"What do you mean you had a contract with my Mom!?"

Why was there shouting? It was far too early for shouting. Lucifer still felt exhausted and like there was a heavy weight settled over his body. Groaning softly he sluggishly moved his right arm and draped it over his eyes, trying to wake his mind enough to get a grasp on his surroundings. "Why are we yelling?" His throat was quite dry and his words came out scratchier than he intended. He wanted so badly to go back to sleep.

"Dad!"

The bed shook as his daughter tossed herself onto it and Lucifer forced his arm from his eyes so he could look up at Charlie. There was an incredible amount of worry on her face and from the sight of her it looked as if she had been crying. He doesn't think that was Lilith's fault this time given what he woke up to hearing. "Hey Charlie, what's with the greeting?"

Despite how much his body does not want to move right now, concern for his daughter outweighs exhaustion. Lucifer forced himself to sit up and the moment he was vertical he suddenly found his lap full of daughter and her arms tossed around his neck. Confusion settled in him quite heavily at that and Lucifer snapped his head to the side, throwing a bewildered look at the Radio Demon. In clarification, as much as Alastor can, he held up two fingers.

Lucifer understood instantly. Breaking Lilith's soul contract with Alastor apparently knocked him out for two days. Fighting off the vultures must have been rather difficult, especially when one of those was his own daughter. Shaking his head Lucifer moved his hand to gently push his clawed fingers through Charlie's hair. "Hey, I'm fine, you know how breaking contracts go."

"Why didn't you just ask Mom for Al's contract?"

"Honey, you know your Mom, would she have given it to me?" The answer is no. Especially with the way things were between him and Lilith. Add in the fact that having the Radio Demon of all people on a leash was incredibly valuable? Lilith would have laughed in his face. There was no easy solution to this, other than what he did and passing out for a couple of days was hardly a large price to pay.

Charlie sniffled into his shoulder and Lucifer pushed his fingers through her hair again, trying to help her relax. "I don't understand, why did she even have a contract with him?"

"Don't think too badly of her, Lilith has owned Alastor's soul for a long time. It was just a contract she made, one of many she does." Truthfully, he doesn't believe there was any malicious reason to her making it. Was she using it that way now? Absolutely. But in the beginning she just made a contract at random, like many demons do. She saw someone that might be useful later and made a deal. Many deals in Hell are made that way and for that purpose. Quite a few contracts Alastor owned were probably made the same way. A soul that can be used. He doesn't want Charlie to think her mother was going around making contracts with the Hotel Residents, because she wasn't. Someone would tell him that, he's certain.

He feels Charlie nod against his shoulder and she finally picks her face up, wiping away the tears that had fallen. "Okay, just… don't do anything like that again."

"Break a powerful contract?" Lucifer gave his daughter an amused smile and motioned toward himself. "King of Hell. I can't make that promise, Charlie, but I can promise to consider which ones I do it with. Alright?" She doesn't look happy with that but at least she nods in understanding. "Now, how mad is your mother? I'm probably going to have to deal with that soon."

Which was not a conversation or fight he was looking forward to having. Lilith was undoubtedly not going to be pleased over what he'd done. He doesn't even know if he has the energy for that argument, all he really wants to do is roll over and go right back to sleep. Especially since he's in Alastor's bed and it smells pleasantly of the Radio Demon.

Charlie slid down off of the bed and Lucifer turned his head to watch her. She folded her hands in front of herself and smiled radiantly at him. Though there did seem to be a bit of a harder edge to it than he expected. "Don't worry, Dad. I will handle Mom! You can count on me for this."

He blinked. "Uh… alright?"

Charlie smiled even wider and spun around, making her way over toward Alastor. When she stopped in front of him she motioned over her shoulder toward Lucifer. "Take care of my Dad, Al."

"Of course, dear."

She bounced her way happily out of the room and Lucifer watched the door swing shut. After a moment of silence he slowly dragged his gaze back over toward Alastor. "What did I miss?"

The smile on his face lost some of its forced edge and the demon made his way over toward the bed, sitting down on the edge of it. "When you said breaking contracts like that would knock you out, I had not realized how much it would. After you were entirely out, and I do mean that to the very last letter, there was a noticeable change in Hell."

"What do you mean?"

Alastor waved his hand toward the window. "I had not realized you were controlling the weather down here."

Lucifer's gaze flicked up toward the window and he frowned. "I mean, not entirely. I can't control all of it, obviously. But I try to make the acid rain less frequent than it is. I can keep the worst of it dimmed."

