Alastor's biggest want in life was a family. Something he pretty much made impossible with his life style. How was he to convince anyone to settle down and start a family if he was completely honest about who he was/is? Which is something he'd want to be if they're going to be life partners. He also knew that between his preference of masculine partners, while being more trusting of women and living in the early 1900s, made it all a pipe dream he could never have. If he followed his preferences, and they accepted his.. hobby, then he was more likely to be hate-crimed, and would definitely never get approved to adopt or foster a child. And if he found a woman he could be himself with, he could have children naturally or adopt, but he'd likely never love her the way she deserved. So he decided it wasn't worth it to pursue non-platonic relationships.
Until now that is. While he has absolutely no intentions of pressuring Lucifer into ANYTHING (They've literally only been dating for a couple days now!), he can't help wonder what their offspring would look like. Charlie is his only point of reference, and she looks mostly like her father with hints of her mother here and there. Like her height, teeth, and goat-like features. Would their children be the same? Looking a lot like Lucifer, but gaining height and deer features? How do genetics work when one set of DNA is an archangel and the other is the "essence" of a Sinner? He'd love them no matter who they take after more, but it's something he keeps slipping into daydreams about since he learned of the possibility.
As if Alastor wasn't determined to keep Lucifer all to himself already... What does it say about him that The Devil from The Bible is his ideal paramour? What would Maman say?...
What is he thinking? Maman would be terrified of both of them, if she knew everything Alastor did, but also very supportive. She never faltered in her love for Alastor, even when he showed signs of being "disturbed". She tried to protect him as much as she was able to as a black woman living in poverty with an abusive white man as a husband... He does wonder how that relationship formed in such a racist time. Interracial marriages weren't exactly accepted at the time anymore than homosexuals were.
Would any of their children get any of Alastor's human features? He misses his curly hair. Maybe he should see if Angel has any tips? The spider would most likely have some kind of "beauty tip" to help him get his original hair texture back. All these new age products confuse him. He could have ask Velvette while "prisoner", that bitch would have known what to do, but he wasn't about to ask someone who supports racist, sexist, and rape-y creeps. You are who you support. Any hair care tips would be tainted by that.
Irrational to think good advice is tainted by the deliverer? Sure. But Alastor doesn't care. He got his hair from his Maman, who was the best person to exist in Alastor's books, he won't taint her gifts.
Alastor walks into the lobby and is knocked out of his thoughts by conversation on the other side of a dividing wall.
"So what's goin' on with Al and Luci?" Speak and he shall appear! That's Angel talking.
"What do you mean!?" Charlie is the worst liar he's ever met. "There's- there's nothing going on!"
"Uh-huh... Charlie, babe, you really need to work on your poker face if ya gonna lie like that." Angel kindly informs her, "But seriously, what's going on with your dads? I heard they've been attached at the hip pretty much since the Might of Lilith debacle."
"Nah, not until two days later." Husk refutes, "So two days before we came to get you."
"I'm still mad about you letting Alastor do that." Charlie stubbornly says, "I'm sure we could have found a less violent option."
"Look upon my field of fucks and see how they're barren, Princess." Husk deadpans, making Angel laugh.
"Are you really saying we should have left Angel to suffer?" Alastor asks, and tisks at her just to cause problems as he steps into view.
"You know that's not what I meant." Charlie pouts.
"Yo! Alastor!" Angel grins at Alastor, he looks genuinely happier. "What's going on with you and the big boss?"
"We're partners." Alastor says smuggly.
"Oooh!" Angel drawls, "Like business partners, or gay partners."
"Technically," Alastor widens his grin in a way he knows freaks people out. Angel and Husk are part of the silly little found family he's found himself part of, so he answers honestly. "Yes."
"Please clarify, you cryptic bastard." The annoying spider dramatically sighs.
"Only if you are willing to speak alone afterwards." Alastor says like a threat. Which does make everyone pause. "Nothing salacious. I merely have a question."
"Ya know what? I'll bite. Sure, I'll answer your question in private, if ya explain the "partners" situation." Angel shrugs as he speaks.
"The deal you felt the aftershocks of 3 days ago was a deal that gave me access to My Starlight's power and the title of Executioner."
"What!?" Charlie squeaks, having not known the second part. Alastor ignores her.
"But we also sealed the deal with a kiss, then made-out, so definitely also in a homosexual way." Alastor knows he looks like the cat who got the canary. "We are partners and lovers. So yes."
"Okay, then why the "technically"?" Angel asks.
"There's not much "business", so to speak. The title is mostly to freak people out." Alastor admits, grinning teasingly at Charlie, "Oh, look! It worked!"
"You're awful..." Charlie pouts.
"It was technically your father's idea." Alastor shrugs, "He unexpected latched onto something I said while explaining I wouldn't be doing everything I was if it was just about gaining power. I'd just make a deal to be his Executioner. He thinks it would be funny if he could answer "My Executioner" if someone asks about our relationship, especially if we had just done....PDA?"
"Public displays of affection." Angel confirms, pauses and adds, "That tracks for you shitheads. Now lets go to my room, ya said ya wanted privacy?"
"Indeed." Alastor answers, and follows Angel upstairs to the man's room. He stands stiffly by the door once they're closed in.
"So what do ya want to ask about? Need help in the bedroom department?" Angel teasingly wags his eyebrows. Alastor ignores it to stiffly ask.
"I was wondering if you had curly hair care tips?"
"Curly hair?" Angel blinks in surprise, then very obviously stares at Alastor's hair, "Ya telling me that's supposed to be curly?"
"My hair had been when I was alive. I don't understand the "hair care" products down here, and I believe that's why my hair is so straight currently." Alastor confesses, pinching the tip of a lock of his hair. "I find myself missing what my hair was."
"Well, shit, okay." Angel grabs his phone and starts tapping away on it, "I never personally had curly hair, but I can hit up some of my work friends who can give me recommendations for you. I'll get ya a list. I'm invested in seeing your curly hair now."
"Appreciated, Angel." Alastor opens the door and steps out, "That was all."
He closes the door and leaves before Angel can say anything else to him. Alastor knows Angel is going to blab this to everyone, but he just didn't want to admit to needing help in front of everyone.
He returns to the lobby to head towards the kitchen, it's about time for him to make preparations for dinner.
"Where's Angel?" Husk asks, not seeing the spider with Alastor.
"I killed him." Alastor deadpans, making the winged-cat freak out before seeming to realize Alastor is fucking with him.
"I hate you."
"Most people do!" Alastor cackles as he continues on his way.
"Asshole." Husk mutters loud enough for Alastor to hear, making him laugh even more.
The kitchen is empty when he gets there, which is fine by him. He sets about making a large batch of dirty rice for all the staff, and a smaller one just for him. The small batch has Sinner meat that he prepped several days in advance in it. The first time he hadn't marinated the meat in seasonings it threw off the whole dish. Hell has made him get creative with his old recipes. The plants and meats not being the exact same and all. It's been a fun challenge, but he wonders if he could bribe Lucifer into getting him earth ingredients to recreate one of his Maman's exact recipes at some point.
Notes
Lucifer is scared of when the "honeymoon phase" of his relationship with Alastor is going to end and Alastor will realize how much more work Lucifer is than he originally thought and leave him. Definitely not the healthiest mindset, but he really doesn't get what Alastor sees in him. So he'll hold on tight and enjoy this while it lasts.
