Chapter Text
Sitting on the sofa in the hotel’s lobby, Lucifer was only partially paying attention to what was on the TV. He soon found himself leaning against the armrest and closing his eyes, gradually drifting to sleep. It was late—a little after one in the morning—and the hotel was unnaturally quiet. Everyone else was asleep—except for Alastor, who was laying on the other end of the sofa and was evidently awake, stretching his legs out and shoving one hoof into Lucifer’s side in the process. He shifted, then pulled the blanket draped over him tighter around himself and curled up in the exact same position he was in before. He’d been repeating that same routine all night.
Lucifer was annoyed at being woken up, but he couldn’t bring himself to be angry at the poor deer. He knew he had to feel like shit to be so restless when he’d been so tired during the day. He had denied being sick for most of the day, even though it was obvious from the sound of his voice and the look of exhaustion behind his forced smile. His energy eventually ran out, much to his chagrin, and he’d been lying on the couch since that evening. His ears were flopped to the sides, his cheeks and nose were flushed red, and the dark circles under his eyes were more prominent than usual. Lucifer offered to look after him for the night, telling Charlie that he didn’t want her worrying about him. While that was true, it wasn’t the real reason he was so insistent. He wanted to be the one to care for Alastor and spend some time with him, but he didn’t want to outright say it. Everyone knew that the two were getting along, but they weren’t very open about just how much time they’d been spending together.
Alastor sat up a little, supporting himself with one arm, and started coughing harshly into his fist. It left his breathing ragged and faintly rattling in his chest as he blearily opened his eyes. He squinted at the TV for a moment before shielding his eyes with a static-filled groan. “Why are you watching this?” he mumbled, his voice hoarse and his words slightly slurred.
“I couldn’t sleep, so I thought some background noise would help.”
“There are better sources of background noise, you know,” he said, sounding only half awake. He closed his eyes, keeping them covered by his hand. “Turn that off. It’s too bright.”
Lucifer sat up and reached for the remote, switching the TV off. He looked at Alastor, who shifted to be sitting up with his arms wrapped around his knees and was shivering, and furrowed his brow. He really should’ve gone to bed a long time ago. “Do you want me to take you to your room?” Surely his bed was more comfortable than the couch, yet he shook his head in response. Instead, he slid closer to the King and leaned his head against his shoulder. Lucifer’s eyes widened in surprise, a flutter of excitement in his chest at just how close he was. Alastor never initiated any sort of physical affection and, as far as he knew, wasn’t comfortable enough around him to allow for much physical contact between them. He wasn’t sure whether he should be glad that the sinner wanted to be so close to him, or worried because that was so unlike him. Either way, he seemed to relax a little, and letting him rest was the most important thing right then.
He decided to push his luck a little further, and raised a hand to gently run his fingers through the other man’s hair. He watched Alastor’s reaction carefully, ready to back off if he showed any signs of discomfort. But he didn’t. He simply closed his eyes and nestled his head against the Devil’s neck, overly-warm body slumped against his. His hair was soft, albeit tangled and slightly damp with sweat. The hand in his hair moved to one of his large, fluffy ears, slowly stroking his crimson fur. He made no attempt to move, letting his ears be petted and his head gently scratched, like the others did to Keekee. After a few minutes, the deer demon opened his eyes. There was a buzz of static in the air as he lifted his head, then suddenly sneezed, one of his ears swatting Lucifer in the face as they flicked back against his head. Alastor sniffled, then leaned against him again with a groan.
“Watch where you aim those things,” he said with no actual malice in his voice, flicking the tip of one ear. He pushed the shivering demon off of himself, keeping one hand on his shoulder to steady him because it seemed like he was barely awake. Since he decided that he was not leaving the couch, he was at least going to make himself comfortable. With a wave of his hand, Lucifer’s clothes were swapped with pajamas. Sanguine feathers spread at his sides as one pair of wings sprouted from his back. He laid down, then guided Alastor to lay with his head resting on his chest. His wings wrapped around the other, draping over the blanket that was already covering him.
Lucifer went back to stroking him behind the ears with an amused smile. A powerful Overlord like him, being treated like a harmless pet. “I never would’ve thought that you could be so clingy. You like being scratched behind the ears?” It felt a little wrong of him to enjoy this so much, but when would he get a chance to be this affectionate with him again?
“It distracts me from this headache…” he slurred out, coughing a few times. His voice sounded like it was coming from a cheap, malfunctioning speaker.
“Does cuddling with me help, too?”
There was a short pause. “Yes.” The admittance was so casual that Lucifer couldn’t help but chuckle. There was no way he would ever confess something like that if he wasn’t so out of it. Honestly, he wasn’t sure if Alastor fully knew what he was saying.
“I think you’re just delirious.”
“Maybe…” His voice trailed off like he was starting to fall asleep, so Lucifer stayed quiet. He laid awake for a while, listening to the sinner’s static-filled breathing and intermittent coughing. Then, he slowly drifted to sleep as well, his wings still comfortingly wrapped around the other.