Archive of Our Own

"I'm outtie-five-thousand, if ya' need anything, lemme know~"

Alastor, who had just been finishing up the dishes, jerked his head up, barely catching sight of his lover as Angel made his way to the door

"Hold it- where on earth are you going all of a sudden?"

It wasn't like Angel to just trot out with no notice, usually he atleast mentioned having errands to run beforehand

"Tch, you're not my dad ya' know, I don't gotta tell you where I'm goin',"

Even though the words themselves sounded combative, Angel's tone was light and playfull, so Alastor didn't take him remotely seriously

"....Oh my dearest darlingest Angel, won't you please tell me to where you are going so I don't worry myself to an early grave?" he replied dramatically, expression as plain and unamused as ever

"As cute as that is- no, I've got a secret errand I've gotta run so keep your nose out of it,"

Alastor didn't enjoy that response, but he had to assume that by "secret errand" it was something to do explicitly with him, if it were anything or anyone else, Angel would have no problem sharing, and if it was something he was actually trying to be sneaky about, like attempting to get drugs or perhaps putting far too much of himself at risk for the sake of helping someone against Alastor's wishes- like Husk, for example- he would be actually trying to be sneaky instead of just pretending to be

This had to be a non-issue then, and given that Febuary was a mere three days away, Alastor had a pretty good guess as to what it was

"....Alright, just... stay in touch, will you cher?"

"Yep," Angel said with a little salute, hauling his jacket over his shoulders and opening the door

"Love ya' babe!! Call me if ya' need anything!"

"I love you too dear, I will!" Alastor called back, bending down to turn the dishwasher on and rolling the kinks out of his neck

Even though he loathed not to have Angel around, atleast the quiet would give him the opportunity to get a few things done that were in drastic need of maintenance

As for Angel, meanwile, he was glad to have managed that with no issue, unlocking the car and sliding into the driver's side, his first order of business was turning the engine on to get some heat, followed by setting his purse neatly in the back seat, adjusting the mirror, getting all the minor little details of the car in order, buckling himself in, and then finally connecting to the bluetooth and starting up his "Songs Alastor can't stand" playlist- the music he only got to listen to when Alastor wasn't in the direct vicinity

Can you see my pussy? Can you see my ass when I bend over? Yeah? Ok, good

He was just about to put his foot on the gas when suddenly the passenger door opened, startling the living SHIT out of him as he wipped his head around and-

"Blitz?!"

"Is your boytoy paying my bills?"

...

"What?"

Blitz huffed, shifting in his seat and frowning deeply at Angel

"Alastor, is that freak on your leash paying my fucking utilities?"

"I.... no...? I don't think so, why?"

"Because I don't remember doing it, and apparently my bank account ALSO doesn't remember doing it, but I called yesterday and everything's flush so somehow they're getting paid, Stolas SWEARS it wasn't him, and your socially ill-equipped piggy bank just LOVES to bankroll shit for me without saying anything, wich, as a professional, I gotta ask ya', is that a kink?"

Angel took a deep, deep breath

"It is a kink," he confirmed, exhaling slowly

"But I don't think it's one of Alastor's-... actually, ya' know what? I can't confirm that,"

He'd have to ask later, now that Angel thought about it, that particular kink did sort of fit Alastor's general profile of freaky shit...

"But I really don't think it's him baby, he's not...."

Angel paused, weighing the best way to phrase this without it sounding crass or cold

"We've both been kinda.... absorbed with other stuff lately? No offense, but I don't think either of us have even remembered you have your own place with your own bills, and also, Alastor is dumb as shit about technology, do you really think he would somehow be able to hack into your shit and pay your bills for you?"

"...Well.... that's true..." Blitz considered slowly, leaning back in the seat and tapping his chin in thought

"Look, haven't you been gettin' alot of bigger contracts lately? And you're barely home, I can't imagine you ever even use your utilities more than an hour here or there just to make sure they still work, you can't have accumulated much, and you've been so overwelmed lately... is it possible they were just way lower than you're used to, that and the extra cash you have.... you paid 'em one night out of habbit without thinking about it maybe?"

Blitz chewed his lip, heaving a deep breath

"....Yeah... maybe..... but I'm gonna fucking pay attention to it next month, if there's a ghost paying my fucking electricity or something I need to know about it so I can give it a rimjob,"

Angel wrinkled his nose

"...Don't do that for a ghost honey, save that for us, you can blow a ghost,"

"Fair," Blitz agreed, leaning back in his seat and rubbing his face a bit

Meanwile, Angel hurriedly grabbed his phone from where he had set it and sent a quick text to Alastor

are you paying Blitz's utility bills????

The answer was almost immediate, and when he received it-

...

IS THAT A GIF OF A DOG LAUGHING?!?!

The response was a gif of another dog laughing

ALASTOR LE'REY DEVILLE

How had he even learned how to send gifs?!

"So where ya' headin'?"

Angel took a breath, shifting a little and glancing in Blitz's direction

"Uh, shoppin',"

"Really? Like, for groceries or...?"

"Uhh.... Valentine's Day...."

"Oh perfect, I actually need to do that myself, Fizz is supposed to help me figure out some shit later but I mean, it doesn't hurt to try a bit in advance beforehand right? Mind if I tag along?"

Well... Angel kind of did.... considering one of the people he was shopping for was Blitz, but....

"...'Course not," he replied, glancing down at his phone as another text came through

Calm down my dear, it isn't as though I've committed a war crime, I was just helping one of our partners with something, isn't that me being a good boyfreind? :)

Angel squinted, wasting no time in writing back

Al, baby, ya' can't do that shit, now he's all suspicious and paranoid and gonna be watching his utilities like a hawk next month.... and I had to lowkey gaslight him to cover YOUR ass :/

"Great, then uh, do you mind if I steal you for a little something else?"

"Nah baby, what is it?" Angel asked, finally- finally backing out of the driveway

"A freind of mine has somebody at his house that I think is probably trying to scam him outta something, mind helping me look into it?"

"'Course not, I'd be happy to," Angel smiled back, glancing breifly at his phone as Alastor texted back

Why is it a bad thing that I'm trying to help? I am sorry to have pushed your hand into doing something you aren't comfortable with though

talk later babe, driving, we're good, just... talk later he typed back quickly, before setting the phone aside and focusing on the road

"So what's with the impromptu trip? No work today?"

"Nah, I gave the M&Ms the day off and stars sorta aligned so that I don't technically have to do anything in particular today so I'm just taking the opportunity,"

"Ah...." Angel nodded

"Well, where to first?"

"Actually, can we stop by an ATM? I've gotta get some cash for Fizz, but uh, after that I'm just along for the ride, did you have places in mind?"

