Alastor would have to be tortured and have the safety of everything he's ever cared about visibly threaten before he would ever willingly admit to the way his pulse sped up at hearing Lucifer say his name so affectionately. He's not stupid enough to not know what's happening. He's felt like this once before, when he was a child, before his maman was killed. He had developed a crush another boy in his class, but had never acted on it. Not only had it been... lets say "frowned upon" to be homosexual, but he had barely had time to process it and think about maybe testing the waters to see if he'd be hate-crimed for his feelings before his life was irreversibly changed. After that his life had been too dangerous to even entertain such thoughts.
So of course he gains feelings for the King of Hell! The little idiot hits all Alastor's preferences! Powerful, sweet, caring, deceptively delicate looking, traumatized, engaging! It's fucking annoying!
But despite that AND his whiny Shadow being loud with its wants, Alastor is NOT making any moves on the King anytime soon. The poor angel JUST accepted the end of a long term, seemingly very abusive, relationship with his ex-wife. Now is NOT the time.
That being said, his Shadow showing him the feathers he found, presumably Lucifer's given the colours, does give Alastor an idea on how to get closer to his Starlight. It has to be hard to preen 6 wings by himself, especially while injured.. Maybe he can convince Lucifer to let him help? He'd be will to make a deal to put the man at ease with the prospect. Wings seem very important to those who have them. Even Husk can get fussy over his and the man isn't always the best at keeping the rest of himself groomed. The other demon even reluctantly asked Alastor to help preen them once! So Alastor is not unfamiliar with the process.
Plus the rush of power and pride Alastor felt seeing Lucifer so trusting was addicting. He bet being able to run his hands through the King's soft feathers would give him an even bigger rush. The trust it would take for the angel to let Alastor sit or stand behind him and touch such delicate features is giving Alastor a rush better than any drug just thinking about it.
To be Lucifer's closest and most trusted companion would be more empowering than any power Rosie could have ever promised him. Add in the possibility of making a deal to have access to Lucifer's magic/power, and Alastor could actually be one of the most powerful beings in most of existence!
Alastor had to keep tight control of himself at multiple points yesterday because of Lucifer giving him an overwhelming amount of cute aggression. The King wasn't quite his usually self, processing trauma has a way of doing that, but he slowly got more and more comfortable in Alastor's presence the longer they were alone together. Sure, Lucifer was still a bit jumpy by the end, but he stopped hesitating to touch Alastor and spoke of things that make him feel vulnerable, like his made-up duck stories and some of his troubles with Charlie and Lilith. It was all so much more progress than Alastor thought he'd make with how Lucifer ran away in the aftermath of Vox's party.
...It's because he kept those ducks, isn't it?... God damn it, he only took them to be petty at the time. He'll have to let his Shadow do something he normally wouldn't let it do as a reward since the silly thing is the only reason the ducks are in his bayou and not the trash.
This is ridiculous. A mere happenstance was his in with his traumatized crush. He hates when things are left to chance. He literally sold his soul to Rosie while alive to avoid having to deal with chance.
Alastor ended up spending most of his night antagonizing over his plans to kill Valentino (and realizing he forgot to ask Lucifer with help figuring out Angel's deal) and while having random bouts of cute aggression remembering stupid behaviors or traits he witnessed Lucifer do/have.
He snapped one of his favourite pens in half when a sudden throb from his, much less painful than it had been, chest wound made him think about how gentle Lucifer's tiny, scarred, and oddly cold hands were while healing his injuries "just cause". "Father of all evil" his ass, the tiny King has little to no self preservation and a battered heart of gold. He's a god awful liar and stupidly open with his emotions. The dumb idiot didn't even want payment for helping. Alastor would do just about anything for him at this point.
He did end up taking a short nap at around 2am, his chest wound actually making him tired while also not hurting enough to keep him awake. He wasn't completely lying when he said he doesn't sleep. He just only needed a few hours every other week before he got injured. His powers being more than enough to keep him up and moving without tiring. (Which is why he didn't need to sleep the entire time he was sitting in that ridiculous chair, rolling around and sewing chaos between the Vees. There was no outlet for his powers, so they just buzzed under his skin to keep him alert for any funny business.) But getting even more injured because of Vox and his stupid robo-shark had made him actually need to sleep a "normal" amount. (He WILL finish off that creep the next time he sees him.) And now his body still has to get with the program that he's a lot less hurt than yesterday, so the nap was necessary.
Alastor was still up and ready for the new day before 4am. Freshly showered and clothes pressed as he meanders out into the quiet Hotel. Most people are in bed at such an early hour, but a few stragglers are quietly occupying themselves in the public areas, thankfully not causing any disturbances. Alastor would hate for Charlie to get side tracked from talking things out with his King because she noticed a couple of the guests "disappeared".
He's not sure when his King plans to talk to Charlie, but it wouldn't be remiss to start the day with a filling meal, so he shall begin breakfast for the staff. The Fallen Angels and Nifty seem to prefer sweet items for breakfast, but his King will also partake in savory foods, probably in a bid to have a more balanced meal. While Charlie and Husk prefer greasy, high protein foods. It means Alastor has a wide variety of foods to kill time creating. He puts on his favourite music radio station while he works.
"Alastor?" Vaggi's suspicious voice breaks him out of his groove at around 6am. He glances towards the doorway to find she's dressed for the day and squinting dangerously at him. How amusing!
"Ah! Vaggi, my dear!" He releases the whisk in his hand to wave towards a cooling rack full of several flavours of muffins and scones. "Help yourself! I found myself in the mood to make breakfast!"
"There's nothing weird about them, is there?" She asks, edging closer to the rack. He can see her interest in the sweets, even if she's trying to pretend otherwise.
"Now, my dear! I know most of the staff doesn't care for my more... unique ingredients!" Alastor laughs at the disgusted face she makes, "So no, they're all made with traditional "princess approved" ingredients! There's blueberry, raspberry, chocolate, and cinnamon strudel muffins and lemon raspberry, blueberry, and chocolate orange scones, in that order, on the rack!"
"That's a lot..." Vaggi frowns curiously at him, while grabbing a blueberry muffin.
"What can I say? Breakfast is the most important meal of the day!" Alastor's grin widening does not help put her at ease. A shame.
"Is there something we should know about?" She asks, slowly peeling the muffin's wrapper off.
"Not yet, but I'm sure there's something!"
There's no talking for a few minutes after that. The only sound being the radio and Alastor, his humming along and the noises of him chopping ingredients, then whisking together different types of egg creations. He sets the mixtures aside to cook when the assigned person should be heading down. Lucifer, Charlie, and Husk all like their eggs completely different than one another. Lucifer and Husk prefer more seasonings, but different types, their animal traits enhancing and/or dulling certain flavours. Charlie likes vegetables without meat mixed in, while Husk rather just have meat chunks. Lucifer is more in the middle of their ratios. It's a fun challenge!
