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“Ugh…” Lucifer frowned, having bent forward one wing of his too set in front of him, trying to see using the large mirror before him whatever was bothering…he felt many pinching sensations in that particular wing, which he'd assumed was because of how messy the extermination battle had been…
He tried to pass his hand through it, but with no success. It was way too hard to take care of this on his own, yet he didn't want to bother anyone with such a trivial matter…though he'd even tried taking a shower and shampooing the feathers, he just couldn't get deep enough under them.
He knew he'd manage it at some point, but that wasn't the main issue. The primary problem was that he felt the same things around the base of his wings, which meant mid back, which also meant that he could barely reach.
Shape-shifting could only help to a certain degree, huh?
With another sigh accompanying him, he turned around, heading over to his bed and letting himself fall face first against the mattress, wings resting in defeat and a groan being sounded against the pillow.
He could always ask Charlie for help, but knowing how busy she'd made herself, he didn't think it'd be correct to take time out of her day for this. Vaggie…nah, it'd just be so weird; he didn't even know what to say to her. Then there was Husker, who probably couldn't even be bothered to look at it, whilst Angel Dust was someone he simply did not trust based on how he was known.
Niffty…was not an option, which left Alastor.
Huh.
Interesting.
The king would've thrown the radio demon into the same category as Husk, but he did feel like he kinda owed him for healing him after said extermination. What was taking (mostly likely small) rocks out of his wings to him? And Alastor was probably the only guy Lucifer wouldn't hesitate to use his ‘authority’ with. They just had that dynamic; he could call it teasing.
Pushing himself up, Lucifer looked over at the door, pressing his lips together into a thin line as he rethought this over—
That'd be weird, though, wouldn't it? Maybe he should just settle for Charlie's help— or it couldn't be that bad if he did ask Vaggie.
But the mere thought of trying to bring it up made him basically sick to his stomach, kind of uncomfortable.
Maybe he should just settle for that stubborn stag. Worst case would be rejection… Rejection, he really COULD NOT win in any case. He'd have to risk immense embarrassment no matter who he chose to ask—
Knock knock— “Hey dad!” Charlie walked in with her usual optimistic attitude, seeming quite happy.
— Lucifer quickly turned over, hurting himself as he rushed, one of his hands pressing down on his own wings– hurt like a bitch- he pulled it away and just fell backwards onto the floor…rolling onto his side, biting his lip in pain.
“OH— are you alright?!” She rushed over to her father's side, kneeling beside him, helping him sit up.
“Yeah, sorry, you just startled me…” Lucifer retracted his wings, scrunching up his nose in discomfort.
“Yeah! I noticed!” She giggled, holding his hand and helping him up. “I just came by to tell you that Vaggie and I are going out, in case you needed me.”
“Oh, uh? Okay, not sure why you're telling me, you can do what you want…you know?”
“Well, with you living in the hotel now, I thought you'd wanna know…also I didn't see you today, thought it was a good excuse.” She smiled.
“Aw, my daughter is making excuses to see me.” He smiled like a little kid. Take that depression! “Where are you two going?”
“Well, Vaggie insisted on me taking a break, so we're going out on a picnic date. Hopefully, it'll be peaceful.” Charlie said this as if she didn't have the privilege to go to royalty owned places that wouldn't hold much, if not any chaos.
“Ah, well, I hope you two have fun; that sounds like a really cute idea.” This just made him regret that he hadn't thought of making his and Alastor's garden outing a picnic. He could've packed venison. Dammit.
Wait. What? Nah, that totally didn't sound like a date…
“Thanks, Dad! Oh, and, be careful, yeah?” Charlie clasped her hands together, slowly making her way back over to the door. “Don't hurt yourself.”
“I'll try.” He giggled, dusting himself off.
“Byee—” She sang happily, closing the door loudly behind herself, leaving Lucifer to just contemplate.
The blonde sighed, sitting back on his bed, resting his face against his hands, elbows propped up on his thighs. Another groan escaped him before he stood back up.
He made his way back over to the mirror, his wings popping back out. He bent the bothersome wing back in front of him, trying once again. This time, each move was more meticulous between every feather, trying to find whatever foreign small object had been the cause of the stinging in this particular part of his wing.
At this point, he felt like he was imagining it. Why couldn't he at least feel it under his fingers? He was at the exact spot, yet nothing!
