Archive of Our Own

“And love is a kaleidoscope 
How it works we'll never know 
And even all the change 
Is somehow all the same 
Turning to the left and right 
Colors shining in your eye 
And even upside down 
It's beautiful somehow 

Every color of the rainbow 
Don't be afraid to hold it close 
It's never just a shape alone 
Love is a kaleidoscope.” 

Kaleidoscope – Chappell Roan 

It was over.     

The two were standing in Lucifer’s apple tower, staring at each other with heated frustration. The fireplace provided the soundtrack of their distress, cracking with bitterness, and the words slipped free from both their lips.     

“I can’t believe I even gave you a fucking chance!” shouted Lucifer, his wedding band glistening against the neon green hellfire. It was weighing against his finger, far more predominant than it had been before.     

And Alastor’s eyes were laser-focused on it.     

“I can’t believe I allowed you to trick me. I knew letting anyone think...” But he couldn’t speak anymore. Alastor was too shattered to give a comprehensive response. This was unlike him. Words were never muttered or lost; they always came so easily to him without restraint. Somehow, Lucifer made that vanish like a comet, leaving only a trail of fire to burn whatever was left of him.     

They were fools for believing this could work. Months upon months of unashamed entanglements to be destroyed by one set of simple words, “I want more...”     

Lucifer had been the one to bring it up. The pentagram moon was shining the most brilliant crimson, bouncing off his pale, naked body. The glimmering gold of his blush along his face and chest gave away the obsessive thoughts that crept into his head.     

The sex was great — but his heart desired more.     

He was surprised when Alastor replied with a kiss. He rarely initiated a kiss, normally leaving it for Lucifer to lead and command, but his heart had given in to those words, somehow healing the fragments that had been long shattered. Lucifer moaned lightly into his lips, accepting the warmth and infatuation from a man he never figured understood what it meant to be with another.     

Sadly, those fantasies were gone, floating away with the winds that carried hope or adoration. The reality of it was staring directly at them now. There was no hope. There was no amorousness. There was nothing...     

In the fury of the words, the small bits of their sanity would attempt to seep through, crawling through the cracks of their insecurities and attempting to push forth the logic of the situation. But that was the issue. Logic was gone, and only their clouded thoughts, covered in the abyss of self-loathing, would speak whenever they lashed out at the other.    

“What is it then?” shouted Lucifer, his voice barely holding on to the air around him, grasping at the last strings tied to Alastor, yet not doing anything to secure it still. “Why don’t you tell me the truth?”    

“The truth?” The question was baffling. The truth was barely anything Alastor could understand for himself, never mind come up with a way to express it in the heat of conflict.    

How was Alastor expected to tell Lucifer that he adored him... and that it scared him?    

If he could pinpoint it, he would go back to nearly a year ago, when the two had come to an unspoken agreement to meet weekly at one of their rooms for a drink. At first, they had been trying to negotiate what was happening within the hotel and how to better help Charlie — even if neither wavered from their preferred method.    

Slowly, it became more. A drink here, a record there, and Lucifer somehow forced Alastor into his arms for a dance. Little by little, that too became a part of their weekly traditions. It was one evening, when Alastor was digging through his records before Lucifer had shown up, finding a song that somehow spoke to him.    

Later, when Lucifer arrived, Alastor went about his normal business, providing the whiskey dry and the hellfire burning bright against the fireplace. Back then, it was warm, matching the temperature rising within Alastor’s spine and burning against his jittering heart. He couldn’t explain it. The way Lucifer had been stealing his every waking thought for the last six months. How every morning, Alastor would attempt to race to the kitchen to be the one to make the coffee, as an excuse to serve the sleepy devil. That he would sleep restlessly when he couldn’t see Lucifer before parting to bed.    

Those treacherous thoughts were the reason behind his song selection and why he was the first to extend his hand for a dance. Lucifer looked at the hand, bewildered, astonished that he wasn’t the one having to do the small argument before Alastor would accept his offer. This time, Lucifer simply took his hand, and they danced to Killing Me Softly.    

In their sway, Lucifer rested his head against Alastor’s chest, singing the song gently and lightly laughing to himself. It would be his words that stole Alastor’s soul. Finding the last bits of humanity within him and nabbing it as if it was meant to belong to him.    

“Funny...” Lucifer whispered. “I could argue you’re the gentleman of this song... He sang as if he knew me. In all my dark despair. And then he looked right through me as if I wasn't there. And he just kept on singin'... Singin' clear and strong...”   

Alastor knew Lucifer could hear his heart beating. There was no point in trying to deny it, giving in to the fact that his own inner song was left bare for Lucifer to take and craft his own melody within his strings. In his arms, dancing close and unashamed, Alastor’s spirit floated into the air, becoming one with the verses, and setting himself free even if his own heart couldn’t fully accept the fact. This was the moment of his true demise.    

Which only made this fight all the more heartbreaking. He wanted to reply with words of encouragement. Still, instead, his eyes lingered on the glistening ring, and it sank into his stomach’s pit. “How can I trust someone who can’t even move on! You-you want me to be with someone when every time you touch me, that ring remains on your finger. That metal stings and entraps me in a place I need to escape because that ring is a reminder that I am simply a placeholder. Admit it, Lucifer! I am a toy to play around with until your favorite doll comes back home!”    

Lucifer stepped away. He couldn’t believe what he had heard. It stabbed his back, nearly as badly as his fall, but it wasn’t because of the jab from his words but the lingering truth beneath them.    

It had been on his mind for weeks. That same name that consistently haunted his nightmares and wandered freely within his dimming spirit… Lilith… His ex-wife would remain a pillar of his heart. She would hold the edges upright and force him to remember exactly who he was and what he had done.    

Lucifer deserved loneliness.    

Her voice was a consistent reminder of his failures. That he did not deserve love from another and should be left alone to wallow in his misery. That's what he saw in Alastor's eyes. The rainbow of colors that often swirled around him, providing an illusion of adoration, but masking the truth.    

The truth that Lucifer could never love Alastor — he could never love anyone, not even himself.    

He had fooled himself several times, thinking that he had a chance with Alastor. There was an evening when they were meeting for their usual weekly drink, but Lucifer couldn't stop thinking of their dance. The way Alastor had allowed him to rest his head against his chest and the way his heartbeat was a melody that he heard whenever the room grew silent. Due to it, Lucifer needed to follow through. Something within him begged to listen to his heart for once and take the chance he often ignored.    

When Alastor arrived at his room, there was a scent of curry and rice. The sauce was boiling slowly as he added the chicken and potatoes. Alastor's shadow swirled around Lucifer before he appeared behind, the brush of the swiftly moving air was like a teasing blanket that Lucifer needed to feel against his bare skin.    

“Smells amazing. I didn't know we were having dinner,” said Alastor, tapping his cane against the ground to signal his arrival.    

“I figured it was time we started having dinner with our drinks. Unless you object.”    

Alastor’s grin widened as he sniffed the air. “No… I rather like the idea.”    

Lucifer’s smile brightened the room, not bothering to hide his excitement. He motioned for Alastor to sit at the table, eyes moving back and forth between stirring the curry and watching as Alastor removed his coat. His curiosity was getting the best of him, wanting more than anything to see what was beneath the shirt. Lucifer knew he shouldn't be thinking of such things. Wishing he could remove those thoughts from his head, but his body desperately needed the answer.    

He gulped, remembering well that Alastor was not one for sexual exploration. The demon had recited many stories about his youth and how lackluster sex had been, more so, his lack of desire to engage in such an act. It took several meetings for Lucifer to explain to Alastor that he was likely someone within the asexual spectrum. Alastor had originally waved it off, but once Lucifer detailed it, he leaned into the idea and eventually generally accepted it. Still, it was how he ended that conversation that gave Lucifer a light.    

