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The spawn was miserable and he needed to find out why. Right now.
"Come on," He pleaded (despite how the devil never pleaded), "what has you so upset, urchin?"
"Didn't mommy already tell you?"
"Tell me what?" He repeated, settling on the corner of her matress, "I'm afraid I've displaced my phone some point during the evening."
"As usual." She rolled her eyes at him, smiling just the tiniest bit, "I'm grounded."
"I know that! I'm here to look after you after all. What for though?"
"I might have, sort of, kind of... punched someone at school. Said some things... Got suspended..."
"Good for you, spawn!" He praised, feeling guilty when the Detective's voice reprimanded him in the privacy of his own mind.
"Not really." She sighed, falling back to her matress to stare at the ceiling, "I don't think punching that bully even even accomplished anything. She'll still bother me when I come back..."
"Bother you?!!" He gasped, a hand flying to his heart in a complete theatric performace, "Do you want me to put the devil's fear in her for you?"
"No, thank you, Lucifer." She laughed, " Really tempting offer though."
"So is there anything I can do to make you feel better then?"
He didn't understand it, but seeing the spawn upset twisted his heart in every which way.
"I just wish they'd leave me alone!"
"Oh, darling." He sighed, "They're just jealous of you." He informed her, doing his best to follow his instincts and avoid overthinking. (as Doctor Linda had suggested)
"That's really nice of you to say, Lucifer." She smiled at him again, "But probably not true."
"Not true... Not true?!!" He huffed, "Are you out of your mind, Urchin?"
She stared at him, suspicious and unsure.
"She always says that I'm weird and useless." She admitted softly, "She said that I'll never have any friends because no one could love someone like me."
"I am going to murder that little insect!" He roared, his eyes flashing red.
"Lucifer, you don't have to murder anyone." She rolled her eyes at him.
"You can't possibly believe those lies..." He pleaded, horrible memories of his own playing in his mind.
The little girl didn't say anything,
"You're the only little human that I tolerate!" He listed, urging her to understand, "You're... smart and beautiful and really, really devious. Maze says that you're like a little demon in training! You're also incredibly-"
In the span of a second, she was hugging him. Lucifer brought up a hand to rub at her back, wondering if he was somehow screwing this up. Surely the Detective or even Detective Docuhe were more equipped to handle this?
"That," she declared, "was really sweet, Lucifer. Thank you!"
He stared at her from she was sitting in front of him, cross-legged on her bed. Her little shoulders were still slumped though, and her smile was just a bit forced. After all, her eyes still looked so very sad...
"You don't believe me." He concluded, "Oh, Urchin, if I get my hands on whoever put these outrageous notions in your tiny head..."
She observed him, amused but still unconvinced.
He had to fix this. Right now.
Lucifer thought for a moment, his solutions heavily circulating between flying said bully down to hell or showing them what the face of the devil actually looked like. How he hated bullies...
"Spawn!" He exclaimed, "Do you still want to be the president of Mars?"
"How do you even know about that?"
"Mazikeen and I talk." He shrugged, "So, do you?!!"
"Lucifer, that was ages ago." She groaned, "What does it even have to do with anything?"
"So... you're not interested in Mars anymore?"
"Of course I am!" She rolled her eyes, "I still love space, silly. I still think Mars is really, really cool."
"Excellent!"
"Lucifer?"
"Come on!" He tugged at her arm, "Chop, chop!"
"Lucifer!"
He didn't listen to the clear warning in her voice. He didn't mind her confused expression or her exasperated demeanour.
A part of him was wondering if he should leave her alone; let her cool off? But it was too late now.
He was holding both of her hands in his, standing in the middle of her bedroom.
In a rush of air, his wings were out. The spawn smiled, reaching out to run a hand through his feathers. Lucifer smiled back, his near-mania cooling down just a bit.
He pulled her into his arms, telling her to keep her eyes tightly shut. The devil took a deep breath, clearing his head. He needed to focus. It wouldn't do to lose the urchin in some dimension, now would it?
