The misdirect was on the tip of his tongue... then it died.
When he changed into a dog before as a joke, and Alastor's reaction. That... was his final moment. And he arrived here shaped like a deer.
Some force out there was particularly cruel.
He was his daughter's father. That fact, and his inadvertent cruelty in triggering him, tugged at his heart.
Lucifer sighed, eased back, stared at the ceiling. It was... it was only fair.
"...They made a spectacle, an example of me, the day I Fell. Enough that they filled the council chambers as full as they could with any who wished to watch the troublesome Morning Star finally be judged."
His eyes closed.
"Some of the voices shouting at me from the stands were voices I knew. Friends. ...Or so I thought. At least the fall itself didn't hurt."
But the spears, the words, the things thrown at him that would bruise his spirit more than his body? Those hurt like a bitch.
"If I borrow any platitudes from up there, I counted just two blessings: The fall didn't shatter us, and... I had Lily with me."
Alastor inclined his head in what was almost a nod, just a gesture of acknowledgement. A punishment suffered alone is more painful, easily, that is just reality.
So Lilith disappearing must have only made the fear worse. Let alone if she has been getting distant before then. That was the unreliable thing about depending on someone else.
"And all this time later, you're also forging your relationship with your daughter anew. Yes, things will look more and more noisy and busy in your future," he remarked, a sort of sideways assurance that things in the now may lack a certain someone in the picture, but he isn't exactly isolated so long as he's at the Hotel.
Alastor was a smart guy. He wouldn't have survived this long down here if he'd been a fool. Lucifer's note about Lily, one of his blessings, had slipped before he could stop it. To see that she clearly wasn't here right now- not even when the Purge was going on, endangering their daughter- was more of a humiliation than he outwardly expressed.
...Yet somehow radiated anyway.
He opened an eye and turned it his way. It had been crazy, all the media attention and Hell itself seeming to finally be curious about this project, and it was... overwhelming, to say the least. Even he needed a break now and again.
But the demon was right. He'd... he'd missed Charlie's smile, he'd missed just being around her. And nobody would take her away from him. They bid each other good night and saw each other in the morning. How long had it been since he could do that?
She was so, so small when last they'd greeted each other as warmly as they did now.
The smile was slow at the thought. "...You're right. Let it be busy. Bring on the noise."
The laugh was quiet, brief. It was about high time he started actually... doing what he was supposed to do. Seeing the news story about him was encouraging, but he knew he had a whole Hell of a lot of work to do.
As for what heaven saw in him that they may have feared...? He questioned things, was 'dangerous'. But why?
Perhaps he was good about talking his way around a situation. He'd talked Lilith away and fell in love. And Eve, ever obedient and sweet, had taken that fruit and had a big ol' bite.
Surely charisma was a perk, but... it wasn't the core. Hmm.
"Hmm. Surely it's not too late to have lived for thousands of years and finally do a little self-discovery and remembrance, huh?" The question was coupled with a long stretch of his legs, a pop or two from his back. Oof. He missed when his body didn't crackle.
"Self-Taught, of course! You know, it really is just the most effective thing - it utterly derails those not expecting your head to snap all the way around when you aren't an owl!"
He snaps his neck back into place with a grotesque sound. "It's a useful tool~"
"Quite a few would be sweating to see me. I've made quite a few Deals with them, after all... they're all so very predictable, after all. You don't even have to have witnessed an act in person to blackmail them with it, if you're clever enough."
"Considering all the nonsense I overhear, I'm not the least bit surprised. Always scheming to see who can marry their child off and to whom, rattling on about their deadbeat husbands... I would wager that anyone with the ear for journalism who manages to get information out of these families, the drama would be thicker than any Hellanovella."
A smirk.
"I wouldn't mind seeing them sweat, all told. Perhaps you'll be my +1 the next time I get an invitation."
"Hah hah! Won't that be fun! Oh, they'll be twisting their feathers in knots thinking I have your ear," Alastor guffawed. He didn't in the way a Goetia might assume... he just appealed to Lucifer's need for a friendly little push.
His eyes lit up. "Oh. ...Oh, I have a potential game."
