#lucifer Magne x oc

[hazbininlove]

Hopelessly Devoted

Chapter 1

-About 5k of worldbuilding and angst

There’s an angel in Heaven few know of. Some wonder if she purposely let herself be forgotten, and others know that her isolation isn’t entirely her own fault.

Heaven’s structure wasn’t as simple as Hell’s mainly due to the fact that there were so many roles to play. Not every Archangel and or Virtue was a Seraphim. Seraphim has always been the highest rank, but even amongst themselves there was another ranking system not many knew of, and even they had other angels that outranked them due solely to the Divine’s words. Everyone had their own task, some, the Archangels, were given their tasks directly from the Divine.

The Seven, as they were called, were the Capital Virtues, angels with the rank of Archangel, dedicated undoubtedly to the Divine’s will. As extensions of the Divine, they were rarely seen within any city of Heaven besides possibly the Primum Mobile, where the Divine resided. Few winners were allowed there because only Virtuous Souls could enter those gates. While there were many virtues, the Seven were the ones to look towards to enforce the Divine’s will both in Heaven, and on Earth.

And within that Primum Mobile, the Heaven of the Angels, resides a Seraphim with the rank of Archangel, not a virtue but an angel nearly as old. She’s been around since before the Earth’s creation, long before the Garden of Eden.

She remained there in the Primum Mobile, kept within the walls of the palace, free to leave but knowing it was best to stay. Michael looked upon her, saddened by her melancholy that has not left her for thousands of years. She sat within the library, her black hair falling down her back in gentle waves as wisps of hair fell towards her midnight blue eyes. The two streaks of white weaves through her hair on either side of her. Her lips were set in a straight line, the blue circular marks on the corner of her mouth a stark contrast to the gray of her skin. She flipped the page of her book as he approached, and when she sensed him, she looked up to him with a soft smile on her face.

“Michael, always a pleasure,” she says, and though her tone is welcoming, Michael can still see the pain within her eyes when she looks at him. It breaks his heart knowing exactly why it’s there, but he feels no regret for following the task that the Divine gave him. He knows she understands this, but he also knows that it does nothing to ease her suffering, and nothing has for eons.

“Esther, my dear, when was the last time you left these walls?”

She looks away from him and back to her book, her fingers absently toying with the pages. “I sat in the Garden with Ramiel a few days ago.”

He sighs, knowing that it likely took weeks just to get her to do that much.

“You aren’t confined here, not anymore, and you know that. I know we… I made the mistake of keeping you here long ago as a precaution but that was centuries ago now. You are free to roam the cities as you once did, to roam Earth should you choose to! It pains us to see you like this,” he says, reaching forward to tuck some of her hair behind her ear. His hand slides down her cheek towards her chin to lift her face and see her eyes. “We miss our Eveningstar.”

“I am the Seraph and Archangel of balance, and yet I feel none,” she whispers to him, and his heart breaks for her. “I understand why I was kept here, you know I’ve never questioned the Divine’s words, but it does nothing to fill the emptiness I feel. A half of me is gone, Michael, and I’ll never get him back. Your Eveningstar is here, but my Morningstar is forever out of reach.”

His hand moves back to her cheek, and her eyes flutter closed and she leans into his touch.

“If I gave you a task, one that forced you out of these walls, would you follow it?” He asks her gently.

“A task from you means a task sent from the Divine. Of course I will follow it,” she replies, her voice a bit louder now, with a hint of playfulness. He knows she isn’t happy about it, but as she said, she will follow if that is what the Divine asks of her.

“Gabriel gave me the message, as he thought it was best that I give it to you. There is apparently a meeting today for the Head Council of the first Sphere, one that Sera seemed to not notify us of. The Divine knows, of course, but wouldn’t speak more of it. All Gabriel said was that you were to go to this meeting, assess what Sera is keeping from us, and report back.”

Michael didn’t care much for Sera. She was nice enough, and her devotion was clear, but there was something about her that reminded him a bit of his brother. She wasn’t a dreamer, and she knew when to keep her head down and voice quiet, but she also looked too calculating and too ambitious.

“It sounds like you are keeping something from me as well,” Esther replies, looking at him through narrowed eyes.

He was keeping something from her. He knows it’s best to tell her now instead of letting her be surprised later, but there’s no easy way to say it. “Gabriel has reason to believe that the request for the meeting came from Hell.”

He watches her eyes widen a bit, her jaw falling just slightly as she leans away from his hand. He tries to follow, to keep her grounded, but she leans closer to him now. “If the meeting came from Hell, that can only mean that he requested it.”

“Yes.”

Her breath stutters, and he can see her visibly shaken. “Thousands of years kept here to ensure I don’t see him and all of a sudden, I’m asked to go see him? Michael, what is going on?”

“I don’t know,” he responds, truthful in his answers. He won’t lie to her, he can’t, but he wishes that he could. “If it was up to me, I’d go myself, but Gabriel said that the task was given only to you. I don’t know if it will be him, or Lilith, or… or their daughter. All Gabriel was able to say was that it has something to do with Hell.”

He hates having to be the one to remind her that the Morningstar moved on and had a child. He remembers the day that Gabriel delivered the news. He’d watched as she’d stretched her wings before curling the highest pair over her eyes as she turned and walked away from them, hiding herself deeper into the palace. They hadn’t seen a single tear fall, but Michael still recalls the small broken sound she’d made before hiding away from the rest of them.

He watches again now as her wings settle behind her with a flurry of silver dust, and she stands from her seat. The wings closest to her head, just as before, curl around her, concealing her face from view once more. Her lowest pair curls around her legs, still giving her room to walk but still wrapped like a comforting embrace. The middle pair don’t wrap around her, but they remain limp behind her as if there wasn’t a single bone in them.

“When is the meeting?” She asks him quietly, her voice barely above a whisper. He wants to reach out and comfort her, but she’s already moving towards the door.

“Tomorrow,” he replies. He watches her pause at the doorway for a moment before she turns slightly towards him. Her face is still hidden from him but she gives him a small bow of her head in acknowledgment before walking away.

He has a terrible feeling about this, but he can’t do anything about it. All he can do is trust the Divine as he too leaves the library, letting his own pair of wings come out as he flies back to where he’d last seen Gabriel.

——————————

Charlie recalls being in Heaven and seeing an angel with dark hair and midnight blue eyes. Her skin was gray, just slightly darker than Vaggie’s, and her cheeks had blue circles on them, much like her own and her father’s red cheek marks. She could tell the woman was a high ranking angel, based on the six wigs like her father’s though hers were blue on the inside where he father’s were a deep red. She was beautiful, just as all the other angels there, but there was something about her that felt familiar.

What really got Charlie had been the angel’s eyes. She smiled at those who greeted her, keeping her expression kind and welcoming, but her smile never reached her eyes. It almost looked like she wasn’t truly seeing the people she was speaking to, a far away look in her eyes. She kept her interactions to a minimum.

When Charlie had asked Emily about her, she watched the Seraphim of Joy’s eyes widen happily before abruptly tensing and looking nervous. She looked between Charlie and the other angel with fidgeting hands and cleared her throat.

“That’s Esther…. She’s the Eveningstar,” Emily had said.

Charlie remembers tensing as well, looking back to where she was walking in a new direction. She’s wanted to approach Esther, to say something, but she kept herself rooted in her spot. What could she even say? Hi, I’m Charlie Morningstar, you know the daughter your other half had with someone else!

And how stupid would that sound? Did Esther even know of Charlie’s existence? Did she know that Charlie was even there?

And then she saw her in the meeting. Even Sera had seemed surprised to see her, but Esther kept her gaze on Charlie the whole time. Charlie’s heart nearly broke seeing that far away look in your eyes clear for a moment, likely seeing her resemblance to her father. Esther’s smile never faltered, but there was definitely a sadder quality to it.

Sera seemed to want to continue speaking to her, but she’d excused herself and flew to a higher viewing point beside Emily. Sera looked frustrated, but hadn’t said more, just flew to join them on the podium.

And then that disastrous meeting had happened. Esther had seemed as receptive as Emily, until the moment Adam slipped and mentioned the exterminations. Esther’s eyes had widened, she hadn’t said much, but Charlie could see the glow around her increasing in size and the anger in her expression.

She’d been flung back to hell before she could hear how that ended.

And now, just days since her hotel was rebuilt after the destruction Adam caused, she hadn’t expected to see a portal open in the sky just outside her hotel and Esther come flying down.

The portal had alerted all of them. They rushed to get weapons ready, her dad already had his wings out and ready until they saw who it was. The others kept their weapons up, but Charlie dropped her weapon in surprise and watched as her dad’s wings drooped and his eyes widened in shock.

Esther looked as beautiful as she did the last time Charlie saw her. Her black hair fell around her face and down just past her shoulders in waves. She still had that same sad, soft smile on her face, though her eyes looked more present. Her wings, just as large and radiant as her father’s, fluttered gently around her to keep her afloat.

Charlie watches as Esther looks to her dad briefly before focusing her attention back to herself. She could feel her dad’s confused gaze as Esther approached her, her smile dropping to a frown as she spoke.

“I apologize that I couldn’t be here soon and stop them. Things in Heaven have been… hectic, to say the least. But I wanted to let you know in person that I’ve been doing everything I can to make sure these exterminations never happen again,” Esther said. Her voice is melodic, but soft and almost airy. It felt so different from her father’s richer tone of voice. She sounded and looked so apologetic as she spoke, and based on her reaction back in the meeting, Charlie didn’t doubt that she truly was. “Sera did a great job of keeping her secrets, but the other Seraphim have been made aware, including the Seven, have been made aware now, and they won’t allow for further oversight.”

Charlie cheers with her friends, all excited about the news that there would be no further exterminations, but she could see her dad’s uncertain expression.

“You expect me to believe that the others, that Michael, are just going to leave us alone?” Lucifer asks, his tone doubtful.

Charlie watches as Esther’s wings rattle, the feathers ruffling just slightly, and her eyes close. She takes a deep breath before she turns to Lucifer with a sad expression, her frown deepening. “We haven’t seen each other in eons, and that is the first thing you say to me, Morningstar?”

Lucifer tenses further, pulled tight like a band ready to snap. He looks properly scolded in a way Charlie hasn’t seen anyone besides herself or her mother be capable of.

“It’s uh…it’s been a while? How’ve you been, Eveningstar? You don’t look like you’ve aged a day past a thousand!”

Oh, he’s nervous. Her dad only rambled like that when he was nervous. It’d be a bit funny, if it wasn’t so awkward and a little sad to see him so anxious when confronted by the person who might as well be his soulmate. He was trying to look anywhere but at her, his hands moving sporadically as he fixed his collar, patted down his sleeves, or adjusted his hat.

Her wings curl around her, the top most moving to shield her face, but she doesn’t completely hide it from view. Her dad doesn’t see her expression, still caught up in trying to force his attention anywhere else, but he sees her wings shift, and by the time he looks back, Esther has focused back on Charlie.

“Azrael may come down, as the angel of death, he’s the most upset by this, but Michael is more upset by Sera’s lies than anything else. Unless it is something that directly affects the Divine and Heaven’s safety, he’ll stay in his place. As of now, your actions are seen as a necessary sign of self defense, and that is something even Michael can acknowledge. Unless you plan to directly attack Heaven, Michael has no need to act.”

It’s a relief, and it’s clear on her face because Esther’s smile grows a bit more warm, and a bit more genuine. And just as quickly as it was there, her smile fell again when her dad mumbled “He sure didn’t hesitate to act when I gave Eve the apple.”

“Well luckily self-defense and allowing evil into the world seem to be offenses on opposite sides of the spectrum,” Esther replied, glaring down at him. She wasn’t as tall as Charlie, but she was taller than Vaggie and her dad. Her dad grumbles a bit but doesn’t say anything else, thankfully.

Esther quickly looks to Charlie once more, her smile now a bit sharper due to her annoyance with Lucifer, but kind all the same.

“Wait a sec,” Angel Dust interrupts, stepping forward. “What the actual fuck is going on? We’re just going to ignore the fact that these two know each other?” he asks, pointing between Lucifer and Esther. “And Eveningstar? Morningstar? Hello?!”

“Angel, for once, consider shutting the fuck up,” Vaggie says, groaning as she looks over at the taller sinner.

“What?” Angel whines back. “You can’t expect me to not be surprised when meeting an angel older than Earth who isn’t trying to kill me!””

“I suppose I should introduce myself. I apologize for not doing so earlier,” Esther said, turning to the larger group. “My name is Esther Eveningstar, the Archangel of balance. It’s a pleasure to meet you all.”

“So are you two related or some shit?” Husk asks, just as confused as the rest. Lucifer looks disgusted at the thought, and Esther looks horrified.

“Oh Heavens, no!” Her wings fluttered a bit, and Charlie couldn’t help but be impressed how expressive she was with her wings. “We were um… well…”

“We are a pair,” Lucifer interrupts, looking distraught and completely hurt by her struggle to put their relationship into words. “We’re the original pair.”

Esther looks sad, eyes downcast and her hands fidgeting with the skirt of her dress. “Yes, a pair. We were named the sphere we were created for, Venus, the Morning and Evening Star, the closest to Earth, the first and last seen as the Sun rises and falls. I was created after Lucifer, as a companion… a pair. An even balance.”

“And yet, you spent more time apart than together! How interesting,” Alastor adds. Esther visibly deflates at this, and Lucifer’s teeth grit as his sclera briefly shifts to red.

“Yes, well, things happen, of course! I mean, given the universe's track record I think it’s fair to say that forcing a pair is never for the best. I mean, when has it ever worked, right?” she replies, an awkward chuckle as she continues to stretch the fabric of her dress.

“Hold on now,” Lucifer says, taking a step towards her. She seems to lean towards him, giving herself just that one moment, before she flinches and takes a step back. Lucifer pauses too, unsure of what to do. His voice grows softer, much more gentle now than the awkward banter of earlier. “We worked. We work! We definitely work. I mean, they were based on us!”

“And they separated rather quickly, didn’t they?” Esther asked back, knowing exactly what he was talking about. “Then the next wanted more, and you wanted someone else. How many pairs were made after that?”

The Story of Hell, Charlie realizes quickly. They’re talking about Adam and Lilith being a failed pair, followed by Eve’s temptation for more knowledge despite being created specifically for Adam from a piece of Adam’s own body. And the fall, wanting someone else; Esther didn’t have the book. She didn’t know Lucifer’s and Lilith’s side. To her, Lucifer had abandoned her for someone else, for Lilith.

“No, Esther, no, please, you can’t honestly tell me that you believe that. You know I didn’t leave you for someone else. You know, I never meant to let evil in, or to fall, or- or any of it! Please, Es, you have to know that,” Lucifer pleads with her.

And Charlie sees the exact moment, when her dad reaches out to touch her, that Esther sees her dad’s hand, shifts her eyes to look directly at Charlie, and looks back at Lucifer with a look that looks so much like defeat and acceptance that it nearly makes Charlie feel sick.

Vaggie’s hand squeezes her own, and Charlie knows she saw it too. The worst part is, she knows Esther isn’t blaming her, isn’t putting any fault on her, but part of her feels like she is the problem here. If she hadn’t been born, would this whole situation have been different? Would their reunion have been more pleasant, or heartfelt?

“I know you didn’t mean for evil to find its way to Earth, or for Hell’s creation,” Esther says back, just as gentle as Lucifer’s when he spoke, and just as broken. It doesn’t escape any of them that she said nothing about being left for someone else, because at the end of the day, Lucifer may not have fallen in love with anyone else, but that didn’t mean he remained entirely faithful either. And while it seemed that he had moved on, likely the way so many in Heaven believed, she had not. And Charlie couldn’t blame her. The majority of Hell’s residents, he’ll born and sinner alike, didn’t even know her part in the story. Most books erased her part entirely and made her parent’s story one of love. Her parent’s never even married.

Esther takes a step away from them, away from Lucifer, and she pretends she doesn’t see his heart break as he looks at her with eyes overflowing with pain.

Instead, Charlie watches as Esther’s attention is focused back on her once more. “Gabriel also wanted me to mention that your hotel works, and the Divine would be pleased to see you continue with this plan of yours. Sinner has arrived at the first Sphere, a being by the name of Sir Pentious, I believe Emily said.”

“What?” Charlie gasps, shock taking over. Beside her, Vaggie has let go of her hand to grab her shoulders, shaking her a bit. “It- It worked?! Sir Pentious is alive?!”

Esther smiles at her and takes her hands, bringing them together. “He is doing well, as far as the reports say. Emily has tasked herself with taking care of him.”

It doesn’t take long for Charlie to start sobbing. Esther looks flustered, unsure of what to do, but Vaggie brings her closer into a hug and Esther’s hands drop from hers.

“You hear that, Vaggie? We did it! Sir Pentious is in Heaven now,” she says between sobs, grabbing at the back of Vaggie’s shirt. She feels Vaggie patting her hair, shushing her a bit to try and calm her.

”Holy shit, it actually works! Well damn, guess it’s time to get serious, huh?” Angel remarks from the side. Vaggie gives him a glare, likely at the implication that he hadn’t been taking them seriously before, and his second set of arms raise in defense.

“So the big fella upstairs isn’t about to smite us or something?” Husk asks, pushing Angel out of the way.

”Of course not! The Divine is always just in punishment and forgiveness. Human souls are the Divine’s children just as the angels. All are worthy of forgiveness should they seek it and work virtuously towards it. Forgiveness is not easy to obtain, but it is worth the effort,” Esther explains to them.

