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Very early season 2...
"Lucifer?" She ventured distractedly as they drove back to the precinct after solving their latest case.
"Yes?"
"Trixie keeps asking me to ask you if you would like to join us for game night." She explained, "Monopoly is her current obsession. I know that-"
"Why?" Lucifer interrupted, turning around in his seat to face her.(as much as his freakishly long limbs allowed him to anyways)
"Why what?"
"Why does your offspring want me there to play Monopoly?"
Why does...?
"She likes having you around?" Chloe tried, groaning internally at whatever weird territory this conversation was approaching at a hurrying pace. Couldn't she have a normal conversation with her partner? At least once a millennium or something?
"I know that, Detective!" He rolled his eyes, "In my understanding, this type of Game Night with Monopoly and the likes is reserved for family members, yes?"
"And where did you understand that from?" She snorted, trying her hardest to keep her eyes on the road. Damn LA traffic.
"Television of course." He answered immediately, "See, I wouldn't understand why you or your spawn would want me invading that time... My company is delightful, but I highly doubt that applies to the type of "Game Night" that you have in mind."
"Lucifer, you can play games with whoever you like. Friends, family..." She tried to explain, reminding herself that her partner was actually clueless about this sort of thing, "Besides, you're practically family at this point."
Chloe wished that she could've captured the expression on his face. Eyes wide, eye brows raised, and skin already a few shades paler than usual. The potential blackmail material such a photograph offered did little to soothe her aching heart though. Honestly, she was wondering how she managed to last this long without going on some rampage every time Lucifer's... less than fortunate upringing was mentioned. Who didn't know what a game night was?
"You and the urchin consider me family?" He whispered, bewildered beyond belief.
"Of course, Lucifer." She swallowed the lump in her throat, giving him an encouraging smile.
He'd saved her life several times... He'd saved Trixie... He'd helped them and he'd somehow wormed his way into their hearts and every-day lives. While Chloe wasn't sure when she had started it, she'd been thinking of him as family for a while now.
Lucifer said nothing, staring at her with muted horror.
"I ruined everything with my old family." He whispered at last, eyes fixed straight ahead at nothing in particular, not daring to move, "I-I don't want to do the same with you and the urchin..."
"You wouldn't, Lucifer." She assured him, smiling and reaching over to clasp his hand in his. Lucifer flinched and pulled away instinctively, before their hands intertwined again for the briefest of moments.
Neither of them said anything the rest of the way.
He wore that confused look for the rest of their day, confused eyes following her even after he got into his beloved Corvette. He'd promised that he'd come entertain her and Trixie at some point, nodding slowly as if she was going to take the offer away any second.
Chloe's thoughts remained troubled and full of a certain "devil", his lost eyes haunting her all the way back home.
*cries in Deckerstar*
Season 2, shortly after "Monster"...
"So, Lucifer isn't going to come tonight?" Trixie asked, chewing her lip in worry as she piled their wide assortment of board games on the floor by the fire place.
"I don't think so, monkey." Chloe sighed, remembering how he'd dared that sniper to shoot him.
"But we were going to teach him how to play Jenga tonight!"
"Trixie..."
"Can I call him please?" Her daughter pleaded, giving her best puppy-dog-eyes.
"Trixie..."
"Please, mommy!" Trixie was already getting her phone, "If he says no, I'll leave him alone. Promise!"
"Fine." Chloe bit her lip, giving into her own desire to hear anything from her partner, "But be extra gentle with him, baby. Lucifer is... going through something right now. He's sad and hurt..."
"So, shouldn't he be here with us?" Her daughter frowned, brow furrowing, "You're not supposed to be all alone when you're sad..."
"I don't think Lucifer knows that yet, monkey." Chloe sighed, "Every time I try to talk to him, to help him, he just pushes me away... I guess he just needs some time."
Trixie seemed to mull these facts over, not liking them one bit.
They settled together on the couch and Trixie called him.
The phone rang and rang, only adding to their anxiety.
Lucifer did not pick up.
Eventually, they gave up and decided to proceed with their Game Night without its most recent addition. Chloe tried her best to cheer up her daughter, the sadness and the worry eating away at her from the inside.
Every time she blinked, she could almost see him sporting the "Homeless Magician" look. Where was he right now? Did he find someone else to shoot him? Is he going to shoot himself....?
Chloe stayed up long after Trixie succumbed to slumber, too busy being badgered by the most gruesome scenarios that her mind could conjure up. She hadn't seen him yesterday and she hadn't heard from him ever since he declined her help after their latest suspect had been successfully arrested.
