Chapter Text
It was supposed to be a happy day. The day he, Lucifer, Charlie and Vaggie to their wedding outfits designed and fitted. However, said day was already soured before his normal wake up time.
Alastor had been awakened by a sensation he had felt before, roughly an hour or two before he normally did. He had felt it only once before, but he knew what it was and had quickly teleported to the training room.
Just in time.
His body changed to that the beast, the devourer, and proceeded to hack up a new blob of solid suffering.
Mimzy.
Alastor had stared at the greyish pink blob for a long time after he had returned to his normal form. Remembering that day he devoured her…
...against his will.
She had been a manipulative bitch, but she hadn’t deserved this fate!
Was he going to be forced to devour every sinner that was nonredeemable, regardless of the reasoning? The likelihood sat like a lead weight in his stomach, twisting and turning, making him nauseous. He wanted to help those that wanted it, punish those that deserved it….
...yet once more it seems black and white rules are being enforced.
He really hoped this was a ‘glitch’ in his new abilities as Akos suggested.
Still trembling, he had teleported back to his room. Lucifer had been awake, his sleepy gaze questioning. Alastor had crawled up next to him and scooped him into his arms, needing his comforting warmth in that moment, muttering Mimzy’s name as he did so. Thankfully, Lucifer understood, letting him weep into him until a restless sleep claimed him once more.
Things did not get much better once the morning ‘properly’ started.
He had told Akos about Mimzy and asked them if they can find some way to...reverse what had been done to her. His mentor had told him they doubted it, but they would at least look into it. The likelihood this was a permanent thing...did nothing for his mood.
Then he noticed Lucifer was hovering around him. At first he thought it was because of what happened earlier, and in truth he was still a bit depressed from it. However, as the day progressed, he noticed how Lucifer would always ensured he was between him and any of the new residents.
It was actually something he had been doing since the assassination attempt, Alastor realized, but had been more subtle about it until now.
Why was Lucifer acting like he wasn’t able to protect himself? Had he forgotten what he was capable of?
This realization frayed at his already shortened patience.
When it came time to get ready for their appointment at the VeeTower, Alastor tried to be excited for what Velvette came up with. Tried to let the excited energy the girls were giving off chase away that somber feeling that had been plaguing him all day.
One look at Lucifer though...ruined any chance of this being a happy occasion.
The King was fidgety and kept looking at him as they gathered in the lobby. Alastor knew his beloved’s anxiety was not about the fitting.
And he would be proven right when he was just about to open the portal…
“One sec, Al…,” Lucifer said, before starting to cast protective wards on him.
Alastor sighed with exasperation, his already low mood sinking even lower. “This is not necessary,” he told him, letting his annoyance bleed into his tone. “The portal will be taking us straight into the studio.”
“Juuust in case, love…,” Lucifer insisted.
“This does seem a bit…excessive…Dad,” Charlie put in, Vaggie nodding beside her. Thank Father they had noticed Lucifer being unreasonable! It made him feel a little better that he wasn’t alone with this foolishness!
“I’m not taking any chances, alright!?” Lucifer snapped, surprising all of them, what little improvement to Alastor’s mood disappearing. It came back, if only slightly, as Lucifer’s expression had almost immediately softened, turning to regret. “Sorry…I…I just…”
“We’ll talk about this later,” Alastor grumbled as he opened a portal straight to Velvette’s studio. “We don’t want to be late.”
Focus...focus on the appointment first.
The girls went in first, though Alastor had to encourage Lucifer to go before him before stepping through himself.
“... need to be here?” Vox was heard saying as the portal closed behind him.
“Because you’re going to be Alastor’s Best Man...and I want to make sure your outfit matches their’s!” Velvette retorted.
“Guess I can’t argue with that…,” Vox said with a sigh, before noticing them. “Hey, Al! Ready for another round of torture? OW!” Vox cried out when Velvette punched him in the arm.
“It would appear the only one getting ‘tortured’ is you, right now, Vox,” Alastor stated with a chuckle, the girls giggling with him. The laughter improving his mood once more.
“He is a pain to design for,” Velvette quipped. “As he won’t stay still!”
“I’m not that bad…,” Vox was muttering, Velvette rolling her eyes before she looked their way.
“OK, you boys first,” she said gesturing for them to come forward. Alastor did so, though Lucifer seemed more interested in the windows at first before he hurriedly stepped up. “Now...which one of you is wearing the dress?”
