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Lucifer wasn’t even sure what he and Alastor were arguing about this time. They had been butting heads ever since Alastor showed up at the new and improved (majorly thanks to Lucifer, he might add) Hazbin Hotel. After everyone else had done the work, of course. But Charlie was ecstatic to see him alive and well… so Lucifer just grit his teeth and glared daggers at Alastor when Charlie wasn’t looking, but kept a smile on for her. Anything to make his daughter happy, after all.
That didn't mean he had to get along with Alastor when Charlie wasn’t around, though. Hence the constant bickering and their current spat.
Alastor’s dumb, smug, smarmy, perpetually grinning face was leering down at him, their noses just about touching. Lucifer’s blood was boiling, heat rising to his skin. He could feel his wings practically bubbling at his back, itching to burst out from beneath his skin.
Lucifer opened his mouth to give a biting retort that would surely get the self-absorbed asshole to just shut up– and then Alastor grabbed a fistful of his shirt. Unholy fire flared through Lucifer’s veins, eyes glowing and horns emerging– who dared to touch him–
And then a… different fire spread through Lucifer’s veins.
Lucifer found himself with Alastor’s lips pressed to his own. The kiss was rough and demanding. Alastor was truing to control the situation, both hands gripping his shirt and nearly lifting him off the fucking ground.
And well… fuck it. Lucifer was not gonna give up that easily. Not to the likes of Alastor, at least.
So although woefully inexperienced in this particular type of situation (at least when it came to men), Lucifer reached up, arms winding around Alastor’s shoulders. He yanked him down to his level, pressing himself against the irritatingly taller demon. Alastor stiffened a bit– but he wasn’t a quitter, either. And Lucifer sure as hell (pun intended) didn’t let up either. He bit at Alastor’s lips, ran his hands through his hair (he admittedly wasn’t used to short hair– much less to play with, to Lucifer’s disappointment)– anything to get the upper hand.
Because that’s all this was about. Winning and getting the other hand. Certainly not to give into these strange new feelings– Lucifer knew all about temptation, after all. This wasn’t that. Definitely.
(He just kept telling himself that, all while kissing Alastor like he was his last meal on death row.)
And then… something shifted. Alastor managed to walk the two of them backwards, pressing Lucifer against the wall. One of his hands moved from gripping his shirt to cradling his jaw, tilting his head back ever so slightly. The kiss went from blazing to molten, Lucifer letting out a stuttered gasp against his mouth. Alastor drank it in eagerly, and Lucifer could taste the victorious smirk on his lips.
Lucifer had never been kissed like this before. Well, he had been doing the kissing, at least. At the moment he felt like an explorer without a compass– no, he felt like a broken compass, a needle spinning helplessly and somehow landing on Alastor. A man. Er– demon. A male demon, there we go. Figured it out.
(Lucifer had figured nothing out.)
He wasn’t even sure what Alastor was playing at. As far as Lucifer knew, Alastor didn’t seem all that interested in this sort of interaction. Maybe he had some sort of drug on his lips… yeah, that had to be it! That was the only explanation for why Lucifer felt this way. All… mushy and molten on the inside.
(See? Figuring exactly nothing out.)
A startled gasp caused Lucifer and Alastor to break apart. Lucifer’s breath came out in ragged gasps. His gaze slid over to see who dared interrupt them–
Aaaand he made direct eye contact with his daughter. Fuck.
“Oh– oh my gosh. I– wh– uh– I’m so sorry– I mean… it’s… good to see you’re getting along? I– I’m just gonna– sorry, bye!” Charlie rambled, darting away as quickly as she arrived.
Alastor abruptly disentangled himself from Lucifer, turning to face towards the door. He straightened his coat and smoothed his hair back into place, before standing resolutely with both hands resting atop his cane. His face splitting grin was tight-lipped, and his eyes were calculating, as if trying to decipher a particularly tricky riddle.
Lucifer scrambled to push himself off of the wall, dusting himself off and adjusting his hat. He tried to ignore the racing of his heart and the flush over his cheeks.
“Agree to never speak of this again?” Alastor asked, eyes fixed forward and pointedly away from Lucifer. He was showing his teeth in that stupid plastered-on grin now, but there was a trace of discomfort and annoyance in his eyes.
