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androgynousblackbox · 13 days

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Dead Main Course. 4 [Appleradio, Radioapple]

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First of all, it wasn't a decision born out of a petty need for revenge after the rejection. The rejection itself was barely a footnote, if ever mentioned at all on the list of reasons why Lucifer had to die. Contrary to what some people might think, he actually was pretty good at taking a no for an answer. It wasn't going to be his first and it wasn't going to be his last either. He was a reasonable adult, not a pathetic bratty child.

But if Lucifer had consciously deleted any other options off their table, then the only role for him to take on in their life, as far Alastor was concerned at least, was another step on his ladder to success. No doubt he was going to keep up the friendly facade and do exactly as Lucifer had wanted, for him to act exactly the same as if nothing had changed at all. With any luck he could actually forget now about what insane impulse had pushed him to make that question in the first place. Or at least he hoped.

In any case, the death of the Morningstar's son was only going to be beneficial for him. He already knew that, but he had only postpone those plans for having his head full with idiotic expectations that, frankly, only he should be blamed for letting continue on for as long as they did. So this decision in fact was nothing but a return to cold, safe, objectivity. Inevitable even.

Proof of that had to be how easy now was to imagine it. That white pretty neck could look even more appealing when opened up with muscles exposed for the taking and the blood dripping down. His beautiful brown eyes opened up in pure terror as he left him alive just enough to feel each cut. The hands that worked so quickly and efficiently would separate nicely under his own knife. He would cut each portion of his fingers and lick the bones clean with a glass of his favorite wine. Maybe he would keep his head intact for a little bit so he could see him preparing his heart with a chocolate sauce, to honor his sweet tooth.

Now that there were some lovely images that were going to help him to get back on track. With those in mind, it was time to start the actual hunt.

It had been a while since he actually took on chasing anyone. Since living in a larger city, acquiring targets has been easier than ever before. So many people who were outside every night, without company, willing to go with someone that talked to them with a big enough smile. There were so many dark corners to find where nobody would pay any attention that only one person with a big backpack came out from where originally two people went into. Frankly, he wondered why he hadn't moved to a place like that before.

But despite the lack of practice, it was rather easy to fall into those old habits. Finding the penthouse of the Morningstars had been a piece of cake. Originally he hoped to find the son through the father, but surprisingly they were both living together, which was only the more convenient for him and he barely bothered questioning why.

According to what he could find online, the Morningstar mother had died a few years ago from a heart condition. With no grandparents, siblings or cousins to talk about, when it comes to direct blood relation, father and son were the only members left of their little family so maybe it made sense they prefer to live together even in adulthood. It wasn't part of his objective to question that anyway.

Like a lot of modern penthouse, a big part of the building was big windows through which to let the "natural sun outside" to illuminate them and give people interested in looking inside an excellent view. Once he managed to decide from which angle it was going to be the best to keep up, he started carrying his backpack to the top of the closest building he could reach, take out his binoculars and make sure he could actually see enough. It took him three attempts climbing a bunch of stairs to get the right roof and it was worth it.

Nobody rich and famous lived there, so nobody cared either if a man with a hoodie just casually made his way all the way to the top. As long as he didn't cause any trouble for anyone, he was in the clear. From there, he could catch Lucifer making dinner for himself and his father, see them talk for a bit before the older man went to his office and Lucifer was left cleaning up the dishes. The only issue was that he did not have sound inside. Most of his nights were as remarkable as that, but he still wanted more information. It somehow felt like he never had enough.

Lucifer Morningstar had turned out to be a more mysterious man than what he had given him credit for. His presence online was almost entirely null. Every social media that he reasonably could believe came from him, rather than someone taking his face from the internet, was practically dead or used for promotional purposes only to the point that it looked more like a bot than a real person. Even pictures of public appearances were all destined to promote the restaurant or some other event made by his father.

The oldest pictures he could find that seemed to come from a sincere place was one of Lucifer smiling next to a tall woman of long blonde hair that had to bend her knees to be at eye level with him. They weren't dressed as if going to a dinner, party or anything special that the whole world would care about. They looked like just two people walking around the city and deciding to take a selfie for fun. The words under that picture read "Going to grab some dinner!", with no tagging name so that woman could have been literally anyone. That alone picture was from four years ago and immediately after was promotion pictures that probably involved a contract somewhere, if not posted directly by some employee.

He cross referenced with the followers or friends he could find, and that alone wasn't that more fruitful. Besides a couple of more recent pictures of Lucifer drinking with people at a party and the odd mention, very little else. Going far back enough at least he could finally identify the blonde woman as someone that had to be an ex. Lilith, who was currently a professor of social studies at some university, single for all he could see.

