It Starts With Sorry
Lucifer breathed a sigh of relief when the healing session was done. Belphegor had helped immensely, which had streamlined the process and made it less exhausting, but it still drained him considerably. As a former archangel, his angelic power was more than most creatures, but in the dim lights of Hell, away from Heaven’s light, it was a limited resource and took time to recharge. Unfortunately, his demonic power, while nearly limitless, could not heal, and therefore, was useless in this situation. So, he rolled back on his heels to sit on the floor, his back against the chaise and leaned back to rest for a moment.
“That should certainly do the trick for now,” Bel confirmed, calling his attention back to the sleeping girl before him. “I’m pulling back the sleeping fog now.”
Stitches had been restless from pain at the start, but over the last hour of treatment, she had slowly settled into a deep and comfortable slumber, no doubt due to the pain-relieving side effects of the healing magic. He smiled watching her even breathing and peaceful rest, wishing he could let her sleep longer. But, she had barely been able to finish a single smoothie, and she desperately needed more nourishment. She could always take a nap after lunch.
Within a few minutes, she began to stir. She blinked slowly, adjusting, and looked around her. She stretched as she sat up, and the movement confirmed that she was pain-free for the time being. She looked at the chaise and frowned. “Where did Angel go?”
Lucifer chuckled and stood up to help her off the table. “Your brother went to get lunch ready, Sweetie. How does some chicken broth sound?”
She wrinkled her nose. “Not great, honestly, but I guess I can try. Ugh, what I wouldn’t give for apple pie right now.”
Lucifer rolled his eyes and groaned playfully. “Duckling, we must wait for your stomach to wake up before you can stuff your face with baked goods.” She pouted, and it was just too cute. “But, we’ll compromise. You eat the broth, and I will make you an apple pie-flavored smoothie for dessert. Deal?”
She grinned mischievously. “Sorry, my dad told me not to make deals with demons.” She stuck her tongue out playfully, taunting him. “But I can agree to your suggestion,” she giggled, and took his hand as she finally stood.”
“Truly your child in all but lineage,” Bel laughed, standing. She yawned as she straightened her robes. “I have enjoyed our time together, but I am needed back in Sloth. I have other duties to attend to-”
“Naps to take,” Lucifer interjected.
“-so if you could please open a portal, I will be on my way.” She gave him a side-eye glare at his tease, but there was no malice behind it. They had been good friends for millennia, and if anyone could get away with poking at her, it was him. Well, and maybe Bee, but they were currently not on the best terms, for one reason or another. Knowing their history though, they would make up eventually, and it really wasn’t any of his business anyway.
He opened a portal for her while Stitches and Bel said their goodbyes. It warmed his heart to see one of his oldest friends taking to his newest family so well, and it was even better seeing how much Stitches seemed to adore her as well. The more people to support his little duckling, the better. Once the portal closed, he turned to Stitches and pulled her into a hug, careful not to press too hard on her healing wounds.
“Dad? You okay?” she asked, returning the hug hesitantly.
“Absolutely, Brandi,” he whispered, nuzzling into her hair, “I just wanted to tell you how proud I am of you for taking this first step. I know how hard it is to open up about things that have hurt you, and I am so grateful you are willing to do so.”
She chuckled. Pure birdsong. “Well, I couldn’t do it without you and Tony supporting me.” She stiffened, and he pulled away to look in her face. Her brow was creased with worry. “What about the others? Do you think they will ever give me another chance?”
Lucifer cupped her cheek. “They are all waiting for you to be ready to talk it out. They still love you and are ready to repair the friendship. Whenever you are ready to make that step.” He kissed her forehead.
She nodded and bit her lip. “Could… Could they come to lunch too? It’s easier to eat when other people are also eating.”
He smiled. “I’ll text the group chat, and I am sure they would love to meet us there.”
