Chapter Text
Alastor whistled a cheery tune as he made his rounds of the hotel. It hadn’t even been a week since the fiasco on the news, and he was even more entertained than he had expected to be. With the new members of his staff, Alastor was finding there was never a dull moment in the Hazbin Hotel for wayward souls. There was always someone shouting, or being chased, or fighting, and it thrilled him to no end.
Husk and Niffty were familiar enough to him, but were continuously surprising him in their new environment. Husk was mouthier than usual, but always knew when to stop pushing something. Niffty was somehow more energetic than before, scurrying around the building like an ant on crack. It warmed Alastor's cold, dead heart to see the two demons causing chaos wherever they went.
On top of that, he had Charlie and Vaggie to entertain him as well. The princess’ dangerous optimism was a fountain of fun, especially when her pretty face would crumble after one of her many plans to get everyone to behave fell though. Vaggie was interesting in her own ways as well - it had been decades since Alastor had seen a demon stick their neck out so far for someone else. He liked to pick fun at Charlie, just to see what Vaggie would do in return. At the moment, they were at a bit of a stalemate, but he was busy thinking up some new shenanigans to rile his new companions into another brawl.
Alastor, as much fun as he had with the others, found himself entertained by a certain spider most of all. Yes, he had been caught off guard by the lewd suggestion from their first meeting, but that only intrigued him more! When was the last time he, the feared Radio Demon, had genuinely been caught off guard? Angel was a riot to mess with, and Alastor relished the feeling he got when he would make the whore’s shoulder slump self consciously after a particularly harsh comment. The fun part, however, was how Angel never seemed to be down for long. A day or two after a particularly jabbing remark and he was back on his heeled feet again, doing his best to push Alastor’s buttons in return.
And push Alastor’s buttons he did. It seemed Angel was much more clever than Alastor had given him credit for. The taller demon was loud and crass and lewd, but he also kept his eyes open for minute reactions. He knew exactly what sort of comments made Alastor’s skin crawl the most, and where he could ‘accidentally’ touch to make the deer bristle. They were sharing a dance of sorts, always pushing the other until they themselves are pushed back - a tango where they try to find each other’s weaknesses. Alastor almost hoped Angel was having as much fun with their little games as he was.
He switched from whistling to humming as he heard someone in the parlor. Slipping into his shadow, Alastor went to see what chaos he could sew on this fine Hellish morning.
Angel sat on the couch that was facing the fireplace, his swine being coddled in one pair of the spider’s arms while the second set tapped away on his phone.
“Aw, look atcha Nuggs,” Angel cooed, showing the pig a picture he had just taken. “See? I told ya you’d be th’ cutest baby in all a Hell.”
Fat Nuggets oinked happily, ignoring the picture to nudge Angel’s chin with their nose.
“You’re such a good baby,” Angel grinned wide. From his place in the shadow, Alastor saw how the spider’s fur seemed puffier than usual. He knew Angel blushed by bristling his fluff, but it seemed it was also a form of contentment as well. Interesting. “Daddy doesn’t know what he’d do without ya Nuggs... You’re th’ only thing keepin’ me sane ‘round here.”
Alastor watched as Fat Nuggets chuffed, their eyes glowing a bright pink as they wiggled in Angel’s arms. Angel let them go, giving them the room to turn around a few times on the spider’s lap before sighing and plopping down heavily. Within moments the sound of gentle snoring filled the lobby.
“Cherri is gonna lose ‘er mind at these,” Angel whispered, clicking more pictures of the sleeping pig. Alastor didn’t understand the draw of a pet - even while he was alive, he felt they were too much work with too little reward. Sure they were cute, but they couldn’t really do much of anything else and he never had the patience for things that weren’t useful to him. “I wonda if Molls would be free fa lunch one a these days. Betcha miss ya Auntie, haven’tcha baby?”
Fat Nuggets continued to sleep, and Angel tapered off with a light chuckle. Alastor blinked - he had never heard of a demon named ‘Molls’, let alone one that was close enough to the spider to be considered Fat Nuggets’ aunt. Angel tapped away at his phone and Alastor quickly lost interest in what he was doing.
He could feel some drama going on upstairs and slipped away through the shadows. It was bound to be quite the performance! As he watched Charlie try to diffuse a fight between two random demons that showed up at the hotel a few days prior, a thought lodged itself into his mind.
