XVII
“Move slowly, little one,” Lucius said sternly as they set their hand under Lucky’s head.
Lucky blinked unevenly. He wanted to look around, wanted to move, but his body felt heavy. He recognized the shelf of boxes with Charlie’s handwriting on them. He was in his office, he could smell Lucius’ cologne. It was strong.
“Take it slow,” his sibling said.
“I’m fine,” Lucky whispered.
“I am not sure you are. He is working you too hard.”
Lucky shook his head. It hurt. He planted his forearms on the floor and pushed himself up.
Lucius’ long duster jacket slid away from his body as he did.
A shiver ran through him when the extra warmth left.
His tail curled around his leg again. He picked up the coat and draped it back around himself.
“I will talk to him, tell him you—”
“No! N-no, I’m fine,” Lucky interrupted with panic.
Lucius tilted their head with such a slight motion it was hardly noticeable. They were squatted beside him, muscular arms resting on their knees.
“Lucky, you have been at this for a long time. Even someone as work-focused as I am takes breaks. When was the last time you simply rested?” Lucius asked.
“I’m being audited… and I’m behind on my contracts. I don’t have time.” Lucky let out a shaky breath that only offered a wisp of smoke. “Can you help me up?”
Lucius stood with that expressionless gaze of theirs and extended a hand. Lucky took it and rose with an ache deep in his bones. The younger prince handed the coat back.
“Don’t tell Father,” Lucky requested.
“I am not sure I can do that if you are willingly risking yourself. I do not want you on this mission.”
“I promise I won’t embarrass anyone.”
Lucius’ brows furrowed ever so slightly, an unusual show of emotion that caught Lucky off guard.
“That is not the issue,” Lucius said.
“I’ll be thorough. I won’t fail.”
“Little Brother, listen to me.” Lucius set their large hand under Lucky’s chin. “You missing one catastrophe will not diminish the countless years of work you have done—”
“Yes, it will! I make one mistake and everything blows up! Father is mad, Lorelei is on my ass about everything damn thing, I have to organize all of this—” he gestured angrily to the mess behind him— “and manage my regular contracts because if I fuck up one more time I’m done!
And this is all I have! This is all I am, Lucius! I lose this and I’m nothing!”
The shaking returned. He felt lightheaded and scared.
He tried to take a breath and felt like he couldn’t.
With some panic, he brushed his hair back and fixed his wrinkled shirt.
He sniffled, trying to hold his emotions in and make himself presentable.
It was hard to do so without feeling like he would break in half.
“Stay calm. You are not in trouble,” Lucius soothed.
“I have to go home and change if I’m going to make it back in time,” Lucky said quietly.
Lucius seemingly understood that they wouldn’t win the argument.
“I will drive you, I do not want you behind the wheel like this. If Father asks, I will tell him you have been working too hard and had not eaten so I wanted to make sure we both ate before we headed out. I will take the heat should it invoke his anger.”
“Why?”
“Because, little one, we are family. I have always watched over you. Even when you did not know it, did not realize it, my eyes were there. I am proud of you, your dedication is legendary, and I am worried. Our family is large but there are few I care about. You are one of them, and you would be hard to replace,” they replied plainly.
“Come, let us go before we both end up yelled at.”
The older devil handed him the coat back, told him to stay warm and follow.
Lucky merely nodded. The elevator was summoned and, as the doors opened, they were met with Lie who offered up her signature sneer.
Lucius walked inside first and softly set their hand on Lie’s head to ruffle her hair.
She wanted to snap at them, Lucky could see it, but she remained quiet.
The young prince followed and stood on the opposite side of the elevator with Lucius between them as a barrier.
“I can’t believe the audacity of you, walking away from Father like that. Do you have a death wish?” Lie asked, leaning forward. Her bob shifted, but it did little to hide the rage in her ruby red eyes.
“Why do you care?” Lucky snapped back.
“Children, please. Now is not the time for fighting,” Lucius told them.
“The fact that we have a natural disaster of this magnitude means we will be in for long nights, the last thing we need is division in front of the Seraph’s Office or that insufferable Seraphiel.
They are always looking for reasons to find flaws in us, do not give them an inkling of doubt that we are not at the top of our game. ”
“Tell that to this fuck up who still hasn’t gotten rid of the damn priest he killed,” Lie said coldly.
