Party At LUX | Open PSL | Turn Down For What

[lightsthesun]

It's two in the morning, the music's cranking, you and everybody else around you are either drunk or high or both, if not because you've been doing shots at the bar or smoking in the bathrooms, then because the atomsphere's so pumping that you feel good just being here.

In the middle of everything is Lucifer, orchestrating the chaos at the center of the party and completely in his element.

And he's waving you over.


(Open PSL for anyone who might want to bump into Lucifer at Lux. Hit me with whatever random tag you like at any time!)

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[detectivemiracle]

[ Chloe's gaze is infinitely tender, for what it's worth. He can desperately try to keep his walls up, but she's always going to be there, chipping away at them, seeing right through his pretenses. ] Really? That was the only reason?

[ She doesn't buy it. Not when she remembers him leaving her a long, confessional voicemail, once upon a time. Earnest speeches about how she ought to know the truth. He'd tried. He'd tried to show her in a way that wouldn't freak her out, more than once. She remembers. ]

Ask me, Lucifer. Ask me if I regret knowing the truth. Ask me if I hate knowing, if I wish I'd never found out.

[lightsthesun]

Well, don't you? [There's no malice to the question, none of his well-founded resentment, just complete incredulity because clearly any answer that's not of course I bloody do' must mean she's insane.] Some part of you must. After Michael, after my parents, after everything we've put you through? You must wonder how nice it would be if you still thought I was just an eccentric club owner with delusions of grandeur?

[detectivemiracle]

You mean, how nice it would be if all that stuff still happened but I just had no idea why because you were still keeping me in the dark?

[ She also has no malice in her voice, just honesty. ] No, that'd be terrible, actually. I regret a lot of things - I regret how I dealt with finding out, more than I can ever express. But no, I definitely don't want to go back to the bad old days when you were completely inexplicable and I was totally dismissive of your problems. I get to make the choice, now. Really make the choice.

[lightsthesun]

[She has him there and, as careful as she is not to lay blame at his feet, not to accuse him of anything - you lied to me, you kept things from me, you could've shown me years ago and you didn't - he lets his chin drop the same as if she'd screamed it at him, eyes falling to the floor.] Yes, but you keep choosing me and I don't understand why.

[If he dares to give Ella that same choice he already knows what her answer will be and it terrifies him. People come and go in his life all the time, there's practically a revolving door to his penthouse - or there used to be - but real, actual friends? Those are fewer and further between than Lucifer cares to admit.] No one ever chooses me, Chloe. No one.

Amenadiel coming down here and laying hands on your mother isn't what makes you special, Chloe. That is.

[detectivemiracle]

I can't explain why, except to say that I care about you. I love you. That's it.

[ She frames his face between her hands, thumbs brushing his skin lightly. ]

But I'm not the only one who's chosen you. Linda has, too. And Trixie. Even Dan will come around. Because we know you. Ella will too. I know she will. Because we're all a team, we've got each other's backs. You've been alone for a long, long time, but you're not anymore.

[lightsthesun]

... But if she doesn't come around - [He hates that they're talking about it like they're seriously considering it.] - what do we do then? Am I supposed to -- I dunno, stop coming into work? Move?

You say we're a team but from where I'm standing I'm the only one with anything to lose.

[detectivemiracle]

Of course not. You're not going anywhere, regardless, and she knows it.

[ Chloe gives him a Look. ]

She also has something to lose. What is it she's always calling you? Brother from another mother? And do you see her giving up on any of her actual, deadbeat brothers?

[lightsthesun]

Blood's thicker than water, Detective, or at least it should be. Granted, that's not really been my experience but I'd like to think that most families don't abandon each other at the drop of a hat. [Ella has no ties to him beyond a misplaced fondness for the man she thinks he is, just a quirky method actor playing the role of a lifetime with too much money and time on his hands. It won't count for anything when he suddenly and irreversibly disabuses her of that notion.] It'll be a disaster.

[detectivemiracle]

...That's a misquote.

