đŠđ˛đ đŚđŁđ˘đŻ (corrupting) wrote in wtnvgame, @ 2021-02-16 05:12:00 |
|
|||
Entry tags: | !action/thread/log, -player: caitlin, â´inactive player: squid, â´inactive: chloe decker, â´inactive: lucifer morningstar |
Oh, I got troubles that won't let me be
As much as the apartment wasnât his penthouse, or Lux, it was passable. Especially since heâd put in the wall bar and got a piano up there, situating that in the room with the bar so that he could sit and just pluck away at the keys from time to time.
Heâd been at it for a while, although the glass of whisky on top of the piano had barely been touched he had gone through several cigarettes at this point, shirt sleeves rolled up, top buttons undone, hair not carefully gelled into its usual perfection. It wasnât like he was moping at all, just ruminating.
Usually he had Dr Lindaâs advice to go on, or Amenadielâs interjecting to ignore, but without either of them he was just flying solo. Thus far, no disasters -heâd even avoided too much trouble with all the other Angels running around this place. He wasnât terribly interested in navigating whatever that circus was going to be.
Add in how much Chloeâs necklace had him thinking about Cain and her other reaction, it didnât do well for him to dwell on things. So he plunked away at the keys, barely playing a full tune, mostly just snippets from various songs and compositions from numerous time periods as he let his mind wander for now.
Arriving back to the apartment to the soft tones of the piano drifting through the living room from the room near the one she slept in made Chloe smile. Not that work had been particularly difficult -- truly, so far it was easier than it had any right to be -- but getting to listen to Lucifer play had become one of her favorite things.
She took a moment to slip off her boots and set her jacket and bag down before quietly making her way through the room, following the notes and listening as he shifted from the phrase of one song to the next.
There was a smile on her face as she peeked her head around the frame of the door into the room he was in, but the few little things she noticed almost immediately caused that smile to falter. Something didnât seem right. Her footsteps were soft as she made her way over to him and reached a hand out, her fingers brushing against his back to let him know she was there before she took a seat on the piano bench beside him.
Her voice was hushed when she spoke. âHi.â
The sound of the door opening registered enough that Lucifer was aware that Chloe was home -and it was strange thinking of this place as home for them, especially when there wasnât the usual ding of the elevator alerting them to the arrival of someone. Aware that Chloe would, realistically, be the only one entering unannounced, Lucifer just carried on plucking out his tunes, even as Chloe joined him on the piano bench.
Theyâd shared a piano bench so many times, truthfully numerous serious conversations were started on a piano bench, and Lucifer knew it was partially because he could focus on other things while he puzzled out responses to things.
âHi,â there was a small smile in the greeting, because while they werenât working together for hours and hours every day, they still saw more than enough for people who were somewhere between together and not together. Rocking a little to the side, he nudged his shoulder against hers, his tune turning somewhat jaunty for a few bars before tinkling off.
âDid you hold the civil unrest at bay today?â
He had recollection of more of their conversations at the piano than she did, but it wasnât uncommon for them to have them there, either way. It seemed a comfort for Lucifer when they did talk and she didnât mind if it helped him when the topic had a habit of turning more serious.
The initial worry in her expression softened a little at the smile in his greeting and she felt a hint of a laugh bubble up in her throat at the nudge to her shoulder, which she returned gently. âMm, did I ever,â she quipped with a sarcastic tone to her words. âIt kind of livened up today, at least. Had to take some lady back to the station to sober up this morning after she decided to strip down and run around half of town basically naked. Not sure what she had to drink, but it seemed like she was having a good time until she fell into a bush, puking.â
And thank God or whoever that she hadnât puked in the squad car. Cleaning that up was never a good time and it wasnât like Night Vale was big enough to have people doing that professionally.
âHowâre you? Do anything interesting with your day?â She was curious, considering he looked disheveled by comparison and the ashtray on top of the piano was stuffed with cigarette butts, but she also didnât want him to feel like he was being cornered if it was something he didnât want to talk about.
Snickering lightly, because he didnât think a drunk chaperone was really a step up from just paperwork from public urination, but if Chloe was kept a little busier and happier who was he to say? âA lot of people around here just really want to be naked,â which wasnât too different from LA, honestly. âI think you all should just let them be naked.â
It seemed like more trouble to get everyone clothed at this point.