"I noticed." The demon states. "The moment you were practically dead on me we had a horrible storm. Apparently, Charlie is aware you do that too." Was she? He didn't know that. "When they returned from Envy she had noticed the weather, the downpour of acid rain and the lightning storm. She had been quite frightened." It wasn't even something he gave much thought to anymore. Lucifer hated the acid rain that Hell was subjected to so his magic mindlessly kept it quelled. He can't always ward it off, weather was weather and this was a punishment. But it rains less violently than it would, which was good enough for him. He actually thinks it's been a long time since they had a storm that bad. "I think, even more noticeable, was that the elevators across Hell stopped working though. Lilith had to bring them all back from Envy."

"What?" Shit. That means the Sins would have noticed. Every single elevator in Hell stopping would have caused quite the commotion. "When did they turn back on?"

Alastor hummed and shrugged. "As far as I'm aware, they haven't. I believe a rescue party was attempted to save the souls trapped in the elevators. Asmodeus used his crystals to create portals to move the demons stuck in the elevators."

Lucifer sighed and dropped his head down into his hands, rubbing his temples. "Has Charlie been staying up here?"

"Considering she knew something was wrong with you, of course. The project in Envy was put on pause until she was certain of your wellbeing. It's been quite difficult to chase her off." Clearly. Lucifer was impressed Alastor managed to keep what exactly was wrong until a few minutes ago. Given Charlie's reaction though, she was not happy that Lilith had a deal with Alastor. "You did have another visitor while you were out, Sire."

Picking his head up the King narrowed his eyes at the Radio Demon. Alastor turned a bit more on the bed and rested his hands in his lap. "The Voice of God stopped by, apparently having realized himself something was wrong in Hell. He portaled right into my room, and I nearly stabbed him." Lucifer frowned at that and leaned forward a bit, narrowing his gaze at the demon. "He fed you… something. He wasn't very forthcoming with what it was. He did say it would help you and apparently it did." A brief motion toward his body. "I don't believe you would have woken up as quickly as you did should he not have helped."

"I see." Gabriel must have given him an Elixir of Revitalization. He had really thrown himself into the trenches this time it seems, dragged his soul right across the hot coals. Not that it had been intentional but he probably should have paced himself a bit more before doing all of that. "I didn't mean to cause so many problems. I am slowly getting my power back though, so I should be able to right the situations in Hell quickly." He would need to check his phone and make sure the other Sins were alright, that they didn't need immediate help with anything.

As his gaze darted to the side to try and find his phone, he felt his wrist grabbed and his body yanked forward on the bed. Lucifer's head snapped back around as he was pulled forward right into Alastor's arms. His own hands moved to try and catch himself on the Radio Demon's body somewhere to keep himself from hurting him. Last he remembered Alastor had a holy gash across his chest. Was that healed? Two days was a fairly decent amount of time for a person as strong as Alastor to heal himself.

The demon's arms wrapped around his waist and Alastor pulled them both over in the bed, laying back down properly with Lucifer beside him. Shifting on the bed he looked to the arms around him and then up to Alastor's face, squinting at the demon as he tried to understand what was going on in his mind. "Are you alright?" His deer ears were flat on top of his head, he's only seen them do that when Alastor was injured or uncomfortable with something. They were about as telling as that tail that wagged happily when he was excited or content about something.

He feels the breath the demon gives out and the small nod that he didn't believe at all. Shifting his hand between them he reached up and gently started rubbing the base of Alastor's ears, trying to relax him a little bit. It didn't feel like Alastor was still hurt, especially with the way he yanked him up against him and held him so tightly. If he was still in pain, he certainly wouldn't have done that so carelessly. Was he worried then? About him? Not that large a leap, he's expressed his concern before even if it wasn't usually in such… noticeable ways. Like clinging to Lucifer and grabbing at him. Usually, it involved a first aid kit or words that could be swung as an insult if one squinted or didn't know the Radio Demon so well.

"I could sleep more, and you don't look like you've gotten much lately, so why don't we just lay here together and try to shut the world out for a while, hm? I'm sure that whatever has piled up since I've been out of it can wait for us a little bit longer." Lucifer smiled gently at the Radio Demon and felt him relax at those words, his head barely nodding as he already seemed to be falling asleep. The ears on top of his head were finally starting to loosen up too, popping back up to stand upright on his head as Lucifer continued to run his fingers over them. Just to make sure Alastor didn't stress himself out this much again, he'd do whatever he could to keep from magically exhausting himself for at least several millennia again.

He does wonder what happened while he was out to worry Alastor that much. He didn't think that his little show would actually cause so many problems in Hell, or that Alastor would have to deal with them while he was unconscious. Poor Charlie, he really had frightened her and the demon currently clutching at him too apparently.

"Ridiculous demon." Sighing softly Lucifer leaned forward and tucked his face down against Alastor's chest, continuing to gently run his ears as he let himself drift back off to sleep.