“Of course… I’m not opposed to it completely. Sometimes a natural urge happens, and I find myself needing to please those sensations. Perhaps there is someone out there who can tackle their way through me as no other has and, for once, allow me to enjoy it. Who is to say?”    

Lucifer wasn't certain if that was an invitation, but he took it as such, noticing that his own heart was begging to be near Alastor increasingly after each meeting. It was then that he got the idea to take small steps. A little extra whiskey to get comfortable and talk without barriers. A little music to set the mood right. A dance here and a dance there. Slowly, Lucifer wormed his way into Alastor's trust, but he could see that he, too, had tricked himself into allowing Alastor into his fortress.    

When dinner was ready, he served them and snapped his fingers to darken the room except for the various candles set purposefully around them. It startled Alastor, and there was an immediate blush against his face. “Too much?” asked Lucifer, ready to snap it back to normal lighting.    

“No… no… simply surprised.” He took his spoon and scooped up the curry and rice. A hum escaped him as he took a bite, falling into the aroma and glory of the meal. “Delicious. Who knew you could cook?”    

Lucifer held out his spoonful. “I can! I am a creator, so cooking is a form of crafting. I'm glad you liked it. Tried something new since I know you like spicy.”    

“It's exactly as I prefer. My stomach is burning in delight.”    

Lucifer grinned and ate his, immediately regretting it. “Oh fuck! Shit! Ah!” He waved his hand over his stuck-out tongue, reaching for the water and gulping it down. It only worsened it, and he continued to yell as he ran into the refrigerator to gather a cup of milk and soothe away the pain.    

Alastor laughed, walking over to the devil sitting on the floor, chugging the carton of milk. “You should have tasted it as you cooked.”    

“I didn’t know it would be that bad!” His serpent tongue stuck out, face flushed golden. Then he stopped, the flustered look on his face now due to Alastor's fingers lightly taking his chin, pulling himself closer, and kissing his cheek.    

Lucifer blushed through the sweat, eyes glimmering on the Radio Demon. Alastor spoke, “Thank you for thinking of me.”    

Lucifer nearly lost all his words. “You-you're welcome.”    

It was a kiss that would trigger a catastrophe of emotions, bringing Lucifer to beg for more moments — singular seconds of time in which he could reach out and take Alastor's hand. More so, to take Alastor's lips.   

But those lips were now trembling. Curling downward with the freedom of his emotions without the tethers holding them in place any longer. That was what hurt more. Alastor had been freed from his binding contract for nearly a year. There were no reasons to hide any of his secrets to protect himself or anyone else. He had learned to love the sinners within the hotel, admiring the work they were doing and the progress they were making.    

He had accepted that they were family. Lucifer wanted more than anything to retain Alastor close to him and, perhaps, with time, make it official. Instead, his heart was shattered against the floor, melting on the fireplace's heat and ashes of the withering relationship.   

His fingers moved to the ring, swirling it in place without thinking and trying to remember exactly why he kept it on. There was no logical reason for it anymore. Lilith was gone, and she would never return to him with the affections they once had. Their arguments were a part of his history, but standing before Alastor, his history was repeating once again.    

The voices were returning. The prodding words of disillusions and angst against his trembling joints. If he weren't so determined to stay standing, he'd be wallowing on the floor and begging for the shouting in his head to stop. They were repeating again, the words of judgment cast upon him during his fall. Reminding him that he was not worthy of Heavenly light and that the stars he created would be nothing less than a memory.    

That warmth in his hands would plague him. The ideas shifting from mere blips to obsession and he would be lost to it for hours, days, weeks… decades. And in that time, he would lose himself, forgetting about the importance of his existence, about the people he gave it all up for, but what else was there to say? He was a broken angel who didn't deserve his own wings. His halo was gone, floating in space as stardust to never reform or forgive. Like the moon, they would orbit around him, unreachable, yet always vigilant.     

And all he would do is starve for that feeling once more.    

It was his fault. His own disheartened and traitorous thoughts led him to his consequences. He deserved the fall. He deserved damnation. He deserved to lose Lilith. How he was able to reaffirm his bond with Charlie was nothing short of a miracle, but karma could only be so kind, so it was natural that in the end…   

He should also lose Alastor.    

“You-you really think that?” he asked, his throat catching a lump and holding it still.    

“I have no evidence to prove otherwise! Why would the most powerful creature in all of Hell want to be with a sinner? We are nothing to you! I am nothing to you!”    

But you are everything…    

Were the words he wished he had said. He hated himself for not speaking them, instead allowing the shouting to win the battle. “You want to think that way? Fine! Yeah, maybe you are a placeholder. Maybe I fell for a trap you have been laying. I should be the one who can't trust you! You're a master manipulator and take whatever you want for your selfish gains. Did you even like it? Huh? Was anything I ever did meaningful? Did I ever satisfy you?”      

What a thought! The questions were daggers against Alastor's stomach, one swiftly hitting the center of his forehead as if being shot dead once more.    

Alastor could never say it. The truth was that Lucifer had unlocked parts of Alastor that he thought didn't exist. Throughout his life and afterlife, he attempted to connect with others dozens of times, but nothing would stick. He felt bound to friendships but never romance. There was always something missing. A spark of something he couldn't put his finger on and gave up trying decades ago.    

Then there was their first kiss on the rooftop of the hotel one evening after a party Charlie had set up for sinners. After a few minor hiccups with the Vees, Charlie was able to gain some new residents and started pushing forward with her project. While she muttered around, Lucifer was sitting atop the hotel, and Alastor went to check on him.    

“Why so gloom? The party was a success,” he asked.    

Lucifer, legs tucked against his chest with his wings spread wide, turned to look at the Radio Demon. “I am proud,” his voice jagged and cracking. “But it still reminds me of my own failures. Charlie is the light I could never create, and to watch her keep pushing… It's enlightening and disheartening.”    

Alastor took a few steps forward, standing beside him and looking up toward Heaven. “That's rather foolish. She's said it before, her dreams come from yours. That place that still holds hope. The bits of you that remain angelic.”    

“But I have lost that part of me. I can't even imagine being that person Charlie sees. I pretend… but it's hard to keep the mask up.”    

Alastor hummed, his radio static giving away his melancholy. “Then drop the mask and look in a mirror. See the person you truly are.”   

Lucifer rolled his eyes. “Depressed and worthless?”    

“No.” Swiftly, Alastor’s face was leaning close to the devil's, the air between them thin, nearly vanished. Lucifer's face turned golden, eyes fixed on the demon, awaiting what would happen next. “Radiant and worthy of acceptance.”    

Lucifer gulped, but before he could reply, Alastor closed the gap and kissed him. It was far more tender than either expected, but Lucifer wasted little time wrapping his arms around Alastor's shoulders and pulling him down to rest on him. His wings spread back as he fell against the rooftop, tangling his legs to plant Alastor firmly on his body.    

And for once, Alastor didn't stop someone from holding him carelessly.    

It only took two more weekly meetings to add a new tradition. Their clothes would come off, and their bodies would melt into each other. Never had someone's touch felt so inviting and Alastor was happy to welcome Lucifer into the places he never dared anyone else see. The way his fingers would trace Alastor's scars, as if healing them merely from his care. Through time, he would detail them all, some were from life, others from his dealings as an Overlord, and eventually, admitting the one from Adam across his chest.    

“You should have told me sooner,” Lucifer said as he trailed kisses across the furry chest, lining the scar tissue. “I could have healed you properly and this wouldn't have looked so rough.”    

Alastor moaned, hands gliding on Lucifer's neck. “It's fine. Not as if my skin was ever perfect.”    

“It's perfect to me.”    

It was then that Alastor realized it wasn't simply him finding a person he allowed to touch him and satisfy the urges that sometimes came before him. This wasn't simply to check off a box or to remove the ticking that sometimes happened because his body's needs went against his mind's desires.    

