A Warm Party Afterglow
Chloe's head pounded, she leaned forward and let the hot water wash over her. A hangover-headache of the finest sort… that is what she got from partying in Lucifer's penthouse! But she could not help but smile when she thought back to Lucifer's final reveal when she left him. So unexpected and... sweet. She finished showering, stepped out and rubbed her hair with a towel. Maze had sent Trixie to school in the morning. Yesterday, Maze had surprisingly consented to take care of Trixie the next morning, as a birthday gift to Chloe, grumbling about the sacrifices she had to make for "getting the old lady to finally loosen up and have fun for once!" Chloe highly suspected Maze to have a hand in Ella's choice of birthday surprise with "snaky hips" at the precinct. Holding her aching head, she felt gratitude for her roommates' support with her little monkey. (Well, just briefly, until she detected the not-cleaned plates and mugs in the rubbish bin – again!)
Chloe's thoughts drifted back to Lucifer, to their gentle, warm embrace. He smelled so wonderfully like himself, traces of expensive cologne and whiskey but otherwise … somehow, there was no better word for it, pure male. Comforting. Familiar. Home. She felt her heart beat faster at the memory of their closeness. A smile crept across her features when she remembered his stupid dickish joke - so very typical Lucifer! Hard not to lo… like the adorable dork he sometimes was. Well, more often than not. Most of the time, really.
She grinded her teeth. No, nope, she was not going there, again! No hopes running high. To dangerous! She was Past. Any. Romantic. Nonsense. Full stop! She looked up into the mirror. The reflection showed her his gift, dangling around her neck. Well, so much for putting her feelings for him to rest… Chloe sighs, then pulls herself up straight, headache be damned. Linda was right. She was lying to herself. Maybe the time has come to dig a bit deeper into the enigma that was Lucifer Morningstar. To stop acting like a stupid wounded deer! She did not have her detective skills for nothing, did she? Ha!
Their sweet hugging moment in his penthouse had been broken up by a sudden heavy "thump" from the living room, followed by a painful groan. Dan had chosen the worst possible moment to fall off the couch, hitting his drill in the process. He had struggled to get to his feet, swaying, swearing, holding his head and cursing under his breath, Linda's glasses adorably askew on his nose. His antics woke Linda who stirred and groaned as well. Chloe and Lucifer had both watched the adorable scene from his bedroom, both giggling in unison. Alas, their moment was gone.
After some banter, groaning, awkward laughing, and depleting the stock of Lucifer's "overnight guest" towels and toothbrushes, all four of them did have a nice, light hangover-after-party breakfast. Lucifer prepared it skilfully for all of them (of course he is an expert in this, Chloe mused), involving fresh-pressed orange juice seasoned with powdery headache painkillers. "Sorry for the hole in your wall, buddy, I'm going to repair it", Dan sort of apologized. "We were a tad out of bounds, really..." Linda added, when Chloe kicked in "…but glad to see that you hadn't, you know, run off again…", she held her breath to not admit to her fears, "…and watching the sunset from the balcony was formidable, one can really get used to the view", Linda piped in and glanced at Chloe to play over the embarrassment her friend felt after phrasing her fears.
"Any time, you're SO welcome", Lucifer put the hand to his heart and gave a funny little old-fashioned bow. He could not help but smile at his friends. After his gift had been so well received by the Detective, he felt all warm and fuzzy inside. "Well, personally, I cannot help but appreciate every bit of proof that you all managed to give the Detective some well-deserved birthday celebrations", he gestured towards the messed-up living room. "The only thing I certainly regret is that I was not here with you to witness the Detective loosening up!" Lucifer's devil smirk crept in, "I mean, finally! Imagine the bet I could have won against Maze!" For once, his remark did not earn him an eye roll from Chloe, but a soft little smile.
Linda made a mental note to question Lucifer about his remarkable laissez-faire attitude towards his friends hogging his penthouse, drinking his best booze and nosing around in his belongings: It did not seem to bother him in the slightest. Perhaps Angels did not need the same amount of privacy, as did humans? Did they have own rooms in the Silver City? Maybe she could question Amenadiel about it. The two of them had quite grown a connection lately…. Angel-wing-dumpster-fired-up relation, likely. Linda's head train continued towards Lucifers former job as The Ruler of Hell: Had Lucifer had a kind of private apartment down there? Some Refugio for himself after a good day's work of….well, torturing the damned? Linda shuddered and returned to safer, analytical grounds. Angels, and even more so the Devil, may not know privacy in a human sense. Which would perfectly explain why Lucifer was so immensely clueless about understanding why breaking into someones' apartment, either his own or Chloe's, was a no-go in human terms (breakfast-delivering intentions full switched on or not). Yep, Linda decided, "privacy" was definitely going to be a topic for their next sessions. Ok, when her head was clear again, that is!
