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Comfort Food

Summary:

Lucifer manages to comfort Dan about his favourite pudding brand.

Notes:

Another two chapters to be added later.

Chapter 1: Throwing out the Bad

Chapter Text

Lucifer walked into the precinct, happy with how his talk with Charlotte Richards had gone. He was pretty sure that her being back now had nothing to do with his Dad and everything with Charlotte trying to live her own life with the crappy hand she was dealt after her death.

He may have gotten her to start looking at Dan again as a potential partner, which would be good for both of them. Still, that could be Charlotte figuring out her own path. But at least Dan might stop glaring at him whenever she came up in conversation.

And speaking of... Dan was glaring not at him right then, but at the small precinct fridge where he usually kept his pudding. Of course, he had stopped eating his favourite brand of pudding because of the whole poison thing going on.

He walked up to Dan and peeked over his shoulder and what he saw actually surprised him. “Dan, as much as I find your whole addiction to pudding hilarious, I’d rather you stop eating it. Or, at least stop eating this brand. You do remember it’s poisoned, right?”

Inside was the usual collection of pudding tubs. He shivered slightly at the thought of Dan being poisoned. At least he would be immune from it, the poison leaving his system as soon as he was away from Chloe. Dan didn’t have that ability though.

That glare did turn on him then. “Of course I remember it’s poisoned, Lucifer. I’m not going to eat it. I’m angry that it hasn’t been cleared out and a different brand put in.”

Lucifer perked up at that. It was rare that the Dan glare was turned in his direction, but him not being the actual target. “Oh! Well, that’s easily fixed. Come on, you grab as much as you can and I will grab what I can and we can dump them in the trash. Then, we can go make some for ourselves. Poison free of course. Or, alternatively, you can start buying a new brand.”

Dan stared at him. “You would make pudding for me?”

And with that, he flung an arm over Dan’s shoulders and lightly tapped his chest. “Daniel, you forget...I eat your pudding too.”

And with that said, Dan closed his eyes and let out a small laugh. “Of course you do. And don’t think I don’t realise Maze steals some too.”

Lucifer grinned widely at him. “Ooh, naughty. She likes you.”

“Man, I forgot that you’d be affected by this too.”

Lucifer shrugged. “Affected, sure, when I am here. I only eat what is available. You on the other hand...you eat it to comfort yourself. To have that taken away would suck, it would be like me going without alcohol and cool ranch puffs, so change it out with another brand you like. Surely some taste better, and if we can’t find one, we can make our own!”

And that finally got the response he was looking for. Dan closed his eyes, let out a long sigh and opened them again. “Yeah, you’re right. It does suck. Alright, man. You’re buying though, because I need to taste test and I haven’t got the money to buy a pack of each...”

With a large smiled, he gave Dan a friendly pat on the back and let him go. “Of course! It would be my pleasure Dan. And it’s your pudding, so you get to choose which one you like best. But, you have to taste my homemade pudding after you’ve tasted store-bought ones, deal?”

Dan stared at him for a few seconds, before nodding. “Yeah, sure. Deal.”

With that done and said Lucifer reached into the fridge and begun to pile tubs of chocolate non-goodness into his arms until he couldn’t carry anymore and Dan took the rest. He kicked the door shut. Together they walked to the nearest trashcan, dumped the poisoned treats and turned towards the exit.

It was probably a good thing Lieutenant Pierce was still off duty. He doubted he would let both of them go.

Chapter 2: Taste Testing

Summary:

Lucifer and Dan try out three different pre-made brands they agreed on together.

Chapter Text

He and Dan ended up staring at the multitude of chocolate pudding varieties for a half hour and frowned at them. Lucifer decided right off the bat Dan couldn’t choose one of all of them, because that would likely leave both of them feeling very unwell after taste testing, so Dan chose three. A Belgian chocolate type that Lucifer had been eyeing for five minutes, Another brand made of real chocolate both of them had been going back to regularly and Swiss Miss, just because he liked the drink, which was made of powdered chocolate.

Lucifer preferred the first two brands, just because of the real chocolate, but hey, he could see where Dan was coming from, since the drink gave him comfort too.

He had decided to take Dan to his flat, because the kitchen was bigger and he knew he had the ingredients at home. So, all they had to buy was the three packs of pudding. Lucifer added in two packs of cool ranch puffs just because he could. It was his money they were buying this stuff with, after all.

Since they had come here in Dan’s car, as the Detective had picked him up that morning, he happily began munching on the puffs as soon as Dan began driving to his place. He was always hungry, or at least always potentially hungry. It was one of the reasons he had started raiding the fridge of Dan’s snacks in the first place.

It was also another reason besides boredom and lack of sex to hate stakeouts. Waiting in a car for hours with nothing happening after he had run out of snacks was a nightmare.

If he hadn’t known exactly what his Hell looked like, he’d probably think it would be a stakeout without snacks.

It took 15 minutes to get to Lux and another five to reach his flat. For some reason, he felt excitement bubbling up inside of him. He had never brought someone back to his home before for the specific reason to cook something. Trust it to be Dan to break his run of non sexual activities leading to the kitchen and specifically straight to pudding, which they both highly enjoyed.

“So! Let’s try these three out first, shall we?”

And with that said, he went over to his couch, sat down and put the three packs of chocolate pudding down on the table. He got two of each out and stowed the others in the fridge. He rejoined Dan who had sat down and handed him a spoon he had collected while in the kitchen.

“So! Where should we start?”

