Lucifer looks around at the celebration in full swing around him, and sighs. It's time to leave. He always keeps his visits short, to not get tempted to get too attached.

He's about to get up, when he hears a voice from next to him. "You look lonely."

He turns around, already an insult on the tip of his tongue about that being the absolute worst pick-up line anybody has ever had the bad grace to throw in his face. The words die on his tongue though when he comes face to face with the woman next to him. What stops him short is not that she's beautiful, even though she most certainly is. It's the way she's looking at him, like she actually cares what's going on with him, rather than with the animalistic desire he's used to being on the receiving end of.

"Sorry, I don't remember you. What do you do?"

He gives her a questioning look in lieu of a reply. Her words are a little slurred, and while she's not exactly drunk, she's definitely getting there. Maybe that's why she needs a moment longer to be affected by him.

She makes a grand gesture with her arms, encompassing the entire venue. "The movie?"

He just raises an eyebrow.

"Dude. This is the wrap party for a movie. How did you sneak in here?"

He gives her a wide grin, showing off his teeth. "I have a way of getting where I want to be, what I want to have, and who I want to be with."

"Oh really", she says sarcastically, still unimpressed. Strange.

He holds out his hand. "Lucifer Morningstar."

She, honest to Dad, rolls her eyes at him. "Oh wow. Like the devil?"

"Very much like the devil, indeed", he says, flashing her one of his trademark devilish grins.

She puts her elbow on the bar, leaning her head on her hand, looking for all the world as if she regrets having started a conversation with him in the first place, which is something that simply doesn't happen to him.

"Why would you want to be the devil?", she says, eyes half-closed, scrutinizing him.

Now it is his turn to roll his eyes. "Yes, yes, I know, he's evil incarnate, bringer of lies, killer of kittens, yadda yadda yadda."

"Hm. No, I meant more 'cause he totally got screwed over. I mean like-" She waves the hand that is not currently supporting her head about, clearly searching for an appropriate word in her slightly intoxicated brain, then gives up, finishing with, "-a lot."

Now this, he has to hear. "Whatever do you mean?"

She slowly shakes her head, blinking a couple of times, trying to fight off the effects of the alcohol. "Right, listen, so, my grandmother always told us these stories, you know, she was very religious, but I never really got that one. I mean, what did he do that was so bad? He asked a question, so what?" She starts gesturing wildly, getting more animated as she speaks. He is inexplicably drawn to her eyes, which is normally not a feature he pays much attention to.

"So, he asked a question and do you wanna know what I think?" It's a rhetorical question, but he finds himself nodding anyway. Yes, he would very much like to know what she thinks. "I think the reply of a beveno- belove- benelov-" She frowns, scrunching up her face adorably as the thinks. "-well-meaning God, hell, the reply of even a decent father should have been 'Good question, son. I'm glad you asked. Let's have a beer and I'll explain my reasons.'. But that wasn't what he said, now, was it? Noooo, he was all like Go to hell!."

She makes little air quotation marks with her fingers, and Lucifer just stares at her, feeling a strange sensation that he's never felt before and can't really describe.

"And was it such a terrible question to ask? If you think about it, isn't free will like the most basic human right? I mean, if you can't have free will, then what's the point of anything else?" She's talking herself into quite a rant, eyes ablaze, and Lucifer finds himself transfixed, hanging on her every word. He wonders if this is how mortals usually feel when they listen to him.

"So, actually, he was more of a human rights-", she stops, thinking for a second, "-angel rights activist if you think about it." She stops again, looking at him. "What?"

He just stares at her, mouth agape.

"Are you feeling okay? Are you having a seizure or something?"

He closes his mouth, but doesn't manage to formulate a reply. For the first time in his life, he's actually speechless.

She looks at him in shock. "Oh God. Please don't tell me you're actually deeply religious and I've just really offended you."

"No", he croaks. He clears his throat. "No, I'm not offended."

"Right. Okay. Great." Her ears turn an adorable shade of red, and she starts fidgeting on the bar stool, all of a sudden nervous. "Sorry for going off on a rant like that. I- um- I gotta go." She jumps off the stool, making her way through the crowd.

Lucifer blinks, staring for a couple of seconds at the suddenly empty space beside him. Then he jumps up, running after her.

"Wait!"

She stops and turns around, apparently having heard him over the racket of the crowd. He catches up to her, and then proceeds to stand there like an idiot, not knowing what to say. Something is definitely off with him today.

"I- um- don't even know your name."

As if on cue, some young guy a couple of feet away waves at them and yells Chloe, beckoning her to come join him. Chloe gives Lucifer a shy smile and tilts her head, as if to say there's your answer and something about the gesture is strangely mesmerizing. For some reason everything this mortal does is somehow mesmerizing.

"Um. Thank you for- you know- sharing your version of events. It was very refreshing to hear. And I was certainly, in no shape or form whatsoever, offended by it. On the contrary, I think you might be onto something." He catches himself scratching behind his ear nervously. What the bloody hell is wrong with him today? "Anyway, it was nice to meet you."

She smiles at him, a bit more confident this time. "Likewise", she replies. The obnoxious youth yells her name again and Lucifer feels a sudden and inexplicable urge to punch him in the face. She shrugs somewhat apologetically, then she's off to join the guy.

Chloe gets hammered that night, and has all but forgotten their conversation the next morning. By the time they meet again, his name only sounds vaguely familiar, and she never manages to place it, or him.

Lucifer never forgets her, or any part of that conversation, for as long as he lives. And when he decides to take a more permanent vacation, he goes back to L.A., mostly for the pun, because City of Angels, and because the mortals who are drawn there seem to have a certain attitude which suits him. And that's all there is to it. Or so he tells himself, at least.