That was it. Hobbies, fixations, celebrity crushes, spats online, anything that formed the online presence of any other person was entirely gone from his, either by scrubbing hard enough or because it was never there in the first place. Even Alastor had published more personal stuff on his just in case someone went searching for him. He posted about the books he read or a new recipe he tried, nothing too revealing of course but still something. It was the easiest way to appear normal, so why shouldn't we take advantage of that?

It seemed that Lucifer had skipped that lesson and thus forced him to find out about him the old fashioned way, before the internet was a thing. He had no issue doing that. The best hunts were always the ones that required more effort from him to pull off.

A new routine was then formed. During his shifts they both did their job. If they end up in conversation during their breaks, they keep it friendly, a bit of mutual teasing because why not, nothing inappropriate or that it would call the attention of anyone.

The first day right after his attempt at a date had been a tiny bit awkward, but Lucifer soon had gotten back on the rhythm of things when he realized that Alastor truly wanted to move on from the whole experience. Now no one could tell that he was still smelling him every morning for any changes at all on his daily aroma or how aware he was of Lucifer's presence at every second in the kitchen, following his light feet or his quick hands.

Nobody would ever know how his heart stopped for a second and went back on again, stronger than ever, when he managed to hear Lucifer laughing or they happened to brush each other. Nobody would know that he wanted to run away the moment his brown eyes acknowledged him with that soft, comfortable twinkle that regarded him or how much it bothered him when it wasn't there on those first few days as Lucifer tried to avoid looking at him at all if possible.

No, nobody would know, ever.

At night or afternoon, it was back to coming up the stairs, taking out his binoculars and observing the penthouse. From his position he could even get a glimpse of Lucifer's room through his window, although just a portion. On more than one occasion he caught Lucifer just coming out of his bathroom, covered by a towel, and he looked away to give the man time to dry himself and dress up. If he could choose, frankly he would have liked to skip those little incidents altogether. They were not useful for data gathering at all, and then they also left him uncomfortably warm, squeezing his hand inside of a pocket until it was safe to look up again.

It wasn't that the body of Lucifer was disgusting in any way. He was brave enough to recognize that at least. Or that he couldn't handle imagining himself licking the droplets of water out of his neck as he would press one of his arms on his back, right before breaking it up as a warning. He had something that adults liked to refer to as autocontrol, thank you very much.

No, the reason he turned away was simply because he wasn't a pervert. He could be watching Lucifer during hours of the day without his consent or knowledge, until the point the man turned off his light for sleeping, but he still had some standards to preserve his own dignity. He would not stoop so low.

Besides, he could watch his body all he wanted on top of his table once he was dead. There was no reason to rush any of that. No matter how much his mind wanted to go in that direction.

The one piece of information that surprised him on his investigation was finding out that the Morningstars were out to church on Sundays in the morning. Not from the father, anyone in less than five minutes googling his name could have found out that was the kind of man who would assist on a nice suit to listen to his pastor. But Lucifer was another story. He could have maybe believed that his coworker was just that discreet with his beliefs and didn't think it was anyone's business to know about them, if it wasn't because on each of those mornings Alastor could clearly see his lack of enthusiasm across the street. He moved like a mere robot going through the motions rather than any man sticking to his faith.

Maybe he went just so his father wouldn't feel alone?

And yet, he still woke up earlier than his dad to prepare breakfast for the both of them. Still dressed up in a suit that was as boring and inoffensive as his dad and somehow managed to look absolutely stunning once he had fixed his hair. Although, to be fair, Lucifer could probably go with a trash bag and still outshine a majority of people without any effort. Objectively speaking, of course.

For a brief period, Alastor imagined himself "accidentally" bumping into Lucifer to take out the key to his apartment and have a look around himself before bugging it. But the idea quickly dissolved because the Morningstars were out and ready for their car and it took him a couple of walks outside to see at least two security cameras in the exterior, plus another three on the hallway in the elevator to the other floor. If the security was so tight from the start, then surely they had to have a camera inside the elevator and in front of each door. Who knew if Morningstar wasn't the kind of paranoid that also had cameras inside of their living place? Even if he covered his entire face and body, that was still far too risky.

Now he truly regretted having listened to his meal and invited Lucifer to a date when he did. If he had waited a little longer maybe he could have made up some excuse to visit him at his home and have a great chance to investigate further. As things turned out to be, he couldn't imagine that Lucifer was going to accept any casual visit just like that.

Ever since that day, he has been repeating the whole scene in his head trying to understand what went so wrong. Lucifer had seemed genuinely scared. The only conclusion that he had come to is that he had done nothing worth deserving such a reaction. If Lucifer was ever truly afraid of him then he would have seen the signs already. Some relief when he was outside of his personal space, an unexpected tension when he was. Avoid him in every way that he could unless it was necessary. Outside of those first awkward days, there have been nothing of the sort. He had to assume that either Lucifer had an actually perfect control over himself that he could hide his fear so perfectly that not even his trained nose could catch it, or whatever it was that scared him had nothing to do with him directly.

