Chapter Text
1909
Five months.
Five months had passed since Lucifer had left for East Africa, accompanying his daughter Charlie on the most ambitious expedition of her life. Charlie, a passionate animal researcher with an iron will worthy of her mother, had succeeded in convincing the Assembly of the Royal Society in London to fund her project: to study gorillas in their natural habitat, hundreds of kilometers from home.
The truth is, Lucifer Morningstar, a wealthy London banker of high repute who had been divorced for several years, found himself sinking into deep loneliness every time his daughter left the continent. Despite his social image as a proud and powerful figure, he was in reality socially awkward, overprotective of his daughter and deeply attached to her. He dreamed of seeing her fulfill the dream he'd never been able to realize because of his ex-wife, Lilith. Ever since he was a child, he'd dreamed of the travels, animals and species he'd discovered in the books he'd secretly devoured at night, a far cry from the promising future in politics his family had planned for him.
Married at a very young age to Lilith, the daughter of a couple of prestigious lawyers, he had sacrificed his dreams of freedom to devote himself to economics and politics, becoming the owner of several banks in London under the watchful eye of his wife, determined to keep him away from what she called “whims”. Charlie was born of this unhappy union, from which poor Lucifer suffered, putting aside all his unhappiness and the abuse he suffered at the hands of Lilith so that Charlie could have, if only a little, “normal” childhood. Lucifer's nightmare became even darker when Lilith divorced him when Charlie was just 13, leaving him even more broken than he was and alone to raise his daughter. But against all odds, they had pulled through, supporting each other over the years. Lucifer was immensely grateful to have his little Charlie to brighten his days, and Charlie was grateful to have a father who had always encouraged her to pursue her dream of animal exploration.
Usually she always left without him, leaving him alone for months on end, waiting for his only ray of sunshine to return in this world of egotists and hypocrites who advocate only the upper ranks of this accursed society. What a surprise it was when, one evening, she arrived at his home to tell him that the Royal Society had not only agreed to support his project, but was desperate to take him with them. Lucifer had always turned down offers for his other travels, preferring not to disturb his precious daughter on her expeditions, and besides, he had great responsibilities in London. But in the face of his daughter's shining, imploring eyes, he finally agreed to join the crew, made up of Charlie, Vaggie, the ship's captain and Charlie's girlfriend, the inseparable duo Antony and Cherry, Husker and Pentious, two marine engineer friends, and a few other henchmen.
And so the voyage began, fraught with all kinds of obstacles: capricious weather, brigands, a drunken man perched on the mast after a night in Porto, causing Vaggie to howl in his native tongue while Husker and Antony cheered the fight under the eyes of a distraught Charlie.... In short, the adventure was sometimes tedious and difficult, but Charlie and Lucifer supported each other and did everything together to make the trip as smooth as possible. And always used to solitude, Lucifer found himself growing closer to the crew members, enjoying their company and their funny personalities.
And so, no sooner than a week later, the ship finally reached its destination and the crew were able to set up camp in the heart of the African jungle, a marvellous environment harbouring all kinds of fascinating and impressive animals.
The first few days were spent discovering their new habitat for the weeks to come, and above all searching for the long-awaited gorillas. Alas, there was no sign of them. Of course, Charlie's enthusiasm never waned, and with her encouraging words, she managed to reassure the crew, who were beginning to lose hope, under Lucifer's admiring eyes and Vaggie's loving ones.
Everything seemed to be going smoothly for Lucifer, or so he thought before the encounter that would turn his life upside down.
The Jungle Stranger
The first time I met Alastor, I was falling.
It had begun to rain in the hot jungle, turning the trees into verdant waterfalls. I had strayed a little from the search party because of strange noises that seemed to be coming from high up in the trees, and in just a few minutes I ended up lost all alone in the middle of this immense forest. There was no way of finding my way back and all I could do was lamely call for help, and of course no answer. Finally, I decided to climb a tree to perhaps try and get a better view, and see who knows, the camp, someone or even gorillas. I climbed up one of these gigantic trees as best I could, but a small monkey jumped up and down on the branch I was standing on, knocking me off balance.
