Chapter Text
In the dim, cluttered workshop of Pride ring's palace, sat its king hunched over his desk lightly sketching his newest project. After a few more seconds of this, the pencil lands on the paper and he slumps back onto his chair and lets out a deep sigh as he gazes upon the hills of rubber ducks he's created over many, many years. His once creative mind slowly dulled after too long in solitude. The nearby clock's ticks are the only break in the otherwise gloomy silence. Eventually his gaze drifted toward a dusty bookshelf, where his eyes linger before flickering with faint thought. They settle on a book of spells he was gifted by a friend. Although it brings him painful memories, Lucifer gets up from his chair and picks the book out from its place on the shelf and opens the front cover.
Happy 200th anniversary! There are some spells in here I've copied from my own grimoire I think you and Lilith would enjoy.
~Stolas
Lucifer briefly scans the ancient text, his eyes darting across the faded words before flipping through the pages. His fingers pause when he locates the one he's been searching for, a portal spell, designed to form an opening to earth. He's never used this particular spell before, nor has he been to earth in quite some time, but with his usual creativity having fallen flat, he hopes that it might inspire something new within its ever-changing environment.
The spell looked simple enough, especially with the magic he already yielded. Lucifer pushes a strand of hair back into place then holds the book in one hand and raises his opposite hand to begin the spell. He whispers the incantation to himself, and watches as the golden sparks leave his fingers. With no particular place in mind, shimmering threads of light begin to weave in the air above him, forming a wavy circle.
He could see the light of a nice earthly day and a bright blue sky. However, before he flies headfirst into the portal, Lucifer decides to read further into the notes his friend had carefully written.
~~~
You chose a lovely trail for your walk, hoping it would provide you with a clear head. College and work had been kicking your ass, with classes every day, piling on shifts and homework only increasing each week. You needed a break, something more than just this walk, but it'll have to do for now.
It's a popular trail, drawing in people from all over to get a look at the beautiful views waiting at the end, but that was not what you were seeking today. Instead, you veered off the main path, apart from the usual flow of visitors, wanting some solitude and into nature's welcoming arms.
You take a slow stroll and admire the nature surrounding you. Sunlight peeks through the trees, making silhouettes of leaves dance across your face. Grass tickles your shins as you hike through the brush. Joy grows inside you as you forget the pressure and weight of what waits for you when you're back home.
Contentment washes over you as you pause in a small clearing where a break in between trees allows sunlight to filter through, where the warm rays can rest gently on your face. Momentarily, the world stills, wrapping around your soul in a warm comforting glow.
That is, until you take a step forward. The ground beneath you gives way completely, plummeting you into a free fall as you land roughly.
"woa- UGH-"
Opening your eyes, your breath catches at the dark red and deep purple hues of your surroundings, you expected to have fallen into a hole, not a room . When you look in the direction you fell from, you realize whatever brought you here had disappeared. You didn't have time to digest it when your scan of the room led your eyes on a small, skinny, pale man in front of you.
Your eyes widen at the apparent man, looking as surprised as you are. He looked human-like, but his pupils were red and the sclera was bright yellow. The cheeks have perfect red circles and basic blond hair that swooped delicately from the front to the back of his head. He donned a white buttoned dress shirt with the sleeves rolled up topped with a red and white striped vest. Finished with puffy white pants and black boots that made him look… important? Your bewilderment doesn't allow you to describe him with a better word.
~~~
The silence of Lucifer's workshop is interrupted by a sudden thump, followed by a startled shout. Lucifer closes his book, startled, to see what now lies in front of him is a tangle of limbs that he soon realizes is small human, young and obviously confused. Their mouth agape and eyes wide, and wider upon landing on him. Lucifer immediately freaks out, his mistake beginning to weigh on him. His eyes darted in every direction, contemplating what he should do, and his fear intensified when he realized the portal closed.
It's as if fate's twisted sense of humor decided to mess with Lucifer again, this being exactly the kind of thing that would happen to him.
"Uh…" The blond man didn’t know where to start, panic beginning to show in his face, his eyes nervously darting around.
"Wha-?" You begin to stutter quickly, "Who are you? What happened-"
"Shit uh… are you okay?" Lucifer takes a deep breath that does nothing to ease his nerves and extends his hand down toward you. You glance in between him and his pale hand and take it hesitantly. The mystery man swiftly brought you to your feet, his twig stature was misleading for how strong he was; making you stumble before finding your footing.
"I'm… fine." You answer, looking at him expectantly, still trying to process who or what you're looking at, waiting for him to explain. You stare back at him, a seemingly tense bundle of anxiety.