"...Not really," Angel confessed with a heavy sigh, glancing at Blitz breifly

"What'cha payin' Fizz for?"

"Oh I'm not actually paying him, it's just... I'm just giving him a little help, ya' know, cop salary and inflation aren't mixing too well,"

"Ah..." Angel nodded quietly

"...Well, what about this freind thing? You wanna nock that out quick or...?"

"...I dunno... ya' think maybe we should?" Blitz asked with a bit of a wince, earning a nod in response

"Yeah, just in case, it's better to get that outta the way in case it turns into like.... a thing, besides, ya' don't need that on your mind when you're tryin'a do somethin' fun,"

"That's true," Blitz agreed, shimmying out of his coat, wich reminded Angel-

"Oh, by the way, how fuckin' long were you out there in the cold just waitin' for me to get in the car you lunatic?"

"What? ..OH! Oh I wasn't, I was actually gonna come over and confront Twinkerbell directly but when I saw you get in the car... I dunno, somethin' told me it was a better idea to hit you up instead,"

"Yeah... probably good that ya' did..."

Alastor never would have been able to lie well enough to fully convince Blitz that he wasn't responsible for the bills getting paid, and then they would have had a fight, more than likely....

"Shouldn't'cha call Stolas then and tell 'im you're gone?"

"Oh no no, I was gonna go to the ATM and then hit some shopping myself so he's not worried, 'sides, he's got some shit he's tryin'a do today too,"

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah, turns out he's actually got a storage unit with some crap in it from when he moved, he's never cleaned it out and for some reason he's all of a sudden been bit by the cleaning bug so he's gonna try to tackle some of that today, kinda weird actually, he's been more.... I dunno.... jumpy? Kinda? Lately, about being organized and shit, it's like he's nesting,"

"That is weird," Angel confirmed

"....Well we can probably rule out pregnancy...."

"Unfortunately," Blitz agreed with a put out sigh, wich kind of amused Angel, but... he also felt that deep in his soul

".....Don't get so down, maybe you'll be the first person to ever nock up a cis man," Angel assured him, giving him a gentle pat on the shoulder

"God I hope so, only thing better would be the first cis man to get nocked up," he agreed with a happy little daze

"...I just hope it isn't... ya' know... like.... me leaving my clothes out unwashed or stinkin' up the house or something..."

Angel choked on a laugh, shaking his head quickly

"I don't think it's anything like that sweetie,"

"Hope not," Blitz agreed with a tight sigh

"Would you quit with all this down shit?" Angel sighed

"Believe me honey, you are the LAST person in this polycule who needs to worry about their relationships,"

Blitz squinted a little, slowly sitting up a bit straighter and staring at Angel with concern

"....Why the fuck did you phrase it like that? What'd'ya' mean?"

"Just-...."

Fuck

"...I.... look, have I... have I been neglectin' you and Stolas lately?"

Blitz's jaw dropped, clearly more confused than anything else

"I-.... what?"

"Well it's just that the last few weeks Al an' me- especially me- I've been so fuckin' caught up with my own shit, I feel like I haven't paid attention to either of you and what you need and... and I realize maybe I never did to begin with... and.... if... if I'm not.... bein' good enough I understand but I just-"

Angel was cut off abruptly by the gasp that pulled out of his lungs, Blitz yanking him down by the shirt collar at the same convenient moment that Angel came to a stop at the stop sign at the end of the street

"That is the CRAZIEST thing I've ever heard, you got that?" Blitz noted firmly, eyes narrowing a little as Angel's face started to turn red

"I-I..."

"Nope," Blitz insisted

"Angel, you are a fantastic fucking boyfreind, got it? Anybody would be lucky to so much as get glanced at by you, so you don't have your nose constantly up our asses, what's your point? You don't need to, fuck Angie... I can't believe you of all people even have to ask this question! You're wonderfull, so fucking stop it,"

Angel nodded a little, chewing his lip, face a little pinker as Blitz's hand moved up to gently cup his face

"You don't have to be the world's most attentive partner to have ever lived, you're allowed to have your own shit going on and that doesn't make you any less anything, got that?"

Angel nodded a little, feeling his heartrate pick up a little bit more, a little bit faster, eyes fluttering as he started leaning down, and Blitz started leaning up, and-

**HONK!!!**

Jolting backwards, Angel cursed as he glanced in his rearveiw mirror, glaring at the soccer mom behind him and putting the pedal to the metal as he turned down the road, holding his middle finger up as the other car passed by, now a horrible mixture of flustered, embarrassed, annoyed, sad, and just a little bit blue-balled, leaving him as a pouting mess as a result

But, much to his surprise, Blitz reached out a second later, gently wrapping his hand around Angel's as it rested on the gearshift

His fingers curled in, and Angel's curled over his, and any feelings of negativity started to dissipate

"...You're sure?"

"Yes I'm fucking sure," Blitz snorted

"In fact, I'll tell ya' what, if you're that worried about it, then if anything ever changes and one of us does feel neglected, then I'll tell you, ok? But only if you promise to do the same with you and Al,"

A small, uncharectoristically shy smile crossed Angel's features, and he nodded in response

"Ok," he breathed softly

"You got yourself a deal,"

~+~

Alastor exhaled as he leaned back in his chair, staring miserably up at the ceiling

He had never had to deal with so much fucking socializing in his entire life

Yet here he sat, having to wade his way through seemingly mountains of problems all concerning other people- finding a Striker-sitter for Valentine's Day, dealing with Rosie's little favor, double checking with the account on Charlie's behalf, not to mention that he was going to have to start paying some amount of mind to the upcoming holiday for his other partners as well, and that wasn't even including any of his actual job...

How had someone who hated people so much somehow gotten stuck dealing with so many damned people?

"What you need is community and connection,"

Those words echoed in his mind from long ago, lip curling with distaste as he flung himself forward and started sifting through his contact book

He supposed he would get the most miserable task over with first, and that was this babysitter bullshit

Sera was out of the question- obviously- and he certainly couldn't ask Blitz either- for more than a few obvious reasons

Unfortunately, most of his other contacts in this particular line of work, like Carmilla, weren't in need of any favors that he could use to his advantage, and Alastor himself loathed being in debt, he had hit up enough favors weeks prior trying to help Charlie with the hotel, but something of this level....