____________________________________________________________________________
Stitches paused in front of the doors to the dining room. Lucifer stood by her, patiently waiting while she took some deep breaths to reground herself. Behind these doors were the people she last saw in a drunken stupor, when they had tried to enact an intervention. She was still beating herself up for it. Yeah, it wasn’t the best time or place, but she had been cruel in her lashing out, and it hurt that that was the last thing they had seen of her. Not counting the horror scene of when she had been brought back half-alive, of course.
Yeah, yelling hatefully at your friends and then traumatizing them for life… Way to go, stupid.
Lucifer squeezed her hand gently, pulling her from her dark thoughts. She smiled down at him gratefully, took another breath, and, before she could overthink it again, pushed open the doors.
Inside, all the conversation stopped, and their attention immediately locked onto her. The entire staff was there. Cherri looked like she had been picking on Husker at one end of the table while Angel was bringing platters of food in from the connecting kitchen. Charlie and Vaggie were making final adjustments to decorations, with banners saying “Welcome back” and “We missed you” hung around the walls. Niffty had stopped midway through stabbing a cockroach, and Alastor was, as usual, haunting the corner of the room, his smile large and intimidating.
Stitches felt awkward as Hell (ha!) and started fidgeting with the hem of her sweater, looking down at her feet. The attention, the silence, it was just all so overwhelming. If Lucifer wasn’t holding her hand, she would have bolted. Her heart was hammering in her head. Why did I think this was such a good idea? Ripping off the bandaid, my ass! I can’t even look up!
“Stitches, ya wanna come sit down?” Angel asked, and when she looked up at him, he gave her a reassuring smile. It made her give a small unsure smile in return. Leave it to her big brother to see her struggle and step up. She took a shaky breath and held up a hand to signal she would in a minute. She had something to do first.
“I-I need to say something first,” she blurted. She took another breath and tried to focus. How do I do this? Charlie stepped forward, looking like she wanted to say something, but Stitches let go of Lucifer’s hand, then held up both hands, and stepped back, stopping her. Okay, I hope this works. She cleared her throat, closed her eyes, and started singing, softly.
“🎵 ~ It starts with sorry ~ My lies hurt you to the core ~ One sincere sorry ~ Not enough but I’ll do more ~ 🎵” She opened her eyes and sang louder. “🎵 ~The path to forgiveness is not journeyed in a day ~ But sorry is where it starts…~ 🎵” She reached out her hands, hoping they understood.
Charlie smiled brightly and sang the next part, coming over to take her hands. “🎵 ~Who hasn’t kept a secret or two ~ We never meant to part from you ~ 🎵”
The rest of the room joined in, also approaching. “🎵 ~Can you forgive us ~ Befriend and work here again? ~ 🎵”
Stitches smiled as the tears began to flow, and answered: “🎵 ~ There’s no other friends I’d choose ~ 🎵”
They all embraced her in a group hug. “🎵 ~ Same for us ~🎵”
Lucifer smiled and cupped her face in his hands. “🎵 ~ We have all been in your shoes ~ 🎵”
Everyone sang together, as they stepped back so each person could give her a proper hug. Stitches was so incredibly happy.
“🎵 ~ It started with sorry ~ (“Sorry,” Stitches echoed.) ~ No more need to say you’re sorry ~ (“I’m so sorry,” she sobbed.) ~ Let’s move on now today ~ It will take time to heal from ~ our (“My”, Stitches said instead.) vast multitude of sins ~ But this here is where it begins ~🎵”
They all pulled in for one more group hug.
Stitches whispered “🎵 ~ It came from sorry… ~🎵”
"Still the WORST song!" Niffty whined.
____________________________________________________________________________
Alastor rematerialized in the hallway outside of the dining area. The touchy-feely singing session just wasn’t his idea of a productive moment. However, from the looks of it, it was what the young woman had needed, and it was obvious to him that the others had responded to it well in turn. If it helped, he certainly wasn’t going to interfere. Whatever helps her.
