Her Favourite
Pairing: Lucifer/Cadence (oc)
Word Count: 4206
Rating: G
Summary: Jealousy is a bitter pill to swallow, and it's not one he has to take often. But as the weeks leading up to his birthday pass, Lucifer finds himself at the mercy of his brothers’ sins as her attention moves away from him. Instead, they look to someone he can’t contest.He has his pride and refuses to grovel - but who knew a single human could stir so many emotions within him?
A/N: This idea has been on my brain for weeks and I'm glad I started it early so I could finish it on time for the birthday boy! Even if they just put out an event and now I want to tweak this to reflect it.... There will eventually be a semi-sequel to this where they stop beating around the bush but that one is just taking a while to finish. And a small note that my character has angel blood but she isn't a descendant of Lilith.
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Month 10, Day 6
The gentle knock on the bookshelf told him exactly who was on the other side.
Lucifer leaned back in his chair, pen still hovering over paper. He shouldn’t have been surprised that she had found him, but he was pleased she’d sought him out. Even if it was late and she should be sleeping more than anyone. Today had been filled with enough excitement to exhaust her, angel heritage or not. He’d fully assumed she’d passed out with how fast she’d disappeared after they’d returned home, yet here she was.
Another knock. “Lucifer? Are you in there?”
And he left her on the other side of the door like a fool. A sharp word had the door opening for her, the bookcase sliding away silently. It had barely stopped moving before she was stepping into view.
His gaze moved over her as the door closed. She’d changed out of the little red dress she’d worn at the party, but the hem of her sweater seemed even shorter. Or perhaps her stockings didn’t climb as high as usual. There was no time to consider that as he focused on what was in her hands. “What is that?”
Cadence gave him a smile, soft but amused. “A princess poison apple cake.”
“We had cake earlier.”
“We did,” she agreed, “you didn’t.”
So she had noticed. He’d thought she’d been too distracted by-Lucifer cut off those thoughts swiftly to stay on topic. The cake had been impossible not to balk at. If that five tiered, red frosted sweet monstrosity could be called a cake. He’d taken one look at it and immediately gotten heartburn. The plate Diavolo had given him had mysteriously vanished shortly after.
“More importantly,” she said, voice sharp and tart, “what is that?”
Only a fool would miss what she meant and for the faintest moment he wanted to be that fool. But there was no point. “My work.”
“It’s your birthday.”
How did she manage to sound both cross and cute at the same time? He didn’t linger on those thoughts as he felt the flickers of a gnawing emotion he’d been fighting for weeks to ignore come to life. He wasn’t going to lose to them now. “The work doesn’t magically disappear because it’s my birthday,” he said dryly.
She huffed. “You could take one night off. No one would fault you that.”
No one meaning Diavolo but he was the one who’d assigned him these tasks. “I took the day off because someone insisted,” he said, giving her a pointed look that didn’t faze her. “But if I leave this I’ll fall behind.”
She didn’t like that answer any better. When she’d first arrived, she’d been so much harder to read. Polite and curious, but standoffish and private. She was still polite and curious to be sure yet whatever walls kept her emotions back had fallen. At least they had for him and his brothers. Her expressions gave her away more readily, made her much easier to read and understand.
“Take a break with me.”
But she still managed to surprise him. “We took a break all day.” Which was no doubt her doing; his brothers wouldn’t have gone to half of the effort he’d seen without her encouragement. Even Diavolo couldn’t get that kind of party together for him and-
The jealousy surged to life again but all that he let show was his grip tightening on his pen. No. He’d told himself he wasn’t going down that road. It was a waste of time and energy.
“Lucifer?”
Concern on her face now and he wanted to curse. As easy as she was becoming to read, the reverse seemed to hold true. She seemed to be wildly in tune with him, able to gauge his moods with ease. Not that it stopped her pushing when she shouldn’t.
