𝐇𝐢𝐬𝐬 𝐏𝐞𝐭

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟓: 𝐂𝐚𝐧 𝐀 𝐒𝐞𝐫𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐒𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐠?

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𝐒𝐮𝐦𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐲:

“𝐖𝐞𝐥𝐥, 𝐈’𝐥𝐥 𝐛𝐞 𝐨𝐟𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐧. 𝐁𝐞 𝐠𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐈’𝐦 𝐠𝐨𝐧𝐞, 𝐋𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐃𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐥!” 𝐀𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐬𝐚𝐢𝐝, 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐛𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐢𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐭 𝐝𝐨𝐨𝐫. 𝐋𝐮𝐜𝐢𝐟𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐚𝐭 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐫, 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐞𝐲𝐞𝐬 𝐮𝐧𝐰𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐥𝐲 𝐢𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐭.

𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐨𝐨𝐫 𝐜𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐞𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐀𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫, 𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐚 𝐡𝐮𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦. 𝐍𝐨 𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐢𝐧 𝐇𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐊𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐛𝐞 𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐞𝐞 𝐀𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐢𝐩𝐬𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐟𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐫.

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The week had gone by in a rather uneventful span of days. Alastor would scurry off into town every morning to do his show, no longer bringing Lucifer along. He knew now what possibly losing his companion felt like and refused to risk it happening another time. So Lucifer would remain in the comfort of the cabin, and the moment his favorite host would walk out the door, he would near immediately tune the radio to Alastor’s station and wait excitedly for the radio hosts voice to filter through.

Always, the door would be left securely locked. Alastor had been cautious lately to say the least. He appeared wary of intruders after seeing those muddy prints on the ground, despite having played it coy in front of Little Devil.

“Ah, I must not have wiped my feet well enough last night.” He’d said while scrubbing the floor of the hardened dirt. Lucifer knew that Alastor surely recalled removing his shoes immediately upon entering his home and was simply putting on a brave and unbothered facade. He felt bad, in all truth, that he had been so careless. Now his thoughtless actions were bringing a sense of fear to his sinner.

When late afternoon would roll around, Alastor would stroll back inside with a call, “I’m home Little Devil!” It happened without fail, and Lucifer would immediately come slithering from wherever he had cozied himself within the cabin to greet Alastor. And oh, if only one could see it, the grin that spread across his lips when that little white streak came into view. It was boyish, the kind of smile only the closest people in a person’s life are ever gifted the vision of. Eyes alight and pinched, a comforting warmth on his cheeks.

Lucifer could tell it wasn’t just a smile of joy from seeing him, though the King’s pride certainly fought for that belief. But no, there was a sense of relief to it. Similar to the sigh one takes after fearing the world's imminent demise only to step outside and see the day awash with sunshine. Alastor would spend his entire day worrying himself, and when he’d return home to the door still locked and his friend safely inside, he could let that weight off his shoulders. Lucifer felt both guilty and gleeful at that fact.

Then the evening would come forth, and Alastor would pull another piece of meat from the freezer to cook up for dinner. Lucifer decided not to even attempt at inspecting whether the meat happened to go by the name of Bambi or Wilhelm during its living days. Some things are just better eaten with ignorance. And whatever the meat once was, on the plate it was always, without a doubt, sinfully divine. Lucifer could never get enough of it. And, see, one must understand, Alastor could cook so much more than just a seasoned slab of meat. One night they had a jambalaya with whatever mystery meat he grabbed from the freezer, and sausage, and shrimp, and peppers, and surely there was garlic in there too. Lucifer recalled prodding at a piece of okra curiously, never having tried a cuisine that utilized the vegetable before.