Had Maze not left to go who-knows-where, she would have probably drove to the Penthouse, giving people time be damned...
The following day, when he showed up to the precinct in one of his typical three piece suits and an annoying comment to match, Chloe had hugged him for a long time, professional boundaries be damned.
*cries in Deckerstar*
Somewhere in season 2, post the episodes "Candy Morningstar" and "My little Monkey"...
"Lucifer, you're cheating!" Trixie complained, throwing one of the tiny scrabble tiles at his face. It hit him in the forehead before falling down and landing on the impressive arrangement of letters on the game board.
"I am not cheating, urchin!" Lucifer scoffed, picking up the tile and staring at it, seemingly deciding that he wasn't immatue enough to throw it back.
Or perhaps it was unbecoming of the "devil"? Chloe mused, watching them argue with a small, fond smile on her lips.
"Then how come you've beat us both for the past seven rounds?" Her daughter asked, crossing her hands.
Seven rounds? They'd already played seven rounds?!! When? Chloe had lost track of time...
"Spawn, I was there as you humans invented your languages, English included." Lucifer rolled his eyes.
Ah, there it was. More delusions... It wasn't as if he could break character for five minutes huh? Not even while playing silly games with her and her daughter, sprawled out in front of the fire place, eating snacks and drinking carbonated, sugary drinks.
Trixie frowned, mulling the fact over.
"And none of the words are made up?" She questioned, eyes narrowed in suspicion.
"All words are made up, urchin!" Lucifer pointed out, "It's how bloody languages are created in the first place!"
"Made up by you, silly." Trixie clarified.
"You've checked every single word I added on your phone, spawn!"
"How was I supposed to be sure that kefful is a real word?"
" Kerfuffle ." Lucifer corrected, "Kerfuffle. You're actually kerfuffling at the moment, spawn." He informed her.
"What does that even mean?!!"
Chloe watched them, arguing back and forth. She wished that this could be her life. Somewhere, deep down in her heart, she wished that this was her day-to-day life. But Lucifer...
She remembered Candy, and anger rose in her chest. Anger was good. Anger diluted the agony that the memories brought on otherwise.
How could he be sweet one moment and downright cruel the next?
Just friends...
She continued watching them, lost in wishes and hopes and dreams that she knew would never come true.
Perhaps it was better for everyone that way anyways.
*cries in Deckerstar*
Season 3, post "They're Back Aren't They?" and pre-Pierce/Chloe...
Game Night was the only time that they could be partners anymore. At least, that's how it felt to her.
Everything seemed to be changing.
She felt as though their relationship was falling between the cracks of whatever remained between talks about wings, the Sinnerman, and the devil. But every Game Night, he'd be there with her and her daughter, smiling and laughing and simply being Lucifer.
They'd play and draw on each other's faces. They'd joke. She'd listen to him arguing with her daughter, fondness for him almost paralyzing her. How could she possibly love him after everything? Would she ever stop loving him when all he seemed to do was throwing that love back in her face?
It didn't matter during their Game Nights though.
They'd sit closer than necessary to each other and flirt, grinning and blushing. It was the closest that Chloe had been to happiness in a long, long time.
*cries in Deckerstar*
Season 3, in the blurry week where Lucifer decided that forgoing sleep was the only way to escape his Father's control...
Lucifer was about to fall asleep on top of the monopoly board. As far as she knew, it's been five days since he last slept. If Chloe had to look for a silver lining, she'd say that at least Marcus wasn't here. Her boyfriend had refused, sighting some work things that he couldn't get out of. She'd smiled and kissed him, telling him that it didn't matter.
Chloe was still trying to deal with that.
Even Lucifer, being Lucifer, and having never played any of these games before her and her daughter gradually introduced him to them, never skipped Game Night. Ever since that one time Trixie ended up crying because he didn't come, her partner made sure to attend Game Night regardless of what was going on in their lives at the time.
But Marcus not coming didn't make him a bad guy of course. He wasn't Dan (who hadn't been a bad guy; just a bit of an absent, workaholic father before).
No, the problem was that she was relieved at Marcus's absence.
It was her first Game Night dating after Pierce. She'd sat opposite to Lucifer this time, feeling stupid and hating the distance. It wasn't necessary, but the board between them seemed to help the weird void in her heart.
"Lucifer, are you okay?" Her daughter asked.
Chloe gave him a look, waiting for his response. Lucifer never lied.
"Perfectly fine, Spawn!" He mumbled, snapping into awareness with a few rapid blinks, voice raised just the tiniest bit. He gave them a charming smile, but it didn't quite reach his eyes.
"It's your turn." Trixie informed him.
