There were phone calls, the occasional social visit, and very somber condolences. It was nothing special, knowing one demon had killed another, right up until the news wound up on your doorstep. Things since had been understandably strained. The Morningstars had been in mourning, knowing a dear friend had passed, and the two families that basically had Hell's social scene in an iron fist seemed to quietly fade in the years that followed.
When Lilith left with little word, the fading hit terminal velocity. Lucifer was left more determined, powered by his own increasing lonesomeness, to preserve some of those golden days.
Friends... people dear to him in his life. He still had those, right?
Clutching a bottle of a personal selection from his own private collection, he ascended the two steps to the front doors of the von Eldritch Estate. If Fred wasn't home, that was fine, but...
...It'd been a really rough week, and he could use the company.
He took a deep breath, straightened up, and knocked.
The years had gone by... Frederick von Eldritch never took another bride, or another lover. He just watched his children grow, recover, and proceed with their own lives as well. But things always feel much more... lonesome... when those children start getting more and more independent.
(He envies their ability to move on.)
One of Frederick's servants hurry along to announce that the King has come to the door. Ah, Lucifer... for an old friend, Frederick will answer his front door himself!
It only takes a moment for Frederick to go to the door and open it, arms open and wide for his fellow monarch. "Lucifer! Tides bring you to me again, I see."
Empty Nest Syndrome was never pretty. The jury was out on if Lucifer's situation was a better alternative or worse. Helsa and Seviathan seemed to be doing well, though!
The door opened and it was smiles all around. "Hey-hey, Freddy...! I was 'in the neighborhood' and I just realized I had a real treat sitting in the cellar!"
Lucifer closed in and draped an arm around the other man's shoulders, real chummy in a half-hug, and gave the bottle a wiggle in his other hand. It was a damn good vintage, but since when did the Morningstars ever keep swill?
"...And I thought, 'You know who I should split this puppy with...?'"
Frederick looped an arm around Lucifer's waist, closing the door behind them with his heel and walking glued to his friend's side.
"Always a step ahead of me! I was just thinking how I haven't seen you in far too long, I need a delightful pop of red in my life!"
Von Eldritch only needed to fondly waggle his fingers at his butler before the servant nodded, knowing already to hurry along and get together a nice assortment to enjoy with the wine while the master himself brought his kingly companion to the living room by the fireplace, the hearth crackling with a blue flame from Lust inside its glass case. Blue light was such a pleasant color, and unfortunately, the green from Greed had gotten associated with tackiness... and besides! It'd be terribly boring if everything was green.
"Ohh, you know how it is, busy busy busy...! But if you're saying I should pop by more often, then your wish is my command."
God, it was nice just to be like this. He didn't have a whole lot of demons in his life that didn't mind him hanging on like this, and he would treasure each and every one of the ones who did.
"Hey, the Lust hearth's a nice touch. The blue adds a little somethin'. How'd you get your hands on that?" Don't mind him. A snap and he'll conjure a couple of crystal glasses onto an end table.
"I sent a humble little request to dear Asmodeus! Offered a pretty penny, but our good man settled for a favor instead. I will have to think how to pay it back, but a little hearth in the midst of the ocean was such a pleasant change of pace," Frederick boasted lightly, as if he weren't showing off. Even if this half of the estate wasn't submerged in the depths, most homes in Envy never bothered keeping things aflame.
Frederick was in no hurry to part from his clingy companion - but they had the loveseat if they wanted to stay buddy-buddy like this. It wouldn't be the first time and it likely wouldn't be the last! "This parlor needed a little something after Helsa started her little adventures, so ambitious - hopefully her little rivalry with Charlie hasn't been too much trouble."
"I'm sure I can talk a little something out of Oz," he chuckled, and slowly broke away to get this cork out of the bottle and snag the glasses to fill.
"Charlie's taken it all on the chin better than I thought! Everybody needs something of a challenger. Hel and Sevy have really come into their own, huh? I still remember when they were practically little guppies, I swear it was yesterday." He passed a glass.
Mmm! Time to pause and smell, really take in the scent and get a little initial sip of the flavor. Even with the age on this one, it was as crisp as the apples it was made of, what a treat. Maybe he ought to find something to sink some time into like this, he can't let Lucifer outdo him without a fight, right?
