Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Ring! Ring! Ring!

“Ben! Can you get the phone, please?!” Kathrine calls out from an upstairs room. Ben groans from the couch he was sitting on, setting his phone down on the seat. 

“How come I always have to do it?” He says, making his way towards the front counter. Esther snickers from the other couch seat, peeking at him over her phone. Her eyes mock him even without seeing the grin on her face. 

“Because last time I let Esther do it, she booked a reservation in Jessica’s room.” Katherine answers, and Esther laughs harder. 

“Right.” Ben acknowledges the previous incident, and begrudgingly picks up the still ringing phone. “Undervale Hotel, the word ‘Haunted’ is just an adjective. How can I help you?” 

He pauses to listen to the other line, and Esther shakes her head at his greeting.

“Terrible work, Ben. They need to know what to expect!” She calls, putting her phone down. “Just look at Abaddon.” She points at the demonic boy sitting nearby, holding a dead raccoon he found. Dried foam lines its mouth, dripping onto the floor as he raises it up. She chuckles again when he pokes at an eye twice. 

Ben grimaces at the sight, but returns his focus to the phone call. After a few more seconds of listening, he covers the microphone, and tilts his head upstairs.

“Mom, they wanna book a room for a whole month? Is that fine?” he calls, looking to the balcony when finally peers over. 

“Huh? A whole month? Are you sure?” Katherine quickly makes her way down the stairs, heels clicking when she reaches the hardwood floor. She shoos Ben away from the phone, taking it from him. “Hi there, this is Katherine Freeling, owner of the Undervale. Did I hear my son right, you want to book a whole month here?” 

Esther and Abaddon share an intrigued look, wondering just who in the world would want to stay in the hotel that long? Abaddon shrugs at her, flinging the dead raccoon as he does so. Katherine tuts at him, but is cut off when she gasps at the phone. 

“You’ll pay the whole month in advance?” She says into the microphone, nodding at whatever the person on the other end is saying. “O-oh, okay, we’ll see you then!” When she puts down the phone, takes a second to look at her hands, and then at her children –and Abaddon. “This… this is real. Kind of suspicious, but they said they had cash to pay up front, so I don’t care.”

“Money is important.” Nathan pops out from behind the wall, holding a finger up. “Who knows, maybe they’ll turn out to be somewhat normal.”

A beat passes. Then, everyone bursts into laughter, including Nathan.

“Ahh, who am I kidding? Definitely not normal.” He says before turning to his sister. “Kathy, what time are they arriving?”

“6 o'clock. There should be plenty of time to get a single room ready.” She responds, readying for a room key. She skims the cabinet, debating on which choice would be the best.

After a brief deliberation, she settles on 223,  a room in which the ghost haunting it likes to dance in front of the mirror. She'll just have to cover it up. Katherine moves to grab an extra blanket from the storage closet, and then decides to put the kids to work.

“Ben, come with me and dust the halls. Esther, take Abaddon and get rid of that thing.” She demands, sticking her tongue out in disgust when Abaddon sniffs the corpse now sitting on the floor, a tiny pool of blood forming beneath it. Esther nods a signal to her mother, but doesn't bother to get up from the couch. “Now, please.”

Esther groans but still obeys, grabbing onto Abaddon's free hand as she escorts him toward the back of the hotel. Ben walks toward the supply closet and grabs a duster, waiting at the steps for Katherine to follow. 

“And me?” Nathan asks, stepping in front of her as she moves towards the stairs.

“Oh! Uh, why don't you wait for our guest to arrive? That way you can tell me immediately!” Katherine says, waving him off. She and Ben make their way to the guest's room, leaving him by himself.

“Ugh, fine.” Nathan mutters, stepping through the front door. It's a boring job, but at least he gets to be the first one to greet their new arrival.

He watches as the sun rises, birds chirping against the windy breeze. Leaves dance in the air as trees shake, and he inhales despite being unable to smell what he can only describe as ‘nature smell’. Then, at what he assumes to be some time around 6, a single car rolls through the entrance, and he quickly leans through the door before anyone sees.

“Kathy!” He yelled, pausing until she screamed back to him.

“They're here?” She responded, echoing through the hotel halls. 

“Yeah!” Nathan screams back before returning back to the front entrance. Luckily, the car sat idle, and he was just in time for its passengers to step out.

Nathan waves a hello at the 3 figures that step out. One looks to be a small child wearing a backpack, who quickly hides behind what he assumes is one of their parents. Both of whom seem quite excited to be at the hotel, given their slightly-creepy grins. 

The two adults continue to smile as they walk up the stairs, nodding at him as they reach the lobby door.

“Come on in, folks!” He motions for them to go first, not wanting to immediately give away his ghostly state.

Strangely, the young child pauses just before following their parents, turning their head to look at him for a moment. Nathan swallows nervously, and tries his best to give the child a cheerful smile.

Thankfully, this seems to satisfy their curiosity, and they step into the hotel without further hesitation. Nathan lets out a sigh of relief, carefully moving behind the others before the door closes on him.

Both adults look around with wonder in their eyes, their wide smiles turning into full gasps as they admire the lobby. Their child trails behind, shyly turning around every few seconds to look back at Nathan. Each time, he tries to wave kindly, but is greeted with wide eyes as they turn their back. Oh well, can't win 'em all.

“Welcome to the Undervale! We spoke on the phone earlier?” Katherine walks up to the couple, hand extended as she tries her best to be as cheery as possible. 

“Yes, that was I, Miss Freeling.” One of the adults says, shaking her hand gladly. They're in a business suit, complete with a tie, gelled-up hair, and even some tacky shoes. Nathan wishes so badly he was corporeal, because the tie is awfully done, and completely crooked. Amateurs. “My name is Cast…err–” they pause, a worried look washing over them. “Castor! My name is Castor, and this is my partner–” they look to their companion, once again panicking over a simple introduction. 

“Ralph, it's a pleasure to meet you.” Their partner seems a lot more level-headed, immediately picking up the conversation, shaking Katherine's hand fondly. Ralph is wearing looser clothing, a multi-colored cardigan, with similarly-styled pants. Both of them seem to have a pale complexion, and if Nathan weren’t a ghost himself, he’d have almost accused them of being apparitions. 

“Well, it’s so nice to have you here. You mentioned booking a single room, right?” Katherine walks over to the lobby counter, working the computer as she checks the available rooms. She finally got around to marking them in the system, with high ghost threats being labeled clearly, just in case. “How many beds would you like?” 

“Oh, just one please! It’s for our little… Sunny. His name's Sunny.” Castor stutters, bringing ‘Sunny’ closer to them. Sunny seemed aggravated by the touch, twitching as he shies away from Castor. 

Katherine looks up from her computer, confused by their request. “Pardon? You’re booking a room just for your child?” She asks, wanting clarification. There’s been plenty of odd requests, but they usually don’t involve child endangerment. It may be spring break, but kids still need to be with their parents, right?

“Yes!” Ralph pipes up, laughing nervously at the question. “He’s been such a good boy recently, so we’re treating him to a month away, no adults, no rules! Isn’t that right, Sunny dear?” 

Sunny shuffles his feet, looking down at the ground. After a moment, a gentle “Yes” is squeaked out. 

“How old is he?” Katherine asks, narrowing her eyes.

“How old would you like him to be?” Castor asks innocently, smiling like they aren't about to abandon a whole child for one month. 

Katherine sighs, then types at her computer for a moment. Nathan walks over to peer at her screen, reading as she scrolls through local laws. After a moment, she responds.

“13 is as young as I'll go, since you're paying up front. But I'm gonna need an emergency contact.” She tells them, presenting a pen and paper to write on. 

“Well it's a good thing he's 13!” Ralph says, clapping their hands together before grabbing the pen from Katherine's hand. They hastily scribble a phone number down, handing it back to Katherine cheerfully. “Thanks for being so accommodating Miss Freeling!”

“Thank you for being paying customers! I can show you to Sunny's room if you'd like?” She offers, glancing around at the guests. “Did you need any help with your luggage?” 

Ralph and Castor both laugh at the question, entertained by the mere idea.

“Ah, luggage?” Ralph says sarcastically, making Kathrine raise an eye. “No, he has everything he needs.” 

“Yes, his bag is plenty.” Castor adds on, tapping the small bag hanging off of Sunny's back. It's pure white, not a single speck of dust or mud to be had. 

‘Too tidy.’ Nathan squints at the backpack, wondering how a kid hadn't wrecked it yet. He went through 8 bags in a whole school year!

In his defense, they were terrible quality. 

“Maybe I can get your credit card info, for extra security?” Katherine asks as she walks towards the stairs, unamused by the awkwardness of their latest guests. 

“Sure!” Ralph is fast at handing her a card, which she snatches immediately, stuffing it into her pocket for later. 

As they walk the halls to 223, she hopes the other ghosts play nice for once. They'd been pretty annoying in the morning, but she found they tended to tire themselves out quickly if she let them. Come nighttime, only the awful ones were awake. 

When they finally get to 223, she eagerly unlocks the door, motioning for the guests to enter first. Ralph and Castor both immediately begin to admire the paintings, while Sunny's eyes dart to the blanket-covered mirror. Luckily, the child doesn't seem to stray from his parents, and only looks at the mirror from afar. 

“So, how is it? Not too spooky, right?” She asks the room, putting on a cheerful smile. 

“Yes, not too spacious, but plenty of room.” Castor says, tapping the wall. He then places his hand on the bed, gently brushing the soft blanket on top. “Soft bed, very well made.”

Ralph walks up to the wardrobe, opening the doors and peering inside. “Hmm, what fine furniture. Nicely decorated, Miss Freeling.” 

Katherine chuckles from the compliments, however odd they may be. “Thank you, I'm glad you enjoy the room.” 

The three of them all look at Sunny, who's still staring at the mirror.

“What do you think, Sunny?” Castor asks, placing their hand on their son's shoulder. 

Sunny looks up at his parent's, breaking his state with the covered mirror. 

“It's fine. Thank you, Miss Freeling. You can go now.” He mutters, pointing to the door. 

Katherine is shocked by his request, looking to her guests for their reactions. Neither one is phased, and simply nod in response. She follows Ralph and Castor out, hearing the door shut and lock immediately behind them.

“Miss Freeling, please don't mind him. He's just eager to have fun!” Ralph tells her, leading the way back downstairs with ease. “I bet he'll be great to host.” 

Castor hums an agreement with their partner, then adds “He's angellic.”

She swears she hears a giggle, and looks around for signs of a nearby ghost. Luckily, the coast is clear, so it must have been nothing. 

As the group heads downstairs, Abaddon exits into the lobby from the kitchen, firmly clutching a blender. She glares at him angrily, and he backs into the kitchen slowly. Behind the door, she hears scampering feet, and a slightly loud crash.

Castor and Ralph pay no mind however, and she returns to her routine, typing on the computer. She enters their credit card information on a spreadsheet, handing the card back to Ralph who thanks her. 

They smile and wave even as they leave through the front door, and with that, Katherine sighs in relief.

They were weird, sure, but it's not the worst guest they've had. Although she's not really sure what their deal was though. 

“How'd it go?” Nathan interrupts her thoughts as he phases through the wall. 

“Nathan, please!” She clutches her heart, scared by his sudden appearance. “It went fine, but you really need to announce yourself better.”

“Well I'll try harder next time.” He says, walking to the counter, pretending to lean on it. “Kid's really staying alone? What are you gonna nanny him?” 

She grimaces at the suggestion, then shrugs when she realizes she hadn't thought about it. 

“They gave me a credit card. If the kid's hungry, or needs clothes, I'll just charge them. They're obviously rich snobs or something.” She justifies herself, not wanting to admit it her motivation was more monetary than anything. And to be fair, they really didn't seem to care about the cash.

“Still, he's probably lonely now. Don't you think he needs attention?” Nathan reasons, feeling bad for the poor boy. “I just don't like it, that's all.”

“Well, check on him yourself if you want to. I don't care.” She says, adding on “They said he has all he needs. He's probably got a whole freaking butler in his backpack at this point.” 

Nathan ponders for a moment, then “Fine, maybe I will.” He marches up the stairs, walking with purpose as he makes his way to room 223. Then, standing in front of the door, he realizes he can’t exactly knock for permission to enter. Yelling through the wall will have to do. 

“Hey Sunny! You in there, bud?” He calls, pressing his ear against the wall. He hears nothing, just the humming of the fan in the room, god that must be annoying. “Sunny?” He asks once more, waiting again for even the tiny sign of life in there. Just beneath the buzzing fan, the sound of papers rustling makes him breathe a sigh of relief. 

He waits for a minute outside, wondering if maybe he should pop in. Maybe the kid got trapped somewhere? Or maybe Jessica broke in? Oh god, Jessica’s not that mean right? Finally, the lock on the door clicks, and it creaks open just enough for an eye to peer up at him.

“Yes?” A tiny voice squeaks out, the child’s nervousness obvious in the single word.

“Hey bud, just checkin’ up on ya!” Nathan says, bending down to be more level with him. “Everything good in the room so far?” He asks, hoping to spark a bond between them.

Sunny squints at him, silent as he stares Nathan down. 

“Need anything?” He presses, wondering if he could offer his company. Even if Nathan’s not corporeal, he thinks he makes a pretty good listener. “Wanna play a game?” He adds, hoping to appeal to Sunny’s childish nature.

“No thank you.” Sunny says monotonously, slamming the door shut immediately after. 

“Are you sure?!” Nathan shouts through the closed door, disappointed when he doesn’t get a response. It seems this kid isn’t an easy customer. Luckily for him, Nathan is very persistent. 

He returns to the lobby, formulating a plan in his head. Esther and Abbadon lay on the floor, playing a game of connect four like they typically do. As expected, without anyone to help Abaddon is completely powerless, shouting in frustration when Esther wins yet again. 

“Don’t worry Abaddon, you’ll win again some day!” Nathan cheers him on, giving him a pretend hair rustle, not caring that it doesn’t actually do anything.

