Tuesday, DAY 10

Lucifer got to school almost half an hour early the next day, determined to catch Loki before school-if he even came, which Lucifer hoped he did. The teen was hanging out by his locker when Lilith came up to him. He started to greet her with a smile-then his head was snapped to the side from the force of her slap. He rubbed his reddening cheek as he turned back forward to stare at her in incredulous bafflement.

"What was that for?"

"You fucking moron! What did you do?" People in the hallway turned to stare and Lucifer shrunk against his locker in embarrassment.

"What are you talking about? Ow!" Lilith slapped him again.

"Don't play that shit with me. What happened?" She jabbed her finger into his chest, waiting for him to answer.

"I-we-I told him I didn't want to be friends with him and we might have said a few mean things to each other."

Lilith growled in exasperation, walking in a little circle and dragging her hand across her face. "You idiot! Why? What could have possibly possessed you to do that?"

Lucifer spluttered. "Possessed me? You're the one who told me I was moving too fast!"

"Oh my god, you are literally the most oblivious person on the planet! I have done nothing but throw you at his feet since before you even told me his name!"

"But you-at lunch-and I...stop giving me mixed signals!"

"Do you not get sarcasm at all? Because I really don't know how I could have made it more obvious that I think you two should be together. Do you need a fucking powerpoint?" Lilith put her hands on her hips.

"Could you keep your voice down? His locker is right over there," Lucifer hissed.
"Oh, the buses won't arrive for another four minutes, we're fine. Now," she crossed her arms and cocked a hip out, glaring at him meaningfully, "how are you going to fix this?!"

Lucifer sputtered intelligibly, then paused. "How do you even know about the fight?"

Lilith rolled her eyes. "You talked to Jack, who of course tells Ianto everything. Ianto was fretting about it to Owen, who told Tosh who texted me last night. The only reason I didn't send you something was because they haven't invented a slap message." She saw the look Lucifer was giving her. "We all want you to be happy, Luci, and if that means you need to be with Loki, then all the better."

Lucifer opened his mouth to respond when the doors to the bus loading area opened. Teens poured in and headed straight for their lockers. Loki paused when he saw Lucifer and Lilith by the lockers. He squared his shoulders and went directly to where Lucifer stood. Lucifer stared at Loki, who stopped a few feet away.

"I'm not giving up on our friendship." Loki's voice was firm, determined, but at the same time had an edge of cautious hope. "And I refuse to let one stupid fight come between us."

Lucifer saw Lilith wiggling her eyebrows at him out of the corner of his eye and watched her subtly slink out of the conversation, leaving the two of them alone. Well, as alone as two high schoolers could be when surrounded by hundreds of their milling, shouting classmates. Loki was bumped into from behind and took a stumbling step toward Lucifer before regaining his balance.

Lucifer steadied him with a hand on his shoulder and then guided them closer to the lockers and out of the way of oncoming traffic.

"You said that I was fooling myself if I thought that we were friends but I-"

Lucifer cut him off before he could get any farther. "Listen, what I said on Friday was...way out of line. I was wrong and I never should have said those things to you. They were lies and you didn't deserve that. I guess what I'm trying to say is I'm sorry and I don't expect you to forget it happened but do you think we could...move past it? Start over?"

Loki's shoulders relaxed and he scuffed his feet. "You don't have to apologize; I said some awful things to you, too. I shouldn't have gotten so angry. And for that, I'm sorry."

Lucifer snorted. "Really, if we're going to blame someone, it should be me. But maybe we can just agree that we both messed up and go back to being friends?"

"Yes. I would like that." They both shuffled awkwardly before Lucifer offered his hand. Loki took it and they shook hands.

As they let go, Loki said, "I should get to class, I'll see you after school?" Lucifer nodded and Loki turned around and went on his way.

Lilith danced over as he left, punching Lucifer in the shoulder.

"Jesus, Lil!"

"I told you! I told you it would work out!" She laughed and hugged him. "I'm telling everyone," she said as she pulled away, already whipping her phone out of her pocket. She started texting furiously as she walked away, calling out over her shoulder, "See you at lunch, Casanova!"

Lucifer rolled his eyes and slammed his locker. When he walked to class, he felt so much lighter on his feet.

