Sabrina Spellman (pathofnight) wrote in valloic, @ 2020-10-08 06:50:00 |
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Just some daddy-daughter talkWARNINGS not really no
Salem sat at her feet, meowing as the elevator slowly began to rise. Sabrina ignored him, humming as she glanced down at the different printed photos from the ball, trying to figure out which of them she wanted to give Lucifer for his penthouse, which she wanted to put in her room above that ridiculous racecar bed, and which of them she wanted to keep back at the mortuary. Her familiar moved between her legs, demanding attention as the elevator doors slid open to reveal the penthouse above Lux, and Sabrina reached down, scooping him up so he wouldn’t try and trip her.
“Be nice,” she warned the cat before depositing him back down on the floor once she’d stepped out into the penthouse.
The cat fixed her with a pointed glare before bounding out into the rest, intent on exploring and getting into whatever mischief he could manage for however long they were there for. Sabrina kept flicking through the photos as plopped down on one of the couches.
“Dad?” Hopefully he was actually home.
He was still getting used to the new view from the lanai of his penthouse, the famous Los Angeles skyline replaced by Vallo’s and despite the two sharing tall modern buildings, not all that similar. Lucifer took a drag from the cigarette and blew out the smoke as he leaned on the railing, letting it curl lazily up into the air. The last few weeks, well more the entirety of his stay, continued to be quite busy between Lux and his fellow outlanders but he had little complaint.
How could he when he’d found a family again that he hadn’t known he could want or have?
As if on cue, he heard Sabrina’s voice call from the interior of the penthouse and a faint, soft smile appeared. One last drag on the cigarette and he ground it out in the ashtray in the corner, letting the smoke disappear into the sky before he stepped inside. The adjustment to the dimmer interior was brief and he spotted Sabrina on the couch. His daughter. Well maybe not his biological daughter but there was more to a bond than blood and the Lucifer of her world was lacking in all ways. Not fit to be a father anymore than his had been.
“Present,” he stated cheerfully before leaning down to kiss the top of her head. “Can I get you some coffee? Irish?”
“I have to go to work after this so just regular, but with a lot of sugar,” she told him, beaming as she looked up. The affection he doled out still took a bit of getting used to, but it was nice, something she definitely hadn’t expected to be on the receiving end of from her own version of Lucifer back in her world. But the one standing in front of her was far superior to that one in practically every way.
She hadn’t exactly trusted him much when she had first met him, but Lucifer had repeatedly shown her in the last few months that she could and that she could rely on him as well. It was a really nice change of pace.
Sabrina held up the photographs. “I got the prints back from the party. So we need to figure out which ones you can keep here to showcase in your penthouse,” she told him, handing them over in case he wanted to look through them as well. “There’s some with just us and also with Aunt Hilda and Archie.”
She caught sight of Salem moving around the apartment, no doubt in search of the perfect space to take a nap. “Also you may want to watch your feet because Salem is here.” And he was prone to try and trip people.
“Are we talking just enough to sweeten the bitter or to create a sludge?” he asked over his shoulder as he located two mugs. Morgan would be disappointed in the variety, which was to say there was absolutely none as he’d never given it much thought before. Now the two basic primary-colored cups seemed a bit dull in comparison to the chaos of the Mortuary’s collection. Though that he kept coffee on hand in the mornings at all was a testament to their influence on him.
He brought both mugs back to the couch and set Sabrina’s on the coffee table before her and the glass sugar container next to it. His own had a nice smooth kick of bourbon to it and he was pleased to find the taste well balanced on his first pour. “Now would one usually display one with his daughter and another with the adopted family of sorts?” Lucifer set his own mug down and took the photos from Sabrina, giving each one a studious eye.
Lucifer existed in pictures, as the owner of Lux to the random photo gone unnoticed during his brief visits topside. He had an instagram account but he used it to promote Lux, not personally. Parties and famous faces to draw in the crowds, not family and friends. The idea of them being so different was ludacris and yet as he looked through the photos, he felt it was harder to choose. “How about one of both and you choose for me? I’m having a hard time deciding which one I like the most.”