"Oh! Uh- I'm Lucifer, King of Hell." He gives a nervous smile, exposing his rows of sharp teeth. Holding his hand out for you to shake, but it’s left untouched.
Instead, you stare at the daggers that line his mouth when you're able to grasp what he said. Horror with a hint of sadness began to dawn your face as your gaze raced around the unfamiliar surroundings. "Am I dead??"
"No, no, no, you're not dead! …Yet!" Lucifer tries and fails to calm the mortal down, his fake smile faltering while he tries to put a reassuring hand on your shoulder. "I uh, opened a portal and you happened to fall in… sorry."
You only look at him in dumbfounded silence.
"But no worries!" Lucifer turns his back toward you, his façade of fake cheerfulness falling. His eyes are cast with worry as his hands fly through his book looking for the spell again. "I'll get you right back! Hell, I can even erase your memory if you want me to!" He attempts a laugh to pull off a confident demeanor that fails miserably.
You stand frozen in shock as the troubled man in front of you rifles through stacks of papers and various books, muttering his frustrations under his breath. His preoccupation gives you a moment to steady yourself, allowing your mess of thoughts to sort themselves out and cope with the unbelievable situation you've found yourself in.
A quietness fills the atmosphere between the two of you. The only sounds are the fallen angel's papers being shuffled around and the occasional curse. After a few minutes, your mind drifts back to how he introduced himself, now replaying in a new light.
"…you said Lucifer? Like, from the bible?"
Lucifer's shoulder's tense, knowing all too well the kind of name he's made for himself. "Yes… unfortunately." He mumbled the last part to himself.
He turns his head toward you, expecting a reaction like awe or fear, but instead he's met with confusion and shock. You aren’t even looking at him. You're wrapped in your own emotions, arms crossed tightly around yourself, eyes fixed on the floor in quiet distress. He chews his lip, wondering if he should say something.
"Are you… okay?" The concern tone that laces Lucifer's words tug you out of your thoughts, looking up at him.
Before responding, you attempt to shake yourself out of the distress that's been plaguing your mind since you've gotten here. "Um yeah. I'm sorry I fell in your… portal?" You respond, not even believing your own words. "Don't let me stop you from looking for a way to get me out of here."
You finish with a tight smile, and Lucifer does the same. Once again Lucifer is back to his search for a more specific spell, one that could open exactly where you needed it to be. As well as a memory spell in the case this gets too much for you.
With Lucifer's back turned to you and intently focused on reading, you amuse yourself by looking at the weird décor and various knickknacks that litter the room. You consider sitting at the small dining table to your right but decide against it. Though, upon further inspection, you realize there's a major circus theme that's tied into the small details. Odd, but you appreciate it. The swirly designs and different shades of purple draw your gaze in every direction. Framed photos and paintings are scattered across every wall.
A painting catches your attention, it depicted a family, Lucifer included, with a breathtakingly beautiful woman and an adorable little girl that resembled Lucifer perfectly. "Is this your family? Your wife is gorgeous."
"Um, ex-wife, actually." Lucifer's face flickered with regret but continued fixated on his search anyway. You mentally slap yourself for making this awkward and decide to change the subject quickly. To you, the numerous stacks of rubber ducks are the perfect segway into a different conversation, not giving yourself time to process how odd that is.
"I used to have some rubber ducks. Not as big as this, obviously." You pick one up and examine it.
Lucifer seems to perk up at your comment.
"Oh, really?" He looks at you, attempting to hide his excitement. The hunt for your way home momentarily forgotten. "Did you make yours too?"
One of your eyebrows rises in bafflement. "You made this?" A small smile finding a way onto your face, you could always appreciate the craft work of others, especially since you dabbled in it yourself.
"Of course! You don't come by a lot of these in hell..." He lets out a disappointed but mostly amused laugh. "Oh! And look at this."
Lucifer takes the duck I'm holding, his expression lit up with eagerness, turns it around to twist a knob at the bottom, and plays a lovely melody you've never heard before. He hands it back to you shyly, biting his lip and excitedly anticipating your reaction. You cup it in your hands, close your eyes and listen to the melodic notes emanating from the silly piece of art. Then your eyes light up with realization. "Did you make the music box too?"
"Yup." For once Lucifer feels a little lighter. Reveling in your cheery interest in the work he hasn't even shared with anyone outside of Lilith or Charlie.
"That's amazing, barely anyone can do that on earth. Not by hand anyway." You shrug.
Lucifer cherishes the small amount of praise he once believed was unreachable until now. You carefully place the rubber duck back on top of the pile where it sits with its fellow creations, much like a piece of him has been slightly healed and set back in place. His chair creaked when he sat on it again, the warm light of his lamps cast shadows on your faces. His attention is split between his conversation with you and the open pages of his ancient spell book, his fingers skimming through the old parchment. Every so often, he glances up from his task, face bright with interest.