I remember the wind in my hair, beating against my back as I watched the branch I was standing on grow smaller and smaller.
I closed my eyes, ready for impact when suddenly I was pushed in another direction. Maybe I'd hit a tree? But no, I couldn't have, I wasn't falling anymore. An arm was wrapped around my waist as the rain and wind continued to batter my body. What's happening?!
I opened my eyes, surprised at the sight of a tanned, muscular chest in front of my face. Moving up, I saw thick, wet brown locks flying across a man's face. He had a strong jaw, wet with rainwater sliding down his neck. His deep black eyes devoured me, chaining me to his magnetic gaze. I was a slave to his gaze. I hadn't realized we'd taken shelter somewhere until the heavy raindrops stopped pounding my cheeks. I averted my eyes from his and gasped when I saw how high up we were.
"What the hell!?” I exclaimed, my useless arms clinging to the unfamiliar man to make sure I didn't fall. How did we get up here!? It was even higher than where I'd been earlier! My question went unanswered, interrupted by a sudden warmth on my icy skin. His hand brushed the skin of my exposed belly, sending an uncontrollable shiver down my spine. What the...
“Who are you?” growled I, looking down to see that we were sitting on a tree branch. A tree branch wide enough for both of us. I suddenly realized he was holding me princess-style and abruptly rose from his lap, my cheeks on fire. I immediately took my distance, but when I turned around, a cry escaped my lips as I saw him suddenly facing me.
“Wh-what... What are you doing!? Why are you so... close!?” I stammered, backing away as he advanced towards me. His face moved closer to mine until our noses touched. His eyes, unfathomably deep, stared intently at me. Another muffled growl emanated from his chest, followed by a scrutinizing gaze roving up and down my body. He then reached out his hand to mine, and by some inexplicable impulse, I let him have it. His contact, strangely warm against my cold skin, surprised me. He seemed fascinated by my hand, bringing it up to his face to examine it more closely.
Who was this guy? Why did he look so... surprised? If anyone should be surprised, it's me! He's the one picking people up and swinging from the vines. I've got to find Charlie and the others. I shivered again as his hand grazed my bare forearms, exposed after I'd rolled up the sleeves of my white shirt in an attempt to combat the ambient chill.
It's so cold, at this rate, I'm going to die of hypothermia.
My body was shaking so violently that I was afraid of falling off the branch. The man, much taller than me, seemed to notice and brought his body closer, his body heat warming me in the most beautiful way. I sighed and rested my head on his shoulder, my free hand shyly taking the opposite shoulder and purring under the warmth. We sat like that for a few moments, each calm beat interrupted by his gentle breathing and almost silent purring. Of course, this lasted until I opened my eyes, noticing a very, very large detail I'd missed before, one that was currently at half-mast but still measured 6 to 7 inches. I leapt back, banging my head painfully against the tree.
“Fuck!”, I growled and grabbed my head. Fortunately, I didn't feel any hot liquid, so I probably wasn't bleeding. However, the way this stranger was looking at me quickened my breathing in seconds. He looked like a predator stalking its prey... But since when did I become prey? His eyes were misty but at the same time intense as they watched me, I couldn't turn away from that enthralling gaze even if I wanted to. His eyes devour me alive, I don't know if I'm shivering because of the cold or because of the way he's looking at me...I've got to take control now!
“Hey-you... Shit! Where are your clothes!?” I tried to speak in a firm voice, but my jaw was trembling so much that my words came out as an incomprehensible stutter. He bent his head, a confused look on his face, a small moan escaping his throat. His gesture reminded me of a lost puppy, and a wry little smile played on my lips at the thought. But I quickly snapped back to reality. He moved closer still, staring at me with his deep black eyes, with that hypnotic golden glint that reflected his emotions with disarming clarity. He was confused, but his curiosity drove him to lean in closer, until his ear pressed against my chest. What the...
