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“Absolutely not!”
“Come on Alastor! It will be fun!” Charlie said, grabbing his hand. It has been a tumultuous month for sure: the battle with the angels, the damage done to the building, the hotel flocking up with people thinking about how ‘cool’ and ‘amazing’ and ‘fucked up as shit’ has been they fighting angels and even defeating the first man is his own battleground (you can thank Niffty for this), not to mention the incredible lame addiction that the majesty of Hell himself had decided that he wanted to set here is one of the towers; he couldn’t have a saying in this, since this man was Charlie’s father and the all mighty powerful in Hell. And speaking of which…
“Leave it Charlie” Lucifer mixing tea in a mug saying ‘deer season’ with a picture of a deer with x’s in their eyes “You know how much ‘Bambi’ likes to go out and socialize.”
Alastor absolutely despite this little archangel; the disgusting bile that rises up in his throat when he opens his mouth is equivalent a rampage of a rhinos on Pentagram city (in case you are wondering, yes this did happen and yes, they pretty much ravage the place, leaving blood, sweat, tears and tons, and I mean TONS of shit all around.) But unfortunately he was right on this one; unless it’s for defend his turf or gather more soul to his already great collection or to pay a visit to his good friend Rosie, he very much rather spend a late evening with a nice dish, whiskey on rocks and a collection of the best jazz playing on the background while admiring his personal bayou.
Going out to ‘party’ and wasting the night away wasn’t really his cup of tea.
“Despite your father’s spiteful commentary” Alastor said, rising up for the chair “I’m afraid he is correct in his statement. Now if you excuse me, I will be in my personal quarters if you need me.”
“Well I do need you!” Charlie whined and Alastor closed his eyes “C’mon Alastor! Everybody is going to the club to celebrate! Please! You were as important as everyone else in our battle!”
“My dear…” Alastor started but Charlie cut it short by hugging him and bringing her best tearing eyes face.
“She will be here all night if you keep saying no.” Vaggie said from the sofa “Believe me, I know.”
“Please Al! I just wanna celebrate with everyone!” Charlie said doing her best sad puppy face and Alastor let out a frustrated sigh.
“Your majesty is resolute in your request?” Alastor said looking at her, his smile dimmed a little. Charlie nodded profusely against his chest. He let out another sigh, this time a sadder one “Well, who am I to deny anything to the princess of this realm? I shall accomp…”
“Oh Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!” Charlie interrupted him, lifting him by the waist and twirling him in the air, making his brow furrowed “You will see! We are gonna have lots of fun! This is going to be amazing!”
“Dear, put me down, please!” Alastor said, trying his best to disentangle himself.
Eventually Charlie placed Alastor down and took his hand in hers, shaking them enthusiastically “Oh! And no suit! You can dress in something more casual and be in the lobby by eight! I will see you there!”
“Honestly, I can’t understand what you see in this awful fawn cosplay” Lucifer said, tying his arms in Charlie’s and following her down the hall “He is so…”
The conversation trailed off because Alastor couldn’t hear the rest, not that he wanted to anyway. Vaggie nodded at him and followed her girlfriend as well. He turned his heels upstairs and wandered automatically to his bedroom. Look at the mess he was in right now: Going to a night club, drinking those awful beverages of today, listening to unclassic music and spending the entire night awake, which was awful to his sleep schedule. He opened the door and plopped down on his table nearby, rubbing his forehead irritated. What does he do now?
“Niffty!” he called and the little demon came crawling out of one of the shadowed corners of his room.
“What can I do for you, Sir?” She chipped happily. Always in a good mood; she is a delight.
“My dear, did you hear the conversation I had with the princess a minute ago in the lobby?” He asked, knowing the answer full well.
“Oh, yes!” she agreed “She is forcing you to go clubbing with her” she gave it a little laugh “I like being forced too!”
“Well” Alastor turned his nose “She said to me to wear something different and I'm at a loss of words; I can’t seem to understand what is wrong with my usual attire but I suppose she would be upset if I present myself with it. So to not dwell on this unfortunate situation any more than necessary, can you assist me in choosing ‘something more casual’?
