Three - Ella and Prep

Ella reached her office 15 minutes later than the allotted time Dan had said but Lucifer didn't mind.

He should come in here more often. Ella had a back scratcher, or at least something he could use as one. He had it shoved down his shirts to scratch angrily at his back. He could feel his wings trying to join in on the fun, but since they weren't on the same plane as the actual implement being used, it did nothing for them.

Ella took one look at him as soon as she had entered the lab and burst out laughing.

"What?! I'm itchy and this is doing nothing. Beats rubbing myself against the desk."

She shook her head and couldn't seem to get the grin off her face. "You look ridiculous. And don't molest my desk with your back, mister. I've heard you've been doing that. What's up?"

"New feathers. New wings, really. I need help badly..."

Ella nodded. "What happened to Linda?"

He stared. "Chloe asked the same thing. Why do you think this is something she can help with? It's a physical problem, not a mental or emotional one. Dan said you know how to look after birds, which is great. Because I have two wings in major need of a wash and grooming. I can't do it myself..."

Ella looked at him and he could see the wheels in her head turning. "Wait...new wings? What happened to your old ones then?"

He shrugged. "Cut them off when I got to Earth. Some humans stole them earlier this year. Nearly started one Hell of a big mess. Someone put them up on Auction...well, made fake ones and put them up. No one steals from me. So, I burnt them on the beach. Dear old Dad must have thought I was done punishing myself or something and just gave me new ones. Bloody bastard. I cut them off for a reason!"

Ella nodded at him, an amused look on her face. "So, what, you hold the divine on you right now?"

He grinned. "Yes! Not in plain sight, I'd start a riot or worse. But if you wish to see my wings in their sorry state, come to my flat tonight. Dan will be there too. Chloe is, as ever, the sceptic and refuses, but at least you and Dan are going to be helpful."

Ella's smile turned to a frown. "Wait, what?"

"My flat, tonight. I told you, I need help with grooming the bloody things. And I doubt Dad would take kindly to me severing another pair of wings right off my back. So these ones are, unfortunately, going to have to stay."

She nodded slowly, suddenly caught between belief and faith. "Okay. Just..."

"I'll have them already out and on display just for you by the time you arrive. No sudden surprises. Oh! So you know, pin feathers, not pearly whites."

Ella tried to stop the smile from coming back, he could tell she was trying. Too bad she knew enough about birds to take his last statement to its logical conclusion. "I missed your plucked chicken look, then? Shame."

He scowled at her, gave his back a hard scratch, before pulling the clawed instrument out of his shirts and redid the buttons. "Well, until tonight then. You, Dan, me and hopefully relief from this insistent burning itch."

She pulled herself up straighter, and he knew she would be coming. Her faith told her angels were real. Her belief told her to doubt to keep her faith alive. She had faith in him as a person, but believed him a performer. Tonight both her faith and her beliefs would be answered. She wasn't confused like Dan was. She was nervous.

He was just glad that he didn't have his wings fully feathered. They'd probably both be driven mad with a look. This way, they'll be used to them before that could come to pass.

He put the back scratcher down and took off for the car park. Excitement strummed through his body. For the first time since he Fell, he would finally, finally be able to have proper grooming habits.

He hopped into his Corvette and drove back to Lux. He had to prepare everything for tonight.

His balcony was decked out with everything he would need. Mainly, he had refitted the pipes and attached a hose which included a mist setting. For tonight, the hot tub was going to be turned off, in favour of still water. He had also put to one side a pair of pliers, just in case someone needed to yank a blood feather out if one of the stupid things broke.

He also noticed his back was getting irritated just to be irritating now because he had been scratching at it. He knew it was just the growth of stray pinfeathers between his shoulders. He always had them when he had wings. He'd pluck the bloody things out, but he couldn't reach them.

He did not miss his wings at all. He did miss flying and it was the only thing he looked forward to when his feathers grew out again.

It hit him suddenly that he hadn't flown in millennia.

He let his wings be visible and shook them out a bit. He spread them as far out to the sides as he could, before changing their direction and had them straight out behind him. He moved the things up as high as they could go in the air afterwards. He needed to properly check their manoeuvrability later. He would need to strengthen the muscles, get them used to activity, or they'd atrophy on him.

He remembered the absolute horror show his poor wings were when he came topside 5 years ago. It was one of the reasons he had them cut off. They had been pretty much useless. As soon as he had used them to get to Earth the first thing he did was crash on the beach, unable to physically fly.

Most of his secondaries and his tertials had been too thin and weak, never growing in properly after a moult. His coverts had been growing in all directions. Bad self grooming, trust issues and demon spawn everywhere...he had mainly just kept his wings tucked well out of sight.

He was wondering if he should have anything else out, like maybe a towel, when he heard the ding of the lift. He turned his head, lowering his wings so they were laying as comfortably against his back as he could get them in a relaxed at rest position. The quills dug into his back when he clenched in nervous energy.

Dan without a bird and Ella walked into the penthouse, talking to each other softly. He let out a breath and let his wings loosen, so he could stretch them out.

The chatting stopped. There was a loud thud as something hit the ground and then silence for a few minutes.

"So, wings then?" Ella said and he folded said limbs back up against his back, and turned to face her.

"Yes, like I said. Regardless of rumour, I actually don't lie."

Ella nodded let out a "Huh" before joining Dan on the floor.

Well, this was going to be fun...