Well, asking his investor acquaintances to throw money at something had been one thing, but getting in touch with others in his more... particular line of work to spend their time and energy on a task like this would be quite another

"Isolating yourself isn't doing anyone any good,"

Alastor shook his head roughly, as if that could somehow shake the memory it's self out of his mind, and hurried to turn on some music in an attempt to drown it all out

Carmilla was really the only person he was even remotely willing to consider out of his "typical fare", but she lived on the other side of the country, it wasn't exactly reasonable to ask her to get up from her home and her work to camp out here for a weekend, even if she was gloriously single and willing to accept cold hard cash in return for large favors

Rosie wasn't a terrible option, but he did detest the idea of owing her another damn ounce, she was a shrewd businesswoman who not only collected all her debts, but she also collected interest, and he was already in her debt as it was...

Zestiel-....

"What would the point be in trying to involve myself with 'community' or 'relationships'? As soon as I've paid off my debt to you, Papa Zee, I'm leaving this world,"

....

No

...

Alastor winced and rubbed his head, he felt a headache coming on rather quickly and suddenly....

"Humor an old man Alastor, share Christmas with me, it's rather sad even for you to spend Christmas working, especially with the job you do..."

Fuck

He pushed himself away from the table and grabbed his phone, hurrying to silence the music and place a call to Angel

The goddamn connection tone felt like some sort of death bell, ringing.... ringing.... ringing....

"Hey babe, what's up?"

It truly amazed him how good it was to hear Angel's voice

Like a soothing balm suddenly being spread over a deep sun burn or that forming headache going pleasantly numb

...

The trouble was, he now had to come up with a reason for calling him, as he felt that even for their relationship, truthfully saying that Alastor just needed to hear his voice sounded far too pathetic

"I-..."

Shit

SHIT

What was he supposed to say?!

"...I just..... wanted to ask if you would be picking up dinner or if I should prepare something here,"

YES, food, always a great bluff

"Uhhh..... it's a little early to think abou-"

"Well not if I need to make a marinade,"

Poor Angel was probably rather stunned into confusion by that

"....It's whatever ya' want gorgeous, you got a preference?"

....

Good question

"....You know, I.... am having the hardest time deciding that, on the one hand I rather would like to make something here, but on the other hand, I'm a bit busy today, I don't know that I'll have time,"

"Uh... well, if you wanna make somethin' dollface, then you do that, and I'll help ya' with stuff when I get home, ok? I mean, even if it's like, job stuff that I can't do much to help with, I'll figure out how to help somehow, ok? I know how much ya' like cookin' when you're stressed and the last few days-.... well... weeks- have been alot,"

Alastor found himself sinking a little into his chair, his bones felt like jelly, his heart was overflowing with warmth, he wondered absently if this is what everyone meant when they diagnosed someone as being lovesick

"....Really?"

"...Yeah? Why the fuck do you sound so surprised? ...You're bein' kinda weird, do I need to come home?"

"No no, just..... I apologize dear, I've been down some sort of um.... work rabbit hole and started losing myself I think,"

"...Ok..... well just.... call me if you need somethin' alright? I don't give a flyin' fuck what it is, I'll drop everything and head home if I need to,"

"I know you will dear, but I promise that won't be necessary, still, I will call you if I need to, you have my word,"

"...Yeah I'd fuckin' better," Angel snorted back

"Love you babe,"

"I love you too,"

The line went dead, but Alastor found himself feeling so, so much more at peace, as if Angel had somehow chased off the dark thoughts that were starting to cloud his mind

Right then, back to work

He flipped through his phone book somewhat absently, not necessarily thinking he was going to land on anything in particular when-

"Oh...." he all but purred, eyes gleaming with excitement

"Now there's an idea I'd yet to consider...."

~+~

"Everything ok with Hannibal?" Blitz asked as he slipped back into the car, having arrived at the ATM just as Angel was answering her phone

"Oh yeah, everything's good, he just wanted to ask me somethin' about dinner,"

Blitz nodded, staring down for a short moment at the money in his hands

He wondered if he should get an envelope to put it in....

Yeah, that was probably the smarter idea

"Is it ok if we make a quick run to the drug store? Just like, pull in a Walgreens or somethin'?"

"Huh? Oh yeah that's fine,"

Blitz gave a thumb's up as Angel turned out of the parkinglot, setting the little set of bills in the cup holder for the time being

"So what'd you decide on? For dinner, I mean,"

"Oh no clue, it was just a question of if he should cook or get take out.. hey! You guys wanna come over? I'm sure Al'd prefer to make a big spread rather than just what he and I can eat, you're a relaxation cooker too right? I'm sure you get it,"

"Usually I'd love to but Stol took Via out to their storage unit- wich I literally just found out they had last night- to go through it and try to clean it out, he said it was gonna be an 'all day project' and he wasn't sure when he'd be back so not to wait on him for dinner,"

"Oh," Angel said simply

"....So then what are your dinner plans?"

"Honestly haven't thought that far ahead, probably just take out myself,"

"Oh,"

There was a short pause

"Well.... ya' know, you could always just come over by yourself, it's a polycule baby, not a... chronic double-date thing,"

Blitz stared at Angel for a breif moment, but for some reason that he couldn't quite define-

"I think Al would probably prefer keeping you all to himself for a little longer, and besides, I should probably go back to the house and spend some time there, run some laundry, make sure the pipes don't freeze over, all that shit, ya' know?"

Angel would be lying if he said he wasn't disappointed, but he also wasn't about to push- this relationship was new to all of them and he didn't want to try to tug Blitz further in quicker than what he was comfortable with, even though Angel suspected his reason for declining was mostly due to the same commitment related insecurities that kept him clinging to that damn house to begin with....

He didn't want Blitz to think his insecurities were valid- that he would be abandoned or tossed aside over some petty little thing- but he didn't want to force him to agree to going further than he was comfortable with either

It was a hard line to walk, to be perfectly honest

"....How do you afford that place anyway?" Angel asked abruptly

"I mean, no offense, but how'd you even get the down payment?"

Don't get him wrong, Blitz's business was successfull, but owning a home in this fucking economy was next to impossible unless you were loaded like Stolas and Alastor, attached to someone who was, like Angel himself, or had some sort of inheritance of property or major stack of cash, and last time Angel checked, Blitz wasn't in any of those circumstances- or at the very least, wasn't when he got the house

That said, Angel was also floored at how he was able to make the payments on it too...

"Oh! Did I never tell you about that?"

Angel gave a little shake to his head, but Blitz didn't seem to need the extra confirmation, already going into his explanation

"I got the place SUPER cheap to start with, so payments are pretty manageable, I mean, atleast compared to most places, but nowhere is really actually cheap to live, ya' know? Anyway, apparently somebody died there or somethin' so like, they were trying to get rid of it SUPER fast,"

Angel jolted, staring at Blitz in astonishment

"...You-.... wait, that's it? Like, somebody died there and they had to sell the house fast, don't you find that suspicious or like.... was there somethin' wrong with it or...?"

