AN: Come on. You didn't think I'd see the piano scene in the trailer and not take a shot at it, did you? Angst galore, meet Cheese galore.

Title from HOAGY CARMICHAEL - Heart and Soul on Youtube and also the song referenced below.

The elevator's carillon was drowned by the descant of metal strings as his fingers impressed arbitrary but diapasonal tunes upon the ivory keys of his pianoforte. But it needn't have bothered with announcing her arrival. Even without the chime he would have known.

He was always aware of the detective's presence.

So this is how it ends, he mourned, even before she took the space beside him as well as all the oxygen in the room.

For what else would prompt her to seek his company beyond a professional setting?

He supposed he should have seen it coming. They had been at such a discord, the likes of which had never been present even during the early days of their partnership.

And though he still felt gutted by the unceremonious severance of it all, he softened his playing, and braced himself for the imminent collision. Except…

"I didn't come here to fight," she breathed.

The statement sent him reeling, a pesky hope rooting in his chest—how his heart raced and his tongue tied, a blessing for once.

If she was here for what he never dared dream of before this very moment, then he didn't want to ruin it with words. He had never been very good with those.

No, Lucifer mused as random notes faded to a more purposeful melody. He had always been a creature of action, after all. And what little speech he needed, he would thus 'borrow'.

He plucked at a familiar song, the only song she knew to perform, and with bated breath, he waited. For if she joined him…

"I fell in love with you," he crooned lowly as her fingers poised over the higher registers. "Heart and soul…"

His voice poured forth, more shaky than suave, as he intended. But he couldn't quite overcome his disbelief that after weeks of circumvention and dissonance, this was his reality now.

"I beg to be adored," he sighed. "Lost… control."

And how he wished he hadn't, but how very glad he was it occurred all the same. She knew the whole truth of him, and could well proclaim him for the monster that he was.

Except he didn't feel like a monster now—not when the steady heat of her seared through his cashmere suit, not when her lips were twisted into a ghost of a smile.

He sang, and it prompted their stares to lock briefly.

How could he—how could anyone—gaze upon her loveliness and feel anything but a divine grace?

"You've got me loving you," he tempered his grin lest he misread the situation, misread her, but found himself flushing at her answering one. "Madly…"

How he missed being a recipient of such expressions, how he missed being the reason for it in the first place.

The song reached a diminuendo, and the silence that followed was bereft of the more tensely charged kind that marked their interactions of late. Instead, it was redolent of the exquisite comfort and implicit understanding that characterized their friendship of old.

A friendship they might soon be able to reclaim, if this night garnered him success.

(And perhaps even more? His brain unhelpfully, and prematurely, supplied)

Her hand closed over the one he still rested over the keys—the same one that housed his onyx ring despite the bandage wrapped around it, supporting an injury he had procured in his endeavor to ensure her safety.

He was almost afraid to meet her eyes, but turned his head towards her anyway, smile extinguished as she cast upon him a moue of utmost solemnity.

"I'm really sorry I hurt you," she said through sibilant articulations.

He shook his head.

"There's nothing to forgive," and before she could protest, he purloined just one more line, and trusted it would be enough to properly convey his meaning from here on out.

"You stole all my heart and soul," he whispered, turning his palm so he could tangle their fingers together.

They were in perfect harmony.

AN: This has been my first song fic in ages and I usually find them so cringey but I couldn't resist this one (also can ya'll tell how hard I rode that harmony metaphor lmao). I smiled like a loon the entire time I wrote this hahaha. There was a Meve subplot but it had to be sacrificed for the greater good of Soft!Deckerstar so if you're wondering where Eve is, she's with Hell's once foremost torturer being happy and in love.

Also guys, hearth has gotten some of the best reception since curl and happy (re)birthday so I just want to say, from the bottom of my heart and my hypothalamus, THANK YOU SO MUCH! Not just for that but for all the constant support you readers, both loyal and new, constantly provide. I see you all, and I appreciate you all. If someone could draw that scene in hearth where Lucifer is laid on his stomach and Trixie is curled onto his back, I would legit cry you guys. That image is so clear in my head, I wish I had the talent to draw it myself aksjdhsjkdfhddkl but anyway, I LOVE YA'LL and you make all my days!

To my effervescent and ever eloquent Devil'sMiracle17 on your ghostin review: This piece was corny, but I hope you liked it after the spiral mess that was ghostin! There's a tint of sadness to this one but I also hope that the, well, hope was conveyed—which was what I was ultimately trying to achieve. It was important to me that I had a scene where Chloe apologizes to Lucifer because I'm so tired of seeing him hurt, and based on that article which I did read... like, I'm not sure I understand quite what direction they're going, with this relationship between Lucifer and Eve. I'm just hoping it's a healthy one or it will lead to both of them finding what they need. Someone pointed out to me that while it seemed as if they loved each other very much, they are not good for each other. So yeah, I wanted this scene where Chloe apologizes to Lucifer for a seemingly knee-jerk reaction from her to bury the Devil part of him, and of course I wanted to follow that up with them reconnecting through music because it had been a mark of their early friendship after Father Frank died and she offered to be his shoulder in the aftermath of that loss, which they dealt with through that adorable rendition of Heart and Soul. I wanted to callback on that moment in this piece to convey that I believe they would eventually be alright because I personally just need that assurance, too. Like, the slow burn is fantastic and I blame the clusterfuck that was S3 writing on Fox's order of twenty-fucking-two episodes so I think the writers made do to the best of their ability given what they had. They wrote ten episodes for Netflix and it's my understanding that they're still around the 43-45 minute mark SO, I hope that means we get cleaner and streamlined storytelling from here on out because they journey is important, arguably moreso, than the destination, which I admittedly lose sight of sometimes. Thank you for pointing that out. I go into these ships with extremely low expectations, see, so that I don't get set up for too much disappointment. But I am banking on this ten-episode arc to pull through for Deckerstar because Eve seems to be interacting with more than just Lucifer, which I hope means that he isn't her focus this season. As you can tell, I am rooting for Eve/Maze to happen, but really, I'm just rooting for everyone to get their happy ending in a way that's organic, realistic and healthy, both for them and us because it's what we all deserve. Six out of twelve seasons? Really? I had an OTP that met in the start second season and didn't properly get together till the fourth season, and I thought that was a trial haha. I suppose we'll find out on May 8 right? Till then, I'm gonna try to taper on the angst and focus on Happy!Deckerstar so that no matter what happens in canon, I'll always have my corner of fluff here on the internet hahaha. Thank you for your feedback as always! Your support is still overwhelming for me, and it is my hope it remains that way always tbh ;) Oh! And if this didn't satisfy your Fluff craving, tomorrow's installation is another Lucifer & Trixie one so keep an eye out for that!