Lucky closed his eyes. He wasn’t in the mood for this.
“Little Sister, need I remind you that we all have made mistakes in our long lives. Even my record is not flawless. One mistake does not undo the magnitude of our achievements, and the moment any of us believes it does we have already failed. Lucky has not taken a day to rest in years. If I recall correctly, you took an entire month off earlier in the year for your mental health and you still managed to miss a scheduled plane crash during your first week back in the office that resulted in several souls turning into omens that took… what was it… thirteen days to collect? All the while your backlog was handled by Lucky quietly to ensure Father was not angered, no?” Lucius said in that cool, uncaring tone, though Lucky saw their burning eyes turn her way.
They were upset, and they truly had been watching more than he’d realized.
He also noticed that Lie shrunk down. She started to stammer but Lucius merely lifted their hand to stop her.
“Something to reflect on,” they interrupted as the elevator opened in Greed’s lobby. “Come along, Lucky. Dear Lorelei, we will see you shortly. I’d suggest swapping out those heels for something more comfortable.”
Lucky looked at Lie for a second. She seemed too stunned to speak. He fixed the hem of the coat around his body as he left the elevator.
“Aren’t you going to say anything?” Lie finally barked at him.
Lucky looked over his shoulder. “Remember to grab snacks, you get worn down during these missions,” he said quietly.
She gasped and wrapped her arms around her upper body as the elevator doors closed again.
Lucky followed Lucius out into the parking lot that was filled with shimmering sports cars belonging to the late night staff.
He’d always prefer this to the days when they all had horses as their mode of transportation.
It was much tidier and didn’t smell as bad.
As they approached his vehicle, he handed Lucius their coat back.
He really didn’t want the added stress of someone else driving, and he needed to go talk to Charlie in case he wouldn’t be back for a few days.
“I’m fine. You won’t fit in my car, anyway,” Lucky said quietly.
Lucius looked at him with suspicion. “Drive slow. Turn up your heat, you know how dangerous it is for you to be so cold.”
Lucky nodded and slid inside his car. He cranked up the heat as high as it would go and waited until Lucius moved so he could back up and head down the road at a much slower pace than normal. He headed toward the high-rise, hoping Charlie would still be awake so he didn’t disturb him too much.
All he wanted to do was go inside of Charlie’s unit and fall over on the sofa beside his human.
Listen to the annoying patter of his flat feet on the tile as he drifted off.
He needed solid sleep but it would probably be days until he would be able to get any, so he’d at least settle for seeing Charlie before he went off to Earth for God only knew—or not, this was unexpected after all—how long.
The elevator ride to floor six went too fast for his liking.
The walk out of the gold box directly across the hall to the still-wonky door was a chore with how sore he was.
He hesitated before quietly knocking. He didn’t even have the energy to kick it in like normal.
Igor the maintenance imp had fixed it enough times this month, he’d behave tonight.
After a few seconds, Charlie opened the door. “Sir?”
“Hey, can I come in for a second?” Lucky asked quietly.
“It’s your unit, I can’t really say no… Is everything well? It’s weird of you to knock.”
Lucky pouted but said nothing. He walked inside and sat on the sofa. It creaked under his weight.
“An issue has come up on Earth,” Lucky said.
“Okay?” Charlie sat beside him.
“Sounds like a big natural disaster, big enough the entire royal family and the Seraph’s Office have to go in with full force.
I might be gone for a day or two, I wanted to let you know in case I don’t come back for work tomorrow.
Stay inside, please don’t go anywhere. If you need anything, call down to the front desk and have them bring it to you, get your food delivered, and take a few days off.
I’m going to order you takeout from Brimstone BBQ and have it dropped off before I go so you can have something for dinner.
Things are going to be chaotic and I don’t want you out in the streets.
Hell gets… violent when the people in charge aren’t here to keep everyone in line. ”
“What about the paperwork?”
“Don’t worry about the files, Chuck.”
“Are you sure?”
“Positive.”
Charlie nodded unconvincingly. “Is it dangerous? Will you be safe if it’s an active issue?”
Lucky felt all of the tension he’d been carrying drop. His shoulders slumped, his tail finally loosened up, and a smile crept its way along his face. The fact that someone was asking if he would be safe in the midst of this felt… nice. He nodded.