Blitz only shrugged, shifting forward to adjust the heat in the car

"Don't know, had the inspection done and everything came back ok, so I figured it was just people being weird about the concept of death,"

And wile yes, Angel understood that and could see the validity of his thought process, he still found himself more than a little shaken at just how easily Blitz was adjusting to that concept...

"What, don't tell me you're weird about death too? You of all people?" Blitz asked, brow raising

"Well no, I ain't weird about it, I mean, people die, most properties probably have a history of death, even if the buildin' wasn't there at the time.... I just.... I dunno.... do you even know the circumstances?"

"Nah, I looked at the price and that was all I needed to say 'yes',"

If anything, that just worried Angel even more

He should probably mention this to Alastor, see if he wanted to like, cleanse it or something...

"....Uh-huh.... what's Fizz's address again?" he asked, not necessarily eager to change the subject- actually, he had brought up the house anyway in an attempt to talk to Blitz more about the concept of him moving in with Stolas officially, but he kind of needed to know where they were going

"Oh, uh, it's technically Mableton, it's the house on the-.... lemme just snag his address,"

Come to think of it, Blitz had been driving to his place on autopilot for a wile now, he had forgotten the exact address

As he reached for his phone though-

I feel the lavender haze creeping up on me, surreal, I'm damned if-

"Nice timing," he muttered, more to himself than to Angel, as he booped the screen to check Stolas's text

"....Huh..... hey Ang? Any chance you want a set of Paris Hilton nives?"

Floored by the question, Angel crinkled his face and glanced breifly at Blitz, brows raising

"Uh... like... cookin' nives...? ...Sure? Al will probably have a cow but... like... a funny cow... what brought that on?"

"Apparently Stols has some in his storage unit," Blitz replied as he hurriedly clicked back a thumb's up emoji

"....Stolas has Paris Hilton cutlery and not only left it in his storage unit, but also doesn't want it himself?"

Maybe Angel had misread him, but the pink glittery aesthetic had always seemed like second nature to the former model...

"It was probably Stella's,"

"Oh, in that case fuck yeah I'll take it,"

Getting rid of an ex's stuff was always something Angel was more than happy to assist with

"Heard," Bltiz snickered back

"Hey, if by chance he's got any lingerie layin' around in that thing, tell 'im I've got dibs,"

Blitz paused, glancing at Angel for a moment and tilting his head with surprise

"....Actually I don't think your measurements would be too far off, and a man wearing her undies would piss that woman off to no end,"

"Perfect, tell 'im I'll take every stitch,"

~+~

I'm not sure I have any of Stella's clothes here darling, atleast not any of her intimates, lol Stolas typed with a little snicker

Although he had to admit, there was something strangely thrilling about the idea of giving Stella's lingerie to Angel....

He was willing to bet the blonde would look stunning in them...

"How about this?"

Glancing up from the phone, Stolas glanced down at the bassinet Octavia had her hands on and damn near had a stroke

"NO!!"

Catching himself, he quickly backtracked just a bit

"I mean... no no no, we're not giving that away, it's a family heirloom darling," Stolas explained quickly

And it had absolutely nothing to do with the idea that giving up any of Octavia's old baby items would somehow be like letting go of the idea of having more children and that made him want to throw up-

"Why do we have to get rid of anything?" Octavia asked with a heavy sigh, boredly poking around at a box of books that she definitely had no interest in actually opening

"Because we don't have space for it darling, especially not with Blitzy essentially living with us, and I'm getting quite sick of paying for this storage unit every month..."

They kept jacking the price up every three months too, so what had started out being a relatively cheap expense to help with moving had quickly morphed into a bill that even Stolas dreaded staring at every month...

"What's that mean? Essentially living with us?" Octavia asked, mimicking her father's words and voice as closely as she could

"It means that he is living with us but just isn't ready to admit it yet," Stolas replied, pocketing his phone and moving to open up a box behind him, sighing with distress at the antique silver that was waiting on him

Between himself and Blitz, they really didn't need more silverware, but this set was so expensive and old, he didn't feel right simply dumping it at Goodwill like he was with everything else, he could sell it, but he really didn't want to go through the trouble and wanted what he got rid of to be donations and gifts rather than something he was profiting off of, but he doubted any of the neighbors needed it

.....

A hotel, on the other hand....

"Why not?" Octavia asked, climbing on top of a few of the heavier boxes to sit down

"...Well, darling.... it's complicated," Stolas sighed back, pulling his phone out again and shooting Charlie a quick text

Doing some cleaning <3 Is there any chance your hotel might have use for a set or two of antique silverware??

"How's it complicated?"

"Because sometimes people who have been hurt by things in the past let those past hurts influence their choices in the future, and Blitzy is still scared, I think, that we're going to hurt him the way other people have before and if we did that and he was living with us he'd be homeless after, he just wants to hold onto his house until he's more sure, that's all,"

He probably shouldn't be saying things like "we" and "us", but if he didn't, Octavia would only press even more questions and he still hadn't quite figured out yet how to talk to her about things like this

OMG YES WE DO!!!! Thank you!!!! ;____;

Ofcourse dear <3 What else might you need for the hotel? I don't know how much I have that you might require but I can certainly keep an eye out :)

"Oh... but.... you two have been together for such a long time.... when will it be long enough?"

"I... am not entirely sure dear, that's really Blitz's decision, not mine," Stolas replied, pocketing his phone again and grabbing the silverware to set aside

...

Hm... trunk space....

Any chance I could drop these things off tonight?

"And besides dear, six months-...ish.... is not actually all that long,"

In fact, when he really ran the numbers, he knew it was very early, sane people probably waited atleast a year before getting engaged, but he and Blitz had been through so much together and it really did feel like now was the right time-

"Really? It feels like a long time,"

"That's just because you're still very young, trust me, it won't feel that way forever,"

-But what if it wasn't? What if he was wrong and just desperately trying to upright his life after it had been so badly shaken? What if Blitz said no? Or worse, what if Stolas was making some sort of giant mistake and he and Blitz weren't actually right for eachother? What if-?

Octavia startled him out of his spiral by gently placing a hand on his shoulder, managing to pull him back from the edge as he glanced up at her

"It's ok then, Blitz will live with us for real eventually, we're not going anywhere,"

Stolas exhaled, smiling sweetly and scooping up Octavia for a hug

"How on earth did I get blessed with such a mature little girl?" he sighed in releif, Octavia's words somehow making him feel better as well

"Just lucky I guess," Octavia teased, hugging Stolas back

Yes, he was lucky

He was so lucky to have Octavia and Blitz in his life, and he wanted to move forward with them, with this family, he wanted to make sure Blitz knew that this was a long-term relationship, that this was the real thing, that as far as Stolas felt, he was it, he was the love of Stolas's life

And Stolas needed to put his anxiety aside and make sure Blitz knew that- even if he said "no", Stolas would wait, even if he was unsure, Stolas would wait

He wasn't going anywhere

~+~

Alastor hated waiting

He didn't always mind, but in the case of it being something he considered important, he was a very impatient person, and he had been staring at this damn text screen for what felt like a thousand years at this point

Why wouldn't they just-?!

Hey hoboman, hey dapper dan, you've both got your style but brother you're never truly dressed without a smile~

Oh, incoming call

He squinted at the name

Danica Greene

Greene.... Greene...

OH, right, the animator

Maybe Angel was right and he should give his clients custom ringtones too

...

Still, how strange, why was she calling him out of the blue..?

Swiping to answer, he didn't even get a word out before he was bombarded with his answer-

"Mr. DeVille I really fucked up!"

....

Ah

So that was why

"Miss Greene, do try to take a breath hm? I'm sure whatever happened isn't that ba-"

"My bank account has been zeroed out, I have nothing!!"

...

So it was that bad

Hm

"Don't worry, we'll get this fixed, could you tell me what happened?"

"I-"

This seemed to prompt her to hesitate a little, her energy dying out just a bit

"...I... I was talking to this... this guy.... a-and he wanted to invest in my business and I-.... I said yes.... and he was supposed to deposit ten thousand dollars but I got up this morning and everything I have is gone!! My checking, my savings, all of it!"

"Miss Green, why were you allowing someone else to invest in your business when you have me?" Alastor asked, a little exasperated, as he rubbed his face

"Well I-.... I had a really hard month.... I needed to order some merch for a convention I'm doing next month and I got into a dispute with a voice actor I was wanting to work with and she spread all kinds of shit about me online and luckily most of my followers took my side or stayed with me but I lost a little chunk of my Patreon subscribers and so I was going to have to use the last of my savings to pay my some of my artists for this month, a-and... and... pay... you... and... and so when this guy contacted me, I don't know, he seemed legit and I just... I was desperate!! I don't wanna empty out my savings in case I have another hard month- or, you know, at all- but because we're still getting voice lines recorded for my main project there's a bit of a content drought right now and people are getting bored and... and... I just got.... I'm sorry..!"

Oh, and then she burst into tears...

Alastor winced quietly to himself

He had never handled crying people particularly well, but least of all when he barely knew them....

He took a breath, trying to pull his professionalism back into place

"It's alright Miss Green, you're still young and learning, please don't fret so much, we'll get things fixed,"

"...R-Really? ...Y-You're not.... you're not mad at me...?"

"No dear, I'm not mad, you just made an innocent mistake because you were trying to make sure your employees were paid on time, how could I be upset with that? Though in the future I'll gently advise you not to accept 'investors' so casually, granted I realize I also came to you somewhat out of the blue but still...."

Alastor didn't work for a firm or anything, he had actually invested in Danica's project at Angel's behest, as his partner had found her art one night in the beginning of his detox and gotten enthralled in it, he had been brought some amount of peace deep diving into the expansive, creative universe she was building, and Alastor had wanted to invest in her projects in return for unknowingly giving Angel such peace, and because Angel had been so excited about the series she had a kickstarter up for

He realized he had probably set a bad precident, but atleast he had started by completing her kickstarter without even messaging her about a further investment, so he had shown financial proof of interest before getting deeply involved with her

...Still.... Danica was only twenty-two, she had still been in college at the time of putting the kickstarter up- having dropped out to pursue her business full time shortly after- and Alastor really should have thought ahead about giving her advice on people when money was involved before just letting her off onto her own

He too had alot to learn, it would seem

"W-What.... what do I do now? The bank said they were gonna issue me a new card but.... but..."

"Is that all?" Alastor huffed, irritated on her behalf

"Well they said since I gave him my account number willingly there wasn't much they could do..."

"That... that's a load of bullshit dear, I don't know if the person you spoke to was involved in miscommunication or just didn't know what they were doing but that's rediculous,"

Part of Alastor was even tempted to say that they were taking advantage of her intentionally, but he couldn't quite figure out how that would benefit a random employee who wasn't being financially compensated for doing so, so he would hold back on that idea for now

"W-What... what do I do then? Call them back? O-Or...? Should I go to my local branch or...?"

Sighing, Alastor glanced at the clock, nose wrinkling

It was still pretty early in the day, the banks wouldn't close until five....

"What city do you live in again dear?"

"Oh um.... Chattanooga...."

Shit.... that would be a two hour drive with Atlanta traffic....

...

But he could make it....

He took a deep breath

"I'm going to drive up to you and we're going to go see your bank together, if you'll grant me permission to assist you with them, then I'll do all the talking and get this resolved, alright?"

"Y-You really don't have to do all that! I mean... would... you really...?"

Alastor shouldn't, from a fully selfish perspective, he had enough to do today and this one thing was going to suck the life out of him emotionally, having so many people to deal with and having to work through such a complicated situation...

....

But he couldn't quite manage to convince himself not to

"I'll be there in about two hours or so, perhaps a little longer, but not by much, send me an address you're comfortable meeting at,"

Ah... she burst out into tears again.... louder this time though, with the addition of several wet, blubbering "Thank you"s and several compliments that he could only barely make out

"Please don't cry dear, it's going to be alright, just.... in the future, when you have a problem like this, please just contact me before you do anything rash, it's what I'm here for,"

She sniffled an agreement on the other end of the phone, and Alastor exhaled as he got up from the table and started making a mental checklist of what he needed to do on his way out

Call Angel, feed Nuggets, put gas in the car, and... he was going to have to stop by his bank as well

Danica had needed money after all, digging her out of this particular hole wouldn't solve that, so he was going to have to give her a bit of help in that department as well

It was fine though, after all, as far as Alastor was concerned, this was his job, maybe most would say he was going too far, but he didn't agree with that in the least

This was his job, and Alastor always prided himself at being very good at any job he took on

~+~

"Damn, this is a pretty cute place, Penn affords this thing as a herpetologist?"

"Well he used to be a lawyer, remember? I don't think he's ever had herpes though,"

Angel blinked, squinting

"....No, uh, herpeto-.... ya' know what? Nevermind, snake guy, he's a snake guy now yeah?"

"Oooh yeah, reptile relocator or somethin' like that,"

Angel only nodded, giving a quiet hum of acknowledgement as Blitz parked the car in the driveway

He didn't see another car around himself, so Penn must indeed have been at work, and the little two-story house where his so-called "Freind" was occupying seemed otherwise unguarded

"...So what exactly is our plan here B?"

