divinetree | Mom says it's my turn with the Alastor

He would have it no other way. While unprecedented here in Hell, that only meant they could make their own rules on things like titles. Who would dare refuse them?

A bonded set. He loved the sound of that.

"And I you, Alastor." A kiss returned. The party could go on around them.

"Joy is... hard, for me. But with you, it's all that I feel. Thank you, for... joining me on, well, everything. The whole circus of it."

"Oh, surely it's not all you feel. It's fun to make you cross enough to throw a tantrum! Hahah!"

But he's not forgetting the actual meat of the statement. If he's doing a better job making this man happy... well, that's certainly a triumph he can claim for good. And a certainty that Lucifer won't find him too much of a risk to keep around.

No, no, instead, Alastor is in a position of power and security he had never planned nor dreamed of and he's elated.

"You may be an ancient creature, old as Creation, predating any of these silly traditions of lineages... but you are first and foremost my very hilarious, dashing husband."

A brow twitched, and a corner of his mouth curled. The hand at his back gave Alastor's tail a little tweak. "...Even when you seek opportunities to call me a fossil with chicken wings, you ass, my feelings remain the same."

Damn. Right in front of his nice spritzer, huh?

There's his funny, cranky husband. Much better than that moping! Alastor laughed, squirming a little at his tail getting yoinked - rude!!

"My, coping a feel in front of an audience? The king knows no shame~!" Alastor dramatically put the back of his hand to his forehead. Aghast!! "It's no wonder Asmodeus is kin of yours~"

The grin sharpened, all teeth. "My queen vexes me just as much as he drives me wild. Nearly feral. How can I not~?"

But speaking of behavior...

"But the vexing is mutual, it seems. Did you think I missed you plucking my long-necked chum earlier...?"

"A chum, hmm?" Alastor's smile broadened. Tch. When this man here reminisced fondly on birds being granted the mating dance by his own design, how it had made him smile and so nostalgic... and then a oversized turkey decided to dance for that man?

Absolutely not.

"I'll pluck enough feathers to grow my own wings out of spite."

His husband was adorable in a fit of jealousy. Lucifer took a hand. "Yours would be the most magnificent wings, but you have no need for them to catch my attention..."

He kissed the palm. "...Your dance has always been nothing short of divine."

Hah! Lucifer didn't need to comfort him, he wasn't bothered, not one bit!

Hmm? No, of course he was going to enjoy it anyway, are you kidding?

"You flatterer~. Almost successfully distracting me from considering how to best roast crane."

"'Almost', eh...?"

He propped a cheek spot upon the palm, the gold of the king's eyes soft as he held in that red gaze of his queen.

"Damn. Tell you what, though... I think I owe you a little something after we get back."

"A gift for me~? Why, you shouldn't have~" Alastor hummed in amusement, wrapping his arms back around Lucifer's shoulders. Even if Lucifer planned on doing something kind for him, he'd be sure to overwhelm the man with even more spoiling - he was in the fairer condition, after all.

And Alastor never stopped being competitive.

"Hmhmhm~" He'd just have to wait and see. But until then, he finished his drink and helped himself to just one more.

"Well! I think these dusty old partygoers have had enough time to try and close the gap on sheer showmanship. Shall we give them a reminder by crushing them a little more?"

"Working up a sweat before we head home, hmm? Don't overdo it, my dear, your makeup will run," he chuckled lowly. Though it was clearly him fussing a little, making doubly sure that Lucifer was feeling up to things.

The soreness he'll get hit with later will be a little funny if he's stubborn, though.

"Nonsense...! I'm still in my prime, just with a little extra!" Fully confident.

Now that he was hydrated, and maybe if he ties his coat around his waist, he could make this last round count!

"Hah! I'll be ready to scrape you off of the dance floor, then!" Alastor chuckled, waiting a breath for Lucifer to tie the coat before sliding off of the lounge and dragging his perilously proud serpent to the dance floor again. Have the party wishing they stayed longer by the time they were done.

Of course, once it was time to go and they DID get home, Alastor predicted about fifteen minutes before Lucifer's fatigue caught up with him.

"Shall I run a bath, sha? Or are you going to collapse?"

He had his pomp and bluster, and followed through. The gossip would overflow, but there would be no mistake: King Lucifer had taken a new queen, and the wild 'rumor' that it had been Alastor the Radio Demon was beyond confirmed. Though he didn't often read the papers, much less pay attention to television, Lucifer was happy to let the theories and explosive curiosity go about its business for some time to come.

The king was having himself a laugh when they arrived home. He'd honestly had a great time, and was still twirling inside over turning something boring into an actual party.

"Oh, come now- I'm not... collapsing...!" Which was all well and good, but over half of his weight was leaned against his husband, his partner in crime. The gold was high upon his face, flushed with what felt like running a marathon, but with a stubborn satisfaction.

"So fussy. The muscles just need any opportunity to work and train as they can get before the real challenge starts!"

"Sha, you know I won't hesitate to indulge in a thorough 'I told you so'," Alastor warned affectionately. He loved being insufferable, how could he not?

But he doesn't have much bite when saying that... with how delighted and flushed his devil is, how could Alastor's heart do anything BUT flutter. All of this joy, this adorable happiness, and Lilith gave up after a few thousand years of his defeatism, his blues?

Ridiculous. Weak.

"I'll make sure your dinner is large to compensate the spent energy."