He yearned for Lucifer because he cared for him far deeper than a friendship.    

It was complicated, and he was unsure how to go about the matter, so he allowed Lucifer to be the one to lead where this relationship would go. After all, there was still a ring on his finger, and Lilith was a matter that needed to be handled. Which is where his doubt stayed, fogged by the glimmering gold band and the emotional scars it left behind on Lucifer.    

With his questions, the ring would provide his answers.    

“You could never satisfy me as long as you continue to leave me wrestling against your decisions.”    

“My decisions?” Lucifer lashed back. “Why must the burden be placed on me? Whenever I ask, you never give me an answer!”   

“Of what?!” Alastor's fist curled, anger increasing from the audacity of his accusations.    

“Do you want me?”    

“I…” He froze, unsure what to say. No… that was a lie. He knew exactly what he wanted to say, but he didn't dare do it. This was beyond his scope of the universe. In no life or afterlife would Alastor be willing to part with the one aspect of his life he still had a grasp over. More so, he wasn't ready to admit that he was willing to do so for someone who made him feel like he could finally give away the control he held so dear for so long.    

“Exactly,” said Lucifer before Alastor could finish. “There is nothing here. There never was and there never will be. This was worthless. Why even bother trying to pretend that this was more than placating our sexual needs? You don't fucking have emotions, Al! You've prided yourself on that! How could you ever… How could anyone ever…” His words trailed off as he turned his back to the demon.   

He hugged himself, falling into the hundreds of voices in his head, making the room so extremely loud. They were echoing, cracking with the fire beside him and narrowing his views to a single thought. That there was nothing. That he was nothing.   

And nothing deserved the agony.    

A memory proceeded to push through. A small red box was resting beside his coffee mug in the kitchen one morning. There was no name, but it appeared obviously left behind for Lucifer to open. When he did, his lips gently curled up, taking out the small acrylic yellow duck and balancing it between two fingers. He laughed to himself, never bothering to figure out who it was from because he didn't need it confirmed.    

Day after day, he would randomly find more spread across the hotel in spots he often visited. By the time his weekly meet-up with Alastor arrived, he had a cup full of a hundred or so. “How adorable,” he said, placing the cup on the nightstand before crawling onto Alastor's bed. He'd already removed his top, seeing that the Radio Demon was awaiting him naked underneath the sheets — a delightful additional surprise.    

“Whatever do you mean?” Alastor laughed into his hand, leaning back against the pillow to welcome Lucifer to sprawl over him.    

“Don't act like that wasn't you.”    

“It could have been Charlie. She is a wonderful young woman.”    

Lucifer shook his head, moving his leg around Alastor's hips and sitting on his lap. “Doubtful. She can't contain herself when giving a gift. This had to be you. No one else would be so kind.”    

“But I am not kind… so your theory doesn't work.”    

Lucifer hummed, diving down to steal Alastor's lips, grinding himself against the sheets keeping them apart. Alastor's radio switched on, dials turning in chaos to express the demon’s joy. “See, that is where you are wrong,” said Lucifer. “With me, I have come to realize you may have a good spirit within you.”    

“Oh, then I must address the matter and never do it again. I can't let others think I am somehow sweet.”    

“Or…” Lucifer began to peck kisses down Alastor's neck, hands gripping the tuffs of fur on his chest. “You leave it for only me to see. Our little secret?”    

“Lucifer,” he moaned in response. “For you, sire… anything…”    

But anything was a lie. Those gifts were a distraction from the truth, at least that is how it appeared now. Lucifer couldn't turn around to face Alastor. He was losing control of his own mind, falling into the despair of the deep depression coursing through his body. It was endless, a reminder of his fate and where he would rest forever.    

“Go…” he whispered, a dread of regret already mixing with the acceptance of the situation.    

Alastor's voice broke. The radio static buzzing around them hushed, and his eyes softened in distaste. “Lucifer, wait…”    

“Go!” His horns shot up, the flame and snake cracking with warning toward the demon.    

But it wouldn't be so simple. Alastor wasn't going to simply listen to a command. He was an Overlord — the Radio Demon bowed to no one, not even the King of Hell. “Fuck you! You don't tell me when to leave!”    

“Then what, Al! What is the point of all of this, huh? What do you want to accomplish with this damn shouting! Face it, we thought this was more than what it is. This is just two lonely men who needed a good fuck. Right?”    

The words slipped from Alastor’s mouth before he could process them. “Right…”   

Lucifer swiftly turned to look at him. That word wrenched deep into his subconscious to live internally until the time came; he would finally be given the relief of real death. His eyes welled with tears, the failure he was once again burning into his stomach and shot up in the blaze between his horns. “Then go...” he whispered, too ashamed to give in to the anger any longer. Needing to hold something against his chest and wait for the steps that would signal their end.    

Alastor stood frozen, face unmoving and unwavering, yet in the longest minute of their existence, his feet eventually took a step toward the door. Lucifer watched as Alastor’s hooves echoed in his head like a repeated stab. A reminder of the scars left behind by the angels who banished him and his eventual fall from grace. It was a cycle of suffering; Lucifer would always be reminded that his truest self deserved nothing and no one except the emptiness of a room and the weight of the universe against his back.    

The door creaked open; Alastor’s motions were stumbling and uneven. He barely stepped away, but eventually the door shut, and all Lucifer had left were his tears. The fire burned behind him as he felt shorter than ever before. Even in his devilish state, he felt small, meritless, and helpless. He turned back to the flame, hardly breathing as the lump in his throat trailed down to his heart and beat rapidly in his disassociation.    

What had he done and spoke? Did he even mean his words or were they simply means of surviving against potential heartache? But that was the issue; in turn, it still hurt. He still shattered himself into crystals that floated endlessly in the sky, parting from the other pieces that once made him whole.    

The neon green lights flickered against his skin, reminding him of the last time green had been the object of his affections.    

He’d left a note for Alastor to come visit him in the castle, making a show of it by taking his time to write with his best penmanship, especially proud of the cursive in the letter A. The letter asked Alastor to come dressed in a Halloween outfit. Normally, the Radio Demon did little to participate in activities, but he had a soft spot for the holiday and, likely, for the one who had requested him. When he arrived, he was in a vampire outfit, leaving Lucifer to wonder if the blood dripping down his mouth was real or fake. Lucifer never bothered to ask.    

“So, is there a party of sorts or...” but Alastor stopped speaking as Lucifer snapped his fingers to appear like a zombie dressed in Mardi Gras themed clothing.    

Alastor blinked in confusion. “I am taking you out to celebrate. In New Orleans.”    

Alastor nearly toppled over in surprise. “Excuse me?”    

“Hellborns are permitted to go to Earth on Halloween as well as I. And sinners can go if they cross with me, so I want to spend the day on Earth with you, and I figured you would enjoy the evening back home.”    

Alastor replied by pulling Lucifer into a hug, dropping his microphone cane on the floor, and holding the devil with such tightness that Lucifer was certain he would lose his organs through his head. “Lucifer... are you serious?”    

“Yes!” he gasped once Alastor let him go. He adjusted his coat. “Ahem... yes. We could stay in the costumes, but I can also make us look a bit more human to blend in.”    

“Go right ahead. I would prefer to blend in.”    

With a snap, a portal opened, and the two transformed into humans but still within their costumes. Alastor left the cane on the ground as he took Lucifer’s hand and walked into the New Orleans strip. His eyes twinkled underneath the full moon; the streets buzzing with music, booze, and the scent of powdered sugar and fresh crawfish.    

“Home...” he whispered to himself, taking in the sight as the portal closed behind him and Lucifer intertwined their fingers. Without thinking, he nearly snatched it away, but Lucifer was quick to hold him still.    