“Oh for sure!” Niffty clapped her hands “I can even check if your wardrobe has some bugs on it! I’m missing a clothes moth for my collection!”
“Fantastic!” Alastor said and walked along with Niffty to his wardrobe, a big piece of mahogany, masterfully crafted with details and arabesque to his heart’s content. It was a literal hell for him to find this mobile but it was all worth it. He opened the doors and took a quick look: most of his attires were like the ones he was wearing right now, red suits, red trousers and matching shirts, leaving room for very little else. Niffty climbed inside the wardrobe and began her frantic search.
“What about this one?” she said after a little while, lifting a red shirt with short sleeves.
“I guess… it’s still very similar” Alastor said, furrowing his brows. Niffty nodded and dove inside the wardrobe once more. He ran a hand over his shirts and found one in blue. This color doesn’t fit him, but it used to fit someone else. A friend long forgotten gifted this shirt to him, and he didn't remember even wearing it but it remained there for so long. He rubbed the fabric for a minute before Niffty interrupted his thoughts.
“And this one?” She said lifting a dark green shirt.
“Hum, I don’t think so.” Alastor said after a minute “Green doesn’t really suit me.”
“Alright!” she said, determined “I will find something!”
“I’m counting on you, dear” Alastor smiled tenderly at her. She was always so determined. He defended her by killing her distasteful and disrespectful husband and her acknowledgement was to give her soul unwillingly to him, something he was never able to fully understand. He picked up dark brown trousers and suede black shoes to match; this is definitely something casual right? After a minute, Niffty popped her head up again.
“I found it!” she exclaimed, excitedly.
“Oh did you?” Alastor said and she showed him a small bug pinned with a pin. Not quite what he was expecting, but he couldn’t help but smile tenderly at her.
“Oh and I found this!” Niffty said, lifting a black shirt with long sleeves and a turtle neck. This is the best he was going to get as casual goes.
“That is perfect, my dear” He said and Niffty beamed and giggled with excitement. He ruffled her hair affectionately and the giggles intensified “I appreciate it very much.”
“I’m glad I could help you, Sir!” She said climbing out of the wardrobe “I can help you to get ready for the party too if you want.”
“Oh no, there is no need for that.” Alastor affirmed with a calm smile “You should tide yourself over as well.”
The little demon nodded and was heading quickly for the door before Alastor stopped her “Niffty?” He called.
“Yes, Sir?” she responded, turning quickly.
“Just out of curiosity” Alastor started, also knowing full well what the answer would be “What are your choice of clothes for tonight’s event?”
“Oh!” Niffty exclaimed “I was planning to wear this!” She pulled up leather clothes and some instruments that were typical to be found in clubs very inappropriate for underage individuals. Alastor furrowed his brows very together.
“Well, maybe you should choose a dress instead.” Alastor snapped his fingers and a white dress with a black bow on its back appeared on her hands in place of her outfit of choice. He reached for a drawer nearby and pulled a glittery black headband and also placed it in her hands. “How about this?”
“It’s perfect!” Niffty chipped, excitedly “Thank you so much, Alastor!” She climbed a chair and hugged him.
“You’re very welcome” He said, reciprocating the hug “Now, move along.”
She turned toward the door and quickly moved out of sight. He adored her in a way similar to what his mother did to him: warmly, willingly, letting the control loose for a change. He shocked the thoughts out of his head and began his processing of getting ready (What? Just because he doesn’t like the place of tonight’s event, doesn’t mean he should skip his routine. He has a reputation to preserve after all): firstly a bath, with orange oil and relaxing balm, then ironing out his outfit, catching every wrinkle under his merciless iron, cleaning up his shoes, dressing up carefully to not ruining his clothes, brushing his hair the way he likes it, applying a cleansing soft lavender oil of his face and finally spraying his favorite parfum, a woody scent with hints of cinnamon.
