#I put a pentagram on her chest

[gonzodangerfeels]

Guy wanted to waste a half hour in court trying to explain his positive cocaine test was only because he had been fucking a crackhead all weekend, and certainly not because he had been smoking crack with her. Oh no. No sir, not him.

[just-some-random-blogger]

Bound By Blood

Being on your period was already a pain as it is, but accidentally binding yourself to a demon with a menstrual pad was a real cherry on top.

demon!Daemon Targaryen x Reader x bf!Aemond Targaryen | 2k+| cw: fem!reader, modern au, menstruation and its symptoms (duh), bloody depictions, crack fic, dumbass shenanigans, internet translated high Valyrian, typos, etc.

A/N: after reading @happilyhertale's period fic and @lady-phasma's period fic, i remembered a tumblr post i saw a long time ago about how napkins have really pretty designs for no reason cuz ur gonna get blood all over it anyway. as tumblr posts do, it spiraled and someone likened the designs to like a pentagram then someone was like u could accidentally summon a demon, thus this. i really did try to find it but alas i could not

Tagging: @pinksirensong @aralezinspace @delicious-xx @deniixlovezelda @ceoofyearning

@targaryenmoony @risefallrise @thebullship @sa3losa @pendragora @sloanexx

If you've ever had a hard time with your period, please consider donating €5 to Nour's GoFundMe, as the people in Palestine do not have access to any sort of feminine hygiene products; help her and her family evacuate.

"Lovie?"

"Yeah?"

I put my phone on loud speaker and place it on the side of the sink, "did I tell you to buy macadamia chocolates?"

"... no. I'll get you some."

"And something salty," I sit on the toilet and open my pad packet. I peel the red wrapper off.

"Mmm... crisps?"

"Yeah, the pink one."

"Alright. Anything else, love?"

I change the napkin on my underwear before replying, "mmm... oh! Please read the packaging. I want pads with wings, Aemond, with wings."

"Right. Copy, copy. With wings."

I pull my shorts up and flush the toilet, "thank you, love."

"Mmm. Love you. Bye."

"Bye, love. I love you."

The call ends and I wrap my used napkin in the wrapper of my new pad, rolling it up, and throwing it out. I grab my phone and walk back to my bed.

I huff and get under the sheets, petting the black cat asleep on top of it. Vhagar wags her tail once and I grab my laptop, continuing my binge session.

I wince when I feel a dull pain in my uterus. I pause my show and lean into my pillow, riding out the discomfort.

I moan and begin to heave. My eye twitches at the stabbing sensation. I slowly get out of bed, annoyed by the gush of blood I feel when I move. I make my way to my kitchen and grip on the counter as I prepare a kettle for some tea.

"Stop hating me cause I'm not pregnant," I hiss at my uterus as the pain continues.

I push my weight onto the counter top as I reach for a mug and a tea bag. I huff and screw my eyes. Once the pain subsides enough, I grab my kettle and turn, putting it on the stove. Once the fire is lit, I turn back to grab my mug and place the tea bag in my mug.

Suddenly, the room is thick, the atmosphere is heavy, and there is an inexplicable feeling of dread in my stomach. I feel my body warm and the hairs at the back of my neck raise, and it was not because of my period.

"Iksis ziry iā rūs jaelā?" Is it a baby you want?

I gasp and snap back, pulling my mug to my chest. My eyes widen and my heart leaps into my throat as I behold a towering figure covered in blood. Its body is barely contained in the room; its long neck coils downward to peer at me and its wings are cramped together behind itself. It's as though all the blood in my body drains.

The dragon-like creature chuckles deeply, his golden eyes sparkle, "gaoman jorrāelagon se yknagon hen zūgagon," I do love the smell of fear. It reaches out and delicately scratches its talons on my neck, "but I would not frighten you to death before completing our pact, devoted."

My body is frozen cold in fear as he pulls away. Slowly, its body morphs into a man. The reptilian features and glistening scales where replaced by long, silver hair and plump, smirking lips, all still drenched in blood. His expression mischievous and expectant.

"Ask of me, and see the beauty in thine blood offering to Daemon, The Rogue Prince."

Through barely a breath, in the most strained of voices, I mutter, "w h a t ?"

A rich chuckle bubbles out of his curved lips, "oh, I do loathe the coy and simple-minded. If you wish to amuse me, flatter me. Do not play dumb."

I slowly try to maneuver away from him, "I-" I whisper under sharp breaths, "I don't know what you mean-"

In a rush of either confidence or lunacy, I sprint away from him and run back into the bedroom. I scream and halt in my spot when I collide with the same being's chest.

I feel blood stick to me as I recoil and drop to the floor at the impact. The creature looks down on me and lifts his chin, "what's that then?"

Daemon points to the floor, causing me to look and see nothing but the panels.

Just then, Vhagar awakes and begins to go feral. She hisses loudly at the man, and I scramble to my feet, trying to get to her and calm her down, fearing he blood bathed being would kill her.

Remarkably, it seems I should actually do the opposite as the demon is deterred by Vhagar. He steps back and lowers his gaze. He chuckles dryly as I jump on the bed, going behind Vhagar.

"What is this trickery?"

"GET OUT OF MY HOUSE!"

He scoffs and I swear his eyes are set ablaze, "I am bound by my sigil, woman, and I smell the blood on it."

My face morphs into bewilderment, "I DID NOT MAKE A BLOOD SACRIFICE-"

"Where is your summoning circle then!" he demands.

Vhagar hisses at his tone, her fur prickling as Daemon steps forward. He stills and draws in a deep breath. I swear his eyes go red for a second.

He points again, this time at me, "your legs."

My eyes widen preternaturally.

"My blood altar is between your thighs."

Meanwhile, Aemond was on the bus when he received a call.

He picks it up, "hel-"

"THERE'S A-" he pulls his phone away from his ear, "-DEMON IN OUR HOME! AEMOND-"

Aemond knits his brows tightly in concern at the sound of sobbing. He pulls his groceries closer to his chest, "honey, what do me--"

"THERE'S A DEMON IN OUR- VHAGAR NO--"

Aemond's heart drops at the sound of the commotion from the other end of the call. He hears cat yowling and objects crashing. He stiffens and speaks as calmly as possible, "I'm coming home. I'm almost there. Can you hear me, I-" the call ends.

By the time he gets home, his defenses are up. The ruckus from the inside is audible from outside the apartment. He holds his groceries in one hand and opens the door, warily entering. He grabs the long purple umbrella by the rack and closes the door soundlessly. He stalks inside, clenching his jaw at the sudden silence.

He surveys the place and sees the mess, yet no soul was present. He places the groceries on the kitchen top and creeps into the bedroom.

The door was already open, but, still, there was no one.

He freezes when Vhagar hisses. He lifts his gaze upon the black, senior cat sat at the top of the closet, looking into space with her fur raised.

"Aemond?!"

Aemond lowers his gaze.

"NO, DON'T HURT HIM!" I scream from inside the closet.

Aemond grips the umbrella and looks around the room. Vhagar hisses again.

He looks at his cat then the closet door.

"AEMOND- NO-- I'M PULLING YOU IN-"

Without another word, I leap out of the closet and grab Aemond, yanking him inside. I immediately shut the doors and begin to hyperventilate.

"What's happening? What's going on?" he asks, clutching my cheeks.

I whine and grip his wrists in distress. I whisper, "Vhagar's keeping us safe."

Aemond's nostrils flare, "what's happening? What's wrong?"

I shake my head and shudder, "there's a demon--"

"You know I can hear you right?"

I squeal, making Aemond tense and tighten his grip on me. I hear Vhagar hiss from above the closet.

Without much thought, Aemond pushes the doors open and holds his umbrella like a weapon.

I scream and pull him back when I hear sinister laughtera, "AEMOND, NO!"

Aemond claims an offensive stance, ready to bat his umbrella at whomever was in front of him, and yet there was no one. My breath hitches as I anticipate Daemon to jump us both, but he doesn't.

With furrowed brows, the man looks over to me, "baby, there's no o-"

Aemond yelps as I rush out of the closet and drag him out of the bedroom with me. We make our way to the kitchen, and I immediately rummage through the groceries, grabbing the pack of pads.

"Honey, what was it exactly that you-" Aemond cuts himself off as he watches me run out of the room, heading to the bathroom.

Immediately, I pull my shorts down and replace my bloody pad. I stare at the menstrual blood on the white napkin, realizing only now that there was, in fact, a sigil of a three headed dragon on the surface.

"There is it."

I scream. I look up at the bloody Daemon staring back at me, smirking with crossed arms.

I hear Aemond run towards the bathroom door. He calls out my name in concern.

I rip my used napkin off my underwear and chuck it to the demon. I scream once more when he manifests beside me, avoiding my assault.

"Unsanitary," Daemon clicks his tongue.

Aemond bangs on the door, "what's going on? Do you need any help?"

I sidestep away from Daemon and hurriedly replace my pad.

Aemond calls out my name as he knocks.

Daemon turns to the door, lips curling in annoyance, "I will slay him if he enters."

My eyes widen. It was only then I realized there was a sword hanging upon his hip. I feel sick.

Aemonds sounds agitated, "I'm coming insi-"

"NO!" I rip my pants up and run to the door. I shove Aemond back the moment I can. I squeeze myself out of the small opening and I push him back until he finally repels me and grabs my arms. Aemond and I are in the kitchen by then.

He calls out my name and grabs my cheeks. His face is marked by worry.

I panic, "wait, where's Vhagar?"

"She's probably just-"

"DID HE KILL VHAGAR-"

"Look at me!"

I stare at him with wide, watery eyes. I whimper through a broken voice, "Vhagar was the only thing keeping me safe."

"From the demon?" Aemond asks carefully, swiping my tears with his thumbs.

"Please-" I choke out, "-believe me, I-"

"I believe you, darling," he strokes my hair. He pulls away and grabs the salt jar on the counter. He shows me the container before pouring some in his hand.

I raise my brows as he presents me the salt in his cupped palm.

Aemond speaks calmly, "if I see that fucker, I'll-"

"You'll what?"

Aemond shrieks and chucks the salt behind me. In the same terrified manner, I squeal and run behind Aemond.

The demon groans, "ao doru-borto qogralbar!" You stupid fuck!

Aemond pushes me behind him as he watches the blood covered man rub his eyes. He almost, out of instinct, chucked the whole jar at him, but he was glad he didn't. He pours a salt circle on the floor.

Aemond pulls me into his chest and begins to chant, "qrīdrughagon lēda ao!" Away with you!

Daemon looks up at us with a furious expression. His rage is quelled but when he sees the ground which we stood. His red eyes widen as he looks up at me, as if in disbelief of what he was seeing.

I tug on Aemond's shirt with agitation, "is this circle gonna keep us-"

"QRĪDRUGHAGON LĒDA AO!" Aemond shouts.

Daemon's eye twitches, "who is this imbecile you seek refuge in?"

"Don't answer it! Don't give him my name," Aemond says as he fishes something in his pocket.

"You act as though I know not your name is Aemond, imbecile."

"Aemond, I really think we-"

"Ignore him," says Aemond as he pulls out his phone.

Daemon chuckles darkly, "oh... how sweet you think such a thing is possible.

I cling tightly onto Aemond as he pulls out his phone. I whimper, "is now really the time?!"

"I'm calling Aegon," Aemond replies, placing his phone to his ear.

"What?!"

"He knows how to do an exorcism."

"?!?!?"

"You dare," Daemon yells, "think that I-"

"He was recruited in a cult once."

"-would be easily cast out by m-"

"QRĪDRUGHAGON LĒDA AO!"

If you enjoyed this fic, please consider donating €5 to Nour's GoFundMe so that she and her family can evacuate and experience the luxury of reading fics in the safety of their homes.

[a-killer-obsession]

I hope no one already sent this one in when you asked for it, but 2 X

You have freed me from my horny, horny curse, I am forever in your debt

Fresh Ripe Peach

Prompt: Writer's Choice

Additional Tags: afab reader, she/her pronouns, incubus!killer, loss of virginity, monsterfucking, rough sex, biting, demon summoning, cum play, oral (receiving and giving), cumshot, fingering, bulging, deepthroating, praise kink, p in v sex, creampie, cockwarming, slave/master terms used

WC: 5k

Event Masterlist

🔞 Minors DNI 🔞

It was frankly embarrassing how horny you were, and desperate times called for desperate measures, kneeling on the floor of your cabin, chalk in one hand, dodgy looking occult spell book in the other, tracing out the markings on the page as instructed. The book was probably all bullshit, and you were already mentally resigning yourself to another night of disappointing jerking off until your vibrator died, but it was at least worth a shot. Chalk replaced by a lighter, you put down the book momentarily to light the five candles that sat at each tip of the pentagram you'd drawn, adding to the ambient low light in your room given off by your bedside lamp.

You adjusted your provocative clothing, feeling a little ridiculous but hey, if it worked you were dressed to impress. Strappy leather harness forming an upside down pentagram on your chest, lacey black bra that lacked cups, framing your bare breasts. Matching panties with a triangular cutout over your bare-shaved mound, thigh garters adorned with small metal pentagram charms, the bands digging into your plush thighs and creating delicious indents. Your hair was fixed in a sleek high ponytail, eyes lined with heavy black liner, lips painted in dark, nearly black, smudge-proof purple lipstick. You hoped the spell would work, or this immaculate outfit would be quite a waste.

Satisfied your outfit was all as it should be, you picked the book up and began to chant. Did you understand the latin you were reading? Absolutely not a lick, but you hoped it translated to something along the lines of ‘excuse me demons, dinner is served, come get some pussy’. You finished reading the spell and let out a deflated sigh as nothing happened, seriously considering begging someone on the crew to fuck you, when suddenly the room went dark, the candles all blowing out at once and the bulb in your lamp failing. A few moments of pitch black darkness later and the lamp flickered back on, your heart racing as you heard heavy footsteps running up the hall outside your room. Oh shit, did it work?

The door flew open, a flurry of blond and blue flying in and immediately yelling, the door slamming shut and latching again, notably untouched. “A SUMMONING CIRCLE? REALLY [Y/N]? ARE YOU STUPID?” The bare foot of the first mate rubbed furiously at the chalk diagram on the floor, clearly fresh from his bed in only a pair of blue gingham pyjama pants and his mask, “get rid of this shit before some other asshole decides to answer, for Lucifer's sake.”

You were entirely speechless, suddenly remembering your physical state and crossing your arms over your chest to cover your bare tits. “KILLER! GET OUT OF MY ROOM!” you shouted.

“Oh now you don't want me in here,” he tsk'd, “you summoned me, here I am! Chicken out already, girlie?”

“Summoned you?” You replied, so very confused, looking at your discarded spell book. Was there even a spell for summoning a first mate? That seemed oddly specific, and not at all occult. Superior summoning spell? Blonde asshole spell? Huh? “I- I didn't-”

“You summoned a companion demon, did you not?” he loomed over you with his hands on his hips, every rarely seen curve and divot of his muscular chest on display.

“I summoned an incub-”

“Do NOT use that word,” he cut you off, physically pinching your lips together. “It's derogatory, we prefer companion demon”

“Okay?” you relented as he let your lips go and crossed his arms over his chest, “I summoned a companion demon,” you repeated sarcastically, “so why are- wait, what do you mean ‘we’?”

“How do you think I knew what you were doing in here? You called, I answered,” he replied nonchalantly, “you're fucking lucky it was me, stupid girl.”

“But you're not-”

“-a demon?” He laughed. He removed his striped helmet and squatted in front of you, letting you see his unmasked face up close and personal. You'd always been told he didn't like his smile, but you could see now that was a blantant lie. There was a very obvious reason the Massacre Soldier covered his face. His eyes were icy blue, his pupils thin slits like a snake, his sclera entirely black, as though dipped in ink. When he opened his mouth you could see sharp extended canines and his tongue was longer and more pointed than a human's. “Like I said,” he continued as he stood, placing his mask on your dresser, “you called, I answered”

“Why- what the fuck is a inc- sorry, companion demon, doing on a pirate ship?” You asked, pulling a blanket from your bed and wrapping it around yourself, Killer rolling his eyes at the bashful motion.

“It's a long story,” he sighed, “Kid's mother was my master, she bound me to Kid as she was dying to protect him till he reached adulthood, but I grew fond of the little guy and had him bind me himself”

“So, wait, if Kid is your master, why are you here?” You queried.

“This is my territory,” he huffed, “you sent an open invite to every available asshole on the Grandline. Thanks for that, by the way. You're fucking lucky I was close enough to get here first or you'd already have some disrespectful dickhead balls deep in you. Do you have no regard for your own safety? What the fuck came over you to summon a demon?”

“I was horny… “ you mumbled under your breath.

“And you couldn't just go ask someone for a quickie?” He scorned, “Nobody on this crew is good enough for you?”

“It's not that…” you pulled the blanket tighter around yourself, “they're just not… um… my type?”

“Really, nobody on this extremely diverse crew is your type?” He raised a brow.

“They're not uh… monsters?” You replied hesitantly.

“I think you'll find given our reputation that there are plenty of monsters on board,” he replied, before the penny in his brain dropped, “unless- oh you're really fucked up, huh?” He said with a shit eating smirk, “So that's it, you summoned a demon cos you want your brains fucked out by some beast? Is that it? Dirty girl~” he purred.

You were bright red with blush, slowly sinking under the top edge of the blanket. “Can you just go away please…” you mumbled, muffled by the fabric.

“Actually, I can't,” he huffed, “you made a contract when you summoned me. I'm here till sunrise. What, the scary eyes and fangs not enough for your needs?” You couldn't even bring yourself to look at him, so unbelievably ashamed of yourself. “It's just as well this isn't my true form then,” he grinned toothily.

Your eyes widened as his skin began to shift hue, turning to an icy blue that matched his eyes, the colour darkening as it made swirling patterns on his arms, turning to a royal blue, then a deep, almost black, navy at the hands. His nails lengthened, forming sharp, dangerous looking claws. His ears elongated, turning to points. You let out an audible gasp as he dropped his pants and underwear, letting the fabric pool on the floor and revealing an absolutely monstrous cock that made your mouth water, a deep royal blue adorned with navy swirls, and a now freed tail flicked out to the side from his rear, the end capped with a sharp arrow tip as he let it slowly move. Two mostly straight, navy coloured horns sprouted from the top of his head, curving almost back into him, tipped in icy blue and lined with ridges. Most impressive of all though were the two grand bat wings that spread out from behind him, clawed at the top-most point, the structured areas navy while the membranes faded to royal blue, and the same icy blue as his skin at the centermost edges.

“Is this more to your liking, Master?” He stepped towards you, leaving his pants on the floor, entirely naked and proud in front of you. Even flaccid his cock was huge, directly at your eye level as you hid under your blankets, and you bit your lip as you shamelessly eyed him like a meal, scanning over his blue tinted body. He squatted in front of you, tilting your chin up with a hooked finger, his thumb pressed against your bottom lip, claw threatening to injure. “Don't even bother trying to lie to me, this is what I was made for. I can smell your arousal, I can hear your heart quicken”

“Fuck,” was all you managed to get out, letting the blanket fall to the floor around you, exposing yourself to him.

“There's a good girl,” he purred, “let me see that pretty body.”

You leaned back on the palms of your hands, letting your legs stretch out in front of you, forced to part slightly as they slid either side of him. He ran his eyes down your body, humming contently to himself, before his eyes ran back up and met yours. “This contract is an exchange,” he explained, crawling forward to loom over you, “I give you pleasure, and in exchange you allow me to feed off your sexual energy. It costs you nothing, you won't even notice it leaving you, save for being maybe a little tired tomorrow”

“Is this… what you usually do with Kid?” You stuttered as he placed a hand on your stomach, catching the waistband of your panties and playing with it as he used the cutout to hook his thumb through them.

“It is,” he smirked, “people don't summon demons like they used to, it's better to have a bound Master”

“Killer, how old are you?” You asked curiously, noting that the slits in his eyes were significantly more dilated now as he looked at your body.

“I resent that question,” he huffed.

“Oh come on, humour me,” he squinted at you in annoyance, “more than a hundred? More than five hundred?” He rolled his eyes. “More than a thousand?” He gave you a playful look that told you that you were close. “MORE THAN A THOUSAND?”

“Why, you wanna call me great-great-great-great-great grandaddy while I fuck you?” He smirked, unflinching as you smacked his chest in retaliation. “What do you want out of this anyway? I'm at your servitude, whatever you want, it's yours. No kink too fucked up.”

“I, uh… I don't know…” you mumbled, turning shy again.

“No? Nothing you particularly enjoy?” He asked. You looked at him shyly and he blinked in recognition. “I swear to Lucifer, [y/n] tell me you did not summon a demon to take your virginity!”

You gave him a forced apologetic smile and he groaned, “You are actually so fucking lucky that I answered your call, fucking hell. Actually, scratch that, maybe I'm the lucky one. Do you even know what a rarity you are to demons like me? You're a ripe peach, ready to sink teeth into. Fuck, your energy is going to be delicious.” You could see the way his pupils were pulsing and dilating as he looked at you, his sharp tongue running over his fangs, looking like he was ready to physically bite into you. You felt very much like prey pinned under a predator with Killer's large body looming over you, looking down at you with eyes nearly entirely black from lust, mere slivers of blue left in them, his tail flicking behind him like that of a cat enjoying playing with a mouse. “I'm going to have such fun with you, my peach”

You squeaked as Killer suddenly grabbed you and threw you on the bed unceremoniously, your body bouncing a little at the impact. You started to instinctively crawl backwards, away from the dangerous predator, but he grabbed your ankles and pulled you back towards him. “Ah, ah, where are you going, my peach? We have a deal. I'm gonna eat you right up,” he gave you a toothy grin before pulling your leg up and sinking his teeth into your plush thigh, right over a garter, not hard enough to draw blood but enough to make you yelp. He hooked the garter with his fangs as he drew back, pulling on it and letting it go to ping against your thigh, making you hiss. “Such a pretty outfit for me too,” he hummed, spreading a hand out over your mound, sharp claws pressing against your soft belly, before he suddenly made a fist, bunching the front of your panties in his hand and pulling hard, “it's too bad I have to ruin it,” he feigned a pout, before adding his other hand to the mix and tearing the panties from your body.

“Killer!” You shouted, trying to squish your legs shut, but he was far stronger than you and easily pried your thighs open, pinning them against your stomach.

“Come now, don't go getting shy on me now,” he purred, getting his first look at your bare pussy, “such a pretty, pink peach too, and so juicy,” he knelt down and flicked out his long, pointed tongue, swiping it over your cunt and collecting your slick on it as you whined, drawing it back into his mouth with a satisfied hum as he savoured the flavour, “so sweet too, I can't wait to devour you. You'll let me, won't you my peach?”

He looked at you expectantly, and you realised that despite his rough and threatening treatment thus far, he was asking for consent before going any further. Perhaps you were lucky it was him and not another, you got the sense that demons did not usually ask consent. You bit your lip and gave him a nod, your pussy aching for more after the one brief touch, and he gave you a toothy grin, his fangs glinting under the low light from your lamp. His face disappeared from your view again, unable to see him past your own legs, but fuck could you feel him. His tongue was sinfully skillful as it played with your clit, rolling and flicking it, running firm stripes over it, dipping down towards your entrance and teasing it with just the tip of his tongue as he gathered the honey that dripped from it. You moaned and writhed at every gesture, clawing at the blankets either side of you wishing you could pull on his hair or, fuck, maybe even his horns. Whether it be because he could read your mind, sense your need, or because he just wanted to look at you with that shit-eating grin, he let his hold on your legs loosen enough that you were able to let your knees fall outwards, revealing his face half covered by your pussy. His head now accessible, you were able to reach down and grab one of his horns, which he must have liked as he groaned against your cunt. Spurred on by your small spike of confidence, he let his tongue drag down to your entrance, looking up at you with those inky eyes and a sharp smile as he sunk his tongue inside you, enjoying the way your face contorted with pleasure as a deep moan fell from your lips.

He thrust his tongue in and out of you, curling its length occasionally to flick against your g-spot as he brought a hand to your mound, pressing against it while his thumb reached down to play with your clit. You pulled hard on his horn as your head lolled back, hips rolling in time with his shallow thrusts as he brought you to your peak, creamy ring forming around his tongue as he worked you through it.

“So sweet, my peach,” he purred as he kissed your thighs, wings stretching out behind him as he crawled up your body. “I ask again though, is there anything you want of me? Before I fuck the coherence out of you”

“Wanna- wanna taste you,” you mumbled, one hand draped over your face, the other still clutching his horn.

“So take it,” he purred. You stared at him through half-lidded eyes, before grabbing his other horn and pulling him down towards you, crashing your lips against his. He let you lead the kiss, flicking his tongue against yours, enjoying the feel of your curious muscle against his. Your hands left his horns to travel down his body, feeling and groping at his arms and pecks, rubbing your thumbs over his nipples and tracing your nails down his abdomen. You wrapped both hands around his thick cock, pumping it sloppily, your inexperienced determination making him smile against your mouth. He reached down and guided your pace, squeezing your hands to adjust your pressure and moving your hands in a way that indicated he preferred the focus on the base, letting your hands go once you got the hang of it. His hands wandered over your body, pinching and pulling at your nipples, one hand moving further to play with your cunt more, making lewd squelches that made you blush as he slipped two fingers inside you and matched his thrusts to the pace you were pumping him with. He swallowed your moans, your pure sexual energy making his whole body tingle delightfully as he consumed it, adding a third finger and working towards stretching you out enough to take his thick member.

You could feel his precum dripping down his shaft in generous streams, running over your fingers as you stroked him, lubricating your motions. You brought a hand to your mouth and he watched as you experimentally licked the precum from it. He brought his own fingers from your cunt to your mouth, and you opened your mouth for him, shivering at his toothy grin as you sucked your own arousal off his digits. You hollowed your cheeks, sucking hard on them, running your tongue around them and pressing it flat against the underside, and he swore under his breath.