Loki couldn't help the broad smile on his face, or the bright feeling in his chest, that stayed there all day long. He glanced at the clock or his watch every few minutes, impatiently awaiting the arrival of detention. He finally, FINALLY, had a real friend here and he wanted to spend as much time as possible with him. (And if his friend happened to be incredibly attractive? Well, that was just a bonus.)

The second hand seemed to tick slower and slower as the end of the school day neared. Loki watched the clock, already mostly packed, ignoring the teacher. The moment the bell rang, Loki's books were in his bag and he was launching himself out of his seat. He ran to his locker to exchange books, then fought the seething mass coming down the staircase like a salmon valiantly swimming up a waterfall. Five minutes later, he was in the room for detention. He headed for his normal seat, then grinned and sat down in the desk Lucifer normally sat in, not counting last Thursday or Friday as "normal". He settled in and got out some work, though he was too hyped up to actually do any of it.

About four minutes and 23 seconds later-not that Loki was staring at his watch or anything-Loki heard the door open and looked up with a huge smile that made his cheeks hurt.

Lucifer wasn't expecting the blindingly bright smile that greeted him when he opened the door. He was taken aback, his eyes wide in shock, then his mind caught up and he smiled back. He walked over to sit where he usually sat and realized Loki was sitting there instead. The grin Loki gave him said he knew exactly what he was doing. Lucifer smirked down at him and took the seat right next to him.

"That's my seat, you know."

"Really? I hadn't noticed." Loki wondered for a moment if he was perhaps jumping into this maybe a little too fast. They had, after all, only made up this morning. But then he figured, screw it, why not go for it? Live a little.

Lucifer grinned and spread out his own homework as Mr. Fury walked in the door.

"There will be no messing around in this class; I expect you to sit down, keep your mouths shut, and I want to forget that you two exist for the next two hours. Do you understand me?"

Loki couldn't help answering "Yes, sir," but managed at least to keep himself from saluting. Mr. Fury's soldierly presence certainly put a damper on the playful mood that Loki and Lucifer had been settling in to.

Mr. Fury sat down in the teacher's chair and propped his feet up on the desk, snapping open a newspaper. The expression on his face, the one that made it look like he was angry at everything, never changed a bit.

Lucifer and Loki were too rattled by Fury's directive to talk so they grudgingly set to work.

About 10 minutes in, though, after he was sure Mr. Fury was invested in his paper, Lucifer scribbled a note on a scrap piece of paper and tossed it on to Loki's desk. Loki glanced up to make sure Mr. Fury wasn't paying attention and then carefully unfolded the note, wincing when the paper crinkled. The Hub? After school today? Loki felt that brightness in his chest again and he scrawled out a reply.

He discreetly pushed the paper off the desk and Lucifer bent over to retrieve it. Will there be Torchwood involved?

Lucifer snorted in laughter, quickly disguising it in a cough. Mr. Fury eyed him suspiciously but turned back to his reading. Lucifer wrote back: Depends on how much you suck up to Ianto. Lay it on real thick like last time and you might have a chance.

Then I suppose I could be convinced to come along.

Lucifer smiled and peeked at Loki, who was twirling his pencil in his fingers with a little smile on his face, staring at his homework but obviously not really seeing it. He turned his gaze back to the note, wondering what else he could say. He wanted to keep this going, but his mind was blanking. A pencil eraser prodding at his elbow claimed his attention. Loki slid a folded piece of paper to him.

What's your class schedule? I want to see if any of our paths cross during the day.

Lucifer had to think for a moment. He carefully wrote each class and passed it back. Loki tapped his pencil on his chin before writing. Mr. Fury glanced up and both boys did their best to look like they were deep in thought. He gave a 'humph' and turned the page of his newspaper. Loki returned the note. It had his schedule, followed by, Looks like the only teachers we share are Ms. Pond and Ms. Noble. And it doesn't look like our paths will cross very much if at all.

Yeah. Too bad, I was hoping I'd see more of you during the day.

Same here.

Wait, you're taking Calculus, Advanced English, AND Advanced Physics? What are you, some kind of genius or something?

Yeah, I wish. I barely scrape by in Physics and I'm pretty sure Satan invented Calculus.

Very funny.

Haha, sorry, I didn't mean it like that. Do you get that a lot?

