"So, explain to me what happened again," Dan said. He was seated across from Chloe in Chloe's living room, while Trixie colored on the coffee table between them. Chloe had called him over after Trixie's summon wore out and Mazikeen was transported back to Hell with Lucifer hot on her heels.
Chloe clutched her mug. She'd had to make more coffee after Lucifer went through most of the first pot himself. "Trixie summoned Maze," she monotoned. "Maze and Lucifer appeared."
"Lucifer, the devil," Dan clarified.
Chloe nodded, probably more aggressively than what was healthy. She took a burning gulp of coffee. "And then we had breakfast with the literal devil and his right-hand demon, who—by the way—was covered in pink glitter, and then we played Monopoly, and he won." Chloe downed the rest of her coffee and poured herself some more.
"But he didn't say anything about selling your soul, or making a deal?" Dan looked just as confused as Chloe felt.
"No. Nothing. He finished making the pancakes, won the game, flirted, and left." She needed something stronger than coffee, because that happened. Oh man, the innuendos that man (devil? Angel? Whatever) had spewed. "But no, he didn't try anything."
"Uh, okay." Dan drank some of his coffee, at a much slower rate than Chloe had downed hers. "We'll get back to, uh, that." He rubbed the back of his neck. "So, Trixie somehow summoned two… entities at the same time."
"Yeah. Entities." She wasn't freaking out. Nope. Just another day in the Decker household. Just another day in the Decker household living room which was still dusted in glitter from when Maze and Lucifer had landed. Yep. Just another Sunday.
"Trixie," Dan called, setting down his coffee. Trixie looked up from her sheet up paper and her sprawling mess of crayons. "Can I see your necklace?"
"Okay!" She unclasped her necklace and reached across the table and her drawing to give it to Dan. Hell, Chloe realized as she took another masking gulp of caffeine, Trixie had glitter on her, too. From Hell.
The necklace had been a present from Dan for her ninth birthday. The chain was iron without any frills or ornamentation; the pendant was the focal point. Dan had flattened a quarter sized piece of fire agate and had chiseled onto one side of it a generic banishing pentagram, while on the other, he had carved a protection-oriented summoning pentagram. Both Chloe and Dan had agreed that, what with how dangerous their job could be, Trixie should be able to summon and banish at the most basic level. Especially after what had happened with Malcom. God, Malcom. Chloe suppressed the shiver of unwanted memory and forced herself to return to the necklace.
She and Dan had explained what the pendant was and how it worked to Trixie on her birthday. Then had come the first talk on responsible summoning, which Trixie had full-heartedly agreed to. Summoning could be dangerous, and it was difficult, and it was exhausting. As it turned out, Trixie was a natural. Mazikeen appeared on Trixie's twelfth try, beating Dan's first try summoning at twenty-three attempts, and Chloe's ongoing failures. In Chloe's defense, she could at least banish. Sort of.
Dan turned the agate over in his hands, the chain trailing listlessly downwards. He frowned. "Chlo, there's no way this can summon two demons, angels—God, archangels—at the same time." He handed it back to Trixie. She took it back with a gap-toothed grin. "Besides, Lucifer?" He shook his head took a massive gulp of coffee reminiscent of Chloe's. "Pretty sure no one's every summoned him before. And not because no one's tried."
"Yeah." How many crimes did they get called out to because the perp had been trying to summon Lucifer? Of course, they all had a tendency to call him by his titles, and not name, because none of them were on a first-name basis with him. She was on a first-name basis. With Lucifer. Right. Okay. Trixie pushed aside her drawing and pulled out a fresh piece of paper.
"Who'd you draw there, monkey?" Dan asked. Chloe glanced over the table to it, her angle better than Dan's allowing the sight of drawing to draw her out of her spiraling thoughts, and downed more of her coffee.
Trixie handed the paper to her father. "Maze and Lucifer." She grinned. "He's funny."
Dan stared at the drawing, frowning slightly. To Chloe, he mouthed, 'no horns?' Chloe shook her head. No horns, or tail, or anything that had looked remotely inhuman. Then again, the same could be said for Maze, most of the time. Maybe he had been covering himself in a glamour.
"That's a good drawing." Dan passed it back to Trixie, and she set it back on the table. He glanced at Chloe, obviously wanting her to be the one to start the harder of the conversations. Chloe held back her sigh.
Trixie, perceptive as ever, beat Chloe to the punch. "I didn't mean to summon him. I only wanted to summon Maze." And so, she derailed the line of thought Chloe was about to pursue. "I remember the rules."
"You, uh, didn't mean to summon Lucifer?" Dan asked.
Trixie shook her head. "No. You said that's against the rules."
Chloe fiddled with the threads of her chair's armrest. That begged the question of how she'd summoned Lucifer. Summoning only worked through intent. If a summoner intended to ask a demon or angel a question, then a demon or angel would be brought forth who knew something about the question. If a summoner intended to use the demon or angel as protection, then a demon or angel would be summoned who could protect them. If a summoner asked for a demon or angel by personal memory, then that specific demon or angel would come forth. That's why Trixie had been able to summon Maze repeatedly. If Trixie hadn't meant to summon Lucifer, then why did he appear in Chloe's living room?
"And you didn't mean to summon him, even a little?" Chloe asked. She already knew the answer; Trixie didn't lie to her. Normally, anyway.
"No. I swear on chocolate cake."
Dan raised his brow. "That's a pretty good swear, Monkey."
Trixie smiled. "I know."
"You remember the rules, then?" Dan continued. "All of them?"
Trixie nodded, and put down her crayon. Chloe took a sip of her coffee. "Don't be mean, don't scare anyone, don't ask them to do something you wouldn't do, don't experiment or summon anyone except Maze without either you or Mom, don't try to summon God, or Lucifer, or any of the really powerful beings, and tell you if I summon an angel." Some tension, which Chloe had been unpleasantly aware she was carrying, drained out of her at Trixie's prompt recital. Still, her shoulders hurt.
"That's it." Dan finished his coffee. Trixie returned to her blank piece of paper, an Unmellow Yellow crayon poised in her hand. "You good, Chlo?"
"Yeah." Her voice cracked. Chloe cleared her throat and nodded. "Yeah. Yeah, I'm good. Could—could you look into him?" Dan stood, but she didn't stand with him, instead opting to watch as he wove his way around the couch and put his mug in the sink.
"I'll, uh, I'll ask around. About Lucifer. Without raising eyebrows. Or getting arrested. Or people calling me crazy." He pursed his lips. "Yeah… see you tomorrow. And, uh, check for anything he might of left, or something."
"I will."
"Bye, Dad!"
Dan rubbed Trixie's head on the way out, leaving Chloe to try and figure out what the hell was going on by herself. Another drawing later, and she hadn't moved from her seat. She sighed. Finished her coffee in a massive gulp. She didn't have any information, and she didn't have anything tangible except that he was here and he really shouldn't have been. So, it was time to just run with it. Again.
AN: So the one-shot turned into a two-shot, and there happens to be a prequel, and a longer story, too... anyway, if anyone has any tips for writing Dan (or in general), I'd greatly appreciate them! Thanks.