"What are you planning?" Vaggi suddenly asks. There's a small pile of crumbs in front of her and several baked goods missing from the rack when he glances over.
"Whatever do you mean?" Alastor is genuinely curious.
"You're causing chaos between Charlie and her dad." She scowls "threateningly" at him.
"I have done no such thing." Alastor dismisses, making the girl puff up. "The problems she is having currently with our dear ruler are from her own actions and years of abuse finally coming to a head."
"Wait, what? Abuse?" Vaggi's face scrunches in her confusion.
"Yes, what do you know of our King's marriage?" He cuts her off when she opens her mouth, "Really think about it, my dear."
She closes her mouth and gets a thoughtful look on her face.
"By Charlie's own words, she just about never saw her father after her mother separated them. Tell me from your own observations of our King, does that seem like it was his decision?" Her silence is telling, "And all we truly know about Lilith is that she's the first Sinner and "ignores" anything "unimportant". Her daughter and, now ex, husband seemingly 2 of those "unimportant things"... Now tell me, what was Our Majesty's reaction to Charlie's anger?"
Vaggi shifts uncomfortably.
"Because as I heard it, it was to cower and attempt to deescalate, before accepting her decision to kick him out without a fuss and not coming back until she wanted him to." Alastor places a cooking sheet of bacon into the oven before turning to give her his full attention. "I've now personally seen him flinch under Charlie's anger. It speaks of a man used to things going very, very poorly for him. What do you think happens when someone willing to use and abuse their power finds out that you're powerless from stopping them from doing anything they want to you?"
"You don't think..." Vaggi trails off uncomfortably.
"He hasn't verbally admitted to much, but there wasn't an equal effort in their marriage. Which is very apparent from the radio silence." Alastor checks the time. Nifty and Charlie will be down soon, so he starts cooking Charlie's eggs. "Our King has been very hurt. The Princess needs to start listening and observing her father, or I fear she'll completely lose him. The recent pain and humiliation he was dealt has broken something in him from what I've seen. He's paranoid and quiet when outside of the safety of his room yesterday. Not that Charlie noticed, she abandoned him in a crowd of Sinners that might want "revenge" over the damage "The Might of Lilith" caused."
Alastor can't help the annoyed sound that leaves him.
"As if it was Lilith's might that powered the thing. What a ridiculous name."
"You don't think people will attack my dad, do you?" Charlie asks nervously from the kitchen doorway. "It wasn't his fault!"
"No, it was yours." Alastor states, making both girls suck in a sharp, surprised breath.
Nifty runs in, glances around, and beelines to the chocolate orange scones closest to her eye level. She doesn't say anything, but she's obviously paying attention. Good girl.
"What do you mean?" Charlie asks, looking and sounding so pitiful.
"If you hadn't been more focused on trying to prove you were right to Vox, Vaggi wouldn't have convinced your father to try to be intimidating, and if she hadn't done that, you wouldn't have proved how much of a spoiled child you are when things don't go your way and kicked your dear father out, which was the only reason Vox was able to catch him in a trap and nearly kill him." Alastor lists off, as he plates Charlies eggs. He did an excellent job, they look delicious.
"He almost died?" Vaggi quickly looks to Charlie, who looks devastated.
"According to him, and I'm inclined to believe him." Alastor hands Charlie her breakfast. "You know he's still injured, correct?"
"He is?" Charlie squeaks. Vaggi quickly moves to have her sit at the kitchen island.
"Truly, Princess." Alastor sighs. "Do you care about him at all? Or is he simply a tool to you?"
"My dad is NOT a tool!" Charlie is nearly a spitting image of her father when she breaths flames in rage.
"Then prove it." Alastor demands, startling her back to her normal state. "You have not been giving the same effort as him to fix your relationship. You've been guilting him into following your every wish for months now, but after you abandoning him to bleed out, I doubt that tactic is going to work much longer, Princess. I'm telling you now to fix the mess YOU made, because you will be down most of your staff if you don't."
"What do you mean?" Vaggi frowns, rubbing Charlie's back.
"I won't be staying if the Princess chases our King away, and Nifty and Husker will be coming with me if I leave." Alastor plainly tells them, before turning around and pulling the bacon from the oven. "I'm here because you were entertaining me, but I do not like abusers."
"Charlie is not an abuser." Vaggi defends, while Charlie whimpers.
"Prove It." Alastor lets his eldritch feature slip through as he stares them down. Husk choking in surprise when he enters the kitchen with Fatnuggets makes Alastor pull himself back in. "Husker! You're early!"
"Am I interrupting something?" The winged cat wearily asks, eyeing the room while protectively holding his almost-lover's pet.
"Not at all! The Princess needs to think over my words, anyways!" Alastor dismisses, not looking to the distraught women as he grabs the bowl of Husk's eggs. "Your breakfast will be ready in a few minutes, so do feed Angel's pet something other than peanuts!"
Husk grumbles something too low for Alastor to hear, but it can't be too important as he immediately and gracelessly bustles around the kitchen to get the poor pig-like creature a proper meal. Despite Alastor's teasing, Husker has been doting on the thing in the spider's absence.
Vaggi ends up taking her lover with her when she leaves to finish prepping for a new busy day of dealing with Sinners. And Nifty starts on cleaning the dishes in the sink with maniac cackles.
"Here you are, my good man." Alastor cheerfully says when he hands Husk his breakfast, his tail and wings twitch excitement over the food, even if he stays scowling. "I have plans this evening. You will be coming with me."
"Oh? Where to, boss?" Husk asks, still trying to not look delighted by his food. Something about not giving Alastor the satisfaction? Alastor doesn't really remember why the other demon said he refuses to show how much he likes Alastor's food in particular, but he has such poor control over his animalistic features that it's a moot point.
"Pest hunting." Husk's face twists into dark satisfaction.
"Moth?"
"Yes." Alastor pulls up his sleeve to reveal his healed arm. "I've been so distracted with the family drama happening I forgot to ask our King about Angel's deal, but I figure I can do that over breakfast. He was so kind to heal this nuisance and move up our timetable."
Husk gives him an odd look, before shrugging. "I'll grab Cherri. She knew what to do when Angel was so fucked up he couldn't recognize us."
"Yes, that could be a problem." Alastor checks the time, it's still a bit early for Lucifer to be out and about, but he might be awake, so he sees no reason not to finish making Lucifer's breakfast and taking it to the man's suite. He'd likely be more comfortable eating up there anyways. "Your poor spider is likely going to need a lot of support dealing with whatever traumas he's likely been dealt over the last few days."
"You don't mind if I take a few days off to focus on him?" Husk asks wearily.
"Husker," Alastor tisks, glancing up from Lucifer's eggs slowly cooking. "I'm not blind. I saw how you look at each other."
"That's not-!" Husk stutters humorously, trying to deny the obvious.
"On a separate note, could you run me through the most important parts of wing care is, again?" Alastor cuts off the protests he wasn't listening to.
