Chapter Text
Lucifer was a lot of things, a philanderer was not one of them.
Of course, he knew that not everybody on dating apps was out looking for casual relationships, he’s sure lots of people on them are looking for true love! Though… He still was averse to the idea of signing up to one…
Lucifer was a hopeless romantic after all! Dreaming about finding the love of his life during a rainy night, being offered an umbrella to shield himself from the rain by a stranger! Ahh~ How sweet!
Nevertheless… Lucifer was also a grown man, and a very divorced and pent-up one at that. He knew that those fairytales of his would probably never happen…sadly. And who else knew that? His friends of course.
“Hey, explain to me why you’re still bitching about being lonely when you haven’t tried any of me and Ozzie’s recommendations?” Bee looked at him sternly. She was usually pretty patient with her close ones but Lord, Lucifer was absolutely driving her nuts.
“Wha- c’mon, I told you, I don’t think dating apps are for me, alright?” He reiterated for the umpteenth time.
“Luciiii… Please, just try it out. It’s better than just wallowing at home all day. If it really doesn’t work out, then we’ll drop it. C’mon you gotta try to get yourself back on the market babe!” Ozzie encouraged, leaning against Lucifer’s kitchen island as the two others sat around it.
“I’m telling you, I’m not doing it. You never know what kinda psychos are on these things, I don’t wanna end up in miscellaneous news items and get found somewhere dead in a ditch.”
“How come your imagination always goes to that?” Bee muttered.
After a minute of pondering, sloshing around his coffee in one hand, Ozz lit up with a new idea. “‘Kay, so, you don’t wanna go on dating apps cuz you don’t wanna get murdered.”
“Listen, that’s not the only reas-”
“Ah-Ah, hold on, lemme finish.” Ozzie cut him off, glancing towards Bee. “How about me and BB over here set you up on a few blind dates with some of our acquaintances?”
Bee perked up, a sly smile on her face. “Oh right! As far as we know, we don’t have any murderer friends so you could relax about that! Plus, we know your type~”
“I… I don’t know guys.” Lucifer hesitated.
“Come onnn…! We’re trying very hard here Luci, how about you try a lil too? Just a date or two, then you’ll tell if you like the concept and if you haven’t found anyone you’re interested in by then, we’ll just scroll through our contacts list for more eligible bachelors!” Ozzie rolled his tongue dramatically, making the blond woman chuckle.
As his two friends chanted repeatedly 'Do it, Do it' in unison, Lucifer couldn’t help the smile that came across his face. Ahh… Well, maybe he could try. “...Fine.” He sighed, making the others rejoice.
Lucifer had been reluctant at first, but surprisingly, these dates were not going horribly? Of course, not all of them had been perfect, and he still hadn't found the princess, monarch or prince charming of his dreams but still none had been downright terrible thus far. Some were okay, others were meh.
However… trouble would soon start brewing, because things could never go well for Lucifer, could they?
Lucifer had made sure to look his best tonight as he walked confidently through the streets. Him and his blind date were supposed to wait for each other in front of the restaurant they would be dining at. Classic date plan, but Lucifer wasn’t one to complain. It sounded so romantic after all!
However, as Lucifer waited, and waited in front of the restaurant window, he couldn’t help but start feeling a little annoyed. His date was late, really late, and he wasn’t too keen on being made to wait around alone at night. No matter how many texts he sent, no response was given from the 'Will' he was supposed to meet.
As the clock ticked, the anger slowly dissipated to make way for dejection, self-pity. “Stupid. This was so stupid.” He mumbled under his breath as he sat down on the bench a few feet away from the window, holding his head in his hands.
And so what if his eyes watered a little? He didn't like feeling rejected, alright?
Of course, as if things weren’t already bad enough, Lucifer felt a few stray drops of water fall onto his head before those one or two droplets turned into dozens as the rain intensified. “Great, just what I needed.”
As Lucifer tried his best to not get too distraught over all this, he was startled by the sound of brogue shoes tapping against the concrete next to him, making him look up curiously towards the source of the sound.
“Excuse me? Are you alright dear?”
Lucifer was met with a tall and dark-skinned young man, who was sporting stylish curls alongside his 1920's dandy aesthetic. The other man, who was protected from the weather by an umbrella, quickly stepped closer to Lucifer, extending a hand towards him.
Lucifer took it hesitantly before being pulled to his feet by the kind stranger to stay flush against him, now also protected from the rain as the two shared the umbrella.
“I… I’m fine. Don’t worry about it.” Lucifer tried, an awkward smile on his face as he looked away. With a hand on his shoulder, the man guided him away from the bench and back to the restaurant window, the side of their faces illuminated by the golden light coming from inside the fancy establishment.
“Are you sure? You looked quite distraught.”