“Such a pretty mouth, my peach, almost as pretty as that pussy,” he purred, “would you like to taste more? I'd love to see how those pretty pink lips look wrapped around my cock”

He pulled his fingers from your mouth with a pop and you pushed towards him, his wings spreading behind him as he let you push him flat against the bed to straddle him. You kissed him hard before running your kisses to his jaw, breezing past his goatee to suck and nip at his neck. He whined as you made a particularly harsh bite, the sound making electricity go straight to your cunt, so you did it again. Over and over you bit down, sucking his flesh into your mouth and leaving dark bruises in your wake, running your tongue flat to soothe over them before continuing, leaving a trail of bites and bruises like step stones from his neck to his cock, each whine and groan making your pussy drip more. You enthusiastically took his cock in your hand as you reached it, running your tongue up the underside and collecting the precum beaded at the end, salty and hot on your tongue as you swirled it over the head. He was watching you carefully as you licked him, his head falling flat to the bed as you finally took him in your mouth, a string of curses falling from his mouth as you took as much as you could fit off him and serviced the rest with your two hands tight around his base. His cock stretched your lips to the limits, corners stinging from it, and you gagged as his tip hit the back of your throat, so much of him still outside your mouth. With each dip of your head you worked to take him deeper, gagging less intensely each time as you adjusted to the intrusion, breathing through your nose and relaxing your throat till you were able to take most of him, having to remove your hands from his base and instead groping at his thighs. His tail wrapped around your throat gently, using it to feel the way his cock made your throat bulge, one of his hands grabbing your ponytail and twisting it around his wrist to hold it like a leash.

“Fuck, good girl [y/n],” Killer groaned, “look at you, taking me like a natural, you look so pretty with my cock in your mouth. Do you want my cum, sweet girl? Want me to cum down that tight throat of yours? Or maybe you want it on your face, paint you with my cum so you look like the sweet little monsterfucking slut you are, huh? Would you like that?”

You whined around him, vibrating his cock in your mouth before burying his cock right to the base, your nose against his blonde tuft of public hair as your eyes watered, eyeliner running down your face with it as your lipstick wore off and made a purple ring around his cock. “Ohhhhh fuck [y/n], just like that, just like that, fuck, gonna cum sweet girl, where do you want it baby?”

You pulled off his cock with a pop, making your choice clear. He held your ponytail tight, making you whine as he started furiously fisting himself with his other hand. “Show me your tongue sweetheart,” he groaned, and you lolled your tongue out for him, closing your eyes as you anticipated getting cum near them. Your hands kneaded his thighs as he threw back his head and groaned, ropes of cum splashing against your face and tongue, some of it overshooting and getting in your hair as he coated your face with dripping swathes of cum, making your pussy clench around nothing. Your pretty cupless bra and harness were entirely ruined by this seed, white puddles catching on the pieces as his cum dribbled down your neck and chest.

“Damn, look at you,” Killer purred as he loosened his hold on your hair and let his cock go, using his thumb to push more cum into your mouth, watching you swallow it as you sucked on his thumb and shivered at the dark look in his eyes. “Now you look like a needy little slut who would summon a demon, perfect little peach. C'mere”

He pulled you close and kissed you hard, and you shivered as he started running his long tongue across your skin, cleaning his cum off you, occasionally using his tongue to push more cum into your mouth which the two of you would then swap between your mouths and play with till you needed to swallow, Killer then returning to licking your face and repeating the cycle till his cum was entirely replaced with his saliva. His cock was still hard and you pulled yourself the rest of the way into his lap, grinding your cunt against his dick, making you both moan.

“Needy little slut,” he cooed, “you want my cock, my peach? Take it, it's yours.”

You ached with a desperate need to feel full, so you raised yourself on your knees eagerly, reaching down between your bodies to take him in your hand and align him with your entrance. He watched with pride as you sunk down on him, hand going to his shoulder once he was inside you enough, gripping him hard as he guided you with a hand on each side of your ass. The stretch stung but you were more than determined to get all of him inside you, and you let out a stuttered breath as you found yourself fully seated in his lap, entirely impaled on his thick cock. “Look at you!” He exclaimed proudly, “I didn't think you could do it, you take me so well, so tight and wet around me”

“Killl~” you whined, using his shoulders as anchor points to lift yourself before dropping back down, whining at the pull against your strained pussy. “Too- too big-” you whined.

“Nonsense, look at you, you took all of me first try,” he praised, “look at your lovely tummy bulging, what a pretty sight, my peach”

You looked down between your bodies and sure enough you could see the swelling of your abdomen where his cock was sheathed inside you, making you whine at how full you were. “You're doing so good,” he cooed, lifting you easily by your ass and lowering you again, making you moan, repeating the process over and over, each time lifting you further and faster, until you were bouncing on his cock and screaming his name, holding his horns for support and he brought his hips up at the same time, slamming into you each time he lowered your body. His eyes were rolling from the pungent sexual energy that was emanating from you, making his whole body shudder, the dense concentrated nature of your previously untapped energy making him moan and curse under his breath as he consumed it. There was a burst of energy that made his toes curl as you came hard, squirting on his cock and writhing against him, pulling so hard on his horns he wouldn't be surprised if you accidentally tore them clean off. You went entirely limp as your orgasm faded, still jolting occasionally from aftershocks as he continued at the same brutal pace, drunk on your sexual energy and craving more of it. No human food could ever compare to the pure satisfying flavour of a virgin's untouched energy, not even his favourite spaghetti dish, you were a rare delicacy he was thoroughly enjoying.

Unable to hold yourself up any longer, he let you fall to the bed, pulling out of you only for a moment to flip you to your front, pushing your thighs together and straddling them as he resheathed himself. He fucked you like a stag in rut, grunting with every hard thrust, wings flapping excitedly above you and tail shaking like a lion about to spray to mark his territory. He wanted to mark you, make you his possession, against his better thinking and his contract as your servant. Your energy was just so intoxicating that it was making him blind with lust, and he couldn't help but lean down and sink his teeth into your shoulder, holding you tight in his jaw as he felt your pussy clench around him again. You saw white and were sure you passed out for a moment from how hard you came, sparkles in your vision as everything went tight then slack, that last wave of energy and your pussy tight around his cock being all he needed to throw him over the edge. He groaned against your shoulder, biting down harder and drawing blood, his wings stretching out and shaking, tail going limp, cock throbbing as he unloaded inside you, his heavy load dripping from your overstuffed cunt as he stilled inside you.

His jaw finally released you, swiping his tongue over the tender mark in apology as he panted hard against your back, his wings falling slack and draping either side of you like curtains. In your haze you reached out and touched one, making him shiver as you ran soft fingers over the delicate membrane. “Don't pull out yet, please…” you whispered shyly. He kissed the centre of your back and wrapped his arms around you, rolling you to your side with him and draping his wing over both of you like a blanket. His tail wrapped around your thigh as pressed his legs against yours, his head coming to rest on the pillow behind you, his soft breath tickling the baby hairs on the small of your neck.

“Whatever you want, my peach,” he cooed, “I'm yours till sunrise”

“And… after sunrise?” You asked hesitantly.

“Enjoyed yourself, did we?” He chuffed, “promise me you won't summon anymore demons and I'll let you have me on your whim, when Kid doesn't want me. Perhaps you can have both of us, if it pleases you. But this has to be our secret, okay my peach? The demon stuff, not the fucking. The World Government does not take kindly to demons, hence why I don't reveal myself in battle, even if it would give me a significant advantage. Fairly sure the whole ship knows we fucked at this point though, given how loud you were, I wouldn't be surprised if you even woke Kid, screaming like a coyote in heat”

“Killlerrr,” you whined with a pout. He smacked your face playfully with his wing and you huffed indignantly.

“What, you summon a demon to fuck you and expect to stay dead silent the whole night?” He laughed, “sweetheart I've got a thousand years of experience making people cum, and I'm young for a demon. The sounds you made were absolutely delicious, music to my ears, you're lucky I'm even letting you rest right now. A sweet ripe peach like you, any other demon would still be fucking you, even if you passed out they wouldn't stop till sunrise. Don't think you're off the hook yet just because I allowed you some cuddles, I can't wait to get more of your delectable energy.” He punctuated his sentence with a quick thrust of his cock still inside you, making you squeal. You didn't understand how he could possibly still be hard but you could only assume it was a demon thing. “Are you well though, my peach? Didn't hurt you too much?”

“Mmm… just my shoulder,” you touched where he'd biten and winced, and he apologetically kissed the spot tenderly, “otherwise I feel good. Feels nice, havin’ you inside me”

“Ah, I got a little carried away with that bite,” he ran his tongue over it and you could feel the pain fade as it magically began to close, “my apologies, master. Perhaps I can make it up to you.”

His hips began rocking again, a devious grin on his face, making you moan unabashedly as he set off a new wave of merciless fucking, and you had a feeling it was going to be a long night.

[goldenamaranthe-blog]

Date Expectations 6: Charviathan vs Vaggie - When All You Wanted to Do Was Dance

Charviathan

-Walking down the street in a more busy and "entertainment" district of the Pentagram-

Charlie: (clinging to Seviathan's arm) Sev, I thought you said we were going dancing....

Seviathan: (arm wrapped around Charlie's hip starts to dip down to the curve of her rear) Relax, sugar plum. We're going to the best dance club in Pride.

Charlie: (shivers and grabs Seviathan's hand, putting it back above her hip) You know I don't like it when you touch me like that in public, Sev, and you promised we'd go to that new Cantina over in the-

Seviathan: C'mon, Char, live a little! (ushers Charlie passed the bouncer and brings her inside where he nearly drags her onto the dancefloor where everyone is bumping and grinding like overly-sex crazed animals)

Charlie: (squeaks as she gets pulled in so she's flush against Seviathan, his hands immediately grab her ass as he grinds on her) SEV!!! WHAT THE HELL?!?!

Seviathan: What? I'm just keeping you close so the other dancers don't make any moves on ya, sugar plumb~

Charlie: (rolls her eyes with a sigh as she sways with the beat of the song with about as much enthusiasm as a drowned worm)

Chaggie

-Sitting at a Pride Cantina on the upper point of the Pentagram-

Charlie: (dancing in her seat as an easy, upbeat song plays) Oh, my gosh! I love this song!

Vaggie: (staring at Charlie with lovestruck eyes, perks up at the prospect of dancing, and runs her fingers through her fringe) Do... Do you want to dance?

Charlie: (eyes sparkling as she practically throws herself across the table) DO I EVER!!!

Charlie: (face falls and she sits back down bashfully) I-I mean, yes. I would love to dance.

Vaggie: (chuckles and stands up from her seat, offering her hand out for Charlie to take) Well, then, may I have this dance, señorita?

Charlie: (smiles and giggles as she places her hand in Vaggie's, but flinches at the last second as she remembers her time dancing with Seviathan at the club)

Vaggie: (raises an eyebrow) Charlie? You okay? (thinks for a minute and bonks her forehead with her other fist) Ah! ¡Mierda! ¡Soy tan estúpida!

Charlie: (blinks) Ex-cuse you?

Vaggie: (blushes) I completely forgot to ask. Where is it okay to put my hands?

Charlie: ......I....don't follow....

Vaggie: (gently eases Charlie to her feet) You know. Do you want me to lead? Is it okay if I put my hand on your waist? Would you rather I keep the touching to your shoulder and upper arm or hands? I should have asked where it was okay sooner. (holds her hands up, palms out) Here, you can lead where it's okay.

Charlie: (blushes from ear to ear and hair to chin, her heart flutters in her chest, and her whole body feels warm and floating as she smiles softly) I-I'm okay with hands, shoulders, and waist.

Charlie: (takes Vaggie's hands and places one on her shoulder and the other firmly on her hip) Like this. This is fine. Thank you for asking~

Vaggie: (blushes as she looks at her hand seated on Charlie's hip and clears her throat) Right! Right. Well, we don't need to walk like this over to the dance floor.

Charlie: Oh.... (pouts)

Vaggie: (ears perk to the next song playing and smirks) But I don't see why we couldn't dance there~ (jumps up on the nearest empty chair and twirls Charlie and dips her slightly without moving her hands from their designated areas)

Charlie: Oh! (laughs and blushes as she lets Vaggie lead her out onto the dance floor)

[hellish-sunsets]

If you’re still doing one shots could you do a lucifer x ShyFem!kitsune reader where she is a resident at the hotel and gets along really well with angel and charlie and she gains feelings for lucifer but is nervous since he still wears his wedding ring and when she’s gets too nervous she turns into her kitsune form with 5 tails

It’s alr if not take your time and get lots of rest 🫶🫶

I just wrote this out stream of consciousness style, enjoy!

Lucifer x Shy!Kitsune!Reader

- you joined the hotel because it seemed the... safest option, considering what the rest of Pentagram City was like. You quickly became friends with almost everybody, but especially Angel Dust and Charlie.

- You liked Lucifer well enough when you first met him, but those feelings only seemed to grow and become more complicated as time passed.

- Cause wow, there was so much to love! His devilishly good looks, smooth voice, dorky personality. He was so loving and strong and funny and... well, you could go on forever!

- But that didn’t matter, because he had a wedding ring on.

- Charlie didn't talk about her mom much, but of course she had one. You just assumed he was still married. It wasn’t cool to have a crush on a married man, who also happened to be your friends dad, so you kept it to yourself.

- Angel could tell anyways, especially when you started getting so nervous whenever he was around.

- He just needed to say hi or wave at you and poof, kitsune time.

- Angel thought it was hilarious. He laughed out loud the first time it happened. Lucifer was just talking with Charlie and passing by when he waved at you. You couldn't even wave back before you had transformed into your fox form, tails hiding your face while Angel laughed. He had looked confused, but Charlie was still going so he kept following her.

- Eventually, you decided you were going to ask him about the ring, figure out what situation was going on there. It didn't go well. Every time you tried to approach him, you just turned I to your fox form.

- Lucifer didn’t notice her much until the first time she had transformed around him. It caught him so off guard, he couldn’t help but pay attention.

- She seemed so friendly and supportive.

- She backed Charlie up when he wasn’t there and, unlike that Radio Demon fellow, she clearly meant it.

- It helped that Keekee seemed to always hang around her, especially in her kitsune form. Keekee was a good judge of character, he trusted that.

- He wanted to talk to her more. There were several times when he saw her approaching him and his heart jumped in his chest, but then she would transform from the anxiety and run away. How frustrating, for both of them...

- He finally got some alone time with her one day when he settled in the sitting room to wait for Charlie. She was already there, sleeping in her kitsune form, curled up on the couch with Keekee sleeping on top of her.

- He chuckled, it was so cute. And he shouldn't but...

- He reached out a hand to pet her soft fur.

- His touch woke her up and she jumped, staring him down with wide eyes.

- Shit, it was Lucifer! It felt like your heart was going to beat through your ribs, especially when he gave you such a soft smile and chuckled.

- "Sorry, sorry, you just looked so soft!"

- Eventually, he was able to calm her down enough to turn human. Well, human like.

- It was surprisingly easy to talk to him, now that you were here. It put your nerves at easy and gradually you were able to open up and talk more freely with him.

- Charlie was about to walk in, but angel grabbed her and pulled her aside. She was about to ask what was up but he shushed her.

- That's when she saw you and Lucifer talking and she understood.

- The two stalked off together, letting you two have space to continue talking.

- It was hours before Lucifer remembered why he was there in the first place. You both said bye and he rushed off to find Charlie.

- You probably should have asked him about the ring thing... ah well, now that you were comfortable in his presence you could talk more!

- You couldn’t help smiling the rest of the night, and Charlie noticed her dad seemed a lot cheerier.

[deafsignifcantother]

if music be the food of love, chapter two

♥ here you go lovies, it's series time | chapter one, chapter three ♥ relationships: aroace Alastor x deaf female reader (queerplatonic to romance) ♥ word count: 2.8k ♥ pinterest board ♥ notes: reader is known for wearing dresses, reader has a tendency to squeeze her fists which causes her to bleed so it's kinda selfharm but it's not on purpose ♥ tagged here based on comments from first post: @abbyismywife @temptressofthetarrot

When he notices your bent fingers clawing at your palm, he politely puts his hand over yours. His eyes remain forward as if he didn't even move. It takes everything in you not to lean your head against Alastor's shoulder while you walk side by side. Your former position as an overlord operates you more than whatever affection you have. You slip your hand away from him, keeping them at your side, being conscious about not clawing at yourself. This close, with your shoulders nearly touching, you can bask in the moment of publicity.

You last walked through the public many years ago, in the days before you isolated yourself, you and he would walk side by side to the overlord meetings, signing drama and making fun of the annoying people in your lives. You remember how much he used to make you smile by enacting his killings in perfect (and rather specific) motions. He told those stories over breakfast, no matter where the two of you were. 

Hell has changed a lot. The colors are brighter. From your little house in the forest, the red sky was all you could see; there were no blues and purples and pink. Alastor's ears were particularly stiff in this area, primed for a threat. You try to ignore it, not showing any emotion that can spark conversation. You're tired of hearing about the V's. It seems the V's have got hold of Pentagram City; how scary is that? They still reek of impertinence and idiocy.  

Alastor's used to having eyes on him when he's out and about, but today is different. Eyes dart between him and you, some demons grimacing while others speedwalk away. People hear your music over the sound of his static. It's odd, why are your songs so pleasant now? Before, demons would physically push you out of buildings and cover their ears whenever you walked by. The tunes from you either reeked of aggression or grief, equally miserable. 

One would assume that now, Alastor was controlling that little stereo in the center of your chest, which is far from the truth, lest the thought of metaphorically.

There is absolutely no way you would want to know whether the strangers on the street were staring at you in fear or with sadistic pleasure at your happiness.

A part of your brain thinks they're staring at you because of your outfit. You had no plans for going out today and didn't bother to prepare a gown for the walk (certainly not through this terrain). Your little getup is the most casual common folk have seen you. 

Oh, how you've changed.

Again you have to come into the present to stop yourself from clawing, Alastor would be worried, perhaps doing something as idiotic as touching you again, no matter how light. 

You stare at the ground while the the sidewalk becomes more of an ascent until his steps stops and his breathing evens out next to you. He's calm on this side of the Pentagram, that's for sure. Before you can look up to meet his eyes, your gaze locks onto a stone path that splits up, both reaching this dazzling red building. Ah, so here it is. 

His smile widens as your songs quiet down, the decrescendo sounding as if one were turning down the volume on a radio. The best part is that he can never tell if you do that intentionally or not. 

He nudges your shoulder before putting a more serious look on his face. 

"Now," he signs. "I could only assume they haven't even seen a Deaf person."

Charlie has. But you don't interrupt.

"You're quite the magnet for nosiness, but I know you can handle it. Won't you?" He ends the sentence by pulling on the skin of your cheek and shaking it as one would a child.

Beneath the pads of his fingers holds a warmth that not even his gloves can cease. The longer the wait, the more you want to turn back. You didn't ask to be here, and this is all because you knew he wasn't going to give up until you at least visited. He was eager, as he always is. You know better than to ignore him when he gets like that. Perhaps that's why he likes you so much.

With no response to him other than a roll of your eyes, you turn your body and continue up the path. The building is looming, way too big, and the exterior is intimidating. 

Alastor watches as you trot along before him, not even turning back. His smile widens. It reminds him of when he'd have to make your lights flash green to alert you he arrived to convince you to join him at the overlord meetings. You'd fear making everybody sad, but the moment you both neared the building, you entered the elevator first and excitedly sat at the table. Carmilla had those slides up, spending her time before meetings, making them easily understandable without verbal explanation. No one in that room felt miserable, and though you convinced yourself it was due to them not having experienced love, you didn't realize it could have been due to Alastor's presence, the way you looked at him with stars in your eyes.

Assertive, that's a word he still uses to describe you. Hesitant but assertive.

It's a cool afternoon; the hill only gets colder the higher it goes. He hardly spends time trudging up this thing. But seeing you and the way you eye the floor in front of you as if you could fall at any second is worth the hike. Hundreds of lights illuminate the terrain, drawing particular attention to the golden door you find yourself in front of. 

You stand still while waiting for his instruction. All he does is put a fist in front of his mouth, which you understand as him clearing his throat, before throwing the door open dramatically. 

His slipping into his little performances will always be so charming. Sooner than later everybody's eyes land on you. Alastor was right; only a few people came forth to stay. 

"Husk," you whisper under your breath, one of the few moments you use your voice, always impulsive and out of shock. Someone else in the room is also in complete shock. 

Charlie points a finger at you, motioning loudly, before rushing over. She waves, not a casual hi but a practiced hello. 

The two words that come from her lips are easy to read.

"It's you!" She says. 

You bow your head, keeping your eyes on you, a small smile forming on your lips. Your hands don't lift to sign. You remain quiet. That snaps her out of her enthusiasm. 

"Oh, right!" But before you can attempt to distinguish anything else, she turns her body away and faces Alastor. Expected.

A few people in here you recognize. Nifty gains your attention by how she circles you quickly, looking you up and down.

"No dress?" She signs. You just shrug, eyebrows twisted up with a more nonchalant smile. Your peripheral spots a tall, lanky figure approaching.

She wiggles her fingers, more to herself than to you. "Weird."

The figure steals your attention by pressing a finger hard into the visible speaker that protrudes from your chest. As if surprised, he immediately backs up, having expected to feel vibrations of music and not your direct heartbeat. 

The longer you stare at him, the more he doubles down, hearing the music transition from major to minor. Angel's eyes start to widen, and his heart sinks as he feels that familiar pit in his stomach.

Savior as he always is, Alastor summons himself and grips Angel's shoulders, leaning in and speaking something you don't hear.

Charlie grabs your hand and pulls you to her. Everything around you is crowded; there's constant movement and many people to try to pay attention to. This is the most people you've seen in over ten years. Mortification lodges itself within you, as sudden as an arrow. Sure, you recognize more than half, but that doesn't offer relief. At least they aren't annoyed with you, not yet, anyway. 

Instead of trying to communicate again, Charlie puts her hand on your shoulder, exaggerating her cheeks as she breathes in and out. You can see the gentleness in her eyes. Submitting to her care is like second nature. Perhaps this place isn't as bad as you thought.

Vaggie stares at you with thought. Her expression softens, but for only a moment before her soldier-like exterior snaps back into place. She knew signs of war efforts, but that was from Heaven. She had no clue what sign language you were fluent in, but it certainly wasn't hers. She wouldn't be able to help you in your situation. Your only hope, she realizes, is Alastor. What a difficult position to be in. 

Vaggie peels her eyes away when Alastor manages to take your full attention. Using the window of opportunity, she grabs Charlie and relays her thoughts.

Alastor's gaze catches on the stereo speaker in your chest. "No fingerprints, that's good."

"Rather rude, wasn't it?"

"Very."

His smile calms to match yours. Angel, out of everybody, is the most put off by how content Alastor gets when he is within close proximity to you. It's as if you're flicking a switch. Even Angel felt a wave of sadness, which he would describe as despicable recollections, the moment he approached you. He watches as you take Alastor's hand, and how the wicked Radio Demon doesn't pull away. This is insanity, he thinks, I need a drink.

Alastor only retracts his hand when beginning to sign. "Now, where should your room be?"

Your cheeks heat. "You really are making me stay, aren't you?"

"Well, you're already here, darling."

He leads you up a beautiful staircase. Everybody steals a glance at the two of you, walking in perfect sync, close together, while your heart radiates jazz. Charlie can't help but jump in happiness.

"Now, my dear, would you like the pleasure of choosing or shall I?"

A tremendously long line of doors greets you. You half-expect a spotlight to snap into existence and illuminate whatever door he wants you to pick. 

You shake your head, putting a hand to your temple while the other signs. "You can choose."

"Delightful! Right across from mine will do just fine."

And once he opens the door now assigned to you, the first thing he does is start to decorate. You don't move a muscle as he summons furniture similar to the one in your home. Your eyes stay on your bed. Having Alastor so close to it makes you smile. He's in your bedroom again. The last time he was anywhere near your chambers was years ago when he had walked you to sleep, tucking you in after hours of you saying you wanted to stay up and continue talking to him. He had promised to visit again before making sure you were safe in bed, touching his staff to your bare sternum, sending comforting vibrations of soft music to your skin. He didn't visit for many moons after that.

If he's making it like home, you'll give it a chance. 

You pause when you notice what he placed above the fireplace. It's a painting of you, one that definitely hadn't existed before, with an elegant dress of red. It is reminiscent of portraits of royalty. He needs to stop being so sweet; it's starting to get overwhelming, but god, the way his eyes watch you to witness your reaction is captivating. It's enough to convince you to stay.

"Maybe I should put it up in my room, too." He signs while rounding a lounge chair he had snapped in. With one last snap, the fireplace lights, blazing the room with the might of a thousand candles. You've never seen a fireplace before.

By the time you look at him again, his jacket is draped across the back of the chair. 

You sit next to him. "This will make it a lot easier for you to come visit, won't it?"

Even without the intention of the jab, his smile still widens in retaliation.

"I like our time alone, such a shame you chose the most inconvenient place."

You laugh, the noise croaky as you realize it was a jab in response.

He shrugs, breaking the eye contact by staring into the fire, resting his cheek against his knuckles and pressing his elbow into the armchair. His free hand continues to sign. "And now you're here."

If you thought to see it, you could notice how his gaze softened, but you were focused on how subdued his hand movements became. This is the Alastor you love to see, one so content by your side, one who trusts you with his life. You're his 'sweet little thing,' his 'cherished other,' his 'best friend,' and yet still his 'sweetheart.'

The longer you stare at him, the more uncovered his sentiments are. With the slight droop of his ears and the lowering of his lids comes the acknowledgment that this isn't a fantasy. You push your foot close to him and gain his attention.

"Then I should apologize."

His ears are erect again, and his head lifts. "For what?"

"Being so far away from you."

As quick-witted as he tends to be, his response came slower than he would have liked. To the average person, it would have looked like he was attempting to interpret English into signs, but to you, he was analyzing your intentions.