Unfortunately, they didn't get nearly as much sleep as he would have liked. Just a handful of hours later he heard the knocking that came at Alastor's bedroom door and the sound of his phone going off on the table beside the chairs at the fireplace. Lucifer felt Alastor shift and the glare he definitely threw the door over his head, his arms still around the King's body tightening slightly. Gently he pushed his fingers through the Radio Demon's hair and slowly started to pull himself back from Alastor's hold, twisting around on the bed to free himself from the comfortable sheets.

As he headed over to pick up his phone, Alastor went to deal with the banging on his bedroom door. Asmodeus' name flashed across his screen and he tapped to answer it as he flipped it up to his ear. "Good morning, Ozzie."

"Lulu, baby–well first it's one in the afternoon and two what the fuck."

Ah, things were quite bad if he was driving the Sin of Lust into swearing. "I'm fine, really, just an overexertion of my body. To many magical things at once. I do need at least another day before I can bring all the elevators back on line."

"Lilith and I already freed the people trapped in the elevators. I'm not worried about that." Lilith helped free the people in the elevators? He knows Alastor said she went to talk to Asmodeus about that, he didn't actually know she had helped though. His first question was of course why but that didn't seem like a question the Sin of Lust would have the answer to. "Are you really alright? The rest of the Sins and I were debating what happened in the group chat. I think Satan won."

They had a gambling bet over what happened to him? What a bunch of assholes, and of course Satan won. "We tried to send Bel over to you but she got stuck at the hospital dealing with a plague outbreak in Sloth."

"A plague?" He questioned, placing his hand on his hip. "What?"

"Seems all the rings were hit with some form of the bible plagues." Asmodeus sighed into the phone. "Envy had blood water tsunamis and torrential rainfall, Gluttony had an outbreak of lice and fleas which for Hellhounds was apparently indescribably uncomfortable. Sloth had a form of the bubonic plague going on. It was raining frogs and locauses here. Apparently over in Pride you guys had the worst acid rain storm in Hell's entire history and a blackout."

"What the fuck." Lucifer shook his head, feeling a throb in the back of his skull. "Next you're going to tell me someone went around stealing firstborns."

"Not yet, let me know how things in Heaven go and if we should prepare for that."

His eye twitched. "Fuck you. Seriously, fuck you." Asmodeus laughed into the phone. "Is everyone alright now that I'm awake, Ozzie?"

"We've actually been alright since yesterday evening, we all tried to put our collective power together to balance the seven rings. While we could manage in the other six, we didn't appear to have an effect on Pride. Probably because it is your ring."

"Right, apparently Garbiel stopped down and gave me an elixir." Which he was more than thankful to his brother for doing. "Thank you and the others for figuring it out while I wasn't able to."

"We're not useless, you know. Truthfully though it was Satan that managed to figure out how to balance it all."

"Ah, it seems I owe him one." Not that the Sin of Wrath would make use of that. More than likely the other Fallen Angel fed his own power into the networks that fueled Hell and tried to balance it all with the other Sins. It wasn't going to work forever, they didn't have the amount of magic he did, but for now it seemed to have fixed the worst of Hell's problems. He would have to straighten this out sooner rather than later, but he couldn't when he was still recovering his energy. Hopefully the bandage Satan applied worked long enough for him to be able to do that. He should have been more careful when helping Alastor and not pushed himself as hard as he had. Not that he expected his collapsing to bring a form of the ten plagues upon them.

Lucifer feels a body press up behind him and he tilts his head back to catch sight of Alastor's face, the demon staring at his phone with clear irritation. Smiling up at him he tilted his head back down and spoke again. "I have to go Ozzie, I'll let everyone in the Sin Chat know I'm alright. Let me know if things get unpleasant in Lust again, I'll pop down and try to sort it out."

"Sure, let me know if you need anything Lulu."

The phone is tugged away from his ear and Lucifer swipes the group chat open, scanning through the texts in it briefly before typing a new one. Not dead, plagues sorted? Which instantly brought several replies up through it of questions and confirmations of yes, no one was being tormented anymore with them. As his phone went off with annoying speed, he tossed it back down onto the table to turn and face Alastor. Let the sins organize themselves for a moment and he'll deal with their questions after.

Reaching his arms up he wrapped them around Alastor's neck and leaned against him. "Who was at the door?"

"Lilith. She noticed you were awake, either thanks to your daughter or Hell no longer attempting to destroy itself. Charlie and her are going to make some soup and send it up." That was nice of them. "Are you feeling well?"

Lucifer nodded and smiled reassuringly up at the demon. "Perfectly fine, thank you for taking care of me again. You're getting really good at that, you know."

"I wouldn't have to if you stopped being so reckless." Unlikely, but he understood the sentiment. The King hummed at that and shrugged his shoulders, which didn't appear to make Alastor very happy. "Sire, Gabriel said that Michael's magic attacked your soul. That sounded rather dangerous."