“You don’t need to hide. Being in a gay relationship is more accepted than in your time. We can be ourselves without worry... but if you need, I can look more female or...”    

“No!” Alastor squeezed their hands tighter. “No... I want to be here with you.”    

Lucifer smiled, his face flushing golden even if his body was that of a human. “Alright, then show me around.”    

Alastor immediately stepped out of the alley and took Lucifer into the street. The rush of classic and modern jazz filled the air with the smell of alcohol and fried meats. It was a dream come true, and Alastor’s eyes glimmered like a child. He took Lucifer all around, showing off the different locations and what they used to be when he was alive. Where some of the speakeasies had been hidden, where he secretly kidnapped some of his victims, and where his old apartment used to be.    

Lucifer was enamored, lost in the tour of Alastor’s life and learning every bit of information he had never expressed before. His heart kept racing, especially when Alastor pulled him in for a dance on the streets as a band passed by and swayed him close without a care in the world. It was different than before. A carefree nature to the demon he knew, immersed by the beauty of the city, yet an example of the monsters that lurked in the night. New Orleans perfectly encapsulated Alastor’s persona. This city raised him, and it rested open in his heart for Lucifer to see.    

He couldn’t help but steal a kiss, needing to have Alastor pressed against him and to taste the flavors of his human existence. Alastor did not hesitate to return them, pulling him against a wall and not caring who was passing and possibly watching. Eventually, they went to a bar that was nearly a replica of what Alastor used to play in. The smoke-filled room and dimly colored light were nothing compared to the essence of Alastor’s glow.    

They sat at a table and ordered two Old Fashioneds. Alastor reached over, gripping Lucifer’s hand with a might that nearly scared the devil. “I can’t believe you did this. I – I don’t know how to repay you.”    

“I think of a few things once we are back in my room.” He wiggled his eyes and leaned across the table to take a kiss.    

Alastor laughed when they parted and shook his head. “It’s not enough. This...” The waiter interrupted them with their drinks and Alastor coyly waited for him to leave. Once he did, his eyes locked on Lucifer’s, and something came to him. “Wait, I think I know.”    

“What?”    

“How much more until midnight?”    

Lucifer looked around and saw a clock. “About three hours.”   

“Perfect. Drink up.” He swung back his drink and asked Lucifer to pay the tab.    

Once done, he snatched Lucifer’s hand and dragged him away, running through the streets and knowing where to go from the memories that would never leave him. Eventually, they were running in the mud, treading against the dirt of the bayou and nearing the swamp. It wasn’t exactly what Lucifer had in mind, but when they stopped in the perfect spot where the full moon cast a spotlight over the glistening water, Lucifer realized exactly where they were.    

“It figures it's gone, but my cabin used to be across the swamp. It's where I did my radio show and my killings. I’m certain they discovered it all and eventually tore it down, but I know that this was exactly where I used to live.” He closed his eyes, smelling the mugginess and moss of the space, mixing with the humidity and yet light breeze.   

Lucifer wanted desperately to be closer to him, both physically and mentally. Something about the innocence of his face, even when speaking of the sins that landed him in Hell. But that was important. Those sins eventually led them together and the regret would be hard to come by at that moment.    

Lucifer leaned closer, embracing Alastor by the side and grinning softly to himself when Alastor returned the hug without a word or pause. In the creaking silence of the bayou, Lucifer wished that this could have been his life. Instead of being born an angel, he could have been a simple human who found the man of his affections, and they could have been lost in the swamp together until their deaths.    

“Al, please let me ask you one small favor.”    

“Hmm...”    

“Can we take one picture? Please... I...”    

“That’s fine... I promise I won’t hinder it.”    

The devil looked up, perplexed and flabbergasted, but didn’t wait to take out his phone. He used his magic to float it in the air, Alastor getting down to his knees so that Lucifer could hug him by resting his chin on his head. The phone took the picture, and Lucifer couldn’t help his glee when the image was clear.    

“We look good together,” whispered Alastor, standing back up and pulling Lucifer into his arms. “Allow me to sing and dance you into midnight?”    

The phone fell into the mud, shock coursing through Lucifer. In jittering haste, Lucifer picked it up, snapped it clean, and pocketed the phone before turning to Alastor with his arms ready to be taken. For the time being, Lucifer allowed Alastor to give his gratitude by singing You're My Past Present and Future, and leading the dance. It was when the specks of the moon’s light hit the center of the sky and their skin that the spell began to give way, shimmering into red glitter around them as they spun in each other's arms and returned to their normal form.    

Looking deeply into the crimson eyes and hearing his voice return with his radio filter only solidified the truth. The portal opened below their feet, and Lucifer pulled Alastor in for a kiss as they vanished from Earth and returned home. That was when Lucifer knew, and staring at the hellfire in his room, the voices finally stopped.    

He’d made a mistake. Those words he had said were not true. They were the false lies of his inner turmoil that haunted him, dragging him down the seven layers of Hell and leaving him in the abyss. With Alastor, the voices stopped, and only the filter of his radio would cover the spaces of his mind. Because all Lucifer wanted was Alastor.    

All Lucifer needed was to be with someone as broken as him.    

He ripped the ring off his finger, tossing it into the fire and dashing to the door. It couldn’t have been more than a few seconds. He couldn’t have gotten far, and yet, when he swung the door open, the hallway was empty, hollow, and cold. The room and his eyes had lost all color. Nothing but black and white and the dim of his last light.    

“Al...” he whispered so faintly he barely heard it himself. It was useless. He deserved the consequences of his words, the trail of despair, and nothing but his own broken heart to spill onto the doorway.    

He slowly closed the door shut, giving up as he tried for one last chance. There was nothing left but the stopping of his heart, the world of lackluster sounds, and his sight set in dullness. The door clicked, and he turned around to face his own self-loathing until someone grabbed his face.    

“That’s not what I meant to say,” said Alastor, squeezing his hands against Lucifer’s cheeks, a yearning so desperate it confused Lucifer to be receiving it. “You are more than that... Lucifer... you... you...”    

Lucifer’s throat hitched, eyes open, and so shocked he forgot to recall his horns as Alastor brought back the swirling colors with a kiss. The lights danced in diamonds and floated in circles with the returned passion they were both harboring.

Art by: Goose

In the colorful lights that led them back to each other, their vision swirled into a kaleidoscope of passion and obsession.    

Eventually, Lucifer leaned into the kiss. The need to be close to Alastor, taking over, clouding his mind away from the voices, and allowing the rainbow to return to his sight. He was dizzy, pressing his lips closer and opening his mouth, devouring everything Alastor would offer while his hands would beg for more. His hands grabbed Alastor’s shirt, yanking him to leave no gaps. Needing to press himself and unite them, leaving only trails of a bond that would never break.    

It was desperate, but it was his truth. It was everything his soul had been searching for and in Alastor’s kiss, he could feel it was the same for him.    

For a brief moment, they pulled apart, Lucifer’s horns finally descending back in and his eyes returning to normal. “I didn’t mean what I said,” he whimpered.    

“It's alright if you did, it was the truth. I never say it...”    

“But you show it! Damn it, Alastor, you always show me the truth, and it speaks far louder than any words.” His face was sorrowed, tattered, and unashamed. He needed to bare it all and leave nothing misunderstood. “And I’m sorry. You are more than just sex... fuck, if I could, I’d give it all up just to keep you beside me. It's not what’s important. You are...”    

“As are you.” Alastor’s red-tipped fingers grazed against Lucifer’s cheeks. A simple motion that spoke a million means. Their eyes locked on the other, seeing the dancing diamonds spinning in their circles of adoration and illusions of grandeur. “I’m sorry for it all.”    

“As am I. I was talking from a place that isn’t me anymore. It's still healing, and it was trying to trick me and...”    