You really did hate burdening him with your isolation and your sensitivity. He has always been so lenient with you, and you've never tested his patience as a result. You're not going to push your luck.

"Far away?" Alastor leans back, gaining character again. "A simple stroll through the forest never harmed anybody, my dear. There's no need to worry about silly ol' me."

You close your eyes to hide how they rolled. You hated how he interpreted that, the pouting of his lips through his smile. 

You mimic how he signs, "Inconvenient place."

"Just a jest," he waves his hands dismissively. How eager he is to console your worries, even if it's true or not.

"Always so funny, aren't you?"

"Very much, my dear, it's such a burden."

The most treacherous men smile at the desire-filled state of others, and that's what Alastor is known for. Yet here he sits, lying through his teeth once he realizes his words might have hurt you. He is conditioned to this, isn't he? Realizing the emotional pain he could cause someone he enjoys being around. The soft touches he always tends to give you, the ones you accept without fear, do not belong to someone who is truly treacherous. 

He watches as you bite your lip in thought. "My dear, which do you believe is true?" 

You tilt your head. "I don't think it matters, you came and visited me either way."

"That's good." He leans forward and dips his head. "I'm off to bed."

He stands, grabbing his jacket and not facing you, not watching for a goodbye.

Ending any meeting this way is not exactly rare, but it's always him teleporting rather than walking out. 

Another eye roll. He's such a baby sometimes, so used to withholding affection to the point where even his own tenderness irritates him. One day he'll get over it. 

Husk pulls Charlie aside. Of course with that comes Vaggie, and then Angel who only wants to know what everybody is hanging around the bar for. The group listens to Husk as he talks. He keeps his voice low, speaking fast before his owner hears your name and arrives. But Alastor is still in his room, somber.

Husk has all the time he needs.

Back when you were an overlord, the sight of you made people believe they were in a nightmare. Your music enchanted people, making them cower beneath you, bursting into tears as they recounted the evil people they'd been around, specifically the wrong people they loved. It was the curse that Hell gifted you. Initially, when you first fell into these depths, you cherished your ability, recognizing your unique circumstances. But then the reason you were given the capability became clear: it was a mirror of your living, a constant reminder of the sorrow you were forced to endure.

Regardless, Husk hated being around you. You gave him fear, but that didn't stop him from seeing your effects on those suffering from your grief. Their eyes got bloodshot, and their minds raced to the point where they could hardly form words.

The sadness you provoke dissipates after days of non-contact, but your impression lasts forever.

During his monologue, the sound of your music was still heard in the distance, too faint to recognize and put a tune to the melody but audible enough to send an unease through Husk and his recollection.

When asked why none of them were affected, he just shrugged, putting a bottle to his lips. 

"Must be something in the water."

[devilmen-collector]

Desperate Pact

AU (prequel to idea by @sparkbeast20 )

Ft. Klein/my MC, Lucifer

Warning: mention of bullying, demon summoning, slight gore, imply of homophobic behavior, mention of religion, profanity

Don't worry, nothing happened to me :D

Hey,manwhore, come to the campus. Remember we know your dirty secret.

Klein's face darkened when he saw the message. He knew that the bullies would be forcing him to do something extremely unpleasant again. But he could not disobey them. After all, they knew his "dirty secret".

"Hey mom, dad, I'm going out." Klein put his chopsticks down as he said.

"Going out with your new friends again." Klein's mother said. She couldn't hide the joy because her son had finally found some in-real-life friends.

"Y-yeah." Klein lied.

"Ok. Have fun. But remember to not be out too late, ok?"

"I-I'll be back soon." Klein said and waved goodbye to his family.

Half an hour later, Klein appeared at the big gate of the university. He showed the guards his student ID and was allowed to enter.

"You take forever, manwhore." One of the three bully guys, who had brown hair, said.

"Hello." Klein tried to ignore how they insulted him and said hello politely. Who knew what they would force him to do if he retorted back.

"Today, let's do this." The second bully, who had wavy blond hair, said and showed Klein a book. On the book's cover, there was a bunch of marks. To be precise, they were demonic sigils. Klein immediately knew what they were going to force him to do.

"No, I can't do that. Definitely not." Klein tried to refuse. "I'm Catholic."

"Your religion and its laws don't matter. You have to do it. Or else, tomorrow, the whole university will know your perverse secret." The third bully, who dyed his hair red, said.

(Please, stop it!)

A few seconds later, the three bullies escorted Klein to a classroom. Since it was night, the classroom had no light. The four had to use flash light from their phones because the university strictly prohibited the use of the school's electricity after class hours.

"Enter the room and do the summoning." The blond bully said and handed Klein the book, while the red-haired bully handed Klein a small knife. The brown-haired bully handed Klein 5 red candles and a match box.

Klein entered the dark classroom alone, while the 3 bullies stayed outside, if something bad happened, they could run away immediately.

Klein grabbed the chalk near the black board and began to draw a pentagram on the ground. At each of the point of the pentagram, Klein placed a red candle and he used the matches to light each of them.

Klein looked out at the window one last time, hoping the bullies would have a last minute pity on him. But what he saw on their faces was twisted excitement.

Klein opened the book. The bullies had never specified which demon Klein should summon. Maybe he should choose a low-rank demon. That way, he would have more chance to survive, right?

Klein used the small knife to cut his finger and began to do the summoning, with trembling.

"In the name of the Most High, I order you to appear before me..." Klein read and let his blood dropped in the middle of the pentagram.

1 second

2 seconds

3 seconds

Nothing happened...

Klein began to feel relieved that nothing happened. But suddenly, all the candles burnt out and Klein felt a chill ran down his spine. Klein started to feel that he wasn't the only one in the room. Two goat eyes appeared in the middle of the darkness. They were crimson as blood. The fires on the candles began to burn again without a need to be lighted again by human hand.

And in front of Klein, there was a creature, with goat head and human body, but it was utterly dirty and disgusting. And it also had the unpleasant scent... of blood.

And the creature moved.

It hit Klein in the chest and he flew into the wall on the other side of the classroom.

"Fuck..." Klein mumbled as he vomitted blood.

Just as Klein thought the creature was going to kill and eat him, it turned around, destroyed the door and began to chase something. Klein's gut told him it would be chasing the three bullies who had run away but soon it would be coming back for him.

"Fuck... Shit..." Klein cursed as he tried to get up but he realized he couldn't. The impact must have been so strong that it must have broken a few of his bones.

Klein could only crawl on the ground. He couldn't escape like this. The creature would come back and catch up to him soon enough.

Klein wanted to pray and beg God to save him. But he knew he had committed too many horrible sins to ask God for such a favor.

While he was hesitating what to do, Klein heard 3 anguished screams. He knew the bullies were dead and the creature would be coming back for him, he had to act fast if he wanted to survive.

Klein turned to the pentagram on the ground. If he were to sinful to raise his hands to God, then he could try to grab the Devil's hand below, but he must summon a powerful one, more powerful than this goat head.

Like fate was telling him which demon to summon, the page turned to a name most familiar to Klein.

Lucifer

"In the name of Adonai, Elohim,... I order you to appear before me, the once brightest star in Heaven, LUCIFER!" Klein recited the words like he was shouting before coughing out more blood, thinking about all the suffering he had had, from sexual frustration to the horrible bullying after they had found out he masturbated with images from a yaoi manga.

(Please stop! Stop them!)

"To be able to summon me, one of the Seven Capital Sins, not bad." Klein looked up and saw a beautiful man with white hair standing in the middle of the summoning pentagram.

The Morning Star looked down on Klein before saying something like a diagnosis.

"Broken ribs, several major bones broken, several organs have been destroyed..." Lucifer then looked at the door and saw the goat head creature appeared. "It looks like you have fallen in the beginner mistake of summoning a low-rank devil, thinking it would be easy to control. However, most of these devils of lowest rank are just bloodthirsty beasts."

While hearing Lucifer saying, Klein's body started to give in to the wounds and he began to feel more dizzy and closed his eyes.

"... It looks like I have to finish this thing fast."

.

.

.

Klein opened his eyes and jolted up.

"Where am I?" He asked himself and looked around and to his relief, it was his room at home.

"If you are thinking all was just a dream, then you are gravely mistaken."

Klein got startled by the voice. He looked at the bookself where he secretly kept his yaoi collection. A beautiful white-haired man was standing there, reading a short work called "Prostate Examination".

"Wait, don't read-..." Klein wanted to stand up and stopped Lucifer but he realized he couldn't and nearly fell. Fortunately, Lucifer caught him.

"You are still weak, you should be in bed resting." The devil said and settled the young man on bed again.

"What happened? How did I get home?" Klein asked while holding his head, which began to hurt trying to remember and comprehending all that had happened yesterday.

"To summary, you summoned me to deal with that low-rank devil, I killed it and healed you and got you home."

"Wait how did you know my home address?" Klein asked while messaging his head.

"I used the app on your phone to locate your home address." The devil answered calmly.

"Wait, did my parents see you? What did you tell them?" Klein asked, panicked.

"Don't worry. They just assumed I'm your friend who are taking you back because you fell asleep. And they invited me to stay since it was late."

Hearing Lucifer said, Klein sighed in relief.

"Would you prefer that I had told them I was your boyfriend instead?" Lucifer said, smirking.

"No, don't."

"Now, the important issue." Lucifer said and pulled out a goat skin parchment on which many words were already written. "Sign it."

Klein looked at the goat skin parchment and shook his head.

"No, I won't sign. You can go back to Hell, tha-"

Before Klein could finish, Lucifer grabbed his face roughly, his fingers pressed on his two cheeks.

"It hurts."

"Now listen here, it was I who healed your broken ribs, bones and ruined organs, as if I gave you new body parts anew. You owe me your living body. If you don't sign the pact to make your soul the payment. Then I'll take back all I have given you and let you die a most painful death. Do I have it clear?"

Klein nodded and the devil released his grip of his face and gave him the parchment.

"Can you get me the paper knife in my drawer? I don't want to bite my finger." Klein said and Lucifer got the paper knife and handed it to him.

One second later, the parchment was already signed with Klein's blood. As the devil of Pride retrieved of parchment, Klein drowned himself in sadness, thinking himself as good as being damned. He started to think about being tormented and burnt in eternal fire. Tears started to drop down. However, Klein soon realized he didn't cry out of sadness and tears only streamed down from his left eye. Suddenly, Klein felt a sharp pain from his left eye.

"What the fuck is wrong with me?" Klein shouting the question at the white-haired devil.

"Relax." Lucifer said and handed Klein a mirror.

Klein looked at himself in the mirror and saw his left eye changing color. The white outer layer of his eye slowly turned black, while his brown pupil turned white and a red sigil started to form on his pupil.

"Looks good, doesn't it?" Lucifer said, smiling before using his tongue to lick Klein's tears.

Self-indulgent fic but I hope you guys find it an enjoyable read :D

[doe-eyed-fool]

Fallen {Chapter Seventeen}

Alastor x (Fem)Reader

Alastor wasn't in the hotel the next day, I suspected him to be off causing chaos and overall calamity. But then again, he could have just been home. Which by the way, it seemed that no one in the hotel knew where Alastor stayed, other than the hotel.

Not even Charlie. I couldn't give directions even if asked, all I knew is what his home and the surrounding area looked like. Other than that, I couldn't help but feel there was something off with him last night. His grin wasn't as wide, and there was this look in his eyes...

I couldn't quite describe it.

Maybe I should have just kept my secret to myself last night. It wasn't anyone's business, much less their problem. No one needs to or wants to hear about it.

I sigh and make my way down the stairs of the hotel into the lobby. I was greeted by Charlie. "Good morning, Y/n!" She says as she approaches me. "I wanted to thank you for those ideas you gave me. Everything we talked about came in today. I don't play a ton of video games, but I had fun playing the ones we have." I couldn't help but smile. "I'm glad I could help."

Charlie gave me a tight hug before pulling away. "With this, we are one step closer to bringing in new patients! And, one step closer, to you being redeemed!"

My smile fell slightly. "Yeah...Hopefully." This whole redemption thing had me thinking. If I were casted out of heaven, it had to have been for a reason. I don't know what I did, but it must have been pretty bad for God to throw out one of his angels.

What had I done? What had I said? Even if the chance of redemption was possible in a place like this, who's to say God would forgive me?

If I truly were meant to be in heaven, I would not be where I am now...

Maybe I deserve this...

All of a sudden, I felt unwell. "Um, Charlie, I think I'm gonna get some fresh air." Charlie gave me a concerned look. "Are you still not feeling well?" She asks. "I'm not sure, I just..." I trailed off. Charlie put her hand on my shoulder. "I know it's tough right now." She says in a hushed voice, as not to draw attention.

"But it will get better. We'll figure something out. I promise you, you're going to be ok soon. You just have to keep your head up, and have faith in us. Just like we have faith in you." I only nodded, fearing I'd start to cry if I spoke. "Take all the time you need." She says before I walk past her.

I know I wasn't suppose to leave the hotel without Alastor. But I didn't care right now. I couldn't take this. I stepped outside of the hotel and walked down the stairs, pausing after descending the last step.

I look up, same red sky, same pentagram, same feeling of being trapped. Tears began to run down my face, I choke out a sob before falling to a sit. I hug my legs to my chest and hide my face in my knees.

I'm an idiot. At the end of the day, Alastor is not all-powerful. What can he really do to help me? So far, he's done nothing significant. That deal I made with him...I might as well just ask him to take my soul instead of just dancing around it.

I was going to be stuck down here forever.

"I never did like seeing a lady cry."

My crying paused, I slowly lifted my head to see Alastor standing before me. "What troubles you this time, dear?" He asked. I was so upset, so hurt, I felt betrayed by my own god, and I was angry. So, it didn't surprise me when I finally lost my temper.

"What do you think!?" I snap. "I'm going to be trapped here for all eternity! There is no hope for me, there never was! If I'm down here, I'm down here for a reason! There is no going back!" I stood up. "And that deal I made with you, either call it off, or just take my soul because I'm done!" My voice cracked, my anger dissolving into sadness once more.

"I wish you had never found me! I wish you never had given me hope that there was a way out! I wish you had just left me in that ally to die!"

"Death would would be better than this." I mutter. "Lost...Abandoned, without an answer as to why...I can't go on like this for the next eternity...I just can't..."

Silence fell upon the two of us. I might have made him angry by snapping at him like that. But I just don't care anymore. If he does end up getting mad and killing me right here and now...then so be it-

"I think it's about time you get a reality check."

I look at Alastor, his demeanor was clam and controlled. "You are right, in one way. You are trapped down here. There is no escaping Hell, and this silly little hotel and the princess' false hope, is only going to further fill your head with delusions." Oh wonderful.

"Great, so what? I'm just your slave now?"

Alastor stepped closer to me. "Let me finish. I can't get you out of Hell, I'm afraid that's out of my control entirely. You are right about that. But, preferring to die over finding a new purpose? How wrong you are. My dear, look around you. This place will eat you alive. So why not do something about it?"

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"It will take some time, but with my help, I say you'd make a fine demon. Though, only on the inside. Physically, is where the challenge lies."

"I can't be like that."

"And there is your problem. There is no one here to judge you for what you do now. No one frankly gives a damn down here. This isn't Heaven, this is Hell. And if you don't bite first, you'll be bit. And I assure you, Hell will bite down hard and not let go."

I took a moment to think about his words. He had a fair point. There was no judgement in Hell, no punishment. You could murder, steal, drink and drug yourself half blind, and no one could tell you you're wrong or tell you no.

But Hell would destroy you mentally and physically. If I couldn't get stronger, I'd be hurt or killed regardless.

Why should I have to suffer any longer than I have? Why should I allow myself to be walked all over? And for what?

I clenched my fist tightly. "Fine. I'll do it. Whatever it takes, I'll do whatever you want. Just help me, and this time...actually help me."

Alastor grins. "Excellent. Now, I'll do you a favor and call off our last deal. But, we're going to make a new one. This time, I'll help you become a proper demon. And in return, you keep doing what you've been doing."

"Amusing you?" Alastor nods. "But, I haven't...have I?"

Alastor only chuckles before continuing. "Do we have a deal?" He asks. I look down at his outstretched hand. I slowly take it.

"Deal."

[mariaofdoranelle]

Look at Us Now - ch. 22

Fic masterlist

I’m too much of a chicken to experience something remotely close to the game Rowaelin played this chapter, so I’m thanking Reddit for the lended knowledge lol. It’s very quick though I just always over-research

Warnings: brief mention of a cult, moderate alcohol intake

Words: 3,3k

They were gonna die in this hellhole, and Aelin was killing Rowan a second time when they met in the afterlife.

They’ve looked everywhere for clues, tried cracking the puzzles, turned every hint inside out. This was a dead end, and Rowan only had one job: pick the fucking lock.

Just one more lock to open this wooden box, and they’d be free.

Aelin’s heartbeat picked up when she heard voices and steps outside. They were coming back. The members of the cult were coming back.

She met Rowan’s agitated stare from across the room, but he didn’t make a fuss, just frowned at the lock and went back to work, his posture rigid.

They were absolutely going to die in this basement, and Aelin wasn’t a fan of losing.

Aelin eyed the pentagram drawn on the floor, a heavy weight on her chest. She needed to do it. There’s no other choice, she repeated to herself as she laid down on it, a sense of emptiness taking over.

"To thee, O mighty Game Master, I offer myself willingly. May my sacrifice be a beacon, lightning the way for those I leave behind in the form of one more hint.”

She heard Rowan rushing her way, but it was done. Her self-sacrifice would give him one more clue, and he’d win this game for them.

“Take me, Master,” she repeated.

“NO!” Rowan fell to his knees before her, his arms wrapped around her waist. “I can’t bear it, Aelin. I can’t.”

She stroked his cheek, nothing but resignation in her eyes. “I’m doing this for you, babe. I’ll see you on the other side.”

“Let me find another way. I will find another way, Aelin—“

“Do you want me to repeat the three hints?” The escape room’s employee said through the speakers, “I know there’s a pentagram on the floor, but you can’t make a human sacrifice in exchange for another one.”

Aelin sighed, her body relaxing against the floor. Her clothes must be dirty with chalk now, and she didn’t even want to leave the game, but it would be a necessary evil. Rowan held out a hand, helping her get up.

“How’s the lock-picking thing?”

Rowan narrowed his eyes at her, humorless. “Reverse-engineering,” he corrected.

She crossed her arms, silently asking him to just answer her already.

He sighed. “Not great.”

Aelin analyzed the box and the padlock locking it, then looked at the card reader at the door. One card. One card was all they needed to win this.

Without thinking, she violently shook the box between her hands.

“What’re you doing?” Rowan said.

“It’s a wooden box. Maybe there’s a crack the card could slip through.”

Rowan froze for a moment, blinking at the scene. Then he held out his hands, “Gimme that.”

“What?”

“It’s a wooden box,” he repeated, his tone low and astonished.

Next thing she knew, he was pressing all sides of the box against the card reader. When the door unlocked, Aelin’s laugh was nothing short of maniac.

“It’s a proximity card!” she shouted while jumping on him for a hug.

“It’s a proximity card,” he echoed, tugging her impossibly closer and kissing the side of her head.

Outside the escape room, the employee looked pissed. “The combination for the lock was on the back of the blinds.”

Rowan looked completely unaffected by the snarky Game Master. “You should put the card in a metal box if you don’t want people doing it my way.”

They were met by a cool breeze outside, the sidewalk damp in a way that indicated that it must’ve rained while they were playing inside. She turned to take a look at Rowan, and he was already studying her. Despite the cloudy weather, something about him—his features, the way he carried himself, or the frequency in which his lips tugged up today—had a lightness to it, something Aelin didn’t know she longed to see so badly.

She squeezed his hand and instead of going somewhere—doing what they were actually supposed to do on a sidewalk—he leaned down and pecked her lips. It was a quiet mid-afternoon anyway, they weren’t slowing anyone down.

He hummed contently in a way he sometimes did after tasting her, cupping her face as if she was something precious.

She chuckled and checked the time. “We don’t have to pick up Maisie for another hour, so…” Aelin looked around, checking if there was somewhere interesting nearby; they had time to explore, but not too much time. She pointed at a quiet pub, wooden-looking in an old-timey way. “Wanna go there?”

It was nice having the day for themselves, no work to attend after working the graveyard shift. And as much as family time was her favorite, it was refreshing to do some adult stuff other than sneaking out from the five-year-old to get some action with Rowan.

After they woke up late in the morning, they decided their first date should have all the things they wouldn’t be able to do with a kid. So far, it included a fancy lunch somewhere they couldn’t even pronounce, some place they wouldn’t trust Maisie to hold the glasses. Then they went to a horror-themed escape room—not exactly romantic, but why not?—and their last stop was this expensive-looking pub.

They’d be back to princesses and Paw Patrol and nursery rhymes within the hour, but Aelin was excited for that too, to hang out with Maisie again. She got too spoiled with this new thing with Rowan, sleeping at his house during his days of custody. Now that she saw her daughter every day, Aelin was struggling to understand how she spent two, three days in a row without her. One sleepover at Auntie Sellene’s and she already missed Maisie like crazy.

The empty pub’s lights were dim, and the vintage furniture mixed with jazz covers of modern songs made Aelin feel like she was in an old movie. Rowan led her to a booth by the wall, and he wouldn’t take his eyes off the cocktail section of the menu.

“You want a drink,” she pointed out.

He frowned at the menu. “They just have a distinct selection, that’s all.”

Biting back a laugh, she nudged him. “Go on. I’ll drive.”

“Just one.”

She smiled. “I know, Buzzard.”

He seemed reluctant at first, but soon enough he was nursing his one whisky cocktail with a bottle of water while Aelin drank some mango juice.

“I was searching something online these days…” Rowan said, fidgeting with his cup.

“What was it?”

“I asked when I should tell my own child that I’m dating their mother. It was the first time Google completely failed me.”

Aelin snorted at the thought of a distressed Rowan searching this on his phone. She can imagine why there aren’t many online articles about their specific situation.

“Did you have a rule?” Aelin asked. “For how long before you introduce someone to Maisie, I mean.”

“Did you?”

“Six months,” she answered, plain and simple. “I never got that far with someone after Maisie, but I’ve had a bit of a relationship disaster because of this, so having the rule beforehand establishes a boundary, you know? In case somebody feels like rushing things.”

Rowan only stared at her, lips flat, looking sullen. He does know that she wouldn’t apply to him the same rules she did to a stranger, right?

“You’re not just ‘somebody’, though,” she added, “You’re her dad. That changes things.”

“Was it Lieutenant Cortland?” Rowan asked, completely changing the point of the conversation. Of everything she said, this was what he focused on?

Aelin crossed her arms, her eyes narrowed at him. “How do you even know I dated him?”

The faint blush on his cheeks must be because of the whiskey. “You told Elide, who told Lorcan, who told me.”

“Yeah, I was talking about Sam,” she finally answered, her back resting against the cushioned seat. “Single parents abide by different rules when dating, and not everyone understands that. He wanted too much too soon, and I wasn’t ready.” There was also the issue that Aelin wasn’t exactly eager to get serious with Sam, but she didn’t feel like adding this part to the conversation.

Rowan nodded, looking down at his half-empty cocktail. He looked almost crestfallen, and Aelin was struggling to understand why.

“So… six months.” He sipped his drink. “You want to wait six months before we tell people?”

Aelin wanted to argue that, technically, they’ve already told people; their best friends fit into the ‘people’ category, but that’s not what he meant. Rowan wanted to be able to kiss her in front of Maisie, feel his parents’ pride when he told them the news, stop pretending they’re not a couple at Maisie’s school so those fucking moms would stop hitting on him.

Gods, she wanted that so bad. Especially the last part.

Still, Aelin and Rowan carried a lot of responsibility together. This little bubble with no questioning of their relationship or putting more expectations on them wouldn’t last forever, but she felt comfortable in it.

Besides, Aelin didn’t like to even entertain the thought of her relationship with Rowan not working out so soon, but if it didn’t… Well, she’d like to keep a last shred of dignity, if only to attend Yulemas at Uncle Orlon’s.

“Not six months,” she finally replied. “It’s not fair to use the same rules with you as I'd use with a stranger.” Aelin grimaced. “Three? I tried asking Yrene, but she wasn’t really helpful.” Therapists and their maddening non-answer answers.

“Three months.” Rowan slowly nodded, his eyes vacant. “One down, two more to go?”

“Sounds good,” Aelin said, and Rowan agreed, but he didn’t look like it sounded good. With a sigh, she rested her chin on his shoulder and held his hand. “We can talk this over again if you realize it doesn’t sound good to you, okay? We can talk anything over again if you feel like we should.”

His answer was a kiss to her forehead.

˜˜

“Three months?!” Lysandra shrieked after Aelin told her about that conversation, and her loud tone earned a few glares from the ladies at the table near them, not that she cared. Still, she lowered her voice to say, “Honey, if I had a man like that, Timmy would be calling him ‘daddy’ by the third month.

“I mean, you could.” Aelin wiggled her eyebrows before taking another bite of her chocolate cake. Rowan was currently with Maisie, Dorian and Fenrys at the adoption event, and she used this kid-free time to try on this new pastry shop with Lys.

The woman narrowed her eyes. “I could what?”

Aelin stirred her coffee, a Cheshire cat grin on her face. “Hunter told Asterin and Asterin told me that Wesley has a crush on you.” And this is completely reliable gossip because Hunter, Asterin’s husband, is close friends with him.

“Oh.”

She frowned. “You don’t sound excited.” Half of the single moms had a crush on Wesley, the widowed single dad. Aelin was part of the other half who didn’t really care about him, but could understand the appeal. And she heard her friend comment about how ‘fine’ Wesley looks more than once. “I thought you’d like to hear that.”

“Well, obviously, I’m flattered.” Lys took a bite of her lemon pie, her chin in her hand while she clamped her lips shut to hide a smile. “But I kind of just started seeing someone.”

Aelin gaped, surprised. “Tell me.”

