The Low Hanging Fruit [for ontheair/thelittleapple]

[thisducks]

continuation from this bakerstreet meme

[ And Alastor lands on the thing that Lucifer has wanted to do, again and again. It feeds into his beliefs, the endless shadows and demons that speak whispers into his thoughts, the plague of Humanity's evils that his fellow angels had cursed him to always know.

But then his daughter had held out her hand, telling him her lofty dream, golden and bright, and asked him to believe in it. All he wants is to support her, to make the only thing he ever made that he could be proud of shine as brightly as she can. It just... doesn't stop the reality of his life. ]

Leaving would hurt her more. Being here brings my name to the hotel. [ For all that he's certain he doesn't quite live up to said name, he does as well as he can. More so, it's not really the truth.

He's scared they'll come for her. With Adam's attempt on Charlie's life, the Accord he set with Heaven is broken- the Hellborn are no longer safe.

Nothing, not even himself, will stop him from defending her. She is worth everything to him. More than anything. ]

Comments

[thisducks]

How about I send you a text, sweetie? Just, you know, to spare Vaggie from getting woken up.

[ Partly a true answer, because the poor dear doesn't need to have her sleep interrupted by all of this, but also just in case Charlie is actually asleep so she can stay there.

Because he will have Alastor in a body bag by that point! ]

I'll be back by the hotel within the hour. Promise.

1/2

[thelittleapple]

...love you, Dad.

[She knows there's still a lot of roadblocks for them to fight past, but she feels more at peace now than she has in weeks.

Kissing him lightly on the cheek, she hesitates a moment more before leaving. It's not been such a bad day after all! She's got her Dad back again, and perhaps even he and Alastor will work out their differences!]

2/2

[ontheair]

[It had been late by the time Charlie left to confront her father to begin with, so by the time she makes it back and Lucifer might be on his way, it's the wee hours of the morning.

Alastor is in the kitchen.

He always waits until the small hours to do his cooking, preferring the solitude and silence, a time he can actually somewhat relax. His cane is propped by the table and his overcoat is carefully folded and placed over the back of one of the chairs. His sleeves are rolled up to his elbows and he's lightly humming an old jazz tune as he stirs a deliciously spiced smelling pot of food on the stove.

He's not exactly expecting to be bothered, and especially not by Lucifer.]

[thisducks]

[ Lucifer's return to the Hazbin Hotel is done in silence, returning with only the merest flicker of his power and in short order. With a clean set of clothing, freshly neatened up from a proper shower and some actual self-care, Lucifer is ready to murder 'talk' with a certain someone in the Hotel. So like a predator on the hunt, he makes certain his prey is alone when he decides to make his move.

Too bad, too, because the kitchen smells rather lovely when Lucifer makes his entrance. Who would have guessed that the Radio Demon can cook so well? Lucifer wouldn't trust anything that man cooked anyway.

Wards creep up on every exit in or out of the kitchens - ones diametrically opposed to Alastor's shadows. It comes down like the slamming of a jail cell door, dropping shining golden sigils in the familiar shapes to match the one hovering constantly above Pentagram City over the windows, doors, and locking the kitchen down so there will be no... interruptions. ]

And I thought they called me the serpent in the Garden... turned out we had one right under our noses here at the Hotel.

[ When Lucifer had emerged from the aether is another question, but oh his voice drips with cold anger as he stands there in his fully demonic glory. His wings are neatly tucked behind him, but a thousand eyes stare from every feather, fire blazing above his brows and in his eyes, tail lashing like a whip around his feet.

The devil is pissed. ]

[ontheair]

[Alastor has always been a predator.

Even in life he was the thing that stalked the shadows and took the lives of his victims, never the thing that feared the night and hid from sharp teeth. In death he had become even more so, gifted incredible strength for a new Sinner, casting off the few shackles of propriety and secrecy life had held him to. A monster in the open now, a predator with a sharp smile that all knew to fear.

But for a moment, when shining golden sigils appear and he feels how laughably he is outclassed in power, a raindrop beside the ocean...

For a moment he becomes prey.

His ears pin flat back to his head and his smile takes on the strained quality of a grimace, eyes wide as he meets thousands staring back at him. He has never seen this form-- when Lucifer joined the battle against Adam it had been long after he had already disappeared, and so this is new to him. New and terrifying. New and thrilling.

The second of primal instinctual fear passes and he is able to regain control of himself. He forces his ears back to their usual neutral alert position and deliberately turns his back to continue stirring his pot. He can still feel the power pressing on him from all sides, but he will not give Lucifer the satisfaction of seeing him cower, come what may.]