Actually, now that Lucifer thinks about it, Alastor might like him because he IS a mess. The Deer seems to thrive on being needed, and being a little shit, but mostly on being needed. So Lucifer's self destructive ass must be like catnip or something to him. At least until Lucifer inevitably runs him off.
Speaking of mess, he's visiting Belphegor today. She demanded to be allowed to check on how his wounds now that it's been nearly two weeks since she saw him in person, but she likely wants to ask about Alastor too since it's about a week since he started dating Alastor. A week of being pampered to heaven and back anytime the fucker lays eyes on him.
Sure, they still bicker and play fight, but there's a softness to it. Probably because they're both nursing injuries, but it's so nice. Alastor pushes him to get out of his head and actually relax. And Lucifer likes to think it's providing something positive to Alastor's life, too, but he's pretty sure he's just the equivalent of an enrichment item?
"What's going on in that big brain of yours, Lucifer?" Belle asks, gently prodding the wound just under his ribs. It doesn't really hurt.
"I don't understand why Alastor likes me." Lucifer admits, "He must or he would have left once I gave him access to my magic. He was honest about toying with the idea of brokering a deal for power, and that he wouldn't have been doting on me like he was..."
Lucifer blushes, suddenly remembering how possessive of Lucifer Alastor has proven to be. Anytime Lucifer has ventured down into the more public areas of the Hotel or is even just talking to someone in the hall outside his room, Alastor either hovers nearby or grabbing him in someway. It's flattering that Alastor feels the need to "mark his territory" so to speak. It'd probably be more annoying than charming if Alastor was doing anything to "control" him in anyway while he does it, but Alastor doesn't. He occasionally will menace someone, but it's usually someone annoying, or one of Charlie's friends who mostly shrug off the behavior.
It's also not a trust thing. Alastor didn't make a big fuss about Lucifer insisting on going to this appointment alone. The Deer just seems to want everyone to know he staked his claim on Lucifer whenever he can... It's such a nice change from being ignored. Alastor seems to be on a one man crusade against Lucifer's abandonment issues and Lucifer doesn't know what to do about it.
He kind of likes the feeling of being "owned" by Alastor. They both know he doesn't actually own Lucifer in anyway, but Alastor was quick to piece together that Lucifer prefers the "submissive role" in non-platonic relationships. Which has gotten him a lot of shit in the past by the "macho manly men" who believe men should only be domineering in ALL their relationships. But that just seems unreasonable, and it definitely wouldn't make Lucifer feel happy. Dominance is a mask Lucifer puts on because he doesn't want to seem weak, but his lover should be someone he can be "weak" or weak with. And he can't believe Alastor has proven he can be trusted with that weakness, but the asshole has, the wing preening and helping with his panic attacks are perfect examples.
"So it's not really a question of "if"." Lucifer states before she can say anything. "It's why. I've been nothing short of an absolute disaster the whole time we've known each other, but he still decided he wanted more than a professional relationship, or whatever our frienemy situation could have been called. Because it definitely wasn't very professional."
"Feelings are funny like that." Belle hums, grabbing some surgical scissors and tweezers. "This one looks healed enough to remove the stitches."
"Okay." Lucifer acknowledges. The process of snipping and pulling thread out feels weird, but it's not exactly painful.
"It sounds like you and Alastor "match each other's freak" as Asmodeus would say." Belle comments, "Try not to get too into your head about the whys and just enjoy what each new day brings.. Why don't you tell me everything?"
"Nosy sister." Lucifer playfully groans, but a smile slips onto his face. "It started with him making me food, he loves cooking and baking. I think it makes him feel closer to his Maman. He's a real mama-boy. And he'll do things like kiss my hand just to see me fluster over being treated delicate and likes to menace anyone who makes me nervous. Not an uncommon occurrence now that everyone knows I can't harm Sinners. And I Swear that he has magic hands! He helped me preen my wings and I felt like a new man from how good at it he was!"
Belle listens to him ramble about everything Alastor's been doing since Lucifer returned to the Hotel. How respectful of boundaries and possible triggers he is. How he's willing to listen to Lucifer go on his million and one dumb rants about his past and current interests. How stupidly charming the infuriating Deer can be, even when they're actively arguing.
"Sounds like he's the ideal partner for you." Belle comments, she removed most of the stitches, but lightly traces one of the gashes on his back "This one needs a little longer, come back next week and it should be healed enough for the stitches to come out."
"Alright." Lucifer concedes, before asking. "What does it say about me that a serial killer cannibal is the ideal partner for me?"
"Luc, we live in Hell because we weren't perfect enough in Heaven's eyes. No one can judge you for seeking happiness." She begins putting salves and bandages on his wounds as gently as possible. They're all still tender. "Especially if your marriage to Lilith was anywhere near as bad as I suspect it was..."
"I... She still hasn't explained where she was or why she was ignoring Charlie." Lucifer glares at nothing. His past self would never understand the burning rage and hate that has been blooming in Lucifer since he destroyed his wedding ring. The worst part is a small part still loves her, even after EVERYTHING she's put him and Charlie through. It makes him feel gross. But as the therapist he recently started seeing (with them under the tightest deal possible so there's no information leaks) pointed out, she was his first love. A love he held onto with all his might and made justifications for for centuries, and is the mother of his child, none of which are going to be easy things to let go. That his feelings are natural and understandable.
"What is with that woman?" Belle huffs. "Her want of a child is why you even figured out how to have Charlie."
"I don't know..." Lucifer sighs, thinking of all the rose-coloured memories of his ex with Charlie verses the reality of what the situation had been. "I don't know if I've ever truly known her at all."
"Mm, unfortunately," Lucifer watches her eyes linger on a particularly jagged scar on his shoulder, and he has to swallow down a reflexive excuse. "I think you may know the truest version of her."
Lucifer doesn't know what to say to that, so he doesn't say anything. Fidgeting with the seam of his pants as Belle finishes taping gauze bandages over the half healed wounds.
"I wonder what Bambi is doing today?" Lucifer decides on, as he hops off the table and snaps his clothes back into order. "He's been sticking close to the Hotel, but decided to venture out since I'm visiting you and Oz and Bee today."
"That's sweet of him." Belle comments, cleaning up the used supplies and tossing her gloves.
"If you asked me a month ago if I thought he was sweet, I'd call you crazy." Lucifer chuckles, "You ready for lunch?"
"Let me grab my bag and tell my assistant." She tells him, quickly washing her hands and leaving the room to head to her personal office. Lucifer trails after her, waving awkwardly at anyone he makes eye contact with for more than 2 seconds.
It doesn't take her long to lock up her office. He opens a large portal to the hall outside of Asmodeus's office. "After you!"
"Such a gentleman." Belle laughs and steps through. He steps through after and closes the portal.
It's a little annoying that all his siblings got so much taller than him over the years. It's unlikely a shapeshifting thing, because being shifted in an "unnatural" way always feels weird after a while. Like an itch you can't scratch or holding in a sneeze. It's why Lucifer usually doesn't bother making himself taller when going about his day.
He also enjoys being chest height with his partner. Work smarter, not harder.
Lucifer knocks on the office door, knowing better than to enter anywhere even slightly private in the Sin of Lust's domain. He'd prefer not to walk in on Oz fucking someone. Someone probably being F-... Fits? No! He knows he knows it! Something with soda, carbon? Carbonated...FIZZ!! He doesn't want to walk in on Oz fucking Fizz!
