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Lucifer entered the House of Lamentation only to be met by an uncharacteristic silence and to a delicious smell. It made him raise an eyebrow since pin drop silence, in the House of Lamentation, mostly gave way to chaos of the worst kind. The Avatar sighed out of sheer exhaustion before reverting back to his alert self. Especially considering that Satan and Belphegor were always looking for a chance for him to get careless and end up as a victim of their pranks.
Sighing once more, the archdemon decided to first investigate the delicious smell that was currently wafting through the entire manor. At first, the raven-haired demon thought that it might be Satan trying out a new recipe for dinner. However, almost immediately, he remembered that it wasn’t the blonde’s kitchen duty that day. That only left one other option in his mind.
Sure enough, the moment he reached the door that led to the kitchen, his ears picked up a very familiar voice humming quietly. Mara’s voice. An uncharacteristic, very unLucifer-like smile etched across the Avatar of Pride’s face. Quietly, he opened the door and slipped inside.
“You’re still awake?” He asked as he stood against the closed door, his strong arms crossed in front of his chest. His lover gasped in shock before turning around to finally see him standing there. “For Devildom’s sake, Lu. Stop scaring me like this every time.” They scolded him, or tried to do so anyway. Lucifer just smirked, standing up straight once more to divest himself of his vest and over coat before walking closer to them.
Taking their hand in his, he placed his lips on their knuckles. “I apologise, my love. I didn’t mean to scare you.” He said against their hand, peering up at them from beneath his lashes. When he noticed the surprise on his beloved’s face, his usual self-satisfied smirk returned. “Didn’t expect an apology out of me, did you?” He asked slyly.
Mara shook their head, still quite bewildered. Lucifer was the Avatar of Pride after all. Everyone knew just how prideful the demon was. To get an apology from him… they were pretty sure that if his brothers were to know, they’d probably lose it due to shock. Shaking their head, they decided to focus their attention on the Avatar instead. “Can you really blame me though?” They asked, walking into the demon’s personal space and wrapping their arms around his chiselled torso, resting their head on his chest.
“I suppose not. I’m aware of the fact that my pride tends to get in the way of seeking apologies. However, I am willing to put in an effort to change with you by my side, Mara.” Lucifer confessed with a genuine smile. “You make me want to be a better version of myself.” He added, his hand finding theirs again to interlock their fingers.
Mara couldn’t help the smile that graced their face at his words. Seeing him be so vulnerable in front of them filled their heart with even more love for the ravenhead as they went to their tip toes and pressed a chaste kiss to his lips. “Welcome home, Lu.” They said softly, nudging his nose with their own, only to elicit a deep chuckle from their partner.
“You are in quite the playful mood this evening, aren’t you?” He asked rhetorically before his garnets wandered to what they had been doing prior to his entry in the kitchen. “However, why are you cooking this late?” Now this was a genuine question from him as he raised a curious brow at his lover. Mara only chuckled, turning back to the roc they had set aside to marinade. “Well, you had already informed me that you would be late. And the others had their own plans for the night. So, I decided that I wanted to cook for you. Since it’s just us tonight.”
“And pray, tell me what’s on the menu, Chef Mara?” The Avatar asked in amusement, leaning against the counter beside them. “Grilled roc with lemon butter sauce. It’s a recipe that Satan gave me a month or so back. I have been occasionally practicing it in my free time and Beel has been my taste tester for every try.” They informed him, going about every step meticulously. Lucifer smiled approvingly at their neat habits as he watched on with mild interest. Occasionally, his gradients would linger on their side profile, their casual beauty in the moment leaving him spellbound.
“Take a picture. It’ll last longer.” Mara remarked slyly without even looking at the First-born. Lucifer couldn’t help the chuckle that left him; they were absolutely perfect for him. “Now, if you are quite done with staring at me, can you pass me the grill pan, please? And a saucepan as well.” Shaking his head, the ravenhead pushed himself away from the counter and got them what they asked for. “Thank you, Lu.” They replied, giving him a quick kiss on the nose as they set up everything before starting to grill the marinaded roc.
“So, how was your day, Lu?” Mara asked as they took the sauce pan and started on the sauce while the meat was grilling. “Well, busy as ever. Lord Diavolo needed my inputs on some stuff and I had a mountain of paperwork to go through myself.” He replied, causing Mara to frown. Lucifer looked exhausted and they knew that if he still had something left to go through, he wouldn’t be sleeping. Again. And they didn’t want that. “Stop frowning, love. I finished everything before coming home.” He reassured them. “And that said, I demand that we cuddle.” He added seriously, his cheeks gaining just a little colour, causing Mara to giggle. They loved this other side of him that only they got to witness. “You are SO lucky that your brothers aren’t home to hear you say that, you know?” They teased him as he rolled his eyes. But other than that, the demon decided not to answer in order to save himself from more teasing. Damn, Mara made him soft.
Before long, his lover finished up, setting their dinner onto two separate dishes and carrying it to the dining room, Lucifer right behind them. Despite all their protests, he helped Mara into a seat and kissed them deeply before taking his own seat. “Thank you for doing this, love. Hell knows when was the last time the two of us had such a calm night. The entire house to ourselves with no one to disturb my time with you.” He said before taking a fork and knife and cutting into the juicy meat. He cut up a bite and picked it up with his fork before lifting it to his lovely partner’s lips. At the same time, their fork lifted to his lips , causing them both to burst out laughing. But then, eyes locking onto the other’s, they fed the piece of meat to each other, an entirely different conversation being held through their locked gazes.
Mentally, Lucifer thanked the appropriate being for dropping Mara into his mundane life. They were… everything, as he always said whenever he was asked about them. To think that he would say this about someone, everyone knew how big it was.
Shaking himself internally, Lucifer refocused his entire attention on his lovely companion, eating as he asked them about their day. “Eh, it was the same. Levi and Mammon were fighting over something yet again . They tried to involve me too but I was just so done. Luckily, Asmo came in at the right time and took me back to his room. We had a lovely time doing each other’s nails while he told me about the new gossip that’s been going around.” They told him, taking a break to eat. Once Mara had swallowed, they continued. “As for Beel and Belphie, I haven’t seen them since after breakfast. And Satan’s still out on that errand of his.”
The Archdemon shook his head. “Sometimes I wonder why I expect proper behaviour from Mammon and Leviathan.” He let out with a sigh. “However, I’m glad that Asmodeus' timely intervention helped you. We all know what would happen had you gotten involved as well.” He continued, a smirk gracing his literally, devilishly handsome face.
“HEY! It’s not my fault!” Mara retorted, pouting childishly.
The ravenhead laughed, making the human smile inwardly as they saw him loosen up slowly. “Sure it isn’t.” He teased back before waving his hand over their empty dishes, causing them to vanish. “I’m not letting you do the dishes right now. It’s late and I’m owed some well-deserved cuddles as I stated earlier.” He explained upon realising that Mara was looking at him questioningly.
“But- EEP!” They started, only to yelp when he lifted and placed them over his shoulder. “PUT ME DOWN, LU!” They yelled. “Nope, can’t do it. We are going straight to bed. I’ll get either Mammon or Leviathan to do it tomorrow morning as a punishment for whoever was in the wrong in that argument you told me about.”
And with that, Lucifer carried the human to his room, looking forward to a good night’s sleep in who knows how long.