Asleep? Why? How much beelzejuice did I - Wait.” Lucifer eyes went wide. “No… Al, did I -? Please don’t tell me I -”

“I’m afraid so, dear.”

Lucifer groaned and pulled his duvet over his head. “Of course I did…”

“If it makes you feel any better, everyone seemed pleased to finally meet and greet your younger self. And I did ask you if you wanted to leave, to which you said no, so I assume that despite your current feelings you didn’t actually mind it too much, either…”

The Lucifer-shaped lump under the duvet was quiet. Then, “…Did they laugh?”

Alastor huffed. “Do you really think I would have allowed them to leave this place alive if they had? And no, they didn’t. They would never laugh at you, Lucifer. They simply adored you.”

“I don’t know if that’s any better…”

“Nonsense. They always adore you, Lulu; you make it rather had to not to. Your headspace wasn’t a big deal to anyone, they were simply happy to spent time with you.” Alastor stood up, walked to the bed and pulled the duvet away. “And no more hiding in unnecessary shame, my dear. Go freshen up and then use that horrible little devise of yours to call your siblings and have one of these “video meetings” you so love. Tell them you are happy that they visited, and if you still feel embarrassed about what happened ask them if they found it odd or ridiculous. They will set you right.”

Lucifer groaned again. “Do I have to…?” he whined.

Alastor looked sternly at him. “Yes. Now, get your little, self-pitying bum out of the bed and into the bathroom; and swiftly! I give you five minutes at max, and if you aren’t back by then, I’ll come to fetch you.”

“You’re a bully”, Lucifer muttered as he dragged himself out of the bed.

“I might be, my dear”, Alastor said calmly, “but you know just as well as I do that the longer you let those silly little ideas about your siblings thinking less of you because of what they saw today fester in your head, the harder and harder it gets for you to contact them at all. And you’re not going to fall under another self-inflected isolation, oh, no! Not under my watch, at least. So off you go now, darling; you’ll thank me for this later.”

Alastor really made sure Lucifer couldn't skip out on calling the Sins. The beginning of the conversation was nearly painful to listen, with how nervous Lucifer was being – awkward jokes, fake laughter, the whole thing – but then he started apologizing for ruining the party, at which point all his siblings began to assure him in unison that it really wasn't like that, telling him how great time they all had and how them finally meeting little Lulu in person had been the real highlight of the whole party.

Alastor had been listening to the conversation, ready to cut in at any moment if Lucifer got too agitated or someone said something stupid and unhelpful; but once it seemed that everything was going fine, he smiled and went to prepare some light snacks for them to eat this evening.

Lucifer joined him about half an hour later. He didn’t say anything, but hugged Alastor from behind before coming to stand beside him. Alastor passed him a fork and a bowl with boiled egg yolks, mayonnaise and spices inside it, and watched approvingly as Lucifer started mashing everything together. 

“What are you making?” the king asked.

“You are making stuffing for the deviled eggs. I've also prepared some potato salad to go with them, and it's now cooling in the refrigerator.”

“No sweets?”

Alastor chuckled and shook his head. “There’s some leftover cake in there, too; you can have a piece after the meal.”

“Oh. Good.” It was quiet for a moment, before Lucifer spoke again. “Hey, Al?”

“Yes, dear?”

“…Thank you. For, you know, giving me a push.” He blushed a bit. “Without your nagging, I don’t know if I would have ever had enough courage to…”

Alastor interrupted him by leaning down and nuzzling the soft hair on the crown of Lucifer’s head. “You’re very welcome, my dear. Now, the mash seems to have mixed well. Would you like to try stuffing?” Alastor asked as he took the plate with empty egg white halves and pushed it towards Lucifer.

“Uh… Sure. But, I just really want you to know how much I appreciate all the things you do for me… even when you order me to do something I absolutely hate.”

“I would prefer using a word “suggest” instead of an “order”… Besides, there’s really no need to thank me, Lucifer. I promise that my reasons to help and support you on your road to recovery are completely selfish.”

Lucifer laughed. “Yeah, because you’re a weirdo who actually wants to see me taking back my kingdom and start to rule again…! What, is the current system not chaotic enough for you?”

“Chaotic it might be, but pure chaos has long since stopped to entertain me… I’m sure that you can come up with something much more impressive and awe-inspiring – as long as I’m here to keep the circus theme in check, at least.”

The king smiled adoringly. “Planning to stick around, huh?”

Alastor looked back at him just as fondly. “What, you expect me to go through all this trouble and not even stay to reap the benefits? Now don’t be absurd, dear.”

They looked into each other's eyes, wondering which one would break first. Finally, neither of them could contain their amusement, and they both burst out laughing almost simultaneously.

“…I really love you, Al”, Lucifer said once he’d calmed down and continued stuffing the eggs. “Not in lovey-dovey way or anything”, he corrected quickly, “so no need to get your hackles up, mister, but… You’re very important and precious to me.”

“That's pleasant to hear, because I'm quite fond of you too.”

“And I’ll do my best to entertain you in the future, too, so that you won’t feel the need to leave.”

Alastor chuckled softly. “Somehow, my dear… I wouldn’t be worried about that at all.”