"Why?" Husk glances at and fidgets with his own wings, as if questioning if Alastor saw something wrong with the limbs. There's not. Husk usually stays on top of his wing care.
"I believe I can spin a deal in my favour by offering to take care of our King's wings while he's too injured to do so himself." Alastor says, as if he doesn't just want to touch them.
"Huh. That makes sense I guess." Husk frowns, "But if he healed your arm, why can't he heal his own injuries?"
"I asked that as well." Alastor admits, "He had healed most of the wounds I saw before his disappearance, but apparently he can't heal wounds made from angelic steel, those must be taken care of the human way."
"Damn. That sucks." Husk glances up as if he can see through the floors to the King's suite, (A thought that pisses Alastor off irrationally, but pretends it doesn't.) before straightening up and give Alastor his attention. "So I don't know if His Majesty's wings' care will be exactly the same, but the basics should be the same. He'll likely tell you if he-"
Husk rambles a bunch of wing care tips and tricks that Alastor remembers from helping Husk, but the refresher is good. There were a couple of things he forgot about.
Alastor plates the King's eggs, then assembles a tray of them, baked goods, bacon, and coffee prepared how the angel likes it to take to Lucifer. His Shadow helpfully grabs the tray Alastor had set a sandwich, a scone, a couple pieces of bacon, and his own coffee on, and stows it in the shadows for Alastor to summon. Lucifer is lonely enough that Alastor is betting the angel will ask him to stay for breakfast, but if not, Alastor could always eat in his suite.
"You've been most helpful, Husker. Now lets see if it's enough to win our King's favour!" Husk has that weird look on his face again, but he doesn't say anything, so Alastor ignores it and shadow travels to the dark spot in the hall that's between Lucifer and Alastor's room. He walks the rest of the short distance to Lucifer's door and politely knocks.
"Just a moment!" Lucifer calls out, there's a soft crash before his King quickly opens his door. Alastor can't help blinking in surprise as he takes in the angel drowning in an oversized pink sweater. The sharp flare of cute aggression is hard to wrestle into control and not damage the tray in his hands. "Alastor?"
"Good morning, Starlight! I brought breakfast to start the day off right!" The King looks amused and confused, but still steps back to let Alastor in. "I had noticed how uncomfortable you were in the more public areas yesterday."
"Oh, uh, yeah, a bit." Lucifer flusters, apparently having thought no one noticed his plight. Alastor places the tray on the table they had eaten dinner at the night before. "That looks delicious."
"Thank you, Starlight. Would you care for some company?" Alastor turns to look his King head on, "I will warn you, my own breakfast has more.. unique meats in the sandwich."
"That's fine. I'd love the company." Lucifer doesn't appear to be lying either. How interesting!
"Wonderful!" Alastor summons his breakfast to him and sets the tray in the spot he had claimed last night, before taking a seat. He's treated to a repeat performance of his King's graceless struggle into his almost booster chair like seat. It's just too adorable and humorous! "I must admit I had other reasons for visiting besides simply visiting."
"Oh?" The angel looks like a suspicious baby bird.
"Yes. You never told me when you planned to talk to Charlie today." Alastor sips his coffee. Best ease into the more... complicated topics.
Lucifer makes a noise of understanding and takes a sip of his own coffee, his eyes sparkle with delight when he realizes Alastor made it just how he likes it. "I was hoping to pull her aside once I got dressed and ready for the day. Best to get it out of the way or I'll be stressing about it all day."
"I always appreciate a proactive approach!" Alastor cheers. He hadn't been so sure that'd be Lucifer's approach.
They fall into a companionable silence as they begin eating. He waits until they're most of the way through their meal before broaching the next subject on his list.
"I was thinking of doing... lets say "pest control" later." Alastor says maliciously, before soothing his agitated features back into something less "scary". "But I unfortunately find myself at a lose on if removing a certain moth will harm a certain spider. Would you happen to know a way to check the wording on Angel's soul deal? I'll need to get.. creative if it's too airtight."
"Shit, is that why I didn't see him around?" Lucifer apparently wasn't told about Angel's "relation" to Valentino. "Let me just.."
Lucifer wipes scone crumbles from his fingers and scoots back in his seat, before closing his eyes and focusing on ...something. His demonic features appear as his red/pink magic starts glowing around him, swirling and reaching for something Alastor can't see, when suddenly it concentrates in Lucifer's hands, and what must be Angel Dust's deal appears.
"Is that..?"
"It's just a copy." Lucifer awkwardly explains, "As the technical creator of this plain of existence, I can view deals if I know what to look for... I need consent from at least one of people who made the deal to break them, though. It's part of my punishment for granting human's free will."
"Interesting." That simplifies and complicates things, and means Alastor could have just asked Lucifer to break his deal with Rosie. How annoying.
"Hn." Lucifer studies the contract closely, "I spotted a couple of loopholes Angie-"
"Angel." Alastor absently corrects.
"Yes, Angel. There's a couple of loopholes he could have already used to break his contract without consequences on his side." Lucifer shrugs then hands the copy over to Alastor, "But I also don't see anything that'd harm him if you just kill the pervy moth-guy."
"That's good. Husk would be very distraught if I were to accidently hurt his spider." Alastor skims the contract and sees that his King is correct in his assessment.
"Oh? So I wasn't imagining the tension between those two?" Lucifer's tail is excitedly wagging as the angel leans forward for the "hot gos" as the kids say.
"Indeed. They were tip toeing around each other because of their respective deals forcing them on opposite sides." Alastor confides, "Not that I'd stop Husker or Nifty from pursuing a lover, but I prefer who they choose either have their own souls or be under contract with me. Makes it less messy if I need to make them disappear."
Lucifer's laugh is light and beautiful.
"You care about them." Lucifer grins fondly, he's completely relaxed in Alastor's presences now. "In your own violent way, you want them to be happy."
"Loyalty is easier to maintain if I take care of their needs and reasonable wants." Alastor deflects, but knows he might as well as admitted to it point blank.
"Sure." Lucifer chuckles and picks up his coffee mug, maintaining amused eye contact as he takes a sip. Only to jolt slightly as Alastor's shadow decides to make itself known by brushing against the angel's legs, then place a feather on the table next to Lucifer. "Oh! I thought I cleaned all of those up!"
"He's very good at finding things." Alastor decides this is his chance to offer his help. "How are your wings? I doubt the Vees let you groom them while they had you and it can't be easy to take care of them while injured."
"I'll manage." The paranoia is back. His King clearly has some kind of trauma dealing with his wings that they hadn't noticed before.
"I was simply going to offer my help. I've helped Husk with his in the past." This makes Lucifer's guard lower again, but he's frowning and not quite as relaxed as he was before Alastor brought up his wings. "I can only imagine how much more difficult having 6 wings are to take care of by oneself."
"Al. What are you trying to ask?"