âNot particularly,â it wasnât a fantastically interesting day, heâd done some drugs, drank a fair amount, smoked more than a normal set of lungs would manage and tinkered at his piano. Truly a depressing state of things if he were being entirely honest. But the thing was, Chloeâs necklace showing up just pushed a lot of the past forward, and heâd rarely really needed to look back like that.
âLuckily I can still amuse myself somewhat.â This was not amusing really, he was largely spiralling in a very quiet and probably destructive manner. âAlthough I do hope the tobacco companies in the area can keep up.â
Though he at least seemed enough like himself to make a joke about just letting people run around Night Vale naked (and it did make her roll her eyes a little), since that seemed to be exactly what some of the residents here wanted to do, she just couldnât shake the feeling -- the very obvious one -- that something wasnât right.
Chloe kept her eyes on him, trying her best to read what was going on in his mind, but she knew that was pointless. No matter how much she thought she knew him, she wasnât sure heâd ever fully bring his walls down. Not that she could blame him. Or at least based on what she knew, she couldnât.
She reached a hand up to gently comb her fingers through the front of his hair, pushing it back away from his face a bit, even if it wouldnât stay put due to the lack of product. It was more out of a sense of trying to comfort him than anything else, anyway. He seemed like he might have needed that and it was the least she could do just then.
âWhatâs wrong?â she finally asked, her voice quiet. There was no sense in asking if something was wrong or if he wanted to talk. It was clear enough without him saying anything.
There was the off chance he could play it off, postpone things further, but the notion of just pushing it back to deal with later only made him want to smoke more and he knew thereâd be more days where his blasted conscience got the better of him if he did that.
It wasnât so much the conversation itself he wanted to avoid so much as the implications around it all. Chloe already knew that they pushed a little further apart after her brush with death, she knew they were still dancing around whatever this was. And given that heâd already mentioned sheâd seen far worse than his wings to fully understand just what all was lurking in the world, the rolling clench of apprehension was just always going to be there, waiting for her to tell him she knew why he was holding back.
âThe necklace just reminded me of a few things,â which was true. Because heâd stated numerous times that he didnât think she still had it, doubted it greatly, really. However sentimental it was now, it likely wouldnât be that when she was making plans to marry Pierce -which he blindly let her do, despite the bitter jealousy- because he was too much of a coward to do something.
âAnd given their magnitude, itâs likely wise you hear about them. Rather than I continue to put them off.â Like waiting until her engagement ring showed up and then having to explain that little tidbit.
The fucking problem was where to start?
Of course it would be because of the necklace, which she was wearing now -- sheâd worn it every day since it appeared, actually -- and she held back a sigh as she glanced down enough to look at it. She loved the necklace, but it seemed to be dredging up memories and emotions that were affecting Lucifer in a way she couldnât personally recall seeing happen many times before.
âAlright, well. What sort of things?â She wasnât sure that the question was at all helpful, but it appeared like he was struggling with what exactly to tell her. Maybe asking specific questions would be more helpful. âYou had said before that you didnât think I wore it anymore back in our timeline at home. Why?â
Chloeâs voice was gentle when she asked it, hoping maybe giving him a starting point of some kind would open him up a bit. She glanced from the necklace, over to him, and then to the barely touched glass of bourbon on the piano. She reached for it and took a small sip before setting it back down, closer to him.
He still didnât know where to start, what part of the whole thing to go with first or⌠how much to lay out. Bringing up Candy still felt a little too much like saying he didnât want to explore a potential relationship with her, but he knew that his charade with Candy was part of the reason that Chloe responded to Pierceâs advances.
âBetween your birthday, the one where I gave you that, and⌠your finding out who I am,â which was an odd way to gauge time, he knew, but it was something that worked to explain how things progressed for someone who didnât know what was coming. âYou get engaged. To Pierce.â It was hard not to call him Cain, give how Lucifer knew him best. âThe new Lieutenant.â He didnât really want to explain that her new fiance was the crime boss and serial killer they ended up chasing, but eventually itâd come up.
Maybe just not today. Since heâd also need to admit that he let her get close to him, when he knew thatâs what Pierce was.
âI probably couldâve taken it better.â Understatement, but he was avoiding looking at Chloe, although he wasnât pinging away on the piano, just not focusing exactly other than to feel for her tensing beside him.