"Are we going somewhere?" She asked, mood lifted a bit just by the sight of his wings. He didn't understand the spawn's fascination with the appendages; it was something of her own, no addiction to divinity involved. Lucifer just mentally filed it in the mile-long list of things that baffled him about the little human.
"Where to?" She asked when he didn't say anything.
"It's a surprise!"
"But I'm a grounded!" She responded, her eyes flying open.
"And since when do you care, spawn?" He lifted an inquisitive eyebrow, wondering if this was some part of growing up.
"I don't." She replied, "But mommy would murder us both."
He shuddered to think about the Detective being mad, but this was worth it, right? He couldn't have the spawn thinking that she was anything less than perfect and amazing.(not that he would admit it out loud to her)
The Detective had specifically warned him about not taking her daughter anywhere when she was grounded. But how could he not? He was still uncomfortable with the idea of punishment; his experiences with his father were still too fresh in his mind millennia later. Lucifer found himself panicking at the thought of the urchin resenting him... The Detective's assurances did nothing to help.
"I suppose we would have to make sure that she never finds out." He decided, shaking himself out of his dark thoughts.
"Okay." The little miscreant shrugged, holding onto him tighter.
He closed his eyes, his wings stretching to their full span. The tiny human didn't have the time to complain about how he accidentally knocked some things off one of her shelves with his right wing. A second passed. Reality warped. In a flash of colors and a surge of undetectable powers, they left planet Earth and landed somewhere else.
"You took us to Mars?" The Urchin almost screeched, her eyes widening to a comic degree, "Lucifer!"
"Do you not like it?" He frowned, hoping that his nervouseness was not as palpable as he felt.
"Like it? Lucifer, I LOVE this!" She hugged him, "Wait, how am I breathing?"
"I'm the devil, urchin; have some faith."
"Cool!" She gushed, hugging him again, "Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!"
"Just don't go too far away from me." He warned, "I'm not sure how far this oxygen bubble of sorts goes. We wouldn't want you to suffocate, now, would we?"
She didn't reply, too busy running around.
The air was fresh and clean, courtesy of him of course. Everything else was perfectly natural, ready to be explored by an excited eleven-year-old.
She picked up rocks, dug around in the sand, and ran up to the top of hills. All the while, she was explaining this and that to him. Lucifer, who knew most of what she was babbling about from first-hand experience, was listening with focus that he rarely gave anyone else. Hearing the facts (some untrue due to humans not quite catching up yet) coming out of her mouth was oddly relaxing.
He let her tug him around, not once complaining about his shoes or his suit or even his hair. Lucifeer was certain that it was going to be a curly mess very soon. He mourned the fact, voicing it half-heartedly.
"How many tiny humans have been here?" He asked her after a while, smirking michevously.
"No human has ever been here!" She replied.
"Except for you." He corrected, "And that doesn't even begin to describe how special you are."
He was rewarded with another hug for his efforts. Oh well.
The urchin's excitement was infectious. A part of him struggled to understand her fascination with the rocks and the sky and all the different normal-looking features of nature around them. Humans were so easily impressed, so clueless about the reality surrounding then... But them, he recognized the spark in her eyes as the one that he would see in his own eons ago. The spark of wonder, of exhilaration, of eagerness to just uncover whatever secrets lay hidden in plain sight around him. He remembered the same look on his and his brother's faces, back when the universe was brand new and everything was a possible adventure.
Lucifer imagined that he would be saddened by his train of thoughts. Somehow though, as he lifted the spawn to sit on his shoulders so that she can look at the landscape around them better, he found it hard to think of many moments when he was happier.
*cries in Deckerstar*
"Lucifer, who's that in the cave?"
"What cave?" He inquired, puzzled. All the Martian caves, scarce as they were, looked the same; dark, cramped, and forlorn.
He tried to follow her gaze and failed. The Spawn would have rolled her eyes at him, had she not been scared. She grabbed his hand, ignorning his protests, and pointed to a cave at the far right.
Lucifer immediately saw something glint.
"It looks like... a table of sorts? A robot?" He guessed.
"Aliens!" The spawn exclaimed, her eyes wide in fear that betrayed her exicted voice.
"Can we go check it out, Lucifer?" She pleaded, "Can we? Can we? Please???"
