Wyr let the door slam in her face, rolling her eyes as she turned back to the street.

On second thought…

She glanced back at Lucifer, who was trying not to look as though he'd watched that whole interaction. Wyr lifted her thumb to her mouth and bit into the pad, nicking the skin so blood welled to the surface. In the bottom corner of the door, she smeared her thumb in a circle and scrawled a symbol in the middle of it. When she was done, she sucked the blood off. Just a little reminder for later. Lucifer waited a little ways further on, his eyes wide as he watched her stomp down the stairs. He kept up with her stomping pace as she passed him, and for a few moments they didn't say anything. Her anger seethed beneath the surface of her skin. This was the problem with dealing with other sinners. They could be absolute assholes, literally the worst of the worst. She hated having to get others involved in disputes, but if someone wasn't going to pay, she'd have to get nasty. She'd had to learn to get nasty after Alastor had disappeared. So yeah, she marked his door, and she'd get her payment. One way or another.

"Is everything alright?"

It took a moment to hear Lucifer over the blood rushing in her ears. When she unclenched her teeth, she forced herself to smile politely.
"You know how some Sinners can be…Sometimes they need a firmer lesson than others."
Lucifer frowned.
"Did that guy do something to you?"
"Nothing I can't sort on my own. It's fine. I'll deal with him later." Lucifer didn't seem to want to drop it.
"I could deal with him now. What happened? We've visited a few people now… and you've given them the same wooden thing with no problems. What are you dropping off?" Wyr sighed, frustration welling. Of course he could 'deal with it now.' Because he was their king, and he could just deal with things. What would have been great though, was if he had dealt with his actual responsibilities, instead of trying to deal with hers. She may have wanted him to step in when she'd been alive, but it had been six hundred years since then…Wyr had gotten very good at dealing with things on her own.

"They're runic ward charms. I created them to help protect people from the angels during extermination days." Lucifer seemed stunned.

"But the deal I made with Heaven states no Hellborn individual is to be-"

"Do you seriously believe they wouldn't kill an imp if they saw it walk past? Not to mention that Sinners are Sinners…They kill each other and others get caught in the crossfire, and do you realise that people like me exist down here? People who, yeah we were shitty in life, but don't deserve to be on the end of an angel's spear? What are people like me supposed to do?" Wyr scoffed. "You're either blind or so completely out of touch that it's no wonder the Overlords have so much power now." Alastor's words seemed to slink through her mind like a seeping poison. When you lose your temper, try not to set the little king on fire.

Hoof meet mouth!

She couldn't help it! Wyr had thought so much of him, but the things coming out of his mouth…Made her want to strangle him. Alastor had said she'd been too hopeful and had suggested lowering her expectations. Yes, the way he'd looked the other day outside the cemetery made her body pulse with the need to tell him everything…But she couldn't look past what was a total lack of interest in his creation. Maybe it was for the best her tongue was tied because otherwise, she wasn't sure she'd have a lot of good things to say.
The street stayed quiet and Wyr squeezed her eyes shut. She'd fucked up and she needed to say something to salvage this before Lucifer decided this wasn't worth the effort. Not that she could blame him right now. She wasn't exactly proving she was worth helping. Telling off the king in the middle of the street wasn't going to do either of them favours.

The silence was killing her.

"Lucifer-" She spun, hands fisted by her sides.

"You're right."

It was a quiet admission, so filled with guilt it could have sunk them both with the weight of it. Wyr swallowed, her throat tight when she was finally able to look at Lucifer. His hands were tight around his cane, claws digging into the flesh of his hands. His eyes were squeezed shut like he couldn't bear to open them. She'd done that. She'd stomped all over his feelings, forgetting that the being in front of her was a person, not just an all-powerful god she'd grown up knowing. Wyr looked around, searching for some sort of cover off the street. They'd be drawing some sort of attention by now, and Wyr didn't enjoy the idea of them being in the news.

"We-we should get off the street. This isn't the place." She could see the news now. Could already picture the headlines.
"What's the point?" Wyr saw a camera flash from an alleyway and snarled, flashing the sharpness of her teeth as it flashed again at them.
"Lucifer, please, we need to move." A twitch of curtains sent Wyr waving her middle finger at their audience. They were totally getting filmed. Had probably been filmed this whole time. "We're drawing a crowd."
"So you'll pretend that everything is fine in public and then tear me down some more in private?"
Wyr frowned. Where had that come from?
"Excuse me?"
"You heard me," Wyr growled, exasperation reaching its peak. She grabbed him by the lapel of his coat and shook him once. He barely moved and she was once again reminded of the strength he hid under his dapper mask.

