The Perk, Monday Morning

[my_own_advocate]

The bloody muzak was gone, and Lucifer had managed to coax a new Extreme Shake out of the Perk staff. He had no idea why they insisted on declaring the strawberry-forward concoction 'The Dante', beyond some terrible attempt at humor, but the amount of sugar in the drink quickly papered over what complaints he could raise about it.

Yes, Lucifer reflected, as he put large amounts of whipped cream in his mouth, this was much better than last week.

Time to keep this vibe going, clearly.

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Comments

[1000yearstoolate]

Seivarden had seen Lucifer through the window, which was why her habitual argument with the barista about how to make proper tea was unusually quick and to the point. She picked up her cup and walked over to the table.

"I'm not sure I want to know what's in that thing," she said, with a grin. "Good morning."

[my_own_advocate]

"A large amount of extremely delicious things," Lucifer said, grinning brightly. (For a guy who could get extremely uppity about his food intake, sugar turned him into a small child very quickly.) "Good morning, Seivarden. What brings you here at this horrific hour?"

It was 11 AM.

[1000yearstoolate]

"I needed to get out of the apartment, I went for a walk, I saw you thought the window with that terrible concoction, and thought you might be in need of company," Seivarden said. "And why not have an almost acceptable cup of tea."

[my_own_advocate]

"Because you could have much better tea at home?" Lucifer teased. "Sit down, please."

[1000yearstoolate]

Seivarden took a seat opposite him.

"If course I could. But sometimes I prefer company. Or at least getting out of the apartment. How has your weekend been?"

[my_own_advocate]

"Annoying," Lucifer said. "I'm rather glad the bloody animals are gone."

[1000yearstoolate]

"So am I," Seivarden said. "And now Issa doesn't have a butterfly to chase. Tisarwat stopped by the flower shop on Saturday to buy a flower, so that offered some distraction from that music."

She took a sip from her tea.

[my_own_advocate]

Smooth segue there, Seivarden.

"Your baby Radchaai friend?" Lucifer said.

[1000yearstoolate]

Seivarden wasn't even going to pretend it was smooth.

"Yes," Seivarden said. "And she's also Summer's friend, and since she's no longer a student I think she feels a bit left out that she can't join her friends drinking at Devil's Nest."

You wouldn't have approved of the proper way of asking this, Lucifer.

[my_own_advocate]

"Are you trying to get a teenager drunk?" Lucifer asked, amused.

[1000yearstoolate]

"Tisarwat seems more interested in socialising than getting drunk," Seivarden said. "Although of course I might be mistaken."

She grinned. "Which doesn't mean she doesn't need to get drunk. Sometimes she seems a bit serious, which is strange, considering she probably spent her first paycheck on purple eyes."

[my_own_advocate]

Lucifer shrugged idly. "She's welcome to enter the club," he said, "As for drinks, we'll see if Eric's still hiding."

Not that he couldn't bludgeon Eric into submission, but that sounded like effort for someone he didn't actually know.

[1000yearstoolate]

Seivarden gave a small nod, then sipped her tea.

"I think I've only talked to Eric once. He seems to hide a lot, doesn't he? Oh, and Tisarwat will be embarrassed if she finds out I asked" - that is, if Lucifer was blunt enough to mention it, - "so unless you want her to be" - she assumed Lucifer didn't care enough - "it might be best not to mention it. I'll just introduce her." As she would with any Radchaai.

[hatesparadise]

You investigate a homicide with a guy once and suddenly you can't go anywhere without tripping over him.

Danny just raised his eyebrows at the sheer amount of sugar, but turned back to his second cup of coffee of the day once it was provided.

[my_own_advocate]

"If it isn't Detective Jersey Dan," Lucifer called. "I see you've finally figured out how to be quiet. Bit late for it."

[hatesparadise]

Danny smirked into his coffee and nodded along agreeably. "I'm very sorry we ruined your movie."

[my_own_advocate]

"Do you people not realize the purpose of a cinema?" Lucifer asked, side-eyeing him. "Namely, the part where people are actually there to watch a movie?"

[hatesparadise]

"Perfectly aware. My sincerest apologies." He was, however, giving Lucifer a clinical once over as he tried to fit together all the little bits and pieces of his relationship with The Detective.

[my_own_advocate]

"Right, so am I to conclude you just enjoy terrorizing your fellow moviegoers?" Lucifer said, "Because that ought to be on the sin list."

Why was Jersey Dan eyeing him like that.

[hatesparadise]

Because Lucifer was not subtle. Or maybe because Danny was keenly aware of things now. Thanks to this place not letting him ignore them.

"Right up there with line cutters," he agreed with a faint grin. "But no. Generally I try to keep Steve's harassment of the population to a minimum."

[my_own_advocate]

"You're doing a terrible job," said Lucifer, who most definitely did not have a subtle bone in his body.

[hatesparadise]

"Barely blown anything up. Which is a new record for him," Danny replied. Other than the popcorn machine outside City Hall.

[my_own_advocate]

Lucifer sighed loudly. "Next time just stick to Netflix and chill, for all of our sakes."

[hatesparadise]

Danny nodded like he would do that next time. Which might have been true because yes, they did occasionally sit too close to each other on the couch and/or cuddle there.

"So, that was your Detective, huh?"

[my_own_advocate]

"As a wide-eyed twenty-year-old actress a few months from realizing her true calling running after criminals for a living, yes," Lucifer said, tilting his head.

Was this a trap? It felt like a trap.