"Yeah, well, that's what happens when you take pure holy energy into your body and you're no longer a being of pure holy energy. It doesn't like it. My magic is like me now, not quite completely angelic and not entirely demonic either. Somewhere in between, to match the way I was turned by Hell. Angel but demon as well." A Fallen Angel that no longer had a place in Heaven. He was finding that a lot easier to swallow now though, feeling less like he was living in a circus cage.

It was starting to seem more like home, and he had wondered if he'd ever have a place that felt like that again.

Lucifer patted Alastor's back and removed his arms from around him, dropping them down to his side as he stepped back. "I'll take a shower, why don't you go pick something up for yourself from Cannibal Town? Then we can have lunch and you can tell me what else happened while I was sleeping."

"Passed out, half dead." Alastor corrected, narrowing his gaze at him. "But very well, I suppose I should eat anyway. Try not to collapse in the shower while I'm gone."

Despite the fact he wasn't at his full strength, which he was very aware of, Lucifer was feeling physically fine. His body was recovering quicker with whatever Gabriel gave him than it would have without as well. Without a doubt he did owe his brother, and after everything he has done for them he has no idea how he'll repay that debt. Between helping him with Michael, giving Alastor that picture of his mother and now this–they were accumulating quite the debt with the Archangel.

He never likes owing someone. That feeling that there's a debt hanging over his head that someone can call on at any moment. Over his years down here in Hell, Lucifer got used to either never relying on someone, or relying on the balance that deals technically offer. At least with a deal you always know what you're getting into. You know the price that has to be paid or the result that will come if you can't pay it. Deals for all the way that they end up tending to go, are incredibly dangerous. But when used in a proper way, they serve the purpose that they are meant to. An equal service offered with an understanding of the debt collected.

When something is done for another person without knowing what that debt payment would be, it was an uncomfortable feeling. A part of him does feel like that he has a problem instantly assuming something malicious in return for this. He knows his brother and Gabriel had never been the kind of person to instantly want something in exchange for a service done. That was more Azrael, an equal exchange of services for whatever he does.

All of them had their own idea of what a price someone needs to pay for their help, and a few of them would instantly offer their help without something in exchange, as angels should. But the few of his brothers that would ask for something–that was never Gabriel. Undoubtedly he did need to figure out what else happened between Alastor and his brother when he was unconscious.

As much as he does trust the demon to watch over things while he's not able to, something he had voiced to Alastor before he collapsed, it's been eons since he last actually trusted an angel. Lucifer would sooner believe that Lilith wanted to be back in Hell than he would believe one of his brothers didn't have alternative motives for something. Realistically though, who can blame him for that thought? Not just a few of them stood against him in Heaven that day, all of themraised their weapons against him. That included Gabriel. He might have just been protecting his home, but he still raised his sword and threatened to cut Lucifer down if he didn't stop what he was doing.

When he finished his shower, Alastor's room was still empty. The Radio Demon hadn't returned yet, and he hadn't left his shadow behind either. The soup had been dropped off though, sitting at the table in the bayou with what looked like a mug of coffee. At least Charlie had figured out he needed caffeine and not tea. He wanted to try and stay awake now, so he could figure out what was going on in Hell. Lucifer collected the mug and sipped on it while wandering around the room, trying to wake his body up more from the rather groggy feeling still clinging to him.

There were a few books stacked on the table where he'd left his phone, a couple classics that he's actually read himself. Dracula was certainly something he would have expected Alastor to read, as was Hannibal by Thomas Harris actually but he hasn't seen Alastor pull that one out. It was written after his death, so perhaps he never explored that far in his reading list. Lucifer will have to sneak a copy of it into his room and encourage him to read it, he would definitely get some pleasure out of reading it.

He sat Dracula back down and snatched up his phone, flipping it open to read through the texts from all the Sins. Satan had texted him privately and all the message said was call me which was incredibly mellow for the rather angry Sin, especially after their last parting. Not that Lucifer would cling to that, the things the Sin of Wrath does in an anger haze–well, he knows Satan really can't help it. Hanging onto it doesn't help anything, all it would have done was ruin their relationship long ago.

Especially with the amount of times he has stabbed him.

It's just not usually with angelic weapons. That situation had been new.

Taking another sip of his coffee he flipped through his contact list and hit the video chat button on Satan's contact card. The phone rang a few times before the other end connected and Lucifer got a good view of the Sin of Wrath's nose. "Satan, pull the phone away from your face." There is screaming on the other end of the phone and Lucifer is fairly certain he sees some sort of pitchfork in the other's hand when he does finally pull the phone back.

"I'm working."