He looked at his work, appreciative. He nodded to himself and turned to check the other side. He stopped when he spotted his tail sticking out of the trousers he picked, what an unfortunate turn of events; of all the things about his appearance, his fluffy, indiscreet and bothersome tail was the thing he hated the most. He walked towards the wardrobe and picked a leather black jacket that covered his tail but barely; one wrong move and everyone would see it. But it’s fine, it’s not like he was going to dance anyways.
By eight, he presented himself on the lobby finding most of the usual faces there: Angel dust, the porn star, was dressed in a tight outfit; a mini black top with a hot pink tight-length skirt, big fur coat that covered his shoulders and most of his arms and big black leathers boots to match. Niffty was wearing what he recommended for her (which suited her far better than her choice), Husk chose a red shirt with rolled up sleeves and black trousers and black shoes to match; he also brushed his hair in a way that looked like a quiff was on top of his head. Lucifer was dressed in a golden shirt and chose some white pants and shoes to match, his top hat was big as ever and Alstor could notice a little golden duck pin on the edge of his shirt (pathetic little king, he was).
After a little while, Charlie showed up on the top of the staircase with her girlfriend and smiled fondly to all of the guests present there. She was wearing a black dress with red and white sequins matching beautiful intrinsic patterns and black shoes to match and Vaggie chose a black bell-bottom pants with a yellow top, covered with a black short jacket with a black bow to match. Alastor smiled back at the princess and lowered his head, preparing mentally for the night to come.
The princess beamed to see everyone so dear to her reunited to celebrate their victory which reminded Alastor of a time he used to celebrate his small victories over with a friend, on long forgotten but ever so present nowadays. Charlie waved at the small crowd from the top of the stairs and quickly made her way to where they were standing.
“Thank you so much everyone for being here.” She started “I can’t stress enough how much you guys mean to me and your role in our fight to protect the hotel and Hell as a whole. So I believe more than anything we all deserve a night to have fun! All drinks on me!”
The group cheered and Alastor couldn’t help but smile a bit more tenderly. She certainly has her ways with words and will make a great leader someday. They all head out to a limousine waiting for them by the doors and he could say the ride to the club was rather fast and Alastor wasn’t certain that if he liked that: it was good because the cheerful banter happening inside was about to end but it was also bad because it mean they got to this awful place already. They all climbed down the limousine and the security guard let them skip the line waiting outside, leading them inside much quicker. [1st song here!] The club was packed to the brim with all kinds of demons, filling up the dance floor like some kind of cockroaches, the music was a distasteful mix of music from the decades on earth he didn’t experience, lots of horny demons kissing and making out in public, some small fight happening here and there and the smell of sweat and saliva and god only knows what else hit his nose like a truck, so he furrowed his brows together and walked behind the group.
“What is the matter, boss?” Husk suddenly asked by his side, halting his thoughts of getting out of there as soon as possible “The nightclub isn’t of your liking?”
“Charlie insisted…” Alastor said, hands behind his back “And I wouldn’t be a gentleman if I denied a princess’ request.”
“Sure thing, sure thing” Husk chuckled. “But it is written all over your plastered smiling face that you would rather be anywhere else but here.”
He sighed. His cat was absolutely right. Husk placed a hand on his shoulder “Wait until everyone had way too many drinks then leave.” he said walking to catch up with everyone “Have some yourself to hold on until then.”
Well Alastor couldn’t say he was wrong in what he was saying. He nodded and followed the group to a private area where Charlie was chatting enthusiastically about how ‘cool and exciting’ everyone was in the fight. Alastor took a place by the bar and tried his best to pay attention.
How long was he there? Three hours? Four? He couldn’t tell the passage of time anymore and the world was starting to slow down its movements. Alastor looked around and everyone was busy somehow: Angel and Husk were drinking and staring with bedroom eyes at each other in one corner of the room, Charlie and Vaggie were making out in another corner, the king of Hell himself was asleep in couch nearby and Niffty was on top of him, cleaning vomit bits around his mouth. Alastor turned his nose disgusted at the site and stood up. He couldn’t bear to see this pathetic scene any longer.
