Consequences Be Damned

4 ⇻ a damned compromise

"No." I shook my head, lips pressing against each other and my fists on my hips. Pacing back and forth in Lucifer's office, I continued to shake my head, feeling my ponytail swish back and forth across my nape. "No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no."

Pausing, I shut my eyes, held up a finger, and inhaled deeply. When I exhaled, I leveled flared eyes at the slightly too calm devil sitting behind his desk. I opened my mouth, ready to start in, but when I tried to find the words, nothing would come out.

My pointer finger retracted back into my fist and I went back to my pacing, huffing as I went over what I wanted to say in my head. As I started my speech over and over in my head, my eyes roamed the massive and impressive room.

Everything in it was sleek and black. The furniture shined like the midnight sky as shiny as the day they got here. The bookcases against the wall were stacked side by side, not a spine out of place and not a title out of order. Scattered around the rooms were plants–Venus flytraps, cacti, Waterwheels, Tropical Pitchers, and Dewy Pines. All carnivorous and all somehow surviving in such a dry room.

Behind Lucifer sat a fireplace, blazing with blue fire, the only color in the room. It framed his seat, casting a shadow over him and giving off the image of a throne. His desk was empty except for a sleek Macbook Laptop–the devil was a sucker for the most capitalistic product in the world because of its unreasonably expensive price and its continued market growth. Behind him above the fireplace sat a detailed portrait of him in Hell. Supposedly, the piece was an "interpretation" but the varying demons bending down, the magical symbols carved above him in an arc, and the way his eyes flickered almost realistically made it more than that.

It creeped the Hell out of me the first few times I'd been in his office. Now, it was just a fixture in the room. Much like all the other Hell related features about him. But none of that mattered because I had to give this thing a talking to.

I stomped to him, slammed both palms on top of his desk, and leaned over. "You dragged your estranged son all the way across the country to fucking babysit me? Are you serious?"

My chest rose and fell rapidly. I felt like a dragon, the fire in my chest ready to burst out and dust the devil where he sat, expensive suit and all.

He held up one freshly manicured finger, the sharp point coated in a glittery matte black.

"You're giving yourself too much credit." He sat up, leaning forward and lightly poking his finger in the middle of my forehead to push me back. "Luke came back for a whole other reason. It just so happens he was also not a fan of living here and needed a roommate."

"I already found a place to live, Lucifer!"

"You haven't moved in yet," he pointed out.

"Because you told me to postpone! What the Hell, man!"

"You were so eager to agree," he returned with a shrug.

"I was trying to be an adult! To compromise!"

"Joke's on you. I'm the Devil; you should always expect some sort of ulterior motive, dear."

Eyes wide and mouth agape, I shook my head, incredulous. He really did that. He really went and did that.

Blinking at him in disbelief, I again tried to find something to say. Something to make him see sense. Something to go somehow figure what the Hell he was doing with me. Finally, I swiped my palms in the air, laughing in disbelief.

"No," I breathed out, blinking a few more times as I stepped back. "I'm not gonna follow this. Fuck that, first of all." Holding up two fingers and backing up to the door, I continued. "Second of all, fuck you."