Abaddon stands up, grunting in annoyance at the fake affection. “Do not patronize me, High Prince Abaddon of–” 

“Shut up and play again!” Esther cuts him off, resetting the game. “What’cha up to, Uncle Nathan?” She asks, somehow she can always tell when he’s in a mood. 

“Just trying to reach this new guest. He’s just a kid, I can’t believe his parents left him here for a whole month!” Nathan crosses his arms as he grumbles, annoyed by the lack of concern anyone seems to have for Sunny. 

Esther shrugs, not losing focus on her game. “Eh, rich parents, they do that stuff. Mom says she’s got their credit card if he needs anything.” 

“Yeah, for monetary needs! But what about emotional needs?” Nathan points out, awed at his own niece being rather unbothered. 

“Why don’t you go ask him about his needs, then?” Esther offers her advice, cheering when she finally announces to Abaddon his defeat for the second time. He kicks over the connect board, smiling devilishly when the chips fall out. 

“I tried that already.” 

“And?” Esther looks up from where she was gathering chips. “What did he say?” 

“‘No thank you’! Can you believe it?” Nathan leans on the lobby counter, sighing to himself. “I mean, is he just going to sit in the room all day?”

The kitchen door opens as Katherine carries a tray of freshly baked cookies, setting them on the counter.

“Are you still on the Sunny thing?” She asks him, handing a cookie to both Esther and Abaddon, the latter shoving the entire thing into his mouth with ease. “Give it a rest, Nathan.” 

“I will not!” He shouts, taking a quick whiff of the cookies. “Smells good, Kathy. Maybe Sunny would like one!” He pretends to elbow her, hopefully getting his point across. 

Katherine side eyes him, groaning as she looks at the quite full tray. “You really want me to go all the way up there to offer this kid a cookie?” She asks, face-palming when his eyes grow wide with excitement. 

“Great idea Kathy!” He says, hugging her through the counter. “I’d bring it myself, but... you know.” 

She sighs, but it’s hard to say no to her brother. Especially when he throws himself into these types of situations. Grabbing the tray, she makes her way to the stairs. “Fine, but you’re coming with me.”

Nathan nods happily, running past her as he climbs the stairs, looking back while she takes her time. “Come on, slow poke!” 

Katherine smiles at his teasing, making her way slowly so as to not dump the cookies. Nathan skips through the halls as he leads the way, waiting at 223’s door while she cautiously wanders the hallway. Stabby Paul comes up behind her, trying to grab at a cookie as she instinctively leans away. When she realizes it doesn’t matter, she stares daggers at him, making him whimper as he disappears behind a wall submissively.

Once she joins Nathan at the door, she balances the plate on one hand, knocking softly against the door. 

“Sunny? I baked some cookies, Nathan thought you might want one?” She calls, throwing her brother under the bus. The bed squeaks, feet plopping against the floor, although the door remains shut. Instead, Sunny’s voice responds from behind the door. 

“No thank you, Miss Freeling. I will be alright.” Katherine looks shocked, not used to children declining cookies. Everybody likes chocolate chip, right? “Really? It’s chocolate chip, they’re still warm!” 

Nathan adds on, “And they’re delicious!”, hoping his own input might influence Sunny a little more. Still, nothing but silence responds to them. 

Katherine turns to leave, although Nathan steps in front of her, blocking her way. Spiritually, not physically. 

“Wait, Kathy. Maybe he likes oatmeal raisin? Do you like oatmeal raisin instead?” Nathan shouts through the door, his last line of defense a single hunch. It seems his hunch paid off, because the door immediately slams open and Sunny peaks his head out. 

“Raisins?” He asks, a glimmer in his eyes. “Raisins are good.” 

“See?” Nathan turns to Katherine, happy that his plan finally worked out. “Told you he wanted something.” Then, he looks back at Sunny, motioning toward his sister. “I’m sure Kathy would love to make you some oatmeal raisin cookies.” Katherine scoffs at his offer, but makes a noise of interest. 

“I guess I could make some. I like them too.” She surmises, reaching for a cookie. Chocolate chip was her favorite, but she supposes one little favor for Nathan wouldn’t hurt. 

Sunny stares at them, stepping out into the hallway completely. He twiddles his fingers together, muttering under his breath. 

“What was that, bud?” Nathan asks, leaning down to hear him better. 

Sunny locks eyes with him, staring deep into his soul as he speaks louder. 

“I’ll just take the raisins.” 

Chapter Text

“Nathan, we are not throwing a welcome party for him.” Katherine pulls a fresh towel out of the dryer, folding it nearly before laying it down and grabbing the next one.

“B-but come on!” Nathan stutters over his words as he moves in front of her, blocking her way. “He's been here for 5 whole days on his own! That's almost a week!"

Katherine rolls her eyes, continuing to reach for a towel through his body.

“And he hasn't come out once except to rip the boxes of raisins you made me buy out of my hands!” She still remembers how quick it took for him to answer the door, and relieve her of the snacks. It reminds her of Abaddon. Which is definitely not good.

“'Cuz he's hungry!” Nathan flails his arms in the air. 

Katherine stops what she's doing, and gives him a glare, putting her hand on her hip.

 “A 12 pack of raisins over 4 days is not enough to feed a little boy.” No matter what her brother says, this little ‘Sunny’ character is probably a demon of some kind, and she has enough on her plate with one running around, much less two.

“So let's throw him a party and cook him some food!” Nathan pleads, getting down on his needs. Even with his puppy eyes, Katherine still isn't convinced. 

“You know what? I'm just not even going to bother with you.” Katherine reaches for another towel, her hand going straight through Nathan's head. “Have Abaddon take him his raisins today, and let me do my laundry in peace!"

Nathan stands up, dejected, but nonetheless follows her instructions and walks through the wall. He calls Abaddon's name as he wanders the halls, finally hearing the telltale sound of a blender whirring in the kitchen.

“Abaddon, my man!” He greets the demonic boy, walking up to him as he blends what looks to be more of Ben's precious tomatoes. Guess the kid's going to need to grow more. 

Abaddon stops the blender for a moment, looking at Nathan with a dead stare. 

“What is it?” He asks, and Nathan raises his hands in innocence. 

“What? Can't I just check up on ya?” Nathan tells him, cracking a wide smile. 

“No.” Abaddon turns the blender back on, watching the blades slice and dice. “You want something from me. Out with it.” 

The firm demand of Abaddon has Nathan spilling within seconds, unable to keep himself from lying to the little guy for long. 

“Alright, alright! Kathy wants you to take the raisins up to Sunny today.” Nathan bends down to be eye level with Abaddon, giving him his signature puppy eyes as he pleads with every inch of his ghostly body. “Can you?”

Abaddon grimaces at the question, looking back at the blender as he turns it off, the tomatoes now completely puree’d. He sighs as he looks towards the kitchen counter, the box of raisins sitting ominously on top.

“Do I have to?” He asks, reaching for the box. 

Nathan hums and haws for a second, before giving a shrug. “You can say no, but you won't get any allowance if you don't do it.”

Abaddon quickly grasps onto the raisins, clutching them tightly to his chest. Nobody threatens his allowance.

“Where am I taking them?!” He runs out the kitchen, waiting for Nathan as he trails behind.

“Geez you are fast. Room 223, please!” Nathan pants, groaning when Abaddon speeds up the stairs, following him slowly. Despite being a ghost, it doesn't seem to get easier. 

The two make their way down the hall, Nathan pointing out door numbers because–he forgot– Abaddon can't read. So he has to read the numbers off for him.

“Ah, here we go, 223!” Nathan proclaims, pretending to tap on the door. He gasps when Abaddon simply drops the box on the floor, turning to leave. “Oh no you don't!”

Abaddon looks back, glancing at the door with confusion. “What? I delivered them as promised.” 

“You're supposed to hand them to him directly.” Nathan tuts as he stomps back over, looking at the floor.

“Ugh, fine.” Abaddon groans, picking it back up. He looks at Nathan again, unsure of what to do next.

“Now, you knock on the door.” Abaddon follows his command, loudly knocking once. And while it's not the politest of notices, there's a loud scrambling behind the door, so all is well.

To his surprise, the door flings wide open, Sunny’s eyes looking Abaddon up and down, confused by the unusual delivery person. 

“Raisins?” He asks, looking at Nathan with a smile, probably the first time he's smiled since he arrived. 

Abaddon presents the box to Sunny, and he gladly reaches out, fingers grazing one of Abaddon's hands as he receives his prized snacks. He quickly lets out a hushed “Thank you!”, before slamming the door shut. Behind the walls, plastic crinkles, and Nathan gives Abaddon a thumbs up.

“Great job, buddy! I knew you could do it.” He gives him a fake pat on the shoulder, and Abaddon stares into his eyes.

“My allowance remains the same?”  He asks, concern growing on his face.

“I think you earned another dollar, even. Gotta check with Kathy first, though.” Nathan remarks, rubbing his chin as they walk back downstairs. 

Abaddon hums approval at the raise, looking towards the lobby for any sign of the matriarch. Unfortunately she was nowhere to be found, and he scratched his hand, lacking patience for a hunt as of now. Nathan seems to sense his hunger for money, giving him a calming –but non-physical– pat on the head.

“Don’t worry bud, I’m sure she’s still doing laundry. She likes to take her time when folding clothes for some reason.” He reassures Abbadon, chuckling at how detail-oriented his sister is. “It’s all getting used eventually, I just don’t see the point in making them look neat.” 

“I don’t like washing my clothes, either.” Abaddon says stiffly, grumbling when he scratches his hand again. 

“Not what I meant, but it’s close enough.” Nathan notes Abbadon's worsening state, then turns to look at the kitchen door. Maybe he’s just hungry?  “How about a nice afternoon snack?” He offers, knowing there’s no way the demon boy would refuse.

“Fruit loops!” Abaddon shouts, pushing the door open with excitement as he grabs a chair to reach the precious treat. High shelves are trivial for a demon of his rank. 

Nathan smirks as Abaddon climbs up the chair, grunting in surprise when it rocks back, He quickly grasps a handle, holding himself steady while he rebalances himself. As soon as it does, Abaddon goes straight for the cereal cabinet, tugging at it with all his might. But try as he must, it doesn’t open in the slightest.

“Open you wretched keeper of cereals!” He shouts in frustration when he realizes his predicament, angered by the lack of obedience from the furniture. “How could you betray me, my fruited loops?!” Nathan flinches when Abaddon smashes his fist into the cabinet, concerned for his adoptive son even despite his immortality. 

“Hey, hey!” He calls, waving his hand in a desperate attempt to calm the demon down. “Chill out, Abaddon, we’ll just go find Kathy!” 

Abaddon grumbles, but steps down from his chair, scratching his hand as he stares intensely at the still-closed cabinet door. 

“Fine. But I'll be back… soon.” He threatens the inanimate door with a pointed finger, as though it would fear him. If so, it doesn't show it, no quaking in its invisible shoes. 

Nathan and Abaddon move throughout the hotel, searching and calling for Katherine while they make their way towards the laundry room. No matter how loud they shout, she completely ignores Nathan's cries, and to Abaddon she only gives him a quick “Not right now!” 

And yet, thanks to her dismissal of the demon boy, they are able to follow the sound of her voice. While she's not in the laundry room as they expected, she is nearby, refilling the linen closet. She groans when she sees Nathan and Abaddon approaching, but still acknowledges their presence nonetheless.

“I guess I was overdue for some senseless chaos.” She says, placing the last stack of towels on a shelf. Turning to Abaddon, she gives him a glare. “What did you break this time?”

“How dare you?” He scoffs at her accusation, clutching his heart in faux pain. “I have done nothing of the sort! You are lucky Nathan stopped me before I brought out the hammer!” 

“Oh-ho kay, now hold on there, bud!” Nathan steps in front of him, interjecting before Abaddon can dig a deeper hole for them both. “You definitely weren't about to take a hammer to her lovely kitchen cabinets.” He gives a wink to the demon, but Abaddon simply looks back at him with confusion. 

“But I-” 

“You know what?” Katherine sighs, cutting Abaddon off, who hisses in annoyance. “I don't care. What do you need, and will it make you go away?”

“Why are my fruit loops locked away?” Abaddon questions, stepping closer to her as he taps his feet. She rolls her eyes at his attempt to intimidate her.

“Because you're no longer the only child Nathan has me taking care of, and between your appetite and the amount of bulk raisins I'm buying, I don't need you eating a whole box of cereal when you feel like it.” Katherine explains, grabbing some travel-sized shampoos and conditioners from a nearby cart. Abaddon stamps his feet, shouting about the loss of his freedom over cereal.

“That's not very fair. Abaddon needs to eat too, Kathy.” Nathan protests, always so eager to bend to his demon child's whims. 

“No he doesn't.” She retorts, “He's literally an immortal demon.” 

“Ah, she got me there, buddy.” Nathan concedes defeat, shrugging as he has no comeback for her witty reasoning. Abaddon screams some more, throwing a fist into the wall before he kicks Katherine's cart, knocking the rest of the toiletries across the floor.

“Hey!” Katherine yells at him, standing up as she glares down into his red, demonic eyes. “Pick that up, now.” 

He gulps under the weight of her stare, nodding obediently only because she controls the cereal stocks now. Carefully, he collects each bottle, slowly tossing it into the cart as Katherine watches over him. Then, just before he grabs the last bottle, his hand itches once again. The agony has become too much for him, and he bites himself hard, if only to replace the intense need to scratch it. 

“Abaddon what the hell?”

“Seriously bud I thought you grew out of that!”

Katherine and Nathan both shout concern for him, each making a noise of disgust when he pulls back with a small line of blood on his lips. 

“What? It itches!” He justifies himself, flashing them the wounded hand. Katherine grasps his wrist, examining the skin as she pulls a fresh towel from the shelf. She dabs away the blood, cringing when it reveals a warm, red blotch on Abaddon's otherwise pale skin.

