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Fluffy. Airy. Light.
They were all the words to describe King Lucifer’s pancakes. According to Charlie, his pancakes were the perfect thing to cheer anyone up.
Alastor looked down at the plate placed in front of him by Niffty. Butter shaped like a duck was slowly melting on top. He wasn’t fond of sweet things in the morning, he’d rather stick with a coffee and a cigarette.
Since when did the short king wake up this early to make a pancake breakfast? He’s usually holed up in his room, either having a depressive episode or invested in a drama he saw late night and binge watched the entire series. His smile faltered slightly, curious as to what the king was up to.
His train of thought was interrupted by Niffty who had placed a syrup dispenser next to his plate. A quick “good morning!” and a smile later, she went back to the kitchen to help out. Alastor poked the near melted butter with his knife. The first of the stack was near soaked in the butter. He scraped the remaining off before lightly drizzling syrup on top. He cut the three pancake stack into fourths before stabbing a section.
He nearly gagged at the first bite. Despite being soft, the pure sugar overtook his senses. Alastor stopped mid chew, dropped the utensils on his plate, and tried to reach for his coffee to wash the sugar with the bitter black liquid he preferred.
‘This is nothing but sugar!’ His hand had grabbed the handle but a smaller hand had covered the top to stop him.
“How’s the pancakes?” Alastor’s left eye moved to see Lucifer in a frilly pink apron lightly dusted with flour in different places. His proud smile was beaming at the Radio demon, noticed part of the pancake gone. Alastor could only answer with static in disgust. Trying to swallow this first bite would be torture but the king was waiting for his response in earnest, almost with a hope that would be so euphoric to break.
‘Be nice, Alastor. My dad’s kind of hoping to get a smile from you.’ Charlie’s voice had reminded him constantly in his mind.
‘I’m always smiling dear, it’s the one thing I don’t leave without.’ His head tilted in curiosity, wondering what the princess meant. She gave a small sigh, her smile seemingly melancholic. Alastor stretched her smile wider with his hands.
‘Much better.’
That little conversation never left him whenever he saw Lucifer. He gave a hard swallow, his entire body protested at the sweetness. He swatted at Lucifer’s hand on his cup and quickly took a mouthful of coffee.
“Are you trying a new way of killing sinners with sugar?” Alastor spat out after that gulp.
“What do you mean? I never changed my recipe.” Lucifer curiously took a piece of Alastor’s pancake and stuffed it in his mouth. He chewed once before the instant overload of sugar hit his senses. The king spat it out and swiped Alastor‘s cup to clear out the sugar overload. He slammed the cup down as he swallowed the last drop of caffeinated liquid. He took the plate off the table. Alastor wrinkled his nose in disgust at his majesty’s reaction. First the pancake breakfast and now his coffee?
“What the fuck was this? Uh, short maid!” He called out to the kitchen. Niffty came out, covered in a dusting of flour. “How much sugar did you add?” Niffty blinked before she ran back into the kitchen to grab something.
Alastor almost understood why those pancakes were too sweet. He looked at the king waiting for Niffty to come back to answer. He noticed the kitchen door open again, a measuring cup in her hands.
“Two cups, just like you said!” She lifted the cup happily. Lucifer frowned as he noticed how large that cup was. It held a max of four cups.
“Uh, two full cups of that?”
“Yes! Two cups of sugar.” The horror set in Lucifer’s face as he realized there was a total of eight cups of pure sugar in his current batch. He turned to look at Alastor trying not to die laughing at the situation.
“That’s not two cu-“ Lucifer was cut off by Alastor pinching his lips shut. He didn’t want to hear Niffty cry in the morning, especially when his coffee was rudely taken from his hands. He dismissed Niffty with a quick wave. Lucifer could only pout at the situation as he looked at the pancake plate he still held. His perfect pancakes ruined all because of a measurement mix up. A sigh of defeat and a glance to the Radio demon’s indifference shown in his eyes more than his smile.
“I’ll make another batch, it’ll be the most delicious…wait, where are you going?” The king started to panic as Alastor got up to leave. The wendigo paid him no mind. He needed his coffee.
“Out, I have other things to attend to outside of this hotel.” A few steps and he melted to the floor using his shadows. Lucifer frowned. His grip a little tighter on the plate.
