Angel's hung over mind lagged behind as he was temporarily confused by the stacks of binders. What the hell was this? Did Alastor pick up scrapbooking. Picking up the hand written note, he read it quietly to himself. Suddenly everything clicked in his head, his eyes going wide as he pulled out the top most binder and flipped it open. His contract. He did it. He actually did it.
Running his thumb over the countless pages and seeing all the pain steaking detailed notes the radio demon lovingly lined out... It must have taken him an eternity to write up and researched. All this for him. He poured so much time and energy work over his, even for a used up broken toy. But something wasn't sitting right with him. The opening line of the unsigned message.
'In case something should happen.'
The fuck was that about?! That sounded ominous like the deer knew something he didn't. It aligned poorly with Alastor's departure last night on the cusp of the Cleanse. It was almost as if Alastor was giving himself out, even though he said he wanted to make Angel his. Like he had one foot out the door. Was he not planning on returning? The feline could see Angel's body starting to quiver and he bowed his head over the open box, a hand reached up to cover his eyes.
"Al, you fucking dumbass..." Angel snorted under his breath and Husk could hear something wet dripping on to the bar's wood counter.
Husk awkwardly reached out to pat Angel on the shoulder.
"Jeez, you’re starting to look like Charlie when she opened her box last night," he gruffed. He cleared his throat. "Look, whatever he left you? Don't make a big deal about it when he comes back." Remembering how Vaggie had to physically restrain Charlie from following Alastor, he added, "And ignore the 'if I don't see you again' bullshit. Alastor's a bad penny: He always turns up. Just might take him a bit. Niffty and I once didn't see him for ten whole years before he popped back up. It's one of his punishments."
Don't make a big deal out of it? Clearly Husker didn't know what Angel had in his hands. A way to finally brake free out from under Val. How could he not make a big deal out of it? Its a huge deal! Look at those binders! It was a lawyer's wet dream! But that's not what was getting to him. He didn't want to do this without Alastor.
His sadness was cut short however as the cat rambled on. Ten years?! What the FUCK?! Angel's head snapped up, the fur around his eyes still damp.
"Ten years?! Fuck that bullshit! I swear to Lucifer's dick if Alastor runs away for that long after one lousy kiss, he has another thing coming!" Angel huffed a little bit too loud. "The kiss wasn't that bad. Was it? I was drunk so I don't really remember to well. I've never had any complains before! Oh I'm going to find him and kick that bony ass if he straight up ditches."
"Goddammit, I knew somethin' was up," Husk groused. "Son of a bitch better come back so I can at least threaten to kick his ass."
After all, Alastor was more powerful than him and about as wily as a gator himself.
He then gave Angel a look. "And he's probably runnin' away right now, but those ten years weren't him running away. He got too comfortable in one spot with me and Niffty, so that particular punishment kicked into overdrive to remind him that having some place to settle down was a no-no. Asshole won't be able to stay away for long from this place though. It's probably the most fun he's had in decades."
Oh fuck, whoops. The bar tab. Angel could careless about the whole kissing thing slipped. He was feeling a little petty. Get Al's ass into some trouble. Shifting gears, the porn star leans over the bar making sure his floof was in full view. Giving Husker a flirty gaze, Angel batted his eyes.
"So sorry about skippin' out on the tab last night. I'm usually good at paying my dues~" Angel lets out a long disappointed sigh. "Trust me babe, I was so ready to debase myself that would even make Asmodeus blush. You shoulda seen what I was wearin~" He paused with a shrug. "Guess you can always ask Smiles if he ever shows back up. I haven't had anyone check my oil in over a month. Everything all so tight. If Al doesn't show back up in a week, you can help me loosen up."
"Shit, if he doesn't come back by the end of today, I'll loosen you up," Husk said with a snort. "No way that prude saw you naked."
He'd known Alastor for almost fifty years. There wasn't a snowball's chance in this place that Alastor would've sat still for a strip show or gotten the balls to be the one doing the stripping.
