Chapter Text
Lucifer portaled to the top of the stairs, just before his front door. Usually he would just portal straight to his office after the day he’d had, but the last time he’d done so Lilith had made a point to comment on how he was avoiding her by portaling around the house after their most recent argument. And while he wasn’t going to deny that he was indeed avoiding her, he just didn’t have the energy for any more jabs from his wife today. Not that it was likely she was home this time of day, but he’d at least make an appearance for the servants she insisted on having around. The meeting with the other Sins weighed heavily on him, each with their own demands of their king and each other and none of them willing to compromise to actually make progress on their issues. Just another screaming match between some of the only beings he’d consider family in this or any other realm.
As he stepped into the palace, an imp butler was already waiting to take his hat and coat. Another held open his preferred house robe and yet another removed his shoes to allow him to step into his house slippers. His bag was taken to his office, a generous glass of some brown liquor was placed in his hand, and with absolutely no effort on his part he was ready to lounge in one of the palace’s many sitting rooms to decompress. He walked through the palace, allowing his magic to flow from him to tell him that he was indeed alone. Or at least that his wife wasn’t home. And so he made his way to his preferred reading room deep in the East Wing of the palace. He had decorated it himself, shutting down any input from Lilith when he claimed this room as one of his havens from her and the rest of Hell. Although, he’d never say it out loud.
The room’s walls had a rich brown wood that was panelled along the bottom. The wood itself had the finest seams of gold that sparkled gently in the light of the lit fireplace. The top portion of the walls were covered in a dark blue velvet wallpaper, the texture of the velvet reminding the fallen angel of the galaxies he helped create. The floors were tiled with a white marble that had artful cracks filled with gold that extended into the stone of the fireplace. It was covered partially with a plush blue and cream rug that muffled his steps. Above the fireplace a portrait of Lilith used to hang, but had been replaced in the recent centuries with different renditions of ducks. One of his favorite earthly creatures. The ceiling was enchanted to mimic any celestial body Lucifer wished to see in real time. It was here that he allowed himself to daydream of the before times. When he’d brought the first Light to creation and spread it across the universe. When he’d flown through the darkest places like a comet and lived up to his title as Light Bringer and Morningstar.
He slumped into his plush chair and placed the untouched drink on the wooden table beside it. Alone with his thoughts, he stared into the fire. The questions Asmodeus and Beelzebub posed to him after the meeting regarding his wife and his apparent…unhappiness…swirled in his mind. Was he unhappy? He’d been married for almost as long as the existence of humanity, so that must count for something! But what was time to an immortal angel? He certainly wasn’t happy now, alone in this giant palace that he’d hardly had a say in regarding decor or layout. But then who did he have to spend time with? He knew he had the Sins, but they were just as busy with their respective Rings as he was running Hell as a whole. His wife was…not here. The servants had all kept a respectful distance no matter how friendly he was. And his subjects, the Sinners that roamed the Ring of Pride…well, it was hard enough relating to the First Sinner and he’d known her since her inception. He couldn’t imagine he’d be able to make friends with Sinners who probably blamed him for being in Hell in the first place. No, at this moment he felt he had no one.
He took a sip of the brown liquor. It was sweet and syrupy and it burned as it slid down his throat. There was a smoky vanilla fragrance to it and it left him feeling warmer than expected. He emptied the glass and summoned an imp to bring the rest of the bottle. He felt he deserved to indulge tonight when another indulgent thought came to mind. Before the imp left, he asked for him to bring Lucifer a sealed box from his office. It did not take long before a bottle of bourbon and a teal box with the symbol of Lust etched onto the cover was placed on the table beside him. Lucifer was left alone again before he could even utter a thank you. With a gesture, the bottle poured itself into his waiting glass as he placed the box in his lap. Inside sat a gold bangle with a large yellow-orange gemstone set in the very middle. A gift from Asmodeus, a ticket to get away from it all if only temporarily. And as long as he didn’t use his magic too much, Heaven surely wouldn’t notice his absence…would they?
It was almost impressive how fast Lucifer gave into the temptation of the Asmodean crystal. As he fastened the bangle to his wrist, he recounted the rules the Sin of Lust had told him to avoid being caught by Heaven:
- Avoid overusing his magic. While Earth wasn’t devoid of magic, his magical signature would be too distinct for Heaven to overlook.
- Do not overstay. The longer Lucifer stayed on Earth at one time, the more noticeable his presence would be.
- Do NOT interact with the Humans. Asmodeus had made a point to drill this into Lucifer’s head. That unless he wanted to start a new religion, he needed to avoid them as much as possible. His ‘influence’ would be too much for a mortal mind to handle and he needed to just avoid them all together if he didn’t want to get caught.
Simple enough. Lucifer wasn’t interested in being worshiped. Not anymore, at least. He remembered when he was a younger, bolder being. He’d spat on Heaven and their restrictions and simply portaled to Earth under his own power, delivering miracles in exchange for mortal worship. He was adored, feared, and desired and he fed off of that energy like an endless buffet. But he wasn’t that person anymore. Not for a long time. Lucifer shook his head before he could talk himself out of this. He’d been locked in a spiraling depression for long enough. Before he opened the portal, he allowed his magic to flow out of him just to make sure he was truly alone. Assured that this trip would be his little secret, he activated the crystal and stepped through.
The taste of dirt and blood really shouldn’t bother him at this point. Not when these beatings would happen at least twice a week, but Alastor still felt that familiar burn of rage as he spat as hard as he could at the larger boy sitting on top of him. The bully jerked back as the mix of Alastor’s saliva, blood, and a bit of dirt struck home just below his right eye.
“Oh, you’re gonna pay for that, you fucking freak.”
He struck Alastor again with a closed fist across the face. The bully’s friends cheered while going through his book bag, probably already pocketing anything of value Alastor happened to have on him. After a few more strikes, the bully yanked Alastor up by the front of his shirt so they were nose to nose.
“When are you gonna learn that you and your whore mama ain’t welcome here?”
At the mention of his mother, Alastor mustered his strength and headbutt the bully in the teeth. He shoved the boy off while he was stunned and scrambled to his feet. He spat out another glob of blood and spit and raised his fists in defiance.
“You don’t get to talk about my mama like that without me whooping your ass,” he growled. If his mother had heard him say that she’d probably wash his mouth out, but he was gonna defend her honor if it killed him.
The group of boys rallied around their friend, looking ready to charge at him all at once. Hardly a fair fight, but he was used to these odds. Alastor took a deep breath, bringing his fists up to shield his face like his neighbor had shown him. A tension fell over them to see who would break first when a stick snapped behind Alastor. He tensed, but didn’t dare turn around as he watched the looks of horror appear on the bullies’ faces. A growl like rolling thunder rumbled in Alastor’s ear before several barks rang through the air like gunshots. One of the boys screamed. Another wet himself. All of them scrambled to get away, running down the dirt road and leaving Alastor to face whatever beast was behind him alone.
He hated this. Bullies he could deal with, but a dog had him shaking. He hated dogs. Mean, dirty, evil beasts that would rip you apart if you even looked at one the wrong way. He didn’t want to get mauled by some mangy stray. He wanted to go home to where his mother was waiting. Wanted to stand with her in the kitchen as she made all his favorite foods and they listened to the radio. He just wanted to protect her like she always protected him. He-.
“Are you okay?”
A sweet voice jolted him out of his spiraling thoughts. Alastor spun around and saw a boy behind him rather than the dog he was expecting.
“Wh- where’d the dog go?” he asked shakily. His hands still clenched into fists.
The boy just smiled, covering his mouth with a delicate hand. “There isn’t one,” he chuckled. “I made that sound.”
“You!? You were the one growling and barking!?” Alastor couldn’t believe it. He was sure that there was a rabid beast behind him with how the bullies ran with their tails between their legs. “Well, prove it! Bark again!”
The sweet voiced boy pouted at his doubt in him, but brought his hands up and cupped them around his mouth. The sound that came out really sounded like an angry hellhound. Alastor’s jaw dropped. The boy just grinned at him.
“You’re gonna catch flies with your mouth open like that,” he said, stepping closer to Alastor with his hands behind his back and leaning forward.
He snapped his mouth closed and blushed with embarrassment. Taking in the boy’s appearance, he wasn’t one hundred percent convinced they were a boy now that he was really looking at them. They were a little shorter than him, golden wavy locks framed their cherubic face with cheeks so rosy he or she looked like they’d put on a bit of blush. They had sparkling blue eyes and was dressed in fine looking white clothing like the rich folks in town wore on Sundays. To top it all off, he was white. Not sickly looking, but pale enough that if they told Alastor that they’d never seen the sun before he’d be inclined to believe it.
The kid got even closer to Alastor. A curious look on their face as they studied each other. They got so close, Alastor was beginning to lean back and step away before the kid suddenly pulled back smiling at him again. They held their hand out, an offer to shake hands like they were friends. Like they were, strangely enough, equals.
“My name is-...Luke! What’s your name?”
Alastor thought the pause was odd, but it didn’t stop him from slowly taking Luke’s hand and, since Luke was a boy’s name, deciding that he was just a very pretty boy. While he didn’t necessarily trust him, he also couldn’t see any of the hate or disgust people usually had for him.
“I’m Alastor. Nice to meet you.”
Luke gripped his hand firmly and gave it a few enthusiastic shakes before letting go. The smile on his face was warm and genuine. It made Alastor shy and his chest feel fuzzy.
“I hope those boys weren’t your friends if you thought you were going to get mauled by a rabid dog! They just left you like you were nothing!” he chuckled a little awkwardly.
Alastor gave his own nervous chuckle. “No. We aren’t friends. Um, not that I’m not grateful to you for running them off, but I don’t think we should be talking either. Not unless you want to get in trouble.”
Luke’s face fell instantly, his whole body jerked back like Alastor had physically struck him and he immediately wished that he could take what he said back. He reached out to Luke, but hesitated when the other boy sniffled.
“Oh,” Luke said in a small, fragile voice. “I thought-... I thought we could-. But you’re right. I should go.” His expression became watery and Alastor felt that if he didn’t do something to keep Luke from leaving, he would regret it for the rest of his life.
“No no no, don’t cry! Don’t leave! I didn’t mean it like that! If you want to be friends, I wanna be too!” Alastor rushed forward and, without thinking, wrapped his arms around the shorter boy. This close, Alastor could smell what he could only assume was Luke’s preferred soap. Sweet like a crisp, ripe apple and kind of fresh like the smell just after heavy rain. He squeezed Luke and petted his hair like his mother did when he was upset, which was probably the softest thing Alastor ever had ever felt in his whole life.
Luke sniffled more, but didn’t pull away. If anything, he rubbed his face on Alastor’s rough shirt and wrapped his arms around the taller boy’s middle. “Really? You really want to be friends with me?”
Alastor pulled away just enough to look at his new friend. “Of course! Honestly, I should be asking you that. What are you doing here? Your kind don’t usually want anything to do with my kind?”
Luke tilted his head as if Alastor had said something strange. “What do you mean?”
“Well, you're you and I’m me. We aren’t allowed to mix.” Luke still looked confused. Alastor sighed and finally let Luke go, although he still stood within arms length of him. “You’re obviously not from around here. So, where’re you from?”
“Uh,” Luke looked nervous at the question. “I’m from...up North?”
“Huh, well, I’ve never been outside Louisiana. They must do it really differently where you’re from. But you’re in the South now and that means if we’re gonna be friends we’d have to keep it a secret.” Alastor took Luke’s right hand and wrapped their pinkies together. “You have to pinky swear so we won't get in trouble that you’ll keep our friendship a secret.”
Luke’s face became serious and he squeezed his pinky around Alastor’s a little tighter. “Keep it a secret, got it. In exchange, you have to promise…promise that no matter what we’ll be best friends forever!”
Alastor blinked a few times at how serious Luke was taking this pinky swear, but it made Alastor almost unreasonably happy for some reason. He laughed and smiled widely at his new, secret friend. “It’s a deal.”
As soon as those words left his lips, a warmth wrapped itself around Alastor. Like a sunwarmed blanket was draped around his shoulders. The wind suddenly whipped around them and a cacophony of birds and animals filled the surrounding area. Instinctively, Alastor pulled the smaller boy to him to shield him from the sudden gust, but it was over almost as soon as it started. Luke peeked up at Alastor, big blue doe eyes sparkling with affection. He could feel his face grow hot and he swallowed nervously before letting Luke go and stepping back to a more polite distance. As for Luke, he had a very satisfied look on his face. Like a cat that had caught the pet canary.
“Sooo, what should we do now?”
“Huh?”
“I mean, what do you do for fun? I don’t have to go home yet. Unless, you do?” Luke was still smiling, but seemed to wilt at the idea that his new friend might have to leave so soon.
“No, uh, I’m–...free,” Alastor lied, ignoring the fact that he actually was on the way to school. But he didn’t want to go to school if Luke wasn’t going to be there and that settled it in his mind. He collected his things, noting that his lunch was gone and his books had been stomped on. “Why don’t I show you my secret place in the bayou! Since we have to be secret friends, we can meet there and no one would be able to find us.”
Luke nodded enthusiastically and took Alastor’s hand in his own. “Lead the way then, friend!”
Lucifer was by his own nature a selfish creature. Many of his impulses were, at the end of the day, self-serving and often led to less than ideal situations. And he felt this may be one of those less than ideal situations. He had not intended to interact with any humans, let alone a child. His first time returning to Earth in eons and he’d already broken one of the rules set by Asmodeus. But he couldn’t help himself as he watched the little brunette get the shit beat out of him from the treetops. He’d always had a soft spot for the underdog and he had to give props to the kid when he’d fought back despite being out numbered. So after running off the bullies, Lucifer fully intended to disappear and continue enjoying his little vacation on Earth.
But something stopped him. Maybe it was how pitiable the boy was. After such a grand show of courage and righteous fury, Lucifer felt bad that his little trick left him shaking and frozen in place as if waiting for the ‘beast’ behind him to snap him up. Then again, he was just a child. Lucifer did not have much experience with children. The closest he’d ever been to one was during young Stolas’s birthday and engagement party. Awful stuff, the poor thing was weeping on and off the entire time. Either way, it didn’t feel right to leave the brunette alone on that dirt road. On top of revealing himself, in a sense, to a human child, they had accidentally made a deal. Nothing serious. A literal ‘pinky promise’, but still entirely irresponsible on Lucifer’s part. He should have broken it off then and there, erased Alastor’s memory, and returned to Hell to bury that damned crystal so deep in the ground he’d never be tempted to escape to Earth ever again! What he didn’t expect was that he’d actually had fun exploring the bayou with Alastor.
The rest of that day on Earth, Alastor had taken him to explore as much of the bayou as they could. Told him about the animals and plants that inhabited the ecosystem. Talked about his school, his mother and her cooking, and how he hated his neighbor’s dogs. It felt good to have someone trust you and to not have every interaction be transactional. Lucifer was eons old, but try as he might he couldn’t recall the last time someone simply enjoyed his company for the sake of enjoying it. No expectations. No hidden meanings. Just pure, innocent companionship. But, oh, how that day filled him with Light. It was like being in Heaven again. So much so that he could feel the Grace that flowed through him grow brighter. He shouldn’t be surprised, humans were made in the Creator’s image. A whisper of the Creator’s Grace was etched into each human soul until they crossed into the afterlife. And Earth, with all of its wretched flaws, was probably the closest he’d ever be to returning to Heaven. Lucifer sighed as he retreated to his empty bedroom. He did not know it then, but it was ironic that Alastor, with his righteous fury and awkward kindness, had probably rekindled what little faith the Devil had in humanity.