Alastor pressed a finger over his lips, moving it down and tugging it lightly until it flicked back to position. It trailed downward to Lucifer’s chest, then back up to his shoulders and across his left arm until their hands cupped. Then Alastor stopped, noticing something different. “Where is it?”    

“In the fire,” he replied without falter.    

“Lucifer... you...”    

“I don’t need it anymore. I know that it is over between Lilith and me. It has been over for years, and I was wearing it because I feared change, but with you, change is worth trying. I want to give in. I need to move on... I need you.”    

With a sharp inhale, Alastor dove to steal his lips again, wanting more of his kisses and to cave to the begging of the devil. It wasn’t temptation — he had given in to that long ago. This was far beyond that, to a plane of existence that never subsisted, but leave it to Lucifer to create. A place where Alastor relinquished his control and willfully handed it to another.    

He gave his world to an angel, and in return, he was adored.    

Lucifer guided Alastor back, pushing him to the armchair beside the fireplace, needing to see him clearly in the darkness surrounding the room. Lucifer removed his vest and top, not caring to linger, needing to solidify this single moment and the trajectory of his future. The clothes tossed to the floor; Lucifer pushed Alastor onto the armchair and removed his own pants.    

He was glowing, his naked body displayed for Alastor like a Renaissance painting left for only Alastor to admire. The demon gulped, surprised by the sudden nervousness overtaking him. They had sex plenty of times, but the way his red eyes stared at him, a vulnerability and brokenness that Alastor could feel, yet he felt untouchable.    

Lucifer released his tail, slipping it up Alastor’s thighs, stopping the triangular tip to drag against the button of the pants. “Well?”    

Alastor reached over to take Lucifer’s waist, pulling him closer and placing his lips on the perfect chest and kissing over his heart. Lucifer’s fingers tangling into the red hair, twirling it between his fingers while Alastor’s hand explored the curves of his body. “You need me?” his voice smooth, still cracking with static as it found the right channel in the room’s radio.    

“More than you know,” Lucifer replied, desperate for the feel of his claws and the pain of his ferocious touch.    

Alastor dragged his hands up Lucifer’s back as his lips trailed kisses across his chest. The pecks were soft and delicate, taking every inch against his lips as if they were the last means of salvation. His hands trace the wing markings from memory, knowing that Lucifer would sing from the sensuality and earn the worship that was to come from Alastor. In life, Alastor was not one to pray, but with the devil wrapped in his arms, he was willing to beg for a miracle, to keep gaining the touch of a divine angel and hold it with admiration and complete faith.    

In his arms, Lucifer was the only God Alastor wished to worship, and his sacrifice would be of a heart that no one had ever earned.    

His hands began to move down, along with his lips. He kissed against the hip bones, counting the pecks it took to get closer to the cock that was growing and awaiting him. Alastor grabbed a handful of Lucifer’s ass cheek, and Lucifer replied with his hard cock brushing underneath Alastor’s chin.    

The beauty of the Radio Demon was unfathomable. Lucifer remembered loathing this man, jealous of his relationship with his estranged daughter, and wanting to make him vanish, but the thought of that now was painful. To lose Alastor would mean losing a bit of himself and there was no way he would allow it. He couldn’t repeat the same mistakes. He wanted that mouth to be his, to taste his fingers, to gaze at him with eyes so vulgar that they would burn into his dreams, to know that his own heart was only for Lucifer to care for and tend to.    

Lucifer moved his hands down Alastor’s neck, dipping his fingers into the turtleneck of his shirt and wishing to remove the garments. He loosened Alastor’s tie and Alastor replied with a whimper. The soft voice shook against Lucifer’s touch and the radio flickered with Alastor’s reactions. The stronger the static, the more Lucifer wanted that mouth around him.    

“You’re perfect,” rang Alastor’s voice, finding the base of Lucifer’s tail and teasing it with the tips of his claws, swirling around the soft spikes coming from the top.    

Lucifer bit his lip and moved his hand underneath Alastor’s chin. “You shouldn’t be saying things that you don’t mean.”    

His eyes flittered, distraught. “Excuse me, sire. I will not take you saying such things. I would have hoped that by now you would know that when you’re in my arms, I do not lie.”   

Lucifer moved his hands up Alastor’s cheek, memorizing the dips of his undereye, the hidden dimple to his left cheek, and the traces of the holes left behind from the forced tether on his lips. This man was unique in far more ways than Alastor could comprehend, and it was Lucifer who would endlessly admire him. “Forgive me. The voices still sometime speak.”    

Alastor kissed Lucifer’s blonde happy trail, nuzzling his nose against the hair and taking a long and deep inhale of his sweet scent. “Then allow me to remind you which voice should be filling your head. Not those who betrayed you.” He kissed again, dragging the top of his lips as he moved downward. “Not of the angels that stabbed you.” Another kiss. “Not of the echo chamber of your depression.” His lips stopped at the bend of where the cock met the pelvis. “No… it should be my voice telling you how amazing you are. How lucky this universe is to have you be a part of its creation. How damnation also comes with a prize that no one else has ever won.” He moved back and kissed the tip of Lucifer’s cock, which nearly glittered with the same gold as his blushing cheeks.    

Lucifer huffed lightly, barely speaking his response. “And what prize is that?”    

“My complete and undivided devotion to your Godliness.” His mouth wrapped around his tip, not daring to go further as his tongue played with the folds. Their eyes were locked on the other; the mewls already begging for more but wanting to be at the mercy of Alastor’s prayers. Alastor’s claws ran down Lucifer’s ass, leaving a mark from the pressure and staining the once pure white skin with lines of gold.    

The devil’s hands curled into the red and black bob, needing something to hold on to as his knees began to buckle. However, he wasn’t certain if it was from the teasing or the weight of Alastor’s words making his heart crash like a meteoroid.    

Alastor started to pump but refused to move past the tip.   

Lucifer groaned; the light teasing already making him overwhelmed against the weight of the argument only moments before. The slippery tongue of Alastor’s slick on the mushroom tip flicked against the hole and licked up the precum forming. His hands kept roaming, down his butt cheek, toward his thighs, leaving a sensation of wanting to caress every inch of his form.    

There was a murmur, a little groan of euphoria that escaped Alastor’s throat. It wanted nothing more than every part of Lucifer to be devoured, to give it the comfort it needed, and to kiss every inch to claim. Alastor popped the cock off his mouth, leaving a string of saliva and precum to drip down his chin before lapping up and looking up toward his partner. “I would go on, but your hands are asking for something.”    

Lucifer wouldn’t deny the statement. His hands were exploring down Alastor’s turtleneck, carefully moving the garment to open and slide to the side down the middle. “It’s not fair that you get to play with my body and I do not get to with yours. You’re far softer than me. I want to press against it.”    

Alastor hummed in response, the delicate fingertips following the pelvic lines and curling underneath his balls to graze them and admire. “But I haven’t finished worshipping you.”    

“What else is there? You are touching me. I want to return the favor.”    

“The favor has already been returned.” His eyes gracefully moved to the fire, watching the sparks of gold between the flames as the ring melted against the logs. “You deserve to know that you are worthy of affection. Allow that of me.”    

Lucifer bent to steal a kiss, words meaningless after the generosity of Alastor’s confession. The only words he wanted to say were resting at the edge of his tongue and there was a tinge of fear that it wouldn’t be the right time.    

They hadn’t said it — not once and he was scared that with what had happened, saying it now would ruin it all. That it would somehow feel false because of the heat that rose between them and the desperation to keep them together.    

No — Lucifer wanted to hold it in for now; instead, allow the man who owned his heart to do as he pleased, to continue showing him what this meant. His hands cupped Alastor’s cheeks, pressing closer and tasting the hate flittering away from their mouths and replacing it with their undying craving for the other.    

