[LUX]
Lux was alive before Lucifer even stepped through the doors.
The bass rolled through the building like a second heartbeat, deep enough to vibrate through the floor beneath his shoes. Colored lights swept across the crowd in slow, sinful arcs, catching on glass, jewelry, bare skin, and the glittering surfaces of expensive bottles. People moved together beneath the music, laughing, drinking, dancing, and losing little pieces of themselves beneath the warm glow of temptation.
Lucifer walked in like the entire club had been waiting for him.
'I love my new life,' He thought.
Heads turned almost immediately. People recognized him instantly as he walked further inside. Some girls started winking and throwing air kisses, hoping to get lucky tonight. Lucifer smiled as he passed them, accepting the attention with an ease that still felt strange somewhere deep inside him.
'Fuck! So much plastic. Ohh,' He thought as his eyes went toward one of the celebrities. 'Margot Robbie?! Okay. I'll get to you later.' He continued to look around.
The place breathed indulgence from every corner. Bottles flashed behind the bar, strippers moved across raised platforms, and the air smelled of perfume, alcohol, sweat, and money. Men and women leaned too close to one another in shadowed corners while bartenders worked at an almost impossible pace.
Lucifer's gaze moved instinctively toward the bar.
Then he paused.
Maze was there.
She wasn't behind the counter.
She was sitting on a stool with one long leg crossed over the other, a drink resting between her fingers while she watched the crowd with lazy interest. Tonight, she wore a black party dress that fit her like danger had learned tailoring. Her hair fell loose around her shoulders, and the sharp curve of her smile suggested she had already made several people reconsider their life choices.
Lucifer blinked once.
'Huh.'
That was different.
According to the original chain of events, Maze should have been behind the bar right now, entertaining herself with some poor man on his knees while treating it as casually as mixing a cocktail. Instead, she was sitting out in the open, drinking alone, looking far more controlled than she had any right to be after their earlier conversation.
The thought settled inside his mind with a strange little spark of satisfaction.
'Butterfly effect has started. Nice.'
Maze noticed him immediately.
Her eyes slid over him from head to toe, taking in the suit, the relaxed smile, and the faint amusement still lingering across his face. She lifted her glass slightly in greeting, though her expression said she had been waiting longer than she wanted to admit.
"You finally came back," she said as he reached the bar.
Lucifer leaned one elbow against the counter and gave her his best smile. "Careful, Maze. That almost sounded like you missed me."
Maze took a slow sip of her drink, her eyes never leaving his. "I missed being entertained. There's a difference."
"Of course there is," Lucifer replied, placing one hand over his chest as if deeply wounded. "And here I thought our connection had finally entered a new emotional era."
Maze gave him a dry look. "Say that again and I'll stab you somewhere decorative."
Lucifer chuckled and signaled the bartender for a drink. "There she is. I was beginning to worry all this waiting had made you sentimental."
Maze leaned slightly closer, resting her elbow on the bar while her gaze sharpened. "You told me to keep my schedule free tonight."
"I did."
"You made it sound important."
"It is."
Maze's eyes narrowed, though the corner of her mouth lifted slightly. "Then why are we still talking?"
Lucifer accepted the glass from the bartender and took a sip before answering. "Because anticipation is a sadly underappreciated art."
Maze stared at him for a second, then laughed softly under her breath. "You're enjoying this."
"Immensely."
"You're also stalling."
Lucifer tilted his head with a thoughtful expression. "Possibly."
Maze set her glass down and turned fully toward him now, all amusement and threat wrapped together in one dangerous package. "When are we going upstairs?" She said before licking her red lips. "I'm soaking wet right now."
'Holy shit!' Lucifer's smile widened, though he kept his voice calm. "Have patience, Maze."
Her expression flattened immediately.
"Patience isn't my strongest suit."
"No," Lucifer said with a small nod. "You tend to approach delayed gratification with the same enthusiasm demons reserve for holy water."
Maze slid off the stool and stepped close enough that he caught the faint scent of alcohol, smoke, and something darker beneath it. "Keep talking like that and I might decide to stop waiting."
Lucifer looked down at her with a playful gleam in his eyes. "Promises, promises."
For a second, neither of them moved.
The music continued pounding around them. Bodies shifted and danced beneath the lights, laughter rising through the air in waves. Yet the space between Lucifer and Maze felt strangely still, charged with something sharper than simple flirtation. Maze watched him as if trying to decide whether to kiss him, hit him, or drag him upstairs by his tie and just fuck him.
Lucifer wisely chose to gulp down his drink. 'Phew! That was strong. And... the effect is gone. Fuck! Can't even get drunk properly.'
Maze huffed, then turned away with visible effort.
"Fine," she said. "If I'm being forced to wait, I'm drinking."
Before Lucifer could answer, Maze placed one hand on the bar and vaulted cleanly over it with inhuman grace. She landed behind the counter and grabbed two fresh glasses from the shelf.