On one hand, coming to that conclusion had brought him some comfort back, since he was afraid that he had let his guard down enough to reveal something unwanted. In the other, it made it all the more annoying to know that his plans had been ruined prematurely by something outside of his control.

Lucky for him, the solution to his issues fell completely by chance on his lap. Not as ideally, it came in the form of the Manager coming up behind him and patting his back while he was brewing a cup of coffee for himself in the breakroom.

“Hey, Alastor, are you busy this weekend?” asked the man, as usual, not paying any mind to the way the chef stuffed up like a piece of cold iron.

Alastor combated the impulse of bashing the head of the man with the hot coffee pot. Truly, he should be receiving a raise for not making some pretty splatters every time someone puts their hands on him. These people had no idea how lucky they were he still wanted this job.

“I might be” answered with tight politeness, keeping his options open. “Why the curiosity?”

“Well, you didn't hear it from me” The Manager got even closer to him and Alastor absolutely hated the smell of his hot breath, still tainted by the cigarette he had taken outside before coming in. Just for that Alastor would touch his meat even if somehow could get away with his murder. He probably tasted awful with those bad habits, “but this weekend is Luci's birthday and the boss was asking me to look for someone capable of catering. I would do it myself, but I have a family party the same day. My niece finally got her degree and so we are all going to celebrate as it should, going out to her favorite restaurant to spend whatever she used to get, know what I mean?”

“Where is the party? For Lucifer” clarified, before this man thought he had any interest in his plans. God forbid.

“At their condo. It's going to be a really small thing with a few friends of Lucifer. I think the boss said they were going to be 7 people in total, including both he and Luci, so it shouldn't be that difficult of a task. Do you think you can do it? If not, I can ask someone else. The pay is going to be good though.”

The pay wasn't the reason why Alastor smiled sincerely at the Manager, for the first time since they met.

“I think I can do it.”

The assistant of the Morningstars contacted him as soon as the Manager passed along his agreement, sending him a list of recommended foods, another of forbidden ones and a rough budget for everything. Alastor made a menu based on those conditions and then sent it over to be approved. The whole arrangement seemed to go exclusively through Joseph Morningstar because on the days that followed Lucifer not once acknowledged the catering service he was going to be given. Nobody had told Alastor to keep it a secret, but he did it anyway just to see the kind of face his coworker would make.

The night before the party Alastor finalized preparing all the ingredients he would need and set them up on his bag to carry. He could have hired some extra help if needed, but for the first time he was about to share his special recipe he wanted to be the sole responsible of its handling. In the afternoon, he went to the penthouse and called the number the assistant gave him to alert he was already there. In the lobby itself he counted four security cameras, three on the hallway and one on the ceiling of the elevator as he made his way up. No blindspot anywhere.

There were two other cameras outside of the Morningstar's residence. He knocked on the door and waited. A couple of minutes later, Lucifer opened up the door and Alastor gave his best customer service smile as he appreciated the way he was clearly caught off guard. It had definitely been worth the wait.

“Good afternoon, Lucifer. Hope you are having a lovely birthday.”

“Thanks, uh…” Lucifer looked at the bag hanging from his shoulder and still took him a moment to process the reason why he was there. He looked so adorably confused that Alastor lamented when he finally made himself to a side. “Come on in.”

“With your permission” Alastor nodded as he made his way inside. No security cameras that he could see. Good. “Where is the kitchen?”

He knew, of course.

“Here” Lucifer closed off the door and guided him to the kitchen. Alastor left his bag full of ingredients on the counter to start taking it out. This was the same place where Lucifer cooked everyday for himself and his father, though. “I didn't know that father had hired you” commented Lucifer after hesitating.

“You didn't? Oh, here I was assuming you didn't mind at all and that is why you weren't saying anything at the restaurant” Alastor started to pull in his chef coat, before washing his hands and starting turning on the oven. “My bad, then. I should have probably said something. I just needed some extra money and this seemed like a good opportunity, you see.”

“No, no, it's okay” Lucifer brushed his hair back. He still hasn't taken his shower or done anything to prepare himself, noted Alastor. Those droplets of water would fall without no one to appreciate them. “Figures that father would prefer a chef he already knows, I suppose. Are you going to be fine by yourself? You aren't bringing anyone else?”

“No, it's all me” Alastor took out the tupperware with all the meat cuts that he had made. “Don't worry, providing for 7 guests is nothing I can't do.”

“What kind of meat is that?”

“Pork” was the easy, automatic answer. “I have a friend with a farm that provides me with the best he has for the right price. Apparently this one was an especially lively one right before it was his time. ”

“Oh, neat” Lucifer looked over the food before he noticed the time on his watch. “Oh, shoot, I need to get dressed. It seems you have it all under control so I will leave you to it. There is a bathroom at the end of the hallway if you need it.”