"We're gonna sneak around and try to catch a glimpse of the guy through the windows,"

Angel gave his boyfreind a look- displeased and quite honestly unimpressed

"....Really? That's your big idea?"

"Hey, if you have a better one, I'm all for it,"

Angel leaned back, thinking that over for a moment

"....I mean, we could break in, but if the guy is innocent I wouldn't wanna scare 'im, and he'd probably tell Penn.... wich wouldn't be good for anybody,"

"Right, so in other words, you don't have a better idea," Blitz pointed out with a small smirk

Angel did not seem amused

"I still feel like there's gotta be a better way, ain't you got some kinda.... I dunno.... arsenal, based on your experience as a bounty hunter?"

"This is based on my experience as a bounty hunter,"

Angel made a face

"How-.....? ....Ya' know what? Nevermind, sure, let's go for it,"

Blitz practically beamed, giving him a thumb's up and zipping his coat up as Angel turned the engine off

"Alright, we're gonna scout out the downstairs first, if that doesn't work, there's a tree right over there that'll be good for climbing,"

Angel couldn't believe he had gotten roped into this bullshit

".....Uh-huh, and what do we do if he ain't near a window smart guy?"

"We'll tap one of the windows and then hide to get him to come to it,"

Good to know that this plan was sounding worse and worse by the second

".....Blitz..... if he's as disabled as Penn says, then what confidence do you have that he'd even be capable of getting to a window to investigate a weird noise?"

"Again, do you have any better ideas?"

Angel took a deep breath and leaned back, trying to think that over

"....I mean we could plant a bug, but we'd have to get into the house to do it.... and I don't got any bugs on me, Al and I don't really use 'em,"

"Right, do you have any ideas for right now then?"

Angel wrinkled his nose and reluctantly grabbed his gloves to slip on

"....How's this? We look around at the windows and if we don't see nothin', then instead of your absolute batshit plan, we get Al involved and he an' me'll do some investigatin' of our own later?"

"You'd really do that?" Blitz asked in surprise

"Well yeah, I mean, anything for you... and Penn's a nice guy anyhow, we don't wanna see 'im get hurt," Angel replied, feeling his cheeks heat up a little, wich was a pleasant swap from the cold

Blitz seemed to be having similar feelings, clearing his throat and nodding as he reached for the handle

"Uhh... g-great, that... that sounds good, then uh.... you and I can-"

Now my life is sweet like cinnamon, like a fuckin' dream I'm livin' in-

"Oh that's Al, hang on-"

Baby love me 'cause I'm playin' on the radio-

"Did you change his ringtone?" Blitz asked as Angel fished around for his phone

"Uh, yeah, I'm... experimentin' with some stuff," he shrugged back, pulling one of his gloves off to answer the ringing device

"Hey babe, what's up?"

Blitz leaned back, about to make himself comfortable for a presumably long conversation, when-

"What the fuck do you MEAN you're on your way to Chattanooga!?"

Blitz bolted up right, staring at Angel with concern

"Just-.... Al-...."

Angel exhaled, glancing at Blitz and mouthing a "Go on without me"

Blitz was hesitant, but....

"Do ya' need me to come home and come with ya'?"

Angel bit his lip, pausing for another long moment, before seeming to relax just slightly and glance at Blitz again, waving his hand in a "Go on" motion, and although he wasn't thrilled at the prospect of going ahead, he didn't want to stick around if the conversation got too personal for him to be involved, so....

Reluctantly, he slipped out of the car, rubbing the back of his neck and heading to the door

He wasn't quite sure how Penn's place was laid out, but he started with the windows by the door, peeking in and squinting

It looked like there was a staircase just a couple of feet from the door, a hall that lead to the kitchen going straight back, and another room that, from what he could tell at this angle, mostly looked like it was a living room

Not too different from his own home's layout, or Stolas's for that matter

Hm....

He didn't see any movement though

So he moved around to the other side, peering in through the living room window and squinting at the darkness

So clearly no one was downstairs at the moment, he didn't see any lights on from the living room and he hadn't seen any in the kitchen either when he was peering in from the front door

....

Tree climbing it would-

MOVEMENT!

Blitz startled a little, eyes wide

He could see a pair of legs coming down the staircase, but from this angle, that was all he could see

"I knew it.... fuckin' grifter...!" he growled, jerking his head back and glaring as he made his way towards the front of the house again, intent on getting Angel- or more precisely, waiting patiently for Angel's concerning phone call to end and then getting him- to help him break in and put an end to this fucking scam artist, but he barely got half-way down the driveway when the sound of the door opening caught him off guard, followed by a very confused- "Blitzzzz?"

Equally confused, Blitz turned around, tilting his head

"Penn? What're you doing home?"

"My car had trouble thissss morning ssssso I had to take it in to the mechanic and am waiting on them to contact me back before I can go into the officccce, what are you doing here?"

Shit, he hadn't thought about this

".....Ummmm...... great question, sooooo.... ya' know, uh, how did you even know I was here?"

"Oh! I happened to be looking out the window at some squirrels when I saw you drive up, well, actually, I don't recognize the car, I was coming down to see who was in my driveway,"

Shit, even worse

"....Yeah about that, so uh, actually, that's my boyfreind's car, he uh... got a call from our other boyfreind and it's kinda urgent so he needed to pull over and answer it and I was like oh, hey, conveniently, this is Penn's house, so I know he won't like, shoot us or anything for pulling into his driveway! But you can see right now that Angie is on the phone," he mentioned, gesturing to the car, where, thankfully, Angel was indeed still on the phone

"OOoh.... I'm sssso happy I wassss able to help!!"

Bless Penn's heart, he was... so innocent

He didn't even think to ask why they were in the neighborhood

"...Riiiight so uh.... anyway I hope your car is ok and-"

"Oh me too," Penn sighed, leaning up against the doorway

"I don't think it'sssss a big deal but the check-engine light hassssss been giving me trouble for weekssss now, ssssso I ssssupposssse it wassss about time to get it checked out anyway,"

"Yeah.... guess so....." Blitz winced

"Sorry, I wish I knew more about cars, maybe I could help but...."

"Oh don't worry about it, I know a fair deal myssssself, I'm jusssst not the bessst with them ssssssstill though, they're very tricky!"

"Yeah no kiddin'," Blitz sighed, rubbing the back of his neck

"Well uh.... sorry for botherin' ya' Penn, I'll just... get going and um, hope your car is good,"

"Thank you Blitzzzz, oh! Um, would you maybe like sssssome hot chocolate? It'sssss ssssso cold today, and if you and your paramour are going to be in the car for sssssssome time...."

...

What an extremely good opportunity for Blitz to potentially meet the potential scam artist

"...You know, that sounds FANTASTIC, I mean Angie and I have plans for the afternoon so we'll be driving around for a wile... we sure could use it, but uh... you sure it won't be any trouble though?"

"Oh none at all! I wasssss jussssst about to put ssssssssome on for Nikki and I!"

Nikki huh? So that's what he was calling the guy?

"Well if you're sure it isn't any problem then uh, how could I say 'no'?" Blitz grinned back, eyes twinkling a bit as Penn waved for him to join him

"Wonderfull!!! Then why don't you come in wile I get you both thosssssse cupssss? It'sssss awfully cold out here,"

"It sure is, thanks so much for the assist Penn,"

"Oh not a problem!" Penn smiled back so, so innocently

God, for his sake, Blitz really hoped he was misjudging this guy...

"So uh, where is your new house guest anyway?" he asked as he followed Penn into the house

"Upsssstairssss, currently watching some televissssion, actually we were about to watch a movie together wile I wait for information about the car,"

"Oh that sounds nice, what movie?" Blitz asked as he wandered into the house, taking his time as he strolled through, admiring the decor... getting the layout... you know, in case he had to come back....

"Not sssssure, ssssssome crime thriller or other, knowing Nikki,"

"Oh yeah? He likes crime thrillers does he?" Blitz asked suspiciously

Not that that was any sort of evidence ofcourse, but....

It wasn't like the guy could like romcoms, huh?

"Indeed!!! And he alwaysssss hassss immaculate tasssste! I haven't been bored yet!"

"Oh well that's nice," Blitz hummed, watching as Penn grabbed a couple of thermoses from the cabinet

"...You really gonna let us borrow those?" he asked, momentarily distracted from plotting

"Hm? Oh thessssse old thingssss? Ssssure, why not?"

"Oh just.... that's.... so nice of you.... I'll swing by later and bring 'em back ok?"

"Oh whenever issss fine! After all, it isssssn't like I don't know where to find you," Penn pointed out with a slight chuckle

"Yeah, true," Blitz agreed slowly as he watched Penn grab a couple more packs of instant hot chocolate from the box

"I would make homemade but I'm out of heavy crime I'm afraid,"

"Oh don't worry about that, I don't know anybody who makes it from scratch, like, fuck, even I have to get pressed to do that, and I make the good stuff,"

"Oh? I've heard Mexican hot chocolate isssss VERY good! Issss it that different from sssssstandard American hot chocolate?"

"Eh, not too much no, the main difference is that it isn't as sweet and has a little spice, so... I don't even really get to make the real thing for Stolas and Via," he noted with a soft chuckle

Although he wondered if Alastor would like it...

"Is there a hot chocolate recipe that's unique to India too?"

"Indeed!! I find it quite good, but you know, I'm learning that mosssst hot chocolate recccipessss only really vary on sssspicesssss usssed, ssssometimessss different basssses like milk or cream or what not,"

"Yeah, well, hot chocolate is a pretty basic recipe so I'd imagine that'd be the case," Blitz nodded, forcing himself to refocus on the mission at hand

"Hey Penn, you think Nikki would mind if I asked for some crime thriller recs? It's one of Angel's favorites too but that bitch has pretty much seen everything," he noted casually

"I don't ssssssse why not," Penn smiled back sweetly

"Perfect, then uh, I'm gonna go do that and I'll be right back ok?"

"O-Oh, um-!"

But Blitz was gone before he could say another word, taking the steps two at a time just to make sure he had a valid excuse for being "out of earshot" if Penn tried to stop him- quite a feat, too, given his height and generally short legs

He followed the sound of the TV and popped around the corner, startling just a bit at what he saw

The guy looked.... haggard

Pale with dark circles under his eyes, he was sitting in bed with a blanket over his lower half, but Blitz could tell by the way he was sitting that something wasn't quite right, his hands were wrapped in braces and his mouth seemed off, he couldn't see exactly from this angle but-

The stranger- Nikki- turned to look at him, and Blitz damn near froze up on the spot

"...Uhhhh don't mind me ok? I just-... um.... Penn- I'm a freind of Penn's and...."

And Blitz felt a little bit like dying inside

"...I heard ya' like crime thrillers, I just.... wanted to ask for a... a reccomendation..? One of my boyfreinds is really into them,"

He watched as Nikki's face screwed up into some sort of discomforted expression, was it because Blitz was so obviously awkward and not handling this well? Was he being offensive? ...Probably....

Nikki's gaze was locked on him for what felt like an uncomfortable amount of time, but before Blitz could say anything, or Nikki could..... react, Blitz supposed-

"Oh there you are freind!" Penn all but gasped, hurrying around the corner and leaning up against the wall, as if winded from chasing Blitz

That seemed to finally break Nikki's intense stare, his gaze instead shifting up to Penn and his expression easing considerably

....

Huh....

"I'm sssssssso sssssorry about all thissss, Nikki, thisssss issss my freind Blitz, and Blitz, thissssss issss my freind Nikki!!"

"Uhh..... hi," Blitz waved awkwardly, earning a little bit of a nod and a barely-there wave from Nikki in turn

...

Alright then

Nikki shifted, reaching out for a pen and a notepad next to him, and scritching something against the page with seemingly painstaking care, before turning it around for Blitz to see

Squinting, he shifted closer to get a read on the messy writing

"The... Outfit..? ...Oh! OH the movie! Yeah! Oh damn yeah, that's a good one, thanks for the suggestion, I'll definitely reccomend that to Angie,"

Nikki perked just slightly, as though more on edge, but Blitz wasn't really sure why, and to be perfectly honest, he also didn't care to stick around long enough to ask further

There was something putting him on edge

He couldn't quite identify why, he was believing pretty fully at this point that Nikki was in fact telling the truth, so why did he have such a terrible creeping sensation crawling up his spine?

"Uh, anyway Penn, I really gotta get going, we've got some other errands to run and I'm sure Angie's startin' to get kinda anxious,"

"Oh! Yessss ofcourssssse! Let me jussssst get your hot chocolate then,"

Blitz nodded quickly, giving Nikki another awkward little wave and a "Nice to meet you" before hurrying to follow his freind back downstairs

"So.... you really have no idea what happened to him...?"