"Time flies so fast! They've both hit their growth plateau, but it's the maturity sinking in that's amazing to watch. Seviathan especially, my boy's stretching his limbs out more and more. It's been far too long for me to remember what it felt like for me, eons ago."
This is your challenge, Freddy! You can't just get shown up like that, can you? That'd be a damn shame.
Lucifer laughed and gave him a nudge before he set the bottle down and went to take a seat. "Never too late to stretch the limbs again! We're not crumbling into dust just yet!"
Frederick followed Lucifer into the seat, his leg shifting to a tentacle to pull the table a mite bit closer before reshaping and crossing it. Ah, yes, the loveseat cushion wasn't so heavily worn as his chair... mostly because it felt too large to sit on alone.
"I suppose you're right! With the kids out and about, you and I could get into a bit of ruckus again if we wanted. Ah, thank you, Herbert," Frederick nodded fondly as his butler laid out the charcuterie on the table for them, adorned with the finest Envy had to offer. Specially bred, after all, to impress those from other Rings who were so unfortunate to not be able to enjoy the abyssal waters and their vibrant offerings, of course.
"The question of course, being, what to sink our time into? I'm sure rubbing our noggins together we could whip up something fun."
Ooh, that looked tasty. Wasn't often he got to enjoy the Envy fare, save for whenever Levy decided to bring something to share. But Frederick seemed open to the idea, which loosened the knot forming in his belly.
"Great minds think alike!" He took a drink.
"I do miss the ruckus. Anything spring to mind in the immediate? I do wonder what's been your pleasure of late."
"I've been in a slow paced rut of late, just catching up on more reading and theory - it's well and above time I got out there again in one form or fashion," Frederick nodded, reflecting fondly on their past antics. Developing cars and boats to race in Hell together, trying to invent new card games or board games and see if they take Hell by storm, or even simple things like trying some falconry in Wrath. Though their limits were often set firmly in stone by their dutiful wives... Frederick chuckled. Goodness, with Lilith out of the picture for now, they could probably get into proper scandal if they wanted. That'd be a good time.
"Oh, we should certainly host an inventor's fair again - my own tinkerings have been gathering dust, some fresh young minds surely have something to scratch that itch again!"
Those really were the days, weren't they? It pleased him to see a number of those concoctions still making the rounds in Hell to this day, and a number of the board games cooked up were priceless collector's items even!
But the world was their oyster again, if they allowed it.
The suggestion had him pull his focus inward, his gaze briefly distant. What year was the last... no way...
"...Has it really been so long since we've held one? Boy, the years really do fly by. I'm sold."
But he turned his upper body and lounged a bit against the back of the loveseat. "Oh... any I haven't had a peek at yet? You've really been coming into your own with your designs, and it really puts a lead weight in my ticker to hear they've gotten dusty."
After topping off his glass with the apple wine, Frederick also lounged a bit, taking a thoughtful sip. The warmth of the body beside him was a welcome break, and a pleasant balm against the envy that embittered him a little towards the happy couple. Not that any of it was their fault, of course! ...It was just in his nature to envy. And, in this moment, to feel triumphant over Lilith being missing.
"Oh, don't be too terribly sad for them - the submersible aside, since that was rejected by Leviathan altogether, most of my projects simply have been sitting under the tarps while I focused on the kids. My automatic writing machine was doing quite well, but gave my boy quite a spook when he found it had been writing even while tucked away in the attic! Hah!"
Huh. Now why the Hell did they turn that down? He needed to ask 'em sometime about it.
How long had it been since he could just sit and talk like this? This was nice. He would suppress the small, rather pathetic inclination to hang off of this man. It was like time hadn't passed at all, and perhaps the misses had decided to foolishly step away and leave them unsupervised, explaining the almost deafening silence outside of their voices and the crackling fire.
He propped a cheek against a hand instead, arm slung over the loveseat back. "That right? And if you tell me that it wrote Shakespeare, I am calling you a liar, von Eldritch."