"As I said, to offer my help." Alastor keeps himself still and calm, attempting to put his angel back at ease.
"Why? What's in it for you?" Lucifer is staring like he can see into Alastor's soul. Maybe he can? It'd be the first time he actually used the ability on Alastor if he could.
"I find myself realizing how much you've done for Charlie and this Hotel for no reward. I simply wish to give you back some of the help you offer so freely." Plus Alastor wants to touch. "We could word it as an official deal if it would put you at ease. Something like "I, Alastor the Radio Demon, will help King Lucifer Morningstar for as long as necessary."?"
"That's too vague. What would you gain from effectively becoming my servant?" Lucifer scowls, then seems to get an idea before Alastor can say anything. "Actually, I'm sure you noticed the loophole in my inability to hurt Sinners that the TV-man discovered."
"Indeed." Alastor so hopes this is going where he thinks it is. It'd be one less thing for him to bring up. He'd hate for Lucifer to think he's trying to use him.
"So how about this?" Lucifer seems to fight with himself for a moment. "You help me give my wings a thorough preening once in the next day or two and a second one in about two weeks so that they don't bug me as much as I heal, on the conditions you can't knowingly harm me or my wings during those sessions, and I'll let you have temporary access to my powers while you hunt down the Vees. Does this sound acceptable?"
Oh, dear. That stinks of some serious trauma. Alastor will have to be extra gentle during those sessions.
Alastor holds out his hand for a handshake, "It's a pleasure doing business with you, Lu."
The angel turns a delightful shade of yellowish gold at the usage of the nickname.
"Fuck." Lucifer whispers to himself before reaching over, stopping just short of touching. "Brace yourself."
Lucifer is shaking his hand before Alastor can ask for clarification. Which would have been nice. If Alastor thought his and Charlie's deal shook to building, he's positive the whole Pentagram shook with this one. Or maybe Alastor is the only one shaking? Power like he's never known before flood his senses, making him feel blind and deaf to everything around him until the magic levels out.
"Sorry. I tried to only give you a little." Lucifer's voice is full of worry and now on at Alastor's side. Small cold, yet strong hands help to steady Alastor.
"That-" Alastor blinks his vision back into focus and looks at his King disbelievingly, "That was just a "little" of your power?"
"Well, yeah." Lucifer huffs in disgruntlement. "I didn't know what would happen if I gave you too much. I'd hate for you to explode or something."
They're interrupted by Lucifer's door bursting open before Alastor can say anything to that.
"DAD!!"
"YOUR MAJESTY!!"
Charlie and Vaggi skid to a stop a few feet away, clearly taking in Alastor's hunched over form and Lucifer's comforting hand on his arm.
"Dad? What did you do?" Charlie takes another step towards them.
"What deal did you make?" Vaggi is glaring at Alastor.
"Now I don't see how that's either of your businesses." Alastor says, straightening up in his seat.
"It is when it shook the whole Pentagram!" Vaggi shouts. Oh, good, it wasn't just Alastor experiencing the shaking.
"No. That still only makes it only our business." Alastor grins at her. He can't help relaxing when he hears Lucifer laugh.
"Dad?" Charlie is focused only on her father.
"Don't worry about it, Charlie." Lucifer takes half a step towards her. "Trust me. There's nothing to worry about. The benefits will out weigh the cons."
"Your father healed my arm." Alastor deflects. Charlie would not approve of the murder tied to the deal, but her father-figures helping each other should be distracting enough to get her to stop asking.
"Oh!" Charlie seems to take in the rest of the scene. "Were you guys having breakfast together??"
Alastor can't help the way his ears twitch at the excited high pitch she spoke in. "Why, yes, Charlie. We were."
"Oh my gosh! That's so great! You guys are finally getting along!" She squeals. Vaggi frowns thoughtfully, but doesn't say anything.
"Ah, yes, well.." Lucifer fidgets, before seeming to steel himself. "Actually since you're here, why don't we talk Charlie? I know you were taking my decision involving your mother hard-"
"Oh my gosh! I was going to tell you! Mom called me last night!" Charlie beams, seeming to miss the way Lucifer tenses up. "She's going to come to the Hotel!"
"That.. tracks." Lucifer mutters before giving his daughter a weak smile. "That's great, sweetie. I'm not changing my mind, though."
"Wait! What!? But she's coming back!" Charlie protests.
"Yeah. After I destroyed the link giving her access to my powers." Lucifer reveals to the room, seeming to not care that Alastor and Vaggi are there to witness whatever's about to happen between the Morningstars. "Why do you think I knew she was still alive and well this whole time? I could feel her using my powers while ignoring me!"
"What are you talking about?" Charlie seems stunned.
"Charlie, you are the only good thing I've ever gotten out of my marriage to your mother." Lucifer's oversized sweater makes him look even smaller as he shrinks in on himself. "I'm leaving when she comes to stay."
"What?" Charlie squeaks.
"She's hurt me.. in so, So many ways." Lucifer hugs himself, trying to self sooth. "I just can't keep living a lie. I'm tired..."
"Was.." Vaggi worriedly glances at Charlie. "Was Lilith abusive to you?"
Charlie takes a sharp breath and shoots Vaggi a betrayed look, but the longer Lucifer doesn't confirm or deny turns the air awkward and tense.
"Dad?"
"She blamed me for our Fall..." Lucifer isn't staring at anything. "She hates me, but liked what I could provide her.."
There's so many things that could mean.
"I need someone you cares about me for me." Alastor has to hold himself back from reaching out, he's not sure his King would be receptive to touch while speaking on this topic. "Lilith hasn't been that person in a long time.. I.. I'm not sure if she ever was..."
"Dad.." Charlie reaches out, but stops short of actually touching her father, clearly also unsure how receptive Lucifer would be to being touched. "Why..? What happened?"
Lucifer's humorless laugh sounds a bit wet, but he doesn't seem to actually be crying. "One of my only rules while you were growing up was that any fights or arguments we had were done where you couldn't hear or see."
" "Fights"?" Alastor cuts in, "But you can't harm Sinners."
The way his King folds in on himself says it all.
"Dad.." Charlie sounds particularly pathetic this time she repeats herself.
"I wasn't going to say anything." Lucifer admits, "I know you and your mother have a special bond. I didn't want to say anything that'd ruin that."
"I should get to make that decision." Charlie gently scolds, "If our relationship gets ruined, it's because of her own actions."
Vaggi and Alastor suddenly make eye contact and an uncomfortable kinship is recognized. It seems she can tell that he's laid claim to his King in an equally possessive and protective way as she has her Princess.
Well, it's nice to know he and his soon to be daughter-in-law can bond over their blond idealistic idiots.
"Can I hug you?" Charlie asks her dad, who nods. She wraps him in a big, warm hug that he absolutely melts into. "I'm sorry. I should have heard you out and accepted your decision without pushing you so hard."
"Children don't like to see their idea of family fall apart." Lucifer's voice is muffled in Charlie's shoulder. They're sickeningly sweet.