Working. "Uh-huh, I can see that, and what did this soul do?" Another sip of his coffee, the camera now angled to where he sees Satan's ear instead of his face.

"Pissed me off." He can't see what the Sin of Wrath does, but he definitely hears the way the soul screeched in the background and started breaking into heavy sobs.

Nothing like a good afternoon torture session. "Can you stop gutting him with me on the phone? Take a break, five minutes, you are the one that asked me to call you."

"Hm…" The phone moves back, he can actually see Satan considering the request and finally settling on doing as he asked. The pitchfork is placed down and he does get a view of the twisted, mangled body hanging from Satan's ceiling. Honestly, if Alastor really wanted any of them on his show, he should definitely invite Satan. He actually thinks they'd have a lot of fun doing it. That is not a thought he's giving more than it already got though, he certainly wasn't actually going to suggest it to the Radio Demon.

The phone is placed down somewhere in Satan's office and he has to strain his hearing to actually listen to his friend as he moves around the room to get cleaned up. "Those plagues were fun. Not so much the fact that my domain tried to burn itself away."

"Ozzie told me about them, but not what happened in Wrath. So you got hit too?" Lucifer moved back over into the bayou and sat down at the table, folding his right leg over the left as he took another sip of his coffee.

"Apparently where it rained hail in the bible, in Wrath it rained flaming balls of fire from volcanoes."

"Ah. There was acid rain and lightning here."

"Would have preferred that considering I live in a wasteland where every bit of grass is flammable."

Lucifer shrugged and gave him that. "True, at least the biggest threat here from the acid rain is the Sinners that live in Pride." Considering the fact acid rain is the only type of weather they get here, the Sinners had to figure out how to prevent their homes from melting and had successfully done that. As long as the lightning didn't cause any other damage, Pride itself would be fine. Flaming balls of fire in a wasteland? Different story. Especially if they had been large.

Satan's phone moved and Lucifer watched as the other sat behind his desk and propped the phone up, giving him a clear view of his friend this time. Cleaned up too, no blood coating him. "Where did they come from?"

So that's what he wanted to know. Lucifer hummed and sat his coffee mug down, leaning forward onto the table as he looked at his phone. "Me." He shrugged a bit and sighed. "Hell is supposed to be a punishment, I can tune the worst of it back but it's still meant to be a place of suffering. The weather is just one of the many things inflicted on us down here."

"So you did lose control."

"Yes, I heard you won your stupid fucking bet. Thanks for caring if I was alright or not."

Satan shrugged. "Easy money is easy money, I've known you the longest it wasn't a hard guess what happened. I figured you'd get back up to. I've seen first hand how difficult you are to kill."

What an asshole. "You would have been eating your words if I stayed unconscious any longer and your Ring tried to burn itself away." He gets himself another shrug, like Satan really couldn't care at all if Wrath burned away or not. It would not surprise him if the Sin of Wrath didn't actually. Considering the way that he was, it might have even been enjoyable for him. "I am up though so," he waved his hand at the phone, "go away. I have things I need to do. I appreciate you working with the other Sins to balance the realms power again, I'll get everything back up and running soon."

"Oh, hey! What about the cannibals? Are you giving me any!?"

"Goodbye, Satan!"

Lucifer ended the call and leaned forward, dropping his head onto the table and breathing out a sigh. On the other side of the table he heard a chair get pulled out and the sound of a container being placed down. Turning his head to the side he watched Alastor sit in the chair, his ears twitching curiously in Lucifer's direction but otherwise keeping his face impassive of questions.

He waves his hand in the air. "Satan wanted to know what happened, he had a bet going on with the other Sins."

"And people believe my choice of friends is questionable. Rosie asked if you were alright, I told her you are now." That was kind of her. "All of Hell noticed that something was wrong, it wasn't hard to. Thankfully, Cannibal Town is alright after all the acid rain, though their dinner that was outside was ruined."

He gives a huff of laughter at that. "Oh no, how dare I collapse and cause a storm that burned the flesh off of the corpses in the streets. How rude of me."

"Indeed it was." Alastor grinned at him and opened his container, pointing to the tray of soup near Lucifer's head. "Eat, your daughter worked hard on it I'm sure."

Humming happily at that thought he picked his head up from the table and pulled the tray over toward him. Lifting the lid off of the bowl of soup he sat it aside and picked his spoon up. His daughter was actually a rather good cook. Lucifer wasn't bad, but his specialty was pancakes and baking in general. He doesn't tend to like cooking and he definitely doesn't eat as regularly as he should. Getting trapped mentally when creating his ducks tended to make him lose track of time, and then there was just that lack of motivation to wanting to get up and go get something to eat.

