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Alastor couldn’t help the rare soft smile as he entered his room to find Angel curled up in his bed. He’d been at the radio tower for the last two days and he wasn’t surprised in the slightest that the spider had missed him enough to sneak into his room. The radio demon made quick work of shedding his coat and hanging it on the hook by the door, toeing off his shoes, and making his way to the bed. He carefully climbed in beside his mate unsurprised when Angel woke slightly at the shift in the bed and immediately sought him out cuddling up close.
“Yer back, ‘bout time Smiles.”
Alastor gave a soft chuckle carefully running his claws down Angel’s back lulling the spider slowly back to sleep.
“I’m sorry mon ange the broadcasts took a little longer than expected.”
The spider gave only a low hum in response before slipping back into sleep making the radio demon chuckle lightly but settle in himself. Alastor was about to close his eyes and try to sleep before he felt Angel shift letting out a small whine, he ran his hand down his mate’s back again while the other hand gestured to the radio on the nightstand making it flicker to life and fill the room with soft jazz music. Angel relaxed into deeper sleep at once. Seeing his mate content Alastor settled in and let his eyes close listening to the music.
He hadn’t expected to fall asleep, his insomnia rarely let him, but as he slipped into full unconsciousness he wasn’t fully aware of the radio switching stations and a new song began to play as he began to dream.
Alastor could feel something warm on his face, feel something tickling his hand, and hear the distant sounds of birds. Slowly he opened his eyes, it took a moment for them to clear but once they did Alastor found he was sitting in a small clearing of wild grass, surrounded by large trees dripping with Spanish moss, the breeze that gently passed by carried the scent of jasmine and damp earth. He was in the human world, but not just any random place, he was back in Louisiana in the clearing not far from his childhood home. Before he could try and move his vision was suddenly blocked by a pair of hands, he could feel another body press against his back and the soft lips that brushed his ear were strange but familiar.
“Guess who.”
Alastor would know that playful tone in any world, any life time, even if it was missing some of the rasp from his demon form. A smile crossed Alastor’s face as he reached up and gently took the hands away from his eyes and placed a light kiss to the left wrist, earning a small chuckling in response.
“Mon ange.”
The hands pulled themselves from his hold and after a moment Angel walked around him and sat beside him with a playful pout. The other man looked exactly how he had in the little photo in the locket he carried. His blonde hair was slightly curled and framed his face nicely, freckles dotted his cheeks and nose, his skin was like fine ivory, and his eyes were a striking mix of blue and grey.
“That ain’t fair Al, you didn’t even guess before ya looked!”
Alastor chuckled wrapping his arm around Angel’s shoulders, making the note he appeared to be human as well, pulling him close and placing a quick kiss to the crown of blonde hair.
“I didn’t need to look to know it was you cher, I know your voice anywhere, and your lips.”
Angel blushed as Alastor gently gripped his chin and guided his head to turn so their lips met in a feather light kiss. Angel smiled into the kiss and returned it for a long moment before pulling away laughing as he got to his feet sticking out his tongue.
“Catch me if ya can piccolo cerbiatto!”
With that the blonde turned and dashed to the center of the clearing laughing wildly. Alastor couldn’t help the chuckle that escaped him as he shook his head but got to his feet counting slowly to three to give his lover a head start. Once he’d reached three Alastor began chasing after the blonde earning a laughing squeal as he tried to avoid being caught but ultimately Alastor managed to wrap his arm around the blonde’s waist pulling him close as they both breathed hard between laughs.
Suddenly like a glitch in a radio station things shifted and Alastor now found himself looking into Angel’s wide eyes. Blood was splattered across the blonde’s face and clothes but he appeared unhurt, just shaken. Alastor glanced over his shoulder to try and see what had scared his mate but there was nothing but the dark bayou around them and the heavy scent of blood. Something was off and he could feel it. He looked down at himself and realized he was covered in blood, his clothes and hands stained with it, his head held more weight than it had in the clearing just seconds ago meaning his antlers were extended. No. He couldn’t be.
Slowly Alastor looked down at his hands again and realized it wasn’t all blood on his hands, the skin was deep crimson and now as he watched they shifted into claws as the red spread up his arms darkening to inky black at his elbows. He turned his eyes back to Angel and realized the fear gleaming in his lover’s eyes was because of him. Angel was scared of his shifting form.
“M̸̝̫̰͍̪͈͇̈́͗̒̐̕͝ö̴̱͍̱̼̺́n̶̹͝ a̵̫̖͈͋͠ͅǹ̶̢̢͙̼̳͕̲̙͖͖g̶̨̢̟̭̲̠̯͚̬̏̽͋͂̊̐̀̾ͅé̶̼̽̾͊͝…”
His voice came out distorted and deeper than it should have been and it hurt his heart to see Angel flinch away. Angel was scared of him….of course he was his mate would have to be a fool to not be. Alastor felt tears rise in his eyes forcing him to turn away from Angel refusing to let him see the tears. He expected the blonde to flee at the chance but instead after a moment he heard hesitant footsteps approaching, making him look over his shoulder to see Angel slowly approaching with an outreached hand.
“A-Al?”
Alastor slowly turned around watching as the blonde took another wobbling step, worried his mate would fall to the ground Alastor reached out a clawed hand but made no effort to grab the blonde. Angel’s blue eyes flickered to the offered hand then back to meet Alastor’s own. It took a moment but eventually Angel placed his shaking hand into the offered claws taking a final step closer looking up at Alastor. He wanted so bad to pull his mate close but refrained from it to avoid scaring him further. Slowly Angel reached out and lightly pressed the fingertips of his free hand to Alastor’s chest feeling the course red fur that had replaced his clothing. Alastor let his mate explore his new form relieved and given a small flicker of comfort in the fact Angel never let go of his hand.
Eventually Angel met his eyes again and the fear had faded away and was replaced with a faint smile as he took his hand back. The action made Alastor’s heart nearly stop until he realized Angel was reaching up to loop his arms around his shoulders, he allowed it wrapping his own shaking limbs around Angel’s waist. The blonde put their foreheads together, his smile still soft and love glinting in his eyes as his fingers gently traced the black antlers on Alastor’s head.
“I’m here. I still love you il mio amore”
Alastor felt his body relax and his eyes close as he held his mate tight.
When Alastor next opened his eyes the woods around them were replaced with the small radio studio he’d been working at in New Orleans. All the equipment was there from the microphone to all the switches and panels he needed for a broadcast. After noticing his ears were covered by headphones Alastor finally registered the music playing, he was in the middle of a music break for a broadcast. He couldn’t help the small smile that crossed his lips as he listened to the song before his attention was pulled away by the sight of the door opening slowly. He raised a brow but his smile only softened and he relaxed as Angel poked his head in with an apologetic look before slipping inside pointing to his ears, Alastor knew the signal and slid one side of the headphones off making Angel smile.
“I’m not interrupting’ am I Smiles?”
Alastor shook his head making sure the microphone was off before opening his arms for Angel.
“Not in the slightest mon ange.”
The blonde wasted no time walking over and placing himself in Alastor’s lap looping an arm around his neck with a cheeky smile before stealing a quick kiss. Alastor chuckled into the kiss as he returned it looping his arm around his mate’s waist. After a moment of light kisses Angel turned his head to look at the microphone and smiled.
“Ya played my favorite song twice today.”
Alastor gave a sly but playful smirk trying to look innocent.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about mon petite araignée.
Angel took a second to mentally translate the nickname before snorting a laugh trying to look offended as he lightly shoved Alastor’s shoulder.
“Hey just cause my last name is Ragni don’t mean ya can call me a spider!”
Alastor chuckled, lifting a hand to gently cup his mate’s chin and pull his face closer, tracing his thumb over Angel’s lips.
“What are you gonna do about it petite araignée?”
Angel blushed deep red for a moment before a wicked grin crossed his face.
“Kiss ya senseless before ya go back on the air,”
His smile turned into a smirk as he shifted to straddle Alastor’s lap.
“Then slip under the desk and have a little fun while ya try ta read yer boring notes.”
Alastor felt his own cheeks warm as he regarded his mate cautiously.
“You wouldn’t dare.”
Angel only laughed before stealing a kiss. Alastor knew the song was ending soon but he couldn’t find it in himself to care as he returned the kiss holding his mate’s hips.
When Alastor opened his eyes feeling the loss of lips pressed to his and Angel’s weight upon him gone he discovered the radio studio was replaced by woods so dark and dense he could barely make out the shapes of the trees. The thick scent of blood and rot smothered the jasmine in the air, the world was silent for a long moment until he heard shuffling in front of him. As he looked all he saw was darkness until he realized the sound was coming from below him. Looking down he realized he was towering over the ground, no longer on two feet but four inky black hooves, crimson fur covered parts of his body, and his antlers were larger now tangling in the trees and dripping with a black goo that seemed to disappear before hitting the ground. No. No! He’d fully transformed into his Eldritch form.
His eyes were drawn to the ground once more hearing the shuffling of fallen leaves and panicked breathing. On the ground looking up with horror filled eyes white as a ghost was Angel with tears streaming down his face. Alastor tried to speak but all that reverberated from his full demon form was a low growl like sound that made Angel flinch and scoot back until his back hit a tree effectively cornering himself. Alastor felt his heart ache to comfort his terrified mate in some way but knowing he was the cause of the terror made it that much harder.
Despite how much the small part of his mind wanted to run away Alastor watched his mate cower against the tree before he slowly lowered himself as close to the ground as he could lay. Angel watched with tear filled eyes still shaking like a leaf in a storm but he didn’t try to move away again. Alastor made no move to get any closer than where he was but let out as close to a comforting grumble as he could muster, thankful that this time Angel didn’t flinch away. Slowly, extremely slowly, Angel pulled himself to stand on shaky legs still holding onto the tree to keep upright as his blue eyes bore into the red orbs that were glowing behind the large deer skull.
“A-Alastor?”
Alastor gave a slight huff in confirmation watching as Angel’s blonde hair was ruffled by the air. Angel was only able to stare for a long moment before taking a shaking step closer, this time Alastor could see his mate was going to fall and before he could even try to consider stopping himself he moved forward so the blonde caught himself against Alastor’s boney snout. Angel winced at the hard impact but as he recovered and his hands brushed over the warm smooth skull he started shaking again new tears trailing down his cheeks that Alastor so desperately wanted to kiss away.
“A-Al I’m scared.”
Alastor felt his heart ache even more as he gently pressed against his mate’s hands. Angel took a deep shaking breath running his hands along the cracks in Alastor’s skull until he reached a jagged X shaped cross section of cracks. He lightly traced the mark and it slowly made them both relax until Angel leaned forward and laid his head between the eye sockets of the skull closing his own eyes.
“I’m sorry.”
Alastor felt his heart nearly shatter before it began to race as the warm feeling of his mate began to fade away and darkness began to block out everything.
“Will you still love me when I’m no longer beautiful?”
The last line of lyrics echoed in a soft haunting way as Alastor’s eyes flew open, the radio demon gasping for breath covered in a cold sweat and a slight burning feeling in the center of his forehead. He lifted a hand to the spot gently placing his claws to the X he knew was beginning to glow trying to push down the roiling feeling of his powers.
“Smiles? Ya okay? Hey why are ya crying?”
Alastor’s eyes finally registered Angel sitting up beside him looking worried. The spider looked to where Alastor was now trying to cover the mark on his forehead and a slight smile crossed his lips as he reached out gently pulling his mate’s hand away from the X before leaning down and gently kissing it. Alastor had the knee jerk reaction to push his mate away less he lose control but as the spider’s lips touched the mark he felt his powers begin to settle. Feeling the radio demon slowly relax Angel leaned back around to put their foreheads together with a warm smile.
“I’m right here Al, I ain’t goin’ anywhere no matter what.”
His smile turned slightly playful as he kissed the radio demon on the nose.
“Yer stuck with me no matter what form ya take.”
Alastor wanted to question how exactly the spider knew what the nightmare had been but instead of asking he wrapped his arms around his mate pulling him close and connecting their lips in a gentle but firm kiss as the radio on the bedside table began to once again play soft jazz music and the fear from the nightmare melted away.