âOh. Well, um.â Chloe thought she had prepared herself for whatever it was that he was going to say, but an engagement wasnât exactly on the list of things sheâd expected. Had she been made aware that sheâd been in a relationship with him? Yes, but an engagement? She let that information turn over in her head for a moment before letting out a slow, quiet breath, shifting a bit on the seat so that she could face the piano keys more straight on now instead of angled toward him.
She sort of stared at the keys for a moment in an attempt to process what heâd told her, but something about it just didnât feel right, though she couldnât exactly explain why.
Her hands fell toward her lap, but instead moved to hold onto the edge of the bench on either side of her thighs as she sat there. âBut I didnât end up marrying him, I remember you saying that much.â Even saying those words made her feel wrong in a sense and she felt herself cringe a little at the idea, but she shook it off. âYou said he was an asshole and that he was killed. What happened?â
Shaking his head lightly, mostly in answer to her question about marrying him, Lucifer ran through the words, although he couldnât really get them in order. His fingers itching to do something, stretching to play something before folding, going for another cigarette before diverting to grab his glass long enough to take a decent swig from that before actually going back to the cigarette.
The plus side was that he hadnât killed her fiance, because explaining that, well, without being the jealous asshole he mightâve been wouldâve been tricky. But she had dodged a bigger bullet than she knew. Both at the time and currently.
With the cigarette lit, lighter replaced on the table, Lucifer foolishly just opened his mouth and let whatever order the words were in tumble out, âHe was the head of a criminal syndicate and a murderer,â okay stop, âand I killed him.â
Or not.
His nervous energy made her want to reach out and just take both of his hands in her own, hold them, look at him and let him know that it was all right. Whatever he had to say was okay, because she wanted to know and he needed to tell her.
But then there was the bomb and she felt that sort of static noise in her head happen again as she processed that news. There was a pause. âWait. What?â He was annoyingly blunt sometimes, but there was a moment where the thought of maybe dropping that a little more casually mightâve been a better idea. But that thought was fleeting and finally she followed up her first question with another. âWhy?â
Lucifer knew there was due process and theyâd been through enough together in her own timeline for her to know he wouldnât just outright kill someone -- let alone her fiance and boss -- just because of the whole criminal syndicate and murder thing. âThereâs more to that, I know it. Iâve seen you lose it a couple of times, but not enough to actually kill someone. What happened?â
There was a soft blossoming of something from how she asked, like she didnât believe heâd just kill someone. Given how things had gone during Malcolmâs spree, the brief moment he knew sheâd questioned things for a second or two. But not now, not even when she knew.
âThe thing⌠The thing about Pierce is that heâs not exactly normal.â There wasnât really a way to stop Pierce that wouldnât be him dying, and while heâd managed to make himself mortal again, all those centuries of being a colossal twat had clearly really stuck. Heâd tried to kill Chloe. Saved only by the grace of her vest and his wings. So Lucifer still didnât feel guilty about killing Cain, not like he did over Urielâs death, but he regretted how it came about.
âYou didnât happen to catch Bible class when you were younger did you?â He risked a glance over, before turning back to the piano, âYou know about Cain and Abel?â He hoped he didnât have to go into that whole thing too. âPierce is⌠was Cain, the first murderer. And my Father cursed him immortal because of it,â and Lucifer got shit for that too, âso he roamed the world, amassing power and seething with rage for millennia.â
And that, eventually turned towards the entire world.
âIt wouldnât be like he could be tried and sent to jail like any other criminal.â
This was not how sheâd expected her evening to go, especially right after getting back to the apartment from work. Chloe was quiet for a moment after he explained, the words âPierce was Cainâ turning over and over in her mind, before she finally opened her mouth to say something.
Except she had no idea what it was she wanted to say and her mouth closed again in confusion. She was being fed a lot of information and she was coming to realize that hearing it versus seeing it allowed her brain to process things differently. Not that she didnât believe him -- but she struggled to comprehend, on some level, what exactly it was he was telling her.
âHold on.â She paused again before moving off of the bench and going over to the bar where she poured herself her own glass of bourbon. Or at least enough that she could down it in one hefty gulp. âSo. Okay. We get a new Lieutenant who happens to be⌠Cain, the son of Adam and Eve who killed his brother thousands of years ago, except he goes by Pierce and heâs⌠the head of a criminal syndicate, which definitely does make him an asshole. Then something happens and you kill him. Right?â
She took a moment then, her grip on the empty tumbler in her hand tightening a little before she looked over at him from where she stood. There was a confusion in her face and she couldnât help feeling a little hurt, which was evident in her voice when she spoke again. âDid you try to stop me? From being with him, I mean?â
She at least got the gist of this. Although it was also clear that she was struggling with it.