“I– yeah. Agreed,” Lucifer said, trying for smooth indifference as he tugged at the lapels of his blazer.
Alastor either didn’t notice or didn’t care– probably the latter– and gave a curt nod before leaving the room.
Lucifer let out a long breath. What. The. Fuck.
Well. Problem for another day.
That another day turned out to be another week later. Lucifer had been avoiding Alastor like the plague– which was an action that seemed to be reciprocated.
What Lucifer couldn’t avoid, however, was how he kept replaying the damn kiss in his head. Some nights he’d even wake up in a cold sweat, with the phantom sensation of Alastor’s lips on his.
He wasn’t attracted to Alastor. He wasn’t! He couldn’t be– he wasn’t his type! Er– that was to say… Alastor was a man. Lucifer had only ever been interested in women since the dawn of time! And not that there wasn’t anything wrong with a man being attracted to a man, it just wasn’t who Lucifer was.
Or… so he thought. Could he be interested in men? Or had it just been a while since he’d even had a kiss, and he was just desperate? Well, he could certainly do better than Alastor, that was certain. Whether he was actually attracted to him or not, Lucifer knew one thing for sure– he couldn’t stand the guy.
So why the fuck did he keep thinking about kissing him?!
It led Lucifer to just mope around the hotel, thoughts circling like a flock of vultures over rotting flesh. His moping eventually landed him at the bar, with a drink he was only half invested in drinking.
“D’aww, what’s gotcha down, daddy?” a voice crooned from somewhere off to Lucifer’s side.
“Angel,” Husk huffed, brows knit in disapproval.
“What! His majesty is Charlie’s dad, and Charlie does keep calling us all family…” Angel trailed off with a smirk, leaning his face against a pair of his hands.
Husk just rolled his eyes, then frowned a bit towards Lucifer. “Y’know, now that you mention it–”
“You think he’s a total daddy?” Angel interrupted with a grin.
Husk let out an unimpressed chuff. “No. What I mean to say is something is off about him. Usually you fucks barely get a drink in before y’all start bitching to me, but he’s barely touched his drink and hasn’t said a word.”
“Just because I’m not saying anything, doesn’t mean that I can’t hear you,” Lucifer muttered.
Lucifer hadn’t been looking in Husk’s direction at all, but he could still see him stiffen in his peripheral vision.
He sighed. “Relax. My daughter likes you, and that’s fine enough for me.”
“Can’t help but notice you don’t feel that way about everyone your daughter likes,” Husk commented, posture relaxing once again.
Lucifer groaned at the mere implication of Alastor, head dropping against the bar.
Husk chuckled. “Y’know, kind of a relief that the King of Hell himself dislikes the guy. Maybe I’m– we’re not totally fucked.”
“Oh I dunno– he’s terrifying, yeah– but there’s somethin’ about him... I’d kinda like to see what else that mouth can do other than grin, ya know?” Angel crooned.
A hysterical laugh burst out from Lucifer’s lips, and he startled so bad at Angel’s words that he nearly toppled off of the barstool.
Husk and Angel both just blinked at him for a moment. Lucifer scrambled to collect himself, going for a totally normal and not at all strained smile.
But then Husk just shrugged. “Bit more extreme of a reaction, but I think I agree with ya.”
“You alright there, short king? You seem a bit tense… betcha I could help you relax,” Angel said in a near purr. He was leaning over in Lucifer’s space, and fuck he was so much taller than Alastor was. And his grin was different too– more alluring and charming, yet somehow softer. Lucifer felt the sudden urge to grab him by the collar, kiss him, run his hands through his hair– just to see if he felt as soft as he looked.
“How did you know you were attracted to men?” was what he blurted out instead.
Angel suddenly lurched back, blinking. “Well this is the weirdest fucking way I’ve ever been propositioned.”
“I’m not propositioning you! I’m not– I was just curious, y’know? The spectrum of attraction is fascinating, y’know, and it’s been a while since I’ve properly y’know. Interacted with anyone, so I better start reading up more on things like this and– by golly, is it hot in here? What am I saying, of course it is– it’s hell! Maybe I should talk to CharChar about getting–”
“Oookay. Stopping you right there. Take a breath there, buddy,” Angel said, resting his hands on Lucifer’s shoulders in what was probably meant to be a grounding gesture. But instead Angel’s touch just burned, and Lucifer found himself squirming away.
Husk let out a long sigh. “Can’t believe I’m willingly signing myself up for this… but spill. Somethin’s bothering ya. If you can’t let it out to a grumpy old bartender, then who can you talk to about it?”
Lucifer closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Then let it out, and opened his eyes again. Husk and Angel were both looking at him expectantly.
“Oh-kay. So I… may have… kinda sorta… kissed Alastor. Well– he kissed me, really. I don’t even know why! We were bickering about something or another and he just sort of lays one on me! And then Charlie walked in on it, and my head feels all… stupid since then,” Lucifer managed to get out.
There was silence for a beat, maybe two. And then it’s broken by a groan of dismay from Angel.
“Aw c’mon! Lucifer bagged Alastor before I could bag either of ‘em?!”
“I didn’t bag shit! I didn’t even think I wanted to bag someone like that until a week ago!” Lucifer sputtered.
Husk looked a little uncomfortable, and like he was seriously regretting opening this particular can of worms.
“Wait– hold up. What do you mean… ‘someone like that?’” Angel asked with a raised eyebrow.
“Stuck-up? Smug? Power hungry?” Husk offered with a scoff.
“Nah, that would be my first wife,” Lucifer said without missing a beat, although his heart still ached at the thought of Lillith.
“Don’t avoid the question!” Angel snapped.
Lucifer groaned, burying his face in his hands.
“Angel, c’mon. Let the guy have a sexuality crisis in peace,” Husk reprimanded.
Lucifer’s head shot up. “Crisis? What crisis! I am fine, no crisis here! Nope!”
Husk just gave him a flat stare. Lucifer shrank a little under his gaze.
Angel let out a sigh. “Gah… c’mon. So a guy kissed you. Doesn’t mean anything about ya has to change.”
Lucifer risked a glance at Angel. He was looking at Lucifer with the softest, gentlest look he had ever seen on the Sinner, and somehow that sent his heart fluttering more than the sultry looks and comments from before had.
Lucifer glanced away just as quickly, face flushing. “Ohhhhh– yeah no. Things have definitely changed.”
Angel let out a surprised, mildly disbelieving laugh. “I– I’m sorry. Did I just make the Lucifer blush?! Over nothin’? Damn, that might be better than bagging him at all.”
“I wouldn’t call that nothin’, Angel. You ain’t half bad when you aren’t being an ass,” Husk said dryly.
“Hey!” Angel squawked.
Husk rolled his eyes before turning to Lucifer. “Listen– what Angel said– er, before that, wasn’t that far off. Nothing about you has to change. So you kissed a guy. Was a pretty shit guy to kiss, but I guess that just means it doesn’t have to mean anything.”
Lucifer let out a disbelieving huff. “It’s not… just him, though. And I know he didn’t care about it– he was just trying to throw me off. Mission fucking successful, I guess.”
“Hey, I’ve had pretty shit taste in guys too, if it makes you feel any better,” Angel said with a shrug.
“Thanks, I think that helps– hey wait, aren’t I one of your tastes?” Lucifer got out in a mildly offended scoff.
“Well technically, I haven’t gotten a taste yet– care to change that?” Angel said, sultry demeanor back in full force.
“Angel–” Husk warned.
“Some other time,” Lucifer said with a light flush.
Angel blinked in surprise. “Wait so that wasn’t a no, then?”
“It was more of a… I’ve gotta figure some stuff out first,” Lucifer said with a sheepish chuckle.
“Take all the time you need– it ain’t a linear process. And hey, no pressure to keep your word if you end up changing your mind,” Angel said softly.
“I… yeah. Thanks,” Lucifer said, a little unused to feeling so exposed and vulnerable. He was the King of Hell, after all. Angelic power and might, and all that.
But… it kind of felt nice at the same time. No big expectations, no one looking at him with fear or awe– they just saw him. And maybe Lucifer didn’t quite know who “him” really was all about quite yet. He’d thought he knew ever since he fell from Heaven. The guy who dreamed too big and loved too much– although, maybe that last part was more correct than he’d realized all along. Not just that he loved too much, but that he loved more.