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“Alright! How do I look?”
It was early evening. The atmosphere was low in the hotel, indicating the start of yet another slow night. Husk found himself in a familiar position, though instead of waiting patiently while Angeldust tried on variations of the same three outfits, he was cooped up in Alastor’s room forced to play along with whatever game had taken his fancy this time.
At least Niffty was having fun; bouncing on the bed in her excitement to be included.
“First off, you look the same as you always fucking do,” Husk grumbled. He had to wonder what Alastor had been doing the thirty long minutes he’d been locked in the bathroom. Probably basking in the knowledge that he was wasting Husk’s precious time, the asshole. “Secondly, why are you doing this, man? It’s not like we’re girlfriends getting ready for a dance.”
The eerie smile never left Alastor’s face, somehow looking serene and threatening as he tilted his head.
“According to Angel, this is all part of the experience,” he said, “Besides that, the more you hate it the more fun I have.”
Husk sighed. He would have to have a talk with Angeldust later, about not putting ideas in the minds of malicious scheming assholes. Even if this were one of the more harmless games they’d played in a while.
“I think you look great!” Nifty chimed in, “A little old fashioned but I’m not complaining! Oh and look I found what you were looking for!” She jumped down off the bed and scurried beneath it, a few unnerving creaks and crashes sounding before she came back out with a shiny gold ring. “It was a bit dusty but I cleaned it for you!”
“Thank you dear,” Alastor said, accepting the ring from Niffty’s outstretched hands. “It has been a while since I’ve worn this outside. I suppose I could stand to take better care of my things.”
With a gentle hand he pet the top of Niffty’s head, earning a distracted smile for his efforts and escaping the lecture Niffty was surely cooking up. How she got away with it, Husk would never know.
From several floors below, a loud crash could be heard. Alastor perked up, eyes glowing just slightly with mischief.
“Sounds like my date has arrived!” He declared. Unperturbed by the yelling that could be heard through the floorboards, he strode towards the door, grabbing his coat along the way.
“You didn’t warn Vaggie, did you?” Husk asked.
“Now Husker, where would the fun in that be?”
“Absolutely fucking not!”
All things considered, Vox should have realised he wouldn’t be met with a warm welcome. Sure he wasn’t expecting the small rogue lesbian to hurl projectiles at him but he should have known something was wrong when Alastor asked to meet here of all places.
The first one to respond to the noise was the young Morningstar, who looked startled for a second before staying her girlfriends hand and plastering on a too-wide smile.
“Easy Vaggie, what did we say – every soul deserves a chance at redemption. Right?” to her credit, she did a great job putting on a friendly facade. “Welcome –”
“Don’t bother,” Vox interrupted, holding up a hand to dismiss whatever speech she had prepared, “If you ever figure out how to get me to heave it’ll be kicking and screaming.”
The smaller of the two – Vaggie? – raised her weapon again and from a nearby decorative chaise another voice joined the fray.
“Hey, either of you girls seen Husk? I’m dying for a drink – feels like I’ve been sober for hours!” He at least recognised Angeldust, though it seemed Angeldust recognised him as well, if the look on his face was anything to go by. “Hey, what’s this asshole doing here?”
Vox could only sigh, feeling defeated already, and the night had only started. Alastor truly hadn’t lost his touch.
“Oh dear, did I forget to call a ceasefire?”
Alastor’s voice echoed from the other end of the foyer. The joyful smile that split his face showed he knew exactly what he was doing.
“You asshole,” Vox grumbled. Of course the expression of frustration only seemed to make the Radio Demon happier.
“Come now darling, if you’re going to make me go to dinner, and do all the things you want to do, isn’t it fair that I should have a little fun of my own?” he crossed the room in long strides, ignoring the dumbfounded look on Charlies face.
Vox scoffed, looking away petulantly.
“And your idea of fun is having your new friends try to kill me?”
“Don’t be dramatic love,” Alastor said, close enough now he could plant a chaste kiss on the side of Vox’s screen. The lights in the room buzzed and flickered in response. “Just wait till the next time we cross paths, that one really seems to dislike you,”
He gestured back to Vaggie, who was standing cross armed with her usual flat glare. Veside her Charlies eyes were darting around, rapidly putting the pieces together.
Buffering back to life Vox scowled.
“This was your idea,” he reminded, “If you didn’t want to go out – what did you think ‘date night’ meant?”
Gesturing back to Angeldust – who looked like he hadn’t been simultaneously sober and this entertained in years – Alastor said, “Well through context clues I assumed it was an excuse to get ‘shit-faced’ and keep the entire hotel up all night having sex too loud in the common areas.”
“W-we could still do that,” Vox tried to insist.
Alastor laughed, grabbing Vox’s hand and leading him towards the hotel door.
“Too late darling, I’ve made plans already! Dinner to eat, people to kill, not necessarily in that order.” He looked back at Charlie, waving over his shoulder, “Don’t wait up!”
“God, you’re so annoying,” Vox grumbled.
“I tried to warn you when you were begging me to marry you.”
The doors to the hotel closed with a heavy clang, leaving the entire room in silence. Charlies mind raced until finally she was unable to contain it.
“What the fuck?”
“You knew about this, didn’t you?” Angeldust called out, directed at Husk.
From her perch on the ground Niffty perked up, “Guess who officiated at their wedding!”
Dragging a tired hand over his face, Husk turned toward the bar.
“I need a fucking drink.”