He started to walk away, only to be forced to stop as a cloud of red and gold appeared in front of him. As it dissipated, Lucifer stood in its place, his eyes searching Alastor’s face. Alastor narrowed his eyes and cocked his head, his grin stretched thin.
“To what do I owe the pleasure of an audience, Your Majesty?” He forced it to sound polite and bored, but his true feelings on the matter were anything but.
Lucifer crossed his arms and pulled himself up to his full (still lacking) height. It was always amusing to him how the little man still thought he was so intimidating. “You left the dining room.” He narrowed his eyes to match Alastor’s. “Why?”
Alastor chuckled, a laugh track playing from his cane, and shrugged theatrically. “Oh, must I have a reason for everything I do?”
Lucifer rolled his eyes. “There isn’t a single move or word you make that has no reason behind it.”
That caught Alastor a bit off guard, and he failed to control his ears from flicking in interest. “I have no idea what you are referring to -”
“Yeah, you do. I watch you just as much as you watch me, asshole. I notice things.” The Devil smirked at him mischievously. “I may be silly and cheesy, but I’m not as naive and unobservant as people think I am. I have the power, experience, and creativity to go FAR beyond anything you could imagine.” His face went back to serious and stoic, looking at his nails in a blatant mimicry of Alastor’s behaviorisms. “So, again, why did you leave the dining room? I would have thought you would have jumped at the chance to spend time with Stitches.”
Alastor felt a bead of sweat slide down his neck. “She is alive and recovering, and from the little musical number, it is obvious that she now has the friendship and support to continue her journey of healing. That is all that needs to happen for her to reach her potential, so I don’t need to see-”
“CUT THE BULLSHIT!” Lucifer hissed, his demonic angelic form springing onto him as he launched at Alastor, shoving him into a portal. They fell hard against Alastor’s hardwood flood in his room, Lucifer straddling him, as the portal closed behind him. Alastor would normally shove him off, he should have shoved him off, but he was entranced. The King was breathtaking in this form, power radiating off him in waves. This is what he had always imagined the fallen archangel to be when he was alive, and what he craved to see as a Sinner. Resplendent, unrepentative in his fury.
Every time he saw it, it only became more beautiful to him.
He slowly reached up, stroking a blood-red feather with reverence. Lucifer shivered above him but didn’t pull away. The feather was solid and strong, yet felt silky and soft under his clawed fingers. Emboldened by Lucifer’s reaction, he used his whole hand to caress the wing more, petting the flight feathers and marveling at the way the wings fluffed and preened under his light adoration. A soft moan from Lucifer caught his attention, and he looked back into the smaller man’s face, noting the golden blush on his face. How curious…
He let his hand fall back down and silently gave Lucifer a moment to compose himself. As Lucifer calmed, his demonic features faded, and soon he was back to his normal look, though his wings stayed out. The monarch was panting, and slowly used his wings to remove himself from Alastor and land a few feet away, taking the warmth with him.
“I… I apologize.” Lucifer was looking down, his wings around him in a self-comforting gesture again. “I know you hate being touched, and I shouldn’t have snapped.”
Alastor laid back, putting an arm behind his neck to support his head. “Are your wings sensitive?”
Lucifer let out an embarrassed groan. “Of all the ques- Yes! Okay?! I admit it! Angel wings are all sensitive. It’s like brushing someone’s neck lightly or something, it tickles and is comforting at the same time. Usually, only family or romantic partners are allowed to touch someone’s wings, even for grooming, because depending on how they are touched, it can be… well… sensual.”
Alastor mulled this information over for a moment. “And the way I just touched them?”
Lucifer was silent for a long minute. But then whispered, “Not sensual, but it’s been a long time since someone else touched them.”