He was about to agree, curious as he was himself. Vast as creation was, even he did not have the time to explore it all (especially considering how he spent the past millenia stuck in hell). However, Lucifer realized what a potential danger "aliens" might pose. Not to him, of course. He was the devil for crying out loud! But the little human...
He gulped, suddenly realizing the possible danger he might have put the spawn in by bringing her here. Surely, she was as safe as possible with him, but... Oh, the Detective is going to be so mad.
"I think it is best if we head back home, urchin." He suggested, his heartbeat increasing to an uncomfortably rapid rhythm.
"Lucifer!!!" She whined, pulling at his arm towards their mystery companion in the far distance.
"Beatrice!!!" He said in much of the same tone, smirking when she scowled at him, "Come on; we should get going."
She let go of his hand, bolting towards the cave.
"Urchin!"
She laughed, asking him to join her. Lucifer rolled his eyes. Did she think that she even had a minscule chance at getting away from him?
He gave her some time to run before following. With his ridiculously long legs, he did not even need his wings or his supernatural speed just yet. In the span of several seconds, his arms were around the little girl. He smirked in triumph, lazy but happy nonetheless. He was not expecting what transpired next though.
The urchin tickled him.
She tickled him! Him. The devil.
Lucifer dropped to the ground, laughing in spite of himself. She landed on top of him, continuing her assault. How was she even so good at this? Her tiny hands were doing a miraculous job of covering the entire length of his torso and sides. He laughed and laughed, flaying his arms in an attempt to stop the little hellion. How could he stop her without harming her? It wasn't fair!
"Y-you're... too.. good... at this." He managed between puffs of laughter, "U-u-unhand... me! Now!"
"Never!"
Wasn't she too old for this sort of thing? Could you even be too old for this sort of thing? Lucifer found his knowledge lacking in this regard.
Eventually, he managed to grab her wrists and pin them to her body. He would have loved to take his revenge, but it felt too... juvenile. He wasn't a mture person per se, but then again...
"What is the meaning of that?" He demanded, holding her to the ground.
"It's a tickle fight, Lucifer; it doesn't need a meaning." She rolled her eyes at him, used to having to explain the most mundane of things to her Step-Satan.
"It wasn't much of a fight though." He retorted, tilting his head, "You just attacked me and kept going!"
"No one told you to be a sissy."
"I am not- the devil is not a sissy!"
She smirked at him, resisting the urge to poke her tongue out at him.
"Besides, look at you; all covered in Mars dust. Dreadful!"
"You don't look any better, genius." She grinned, "You actually look much, much worse."
He paled, looking down at his clothes. They were wrinkled beyond saving, yellowish-orange dust coating his person. Oh, the atrocirty of it all...
"Spawn!"
At that point, he found it incredibly easy to tickle her back. Her laughs echoed around, unique on the supposedly-empty planet.
"Okay! Okay!" Her face was flushed, stomach aching from all the tickling, "Stop! I'm... s-sorry! Lucifer!"
He grinned, continuing his "attack". He could do this all day. Admitedly, any tickeling that he was usually involved in was very, very different. This was fun though. He might smite anyone who ever saw him rolling around on the floor, engaged in a tickle war with an eleven-year-old human, but still...
The fun continued until something rammed into his back. He was on instant alert, scooping the spawn into his arms. In a flash, his wings were wrapped around the both of them. He managed a glimpse of something huge and metallic, a tiny whirring sound heard now that their laughter and jest had subsided.
He wanted to investigate whoever or whatever that was, but the Detective's face flashed in his mind's eye. She was already going to be so mad at him. So mad in fact that he was already regretting this stupid idea of his.
Besides, he would never let any harm befall the small urchin. That extended to voluntarily putting her in possible harm's way, right?
"Close your eyes." He ordered, straightening up with her still in his arms. It wasn't as if she actually weighed anything to him.
"Lucifer!"
"Beatrice, I'm serious."
She must have detected the urgency or the finality in his voice because she sobered up instantly and adjusted her hold on him.
"Eyes closed." She assured him.
Lucifer nodded. With a flap of the most majestic wings in creation, they went home.
*cries in Deckerstar*
Chloe Decker was trying very hard to not worry.
She had came home to find it empty. No devil boyfriend and no mischievous daughter anywhere to be seen.
She sighed, deducing that Lucifer must have taken Trixie out somewhere. When was he going to learn that grounding your kid was incredibly different from tossing them out of their only home to burn in hell alone for all of eternity? She was trying her best to be patient with him, considering everything that he had been through. He should just stop doing whatever her daughter wanted any time the little girl was upset.
As for Trixie...
The detective stashed the chcolaote cake in the fridge, thinking of how she was going to punish her daughter. She had gotten her her favourite desert as a sort of apology; Chloe was not against standing up to bullies of course; it was the continued violence that she could not condone. Besides, Trixie knew better than to take advantage of Lucifer's... Lucifer-ness like that. She still needed to get the full story about what had happened at school though.
She had tried to call her boyfriend, only to find his phone... in the fridge. Of all places.
Okay, his recent habit of putting that thing anywhere and everywhere is getting out of hand...
She smiled though, fondness winning over exasperation. She checked the device, finding that it was at a measly 5% of battery power remaining... Why did she even try? She plugged it in for him, calling her daughter next.
Out of service.
Huh.
Had Trixie shut off her phone in... anger? Her little girl's teenage years were approaching at a ridiculous, frightening pace. Chloe wondered if it was possible to feel prepared for something like that.
An hour or so passed. She changed into more comfortable clothes, checked her emails, and pondered over whether or not to prepare dinner. Will they eat out? How was she supposed to know when neither of them was using their phone like a normal, functioning human?
She had been grabbing a glass of water when she felt it. The atmosphere rippled just the tiniest bit. The familiar rush of air followed. In a blink, she wasn't the only occupant of the house anymore.
"Lucifer!"
He fell to the ground, her daughter on top of him. He unfurled his wings, shaking his head as if to clear it.
Chloe drank in the site before her.
His curls were wild and free; freer than she had ever seen them. His clothes were also more rumpled and dirty than she had ever seen them. Lucifer looked a little bit paler than usual, his eyes just a bit too wide with a dash of fear thrown in. Trixie did not look much better.
"Are we home?" Her daughter asked, poking his chest.
"The question is," Chloe crossed her arms, coming around to stand behind them, "what were you both doing outside home in the first place?"
"Detective!"
"Mommy!"
She glared at them both, inwardly cursing her permanent role as the "bad" parent and the responsible adult in any situation.
"You," she pointed at Trixie, "are grounded, and you," she pointed at her boyfriend, "are supposed to know that. So, what happened?"
She ignored the worry in her chest as they straightened up, getting to their feet. They looked alright and unharmed, if a little dishevelled and spooked. She needed to maintain a strong front. Running up to them both and hugging them while checking them over for non-existent injuries was not going to help.
It wasn't too unsusual for Lucifer to take her daughter flying. Not anymore. Despite his reluctance to admit it, Chloe knew that he adored using his wings. Trixie was a huge fan of them as well, loving them almost more than she herself did.
"We... we were just..."
He was flustered, looking on the verge of semi-panic.
"We just went out for a bit." He cleared his throat, "The little urchin was incredibly sad and she told some things that were simply terrible about what had transpired at school. I couldn't help but rectify the silly notions in her head, Detective, even if it meant breaking your grounding rules; something which I am emencely sorry for."
Wow. Just wow.
"What kind of notions?"
"She thought that she wasn't special and undeserving of love." He seethed, his eyes flashing red for a second, "Some pathetic bully has her convinced that she somehow deserves their endless badgering as well. I am certain that you agree with me on how ridiculous that is, Detective?"
She knew that he was very close to her daughter, but this was... She was floored. Lucifer's protectiveness could be annoying at times, but at other times, she couldn't find anything but love and appreciation for the devil.
"Is that true, baby?" She asked her daughter.
Lucifer didn't lie, but a part of her was hoping that he was... wrong? Her little girl had been through so much already. None of it was fair.