“Understood” Alastor continued working as he heard Lucifer moving in the direction of his room. One guest bathroom, two private ones attached to the bedrooms of the Morningstar, reminded himself. He needed an excuse at some point of the night to enter Lucifer's and implant the bugs.

The main dishes were already about to be finished when the guests started to come in. Their voices could be heard from the living room all the way there. They all wished Lucifer a happy birthday and seemed genuinely happy to see him. Alastor took out the freshly made appetizers from the freezer and put them on a silver plate, preparing to go serve.

As soon he came out to the living room, his mind was already doing a recognition of the faces there. Asmodeus Lafayette, an important fashion designer for whom Lucifer had modeled during his brief career. The tallest of all guesses, he would have to recline his head to enter into any room. The significantly shorter man hanging from his arm was his favorite supermodel of the moment, Fizarrolli Santoni, usually referred to only by his first name. Beatrice Lumier, nicknamed Queen Bee in all of her official social media, had the most colorful hair that Alastor had seen in real life. A music producer and occasional performer herself that had made a considerable amount of hits that sounded on the radio. The buff man at her side, Vortex, was just a normal bouncer for what he could gather, not big on being in the spotlight given he had only accompanied his girlfriend on a couple of events. Al Mammon, a TV and movie producer that, as far Alastor could discern by critics, made mostly commercial trash to enjoy “with the brain turned off.”

Alastor smiled as he offered them the appetizers and let Lucifer make the presentations.

“So that is the Alastor guy you talked to us about?” Alastor could hear Asmodeus talking to Lucifer as he was serving a glass of water to Vortex, the designated driver for the night.

Unfortunately he couldn't hear what Lucifer said in response without making it obvious he was listening, but did reach to his ears the laughter of Asmodeus. He kept his face fixated on the polite setting intact until everyone had grabbed something to eat and then retired himself to the kitchen, allowing himself to internally freak out as he took out the drinks from the freezer. What did Lucifer tell them about him? What was there to talk about that could be so funny? Did everyone at the party know about the attempted date? Was that the funny part?

If Lucifer had been laughing at his back like that, then by all means Alastor was going to take his time making a nice dinner out of him. When he had a bunch of cups filled out, he came out again just as Joseph Morningstar was opening the door.

“Lili, girl, where have you been?” greeted Bee, taking a glass and running up to greet the blonde woman by squeezing her hard. “Bitch, I haven’t seen you in so long!”

“I know, I know. I have been terribly busy lately.”

Alastor side eyed the woman as he made his round, not missing the way that Lucifer stayed a little bit behind until Lilith was fully inside the living room and unable to escape from. The eyes of her light up.

“Lulu!” Lilith went up ahead to give Lucifer a kiss on each of his cheeks. European or pretentious? Both, probably both, decided Alastor. He tried not to think how seeing those two together made sense, as if they both came from the same universe, despite their obvious height difference. She was beautiful, no doubt about it, but to Alastor she couldn’t have been uglier as she offered up a wrapped gift to the birthday man. “I am sorry for coming late, it took me a while to find the place. Happy birthday, dear.”

“Thank you” Lucifer took the present and his smile wasn’t as light as it used to be. “Thank you for coming anyway. How have you been?”

“Oh, you know, buried in work and no time for anything fun. But it’s so worth it for the things we are managing to do…”

“Appetizers? Drinks?” offered Alastor, holding both plates in front of her.

He paid attention to the way she looked at him. No sign of recognition or curiosity anywhere. To her he was just the catering service, nothing else. A sense of relief washed over him. Whatever Lucifer had been spreading about him to his friends, at least it hasn't reached this woman. If all their empty excuses were anything to be believed, they weren’t as close anymore. He didn’t miss either the slight smile of gratitude that graced Lucifer’s face for a second.

“I will take the food, thank you” Lilith accepted the napkin offered to her before grabbing one of the smallest portions. “What is that delicious smell that I am feeling in the air?”

“Apple sweetened pork chops, miss. It should be ready in a few minutes.”

“Lilith, this is my co-chef at the new restaurant I am working at. Alastor, this is Lilith.”

Alastor gave a small bow with his head as Lilith laughed courtesy.

“Oh, please, no need to be so formal. If you work next to Lulu, then you must be quite the chef already. I can already tell that the food is going to be to die for.”

Hopefully, thought Alastor. But no, no. That was for later, when they were alone, in private. Although, of everyone at that party, Lilith was the one with the lowest social profile. Could he really make her disappear without causing too much buzz? He comforted himself with that idea. Her neck wasn’t as pretty as Lucifer’s, but all blood shone the same under the moonlight. Her meat would be tender, he could tell. Usually he avoided targeting women, but there was a first time for everything.