He took the stairs off the private area and made his way towards the dance floor; it was the only way out of this place anyway. [2nd song here!] The music was still an upbeat song but somehow slower this time and unconsciously he started to sway his shoulders left to right, flowing the rhythm of this ballad; it wasn’t so bad after all. Left and right, left and right, left and right and soon enough his arms joined the dance too and before he could notice he was at the middle of the dance floor dancing along the crowd.
One, two, three! He tried his best to copy the movements of everyone but quickly discovered that he rather go freestyle than imitate those poor unfortunate souls. Alastor swayed his hips left and right to match the upbeat song and closed his eyes for a minute. Oh how much this reminded him of his warm nights over in Louisiana with a nice drink, lots of friends and dancing partners, who he could push up a quick rhythm and they would follow with no problem. Those were the days when he lived without a care in the world.
Suddenly, he bumped into someone. Quickly, Alastor opened his eyes and his mouth to apologize only to see Vox, standing bewildered, right in front of him.
Vox came in here tonight expecting to see a lot of things: degenerated demons doing all kinds of perversity, indecent sinners practicing what Valentino liked to do at closed door in public, fights happening over small things, drunken bastards, bad taste music, loud screams and many more things you would expect to see in a nightclub placed in Hell. But the fact of the matter is, he, Valentino and Velvette were there to celebrate somehow; the battle at that pathetic little hotel left everyone there beaten, blooded and battled, and they should be at a weakened stage now that everything is over.
They should now take advantage to take over as they pleased, no problems were on site. After way too many drinks, all three of them were spent, not a single cohesive thought was going on in their heads. Vox looked up: Velvette was talking drunkenly to her ex, and Valentino was doing very inappropriate things with two others of his demons whose souls belonged to him. He took that back, Valentino pretty much liked to do the things he does in public too.
He stood up and looked from the balcony at the private area they were in: nothing else was going on; the same old electronic music blasting from the speakers, although this one was a bit slower than all the rest that played so far. Vox sighed, placing a hand to his chin, he should be happy, he should, but something was missing somehow; he eyed a couple dancing together in one of the corners and his mind wandered off to a time where he used to dance with… Well, never mind. It doesn’t matter now. He hated him with all the fibers of this being that stupid deer and he was better off dead anyway. Besides, this kind of place wasn’t one he appreciated being anyway.
Like said, Vox expected to see a lot of things tonight.
What he didn’t expect, not in his wildest dream, was to see Alastor on that dance floor, swaying his hips and shoulders left to right to modern music, genuinely smiling for a chance, clearly enjoying himself.
His legs worked before his brain even did and he found himself making his ways down the stairs.
“Baby, where are you going?” Valentino asked, after noticing him leaving but he didn’t bother to respond.
He took the stairs to the left and found the pathway to the dance floor. What the hell was he doing here? What the fuck was going on? Why did he have to sway his hips that way? Not that Vox was noticing or something! There were so many questions going on inside his head at the moment… Was it even Alastor? Maybe it was someone else, sinners loved to impersonate the overlords to protect themselves, yes it could be… But he needed to be sure.
Making his way through the crowd, Vox came closer to the one he tried to convince himself that wasn’t Alastor, because why would be him? He pushed a sinner all of the way who tried to fight back but when they saw it was the TV overload, they backed away quickly. Crossing between two sinners, he finally saw: dressed in a turtle neck shirt with a black jacket, dancing happily to the song was Alastor, his archnemesis. His old friend. His radio demon.
Vox opened his mouth to speak but no word actually came out. He was so happy in a way Vox had forgotten was even possible. His smile was genuine, bright, his yellow teeth looked almost white at the neon lights at the club, and his hips swayed to the music in a mesmering way and, wait… Was that his tail?! He was displaying his tail in full view?! He hated showing his tail up! What was happening?! He stood there wordless until Alastor bumped into him.
The radio demon opened his eyes and his mouth but no words came out. They stood there silently looking at each other and, maybe it was the club’s atmosphere but the memories of their time together came flooding him in full force; whiskey on rock late at night, cigarettes on the balcony, songs at the piano and slow dances in secret corners at the cleanest clubs in town, those were times were overloads, sinners, Hell itself didn’t even matter.