"Lucifer! Let's go."

She turned away from him, hand clenched around his and started down the street. This was so unfair, and those feelings felt stronger than ever. Wyr's skin felt tight as she tried to drag him down the street. When her sisters had warned her away from going to the Devil for power, she'd waved them off. Wyr had wanted to feel powerful. She wanted to feel the most powerful. She'd wanted the men to bow to her, to feel what she felt when they passed by in the streets. The Devil had promised that and more. Lucifer had given her enough power to kill a priest.
Her eyes stung as she struggled to tug him forward. More and more cameras were pointing their way, and people were bold now that they sensed a weakness. Sharks in bloody water. This was getting ridiculous. She was being ridiculous. Her mother would have said she needed to keep her emotions in check. To stop feeling everything so strongly. Wyr needed to get a hold of herself before she made more of a fool of herself.
She sniffed wetly, staring up at the bloody sky, looking to the glowing light of Heaven to stop the tears from falling.
"Fucking dammit. Lucifer, for fuck's sake. Why are you making this difficult?! This is so unfair."

There was a gust of wind, blowing Wyr's hair into her face as warm hands encircled her body. Lucifer's wings flapped, and suddenly they were skyward, gravity pulling at Wyr's stomach as a shrill scream burst out of her. Lucifer's arms were like bands of steel around her waist as behind her, she felt the solid warmth of him against her back. The sticky, cloying feelings she'd felt as her hooves as eaten up the pavement were left behind on the ground, whilst up above, with the wind tossing her hair back and forth, there was a sudden lightening. Her hands were clenched around Lucifer's arms, her legs dangling uselessly in the air. She was gasping for air when Lucifer spoke.
"Why did you say that?" His breath ghosted over the shell of her ear.
"Said what?" The ground was so far away. She should never have answered his text. Should have gritted her teeth and continued trying to make do. Her stupid mouth was about to get her killed.
"You said this was unfair." She had said that. Had muttered it into the night when she was alone those first few decades. She didn't know how to explain.
"You know what I think is unfair? Being torn down like that when you don't know me."

Oh and there it was, that was the heavy, sick feeling that had been eating away at her since the angry words had bubbled out of her. She couldn't tell him the truth, couldn't explain anything. Guilt ate at her because for him, Wyr was nobody. Wyr was just a Sinner he hadn't recognised. Don't set the little king on fire. Yeah she'd be hearing from Alastor and his delicate 'I told you so, darling'

"Lucifer-"
"You've got a lot of opinions, and you're not afraid to spout them, which is great, I fucking love it…But don't judge me like you know me. You don't know what I've been through. I came to you, didn't I?"

He was right. He was so utterly right that the tears she'd been holding back felt hot against her cold cheeks. Wyr wheezed to take a breath, and Lucifer let one arm go from around her waist. She panicked, both hands now moving to the one arm supporting her, unable to discern Lucifer's words. His arm scooped under her knees and she turned, latching her hands into his coat as her chest expanded, gulping down air that was laced with his scent. Her hands felt shaky as they fisted his coat, and she tried to even out her breath whilst digesting his words. Tears rolled hot down her cheeks, seeping into Lucifer's coat. He'd come to her, asking to learn more, and instead, she'd taken out years of pent-up exhaustion on him, when he didn't even know the real reason she was angry. She couldn't even tell him half of it.
"You're right." She didn't look up from her hands, intent on having this conversation without making eye contact. "You did come to me, and I've been a fucking terrible teacher."
"You were, and despite that, I've already learned a lot. I thought a lot about it…And it's partly why I reached out to you the other night. You're not going to lie to me. I want to learn more about my city…And I want to do more. Charlie reminded me that I told her I'd support her work at the hotel…And that means supporting my city."

Could guilt eat someone alive? She'd completely botched this whole day. If he dropped her, she wouldn't blame him. Alastor had known, had known she'd just explode like this. It would be bad for both our businesses.
"I'm sorry." She whispered into his chest. Lucifer's hands tightened on her body and for a moment there was quiet between them. "You can just drop me off on the next rooftop…I can get home myself."

"Drop you on a rooftop?" Wyr nodded.
"Unless you're going to drop me from here…In which case, I hope you know Alastor will want retribution." It was a terrible joke, an even worse threat. Alastor was an overlord, but she wasn't sure there would be much he could do against Lucifer.
"I'm not going to drop you on a rooftop." Wyr sniffed and looked up, flinching when her nose brushed Lucifer's. Her heart leapt to her throat and she felt a rush of heat spread through her. Lucifer's cheeks went pink and he leaned back.
"Uh, sorry…Didn't realise you were feeling brave enough to look up."
"No, no, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to move so suddenly, I just thought-"
"That I was going to leave you on a random rooftop because I was angry and we fought?" Wyr shrugged.
"Kind of, yeah."