Alas, the submersible was ill-fated... Leviathan fully intended to jealously hoard the true spans of their ocean and keep it just for them and those they created to dwell within. One covets what they cannot reach, after all...!
Even with Lucifer restraining himself, Frederick had fewer qualms, leaning his shoulder into his buddy fondly as he nattered. "Funnier than that! It wrote dreams. Whose dreams, I don't know - or maybe they were prophetic, in some way? I was saving it to tinker with and find out just what the magical components must have done when I built the thing to make it happen.
He was so accustomed to asking at first. Then, when asking was treated with exasperation enough he'd stopped asking at all, hoping there would be some inclination.
A leaned shoulder was a relief for him, and he did his damned hardest not to express it. Instead he simply leaned into it as he listened.
"No kidding! What the Hell did you put in that thing, anyway?"
Ah, his poor friend - though he'd be a hypocrite if he thought poorly of being touch starved. He was hungry, himself.
"A few Leviathan tears, some tinctures from Sloth - it was meant to alleviate the effort of writing oneself, after all - and a decent helping of my own magic. Otherwise my steel is always sourced from Wrath and I made the mechanism by hand - that part could always use a better look with your sharp eye, of course."
"Of course. Whenever you need me to get a peek." Maybe it was the tears, combined with the magic... but he didn't know whose dream it was. Leviathan always had an odd way of dreaming, according to their descriptions of it. He was just glad they endured his many dumb questions about living with two minds.
"Say, how about I load up that gramophone, huh? What are you in the mood for?"
"Oh, I've been collecting vinyls for it the past decade or so - the past year alone I've gotten perhaps a hundred," Fred chuckled, snapping to trigger the magic near the gramophone. A shelf opened, an endless wheel of neatly tucked vinyl records stored away by the thousands rolling and settling on all of the newer additions.
Collect, bask and show off - Frederick's always pleased as punch of his collections. The Morningstars both stirred a deep fondness for music in both him and Bethesda way back when they all first met.
"So whatever peaks your interest from the modern hits, I've been enjoying all the energy of the current times," he proposed, gently touching Lucifer's back as if to encourage him to go rummaging through the prized collection with his own two hands. Despite his enjoyment of high society and the classics, who can really argue that Asmodeus' performances or even some of Bee'lzebub's more serious album pieces weren't a delight?
He eased away and headed over to investigate the collection. Let's see what's got Freddy by the ears...
It was truly a marvel to see just how much music the Deadly Sins produced in their spare time. But Lucifer couldn't help the prickles in his hands when he brushed past the Ozzie albums. He loved the instrumental picks, loved the general mood the big guy set. HOWEVER. Maybe, uh... m-maybe not for a visit like this.
But he was so curious.
"Wow...! Oz vinyls, huh? He really has been on a hot streak these last few years. Wonder if he's got himself a muse."
"I hear he's working with Mammon's little champion lately, the clown features on a few songs in there - a strange voice, but lovely vocal control. Go ahead and put that one on, see for yourself~!"
Lucifer might have hesitated, but Frederick chuckled, granting permission and an excuse. He smiled from where he was perched in the loveseat, relaxed and resting his arm against the back. Oh no, Lucifer would just have to come a little closer, when he came to sit back down~
Mammon's champion and a clown? Right! That had to be that... Fitzpatrick, or something. He'd seen a show once or twice, when he had the time. Busy guy, you know?
Lucifer quietly cleared his throat as he gingerly lifted the record from its spot and placed that on the turntable. It's what he wanted, he thought, as he moved the needle and got things moving. If he was hesitant, that'd just be weirder than letting things play.
They'd both been having a rough go at things. Why not shift to a, 'Who fucking cares?'
So when he turned back and nabbed up his glass, he didn't even gauge the sitting situation. They both get a warm body nestled at their side. Lucifer kept it smooth and casual despite the gold to the face, chalking it up to the wine.
"There we are. Much better. So, about this fair idea... I've got a big chunk of time coming up where I'm practically sitting on my hands. And you know what the humans like to call idle hands...?"
Perfect. Frederick leaned into the closeness, fond and casual - helped only by the vinyl picking up the smooth and silky voice of Asmodeus crooning about gentle closeness. The fireplace crackled and brightened ever so subtly, still deeply connected to its Sin of origin.
