Chapter Text
Anthony stares at his inner arm. Like he’s done for the past two years. And just like for the last two years, it’s still the same name. Husker. The handwriting is shit. Like, it took him at least a day to decipher what the name was.
To be completely fair, who the hell names their kid Husker?
Anthony just sighs and covers it up like he does every day. Being a part of a mob family means being inconspicuous.
And apparently, not being gay.
Anthony already made that mistake once, going to his mom about a boy he liked in school. His mom had slapped him across the face and ordered him to never speak about his discretions ever again. So he didn’t.
To anyone.
So when his soulmate’s name appeared on his arm on his eighteenth birthday, he let himself look at it for a few minutes before covering it up with his sleeve. And that’s how he lived for the next two years. Using concealer, sleeves, bracelets, and sometimes even drawings to cover up the name of the person that he’s supposed to be in love with.
It’s weird, he feels a strange attachment to the name itself. He loves having his soulmate’s name permanently on his skin and the prospect of getting to meet him one day is often his motivation for getting up in the morning.
And a few years later as he slowly slips away from life, his soulmate’s name is the last thing he sees.
Then he ends up in Hell, as a demon. Not that he’s really surprised. He’s more surprised that he’s a spider demon.
And he’s unpleasantly surprised to find that his soulmate’s name is no longer on his arm. So instead, he re-writes it in eyeliner every day.
And that’s how he exists for the next couple of years. He renames himself after the thing that killed him. Someone asks him why he would do that and he says he doesn’t know. But he does. It’s to take control back. The drug might’ve killed him, but to Angel, he just started living.
Not that he doesn’t make bad decisions. He sells his soul to the first guy who offers him fame and love.
Valentino.
Who seems great. At first. Until he starts getting aggressive. He refuses to let Angel re-write Husker’s name on his arm every day, saying that no one but him matters.
So he stops.
He doesn’t stop thinking about him though. Not for a single second.
So imagine his surprise when the bartender that the Radio Demon conjures out of thin air introduces himself as Husker. Angel feels his heart drop into his feet.
He’s happy. Hell, he’s overjoyed. He finally met the person he’s been tied to since he was born.
But…
“Hey, handsome.”
“Go fuck yourself.” He growls.
Angel doesn’t miss a beat, used to this kind of flirting. “Only if you watch me.”
Husker rolls his eyes and walks away. That’s when it hits Angel that he might just be uninterested.
Angel goes to his room, pretending that this new information didn’t just shatter his soul.
He is a good actor after all.
Anthony.
That’s the name that appeared in big loopy letters on Husker’s arm the second he turned eighteen. He stares at it for a second and then decides to just ignore it. He doesn’t care that his soulmate is a man, he’s attracted to everyone after all.
He just doesn’t care. He doesn’t have any interest in finding his soulmate.
Sure he would love to be loved. Unconditionally. But, Husk decides he doesn’t want to waste his life trying to find someone that could be anywhere around the world.
He’d rather gamble. And drink.
And that’s how he lived.
Funnily enough, it’s also how he died.
Well, not really. He died after a lost bet. Murders don’t make good competitors.
And so suddenly, he’s in Hell. The name is gone and then he’s an overlord. And then he sold his soul.
And now he’s…. working at a hotel?
Oh, how the great have fallen.
He doesn’t really mind. He’d rather not have to work for Alastor against his will but he likes being a bartender and he doesn’t mind the company.
Especially Angel Dust.
A stupid name, but a cute face. And a very confident personality.
Which Husk respects and also finds extremely attractive.
But, despite not caring about the soulmate system, he can’t flirt with Angel in good conscience. It feels like… cheating? Even if he never meets the mysterious Anthony.
So he drinks like he did in life. Ironically, to forget about the very same person.