“It’s…Yeah, alright. It’s just that I got stood up for a date so I’m feeling kinda down. We were supposed to dine in that restaurant.” Lucifer explained, a sad look on his face despite the small polite smile he was forcing himself to wear.
The other’s eyes widened slightly as his permanent smile grew bigger, as if he had found what he had been looking for, before settling into a softer expression. “I have a hard time believing any sane person would fail to turn up for a date with someone like you. You probably dodged a bullet if I do say so myself.” He complimented, making Lucifer chuckle as a blush took a hold of his face.
“Pff- Thank you, I appreciate the kind words.” He tapped his arm softly. “Though, I should probably head back home, huh.”
“Ah, wait. I feel bad that you came all this way just to head back home with an empty stomach. How about we use up that reservation? I could go with you if you don’t mind.”
“Oh, don’t take pity on me. I’ll be fine, really.” Lucifer reassured.
“Come on, I’m new to town. I’d like to take the opportunity to meet new people, especially ones as pretty as you.” He smiled charmingly, making Lucifer’s hopeless romantic heart speed up.
“I feel like I’m on a cheesy rom-com, holy shit.” The blond tried to stay serious despite the thoughts racing through his head. Taking a deep breath, Lucifer looked up to the stranger and nodded. “Alright, why not? I’m Lucifer.”
“Pleasure to meet you, Lucifer. I’m Alastor.”
Having exchanged names, the two then turned around to enter the restaurant through the front door, being guided to their table by an elegantly dressed waiter. As the two sat down, ordered their meals and started chatting, Lucifer’s eyes couldn’t help but drift down to Alastor’s sleeve.
“The hell?” He thought, trying to keep his face from showing his confusion regarding the few droplets of red on the other’s white sleeve.
Noticing Lucifer’s gaze, Alastor lowered his head to see what had Lucifer so interested. “Shit.” He knew his protection suit had a hole in it, he should’ve fixed that before using it earlier. Whatever, all he could do was deflect. “Oh, this? I spilled some wine on my sleeve earlier, nothing serious.”
“Huh? Oh, right! Yeah, obviously.” Lucifer reasoned, taking any weird ideas out of his head. “Um, anyway, you’re new in town right? How long have you been here?”
“Around a month or so, the community’s absolutely delightful. I live around the butchery downtown.” He leaned his head on his hand as he answered.
“Ohh, right! Actually, I think I’ve seen you around a couple of times!” Lucifer recalled. He also remembered the neighborhood’s gossiping aunties and grandmas mentioning how ‘the new neighbor’s a proper gentleman.’
“Really? I haven’t had the pleasure of noticing you before…Trust me, if I had, I wouldn’t have waited even a second to approach you.” Alastor chuckled, though the delivery of that sentence made Lucifer feel slightly unnerved. It didn’t sound flirty, more so… unsettling, like a hunter talking about his prey.
Well, some people just had a hard time with their tone of voice, Lucifer did too in some instances! Still… “Haha… um, right. So, did you move here for work?”
Alastor glanced to the side, expression unreadable. “You could say that.”
“Oookay? I-”
“Your meals, Sirs.” Lucifer was suddenly cut off by the waiter who gently put their plates down in front of them. The two of them thanked him before he walked away, leaving Lucifer alone to try and make this ‘date’ more comfortable.
“Alright, so-”
“Do you live far away from here?” Lucifer was once again cut off, this time by Alastor who was watching him a little bit too intensely for comfort.
“Ah…uh… Like, thirty minutes away by bus.” Lucifer answered, deciding to dig into his meal, staring at his steak as he cut into it to avoid looking at Alastor. “Why do you wanna know…?”
“Just wondering how long it’d take for me to get to your place.”
“Whoah, uh… You do know we’re not going back to my house afterwards, right?" Lucifer decided to clear things up, his grip tightening around his cutlery. "This is… This is all we’re doing, eating a nice dinner.”
“Hm? Oh, yes, yes! Of course! I’m talking about future occasions.” He ‘reassured’, an amused smile on his face as Lucifer took another bite of his meal.
“Who’s telling you there’ll be future occasions?”
“...There will be.” Alastor stated matter-of-factly, making Lucifer look up with a concerned look on his face. Before he could even respond to the oddly threatening statement, the other man seemed to notice a tiny bit of sauce on the corner of Lucifer’s mouth and chuckled. “So cute…I could eat you up.” Bringing a hand up to Lucifer’s face, Alastor used his thumb to wipe off the stray sauce, making the blond’s breath hitch, before bringing it up to his mouth to lick it off his finger. “I guess that’ll have to wait for another time haha!”
Lucifer didn’t really know how to react. This… felt like maybe a ‘third date’ gesture, not the type of things you should do on a first date that wasn't even planned. He was far from being the greatest at picking up on things like this, usually being pretty dense regarding social cues. However, his gut was yelling at him to ‘get.the.fuck.out’.
