Lucifer stood in the shower, head down and eyes closed, his palms against the wall supporting his body as the hot water flowed over his tired muscles. The water ran through his hair, causing it to stick to each side of his face as he allowed the water's heat to wash away some of his stress. Tonight had been burdensome. He had been working on one particular soul for quite some time. Sick and deranged, she murdered almost a hundred orphaned children in the name of Satan. So, explaining why she was suffering for all eternity instead of marrying his father took days. Lucifer finally broke her. It was well past dinner by the time he was finished, so he came straight to his room. His Baby Girl was sitting on the bed reading when he entered. Before she could comment on the blood-stained clothing, he held up his hand,

"I need to shower." And he retreated into the bathroom.

He opened his eyes to see the water running down the drain was finally clear instead of the reddish-pink hue. Slowly, he scrubbed himself and cleaned his hair before turning off the shower and drying off. Lucifer pulled on a pair of pajama pants that hung loosely on his hips, a promise he had made his bashful wife, but as he reentered their room, he smelt the familiar scent of contentment. His Baby Girl was asleep, her chest rising and sinking with the book she had been reading lay pages down on her chest. He caught a whiff of something else. His eyes followed the smell to the table to find a tray of food covered and waiting. She must have called for it when he was in the shower,

"Won't you make a good little wife?" He hummed, walking towards his side of the bed instead of the table where his dinner waited.

He pulled open the bedside table drawer and retrieved a small box and a leather pouch. He took out a thin white paper sheet before closing it and opening the bag, taking a couple of pinches of the dried, dark brown leaves. He placed it on the paper and quickly rolled it up. Putting it between his lips, he lit the end with a match and inhaled before stepping out onto his balcony, where he released a cloud of smoke into the cool evening air. The taste was sweet. He enjoyed smoking and usually stocked up on different leaves from each world when he visited, but this leaf was his favorite. It was grown on a small planet he rarely visited and only grew for a short period once during its year, so it was hard to get his hands on. Lucifer looked up at the stars in the sky, and a smile tickled the edges of his mouth as he remembered a similar night not too long ago.

It was the evening he was first assigned this psycho soul, and it had been a long day that had stretched into the evening before he gave up for the night. Dinner had already begun, so he quickly changed and went to the dining room. It wasn't the quiet dinner that night that brought a smile to his face but what happened after. He and his Baby Girl had returned to their room, and just like tonight, he went straight to the shower. When he exited the bathroom, she wasn't in the room but standing where he stood now. Her forearms rested on the railing while she looked up at the stars. She wore one of his shirts as pajamas since he had never bothered to buy her any, and from the view he had from where he stood, he wasn't planning on any time soon. Lucifer was a fair bit taller than her, so the shirttail fell just below her butt, and he smirked as his eyes fell on the pale white skin of her thighs. He wanted to run his fingers across her delicate skin to see if it was as soft as it looked. He quickly shook the thought out of his head before his body could show the arousal he was feeling. He pulled on a shirt, left it unbuttoned, and rolled a cigarette before moving to join her.

"You really shouldn't tease me like this, Baby Girl. It wouldn't be appropriate to consummate our marriage before the papers are signed." He greeted as he stepped out onto the balcony. She quickly stood up and pulled at the shirttail as if it would somehow grow longer. He could see her cheeks glowing even through the dark, "Don't worry, I'm just looking; I promise I won't touch...yet."

"Does marriage have anything to do with it? Something tells me you're not chaste." She replied, only to get a smirk in return.

"You smoke?" He asked.

"Use to." She answered, turning her eyes back to the sky, scanning it like she was looking for something.

"You quit?"

She nodded, "Shortly before I died, but old habits die hard." She replied, holding out her hand.

He handed her the cigarette as he allowed his eyes to wander down her back,

"Will you stop staring at my ass?"

"It's a compliment, you prude. You have a very nice body. I wouldn't be staring if you didn't." He chuckled but did as she asked, bringing his eyes back to her face.

After a couple of pulls, she handed the cigarette back to him, "I've never tasted tobacco like this before."

"It's not tobacco." He explained, taking a drag, "It's from the planet Daferon. Fairycress is a purple leafy plant that is very bitter when eaten fresh. However, dried out, it takes on a sweet and spicy taste, making it perfect for seasoning and smoking. Sadly it's scarce and hard to come by. What are you looking for up there?" He asked, noticing her eyes moving back and forth as if searching the sky.

