Alastor nodded even though Angel wasn't likely to see it. Instead, he took a bit of cloth and dipped it into the sticky poultice. His hands, gloved or not, would never touch Angel's skin. He knew the look of someone who'd been touched enough.
It was arguably the only thing he truly had empathy for: that feeling that another's touch was burning, freezing, crawling under the skin and wouldn't give a moment's peace.
Alastor began applying the poultice little by little, adding bandages as soon as the scrapes and bruises were covered by the bitter-smelling mixture. He began murmuring under his breath as green magic swirled about Angel, seeping into the other's body and encouraging healing.
If Angel listened close enough, he'd be shocked to hear not curses or forbidden tongues but prayers almost buried beneath Alastor's customary static.
Angel let out an agonizing hiss, sucking air through his sharp teeth as the poultice pressed against his wounds. Son of a bitch, he wasn't joking about it stinging like a motherfucker. Though it didn't go unnoticed by Angel that Alastor was being oddly... tender. The spider couldn't tell if Al was just repulsed to the idea of touching him or he was actually trying to be mindful.
Either way, this whole situation was aggravatingly confusing. The radio demon's words didn't seem to match with his actions. Or maybe they did? He couldn't tell what was the truth anymore. Switching off his brain, Angel just sat and let Alastor continue his work.
In the quiet stillness of Angel's darken room, he could hear the other demon muttering to himself as his hands worked over his body. It was too faint for him to make anything out and he couldn't help himself from be suspicious.
"You better not be putting some weird hex on me." Angel peered over his shoulder at Al with his one good eye.
Alastor snorted. "Contrary to popular belief, voodoo isn't just about hexes and curses. Plenty of the spells, particularly those in rootwork, are for healing."
He continued applying each bit of poultice and the bandages.
"I admit I never found much use for the healing aspects outside of personal use, but here we are, I suppose!"
His power flowed into Angel, working with the poultice to start cleaning out potential infection and closing up the wounds.
Angel abruptly jerked away as one of the poultices touched a rather sore around, choking down curses under his breath. Whether Alastor was telling the truth it was anyone guess. But after the stinging subsided, Angel had to admit his injuries did seem... better.
Turning back around, Angel huffed, "Always full of surprises. Never pegged you as the healing type... Don't it seem a bit wasteful even if I'm just your 'toy'?"
"I'm not," Alastor said flatly. "Perhaps if I was, I wouldn't be down here in the first place. Besides, I told you I take good care of my toys and don't appreciate others breaking them. I'll have to think of some way to repay Valentino for this."
He dipped another strip of cloth into the poultice.
"Close your eyes. This will sting even more if it ends up in them, and you writhing around in the floor in pain might be fun to watch but it will probably undo a lot of my work."
In a knee jerk reaction, without warning Angel spun around to face Alastor, his eyes uncharacteristically wide with fear.
"No, don't! I-" Angel froze, one of his primary hands were just inches away from clasping onto Alastor's shoulders. His eyes fluttered. Fuck, what the hell was he doing? Realizing how pathetic he must look right about now, Angel he withdrew his hand to stroke Fat Nuggets head. "I mean, I was already broken before Val dug his claws into me. I fuckin' hate that limp dick sack of shit. I know your tough Al, but you're just one guy. There's no need for ya you get buried in all this shit too. Not for someone like me. You can get new toys that haven't been all used up."
Angel slumped his head downwards as his thought trailed off. Ughh, again, why did he even care what Alastor decided to do? Go get yourself killed. See if he cared. Annoyed with himself, Angel shut his eyes in compliance. The faster Alastor finishes, the faster he can leave.
Alastor's ears pricked up as his eyes widened in surprise, smile tensing as Angel's hands hovered so close to his shoulders. He relaxed a hair when Angel chose to start petting the pig instead, relieved. It had nothing to do with where those hands had been. Alastor just didn't like to be touched unless he initiated it, something Angel likely knew.
He chuckled as he reached forward to tap the back of his hand against Angel's chin, a mute request for him to look up.
"My dear, I prefer fixing up the old and broken toys since they're shiny and new to me. Why interest myself in something just anyone can pick up at the corner store? The real treasures are the ones others have forgotten. No no no no, I'll take the burnt-out old Philco over any Vogitech MP3 player. With a bit of elbow grease and time, the Philco will be infinitely better than that lump of plastic."