If he wanted drama, he knew Angel was the best performer. If he wanted the show of a lifetime, he knew exactly what to do to rile the other demon up. A sinister smile grew on his face, the glow emitting from his eyes sent faint shadows on the darkened walls.
A low chuckle filled the air as he stepped back into his shadows. This was going to be the show of the century!
It was another week after his revelation that Alastor had the honor of bumping into the hotel’s resident poster demon. His grin only grew sharper as he saw Angel walking around the corner, his full attention on his phone. Alastor stepped out into his path, expecting to stick his cane out to trip the spider, but to his surprise Angel blinked just as he was about to slam his shins into the microphone cane.
“Oh ‘ey there Smiles,” Angel’s face split into a suggestive grin. Alastor felt his fur bristle at the connotations of that smile, but he didn’t miss how Angel seemed to take a step back from the Radio Demon, growing the gap between them. “Somethin’ up?”
“It has been a while since we’ve crossed paths, my effeminate fellow!” Alastor chirped, his feedback spiking in an attempt to make Angel flinch. It only worked a little bit, causing the taller demon’s brows to furrow for a split second before his face smoothed out again.
“Yeah, guess so,” Angel snickered, his eyes turning up in a way that made it quite clear that he was planning something. “I’ve been in high demand at th’ studio, so I’ve been a bit of a ghost ‘round these parts.”
“I do hope you are not being worked too hard,” Alastor noted how Angel seemed to relax a little at the inquiry about his health. “It wouldn’t look too good for the hotel if you were to collapse!”
“No worries ‘bout that,” Angel waved the concerns off. “This ain’t my first time ‘round the block. I’ve been doin’ this for a few years now.”
“Your skills are the last thing I wish to discuss!” Alastor trilled loudly, trying to move past the obvious tension in the air. “I actually have a question for you.”
“Whatcha need, Deer Daddy?” He cocked a single eyebrow. Alastor’s grin tightened.
“For you to never call me that again,” He squared his shoulders and adjusted his tie, causing Angel to roll his eyes. “Secondly, I was simply curious about the origins of your Overweight Tenders.”
“Fat Nuggets?” Angel’s suggestive grin dropped to a mildly offended one. “Neva thought his name could get butchered that badly but ‘ere we are.”
“Whatever, I have no time for frivolous details,” He waved a gloved hand in Angel’s face dismissively. “I just wish to know the swine’s background. Now that this hotel is under my protection, I cannot allow other overlords to attempt to undermine my power.”
“What does Nuggs ‘ave anythin’ ta do with your stupid overlord bullshit?” Angel crossed his arms, suddenly enjoying this conversation much less.
“If it was obtained by the means of another overlord, there might be some crossing of interests.”
“They came from noneya.”
“Excuse me?” Alastor blinked, confused.
“None a ya FUCKIN BUSINESS,” Angel shouted in his face, his grin back in place. “Now can I go?”
“My dear, all you needed to do was answer my inquiry,” Alastor’s eye twitched in frustration. “And yet you continue to vex me so!”
“UGH fine,” His shoulders slumped dramatically. “Val gave them ta me a few years back cuz ‘e was happy with my performances. Said I was being a good lil’ boy and that I deserve a treat. I think he thought I would eat them but jokes on ‘im! I got a son now.”
“Hm, interesting,” Alastor’s shadow snuck along the wall, stopping just behind Angel. It reached out, it’s dark fingers just inches from digging into the spider’s fur. “I must be going now! I do hope you keep that swill in line! Our poor, poor Niffty has her hands full with the rest of this dump! No need to make it harder on her.”
“Yeah, yeah,” Angel scoffed. “What th’ fuck eva Smiles.”
Alastor grinned at the spider before stepping into his shadow and disappearing. He could hear Angel’s groan and complaints about his ‘creepy voodoo shit’ as he traveled from shadow to shadow, moving from one end of the hotel to the other in a matter of moments.
Alastor hummed a chipper tune, waltzing around the kitchen with a wide grin. He was excited to see Angel’s reaction to all of this. He was almost buzzing with how thrilled he was for this! It would be the most entertaining event of the CENTURY and he almost wished he had gotten one of those hellphones Angel seemed so attached to, just so he could record the chaos about to ensue.
“Oh, somethin’ smells great!” Angel’s voice called from the hallway. Alastor’s grin sharpened dangerously. He realized his horns had started to grow in anticipation and took a moment to bring his emotions back under control before the spider entered the kitchen.
