Archive of Our Own ^beta

“Dice, I am not sure how often I have to tell you but I do not want you to bother me unless you have fresh souls for me.” The Devil growled, watching Dice cower before him.

“I am aware— I just wanted to ask you something…” The mortal kept his hands behind his back to hide what he had brought.

“Then ask Stickler or Henchman, I am too busy to listen to my lackeys yap.” He rolled his eyes, secretly enjoying when his Number One squirmed for him; he’d even call it adorable.

“Please allow me to address one matter—” He cleared his throat, hesitantly showing the tickets that he had bought. “I wanted to know whether you’d like to watch movie together… tomorrow evening.” He smiled shyly, needing all his courage for this. “I’m sorry, you must think that I am overstepping, I just figured that I ask—“

The demon stared at the tickets in shock, then glanced back at his subordinate and frowned, followed by his expression softening. “Oh— that… is quite unexpected.”

“I wanted to ask for a while.” He laughed awkwardly. “Is that a maybe…?”

The demon paused, seemingly weighing his options before blushing under his fur and nodding. “Alright… just this once—“

Kingsley’s expression lit up. “You won’t regret it, Big D!” He said excitedly, the tension leaving his body.

Lucifer chuckled, clearly amused. “Off you go… I will see you tomorrow.”

-

King Dice waited by the cinema, The Devil had wanted to meet him half past seven but didn’t show up. The movie had already started an hour ago and there was no sight of his potential date.

It wasn’t too surprising that The Devil of all people would stand him up but it hurt nonetheless. He tried to call him but no one answered the phone, so not even Henchman was available.

The days were still cold, the nightly winds gave him a chill despite the season. However, nothing was as cold as his heart at that moment.

He sighed sadly, glancing at his hand and crushing the tickets before ripping them apart and throwing them away. Of course this was too good to be true.

He felt so angry at himself for believing the demon, he was probably laughing about him at this very moment. The die put his hands into his pocket and kicked a can before heading down the street.

He needed a drink.

-

“I have something very important to attend to, Stickler! Can’t this wait, I am already late.” The king of hell crossed his arms. I will fix this as soon as I am back, your lecture cost me precious time.”

Henchman was sleeping with his head on the table and completely absent from the conversation.

“Very well…” The auditor adjusted his glasses. “This will be subject during the next review, since we had to keep this quite brief.”

“Two hours is more than enough… I didn’t think there was too much of a bad thing until I met you.” He hissed between his teeth, glancing the time. “It’s almost 8PM.”

Stickler blinked before checking his own watch. “In fact, it is almost 9PM. That clock is wrong, someone must have forgotten to set the clock forward.”

“What…?! Why didn’t you say anything!” Satan asked furiously.

“…you did not ask.” The impish demon replied, only to be left alone as his superior teleported away.

-

The Devil appeared in front of the cinema, most people inside but the few people in front of the building began to panic.

Lucifer ignored this, looking for Dice and instead finding the crumpled paper that his employee had discarded. His shoulders dropped as sorrow and regret hit him like a wave.

This might have been his only chance and he blew it, all thanks to Stickler’s ledger review.

Now he had to find a way to make it up to Dice without apologising, a humiliating affair to someone as prideful as himself and part of him was hurting greatly.

This was really bothering him, he had looked forward to this but he wasn’t entirely sure why this affected him so much.

-

Dice went onto a bar to get a drink, looking at the glass sadly when another man sat down besides him.

“Bad day?” The jolly voice asked.

“What is it to you?” Kingsley growled. “If you haven’t noticed, I want to be alone.” He didn’t look at the stranger, gripping his glass tighter.

“You look like someone who went through heartbreak and I couldn’t help noticing that you’ve been waiting in front of the cinema for quite some time… date stood ya up?” The man asked.

“Great, another stalker.” The casino manager mumbled and glared at the man in rage. “I don’t like repeating myself… how is that any of your business—?” He inspected the one whom he recognised as the Inkwell Isle Four’s baker, couldn’t recall this nuisance’s name though.