So much of what unfolded with Pierce was an ulterior motive, and while Lucifer had thought it was one thing and turned into another while his agreement with Pierce crumbled as he realised a few things that really mattered. The distance she put between them, although he knew was part of her processing yet more information, felt a lot like when sheâd backed away, seeing his face, but he was trying to push that down to focus on things at hand.
âAfter⌠After I worked out he wasnât⌠right.â Sort of. He realised that Cain getting Chloe to love him, only to die or whatever his plan was, would only hurt her in the end. Although obviously he worded it wrong, did it too late, came over as just the jealous asshole. âOf course I wasnât exactly clear about it,â made it about him, rather than just telling her why, âand ultimately, given how our relationship was going,â or not going, âyou quite rightly told me to⌠well you worded it better, but basically it was to fuck off.â
In so many words.
âAnd then you broke up,â he dumped her, because he got what he wanted, and Lucifer kind of didnât handle that well, âand more about his organisation came out and I knew jail wouldnât work.â Shifting on the stool, stubbing out his cigarette, Luciferâs back faced the piano, and while he still wanted to fidget, it was more important to focus on Chloe right then.
âYou were shot during a confrontation, although your vest caught the first bullet and the others were⌠deflected.â And that had been fun, pulling all those bullets out of his wings. âBut I killed him and thenâŚâ
His devil face.
It was so much information. Maybe too much information, and yet she felt like there was still more to come and more that she needed to hear. Plus she didnât want to ask Lucifer to stop when he was confiding so openly in what had happened. So instead, as he spoke and explained things, she reached for the bottle of bourbon again and poured some more into her tumbler that she was still holding.
The look on her face wasnât as unreadable as she mightâve preferred, showing a sense of being overwhelmed, but she tried to keep her focus on him. To keep listening, despite the fact that part of her wanted to shut it out.
âAnd then⌠what?â She watched him for a moment before pushing away from the bar to go back over to him, standing in front of him, and looking down at him with kind eyes. Her free hand came up and she grazed her fingertips against his cheek before she cupped it momentarily, her thumb brushing over his skin softly, comfortingly. Or at least attempting to be.
If there was a moment where she ran, he supposed it was better to get it over with earlier. Rip off the bandaid as it was. Given how difficult it had been the first time, getting through her reaction, dealing with her difficulties and what it boiled up inside. He was a little more sure that he could manage through it, wouldnât need to turn to drugs or Eve to try and find something that he thought would make the empty space easier.
The soft touch had him leaning just a little into it before he sighed heavily.
âAnd then you saw my face,â because obviously, killing Cain manifested his true face all over again. âMy devil face.â
While he really didnât want to show her, he was starting to think there wouldnât be a time where he was ready, not when he remembered that reaction. There would always be the worry that the same thing would happen again. But the axe hanging over things was only going to make things worse. âItâs justâŚâ
Heâd told her sheâd left, she had to at least presume that it wasnât a good thing. âHumans have a difficult time processing it. But⌠you should see why.â
The way he leaned into her touch made her want to reassure him that it was okay, everything was fine, he had nothing to worry about. But she knew she couldnât make those sorts of promises, as much as she wanted to keep him safe and happy despite it all.
Chloe kept her hand there as he spoke and she nodded a little, stroking his cheek once more with the pad of her thumb before gently dropping her hand. Of course after everything heâd just explained to her, sheâd seen his Devil face, and she knew full well she hadnât had a good reaction to it at the time. Even that was putting it mildly.
She sighed quietly and took another drink from her glass, the wheels obviously turning in her head as she watched him, considering her words. âLucifer, I⌠obviously canât promise that Iâm going to have a good reaction. Iâm trying to imagine what to expect, just to like⌠I donât know, prepare myself, but I donât think thatâs possible.â
There was a pause and she reached around him to set her glass down on the piano before moving back to where sheâd been standing before. âBut Iâm also going to try really hard not to freak out or anything, okay?â
Because I donât want to hurt you again.