Angel's head fell back with a chuckle. "A tempting offer. But I feel hung over as shit right now, so rain check babe."
Then porn star got this wicked grin on his face like he was holding this huge secret. Oh, Alastor has in fact seen him at least once practically naked. Though he tried not to think back on that night often cause well... you know... shit went down he regrets. But Husker didn't need to know about Angel mounting the deer's bones...
"That's were you'd be wrong, toots. He swung by the club in the middle of one my sets. Everything on full display save for a few inches of fabric." Oh yeah, let that sink in. "I sure as hell didn't undress myself last night, either. Unless we got magical stripping fairies livin' here or Smiles had his hands all over my unconscious body."
"Oh come on!" Husk threw his hands up in the air. "Why the fuck does that sexless deer get to see naked tit more often than me?! It's almost like the bastard is one of my punishments!"
Seriously, for someone most of the population Hell spent their every breathing moment hoping they didn't run into, there were some real freaks out there (not even in Cannibal Colony) who wanted to jump Alastor's bones. He would know. He used to be one of them.
"For now." Angel muttered under his breath with a smirk. Oh trust, if there was the slightest in, Angel was going to pop that cherry. But damn, Alastor was like everyone's punishments down here. Catching feelings for a sex repulsed deer was just insulting. Fuck his afterlife two ways from Sunday.
"Well Husky, I do still owe you some sort of compensation for your services last night. I can give you a little sneak peak under the hood." The porn star flashed the cat a fan filled grin as one slim finger teased at buttons of his jacket.
"You wanna see naked tit or not?" Angel snorts back, all in good fun. "If you're that hard up, you can always download my porn. I promise ya, in seven days I'll pay you back in full with interest."
The claw tucked away between his chest floof tightened, pulling the deep V a little lower but keeping the good bits juuuuust out of sight.
"Been called worse, babe." Angel shrugged his shoulders, removing his claw from his jacket.
Honestly? Angel didn't know he was waiting around for that stupid deer to show back up. The old him would have slept with anyone at a drop of a hat. But how things were felt off between them... it didn't feel right? Even if Alastor showed back up, there was virtually no chance of the other demon wanting to sleep with him. That is even if he had a sliver of interest in him, which at this point he had no evidence on. The more he thought about it, the more it made him pissed at himself why was he waiting?
"I'll level with ya. I honestly don't know what I'm waitin' on. Maybe just clear the air between me and Al first, I guess." He gave another shrug. "But you snooze, you loose."
If Angel said that he didn't feel a little bit bad about this situation, he would be lying. I mean, he was flirting with the feline close to a month and then ending up getting cold feet at the end. Damn, if this was for money, Angel would have jumped on it. But Husk wasn't just some rando. And for that, he couldn't help but not feeling a bit shitty. But he ended up trying to reassure the cat before retreating into the kitchen.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
The days inched by with little signs of the deer returning back to the Hotel. The first few days, the porn star was in his usual high spirits, causing mischief for its residence. He wasn't worried. Nope. It was totally fine. Not hiding behind his humor to mask his concerns. That didn't sound like him. But that façade started to crumple like a cheap two dollar suit as the eve of the Cleanse was upon them. Angel's emotions betrayed him as he appeared openly concerned about the missing deer's safety. Did he really intend to stay away for this long? Was it all really due to his punishment or was he really trying to run away from him? Either way, it did nothing to ease his mind.
The Cleanse came and the radio demon was still missing. If Charlie and the others didn't physically hold Angel back, he would have darted out into the fry. They all wanted to search for him but Charlie had an annoyingly frustrating fair point: They would be no use to Alastor if they were dead. So all he could do was wait. Fuck, he hated waiting. Looking out his window with Fat Nuggs in his lap, peering out at Pentagram City like some fucking Navy wife waiting for her husband to return from sea. In the ocean of chaos that laid waste beyond the thin sheet of glass, Angel silently hoped that where ever Alastor was that he was safe.