Alastor then darkly chuckled. "Besides, I'm not so foolish as to attempt to 'clean house' again just yet. I caught everyone flat-footed last time. This time they're watching for me."
Waiting for the impending unpleasant burning sensation over his swollen eye, it confused him when there came a gentle graze against his chin. It caused his eyes to flicker open, peering up into Alastor's face as his own flushed a bit pink. Angel's head buzzed with a million different voices, all trying to scream over the other. First of all, the king of no touchy was choosing to initiate contact. And second, why did Alastor sound so strangely sweet? Who was he and where is the real radio demon?!
No, no, no. Do not get swept away in this bullshit. He literally just said your just an object to him. Even so, somewhere deep inside him, Angel couldn't help feeling a bit moved by his words. Like a fucking idiot.
Crashing back down to reality, Angel tried to blink away the flustered look in his eyes, but his cheeks remained rosy, "Do what ever ya want then. Just don't say I didn't warn ya. But if I didn't know any better, I'd say you're growing a bit soft there, Smiles."
Regaining a bit of his old spark, Angel flashed a small fang filled grin.
Alastor gave a sharp laugh. "Ha! Even if I was, nobody would ever believe you, my effeminate fellow!"
The Radio Demon. Soft. Absolutely absurd. Everyone in Hell knew the Radio Demon had no heart. Why, some sinners were convinced that Alastor had never been alive to begin with, the Radio Demon having manifested from pure evil itself.
He wished he didn't have a heart, that he was just evil chaos made manifest.
"Now then: Eyes closed unless you want to writhe about on the floor! As amusing as that would be, you'd undo all my work so far!"
Damn, Alastor was right. Even if he told people about the radio demon's supposed soft side, they would just laugh in his face. Though Charlie... she would totally believe him and pester the ever loving shit out of Alastor forever. Welp, he was just going to pack that away for a rainy day when he was feeling bored and wanted to piss Al off.
Angel snickered under his breath, closing his eyes again. "Sure, sure, what ever you say. If that's what ya got to tell yourself to sleep at night, Smiles."
However, he began very carefully dabbing away at the areas around Angel's eyes. It wouldn't do to work to heal the damage only to poke the spider's eye out with a clumsily-placed claw.
He resumed murmuring his prayers to the loa, asking for their aid in speeding up the healing process. Likely the names would mean nothing to Angel except for one: Divine Mother Mary.
The swelling around the blackened eye was starting to go down. Good. Soon enough Angel would be able to use the eye to see again. It'd take more time for the aberrant color to go away but the swelling was the important thing.
Angel sat as still as he could to allow Alastor finish his work, with a few stray flinches as he passed over the super tender spots. But again, after a while, the pain he had once felt begun so subside. His body was already feel worlds better. His mental state, that was a different story.
Sitting alone in his room with the deer.... It was nice, even if Alastor had his own selfish reasons behind the kind gesture. When he thought Alastor had concluded his handy work, Angel let the peaceful silence stretch between them before slowing opening his eyes. He didn't lift his head to met the other demon's eyes. Instead, they were was downcast to stare intently at the little pig that had fallen fast asleep in his arms.
"Say... For what its worth... Thanks.... for helpin'." Angel absent mindedly stroked the piglet's head.
There. Finished. And a good thing, too, as Angel began opening his eyes. He sat ramrod straight, eyes flicking over Angel one more time to make sure that he hadn't missed any places. It was a strange silence but not an uncomfortable one. For all of the noise that accompanied Alastor, there was something to be said for quiet.
And then Angel thanked him.
Alastor's ears pricked upwards, twitching periodically as he tried to process what he'd just heard. Someone thanking him. It was such a rare thing. After all, his reputation was one of terror and bloodshed and warnings to run very fast in the opposite direction the moment someone saw him.
"I...you're welcome...?"
The sound of a radio swinging uncertainly between channels accompanied the stilted response. The words tasted strange on his tongue. He'd said them before long, long ago, but it'd been so long that the phrase had turned rusty.
Oh my fucking god. This whole situation was getting hella uncomfortable for the porn star. What was with all these raw emotions he was having? And even Al was being so fucking nice in his own weird way? He felt like he walked into the Twilight Zone. Shit, he needed to restore some sense of normalcy, fast. He had a reputation to maintain.