Only every time I meet someone new. I've kinda gotten used to it.

They continued passing notes back and forth until Mr. Fury snapped his paper down.

"Okay, time's up, maggots," Mr. Fury announced. "Get out of here."

Loki and Lucifer packed their things as quickly as they could, walking out together. Loki called Thor to tell him to pick him up at the Hub today, then got in Lucifer's car. Lucifer buckled in then turned on the car and fiddled with the A/C settings.

"Do you mind if I put in some music?" He asked, pulling a CD from the holder on his sun visor.

"No, go ahead. I probably won't know the songs, but that's fine with me." Loki tugged on his belt to make sure it was secure.

Lucifer pressed the CD into the player and adjusted the volume. He put the car in drive and pulled out of the spot, bobbing his head to the beat as a song began. Lucifer sang along with the vocals, grinning at Loki occasionally.

As he expected, Loki didn't know most of the songs, but he enjoyed the music and seeing Lucifer so happy. They pulled into a parking space at the Hub and walked in together, laughing at a snide remark Lucifer had made in response to a bumper sticker on someone's car. Tosh smiled at them, but she was talking to a customer so she couldn't say anything yet.

Loki sat down in one of the lounge chairs that Lucifer and Lilith usually sat in every Saturday. Lucifer stood next to him, talking for a bit, then went into the kitchen to put his school things in the coatroom. Tosh watched Lucifer reemerge in his Hub smock and go straight to Loki, saying something that she couldn't quite hear. Loki laughed and Lucifer walked away as Loki pulled out some of his books before getting up to join the line. Tosh grinned widely at Lucifer as he approached the counter and slipped behind it.

"I see you and Loki made up after your fight," the Asian teen commented after handing the customer their drink.

Lucifer ran a hand through his fluffy hair, grinning. "Yeah, it was just...I was being stupid is all."

Tosh snorted. "I bet you were. I'm glad, Loki is good for you." She smiled cheerfully at the next customer as they stepped up to her register.

Lucifer turned on his own register and after fiddling with the settings he looked up with a smile and called out, "I can help whoever is next!"

Loki immediately stepped into his space, smiling.

"Ah, good afternoon, sir. What can I get for you today?" Lucifer gave Loki his best professional smile, but there was laughter in his eyes.

"Hmmm...I think I'll take A Touch of Torchwood."

"I'm sorry, sir, that item doesn't appear to be on the menu." Lucifer's lips twitched as he tried not to break character.

"Then I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask to speak to your manager." The woman in line behind Loki rolled her eyes, crossing her arms before switching over to Tosh's line.

"Very well. Ianto!" Lucifer called. "This customer would like to speak to you."

Ianto turned around from his station at the bar, concern on his face until he realized it was just Loki. He shook his head slightly, smiling before coming over to join them. "What seems to be the issue?"

"This man is trying to order A Touch of Torchwood," Lucifer said, pointing at Loki accusingly.
Ianto looked confused. "But it's not raining."

Lucifer nodded and shrugged. "I was going to explain but he asked to speak to you right away."

"Please? Could you make an exception just once? It was so delicious," Loki pleaded, clasping his hands together.

"How do you expect to savor it if I just whip it up for you every time you ask?" Ianto winked and returned to his spot.

Lucifer turned back to Loki with a pout. "Sorry, looks like you're going to have to order something else."

"You promised me I could have some if I came." Loki crossed his arms and squinted at Lucifer.

"No, I said you might have a chance if you were a big suck-up. Guess that didn't really work out for you."

Loki let out a huff through his nose, reading the menu board for an alternative. "Well, then I suppose I'll have...what's a Miracle Day? What do these names even mean?"

"I don't know; Ianto likes to get creative and no one really tells him different. A Miracle Day is basically a mocha except with white chocolate."

"Alright, I'll try that, then. Also, I'd like a chocolate chip cookie, please."

Lucifer typed his choice into the register and gave Loki his total before calling out the order to Ianto. Loki moved off to the side to wait and Lucifer continued attending to customers. When his line died out, he went over to help Ianto catch up.

With Loki's cup in his hand, Lucifer walked over to where he was waiting and held the drink out to him. Loki took it and waited for the other half of his order but Lucifer was already turning to go back to his register.

