Daughter Dearest

thirty

Dead.

Selma had died some four hundred years ago, leaving Venus to temporarily mourn the mother she could've known, all while being grateful for the mother she had.

She and Lucifer didn't stay long after the revelation - with Venus only allowing the king to finish his quick meal before she said a hasty goodbye and went out to the limousine, where they proceeded to sit for the next two hours; Lucifer allowing Venus to simmer in silence.

She hadn't even noticed that they hadn't moved until she calmed down enough. They could've been back in the Lust Ring, with the two hours they spent parked in the same spot.

"You wanna talk about it?" Lucifer questioned, signaling to the driver that he could pull off onto the road.

"No." She replied, watching as the buildings began to pass by faster. She was sure her expression was darker and her tone sharper than intended - but she believed she was entitled to feel some form of displeasure.

The whole meeting had been a shit show - as if disregarding one of her most prized accomplishments wasn't bad enough, she learned her biological mother was dead, and she was actually much closer to Thor's age than Loki's.

She wasn't even born in December. . . She was born in February!

And a thing about her birth mother that caught her off guard was that she was Asgardian. . . She allegedly chose to leave the realm, knowing she wouldn't be allowed to return.

It wasn't but an hour and a half later that they stopped in front of a hotel surrounded by flashing neon lights. Venus recognized her surroundings as the Lust Ring, but for all the colors and people on the streets, she could hardly focus on the flashing neon sign that had the hotel's name.

"Why are we here?" Venus questioned, watching various demons pass by, some trying to peek through the tinted windows.

"I uh. . . I have some business of my own to attend to today. . . Wes doesn't like driving after a certain time, so we'll be here just for the night. We'll leave first thing in the morning." He told her, the driver in question stepping out to open the door for the two of them.

All of that time in the back of the limo and she just learned the driver's name was Wes. . . Huh. . .

Lucifer was the first to step out, fixing his hat atop his head while Venus mentally prepared herself for whatever situation may lay ahead.

She stepped out next and the door closed behind her, the heels of her boots clicking against the pavement as they approached the door.

Upon entering, Lucifer went to request a couple rooms, leaving Venus to look at the provocative decor and more subtle neon backlighting in pink and blue hues.

When Lucifer returned to the Asgardian Princess, he held out a black key card with the room number printed in gold — room 93. According to the card, the room was on the thirteenth floor, at the end of hallway B. 

“You can go up. . . I got what they had available.” He told her, avoiding eye contact as he slipped an identical key card into his pocket, keeping the final one in hand, presumably for Wes. 

“Are you off to take care of your business then?” Venus questioned in response, her glowing red gaze drifting to the outside of the hotel where it was visibly getting much darker as clouds rolled in. 

“Yeah — I won't be too long, okay?”

“Alright. . .” She muttered, watching as he walked towards the doors once more. 

★†★

Venus had almost audibly laughed at the singular bed, knowing that Lucifer had likely asked for two — but she coincidentally knew that the small couch would pull out as a bed if need be. . . As tested once she enclosed herself within the room. 

Lucifer arrived at the room that they would be sharing for the next ten hours, two and a half hours after he left to take care of duties unknown to Venus. 

She was perched at the foot of the bed in night clothes that she had conjured for herself — a simple night dress that she frequently wore, paired with the robe that left a little something to the imagination. 

The remote to the flat-screen TV was held in her right hand as she aimlessly scrolled through the multiple shows available to watch. 

Lucifer watched her, seemingly oblivious to his presence. The different colored light from the TV hit her face in such a way that made it nearly impossible for him to look elsewhere. 

“I ordered room service.” Venus announced upon catching him in her peripheral vision, just before the door closed behind him. “It should be here soon.”

“What did you get?” He questioned, draping his suit jacket over the arm of the couch and balancing his hat on top. 

Venus hummed, glancing in his direction, catching the way his fingers raked through his hair effortlessly as he leaned against the wall, very few strands having a mind of their own, deciding to fall in his face. Her heartbeat quickened and she immediately looked away from him.

“Various breakfast options. . . The portions at the restaurant looked small and I was a bit hungry after the long trip. . . So I may have overdone it a tad.” 

She attempted to keep her words unwavering but just by the way he was standing there, watching her with those eyes. . . It made her feel things. Things she didn't want to feel. 

And maybe some part of him would feel the same, if, and only if, she were lucky enough.

He waved off her concerns just in time for a knock to echo through the room, the voice of a man calling out for room service. 

Venus threw on a random show while Lucifer answered the door, no longer caring what she watched, as long as it hid the sound of her heart beating out of her chest. 

The moment the little imp left, leaving the cart behind, Lucifer lifted the lid to one of the plates. “Ooh! You got pancakes!”

“That I did — do not take all of them.” She ordered lightly, standing from the foot of the bed.