Beelzebub rips opens the door and sweeps both Lucifer and Belle into a giant hug, "Luci!! Belle!!"
"Hey, Bee!" Lucifer laughs while trying to wiggle away. The hug is putting a lot of pressure on his wounds.
"Hello, Beelzebub. Please put us down. You might reopen Lucifer's wounds." Belle says, eyeing Lucifer in concern.
"Shit! Sorry, Lu!" Beelzebub sets them down and hovers a bit around Lucifer, as if he's going to suddenly kill over.
"It's fine, Bee. I'm fine." Lucifer assures, smoothing his coat down. "I'm not going to kill over, just maybe don't go tossing me around."
"Gotcha!" Beelzebub playfully salutes.
"What are you guys talking about out here?" Asmodeus asks, stepping out of his office. There's a very familiar nervous Imp in business casual and a jester hat peeking out behind him.
"Nothing too important." Lucifer waves off, adding before anyone can protest that his health is important or something. "Just don't be tossing me around while my wounds heal."
"Noted." Asmodeus states, he moves and gently pulls the Imp forward to present him to them. "This is my partner, Fizzarolli. Fizz, these are Lucifer and Belphegor."
"Just call me Belle." Belle smiles.
"Nice to meet you in person." Lucifer holds out a hand for a handshake.
"Oh! Uh, you too, Your- I mean, Lucifer." Fizz shakes his hand like he's scared to hurt him. He'd be offended, but Fizz's cold prosthetic and scarring speaks of his own story of hardships. "How'd it go with the Radio Demon?"
"We're dating now." Lucifer blushes, "Thanks for letting me panic at you guys."
"No problem." Fizz grins, releasing his hand and putting his hands on his hips and glancing knowingly, "Now if only Blitz would follow my advice."
"Funky little dude is still working on himself." Beelzebub shakes her head, clearly having met whoever Fizz is dissing.
"He is a bit hardheaded." Asmodeus chuckles, then planted a kiss on Fizz. "See you later, Froggie."
"Have fun, Ozzie." They're so completely in love with each other. Fizz flashes the rest of them a smile. "It was nice to meet you!"
He then disappears back into the office.
"You guys are sweet." Belle tells Asmodeus.
"And gross." Beelzebub cringes.
"You didn't knock, did you?" Lucifer snickers.
"I was excited!" Beelzebub defends herself.
"He's the Embodiment of Lust and has a committed partner!" Lucifer waves a hand at Asmodeus, but is still looking at her.
"Stop bullying me!" She whines, making them all laugh.
"Alright, alright." Asmodeus cuts in, voice full of amusement. "You all ready to go?"
Beelzebub perks up, "I picked one of my current favourite restaurants! Minds are going to explode!"
"Ours or other people's?" Asmodeus asks with a laugh.
"Yes!"
Alastor is a bit intimidated by the process Angel and his friend, Pepper, have decided to put his hair through, but luckily, they explained that he wouldn't need to do everything they're currently doing. They're undoing as much damage as possible that the years of improper care has done. After this, he should be able to just use the shampoo and conditioner he's being given.
"Alright, hun, I think this is the best we're going to get it without cutting it all off and starting over." Pepper informs him and hands over a mirror.
It's not quite up to it's former glory, somewhere between wavey and curly, but it's leagues better than in had been. The layers of red and black are much more interesting to look at as they twist around each other and add depth.
"Daaamn, Al, I thought you were hot before, but this is another level." Angel compliments in his overdramatic way.
"Yes. I appreciate the help." Alastor touches the tips of his hair, "This is much better. What do I own you?"
"Don't worry about. After what happened with the Vees, considered it paid for." Pepper smiles darkly, "I hated those assholes."
"Killing them really has been the gift that keeps giving." Alastor lets his smile turn bloodthirsty. He gets out of his seat and puts his coat back on, having removed it to keep it out of the way.
"Here, here! Rest in piss, assholes!" Angel cheers, then pauses before asking, "What was Vox's deal with you, anyways? He seemed freakishly obsessed with you."
"He was mad I turned down his... "friendship"." Alastor mocks, "As if I'd allow such a repulsive piece of trash to hold such a title."
"I'm pretty sure he wanted to fuck you." Angel points out.
"Which is worse." Alastor's permanent smile is more of a grimace. "He made my skin crawl."
Angel looks like he wants to ask something, but glances at Pepper, who's cleaning up all the hair stuff they used, and thinks better of it. Before then getting a teasing smirk.
"What do you think Lu's reaction is your new look is going to be?"
Alastor can already picture Lucifer's starry eyed stare, likely paired with stupidly earnest compliments.
"I could have shaved my head and he'd still find me hot." Angel snickers at that, "Though either way, he's likely going to ask to touch my hair. He's very tactile."
"He's not the only one." Angel points out, clearly referring to Alastor's behavior around the Hotel. He doesn't have a refute to that. He can't really explain why he's behaving like he needs everyone to know Lucifer's his, but Lucifer doesn't seem to mind. In fact, his King seems to love it, meaning he has no reason to stop.
"Who's "Lu"?" Pepper asks, pausing in their cleaning.
"Lucifer Morningstar." Angel smugly informs his friend.
"Oh!" Pepper processes, then looks at Alastor, "Your his..?"
Just to be a little shit, Alastor answers, "His Executioner."
"Ignore that!" Angel cuts in, exasperated. "They're dating! They're just assholes who thought it'd be funny to give Al the title of Executioner if anyone asks."
"Ruin all my fun, why don't you?" Alastor snickers. Poor Pepper is horribly confused, but also amused.
"You've befriended some weird people, Angel." Pepper says instead of any of the questions they likely have. Alastor checks the time and realizes this took longer than he believed it would. He's not too sure when Lucifer will be back, but he plans to swing by Rosie's for a chat. He finds he misses her companionship. When she wasn't forgetting who he is, she has decent advice and humor.
"Thank you both for your help with my hair, but I have one more thing to do today before it gets too late, so must get going." Alastor bows slightly.
" 'Course, Al." Angel grins, "Totally worth it to see your curls."
"No problem, dear!" Pepper places the product they're giving him into a tote bag and hands it over to Alastor. "It was a pleasure to help."
Alastor then slips into the shadows and travels close to Cannibal Town, taking a second to stow the tote in his shadows so he doesn't have to carry it around. Nothing seems to have changed much as Alastor walks the short distance to Rosie's, her shop is even more unchanged as he steps inside.
"Alastor!?" Rosie is genuinely surprised and concerned to see him.
"Hello, dear. Do you have time to talk?" Alastor makes sure to keep his posture relaxed, trying to convey without words that he doesn't plan to fight over or retaliate for the more annoying things she's made him do.
"Give me just a moment to finish up with my customers. Have you had lunch?" Rosie is still a bit tense, but seems willing to take a chance.
"Lunch would be lovely." Alastor says agreeably, moving out of the way of the flow of customers to patiently wait.
He's not sure how long it takes, but Rosie quickly works her magic and clears everyone from the store. She then sets up her shop's table with what appear to be cucumber sandwiches, some sort of green tea, and some of her specialty treats. One day he'll pry the recipes for her treats from her, but alas, that won't be today.