When they parted, Alastor’s eyes locked on Lucifer’s and his words were all Lucifer needed to let him keep going. “Allow me to show you how much I love you.”    

It was remarkable that Lucifer could still be surprised. That he was one of the oldest creatures in the universe and, somehow, life and the afterlife could still provide moments that would steal his breath and throw it into the sky. His hand curled into fists along Alastor’s cheeks, shaking as he tried to find something within himself to say, but before he could, Alastor hummed once more and took his hands to guide down and lift his hoof to plant against his growing crotch.   

Alastor started at the knee, kissing lightly as his hands massaged the calf. His lips followed the outline of his charcoal marks, the remnant of the burn from his fall, and the consistent reminder that he was no longer an angel. However, the drag of Alastor’s pecks was healing, removing the anguish that had plagued him for centuries, leaving Lucifer bound to a horror of self-loathing and distrust. But with Alastor, those feelings were vanishing. The kisses were reassuring him of the words he had confessed and affirming their truth.    

Lucifer gazed upon the man, now kissing his hoof, that he was the object of his affections. That a demon would somehow be the answer to his endless torture and mute the voices that forever followed him. He didn’t need Heaven when Hell offered him eternal deification.    

“You are a creature worthy of no one. Even I am unworthy of your glory, and it beseeches me to think that you have honored me with your time and patience.”    

“Oh, but Alastor…” he whimpered, his naked body regal and nearly glowing like the stars he had once crafted. “There is no one more worthy of my heart than you. You have given me something I haven’t felt in decades. Something I still feel so unworthy to have.”    

Alastor kissed his hoof one last time before looking up. “And that is?”    

“Boundless and limitless freedom.”    

Alastor’s voice cracked, the radio static shaking as he guided the foot down and pulled Lucifer to straddle his lap. The devil’s lack of patience ended, snapping his fingers to disintegrate Alastor’s clothing and leave the two naked, close, and hungry. Lucifer caressed Alastor, taking a hold of his gaze and gripping it so firmly that breaking it could mean the end of the universe. It was there, his heart plumed down, cracking through the layers of Hell and reaching for a dimension long lost.    

“Al…” he whispered, the red eyes burning with admission and determination.    

“What is it?”    

“I need to admit that I don’t think I could ever be cured, but I want to continue my existence knowing you will be beside me. Even when I crack and the voices return. Even when the doubt succumbs to me. Even when all I have are my tears and the fragileness of a wavering heart. In the end, knowing that you will be patiently waiting for me… I think it's all I really need.”    

Alastor shook his head. “You are wrong, Lucifer. After everything, I had to push beyond to open myself up to someone. To actually admit the blacks of my soul could even have a speckle of light, I refuse to be someone who is waiting for you…”    

Lucifer gulped, unsure of what he meant. In a sense, his heartache returned, but the crimson eyes of Alastor’s asked him to keep listening. “Then… what?”    

“I refuse to wait for you because I have no plans of ever not being beside you. I will always be there, no matter what.”    

His heart fluttered, and he longed to admit to himself that the rainbow diamonds surrounding the demon, a barrage of colors swirling in sparkles, were the signal that this man was all he ever desired. “I love you so much, Al…”

Art by: Kanmuru

And it was there they knew. The argument wasn’t real. It was the end of a long life of distrust, and it marked the beginning of a renewed second life — together.   

Their bodies moved without further thought, grabbing the other with fervor that their teeth clanked and yet neither cared. Their lips were tangled, a heaping mess of saliva pooling inside their mouths as their tongues met and danced in unison. They wanted nothing more than the other’s taste and for their hands to claim every inch of their skin for the other.    

Luckily, Alastor had learned to still control his 

 shadow and the exact location of where Lucifer kept the lube. Once it was in his hands, his shadow placed a few within the tips of Alastor’s fingers and spread it across Lucifer’s entry and massaged it around the hole. The moan that escaped Lucifer was a choir, begging to the eternal realms to take everything of him and accept his undying devotion. Alastor knew that Lucifer was easy to prep, but he still liked to take his time, consume in the moans within his mouth, and swallow it like a fine, rare meat found at Rosie’s.    

His middle finger slipped in, pumping as they continued to kiss, and Lucifer’s hands dragged down Alastor’s back. The edges of his claws were nearly breaking the skin, feeling every fluff of fur and delighting in the wooden scent of the deer. When Alastor slipped in the second digit, it took everything in Lucifer to not simply yell his love, repeating the three words again and again until they were solidified into existence.    

But he had nearly forgotten, they had been. Alastor had confessed it without qualm and Lucifer replied with his own admission. They were in love, regretfully so, against the past they both suffered, and the voices of disapproval. They had to forget the people they once were, and instead they needed each other and the new voices they would come to build.    

Lucifer wasn’t one to sit still, rolling his hips against Alastor’s fingers, already wishing it was the deer’s beautiful cock deep inside him and pumping as deeply as he could go. He wanted the cum to drip out of him for days, to consistently remind him that he belonged to the sinner and that, as the devil, he owned the fact that he, too, had his weakness. His tail curled upward, reaching for the sky to give Alastor as much access as he could. “I’m ready,” he whispered, his patience dwindling.    

Alastor complied, removing his fingers and letting the devil position himself. He winced when Lucifer grabbed his cock, carefully slipping in with ease and suction. The growls that escaped Alastor were animalistic. Even now, after so many sessions, after so many words, and one heartfelt confession, Alastor still couldn’t believe his own emotional attachment to the creature bouncing on his lap. His hands moved up Lucifer’s chest, tracing the edges of his nipples before taking the peaks and twisting them lightly between his fingers. Lucifer howled, needing more of Alastor’s touch and moving himself up and down around his lover’s cock.    

“Al...” his voice wisped, nearly vanishing into the roughness of his tearing breath.    

The Radio Demon took the signal, sliding slightly down to provide more balance, taking Lucifer’s hips into his hands, and beginning to thrust viciously into the devil. His hips pumped as Lucifer used his knees to move up and down. The rolling, migrating with Alastor’s thrusts, were jagged and a tad messy, but it felt like an earth-shattering ride back to bliss.    

“Fuck, Lucifer,” his voice cracked, dials switching in his eyes as he tried to control the edge of cum dripping lightly into Lucifer. “You-you're amazing,” he admitted, and it only caused Lucifer to move more, tightening himself around Alastor’s cock, causing him to groan louder.    

The devil licked his lips, keeping his pace. Alastor took a deep push, finding his prostate and hitting it repeatedly until Lucifer began to leak. Lucifer’s tongue fell out, hands clawing into Alastor’s chest and shoulders, an attempt to hold on without losing his rhythm and balance. “Yes, right there,” he declared, eyes closing as he wanted nothing but the sensation of Alastor driving into him. His hand reached down, grabbing his own cock to rub it and encourage his body to give into the upcoming orgasm.    

Alastor watched as Lucifer touched himself, grinding against his own lap and into his hand. It was a sight to behold, one that would have surprised a previous version of himself to enjoy. This was vulgar, disgusting to every sense of the word in Alastor’s book, but after all this time with Lucifer and everything he had come to feel, it was the most majestic view he had ever seen, undeservingly.    

“Don’t stop,” said Lucifer. “I’m so close.”    

Alastor dug his claws into Lucifer’s hips, nearly breaking the skin, and humping deeper and deeper with each movement. His scrotum smacked loudly, thumping with a speed that only added to Alastor’s pleasure. He groaned, holding Lucifer down as he came variously and without hesitation. His eyes landed on Lucifer as he continued to stroke his cock until his cum spilled all over Alastor’s stomach and chest within his hand.    

They panted, holding each other closely and remembering every inch of the other’s skin. It was enthralling, the exhaustion of the fight overcoming them, but renewed with their passions from their lovemaking.    