A deer, actually. If you're looking for a fellow serpent, the portrait of Sir Pentious is just down the hall.

[thisducks]

[ Each step forward is deliberate, fiery eyes unblinking as the rest that pin the other in place. ]

Good thing that venison is on the menu for me tonight then.

[ He licks his lips, a hint of golden blood trickling between his teeth and falling over his chin. Despite his smaller frame, there's the feeling of him being larger than he normally is as he stalks his way forward. His tail sways upward, the spiked tip looking nearly like the serpent he mentioned, like a cobra with its hood flared and ready to strike. ]

You lied to my little girl, little deer.

[ontheair]

Oh? And which lie would that be?

[Flippancy is likely not sensible at all as a response, but he cannot help himself.

Even though the instinct at the base of his skull knows that he's playing with a very real and deadly fire now, he is almost drawn to stoke the blaze further. He belongs here in Pride, truly one of Lucifer's own.]

[thisducks]

[ Upon his fall, Lucifer may have been tainted by the sins that he had unknowingly brought upon humanity, but that doesn't mean he has ever been human. Between one blink and the next, the devil has crossed the space between them. His tail snaps up, wrapping twice around Alastor's throat and clenching as tight as a pair of hands, lifting the other to clear the ground. ]

Don't bullshit me, sinner. You told her I didn't want to see her! I know the game you're playing-- and this is where you lose.

[ontheair]

[He won't disgrace himself by scrabbling his hands at that grip, but even he can't pretend to be totally immune to what's happening. A discordant ebb and flow of dead air waves fills the room and adds an uncomfortable soundtrack to what's happening.]

I see no lie in what I said.

[It's a challenge, the overlay to his voice thicker than before, giving his words a low buzzing quality.]

Unless there's something I'm unaware of, you weren't barred from this hotel or her presence. If you wanted to see her the only thing stopping you was yourself, so it can be surmised you preferred not to.

[thisducks]

[ I knew it. There it is, nearly a duplicate of what he told Charlie Alastor would say about this situation. The devil laughs in reply, a mocking sound, edged in disgust. ]

You really are that predictable! Oh, I am done playing nice with you. You could have done anything you wanted to me, but hurting Charlie?

You fucked up, little deer.

[ Power surrounded Alastor, wrapping around him as surely as his tentacles would his prey on a hunt, but this is something pure and raw and it begins to squeeze inward from every direction simultaneously. Alastor would feel his bones crunching, rearranging, and Lucifer goes from looking up to him, then eye to eye, then smaller. ]

I wonder what sounds a little fawn makes... maybe it'll cry for its mother. Come now, little one- until I decide what to do with you, I think you'll be much cuter like this.

Don't worry, Al. I'll make sure this doesn't burn. [ With a final snap of his fingers, something settles around Alastor's neck, leaving the job finished.

The terrifying Radio Demon stands no more than a few feet tall as a cute, fluffy fawn, complete with a little bow and a leash. ]

[ontheair]

[As he is captured up into the vortex of power that tosses him like a maelstrom, his only thought is anger at himself for miscalculating. No... no, that's not true, there's fear there too. A desperate scrabbling terror, a need to survive, a hatred of the one who holds his chain and forced him on a path that led here.

But he can do nothing.

He cannot help the cry that escapes him as his bones contract and squeeze, head tossed back and sharp teeth open in a rictus snarling grin that's nothing more than a slash of sharp agony. He feels the angelic wound, always hidden beneath his clothes and never fully healed, resonate with the angelic power being used on him to toll like a bell and hurt his distinctly unangelic self.

It's not until the leash snaps into place that he realises what's been done to him, rearing up on his back hooves with fury in his eyes.]

Take it off!

[He hears his own words as a furious snarl, but he can also hear a humiliating bleat exit his mouth.

No... No, this cannot be.]

[thisducks]

[ Lucifer crouches down, his lips pulled back in a grin but much like Alastor's normal 'smile', his eyes show that the grin is anything but mirthful. ]

What, when you're the one playing with the lives of others, you don't just enjoy it - you relish in it. You savor it. A cat playing with a mouse until the moment its hungry. But when you're the mouse for once... much less fun, isn't it?

[ His grin falls, showing it as the purposeful mask it had been, and he coils the leash between his fingertips. ]

...I won't let you hurt her. You can tell me I'm a horrible person, a worse ruler, and a despicable father and none of it would be wrong, but you've also been playing in a game you don't realize, Alastor. One that started before humanity even existed.

