Never Forget To Eat Breakfast The moment we had returned to the House of Lamentation, Lucifer had finally let go of my arm, slinging me into a chair, looking at me and pausing as if to say "Don't move from that spot," before he flipped his phone out of his pocket and texted someone. He started to pace, and I watched as the ice from the hex melted around his feet as he paced to and fro as if his anger was that intense. Though, his face didn't look angry per se, more so very annoyed. Almost immediately, he received a call, and he picked up at once.

  "Yes. Yes," Lucifer answered, and I stared down at the frozen floor. "She is." Lucifer paused, then pressed his lips tight as I faintly heard a ugh echo from the phone, and he shook his head, seeming to have to stop himself from groaning or sighing or both. "...yes, I understand. Goodbye."

  "So..." I said tentatively, trying to suppress the feeling of hope fluttering through my insides, watching as Lucifer hung up and put his phone back. "What'd he say?"

  "Diavolo would still like you to attend R.A.D," Lucifer replied, nursing the bridge of his nose.

  "...why?" I asked, trying to be careful, but there didn't seem to be a need as Lucifer calmed down again, apparently feeling his agitation subside again.

  "I didn't ask, but there are probably two reasons. For one, Diavolo did tell me that he had already looked into your family history, and at the very least, you were human before you came to the Devildom. Meaning, you still have value as someone who could help him adjust R.A.D. for other human students. Secondly, Diavolo tends to favor minority groups, and because there are so few succubi studying at the academy, he probably wants you to attend for diversity reasons as well. Regardless, you will begin attending two days from now on Sunday." Sunday? Really? Well... actually, I guess I shouldn't be surprised... Not like they have Christianity down here. I guess they have today off instead. "In the meantime, you should be doing your best to stay out of trouble."

  "I'm not sure how much trouble I can possibly get into," I mumbled, feeling my stomach bother me again. I was really craving a vegetable omelet or something, though I wasn't sure if I'd be able to get such a specific human dish in the Devildom; I'd certainly never seen any vegetables down here... "I have to stick around you 24/7 if I don't want to freeze... And quite frankly, that doesn't appeal to me." I paused. "Speaking of which, can you please take me to the kitchen? I'm really hungry." I was hoping he'd just wordlessly do what I asked, but he didn't move an inch from his spot in the common room. All he gave me was a look, neither good nor evil but a shifting gradient of both.

  "Just what do you suppose you're going to make?" he asked eventually, walking towards me again, and I shrugged my thoughts. I can put together something; maybe he'll at least help me figure out what should be edible.

  "I don't know; baked beans on toast? I'm good at making things on the fly. I'll even use up leftovers or something." Lucifer snorted at that, and I thought he was ughing at me before he said:

  "We rarely ever have leftovers in the house. Last night was an exception since Beel didn't get the opportunity to polish off my abandoned breakfast." It was his food. Damn him. "But that isn't what I was referring to, Annelie. Haven't you realized it yet?" I felt a sinking feeling in my gut at the look on his face.

  "Realized what?" I asked softly, feeling my spirits sinking by the second.

  "Annelie, you're hungry again because you haven't eaten anything you actually need to eat," Lucifer replied, and although he didn't say it unkindly, I found myself getting upset at him anyway. You're a demon that feeds off of sex. I didn't want to think about that. I didn't even want to begin thinking about that, and without really realizing it, I started to cry. Tears beaded at my eyes, small and insignificant and failing to convey how upset I felt like I was. Maybe I wasn't that upset. Maybe I wanted this. Maybe I wanted to fuck strangers so I could eat.

  "But I want waffles," I whispered miserably. "And eggs and bacon and apples..." You'll never taste those things again. "What about chocote? Am I going to lose my sense of taste?! Will I never be able to eat my favorite foods again?!" I was nearly shouting at Lucifer, and he was speeding over to me, cmping his hands on my shoulders.

  "Calm down," he urged, and it only barely reached my notice that he was wincing, not that I cared. It was bad enough in the human world, when food was one of the only things I had left to enjoy besides sleep, and now I have to let go of that?! I have to forget the possibility of ever tasting comfort foods?

  "Shut up!" I snapped at him. "It's all well and good for you to go and say something like 'go whore yourself to strangers'! I don't care if I'm a succubus now! I grew up with human food, so sue me for liking it!" I threw my hands into my hair, pulling it in the midst of my stress with a few more measly tears sinking out of my crimal gnds. "What am I supposed to do if I can never eat the foods I love again...?" My focus was suddenly thrown as Lucifer cpped his hands against my cheeks, his body closer to mine than I remember it being.

  "Calm. Down," he said, surprisingly gently, if sternly. "I never said anything about whoring yourself, nor did I say anything about losing your sense of taste. Many succubi still eat what you consider normal food." My eyes strayed as Lucifer's fingers rexed on my cheeks. "Do you understand me?"

  "Lucifer, what exactly do I have to eat?" I rasped, bordering on a whimper, and Lucifer offered me a somewhat sympathetic look.

  "I think you know very well what that is," he replied softly, and it was only at that point that I realized just how much his personality had seemed to change in the space of a few seconds. It was a Lucifer I'd never seen before, one that seemed to care about my well-being. It was likely out of pity or maybe some form of chivalry, but... even so, I couldn't help but find myself appreciating the small act of kindness.

  "Can you please just show me the kitchen?" I whispered, and he took his hands off my face before he dragged his fingers over the back of my hand, startling me as he lightly pulled me into a standing position. He dragged me slowly, and I stumbled after him, following him through room by frozen room, his leather-wrapped hand never leaving mine. He only let go once a new firepce sprang to life, right beneath a rge cauldron-like pot which illuminated the kitchen, as that was most certainly what it had to be.

  I spied a refrigerator, and I opened it to find numerous ingredients, some of which looked vaguely familiar while others looked absolutely foreign, and I started picking out what looked like vegetables, as well as a few of the eggs that must have been what I'd eaten yesterday. I spied knives and pans hanging against the wall, smiling at how well-id out everything was. There was even a griddle that looked at least semi-easy to use. I picked out the chef's knife and a cutting board off the wall, before I grabbed a handful of garnet-colored mushrooms before I started cutting them.

  "Wrong," I heard from next to me before Lucifer took his gloves off and pushed me to one side, took the knife out of my hand. "Like this," he said, slicing the mushroom exactly (or at least I thought it was exactly) the same way I did it, before he handed the knife back. I gave him a gnce, but I continued, regardless. He sighed at me. Seriously? I thought, even as he pushed me again. "You're still doing it wrong. Look. Watch my hand." Lucifer demonstrated the cutting motion slower before he gave the knife back to me again.

  "Lucifer, how is that different from what I'm doing?" I asked, annoyed, and Lucifer stepped behind me to take hold of both my hands, startling me in the process. His heat sunk into me, and I found myself breathing a little more quickly despite myself. ...closer. Come closer.

  "Here," he said, his breath hitting my ear as he moved his head next to mine to watch himself direct my hands. "Always fold your fingers back, not just occasionally. Protect them. Up, right at this level," Lucifer murmured, and I tried to stop myself from shivering from the feeling of his voice just a little ways away from my ear. He raised my hand up, the tip of the knife still touching the cutting board, his fingers adjusting mine on the handle. "Down, slide forward, and cut. This knife shouldn't leave the cutting board." I know that, you little... Lucifer relinquished my hands, and I almost had to stop myself from whining at the loss of heat. Stop being so desperate...

  "I don't think I need point five millimetres of precision, Lucifer," I grumbled at him as I held up the two slices of mushroom, which were indeed quite simir to each other. To be honest, I couldn't really tell the difference, but I guess he could. Somehow.

  "Do as you please," Lucifer grunted, folding his arms and looking away as if he couldn't stand the sight of me cooking, and I rolled my eyes. Damn child, I thought as I finished cutting the mushrooms, throwing them into a pan I'd taken off the wall. Why am I attracted to a bossy perfectionist like you? You really don't deserve it... "What are you doing? Stop," Lucifer said, practically running towards me as my knife touched the top of a normal-looking onion. "You're going to hurt yourself. This is a Killjoy onion; you need to let it freeze first," Lucifer then snatched said onion and threw it in the freezer. "Honestly; even in the human world, I would think this is natural."

  "Frozen onion?" I asked, exasperated, and Lucifer tsked at me.

  "No, you don't let it freeze completely, not unless you have the equipment to do so instantly," he scolded. "You're slowing down the enzyme activity as much as you can so that it doesn't release mustard gas."

  "Mustard gas?!" I blustered, and Lucifer rolled his eyes at me like I should have known that.

  "Yes, Annelie, mustard gas. ClC2H4SC2H4Cl. The concentration might not be that high, but it's still dangerous."

  "Isn't that a carcinogen?! Why do you even have that in the house?!"

  "Demonic DNA isn't that unstable that a few stray chemicals can alter it. And what are you doing with that pepper? Let me do it." And without another thought, Lucifer took the dark green, nearly bck pepper in my hand away from me and started to cut it. At once, it started to ooze much more than it had been in my hand. I stared at it, a little unnerved at the sight. It was like looking at a spoiled cucumber.

  "Isn't that rotten?" I asked, pointing at it as Lucifer sliced thin strips.

  "No; it's slime pepper; it's supposed to be like this. Food never goes bad in this house; it's not like it has the time. Now don't give me that look and try it." Lucifer tapped the cutting board, pushing a slice to the side. And, somewhat reluctantly, I picked up the offered piece of pepper and ate it, slime and all. I was surprised that the texture of it didn't bother me. "You have to pay attention when you cut this, Annelie; otherwise, your knife will slide right off, and you'll end up cutting your fingers."

  "I could see that," I grumbled, even as I started cracking the eggs into a bowl.

  "What are you doing?" I gred at him out of the corner of my eye, even as I watched him pull the onion back out of the freezer and chop it into neat pieces in a matter of seconds.

  "I am trying to make an omelet if you hadn't noticed."

  "Well, you'd certainly better crack two more eggs then," he retorted, apparently not taking issue with how I was cracking the eggs, and I quickly cracked two more, gd that I didn't accidentally get shell into them. He'd certainly have gotten on my case about that.

  "Do you try to be a pain in the ass?" I asked him as he started cooking the mushroom, pepper and onion together in the skillet I'd taken out, tossing the ingredients high and obviously showing off.

  "I am trying to prevent you from doing stupid things with our ingredients," he replied, not bothering to look me in the eyes as I scrambled the eggs with a fork. "It's almost as if you've never cooked before." I opened my mouth to protest, but he was still going. "There are coffee beans right next to the grinder. Do you know how to make coffee? No, I suppose you don't, since you have a faintly Scottish accent. You probably drink tea."

  "I'll have you know," I said, swatting at his hand as he reached for the beans. "That I enjoy both tea and coffee, you arse." I measured out a fair amount of beans, grinding up enough for two cups with annoyance. "And, furthermore," I continued, putting the grounds into an espresso machine and finding a mug that read, comically, "World's Best Dad", with "Dad" crossed out and repced with "Bro." I had a feeling I knew what kind of brothers the guy had, and I was starting to look forward to meeting them. "I cook my breakfast every morning. I've just never dealt with these ingredients I've never seen before." I started making the second cup, even as I handed Lucifer the small bowl full of scrambled egg, which he quickly took and poured over the cooked vegetables. "This is all isekai bullshit, and I don't even have the hacks that are supposed to come with it. All I got was a permanent genetic alteration."

  "Ise- Have you been talking to Levi?" he asked, turning to look at me in surprise.

  "Hey, eyes on the pan. And who's that?"

  "You'll meet him ter; nevermind," he sighed. before he folded the eggs over each other, making a nice, pale green taco studded with mushroom, pepper and onion. He turned off the heat at once before he cut the omelet neatly in half, and id it onto two ptes. It was only at that point that I realized why he'd told me to crack him more eggs. Cheeky bastard. I handed him a fork and his coffee.

  "Think you forgot this," I told him as I sipped my own cup of coffee. ...This house has good taste in coffee. Damn.

  "Cheeky woman," he muttered, even as he took a sip, cutting his piece of omelet with his fork. I thought about sitting down, but I suppose like him, I wasn't particurly inclined to.

  "Yeah, and you're a perfectionistic bugger," I retorted, stabbing my own fork into the eggs and sighed as I chewed. Somewhere in there, he must have spiced the egg a little bit, and I was a little annoyed by the fact that he apparently liked his food as spicy as I did.

  As I watched Lucifer eat in peace however, I found myself calming down and sighing softly. After all, this was a vast improvement from yesterday. "Thank you," I said eventually.

  "You're welcome," he replied, a little too self-satisfied, and I resisted the urge to sigh again with a faint smile. You could at least ask why I'm thanking you.

  "I feel like I saw a nice side of you today," I expined, nevertheless, and he softly chuckled.

  "You're imagining things." Nevertheless, I couldn't help but notice he was smiling, ever-so-faintly, as we ate breakfast in comfortable silence.