Ah Salem. The familiar refused to be charmed by him and Lucifer liked him all the more for the challenge. Trying to trip him up not so much. “Thank you for the warning. I assume he’s upped his game as he failed the last time,” Lucifer added, pitching his voice louder so that the cat would hear him wherever he’d gone off to. “I’m on to you.”
Sabrina snorted at that, spotting her familiar wind his way around the piano and she shook her head. That was probably not the best place to try and take a nap. He slinked away, heading off to explore further back into the penthouse. Maybe there was something he could sink his claws into this time around.
She absently waved a finger, getting a spoonful of sugar to float into her mug before letting the spoon swirl the mixture around on its own to help even it out in the coffee. She accepted the photos back, turning each of them over slowly before finally deciding on the two she liked best--one of the four of them smiling happily at the camera and then another of just the two of them making rather ridiculous faces. She knew Hilda would appreciate that she’d chosen at least one presentable photo to be displayed. “You’re going to need frames or cool magnets if you want to put them on the fridge.”
Sabrina picked up her coffee and took a long sip, pleased with the amount of sweetness to it before she leaned back against the couch. She’d had lunch with Chloe earlier in the week and while she’d been able to ask the detective a lot of questions, there were several she had been saving to ask Lucifer. Now seemed like as perfect a time as ever to do it. “So are you happy that Chloe is here?” she asked as she looked over the top of her mug and at him. “And also why does she make you vulnerable? And what exactly does vulnerable mean?”
Lucifer caught a glimpse of silky black fur before the familiar disappeared again. “I once heard someone refer to cats as little ninjas and I thought it ridiculous at the time. I’m starting to think they were on to something,” he muttered as he shot one last look towards the shadows Salem disappeared into before turning back to give Sabrina his full attention.
The two photos she chose came with a settling of warmth in his chest. He’d had a family for millenia, a dysfunctional, distanced, practically disowned him family that shaped the way he thought families should be. Hell only furthermore reinforced the idea as some chose that as their torture. In the last several years, a different view of family took form, one of choice. First in Los Angeles and now here in Vallo, each one as meaningful as the other but with its own unique characteristics. “Certainly frames. I suppose I’m going to have to start a wall instead as these are possibly the beginning,” he said, his slight smile soft and fond as he leaned to bump shoulders with her.
Resting his arm on the couch’s back, he twisted slightly to better face Sabrina, the other hand holding his coffee mug steady on his knee. “The last time I saw her, I broke her heart by telling her I had to return to Hell. Make sure demons and the damned alike stayed where they were meant to. All possibility of what we could have had just...gone in the blink of an eye and that was the image that stayed with me for years.” Time moved differently in Hell and the Silver City than it did on Earth, decades and months and days flowing together. “This is my second chance with her, I believe, and I am not going to waste it this time.” It was incredibly honest and yet he knew he could trust his daughter even if they were from different worlds at first.
Her next question caught him just as he took a drink of coffee however and he nearly choked, managing to swallow before it returned to the mug in a less than charming image befitting the Devil. “She mentioned th - of course she would, she’s very honest.” And he likely would have mentioned it in his own time. In fact he could imagine the look Linda would be giving him right now for his initial reaction to the question. “Her presence close by makes me mortal, able to be harmed by weapons and attacks that I otherwise would not be,” he explained slowly, choosing his words carefully. “My father sent Amenadiel to bless her mother with child after a long difficulty with conceiving and none of us, Amenadiel, myself, Chloe, realized that she was the miracle baby until a picture of that brief encounter surfaced. We don’t know anymore than that, why I react to her presence in such a way, and until that picture it was a mystery entirely.”
Sabrina scrunched her nose as she took in everything that he was telling her. It was a lot of information to process and she wasn’t entirely sure which part to latch onto first. The thought of him being vulnerable was one that she didn’t like now that she knew what it meant. Not that he would have much of a reason to get in front of any weapons or be attacked by anyone else...except for when he was on patrol. Was Chloe going to do patrol with him? That could complicate things.