~~~
A couple hours have passed and neither of you noticed, the conversation flowing effortlessly, feeling natural despite the strangeness of the situation. He told you how he made his ducks, it was a tedious process but one that satisfied him. After that was done, you both learned about each other and your lives, and after that onto more topics.
Lucifer remains calm but there's a suppressed excitement, the kind that resulted from years upon years of isolation and connecting with someone who's so understanding after all this time. It was rare he'd find someone who the conversation flowed so naturally with, even in Heaven, before he met Lilith. He felt the bond deepen within each new response.
"-and my daughter expects them to change, as if it's not in their violent, psychopathic nature." Lucifer's head rests on his hand, his elbow perched on the once important text, fighting the urge to toss it aside completely and let the conversation stretch for hours more.
"Your daughter sees them as what they are, human. 'Perhaps it's our imperfections that make us so perfect for one another.'" You used air quotes. "Maybe the imperfections you see in her ideas are exactly what your people need."
Lucifer's eyes stayed fixated on your face, his own being soft and attentive. The earlier distress is long gone. A small smile played at the corners of his lips, a nonverbal signal he appreciated your input.
"Yeah? Well you should see the barbarians down here and maybe you'll change your mind."
You mull that over in my head, before remembering you're 'down here' at all.
"Oh uh, how's the search going?"
Lucifer grows visibly flustered, running his hand through his hair in an attempt to collect his thoughts. The truth was, he found the right spell some time ago. He'd been stalling, not able to bring himself to end your time together. It should've been easy; you both were strangers. Although, it has been far too long since he's had a real, in-person conversation. His social interactions were limited to random phone calls with his daughter, sometimes separated by months of silence. Those exchanges were cherished by Lucifer, but they were fleeting.
This accidental meeting was something he hadn't realized how desperately he needed it until it was right in front of him.
No , Lucifer wasn't going to let this slip through his fingers so easily.
"Yeah, about that." As Lucifer rubs his neck, a pang of guilt hits him as he sees your face contort from calm to worried. "See, magic is weird, and something as strong as this spell would need to regenerate for a while. A lot of my texts say it's going to take hours. Hell, maybe even days! See?" Lucifer randomly chooses two books and nervously holds them upward to you, but they're in some ancient biblical language. So despite the load of dog shit that he just spewed, you believed him.
"Oh…" The single word slipped out softly, but the disappointment and the touch of stress in your voice was unmistakable. Lucifer's chest tightened, and for a brief moment he considered taking back what he said as your fingers absentmindedly fiddled with the feet of one of his ducks. He opened his mouth to say something - anything - to ease the new heaviness that hung in the air, but before he could speak, you broke the silence.
"I guess missing some classes won't kill me," your tone shifted into resigned and lighthearted as you continued. "But… I really hate to be a bother."
Lucifer's heart melts as this small mortal who thinks they're being a nuisance when it's not even their fault in the first place. Gently, Lucifer leans down to their level, his eyes meeting theirs with genuine sympathy. His hands on their shoulders, offering a reassuring presence.
"No! You're not a bother at all," His voice is filled with sincerity. "This is on me, it's my fault you're here; and I'm sorry for that." He paused, hoping the apology would not only ease their mind, but his own. "But don't ever think you're a bother, not for a second." He finishes with a hesitant smile.
Surprising Lucifer, you don’t humbly smile or protest his explanation; you chuckle.
"Well, if we're going to hangout longer then I want to know your real name." You finish with a smug smile, thinking you've caught him in his lie.
The formal angel's sympathy quickly twisted into confusion and amusement. "What? Uh, I gave you my name?"
You laugh harder. "Really? You think I'm going to fall for that? This?" Holding up a duck. "You make rubber ducks, hate the sinners ‘you’ created, you're being incredibly nice to me and you're the devil? …unless it's a trick, I don’t buy it." The smug expression lingers, but now hinting at a subtle shift. A trace of suspicion momentarily flashes across your features.
Lucifer doesn't notice, he stands up, pride now coating the air around him and mirroring your expression.
"I promise I'm the real deal, and when you eventually see me alakazam portals on the entire surface of this room-!" He points finger guns aimlessly at spots on the walls, making you giggle. "You'll believe me." And once again holding his hand out to you, winking.
Once you're on your feet, chuckling and lightheartedly rolling your eyes, his face softens as he holds your hand a bit longer than you're used to. "You never told me your name though."
"Oh yeah, it's Y/N." You answer, slipping your hands out of his.