Alastor froze, his eyes wide, ears back as a record scratch sound played. Lucifer had also stiffened, eyes wide and looking...quite uncomfortable. The silence went on for several seconds before Velvette’s stone serious face turned teasing.
Then she started laughing. “Gods! The look on your faces was priceless!” she said, the rest of the room breaking out into giggles. “I’m just kidding of course! I know you two are both dudes through and through.”
They both released the breaths they’ve been holding., though Alastor did notice Lucifer shift with a bit of nervous uncertainty.
Oh right...he is a Seraphim...and they could...switch it up if they wanted. Best for Velvette to not know that, however.
“Now, a question before we begin,” the doll demon began. “Did you have a particular shade of green in mind?”
“Not really,” Lucifer admitted.
“Good! We’ll be avoiding heavily saturated greens then, especially for you.”
“Uhh...how come?” Lucifer was blinking at her with confusion. Alastor admitted feeling a bit confused himself.
She snapped her fingers and Lucifer’s clothing changed to a slightly dark, saturated green and dark green lining, his shirt now white. At first, Alastor didn’t see what was wrong with it, until she snapped into existence a pot of gold prop by his feet.
Alastor immediately started snickering, as did Vox. Lucifer still looked confused.
“Dad….,” Charlie giggled, Vaggie giggling with her. “You look like a leprechaun…”
“He just needs a beard to complete the look!” Vaggie added.
Lucifer then looked at the mirror and really looked at himself.
“Oh…,” Lucifer said, looking dejected. “Yeah...I can see why this wouldn’t be a good idea….”
Another snap and coat color changed to a green that was more toward the yellow side, but a little desaturated. Pants were med-green with a hint of desaturation. “I was thinking this would suit you best,” she was saying, snapping away the pot of gold prop. “Color wise anyway. As for the style...we got a lot of work to do!”
“Can’t we just keep-”
“No!” Alastor and Velvette said in unison.
“This a wedding, a royal one, not a circus,” Velvette said firmly, Alastor nodding in agreement.
Lucifer was scowling, but didn’t argue.
“Now, as for you,” Velvettte said, looking at him. “I want to avoid being too similar to what I made for before colorwise.”
She snapped but nothing happened. “What?” She blinked in surprise before snapping several more times but still nothing happened. “What the fuck….”
Alastor sighed, immediately knowing what the problem was and looked at Lucifer. “Luci...take off the wards,” he said.
“But…,” Lucifer started to protest.
“Just take them off!” Alastor snapped, the floor trembling slightly. Everyone jumped back in surprise, including Lucifer.
“O-OK,” Lucifer said as he snapped his fingers, still looking a bit stunned.
“Thank you…,” Alastor sighed deeply. “You should be able to proceed now, Velvette.”
“Right….” Velvette was looking between them, a hint of concern on her face before composing herself and using her magic to go through several color possibilities. Vox, he noticed, was looking at him with concern.
Once she found a combination she was happy with, with white being his primary color, she shooed him aside to focus solely on Lucifer on the style part of it. It was here that Vox motioned for him to come over.
“Is everything alright between you two?” his friend asked once he was by Vox’s side.
Alastor looked down and away, his ears drooping. “Just...under a lot of pressure...the wedding...the changes...and so on…,” he replied softly, feeling uncomfortable ‘airing his dirty laundry’ as it were.
Vox was giving him a look. “Al, talk to me,” he pleaded. “That outburst...was more than just ‘wedding nerves’.”
Alastor looked at him, seeing the concern and sincerity in his eyes. He took another deep breath and let it out. “On the way back from the declaration meeting, someone shot Lucifer...only we found out the intended target was me,” he explained, Vox’s eyes widening. “Since then...Luci has been….”
He swallowed. “Very protective...to the point of paranoia...a-and it’s…really starting to grate on me.”
Vox nodded, his expression one of sympathy. “Have you tried talking to him about that?” he asked.
“A couple of times...but he always brushed it off,” Alastor revealed. “It-it’s like he’s forgotten how I am...that I am capable of fending for myself. More so now than before.”
“Then you need to make that clear to him...remind him,” Vox told him, placing a hand on his shoulder. “Don’t let him wear you down to the point of being just a pretty thing on his arm. You are the Radio Demon, Al….”
“Y-You think he would go that far?” Alastor asked, feeling a shudder go through his body, not liking what Vox was implying. Surely Lucifer wouldn’t...but with what happened and the prophecy hanging over their heads?