[ Normally, Chloe would not be nitpicky, but look. Look. This is actually an important point. And also she's read a lot of Bible stuff lately, so it's almost an immediate reaction. ]

The blood of the covenant is thicker than the water of the womb. That's the quote. I bet Ella knows it. And it means that sometimes, the family we choose is just as important as the family we're born into. I think Ella knows that, too. She chose us, remember? Her family wanted her to move back to Detroit, but she decided to stay here. For us. You included.

[lightsthesun]

[He flops back onto the mattress with a groan, pressing a hand over his eyes.] Oh, Christ, please, please don't start quoting scripture at me. It makes me itch all over, I swear I'm allergic or something. I'll break out in all manner of hives.

[detectivemiracle]

[ Chloe clambers after him, straddling him so her skirt rides up her legs a bit. ] You started it. Don't dish it out if you can't take it. [ She leans over him, giving him her most innocent smile. ]

[lightsthesun]

If it means we're done talking about this then I promise I'll never use another proverb again for as long as I live. [With that in mind and hoping to bring this dreadful conversation to an end, he pushes up onto an elbow to press a kiss to the underside of jaw, his other hand sweeping the length of her hair back over her shoulder.]

[detectivemiracle]

[ Well, she was hoping to provide him with a slightly more pleasant distraction. Though, that also means distracting herself. Stay strong, Decker. She raises her hand, pulls away just a bit, fingers pressing to his lips. ]

We're done for now, if we have a deal. You and me, talking to Linda about this, in the near future. Deal?

[lightsthesun]

Oh, come on. [He doesn't even try to stifle his whining when she pulls away almost immediately, slumping back onto his elbows with an air of defeat. Seriously, how long is it going to take to break this woman? She's even more stubborn than he is and that's saying something.] No, absolutely not! For one thing, a deal involves an exchange and I don't see what I'm getting out of this.

So the real question is what are you planning on giving me in return? Quid quo pro, Clarice.

[detectivemiracle]

You don't? [ Chloe does a little shimmy on top of him, leaning over him so their faces are only inches apart for a moment. ] If Linda's professional opinion is that we don't need to tell Ella, that she would be too traumatized or whatever, then we won't do it. I'll trust Linda's advice, either way.

[lightsthesun]

So you're valuing Linda's opinion over mine? That hardly seems -- [Oh no, not the shimmying. That's just unfair.] Ugh, can you not, please? I need as much blood to stay in my head as possible if I want to have any hope of winning this argument.

[detectivemiracle]

[ She stops, at his request. Her expression is earnest. ] When it comes to this, yes, I do value her opinion over yours. Because you don't think you're worth it. You don't think you're worth any of it. You're the most biased party in this case. You've got me, right here, loving you and telling you otherwise, you've got Linda, I'm sure, trying to coax you into believing it. Even Amenadiel is in your corner, wanting you to be Charlie's godfather. And still you try to tell me you get rejected every time.

[ She presses a kiss to the corner of his mouth. ] Trust me. Please.

[lightsthesun]

But I do trust you, Detective. [He insists with absolute sincerity, staring up at her.] I trust you more than I've ever trusted anyone since the beginning of time. It isn't you I'm worried about. [It's Ella, clearly, but, selfishly, he's even more concerned for himself, about having the life he's finally managed to cobble together disrupted yet again by having yet more people in the know about his true nature, just when they thought they were finding their new normal.]

If it takes the both of us going to see Linda again to prove it to you then, fine, fine, I'll go. To discuss it. In purely hypothetical terms. I won't make you promise I have no intention of keeping.

[detectivemiracle]

Okay.

[ She traces a finger over the crease in his brow, down his nose, to his lips. ]

Try to trust me when I say it'll be okay. I have faith. In you, and in Ella. It'll be okay.

[lightsthesun]

[He sighs.] If you say so.

[detectivemiracle]

[ Chloe shifts onto her side, curling around him, slinging an arm over his waist. ]

No matter what, I'm here. You've got me, for everything.