"Wait, you forgot my cookie."

Lucifer stopped and looked around him, checking his pockets and on the counter as if he'd misplaced it. He put his hands on his hips and tapped his foot, looking like he was trying to remember where he'd put it. Loki watched him, a puzzled look on his face. All of the sudden, Lucifer gasped like he had finally figured it out. He reached out and touched Loki's forehead, then chest, before twirling his hand to reveal the lost cookie.

Loki stared for a moment and then blushed, smiling at his friend. "You've been practicing," he said, looking back up at Lucifer..

"I may have been paying a little more attention than I initially admitted."

Loki took the cookie from Lucifer slowly, letting the tips of his fingers drag down Lucifer's palm. He did this all with a huge smile, never breaking eye contact. Lucifer's eyes were locked with Loki's, so he saw when Loki tipped his head slightly sideways, his eyes flickering down his face for half a moment. He leaned over the counter toward Lucifer, almost as if…as if…

Oh my god….he's not going to….is he? Lucifer felt his heart rate triple with Loki's smile, his body positioning. He licked his lips unconsciously, staring at the other teen in disbelief, guarded hope, panic.

"Thank you." Loki's smile transformed into a sly smirk and he murmured, "you're not the only one that pays attention."

With a wink, Loki bit into his cookie and twirled away from the counter, walking over to his spot in the back. Lucifer remained standing exactly as he was, barely breathing, still as a statue, with his eyes wide. Owen walked up to the counter to retrieve an order and saw Lucifer standing there and staring. He turned, looking in the direction Lucifer was. There wasn't anything unusual that would merit such rapt attention. Owen looked back at Lucifer, then stood in front of him, thinking it was the angle. Nope, still nothing. He faced the blonde teen again and waved a hand in front of his face.

"Lucifer? Hey, you in there, buddy?"

Lucifer blinked and sucked in a deep breath, a full-body shudder wracking his frame and turning his gasp shaky. He blinked a few times and gave Owen an apologetic grin, a blush staining his cheeks out of embarrassment. Owen's eyebrows rose.

"Y-yeah, I'm fine. Just…lost in thought."

He turned back to his register as a woman walked up to it. Owen was still giving him a look that read, 'excuse me, please kindly explain exactly what the fuck just happened?' Lucifer gave him an annoyed glance and casually waved him off, ringing up the woman's purchase. Owen turned to Tosh for an explanation, but she seemed just as shocked as he felt, though Owen thought she also looked suspiciously delighted.

"Shit, I missed something, didn't I?" he whispered to her.

"Only everything," she replied with a sly grin. He knew the moment Tosh could go on break, her fingers would fly over the keys of her phone's keyboard and seconds later the entire grapevine would know about Lucifer and Loki's little flirt show.

"(I HAVE RETURNED WITH SUSTENANCE!)" Thor bellowed happily into the house as he tried to kick off his shoes while still holding all the bags of groceries. Frigga came out of the living room to help him and took most of the bags. She blinked in bewilderment at some of the contents held inside the plastic sacks.

"(Thor?)"

"(Yes, dear mother?)"

"(What...what exactly did you buy?)"

"(Is it not what was on the list? I apologize, some of these labels are very hard to read, and many of the names did not make sense. I tried to match the pictures of the foods on them to what we needed, though. Did I do badly?)" Thor had a look in his eyes, like a puppy that had just had it's toy taken away from it and then kicked. Frigga sighed and stroked his face, the rasp of his short beard on her hand audible. She smiled at him.

"(I will figure out something, Thor. I do not blame you, you did your best and I'm proud of you, so proud.)" Thor perked up, leaning down to kiss his mother's cheek. "(But next time I am sending Loki to do the shopping. I don't even know what this is.)"

Thor frowned. "(I can take it back to the store, if you wish, mother,)" he said.

"(No, no, Thor. I will just have to come up with something new.)"

Frigga took the groceries into the kitchen and unpacked the bags, trying to figure out exactly what they all were. Thor was right, many of the labels seemed impossible to read. She went upstairs and knocked on Loki's door.

"(Loki? Could you come downstairs and help me please?)"

Loki opened his door, a questioning look on his face. "(Is something wrong?)"

"(Your brother went shopping and I don't know exactly what he got. I need you to read the labels for me.)"