“Why thank you, my dear!” Alastor’s grin curled as Angel found his way in. The pan on the stove sizzled happily and he could almost see how Angel was drooling over whatever it was the other demon was cooking. Was Alastor above using one of the many skills his mother had given him in his youth for his own entertainment?
Absolutely.
“What is it?” Angel asked, peering over Alastor’s shoulder. “Ah shit, it ain’t some random John off the street is it? Those fuckas are dirty as shit Smiles. You gotta up ya standards of who ya put in ya gut.”
“While I appreciate your concerns over my diet,” Alastor started calmly. He didn’t want to dwell on how Angel didn’t seem scared of the fact that he was a cannibal but rather seemed to accept it without a second thought, nor now not a single soul had taken the knowledge with such unperturbed stride before. “I assure you this is not some nameless demon found lying around the streets. Besides, I take care to pick the best prey for my hunts. Nothing less is good enough for my pallet.”
“Damn Al, you’re a real gas, ain’cha?” Angel snickered, his eyes shining.
“Pardon?” Alastor blinked. It wasn’t often he heard vernacular from his own time period, so having it come from a slut’s mouth caught him by surprise.
“Eh?”
“When was it you fell?” Alastor found himself asking.
“1947, drug ovadose,” Angel stretched his upper set of arms over his head while his lower set rested on his hips. “Hafta admit, it was a bit of a cop-out afta everythin’ else I did in my life. Couldn't have been a shootin’ or somethin’ relatin’ ta th’ family - had ta basically be suicide! I even knew somethin’ was off with the dosin’ but I didn’t care.”
“The family?” Alastor asked, using a fork to plate up what he had been cooking.
“Mm, Pops was a big name in th’ mafia back in th’ home land and decided ta make an impression in New York. Hafta say it was one helluva time! Sure I got th’ shit beat outta me fa being a damn poof, but it was fun as fuck ta break some fingas ta get the info I wanted.” His grin was borderline feral as he recalled his time in the mafia.
“You truly have no end to the surprises,” Alastor threw his head back and laughed for a moment, two plates held firmly in his hands. “Come! Eat! Tell me more about your life.”
“Really? You wanna know more?” Angel blinked, his shoulder curling in a little but, as if he were uncomfortable at the sudden attention.
“Of course! Tales of bloodshed and violence are exactly what I crave!” He placed a plate down at the kitchen island for Angel before slipping onto his own stool. Angel dropped into his seat and instantly dug in, cutting a piece of the meat off and chewing it thoroughly. His face lit up brightly.
“Shit Smiles, why didn’t ya tell none a’ us that you could cook like this?”
“Can’t be giving away all my trade secrets,” He said, cutting a proper bite and stabbing it with his fork. “Where’s the fun in showing my whole hand up front?”
“I guess,” Angel gave Alastor a smile, and if the deer didn’t know any better he would say it was almost genuine. “So whadda wanna know?”
“What kill is most prominent in your memory?” Alastor asked, summoning two glasses of wine for their little meal. Angel’s eyes widened for a moment before he let out a light chuckle.
“You sure know how ta treat a dame right,” Angel’s chest fluff puffed slightly. Alastor’s grin widened. This was going exactly as he had planned. “Hm, more memorable has ta be th’ shitty boss a some shitty launderin’ act. Found out durin’ his interrogation that he’d been... well, ‘ad been sleepin’ with the younga membas of his staff.”
“Oh?” Alastor didn’t quite see how that was something to make Angel’s face darken in rage.
“The youngest was nine,” He growled, eyes clouding as he recalled that night. “Said ‘e was breakin’ them right so they’d be betta in th’ future. Piece a fuckin’ scum was groomin’ these kids and didn’t see anythin’ wrong with it!”
Alastor felt his smile fall some. As ruthless as he could be, he had morals. Children were always out of the question, not only because they barely had enough meat to make the hunt worthwhile, but also because his Mama always taught him to respect his elders and to look out for children who were weaker than he was. The only person he ever truly respected had been her, but he always put on a show for anyone who expected it.
“Pops had given me permission ta do whateva I wanted to th’ fucka as soon as we got th’ info we needed, so as soon as I sent one a my guys back ta base with the intel, I went ta town on ‘im. Cut his dick off slowly, made ‘im choke on it. Left ‘im alive fa all of it too, so ‘e would suffa the way those kids did,” Angel’s hand froze, a piece of meat frozen in air. Alastor thought the other was... ethereal when he was lusting for blood. “Anyway, I finally put a bullet between ‘is eyes afta ‘bout five hours of playin’.”
