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Angel leaned over the backrest of the couch, one hand perched on each of Charlie's shoulders. The welcome smell of his perfume filled her senses and she smiled, her head tilted up to face him.
“Hey Angel, what’s up?”
“Say, you and Vaggie got anythin’ planned for t’night?” He winked, forcing a little more weight upon her shoulders, another set of arms on the backrest, tapping lightly against the material, Angel-typically fidgeting.
“...No, why?” she looked up to face him, an eyebrow cocked in suspicion. Angels ‘ideas’ usually entertained sexual innuendos and after the recent ‘flea incident’ Charlie wasn’t sure if she was quite ready to jump into another uncomfortable confrontation.
“There'll be a hell-shower this evening.” his hands moved from her shoulders to accentuate himself. “And a little birdie told me Alastor is joining Rosie in cannibal town on a picnic get-together she’s hosting to watch the show and I’m takin’ Husky there to watch that show, if ya know what I mean.”
“You want to go and stalk them on their… date?” Charlie turned. Mulling over the thought of invading their privacy in such a way. Certainly there was a reason Alastor hadn’t told her about his outing today but… she couldn’t say she wasn’t curious. “I don’t know, Angel… isn’t that a bit…” she moved her hands, searching for the right words. "Invasiv?"
“Eh, who cares?” Angel shrugged two sets of arms. “Besides, it’s not a private event, all of cannibal town will be there and my buddy invited me to come too, so technically we aren’t invading anything. Come on, it will be fun!”
She hesitated a little, but Angel was right with one thing, it does sound like fun and she and Vaggie hadn’t been to an actual date in a while. Sure, there are probably less… murdery places to spend an evening at, but cannibal town also wasn’t the worst place in hell for a date either. Alastor valued class, as well as his friendship with Rosie, certainly he couldn’t end up that bad, right?
“Fine, I will go and talk to Vaggie, meet you at-”
“Great! 7pm down here in the lobby, see ya later.” Angel already sprinted off, presumably to his room to get ready for the evening himself.
Hopefully this wouldn’t be a bad idea but either way, she would finally be able to enjoy an evening together with Vaggie, so how bad could it get? Charlie pulled her phone from her pocket, sending her girlfriend a quick text to let her know of their date tonight.
Rosie took one last look at her dress in front of her full length mirror, adjusting the frills on her sleeves, pulling the corset a little tighter around her back, shifting so the horizontal window on her chest seemed less inappropriate and finally placing a small top hat covered in roses on slightly curled hair.
Just as she finished her clothes, a knock sounded from the door.
“Coming!” She called out, the bright smile on face reflected in the sound of her voice. Her heels clicked on the tiled floor as she made way towards the door, excited to see her date for the event.
“Alastor dear, so good to see you!” She took his hand in hers, pulling him past the doorway and into a brief hug, barely giving him the time to greet her back. “Oh, you look just wonderful!” she cheered, mustering the elegant dark suit he wore, buttoned from one side to the other, it almost reached to his ankles. Her hands reached for the bowtie, pulling on the edges for good measure.
His voice was cheerful as always, around her, he always seemed more a noble gentleman than a wayward sinner. “Not as wonderful as you, my dear!”
The bangs on the left side of his face were neatly braided and pinned to the side of his head. She laughed, reaching out to cup his face, brushing a loose strand of hair back into the braid. “Oh, such a charmer! Come now, let’s head out, don’t want to be late now, do we?”
“Of course not.” He offered her his arm to take and she did, linking them together as they stepped outside the hallway. Chill evening air prickled against her skin as they walked.
Their steps fell in place with idle chatter as they walked. Gossip was a great pastime activity for them both and so their conversation carried them through the square and towards the meadow on the western side of cannibal town. It offered a great view of hell's great red imitation of a sky with heaven high above them, imitating what would be the image of the moon were they on earth.
