InsaneJournal

When Lucifer had run into Leia earlier, she’d sounded uncertain about being able to visit Los Angeles with him as planned but he’d been undeterred, asking that since they were both skipping the day’s excursion if she’d like to go out in San Francisco.

To his surprise, she’d agreed.

So now the devil found himself walking the streets of San Francisco with Princess Leia on his arm, and he’d say he was in heaven if he wasn’t actually the devil. Regardless, his day was going pretty damn good.

“So is there anything in particular you would like to do or see here that you haven’t yet?” he asked her, hoping he didn’t sound nervous. Why would he be nervous? He was the bloody devil after all.

But she was Princess Leia. All bets were off.

“I don’t know,” Leia said, wondering how she managed to let herself be talked into this. Not that she minded. She didn’t have much on the docket as to her plans for shore leave. She had visited the Napa Valley and enjoyed some wine tasting. She visited the ecosphere, which was fascinating and beautiful and some of it reminded her of Alderaan’s botanical gardens. She didn’t want to admit that she was waiting to hear from Chris, if he decided to contact her. She refused to contact him first, damn stubbornness, which they both had.

“Have you been here before?”

“Two hundred some years ago I had a deal with someone here,” Lucifer replied. “The city was slightly different then, but the food remains as delicious as I remember. Much better than eating on the Enterprise would be.” It was already difficult to imagine having to get back onto the ship, and that was without having visited Los Angeles yet.

“My company is much better on this trip,” he added, glancing at Leia. “Definitely better looking, but there’s few who could hold a candle to you, as I’m sure you’re very much aware.”

She arched an eyebrow at him and bit back the reply she had on the tip of her tongue, opting instead for a simple, modest “Thank you.” Leia agreed about the food. “I’ve certainly been doing a lot of eating since we got here, but I won’t say no to more. Any cuisine you suggest?”

“A woman after my own heart,” Lucifer said approvingly. “And in a city like this one, it’s best to find the restaurants then go by what smells good.”

Which they did, finding a restaurant and eating, with Lucifer shamelessly sampling off Leia’s plate, but at least offering off his in return. He had to avoid sounding too familiar with the world she’d come from, but found it easy to talk to her all the same. And the conversation was scattered with the same sort of compliments he’d been paying her, slid into their discussion at opportune moments.

“So who are you waiting on to decide if you have plans or not this weekend?” he finally asked, curiosity getting the best of him.

Leia almost responded immediately but then thought better of it. It seemed that she was doing that a lot around Lucifer. She wasn’t sure what it was about him, but she didn’t want to become some kind of topic for gossip. That and she didn’t want work to get back to Chris that she was telling just about everyone she could that she was sleeping with him. “Not who,” she said after a moment, smiling at him. “At least not who, singular. I guess I’m waiting to see what the people from my world are planning on doing, in particular my children.”

Oh. Right. It was still odd to think of Princess Leia having children. “So are you available, then?” Lucifer asked, brow raised. He wasn’t, not technically, even though he and Hawke had not discussed as much. Or discussed anything as of late since she seemed to be avoiding any meaningful discussions with him for some reason. But he had a free pass with Leia, that much had seemed certain.

“Available?” she echoed, looking at him sharply. “For you? To - ?” Leia laughed. She didn’t understand, really, what others meant when they said he was the devil, but he was young and attractive and - “I’m old enough to be your mother,” she said, shaking her head.

“Well that's rather ageist, don't you think?” Lucifer asked. “And you're not quite old enough to be my mother so we're good there. She's got millenia on you, easily.” Far more than that but Lucifer didn't feel the need to be overly specific.

Leia wasn’t sure what to make of that comment so she said nothing. “No offense, Lucifer, you’re a very attractive man, but I’m not interested.” She smiled up at the waiter as he brought them their dessert and murmured her thanks.

“Well at least you're polite enough to directly crush my dreams,” Lucifer mentioned, his voice light. He'd have been sore about it, but she had called him attractive. Plus dessert had just arrived. “Can't fault a devil for trying, can you?” he asked with a shrug.

She smiled and touched his arm. “I seem to be getting offered more action in the last two months than I have in the last five years,” Leia said wryly.

It was Lucifer’s turn to laugh. “Yes, well, that doesn’t surprise me. But I will settle for the fact that you don’t seem to object to my company. And I’m quite enjoying yours.” Nor would he have to explain himself to Hawke, so that was a small consolation as well.

She half snorted. “Maybe it doesn’t surprise you but it certainly surprised me.” She picked up her glass of water and sipped it, leaning back comfortably and looking over at him. “What’s not to enjoy about your company? Even an old woman like me enjoys the flattery of a young man now and again.”

“Trust me when I say I’m older than I look, but also trust me when I say that my words aren’t mere flattery,” Lucifer replied, amused. Why had he let his nerves get the best of him for so long? This evening was quickly proving to be amidst his favorites since he’d ended up in the future.

“Well, I appreciate that,” Leia said. “It’s nice to hear. Really.” It might have been ever nicer to hear if she hadn’t been sleeping with Chris by now. She grinned over at him, feeling relaxed, maybe for the first time since showing up in this universe. It was easier on this planet than on the ship, where she had to be strategic about who she saw and where she went, who she might run in to.

