#pride&joy

“I hereby vow never to return until the right changes have been made. This is not my choice, it is my duty. Thank you for protecting me, Sera. Goodbye.”

She’d never been so cold and blunt to anyone in all her aeons of life; it had destroyed her to write it, but soon regret would serve no purpose to her anymore. With a deep breath, she steadied herself and stepped with resolve toward the edge of the rainbow bridge. She closed her eyes.

Out of nowhere, all the world came to a screeching halt, the jarring loss of momentum causing her heart to nearly leap out her throat.

“I got ya.’”

A few seconds earlier, Lucifer had looked up through the glass walls of his new suite at the hotel just in time to see what could only be likened to a falling star.

Without thinking, he’d bolted into action, racing to catch the little one right as she’d started to descend past the city skyline. She could’ve been shish-kebabbed by the spire of a skyscraper if he’d taken any longer to spot her.

His heart was pounding after his miles-long sprint through the air. “You alright?”

Emily ogled up at her saviour with wide eyes, failing to realise he’d asked her a question for a good several seconds. “Y-Yes. Uh…thank you.” He didn’t look much like a demon, dressed in white from top to bottom with strawberry blond hair and a warm red gaze. If she didn’t know better, she would think this gleaming, six-winged stranger was a seraph like herself.

“You’ve fallen,” he inferred with frantic eyes and a heavy heart. “What happened?”

But her attention was already fixated elsewhere. As the angel of joy, she possessed a divine gift that let her feel the emotions of others as if they were her own. Down below, there were people on the streets, and every last one of them was miserable. It was so much worse than she could’ve imagined. There truly wasn’t an ounce of joy to be found here. She watched as one of the wretched souls was violently defiled by another before her eyes, their cries of terror ringing in her ears clear as day. The latter’s hand clenched around the former’s neck, and suddenly she couldn’t get a breath in, a scream trapped in her throat as she could do nothing but watch. She felt sick.

Lucifer sensed her rising panic and held her closer. “Hey, look at me, you’re okay,” he urged, cradling the poor, lost princess in one arm while cupping her colourless face in his free hand. She met his gaze, her own filled with the all-consuming fear she’d had the privilege of never knowing until now. She looked like a deer in the headlights, her expression like an arrow straight to his once broken and unfeeling heart. “C’mon. Let’s get you inside where it’s safe.”

“Right, let me just get this straight.” The youngest of the so-called Vees was hardly giving them half of her attention as she played around giving herself different flashy manicures with a flick of her wrist. “So the pair of you just poof into my studio out of nowhere, then order me personally to give you each the full Transformakeover service right this fucking second with no appointment?”

Emily felt a stab of shame at the sarcastic accusation, causing her to shrink back into Lucifer’s side. Before she could say anything, though, he waved his cane and conjured a pile of cash taller than a fridge between them and the overlord. “I take it that should work for you.”

Velvette’s eyebrows shot up toward the top of the stack. “Yeah, no, tha-that’ll do.”

“That’s what I thought,” he smirked.

The first order of business, as apparently per their stylist’s standard practice, was hair. She took Emily aside and sat her down in front of an oversized mirror in a frame of uncomfortably bright LEDs, then had a stylist on standby sit the king in the chair next to hers. “I’ve gotta say, darling, you’re in desperate need of some layers,” she noted, running a comb through the lilac tresses. “A new colour wouldn’t hurt neither. Any requests?”

“Uhh…” Out of habit, she cast a lost glance over at Lucifer. It took him a couple of seconds to notice, but when he did, she whisper-yelled to him, “What colour should I get my hair dyed?”

He raised an eyebrow. “What are you asking me for? It’s your hair, sunshine,” he smiled tightly. “I shouldn’t need to tell you by now that I think any colour would look great on you.”

“Oh. Okay…” Her gaze meandered back to her reflection. She’d never had her hair dyed before, and she’d never had much of a say when it came to styles either. Velvette was getting restless as she waited for an answer, which had Emily chewing on the inside of her cheek.