He wonders if he could convince Lucifer to try them? His King doesn't show the same kind of disgust as most other non-cannibals, including his daughter, to Alastor's diet, he merely doesn't partake. Maybe because he's not human? Thus it's technically not cannibalism. Alastor could see Lucifer's biggest hang up being that Charlie is half human, and he might feel responsible for all the Sinners being Sinners? He'll need to ask. But it's nice that Lucifer doesn't make faces when Alastor eats something "unusual".
"Come, come, take a seat." Rosie gestures to the seat he had sat in the last time he was here as she takes her own seat. "I'll admit I hadn't been expecting you to ever show your face around here again. At least not without a plan to kill me."
"The thought had crossed my mind. And with my recent power boost I could do so quite easily." Alastor says nonchalantly, "But I find I'd miss your presence, especially at Overlord meetings. For all our issues, I'd like us to be on speaking terms."
"A power boost, you say?" Rosie looks delighted. "Of course we can still be friends, Deer. It's really my fault for pushing you when you were askin' so nicely for such a reasonable request."
Alastor isn't sure if she really believes that or not, but he doesn't really care.
"Can I ask about the power boost? And the change to your hair?" Rosie daintily picks up a sandwich, which Alastor mirrors, but doesn't immediately bite into so he can answer.
"I'm sure you felt the the Pentagram shake a week ago." Alastor waits for Rosie to nod, because everyone felt their deals, "Well, that was because I gained the title of Lucifer Morningstar's Executioner and now have access to some of his power."
His smile is definitely sinister as Rosie chokes.
"You have access to the power that blow the gates off of Heaven then flattened half of Pride??" Rosie asks incredulously.
"Yes." Alastor smugly tells her, before adding, "And as for my hair, I finally asked how to take care of my hair down here in hell. You know my hair had been curly before I died."
"I do! I thought it was just became straight because of all the changes that come with being in Hell, not that you weren't taking care of it." Rosie is exasperated. She likely would have helped him if he had asked her to, but he wasn't going to ask her when she had him on a leash.
"Well," Alastor shrugs, "I'm taking care of it now. It'll get back to it's former glory eventually."
"I look forward to seeing it!" They both pause to eat their sandwiches, before Rosie asks, "Has anything else happened since we last saw each other?"
She looks intrigued when he can't help twitching his ears and blushing a bit. "I may have gotten into a relationship."
"Whaat!?" Rosie is way too excited by this in Alastor's opinion. "And here I thought you weren't interested in anyone! Who is the lucky gal? Or fella?"
"Lucifer.." Alastor mumbles, and braces for her laughter, which follows directly after she processes that.
"You're telling me," She wheezes, "that you're now dating the guy you've been spending months complaining about!?"
"Yes." Alastor wishes he was physically able to scowl at her as she continues cackling.
"I can't! You're too much!" She tries to calm herself down, "How'd this even happen? I thought you mutually hated each other!"
"Well," Alastor pauses to figure out how to explain, "we were both injured, him more than me by Vox's bullshit, and I hate to admit it, but I got worried about him when I realized he didn't return to the Hotel. Only to find out Charlie was the worst kind of spoilt brat while I was gone and literally ran Lucifer from the Hotel because of a mistake that backfired more on the King than her. Meaning Lucifer was potentially bleeding to death somewhere unknown because someone he's proven time and time again to care more about than himself told him to leave the place he had just started making a home for himself in... And I ended up scolding her multiple time for bratty behavior, even after he returned, and then he healed what he could of both of our wounds basically because he could, and things just... spiraled from there until I'm making out with him after he just came out of a long overdue mental breakdown because his abusive ex-wife finally attempted to contact him."
"Abusive... Ex-wife?" Rosie blinks and looks towards where the statue of Lilith, Charlie, and Lucifer is in the square. "I'll see about changing the statue. It's not like Lilith was one of the Morningstars helping with the Exterminations. Our dear King may have been late, but at least he was there..."
She then teasingly smiles at him, "Should I replace her with you? Since you're basically Charlie's second father already?"
Alastor can't help blushing.
"I'm just teasin', but I still might do it since all of Cannibal Town knows you're one of us And you brought Charlie here for our help." Rosie hums, taking a sip of her tea, before asking. "Do you need any information on safe sex? I know it's a bit different between two men verse a man and a woman, but there's still some things to look out for."
"Oh! No! No, thank you. That's a very kind offer," Alastor is mildly mortified, but more because someone is trying to give him sex education over lunch than anything else, "but I already know the technical information, though I'm not sure how much human biology and archangel biology are the same or different. Not that it currently matters! Sex isn't currently on the table."
"Oh?" Rosie frowns lightly in concern, "I know you're not into bumping uglies, but have you talked to him about it?"
"It was his idea actually." Alastor looks at his tea cup, "He said he would need to work through sexual trauma before we get to that stage. Which is fine by me, I don't love or hate the act, but I know he cares more about that kind of intimacy."
"Oh, dear..." Rosie is looking at her own cup when Alastor glances at her. "Seems our ex-Queen is cut of the same cloth as your favourite victims."
"Yes." Alastor grits his teeth, a rage fueled by a mix of protectiveness and possessiveness burning in him every time he thinks about what all Lilith did to His Starlight. "Unfortunately, I promised that I wouldn't hunt her down. I can only harm her if she tries something."
"That is unfortunate." Rosie agrees, then picks up her fork to eat her desert. "Do you want to hear about the latest gossip around here?
"Do you even have to ask?" Alastor grabs his own fork, but stays angled forward to show his eagerness. "Tell me everything!"
"Okay! So you know Samuel and Kasandra? Well, they're no longer together, Kasandra found out-"
Lucifer isn't sure where Alastor is when he gets home from his check up/lunch outing with his siblings, but that's fine. They don't NEED to be attached at the hip. Lucifer has just been enjoying the attention of someone who actually likes him (for some reason).
He checks in with M-V-... VAGGI. He checks in with Vaggi, does some light maintenance, before going to his suite. Where he changes into something more comfortable and gets lost in making a new duck.. that may have deer ears, antlers, and spots, and a tiny monocle. Yes, it's based off of a certain Deer Demon, but it's not his best work. He meant to add a bow tie and the deer features are a little off...
"Is that me?" Alastor's voice startles Lucifer out of his stare down with the duck, just before a clawed hand reaches over and plucks it from his hands.
"It's not very good. It's antlers are wonky and I-" Lucifer's brain misfires as he turns around and looks up at his lover, who must have been there for a few minutes because he's dressed down and now studying the duck. But that's not what catches Lucifer off guard, it's that Alastor's once straight, kind of fried seeming hair, is now silky, curling waves, and framing his handsome face even more perfectly.
The asshole seems to know exactly what he's doing to Lucifer, if his stupid smirk when he makes eye contact is anything to go off of.
"See something you like?" Alastor teasingly asks and leans closer.
"How the Hell is it possible that you got hotter?" Lucifer complains, before lightly grabbing Alastor's hips and pulling him closer. "It really suits you. What all did you do today?"
"I requested Angel's help to restore my original hair texture, so when you left for your appointment, Angel took me to someone who knows how modern hair care works. This is the lovely end result. It's not quite what it was when I was alive, but it's much closer." Alastor runs a couple fingers through a section of hair, the motion is a bit mesmerizing with how the red and black locks twist together and spring back into place. "After that I visited my friend, Rosie. She and I had a bit of a falling out the last time we saw each other, but I found I didn't like the thought of leaving it there. We talked and caught up on what's going on in our lives, so I believe we're back on good terms. I should take you to meet her at some point. She runs Cannibal Town and helped Charlie at the last Extermination."