He did appreciate the sentiment, the attempt at the very least to hold fast to logic but he knew, from experience, that even the most logical couldnât logic through his face. There was a reason for it, a reason why his eyes could drive people mad, had done with several people.
Closing his hand over hers briefly, taking the moment to just have the steady comfort there, Lucifer figured they just had to get on with it then. He slowly raised so he was standing, nudging Chloe back just a little. âClose your eyes a moment,â because he didnât want it to be too jarring, for her to blink and suddenly be faced with his scarred and marked devil face.
Waiting for her to close her eyes, he let the illusion that covered his form fade off, the unmarred appearance he once had when he was an Angel slipping into the red, angry burns and scars from his fall. He could feel the change over his skin, as the illusion fell away and his body just burned with itâs usual heat.
It wasnât something he liked showing, liked less that Chloe had to see it again, but it was impossible to leave unsaid between them now.
âOkay,â he wasnât about to rush it though, âyou can open them when you want.â If she wanted, if she didnât change her mind entirely.
There was a conflict of emotions happening in her, both something of a sort of fear -- because how was she going to react? -- and trusting him. Because she did, completely, even if there was a part of her that was absolutely terrified of what might happen.
But as he nudged her back and asked her to close her eyes, Chloe gave him a worried look for a moment, though underneath it there was the simple fact that she wanted to really take in what he looked like now versus what he would look like when she opened her eyes again. She did as he asked though and turning her hand over in his to squeeze it, she finally closed her eyes and dipped her chin a bit.
It was what happened while her eyes were closed that allowed this to perhaps be easier to handle than she anticipated. Because while she still held onto his hand, she could feel it changing in her hold, becoming rougher, larger, and much warmer to the touch. Chloe felt her mouth go dry as she tried to make sense of it in her mind and swallowed as quietly as she could before opening her eyes again.
They fell on their hands first and she stared at them for what felt like at least ten seconds before she finally, and slowly, let her eyes move further up. His arms. His neck, exposed from underneath the white dress shirt he was still wearing, until finally they settled on his face.
Her grip on his hand tightened at the sight and she felt like the wind had nearly been knocked out of her as she looked, though the expression wasnât of horror so much as shock. It was, admittedly, incredibly hard to look at him like that and she could feel herself becoming more than a little overwhelmed, but she stayed put.
The fact that she hadnât pulled away, backed off or left made a flit of something bloom. He knew that there was a chance she could handle this right now. She started to come around, although it had taken some time for them to rebuild the trust that had been broken.
This felt more like it couldâve been, if theyâd had the chance to discuss things, ease things along with the explanations, rather than having them sprung on her like it happened. But the silence was still drawing out, and Lucifer wasnât entirely sure if he could read Chloe at this point of things.
âYouâre going to have to say something, detective.â
Seeing how he looked in his devil form (or what he was willing to show her) was one thing, but hearing his voice still sound the same despite the drastic change in his appearance felt like a small shock to her system. âI, uh.â What could she possibly say? She was still gripping his hand though, even if it was taking her a long moment to process it, so at least that was something.
There was a part of her that wanted to completely panic in the way that most humans probably did when they saw him like this, that fight or flight instinct kicking in, but she knew she couldnât do that. Not to him, not this time. Heâd told her who he was since day one, told her enough for her to realize how sheâd responded to seeing him like this before, and sheâd even seen his wings already, for fuckâs sake. It wasnât like this was actually a surprise.
It was still a lot though, to be honest. âS-sorry, itâs just⌠um, a bit more to process than I expected, I think?â Though she honestly had no idea what sheâd actually expected. Chloe swallowed then, her eyes still on his face before she finally looked away to reach her free, shaky hand toward the glass sheâd set on the piano.
When Chloe turned away, Lucifer took the moment to shift the illusion back into place, letting his human appearance settle back into place. Sheâd seen it now, she knew. âIt tends to be, even when prepared for it.â
No one took it well, even some of his siblings flinched from it.
Turning back to the piano, Lucifer picked out another cigarette, lighting it and taking a draw. He wasnât that interested in actually smoking, but he felt better having something to do with his hands. âAfter you saw it the first time⌠well, you disappeared for a month.â To Rome, he later found out, but he didnât really want to get into things with Chloe about the Priest.
âDan had to clean up the Pierce thing, but by that point I was kind of out of things.â Given that Dan blamed him for Charlotteâs death.