“Here, how ’bout something like this?” Lucifer stood up to show her a picture on his phone. “That Angel Dust fellow sent it to me the other day saying he thought it would suit you. Now, why he didn’t just send it to you directly, I have no clue.” The image showed a sinner from behind. They had shoulder-length hair with feathery layers and a balayage going from dark roots to a warm vanilla blonde at the crown, then into a blinding platinum for the better part of the length. Emily’s brows rose and her lips formed a lowercase ‘o,’ telling him she at least wasn’t averse to the sight of it.

Velvette scoffed. “Are you joking? That’s, like—” Her words caught in her throat when she spotted Morningstar shooting a glowing red glare her way through the mirror. “I mean—y-yeah, if that’s what you want. Seems easy enough.”

She promptly got up, wasting no time walking Emily over to one of the sinks for a wash. The little angel floated along without a care in the world while the other two trailed behind. Having heard that it would be ‘easy enough,’ she was surprised to find out the dyeing process was a lot more complicated than she was imagining. Lucifer was already in the middle of getting his blow-dried by the time she got back from her rinse.

“Good god, where’d you get this cut, Cannibal Town?” cringed Velvette as she got started on the trimming process.

“Yeah, actually!” Emily was anything but oblivious to the disgust in her tone, but she’d already decided to ignore it. “Lucifer’s taking me on a tour around Pentagram City, and that was the first place we visited. Today it’s the commercial district!”

“You don’t say?”

“Mhm! I went to get my hair done at the barber shop, and they had a singing quartet in the shop! It was so cool!”

“So where you off to next, then?”

“Uhm…” The abrupt change of subject caught her a little off guard. “Well, I forget what her name was, but she’s an overlord like you, and I feel like her first and last initials were the same. We’re going to visit her. Either that or we’re visiting someone named…oh, fudge. Did it start with a ‘Z?’ I think it started with a ‘Z…’ Sorry, I can’t remember. It was one of the two—or both, maybe. I dunno.”

“Was it Zestial Morde and Carmilla Carmine, perhaps?”

“Yes, that’s it! Oh my gosh, thank you. That was driving me crazy!” she giggled at herself. “So does that mean you know them?”

Not much time had passed before they were interrupted by Lucifer’s hairdresser, spinning him around in his chair to show her work to her boss.

Lucifer himself was looking none too pleased. His forelocks messy and unkempt, the devil was now sporting something called an undercut. The roguish diva had tried to have it dyed—he’d vehemently put his foot down at the very first mention of the idea. But even though he didn’t care much for the end result himself, when he saw Emily clapping for him and flashing him a double thumbs-up with an open-mouthed smile, he couldn’t help but smile back.

“She’ll be done in a minute,” Velvette dismissed him after reluctantly approving the work of her tired-looking employee.

Once the trimming and styling steps had been wrapped up, she sprung up from her seat and made a beeline toward the waiting area where he was sat. “So? How do I look?”

“Lovely!” he grinned from ear to ear. “Wow, uh… This might sound a bit strange, but you look just like Charlie. It’s like you two could be sisters,” he chortled.

“Really?! Haha! I wonder if she’ll think the same when she sees it.”

With their hair done, it was onto the retail stage of the trademarked Transformakovers.

“So what kind of look are you thinking for me?” asked Emily as they were led into the overlord’s walk-in closet, which was really more of a gallery. “Woah…!”

Her eyes popped and her mouth hung open as she ogled her surroundings. There were garments of all different colours and materials and personalities she couldn’t even label, the racks on every wall going all the way up to the vaulted ceiling. She’d had no idea how vast the world of fashion really was until she’d stepped inside.

“Velvette, this is amazing!” she squealed, forgetting that she was supposed to be hiding her wings as she darted from rack to rack. Lucifer smiled quietly at her unabashed excitement. “Did you design all of these? Ahh, look at those shoes! And that top! Oh my gosh, how do you ever decide what to wear?!”

Velvette’s curt body language contradicted how flattered she actually was. “It’s not hard, really. I mean, I wouldn’t touch half the shit in here, but that’s just me.”

“What?! Really?” She fluttered back down to the floor, shocked and a little crestfallen. “You mean you don’t like this stuff?”