Alastor uses his shadows to clean up his and Lucifer's leftover breakfast, sending the dishes to the kitchen for Nifty to scrub to her delight and satisfaction. He's very fond of the demented little maid.
"You seem to have things to talk about." Alastor announces, firmly leading Vaggi towards the door, "We'll leave you to it!"
"Wait- What-" Vaggi sputters, but doesn't struggle as he gets them both out of the room. He doesn't explain until the door is shut.
"I believe we finally got through to our dear Charlie, but they need to talk without an audience making them clam up." He straightens his coat and glances at the flustered girl. "I believe we have a Hotel to run in the meantime. They'll come down when they're ready."
"I suppose so." Vaggi grumbles, before steeling herself and stomping passed him to the stairs.
He shadow travels to the lobby just to piss her off. It's too fun to annoy her!
Notes
Lucifer thinks the serious talk with Charlie went well. He hates he had to air out how toxic his relationship with her mother was to her, (It was mostly her asking questions and figuring out what he couldn't or wouldn't say through his hesitations or stutters when the harder to admit things came up. She's a smart kid when she stops to think about things.) but he also feels the freest he's ever been. She accepts that he plans to avoid her mother for at least a while, and will try to give him a heads up when Lilith shows up.
Apparently, while Lilith wasn't the most present parent, but she wasn't actively abusive with Charlie. (Which was a relief. He sometimes wondered, but never saw any signs and couldn't ask.) The worst thing she did apparently was tell Charlie that he didn't want to see her or was "busy", while telling Lucifer not to come to things or that Charlie didn't want to see him, so that pissed them both off a bit.
And the topic of WHY Lucifer had a child with Lilith lead to the topic of HOW. Charlie had never thought deeply about how it wasn't possible for a Sinner to have children in Hell, thus she couldn't exist through normal means.
So yeah, it was an extremely awkward and/or painful conversation that was also very cathartic. The topics drifted after her curiosity on her parents' toxic relationship was slated for the time being before landing on the current one.
"So what's going on with you and Alastor?" Her face may be innocent, but her voice is full of teasing.
"Nothing is going on!" Lucifer protests, but just knows he's blushing up a storm.
"Daaaad~!" She grins, "You liiiike him!"
"NO!- Well- yes, but-!" Lucifer makes a gargled noise before pulling himself together. "Look. Even if I was ready to jump into the dating scene, which I'm NOT, Alastor's not like that. I've never heard or seen him show any interest in non-platonic relationships. He just seems to like the "dad friend" role and I've been particularly pathetic the last few days."
"You're NOT pathetic, Dad!" She grabs his hands, smiling happy and reassuringly, "And! I think he likes you, too. He's been protective of you since you disappeared from the aftermath of the Vee's party."
"Charlie.." Lucifer laments, this is not helping with his crush on the guy.
"Eee! I'm just so excited! My dad and father figure are getting along!" She jumps up and down slightly, "Oh my gosh! If you guys do end up dating and getting married, he'd actually be my dad!"
"You're getting ahead of us, sweetie." Lucifer can't help laughing at her enthusiasm. Mildly surprised at how fast she went from hoping he'd get back together with Lilith to hoping he gets together with Alastor. "I'd like to take this slow. If I do somehow end up attempting to date Alastor, I don't want either of us to feel like we rushed into anything or are a rebound. That wouldn't be fair to either of us."
"Dad! You remember his name!" Charlie points out.
"Why is everyone so surprised about that? I literally made a sign with his name on it!" Lucifer complains.
"Because you never remember anyone's name! And you've never called him it out loud-" She lets go of his hands to freely stim with her hands. "Wait! Who else was surprised!? Was it Alastor!? Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh!"
Lucifer ignores the pain in his wounds to become an embarrassed little sweater ball. Charlie's giggles, even if they're at his "misery", fill him with a warm fondness. He loves his daughter.
Hopefully this whole experience has been a wake up call for her. Time will tell if her actions will line up with her words in the long run, but he's hopeful.
"Why are you so dead set me having a partner?" He mumbles, glancing up at her when she kneels in front of him.
"I just want you to be happy, Dad." Her smile is a little sad, "Mom once commented on Angels being Flock or pack-bond creatures and I think I'm beginning to understand what she meant. You've sacrificed more than you should have ever needed to for your "Flock" just because it's what me or mom wanted. And if you being happy means you starting a new Flock with, well, Alastor, then I want you to go for it. I might not get it, but I know he can be nice when he feels like it and is, er, violently protective of those he cares about."
He hadn't thought about how Angels, even Archangels, were such social creatures. Maybe that's why he's done so poorly in his isolation? His clinginess is a built in feature? Was it another thing pre-designed to punish him? Like his wings?
Charlie's smile turns mischievous. "Plus you clearly have a type; tall, bold, dangerous~"
"Charlie!" Lucifer makes a very bird-like squawk.
"I'm just saying!" She laughs. She stands and offers her hands to help him up.
"You're killing me, Char-Char." He grumbles, without real offense. He lets her pull him to his feet, which transitions into her hugging him.
"I love you, Dad."
"I love you, too, Charlie." He pulls back slightly to reach up and gently guide her head low enough for him to kiss the top of her head. "And I always will."
Charlie makes a happy noise and renews the hug with a crashing force that makes him gasp in pain. She quickly lets go while panicking.
"Oh my gosh! I'm so sorry, Dad! I forgot!"
"It's fine." Lucifer tries to sooth, but his smile is still a bit strained because of the throbbing in his wounds. "But maybe be a bit more gently for the next week or two? Angelic steel wounds take longer to heal."
"Yeah! Right! I can totally do that!" She waves her hands about in frantic, but scared to touch movements.
"I'm going to be fine, really, Charlie." His smile turns a bit more real. "I just need to be physically careful for a little bit. My magic healed everything else has I slept off my exhaustion."
"Alastor said you almost died..." Charlie whispers.
"I.." Lucifer sighs, "I'm not going to lie, if the machine hadn't broken when it had, I likely wouldn't be here. It would have taken too much for me to recover."
Charlie makes a sad noise and bursts into tears, that has him ironically mirroring the frantic movements she had just been doing.
"But it DID, I'm fine! Well, mostly fine!"
"But you almost weren't!" She hiccups, "It would have been my fault!"
"What!? No! No, honey, it wouldn't have been." Lucifer has no idea how she got that thought in her brain.
"B-bu-but-!" She sobs. Lucifer gently grabs her face to make her look at him.
"Sweet, no. The only person to blame is that TV creep." He gives her a reassuring smile. "And honestly, I should have realized it wasn't you calling. I'm a pretty bad father to not be able to tell the difference between you and his mimicry."
"NO!" Charlie protests. "If I wasn't so stubborn, then you wouldn't have been in a position to be tricked!"
