Angel gave Alastor's hand a reassuring squeeze as the pair strolled down main street. They were causing a bit of a stir. Angel, the famous adult entertainer who hasn't been seen in weeks, arm in arm with one of the most dangerous demons in Hell. It didn't even occur to him at that one of the three Vs goons could have seen them. That was going to be a future Angel problem...
"I know. I did it cause I wanted to. Simple as that. Besides..." Angel playfully nudged Alastor's shoulders. "... means I can have ya all to myself."
Oh yeah, let that sink in. Letting out a bright chuckle Angel leans over to rest is head on the deer's shoulder. You know, cause people weren't already staring enough. Gotta pile on that shit. Plus it was a rare moment of Al letting him get away with this shit. Taking full advantage while he could.
Turning the corner on to a different avenue, Angel's head sprung up abruptly. If the radio demon cared to follow his line of sight he could see what held Angel's focus so intently was a small run down antique shop on the other side of the road. The grip he had on Alastor loosened.
"Wait for me, will ya? There's something I gotta see." Angel unwrapped himself again and without waiting for his body guard, scurried inside.
Angel's head resting on Alastor's shoulder caused a bit of static electricity to jump between his ears. His internal receiver swung wildly between stations as he was confused as to how to react to this. It wasn't unpleasant, but did he actually like it or not?
As he struggled to come up with a response, Angel darted off into the antique shop, startling him out of his thoughts. He tilted his head to one side, the sound of the radio switching between channels accompanying it. He'd been in this little shop before for periodic trips down memory lane. However, Angel always seemed to be constantly moving forward rather than rooted in the past. Why come here?
He entered into the little shop, taking in all the various bits and bobs on display. Forgotten treasures of bygone days decorated every shelf. All covered in a fine layer of dust as few stopped in to handle them as they debated purchase. These were the old, broken things no one wanted, after all.
One of the local shadow creatures swirled about him, happy for his visit. His smile warmed a bit.
"Hello. Just browsing today," he told it. He held out his hand and offered it a marble-sized bit of power which it eagerly took, popping it into its mouth like candy.
The shop wasn't very big -- most demons in Hell simply threw away the old things -- so he found Angel with no issue.
On the far right of the little shop, Alastor found Angel standing in front of what looks like a businessman's brief case. There was a brass clasps the held the two halves together complete with a little wooden handle. By the time Alastor reached him, Angel was stoking the top of the case gently with one hand.
"Oh man, its been ages since I've seen one of these." Angel mused as he flicked the clasps open, lifting the top up to reveal a 'portable' record player. "I used to have one of these when I first got down here but... It got destroyed during a little disagreement me and Val were havin'."
Stashed away in his room, he had an old box of vinyl records squirreled away that was collecting dust. Sure he liked to the new music, mainly due to work, but he never had the heart to toss them out.
"Why not get another one?" Alastor asked even as he secretly rejoiced at having a solid idea for a gift. "You could have it in your room at the hotel."
Was Angel thinking of purchasing it? If so, it still gave Alastor some solid ideas. The leather case was in desperate need of some TLC. Alastor could give him the supplies to clean up the case and the record player to make it shine as it should.
"Hmm~ Maybe. I wonder if it still works." Angel leans in to give it a closer inspection. Alastor heard him click his tongue in disappointment, "Ah shit. Looks like the tonearm is bent out of shape slightly and the needle is missin'."
Angel stood up straight folding his arms as he sighed deeply.
"Well what do ya expect? This is Hell after all. Everything is busted down here. I'm... going to see what else they got in here." Stepping back, he turned to walk away to browse the other lost and broken things.
The tone-arm and the needle? Easily fixed! Alastor forced his ears not to twitch with excitement.
He snapped his fingers to conjure a note, the little shadow creature from before swirling over curiously.
"Take this to the proprietor, please."
The little shadow eagerly did so, giving the decrepit-looking demon at the counter a bit of a start (Alastor wondered if the owner had died old or if it was just one of the man's punishments). Then the demon slowly put away his cellphone and got off of his stool as Alastor went to follow Angel.
By the time the duo would pass the record player again, it'd be gone. It'd be behind the desk on the "Reserved" shelf. If asked, the proprietor would say he received a request for the item but wouldn't tell who.
Alastor did a little bit of browsing himself as he meandered over to Angel. "Anything else catch your eye?"
Oh fu-! Angel nearly jumped out of his skin when Al appeared behind him, fumbling to hide something from view in his hands. What it was, it was hard to say, but it was small enough to fit neatly inside the spider's palm.
"Er, not really. We should head out." Angel fidgets a bit, giving Al a sideways glance. "I'll meet you outside. There's something I gotta do first."
Side stepping the deer Angel made his way over to the dusty old shop clerk with whatever he had clasped in his hands. Slapping the last bit of his dirty stripper money on the counter he stuffed his secret treasure into the deepest recesses of his lingerie bag. Peek at your own risk.