To be fair, Alastor wasn’t doing anything incredibly wrong in and of itself but…the way he said and did things kept on ringing alarm bells in Lucifer’s head, as if Alastor was waving a thousand little red flags in front of him.
He… should probably get back home.
After having quickly finished his plate, Lucifer called the server over to pay the bill, though Alastor pulled out his credit card sooner than he could and paid for them both. Stomach satiated and feet ready to get running to the nearest bus stop, Lucifer didn’t waste time to get up from his seat, closely followed by Alastor.
As the both of them stepped out, Lucifer noticed that the rain had stopped. “Thank God.” He muttered.
“Well, Lucifer. I had a grand ol’ time with you tonight.” Alastor spoke up, a sincere look on his face despite the same big smile, which now only made Lucifer uncomfortable.
“Haha…yeah, me too.”
“You know, I really do pity our dear Will for having missed a date with a person such as yourself.” He put a hand on his heart in mock-lament.
“Thank you I… Wait.” Lucifer cut himself off, a chill running up his spine. “I never told you the name of who I was supposed to meet.”
Alastor’s smile only grew wider. Instead of offering a response to the now frightened Lucifer, he only bowed and took the blond’s shaky hand in his own, laying a soft kiss upon it before letting go. “Goodnight dear, see you soon.”
Lucifer didn’t bother saying anything else, turning back immediately and heading quickly to the nearest bus station, turning his head back every so often to make sure Alastor wasn’t following him, only to be met with the man’s tall figure staying put where he left him, watching him with an unsettling smile.
“What the fuck?”
It took Lucifer some time to accept another blind date after that, still rattled by that night’s strange events. This time, Ozzie and Bee made sure his date with the next bachelor in line happened during the day. He’d be safer during the day, right? There’d be more people around at least.
…Hopefully this wouldn't go as bad.
In any case! Even though Alastor had been… quite frankly severely creepy, Lucifer still held onto his romantic fantasies. Today, he had planned on inviting his date to walk together down to the docks, maybe visit a few places to eat next to the lake? A lot of them were positively adorable spots run by tight-knit families.
Oh, could you imagine a romantic and peaceful little cruise across the lake with a rented electric boat? He’s not sure his date would enjoy that but nevertheless, the idea still made him feel giddy inside.
Wearing his most comfortable summer-wear —the weather report having warned him about rising temperatures— Lucifer headed to the public square he was supposed to meet up with his date. Standing in front of the imposing fountain, Lucifer waited as the sun hit his face, texting his date once or twice to ask if he was on his way. And he waited…and waited…and waited.
Sighing in déjà vu, Lucifer sat down onto the edge of the fountain. With the water jets turned off, he glanced at his reflection in the stagnant water of the basin before pulling out his phone from his shorts.
Lucifer opened his group chat with the two orchestrators of this 'search for love' he’d been submitted to these past few weeks. Before he could even send them a text informing them that his date’s 'still a no show' accompanied by a frowning emoji, Lucifer was startled by the sudden appearance of a man next to him, who bent over abruptly to pool water into his hands and splash his face with it, combing his hair back at the same time.
“Damn, this heat is killing me.” The stranger groaned, scratching at his hair as water droplets rolled off his chin. “Ah, sorry. Did I splash some water on you?” He turned his head towards Lucifer.
“Huh? Oh, oh no, don’t worry about it.” He reassured, shoving his phone back into his shorts’ back pocket.
“Glad to hear that, you seemed startled.” The man sat down next to him on the edge of the fountain, legs spread in a relaxed manner.
Lucifer chuckled. “Yeah, I was deep in thought, sorry.”
“About what? If you don’t mind me asking.”
“Uh…” Should he tell this guy? Well, it’s not like he was Alastor as far as he knew, so he should be safe…maybe? “Just- Ahh… It’s just that I got stood up on a date.”
“Ah well, that’s not the end of the world. Who cares if some jackass doesn’t show up?”
“I mean, this is like the second time this happened in a little over a week. I’m kinda starting to take it personally.” He sighed, closing his eyes as he leaned his head back.
The other chuckled, rolling his white button up’s sleeves up to his elbows. “The hell? Where are you finding these guys?”
Lucifer didn’t answer the question, eyes now raking over the other man’s outfit. His white shirt’s first few buttons were open, showing off a part of his chest, whereas his dark blue jeans seemed too tight for a weather such as this. Still, even though his attire was pretty simple, all it did was accentuate his uncommon blue and green eyes.
“Hm? Like something you see?” The man spoke up, an amused smirk on his face.
“Huh? Oh, shit. Sorry, I didn’t mean for it to come off like that." Lucifer quickly apologized, not wanting to come off as creepy to this friendly stranger. "I was just wondering why you’re wearing jeans like that with these temperatures.”