"There's no moon." She stated, "Three suns but no moon."

"You just noticed that?" He scoffed, turning his back to the railing and leaning against it. He followed her gaze into the dark sky dotted with stars as he pulled another drag from the cigarette.

"Kinda, but I thought maybe it was hidden behind clouds or that it hadn't fully risen, but at this hour and the sky being clear, I can see there just isn't one." She let out a little sigh.

"Why does this make you sad." He asked as the very faint scent crossed his nose.

"Just reminds me of how far away from home I am. The longer I stay here, the more I adapt, and the more things here become normal. Still, every once in a while, something reminds me. Usually, it's a little something like the moon, or I guess the lack of." She replied.

"Tell me, my precious doll, what other little somethings have you noticed?" He inquired as her eyes met his.

She pondered on it as the light from the lamps reflected off her green eyes. She turned around to mimic Lucifer's position with her back against the railing,

"Those little flying creatures. The small black ones whose feathers almost look green when the sun, sorry suns, hit them just right. At first, I thought they were birds, but when I saw them up close, they looked more like lizards with feathers and wings." She replied, "They're cute. I've thought about catching one and keeping it as a pet, but it seems kinda cruel to lock it up after it's tasted freedom."

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There was a short silence as Lucifer grinned and puffed on his cigarette before handing it to her, "One day, maybe, my sweet little bird, I'll take you to the borderlands."

"Borderlands? That's the area surrounding the cities, correct? Where there are farms, ranches, and unsettled wildlands."

"Well, well, someone has been studying." He commented, admittedly impressed.

"This is the world I live in now. Even if you don't let me explore it, I should know about it." She retorted, releasing a cloud of smoke, "Why take me there?" She asked, handing the cigarette back to him.

"Those little lizard birds are the Vuldrago, and those that flutter through the gardens are babies. The adults are a lot bigger, stronger, and very smart. Once grown, Vuls have no natural enemies, but as babies, they make a nice snack for many other creatures. The babies can't fly very high or fast, so the mothers have them here in the safety of the castle garden walls. Once the little creatures grow big enough, they fly over the wall and return to their homeland."

"Lucky them." She sighed.

Lucifer returned to the present as he savored the cigarette. After a few minutes, he tossed the tiny reminisce over the balcony and reentered his room. He crossed the room, eyes set on his dinner, when he noticed his sleeping doll. He sidetracked and picked up the book she had been reading. He knew this book well. His father had written it. Starting from when he fell from grace and took over Hell, the now Lord of Hell had recorded everything from the barren wasteland to the civilized world it is now and how he made it. He placed the book down on the table as he uncovered his food, and the smell that hit his nose made his mouth water. Lucifer hadn't had a full meal since breakfast and only a quick snack for lunch. Quickly devouring the food, he covered the tray and pushed his chair back. Walking over to the phone by his side of the bed, he picked it up and dialed the appropriate number,

"Yes, Young Lord?" Vassal answered.

"Send someone to retrieve my plate."

"At once." She returned as he hung up the phone and walked towards his liquor cabinet.

Drink in hand, he capped the bottle when a light knock came on the door.

Lucifer walked over and opened the door to allow a short, young, wing-bound angel to enter the room and stood there holding the door as he quickly grabbed the discarded tray and made his way out, only to stop and turn before Lucifer closed the door,

"Anything else, Young Devil?" He asked, bowing his head, but Lucifer could hear the question was asked through clenched teeth.

"Young Devil, huh? Do you not like serving me?" He asked.

"My punishment is to serve you." He replied, not looking up.

"Punishment indeed," Lucifer chuckled, "new here, aren't you? All you naughty children of my Grandpapa come here the same. Thinking you're better than us, yet you are picking up my leftovers, blaming my father and me for your misconduct. I suggest you accept the truth sooner than later and realize you did this to yourself before your disrespect rubs someone in this house the wrong way, and you find yourself spending an evening with my father in his personal torture chamber. It would also be a long night; you know better than anyone that angels don't have to sleep." He smirked as the furious angel kept the feelings off his face.

"I apologize for giving you the wrong idea, Young Dev..."

Lucifer interrupted with a couple tsk's, "You can't hide your true feelings from me, little boy." He laughed, grabbing the angel's face and forcing the young soul's hazel eyes to meet his blue ones, "You died young, didn't you? I can read it on your soul. Young, naive, and quite spoilt. What did you do to end up in infernal timeout?" Lucifer questioned, letting go of the boy's face, who quickly pulled away.