He let out a soft purr, his hands gently gripping the wet fabric of my once-white shirt. He stood there for a few moments before looking up and huffing, grabbing my head and pushing it against his chest. I squirmed for a moment, explicit words coming out of my mouth and being quickly smothered by his warm, muscular chest. Damn, he's even stronger than he already looks. His fingers ran curiously through my hair. And finally I calmed down, allowing him to position me as he wished on his chest. His warm hands positioned mines a little higher before coming to rest. At first, I didn't understand what he wanted, but eventually I did. His heart was racing, pounding wildly against his chest and echoing in my ear.
Was it because of me, or was it because he'd carried me up a tree?
My question remained unanswered as we both simply stood there for a few moments longer. My head rested on his chest, the slight wetness of his skin not repelling me as it normally would have done, which troubled me deeply. Why didn't I feel any repulsion?
I then backed away slowly, taking this time to study him fully. Crouched on the branch like an agile monkey, he had his knees bent and his weight distributed on his hands resting in front of him. But what struck me most was the way he held them: not on the palms, but on the knuckles. Wasn't that painful? Humans weren't designed to put weight on the knuckles, so how could he do it smoothly?
His skin was tanned in the light that had decided to shine a few moments earlier as the rain began to ease. It was an even tan, so I could only assume he was either nude tanning or born tan. His tanned complexion seemed infinitely more attractive and alluring to me than my paler complexion. His deep brown hair fell almost to touch his shoulders, looking rather surprisingly clean despite the circumstances. It looked silky as it hung, and I couldn't help wondering what it would feel like to run my hands over it. He was also taller than any man I'd ever met, perhaps even taller than Lilith, and his body was lean and muscular, a shape that evoked long periods without food, as if every ounce of spare nourishment he could find was immediately turned into muscle. A guttural sound in the back of his throat snapped me out of my thoughts as the stranger tilted his head, reaching out and tugging at the white shirt I was wearing. Doesn't he know what clothes are?
“What? Are you asking me what it is?” I asked, tugging at the torn, dirty shirt hesitantly. This, too, was brand new. He emitted a thud and started pulling at it again.
“What's the matter? Do you want it?” I questioned and started to pull it off, tearing it even more as I struggled in frustration against the fabric caught on my arms. The man made an alarmed noise in response, grunting and once I'd removed the shirt, he grabbed it from me, biting the hem and pulling. I stared for a few moments in confusion before it finally clicked. Did he think my shirt was attacking me?
“Hey, you... It's a shirt. It won't hurt you!” I growled and grabbed it, somehow finding myself in a tug-of-war over it. Once back in my hands, I threw it away, letting it fall slowly from the tree. Now I'm half naked. Charming.
I turned to the man in front of me, not really sure how to proceed but maybe it's time for introductions, at least that's what I thought made the most sense at the time.
“I'm Lucifer. Lucifer.” I repeated slowly, pointing to myself before pointing to him. “You're a idiot. You are a shitty idiot.” At this moment I couldn't hold back my sneer at this idiotic teasing. I probably shouldn't teach him that his name is a dirty pain in the ass, but the idea that he might actually have a name is slim to none. Might as well give him one now.
“Lucifer. Idiot. Lucifer...” I began, pointing to the human who matched the correct name when he suddenly opened his mouth and spoke.
“Alastor. Ucifrere.” He showed himself first, mispronouncing my name as he pointed to me. His voice was deep from abuse, not as soft as mine when it came to words. But damn it was so captivating.
“No, not Ucifrere. Lucifer!” Alastor. That was his name? But who named him...? He stared for a moment, seemingly lost before lowering his eyes to my body.
“Lucifer.” He whispered and I nodded. “Yes. My name is Lucifer. You're Alastor." I answered and couldn't help noticing the shiver that ran through him.
The Wild Man averted his gaze from mine and seemed to reflect as he looked at his hands: the palms were pale and wrinkled with dirt, bloodstained and filthy. The backs were rough with swollen knuckles and calluses, darkened by the sun and just as dirty as the palms, with blunt, thick fingers and short nails, but his eyes kept flickering from her hands to his, then back again. He vocalized again, a soft little growl, and reached for my hand again, taking it from me and turning it over, looking at it intently.
His hands were very warm, rough and large. I swallowed. “Yes, those are my hands,” I squeaked, half afraid he might rip my arm off. His arms were thick and muscular, and I could feel their strength even in the way he manipulated my wrist. “You've got them too, see, like that,” and I turned his hand to press it against his, palm against palm and fingers against fingers. His fingers barely reached the top knuckles of mine, but I stood there motionless, watching him as his face came into awareness. I was about to comment when a shot rang out in the forest. Alastor sprang into action and before I could even understand what was happening, his arms were on either side of my head and he was so close to me that there was only a meagre inch between us. Another shot rang out, followed by a growl from Alastor that sent shivers down my spine. He looked over his shoulders, no doubt searching for the source of the noise. I suddenly realized that he was trying to protect me, even if this seemed absurd given that I was the one carrying the weapon. And speaking of guns; no doubt the others are trying to find me, we've agreed to shoot twice if we lose someone and they have to shoot once in return to show they're okay and get back to camp.
“Charlie...” I instinctively reached into my pocket for the gun, but Alastor's authoritative presence made it rather difficult to access it. “Oh, get down!” I demanded and pushed against him, but to no avail; he only moved closer and looked at me with crazed eyes. “Alastor, please come down” I repeated, and this time he seemed to recognize the use of his name and let me push him away. I pulled out my gun and quickly pointed it skyward over Alastor's head and fired a shot. Alastor, frightened and nervous, let out a worried chirp and buried his head in my lap.
“Sorry, I didn't mean to frighten you...It's nothing...” I reassured him, letting my hand fall on his soft brown hair and stroking his head soothingly. After a few moments, he sat up and looked at the gun in my hands.
“No, no, no. Not Charlie. Gun.” I said and held it up so he could see it better. “Pistol.”, I repeated as he continued to look at me. With a little grunt, he reached out to grab it but I quickly pulled it away. “No. It's very dangerous. You'll undoubtedly end up shooting something, most likely me.” I returned the handgun to its holster before looking at the source of the shots. There was a faint smoke coming from there, no doubt a fire started by the crew to indicate their position to me.
I've got to get to them at all costs - and to think that all this noise might have scared off the gorillas or other animals. All because I'm not capable of just...doing things right. I feel like I'm just slowing everyone down, a burden my little girl has to deal with...And now I'm just standing there stuck. Maybe I should have stayed in London, I'm not up to it-
Alastor, noticing my torment, immediately moved closer to me, his hands circling my face with little caresses, and in what seemed to be an attempt to draw me closer against him, he growled softly. At the same time, I abruptly pushed him away, cowering against the tree trunk in total panic as my breathing suddenly quickened.
It was all too much: I burst into tears, the shock of my fall, my fear of disappointing Charlie, all those reproaches from Lilith and my family running on a loop in my head every day, simply the role I'm forced to take on, and the naked wild man and the fact that my body warmed up in response to a simple touch-I'd never wished so much to be at home in England and safely locked away in my room, cut off from the world. They were probably right, I thought, choking on my sobs, I'm so pathetic.
A series of soft, distressed sounds reached my ears, and I wiped my eyes with his arm, hiccupping, to see Alastor shift his weight from side to side, still crouched on all fours, knees bent. He lowered his chin, looking at the ground, then crawled forward - but not to advance towards me, only to bow lower, until he was crouched flat, knees tucked under his body and hands flat and open on the jungle floor. He hooted sadly, rolled his head from side to side, and didn't look at me at all.
I stopped crying, shocked by the display. A memory of Charlie explaining monkey behavior came back to mind: it seemed he was putting himself in a submissive position, probably trying to convey... what? That he posed no danger to me? That he meant me no harm?
At the sound of my ceasing sobs, he glanced expectantly through a lock of fine hair, and maintained his gentle gaze as soon as he noticed my sincere smile at his demonstration.