Alastor doesn't seem to eat as much as he should either, but he also binge eats at the same time. Maybe that was a trait of the cannibals, or just the Radio Demon when he finally hosts one of his broadcasts, he's not entirely sure. When he watched him defend the Hotel that day, he'd gobbled down dozens of people all in one go in that giant monstrous form.

"What else happened while I was out?" Lucifer finally asked, placing the spoon in the empty bowl and pushing it aside. His coffee was gone at this point so he tapped the side of the cup and refilled it with his magic, picking it back up to sip the hot liquid.

The shadow popped up beside him and collected the tray from beside him, vanishing a moment it had it. Alastor waved his hand and a golden piece of paper appeared in his grip that he then placed down in front of Lucifer, along with a pen he definitely recognized from Heaven. "I did not approve of this plan of picking a fight with the Angel of Justice, much less blackmailing him. And I truly did believe, unlike you, that Gabriel is more reliable to us than he appears."

Given the way that he had reacted to the suggestion in that meeting with Leviathan, Lucifer had known he didn't approve of the idea. Alastor might not have voiced it, but his body language gave it away as clear as anything could. However, he hadn't thought the Radio Demon would go around him to solve the problem. He's not angry, he is very worried, but mostly he's confused. The paper that had been placed before him was tugged a little bit closer, his eyes darting across it to try and take in what exactly it was. Which, from what he could tell, was a form of sorts. "Okay…" he replies slowly, "what does that mean? Or, really, I guess what I want to know is… what did you tell him?"

"Take a breath, Sire." The demon shook his head and motioned toward him. "He didn't wish to know the details, he doesn't know about the reason for you wanting to be up there." That was good, though he is sure that Gabriel knows a bit more than they would want him to. There's only so many reasons the devil would want to be back in Heaven, after all. Gabriel just can't label this as Hell causing problems for Heaven or Lucifer loses that contract with them. Alastor tapped his claws against the table and continued speaking. "While Gabriel was healing you, I asked him if Raphael would actually help you, or if it was a pointless endeavor. Given the way that you and Leviathan spoke, it did not appear that the Angel of Justice had many good feelings toward you."

Because he doesn't, and he shouldn't. After everything that Lucifer did up there, Raphael should be hateful of him. However, he still would have fought that as dirty as he needed to in order to get up there. Granted, if it became known he blackmailed people for this, that might not have helped him. Actually, it probably would have gotten the entire thing dismissed, but that was a risk he had been willing to take.

It probably shouldn't have been.

What part of that had Alastor been aware of? Or was this all because he hated the idea of Lucifer picking a fight with an Archangel? It was a risky one.

"What did you do then?" The King asked and Alastor nodded his head toward the paper beneath his fingers.

"I asked for a meeting."

It was not that simple. If it was that simple, Lucifer would have done it himself. Even with the angel that Alastor had asked for it from. The idea that it was that simple for them to just unchain him from Hell, after how long they have kept him down here, even if it was for a few hours at most–there's no way. Lucifer has a lot of faith, in many things surprisingly, but this is one of the things he doesn't. He knows his brothers, and he knows that when they threw him down here they never intended on letting him see any sort of light outside of this pit, much less Heaven's.

He shook his head. "That can't be all you did, Alastor. What did you say to my brother?"

"The context of the conversation hardly matters." Which he doesn't believe is true, but the Radio Demon seemed quite determined to keep his secrets. "What matters is what the Archangel said." Leaning over the table the pen was snatched up in his hand and held out toward Lucifer. "He told me to tell you to fill this file out and that he would get you your meeting in Heaven. He seemed quite sincere in his words. I told you, the Voice of God is an asset that we can use in this. You might not think so, I can see your distrust for all of them runs very deep and I do not fault you for that. However, I do believe that Gabriel regrets many things. You being one of them. This bond he wishes to form back with you, it is not a lie."

How is he supposed to believe that? Lucifer's lips pressed together tightly, biting back the words that wanted to rush from his mouth. The denial and even self-deprecating words that came to him so easily over things like this. The regret, hatred and anger that he still feels over Heaven and the things that happened up there and even in the Garden of Eden itself. They won't help right now, and truthfully, it doesn't matter. Alastor went to great lengths for this, he's willing to bet and whatever he said to Gabriel he must have had some sort of effect on the Archangel. Enough of one that he actually gave him the form for a meeting. One that goes through Gabriel and God himself, not the council of Archangels.

This form had more weight being the Voice of God would be able to submit it to their Father and use it to call the meeting. Shaking his head slightly Lucifer finally reached out and took the pen from Alastor, clicking the end of it and starting to fill the form out.

While he wrote down the details the form needed, Alastor leaned forward on the table and watched. "I do have a question, Sire." Lucifer motioned with his freehand for the other to continue. "Gabriel's role as the Voice of God, how much of what he chooses to do actually goes through God? The deity himself does not appear to get involved in much."

"Father hasn't been involved in his own realm since I gave the apple of freewill to Eve and that war in Heaven. I don't know how much of that was actually his choice or Michael's. To throw me down here rather than just killing me could be seen as an act of mercy on Michael's part or God's decision. Take your pick." He shrugged a bit. "I haven't been up there in a while so I can't say realistically now how much of it does, but before my fall Gabriel was the one who saw Father the most." Lucifer picked his head up a bit to look at Alastor. "Gabriel can't make a choice that father himself wouldn't when acting as the Voice of God, but he doesn't have to run it past father before doing it. There's some–I guess holy seal on him that prevents that? It's like a sixth sense I think."

That at least was the way it sounded when Gabriel explained it to him once. This just–inherent understanding of the choice he was supposed to make or the words he was supposed to carry down to the Mortal World. It didn't seem to bother his brother so he never really gave it more thought than he did. Now though, he wonders if that will harm them in Heaven if the final choice of all of this comes down to Gabriel.

"If that is the case, then where is God?" Alastor asked and Lucifer shrugged a bit.

"He's still up there, not like he can really go anywhere. Think of it like a vacation of sorts I guess. A very long one."

He's come to the part of the document where he's supposed to explain what he wants a meeting in Heaven for, and he hesitates. Pressing his lips together clenches the pen tighter and wonders how exactly he's supposed to word this. "How would you word what we're wanting to do up there to anyone who isn't one of the Sins or myself?"

"You mean you don't want to put on paper that you wish to rip an angel's halo off and prove that your brother is a murderous psychopath?" Alastor questioned with far too much cheer in his voice. In response, Lucifer picked his head up and leveled him an annoyed look. When he words it like that it sounds worse than their actual plan is, even if it does summarize it quite well. An amused smile graces the demon's face and he motioned toward the paper. "Put this down. You want to bring charges against an angel that committed crimes against Hell when the terms of the original extermination agreement still stood."

Lucifer hummed and wrote down what Alastor said, wording it as best he could with whatever legal jargon he did know, finishing the document off by signing his name at the bottom of it. Once his signature was finished the golden parchment picked itself up, rolled itself up and vanished along with the pen he had been holding. That was all it took, the document would take itself to Gabriel's office and from there whatever his brother decided to do with it would be on him.

"Now we just wait. Gabriel will probably send a message down with his verdict and then it will be up to them to decide to allow me into Heaven." Which, now that it was becoming more and more a reality of this? He was starting to feel a bit nervous about that. Lucifer hasn't been up there since everything that happened, he can barely even remember what Heaven looked like, let alone what it felt like. The fact he was going to go up there, especially to try and argue for himself again, was an unsettling feeling. What if Leviathan was right and they didn't give a single shit about anything he had to say? What if they dismissed him again and just threw him from the clouds a second time?

He doesn't know what he'll end up doing. He was actually rather terrified at the prospect of all of that. Of failing a second time in front of all of his brothers.

"Sire, you look like you're about to combust where you're sitting." He might, and that would probably be a more pleasant experience than being laughed at in front of the Seven Holy Virtues. Shaking his head he tried to relax his body and looked across the table over at Alastor. The Radio Demon arched his eyebrows at him and motioned between the two of them. "I'll be up there with you, whatever you're worried about we can work through it together. The worst thing that might happen is them pardoning Lute. It will be a failure, but a failure isn't nearly as bad as what could happen."

"I'd rather us not fail but I guess you're right. We'll give it our all, together, and whatever happens will be what we'll have to live with." Lucifer can't make them listen, he's known that since the very beginning of everything. But he can try and he can argue his point to the very best of his ability, with every bit of evidence that they've acquired. As Charlie said, they have to fight for their dreams, for the things that they believe in, and he's not fighting for them alone. He doesn't have to defend this one without help. He won't be alone in Heaven, or alone in his beliefs this time.

"Perfect! Now stick with that understanding all the way till this is over and you'll hopefully not turn into a spineless jellyfish."

Lucifer rolled his eyes but a smile twitched onto his face, a bit of amusement filling him at that. As insulted as he could let himself feel at that, he really wasn't at all. Alastor might not like how nervous and uncomfortable he can get at certain things, he definitely hates the self-deprecating words and the lack of confidence Lucifer tends to have in… most things let's be honest. However, the Radio Demon still offers a lot of support. In between insulting him or ending it with an one, but still support.

He really does play the role of Queen of Hell well.