Lucifer recognizes the signs that Charlie won't listen to any suggestion where only one of them are at fault, she's really too much like him sometimes, so he decides on a compromise.
"How about we agree that we both made mistakes, but no one is truly at fault?" He wipes a few of her tears away before playfully smirk, "Well, no one, but TV guy. He was the worst."
"The absolute worst." She agrees with a wet giggle. She pulls back and dries her face. "I should probably go check on the Hotel."
"It has been pretty busy." He's sad she's leaving, but he's proud of her. Her dream is coming true. She's making more changes to Heaven and Hell than he's even tried to do since his attempt to do something similar failed. She really is the best parts of Lucifer and Lilith in so many ways.
"How about you relax today, Dad?" She pulls herself to her full height before sternly telling him. "No. I insist you relax. You're still injured and just went through an emotional rollercoaster. We can watch one of those weird duck musicals after I wrap up the group sessions today."
"If you insist, honey." Lucifer chuckles, but feels a great deal of relief to not be asked to interact with random Sinners just yet.
"I do." She gives him another quick hug before trotting to the door, "Love you! See you later!"
"Love you, too! Have a good day!" He calls after her. She excitedly waves good-bye as she pulls his door shut.
And like that, he's left alone. He locks his door, so no one can just waltz in, before pulling his sweater off. He hadn't gotten to change his bandages this morning before... everything that happened this morning happened, so now they're starting to itch something fierce. He makes the bandages disappear with a snap of his fingers. If he has the day off, he can let them air out for a bit. Something something to prevent rot? He doesn't really remember the reason why you're supposed to let wounds like his air out, he just knows he has to.
He's not sure what exactly to do with himself at first. His usual crafting with exposed wounds seemed like a bad idea and he doesn't want to lose track of time watching musicals, so he ends up settling on colouring a picture book of pretty bird designs with markers while letting the radio play in the background for an hour. (He set a phone timer.) It's a mostly calm and soothing activity, he does get a little lost on with colours to use.
He's not sure why he gets stressed out over if the colour he chose is the RIGHT colour when it's something someone else drew. There is no "right colour" for something like this, but his dumb brain sometimes says there is and that stresses him out. It's why he prefers to just make things from scratch. Mistakes usually look intentional and no one can really judge since they didn't make it.
The main reason for the time limit is he wants to thoroughly wash his wings before Charlie or Alastor come back. Call him vain, but he doesn't want Charlie to insist on helping (which is why he usually waits until he knows she won't stop by) or Alastor to think his wings are more disgusting than the preening session is likely already going to make the Demon think they are (Lilith hated the dandruff getting under her nails and how the oils felt on her skin). Just thinking about having someone up in his wings after so long is giving him so much anxiety.
His mind is such a mess over the decision. There's a bunch of pros. It's practical because his wings will stop hurting and itching. He really misses trusting someone to care for them and the deal makes it so Alastor can't knowingly hurt him. It's also only temporary, but even if it wasn't, he's starting to think the Demon wouldn't purposely hurt him. But the cons are all emotional. He hasn't trusted anyone with this task in literal centuries, the thought of anyone's hands touching his wings makes him twitchy. He's a little scared he's going to do something embarrassing and prove just how pathetic he is.
Maybe Alastor likes pathetic guys?
Releasing his wings when his timer goes off feels amazing, but sends loose feathers flying everywhere. The shitty preening session the day before having loosened some feathers enough that taking them in and out of their pocket dimension was enough friction to make them drop. He's hoping that washing and drying them will remove some more. It'll shorten the preening session, and make his wings look and smell nice.
He really shouldn't care what anyone thinks of his wings, especial Alastor who knows exactly how mobile, or nonmobile, he's been since the Vees grabbed him. If anyone wouldn't judge him for their state, it'd be the guy who was also tied up for who knows how long... right?
Ugh! Why did Father have to make all the Archangels so vain!? He'd love to not worry about being the prettiest in front of his crush. A crush who has seen him at his worst or just rolling out of bed multiple times before Lucifer caught feelings, by the way! But Lucifer's dumb bird brain can't get with the program!
His shower at the Hotel isn't quite as nice as the one in the Palace, but he made sure it had everything he needed to thoroughly wash his wings, and had set up about a third of the Hotel's rooms to also have the same or very similar set ups, so Sinners with wings can also do what they need for wing care. (He may have made sure the Bartender was set up with a care package of wing care products that are cat friendly as a thanks for all his help keeping Charlie safe during the last Extermination.) Things like an overhead, a "sideways", and a handheld set of nozzles to get all the way through the different layers of feathers and a type of drain set up that he found the best to not clog the pipes with feathers. You just have to be careful not to trip on the.. well, it's basically a gutter guard. The purpose is just to catch feathers instead of leaves. Then there's a normal hair catcher under that to catch, well, hair, but also smaller feathers that slip through the guard.
Just because he CAN fix the pipes doesn't mean he wants to be doing it constantly.
Shampooing and conditioning what he could reach on his wings in wonderfully fantastic hot water is blissful and removes even more dead feathers. Too bad it can't break the keratin sheaths and prevent ingrown feathers, or he'd just repeatedly do this until the itching stopped.
An involuntary ruffle of his wings send water EVERYWHERE. Which is why ALL the wing-haver bathrooms he made are water resistant or tiled EVERYWHERE. Sure, he can snap his fingers and dry the whole room, but most people aren't him and can't do that, so it was a preemptive step that the Sinners hopefully appreciate.
He towel dries his wings the best he can, not trusting that his magic or the hair drier to not completely dry them out. The skin will feel tight and itch if the oils he naturally produces aren't spread over the dry areas... Maybe he should have waited? Then Alastor could help?
No. It's fine. He'll bandage himself up and deal with the mild discomfort til Alastor comes back. They have a deal...
Somethings happening. Lucifer can sense something on the edge of his awareness... Oh! Alastor must have snuck away to do "pest control"! Lucifer can feel someone using his magic and only one person has access currently. This is good! That means Charlie's friend..A.. Abel? No, not that. That was one of Eve's sons. Come on, Lucifer! It was an easy name! Abby-Andy-Angie- A-A- ANGEL! The Spider's name is Angel! But yes! This means Angel could be back soon depending on the Vee Alastor is currently killing.
He's positive it'll be the Moth guy first. Between coming to Lucifer to ask about Angel's deal and obvious care for the bartender, Lucifer is pretty sure that's who Alastor is going to kill first.
TV-guy was just a head the last time anyone saw him, so he's not going anywhere. And the phone obsessed girl one wasn't as offensive as the other two, and was the first to help out from what recordings he could find. If Bambi decides to spare her, Lucifer wouldn't be too mad. Annoyed? Sure. But maybe she can turn a new leaf without her douch bag friends.
Notes
It's a good thing Alastor doesn't give a shit about sneaking out because there was no way he, Husk, and Cherri would have been able to, but since it's well known that Alastor is an Overlord, no one looks too closely when he takes Husk out for "business reasons" once Charlie finally comes downstairs and gets into the swing of things. She and Vaggi are too busy with the guests to stop him or ask too many questions.
