are you doing here?"

Benjamin's eyes darted from the screen of Lucifer's phone, where a funny cat video was playing, to his brother, who approached the two of them with a frustrated look in his eyes. "Well, I mean— isn't it obvious? I'm here to party, bro", Benji chuckled in response, narrowing his eyes at Dan to question if he was being quite serious, but concluding from the stern look on his features, he was. Cringing at the trouble he was already imagining to be in, Benjamin quickly pushed himself off of Lucifer's Corvette which they had arrived in — that had been a wonderfully thrilling experience, especially for a car nerd like himself — and slapped his hand casually onto Daniel's shoulder, a convincing smile appearing onto his lips. "I promise, I'll be good. Lucifer invited me, it's not like I was going to say no", he nodded his head, and in return, Dan simply groaned.

"Let's go then, shall we?", Lucifer suggested, and shooting a glare at him, no doubt because he was getting more and more involved with his brother despite Dan's wishes, the detective nodded and followed the two as they began to lead the way. "Who doesn't love a sex party?", the Devil added with a low chuckle, and eyes widening, Benjamin turned to look between him and Dan in shock and amazement.

"A sex party? Sounds like my normal weekend", he joked, but once he saw the disapproving look he was earning from his big brother, Benji cleared his throat. "I'm just kidding, obviously. I don't do illegal stuff", he reassured with an innocent smile, but Dan's stare pressured him into adding, "not anymore, at least!"

Still, imagining Benjamin partying hard wasn't so hard, whereas the thought of Dan attending these kind of events was downright amusing, and before they headed inside, Benji had to point out that he totally looked like a cop. Lucifer backed him up on this, as did Amenadiel, who had joined them as well — it had been Benjamin's idea, who had insisted that the fun brothers were going to show him a good time. And although reluctantly, Amenadiel had agreed to come with, and confirm that Dan was obviously a cop, much to the detective's frustration.

But, despite all the difficulties and disagreements they faced on the way, they did eventually make it inside. Benjamin could hear Dan's warnings and instructions to keep a low profile and behave, but thanks to the bourbon Lucifer had encouraged Benji to drink earlier that evening, he had enough liquid courage to ignore everything that was told to him and brutally disobey each of the rules. With that in mind, he merely giggled whilst grabbing Lucifer's hand and pulling him onto the dance floor, with Amenadiel following their lead. Although the latter went to dance with some girls, Benjamin found himself too caught up in the moment to step away from Lucifer, leaving them dancing with one another along the hypnotizing beat of the music.

When he peeked over Lucifer's shoulder, Benji could see Dan walking off and eyeing the crowd, for which he was grateful — as much as he loved his brother, he knew how protective he could be. If Dan were to see this, he'd probably jump between the two men immediately and rant to his little brother about the dangers of Lucifer Morningstar, but frankly, Benjamin didn't really care. Instead of overthinking everything like Daniel tended to do, he threw his arms over Lucifer's shoulders and let the music push them closer.

"Ah, there's the fun brother. Knew you had it in you", Lucifer grinned, his voice loud to reach over the music, but at the same time, it felt like they were alone in their small little bubble. It was what Benjamin loved the most about dancing — whether he was alone or with someone, it was like a whole new world, where no rules applied to him and he could shamelessly enjoy himself and have fun. Perhaps it wasn't the highest form of art, with the senseless grinding and jumping up and down, but it did grant him a feeling of freedom and that was enough to make him love it.

With his curious eyes looking up to lock with Lucifer's, Benjamin could feel his breath hitching in his throat at the sight of his intent gaze, so deep he could have drowned in it, and the perfectly sculpted lips lifting his cheeks, and the dangerously sharp jawline, covered in a handsome stubble. Frankly, for someone who claimed to be the Devil, Lucifer was looking heavenly and it was enough to kick off the adrenaline rush in Benjamin, who was suddenly not interested in wasting any more time.

"You ain't seen nothing yet", he muttered, and already Lucifer was lifting a teasing eyebrow, but the sarcastic comment on the tip of his tongue got suffocated in the heated kiss that Benjamin suddenly pulled him into. It was unexpected, but in a way, not at all. Ever since they had met, there had been a connection between them, and Benji wasn't the kind of guy to turn his back on something like that — he was always hooking up with guys and making out with handsome strangers in clubs. But Lucifer wasn't a stranger anymore, and that had built up the tension between them so heavy, it ended up sinking through the walls Benjamin had tried to put up in order to satisfy Dan.

He had tried being responsible and mature, but in that moment, he was quite done with that.

He could tell Lucifer had had experience, and Lucifer could notice the same about Benjamin. That was all — a hot kiss, a momentary rush, but once they were both breathless and speechless, they broke apart and their hands let go of each other. They ended up both smirking, rather usual for the two of them, but what could they do? There had been so much tension between them, and now, it had been unloaded into that one, sweet but fleeting moment that would no doubt color Benji's dreams rather vividly the following night. But indeed, with that, it was over.

"Looks like Detective Douche found something", Benjamin then cleared his throat, nodding towards Dan, who was standing on the other side of the dance floor, interrogating the bartender. And from the looks of it, that very same bartender was about to run to the hills, so Lucifer nodded and adjusted his jacket before heroically swooping in and saving the situation. But, just a second before he stepped away from Benji, he turned to him with a grin.