Lucifer leaned against the bar and watched her move with a grin.
"That was entirely unnecessary."
Maze pulled a bottle down and began pouring. "So is most of what happens in this club, except for sex."
"Fair point."
She filled the first glass, then as she finished filling the second one.
Then, something strange happened.
The music stretched into a deep, distorted groan. Laughter froze halfway through the air. A dancer's hair hung suspended in motion beneath the lights. Drops of alcohol hovered above the counter where someone had spilled a drink. The entire club slowed until every moving body became little more than a sculpture trapped inside an unfinished moment.
Lucifer felt it immediately. 'Here he comes.'
Maze's hand stopped around the bottle, though she remained free to move. Her eyes sharpened, all flirtation vanishing beneath pure instinct. She looked around the frozen club, then slowly set the bottle down against the counter.
Her gaze shifted toward the entrance.
"I think you have a visitor."
Lucifer followed her eyes through the suspended sea of dancers, drinks, smoke, and colored light. Near the front doors, a bald man in a dark coat walked slowly into Lux as though the frozen world belonged to him. His movements were calm, and completely untouched by the time-stillness gripping everyone else.
He leaned against the bar, sliding a drink toward Amenadiel with a grin. "Amenadiel! How's it hanging, big guy? Didn't you see the sign? 'No angels allowed'? No? I'll make an exception for you, on the house."
Amenadiel ignored the drink, taking in the bustling atmosphere of Lux. "You've become quite ensconced with this little hobby of yours," he said, his voice calm but heavy with disapproval.
Lucifer gave a polite nod. "Thank you."
Amenadiel's expression darkened. "Your return to the Underworld has been requested."
Lucifer raised an eyebrow, mockingly flipping through a nonexistent calendar. "Oh, okay, let me check. Yep, here it is. The seventh of Never through the fifteenth of Ain't Gonna Happen. How's that work for you guys?"
Amenadiel did not flinch or smile. He simply stared, grim and unamused.
Lucifer chuckled lightly. "I'm consistently surprised by the whole no sense of humor thing. Look, remind Dad I quit Hell because I was sick and tired of playing a part in his play. I believe in free will, not that tyranny of all his predestination hoo-ha."
Amenadiel's eyes narrowed. "I'll warn you against disrespecting Our Father."
Lucifer shrugged, voice casual. "Yeah, well, Our Father's been disrespecting me since the beginning of time, so pot and kettle. Don't you think?"
"You are a mockery of everything divine," Amenadiel said flatly.
"Thank you!" Lucifer replied, smiling. "But lately, I've been doing a fair amount of thinking. Do you think I'm the Devil because I'm inherently evil, or simply because dear ol' Dad decided I was? Isn't this a classic case of labeling?"
Amenadiel's gaze sharpened. "What do you think happens when the Devil leaves Hell? All those demons, those tormented souls, where do they go?"
Lucifer waved a hand. "Don't know, don't care, not my problem."
Amenadiel said nothing, staring at him intently. Lucifer downed his brother's drink, locking eyes with him. Cold as ice, he said, "Tell Father, I'm not going back." A small, almost imperceptible smile tugged at his lips.
The air between them thickened. "Consider the position officially open. So you, my feathered friend, can go to hell."
Amenadiel reacted instantly. In a blink, his wingtip was at Lucifer's throat, the ancient steel fused at its edges. Before Amenadiel could react, Lucifer grabbed him by the throat with one hand and lifted him into the air. His devil face flashed for a moment. Even Amenadiel seemed shocked by the sheer strength radiating from Lucifer, a glimpse of the old Devil.
Maze watched from the bar, eyes wide and thrilled at the display. 'We're gonna fuck till morning.'
"Why the long face, brother?" Lucifer asked lightly, holding him suspended. 'Bloody Hell! I knew I was strong, but this... All this time... Don't tell me Lucifer was holding back all this time?! Why? Or did I get a power boost from the big guy?'
Amenadiel's expression twisted with fury, but he knew that their father wouldn't allow them to kill each other.
Eventually, he set Amenadiel down. 'Alright, this will definitely create another butterfly effect. Damn it! I felt so angry for a moment. Haaa... Well, I guess I can't keep on going with the OG flow anymore. It'll kill the meaning of this second chance and some of the conversation seems different from the show. Alright then, let's go OC mode, starting now.' He thought.
"Huh? It would seem that you've gotten soft, brother," Lucifer remarked casually. 'Don't tell me that you've been skipping your training sessions?"
Amenadiel rubbed his neck, still confused by Lucifer's strength. "He has been patient for five years. He will not be merciful much longer." Then, without another word, he disappeared from Lux, and the club resumed its usual rhythm.
Maze leaned against the bar. "You didn't tell him about the signs from your Dad?"
Lucifer smirked, turning toward her. "And ruin the little surprise?"
He lifted his glass in a mock toast, and the city outside continued to pulse with life, unaware of the subtle chaos and defiance that had just unfolded inside Lux.