I.O.U.

The Favor With The Therapist

"She pushed me out of her house last night, literally shoved me out the door!"

Linda watched Lucifer pace the room as she sat on her chair. Try as she might, she couldn't get him to sit down or even to listen to her.

"Well I'm sure she-"

"And then she slammed the door in my face!" Lucifer scoffed.

Linda pressed her lips together, waiting for Lucifer to finish his rant.

"I mean of course I could simply get her to tell me why she did that, but it'd be a waste. Why would I recklessly use one of the favors she owes me for something so trivial?"

He looked back at Linda, silently waiting for her to offer some sort of input.

"Can I talk now?" She asked.

Lucifer finally sat down waving a hand.

"Yes of course, it's what I pay you for isn't it?"

Linda resisted the urge to sigh at him.

"You keep talking about the favors, this Y/N, owes you and yet you haven't said why she owes you so many." Linda said.

Lucifer gave her an unreadable expression.

"I'm not sure how that's relevant Doctor."

The tone of his voice chilled her and Linda was almost hesitant to continue. However she cleared her throat and continued the conversation anyway.

"It seems to me you're avoiding talking about the exact nature of this deal you have with her. It's almost like you're trying to avoid it all together."

Linda didn't fail to notice the grim look in Lucifer's eyes, despite the air of indifference around him.

"Well it's not my secret to tell Doctor, best stay within your own boundaries."

Lucifer's voice had a slight edge to it, as if he was giving her a nonverbal warning to drop this part of the conversation. A warning Linda knowingly ignored.

"Alright, then let's talk about these favors, she owes you twenty you said."

Lucifer grabbed the glass of water in front of him.

"Well actually it's nineteen now, I called in one of those yesterday, quite a day really. You missed all the fun." He chuckled.

The change in his attitude was almost immediate, he was back to his usual self. Now that the conversation wasn't focused on your past or why you were in the situation you were in, Lucifer seemed to be more willing to talk again. She didn't need to be a therapist to see he was stalling.

"She's owed you these for a few years now right? Why are you waiting so long to use them? It's not like you'd run out of them anytime soon."

Lucifer opened his mouth to respond but closed it when he realized he didn't actually have an answer to that. He didn't know why. He couldn't come up with any reason for not using them sooner.

"Perhaps we should continue this conversation next time. Y/N will be getting off work soon and I'm hoping to catch her before she gets home."

Linda didn't try to stop him when he started walking towards the door, it would have been pointless.

~

You stumbled back when someone bumped your shoulder as they hurried by you on the street.

"Watch where you're going!" The man snapped angrily.

You turned around, ready to chew the man out but was pleasantly surprise to find him already on the ground.

"Oh dear, I think you scuffed my shoes." Lucifer sighed.