Hmm...probably a gift for Angel's own assigned recipient. Asking who it might be would be pointless. After all, he'd withheld the name of the "lady" he was purchasing for. (A shame he didn't know Angel's musical tastes. He probably could've picked up a few vinyls to go with the record player. He knew some of the newer musicians had the sense to also put their music on vinyl in addition to those sanitized digital recordings.)
He waited outside as ordered, spying Angel slip something into the lingerie bag. Oh, he was certainly not going to poke his nose into that. He'd be safer sticking his head into an alligator's mouth. Particularly since he knew some of what was in that innocuous-seeming bag.
"Ready to go?" Alastor asked as Angel stepped out.
Despite not getting the item in which caught his eye in the first place, Angel still appeared to be in high spirits. Mission accomplished! He just hoped what he got would get a seal of approval from a certain radio loving demon.
"Yep, lets get a move on. If you're out any longer I fear Charlie might slap out faces on milk cartons." Angel joked as he latched himself back on to Alastor. Yep, this was becoming a totally natural thing now. Deal with it.
It was a rather peaceful walk back to Happy Hotel. Towards the end Angel stopped counting on how many people dove out of their way. It started to border on utterly ridiculous that his angry gave way to humor. He thought he even saw someone drive into a trash can in an attempt to hide. Idiots. As they crest the hill, the spider could see the drive leading the way back up to home. Home.
"Man... today was fun." Angel spoke with a soft fondness. "Too bad I can't do this everyday. Now I'm flat broke. Just spent my last dime from the strip club. And with well.. all this fucking drama I can't work. Ya think Charlie would loan me some cash? She's gotta be loaded."
"There are other ways you could earn money. I'm not well-versed in the genre, but I caught Husker oggling a lady playing a game online for viewers," Alastor said.
Though at least the last of Valentino's filthy money was out of the hotel. Small steps.
"And your contract clearly states that only money you earn performing sex work goes to Valentino."
Angel stopped so hard in his tracks that it almost made the two of them topple over onto the ground.
"Wait what?" Angel's head snapped over to stare at Alastor. "You're fuckin' with me right?"
Why that manipulative lying dirty sack of shit! Oh his blood was boiling under his skin. Though back in the day when his contract was forged, they lacked all this modern technology and by the time it was around, Angel was already so beaten in that he didn't even think about it. Just... followed his master's orders.
Alastor snapped his fingers, the copy of Angel's contract hovering before them both.
"Third paragraph. It also clearly defines just what qualifies as 'sex work', referring specifically to paid physical intercourse and pornographic material."
And there it was in black and white just as Alastor said.
He.... read it. Alastor actually read it. Granted it has been a few weeks since the whole arm ripping thing and the deer probably a lot of down time due to Angel's kinda sorta avoiding situation... But damn. He read it. There was a tiny flicker of hope that glittered in his heart.
"Al, you big beautiful bastard! I'm so happy that I could kiss ya!" Which Angel acted on, giving the demon a hardy wet kiss on the cheek. "Find anything about breakin' me free?"
Angel asked all a jitter. If he had a tail, it would be wagging.
"That's not necess--!" And Angel kissed him, turning Alastor's face scarlet.
He'd had plenty of time to go over the contract over the past few weeks, reading it line by line and scrutinizing every detail. He was a Dealmaker, but that was about more than just making Deals. To make one that would properly bind another's soul, one needed to know how to search for loopholes.
He cleared his throat awkwardly as he calmed the blush. "I can't say I've found a surefire clause to break the contract immediately, but Valentino seems to have copied other contracts to build this piece of trash. He clearly expected to be able to keep you in line via his strong-arm tactics, to make it so you never bothered to question what was written here."
He tapped the lower parts.
"Because of his slapdash work, there's a lot of legal jargon here that I'm still sorting out. Some of it is outright contradictory within the same paragraph if not sentence, so I'm making sure he isn't some sort of mad genius where it all comes together at the end.
"Though if you want my opinion, the fastest way to break the contract is to put him into a situation where he violates the terms. The easiest way? Publicly making money that he can't touch. If he attempts to take what isn't his as defined in Paragraph 3, the contract will break automatically and your soul will be returned to you."
Nope, the kiss was totally necessary. Accept it. Accept his love gratitude. But some of that excited hopeful energy faded as Alastor continued to explain. Damn, that would have been too easy. So there was no silver bullet, eh? Time was ticking and Angel didn't know when Val would come for him. And trust, he would come for him. The uncertainty of how much time he had as a 'free' man did wonders for his anxiety. Really helped his sleep schedule too. Alastor ruffed him up pretty good, so he hoped it would be a while... But hey, it was a start. And if anyone could help brake his contract, it was Al.
Help me.
There was no hiding Angel's slight nose dip in his mood, peeling himself off the deer. "Ain't that a damn shame. Well its better than nothin'. Now if I go out hookin', it'll be for me~" Angel shrugged, smirking to himself as he tried to lighten the mood with a joke. "Thanks for tryin' Smiles."
Angel gave the deer a gentle pat on the shoulder, his smile tainted with a hint of sadness. Then the spider turned to head up the drive no longer arm in arm. It felt cold.
"Come on. I'm takin' bets on if Charlie is turning the hotel upside down lookin' for us."
Alastor watched Angel walk up the drive for a moment or two before taking a few quick steps to catch up.
"There's no immediate silver bullet so far but I'll keep looking," Alastor promised. He grinned maliciously, eyes glowing red. "Though there's always the old fallback of killing him."
The back of Angel's head was turned to Alastor so he couldn't see how ugly it twisted. Damn his complicated emotions! As much as he wanted to see that asshole dead, he didn't think a second assault would be as lucky.
"You caught him off guard last time... Don't think it'll be as easy the second go around. He'll be ready." Angel murmured as a sober warning. Boy what a depressing note to finish this outing on. How to lighten the mood.
Angel stopped abruptly just as he reached the threshold of the hotel, spinning on his heels to beam wickedly at Alastor. The spider bent over with out stretched arms to take hold of both of Alastor's hand into his, taking the bags he held into his free second pair.
"Thanks for an amazing date Smiles~" Plucking the strig of mistletoe that was still hidden the depths of his titty fluff he held it up with a gleam in his eyes, getting in real close. "Now... if you'll excuse me, I got a hotel to decorate."
Giving a quick peck on the tip of Alastor's nose, Angel pushed passed the large double doors and disappeared inside.
Angel had a point, but Alastor wasn't going to attempt another full-frontal assault. He knew better. No, no, no, he'd have to expedite the process of breaking the bonds of the three V's, make it so that Velvet and Vox would very easily look the other way as he broke Valentino once and for all. The moth had pushed far too many of his boundaries. It was high time the Overlord of Lust fell.
As his dark plans swirled in his head, Angel retrieved a sprig of mistletoe from his chest fluff and kissed the tip of his nose, startling Alastor. His ears twitched as he watched Angel saunter inside, momentarily frozen to the spot.
Right. Okay. Time to set the rest of his holiday plan into motion.
He teleported back to the antique shop, retrieved the case, and then teleported to the radio tower on the edge of the Pentagram. Due to just who was known to frequent such places, there was a wide expanse of empty land surrounding it lest anyone annoy the Radio Demon whenever he was in residence. He unlocked the door with a bit of magic and entered, immediately grateful that Niffty made a habit of coming by at least once a week to keep this particular tower clean. He wasn't a messy man by nature and it took just a snap of the fingers to have the place spotless, but it was always nice to have somewhere to temporarily settle down in that wasn't overrun with dust and spiderwebs.
He moved on to one of the old conference rooms that he'd converted into a workspace for the more mechanical aspects of his work, the case still in hand. He set it down on the tabletop and opened the case, retrieving a toolkit from the cabinet.
"Now then, my friend, let's make you better than new, shall we?"
----------
It was a good thing Alastor had chosen to strike while the iron was hot and get things done sooner rather than later. It turned out that the next few weeks leading up to the Christmas party were quite busy.
There was the usual work around the hotel: repairing damages, managing expenses, etc. However, there was the added prep work of the party itself, something that took nearly twice as long after Charlie just about destroyed the kitchen while attempting to bake Christmas cookies. (Fortunately the fire hadn't spread too far beyond the oven. Poor thing really had no skill with cooking unless it came to apple pie.) Alastor had stepped up to do the baking, assigning her the job of decoration, so it came as no surprise that even the Husk-shaped gingerbread man had a big smile on its face and far more colors than were necessary.
Then of course there was the added job of fixing up the record player and finishing his own gift-gathering. He'd never put his name on the extra gifts, but he felt the people here deserved something for welcoming him into their midst. Niffty and Husk were used to such things and knew not to draw attention to it. His outing with Angel had been doubly-helpful given Angel had provided some very solid suggestions for what to get Charlie and Vaggie.
The record player turned out to be in worse shape than previously-expected. Alastor had disassembled and reassembled the entire thing, carefully fixing and cleaning or replacing each part. The worn leather case had been polished to a healthy shine and the wooden handle had been replaced with one intricately-carved with a little spider weaving a web, the center of the web being a heart. (The new handle had been handcrafted by an imp he'd made a deal -- little D -- with. The imp had risked coming to him for a bit of rootwork to help a sick friend. A simple enough remedy that Alastor decided to trade for something more interesting than money upon learning the imp did woodworking for a living.) He decided against gift-wrapping it, instead putting a tag on it and teleporting it into place just before the start of the party.
As if that wasn't enough, he'd scrutinized Angel's contract with a fine-tooth comb. There was no silver bullet to instantly annul the contract, sadly, but there was enough there to build a strong case that the contract was too much of a mess to properly bind either party to it so it should be annulled. It'd take ages for Angel to get his day in court and they'd only get one shot at it, but it wasn't outside the realm of possibility. Despite Lucifer's dislike of Alastor, the King of Hell took soul contracts very seriously and would listen in this case.
Sitting down in a chair with a mug of mulled wine, Alastor was grateful to finally be off his feet. He'd been cooking the meal and snacks all day in addition to putting the finishing touches on wrapping the extra gifts and hiding them behind the others. The "briefcase" sat to one side of the presents, the tag labeled "To Angel Dust" facing the rest of the room.
"Okay, everyone!" Charlie called, clapping her hands. "Who's ready to party?!"
Alastor took another sip of his wine, closing his eyes. He would be leaving after the gift exchange later on. Once he'd left, things would be in full swing. The least he could do for these people.
And he'd stocked up for a few days of basically granting himself oblivion. He didn't really care either way for Christmas but the knowledge that he was alone on a day for friends and family, that he wouldn't be granted even that small mercy? Well, forgive him if he decided to give himself a brief respite from his punishments as a Christmas present to himself. If anything, the hangover at the end of it would more than make up for it.
The eve of the Christmas party was finally upon them and Angel was beside himself with excitement. Not because he particularly liked the holiday. Or that he was suddenly struck with the giving spirit that Charlie was trying to force on them. No. It had been close to a month since the spider's last sensual encounter, whom was a certain dick hole pimp he rather not dwell on, and he was about to lose his mind. His toys felt cold and unsatisfying. Thoughts of the radio demon tormented him once more after that little excursion. Even though he knew that there was no expectations of physical intimacy, it had been such a fun day just hanging out. And he got a better view what it was like in the reclusive demon's life. Angel couldn't deny that Alastor's company filled him with an odd warmth. The thought of what that was frightened him. But even so, after what he witness on their non-date date, it made him feel bad about kinda sorta avoiding him the previous weeks.
Though now, it seemed the tables had turned. After the day at the mall, Angel rarely saw the deer prancing down the halls. He was otherwise previously engaged in hotel business or just straight up just disappeared. Was he being avoided now? Did Alastor somehow sense a shift in the spider's attitude towards him? Well fuck. Once more it served as a cold reminder about this dead end fantasy he was pursuing that was only heading him towards heartbreak. Ignoring the fact that there needs to be feelings that were to be broken. He was just pent up, Angel convinced himself. Just one good fuck was all he needed to forget. He was Angel Motherfucking Dust, number one whore of Hell. Tonight was the night he was going to get laid, even if it killed him.
Angel was biding his time, buttering up Husker during the weeks that lead up to this evening. The porn star was certain that he could have broken the kitty much earlier given enough booze and lube, but it would ruin the elaborate setup he had been planning. Go big or go home. After tireless preparation, the gears were finally set in motion. As everyone down stairs were setting up for the party, Angel was up in his room making last minute adjustments to his attire scrutinizing every last detail in his mirror. Tonight's fashion choice he decided to get into the holiday spirit, wearing a strapless red Santa Claus mini dress so short that one wrong move would spell disaster. But it wasn't only the bottom half was in danger, his tits were perkier than usual, almost being pushed up to his chin as the top of his dress was struggling to contain the overflow of fluff. The whole ensemble went perfectly with his usual thigh high black boots. Slipping a holly pin into his hair, Angel nods approvingly to himself. Sloppy Santa was ago.
Heading down the hall towards the main foyer, he could hear Charlie eagerly declare the start of the party. Perfect timing~
"Hoe hoe hoe, everyone~" Angel said in an almost sing-song voice, descending the stairs with a smirk. "Don't start the party without me."
Immediately his eyes snapped to his target, who was currently stationed behind the bar. Hm... how to play this? Angel thought to himself as he reached the ground floor. Well, he had all evening to play cat and mouse. He should mingle a bit first. Involuntarily his sight shifted on Alastor lounging his chair sipping peacefully on his wine. Fuck, it felt like forever since he's seen him... Lets go ruin that.
Sauntering over, Angel paused in front of the other demon bending over to meet his eyes, his bounty almost spilling over. "Hey there Rudolph. Won't you guide my sleigh tonight?"
Alastor gave a somewhat exasperated eyeroll, his smile never faltering. If Angel thought he was the first to make the "Rudolph" comment, he was sorely mistaken: Husk had him beat by three hours.
"I believe I'll pass on the offer. Though I see you brought your own fur lining to your ensemble."
Honestly it was good to do a little bit of bantering. It'd been a while since he'd been able to do so. He'd enjoyed their outing together, but he'd gotten the message during those weeks Angel had been avoiding him. At least all of the work had given him something else to focus on.
He took another sip of his drink, hoping to get a little buzz going so he could hold off on the bitterness until he'd retreated back to the radio tower.
"I take it you have plans for later this evening?"
Ah, yes, the response he was expecting. But still, it was nice to poke the bear a little.
Standing back up to his full height, Angel chuckled running his hands down the length of his dress. "Yes I did! So sweet of you to notice. Why cover up my best quality? All natural baby~"
Angel reached up to adjust himself for good measure before moving to perch on the arm of Alastor's chair, draping himself along the backside. One of his hands lazily drew circles on the deer's lapels as he gave him a wry smile. All teeth.
"Hmm... Don't know. Depends on how the party goes. Why are you so curious about it, Smiles?"
Alastor's eyes narrowed in annoyance but he didn't shove the spider off. Very likely that would start a fight which would upset Charlie. Besides, to be perfectly honest, he wasn't in the mood to fight. He just wanted to soak up what little good will there was to be found before he left.