“You flatter me, miss. I can only hope to provide the kind of service worthy of Morningstar.”

“You definitely know the right words” Lilith smiled in that obnoxious way that Alastor wasn't sure what it meant before she recognized Asmodeus, going up to him not without giving a pat to Lucifer's shoulder.

The contact didn't make him any happier. Well, that was something at least. A bad break up then. Maybe Lilith wasn't going to be his target of the night after all.

"If you excuse me, I have to return to the kitchen. '' A little more relaxed, Alastor made his way back and stacked up on plates for the pork chops, taking them out to the dining room. He was in the middle of decorating each plate with a napkin rose, when he heard the voice of the TV producer.

"I can't believe the old Joe actually brought her in. Again."

"Mmm" responded Bee. They were both talking near the wall to the living room. Alastor pretended to double check all the silverware to buy himself more time. "Like, I like her a lot and she is cool, but I don't know who is he kidding with this. It's like he won't stop until Lilith has her own ring from someone. As if she wasn't the one who broke up with Luci."

"Right? At this point just buy your own ring and catfish yourself to get the old man off your back, lady."

"Couldn't she also just like to see an old friend?" suggested the voice of Vortex.

"I don't know what concept of old friends you have, mate, but mine doesn't include one in which we ate each other's junk. No matter how many years it has been."

"Mammon, shut up, you are so gross" Bee was still laughing, making her protest not seem that genuine.

"Oh, sure, when the chicks talk about their private bits is cool and modern, but when a guy does it…"

Whatever the reply of Bee was, Alastor had already lost interest in the rest of their conversation. Once the whole table was ready, he went to the living room, doing his best to ignore the three gossipers, and knocked on the wall to call everyone's attention.

Lucifer was sitting on the couch, between Asmodeus and his own father, another glass of wine that seemed to have been refilled since the last time he saw him. That would make three whole glasses, if he haven't missed another one, during the night, and the results of his could be clearly seen on the blush of his face, the slow blink of his eyes like a little frog. Was seeing his ex really such an unpleasant surprise? He truly hoped so.

"Everyone, the main course is about ready now. If you could all move to the table, please" announced with a tad too satisfied smile, turning around to take on the bottle to serve anyone who wanted it.

When Lucifer moved his glass asking to be refilled, Alastor didn't waste any moment. Whatever the birthday boy wanted, he could have it. And if he got to be a funny drunk, then at least he could take that memory with him. Definitely it was getting him looser, even though still didn't do anything for how fluent his speech was. Clearly an impressive feat. Lilith had sat down next to Bee and Fizarrolli, a little off to be in front of Lucifer. Sometimes she looked at him to make conversation and Lucifer responded in kind, but Alastor noticed he was looking into her. Repressed feelings? One-sided attraction still left over? Oh, how he wished that a hatchet to the head was everything necessary to know what thoughts were actually ruminating around someone's head. Then he would not hesitate to kill Lucifer that way and drink up his secrets, his shames, just as much as he would drink his sounds of pain.

Alastor let them have a moment to acclimate themselves again before bringing the biggest tray. The noses of everyone stood up in attention and he could see mouth water as he laid it on the center of the table, before serving everyone.

"Please, enjoy it. Locally sourced meat of the best quality I could find for this special occasion" said when all the plates were full and gave a short bow, waiting for anyone to give the first bite, to deliver the first feedback.

"Oh, mate, this shit truly hits the spot!" It was Mammon, with a cruder language he would have rather to, but a positive effect on his ego all the same.

From there, all the compliments started to trickle down like an avalanche and congratulations were in place. The cashier he had caught in the parking lot of the supermarket had done at least one good thing with his life.

"Thank you, you are all welcome. Enjoy the meal" Alastor let them resume the dinner as he moved to the kitchen. His own dinner was a sandwich with the meat he had brought, not sweetened by anything, but instead rather spicy. Who could have thought such a bland man could leave such a impression on anyone's mouth? If only he could have appreciated it.

While eating with one hand, with the other he started preparing the dessert. Mixed berry compote was a quick and easy one that would do nothing at all to avoid Lucifer getting wasted, so he didn't even bother toning down the brandy on the recipe.

Once the concoction was ready, he put it in the freezer to wait until it was time to be served. The head of Bee popped out from the corner of the door, making sure that he wasn't extremely busy before deciding to speak.

"Hey, sup" she said, coming inside. "Vortex wanted some soda, is there any?"

"Of course" Alastor opened the last drawer and took out a bottle, passing it along to the woman. "Is everything okay?" asked when she took it, but made no movement to turn away.

"Yeah, yeah, totally fine, dude, don't worry" Bee sat up against the counter, apparently taking his question as permission to keep the conversation going. "You know, Luci told us so many times about how good of a chef you were that I was a little like, really? He couldn't be that good, could he? But then you actually came along and you might be even better than he sold you out as."