"I'd love to meet her." Lucifer smiles, "She sounds very important to you."
"She is. She helped make me into the Overlord I am today." Alastor gently traces Lucifer's jaw, then throat, before resting his hand at the base of Lucifer's neck. "For better or worse."
"Very important indeed, then." Lucifer can feel his pulse pick up as Alastor's eyes turn hungry. In a blink, Alastor's mouth is on his, making his brain melt out his ears once again.
"You blush so prettily." Alastor compliments when he pulls back.
"You're always pretty." Lucifer mumbles in a "no, you" tone, like an idiot. Forgive him, he has no brain currently.
"You have a way with words." Alastor mocks, before he grabs Lucifer's ass and scoops him up. Lucifer instinctively wraps his legs around Alastor's waist and his hands grip Alastor's shoulders, which would be an interesting sex position he wouldn't mind trying at some point. A thought that makes him blush harder than the action already had.
He's a horny old man, being carried extremely easily in a compromising position. Sue him for having dirty thoughts about his partner.
"You're so mean to me!" Lucifer gripes, before his eyes drift back to silky locks. "Can I..?"
"I knew you'd ask." Alastor chuckles, carrying Lucifer over to the bed. He sits so Lucifer is now sitting on his lap. "You may, but you must let me preen your wings after."
"That doesn't seem equivalent." Lucifer frowns, mildly confused. Because preening is a lot more work and has to be much less enjoyable than simply touching soft hair just to feel the texture. If anything, it's a reward to Lucifer for being a weirdo.
"Whatever do you mean?" Alastor tilts his head, his smile teasing as he admits, "I like preening your wings. You turned into puddy in my hands."
Lucifer can feel his whole face burning. "You have magical hands.. "
"Do I?" There's a flirty edge to his voice that does things to Lucifer, but Lucifer is still nowhere near ready for going farther than making out.
"You're an evil, evil man." Lucifer sighs dramatically to take his mind off it. He snaps his shirt off (feeling more exposed than last time with how much less space the taped on gauze bandages take up versus the compression bandages) and releases his wings, before gently running a hand through Alastor's hair. He knows the base of Alastor's ears are sensitive, so he's careful. He can't help grinning at how soft Alastor's hair is. It's thick and springy, and wonderful to touch and feel. "Preeetty!"
He barely notices his wings twitching in excitement as Alastor melts a little under his touch, only for the man to seemingly retaliate by petting his wings. Long clawed fingers start carding through sensitive feathers, despite this being a terrible position for preening, and making Lucifer moan and gasp against his will and slump into Alastor's chest. His wings begin to twitch even more at the stimuli.
"You're so sweet and pliable under my touch." Alastor murmurs, "It's addicting to see you like this. I could just eat you up."
Excitement floods Lucifer's veins, and if Lucifer was anywhere near ready, he'd be vanishing the rest of his clothes, but he's not, so he buries his face in Alastor's neck. Just breaths in the comforting, yet mouth watering scent of his lover; a lovely mix of deer, Cajun seasoning, cologne, and something uniquely Alastor.
"You're killing me." Lucifer whines, "You're trying to make me combust, aren't you?"
"That'd certainly be interesting to see." Alastor chuckles, pulling a loose feather free. "Your wings aren't nearly as bad as last time."
"That's because I haven't gone flying between sessions." Lucifer mumbles, pressing even closer. "I hadn't preened my wings between my failed intimidation attempt and you preening them last time."
"Mm." Alastor hums sympathetically, continuing to dislodge feathers and lolling Lucifer into a relaxed state, before Alastor abruptly grabs his waist, gets up and spins around and drops them back onto the bed, just with Lucifer now flat on his back with Alastor caging him in. A startled bird-like squawk comes out of Lucifer's mouth as a result.
"You're such an asshole." Lucifer says through embarrassed giggles.
"And yet you love me." Alastor teases planting a kiss on him, before pulling back and lightly smacking Lucifer's hip. "Lay on your stomach, that worked out perfectly last time."
Lucifer sticks his tongue out at him, before wiggling around and crawling into about the same spot as last time, hugging/half burying his face into a pillow.
"Your wings are truly beautiful." Alastor compliments and presses a kiss in the space between his upper wings, while he buries a hand into one of Lucifer's wings. Pride fills Lucifer and makes him involuntarily fluff his wings. "Pretty little angel."
"You're killing me." Lucifer babbles, fingers digging into the pillow to ground himself a little, but doesn't muffle himself. He noticed Alastor likes hearing Lucifer's reactions, so he makes sure to not muffle himself too much. Even though his knee jerk reaction is to try to silence himself.
Alastor just chuckles and begins working his magic. Lucifer has seen the error of his ways of refusing to let anyone touch his wings... Well, maybe not. He doesn't want anyone, but Alastor to touch his wings. Alastor can touch his wings whenever he wants if he keeps doing exactly what he has been doing. It feels amazing!
Alastor really knows exact what buttons to push to turn his brain into mush.
"How did it go with your siblings?" Alastor asks suddenly, making Lucifer reboot his last few braincells.
"Mm, it was fun. Chaotic, because we can't do anything together without it getting a little crazy." Lucifer mumbles, "Beelzebub got traumatized by walking in on Asmodeus and his partner before Belphegor and I got there. She then picked a hole-in-the-wall restaurant that was not prepared to have 4 Sins show up. It -Mm- There's definitely a video out there of Oz breathing fire over the chili Bee warned him about. Belle fell asleep in the booth while Bee and I argued over what to play on the jukebox. And -ah- they interrogated me about our relationship when the food got served. They want to meeet you."
"I suppose that's reasonable." Alastor hums, working a stubborn feather out of a sheath. "They're important to you."
"They Fell because of me." Slips out, making them both freeze.
"Lucifer." Alastor sounds concerned, hands caress his wing soothingly.
"I know. I know. It was their decisions to rebel after my Fall, but I can't help feeling responsible." Lucifer runs a stressed hand through his hair. "I've been told for so long that everything bad that's happened since Eden was my fault that it's hard not to feel responsible. I'm working on it. I know most of my siblings would be annoyed I'm "taking credit" for their actions anyhow."
"Well.." Alastor purposely targets a particularly sensitive section of his wing, making Lucifer shiver, "I like that you gave humans free-will. All my choices were my own and continue to be my own."
One of Alastor's hands strokes his spine, in silent comfort, before returning to preening.
"You've only really seen the bad things your gift gave humanity, but we gained so much because of you." Alastor assures, "And if it was only bad, then there wouldn't be any Winners. We all made our own choices, for better or worse, but I'm glad we got to make those choices."
Lucifer doesn't respond right away. Needing to process that Alastor, at least, doesn't view what Lucifer did as a curse, but as a gift. Tears fall when it does. It's not the ugly sobs like when he was crashing out over Lilith showing up. No. These are a quiet release of hurt, but also thankfulness.
"Thank you." Lucifer's voice quivers, "I think I really needed to hear that."
"Of course, my Starlight." Another kiss is pressed between his wings.