[ontheair]

[Alastor continues to stay reared on his hind legs, even if it's not the most stable of positions-- partly because it gives him that tiny bit of extra height, and partly because it feels somehow less humiliating than being on all fours as if he were an actual animal.]

Of course, why would you allow me to hurt her when doing so is your speciality?

[The fawn still has a sharp toothed smile, and despite his words those ears are pinned back in fear of the stronger force in front of him. A pause, and then much more reluctantly:]

What is it you want from me to take this ridiculous guise off?

THE ICON LOL

[thisducks]

[ Want to continue to poke the bear, Alastor? Then you'll continue to receive the claws.

Lucifer jerks down hard on the leash at the insult, not only forcing the little fawn to all fours but showing that it isn't just there for decoration. ]

Your life is the first thing that comes to mind you have of any worth, but you should bow down at Charlie's feet that she and she alone protects you right now from me taking what little worth that is. Everything else about you is a nest of lies. Worthl--

[ Suddenly, like a strike of lightning, an idea comes to him. The lesson to be taught.

His eyes flare with crimson fire and his voice speaks with power. ]

Alastor, since you've woven lies into every corner of your being until they are both the blade you drive into the lives of others and the camouflage you wear to lie about and to yourself... you will be unable to wield them. For every lie you speak, the truth will be all that's heard and your time in this cage will be extended. For every truth you speak, you'll regain your true form until the next lie.

The truth will set you free.

[ And so Lucifer's power wraps around Alastor, sinking into him with a golden heat that seems to wrap around the inside of the demon's throat with the pressure of a muzzle.

The lesson begins. ]

using double brackets for spoken lies that aren't heard

[ontheair]

[The collar burns as he is pulled down by the leash, a choking threat that reminds him too strongly of the more metaphysical leash that binds him to the other half of this royal couple. He feels panic rise inside him as the spell envelops his very essence, trapping him in thick web that only tightens the more he struggles.

No...

No. Fuck, no.

This cannot be. If it were just his own plans and goals, it's possible he could get by with truth alone. The truth, after all, can be a very malleable thing when just sticking to the letter of the law. But it's not. His very presence here, his deal, it's all tangled together-- And he will not admit his weaknesses aloud when they occur beneath the surface, covered with his smile.

Will his smile count as a lie?

No. No, Lucifer's wording was very exact about the lies being spoken. One small relief amidst an ocean of shit.

Glaring at Lucifer, he swallows hard and picks his words carefully, aiming to wound in return, for his very first truth.]

No matter what you do to me for hurting Charlie, your actions have permanently damaged her far more than anything I have done.

[True. For now. His deal with her, after all, has done no damage yet. And he has been remarkably well behaved around her-- not always by perfect choice, but that's still a fact.

A moment and then a flash of white-hot agony when he changes form, forcing his posture straight to look down on Lucifer, forcing his smile to be nonchalant.

And then, of course, his own hubris catches up with him in his desire to keep digging his own claws in to regain control. It's a little strange, like watching a badly dubbed show. His lips move with the words he says, but what's heard (the Satan-damned truth) doesn't match.]

((Well now, I suppose you were right, Sire! Telling the truth feels quite good.))

Forcing the truth will likely lead to my death and possibly everyone else's here, including Charlie's, as well.

[...and now he's a fawn again. Fuck.]

o7

[thisducks]

[ And there is, for Alastor, the gratification of seeing Lucifer's eyes go wide momentarily, a look crossing Lucifer's face that would normally be seen on someone who was just mortally wounded. It nearly looks like despite what he had said about Charlie's protection on Alastor that he might strike out anyway, his claws flexing hard even as tears well up at the corners of his eyes-

And then-

that.

Lucifer stares openly at Alastor, the tears still there but unfallen, his claws held at the ready. He nearly asks the other to repeat himself, but he knows what he heard. It just makes no sense, even though he knows his curse on the demon is holding true. ]

What- why would your telling the truth hurt anyone? What the hell do you mean??

[ontheair]

[Oh, how he wishes he could savour that first moment more, the delicious satisfaction of a blow well struck. It might have taken some of the sting out of the horrific events of being so outclassed and humiliated, but... he's too busy reeling at his own words echoing between them, or at least words in his voice, to do anything other than react with teeth bared in a smile that's all jagged splinters.

He knows he could respond simply with something like "I don't want to tell you" because it would be the perfect truth-- but he must be careful, he doesn't want Lucifer adding an additional compulsion to blurt out truths.]

That information is reserved only for those I trust.

[And given that's only himself, it's private.