“No, it-it’s—well, yeah, most of it’s…fine, I guess.” This reaction had Emily crossing her arms at the emotions she was detecting now: mainly flattery, but also a hint of vulnerability and… Was that guilt? Before she could figure it out, it vanished, both from her senses and her memory. With a snap of her fingers, Velvette summoned a rack on wheels full of clothes and accessories ranging from ostentatious to understated beside her. “Here’s what I’m thinking for you two.”

Emily wasted no time getting a closer look, the hooks of the hangers screeching against the metal rod as she flipped through them. Upon observation, the rack seemed to be divided in half, each side containing the makings of a whole outfit plus a few alternate options for certain parts.

“I’m guessing that’s her side and this is mine?” Lucifer inferred as he side-eyed the white tennies on his end with reflective toes and ludicrously chunky tread.

“Ooh…” Emily grimaced as she took a strikingly short mini skirt off the rack and held it up to her hips. It was covered in a loud print of candies and desserts atop a sweet pastel pink. “Oh gosh, it’s even shorter than I thought,” she laughed crookedly.

“Absolutely not!” Her chaperone, livid, snatched it out of her hands practically in the middle of her sentence. He shot daggers at the diva, which seemed to bounce right off of her.

“Oy, calm your tits, Your Holiness,” she jeered, “I’ve got it covered.” Then she reached between them for Emily’s half of the rack and removed from it a pair of fuzzy, black, thigh-high leg warmers. To Lucifer’s dismay, the model looked pleased as punch when she saw them, leaving him no choice but to give her his begrudging approval.

Then out of the corner of his eye, he saw Velvette positioning her fingers for a snap. He raised his cane and froze them with his own magic just in time.

“Nope! No, nuh-uh,” he chuckled despite the severe crease festering between his brows. “We can get changed by ourselves, thank you. If you’ll just point us in the direction of your changing stalls.”

Though she just had to give him attitude in the form of a bratty shrug, she complied. Lucifer was the first to emerge from his stall, and Emily appeared a short while later, the two of them decked from head to toe in their shiny new drip.

“Tada~!” She gave a dainty little twirl. “What do you think?”

He and Velvette looked her up and down as she greedily soaked up their attention. She had on the skirt and leg warmers from before, and under the latter were a pair of black platforms with reflective toes that matched those on Lucifer’s shoes. For the upper half, she wore a sunny yellow crop top under a white zip-up hoodie. Her hair was tied back in a mid-low ponytail, and her collarbone was adorned with a colourful pastel necklace with beads of all different shapes and sizes, which looked almost edible.

When she asked for his thoughts, Lucifer had all sorts of adjectives going through his head, but none which he dared say out loud while they weren’t alone. He cleared his throat. “Well…” Maybe her special empathicism would be enough to let her know he didn’t entirely dislike it.

Meanwhile there he was, his own outfit perfectly on theme with hers, and yet he felt like an absolute buffoon wearing it. From the top down, he had on a plain white tee with an alarmingly deep V-neck, which was tucked into a pair of bulky, high-waisted, greyish magenta cargo pants. Overtop of that was a black baseball jacket with glaring yellow trim and a meaningless monogram.

“You’ll want a mask, too,” Velvette added, making the accessory appear directly over his nose and mouth with a snap. “To cover up those little red spots on your cheeks.”

He caught Emily cracking an amused grin, causing his ears to fume with the heat of rushing blood. Pulling the mask down to his chin, he huffed, “Not sure I’d be super comfortable going out in public dressed like this.” He didn’t bother trying to hide his scowl, peering down his neckline at his pale self. “Don’t you have anything a bit more, erm…normal?”

“Nah.” Velvette stood firm in her selection. “You told me disguises—what’s the point of a disguise if it doesn’t make you look like someone you’re not?”

He grumbled, “Right you are.”

“Hey, at least we match!” Emily chirped and grabbed both his hands with a bounce in her posture. “That’s a pro, isn’t it?”

He couldn’t help letting out a nasal chuckle at her enthusiastic attempt to find a silver lining for him. “That’s true, I suppose.”

She checked her phone and noticed it was only a few minutes past midday. They still had a whole afternoon of fun ahead of them! “Oh, we should probably get going,” she said, to which Lucifer nodded in stoic agreement. “Thanks so much for everything, Velvette, this has been so much fun!” she beamed. “I’m so glad I got to meet you!” Velvette replied with a charismatic grin and nothing more. As she showed them the exit, one turned and waved goodbye while the other offered half a smile over his shoulder before the door closed behind them.