And Cherri isn't staff. She doesn't have to say anything if she doesn't want to. Which she didn't, so she just leaves out the front door when Alastor comes to collect Husk from the bar.
"Where to first, Boss?" Husk prods once they're a little ways away from the Hotel.
"Wait. Are you seriously not going to ask what deal he made with Lucifer?" Cherri asks, a little shocked.
"Why? It ain't my business." Husk shrugs, "And I doubt the King would make a deal that didn't benefit both of them."
"Right you are, my good man!" Alastor chortles, just to make Cherri uncomfortable. He decides being vague, but truthful will really annoy them both. "I merely traded some of my time and service for a taste of the devine!"
"Damn, didn't realize you swung that way." Cherri states, making Husk choke on a laugh and confusing Alastor.
"I didn't swing at anything?"
"Shit, I forgot yer old as dirt." Cherri says in the same tone someone commenting on the weather would use.
"Cherri.." Husk groans, "He did not sleep with the King."
Alastor loses his control on his eldritch features and static as he startles. "What?"
"She didn't mean nothing by it." Husk eyes him wearily, "But you might want to phrase that differently."
"I see." Alastor carefully puts his appearance back in order, "No. I was talking about his magic. I promised to spare a bit of time and to help with a couple tasks for access to his power. One of said tasks is killing the Vees. Obviously we won't be telling Charlie."
Cherri shrugs, "I ain't planning to get on the King of fucking Hell's bad side. He may be playing nice and unable to personally harm Sinners, but I know he got access to other means to make my life actual hell."
"I assure you," Alastor bends his neck at an unsettling angle, "Lucifer will be the least of your worries if you tell Charlie about Lucifer co-signing this. I just got her to stop being a spoiled brat to Lucifer."
Husk's wings twitch uneasily and Cherri holds her hands up in surrender.
"Hear ya loud and clear, man. I don't care so long as we save Angel."
"You know I won't say anything. I hate these motherfucking assholes." Husk looks away, "I never want to see Angel cry like that again."
Alastor has no idea what Husk is talking about, but whatever, it works in his favour. Alastor snaps his head back to a "normal" position and continues on to the ruined Vee tower.
"Good." He waits for them to start following him again before saying, "I plan to see what my little power boost can do. You focus on getting your wayward spider."
"Maybe Ang and Luc can have a "I was held against my will and used for my body" support group." Cherri tells Husk, seemingly as a joke, but Alastor could see the merits.
"What a splendid idea, my dear! They could both use someone to relate to!" Sure, if they're just talking Vee-trauma, their trauma is different, but if you add what Alastor suspects happened during the course of Lucifer and Lilith's marriage, then they'd have LOTS to talk about.
Hopefully the spider will keep his hands to himself in regards to his Starlight. He'd hate to have to maim or kill the man after all this trouble to get him back in one piece, but the King IS Alastor's.
Alastor internally reaches out and touches the beautiful power gifted to him. It's absolutely breathtaking. Alastor never had a true religious experience before feeling the warm, bright, and POWERFUL magic that is so pure and undeniably Lucifer it almost hurts. He'd worship Lucifer until he dies again just to taste this power forever.
He can't wait to learn what other secrets his Starlight holds.
"So what's the plan?" Husk asks.
"Well, it'd be impolite to not use the front door." Alastor playfully tells them. "You might want to be quick on retrieving Angel. I fear there won't be much of a building left once I'm done with it."
"Noted."
Alastor doesn't change his leisurely pace, purposely ignoring how annoyed his companions are by it... Who is he kidding? He stayed that pace TO annoy them. Their irritation amuses him.
He pauses just outside of the VoxTech tower's security. "If you would."
"Wha-?" Cherri is cut off by his Shadow whirling away, "What the fuck!?"
"I thought you'd like to know where to find Angel before I start." Alastor cheekily tells her.
"Yeah.. We'd appreciate that, Boss. Thanks.." Husk awkwardly says, a little fluffed in his unease.
Alastor makes an affirming noise, more focused on the whereabouts of his Shadow than unnecessary thanks. (And trying not to get distracted picturing how adorable Lucifer with his wings all fluffed up in surprise and/or annoyance would be.) It takes a while, but his Shadow finds Angel in one of Velvette's dressing rooms on one of the upper floors. The woman is dressing the Spider up for some reason. Alastor decides he doesn't feel like waiting for his companions to climb to that floor.
"You might want to close your eyes." Is all the warning they get before he sends them through the shadows to a darkened room on that floor. The amount of power Lucifer's boost gave him is basically untouched by the drain that would usually accompany sending people that far without him with them. "Fantastic!"
Alastor is literally humming as he restarts his leisurely stroll towards the front doors. The closer he gets, the more the cameras focus on him.
"What the fuck are you doing here?" Vox's voice hisses from the speakers once Alastor is, maybe, 20 feet away from the doors.
"Aaw, you seemed to enjoy my company so much over the past couple weeks." Alastor's tone can't be taken as anything, but mocking. "I thought we were having so much fun!"
He lets go of his form. Lucifer's powers make his full eldritch form larger and "glitch" more than usually. He rips the roof off the penthouse as easy as if it was papier-mâché, where he finds Vox is still just a head and now hooked up to the interface at his desk. Alastor doesn't listen to a single thing the other is screaming as he reaches in and rips the man from his wires, he's too busy laughing.
The moth shows up to figure out what is happening while cussing up a storm in Spanish, only to freeze as he realizes Alastor just dropped Vox into his mouth. Screams cut off and the sound of glass and plastic shattering and crunching replace them. Alastor laughing at Valentino's shocked face seems to snap the man out of his shock. The pest's bullets barely feel like anything at all. Divinity hardening his skin.
"How The Fuck Did You Get Stronger???" Valentino shrieks and begins flitting around in the air, his damaged wing making him much less graceful than last time. Employees begin running from the tower like their lives depend on it, which it does. Clearly realizing that they're hopelessly out classed.
Alastor bats at him a couple times, just playing with his food, before an explosion around where the dressing room should be announces his companions engaging Velvette. It distracts Valentino enough to not dodge one of Alastor shadow tentacles, sending him into the ground. Alastor wastes no time pinning him to the ground and stabbing smaller sharp tentacles through all of Valentino's limbs and wings, reminiscent of on entomologist pinning a specimen. The moth demon's screams are delicious.
"VAL!" Velvette's horrified shout draws Alastor's attention. She looks a bit haggard and is panting like she ran as fast as she could there. He widens the tentacles stabbed into Valentino, tearing the wounds open wider and shattering bones, just to see her reaction. It's delightfully aghast!
