Chapter Text
The sounds of merriment were a welcomed, if not odd addition to the menagerie of chaos that usually filled the hotel. Returning home to the hotel after a long day of serving customer falsely festive beverages to warm their icy hearts despite the hot temperament of Pentagram City to find the outside of the hotel draped in blinking lights and plastic garland was an amusing site, even more so when Clover turned her gaze further upward to find the top of the radio tower that jutted dangerously from the hotel’s side decorated with the dancing visage of a red-nosed reindeer. Wondering exactly how or who had gotten that up there, Clover pushed open the door, careful not to knock off the wreath that swung haphazardly from its nail.
She was instantly hit with the smell of holiday cheer, a bold mix of citrus, spices, and sugar that overpowered the pine scented candles that burned on top of the bar’s countertop. Each corner of the lobby was covered in decoration, from tinsel to holly to the large tree that bent against the ceiling, too tall to be topped with a star, a large ornament dangling from the branch instead. The whole scene was intensely pagan, void of any of the heavily religious aspects that plagued her holidays on earth. The fact that she had not had any hot chocolate thrown at her for saying “Happy Holidays” since the season started was a welcomed change from her last season alive. The idea that Hell’s residence would celebrate holidays while trapped in eternal suffering was odd, but most things were down here. Charlie was the most excited about their impromptu celebration, her melodic humming echoing through the thoroughly decked halls as Clover made her way up to her room for a well deserved after-work shower. She’d barely made it into the hallway when a familiar voice echoed out from another room, the bright smile of a fellow demon beaming down at her.
“Hey, toots!”
“Hi Angel, how’s the decorating been?”
The spider demon crumbled against the open doorway, long arms crossed over the fluff of his chest as he sighed.
“Charlie has been runnin’ around like a mad woman all day, I think she’s hopin’ her parents are gonna’ show up before the whole place goes inta’ lockdown for the extermination.”
“..I honestly forgot that was a thing for a moment with all the festivities.”
“You’ll be fine suga’, you stayin’ here with the girl’s?”
“Uh…”
Clover decided that now was a better time than any to let the news slip, already noticing the interested glint in his eye when Clover paused.
“I, uh, I’m actually staying with Alastor.”
“I mean yeah, he’s got his little room too, but that’s still apart’a the hotel toots.”
“No, I’m staying with him, at his radio tower.”
The sly smile that lit up the spider's face brought a heavy sigh through her despite her amusement at Angel’s enthusiasm.
“Make sure tuh’ pack everythin’ when ya do, includin-”
“Angel.”
“What? Ya’ neva’ know!”
“He just said that his radio tower is probably one of the safest places. He offered to let me go out to one of his other properties, but he wanted to stay in the city to “participate”, whatever that means.”
“It means he does his broadcast during the exterminations suga’, has since before I showed up.”
“Well, anyway, I didn’t want to be alone.”
“You can say ya’ wanted to be with ‘im, it aint’a secret.”
Clover shook her head, continuing her slow steps towards her own room in an attempt to leave the conversation. The last word obviously went to Angel Dust, who called out just as she opened her doorway in a voice tinted with a smile.
“Make sure ya’ wear the outfit we got’cha to the party tuh’night!”
She ignored the package wrapped in festive paper for the moment, returning to it once she was happy that she was properly refreshed and wrapping her still damp hair into a towel. Investigating took only the slightest pull of a ribbon, the soft wrapping falling open and revealing the folded mass of red velvet and white fluff that was inside. Sighing softly, Clover lifted the dress, the familiar feeling fluttering her heart rate with a memory that she quickly pushed back into its place in the depths of her mind as she examined what trouble her friends were getting her into now.
The dress was more modest than anything she’d expected out of Angel Dust, but she assumed that he’d been aided in choosing her attire by Charlie or Vaggie. Shrugging, she decided to put it on before she judged it further, venturing back to the bathroom to dry her hair and apply properly festive makeup before she slid the dress over her hip and zipped up the back with little struggling. As she stepped up to the mirror, the sound of static rose from beneath her feet as if on cue, the flickering of stations echoing from the lobby below as they shifted before settling on an almost festive jazz tune. Clover watched as scarlet lips turned up into a smile, her fondness for the audio-attuned demon reflected back at her sending a flush across her skin. Forcing herself to focus, she shifted the fabric at her hips until the flared red skirt sat properly on top of it’s petticoat. The dress fell to just above her knees, the white trim only a shade lighter than the natural tone of her flesh. The same trim formed a draping capelet that served as the outfits decorative straps, curving over the top of her chest to expose her collar bones before falling off her shoulders completely, the bodice held upright completely by it’s boning. Shrugging to test the limits of it’s security, Clover decided to go along with it all for now, giving herself one last wrinkle-nosed frown before seeking out the companionship of the party beginning to brew below.
The echoing music was not coming from her crimson counterpart, as she assumed, but instead the familiar old radio that usually was at home in the library. Taking familiar steps towards the bar, she joined the one sided conversation that was currently being held there over the arrangement of sparkling martini glasses.