"Tell me again," Frederick chuckled fondly, a covetous little spark in him glowing in victory, "what the humans call their idle hands."
"And what marvelous things come from the Devil, in that case - making humans want for creativity, daring, and adventure," Frederick chuckled. The hand on his lapel was a balm on a man chilled by loneliness. One that Lucifer understood, now, in his own way. Right?
Frederick's arm slid down from the back of the seat to resting on Lucifer's shoulders, holding him close as he grinned with a devious mirth.
They moved along the rim to his cravat, took some of the material between two fingers in a bit of quiet consideration. What to do, what to do... he made such good company and the atmosphere was awfully cozy.
"Hm, that's right. You never did shy away from such things, did you...?" A quiet question, uttered low.
"Oh, you flatterer," Frederick hummed in amusement, voice light and void of any offense or rejection. Rather, Lucifer would easily taste the pride in Fred's ego getting stroked as playfully as his cravat. The mood was set, the fire flickering with even more warmth and elegant blue sparks, both encouraged by the men and encouraging them on.
"I'm just doing my best to measure up to my standards. And match those that embody them," he added fondly, hand shifting and lengthening like an unraveling ribbon to set the glass on the table before reforming into a hand and gently running a thumb over Lucifer's cheek.
He had noted in the past how fascinating it was to see others shapeshifting in their own ways. Frederick moved like liquid, and it was a marvel to the king. In dismissing his own glass with a thought, he followed the other man's idea.
He couldn't help the absent nuzzle, ever appreciative of a touch. The shadowed hand against the cravat moved to brush the flats of claws up one side of von Eldritch's neck, ease toward the back.
"In all of this time that I've known you... you haven't missed a step."
No matter what your mind may be fooling you into thinking.
"All thanks to many, many years of diligent practice," Frederick smiled in amusement, leaning closer as Lucifer's claws ran over him. His skin didn't goosebump, didn't prickle - hair was just a part of his glamour, his skin was otherwise perfectly smooth - but it did tingle with pleasant sensation of touch, merciful touch.
"And you have always impressed," Frederick added in a soft tone, bringing their faces together to seek out a kiss, touching lips as if it were a question despite having all of the confidence in his demeanor. It was important to be polite, after all.
He always felt a bone-deep pride knowing he had others in his corner, what helped sweep away those dusty old shadows in his troubled mind. He was so glad he reached a point where he could reach out, maybe be something of a comfort for someone who'd comforted him for so long.
Frederick was a brilliant mind. Hell, he was the one who helped him pen the Hellborn's Pardon, seeking loopholes and closing them to avoid the favored pastime of Heaven of offering so much stick and no carrot. He was inventive, a lover of the arts clearly, and stalwart. Lucifer wished in part for another Fair to see his creative spark reignited. He wanted that so badly for him.
But another wish was right in front of him. There was a touch, and he eased in kind. That kiss was soft, in part a greeting, but he didn't break away completely. He'd wanted this far more than the playful thoughts in his head had him realize.
With the kiss reciprocated, Frederick gently wrapped an arm around Lucifer's waist and kissed deeper. Lucifer had complimented him on knowing the steps, but honestly, Frederick needed only to set the stage and the fallen angel danced perfectly. Lucifer was warm, still tasted lightly of the apple wine... Lilith must have been mad to give up such a special thing.
Smiling as he brought their kiss to a pause, Frederick ran a thumb over the demon's bottom lip.
"Must be what kissing Heaven is like," Frederick lightly chuckled.
Frederick's opinion would be a first. Most would say Lilith was better off...
He couldn't mask the small sound into the other's mouth as an arm wound around, and he opened to him as the kiss deepened. Lucifer felt a near-overwhelming sense of relief, want and craving blending into something that had him lost in a slight haze when they parted; had him leaning against that thumb when he traced his lip.
Hook, line and sinker.
"...You stop that," he replied with a small laugh. "What am I gonna with you...?"