She didn’t know who he or she was, but she was happy for her. Mala knows the amount of shit she took from Timmy’s dad, some entitled man from Adarlan she hated just from hearing a few stories here and there.

“So, remember that birthday party we went to last month?” Aelin nodded, so Lys continued, “You posted a picture with me. You tagged me in it.”

“As millennial Instagram etiquette requires me to do.”

“Your cousin Aedion followed me, and—“

“No!” Aelin poured all the disgust she felt into that one word, grimacing. “I mean, ew!”

Lys straightened her posture. “I get it if you're upset.”

“Why would I be upset? Because you’re too good for my idiot cousin?” Aelin schooled her face into neutrality and sighed, trying to look a little more serious so she could give Lys a proper response. “Look, it’s fine. Just spare me from the sordid details, and we’re good.”

“Alright.” She relaxed into her chair, looking pleased with that answer.

“So you two are a thing now?”

“Not exactly. We chatted a lot and he asked me out, but I didn’t want to go without checking with you first. But I also didn’t want to make a fuss because of one date, you know? So I went. It was amazing. I blamed it on the sangria for making me see the date through rose-colored glasses. So I went on another one, completely sober, just to make sure. It was so good that I almost begged him to fuck—“

“Fucking Mala!” Aelin’s face morphed back into disgust. “Okay, I get it, it’s new. Good luck with his pineapple pizza obsession.”

To be honest, she wasn’t all that repulsed, and she totally blamed it on Rowan. It was those near-daily nighttime orgasms and early morning cuddles—sometimes orgasms again—getting to her head. Aelin was so happy she felt delirious; and after all Aed and Lys have been through in the dating scene, if they managed to find that as well, she was happy for them.

Said reason for her incredible mood texted her, asking her to drop by his place to talk. As if she’d go anywhere else, being his day of Maisie’s custody. His tone almost made it feel like old times, but Aelin knew better. They had a child together, they always had something to talk about.

Knowing her daughter, the adoption fair must’ve been a total chaos. Aelin told Dorian it was a bad idea to bring Maisie along, but her friend insisted on playing the cool uncle.

She promised that she wouldn’t ask for a dog at the fair, but it was just to set expectations. Maisie’s a puppy-loving five-year-old, it’d be ridiculous to think that she wouldn’t throw a tantrum when he saw countless puppies for adoption.

On the way home, her chest constricted to think of a distressed Rowan trying to wrangle his daughter. He was probably exhausted.

Aelin parked her car outside. She grabbed her key to his house—which they recently traded for practicality—but before she could get to the porch, Rowan jumped out of Maisie’s bedroom window, his hulking figure swaying a little as he landed. He darted her way before she could enter the house.

She grasped his face with both hands and kissed him, and it lit her up from inside out, waking up the fluttery feeling that kept mostly dormant while she was away. “Was this a throwback?” She gave the window a pointed look. “Because if you’re trying to make me think of our first night together…”

When he jumped her bedroom window because she still lived with Uncle Orlon and Darrow. Aelin had no idea she’d think about that night to this day.

Rowan didn’t look overwhelmed by memories of great sexy times, though. The crease between his eyebrows was deeper than usual, his lips tightly pressed together. He took a glance at the window he came through.

“We need to talk.”

He looked serious. Way too serious. Aelin took a step back, his keys still on her hand while her pulse picked up. “Is Maisie alright?”

“Yes!” He grimaced, realizing that his secretiveness freaked her out. “She’s alright, but I did something…”

Aelin tuned him out, her mom instincts taking over. She hurried to his front door, as fast as her breathing, and opened it without listening to Rowan and whatever made his speech frantic. She’d check on Maisie, then she’d pay attention to him.

And that’s when she saw it.

It looked like a hurricane passed through his living room. His coffee table was a mess, full of papers and unopened shopping bags. Pet shop shopping bags. A small, pink carrier was left on the corner, close to some uncleaned dog poop.

He wouldn’t.

Rowan absolutely wouldn’t. Not without telling her first.

Aelin shot her most menacing look of disbelief at him but, to be fair, Rowan held his ground. Her fury never scared him but, right now, she wished otherwise.

The house was absolutely silent, and he didn’t fight her this time when she marched into Maisie’s bedroom.

When she opened the door, her daughter’s wide grin paused the boiling under her skin.

“Hi, Mommy,” she whisper-yelled. There was a small ball of golden fur asleep on the little girl’s arm, so she couldn’t get up to greet Aelin. It was obnoxiously cute. Like meeting a new mom at a maternity ward, but it’s little girls and puppies. “I’ll tell you when Fleetfoot’s awake, so we can play with her.”

Aelin kissed Maisie’s forehead. “I’d love that.” Then she left as quietly as she came in.

He fucking did it, Aelin realized, heat plummeting through her stiff muscles.

“Seriously, Rowan?” she whisper-yelled back in the living room.

He opened his mouth to speak but Aelin beat him to it.

“Are you kidding me right now?” she pointed at the direction of Maisie’s closed bedroom door. “You gave her a dog? And you didn’t think to consult her own mother first?”

“I’m sorry.” Rowan looked like a deer caught in the headlights. “I tried my best bribes—“

She plastered a fake smile on. “Let me guess, they didn’t work.”

Rowan put both hands up, a flicker of relief on his face, like Aelin was finally beginning to understand him. “Yes! And—“

Aelin could only imagine the scene Maisie must’ve caused. Still, she yelled, “And you have no authority over a five-year-old?”

He does. Aelin knows he does, as much as she knows she’s prone to say hurtful things when she’s mad.

“Come on, Aelin, the house is big. It’s staying on my place, I’m taking full financial and caregiving responsibilities—

Aelin tilted her head back, her angry laughter almost berserk. “You fucking bet you are!”

His entire posture deflated, and Rowan had a wounded expression intense enough she looked away.

“Can’t we just talk?” Rowan’s voice was soft in an uneasy way, a mix of hesitancy and vulnerability. “We could go back to Yrene’s pdfs and—“

“Not now.” Aelin crossed her arms. “I’m gonna rage alone at home until I feel empty, and then I’m gonna think about it. Once I’m done thinking about it without wanting to say mean things to you, I’ll let you know.”

“And if you don’t?” He scratched the back of his neck. “Stop feeling angry, I mean.”

She adjusted her purse around her shoulder. “Then I’ll see you in therapy.”

They were still going, though their sessions have been rather uneventful after they got together. Maybe Yrene knew something like this would blow up sometime. Whatever. Aelin’s not the shrink here.

Rowan nodded without meeting her eye, then let her go.

She didn’t even get her car, needing the small trek to her house. Way too small for all the thinking she needed to do, actually.

The chilly wind bit into her bones, and Aelin soon regretted the thin shirt she wore. The street was deserted, the ruffle of the sidewalk trees being the background noise to her thoughts.

Fuck, that dog is cute. No matter how much Aelin raged, how petty she acted, she knew how this would end.

Besides, it wasn’t about the dog. Deep down, Aelin knew why she was upset.

They got together, and when they were starting to feel like an united front, Rowan committed to a decade-long life decision without her. What was up with that?

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[soul-rillo]

The hazbintots have infiltrated my brain, so here's a little ficlet of the origins of the tots and Lucifer's unfortunate wish. Enjoy and thanks to Rillo for betaing this!

The Beginning

Lucifer stared up at Hell’s night sky. It was bereft of stars as always. One final punishment from Heaven pushed down on Lucifer. The lightbringer couldn’t even see his own creations in the sky, cut off from the light, from the stars. Instead, there was an inescapable black void that loomed overhead in the night and blood that painted the sky in the day marked by a pentagram that barred them all into their collective prison. 

But tonight? Tonight was different. It was a miraculous event, a once in a millennium event that even Lucifer, in all his years, had only seen a dozen or so times. A night when the heavenly, earthly, and hellish realms aligned just so, and the dying stars would share their light with the universe one final time.  

The last time he’d watched the stars fall in hell, Lillth had been by his side; singing a soft requiem as she charmed the nobility and regular hellborn alike. She had always been more graceful than him, more suited to ruling. Why did she leave him? 

His heart twinged painfully in his chest, and he slapped his cheeks with both of his hands. Focus! Now was not the time to get lost in his head. He had a job to do! 

He let out a sigh as he adjusted his bow tie. Charlie had trusted him with this as a way to get more donors for her hotel, so here he was at the largest party he’d been to in centuries surrounded by mobs of hellborn and demons he didn’t recognize. 

Lucifer stepped to the side and plucked a flute of champagne off of a passing imp waiter and swallowed it quickly, hoping it would relieve some of his nerves. He was the King of Hell so he was expected to give the address to the festival; the nobility of Hell expected it, and while he may have blown off his duties as the ruler of Pride for the last century or so, he wouldn’t blow off a request from Charlie. 

He shuddered. If Ozzie found out he was separated from Lilith, he could only imagine the dates the sin of lust would try to set him up on. Thankfully, Ozzie seemed to have found someone of his own to keep him busy recently, and thank all that was unholy for that! 

Lucifer said a few more pleasantries that he hoped weren’t too awkward to the latest batch of Ars Goetia muddled about him. A brave few imps came up to introduce themselves. In every conversation Lucifer did his best to sprinkle in praise for Charlie’s redemption project. He was met with everything from feigned interest to open disdain for sinners. It made him long for a time before he split the pentagram with the other sins. When he could simply order the Ars Goetia about, then Charlie would have all the help she could ask for and Lucifer could stop falling face first into social situations. 

Finally, a blue-tailed owl goetia took center stage. A hush fell over the crowd as he pulled out his grimoire and in an impressive display of magic whipped the acid storm clouds away. 

Lucifer clapped his hands together. “Woow, hoo yeah, what a time everyone! Y’know, I helped to put the stars in the sky and make sure they sparkled. So, uh, enjoy it and everything.” 

With his speech done, Lucifer slunk back to the edge of the party and then flicked his wings out, taking off to the hosts’ mansion roof, where he could finally be alone for the evening. He leaned back against the chimney, waiting for the show to start.  

It started slowly at first—a few shots of light that were blink-and-you’ll-miss it. Then the sky was aglow, filled with flares of all colors, burning bright for mere seconds and then flickering into nothing. It was beautiful, but it couldn't last. How like his father to only have given him a shallow reminder of heaven.  

Not that he was much better. He’d failed Charlie so many times. Cut her off when Lilith left; he missed so many moments. He didn’t even know she had a girlfriend until recently!

“If only…” he murmured to himself, “I could’ve been a better dad to Charlie. She deserved the best. I wish there was a way I could redeem myself, go back, do it right, and be Hell’s greatest dad.” 

The falling stars seemed to brighten at his words and he smiled. At least something in the universe understood him. The party wrapped up as the sky returned to its usual blackness and Lucifer didn’t bother saying goodbye to the hosts or any of the sins as he headed back to the hotel. He hoped Charlie and her friends got a chance to see the stars before they disappeared. He’d heard her gushing about setting up blankets in the grass behind the hotel to watch. It sounded like a lot of fun—more fun than rubbing elbows with hell’s nobility anyway, but Charlie asked him to go and it was the least he could do for her. 

Lucifer swung the door open with a big grin. “Charlie! I’m home! How was your—oh holy mother of shit.” 

In the lobby of the hotel, sat nine toddlers. Nine very familiar looking toddlers. Charlie blinked up at him with her big, adorable eyes from where she was holding her girlfriend's hand (Was that still her girlfriend? Could toddlers even date each other?) She looked exactly like he remembered her at the age of three. 

That was when it dawned on him: the wish he had made earlier without expectation had come true, but in the most roundabout way possible. Lucifer knew that somewhere, up past the pearly gates of Heaven, some sick fuck was laughing at him.

God damn it.

[inuhalfdemon]

Dirty Dealings (21/21)

Word Count: 2,941 Words

Rating = Mature (Violence)

Chapter 21: The Beginning

This would be terribly dramatic.

It was early morning…still dark. He was nearly ready and if done right; he might just time it perfectly.

Still bleeding; Alastor set aside the unholy dagger and reached for a chunk of the brimstone. He sighed; not really wanting to have to put her through this but knowing he was being left with no other choice. The reaping had its requirements after all…

Starting the incantation, he stepped into the roughly made pentagram he clawed and smeared into the smoking ground. Wildfire had engulfed the swamp and was actively consuming everything that surrounded the spot where their deal had been made. He easily kept the flames at bay but they licked hungrily against the outer circle that was his smearing of blood across the ash and the dirt.

This would be terribly dramatic.

Finishing the incantation; the bloody brimstone burst into a brilliant green flame in his hand. Forcefully; he threw it at his feet; blood spraying from the cut in his palm and catching green fire as it sparked and ignited the blood-smeared points and ring that was the symbol. He inhaled deeply; breathing in the fumes of sulfur and wood smoke into his lungs as if it were a breath of fresh air to calm the nerves.

And then, he summoned Adeline.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Tendrils of shadow – moving and twisting through the dark; just as they had before. Adeline had dreamt this dream many nights. Cold touching her; freezing her veins as she is pulled and drug to some dreaded nothing.

Sometimes Alastor stopped it and sometimes he didn’t.

A tentacle of shadows reaches out and touches her; it slithers and wraps itself around her – finding her throat. She feels it tightening; constricting. She chokes and struggles; her hand finding its hold but then everything changes and it’s Alastor who is choking her; claws digging into the skin of her throat and crushing her windpipe. His antlers are flared out long and wide above them and his eyes are glowing a brilliant green. Adeline struggles and his hold on her only tightens. His green eyes narrow into piercing slits that slice through the dark and -

She gasped awake.

A searing heat was radiating around her neck; scorching her skin.

“Adeline…”

She not only heard him; but felt him calling for her.

Being pulled forward; she landed face forward into burning ash and dirt; choking and coughing on the burning air and embers that filled her lungs. Shakily lifting herself up; she saw a long glowing green chain; falling from around her neck and trailing to where Alastor stood; gripping the end. She felt the shackle; heavy and burning on her neck. Green flames burned in a purposeful pattern around her; touching her but not harming her. Beyond the borders of this pattern; a wild swamp fire burned and raged; filling the dark sky with a deadly smoke.

Alastor shifted the chain; claws sliding through the links.

Adeline gasped audibly; her heart wildly palpating in her chest – feeling every hair on her body rising as if they were going up in hackles with the goosebumps that spread across her skin. He was clutching at her soul; touching her in such an invasive way – her whole existence recoiled against it.

“No more games, Adeline.” Alastor murmured. “Tonight, our deal is done.” A deep thunder rolled overhead.

She couldn’t see his face through the smoke and the fire but she could hear his voice. She shook violently; feeling him as he slid the chain through his hands.

“Did you really think that I would watch you throw this away?” He hissed; gripping the chain and she shuddered. “That I would allow it?”

His eyes flared a brilliant green; cutting through the dark and the smoke. Antlers rose thick and heavy; a jutting and twisted crown traveling high above his head. Adeline quailed at the possessive hold he had one her; fingers digging into the scorched and burning ground.

“Please…Luc…” She trembled terribly; tears streaming down her face. “You can’t-.”

“But, I can.” He was snarling and he pulled the chain to her shackle so that it was made taught; her neck stretching painfully with it. A crack of lightning split the sky; rain pouring down in heavy sheets and sending the brilliant red and orange flames of wildfire into hissing and swiftly dying out – never touching the flames of green.

How? How could he just…take her soul?

Panicked; she reached for the collar to her shackle – crying out when he dug his claws into the links and pulled it even tighter.

“Adeline Lorraine LaRue…” Alastor spat out the name and she felt something crumple within her in a crippling way.

“I release you.”

He said it softly. Through her tears; the rain, the ash and the smoke she saw the glowing green of his eyes briefly soften.

What?

Taking the dagger; he quickly swiped the blade across the palm; the previous cut already made closed by the presence of burning hellfire. Bright green burst and flared as the blade dragged through his skin; coating its sharpened edge in burning blood. He brought it down; and it tore cleanly through the links to Adeline’s chain – breaking their connection.

“Our deal is made void, Adeline.” He told her; her chain and shackle quickly dissolving before her eyes. “I no longer wish to possess your soul nor do I mean to claim it.”

Slowly; the glowing green of his eyes died; his antlers curling back into themselves and shrinking back. The green hellfire burning around them slowly ebbed and faded away; the rain coming down turned into an absolute torrent; clumps of ash and bits of licking swamp fire hissing loudly – heat perishing in the drenching shower.

“You may go.” He told her, his voice low. “I am leaving and you will never see me again.” He said, turning away. “Go home. Live your life. I have no more use for you.”

Shaking and cold; she slipped and slid – struggling to her feet. Her teeth chattering.

“You can’t do this.” She said it weakly, watching as he walked away from her. “I didn’t ask for this, I – I didn’t agree to it!” She yelled now.

He kept walking; saying nothing.

“You bastard!!! You don’t just to get to do this!” She was thinking of Henry: how she could do nothing for him now… 

Alastor threw up a portal; about to step through it.

“Luc…please…” She called out; meekly.

He stopped. Turning his head; without looking at her he said: “My name isn’t ‘Luc’, Adeline… It’s Alastor.”

“Alastor?” She breathed.

He looked at her then, his fur and antlers soaked and dripping with rain; ears drawn and to the side – a small, sad smile on his face; before he stepped through the swirling of green and was gone.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Alastor!?” Rosie stepped into the studio; finding him there braced against the barrier to the pentagram enclosing his shadow. “What is going on!?” She asked him worriedly. 

She had heard the screeching of the creature and hurriedly came to see what had agitated it so.

The dark form moved rapidly back and forth along the walls of the pentagram; trying to find a way to get closer to Alastor. Frantically; it bit and tore at the barrier – screeching and whining in a keening cry. Alastor had his back to Rosie, leant into the barrier, and she could see that his suit and jacket were completely soaked through and that he was shaking.

“Alastor…” She said quietly, carefully approaching him. “What has happened?”

Alastor spread his hands along the barrier; pushing himself off so that he could turn his head and speak clearly to her.

“I-I let her go…” He said it so softly, Rosie didn’t catch it right away.

“The girl? The soul you…?” Rosie paused beside him; not sure whether she should touch him quite yet.

“Yes.” He swallowed. “I released her from my…service.” He laughed lightly but Rosie could hear the manic tone it held.

His shadow continued its agitated movements; trying desperately to press itself closer.

“Alastor, sweetheart.” Rosie braved to touch his shoulder. “It’s going to take some time...”

Taking a deep breath; he turned so that his back was now pressed to the barrier – standing straighter but not quite looking at Rosie.

“She, uh…She really did a number on me.” His ears were moving erratically; his smile twitching at the corners. “I imagine breaking a connection like that…does that.”

“No, hun.” Rosie told him; and he looked at her now. She touched his face – seeing the pain that was there. “But, a broken heart will.”

His eyes widened and his ears dropped and Rosie knew hearing it had shattered him. Without thinking and without hesitating, she pulled him close and held him as he fought the racking sob that forced its way painfully out from deep within his chest.

______________________________________________________________

  June 25th, 2020

  New Orleans, Louisiana

Adeline fidgeted nervously in the cab all the way to the restaurant; absently shifting the folded parchment of paper back and forth between her hands.

After days and days of crying and fighting to come to terms with everything that had happened; she found it – a note on her bedroom dresser that read:

Our 70th Anniversary;

June 25th, 2020

7 p.m.

You know where…

She wanted to cry and scream and rip it apart – all of it - when she found it; knowing it certainly hadn’t been there hours before. However, the thought never crossed her mind to toss it aside and just ignore it.  

Getting out of the cab, Adeline nervously smoothed her dress. She had chosen to wear the red one; the same dress she had worn the first night he had brought her here before they spent many an anniversary at the establishment; enjoying the fine dining and dancing together to their hearts content.

Adeline sniffed as she approached the restaurant; trying to ignore her persistent headache and thought briefly about having to adjust to being a regular mortal. Of course, the first thing to happen to her was catching covid in the very first few days to her brand-new life. She hadn’t had to worry about illnesses like that before so of course she caught this one straight out of the gate. Next; she had to remind herself that she was rememberable now…something that brought immense relief and excitement to her while also proving to be rather problematic when she forgot she couldn’t just take or do things now and walk away with no consequence. She had seventy years’ worth of bad habits to break…

She paused at the entrance to the restaurant, swallowing hard. She wasn’t sure how to think of him…after everything that had happened – where this might leave them. He had taken pangs to ensure she had had a comfortable head-start to things…she found out early that the loft apartment had been completely entitled to her - no payments necessary; she discovered a good amount of money left for her to utilize as she needed and he had somehow obtained all manner of documents; social security, birth certificate, driver’s license - everything she would ever need in order to survive this strange and new existence. Everything had been so carefully prepared for her; it left her wondering how long he had actually planned for this to be the result of the deal that they made…        

Taking a deep breath; she entered the restaurant. She was warmly greeted by the Maître D. Giving him her name; he quickly nodded and led her to the table that her and Alastor normally occupied for their dinners there together.

But when she approached the table, it wasn’t Alastor that was seated there across from an empty chair.

It was Henry.

He smiled at her nervously as the Maître D politely helped her with her seat. The waiter was already there to take their drinks. After that was done and before Adeline could say anything; Henry handed her a sealed envelope.

“He told me that if I didn’t give this to you; he’d make sure that I died alone in a dark gutter somewhere.” Henry said; handing it to her and flinching inwardly.

Yep, sounds like him.   

Adeline took the envelope and tore it open. Opening the parchment of paper left for her she read:

Dearest Adeline,

Life can feel very long sometimes, but in the end, it goes by so fast…You better live a good life; Adeline LaRue. Teach Henry that it’s worth doing. I leave his soul safely within your capable hands.

With love,

Alastor

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

One year later…

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

June 25th 2021

New Orleans, Louisiana

Alastor’s shadow pulled him to just beside the gravesite within the old cemetery, materializing him smoothly from the darkness. It was nearly midnight; but Alastor just only had this one last visit to see to. After this; he would leave earth and he knew not when or if he would ever be coming back.

His shadow detached itself from him; flitting across the ground, touching headstones, the fencing, and finally shifting itself to meld into the blackest shadows of the old oak tree. Alastor marveled at how useful and powerful it had become by its own right; while still having remained entirely devoted to him and any of his commands. Had he known this to be the result; he may have approached Rosie for an exorcism sooner – or at least considered it.

Alastor had spent the entirety of this last year bonding with and utilizing the presence of his shadow by taking it with him to collect on all the souls he had remaining from closed contracts. The work had taken a great deal of time to complete and whatever free time he had, he had spent it by considering and re-considering the deal offered to him by his new client. Finding it entirely too tempting to decline; he accepted the terms – though, they did come with some considerable restraints…he felt that the reward would surely be well worth the price he’d pay.

Stopping just beside the grave, Alastor sighed.

Sitting just atop of the headstone was a bundle of sunflowers.

“Manman mwen renmen anpil*…” Alastor said softly, speaking to his deceased mother. “Watch over our dear Adeline, and…put in a good word for her…for me. Hell won’t touch her; if I can help it...”

He remembered a conversation he had had with Rosie a year ago; just days following his return to her and his shadow…

"I did not love her, certainly." His gut twisted at the thought; his body and mind acting very differently to something so intimate now that he was wholly himself. 

Rosie laughed. "Of course you loved her, Alastor. You let her go! You never would have if you didn't!" He made a disgusted face at that.  

"Surely even you can appreciate that love doesn't have to come in devotedly romantic forms." She expressed. "It can creep and bury itself into the heart in many different ways; yes, even cold and dead ones such as our own." 

He had chosen to act resentful to the idea; but still felt the pain of a deep and resonating ache in his chest... 

He stood quietly beside the grave for some time…remembering. 

His shadow slipped from the tree, pausing at the headstone and whining softly as it looked to the flowers. Alastor tilted his head and saw what it meant for him to find…reaching down; he plucked the black rose corsage from the bundle of sunflowers; finding a small note tied to the hellish favor.

It read:

With love,

Your dearest Adeline

He pulled the corsage to his face; pressing a black petal to his lips before carefully stowing it away into the pocket of his suit jacket; keeping it safely with him as he left with his shadow…returning to Hell.

*my dearest mother (Creole)

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Epilogue

Some years later…

 Adeline made the walk to the old cemetery that day; the same walk she did every year now on this day – June 25th. Sometimes; if she was feeling particularly sentimental or nostalgic; she’d pay an extra visit. It was a beautiful summer day and the sunflowers she brought with her were especially fragrant and bright. All in all; her heart felt light and she felt both happy and confident about her future.

Placing the flowers at the top of the headstone; she carefully knelt herself down, resting.

She remembered coming back here…that first year she started to bring the sunflowers here herself…she came back the very next day – just to see; finding the black rose corsage and note were gone. She knew Alastor had found it and had taken it with him. Since then though, she was certain he hadn’t returned – hadn’t come back to visit the grave of his mother. She couldn’t explain it…she just knew – maybe suspected - he no longer did or could…

“I sure hope he’s not getting himself into too much trouble, whatever he’s up to.” She said aloud; not sure if it really did any good – not knowing if anyone was truly listening - but it somehow made her feel better to try. “You know…he’s not nearly as bad as he likes to make himself believe he is.” She mused. “I…” She swallowed. “I really miss him.”

She sat there for awhile; enjoying the sun and the warmth on her skin….just remembering.

After some time; her back began to ache and with some effort she lifted herself back up onto her feet. Groaning; she stretched and placing a hand on her very swollen belly, she turned to leave - carrying a baby – a boy, that she would soon name: Alastor Lucian LaRue.

[THE END]

[onceuponaweirdo]

Beatrice and Lilith sitting at boarding school, sitting in front of a pentagram drawn in chalk with scribbled runes around it. Before the pentagram was an alter with offerings of various natures, a skull and lit up candles.

— I'm not sure we should be doing that Lilith.

— You're the one who wanted to do it in the first place! - Lilith glared at her - You want to back out now that we have all of this put together?

— I thought we were going to play with an Ouija board! - Beatrice whisper-yelled - Not have a full seance to summon Lucifer in our room, in a Catholic boarding school!