Lucifer nodded his understanding, reaching for the dice almost blindly. He squinted at the result, scowling at the board as if his lack of comprehension was its fault.
"Maybe you should take a nap?" Trixie suggested, eyes wide with worry, "You can have my bed if you like."
Lucifer snorted at the suggestion, thanking Trixie and muttering something about being fine.
Trixie kept watching him, getting a bit more sad and concerned every time he almost dozed off. In the privacy of her own mind, Chloe wondered if inviting him over had been a mistake. He was doing this to himself, pushing her out and inisiting on the whole I'm-the-angel-of-San-Bernardino bullshit. She was surprised that he'd even left the Penthouse. The detective hadn't seen him at work all week.
At some point, Lucifer just fell asleep. He'd eased himself further into the ground a few minutes ago, muttering something about the uncomfortable, hard floor. It had never bothered him before. Trixie had handed him a cushion which he was currently hugging with his face smashed against it. He was snoring.
Trixie shared a look with her as they watched their wayward "devil" sleeping.
He was pressed as close to the fire as possible, suit jacket discarded and wrinkled shirt sleeves folded up neatly to his elbows. Lucifer shifted just then, ending up curled up with his long legs bent to the point of almost touching his chest. He smacked his lips and whined deep in his throat, mumbling something incoherent before settling back down.
He... he was breaking her heart.
Looking at him curled up like this, Chloe's mind was assaulted with pictures of a small, skinny boy with wide, fearful eyes cowering alone in some dark corner. It wasn't the first time that her mind had tried to assimilate a picture of Lucifer's childhood. Whatever horrors had plagued him to convince him that he was the devil... Chloe swallowed the lump in her throat, fighting the urge to run her fingers through his puffed up, curly hair or maybe to go curl up next to him, holding him and protecting him from whatever the hell was robbing him of sleep like this.
Chloe shook her head, trying to banish the images from her mind.
She had a boyfriend. A loving, caring boyfriend who didn't try to ignore her... who didn't run away at the thought of every emotional confrontation... who didn't go off and get married after she almost died.
Lucifer was just her friend. Her quirky, damaged partner. Nothing more.
Was his father back in town? Was that the crux of his ramblings about wings and control and sleep-flying angels about?
She looked up to see Trixie holding a large, fluffy blue blanket. She draped it over the slumbering man carefully, trying her hardest to not disturb him. Trixie did not attempt to tuck the blanket around him, knowing fully well that that would probably wake him up. She set the Monopoly board aside, grinning when one of Lucifer's hands fisted in the blanket, brining it closer to his chest. He wiggled a little bit, burrowing deeper into the comfort he had been offered.
Chloe smiled at her daughter. She was growing up so fast...
Trixie came back to settle next to her. She threw an arm around the little girl, pulling her closer to her side. They lay there, watching the "devil" snore on the floor of their living room.
"Why is he so sad and tired, mommy?" Trixie whispered, not even taking her eyes off her favourite person in the world.
Chloe wanted to answer. She would have, had they not been interrupted by the door bell ringing loudly.
Lucifer startled, jumping upright instantly. His eyes flew open, wide and afraid as he scanned his surroundings. He backed up to the wall, scrambling on his hands and feet. Lucifer's hand ended up in the fire place, eliciting a surprised scream from his lips.
He immediately pulled his hand away of course, staring at it as if he could not understand what was happening. Chloe rushed to his side, taking his hand in hers, examining it.
The door bell continued ringing.
"Lucifer?" She prodded gently.
"I'm fine, Detective." He breathed, pulling his hand out of her grasp, wincing, "I can't believe you let me sleep, Detective... What were you thinking?
What was she thinking?
What was she thinking....
Chloe saw red.
"What the hell is wrong with you?" She hissed, surprised at the venom in her own voice, "You need to sleep, Lucifer. Why do you insist on this madness? You need to stop being stupid and just go to sleep. If falling asleep on the floor of my apartment doesn't prove that to you, I don't know what will."
"I can't sleep, Detective." He sounded resigned, just patiently reminding her, no anger or urgency in his voice.
His tired eyes sought her out. They were so close to each other, knees pressed together from where they were sitting on the floor. Lucifer was begging her to understand with her gaze, the bruise-like bags under his eyes somehow amplifying the effect even more.
"Because you'll go flying around saving people in your sleep?" She asked, voice cracking at the end.
Lucifer simply nodded, bringing his knees up to his chest and sighing.
"Lucifer, when are you going to stop hurting yourself, torturing yourself for no good reason?" Chloe whispered, "When are you going to stop it with these stupid delusions?"
