Duke wouldn't understand how Lucifer could feel useless. He was staying. That was everything.

Even as Duke shook. Even as he cried for someone Lucifer hated. Even as he pulled at his hair like hanging onto that would help him hang onto all he various pieces of himself that tried to fall off or float away.

"Thank you," he said, soft and hoarse. And "I'm sorry." And when those felt like they weren't enough: "You're people. You are. You're people."