I Go By Many Names (Lucifer {Ryo} x Reader)

6: Exchanging Names

"Uh, no, not really." You began walking away once again.

"Offer me a trade then." He stood his ground.

A million things ran through your mind. Anything I want... just for my name? There has to be a catch.

"If you know my name... Does that give you power over me?" Nervously, you asked the god of the underworld.

He looked taken aback, then incredibly confused, and lastly relieved.

"No, human. Names do not hold any significance. If they did, why would I offer to give my original name?"

You hesitated, but ultimately decided to set your basket down and walk back over to him.

"Then the original trade is acceptable. My name is YN LN." You offered.

"Hmm. An unusual name, particularly for this era." He adopted a deep look of thought onto his face, as if this offered a whole realm of possibilities. But to you, it was just annoying. He had, after all, offered his name as well. So you cleared your throat and looked at him expectantly and sternly.

As Hades looked up at you, he was once again surprised by the look on your face. However, this time, it gave him... feelings. Odd feelings that didn't belong in his relationship with you, but that weren't unpleasant.

I... like when she looks at me like I've done something wrong. Like she has authority over me. Her. A mere mortal. He thought to himself.

"Your name." You demanded, snapping him out of his stupor.

"I was once called Lucifer." He quickly introduced himself.

"That's it? I suppose there's no reason to have a family name. Unless... do you have family?" You took a seat in the middle of the orchard, indicating, as Lucifer had, that you were going to spend more time with him. With some amount of pleasure, he sat on the ground facing you as well, white robe flowing out around him.

"No... Not in the human sense. I did have a parental-like figure, but they have abandoned me and even tried to strip me of my name." He seemed to be an odd mix of sad and angry, but you weren't interested in pushing it much further.

"What is the name that they use now?" You asked politely.

"Satan." He huffed, pouting like a young child. It was almost endearing. Almost.

"What name would you prefer I use?"

"Hades is fine. Or Lucifer. It does not matter to me."

"But not Satan?"

"Preferably not, although I would understand if you did use that cursed name for me."

You thought on this for a while. Hades was a pretty interesting name, in your opinion, but it seemed like he might have preferred Lucifer. But you also didn't want to see too intimate with this god. Nothing good could happen from it and you knew it. But at the same time, he seemed so... empty. And it felt that maybe he was trying to fill that space with you. This made you feel flattered and special; something you often lacked since you came from a large, average farming family. You hadn't even been made a marriage proposal yet. Granted, you had only been put "on the market" for the last six months, but normally it didn't take so long.

Regardless, you decided to not heed your family's warnings and spend the afternoon with the god of death himself.

"Lucifer is good."