Alastor's continues preening, but now periodically caresses the bare skin of Lucifer's trembling upper body as he goes. Which doesn't really help him stop crying, but does make him feel very cared for.
"I now know where Charlie got her weepiness from." Alastor teases when Lucifer finally stops crying.
"Are you sure you want to be tied to such an emotional disaster?" Lucifer groans, "I wouldn't blame you for backing out."
"I'm perfectly content where I am." Alastor dismisses, before pressing on the sensitive joint connecting one of his middle wings to his back, making Lucifer involuntarily arch.
"AH!" Lucifer flushes, "You asshole!"
"Yes. Perfectly content." Alastor basically purrs, before letting up on the pressure so Lucifer can lay back down.
"Fuck. You're going to torment me forever." Lucifer whines and shoves his burning face into the pillow to whine.
"That IS the plan!" Alastor laughs, making Lucifer's heart flutter.
Then the snapping open of preening oil Lucifer did NOT notice Alastor getting alerts Lucifer that the start the next step is about to begin. The preening oil sooths any leftover itchiness and keeps his feathers healthy, but it makes his already sensitive nerves even more sensitive to touch.
His wings twitch in response to his interest. He was asleep at this point last time, being too injured and exhausted to stay awake, so who knows what sounds he made before, but he just knows he's going to make a bunch of embarrassing noises this time.
Alastor is happy that Lucifer apparently noticed that he likes to hear and/or see Lucifer's reactions to his actions, thus is going against his instinct to hide when Alastor does something that makes him react in an "embarrassing" manner. An awake Lucifer is just as mesmerizing as an asleep one during a preening session, but the awake version is much more vocal and wiggly about his sensitivity to touch. It's quite amusing and makes him want to pull more reactions out of the other man.
"Fuck!" Lucifer gasps, gripping his pillow harshly, as Alastor massages oil into sensitive skin towards the base of the wing, and moans salaciously as Alastor works his way down through the feathers. If anyone were to overhear such noises, preening is NOT what they'd think is happening.
Alastor has never wondered what someone was like in sexual situations before, but he is really curious as to how these noises and those differ. He can't wait to see what other delightful reactions he can pull from his King.
"Oh fuck! Oh fuck!" Lucifer makes a very bird-like noise when Alastor touches the actual base of his twitching wings. Alastor can't help chuckling. The closer to Lucifer's back, the more sensitive Lucifer's wings are, and the more delicious noises the angel makes in response to his touch. "You're -ah- getting off -ahmm- getting off on this, ar -ah- aren't you?"
"Definitely." Alastor unashamedly admits. "You're much more vocal awake. Seeing you fall apart like this over some gentle touch is scrumptious."
"And here -mm- here I thou-ah-ght you didn't have ssssexual -ah- sexual desire." Lucifer comments, then arches breathlessly as Alastor finds a particularly sensitive spot.
"Only for you." Alastor confesses, quickly working the spot over and moving to the next so Lucifer can focus on his words, "Something about you in particular makes me feel things I've never felt before. Maybe it's because I've never found someone who's on the same level as me? Whose seen all the ugly I bring with me and still wanted to be soft with me? I don't know, but I don't plan to let you go. You're Mine."
"So -mm- possessive." Lucifer snickers, but Alastor can see that he's blushing so intensely that it's traveled down his neck and is staining his shoulders and torso. Alastor leans over and kisses the base of of Lucifer's neck, making the man squeak.
"You love it." Alastor teases.
"Asshole.." Lucifer doesn't even try to deny it. Not that he could. Lucifer seems to like feeling "possessed", but not controlled. So Alastor can do off-putting behavior and touch Lucifer pretty much whenever, but he's not allowed to demand or force Lucifer to do anything or not do anything he wants. Which is reasonable. And Alastor wouldn't want Lucifer to turn into a compliant doll just because they're in a relationship. That'd be boring.
Alastor happily finishes up Lucifer's last wing. "All finished."
Lucifer's wings ruffle and he makes a delightful little coo as he sits up. Then in a blink Alastor is flat on his back with a very pleased angel on top of him, kissing all over his face. It makes Alastor laugh, hands automatically coming up to rest on Lucifer's waist, spreading the leftover oil on his skin.
"Guess that means I did a good job." Alastor smirks.
"If by good, you mean perfect? Than yes, you did a "good job"." Lucifer rolls his eyes before kissing him properly. Alastor deepens the kiss without thinking about it. Kissing Lucifer is addicting. He's so soft and willing and earnest.
Alastor really can't understand how Lilith wouldn't treasure Lucifer.
Alastor slips one hand to Lucifer's lower back, pressing him closer, while the other reaches up and starts carding his fingers through Lucifer's feathers, just to feel the texture, but loving that it makes Lucifer quiver above him. Lucifer breaks the kiss after a minute and buries his face into Alastor's neck, panting warm breath across his throat. The sensation sends a shiver down Alastor's spine.
Lucifer nuzzles even closer and twists his fingers in the fabric of Alastor's shirt, just before his wings fluff up and cover them like a living blanket. "Waaaarmmmm."
Alastor snickers, pointing out, "You could always put a shirt back on."
Not that Alastor wants Lucifer to put his wings away or cover his creamy skin, but it would be logical.
"Nm." Lucifer makes a disagreeing, before untangling one of his hands to bury it in Alastor's hair, as if to prove a point. Which it does in a way. Lucifer's petting feels very nice, and something (how much Lucifer moans and gasps, and turning into puddy) tells Alastor that his petting Lucifer's wings feels at least twice as nice to the angel. Alastor takes his cue and starts stroking Lucifer's wings again, getting all those delightful noises made directly into his neck. Lucifer's fingers still try to pet Alastor's scalp, but Lucifer seems to lose all motor skills and just melt the second Alastor touches the base of his wings again.
Between their combined body heat trapped under his wings and the happy chemicals the cuddling and petting must be giving him, Lucifer ends up dozing on top of him after a while.
Truly, Lilith was an idiot to give this up. Sucks to be her! Her lose is Alastor's gain! He'll cherish this angel until one of them dies!
Lucifer will admit that he's been purposely hiding in the Hotel since Lilith showed back up about 3 weeks ago. Only leaving when he HAS to for work or medical reasons or to visit his more worrywart siblings. Visiting Belphegor falls under both medical reasons and assuring a worryward sibling. Plus she would hunt his ass down and be much less gentle if he didn't show up willingly for his appointments.
He's happy to report that all his stitches have been removed and 4 of the 12 gashes made by that awful machine are completely healed (just a little tender) and another 6 are almost there. It's just the two that had to keep the stitches in longer that probably need another week or two before Lucifer doesn't have to worry about them tearing open.
But this means he doesn't feel right to continue not helping out more with things that don't mess with those two gashes, so has been taking on more duties; both Hotel duties and Hell at large duties. Which puts him in the public eye more and more. Meaning people have been locating him to talk or "talk".
Luckily, Lucifer's siblings aren't the only worrywarts. Alastor or one of Charlie's friends are usually nearby and help, either by giving him a polite out or stepping in to deal with the situation. The way they deal with the less friendly Sinners varies. Charlie and M-VAGGI try to de-esculate the situation, Angel, the bartender (Dusk?) and the bomb loving chick (Cherri, like Cherri-bomb) are usually violent, but don't kill whoever, while Alastor and the Maid (Minty? No, it was slang that sounded similar...NIFTY) kill them. It's nice to not need to come up with a solution on how to defend himself by himself. And it's been super nice to be able to rely on people. (Even if it goes against all his lived experiences so far.)