Alastor nodded, and they stayed in silence for a long time. It wasn’t awkward, at least, not for him. Honestly, if anything, it felt comfortable to have the King in his room. His presence over time had become enjoyable, soothing, even. More and more often, Alastor had begun seeking it out, the draw unusual and new, yet somehow, it felt right. At first, he had thought it was merely because he sought to anger the small man, ruffle his feathers, goad him into a fight. The verbal sparring was exciting and entertaining, the passionate glares thrilling. But over time, he had begun to appreciate even the quiet tolerance of each other’s presence, the casual way they pretended to ignore one another at the bar, and the small moments when they would accidentally catch the other looking their way.
“Your wife-”
“We separated a long time ago,” Lucifer interrupted. “I will always love Lilith. She was my first and only companion since the beginning. But we…” He paused. Sighed. “We hadn’t been happy together for quite some time, even before she left almost 8 years ago. It’s been decades, maybe even since we fell, honestly. Too much tension, too many secrets… It just built and built over time until there were just too many to ignore. The strain was bound to break eventually.”
“But you are still married.” Alastor sat up to look at him. Lucifer nodded once, still looking away from him, staring at his feet.
“She is still the Queen of Hell. I still love her. I have waited for her to come back, but…” He sighed again, and finally looked at Alastor, meeting his eyes. “Even if she does come back, I don’t know if we could go back to how it was. I don’t know if we could fix it if there is even enough left to fix.” He started fiddling with the ring. "This is just the first time I have ever really thought about persuing someone else."
Now it was Alastor’s turn to look away, his ears flat on his head. “You are interested in me.” It wasn’t a question, but Lucifer hummed a shy agreement. “I am not someone who can give you what you want in a relationship.”
Lucifer chuckled, which made Alastor look at him. He had a cheesy grin on his face. “You act like you know what I want, Bambi. But I know what someone like you is like, and I already know that we could still make it work.”
“But I am not interested in-”
“What, sex?” Lucifer scoffed. “Touching, hugging, cuddling, kissing? Romance?”
Alastor narrowed his eyes. “I don’t have feelings or a drive for those things.”
Lucifer rolled his eyes. “There is WAY more to a relationship than physical attraction or touch. Believe me, I have had passionate, sex-based romance. It is not the only thing or even the most important thing to maintain a relationship.” He smiled at Alastor. “Do you like going places, like the theatre, restaurants, and strolls in the park? Do you think you would enjoy sitting on the couch together and reading quietly? Would you want to spend time with me, chatting and sparring, having each other’s backs and just… existing with the knowledge that we are together?”
Alastor was shocked. All of those things sounded lovely. He could imagine them having playful banter while cooking together in the kitchen. Silently enjoying each other’s presence in the evenings, sipping coffee, and reading by the fire. He could even imagine occasionally providing some physical touch to Lucifer, in the form of a prolonged embrace or maybe even holding hands. He was less inclined to kiss or do anything intimate, but he would be open to grooming his wings, helping him maintain their condition. Who knew, maybe he could go further… But he had never even considered a relationship before, never met someone he even felt comfortable trying to pursue that with. But this man...
“Could I take some time to consider it? I have never even considered something like this before. I was unaware it was even an option, since I have no interest in sensual or romantic pursuits.”
Lucifer smiled warmly. “Of course. Take all the time you need. I'm immortal, so all I have is time.”
Alastor stood and straightened his suit, dusting himself off. “As for your earlier question,” he admitted, “I am not particularly interested in the ‘mushy’ activities that were happening, so I left. Our little vixen is getting the love and care she needs, and it will be some time before I can continue to guide her. So, I saw no reason to stay.”
Lucifer tilted his head, eyelids drooping in another cheesy grin. “You can pretend all you want, Alastor. I saw you when you brought her in, halfway to her death. I saw the panic in your eyes, the fear radiating off your body, and the way you were so gentle and doting. You care about her. Just admit it.”
Alastor stared at Lucifer for a moment. One moment became two, then three.
“I will admit to nothing,” he huffed, motioning for him towards the door.
From the look on Lucifer’s face when he sighed and turned to leave, Alastor didn’t need to admit to what was already obvious.