Cadence set the cake on the desk and gave him another smile but it wasn’t the same as before and he didn’t like it. This was sad and withdrawn, reminiscent of the ones she’d first given when she’d arrived in the Devildom. “You can have a piece later,” she said. “But please take a break.”
She was going to leave. Something clawed past the jealousy inside him, something he refused to put a name to just yet. “Stay.”
Rocking on her heels as her weight shifted, she stopped but she still didn’t look convinced, didn’t look like she wanted to stay anymore. Which did not help his stew of emotions.
He’d tried to ignore them, but as the weeks since Asmo’s birthday had passed he’d seen her change. She’d grown skittish and shy around him, avoiding being alone with him. He had thought it merely a human mood until Diavolo had happily mentioned how much time Cadence had been spending with him. It hadn’t been difficult to put together that the time she’d given Lucifer before was going to Diavolo now. The jealousy had swiftly followed that realisation.
It was impossible to miss how she smiled at the prince, smiles that had bloomed and grown in this very room the more time they’d spent together. His damned pride had stung but he refused to let her see it, to let her see how much she affected him. So he had left her alone to choose her fool’s path and wondered if all of the signs, all of the signals, all of her had been a ruse to use him as a stepping stone to her true goal. And if he had been a bigger fool to read her so wrong.
But she’d been the one to take his hand to lead him into his birthday celebration today. Her smiles had been bright and directed at him again. Only him. She’d reminded him of the eternal sun in the Celestial Realm, but she had spread a warmth in him that it never had. She’d acted like the last weeks hadn’t happened at all.
He pulled back when warm fingers brushed his shoulder. How distracted was he that he hadn’t registered her getting closer?
“If you don’t want me to stay or want the cake, it’s okay, Lucifer.”
No. It wasn’t okay. This was the first time she’d sought him out in weeks and he didn’t want her to leave. He needed to know why. He set his pen down and twisted toward her. “We’ve seen each other all day and most of the night. But you want more?”
The faintest hint of pink dusted her cheeks and momentarily stunned him. “We didn’t really get to spend much time together today,” she corrected. “And I’ve been busy lately so I haven’t seen you.”
Busy chasing Diavolo, his pride hissed. Did he turn you away and now you come back to me? As a second option?
“I thought it would be nice to have a bit of quiet, but you weren’t in your room when I checked.”
She’d gone to his room dressed like this? It was more personal than the little number she’d had on before, reminded him of the nights they’d shared late dinners and watched movies. Made him realise how much he had missed having those moments with her.
“And I wanted to give you your present privately.”
Lucifer pushed out of his chair, the legs scraping on the floor. Her eyes widened at the sudden move, but she didn’t falter as he stood over her. Did she even understand what she did to him and now she was offering him what he craved?
Wrath licked at the edges of his jealousy to turn it into an even messier stew. To offer this gift to him after, to think of him second? To admit he’d been fool enough to fall for her so many months ago and leave the decision to her only to be spurned? To know so much of him still wanted her and would accept this offer?
He wasn’t sure if he was angrier at her or himself.
Warmth bloomed suddenly in his chest, spreading as a gentle pressure pushed on him. “Lucifer.”
His gaze focused on her, all of her, and he finally noticed the small red bag looped over one arm. He mentally pulled back as he realised that was his present, not her, but it wasn’t as easy to rein in his emotions. They were still a mess, feeding into each other in a horrible storm. But Cadence still didn’t move, watching him and keeping her hand on his chest.
Did she know how close to breaking he’d come? Did she know how she twisted him up inside? How had he let it come to this? How had he let himself fall so hard for her?
He stared at her as he breathed evenly, shoving emotions into their boxes while she gazed back at him. “You should have run,” he said when he finally felt confident his voice wouldn’t give him away. He could still hear the edges to it but she didn’t seem to.
“Running wouldn’t do me any good.”