"I don't have to confess to you." The boy angel grumbled.

"No," Lucifer's smirk twisted into something sinister as a low growl reverberated in his throat, causing the poor thing to stumble back, "Of course, you don't. Do not refer to my father or me as Devil again. Lord, Master, Sire, any of those will do."

He nodded quickly, "If that's all you needed, Sire." He swallowed.

"Sure, that's all for now, but I have a feeling we'll be talking again." He said, staring the angel down until he quickly turned and raced down the hallway.

Lucifer chuckled to himself, closing the door. The truth was he had no intentions of messing with the boy again. Still, he was pretty confident that he'd scared the privilege out of the boy, which was honestly more of a favor. He would have gotten more than a slight scare if the boy had mistakenly taken that tone with his father. Returning to the table, he sat and pulled the book his Baby Girl had been reading in front of him. Taking a sip from his glass, he smiled at what he saw: the Brangers. He hadn't thought about them in years. Hideous things, though their body shape was similar to theirs, their spine was contorted, making them run on all fours like a beast, their whole bodies covered in a thin pale layer of skin where one could see the blue and red veins through, and their heads,

"So ugly." He mumbled, looking down at the hand-illustrated picture.

Their heads were covered in thin hair that ran down their necks and covered most of their backs. The head itself was somewhat large compared to the slender, lanky bodies. He imagined it was to hold their mouths' three rows of razor-sharp teeth. Most of the dumb creatures were missing a good chunk of their naturally long tongue because they bit it off by mistake. They were stupid and aggressive, vile, untamable creatures that lived in the outer lands. They wreaked havoc on the farms there, killing livestock and those who tended animals and lands. Despite his father's efforts, he could never domesticate them as he had done with the Hell hounds and a few other species. Eventually, after hundreds of years, he slated the species for extermination after their numbers became significant, and the damage they caused affected Hell City's food supplies. That was Lucifer's job. Though he was pretty young at the time, he was more than capable. With a few others, he selected himself; they hunted the creatures to extinction, which was no easy task, fun and exhilarating but very dangerous. The Branger lived in groups and hunted the same. Very rarely did you run into a lone Branger. Usually, their hordes were between twelve and twenty and led by the strongest female.

When they attacked, they rushed their prey at an unbelievable speed, teeth bared, and if you were caught in their bite, you lost that chunk. The trick was armor and strategy. Equipt with a thick metal sleeve to cover one arm and a sharp knife in the opposite hand, the goal was to take them out one at a time. Luring them into the forests was the usual tactic. The dense trees caused them to be separated. Once you had one, you rushed it back arm first. They always went for the most obvious target, so once they bit into the metal, you would swing the knife around, plunging it deep into the creature's neck.

Lucifer took another sip and closed the book. Putting his feet up on the chair, he leaned back and closed his eyes for a minute. After a few deep breaths, he got up and lazily strolled to his bookshelf to return the book to its proper place. Turning back to the bed, he walked over and stared at his sleeping doll. Something was different in her smell. It wasn't content anymore, quite the opposite, actually. He saw her eyes moving quickly underneath their lids and her heart racing.

"My poor Baby Girl," He commented as he smiled, running a finger across her cheek, "What has you so unhappy, hum?"

It seemed his gentle touch soothed her a bit as he continued to stroke her soft skin. He pulled his hand away as she settled back into a peaceful sleep. Instead of walking away, he slipped his hands into the pockets of his pajamas and watched her,

"Do you do this a lot? Just stand above her and stare at her while she sleeps." His father huffed from the doorway.

"Yes." He smirked, turning away from the bed to meet his father's eyes, "Have you ever watched someone sleep? They're at their most vulnerable, completely helpless. The most powerful being out there is powerless when he sleeps."

"I can assure you, my son, that your grandfather never sleeps. Speaking of, we may have a small situation that needs handling." His father replied for Lucifer to let his head fall back.

"How 'small'? I'm exhausted, father." He protested.

"A half-demon soul has popped up on Kelil."

"Half? Do you have any demons," Lucifer began, pulling his hands out of his pockets and crossing his arms over his chest.

"I don't send full demons anymore. You know that." His father interrupted.

"Hum, Kelil, I'm sure of a few halflings there. I'll have to check my book to say how many. It's in my desk." He replied while his father stood there unmoving, "Let me get dressed." He sighed.