“Abaddon, what did I tell you about playing with deadly bugs? Ugh it's probably infected now, too.” Katherine scolds him, wrapping the towel around his hand. “Okay, come on, let's get some ice on that.” 

“I wasn't touching them, only looking!” Abaddon protests as she drags him to the parlor. 

“It's true!” Nathan trails behind, attesting to Abaddon's innocence. “Abaddon's been really good today, I think he needs more allowance.” He adds on the praise, hoping to get that promise reward. 

Katherine doesn't bother with a response, too busy rummaging for the medical kit she knows is in here somewhere. Finally, she finds it under a stack of disturbing books, clutching it as she returns to where Abaddon sits in a chair, clutching his hand. 

“Let me see.” She says, holding out her hand. Abaddon begrudgingly obliges, and she lets out a gasp when she unwraps the wound, a small bit of dried blood on the towel. She discards it on the floor, reminding herself to disinfect it later. Abaddon watches as Katherine grabs a small foil from the kit, ripping it open as she pulls out the soaked swab inside. 

“This is gonna hurt.” She warns, pressing it against his wound without a second’s thought, not long enough for Abaddon to question why. Although, to no one's surprise, he doesn't flinch in pain, though his eyes do widen.

“Why would it hurt?” He asks innocently, and wow she forgot how resilient he really is.

“Because it's cleaning you up. Burns the bacteria or something, I don't know the exact reason why.” She explains, taking it away and tossing it on the bloodied towel.

“That's what the internet's for.” Nathan interjects, teasing Abaddon for his inability to use it. Abaddon glares at him, but brings his eyes back to his hand as Katherine moves again.

This time she grabs a tube of ointment, placing a small dab on his hand. She holds his wrist still as she reaches for a roll of gauze, wrapping it around his hand tightly, not worried if it cuts off his circulation. 

“There we go.” She says, patting his hand gently. “Keep that on, and no more biting or scratching, okay?” 

Abaddon looks at his hand, then back at her face. “But what if it itches again?” 

Katherine sighs, furrowing her brows as she tries to find a normal solution. Luckily she spies an unused ice pack in the medical kit, and grabs it for him. 

“Here.” She says, placing it in his good hand. “If it itches, squeeze the pack really hard, then hold it against your hand.”  

Abaddon squints at it, holding it in the air as he pokes it with a finger. “What does it do?” 

“It’ll get cold, and that helps soothe the itching.” Katherine explains, returning the medical kit to a more appropriate spot, front and center on a nearby shelf. “Just don’t eat it, okay?” 

He sniffs the pack, narrowing his eyes at the suggestion. “Why not?” Katherine sighs, because at this point nothing she says would stop him anyways.

“Trust me Abaddon, just listen to her on this one.” Nathan says, shivering as he remembers a childhood incident sparking from a very similar situation. “Do you know what it’s like to get your stomach pumped?” 

“No.” Abaddon responds, curious about such a procedure. Katherine groans as she covers her face, not wanting to think about that. 

“Good, let’s keep it that way.” 

“Now can I eat my fruit loops?” Abaddon asks, looking at Katherine with pleading eyes. She rubs her temples, tired of dealing with his antics for the day. 

“No, we’re going to be eating dinner in a few hours.” Katherine tells him, exiting the parlor. Abaddon follows behind her, whining as she makes her way to the kitchen to figure out what they’ll be eating. Nathan phases through the wall, laughing at how much Abaddon really wants his cereal. 

“Can’t I just eat them for dinner instead?” Abbadon pleads, tugging on her arm in the direction of the cereal cabinet. She shakes him off, pushing him out of the kitchen with force even as he kicks in protest. When the kitchen door slams shut, Abaddon raises his fist, spouting what Nathan assumes to be demonic curses. 

“Cheer up, bud! Maybe we could ask Sunny to share some raisins with you?” Nathan poses, hoping he could at least give Abaddon some kind of snack. A growing boy needs his nutrients. Although he's not exactly growing.

Abaddon sneers at him, scurrying towards a nearby vent. “I will get my cereal!” He shouts, flipping the vent cover up. Nathan tries to stop him, but his hand simply passes through the cover, and he watches as Abaddon disappears into the shadows. 

Looking around at the empty lobby, he thinks about the options he has left for entertainment. He could go see Ben or Esther, but last he checked Ben was busy… doing whatever it is he does with Annabelle. And Esther? He saw her dragging a suspicious body-shaped garbage bag to the woods, and he'd rather not have to see her bring a zombie to life again. 

So his only two options were either harassing his sister –which would probably get him yelled at considering how much he's bothered her today– or, he could check on Sunny again. Oh! Maybe he'd like to join them for family dinner!

The thought of giving that child a normal family experience made him climb the stairs with fervor, rushing towards 223 with every step. He probably should've asked Kathy, but it's always easier to ask for forgiveness than permission. Especially with her. 

“Sunny!” He yells through the door, waiting for the telltale patter of small feet. But no footsteps come, just the buzzing of that stupid fan. “Bud? Why don't you come down and join us for dinner?” 

He waits and waits, but the door doesn't open. No squeaky voice stumbling through words trying to decline the invite. Not even a hint of life. That's… concerning.

Would it be wrong to check in on the little guy?

“Sunny? Everything okay, pal?” The silence is deafening to him, and a thousand awful scenarios start running through his head. Sure, the kid could've just left for a moment. But he never leaves the room. 

Maybe he's hurt? Or sick? Has he run away? Oh god what if he got kidnapped?

“Sunny!” He gives one last warning, glad that the hotel is mostly void of guests. He'd rather not hear complaints from Kathy. “If you don't say something I'm gonna come in!”

Thankfully, it's plenty easy to do because of his ghost privileges. Still, it's technically an invasion of privacy. But given how quiet the child has been despite his yelling, someone has to do something.

Taking a breath, Nathan peers through the door, looking frantically for signs of the little boy. To his luck, Sunny is easily found, laying down on the bed with his back to the door. 

“Hey buddy.” Nathan says, approaching cautiously. Sunny stirs at his presence, but otherwise ignores him. “What's the matter?” 

His question has Sunny moving a few inches, picking up his head to glance over, and he notices small tears pricking at Sunny's eyes. 

“Oh no…” Nathan says worriedly, stepping towards the boy. “What's wrong kiddo?” 

Sunny sniffles, sitting up as he brings his feet closer, clutching his knees tightly. He doesn’t respond immediately, leaving Nathan in confusion. After a brief moment of deliberation, he sits on the edge of the bed, waiting for the child to calm down. It takes a few minutes as he sits uncomfortably, but eventually silence takes over. He hears a murmur from Sunny, but it’s muffled from talking into his legs.

“Can you repeat that?” Nathan asks, leaning closer. Sunny picks his head up a bit, still unable to look him in the eyes. 

“I’ve been cursed.” The boy says, clenching his fists as his body shakes. He’s terrified, and even though Nathan is confused about the ‘curse’ part, he wants nothing more than to comfort poor Sunny. Children should be able to confide in their parents, and yet he has no one to talk to. Still, he needs some information.

“‘Cursed’, how exactly?” He asks, wondering if this was a metaphor for something or if someone was actually cruel enough to do so. 

Sunny wordlessly opens one of his hands, presenting it to Nathan, who winces from the view. It’s bright red, swollen underneath the skin, and Nathan can make out faint marks from where the child was scratching. As awful as it looks, he’s thankful for the explanation being much simpler than a true supernatural curse. 

“Oh, Sunny, that’s… that’s not a curse, bud.”

Sunny looks up at him, surprised at what he said. “What do you mean?” 

Does this kid never get sick or something? He’s way too sheltered to be left on his own for a whole month! 

But… Abaddon has the same wound. Oh boy, this is hard to explain. 

“Well, um–” He pauses, not actually sure what exactly this is himself. “It looks like you got bit by a bug and it got infected. But Abaddon also has it, so I’m not quite sure now.”

Nathan looks at the wound again, scratching his chin. No matter what it was, it needed treatment. 

“Tell ya what, why don't we go see my sister? She'll fix you right up, and we can worry about what it is later.” He proposes, pointing towards the door. “Then we can have dinner afterward!”

“Go… out there?” He asks, blinking at Nathan, who gives him a quick nod. “I don't want to.” 

Nathan hums dejectedly, but he's learned a thing or two from Kathy about not giving up.

“Well that's too bad, because you need to get it looked at. If you leave it be, it'll get worse than a curse!” He says, chuckling to himself when Sunny's eyes widen. He stares at his hand, then back up to Nathan.

“I see. Very well, then. Let us visit Miss Freeling.” Sunny agrees, jumping off the bed. He opens the door, motioning for Nathan to exit first. 

They walk silently through the halls, save for the occasional sound of Sunny scratching his hand. Nathan's quick to give him a look, stopping him from making it worse. 

When they enter the kitchen, they find Katherine in the middle of preparing dinner, with dishes and ingredients splayed over the cabinets. Her helper for the day was Abaddon, although he wasn't helping so much as he was stealing small bits of food from her, shoving them into the blender.

Katherine groans when she sees Nathan, waving him off.

“I don't have time for whatever it is you want. Please let me cook in peace.”

Nathan scoffs at her dismissal, waving Sunny in front of him.

“Yeah but this is more important.” He says, pointing to the child in front of him as he glares at Abaddon. “Abaddon gave whatever he had to Sunny.”

Sunny holds his hand up, showing Katherine the wound. She cringes at the sight of inflamed tissue, weeping from the scratches carved into the skin.

“Great, more to worry about.” She says, setting down a dish to walk closer. Katherine gently reaches for Sunny’s arm, grabbing him below the wrist to inspect it more carefully. “It looks awful, Abaddon, what the hell did you get into?”

The demon boy slams his blender on the counter, eyes turning red as he glares at her for accusing him so. “I got into nothing!” He yells, clenching his unbandaged hand in rage.

Katherine tuts at him for the outburst, but looks back at their guest with a soft gaze. “Stay right there, I'll grab the kit.” She tells him, walking out the door with a quick step.

Sunny waits with patience for her to come back, watching as Abaddon abandons the blender on the counter, marching his way over. He uses his undamaged hand to grab Sunny’s wrist, turning it over as he eyes the wound. His eyes meet Sunny’s who flinches under the cold, hard stare.

“How dare you bring illness here.” Abaddon says, letting go of Sunny, who takes his advantage of his newfound freedom to put a few spaces between them. 

“I.. I don’t know what you mean.” Sunny stutters, rubbing the skin where Abaddon held him. It tingles, a slight burning sensation just barely reaching his nerves.

“The matriarch blames me, yet you are clearly the culprit.” Abaddon snarls at him, holding up his bandaged hand. “How you managed to infect me is beyond my imagination, but I will not let you harm anyone else.” 

Sunny’s eyes widen, confused and scared by Abaddon’s rising aggression. “Ah… I don’t… I didn’t do anything…” He mumbles, looking down anxiously.

Nathan moves to stand between them, hoping to cool the rising tensions within the kitchen, but luckily the door swings open, performing a similar task at changing the vibes. Katherine enters first, followed by Ben, who waves his hands in frustration.

“Mom, come on, it's for my birthday!” Ben whines, tugging on her jacket. She sighs at him, setting the medical kit on the counter as she whips around to face him.

“Ben, for the last time, I am not buying you a 300$ makeup palette for you to use on your ghost girlfriend’s mannequin.” Katherine tells him, turning back around to open the kit. Then, she adds, "And your birthday isn’t for another 2 months.” Ben groans about the dismissal, but sits at the island, using his phone to distract him from his disappointment. 

Katherine approaches Sunny with a few items in hand, pulling a chair out and gesturing for him to take a seat. He hops up onto the chair, presenting his hand to her. When she grabs his wrist he flinches back, wincing in pain. 

“It hurts that bad?” She asks, looking at Abaddon, who merely shrugged in response. Whatever this kid is, he must not be a demon if he’s got such a low tolerance. Katherine gives him a few seconds to calm down, before reaching out for his hand again. “I’ll be gentle, I promise.” 

When Sunny does hold his hand out again, she observes the rash having spread, now reaching past his hand. No wonder his wrist was so sensitive, small hives now decorate the thin skin below his hand. Even Sunny seems surprised by the development, eyes focused on his hand as Katherine pulls out a white cloth from a packet. 

“Geez, it got worse.” Nathan says, crossing his arms as he glares at Abaddon. “Probably because you grabbed him, Abaddon.” 

Abaddon hisses at him, walking back to his blender as he turns his back. “It’s not my fault he lacks strength.”

“It doesn’t matter, let’s just keep our hands to ourselves until this clears up.” Katherine snaps at both of them, then brings her gaze to Sunny. “This is gonna sting.” She warns, and Sunny closes his eyes in preparation.

His shoulders jump and he lets out a whine when the wet cloth hits his wound, cleaning the pus as it burns away at his skin. Katherine holds him still, squeezing ointment onto the wound quickly, hushing at Sunny’s whimpers. Finally, she wraps a bandage around his hand, making sure to cover the wrist, just in case he tries scratching it too.

“Okay,” Katherine pats his hand, finally letting go as he tugs it close to himself. “You should be fine for now, but I can get you an ice pack for the pain.” She makes her way to the kitchen door, backing up when Esther crashes through, holding a sack of what she hopes isn’t bones. She sighs when Esther dumps the contents onto the counter and yep that’s bones. Pushing it to the side, she makes her way out of the kitchen, searching for a spare ice pack from another medical kit. 

“Abaddon, look what I got!” Esther says, gesturing to all the wonderful bones she collected. “I was doing some… research and found these, figured you’d want some.” 

Abaddon makes his way to the counter, picking up a bone and bringing it closer to his face, admiring the cracks and dents. “Hmm, these will do nicely.” He says to another bone. 

Esther smiles at his approval, then spies his other hand, still wrapped in a bandage. “What did you do, chop off your hand again?” She jokes, laughing when he picks his hand up, looking at it with vice. 

