Chapter Text
Stayed Gone
A week had passed since the announcement that the Exterminations had been moved up.
Lucifer was stressed, but at the same time he couldn't help but feel a giddy sense of happiness. His best friend hadn't flipped out on him when he kissed him in a moment of desperation, and had instead taken it as incentive to stake a claim on the Fallen. Lucifer wasn't upset by it, in fact, it felt rather nice to be wanted to the point that his partner didn't want to share him. Which, he didn't, if the hickeys and bites he'd been ordered not to heal were anything to go by. Not to mention that the constant reminders of "mine" he heard in the staticky growls that emminated from the red head was all the confirmation he needed.
Outside of his possessiveness and their rough cuddling in the shadow-caster's bed, nothing much had changed. He'd always give Lucifer larger servings without saying anything and Lucifer would take his empty dishes when mealtime was over wordlessly, but nothing that you wouldn't expect out of close friends. Vaggie gave them more than one suspicious look, but never said anything.
Lucifer and Vaggie had just returned from another unsuccessful attempt to attract more residents when, once again, the wall next to the front door blew up.
"Show yourself, Alastor! Come out and face my-" that same voice from the day they opened the hotel called, followed by a mumbled, 'oh, there you are', "face my wrath!"
Lucifer looked up at the balcony where his lover liked to take his morning coffee in peace while he read the paper. He could tell that he was mildly annoyed to have been interrupted, but only someone who knew his tells would be able to notice. He traversed the shadows and appeared on the ground next to the group that had gathered from inside the hotel.
"Who are you?" he asked in false confusion.
Lucifer smirked when he proceeded to taunt and mock the inventor, even going so far as to cackle while toying with his machine like a child in a bad mood.
"Al," he giggled, "I think he's done."
"Nah," Angel snickered, encouraging the showman's shenanigans, "I think he's got a few more hits in him."
The snake eventually ended up face down in the dirt before them, startling him with his attempt to make a grab for his lover, causing him to magically punt the demon into the next district in a startle reflex.
He looked sheepishly at the deer, who seemed rather smug and pleased with himself at the turn of events. He gently patted the Fallen's cheek wordlessly and tutted at his ruined coat.
"Well, it appears that I need to make a trip to the tailor."
The others complained about him leaving when there was work to be done, so he summoned a handful of his shadow minions to have the repair work done in the time he would be back.
It wasn't long after he left that the lights flickered at the hotel and the single old-school television flickered to life, revealing a face Lucifer hadn't seen in decades.
"So, the Radio Demon is back in town. Why is he hanging around? What does that mean for your family? Well, handily, I've got good news..."
Lucifer rolled his eyes and ignored the picture box's blabbering, smirking when only minutes later, the radios throughout the hotel came to life in response. After a brief standoff, Vox became overwhelmed and shorted out the electricity throughout the city, except for the hotel, which was not on the city grid specifically because of the TV demon.
"...when I'm done, your status quo will know it's race is run. Oh, this will be fun."
Lucifer smiled as he listened to the radio in his workshops. It'd been a long time since Alastor's broadcasts popped up. He was really surprised that there wasn't a new voice added to his screams, yet, since his return. He was just glad to see that whatever had happened to his lover, he hadn't lost his ability to broadcast during his absence, something that he was beginning to fear with his absence from his studio. Though, Lucifer did suppose if he had a studio at the hotel, it'd be easier.
With that thought in mind, he made his way to the rooftop access door down the hall, conveniently just the other side of Alastor's suite. Once on the roof, he summoned some of the building materials he had in storage from the remodel he and Vaggie had done in the months leading up to the hotel opening. Keekee came up the stairs and he gave her scritches before transforming her into her true form. Within a short time, he had the shed-like structure added to the topmost point of the hotel. He made sure to put a lock on the door, knowing that he would not appreciate just anyone having access to his new studio. Once inside, he made sure to soundproof the walls, add one-way dual-layered glass, and design the amplifier so that his deer would have as broad a coverage right here at the hotel as possible. With a little power boost, he could probably broadcast all the way to the Sloth Ring. The fact that the antenna looked like a black set of antlers was besides the point. Ha, 'point'.
With one final flourish to pad the ceiling and floor to complete the process of assuring sound quality for his lover's broadcasts, he stood back and gave a decisive nod. Alastor would want to place his sound equipment on his own.
His shadow zipped away from him, signaling that it's own lover had crossed the wards around the hotel, and Lucifer laughed, portalling down to the balcony just before the three entered the lobby.
"Honey, I'm home," Alastor called up to him with a twiddle of his fingers.
Lucifer just rolled his eyes.
"Right on time. I have something to show you before Vaggie and I get started on our daily exercises."
Alastor appeared next to him and only the last century of his creepy behavior kept him from jumping on a startle.
"Well, then, why don't we hurry along on our way, Darling?"
He brought him up the stairs, not wanting to spoil the anticipation by portalling to the roof.
"I didn't do much, I know you'd prefer to do it yourself, but I wanted to make sure you really felt at home here. You can say no if you want, I won't be upset."
"That's a lie," Alastor chuckled and kissed his cheek, "but I appreciate the sentiment, Darling. Just show me, already."
Lucifer nodded and with a deep breath, opened the door to reveal the new studio.
"Ta-da!" he cheerfully exclaimed.
Alastor grinned wide-eyed at the addition as he stepped up to it and turned the deer-skull-shaped door knob.
"My Darling," he cooed as he looked around the un-finished room, "this is exquisite. I can't thank you enough."
Lucifer grinned and wrapped his arms around the radio demon's waist, looking up at him with twitchy ears and a swishing tail.
"No thanks needed, Deer. I just realized that the reason you haven't gotten around to broadcasting is probably because I was keeping you too far away from your studio. Consider this my apology for monopolizing your nights as of late."
"Sweet lamb," he cooed, petting his head and tilting his chin further up, "How you continue to amaze me. Heaven surely made a mistake with casting you out. My mornings, days, and nights are yours, Darling. My passion for you outweighs my passion for radio at any time."
Lucifer nuzzled against him as he answered, "but, radio is a part of you."
"And all of me is yours. If broadcasting from this studio is what you wish, then I would be more than happy to oblige."
Lucifer kissed his cheek and pulled away.
"Great! You can set up while Vaggie and I do our daily exercise with Angel. Maybe I'll get a surprise and we'll have a new resident show up wanting redemption because of the announcement last night."
He didn't expect Vaggie and Angel to be arguing with the slimy little snake from that morning at the door when he got down stairs. He seemed genuine, and even though he knew that he was likely sent by the Bees, or whatever Vox and his minions called themselves, he was excited at the prospect of someone who actually wanted to make an effort to be better joining their group of misfits. He saw the look on Angel's face and when he made a show about going to bed early, Lucifer committed to talking to him about how important he was and how he needed to think about how much he wanted to change to be better in the morning.
He didn't expect for them to get woken up in the middle of the night to Angel and Pentious fist-fighting, and he certainly didn't expect Pentious to be ballsy enough to put a camera from Voxtech inside the Radio Demon's territory.
But he definitely expected Vox's cruelty towards the Sinner he used and discarded, and he was confident that the serpent knew that mercy and forgiveness were the only way he was going to be allowed to live. Had he not accepted the snake, he was confident that his lover would have had a new broadcast that night to remind everyone not to mess with what he considered his. If Angel and Vaggie had left anything for the demon to torture.
As it were, he felt that the first day of group therapy went pretty well, all things considered.