"I'm not wearing these."

"Please?"

"Absolutely not."

"Pretty please?"

"No way in hell."

"Pretty please with a cherry on top?"

"No."

"Satan, c'mon. For me?" Natalie pouted. Satan took one look at her, and immediately decided that that was the biggest mistake he could've made.

As much as he hated it, he was weak when it came to her.

With a glare and a distasteful curl of his lip, he snatched the reindeer antlers from her and put them on his head.

"There. Happy?"

The pout dropped instantly and she beamed at him.

"Yup! You look so cute," she said, and laughed when he crossed his arms and looked away from her with a huff.

"I'm not cute," she heard him grumble under his breath, and her grin widened. She rose on her toes to kiss his cheek, not missing the way he went lax at the brief touch.

"Come on," she said, pulling one of his hands away from his chest after she'd adjusted her elf hat. "Our friends are waiting on us!"

"Oh, joy," he muttered wryly, and Natalie giggled the whole way out of the house.

xxx

Lucifer could hear the Christmas music from a mile away, giving him only a glimpse of what to expect when they arrived at the karaoke bar.

He wasn't disappointed - Christmas lights set up all around the outside of the building, gaudy trees standing on either side of the doors. The whole thing was flashy and loud - much more so than usual.

He felt himself shudder in dread as Nat squealed beside him, practically vibrating in her excitement.

"They already have a table!" she informed Luce, grabbing his arm and tugging him behind her.

Once on the inside, Nat stopped abruptly, causing him to almost run into her.

"Jesus, kid, watch-"

"Hmm, I wonder where- Oh, there they are!" she cut him off, ignoring him completely, and he glared at the back of her head as she began pulling him again, wondering not for the first time why he put up with her shit.

She released him when she reached her friends, chatting them up animatedly in no time at all. Luce hung back, nodding to those who greeted him, but mainly keeping a subtle eye on Natalie.

He watched the way she threw her hands around when she tried to describe something, the way she tossed her head back when she laughed, and for a moment he remembered why he did the things he did, why he played her games and let her make a hopeless fool of him.

"You look festive today, Stan."

He tore his eyes from Natalie and looked down at Mike, who had shuffled away from the group and moved to stand by his side. Luce made a face.

"Yeah, well, it wasn't by choice," he replied gruffly, though the bitter edge to his voice had let up. Mike only laughed.

"I assumed that was Nat's doing. She wanted us all to wear something Christmas-y." He flicked the pom pom of his Santa hat.

Certainly sounded like Nat, Luce thought as he glanced back at her, laughing about something with Chelle. As if she could sense his eyes on her, she turned mid laugh to look at him. He looked away quickly, but he knew he'd been caught watching her.

"Hey," she said, touching his arm a moment later. "We're gonna sing. Do you want me to pencil you in, too?" The cheeky smirk on her face both pissed him off and amused him.

"Maybe when Hell freezes over."

"Aw, Stan, don't be like that. It's Christmas! Tis the season and all that jazz," Chelle laughed from behind Natalie's shoulder. "And you have a great voice."

"I think I'll pass."

"You sureeee~?" Nat sang, nudging his shoulder. "It'll be funnnn~!" He gave her a bland look.

"I'm already wearing the antlers, kid. Don't push your luck."

She scoffed, and as she walked away, she muttered on a laugh under her breath, "It's not like they're much different from how you normally look."

"You-" he ground out, but she was already gone. He glared and turned around, walking to the bar and ordering a drink. He would undoubtedly need several if he was going to get through this evening in one piece. The abundance of Christmas sweaters and decorations and songs in a relatively small space was overwhelming.

Even the drink in his hand was Christmas themed.

With a long suffering sigh, he tipped his head back and downed it as Jingle Bells started playing.

There were four or five (or six or seven, he didn't really know, he'd stopped counting after the second) badly, drunkenly belted songs before Natalie and Mike took the stage.

Their duet of Sleigh Ride was just as silly and ridiculous as every other one they'd had thus far. There was a lot of swaying and pointing and giggles between words, and while Luce wanted to remain annoyed and thoroughly devoid of any type of cheer, when Nat stopped bouncing to lock eyes with him, singing the last line to him ("What lovely weather for a sleigh ride together with you"), and winking before she bounded off stage, he couldn't help relaxing a bit.

He decided he didn't need the last of his latest drink, and left it sitting on the bar as she came over to him.

"Did you like my song?" she asked, grinning ear to ear.

"It wasn't horrible," he said, and she laughed, pulling his arm over her shoulders before snaking her own around his middle to lock around him.

"I knew you'd love it."

"I never said that."

"You don't need to. I know you better than you know you," she teased, looking up at him.

"Are you sure about that? I've had centuries to get to know myself."

"I'm sure," she said confidently. "I also know that we're standing under mistletoe right now." His brows furrowed.

"Wh-" he started, moving to look up, because he definitely didn't remember any mistletoe dangling above his head, but Nat grabbed his face and pulled him down, pressing her lips to his before he could.

She waited until he began kissing back, tightening the arm around her, before she smiled against his mouth and whispered, "Just kidding," before slipping away from him.

He remained standing there for a moment, staring after her in surprise, before he looked above his head. Nothing.

He rolled his eyes, deciding maybe he did need the rest of that drink.

xxx

Later, as they were leaving, he noticed the archways had mistletoe hanging in them. He pulled her to a stop and gave her a kiss she wouldn't soon forget as payback. He left her red faced and breathless in the doorway, and he smirked as she remained rooted to her spot.

What he didn't count on was her recovering so quickly and leaping onto his back. He stumbled, reaching back to grab her thighs so she wouldn't fall.

"What the hell, kid?!"

"Merry Christmas, Luce," she whispered, and kissed his cheek. This time, he was the one who went a little red.