He just threw his hands up in frustration and gave up. He needed someone to look at this or at least the pinching he felt around his back area. He was certain this would be much easier to spot and deal with.
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“Looks like the king of hell finally got out of his cave,” Angel commented, seeing the fallen angel walking down the stairs and towards the bar.
“Showing off the wings, Eh?” Husk chuckled, putting down Angel's newly cleaned glass in front of him, preparing a simpler drink for him as the day was still young.
Husk had taken on the habit to refuse certain drinks at specific times, so much so that Charlie had printed out a schedule for him— or just mostly for the guests to know what was available and not.
Beginning 7:30 P.M. Nothing was off limits, but when it came to times like 8:00 A.M., it was pretty certain to say that the gambler would only be serving milk, tea, coffee, and the occasional energy drink.
“Not really intentionally.” Lucifer replied, pensive, looking defeated as he sat beside the arachnid, looking over at his glass of…”Water?”
“Yeah?” Angel raised a brow. “What about it?”
The porn star knew exactly where that shock came from. The king of hell was most likely bad at social media, but he knew that he'd been aware of Angel's existence, and you didn't need to be a genius to assume any popular sex worker like him was most likely not clean of anything.
Though he was here to get better. Slowly. Yeah. But he was trying…
He'd been drinking wine during lunch, for example, or two beers max, but Husk had finally pushed him to quit til’ the evening everyday. Truthfully, drinking water to hydrate as the body was supposed to do, even in hell, it really cut his cravings for alcohol; plus, slowly quitting had helped him with the withdrawal symptoms…though still pretty bad at times.
Today, he felt good, though.
“I just thought you didn't really drink water; I mean, you told me that.”
“Well, toots, looks like I'm growing as a person, huh? Isn't that amazing?” Angel tilted his head to the side, looking at him with contempt, clearly being passive-aggressive with him.
“Woah, Woah…” He put up his hands in front of him, waving them in a defensive manner. “I wasn't trying to be rude. I was just saying.”
He perched up one of his elbows onto the bar top, inclining his head, running his hand through his hair as well as massaging his forehead.
“Uh-huh.” Angel rolled his eyes back, looking over at Husk, who had an amused look on his face, shaking his head softly from side to side.
“You two are an odd pair to watch together.”
“Pair?’ Lucifer dryly scoffed.
“You don't wanna be paired up with me~?” Angel taunted, leaning closer to the blonde, who instinctively got out of his relaxed position and leaned back, hand up.
“Damn, relax.” Angel groaned, moving back over to his spot.
“I'm too old for this.” Lucifer sighed, crossing his arms over the counter and laying his head on top of them.
“Ditto that.” Husk chuckled. “Anyway, what were you saying about your wings?”
“I was saying something about them?” Lucifer paused, needing to recall—
“You said they were out unintentionally as if it was the most unfortunate thing ever.” Angel sighed.
Lucifer's lacking skill in following conversation was one that could be funny but mostly annoying and inconvenient. Having to point him back into the right direction constantly made Angel roll his eyes back into his skull.
But it still was as endearing as irritating as it could be. An eye roll was the most the spider would do about it.
“I just got weird things stuck in my feathers; it's irritating my skin as well as simply stinging every time I move. Not very fun. I'm still trying to remove all of it.”
“If you need help, I could always look for you?” Husk proposed, knowing the struggles of having wings, especially when they got tiny nuisances like what the king seemed to be describing.
“Really? That'd be appreciated!” Lucifer almost cheered, opting to just be very enthusiastic about it. Who knew too much excitement tended to weird people out; Lucifer had to learn that the hard way.
“Well, we can do it now? Pretty sure Angel can serve himself water if he needs it.” Husk made his way around the bar, resting his hand on the wooden surface, leaning.
“What makes you think I won't break something?” The arachnid crossed his second set of arms. “You don't know what I'm capable of, mister Husker.” He tilted his head to the side.
“It's not my problem; Charlie paid for it— well. Alastor summoned it, not exactly the same, but close enough.” He replied, falling victim to Angel's third eye roll of the afternoon.
“Sorry, but, why don't we just do it here?” Lucifer interrupted.
“Because if you have things stuck in your feathers and especially if they're stuff near the skin, it's better to use water and soap,” Husk explained. “Not as simple as pulling those shits out sometimes.”
“I suppose that makes sense.”
