Chapter Text
The lowlights of the street hit Angel's eyes as he squinted, his steps misguided.
He stumbled, lurching his body forward as he puked into an alleyway next to him. He wiped his mouth, the mixed taste of alcohol and drugs sliding onto his hoodie sleeve as he clamped a hand back over his mouth, groaning.
His eyes stung with hot tears, as he blinked them back, attempting to regain his vision, failing.
Everything was a sea of colours and lights, shadows and some sense of anxiety pumping through his body.
He gagged again as he stumbled onto the ground, his legs giving out.
His surroundings were a blurred haze of mixed images, and dulled out sounds.
Angel groaned to himself as his head hit the back of a street wall, clutching his side as he whimpered, sighing hard and heavy.
He kept breathing out heavily. He tried to focus on something other than the smell of his own substance-filled vomit, screwing his eyes shut, but he couldn't escape the colours behind his lids.
"Angel..?"
His eyes flew open as he smacked a hand up blindly, to whatever was coming towards him.
"Fuck off!" he slurred, only to be met with golden eyes, and a winged silhouette.
"Huskk..?" Angel groaned out.
He couldn't see his expression; he tried to focus on the voice he could hear.
"Angel, what-"
"Yah gooood kitty?" Angel tilted his head, eyes closing as he smiled to himself. "Yah sound noott.'
"Angel, where have you .. been."
Angel thought to himself.
Where had he been? He groaned again. His stomach felt like it was stirring insistently.
Apparently, not receiving an answer was enough for Husk, who spoke up again;
"Is it alright if I carry you?"
"Whaaaat? To your beeeeed?"
"No," Husk's voice was stern. "To yours. Alone." Angel mumbled complaints under his breath, but if you asked him what he said, he wouldn't recall. Husk paused and seemed to go quiet for some reason, before repeating the question.
Angel grumbled out a yes, and felt two paws gently lift him up, like he was as delicate as porcelain.
The walk to the casino was blurry, like everything else.
Sounds folded into one another, a few moments of his ranting and rambling cutting through his ears, before dying down again.
Before he knew it, he was being dropped down onto his bed, and a pig was sniffing and licking his face. He giggled.
"Heyyyy Nugggggsie," Angel whispered, cracking his eyes open. The lights were off, the only illumination from the candles Husk was lighting.
"Ohhh setting a mooood?" Angel croaked out.
Husk sharply quenched a match stick, turning slightly, his eyes glowing in the dark.
They looked pissed.
Angel felt his walls build up a bit.
"Oh whattt? Yah judgin' me? Huh?"
"No," Husk replied quietly. "I'm ..worried-"
"Don't fuckin' .. don't .. fuckin' .." Angel trailed off, his eyes stinging as he fought back more tears.
Husk was quiet, and Angel felt him sit down on the end of the bed as he wiped his face with his blanket, collecting himself a bit.
"I'm not leaving," Husk said sternly.
"Yah should," Angel mumbled. "I ain't no good."
"Angel-"
"-bet you wish you'd have lost that bet with Val right now, huh?" Angel choked out a bitter laugh.
"I'm a shit soul to own, riight? I don't .. I'm just good for .. for the physical shit .. but no, no. Not for you! Yah want me to do nothin'," he gripped his pillow, throwing it sharply off the bed and watching it knock over a bottle.
"Angel I don't -"
"-yah just embarrassed or somethin'. Yah.. gotta be .. gotta be it doesn't make . ugh .." Angel wiped his face with both his hand.
"It don't make any sense otherwise."
"That's not why I stopped you flirting."
"Oh," Angel scoffed. "Really? Then why huh?"
Husk was quiet for another minute, and Angel took it as confirmation to keep going.
“I was rilight! Yah embarrassed by me! That's fuckin' why, isn't it, yah bastard?!"
Husk didn't reply, staying quiet as he sat at the end of the bed, just silent and patient."C'mon," Angel urged angrily. "Fuckin' .. get mad or something. Get pissed."
Husk didn't react, still quiet and passive.
"Get fuckin' angry at me!" Angel shouted down at him, only to be met with sympathetic eyes.
The words died in his throat.
"Get fuckin' mad .. or .. something," Angel muttered pathetically as he started to cry again.
"Just get angry at me .. you should be .. angry .."
He collapsed in on himself, turning away from Husk as Nuggs nudged his waist to crawl into his lap. Husk didn't say anything, still.
Angel started sobbing into his hands again, choking out tears and spit as he coughed through it.
He felt a slow, hesitant paw reach over onto his back.
He snapped his gaze up, looking behind him.
Husk was rubbing soft, gentle circles onto his back.
His voice was barely a whisper.
"He fucked with you bad, didn't he?"
Angel's lip wobbled as he let out another loud sob. Husk continued rubbing circles onto his back as Angel loudly let out broken noise after broken noise, snot and spit and tears mixing together in his palms as he tried to shove them back in.
"Do you want me to .. stay ..?" Husk asked hesitantly, still rubbing soothing circles.
Angel sniffled loudly, nodding with no words.
"Do you want a hug?"
Angel nodded.
The feeling of big, feathered wings enveloping him made him barely hold back another sob as his chest tightened, from pain and something else.
"Is this okay?"
Another nod.
Angel leaned back into it as he picked up Nuggs, holding him to his chest as he let himself be enclosed in Husk's arms and wings.
Cocooned, almost.
They were quiet. Husk didn't ask, and Angel didn't talk.
His crying filled the silence, instead. He felt Husk's chin lean on his head as he shook a bit.
"I'm sorry," Angel croaked out.
"For what?"
"This. Me. For ... how I'm acting."
"Don't apologise," Husk murmured.
"You're my .. soul owner. An overlord. I shouldn't .."
".. do whatever you liKe.
Angel sniffled a bit more, Nuggs licking his chin.
"Funny."
"I give you permission," Husk muttered lowly.
"What does that -"
He watched as a contract flew into his face.
The words died in his throat. Angel glanced down at his signature. Anthony.
"Anthony, hm? That's nice," Husk said.
Angel couldn't conjure up any more words.
"You can have this," Husk's voice was low, gruff. Soft.
Gentle.
Not Valentino.
"My”
"Your soul."
The words rang through Angel's ears like bells.
"I-why-"
"-don't question why," Husk mumbled. "Take it."
"Are you .. trying to get rid of me?"
Husk's head softly shook from above him.
"No. You can stay here, same perks. Same job. Same accommodation. On one condition."
Of course. A catch.
"Don't hurt yourself like this again," Husk said.
Angel's eyes were glued to the contract, to his name.
Every detail he scoured over.
Husk let it go, and Angel watched as it landed in his lap, next to Nuggs. It disappeared into ash.
Angel gaped at it.
"You-"
"-you can stay here. No strings," Husk mumbled.
" . thank you," Angel was sobbing again.
"Fuckin' hell Husk, thank you," he broke down again, turning around to hug the overlord.
Husk seemed startled but accepted it.
"I want you to be okay .. I ...” Husk broke off.
Angel didn't push it, just hugging him tighter.
No words needed.