“-and if everyone who gets a drink is of age, then that’s okay right? I mean, we’ll definitely have to watch how much people consume, but we can do it! Alastor did say it wasn’t a party without drinks…”
“Hi, Charlie.”
The bubbling blond turned, the bells attached to her hips jingling loudly as she bounced forward, throwing her arms around Clover to crush her in a hug before stepping back with a wide grin.
“Hi! Happy Holidays! You look adorable, I’m so glad the dress fits you!”
“Happy Yule, and it does, how did you know my size?”
“Vaggie remembered the general sizing from when we took you shopping, but Angel helped in guessing your dress size. I think he just has an eye for that kind of thing.”
Adjusting the molded cups of the top, Clover decided to keep her more colorful jokes about what exactly Angel was guessing at in favor of moving on with the conversation, turning towards the empty, but sugar coated glasses.
“What’s on the cocktail menu?”
Charlie turned to Husker, obviously looking for the demon bartender to explain, but only getting a slow blink in return. Clover couldn’t help but smile at his obvious disdain, his foul mood probably amplified by the bright red and green striped bow tie that replaced his normal attire, and the lights that blinked along the brim of his hat. Clover leaned against the bar, smiling brightly as she attempted to lighten his mood.
“C’mon Husker, what form will our copious consumption of alcohol take tonight?”
He seemed slightly amused by Charlie’s frantic glance, sighing heavily as he straightened himself.
“The princess here wanted somethin’ sparkly, so we got a cranberry martini with edible fuckin’ glitter and sparklin’ wine, n’ then a pink peppermint thing, Angel’s idea, for the fancy shit.. For us old timers, we got eggnog, spiked with rum of course, mulled wine, champagne, cider, n’ then Al suggested that you’d probably like a hot toddy if ya’ tried it. Then we got sparklin’ grape juice, hot chocolate and punch for the kids-”
“The people who don’t want to drink, he means.”
“Yeah, the kids.”
“Anyway!”
Charlie turned back to Clover, linking their arms as she steered them towards the kitchen. Clover took a moment to look at Charlie’s own festive outfit, slightly shocked to find that her horns were on display above bouncy blonde curls. A quick look at the brown fur that trimmed her red coat and the assortment of bells that jingled as she moved raised her brow, Clover piecing together her costume before she fell into a fit of giggles as she tried to comment.
“Are you Krampus?”
Her smile brightened, letting go of Clover to give a full view of her outfit with a twirl.
“I am! I thought it would be cute, and it goes with my horns!”
“It’s adorable, please tell me Vaggie is Santa.”
“She is.”
The added, only slightly annoyed voice of Vaggie turned her head, finding the white haired demon exiting the kitchen, arms laden with plates of intricately decorated cookies that were surely Niffty’s craftsman ship. The question was quickly answered when the small cyclops demon wound her way around their legs, quick steps clicking softly as she rushed towards the refreshment table with a towering tiered cake. Clover turned back to Vaggie as Niffty disappeared again into the kitchen, smiling at her classic short-Santa styled dress, long white hair tied hip in a bun with a red ribbon, a perfect match to her partner.
“You look nice.”
Vaggie flushed only slightly, ignoring the compliment in favor of looking at Charlie.
“Did you ask her? Angel already agreed.”
Clover looked between the two demons, waiting for one of them to tell her what they were talking about before her anxiety got the better of her. Charlie finally took pity on her with another sharp look from Vaggie, the sinner returning to her task of setting up the refreshments and leaving Clover alone with the princess of hell, who sighed softly before speaking.
“We wanted to do some karaoke tonight, ya’ know, for fun? But if people don’t go for it right away, I was wondering if you and Angel would be our back up plan?”
“I guess? Are we talking about, like, Christmas music or…?”
“Angel picked out the music, but we told him to try and keep it party friendly and festive.”
“You know that doesn’t mean anything.”
“So, you’ll do it?”
It was hard to say no to those bright eyes and sweet smile, Clover sighing heavily but nodding anyway.
“Yeah, I guess. But why us? You like to sing, and Al likes attention, so-”
“Vaggie says that people may think it’s cheesy if I do it, and Al, well, he’s- we didn’t know if he would-”
“You don’t know if he would stick to the plan, I get it. Giving him free reign of the spotlight isn’t always the best idea.”
Charlie’s sheepish smile was short lived, Vaggie’s loud call from down the hall to the kitchen startling them both to turn towards her call.
“Hey! Speaking of reign, will you go find your b- Will you go find the deer? His red nose is needed. We sent him to the office a little while ago.”
Ignoring the almost slip-up from Vaggie despite feeling the burn of embarrassment rise to her cheeks, Clover focused on the barely-hidden jab at Alastor’s afterlife alignment in her response.
“Please tell me you got him to wear a costume.”
“Go find him and find out, he was supposed to bring down the presents Charlie bought to put under the tree.”
“Were we supposed to buy presents?”
Charlie quickly caught on to the anxious twinge in her voice, bells jingling as she quickly shook her head.
“Only if you wanted to! I got things for everyone and then a bunch of random things so that anyone who showed up could have something, ya’ know, so everyone got a present! Presents make people happy!”
“You’re not wrong. I’ll go find him, I’ll see you later.”
The office was set further into the hotel, down the corridor opposite the kitchen,past the rarely used ballroom, now set with a small stage and speaker set up that was surely for the aforementioned karaoke while still leaving ample room for dancing. The flashing multicolored lights that sparked helplessly on the floor in front of the office caught her attention, the wires severed and the floor sprinkled with the nails used to hang them. Stepping over the bulbs carefully, she pushed through the door without knocking, distracted from keeping her heels away from crushing the fragile glass. She was not prepared for the image she was faced with when she looked up from her shoes, quickly covering her mouth to save her friend from more embarrassment.
Alastor was frozen, crumpled back into his high backed desk chair and blinking at her like, well, like a deer in headlights. The source of her amusement was tangled in his antlers, sadly not flickering with holiday cheer but still festive. Christmas lights wrapped around each of the antlers on top of his head, weighing down his ears and clutched between his claws as he attempted to release himself. Alastor glowered at her as she let out the softest giggle, his smile strained as she spoke.
“You’re usually very good about knocking.”
“Sorry, I, uh, was sent to find you. The broken lights in front of the door distracted me, do-”
Putting together what had probably happened, she couldn’t help but smile. The dangling lights set above the doorway a change in scenery that someone distracted wouldn’t have noticed. Alastor, probably irritated at being sent to fetch something such as gifts, hadn’t noticed that his height put the decoration directly in the path of his antlers on the way into the office. How he’d gotten himself so tangled, knowing what she knew about Alastor, was probably at the fault of his own temper. Clover couldn’t help the amusement in her voice as she continued.
“Do you need help?”
Alastor sighed, dropping his hands in defeat.
“I would appreciate it greatly.”
Clover assessed the situation, aware of Alastor’s gaze watching as she circled him to find her approach. Standing behind him would have been the best option, but the high back of the chair made that difficult for her shorter stature. The only option she had stared her in the face, blinking up at her with bright crimson eyes, his ears attempting to anxiously flick beneath the weight of the lights. With a slow breath, she slowly stepped into the space between his feet, careful to keep distance between them until he allowed her into his personal space. Her heart began to hammer in his chest when his ears flicked forward, straining to hear her whispered inquiry.
“Al, can I get close to you?”
After a moment, he nodded, folding his hands in his lap as their agreement fell into place, as it so often did. Clove took care to step between his knees, knowing the hem of her dress was draping itself over his knees and pushing the thoughts their closeness sparked deep into the recesses of her mind as she focused on the task at hand. Her fingers first went to unwrap his ears from the mess, smiling softly when his radio stations flickered rapidly in response before it faded into static as his ears fell flat against his head. She tried to ignore the urge to run her fingers across them, the phantom memory of their softness tingling her fingertips as they searched for the best place to start untangling. Finding the frayed wire's edge, Clover had to stand on her toes to untangle it from one of the branching portions of his antlers, rocking on her heels unsteadily as she worked. A short glance down to gauge Alastor’s comfort found him staring intensely at a spot on the wall, but it quickly changed when she returned to the stability of flat feet. The abrupt change in height caused her skirt to flutter over his lap; and the hands that were clasped tightly there. Alastor scrambled to remove his hands from under her petticoat, accidentally flicking up her skirt slightly in the process, anxious claws pausing to pat it back in its proper place before they found a new home gripping the arms of his chair.
Clover couldn’t help but snort, waiting for the rise in screeching static to die before she said anything.
“It’s fine, Al, can you lean forward a little?”
He complied instantly, letting his head fall forward perhaps a little too quickly. Clover stopped him before he put her eye out, instinctively reaching out to grasp one of his antlers and move his back to where she needed it. She thought it best to ignore the hitch in Alastor’s breath and the screech that came as a response to her manhandling in favor of getting this over with as quickly as possible. Now that she had found the end of one of the wires, it was easier to unwind them from the radio demon currently putting off static below her. Soon enough, he was free from the halo of wires that had found its way on top of his head, the lights tossed aside onto the desk as she gave him back his personal space. From the door behind her, the sound of voices filling the lobby drew her attention, a signal that the party was underway. With a small smile, she held a hand towards Alastor as she tilted her head towards the door.
“We should grace them with our presents.”
Alastor laughed sharply, taking her hand and standing to his full height. He glanced into the mirror behind the desk for a moment, straightening his hair before looking down at the pile of boxes that covered the floor. With a snap, they disappeared in a swirl of green smoke, Alastor grinning playfully as he linked his arm with hers.
“Grace, isn’t the word I would have used, darling.”