“Ah- Just… I just got off work from the office, it was ventilated so I didn’t really take into account the weather. I just put on the first thing I saw this morning.” He lied as easily as he breathed, a confident smile on his face. Technically, he was not lying about the fact he had been reckless and hadn’t checked the weather forecast but really… He was just pissed off that the appropriate clothing he had been wearing earlier got stained by that squirming fucker, forcing him to put on his emergency change of clothes that was composed of the least comfortable jeans he had somehow ever worn.
Whatever, the blond seemed to buy it.
“Oh… Yeah, I see.”
“Though unlike me, you definitely seem to be dressed appropriately.” He noted, eyes raking hungrily over Lucifer’s uncovered legs, his shorts clothing his thighs down to 4 inches before his knees.
“Pfff- Really I feel kinda dumb having wasted such a good outfit for some asshole who left me hanging.” Lucifer snickered wearily, the hurt he was feeling once more seeping into his voice despite him trying to take the situation with humor.
“Hm…” Bringing a finger to tap on his chin, the other man hummed as he seemed to think of something for a few seconds before perking up. Bringing both of his hands to grasp at Lucifer’s shoulders from behind, he brought him closer to him as he smirked.
“Hey-”
“You know… Maybe, this great outfit doesn’t have to go to waste. How about walking down to the docks?” He asked, an almost knowing look in his eyes.
“I… uh… I don’t know…” Lucifer was hesitant. After all, last time something like this happened, he got stuck with a weirdo.
“I could even rent us a boat for a discounted price, I know a guy who works there. How about a little cruise on the lake?”
…Sigh. Lucifer was too easy.
The image that appeared in his mind was almost too appealing to say no to. It’s not like the other man was hard on the eyes, quite the fucking contrary.
…Maybe he could give it a shot. How likely was it that he’d encounter another creep in such similar circumstances? “...Alright. Sure, let’s get going.” Lucifer smiled up at him, trying to ease his anxiety.
“Perfect, clearly we both need some way to relieve stress, don’t we?” He grinned triumphantly, hands leaving Lucifer’s shoulders to stand up, waiting for the blond to do the same.
“Fuckin’ tell me about it.”
“I’m Vincent by the way.” He introduced himself, a hand in his pocket.
Lucifer smiled, trying his best to not let his previous experience ruin what could be a nice time. “Nice to meet you Vincent! Should I lead the way?”
Vincent was… nice? Though, Lucifer couldn’t help but feel like he was somehow being made fun of under every compliment.
It was an odd feeling.
Well, he’s for sure different from Alastor so that’s already a win in his book.
“You come around here often?” Vincent asked, a curious tilt to his voice as they both walked down the street together.
“Nah, not really. I just knew this was a nice area so… I kinda made sure to memorize the way down to the docks for my date. That’s all really.”
“Really? That’s a lot of dedication for someone who stood you up.” He scoffed.
“Well- Maybe 'made sure' is the wrong way to put it. I tried to remember the way there but uh… I don’t really have the greatest memory.” Lucifer chuckled, a hand scratching the back of his neck to stop himself from fidgeting.
Vincent raised an eyebrow. “So… You don’t actually know where you’re going right now?”
The blond looked away, an embarrassed smile on his face. “I was kinda hoping you knew where to go, to be honest.”
Vincent stayed silent for a second, eyes boring into the side of Lucifer’s face, before puffing out a laugh, seemingly amused by the situation. “Cute. Alright, you can count on me. I’ll show you the way there.” He stated, suddenly throwing an arm around Lucifer’s shoulder, making the other freeze for a second before going with the flow.
“Right haha… thank you.” He tried, his past experience still making him feel strangely about all this. “No, no. It’s… It’s fine. You’re from the south, Lucifer, you know how touchy some men can be when they just wanna be friendly.” He reassured himself.
The two of them walked to their destination, exchanging some small talk and getting to know each other. As Vincent guided them where they needed to be, Lucifer’s brain had a hard time focusing on anything else other than the man’s touch.
It had started with Vincent’s fingers caressing his shoulder, before that same hand dropped to softly grasp at Lucifer’s arm. Soon enough, Vincent laid his hand atop the small of Lucifer’s back, guiding him through the crowded sidewalk to a more wooded area, the two of them entering almost a sort of tiny forest. It wasn’t very hidden, the sunlight easily passing through the leaves and down onto the pathway, the duo passing by a few joggers here and there.
Lucifer had felt…mostly fine with the touchiness. Though, of course, noticing that he still hadn’t been pushed off, Vincent decided to push his luck. As they approached the end of the tiny forest, an old wooden dock waiting for them on the other side, the black haired man brought his hand to grasp at Lucifer’s hip, thumb caressing it as the blond crossed his arms in building discomfort.
“Is this it?” Lucifer asked, an awkward smile on his face as he glanced towards the tiny electric boat.
“Mh-hm, let’s hop on.” Vincent urged, a charming smile on his face.
