Crimson {COMPLETED}

CHAPTER XXXIII

ADALIA'S POV

NOVEMBER 13
4:11 p.m

I SPOT Alice fixing Christos' crooked crown for the fifth time and instinctively reach up to see if my tiara is leaning.

Would Lucifer fix mine like Alice does?

I find him through the crowds and tilt my tiara a little so it's crooked.

"Hi Lucifer." I chirp.

He looks up from the floor and gives me the faintest smile. "Hi Adalia. Where have you been?"

I chuckle and lean against the wall with him. "I'm sorry, were you waiting for me to come back silly?"

"A little." He mumbles.

"Aw that's so sweet." I peck his cheek. I'll choose to believe he missed me rather than the more likely option: he was scared without me here.

"Christos asked me how we met. I didn't know what to say." He continues to mumble, his voice almost inaudible.

"So you kept quiet?" I ask. He nods and shrinks against the wall.

"Sorry."

"Don't apologize. You did good."

"Uh, Adalia? Your-" He motions around the top of his head.

"My what?" I play dumb, knowing that if this wasn't planned, I would know what he was talking about immediately.

"Your...crown thingy, it's crooked."

"Oh my tiara?" I reach up and purposefully make it worse.

"No, the other way." He points to my left, where I should move my tiara.

I move it to the left only the slightest bit so that it's practically in the same spot it was when I walked over.

I expect him to just tell me to move it further left because of how this is all playing out, but instead he finally reaches up and fixes it, centering it on my head.

"Thank you love." I smile at him as he steps back. "Do you like it when I call you that?"

He nods a little, trying to hide a smile. "Yeah. I-I don't really like my name."

"I can see why, but I like it." I run my hand through his hair. "Still, If you'd like, I could refrain from using your name a lot. I could use cute little nicknames more often." I smile.

His smile grows and no matter how much he tries to hide it, I can still see it.

"I'd...appreciate that. A lot. Thank you."

"You don't need to thank me Luci, whatever makes you most comfortable."

He chuckles. "Out of all the nicknames you could come up with you're settling with 'Luci'?"

"I meant it kind of jokingly but now I think I quite like it." I smooth down his soft curls.

I hear footsteps approaching us and look over my shoulder.

"What are you two doing over here in the corner?" Mother places a hand on my shoulder.

"Oh we just wanted some alone time." I reach over and hold Lucifer's hand. He shrinks further against the wall.

"Don't be too long, alright? Dinner is being served in-" she looks over at the clock. "-ten minutes. I believe you already made sure Lucifer is prepared?"

"Of course." I almost choke on my lie.

"Good." She smiles, craning her neck to look at Lucifer. "And Lucifer dear, me and Vincent were hoping to talk to you after dinner in the study."

Lucifer goes pale and nods.

"Great." She claps her hands together and gives me a stern, warning look that already answers the question I was about to ask. I can't go with him.

My god, he might just faint.

"Alright we've got ten minutes to teach you the difference between a salad fork and a dinner fork." I sighs, turning back to Lucifer.

"Isn't the salad fork...for salad?"

"Yes, wonderful start." I lead him towards the table we'll be seated at. "The salad fork is always at the end because it's the one you use first. And you always set your knife down with the edge facing your plate."

He nods. "What about the spoons?" He motions to the two spoons that are next to the knife on the right side of the plate. The same as every set up at the table.

"The larger spoon is your soup spoon and the smaller one is your beverage spoon. You probably won't need the beverage spoon unless you just want to stir your drink." I straighten them on the table. "Beverage spoons are more useful during breakfast."

"I'm so glad to learn I've been using this stuff all wrong. Except for the knife. Maybe."

I laugh at his little joke. I don't think I've heard him kid around like that before.

"How were you using it?" I rest my head on his shoulder.

"Well I did use the soup spoon for soup but I also used it for literally everything else too."

"Well that's not too bad."

"And I used the dinner fork with my salad."

I fake a dramatic gasp and laugh. "Don't worry, I don't think anyone noticed except maybe some castle staff.

I grab his hand and walk with him a little further down the table. On our plates are name-cards with our names in pretty lettering.

Lucifer goes to sit down but I stop him.

"You're supposed to pull out my chair for me and push me in."

"Why?" He asks, pulling my chair out anyways.

"So everyone can see what a gentleman you are." I sit down, smiling up at him as he pushes me in.

Christos and Alice sit across from us, busy in conversation.

I turn my attention back to Lucifer, who is drumming his fingers on the edge of the table.

What a cutie.

I break probably the first ever table manners rule I was ever taught: No elbows on the table.

I lean on my elbows and gaze at him. Once dinner starts I keep glancing at him, not wanting to miss anything he might do.

No wonder mother and father have always had a soft spot for mortals. They're absolutely adorable.

After mother and father stand, signaling the end of dinner, I immediately pop up and pull Lucifer to come dance.