"Indulge me again, perhaps~?" Frederick chuckled, utterly charmed by how pretty Lucifer looked with that wanting expression on his face. "If I'm to your liking, that is. I will always respect a no," Fred promised, taking Lucifer's hand and kissing the man's knuckles. Those hands had a deceptive hardiness to them from tinkering for so many countless centuries, a hint towards the greater strength and perseverance laying in wait.
He was transfixed, eyes on his lips as they brushed against the knuckles. He eased closer as his gaze narrowed, as if Freddy'd just told a bad joke. Was he to his liking...? What a silly question. The more he thought about it, the more he realized he'd been holding quite a fond candle for Frederick von Eldritch.
"...I'm a Sin, y'know... who would I be if I balked at a bit of indulgence?" He kissed the corner of his lips, lingered there, and nuzzled.
"Whether it's here, or up in my little corner of this twisted world... you know I'm always just a call away."
"Then let me adore you, Lucifer, my old friend. There was always an envy in me about you," he chuckled, lightly. "No time like the present to seize the opportunity."
As the record gently crooned ♫ Just let me adore you~ ♫, Frederick claimed another kiss with the King. Brief, because he had so much to say - such a relief after a bit too long by himself, if he were being honest.
"Bethesda and I were in accord about that - we would've taken you in as ours at the slightest whisper of interest."
He remembered a time that Lilith had said such a thing, but it was spoken to lightly, as that lyrical giggle of hers that led him to believe it was a joke to make conversation. He could scarcely believe such a thing- that he was desired outside of his own marriage, and had been so very lucky to find his missing piece- and even now he had a quiet chuckle, even when he had spent these wonderful moments all wrapped up with the other man.
"It... it would have been an honor. And it still is. The von Eldritches have always been among my dearest among all the demons I've come to know."
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When Lilith left with little word, the fading hit terminal velocity. Lucifer was left more determined, powered by his own increasing lonesomeness, to preserve some of those golden days.
Friends... people dear to him in his life. He still had those, right?
Clutching a bottle of a personal selection from his own private collection, he ascended the two steps to the front doors of the von Eldritch Estate. If Fred wasn't home, that was fine, but...
...It'd been a really rough week, and he could use the company.
He took a deep breath, straightened up, and knocked.
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(He envies their ability to move on.)
One of Frederick's servants hurry along to announce that the King has come to the door. Ah, Lucifer... for an old friend, Frederick will answer his front door himself!
It only takes a moment for Frederick to go to the door and open it, arms open and wide for his fellow monarch. "Lucifer! Tides bring you to me again, I see."
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The door opened and it was smiles all around. "Hey-hey, Freddy...! I was 'in the neighborhood' and I just realized I had a real treat sitting in the cellar!"
Lucifer closed in and draped an arm around the other man's shoulders, real chummy in a half-hug, and gave the bottle a wiggle in his other hand. It was a damn good vintage, but since when did the Morningstars ever keep swill?
"...And I thought, 'You know who I should split this puppy with...?'"
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"Always a step ahead of me! I was just thinking how I haven't seen you in far too long, I need a delightful pop of red in my life!"
Von Eldritch only needed to fondly waggle his fingers at his butler before the servant nodded, knowing already to hurry along and get together a nice assortment to enjoy with the wine while the master himself brought his kingly companion to the living room by the fireplace, the hearth crackling with a blue flame from Lust inside its glass case. Blue light was such a pleasant color, and unfortunately, the green from Greed had gotten associated with tackiness... and besides! It'd be terribly boring if everything was green.
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God, it was nice just to be like this. He didn't have a whole lot of demons in his life that didn't mind him hanging on like this, and he would treasure each and every one of the ones who did.
"Hey, the Lust hearth's a nice touch. The blue adds a little somethin'. How'd you get your hands on that?" Don't mind him. A snap and he'll conjure a couple of crystal glasses onto an end table.
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Frederick was in no hurry to part from his clingy companion - but they had the loveseat if they wanted to stay buddy-buddy like this. It wouldn't be the first time and it likely wouldn't be the last! "This parlor needed a little something after Helsa started her little adventures, so ambitious - hopefully her little rivalry with Charlie hasn't been too much trouble."