"Oho~ I'm never kicking the rumors that you're fattening me up into the prettiest little roast, am I?" He ran his sleeve over his forehead and eased away to stand on his own two hooves.

"I should wash up. But can you blame me for pushing through for more dancing? I saw all those birds, the feathers, those wings and I just felt the need to..."

He elevated a leg and lifted his arms, as if in the start of ballet, and his wings unfurled, pristine white and crimson. There was a small tremor in the balanced leg and arms, but he was holding.

"Show them up!"

If Lilith could woe this man for so long without wings, so could he.

But it still annoys him.

"Yes, yes, look at those knees trembling - in the bath with you, come along," Alastor rolled his eyes, leading to the king's bathroom to start running the water, taking off his coat to air himself out a bit, as well. He'd also worked up a sweat, though he had plenty of energy to go - he wasn't expending anything extra, after all.

"I'm fine! I'm fine!" He laughed, bordering on loopy alongside his giddiness from the post-party endorphins.

But boy, he was happy to be rid of the extra layers. The scarf he looked over before he folded it and went to hang it up. He lingered upon the sight of it, noticed he was gathering a small collection of cozy knit things. Alastor had been the busiest bee...

...Didn't he need a break, too?

"So! What'd you think? I get a few invites like this a year, but there's definitely more after the ceasefire. Don't need to respond to all of them of course, but answering some leads to a feeling of 'busy schedule, who got picked, wow wow, you're lucky' than answering none saying 'absent king' or 'we're being ignored'."

He shrugged helplessly. "It's a balance I've managed to strike over the centuries. I push it more some years, and in others I go a little light. Though... er... obviously, we're going to get into a bit of a light year or two coming up."

"Yes, well, once Charlie figures out what's going on then I imagine we'll be quite able to limit your appearances publicly as well. I imagine it was much the same for when you were having Charlotte," Alastor hummed.

"Though if you were invited without your queen... tsk. Gauche. It would be just like these jackals to try and dismiss one in a fairer condition, if not take advantage."

Alastor cracked his knuckles. No reason.

He nodded. It had been the same. The obnoxious interviews, the whole buzz of everything just stressed Lilith out. He could admit that at first he was excited and wondered why they shouldn't be out and about with it, but each scant moment with hands getting grabby, really personal comments and complete invasion of privacy, that wonder had died.

Lucifer perked a bit with the sound of cracking knuckles. Oh. Oooh.

"Times have changed in the over two-hundred years since Charlie was brought into the world. The media will be pushier, the people with far less respect of privacy. Knowing full well how bad it was for us before, yeah, I'm keeping this to myself." He brought a hand to his stomach.

"If there's ever a matter that demands an appearance of the king, rest assured, the queen will be in attendance as well. No exceptions. Doing things... separately... didn't feel right. I think it only helped what wound up happening."

He paused, and his face fell, grew serious. "...Never again. I want us to be a team, in as much as we're able."

"We're in accord," Alastor agreed, pressing a kiss to Lucifer's sweaty hair. "Don't fret, my dear. I do not intend to hesitate at any hands reaching out for a touch without your explicit permission. I'll cut them right off~"

A little light laugh.

"And we'll chat about whatever we feel like on the radio. We'll defer any persistent, prying questioners in that direction. In fact..."

That gives him an idea. After testing the water and plugging the tub, he slid away in the shadows.

Once back, he had the doll he'd made of Lucifer in hand, and was already wrapping and pinning new additions to it, pinning through the charming crown and coat. Not to worry, Lucifer, there's not a single whisper of phantom pains! Just a fuzzy, subtle feeling.

"Vox and his little curious media lackies doesn't deserve the chance to take photos or video, either. You're mine."

"'Can I touch?' 'Yeah, if you'd like to take back a stump!'" He laughed as well. Nooo, he's sweaty and gross, no smooching-

But he was caught in a fit of curiosity when Alastor seemed to have an idea. He disappeared before Lucifer could inquire.

That's right, if people asked, they needed to change the topic but not do it to a point where it'd be suspicious. That could be doable.

When he returned with the doll, his eyebrows lifted with intrigue. What was-

He felt small, unnerved goosebumps. Look, when you pulled out big herkin' needles like that and watched them get jammed against something that looks like you, it never stopped giving you the willies. But he felt... something? It was something strange, something he couldn't- ha- put a pin in.

His eyes turned up to Alastor's before he stepped closer, and turned to examine the doll. "I felt something a little funny... some kind of ward?"

"You know how it vexes others that they can never take a clear photo of me~?" Alastor hummed in amusement, radiating pride. He had figured this out aaaages ago, but this was the first he was sharing it.

"It's a field of interference - extremely subtle, almost undetectable. You've got the magical aptitude to learn how to part the curtain at will, of course, but if you aren't willingly allowing a photo to be taken or video to be recorded, it won't be. Hah! If the lens focuses on you directly, even, it might break a camera."

The pride he felt was palpable for sure. But this odd quality of his was also why Lucifer would likely never have a handsome picture to put on his phone wallpaper... s i g h. Unless he was just being a brat about it, of course. Which sounds just like him.

"Wow, that's handy!" A beat.

He grinned. "...I'll be playing with the effect, of course."

Lucifer didn't even need to be an infester to maybe make that tech practically shit itself trying to catch a glimpse of the Devil.

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