Various groups of sinners and hellborn, both citizens of cannibal town as well as outsiders had already settled everywhere throughout the meadow. Seated upon blankets bestowed with boxes of food and drink. Her gaze flew through the crowd, friends as well as lovers, Rosie appreciated how many people took up on her invitation to watch the spectacle. She was certain she spotted princess Charlie sharing a blanket with her girlfriend as well as their friends somewhere between many heads. If Alastor knew about her being here? Rosie decided it was best not to press, potentially risking her friend to bare his teeth instead of enjoying the evening. After all, it was rare to get Alastor to make a public display without threats of violence involved, the old show-off.
Rosie nudged, butting her hips against him and pulling his arm lightly. “Follow me, I have reserved a place under that tree.”
After finally stumbling their way through groups of people, as well as occasional polite greetings followed by curious glances at their conjoined arms, the pair finally reached the empty blanket beneath a tall willow tree with pink trimmed leaves which not quite reached to ground.
Alastors arm uncurled from hers, slowly letting go as he gestured to the blanket with a quick bow. “Ladies first, my dear.”
She scoffed playfully. “So polite today, has living with royalty finally let you acquire some manners?”
“I admit, the little princess does keep one on their toes!”
Seated upon the blanket, Alastor followed suit, sitting half-kneeling slightly leaning toward her and mirroring her own posture. His weight stemmed on one hand behind her back, he was closer than he usually would let their distance intercept when in public. Rosie could hear the static coming from him clearly and smell the iron scent he carried.
It was… nice.
“At least they keep you busy!” she chided in, “We both know how much you love getting into trouble when bored.”
He placed his free hand against his chest as he laughed. Alastors laugh was not forced when he was around her, Rosie could tell by the softer corners of his mouth, his grin less sharp, instead genuine. The glow in his eyes less glaring, his ears turn forward, their tips almost touching, his voice fond. “You do know me too well, Rosie.”
“Hmm, is that a bad thing?” She playfully quirked an eyebrow, bumping her shoulder against his and leaving it there. He tensed briefly, eyes scanning their surroundings if anyone was watching but slowly relaxed again as he noticed their spot was mostly obscured by willow leaves.
Ever so carefully, his weight shifted back against her as well, comfortable, he leaned in, his arm curling around her waist as he pulled her to his side. “Not necessarily, no.”
The sky above them lit up, and Rosie shushed, breaking her eyes from Alastor, instead making him look up as well.
Blinding light took over hell, illuminating the meadow like fireworks, comets, shining with every color the rainbow had to offer appeared from nothing, small specks of light that ramped up as they traveled until they burned to cinders, vanishing behind the horizon line as fast as they emerged. Like firefly rain they filled the usual darkness with rarely seen light otherwise reserved to those who crossed the pearly gates.
Rosie sighed, her head leaning on Alastors shoulder, grabbing hold of his free hand as she did. “It’s beautiful.” She breathed. “Don’t you think?”
“Beauty depends on the eyes of the observer, hmm?” He hummed.
“Oh, you old killjoy!” Rosie playfully ruffled through his hair and Alastor nudged her back but resting his head on hers regardless. She felt his ears twitch against her skull and giggled, eyes focusing back towards the sky.
Angel only let go of Angel's hand by the time their group walked back through the gates of the hotel. He waved back as Charlie and Vaggie headed towards their bedroom with a yawn, already way past the early morning hours. Nifty skittered through the lobby, face planting into a couch cushion before passing out. With a sigh, Angel grabbed a blanket to cover her, letting her sleep right where she was.
Husk's eyes looked at him, gentle and maybe something more bind them, his smile soft as he stepped towards the bar, pouring two shots of whiskey and handing one of them to Angel. “You know,” he said, “Next time if you want all of us to have a little fun, I don’t think you need to find an excuse like stalking. Besides, I’m sure Charlie would be happy.”
He placed the glass against his lips, downing the whole thing in one go. “Maybe, but I would never hear the end of that.” Angel shrugged two pairs of arms. “I’ll think about it if you promise to come again next time.”
“I think we can arrange that.” Husk too, drank his glass in one go.