Thankfully, he turns back into himself again. The constant back and forth, the pain of his bones constricting and expanding, is taking a toll. His breath is slightly more forced, and he has to will himself not to reach up and touch the angelic wound throbbing beneath his shirt.]

I believe we're done here, unless you intend on sharing my dinner with me.

[Get out, leave him to lick his wounds, and forget what he said.]

[thisducks]

If you're threatening my daughter or this hotel... [ Something doesn't seem right - the transformation shouldn't hurt him. Be a shock to the system and humiliating? Absolutely, but not painful. However, the bigger issue is clearly the comment about the supposed danger. ]

I'm not going to let you or anyone else threaten more harm on her after everything they've been through.

[ There's so much Alastor doesn't know, about his reasons things have been as they've been, but it will never stop stinging that so much of it is because of him - fair or otherwise. ]

[ontheair]

[In order to keep himself calm and keep his hands occupied so he doesn't reach for that fucking wound that just won't heal, Alastor turns back to his stew to try and salvage it.]

I have no intention of hurting Charlie.

[He has to choose his words so carefully now, he would rather the truth he speaks is curated rather than chosen for him by the curse. He has no intention of harming her currently, the Deal prohibits it and his own plans rely on her continuing to thrive and grow her power, but it doesn't mean he won't.

His smile becomes something more sardonic, and a little bitter.]

I'm her loyal hotelier. Now please leave, Sire, your presence is ruining my appetite.

This notif never came into my email?!?!

[thisducks]

...I'm watching you, Alastor.

[ His eyes narrow, his gaze one of severe displeasure on all of this, but Alastor's 'truth' settled badly in the pit of his stomach. Something needed to be understood here, but he isn't quite sure what. If there is a threat to this Hotel, and more importantly to Charlie... he needs to find the truth as soon as possible. ]

If you, or anyone, tries to harm her...

[ But he breathes out and walks towards the door, his fingers clenching at his side. The demon can 'enjoy' his state of existence until he figures out where the threat is coming from. ]

that is super rude of dw not to notify you - 1/2

[ontheair]

I hope you enjoy the show then, Your Majesty.

[It's not a lie, more-- a delicate skirting of the whole truth, he's already testing his bounds with how far he can take this before his punishment kicks in.

Dark amused laughter will follow Lucifer to the door, even though Alastor feels anything but amused right now. He's furious and fearful, humiliated, and in severe pain from the hidden wound.

Only once Lucifer is gone, when he is alone, does he let himself sag to rest both hands on the table, breathing shallow and fast as his antlers grow.]

2/2

[thelittleapple]

[Charlie has been pacing nervously since she got back to the hotel, worried about how her Dad's talk with Alastor would go. Four times she nearly heads down herself to mediate, and only Vaggie's gentle (sleepy) hand on her arm keeps her in the room.

But she's watching her phone every twenty seconds for the text she's supposed to get when they're done. Why aren't they done yet? What if they got in another fight? What if this one turned physical? What if one of them is hurt?

Okay, she can't resist... Each text being sent about a minute after the last one.]

Hey Dad, just wondering if you're done? :)

Just checking in! No rush, of course!

I think maybe the hotel has bad signal and maybe you've been trying to text me? I've gone up to the roof to get better signal just in case!

It's me again, Dad, are you still talking to Alastor?

It's Charlie, by the way! :)

omg. Charlie. XD

[thisducks]

[ The rush of texts he gets all at once when he steps out of the Radio Demon's space... it actually boggles Lucifer for several seconds before he facepalms, then starts typing with both thumbs. ]

Charlie! We're done talking. I'm alive, Alastor's alive.

Please tell me you aren't still on the roof.

[ Sigh. Is Charlie... really in danger? It will stay with him, even as he goes to head towards the kitchen. Shoveling some food down sounds like a cooping plan right now. ]

[thelittleapple]

[Oh, thank goodness! Charlie just about drops her phone over the side of the roof of the hotel in relief, scrambling to text back.]

Noooooo! Why would I still be on the roof? I'm SO GLAD it all went okay.

[Phew. Beaming she turns to go back inside and... hm. Well.]

Funny story! Maybe I am on the roof, and I forgot to prop open the door properly to come back in, would you mind?

[thisducks]

...Charlie...

[ Lucifer laughs a little despite the heaviness of what happened in Alastor's room, looking vaguely upwards as he feels for where Charlie might be. His portal isn't perfectly before her, but it's close enough that the golden light gives it away as he steps back, looking amused. ]

Sweetie, you have the hotel key.