Which means NIFTY is with him on this errand. Their weekly shipment of supplies was short a few of the Maid's favourite cleaning supplies, but they didn't trust her to get the supplies herself without causing trouble, so Lucifer offered to take her. With her and the scientist together (and likely her respect for Alastor), she's been a lot less sexually creepy towards him.
Don't get him wrong. She's still a creepy little gremlin, but she's no longer trying to flirt with him. The scientist guy really matches her freak too. It's as sweet as it is disturbing to watch them.
BUT this also means that NIFTY is with him when Lilith finally ambushes him outside the Hotel. Probably mistakenly thinking Nifty isn't much of a threat.
"What do you want, Lilith?" Lucifer asks, cutting off the monolog Lilith was trying to do. He has a firm grip on the back of Nifty's dress, the woman having tried to lunge at Lilith when she realized who Lilith was. Which was very sweet of her, but would get her in a lot of trouble with Charlie.
"You know exactly what I want." She angrily huffs. "I want you to stop this childish behavior, tell Charlie that this was all a big misunderstanding and to let me stay at the Hotel, and GIVE me what I'm OWED."
"And what exactly is that? Because last I checked, it wasn't me who-" Lucifer is cut off by Lilith backhanding him, her nails slicing open his cheek as the sheer force of the blow knocks him on his ass. His grip on Nifty slips, but surprisingly she doesn't lunge at Lilith. He's not actually sure where she goes because he's too busy glaring at Lilith. "Really? Now who's the childish one? Can't even control your temper in public anymore?"
"This is hardly the public." Lilith dismisses, clearly not realizing that there's quite a few lurkers. He saw at least one pull out their phone to record, so he's going to have to mentally deal with there being video proof of her conduct out there, but not right now. Not when she's looming over him with a sneer. "I deserve to have access to your power. I FELL because of YOU!"
"We both know that isn't true." Lucifer is done solely taking the blame for this. "It was YOUR idea to have Eve eat the apple instead of you. We both Fell because it was BOTH of our ideas that lead to this!"
He waves a hand out to the side, gesturing to Hell around them.
"We talked about everything at the time! We were equally responsible! So why is it only me who gets the shit end of the stick? You're praised by the modern generations for being such a "tragic girl boss queen", but you're really a manipulative abuser willing to throw anyone away to get what you want!" Lucifer can't stop a sob from violently ripping out of him as he suddenly bursts into tears. "Have I ever actually meant anything to you? Or was I just the first pawn in your twisted game?"
Lilith makes a noise of disgust, which is clearly a reaction to his tears and not his accusations. He barely gets his arm up in time to block a kick she sends at him.
"Ugh! You're such a whiny little crybaby! This is why no one will ever love you!" She shouts and moves as if to stomp on him, when suddenly Nifty is stabbing her through the calf. "AAAH!!"
"Nif-!" Lucifer's alarmed shout is cut off by very familiar tentacle thingies wrapping around him and pulling him at least 20 feet away from where he was. It disorients him enough that he's not sure where he is at first, but EXTREMELY familiar warm and gentle hands cupping his face and wiping his tears (and likely whatever blood the scrape on his cheek bleed) away reorients him enough to focus on Alastor's worried face.
"You bitch!!" Lilith screams.
"I'm going to make your outside as ugly as your inside!" Nifty cackles, making Alastor look over at the women having an exceedingly violent fight from the sounds of it.
"Remember not to kill her, dear Nifty!" Alastor calls over before refocusing on Lucifer, "Are you hurt anywhere else? Nifty came and got me as fast as she could."
"I.. I think it's just bruises?" Lucifer realizes he can't really feel his limbs currently, "But I can't... I can't tell?"
Alastor looks very concerned, but with each scream of rage Lilith makes, the less connected to his body he feels. He can't really remember dissociating like this before, but everything is sort of blurring together, so he really doubts in his ability to accurately remember if he had or not.
He's not sure what happens or how long it's been when he can understand what's happening around him. It felt like he merely blinked then he's "suddenly" back at the Hotel, sitting on a couch in one of the lesser used rooms that offshoots from the lobby. With Charlie leaning on him to his left, reading a book on...he has no idea actually, maybe some type of folklore? While Nifty is pressed into his right side, under his arm (like how a young Charlie would when they'd sit together in the family room on cold evenings), working on some type of needle work. There's a hot drink in his left hand... hot chocolate? With cinnamon added?
"Dad?" Charlie must have noticed him assessing the situation.
"Hey, Char-Char." He sounds as exhausted as he feels. He takes a sip of his drink, it tastes amazing and helps to farther ground him. "What... happened?"
He jolts as he recalls Nifty was fighting Lilith.
"Shit!" He twists to look at the small woman as much as he can without disturbing her too much. She's completely focused on her task, seeming to not notice Lucifer trying to see how injured she got on his behalf. All he can spot is some bruising and new dirt and blood stains, but he can't tell where the blood is from. "Nifty?"
"Hm?" She blinks her big almost innocent seeming eye at him, before breaking into a giant smile. "You're back to you, Ultimate Bad Boy! Don't feel bad! I get spacey, too, sometimes!"
"It's called dissociation." He says lightly, before asking. "Are you okay? I know you stopped Lilith from kicking me again, but it's all blurry after that."
"I'm fine!" She wiggles out from under his arm, places her project on the coffee table in front of them, before proudly standing with her hands on her hips. "I show Ms. Snooty who's boss! I had her crying before Alastor made me stop! I'm going to go get Alastor! He'll want to know you're awake!"
She dashes off after that. She doesn't appear to be too injured. Which is a massive relief! He already feels bad about what happened without her being really hurt. Maybe she'll let him heal her?
It does make him wonder about how she's so uninjured. Was Lilith so used to his power boosting her that she forgot to compensate for her access being revoked? It'd make sense. She's had access to it pretty much since their Fall. He wants to think that it means that she was pulling punches, but he thinks it's more likely she's just weaker than he thought. His arm doesn't hurt nearly as much as it would have in the past.
...She was beating him with his own power... Fuck. He kind of wants to die...
"Dad.." Charlie is suddenly hugging him, careful of the cocoa, "I'm Sooo Sorry she did that! It wasn't right! You didn't deserve that!"
"Just so you know, there's videos of what happened going viral." Angel helpfully informs him from another couch off to the side. Reminding Lucifer that he saw at least one Sinner recording them before Lilith hit him.
"Fuck.."
"Angel!" Charlie protests, "I wasn't going to tell him yet! He JUST stopped dissociating!"
Lucifer is only half listening to them argue about how, when, and why telling him now or later was better. He just mentally sits on the information and sips at his drink.
He really wants to cuddle Alastor.
"Love?" Think of the Devil and he shall appear. Alastor's hands cup Lucifer's face, guiding him into eye contact. He's visibly concerned. "It's going to be okay."
Lucifer bursts into tears.
"Oh, fuck." He vaguely hears Angel say. He's pretty sure Charlie takes his drink from him, because his hand is suddenly empty and he's bundled into Alastor's lap.
"We got you, Dad." Charlie is rubbing his back, careful of the two problem gashes... That REALLY hurt now that he can feel all his aches and pains.