“If you end up going to Los Angeles, I’d still be honored to give you a tour,” Lucifer offered. “And if not, I’m sure we’ll be running into each other again.” He really didn’t want the evening to end, even as he picked up the check. (As if he’d even consider not treating her to dinner, especially since he could say he’d actually earned some of the credits they’d given him this time around.) “Because this has been a lovely evening and I’d like to repeat it sometime.”

She was still hoping to do something with Chris, but Los Angeles wasn’t out of the question. “I’m always looking for good company and food,” she said. And to stop worrying about things out of her control.

Like he’d said, a woman after his own heart. “Well the company is easy to provide anywhere but good food? That’s much easier when we’re off that bloody ship.” Grinning at her, he stood and offered Leia his arm. “Shall we go back, then?” he asked, a rare instance where the devil was being a perfect gentleman.

Leia thanked him for taking care of the meal and then stood, taking his arm and giving his hand a light pat, curving her palm over his knuckles. “What are you enjoying most here?” she asked. “Since this is your home planet, albeit in the future. Anything new that you weren’t expecting?”

“Actually, it’s the remnants of the past that I wasn’t expecting. The bridge, for example, is somehow still standing.” Or the fact that humanity hadn’t completely destroyed itself yet, but he didn’t feel the need to bring the mood down. “Of course technology has improved significantly, but we’ll still be touring Disneyland and I find it amazing that it’s stood the test of time.”

He stole a glance at Leia and smiled. “As to what I’m enjoying most? Good food and good company.” This evening was perfection.

“It’s incredible to see what’s able to stand the test of time while on the same hand, see what can be gone in the blink of an eye, hmn?” she mused lightly, her mind drifting to the losses of Alderaan, the entire Hosnian system, and yet knowing that the relics of temples had survived thousands of years on Yavin IV.

She looked up and smiled right back at him. “That’s always a plus, yes.”

“Indeed,” Lucifer said, knowing of some of the losses she’d faced, even if she was unaware that he knew. He fell silent for a bit, just enjoying the walk. And then he asked, “How are you finding earth? Anything here that’s surprised you?”

She started to shake her head then stopped. “Nothing that has surprised me, no. Though it is interesting to see how limited this universe is when it comes to space travel.” Leia had been meaning to ask Chris about that sometime. “In my world, beings have been traveling through space for centuries.”

“Technically it’s been centuries here too, it just took them a while to look past the moon? Most of this is entirely new to me though. I couldn’t believe it when Agent Carter told me I was in space, and not just in a hospital after wrecking my car or something.”

He laughed, remembering that initial conversation. “Also, seeing as how I’m not in your world’s own mythos, you should know I’ve been around for most of this universe’s existence. So young isn’t exactly accurate…”

She turned to him, surprised. “Really? Are you an immortal?” she asked. There were a lot of beings in her universe who lived a long time, and others that believed in gods or other immortals. Their religion, really, on Alderaan, had been steeped in the tradition of the Force. But she, as a politician, had known enough about others.

“For the most part, yes… Now that I’m here, I imagine there’s a slightly greater chance I could be killed.” There might even be a chance that his father was paying attention to him, but he wasn’t sure about that anymore. Apparently being flung through space and time had finally given Lucifer the sense that he was in control of his own life. Illusion or otherwise.

“I’m also the adversary in this world’s mythology, if they even still subscribe to it. But it’s always been a story heavily slanted against me.”

“Oftentimes when other people tell stories about you, those stories contain many inaccuracies.” Leia thought of her own life, of the “stories” that came out, the public outing of her bloodline, for one, her being called “Hutt-Slayer” in many underground circles. She had no control over how they were shared and told, even when she had tried to do damage control, as it were.

Giving Leia an appreciative glance, Lucifer nodded. “I knew there was a reason I liked you,” he said easily. “I should have worked up the nerve to speak to you months ago.”


Leia laughed at that, a deep throaty laugh, and she shook her head. “I will never understand what it is about men and being intimidated by me,” she said. That was true especially here. Back home she was in command, or she was a princess and respect and duty meant reverence. But here? She chuckled to herself.

“You have a commanding presence,” Lucifer replied easily, leaving out the part where he’d found her attractive since Episode IV. “Surely you can see that? But now that I’ve spent time with you I believe you’re not as intimidating as I may have thought. At least, not when you don’t want to be,” he added with a sly grin.

That was true, Leia thought. Though she didn’t always have much cause any longer for being soft and unintimidating. And she was certainly never motherly; Ben had made that very clear several times over. “Well, I’m glad to hear you can read me so well, Lucifer. Sometimes I do like just being myself. I don’t get to really just be me much anymore. At least, I didn’t, before coming here.”

“Well, anytime you want to be just yourself, you know how to find me. Especially if we’re on the ship and the lounge is open. Because I appreciate the opportunity to just be myself, as well.”

They were closing in on headquarters, and Lucifer smiled at Leia. “Thank you, for allowing me to take you to dinner. I hope we see more of each other on this trip.”

Leia nodded and stopped as they got into the plaza outside of the dormitory-style building in which their temporary quarters were. “You know how to find me,” she said, then impulsively leaned up and kissed his cheek with a smirk. “Thank you for dinner, Lucifer. I’ll see you later.”

Leia walked away but Lucifer remained rooted in place, his hand reaching to brush against his cheek where her lips had been. He watched as she entered the building and disappeared, smiling softly to himself, before he finally followed suit.

Princess Leia had just kissed him? This had been the perfect night.