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“So, uh…”
Husker felt pretty awkward as they walked up to Lucifer's quarters, giving the space a nice look around. He hadn't realised how different this area was compared to the hotel's rebuilt aesthetic. White walls, bright coloured curtains, and a ton of paintings hung between each tall window, from family photos to abstract animals such as a frog with a duck head…the king seemed to be pretty open minded, at least that's what the bartender seemed to be understanding from merely walking through the hall that the guy had decorated himself.
“You like the decor?” Lucifer glanced back to the sinner, who seemed very much enthralled by each painting, all managing to get more vastly different. “Picked these out myself, you know.”
Fun facts the king appeared quite proud to share, making Husker laugh. “Well, it sure is different.”
The comment on its own would've sounded rather rude, but since it was accompanied by a friendly tone and show of amusement, Lucifer smiled proudly, pleased with himself. He deemed this a successful show around of his collection.
Once they finished their stroll and stood in front of the comically oversized doors that had far too pretty wood carving into them, Lucifer pushed the door open.
“It would've been fine to have you help me at the bar, I'm not sure why you insisted on doing it up here.”
“I explained to you that we need water and most likely soap for this.” Husk sighed.
“Ohh.”
He takes a Brief pause.
“Right.”
“Yeah, so, can you strip so we can get this over with?” Husk muttered, making his way to the sofa, crossing his legs as he sat. He put his chin on his hand, staring at the wall, giving privacy to Lucifer.
“Strip?” The king stared at the bartender, dumbfounded.
“Just take off your shirt.”
“That sounds better…” Lucifer titters, heading into the bathroom to take off his shirt. He used this as a convenient moment to grab the bucket under the sink along with the bar of soap that was in the shower.
He was about to walk out the bathroom before realising he might need to fill up the bucket with water. With an accompanying sigh, he walked back over to the shower, turning on the nozzle. The water flowed quick and vicious; a steaming heat arose from the water, fogging the glass nearby.
Once moderately filled, Lucifer shut the water off, picking up the bucket; he, however, missed the water that spilled across the floor, leading to him slipping and falling face first, spilling the bucket all over himself and the floor, staining the carpeted floor before Lucifer stated plainly. “FUCK” he slammed his hand down two times before going limp and accepting his fate.
Husk stood up, startled by the noise. “The fuck did you do—?” That question was met by the quick response of the sight he was presented upon turning around.
Lucifer pushed himself up, looking up at the stunned feline. “Can you fill the bucket this time?”
“I think that'd be preferable.” Husk chuckled awkwardly, walking past the Morningstar and picking the bucket up, carefully making his way into the kitchen, filling it up from the tap.
Lucifer sighed, rubbing his face with his hands, his nose having a stinging sensation from the hit it took. He made his way over to the couch, Husk joining him a few seconds later, putting down the water filled bucket on the coffee table. “You got soap?”
“Uh- yeah, I left it in the bathroom, I think…”
With an accompanying eye roll, Husk walked over to the bathroom. The moment his foot made contact with the wet carpet, he felt himself shiver in discomfort. He then went on to grab the soap that'd been discarded onto the tiled floor of the shower, making his way back out, rushing past the wet carpet.
“Alright…” He sighed, plunging the bar of soap into the bucket. “I'll need you to stand up and face away from me, can't really clean your wings if I can't see them.”
“Smart.” Lucifer pointed a finger gun at him, not being met with the smile he tried to get. Sighing in defeat, he stood up, facing away from Husker.
“So, where do you feel these…things?”
“Around the base of the wings.” He replied. “I also feel them around here.” He attempts to point at the alula of his right wing. He spins around in circles a few times before giving up.
“Hm…” Husk watched him struggle to point it out, fairly amused though the small smile he had dropped rather fast as he set his free hand on Lucifer's shoulder, keeping him still. Husk passed the soap over the base of the wings, dousing them with water before putting the soap back into the bucket.
Husk passed his nails around into the thick feathers, feeling around before sensing whatever bothersome objects happened to be affixed in there. He lightly pulled at it, taking a slow and steady approach to removing the items.
He first pulled out small rocks, which he'd assumed were from the mess that was the battle they were recently in. Husk had the same issue after that ordeal. He exhaled before resuming to toil at removing the bits and bobs.
It was pretty normal so far, all of the annoyances that were tangled at the base being rather understandable until he went to clean up the alula.
“What's this..?” Husk furrowed his brows in confusion, showing Lucifer the duck head he'd just pulled out of there…
“Hahaha…” He laughed nervously before looking away, not commenting further.
“Suit yourself…” Husk set it aside. Before pulling out like 20 more ducks. “Bud, fucking explain yourself.” lucifer’s eyes go wide “WAIT, A FUCKING MINUTE! IS THAT KENNY?” He grabs a duck with a blue top hat and a purple bowtie, basically throwing himself down on the couch, petting the plastic abomination as if it were sentient.
“...You alright?” The bartender was fairly confused and very much concerned.
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The radio demon had been wondering where the bartender was at this time. Alastor had memorised his schedule, and this definitely was a deviation from his habitual day. This sort of event wasn't one that Alastor wouldn't be informed about, usually.
It'd be correct to say he was annoyed.
Alastor didn't know how to use this VoxTek coffee machine, let alone would he spend time to figure it out, nor bother to make his own coffee.
It seemed like he'd need to go and search for him. How fun…how did they call this game again? Hide and seek.
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Lucifer played with his duck, or so Husk assumed he was playing with it. Staring at a plastic figurine didn't seem too fun, but with how amused he appeared to be.
But while the king was busy, the feline figured he'd organise the place back to how it was before. He presumed they were done by now.
Husker stood up, grabbing the bucket to empty it in the kitchen sink, some of the water splashing him, which had him shiver the exact same way as earlier—scrunching up his nose once he put the bucket down.
Speaking of earlier…that carpet. He looked over, noticing the large darkened spot and then the wet tiles inside the bathroom.
“What a mess.” He sighed. “I'll be back; I'm gonna go get some cleaning supplies.” He then headed out of the room, leaving the door slightly ajar.
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“Husker!” Alastor startled the gambler, looming over him as he was picking out cleaning supplies— making him drop the broom he'd been holding.
“Goddammit…” He muttered before turning to meet his proprietor’s gaze. “The fuck do you want, Alastor?” Husk narrowed his eyes.
“My daily morning coffee.” He cocked his head to the side, giving a condescending stare. Sounding cane in front exasperated, he continued. “It's almost as if you've forgotten about me.”
“...”
“Now, what may be the reason for you to disregard our daily engagement?” The deer inquired. Husker sighed, noticing the grievance in the other's demeanour; who knew that one missing cup of coffee in an entire month could get him this upset?
Husk crossed his arms, glancing away, then back over to him before replying. “Lucifer asked for my help.”
“Oh, did he now?” He scoffed, holding his cane up in front of him, one hand near the rear and the other right under the microphone head. “I didn't know you had other priorities.”
“He's the king of hell; I don't know what to tell you. You expect me to say no?” Husk raised a brow, growing agitated by the continued questioning.
“You should've told him about your other prerogatives; I'm certain another kind soul would've gladly helped him with whatever he so needed.” Planting his staff into the ground, tapping the head with his nails.
“Now, then!” His voice shifted into a more cordial tone. “Have you finished your task? You know I don't enjoy schedule conflicts.”
“I still gotta clean the mess he made—”
“—Did he ask you that?”
“Uh…No?”
“Good, now get going; I'll be expecting my coffee once I come back. I've got a little something to deal with.” He enunciated harshly, getting a glare from the cat as he walked off past him.
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Lucifer had finally snapped out of his daze. Staring at the duck had finally tired him out. He'd put it away into his very organised closet. Now, he just had to put away all the duck heads Husk had found.
How odd, though, he didn't recall having any near him whilst he had his wings out? Maybe he sleepwalked. Who knew? Either way, he was truly happy to have found them! He got up, somehow able to hold them all in his arms, bringing them into the walk-in closet he used as an office, pushing the door open with his shoulder.
It was a duck haven, many on the floor but most in the spots where he should've been hanging and folding his clothes. He had his priorities straight, that was for damn sure!
Lucifer quickly got to his desk, letting go of the army of ducks he'd been holding right onto the table, a few falling to the ground. Lucifer didn't mind them for now, focusing on organising them into the correct cabinets. They were arranged by how far into the design process they were.
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Alastor spun his staff prior to pushing the door open with his foot. He scanned the room, looking for the blonde.
He saw no sight of the man; however, he did see a bucket in the sink, a large bucket, too large. He knew naught of why it was there; however, he assumed that the fallen angel couldn’t be far from it. He arrived in front of the sink quickly, looking around; the wet smell of a rug hit his nose. He now knew where he would advance to next, opening the door to the bathroom. He saw it soaked, utterly soaked.