On the dawn of the seventh day, after one hell of a sleepless night, Angel's nerves were frayed to hell. Not even his fur could hide the bags under his eyes from staying up until morning. Hanging on the hope that someone would walk through those doors. But no one ever did. So now, the spider was tired and grumpy and really needed some coffee... or alcohol. Fuck it, both.
Marching back down to the foyer, he unceremoniously plopped himself down at the bar. "Can I get an irish coffee?"
"Give me a sec. If you're in a hurry, you can have it without the coffee," Husk grumped.
Now Husk was no softie, but he'd been deliberately tuning the radio to 66.6 AM since just before the Cleanse. Hearing his boss cheerfully deliver the final countdown had let him know that the deer was still kicking at least before the angels arrived. However, there was silence from the radio. It made sense given the angels could've used a broadcast to track Alastor's location.
Not that it mattered. The amount of power Alastor gave off was like a big shining beacon.
"You look like shit," Husk groused as he started pouring coffee into a mug, adding a splash of whiskey.
Watching the cat work, Angel tried to keep his mind off the topic that was he so focused on last night. Stupid fucking deer. He ignored all his texts. All left unread. Would is kill him to say anything? Wait... did he have his phone? God dammit!
"Always with the sweet talk, Husky." Angel took the mug from him taking a long sip. The warmth of the drink mixed with the pleasant burn of the whiskey, it really hit the spot. There was a beat before Angel placed the cup back on the counter. "You saying you don't want to cash in my I.O.U.? After I finished this coffee, I'd let you fuck me right here on this counter."
"Definitely want you to cash it in. It's been a wee -- "
The radio crackled to life.
"To anyone who can hear my voice, congratulations! You've survived the Cleanse for another year! How thrilling! I enjoyed myself immensely and hope you did, too!"
Husk cast a resigned look to the radio. "Guess he made it through okay."
At the sound of Alastor's voice cutting over the radio, the spider flinched. It felt like forever since he's heard his voice. Just hearing it filled him with a strange warmth he didn't know was possible. Praise Satan, he was alive. For now. His grump turned to burning annoyance. Couldn't spare a second to text, huh?
Angel pounded back the coffee and crawled up on to the bar giving Husk a surly gaze. "Well he ain't here, is he? I distinctly remember saying 'until he returns'." Swinging his long legs over to the other side of the bar pulling Husker firmly between them. "Unless you got any objection to that?"
The porn star was so ready to go, placing his hands on the feline's shoulders mirroring his smirk back at him. But suddenly Angel could hear the door swing open followed by Husker's frustrated cry. A small chill ran down his spine as the spider sat frozen struck mute as the crackle of musical static buzzed behind him. No doubt he was back. Wait, was the bastard fucking humming?! Did he have any idea how worried sick he had been? Bet he enjoyed have an Angel free week, the dick.
Without moving from the bar, Angel bent himself over backwards in a feat of flexibility to flash the deer a smile and a wave. "Well well well... Look what the cat dragged in. Enjoy your little vacay?"
It hadn't been much of a vacation, honestly. He'd drunk himself into near-oblivion for most of the week. Then sobered himself up the day before the Cleanse so that he'd be ready for the angels' descent.
Execution Day was always so busy for him.
"I could ask the same thing of you all! Though it seems my reappearance isn't entirely welcome! Should I have made myself scarce for longer?" Alastor chirped cheerfully.
Because everyone always had much more fun without the Radio Demon looming about. Even as the pocket watch rested in his coat pocket, the photograph inside suggesting otherwise, he didn't dare let himself hope that they'd missed him. He didn't want to fool himself into thinking he belonged where he was tolerated at best.
Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.
"Well I know there is a least one person who thinks that." Angel pulled himself back up to stare at the one in question. He could partially see smoke coming out of the cat's ears. "Sorry babe, you know the terms of the deal. Better luck next time."