No, it wouldn’t but every time she stood in his path, every time she refused to back down to him, he loved her a little more. And he was bringing about his own doom by doing it. Reaching up, he covered her hand with his and soaked in the warmth she freely offered. He didn’t miss how her eyes widened at the skin contact, but he pulled her away. “How many times am I going to have to tell you to have some self-preservation?” he said, letting go of her.
Cadence pulled her hand to her, curling it against her chest. But she gave him a better smile. “Maybe you should stop wasting your breath since it hasn’t caught yet,” she teased.
The emotional storm eased a little at her usual response. “What did you get me?”
“Nuh uh. Cake first and then present.”
“It’s my birthday.”
“It’s my present.”
“It’s my present.”
There. The smile she gave him was the one he was used to, the one that was lit up so beautifully. “It’s for you,” she countered, “but it’s still mine until I give it.”
This felt enough like their usual for him to relax further. She was smiling again, teasing him again, and he...was a fool for letting her affect him this way. “And you’ll give it?”
“I’m not going to keep your present away from you; just let me choose when to give it.”
Those emotions nipped at him, reminding him he had waited, had let her choose and she-Was here now, he told himself. Lingering gave her more power over him. “If I eat the cake, will you give it?”
Still that smile but he took it as a yes.
Moving around her, Lucifer made a point not to touch her even accidentally. He lifted the plate off his desk and gestured at one of the couches. “Shall we?”
She was moving before he fully finished, excitement hanging heavily around her again.
As they settled on the couch, he didn’t miss how there was barely any distance between them. Exactly like it had been before. “Is there a reason why you waited so late?”
She hummed and set the bag on her far side, even though they both knew he could get it before she could stop him. “I needed to finish this,” she said, taking the plate from him and passing him a fork. “And I didn’t want to have an audience.”
Why not, Cadence? “Was that in your pocket?”
“It’s clean.”
“Is it?”
“I will take my cake and present and leave if you keep that up.”
She wouldn’t or she would have already. He took the fork and gave her the benefit of the doubt. When she held the cake out to him, he dutifully reached out with his fork. It almost seemed a shame to mar it, she’d done a wonderful job of replicating the apples. But he was curious to know how it tasted.
A flash of sour hit his tongue as he slid the bite into his mouth, exactly like the apples. Had she used them in making it? Or was it in the icing, which barely had any sweetness to it?
“How’s it taste?”
“Perfect, Cadence.” His brothers were tolerable cooks but she was so far beyond them. She had spoiled them over the course of the last year and not having her cooking anymore would be a blow.
He paused as he took a second piece. Barely two months left before she would return to the human world. So little time and she- “Open up,” he said, holding the fork to her lips.
Her eyes danced a little but she did as he said and dutifully took the bite.
“I expected more fight from you,” Lucifer said, taking his own bite.
“Mm, it’s your birthday. I can behave a little.”
Did she know how much he enjoyed it when she didn’t? He gave her another bite, wondering how she could be so content letting him feed her. “Did you bring another fork?”
“Nope.”
He gave her a measuring look, not missing the sparkle in her eyes. She was lying but he could let her get away with this one. His pride still stung, demanded to be appeased, but who was he to deny himself this simple pleasure with the woman he-
Don’t, he told himself, focusing on feeding them both bites.
They’d made it through half of the cake when she sighed, a sigh he knew well. His little human was full for now. He ate one more bite of his own, savouring the tartness of the apples on his tongue before he took the plate from her. Setting it and the fork on a side table, he glanced at the demonus bottles lining one wall and started to push himself up. A drink or two wouldn’t hurt anything, would go well after the cake, and-He paused, looking at her when she pressed her hand to his arm.
“Happy birthday, Lucifer,” Cadence said, holding out the bag.
Forget the demonus and the present, he was more interested in the smile she was giving him. This one was new, completely soft around the edges. This smile was a present. But he took the proffered bag. Black tissue paper was sticking out of the top of it, masking the proper present inside.
He glanced at her when she rolled against him, nudging him with her entire body. “Are you going to open it? It’s only your birthday for so much longer and it loses its meaning if you don’t have it today.”
“Are you telling me what to do?”
“Like you’d listen to me,” she laughed.
Leaning back, he turned the bag in his hands, wondering if there was a front to it. He didn’t see a card so he plucked at the paper. He glanced at Cadence when the couch shifted and saw her watching him expectantly. She was adorable as she waited, fingers curling around the hem of her sweater, lower lip caught between her teeth, and...was she flushing? The urge to draw this out flickered to life, to draw out her anticipation, but he quietly gave in.
Removing the rest of the paper, he reached into the bag. He frowned faintly as his fingers brushed against smooth glass, but it wasn’t cool to the touch. It was warm. He curled his hand around it and pulled it from the bag as well.
It fit perfectly in his palm, like it had been made to sit there, curved, clear glass letting him see inside. Lucifer stared at the dome in his hand, not missing the warmth settling into his skin. But he was caught by the flowers inside. They were distinctly human, not something that would ever have any hope of growing in the Devildom. “What is this, Cadence?”
“Your present,” she said and he resisted the urge to roll his eyes at how she said it.
He knew devil flowers, grew so many of them himself, and knew the names of many human ones as well, including this one. But why would she give him this?
“I wanted to give you something no one else would,” she said softly, her voice quiet.
“Flowers?”
“Yes and no.”
Turning the globe, he didn’t miss how the light inside it seemed to shift, letting him see the flowers unhindered no matter which direction he looked. But he turned his focus back to her. She wasn’t looking at him anymore, her gaze on her fingers as she plucked at threads in her sweater. The flush was still on her cheeks and he had to wonder why. “What is this, Cadence?” he repeated.
She was quiet for a long moment, still playing with her sweater, until she took a deep breath. “I’m going to be leaving soon,” she said and he didn’t miss the way her voice caught. “At the end of next month. I thought about it for a long time, what I could get you that would actually mean something. I asked Diavolo and he said anything that meant something to me would mean something to you.”
She’d gone to Diavolo...to ask what gift to give him, not because she was interested in him? Lucifer studied her, wanting to see her full face. They had made the deal after Belphie’s return to them, that she wouldn’t lie to him anymore, but sometimes she didn’t tell him everything. It was easier to tell when she was hiding something when she was looking at him. But she kept looking at her hands.
“So I thought about that and I thought about how I’d be able to do that. Almost everything that mattered to me was in the human world but…. I wanted it to be something you liked as well. I thought about the gardens and how much of what little free time you have you spend there. So I got you flowers from the human world.”
Lucifer set the bag aside and shifted the gift to the other hand. “Human flowers won’t last in the Devildom.”
“I know. Which took a lot of time to figure out. More time to figure out than I expected,” she added in a mutter. “I saw more of that coven of witches than I ever wanted.”
Witches?
“I told them what I wanted, flowers for the Devildom that would last, and they gave me a solution.”
He stopped waiting. Reaching out, he caught her chin to make her look at him. Golden eyes skittered away but came back on the low noise he made. “You dealt with witches,” he said lowly. “Did you make a deal with them? What did you offer them?”
Cadence blinked at him. “I didn’t make a deal and I didn’t offer them anything beyond the materials needed to make it. I promise,” she added when he frowned at her.
“Witches don’t do anything for free.”
“They did it in return for clearing a favour,” she said. “That’s all I know.”
Had Diavolo called in the favour because it was a gift for him? Or had he done it because it was Cadence wanting to do it?
“But they gave me what I wanted,” she continued, gaze dropping to the glass in his hand. “A flower for you, from the human world that won’t wilt.”
Lucifer studied her face for another moment, taking in the happiness and pride there.
She looked back at him and gave him a smile. “A little piece of my home for your home.”
He wavered; she was so close, so warm, his personal sun in the dark of the Devildom. She was giving him a gift, a gift she had spent so long on, but would she give him the gift he actually wanted? He tipped her face up a little, making her look at him fully. “And it’s important to you?”
“It’s my favourite flower.”
She had gone to Diavolo for this, for him, to give him her favourite flower in a way that he could keep. To have a piece of her after she left. She’d given his brothers gifts but this was personal. Her favourite flower. That something pushed past the other emotions, demanding he pay attention to it. “Carnations are your favourite?”
She hummed, nodding. “I’ve planted them every year except this one. But these will last better than anything I could have grown you.”
Her skin was so warm against his, something he had noticed the first time she had touched him. She ran hot, her blood burning in her veins to the point he’d almost thought her part demon. Which only made him wonder more about whatever angel had sired her line. But that was for another night. “Perhaps I should see if I can breed something that would grow.”
Oh the smiles she gave him! “You’ll have to send me pictures if you do. I’d love to see them.”
He’d bring her back to the Devildom to show her. He stroked his thumb over her chin and didn’t miss the way she licked her lips. Would she want a more personal thank you for the gift? Would she accept his kiss as a thank you?
His body swayed toward her, that something-that love-seizing him and wanting something in return. Her favourite flower...for her favourite demon? Was it too much to read between the lines and find that answer? The words circled in his head, narrowing down only to her favourite, and he knew he was well and truly lost to her.
She watched him with wide, golden eyes, waiting for him to do something. Was she waiting for him to make a move for her and he’d wasted so much time waiting for her?
The clock loudly chimed the hour, announcing it was midnight and shattering the mood between them. The flush on her cheeks suddenly had nothing to do with arousal or want and he let her go.
But she was slow to lean back, golden gaze darting over his face as if she hadn’t expected him to stop. He watched her as she sorted herself out and quickly looked away from him.
He wanted to tuck her hair behind her ear as it shielded her face from him, wanted to see what she was hiding from him. “Thank you for the present, Cadence.”
She took a deep breath before looking back at him, a fragile smile on her lips. It quivered as he looked at it but it didn’t fall. “You’re welcome, Lucifer.”
He knew it was going to happen but he still didn’t like it as she pushed off the couch, tugging her sweater down. He wanted to tell her she could stay, to help him finish the cake, but what moment they had had was gone.
“Try not to stay up all night,” she told him. “It’s not healthy.”
Ever the concern. “Cadence.”
She turned at the door, a curious look on her face.
“Humans give flowers meanings,” he said, holding up the present. “Do you know what these mean?”
It was hard to tell from his spot on the couch and the lighting in his study wasn’t the best, but he thought he saw her cheeks colour again. “No. Good night, Lucifer, and happy birthday.”
Little liar. He watched her leave, the two words floating through his mind. Had she lied again because he let her have the one about the fork? She said it was her favourite flower; surely she had looked it up and knew.
Setting the flower globe on the table in front of him, he pulled out his DDD as he leaned back. It took hardly any time at all to find the flower and his mouth turned down. How did one flower have so many meanings? He scrolled through the history of carnations before he stopped as the colours were finally listed.
Lucifer stared at the words written by dark red. Deep love? His gaze jerked up to the door even though he knew she’d made a hasty retreat after her lie. Everything she had done over the last handful of weeks had been to give this to him? She hadn’t been chasing Diavolo but enlisting his help to get her this present that symbolised her feelings for him? She’d been shy because she knew what this meant and that he wouldn’t wait to search up the meaning? She felt the same as he did?
He let out a slow breath and stared at the flowers. The light inside the glass was shining gently, glistening on the dew drops on the petals. She loved him. She wasn’t using him to get anywhere. She was coming to him in her own ways.
Leaning back, he closed his eyes as he let his head rest on the back of the couch. “You’re running out of time, Cadence,” he said quietly to the empty room. “I’ll wait for you, but don’t make me wait too long.”
A lie of his own. He’d wait as long as he had to if it meant she gave herself to him fully and without reservation.