"(Yeah, sure thing, mother.)" Loki followed her downstairs and raised his eyebrows at the array of boxed, bagged, and canned foods. The fresh produce was easy, it didn't have a label to be confused by, though some of the tomatoes Thor had picked were overripe. The other items however...

"(He got...birdseed? Why did he get birdseed?)"

"(Perhaps...No, I have no idea.)"

"(These items are...random. I understand the macaroni and cheese, the basil, and the catsup. Apparently he likes pop-tarts...the eggs, bread, and pizzas make sense. Everything else...Ihave no idea.)" Loki told her exactly what each 'random' item was, as well as why he thought Thor might have gotten it. Most of it was picture or label difficulties, but the birdseed still stumped him.

"(Luckily, he got enough produce and...useable items that we can have a salad for dinner. And we still have some leftovers from yesterday.)"

"(Good, I wasn't looking forward to pop tarts for dinner.)"

Loki and Frigga shared a smile. The youngest son helped her prepare the salad and heated some leftovers for himself. Thor's loud footfalls down the stairs announced his arrival. He immediately went to pop four pop-tarts into the toaster.

"(Thor? Why did you get birdseed?)"

"(I did no such thing.)"

"(I beg to differ,)" Loki said, holding up the bag. Thor frowned, confused.

"(That is not your breakfast cereal?)"

"(No! Why would you think it is?)"

"(You described it as being in a red or purple container with a colorful cartoon bird on the front.)"

Loki stared at him, then at the purple bag with the cartoon birds on the front. It all made sense now. "(Oh. Well, I can understand why you would be confused.)" Loki patted Thor's broad shoulder. "(We can get a feeder, put it on the tree out front. Perhaps we will see some of these birds.)"

Thor grinned through a mouthful of pop tart, his cheeks bulging and voice garbled through the food. "(I would like that. Thank you, brother.)"

Odin came into the dining room as Loki was setting the table and Frigga set the salad down before getting drinks. "(Is this it?)"

"(There are leftovers in the fridge-)" Loki tried to tell him, but Odin talked over him. Loki grit his teeth and told himself that it was just because of his hearing issues, he couldn't hear him, Loki had a soft voice after all.

"(Thor went shopping today and misinterpreted some of the labels,)" Frigga explained. Odin beamed at his son.

"(You went to the store for us today, Thor? I am proud of you for trying so hard, even when you knew it would be difficult.)" Odin reached up to put a hand on Thor's shoulder; Thor gently wrapped an arm around him in a soft hug, smiling. "(It is fine that you did not get everything, you can always go back another day and pick up what you missed.)"

Thor chuckled, letting go of Odin to pull out his father's chair for him. "(Actually, I think I'll let Loki take care of the food shopping from now on. I think the self checkout machines have a vendetta against me.)"

Odin smiled at Loki, but it wasn't the same big warm smile he gave Thor; the smile Loki got was always smaller, colder. "(Yes, of course. I'm sure Loki will get everything we need.)"

Loki agreed with him loud enough so that Odin could hear him, which felt like shouting. He said nothing more throughout the meal, eating quickly then excusing himself from the table so he could do his homework. Actually, he just didn't want to be around Odin any more. He was very well aware that Odin loved Thor far more than him, and Loki understood why and he accepted it. But it still hurt when that extra love and pride was smashed into his face like that. Thor couldn't even go to the stupid grocery store right but Odin acted like he had just carved a tunnel out of a mountain with nothing but a hammer! Loki flopped on his bed and yelled into his pillow, letting his rage dissipate out through his voice into his pillow and mattress.

Loki turned over onto his back and seethed at the ceiling. He fished his phone out of his pocket with every intention of calling Lucifer and complaining to him about the injustice of it all, but he stopped himself. He held the phone in front of his face, staring at it as he debated inside his head.

Were they even that close of friends yet, that Lucifer would tolerate Loki raving about his family issues? Loki winced and felt his face heat in embarrassment: family issues were a major sore spot for Lucifer, what was he thinking to even ponder bothering Lucifer with his much less considerable problems? It would make him seem insensitive and then Lucifer might push him away again right as they were making progress. Maybe just hearing his voice would soothe Loki's frazzled nerves... Loki did like his voice, how it was a sort of mellow deepness with a rough edge, reminding Loki of waves that would crash into the cliffs of the coastline. Yeah, they could just talk...Loki unlocked his phone and scrolled through the contacts. He stopped and laughed at himself, covering his eyes with his arm.