She brought the glass to her lips and swallowed down the entirety of its contents with a small cringe. She wasnât usually the kind to just shoot back alcohol like that, but her nerves needed some settling and the drink would help.
When Chloe lowered the glass, she caught the last remnants of his red skin fading away back into the color she was used to, feeling his hand shift back to ânormalâ in her grip. But she finally let him go when he turned back toward the piano and she had a moment to think, unsure that sheâd be able to process what had just happened, or at least not anytime soon.
It was a lot, but she was still there at least.
âWell, I donâtâŚâ She breathed out a sigh, looking up for a moment before looking at him again, trying to keep her emotions balanced despite the image currently burned in her mind. âIâm not going anywhere this time, Lucifer, and donât say itâs because I canât leave this place, I know. Thatâs not what I mean.â
She didnât really have an option though, that was the thing. Lucifer didnât doubt that Chloe was trying, it was a far gentler way to reveal things, and sheâd already been aware without seeing. The other visage, it was a lot, and Lucifer had literally driven people mad with just a glimpse at his face.
He just had to give it time to settle, let Chloe work out how to deal with things. Granted it would be easier if there was Dr Linda around to talk him through letting her deal with it, not assigning his own misgivings to how she handled things or over analysing something.
Hard to do with eons of experience pressing down on you.
âOf course, Detective,â she couldnât exactly run away to Rome, but she could leave the apartment, or even just tell him to leave her alone, and she wasnât, so that was something. âThis is certainly easier than discovering me over your ex-fiances body, at least.â
All things considered, Chloe thought she was handling the reveal well. Though it did help that sheâd already had time to process that he was exactly who heâd been saying he was all along without seeing the face. Still, she couldnât help thinking back on the few people she could recall in her time with Lucifer thus far back home who had screamed, gone crazy, run away⌠and all because she hadnât seen what theyâd seen.
She set the empty glass back down on top of the piano with a soft âclinkâ sort of noise before moving to take a seat back on the piano bench, though she sat a little harder than sheâd meant to, not realizing her knees had weakened momentarily.
But she was going to be fine, she knew that, and she hoped that he did too. She stared at the floor for a few seconds in thought before tilting her head to look up at him again, a quizitive sort of expression on her face.
âWhen I first got here, youâd told me that youâd gone⌠back home. To deal with, uh, tenants I think is what you called them?â Chloe paused a moment. âSo you actually went back to Hell?â
Time.
It was, oddly, something that Lucifer had in abundance but could deal with the least. Or all that he could spend decades on decades doing the same things, he certainly wasnât known for his patience. It really wasnât one of his virtues.
Home, though, really wasnât Hell anymore.
âI did,â returning wasnât exactly something heâd wanted to do, heâd wriggled out of going back after Motherâs escape, giving her a Universe of her own to build in, showing that he wasnât taking sides with either of them. âThere was something of an uprising, Iâd left the demons unattended for too long.â
His stay in Los Angeles had been the longest heâd ever left Hell, and he truly had no intentions of ever going back -cutting off his wings, burning them, it as all part of never returning to Hell. Obviously, Dad had his tricks.
âTime moves quicker, in Hell. My seven years out of Hell was something like millennia to them.â And when a Lord abandons the kingdom, the peasants revolt.
A millennia. Of Hell being left unsupervised. The thought of it sent a small shiver down Chloeâs spine; even if she didnât know exactly what the demons were like, she could only imagine. There were enough stories and media that something had to be at least slightly true, right?
Though maybe not, maybe it was all exaggerated in an attempt to scare people into submission more than anything, because Lucifer is a good man. She knew that without a doubt in her mind. Funny how things worked like that.
Chloe nodded a little, allowing the information to settle a bit before asking her next question. âAnd I knew about it? Where you were going, I mean?â Before you left again. Though sheâd been in Night Vale for weeks by this point, she could still remember parts of their hurried conversation when she first arrived. âI could be remembering it wrong, but I think you said weâd talked about it.â
âYou knew, yes,â Of course it did bring up the fact that, before he left, sheâd told him that she loved him -and he knew he hadnât said it in as many words, dancing about things again, referring to prophecies and fallacy in those rather than just telling her. But given he wasnât sure how long heâd be in Hell for again, what would be the point in hurting her like that?