The girl was looking at the ground, eyes far away. She didn't say anything, chewing on her lip. Lucifer was staring at her, wings still out. Anger flashed across his features. His eyes glowed red a second time. Then, he inched closer to her daughter, putting an arm around her skinny shoulders. Trixie looked up at him, leaning into the contact gratefully. Soon enough, she had her arm wrapped around his waist, pressed to his side as she gave him a small smile. Lucifer did not even complain, returning her smile with a genuine one of his own.
As for Chloe, she was... How could she even...?
She found herself rushing to her daughter's other side, hugging her close to her body. Trixie was growing up so fast...
She gave Lucifer a grateful smile. He beamed, pleased with himself as he was every time she expressed any sort of positive emotion towards anything he said or did. The fury lingered though, boiling just beneath the surface.
"Monkey, don't ever think that, okay?" She stressed, pressing a kiss to her daughter's hair, voice thick with emotion, "You're... special. You're the best, Trixie. I love you. Lucifer loves you. Your dad loves you. So many people love you..."
"I know, mommy." Trixie smiled, "Lucifer already told me not to listen to her. He was really, really instant on it too. I was too sad to listen at first, but he took me out to get some fresh air and we talked and played and stuff. He's the best."
Lucifer's eyes were wide. She recognized the same shocked expression on his face from every single time she praised him for anything. Her poor devil...
"That he is, monkey." She grinned, leaning over to press a kiss to his cheek.
Lucifer was looking at them both, wonder swirling around in his dark eyes. It wasn't the same literal glow as when they flashed scarlet for instance, but it was somehow brighter.
"I think I'll go have a shower and then head straight to bed, mommy." Trixie declared, "I'm really tired."
"Why are you even so... dusty?"
"At some point, your little hooligan tricked me into what she calls a 'tickle fight'." Lucifer informed her, disclosing the information as if it was some great sorrow of his.
Chloe snorted, high-fiving her daughter.
Trixie hugged Chloe and then Lucifer, wishing them both a good night. She urged Lucifer to lean down, whispering something in his ear. When that was done, the little girl pressed a kiss to his cheek, bursting into laughter at his scandalized expression. She ran to her room to the sound of Chloe's amused giggling and Lucifer's complaints about urchin saliva following her.
Chloe Decker didn't think she could possibly be happier.
*cries in Deckerstar*
"Where did you two go?" Chloe asked several hours later, tracing lazy patterns on her partner's chest as they cuddled together in bed.
Lucifer, looking like the image of bliss with his half-closed eyes and relaxed smile, tensed.
She lifted her head from where it rested under his chin, her hair tickling his mouth. The detective levelled him with a curious look.
"Lucifer?" She prompted.
"Darling, please don't." He gulped, suddenly looking alarmed.
"Lucifer?"
"Detective!" He openly pled.
"Is it that bad?"
He only nodded, panicked.
"She wasn't in any danger though, was she?"
"Detective!" He was offended, scandalized. As if he would knowingly put her daughter in danger... But she had to check though, right?
"She's always safe with me and-"
"You'd do anything to protect her." She finished with a small smile, having heard those words a million times before.
She gave him a soft, lingering kiss, stroking his cheek as she pulled away.
"Is it that bad?" She asked after a while, curious in spite of herself, "Like another state?"
Lucifer groaned, burying his face in her hair and shaking his head.
"Another country? Continent?"
"Detective...."
"Come on, Lucifer." She laughed, "How bad can it be?"
"You'll just get mad, darling." He sighed, "Is that really necessary? The spawn is perfectly safe and happy."
"I know," she shook her head, mock sad, "I'm just really curious."
Lucifer maintained his silence.
"I won't get mad." She promised after a minute of quietness.
Lucifer sighed and took a deep breath.
"Mars." He said at last.
She burst out laughing.
When she stopped, he was still looking at her, apologetic.
"The planet Mars?"
He bit his lip, "You promised you won't be mad." He reminded.
"You can't be serious." She was still smiling, her mind oddly barren.
It took her a moment to process because...
Mars.
Mars.
He went with her daughter to Mars.
Literally.
"Lucifer Morningstar!"