Oh, well, he wasn't about to turn down an impromptu compliment rain. Even though the warmth on his chest felt as unwelcome as it always did. Lucifer had said good (true) things at least. That was a relief to know.

"I appreciated it, but I would never sell Lucifer's cooking skill for short either" said, because she could too repeat those words back to Lucifer if she wanted to.

"I know, right? I myself love the part of eating stuff, not so much cooking. Vortex does most of that at home. I only manage to do simple stuff like pasta or whatever, you know?" Alastor nodded, wondering when this woman was planning to go to her actual point. She started balancing the soda bottle over the table by playing with the top. "It's kinda weird that he ended up like a super good chef. Did you know that he was a model for Asmodeus?"

"Really? Well, isn't that an interesting path career."

"That is what I am saying!" Bee smiled big at him and he felt a little disarmed by how honestly charming she was. "He was like a super good violin player too, as if he would have us listen to him practice almost every day until he had filled his quota since we were like this small" She put a hand to a point lower than her hip."We all know each other since we were little, our parents were business partners, that kind of stuff, and just kept the contact over the years. Me and Luci even dated once in primary school, but it was weird because it was like dating my younger brother, even though he is actually older for two years so we only lasted, like, three days?" Alastor kept his smile the same, wondering how many times she said the same thing to people for her to believe anyone cared.

"He even ended up playing with some symphony" continued Bee, without needing more participation from Alastor. "They were all seriously good, although totally not my style, but you have to recognize talent where there is. Then he just got bored of it, I guess? Got into that fancy cooking school and now that is all he does. Ever since the Adam thing…"

"Babe? Everything good?" Vortex appeared, completely ignoring that finally, finally, after all of that rambling Alastor was finding something worth listening to.

"Oh, shit, yeah! I was just talking with Al here and got distracted" She grabbed the bottle against her chest and gave Alastor another one of her winning smiles, the kind that probably made all of her friends lose their minds. "Sorry, man, I will leave you to it. I don't know if old uncle Joe will like it, but you can come hang with us if you want when you are done."

Alastor wanted to grab the woman by the shoulders and demand who the fuck was Adam and what did he had to do with Lucifer, but kept his smile in place and nodded, letting them go. As soon as they were back in the living room, he pulled out his phone. Adam and Lucifer, Lucifer and Adam. There had to be something about it, right?

But no, nothing. Just a bunch of biblical references for one name and then the translation for Lucifer's name on the other, but no actual pictures, no posts, nothing connecting the blonde chef he knew to someone named like that.

Truth be told, he could be anyone. Someone on that symphony he didn't get along with and contributed with Lucifer making the change on his career. An old mentor or apprentice that was so disappointing that he alone made all music lost anything attractive about it. Even just a friend that they separated ways with or could have even suffered a tragic death.

That was all good and fine, until he started thinking about the giant gap of personal posts from Lucifer from when he dated Lilith to the present. Did he really have lost all interest in participating on social media like the rest of the population or he had scrubbed the entire thing clean intentionally to avoid a bad memory?

Where the fuck was that mind reading hatchet when someone needed it?

A few minutes later, he came back to the living room to pick up all the plates. Lucifer was giggling with the red extending to his ears, officially drunk. In theory, if he could get him alone maybe he could get him to talk about Adam and Lucifer would be none the wiser the next morning. The issue was to get him alone with how much his friends insisted to be around him and laugh at shared memories and update about each other's lives. The worst part is that Lucifer was responding back with as much enthusiasm, prolonging the interaction.

He presented the dessert, serving to each guest a cup with the compote and a single ball of vanilla ice cream, with a little leaf on top of a dollop of whipped cream. He bowed his head once again before retiring to the kitchen, starting to wash the containers that had served to bring the cashier to the party. Besides Rosie and a few other friends that had his same hobby, he hasn't really fed other people that kind of meat in a long time. Logically speaking, there was never going to be any way for most people to notice any real difference if they weren't already plenty familiarized with that human flavor. If they were told that it was pork, they had no reason to doubt it. But getting outsiders to enjoy his dishes without them knowing what it was a whole compliment in itself.

Of course it would be even nicer if he could tell them and they still liked it rather than try to throw it up right there, but that was the difference between dreams and reality.

When all his containers were clean and put to dry on the side, Alastor waited for someone to come pick up the cake that was already on the refrigerator with its candles settled on top. He had no idea from where they got that cake or what flavors it had inside, but he just knew it was going to be too sweet for him, like everything Lucifer loved to get his violinist hands into to bring into his model lips.

If they offered him any out of pure courtesy, then he would respond in kind with a single bite and excuse himself to the bathroom, slip into Lucifer's room and set up the devices while everyone was concentrating on eating it. In the end, Asmodeus was the volunteer accompanied by Morningstar senior.