“I might have something to help…” Saltbaker put a cake transport box onto the table, it had a bunch of cupcakes. “I am currently running a test of my latest creation, cakes that increase your confidence and heal a broken heart. You will forget all the pain that the person who hurt you has caused.”

“Yeah, I am definitely accepting some strange, magical pastries from a stranger. Do I look like an idiot?” King Dice asked.

“You do look desperate. You don’t have to eat it but I want to give you one in case you change your mind.” He got one of the cupcakes and packaged it neatly. “Here-“ He offered the baked good. “The name is Saltbaker, by the way.”

“King Dice—“ The die hesitated and took the unexpected gift, still rather suspicious. “And what makes you think that I want to be your little lab rat?”

“I know who you are; don’t worry, I swear they are safe.” The man ate one of the cupcakes. “See? Harmless. If you aren’t in love or heartbroken, they have no effect at all, besides being irresistibly tasty.”

“Yeah, what if you packaged the only one that isn’t safe?” The man asked.

“You can choose a different one.” Saltbaker shrugged. “They are all the same.”

King Dice’s eyes flickered as he made eye contact, scanning for any deceit but not finding any. He wasn’t lying but he still felt like there might be information missing. “Alright… I want that one.”

Saltbaker smiled and exchanged the cupcakes. “Here you go.”

“And you really don’t want anything return?” Kingsley raised a brow.

“No, do tell me how it went though. I am dying to know. See this as a free sample, you know where to find me if you want more.” The baker laughed heartily at the suspicion face of his tester. “Relax, I just want to bring joy with my baking, I am certain you will find that the effects of this recipe will make you feel much better.”

“Mhm…” He frowned, unable to recognise a lie and just nodding before picking up his glass.

“Did you drink anything yet?” Saltbaker interrupted.

“No?” Dice paused, putting the glass down.

“Then don’t, alcohol might cause side effects. That is, if you decide to eat it.” The cheerful man got up. “Find me at my bakery if you will.”

-

The Devil returned home, frowning as he dropped into his throne. “Henchman!” He called out after a moment of hesitation.

“Yes, boss!” The shorter man ran up to him, clearly in a hurry before smiling at his employer. “Already back from the date?”

“I didn’t go…” He mumbled.

“Oh… did you notify Mister Dice?” The small demon asked, appearing rather disappointed. “May I ask why not?”

“Stickler kept me too long and the clock in the break room is an hour behind, so I was an hour late, Dice was already gone when I arrived.” He crossed his arms.

“I am sure you can still have a nice evening if you go over now and apologise.” Henchman suggested with a smile.

“What…?” Satan’s pupils constricted. “I am not apologising. I did nothing wrong! Stickler should be punished and it isn’t like I care too much… Dice will get over it.”

“I don’t know, boss…” Henchman looked down. “Mister Dice really wanted this for a while and he probably thinks you stood him up.”

“I don’t see how that is my problem…” The Devil growled before his ears dropped. “And… I don’t know where he is. I don’t have his address.” He groaned. “This would be much easier if I owned his soul!”

Henchman sighed. “Well, in that case you should talk to him in the morning… and take more of an interest in important information like his location.” The assistant put his hands into his hips.

The demon looked down guiltily, Henchman wasn’t wrong.

-

King Dice arrived home, tossing the gift on his kitchen counter and dropping onto his couch. He decided not to drink anything but part of him was questioning why he wouldn’t.

It wasn’t like he actually wanted to eat the mystery treat.

But maybe he did.

Kingsley sniffed and wiped over his face, smudging his make-up and entering his bathroom to clean his face and remove it all.

He felt so stupid.

“Dammit…” He supported himself on his sink and frowned, tears dropping freely now. “Why am I so dumb…?” He asked himself and sobbed, full-on crying as he sunk to the bathroom floor.

He couldn’t control his body all of a sudden, the tears just came and his body was shaking in sorrow as everything came crushing down on him.

He was an idiot, he knew that.

He knew that having hope was futile and nonsensical but this time he was so close, even if his boss agreed to go out with him, he’d just use the opportunity to break him further, to humiliate him and hurt him.

He paused, his tears flowing down his cheeks before looking up through the door. His eyes fixated on the wrapped cake and his legs lead him towards it.

He stared at it, standing in front of the dessert as his hands moved by themselves.

It might be better to forget.

It might be better not to feel.

It might be better to let go.

He stared at the cupcake in his hands, it felt as if his brain skipped a few steps because it was suddenly unwrapped and in front of his face. It was only a few bites, only a taste of chocolate and cherry to end his suffering.

His mind was dissociating and the world seemed small as if only him and the object in his hands existed. His teeth sunk into a sweet, fluffy sensation before his mind blanked.

-

King Dice woke up on his couch, frowning as he blinked at the sun beams that hit his face. He sat up a bit disoriented, not used to waking up outside his bed.

He got up and entered his kitchen, where a few crumbs of chocolate lay on the counter, reminding him of what he had done but instead of feeling anxious, sick or in pain, Dice felt in quite a good mood.

The negative feelings of the last night were gone and until this reminder, he had completely forgotten that The Devil stood him up.

In fact, he didn’t care at all.

The cupcake had actually worked and clearly wasn’t killing him either, so maybe he did make the right decision and that strange baker man was genuine.

The more he thought about it, he realised that he didn’t care in general. It was as if his infatuation with the king of hell was gone, as if the edible potion had healed his love like a sickness.

He smiled to himself, in a a great mood already when he got an even better idea.

-

“What…?” Lucifer stared at the piece of paper in his hands, both bewildered and confused. He wanted to get angry but he was too shocked.

“I quit.” King Dice shrugged.

“I understood that!” Lucifer hissed, trying to collect himself. “I am asking what this is about? You can’t just quit!”

“I can… in fact, I just have.” The die shrugged. “The working conditions are dangerously terrible, I don’t get valued for my service and I want to focus on my career instead of collecting souls for you.”

“That… but—“ The demon was quite overwhelmed by this, he had approached Dice to talk about last night but his manager had dismissed his attempt to clear up the misunderstanding when the mortal shoved a notice of termination into his face.

He felt really terrible all of a sudden, he hadn’t thought that Dice would be hurt enough to leave him for good.

“Dice— this is… please think about this.” Satan almost pleaded. “I don’t have a replacement for you—“ He added, wanting to bite his tongue.

“Well, I don’t see how that is my problem.” King Dice shrugged.

The Devil stared at him, unsure whether he wanted to go up in flames or cry. “I mean… maybe at least give it another week? I have time today, we could—“ He rubbed the paper between his fingers. “—go to the theatre or on a walk in the park… we could go right now.”

“Huh?” Kingsley smiled, staring at The Devil with a dull expression. “What are you talking about? Do you think I quit because of last night?”

“I mean… why else would you quit, you love working for me—“ Satan mumbled.

The die chuckled before his eyes turned green. “Oh, really? Aren’t you mixing things up? Isn’t it you who loves to give me orders and shove me around?”

“That’s not—“ The Devil stared at him, feeling strangely intimidated all of a sudden, something about Dice was different.

“Listen, boss.” He spoke with distain. “I loathe you, you are a cruel monster and I simply never had the courage to stand up to you but I don’t care what you think anymore. You don’t own my soul and that gives me an advantage that I hadn’t realised before.” He loomed over the demon, speaking coldly. “You honestly did me a favour, opened my eyes! I don’t need you anymore.”

“Oh…” The Devil stared at him, cowering at the presence of the other as tears began flow down his cheeks. He wanted to say something but knew it would only come out as sobs, so he stepped back and left.

It took all of his composure to keep himself under control, his throat felt tight and his heart was aching as he simply turned his back towards Dice and walked away. He didn’t want Dice to see him cry any more than he already had. He didn’t want to show weakness and let him know that his words cut deep.