“Wait, wait. Shouldn’t we pay for this? Aren’t these for rent?” Lucifer stopped him from pushing him towards the boat, planting his feet firmly against the old wood.
“I told you, I have a friend who works here. We don’t have to pay babe.”
“You didn’t say it would be free though. You said it’d be at a discounted price.” Lucifer recounted, looking at Vincent suspiciously. Maybe he was being too paranoid and overvigilant after that other night but… better safe than sorry.
“Yeah, and the discount is 100%. C’mon, get on.” He pressed, a smidge of annoyance slipping through his cordial facade.
“Fine, okay, sure. Still, where’s that friend? I don’t know Vincent… we seem kinda far away from the rest of the docks…” Lucifer argued, looking into the distance where the other boats were located.
“He’s working, Jesus. Plus, isn't a more intimate spot better? Nobody to bother us out here.” He chuckled, now facing Lucifer as his hands slid down to his ass, making him squeak in surprise.
Lucifer shuddered in discomfort, his own hands immediately coming to grip at Vincent’s forearms, glaring at the taller man who wore a self-satisfied smirk on his face. “Hands off.”
“Oh, Lucifer, come on. No need to be a prude with me, no one’s around to judge…" He purred, hands squeezing around the soft flesh. "It’s just you and me.”
Before Lucifer could retort, a small detail jumped out to him and made another shiver of uneasiness pass through him, his angry glare turning into one of anxiety “I… I didn’t tell you my name, did I?”
“Hm? Yes you did.” Vincent smiled calmly, trying to persuade the blond before him.
Lucifer shook his head, convinced that he hadn’t done anything of the sort. “I don’t think so.”
“You did. How else would I have known?” He reiterated, his face becoming sterner with every word.
Okay, definitely not just paranoia. Lucifer needed to get the fuck away from here, stats. “I…um… You know, I think I should go. Sorry Vincent.” Lucifer’s grip around the other man's forearms tightened painfully, forcefully ripping the groping hands away from him.
“...Really? After I tried my best to not let your shitty date ruin your da-”
“Yeah. I gotta pick my daughter up, actually." Lucifer cut him off dryly, pushing Vincent away from him to build some distance between them. "Thanks for the nice time but I gotta go. Have a nice day.” He quickly turned back and pulled out his phone from his back pocket to share his location with his friends, just in case.
And, if Charlie doesn’t even live with him anymore, well, that’s only for him to know, Vincent can fuck right off.
As he power walked away from the other man, Lucifer glanced back towards him once to find him with a tight smile, showing his frustration, and clenched fists. Okay, maybe he should walk faster.
Almost jogging now, Lucifer got out of the woody area and headed back to more populated streets, taking a minute to sit down on a bench and catch his breath.
Seriously, how does he keep getting himself in these situations? What would have happened if he had gotten onto that boat? Getting stuck in the middle of the lake with no one around except a weirdo who’s way too touchy for his taste felt like an easy death sentence.
Finally having forced his hands to stop shaking from stress, Lucifer got up and walked to the nearest bus stop.
“I might just be cursed.” Lucifer sighed, sprawled on to the sofa with a defeated expression.
Both Bee and Ozz didn’t know what to say. This had happened twice now. Twice had they sent their friend out into the jaws of danger. Still, they didn’t want Lucifer to totally give up on love. “C’mon, don’t say that.” Bee tried.
“Y’know, maybe I’m just not meant to date anybody, ever. I feel like this is the Universe giving me signs. If I try this again I might just get smitten on the spot for refusing to listen to its warnings.” Lucifer argued, still confused as to how his two last dates ended up like this.
“Still… I don’t understand why this even happened.” Ozzie spoke up, an inquisitive look on his face. “I mean, both the guys we sent you on dates with are pretty punctual usually?”
“Yeah! Especially Will, I don’t know what happened for him to leave ya’ hanging.” Bee spoke up, confused about these two situations as well. “Though, none of them have answered any of our texts either since your dates with ‘em… I’m kinda worried, I don’t know.”
“You haven’t been able to contact them?” Lucifer leaned his head to the side with a raised eyebrow. The hell was going on?
“Yeah… Listen, if we come across them, we’ll ask about why they were no shows, ‘kay?” The taller man reassured, hand patting the head of a very exhausted Lucifer.
“Sure, whatever. All I know is, I’m gonna stop and take a breather from trying to date. Thanks for trying guys but I’m done for now.” Lucifer sighed, a tired but thankful smile on his face. He knew his friends only wanted the best for him.
Getting even more comfortable on his sofa, he relaxed. He’d have some respite. God knows he needed it.
At least… that’s what he had first thought.
A few days or so later, Lucifer decided to get up bright and early to get some groceries before too many people flooded the stores. Taking care of these necessary chores early helped him plan out the rest of his day better. If he didn’t do it now, he probably would keep pushing it to the next day again and again.
And so, here he was, strolling around the grocery store while listening to his favorite musical once more through his earbuds.
As Lucifer looked for shampoo, having run out this morning, he finally found the brand he usually used. However, they seemed to have been stocked in a higher spot than usual on the aisle. “Goddamnit.” He muttered under his breath, annoyed by the placement. He stretched his arm towards the bottle, not reaching it by only a few inches. "Seriously?" He tried again and again, looking around a few times to see if anyone else was in the aisle and could help him, only to realize going so early to the store also meant less people around to assist him.
Turning back to the bottle, Lucifer tried again to reach for it before being startled by an arm grabbing it from behind him. “Ah-!”
Quickly turning around, Lucifer got ready to thank whoever picked up that bottle for him only to have his words die in his throat. “Thank you so much I- I… Oh…”
In front of him was none other than Alastor, a serene smile on his face. “Why hello there! What a coincidence!”
“Alastor…” He breathed, an anxious chuckle leaving him.
“Ohh… You have no idea how happy it makes me to know you still remember my name.” He purred, smiled widening. Taking Lucifer’s frozen hand in his, Alastor opened his clasped fingers and made him hold the shampoo bottle. “I’ve been looking for a new brand… Sure do tell me if it’s any good next time!” He chuckled, brushing Lucifer’s soft hair back before leaving the aisle.
Lucifer didn’t know how to respond, simply trying to make sure he breathed and didn’t pass out from the creepiness of it all. Shoving the bottle in his grocery bag, he slowly walked out of the aisle, looking around frantically for a sign of Alastor but found nothing…
A coincidence…right.
Lucifer quickly finished his groceries and got back home, looking behind him every few minutes to make sure he was alone. This was… not pleasant, that’s for sure. Nevertheless, it was just a bout of bad luck, no need to turn into a hermit from fear because of it. It’d be fine.
It’d be fine.
These words kept him going, these words were the ones that gave him enough courage to continue working peacefully, his job as a photographer forcing him to leave his house quite a lot.
A few days after the market debacle, Lucifer had gotten a great work opportunity, though the clients preferred to have the shooting happen at their modelling company’s studio rather than his own. Money was money and Lucifer wouldn’t complain for such a request, even if said studio was halfway across town.
“Whatever.”
The shooting took place in a more affluent part of town that Lucifer frequented quite often, Ozzie and Bee’s club being around here as well, so he thankfully found his way around pretty easily. Having taken quite a hefty amount of pictures, Lucifer made sure to promise his clients he would look over them later tonight and send them the most perfect ones as soon as he could.
Satisfied by a job well done, Lucifer left the modelling agency's imposing building with a self-satisfied smile. He’d get to treat Ozz and Bee to a nice meal with the paycheck he’d be getting in his bank account.
Deciding he deserved some time to indulge in his hobby outside of work, Lucifer pulled out his personal camera. It was an older model and much easier to work with than his bigger and newer digital one he used for work. Though that was part of the charm! Nothing could beat walking around and taking pictures of whatever caught his eye only to develop them later in the evening with a glass of wine and some good music to hum to in the background. It was calming, and one of the only things that could get Lucifer to let off steam in a healthy manner.
Walking around the city, Lucifer spent a good hour or two taking in the scenery and snapping pictures, the stress he had been feeling these past few days finally dissipating from his shoulders.
Taking in the cool breeze, he finally decided to head back home. Walking down to the subway station with a pep in his step at the prospect of the relaxing night he was about to have, Lucifer put his film camera back in his backpack.
“I wonder what I should cook tonight… What if I just get take-out?” He absentmindedly thought, waiting on the metro platforms.
Glancing at his watch, Lucifer sighed, realizing he would have to wait around 10 minutes for the next subway to pass. With nothing better to do, he decided to take a look at the picture he had taken with his digital camera for work as a way to start early. “Might as well…” He mumbled, turning it on and looking through the first ones for a few seconds.
“Ohh these are nice.”
From behind him, Lucifer felt a presence appear, the sound of a certain voice making his muscles tense up in panic. Slowly turning his head, Lucifer was met with a smirking Vincent sporting a stylish suit, his head cocked to the side.
“I…”
“What? Cat got your tongue?” He chuckled, “Don’t worry, I’m not mad about you leaving me behind last time, I’m very forgiving.” He said, arm lifting to wrap around Lucifer’s shoulder.
Before the man could even make contact, Lucifer slapped his arm away, shocked expression souring into an intense glare. He was tired of letting these men leave him speechless and freezing. “Don’t you-”
“Woah-ho-ho! No need for the hysterics sweetheart! I just wanted to say hello!” Vincent laughed, hand coming back to his side. “Anyway, how are you doing since last time?”
Lucifer shoved his camera into his bag and crossed his arms, position hostile as his shoulders rose. He refused to respond to Vincent’s stupid inquiries, instead turning to look at him, gaze lowering to a part of Vincent’s exposed neck. “What’s with the cut?” He furrowed his eyebrows, he knew he shouldn’t even engage in this nonsense but… This just smelled like trouble.
“Hm?” The other man hummed, fingers coming to feel his skin and dampen the pads with still fresh blood. “Oh! That? Don’t worry about it, just some damage from a particularly persistent mosquito.”
“Didn’t know mosquitoes wielded blades.” He rolled his eyes, unamused.
“Well, he’s as much of a bloodsucker as them so I don’t really differentiate.” Vincent chuckled bitterly, a twitching eyebrow betraying the frustration he felt remembering his earlier encounter with his little ‘rival’.
Alarm bells rang in Lucifer’s mind, he definitely didn’t want to know what the hell that could possibly mean. Turning away, Lucifer waited, praying Vincent would just leave him alone. However, soon enough, the metro he was supposed to take arrived, the doors opening in front of him.
Vincent almost took a step forward, expecting Lucifer to do the same before turning back towards him with a curious look. Was his little blond trying to avoid taking the same car as him?
Lucifer had planned on rushing home but… maybe he could wait an additional ten minutes for the next one if that meant Vincent would enter this ride and leave him be. He definitely did not want to be stuck with him for the rest of the way.
“What’s wrong? Hurry, the doors are gonna close soon.” Vincent urged, an amused smile on his face.
“I… this one looks full already, just get in, I’ll take another one.”
To be fair, Lucifer wasn’t lying when he said the car looked full, everyone seemed pressed against one another, which was just another reason for him to not be stuck in there with Vincent, aka mister ‘I can’t keep my hands to myself’.
“Nonsense! Come on, get in, you need to get home don’t you?” Vincent exclaimed before forcefully shoving Lucifer in front of him despite the blond’s protests, making them both enter right before the doors closed behind them.
Face now pressed against Vincent’s chest, Lucifer balled his hands into fists at his sides, refusing to have any other part of him be in contact with the other man. Thanks to his taller stature, Vincent used a hand to take a hold of the ceiling straps, his other hand coming to grab Lucifer’s shoulder before getting shoved off by the blond.
“Seriously, stop fucking touching me-” Before Lucifer could continue his scolding, the bumpy subway ride made passengers knock against each other, forcing him to stabilize himself by holding onto Vincent’s vest, lest he fell down.
“Sure princess.” Vincent rolled his eyes in dismissal, hand coming back to hold Lucifer’s shoulder, keeping him upright against the waves of uncontrolled movements from the rest of the passengers.
Frowning and grinding his teeth together in frustration, Lucifer laid his hands flat against Vincent’s chest, cheek smushed against it as well. “Just have to deal with it for a few more minutes Lucifer… It’s fine.” He tried reassuring himself, taking slow calming breaths.
However, it got harder for him to ignore the situation when he felt Vincent’s head leaning down slowly. “What are you-”
“How’s the shampoo? Sure hope you didn’t let the bastard take a whiff and leave me out of it.” Vincent chuckled, nose burying itself in Lucifer’s blond hair as he sniffed, taking deep breaths as his hand flexed against the other’s shoulder.
“I- Are you sniffing my hair?!” He hissed, loud enough for Vincent to feel the anger coming off of him but still low enough for no inattentive passenger to hear him.
“Hm… I really hope I’m the only one that got to smell this, I don’t know what I’d do otherwise.” Vincent sighed, his intonation betraying the pleasure drumming in his veins.
Processing Vincent’s words more closely, Lucifer could feel his heart tighten. ‘What a coincidence!’ Alastor had said… Though, Lucifer was starting to feel like chance had nothing to do with this.
The idea that the both of them were connected, that they knew each other, filled Lucifer with dread.
As soon as the doors opened, Lucifer violently shoved Vincent out of the way, ignoring the disgruntled complaints from the other passengers that got pushed as well. Running up the stairs out of the subway station to the bustling streets, Lucifer’s legs never stopped. He still had two stops before getting to his neighborhood, but he’d rather do the rest of the way home by foot, no matter how long it’d take him.
Lucifer felt like he was losing his mind.
Ever since then, he’s been running into his two last —psychopathic— dates all over town.
These next encounters, thankfully, hadn’t been as …‘memorable’ as the other ones. They usually were made up of passing compliments and greetings, a wink here and there, a wave now and again. Still, Lucifer felt watched, no matter where he went, like he was never truly alone, likely to encounter one of the two on every one of his outings, even the most mundane ones.
He had thought about heading to the police but he knew very well how they usually handled these sorts of cases. Even with proof, no arrests were likely to be made so how would they react to Lucifer coming into the station talking about two boogeymen that had been stalking him for weeks with zero evidence to show?
He’s more likely to receive attention from the police once he’s inevitably killed than when he’s still alive and kicking looking for a way to stay safe.