At this Vox sighed. “You know him better than me,” he said. “But...the signs of that possibility are there. Better to nip it in bud before it goes too far.”
“I...I...understand.” Alastor didn’t have much confidence he’ll get through to him, however.
It didn't pass his notice that Lucifer’s eyes rarely left him, a faint, worried frown on his face…
---
The rest of the appointment Alastor spent mostly silent, only talking when spoken to directly, his mind mainly on how to talk to Lucifer. He chuckled a little when it was Vox’s turn and saw for himself that he really couldn't stand still. It took Lucifer ‘offering’ to magically freeze him in place before he made a real effort to stand still.
Once they had returned to the Hotel, Alastor had gone immediately to their room to put the new suit away. For a moment, he stared at it, hanging in the wardrobe, wondering. Questioning.
If this relationship had moved too fast. If he was really ready for this. He loved Lucifer, of that there was no question, but….
…Perhaps there was too much going on for them both right now to tie the knot. Redemption. The economy. The corruption in Heaven.
The prophecy.
Yes…it was too much at once. But they couldn't walk any of it back now.
“Hey, Al…what the fuck was that earlier?”
Lucifer’s tone was a mix of annoyed and concerned.
Fuck, he wasn't ready for this talk yet. He needed more time to sort his thoughts.
Alastor turned to see Lucifer looking at him, his own wedding suit now hanging in his wardrobe. His hands were on his hips, one brow raised and a faint frown on his face.
“Stress...from so much going on,” Alastor said simply. He really wanted to add that Lucifer’s over protectiveness was not helping, but it couldn’t get it past the tip of his tongue.
Lucifer looked like he was about to retort, but then appeared to think about it a bit more. “Yeah, I can see that,” he sighed, rubbing his head, before turning serious once more. “What was Vox talking to you about?”
“He was just concerned if things were fine between us,” Alastor stated.
“He’s not trying to worm his way back in, is he?” There was a hint of something darker in Lucifer’s tone.
Alastor rolled his eyes and sighed heavily. Overprotectiveness was one thing...but adding jealousy on top of that? “No, Luci. We are friends, nothing more,” he said. “He has eyes one someone else now.”
Thankfully, Lucifer believed him, the tension in his smaller body easing. “Good...I don’t need someone stealing you away on top of trying to kill you…,” he muttered, turning away slightly and starting to take off his coat.
He should just leave it at that for now, give himself more time to think this through, but….
“You know I can protect myself…,” he stated, softly. “That day...I put up a barrier to…”
“That had been an angelic steel bullet, Al,” Lucifer said stiffly. “Th-there was a chance that would have punched through….”
Th-that was a possibility but….
“I was still warded that-”
“And I will keep warding you every time you leave the Hotel!” Lucifer snapped, his coat being thrown roughly onto the bed.
Alastor recoiled, his ears dropped, then went back as anger boiled to the surface. “There is no need to do that every. Singe. Time!” he snapped, his frustration reaching a boiling point.
“I beg to differ!” Lucifer shouted back, both his hands on the bed. “I am not losing you to an assassin, Al!”
“There was no risk of me being attacked at the VeeTower!” Alastor shouted back. “The wards were pointless and interfered with Velvette’s work!”
“They could have sniped you through the windows!” Lucifer insisted. “They could have been tipped off by an employee!”
No, this was spiraling out of control. He needed to pull it back. But the words kept spilling out.
“Ugh! Lucifer! You are being ridiculous!” Alastor cried as he threw up his hands. “Paranoid!”
“I will do what I must to protect you!” Lucifer cried. “If I have to restrict you to the Hotel itself, I will!”
Alastor felt like he was punched in the gut. He looked at him, shocked, hurt at seeing Lucifer was dead serious about that. The boiling frustration briefly cooled.
Then exploded like a volcano.
He screamed. Black antlers branching out. Radio feedback shrill. The floor trembled. Cracks creeped along the wall. Lucifer covering his ears as every glass item in the room, including the door to the duck sanctuary, shattered.
Alastor then grabbed the Devil by the shirt and pulled him close, tears rimming his eyes from hurt and rage.
“I am not your property…,” he growled, his voice trembling. “I am not your slave. I am the Radio Demon!”
Lucifer’s eyes had widened in surprise, but Alastor didn’t take time to read further into his reaction.
Instead he dissolved into shadow, leaving the room, the Hotel, itself.
He needed to get away. He needed time to think.
To clear his head.