Lucifer can't decide if they, or the humiliation he's currently feeling hurt more. He's not coping as well as he'd like. He doesn't want to be looked at, but he doesn't want to move or be alone either. His solution? He lets his wings out (his suits are designed to have the back disconnect and let his wings out without him needing to remove his clothing) and covers himself and Alastor's upper half. He might have smacked Charlie? But if he did, it wasn't very hard or anything, his wings aren't smarting from an unexpected hit.
"Oh, Dad..." Charlie sounds sad, but Lucifer can't comfort her. Not when it's his being upset and crying that's making her upset. It'll just be a feedback loop of tears, because they're unfortunately too much alike and both get weepy when someone else gets weepy.
Alastor lets him be clingy, peppering little kisses to the top of his head and hugging him close. Lucifer's not sure how long he holds Alastor hostage, but it's very hot and humid inside his dark feathery cocoon of shame when he's finally calmed down.
"Ready to face the world, Love?" Alastor asks when he realizes Lucifer stopped crying. He gently wipes leftover wetness from Lucifer's face.
"I guess.." Lucifer sighs, then leans up and kisses Alastor's cheek, "Sorry about crying all over you, again."
"I knew how emotional you were when I agreed to this relationship, my Starlight." Alastor assures, planting a sweet kiss on Lucifer's lips directly before jabbing his fingers into Lucifer's sides. Which turns Lucifer into a flailing chaotic mess of limbs.
"You ASSHOLE!!" Lucifer shrieks, cackling and trying to get away from Alastor's tickling fingers.
"There's your radiant smile!" Alastor teases, not letting up until Lucifer literally falls off his lap.
"You're such a dick!" Lucifer whines from his spot, sprawled out at the other man's feet. He shoots Charlie a "betrayed" look when she starts giggling, which makes her laugh even more.
"You okay there, short king?" Angel is also laughing at him.
"I've been better." Lucifer huffs, but he does feel a lot better. He then pettily pulls Alastor onto the floor with him, which instantly backfires as Alastor's weight crushes his wings. "Ow! Ow! Ow! I've made a horrible mistake!"
Alastor quickly props himself up and off Lucifer's pinned wings and soothingly rubs a worried hand down his ruffled feathers while everyone laughs at him. "That was not thought out."
"I have 2 braincells and they only sometimes rub together to make a thought." Lucifer jokes, sitting up carefully. "And that thought is usually about ducks."
"That explains so much." Dusk(?) mutters. He apparently joined to the group while Lucifer was hiding.
"Be nice!" Charlie scolds, as if she isn't also giggling.
"How are your injuries?" Alastor suddenly asks, "I didn't think it was appropriate for me to undress you to check while you were dissociating."
Lucifer has no idea what his response would have been to that. He was dissociating as a PTSD response to Lilith being violent and yelling, so he could have had any reaction to clothing being removed. He wants to think he'd fight away from the hands touching him, but he's pretty sure he'd fawn and fall deeper into his mind to escape what he perceived to be happening.
"I'm mostly sore.." Lucifer really thinks about it, "but my right shoulder should probably be checked. I think it bled a little, my shirt feels like it's sticking."
"Oooo! Are we going to get to see some skin, big daddy?" Angel dramatically waggles his eyebrows at Lucifer.
"You're not." Lucifer rolls his eyes. He knows Angel doesn't mean anything by his flirting, but he rather if he didn't flirt with him.
"Are you going to be okay, Dad?" Charlie kneels next to him to fret. Lucifer catches her hands and gives her a tired smile.
"I'll be alright. Everything kind of sucks right now, but I've been through worse. At least this time I have people who actually care to help me get through it." Lucifer assures. Charlie bursts into tears and hugs him. "Hey, hey, it's alright!"
"I'm soorrrry, Dad!" Lucifer rubs her back. "I can't believe Mom did that!"
"It's.. Well, it's not okay, but it's not something you have any control over." Lucifer glances over her shoulder at the rest of the group, "What even happened? I vaguely recall Nifty attacking Lilith, but it's all a blur?"
"Nifty ran and got Al after Queen Bitch backhanded you." Angel helpfully explains, "Nif did attack your shitty Ex while Al got you a safe distance away, but he wasn't sure how with it you were, so ended up sending you and Nif through the shadows back here before taking care of Lils himself. Don't know what happened from there, though. All the cameras in the area malfunctioned."
"I didn't kill her." Alastor grins, unashamed and bloodthirsty.
"And that's the only answer we've gotten from the little shit." Angel dramatically sighs and slumps onto Dusk(? Lucifer doesn't think that's right, but it's close?).
"Oi!" The bartender hisses, but notably doesn't do anything to boot Angel off of him.
"I said I wouldn't kill her and I didn't." Alastor shrugs, "But she won't be bothering us for a while."
"The Sin have been blowing up my phone." Charlie mumbles into his shoulder, "You should message them."
Lucifer blinks, "How long was I out?"
"Almost 3 hours, Your Majesty." Musk (That's not it either! Damnit!) informs him. "The videos Angel was talking about hit the web at large about an hour after you got back."
Lucifer gasps as he realizes, "We Didn't Get Nifty's Supplies!"
"How is that your main concern?" Something-usk groans while everyone else seems to laugh at Lucifer. He blushes a little in embarrassment.
"Well, uh, it's just, well, we were only went out to get those supplies." Lucifer justifies. Charlie pulls out of the hug with a fond smile, rubbing away her tears.
"Don't worry! Vaggi went and got them when she realized what happened!" She fidgets and glances at her friends, "We just didn't want to leave you alone while you were so out of it.. in case you panicked... You didn't seem to recognize or acknowledge anything.. or anyone when Alastor sent you here..."
"I'm sorry, Charlie. That must have been really scary to see." Lucifer reassuringly rubs her arm, before half-joking, "Guess it's a good thing I have therapy tomorrow, uh?"
"Yeah." Charlie sniffle, not joking at all. Yikes.
Lucifer gets up (a bit awkwardly with his wings in the way), then helps Charlie, then Alastor, back to their feet. He keeps ahold of one of Alastor's hands as he informs the room.
"We're going to check on my wounds, but I'll be back down for dinner." He's tired of hiding.
He opens a portal tall enough for Alastor and widen enough to accommodate Lucifer's wings.
"Okay-" Charlie starts, a bit starry-eyed for some reason, but Lucifer is already dragging Alastor through.
The portal closes while Angel is wolf-whistling, because of course the perv thinks they're going to fuck. Which IS NOT something Lucifer is willing to do while feeling the way he is. Sure, he's started talking through his sexual trauma with his therapist the last few sessions, and could have probably been talked into the act before Lilith showed up and caused this little episode, but definitely not now that she has. At this exact moment, he feels too raw and ugly. It would not do his mental health any favours to make himself feel even more vulnerable, especially in that specific type of way.
"Do you want me to tell you what Nifty and I did to Her?" The "Her" is said with such disgust that it leaves no question who exactly Alastor is talking about, even if it wasn't obvious.
"I.." Lucifer looks at their joined hands, "Maybe later. I think I need reassurance that I'm not as unlovable as she claims."
"I should have done more to Her." Alastor murmurs murderously to himself, before scooping Lucifer up. "It will be my absolute pleasure to prove how wrong she is, mon trésor."
Alastor kisses him gently and sweetly, before smiling affectionately at him.
"Now lets check your shoulder, um?"