"Not curious, just making an observation." He then cast a wry glance towards Husk. "That and dear Husker started off this evening soaked in cologne."
It had been amusing to say the least. And it wasn't hard to figure out that Husk and Angel's plans likely coincided with each other.
"I'm afraid that you all will be deprived of my company for the next several days! Try not to burn down the hotel while I'm gone, won't you? It's been such a chore to make this place presentable."
"Oh did he now?" Angel said with a smile in his voice, his eyes rolling back over to Husk behind the bar. For a split second their eyes met before Husker adverted his gaze to the glass in his hand like he wasn't just staring at him. Oh this was going to be way easier than he- Wait. Hold the phone. Alastor was leaving?!
Angel instantly sat up on the arm of the chair to stare down at him. All that flirty bubbly energy seemingly evaporated into thin air. So many thoughts swirled in his head that it made him dizzy. Was something wrong? Was Al in trouble? Was it Val? Was he... really avoiding him?
"Everything okay Alastor?" Pet names dropped, his voice twinged with concern. "Did something happen?" Is it me?
He couldn't bring himself to ask, fearing what the answer to that was.
Alastor casually waved a hand. "Just need a little time for myself is all. I stay in one place for too long and I start getting itchy! Ha!"
That wasn't entirely untrue. One of his many, many punishments for his many misdeeds in life was he had to wander the Pride Ring. He had "bolt holes" all over -- largely abandoned radio towers nobody would dare set foot in lest they find the Radio Demon himself lurking inside -- but he was never to have a proper home. It was one reason for the posters bearing warnings of him: Not everyone recognized him on sight without them. However, everyone in Hell started looking for places to hide when the sound of static hissing through antique speakers approached.
"No no no no no, if I'm going to spend more time observing the menagerie, I need to step away from time to time lest my feet for me farther afield than I'd like!"
"Oh I see... If you say so Al. Just as long as nothin' is wrong."
Angel relaxed a bit again into the chair hearing Alastor's explanation. But still, there was a tiny voice in the back of his head that whispered it was just a convenient excuse to avoid him. Not that it bothered him! No, don't let this sour the evening! There was booty to chase!
Shrugging it off, his attention was pulled to the coffee table filled with brightly colored gingerbread men eager for a distraction. There was a gleam in his eye as he reached over to pluck up the miniature likeness of Husk in his long claws.
"So thats what all the commotion in the kitchen was about earlier. Did you make these?" Angel turned the cookie over to inspect it.
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"I know. I did it cause I wanted to. Simple as that. Besides..." Angel playfully nudged Alastor's shoulders. "... means I can have ya all to myself."
Oh yeah, let that sink in. Letting out a bright chuckle Angel leans over to rest is head on the deer's shoulder. You know, cause people weren't already staring enough. Gotta pile on that shit. Plus it was a rare moment of Al letting him get away with this shit. Taking full advantage while he could.
Turning the corner on to a different avenue, Angel's head sprung up abruptly. If the radio demon cared to follow his line of sight he could see what held Angel's focus so intently was a small run down antique shop on the other side of the road. The grip he had on Alastor loosened.
"Wait for me, will ya? There's something I gotta see." Angel unwrapped himself again and without waiting for his body guard, scurried inside.
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As he struggled to come up with a response, Angel darted off into the antique shop, startling him out of his thoughts. He tilted his head to one side, the sound of the radio switching between channels accompanying it. He'd been in this little shop before for periodic trips down memory lane. However, Angel always seemed to be constantly moving forward rather than rooted in the past. Why come here?
He entered into the little shop, taking in all the various bits and bobs on display. Forgotten treasures of bygone days decorated every shelf. All covered in a fine layer of dust as few stopped in to handle them as they debated purchase. These were the old, broken things no one wanted, after all.
One of the local shadow creatures swirled about him, happy for his visit. His smile warmed a bit.
"Hello. Just browsing today," he told it. He held out his hand and offered it a marble-sized bit of power which it eagerly took, popping it into its mouth like candy.
The shop wasn't very big -- most demons in Hell simply threw away the old things -- so he found Angel with no issue.
"Something caught your eye?"
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"Oh man, its been ages since I've seen one of these." Angel mused as he flicked the clasps open, lifting the top up to reveal a 'portable' record player. "I used to have one of these when I first got down here but... It got destroyed during a little disagreement me and Val were havin'."
Stashed away in his room, he had an old box of vinyl records squirreled away that was collecting dust. Sure he liked to the new music, mainly due to work, but he never had the heart to toss them out.
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Was Angel thinking of purchasing it? If so, it still gave Alastor some solid ideas. The leather case was in desperate need of some TLC. Alastor could give him the supplies to clean up the case and the record player to make it shine as it should.
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Angel stood up straight folding his arms as he sighed deeply.
"Well what do ya expect? This is Hell after all. Everything is busted down here. I'm... going to see what else they got in here." Stepping back, he turned to walk away to browse the other lost and broken things.
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He snapped his fingers to conjure a note, the little shadow creature from before swirling over curiously.
"Take this to the proprietor, please."
The little shadow eagerly did so, giving the decrepit-looking demon at the counter a bit of a start (Alastor wondered if the owner had died old or if it was just one of the man's punishments). Then the demon slowly put away his cellphone and got off of his stool as Alastor went to follow Angel.
By the time the duo would pass the record player again, it'd be gone. It'd be behind the desk on the "Reserved" shelf. If asked, the proprietor would say he received a request for the item but wouldn't tell who.
Alastor did a little bit of browsing himself as he meandered over to Angel. "Anything else catch your eye?"
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"Er, not really. We should head out." Angel fidgets a bit, giving Al a sideways glance. "I'll meet you outside. There's something I gotta do first."
Side stepping the deer Angel made his way over to the dusty old shop clerk with whatever he had clasped in his hands. Slapping the last bit of his dirty stripper money on the counter he stuffed his secret treasure into the deepest recesses of his lingerie bag. Peek at your own risk.
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He waited outside as ordered, spying Angel slip something into the lingerie bag. Oh, he was certainly not going to poke his nose into that. He'd be safer sticking his head into an alligator's mouth. Particularly since he knew some of what was in that innocuous-seeming bag.
"Ready to go?" Alastor asked as Angel stepped out.
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"Yep, lets get a move on. If you're out any longer I fear Charlie might slap out faces on milk cartons." Angel joked as he latched himself back on to Alastor. Yep, this was becoming a totally natural thing now. Deal with it.
It was a rather peaceful walk back to Happy Hotel. Towards the end Angel stopped counting on how many people dove out of their way. It started to border on utterly ridiculous that his angry gave way to humor. He thought he even saw someone drive into a trash can in an attempt to hide. Idiots. As they crest the hill, the spider could see the drive leading the way back up to home. Home.
"Man... today was fun." Angel spoke with a soft fondness. "Too bad I can't do this everyday. Now I'm flat broke. Just spent my last dime from the strip club. And with well.. all this fucking drama I can't work. Ya think Charlie would loan me some cash? She's gotta be loaded."
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Though at least the last of Valentino's filthy money was out of the hotel. Small steps.
"And your contract clearly states that only money you earn performing sex work goes to Valentino."
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Angel stopped so hard in his tracks that it almost made the two of them topple over onto the ground.
"Wait what?" Angel's head snapped over to stare at Alastor. "You're fuckin' with me right?"
Why that manipulative lying dirty sack of shit! Oh his blood was boiling under his skin. Though back in the day when his contract was forged, they lacked all this modern technology and by the time it was around, Angel was already so beaten in that he didn't even think about it. Just... followed his master's orders.
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Alastor snapped his fingers, the copy of Angel's contract hovering before them both.
"Third paragraph. It also clearly defines just what qualifies as 'sex work', referring specifically to paid physical intercourse and pornographic material."
And there it was in black and white just as Alastor said.
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"Al, you big beautiful bastard! I'm so happy that I could kiss ya!" Which Angel acted on, giving the demon a hardy wet kiss on the cheek. "Find anything about breakin' me free?"
Angel asked all a jitter. If he had a tail, it would be wagging.
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He'd had plenty of time to go over the contract over the past few weeks, reading it line by line and scrutinizing every detail. He was a Dealmaker, but that was about more than just making Deals. To make one that would properly bind another's soul, one needed to know how to search for loopholes.
He cleared his throat awkwardly as he calmed the blush. "I can't say I've found a surefire clause to break the contract immediately, but Valentino seems to have copied other contracts to build this piece of trash. He clearly expected to be able to keep you in line via his strong-arm tactics, to make it so you never bothered to question what was written here."
He tapped the lower parts.
"Because of his slapdash work, there's a lot of legal jargon here that I'm still sorting out. Some of it is outright contradictory within the same paragraph if not sentence, so I'm making sure he isn't some sort of mad genius where it all comes together at the end.
"Though if you want my opinion, the fastest way to break the contract is to put him into a situation where he violates the terms. The easiest way? Publicly making money that he can't touch. If he attempts to take what isn't his as defined in Paragraph 3, the contract will break automatically and your soul will be returned to you."
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lovegratitude. But some of that excited hopeful energy faded as Alastor continued to explain. Damn, that would have been too easy. So there was no silver bullet, eh? Time was ticking and Angel didn't know when Val would come for him. And trust, he would come for him. The uncertainty of how much time he had as a 'free' man did wonders for his anxiety. Really helped his sleep schedule too. Alastor ruffed him up pretty good, so he hoped it would be a while... But hey, it was a start. And if anyone could help brake his contract, it was Al.Help me.
There was no hiding Angel's slight nose dip in his mood, peeling himself off the deer. "Ain't that a damn shame. Well its better than nothin'. Now if I go out hookin', it'll be for me~" Angel shrugged, smirking to himself as he tried to lighten the mood with a joke. "Thanks for tryin' Smiles."
Angel gave the deer a gentle pat on the shoulder, his smile tainted with a hint of sadness. Then the spider turned to head up the drive no longer arm in arm. It felt cold.
"Come on. I'm takin' bets on if Charlie is turning the hotel upside down lookin' for us."
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"There's no immediate silver bullet so far but I'll keep looking," Alastor promised. He grinned maliciously, eyes glowing red. "Though there's always the old fallback of killing him."
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"You caught him off guard last time... Don't think it'll be as easy the second go around. He'll be ready." Angel murmured as a sober warning. Boy what a depressing note to finish this outing on. How to lighten the mood.
Angel stopped abruptly just as he reached the threshold of the hotel, spinning on his heels to beam wickedly at Alastor. The spider bent over with out stretched arms to take hold of both of Alastor's hand into his, taking the bags he held into his free second pair.
"Thanks for an amazing date Smiles~" Plucking the strig of mistletoe that was still hidden the depths of his titty fluff he held it up with a gleam in his eyes, getting in real close. "Now... if you'll excuse me, I got a hotel to decorate."
Giving a quick peck on the tip of Alastor's nose, Angel pushed passed the large double doors and disappeared inside.
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As his dark plans swirled in his head, Angel retrieved a sprig of mistletoe from his chest fluff and kissed the tip of his nose, startling Alastor. His ears twitched as he watched Angel saunter inside, momentarily frozen to the spot.
Right. Okay. Time to set the rest of his holiday plan into motion.
He teleported back to the antique shop, retrieved the case, and then teleported to the radio tower on the edge of the Pentagram. Due to just who was known to frequent such places, there was a wide expanse of empty land surrounding it lest anyone annoy the Radio Demon whenever he was in residence. He unlocked the door with a bit of magic and entered, immediately grateful that Niffty made a habit of coming by at least once a week to keep this particular tower clean. He wasn't a messy man by nature and it took just a snap of the fingers to have the place spotless, but it was always nice to have somewhere to temporarily settle down in that wasn't overrun with dust and spiderwebs.
He moved on to one of the old conference rooms that he'd converted into a workspace for the more mechanical aspects of his work, the case still in hand. He set it down on the tabletop and opened the case, retrieving a toolkit from the cabinet.
"Now then, my friend, let's make you better than new, shall we?"
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It was a good thing Alastor had chosen to strike while the iron was hot and get things done sooner rather than later. It turned out that the next few weeks leading up to the Christmas party were quite busy.
There was the usual work around the hotel: repairing damages, managing expenses, etc. However, there was the added prep work of the party itself, something that took nearly twice as long after Charlie just about destroyed the kitchen while attempting to bake Christmas cookies. (Fortunately the fire hadn't spread too far beyond the oven. Poor thing really had no skill with cooking unless it came to apple pie.) Alastor had stepped up to do the baking, assigning her the job of decoration, so it came as no surprise that even the Husk-shaped gingerbread man had a big smile on its face and far more colors than were necessary.
Then of course there was the added job of fixing up the record player and finishing his own gift-gathering. He'd never put his name on the extra gifts, but he felt the people here deserved something for welcoming him into their midst. Niffty and Husk were used to such things and knew not to draw attention to it. His outing with Angel had been doubly-helpful given Angel had provided some very solid suggestions for what to get Charlie and Vaggie.
The record player turned out to be in worse shape than previously-expected. Alastor had disassembled and reassembled the entire thing, carefully fixing and cleaning or replacing each part. The worn leather case had been polished to a healthy shine and the wooden handle had been replaced with one intricately-carved with a little spider weaving a web, the center of the web being a heart. (The new handle had been handcrafted by an imp he'd made a deal -- little D -- with. The imp had risked coming to him for a bit of rootwork to help a sick friend. A simple enough remedy that Alastor decided to trade for something more interesting than money upon learning the imp did woodworking for a living.) He decided against gift-wrapping it, instead putting a tag on it and teleporting it into place just before the start of the party.
As if that wasn't enough, he'd scrutinized Angel's contract with a fine-tooth comb. There was no silver bullet to instantly annul the contract, sadly, but there was enough there to build a strong case that the contract was too much of a mess to properly bind either party to it so it should be annulled. It'd take ages for Angel to get his day in court and they'd only get one shot at it, but it wasn't outside the realm of possibility. Despite Lucifer's dislike of Alastor, the King of Hell took soul contracts very seriously and would listen in this case.
Sitting down in a chair with a mug of mulled wine, Alastor was grateful to finally be off his feet. He'd been cooking the meal and snacks all day in addition to putting the finishing touches on wrapping the extra gifts and hiding them behind the others. The "briefcase" sat to one side of the presents, the tag labeled "To Angel Dust" facing the rest of the room.
"Okay, everyone!" Charlie called, clapping her hands. "Who's ready to party?!"
Alastor took another sip of his wine, closing his eyes. He would be leaving after the gift exchange later on. Once he'd left, things would be in full swing. The least he could do for these people.
And he'd stocked up for a few days of basically granting himself oblivion. He didn't really care either way for Christmas but the knowledge that he was alone on a day for friends and family, that he wouldn't be granted even that small mercy? Well, forgive him if he decided to give himself a brief respite from his punishments as a Christmas present to himself. If anything, the hangover at the end of it would more than make up for it.
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Though now, it seemed the tables had turned. After the day at the mall, Angel rarely saw the deer prancing down the halls. He was otherwise previously engaged in hotel business or just straight up just disappeared. Was he being avoided now? Did Alastor somehow sense a shift in the spider's attitude towards him? Well fuck. Once more it served as a cold reminder about this dead end fantasy he was pursuing that was only heading him towards heartbreak.
Ignoring the fact that there needs to be feelings that were to be broken.He was just pent up, Angel convinced himself. Just one good fuck was all he needed to forget. He was Angel Motherfucking Dust, number one whore of Hell. Tonight was the night he was going to get laid, even if it killed him.Angel was biding his time, buttering up Husker during the weeks that lead up to this evening. The porn star was certain that he could have broken the kitty much earlier given enough booze and lube, but it would ruin the elaborate setup he had been planning. Go big or go home. After tireless preparation, the gears were finally set in motion. As everyone down stairs were setting up for the party, Angel was up in his room making last minute adjustments to his attire scrutinizing every last detail in his mirror. Tonight's fashion choice he decided to get into the holiday spirit, wearing a strapless red Santa Claus mini dress so short that one wrong move would spell disaster. But it wasn't only the bottom half was in danger, his tits were perkier than usual, almost being pushed up to his chin as the top of his dress was struggling to contain the overflow of fluff. The whole ensemble went perfectly with his usual thigh high black boots. Slipping a holly pin into his hair, Angel nods approvingly to himself. Sloppy Santa was ago.
Heading down the hall towards the main foyer, he could hear Charlie eagerly declare the start of the party. Perfect timing~
"Hoe hoe hoe, everyone~" Angel said in an almost sing-song voice, descending the stairs with a smirk. "Don't start the party without me."
Immediately his eyes snapped to his target, who was currently stationed behind the bar. Hm... how to play this? Angel thought to himself as he reached the ground floor. Well, he had all evening to play cat and mouse. He should mingle a bit first. Involuntarily his sight shifted on Alastor lounging his chair sipping peacefully on his wine. Fuck, it felt like forever since he's seen him... Lets go ruin that.
Sauntering over, Angel paused in front of the other demon bending over to meet his eyes, his bounty almost spilling over. "Hey there Rudolph. Won't you guide my sleigh tonight?"
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"I believe I'll pass on the offer. Though I see you brought your own fur lining to your ensemble."
Honestly it was good to do a little bit of bantering. It'd been a while since he'd been able to do so. He'd enjoyed their outing together, but he'd gotten the message during those weeks Angel had been avoiding him. At least all of the work had given him something else to focus on.
He took another sip of his drink, hoping to get a little buzz going so he could hold off on the bitterness until he'd retreated back to the radio tower.
"I take it you have plans for later this evening?"
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Standing back up to his full height, Angel chuckled running his hands down the length of his dress. "Yes I did! So sweet of you to notice. Why cover up my best quality? All natural baby~"
Angel reached up to adjust himself for good measure before moving to perch on the arm of Alastor's chair, draping himself along the backside. One of his hands lazily drew circles on the deer's lapels as he gave him a wry smile. All teeth.
"Hmm... Don't know. Depends on how the party goes. Why are you so curious about it, Smiles?"
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"Not curious, just making an observation." He then cast a wry glance towards Husk. "That and dear Husker started off this evening soaked in cologne."
It had been amusing to say the least. And it wasn't hard to figure out that Husk and Angel's plans likely coincided with each other.
"I'm afraid that you all will be deprived of my company for the next several days! Try not to burn down the hotel while I'm gone, won't you? It's been such a chore to make this place presentable."
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Angel instantly sat up on the arm of the chair to stare down at him. All that flirty bubbly energy seemingly evaporated into thin air. So many thoughts swirled in his head that it made him dizzy. Was something wrong? Was Al in trouble? Was it Val? Was he... really avoiding him?
"Everything okay Alastor?" Pet names dropped, his voice twinged with concern. "Did something happen?" Is it me?
He couldn't bring himself to ask, fearing what the answer to that was.
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That wasn't entirely untrue. One of his many, many punishments for his many misdeeds in life was he had to wander the Pride Ring. He had "bolt holes" all over -- largely abandoned radio towers nobody would dare set foot in lest they find the Radio Demon himself lurking inside -- but he was never to have a proper home. It was one reason for the posters bearing warnings of him: Not everyone recognized him on sight without them. However, everyone in Hell started looking for places to hide when the sound of static hissing through antique speakers approached.
"No no no no no, if I'm going to spend more time observing the menagerie, I need to step away from time to time lest my feet for me farther afield than I'd like!"
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Angel relaxed a bit again into the chair hearing Alastor's explanation. But still, there was a tiny voice in the back of his head that whispered it was just a convenient excuse to avoid him. Not that it bothered him! No, don't let this sour the evening! There was booty to chase!
Shrugging it off, his attention was pulled to the coffee table filled with brightly colored gingerbread men eager for a distraction. There was a gleam in his eye as he reached over to pluck up the miniature likeness of Husk in his long claws.
"So thats what all the commotion in the kitchen was about earlier. Did you make these?" Angel turned the cookie over to inspect it.
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