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Huge red, bat-like wings scrape on the furniture as the Devil paces through his penthouse.
Linda, bless her heart, tries to remain calm and relaxed, considerate and patient, but her sanity has already been pushed to it’s limit, her friend being the actual, real life Satan is one thing, seeing him walking around the penthouse in nothing but his black, silk boxers, scarlet, scaled skin, and burning, crimson eyes is a whole other level of celestial craziness.
She sits on his couch while he walks up and down, up and down, ranting about how he’ll never be able to change back to his usual appearance. How everything will never be the same. How deeply he hates himself. That’s the hardest thing to here even as his therapist, she can handle a little bit of insecurity, but true, pure hatred of one’s self is a horrifying concept, especially when his body and face embodies that and turns him into something that to the eye, looks monstrous.
Quite frankly, her pregnant self can’t take much more of watching Lucifer mentally destroy himself. So, she’s called Chloe. Whether that’s a good idea or not, only time will tell.
Lucifer’s out on the balcony when the elevator doors open and Chloe steps out.
“Hey, what’s wrong?” She asks, eyes checking Linda over in concern.
Linda winces, “umm, Lucifer needs you, like really needs you. And I- I really need to pee so, please…”
Chloe frowns in confusion as Linda backs up to the elevator, slams her hand on the buttons repeatedly, and quickly shuts herself inside.
“Doctor, I need you to-“
Chloe’s eyes land on the Devil, dead in his tracks as he stalks inside from the balcony. Her jaw drops and she instinctively widens her eyes at the sight of him.
Lucifer is the one that speaks to her though, in a cautious, hesitant voice, “Detective, I-what are you doing here?”
She swallows, eyes landing on glowing eyes as a voice in her head reminds her that Lucifer and the Devil are the same person, or…being. They’re her partner. He’s her partner.
“Linda called.” She starts, working up the courage to slowly step forward, she doesn’t want to startle him into hiding, which she can tell is what he wants to do with the way he makes himself seem as small as possible, even with massive, velvety wings spread behind his back, “she was worried.”
Lucifer’s eyes roam around, noticing the absence of the small blonde, and shakes his head, looking down at the floor, “terrified more like-“
“No,” she interrupts, moving closer with a hand half outstretched, “she’s gone downstairs, to the bathroom, probably to give us space, she hasn’t left. She called me, thinking that maybe I could help.”
He tuts, “I don’t see how, look at me Detective. I’m a monster, probably stuck this way now and forever so…” he claps monotonously with false cheer, “go me.”
“I am looking,” Chloe says, “and… yeah, this form isn’t as pretty as your human one. It’s red, and there are- are holes that remind me of a volcano all over your body,” her eyes fix on the claws on his feet, “and, well you look like you could do with a trim…”
He hisses, turning around and heading for his bedroom, “this isn’t a joke Detective!”
She follows him, closing the gap he’s clearly trying to keep between them, “no it isn’t, this is you. I’m just describing what I see, I don’t see something monstrous. Not really. How can we decide what is and what isn’t monstrous anyhow?”
He frowns, thick black eyebrows drawn together.
“You’re different, yeah,” she says, tilting her head, “you have things that I’ve never even seen before, like your wings. But now that I’ve come to terms with who you are, I’m not frightened by the difference anymore.”
“I’m not just different I’m the Devil! Embodiment of evil, as you can clearly tell!”
Chloe shakes her head, “more like guilt.”
He scoffs incredulously, “what?”
“It’s not evil, it’s guilt.” Chloe says again. “You look like this because it’s what you think you deserve. You’ve ‘sinned’, you believe you’re the cause of other peoples sins because you’re the creator of ‘sinning’, but really…that’s just like me saying God is the cause of peoples good or bad choices because he made free will.”
Her feet glide towards him and he freezes, arms gangly at either side of him. He watches her every move like a frightened animal, and she’s briefly reminded of the time where she’d first seen his scars from his wings, when he’d looked at her with so much fear and vulnerability that it made her heart ache for him.
Lucifer turns from her, concealing his face, “everything I touch I ruin. Look at what I did to you!”
Chloe rounds him, keeping her distance but wanting to look into his eyes when she says, “I’m not gonna let you do this-“
“I’m poison. Detective.” His voice transforms then, the softness and familiarity replaced by a gruff, deep growl. “I hate that I’m poison for anyone who dares to care about me. Especially you.”
“This isn’t about me!” Chloe yells, desperately trying to break through, “you know, you always talk about how much you hate it when people blame you for all that’s wrong and bad in the world but deep down, I think you blame yourself just as much. If not more.”
Lucifer steals his gaze, his red eyes becoming watery.
“You have to stop taking responsibility for things you can’t control.” Chloe quietens, taking a breath, “you need to forgive yourself.”
“I can’t-“
“Why?”
His wings fall to the ground gradually behind him, until they look like two heavy pieces of cloth tied to his back, weighing him down, “I don’t know how.”
Chloe steps into his space, ignoring the way he backs up, and reaches her hand up to cup his face.
“How can you touch me like this?” Lucifer asks shakily, “how?”
She smiles on the brink of tears, “because Lucifer, you’re my partner. You’re my best friend. For better, or worse.”
He frowns, a single tear glistening on his scarred cheeks as it glides over the harsh, red ridges.
She wipes it away with her thumb.
Her palm is cold on his burning hot skin, but she makes him feel warm inside.
“I want to try.” He says, for her, “I want to try and forgive myself.” To be the man that she sees.
Her breath hitches and she gasps as, before her very eyes, a patch of the Devil fades away into the face she’s familiar with, gorgeous, chocolate eyes and smooth, flawless skin.
Lucifer panics, tensing in her arms, so she explains her reaction, “I think you just took the first step…”
She guides his hands up between them, the texture of his skin going from harsh and rough to soft in the blink of an eye.
He frowns, watching his sudden transformation in awe.
Chloe cradles his face in her hands again, bringing his forehead to rest against hers, gaze finding his she whispers, “there you are,” and offers a smile, kind, patient smile.
Lucifers stomach does flip flops, and he furrows his brow in appreciation for this…this miracle that ground him, that helps him through the worst of times and makes him truly believe that he can do anything he wants, including freeing himself of millennia of guilt.
“Detective,” he voices quietly.
She hums, fingers scratching at the scuff of hair behind his ear, “yeah?”
“You-“ He frowns, struggling to find the right words to express how much he appreciates her, how grateful he is that she’s here. That no matter how hard he pushed her away, she’s stayed planted firmly on the ground. “You make me feel still.”
She raises her head, eyes baring into his own.
He brushes a strand of hair behind her ear, more comfortable with touching her now that his hands aren’t scarred and clawed.
She smiles, leaning closer to him.
“You make my head quiet.” Lucifer offers a smile of his own, shy as it is.
Chloe tilts her chin, gaining in on his lips, he freezes, but she edges closer and-
Ring ring.
He visibly jumps in her arms, casting a glance down to the source of the interruption in her pocket, and then swipes his clammy hand across his forehead.
“It’s the precinct.” Chloe says darkly, “Kinley’s gone missing…”