Work Text:
Lucifer had completed yet another run, and he emptied his bag filled with cubes of sugar, a tissue, and a needle onto the ground. Going on errands like this was usual business for a borrower like himself, but that didn’t make them any less dangerous.
He frowned when he saw that he’d failed to recover any food (even though the sugar counted as a meal in his mind). It’d been harder to get ever since that damned human (Albert, was it?) got a housemaid. She was annoyingly efficient, and there hadn’t been any leftover crumbs to scavenge.
He winced and rubbed his temples. He wasn’t worried about himself. No, he could survive as long as he got a crumb every other day. It was his daughter that he was concerned about. Ever since his ex-wife had left the toddler in his care, he’d barely been able to provide for the two of them. Really spoke volumes about his parenting skills, didn’t it?
Charlie stumbled out of her bedroom and into the central area of the mouse hole with a wide smile.
“Daddy!”
Lucifer looked up and his expression softened, the weariness temporarily dissipated.
“Hey Char-char”
Charlie ran forward into his arms. Food was clearly not on her mind at the moment, which was relieving. It felt nice to have his daughter happy simply over his safe return. He lifted her into the air with a tired smile.
Charlie giggled and hugged him back. She lifted her head after a few moments of that relieving embrace, and looked over at the stupid, empty bag that food should be in. Lucifer followed her gaze and his expression crumpled, but he put up a smile for her sake. “Hey! Do you feel like bread tonight?”
Charlie looked back at Lucifer and her expression brightened before she began to nod in an adorably vigorous movement. He let out a breath at that. Lucifer smiled with a nod. “Ok, just sleep a bit and when you wake up there will be fresh bread right there!”
He set her down and picked up her small hand in his, walking her over to her pile of cotton balls. Lucifer tucked her in and when her eyes fluttered shut, he remained there for a moment.
He didn’t deserve her. This precious, little ball of light he’d created wasn’t made for his style of life (could it even be called that)? He sighed as he tucked the blankets over her.
Lucifer’s gaze wandered to his own bed, which was scraps of paper towels with a leaf. Maybe it wouldn’t hurt to close his eyes for just five minutes… Charlie should sleep for a few hours anyways.
Charlie could see her dad lay down through the light filtering in through her eyelashes. She wasn’t quite old enough to understand the danger of the outside world, and her papa looked so tired. Surely he’d give her a happy smile once she returned with the bread on her own.
Charlie nodded to herself and got up from her bed once the rhythmic snores from Lucifer filled the room. She stumbled clumsily (as a toddler does) to the doorway where the light peeked through.
There was a large room on the other side of the doorway, with a sink, cabinets, and a cold tiled floor that clicked when she placed her hooves on it. Lucifer had said that he went into the kitchen every day, so that must be what this was called. She walked forward and paused when she glanced at the table.
There sat a very tall man. He didn’t look anything like her dad, and he was a lot bigger. Beans are what her dad called larger versions of them, with less hooves and tails. He was sitting in the chair and sipping a cup of steaming coffee. Bleh. But maybe he’d know where some bread was?
Alastor was a seemingly normal man. He lived with a housemaid that his ‘friend’ Husker had insisted he meet. The lady was peculiar, but charming in her own odd way. Alastor himself had been referred to in the same way.
He rarely slept, preferring to spend his nights perusing the bayou he lived in for new…. voices lets say. Though tonight something had compelled him to remain inside. So he’d settled for a cup of black coffee as he thought of the layout for his new broadcast.
What he did not anticipate however, was to hear a small voice calling to him.
“Sir? Can I have some bread?”
He stiffened and looked around for the source of the high pitched squeaking that sounded like a child. The only children that ever dared enter his home was a little girl named Vaggie, who was often left by the day care attendant he was close with, Rosie, in his care. This did not sound like her though.
“Sir?”
He felt a small tap on his shoe, and he looked down with the expectation of a rat or mouse that Niffty had failed to handle. He’d have to dock that from her payment, not that she paid it any mind.
When he brought his gaze to the source of the voice though, there was no rodent or insect. He quite literally almost jumped out of his chair at what greeted his eyes. It was a small girl. She looked to be around four or five.
Once getting over his shock, and the instinct to squish… whatever this was, he stood up and pushed his chair back. He fully intended to go back to bed with the first steps he took in the opposing direction. Anthony, Husker’s… friend, must’ve sabotaged his delivery of coffee beans. But his steps came to an abrupt halt when the girl spoke again.
“Wait mister! I want to make my dada happy. Can I please have some bread?”
Dad? So there were more of these creatures. Well, they would absolutely need to be brought to Niffty’s attention. If anyone inquired, that would be the reason as to why he turned his head and raised an eyebrow. Not because he had any empathy for the tone of this pitiful child’s voice.
“I beg your pardon? What is your name?”
The girl spoke up once more as she clasped her hands together and fiddled a bit with the hem of her shirt.
“Charlie.”
Alastor turned around fully at that. So clearly this creature had an advanced civilization where they could speak and identify each other. And it was evident by her words prior that they have families. He simply must know more. This could become a new topic on his broadcast at this rate.
He stepped forward and lowered himself to a sitting stance on his knees. His gaze remained focused on this small… Charlie.
“You said you need bread? For your dad?”
Charlie nodded exuberantly and held out her hands in a sort of grabbing gesture.
“Yes please!”
Alastor nodded. He was willing to give that, since she seemed to have a semblance of proper etiquette. Though the fact that a toddler was getting food for her father and herself was concerning. He would have to scold this parent of this species.
He stood up and picked up a roll of relatively fresh bread that he’d baked from the counter that was about the size of his palm. With a small “snap!”, he’d split off a bread piece equivalent to the upper half of his pinky and handed it to Charlie. The size of it was comical compared to her small frame, and he would’ve laughed when she stumbled on the tile with it had he not still been reeling from this discovery. He did let out a chuckle under his breath though.
Alastor leaned forward and scooped her up into his palm, earning a surprised gasp. He raised her to his face and grinned.
“Ah, don’t worry little one. You’ll be safe and sound in no time. I just would like to make sure you bring your father next time, ok?”
The young Charlie swallowed and clutched the bread like a sad plush animal.
“Well, dada doesn’t like beans very much, but I’ll try mister...”
Beans? Oh. She meant beings. That earned a second laugh from Alastor and he nodded.
“Alastor.”
With that, he set her down next to the wall she was headed towards and watched as she scrambled into the mouse hole. Niffty must’ve skimmed over that gap. Well, until next time when he’d meet this… pathetic man who let his daughter outside without supervision.