Chloe didn't even need the hurt, shattered look on his face to regret her words. They'd burned her throat on the way out, reducing her mind to a state of remorse before she'd even fully registered their meaning.
"Lucifer, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to-"
"Of course you did, Detective." He laughed then, self-deprecating and low, "You know you did."
He was angry. The wrath was slowly shaodiwng the hurt and the exhaustion. Chloe might have slapped herself at her stupidity.
"I didn't, Lucifer." She pleaded, "I promise. I just-"
"Lucifer!" A voice exclaimed from behind them, mock-cheerful with just a hint of dislike, "What are you doing here?"
They both turned to look at Marcus Pierce, standing there in her living room, being glared at by Trixie.
Lucifer sent him a twin glare, his eyes roaming the smiling man's face with open contempt.
"Cain." He snarled, "I was just leaving. Have a horrid evening."
With that, Lucifer rose to his feet, collecting his belongings and almost bolting from the room. He only stopped when Trixie captured him, throwing her small arms around his waist.
"For your hand." She sighed, giving him what Chloe presumed was ice wrapped in a dishcloth.
Lucifer looked like he was about to dismiss her daughter, or tell her something about not needing stupid things like that because he was the "devil". Instead, he took the cloth from Trixie's hands, pressed it to his burned one, and patted her daughter awkwardly on the head.
"Thank you, urchin." He whispered.
Trixie, enthused, hugged him tighter. Lucifer fidgeted in the little girl's grasp, his face morphing into a horrified expression. He disnetagnled himself from her at last, rushing towards the door.
"Sleep tight, Lucifer!" Trixie called out after him. She could hear Lucifer snorting from where she stood.
"Marcus?" Chloe smiled, getting up and trying to give him a warm smile, "What are you doing here?"
"I finished up early so I thought I'd come here and surprise you. Got something to drink... something to eat... We can have that game night you were talking about if you want." He was smiling at her, pointing to the plastic white bag in his hand. He... Had his smile widened at Lucifer leaving like that or was that just her? She was probably imagining it...
Chloe walked over to him, hugging him despite Trixie being there. She felt unsettled with him there, standing around and invading their Game Night like this.
She'd invited him over though.
"Are you ready to play games, Trixie?" He asked.
"I think I wanna go to bed." Trixie announced, looking away, yawning and almost managing to make it look completely real, "Good night, mommy."
Chloe turned to her daughter, hugging her.
"Good night, monkey." She ran a hand through Trixie's hair, "Say goodnight to Marcus."
"Good night, Mr Marcus." Trixie said, a bit cold. She'd never heard that tone coming from her daughter...
"Good night, Trixie." Marcus replied, smiling again.
Chloe found her eyes following Trixie, settling on her closed bedroom door. Somewhere deep down, she was wishing that she could yawn and excuse herself to sleep.
She ignored that feeling, settling close to her boyfriend on the couch. They drank the beer he had gotten and ate the lemon bars, chatting all the while. She was happy.
Marcus didn't call Trixie spawn.
Marcus didn't think he was the devil.
Marcus didn't abandon her and break her heart over and over again.
However, Marcus wasn't Lucifer and that was enough to eat away at her very soul.
*cries in Deckerstar*
Sometime before "Quintessential Deckerstar"
The next Game Night with Marcus was horrible. Straight up one of her worse memories.
He was the perfect gentleman, laughing and joking with them but he wasn't...
She missed a certain smirk. The way dark, intelligent, endless chocolate eyes lit up with a hundred different emotions, shifting between a second and another... The banter with her daughter... The whining... The confusion at the smallest of things... The continuous flirting.
She was happy with Marcus. She'd made it very clear when she'd screamed at Lucifer in the interrogation room a short while ago. However, she knew that she had been trying to convince herself rather than her partner.
She was failing at it though.
Chloe was trying her damn hardest to forget him and settle down with the logical, stable option.
She was failing and she was everything except happy and she had no idea how she was even going to start fixing everything.
*cries in Deckerstar*
Post "A Devil of My Word"
There was no Game Night after the reveal. No Game Night in Rome. No Game Night after the fiasco with Father Kinley. No Game Night once Eve came along.
He'd left to deal with the stupid demon uprising before they managed to sit down and have one of their traditional Game Nights too.
After he had to leave, she'd tried to have a Game Night with Trixie. Establish some sense of normality in their lives... After all, it was a tradition that they'd had long before meeting a certain devil... Much to her never-ending shame, she'd almost cried. Trixie had put everything away and they'd cuddled on the couch, sharing their favourite memories of a certain child-like devil.