âThere was something of an uprising, they wanted a new King. But only a Celestial being can truly rule Hell,â otherwise he was sure he couldâve left them for the rest of eternity and theyâd spend the time fighting among themselves for control and literally nothing would get done.
Amenadiel had been suitable enough to tell them what to do, but not enough to keep them from plotting. âSomeone had the bright idea to turn Charlie into the new King of Hell, mould him how they wanted. Abducted him from Linda at the hospital and attempted a ritual.â
And given that Charlie was a baby, an innocent child, Lindaâs innocent child, his nephew, Lucifer couldnât exactly sit by idly and let the demons believe they could get away with such things. âThey wouldâve kept trying, and I explained it, at the time, why it was important. Why I had to go back, even though I really didnât want to.â One shoulder shrugged, Luciferâs fingers toying with the rim of his own glass.
âOh.â Well, that was a lot to try and comprehend, wasnât it? Demons coming to steal a baby that was half-angel to make him their new King. There was absolutely nothing pleasant about that, and she felt a sort of understanding wash over her as he explained, though it was mixed with a slight heartache for her future self and anger over that happening at all. The pain Linda must have gone through⌠of course Lucifer wouldnât let that happen, though she imagined it didnât make dealing with it any easier in his timeline.
Chloe was quiet for a moment as she processed, trying to imagine the details but struggling if only because the details were just that awful. Then she reached out and gently curled her fingers against his wrist, tugging a bit in a gentle gesture to have him come closer, though she shifted on the piano bench to allow him a spot to sit again if he wanted.
âI can only assume I didnât take that conversation well, even if I understood your reasoning for doing itâŚâ She let out a sigh then and looked to him again with a bit of a sadness in her eyes. âAt least weâre here now?â
There was a lot about their parting that wasnât exactly how anyone wouldâve wanted it, and he didnât rightly want to have left her alone in his penthouse with all those emotions, but staying for any length of time wouldâve chipped away at his will to go; even though he knew he had to.
Letting Chloe redirect him back to the stool, Lucifer took the moment to just focus on her hand around his wrist; both of them with human skin, the loose loop of her fingers around the deceptively delicate appearing wrist. Their touches had grown more frequent, less about simply comforting one another in a difficult time and more just casual and simple, a process that Lucifer knew he probably made difficult at times with his second guessing and bouts of paranoia.
Heâd grown used to not feeling touch since being expelled from the Silver City.
Turning his hand to shake her grip from his wrist, sliding his palm along hers to entwine their fingers instead, resting atop his knee, âEven if the varying memories are a bit of a bugger.â He did not love having to explain everything that happened, all the things that Chloe couldnât remember, having to give her what happened and then reasoning out why he ultimately did whatever it was he did at the time.
âI would take this over not having you here.â
Chloe could only imagine how frustrating it was to have to explain things that had happened that she had no recollection of simply because they hadnât happened to her yet, but she appreciated his patience more than she could express, thankful that he was willing to take the time to answer her many, many questions, even if some of them were painful.
She looked down at their hands for a moment; the way his enveloped her own, their fingers laced together easily, taking note of the softness of his human skin versus the coarseness that sheâd felt when heâd shed that to show her his Devil face.
Still, she tightened the grip and squeezed a bit before looking up at him again at his words, the sadness that had been there a moment before softening a little. âReally?â she asked, her voice gentle. Maybe it was a bit of a stupid question to ask, but she wasnât sure that sheâd expected him to say something like that at all, let alone something that she felt was just so⌠sweet.
âOf course,â his hand tightened as hers did, giving a squeeze while he twisted a little, bumping knees with her on the stool, âHave I ever lied to you?â
They both knew, now, that the answer was no. And he was fairly certain that Chloe grasped that at this point, that he wouldnât lie to her, even if he had to subvert the truth a little in the past just to make her believe him. This obviously wasnât one of those occasions, and he really, genuinely was more glad for her being there than if she hadnât been.
âWe do make quite the team after all.â
She knew better than likely anyone that he didnât lie, and he especially didnât lie to her -- as far as she could tell, he never had. She shook her head a little in response. âNo, you havenât.â The bump to her knee made her smile, her expression softening more as she looked at him.
There was so much her head still needed to try and wrap around regarding the things sheâd seen at this point, but all of that seemed to end up as a quiet static in the back of her mind when they had moments like this. Just the two of them, quiet, sweet. She could have responded to his remark with a redeclaration of how heâs the best partner sheâs ever had -- something that she suspected would always be true no matter what now -- but she didnât.