Dan frowned down at the three and Lucifer watched his reactions to each of them, instead of looking at them himself. It was entertaining to watch the emotions flicker across his face, even if he didn’t get what all of them were.

“Swiss Miss. I know it’s the only brand here you’re not that into.”

Nodding, they both picked up a tub of the powdered chocolate pudding and ripped off the lids, diving right into the treat inside.

Lucifer wasn’t too much of a fan of it. He did prefer the real chocolate, though in its favour it was definitely sweet enough for him to enjoy it.

Dan seemed to inhale his.

Next went the generic brand one made of normal milk chocolate. This one Lucifer liked a lot more, regardless of the fact that it was a generic no name brand.

Dan didn’t seem to like it too much though, so he knew that one was out.

The last was the Belgian chocolate brand and it was by the far the best one for both of them. Lucifer even went back for seconds on it, though Dan decided to keep the others for the precinct fridge.

After they had figured out which brand of store bought one they liked the best and agreed to buy for the fridge to go with his homemade one, he got up yet again and walked towards the kitchen.

“So, Dan. Time to get in the kitchen and make some pudding! I feel weird saying this, but I am actually looking forward to this.”

Dan rolled his eyes, but followed him. “Yeah, yeah. You are weird, Lucifer. Nothing new there. Just to warn me though, you can actually cook things right?”

Lucifer smiled at him. “Wait and see, Dan. Or, in this case, wait and then taste.”

He was eager to get started.

Chapter 3: Pudding Friends

Summary:

Lucifer makes Dan homemade pudding.

Chapter Text

Dan looked at the ingredients that Lucifer was pulling out of his cupboards and fridge and wondered exactly when it was that Lucifer started cooking, let alone making desserts. The idea was absurd and he was ready to do his best ewww face ever for as soon as the pudding touched his lips.

He honestly did not think Lucifer could do it. And yet there he was, not only lining up the ingredients like a pro, but he didn’t even have out a recipe to follow. Did he honestly make pudding that often, that he knew how to do it off by heart? Seriously, that was some dedication.

“So, how long have you been cooking, exactly?”

Lucifer tuned to look at him and grinned. “Almost six years now. I had to learn when I realised I had to eat. And never, ever trust Maze at making dinner. She can mix up a drink like a pro, but dinner is too much for her to handle. She will burn everything. So, I had to learn just to eat proper meals. Until I got good at it though, I lived off a lot of takeaway. And, of course, snack food. But I got good at cooking, yes.”

Dan rolled his eyes. “Okay, so when did you learn to make pudding?’

That wide grin was levelled in his direction again. “About the first time I took one of yours. I liked it so much I looked up the recipe and started making it until I had it just right.”

“You learnt a recipe for a dessert off by heart in less than a year?”

“Yep! Actually, I learnt it in less than a week. I’m a quick leaner when it comes to cooking.”

Dan rolled his eyes again and he wondered how often he’d have to do that tonight, until they started to hurt, or fell out of his head. “Is there anything you’re not good at?”

“Emotions. Holding onto relationships. Being a good friend... I know I’m bad at this, Dan, but I do try.”

And now he felt shitty for thinking him good at everything. It was times like this he realised that Lucifer’s family really screwed him over badly, that he doesn’t understand how to have a proper friend. Or know how emotions are supposed to work. The word abuse kept tugging in his brain and he kept batting it away, because this was Lucifer, the man who had everything. Well, almost everything. And yet was still miserable.

“Shit, yeah, I believe you. Only a friend would take a friend out to buy new pudding flavours and then make homemade puddings to make me feel better.”

Lucifer looked at him with puppy dog eyes. “So, this is right then?”

Dan sighed. “Yeah, so far, so good.”

Nodding, Lucifer got back to mixing the ingredients together.

By the time they were done and in the fridge, Lucifer was looking at him with a hopeful look on his face. Two were left out, reedy to eat. “So! You go first, since they are for you.”

Sighing and eyeing the little tub of brown goop he loved so much, he took in a deep breath, grabbed a spoon, scooped up a bit of said goop and quickly stuffed it into his mouth.

He honestly expected to hate it. Instead, he closed his eyes and moaned. It had the perfect amount of chocolaty taste, the texture was just the way he liked it and the thickness of it was divine. He opened his eyes and looked over to where Lucifer was standing, shifting from foot to foot in a rare show of nervousness.

“This is really good, man. I wish I could cook pudding like this. Tried once, I suck at it.”

Lucifer seemed to perk up at that. “I’m glad you like then, Dan. So... what are you going to go for now?”

Dan pointed at the homemade pudding. “This, definitely, until they’re all gone, and then head on over to the Belgian chocolate one, I think.”

Lucifer grinned widely at him and nodded. “Agreed 100%. Deal.”

And with that said, Dan knew he had probably just done something very wrong. Lucifer usually tended to want payment for deals. And he had nothing to pay with. He swallowed the last of the pudding in the tub he was holding and put it in the sink to be cleaned, before turning to Lucifer. “So...do I owe you anything for this apparent deal?”

He tensed until, Lucifer finished his own treat and another tub was soon joining his in the sink. It wasn’t until Lucifer turned towards him and grinned that he realised he may be in trouble asking.

“Tell you what? You be my friend and I will continue making you pudding. Fair trade, I think.”

Dan blinked at the man. “Seriously, that’s it? To be your friend.”

Lucifer looked down at his feet before quickly looking back up. “Yep. All I ask.”

Dan laughed. “Man, you are my friend for life.”

It wasn’t until he was driving back home that night that he realised he was no longer even remotely upset about losing his favourite brand of pudding.

He had replaced it with two things better.