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"Charlie's taken it all on the chin better than I thought! Everybody needs something of a challenger. Hel and Sevy have really come into their own, huh? I still remember when they were practically little guppies, I swear it was yesterday." He passed a glass.
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"Time flies so fast! They've both hit their growth plateau, but it's the maturity sinking in that's amazing to watch. Seviathan especially, my boy's stretching his limbs out more and more. It's been far too long for me to remember what it felt like for me, eons ago."
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Lucifer laughed and gave him a nudge before he set the bottle down and went to take a seat. "Never too late to stretch the limbs again! We're not crumbling into dust just yet!"
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"I suppose you're right! With the kids out and about, you and I could get into a bit of ruckus again if we wanted. Ah, thank you, Herbert," Frederick nodded fondly as his butler laid out the charcuterie on the table for them, adorned with the finest Envy had to offer. Specially bred, after all, to impress those from other Rings who were so unfortunate to not be able to enjoy the abyssal waters and their vibrant offerings, of course.
"The question of course, being, what to sink our time into? I'm sure rubbing our noggins together we could whip up something fun."
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"Great minds think alike!" He took a drink.
"I do miss the ruckus. Anything spring to mind in the immediate? I do wonder what's been your pleasure of late."
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"Oh, we should certainly host an inventor's fair again - my own tinkerings have been gathering dust, some fresh young minds surely have something to scratch that itch again!"
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But the world was their oyster again, if they allowed it.
The suggestion had him pull his focus inward, his gaze briefly distant. What year was the last... no way...
"...Has it really been so long since we've held one? Boy, the years really do fly by. I'm sold."
But he turned his upper body and lounged a bit against the back of the loveseat. "Oh... any I haven't had a peek at yet? You've really been coming into your own with your designs, and it really puts a lead weight in my ticker to hear they've gotten dusty."
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"Oh, don't be too terribly sad for them - the submersible aside, since that was rejected by Leviathan altogether, most of my projects simply have been sitting under the tarps while I focused on the kids. My automatic writing machine was doing quite well, but gave my boy quite a spook when he found it had been writing even while tucked away in the attic! Hah!"
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How long had it been since he could just sit and talk like this? This was nice. He would suppress the small, rather pathetic inclination to hang off of this man. It was like time hadn't passed at all, and perhaps the misses had decided to foolishly step away and leave them unsupervised, explaining the almost deafening silence outside of their voices and the crackling fire.
He propped a cheek against a hand instead, arm slung over the loveseat back. "That right? And if you tell me that it wrote Shakespeare, I am calling you a liar, von Eldritch."
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Even with Lucifer restraining himself, Frederick had fewer qualms, leaning his shoulder into his buddy fondly as he nattered. "Funnier than that! It wrote dreams. Whose dreams, I don't know - or maybe they were prophetic, in some way? I was saving it to tinker with and find out just what the magical components must have done when I built the thing to make it happen.
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A leaned shoulder was a relief for him, and he did his damned hardest not to express it. Instead he simply leaned into it as he listened.
"No kidding! What the Hell did you put in that thing, anyway?"
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"A few Leviathan tears, some tinctures from Sloth - it was meant to alleviate the effort of writing oneself, after all - and a decent helping of my own magic. Otherwise my steel is always sourced from Wrath and I made the mechanism by hand - that part could always use a better look with your sharp eye, of course."
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"Say, how about I load up that gramophone, huh? What are you in the mood for?"
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Collect, bask and show off - Frederick's always pleased as punch of his collections. The Morningstars both stirred a deep fondness for music in both him and Bethesda way back when they all first met.
"So whatever peaks your interest from the modern hits, I've been enjoying all the energy of the current times," he proposed, gently touching Lucifer's back as if to encourage him to go rummaging through the prized collection with his own two hands. Despite his enjoyment of high society and the classics, who can really argue that Asmodeus' performances or even some of Bee'lzebub's more serious album pieces weren't a delight?
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He eased away and headed over to investigate the collection. Let's see what's got Freddy by the ears...
It was truly a marvel to see just how much music the Deadly Sins produced in their spare time. But Lucifer couldn't help the prickles in his hands when he brushed past the Ozzie albums. He loved the instrumental picks, loved the general mood the big guy set. HOWEVER. Maybe, uh... m-maybe not for a visit like this.
