“So your his new plaything, eh?” The demon to the leader’s right chirped, then let out a sharp cackle.
The leader started to walk closer to Gabe, the other two following behind him, “What made the drunkard so fond of you, hmm? He didn’t allow us to live in his pretty little palace.”
"I have no idea. He just…I don't know," Gabe responded, looking up at them as they advanced. He knew he should probably run, but this wasn't the surface world, and it probably wouldn't do much good against demons.
“He hasn’t been using you…?” The demon to the leader’s left trailed off, then let out a dark chuckle. The other two demons joined in, the one on the right with a sharp cackle while the leader’s laugh was like silk in the wind.
The leader walked close enough for Gabe to be able to smell his breath -it smelled like mint- a smiled. “So you’re free game?”
((of course they have mints in hell lmao))
"Depends on what you mean by game," Gabe replied nervously, backing up just a little bit. Goddamnit, even the mint set him off on thoughts of Abby. Even at the worst times, she was never not in his head.
(lol)
“Means you’re free in the bed, kid, and your ours,” The leader purred, taking a step closer to Gabe.
“Excuse me?” A cold voice interrupted and three demons froze in their tracks. Because behind them stood Lucifer, his face as cold as granite. He grabbed the leader demon by the back of his suit, yanking him back. The two others jumped in fear, quickly giving Gabe and Lucifer space. But the devil didn’t let the leader go just yet. The fear was clearly visible on the cowering demon’s face.
Lucifer looked at Gabe, his eyes softening as he asked, “Did they hurt you?”
Gabe looked up at him, eyes wide. He really hadn't expected Lucifer to come and…well, come and save him, and he felt a wave of relief wash over him. He noted the way his eyes softened, tilting his head ever so slightly. "No, but…I think they were going to."
Lucifer didn’t know what was coming over him, but it only took a blink to be shoving the leader against the nearby wall. “Guards!” Lucifer shouted angrily. The two demons he didn’t have pinned down were already starting to try to flee, but his guards met them, in demon form, and quickly made sure they wouldn’t be able to run. “Take these rats downstairs, I’ll deal with them later,” Lucifer ground out. He wanted to make sure they’d never do this again, but first he wanted to check in with Gabe.
Lucifer’s guards started taking the two demons towards the stairs, and third one coming to grab the leader. But Lucifer whispered something in the leader’s ear that made him pale even more just before the guard could take him away. Once the demons were taken captive, Lucifer’s shoulders finally relaxed. His hard demeanor that’d he’d been keeping up for weeks fell away quickly as his eyes looked to Gabe again, “I’m sorry about that. They must have sneaked in through the cracks. They won’t be bothering you again, I promise.”
Gabe glanced back at the stairs for a moment before looking back up at Lucifer, again noting how his entire expression changed. But then he remembered what the leader had said - 'He hasn't been using you?' Was he going to? And did he normally use people like that? "I, um…thank you."
“I… I’m sorry.” Lucifer said again. When he had seen those demons advancing on Gabe, his blood had boiled. He didn’t even know why. “I’ll tighten up security. I just haven’t, you know, needed it for some time.” He never really cared to make sure his palace was clean of intruders, mostly because he didn’t care for his own safety. After all, he was the devil.
Gabe nodded, glancing at the floor. "You…it's okay. You don't have to."
“No, I should… I really don’t want-“ Lucifer cut himself off, biting his lip. He definitely would be tightening up security, he didn’t want her to bother Gabe. He shook his head at himself, turning to walk away but stopping. “Would you- Would you want to go out into the city with me? It’s okay if you don’t want to, just if you wanted to get out of my palace for a bit.” Lucifer felt his face start heating up. This was probably a mistake.
((Oh my god I'm so sorry I thought I responded))
"Oh." Gabe blinked for a moment, momentarily thinking back to what the demons had said - about Lucifer using people. But they were going to the city - which was probably safer than the palace - and even then, he had a hard time trusting the demons. He didn't think they were outright lying, but Lucifer had treated him well this entire time. "Sure. Yeah. I'll…I'll go with you."