"Is it here the cake for the birthday boy?" asked the tallest man with a smile as Joseph went looking for a torch to turn on the candle.

"Should I help you with it?" offered Alastor, just because he should offer, even though he knew they weren't going to accept. If anyone should be able to carry the whole thing completely on his own, it was going to be the fashion designer.

"Nah, it's all good. But thank you, man, really appreciate it" Asmodeus opened up the freezer and took out the final dessert just as easily as if it weighed nothing for him. "Did you find the fire, uncle Joe?"

"Here, I got it" Joseph grabbed onto the torch to turn on the two candles, a shiny golden 3 next to a shiny silver 4. Alastor almost found it fascinating how his old boss looked so like an actual person while preparing this little detail for his son. A person that could smile, joke around and enjoy the time with others instead of just ordering them around or else they were fired. Here in his own habitat the lion had no reason to exert any dominance, it was implied already. "Alright, let's go."

"Bee, turn off the lights. Bee!" called Asmodeus, walking slowly back to the dining room.

Once the lights turned off, everyone started singing the happy birthday song as Asmodeus made his way in. Alastor followed with the plates on hand just behind Joseph, the man looking a proper grandpa just happy to be there.

If there was one thing he could say about a drunk Lucifer, is that not even all the wine of the world had dissolved his natural charisma as he looked endearingly embarrassed and touched by the attention of all of his friends. Bee was recording everything on her phone as Asmodeus put on the cake right in front of him and Lucifer straightened up.

"Don't forget to make your wish, mate" said Mammon, patting his back.

"Yeah, man, make a wish!" encouraged Bee.

"And don't tell it to anyone or it won't come true" added Asmodeus, winking an eye.

Lucifer looked like about to protest for a second that they weren't kids anymore, but either having no energy for it or thinking it better he chose to shrug. His eyes darted across the room and for a moment they stopped on Alastor, not connecting directly with his eyes but recognizing his entire persona. The candle lights made his expression look unbearably softer for a moment before he smiled and stood up a little bit to blow the candle, for the joy of everyone. Alastor clapped his hands too, as part of the ritual.

Lilith turned on the lights again and then went up to Lucifer, giving a simple and chaste kiss on his cheek. Lucifer scratched his neck and giggled without separating his teeth.

"The chef is having some too, of course. After all of the hard work he did today" said Asmodeus, confirming it with Joseph that he wouldn't mind and completely missing that Alastor was just about to disappear in the kitchen again.

To make matters worse, Joseph nodded his head.

"Absolutely. Alastor, you have been a good sport all night and there is no way we are finishing this entire thing among ourselves. You can come grab a piece."

There was no way to refuse such a generous offer from the lion in his kingdom.

"If you insist, sir. Thank you."

Asmodeus cut up slices for everyone, first for Lucifer and then the rest of the guests. Alastor was the last one and had to repress his natural disgust at the chocolate ganache between the different layers. No way in hell would he eat something like that on his own, but to not appear ungrateful he did take a piece into his mouth and forced himself to swallow without letting it infect his whole mouth with all the intensity of its sweetness.

Everyone was back on talking among themselves, enjoying the cake, so he took the chance to take his slice to the kitchen and dump it out of the window above the sink. Someone was either going to have a surprise hat out of nowhere or stomp on something they didn't expect, but either way it wasn't his issue to deal with anymore.

When he came out to the hallway, he knew to find Lucifer's room. Just five minutes, eight tops, and he could come back to the kitchen as if nothing happened. But as soon as he handed over the door knob, a voice called from behind.

"Oh, are you looking in the bathroom?"

Alastor's neck almost cracked with how quickly he turned around to see Fizzarolli standing there.

"Yes" answered with a frown, as if confused. "Is this not the one?"

"That is Luci's room. The guest bathroom is further ahead. Use it first if you really have to, I can wait."

"Oh, there isn't any bathroom here for me to use then? You would think such a big place like this would have more than one."

"Yeah, but it's okay, you can go ahead."

Fucking stupid useless tiny airheaded piece of shit model, I bet Lucifer was better than you in any runway with those gangling stick you have for legs, you couldn't even feed an anthill with those…

Alastor smiled, regrettably making his steps to the actual bathroom. After turning on the water, he counted up to 60 seconds, just as much to make it convincing for the man waiting outside as to persuade himself from grabbing that man to drown him on the toilet. He briefly considered putting some of his devices there, but that would surely mean hearing way too much he ever wanted to about Joseph or any future guests that came to the place so that was out of the question.

New strategy was then: wait until everyone else was gone, delay it as much as possible to not just receive his pay and go, and slip into Lucifer's room when there was no one around to pay attention to. What other choice did he give?