Plus, he couldn’t possibly tell Bee and Ozzie about this… The two would assuredly feel horribly responsible for this entire ordeal. Making his only close friends feel such guilt… that was the last thing Lucifer wanted.
"Urgh..."
Closing his door, Lucifer sighed, letting out some of his frustration. As he carelessly threw his backpack onto his couch, he ran his hands through his hair.
Even if it was risky, the chances of seeing either Alastor or Vincent uncomfortably high, Lucifer had still decided to go out today to indulge in his hobby. He needed to decompress.
Taking his film camera out of his bag, Lucifer entered his personal darkroom, placing the negatives down onto his table. This process always helped to soothe him. Taking a deep breath, he began humming a song, as he mixed his chemicals, making sure to respect the instructions on the bottles to combine them with the right amount of water.
As Lucifer started using his enlarger on his negatives and exposed his film, readying them for the next step of developing them in the trays in front of him, he noticed something…odd.
Next to the negatives of the pictures he had taken today, another laid there, down onto the table. It might be a leftover picture he had forgotten to develop from his last session but Lucifer couldn’t help but feel uneasy.
As he took the time to develop each of his pictures, he couldn’t stop thinking of the mysterious film next to him, as if it was taunting him.
“...Urgh, fine, whatever.” He grumbled, hanging to dry the picture he had been working on, before grabbing the negative that had been causing him unnecessary stress.
Going through the same process once more, Lucifer dunked the photo paper into the first tray, submerging it into the developer completely. Rocking it, Lucifer soon began to see the print forming onto the paper, making a chill run down his spine. He felt like his heart had been grabbed.
“No…No, no, what the fuck?” He tried and failed to reassure himself, hands shaking as he used his tongs to take the paper out of the developer.
On it, a picture taken from outside a window could be seen, a picture of him, walking around his apartment without a care in the world.
“How did they take this picture? Did they steal my camera? They had to have entered my home, that’s how this ended up in my darkroom, but when? Why-” Thousands of questions ran through his mind as his heart raced. Rushing out of the room, Lucifer ran to grab leftover cardboard he had used to help Charlie with some placards. Taking those and his roll of thick duct tape, he plastered them against each of his windows in a frenzy, making sure nothing, no one, be it the sunlight or two very specific people, could see into his private space.
This was his home, the place where he felt the most safe, and this person had just trampled all over that.
“Shit…” Taking deep breaths, desperately trying to calm his panicked breathing, Lucifer sat on his couch, head falling into his hands. As he continued attempting to calm the shaking of his limbs, he was startled by the sound of knocking at his door. “You gotta be fuckin’ kidding me…”
He had expected the knocking to continue until he answered it, but after only three simple knocks, the sound stopped, leaving Lucifer still perturbed. Slowly getting up, he went to stand in front of the door, looking through the peephole.
No one was present, at least not anymore, however he was surprised to see a bouquet of roses in front of his door.
Perhaps in a not-so intelligent move, Lucifer chose to quickly open the door and take the flowers, locking it behind him immediately after.
Turning the bouquet around, he found a card with elegant writing onto it. “Sorry for the scare sweetheart, I just had to share that picture to let you know how beautiful you are, even during the most mundane. I hope this makes up for it.”
Gripping the roses tightly, Lucifer headed to his kitchen to violently throw them in the bin, burning white-hot anger taking over him instead of paralyzing fear. He was fucking tired of this.
Probably becoming his downstairs neighbor’s worst enemy, Lucifer stomped his way into his room, throwing himself in bed despite still being in his clothes from his outing. He needed rest, immediately, or else he might stupidly try to go out and find the motherfuckers himself.
Burying his face into his pillow, Lucifer tried to calm himself enough to fall asleep. However, again, someone seemed to have a different plan. Before he could even relax into his mattress, his phone rang loudly from his bedside table. This entire evening had been way too chaotic.
"It's just one thing after another..." Groaning, he took it in hand and refused the call, falling head first back into bed… before it rang again, and again, and again. “Can I get one moment of fucking rest?!” He groaned, blocking the number that had been calling him, having an idea of who was behind this.
For a few minutes, this seemed to have worked, silence taking hold of the room once more…before another phone number called, again and again. “Seriously? Using multiple fuckin’ numbers? Does he not have a job?” Lucifer whined in frustration, blocking that new number until another one replaced it. How the hell did he even get his phone number? He never gave it out!
Though Lucifer refused to put his phone in ‘Do not disturb’, always worried that Charlie may need his help for whatever reason, he still wanted to sleep.
But… he refused to accept the call and have to listen to whatever bullshit the caller, probably Vincent if he had to guess, would spew at him. Resigned, Lucifer tried his best to ignore the incessant calls, turning in his bed to try and get at least some amount of rest.
“What the hell is going on?… Why is this even happening?” He lamented, hands bunching up into the bedding as he tried and failed to head to sleep.