“That was a delicious story,” Alastor rested his chin on the back of his hands, his fingers laced together as his grin widened. “I must say, I wish I could have been there to bear witness to such a beautiful performance.”
“Ha!” Angel threw his head back for a moment. “Next time Cherri needs a hand, or six, I’ll let ya tag along. You’d probably getta kick outta the way we fight.”
“And how is that?” His eyes flickered to the counter, but Angel didn’t notice.
“Unhinged and ready to do as much damage as possible,” Angel grinned. “Not th’ same as your stupid pretentious broadcasts, but it’s still fun.”
“Mm, maybe I shall take you up on that, one day,” He made a show to reach for something, only to frown in fake shock. “Oh my, I seem to have forgotten napkins. Could you grab us some, my friend?”
“Yeah whateva,” Angel stood and made it to the counter in two strides. He reached out to grab a few from the pile Charlie kept on hand in an attempt to keep the kitchen neat, only to freeze. A familiar pink collar sat next to the napkin holder, something brown drying on the once shining fabric. The name tag sat facing up, “W-what’s this?”
“What is what?” Alastor tried to fight back his grin and failed as he went to stand next to the other demon. He peered over Angel’s shoulder and chucked. “Oh that? Our meal was a little too dressed, but that wasn’t enough to deter a chef with the drive to finish their task!”
“Our... meal?” Angel whispered, reaching out and taking the collar with shaking fingers.
“Mm, I was quite pleased that you enjoyed it,” Alastor was practically vibrating. The quiet fear in Angel’s voice was absolutely delectable. This was definitely worth how long it took to orchestrate this. “Pork isn’t a meat I cook with often, given were I grew up, but-”
He cut himself off at something cold and hard pressing into his temple. Angel’s face was twisted in rage and grief, eyeliner already smearing down his cheeks as tears fell from burning eyes. He pressed one gun to the side of Alastor’s head and another to the bottom of the other’s jaw.
“Y-you muthafucka...” Angel whispered, his fur bristling to make him look almost twice his original size. For the first time, Alastor noticed just how much height the spider had on him - he was easily a head and a half above the deer. “Just when I thought ta weren’t so bad...”
The guns pressed against his skull trembled as Angel sobbed, his breathing starting to pick up. He would never be able to hold Fat Nuggets again. He would never get to snuggle them after a long day. He would never get to finish the little coat he had been making for him. Not only that, but Alastor had TRICKED him into EATING FAT NUGGETS.
He tricked Angel into EATING HIS CHILD.
One of his free hands shot out and wrapped around Alastor’s throat, his claws ripping through his gloves and into the deer’s grey skin. Alastor’s grin froze, a strange feeling growing in the pit of his stomach.
“You- you...” Angel couldn’t get a work out without sobbing around it. The gun only shook harder as he pushed them firmly against Al’s head. “You fuckin’ bastard! I aughtta blow ya brains inta next Tuesday-”
“Now, now my good spider,” Alastor’s voice didn’t give away anything of the strange feeling that was only getting worse. “I think we’ve-”
“Shut the FUCK UP,” Angel screamed, his pupils shrinking to the size of specks. “You’re a sick muthafucka! No wonda everyone ‘ates ya.”
“They fear me, mon cher,” Alastor chuckled. “Far too much so to hate me-”
“Nah, they fuckin’ ‘ate you,” Angel bared his teeth, and Alsator could see his own reflection in the spider’s golden tooth. It sent a thrill down the overlord’s spine. “They ‘ate you, and it’s gonna catch up with ya one day, Bambi. Betta watch ya fuckin’ tail you piece a venison garbage.”
“Angel-” Charlie came only to choke on her words. “WHAT’S GOING ON HERE?”
“I’m boutta blow his fuckin’ brains out,” Angel hissed, no sign of mercy in those mismatched eyes. “And I’ll keep blowin’ his brains out ‘till the fuckin’ rapture.”
“WHY!?” Charlie rushed over, tugging on Angel’s arm to no avail. The spider was stronger than she had thought, her entire body weight not enough to make the gun budge from the trapped demon’s temple.
“Don’t get in my way Toots. I can’t promise ya won’t get caught up in the fire.”
“Angel, stop-” Charlie’s voice cracked but Angel wasn’t deterred. Just as his finger was about to pull the trigger, he heard a familiar chuffing.
“Fat Nuggets?” Angel’s entire body relaxed like a balloon losing all its air in a single moment.
The pig came running up to Angel, licking his ankles and snorting happily. He was naked, his collar still on the counter, and they were squeaky clean. He threw his guns to the side and scooped his child into his arms, shoving his face in their neck and sobbed.
“Alastor mentioned how dirty they were getting, so I offered to give them a bath,” Charlie still wasn’t entirely sure what happened, but she had a sinking feeling it had everything to do with the Radio Demon. “He said he would clean their collar in the meantime, cuz it was covered in mud...”
“So it was a fuckin’ joke, huh?” Angel turned to Alastor. His face, once twisted in rage, was now eerily blank. “I hope you got ya sick fuckin’ rocks ofta that, you fuckin’ bastard.”
“Now, Angel, there’s no need to be-” Alastor didn’t finish his sentence. Angel stormed out of the kitchen, Fat Nuggets in one set of arms, a third hand grabbing the collar from the counter and the fourth pushing the plate onto the floor. He was gone before the porcelain shattered on the kitchen tiles.
Alastor thought he would be thrilled at the reaction from the spider, but for some reason, he didn’t feel nearly as good as expected. He didn’t know what to call this new feeling, but it didn’t sit well with him one bit.
“- and so I says, ‘ain’t no problem pretty thang’,” Angel’s voice rang out through the parlor. He was sitting at the bar with a captive audience who had mixed emotions about the story he was regaling them with. “And the HE said, ‘sure is a compliment from a broad like yourself’. Now obviously I ‘ad ta play with the bloke, and by the end a th’ night, I ‘ad more than just ‘is wallet!”
“Ugh, Angel I don’t want to hear about that.” Vaggie grumbled, scooting closer to her girlfriend. Charlie, however, seemed enthralled by the story, her eyes wide and sparkling. Husk stood in his usual place, and there was another patron of the hotel sitting on Angel’s left.
“Vaggie let him finish!” Charlie frowned at the other woman. “I want to know what he did!”
“Whaddya think he did?” Husk huffed, picking a nonexistent piece of dust off his bottle of whatever the fuck he was drinking. “He probably got an STI.”
“For your information, pussy cat, I happen ta have standards,” Angel scowled. “At least when shit like that could get ta me. Now it don’t matta cuz we can’t get sick down ‘ere.”
“What happened to the man afterwards?” Charlie pushed, not liking to be left hanging.
“I got ‘is wallet, but turns out ‘e was one a th’ guys we’d been lookin’ for! Dumb shmuck tried changin’ his name and everythin’ but he ‘ad a scar on his uppa arm that was more than tellin. I knocked ‘im out cold and brought ‘im back ta pops. It was sad ta hear him bite th’ bullet though... first time a John treated me nice. Even let me stay aftawards and offered ta make me breakfast th’ next day.”
Angel’s grin dimmed a little bit. What he wasn’t telling the others was how he tried to help the man sneak away. How he tried to help the man change his identity and escape to another country. How he had been forced to watch his own father put a bullet between the man’s eyes to make a point. How the man had been killed to punish Anthony for being a disappointment who fucked men. If he hadn’t been such an insult to God, Pops would have just tortured the man a little and maybe kept a finger or two as a souvenir, but instead he was thrown in the river without his family ever being told what happened to him.
Alastor heard the commotion and made his way to the parlor, wondering what sort of interesting things would happen - there was never a dull moment in this Hazbin Hotel, and he was simply thrilled at the immediate payout of this gamble. It made the agreement with the Princess worth it after only a single day.
“Hel-” Alastor went to announce himself, only to be caught off guard by a bullet burying itself into the wallpaper just an inch from his nose. “Lo.”
“Angel!” Charlie scolded. Alastor looked over to the spider to see he had a gun out and pointing directly at him, smoke still coming from the barrel.
Without another word, Angel down the rest of his drink and stalked from the parlor, blowing past Alastor without sparing the deer demon a second glance. As his footsteps faded up the stairs, the remaining demons in the parlor remained silent.
“The FUCK was that?” Husk asked after several moments.
“Uh, I think Angel might be... um... upset with Alastor?” Charlie tugged on the end of her ponytail, obviously distressed at the relationship between Angel and Al.
“Surely he cannot still be cross about the other day,” Alastor’s grin didn’t change as his eyebrows furrowed slightly. “The past is in the past!”
“Well...” Charlie trailed off before licking her lips and continuing. “Al, Fat Nuggets means a lot to Angel. Tricking him into thinking he ate his pet was kinda... well it was kinda fucked up.”
“You WHAT?” Vaggie whipped her head around to stare at the Radio Demon.
“That’s fucked up, even for you.” Husk shook his head, sneering a little at his boss.
“I don’t see what the big deal is,” Alastor felt defensiveness creeping into his tone, making the static feedback spike. “The swine has no purpose other than being consumed. If I hadn't sworn to Charlie that I wouldn’t harm anyone or anything under the Hotel’s protection, I would have finally sated my curiosity of how the little beast would taste with a nice spiced marinade."
“I know the kid is annoying, but did ya have to go that far?” Husk raised an eyebrow.
“I have no idea what you are referring to, my dear Husker!” He didn’t like the looks they were all giving him. He was the Radio Demon! He made his intentions with this hotel QUITE clear - this was for his entertainment and his entertainment alone. They were there to keep him from getting bored, and in return the other overlords won’t be attacking them every other day.
They know all of this, so why were they looking at him like that?
“Whatever,” Husk shook his head. “Just... make it right.”
“I still don’t have the faintest idea of what you’re talking about.” He twirled his cane to keep himself from snapping, but he could feel his shadow just itching to take a bite out of someone.
Husk looked at him for a long moment before shaking his head and turning back to his drink. Alastor didn’t know why, but for some reason he felt thoroughly scolded.
Even if he wanted to apologize, Alastor found he didn’t have even a single opening to do so. After the evening in the parlor, Angel was never to be found in the same room as him. He had been informed by Charlie that Angel had started taking more roles at work, leaving early in the day and not returning until late - or not until the next day on several accounts.
When Angel was actually in the hotel, it seemed he had a seventh sense when in regards to Alastor, for anytime the deer so much as thought about entering a room Angel was in, the spider was gone in the blink of an eye.
Even during their weekly mandated dinner - the first one since the incident - Angel sat as far away from Alastor as possible and refused to look up from his plate. He was completely silent, which seemed almost unnatural to the others. Even when Charlie or Vaggie or Niffty tried to make small talk, Angel seemed to tune it right out.
The moment he finished his meal, Angel stood without a word and brought his plate to the kitchen. Niffty raced after him, her one eye wide with worry. She came back only a few minutes later, her mouth curled into a frown.
“He washed his plate and left,” She said, climbing back into her chair. “Even when I said I would do it for him...”
“It’s been almost a week,” Alastor continued to eat casually. It wasn’t demon, but it was decent enough. “If he is still upset, that’s his own fault.”
He ignored the glares sent in his direction. He didn’t do anything wrong, after all. This was Hell! Souls do far worse for far less. He could have genuinely killed the pig, but he hadn’t. If anything, Angel should be thanking him for the small mercy.
Though... he couldn’t ignore how the empty seat seemed to make something curl in the pit of his stomach. Couldn’t ignore how the fury burning in Angel’s eyes had made him pause, or how the looks absolutely devoid of any emotion made his fur stand on end.
Angel was nothing more than a low level demon with too much sex appeal and an ego to match. He was nothing compared to Alastor, which for some reason he needed to keep reminding himself. He caught himself beginning to feel... guilty - just once - and he instantly berated himself.
He was the Radio Demon, whose name was feared across the nine circles. He was feared in his life, and made weaker souls tremor just by the sound of radio static in his death.
He was untouchable, and the only reason he didn’t own all of Hell was because of the amount of effort it would take.
He was Alastor, so why did Angel’s heartbroken sobs make his chest hurt?
Alastor continued his meal, his feedback tuning out the conversations starting to pick up around him. He didn’t need to bother himself with their chit-chat.
Alastor took a deep breath, his grin widening. Charlie, bless her soul, managed to actually grow something in the sad excuse for a garden the Hotel calls it’s courtyard. He knew it was possible to grow things in Hell, seeing how Rosie had a beautiful display of flowers outside of her shop, but seeing things sprouting from the dusty orange dirt was definitely interesting. In an environment where these plants should die, they thrived.
“Quite interesting indeed...” He said to himself, tapping one of the blooming flower buds with the end of his cane. The red pentagram in the sky beat down on the cracked ground, the heat almost unbearable for most, but Alastor was different. He was used to weather such as this.
Just as he was about to turn and go back inside - there was a book waiting for him in his study, and he was looking forward to finishing it, though he already cleared a time slot for a broadcast if the ending is as bad as he’s anticipating it to be (it wasn’t hard for him to find the author of the book in Hell, so their fate was in the hands of their own writing) - when he felt something step on his shoe. Looking down, he was surprised to see a set of familiar glowing pink eyes staring up at him.
Fat Nuggets just looked up at the deer, their snout wriggling as they huffed. Alastor didn’t know what to do, so he settled for using the end of the cane to nudge the pig off of his foot. He wanted as little contact with the filthy creature, especially now that his use for it was done. He made to step around the pig when Angel’s voice rang out.
Alastor didn’t realize he missed the way the spider sounded when his words weren’t laced with blood curdling rage.
“Nuggs! Come ‘ere baby,” Angel called out. “Daddy needs ta getcha cleaned up before Niffty skins me. Fat Nuggets? Where are you-”
Angel walked around a large bush only to stop dead. Alastor watched a myriad of emotions pass through the spider’s face: first surprise, then fear, then finally anger.
“No!” He shouted, darting forward and snatching the pig before Alastor had the chance to even blink. “NEVA go near that fucka! Bad Nuggets! No!”
Fat Nuggets chuffed in distress, obviously not liking hearing their daddy yelling at them in such a tone. They wriggled, trying to get out of Angel’s grip, but the spider wasn’t planning on letting go.
“Bad boy,” He seethed, holding the pig tighter. “Neva, EVA go near ‘im.”
“Surely there’s no need to scold it-”
“Did I fuckin’ ask for ya to add anythin?” Angel’s voice grew dangerously quiet. Alastor felt a spark run down his body.
“Now my dear, why don’t we-”
“Shut the fuck up,” Angel sneered and suddenly Alastor felt so, so small. “If I ‘ad the choice ta leave this place and not end up with my guts paintin’ the fuckin sidewalk, I would have done it a week ago.”
“There’s nothing keeping you here.” Alastor’s grin turned feral and sharp. He could feel the prickling on his forehead - the tell tale sign that the X was making an appearance. He was sure that if he were to look in the mirror, radio dials would greet him rather than his eyes. Angel just looked at him, his expression of pure contempt never wavering, even with the show of power from the overlord.
“You ‘ave no idea what I hafta go through,” Angel hissed through clenched teeth. “You don’t got a single fuckin’ CLUE why I’m even at this shit-hole of a hotel in th’ first place... not that you’d understand even if I explained it. Too fuckin’ above everyone else ta see how us little people live, huh? Bet ya never felt trapped, or helpless. Neva had ya freedom taken ‘way from ya, with no way a gettin’ it back.”
Alastor’s grin stayed tight on his face, but past images flashed through his mind. His mother, holding him tightly as his father threw things across their two room cabin. His own hands, shaking as he tried to sew a gouge in his mother’s arm together from where his father attacked her with a knife. His father, staring blankly up at the night sky as he carefully carved into him. His last moment alive, being chased by the dogs and the fear that pushed him to run faster and faster but it was never fast enough and there were TEETH IN HIS FLESH AND BLOOD SOAKING THE FOREST FLOOR AND HIS HEARTBEAT SLOWING IN HIS OWN EARS AND THE FINAL SOUND OF A RINGING BULLET AND THE STAR OF PAIN IN THE CENTER OF HIS FOREHEAD BEFORE EVERYTHING WENT BLACK-
“Go fuck yaself,” Angel held Fat Nuggets closely. “Do us all a fava and get yourself exterminated already.”
Angel pushed past him, his shoulder slamming into Alastor’s as he went. Al stayed still as a statue, the dials in his eyes spinning rapidly as he tried to separate the past from the present. All he could focus on was his father’s voice, repeating over and over in his head.
“Piece o’ shit boy. Do us a favor and kill yaself. Ya mother don’t need another mouth ta’ feed. Fuckin’ pathetic, crying like a bitch...”
Alastor felt rain on his cheeks, breaking himself from the violent flashback. Looking up, the normal sight of the pentagram greeted him, not a cloud in sight. He reached a hand up and felt the tears soaking into the fabric of his gloves.
“Oh dear...” He muttered, realizing what the feeling sprouting in his stomach was.
It was guilt.