Lucifer felt something in his chest he hadn’t felt in a while. Maybe… he’d give himself a day. Just one day, to let go of his situation and spend some time with Gabe. Lucifer fought back a smile, “I- Right this way then.” Lucifer gestured down the hall and began to walk, forcing himself not to double check Gabe was still coming.
Gabe walked after him, running a hand through his black curls as he followed Lucifer. He decided he might as well just go with him now and see how it turned out - although he would have to ask Lucifer about what the other demons had said sometime later.
Lucifer took Gabe down the hall and turned, which led to another hall that opened into a large room that seemed a bit more crowded than other areas in the palace. Some demons slinked around, some dead mortals walked, but they were much more scarce. Most mortals didn’t like Lucifer that much.
At the end of the large room, were a huge double set of doors, opened to reveal hell’s red tinted sky and bustling street.
Gabe walked out into it, now walking next to Lucifer. He pushed away his thoughts of what the other demons had said away to the back of his mind for a later time, instead looking up at everything new. He had only been outside the palace once, but he had never gotten a good look at it.
Once Lucifer exited the palace with Gabe, the view expanded to show cars, like in the mrotal’s world, speeding by. Some demons and humans alike were selling trinkets and goods on the sides of the street, like little souvenirs and hell’s best goodies. Some looked Lucifer’s way, but they were too intimidated to approach. “The crowds will thin once we get away from the palace. This is a bit of a tourist destination.” Lucifer began walked down the street, demons and humans giving him plenty of space to walk with Gabe.
"Oh. Okay." Gabe nodded, following. "Is hell just as big as the surface then?"
“It’s bigger,” Lucifer explained as he continued to walk, “only by a little bit. This is one of the better cities, since I live here. Most cities in hell are overcrowded and less organized.”
Gabe nodded, looking around. Most of the demons seemed to at least somewhat resemble the ones that he'd seen in the palace, although there were some others with horns or charred skin.
Lucifer kept walking, but a particular smell in the air stopped him. A delicious scent wafted in the air from a few vendor’s carts down. “Mmmm, you have to try these.” Lucifer led Gabe to the cart which was full of freshly baked goods. The source of the smell was coming from freshly cooked reos covered in a brown, sticky substance. “They’re like your world’s caramel apples,” Lucifer explained before putting a bronze coin on the vendor’s table. “Two reos.” The vendor, with a subtly shaking hand, reached out and held out the two reos.
Gabe followed him to the cart and took one, biting into it. He nodded, swallowing. They were like caramel apples after all, but a lot better. "They're good."
“One of my favorites.” Lucifer smirked as he took his reo and began walking again. “So what do you want to do? You can find almost anything in hell.”
"Um…" Gabe pondered, looking around the street. "I don't know. I mean…I don't know." He brushed a black curl out of his face, thinking for a second that Lucifer's blush was…well, kind of hot.
Lucifer thought for a moment. There was something that Gabe might like, and Lucifer hadn’t done it in a while… “Do you like to stargaze?” He asked Gabe before taking a bite of his reo.
Gabe nodded. "Yeah. I used to do it all the time." He wondered how on earth they were supposed to stargaze in hell, but he decided to go along with it anyway.
“Follow me then,” Lucifer said with a smirk, weaving his way through the crowd to hail a dark colored vehicle—hell’s version of cabs. They were darker colored for more subtle rides, when it’s clients wanted to drive through dangerous territory. A car pulled over and Lucifer opened the door for Gabe with a smirk, feeling a little bit flirty, he added, “Right this way, handsome.”
Gabe blushed again, climbing into the car and running a hand through his curls, remaining silent. He knew he was a little flustered, but between that thought, there were a couple others - Abby, of course - she would always come up, and he tried to push her away - but then also the thought that Lucifer might want to use him.
Lucifer climbed in the car to see an astonished, fearful mortal driver. “The north cliff,” Lucifer told the driver, who stared for a second with a paled face before he began driving. Lucifer frowned a bit. He hated his bad reputation he had with the people of hell. There wasn’t much he could do to change it.
He sighed, then looked to Gabe to say, “It’s not too far of a drive.”
"I…how do you stargaze in hell?" Gabe asked curiously, turning to him.