Alastor wasn’t typically the one to request more, but his heart begged to remain near Lucifer, a craving deep within his once human soul to be bonded to another and give everything he didn’t realize he had. His dizzy eyes, blurred with the steam running between them and the agony of the mere thought of almost losing him, found the brilliance of his porcelain skin. His red-tipped fingers trailed up his arm like a brush on a fresh canvas without paint, as if trying to pinpoint the lines that would craft the art.   

He wanted to paint Lucifer in rainbows. The purples, blues, and blacks of bruises from his lips and smacks. The red of his own blood dripping down Lucifer’s chest to mix with the gold of the angel’s ichor from his deep bite gashes. He wanted to watch the green of the fire blazing against his pale pastel nipples as if a target for Alastor’s mouth. More so, he wanted to drip the white of his cum all over Lucifer’s face and see his eyes gaze up with such submission that Alastor would remember their love from admiring the sight of something only he would see.    

When his fingers went up the delicate neck, feeling the pulse of his veins asking to be devoured, his stare wandered up to be surprised by a gruesome and nearly demonic glare. “Wh-what is it?”   

Lucifer was growling lowly, hungry with only one meal in mind, and it was then that Alastor realized he would be the one submitting that evening. The devil reached over, pulled Alastor closer by the back of his neck, and pressed their foreheads together. “You’re going to fuck the depression out of me, do you understand?”   

“Bleat…” was all Alastor could muster as his cock began to throb once more. He took a deep gulp, trying to find the stamina within himself to give exactly what Lucifer’s fiery eyes were begging him for. The growl that followed was the only warning he would give — not as if Lucifer needed one. He had asked for it, needing to feel all the pressure of Alastor’s strength against him as his mouth rattled on with pestering prose.   

Shadow appeared behind Lucifer, fog-like hands grazing down his back, faintly dragging like clouds against Lucifer’s wing markings. Lucifer leaned against the touch, moaning lightly until a tendril wrapped around his waist and guided him off Alastor’s cock. He floated against a black mist, guided him like a rolling thunderstorm cloud until he rested against the mattress.    

Alastor loomed over him, tilting his neck as it stretched and cracked, jagged from point to point with his smile wide and covered in glowing teeth. The radio face had returned, antlers growing wild with a hungry gaze resting upon the meekly looking Lucifer, but that was a façade. The devil was ready to play, eyes transforming bright red with a glimmer of gold in their pupils. A fire blazed from his mouth, as his serpent tongue dragged out, licking his lips, and popping before speaking, “What? Is the worship over? Are you no longer going to bow before your king?”   

Alastor’s crimson dials ticked as his voice crackled through his sharp teeth, blinking with each vowel. “You wanted me to take away your pain — but I only know torture.”   

“Oh? Well, if that’s what you can give?” He crawled over, hands climbing up Alastor's chest, grip by grip on the fur. “Then make me feel the only pain I desire… make me regret doubting you.”   

For a second, Alastor’s smile fell, cupping Lucifer’s demonic face into his hands, thumbs moving against the circle of his pink cheeks. “Mon cher, do not take the blame. It was us both.”   

Lucifer sighed. “I know… I’m trying to rile you up.”   

“But not like that. Your natural bratty self is enough.”   

“Hmm… then I won’t bring it up again. I just…”   

“I know.” He crawled on his knees to the bed, planting a soft kiss on Lucifer’s lips. “I’ll make our pain vanish for eternity… I’ll make your voices stop… and you will make my wall tumble.”   

Lucifer moaned into the kiss, hands curling deeper into the fur. “We will never heal… but I don’t need it.”   

“Of course not…” His fingers slipped into his blond hair, grasping it with desperation. It caused Lucifer to wince, head pulled back to give Alastor access to his neck. “As long as we are together, we will always find the other side of the agony.” Suddenly, his lips trailed to the nape of his neck, and he bit down, breaking the skin, sucking on the blood until his mouth was covered in the ichor.    

Lucifer whimpered, falling into his grace, leaning back to arch closer and press his chest against Alastor. “Divine,” he said, words trailing away into the sky and filling the room with their renewed passion.    

Alastor nabbed Lucifer’s waist, pulling him closer, lips sucking around the skin and not allowing a drop to flow out from the sides. This blood was the permission he needed to let go. The idea that he would be the only one to taste it and admire its sweet mix of apples, iron, and ashes.    

Lucifer groaned with feverish desperation. His hands curled against Alastor’s back, returning the pain with his claws scratching along the skin and fur. Some of the blood trickled into his fingers and Alastor responded by biting further down.    

“Fuck yes… take it all,” said Lucifer. “You claim me. Take me as yours.”    

Alastor laughed against his skin, pulling his mouth away and licking off the blood. “What a thought. A little sinner claiming the devil. What magic have I placed upon you? I must remember to continue the spell.”   

Lucifer hummed, pulling back to look at his eyes. They were drooping, lost in the daze of the blood still seeping from the markings. “You love me. Pure. Simple. True. What more powerful spell could there be?” He pulled Alastor into another deep kiss, taking the aftertaste of the blood into his own mouth, moaning at the exchange, adoring that the gold spread against his tongue and his fingers dripped with Alastor's. When he pulled back, he licked his blood-soaked fingers, tasting Alastor's blood and bonding them together against his tongue.    

“What a beautiful sight… I thought this was not interesting to you,” said Alastor, one brow cocked up in curiosity.    

“I am willing to try new things. I am in a place now that I have no more excuses.”    

“Excuses?”    

Lucifer licked his lips, stretching his fingers in front of Alastor's mouth, teasing the blood on his finger – the same finger that once held the ring. “I am ready to give my life to you, Alastor. I no longer care to live in the fog of hopelessness. Instead, I want to live within you among the shadows. I don't need light. The light has betrayed me enough. I don't need the sun. She has already set her time with me. I need the rainbow of colors colliding into an explosion until they swirl into the center and become nothing but darkness.”    

Alastor took the bloody finger into his mouth, twirling his tongue around the digit and licking it clean of the blood. The mixed taste was addicting, and he was ready to ravish in it forever. “I love the darkness.”    

“Oh, I know.” He bit the edge of his lips and lowly moaned. “It's our home.”    

The finger left Alastor's tongue, dripping with his saliva. He pushed Lucifer onto his back, lifting Lucifer's left leg up to stretch and lean against the side of his body. With a soft graze, his fingers moved up Lucifer's legs, pulled the hoof closer, and kissed his ankle. “You are rather mouthy today.”    

“Because you have earned it and I know how little you enjoy such sentimentality.”    

“What if that changes?”    

“Then I will have to find another way to make you fuck me senseless with my bratty behavior.”    

Alastor grinned, full of teeth and hunger. “I have a feeling that will be easy for you.”    

Lucifer laughed, teasing his own body with his hands, dragging the wet fingers against his stomach, chest, and nipples. “I guess… but I also hate waiting. Are you going to do something about it?”    

The radio flickered, switching stations in a flurry. “You will learn to be less childish.”    

Lucifer cracked a smile. “As long as it's with your hands, the punishment will always be worth it. By his surprise, a tendril of shadows snuck behind Lucifer's back and flipped him to his stomach. Then it wrapped around his wrist and locked them together over his head. Lucifer's face turned slightly to try to look back, but the arrogance only called to Alastor to keep going.    

The demon drew his claws across Lucifer's wing markings, tracing them as they lightly cut. In a flash, they blinked, eyes populating and staring at Alastor with warning and the blood trailed throughout the white skin. It only caused Alastor to want more. “So beautiful.”    

“You must be careful. The horns may come out.”    

Alastor grabbed Lucifer's hair and pulled him upward, yet Lucifer's hubris remained. “What if that is what I want. I love you, Lucifer… all of you.” He licked up the side of Lucifer's face. “Everything about you is a feast.”    

“Then what is taking you so long to eat?”    

