Work Text:
“Husk!”
The bartender looks up at the sound of your voice and the doors closing with a bang behind you, letting out a little mrrp of surprise as it drags him out of his revery. He swallows back the cattish sound distastefully, training his expression into one of detachment despite the affection he feels bloom in his chest at your smile.
Which means nothing, obviously.
You’re hanging off Angel’s arm and laughing, stumbling slightly over the polished floors as the two of you approach the bar. Angel’s face is equally flushed, but a quick assessment tells Husk that he hasn’t slipped in his mission to stay off the hard stuff. Angel takes your hand and lifts it above your head, the two of you giggling as you spin under it and fall into a barstool.
“We missed you,” you continue, smiling crookedly up at the cat behind the bar. Angel takes the stool beside you, winking at the bartender. You pout childishly and Husk reaches automatically for a bottle of schnapps. “The guy at the place was an asshole.”
“The guy. At the place.” Husk repeats dryly, a smirk playing at the edge of his lips.
“The bartendah,” Angel explains, snickering. He raises his shot glass in thanks to Husk before tossing it back. “She fuckin’ told him so, too.”
“Christ.”
“Almost like she’s got a preference for a certain fluffy faced fucker back here at the hotel,” Angel insinuates snidely, and Husk shoots him a glare. The spider shrugs, undaunted, and sing-songs, “’m jus’ sayin’…”
“You say too much,” Husk deadpans back at him, and Angel grins.
“You should’ve come with us,” you murmur, your cheek in your hand. “Angel said he missed you, too.”
“Pretty sure I said ‘Husk makes a stronger drink’,” Angel retorts. “You’re the one who got all moon-eyed over the idea o’ Huskie getting’ handsy on the dancefloor.”
“Shut up,” you laugh, bumping your shoulder against Angel’s. Your cheeks warm as you meet the bartender’s eye. “That’s not what I said.”
“What I heard.” Angel shrugs, sliding his glass back towards Husk. “Ya should hear the mouth on this one, Husk. What she said she’d do to you…”
“Shut the fuck up.” you and Husk say in unison, and the porn star laughs boisterously. Husk swallows against the thoughts Angel’s words have conjured, tipping a bottle your way in offer.
You shake your head, eyelids drooping now that you’re back in the familiar warmth of the hotel, sleep quickly settling into the drunken embrace of your mind. You keep talking even as your eyes close.
“Should’ve come, though,” you repeat. “Would’ve had so… fun…”
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Husk finds himself almost hyperaware of your presence at the bar; a feeling that doesn’t seem to dissipate even as the night drags on into the into the very early hours of the morning. You’ve long since passed out, your arms folded on the bar in front of you, your cheek resting on your forearm. There’s a soft rosiness to your cheeks, your lipstick so faded that it’s barely more than a blush against your full bottom lip. It stirs something inside him that he tries to ignore, but his tail waves slowly behind him all the same.
Angel is bending his ear with the latest tales from the studio, and Husk is more than happy to listen to his friend vent about the more vanilla crap he has to put up with. Apparently, Valentino has been distracted of late, leaving the directing to some other perverts in the studio. This has meant that Angel has been able to actually enjoy some aspects of the job more than he usually would. Namely, the embarrassing faux pas and fuck ups of his costars.
Husk is chuckling over an overly descriptive recount of a mishap involving raspberry flavored lube and an overly-complicated sex swing when he turns to see Angel tearing up a napkin and sprinkling the pieces of it in your hair. A soft, warning growl rumbles out of Husk instinctively. “Leave her be.”
“I ain’t doin’ nothin’.” Angel says innocently, holding up his top two hands in surrender. Husk raises an eyebrow at him as one of his lower hands picks up another handful of makeshift confetti and drops it on your head. Your nose twitches as a few pieces fall over your face, tickling at your skin.
“Wake her up an’ I cut you off,” Husk warns. “You’ll be stuck swillin’ the cheap shit I know you’ve got stashed in your room.”
“Ooh, look at you, Huskie… I think your heart might be growin’ three sizes in there.” He leans over the bar to poke Husk in the chest with his finger. He goes on to walk his fingers down over his furry stomach. “D’ya plan on showin’ her what else you’ve got that’ll grow three size—”
Husk knocks his hand away just before his fingers can make contact with the waistband of his pants. “Watch it.”
Angel cackles, settling back into his seat and picking up his glass. Husk glowers at him for a moment before his attention is drawn back to you when you shift slightly, burying your face deeper into your arms. He reaches out without really thinking, picking a few pieces of napkin out of your hair with careful claws. Husk pointedly ignores the raised eyebrow and knowing smirk the spider gives him.
Their conversation shifts and Angel launches into a new story, and each time he finishes refilling the porn star’s glass he finds his paw returning idly to your hair, even after he’s fished each piece of napkin out of your locks. Instead, he just trails his claws gently through your hair, softly detangling it and enjoying the way the movement teased the scent of your shampoo into the air.
You sigh happily in your sleep as his claws scratch so lightly against your scalp and down to the nape of your neck, and Husk feels the small smile that touches your features reflected on his own. Angel has long since stopped commenting on his actions, secretly enjoying the way Husk’s expression has softened as he dotes quietly on you.
“She is sweet on ya, ya know,” Angel says quietly, and Husk snatches his hand away from you, shooting the spider a glare.
“Can it.”
“’m serious,” he insists. “Two o’ you are like Romeo and fuckin’ Juliet the way you look at each other… without all the teenage angst bullshit ‘n’ waaaay more sexual tension.”
Husk scoffs, busying himself pointedly by running a rag over an already clean glass. “She can do better than me.”
“Sure,” Angel shrugs jokingly. “But this is hell, baby. Pickin’s are kinda slim.”
“So… I’m the best of a bad situation?” Husk says with a small, self-deprecating smirk. You whine softly in your sleep and Husk’s hand returns automatically to your hair. You relax under his touch with a quiet exhale, and Husk returns to the slow, comforting rhythm his paw had had in your hair before.
“Ain’t that all we can be down here?” Angel shoots back, finishing his drink. He stands, running a hand through his hair and swaying slightly on his feet as the booze hits his system in earnest. “’m jus’ sayin’… jump on it while ya can, ‘cause an ass like that gets a hell of a lotta attention in the clubs. She won’ be single forever.”
A quiet growl escapes Husk unbidden, and Angel’s grin widens.
“Alright, let’s wake her ass up, already. ‘s time for bed.”
“I, uh…” Husk clears his throat, color staining his muzzle. “I got her. You head on up.”
“Ohhhh, you takin’ my advice then?”
“I swear, Angel, you don’t let up, I’m gonna kick your scrawny ass.”
Angel winks at him, blows him a kiss. “Be careful, baby. I might like it.”
Husk rolls his eyes as Angel turns on his heel and traipses upstairs, humming a taunting melody that echoes off the high ceilings. The bartender is pretty sure he recognizes it as being one about ‘sitting in a tree’, and he grumbles quietly under his breath about ‘asshole spiders’ as he rounds the bar.
He comes to a standstill by your side, the color in his cheeks burning deeper. Husk finds that he doesn’t want to wake you. He knows this sudden reluctance is stupid, but… as strange as this strange, one-sided intimacy he’s concocted between you is in this moment, he knows he’ll crave it again as soon as he breaks it by waking you up. He strokes his claws through your hair and down onto your shoulder, casting a glance back up at the stairs before squeezing your arm gently.
“Hey, sweetness,” he murmurs, the pet-name slipping out unbidden. He touches a hand to the strands of hair that have fallen over your cheek. “’s time for bed.”
You stir reluctantly, your mind conjuring images of soft hands and a softer voice as you edge back into wakefulness. Your voice comes in a rough whisper, weighed down with sleep. “…Husk?”
He smiles softly as you meet his eye, making move to pull his paw away. He stops when you lean into it, your brow furrowing slightly. “We’re closin’ up for the night, doll. Time to go.”
You groan, the furrow between your brows deepening. “No… stairs…”
He breathes a quiet laugh, carefully pulling you up against him. You turn into him as soon as you feel the warmth of his fur, resting your cheek against his chest. Husk freezes for a moment, lips parted slightly in surprise. Not just at you… but at his own body’s reaction.
Husk has done just about everything in Hell. His time as an Overlord… well, he’s pretty sure he’s done some things that’d even make Angel blush. But you… just the feeling of you leaning into him like this… it’s making his heartrate rise like nothing else has before. Warmth that he hasn’t experienced since… since he was topside was spreading through every part of him.
“C’mere.” he mutters, bending down and scooping you up into his arms. You make a soft noise of surprise but don’t complain, and Husk smiles to himself as you settle into his embrace. Curling your hands up in the fur of his chest, you tuck your head up under his chin, nuzzling into the warmth and softness of him. Husk’s breathing hitches slightly, his eyes closing for a moment before he begins to make his way up the stairs.
“Strong…” you murmur into his chest, curling fur around your finger idly.
“Years of tossin’ drunks.”
“’m not drunk,” you slur, lips brushing against the base of his throat. Husk shivers. “You’re… drunk.”
Husk hums in amusement, tapping his chin against your hair reassuringly. “Don’t worry, sweetness. Wouldn’t do that to a girl like you.”
“Good,” you smile tipsily into collarbone. You lower your voice further, speaking in a stage whisper. “’Cause, I’m… drunk.”
“I noticed,” he chuckles, grateful for the elevator Lucifer installed during the rebuild. He manages to extend a claw and press the button for your floor, stepping into the little room as the door ding open. “’s our little secret.”
“Mmm…”
“Got your key?”
You nod, digging into your pocket clumsily. You almost drop it as soon as you hold it up, a drunken giggle slipping out of you. You let your head fall back against his shoulder lazily as he carries you to your door. Husk turns his head to bump his cheek against your temple, and you reach up with your free hand to scratch your nails under his chin. A purr rumbles through him before he can stop it, but embarrassment doesn’t have a chance to take root when he hears the happy little gasp you let out in response.
The purr continues as he sets you down on your bed, bending down to tug off your shoes before meeting your eye again. “You good? You need anything?”
You frown, shaking your head, lower lip pouting. Fuck, he wants to kiss it. “Where’re you going?”
“To my room,” he tells you gently. He smooths hair away from your face with careful claws, letting them linger against your cheek. “I’ll see you in the morning.”
You groan, rolling onto your side to better face him. You’re already waning again, your eyes falling closed and your voice barely more than a mumble. “When’s morning?”
“Sooner than you think,” Husk says; the sky outside already beginning to burn with the first haze of the blood red sun. He hesitates a moment before he bends down again, brushing a kiss against your temple. “Goodnight, love.”
“Mmm…” you sigh, tugging a pillow to your chest. “Night, Husk.”