He scrunched up a piece of toilet paper on his hand and threw it into the toilet, pressing on the button at the side to make the twirl before he opened up the door again.

"Thank you, I really needed it" Alastor made himself a side for Fizzarolli to come in.

The other guest had moved from the table to the living room. As Alastor picked up the used cups for the compote and spoons, Joseph Morningstar was the first to say goodbye for the night. Next was Lilith, saying it was a lovely time but she had to grade a lot of work before Monday and better to start early for it. Mammon was next, excusing some recordings for a show.

Alastor made extra time serving more drinks, frankly amazed that Lucifer even then was still able to form any words at all. For being such a tiny man, he was truly holding on better than many others that he had seen.

The moment that Bee yawned, Vortex announced that it was late for them too. Alastor was washing up the plates in the kitchen, scrubbing with as much dedication as he could, his ear attentive to any other changes that could happen. Eventually, thankfully, the door opened up and closed after what he could only imagine had to be Asmodeus and Fizarrolli. When he returned to the living room, the fashion designer had the grace to turn down the lights as Lucifer laid on his couch.

"Lucifer?" called Alastor very softly. When the blonde didn't stir at all, he decided that was good enough and moved on to his room, quickly closing the door behind him.

It was the first time that he saw the entire place at once. Now he could see some pictures of what he had to assume was Lucifer's mom holding a teenager Lucifer and a group picture of his group friend on what looked to be a snowy retreat. He was pleased to see that at least there was no trace of Lilith on that one.

The first bug he installed under the bed and another behind the drawer of his desk. For that one naturally he had to open the drawer itself and if he ended up taking a look at its content, then who could really blame him? There was a small book of puns that made him chuckle. At least he had a good sense of humor. But the sketchbook that was underneath was a lot more interesting. How many talents did those tiny hands could actually hide? Many of the sketches were taken from real life, mostly flowers, a couple of attempts at building that Lucifer clearly lost interest in shortly after starting it, and even some animals. The portraits of real people were rare, but they were there, old people with sweet smiles that wrinkled their eyes or adult men doing ridiculous over the top expressions that he could imagine had Lucifer giggling to himself as he was doing them.

An entire page occupied by two drawings of his face. One was a profile look, a soft neutral smile on his face, and the other one was a side eye view of his face with an expression as if in the middle of teasing the viewer. Three different dates were scribbled on the top. Did that mean that Lucifer had been working on these for several days? All the shadows were there. His hair seemed to have been done with all of its highlights in place, his glasses looked like actual glass on the paper.

After that, there were other sketches where he could still recognize the shape of his hair or his eyes and how Lucifer interpreted them, but those weren't as detailed. They still kept appearing on the margins like a infectious disease that just wouldn't leave the book, no matter how Lucifer tried to doodle something else.

Alastor closed it off and put back as calmly as he could, before he did a truly stupid thing like ripping those pages off to store them in his pocket, where no one else could see them. He took a couple of deep breaths, almost wishing he could stab his own heart without dying just so it could stop trying to break the containment of his rib cage.

He felt like vomiting as he brought a hand to his face to cover his mouth, feeling it uncomfortably warm. Maybe he was the one with the disease. Wouldn't that be so much better than any other alternative?

Damn it, Lucifer. Alastor saw his hand shake for a moment, so he shook it harder and forced himself.

No matter. That didn't change anything at all. His decision had already been made. He finished installing the last device behind the bookcase, barely reading over the titles. When it was all done, Alastor activated them with a control on his pocket and came out slowly, ready to excuse confusing the door for the bathroom again to anyone that could question him, but the whole hallway was entirely empty.

Good thing he had been paid in advance. With his mission finally done, he could get back to the kitchen to prepare his bag. On the way to the door, he heard Lucifer stirring on the couch that was back to him.

"Mmmm, Ozzy?" called the blonde man. "Did you forget anything?"

Seriously, how was he managing to talk after drinking two bottles of wine almost entirely on his own? Alastor was debating whether to correct him or say anything at all when Lucifer took the decision by him, continuing on anyway.

"You were right after all" Lucifer let out a tired, sad chuckle that felt like stab wounds on his back. "Not that I thought you were wrong either… He didn't bother to invite Adam. But I got Alastor for a moment. That counts for something, right?" Another sound, like a choked up start of a sob drowning on itself. The happy talkative drunk Lucifer was nowhere to be seen. "I… I actually kinda really hated you seeing Fizzie today, Ozzy. It's not fair, you are both my friends and I hate that. But why do you get to have a boyfriend and I can't? That is not fair either, isn't?"

Alastor waited a moment, then another, just in case Lucifer turned around or added another word, but it seemed like he had come back to sleeping. Alastor pulled on the doorknob when the voice of Lucifer alerted him again.

"I hate… this…"

When a clear snore finalized his sentence, Alastor took that as a sign to leave.

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