Velvette waited until both their backs were turned, then dropped her hand and pulled out her phone. The screen buzzed with static and the speaker crackled before the face of the one receiving her call appeared. “Yeah? What?”

She grinned. “Vox, you are never gonna believe who just showed up at the studio.”

The two fallen seraphim were making their way on foot to their next destination of the day: some sort of music festival supposedly happening on the roof of the massive skyscraper nextdoor. The younger of the two was bursting at the seams with excitement, but the older had only agreed to it because Charlie had vouched for its security.

“You know, it honestly does suit you,” blurted Emily.

Lucifer scoffed and gave her a raise of his brow. “Seriously?”

“Seriously! Believe me, I may be the angel of joy, but I’d never say something I didn’t mean just to make someone feel better.”

This earned her a hearty laugh as they strolled across the skybridge connecting the two halves of the sprawling complex. “Well, thanks, but even if you think it looks okay, I still can’t say I see the appeal.”

“Ah, well… That’s okay.” She gave his hand a squeeze. “It’s just for today. When we get home, I can start sketching out some ideas for a new outfit you’ll definitely like.”

He almost stopped in his tracks when he heard that. “Wait, you’re gonna make me a brand new, Emily-original outfit?” he gawked. “From scratch?”

“Absolutely! Seeing that walk-in closet gave me an inspiration overload. I can’t wait to get started! In fact—I don’t think I will.” Concentrating all her attention, she held out her free hand and expertly manifested a fresh drawing pad along with a pencil wrapped in hot pink.

“This is Emily, a former seraph like myself,” he haughtily introduced whilst anchoring an arm around her waist. “She’s been staying with me at the castle since her fall the day after the battle. Emily, this is Rosie, the mayor of Cannibal Town.” He did his best to maintain a casual atmosphere, despite how worried he was by the wary look about her. “She’s a…an ally, you could say. She and her people fought with us at the ‘Battle of Hazbin,’ as it were,” he chuckled, “but they’re not as dangerous as they might seem. Right, Rosie?” He made sure to shoot the woman a look that conveyed all the grave protective intent he’d left unsaid, and judging by the subtle twitch in the corners of her smile, he seemed to have gotten the message across.

“Oh, no, not at all. We’re only dangerous to our victims!” Rosie laughed off his attempt to intimidate her with a rather distasteful joke, but to his surprise, he noticed Emily’s shoulders bobbing up and down in tandem with hers as she shifted her attention back to the little one. “Welcome to Hell, darling! You have my word, we’ll do our part to keep you feeling safe and welcome as long as you’re in town.”

”Oh—thank you, Miss Rosie! That’s so nice of you.” Emily allowed a glowing smile to grace her features, pleasantly surprised by the towering sinner’s air of warmth and hospitality. “I gotta say, this does seem like one of the more welcoming corners of the city from what little I’ve seen so far.”

“Well, that’s high praise indeed coming from you,” Rosie said. “Colour me flattered. For an angel, you’re quite the charmer, aren’t you?” Emily tried not to read too deeply into her well-intended comparison. “If I may ask, what was it that got you kicked out of Heaven?”

“Oh, I wasn’t kicked out. I left Heaven on my own terms a day or two after Adam’s attack—which was completely unnecessary and wrong and just revolting, might I add.”

It was all Lucifer could do to ignore the feeling of his old sins crawling on his back. Meanwhile the sinner’s eyebrows rose as she raised a lanky finger to her chin. “Well, I’ll be blessed…”

“I actually got to meet Charlie myself before then!” Emily continued. “It was when she came to Heaven for a meeting about whether redemption of sinners’ souls is possible.” She was so excited, she almost forgot to restrain herself from dropping the bomb in public. “But that’s when I learned about…the exterminations.” Her chipper exterior faltered as she recalled that moment when her delusion of a perfect world had been shattered. Lucifer pulled her back to the present with a gentle hand on her shoulder. “Anyway, that’s why I chose to leave.” She let out a cleansing exhale. “I just want to help you all however I can for as long as you need me here.”

“Hey, don’t be so hard on yourself.” Lucifer comforted her with a squeeze of her shoulder. “There’s no need to go around airing your reasons for falling to folks out here. We’re just getting to know each other.” A consolatory smile formed on his face, giving her the need to avert her eyes lest her heart skip right out of her chest. He looked back up at Rosie. “If it’s not too much trouble, would you mind showing us around town later today?”

“Oh, my pleasure, Your Majesty!” she cheerfully accepted. “Just let me take care of my last couple clients for the morning and we’ll be off, okay? There’s a little booth in the window over there, so feel free to grab something to nibble on while ya’ wait!”

“Uh, that’s alright, we’ll pass. Thank you for offering, though!” Emily chuckled awkwardly when she saw the selection of severed body parts behind the glass. “And take your time.” Keeping a firm grip on his hand, she shuffled over to the booth Rosie had pointed out and hastily took a seat.

Once they each had a nice cup of tea to sip while they waited, he took out his phone to pull up the map of Pentagram City. “I wanted to fill you in on a few unique places in Hell, starting with Cannibal Town for today, so you can get a feel for the kind of world you’re now a part of. It’s a bit different from Heaven, isn't it?” he smirked half-heartedly.

“A bit?” She laughed out loud at his gross understatement. “It’s like nothing I ever could’ve imagined… I got a taste of what Hell was like when Charlie came to Heaven, but it’s so different in person. So much more…diverse? I think that’s the right word.” She clinked her pointy nails against her teacup, deep in thought.

Glancing back at Rosie as she tended to her clients, “Would you like to hear more of what I know about the other spots I’ve planned for us to visit?” he offered.

“Ooh, yes, please!” She leaned in eagerly over the table.

He chuckled, leaning over and meeting her in the middle to show her the map. “Alright, well, next on the list is Sinsoplex. It’s a commercial district with shopping malls, clubs, and entertainment complexes galore. It’s the type of place where people can really indulge themselves and live like there’s no tomorrow, but it does require a combination of fame and wealth to really make the most of one’s time there.” He leaned back, cradling his chin as he pondered what they might get up to there. “After that, I’ll take you to Carmine headquarters in the southwest where all the industrial stuff happens. There’s someone there that I’ve been meaning to talk to and, actually, you might benefit from meeting her too.”

As he focused on giving her the rundown of their itinerary, she’d turned an infectious Heavenly smile his way despite the Hellishly sharp fangs in her mouth. “This is so sweet of you, y’know,” she interjected, begetting a raised brow from him. “Not that you’re doing this for me. Charlie was just telling me about how you’ve been trying to come out of your shell a bit more lately, since the two of you started talking again.” His expression softened and his eyes went out of focus. “I think you’re one of the bravest people I’ve ever met, in Heaven or Hell.”

Snapped out of his daze, he blushed and looked away, the tips of his ears glowing the bright tint of daffodil petals. “I... Well, you might be giving me a bit too much credit there, don’t you think?” he chuffed. “I had a talk with her about this the other day… She told me how grateful and happy she was for me that I was starting to…y’know, like you said. Starting to let more people in. Except I don’t think she realises that she and you, and maybe, arguably Maggie, are the only ones I’ve really been spending any time with.”

His gaze met hers again, and he offered a shy smile, which she returned in full. “Still, though! That’s huge progress compared to before, right? You should be proud!” But in her heart of hearts, she could see he was still trapped by the countless years’ buildup of all-consuming shame. At least for the time being, it seemed so.

“Thank you,” he sighed nonetheless. “Honestly, I’ve never been good at hearing those kinds of words, especially coming from someone like you.” He would’ve said ‘a true angel like you’ if he were less of a coward. “It’s just…” He paused, glancing down at their entwined fingers and wondering how in the world to express his next thought. “I mean, obviously I can take care of myself, but it’s nice to feel like…there are people that…want…a better life for me. People who believe that a life beyond endless suffering is really possible…for me.”

He hadn’t noticed, but she’d been tearing up, trying her hardest not to start weeping since the subject of Charlie had first come up. “I’m so happy for you,” she choked out through a beaming smile, squeezing his fingers tightly between hers until her knuckles turned white. “Really. I…I can’t imagine what the millennia have been like for you.” Finally she could feel the rise in hope out of him that she’d been longing for as he looked at her with wide, aback-taken eyes. “I’m just so glad you’re finally starting to feel more at home.”

There were mountains more of the unconditional acceptance and genuine faith in him that she was dying to express, but their heart-to-heart was cut short. “Alright, you lovebirds,” came the teasing voice of Rosie as she strode over to their side of the room, shooting them a wink and making him tear his hand away from Emily’s, his blush redoubling. “The two of you are in for a real treat today, let me tell ya.’ Shall we?”

“Oh, certainly, yes!” Lucifer snapped to his feet, then nearly missed the step down from the booth. “Ready to get going, Emily?” he said, brushing it off and extending a hand to help her up. “And stay close to me,” he added discreetly.

They followed Rosie out of the parlour and into the bustling streets, where the nauseatingly enticing smell of cooking flesh filled the air. As they walked, he could feel the empty eyes of passersby from every angle. He put his arm around her waist again, pulling her close, offering his body as a shield. He could tell how abjectly terrified she was behind the glimmer in her eyes and the jaunt in her step and the way she swung his hand back and forth in hers. On the inside, he was kicking himself. It had been so long since he’d last shown his face anywhere, it hadn’t even occurred to him that he’d need a disguise. As for Emily, she wouldn’t have attracted so much attention if she’d already gotten the hang of concealing her wings; he was still working with her on that one.

Glancing behind her and immediately picking up on the king’s hyper-awareness, “This is one of the most harmless districts this side of the Pentagram,” Rosie assured, gesturing towards the rows of quaint, weathered shops all around. She offered Emily a smile, who was happily following, confused as to why Lucifer seemed so on edge. “You should be perfectly safe here today, Your Highness.”

This made her burst out in a contagious laughing fit at the wildly inappropriate way Rosie had just addressed her. “Oh, please, don’t call me that,” she snorted. “I’m a runaway; I don’t have any authority over anyone at the moment. Just call me Emily. Or Em, or Emmy—please just anything but Your Highness.”

“Well then, little miss sparkly eyes,” Rosie began, making her giggle, “I gotta say that dress looks gorgeous on you. Did ya’ make it yourself?”

“Yes! I did! How did you know?!” Emily had received a tip from Alastor the day before, despite Lucifer’s warnings to stay away from him. What the radio demon had told her pertained to a certain standard of dress supposedly upheld in Cannibal Town. With what little time she’d had, she’d whipped up her own take on a stylish ankle-length dress inspired by Earth’s nineteen-tens to -twenties period, complete with long velvet gloves and a playful feather boa. This was all in hopes of making as open-minded and enthusiastic an impression as she could on the old-timey cannibals while she was there.

“Isn’t she stunning?” gushed Lucifer as he chivalrously tucked her bangs back into place. “She’s quite the little seamstress, you know. You should see what other masterpieces she’s designed just since her fall.”

“I’ve just had the perfect idea for our first stop!” Rosie cut him off with a gasp and a grin, earning her a royal scowl. “There’s a dandy little barbershop just up the road from here. How would ya’ like a refreshing new hairstyle to complete the look you’re sporting?”

Emily’s ears lit up. “Oh, i-is there something wrong with my hair?”

“No! No, not at all,” her guardian stepped in. “Your hair’s lovely the way it is. I think she just meant you could do with something a little more on-theme with the rest of your outfit, you know? If that’s what you’d like.”

“Ohhh.” She nodded, instantly restored to her bright-eyed and bushy-tailed self. “That sounds like fun! Let’s go!”

They were greeted by the tinkling of a little silver bell over the door and the warm harmonies of an a cappella quartet, before she was whisked away to one of the vanities. Left alone with their tour guide, Lucifer cleared his throat to fill the silence. “So, uhm…Charlie tells me you give some pretty alright relationship counselling?”

Her eyebrows shot up. “Oh? Don’t tell me the head honcho of Hell himself is asking little old me for romantic advice.”

“That’s not it! Well, not… That is, it’s complicated. I don’t think it’s romantic, but it could be…?” His thumb twirled his expired wedding band around his ring finger.

“What’s on your mind, Your Majesty? Whatever it is, I’ll do all I can to help.”

