Chapter Text
Lucifer is not really what people expect when they think of someone who is ranked King of Hell, the pinnacle of all demons, the embodiment of pride, harbinger of evil, the strongest monster among monsters, etcetera, and etcetera.
All of those titles felt more of an insult than an honor, at this point.
Very few actually knows what he's really like, how disappointing he really is, how those titles slip his form like an overgrown attire in dire need of tailoring.
Because, to be able to form that kind of opinion, one must have the opportunity to interact with him for a certain period of time.
Why a certain time you say?
Well, there's an answer for that.
He's a showman, you see? He knows how to pretend to make himself look less pathetic than he truly is.
From all the social events that Lilith used to drag him to, he'd learned that the easiest way to not un-intimidate demons is to stand straight and just keep smiling. Being a mysterious figure is a much more fitting personality for the demon king than being an awkward, social wreck.
He keeps his teeth gritted with a grin lest he'd end up saying stuff that would earn him a raised eyebrow from his wife and an awkward silence from the rest. In fact, he became so good at not saying anything particularly damning when he started involuntarily checking out of social conversations about 80% of the time instead of the usual 50%.
But the act doesn't really last long. Or atleast, it doesn't fool anyone with a brain for too long. Everyone who is stuck with him for enough time knows that he is weird and potentially clinically insane.
Fortunately, no one has been unfortunate enough to talk to him in well, years, several years actually, except for the random times he could muster up the courage to bother his daughter with an unwelcome phone call or two.
Which is why he's kinda dumbfounded right now.
As one of the select few who kinda-kinda knows him, Charlie must have an idea about the kind of person he was (not). There was a reason she was avoiding him for all those years, he is sure of it.
He was sure of it.
But now?
"I am not complaining, darling, of course not, but are you really, like really, sure about this?" He does not point to the very obvious apple-shaped tower in the unfinished blueprint because there was no way Charlie didn't know what he's really asking about.
What could possibly possess her darling girl to even consider that to be a good idea? Was it because he was being really helpful with the construction of the hotel? Had he somehow actually succeeded in giving her the wrong idea about him? Was the act too convincing?
Charlie looks to Vaggie for a split-second before taking a deep, steadying breath. "I'm sure, Dad." She then waves her hand in front of him as if shooing an invisible tension before it could fully form between them. "Only if you want to, of course! I know you must be busy with all the royal stuff you do."
Busy? Him?
Where did she get that ide-
Oh. Right. He did say that on their last phone call, didn't he?
"I'm not... I'm... Actually... I'm in, haha, uhhh, r-right, vacation! I'm on an extended vacation! You know, I've been working for several millennia, I kinda earned it. I'm not even doing anything important right now, not that there's anything more important than you but-"
He stops the tangent before it could get worse and lets himself settle for an easier, simpler, and far more honest answer. "I'm not busy."
But his actually nonexistent work schedule is not the problem here. She has to know, right? There's no way she doesn't. Did he need to say it out loud? He doesn't want to say it out loud!
Sure, he could be useful from time to time, but that's all he could be. He's like the handyman you call when nothing else is working, a convenient, extremely helpful outsider but certainly not someone who you'd want to be seeing everyday when you are minding your own business in your own home.
Lucifer is the bad juju of all bad juju. The black cat on the road. The shoelace that comes undone. The fucking iceberg on the Titanic movie! His presence alone beckons absolute misfortune.
"I promised to support your dream, and isn't not getting in the way of it a really important condition in all of that?" Another nervous laugh escapes. "I mean, what am I even supposed to do here after the construction? And your friends too, won't they get uncomfortable with me here?"
And more than anything else, he doesn't want to be a burden.
He was just supposed to stay here long enough to rebuild the hotel and make sure his daughter is okay. He wasn't supposed to overstay his welcome. It's the exact same reason why he immediately left the moment he agreed to arrange that meeting with heaven.
But he wants to. Fuck, he wants to really stay. He wants to see Charlie more, wants to be able to hug her and to hear her voice without having to resort to photos of times long passed and electronic signals and shit. Isn't this part of all that starting over again thing that they sung about? He was pretty sure he did not dream that. Probably. Maybe.
"We don't mind." The voice startles him. Right, the rest of the sinners were here too. They were right in the middle of brainstorming what the hotel would look like before Lucifer's interruption, of course they are here.
It was the white spider that spoke up. His name is... Angel... Angel something.
Lucifer stares at the sinner, uncomprehending. "You don't mind? Why not?"
Angel-white shrugs 4 of his visible limbs. "Charlie wants ya here, she's the boss, and ya're not half bad." He looks at the rest of the sinners who also gave their own half-hearted shrug. The small, one-eyed sinner is jumping in joy though.
Not half bad? What? What does that even mean?
He's the bad!
He looks to his daughter for direction but she seemed to only draw encouragement from the residents' unanimous approval.
When she faces him, she tries for a determined smile, "I want you to stay, Dad. And about helping the hotel? We can figure something out. The hotel's going to get bigger and busier from here so we'd probably end up assigning tasks to everyone anyway. We can give you some? I just..." She stops speaking for a moment, seems to think about something, and then she went and grasped his hands. The contact is firm, warm and very fucking real.
He misses her.
The thought hits him like a sledgehammer, even when it is already such a very familiar sentiment for him.
Oh, he misses her so much despite the fact that she is literally right in front of him at this very moment.
How does that make any sense?!
"...-hotel is all about giving someone a chance. And I want that with you." She looked at him like she used to do as a child. Like he was not the king of hell, but her father, nothing more and nothing less. "Live with me."
And how was he supposed to say no to that?