Alastor does take a moment to do a quick scan to find his companions. His shadows find them a bit worse of wear in a room full of broken windows. He cackles as he uses a couple thicker tentacles to gently grab them and deposit them on the ground a short distance away from the building while the Vees are distracted with him. He can't personally see what the looks on their faces were, but the way his Shadow is cackling it must have been quite humorous.
Velvette's attacks sting a little more than Valentino's, but not by much, and she's easily grabbed and flung through the building, making an already unstable section of the building collapse on top of her. Knowing she'll unbury herself shortly and likely attack him again, he finishes amputating all of Valentino's limbs, and doing immense damage to the pimp's wings at the same time. His screams peter out fairly quickly, which is boring.
He makes eye contact with a terrified Velvette as he drops the moth into his awaiting mouth. He's obnoxiously loud when chewing the crunchy bug.
"What the shit?" She gasps, then tries to jump back when he reaches for her, but isn't fast enough to get away. She looks like a tiny doll in his giant hand. "No NoNo NoNONONOOOO!"
She tastes better than the TV and moth, but she's a weird stringy texture and bits of her get stuck between his teeth. Which is plain unpleasant, but oh well.
"Holy shit..." He hears Cherri gag.
"Yeah, he does that..." Husk responds. And Alastor should probably listen to the rest of the conversation, but it gets drown out by him cackling and pettily destroying the rest of VoxTech tower. He doesn't care to check if anyone is left inside when he does it. They're likely to heal from something as minor as a building coming down on them, or they'll become food for cannibals or animals in the area.
Once he's had his fun, he shrinks back to his normal size, carefully tucking his eldritch features away and dusting himself off.
"Husker, do you happen to have a tooth pick?" Alastor flashes bloodied teeth at the man. "Ms. Velvette got stuck in my teeth."
"Er.." Husk summons one of those umbrella tooth picks he puts in martinis, likely from the bar at the Hotel, and hands that over. "Here, Boss."
"Thank you." Alastor uses it to pick at his teeth. Between getting rid of nuisances, getting to eat a full cannibalistic meal, and still feeling the pleasant buzz of Lucifer's divinity under his skin, he feels elated!
"So, um, thanks for rescuing me." Angel awkwardly says, poor dear seems to be in shock.
"I'd normally make you make a deal for such a service, but I got the most wonderous offer to kill your ...ex-boss." Alastor laughs, can't let it be known he cares enough about Husk to do things like this. Who knows what shenanigans would follow such a thing!
"Who-?"
"You should talk to our dear King once you've settled into your new role!" Alastor turns and begins to lead the track back to the Hotel. "You'll have plenty to talk about!"
"Erm? Okay?" Angel sounds off kilter, but that's to be expected. Alastor starts humming one of his favourite songs. "What just happened?"
"You missed a lot, Angie." Cherri tells him, there's a hint of awkwardness, likely because Alastor was a key component in what's been happening over the last few days, but isn't joining the conversation, despite being in earshot. "Charlie and her dad have been arguing."
"And Alastor has been getting in the middle, but on the King's side." Husk doesn't seem to give a fuck if Alastor hears him. How amusing!
"What!?" Angel is hilariously confused.
"I'm not sure if you saw, because I hadn't, but His Majesty apparently got super hurt, like could have died hurt." Husk tells him.
"Isn't he, like, indestructible?" Angel asks.
"Nah, just really hard to kill." Husk dismisses, "But anyway, apparently Charlie did that thing where she doesn't really pay attention to important details-"
"No!" Angel gasps clearly figured out where this is going. Alastor is no longer humming and his smile is straining a bit thinking about Lucifer's scared bloodied form. He WON'T let that happen again.
"-important details like her father blooding out and having so little left in the tank that he couldn't stand, much less fight if someone decided to take a pot shot at him."
"Seriously, Charlie?" Angel groans.
"Yeah, 'parently the guy passed out for 24 hours after portalling away." Cherri adds her 2 cents, "I'm not sure we got told where he went, but because Charlie had kicked him out of the Hotel before this shit show, he hadn't gone to the Hotel."
"Shit. I forgot she did that." Alastor can hear Angel's grimace.
"And Alastor has been on her ass since he heard what happened between them." Husk explains, "The whole situation was fucked up, even after the King decided to come back after she asked. She was being a real spoiled princess, but Lucifer hasn't been putting up with it and, if the bitching I overheard Charlie doing yesterday is right, has decided Lilith isn't worth all the bullshit she's put him through. The radio silence is just the newest thing she's done to fuck with him. Alastor has been supporting the King and defending him against Charlie."
"Vaggi also got yelled at at least once."
"Damn, I leave for like a week and the dynamics get flipped on their head." Angel dramatically sighs, then squeaks when Alastor turns his head a full 180 to look at the trio behind him.
"Charlie and Lucifer should have "talked it out" before we went on this little misadventure!" He turns his head back, "We seemed to finally get through to her that she's really hurt her father, and to accept his decision to leave that horrid woman."
There's a moment of silence before Angel quietly asks, "Why does he suddenly hate Lilith?"
"I'm not sure." Cherri admits just as quiet.
"The Boss has a thing about abusers. Especially domestic abusers." Husker tells them, "If I were to guess, "Hell's Greatest Love Story" was likely a nightmare if I'm recognizing that tone right..."
"Shit, really?" Cherri mumbles.
"It's kind of sweet the Alastor is getting all protective of Lucifer." Angel whispers, a smile audible in his voice. "Ya think Charlie's about to legally have two daddies?"
Alastor can't help the screech of static. He comes to a complete stop and turns to death stare the spider with his "creepy needle eyes".
"Whoa! Whoa! Sorry, I said somethin' !" Angel quickly apologizes, "I was just teasin' !"
"Keep those opinions to yourself. He only just cut off a longer than civilization term toxic relationship. There will be no comments of such nature until he's processed the situation." Alastor demands. The trio hastily nod in agreement. "Good."
Alastor turn back around and begins walking, taking a moment to calm himself while the group is quiet. It doesn't last long, because Angel whispers an astonished.
"Holy shit, you like him.. like, like-like him."
The static is back full force. There's no point in denying it. If anyone was going to notice, it'd be the guy where lust and love are the name of the game in his profession.
"Wait? Really?" Husk sounds just as astonished as his almost-lover. "No fucking way..."
Alastor decides they're close enough to the Hotel, AND these idiots can take care of each other well enough, that he doesn't need to stay.
"Would you look at the time! It's about time I started making dinner! I did promise my Starlight that I'd make him dinner as thanks for fixing up my arm!"
He steps into the shadows and teleports away. Not caring if that might as well be a written confession. If anything, those 3 knowing he's laid claim to the King will have them keeping others from hitting on his Starlight, if only to keep Alastor from killing everyone in sight. Lucifer will be HIS... Once his King is ready for something like that. For now, Alastor will happily be his protector.
Maybe he could spin the protector angle to keep the wonderful buzz of magic Lucifer gifted him? Royal Executioner has a lovely ring to it. Hm, yes, that's definitely something to think about...