He looked back, smirked. "You think if I look at one of them long enough, then gesture for you to lean down to listen, make some remark, I could induce an early molt?"
"Hah hah HAH! Oh, that would have them QUIVERING! I say we have the catering to set the mood even more! Every form of poultry that one can imagine. Just innocuous enough given who your ever auspicious plus-one is! Hahahah!"
Messing with the stuffy birds sounded utterly delightful. He almost hoped one caused trouble at the party, maybe he'd be treated to a nibble.
"Perfect. You have no idea how many letters I have to pore through from practically every family head, always asking for this or for that, always some sort of favor that would increase their standing. It's all throne games over there! They could use a little extra excitement."
Oh, who knows, who knows...? He was sure there were some members that could stand to be dusted.
"Hell knows what sort of Deals they'd make! Probably for the same thing."
"Oh imagine the Deals they might make thinking they might even get your ear. Interesting. I may find a funny little source for something else useful," Alastor hummed in delight.
"Yes, I do believe I'll have to draft myself a little wishlist for what I'd want from the Goetia. Make a little game out of it."
"There's something intuitive to it!" Alastor replied simply. He... wasn't about to talk about how he'd made Deals before his death, too. That was another matter entirely.
"Deals need not always be for souls, either. Starting small... simple agreements... there's magic in a promise."
"Yes, there is. Have to wonder what the absolute smallest trade need be before you anger some... thing or another. The power sometimes has to come from somewhere..."
"I've made some rather insignificant Deals in my time. Most recently, getting Vagatha to promise not to involve me with the wretched television technology again," Alastor chuckled, amused at himself. He wondered when that might turn around and inconvenience her - that'd be quite funny, honestly. "All I promised in return was making a commercial."
"Oh riiight... I'd been asked to recover the base copy so it can be aired on a better time slot. Not cheap, but worth it. Drop in the bucket either way to get this- this project off the ground further."
He silently yawned. Eepy... "...Maybe Vaggie's bound to keep you from that Vix guy as a bonus. Wouldn't that be nice...?"
"That would be rather amusing. She does already make work of stabbing those obnoxious drones, though I told her not to bother. Vox is terribly obsessive and that sort of thing would only instigate him to spy on me further," Alastor rolled his eyes about it.
But, a yawn - good, good. Lucifer seemed like he was relaxing, so he could probably get some proper sleep, soon. Mission accomplished.
The king leaning against him derailed Alastor's thoughts, for a moment. He stared in some surprise... there was a little pleasant squeeze in his chest. Not unlike the squeeze he felt for Rosie or, once upon a time, for Vox.
Right. Remark about magnets.
"Yes, well... tragically, magnets don't work any more with him. Oh, he'd get so MAD when I disrupted his cathodes before! Now, though, his upgrades have replaced his cathode tubes and hard drives and so, he's finally immune to adorable and unsettling magnets being stuck to his head."
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divinetree2024-04-01 08:17 am
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When he changed into a dog before as a joke, and Alastor's reaction. That... was his final moment. And he arrived here shaped like a deer.
Some force out there was particularly cruel.
He was his daughter's father. That fact, and his inadvertent cruelty in triggering him, tugged at his heart.
Lucifer sighed, eased back, stared at the ceiling. It was... it was only fair.
"...They made a spectacle, an example of me, the day I Fell. Enough that they filled the council chambers as full as they could with any who wished to watch the troublesome Morning Star finally be judged."
His eyes closed.
"Some of the voices shouting at me from the stands were voices I knew. Friends. ...Or so I thought. At least the fall itself didn't hurt."
But the spears, the words, the things thrown at him that would bruise his spirit more than his body? Those hurt like a bitch.
"If I borrow any platitudes from up there, I counted just two blessings: The fall didn't shatter us, and... I had Lily with me."
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So Lilith disappearing must have only made the fear worse. Let alone if she has been getting distant before then. That was the unreliable thing about depending on someone else.
"And all this time later, you're also forging your relationship with your daughter anew. Yes, things will look more and more noisy and busy in your future," he remarked, a sort of sideways assurance that things in the now may lack a certain someone in the picture, but he isn't exactly isolated so long as he's at the Hotel.