Alastor narrowed his eyes. “You're speaking so much.” Another shadow emerged from Alastor's back, wrapping around Lucifer's mouth, gagging him. “Are you good, darling?”    

Lucifer enthusiastically nodded his head.   

“Good. Remember, pinch the shadow if you need me to stop.”    

To demonstrate his understanding, he did so. Alastor kissed his cheek as a reward. “That's my apple.” He shoved Lucifer down, moving his hand to pin Lucifer down by his neck. The grunts escaping the gag only encouraged Alastor. He took Lucifer's hips and guided them up, making Lucifer present himself. The devil's tail perked up, swaying lightly in delight as Alastor leaned down to lick his hole.   

Lucifer's cock pulsed, knowing that he was still filled from their first round. Alastor languidly licked, taking whatever cum would spill but providing pleasure to a hole more than ready for more. His hands caressed up and down Lucifer's thighs, needing that skin touched, worshiped, yet commanded his body to listen.    

Lucifer moved naturally from the delight taking over him. His hands opening and closing as the shadows tighten against him, losing himself to Alastor's touch, needing more of it and knowing any moment they would be apart would-be torture. He was a simple man, someone who adored to be loved and give love in return. It had been centuries since he could sense it being provided back, but the attention to detail of Alastor's hands, the way his tongue licked him without restraint, the squeeze of the shadows likely living light bruises that he would admire for days by allowing his body to not immediately heal them.    

He wiggled his ass, thrusting against Alastor's tongue. The demon replied by slipping it in and taking his tail to pull upward. Lucifer cried, eyes watering in the enjoyment, and reveling in the way Alastor elongated his tongue deeply in and lapping everything he could taste. That tongue would be Lucifer's downfall, planting his head firmly in the pillow and screaming as Alastor played against his prostate.    

Once done, Alastor cackled, loosening his grip of the tail and trailing his fingers around the base. The tip twirled around Alastor's neck, loose like a necklace, and simply wanted to be closer to him. “You're so beautiful when you're like this. Begging me so desperately to take all of you.”   

Lucifer wanted to say this would not be it. That this was only the beginning and that to allow Alastor such access to his body was a miracle beyond God's powers. Alastor took his hands and dragged them long and hard against Lucifer's back. The marks blinking in euphoria, nearly rolling back just like Lucifer's face. Alastor stood on his knees and positioned himself. He tapped the tip of his hard cock against the hole, moving it against the rim and biting his lip and the sight before him.    

“You don't hold back.” His antlers suddenly grew upward, a menacing look in his eyes as they blackened, and his neck stretched. Lucifer turned to watch and smiled against the gag. His horns came out, the fire burning between him, daring Alastor to do his worst. Alastor's newly elongated fingers easily wrapped around Lucifer's thin frame and gripped him with such might that Lucifer naturally lost a heartbeat. With a snarl, he spoke through a heavy radio filter, “I am going to give you what you want. Once I am done, all you will know is the joy you bring upon me.”   

Lucifer's eyes were ecstatic.    

He jammed his cock inside of Lucifer, easily slipping in and driving himself as deep as he could. The tip of his cock hit the bottom of Lucifer's stomach, needing to thrust and smash against the perfect body repeatedly.    

Lucifer immediately ascended. His heartbeat rapidly and his eyes rolled back. He could feel his markings watching Alastor, the demon controlling the ex-angel and making him weak within his grasp. Even gagged, Lucifer muttered various I love yous, needing to repeat it. He wanted the universe to know his heart, how he finally found peace. The consequences of his existence were no longer important because his punishments led to the beginning of his happiness.    

Each thrust slammed deeper, and the slaps of their bodies echoed throughout the room with an unwavering strength. Any other being would have been crushed by the vulgarity of it, but Lucifer would adore it. Needing that cock to go so deep, he could feel it in his throat. It represented the words that had been left lingering. That this was healing. That Alastor needed Lucifer as much as he needed the other. That they would work through their shattered pieces together until the puzzle was whole once more.    

Lucifer logically knew his depression couldn't simply vanish with the touch of Alastor's, but the connection was deep enough to know that the echo chamber would vanish in time. There was no chamber Alastor wouldn't be in and now the voices would have a demon to face. A demon so vicious that they would have no option but to bow before him, and in return, Lucifer would be the pillar of a soul who thought himself unworthy of anything but the servitude of a black heart. Alastor would never lose what made him a sinner, but at least now he had a partner who would never ask him to change.    

His hands clenched harder, shadows moving around Lucifer's body to touch every part of him consistently as he was being pounded. Two tendrils reached between the mattress and his body, finding his nipples to pinch them until Lucifer squirmed. Another set moved the blood dripping from his back, taking some into Alastor’s mouth. Their eyes locked when Alastor took the phallic shadow into his mouth and sucked it clean. The tears welled in his eyes, the fire burning between his horns blowing up in spurts whenever the thrust was giving him an endorphin. Lucifer could feel himself getting closer, needing to cum to proclaim his love once more.    

This man – Alastor, a true sinner without remorse or regrets, was everything he had learned to hate over his life since releasing free will. He was a human who took his gift and manifested everything that evil stood for, yet he loved him, and that love was returned.    

“You cum, darling,” Alastor said between gritted teeth. “You give in to pleasure.”    

While Lucifer enjoyed being stubborn, this time he willingly listened. His body trembled, quaking as he came all over the bed, and he was frazzled with the sensation. Alastor held himself deeply as he came once again inside of Lucifer, feeling something, he never thought would be so relieving and addictive.    

In the panting, their forms slowly regressed back to normal. The radio static was buzzing in the background, along with the fire burning the last of the ring's gold. The tendrils pulled back, releasing Lucifer from his restraints, and Alastor slipped off to immediately tend to his partner. His hand massaged Lucifer's wrists, following the purple markings, until Lucifer's whimpers gave him permission to continue with the remainder of his body. With time, Alastor began to hum a song, a habit he had when the silence was comforting and he needed music to continue the easiness. Lucifer adored it. The music man was unknowingly serenading him as his body relaxed against his touch and licks from cleaning off the blood.    

“Alastor,” he found himself speaking, whispering and careful, yet free. “I find myself wanting to apologize once more, but I also don't.”    

Alastor kissed the edges of Lucifer's pelvis. “You don’t.”    

“But I sense there is something else I think I need to say.”    

Alastor came back up, cradling Lucifer into his arms and pulling him into an embrace. Their foreheads touched, and their eyes met, both glossed with a love that could have words, but their meaning would be impossible to state. “Then say it.”    

Lucifer paused, taking in the details of the man in his arms. The man who gave him a second chance, whom he would still argue he didn’t deserve. With a deep breath, retaining the softness between them and pushing away the last bits of hesitation – the last voices that still tried to control him. “You are the darkness…”    

Alastor raised an eyebrow. “I wouldn't argue that. Why say it?”    

“Because the darkness holds all the colors and in your eyes the colors shine – it's beautiful and I don't want to be afraid anymore. I need you to hold me, keep me close. Your love is unfathomable. Unreal. Unbelievable.” Alastor hummed in response, but he didn't speak. Instead, Alastor allowed Lucifer to say the words they both were thinking. “These colors are confusing, falling into the black, but when I look at you, I see the colors, the shapes, their movement. I see a kaleidoscope. Always moving. Forever turning.”   

“You're rattling,” Alastor said with a chuckle, kissing Lucifer's lips.    

“Because you make me. Your love feels endless and bountiful. You, Al, are the colors I was missing in my black and white world.”    

With a deep breath, Alastor finally found the only reply he could think of, “That's only because you offered the palette.”    

Lucifer smiled, pulling Alastor closer to steal a long kiss, and in their mess, they saw the colors dancing between them – the ever-present motions of a kaleidoscope.    

Music: