Lucifer snorted softly. "He really did have the worst possible timing every single time," he said.

He took a sip of his drink, then looked back up at Duke. Somehow at the start of all this, he'd assumed it would get easier to distance himself, not harder, and yet. There his hand went, cupping Duke's cheek like he had no control over it.

"I'm just... adjusting to a new reality," he said. (He hadn't told them about Dad's retirement yet. He was wondering whether it would actually matter if he did. It wasn't like they were any of his siblings and could actually do anything with the information.)