"I thank you for the dance, Benjamin. That was truly something", he cocked an eyebrow, and in a blink of an eye, he had already stomped across the floor and grabbed the fleeing bartender by his throat, lifting him against the wall whilst grabbing a drink from the bar and sipping on it casually.

And sighing, Benjamin could only shake his head and wonder if he could be the exception, the one who didn't fall for Lucifer. Or was it already too late?

—————

night out, Benji resorted to tending to his hangover at the police department of L.A, stuffing his face with Dan's pudding and drooling on Chloe's desk — which the woman wasn't cruel enough to disapprove. Then there was also the fact that she was currently out with Lucifer, who was having zero trouble with handling the day after. Unlike Benjamin, who, despite countless nights of drinking and endless experience of partying, was still struggling — but then again, perhaps that was just the bourbon and the hot kiss he was trying to push out of his mind, to no avail.

He wasn't really buying the whole Devil thing, not wholeheartedly at the very least, but he figured that was why the image of Lucifer's face and his stupid, smug grin was burned into his thoughts, impossible to scrub off.

But, that didn't stop him from trying. With earphones blasting Beyoncé on full volume, the man was kicking the vending machine for a bag of chips and groaning at every failed attempt, his leather jacket keeping him warm along with a grey hoodie with the hood pulled over his tousled curls.

That was, of course, until someone pulled the hood off of his head before tapping on his shoulder. Convinced that it was Dan, Benjamin turned around with his eyebrows knitted together in utter frustration, but once he came face to face with Izzy Holt, holding up a bag of junk food and a milkshake, he broke into a smile and nodded approvingly. "You're the best", he sighed whilst taking out his earphones, before grabbing the bag Izzy was offering for him, and chuckling, the redhead shrugged.

"As much as I'd like to take credit, Dan told me to get this to you. His money, not mine. You know, he's really happy you're back. He's always talking about you", Izzy nudged Benjamin gently, and eyes widening, the youngest Espinoza was clearly surprised by this.

Opening the bag with one hand, and using another to pick a few fries from there, Benjamin couldn't hide the smile on his face. "Of course he is. I'm irresistible. But, I am happy to be back. Back with him", he shrugged, before looking up at Izzy and sneakily changing the subject. "How'd it go with Ma—Uh, Maz— You know, her", Benjamin awkwardly cleared his throat, unsure what the right name was, but concluding from the hint of pink that spread over Izzy's cheeks, she knew exactly who he was talking about.

"Mazikeen", Izzy corrected, almost too quickly, which widened Benjamin's teasing smile. "It was, um, okay. She's so cool. A total badass. Yet when she kicks ass, she still looks flawless. It makes no sense", the redhead sighed dreamily, whilst leaning against the vending machine and looking over to Detective Decker's desk — surprisingly, Chloe had already returned, but not alone. On the other side of her workspace, sat Mazikeen herself, and Benjamin could have sworn Izzy's eyes became replaced with a pair of hearts instead.

Snapping out of her thoughts then, Izzy turned back to Benjamin, who was munching on a cheeseburger — or more like devouring it all. "I heard you guys had quite the party too. I guess this is where I ask, how'd it go with Lucifer?", she flashed a grin, and this time, it was Benji's turn to grow shy and sheepish. But, he'd never admit that.

"A gentleman never shares the details", he simply smiled at Izzy, before heading over to Chloe, who had promised to give him a ride home. Mazikeen was already walking away, and from the corner of his eyes, Benjamin could see Isadora rushing after her, which made him shake his head. But he supposed he could see some similarities between Izzy and himself. What those similarities were, he didn't take under consideration.

Closing some files and packing her things, Chloe got up from her desk and questioned if Benji was ready to go, and beyond excited to get into bed and sleep the remains of his hangover off, he nodded his head. The two then walked out of the precinct together, and heading into the car, they talked about the night they had both had — whereas Benjamin had partied with Lucifer and Amenadiel, Chloe had been banned from a tiki bar due to a fight, and for the first time in forever, Benji admitted that she had the better story. Especially when she explained that she had drunkenly agreed to move in together with Mazikeen.

That was why the blonde was calling about a recently opened house — due to the former owner being a murderer, which Chloe herself had caught — while Benjamin was quietly singing along the radio and playing some Candy Crush on his phone. He didn't know Maze personally, but he had a feeling she wasn't all that similar to Chloe, which was why the thought of them living under the same roof was making him smile. Perhaps they could make it work, though. He'd have to see for himself.

"You and Maze, huh? I still haven't met her. I kind of want to, everyone's making her sound so special", Benjamin wondered out loud when Chloe ended the call, and chuckling, the woman nodded.

"That's one way to describe her. But something makes me think you two would get along well. Maybe it's just the irresponsibility", she teased, and laughing, Benjamin was about to argue, but before he could, his laughter got cut short.

It all happened in a blur, so quickly that Benjamin couldn't even grasp the moment until it was too late — not that it was ever in his control, to begin with. A car crashed into theirs, and as Benji and Chloe both fell victims to the impact, he hit his head and the window became stained with blood. And as if someone had snapped his fingers, Benjamin fell into a pool of darkness and unconsciousness took over.

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