"He'd sneak me chocolate cake most Game Nights." Her daughter confessed, giggling, "We'd stash it in my room."
"You little rascal!" Chloe laughed, tickling her daughter's side, "He got you chocolate cake every Game Night! You two would eat so much..."
"And there was always more that we'd hide in my room!" Trixie insisted, trying to bat her hands away, "One of the million reasons he's the best."
"That he is, monkey." Chloe agreed, biting her lip to ward off the fresh wave of emotions. When would she stop crying every time she remembered him?
"There's no Game Night without Lucifer in it." Trixie declared gravely, pressing her lips together, "No one can do it as good as him."
Chloe smiled, nodding in agreement.
"He'll be back, mommy." Trixie promised, "Then we can have Game Nights every night if we want to. To make up for all the ones we missed."
Chloe smiled again and agreed, despite all the doubt she was harbouring herself.
*cries in Deckerstar*
Sometime after our favourite devil returned from hell and all became well... (Ha)
"Lucifer!" Trixie exclaimed, running up to hug him from where he was standing by the stove.
Lucifer grunted, not moving to push the sleepy child away. He'd become a bit more tolerant of Trixie showing him physical affection ever since his return from hell.
"Tonight is Game Night, Lucifer!" Trixie informed him, bouncing on the balls of her feet and not letting him go, "You can't miss it. We haven't had Game Night in ages!"
"You still want me there, spawn?" He inquired, frowning as he flipped a perfect pancake.
"Of course!" Trixie declared, "We missed you. It was horrible without you."
"I'm glad to hear it, spawn." He smiled, pleased with himself.
Chloe decided to interfere, moving towards her boyfriend and draping her arms around his waist.
"Are you glad to hear about our pain and misery?" She sighed, essentially pouting at him.
"I would never!" Lucifer huffed in indignation, "I'm just glad that my Deckers haven't forgotten about me."
Her heart twisted. She leaned up on her toes, pressing a kiss to his stubbled cheek. He was a bit skinnier than usual, his time in hell leaving his cheeks a bit hollow and his face a bit gaunt. She'd fix that of course. Soon.
"We'd never do that, silly devil." She whispered into his ear, "As if anyone could possibly forget about you..."
He smiled, soft and genuine, his eyes twinkling at her declaration. He leaned a bit into her, muscles relaxing somewhat. (another thing that she would have to work on with him)
Trixie joined in the family hug, holding onto to Lucifer with all her might. He complained half-heartedly, using the pancakes burning as an excuse.
No one cared of course. Not even him. Not really. Their devil had been away too long for that nonsense. They just held on to him tighter, focusing on all the good memories and fighting all the bad ones back.
*cries in Deckerstar*
"I'll get more snacks!" Trixie volunteered, getting up and scampering away.
They'd been playing for hours.
"So, is your Game Night back to enjoyable quality yet?" Lucifer asked, raising his eyebrow.
Chloe stared at him, heart melting in her chest. He looked... Trixie had drawn a unicorn on his cheek, reminiscent of the one time he let her almost a lifetime ago. The Detective herself had joined her daughter, doodling a long string of hearts on his forehead. He looked beyond silly. His smile was soft though and his eyes were gleaming. He was as relaxed as could be, pressed to her side, legs intertwined together, warm and whole and safe by her side.
"Let me think." She pursed her lips.
"So my presence isn't enough for you and your spawn?" He gasped, hand flying to rest on his chest, directly above his heart, "You wound me, Detective!"
They maintained a staring contest of sorts for less than a minute, bursting into laughter simultaneously for no reason that either of them could discern.
It felt good to hear him laugh, to see him smile.
She was so happy... Almost horrified by the sheer magnitude of it all. She leaned in closer, pressing a kiss to his lips. How could she not when he was looking so adorable just then? It was all perfect.
Lucifer hummed, eagerly reciprocating.
She was so lost in it all that she almost missed the sound of someone snapping a photo.
"Trixie!" She scolded, cheeks burning red as she pulled away from her boyfriend. Lucifer just grinned.
"You guys look adorable." Trixie informed her, setting a tray laden with snacks on the floor before settling on Lucifer's other side, "No regrets."
Chloe huffed a laugh.
"I really missed Game Night." Trixie grinned, poking Lucifer in the chest, "You'll have to make up for all the lost ones!"
"Gladly, you urchin." Lucifer shrugged, not finding it in him to come up with a sarcastic response.
Chloe smiled, heart fluttering with joy.
This was her perfect utopia. Her daughter and her devil, here together with her, just being a happy family...
As she watched him banter with her daughter like he hadn't in what felt like decades, Chloe realized that the devil was finally home.