“Oh, look who it is,” Alastor said in a slurred voice “My forgotten friend…”
“What are you doing here?” Vox asked, almost in a whisper, the most whispery the club allowed.
“Having a good time.” Alastor said, coming a bit closer to him “Is that allowed?”
Vox couldn’t answer. The radio demon stepped a little bit closer and suddenly Vox couldn’t breath, his heart started hammering in his chest. [3rd song here!] The music changed to a slower, more romantic one and Vox looked around to distract himself from that enchanting demon drawing ever so closely to him. The couples of the club either start to make out or hooking their arms and hands together to dance to the newest ballad.
Suddenly, he felt a hand creeping up against his, he looked down to see Alastor so close to him, hand in his and the other one at his shoulder. The TV demon could feel his heart in his throat.
“May I have this dance?” Alastor asked, almost shyly.
Vox nodded and placed his other hand at his waist (oh how slim of a waist he has!) and started dancing slowly, almost shyly, unsure of his steps, memories flooding back quickly, leaving him overwhelmed.
“Did you miss this?” Alastor suddenly asked.
“Yes” Vox confessed “Everytime I had whiskey, a cigarette, everytime a song like this played on the radio or when I heard a piano playing…”
“I see…” Alastor said, looking down “I’ve missed too…”
“Alastor…” Vox started but Alastor shook his head.
“Don’t start… We have been through this over and over.” Alastor affirmed but without strength “Let me just have this.”
Vox nodded. He saw a piece of hair fall off over Alastor’s eyes and on reflex, removed his hand off his waist and fixed his hair. Alastor looked at him and his smile dimmed to a minimum, almost a shyly smile appeared on his lips, his cheek turning into a slight shade of red. He was in awe of such a sight, a sight he will relive in his dreams.
“Just for tonight?” Vox asked, placing his hand around his waist again.
“Just for tonight.” Alastor confirmed and intertwined their fingers together and placed his head against Vox’s chest, making his heart flutter and his throat dry. He could smell Alastor parfum, a woody scent with hints of cinnamon and if he could find the king of Hell around, he would have asked to stop the time right then and there. He felt like he was back in time, a time where he was everything to Vox, the first in everything: the first helping hand, the first friend, the first l… He wouldn’t dare say it… Why did everything have to go to shit? Life, or afterlife, was perfect back then. If only Alastor had accepted his offer, everything would’ve been different…
The music ended and changed to a [4th song here!] more upbeat song but they didn’t separate quite yet. Instead Alastor took both of his hands off Vox’s shoulder and hand and wrapped them around his torso, embracing him. The TV demon quickly returned the hug and made a statement to remember this night in his forever.
“Promise me everything will go back to normal tomorrow?” Alastor asked, almost vulnerable.
Their normal now was to fight, to battle for territory and souls, to confront each other in turf wars over the city and hating each other on a daily basis. Vox wanted to say no, he wanted to say that he wanted to rekindle their friendship, restart whatever thing they had in the past but deep down he knew that wasn’t what Alastor wanted…To hate is always easier than to love. Especially when you are in Hell.
“I promise” he said against Alastor’s hair. The radio demon slowly broke free from their embrace and took Vox’s hand, brought its knuckles to his lips and gave it a long kiss. He could feel his cheeks heating up and his heart exposed on that very hand where his lips layed.
“Thank you, Vincent” He said, turning around and leaving him alone and wanting on the dance floor.
Vaggie woke up the next day with screaming and the sound of broken things outside, she was laying next to Charlie back at the hotel, and last night was a blur. She got up, made a strong black coffee and opened the curtains from their bedroom: Alastor was outside, destroying half of the city in a fight with Vox, green tentacles and power lines scattered everywhere and tons of sinners screaming in fear.
Charlie stood up next to her and she handed a cup of coffee to her sleepy girlfriend. “Did we… hallucinate Alastor slow dancing with Vox at the club last night?” Vaggie asked.
Charlie looked at the chaos on the streets with sleepy eyes “Probably, yeah” she said, yawning.