Her offer, despite all odds, put a smile on his face. “How to explain… I’d have thought it would be upsetting for me to see her embracing culture and community down here so quickly and openly. I’m not one to associate with…my subjects very often,” he put simply, “as I’m sure you know, but my w—uh, my ex-wife was. And it was always a bit of a sore spot between us.”

“You’re saying it doesn’t upset you to see little Emily thriving down here, even though it reminds you of how Lilith used to be?”

“Yeah, I guess so.”

“Why do you think that could be?”

“I don’t know!” he quietly exclaimed. “That’s what’s bothering me. I…” He sighed into his hands. “She seems closer to Charlie’s age, but she reminds me of her in so many ways.”

“What kinds of ways?”

“Well, her smile, for one. And the way she just lights up any room she enters. She’s like a beacon of hope. Like the one I’ve been needing in my life since longer ago than I can recall.”

“Since before the divorce, even?”

Lucifer’s face froze. “Well…” Just the fact that the question took him any time to consider was jarringly telling. He’d always clung to Lilith as the last spark of hope in an otherwise hopeless world, but Emily made him feel more hopeful and happy on a daily basis than she ever had. Could it really be true? No, that was just his broken, bleeding heart talking, surely.

And there he went again, overthinking every little thing. Why didn’t he simply follow the fallen seraph’s advice about just being present in the moment instead of missing out on the joy right in front of him? He could do better. He had to.

“Lucifer! Rosie!”

And here she came, the woman of the hour, bounding over from her corner of the salon. Her hair was all done up in big, wavy curls which bounced with her every step, making her look like nothing short of a doll come to life. Its length seemed to have been reduced to the middle of her back as well.

“What do you think?” She gave a little twirl while Rosie clapped politely but sincerely.

“Emily, you look lovely!” he applauded along. “This style really does suit you.”

“You say that about every style I try,” she giggled in retort. “How can I be sure you mean it?”

“Oh, but I do! I really do, I mean it every time,” he insisted with a crease in his brow. “Honestly, I can’t imagine a look that you wouldn’t be able to pull off. Your hair is—”

“Alright, alright, I believe you!” she cut him off, making him laugh as he realised he’d been had. It was nice to see she was getting better at taking compliments at least.

The trio stayed to listen to the delightful performance of the barbershop quartet for a few minutes longer before taking their leave. From there, Rosie took them right along to restaurant row for some lunch. Emily ordered off the vegan menu since she wasn’t quite feeling up for dining on human flesh today. Neither was Lucifer, but he decided to bite the bullet for the both of them, not wanting to leave the stain of a king’s disapproval on this place just because it wasn’t to his personal taste. It was fine as long as he hadn’t been the one to slaughter or butcher the meat himself, right?

The afternoon wore on, and they ended up visiting a charming main street, complete with cozy shops and an ice cream parlour that was much more to their liking. She seemed to enjoy the sweet treats just as much as he did as they took a moment to rest on a bench in a quaint, secluded park and savour their cones. He linked their pinkies together. “I get the sense you’re feeling a little off, Em. Should we make our way back home soon, or do you want to check out more of the sights here first?”

She looked up at him, in the middle of licking her fingers clean, with a smudge of chocolate fudge at the corner of her lips. “You can? Oh.” Her cheeks flushed ever so slightly; she’d been trying her best to hide how tired she was for both their sakes, since they’d been having such a wonderful day out together and she truly didn’t want it to end. “Sorry… Would you be disappointed if I wanted to go back home?” she asked sheepishly.

“Oh, sweetheart,” he laughed, brushing the chocolate from her lips. “Of course I wouldn’t be disappointed. I just want to make sure you’re comfortable and taken care of.”

“Okay… Thank you,” she mumbled. “I dunno why I’m so worn out. I don’t get like this very easily. At least, I didn’t use to.” This confession of hers pulled hard at the weight on his soul, the reminder of how much his own fall had changed him like a stab to his uncharacteristically good mood.

Standing up, he offered her a hand to help her to her feet. “May I carry you back to the castle, my dear?”

“Uh, thanks for the offer, but wouldn’t that get us some weird looks?” she laughed, despite her blush. “Why don’t you just open a portal for us like you did when we left home this morning?”