— Well you should have said that, now we gotta finish it, lets go.

Beatrice sighed, scared for what could come of what they were about to do. And concerned, if they were caught doing something like this it could result in them both being expelled.

They turned, facing each other and held hands as they had seen in the video. With their eyes closed they did a personal prayer first and then started to recite the instructed words that were written out on the book in front of them.

She felt her hands start sweating and Lilith's grip on her hand tighten when a breeze swept the room and some things flew astray. Still they kept citing the words and putting their intents towards it, regret plagued their hearts when all the candles were blown off. They jumped into each others arms, eyes wide open, hearts beating astray in their chests, hands over their mouth in pure horror.

Beatrice was the first to move, in a near sprint, she raced to turn on the lights and before she could swipe her eyes over the room she was back by Lilith's side holding onto her childhood best friend for dear life.

— Was that fun?

A giggly dulcet voice sounded somewhere in the room and they both let out loud terrified screams as they looked towards where the voice came.

There in front of them on top of Lilith's bed were two girls staring right at them. One laid on her stomach with her tilted head perched on her intertwined fingers looking at them with mischief and mirth and something else they could not place. The other was sitting up against the headboard, with her legs and arms crossed, a smirk playing on her lips and a hungry look in her eyes. They were the image of sinful beauty, inside red dresses left nothing to the imagination, their feets were bare of footwear, but they had some weird looking inscriptions that seemed to crawl up their legs the more they looked at it.

— So? - the one sitting up asked ‐ Was it fun?

When neither of the girls on the floor answered, too shocked to utter any words not at all believing what they were experiencing. The girls on the bed got up on their feet and glide across the floor as if they were floating to stand in front of them.

— I'm Camila and this is Ava. - said the smirky curly haired girl - Daddy is busy, but we would love to play.

[chestcongestion]

Demon-to-Demon Ch.4/5: Ha//zbin Ho/tel

Warnings: Contagion, Mess (a lot of mess this time), Plot thread might be too close to current events for comfort even if it has nothing to do with current events

Word count: 7,312

This one managed to get away from me, I got a little too excited but this is definitely going to be 4/5 I think, and 5 might be even longer than this one. Thanks again for all of the support, this has been incredibly fun to write. Hope you enjoy ^^!

“G’Mbordi’g Pentagramb City… Ih’pshiEWWW… I’b Katie Killjoy,” the usually well-put-together anchorwoman for 666 News delivered her introductory line without an ounce of energy, her voice hoarse and her consonants butchered by her clogged sinuses. 

Instead of filming the daily news from the 666 News station desk, Katie was tucked up in bed, wearing a lilac nightgown with her hair clipped to keep it out of her face, and was recording herself delivering the day’s news by using a slightly out-of-focus camcorder and a VoxTech Television Network intern’s laptop. 

“I’b live frob mby… Yihh-hihh’TschiEwW!...Ih’TSHiEWWW…mby house to update you all on day number 24 of ‘The Red Spread’,” Katie said, her fingertips twitching as she fought back the urge to pull her blankets up to her chest, “Statistics are sayi’g that… SnFF!... arou’d 93% of the Pentagramb is currently infected. So far there have been no recorded complicatio’ds or deaths… and activity across the city has come to a halt …Ih’TschiEWW! ‘Tshhiew! ‘TSHIEWW!”  

“93% of the Pentagram…” Vaggie muttered to herself as she peeked at the television from behind the sofa, “It’s been almost a month now… how are so many people getting sick?” 

“I think a better question would be why we ain’t gettin’ any better,” Angel croaked, dabbing at his drippy nostrils with a tissue, blowing his ‘nose’ into the tissue with a quiet honk, shivering slightly under his blanket. 

“Iih’pzZshIEW! Ih’pshuue! Ih’pshew!” Niffty sneezed from her bundle of blankets on the floor, drowsily running the back of her wrist across her face to swipe at the dense mucus leaking from her sinuses, “That’s disgusti’g… IH’PSHHIEW!”  

“Bless you!” Charlie said enthusiastically, nervously handing Niffty a package of wipes so she could clean off her face, “It could be worse… at least nobody’s in any serious danger.” 

“Yeah- snrK!- worst thing we’d ndeed ta’ worry about is runnin’ outta tissues,” Angel scoffed, tossing a soggy tissue into the trash can near the sofa, looking in front of him and smiling at Husk, who was sleeping peacefully while draped across his body. 

“It’s still concerning, this has never happened before, and then out of nowhere something incredibly contagious manages to tag almost the entire city and clings to them for weeks?!” Vaggie pondered, “I dunno, it just feels like trouble.” 

“You oughtta go out and investigate, since you’re immune,” Angel proposed- almost sarcastically- while stroking Husk between his ears, “A-ah… Ah’kshieww! Ah’kzxhhtt! Ah’kzZsChew!...’Shhew! ‘SHIIEW!” 

“Bless you,” Charlie said, brandishing the thermometer and holding it out for Angel to take, watching him slide it under his tongue, “It is kind of worrying, but maybe everyone’s finally turning a corner!”  

The thermometer beeped, and Angel squinted his eyes at the reading before sighing and handing it to Niffty, “Sti-i-ihh…Sti-IiH’Kshew!...snff! Still got a fever… 102,” he said, swallowing harshly against his throbbing, achy throat, the sudden pain making him cough. 

Niffty pulled the thermometer out of her mouth and sighed, “Still 101,” she said, emptying her packed sinuses with a gurgling blow into a handful of tissues. 

Angel quietly grabbed the thermometer off of the coffee table, shooting a glance at Husk, “Kitty Cat… wakey-wakey, we gotta take your temperature, and if you don’t get up we gotta do it vet style,” he whispered playfully, scratching behind Husk’s left ear. 

Husk let out a hoarse cough, “You are not stickin’ that thing up my ass,” he grumbled, opening his mouth and letting Angel slide the thermometer under his tongue, removing it thirty seconds later once it beeped. 

“102,” Angel announced, leaning forward to kiss Husk’s forehead. 

“Okay… only one left,” Charlie said, turning and brandishing the ear thermometer, looking at Alastor’s curled up, unconscious form on the loveseat. Alastor’s breathing was noisy, the phlegm sitting in his chest rumbled on every inhale and crackled on every exhale. 

Carefully, Charlie slipped the ear thermometer into Alastor’s right ear and pulled it out without disturbing him from his slumber, “104,” she sighed, pressing her cool palm against Alastor’s burning forehead, “I don’t know why his fever keeps getting so high… we’re all out of medicine.” 

After a brief silence, Alastor’s breath audibly caught in his chest, a bubble of sputum popping at the top of his windpipe and tickling his throat. 

Still asleep, Alastor began to cough- a wet, chesty cough muffled by his clenched teeth that were still forced into his trademark grin. The crackle of mucus in his chest grew noisier and noisier as congestion got trapped at the bottom of his trachea, strangling him and rousing him slowly from his sleep. 

Angel held back a gag, “Oh that is nasty,” he whispered, shuddering at the sound. 

Husk’s ears twitched, and he held a hand over his mouth, his lungs aching out of the sliver of sympathy he felt for his boss.

“I don’t know how to help him… it sounds like he’s choking,” Charlie muttered, biting her fingernails. 

“I got it,” Angel said with a dense sniffle, getting up from the sofa and swaying on his feet, feeling deeply lightheaded but determined to help. Kneeling down next to the loveseat, Angel shook Alastor until he was completely awake. 

Alastor stared at Angel with vacant red eyes, the rumbling in his lungs quieting down as he channeled all of his focus into breathing through his nose.

“Smiles, up here, can you see me?” Angel asked, waving his hand in front of Alastor’s face, noticing that Alastor’s pupils followed his hand on a slight delay. 

Alastor nodded, a rough inhale through his nose making his clogged sinuses squeak in a way that sounded painful. 

“I’m gonna help you get that crap outta your chest so you can breathe, okay?” Angel asked, pinching Alastor’s face and turning his head upwards until their eyes met. 

Alastor nodded, still noticeably drowsy, blinking rapidly as his eyes watered and a weak cough echoed from deep in his lungs. His eyelids drooped slightly and his pupils wandered, desperate but exhausted as his body went slack to conserve energy… and oxygen.  

Angel pulled Alastor upright by the collar of his pajamas, and sat behind him, one hand firmly cradling the radio demon’s quivering chest, one wound back with a splayed hand, and the other two holding onto his thighs for stability. “Okay, open your mouth- snff!- breathe in, as deep as you can,” he instructed. 

Alastor choked back another coughing fit, taking a deep, wheezy, desperate inhale upon Angel’s request. 

“Good,” Angel said, roughly clearing his throat, “I’m gonna pat your back, all you gotta do is focus on coughing that shit up, got it?”  

Alastor nodded, held up his handkerchief to his mouth, and began to cough, the fit sounding infinitely more productive with the help of Angel patting his back. His eyes watered and his throat felt raw, and he was taking short pauses in between coughs to gasp for air, but Alastor could feel it working, the burdensome weight on his lungs was leaving. 

After six long minutes, Alastor let out a final wet cough and spat into his handkerchief, his airways feeling a million times clearer and his handkerchief damp with sputum. 

“There we go,” Angel sighed, wiping sweat from his brow and staggering over to the sofa, getting comfortable again, “Fuck, that was a workout…Ah-Hah-Hahh’ksheww! Hah’kshieww! ‘Ksheww! Ha-aah’Kshiewww!” 

“Thank you,” Alastor croaked in a hushed voice, wiping off his mouth and reclining on his loveseat, his breathing still slightly heavy and his face still flushed. 

Charlie stared at Angel, admiration shimmering in her eyes, not only at the lanky spider’s selflessness, but at the impressive skill she had never seen anyone perform in her 200 years of living, “How did you do that? That was amazing!” she cheered.

“Don’t mention it,” Angel replied, “Somethin’ I learned back on Earth that I never thought would come in handy.”

“Could you show me? I wanna be able to help,” Charlie requested, bouncing on her heels. 

“Sure,” Angel said with a shrug, “I just cleared Fancy Pants out for a while-” Angel paused, pressing a hand to Husk’s back and feeling the low rumble of congestion trapped in his lungs, “-but Husk’ll do fine.” 

Husk sighed, too drowsy to resist whatever Angel was plotting, letting the spider adjust him until he was sitting upright in Angel’s lap. 

“It works just fine if they’re on their stomach or lyin’ down, but I do better when they’re sittin’ up,” Angel explained, “You hold ‘em up by their chest with one hand like this, and either get ‘em to take a deep breath, or just start whackin’ until you knock somethin’ loose.” 

Angel stuck out his tongue, narrowing his eyelids to focus, and began patting Husk’s upper back softly, one pat after the other in rapid succession, as though he was attempting to speed through burping a baby. 

Suddenly, Husk’s eyes widened and he held a hand up to his mouth, letting loose a productive-sounding cough that snowballed into a coughing fit as Angel’s gentle thumping slowed down. 

“You just keep goin, not too fast that you tire yourself out-” Angel paused, swallowing against his sore throat, “- but not too slow, until-” 

Husk let out a particularly nasty cough and plucked three tissues out of the box on the sofa, spitting out whatever Angel had managed to unearth and tossing the soiled tissues in the trash, “Didn’t even know that was in there,” he muttered, “HhD’TschHUHH! HrR’SCHUHHH!” 

“There we go, it’s pretty easy,” Angel said with a triumphant smirk, nestling back underneath his blanket and repositioning Husk so the bartender was reclined along the length of Angel’s body and tucked under a second blanket. 

“You make it look so easy… but I think I’ve got it… where did you learn to do this, anyways?” Charlie asked. 

“Eh, my Pops burned through a value carton of smokes a day, if ya didn’t whack the crud outta him he’d choke on it,” Angel said with a yawn, fighting back a violent shiver as he curled up against Husk for warmth, “Ah’T-SshhiewW! H-hah’TSHHHIEW!... fuck…snff!”

“Bless you! Okay, on that note, I’m gonna go out and get you guys some more medicine… Vaggie, d’you think you’ll be okay keeping an eye on them while I’m gone?” Charlie asked.  

“I’ll be fine, just be careful, Sweetie,” Vaggie replied, kissing Charlie on the cheek. 

“I will,” Charlie said with a reassuring smile, “Anyone need anything specific?” 

Angel reached into his chest fluff and pulled out a wad of folded-up bills, handing Charlie $100 in $20 bills, “Popsicles, please… snff!... my throat’s killin’ me,” he requested, running his soft fingertips along the length of his neck and swallowing harshly. 

Charlie hesitantly took the money and stashed it in her pocket, “Gotcha, I’ll be back soon, see you guys later!” she said with a smile, waving the group goodbye and rushing out of the hotel’s front door. 

Vaggie sighed, “I need to check on something, behave yourselves while I’m gone,” she said, turning on her heel and leaving the parlor. 

“Can we watch Cannibal Cooking with Jeffrey Dahmer?” Niffty asked, kicking her feet, “I’m bored- snff!- I’d clean but my legs hurt every time I try to stand up.”  

“You always-” Angel paused as his hoarse voice fizzled out, forcing him to roughly clear his throat, “- always wanna watch weird shit. I didn’t thig’k anybody watched that show.” 

“I like it,” Alastor piped up from the loveseat, wrapped tightly in his blankets and attempting to suppress a shiver, “it’s one of the thi’gs on televisio’d I can tolerate…snff! Snff-snff!” 

Angel rolled his eyes, changing the channel and leaning back against the arm of the sofa, massaging Husk’s ears with his slender fingertips, “Blow your nose,” he said to Alastor, tucking Husk underneath his blanket and stifling a yawn. 

Alastor noisily blew his nose into his handkerchief, the release of air triggering a dense, congested-sounding cough, “Uch… H-heh-Ep-shiewww! Hehh’Tshhiew! Heh’ktshiew! Hehp’TshHieWW!” 

“Y’know… snff!...this is the longest I’ve been off work,” Angel paused, swallowing harshly against his sore, scratchy throat, “Which completely sucks… I can’t do anythin’ cause I can barely stand up without fallin’ over.” 

“Could be worse,” Husk commented from underneath the blankets, his face buried in Angel’s torso, “HrR’SHUHHH! Hnn’KTSHHOO! Huh’kTSshEWW!” 

“That’s true,” Angel said, nestling into the blankets and cuddling Husk tighter, his eyelids drooping, “You two enjoy the show… I’b gonna take a nap…” 

Angel quickly fell asleep, his and Husk’s heavy snoring creating peaceful background noise for Niffty and Alastor as they watched Cannibal Cooking together. 

“Iih’pshuu! Ih’pshew! ‘Scuse be… SnFF!...Look, he’s scoring the flesh on the leg before he massages in his dry rub, that’s amazihh…ihh…IH’PSHEW!” Niffty whispered, staring at the screen in complete awe while blindly grasping around for a tissue to wipe her face. 

“It is amazi’g isn’t it?” Alastor replied, rolling onto his stomach and kicking his legs, ignoring the deep rumble of congestion in his chest that was jostled by his sudden movement, “It’s such a big leg… I wonder where he gets themb.”

‘Rosie loves this program… I wonder how she’s fairing, I haven’t had the chance to speak with her… I miss her,’ Alastor thought, letting loose a wistful sigh that quickly became a heavy cough. 

On the Southeastern side of the Pentagram, Charlie strolled cautiously through the empty streets, a reusable bag of medicine and groceries slung over her shoulder. 

“I think I took a wrong turn on the way back to the hotel… I’m too far south… in fact, this place seems familiar,” Charlie pondered, looking at the red mist that filled the air, the particles tickling her nose, “Snff!... this stuff smells like flowers! Wonder what it is…” 

Continuing on her walk, Charlie smiled upon finding a familiar sign, “Ohhh! I’m in Cannibal Town, I almost didn’t recognize it with this red fog… weird,” she said to herself, listening to the harsh whistle of the wind echoing through the empty roads, “Since I’m here… I kind of wanna see Rosie.” 

Tucking her shopping bag away behind a bush, Charlie began the short walk to Rosie’s Emporium. 

“The streets are so empty… nobody’s gonna take it… it’s kind of creepy how there’s no one outside, actually,” Charlie whispered to herself as she knocked on the emporium’s door, jumping slightly when a short robot answered, “H-hello!” 

“Rosie’s Emporium is on temporary hiatus from any business inquiries, can I help redirect you to other resources?” The robot asked, blinking at Charlie with a sweet expression.

“I’m actually here to visit Rosie… not on business, just as a friend,” Charlie said, leaning down to get on the robot’s level, “Can I see her?” 

The robot paused, before nodding, “Follow me,” it said, letting Charlie inside and leading her up two flights of stairs and down a long hallway, eventually leading to two ornate double doors that were decorated with roses- the door handles were even designed to look like thorny rose stems. 

“i-Ih…IH’PSHEWWWW! Ih’pshhhiew! Ih’PssHEW!” squeaky sneezing could be heard behind the door, followed by a long, damp sniffle. 

Charlie frowned, she knew from the news that it was more likely than not that Rosie caught the Red Spread virus like everyone else, but hearing her suffering- no matter how mild- still hurt. 

“Miss Rosie, you have a visitor,” the robot announced, knocking on the double doors. 

“Cobe idd- SnFFF!- Euch… Ih…I-ihh…IH’P-shiewww! Ih’psheww! Ih’psSHIEW!” Rosie croaked, her voice noticeably hoarse and her consonants garbled. 

Charlie pushed open the double doors to Rosie’s bedroom and found the overlord in question tucked into bed with her duvet up to her lower ribcage. Rosie’s gorgeous satin bedspread was littered with used tissues, and the trash can next to her bed was absolutely overflowing with them. 

Rosie sat up in bed, the robot rushing to her side to prop her up using some of her pillows, “Thag’k you Roland- SnFF!- such a ndice boy…IHH’PSHHIEW!” she croaked, patting the robot’s hair with her slender fingers before she noticed her visitor, “Charlie! Oh isn’t this a pleasadt surprise- snrkk!- you’re a sight for sore eye sockets, girl- snFF!- I’d idvite you to cobe sit but the last thi’g you want is to catch this… IHH’KSHHIEW! Ih’pshhuhh! Ih’psheww! ‘Tshhhieew!” 

Charlie blinked, “Oh no, it’s fine, I’d love to… I think I’m immune somehow, if I’ve managed to beat out almost the entire city, I think I’ve got good odds,” she laughed. 

Rosie’s feverishly jovial expression drooped, and she raised a curious eyebrow, “I’b sorry… wha?” she asked. 

“Yeah, only 7% of Pentagram City is still healthy, everyone else is sick… they’re calling it ‘The Red Spread’ on the news,” Charlie explained calmly, “Did you not know that?” 

“Wh- Uhb… No?!” Rosie replied, gesturing to the wall opposite her bed, where a beautiful replica of  ‘A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte’ was hung in place of a television, “I’b ndot exactly the kinda gal to keep up with the ndews-snff!-” Rosie pinched a tissue to her face, blowing her ‘nose’ and tossing the tissue on top of the pile surrounding her trash can, “It mbust spread fast… it’s ondly been a few days.” 

Charlie let out a nervous laugh, suddenly realizing that Rosie’s bedroom had no windows, “About that…” she began. 

Rosie’s grey skin practically turned white, leaving nothing but the vibrant unnatural flush on her cheeks, her ‘nose’, and the undersides of her puffy eyelids, “Charlie… doll… what day is it?” she asked.  

“It’s… the 27th,” Charlie said, reading the calendar on her phone. 

Rosie tugged at her slightly-messy hair with her manicured fingers, giggling nervously until her laughter devolved into a hoarse cough, “I started feeli’g sick on the 3rd…” she muttered to herself, “The overlord mbeeti’g was on the 1st.” 

Charlie cautiously inched closer to Rosie, wrapping the cannibal overlord in a hug, wincing internally at the heat radiating from Rosie’s body- especially her face- and the feeling of her exposed skin, which was clammy and damp with sweat, “I know this has to be frightening… are you okay?” she asked, rubbing Rosie’s back with a splayed hand. 

“Everythi’g started getti’g fuzzy,” Rosie whispered, her voice still noticeably hoarse, “I’ve just been sleepi’g and talkin’ to that damn robot… for almost a month.” 

“Is there anything I can do to help?” Charlie asked.  

Rosie quietly wiped a few stray tears away with her thumb, inching away from the hug and composing herself, “Help mbe get outta this bed,” she chuckled, swinging her slender legs out from beneath her duvet and sheets, “I’b starvin’ and I ndeed to be somewhere with a window.” 

Charlie grabbed hold of Rosie’s hand, gently pulling her onto her feet as she staggered upon leaving her bed, nearly falling to her knees before bracing herself against Charlie for support, “There we go, careful,” she said with a reassuring smile, helping Rosie walk out of her bedroom one step at a time. 

Eventually, Charlie got Rosie all the way downstairs into her kitchen, sitting her down at the counter, “There we go, now you can see outside,” she said. 

“I didn’t realize that red shit made it all the way over here- snff!- wonder if it’s gotten a’dywhere else,” Rosie pondered, scrubbing at her face to stave off a building itch, “Iih’pshhhIHH! Ih’PSHHEW! Ih’SsHhiEWWW!...Shit, I forgot to bri’g tissues.” 

Charlie opened her mouth, about to offer to get them for Rosie, only to pause as Rosie whistled, summoning the little robot that greeted Charlie at the door. 

“Can I help you, Miss Rosie?” 

“Such a polite little thi’g- snff!- so helpful,” Rosie crooned, petting him on his head, “I ndeed a box of tiihh…IH’TshhIHH! IH’TShhiEww!...tissues, Roland.” 

Roland zipped out of the room, returning promptly with a box of tissues, setting them down on the counter next to Rosie and waiting patiently at her side while she blew her ‘nose’, soiling three tissues in the process. 

“Do you need anything else?” Roland asked, a dutiful look in his glowing eyes. 

Rosie shook her head, waving Roland off with a smile and slowly pushing herself onto her feet once he left the room, her knees trembling underneath her black satin nightgown, “Huh… this bug took more outta me than I thought… I can barely stand on my own two feet,” she croaked, letting go of the counter and taking a deep breath as she slowly inched towards her sink, filling up a tea kettle with water and putting it on the stove. 

“You probably just didn’t notice because you’ve been in bed resting for so long,” Charlie proposed, wincing when Rosie let out a hoarse cough, “While we’re waiting for your water to boil… maybe we should take your temperature.” 

“Probably… but if I sit down I’m nervous I won’t be able to get back up,” Rosie chuckled, her nervous laughter quickly devolving into a coughing fit that left her winded, “Phew… sorry.” 

“We can take it while you’re standing,” Charlie said, nearly jumping out of her skin when she noticed Roland had silently appeared next to her, holding a mercury thermometer with a kind smile, “Thanks, Roland.” 

Roland nodded in silence before disappearing into the other room. 

Rosie gently removed the thermometer from Charlie’s hands, giving it a good shake before placing it under her tongue, swaying on her heels and sniffling occasionally, desperate to squash a furious tickle in her sinuses that was threatening to turn into a sneeze. 

By the time the thermometer was ready to be removed, Rosie was desperately scrubbing at her face to keep from sneezing and launching the thermometer across the room, quickly turning away when Charlie pulled it out of her mouth, “I-iih-IHH’PSHHHIEW! Hih’TSsCHHIEWWW! Ih’psSHiIEWW! Ih’pshhiew! ‘TssHIEW! I-IH’pSHHHEW!” she sneezed rapidly, unable to cover the germy spray with her hands paralyzed by the fit. 

Charlie squinted to locate the stopping point of the mercury while Rosie noisily emptied her sinuses and groaned at the friction hurting her raw nostrils, the sensitive skin becoming red, chapped, and shiny with moisture from the slow trickle of mucus. 

“Well, dond’t keep mbe id suspense- snff, snFF!- what’s it say?” Rosie asked, “SnfF- ih… I-IHH’KSHHEWW!...’Scuse be.” 

“Almost 103,” Charlie announced, pressing the back of her hand against the side of Rosie’s neck, and then resting it against each of the overlord’s slightly bony cheeks, feeling the searing heat radiating from her skin, “You definitely feel hot… and that would explain why you’re so weak and dizzy.” 

Rosie shrugged as she moved her whistling kettle away from the heat, “Can’t argue with that,” she croaked, bracing herself against the counter and grabbing a mug from her cabinet, setting it down next to the kettle and pawing around until she located a box of tea bags, placing two at the bottom of the mug. 

“So… when did you hire Roland? He seems sweet,” Charlie piped up randomly, attempting to make conversation as Rosie sniffled and prepared her drink- adding a generous squirt of honey, a bit of lemon juice, and a refrigerated vial of blood into her mug before filling it up with hot water. 

“Oh I didn’t hire him, he was a gift… I let a few of these little incubi come to Cannibal Town to do a few polls for a month, and when they left I got a big package in the mail from their boss… apparently these robots are popular for-” Rosie paused, letting out a guttural barking cough and rubbing her throat, “-sorry… popular for other purposes, but I’m not that kinda girl, so he mostly did little errands up until I caught this bug. He’s been very helpful.” 

“Oh! I thought he looked a little familiar! He’s one of the robots a friend of my dad makes! You took off his little hat,” Charlie giggled. 

“Thought he looked nicer without it,” Rosie replied, taking a few big swigs of her drink and sighing with relief, turning away to cough, the cough still sounding dry and deep, scraping against her raw throat, “Sorry-” another cough, “-think all this talkin’ is wearin’ my throat out.” 

Charlie frowned, watching Rosie’s legs begin to wobble, and approaching Rosie to offer a supportive arm when it looked like she was going to collapse, “I think you should get back in bed,” she proposed, “You look tired.” 

Rosie opened her mouth to object, but vibrated from an intense shiver that seemed to come from her core, her sharp teeth chattering and the flush on her cheeks practically glowing, “I am tired… a-and I’m cold,” she replied, her voice almost a hoarse whimper as she leaned against Charlie for support, her legs shaking harder than the rest of her, “I don’t w-wanna go back to bed… don’t wanna lose track of time again.” 