Kingsley rolled his eyes and whistled as he entered the elevator, leaving for the surface and feeling pretty great despite a strange tightness in his chest.

-

“That doesn’t sound like him.” Henchman mumbled as he tried to console his boss, patting his back as the king of hell hugged his pillow and cried bitterly, only comfortable with his friend around.

“He hates me…” The Devil sobbed. “…I lost him for good, all because of…” He held his breath. “…Stickler…” He growled, his body beginning to grow slowly while taking a more draconian form.

“Hey, boss— calm down! Destroying Stickler won’t change anything, let’s keep a cool head and think about this-!” Henchman tried to calm his superior down.

The dragon-like demon stared at him before starting to cry again and coiling up into a ball. “Dice always called me that…” He sobbed bitterly.

“Oh, geez…” The assistant mumbled.

-

King Dice was having the time of his life, now that he wasn’t distracted by his obsession with The Devil, he could focus more on his fans and more importantly: on himself.

He made his way to the bakery, scatting into the building as the bell on the door accompanied his musical inclination.

“Well, look who’s there!” Saltbaker smirked. “Going by your cheerful disposition, you tried my cupcake.”

“I did! It was delicious and it worked~” He finger-gunned at the man and sat down. “I can’t remember the last time, I was in such a good mood. I am a free man!”

“Happy to hear… now that you got what you want and everything is working as intended, how about you do me a favour?” The baker’s eyes narrowed, gesturing for his customer to follow him into the back.

“I knew there was a catch.” King Dice rolled his eyes, following behind. “Why should I? I got everything I wanted.”

“A true businessman, aren’t you?” Saltbaker smirked. “Well, what I gave you was a free sample, so I did not lie about that but if you want this new you to continue, I can’t promise one cupcake is enough.” The man chuckled.

Kingsley raised a brow. “What do you mean?”

“Well, the cupcake isn’t very potent, so it’s effects should only last about two days… tomorrow evening, you’ll be back to normal… unless—“

“— I get more.” The die finished the sentence, his eyes glowing green as a smile spread on his face. “Why should I make a deal, when I can just take what I want?” He asked, grabbing the baker by his clothes. “Glass can shatter so very easily if you ain’t careful.”

Saltbaker smiled amused, hiding a hint of nervousness. “When there are so many witnesses in the other room?” He whispered.

“Want to test me? I kill them too, in fact, who cares if anyone finds out… I don’t care what anyone thinks as long as I get what I want.” King Dice reached for a large knife.

“Mister Dice… what an… unexpected side to you… it that something my goods brought out or have you always had such violent tendencies?” The shop owner asked sarcastically, knowing very well of the other man’s nature. That made him the perfect guinea pig after all.

“You know exactly what you have done to me… lucky for you, I like this. However, I will not hesitate to eliminate you if necessary, despite my gratitude.” He glanced at his reflection in the knife and smiled, eyes narrowing into slits. “Now… the cupcakes… where are they?”

“I need to bake a new batch. Without me, you won’t get any ever again.” He laughed in a very low tone, too slow to be genuine. “So, about that favour…”

King Dice frowned, staring at the man as he listened to the demands.

-

Henchman walked down the hallway, pushing a tea trolly towards his friend’s bedroom and hoping to cheer him up with his favourite tea and cookies.

The situation with Dice wouldn’t leave his mind, it simply didn’t seem like him. He understood that he was hurt and needed space but the way Lucifer had described him, it wasn’t like the man at all.

He walked past one of the repositories and glanced inside, noticing the door was open and that someone had messed with the soul vault. This wasn’t really something that happened down here and someone clearly had a death wish.

He stepped away from his trolly and glanced into the room, frowning when he didn’t see anyone before walking backwards to warn his employer of the break-in; that was when he felt someone behind him, looking up at King Dice’s smiling face.

“Mister Dice…?” The shorter demon asked, he would feel relieved if it wasn’t for his strange behaviour and that malevolent expression.

“Hello, Henchman.” The mortal greeted calmly. “You weren’t supposed to see that but… maybe you can help me out.”

-

The Devil frowned. Henchman should have been back a while ago but there was no sight of him. This was rather disconcerting,

He got up to look for him, not wanting to be alone and already rather anxious about the whole situation he was in. Maybe he should look for Dice after finding Henchman.

He halted when he saw the open door, confused and curious. “Henchman?” He asked, glancing into the room.

Henchman was tied up behind the machinery, struggling and wanting to warn The Devil that this was a trap but unable to move much or say a word.

Lucifer entered, inspecting the room before his ears picked up shuffling from behind the vault. “Henchman?!” He gasped and freed his assistant. “What happened…?”

“I’m so sorry, boss… I couldn’t stop him.” Henchman hugged his friend.

“Whom…?” Satan asked, holding the shorter man while shaking with rage and wanting to explode; whoever attacked Henchman would pay.

“It was me.” The familiar voice cut into The Devil’s soul, making him freeze.

“No, it can’t be-“ The king of hell looked away from his assistant and towards Dice, who looked around the corner of the vault.

The ex-manager smiled. “Oh, but it can be… and it is.” His voice was low and his eyes glowing in an uncontrollable green fury.

The Devil got up. “I have no idea what got into you, but this ends now—“ He held out his hand, petrified when nothing happened.

“Oh, I apologise.” Kingsley was speaking slowly as he stepped closer to reveal the pitchfork. “Looking for something…?” His eyes were digging into the demons’ souls, his pupils resembling a cat and his lips forming a neutral line.

“Why are you doing this?!” The Devil asked, clearly furious. “Do you have a death wish?”

“You aren’t really in the position to talk to me this way, are you now?” The die held out the weapon.

Satan stepped forward to push the tool out of the way, only to get electrocuted as soon as he touched the metal. He screamed in pain and sunk to his feet, gasping as the shockwave had knocked the air out of his lungs.

“Boss!” Henchman hurried to his side, carefully holding onto him. “Are you alright?”

The Devil growled, still catching his breath. “You will pay for this—“ He grit his teeth. “I have no idea what made you lose your mind but you have made a terrible mistake.”

“The only mistake that I made is ever loving you.” He explained, glaring at the two men with hatred.

The Devil looked up, eyes sorrowful as he struggled with what to say. He was so angry and yet Dice’s rejection and hateful eyes were paralysing him.

King Dice lowered the weapon and turned away. “This is a waste of time, I have something to take care of.” He scoffed. “I expected more resilience from The Devil.”

Henchman looked at his former co-worker and then his best friend. “Boss…?”

“Yes, Henchman…?” The Devil just looked at the ground, his eyes the ones of a broken man.

“Maybe you should tell him… this might be your last chance.” The purple demon suggested.

Lucifer looked at his assistant and then back at the ground before nodding. “Dice—“ His voice came out as a plea.

Kingsley stopped, back still towards them but the desperate tone in the other man’s voice was causing him to wait. “What?” He asked simply.

“I just want to know something… and I also need to tell you something.” Satan hesitated. “Please tell me why you are doing this; is it because of yesterday?” He asked and got back on his feet, his body hurt.

“Fine.” He looked back over his shoulder. “I need your pitchfork for something, don’t follow me and we won’t have any more issues. And in a way it is because of yesterday but not for the reasons you might think.”

“May you elaborate?” The watched the mortal, clearly confused.

“I met someone who offered me a way to forget about my feelings for you, to free myself from your shackles. I am glad you stood me up because it gave me the push that I needed to take a leap of fate. And now I am free, fearless!” He looked away again and smirked. “But if I want to stay this way, I need to hand your precious pitchfork to someone who deserves it more… speaking of, I might just keep it to myself and force him to make this new me permanent! What do you think, boss~? Oh, apologies… I meant ex-boss.” He laughed. “Maybe I should be Number One in all of hell instead of playing second fiddle to you.”

The Devil perked up. “Someone did this to you…?” That person would die as soon as he found out who it was.

“Well, I did this to myself after you left me out in the rain…” He grit his teeth. “However, I need to get going if I don’t want to become weak again.”

“…you weren’t weak.” He mumbled, realising that he could still save his Dice if he just kept him from leaving until whatever he took was out of his system. “But you are making the mistake of turning your back on me—“ He grew quickly, almost shoving Henchman out of the way and grabbing Dice.

The mortal couldn’t turn around or dodge in time, having the wind knocked out of him as he got pressed against the ground, not crushed but incapacitated for a moment. His hand was still on the pitchfork as he stabbed the claw that held him, causing a shockwave through Satan’s body.

The demon roared, screaming in pain while the ex-manager grinned. “What’s wrong, Devil~!? Does it hurt? I suppose you have two options now… let me go or crush me. What will it be? I will not submit to you… I would rather die.”

The Devil grit his teeth, holding Dice down and making sure not to damage his body. He had tears welling up in his eyes, it hurt so unbearably much. The pain only seemed to increase and the fact Dice seemed to enjoy his suffering made the whole situation even worse.

“I just… need to keep you here until you are back to normal—“ He whimpered. It hurts, it hurts, it hurts. His instincts told him to eradicate Dice, to end the pain but he didn’t want that. He wanted his Dice back, his sweet darling Dice. It wasn’t even clear to him whether he cried because of the pain or because he feared losing him.

“Pathetic…” Dice scoffed, feeling exhausted already and putting down the weapon, still holding it close and causing pain to his captor. “What do you think this will accomplish? You only make me suffer but in the end I will choose this path over and over again, you want to take away my happiness just to selfishly keep me as a servant?”

The Devil’s eyes widened, every muscle on his body in agony to the point of almost growing numb to the burning of his skin. “…are you happier now?”

“I am happier than I ever was in your presence.” Kingsley smirked victoriously. “And I will always be aware of that, even if you return my fear of you.”

“You are scared of me…?” The Devil stared at him, his sight blurry as more tears followed.

“I was but not anymore, I am finally free of your control… you might be physically stronger than me but you will never truly have me again.” The mortal hissed, surprised when the immortal released him and shrunk.

“I… wasn’t aware that you were so miserable under me.” He mumbled. “I—“ He sunk his face into his hands. “I’m sorry…” He sobbed. “I don’t want to lose you… but I can’t hold you if you want to leave either.” He was so confused and in pain, he couldn’t think clearly but he didn’t want to hurt Dice or get Henchman in danger again.

Henchman fluttered over to him to stroke his back before sadly looking at Dice, unsure what to say or do since it was between them. He wanted to be there for his boss though. “I really think you should tell him, even if it is hard.”

Dice stared at him in confusion, slowly getting back on his feet. “Tell me what?”

The Devil looked at Henchman and nodded. “Right…” He tried to find the right words. “…I didn’t stand you up. I just… got there too late because I forgot about the time and I still had a ledger review to finish. The clock went wrong all thanks to daylight savings, most don’t adjust automatically.” He laughed bitterly.

Kingsley frowned. “Why should I believe you?”

“You ripped apart the tickets you got us and threw them away… I realised that I messed up and felt too ashamed to look for you. I didn’t know where you were because I never visited your flat, I feel… if I had paid more attention to you and cared more about those things, this wouldn’t have happened.” Satan rubbed his arm, his fur singed and his skin sore. “All of this is my fault.”

“It is.” King Dice frowned and turned away to leave. “If any of that is true, don’t follow me. This is my decision.”

“Very well.” The Devil smiled crooked as he watched the other man leave. “Dice!” He called out one last time.

The mortal didn’t turn around, heading straight for the elevator, he was so close to being free of him forever. To get rid of the feeling in his soul that told him to turn back when he had to move forward.

“I love you!” Lucifer called out. “Even if you leave me… I still love you, and I will miss you.” He gasped in between sobs. “But I want you to be happy, so…” He smiled painfully. “…I suppose that means I have to let you go.”

Dice stopped, something inside him stirred and his heart began to race at those words. He felt as if he was suffocating, drowning in his own body. He felt sick and just kept walking until he was inside the elevator, waiting for the doors to close and shutting out the weeping.

-

“Well done.” The baker smiled, looking at King Dice in a satisfied manner. “You don’t look very good though.”

Kingsley used the pitchfork as support. “I feel pretty bad.”

“Understandable, you just stole something from the king of the underworld and it seems like he roughed you up quite a bit.” The older man said with feigned empathy.

“Not really, I just cried on the ride here, so my make-up is a mess.” He admitted dully, not really caring.

“It seems you should have another soon then. Hope you are hungry because this time it is a whole cake, you need to eat the whole thing and you’ll be rid of all emotions except for happiness.” Saltbaker laughed.

“But will I be truly happy?” He asked uncertain.

“You will feel happy and have the confidence to take on anything you desire.” The baker smiled warmly, reassuring him as he stepped closer. “Now, how about our deal?”

Kingsley glanced at the cake and then the pitchfork.

-

The Devil hadn’t moved since the day before, King Dice had left and with him his pitchfork; both gone in one day but he hardly cared anymore. Henchman and Stickler just left him alone, the former staying by his side but not speaking up unless talked to first. They hardly exchanged a word.

The hellevator arrived in the throne room, a familiar sound announcing an unexpected visitor.

Henchman froze when King Dice stepped outside, holding the pitchfork and approaching both demons. The shortest of the three was wary of his former co-worker’s intentions, the demon stepped between him and The Devil projectively even if the golden tool could put a premature end to his otherwise immortal life. “If you want to get closer to the boss, you have to go through me first.”

King Dice looked at Henchman, his expression neutral and wanting to speak up when Lucifer spoke instead.

“What do you want…? Want my throne as well now?” The fallen angel asked, not seeming to care much. “How are you doing now that you have… severed our connection?” He spoke rather matter-of-factly.

The die looked away, his grip on the pitchfork tightened before he inhaled and exhaled slowly as if to brace himself. “I didn’t go through with it, I have actually come to apologise and return this.” He handed the weapon to Henchman, smiling apologetically. “I-I should probably go.” He fumbled with his hands, trying to keeping his composure but as soon as he started speaking, he was a nervous mess again. “But before I do, I… wanted to apologise for everything, I have made a mistake and it ended in hurting you and I understand if you can’t forgive me and don’t want me back.“

The Devil perked up, looking at Dice intensely and inspecting him before getting up. “Dice…?

Kingsley looked down. “I just wanted to return what’s yours and accept any punishment, boss.” He awkwardly scratched his chin, laughing to hide his nervousness. “That is… if I can still call you that, I hope it isn’t too late to take back my resignation.”

The Devil’s eyes widened as he approached the man, walking faster with each step before almost sprinting at him and wrapping his arms around the mortal.

King Dice froze, blushing intensely when he realised that he wasn’t dead but the claws of the other dug into his skin. “Ow—“

Lucifer let go, awkwardly retracting his arms and looking down with a blush himself. “Ah, how embarrassing… I must apologise.”

Kingsley took his hands and shook his head. “No… you don’t, what I did is unforgivable…” He looked away. “Though, I will miss being brave and without fear…”

The Devil looked at his shaking legs and smiled softly. “Oh, Dice… you are brave.” He whispered.

“Well, I am quite frankly terrified.” He laughed. “Are you sure that you don’t want to destroy me?”

“I’m relieved.” Satan smiled. “You are here…” The fallen angel’s hands got a hold of his opposite’s, gently rubbing over them. “…it’s brave to do something despite your fear, I admire that about you. I missed your awkwardness, it is quite endearing… it’s part of who you are, not a flaw.”