He didn't even HAVE Lucifer's number.

Loki plugged in his phone to charge and got ready for bed. He would ask Lucifer for his number tomorrow, maybe... He fell asleep with the image of a laughing Lucifer in his head and a smile on his lips.

Lucifer waved goodbye to Ianto who was locking up The Hub for the night. "See you tomorrow!"

Ianto saluted and went to get into his car where Jack was waiting.

Lucifer got into his own car and turned the keys in the ignition, wincing when the music started automatically, still turned up from the drive earlier. "Holy sh-" He punched at the dashboard, fiddling with buttons and dials trying to turn the volume down.

Sheepishly, he glanced around to see if anyone had noticed his fiasco but the parking lot was more or less empty this time of night. He laughed at himself and backed out of his space, driving home in relative silence.

The lights in the Milton house were off, save for the faint glow of the television that could be seen through the living room window. Lucifer pulled into the driveway and got out, shutting the car door as quietly as he could.

He expected to have to sneak by Michael to get to his room but instead he found Gabriel sitting in the living room, his feet propped up on the coffee table and a plate of cake on his lap.

"Hey," Gabe said, nodding as Lucifer came in the front door and hung his jacket up in the closet.

Lucifer looked around, making sure Gabriel was talking to him. Most of the time, they stayed in their separate halves of the basement and didn't really interact with each other. Unless of course it pertained to pissing the other off for fun. In fact, most of time, Gabriel didn't really interact with anyone so it was rare to see him out in a public area of the house. "...Hey."

"Have you ever seen this show?" he asked, gesturing at the television with his fork. "It's hilarious as shit."

Lucifer furrowed his eyebrows, his curiosity getting the better of him as he ventured into the living room and flopped down on the couch. Gabe was watching some Japanese game show involving trivia questions that if the contestant got wrong, they were promptly socked in the crotch by some painful looking mechanism. All of it was in Japanese, so Lucifer had no idea what they were saying but he could tell right away why Gabriel found it entertaining. They cackled together as the players doubled over in agony, remembering later to stifle their laughter for the sake of the other, sleeping members of the household.

Lucifer looked over at Gabriel, who had tears coming out of his eyes as he stuffed a bite of cake in his mouth. "Where the fuck did you get cake?"

"The neighbors down the road were having a birthday party."
"And they invited you?"

"I didn't say that." Gabriel grinned smugly, waggling his eyebrows as he took another bite.

Lucifer shook his head. "You're gonna get caught one day and then you're not gonna think it's that funny." But he couldn't help but be amused. They laughed again as the next unfortunate contestant apparently gave a wrong answer but were cut short as Michael whipped open the door to his room.

"Would of the two of you shut the hell up? Some of us have to get up early to support our families."

"Don't be such a douche, Mike. It's barely 11," Gabe said, brushing crumbs off his pants.

"Yeah, which is why you should turn that shit off and go to bed." Michael retreated into his room and slammed the door.

Lucief waited a moment before saying, "Someone pissed in his Cheerios this morning."

"It wasn't me this time, I swear."

The two of them exchanged glances and tried not to crack up again.

"As much as I hate to admit it, he's probably right though. I gotta get up for school in the morning. See ya later," Lucifer said, pushing himself up off the couch. He started to walk out of the room but Gabe spoke up behind him.

"Hey, if you have any more particularly good dreams, try to keep it to yourself okay?"

Lucifer didn't move for a moment, grateful for the darkness so it would hide the color rising in his cheeks.

AN: sorry for the slight delay. Hope you enjoy this week's chapter!

Oh, and if you read the line "This man is trying to order A Touch of Torchwood" in the same tone of voice Tony Stark used in the Avengers to say "That man is playing Galaga," it's about 5x funnier. (It was to us at least.)

I don't know about in other grocery stores, but there are some labels that even I have issues reading, and English is my native language. I figured that if I couldn't read them, those from out of the country would have even more issues.

Ok, enough of me talking. Enjoy, and send us some love with reviews and favs! Thank you for your continued support!