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It’s the 14th of February, Lucifer immediately thinks as he wakes. A day which he’s been simultaneously dreading and looking forward to for weeks.
In times BC (Before Chloe), he would’ve spent the day drinking and partying as was his fashion for every day. Perhaps, if he’d been in the spirit of the holiday, he’d have reached out to his old acquaintance ‘Valentina’ and shown her a real ‘tunnel of love'.
But now he’s wrapped in the clutches of a blossoming relationship with the Detective, Lucifer sees times like Valentine’s Day differently altogether.
First, there's his emotions about love itself.
Before Chloe, he looked upon displays of affection as wholly unnecessary and confusing. Seeing couples hold hands or sneak kisses when they thought nobody was looking used to make him feel nauseous, and the very notion of getting close to somebody without sexual intentions was something that completely baffled him.
Now, though, the loving glances and gentle touches instantly make him think of himself and Chloe. And, however long it had taken him, he now understood the desire to be near to another person, if only for a hug. Because all he wants to do these days is hold her and never let go.
Secondly, there’s the gift-giving.
This is the part that had given him the most grief in the past few weeks, thanks to his emotional blindness that still lingered.
He’d decided that hearing the advice of others would be most beneficial to him, so had enlisted the help of little Trixie first. She was young, yes, but she seemed to understand emotions far better than the average human being and didn’t lose her patience with Lucifer when he struggled to understand what she was saying.
Her advice had been to give Chloe something handmade, because it showed that he cared for her more if he spent time making a gift rather than buying a soul-less one (the idea of a gift WITH a soul had been ultimately very confusing to Lucifer, until Trixie explained that it was only a metaphor). While he’d been puzzled at first by the idea of a hand-crafted gift being more valuable than an expensive one, he had taken her advice to heart- though he still needed a little more help.
Next, he visited Dr Linda, who wasn’t as miffed by his impromptu visit as he had expected. She had instead praised him for seeking out the advice of others, and given her take happily to him. She stressed the importance of a personal gift, one that’s special and unique to their relationship. Lucifer had been at a loss at that point for what to get Chloe, but had nodded his head sagely and thanked the Doctor anyway.
Lucifer was wandering the streets of LA one evening, gazing up at the stars as he walked with his hands in his pockets, when the idea came to him.
If anything screamed ‘handmade’ and ‘personal’, it was that.
Back to the world of the present, and Lucifer is pacing the floors of his penthouse. Chloe should be arriving soon, and he’s spent practically the whole day panicking with intermittent whiskey shots to calm his nerves.
What if she doesn’t like it?
What if he’s totally messed up?
He looks around the apartment, decorated with gentle candles and dainty fairy lights that would’ve made past-Lucifer retch, and feels his composure disappear. She probably won’t even turn up.
As he contemplates pulling the string lights down with his evidently shaking hands, the elevator chimes to announce her arrival.
And, by Dad is she a sight to behold.
He sees her shoes first as he abashedly avoids her eye line, sleek cherry heels that produce resounding clicks when she walks.
Then, her similarly-coloured but slightly darker dress comes into view, silky smooth and elegant.
And when he finally plucks up the courage to meet her eyes, he finds himself inhaling sharply.
She’s wearing light makeup, and her hair tumbles over her shoulders in a cascade of gold and allure. Clasped around her neck is the pendant he gave her a few years ago, and the simple gesture of it all leaves him breathless all over again.
And those eyes. Oh, how he falls in love with her all over again when he sees them.
‘Hi’ she says with a smile, her eyes flitting across him from head to toe.
He’s dressed up for the occasion, too, of course. Suits are always his forte but today he’s decided to spice it up even more with a tie that chokes the remaining air out of him with every movement of his neck.
Once, she’d told him how much she adores his hair when it’s natural, so tonight it’s un-gelled, ruffled too from the numerous times he’s ran his hands through it in anxiety.
‘You look handsome, Lucifer. Very.’ She tells him.
‘And you are...’ he exhales a slight laugh and shakes his head. ‘You’re breathtakingly beautiful, darling. Even more so than usual.’
She chuckles at that and steps towards him for a hug, wrapping her arms around him and attacking him softly with the flowery scent of her perfume. When she pulls away after a few seconds, he’s left wanting for more.
He always wants more when it’s her.
He invites her to sit and he pours her a drink while they chat warmly about anything and everything. The meal he’s prepared for them goes down a treat, and after about an hour of just being in each other’s company, it’s time for the gift exchange.
She persists that she's going first.
The box she hands him is about the size of the palm of his hand, covered in velvet and a rich black colour. He’d be content just to hold it knowing that she’d thought enough about him to even get him anything, but she insists that he open it. So he does.
Inside rests an ornate silver bracelet which looks to be the perfect fit for him. It’s a smooth band that will fit perfectly in any ensemble he chooses- which is good, because he intends to wear it as often as he can.
‘It’s lovely' he breathes, carefully removing it from the cushion on which it sits.
‘Read the inside' she urges, a satisfied smile creeping across her face as she leans in closer next to him.
He turns the band over to look at the inscribed writing on the inside of the metal, his chest tightening with an unfamiliar emotion.
‘I’ll love you always- Chloe' say the engraved letters.
He turns to her, love swelling inside him. ‘Really?’
‘Yes.’ She says, without even a moment’s hesitation.
What did he ever do to deserve her?
He's the luckiest being in the world.
Before he melts into a puddle of warmth, he slaps his hands on his knees and gets up.
‘Right’ he says, offering her a hand. ‘My turn.’
She takes it and stands up excitedly.
‘But first...’ he begins, fumbling with his fingers as he stands before her. ‘I need to say that I’m sorry if you don’t like it. This whole ‘love’ thing is relatively new to me, and I really don’t know how I’m supposed to top that.’ He motions towards the band, which he’s since slipped onto his wrist. ‘I just hope you know how much I care for you.’
Chloe’s expression softens. ‘Lucifer, I’m sure your gift is amazing. You could give me empty space and I’d still love it, because I love you.’
Lucifer shifts on his feet and smiles, unable to stop himself. No matter how many times he hears it, that phrase makes him feel amazing. Loved. He really ought to make her feel that way too.
He takes her hand, and a deep breath too. She’s successfully given him the courage to reveal his present to her.
‘Close your eyes' he tells her, and she does. Her trust in him also never fails to amaze him.
Leading her through the penthouse, he comes to the balcony with her in tow. After positioning her so she’s beside him, he lets her know that she can open her eyes again.
The night sky is beautiful, but it’s about to become even more spectacular.
He clicks his fingers, and at once, a streak of light bursts from below the horizon and shoots up until it’s above the tallest skyscraper around. For a moment, it remains hanging in the sky, and then it ruptures into many tiny slivers of light that stretch out from it to the edges of space. Another pop, and that’s gone, replaced with a billion tiny glowing sparks that swarm around each other like starlings flying in a group. They seem to co-ordinate, whirling around in a single formation across the purple atmosphere. Then, the specks dance around to form a heart shape that pulsates with the twinkling lights.
All Chloe can think is ‘wow’.
Just when she thinks that’s the big trick, the specks dissipate again and whirl around to form a gun shape that tilts back and releases a sparkling bullet, which hurtles through the air and then whips back around to the centre of where they’re watching. The bullet explodes into the little glowing dots, now forming yet another picture.
This one is the clearest yet, each orb slotting into place to build a perfect outline of a person. Where the bullet had burst comes a leg, to which she laughs in realisation.
It’s the bullet that she shot at him. And this is Lucifer.
She can see it now, the silhouette is so quintessentially *him*.
Chloe blinks, and then the figure is moving, the tiny specks of light co-ordinated as such that the starlight Lucifer walks across the sky, growing smaller with each step as the glowing particles split off to form another figure opposite him.
A figure that’s unmistakeably her.
Starlight Lucifer offers Starlight Chloe a hand, which she takes, and then she’s watching the most wonderful thing. The figures begin to dance, waltzing across the night sky in a smooth display of affection. Chloe watches the orb-formed version of her spin around gracefully to land in the arms of the Lucifer silhouette.
The specks of light dissolve, then, and arrange themselves into separate stars which are each bigger than the individual dots.
Finally, these stars flit into formation in the sky to create a constellation in the shape of a heart. It’s only just visible if you look for it among the other groupings, but it’s there.
Chloe turns to the angel in the suit beside her, eyes glittering.
‘You did that... For me?’
Oh no. She’s crying.
Did she not like it?
‘Yes’ he says hesitantly, bowing his head. Of course he’d managed to screw it up.
‘That was beautiful. Truly amazing’ she croaks, reaching out a hand to rest on his shoulder.
Lucifer looks up, head tilted quizzically.
‘You like it? But you’re... crying?’
Rather than give him an answer, she pulls him into a tight embrace. He sinks into it, obviously, but still murmurs gently into her shoulder ‘I don’t understand.’
Chloe pulls away smoothly and gazes at him directly. He still doesn’t quite get it.
‘Mostly, humans cry when they’re sad, but sometimes, they do it when they’re happy.’ She explains. ‘This is one of those times.’
He furrows his brow. ‘Well, how the bloody hell am I supposed to tell the difference?’
His frustrated expression shifts quickly, though, into a chuckle. She joins in the laughter and brings one of her arms up from being wrapped around his neck to lightly stroke at the wisps of hair closest to her hand.
‘I don’t quite know sometimes’ she confesses. ‘But I’ll try to tell you when I can.’
‘Good’ he whispers into her hair. ‘Because you had me worried for a second that I’d made a fool of myself.’
‘How on earth could you possibly make a fool of yourself with that kind of display? It was incredible, Lucifer. And the constellation...’
‘Will be there always’ he finishes for her. ‘I suppose we have the same message to each other.’ He grins.
‘And what’s that?’ she teases, knowing the big three words are a work in progress for him.
But instead of laughing, he takes her by the shoulders and pulls away again, giving her an earnest look.
He clears his throat.
‘That I... I love you. And I always will. I’m sorry it took me so long to say it, I... I was waiting for the right time. But now I realise that every time is the right time to tell you that I love you, Detec- Chloe. Because I do.’
It’s a while before she even moves. She’s just looking up at him, blinking back an onslaught of new tears.
‘Are those happy tears? Was that.. the right thing to say?’ he asks nervously.
‘Definitely, you big idiot. C’mere.’
He barely has time to prepare himself before the air is knocked out of him by another rib-crushing hug. He closes his eyes to the new heart-shaped constellation which will undoubtedly leave scientists baffled, and allows himself to relish in the embrace.
Best. Valentine’s Day. Ever.