Kingsley smiled sadly. “Did you mean what you said?”

“Every word.” The demon’s hands were shaking now. “I was so sure that I would lose you over this mistake, I never could have forgiven myself.”

“Oh, boss…” The die pulled him into a hug, feeling the immortal shake and sob against him.

Henchman smiled at them, slowly sneaking out of the room to give them some space now that he was sure that they were alright, he leaned the pitchfork against the throne.

“I love you too.” King Dice cupped his partner’s cheeks. “And if you want to give it another try, I got tickets for another show. It’s already today though.”

“I would love that. I already cancelled all appointments today.” He admitted, nuzzling into his date’s touch. “Dice…?”

“Yes, boss?” Kingsley asked.

Satan waited a moment. “Why did you change your mind? You could have gotten rid of your feelings and lived happy without me. You could have kept my pitchfork and become much more powerful.”

“Well… would I have really been happy if I was apart from you?” The mortal asked quietly.

“You said that you are miserable with me.” The Devil answered, his expression falling.

“Eh… I wasn’t thinking clearly.” He admitted embarrassed. “I was just very hurt when you didn’t show up and what was painful is being apart from you… this is much better than not feeling anything besides artificial dopamine.”

“Are you sure… otherwise, we could find a safer way to remove your feelings.” The Devil mumbled. “I meant everything I said, I will let you go if that is best for you.”

“Hey… I don’t want them gone, I want to be with you… denying myself and the love I have for you, it wasn’t natural.” He explained. “Pain is part of the mortal experience, I should have talked to you instead of immediately going for drastic measures, I felt as if I was possessed.”

“Mhm… how about you take me to your home before the movie starts, so I can learn more about you… like where you live in case of emergency.” Lucifer asked.

“Of course… are you sure that you can just forgive me?” The die asked self-accusatory.

“Well… it wasn’t really you… or rather you didn’t have yourself under control, so punishing you doesn’t seem fair. You better apologise to Henchman though.” He picked up his pitchfork.

“Of course, boss.” He took his superiors hand and hesitated. “But maybe I should be mean to you more often if it means you are so sweet with me.”

“Watch it- you are lucky that you are so cute, Dice.” The archdemon frowned.

“Duly noted.” The mortal laughed awkwardly.

-

Saltbaker sat on the table after the archdemon’s lackey had zapped him with the pitchfork to turn him into a regular salt shaker, small and unable to move. His plan hadn’t worked because that fool’s toxic love for The Devil had been stronger than the addictive nature of his pastries.

He hoped that they’d suffer and Dice would get destroyed as soon as he returned the cursed tool.

He had been so close to getting control over the astral plane, Dice’s soul and The Devil’s weapon would have been perfect for his plans but that fool seemed to either be smarter or much dumber than he had expected and therefore saw through his facade or was unreasonably loyal to Lucifer.

He would get another chance.

This wasn’t over yet and the Astral Plane would be under his control eventually.

He felt the table vibrate as someone entered the room, unable to turn around when fingers coiled around his immobile body and picked him up from the wooden surface.

He panicked, unable to see what was happening when a shockingly familiar voice became audible.

“Seems that I found the one responsible… and your soul is already seasoned too, how accommodating. But revenge does taste amazing either way, I prefer it hot…” The man hissed, his temperature increasing.

Saltbaker knew who this was and tried to struggle despite the body he was trapped in. “I don’t know what he did but Dice is responsible— so blame him!” Saltbaker complained.

“Mhm… I am afraid that I don’t have enough forgiveness for two mortals in one day and the whole affair made me quite hungry.” The demon licked his lips as his grip got tighter.

“No- don’t do this, I ca—“ The baker tried to speak up but was interrupted when his body got crushed, his soul leaving the glass shards and immediately getting caught by the sharp talons.

“Too bad… I thought you would offer more of a fight.” Satan’s eyes narrowed as his teeth sharpened and split into a wide smirk.

My Human!DevilDice being cute to cheer you up after a less happy fanfic: