Sinfully Delicious

Tupperware

Ferya winced as she put down her phone, turning to look at the trays of sticky buns rising underneath the light cloth of her tea towels as she tried to blink away the tears that were blurring her vision. She hadn't realized it at the time, but while speaking with Lucifer she had closed the shop early. Ten whole minutes early. She had never been late before, had never tried to leave before her day was done but today, she had. And it had not taken Vialen very long to call her to let her know that it had been noticed and tomorrow would not be a good day.

Ferya hadn't tried speaking up to explain what had happened despite the fact that Vialen was one of Lucifer's people. Ferya's experience taught her that vampires weren't the most loyal people in the world and she half suspected that her boss would try to wring every advantage out of her that she could, no matter that Lucifer was technically Vialen's leader. Plus, she would have to explain that she had technically violated another rule and was making merchandise outside of the shop for her own benefit.

She had never broken the rules before, she had never dared chance ruining the delicate position she was in, so it was with a great deal of uncertainty that she put the sticky buns into the oven and sat down at the small kitchen counter to wait for them to finish. She half suspected that Lucifer was gone and that she would have twenty-four sweet rolls to soothe whatever pains tomorrow brought.

"Please tell me you haven't been crying this entire time." As if conjured by thinking about him, the dark angel was standing behind her, giving her a nonplussed look.

He wasn't concerned about her or her worries, of that she was certain, so she shook her head and hastily wiped away the stray tears from the corners of her eyes. "No."

Lucifer gave her a strange look, before offering a shrug, glancing around her cramped, sparsely furnished bachelor style apartment. "Good. They won't be well received if they taste of human tears." He wrinkled his nose at whatever he saw, his eyes finally settling on her. "You're really cutting it close, by the way."

"They take time." She murmured softly, though she didn't have an ounce of courage left in her to mention that it was him who was cutting it close. It was a struggle to even stand and walk back into the kitchen to take the source of her distress out of the oven when the timer chimed. The smell of them made her stomach rumble, though she hadn't been hungry before that very moment with the stress of tomorrow weighing her down.

Ferya ignored the pangs, which reminded her of the fact she had missed dinner, as she placed the pans on the stove top and turned to find Lucifer standing directly behind her, completely in her way. She drew up short, spreading her hands out wide as she braced herself, tensing and looking anywhere but his entrancing eyes, though she wound up staring at the sleek lines of his suit, and the trim waist it seemed to highlight.

"They're done?" His eyes flickered over her head to the oven, then back to hers, one brow raising.

"I'll put them in Tupperware for you." She said softly, motioning to the cupboard behind him but unable to move around him. It was impossible to move with the small size of her kitchen and the bulk of his form, wings and all, blocking her into the small corner she was in.

"I am not carrying Tupperware to my meeting." He snorted at that, glancing over her head once more, again at the buns that were filling the room with their sweet, spicy aroma. "Where's the sticky?"

"Underneath." She sighed softly, frowning up at him as she tried to understand what he expected to do with two hot pans of sticky buns, "You turn them over, and the sauce coats them."

Lucifer didn't look like he believed her about the sticky, but he finally took a step backwards, if only to hold out his hands, which now contained a large, ornate looking cardboard box with what appeared to be a reinforced bottom. "Put them in this."

Ferya blinked in surprise before taking the box and turning around to put it on the counter beside the cutting board she had prepared. She pretended not to notice that Lucifer didn't move from where he stood behind her, hovering and watching over her shoulder as she worked. She could feel the heat from his body, hear the ruffle of his feathers and smell the scent of him, which reminded her of spices she couldn't identify. Taking in a slow, deliberate breath, Ferya forced herself to stay focused on the task at hand, pulling her oven mitts back on and carefully flipping the first pan over.

She gave it a tap, watching the buns drop onto the board, before pulling the pan away and carefully using a pair of tongs to transfer them into the box. Then she used a spatula to scrape out the remainder of the sweet, sticky butter sauce onto the buns, before repeating it with the second pan.

"You can keep the end pieces." Lucifer muttered, nodding to the smaller pieces that were from the end of the roll when she was cutting them before baking. She hadn't put them in the box, knowing that for presentation purposes they weren't up to par with the rest of the larger, rounder buns.

"I can't eat the merchandise" She murmured softly, shaking her head and moving to pick up the pans and turn to the sink, watching out of the corner of her eye as he closed the box, which promptly disappeared the moment he lifted his hands from it.

Lucifer chuckled at that, grabbing one of the end pieces and taking a bite out of it, his eyes dancing wickedly as he watched her. He had enough manners to finish chewing before he licked his lips and offered a shrug. "But this is your house and your ingredients. They're yours."

Ferya bit her lip before she could point out that he had just eaten one of her buns if that were the case. Instead, she shook her head and let out a breath. "Good?"

"Amazing. Worth every penny." He grinned wider to her and offered his hand. "You upheld your end of the deal."

"We had a deal?" She asked weakly, glancing down at his hand as she turned to face him, tucking her own hands in her pockets as she watched him warily.

Lucifer watched her without a hint of mockery on his features. "Twenty-four sticky buns for my soul."

She blanched at that, looking down at his hand, then back up to him. "Your soul? What would I do with a soul?"

"Have access to my powers, my influence, for as long as you lived." He said easily, smirking to her. "Anything you wanted from me, I would have to give you. You are mortal, so it wouldn't last once you were dead but there is a great deal you could do with my soul while you survived."

Ferya didn't know how to take that, didn't know how to even fathom what she could do with that much power. In fact, the concept of all that power and the responsibility that must come with it made her mouth go dry and her legs feel weak.

So, she merely shook her head. "No. I don't want that. Just promise me you aren't going to hurt anyone because of them."

"You... are turning down complete access and control of everything I am?" He was dumbfounded, his eyes widening for a moment, before he let out a slow breath and agreed to her request. "I won't hurt anyone with your sticky rolls. But that's not payment."

"They're worth five dollars each, in the store. But really, they should be worth around two. Forty-eight dollars, that's all they're worth." She shook her head slowly, looking down at her hands as she pulled them out of her pockets. "Just do something nice, make an effort to not be mean all the time. Show mercy, forgive a debt, help someone who can't do anything for you, without expecting anything in return. Just... promise to make an effort to be nicer..."

She was letting him off easy, her time was worth more than that, whatever pain she was going to face tomorrow as worth more than that. But it wasn't worth his soul, Ferya knew that. She didn't look up to him, merely remained staring at his shoes and just wishing that this night would end.

Lucifer's wings ruffled, finally drawing her gaze.

He was standing there, looking as if she had just swindled him but finally, he nodded. "We'll talk more about this later."

Ferya blinked and he was gone.