Comfort

Lucifer was enjoying a night of drinking, dancing and making deals with the patrons of his club when he spotted Linda at the bar.

Since she had begun spending a lot more of her spare time out with Amenadiel, it actually felt a bit off that she was here in Lux, instead of out with his brother doing date things. He had imagined how often the two of them met up in secret and had several times wished to erase his mind of where his thoughts would go.

He knew far too much of what Linda liked during sex for him to not imagine the two of them in bed together. He truly did not want to think of his brother having sex with anyone, let alone his therapist. He had tried drowning out his stupid desire tuned brain and got as drunk as he possibly could in return.

He wound up sitting beside her after a bit of time mingling with the crowd. He grinned widely at her. "Hello, Doctor Linda. And what have I done to get you here tonight?"

She stared at him, eyes slightly out of focus. That concerned him. She hadn't gotten drunk like this at Lux in quite a while now. He now understood that it had been a coping mechanism after her stabbing. She went back to her drink instead of answering him.

"Linda...? What's wrong?'

She took a deep breath, before draining what was left in her glass. "I broke things off with Amenadiel."

That surprised him, because those two desired each other all over the place. He felt it every time his brother's name come up in a session. Even drunk and after breaking up with him he still felt it, just as strong. "Oh? That's not what I thought you would say. Why? The two of you were happy."

She sighed and her head thudded against the bar. "We were keeping the relationship secret from Maze. She found out."

He nodded. "I thought that was what the mess with her running out of the restaurant in tears was about. She's always been a bit...upset over it. I should have listened to her when she wanted to talk about it but I was kind of stuck and after the Sinnerman at that time. She hasn't mentioned it in quite a while now."

Linda groaned. "I have no idea when she found out...but that whole blind date was a nightmare..."

Lucifer nodded at her side, even though she couldn't see. "Well, why don't you come upstairs with me and you can drink in private. I doubt this is a conversation to have right out in public like this. And, I have been told my ice cream is quite good."

She looked up at him and blinked blearily in confusion. "Ice cream...?"

He nodded happily. "Yeah, you know. Comfy blanket, ice cream, alcohol. Maybe some Netflix playing in the background. I did that with Candy all the time. Comfort talk."

"What...?"

He sighed and shook his head. "Okay, we'll leave out the alcohol, because you have had quite enough for tonight. Come on, up. My couch beckons."

She got to her feet slowly. That was good, because Lucifer knew she was uncoordinated while drunk, and had a habit of passing out if she had drunk too much. He slipped his arm around one of hers and walked her to the lift up to his flat.

She didn't say a word to him during the ride up only taking cues from him.

He left her on the couch, wrapped up and comfy on one side of his couch, before heading to the kitchen to get out some ice cream. For drinks, he went for hot chocolate. Hot beverage, cold food. They didn't really go together in his mind, but they were both comforting to humans, or so he heard, and Candy had liked the chocolate drink more than alcohol.

He grabbed two spoons quickly after he had made the drinks and went to join Linda.

She was crying by the time he got back in the room. He put the drinks down, opened the lid on the ice cream and dipped in the spoons. He grabbed at the remote for the television and put on the first show that popped up.

He had forgotten the last person to get at the television was Beatrice. So, for background noise they ended up listening to brightly coloured ponies learning about friendship.

He put the ice cream down and grabbed a drink in each hand, handing one to Linda. "Hot chocolate. Better than alcohol, or so I hear. Drink that first and then there's going to be the ice cream. I got vanilla only at the moment, so sorry about not having any other flavour in. Candy liked rocky road."

Linda sniffed and wiped her eyes with a corner of the blanket, before holding onto the drink and taking a sip. "Mmm, it's good. You don't have to do this, you know?"

He stared at her, while covering himself one handed in his own big, fluffy blanket. He took a sip of his own and sighed in contentment. "I like making things to eat and drink, what can I say? And no, I don't have to do this. I choose to do this. I actually enjoy it sometimes."

Linda stared at him in surprise. "You do this often?"

He grinned. "Like I said, I did it in place of sex with Candy. Our marriage wasn't romantic or sexual in nature. It was a marriage of convenience for both of us. Closest we got was kissing. But most of the time was this. I found out it could make you feel better. So, comfort time."

Linda snorted into her drink at that, "That actually surprises me. The ice cream is going to melt."

Lucifer shrugs. "Ice cream melted tastes good still. Hot chocolate gone cold is a waste."

Linda hummed at that one, before nodding her head.

He settled down on the couch next to her and turned his gaze to the ponies. "Beatrice is making me watch this show. I think she feels it will teach me something about friendship. I like Rarity. She is into fashion and looking good."

Linda giggled and shook her head. "Will Trixie be angry you're watching ahead of her?"

Lucifer laughed at that. "I doubt it. I think she wants me to, actually. It's weird. Ponies are not this colourful."

"Really, that's what you have a problem with? Not them talking or doing things with hooves that shouldn't be doable."

He shook his head. "Nah, that's cartoon logic. And ponies do talk and have their own personalities, like these ones do. I don't understand why they couldn't look more like ponies though."

Linda hummed again, before sipping at her drink. "Why are you doing this, Lucifer?"

He looked at her, finished of his drink and put down his mug. "Because doing this is what helped me when I was still reeling from the whole Chloe being made for me fiasco. I understand why you would break things off, even though the two of you were happy, and why he'd agree with it. You both know Maze too well, both of you are close to her. She really didn't want the two of you getting together. I think she felt like she would lose you both if that happened. Finding out really hurt everyone involved in this mess."

She sighed and finished off her drink, before reaching for the ice cream. "I don't mind vanilla."

He smiled at her. "That's good."

They fell into silence for a minute, looking at but not paying attention to the show playing on the screen in front of them.

"Lucifer," she asked, breaking the comfortable silence between them. "What do I do?'

He looked at her, and laid his head on top of hers. "You apologise to Maze. You tell her that you broke it off with Amenadiel. You tell her that you never meant to hurt her. And then you pray that she accepts it all and doesn't want to torture you."

She snuggled up to his side and sighed. "Yeah. Not that the date night wasn't torture, because trust me, it was. Do you...can I pray to you?"

He blinked at that, because no one had ever asked him that before. He tended to not get prayers from devil worshippers, as they weren't necessarily praying to him, but a fictional character they thought was him. But Linda knew him as who he was. And though he did resent it a little he was still an angel.

He grinned at the television. "Pray to me if you want. If there's anything I can do, I will. Even if it is a sign that you want another night like this one."

She giggled again, before getting closer to him. "You, Lucifer, are a good man. Now let's eat some ice cream and watch brightly coloured ponies."

He smiled down at her and kissed the top of her head. "Your desire is accepted and approved of."

With that, they both grabbed a spoon in the ice cream ad begun eating the frozen treat.

By the time two episodes of the show was over, Linda had eaten her fill and had fallen asleep against his side. He softly eased her out of his arms, and tucked the blanket around her, before putting away what was left of the ice cream and washing out the two mugs.

He did plan on going down to the club again when Linda left, but it was soon apparent that she was staying the night. Instead, he curled up on the other side of the couch and watched a child's show about friendship.

He hadn't felt this content in a long time.