Lucifer would be the first to admit that he might have been a little distracted over the course of their current investigation.
They were standing at the beach, in the same spot where the murder had occured two days ago, confronting their main suspect with new evidence. Well, actually Chloe was busy confronting their suspect with new evidence, Lucifer's thoughts kept circling back to his conversation with Linda.
All of a sudden, the man took off, into the water. What the hell did he think he was going to accomplish with that? Did he plan on boarding a nearby ship?
Chloe went after him, probably fearing for his life, rather than thinking that there was any real danger of him getting away. Lucifer watched from the beach as she caught up to the suspect before he was even fully immersed and dragged him back. She put him on his knees, handcuffing him. Lucifer never tired of seeing her in action.
Chloe looked down at herself, water droplets falling off her soaked clothes. "Fantastic. This is just fantastic", she said, voice dripping with sarcasm.
Lucifer took off his suit jacket and placed it around her shoulders. She gave him a grateful little smile. It caused a strange fluttering sensation in his stomach. Usually he would have fought it down forcefully, but this time he let it be. It spread out, giving him a warm, tingling, gratifying feeling. It was rather ... nice.
If immortality had taught him one thing, it was that there was no time like the present.
"Would you like to go to dinner with me?", he blurted out.
Chloe furrowed her brow. "What, you mean like a date?"
The sensation in his stomach changed and he realized that he was getting nervous. Now that was an entirely unexpected development. He shifted from foot to foot.
"Yes", he said, sounding more certain than he felt.
"Where is this coming from?"
Now it was his turn to look confused. "Because I would like to go out and have dinner with you?"
Chloe looked annoyed rather than excited at the prospect of going out to dinner with him, another thing he hadn't expected.
"Hmm, so you can stand me up or, better yet, show up with another woman on your arm? No, thank you."
Lucifer had a sudden, and monumental, epiphany about how his actions might have come across from Chloe's point of view.
"Um", he said, rather ineloquently.
"Why now?", Chloe asked, crossing her arms in front of her chest, her stance defensive.
Lucifer continued shifting around uneasily. Get it together. You've faced Dad's wrath, surely you can ask a mortal out on a date without breaking into a sweat.
"Because I want to?", he tried again.
Chloe shook her head. "I'm gonna need a little more than that, if you want me to seriously consider this."
Lucifer sighed. He caught himself scratching at a spot behind his left ear and was appalled at the insecure gesture. He drew his hand back quickly.
"Um. I've been thinking about this- us- and I've come to realize that maybe I haven't handled things in the best way-" Chloe raised an eyebrow at that, but remained silent. "-what I'm trying to say is that I'm sorry how things played out. I admit I've let my fear of not being entirely in control of the situation affect me unduly. I hope you might be able to forgive me."
There was a moment of silence.
"C'mon, lady, you gotta go to dinner with him after that!", piped up their suspect from the ground.
Chloe glared at him. "You have the right to remain silent", she reminded him. She turned to Lucifer. "Can you give me some time to think about it?"
While it wasn't what he'd expected, at least she hadn't turned him down right away. He swallowed around a sudden lump in his throat. Had he screwed things up beyond repair? Given how he'd acted in the past, he could see how she would have trouble trusting that he was committed this time, that he wouldn't run again as soon as things got serious. He'd just have to work to convince her that things were different now. He nodded slowly in reply to her question. He could wait for her.