"Mommy!"

Chloe suddenly finds herself with an armful of Trixie, who has just launched herself through the doorway from behind her ex-husband. This was not what she had expected when she opened the door, though she can't say she's entirely unhappy about the turn of events.

Moments earlier, she and Lucifer had been sharing an awkwardly silent breakfast (mostly on her part), while she desperately tried to pretend their kiss from last night had never happened. She had stayed in her room as long as possible that morning, pretending to sleep in - and in truth she had needed to - but eventually her empty stomach convinced her she'd have to go downstairs and face him. She found him in the kitchen just as she had yesterday, shirtless and making breakfast. Well, reheating breakfast, as she had certainly taken her time with getting up and dressed. Thankfully, Lucifer doesn't bring up her actions from the previous evening, though he wears a knowing smile as he watches her silently eat her french toast. Chloe considers whether or not this weird silence is better or worse than just talking about it. She's saved from deciding when the doorbell rings. She is honestly relieved by the interruption, even though she fully expects to find another of their new neighbors pestering them about the luau that evening. Instead she finds Dan at her doorstep, with Trixie racing into her arms. She swoops the girl up up into a hug and shooting a questioning look toward her ex-husband from over Trixie's head.

"Trixie said she was missing you, so I promised I'd bring her by." He shrugs off the answer, while Chloe turns her attention back to her daughter, squeezing her more tightly for a moment before setting her back down.

"Monkey, you know I'm happy to see you but I've barely been gone for a day?"

"I know, but I still missed you." Chloe can't help but smile at the response. "And Dad said your house had a pool!"

Ah, apparently the truth comes out.

"Trixie, that's not…" allowed? A very good idea? Even their pool to use? But there's no explaining any of that to an excited little girl. "We don't even have a swimsuit for you here."

"That's alright, I came prepared!" Trixie tugs up her t-shirt to reveal her Finding Dory swimsuit beneath. And as if that fully decides things, she rushes off in search of the fabled pool.

"You know I'm going to have to explain this to the neighbors, right?" Chloe levels a glare at Dan, who should really have known better than to discuss the case or this house with Trixie. Now their busybody neighbors are going to ask why there is a small child splashing around in their pool, or about the random guy showing up at the doorstep during breakfast. "I guess I can say you're Lucifer's brother or something."

Dan looks mortally offended at the suggestion. She rolls her eyes at his response.

"Would you rather I say you were my brother? Besides, you look more like you could be related to Lucifer."

Lucifer chooses that precise moment to join them in the foyer, still shirtless because of course he is. She can hear Dan's mumbled "you've got to be kidding me…" from the doorway, but her attention is entirely focused on the other man's entrance. He apparently chooses to ignore Dan's comment completely in favor of being offended at her own, "You take that back!"

Chloe suddenly realizes that she basically just said that Lucifer and Dan looked alike, which, ok, kind of weird. And not really true, other than the whole dark hair, dark eyes thing. The two men were very, very different. Kind of like night and day, really - the trouble is, Chloe's not exactly sure which was which.

"Ok, fine, brother-in-law. How's that?" She concedes.

"I suppose that makes Trixie my niece then?" Surprisingly, Lucifer seems unbothered by this new relation. Chloe tries not to read too much into his response. It's not like he was actually related to Trixie, even tenuously.

"Speaking of which, could I get you to watch her for few minutes while I talk to Dan?" The house has grown too quiet, which likely means Trixie has already made it to the backyard.

"Oh I'd much rather watch this." He grins with far too many teeth.

"Lucifer, please? Just make sure my daughter doesn't drown. Or slip on the edge and crack her skull - oh god, I should…"

But Lucifer is quick to reassure her, taking her gently by the shoulders to halt her worried rambling. "Have no fear, Detective, I'll watch over your offspring. She'll be safe as houses. Or safe as pools, I suppose." He smiles at his nonsensical joke, and walks back to where Trixie has disappeared. Having Lucifer babysit is not something she would have ever even imagined asking before, but somehow she knows she can trust him to keep her safe. Dan doesn't look quite as convinced - in fact he's looked pretty pissed ever since Lucifer walked in, even though Dan is the one who's responsible for this whole situation. She should be the one who's annoyed, and she is.

"So, what? You really just decided to drive all the way out here just so Trixie could go for a swim? And how'd you even get past the gates?"

"The developer let me in, I just called her when you weren't listed in the access directory. And I actually came to bring you this," he pushes the bag toward her, a little more roughly than he intended, "the Lieutenant mentioned something about a luau? I thought you might need these or something. I didn't exactly expect to walk in on whatever this is."

Chloe ignores that last comment, quickly rifling through the bag and finding her own swimsuit in there. It's her turn to be offended. "You went through my stuff?"

"No no, that was all Trixie's doing. I just borrowed some things for Lucifer and drove it over." He looks like he wants to say something else.

"Ok, well, thanks. I guess. I could have just come to pick it up though, we're not trapped here or anything. I mean…"

Dan finally aps, "Just what the hell is going on here, Chloe? You're supposed to be over here working on a case and instead you're apparently playing house with your half-naked partner?"

"We are working the case, Lucifer was just making breakfast for us."

"At 11 am?"

"We had a late night."

"You can't be serious…"

"Working on the case! Our next-door neighbors invited us over and we took the chance to ask them some questions about our victim."

"Well did you find out anything at least?"

"Not really, apparently they didn't talk to her much."

"So you just decided to stay out all night anyway?"

"It's not as if we have any better leads right now. And anyway it's none of your business."

"This case or you messing around with that bastard?"

"Neither!"

"I think I'm allowed to be concerned when my wife…"

"Ex-wife," She reminds him, which seems to take the wind right out his sails.

"I just don't want you getting hurt here, Chloe."

"Not really any risk of that, I'm pretty sure I can handle a suburban murder case."

"That's not what I mean, and you know it. Can you really trust him, Chloe?"

"Yes, I can. I do." The minute she says it, she realizes it's the truth. She does trust Lucifer. Even with her daughter's safety. Possibly even with more than that. There's still a lot of things that stand in the way of anything happening between them - their partnership, his secrets, her hangups, etc. - but Lucifer hurting her intentionally was never one of her concerns.

Deciding this conversation needed to be over about five minutes ago, Chloe turns on her heel and heads back to find Lucifer and Trixie, not waiting to see if Dan will follow. He does, however.

And of course the sight that greets them when they reach the backyard is Lucifer tossing Trixie into the pool. But her squeals are happy ones, and she immediately rushes out so Lucifer can throw her in again. He swings her in a third time before he notices the detectives standing there.

"Oh there you are, come to check on me I suppose? Well as you can see your daughter is still in one piece." He waves his hand out towards Trixie, who's now doing handstands in the shallow end. "Who knew child-rearing was so simple? I just have to toss her around and she's delighted!"

"Yeah, well it take a little more than that to raise a kid." Dan retorts, arms crossed and chest practically puffed out. Chloe just laughs, both at Dan's ridiculous posturing and at how Lucifer doesn't even seem to mind that he's getting soaked from Trixie's cannonballing. Her partner is surprisingly at ease with her daughter, in a way Chloe hadn't ever expected. And it's kind of nice watching him play around with Trixie, with barely a trace of his previous awkwardness around kids.

Dan actually manages to behave himself for the rest of their visit, and only argues once when Trixie invents a new and more dangerous game for Lucifer to play with her (involving her leaping from his shoulders). And maybe a little bit more when "Uncle Lucifer" becomes an actual thing, and Trixie refuses to call him anything else. But overall it's strangely nice, this whole suburban family thing. Even if it isn't real.

A few short hours later they're getting ready for the luau. All of the neighbors have assured them they shouldn't feel pressured to bring anything, but Chloe decides to throw together some fruit kebabs so they don't seem rude. She's already dressed, in the bright blue swimsuit and floral sarong Trixie had chosen for her, the fabric tied halter style around her neck to get a little more coverage out of it. Both the swimsuit and the sarong are at least as old as Trixie herself - Chloe can't remember the last time she wore either - and she's thankful they still fit, even if she still feels fairly exposed by the sheerness of the fabric. She's just putting some clingwrap over the fruit when she hears Lucifer coming down the stairs. When he enters the kitchen, she can't help the laugh that bubbles up at the sight of his outfit. Lucifer, however, looks entirely unamused.

"This is just…petty," he suddenly announces, cutting through her laughter. "I know your ex is upset that we're married now…"

"Fake married." Chloe interjects, reminding him of this fact though there's no real heat in it. Mostly because she's still cracking up.

"Married, fake married, sexy undercover partners, whatever. That's no excuse for making me wear…this."

And this time it really is just as bad as Lucifer's complaining. Not only has he been forced into the most garish Hawaiian print shirt Chloe's ever seen, but Dan's apparently also given him cargo shorts and 'mandals' to wear with it. And while it's physically impossible for Lucifer to actually look bad, this is cutting it pretty close. If this were real life she might almost be embarrassed to be seen with him like this. The thought of anyone else from their lives seeing him brings another wave of giggles.

"Are you quite done, Detective?"

It's a good 10 minutes before she can finally stop laughing.

Apparently his laughable outfit is not enough to deter most of the women, and some of the men, at the party from flirting with her 'husband'. It begins almost immediately with their hostess's offer to get Lucifer 'lei-d', as she throws a floral garland around his neck with a sly wink. It clashes horribly with his shirt, and he's quick to offer it to Chloe, remarking that he'd prefer to 'lei' her. It's sadly just the beginning of the terrible lei puns, most of them coming from Lucifer himself. According to the community schedule, there was a luau practically every month - how were they not sick of this joke already? But it seems like everyone was using it as an excuse to flirt with one another, in particular with her fake husband. And yes Lucifer is charming and still pretty attractive even in that terrible shirt, but all of these women are married. Do they have no shame?

Strangely, Lucifer doesn't seem to eat up the attention like he normally does. The Williams backyard is full of attractive people in various states of thematic dress (or undress, despite the presence of children at the party), but he remains committed to his role and reserves most of his flirting for her. And since this is actually part of his job description right now, she doesn't try and stop him. Even with the terrible puns. Secretly she's sort of enjoying the attention. She's even getting used to the constant presence of Lucifer's arm around her shoulders and waist as they introduce themselves to the other Palisades residents.

Maxine and Sharon Bosworth—Hernandez seem to be among the few who are immune to Lucifer's charm, and are, coincidentally, Chloe's new favorite neighbors.

"So a marriage counselor and a divorce attorney - those are certainly two…very opposite jobs." Chloe marvels at the pair, also thus far the only women with full-time jobs that she's met.

"Not as different as you might think. I end up having the same exact therapy sessions with all my clients, I just get to charge more." Sharon teases her wife good-naturedly. "But Maxine can tell from the moment she meets them whether a couple can make it work, or whether they're completely miserable together, it's like a superpower."

Chloe freezes for a brief moment of panic, before realizing that Sharon is clearly just praising Maxine's observational skills, not implying they already know Chloe and Lucifer are faking it or anything. But they're going to have to be more careful here.

"Really?" Lucifer grins, and oh this can not be good. "What can you tell about us?"

Chloe really wishes she could hit Lucifer right now, but she settles for gripping his hand tightly enough to let him know she is not amused.

"Oh you two are definitely going to work out - though I'll admit I've been observing you both for a little while. A lot of our neighbors here haven't been particularly subtle with their advances on either of you, but you two only have eyes for each other. The chemistry is obviously there, and more than that you seem deal with potential conflict very well."

Chloe nearly scoffs at Maxine's analysis of their relationship, but she reminds herself why they're here and why it's very much a good thing if everyone else is convinced of their relationship. Lucifer just looks like the cat that caught the canary, clearly pleased that someone else thinks they're compatible. If only Maxine knew the truth. But maybe her 'powers' might come in handy.

"So then you can also tell who here might not be so happy together?" Chloe suggests.

"You don't need Maxine's powers for that," Sharon argues, "half the couples here are miserable. Our hosts are, obviously - hence Mercedes throwing herself at your husband. I'm pretty sure they're both having multiple affairs, and neither is bothering to hide it from the other at this point." She points over at several other couples, "the Lamonts over there are just staying together until their daughter moves out. Richard and Bunny, I mean come on, she's practically his kids' age. And our houses aren't so far apart that we can't hear Cliff and Peggy Davis yelling at each other every night, though they certainly play the happy couple in public…"

"As you can see, Sharon's not very optimistic about other people's marriages." Maxine gently intercedes, taking her wife's hand.

"You wouldn't be either if you saw what I deal with every day."

"But I do, sweetie. And we don't want to scare our new neighbors into thinking they moved onto Wisteria Lane, now do we?" Maxine gently reminds her wife, before turning back to smile at Chloe and Lucifer. "This is actually a very nice neighborhood, and clearly things are never boring here."

"I'm sure all neighborhoods have their little quirks, and we can certainly appreciate a little harmless gossip, can't we, darling?" Lucifer slips his arm back around Chloe's shoulders as he speaks. "Though someone else mentioned something about a woman moving out of here after only a few months? Perhaps things were a little too interesting here for her." Chloe spares a look of gratitude for this rare moment of near subtlety.

"The Patel girl? Not really any good gossip there, she barely interacted with anyone else in the neighborhood. She only ever even talked to us once, and just about our sons. She thought they were adopted - I think she was looking to adopt herself - but we had a donor." Sharon reveals, though it's not much more than what they heard from Cynthia.

"I'm guessing you two are going to be trying for a family of your own pretty soon," Maxine casually hints. Chloe wishes this was the first time the subject had come up today, but thankfully they're saved from delving back into the subject by little Toby Bosworth—Hernandez, who has scraped his knee running around the pool. His moms are quick to rush over to him, Maxine coddling the boy while Sharon grabs a bandaid from her purse. Chloe feels a brief tug of jealousy at how well the two of them work together. With Dan she had often felt like a single parent even before they separated.

Lucifer pulls her back from her thoughts. "It seems all of our neighbors are deeply invested in our procreating. And while I'm afraid that might actually result in the anti-Christ, I'm certainly willing to take the risk." He's grinning like an idiot when she looks back over at him, obviously teasing her.

Eventually they wind up getting separated, and Chloe is stuck talking to Cliff Davis. The man is completely unbearable. He seems to think that just because he's wealthy and moderately attractive that he can talk a person's ear off about stock portfolios and real estate investments and no one will complain. To be fair, she doesn't, but only so she doesn't appear rude. She's trying to catch Lucifer's eye (or anyone's really), looking for an escape route when Cliff's hand is suddenly on her bare arm.

"Maybe you could come over sometime so we can discuss this a little further. I keep a private office at my house since so many of the residents here are wanting to invest with me. Or maybe I could just meet you over at #47…"

Chloe Decker would have wrenched this man's hands off of her, delivering a scathing retort with equal force that would have sent him off with his tail between his legs. Barbara Jones, however, would do no such thing.

"You'll have to talk to my husband about that, he handles most of our finances." She says a little too loudly, finally catching Lucifer's attention. He's practically teleports to her side, reaching out to greet the other man with an overly firm handshake that leaves Cliff wincing. Clearly having won their little power-play, he makes their excuses and escorts Chloe as far away from him as possible.

They don't stay too much longer after that. Chloe tries to bring up the subject of Vidya Patel's sudden disappearance a few more times, but apparently the woman was a bit of a reclusive workaholic. No one seems to know much about her, though everyone agrees that she seemed nice. Lucifer doesn't seem to fare any better - even his weird hypnosis thing doesn't reveal anything more than a bunch of kinky sex fantasies.

"I never thought I'd say this, but is nothing sacred here? I'm all for free love of course but then why all this pretense of marriage and commitment?" He actually seems surprisingly appalled at their neighbors' behavior.

"Really? I figured you'd be kind of pro-adultery." She jokes back.

"Well not when it's some other man hitting on my wife." Lucifer protests.

"Again, not really your wife." She reminds him for what has to be at least the 10th time today.

"Yes, but he doesn't know that. That slimeball thinks he can put his filthy hands all over what's mine…"

"But I suppose it's totally ok when all those housewives are throwing themselves at you instead?" She retorts, praying she doesn't sound jealous. She's not, not really. It's not like Lucifer was even flirting back. But she is still curious. "You're honestly telling me you've never slept with a married woman?"

"I wasn't the one breaking any vows." He answers sharply, though it doesn't seem to be directed towards her.

"Ok, so then you've never cheated on anyone?"

"No one I have ever been with has had any reason to expect my fidelity, nor I their's. But I keep my promises, Detective." This answer definitely is directed at her, and this whole conversation suddenly seems a lot heavier. Right up until the moment Lucifer ruins it, "not like all of these…swingers!"

Chloe can't help but laugh at the outdated term, and the image of shag carpeting and key parties that it brings to mind.

"Come on, let's get home before the desperate housewives come looking for you."

Chloe barely notices that this is the first time she's called it "home" to Lucifer.

It's barely 9 pm by the time they reach the house, having left the party a little early when it was clear they weren't going to find out anything substantial. With nothing new to report for the case, they call it a night on the investigation. But neither of them is really tired yet, so Lucifer suggests they take advantage of the pool table to play a game of 8 ball. Chloe willingly agrees, assured of an easy victory. She imagines Lucifer is probably pretty good but she knows she's better.

As they're getting set up in the game room, Chloe is reminded how surreal this whole situation still is.

"You know, I feel like I should apologize."

"Whatever for?" Lucifer looks up questioningly from where he's racking the balls.

"For cramping your style. I know you agreed to this whole charade but it's Saturday night and you're here playing pool with me when you could be partying at Lux or off with one of your admirers from the luau." Chloe tries not too think too much about what he might have been doing instead tonight. Who he might have been doing.

"There's certainly no need to apologize for that, Detective, I'm perfectly content right where I am." Chloe tries to hide the pleasure she feels at this answer, while Lucifer continues, "Maze can manage the club well enough in my stead, and I have no desire to spend more time than necessary with any of those vapid women, or their blustering husbands. Maxine and her wife were the only tolerable ones there."

"You mean the only two women at the party who had absolutely no interest in you - or any man?" She teases, though she's still reeling from the fact that he'd rather play silly games with her than spend his time with a sure thing.

"I'll have you know my charms are above such pedestrian concerns as sexual orientation. And while their resistance is intriguing, I'm far more interested in whatever it is that's holding you back." He looks pointedly at her, eyes full of challenge.

"I'm not holding anything back." She lies, far too easily if not very convincingly. "And I'll prove it by kicking your ass at pool."

"We'll see about that, Detective." He smirks, but he allows her to break, claiming 'ladies first'.

Chloe thinks he may regret doing so when she pockets the 7 straight off. The 3 quickly follows.

"What do you say we make this game a little more interesting, Detective?" Lucifer whispers into ear, suddenly way too close to where she's leaning over the table. She does her best to ignore him, carefully lining up her next shot.

"How so?" She asks, feigning disinterest but mildly curious as to what kind of wager he intends to make.

"Perhaps an article clothing for every successful shot?"

Chloe rolls her eyes at the suggestion. She really should have known better. "Not gonna happen. Besides, neither of us is even wearing that much."

"How about for every two balls in a row?" Lucifer offers back, still far too close for comfort.

"As tempting as it is to get rid of that horrible shirt, I think I'm going to have to pass on that." But over her shoulder Lucifer is still grinning, despite her refusal.

"If you wanted me to take off my shirt you only needed to ask."

Despite his attempts at distraction she manages to nail her third shot as well, tapping her 4 into the corner pocket with a little help from his 15.

"Though it seems you've been granted your wish anyway." He moves slightly back from her and immediately begins stripping off the shirt, tossing it away with an unnecessary amount of force.

"Whoa, hey, I never said I was actually going along with this game." Her protests are half-hearted though, and she makes no move to stop him.

"It's too late now, Detective, because I'm certainly not about to put that abomination back on."

And she's certainly not about to make him, either. Aside from the fact that the shirt really is an eyesore, part of her wants this to continue. Over the past few days Lucifer has been slowly chipping away at all her arguments for why they shouldn't get involved - her kid, his promiscuity, wanting completely different things from life - proving himself time and again to match her in ways she never expected. So right now she's allowing him to push her out of her comfort zone a little more, and maybe she can actually just let herself enjoy the moment.

But if Chloe thought the tacky shirt had been distracting, it's nothing compared to the sight of his bare torso lounging across the table. She knows he's purposely positioned himself in her line of sight, propping himself up against his cue in a way that manages to put both his toned muscles and appealing height on display. She's totally conscious of the fact that he's doing this to distract her, but that unfortunately doesn't stop it from being a completely effective tactic. She misses her fourth shot.

"My turn." He beams, clearly reveling in his powers of distraction.

He quickly sinks two balls of his own, and looks up at her with an expectant grin. She's not entirely sure what he's expecting - another argument or for her to actually strip - but she gives him neither. She may have decided to play along with this little game, but that doesn't mean she's going to make it easy on him. She casually tosses her lei in his direction.

"Oi! That doesn't count!"

"Sure it does, the rules are one article of clothing for two shots. I clearly removed one item."

"Obviously we need to clarify the rules of this game - one real item of clothing for every two shots, shoes and jewelry don't count. The point of this game is to have one or both parties naked by the end of it." He explains, as if she doesn't understand the basic concept of strip pool.

"Really? And here I thought the point was me proving I could destroy you at pool?" She tosses back, enjoying the opportunity to frustrate the man further. With renewed determination he sinks his next shot quickly, and is already lining up his fourth.

Chloe decides to give him a taste of his own medicine, moving into his eye line and tugging at the tie of her sarong.

"Well I guess I might as well go ahead and take this off…" She teases.

Lucifer scratches.

There's an actual mark across the felt from the force of Lucifer's stroke, and it leaves Chloe feeling a little giddy at the obvious power she holds over him. She mimics his own usual smirking expression and goes to take her own turn.

She pockets the 6 before she realizes Lucifer has moved to stand behind her once again, leaning into her space. She can feel the heat of his skin against her bare back, even though he's very carefully not touching her. Instead he simply makes sure she's fully aware of his presence.

"You seem awfully determined to get me out of my clothes, Detective."

"Or maybe I'm just determined to win."

And she won't let him distract her, even if he is warm and smells good and will be removing his shorts if she sinks this one.

She does.

Chloe doesn't know if she's disappointed or relieved that Lucifer is wearing something under those awful cargo shorts. Having him in dark grey boxer briefs is a vast improvement over his luau outfit, but it's also sort of wrecking her concentration. Another miss.

She realizes the set up for this game is faulty - the more you win the harder it is to play. It's sort of like the opposite of beer pong, and the more balls she sinks the drunker she feels.

Lucifer's concentration is completely unencumbered by his own state of undress, of course, and he easily pockets two in a row. He offers her another look of challenge - there's no more loopholes this round, and he's waiting to see if she'll actually take off any of her clothing.

She tugs at the tie of her sarong for real this time, allowing the translucent fabric to pool at her feet. She's still fully covered by her swimsuit, but she feels practically naked beneath Lucifer's heated gaze. It's not an entirely unpleasant sensation.

Neither of them loses any more clothing during their next turns, both of them far too focused on the other person's presence to get more than one ball pocketed at a time. Lucifer even scratches once again when Chloe has to adjust the top of her bikini during his shot, somewhat accidentally on purpose.

But Chloe is up 6 to 5, and all that's left is the 2 and the 8. The two is easy enough, but the 8 proves a little more complex. Not the shot itself, of course. The table is mostly clear and she actually is really good at this game. But getting the 8 ball means the end of the game. It also means two in a row, and Lucifer's only wearing one more thing. And while she can manage a game of half-naked pool with her partner, she's not entirely certain she can handle more. In any sense of the word.

Lucifer is smiling at her like he knows exactly what she's thinking, and her whole body heats up in response. Part of her is annoyed with him for how well he set this whole thing up - no matter what, he wins the game. There's no way out of this with her dignity fully intact.

Which really only leaves her with one option.

It's an immediate relief to her overheated skin as she plunges into the cool water of the pool. She allows herself to linger for as long as possible beneath the water before the need for air drives her up toward the surface.

Where Lucifer is waiting for her.

"So this is the game we we're playing now?" He quirks an eyebrow at her.

"It was too stuffy in there, and I got tired of playing. It's no fun when your opponent doesn't stand a chance of winning."

"I think you will find that by running out here you have forfeited the match, which means that I win by default."

"That's definitely not how this works."

But he continues on, "Let's see, there were only 3 balls left on my end, so I would have won another item from you. But which to take - top or bottoms? Both certainly have their own appeal. It's a real Sophie's choice…"

"That's definitely not what that movie was about. And I'm not taking off either, so you can go ahead and stop trying to choose."

"But then what do I get for winning the game?"

"Who says you've won?" She taunts him from the water. Refreshed by the water, she feels back in control of herself. "How about first one to the edge of the shallow end is the winner?"

"Well I suppose…"

"Ok, go!" She announces as she darts off, not even waiting for Lucifer to join her in the water first.

But her attempt at getting a head start was a mistake, which she realizes the second she hears Lucifer dive in right behind her. She apparently wasn't far enough away and he can practically grab her feet the moment he hits the water. It doesn't take long for him to catch up enough to grab her by the waist, dragging her back towards him right before she can reach the other end. He holds her tight with one arm while using his extended reach to tap the edge.

"I win again." He grins down at where she still struggles in his grasp.

"You cheated!" She counters, finally breaking free of his arms.

"I think you'll find that by the rules that you set yourself I have won fair and square."

Chloe manages to talk him into a rematch, and then another, and two more after that, each time changing the rules. He manages to win all but one round, either through trickery or because he really is a stronger swimmer than she is. The only round she does win is one where they're forced to swim across the pool with both legs together. Lucifer struggles with that method, having apparently never pretended to be a mermaid as a child. It seems he never watched Splash or the Little Mermaid when he was young. He laughs when she reveals this little tidbit about her childhood, and she finds herself laughing with him.

Eventually the take a break from racing, and lazily swim around the pool, never really touching but constantly aware of the other's presence nearby.

"You know, I sort of thought this assignment was going to be a nightmare at first, but it's not all so bad." Chloe decides as she settles against the edge of the pool, Lucifer swimming over to do the same.

"Like having your very own backyard swimming pool?" He jokes.

"Well that's definitely a perk, but I just meant having you here to back me up has made this whole thing much more…bearable."

"Why thank you, Detective - I find you quite bearable as well." He mocks her choice of works, and she splashes him in retaliation.

"You know what I mean. Thanks for being here, and backing me up in this. And for swimming laps with me when I know you could be enjoying yourself with one of with some other woman instead." She's suddenly aware of just how close they are, clinging to the edge of the pool like this. Close enough to see the way Lucifer's eyes soften at her confession.

"You think I'd really choose going off with some bored housewife to some sleazy hotel room #47 when I could be here with LAPD's finest detective, half-naked and soaking wet…"

His voices drops lower at that last part, as he slowly moves to close the distance between the two of them. But Chloe halts him before he can reach her.

"Wait, did you say #47?"

Lucifer is taken aback by the apparent non sequitur. "Claire Edwards mentioned it at the party, though she never offered the name of the hotel or anything. Not very bright, that one."

"Lucifer, #47 isn't a hotel room, it's a house in this neighborhood. Probably one of the model homes at the end of the street. Cliff invited me there too."

It's all starting to come together for Chloe, but Lucifer is still stuck on that last part. His hostility towards the other man comes back full force at the mere mention of his name.

"Obviously that man was a pig, can't even spring for a real hotel room…"

"Don't you get it Lucifer? The neighbors are clearly all using these empty homes for their torrid affairs. Our victim was a single, very attractive woman, and if she was involved with anyone else here she might have been there too. And a love affair gone wrong is pretty good motive for murder."

"But why not simply use her own house? She didn't have any to hide her affairs from."

"Except all the other neighbors - her house is right in the middle of of the street, where anyone could see her comings and goings. #47 is at towards the end of the development, back near the woods. Far easier to hide your indiscretions, or a dead body."

Lucifer finally catches up with her theory. "I take it there will be some breaking and entering in our near future? First thing in the morning?"

But Chloe is already climbing out of the water, "I was thinking more like right now."

"Well then allow me to slip into something a little more cat burglar, and a little less Magnum P.I." He jokes, following her out of the water. Whatever moment they might have shared there is now lost, but at least they finally have something resembling a lead.