But he was so curious.
"Wow...! Oz vinyls, huh? He really has been on a hot streak these last few years. Wonder if he's got himself a muse."
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Lucifer might have hesitated, but Frederick chuckled, granting permission and an excuse. He smiled from where he was perched in the loveseat, relaxed and resting his arm against the back. Oh no, Lucifer would just have to come a little closer, when he came to sit back down~
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Lucifer quietly cleared his throat as he gingerly lifted the record from its spot and placed that on the turntable. It's what he wanted, he thought, as he moved the needle and got things moving. If he was hesitant, that'd just be weirder than letting things play.
They'd both been having a rough go at things. Why not shift to a, 'Who fucking cares?'
So when he turned back and nabbed up his glass, he didn't even gauge the sitting situation. They both get a warm body nestled at their side. Lucifer kept it smooth and casual despite the gold to the face, chalking it up to the wine.
"There we are. Much better. So, about this fair idea... I've got a big chunk of time coming up where I'm practically sitting on my hands. And you know what the humans like to call idle hands...?"
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"Tell me again," Frederick chuckled fondly, a covetous little spark in him glowing in victory, "what the humans call their idle hands."
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"They say idle hands are the Devil's workshop." He smoothed down the other demon's lapels, but let his fingers linger.
"...And an idle mind, in kind, is the Devil's playground."
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Frederick's arm slid down from the back of the seat to resting on Lucifer's shoulders, holding him close as he grinned with a devious mirth.
"Only a coward would fear that boldness~"
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"Hm, that's right. You never did shy away from such things, did you...?" A quiet question, uttered low.
"It's what I always admired about you."
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"I'm just doing my best to measure up to my standards. And match those that embody them," he added fondly, hand shifting and lengthening like an unraveling ribbon to set the glass on the table before reforming into a hand and gently running a thumb over Lucifer's cheek.
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He couldn't help the absent nuzzle, ever appreciative of a touch. The shadowed hand against the cravat moved to brush the flats of claws up one side of von Eldritch's neck, ease toward the back.
"In all of this time that I've known you... you haven't missed a step."
No matter what your mind may be fooling you into thinking.
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"And you have always impressed," Frederick added in a soft tone, bringing their faces together to seek out a kiss, touching lips as if it were a question despite having all of the confidence in his demeanor. It was important to be polite, after all.
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Frederick was a brilliant mind. Hell, he was the one who helped him pen the Hellborn's Pardon, seeking loopholes and closing them to avoid the favored pastime of Heaven of offering so much stick and no carrot. He was inventive, a lover of the arts clearly, and stalwart. Lucifer wished in part for another Fair to see his creative spark reignited. He wanted that so badly for him.
But another wish was right in front of him. There was a touch, and he eased in kind. That kiss was soft, in part a greeting, but he didn't break away completely. He'd wanted this far more than the playful thoughts in his head had him realize.
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Smiling as he brought their kiss to a pause, Frederick ran a thumb over the demon's bottom lip.
"Must be what kissing Heaven is like," Frederick lightly chuckled.
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He couldn't mask the small sound into the other's mouth as an arm wound around, and he opened to him as the kiss deepened. Lucifer felt a near-overwhelming sense of relief, want and craving blending into something that had him lost in a slight haze when they parted; had him leaning against that thumb when he traced his lip.
Hook, line and sinker.
"...You stop that," he replied with a small laugh. "What am I gonna with you...?"
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"...I'm a Sin, y'know... who would I be if I balked at a bit of indulgence?" He kissed the corner of his lips, lingered there, and nuzzled.
"Whether it's here, or up in my little corner of this twisted world... you know I'm always just a call away."
More. ...More of this.
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As the record gently crooned ♫ Just let me adore you~ ♫, Frederick claimed another kiss with the King. Brief, because he had so much to say - such a relief after a bit too long by himself, if he were being honest.
"Bethesda and I were in accord about that - we would've taken you in as ours at the slightest whisper of interest."
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"It... it would have been an honor. And it still is. The von Eldritches have always been among my dearest among all the demons I've come to know."