Instead, she let her instincts take over and, still holding his hand tightly, she leaned up and over to brush her lips softly over his. Just a chaste kiss, but a kiss nonetheless.
They seemed to have a lot of these moments, of pushing forward beyond a lot of what really needed to be worked through, just to have a spark of what might be. Or what would be, maybe. Before, Lucifer thought it all a ploy, a plan, some devious notion of his Fatherâs to regain control.
But with that long in the past, accepting that sometimes steps forward meant a few steps back at times, he was mostly accepting of the pace; both for himself to figure it out and for the Detective to trust it. The quiet moments in between all the revelations, all the danger or the latest criminal, they were just as easy as the infrequent car chase now.
It meant accepting the chaste kiss as exactly that, leaning into Chloe but not deepening anything at the moment.
Though things mightâve moved slower for them than he was used to with others, Chloe didnât think she would ever be able to tell him how much she appreciated the fact that he was willing to be patient with her. Taking what was meant to have just been a work relationship and coming to the realization that it was more than that.
That Lucifer meant more than that to her.
When he leaned into her, her free hand lifted to cup at his cheek gently, thumb brushing along the (almost annoyingly) perfectly trimmed scruff that he always had. At one point not too long ago she would have convinced herself that anything like this between them would have been a mistake, but at this point she couldnât imagine still feeling that. Despite everything.
She leaned into him just a little more, kissing him again more firmly this time and feeling any tension sheâd been harboring in her neck and shoulders start to dissipate the more it lingered.
There was something to be said for getting to know someone, for putting feelings before the quest for pleasure. And really, Lucifer had never thought about it until Chloe, never been overly concerned with feelings or connections -heâd had fun with Eve, way back in the beginning, and while thereâd been a tease at Adam, the man was a total stick in the mud. Always had been.
Learning to care was something else though, learning to value someone, consider their feelings, more than just what they desired and what he could do for them. With Chloe, it was about what he could be for her. And he did believe that he could be a partner for her. In more than a professional manner.
Leaning into the touch on his face, Lucifer eventually broke the kiss, but left his forehead pressing to Chloeâs, not overly looking to pull away from her entirely. But there was a lot theyâd gone over in a small amount of time, and he would rather that she process it before either of them approached whatever was going on. âHave you eaten yet?â
It was a little left field, but she had just come in from work, what felt like hours ago, and it was probably better to check sheâd at least had something to eat.
There was just the briefest of moments where she felt something that could have been a pang of hurt when he broke the kiss, but whatever it was vanished as quickly as it had appeared when she realized he wasnât pulling away. Sitting there with her hand still on his cheek, their foreheads pressed together, she felt so⌠content, really.
âNo,â she answered, her voice just barely above a whisper when she spoke. It seemed wrong to talk any louder than that right then, not wanting to disturb this moment. âThough I probably should, huh?â Not that she wanted to move.
Chloe inhaled a slow breath and then let it out quietly, tilting her chin enough to nudge her nose to his in a sweet manner.
The tenderness would be utterly impossible with anyone else, Lucifer unable to trust it, likely unwilling to accept it, but that wasnât an issue with Chloe anymore.
Intimacy didnât need to be sex and affection didnât need to be a means to an end. The fact that he bothered to think about if sheâd eaten or not -given the alcohol they were consuming at the moment, it spoke a few levels of their compassion.
âCâmon,â although he did just lean into the light nudge, practically breathing against Chloeâs cheek. âIâll fix you up something, and we can find something less depressing to talk about.â Even if it was just some of Chloeâs questions.
It didnât seem either of them were too keen to move just yet, but they would need to sooner rather than later, right? Her eyes drift shut for a moment, her lips brushing against his cheek then, resisting every urge she had to kiss him more.
After a few more seconds, her hand finally lowered from his face, and she reluctantly pulled away from him to look at him, an almost sheepish expression greeting him. âWe can always just curl up and watch something too, if you want? Donât need to talk.â Just getting to spend time with him would be enough for her.
Something to eat, probably a little more to drink and likely ending up curled on the couch wasnât the worst way to spend the night. âWell that sounds cosy just the same.â
Standing from the stool, Lucifer just extended his hand to Chloe to head through to their kitchen, content to throw together something simple, find something to watch and lounge in Chloeâs company.