Linda and Dan took their leave after some joint clean-up to the extent Lucifer allowed to make them feel better. Dan rode with Linda, to be dropped off at his apartment. Chloe called an Uber and tried to help Lucifer with the clean-up in his bedroom, still feeling a bit embarrassed about partying in his penthouse. "Sorry that we tried to break into your safe. I was… erm, curious why you'd left. So stupid of me, really!" she tried to laugh it off a bit. "I was… looking for clues… as to where you went, again…" "What, in my safe?" Lucifer raised an eyebrow, lips twitching, "interesting choice of venue to look for a lead, Detective!" "Oh, well, never mind, at that time, it made a certain amount of sense… oww!" Chloe held her head briefly, the painkiller effects already wearing off. "We also tried to figure out the code, like, cracking a kind of a riddle, I mean..." she trailed off. Dang, hangovers seemed to lower her inner barriers! "Oooh, I love it that I was a riddle to you, then, Detective? A Morningstar riddle? How lovely! What combinations did you try?" Lucifer looked positively exhilarated. "I knew this was a mistake the moment I mentioned it!", Chloe murmured, then sighed. "Ok, ok, well, if you must know: We tried "6-6-6-6", "8-0-0-8"… ", watching his appreciative smirk return full force when she added more number codes for the broad spectrum of "sex words with friends". "Good thinking, Detective, well done!" he praised. Of course Lucifer seemed to be proud of them, rather than being embarrassed, like everyone else would be! Chloe went on "So, after nothing worked, we tried other number combinations…", now it was her turn to smirk at him "…for "fall1n1", for "daddy issues", "Satan delusions", "devil role play" and finally "goat cheese" ….but sadly to no effect" she wriggled her eyebrows at him. "Ugh what? Goat cheese, really, Detective?" Lucifer looked offended. Chloe continued "…at which point we hauled Dan over, with his toolbox in tow. Sorry for that one! It was really us, not him… " she gestured at the hole in the wall. "But he gladly obliged, I assume!" Lucifer stated, reading the "yes, well, he did" from her face expression.
"Well, I'm glad that you did not succeed to crack the Morningstar riddle, or you would have spoiled your surprise", he added in a more sincere tone. She locked her gaze with his, dropping the banter. Did she just imagine that his dark brown eyes were warmer than usual? She sighed and followed her hangover mood. "You know, you are an enigma for me, Lucifer Morningstar." She paused. "I will probably never understand you. As you've said to me. Many times. Each time you push me away, in fact." Her mouth curved in a sad little smile. Lucifer was banned by her eyes, her smile, her lips, her adorably messed-up hair. Why did she cause this need in him to take her in his arms, to hug her close, to comfort her? "You know, it is just that I cannot stop trying to understand you," Chloe continued and moved towards him, "…detective job, bad old nosy habits, I guess. Sorry for that." Chloe gestured vaguely towards his bedroom wall - or towards him? Then she took a step closer and reached up to cup his jaw with her right hand, her thumb running across his stubble. It felt exactly like she'd imagined under her fingertips. Lucifer's lips parted, his breath caught in his throat. He felt her soft touch like an lightning curse through him, down to his hidden wing tips. His arms longed to wrap around her, pull her close. Damn, even his frigging stupid wings stirred to pop out, just by her touch! He froze and tried to force the wings to stay hidden, to control himself. He had to stay away from her, to keep her save!
Chloe felt him stiffen at her touch. She sighed and let her hand drop. She stepped back, picked up her jacket and moved towards the elevator. "Well, it is your life, all of it – regardless if I understand your motives or not; if you party, marry, divorce, run to Las Vegas or not. None of my business. None at all." She cleared her throat. Was there sadness in his eyes, even longing, or was she just projecting? "But I am always here for you, Lucifer Morningstar. You are my partner and you are… special to me." Dang! Hangovers really seemed to spark a flat-out honesty in her. "I really thank you for your gift. So sweet of you to think of it, it made quite an… impact with me." She smiled, her left hand unconsciously gripping the bullet on the chain around her neck. "…and thanks for the awesome party, of course!" she gestured around the room and then turned to leave.
She had already reached the elevator door and pressed the button when she heard him murmur, voice earnest, "The number combination for the safe is Demeter". Chloe stiffened and turned around to face him. The elevator arrived with a "ping" and the doors slid open. Demeter, the Greek goddess of spring, who symbolized growth and blooming? Whose symbol was "fresh green shoots"? Chloe stepped into the elevator backwards, still facing Lucifer, who stood in the doorframe to his bedroom. He looked somehow – lost? Sad? She could not tell, but her heart started to beat faster. "…yes, the acronym for "Chloe", he confirmed. Then added, in a wisper, "Renewal". As they both started to smile hesitantly at each other, the doors slid close. She was gone.
Lucifer stared at the elevator doors for minutes after the closing "ping". When he finally stirred, his eyes fell onto his white button-down shirt Chloe had worn, tossed onto his bed. It had been such an adorable sight, such a pleasant surprise, to see her in his shirt! She needed to run around in it all day, if he had a say in it! He still felt this strange, soft warm glow in his chest after their shared smile. Why was everything so different with the Detective? Why could she touch him so deeply, without even laying a finger on him?
Lucifer looked around, finally awaking from his thoughts. He better starts to get a grip on himself! Some top-shelf whiskey was always a good medicine for him. Lucifer pulled himself a drink and took a sip. He picked up the trolley from his Vegas trip to take it back to his bedroom and closet to unpack. The white shirt still lays on his bed, and innocent siren. He picks it up, and instead of putting it to the laundry basket, he presses it to his face, closes his eyes and inhales her scent.