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Charlie hadn't been back to her dad's house in years...
Ever since she started the Hotel project, she had simply been too busy to ever check on him.
And... she was regretting it.
Charlie was aghast at the absolute STATE of this place.
Rubber. ducks. EVERYWHERE.
Piles and piles of the little rubber bird bois... in every drawer, on every surface, in every variety.
Charlie tip-toed around the hoard of billed buddies until she finally saw him-- Lucifer.
Sitting at his work table... in the middle of painting the eyes on ANOTHER duck.
"Dad?!"
Lucifer nearly jumped out of his skin as he turned to face her, "CHARLIE?!"
"Whpghdl- wh- whatare you doinghere?!" Lucifer stumbled on his words, arms flailing as panic flashed across his face.
"To help you move into the new hotel?!" Charlie replied with exasperation, "Remember? We talked about it yesterday!"
Lucifer could barely hear her over the sound of his internal screaming, "Haha-- rightrightright..." His eyes darted across the room, 'Nonononono how could I forget?! How could I let her see this-?! DAMNIT DEPRESSION...!'
Lucifer 'nochalantly' grabbed his cane and started backing away towards the door, "W-well I'll just go and start packing then--"
But Charlie grabbed the end of the staff, "Dad!"
Lucifer stopped, looking at her like a pet that had just been caught chewing on something they shouldn't.
Charlie had been trying to think of a nicer way of putting it, but she couldn't--
"You've been LIVING like this?!!"
"I- uh--" Lucifer pulled his cane away, "Like what?" he laughed nervously.
Charlie deadpanned, "The ducks, dad."
"Haha? Whaaat?" Lucifer began sweeping a particularly large rubber duck under a rug, "Th-these?"
Charlie frowned with complete seriousness, "Mom told me you make rubber ducks when you're stressed..."
Lucifer's heart sank deeper into his stomach, "S-she did, did she?"
Charlie's chest ached as she fully processed what was happening... she choked up, "If you've been having such a hard time, why didn't you say anything?!"
'Because of this exact thing happening...' Lucifer thought as he saw Charlie's face, 'A father isn't supposed to make his daughter worry like this...'
He tried his best to hide his guilt with the usual bravado, "Oh Charlie, don't worry so much! I'm the KING of HELL! I don't have hard times! Haha--"
Charlie wasn't having it, though.
She crossed her arms, shooting him a serious look.
Lucifer sighed, accepting defeat.
He pulled the brim of his tophat over his face in shame, "I'm sorry..."
Charlie didn't fully understand how her dad's mind worked, but ever since their heart-to-heart before the Heaven meeting, she had a general idea of his inner struggles.
She didn't know what to say at the moment, so... she put a hand on his shoulder, and smiled consolingly.
Lucifer still felt awful, but he calmed down a bit... it didn't seem like Charlie was going to judge him harshly for this.
The two came to a silent truce... and continued on to the matter at hand.
Packing.
They proceeded to dig through the rubber ducky piles for Lucifer's belongings...
"I know you like ducks, but..." Charlie finally spoke up as she fished out a sun hat, "Isn't this... a bit much...?"
"Huh? Oh. Yeah, I just... It started because... Well, I wanted to make the perfect wittle ducky." Lucifer explained, taking the hat and putting it in a suitcase, "Something that would make you smile... something as special to you..."
He smiled warmly at her, "...As you are to me."
Charlie was genuinely touched, "Aww... dad..."
For so long she had assumed he didn't care about her, but more and more she was realizing just how much he did.
Lucifer took the mood back down as he looked at the floor, dejected, "...but none of them were ever good enough."
He squeaked one of the duckies anxiously, "I kept iterating, but no matter what I tried-- I..." He bit his lip, unable to admit those last words as he smacked the duck into the floor, "...anyway, eventually it just became a nervous habit."
Charlie frowned, "Dad..."
The two averted their gazes from each other, continuing to pick through the ducky hordes...
Then...
Charlie saw something that made her smile.
Along with the pair of shoes she was looking for, Charlie picks up one of the ducks.
"Hey Dad..."
"Yeah?"
"You don't have to worry about making any more ducks for me."
"Huh?"
"You already made a perfect one."
Lucifer was completely taken aback, tripping over a duck pile as he turned to face her, "I have? How? Where??!"
Charlie walked over to her father, took his hands... and deposited in them the rubber ducky.
Oh. Lucifer remembers this one.
The white color, the multiple wings, the little apple tophat... this particular rubber ducky had been crafted in his own image.
It wasn't magical, it didn't spit fire, but...
Charlie grinned at him so sweetly it made his heart melt, "This one is my favorite."
Lucifer's eyes welled up.
Ever since Lilith left, he had been afraid. Afraid that he was a killjoy who would never recover from his fall. Afraid that he ruined everything he touched... including Charlie's life.
Lucifer was an angel of creation, a powerful King of Hell-- he could and would give Charlie anything she ever wanted.
But the only thing she wanted was the one thing he was afraid to give her...
her dad.
Holding his rubber ducky doppelgänger close to his chest, Lucifer smiled...
Charlie gasped in awe as, with a dramatic TAP of his cane, Lucifer sent out a wave of sorcerous magic-!
All the remaining rubber ducks began to glow... before EXPLODING into a beautiful swirl of sparkling golden dust!! It was like a gorgeous fireworks display, giving the whole house a warm shimmer.
It dissipated... leaving the house sparse and duck-less.
After getting over the spectacle, Charlie took a sharp breath--
"But Dad, all your work...!"
Lucifer reassured her, "It's all right, Charlie..."
He opened his hands... and returned to her his self-portrait ducky. Putting a hand on her shoulder, he smiled, "I don't need them, anymore."
From that point on, Charlie kept this little ducky of her father on her bedside table. And in Lucifer's room of the new-and-improved Hazbin Hotel-- he proudly displayed a rubber ducky replica of his beloved Charlie.
~ 💛🦆💛 ~