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...Yet somehow radiated anyway.
He opened an eye and turned it his way. It had been crazy, all the media attention and Hell itself seeming to finally be curious about this project, and it was... overwhelming, to say the least. Even he needed a break now and again.
But the demon was right. He'd... he'd missed Charlie's smile, he'd missed just being around her. And nobody would take her away from him. They bid each other good night and saw each other in the morning. How long had it been since he could do that?
She was so, so small when last they'd greeted each other as warmly as they did now.
The smile was slow at the thought. "...You're right. Let it be busy. Bring on the noise."
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Swapping one dependence for another wouldn't do. If the man wanted to be king, he has to stand with his convictions without the crutch.
Broken though the bone was, and for so long, Alastor was sure it could mend. And it could mend in the way he thought best, himself.
"You'll come to see in time what exactly about you has had those up in heaven quivering in their feathers."
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As for what heaven saw in him that they may have feared...? He questioned things, was 'dangerous'. But why?
Perhaps he was good about talking his way around a situation. He'd talked Lilith away and fell in love. And Eve, ever obedient and sweet, had taken that fruit and had a big ol' bite.
Surely charisma was a perk, but... it wasn't the core. Hmm.
"Hmm. Surely it's not too late to have lived for thousands of years and finally do a little self-discovery and remembrance, huh?" The question was coupled with a long stretch of his legs, a pop or two from his back. Oof. He missed when his body didn't crackle.
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The crackling does have Alastor chuckling, though, and he tilts his head to an unsettling angle. He can crack all his bones, too.
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"Now, did you attend lessons on how to be a cryptid, or are you self-taught?"
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He snaps his neck back into place with a grotesque sound. "It's a useful tool~"
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He set the mug aside and turned, leaned back against his arm.
"I'd say 'you must be a hit at parties', but we've had a few. I've got my proof. Maybe you could liven up one of those stuffy Goetia parties..."
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"Quite a few would be sweating to see me. I've made quite a few Deals with them, after all... they're all so very predictable, after all. You don't even have to have witnessed an act in person to blackmail them with it, if you're clever enough."
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A smirk.
"I wouldn't mind seeing them sweat, all told. Perhaps you'll be my +1 the next time I get an invitation."
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He looked back, smirked. "You think if I look at one of them long enough, then gesture for you to lean down to listen, make some remark, I could induce an early molt?"
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Messing with the stuffy birds sounded utterly delightful. He almost hoped one caused trouble at the party, maybe he'd be treated to a nibble.
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Oh, who knows, who knows...? He was sure there were some members that could stand to be dusted.
"Hell knows what sort of Deals they'd make! Probably for the same thing."
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"Yes, I do believe I'll have to draft myself a little wishlist for what I'd want from the Goetia. Make a little game out of it."
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He settled in. Pardon him, but there was something about the background buzz of Alastor's voice, alongside the radio, that was innately soothing.
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"Deals need not always be for souls, either. Starting small... simple agreements... there's magic in a promise."
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"Yes, there is. Have to wonder what the absolute smallest trade need be before you anger some... thing or another. The power sometimes has to come from somewhere..."
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He silently yawned. Eepy... "...Maybe Vaggie's bound to keep you from that Vix guy as a bonus. Wouldn't that be nice...?"
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But, a yawn - good, good. Lucifer seemed like he was relaxing, so he could probably get some proper sleep, soon. Mission accomplished.
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A small sniffle. He was absolutely leaned against the Radio Demon's arm now.
"...'Course, there's always magnets in a pinch. Wonder what those would do on a guy like that... h e h..."
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Right. Remark about magnets.
"Yes, well... tragically, magnets don't work any more with him. Oh, he'd get so MAD when I disrupted his cathodes before! Now, though, his upgrades have replaced his cathode tubes and hard drives and so, he's finally immune to adorable and unsettling magnets being stuck to his head."
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VicksVlogV-guy."Well, you can't be vague like that and then withhold important information, you understand: What is an 'adorable' and 'unsettling' magnet?"
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