And then there was the whole years passing in Hell thing that he’d mentioned and Sabrina was fairly certain that Chloe and him might be soulmates of some kind or possibly that Chloe had been created by the False God--was she supposed to call him grandpa now? Nope. There were too many bad options fluttering through her head all at once, so she was going to focus on the good part.
“So does that mean the two of you are a couple then?” she asked, clutching tightly to the mug. Salem made his way to her, maneuvering himself onto her lap to offer some comfort for the worry that was quickly building up inside of her.
Sabrina’s question was more difficult to answer than he expected. Truth be told, he hadn’t asked himself that question either as if he was afraid to break the tenuous reconnection between them now that Chloe was part of the Vallo community. Not just that but new difficulties arose with the idea that as quickly as they had been reunited, she could be taken away from him.
Just as Sabrina could or her family. The friends he’d made. It was a ridiculous thing to focus on and yet as heartless and cruel as the church insisted on him being, Lucifer Morningstar had far too much heart to fit the image painted of him. Once he cared they became his people.
“Before I left to return to Hell, I confessed to her that she was my first love,” Lucifer admitted softly, his usual silken verbosity tripped up by unfamiliar vulnerability. Sabrina was his daughter after all and she had been somewhat open with him. He also felt that he could trust her with the truth. “Since her arrival we have been figuring out where we stand in regards to each other and while there are no foreseeable obstacles, I hesitate to consider us a couple just yet until it’s been mutually decided on.” Lucifer huffed out a breath and rolled his eyes. “And now I sound like every bleeding heart out there through history, looking on with mooney eyes and waxing poetic instead of getting a move on.”
“Your secret is safe with me. I won’t tell anyone.” She nodded toward her familiar who was watching them intently from the place he’d finally decided on, tail swishing back and forth. If it was possible for a cat to have a mischievous look in their eyes, Salem would have been sporting one. “I can’t say the same for him though.”
And one never quite knew what Vallo would decide to do with the people they loved. Sabrina had lost and regained her aunt in just a few months, watched various friends lose loved ones to whatever forces governed who arrived and who was sent back home. They had so little say in anything that truly happened to them. It was maddening not to be able to control it, to simply be at its mercy. But it also had made her realize that there was no point in putting things off any longer. The chances just slipped through one’s fingers and never stood a chance of repeating in Vallo. If someone left there was no guarantee they would return.
Which was why she was going full steam ahead with her relationship with Archie. Who knew how long he’d remain in Vallo and she wanted to carve out a little romance for herself while she could. “You really should make it official though. Why waste time wondering if you’re together when instead you could actually enjoy being together?” Sabrina pointed out, before adding a little more sugar to her coffee.
“I’m not calling her mom though.”
“Indeed. However I am not above bringing catnip into it so if he knows what is good for him and his dignity, he won’t purr a word to a soul...or non-soul. I wouldn’t want to leave that loophole hanging out there in case someone happens to be missing theirs,” He wasn’t worried that Salem might let slip his secret anyway. The adversarial relationship between the two of them seemed to remain on friendly terms. Of course not being fluent in Cat meant he couldn’t ask.
He started to bring the mug to his lips but found himself distracted, an eyebrow arching at Sabrina’s quick to the point observation. “Look at you, all carpe diem! and such,” Lucifer stated, grinning proudly. The second attempted sip didn’t get much farther than the first which he was thankful for. Given the nature of the comment, he might’ve experienced hot liquid coming out of his nose and he couldn’t see anything pleasurable about that. “Good...my father. Please don’t call her that, at least not yet. Though she would most likely take it better than I initially did and you do remind me of the detective in some regards.”
The third time was the charm and he finally took a sip of coffee, studying Sabrina as he did so. “Now I’m sure this disposition of yours didn’t spring up from arising on the right side of the bed as opposed to the wrong one. What is his name? Or her name? Don’t worry about me interrogating them. I’ll leave that to Dan of course,” Lucifer pressed, leaning in slightly.
Salem simply rolled onto his back for his reply, not dignifying any of it with an answer. Sabrina shook her head at their antics. It was never going to get old. “It’s our quick wit, isn’t it?” Probably also stubbornness, because she was pretty sure she’d picked up that Chloe had a pretty big streak of that from their lunch together. One needed it to go toe to toe with her dad in any sort of conversation. But good. No calling her mom. She could handle this then.
At the question about who it was, Sabrina couldn’t help but lean back against the couch, a completely goofy expression on her face. “It’s Archie. The redhead I went to the ball with,” Sabrina explained, nodding toward the young man who stood beside her in a few of the photos. The corners of her mouth pulled into an even bigger grin before she sighed. “Technically we’re like from the same universe but alternates of one another’s and in his world, he already knew me. And he knew that I was a witch.” That had probably been the weirdest part of it because the way he told it the whole gang had known about her magic for a while. She’d only revealed that truth to her own friends a few months before arriving in Vallo. “He’s from a zombie version of our world though. Having to deal with a zombie apocalypse because you know, of course that’s a thing.”
“Plus he lives at the mortuary with us.” Which made meeting up for makeout sessions so much easier.
“That would be part of it, yes.” In fact it was one of the first things that Lucifer noticed about her. Even by discussion over a network forum he could tell she was quick on the wit and as stubborn to back it up. Sabrina rarely backed down, if at all, and once she set her mind to something he imagined it was highly improbable she would be persuaded otherwise. “The other be a perplexing mixture of mysteries that slowly reveal themselves that is both intriguing and at times annoying.” And he meant every word of that as a compliment. Like Chloe, Sabrina didn’t let him off easy and instead kept him on his toes, making him work for his win. Good challenges became farther and fewer between as one grew older.
He picked up the topmost picture to get a good look at the redheaded boy even though he’d seen him fairly often that night at the ball and at the Mortuary occasionally when he stopped in to see the residents. “Ah ha, an alternate version of your world’s yet something familiar to your world,” he reasoned out. An alternate universe within the confines of a certain world. Not entirely unfamiliar but still reasonably complicated when trying to lay it out in simpler terms. “Nice young man, polite. I did like him,” he added as he put the photo back down. “It seems like you two make a good match should we find ourselves battling hordes again. He has a powerful witch on his side and you have an experienced survivalist. You’ll only make each other better.”
There were times when he was sure a mistake had been made and Sabrina was actually his daughter by biology as impossible as it was. “Once school begins, that will probably make studying together much easier,” Lucifer deadpanned. It was the truth and yet a loophole in him always telling the truth. A certain twist to the words, a change in tone, and he conveyed that he understood the reasoning behind her words quite well. “You’re going to make Daniel acquire new gray hairs, I’m sure. Possibly end up getting The Talk.” He grinned. “Not that I would mind so much getting The Talk from him. Or Ms. Allison. They’re quite lucky to have found each other.”
“There are definite benefits that I’m more than happy to make the most of.” Sabrina had to press her lips tightly together so as not to laugh at the little twist of his words or the statement about The Talk. So many grown ups were weird about that. Like her Aunt Hilda who always spelled out s-e-x instead of just simply saying the word.
“Oh, we talked about sex ages ago so no need for that to happen again.” It had been a far better conversation than whenever Zelda or Hilda brought it up. One aunt was always going about the virtues, pleasure and power behind it, while the other kept reminding her that she didn’t need to do anything she didn’t want to. It had always made for fairly amusing conversations. Considering orgies and various forays into sex magic were a fairly common occurence in her world, it was almost miraculous that she still remained a virgin. But that wasn’t something she was bringing up right then and there.
“But yeah, I think we make a pretty good couple.” She looked down at the photographs, brushing her fingers over the one of her and Archie together. “He’s really been there for me since stupid Pandemonium showed up.” Helped her not feel so foreign and awful about being tied to the place.
“That’s my girl.” Given his experience with her aunt before her disappearance, he doubted the issue was as much the embarrassment portrayed by American media. He never saw the issue in hiding enjoyment of pleasure as long as all parties were consenting and legal but some seemed to take issue in the mere utterance of the word ‘sex’. Which just made Lucifer say it four more times until said source of shame was redder than a freshly ripe tomato.
Lucifer rolled his eyes. “If anyone thinks that outside of teasing you, I’d worry for them and their Puritan tendencies overriding their common sense. Sex happens and as long as it is consensual and legal - well, age-wise - then have fun with it. Don’t let anyone bloody pressure you into something you don’t feel like doing,” he added, waving his free hand in the air. “Or don’t have sex. Or have sex with yourself. However if you have an orgy, make sure you designate a master or mistress of ceremony or else it just becomes one chaotic mess that is fun for no one.”
His expression softened at the mention of Pandemonium. Having someone there for her who wasn’t another Hell-tied entity was certainly an upside as well. “How are you doing with that bloody place?” he asked.
He sounded almost exactly like her cousin in that moment. Sabrina was pretty sure Ambrose had told her nearly the exact same thing the day after she’d walked in on him having an orgy in his room around Thanksgiving. She’d tried to smother him with a pillow, but that obviously hadn’t worked since he was still breathing. But the question about Pandemonium had her focusing on that instead.
Sabrina sunk back against the couch, letting her head fall back against it. She stared up at the ceiling, not quite sure how to answer that question. “I don’t know,” she started, letting out a long sigh. Salem sensed the agitation that seemed to stir inside of her whenever she thought about or discussed it, and hopped off the spot he’d been sunning in. He made his way over to her, rubbing up against her legs before moving up to settle on her lap.
His presence brought about a small sense of calm. “It’s not leaking its awfulness out into the world anymore so that’s good. But I still check in on it from time to time to make sure its not,” she told him as she started to pet the cat. “My therapist says I need to work on accepting it in my life. Which nope.” Not going to happen.
He couldn’t help it. Lucifer snorted dismissively at the therapist’s idea. Hardly a helpful reaction he was sure but he didn’t agree with it. “They are quite concerned about accepting something problematic, aren’t they?” He glanced down at the familiar that made his way over to Sabrina and as much as they butted heads, a friendly rivalry of sorts, he was glad the cat seemed to know when she needed him the most.
“You could accept it, I suppose, and sit on the throne and congratulations...you’re the Queen of Pandemonium.” Lucifer raised his hands half-heartedly, lack of excitement accompanying his statement. “Or you be the rebel. This place can throw what it wants at you but you get to decide how you use it or if you use it at all. An oversimplification as sometimes the circumstances don’t allow for how we’d like but it doesn’t mean we have to do all that is pushed at us.”
Sabrina honestly didn’t see the point in accepting it. Not in Vallo. It was just a building that didn’t mean anything to the natives, didn’t hold any sway over anyone or anything. It wasn’t like the world was going to crumble into chaos if she shirked whatever her duties were supposed to be. And it helped that Lucifer seemed to agree with her, even if her therapist was saying something completely different. “I mean its not like accepting it here and wearing the dumb crown secures the cosmos or whatever anyway,” Sabrina reasoned. Time wasn’t collapsing. Angels weren’t attacking. It was fine.
In Vallo she could be a sixteen year old girl with mostly typical sixteen year old problems. No matter what it kept deciding to throw at her. “Plus the crown just gets tangled in my hair and the dresses are super uncomfortable. You’d think demons would be better tailors after so many centuries of practice.”
“If anything, Vallo seems to be entirely separate from any kind of Heaven or Hell, at least that you or I would be accustomed to.” Lucifer had his wings still but he’d found early on that a place to go other than this new world was still lacking. “It probably has its own if any and not one that we would be ruling or responsible for, so I don’t care to know much more.”
He held up a finger and stood up from the couch, placing his mug on the coffee table. “Hold that thought,” he called over his shoulder and disappeared up the few stairs into his bedroom. Returning a moment later, he held up the tiara he’d retrieved from his safe. “Demons do not know the first thing about tailoring. I certainly would not trust them with my inseams,” he stated. “This was a gift from Queen Victoria,” Lucifer added, indicating the tiara he held before sinking down to a knee. “Try this one and see if it stays free of tangling.”
Sabrina shook her head as he sunk to his knee, though she accepted the tiara. It was a lot lighter than the golden bone crown that she had back at Pandemonium. Prettier too. “I just need you to know that you’re ridiculous,” she told him before carefully placing it on top of her head.
She looked over at Salem, motioning toward it. Her familiar stared at her for a moment before closing his eyes, ready for another nap. “I’m going to say that was his approval.” He hadn’t batted it off her head so it was close enough.
“I’m incredibly charming. That’s why people give me gifts when I take my leave of our time spent together,” Lucifer replied cheekily, rising back to his feet after she took the tiara. “Just as I thought. Suits you much better than the bones. Just because you’re a ruler of Hell doesn’t mean you need to look like you took up abstract bone art in your spare time,” he added with a hint of disdain.
He glanced towards the cat. “I thought that was what disinterest was in a cat,” he quipped. “Consider it yours. It does look better on you than me and I’m sure Vicki would be pleased to know it’s going to a young woman such as yourself.”
“When he does that to you it definitely is. He’d have wandered off somewhere else if he was disinterested in what I was showing. I’m just happy he didn’t try to bat it out of my hair.” And get his paw tangled in it like he had done with the bone crown. That had been an absolute mess.
“But thanks,” Sabrina, fixing the tiara until it was how she wanted it to be. “I might actually wear this one around places.” She probably wouldn’t. Though it was much more subtle than the other monstrosity.
“Ah, of course. What with you being his familiar and myself just being the Devil,” Lucifer replied, motioning with a finger between himself and Sabrina. “He’s going to realize how awesome it is to know me someday and rue the time he’s wasted sticking his nose up in the air.” That wasn’t to say he wasn’t enjoying their odd little rivalry that wasn’t truly a rivalry. They weren’t so much competing as bantering back and forth as much as one could when the other party didn’t talk.
“You’re welcome.” He stepped around the coffee table and reclaimed his spot and the mug. “Otherwise things are going well for you?”
“I am just enjoying the last few weeks of summer before school starts again, so yeah. Things are pretty great.” It was nice, which meant that it probably wouldn’t last, but Sabrina was steadfastly not going to think about that or allow herself to fall down the hole of constantly worrying and waiting for the shoe to drop. It would happen eventually and until it did she was going to enjoy herself. Hopefully.
She added some more sugar to her mug, deciding it needed a little more sweetness before looking back at him. “Are things good for you?”
“What is that like, counting down the last few days of summer before school? Does that prompt dread? Excitement?” His only real point of view on the matter was movies and those could hardly be considered accurate to real life. It was one of the many experiences he’d missed out on and Chloe’s experience wasn’t the standard either. While it wasn’t something he was interested in experiencing for himself, he couldn’t help the slight curiosity, especially where Sabrina was concerned.
Lucifer took a drink before he responded. “On all fronts. The club is doing well and so are...other things,” he added, catching himself before he traumatized Sabrina with revealing too much and taking another drink instead.
“I mean I like school and I go to a witch academy where I get to learn magic so excitement for me.” Back home it had meant spending time doing mortal things with her friends so she’d enjoyed it there most times as well. There were the occasional moments of dread for one thing or another, but Sabrina knew she was a nerd. Especially in regards to things she actually wanted to learn.
She caught that whole drinking instead of expanding, thankful that unlike her oversharing cousin, Lucifer had managed to reel himself in. “But I’m glad things are going well for you too.”
“That is true. Your high school experience isn’t typical either,” Lucifer murmured thoughtfully, “and the subjects are a bit more interesting than math and English.” Though she did have to take those as well with the high school background. He sunk down in the couch, entirely comfortable.
He held his mug up to her. “To lives going in the right direction or something like it.”
“I don’t mind either of those. I liked them when I did them back home at my high school with my friends, but I don’t really need them here.” She’d made a name for herself already with the different covens of Vallo and had embraced her witch side much more than she back home. It was easier to do when her friends that she didn’t know since kindergarten weren’t around. She didn’t have the same ties to that life anymore.
But right. She held up her mug, tapping it gently against his in agreement. “At least for now they are.” Knowing Vallo, there would be a kink thrown in soon enough.