Turning his gaze upwards, Angel gave Alastor one of his classic shit eating grins of his, almost looking like his usual self. "So is this the part where you comfort fuck me to overwrite the memories of another man's hands all over your property or what?"
Alastor's ears twitched backwards. "Not even in your wildest dreams."
He rose from his seat, snapping the lid back on the Tupperware container. There was still quite a bit of the poultice left. He then held it out to Angel.
"Here, you degenerate. Don't forget to reapply this in a few hours on any remaining cuts or swelling."
Ah there was the Alastor he knew and liked? Maybe? Ugh, fuck that. Yet he felt he could push things a little further. Just to really make sure their status quo was firmly in place.
Shifting on his bed to his knees, he rose with a sultry chuckle. Angel reached out to place both his hands squarely over top of Alastor's which held out the small container while maintaining prolong eye contact through half lidded eyes. And as if that wasn't enough if ruffle his fur, the spider hovered in real close to peck the tip of the deer's nose.
"Thanks, babe~" Angel teased. "I'll think about you when I touch myself."
Then he quickly retreated back to his bed, tupperware in hand.
Alastor's grin widened as his eyes narrowed, ears now flat against his skull.
"Don't ever say that again to me."
He could feel the flustered blush starting to tint his cheeks as red as his hair. With that, he teleported away, back to the relative safety of his room.
There. He knew where Angel was. The situation was back under control. The status quo restored. The spiders beneath his skin finally stopped their tap-dancing.
However, when he laid back on his bed, he still found it impossible to sleep. He groaned and buried his face in his hands as the embarrassed blush overtook him.
As Alastor made his hasty get away, the moment the demon teleported away, so did Angel's bullshit bravado. The smirk on his face vanished like it was never there in the first place. Again, Angel found himself deserted in that suffocating silence of his tiny room. This is what he wanted, right? The weight of everything crept back to smother him and the plastic tub fell mutely to the covers.
Putting on his guise was utterly exhausting and he slumped back down to rest his head on the cool pillow completely spent. But no sleep would come for him tonight. The repulsive sensation of those dirty hands still haunted him. Angel felt sick knowing that in a few days time that he would have to walk back into that lion's den. Valentino made it painfully clear about what would happen if he went against his wishes. He wouldn't only come after him but... the people around him.
"Fuck..." Angel hissed, his eyes clouding with tears for the millionth time tonight.
There was something comforting in the normalcy over the next few days. Everything was as it should be, even the parts Alastor personally didn't care for. He enjoyed being entertained but there was something to be said of having some sort of normal if it meant that it wasn't his typical version of normal.
He was getting too used to having people around him. Things were going well. Where was that blasted other shoe?
Alastor hummed along with the music his internal receiver had picked up on as he sipped his coffee. He and Charlie had gone over the budget regarding some of the upcoming larger repairs. Some parts of it he'd do with his magic, but Charlie had been insistent that the majority had to be done through good old fashioned hard work. After all, how could she expect her patrons to put in the effort if she herself wasn't? (Admirable in its own way but honestly she was biting off more than she could chew. Ah well. She'd come around and ask for more of his help soon enough.)
Where was his goddamn Oscar? For the past few days, Angel has been putting on the performance of his life. The mopey sad sack self from yester year was just a figment of Alastor's imagination. He made up some bullshit excuse about his sudden disappearance to Charlie. Something about him going on a five day bender and lost track of time because he was so high. Of course Charlie was disappointed in his behavior, but honestly, he was used to it. It was far better than her knowing the truth, that he was held captive by his abusive pimp in his fucking sex dungeon strung up like a birthday balloon for his personal amusement. And thanks to Alastor's voodoo magic shit, he looked almost good as new.
But today, Angel woke up with a cold pit in his guts. Tonight was the night he had to return or face a repeat performance. Thankfully he knew that today Al and Charlie was going to have some boring ass meeting about the welfare of the hotel. Crap that didn't involve him. He was just going to waltz out like it was your average day and no one would be the wiser.
Slinking down the stairs, Angel made his way to the ground floor to prance his ass straight out those doors when a humming caught his attention. Glancing back he saw the radio demon enjoying a piping hot cup of coffee at Husker's bar. Was their meeting already over? Well shit...
Not to raise suspensions, Angel flashed a toothy grin. "Evening Smiles~"
Alastor looked up from his coffee, giving the spider a bemused look. "Heading out, I see. Should we be expecting you before or after sunrise?"
The usual jabs. Nice and normal. Honestly as much as Angel's profession got under Alastor's skin, he kept the scathing remarks to first degree burns. The world's oldest profession could continue on so long as Alastor didn't have to participate.
Yes good, their classic back and forth. If he could slip past Alastor without raising any red flags, he could sure as shit trick Charlie. But truthfully, he didn't know how long he would be out for. A few hours, the next morning, the next few days... It really hinged on Val's mood.
"Aww, are you worried?" Angel batted his eyes mockingly. "Well don't wait up if that's what you're askin'. Don't know when I'm coming back."
Alastor rolled his eyes. "After sunrise then. Noted." He waved a hand as if shooing away a particularly annoying fly. "I'm looking forward to a night without your crass invitations!"
Near as he could figure, it was some sort of game to Angel. A game Alastor didn't enjoy playing. It was, quite frankly, embarrassing. Particularly given he always got the vague impression when he decided to end the game by leaving Angel to his vulgar devices that it was giving Angel the victory.
For a split second Angel's expression faltered. Oh man, you have no idea the hell he was about to walk into tonight. After that night they spent together, Angel had a suspicion if Alastor caught wind on him leaving to see Val, he might try to pull something. Fuck, he didn't know why he keeps trying to shield the massive deer dick from his bullshit.
"Admit it, Smiles~ You're going to miss me~" Angel smirked, blowing Alastor a kiss before flinging the doors of the hotel open to slip on out.
Safe, he did it. Now time to- Angel waivered in the driveway seeing that damned pink limo creeping its way up. What the shit? Did Valentino not trust him to show up on his own? If anyone saw... oh fuck, oh fuck, oh fuck!
The limo stopped in front of Angel and the back door lazily swung open in a twist of red smoke. Sitting pretty in the back seat like nothing happened was that damned prick.
"Get in." Val's harsh tone sliced through him. It was not a request.
"Yes Val." Angel bowed his head in compliance as he crawled inside. Valentino's hands were all over him in an instant, pulling him close to forcefully shove that slimy tongue down his throat before the doors shut and the limo sped off.
Ever since Alastor had come to the Happy Hotel, the little shadow creatures that were drawn to the deer demon had a tendency to hang around as well. They flitted about from shadow to shadow, watching the inhabitants of the hotel with equal parts curiosity and amusement. Sometimes they liked to play tricks on the demons living there. Mostly harmless things like moving things around.
This also meant that they acted as Alastor's extra eyes and ears even when he didn't specifically ask them to. They weren't bound to the Radio Demon like his personal shadow, but they liked Alastor. He always included them in his mischief, meaning the shadows thought he was great fun the vast majority of the time.
One of the shadows was watching Hell go by from beneath one of the eaves outside the hotel when it spied an unfamiliar limousine pull up in front of where Angel had just exited the building. The door opened, yet nothing but red smoke exited the vehicle, further drawing the shadow's curiosity. It watched as Angel hesitated with obvious discomfort and then ultimately got into the garishly pink machine. If this was some sort of game, it didn't look like one that Angel wanted to play. The last time the shadow had seen that had been a few days ago when Alastor had asked the shadow creatures to keep an eye out for Angel who'd been missing. If Angel went missing again, its deer friend would be upset.
It slipped into the hotel, seeking the Radio Demon.
---
Alastor's ears pricked at the sound of a car door slamming shut followed by the squeal of tires. It was probably nothing. Everything was fine.
...The spiders were starting to tap dance beneath his skin again.
Angel didn't have a car. Charlie didn't let anyone use her limo without asking. Yet it sounded like a car had been waiting for when Angel had stepped out. A client that had set something up ahead of time?
Or worse.
He stared into his half-empty coffee cup, the rich flavor suddenly tasting like muddy bayou water. He subconsciously rubbed at his arm while his ears twitched erratically.
One of the playful little shadow creatures appeared before him, chittering in his head as it transformed into the silhouette of Angel with a distressed look on his face. Alastor went shock still as he listened to the details: a strange pink limousine with red smoke.
Alastor's coffee mug cracked as the hand still gripping it clenched it.
"Thank you, my friend, for bringing this to my attention. Will you and the others let me know if he beats me back here?" He held out a ball of swirling green magic about the size of a golf ball to the shadow which it eagerly took, shifting back into its normal, vaguely-impish shape.
Then Alastor teleported away, leaving the half-finished coffee abandoned. He arrived in front of Valentino's studio, smile tightening with disgust. It would've been nice to teleport directly to Angel's location, but unfortunately Valentino wasn't a fool: His building was one of the ones warded against scrying. Alastor would've teleported in completely blind and could end up merged into a wall.
Well, appearing out front where people started emptying the street en masse meant stealth wasn't an option. Alastor's shadow leaned over his shoulder.
"Find Angel."
The shadow swooped into the building as Alastor followed at a more sedate pace.
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It was arguably the only thing he truly had empathy for: that feeling that another's touch was burning, freezing, crawling under the skin and wouldn't give a moment's peace.
Alastor began applying the poultice little by little, adding bandages as soon as the scrapes and bruises were covered by the bitter-smelling mixture. He began murmuring under his breath as green magic swirled about Angel, seeping into the other's body and encouraging healing.
If Angel listened close enough, he'd be shocked to hear not curses or forbidden tongues but prayers almost buried beneath Alastor's customary static.
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Either way, this whole situation was aggravatingly confusing. The radio demon's words didn't seem to match with his actions. Or maybe they did? He couldn't tell what was the truth anymore. Switching off his brain, Angel just sat and let Alastor continue his work.
In the quiet stillness of Angel's darken room, he could hear the other demon muttering to himself as his hands worked over his body. It was too faint for him to make anything out and he couldn't help himself from be suspicious.
"You better not be putting some weird hex on me." Angel peered over his shoulder at Al with his one good eye.
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He continued applying each bit of poultice and the bandages.
"I admit I never found much use for the healing aspects outside of personal use, but here we are, I suppose!"
His power flowed into Angel, working with the poultice to start cleaning out potential infection and closing up the wounds.
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Turning back around, Angel huffed, "Always full of surprises. Never pegged you as the healing type... Don't it seem a bit wasteful even if I'm just your 'toy'?"
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He dipped another strip of cloth into the poultice.
"Close your eyes. This will sting even more if it ends up in them, and you writhing around in the floor in pain might be fun to watch but it will probably undo a lot of my work."
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"No, don't! I-" Angel froze, one of his primary hands were just inches away from clasping onto Alastor's shoulders. His eyes fluttered. Fuck, what the hell was he doing? Realizing how pathetic he must look right about now, Angel he withdrew his hand to stroke Fat Nuggets head. "I mean, I was already broken before Val dug his claws into me. I fuckin' hate that limp dick sack of shit. I know your tough Al, but you're just one guy. There's no need for ya you get buried in all this shit too. Not for someone like me. You can get new toys that haven't been all used up."
Angel slumped his head downwards as his thought trailed off. Ughh, again, why did he even care what Alastor decided to do? Go get yourself killed. See if he cared. Annoyed with himself, Angel shut his eyes in compliance. The faster Alastor finishes, the faster he can leave.
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He chuckled as he reached forward to tap the back of his hand against Angel's chin, a mute request for him to look up.
"My dear, I prefer fixing up the old and broken toys since they're shiny and new to me. Why interest myself in something just anyone can pick up at the corner store? The real treasures are the ones others have forgotten. No no no no, I'll take the burnt-out old Philco over any Vogitech MP3 player. With a bit of elbow grease and time, the Philco will be infinitely better than that lump of plastic."
Alastor then darkly chuckled. "Besides, I'm not so foolish as to attempt to 'clean house' again just yet. I caught everyone flat-footed last time. This time they're watching for me."
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No, no, no. Do not get swept away in this bullshit. He literally just said your just an object to him. Even so, somewhere deep inside him, Angel couldn't help feeling a bit moved by his words. Like a fucking idiot.
Crashing back down to reality, Angel tried to blink away the flustered look in his eyes, but his cheeks remained rosy, "Do what ever ya want then. Just don't say I didn't warn ya. But if I didn't know any better, I'd say you're growing a bit soft there, Smiles."
Regaining a bit of his old spark, Angel flashed a small fang filled grin.
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The Radio Demon. Soft. Absolutely absurd. Everyone in Hell knew the Radio Demon had no heart. Why, some sinners were convinced that Alastor had never been alive to begin with, the Radio Demon having manifested from pure evil itself.
