Chapter Text
Arackniss stared out the window of Jack's car while Molly talked the crow's ears off--did crows have ears?--it didn't matter. The corvid had offered to drive them to the Happy Hotel, which had been re-dubbed the Hazbin Hotel. Molly had come down from purgatory to visit her brothers. Both of them. And so she'd gone out of her way to dig up Angel's location--not that it was much of a secret, to begin with. Initially, Arackniss had opposed this idea because he believed if he were to be seen with Angel it would cause trouble. He didn't want to be associated with Angel. Well, he didn't want Angel associated with him. The ebony spider didn't want Angel to get dragged back into the mafia business. Alas, Molly had decided to take it upon herself to tell a certain corvid about her little plan. And Jack knew how to get Arackniss to agree.
"It won't be too bad, tootsie-pop~" the crow had said to him. "If anythin', I think it'll help ya wit' the stress you've been experiencin' with the mafiosa and whatnot."
Well, he hadn't exactly gotten the spider to agree. He more or less carried him into the car against his will. Arackniss only allowed this to happen because he was too exhausted to argue anything. He needed more alcohol, he decided. He hadn't drunk anything since half an hour ago, after all. He just hoped none of the boys saw them leaving, they would have questions. Especially Mark. For all they knew, the red imp could very well be chasing them on all fours like the mischief he was. But Arackniss couldn't bring himself to care. He couldn't bring himself to admit that he missed his fratello and--selfish as it was--that he wanted to see him again. Perhaps the absence of their father would make thins less awkward for the three spiders.
"We're here, tootsie-pop an' sugar plum~." Jack always came up with the strangest nicknames, didn't he?
"Ohhhh, I hope he's 'ere. I mean, I know he's stayin' there but I hope he hasn' left or something, that'd be a real shame. I can't wait ta see him again! Gawsh, this is jus' so excitin'! Ain't that right, fratello?" Arackniss was afraid Molly might explode from being too excited. He didn't really like that kind of positive energy, he preferred calmer, quieter joy. The kind of energy in, say, casinos. Where people could get excited but it just wasn't annoying. Or magic shows, where people became fascinated but they wouldn't often radiate energy like the one you got from Ecstacy. Yes, Arackniss liked magic card games and casino card games; Hell, he'd take a good magic trick over alcohol any day. He chuckled to himself. He would never give up alcohol for anything. He did not enjoy being sober. Because that would mean he could process things and think things over clearly. His afterlife was enough of a mess without him knowing what was happening.
Molly was the first to jump into the hotel, having four long legs and being full of energy made her extremely fast. Arackniss, being small and light himself, could also walk at a faster pace than most other demons. Though he could still never be as fast as his younger sister. They were greeted by none other than Alastor, The Radio Demon himself.
"WELCOME TO THE HABIN HOTEL!" He threw his arms up in a grand gesture, "WHY DON'T YOU CHECK-IN? ARE YOU HERE FOR A FUTAL ATTEMPT AT REHABILITATION OF SIN-"
"OI, Bambi. We're jus' here ta visit someone. I ain't got time to listen' to a damn promotional advertisement, eh." Arackniss cut him off, his mid-set of arms rested on his hips, his lower arms were crossed and his top set was doing that strange hand motion that is found in Italians. The deer blinked at him, his smile never leaving his face. Arackniss knew exactly who he was talking to. But he didn't give a single damn about it. He wasn't in a good mood and some Bambi-looking fucker shouting at him with a fucking radio accent wasn't doing much to better it. He sure as fuck wasn't afraid of the demon towering over him, he was never afraid of dying once and he certainly wasn't afraid of dying twice. Existing was a pain in the ass, anyway. Molly apologized for his behavior but Alastor only laughed it off:
"IT'S QUITE ALRIGHT, DEAR! I KNOW SOMEONE WITH A VERY SIMILAR ATTITUDE AS HIS!"
"Ya do? Who 's it?" Molly inquired.
"HIS NAME IS HUSK!" The Radio demon leaned away from his microphone, "he's our bartender." That immediately caught Arackniss's attention, he didn't even acknowledge that Bambi had dropped the broadcaster voice.
"There's a bar her-"
"Fratello, no." Molly stated firmly, "we're here ta see Angel an' that's it. We talked 'bout yer alcoholism, didn' we?"
"I'm not an alcoholic!" Okay, so maybe he did drink a lot. And maybe he did drink a lot often. And maybe often was every day. And maybe every day was actually every hour. And maybe every hour was actually a min--no. That was beside the point. He was not an alcoholic. Jack cawed to silence their quarrel and also to alert them of the spider who had appeared not too long ago.
"Molls? Nessie?"
Molly gasped and ran to embrace her twin in a hug, "ANGIE!!" Arackniss smiled softly and then regained his composure as he made his way over to his younger siblings before Molly pulled him into the hug, too.
//Time Skip//
Husk stared at him from the bar, he couldn't tear his gaze away from Arackniss. In the few weeks which they'd gotten to know each other, the bony spider had managed to make Husk's heart dance in his chest whenever he was around. He watched, intrigued, as the small spider took six bottles of wine and opened each one with his teeth. God, he wanted to be that bottle. After he'd opened all six bottles, he put all six of them to his lips and chugged them down. How the fuck-
"Holy shit..."
Alastor popped in out of seemingly nowhere, "WHAT IS IS MY DEAR HUSKER?"
Husk gulped. "I think I might be in love," he admitted.
Curiously, Alastor followed his gaze to where Arackniss was sitting. He chuckled and dropped his radio voice, "I see." He pulled Husk from behind the bar and started dragging him towards Arackniss. Husk panicked and started trying to crawl away, he wasn't ready for this shit. "Alastor I swear to-"
"Arackniss!"
Shit.
"Oh, hey."
"My dear arachnid friend! Have you had the chance to meet my wonderful friend Husk?"
Shut up shut up shut up fuck-
"Yeah, why?"
"Well, I was wondering if you knew he was quite the swell kisser!"
"What?"
Husk face-palmed. He had never kissed Alastor. He knew Al was trying to help but he was doing an awful job of it.
"At least I think he would be!"
"For fuck's sake Al..." Husk really wanted to be exterminated right about now.
"Would you like to test it?"
Arackniss blink, "are ya flirtin' with me for Husk?"
"I suppose you could say that-"
"Dammit Al just stop." Husk hissed at him.
A chuckle escaped Arackniss, sending shivers down Husk's spine. "Sure, I'll test it." He slides two fingers under Husk's bowtie and pulls him into a french kiss. The cat freezes at first before letting himself melt into the kiss and returns it passionately. Alastor rolls his eyes before leaving the two to whatever heinous acts they would commit.