“But, why now? Why didn’t any of this come up before the Exterminations were started?” Vaggie asks.

Esther shakes her head. “It is not my place to question the Divine. Rarely are we given clear answers, usually just a push in the direction that leads us where we need to go. I must keep my belief that everything happens for a reason the Divine chooses. Every task we are given is from the Divine, and we follow it without question.”

”So he probably knew of the extermination and knew that Sera chick was keeping secrets this whole time, and just let it happen?” Angel adds. Esther visibly winces.

”It sounds terrible, I know. None of us are happy about it. But again, we have to trust there is a reason for all of this. There is a reason that now is the time to put an end to it. I believe it’s because of you, Charlie,” she says, smiling towards her.

”Me?”

Esther chuckles at her incredulous reply. “You may be hellborn but… you are the daughter of an angel. You’re a demon, yes, but you’re also technically a Nephilim.”

”What’s a Nephilim?” Nifty asks, having climbed up onto Alastor’s shoulders. Esther smiles up at her.

“A Nephilim is a child born of an angel and a human.” She looks back at Charlie now. “You’ve certainly got an interesting mix in you; a Seraphim, a Human, and a Demon all combined. Not only that, but the first of each kind! I believe if anyone would be capable of bringing upon redemption for the souls of sinners, it would be someone capable of understanding both sides.”

She laughs a bit at the awestruck looks they are shifting between her and Charlie. She didn’t think it would be that surprising, considering it’s no secret that Lucifer was not only a Seraphim, but a Archangel and Virtue himself, but it seems Lucifer didn’t mention much about Heaven to her.

“I will be returning every so often, to check on your progress as well as keep you up to date on the status of Heaven. As I mentioned before, Sera will be punished for her actions. How the Divine chooses to do so has yet to be seen, but Gabriel and Michael will likely be the ones to deal with that. Now,” she says, her tone lowering slightly as she turns back to Lucifer, expression once again tense. “Samael, a word in private, please?”

She bows slightly to the group before turning and walking away. Charlie looks around in confusion as to who Samael was, if another angel had been with her, when see’s her dad’s shoulders raise and back straighten. He shifts slightly on his feet before trudging behind her, dragging his feet the whole time.

”Am I missing something else? Who the fuck is Samael?” Angel asks.

”It’s Lucifer,” Vaggie replies. Even Charlie looks at her, confused. “I thought you guys knew this? You know how before you got to hell, you thought Lucifer and Satan were the same person? It’s kinda like that. His name is Lucifer, always has been, but every Archangel, every Virtue, has a name in reference to God. His name was Samael. And like most of the high ranking angels, he had a lot of roles.”

”How do you know all this?” Charlie asks. “And what were his roles? The Story of Hell doesn’t mention any of that.”

Vaggie shrugs. “Heaven’s got a lot of books, and I had a lot of time. Plus, your dad doesn’t like to talk about Heaven, so I’m not surprised he made sure it wasn’t in the book. He was known as a lot of things; an angel of music who led the choirs in God’s name, the Virtue of Humility, and an angel of death, created to destroy sin.”

”You expect me to believe the first sin, the sin of Pride, the one that created this damned place, was a Virtue?” Husk asks. He looks irritated, and Vaggie’s expression matches his.

”He was one of the original Capital Virtues, one of the Seven. But every Virtue has a Vice and Lucifer fell to his. He hated sin, but he also wasn’t against it. It’s why he was called a dreamer. He wanted people to have free will, because he wanted people to be able to choose between right and wrong, and hoped that if humans were created to be as good as God said, they wouldn’t choose wrong.”

”But they did,” Charlie replies, voice just above a whisper. Vaggie nods at her interruption.

“I think it’s why he allowed the exterminations in the first place. He allowed for free will, allowed the possibility of sin, but he never meant for evil to come with it, or hell to be created. So he allowed sinners to be killed, because that was one of his tasks as an angel of death, to destroy sin.”

”But he’s now the Sin of Pride, he may hate it, but he’ll never say that he was wrong. And he wasn’t! People should have the chance to choose for themselves! He should take pride in that,” Charlie says, wanting to defend her dad. From who, she isn’t sure, maybe the universe at this point. None of this felt fair. It felt like he was doomed from the start.

”I know, sweetheart. I’m just saying, there’s a lot more to the story than just Hell’s side of things,” Vaggie replies, patting her arm. “So yeah, Lucifer is the name he was given as a Seraphim based on his Sphere, but Samael is the name he was given based on his role as an Archangel and Virtue.”

”Why does this sound like it’s gonna turn into a whole lesson. I thought I had enough school time when I was alive, don’t tell me I gotta deal with this shit in death too. And you angels keep talkin’ about Spheres! The fuck is that supposed to be?” Angel whines. Husk elbows him in the hip and he whines more, swatting at his arm.

”The same way Hell has it’s seven rings, Heaven has it’s seven spheres. It’s… a lot, honestly, and I think we can save the Heaven History lessons for another day, because there’s a lot to get into and I think we’ve all had enough for the day.”

”Quite so,” Alastor says. “How about we all head back into the hotel and let our King handle the rest. I’m sure he’ll tell us if there’s anything else of importance we need to know.”

Nifty hops off of him and starts walking back to the hotel without question, giggling to herself about all the bugs she’s sure to catch now that she’s given them a chance to roam. Husk and Angel shrug and follow, most likely already planning to sit at the bar and drink themselves under the table after all the revelations they’ve had today.

Charlie looks to where her dad and Esther are still talking, neither of them really looking at the other, but both still somehow almost leaning towards each other.

”They’ll be okay, Charlie,” Vaggie says, taking her hand once more. “Unconditional, remember?”

”Yeah,” Charlie replies, looking down at her girlfriend with a small smile. “I just hope that’s enough for them.”

——————————————————

Oh boy this took me a while to figure out how to write.

To make it clear, Esther and Lucifer were never married, but they were in a romantic relationship, which is why Esther believes Lucifer did cheat on her and believes part of the reason he and Lilith did what they did and fell is because of that.

The worldbuilding is mostly about Heaven. Since we don’t see much of it in the show, there’s a lot to speculate on. The same way the show sort of reference’s Dante’s rings of hell, I’m also going to base Heaven loosely on Dante’s spheres of paradise.

Also! I drew a picture of how I see Esther in my style, as well as a little doodle of how I’d draw Lucifer in my own style (yes, I gave him a little nose). The same way Lucifer has a lighter streak in his hair, I wanted Esther to have something similar, but ended up with just two streaks of white on both sides of her hair. I tried a couple different hairstyles and outfits on her before I settled on this one (though part of me is debating if I want her to eventually cut her hair. I haven’t decided yet).

[softcocoa]

Like father like daughter ‼️ More of my fankid, bc she's a cutie and i love her🫶

[dizquized]

haha heyyyyy yeah the brainrot is here to stay. have this

it is 4am, i desperately need to go to sleep <3

[jib0]

again sketches and my sona. :ĺ

[redr0sewrites]

Sick!Hazbin Hotel x Reader Hcs

i love reverse comfort sm. im also currently being brutally murdered by allergies but i prefer comforting others so here we are

🥀 Cw: fluff, crack, teensy bit of angst with comfort

🥀 Pairing(s): Lucifer x reader, Alastor x reader, Vox x reader, Adam x reader

Lucifer:

sick? him? please, the king of hell doesn't get sick!

thats what he claims anyways

lucifer brushes nearly everything off as just plain allergies, he could literally have a 103 fever and be shaking on the floor and would still be pouting and saying he's fine

the thing about him tho is that he's easy to take care of- after a little coaxing lucifer just sighs and nods glumly before pretty much submitting himself to your care

once he's admitted hes sick tho, he wants you around him 24/7

lucifer wants cuddles, hugs, kisses, he just gets so clingy when he's feeling under the weather

THIS MAN LITERALLY BURNS UP WHEN HE'S SICK ITS ALWAYS THE LITTLE ONES WITH THE HIGHEST RAGING FEVERS THAT LAST FOR DAYS like he'll be sweating and shivering and crying he gets hit HARD when he's sick and it happens so suddenly too- like one day he's fine and then the next he looks like he's one small wind away from collapsing

he lowkey feels bad about asking for things when he's sick so he'll say something offhand like "yk im in the mood for soup" and hopes you get the message

ABSOLUTELY THE TYPE TO GET FEVER DREAMS AND START RAMBLING WHEN HES SICK

like he'll wake up from a nap and still be half asleep and he just starts genuinely rambling about literally the most obscure things

lucifer definitely gets nightmares even when he isn't sick, but when hes feeling like shit and is so delirious he can't tell reality from fiction? be prepared for him to wake up crying and shaking, he just gets so so scared :(

lucifer feels bad about you taking care of him and wants to help, but will lowkey end up pushing himself too hard. PLEASE reassure him and tell him it's alright he'll literally melt

once its all over, lucifer will genuinely trust you more after you saw him in such a vulnerable state and is much more likely to come to you instead of hiding how he's feeling in the future

Alastor:

alastor? weak? lmao no

he would literally rather die than admit he's sick like he would literally just keep pushing on

alastor is one of those people that has an iron immune system like he VERY rarely gets sick but when he does its like torture

to even be alastor's partner you'd have to know him for a long time and you'd probably be able to read him pretty well (at least compared to other people), yet even you sometimes miss his sickness in the earlier stages

alastors biggest tell tale sign of being sick? exhaustion. he very rarely sleeps on the regular, but when he's sick that all catches up to him

he also gets more irritable and a little less composed, he'd be more prone to getting angry and would lash out if anyone asked if he was ok

alastors ears would also be turned back slightly, like most animals do when they're being aggressive, but its pretty much only obvious to people who know him closely

alastor never wants to be vulnerable or weak but you notice that his eyelids keep drifting of their own accord, and how irritable he's been, and it clicks to you that he's obviously not feeling well

approach him about it in private, while alastor does trust you he still doesn't want others to knowm

no matter how much you try he will not lay down, take medicine, or do anything (at least at first)

alastor genuinely thinks that he can just push through on his own and lowkey thinks you're worrying too much

however after two weeks of pure suffering and exhaustion, combined with no sleep and your irritation at his lack of will to take care of himself, alastor finally breaks

he'd prob come to your room at like 4 in the morning and just curl up on the edge of the bed, shivering a little but staying quiet

you wake up to him fast asleep, his ears twitching every once and a while as he rests peacefully near you

get a cool towel and lay it on his forehead to break the fever, and he'll just keep sleeping

he probably wouldn't wake up for at least a few hours, months of lost sleep are catching up to him at this point, giving you the opportunity to make him some soup and medicine

alastor will stir a little when you get out of bed but wont wake up, but once he does wake up he wants you to come back

when he's sick he wants you to be nearby, alastor isn't the touchiest person and being sick makes him feel gross, so he wouldn't want to be touched but would want you arround just to know you're there

this is probably the first step in him being more open to vulnerability around you, and while it may have been a bit of an irritating process to get him back to his usual healthy status, it's definitely worth it as he begins to trust you more

Vox:

lowkey a man child (affectionate)

vox is one of those guys who will take care of himself when he's sick, but he'll complain about it every step of the way

i think he's pretty responsible when he's sick, he'll take the day off and relax but won't do much other than that

he likes when you pamper him though, and a part of him lowkey enjoys being sick because he just gets to have your full attention all of the time (as if he doesn't already💀)

vox would be irritated about showing weakness and not being in control, but he wouldn't be irritated at you

if an employee was being too nosy about his wellbeing? yea he's pissed but if you're the one taking care of him, he'll just sigh and let you do what you want

VOX IS ONE OF THOSE PEOPLE WHOS LITERALLY ALWAYS COLD AND ITS AMPLIFIED WHEN HES SICK

he becomes like a literal ice cube he's SHIVERING and everything

vox has the cutest sneezes too, he glitches out and denies how cute his sneezes are but they really are adorable

vox takes like 2 baths per day when he's sick he hates feeling unclean, and def wants you to join him in the bath (just to relax, get your mind out of the gutter)

vox would be a little pissed about missing work, i think he's a bit of a workaholic and might try to work in bed or sneak some paperwork behind your back

it doesn't work though because he just ends up passing out anyway

vox is big on sleeping when he's sick he's definitely the type to just sleep it off and thats that

like he CRASHES in bed and just does not get up for hours

he sleeps like the dead too, his screen is blank and he barely moves in his sleep

like lucifer, he has fever dreams but they lean more on the weird side rather than the sad side

its funny but instead of talking more when sick, vox actually talks much less. he starts getting super quiet and a lot more needy for your attention

vox is more than happy to return to work and be back on his feet, but will send you a little thank you gift and pamper you in return for taking care of him

Adam:

manchild x2 (also affectionate)

adam DREADS getting sick like he genuinely hates it so much, he sees it as one of his own flaws and it makes him lowkey disgusted at himself

he whines like a baby over a common cold, its almost sad how the slightest sickness will make him act like he's on his death bed

adam whines and complains whenever you aren't around him, he wants cuddles and kisses and is 10x more clingy when he's sick

he has little to no appetite when he's actually sick but gets a huge appetite right after

like you'll have to force him to eat at least a piece of toast per day while he's actually feverish but once he's in recovery he's literally FAMISHED and will ask for so much food

he barely eats or drinks while hes sick it just feels icky to him

i also think he's the type to not want to move like he just collapses on his bed and barely moves an inch (unless you force him)

adam exaggerates when he's barely sick and then underplays it when he's genuinely really sick its lowkey so confusing

like he could have pneuomonia and be half dead and say he's fine but he could have the most common cold and complain foreverrr

he doesn't think you're genuine when you say you want to help him and take care of him, he thinks its just a joke since nobody has ever really taken care of him before

like sure he's been told what to do and bossed around and treated him like a foolish child, but no one has ever sat with him while he's sick and held his hand yk?

while he can be irritable and annoying while he's sick, he apologizes afterwards

its one of the few times he ever apologizes but he genuinely feels bad about lashing out

adam isn't used to being below someone when it comes to status or health and relaxing and letting someone else take care of him is kind of foreign for him, but you both work it out over time

while he isn't the easiest to take care of, he genuinely appreciates that you want to help him and wants to return the favor someday

I WILL MAKE A PT 2 OF THIS WITH MORE FEM CHARACTERS OR WITH HELLUVA BOSS CHARACTERS BUT I DIDNT WANT TO CROWD UP THIS POST TOO MUCH!!!!! ALSO SORRY FOR ANY SPELLING MISTAKES I WROTE THIS WHILE HALF ASLEEP ♥️ HOPE YALL ENJOYED THIS TEEHEE

[redvexillum]

Y/N: Let's try this again. Alastor, you just need to be honest and open your heart! Then, you'll be able to make a connection and who knows? He might become a good friend to you!

Alastor: [Narrows his eyes and grunts in disgust]

Y/N: Oh, there he is! Sir!

Lucifer: [Immediately he curls up his lips as soon as he sees Alastor and focuses all of his attention on to you] Why, hello my dear!

Y/N: Hello! Alastor would like to say a few words to you.

Alastor: [Clears throat] You're like a father to me.

Lucifer: [Tears up] Oh, th-that's...Than-

Alastor: I despised my father.

Lucifer: ...

Y/N: ...

Alastor: Killed him too.

Y/N: [Facepalm]

Follow Vexi's Alastor Being a Lil Shit for all the latest updates!

[heavenlyraindrops]

♱ Father Forgive Me (For I have Sinned) ~Chapter One ♱

Lucifer Morningstar x Angel!Reader Fandom: Hazbin Hotel Chapter One Warnings: Slight mention of blood, profanity, mild violence How to find the other chapters in my pinned post

♱Where the purest soul in Heaven falls for the Devil♱

[Chapter One]

♱♱♱

“What?” 

You stared at Adam incredulously, wings almost stuttering to a stop mid-air. He stared back, unfazed at your reaction as you backed away and up from him, mind reeling. You were both suspended in the air, held up by your moving wings, but you felt like you were going to plummet to the ground any second. 

The recently opened Pentagram in the sky flickered at the edges around the gaping hole that had allowed the angels to enter Hell. To be fair, you weren’t supposed to be there- you weren’t an exterminator, but Adam had managed to get you permission to join him, arming you with a spear and calling it protection. Plus, if you wanted to go, it wasn’t like the Seraphim would object. It wasn’t a secret, the soft spot they had for you- although, unlike Adam, you did your best to abstain from exploiting it for your every whim. 

“What’s the big deal?” He raised an eyebrow. “Don’t wanna marry me? I’m the First-“

“First Man, I know,” you frowned, voice strained, at his blatant arrogance. “But Hell in the middle of an extermination isn’t exactly the place to propose to someone, Adam.”

“I was gonna say First Dick,” he grumbled. “Why the fuck you gotta be so complicated? Just fuckin’ say yes. I’m the First Di- Man, you’re the purest soul in Heaven, it only makes sense-“

You balled your fists, forcing yourself to keep a level head. “Have you considered that maybe I don’t want to marry you?”

Adam almost seem to freeze in mid-air. His still beating wings gave it away. “Why the fuck not?” He snarled. You flinched, and his face softened slightly. 

“You know I won’t stop trying until you say yes,” he declared. You rolled your eyes, raising up and away into the red sky.

“Just stop trying,” you snapped, and with a powerful beat of your wings you set off into the distance, ignoring Adam’s calls, voice chasing after you, commanding you to stay back.