“Oh dear...” Truly, he could only imagine the horror Husk had to deal with. Yet, shockingly, he still saw no sight of the short king.
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Lucifer was humming happily to himself as he finally put his last duck into place. “Here you are, Kenny…” He mumbled with an idiotic smile plastered on his face—
However , he heard a noise. Was it them? Were they here for Kenny? Had they come again to steal him away to hide him? He picked up the largest duck in the room, ready to throw it at the intruder. He moved to the closet door, gently pushing it open.
Lucifer took a look out the small crack, seeing the deer-shaped silhouette— it had come for KENNY! He just knew it! He opened the door swiftly, throwing the duck as hard as possible at the figure. The duck let out a loud SQUEAKKK, and before he knew it, the figure turned around.
Alastor turned around, looking down at the ground, only to see a very happy looking duck. His smile shifted into one of irritated confusion, looking back up to the closet door, where this duck had seemingly come from.
He saw him. Rage overcomes his mind, picking the duck back up and chucking it back to the door, hitting Lucifer right in the forehead.
SQUEEAKK— Lucifer fell backward, knocking his head on the door.
“I PROTECTED KENNY— Oh shit, Alastor.” Lucifer felt extremely stupid now; maybe he'd not drank enough water today, he didn't know. Either way, Kenny was safe.
“Uh-huh.” Alastor had a scowl on his face mixed with the wavering smile. He did not quite understand this situation nor who Kenny was, but he knew he'd just gotten assaulted with a rubber duck. A large one at that. Not his best moment.
“I'm so sorry.” Lucifer rushed over to the stag. “Where did he hit you?”
“More like, where did you hit me.” Alastor pushed Lucifer back using his cane. The five-foot rule was always in action.
“Not my fault, I thought you were a robber…”
“A robber in this hotel? The only robber here is you—”
“I didn't mean to steal Kenny!”
“No?” Alastor's ears went flat on his head.
“Yeah, I swear!” Lucifer insisted, grabbing Alastor's wrists, trying to get his point across.
The deer was about to lose his mind right now, from this idiot taking his bartender, to being hit with a duck and now getting basically manhandled by a midget; today wasn't great, it was embarrassing even.
“Are you mad at me, Al?” Lucifer frowned, unsure of how to fix the mess he'd created. Opting on the best form of comfort, hugging Alastor.
Alastor stood there, stiff as a board, accepting it. It's not like he had much of a choice. As many fantasies of killing this guy he might have, he was smart enough to not attempt them. Not now, at least.
“It's okay~” Lucifer cooed, rubbing the deer's back.
“Get off me.” Alastor brought his hands over to Lucifer's shoulders, pushing him back— trying to.
“Only if you're not mad at me anymore.” Lucifer held onto him.
“Now.”
“Okay, damn.” Lucifer shifted away from him before reaching out for the duck on the floor, deciding quickly how to solve this.
“This is Benny. He may have hurt you, but I hope that by me giving you him, he will make this up to you.” He then proceeded to hand the duck to Alastor, ensuring he took it.
Alastor, forced by the king, takes the duck. “Well, I'll be sure to take care of it?” The stag sighed at the foolishness, hoping it'd stop further touching… or so he hoped—
Lucifer hugged him again. “I'm so happy you like him! Benny is gonna love his new life with you.”
Alastor could not be more embarrassed right now. He had no words…when he thought it couldn't get any worse, Charlie opened the door.
“Hi, Dad—” Vaggie standing right behind her, staring in shock right beside her before bursting out laughing.
What a sight, Lucifer hugging Alastor with his head shoved in his chest and a duck in the radio demon's hand that he let go of, staring back at the pair.
Lucifer looked over. “I'm busy.”
This noticeably got Vaggie laughing even harder, walking off into the hallway.
“I…see.” Charlie looked back at her girlfriend, slowly retreating, shutting the door.
Great, his way to escape was gone.
“Husk made me coffee…it must be cold by now,” Alastor commented, hoping Lucifer would get the hint.
“He'll make another.”
“Right…” Alastor chuckled awkwardly, once again, attempting to push him off. “Wouldn't it be nice if I brought Benny to my room now?”
“Aw, right.” Lucifer pulled away, finally.
Alastor sighed in relief, kneeling to grab the duck quickly before power walking to the door. “Uhm, thank you?” He said before leaving and slamming the door shut.