With a small kiss on the tip of Husker's nose, Angel slipped off the bar and around to the other side to take his seat again. From his spot, his eyes examined Alastor. It was still so hard to get a read on him. Angel wanted to get him alone to talk to him. So many questions and thoughts swirled in his mind, it was deafening.
"If your phone broke?" Angel finally said after a long pause.
"How can you possibly have perfect timing in music but absolute shit timing with everything else?!" Husk demanded of his employer.
Alastor gave a playful shrug before turning his attention to Angel's question.
"I don't think so?" He patted down his jacket. "Though I do seem to have misplaced it. One moment!"
His ears pricked straight up as he closed his eyes and pinged the infernal device with his radio waves. The cellular network piggybacked on his own signal, making it simple enough to find his phone so long as it was charged.
However, doing so would show that the edges of his ears were a tad more ragged than usual, a bit of the fur in one black tip matted as if the ear had gotten wet at some point.
He opened his eyes as he received the response. "My apologies, I seem to have left it on the charger in my room again!"
Of fucking course the old bastard left it. He had a feeling that might have been the case but there was still a small part of him that told him that the deer was dodging him. Next time Angel was going to stick a fucking tracker on the asshole. Though the state of the demon's ears didn't go unnoticed and Angel's brow cocked with curiosity.
"What's the point of having the damn thing if ya don't carry it?" Angel huffed in annoyance. But an idea sparked in his head. Slipping off the bar stool Angel crossed over to stand in front of Alastor. "Lets go check on it together."
One, it was an excuse to get him alone and two... He wanted to get his hands on the deer's phone before he saw it. He sent.... a lot of messages. Some of which were... embarrassingly emotional? Like some drunk girl texting her exe. If Al hasn't seen them then, he didn't need to know how worried sick he had been.
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Running his thumb over the countless pages and seeing all the pain steaking detailed notes the radio demon lovingly lined out... It must have taken him an eternity to write up and researched. All this for him. He poured so much time and energy work over his, even for a used up broken toy. But something wasn't sitting right with him. The opening line of the unsigned message.
'In case something should happen.'
The fuck was that about?! That sounded ominous like the deer knew something he didn't. It aligned poorly with Alastor's departure last night on the cusp of the Cleanse. It was almost as if Alastor was giving himself out, even though he said he wanted to make Angel his. Like he had one foot out the door. Was he not planning on returning? The feline could see Angel's body starting to quiver and he bowed his head over the open box, a hand reached up to cover his eyes.
"Al, you fucking dumbass..." Angel snorted under his breath and Husk could hear something wet dripping on to the bar's wood counter.
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"Jeez, you’re starting to look like Charlie when she opened her box last night," he gruffed. He cleared his throat. "Look, whatever he left you? Don't make a big deal about it when he comes back." Remembering how Vaggie had to physically restrain Charlie from following Alastor, he added, "And ignore the 'if I don't see you again' bullshit. Alastor's a bad penny: He always turns up. Just might take him a bit. Niffty and I once didn't see him for ten whole years before he popped back up. It's one of his punishments."
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His sadness was cut short however as the cat rambled on. Ten years?! What the FUCK?! Angel's head snapped up, the fur around his eyes still damp.
"Ten years?! Fuck that bullshit! I swear to Lucifer's dick if Alastor runs away for that long after one lousy kiss, he has another thing coming!" Angel huffed a little bit too loud. "The kiss wasn't that bad. Was it? I was drunk so I don't really remember to well. I've never had any complains before! Oh I'm going to find him and kick that bony ass if he straight up ditches."
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After all, Alastor was more powerful than him and about as wily as a gator himself.
He then gave Angel a look. "And he's probably runnin' away right now, but those ten years weren't him running away. He got too comfortable in one spot with me and Niffty, so that particular punishment kicked into overdrive to remind him that having some place to settle down was a no-no. Asshole won't be able to stay away for long from this place though. It's probably the most fun he's had in decades."
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"So sorry about skippin' out on the tab last night. I'm usually good at paying my dues~" Angel lets out a long disappointed sigh. "Trust me babe, I was so ready to debase myself that would even make Asmodeus blush. You shoulda seen what I was wearin~" He paused with a shrug. "Guess you can always ask Smiles if he ever shows back up. I haven't had anyone check my oil in over a month. Everything all so tight. If Al doesn't show back up in a week, you can help me loosen up."
Spite fucking.
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He'd known Alastor for almost fifty years. There wasn't a snowball's chance in this place that Alastor would've sat still for a strip show or gotten the balls to be the one doing the stripping.
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Then porn star got this wicked grin on his face like he was holding this huge secret. Oh, Alastor has in fact seen him at least once practically naked. Though he tried not to think back on that night often cause well... you know... shit went down he regrets. But Husker didn't need to know about Angel mounting the deer's bones...
"That's were you'd be wrong, toots. He swung by the club in the middle of one my sets. Everything on full display save for a few inches of fabric." Oh yeah, let that sink in. "I sure as hell didn't undress myself last night, either. Unless we got magical stripping fairies livin' here or Smiles had his hands all over my unconscious body."
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Seriously, for someone most of the population Hell spent their every breathing moment hoping they didn't run into, there were some real freaks out there (not even in Cannibal Colony) who wanted to jump Alastor's bones. He would know. He used to be one of them.
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"Well Husky, I do still owe you some sort of compensation for your services last night. I can give you a little sneak peak under the hood." The porn star flashed the cat a fan filled grin as one slim finger teased at buttons of his jacket.
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If he was going to be humiliated, well, might as well enjoy himself, right?
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The claw tucked away between his chest floof tightened, pulling the deep V a little lower but keeping the good bits juuuuust out of sight.
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A likely possibility.
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Honestly? Angel didn't know he was waiting around for that stupid deer to show back up. The old him would have slept with anyone at a drop of a hat. But how things were felt off between them... it didn't feel right? Even if Alastor showed back up, there was virtually no chance of the other demon wanting to sleep with him. That is even if he had a sliver of interest in him, which at this point he had no evidence on. The more he thought about it, the more it made him pissed at himself why was he waiting?
"I'll level with ya. I honestly don't know what I'm waitin' on. Maybe just clear the air between me and Al first, I guess." He gave another shrug. "But you snooze, you loose."
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In other words, he wasn't likely to get any at all. God, Alastor wasn't even here and he managed to cockblock Husk!
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~~~~~~~~~~~~
The days inched by with little signs of the deer returning back to the Hotel. The first few days, the porn star was in his usual high spirits, causing mischief for its residence. He wasn't worried. Nope. It was totally fine. Not hiding behind his humor to mask his concerns. That didn't sound like him. But that façade started to crumple like a cheap two dollar suit as the eve of the Cleanse was upon them. Angel's emotions betrayed him as he appeared openly concerned about the missing deer's safety. Did he really intend to stay away for this long? Was it all really due to his punishment or was he really trying to run away from him? Either way, it did nothing to ease his mind.
The Cleanse came and the radio demon was still missing. If Charlie and the others didn't physically hold Angel back, he would have darted out into the fry. They all wanted to search for him but Charlie had an annoyingly frustrating fair point: They would be no use to Alastor if they were dead. So all he could do was wait. Fuck, he hated waiting. Looking out his window with Fat Nuggs in his lap, peering out at Pentagram City like some fucking Navy wife waiting for her husband to return from sea. In the ocean of chaos that laid waste beyond the thin sheet of glass, Angel silently hoped that where ever Alastor was that he was safe.
On the dawn of the seventh day, after one hell of a sleepless night, Angel's nerves were frayed to hell. Not even his fur could hide the bags under his eyes from staying up until morning. Hanging on the hope that someone would walk through those doors. But no one ever did. So now, the spider was tired and grumpy and really needed some coffee... or alcohol. Fuck it, both.
Marching back down to the foyer, he unceremoniously plopped himself down at the bar. "Can I get an irish coffee?"
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Now Husk was no softie, but he'd been deliberately tuning the radio to 66.6 AM since just before the Cleanse. Hearing his boss cheerfully deliver the final countdown had let him know that the deer was still kicking at least before the angels arrived. However, there was silence from the radio. It made sense given the angels could've used a broadcast to track Alastor's location.
Not that it mattered. The amount of power Alastor gave off was like a big shining beacon.
"You look like shit," Husk groused as he started pouring coffee into a mug, adding a splash of whiskey.
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"Always with the sweet talk, Husky." Angel took the mug from him taking a long sip. The warmth of the drink mixed with the pleasant burn of the whiskey, it really hit the spot. There was a beat before Angel placed the cup back on the counter. "You saying you don't want to cash in my I.O.U.? After I finished this coffee, I'd let you fuck me right here on this counter."
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The radio crackled to life.
"To anyone who can hear my voice, congratulations! You've survived the Cleanse for another year! How thrilling! I enjoyed myself immensely and hope you did, too!"
Husk cast a resigned look to the radio. "Guess he made it through okay."
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Angel pounded back the coffee and crawled up on to the bar giving Husk a surly gaze. "Well he ain't here, is he? I distinctly remember saying 'until he returns'." Swinging his long legs over to the other side of the bar pulling Husker firmly between them. "Unless you got any objection to that?"
Spite fucking was on.
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Finally, finally everything was coming up Husk! Now all he needed was for Alastor to not --
The front door opened and the red bastard himself entered, humming along to some tune he was playing.
"Son of a bitch!" Husk shouted.
Alastor gasped. "My mother was no such thing!"
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Without moving from the bar, Angel bent himself over backwards in a feat of flexibility to flash the deer a smile and a wave. "Well well well... Look what the cat dragged in. Enjoy your little vacay?"
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Execution Day was always so busy for him.
"I could ask the same thing of you all! Though it seems my reappearance isn't entirely welcome! Should I have made myself scarce for longer?" Alastor chirped cheerfully.
Because everyone always had much more fun without the Radio Demon looming about. Even as the pocket watch rested in his coat pocket, the photograph inside suggesting otherwise, he didn't dare let himself hope that they'd missed him. He didn't want to fool himself into thinking he belonged where he was tolerated at best.
Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.
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With a small kiss on the tip of Husker's nose, Angel slipped off the bar and around to the other side to take his seat again. From his spot, his eyes examined Alastor. It was still so hard to get a read on him. Angel wanted to get him alone to talk to him. So many questions and thoughts swirled in his mind, it was deafening.
"If your phone broke?" Angel finally said after a long pause.
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Alastor gave a playful shrug before turning his attention to Angel's question.
"I don't think so?" He patted down his jacket. "Though I do seem to have misplaced it. One moment!"
His ears pricked straight up as he closed his eyes and pinged the infernal device with his radio waves. The cellular network piggybacked on his own signal, making it simple enough to find his phone so long as it was charged.
However, doing so would show that the edges of his ears were a tad more ragged than usual, a bit of the fur in one black tip matted as if the ear had gotten wet at some point.
He opened his eyes as he received the response. "My apologies, I seem to have left it on the charger in my room again!"
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"What's the point of having the damn thing if ya don't carry it?" Angel huffed in annoyance. But an idea sparked in his head. Slipping off the bar stool Angel crossed over to stand in front of Alastor. "Lets go check on it together."
One, it was an excuse to get him alone and two... He wanted to get his hands on the deer's phone before he saw it. He sent.... a lot of messages. Some of which were... embarrassingly emotional? Like some drunk girl texting her exe. If Al hasn't seen them then, he didn't need to know how worried sick he had been.
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