Lucifer's wings flapped behind him. He sighed and in a moment they were sailing through the air. His grip on her was secure as he made for a skyscraper. It didn't stop Wyr from clinging to the only thing keeping her in the air. Her eyes squeezed shut against the air blowing back her hair. When they landed on top, it took him a moment to put her down, letting her hooves hit the roof before he stepped away.

"I think we should start again."
Wyr's head tilted as she stared at the king. Lucifer held out his hand and smiled at her warmly. It took her a moment, but she reached out and put hers in his. He tugged her closer until she could feel the warmth of him and raised her hand to his mouth. He didn't shoot any looks over her shoulder now, and it was with genuine warmth that he placed a gentle, slow kiss on her knuckles and looked up at her.
"My name is Lucifer, I'm a fallen angel. It's a pleasure to meet you. I'm new to the city." Wyr's smile wobbled as her knees felt weak. He didn't bother with titles, and his joke landed with her.
"It's lovely to meet you Lucifer. My name is Wyr, and I'm a Sinner in Pentagram City."
Lucifer grinned at her.
"Wyr is a lovely name. I'm so pleased to meet you." Wyr laughed breathlessly as Lucifer lowered her hand. He winked at her. "Better right?" She nodded, wondering how they'd gone from a yelling match in the street to an abandoned rooftop pretending to meet each other for the first time. He was being gracious, giving her a second chance, and she should take it. Should be honest with him.
"There's something I've been needing to tell you." Lucifer raised an eyebrow as Wyr wrapped her free hand around her. He hadn't let go of her other one yet and it hung between them feeling warm when the breeze felt chilly so high up.
"And what would that be?" If she just said she needed his help, maybe he'd hear her out.
"There's something I need to show you."

Lucifer landed lightly in a nondescript section of the city. Wyr was getting better at finding her footing now, and he let her go quickly. She dusted herself off and moved from hoof to hoof. Since she'd said she had something to show him, she'd been a bundle of twitching, fiddling and darting eyes.
He wasn't sure he could do any more emotional flips today, but the warmth he'd felt when she'd apologised was still there, a balm on the cold that pierced him with her harsh words. He appreciated honesty, but that didn't mean it hadn't hurt like a bitch hearing the truth.
Wyr led him from the street into the office building, and they were quiet riding up the elevator. When she led him to a locked office door, she pulled out a string of keys and shoved one in the lock. She paused with her hand on the knob and turned fully, her back leaning on the door.
"So, we're both aware you built the cemeteries, and you haven't been around for a while. Since you built them, obviously Hell got bigger and bigger, and we're having a population crisis even with murder-happy citizens. You would think my job is just burying the dead, and that's that, what more do the dead need?" She laughed nervously and picked at her lip with her nails. She'd started to ramble. "Well, as it turns out the dead require paperwork! Now, when Lillith was around, things were slow, and I was working with a bit of backlog…But then she disappeared…And things ground to a complete halt."

Lillith…Sometimes he forgot how much his ex-wife was integral to the world they'd built together. How much had fallen by the wayside since she'd left?
"I've been trying to keep up with everything, but I'm practically no one down here you know? I'm just a Sinner. I've passed on what I can to other Rings, and some of the nobility has been very forgiving and helpful…But I need help. From you. Specifically."
He watched her chest rise and fall heavily before she pushed the door open behind her.
It was confusing at first, trying to make out what should have been an office. Wyr flicked on a light and stepped inside, leaving a small space for Lucifer to step inside with her so she could close the door. Filling cabinets made up most of the floor space. Stacked folders overtook every surface, and papers in haphazard, teetering piles towered to the ceiling. Wyr gestured to the room. He couldn't see how far back everything went.
"This isn't even all of it." Her voice was filled with defeat.
"There's more?" She nodded and Lucifer wanted to reach out and touch her, to wipe the sad look off her face.
"A royal has to sign off on every person who's buried in the cemetery."
How had he not known this? How had this slipped past- No, he knew how. He knew exactly how everything slipped past him. How many other people were gasping for breath under work they'd never should have been bothered with?
"And you've been dealing with this since…Since she left?" Wyr's lip was tucked between her teeth like she was waiting for the other shoe to drop. Like she was waiting for him to tell her she was on her own. She nodded.
"I wasn't…This wasn't a whole scheme, okay? It was-I was going to-I tried-I didn't mean for this-" Wyr seemed to struggle to get the words out. Lucifer wanted to think he could understand what she was trying to say.
"I was thinking…We could make a deal." His eyes caught hers and the silver of her eyes seemed to swirl with an unknown emotion. It almost felt as though he'd said these words before to her.
"A…Deal?" He nodded.
"I want to learn more about what's going on in the city…And you're currently overrun with work I can do, but you can't." She nodded along with him, seeing where this was going. "So you teach me, and I help get on top of you." He paused and then flushed red. "On top of your work!"

He wanted to sink into the floor.

There was a pregnant pause between them before Wyr squeaked out an affirmative "yes."

This hadn't been where Lucifer thought his day would go. He wasn't sure what he'd expected, but it hadn't been making deals in an overrun, instant-building-fire-if he-got-heated office. But here he was, and the rims of Wyr's eyes were still red, he hadn't noticed them before, but the tired wrinkle under her eyes, the soft purplish bruising he'd so often seen in the mirror. He knew that look. Of someone who was drowning and couldn't fathom having to throw out a line for help. Or someone who had no one to throw the line to.
He'd been there. For millennia he'd been there, and it had cost him his marriage. How could he blame Lillith when it had been, and always would be his fault? He'd been holding on to her, trying to haul himself up like he could replace the home and family he had left behind. The love of his life had suffered, his daughter had suffered because he'd been stuck somewhere so deep and dark there was no hope a rope could reach him.
He saw Wyr now, not an ethereal caregiver in death, but a woman who had been white-knuckling her afterlife. It was Hell, sure, there was meant to be a punishment, but somehow this didn't seem to fit whatever crime she must have committed.
He hadn't made a deal with a Sinner in hundreds of years. Had only thrown out one or two as a boon to Lillith. By far, the terms of this deal benefited him more than her. Lucifer would spend more time with Wyr, and learn more about his Hell, in which would prove his usefulness to his daughter. She would also grow closer to him, and that would piss off the fucking deer.
Was that presumptive? Maybe, but the idea of Wyr confiding in him like this…Of someone relying on him like this. Someone who needed him… He swallowed dryly.
He needed this. He wanted to know her, wanted to know Wyr's story. From the moment he'd caught her up in his arms…She'd felt familiar. She smelled familiar.

Lucifer held out his hand and Wyr flinched, hands that had been twisting together like coiled snakes snapping apart. He wiggled his fingers at her, a grin tugging at the edges of his lips. Wyr's cheeks went pink and she placed a blackened hand in his. He tugged her forward, watching her hooves slip on papers and she lunged at him. His hands were on her waist, catching her again quickly.
"Can't have ya' falling for me now, can we?" Bold, oh he was feeling bold. She needed him. Wyr's silver eyes rolled and she looked as though she was holding back a laugh as she righted herself. Lucifer went on, his hands feeling prickly as he pulled them from the bare skin of Wyr's waist. The number of times her body had been close to his…It was like temptation over and over again. He wondered if she felt that palpable connection between them. Like they were truly connected in some strange way? It made him want to tease her, to have her feel the way he felt when she was close.
"I think we have a deal here. Shall we seal it?" The woman's eyes lit up, the anxiety he'd seen there as she explained her trials finally fading as she grabbed his hand again, squeezing it between hers.
"Yes, oh, Lucifer, thank you so much. You have no idea-I promise, I'll teach you everything you need to know-You'll be so well informed about everything in Pride." He waited as she shook his hand. He grinned at her.
"I like to seal my deals a little differently." Wyr paused in her hand shaking.
"Shall we sign a contract? Do you want to write one up?"

It felt like a weight was lifting from her shoulders. For the first time in years, the sight of this office didn't feel as though it was crushing her. Lucifer's smile was full of mischief as he tugged her close, his words taking on a caramel smoothness.
"I seal my deals with a kiss." He reached up and tilted her chin, the claw of his thumb gently pricking the skin there. Wyr felt frozen as he leaned up, his grin turning almost wicked. She'd been in this position before, but when she'd been human, he'd been an unfathomable deity. He'd been bestial. Now, he stood here, in her office, no horns or fire in sight.
Was the office on fire? It felt like it was on fire. She felt like she was on fire. He was getting closer, and she could smell his cologne again. Was he going to seal their deal with a kiss? It felt too personal, and not personal enough. Wyr felt a heat flush through her body, pulse-pounding throughout. He'd kissed her once before. Had sealed their pact with a kiss. His sharp teeth had cut her lip and left a small scar. She'd tongued the cut for days remembering the hot tang of her blood, the red smear on his face when he'd pulled away.

Her eyes closed, and she felt her body sway towards him, waiting for the hot press of his lips against hers. There was a pause, and then she felt the soft press of lips on her forehead. When Lucifer pulled away Wyr opened her eyes, dazed shock cooling her heated blood. Lucifer let go of her hands, his face looking as flushed as hers. Oh, she'd totally misread the situation. Wyr had made herself look like a total idiot. The man was married. To Lillith of all beings…And she'd gone all swoony at the idea of a kiss. It's not like he remembered her. As far as Lucifer was concerned, they'd only just met.

Wyr stepped back into the cramped space and drew up the semblance of a smile.
"Okay! Well, I feel like today has been a lot to take in, maybe we should split from here and try again another time." She had to awkwardly shuffle past Lucifer to get back to the office door and open it and felt the brush of their chests as she looked anywhere but at him.
"Wait a minute-" Wyr stopped, her hand on the doorknob. She didn't want to wait. She wanted to go and ask Alastor to take her drinking. Wanted to go back to bed completely wasted so that maybe she'd forget this whole embarrassing ass day. Wyr's smile felt strained.
"Yes?" Lucifer's smile had turned, melting to a frown.
"You're leaving?"
"Well, it's just, today kind of went off the rails…I just thought maybe-"
"Can I buy you lunch?"

"So ye' just lied? Right to his face? Just how fecking stupid can you be?"
Wyr winced into her glass. O'Malley didn't pull her punches, and her whiskey was just as strong. She nodded, shrugging her shoulders to the bar owner. O'Malley's bar Her Revenge sat in the inner city, underground with only a heavy wooden door with a skull on its face to mark the way down from the outside.
In her human life, Wyr had never spent any time on a ship, not like her best friend, who'd grown up on one, birthed a child on one, and died on one, but O'Malley swore her bar looked like the bowels of a ship. It was a quiet night, which meant the former pirate was able to spend time comforting her, but on busy nights, when the Sinners found their way to Her Revenge, it was bedlam. Some nights got so packed, that Wyr dipped behind the bar and jumped in to serve with O'Malley.
The two women had lived within a decade or two of each other, and when O'Malley had come down, Wyr had been so eager for company, that she'd practically forced the pirate to live with her until she got on her feet. A female pirate was just another form of witchcraft after all. After gutting a Sinner who'd put hands on O'Malley when her back was turned, Wyr had been gifted with the woman's unquestionable loyalty.

"Yeah, I know…He just…I just…What was I supposed to say?" Her grip on the glass tightened and she downed the drink, relishing the burn of whiskey in her throat. "How was I going to just go to lunch with the king of hell himself? After I totally expected him to…For us to-fuck. I'm so in over my head." O'Malley, Wyr's closest friend, and longest companion, clapped her shoulder with a tight, reassuring squeeze. Her Irish lilt was almost gone now, but it came on strong whenever she was trying to be gentle with her friend.
"He's the king of hell. The father of lies. What the feck is wrong wit ye'?"
Wyr closed her eyes and breathed through her nose, trying not to think about the small rubber duck in her bag on the bar beside her. She didn't know what she was thinking…She'd just wanted out. Wanted to not feel humiliated.
"Everything! I feel like an idiot."
"That you are. I know you say all this paperwork hast' to be done, love, but are ya' sure it's the right way to go about it? We were doing okay reaching out to other folk. We can go back to that." Wyr sighed, clutching at her head. As much as O'Malley was helpful, smuggling goods between rings for the Sinners, the paperwork was in the thousands, and they'd never been able to catch up.
"It's too late to back out now…We made the deal. The only thing for it, is if he wants to break it. He's the stronger party." O'Malley tossed her heavy braid back over a shoulder and poured Wyr a second drink.
"Well…Who knows how long it will last…Your little scene is already making waves."

O'Malley turned the sound up on the television and Wyr spun on her barstool, looking across the room to the wonky camera angle and slow-motion, grainy footage. For a moment, she couldn't make out what the film was, but recoiled when she recognised the white top hat and the apple cane. All at once she realised the black shape not in focus in the video was her turned back and tangle of curls. She heard her words being hurled through the TV and watched in horror as she saw the king of hell, the big boss, the literal creator of hell, flinch at her poisonous tongue.
She whipped back around to O'Malley and held up her glass.
"The good shit please Mal."