He wished he didn't have a heart, that he was just evil chaos made manifest."Now then: Eyes closed unless you want to writhe about on the floor! As amusing as that would be, you'd undo all my work so far!"
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Angel snickered under his breath, closing his eyes again. "Sure, sure, what ever you say. If that's what ya got to tell yourself to sleep at night, Smiles."
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However, he began very carefully dabbing away at the areas around Angel's eyes. It wouldn't do to work to heal the damage only to poke the spider's eye out with a clumsily-placed claw.
He resumed murmuring his prayers to the loa, asking for their aid in speeding up the healing process. Likely the names would mean nothing to Angel except for one: Divine Mother Mary.
The swelling around the blackened eye was starting to go down. Good. Soon enough Angel would be able to use the eye to see again. It'd take more time for the aberrant color to go away but the swelling was the important thing.
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Sitting alone in his room with the deer.... It was nice, even if Alastor had his own selfish reasons behind the kind gesture. When he thought Alastor had concluded his handy work, Angel let the peaceful silence stretch between them before slowing opening his eyes. He didn't lift his head to met the other demon's eyes. Instead, they were was downcast to stare intently at the little pig that had fallen fast asleep in his arms.
"Say... For what its worth... Thanks.... for helpin'." Angel absent mindedly stroked the piglet's head.
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And then Angel thanked him.
Alastor's ears pricked upwards, twitching periodically as he tried to process what he'd just heard. Someone thanking him. It was such a rare thing. After all, his reputation was one of terror and bloodshed and warnings to run very fast in the opposite direction the moment someone saw him.
"I...you're welcome...?"
The sound of a radio swinging uncertainly between channels accompanied the stilted response. The words tasted strange on his tongue. He'd said them before long, long ago, but it'd been so long that the phrase had turned rusty.
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Turning his gaze upwards, Angel gave Alastor one of his classic shit eating grins of his, almost looking like his usual self. "So is this the part where you comfort fuck me to overwrite the memories of another man's hands all over your property or what?"
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He rose from his seat, snapping the lid back on the Tupperware container. There was still quite a bit of the poultice left. He then held it out to Angel.
"Here, you degenerate. Don't forget to reapply this in a few hours on any remaining cuts or swelling."
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and liked? Maybe? Ugh, fuck that.Yet he felt he could push things a little further. Just to really make sure their status quo was firmly in place.Shifting on his bed to his knees, he rose with a sultry chuckle. Angel reached out to place both his hands squarely over top of Alastor's which held out the small container while maintaining prolong eye contact through half lidded eyes. And as if that wasn't enough if ruffle his fur, the spider hovered in real close to peck the tip of the deer's nose.
"Thanks, babe~" Angel teased. "I'll think about you when I touch myself."
Then he quickly retreated back to his bed, tupperware in hand.
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"Don't ever say that again to me."
He could feel the flustered blush starting to tint his cheeks as red as his hair. With that, he teleported away, back to the relative safety of his room.
There. He knew where Angel was. The situation was back under control. The status quo restored. The spiders beneath his skin finally stopped their tap-dancing.
However, when he laid back on his bed, he still found it impossible to sleep. He groaned and buried his face in his hands as the embarrassed blush overtook him.
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Putting on his guise was utterly exhausting and he slumped back down to rest his head on the cool pillow completely spent. But no sleep would come for him tonight. The repulsive sensation of those dirty hands still haunted him. Angel felt sick knowing that in a few days time that he would have to walk back into that lion's den. Valentino made it painfully clear about what would happen if he went against his wishes. He wouldn't only come after him but... the people around him.
"Fuck..." Angel hissed, his eyes clouding with tears for the millionth time tonight.
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He was getting too used to having people around him. Things were going well. Where was that blasted other shoe?Alastor hummed along with the music his internal receiver had picked up on as he sipped his coffee. He and Charlie had gone over the budget regarding some of the upcoming larger repairs. Some parts of it he'd do with his magic, but Charlie had been insistent that the majority had to be done through good old fashioned hard work. After all, how could she expect her patrons to put in the effort if she herself wasn't? (Admirable in its own way but honestly she was biting off more than she could chew. Ah well. She'd come around and ask for more of his help soon enough.)
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But today, Angel woke up with a cold pit in his guts. Tonight was the night he had to return or face a repeat performance. Thankfully he knew that today Al and Charlie was going to have some boring ass meeting about the welfare of the hotel. Crap that didn't involve him. He was just going to waltz out like it was your average day and no one would be the wiser.
