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You were dreading breakfast.
On the one hand, you were excited to see Lucifer. You wondered if he would smile as brightly as he had last night.
On the other hand, you had no idea if Charlie knew about your date and the stress of it had kept you up for most of the night.
At least Angel seemed excited, practically skipping beside you. He had been at your door surprisingly early for some ‘girl talk’, and you found yourself talking about everything that had happened last night. Well, everything you were willing to share.
And while he seemed a tad disappointed at the way the evening ended—“all you got outta him was a kiss?!”—Angel seemed happy for you. Though a little disgruntled at the idea of keeping it a secret.
“Come on, Cherri will kill me if she finds out I knew something this big and didn’t tell her!”
“Until I find out whether or not Charlie knows, you can’t tell a soul. Got it?” You stared at him with crossed arms until he reluctantly agreed to stay quiet. For now.
You knew there was no guarantee on how long he’d be able to keep his mouth shut, so you had to talk to Charlie fast.
But first…breakfast.
Lucifer lit up when he spotted you, and you felt your heart flutter. Angel snickered quietly, and you elbowed him as covertly as you could before he sat in between Cherri and Husk.
You sighed as you took a seat directly across from Lucifer, who smiled at you. Though it quickly faded as Alastor sat down next to him. You bit your lip to keep from laughing at his disgusted expression, ignoring the playful glare he sent your way as you grabbed one of the pastries that someone (probably Charlie) had gotten from some local bakery.
Niffty had grabbed a handful of them, munching on them without a care in the world.
Vaggie sighed at the sight of the small maid making a mess of her breakfast as she took a seat next to you, leaving room for Charlie to sit at the head of the table.
The princess smiled at everyone, with a cheery “good morning!” though you, Vaggie, and Lucifer were the only ones to match her enthusiasm.
“Today, I’ve got a lot to get done, so no activities for today. You guys have all done so much lately you deserve a break,” Charlie announced, earning a few cheers from Angel and Cherri.
“I can help, if you’d like,” You offered, realizing this was the perfect opportunity to get some one-on-one time with Charlie. She looked at you in surprise, but smiled like she always did.
Was that a good sign? A hint that she was accepting of the fact that her dad had decided to move on…and had chosen her receptionist to date?
When did you become a cliché?
Or did that just mean that she didn’t know yet? Would she be happy? Worried about her dad, upset you didn’t ask her first, betrayed-
“That’d be great! There’s a bunch of paperwork to get through, but I didn’t want to ask if you were busy,” Charlie said cheerily, pulling you out of your thoughts.
“It’s no problem,” You replied as you glanced over at Lucifer, who seemed caught up in an argument with Alastor.
But once you had finished eating, he did pause in his increasingly loud conversation (read: shouting match) with the Radio Demon to flash you a quick smile, something that did not seem to go unnoticed by his rival.
You slipped out of the dining hall before Alastor could call him out on it, following Charlie to her office.
“I’m kind of surprised Vaggie didn’t offer to help with this,” You mentioned as Charlie got settled at her desk, covered in papers, sketches, and a handful of binders that had a bunch of sticky notes sticking out of them.
“Oh, she did. But she’s always helping me with this stuff, as are you,” Charlie motioned for you to take one of the rolling chairs tucked into the corner of the room. “And if I haven’t said it before, you do a fantastic job.”
“Thank you,” You replied, happy to hear all those hours by your desk sifting through mountains of papers and combing through numerous files on your laptop hadn’t gone unnoticed. “Listen, I was kinda hoping we could talk? I don’t know if your dad told you or not but he, well, he kinda-”
“He asked you out!?” Charlie squealed, papers dropping from her grip as she grabbed your hands. "I knew he was going to but he didn’t tell me he had yet! I wanna know everything. Well, maybe not everything-everything, just the cute stuff.”
She had a wide smile on her face, practically bouncing with excitement and you let out a breath of relief, shoulders slumping. She definitely wasn’t upset.
“I’ll tell you whatever you want,” You chuckled. “Truth be told, I was worried you’d be mad at me.”
Charlie’s eyes went wide and she shook her head enthusiastically.
“No, no, of course not!” Charlie stated firmly, then looked away with a sigh. “My dad shut himself away in his workshop after he and my mom split up. So I’m glad he’s ready to put himself out there again, and that it’s someone I already know who is super amazing and great for him. I just hope it won’t change how we work together, that’s all.”
“It won’t. Believe me, I had plenty of time to think about it all last night, and I swear I won’t let it affect my work,” You said with a reassuring smile. Charlie smiled back as she let go of your hands and sat back down. “I was actually just telling Lucifer how much I enjoy working for you and I wouldn’t want that to change.”
“Aw!” Charlie propped her head on her hands as she stared at you. “Okay, paperwork can wait, I wanna know what happened.”
For the second time that morning, you found yourself talking about the wonderful time you had, though you left out any mention of Lilith and skimmed over certain details near the end. It was a little awkward on your part, gushing about Lucifer to his daughter, but she seemed so eager to listen.
She really was a lot like Lucifer.