Charlie nodded, “Let’s get you set up on your sofa,” she offered, walking Rosie out of her kitchen and into her den- the room in her residential space attached to the emporium that actually had a television instead of a giant painting. 

Rosie collapsed onto the large velvet sofa, still vibrating with chills as Charlie helped move her into a more comfortable reclined position, propping her up with a few pillows and draping a heavy throw blanket over her shaking form, “Th-thank you,” Rosie sighed, relaxing slightly as the soft blanket brushed against her sensitive skin.

“Of course, I’m happy to help,” Charlie replied with a smile, finger-combing Rosie’s sweat-dampened locks away from her face, “I’m sorry you’re so sick… do you have any medicine?” 

Rosie sniffled, “I think I have some fever reducer from when one of my teeth got infected,” she said with a yawn, whistling for Roland, who whizzed into the den holding a bottle of colorful pills. 

Roland gently shook the pill bottle after popping off the top, sliding two pills out into his hand and letting Rosie pop them into her mouth, swallowing them without water, which made her cough. 

“Thank you, Roland, you’re very helpful!” Charlie said, gently petting Roland on the head before he rushed away, leaving the room and coming back with a freshly-filled hot water bottle, setting it down in Rosie’s lap underneath her blanket, the warmth making Rosie relax. 

“Mmm… that feels good,” Rosie yawned, her eyes beginning to droop as she hid a hoarse cough behind her wrist, “I think I’m gonna take a nap- ihh-Ih’PssSHIEW!- I’m exhausted, but I appreciate you visiting, Charlie.” 

“It was my pleasure, I’m glad I was able to help, I hope you feel better!” Charlie cheered, giving Rosie a reassuring pat before she fell asleep, turning on her heel and leaving Rosie’s Emporium with a spring in her step. 

Grabbing her shopping bag from its hiding place, Charlie began the trek back to the hotel- this time in the right direction- while taking deep breaths to enjoy the pleasant scent of the red mist hanging in the air in Cannibal Town. 

“I’ve never smelled something this nice before… it’s like perfume,” Charlie said to herself, “Snff!- it’s such a pretty color, too.” 

Absent-minded and focused on getting back to the hotel before the popsicles she’d purchased melted, Charlie swiped the back of her hand underneath her nose, sniffling infrequently as a slight tickle began to build in her sinuses. 

Thirty minutes had passed by the time Charlie arrived at the hotel, opening the front door with one hand and scrubbing at her nose with the other, “I’m back!” she announced, setting down her reusable shopping bag on a nearby table. 

“Welcome back, Sweetie,” Vaggie greeted in a hushed voice, hopping on her tip-toes until her face was at level with Charlie’s neck so she could pepper the area with affectionate kisses, “You were gone for a while, was the store busy?” 

“Nah, I just got lost and realized I was in Cannibal Town, decided to pay the leader of the cannibals a visit- snf!- she’s sick too,” Charlie sighed, “Have any trouble holding down the fort while I was gone?” 

“Nope, they’ve all been sleeping like rocks since you left, Niffty even tired herself out, look,” Vaggie snickered, gesturing over to the parlor, where Niffty was sprawled out on her back in her nest of blankets, snoring softly and holding a purring KeeKee as though she were a stuffed animal. 

Angel was curled up on the sofa, snoring quietly, occasionally letting out a hoarse, throat-scraping cough or two before settling back into his comfortable slumber. Husk could be heard snoring like a busted lawnmower from his comfortable hiding place underneath the blankets and nestled between Angel’s legs, his clogged sinuses vibrating with every inhale. 

Alastor, from his position on the loveseat, was fast asleep, his usual grin diminished to a slight smile, and his lungs rumbling from congestion once again. 

“Oh- snff!- I got this,” Charlie whispered, leaning over the back of the loveseat and bracing one hand against Alastor’s chest before using the other to quietly pat his upper back. 

Two minutes later, Alastor- still asleep- opened his mouth to unleash a crackling wet cough, swallowing the sputum that he’d managed to bring up…much to Charlie’s chagrin and Vaggie’s violent disgust. 

“Euch,” Charlie muttered, fingers twitching near Alastor’s head, wanting to give the Radio Demon a reassuring rub between his fluffy ears, but ultimately deciding to respect the fact that if he wasn’t subdued by fever, Alastor would hate being touched, “At least you coughed it up… snff!” 

Vaggie turned to face her girlfriend, “Charlie… you okay?” she asked.

“Mhm! Why do you ask?” Charlie asked, her pale cheeks flushing pink. 

Vaggie glanced at Charlie, looking at the stream of moisture trickling down her girlfriend’s face, “Your nose is running…” she said, handing Charlie a couple of folded-up tissues. 

“Oh! Thanks for telling me- snff!- it’s a little itchy,” Charlie rambled, wiping off her nose and wrinkling it to fight off the building itch. 

Vaggie focused her eye on Charlie’s nose, watching her wrinkle and wiggle it like a rabbit in between wetter and lengthier sniffles. Charlie swiped and scrubbed at the trickle of cloudy fluid leaving her nose until she gave up and pinched a few tissues over her nostrils instead.

“I-snFF!- I think I’m gonna take a shower, I’ll be back,” Charlie said, vanishing upstairs, leaving Vaggie to her own devices once again. 

“Well, I don’t feel like waking them up to give them the medicine yet… or staring at them while they sleep,” Vaggie pondered to herself, pulling out her phone and scrolling through some of her text messages, opening a link to a recipe and smiling, “I know something I can do to help… if I hurry I can be done before Charlie’s out of the shower.” 

An hour later, Charlie- freshly showered and in her pajamas- entered the parlor to find that Angel and Husk were awake, and that a heavenly smell was wafting into the parlor from the kitchen. 

“Eyy, look-” Angel paused to cough, “-look who it is, welcome back…Hah’TssHIEW! A-ah’TsSHHEW!” he said, his voice noticeably rougher-sounding. 

“I’ve been- snff!- back for a bit, you guys were asleep, though,” Charlie chuckled, leaning over the back of the sofa and sneakily grabbing two tissues, wiping the underside of her nose, “H-hihh- how are you guys feeling?” 

“Like shit,” Angel replied, stroking the back of Husk’s head from underneath the blankets, raising a fist to his mouth and letting out a heavy barking cough. 

“Oh! I a-ahh… almost forgot about the medicine,” Charlie cheered, rummaging through her shopping bag and handing Angel a bag of cough drops, “These should help.” 

Angel nodded, “Thanks,” he said, unwrapping a purple cough drop and sliding it into his mouth, sucking on it and smiling as the soothing solution coated his throat. 

“Hh’kzzht! Hh’Tshhh! Hih’ptshh! Hnk’tsh!” 

Husk popped his head out from underneath the blankets Angel had draped over them both, “Gesundheit,” he said, still a bit groggy. 

“I didn’t sneeze, Pretty Kitty,” Angel laughed. 

“Hhnk’Tshh! Hh’Ddtsh! Hnk’zZt! Hhnk’tchew!” 

“You didn’t, but somebody is,” Husk muttered, his sensitive ears twitching, “You alright over there, Princess?” 

Charlie sheepishly moved her hands away from her runny nose, clasping them behind her back, “Me? Yeah, I’m fine! I didn’t sneeze, I’m okay!” she said, bouncing on her heels and struggling to ignore the moisture leaking from her nostrils, “Hh’Ktshh! ‘Tshh! ‘Kzxhtt!” 

Husk’s ears twitched again, “You sure you didn’t?” he asked, staring at Charlie with a knowing expression, noticing that the princess’s hands were clasped over her face to cover her nose, “Why’re you coverin’ your face?” 

“Uhb… just… felt sombethi’g id mby teeth, that’s all… ndothi’g e-ehh… Eh’pchiew! Eh’pshhiew! Eh’KSsHIEW! ‘Kshhew! ‘KshHiEWW!” Charlie said, doubling over from the fit of damp sneezes, dragging the back of her wrist under her nostrils when she finished, “Euch… snRKK!” 

Husk smirked, “There we go,” he said, pleased with himself as he repositioned his head against Angel’s chest, “Gesundheit again.” 

Angel raised an eyebrow, quietly offering Charlie his box of tissues, “You alright?” he asked, his throat feeling considerably better after his cough drop finished dissolving. 

“Oh y-yeah, I’b fide!” Charlie lied, biting her lip and rubbing her upper arms, “Just…just a little chilly- Snff, snff!- satin isd’t the warbest fabric for PJs a’dyway.” 

“You sure? Cause it sounds like you got a serious traffic jam up here,” Angel said, his tone teasing and jovial to avoid stressing Charlie out, tracing a circle around his ‘nose’ with a slim finger. 

Charlie held up a finger to indicate pause, pinching a few tissues around her nostrils and letting loose a heavy, gurgling blow that soaked the tissues almost instantly, “Euch… I dunno how I got so stuffed up so fast,” she groaned, scrubbing at her nose with the heel of her palm, “E-Eh’DdTshhHEW! Eh’KSHHEW! Eh’KkzZshhiew!” 

Angel stared at Charlie’s friction-reddened nose, her papery flushed cheeks, her watery eyes, and her streaming nostrils, “Maybe you should sit down, Dollface… you’re not lookin’ too hot,” he suggested. 

Charlie nodded, walking over to the armchair and sitting down- fitting in it comfortably due to it being made for someone closer to Alastor’s height, “I don’t feel well,” she mumbled, her eyes welling up with tears and her sinuses clogging, “I thig’k I’b getti’g sick…” 

“The words ‘think’ and ‘gettin’ are both doin’ a lot of legwork in that statement,” Husk said, “Sounds like you’re plenty sick already…” 

Charlie sniffled, hugging her knees in her seat as she attempted to suppress a shiver, “Where’s Vaggie? I ndeed a hug,” she whined, dabbing at her watery eyes with a tissue before blowing her nose. 

“She’s in the kitchen around the corner I think… whatever she’s doin’ in there smells amazing,” Angel said with a sigh, “I’d get up and give ya a hug but last time I stood up I was so dizzy I nearly split my skull open on the coffee table.”  

“If I can walk over to you, will you hug mbe?” Charlie asked, her eyes pleading and a smile spreading across her face when Angel responded with a nod. Quickly, Charlie sprung to her feet, struggling to ignore the fact that she felt slightly disoriented. 

After a few careful and deliberate steps, Charlie collapsed onto her knees next to the sofa, wrapping her arms around Angel and melting into the hug, “Angel… I really don’t feel good,” she complained, “Is this how you guys have beed feeli’g- snff!- for almost a month?”  

“Pretty much,” Husk replied with a yawn. 

“It’s hittin’ you like a ton ‘a bricks,” Angel remarked, slipping one of his arms out of the hug and pressing his palm against Charlie’s forehead, lowering his eyelids upon realizing why he felt no noticeable difference, “Forgot I won’t be able to tell cause I’ve got a fever.”

“If I don’t have one now- snff!- I probably will later,” Charlie groaned, slowly pulling away from the hug and walking back over to the armchair, collapsing into her seat and hugging her knees again. 

“Alright, everyone sit up, it’s been too long since any of you had something other than drugs in your stomach so before you take any medicine, you’re gonna eat,” Vaggie instructed, walking into the parlor with five ceramic bowls in hand, setting them down one by one onto the coffee table. 

Angel and Husk slowly removed themselves from their comfortably warm tangle of feverish bodies and blankets, sliding onto the floor in front of the sofa and sitting in front of the two bowls they’d claimed so they could sit together. 

Angel reached over into the nest of blankets on the carpet and shook Niffty, who quickly woke up and began frantically looking around, sweat trickling from her hairline, “Relax, Niff, come sit… we’re eatin’,” he said, smoothing out Niffty’s bangs with his fingertips. 

Niffty quickly dusted off her nightgown and joined Angel and Husk on their side of the coffee table, briefly turning away to cover a hoarse cough with her wrist. 

Charlie- whose energy was quickly losing the battle to febrile fatigue- stood up from her curled position in the armchair and walked over to the opposite end of the coffee table. 

“Alastor, get up,” Husk muttered, his adorable feline nose twitching, “hH’RRSCHHUH! HrR’SCHUHHH! H-huhh…HNK’TCHOO!” 

Alastor stirred, peeling his head off of his arms and slowly leaving his reclined position on the loveseat, fever rouging his cheeks and exhaustion leaving dark rings under his eyes, “Mmm? What timbe is it?” he croaked, sliding off of the loveseat and joining the group on the floor, “I feel hot…” 

“Mbe too,” Charlie remarked, leaning against Alastor and sniffling. 

“Good, everyone’s awake,” Vaggie said, Razzle walking behind her and holding a large pot as she brandished a ladle, spooning a portion of something hot, fragrant, and red into each of the five bowls, “Dinner time… I’m using a soup recipe that a friend texted me once, hopefully I didn’t fuck it up.” 

“EhH’KSHHEW! Eh’TsShHIEW!- Thanks Vaggie…SnFF!” Charlie said in a far more drowsy version of her typical cheerful voice before turning away to blow her nose. 

“Of course, happy to help,” Vaggie replied, leaning down and kissing Charlie’s warm forehead before gently brushing her blonde hair out of her face, “pobrecita… I’m sorry you got sick.” 

“It’s okay- SnFF!- I’ll be fine,” Charlie replied, rubbing at her left eye before picking up her spoon and taking a cautious bite of her soup, humming with a smile on her face. Warm broth washed down Charlie’s throat and the complex spice mixture made her sinuses leak, moisture trickling down from her nostrils that she had to swipe at with a folded-up tissue. 

Alastor- a bit too loopy and out of sorts to feel comfortable using a spoon for fear of biting the metal- grabbed hold of his bowl and tilted it upwards, taking careful gulps of broth and pausing to chew on the spice-laden vegetables and shrimp without spilling a drop. Setting his half-empty bowl down onto the coffee table, he licked his lips.

“Mmm,” Alastor hummed, rocking back and forth as his mind wandered away from the present moment. 

Savoring the spices on his tongue and the comfortable warmth filling his stomach, Alastor felt himself drift away until he was surrounded by the familiar smells of his childhood home. Sitting in a squeaky chair at a wooden kitchen table and massaging his sopping wet nest of curls with a towel, Alastor silently cursed himself for the visible flecks of blood and dirt on the ankles of his drenched slacks. 

“Hh-Hih’KsSHEWW! Hih’TshHHuh!” Alastor pawed around on his person for his handkerchief- still lost in his own memories, he scoffed and attempted to fold the cloth over, wiping his runny nose on the side that wasn’t stained with someone else’s blood. Suddenly, a cool hand on his cheek made the scene feel so much more tangible, Alastor leaned into the touch and stared at a familiar figure with fever-lacquered eyes. 

‘Silly boy, I don’t know for the life of me how you’ve grown so big and so tall and so smart without a lick of good sense… be lucky all you got from rootin’ around the forest in the rain was a cold. Alastor, it’s huntin’ season… I don’t want one of them hunters to hear you step on a twig and mistake you for somethin’ they can mount as a trophy,’ 

“Mm… sorry,” Alastor mumbled, a half-whimpering apology to the blurry visage of his mother that faded away in an instant, leaving his hellbound comrades in its place. Gathering himself and blowing his nose into his handkerchief, Alastor finished eating, “This is delicious,” he said to Vaggie. 

“It’s amazin’,” Angel said after swallowing the spoonful that was in his mouth, the warm almost-too-spicy broth bringing him back to shivering in his childhood home on Long Island, his puffy winter coat hung over the radiator and a blood-soaked baseball bat leaned against the wall.

“Mmhm,” Husk muttered in agreement, savoring his last spoonful as he drifted into the comfortable memory of relaxing at his dining room table after a day of shooting loaded dice, the soothing feeling of warm broth coating his sore throat making him smile as the mirage of a familiar hand adorned with faux-jade bangles reached up to press a palm to his forehead. 

“I’ve never had someone else make something like this for me,” Niffty sniffled tearfully, not nearly feverish enough for a familiar flavor to pull her head-first into her memories, but feeling sentimental enough to swallow a spoonful of broth and remember sneakily polishing off a bowl of soup in her old kitchen to clear her sinuses and soothe her throat before erasing any evidence of illness away with makeup and traipsing into the living room to do her due diligence as a wife. 

“I’m glad you guys liked it,” Vaggie said, collecting the empty bowls and handing them to Razzle, who hurriedly took them to the kitchen and set to work washing them, “Alright, medicine and then I’m leaving you to your devices while I head to bed.” 

Thirty minutes later, all five patients were back in their respective lounging areas of the parlor, dosed up with apple-flavored fever reducer- except for Niffty- and ready to doze off. 

“Alright, see you guys in the morning, crossing my fingers that things finally turn a corner, G’night guys!” Vaggie said with a friendly wave before vanishing up the stairs. 

“‘Night,” Angel remarked, his voice drowsy as he shut his eyes, still unconsciously massaging Husk’s head from under the blankets even as he fell asleep himself. 

“Goodnight,” Alastor yawned, tugging his blanket up to his shoulders and curling up tighter on the loveseat, feeling more comfortable without febrile chills threatening to rouse him from his slumber. 

“Nighty-night!” Niffty cheered, burrowing into her nest of blankets and shutting her eye. 

“G’night Vaggie…Ehh’TsHHIEW!... I love you,” Charlie whispered, sprawling out in the armchair until she found a comfortable position, quickly falling asleep once she shut her eyes, snoring softly. 

“I love you too,” Vaggie whispered from her spot leaning over the second floor balcony before turning away to tug at her face in frustration, “If things don’t get better soon I’m gonna have to get to the bottom of this, aren’t I?” she asked no one in particular. 

“Yes, yes you are,” a familiar voice teased as it leaked out of a decorative radio that sat on a table in the hallway. 

“Go to sleep, Alastor,” Vaggie scoffed, tapping the radio with her spear on her way down the hall. 

“Way ahead of you,” the voice responded, the radio shutting off with an audible click as Alastor stirred in his sleep with a mischievous smile. 

Vaggie rolled her eyes, walking into her and Charlie’s bedroom and shutting the door behind her, leaving the hotel dark, still, and quiet save for congested snoring and the occasional hoarse cough from downstairs. 

Things weren’t exactly improving, but they were at least under control. 

[its-warm-in-here]

Teeth 2

Well, here we go again! this is still gross, but some people seem to enjoy it so I kept going! If you like it or have any feedback, I'd love to hear it!

Link to Part 1: https://www.tumblr.com/its-warm-in-here/741702465482883072/teeth?source=share

Alastor x !DeerDemon! Reader

Warnings: imbalance of power, cannibalism, i guess this falls into vore??

A nervous voice rings like a bell, jerking you back to consciousness. “Where’d you say they were?”

The light above you is bright and blinding on one side. In the other eye, not so much. Every nerve blazes in agony. Your neck is bent at a bad angle, but you give your remaining good leg a kick. Pain. Acute and grinding rips through. Breathing is sharp and your ears ring. Still, you try to focus. Above, uncertain strangers bicker. “Just outside the fence. Its bizarre. There's not many cars around here and it's not like they could have dragged themselves halfway across the Pentagram in that state.” 

“Are you saying someone put them there?”

“Not tryin’ to be discouraging or nothin’, but they look a little ehhh...Roadkill-eysh.”

Hell, you certainly felt like it. 

“The innards are spilling!” another squeaks and giggles, then something pointy jabs into your gut.   

“Not helping, Niffty,” a lower female voice scolded and shooed away the tiny, stabbing demon off. “Still. They’re looking better off than most hell carrion I’ve seen. At least they could get themselves to us before any cannibals came sniffing.” 

You cough and the vision finally comes swimming back to your other eye. Demons of all sorts hover above, the blond one desperately tries to tend to the worst of your wounds but seems to be panicking more than anything while her partner tries to intervene. The air in your chest rattles with each breath as your ribs pop and crack back into place. You try to say something but the only sound you get is a sort of half weeze. Probably have a collapsed lung or something. Fuck that truck driver. Double damn him!  Regeneration never feels good, but at least it didn't take too terribly long, like some sinners you knew. Even if it was agonizing. Give it a day or so and you’d be right as rain, with or without the help of this Hotel Staff. 

That being said, you hoped they knew what they were doing. Healing a broken bone took some time and if they made it worse, that’d just slow you down even more. And you can’t have that. While the strangers fret above, your head lolled to the side. There, in the doorway another figure lingers. It's just a silhouette, you can tell they're tall, but the thing that catches your eye is that impossibly wide, yellow grin. That stands out against the shadows like its glowing. It's so familiar. And unsettling.

Several hands take hold of your limp shoulder and someone starts counting, “On three, okay? One. two. Three!” tears prick your good eye and you can’t stop the scream that rips from your chest but it quickly dies to a whimper. It's painful, debatably than before, but you can  feel your fingers again. Your eyes flutter as you teater on the edge of consciousness. Head falling to the side once more, you let the hotel staff continue tending to the big gash over your hip. 

You can’t hear it over the bickering of your saviors, but the figure in the hall’s mouth opens in what you can only assume is a chuckle by the way their chest flutters. If anything this face looked, for lack of a better word, pleased. With one final leer, that smile swept out of view. Something in you churns. 

“Charlie, I’m gonna need you to keep their leg still,” the only voice with any reason orders. Her partner hops-to in response and two little hands grip the injured leg. “Okay, um, sorry I don't know your name, but this is gonna hurt.” 

It does. Then everything goes black again. 

-----

It happens again when you’re cleaning up after dinner. 

Creole food is great and all, but it uses everything in the kitchen, and it sticks bad on the pan. Niffty was busy with clearing the table and getting the exorbitant amount of dishes loaded into the wash. Besides, with her little arms, she’d end up head first in the big pot. So it fell to you to scrub the oversized dutch oven tonight. You’ve been working on this for a good ten minutes but the remaining fond caked onto the base was just was not giving up. Somehow, you’ve managed to slosh soapy water all up your sleeves and onto the front of your shirt. Cursing under your breath, you apply your best elbow grease to the base of the pot. 

There's the briefest touch at the top of your tail then a quick yank on the hair. You yelp, whirling around. “What the actual fuck-” 

“You know, if you leave it soak, that will be much easier to handle,” the radio demon muses. His gaze is fixed on the bit of hair he’d plucked, rolling it back and forth between his fingers. “And I'd avoid that steel wool. Can't have you ruining my best pot.” 

Scowling, you dry your hands on a soaked apron then put them on your hips. “Well, maybe if the chef took some responsibility to clean up his dishes, I wouldn’t be putting his cookware in danger.” 

The corners of his mouth quirk up and he tucks the tuft of fur into his breast pocket. “I’ve been wondering if you were still interested in continuing our arrangement.” 

Your throat goes dry and hair goes on end. That's a bit to the point. Its not like your last interaction had been dominating your mind or anything. And its not like you’d had some rather... vivid nightmares on the subject. Nothing at all like that. It stirs a mixture of emotions, pained but intrigued. If Alastor is asking after another ‘nibble,’ then he’s been thinking about this too. And that might entail another favor. “I’d be lying if it hadn’t crossed my mind.”

“Excellent. I must say after a meal like that, I'm in the mood for a little... entremet.” 

That makes your head spin. This cant be like last time. Not with so many rules that hadn't been set, too many boundaries that could be tested. Not with him so smug. “Oh, o-of course.” He’d been respectful thus far, but that didn't mean he wouldn’t pull something nasty in the second encounter. “But I need some ground rules, Alastor,” you step back, bumping against the counter and he closes in. Cornered again. Your ears drop and he can't look more pleased. Heart hammering, you put on your best smile. “You get your palette cleanser but I pick where you bite. And you stop when I say.”

He hums and straightens himself to his full, towering height. “Sounds like a deal.” Green swirls around his extended hand and dread fills your belly. 

Quickly, you snap your hand up, pinky held aloft between you. “N-no deals. This is a promise. Alright?” 

Alastor’s eyes narrow as he contemplates your offer. This is a bad idea, right? Before you can consider the consequences, his pinky locks with yours. “Promise.” There's a rush of energy and a small burst of green. He lets go, rolling his shoulders as he tucks his hands into the small of his back, and leaving you dumb founded, staring at your empty hand. “Give that pot another scrub then meet me upstairs.” 

---

There's no answer when you knock. Briefly you think to wait in the hall, but the voices of Husk and Angel echo up the nearby stairwell. So you duck in, surprised to find the door unlocked. Once more, you are greeted by the outside air contrasted by the roaring warmth of the hearth. You linger near the door, as you haven’t been officially invited in. 

Swallowing, you stare up at the mounted antlers and taxidermied bones. In another afterlife, that could have been you. Peeled apart as some trophy for a cannibalistic freak. Thank whatever power that dedicated hell for making you more durable than his normal prey. Still, it did warp your relationship with the Radio Demon. He probably would never have even looked your way were it not for the strange coincidence that you were also a deer. But didn't that make you feel just a little special? Like you had something in common with one of the most powerful being this side of Pentagram City? And maybe you could utilize some of that power if you stay in his good graces...

Even if he only wanted you for meat. 

You shake your head and rip your gaze from the dead animals and to further into the room. For a moment, you consider taking the seat from last time or putting on some jazz, but there’s a gust of wind from the forest that makes you turn. Pentagram City might be a bustling, chaotic, absolutely insane metropolis, but it was hardly known for its great outdoors. 

Air moves through the trees, whistling a bit as it blows past the opening to Alastor’s room. Just beyond, there's a small table with a single chair and past that, the forest expands to a blue-green bayou. It's enticing. The grass sinks into the marshy ground beneath your hooves as you step into the impossible bit of nature contained in the Hotel. Cautiously, you step over to that little table and rest your palm against the tree. It certainly feels like a real cypress tree, the bark is rough and the tight pine needles are prickly in your hand. Above your head, lights like fireflies dance and illuminate the underside of the tree and the wet smell of moss fills your nose. You take a deep breath. Beyond the tree, the bayou stretches out with more cypress and cat tails. Much of the soft ground gives way to murky blue water, but you can see where a path would lead through the trees. In the distance some animal is shifting through the underbrush. This was much more pleasant than the foyer. Maybe you could convince Alastor about adding one of these to your room. 