“Alright, Alastor, how do we get down from here? I need to go.” I asked in a voice still a little shaky from crying, and pointed to the smoke, his eyes following my gaze as he seemed to understand what I wanted. A muffled growl escaped his throat before he grabbed a vine, pulling on it before deeming it acceptable. He held out his hand and I took it, not knowing why I was giving this stranger so much trust, I quickly wrapped my arms and legs around him before jumping.
Alastor swung from vine to vine with incredible fluidity, my body pressed against his, nails digging into his skin as the fear of falling continued to consume me. He watched me for a moment, sensing my fear and searching the top of my head with a dull growl. It sent a wave of calm through my being as we continued on our way. I couldn't help but look at his long brown hair dancing to the rhythm of his movements as we glided through the jungle. He must cut it himself because it's only a little longer than my own hair, I thought, also admiring the way the muscles in his triceps rippled as I gently squeezed them. I almost groaned at the feel of the warm muscle, shuddering when I realized the glorious muscle was beneath my buttocks as it began to rock lower and lower to the point where we were only inches from the ground.
“All right, get me down here Alastor! I don't want my daughter and the others to see me in such an unseemly position-", I ordered and smiled shyly at him as he simply looked at me, landing on the floor below us with a slight thud. I pointed at the ground and wriggled, showing that I wished to be put down. He seemed to get the message as he gently set me down before crouching. There he was again, holding his weight on his knuckles like a gorilla.
“Doesn't it hurt to do that, Alastor?”, I asked, he simply looked up as he tilted his head, no doubt recognizing his name but not the rest of the sentence. I pointed to his hand and tried to imitate his position, wincing and showing how red my knuckle was after that. He seemed confused and quickly studied my hand, pressing it against his and noticing that the bones were actually different. What the-
“I found it! Dad, I knew you'd come!”
I suddenly heard a grunt behind me as I saw Charlie come through the foliage, followed at a distance by Vaggie and Antony. Alastor gasped at the sudden voice, stepping in front of me again before growling at the new arrivals in front of us. The three of them stopped running abruptly, blinking slowly once, twice, three times before finally reacting.
“Well, say Lucifer, I didn't know you had these kinds of adventures~”, Antony slyly quipped, while Vaggie hid Charlie's eyes, who still seemed lost in incomprehension.
“Jesus Christ, Antony, this isn't funny! I don't have time for this bullshit right now. And you Alastor, please stop grumbling!” He certainly didn't understand my words, but he understood my tone, looking at me quizzically. I stood up and ruffled his hair apologetically before seeing Charlie rush into my arms, closely followed by Vaggie scolding Antony.
“Dad please don't do that to me again...I was so scared..” she whispered teary-eyed as she hugged me roughly in a smothering hug.
I couldn't contain a breath of relief, so happy to have found them and especially my little Charlie.
“I promise you my princess...I've just..er made an amazing acquaintance,” I said, stepping back slightly from the embrace to point out the famous interested party, always on the lookout for the slightest danger to protect me, “...I'd like you to meet Alastor.”
“Dad...it's...it's incredible! I think you've found a wild man!” exclaimed Charlie, jumping for joy, eyes sparkling with excitement. Here at last was a major discovery for his report on his return to London. Vaggie and Antony drew closer after giving us some privacy, at least before their curiosity and enthusiasm got the better of them.
And as Charlie slowly approached Alastor, Vaggie worriedly reached out to touch my shoulder, “And how are you, sir?”, but she was quickly intercepted by the enigma known as Alastor, who immediately stepped between my legs, growling softly but not as loudly as before. I thought it was rather cute how much he wanted to protect me, warming and softening my insides as I gently stroked his hair to hopefully calm him down. This seemed to help him a little as he moved his own hand to catch mine and held it gently against his head before moving it down to take his cheek. The three of us watched with a mixture of amazement and wonder at this interaction, as incredible and unique as it was.