Eventually, you two got to work and developed a system of sorts for who handled which paper. Running a hotel was a lot of work, even one funded by the royal family, and given the fact that the hotel was bigger and had way more rooms after the last Extermination, there were a lot more maintenance requests that had been piling up.
You wondered why Alastor, self-proclaimed Hotelier, wasn’t here helping out but you weren’t going to be the one to bring it up. His shadows were everywhere, and you weren’t going to risk getting on his bad side.
About halfway through the stack of papers, you got a text from an unknown number that made you pause.
Unknown Number: Hey, Angel gave me your number
Unknown Number: Hope that’s okay.
Unknown Number: This is Lucifer btw
You smiled at his name, and added his number to your phone, updating the contact name to ‘His Majesty’, smirking at how annoyed he would be given how annoyed Lucifer was when you called him that last night.
You: Of course. Probably shoulda given it to you last night.
His Majesty: Np. I was wondering if you wanted to eat together for lunch today?
You felt Charlie lean over the desk, probably because of the dopey smile on your face, but when you glanced up, she was reading a paper with a very concentrated look on her face.
It might have been more convincing if the paper wasn’t upside down.
You: That sounds nice, tho it may be a little while till we’re done.
His Majesty: I can wait, just lmk whenever you’ve finished up.
His Majesty: Or I can bring the two of you food.
You: That’s ok, but we’re about halfway done so I think we should be finished by lunchtime hopefully 🤞
His Majesty: 👍😊🦆
You looked over at Charlie with a curious expression.
“So…what’s the deal with your dad and ducks?”
“Please tell me he didn’t talk about that on your date,” Charlie groaned exasperatedly.
“Well…”
The two of you chatted for a while, and little by little you conquered the mountain of papers.
Finally, you filed the papers away for Charlie (and made a mental note to help her organize at some point when you saw the state of her filing cabinet).
Your body ached from sitting down for so long and your stomach growled with hunger.
You stood up to stretch, but not before sending a quick text to Lucifer letting him know you and Charlie had finished up.
Charlie sighed, shoulders slumped as she leaned back in her chair.
“Thank you for all your help. I probably shouldn’t have let it get this bad,” Charlie said sheepishly as she rubbed the back of her neck. You nodded, making a mental note that you definitely needed to check in on Charlie more often to ensure the work didn’t pile up like this again.
Before you could reply, the door creaked open and Lucifer poked his head through. You smiled at him while Charlie shook her head with an amused smile.
“Relax, she’s coming, Dad,” Charlie said with a teasing grin as Lucifer stepped into the room. Lucifer flushed a bright golden color as you laughed. He swept Charlie into a quick hug before he walked over to you. “I’m going to meet up with Vaggie, so just close the door when you two head out. Have fun!”
“You too, sweetie,” Lucifer called out as Charlie bounded out of the room. Then his attention focused on you and he gave you a soft smile. “Hey, good-looking~ You know what you wanna eat for lunch?”
“Uh, I thought maybe you could choose, since you let me pick last night,” You replied, wondering if you’d ever get used to all the compliments Lucifer seemed to throw at you. He nodded as he whipped out his phone and after a minute or two, showed you his screen.
It showed the menu for this bistro that specialized in Italian food. You had heard Angel talk about it before, and recalled him telling you it was one of the few places that served authentic food that didn’t make him want to barf.
You figured it was worth a try, and the two of you placed an order for it to be delivered before leaving Charlie’s office. Lucifer held out his hand to you and you grabbed it, giggling as he tugged you closer to him so that the two of you were walking side-by-side.
“Miss me already?” You teased, and Lucifer scoffed, though his smile gave him away.
“Pssh, no,” Lucifer looked away from you. “Maybe. I didn’t get to talk to you much at breakfast thanks to a certain bellhop.”
“You could just ignore him, ya know.”
“Easier said than done,” Lucifer shot back, frowning as if he was offended by the mere thought of trying to get along with the Radio Demon. Then he shook his head as if to rid himself of all thoughts of Alastor. “Hey, uh, while we’re waiting for our food I was thinking I could show you my workshop? You mentioned being curious about it last night so…”
“I’d love to!” You exclaimed. When Lucifer had talked about the things he had created, you had been curious to see where it all took place. Aka the Devil’s very own workshop. “Does that mean I’m going to get to see all your ducks?”
“Yup!” Lucifer stated, though he seemed a little hesitant as he snapped his fingers to create a portal. He let go of your hand while you walked through, and you stared in disbelief.
Briefly, you wondered if you’d ever stop being surprised by the places Lucifer brought you to as you stared at a workshop with…a lot of ducks.
Piles of ducks, and a few scattered across tables and desks next to various sketches of the Hotel as well as a few of the newer rooms Lucifer had helped design (the new lobby, a game room, a room for Charlie’s therapy activities, etc.)
Proof of Lucifer’s creativity, his innovation shown in every drawing, every duck, everything made with painstaking detail.
The workshop practically buzzed with creative energy, waiting for Lucifer to make something new.
It reminded you of your home office, filled with the things you would create before…well, life got in the way.
Shaking your head out of your thoughts, you paused as you noticed the walls, covered in pictures of Charlie, and a few family portraits with Lilith.
You walked past those, a tad unsettled by her violet eyes that seemed to stare right into your soul.
“I know it’s a bit of a mess,” Lucifer said as you looked at the shelves, with ducks that had more details. You saw one that looked like Charlie and Vaggie, along with himself and ones that resembled the Sins you had only ever seen on TV or Sinsta.
You glanced over to see Lucifer fidgeting with his hands, kicking some of the ducks out of sight.
“I love the details on these ones,” You said, pointing at the one that resembled Lucifer. “I can tell you put a lot of work into them.”
“Thanks,” Lucifer looked like he was about to tear up and he cleared his throat, before plucking the duck that resembled himself off the shelf. He placed it in your hands and you cupped it gently in your palm. “You can take a closer look at this one. It doesn’t breathe fire like some of the other ones.”
You stared at him wide-eyed and he laughed as he grabbed another duck from one of the piles.
“Watch,” He said as the little duck did a backflip in his hand and then shot out a stream of fire. You took a step back, mouth gaped in amazement.
“How’d you do that?!”
“Magic~” Lucifer grinned, and you spent the next half hour looking at his various creations, each duck doing something extraordinary.
Your food eventually arrived, and Lucifer portaled it right up to where the two of you were, eating as Lucifer talked about some designs he hadn’t gotten around to creating yet.
While maybe rubber ducks weren’t exactly your thing, you could see the excitement in Lucifer’s eyes as he spoke plain as day, and you were content to listen to him as you admired the duck that resembled the king.
The red circles on his cheeks, his little top hat and bow tie, it was all so adorable.
“I’m not boring you, am I?” Lucifer asked suddenly. You shook your head, though it was in that moment that you realized just how anxious he was when it came to sharing the things he was enthusiastic about.
For all his confidence, it seemed like something, or someone, had dampened his spirit to the point where he needed constant reassurance that he wasn’t messing things up.
But you were more than happy to oblige if it meant he kept looking at you with that fire in his eyes.
“I like how passionate you are, and I’m having a good time,” You said firmly. “Besides, I like looking at the ducks and how cute they are. Especially this one.”
You gave the Lucifer duck a squeeze and watched as Lucifer flushed before he narrowed his eyes at you with a smirk.
“Just ‘cute’ huh? Some would describe me as handsome, hot as sin, maybe even the embodiment of temptation.”
“I would, but it seems like you’re doing enough complimenting for the both of us,” You laughed as he rolled his eyes.
“Oh please, I’m just getting started. I haven’t even started talking about you,” Lucifer looked you up and down, his smug grin growing as you felt your face heat up. “Your pretty eyes, your sweet smile, and fuck, who gave you the right to be so gorgeous?”
“Shut up,” You muttered as you hid your face in your hands, accidentally dropping the duck onto the desk. “Go back to talking about your ducks.”
“Hmm, that reminds me…” Lucifer trailed off, and you could hear him rummage around for something and you peeked through your fingers only for him to summon his wings to hide whatever he was doing. “Uh-uh, no looking.”
“But I want to see,” You stood on your tiptoes to try to look past the wings, but Lucifer tsked and raised them higher.
He made you wait what felt like ages but was probably only another minute or two before he spoke again.
“Hang on, just gimme one more second…and ta-da!” Lucifer’s wings vanished and he held his hand out to reveal another duck.
One that looked just like you.
You took it carefully, examining every side of it. The duck was the same color as your fur, and had your little demonic traits (your fangs, your fluffy ears, etc.) and had on your usual red blouse with the black bow on the front.
It was your unofficial uniform that matched the same color scheme as the other employees of the hotel, and it matched the black slacks that hugged your figure while still looking professional.
The fact that Lucifer had made it, of you and for you, and knowing how much his ducks meant to him made you melt a little and you found tears welling up in your eyes.
Which in turn, made him panic.
“Hey, if you don’t like it, you don’t have to keep it! Is it, um, really that bad?”
“No, I love it,” You said with a watery grin as you held it close to your chest.
“Oh,” Lucifer paused, then brushed away the stray tears from your face with a lopsided smile. “Good. I, uh, wasn’t sure if you would.”
“Why wouldn’t I?” You asked as you stared at the duck version of you with a fondness you hadn’t felt in a long time. “It’s obvious you put a lot of work into it. And…I can’t remember the last time someone made something just for me.”
“Now that is a sin if I’ve ever heard one.”
You chuckled as you sat your duck next to the one resembling Lucifer, and smiled as you realized how perfectly they fit together.
With a start, you wondered how long it had been since you’d indulged in your own hobbies. Little projects that used to make people smile. You’d just gotten too busy, too tired, too unsure whether it even mattered.
Maybe it was time to start again, you thought, as an idea began to form.
But you didn’t want to make Lucifer wait long for your next date. So until you could get your idea going, perhaps you’d take him to something you hadn’t gotten to enjoy in a while.
You hoped Lucifer liked musicals.