That is, if he offered another favor for a favor. No need to push too fast. Push too hard. Besides, you had more pressing matters than asking after a backyard. 

“Well, you certainly know how to make yourself at home.” 

You jump nearly a foot in the air and whirl around. At the one seat, Alastor sips an after dinner espresso, eyes closed and legs crossed like he’d been there the whole time. Hell, maybe he had been here. Quickly, your smile returns along with a bout of anxiety. “It is lovely here. Can you blame me for getting swept up in the view?” Alastor opens his eyes just a bit to look you up and down. Then he rises, coming to your side. His hand rests on your shoulder and he turns you to face the cat tails. “Did you make it? Or is this some doorway to another place?” 

“A bit of both,” he says cryptically as you admire the slow moving current. “Have you thought about what treat you're giving me today, my deer?” His hand slides from your shoulder to the base of your neck, nails pricking at the nape. 

You scoff, and snap to face him out of his grasp. Alastor’s gaze that had been fixed on the back of your head locks onto your eyes instead. “Are you always this straight forward with your food or am I just lucky? Besides, there was no time limit on our little promise. Maybe I'd rather wait for tomorrow instead. Or even next week.” 

A staticky chuckle rattles from his chest and his hand comes to trace the line of your jaw instead. Your heart skips a beat. “Oh, I highly doubt that. Not when you’re so eager to please.”  He gives your cheek a sharp pinch. 

“Of course,” you fire back and lace your fingers behind your back. “I like pleasing everyone.” You strut past him, ears straight forward and tail aloft then take a seat on the little metal table. Confidently, you cross your legs at the ankle and lower your gaze at him. This can’t be too easy, or Alastor would lose interest in the game. “You’re not so special Mr. Radio Demon.” 

His head tilts and static blares in a sort of question. “A bit bold of you deer. Putting on a show for me, hmm?” 

You bite your lip and taste iron. “Please, who would ever need to put on a show for you?” Alastor’s face tightens, trying to discern your lie or maybe he’s just insulted. Either way, even if you’re new to this performance thing, it was having some sort of effect on the demon. “So, I was thinking-” you point to your arm- “here-” you point to your thigh- “Or here.” 

Alastor’s eyes light up. “Oh-ho, multiple choice!” He gives your arm a pat. “Let's start here.” Suddenly, something strong wraps around your waist and you're lurched from the table to a chair that appears from thin air. The momentum almost makes it topple to the marsh. You lurch forward, grabbing the table and landing hard on the glass. Before you can right yourself, that strange force grips around your wrist, trapping it against the table.  

Then the jazz kicks on. 

And there's a knife. 

It's a quick flick of the silver blade and a ribbon of flesh is sliced away from your inner arm. “Ah-!” the scream dies in your throat as he pops the bit of you into his mouth. Can't interrupt his morsel, where were your manners? With teeth grit and fist balled you bite out, “-ah, little warning next time?” Alastor side eyes you, appreciating the bite with hums of enjoyment instead of an answer. The cut is painful, but clean. As if he'd sliced a filet off your forearm. You take in a sharp breath. There isn't much blood and the wound is quick to start patching up, but it's definitely deeper than the last time. Around your wrist, a shadow keeps your arm locked in place. It feels like it might give if you pulled hard enough but you keep your arm still the best you can. 

“Tasty,” he remarks and your stomach flutters as he lines the blade up for another go. There's more warning but not enough and you bite down on the inside of your cheek. He pauses a moment watching you wince, smirking at your reaction. This time, he slices your flesh into a few pieces using a knife and fork. Taking his time. 

Savoring this.  

With each bite, you stare intently, a tight lipped smile fixed in place. Each bit of you slipping down Alastor's throat made your abdomen tighten with something between nausea and excitation. While this was different from the last time, like an after dinner snack instead of a quick exchange, you can't help but feel a twinge of resentment. Last time had been close. Intimate. You want to feel his teeth again. 

“It's rude to stare, deer,” red eyes meet your own before turning down and taking another cut, this time off your bicep.  

Intimidated, your gaze snaps to the blade, watching his knife cut a good inch into your arm then glide down along the bone. He must notice your struggling to keep still, as another black tentacle loops around the hollow of your elbow. This is the most he's taken. Red. Dripping. It hurts, more than the others but you can't tear away as Alastor flays the skin from his prize. Had you not known better, the muscle of your arm might have been appetizing. Like a cut of flank steak in need of a good seer. 

And Al finishes it in one bite.

“Enough,” it sounds more confident than you feel. His fingers click and the hold of your arm lets up. You scramble back, running your fingers up and down the new skin. It smooths and prickles at your touch. Luckily you’re not prone to scarring. “That was a bit much for a palette cleanser, don't you think?” you snap. Chills still run up your arm and where he cut tingles like a limb that had fallen asleep.

He dabs his mouth on a handkerchief embroidered with a big ‘A.’ It comes back with a blot of red. “And you handled it surprisingly well,” Alastor muses with a note of pride. “Not many are quite so calm under my knife.” 

“Yeah, and not many patch quite this quick,” you fire back, goosebumps dot the flesh, the new nerves flaring in the cool air, but you drop your arms to your sides and approach the little table once more. Anyone else would be bleeding all over his nice grass. “Does our agreement still stand? Favor for a favor?” 

“Questioning my integrity as an overlord?” he jabs with a hint of sarcasm, and takes a long, loud sip from his expresso, making you wait as he finishes the drink. “You are a bit of a spit fire today. What is it you’re after, my deerest?” Your tongue suddenly feels thick and dry in your mouth. It had been so perfect in your brain, just ask him to fix your problem. A simple intimidation from the Radio Demon and you’d be off the hook and out from under that Shylock’s thumb. Then these freaky visits would be over. Huh. Or even ask about having a portal to this realm in your own room. Heaven knows how much you missed the fresh air. Just say something. Alastor regards you with glee as your brain desperately tries to concoct exactly how to answer him. “Now, now, don’t think about it too hard on it, you’ll have steam coming off your ears any moment.” 

You blink twice at his smug grin, when the request hits you. Just the thing to make the sinner squirm and keep him guessing without giving away too much of yourself. Just the thing to stay in the game. “No, I know what I want.” 

“Hmmm?” He thinks he’s winning. 

“Flesh,” the words feel repellent on your tongue, but you smirk through it, “I want to try it. Yours, to be specific.” 

The music stops with an abrupt scratch of the record.

[munson-blurbs]

I Know What I Want (Eddie x Fem!Reader)

Warnings: smut central here, minors DNI. Lil bit of juvenile delinquency. Language, some angst, oral (f receiving), piv. Eddie’s a lil bit of a sub here.

WC: 1.6k

Graduation is tomorrow, and you have just one thing left to do: have sex with Eddie “The Freak” Munson.

--

It was actually Eddie’s idea to make a graduation bucket list. Now that he was actually graduating, of course, he wanted to cause as much trouble beforehand as possible. So far, he’d spray painted a pentagram on O’Donnell’s car and superglued Click’s papers to her desk. His final mission was to flip off Principal Higgins just as he grabbed his diploma.

“Higgins is gonna flip a shit!” he’d said almost giddily. 

Your own graduation bucket list had been less scandalous for the most part. The most delinquent thing you’d done was hide a math test answer key so your teacher had to calculate everything by hand again. Meanwhile, Eddie was trying to find the best way to start a food fight.

He’s scanning the cafeteria, bowl of mashed potatoes in hand, ready to aim for Jason Carver’s stupid head. You pulled him back into his seat.

“Eddie, what are you doing?”

“Come on, Y/N. Don’t be such a party pooper!” he whines.

You sigh impatiently. “You’re going to get caught, especially if you start with Carver. Hell, even if it wasn’t you, Carver would say it was.”

Eddie laughs. “You think they’d really suspend me on the last day of school?”

“No, but they can stop you from walking at graduation, and I am not sitting through that boring-ass ceremony alone.”

He rolls his eyes but put the mashed potatoes down. “Fine,” he mutters. He’s even hotter when he was frustrated, his brows knitting together and his lips coming together in a pout. He wrings his ring-clad hands, strong and calloused from playing guitar. You would do anything, anything, to have those hands wrapped around your pretty little throat. 

Which brought you to the final item on your graduation bucket list: sex with Eddie Munson in the back of his van. On school property. Potentially wrecking years of friendship.

“I have an idea,” you say quickly before you can lose your nerve. He looks up at you expectantly. “Let’s have lunch in your van.”

“In my van?” he repeats. “Why would we do that?”

Now it’s your turn to roll your eyes. “Less talking, more walking, Munson. You got your keys?”

He pats his right pocket. “Yes, ma’am.”

Without thinking, you grab his hand in your own and lead him to the parking lot. Someone wolf whistles and you feel pink seeping into your cheeks, but you push forward.

“So, tell me why you wanna eat out here instead of in the cafeteria?” Eddie questions. You contemplate coming up with some lame excuse about needing fresh air, but you shake it away. You’re not backing down.

“I don’t,” you state. “I want to have sex with you in your van.” You cross your arms over your chest, slightly pushing up your breasts. 

Eddie takes a step back and lets out a surprised laugh. “Ha, very funny.”

“I’m serious. It’s the last thing left on my graduation bucket list.” You fish into your pocket for the list. The only thing not yet crossed out is van sex with Eddie in the parking lot.

“Holy shit,” he says under his breath. “won’t this, like, make things weird? Ruin the friendship or whatever?”

“I don’t know. Maybe.” you shrug. “So what if it does? I’m going off to college in the fall, you’ll be here working with your uncle.”

“The lady makes a good point,” Eddie says to himself. “Well, sweetheart, this wasn’t on my graduation bucket list, but I’d be lying if I said I didn’t think about it.” He hooks one finger onto the belt loop of your skirt, pulling you closer. You can feel him start to stiffen under his jeans.

“So, that’s a yes?”

“Oh, it’s an abso-fuckin-lutely,” he growls, pushing you up against the van with his body and presses his lips to yours. His tongue flicks over yours, making you moan against him. You bring your hand to the back of his neck, pushing yourself onto tip-toes.

“Didn’t know you were such a good kisser, Princess,” he groans into you. 

“Should’ve kissed me sooner then, Munson.”

He snakes a hand under your shirt, toying with the lace bra you’re wearing. He starts to pull the shirt over your head when you stop him.

“Eddie!” you hiss. “Not out here!”

“Oh, right,” he laughs mischievously. “No one gets to see your tits but me.”

With that, he flings open the back doors of his van. He pushes up the seats and ushers you inside. “After you, sweetheart.”

His chivalry ends there. As soon as he’s closed the doors, he pulls you on top of him, leaving you straddling his hard cock while he nearly rips off your shirt. With one swift move, he removes your bra and throws his head back.

“Are you...fucking...kidding me?” he says, grabbing one breast in each hand. He sits up and starts kissing them, flicking his tongue over your nipples. He bites and sucks, leaving a hickey in his wake, then goes to the next one and repeats. “Gotta mark my territory.”

You feel yourself growing wetter, but you’re far from finished. “You know,” you whisper, “this is supposed to be my bucket list item, but you’re having the most fun right now.”

“And what would be fun for you?”

You pull him up and take off his Hellfire shirt. His chest is dusted with hair. You steady yourself on it as you kiss his neck with soft, unassuming pecks, until you bite him.

He takes a sharp breath in and you smile. “That’s pretty damn fun for me.” you say.

“Fuck, Y/N,” Eddie groans. “Sounds like you wanna take control.”

You don’t say anything in response, just unzip his jeans and pull his dick from his boxers. He shuffles his pants off as you pump his cock.

“Y/N...w-want you to s-suck it,” he stutters.

You laugh. “Want it? No, Eddie, I think you need it.”

He whimpers. You get down and lick his precum, eliciting another little whine. The tip of your tongue grazes from the base of his cock to the head. 

“Here’s the thing, Eds,” you tease, “I feel like you haven’t earned getting sucked off. You played with my tits a little? Not going to cut it.” You sit back up and he goes to put a hand around his length, but you stop him.

“No, no. This is for me, Eddie. You’re going to get me off, and if you do a good job, I’ll blow you. Got it?”

“Y-yes,” he manages. He pushes up your skirt and moves your panties over, inserting one finger into your wet cunt. 

“See, Eddie? See how wet I am for you? All you have to do is make me cum, and I’ll return the favor.” You didn’t know where this confidence came from, but you were high on it.

Eddie slips another finger into you, pumping them as you grind against him. “W-wait,” he says suddenly. He lifts you from his crotch and places you on the van floor. Pulling off your skirt and panties, he trails kisses up your thighs until he reaches your pussy.

“There ya go, Eddie. You know what to do now, don’t you?” 

“Mhm.” He pushes his tongue against your clit, swirling and flicking until your legs shake. You can see a smile stretch across his face before you throw your head back, bucking your hips into him. You feel the coil start to snap, and your legs tighten around him.

“Cum for me, baby. W-wanna make you cum, just like you asked.”

With that, your orgasm takes over and you moan loud enough for anyone to hear. Eddie doesn’t stop eating your pussy until he’s sure you’re finished.

“H-Holy shit, Munson. You definitely earned that blowjob.” You go to wrap your lips around his dick, but he shakes his head.

“N-not gonna be able to hold b-back, Y/N,” he whimpers. “Need to be inside your wet pussy.”

He pumps himself a few times as you reach into your bag to pull out a condom. Eddie raises his eyebrows in surprise.

“The goal was to get laid, not get pregnant,” you respond.

He nods dumbly, as if he wants to say something, but stops.

“What is it?” you question.

“Nothin’. Just think we’d make cute kids, is all.”

You laugh. “Let me get my degree first and then we’ll talk.”

That seems to be enough for him. He takes his time entering you, not out of hesitation, but to make sure you’re ready. This is your bucket list, after all.

He’s so big inside of you, filling you up as he thrusts in and out. One hand cups your ass, while the other plays with your clit.

“Eddie?” you start to ask, then remember that you’re in charge. “Eddie,” you say this time with more authority. “I need you to choke me while you fuck me.”

Eddie’s eyes roll back. “You’re fuckin’ killing me, sweetheart,” but he obliges, removing the hand from your ass. His fingers tighten around your neck, just the right amount of pressure. His rings dig into you with each thrust.

“Y/N...I can’t hold out much longer,” he says. But it’s fine, because neither can you. Your walls clench around him as you moan out again, yelling his name. He bucks up into you one last time as he cums hard.

Climbing off of you, he crashes next to your own naked fucked out body, exhausted.

“Hey, um, did you have anything on that list about fucking me during the summer?”

[androgynousblackbox]

How To Lose A Lucifer In 10 Days. 9 [Appleradio, Radioapple]

Step 9: Work with him

Alastor and Lucifer looked up the sky scrapper. For this outing Alastor once again was without his illusion spell, while Lucifer had been convinced to shapeshift as a imp with white hair brushed back. His comment that literally no one was going to care if the king just walked around in the sidewalk of the Pride ring fell into deaf ears. When Charlie came to support her dad's word, Lucifer already knew he was left without a choice, even if he still thought it was silly.

He was never going to say it out loud, because he imagined the response, but a part of him was starting to suspect the changing his looks when they outside of the hotel was more for the comfort of Alastor than trying to keep any privacy surrounding the king's activities. A rest from having the face of his husband standing right in front of them, fully aware that the devil who wore it wasn't the same. It's not like he haven't noticed that something in Alastor losen up more when he did, only to tense up again the moment he was back to normal. But if the man himself wasn't going to say anything, then much less he was going to do it.

Instead, he checked again on his phone that the coordinates that Vassago wrote for them were correct. They still were.

"Any reaction?" asked to Alastor, who was wearing the stone around his neck.

Charlie had decided she wanted to help Emily with her own research, leaving the two of them for this one mission. Apparently Emily had found a pair of names of sinners that could know about alchemy, which prompted Charlie to want to go with her and then motivated Vaggie to want to join them. Someone had to be sure that between the two princess, they weren't going to be taken advantage of while making some questions.

Alastor flicked the stone on top of his chest. The white stone moved against the fabric of his black shirt without pointing to anywhere.

"Nothing. It must be all the way to the top" Alastor put his hands behind his back and turned to him. "Can I borrow your telephonic device?" asked in a lower voice, as if not wanting anyone else to hear them.

Lucifer stared at him as if that wasn't Alastor anymore.

"You, with a phone?" asked, as if those words were not supposed to mix. "Why? Do you even know how to use one?"

"I want to talk with the queen of Sloth directly" said Alaster, not answering the last question or looking in his direction. "I know she said to have you as intermediary, but I prefer taking my chances with that blasted thing for some actual patient-doctor confidentialty, if you don't mind."

That was an entirely valid point he haven't thought about at all. Of course Alastor wasn't going to want to involve him on everything when he could do it himself. Obviously. He was just the guy who happened to be around with magic similar to the father.

"Now though?" asked.

"It would put my mind at ease if I have to use my magic here" commented Alastor, observing the tall building again. It was one of the closest ones there were to touch the pentagram in the sky. People were constantly getting in and out, wearing business suits or casual clothing since they came out from the food or shopping areas. "I won't take long" added, throwing a glance to Lucifer.

It was after all, a consultation with his own doctor. Of course he couldn't say no.

"Fine" He sighed, opening up the screen to look Bel's number. Alastor approached him more as if trying to memorize the right gestures for the screen. Lucifer really had to bite his tongue in to not make some old boomer joke at that moment, even though Alastor probably deserved it. It was his fault for locking himself out from meeting modern technology. "Is calling now" said Lucifer, reaching out his hand for Alastor to take out. "When you finish the call, press the button on the side for two seconds. It's literally the only button."

"I see" Alastor grabbed the device between two fingers of his hand from the top, as it were a dirty diaper or something equally as desirable.

Lucifer still reminded himself to not laugh when the radio demon nodded, moving away to a safe distance until he could talk without Lucifer or anyone else immediately around him hearing. Lucifer almost expected him to be yelling into the mic, believing it necessary, was almost counting on it, but he had no luck.

Instead of that mild distraction, he had finally a moment to contemplate what they had to do. Grab the bigger portion of the stone in whichever part it was of this massive building, use it to exchange places with the other Lucifer and come back to his usual life. To another Alastor who also didn't want to see him either and a Charlie he didn't know how to talk to most of the time. To another day seeing the same family portraits knowing those times were long gone. Where all his mistakes and regrets could jump to him on every corner to remind him how badly he had messed up and probably was going to keep messing up. Where his best hope for the future was that Charlie was not going to get tired of him any time soon and would still allow him to be near her. Where the only company he would have at night was his phone.

No biggie. Easy as pie. Practically done already. Why even think about it? Why even rationalize all the ways he was surely going to fail and get himself further stuck on a reality where he was merely a guest, one nobody really asked for, while someone else was getting missed? Surely that was a stupid thing to think about. He was a stupid man for thinking that. The most stupid man that has ever existed since creation itself, no doubt about it. Why couldn't he stop thinking about it? Who was this helping? Why bother to come back at all when he was that useless he couldn't stop a single stupid thought? It's not like an actual real baby depended on it or anything!

"Your Majesty" called Alastor, towering over him. Lucifer blinked many times as he came back to. Alastor's brow furrowed as he extended his phone to him, still holding it with two fingers as if he didn't want to be in contact with it more than necessary. "Your device."

Lucifer realized how tense hid fist were only when he had to force to relax again in order to grab it. The small cuts from his claws digging in he willed to heal faster, so not even a drop of blood could be seen.

"Ah, thanks" said, even though he was the one who did the favor. He smiled mechanically, a well oiled machine that never failed him. "Done already then? Did Bel help you out?"

Alastor looked at him a second longer he felt comfortable with before answering.

"Indeed. She taught me a little spell to know how much magic I would need and how much is enough, since I can't see it myself. Also, apparently alcohol is not going to have any negative effect on them unless I hurt myself, which of course won't happen, so that is a relief."

"Were you planning to get drunk?" asked Lucifer and Alastor smiled, amused.

As if he were stupid for making that question. He probably was. That would be the first concern of any adult in hell dealing with their partner gone. On top of that, who was he to judge? Just because he couldn't get drunk as easily, didn't mean other people were not allowed to do it. Idiot.

"Oh, of course not. For what kind of irresponsible father have you took me?" Alastor dismissed the suggestion like a bad smell with his hand. Lucifer saw the irritated rictus on the corners of his mouth. "I was just wondering out of curiosity, since my condition is not entirely physical anyway, that is all."

"Well, if Bel says it won't hurt the baby…" started out Lucifer before his mind trail off and didn't know how to complete the sentence. Luckily there was something else to catch his attention and cover up for his sudden silence. "Hey, that is Angel."

So he was. Alastor lifted his head just as about the spider demon stared at him back, walking up to them. He had only seen the fallen look of Alastor exactly one time, when Niffty insisted on seeing his new "bad boy" look, so it wasn't weird that it took him a while to fully remember it.

"Alastor?" asked, coming up to them and then looked at the imp at his side, narrowing his eyes. "Short king?"

"Yeah, how did you know?" Maybe he too had a gifted sigh like Bel that could just tell that kind of thing.

"Same height and Alastor being here, that is all I need. Not the first time that the king shapeshifted to be outside" Angel popped a lollipop into his mouth and turned to see the huge building. "Are you both going there? Not the kind of place I would have imagined for one of your little dates."

"It's not a date" said Alastor finally, glaring at him with a menacing undertone in his word that had Angel lifting his hands.

"I was just joking, bud. Take it easy."

A growl came out of the smiling face of Alastor and Lucifer cleared his throat, before anyone could say or do something they could regret.

"It's really not" said, putting himself between the two of them. "We are trying to find another one of the wishing stones that Charlie had. I imagine you haven't seen any big dark rock with reality changing properties around here?"

"Nope" Angel looked up for a moment at the building. "I work here and haven't seen anything like that."

"Y-you do?" asked Lucifer, first thinking on any of the shopping sites or the food section. No way he could imagine Angel just working on any of them, especially not with the almost non existent clothing he was wearing.

"Yeah, my sugar daddy is on the top of the top" Angel said with a smirk, as if deeply enjoying pronouncing those words. "He is kinda like a big deal without even being an overlord. He even said he could help me make my own porns soon! I will never stop thanking Charlie for getting me this gig."

"Wasteful" spat Alastor between his teeth.

"Hey, I didn't ask for it either" replied Angel, holding the lollipop to point at him. "If you have a problem, take it up with your own kid, pops."

"Enough" said Lucifer, tired, just when Alastor opened up his mouth to say something else. The radio demon frowned, revealing more teeth. If this was just a fraction of what Charlie had to endure watching him and the other Alastor back at home then no wonder she wished something different. "Angel, do you think you could help us get inside? We don't really know where the stone is either."

"We don't need him. We can just turn invisible and I can send my shadow looking" said Alastor.

"And just walk all of that until our stone reacts to anything?" said Lucifer, making a gesture to the building that wasn't only big but taller than his entire palace. The palace where his own Charlie got lost in more than one ocassion. "We only have one. I don't know, maybe it would be easier to ask the guy out there if he knows about it? If he does I can just convince him of giving it to us."

Alastor groaned deeply. He took out the chain around his neck with the stone and extended to Lucifer, waiting for him to grab it.

"It sounds to me like we have two different ideas of how to approach this. You can take the stone and try your diplomatic method if you want. I will check as much as I can on my own. We can find each other in… two hours sounds good for you?" said, taking a look to his pocket watch.

"Are you sure?" said Lucifer, unintentionally letting his eyes wonder over the abdomen of the fallen before Alastor reclined his front forward, even lower than he actually needed to for them to be at face level.

"Two hours" determined, walking calmly to a column in front of the building.

Only Lucifer realized that he wasn't coming out on the other side and noticed the dark spot quickly moving over the floor until it dissapeared. He felt like a kid abandoned in the supermarket after his whole family already move on. Maybe that was to be expected from a mere acquantance that only tolerated his presence.

"So what is going to be, short king?" said Angel, texting casually on his phone. "I am already late, but luckily for us, he likes it better when I take my time so there is no rush. If you want to follow him, I won't take offense."

Lucifer saw the accesory on his hand and wrapped the chain around his knuckles, to make sure he wouldn't lose it as he felt for any movement from the stone.

"Let's go" he sighed, walking foward as Angel went behind.

"What is the story then?" said Angel, getting a cheeky grin now as if suddenly this could be a fun game for him. "I am telling you right now, if I just say you are a friend of mine he will think I am inviting you for a threesome. If you are willing to go that far, I won't tell a word."

The shadow under Lucifer shook slightly, as if about to lose its shape, but the king only gave Angel a side eye.

"No, thank you" said with a sigh. "Maybe tell him that I am coming from an investor who wants to buy the stone from him?"

"Boring" sang Angel rolling his eyes. "Oooh, how about a investor in one of my porn that wants to make business for that?"

"How is that going to make him show me his stone?"

"I don't know, you are the one doing the sneaky shit, not me" Angel was going up the stairs and walking over to a desk of the security staff, reclining over it to smile at the demon sitting there. "Hey, cutie, how you doing?"

The security guard smiled back.

"Angel" greeted. He only ever noticed Lucifer standing right in front of him a second later, instantly annoyed at the possibility of having to do his job. "Yes, sir?"

"He is coming with me, handsome" helped out Angel. The face of the guard light up when looking at him. Angel clearly already had him wrapped around his finger. "He is a big money guy who wants to talk with the old man for business. A friend of mine so I can vouch for his big, long and deep pockets" listed, licking up his lips. "Can you tell him that, baby?"

Lucifer pretended to be interested on a potted plant nearby, like the whole conversation didn't had anything to do with him.

"Sure, Angel, if you say so" The demon grabbed a telephone on the wall to make his call. Angel winked an eye to Lucifer. Now he really wished he had shapeshifted a suit to make himself look more legit instead of the casual clothing he had on. A perfectly normal imp that could enter into a majority of sites without any issue, but didn't gave the impression of being business dedicated. Too late to worry about that. They probably should have thought about it more in general before just coming inside. "Alright, he says you can come up."

