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

"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.

"Have a little fun with it! I'm sure there's hundreds of years of terrible annoyance at sneaky camera shots you're ready to retaliate for. Drive them crazy right back," Alastor laughed, reverently setting the doll down on the corner of the bathroom counter, safe and sound. "Especially as you grow out. That ought to be a sight only for you, Charlie and myself."

"Heheh... heheh..." His hands steepled, he had more than a few ideas.

"Phones that speak in tongues. Maybe the battery overheats, makes it pop, and all the guts inside turn into a black goop..."

Yeah... yeah, it's been a good hundred years or two of really annoying photographs and more. When every person's pocket held a camera thanks to smart phones, he couldn't help but feel like a grouchy old man about it. Fucking... jackass Vox...

"A bit of a battery acid burn, a little fire! A nice bright flash, like a massive target to be torn to shreds. Yes... I've missed a bit of hunting. They'll realize my marriage has not softened me in the slightest."

At least, not towards anyone that wasn't named Lucifer Morningstar.

He drew in closer and wound his arms around Alastor's middle in a covetous hold. His tail manifested, serpentine behind him. Mine.

"My love is magnificent when he hunts, a feast for the eyes... oh, the screams he incites, a treat for the ears..."

Let him gush. He had so much fun tonight!

Oh, of course it was to be possessive and not from fatigue, hmm? But Alastor just smirks broadly, embracing Lucifer, hands rubbing and trailing down his back.

"A hunt with an honorary tribute, a blood sacrifice for the devil himself! Hah! I will rend them limb. From. Limb. I will pull them apart and tear into their very souls unrelenting, no matter HOW much they beg for mercy."

Of course not for the fatigue to some capacity! This was all love, baby. All affection. You're so handsome.

"Ooh, such dirty talk. I can't convince you to join me in the bath...?"

"Oh, perhaps, once the prey is properly mangled and not fighting back. Once the baby's born I won't fuss at you joining in~"

A little playful cock of the hip.

"Now, let's get you in the bath. Your muscles are going to scream for the relief soon."

"Your concern is appreciated, deer, but I won't shatter into a thousand pieces on account of the pregnancy! I could have taken out every last soul at that party." His fingers flew to so many buttons, working them undone.

"Complete massacre. Dinner and a show, just for you." He was so glad to be getting out of these layers, letting them vanish once he shed them.

But he soon turned and whirled a finger at him. Turn around. You may have seen him naked aplenty, but a little dignity now and again never hurt.

Another roll of the eyes. But he'll turn nonetheless, rolling up his sleeves and picking out some bath soaps to prep the water.

Turning around does show that his little tail has been waggling at all the playful talk of massacres for each other.

"If I don't pay close mind to who's carrying my child and my child themselves, then what good am I as a father? Mother raised me right."

...Pause.

"Well. Not all of her lessons stuck, mind, but the treatment of the fairer folk and your family stuck."

Thank you, sweetie~

He shed everything from the belt line and down. It took a little extra effort, what with his legs protesting the most when he moved them to climb into the bath, but he would manage well enough. With a sigh, he let himself sink right in.

"You have been exemplary as a partner, and have been an attentive daddy-to-be so far! I think you'll do just fine. I'll be shocked if the little one doesn't adore you."

Hmm. Missing something. He stuck out his tongue for focus and clapped his hands together. With a small spark of power and pulling his hands apart, a rubber duck in a hat, coat and scarf plopped into the water. It quickly righted itself and bobbed gently as it floated among the suds.

Much better.

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