Alastor pushes back in his chair and Lucifer watches him stand, motioning for Lucifer to follow him back into the bedroom. Sliding out of his own he followed him out of the bayou and back into the mild temperatures of the bedroom itself. It was weird how the atmosphere changed between his room and the bayou. Whatever magical barrier the Radio Demon created to make his space in there as realistic as possible was definitely incredible. Lucifer could probably recreate it even better, if he had an understanding of what a bayou actually was other than what he's encountered through Alastor. However, it wouldn't carry the same magical energy or love of the space that the demon clearly had.

There was a certain level of enjoyment and even adoration that came with creating something yourself and getting to experience it. That was how he felt about his ducks. He isn't sure how he'd feel if someone took all his ducks he worked hard on and remade them.

When he turns around in the bedroom area to figure out where Alastor went, he spots him pulling out the bench of a Studio Piano against the wall near the entrance to the bayou. It was a fairly deep cherry wood color with a beautiful finish to it. The upright design of it also took up far less space than the Grand Piano Alastor had used last time in the music room. When the Radio Demon was comfortable he turned on the bench a bit to look behind him over at Lucifer. "What do you want to play?"

Catching on quickly the devil grinned and waved his hand, popping the golden violin into his grip. He spun the bow in his left hand and hummed a bit, tapping the wooden end of it against his shoulder gently. "Something fun." To try and lift his mood a bit.

Alastor tilted his head. "Mozart?"

He did have a lot of upbeat pieces. "Allegro Con Spirito?" That was a rather fast paced and fun one, it was certainly energetic and lively.

Nodding in agreement, Alastor turned back to the piano in front of him and Lucifer twisted the violin up properly onto his right shoulder. With this piece the violin actually opened it, and after a bar the piano would accompany him. Swinging the bow up he placed it down against the strings, counted in his head and then dragged it across the violin with the start of the music. Just like the other times he's heard Alastor play, the Radio Demon was flawless in the way he moved his fingers across the strings to match the music.

It was always so enthralling to listen to him play, and even more enrapturing to actually get to play with him. The last time they had done this was when he took him to the Ring of Lust and the other had dragged him up onto the stage. Getting to do it now, in private and with the way his feelings have progressed toward Alastor–it was even more incredible. Lucifer could feel the excitement that filled him, the joy that pulled his arm flawlessly across the bow, accompanying Alastor along with the piece they were playing in such thrilling and captivating ways.

He moved across the room as he played, stepping over toward the piano and leaning against it as the music continued to flow from his violin. Alastor's hands moved along the piano quickly, long fingers plucking at each key with precision and confidence. His gaze flicked up toward Lucifer briefly and the smile that spread across his face was smooth and seemingly filled with an emotion he doesn't recognize, one he doesn't dare even attempt to define.

As the music continued with that lively and fun tone, Lucifer twisted away from the piano toward the middle of the bedroom and dragged his bow quickly across the strings, enjoying the rush that the feeling sent through him. There was a saying in the Mortal Realm, one that he was always rather fond of when he heard; music soothes the soul. Even for the demons of Hell, the devil who ruled over the infernal realm, it always seemed accurate.

Music was what brought him joy and music played with Alastor seemed to make his soul sing in happiness.

The song finally started to reach its conclusion and he danced his way back over toward the piano, moving the bow with him as he returned to Alastor's side to finish the song off. The violin sang as he performed the final pieces of it, the piano keys echoing in perfect time with him. As the last note fell he pulled the bow entirely from his instrument and swung it down, the wide smile on his face far easier to give than it had been minutes ago. The stress was nearly gone entirely, replaced with it the feeling of pure elation.

Turning to the piano he gently laid his violin and bow down on top of it, freeing his hands up as he returned his attention to Alastor. Reaching for the Radio Demon he wrapped his arms around the other's neck and pulled himself up against him, the tips of his fingers brushing against the ends of that beautiful red hair as Alastor tilted his head back to look up at him. He really was such a beautiful person, and undoubtedly the Radio Demon is aware of that to some extent. He was such a prideful person which was ironic coming from the Sin of that himself.

But he wonders just how much the demon realizes how incredible he is. There has to be, somewhere in him, some form of doubt. All of them feel that in some way. It was just human nature to feel that somehow.

Leaning down toward him Lucifer pressed his forehead against Alastor's and closed his eyes, his heart practically swelling with the emotions that were rushing through him. "Thank you."

"Hm? What for?" He feels Alastor's arm wrap around his waist, tugging at the back of his coat playfully.

Lucifer shook his head and moved his face up a bit, tucking it between the cute little deer ears and ignoring the uncomfortable jab of the antlers against his jaw. For being here with him, for playing the music, for making that deal, for upholding that deal to the lengths he did, for just–everything. From the start of it all to where they were now and the emotions that he pushed through his heart.

An emotion he hadn't thought he would ever feel again, much less to the depths that he did. It would probably be best to keep that to himself for just a little bit longer though.