Your eyes streamed against the wind. You knew Adam liked you, he hadn’t exactly been quiet about it, but there was a lot of stuff he wasn’t quiet about- a lot of stuff which, ultimately, was a turn off for you. You were definitely never going to marry him, and the sheer audacity for him to propose to you so casually, in the middle of Hell, just pissed you off in a way you couldn’t describe. 

You sighed. There was no point dwelling on it now. A large silhouette in the distance began to form more clearly. A large- manor? Palace? You glanced down at the streets swooping away beneath you. They were deserted. 

Weird. You mentally shrugged. People probably just didn’t want to get caught out in the middle of an extermi-

BANG!

Angelic bullets? Your mind barely registered the thought. 

A searing pain stabbed into your wing, which went stiff. For a horrifying moment you were suspended in mid-air, your wings flapping frantically as you tried to stay up, a terrified cloud of feathers and limbs, before another BANG! tore through your remaining functional wing.

You screamed as you flapped your wings a few more pathetic times, careening straight towards the manor-palace. You crashed through a window, taking the curtains down with you, the glass showering you unceremoniously, cutting into your skin as you lay sprawled across the floor in a cloud of feathers. Your spear clattered onto the floor next to you, your wing twitching painfully. 

You barely even managed to notice your own blood until you focused your vision. The light from the broken window filtered across your body, a slit cutting across the dark, shadowy room. Your gilded blood glinted in it, seeping into the carpet and the curtains which were buried beneath your weak form, staining the pure white of your splayed out wings. 

A single white feather drifted down from the air and landed on your arm. You coughed. Gold sputtered from your lips and trickled down the side of your mouth. 

Charming, you thought dryly.

The door of the room opened. You could just barely hear the creak above the blood pounding in your ears. You gulped, hearing footsteps get closer and closer to you- 

“Well well well. What do we have here?”

I’m royally screwed, you thought, closing your eyes and waiting for the killing blow.

Instead, gentle, gentle hands touched your face, turning it towards the light and scraping hair away from your eyes. You flinched at the touch, then relaxed as the voice whispered something. You couldn’t make it what it was saying, but it was soothing. And calm. Your breathing evened out. You just barely managed to lift your heavy eyelids. 

“Who are you?” Your mouth formed the words but your voice couldn’t get them past your throat without them coming out cracked and gravelly. The voice hushed you. You couldn’t make out the person's face. They were just a pale, blurry silhouette, leaning over your body. 

“Close your eyes,” the voice said. “You’re safe now.”

You obeyed.

♱♱♱

You jolted, feeling a presence next to you. The warmth radiated off of them. You could sense their being there. 

It was a struggle to unglue each eye open, and when you did, everything was blurry- it took you a few seconds to even realize you were in a bed. The soft covers rustled against your cheek, until you sat up.  You blinked slowly and looked around, taking in your surroundings.

“Awake that quickly?”

You flinched, wings bursting out in alarm, unfurled over your head. The man sitting next to the bed you lay on raised an eyebrow, smirking. You gulped. “Who are you?”

“Never mind that.” He stood up, shaking down his rolled up sleeves. “How are your wings?”

You realized that they were still arched out from your back. You furled them back into your back, mortified. You also realized that they were painless. 

“They’re healed,” you said breathlessly. The man flashed a prideful grin, revealing his sharp teeth. You narrowed your eyes suspiciously.

“How?”

“Simple. I healed them.”

You frowned, pressing your back against the wall to get as far away from him as possible. He simply stood there, crossing his arms. You blinked, slowly. 

“Thank…you?”

“You’re welcome,” he said smugly. You tilted your head as he beckoned for you to stand up, which you did slowly. You glanced out the window. This one wasn’t shattered, and the curtains hung proudly. You were in a different room than the first. The red sky beyond glared at you tauntingly. 

“How long was I out?”

“Oh, not long. Don’t worry. The extermination’s still on.” He winked at you. “Your pretty self won’t be stuck here until the next one.” 

You remained silent, staring at him, begging to God that your blush wasn’t showing on your face. 

It must have been, because his grin only widened. 

“Why did you save me?”

“My own selfish desires, of course.” He flicked his hand at a pair of chairs. “Sit down.”

Not knowing what to say, you complied. He sat opposite you. You leaned forward slightly, scanning his face for a single expression that might betray what was going to come next. You found nothing. 

He sat back, completely relaxed, which unnerved you more than you could admit. The light hit off of his blond hair and pale skin that made him seem almost… angelic.  You knotted your fingers together in your lap, biting your lip and waiting for him to speak.

“So. An angel, huh? You don’t look like an exterminator. How’d you find yourself down here?” His voice seemed to darken a little with his next words. “Did you… fall?”

Your eyes widened in shock. “Of course I didn’t fall,” you spat. You weren’t usually hostile, but the anxiety of the situation was pressing down on you far too hard. “I got special permission to come down by the Seraphim.”

The sinner raised an amused eyebrow at your outburst.

“And who are you to ask me anything?” You continued, frazzled. “A mere sinner-“

“I wouldn’t finish that sentence if I were you.”

You clamped your lips shut at his tone. He smiled, satisfied, and continued. 

“So, the Seraphim. Why’d they let you down here? They’re not the type to bend rules like that.”

“How would you know?” You said. “I said I wanted to go, they let me.”

“They must have a soft spot for you, then.” His eyes narrowed. “Or, you’re important.”

“I’m nowhere near important,” you snapped, crossing your arms. He nodded slowly. You couldn’t tell if he believed you or not. 

For what seemed like another hour he continued to shoot questions at you, mostly about Heaven, and you hesitantly answered. You didn’t know why you stuck around as long as you did- refusing to acknowledge to yourself the sort of charm that beheld, the fact that he was so undeniably attractive, which you would never admit to yourself. 

You relaxed when you heard him speak next: “You can go now. The Pentagram will close soon.” Pause. “Can you fly?

You stood up, dusting yourself off, and nodded before turning towards the window, which had magically pushed itself open. 

“Wait,” he called out. You turned. “You should take this.” Your angelic spear materialised in front of you, dropping down into your hands. 

You clambered out the window and jumped off, before hovering before it and turning to face him. The beat of your wings made the curtains sway. He leaned out, staring at you expectantly, as if he could sense what you were going to say.

“Now will you tell me your name?” You asked irritably. He smirked again, showing his sharp teeth this time. Your heart thumped in your chest.

“‘Course I can, angel. The name’s Lucifer. Lucifer Morningstar.” His grin widened as he winked again. “Pleasure to meet you.”

The words knocked the breath out of you almost immediately. For a minute you froze, standing there like a deer in headlights before turning and swooping away into the red sky, towards the closing Pentagram. 

The name’s Lucifer. Lucifer Morningstar. The words echoed around your head relentlessly. 

“Fuck.”

♱♱♱

A/N: Stay Tuned!

Taglist: @ica1, @boredlime, @tremendoushearttaco, @sweetadonisbutbetter

[starlightdreaming]

100 FOLLOWER SPECIALL :DD (the voices won.)

Lucifer x Slime! Bunny! Reader! NSFW!!

Fandom: Hazbin Hotel!

Content Warning: (SUPER LONG ASS SMUT) Heat cycles, Body worship, Biting, Slime(Everywhere), PredatorNPrey kink(?), Breeding kink, Belly bulge, Dacryphillia, Oral (received) (THE MF EATS U OUT), Overstimulation, Lucifer’s Tail (erm-), BDSM (like all of them? I dunno…), Corruption Kink. (I don’t know what all the kinks are spare ya gal.) (Nothing is proofread either.)

READER BASED OFF MY PERSONA

SO ITS SELF INSERT??? Yeah. I’m down bad for this man, no shame.

Synopsis: You were a maid that worked at Lucifer’s mansion, you were his favorite too! so what happens when you are in one of your heat cycles? >:]

this stories delusions is brought to you by:

(optional but not really recommended)

You were humming softly as you made breakfast for your majesty. It was a daily routine for you to bring him breakfast to his bed, his usual being pancakes with a touch of cinnamon and apples.

At first when you were accepted to his abode to work, all you did was clean, he never batted an eye at you as you wandered the halls to sweep off dust on every corner of his walls, you didn’t mind it since you got to mind your business all you wanted, no pressure applied, even when you had traded your soul to the king to even have this job, it was all the much better when he didn’t ask of anything from you.

One day, his butler was sick, leaving you to cooking, anyone could have done it but if it wasn’t to the kings liking, they could have lost their jobs- at least what the maids would say. So they threw the task at you, the newbie.

It wasn’t that worrying of a task since you were always cooking for your siblings when you were alive, you always made exquisite dishes for your brothers and sisters to enjoy, oh how you missed those days of making hearty meals for them. So when you had the chance to make something for someone now? You were going all out.

You were thrown into the kitchen by the other maids, you were more excited than bothered by their force, you began making the pancake batter, adding a bit of cinnamon and apples into the mix, you saw your king always wore an apple on his hat so you assumed he liked apples. You made a stack of four fluffy pancakes, adding syrup on it before exploring the kitchen, trying to find fruits and such to add onto the meal to make it more pleasing to enjoy, to eat and to look at.

When you finished, you made him morning coffee, since you didn’t know what his coffee preferences were, you hoped your favorite blend would better suffice than taking a wild guess. You put the meal and drink onto the tray table, leaving the kitchen to walk to your masters room, careful as to not drop the meal you had put your heart and ‘soul’ into. You were so focused into what you were making

Before you entered his room, you knocked, awaiting his “come in.” to enter his room. You saw he sat at his work desk, uninterested to turn and look at you, you weren’t sure what to do next, you never really ever got to see the king this close, nor enter his rooms for that fact. You were just tasked to clean the halls, thats it.

You nervously walk up to his side, putting down the plate and coffee on to his work desk, “Your meal, your majesty.” You bowed, awaiting for him to dismiss you but when he heard your unfamiliar voice, he turned to you, seeing your uniform was covered in pancake mix that had already dried on your maid dress, you smiled at him nervously as he looked at your semi-transparent slime body, “Where is my butler?” he asked, “he’s the one that’s supposed to make me breakfast.” Your heart seemed to chip away, sensing that he might not like the breakfast you made him, he didn’t even look at it, “He is sick, your highness,” you explained, gripping the tray tightly in more nervousness, “I was tasked to make your meals today.” you say, putting up a facade to hide how much you were internally screaming.

“I see,” He says, looking back to his work, “dismissed.” he says as he waved you off, making your heart chip again, you were hoping to see his reaction to how much effort you had just made into the meal but seeing as you’re just a lowly maid in his home, it made sense he didn’t expect much from you.

You left the room without a second glance, not seeing how he had looked at you before looking at the pancakes.

Through the rest of your day, it was all normal. Nothing was reported to you and you weren’t tasked with the rest of the days cooking which made you confirm in your head that maybe he wasn’t satisfied with your cooking skills. It hurt to accept but all that mattered was you got to keep your job at least.

It wasn’t until the next day that whilst you were wiping down windows in the hall, Lucifers personal butler had walked up to you, tasking you again to make the same breakfast you had done the day before, You smiled as you got up and went to the kitchen again, leaving your main duties behind, all your doubts from yesterday vanished as you replicated the meal, going back to his room with a smile, “Your meal, your majesty.” You bowed to him, before putting the meal on his desk once again.

He looked at you this time, making your heart stop for a moment, “Where did you get your cooking skills?” he asked, his attention completely on you, your ears lie back in shyness, “Oh- well, I was self taught.” You say as you held onto the tray, resting it under your fingers, “How come your skills have gone unnoticed?” He says, pulling the plate toward him, grabbing his silverware to cut through the ‘cake to take a bite, you smiled gently as your heart fluttered from joy, “I applied to just clean, there wasn’t any spot open for cooking.” you explained as you swayed side to side in one spot, you couldn’t contain your excitement and joy as he ate your meal, “How about you become one now? Would you like that?” He offered before taking another bite, making you bring the tray to your chest, “really? you mean that?” You smiled, your ears perking as they held up close together as you leaned toward his desk slightly, “of course, why wouldn’t I? You can start anytime you want.” He smiled at you, you jumping in joy, “thank you so much, your majesty! I can make lunch later today! you won’t be disappointed!” You say as you slightly began to run out of his room, forgetting your formality, “oh, uh-“ you realized, before quickly bowing to him and leaving his room, slightly embarrassed.

Ever since that day, you had always made his meals.

Over time, you had slowly made a bond with him, becoming his favorite maid and his favorite chef, it wasn’t long ‘til he made you his personal butler, you waking him up for the day and being at his side almost 24/7 practically.

You didn’t even need to knock anymore as you busted his door open everyday with passion and enthusiasm, “Rise and shine, Lulu!” You would call him, waking him from his slumber, unbothered from how much energy you radiated, he’d sit up as you placed a tray his bed, making your usual for him, he smiled every time you sat on his bed further from him, talking about how your day went or rambled on about your past life on earth, he had found out you ended up killing your parents from how they neglected and abused you and your siblings, you had told your siblings that they left for good, nothing else. It was a surprise to him but it was understandable from your living conditions, he loved just listening to you, day in and day out though, whatever topic it may have been, he wasn’t listening to what you would tell him but more focused on your voice, after six years of this daily routine, it wasn’t long until he would ponder what you would sound underneath him, how you would writhe and whimper to his touch.

He had shook the thoughts at first but the more he saw you in his day to day life, those thoughts always bubbled and spilled out the more he tried to bottle them up, they only got worse when you would be gone for two weeks or so, knowing you as a bunny hybrid, whenever you were having a heat cycle coming or running, your slime would often secrete more off your body, dripping. One time it had gotten so bad, a blob of your slime just went splat on the floor in Lucifer’s room, right in front of him.

You had cleaned it with a bunch of spewed apologies, your face flustered and gaze full of lust, you left the room in a hurry. Leaving Lucifer dumbfounded. To him, that gaze you gave him with lust and tears in your eyes, riled something in him. When you were gone for two weeks after that, his mind was just thinking about that moment and you and only you, those thoughts he tried so hard to brush off were flooding his mind during your absence, he knows he could just go see you and help you and he wanted to do just that more than anything, but he refused to, he didn’t want to take advantage of you in any sort of way, he’d rather fall from the Heavens a million times than ever force his way onto you, you meant too much to him, his heart couldn’t bare how much he loved you.

When you came back from your cycles, you were back with your usual bright, loud and enthusiastic demeanor, your slime body reduced back to normal to being jelly like than melting-ish, and droopy. Whenever you came back, his mind would never settle down, his eyes would always trail at every curve of your body when you weren’t looking, you were so mesmerizing in his eyes, every flaw was a grace of beauty to him, he loved every moment with you, even when you sat and did your own thing while he focused on his work, you just being there was just enough comfort for him to settle down in place and do his job before finishing for the day and spending it with you.

At that point, he saw you as your own person, not just some maid that wandered his ‘castle’. Sometimes when you look at him with doe eyes, he couldn’t help but look away, you had him under such a trance, you didn’t even know how much he was wrapped around your finger. Whenever you wanted or requested something, you’d get it instantly, no questions asked, whenever you smile at something or him, his heart flutters, craving more of that smile, he loved when you praised him, comforted him or was there for whatever reason at all, his stomach always felt butterflies, it was always bad whenever you accidentally brushed touches without you noticing, he craved your touches so much, he always tried to find ways to have contact with you, even if it meant asking you to groom his wings. Worst and best decision of his life.

This man was such a mess for you, he’d even wake up from dirty dreams about you, flustered and flushed, panting heavily as if he sat up quickly in the late nights or early mornings, the tent in his pants were always visible during these dream incidents, it was happening way more then often that when he woke up this morning, he woke up gripping and clawing the bed sheets, his horns and tail displayed as he growls lowly, he was panting heavily as he just began to cry in frustration, it wasn’t long until you busted the door open, making him jump out of his thoughts, “rise and shine- oh! you’re already awake.” you say before realizing he was out in his demon form, he looked away from you, noticing that your body was secreting slime again, knowing what time it was for you, “are you okay? what happened?” You ask with concern closing his door, expecting him to have another rant about his ‘nightmares’ he claims to have, more and more.

You sat his meal in front of him, you sitting close as he kept his gaze away fron you, hoping you didn’t notice the dry tears he tried to wipe away, “Oh, Lulu, are you crying?” You ask, knowing he only avoids your gaze when he doesn’t want you to something. He ignored you when you asked, making you slightly upset he won’t talk to you, you cupped his face, making him turn to you, “look at me, Lulu,” You said softly to him, “was it another nightmare?” you asked, his eyes widened as he blushed lightly from how close you were to him, he nodded quietly, feeling flustered from his thoughts of you, “Oh, Lulu.” You swooned, bringing his face to your chest, holding him lovingly, he only blushed harder as your body produced more, slime was now on his face, your scent not going unnoticed as you smelled like a mixture of sweets.

When you pulled away, you hands still holding his face, you saw your slime was now on his face and you back your hands away from him in shock, “oh my goodness I’m so sorry-“ you said, trying to sit up, only to somehow drop his tray of food onto the ground making you more embarrassed, “Oh- oh my stars, I’ll get something to clean that! I’ll be right back!” You stuttered, leaving the room quickly as Lucifer frog blinked, processing what just happened in the span of ten seconds.

He licked his face clean, forgetting it was your slime and not his food that was all over his face, he honestly expected to gag in distastes but his thoughts immediately ran wild again when he realized how fucking sweet your secretions were, it was one lick after another before his face was clean and he was craving more. Although you were bringing him more breakfast for him to eat, he didn’t want to eat what you had to offer, no. He wanted you. With a snap of his fingers, the mess you left was gone, the lights were off and he was missing from his bed.

You entered the room, cursing yourself under your breath for forgetting what time it was for you, “Lulu, I’m-“ you tried to apologize again, only to see the room was dark and he was gone, “Lulu?” you called for him again, trying to turn on the lights, only for it to not turn on, you put the new tray of food on his nightstand before looking around his room for him, noticing the mess you made was now gone.

“Lulu? Where’d you go?” You asked worriedly, before you felt something drop on your head, it felt like a droplet of water, you looked up to see Lucifer hanging upside down as he stared at you with eyes full of desperation and lust, “L-Lulu?” you asked, a little worry now in your voice as your legs clanged together from the heat in your core, seeing how hot he was upside down, his full demon form out and his tail swaying down towards you left and right.

“Do you know how sweet you taste, my dear?” Lucifer asked, tilting his head, “Wh-what?” You asked a little confused. “Your slime,” he says, jumping down from the ceiling as his eyes glowed in the dark, his eyes glinting like a wolf stalking its prey, you stepped back as he began to walk closer to you, you didn’t even realize you were walking back towards the bed as both of your eyes stayed locked with one another, “The slime you secrete is so fucking delicious,” he growls as he claws the bed with both hands, you in-between him.

Your legs closed together more as you rubbed them together for friction, your maid dress sticking to your slimy skin, you whimpered softly from desperation as he leaned closer to your face, eyes never adverting, “christ, you have no idea what you do to me, dearest.” he whispers, growling under his breath as he tried his best to resist ravishing you then and there.

“What do you mean, Lulu?” You whispered as well, leaning toward his face, lips brushing from the desire and cravings of one another, “I love you, Y/n, so so much,” he confesses desperately, his eyes gazing to your lips before looking back at you, “Please, let me taste you again, please, please.” he begs, leaning more into your touch, when you cupped his face again, you falling back into his bed, an arm keeping you up, “Luci..” You say softly, “I never thought would ever love me.” You confess as well, “Why is that?” He asks, his heart chipping that you think that, “well, I’m a maid, I thought that was all I was going to be.” you say, looking away from him, sadness pooling your eyes as he leaned more into you, “don’t say that, love,” he whisper shouts as he brings a finger under your chin to make you look back at him, “I love you so much, darling, please let me show you that I do.” He begs, your eyes looked into his, his eyes sparkling from genuine, both your heads leaning into to touch as you closed your eyes, “okay..” you smile before you both leaned in to each other, kissing slowly but passionately, he leaned into the kiss more desperately, you leaning into him as well, making the kiss deeper.

You moaned in the kiss, the feelings you hid away for your king, blossoming out your chest. You pulled away panting, breathing for air as Lucifer looks at you dazed, you smile before grabbing his collar with both your hands, bringing him down with you onto the bed, locking lips again but more desperately than the last. You trailed your hands to his hair, wrapping one arm around his neck as you intertwined your fingers into his locks, brushing them. You pulled away again, opening your mouth a gap to let Lucifer have a taste of you, he didn’t hesitate as he stuck his tongue into your cavern, exploring all of your mouth as he tasted you, a growl rumbled from his chest as he desperately kissed you roughly.

You moaned through the make out session as you felt his body push down between your legs, your layers of clothes not giving you the friction you desperately wanted, making you buck your hips up to his body as well, “ffuck- don’t do that, love.” he warned, pulling his lips away from yours as he whined desperately, a trail of saliva connecting you both.

You cupped his face as you brought him back to your lips again, tongues colliding and fighting for dominance, he tucked his hand behind your waist, grabbing the ribbon that kept your dress tight, yanking it harshly, making its ties go undone, making you breathe easily. You moaned again as he tasted your flavors, it was always changing for whatever reason, grape.. raspberry.. strawberry.. It was making him wild that you had tasted so divine all this time without his knowing.

He was getting desperate as he began to grind against your clothed core, you whimpered in desperation as you tried to close your legs with him between them. He pulled away from the kiss, licking his lips as he looked down at your submissive state with lust and desire, “You are so beautiful darling.” He says as wipes his chin with his thumb, licking slime off his wrist as he watched your reaction, you blushed as you looked away, embarrassed.

“You’re so divine.~” He says as he lays on top of you, locking your hands with his, pinning you down as his arms were keeping him up as he kissed your lips, your cheek, down to your neck, nibbling slime secretions before licking them up, off your chest, his kisses were making you writhe under him, squirming in desperation. He couldn’t help but laugh lightly before sucking softly on your jelly skin, slurping up your secretions like jelly candy.

His teasing while in your cycle was sending your body haywire, you needed friction and he was refusing to give you any, “please, please, Luci.” You begged, not knowing what you were really begging for, “Please what, darling?” He asks, moving away from your chest and tilting his head like he wasn’t depriving you of what you desperately wanted, “Please, please fuck me or something- I can’t- can’t take this any longer.” You cried as your body shivered from his touch, a finger trailing down from you neck to your chest, Lucifer scooping up a bit of your discharged slime like icing from a cake, licking his finger as you whimpered under him.

“Alright, I’ll give you what you deserve, dove.” He coo’d, kissing the side of your chin, before trailing down off the bed, his tail swaying side to side desperately as he lifted up your dress, you looked away embarrassed as he did, he sat on the floor as be shoved his head desperately between your legs, you yelped in surprise before you realized he pulled away, you look back at him, seeing your white panties torn against his bare teeth, you blushed furiously as you stared at him. He spat away your panties, discarding them to the floor before he leaned in in-between your legs again, clawing your jelly legs as he lifted then up for him to have more access to your core, you lifted your dress up with one hand, wanting to see what he was doing.

He snaked out his long forked tongue, looking at you teasingly before pushing himself into your core, tasting all of you now, you moaned in sudden pleasure, your body exuding more secretions, “ohh starss Lulu..” You moaned out, making him rile more as he stuck his tongue more deeply in you, tasting you more and more, shameless slurping noises coming from him.

You gripped the bed sheets, bucking your hips more desperately, “more, more luci..” you begged, as he shoved his face as deeply as he could but it wasn’t enough for you. You tried to grip his hair, making him more deeply but you were still desperate, you were bucking your hips into his face, practically face fucking him at that point but it wasn’t until you felt yourself nearing your limit, you then noticed his horns, if grabbing his hair wasn’t enough for you, his horns were.

You gripped his horns making him shiver and moan in surprise before you stroked them and used them against him, grinding yourself against his face as he growled from the sudden grip of yours. “Oh fuck, yes, that’s it Luci…” you moaned louder, making his tongue reach the furthest parts of you, thrusting his tongue in and out if you, “oh, fuck master~ just like that.” You teased, feeling yourself come undone, he clawed your legs harder, his sharp nails sinking into your skin, you moaned more as you rode your high on his tongue, making him lick and taste all your juices.

You panted as you kept using his horns to help you fuck yourself onto his face, “more, more Luci, taste me more!~” you begged as he obeyed, closing his eyes as his chest grumbled out a growl, he loved how sweet you were, body and voice. He couldn’t get enough of your flavor as you begged, he was so thankful he didn’t have nose as you rode his face, letting him taste more of you, he was so dazed by your juices, he kept eating you out like it was his last meal.

He removed one of his hands from your squishy thighs, he didn’t know he punctured your jelly skin as you oozed out more juices from where his sharp nails were, his hand then went to claw you inner thigh, pushing your leg up as he tried to get more access of your addicting flavors. “fuckfuck…” you whined, trying to lift your other leg up but it was held down by his strong grip, “Lucifer~ gonna come again~” you whimpered, as he growled, going more rougher with his tongue, making you lean your head back at you bucked your hips again, coming onto his face again, “ohhh~” you moaned as your body shook from the waves of ecstasy.

“Lucifer, Luci, fuck me please, please, need you ‘nside me.” you whimpered desperately, letting go of his horns as he licked up your juices before pulling away, “fuck you taste so amazing, love.” he says as he got up, his tail wagging again. You desperately latch onto him, sloppily trying to unbutton his shirt, “Luci, need you so bad..” you begged as he smirks, pushing you gently to the bed again, “wait honey bun,” He says, kissing your nose, “let me get you undressed first, okay?” he asks, seeming as he had an idea in mind.

He leaned in to kiss you desperately as you unbuttoned his vest, you then felt his hands trail behind your back, his claws sharpening as he pushed you up to lean on his chest, you began to hear tears and ripping, realizing he was removing your maid dress by shredding it apart, he dug his claws into the dress, ripping it opposite directions before you were completely free from it, you shuddered from the cold that suddenly touched your body as you tried to close your legs again, your core desperate to be filled again.

Lucifer laughed lightly before kissing your nose again before looking at your fully nude body, your jelly colors of purple blue and pink, “You’re so cute, ma chèrie.” He says lustfully under his breath, leaning close to your lips, kissing you gently before you cupped his face, kissing him harder and deeply, passionately and desperately. You grind your hips against his groin making him moan through the kiss, “Y/n, Y/n, calm down my dear.” he says, pulling away. “Need. please Luci…” you begged, making him give in, “I just want to know if you’re sure,” he says as he strokes your cheek, “is this your first time?” he asks, wanting to know what pace he should or could start at, “yes..” you admit, knowing all your life, you focused on your family than ever finding love before you died, especially in Hell now.

“If I hurt you or want me to stop, our safe word is ‘apple’, okay?” he smiles caring and lovingly as you look into his mesmerizing eyes, “okay..” you say with a nod, allowing him to continue and undo his trousers, you looked curiously at his as you felt your body secrete more slime, your core also spilling its own hormonal juices when you saw his length, now understanding where all his height went.

His tail wagged again as he gently wrapped his hands around your waist, teasing your clit as he rubbed his member against it, using your secretions as lube, you whimpered again from the stimulation, “please just put it in Luci, please!” you whined loudly, tired of waiting, “sorry, dearest.” he smiles apologetically, angling himself before pushing himself into you slowly, your body felt waves of pleasure, your sensitivity heightening, “faster, faster, fuck me, fuck me master, please.” You begged, calling him by one of his titles, making him thrust harshly into you, your body was so slimy and gooey, you didn’t need any adjustment, you only just felt waves of pleasure, “oh, yes!~” you shouted, mouth a gap.

You immediately bucked your hips, wrapping your arms around his neck as he claws into your waist, making you shiver more, he thrusted harshly into you, in and out as your slimy juices helped his thrusts, you mewled and moaned loudly, gasping as he kept using your waist to bring you back into him after thrusting out, creating a rhythm of pleasure for both side. You were so noisy you tried to use a pillow to hide your moans but he grabbed it and threw it across the room, “moan my name, darling, scream who you belong to.” He orders, thrusting hard than before as you gripped the sheets, shuddering as you felt yourself getting close again, “Oh! Lucifer! I’m so close!” you screamed as you obeyed his orders, he smirked as leaned down to your neck, “that’s it, almost there.” he says as he kissed your neck, biting down into your neck as you buck your hips into him again, coming all over him as he continued to thrust into you, “good girl.” he praised, your eyes rolling back as you felt your release cover his member as he kept pounding into you.

He sucked on your neck, drinking in your juices after piercing your jelly skin with his fangs, licking and kissing caringly. He kissed you passionately again as you gripped his hair harshly, feeling overstimulated but just craving more at the same time, he growled when you tugged his hair, making him pull away, “i’m close, dearest.” he says, making you wrap your legs around him, locking him in, “inside! inside! want all of you in me! mmmph!~” you screamed and moaned, making Lucifer kiss you again before biting to your neck harshly, thrusting his hips one last time into you deeply, your waist forced down to him, his claws baring into your skin.

You felt himself pour deeply into you, ropes of cum filling you whole, your eyes rolled back with your mouth wide open, your body trembling before he thrusted into you quickly again, shoving more of his fluids into you.

He pulled away from your neck, licking and kissing it lovingly, your skin oozing out more slime, “Fuck, I love you so much.” He pants heavily, keeping himself still as he kissed your body lovingly, he looked at your fucked out state, he smiled rather proudly as he continued to kiss your body, slowly pulling out of you.

You came back from your high, tears forming as you whimpered, your body feeling sore but your core still craving more, “Luci~” you say as you turn your body, your ass in the air for him now, his cum was dripping out of you as he watched you wiggle your ass, “fuck, Y/n..” He says as he felt himself get hard again, “you’re gonna be the death of me.” He tells you, pushing you further into the bed, climbing up onto it as well. He scooped up some of his cum that was spilling out before thrusting back into you, thrusting harshly again as you moaned loudly, he pinned your wrists down as he kissed your back, your sensitive body was shaking terribly but it was the most heavenly feeling of your entire existence.

“Yes, breed me Luci,” You begged as tears stained your face, making him thrust down into you, “knock me up… carry your children..~” you slurred, mind fucked from overstimulation and pleasure, you lost count of how many times you came but Lucifer was still going at it, your stomach bulged slightly from each deep thrust he did, you laid there limply as he bottomed out into you for the second time.

He pulled out as he flopped and fell to your side, his hair disheveled and your slime was practically all over the bed, He turned to you, “are you okay, honey bun?” He asks, seeing you still lost in your high, he kissed you softly before getting the pillow from the floor he threw earlier and putting it back on his bed, using it to lay back on, he closed his eyes as he sighed, only to open then widely when you jumped on top of him, “Luci, we aren’t done yet.~” you giggle, completely lost in pleasure, craving more, “Oh? still want more?” He smirked at you, trying to reach for your hips again only for them to be pinned above his head by you, “I get to have you my way now.” you smile darkly and lustfully, rubbing against him before sliding him into you, you leaned forward, your animal instincts of desperation made you hips smash down onto his member at an inhuman speed, “oh- fuck- wait! hah- slow down darling please-“ He begged before you kissed him, ignoring his plea.

He tried to struggle out of your grasp as you thrusted harshly into him, only making you push onto his chest, “this is for all the teasing, Luci, take it like you deserve it.” You glared at him as an order, “Please, you’re going to fast, if you keep this up, i’m gonna go insane.” he warned, you rolled your eyes as you ignored him again, “you can take it, Lulu.” you comfort as you kiss his cheek before kissing him passionately, tasting each other once again.

“mmmhhh, fuck, Y/n..” Lucifer moaned under his breath as you forced yourself onto him, seeming as he hasn’t said the safe word: he was enjoying this. You focused your strength on thrusting yourself into him, feeling him slide into your gooey insides quickly, “Fuck, take it, take all my cum, darling!” he says as he bucks his hips into you once more, deeply as he releases into you once again as you moaned softly, your exhaustion now kicking in.

You laid limp on Lucifer as you wiped your tears from sheer pleasure, tired and satisfied, “I’m sorry, Y/n,” Lucifer says as you felt something wrap around your waist, “just one more, okay, one more please, wanna make sure you’re knocked up, okay baby?” He says as his tail moved you up and down on his still hardened member, you whined in exhaustion but still let him to use your body for his pleasure, how could you say no to a desperate face like that?

He kissed you again, making out with you softly as he used his tail to thrust your tired body against his, pleased by how you whimpered in overstimulation, his cum was leaking out of you like crazy but it was all the more for him to give you last of his load before calling it for the day, his tail was slicked with your slime, sometimes when it picked you up, you’d slip from its grasp and fall straight down into him, making you moan and tremble, he only kept repeating this process, enjoying every whimper he could writhe out of you.

He kissed your tears away as he continued to make you ride him, he smiled at you lovingly as you shivered at every touch, noticing your tummy was slightly round from how much he had filled you, “gonna come again, okay?” He says as she whines, “fffu- ffuhhh..” you tried to speak, blissed out completely. He thrusted harshly a few times before his tail kept you in place, taking in his last load, making you feel tremble in pleasure. He kissed your chest, neck and face lovingly, his tail helping you move off him and next to him on his bed, he took the covers and placed them on you, rubbing your back, softly, watching you drift to sleep, his demon form going away.

He was going to give you all the aftercare you needed when you wake up, for now he wanted you to rest, seeing as that looked more important to you currently.

✧•✧•✧•✧•✧•✧•✧

Bonus:

“Hey, Y/n, did you know you taste like jolly ranchers?” Lucifer asked.

“I do?” You say, licking your arm for a taste test, “Oh shit, I do.”

✧•✧•✧•✧•✧•✧•✧

the voices the fucking voices.

[angelicadamposting]

Eva Lean & Lucifer ཐི♡ཋྀ | Strike 3

art by the talented @kandavers <3 !!

From before Eva ever fell from Heaven, she'd always had a hatred for Lucifer. She had been Adam's third wife after Lilith and Eve were 'stolen.' Lucifer was the very person responsible for her 'ex'-husband's anguish and subsequent (even if not admitted...) insecurities. So, of course, once she was in Hell and living in the King's daughter's Hotel, she was still quite adamant about her distaste for Lucifer. Bickering with him, nitpicking, mocking or teasing him until it leads to her shouting at him in her own frustration or rage -- all while he stands just a FEW goddamn inches taller than her, with that stupidly handsome, smug grin plastered on his damned face.

For once in her damned existence in that pit, Eva was relieved in her so-called 'sinner-form,' hopeful it'd keep her identity a secret from Lucifer. Still only wishing for few to know of her being a fallen angel, or associated with Adam. Only Vaggie, Valentino, and Sir Pentious are aware by the time she meets the King of Hell. And it did work, the man was too focused on his daughter - as he should be - or arguing with Alastor. It worked all the way until the extermination day when Adam called her out and recognized her on the damn spot. (and we don't know what'll happen after the finale yet so... gotta wait to finish her story</3)

[passionateseadruid]

k1ll me pls

[hqwn97]

The Morningstars

Huehhehe♥️👀

[hazbininlove]

Hopelessly Devoted - Chapter 4

-about 7.2k (these chapters are slowly getting longer omg) now with music! You’ll know when to play the song, I promise.

Prologue | Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3

A week passes quickly before Lucifer even realizes it. Esther visited a few days after, though it was more so to speak to Charlie about Sir Pentious and deliver some letters between them. Lucifer had been busy at the time, in his manor.

Apparently Sir Pentious was asking mostly about his egg bois and wanting to find a way to bring his minions to Heaven with him. Lucifer doesn’t think it’s possible for artificial demons to make it to Heaven, so his best bet would be to make some new ones.

It bothers him a bit that Esther didn’t visit him. Charlie says that she asked about him, but when Charlie had offered to call, Esther had turned the offer down.

He wasn’t sure if he said something wrong the last time, or if it was something else. As emotional as the conversation had been, he thinks they’d ended on a good note. That note being a kiss on the cheek from Esther that had left him flustered for days.

He felt like a freshly created angel. He was far too old to be acting like this.

Lucifer groans when his phone rings, hoping it’s not one of the other sins. He’s not in the mood to deal with Mammon’s whining or Bee’s party invites that she knows he’ll never attend.

He lists his phone to his face and nearly topples over in his chair when he sees it’s Charlie calling him.

“Charlie! Hey! How’s it going?”

“Heeeeey dad,” she says nervously. “You have to promise not to freak out.”

“Char char, apple pie, that’s a terrible way to start a conversation,” he says, leg already shaking anxiously. “What’s going on over there?”

“You have to promise,” she replies quickly.

He sighs and rubs his temple with his empty hand. “Charlie, I’m not going to promise anything if you’re potentially in danger.”

“Nooo! No! Nope! No danger here! Just Uncle Azrael visiting again and wanting to speak with you! With Uncle Gabriel and Aunt Uriel?” Charlie’s voice lowers in tone so much in the end that Lucifer nearly doesn’t catch her mumbling.

He feels his whole body vibrate with rage and feels his horns and tail whip out from him. “What did you say?” He can hear his voice layer as his eyes shift to red, glowing bright as his irises disappear.

“Okay, so we’re freaking out! How about some breathing exercises to help us relax and then we can sit down and talk,” Charlie says through the phone.

Lucifer barely hears her as his phone is crushed in his hadn’t and he lets his magic swirl around him ribbons or red smoke and golden sparks. One moment he’s staring down at his desk and the next he’s in the hotel lobby, standing in front of his daughter with wings spread nearly wall to wall.

“What the fuck do you think you’re doing here unannounced?”

Azrael steps forward, hands help up in a reassuring manner as Uriel and Gabriel remain in their place. Lucifer barely spares them a glance as Azrael moves closer to him.

“Lucifer please, let us talk peacefully. We had a good time during my last visit, did we not?”

“I tolerated you here because of Esther, and because I know you wouldn’t start a fight. I never said I wanted to see them too,” Lucifer snaps back, tail whipping harshly behind him in anger.

“Well we’re here, so are you going to settle down and talk like the adult you’re supposed to be or are going to keep up this tantrum?” Uriel asks bluntly, lilac eyes dead set on him. She tucks a strand of her short white hair behind her ear as she speaks.

He growls at her in response but makes his wings smaller, at the very least.

“Forgive me if I’m not keen on three Virtues barging into my place and approaching my daughter while I’m not present,” Lucifer responds through grit teeth. Azrael takes another step towards him.

“Ignore Uriel, you know she can be brash. I understand what this may look like but we weren’t aware that you weren’t here. That is why I had Charlie give you a call,” Azrael replies. Lucifer calms his tail and allows his golden irises to return as he turns to his daughter.

Charlie nods in confirmation to Azrael’s words and places a hand on his shoulder. Lucifer closes his eyes and sighs, feeling his horns and tail recede and his eyes shift back to their usual red irises. He rolls his shoulders and retracts his wings as well before looking back up at his siblings.

“Thank you,” Azrael says. Uriel and Gabriel step closer to him as he continues. “Now, I came down because I wanted to get the chance to speak more with you, as I spent most of my time with Charlie during my last visit. Gabriel is here because he wanted to personally deliver a message to you, and Uriel… well I hope you remember how she is?”

Uriel pushes past Azrael at that, moving herself into Lucifer’s personal space throwing her arms around his shoulders in a bear hug. She squeezes him tightly, and he feels his bones ache at her strength.

“I can’t finally visit my little brother? Thousands of years and I’m finally getting the chance to come here, you bet your ass I’ll be here,” she says as she continues to squeeze him. Lucifer isn’t really sure how to respond, arms stuck at his sides due to Uriel’s tight hold and eyes blown wide.

“Uriel, I think you might break him if you continue,” Gabriel speaks up behind her. She scoffs but gives him one last squeeze and let’s go, her hands resting on her shoulders.

“Haven’t grown much in all these years I see, and your eyes are red now. I like it, they match your marks now,” Uriel says, one hand patting at his face.

Lucifer just stares at her incredulously. He wants to say a lot of things, but he knows Charlie would be disappointed and Azrael has already calmed him. He doesn’t want to test his brother’s seemingly endless patience. He knows better than most that every virtue has a vice, and Azrael is the eldest of his brothers. While he’s never fully fallen to his wrath, even during Lucifer’s time in Heaven there were vague rumors of Azrael’s anger, and one whisper of thousands of wings was enough to ensure he never wanted to be on the receiving end of it.

“Don’t give me that look,” Uriel says as she stares back at him. She uses the hand that was holding his cheek to flick his forehead. He winces away from her and rubs the spot. “Just as you aren’t allowed back up there, we weren’t allowed down here. But, since those idiots Adam and Sera decided to break that rule for their little power play, and Father allowed Esther down here, we figured we’d come down for an overdue visit too!”

“So I’m allowed back up there?” He asks.

“Absolutely not,” she replies, her smile still wide but her tone sharp. “I love you, little brother, truly, but don’t forget that Hell is a punishment of your own making. You are a Sin now, not a Virtue. If you are ever to enter the first gates, you’ll need permission from Father, and you know how he is.”

“So forgiving,” Lucifer replies sarcastically, rolling his eyes at her.

“Cheer up! Your soul’s redemption may not be possible but at least sinners can be redeemed! And your love life apparently,” she teases.

Lucifer gives her a glare but doesn’t move away from her or the next hug she gives him.

He hates to admit how much he missed them all. Uriel isn’t the first of his sisters he expected to see again, he’d actually expected Ramiel, but he won’t complain too much.

“Yeah about that, that’s why I’m here,” Gabriel spoke up, stepping forward.

He removes Uriel from on top of him and takes her place. Gabriel’s hug is much quicker than her’s, though still just as tight.

“Hey Sammy,” Gabriel says, patting his back as he does.

Lucifer wants to protest the usage of that name, but hearing it from Gabriel doesn’t sound as patronizing as if it were Michael saying it.

“Hey Gabriel,” Lucifer replies. Gabriel gives him one last squeeze before letting him go.

“Well, I came down because I did want to see you, but also because I have a message for you from Michael.”

And just like that, Lucifer’s mood sours again. He hears Azrael laugh a bit at the frown that has overtaken his features once more.

“Don’t give me that look. You’re lucky Michael had the sense to ask me to deliver it and didn’t come personally himself,” Gabriel says, seeing the look on his face.

Lucifer looks away with him, knowing he’s right but not wanting to admit it.

“Yeah, whatever. What does he want? And why couldn’t Esther just tell me this? Where is she?” Lucifer asks.

Gabriel winces a bit and Lucifer’s eyes narrow. “About that, it’s sort of related to the message. Michael has been worried about her. She said something to him and I guess after her last visit, he wanted to be sure she wasn’t rushing anything. So he has her doing some other tasks at the moment to keep her busy.”

Lucifer feels his eye twitch and the admission, has to make an effort to keep his horns and tail from coming out in anger again.

“So he’s keeping her from me,” he replies. Gabriel laughs a bit nervously at that.

“Not necessarily! He’s respecting her wishes for the most part. He just wants to make sure she’s thinking clearly.”

“He wants to keep her from seeing me.”

Gabriel says and rubs at his temples. “Sammy, you know it’s not that simple. Her being with you means she would fall, and as much as we want to see her happy, you have to remember that Michael is Heaven’s protector. It’s his job to keep all angels safe. And I don’t know what she said to him but it’s had him stressing out. He hasn’t stopped her from coming here, but he is trying to limit how often she comes.”

“He wants her to keep a level head,” Uriel speaks up again, joining Gabriel in front of him. He vaguely sees Azrael move closer to Charlie. “Your little love told Michael she’d fall for you, and he’s not too happy about it. The only reason he hasn’t locked her up again is because her coming down here is an order from Father.”

His heart shouldn’t flutter like this, but it does, knowing that she wants to be with him. It must show on his face because Uriel’s eyes narrow at him.

“Don’t get too ahead of yourself,” she says to him, flicking his forehead again. “Believe it or not, I’m with Michael on this one. I’m not too keen on seeing her fall after the things you’ve pulled. But ultimately it’ll be her choice! I just want to make sure she makes that choice when she’s completely sure of herself.”

“I don’t have to explain myself to you,” Lucifer replies, tone dark as he narrows his eyes at her. He grits his teeth and she smirks at him.

“Maybe not, but you sure may need to explain yourself to Michael,” she responds. She leans closer to him and whispers so the others don’t hear the next part. “She may forgive your actions but I do not, and forcing her to be around the product of your infidelity seems a bit cruel, even for you, little devil. Lust may not have been your sin but you sure embraced it when you had the chance.”

“You leave Charlie out of this,” he growls.

Uriel smiles down at him. “I don’t blame the Little Star for your failures. In fact, I’d like to get to know her, since Azrael already got the chance. From what I hear, the little star is quite the big dreamer! I like it!”

Uriel skips away from him and Gabriel steps in before he can stop her from getting closer to Charlie.

“She won’t hurt your daughter,” Gabriel says quickly, blocking him from going towards them. “Now I’m going to make this quick because I have other things to do. I wish I could catch up but unfortunately duty calls. Michael wants to caution you. He’s aware that Esther’s choice will ultimately be her own, but he will judge for himself when the time comes whether or not he feels it’s the right choice.”

“You know he won’t approve if she chooses to stay,” Lucifer replies.

“He won’t,” Gabriel agrees, knowing their older brother well. “But at the end of the day, even Michael has to obey father, and he seems to be leaving the choice open to Esther. Honestly, I think he’s more concerned about you hurting her again.”

“He says that like I chose to fall.”

“Actions have consequences,” Gabriel warns. “Choose your actions carefully this time, and Michael shouldn’t give you any trouble.”

Gabriel sighs as he turns away, heading towards the door.

“Why can I never win?” Lucifer asks him, though he knows the question isn’t really for Gabriel. “I’m created to temp sin, but also destroy it, and in the end I became it and was punished for it. Now it’s either Esther falls and I face Michael’s wrath for it, or I remain without my other half forever but I have my peace from Michael. Were the thousands of years we spent apart not enough?”

“Believe it or not, Michael does love you, little brother,” Gabriel says instead. “Everything he does, he does because he wants to protect us, even if it’s from ourselves.”

Lucifer watches as Gabriel opens a portal to Heaven and walks through without another word. As it closes, he feels a hand on his shoulder and looks up to see Azrael smiling at him. He sees Charlie sitting on the couch with Uriel, talking animatedly no doubt about the hotel as Uriel nods along.

“Come along. I’d like to catch up with you, and Uriel means no harm. You know her bark is far worse than her bite,” Azrael says, pulling him along the lobby and towards the elevator.

Lucifer does know that, but it doesn’t make her words hurt any less.

Uriel has always been blunt. She’s never one to mince her words and though she never means to be hurtful, she also doesn’t shy away from causing pain.

Her words are never meant to hurt, but if they do, it just means there’s truth behind it.

He knows Esther said she has no issues with Charlie, and he believes her because Esther wouldn’t lie to him, she never has, but she never said it didn’t hurt her. And as always, his thoughts turn to their relationship.

It had never been put in words before his fall. They weren’t married, they weren’t engaged, they weren’t dating, they were just together. They were in love and they were together. There were no other words back then to really describe it.

And though he understood as time went on what their relationship truly was, it hadn’t stopped the stupid decision he and Lilith made.

He forces himself to stop talking about it as he and Azrael walk together. His eldest brother mentions things about Earth, about how society has progressed, new animals have been created, and anything else he’s come across during his visits. It doesn’t surprise Lucifer too much, since sinners here typically bring the knowledge of their time alive down with them. Hell changes whenever Earth does. Lucifer recalls the days when everything was just small wooden homes, but everything was hand washed, food was found and caught just for that day, and it repeated. When technology started apparently on Earth, it didn’t take long for it to appear in Hell as well.

Hell mirrored Earth, it just only reflected back the worst aspects.

“I have missed you,” Azrael says to them as they sit in his workshop. He thankfully didn’t comment on the rubber ducks, but Lucifer can see some amusement in his eyes. “I know it doesn’t change what happened. Saying that we were only following orders doesn’t make it right to you, and though I’m sure you understand, that doesn’t mean you don’t wish it could’ve been different, or forgive us for it.”

“Yeah, well, we can’t all be a rebel. What’s a family without drama?” Lucifer says as he shrugs. Azrael chuckles a bit at his antics.

“I know why you didn’t, but I wish you’d have spoken to one of us before agreeing to Sera’s ideas. Even if it wasn’t Michael you spoke to, I wished you’d have at least spoken to me.”

“It’s not that simple,” Lucifer starts. “Just because I don’t think you’d start a fight doesn’t mean I don’t think you’d do anything else.”

“What else I would do, I’m unsure of. But the more I learn of Sera’s reasoning, the more I question why you agreed. Hell is not capable of an uprising, and I don’t say this because I think sinners or hellborn are weak, I say it because no one besides you and possibly the Ars Goetia would have a way to access Heaven.”

Lucifer doesn’t meet his eyes, but he feels Azrael already knows the answer he’s looking for. Esther seemed to have already caught on as well.

“Allowing the death of sinners won’t change the past,” Azrael says to him, a knowing look in his eyes. Lucifer hates it.

“Maybe not but it’s what they get for being stupid enough to choose evil,” Lucifer replies.

Azrael scoffs at him and moves closer. “Hell is their punishment. Anything further is just sadistic. I know you don’t enjoy death like this.”

He doesn’t. He hates the exterminations. He just hated sinners more, at least at the time. He was bitter and hurt and he thought that maybe if he allowed this, he’d one day be able to make up for his mistakes and go home.

Clearly it wasn’t the case. Ten thousand years and he’s still stuck here, and all the exterminations did was ruin the one friendship he had and drive a wedge between him and his daughter.

Charlie really was too good for this cesspool of madness.

“And if you want to cause problems for Heaven, you would’ve done so. You’re more than capable. You may not be allowed to enter but that wouldn’t have stopped you from forcing your way through.”

“Yeah, except I didn’t want to repeat the beating I got last time. I never wanted war with Heaven, I never wanted to see it fall. I just wanted a chance to prove I wasn’t evil. Barging in would kind of go against that,” Lucifer says.

Azrael nods along. “We are still debating Sera’s punishment, by the way.”

Lucifer looks at him incredulously. It’s been almost two months now since the extermination and they still haven’t figured out what to do? He thought they’d be quicker about it, but then again, in a place still so stuck in their old ways, he isn’t entirely surprised.

“Don’t look at me like that,” Azrael says, narrowing his eyes a bit. “There is much to discuss. While she should fall for her treason, we aren’t sure that dropping another powerful seraphim here won’t just cause more problems for you. While she knows what she did is wrong, she doesn’t seem very remorseful for anything other than the fact that she was found out. I fear she may try to bring harm to you or Charlie should she fall.”

“So should she continue to enjoy paradise in a cell, or should fall? She probably wouldn’t stay in the cell long. She’d probably be put on probation rather quickly and then back to her usual activities in no time! But if you drop her here, I can’t guarantee she'll remain alive.”

“Lucifer,” Azrael warns.

“Don’t start,” Lucifer snaps back. “After everything she did, if the sinners don’t get to her first, if she so much as looks in Charlie’s direction the wrong way, I can’t promise I won’t do something.”

“That is precisely why we’ve been debating her punishment for so long. Is the loss of more souls truly the goal here?”

“After the millions she’s killed? I don’t think anyone down here would cry over her death. Actually, there might be a parade! There were a lot of parties down here when Adam died,” Lucifer says, snickering to himself.

Azrael rolls his eyes at him, unamused by his lack of care. Though he never liked Adam, reveling in someone’s death was never something he enjoyed.

Well… he can admit there are some deaths he didn’t feel too bad about. But he didn’t enjoy it either.

There was a bit of amusement seeing their faces when they were denied access to Heaven but he’d keep that to himself. He never understood the self righteous people who thought committing atrocities under the guise of his Father’s name would grant them access to paradise.

“Enough of this. I wanted to also speak to you about Esther,” Azrael says. Lucifer’s eyes narrow at him again.

“What about her?”

“Don’t worry about Michael,” Azrael says to him. Lucifer’s eyes widen. It’s certainly not what he’d expected. “Father has already given Esther the choice. He knows he can’t keep you apart. The only reason she hadn’t fallen sooner is a combination of your misunderstanding and Michael’s interference. Should she choose to fall now, Michael will have to accept it. I’ll see to it.”

“Why? Why help me? Michael won’t be happy with you about this.”

“Michael can whine all he likes. At the end of the day, what Father has already made his choice. There is nothing to protect her from. Maybe protect her heart, should anything go wrong, but I trust that you’ve learned from your mistakes and will do better this time around.”

“I did,” Lucifer says, voice filled with conviction. “I won’t lose her again.”

“See you to it that you don’t,” is all Azrael says about it.

They continue to chat and catch up with each other about miscellaneous things. Azrael makes a few jokes about their time working together, and Lucifer can admit that he misses it. Michael may have been the brother he looked up to most, but Azrael was definitely the one he’d been closest to besides Uriel and Cassiel.

Ramiel spent a lot of time with Michael, and Gabriel was always busy. The other Seraphim were cool, but besides Sera who’s sphere was so close to his, he’d never spent much time with them. There were other angels with the title of Archangel as well, like Raphael who’d taken his place as the Virtue of Humility, but he never was around often, and even now from the sound of it, he spends most of his time on Earth instead of Heaven.

There was also Jophiel, the archangel of art and beauty, but she was usually with Metatron, guarded by Seraphiel. Lucifer was always in some kind of trouble, he wasn’t going to risk going anywhere near the highest of angels, the Chief of the Seraphim.

Michael may be the leader of Heaven’s army and above even some of the Seraphim due to his status as Father’s right hand, but Seraphiel was beyond a doubt the one to truly fear.

Back then, Lucifer feared going near him. Now, he’s pretty sure he’d burn even if he so much as glanced in Seraphiel’s direction.

The more he thinks about it, the worse it gets. If Seraphiel was ever ordered to, his power could probably wipe all of hell from existence.

Which really makes you wonder, if Father had wanted to get rid of evil, why hadn’t he used Seraphiel’s power of purification. It likely would’ve eradicated the evil that found its way onto Earth. He might’ve still fallen for his actions but at least there likely wouldn’t have been as many sinners, if any at all.

But no, apparently because Lucifer fucked up, Earth had to suffer with him Hell wouldn’t truly be a punishment if he wasn’t surrounded by his own unwilling creation.

Sinners really were the worst. Just because he supports his daughter’s ideas doesn’t mean he agrees with everything she says.

Once Azrael leaves, thankfully dragging Uriel with him, he spends the rest of the day in the lobby listening to Charlie and Vaggie brainstorm new redemption ideas.

It’s become clear that it’s likely Sir Pentious’s willingness to sacrifice himself for others he cared for that lead to his redemption, but they couldn’t clearly recreate that scenario.

Azrael had mentioned the possibility of a retrial, though they’d have to find a way to do that without making them die a second time.

Cassiel would likely be in charge of that. He was always the best judge of character between all of them. Which just reminded him that he’d have to face more of his siblings.

Thousands of years and he still didn’t feel ready for this. It felt like he’d inevitably have to face Michael eventually and he really didn’t want to.

Once Charlie and Vaggie retire to their room, Lucifer moves to the bar. Husk looks nervous in his presence but doesn’t say much but ask what he wants to drink.

Lucifer doesn’t even know. He asks for a glass of red wine and ignores Husk’s look of contempt for the drink. It gets placed in front of him anyway in a nice glass.

He swirls the liquid around a bit, unsure if he even wants to drink it, and looks up at Husk.

“If you had the chance to be with someone you love, but at the risk of getting the shit beat out of you, would you do it?” He finally asks. Husk looks confused that he’s even being spoken to, looks around a bit, before sighing and pointing at him.

“First of all, I don’t know why you’re saying it like we don’t all know who this is about. Second of all, if you really love her, getting the shit beat out of you by your brother should be worth it,” Husk says to him. Lucifer laughs a bit at his words and takes a sip of his wine.

“If a beating is what it takes, I’ll take the beating, even though I could take Michael in a fight. Bastard just had a whole army with him last time. No, my problem is that it’s Michael.”

“Daddy issues. Brother issues. Mo- wait do you have a mother?” Husk asks curiously.

Lucifer shakes his head. “Nope. Dad created us all, though he used different things to do it, which is why not all of us are related. We all just kind of woke up into existence. We never really had a childhood the way mortals or Hellborns do. The Seven Virtues and a few other Archangels and I were all created from the same material, which is why we all consider each other siblings, even if we aren’t all the same type of angel. Esther was created from a different material,” he answers. He adds the last part because he knows Husk still wonders about Lucifer and Esther’s connection, seeing as so many of the older angels are related. It’s a valid question, though still one that makes his stomach recoil at the thought.

“Makes sense I guess. So it took a whole army to take you down, huh?”

“I mean, I had some people to help me, who do you think the other sins are? They weren’t virtues or seraphs, but they were angels,” Lucifer answers.

Husk chokes on the bottle of whiskey he’d started drinking from and coughs as he pounds on the bar top for air.

“The fucking Deadly Sins are angels too?!”

“Why do you think they’re so much stronger than everyone else?” Lucifer asks incredulously. “They’re angels who agreed with my ideas, were tried, found guilty, and followed me down here. Lilith and I were the first ones down, and I’m without a doubt the unfortunate creator of this shithole, but they were the next beings to inhabit Hell. Satan in particular was the first to join. The order of the rings is the order they arrived in. Creating the imps was his idea, which I obviously helped with since I’m the only one with the power of creation. It’s why they all worship him.”

“How come they don’t look like angels?”

“Because they gave up their angelic forms,” Lucifer answers him. “I didn’t always look like this, you know. I mean, close but not quite like this. My eyes were gold, my feathers were mostly white with a bit of gold too. And obviously I didn’t have the horns, or tail, or snake. Well, I was always able to turn into a snake but my halo changed from gold bands along my hat to the snake and apple after my fall as a reminder of what I did and what I’ve become as the first demon.”

“What the fuck?” Husk asks.

“Yeah it’s a lot,” Lucifer agrees.

Husk stares at him incredulously for a solid minute before chugging his bottle again. Lucifer laughs and drinks more of his wine. He doesn’t have to ask Husk to refill it, the man is already opening the wine as he sets the glass down.

“I thought my life was a shitshow, and I lost my soul to a sadistic sociopath,” Husk says as he finishes pouring Lucifer’s new glass.

“Yeah well, billions of years alive leaves room for a lot of shit to happen.”

Husk taps his bottle to Lucifer’s glass and raises it in a mock toast before drinking. Lucifer lifts his as well before taking another sip.

“So, a whole army?”

Lucifer laughs again. “Yeah, it didn’t go well. Some Seraphim had to get involved eventually. I’m not the King of Hell for nothing,” he says smugly, giving Husk a prideful smirk. “I wasn’t God’s favorite for nothing. I wasn’t the strongest of the angels, I’m pretty sure if Azrael wanted to he could end me, but I was up there. I was a Prince, I was in line to take over Heaven should Father ever step down, I was the one given the power of creation, even if everyone thought the power should’ve been Michael’s.”

“Then why did you never use all that power here? I mean, you’re the king, by no offense, you rarely do shit.”

“Because Hell is as much a punishment for me as it is for you. I never wanted to create this place, and quite honestly, I still couldn’t give less of a shit about the sinners down here. Lilith cared, she loved sinners, but she’s also technically the first sinner so I’m not surprised. It’s why I let her run things. I’m more than content to let the rest of them destroy themselves with their own made up problems. If I stepped in, I wouldn’t be a king, I’d be a dictator. Hell might end up being a bit more peaceful but only because everyone would live in fear of stepping out of line. No, it’s much better to let you all live your lives as you see fit. At least then you’d have your freedom.”

Husk looks like he wants to ask more, even though he looks a bit more wary of Lucifer’s presence in front of him. Lucifer doesn’t blame him. If he had his way, Hell really would be much different. Overlords like Alastor would have no real power. But Lucifer gave humanity the gift of free will for a reason. If he led the way he wanted to, for his own peace of mind, there would be no point in that free will. He’d take it away from them as quickly as he gave it. Maybe it’s a bit sadistic, maybe becoming a demon truly did change him, but his hatred for humanity hasn’t changed in years. It isn’t about the change now just because he’s grown a soft spot for the ones in this hotel.

A knock at the door is what stops their conversation. They look between each other and the door before Lucifer stands to answer it.

He doesn’t expect to see Esther on the other side, but his eyes widen and his cheeks flush at her appearance. She smiles down at him, as beautiful as ever even in the lowlights of Hell’s reddish nights.

“May I come in?” She asks. Lucifer nods wordlessly and steps away to let her in. She nods in thanks and does so, waiting until he’s closed the door to continue. “Azrael told me of his, Uriel’s, and Gabriel’s visit, as well as Gabriel’s message. I’m sorry you have to deal with that.”

He shakes his head. “Not your fault that Michael’s an ass. But uh- not that I’m not happy to see you, but what are you doing here? I thought he gave you some annoying tasks or whatever to keep you from coming.”

“Oh, that,” she says, rolling her eyes and making a shoo-ing gesture with her hand. “I finished that. Michael underestimates my work ethic. And I’m quite tired of his games. I’m here to stay for a few days, if that’s alright. I want to work a bit more with Charlie on her plans for redemption.”

Lucifer’s heart warms at her words. He isn’t sure what makes him happier; the fact that she’s willing to go against Michael or the fact that she wants to spend time with Charlie.

He thinks back to Uriel’s words, about it being cruel to make Esther be around Charlie. It’s been on his mind all day, despite Azrael telling him not to worry about it. Hearing Esther say now that she wants to spend time with his daughter fills him with a warmth he wasn’t prepared for.

She truly is perfect for him in every way.

“Just here for Charlie?” He asks coyly, smirking up at her. She laughs at his antics.

“Perhaps I can be convinced to spend time with others,” she teases back.

“Should I expect a certain someone to come down here looking for you?”

She knows he’s talking about Michael, and shakes her head. “I left a nice little note for him, and told the others where I was going so he should have no reason to. Now, it’s been a long day for the both of us, I’m sure. Could I trouble you for a room for the night?”

“My room?” He asks, despite knowing what her answer will be. As he predicts, she gives him a blank stare, no longer as amused.

“Don’t get ahead of yourself. I still haven’t gotten my dance.”

He grabs her hand, looking over to the bar where Husk is still watching, and nods to him before leading her to the elevator.

He takes her over to his side of the hotel, up to his tower. He doesn’t take her to his room, but to the closest room to his. Lucifer leads her in, shows her the amenities, and stands there as she moves around the room.

He should leave, he knows he should, but his feet feel stuck to the ground.

“Did you need anything? Do you have enough pillows? Or blankets? I can get some more for you, if you need? Or some books maybe? I know you liked to read before bed and-“

“Lucifer,” she says, cutting him off. “Something tells me that’s not really why you’re still here.”

She moves closer to him and holds his hands in hers. It steadies his thoughts, but not enough.

“I don’t know if I have the words for what I want to say,” he replies.

She smiles softly at him. “So don’t speak,” she says.

Had it been anyone else, he’d take it as being told to shut up. Be he knows her, and she knows him, and he smiles gratefully and snaps his fingers.

The lights dim and a clone of his own appears with a guitar. She looks between him and the clone with a skeptical look, though amused all the same. He moves on hand to her hip, the other still held tightly in hers as he lifts them. Her other hand that isn’t in his moves to his shoulder without needing to be told.

“When I look into your eyes, it’s like watching the night sky, or a beautiful sunrise, well there’s so much they hold,” he sings, leading her into a waltz. She follows his lead effortlessly as they move, his clone singing lightly with him in the background.

“And just like them old stars, I see that you’ve come so far, to be right where you are; how old is your soul?”

She chuckles at his last line, knowing he’s even older than her. Not by much, granted, but still. Seeing the smile on her face makes him happy.

“Well, I won’t give up on us, even if the skies get rough. I’m giving you all my love, I’m still looking up.”

He twirls her away from him, watching as her other hand stretches out and she pulls against his hold, trusting that he’ll keep her steady and pull her back in. He does just that, bringing them closer again, this time with his hand resting on her shoulder blade.

“And when you’re needing your space, to do some navigating. I’ll be here patiently waiting, to see what you find,” he sings to her. He moves them to dance side by side, his arm around her waist and letting her lean her weight on his, before he moves in front of her again to list her by her waist and twirl her.

“‘Cause even the stars, they burn. Some even fall to the earth. We’ve got a lot to learn, God knows we’re worth it! No, I won’t give up.”

They move back into a standard waltz as he continues, hoping he’s conveying everything he can, as well as he can, for her sake. It almost pains him to mention his Father, doesn’t want to give his Father any credit in this, but she wouldn’t exist without him and if he’s allowing her down here to be with him, then it must mean something. He doesn’t want to think of the possibility of his Father not hating him anymore, not now, not with her in his arms, but he’ll allow this, if only so she understands how fully committed he is.

“I don't wanna be someone who walks away so easily, I'm here to stay and make the difference that I can make! Our differences, they do a lot to teach us how to use the tools and gifts we got, yeah, we got a lot at stake! And in the end, you're still my friend, at least we did intend for us to work, we didn't break, we didn't burn! We had to learn how to bend without the world caving in. I had to learn what I got, and what I'm not and who I am!”

He twirls her again as he sings the last note, staring into her beautiful dark blue eyes that shine back at him with an intensity as strong as fireworks.

He pushes her away as she spins, moving forward to hold both her hands again as they move around each other, arms coming over their hands and around each other's shoulders. He moves her so her back is to his chest as they sway a bit together.

“I won’t give up on us, even if the skies get rough. I’m giving you all my love, I’m still looking up. I’m still looking up!”

He dips her a bit, staring down at her before raising her again to lift her by her waist once more. She holds his shoulders as he does so before he lowers her back to the floor and spins her under his arm once more.

“Well I won’t give up on us! God knows I’m tough, he knows! We got a lot to learn! God knows we’re worth it!”

He presses closer to him, moving them back to the end of their waltz, hand resting on her hip again as he leads them gently around the room.

“I won’t give up on us, even if the skies get rough. I’m giving you all my love, I’m still looking up.”

He lets both hands fall to her hips before moving them around her waist. Esther’s own move to his shoulders, clasped behind his neck. His clone has disappeared and the music has faded as they continue to sway, foreheads pressed together and eyes closed.

Lucifer doesn’t want to let go, and Esther doesn’t seem ready to let him go either.

“Music has always been one of your better talents,” she says, breaking the peace and quiet. He groans a bit and pinches her side. She squeals a bit but laughs.

“Don’t act like you can’t sing. You just choose not to,” he says, resting his head on her shoulder. She takes his hat and tosses it across the room, using one hand to run her hands through his hair.

“I much prefer hearing your voice,” she replies. “Maybe next time I’ll join you.”

He lifts his head, a sparkle in his eyes. “Next time?”

“I told you I’d be staying for a few days, didn’t I?”

“You did,” he agrees, a giddiness at the idea of it. “I can give you a tour of hell. Not much to see, no where near as beautiful as Heaven, but that’s really just the Pride Ring because all the sinners are stuck here. We can go anywhere. Gluttony’s Ring is especially nice. So is Envy, but I’d much rather deal with Bee than Lev.”

“Slow down there,” Esther says, interrupting him. “I’m here to help Charlie, remember?”

“Right, yeah, that too,” he replies quickly. Esther chuckles and moves them to sit on the couch in front of her bed, facing the fireplace. He makes a motion towards it and it lights with a warm flame.

“How about we sit for a while and you can tell me about the others,” she asks.

He nods and they sit close, hands held together over her lap as he tells her about the other rings and the Sins that rule them.

He tells stories of each one, the good and more annoying ones, anything to keep her entertained. In response she tells him about her time in Primum Mobile. She hasn’t been back to their Sphere since his fall, something she seems to regret now, but she tells him about the other Archangels and Seraphs, and the new stories about them. She tells him more about Emily, the Seraphim of Joy that Charlie has befriended.

Time passes without either of them noticing. He isn’t sure which one of them falls asleep first, pressed together on the couch. Her head rests on his shoulder and his over hers as they sit there, exhausted but content.

The position is awkward and his body feels stiff when he wakes, but he hadn’t slept that well since before his fall.

—————————————————

Hurray! Another chapter! As always, I apologize if there’s any spelling or grammar errors.

Fun fact! While reading up on facts about the Archangels for this, Azrael was definitely the most interesting, and I think that’s why I like writing him the most, though I’m loving Uriel too. I’m headcanoning Azrael as the oldest of Lucifer’s siblings, because when I was reading about him, it said that not only is he from the third Heaven, but it’s believe he had about four thousand wings. And with life always comes death, which is why I see him as being the oldest of the siblings, though not the oldest angel.

I’ve also seen a lot of back and forth about whether or not Michael and Lucifer are twins, and most things said no, they aren’t even brothers. But, I like to think that even though they aren’t twins, as I’ve made Lucifer here the youngest of his siblings (and as the youngest of my siblings, I feel like this is accurate) I feel like when Lucifer was created, he was created in Michael’s image, which is why I think they’d look the most alike. Though their hair colors are different, I think Lucifer styles his hair the way he does because it’s similar to Michael’s. And as I mentioned I believe Lucifer’s eyes and wings would’ve been gold before his fall, I think Michael’s are the same. Technically all the siblings are royalty, but I like to think Michael and Lucifer were the favorites, Lucifer in particular as he’s the only one of his siblings who is a Seraphim, the highest rank of angels. So as always, I’ve included a little doodle of what I think a few of his siblings would look like! I also drew a more detailed picture of Esther but I’ll save that for next chapter.

Let me know if you guys like the inclusion of music! If not, I’m okay with removing it. I can make the story work both ways, but I wanted to try something new (and I’ve already collected a playlist of potential songs).

Thanks again for reading! Please let me know what you think! See you next chapter! ❤️

Taglist: @dreamcatcher62 @art3misa635 @cimadreamer

[hellish-sunsets]

Curses and Blessings - Chapter 1

Chapter 2 ~ Chapter 3 ~ Chapter 4 ~ Chapter 5 ~ Chapter 6 ~ Chapter 7 ~ Chapter 8 ~ Chapter 9

Summary:

When they found two souls who worked the best together, who would uplift each other to good, they would grasp those two souls at the moment of their birth. This touch would leave behind a mark, each mark varied and unique.

Was this supposed to be a blessing or a curse?

Word Count: 1420

Warning: self harm, self hate, depression

Read on AO3

(set up, baby!)

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When she was little, Charlie went to her father whenever she got the chance to hear him tell a story. Her mother would often tell her no, that he was too busy with important work, but if she managed to sneak away, sometimes she could get him to tell her stories. 

Her favorite was about the marks. 

He would say that once, a very very long time ago, the angels looked down upon humanity and saw their struggles. Sin had taken hold of them leading them astray and causing them to get lost. They worried and they fussed and they discussed, until finally they reached a decision. They could not interfere themselves. Now that humanity had the choice, they had to choose to be good themselves. But perhaps, if they had someone else who could help make them better, happier people, that would help.

So, they made a creature, not an angel and not a demon, with no wings for them to fly away and no eyes to see what was happening around them in the present. They took their creation to a room made just for them on top of the tallest tower in heaven, far away from anything and everything, away from the most holy of places and the most evil. They sealed the creature in, and left them for eternity.

So, they started their work. 

With the powers granted to them, they outstretched their hands, and in an instant they saw all the minds of all humanity. In a moment, they knew everyone’s thoughts and hearts. When they found two souls who worked the best together, who would uplift each other to good, they would grasp those two souls at the moment of their birth. This touch would leave behind a mark, each mark varied and unique. Some resembled pictures, others were just a swirl of color and lines, and only those two souls would match each other. 

At first, only humans received these soul marks. It made sense, they were the ones the angels deemed in need of this gift. But isolation leads one to thinking. They wondered why humanity were the only ones to receive such a gift. They knew that, locked away in their empty room in this tower so far away from existence, they knew no one could stop them. So, with a slight twist of their lips, if they did have any, they looked further. 

It wasn’t known who had the first soul mark outside of humanity, whether angel or demon, but it was made clear rather quickly that those naturally born in those realms would also be allowed this gift, though not quite as common. 

“And that is how we all got our marks.” Lucifer told Charlie with a loving smile, cradling the girl in his protective embrace. And every time, she would look up at him with those beautiful, big eyes of hers, full of so much wonder and innocence. He hoped it would never fade. She would giggle with excitement and look at her own mark, a swirl of color on her inner arm. She swore since she was young that it looked like two birds flying together, but he couldn’t see it. Not that it mattered much as long as she was happy. 

“I bet they’re the best person ever! I can’t wait to meet them!” She happily babbled on, and he hummed in agreement, resting his chin on top of her soft hair and returning to the scattered papers on his desk, the sound of the pen scratching against the paper mixing with the sound of his daughters happy chatter. His chest swelled with a never ending fountain of love. 

It was a memory he went back to often as the years turned harsh and empty. In the moments when he felt just as isolated as that poor creature he told Charlie stories about so long ago. In the deadest moments of the night, when it was just him curled up in his far-too-large bed, he sank into those warm memories like a comforting embrace. But it hurt just as much as helped, a reminder of what he had lost and, he believed in his darkest moments, what he would never have again. 

Some nights he would glare at his own mark with red, tear filled eyes. Other nights, it was with a deep longing, the faintest of hopes he knew was pointless and painful. 

When the marks had started appearing so long ago, they appeared only on humans who were just born. Even when the shift happened, it still only appeared with the birth of the demon or angel. Those few who existed before the marks first appeared simply did not get one. For whatever reason, you had to be born with it. 

But Lucifer was not born with his. The only one to just have it appear, as far as he knew. He remembered little about when it happened, but he could vividly recall the sight of when it formed. It was a burst of color, like golden ink sliding up his arm from his wrist and dancing across the pale skin of his arm. He remembered the awe, the confusion, the anxiety, as those golden lines sank into his skin and settled into an array of gold, orange, and pink, like a sunset. It was beautiful, and terrifying. That was when he started wearing the gloves. It was several days before they got the news from heaven about the marks appearing on non-humans.

Of course, he couldn’t hide it from Lillith forever. At the time he thought they had worked through it. He was adamant they could still love eachother deeply despite this mark. The likelihood of him even ever meating whoever this person was was next to impossible. She had his whole heart, his everything. And she seemed to accept it. 

But when she left so many, many years later, that mark, that damned mark, was at the top of her list of reasons. She could only spit out that she was clearly not meant for him as stormed out with Charlie in her arms, his little girl, his world, staring back at him with wide, fear filled eyes. 

And then they were just,,, gone.

He never thought much of the mark until then, his claws digging into the tainted skin as he sobbed and wailed through the night, begging to that being in that damned tower to take it away, to bring back his family. What was the point of it, of any of this?

Was this supposed to be a blessing or a curse? Everyone else considered it a blessing, a promise that someone was out there for them, a hope that they could one day find their better half. 

But there was no such thing for him. He had love, he had a wife, he had his daughter, everything he could ever want. All this damned mark did was take that from him, ruin his life. He was sure it was punishment for his disobedience. He deserved it after he cursed humanity to sin and evil. He didn’t deserve happiness, didn’t deserve love

Still, he couldn’t stop the anger that bubbled up as he sat alone in bed, glaring at the sunset of colors. The finger that was absentmindedly tracing the lines of color flexed, claw digging into his skin, a line of blood falling from the puncture and dripping onto the white sheets. His face twisted, a mix of fury and pain as he sank all five claws into his arms, tearing, Tears streamed down his face as a sob tore through his lungs. The sheets were stained in gold once more, and he almost felt sorry for the cleaning staff. Why was he like this? Why couldn’t he keep himself together for fucking once in his life? 

He knew he was spiraling, but he couldn’t stop. It was only what he deserved, the pain, the injury. Eventually he collapsed onto the mattress, sobbing and gasping, staring at the mess that once was his arm. At least the mark was gone. And yet, he knew it would be back by morning. The damage would heal over and the mark would remain, the reminder of all his failings and downfalls, a reminder of just how worthless and undeserving he was of anything but pain and loneliness and disappointment. 

The bloodloss forced a heaviness on his body and his eyes slid closed, sleep finally taking him into a realm of emptiness.

[sora-712]

FINALLY!

His Forbidden Fruit art!

I've been sitting on and working on this since July ^^;;

These were some of my favorite moments and inspired by @heart-of-the-morningstar fic!

[luna-naoffcial]

✦ 𝐍𝐞𝐞𝐝 ✦

𝐏𝐚𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠: 𝐋𝐮𝐜𝐢𝐟𝐞𝐫 𝐌𝐨𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫 𝐱 𝐌��𝐢𝐝! 𝐅𝐞𝐦! 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫

✦ 𝐌𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭 ✦

━━━━⊱⋆⊰━━━━

𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐫𝐮𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐝, 𝐬𝐨 𝐢𝐭 𝐦𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐛𝐞 𝐛𝐚𝐝 😔 𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞 𝐝𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐞

━━━━⊱⋆⊰━━━━

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐥𝐞𝐭 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐚 𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐡, 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐬𝐧'𝐭 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐰 𝐋𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐡, 𝐬𝐡𝐞'𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐚𝐛𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐬𝐨 𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐥𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐠𝐨𝐭 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐟𝐞𝐥𝐭 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞. 𝐇𝐞 𝐥𝐞𝐭𝐬 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐚 𝐬𝐚𝐝 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐬 𝐨𝐧 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐢𝐫 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐟𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐞, 𝐬𝐰𝐢𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐠𝐨𝐥𝐝𝐞𝐧 𝐟𝐥𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐛𝐨𝐫𝐞𝐝𝐨𝐦. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐦 𝐢𝐬 𝐜𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐚 𝐬𝐢𝐥𝐤𝐲 𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐠𝐨𝐥𝐝, 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐚 𝐥𝐚𝐫𝐠𝐞 𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐢𝐳𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐟𝐟 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞, 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐚 𝐥𝐚𝐫𝐠𝐞 𝐩𝐢𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐟𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐝 𝐝𝐚𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐟𝐞, 𝐚𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐡𝐢𝐦𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟.

𝐇𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐩𝐬 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐢𝐫, 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐢𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐞𝐟𝐮𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐥𝐥. 𝐇𝐢𝐬 𝐝𝐚𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐦 𝐢𝐧 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞, 𝐚𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐟𝐞. 𝐈𝐭 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥𝐬 𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝𝐧'𝐭 𝐟𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐲 𝐚𝐛𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐦, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐞 𝐝𝐨 𝐚𝐧𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐭𝐜𝐡 𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐬𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐥𝐲 𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐬𝐩, 𝐚𝐥𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐥𝐬 𝐛𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐦 𝐭𝐨 𝐇𝐞𝐥𝐥. 𝐈𝐭 𝐬𝐞𝐞𝐦𝐬 𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐞 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐠𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐧𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐥, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐞'𝐬 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐩𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐯𝐨𝐫𝐬 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬 𝐚𝐠𝐨.

"𝐋𝐮𝐜𝐢𝐟𝐞𝐫, 𝐒𝐢𝐫?" 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐯𝐨𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐜𝐮𝐭𝐬 𝐡𝐢𝐦 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐝𝐚𝐳𝐞, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐤𝐬, 𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮.

"𝐀𝐡! 𝐘/𝐍! 𝐈 𝐚𝐩𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐢𝐬𝐞, 𝐈 𝐰𝐚𝐬𝐧'𝐭 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐯𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐬." 𝐇𝐞 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐬 𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐚 𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭 𝐬𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐞, 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐜𝐚𝐧𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐚𝐝𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐡𝐚𝐭.

𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐢𝐝𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐋𝐮𝐜𝐢𝐟𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐟𝐞, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐝𝐮𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐛𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐋𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐡, 𝐢𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐬𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞. 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐰𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚 𝐧𝐞𝐚𝐭 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬, 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐝𝐞𝐞𝐩 𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐧 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐠𝐨𝐥𝐝 𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬 𝐧𝐞𝐱𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐚𝐜𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬.

"𝐉𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐜𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮, 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐦𝐚𝐣𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐲. 𝐈 𝐝𝐢𝐝𝐧'𝐭 𝐦𝐞𝐚𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐝𝐞." 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐛𝐨𝐰 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐬𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐥𝐲. "𝐈𝐭'𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐚 𝐟𝐞𝐰 𝐝𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮'𝐯𝐞 𝐥𝐞𝐟𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐈 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐜𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧 𝐨𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮."

"𝐀𝐡! 𝐍𝐨 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐫𝐲 𝐌𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐲! 𝐈'𝐦 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐞!" 𝐇𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐲𝐬, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝𝐧'𝐭 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐩 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐡𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐩𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐛𝐞𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐯𝐨𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐢𝐫.

𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐚 𝐛𝐢𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐥𝐤 𝐮𝐩 𝐭𝐨𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐬 𝐡𝐢𝐦, 𝐛𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐛𝐛𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚 𝐟𝐞𝐰 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐥𝐚𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐫𝐲 𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐤𝐞𝐩𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫𝐬, 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐡 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐮𝐦𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐝𝐮𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐝𝐞𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐞. 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐡𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐬𝐞𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐢𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐚𝐲, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞'𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐦𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐝𝐨 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐬𝐭 𝐡𝐢𝐦 𝐈'𝐦 𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝.

"𝐇𝐞𝐲, 𝐃𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐞, 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐢𝐭 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐦𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚 𝐛𝐢𝐭." 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐋𝐮𝐜𝐢𝐟𝐞𝐫'𝐬 𝐯𝐨𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐛𝐞𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮. 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐧 𝐚𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐥𝐚𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐫𝐲 𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐧𝐞𝐱𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐧𝐞𝐱𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐨𝐨𝐫, 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐰𝐚𝐥𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐬 𝐡𝐢𝐦.

𝐇𝐞 𝐩𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐥𝐚𝐩 𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐰𝐞𝐥𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐨 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐩𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐚 𝐬𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧, 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐢𝐭 𝐨𝐧 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐥𝐚𝐩 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐚𝐩𝐬 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐚 𝐫𝐡𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐦𝐢𝐜 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐫.

𝐇𝐞 𝐥𝐞𝐭 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐚 𝐬𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐡 𝐛𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐥𝐞𝐠 𝐚 𝐛𝐢𝐭. 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐢𝐦 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐚 𝐬𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐬𝐲𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐜 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐨𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐤𝐬.

"𝐒𝐨 𝐮𝐡... 𝐖𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐈'𝐦 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐞𝐱𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐚𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬." 𝐇𝐞 𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐬 𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮, 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐰𝐨 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐝𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐚𝐭 𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡 𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫. "𝐈'𝐯𝐞 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚 𝐛𝐢𝐭 𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐥𝐲. 𝐈'𝐝 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐧𝐲, 𝐢𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐝𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐝, 𝐃𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐞."

"𝐍𝐨 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐛𝐥𝐞𝐦, 𝐬𝐢𝐫, 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐰𝐢𝐬𝐡 𝐢𝐬 𝐦𝐲 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐝." 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐠𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐚 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐭 𝐬𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐩𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐚 𝐛𝐢𝐭.

𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐞𝐞𝐦 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐟𝐚𝐯𝐨𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐦𝐚𝐢𝐝𝐬 𝐛𝐲 𝐡𝐢𝐦 𝐚𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐝𝐮𝐭𝐲 𝐦𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐬, 𝐥𝐚𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐫𝐲, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐜𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐬𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐡𝐢𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐭. 𝐇𝐞'𝐬 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐧 𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐚 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮. 𝐈𝐧 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐭, 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐬𝐧'𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐡𝐞'𝐬 𝐦𝐚𝐝𝐞 𝐚 𝐫𝐞𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐨𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐝𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐭 𝐚𝐥𝐥, 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐞𝐧𝐣𝐨𝐲 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐚𝐬 𝐰𝐞𝐥𝐥, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞𝐬 𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮.

"𝐒𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬.." 𝐇𝐞 𝐥𝐞𝐭'𝐬 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐚 𝐬𝐚𝐝𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐦𝐮𝐦𝐛𝐥𝐞. "𝐒𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬 𝐝𝐚𝐦𝐦𝐢𝐭! 𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐝𝐨𝐞𝐬 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐠𝐨𝐧𝐞?" 𝐇𝐞 𝐠𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐚 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐞𝐩𝐚𝐥𝐦 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐚𝐧 𝐮𝐩𝐬𝐞𝐭 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧. "𝐒𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬, 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐝𝐨𝐞𝐬 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬? 𝐈 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐝 𝐦𝐞!"

"𝐋𝐮𝐜𝐢𝐟𝐞𝐫, 𝐒𝐢𝐫..." 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐠𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐚 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐧, 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐞𝐱𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐨 𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐥𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞. 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐮𝐬𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐚 𝐦𝐚𝐲𝐛𝐞 𝐧𝐞𝐱𝐭 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫' 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐚𝐥𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐟𝐚𝐥𝐬𝐞, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐢𝐬𝐡 𝐭𝐨 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫.

"𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐝𝐨𝐞𝐬 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐚 𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬." 𝐇𝐞 𝐦𝐮𝐦𝐛𝐥𝐞𝐝, 𝐚𝐯𝐨𝐢𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐠𝐚𝐳𝐞.

"𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭, 𝐬𝐢𝐫?" 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐤 𝐬𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐥𝐲, 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐬𝐲𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐜 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐝𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐊𝐢𝐧𝐠.

"𝐀-𝐚𝐡, 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐘/𝐍. 𝐃𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐫𝐲 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐢𝐭." 𝐇𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐲𝐬, 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮, 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐟𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐬 𝐬𝐞𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐜𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐚 𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐧'𝐭 𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐬𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐡𝐢𝐦 𝐛𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞.

"𝐀𝐫𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐨𝐤𝐚𝐲, 𝐋𝐮𝐜𝐢?" 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐦𝐮𝐦𝐛𝐥𝐞, 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞𝐬 𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡 𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐛𝐲 𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐤𝐧𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐬, 𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐞𝐞𝐦𝐬 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐭 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐬𝐞𝐞𝐦𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐢𝐦 𝐮𝐩 𝐚 𝐛𝐢𝐭 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐝𝐨 𝐬𝐨.

"𝐀𝐡, 𝐰𝐞𝐥𝐥, 𝐢𝐭𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐫𝐲 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭, 𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐫! 𝐈 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐬 𝐦𝐲 𝐰𝐢𝐟𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐚𝐥𝐥." 𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐬𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐠𝐫𝐢𝐧 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐞, 𝐛𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐯𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 ��𝐚𝐢𝐬𝐭.

𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝𝐧'𝐭 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐩 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐧 𝐚 𝐬𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐛𝐢𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐝𝐮𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐨𝐮𝐜𝐡, 𝐡𝐞'𝐬 𝐧𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐭𝐨𝐮𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐝𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐬𝐞𝐞𝐦 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐚𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐨𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮. 𝐈𝐭𝐬 𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞, 𝐚𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐥𝐥.

"𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐰𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐨𝐮𝐜𝐡, 𝐬𝐢𝐫?" 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐦𝐮𝐦𝐛𝐥𝐞, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐜𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐡𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐬𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐨𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐬 𝐠𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮. 𝐎𝐟 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞, 𝐚 𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚 𝐦𝐚𝐢𝐝 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐧𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐛𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧. 𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐛𝐨𝐭𝐡 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐮𝐧𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐟𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐢𝐭 𝐬𝐞𝐞𝐦𝐬.

𝐇𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐬 𝐚 𝐬𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐡𝐮𝐦 𝐢𝐧 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧, 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐡 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐬𝐤𝐢𝐩 𝐚 𝐛𝐞𝐚𝐭 "𝐎-𝐨𝐡, 𝐚𝐩𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐢𝐞𝐬, 𝐋𝐮𝐜𝐢, 𝐈 𝐝𝐢𝐝𝐧'𝐭 𝐦𝐞𝐚𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐚𝐬𝐤 𝐬𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐚 𝐫𝐮𝐝𝐞 𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐬-"

"𝐍𝐨, 𝐧𝐨, 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐞, 𝐍/𝐍." 𝐇𝐞 𝐬𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐬 𝐚 𝐛𝐢𝐭, 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐰𝐚𝐢𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐥𝐞𝐠𝐬. "𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐞𝐞𝐦 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐭 𝐨𝐧, 𝐈𝐭𝐬 𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐬𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐰𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐦𝐞. 𝐦𝐦𝐡𝐦𝐦.."

𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧 𝐚 𝐜𝐞𝐫𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐚𝐬 𝐢𝐟 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐥𝐚𝐩 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐢𝐫. 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞, 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐝𝐢𝐝𝐧'𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐥𝐞𝐠𝐬 𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐧 𝐡𝐢𝐦 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐬𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐲 𝐚 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬. 𝐇𝐢𝐬 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐬𝐞𝐞𝐦 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐧𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐥𝐞𝐠𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐥𝐲 𝐠𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐮𝐩 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐤𝐢𝐫𝐭. 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐚 𝐬𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐟𝐥𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐦𝐮𝐦𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐛𝐲 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐨𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐠𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐮𝐩 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐠𝐡, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐬 𝐚 𝐬𝐮𝐩𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐮𝐟𝐟.

"𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐦𝐚𝐢𝐝𝐬, 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐝𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐰𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐬 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐞?" 𝐋𝐮𝐜𝐢 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐞𝐬, 𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐫𝐮𝐛𝐛𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐮𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐠𝐡.

"𝐍-𝐧𝐨, 𝐬𝐢𝐫." 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐝𝐨 𝐚 𝐬𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐦𝐮𝐦𝐛𝐥𝐞, 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐟𝐥𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐨𝐮𝐜𝐡, 𝐛𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐮𝐩 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥 𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐩𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐬. "𝐌-𝐦𝐚𝐲 𝐈, 𝐋𝐮𝐜𝐢, 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐝𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠?"

"𝐀𝐡- 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐬𝐨𝐫𝐫𝐲 𝐍/𝐍, 𝐈 𝐠𝐨𝐭 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐲." 𝐇𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐲𝐬, 𝐛𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐩𝐮𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬.

"𝐀𝐡.. 𝐍𝐨, 𝐈𝐭𝐬 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐞.. 𝐋𝐮𝐜𝐢." 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐦𝐮𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫, 𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐛𝐛𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐋𝐮𝐜𝐢𝐟𝐞𝐫'𝐬 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐝𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟.

𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐬𝐢𝐭 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐢𝐦, 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐬𝐤𝐢𝐫𝐭 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐝𝐨𝐞𝐬 𝐚 𝐠𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐣𝐨𝐛 𝐡𝐢𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐋𝐮𝐜𝐢𝐟𝐞𝐫. 𝐇𝐞 𝐝𝐨𝐞𝐬 𝐚 𝐬𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐡𝐮𝐟𝐟 𝐛𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐧𝐞𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐮𝐩 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐬𝐤𝐢𝐫𝐭 𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐩𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞.

"𝐈... 𝐈 𝐬𝐮𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐈 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐥𝐞𝐭 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐬𝐢𝐧 𝐬𝐥𝐢𝐝𝐞." 𝐇𝐞 𝐦𝐮𝐦𝐛𝐥𝐞𝐬, 𝐬𝐧𝐞𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐩𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐛𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐡𝐢𝐩𝐬 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦.

"𝐋𝐮𝐜𝐢𝐟𝐞𝐫, 𝐬𝐢𝐫," 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐦𝐮𝐦𝐛𝐥𝐞, 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐚 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐟𝐥𝐮𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐝 𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐨𝐮𝐜𝐡, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐢𝐭 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐛𝐞 𝐚 𝐥𝐢𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐚𝐲 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐝𝐢𝐝𝐧'𝐭 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐢𝐭. 𝐈𝐭 𝐝𝐢𝐝𝐧'𝐭 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐛𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐟𝐞𝐥𝐭 𝐚 𝐬𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐈 𝐛𝐞𝐭𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐥𝐞𝐠𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐩𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐬.

𝐇𝐞 𝐥𝐞𝐭𝐬 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐚𝐧 𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐜𝐡𝐮𝐜𝐤𝐥𝐞. "𝐀𝐡, 𝐬𝐨 𝐬𝐨𝐫𝐫𝐲 𝐘/𝐍 𝐈-" 𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐨𝐞𝐬 𝐚 𝐟𝐥𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐮𝐟𝐟 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐡 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐩𝐬 𝐡𝐢𝐦𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠.

𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐠𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐚 𝐬𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐬𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐞, 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐯𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐧 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬, 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐦𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐚𝐢𝐬𝐭. "𝐌𝐲 𝐣𝐨𝐛 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐬𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮, 𝐋𝐮𝐜𝐢."

𝐇𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐚 𝐬𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐬𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐮𝐠𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐩𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐩𝐮𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦 𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐧, 𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚 𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐩𝐚𝐢𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐛𝐚𝐬𝐢𝐜 𝐩𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐰𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐝𝐚𝐲. 𝐇𝐞 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦, 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐧𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐬 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐧 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐣𝐞𝐚𝐧𝐬, 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐡𝐢𝐝𝐝𝐞𝐧 𝐛𝐲 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬. 𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐢𝐭 𝐬𝐞𝐞𝐦𝐬 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐰𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐬 𝐡𝐢𝐦 𝐨𝐧 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞. 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐨𝐟𝐟 𝐨𝐟 𝐡𝐢𝐦 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐢𝐭 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐫 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐬 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐢𝐫, 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐥𝐞𝐠𝐬 𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐩𝐞.

𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐮𝐧𝐛𝐮𝐭𝐭𝐨𝐧 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐩𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐩𝐮𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦 𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐧. 𝐑𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐛𝐨𝐱𝐞𝐫𝐬. 𝐇𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐧 𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐜𝐡𝐮𝐜𝐤𝐥𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐩𝐮𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦 𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐧, 𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐝𝐢𝐜𝐤.

𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐝𝐨 𝐚 𝐬𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐮𝐦 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐢𝐳𝐞, 𝐡𝐞'𝐬 𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐛𝐢𝐠𝐠𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐦 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞. 𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐝𝐢𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐟 𝐇𝐞𝐥𝐥? 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐠𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐚 𝐬𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐠𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐭 𝐚 𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐤𝐢𝐬𝐬, 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐩𝐮𝐭𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐥𝐢𝐩𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐭, 𝐩𝐮𝐭𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐝𝐢𝐜𝐤 𝐢𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐦𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐡 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐠𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐮𝐩 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐬𝐮𝐜𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐧 𝐢𝐭.

𝐇𝐢𝐬 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐬𝐞𝐞𝐦𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐚 𝐟𝐥𝐮𝐬𝐡 𝐨𝐟 𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐛𝐞𝐠𝐚𝐧 𝐬𝐮𝐜𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐧 𝐡𝐢𝐦, 𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐞𝐭𝐬 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐚 𝐬𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐚𝐧, 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐛𝐛𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐡𝐚𝐢𝐫 𝐚 𝐛𝐢𝐭 𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐥𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐬 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐦𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟, 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐢𝐦𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟 𝐢𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐦𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐡.

𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝𝐧'𝐭 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐩 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐛𝐞 𝐚 𝐡𝐮𝐠𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐝𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐫𝐞𝐝, 𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐥𝐨𝐭 𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐦 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞. 𝐏𝐞𝐫𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐬 𝐢𝐭𝐬 𝐝𝐮𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐬𝐢𝐦𝐮𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧, 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐬𝐧'𝐭 𝐝𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧 𝟕 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬.

𝐇𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝𝐧'𝐭 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐩 𝐡𝐢𝐦𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐥𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐦𝐨𝐚𝐧𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐩𝐮𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐚 𝐭𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐠𝐫𝐢𝐩 𝐨𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐡𝐚𝐢𝐫. 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐮𝐩 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐚 𝐬𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐞𝐯𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐬𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐞, 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐚 𝐬𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐛𝐢𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐬𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐚 𝐠𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐞.

𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟 𝐨𝐟𝐟 𝐨𝐟 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐝𝐢𝐜𝐤, 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐞𝐭𝐬 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐚 𝐬𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐦𝐮𝐦𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐝. 𝐇𝐢𝐬 𝐛𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐥𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐲 𝐬𝐞𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐝 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐤𝐲 𝐝𝐮𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬.

"𝐀𝐡.. 𝐰.. 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭'𝐬 𝐰𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐠.. 𝐘/𝐍?" 𝐇𝐞 𝐡𝐮𝐟𝐟𝐬 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐞𝐲𝐞𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧 𝐚𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐡𝐮𝐟𝐟𝐬, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐞𝐲𝐞𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧 𝐚𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐛𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬, 𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐛𝐨𝐝𝐲. 𝐇𝐞 𝐥𝐞𝐭 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐚 𝐬𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐠𝐫𝐮𝐦𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐠𝐨𝐭 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐢𝐫, 𝐮𝐧𝐛𝐮𝐭𝐭𝐨𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐜𝐨𝐚𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐫𝐭, 𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐫.

𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐞𝐲𝐞𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐩 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐛𝐥𝐮𝐬𝐡 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐮𝐥𝐥𝐬 𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐛𝐫𝐚, 𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐛𝐛𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐛𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐚𝐝𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐥𝐞𝐠𝐬. 𝐄𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐮𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐦𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟 𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐚 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝𝐲 𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐚𝐧. 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐜𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐩 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐥𝐞𝐭 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐚 𝐦𝐮𝐦𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐡𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐭𝐬 𝐡𝐢𝐦𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟 𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮.

𝐇𝐞 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐧𝐬 𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐤𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐧𝐞𝐜𝐤 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐠𝐚𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐥𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮, 𝐛𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐢𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐝𝐫𝐚𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐛𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐝. 𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐦𝐨𝐭𝐡 𝐢𝐬 𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐩𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭'𝐬 𝐠𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐛𝐨𝐝𝐲 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐮𝐬𝐭. 𝐇𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐞𝐯𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐬𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮.

"𝐀-𝐀𝐡- 𝐋𝐮𝐜𝐢- 𝐦𝐦𝐧𝐠𝐡𝐡- 𝐟𝐮𝐜𝐤-" 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐦𝐨𝐚𝐧, 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐭 𝐛𝐨𝐝𝐲 𝐡𝐞'𝐬 𝐞𝐱𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝𝐲 𝐨𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮. 𝐈𝐭 𝐝𝐢𝐝𝐧'𝐭 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐨 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐜𝐥𝐢𝐦𝐚𝐱 𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐜𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐜𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐫. 𝐇𝐢𝐬 𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐚𝐧𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐧𝐨𝐢𝐬𝐞𝐬 𝐜𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐲 𝐠𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐜𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐚𝐬𝐰𝐞𝐥𝐥.

"𝐇𝐚𝐡, 𝐟𝐮𝐜𝐤 𝐍/𝐍, 𝐢𝐭'𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐞.. 𝐡𝐡.. 𝐈 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐠𝐨𝐭 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐠𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐢𝐭 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥𝐬.." 𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐮𝐟𝐟𝐬, 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐬 𝐠𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐥𝐨𝐩𝐩𝐲.

𝐇𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐞𝐱𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐮𝐩 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐞'𝐬 𝐠𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐮𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐛𝐲 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝𝐲 𝐟𝐚𝐥𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐟 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐝𝐢𝐜𝐤 𝐡𝐢𝐭𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐠-𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐭 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫. 𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐥𝐞𝐠𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐠𝐚𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐜𝐡 𝐛𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐜𝐥𝐢𝐦𝐚𝐱 𝐡𝐢𝐭𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐚 𝐡𝐚𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐫, 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐥𝐞𝐭 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐚 𝐥𝐚𝐫𝐠𝐞 𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐟𝐮𝐥 𝐦𝐨𝐚𝐧 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐛𝐨𝐝𝐲 𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞𝐬. 𝐇𝐞 𝐬𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐬 𝐚 𝐛𝐢𝐭, 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐮𝐩 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐬 𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮, 𝐛𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐩𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐥𝐲 𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞, 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐦𝐮𝐦𝐛𝐥𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐛𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐠𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐥𝐨𝐮𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐛𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥 𝐚 𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐦 𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮, 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐞𝐭𝐬 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐚 𝐥𝐨𝐮𝐝 𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐚𝐧.

𝐁𝐨𝐭𝐡 𝐨𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐛𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐥𝐲 𝐚𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐛𝐨𝐭𝐡 𝐜𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐨𝐠𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫, 𝐛𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐩𝐮𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐢𝐦𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮. 𝐂𝐮𝐦 𝐛𝐞𝐠𝐚𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐤𝐥𝐞 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐩𝐮𝐬𝐬𝐲 𝐚𝐬 𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐬, 𝐩𝐢𝐜𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐮𝐩 𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐡𝐢𝐦 𝐛𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐬��𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚 𝐭𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐥 𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬. "𝐎𝐡 𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐫, 𝐡𝐚𝐡𝐚, 𝐲𝐨𝐮'𝐫𝐞 𝐚 𝐦𝐞𝐬𝐬, 𝐘/𝐍."

𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐦𝐮𝐦𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐞, 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐰𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐞 𝐛𝐨𝐝𝐲 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥𝐬 𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐦 𝐬𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐝𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥 𝐦𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠. 𝐇𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐚 𝐬𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐜𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐧𝐬 𝐮𝐩 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐚 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐡𝐢𝐦𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟, 𝐛𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐩𝐥𝐨𝐩𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐧𝐞𝐱𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐛𝐨𝐭𝐡 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐛𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐤𝐞𝐭𝐬. 𝐇𝐞 𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐛𝐞𝐠𝐚𝐧 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐡𝐚𝐢𝐫 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐚 𝐬𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐞. "𝐇𝐞𝐡, 𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐤 𝐲𝐨𝐮, 𝐡𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐲𝐛𝐮𝐧."

𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐦𝐮𝐦𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐚 𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐦 𝐬𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐨𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐞, 𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐛𝐨𝐝𝐲 𝐛𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐝𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐰𝐚𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐲𝐨𝐮, 𝐛𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐤𝐧𝐞𝐰 𝐢𝐭, 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐜𝐮𝐝𝐝𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐮𝐩 𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐭 𝐡𝐢𝐦 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐞𝐲𝐞𝐬 𝐜𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐝.

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐛𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐥𝐮𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫 𝐟𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐚𝐬 "𝐇𝐞𝐡, 𝐈 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬."

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𝐓𝐨𝐥𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐢𝐭'𝐬 𝐛𝐚𝐝 😞

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[redr0sewrites]

Could you please do fluffy Lucifer head cannons! (I love your Hazbin hotel hcs💗)

🥀A/n: YESSSS OFC!! i love luciii hes so cute

🥀Cw: none, just fluff!!!

lucifer is a very touchy person in general, and when it comes to his partner, he just ADORES giving and receiving affection from you. he always wants to be touching you in one way or another, but he always makes sure to ask beforehand.

he rubs your thumb when you both hold hands!!!! he also seems like the type to gently swing his arm when you both are holding hands and walking side by side, he's just giddy about getting to spend time with you!!!

lucifer loves showing you off. he's definitely bringing you to every event that he attends, and is proudly stating that you're his partner at any given opportunity

MATCHING COUPLES ITEMS!!!! ive said it before and i'll say it again, lucifer is the type to ADORE matching couples outfits, jewelry, mugs, literally anything! u guys have SOOO much matching stuff simply because he adores it

loves sitting in your lap. there is no place in the world more comfortable for lucifer than in your arms, and he just loves being able to cuddle with you in your lap. he MELTS whenever you touch his hair, and is overall very touchy

if your taller than him, he ADORES hugs from behind!!! he loves when you rest your chin atop his head, and won't even mind some light teasing about his height.

loves tickles!!!! sometimes he'll wake you up with tickles or kisses across your face, just so he can hear your laughter

lucifer can't fall asleep without touching you in some way! if you aren't a very cuddly person while you sleep, that's ok, but he still asks to link pinkies while sleeping just so he knows you're there. if you are a fan of cuddles, prepare to be clung to!!

he would adore it if you got along with charlie, and definitely persists at trying to get you two to hangout. he loves the idea of the three of you being a family and doing family things together, and charlie is just happy to finally see him happy, so she's very grateful towards you

lucifer is a RAMBLER, he loves talking about his special interests and cares a lot if you listen to him and act interested too! you definitely learn a lot of duck facts from him, along with anything else that's interesting that he's picked up over the years

FLIRTY!!!!!!! he's sooooo cheesy, and definitely uses the cringiest pickup lines. sometimes he does it to be funny, and sometimes he does it to be serious. he also has a BUNCH of nicknames and petnames for you, and some are satire while others are more genuine

to name a few of the satire one, he'd probably say duckie, pookie, and prince/princess (ironically tho). unironically i think he'd call you dear or "my dearest", darling, and honey as well. he isn't afraid to call you pet names in public, he honestly refers to you more as "dear" than your actual name! i also think lucifer would make up nicknames based on your name specifically. you could have a 3 letter name and he'd still somehow shorten it. definitely gives you nicknames related to your name, say for example your name is rose, he's absolutely the type to call you "rosie posie" instead of just rose

writes you little notes throughout the day and sends them to you magically :) he also buys you practically anything you want, he is rich after all

overall he's very affectionate, and he could never pick a love language when it comes to giving. he just has so much love to give, and he makes sure you're spoiled with affection!!!!!!!!

ack sorry this is so short i promise im still trying 😭 school and family *cough* mom *cough* stuff has been lowkey kicking my ass but ive been SO motivated to write it's actually insane so im trying to power through my 100+ hazbin hotel requests even though ive lowkey moved on- i still enjoy the fandom, but i just need a break yk? ANYWAYS!!!! FEEL FREE TO SEND IN REQUESTS, ESPECIALLYYYYYY ARCANE, TDP, OR ACOTAR REQUESTS!!!!!