"Thanks, sweetheart" Angel send a kiss to the security as he took out a card from his purse, swipping it on a panel close by to open the door to an elevator. Lucifer slipped in inside and supported his back on the wall. "You good?" asked Angel as he was pressing a button to have the doors closed.

There was no turning back now. This was the plan they were going to go with. If Alastor didn't had any luck finding the stone, it all depended on him. What a reassuring and not at all heavy thought that didn't quicken his heart at all. Nope, not to this king of hell. He had caused sin to happen, no doubt he was going to be able to handle finding just a stupid piece of rock and not ruin anything on the way, right? Right?

"Yeah, perfectly" said Lucifer when he noticed he haven't answer to Angel in a bit. "Sorry, I just zone out."

Angel hummed, crossing his upper arms while the lower ones sat on his waist, tapping casually on his short shorts.

"It must be still quite a shock for you, isn't?" commented, just as the elevator started moving. "The whole being married to a guy you can't stand where you come from" clarified when Lucifer just looked confused. "Me? I would have ran away so I don't have to deal with any of that."

"Kinda not an option here" said Lucifer shrugging. He hold out the stone out, letting it swing from the chain on his hand, but it was a rather to be expected kind of swing. "I can't just leave Charlie, either this one or mine back at home."

"I guess on that sense all Lucifers are the same" Angel pulled out a hand mirror and started retouching his make up. "You a good daddy no matter where you go, aren't you?"

Lucifer realized that Angel probably didn't mean anything with it. Just a little bit of small conversation so they wouldn't be listening the bland music through the speakers only. But somehow the comment stabbed him right on the front and made him thinks of the months, years, he was doing anything else instead of being a good father.

"You know, it is funny" added, swallowing hard. "In my dimension we have this stupid thing with Alastor where he pretend he is a father figure for Charlie. Just because he helps her out with the hotel and stuff, which okay, buddy, that is cute and all, but not really the same. I don't think Charlie takes it seriously either, but it's what he likes to do to get on my nerves. So of course I would land in the one place where he can actually be her father with all rights. On top of being still also Alastor."

"Oh" When Lucifer looked up, Angel seemed to be out of his depth. "I was actually trying to get a segway into joking if you could adopt me."

"Aren't you kinda old for that?" was all Lucifer could say to avoid the embarassment. Even then, he could feel his face warming up.

"Miss Sunshine fallen from Heaven is thousands years older than Alastor and that didn't stopped any of you" Angel closed his pocket mirror. "No offense, king, but I still don't get why that should bother you so much? If some bitch was obviously trying to pretend they got my place I would just feel embarassed for them. If your Charlie is anything like ours, then she is totally a daddy's girl anyway."

"Yeah, she is!" laughed Lucifer. "Absolutely! That is why he is so annoying. Because he doesn't realize what a waste of time it is trying to pretend she has another father when she has me" added, laughing more, louder, because that was obviously the case and it wasn't Alastor poking him on the one and only place where he could reach, the one area he felt ashamed about the most.

The whole falling and condeming humanity had happened long enough that he had just accepted his part on it. It wasn't something he was proud about on itself, but it was the blistering wound that still made him flinch when thinking about it. A considerable scar had already formed on top of it. But Charlie and the realization of how out of touch he was with her life were quite new and it didn't take long to have them bleed again.

Case in point, the expression of Angel that said he didn't believe a single word he said and who did he thought he was kidding. A question that Lucifer most of all did not want to ponder about when he could barely kid himself.

"Whatever you say, king" said finally Angel with a shrug. The spider demon turned his head and chuckled to himself. "It's kinda funny, I guess. On this universe the king and Al also fight a lot."

"T-they do?" asked Lucifer, surprised.

"Yeah, all the time. Although to them it looks more typical old married couple bickering, but it's still there. Like on the whole doing two parties for Charlie with two different cakes" Lucifer blinked, confused. He knew that the Charlie with antlers had a good party thanks to her parents, but nobody had explained to him how exactly. "Oh, you didn't know? It's a whole thing apparently. They each decorate their own side and stuff however they like and then compete to see which one is more succesful. Charlie said that they used to fight a lot about that before finding that solution. I think that is stupid, but, you know, it's two cakes for one party so who I am to complain?"

With how willing this Alastor was to sing the praises of his own Lucifer, especially compared to him, Lucifer had just assumed those two lived in a perpetual honeymoon where somehow they were always on the same page and were completely removed from anything to do with what he had back on his world.

It was almost embarassing how relieved he felt at finding out it wasn't the case. There were traces of each other still present. Maybe the real difference after all was these two had plenty of time to learn to adapt to the bump, when all they could do on his world was keep crashing with them. Time does heal all or so they say.

"Oh, I had no idea" commented, twisting the chain on his hand. The stone still had nothing to tell him.

Angel snorted.

"Of course not. Good old Al fucking hates your guts" Angel rolled around the lollipop in his mouth as a smile spread on his face. "Before you came around he was the first one to complain about hubby, but the moment you walk nearby suddenly our Lucifer hasn't done a single thing wrong in his life. It's hilarious actually."

"Ah" That made way too much sense.

"It kinda sucks for Charlie, though" commented Angel. "It can't be pretty to have your folks get along and one day they just don't. Plus the whole interdimensional bullshit, that is."

Lucifer didn't know how to respond to that. He didn't have to before the elevator stopped and the doors opened up to a luxurious space.

"Come on, king. Let's go to daddy" Angel pulled up his crop top and fluffled up his chest even more before coming out, Lucifer from behind and his shadow a second later than it should.

Just talk to the guy about the stone. Convince him to give it. Recieve. Null the wish, go back home. A nice, easy to follow plan. Fool proof and all. On the absolute worst case escenario, steal it and just from a window to portal home, hoping that Alastor would know to come back on his own.

Wait, no. First steal it, then look Alastor's magic and portal him away. Unless he could convince the guy to give it on his own. Then turn invisible to find Alastor and portal him away. Or should he make the wish first? But then how his Lucifer was going to know what to do if he came back? No, better to wish it on the hotel, far away from them and hope it didn't affect Angel's job so nobody would have to wish anything for anyone again.

Yes, a perfect plan. Not complicated at all. The tightness on his throat was just the nerves for the future success. His palms were sweaty because it was a especially hot day in hell.

By the time they reached the big office on the far end of a corridor, a lizard demon was talking on the phone against the all window wall that revealed the whole from above. Only the V tower was the building able to reach a similar weight from that angle.

"Just do what you have to do, don't bother me" was the last words they could heard before the man put the phone down and smiled, full row of golden teeth on display. "Angel, baby, there you are! An hour after I was expecting you, but thanks for coming along anyway."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever" said Angel, dragging his words more than he usually did as he casually walked to a lounging couch and laid there. His face masquered such contempt for the lizard guy he seemed one step from spit on his face. Something that would probably be received positively anyway. "I had better things to do than to see your ugly ass face. My friend over there for example."

"Oh?" The lizard only then noticed Lucifer standing at the door. "Yeah, I think they did mentioned that. You wanted to talk about business?"

Lucifer swallowed and inhaled deeply. It was time to give a convincing performance. The moment he stepped inside, his shadow shook for a moment before returning to normal. Less darker and bigger than before.

"Absolutely, sir" said, reading quickly the plaque on top of the desk before reaching out his hand to shake the scaly one. Normakov, better not forget it. "I come from part of a very afluent man who wishes to purchase something our data shows you were in possesion of."

"And what man that would be?"

"The king" said Lucifer, keeping up his smile. "He is not unable at the moment, but you can call to the princess of hell and she will confirm for you I work for her father."

"He is legit, daddy" said Angel from his couch, barely lifting his eyes from the screen. "Don't make him waste too much time. That is so annoying. I won't have time to play with you and put you in your place if you do."

When the lizard smiled indulgently, Lucifer let out a small sigh of relief.

"No problem, sweetie. If my Angel says that, I have no reason to doubt him. Why don't you take a seat, sir…?"

"Oh, my name is irrelevant" said Lucifer, sitting on the chair offered. "But you can call me De Ville if anything. You see, my client is a history fanatic. When you are so old and lived for so long, the nostalgia is hard to avoid, you know? Which is the reason why he is interested on…"

The phone of the lizard man started to vibrate again against the table. Normakov made a wait a moment gesture with his hand and took the call.

"Yes, perfect. Send them in then" said, hanging out but then turning to Angel. "Someone is messing with the cameras on the lowers floors. A bunch of them have been fried and lose signal. Have you seen anything weird on your way up, sweet cheeks?"

"Nothing at all" said Angel, throwing a glance to Lucifer so they both knew what they were thinking. Alastor trying to not get detected. "Can't be a short circut or something? There is so much energy being used on this place everyday that I wouldn't be surprised."

"Yeah, that happens even in the palace too sometimes" aported Lucifer. "Too many electronics working at once? You can't trust those to work perfectly all the time."

"No, that is not it. We installed those new models just yesterday and they were working perfectly. Besides now they will send their own guards from Voxtech the moment one malfunction. It would be a waste of their own resources if they don't make it work for at least a while" Normakov sat on his chair, the wrinckles on his face expanding. "So, what is that the king is interested on buying?"

"Excuse me, sir" said Lucifer, struggling to get his mind in track again. "Are they sending guards just for cameras? That is a bit excessive, isn't?"

"Well, maybe, but that is what we paid for! The full protection package! It costed a good penny, but if we can avoid any bastard trying to get in and cause trouble then that is good enough for me. They have full permission to be lethal if they want, even if it's one of our own employees. I can't be wasting time on some idiot that is going to be ruining the equipment of the building anyway. If they die I don't have to fire them at least" laughed the man and Lucifer joined a second too late, squeezing the rim of his shirt so strong that he end up tearing it and then forced his finger to grab his thigh, feeling his claws about to punctuare. Normakov was admiring Angel too much to fully notice.

"That is so true!" said Lucifer, laughing hysterically as he looked at Angel to do anything, anything at all. His heart was beating so quick that he had to see it through his ribcage, about to burst. "You can't be wasting all that money like that!"

Angel didn't turn to see him at all. He missed his pleading look and with all, he stood up from the couch to go sit on the lap of the business man.

"Oh, daddy! I can't wait any longer! I have been so bored and someone has to take some responsability!" sighed dramatically, putting on the tie of the man to kiss him deeply as his upper arms hold him in place.

The lower arms made quick gestures for Lucifer to move on already. Lucifer sighed grateful and looked down for a second. That stone was as unresponsive as ever, there was nothing there for him. While Angel moaned loudly against the mouth of his boss, Lucifer ran away the office and hide himself on the first bathroom he could find.

It was just as full of luxury as anything else on that place, but he couldn't care less. With his eyes turned into pure red, he looked over as much as he could for the exact magic that only Alastor had. It was at first overwhelming with the amount of people who worked in the building, janitors cleaning, people wasting away in front of computers, secretaries, people making calls. After a while he realized he couldn't concentrate like that. Too many distractions and wasn't any closer to find him. How many fucking floors did a building like that needed in the first place? And why all of them have to be so fucking big?

Lucifer hold the stone against his chest, trying to control the dizzines that was making it even harder to search for him. He took at least a couple of deep breaths before he decided to just look floor for floor. That was the best choice. Opening portal, keep invisible, find Alastor, maybe retrait, try again other time, not get him get killed because Charlie was going to kill him, and his other version too if he had the chance and he was never going to be able to live with himself if anything happened to that baby.

With his legs shaking, Lucifer applied the invisible spell and started descending. From the bottom to the top above the shopping floors, where the cameras started malfunctioning. The first three were clean of green magic. On the fifth he always crashed into one of the security guards with the logos of Voxtech on their jackets.

They had already shot the technician of the company that reached for the cameras. Lucifer nearly avoided the employees that were getting rid of the body. It was a bird demon with red feathers on the top of their head, sticking out almost as if they were ears. Red eyes stared at the ceiling as the wound shot on his forehead was still bleeding.

That was what did it. Lucifer ran without caring the people he had to make to a side, left wondering what happened or blaming whoever was the closest that they could see. He wanted a bathroom. Instead he found an abandoned office and managed to find a trash can before his stomach gave out. He grabbed to it a moment longer and put it aside, hugging to his knees.

The image of those red empty eyes were not leaving his vision no matter how strong he pressed his hand against his eyelids. He could no longer control his breathing. All he could hear was the beating of his heart. He hold the stone against his chest as if that somehow was going to help, but it didn't. A failure like everything else he ever attempted to do.

It was to be expected, then, that he didn't hear the door opening to a normal employee of the company. The lights turn on and Lucifer looked up without barely moving.

"What the hell are you doing?" was all the demon could ask before Lulcifer saw himself wrapped in pure darkness.

On the first second he didn't even mind. The darkness was silent and light as air. But the calm lasted as long his next breath and he was on a janitor's closet, holding to the first thing of color he could see. A grey shirt.

"Your Majesty" a grey demon, no, Alastor, spoke to him on a voice softer than he ever expected before. "Follow my lead, sir. Breath in, breath out. Slowly, there is no rush here."

Lucifer saw the chest of the demon in front rising up and then deflating and then he tried to imitate with his own, retaining the air and letting it go after.

"Good" said Alastor, who hasn't moved at all except for breathing. "Keep going, your Highness. Breath in, breath out."

Slowly, somehow, his heart started to normalize and he sighed, his body slumped on the floor as Alastor patiently waited for him to uncling his claws off his clothing. That couldn't be a comfortable position, thought Lucifer vaguely before he could finally make his hands relax enough to open them up.

At no point he had ever dared to look up to the demon and now he wasn't going to do it either. The Alastor he knew was about to have the biggest laugh of his afterlife to find out another weakness of the king of hell, another reason to mark him as the pathetic and weak fool that he always was. Lucifer couldn't even find it on him to be upset about it, just brazing himself for the blow to whatever was left of his dignity.

Alastor sat on the floor, knees up and legs together. There was no much space for more with how tall he was.

"Do you feel better now?"

Lucifer blinked like he somehow he had heard wrong and stared at him. The smile was there, alright, that was a given, but why wasn't he laughing? Where was the mockery and contempt?

"You seem okay at least" Alastor sighed and his actual green eyes looked the crampled space, as if annoyed with it, even though he was the one who brought them. "I assume the diplomatic way didn't work?"

"Uh…" Lucifer passed a hand over his face and pulled his hair back. "I don't… I don't understand."

"What?" Alastor asked, turning to him. Something on his sincere confusion made him chuckle. "You think you are the first king I see having a panic attack, your Majesty? My darling king sometimes worries a bit too much about things and what is his consort to do, but to know to calm him down? We can't have any advances if I have you incapacitated on the floor, can I?"

"He too…?" asked Lucifer.

For some reason it made more sense for him to think the Lucifer of this world had been saved from those moments, gaining the rare gift of not being attacked by his own mind and body. More than anything, because he would have never imagined that Alastor was going to have any kind of useful reaction to them. The Alastor he knew would make it so much worse just for fun, just because he could.

"Well, no all the time, obviously" said Alastor, as if that needed clarifying. "Mostly in moment of great stress. Before an extermination or when fearing that Heaven could do something that could hurt our daughter" Alastor looked down for a moment, tilting his head. "I guess I never considered you could be as much of a mess as my husband in this situation too."

"Gee, thanks" Lucifer sighed, sitting cross legged.

"You are welcome" Alastor chuckled again, a light and judgement free sound, that Lucifer couldn't help but to join in.

"Hey, what else…" Lucifer swallowed down, doubting if he should continue, but he really wanted to know "What else do you usually do to calm him down?"

"He likes it when I hug him" Alastor said it like it was no big deal, and for him it most likely wasn't, but Lucifer couldn't get that thought of his mind. A hug sounded nice for him too, although maybe that was beyond what Alastor would be comfortable with. "At the start, it made no sense to me that the most powerful being of hell can lose his calm like that. Then I realized that other men would have broken under the pressure he's under millennia ago. His cracks are just a testament of how much he has endured and how further he can go. My king just needs a little bit of support somtimes and he will stand on his own in no time. I don't mind being that support."

Alastor examined his pocket watch, letting the silence to be the only thing between them as Lucifer processed those words. The fact that they were coming from him or how comforting they actually were, both of them equally unexpected.

"Oh shit" said, surprised with himself that it took him this long to realize. "You actually do love him, do you?"

A sound of static cracked inside of the demon as he stared at him, taken aback.

"Beg your pardon?" asked, crinkling his eyes. "Was that ever a question here?"

"Kinda" confessed Lucifer, shrinking a little. "Sorry, I didn't mean it like an insult. I guess I just didn't thought about it."

"What is there to think about?" Alastor shrugged. He made a vague gesture to their surroundings, the crampled janitor's closet they landed on. "Why did you think I was doing all of this for?"

That was a good question that Lucifer had no idea what to say to. He could try again with his past theories. Money, power, influence, authority. But they all sounded just childish and ridiculous now.

"I don't know" admitted finally, letting his shoulders fall. "Sorry."

Alastor sighed, but at least it wasn't the annoyed and frustrated kind he was used to coming from him. Just a resigned one as he rubbed his temple.

"Tell me when you are able to continue searching" said the radio demon, relying his back against the shelf full of cleaning supplies.

"I was… worried about you" commented Lucifer, without looking at him. "We shouldn't have separated."

"Your Majesty…" started Alastor and then seemed to think it better for a moment. "Maybe you're right. This place is even more complicated that I imagined. There are even secret rooms and passages behind the walls."

Not in a million years he would have imagined hearing those words coming from him.

"I am right" insisted Lucifer, frowning at him. "I know you hate me, but we really need to do this together. I want to get that thing as much as you do."

"Unlikely" replied Alastor, tilting his chin. He narrowed his eyes before continueing. "Just so you know, I don't… hate you. I almost want to, but I don't."

"You want to hate me?" Lucifer snorted a little bit. Now who was being childish.

"Didn't you?" Alastor stared at him with a half hearted snear. "From the very first time you saw me, you only wanted to see me one way because of your own Alastor."

Lucifer rised up a finger to protest. Then turned it down. Damn it.

"Fine" conceded with a pout. "I was wrong about that then. You are really not like him, I guess."

"Or you just don't know him as much as you think" Alastor rolled his eyes and shook his head slighty. "But who knows, really? I am just the Alastor of this side."

It wasn't the first time that Alastor suggested that. It was the first time that Lucifer actually considered it. Not that Alastor back at home ever bothered to show him anything more than his more annoying, petty side whenever possible or was ever going to do it. Maybe there was something else to the radio demon that he was just not meant to know at all.

"Whatever" said, because he had no idea where he wanted to go with that line of thought anyway. His head hurt. "I think I am better now."

"Are you sure?"

Lucifer nodded. He hide a little smile to think he was used to ask that to his Lucifer. Alastor stand up first and stretched his arms up, while Lucifer pushed himself up.

"This floor is clean" commented Alastor. "The next three ones as well. After that we can continue."

"Yeah, okay, we could do that or…" started Lucifer. Alastor blinked at him before the prediction came to him and groaned in advance. "Come on, let's try it at least!"

"I thought you did already and didn't work."

"Because I heard about guards with permission to use lethal force and I had to find you before I could actually do any progress" insisted Lucifer. "All because you messed with their cameras by the way!"

"Is that why they were there?" Alastor's brow furrowed. "I see. Vox is finally catching up."

"The TV guy? What does he have to do with anything?"

"Nothing. Just another issue I will have to deal with later" Alastor made a dismissive handwave and sighed. "Alright. I suppose it can't hurt to try. There is only so many secret love making rooms a man can see before he rather not."

Lucifer snorted at that. The thought of Alastor constantly ending up on those spaces in search of something else was so funny he had to laugh harder, positively wheezing. Alastor scoffed, but let him have that moment.

"Some were in use" added Alastor, just when Lucifer was about to calm down. Effectively creating another fit of giggles. The radio demon smirked, seemingly enjoying making him lose his composure. "It's a true miracle I haven't gauged my eyes out."

"How the fuck have you survived hell until now?" questioned Lucifer when he could barely gather enough air for it.

"The true question is how hell has survived me" said Alastor with a firm nod, pretending it was a serious matter. "And the answer is, with enough food and music."

"I will take your word for it, buddy" Lucifer whipped the tears out of his eyes. The only times he had laughed since the whole mixed up happened have been talking to Alastor. What a weird little thought to have. He opened up a portal to the luxurious bathroom near the office, but didn't cross it immediately. "Hey" said at Alastor. An awkward moment of hestitation later, he managed: "Thanks. For the whole. Thing."

Alastor nodded. His smile didn't get bigger or sharper, but his eyes maybe got a bit more open or at least that is what Lucifer would like to believe. He didn't want to hate this Alastor and didn't want this Alastor to hate him.

"After yourself, your Majesty."

--

"Which is why I believe we can make a more than generous offer is necessary" finished Lucifer, sitting on the seat. His shadow now was darker than it should be and he knew the reason why. Alastor was just waiting for a chance to grab the stone so they could finally get out of there.

Lucifer was really surprised that the radio demon had actually decided to stay with him after all. When they came to the office and it was pretty obvious that Angel was doing his job under the desk, he wouldn't have blame him if he had stayed outside the office.

"That sounds neat, daddy" sounded the voice of Angel, only some strands of his pink hair visible against the vest of the man. "You should take it. A business deal with the king can only be a good thing, huh?"

"Y-yeah, that sounds about right" Normakov patted his head. For as much Lucifer would have chosen to not have this conversation, or any other, like this, he had to appreciate that at least it was making this old man very agreeable. He would have to thank Angel for that when he had the opportunity. "Very well, if you say so, sweetheart. You will have to wait a little bit for it, mister De Ville" Lucifer saw a glimpse of the shadow under his chair shaking and he just knew Alastor was going to make a comment about the name later. "That stone cost me, well, three entire bodies to be honest, not just an eye. I have to call for it to be brought up from my vault."

"Of course, I understand" smiled Lucifer, dropping the stone of Charlie on the floor without making a sound. It was quickly consumed by the shadows. "I don't have any rush. If it's the real deal then I promise that my client will be able to compensate you those three bodies and maybe a whole dozen more. He is very enthusiastic about starting this collection. They were made using the soil where he first fell, did you know?" commented.

"Yeah? Huh, I guess that makes sense" Normakov pressed a button on his phone. Whoever was on the other side of the line didn't seem to mind the slight grunting and sighs of their boss as he asked for that stone. "And do it pronto, alright? I might have a good deal for it."

"The greatest deal in all of hell, dear sir!" added Lucifer.

After the call was done, Alastor moved out of the way to go catch that thing while Lucifer stayed to make conversation with the man. Be it because it was part of Angel's conditions or Angel just wanted to torture him, Normakov never got his happy ending during all that time. Lucifer was starting to think maybe Alastor had a point after all.

Ten minutes later an alarm went off somewhere close them, extending to the office.

"What the fuck?" Normakov pulled his chair back, quickly fixing his belt and pants.

"What alarm is that, daddy? There is a fire?" asked Angel.

Before the man could respond, one of the secretaries came running.

"There is a demon let loose near the vault, sir! It has taken out already three of our guards!"

"Send the Voxtech ones then!" insisted Normakov, as if it should be obvious.

"They said that is above they paygrade, sir."

As the lizard man grumbled to himself, Lucifer stand up.

"I need to go pee again!" announced to the need of no one and ran outside.

People were either running to get away the building or complaining about how someone should turn off that alarm already. He went inside of the bathroom and blinked, looking for Alastor's energy. The energy was crickling and soaring just five floors below. When he open up a portal there, he knew instantly what happened.

"Oh" said, seeing the splatters of blood everywhere before he heard the munching sound. "Alastor" called, not really wanting to cross the corner to the open vault, but knowing there was no choice.

Alastor, eating from the open stomach of a guard, cracked his neck to look at him with a infinite smile of sharp teeths.

"It's useless" said. The static was so strong it was almost burying his words, but not entirely. The anger behind then was still there, just as naked as the ribs of the guy he was eating from. One of his long arms grabbed a crystal box from a corner and shattered it against the wall. From it a white rock fell through, aproximately the size of an adult fist. "This one was the one who did it" Alastor now lifted out a half consumed head from the ground and smashed it, destroying it until it was a splat under his fingers. "The idiot was holding it when he made his wish. Do you know what he wished for, your Majesty? What was so important for this lousy creature to use it?"

"What?" asked Lucifer, knowing that anything he could have asked for, anything at all, was always going to leave Alastor like that.

"A sandwich" said Alastor and started laughing, the sound distorted and broken. The laugh track behind him sounded cursed, like the people in the audience were both crying in pain too. "He was hungry, sir. And that made me hungry too."

"I am sorry" Lucifer didn't know what else to say.

"It was pickles with cheese, your Majesty. They deserve to die a thousands times because of that. I will keep their voices repeating their torment for all eternity. If they had any family I will kill them too and tell them it was all because of a sandwich of pickles with cheese."

"Alright" Lucifer sighed, looking around and counting maybe five bodies in total. It was hard to tell, as desmembered as they were. Many already missing chunks with bite marks. Almost every portion of the place had been painted in red. "Listen, I… there is going to be other chances, okay? This was just the first one. We have a bunch of other options to go through. I am sure the next one will go better."

"Sir" said Alastor.

"Yes?" Lucifer was already imagining what was coming and he was entirely right.

"I am still hungry. Would you mind leaving this floor while I take my lunch? I won't use my magic. I won't need to."

"Sure. Yeah" said Lucifer, scratching the back of his neck. Maybe the whole eating now for two was making it worse for Alastor or he was just that pissed. Either way, he didn't really felt with any leg to stand and judge. He was frustrated too, fuck it. "I will make it so the Voxtech guards don't reach you, okay? Just… come find me when you are done."

Alastor stared at him for a moment. Maybe surprised that he just accept it so easily, Then he silently nodded as he opened up his mouth, unhinged his own jaw, and lifted the body he was already eating from to chump down the entire head.

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