Chapter Text
Husk and Angel haven’t looked at each other, much less talked to each other for more than a week now. At first, it wasn’t too unusual, the other residents of the hotel being used to them and their silent treatments. But usually, those only last a few days at most. So, of course, Charlie is beside herself with stress. Vaggie finds her pacing in their bedroom, mumbling to herself.
“Is it something I did? Maybe it was the trust exercise. Maybe I pushed them too much. Maybe they don’t want to stay here anymore. May-“ Vaggie takes Charlie by the shoulders, stopping her pacing.
“Babe. You alright?” She asks.
Charlie lets out a long breath. “Um, no. Husk and Angel haven’t talked to each other for almost two weeks now and it’s all my fault.”
“How?”
“Well, they stopped talking after the sharing our feelings circle I did. So obviously it has… to be…. my…… fault?” Charlie tapers off as Vaggie starts shaking her head.
“No, it’s not you. Angel punched Husk and now they refuse to talk to each other.” Vaggie explains. “I heard Husk grumbling to himself at the bar.”
Charlie’s eyes widen. “Ohhhhhhhh. Okay. Well, I’m glad it isn’t my fault but I’m sad they’re not talking to each other.”
Vaggie starts rocking on her heels, smiling mischievously. “Well, I might have an idea….”
Almost two hours later, Vaggie is leading Husk down a hallway.
“Where are we going again?” Husk asks, taking a swig of the bottle in his hand.
“I think that this room would be perfect for bar storage and since you’re the bartender, I thought I’d ask your opinion.” Vaggie lies, opening a door and waving Husk inside.
Husk looks around to the slightly cramped room full of furniture. “I don’t think this would f-“ Husk’s words are cut off as the door is shut and locked behind him. “What the…..?”
“Oh, you gotta be fuckin’ kiddin’ me.” Husk cringes as Angel’s voice pipes up from behind him and sure enough, when he turns around there he is, sitting on an overturned chair and glaring at Husk.
“What the fuck? What is this?” Husk demands.
“How the hell should I know?! Cha-Cha told me she was showin’ me a new place for Nuggs to play and then locked me in here.” Angel explains.
Husk groans and lightly places the back of his head against the wall behind him. “What the fuck?” He asks himself quietly.
A million different escape ideas race through Husk’s head as his eyes dart around the room, purposely skipping over Angel.
“Hey…” The apprehension in Angel’s voice causes Husk to look at him but Angel is staring pointedly at his phone. “I’m sorry… that I punched ya…”
“What?”
“I ain’t sayin’ it again,” Angel says, still looking at his phone even though Husk can see it’s not powered on.
Husk watches Angel fidget with his phone for a while. “Thanks. For apologizing.” Husk says finally, his voice quiet and awkward.
Angel nods once, pocketing his phone. The awkward tension in the air is almost too much for Husk to handle so he decides to break the silence. “Alright, we made up!” He yells through the closed door. “Let us out now!”
Angel comes to stand next to him, knocking furiously at the door. “Guys seriously! Let us out! Ma phone died and Val will kill me if he can’t get ahold of me!”
Silence answers them because unfortunately for the duo, Charlie and Vaggie anticipated that they would be far more stubborn than they are so they left for lunch about ten minutes ago. Eventually, Angel gives up, sliding down the wall to sit on the ground. Husk joins him a moment later, fidgeting with his claws.
“So… what did you mean… that Val will kill you?” Husk asks finally. “Like… actually?”
Angel snorts and looks at the ceiling, eyes hard. “Nah, he’ll just make me wish I was dead.” He says quietly.
“Jesus, what does that guy do to you?” Husk asks, sounding a little like he doesn’t want to know.
“You don’t wanna know. Trust me. There’s a kink for everything but uh…” Angel trails off and Husk looks at him to see a tear slowly sliding down his cheek.
Without thinking, Husk moves to wipe it away. Angel flinches slightly but relaxes when he realizes Husk isn’t about to hurt him. Husk is hesitant to remove his paw but does anyway. “I’m sorry.” He whispers. “You don’t deserve that.”
There’s silence, causing Husk to look back at Angel who is looking at him like he’s seeing him for the first time again. Husk swallows nervously. “Why’re you looking at me like that?”
Angel blushes and looks away. Husk can’t stop the fleeting thought of ‘Pretty.’ that crosses his mind.
“I’m sorry that I’ve been such a dick to you,” Husk says suddenly. “You just come on so strong.. all the time… and I didn’t really know how to deal with that. Fake flirting aside.”
Angel looks at him in confusion. “What?”
“What?” Husk asks, also confused.
“What didja mean by ‘fake flirtin’?” He asks.
“You know, the fake, playful flirting that you do with me all the time?” Husk says slowly.
Angel tilts his head at him. “Fake?”
“Yes?”
“Husk, I’m not faking anything.” Angel clarifies.
Husk turns fully around to face Angel. “You’ve been flirting with me for real this entire time!?”
“YES?!” Angel fully faces Husk, their faces less than a foot apart.
“YOU MEAN I’VE BEEN BRUSHING OFF REAL ADVANCES?!”
“YES?!” Angel repeats.
“OH MY GOD IF I’D KNOWN THAT I WOULD’VE STOPPED!” Husk laughs incredulously, hand on his face.
That stops Angel dead. He looks at Husk. “What?”
Husk doesn’t seem to notice the change in mood. “HELL, I THOUGHT YOU WERE JUST FUCKING WITH ME ONLY TO FIND OUT YOU’VE FELT THE SAME THIS WHOLE TIME AND I’M THE IDIOT?!”
“Feel…. the same?” Angel mutters, eyes wide.
Husk looks at Angel and smiles nervously. “Yeah… I uh…”
Angel doesn’t let him finish, leaning forward and pressing their lips together. Husk freezes for a second before his brain catches up, both hands cupping Angel’s face.
“Well, did they make up?” Vaggie asks, looking up at Charlie who is walking back down the stairs. “You alright?” She asks, catching sight of Charlie’s expression.
“I uh…” Charlie is blushing violently and kind of looks like she wants to rip her eyes out. “They are certainly close…”