“No, I did nothing of the sort. And I didn’t play with bugs, either.” He says confidently, glaring at Katherine when she comes back through the kitchen door.

“O-kay,” Esther says, noticing the tension between the two. “Then why’s it all wrapped up?”

“Because someone brought disease into the hotel.” Abaddon says, earning him a scoff from Nathan and an angry stare from Katherine.

“Abaddon don’t accuse our guest.” She scolds him, handing the ice pack in her hands to Sunny, who takes it and turns his head, not wanting to meet Abaddon's cold gaze. 

“Hate to say it bud, but his hand did get worse when you grabbed it, so it must have been you.” Nathan affirms, giving Abaddon a fake pat on the shoulder. 

The demon boy shrugs it off, defiantly turning towards the adults with resentment in his eyes. He gives a smug grin as he presents his healthy hand, holding it up with honor.

“And yet my hand remains fine, since only this one–” He holds up the other, still in bandages. “–was infected.” 

But when he looks again at the others, they aren’t apologizing for accusing him. Heck, they aren’t even groveling, they all have the same, stupid look on their faces. What, did he have something on his face?

“Why are you all looking at me like that?” He asks, pointing at the family. Even Sunny has his head raised, the look on his face much easier to read. Terror. “Is something wrong?”

“I don’t mean to alarm you…” Nathan says, being the only one able to speak. He points at Abaddon’s good hand, taking a small breath before he starts up again. 

“But it looks like you’re wrong about your hand being fine.”

Chapter Text

“What are you– oh.” Abaddon cuts himself off as he turns his hand, examining the palm. It's now an unsightly red color, just like his other hand, though it hasn't spread very far. It burns when he clenches his fist, and not in a good way.

 “I told you!” He bursts out, hands waving as he defends himself. “This wasn't there until I grabbed his wrist.” Sunny winces as Abaddon raises his voice, shying away from the sound.

He’s got a solid point, but Nathan is quick to speak up against him.

“Yeah but it got worse for him too.” Nathan refutes his argument, gesturing to Sunny's fully-wrapped hand and wrist. Abaddon squints at the sight, then grumbles as he tries to find a comeback.

“Guys,” Ben puts his phone down, raising his hands to gather their attention. “Let's all calm down for a minute. Mom, you also touched them, how are your hands?”

Katherine looks at her hands, flipping them over as she scans up and down, but there's not a single blemish on her skin. Save for her broken fingernails from all the chores she's been doing. She really ought to get them touched up.

“Nothing out of the ordinary.” She replies, making a quick double-check just in case. Nope, still nothing.

 “Right, so then the two victims are Abaddon, and Sunny.” Esther chimes in, giving a look to Sunny when she mentions his name. He shivers under her stare, twiddling his thumbs as the others ponder this mysterious infection. “Got something to confess?” She asks, approaching the child. 

“What do you mean?”  The child asks innocently, now shaking as Esther sticks her face close enough he can smell fresh dirt on her skin. She smirks, standing back as she turns to her family.

“He's a demon.” She declares, laughing when Sunny sputters out the beginnings of denial. “Just admit it, Abaddon's a demon and he's sick, but nobody else is. Maybe it's demon allergies?” Esther opens her coat, reaching for a bundle of herbs in one of her pockets. “I probably have something for that somewhere.”

“The only thing demons are allergic to is being blessed when we sneeze.” Abaddon says, snatching a few strands of parsley from Esther. He sniffs it for a moment, before walking towards the blender, tossing the ingredient in.

Sunny's eyes go wide as he stares at Abaddon, jaw agape. Nathan notices the look of fear in his eyes, his chest rising and falling faster like he's in a state of panic.

“Sunny, what's wrong with you?” He asks, drawing the attention back towards the child. 

“Nothing.” He's quick to dismiss the question, eyes floating between bodies before he looks towards the kitchen door. He needs to leave, right now.

“So you admit you're a demon?” Esther asks, smiling when the child nods his head slowly in response, looking at the floor.

“I… I am… now may I please retire?” Sunny looks to Nathan, not necessarily needing permission, but his eyes seem to be pleading for an answer anyhow.

“Oh, uh, okay?” Nathan says, confused by his sudden anxiousness. And they were doing so good, too! “Well I was actually thinking you could stay for dinner…” He trails off, watching as Sunny rushes through the kitchen door, his face looking paler than Abaddon's. 

“Knew it, told ya he was a demon.” Esther pats her chest, puffed with ego from another mystery solved.

“He probably just said it because you were in his face.” Ben says, not wanting her to repeat a past mistake. “Remember what happened with Jeremy?”

Esther scoffs at Ben, whacking the back of his head with her hand.“Jeremy was an accident, at least he was denying the werewolf thing!” She says, not wanting to reminisce about that blight in her supernatural career. “Sunny just straight up admitted it!”

The kids continue to argue, their squabbling sounds becoming drowned as Abaddon begins to use the blender. Katherine spends her time cleaning off the table, putting the medical kit to the side as she continues to work on dinner. She spies Nathan standing there out of the corner of her eye, looking forlornly at the kitchen door.

“Nathan, you okay?” She asks softly, walking up to him. He blinks at her, not realizing that he was spaced out.

“Yeah it's just…” He trails off, worried about their guest. He’s been scared since he arrived, but it seems to have gotten worse. “I don't think he was being truthful.”

“About being a demon? Or nothing being wrong?” She asks, not wanting to outright accuse the child. It’s believable that he’s a demon, but she won’t label him without concrete proof.

“Both.” Nathan says, and she nods in understanding. For some reason, he just always has to help people, he’s too sympathetic to everyone. He’s already adopted one demonic child, what’s one more?

“Well that can wait for tomorrow.” She tells him, hoping to give Sunny at least one day of reprieve. The poor thing looked absolutely tired. “Come sit while I make dinner.”

While Katherine worked on preparing ingredients, Esther prodded Abaddon while he fiddled with the blender.

“So, how's it feel not being the only demon anymore?” She giggles when he stops the blender, immediately snapping to look at her with a death stare.

“You dare compare me to that?” Abaddon snarls, scratching his unbandaged hand. “Do not worry, I don't care about a competition of the best. It's obvious I would win.” He reaches for the blender again, turning it on.

“Of course you're the best!” Esther says over the blender, turning it off quickly to finish her thoughts, much to Abaddon’s dismay. “I'm just surprised you're not trying to get him to take you home.”

“I… I doubt he would if he could, seeing as his guardians are the ones who brought him here.” Abaddon finds it surprising, as demons rarely ever seem to need their parents after a few decades of torturing. Sunny must be a very young demon then. It’s pointless to hope for his help in returning to Hell. “And even so, I enjoy… being… here.” 

Esther lets out a squeal of joy at his confession, pulling him into a tight hug.

“Aww Abaddon!” She cries into his shoulder, her grip not budging even as Abaddon struggles against her.

“Gah, get off me!” He says, pushing against her with his full force until she finally lets go. His hand aches with pain, and he holds it gently with his other one, despite the bandages. 

“Fine, fine.” Esther watches him with worry, taking his hand in hers with gentleness. “At least let me fix your other hand.” She tugs him towards the medical kit, squeezing his hand when she feels the slightest bit of resistance. 

Abaddon resigns to his fate, letting himself be sat on a chair while Esther roots through the kit, grabbing supplies.

“I don’t see why you need to do this, I’m immortal, remember?” He tells her, groaning when she pokes the palm of his hand, sending a sharp pain through his body.

“It’s called ‘caring’, you goof.” 

Nathan paces in front of room 223, not wanting to bother Sunny, but also wishing to talk to him. They had been bonding so well, but last night was just weird. It seemed like the moment Esther brought up demons, a switch had flipped.

Maybe he has some repressed trauma? From the way Abaddon talked, Hell wasn't exactly nice to live in, though Abaddon certainly missed it, considering how much he loved to tumble inside of the dryer since it “thrashes him”. Still, maybe Sunny had a different opinion. His parents did leave him here for a whole month.

Right, parents. Abaddon's mentioned a mother-in-law, but he positively despised her, so Nathan never pressed further about family. Even if they're demons, leaving your child alone in a hotel was a terrible move. 

Maybe Sunny just needs a better parental figure. And Nathan loves a good bonding experience.

“Sunny?” Nathan calls, feeling bad that he didn't have Kathy bring raisins with her. Hopefully the kid hasn't eaten them all yet. “Can we talk?”

There's a shuffle of some kinds of papers, and footsteps approach the door soon after. At least he's moving, and not crying on the bed like yesterday.

When the door opens, it's just a few inches, not swung wide like when he was excited over his snacks. He's regressed. 

“What is it, Mister Freeling?” An eye peeks through the small space, looking behind Nathan as though checking for more visitors. 

“I wanted to check on you. May I come in?” Nathan asks politely, wanting to set a happier tone for the both of them, before he brings up anything else that may set Sunny off. 

The door opens more, and Sunny gestures for him to come in quickly. But, when Nathan tries to take his first step through the doorway, a barrier blocks him, and he falls down on his ass with a thud.

When he looks for what stopped him, he spies a small line of salt spread where the door sits, and Sunny gasps as he realizes what he did.

“Oh! I'm so sorry!” Sunny apologizes, breaking the line with his fingers. “I forgot that ghosts cannot cross it.”

Nathan stares at him on the ground, confused by his nonchalance. “Wait, you know I'm a ghost?”

“You never deliver my raisins on your own, and you walked through my door yesterday.” Sunny explains, face flushing with heat like a tomato. “It wasn't for you.”

“Then who was it for?” Nathan asks, standing up as he brushes fake dust off his body. He takes a breath as he steps over the broken salt line, sighing in relief when it does nothing.

“Ah, well it's…” Sunny breaks off, stuttering as he looks to the ground. “It's for the demon.”

“Aren’t you a demon?” 

Sunny pauses for a moment, realizing the predicament he’s in. He sheepishly nods, rubbing the back of his neck in embarrassment.

“Yes, but it keeps me in, and him out.” Sunny justifies himself, and Nathan seems satisfied by his answer. Although it does raise a bit of suspicion, Nathan understands that demons just have their own rules to live by. He did take Abaddon in as his ward for a while after all.

“I see. I just wanted to check on your hand.” Nathan says, watching as Sunny immediately moves to unwrap his hand, presenting it with no hesitation. 

“It's doing better. “ He tells Nathan, smiling when he gives Sunny a shoulder pat. While the rash is still present, it’s not nearly as red as it first was. And thankfully, it seems to be receding slowly, no longer covering his wrist in blisters.

“Well I'm glad it’s healing! Hey, Katherine’s closing the hotel today to take the kids shopping, so it’ll just be me, you, and Abaddon. Wanna come watch some T.V. with me?” Nathan walks around the room, noting a distinct lack of visible use despite how many hours Sunny spends inside. His bag sits on the bed, the only real unique item among them. The poor kid needs to get out every once in a while.

“Ah, out there?” Sunny asks nervously, “With.. the demon lurking about?”

The way Sunny refers to Abaddon as ‘the’ demon is concerning, but then again, demons don't really seem to care about each other. When Mortoth came to wreak havoc, he threw Abaddon to the side like he was nothing. Still, he wishes they could get along, even if they couldn't touch physically.

“Ehh..” Nathan pauses, unsure if Abaddon would even take him up on the offer. “He's not really a fan of T.V. so I doubt he'll want to tag along. It can just be us.”

Sunny looks at the door frame, then turns to his bed. As comfy as it looked, Nathan's sure he'd get bored of being there all day.

“Fine.” The child says after a moment, grabbing his bag.

“Great!” Nathan replies, walking to the door. “Let's go to the lounge, we've got cable and a DVD player. Normally I like watching Con Air, but it's not exactly age-appropriate.”

“I'm an an–a uh demon, I'm over 200 years old.” Sunny retorts as he follows Nathan into the halls. 

“Okay, but you look like a child.” Nathan tells him as they make their way down the stairs. He stops for a moment in the lobby, turning towards Sunny. “Actually, I wanted to ask, what’s up with that?” 

Sunny’s face burns bright red, shamefully looking to the ground as he fiddles with his fingers. “Ah, it’s…” He stutters, stumbling over his words. “I didn’t pick this vessel. They said it would help me blend in better.” 

Nathan nods at the explanation, understanding how easy it is to get pressured into things. Although, it seems like possessing children is fairly common, seeing as Abaddon is in a similar predicament. The two walk through the hotel as Nathan tells Sunny about Abaddon’s own vessel problem, hoping it would at least make him feel better.

“I mean, sure you look young, but at least people treat kids better!” Nathan says, remembering how many things Abaddon was able to get away with in the beginning. For every complaint he got he’d just tell them that Abaddon was newly adopted, and he was having trouble adjusting.  It didn’t last very long, and eventually he became known as ‘The Creepy Hotel Owner with The Weird Kid’. Pretty long nickname, but it’s got a ring to it!

“Yes, I suppose children are seen as innocent by default.” Sunny agrees, although he sighs afterward, still annoyed by his short stature. “I just wish I had more of a choice in this.”

Finally, they’ve reached the door to the lounge, continuing their conversation as Sunny makes his way into the room first, leaving the door open for Nathan despite his ghostly state. 

“Parents do that, y’know?” Nathan mutters, loud enough for Sunny to hear but it drips with unresolved feelings, coated in a low growl. “Ugh, always making decisions for you.” 

Sunny can sense the venom in Nathan’s words, but as quick as it comes, he’s fast at wiping the scowl off his face and replacing it with a cheerful smile. He waves Sunny over to the T.V, pointing to the remote sitting on a nearby table.

“Okay kiddo, let’s see if you can learn better than Abaddon.” Nathan says as Sunny makes his way to the table. “That’s the remote, it’s how you control the T.V.” 

Sunny picks the device up in his hands, surprised at how light it is. There’s a massive amount of buttons on it, and he immediately becomes overwhelmed. Too many choices, and he has no clue what he’s doing. Nathan senses his apprehension, and kneels in front of him, hand poking through the remote as he points at a red button on the very top of the remote.

“See this button?” Sunny nods, looking closely at the button. It’s bigger than the others, and it has a symbol on it, something he puts to the back of his mind to remember next time. “Okay, you’re going to aim the remote at the T.V. and then press that.” 

Aim? Sunny looks at the device in his hands, turning it as he figures out how to ‘aim’ with it. After a moment, he settles with pointing his hand in the general direction of the ‘T.V’. When he presses the button, nothing happens on the screen, although a protrusion on the bottom of the remote lights up. Nathan snickers at him, and he looks back, wondering what he did wrong. Technology was confusing!

“You're holding it backwards, bud.” Nathan tells him, and Sunny looks at the remote in his hand. He turns it around, now aiming the light towards the T.V. as he presses the red button again. Like magic, the screen flashes, a loud buzzing noise emanating from the box. “Nice work!” Nathan praises him, making him smile at himself for doing so well. It's nice to know he can do something.

Sunny watches as the television comes to life, the tiny people on the screen moving about as audio fills the room. It’s magical to him, the way humans were able to place themselves into these machines. 

“Now what?” He asks Nathan, eyes glued to the T.V. He has no clue what’s going on, but the two characters on the screen seem to be having a verbal argument of some kind.

Nathan hums and haws as he paces the room, sticking his head through a cabinet or two before he shouts in excitement. 

“Oh! In here, Sunny!” He waves the child over, pointing to a particular cabinet. “These are DVDs.”

Sunny opens the cabinet wide, staring as he is met with many rectangles, each with a different picture on the front. He grabs one at random, pulling it out and staring at the pictures on the cover. Ah, he forgot he can’t read human language.

“What’s this say?” He asks. Nathan peers at the disc for only a second before his eyes glow.

“Hey, that’s Con Air! It’s the best movie. Bit violent though, not sure you’d like it.”

Sunny looks at the cover again, deliberating the choice. He personally doesn’t like the sound of it, but he has to maintain appearances after all. 

“What’s it about?” 

“Well, the main character is a convict serving time after he accidentally killed someone. He missed the birth of his daughter, but the day of his release happens to be her 8th birthday. He declined visits since he didn’t want her to see him in jail.” Nathan explains, pointing at the face on the front cover. Sunny’s heart aches hearing that this poor man spent 8 long years not once getting to see his daughter face-to-face. “Problem is, they’re having him fly with a bunch of other convicts before his release. Let’s just say, it doesn’t go well.” 

The idea of a bunch of convicts being the main plot scares Sunny a bit, especially with Nathan’s earlier warning about violence. But then again, his interest has been caught by the familial struggles within the main character’s life.

“Does he get to see his daughter?” Sunny asks, curious about the fate of the poor father.

“Wanna find out?” Nathan poses, gesturing to the T.V. “We can put it on, and if you don’t like it we’ll just find something else.” 

Sunny looks from the DVD to the T.V. and back, contemplating how much he wanted to know the ending. He supposes a little violence wouldn’t hurt.

“Okay, let’s do it!” 

Nathan walks him through the steps of setting up the DVD, including changing the input on the T.V. as well as inserting the disc. It takes a few minutes, some very confusing instructions, but finally, the screen pops up an exact image of the cover. Sunny is told to push a few more buttons, and then it fades to black. Narration plays, clips of soldiers flash through the screen, and Nathan tells Sunny to grab a chair from nearby, sitting down on his own.

“Army Rangers have a proud history. Since the 1700s, Rangers have led the way…”

Sunny enthusiastically watches the television, eyes glued to the screen as he learns the story of this Cameron Poe character. It’s a tragic tale, seeing this man have to learn about his daughter all from the inside of a prison cell. Through all their letters, Sunny finds himself enamoured with this fictional story. 

Just as the plane starts taking off, the prisoners begin to enact their plan to take over, and Sunny’s eyes widen. He’s scared, knowing that soon Nathan’s little warning will come true. And boy, was he right about the violence. Fire, bloodshed, and absolute chaos aboard the plane, but all Sunny can do is watch. Watch through the panicked screams, through the snoring.

Wait, what?

He turns his head, realizing the sounds aren’t all coming through the screen. While Nathan is sitting comfortable in his chair beside Sunny, his eyes aren’t paying attention like the child is. They’re closed, a relaxed look on his face, and a hushed snoring pouring from his mouth. Sunny’s surprised he could sleep through such a movie, but then again, he’s mentioned having seen this countless times. Perhaps he’s simply grown accustomed to the violent fighting, the blood spraying, the awful language.

And yet, despite Nathan’s sleepiness, Sunny refuses to take his eyes off the screen much longer. He continues to watch as the prisoners plan their ruse, praying silently that Poe is able to leave the plane quietly. All the man wants is to see his daughter!

His heart races when the plane just barely escapes, hating that the police were too late to notice they’d been bamboozled. He mutters angrily when the policemen argue, wanting to yell at them to get their heads together and fix this! 

Sunny is so obsessed with this movie, less than an hour in, that he doesn’t even hear the door to the lounge open. Footsteps approach him and Nathan’s sleeping figure, and he is none the wiser until a voice speaks up from beside him.

“Con Air again?” 

Sunny turns his head in surprise, eyes widening as he recognizes the voice of Abaddon.

“Ah…um, yes, it’s Mister Freeling's favorite movie.” He mumbles, fidgeting in his chair. 

“I know.” Abaddon says monotonously, looking toward the ghost with a small glint of sadness in his eyes. “He always falls asleep.” 

So this isn’t unusual for him? It’s quite adorable. 

“Why are you here?” Sunny asks, nervous when Abaddon moves around to stand in front of him, just an inch away from blocking the T.V.

“I think the better question is: why are you here?” Abaddon throws his question in his face, a tiny smirk across his lips.

Sunny sputters, confused by the demon boy. “Mister Freeling asked me to watch T.V. with him.” He tells Abaddon, as though it weren’t obvious.

Abaddon scoffs at his response, rolling his eyes. “I meant: why are you here, in the hotel? Demons come to Earth to spread chaos. You’ve done nothing but hide in your room.”

Sunny looks at his hands, clutching his bag as he realizes Abaddon’s come too close to the truth. He knew demons were smart, but he didn’t expect this boy to read him so quickly. He needs to find an excuse, he needs to wake up Nathan, something!

Abaddon senses his nervousness, smiling when Sunny’s silence answers everything he needs. He steps forward, now blocking the television as he leans in close, just barely away from touching noses.

“You’re not a demon, are you?”

Chapter Text

“I-uh…” Sunny cowers into his seat, turning away as he stares at Nathan, wishing he’d wake up and help him already. But before he can reach out for the man, hands grab at his shirt collar, pulling him closer to Abaddon’s face. Spit flies out of the demon boy's mouth as he growls in Sunny’s face.

“Tell me, what are you?!” 

“I can’t tell you!” Sunny cries, fearful of what Abaddon might do to him. But it might be worse if he were to find out the truth.

“Why not?” 

Thankfully, Nathan picked the perfect time to open his eyes, Abaddon quickly letting go of Sunny to put his hands behind his back. It seems the ghost is none the wiser, simply tilting his head in a confused manner.

“Abaddon?” He asks, blinking to double check he wasn’t still asleep. “Bud, what’re ya doing? I thought you didn’t like T.V.”

Abaddon glares at Nathan, rolling his eyes before stepping back from Sunny. Clearly he wasn’t there to watch T.V, but it was a better explanation than the truth.

“Forget it.” Abaddon says, walking to the door. “I’m going to go hunt squirrels now.” He slams it shut behind him, making Nathan raise an eyebrow in suspicion. The demon boy was always moody, but something seemed odd about his behavior just then. When Nathan turns to Sunny, worried about another infection sprouting, he finds the boy shaking like a leaf.

“Sunny? What did he say to you?" 

Sunny’s lip quivers, staring past Nathan at the door. He mumbles an answer, but it’s too quiet for Nathan to hear, so he asks the child to repeat it.

“I…” Sunny stutters, standing up from his chair as he turns away from Nathan in shame. “I can’t tell you.”

“Why not?” Nathan asks, passing through the chair to step in front of Sunny. “Come one, you can trust me, kiddo. I thought we were bonding!”

“It’s… it’s…” Sunny throws a hand over his mouth, hunching over as a wave of sickness washes over him. Nathan kneels down cautiously, worried for the poor kid as he tries to offer a reassuring pat on the back. The only response he gets is a weak “Oh dear…” before Sunny vomits, spraying a thick layer of disgusting liquid all over the lounge floor. 

Nathan silently thanks his luck that he’s a ghost, or else half of the puke would’ve ended up on his clothes, but it still disgusts him knowing just how close he was to being caked in a layer of vomit. 

“Oh shit!” Nathan exclaims, stepping back from the puddle as he looks around the room. When he realizes there isn’t much he can do without a corporeal body, he moves to comfort Sunny, who’s still gasping for air after evacuating his stomach. “Okay, hey, it’s okay!” He says soothingly, running towards the lounge door in hopes for reinforcements. “I’ll get Abaddon, and we can clean this up!”

Sunny retches more at the mention of Abaddon, screaming a pathetic “No!” as he reaches out to stop Nathan. The ghost stops in his tracks, turning around in shock. He’s never heard Sunny yell before, so it was certainly jarring. 

“Um, okay? Did… did he say something bad?” Nathan asks, making a mental note to bring it up to Abaddon later. “Come on, demons are just like that, right? You’re basically siblings or something, siblings are mean to each other.”

Sunny spits on the floor, his breathing returning to a normal pace as he wipes his mouth on his sleeve. He finds just enough strength to crawl across the floor, leaning against a wall as he takes a deep breath.

“Mister Freeling… I’m not a demon.”

“You aren’t?”

“No.” The boy shakes his head, tucking his legs against his body as he avoids making eye contact. “I’m… an angel.”

Nathan's eyes widen at the confession, stepping over the vomit on the floor as he slides down the wall, sitting beside Sunny in an effort to comfort him. 

“Like from Heaven? That’s… definitely interesting, guess I never thought about angels existing alongside demons. Look, no matter what you are, I don't care. I just wish you told me sooner.” Nathan tells him, hurt only by the fact that he wasn’t clued in immediately. He wasn’t exactly expecting Sunny to be an angel, but it definitely makes more sense than being a demon. 

“It’s not exactly supposed to be common knowledge.” Sunny responds, sniffling as he tries to get his breathing under control. “All of this was meant to be kept secret.”

“‘All of this’, what? You being an angel, or your family leaving you here?” Nathan asks, now confused about Sunny's meaning. Did he have more than one secret? “What's up with that by the way? Did you guys not know about Abaddon?”

Sunny raises his head, shaking it in response. “We knew of him. That's why I'm here.” His eyes meet Nathan’s, a sadness shining deep within. “They left me with him on purpose.”

Nathan gasps in shock, appalled by his newfound knowledge. “Thats insane that your parents would leave you in danger!”

“Siblings.” Sunny corrects him, flinching at the word. “They're my elder siblings.”

“God, that's even worse!” Nathan shouts, face palming himself in utter disbelief. “Siblings are assholes, sure, but I'd never leave Kathy with a demon! Well, a demon other than Abaddon.”

‘It's my fault, really.” Sunny looks down, clenching his fist tight. “I’ve made mistakes – too many to justify my use. This was my last chance to prove myself, either I slay the demon living here, or I die trying.”

“Still, it’s awful that they just left you alone over a few mistakes.” 

Sunny nods at that, silently agreeing with Nathan. “Well, that's how it is in Heaven.” He says, looking at his hands. “Angels are born with a purpose, and if one is defective, there is no point in keeping them around. I have to prove my worth.”

Nathan gives a reassuring pat on Sunny’s back, wishing he could comfort the boy with more than a non-physical spectral touch. He sympathizes with the angel, knowing what it’s like to be known as the ‘mistake’. He’d spent years trying to make a name for himself, but in the end, it was pointless. Everybody in his family was right. 

But that doesn’t mean Sunny’s the same as him.

“So what if you’re ‘defective’? Why does that mean they can dispose of you like this?” Nathan says, standing up from the floor. He paces the room, angered by how awful these so-called angels truly are. “I mean, did they even give you a way to fight Abaddon? Which, by the way, please don’t do that.”

Sunny nods his head, hands clutching at his bag. He fiddles with it for a moment, before he pulls out a book, presenting it to Nathan. The cover is blank, save for two words written on it in some foreign language. 

“A book?”

“A spellbook.” Sunny corrects him. “It’s all they allowed me to have on my person. They told me it was all I’d need.”

Nathan watches as Sunny stands up, walking towards a table nearby. He places the book on the surface, opening it and flicking through various pages. Nathan tries to make sense of the gibberish before him, but the only stuff he can understand comes from the few drawings he spies throughout the papers.

“You’re gonna kill a demon with spells? Is that even possible?” He asks, confused by the power levels of it all. From his previous encounter with that exorcist, he’s well aware of the rock-paper-scissors dynamic between humans, ghosts, and demons. But now to throw an angel into the mix? It’s just complete nonsense!

Sunny shrugs at him, unsure of the answer himself. Then, he looks down at himself, eyes blinking as he observes the state of his body. 

“This vessel is much too weak for any powerful spells. Humans just don’t have the energy reserves, but I’m bound to this body nonetheless.”

Sunny continues to flip through spells, eyes scanning the pages as he mutters under his breath. He's talking too fast and too low for Nathan to hear, but the way Sunny grimaces at each spell says all he needs to know.

“Soo, that's a no. They gave you spells that you can't even use? Sounds like you were set up to fail from the start. Man, angels are kind of jerks.” Nathan notes, chuckling when he realizes how ironic that was. But also a bit rude. “Err, sorry.” 

“Don't be. I do not like my brethren either.”

Nathan sighs when he hears that, knowing that Sunny's troubles are much more than a typical sibling rivalry. Sure he's fought plenty with Katherine, but if he weren't a ghost, he'd probably kick Castor and Ralph's asses the moment they walk into the hotel.

“Well, who cares if you're an angel!” Nathan says cheerfully, trying to lighten the mood a bit. “You're still an honored guest here. But, you definitely can't kill Abaddon.”

Sunny slams the book shut, face wrinkled with stress. “Then what am I supposed to do?” He asks, sighing when Nathan scratches at his chin, not sure of another solution himself.

“They'll still take you back right?” Nathan asks after a moment. “Its not like they would just abandon you, right?”

Sunny ponders that for a moment, and as the seconds fly by, Nathan worries that he's about to receive a “Yes” in response. 

“They'll probably send me to the pools of life, to return my essence and begin anew.” Sunny finally answers, leaving Nathan even more confused. The angel seems to notice this, and adds on, “It's the standard procedure for disposal of a defect.”

Oh, that did not sound good.

“‘Disposal’? As in they'll kill you?” Nathan clarifies, terror in his eyes as he stares at Sunny. The child looks away from his horrified face, fingers tracing idly on his spellbook.

“Precisely.” 

The two share a moment of silence, Sunny's face heated with embarrassment and shame from the truth, and Nathan's locked in a state of pure shock. Neither had ever dreamed of being in such a situation. Yet here they were, stuck trying to find a solution to what sounds like an impossible problem.

“Okay, new plan: we fake Abaddon's death.” Nathan declares, staring at the book still laying on the table. “Maybe we could combine some of your spells with his? He's got a few he's tried to use on me before. Ooh, I bet Esther would know what to do!”

Sunny panics at the mention of Esther, frantically raising his hands at Nathan to quiet him down.

“No!” He shouts, gasping and covering his face when he realizes it was a bit loud. He speaks a little softer, “No one else can know of my lineage. Not Abaddon, not Esther.”

“Aw, come on, Sunny! Abaddon's not gonna hurt you, he's really nice when you get to know him. And I bet Esther would make a great assistant.”

Sunny still shakes his head at Nathan, grabbing his book as he holds it close to his chest. He’s clearly protective of it, which reminds Nathan of how much Abaddon treasures his precious bones. Guess angels and demons aren’t so different after all.

“What about my sister?” Nathan asks, not sure if he'd be able to keep this kind of secret from her. He’s got a penchant for lying, sure, but this is a bit much for him to keep quiet about.

“Especially not her.” Sunny stresses, “She'll have the most contact with my siblings when they return, I don't want her getting caught up in this should they suspect anything.”

Nathan’s shoulders droop in disappointment, but he nods at Sunny, understanding his hesitation. At the very least, he’s happy to protect his sister.

“Okay fine, we'll figure it out on our own.” Nathan moves to the exit, only to be stopped by the semi-dry puddle of vomit on the floor. “Need to clean this mess up first, though.”

“I'm sure I have a spell for that.” Sunny says, immediately opening his book and flipping through the pages. 

“Didn't you say it left you drained?” 

Sunny pauses, blinking at the book in deliberation. “Yes,” he answers, but he continues to read through the book. “Still, I must practice. I need to get stronger.” 

Nathan sighs at his determination, but there isn't much he can do anyways. It's best to be as encouraging as possible, simply because Sunny deserves someone on his side.

“Besides,” the angel says, giving a quick smile as he looks up to Nathan. “A spell like that is common enough that I should be fine with one use.” 

Nathan watches as Sunny recites words from the book. Latin, he presumes, given how similar it sounded to Abaddon's own spells. Sunny's hair rustles from an imaginary wind, his eyes shining gold as he speaks. He raises his hand towards the puke stains, a spark of light emanating from his fingertips.

As soon as he finishes his incantation, in just the blink of an eye, the beam of light crashes upon the floor, swallowing up any evidence of a biohazard. Nathan's jaw drops, and he can't help but flick his head back and forth, from Sunny to the now-spotless floor.

“Holy shit! Okay, won't lie, that was pretty cool.” He says, giving Sunny a well-earned pat on the back. “Well done, bud!”

Even though he's non-corporeal, he still expected Sunny to at least react to his praise. And yet, the child stands there, eyes still resting on the spot where vomit once lay.

“Uh, Earth to Sunny? Hey kiddo, you good?” Nathan asks, crouching down to meet the angel's eyes. They're almost glazed over, unmoving and unblinking. When he waves his hand in front of Sunny's face, his eyes slowly flick to Nathan's, his head bobbing as he tries to hold himself up.

“I…” Sunny mutters, dropping his book to the floor as he follows suit, landing on his knees. His head looks up to Nathan, eyes unfocused as he tries to find his voice.

“I may have overestimated my strength.” Without another word, Sunny collapses entirely, head thumping against the hardwood floor of the lounge. Nathan cringes as he silently prays for no brain damage to the poor child, forgetting that his immortality would take care of any injuries.

“Well I guess we'll just pick this up later.” Nathan says to no one, laughing when Sunny snores in response. He'd love to bring the kid a blanket, but he can't exactly do that now can he?

Instead, he opts to move to the lobby, waiting for the rest of the family to return home from their shopping. He worries for a minute about leaving Sunny alone, but given that the only other living inhabitant of the hotel at the time was Abaddon, he figured the angel would be fine. Abaddon tends to leave for days on end, especially when he's hunting for squirrels. He really likes their bones, something about being ‘small and easily breakable’.

Nathan spends a few minutes pacing back and forth, muttering under his breath about any good ideas on how to save Sunny from his siblings. Faking Abaddon's death is definitely a good goal, but it's a bit hard to plan anything if he can't confide in his family members. 

He could lie to Esther, asking her for some tips about faking someone else's death, but she's gotten pretty good at reading him when he lies. And as easy as it is to fool Ben, the teen just doesn't have much expertise in this area of supernatural occurrences. Katherine definitely wouldn't be super helpful, which just leaves Abaddon. 

The demon's pretty gullible in all honesty, so fooling him wouldn't be too hard. But it also means getting him to work together with Sunny, which while not impossible, sounds a bit more high-effort. Still, it's not like he has many good options. 

Actually, maybe he should just give Esther a chance. As long as she doesn't know Sunny's an angel, what's the worst she could do?

Chapter Text

Nathan spends his time waiting in the front lobby, talking to no one in particular while he waits for his family to return. 30 minutes goes by, then an hour, until finally, the front door opens and he cheerfully spins on his heels to greet them. 

“Hey, there's my family!” Nathan says, waving as Katherine enters first, plastic bags hanging from her arms in multiples. She groans in relief when she sits the bags on the floor, rubbing her arms from where the plastic dug into her skin. 

“What, were you waiting for us?” She says sarcastically, holding the door open wider as Ben and Esther both pass through, each with their own set of bags. Ben has quite a few of his own, and delicates placing them on the ground, while Esther only carries about 2 bags, both barely filled. She carelessly tosses them to the side, not bothered when they crash against a wall.

“Of course he was!” Esther exclaims, excitedly running up to her uncle. “Uncle Nathan enjoys our antics.”

Nathan laughs at her enthusiasm, nodding passionately as he gives her a pretend pat on the head.

“You know what, speaking of antics – Esther, do you happen to have an extra spellbook lying around?” 

Esther stares at him for a moment, stroking her chin as she tries to read his face. Curiosity, or does she suspect anything? Luckily for him, she shrugs quickly, reaching into her overcoat to pull an ironically large book from one of its pockets.

“Depends.” She tells Nathan, smiling when his shoulders droop. There’s always a catch with this girl. “Who’s asking, and how much cash are we talking?”

Ah, yep, just as he expected. If she were a demon, she’d certainly be the greediest one of them all. Fortunately she’s just a human, much easier to persuade with a deal.

“Sunny, and we don’t really have cash so…” Nathan breaks off, thinking of anything useful he or Sunny could provide her. He doesn’t exactly have many secrets – that he knows of anyways, so his only option is the usual ghost currency. “How about a five minute dance?”

“Two dances.” She counters his offer, eyes lighting up as she sees his will bend easily, unable to do nothing but beg for mercy. Two dances isn’t the worst price, but Sunny definitely needs to make it up to him later. He’ll have to brainstorm on his reward for helping later.

“You drive a hard bargain, but okay!” Nathan tells Esther, reaching out a hand for a friendly shake. She takes his hand and vigorously shakes up and down, chuckling when they pass through each other. 

“Cool, I can bring it to him now, where is he?” 

Crap. He should’ve thought about that first. 

“Oh, he’s sleeping right now. It can wait ‘till tomorrow.” Nathan says, waving her off with a nervous laugh. But she doesn’t walk away, and he worries she senses his avoidance. 

“In his room? I’ll drop it off with the raisins mom bought. Gonna cost you an extra dance, though.” Esther snickers when Nathan looks towards the grocery bags, weighing his options. Unfortunately, her bargain doesn’t work if the recipient isn’t home.

“Ah don’t worry about it,” Nathan tells her, shaking his head. “He’s sleeping in the lounge.” He doesn’t say anything about sleeping on the floor though, if only to save Sunny future embarrassment. 

Kathy raises her head, confused by the idea of Sunny being asleep. “I thought demons didn’t need to sleep.”

“Yeah they don’t need to, but evidently Con Air was too boring for him.” Nathan hates himself for those words even coming out of his mouth, but it’s the only excuse he could throw at them without sounding suspicious. Abaddon never bothered to watch it with him, but he suspects the amount of violence and bloodshed was nowhere near what a demon would prefer.

“Yeah that checks out. You always rack up the electric bill with that movie, yet I don’t think you’ve finished it even once before you fall asleep.” Kathy says, laughing when he flinches in mock pain, grabbing his chest as he gasps from the callout. She grabs a large box from one of the grocery bags, placing it on the front desk counter. “Well, tell him I have more raisins, I bought a bigger pack this time. Maybe this’ll last him more than a few days.”

Nathan steps closer to examine the packaging, noting that it was an entire 50 pack, perfect for feeding the angel for days on end. Hopefully it wasn’t too expensive.

“Aw, you’re the best Kathy! I’m sure he’ll be grateful.”

“You owe me, though.” Kathy tells him, before turning to Esther. “Esther, go take the book to the lounge, then come help with the groceries. He can get his raisins later.”

Esther groans, rolling her eyes at the request. “But why can’t Ben help with groceries?” 

Said teen had been standing in the lobby, scrolling through his phone. He looked up at the mention of his name, not paying any attention. “Huh?”

“Because he’s cooking dinner tonight. That’s his chore.” 

Esther scoffs at her mother's justification. She collects supernatural objects, the least he can do is help unload groceries!

“Since when was cooking a chore?” 

Katherine grabs a few plastic bags in her hands, grunting as she carries them towards the kitchen door.

“Cooking is always a chore.” She says, backing into the door as she disappears into the kitchen.

“Fine, fine.” Esther says out loud, not bothering to raise her voice for her mother to hear. She turns her head, looking at Nathan. “Let’s go Uncle Nathan!”

“Alright, but maybe we can be quiet?” He tells her, worried about interrupting Sunny's… recharging? Nap? Whatever it's called! “I wanna let him sleep.”

“He’s a demon, it doesn’t matter.” Esther shoots back, enthusiastically stepping down the hall towards the lounge.

“Still.” Nathan warns. He may be a ghost but he is the adult around here. One of many, but still an adult, albeit a ghost.

“You’re up to 4 dances now.” Esther raises her hand, wiggling 4 fingers in Nathan's face.

“Dangit!” He clenches his fist, realizing how much of a bill he's racked up. Maybe Sunny can help pay him back for all this.

Esther is the first to stop in front of the lounge door, quietly sneaking up to it and grasping the doorknob. She turns it slowly, gently pushing the door open as she peeks in. A soft snore echoes through the room, and she spies the small body of Sunny nearby on the floor.

Nathan leans over when Esther snickers, peering over her head to capture the sight for himself. He can't help but smile, happy to know Sunny was still snoozing away. Drool pooled by his mouth, and one of his hands laid on top of his spellbook, fingers twitching every few seconds.

The two make their way into the room quietly, with Esther setting her spellbook down nearby. 

“I didn't know demons could sleep without having nightmares.” Esther observes, eyes watching Sunny for any sign of negative reactions, but she receives nothing more than a twitch here and a snore there. “Guess Abaddon's the outlier.”

“Maybe he just needs to tire himself out more.” Nathan says, reaching to brush a stray hair across Sunny’s face, forgetting he can’t exactly do that anymore. When his hand reaches through Sunny’s head, Esther is quick to help him out. He thanks her, smiling when Sunny lets out a louder snore. “Sunny fell asleep after casting one spell, he said humans don’t have a lot of energy for that stuff.”

Esther scoffs at Sunny’s weakness, waving at him in dismissal. “That’s why you’re supposed to make offerings. Or deals.” She lectures, eyes glancing over the book Sunny has his hand on. “Easier to promise your firstborn child than to build up a tolerance to magic.”

“What?”

“Ehh, don’t worry about it.” Esther says nonchalantly, giving a quick look to her uncle only to take in the confusion on his face. It’s amusing, but she has more important matters now. “This his book? Do you think he’s got any cool spells?” She reaches out, a single finger mere inches away from the book cover.

“Oh, I probably wouldn’t touch that. He’s… protective of his stuff.” Nathan skirts around the question, not sure how to word anything without giving away Sunny’s secret. It’s a little hard to lie about demon stuff, especially since she seems to know more than him.

“Relax, I’m just looking!”

But that’s the exact opposite of what she’s doing, given how close she is to touching the book. Her hand carefully navigates around Sunny’s, fingers gently grasping at a corner of the book. Nathan gives her a nasty stare, but she doesn’t back down, slowly pulling the book out from under Sunny’s hand. It takes a few long seconds, but eventually she manages to retrieve it from Sunny’s grasp.

As soon as Sunny’s hand hits the floor, no longer supported by his book, his eyes dart open and he sits up in an instant. It takes him a moment to blink away the sleep, eyes darting from Nathan to Esther, taking in the sights before him. When he notices Esther holding onto his book, he makes a strained gasp and reaches out for it.

“Young Miss Esther, I believe that is mine.” Sunny says, grunting when Esther holds it out of reach, tucking the book behind her as she watches him struggle, limbs still limp from sleeping.

“Aw come one, lemme see just one spell!” She says, scurrying across the room as Sunny strains to get up from the floor. “If you need a book, just borrow mine for a bit. Uncle Nathan said you were looking for another.”Sunny follows her hand as she points to the table, where her book still sits, waiting for its latest user.

“As much as I would like that, you really should put mine down.” He shakes his head at her, marching toward her with vigor. The two run around the lounge, Esther laughing as Sunny chases after her. After a few minutes of tiring exercise, Esther manages to climb on top of the table, kicking at Sunny as he attempts to follow.

“Hmm, let’s see…” She says, opening the book despite Sunny’s pleas to step. “Cleansing, Lighting, ugh so boring. Oooh here we go! Flight!”

“Miss Esther, please!” Sunny shouts, hands flailing as he tries to hoist himself up onto the table. This vessel is clearly not very physically fit, and he fails miserably despite his desperation. 

“Pater vitae–” Esther begins to chant the spell, but is cut off when Sunny finally succeeds in jumping up onto the table, having used a nearby chair as support. He rips the book out of her hands, holding it tightly against his chest as she protests. “Hey, that’s not fair!”

Sunny glares at her, caressing the book like it’s a fragile thing. “I told you to give it back.”

“Geez, don’t get your panties in a twist. Demons are really possessive, huh?” Esther mocks him, laughing when his jaw drops at her attempts to be humorous. “And here I thought I was being nice by offering my own book.” 

Sunny looks down when she mentions her good deed, realizing how rude he had been towards the young child. “I… I apologize for my actions, Miss Esther. I just, err, don’t want you to get hurt. From all these dangerous spells.” 

“Eh, I get it. Demon stuff.” Esther tells him, clearly not actually mad at his lack of manners. 

“Right. Demon stuff.” 

There’s a moment of silence between them, Sunny shifting uncomfortably as he tries to think of something to say. Conversing was never his strong suit.

“So, what did you want my book for? Uncle Nathan said you needed it for something.” 

Sunny looks at Nathan, who shrugs in response. It seems he needs to come up with an excuse on his own, then. Something plausible, but not outright giving up his plan.

“Ah, yes. I was looking for a specific spell… I need to copy someone.” It sounds vague enough, but the way Esther tilts her head makes him add on a little bot. “Their body, more specifically.” 

“Do they have to be alive?”

Ah, that's… hmm, that's actually a fair point. 

“Oh, good question.” Sunny mulls it over for a few beats, ignoring the way Nathan gives him a pointed cough. “No?” He decides, giving it a question mark at the end because it wouldn't hurt his plans. It'd actually make things easier.

“Okay, fake corpse.” Esther says cheerfully, “That’s easy, here let me see.”

She grabs the book from the table, flipping through pages as she mumbles spell names. 

“Here, this should be the page.” She remarks, tearing a page out of the book with ease. Sunny winces at the act, thinking of how wasteful it was, but it is her book. “Some of the ingredients I could sell you if needed. But the Mothman fur’s gonna be hard. Even Abaddon has trouble with that thing.”

Sunny takes the time to read through the list of ingredients. It's… a bit more advanced than he would've thought, but that only makes it better in terms of plans. The more items, the less magical power he needs, and the easier it is to fool his siblings without passing out from exhaustion.

“That… that’s quite a lot of carcasses.” Sunny notes, grimacing at the high numbers besides some of the ingredients. “And bones.”

“Gotta make the body with something.” 

She's not wrong, but it doesn't make him any less apprehensive about this.

“Thank you, Esther. I will–” Sunny breaks off, unsure of whether he can fully commit to the fake-Abaddon-dying thing. “--think about this.”

He stashes the paper in the front of his book, clutching it tightly as he tucks it away in his bag. Esther flashes a smug grin, clearly enjoying pushing his buttons about the book. 

She leans in close, breath tickling his ear. “Can I ask what you need a corpse for?” 

Sunny yelps, shuffling away from the girl as he stutters out an explanation. “It's... a demon, um, ritual. My book’s page was ripped.”

Esther hums, not entirely buying the excuse, but unable to figure out an ulterior motive. So instead, she prods further.

“What kind of ritual?”

“It’s…hard to say?” Sunny mumbles out, eyes locking with Nathan's as he begs the older man for a way out. Luckily, he seems to have satisfied Esther's curiosity, and she backs away with a satisfied look.

“Hmm, alright. Hey, if you need help with Mothman, Abaddon and I can help you. I’m sure the 3 of us could take it down.” She puffs out her chest with pride, enthusiastic about this proposal. And while Sunny is nervous about the idea of taking on a creature like this “Mothman”, he certainly could use the extra help. Even if it means working with a demon.

“Thank you, Miss Esther.” He doesn’t tell her of his nervousness regarding this prospective fight, but he’s sure she notices the way he shakes in his shoes. 

“Do you do these rituals a lot? Like, is that what you did in Hell? Abbadon said something about being a doorman, so I was wondering what your job was.” 

Esther’s curiosity seemed genuine, but no matter how much her eyes lit up, Sunny couldn’t hide the way a chill ran through his body. Jobs weren’t a thing in Heaven, and he doubts that’s what they were called in Hell. No, he had a purpose. A purpose that he couldn’t fulfill. 

It’s that exact purpose that led him to be trapped in this hotel with a demon.

“M-my purpose?” Sunny stutters, clasping his hands together tightly as he picks at his nails. He couldn’t lie about such an important thing. But the words were bitter as they left his mouth, leaving behind a stinging sensation. “Ah, well. I… prepared feasts. For my siblings.” He declined to add more, hoping it was enough to satisfy Esther’s curious little brain. 

Just thinking about it made his stomach churn, his purpose was nothing but painful work. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t cook a single dish worthy of eating. The few siblings who dared to try his cuisine would end up spitting it out immediately, labeling it a ‘hazard’, the word ringing in his ears no matter how much he tried to shut it out.

“I was terrible at it, though.” He mumbles under his breath, low enough he didn’t think Nathan or Esther would hear. 

Esther hummed, interest piqued at the word “feast”. “So you’re a chef? That’s so cool, I’ve always wanted to try demon cuisine. Abaddon says you don’t need to eat, but it’s still part of your culture.” Sunny nods, not entirely sure it’s true, but it’d make sense nonetheless. Angels treat food the same way, it's more than just a feast or ritual, it brings them together as one. “I wonder why.”

Although she’s not truly asking a question, Sunny feels the need to answer her anyway, hoping he isn’t too far from how demons view it. 

“To bring us closer. Good food feeds more than the body, it feeds the soul.” 

His hopes aren’t unanswered, because Esther’s eyes glisten, and she places a hand on his shoulder. “Poetry, man. Didn’t know demons were such saps.” She snickers through the last part, making fun of how elegant Sunny was just then. “No wonder Abaddon loves Fruit Loops so much.”

“Fruit loops?” Sunny asks, confused by the two words put together. Fruit was a common delicacy in Heaven, but he’s never heard of a ‘looped’ fruit. 

“Oh man, Fruit Loops are so good!” Nathan cuts in first, his eyes lighting up brightly. “Can’t eat 'em now, but it’s still nice to pretend.” 

Sunny cocks his head, interested now in this food item. “What is this fruit loop?” 

“Fruit loops is a cereal, umm, it’s like sugary grains? They’re fruit flavored, and they’re shaped like loops.” Esther explains, “It’s for breakfast in the morning.”

“Ah,” Sunny makes a noise of acknowledgement, trying to imagine the idea in his head. Sugary grains sounded interesting, but he was unsure of how fruit-flavored grains would be. “Are these Fruit Loops popular?”

“Definitely.” Esther says, “Mom makes us eat cheerios most days, but it’s nice when we get Fruit Loops. You should ask for some.” She adds on, hoping he’d say yes only so that she could reap the benefits.

“Yeah, Sunny, come to breakfast tomorrow!” Nathan tells him, eagerly waving his hands like a child.

“Err, really?” Sunny looks at his hands, fiddling with his fingers as he contemplates the suggestion. “Eat with… you… in the morning?”

“Come on, it’ll be fun.” Esther tells him, punching his arm lightly. Although, it still stung just a tiny bit 

“....Okay.” He says after a moment, happy when the two others both flash him a grin.

“Sweet, Fruit Loops for breakfast!” Esther pumps her fist in the air, Nathan nodding in excitement with her. “Oh yeah, Mom bought you more raisins, you can take ‘em upstairs. They're in the lobby.”

“Ah, Thank you, Miss Esther.”

Esther gives him a toothy grin, waving goodbye before she exits the room. She may not have gotten to use his book much, but at least she got breakfast out of it. Maybe he's useful, after all.

“I’m glad you’re coming to breakfast, Sunny.” Nathan tells the child, placing a glowing hand on his shoulder. “I know you still don’t want them to know the truth, but I think you’ll be fine. They’re great people.”

Sunny mulls it over in his head, humming as he tries to reach a conclusion.

“Perhaps I will. Some other time.” 

Nathan sighs at the dismissal, but he nods anyway, understanding Sunny's point of view. It's hard not to be hesitant with truth bombs like this, especially if it's risky. Still, he wishes the angel would just give his family a chance.

“Fine, fine. Just don’t write it off completely, alright?” He says, looking into Sunny's eyes.

“Very well, Mister Freeling. Now, I’d like to go get my raisins.” The child brushes his hand away, stalking towards the door. Nathan follows him as they make their way down the hall, Sunny excitedly bouncing over his new package of raisins.

When they get to the lobby, Esther and Katherine are just about finished with putting up the groceries, just a few bags left on the ground.

“Oh, Sunny, there you are! Your raisins are on the counter.” Katherine points to the large box, sitting there just waiting for him to take it. 

He quickly scrambles towards the box, tripping over himself before grasping tightly onto it. Nathan snorts at his lack of coordination, amused at how silly he acts just for a snack.

“You really love those raisins, don't cha, bud?”

Sunny makes eye contact with him as he heaves the box into his arms, feet marching towards the stairs with only slight exhaustion.

“Of course I do. It's the greatest food I've ever eaten.” Sunny says monotonously, lugging the box up the stairs, leaving Nathan to contemplate his words.

Didn't he say he was a chef?

But the child is gone before he can ask, and while he'd love to pressure him, the smell of Ben's cooking is calling his name. 

Still though, he has to wonder:

Why is he so obsessed with raisins?

Chapter Text

When the kitchen door opens slowly, all eyes at the table watch as it squeaks, a hand clenching the wood strongly as a face peeks through the crack. Sunny blinks as he steps into the room, gulping audibly under the weight of all the Freelings’ stares. Abaddon pays him no mind, however, continuing to munch on his fruit-flavored cereal. 

“Sunny?” Nathan pipes up first, ecstatic to see the child's face. “You made it for breakfast! A little late, but come on in!”

Despite the enthusiasm, Sunny is still not entirely certain this was the right decision. Eating isn't something he needs to do, and he'd much rather do it in the comfort of his room. Without anyone else.

“I… apologize for my tardiness.” He says, feeling guilty for taking too long. He'd spent quite a while pacing in his room, before ultimately deciding that as long as he wasn't the one cooking, nothing could go wrong.

“It's all good bud,” Nathan walks over to him, placing a reassuring hand on his shoulder as he motions for Sunny to take a seat at the table. “I'm just glad you came.”

“I'll get another bowl.” Katherine smiles at him, opening a cabinet as she grabs a dish.

“Took you long enough,” Esther points out, chuckling when Sunny hangs his head in shame. “What, were you scared I was trying to poison you?”

Sunny's head snaps up, confused by her remark. He watches as Katherine gently places a bowl in front of him, colored grains soaking in the cold milk. 

“Is…” He trails off, eyeballing the mixture suspiciously. “Is it poisoned?

“No,” Esther laughs, hard enough that she startles herself with a snort. “That was a joke. It's fine, I told you it's just sugar and grains.”

Still, his eyes narrow with distrust. These loops don't seem to be devilish, but he knows firsthand how misleading food can be. When he was in Heaven, his dishes could look absolutely gorgeous, and yet none could describe them as anything but abhorrent. 

When he catches Nathan's eye, the older man nods at him, and relief washes over his body. If Nathan says it's okay, then it must be, right?

Grasping the spoon, Sunny watches as Esther takes another bite of cereal, and he carefully follows suit. He scoops a plentiful amount of milk and cereal up, leaning over to sniff at it. It doesn’t smell entirely bad, a mild fruity scent peeking out of the milky overtones. Flicking his tongue out, he presses it against a blue-colored particle, tentatively opening his mouth as he takes the spoon into it. When the milk and cereal floods his mouth, his eyes widen in surprise, enjoying the burst of flavors that flow across his taste buds.

“So, how's your first taste of delicious Fruit Loops, kiddo?” Nathan asks him as he chews, a smile forming on his face after he swallows.

“Sweet. Fruity. Milky.” Sunny describes the cereal, finding the words difficult to pick. He’s never had something so incredibly good. It’s always been leftovers of his terrible cooking for him. “This… this is… delicious?”

There’s a short pause after he speaks, the Freelings all looking at him like they’re waiting for more. And then, Esther snickers some more, enjoying his confused state of mind.

“You're saying it like a question.” Nathan tells him, tilting his head. “Not a fan?”

“I dont…” Sunny trails off, taking another bite and delicately chewing this time. The burst of sweetness, that fruity, sugar flavor… he doesn’t know what to feel! “I haven’t eaten something like this before. I… enjoy it.” He declares, giving his audience an angelic seal of approval. “I want to eat more.”

“Well, there goes my budget.” Katherine mutters, watching as Sunny begins to devour his cereal. He scoops spoonful after spoonful, letting the milk carry these “Fruit Loops” down his throat to his stomach in pure bliss.

“Wow, I think you like it more than Abaddon. Demons have an appetite, huh?” Esther observes, pointing at Abaddon, who has already finished his cereal. The demon boy raises his empty bowl at Katherine, a silent glare demanding more. 

As she gets up to refill his bowl, chiding him for eating too quickly, Sunny looks down at his bowl, head swimming as his mind breaks under the weight of tasteful food.

“I’ve never experienced such pleasure with food before.” He says out loud, hand slightly shaking as he thinks about his purpose. His eyes have been opened, how could humans have such pleasantries for simple breakfast, and yet he couldn’t make a single thing taste this good?

“I thought you said you were a chef?” Esther asks, and he nods as he swallows his last mouthful. 

“I cooked for my siblings, yes.” Sunny appreciates that she remembers, but he still trembles at the word ‘chef’. That title was undeserving, but he doesn’t blame her for the way his skin prickles. She doesn’t know better. “But it never tasted anywhere near as good.”

She chuckles at his dismissal, and Ben happens to pipe up, putting his cheerful energy into encouragement. “Aw come on, it can't be that bad. Maybe you just need practice.”

‘Practice’. He’s had hundreds of years of practice. No matter the recipe, no matter the time, the effort. Nothing he’s made has gotten past a single bite, just becoming scraps left for the worthless like himself. No, no amount of practice can fix a defect. He’s learned that lesson the hard way.

“There's no fixing a defect. That is all I am.” He points out, shrinking in his seat at the table. Out of the corner of his eye, he spies Nathan giving him a sad look, but he ignores it in favor of looking at the empty bowl in front of him. “Despite it being my purpose, I am a terrible cook.” 

“Cooking is easy, that's why Ben does it so well.” Esther quips, trying to break the air of sadness he’s created.

“Yeah, maybe he can teach you?” Katherine offers, much to the dismay of Ben.

“Okay 1,” He interjects, standing up with a small bit of defiance. “Don't volunteer me to teach the demon to cook and 2, I don't know any demon food recipes.”

“Just teach him a human recipe.” Katherine shoots back, giving him a glare that has him sitting back down.

“Yeah,  I'm not sure I trust a demon to follow instructions properly.” Ben says, his voice wavering just a tiny bit, especially when Katherine is continuing to stare daggers at him.

“Give him a chance, Ben.” She pleads, looking to her brother for help. Nathan shrugs at her, leading her to sigh into her hands, before an idea pops into her head. “Why not have him help you make lunch? Didn't you want to make some lasagna?”

Ben looks at her like a deer in headlights, not able to say not, but really, really not wanting to say yes.

“Okay, fine.” He eventually agrees, but points a finger at the rest of them as he stands up, placing his empty bowl in the kitchen sink. “But don't blame me if you guys get food poisoning.”

“I… I don't want to poison you.” Sunny murmurs, feeling awful about the pressure being put on the teen because of him. He’d rather not cause any more problems, but Nathan waves his concerns off. 

“Sunny, it's fine. Ben didn't mean it, right?” Nathan eyes Katherine, who does her best stern Mom impression, complete with a pointed cough at Ben. 

“Yep, totally!” He says, totally not forced. Looking at the clock, he tells Sunny “We'll get started at 11.” 

And then he promptly exits, saying something about ‘spending time with his girlfriend.’ Katherine definitely doesn’t enjoy that, given how she sighs, but she doesn’t bother to chide him. Instead, she opts to begin washing some of the dirty dishes, even taking Sunny’s now-empty bowl from him with a smile.

“Great!” Esther chimes in, pushing aside her own cereal to step up onto the table, gaze flickering between Sunny and Abaddon. “In the meantime… how about we start our plan on how we capture Mothman?”

“You can't.” Abaddon says between mouthfuls. “Already tried once before.” 

Esther scoffs at his quick dismissal, but quickly shifts back into a positive mood, not letting it get her down.

“You did it on your own, Abaddon.” She points out, raising a single finger. “With you, me, and Sunny I think we stand a fair chance.” She adds 2 extra fingers for herself and Sunny, smiling as she shoves her hand in his face, waggling her 3 fingers with a cheeky grin.

“Hmph. In that case, go get the drawing utensils.” Abaddon demands, taking the time to finish his cereal, slurping it down when she pumps a fist in the air.

“Sweet!” She rushes off, slamming the door open with excitement. Sunny smiles at her enthusiasm, enjoying the way she maintains positivity despite them talking about what he can only assume is a formidable foe, given that Abaddon was struggling with it.

The kitchen is silent, save for the sound of rushing water and clashing dishes, nobody wanting to break the few minutes of silence as they await her return. Even Nathan is able to maintain the peace, head on his hand as he stares happily at Sunny. When the angel gives him a questioning look, he smiles brighter, chuckling brightly.

“I’m just glad you’re here, bud.” 

It makes Sunny’s heart beat fast, and he finds himself blinking in disbelief at the sentiment. He’s used to demands, to stinging words telling him how terrible he is. ‘You can’t follow orders.’ ‘You can't read a recipe right.’ 

Worthless. Defective.

The sound of the door opening breaks his wretched thoughts, and papers are thrown across the table, along with a handful of pens and pencils. Esther sits next to him, presenting him a blurred photo.

“This is the Mothman, Sunny.” He squints his eyes, trying to make sense of the blob on the paper. It was taken at night, a dark background lit up by the flash of the camera. Round, red eyes stare back at him, contrasted by long, black fur that hides most of the figure. Despite the blurriness, Sunny can make out what looks to be wings, making him gulp because wow, that looks scary.

“First things first,” Esther says, placing the photo on the table as she grabs a pen. She hastily draws a depiction of wings, circling them. "Mothman is a powerful creature capable of flight. We need a way to ground it if we are to stand a chance.”

“I used a rope trap before, but this tiny vessel doesn't have enough strength to hold it steady.” Abaddon mutters, clenching his fist in anger.

“Maybe we can weigh it down?” Esther suggests, then, her face lights up, an idea popping into her head. “Wait, Sunny has a flight spell we can use!”

Sunny’s eyes widen, blood running cold as he stutters out an excuse.

“What? No I… I don't.” He lies through his teeth, hands gripping the table until his knuckles turn white. 

“Yes you do!” Esther protests, “I tried to do it yesterday when you took your book out of my hands.” 

Shoot, he forgot about that.

“That's– that’s not flight, it's ummm….” He trails off, unable to find an explanation that would be suitable. “Ah. Okay, it’s flight. But you shouldn’t use it!” 

His words fall on deaf ears, her smile widening as she sticks her face in his.

“Why not? Unlike you, I don’t pass out from a single spell.” She teases, and his face heats up, embarrassed that she even knew about it.

“How’d you…?”

“Uncle Nathan told me.” She says, still smiling, eerily creeping closer to him.

“Sorry, bud.” Nathan apologizes, and Sunny makes a mental note to scold him later.

“The reason doesn’t matter.” Sunny tells her, clutching at his bag in anticipation of a fight. “I won’t let you have my book.”

“Come on, Sunny! I know you’re a demon but you should learn to share.” Esther begs, climbing out of the chair as Sunny does the same, feet shuffling towards the exit door.

“Esther…” Katherine calls from the sink, giving her daughter a stern warning.

“Abaddon, help me out?”

The demon boy looks at Sunny, eyes glinting with mischief. 

“No! Don’t you dare!” Sunny shouts, passing through Nathan as he darts out the door. The adult follows him as he rushes up the stairs, calling his name. He refuses to answer, fear driving him wild.

As he runs through the halls, making his way towards his room, a wall dings nearby. A square hole opens up, Esther jumping out to stop him in his tracks. Sunny turns to backtrack, but Abaddon pops out of a vent, cornering him.

“Ha!” Esther shouts in victory. “Quick, it’s in his bag!” 

Abaddon nods, reaching out as Sunny dodges him, holding the bag close to his chest. Esther’s hands grab onto his wrist, tugging him forward as Abaddon goes for his legs. Sunny’s panic rises with each second, tears pricking at his eyes as he tries his best to protect his book. He’s too close to being found out, he can’t. 

Teeth bite his ankles, a burning sensation running up his legs from where Abaddon’s gripping onto him. His blood is smeared across the demon’s lips, but he can’t let that stop him. Using his head, Sunny knocks against Esther’s, causing her to let go of his wrist, grunting in pain. 

He takes the opportunity to slap Abaddon away, freeing himself at last. Quickly, he makes his way to his room, slamming the door shut and locking it as he grabs a bag of salt he saved for just the occasion. Pouring it across the doorway, he slinks down to the floor, rubbing at the red wound on his leg as a wail gets stuck in his throat.

“What the hell, Esther?” Katherine’s voice booms from beyond the door, scolding her daughter for the chaos. “You need to apologize right now.”

“Don’t blame me, he’s the one hogging his spellbook.” Esther says, shrugging like she hadn't just been fighting him over it.

The nonchalance in her voice has Kathryne sigh angrily.

“Key word: his.” She snaps, disappointment dripping with every word.   “Now say you’re sorry.”

“Ugh, okay!” Esther throws her hands up, pouting as she turns to the door. Pressing her face against it, she calls out to Sunny. “Sunny? Can you open the door?”

A hushed whisper responds through it. “Please, just leave me be.”

Kathryne sighs again, tired of these childish games. If it isn't one demon, it's the other, and she really doesn't want to deal with the drama.

“Look, just open the door so Esther can say she's sorry.”

There's a pause this time, as if Sunny is contemplating what to say. Then, a loud noise comes from the door, as though he had punched it.

“I said go away!” He shouts at them, one of the rare occasions for the child to raise his voice. Nathan steps up, waving his sister out of the way to make his own case.

“Sunny, please don't shut yourself away because of this.” The adult pleads, walking a fine line between revealing information and simply pushing Sunny towards the right direction.  “I'm sure Esther would understand if you just told her what that book means to you.”

The door flies open, startling everyone involved as they lay their eyes on Sunny's figure. His face is nothing like his cheerful name, anger residing in every facial feature. Blood drips down the wound of his leg, a rash growing steadily alongside it from where Abaddon had laid his hands on the angel.

“Leave me alone!” He demands in a broken voice, biting back the cries rising in his throat. “Please…”

“Jesus, what the hell happened to you?” Kathryne grimaces as she leans down, eyeing it with disgust. “Did Abaddon….? Oh my god!”

“I was helping!” The demon protests, defending his tactics. He was given a task by Esther, what did it matter how it got done?

“By biting him?” Kathryne questioned, glaring at her daughter who gave a sheepish smile in return. “Fuck, Sunny I am so sorry. Let me–” She reaches down to touch his skin, trying to get a better look, but he instantly backs away from her, fear in his eyes. “--help you?

“Th-that's quite alright.” He squeaks out, turning away from them as he wipes tears from his eyes. “I'm fine.”

“No, Sunny–” Nathan begins as he tries to enter the room, but he is stopped by a barrier in the entry way, bouncing back into the hall. “Huh?”

Esther walks over, curiously looking at the ground as she spies the pile of salt poured over the doorway. With a single kick, she breaks the line, letting Nathan and Abaddon enter the room freely.

“Salt? Seriously?” She asks Sunny, staring at him with watchful eyes. “Why would you salt your own doorway?” 

“Sunny… perhaps you should just come clean.” Nathan pleads, walking closer to the angel, with an outstretched hand.

Sunny backs away slowly, letting out a frightened noise when he hits the wall, shying away from the touch. 

“N-no, don't touch me.” He whimpers, making Nathan stop in his footsteps. “I can't.”

“Come on, kiddo, you can trust me.” Nathan says, staying in place so as to not frighten the boy any more. “It’s time.”

Sunny’s breath stutters as his gaze flickers between Nathan and the others, taking a few seconds to calm himself down. He closes his eyes, wiping the tears from his face. When he opens them back up, he’s finally able to keep a steady gaze.

“I… I lied to you all,” He begins, shame crawling up his spine. Angels don’t lie, they shouldn’t, but it’s too late to change what he’s done. All he can do is repent, plead for forgiveness. But it won’t fix his defect. “Esther–about my book, I'm sorry.”

“No, I should apologize.” Esther says, stepping forward. “I let Abaddon hurt you because I wanted to see your spells.” She reaches out her hand, waiting for him to shake it, to promise forgiveness between the both of them. Sunny hasn’t finished though, he needs to tell the truth.

“I didn't want you to use it because they're not demonic spells.” Sunny sucks in a breath, telling himself it’ll be alright. Even with the presence of the demon, he trusts Nathan. If he says it’ll be fine, then it will. “They're angelic spells. I was scared you'd notice the difference.” He explains himself, bringing the book out of his bag to show her. His fingers trace across the cover, Carmina Beatorum repeating itself in his head. “Songs of the Blessed.” He says, pointing at the words, translating them for her.

Esther’s eyes go wide, looking between him and the book. “Then…” She trails off, gears in her head turning. “You’re–”

“–an angel.” Abaddon finishes the sentence for her. “Of course. You were sent here for me, weren't you?” He questions, stepping towards the two as he clenches his fist. Sunny flinches when Abaddon’s face gets questionably close to his.

“Ah, I… yes, I was.” He stutters out, hesitating on whether or not he should mention the other part.

“Why? To take me back?” Abaddon growls, but turns his attention away from Sunny, looking at his fists as he shakes it angrily at the floor. “First Hell abandons me, now Heaven comes running, sending a little defect after me?” He rants to nobody specific, and Sunny shrinks down, feeling the need to correct the demon, but terrified of what rage he might feel.

“No, no, I wasn’t sent to capture you.” Sunny tells him, fiddling with his fingers when Abaddon whips back with a confused gaze.

“Then what do they want with me?”

Shoot, here it goes. Sunny looks at Nathan, but the man only gives him a thumbs up. Even Esther and Kathryne are watching him, waiting.

“They… they wanted me to kill you.”