“Actually, to tell you the truth Vaggie, I found myself climbing a tree to find you, except that some kind of... little monkey took me by surprise and I fell. This guy, Alastor, suddenly flew up on a vine and saved me,” I said, gently rubbing circles in his hand with my thumb. Charlie and Vaggie listened attentively to my story. Antony, ever true to form, gave me an ironic look as if to say “is that all you've done?”. Charlie looked down at Alastor, still sitting between my legs, before crouching down in turn and holding out his hand.
“I'd like to thank you for saving my father here. You have my deepest respect and gratitude.” She said with a broad smile, we all watched as Alastor sniffed curiously at the outstretched hand before abruptly retreating backwards, almost knocking me over.
“Hey- Alastor! You're going to take me down!” He moved quickly away from me, groaning and glaring at all of us before quickly disappearing into the darkening trees. I could hear Antony complaining that he'd lost his only entertainment since we'd been here. But I couldn't take my eyes off where Alastor had disappeared to. I didn't want to frighten him. Strange as it may seem, I was just getting used to him too. Thank you, Alastor...
“Do you think he'll come back?” moaned Charlie disappointedly as we headed back toward camp.
“Of course he will. Didn't you see the way he looked at him? He's completely in love with our resident Lucifer~ he'll probably be back in a few days.” assured Antony as Charlie clapped enthusiastically under the roll of Vaggie's amused eyes. Was that really how he looked at me?
I went to bed that night thinking of nothing but his eyes and the strange emotion emanating from them.
And of course, Antony was right. Alastor snuck into the camp and entered all the tents trying to find me, causing an uproar among the resident women. I had to drag him out before they beat him to a pulp. So to make up for this slightly hectic welcome, I gave him some clothes and helped him integrate among us. Soon the whole camp was making his acquaintance, all eager to meet « the wild man who saved Charlie's father ». Alastor was rather uncomfortable with all this attention, often running away or hiding in the trees to try and escape prying eyes.
Eventually, Cherry helped me to take things in hand, and gave him English lessons as well as numerous medical tests. I had to be there every time, otherwise Alastor would try to hide or run away. He followed me wherever I went when he appeared, soon straightening up to try to imitate me. Charlie and Vaggie surmised that Alastor had in fact been raised by gorillas, explaining many of his behaviors as well as why he walked on his knuckles, like a gorilla.
Little by little, he mastered the language, was able to ask simple questions and engage in short conversations with people. Most of his sentences contained a lot of swearing, because of certain people Vaggie wasn't happy with. He usually left before sunset, but when I went to bed, it wasn't unusual for him to slip in next to me and fall asleep beside me. He had become very familiar with the crew, taking a liking to card games and binge drinking with Husker, movie sessions with Cherry and Antony, crafts alongside Pentious and his acolytes. He's so fascinating and captivating, adapting so well to us. But above all, he brought us right up close to the gorillas, in the very heart of their habitat. I'd never seen Charlie as happy as she was then, learning to communicate with these primates under the guidance of our new friend. We spent whole nights chatting under the stars, me sharing my dreams with her, telling her about my memories, London and so on. And that look... that deep look he had as he listened intently to me tell so many stories that others in London would have considered a waste of time. But not him. He was captivated by my words and I could gradually feel deep feelings for him.
Every day, he introduced me to the magic of this extraordinary place. He would take me to admire the waterfalls, to see all the parakeets and their adorable young, he would hold me in his arms in the moonlight and we would swing from vine to vine. His speech had improved considerably and I was fascinated by his stories, totally in love with his voice.
But after a few weeks, he suddenly stopped introducing himself. We couldn't all understand it, but he stopped coming altogether. He came back only once, for a short while, saying he had to protect his tribe from a puma that was prowling around. And, as before, that feeling I'd thought gone invaded me: loneliness and abandonment. Every day, I hoped for his return, in vain. I missed him terribly. I never thought I could be so cherished and loved by someone else, and now here I was, alone in bed with my demons, unable to sleep.
Alastor... where are you?
À suivre...