Slinking down the stairs, Angel made his way to the ground floor to prance his ass straight out those doors when a humming caught his attention. Glancing back he saw the radio demon enjoying a piping hot cup of coffee at Husker's bar. Was their meeting already over? Well shit...
Not to raise suspensions, Angel flashed a toothy grin. "Evening Smiles~"
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The usual jabs. Nice and normal. Honestly as much as Angel's profession got under Alastor's skin, he kept the scathing remarks to first degree burns. The world's oldest profession could continue on so long as Alastor didn't have to participate.
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"Aww, are you worried?" Angel batted his eyes mockingly. "Well don't wait up if that's what you're askin'. Don't know when I'm coming back."
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Near as he could figure, it was some sort of game to Angel. A game Alastor didn't enjoy playing. It was, quite frankly, embarrassing. Particularly given he always got the vague impression when he decided to end the game by leaving Angel to his vulgar devices that it was giving Angel the victory.
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"Admit it, Smiles~ You're going to miss me~" Angel smirked, blowing Alastor a kiss before flinging the doors of the hotel open to slip on out.
Safe, he did it. Now time to- Angel waivered in the driveway seeing that damned pink limo creeping its way up. What the shit? Did Valentino not trust him to show up on his own? If anyone saw... oh fuck, oh fuck, oh fuck!
The limo stopped in front of Angel and the back door lazily swung open in a twist of red smoke. Sitting pretty in the back seat like nothing happened was that damned prick.
"Get in." Val's harsh tone sliced through him. It was not a request.
"Yes Val." Angel bowed his head in compliance as he crawled inside. Valentino's hands were all over him in an instant, pulling him close to forcefully shove that slimy tongue down his throat before the doors shut and the limo sped off.
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This also meant that they acted as Alastor's extra eyes and ears even when he didn't specifically ask them to. They weren't bound to the Radio Demon like his personal shadow, but they liked Alastor. He always included them in his mischief, meaning the shadows thought he was great fun the vast majority of the time.
One of the shadows was watching Hell go by from beneath one of the eaves outside the hotel when it spied an unfamiliar limousine pull up in front of where Angel had just exited the building. The door opened, yet nothing but red smoke exited the vehicle, further drawing the shadow's curiosity. It watched as Angel hesitated with obvious discomfort and then ultimately got into the garishly pink machine. If this was some sort of game, it didn't look like one that Angel wanted to play. The last time the shadow had seen that had been a few days ago when Alastor had asked the shadow creatures to keep an eye out for Angel who'd been missing. If Angel went missing again, its deer friend would be upset.
It slipped into the hotel, seeking the Radio Demon.
---
Alastor's ears pricked at the sound of a car door slamming shut followed by the squeal of tires. It was probably nothing. Everything was fine.
...The spiders were starting to tap dance beneath his skin again.
Angel didn't have a car. Charlie didn't let anyone use her limo without asking. Yet it sounded like a car had been waiting for when Angel had stepped out. A client that had set something up ahead of time?
Or worse.
He stared into his half-empty coffee cup, the rich flavor suddenly tasting like muddy bayou water. He subconsciously rubbed at his arm while his ears twitched erratically.
One of the playful little shadow creatures appeared before him, chittering in his head as it transformed into the silhouette of Angel with a distressed look on his face. Alastor went shock still as he listened to the details: a strange pink limousine with red smoke.
Alastor's coffee mug cracked as the hand still gripping it clenched it.
"Thank you, my friend, for bringing this to my attention. Will you and the others let me know if he beats me back here?" He held out a ball of swirling green magic about the size of a golf ball to the shadow which it eagerly took, shifting back into its normal, vaguely-impish shape.
Then Alastor teleported away, leaving the half-finished coffee abandoned. He arrived in front of Valentino's studio, smile tightening with disgust. It would've been nice to teleport directly to Angel's location, but unfortunately Valentino wasn't a fool: His building was one of the ones warded against scrying. Alastor would've teleported in completely blind and could end up merged into a wall.
Well, appearing out front where people started emptying the street en masse meant stealth wasn't an option. Alastor's shadow leaned over his shoulder.
"Find Angel."
The shadow swooped into the building as Alastor followed at a more sedate pace.
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My turn to ramble on and on it seems.
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Vox in next tag...
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