#where less of trauma happens. saint like works at a mcdonald’s or something

[thehappiestgolucky]

they’re very silly to me

[regrettablewritings]

If there’s still a slot: General headcanons for Ella Lopez of Lucifer?

Yii, you caught the tail end :3

Who initiated the relationship, and how did it go?: You did, and it was a struggle for the both of you. For you, it was because Ella was everything you weren’t: Extroverted, bubbly, and just all-around so heart-throbbingly lovely that her mere presence overwhelmed you, yet also brought you a sense of peace. But your shy and introverted nature made even looking directly at her a huge hassle. For Ella, it was because the last time she’d been asked out, she nearly got killed. She didn’t want to consider what happened to her a source of trauma, but the series of events definitely left their mark on her, leaving her extremely hesitant when it came to anyone looking for a date. At least with bad boys, she had a vague idea of what she was getting into. But with seemingly pleasant people? There was simply no shortage to how many awful possibilities there were. She really was tempted to turn you down, as much as a part of her died a little at the thought. She wanted to believe that you weren’t bad -- after all, what were the odds that she would wind up dating a serial killer twice in a row, let alone in a lifetime? Thankfully, she had a fallen angel by her side: Never one to miss out on potential interference, Lucifer happily stepped in and “studied you himself” (read: asked you what your desire was) and was nauseated yet relieved to report that your answer was “to kiss Ella Lopez and hold her hand and bring her flowers on Wednesdays just because, and to -- ”. He was more than happy to vouch for you, so long as you put a lid on it. Keeping all this in mind, it should go without saying that it was an awkward start for the two of you. But then again, as you both got into the groove of things, not a regret was to be found even six months later.

Did they have an official first date? If so, what was it like?: As happy as you were when Ella accepted your proposal for a date, it also set you on an inward panic: You honestly didn’t think you’d get this far. Now you actually had to think up a date. Someone as outgoing and wonderful as Ella deserved a whole slew of activities just as impressive as her, but the problem was that you couldn’t think of any as they practically bottlenecked in your brain. Plus, the idea of going to some of these large gatherings just made your anxiety spike at the mere thought of it. You tried outsourcing, asking friends and colleagues for input, but that turned out to be a mistake. The biggest offender was, of course, Lucifer, who told you take her for a night out on the strip (and maybe do a little stripping of your own for good measure). You wanted to kick your ass for being such a coward, but it was Chloe’s advice you settled on: Just a simple coffee date to get to know one another. You wanted nothing more than to drown yourself in the mug you clutched with dread as you sat in the hipstery coffee shop you’d invited Ella to. Way to go, (Y/N), you berated. You finally ask her out and the best you can do is a basic coffee date? What hetero nonsense is this!? Now she’s going to know what a loser you are -- “Hey, are you okay?” Ella questioned, brows knitted with concern. You could feel non-coffee-induced heat rising to your cheeks. “Y-yeah,” you lied. Your grip tightened on the cup. “I just, um . . .” You sighed; lying wasn’t ever really your strongest suit. “I’m sorry. I kinda flopped on the whole date thing. I knew I should’ve gone with something a bit more impressive but I chickened out -- ” “Oh no no no! I actually really appreciate it! Seriously, it’s um . . . It’s nice to try and keep things simple sometimes, y’know?” And she meant it: Given how things went with the he-who-shan’t-be-named, Ella could see the value in just getting to be in a calm environment instead of being ushered into a noisy one. Besides, what better way to get to know you? Or to contrast with her previous dating situations? Chloe might’ve been on to something when she suggested you keep it small and simple: Cliche as it was, it worked, and it was that sort of moment that made you realize all the more that there were no real regrets to be had by asking out Ella Lopez.

What was their first kiss like?: Startling, though not in a bad way. You just didn’t think she’d want to kiss you. After all, this was still early on when you were nervous about her even sticking around: You were shy, not what she was known for dating, and she was still pretty hesitant about dating at all due to the last guy to come around. Or so you thought. While it was true that the scars had left their marks, this didn’t mean that Ella was uncertain about where she wanted this to go: On the contrary, after a month of going out (thanks to your patience), she already reached her conclusion. And she reached it the moment you spiraled into a nervous, babbling mess. She thought it was actually very cute how you got kickstarted into a practical infodump on how Seduction of the Innocent essentially paved the way for how the west at large interprets comic books. You, however, found it embarrassing and felt compelled to frantically apologize for it. But in spite of Ella’s insistence that it was okay, you kept insisting right back that it was weird. As the young lady saw it, the only way to shut you up was to provide a very sudden but very thorough lip lock. You stammered to a slow halt when she cupped your cheeks, but the kiss was ultimately a good measure. And it certainly did shut you up on the matter. For the rest of the night, all you could think about was that kiss, and what subjects you could possibly ramble about to get you more.

Were they each other’s first anything (kiss, relationship, etc.)?: You’re Ella’s first actually decent partner. And considering what that means, it’s not something to take lightly. There’s an actual adjustment period for her, realizing that the most malicious thing you plan to do to her is to maybe at most eat some of her fries whenever you pick up McDonald’s for her when she’s working late.

What’s their height difference? Age difference?: At 5′4″, Ella is a tiny bit itty bitty when compared to some of her peers. But, hey, do with that knowledge what you will. (And I honestly have no idea how old Ella is supposed to be because her actress is in her 40s but the way she plays Ella indicates that she’s probably in her early 30s at most.)

What’s their relationship with each other’s families?: Considering that Ella has a complex relationship with her own family, it wouldn’t be shocking to say that your own attempts to learn more about them have been . . . less than ideal. You haven’t actually met any of them in person due to the distance, but it’s also because Ella just isn’t ready for you to properly meet them just yet. It’s nothing to say about your relationship, but Ella knows that her family and some of their more troubling behaviors might not be the best thing to get you into right now. The most you might get is the occasional quick chat Ella puts on speakerphone, so it’s hard for you to get any real grasp on how they see you. But you’re not one to really push things, and you certainly won’t start now. If and/or when Ella is ready to cross that bridge, you’ll be ready, too. Ella hasn’t directly met your family, either, but at least she’s talked to them on the video calls you usually have with them. Your family is stunned when they learn you’re dating Ella: You never struck them as the type to date somebody so outgoing, much less be the one to ask the outgoing person out! But they’re definitely happy for you: You clearly don’t see an issue with Ella’s sunshiney personality, you’re living your best life, and they’d like to think that maybe some of her social butterfly tendencies will rub off on you.

Who takes the lead in social situations?: Ella. You know it’s got to be Ella. She’s a natural social butterfly, and you couldn’t help but be drawn to her like a moth to a flame for it. She may not be the smoothest talker, and often can say some oddball things, but she almost never appears to be fettered by it. It’s a high contrast to you, who will kick her own ass behind a dumpster in an alley if she stumbles a word in a sentence or shows hesitation. Being the practical saint that she is, Ella’s taken notice and has tried in her own little ways to help encourage you. For example, if she notices you’re struggling to express a thought to someone whom you find intimidating and she’s just close enough, you’ll feel her fingers quietly entwine with yours before giving a gentle squeeze of assurance. Ella may take the lead, but she makes sure you never feel alone or left behind.

Who gets jealous easier?: Neither one of you is a especially jealous person, but you do both have some worries that may constitute as forms of jealousy. Ella may get nervous about the relationship from time to time, but it has nothing to do with the possibility that you might become fond of somebody else and leave with them. It’s got more to do with the fact that you’re her first actually good relationship. Really, the closest she gets to jealousy is when she sees you getting along very well with someone. Someone who probably isn’t exactly as hesitant about the idea of dating you as she is. She just feels nervous and worried because she really does like you and really does mean to trust what the two of you have going on. And thankfully, you understand this. But that doesn’t stop you from worrying that she’ll still up and leave you for someone much cooler. You know how lovable Ella can be, so surely it’s only a matter of time before some much cooler nerd comes along in a sexy cosplay or something and sweeps her off her feet. But the reality of the matter is that you’re two nerdy goons trying to make it work, and you’d never back out on the other. Still . . . It doesn’t hurt to hold hands when you guys go places. Or plan couples’ cosplays. Or give her one of your Star Wars pins while she gives you one of her Star Trek keychains to essentially mark the other as taken in a silent way. Just little indicators that you’re definitely together, y’know?

Thank you for your patience!

[useful-wasting-of-ink]

Life Before Death

Part 1 - Reggie

Find “Part 2 - Alex” Here

Find “Part 3 - Luke” Here

“The last two years of Luke, Reggie, and Alex's life as told through their trauma and their support of one another.”

TRIGGER WARNING: child abuse, hitting, alocoholism, cursing, let me know if anything else needs to be mentioned

Reggie’s fingers strummed the chords harder and harder as the yelling got louder and louder. He knew pretty soon his parents would come barging in to yell at him, but at least for now, he didn’t have to listen to them. He could never figure out what the fights were about, it started with Reggie’s grades and now it was about the food always being cold because his dad always came home late from work. 

His dad had come home reeking of alcohol again, which wasn’t new but it had been a few days. He had slammed Reggie’s report card down on the dining room table, and that argument lasted an hour before Reggie was finally allowed to leave the room. 

It’s not that Reggie wasn’t smart, because he was an incredibly intelligent person, he just couldn’t pay attention or concentrate. He tried, but he could never sit still for longer than five minutes at a time, which resulted in a lot of detention, and a lot of letters home, and a lot of yelling. 

The words swam on the page in front of him, and every paper he handed in was marked down for spelling. It’s not that he wasn’t trying, because he was, and he understood the content if someone sat down with him and was patient enough to explain it in a way that made sense to him. That person tended to be Alex, occasionally Luke. 

Reggie could still hear the yelling over his strumming, he couldn’t completely make out the words, but he definitely heard his name, which meant the argument had become about him again. His parents fought constantly, about every little thing that happened. And he couldn’t help but blame himself. 

When he first met Alex and Luke, he never let them over to his house, it was off-limits, the only reason they knew where he lived at all was because Alex lived two streets over. They were only ten at the time, and Reggie thought it was normal for parents to fight like his did. But he still wouldn’t let his friends come over, he just didn’t like it.

Eventually, he let them come over, but only when his parents weren’t home, or it was just his mom. It never became a habitual thing for them to come over, and his parent’s never fought when they had company. 

As they got older, and they began confiding in each other more, the boys realized how bad Reggie’s home situation was. They had never witnessed a fight, though. His parent’s acted like saints when either of them came over to study or just hang out in Reggie’s room.

One day, though, Alex came to pick Reggie up for rehearsal during a fight. Reggie was sitting on the couch staring at the wall opposite him listening to his parents yell over each other trying to voice their disappointment at his grades. 

They all jumped when they heard the doorbell ring, but it was Reggie who got up and opened the door to an anxious-looking Alex. 

“We uh… We have rehearsal…”

Reggie looked startled as he realized what day it was, turning back to stare at his parents. 

His dad just waved his hand, “Whatever, don’t come crying to me when you have to work at McDonald's!”

Reggie’s mom shook her head, heading into the kitchen. Reggie turned back around and grabbed his bass that was sitting by the front door.

“Lets go, please,” he mumbled, “and can we please not talk about this?”

They did end up talking about it, but not until after rehearsal when Alex could tell that Reggie was doing better. Luke found out that same day because he could see the tear stains on Reggie’s cheeks and wouldn’t stop worrying. 

It was two months later when Reggie didn’t show up to rehearsal. He had never not shown up before. He’d been late a few times but never gone completely. 

He had begun coming on his own after his aunt bought him a bike, so Alex hadn’t gone to pick him up. Bobby had long since gone home, telling them he had a lot of homework. 

Alex was pacing back and forth, and Luke was bouncing his leg as he sat on the small couch. 

“He’s okay, right? I mean, he probably just fell asleep, he was pretty tired at school today,” Luke was mumbling, so it was a miracle Alex heard him at all.

Alex ran a hand through his hair, though it just fell right back into his face, “Yeah… He’s probably fine.” 

Neither of them believed that he was fine. 

“It can’t hurt to go check on him, though. I mean… He’d do the same for us?” 

Luke nodded, “Yeah, maybe that would be a good idea.” 

It took them both a minute to grab their stuff, but once they did it only took them five minutes to drive to Reggie’s house. The drive was the longest five minutes of either of their lives, neither of them said a word the entire time. 

Reggie was laying on the floor of his bedroom, he had stopped crying half an hour ago, but it was still very clear that he had been. A bruise had begun to form right below his left eye, and he was pretty sure he had a broken rib or two. 

His dad had come home reeking of alcohol again, but his mom wasn’t there to lessen the blows. Reggie had been practicing in his room, his dad had decided that he was tired of the sound, and… Reggie couldn’t really tell you what happened after that. It happened too fast. 

He knew he was in bad shape, and he knew that his father had thrown his bass across the room, and he heard a crash that he really didn’t like, but he couldn’t bring himself to look.

After that he heard the door slam again, so he knew his father had gone out again. But it didn’t matter, he’d be back. 

This wasn’t the first time his father had hit him, it wasn’t exactly uncommon. He’d always feel bad and apologize, and promise he’d never drink again, blah blah blah… But it never lasted long. Two weeks at the most. And the fights didn’t stop when he was sober, they just weren’t as loud.

He heard the doorbell ring, but he didn’t care. Whoever it was would probably just go away. He lifted his hand to his face, wincing at the pain. 

The doorbell rang again, and again a minute later. Reggie pulled himself into a sitting position, before finally getting up. 

“Hold your fucking horses,” he yelled, wincing at the pain of walking. He was past the point of caring who was behind the door, he was in too much pain to give it another thought. 

Luke and Alex breathed out a sigh of relief when they heard Reggie’s voice, but were still worried at how angry and hurt he sounded. His voice had been strained, and more rough than usual. 

No one knew what to do when the door opened. Reggie stared at his two friends, holding his side. Alex had his mouth slightly open in shock, and Luke just looked angry. 

“Why are you here?” Reggie asked, his voice strained. 

“We came to check up on you. You missed rehearsal,” Alex had been the one to respond, though it had taken him a couple of seconds to find his words. 

Reggie stared for another moment, before gesturing inside. He couldn’t keep standing. 

Alex closed the door behind them, and Reggie led them to his room. 

“Reggie… What happened?” Luke finally spoke up, helping Reggie lay down. 

Reggie didn’t say anything, instead, he was staring at something across the room. 

His bass was lying next to the wall, next to a shattered lamp that had fallen off his dresser. 

“He threw it across the room... “ he mumbled, “I heard it crash, but I was in too much pain to look…” 

Luke looked confused before following Reggie’s gaze, a horrified look crossing his face, before one of anger replaced it yet again. Reggie had saved his money for two years when he was 14 to buy that bass, and now the stem was mangled where it had hit the wall.

“My dad… I guess he got tired of the noise. Decided he’d had enough of it? I don’t know… I just know that I can’t afford to buy another…” 

“Reggie, you can borrow mine until we can get you a replacement,” Alex offered, “I never use it anyway.” 

Reggie nodded tearfully, “he got tired of the noise,” he finally admitted, “I guess he just decided that enough was enough? I can’t remember, really. I just know my face stings,” he left out the part where his ribs ached worse than anything, but he knew the boys could probably tell, it was obvious his face wasn’t the only part of him that was hurting. 

“Reg, I want you to come stay with me for a few days, yeah?”

“My dad’ll just get mad at me, and I don’t wanna intrude on your parents, Luke.” 

“My parents love you! Besides, it’ll be fun, we can play some video games, movie night, whatever.”

After a minute, Reggie nodded, he really didn’t want to stay at his house, and his parents were gonna fight either way, so he might as well leave for a few days.

Reggie stayed with Luke for about a week. It was hard for him to get out of bed for a few days, but luckily they were on a short break from school, so there was no reason to make excuses for absences. Alex came over everyday, which was a normal occurrence. The three of them often hung out outside of school, so it wasn’t weird that all three were together every day that week. 

Alex brought his bass to the garage the next time they were all there, “my aunt gave it to me like three years ago, I never use it, and it just takes up space in my room, so you can have it if you want,” and that was the end of the conversation. 

The three of them never brought it up to Bobby, the only explanation for the new instrument was that Reggie got a new one. Bobby was their friend, but he wasn’t as close to the three of them as they were with each other. They’d been friends for years, they had only known Bobby a little over two years, and didn’t really become friends until less than a year ago. 

It just wasn’t the same. They all hung out together, laughed and joked together, trusted each other. But it was different. The trust was different. The jokes were different. Alex knew he could trust Luke and Reggie, Reggie knew he could trust Alex and Luke, and Luke knew he could trust Alex and Reggie. All three knew they could trust Bobby, but not with everything.