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Husk’s ears twitched as he heard someone enter the hotel, stumble up to the bar, and fall heavily into one of the seats. He turned to see Angel, looking just about as fucked up as usual.
“It's the middle of the damn night.”
“Long shoot.” Angel's usually expressive and frankly annoying voice was quiet and strained.
Husk looked at him for a while. He seemed sober as far as he could tell. He decided to mind his own business tonight, barely on his own feet at that point anyway. Everyone else in the hotel had already gone to bed, but the majority of his nights had been sleepless for a long time now. “Fun. What'll it be?”
Angel only shrugged. “Whatever, I just need a lot of it.”
Husk grabbed the first bottle of liquor he could reach and retrieved four double shot glasses, then filled each of them to the brim. Usually he'd try to bait Angel into better choices but it seemed like neither of them had any fight left in them tonight. The spider demon took one of the glasses in each of his hands and downed the contents of all four of them back to back, slamming them back down onto the table one by one and wincing as the last one went down, which was odd for him. Husk had never seen him struggle with a drink before.
He stood there for a few moments, waiting for Angel to begin venting about Val’s newest abuse or otherwise explain his odd behavior, but he stayed silent, looking down at the table with eyes half lidded. He seemed close to falling asleep in his seat, and Husk finally raised a brow at him with a rough sigh.
“Are you taking your sorry ass to bed or..?”
“In a minute,” Angel mumbled.
Husk growled under his breath, grabbing a cloth to wipe down the already spotless bar just to have something to do. He didn't like not being able to read a situation. Angel had never acted this muted before. He was always pushing some extreme or at least carrying an apathetic confidence about him, but now he was just… downtrodden.
Gritting his teeth, he crossed his arms and looked at his friend until he noticed and came to tiredly meet his gaze. “Come on.”
Angel made an unappreciative face at him, turning his head away. “...Pour me another.”
Husk lashed his tail. “Here we go again.”
Angel looked back. He was expecting vitriol, a retort, but instead the other demon appeared on the verge of tears. “Please. I need it, okay?” His voice was broken.
Husk blinked. He hesitated, but his hand found the bottle and he poured Angel a final shot before gently pushing it towards him, unsure of what to say.
Angel grabbed the glass, and Husk noticed his hand trembling as he lifted it to his mouth. He got around half of it down before he coughed, alcohol spilling down his chin as he gagged on the drink and just barely managed to get the glass back on the table rather than drop it. Husk looked at him, beyond baffled, until he noticed the red smear on the rim of the glass. Angel coughed again, bringing a hand up to cover it and wiping his mouth once done, spreading further crimson across his face. He looked at his hand, noticed the blood on it, and closed his eyes in defeat.
“Uhh, the fuck?” Husk snapped, looking Angel up and down.
“Look, it's…”
Husk stepped out from behind the bar and approached him, trying to see if there was anything obviously wrong with him. There was no blood anywhere else on his body and everything seemed to be in the right place, but his breaths were ragged and he seemed to be favoring one of his sides. “It's what?” he pressed Angel to continue.
Angel looked everywhere but Husk, mild panic starting to come through his mask of quiet. “It's happened before, it's not so bad, really…”
Husk narrowed his eyes at him. “What isn't so bad?”
The demon mumbled a string of swears under his breath. “...A cracked rib, maybe two, I-I don't know- he didn't bother looking this time-”
“Fucking Christ!” Husk snarled. “And you just walked back here?!”
“I got a ride,” Angel whispered.
“I’m getting Charlie and she's pulling some shit to get you to a hospital right now,” Husk stated firmly, but Angel stopped him with the most desperate voice he'd ever heard from him, maybe from anyone.
“No, she's sleeping. And they can't do anything for me I can't do for myself, I just need t-to rest and ice it and it'll be fine after a while.”
“You have got to be fucking kidding me,” Husk hissed under his breath, impatiently tapping a foot on the ground. “You heal your own broken ribs? This ‘just a kink’ again?”
Angel laughed, but it was empty and humorless. “Val wouldn't put me out of commission on purpose, way too much lost profit. It's always an accident.” He shrugged. “Plus, it wasn't even him this time. Just some idiot who didn't know how the fuck to handle himself.”
Husk grit his teeth. “You normally cough up blood though?”
Angel looked downcast. “No, that one is… new.”
“Yeah, internal bleeding doesn't fix itself with bedrest,” Husk grumbled.
Angel, distressed, ran a hand through the fluff on his head. “I can… I can go get looked at in the morning, it ain't that bad okay? I've gotten pretty fucked up with Cherri before and I can tell when something's bad bad.”
Husk crossed his arms. “You die in your sleep and there's going to be a lotta people blaming me.”
“Thanks for the concern for my well-being,” Angel huffed, looking away.
Husk snorted, then saw the genuine hurt on his friend's face and grimaced. “Fuck, well… I'll help you to bed okay? Make sure you don't bleed out on the way there.”
Angel looked at him oddly for a moment, like he was surprised or waiting for a catch to be thrown in. Husk only sighed. “I don’t have all night. Let’s go.”
He stepped up to the other demon and offered his shoulder, allowing Angel to brace against him as he slowly pulled himself to his feet. He made a pained noise and Husk had to support most of his weight as they walked to his room, although he unsurprisingly wasn’t very heavy. Husk closed the door behind them with his free hand and led Angel to the bed, leaning down to ease him onto the mattress. Angel used his arms to carefully maneuver himself onto his back with his head resting on a pillow. He winced and seemed to deflate, but sighed in annoyance after a few seconds and started trying to reach for a wadded up blanket on the other side of the bed.
He wasn’t succeeding, so Husk grabbed it for him and draped it over his body. He then realized that the other was still fully dressed, and cocked a brow at him. “You didn’t want to change?”
Angel chuckled. “Too painful. Plus, you’d be looking.”
Husk rolled his eyes. “Well I’d look the fuck away in that case, jackass.” A moment of silence as they looked at each other before Husk shook his head and sighed. “Whatever. You good?”
Angel glanced away, looking forlorn. “I guess I am.”
Husk was about to leave and forget about everything until the next day, until he noticed something missing. “You need water, especially after that many drinks. Hold on.”
He didn’t give his friend a chance to respond as he left the room and filled a glass. Angel was on his phone when he got back, and laughed at something before coughing again and placing a hand to his side with a scowl. He looked up at Husk when he set the cup on the nightstand. “Guess how many messages Val has sent me apologizing.”
“Fuck, like, fifty?”
“Sixty.”
“And in how many of them did he blame you for what happened in some way?” Husk prompted.
Angel shrugged. “Most.”
Husk gave a single nod, and all he could think about was how he needed to leave, but for some reason his feet just weren’t moving how he wanted them to.
“What?” Angel eventually asked him. “You staying the night or something?”
Husk made his distaste for the idea clear with a middle finger and small growl, to which Angel smirked at.
“Your loss. Maybe if you kissed it better for me I wouldn’t need to go in tomorrow.”
Husk flattened his ears, squeezing his hands into fists until his claws pressed painfully into his palms.
Angel flinched and looked away, murmuring a swear. “Y-You know… just forget I said anything. I’m sorry.”
Husk swallowed dryly. Fuck, he was an idiot. He approached the side of the bed and leaned over it, bringing his mouth close to Angel’s and taking one last moment to deny his doubts any further attention before closing the gap between them. Two hands, probably only on instinct, came up and wound their fingers through the longer fur around his ears, and Angel shuddered against him, but this only made him lurch from pain. Husk broke away a moment to shush him, placing a hand over Angel’s chest to feel how fast his heart was racing before he kissed him again, more deeply this time.
He licked his lips once upon pulling back, and probably would have made a face at how much Angel tasted like alcohol if his own mouth wasn’t usually in the same state, although the coppery hint of blood was a new one. Angel was staring at him, completely bewildered and face aflame as his chest rose and fell with rapid breaths.
Husk didn’t say anything. To be honest he had no idea if there was anything he could’ve said in the first place. He cleared his throat and retreated to the door, opening it quickly. He wanted to run away, but he forced himself to look back and see the sad smile Angel was giving him.
“You already regret that, don’t you?”
Husk looked down. Did he? “...That’s not it. I just need some time.” He made eye contact again. “Get some sleep. I’ll be here in the morning to make sure you aren’t dead yet.”
He stepped out and closed the door behind himself, letting out a heavy breath. It was going to be a long rest of the night for him.