‘I was hoping to see you smile.’ His eyes staring at the ruined pancakes. He took a deep breath as Charlie came up and touched his shoulder for reassurance. He looked up to his daughter with a melancholic smile before going to the kitchen to do damage control.
A few weeks later, the Pride ring was feeling a heavy chill in the air. A loud cough and sniffle alerted Charlie to be quick. Lucifer was susceptible to colds. She quickly ushered her dad back to his room and ordered several thick blankets to be delivered. A quick thanks and a kiss to Vaggi for her quick delivery later, she quickly piled the blankets on top of him. He started to shiver as the cold slowly took over his body. Charlie turned up the heat in the room.
Lucifer was proud of his daughter but he knew she should be downstairs to take care of the guests.
“I’ll be fine Charlie, you should go.” He weakly waved his hand drowned in his oversized sweater. Tried anyway. He was doing more of a swatting motion which made Charlie fret over him.
“Dad, you’re…”
“It’ll be fine. The hotel needs you.” He weakly said as he tried to wave her off again. Charlie sighed. She knew he could get stubborn if she kept pushing.
“Okay, but I will come back later to check on you.” Lucifer crawled into the massive layers of blankets, his head on the pillow right at the top. He heard the soft click of his door close. The cold made him shiver again. He felt feverish and felt a heavy pressure to close his eyes and sleep.
A few hours later, the king slowly opened his eyes to find the source of the light hum and static near him. Just a few feet away, Alastor was sitting in a chair, reading a book. Lucifer turned to his side to face him. The rustle of sheets and blankets made Alastor shift his eyes to see the king’s groggy face.
“Why are you here?” Lucifer asked as he tried to get up. He didn’t want to face the Radio demon in this condition.
“Charlie’s a bit busy and asked me to go check on you.” In reality, Alastor was slightly relieved. He didn’t want to deal with watching Husk perform therapy, if you could even call it that. His eyes went back to the words on the book; none of it registering in his mind. A frown formed on the king’s face as he felt ignored. Lucifer was feeling uncomfortable at the silence and presence of the red guy.
Alastor closed the book. The king was far more entertaining than the drivel of sheep. His smile slightly widened as he saw the mountain of blankets covering such a tiny snake. “Are you not dying of heat with all of this?” Alastor pointed at the blankets with his staff.
“I’m still cold.” Lucifer sniffled. He was starting to feel congested.
“I beg your pardon? There’s enough blankets to provide two floors full of guests. How are you not dying?”
“I’m cold blooded.” Lucifer outstretched his arms to Alastor. Confused, he tilted his head trying to figure out if the king is finally losing it.
“What are you doing, your majesty?” He finally asked. Lucifer’s small smile widened.
“Warm me up, Bambi.”
“You’re delirious, short king. Why the hell would I get into bed with-“ He stopped as he saw his crestfallen face. Radio static became loud for a moment as Alastor internally exasperated. His ears lowered as he tried to figure out how badly he’s going to regret this. “Move, short king.”
Alastor kicked off his boots. He took off his coat and draped it on the arm of the chair along with his staff. He turned to the bed and pulled off several blankets to get into bed. The first touch made him realize Lucifer really didn’t emit enough heat to keep warm even with the heavy blankets.
“Come here before I regret this.” He stretched out his arms as an invitation. Lucifer paused to drink in the sight before smiling. The heat Alastor emitted beckoned him to wrap himself against his chest. Alastor choked back a laugh as he watched the king melt into pure bliss. He wrapped his arms around Luci’s waist. They stayed like this for a few minutes before Alastor was almost at his breaking point. This was hell for him. He could feel his own sweat and it clung with the blanket above. He wanted to rid himself of some of these blankets but that would mean it would ruin Luci’s bliss.
‘Fuck.’ Radio static crackled in the air. He slipped a shadow appendage out to pull off more blankets. It was too hot for his comfort. Luci didn’t seem to mind, the heat Alastor generated was luring him to sleep.
“You’re so warm…” He mumbled out as shifted to nuzzle into the crook between the bed and Alastor’s neck. The Radio demon said nothing, shifting one arm to put his hand in the messy, creamy blonde hair. He curled a finger around a loose strand that stuck out. The strands were pliable, keeping it into a curl as he uncurled it from his finger. He tried again with another small section of hair, wrapping and uncurling. Alastor’s eyes softened, his closed smile just a little wider as he continued his ministrations at Luci’s hair. He was a bit envious at that hair, he wanted his curly hair back from when he was alive. Luci mumbled something inaudible.
“Go to sleep your majesty.” Alastor said as he stopped curling. The king looked up with half lidded eyes. Alastor wanted to laugh at how silly Luci looked now with small, tight curls slowly unfurling in random places.
“Will you still be here when I wake?” There was an overwhelming amount of hope hinted in that question. For warmth or for company, Alastor guessed his depression may be the reason.
“ Only if you sleep now.” Luci gave a small nod. His small hand moved to guide Alastor’s to play with his hair again, not knowing he was getting curls. All he knew was how comfortable it feels with the soft radio static and a soft hum filling the air. The Radio demon continued, slowly wrapping his fingers into that creamy blonde. The king gave a sleepy smile before a yawn overtook him. Alastor noticed the slow, even breathing, a sign he was almost with the stars and the moon in a slumber.
“…Forgive me, Bambi…I…” His mumble trailed off.
“There is nothing to apologize for.” Alastor’s ministrations didn’t stop.
“Pancakes.” Alastor stopped for a moment before he restarted. His humming gone, he stayed silent to see if Luci would expand on it. Even after a minute passed, the silence turned awkward. He tried to see Luci’s face and the uneasy shift to avoid his eyes gave away the heavy guilt he felt for that moment.
A slow sigh left his lips. “It wasn’t your fault.”
“I still made them.” Alastor paused as he felt something warm and wet hit his shirt. “I just…I just wanted to see your smile.” Lucifer rushed through the last part of the sentence out of embarrassment for that confession. He sniffled, he didn’t want to cry but now he felt like he was in one of his beloved soap operas.
“What do you mean, smile? Are you blind? I smile all the time.”
“It’s not the smile I see when you’re genuinely content. The way your eyes soften, your smile widens just a little at the corners.” Luci frowned. “I just wanted to see that as you ate my pancakes, I wanted to hear that praise…from you. Yet, I ruined my chance to see it.” Luci’s face was getting hot.
‘Am I getting a fever?’ He quickly hid within the blankets, still clung onto Alastor’s shirt. ‘Please don’t reject me.’ He silently wished.
Alastor was taken aback at the confession. Never had anyone tried to decipher his smile. He tried so hard to make sure his smile would fool anyone. ‘Have I really spent so much time with him that he could tell the difference between indifference and content?’ Soft radio static became louder as he pondered. Alastor cracked his own neck to get a clear look at the king. A frown and downcast eyes of doubt. He moved the hand he used to curl Luci’s hair and pinched his cheek hard.
“Ow, oww!! What are you doing?” Lucifer tried to pull off Alastor’s hand.
“Stop frowning, I barely gave a thought to those atrocious pancakes.” His retorts are back. He knows it gets Luci completely riled up but he could do nothing to him.
“Why you! Ow!!” He pulled his cheek again, laughing at the pain it was causing.
“Sleep already!” Luci puffed his cheeks in frustration. “How are you supposed to make me smile if you have a cold?” He was already regretting it. Luci stopped before taking a deep breath. He couldn’t help but smile.
“I’ll make it the fluffiest and delicate pa—“
“Shut up and go to sleep already!’ Alastor wrapped his arm around his waist tighter, his other hand back to playing with that creamy blonde hair. His humming and radio static low so only Luci could hear. A few minutes of this and Luci’s lulled back to sleep. Alastor studied the king’s face. Not a care in the world stained that face. A face that was always fret with worry and fear of rejection from those he love most. His mouth moved to a closed smile, content at the comfortable silence. He moved his arm from Luci’s waist to hold his hand. It was then he felt that hard, cold reminder that Lucifer is still with another.
‘Would he remove it for me?’ Jealousy reared through the fleeting thought. He knew the answer, knew he would never be her replacement. He let go of his hand and moved it back to his waist. ‘Just one time, dear king. I’ll reject you until your heavy bond is forever cut. I hate you so much for making me feel this way.’ Luci nuzzled into the crook as if he wanted Alastor to reconsider.
The static he produced became loud. He tried to drown out any affectional emotions he had for the king. Yet this comfortable silence was welcoming. The way Lucifer’s eyes glistened when he steps into the room, the way a quick glance as their eyes meet gave him a calm that everything will be fine afterwards. Alastor slowly stopped his static. There was no use drowning out his running thoughts.
It was then his shadow waved to him. He pointed at the clock on the bedside table, warning him of his monthly overlord meeting. A heavy sigh of slight dissatisfaction, he slowly let go and left the bed. He grabbed his stuff and slowly dissipated to the floor.
He reemerged in front of Carmilla Carmine Industries’ entrance with overcoat and staff in hand. Once in, he realized he was the last one to show. He quickly took off his overcoat and hung it on his chair. As he sat down and turned to greet Rosie, he noticed Rosie had a rather peculiar smile on her.
“Hello Rosie dear.” Alastor tried to ignore that smile and gave his usual greeting. But her smile widened at the corners, almost unsettling even for him.
“So my dear, who is the lucky fellow?” Almost everyone looked up towards them, wondering what Rosie meant. Alastor tilted his head, wondering how Rosie figured him out so easily. His usual smile now just a line of curiosity and saving himself from an outburst that could easily be tonight’s news headline.
He’d rather be anywhere but in this room full of eyes staring. He felt almost naked as if that one line exposed everything about him.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.” Rosie couldn’t help but laugh. His voice was almost inaudible with his radio static crackling.
“You’re faltering dear.” The Radio demon froze like a deer in headlights. He couldn’t place what was glaringly obvious to Rosie. He turned to see Zestial loudly sipping his tea, his eyes laughing mockingly. Carmilla was beside him, a soft smile on her lips as she found her daughter’s research more interesting to look at.
“What?” Exasperated at their knowing smiles, Alastor had to ask. Rosie just booped him in the nose. He squeaked from surprise. Rosie would never admit it to him but they were always so adorable.
“Oh my silly deer, where is your usual suit jacket? And what is that apron around your waist?” Rosie pulled at the pink frills. Alastor looked down mortified at the sight of Lucifer’s pink apron still clinging to him. He snapped his fingers quickly to make it disappear.
‘Fuck. Fuck, fuck, FUCK!’ He could already tell, Vox had tonight’s headline ready.
“Can we just start already?” His ears were folded down in embarrassment and all the attention was too much.
“Very well then, let’s start.” Carmilla had tried to tone down her smile for the meeting.
“I expected this from everyone except you.” Alastor grumbled as his exasperation turned into frustration. She just waved it off and started the meeting.
Around the same time, Lucifer shivered awake. He groggily opened his eyes to see only Alastor’s suit jacket in his arms. He sighed in disappointment.
‘Of course he would leave, he was only here to check on me.’ He clutched the jacket closer, taking in Alastor’s scent. Spilled whiskey, cigarettes, and a hint of jasmine and heliotrope. He breathed in deeply, the smell was intoxicating and addicting. His eyes looked around the room, curious if he’ll get caught for taking whiffs and burying his face in it. He noticed there was a tray on his bedside table as he scanned the room. He crawled over to it, a white paper covered most of the tray’s contents. He sat and removed the paper, uncovering a plate of golden brown squares covered in a generous amount of powdered sugar. A cup of coffee was now sitting cold next to it.
Lucifer smiled, his eyes glistening. He unfolded the paper.
Overlord meeting.
Eat the beignets with the coffee.
You owe me pancakes, short king.
-Alastor
Luci let the cheap insult slide in favor for the beignets. He noticed there were no utensils on the tray and picked up one of the squares. He bit into the sweet softness, powdered sugar spreading everywhere. He didn’t care about the mess, all he could think about was how sweet it was.
Tears rolled down his cheeks. His face flushed hotly.
Alastor made him something. He took another bite, trying not to let it affect him so much. It’s been so long since someone gifted him something personal. He loved it, he wanted to savor each bite, remembering how pillowy soft they were. After he finished the last square, he saw how much powdered sugar covered him and the bed. He licked his fingers before he snapped to miracle his mess away.
He grabbed Alastor’s jacket and placed it on his shoulders. It was embracing him with its size and the scent enveloped his senses. It was almost as if he was here, a content smile and reassuring eyes to tell him how they’ll make it to tomorrow. Lucifer finally felt warm with this as his protection.