"No, afraid not," Penn said with a sigh

"I don't really want to asssssk either, ssssseemssss too invasssssive,"

"Well I mean, he's staying in your house, I don't think it's too invasive, but I do get why you'd see it that way," Blitz agreed as they headed back into the kitchen

"Look, just uh... keep me in the loop ok? If anything changes or anything sudden happens, I really wanna know about it,"

Penn glanced over his shoulder, offering Blitz a warm smile

"You really are.... probably the besssssst freind I've ever had,"

"Oh... oh don't say that..." Blitz winced

Because that was just... that was just sad

Blitz and Penn were freindly with eachother sure, but it wasn't like they kept in touch outside of casual conversation when they saw eachother or anything, hell he didn't even know what Penn liked to eat or what sort of music he listened to, he would hardly call himself that good of a freind-

"Oh but you are! No one ever goessssss ssssso far out of their way for me and I.... I really do appreciate it,"

"...Ah...."

Blitz just winced a little harder

He wasn't all that surprised that it was true........ he was just deeply concerned that it was true......

"Anyhow, don't feel sssstressssed about getting thessssse back to me anytime ssssssoon, anytime isssss fine!" Penn insisted as he handed Blitz the thermoses

"Uh... thanks, buddy.... h-hey uh, listen.... you got any plans for this month?"

Penn blinked, opening his mouth right as Blitz corrected himself

"Sorry, uh, I mean for Febuary,"

"Oh! Um, none at all, I'm woefully sssssingle ssssssoooo...."

"...Right, well.... I have Valentine's Day plans twice, but... uh... after that, like, near the end of the month? We should... we should hang out, uh... do something, oh! Uh, maybe go to an arcade or something with the M&Ms,"

Penn gasped, placing a hand over his chest as though shocked beyond reason

"R-Really...? You... you want to.... hang out with me....?"

Oof, now Blitz just felt bad for not doing this sooner

"...Yeah, sure, why not? We'll uh, go play some games or-"

"I would love to!! Any time, any day, jussssst let me know!"

"Will do," Blitz nodded, giving a little salute and heading to the door

"See ya' later Penn, and uh... be carefull, ok? Stay safe?"

"Ofcoursssssse!!!!! Ssseee you later, freind!"

Blitz barked a little laugh, before giving a sort of crooked thumb's up around one of the thermoses, and heading back outside to the car

How did he keep falling ass backwards into these weird relationship things? He sucked at relationships!! Why was anyone trusting him with them?!

"So? How do things look?" Angel asked the second Blitz opened the door

"....Uh.... they seem pretty legit to be honest..." Blitz confessed, sliding into the driver's seat and handing Angel one of the thermoses

"Huh, well that's good, you meet the guy?" Angel asked, sliding the notch back on the lid and taking a cautious little sip

"Yeah.... if he's faking, he's damn good at it," Blitz said with a sigh, leaning back and starting the engine

"I uh... I dunno, I got some weird vibes but that might just be my own prejudice, I've never met a guy with his mouth wired shut before, kinda freaked me out..."

Angel paused, glancing up at Blitz

"....His mouth was wired shut?"

"Yeah, and he's pretty banged up, looks like whatever happened to him was pretty fuckin' bad,"

Angel shifted with discomfort, glancing at the house again as Blitz started pulling out of the driveway

".....And Penn..... is trans right?"

"..Uhh... yeah? Why?"'

Angel's stomach churned, the thought breifly creeping into his head that-.......

....

No

...

No, that was just.... rediculous....

It couldn't be Nikki, if it was, he wouldn't have even stayed with Penn to begin with, he didn't need to worry.....

"....Somethin' you're not tellin' me?" Blitz asked cautiously

Angel exhaled loudly and leaned back, chewing his lip

"....It's a long story but me an' Al.... we fucked up uh... this guy.... a little wile ago, not that long actually, and he uh.... also... had his mouth wired shut.... but I mean.... what're the odds right?"

"....Should I dig a little deeper?" Blitz asked with concern

".....Nah, if I really start thinkin' it's a problem, I'll do it," Angel promised, glancing out the window again

Maybe.... maybe he'd call up some hospitals and do a little digging later...

"...So how come Al is goin' to Teneesssee?"

"OH,"

Suddenly pulled away from the gutters of his own thought process, Angel snorted and rolled his eyes

"You'll never believe it, a client of his is havin' some kinda crisis and Mr. Bleedin' Heart Gentleman decides this sounds like a job for me to go outta the fuckin' state for for no reason, I mean it's Chattanooga so it ain't like he's gonna be there all night or nothin', but still, damn!"

"And that rat bastard actually tries to pass off that he doesn't care about people," Blitz noted with a snort, shaking his head

Angel stared at him, expression flat

".......Yeah, I wonder what the fuck goes through his head to try to pass that lie off on people?" he added, tone just as flat

"Well some people just can't admit that they're-.... I'd say good at heart but that feels too generous.... decent people, I guess?"

.....

Angel should have expected that to go right over his head

"Annoyin' as shit ain't it? When a clearly great guy refuses to believe he's capable of decent care and compassion so acts like an asshole to keep people at arm's length?"

"Right? I don't know why he's like that,"

...

Strike two

"It's almost as if he needs to listen to the people around him sayin' he's deserving of love and affection,"

"Yeah but good luck gettin' that through his thick ass skull,"

....

At this point, Angel decided to quit wile he was ahead

....

Or atleast not quite as woefully behind

~+~

"Sssssorry about that Nikki, I hope all is well," Penn said sweetly, handing his freind a mug of hot chocolate

Nikki gave a nod of acceptance, glad for once that Penn was so utterly terrible at reading microsignals and didn't seem any the wiser to his current pensive mood

"Here, let me-"

Before he could finish his sentence, the sound of the phone ringing interrupted him, prompting him to hurriedly take his phone from his pocket

"Oh! The car! Give me jusssssssst a moment my dear!!"

Nikki only gave a little nod, carefully angling his straw through the hole in his mouthpeice and taking a sip

The hot chocolate was pretty good.... but it did little to quel his uneasy mood

Penn's freind was apparently gay- and apparently got around too, given his little comment about one of his boyfreinds enjoying crime thrillers, and then there was the fact that he said one of his boyfreinds was named "Angie"

...

Nikki wasn't even going to entertain the idea of it somehow being his little brother

Besides, Anthony was dating that bull shark of a person anyway, he should just eliminate that idea from his train of thought

....

But still, did Penn know about his freind's "preferences"? If the guy went around broadcasting them to total strangers then Nikki had a hard time believing he had kept it a secret, but... then did that mean Penn was ok with it?

That alone wasn't enough to hang a man for, some people were tolerant to a severe fault, but what if that wasn't all it was? What if Penn was also.... one of them?

Nikki never heard him talk about a girlfreind or hooking up, and he was generally a pretty gentle and quiet person, not all that masculine now that he really thought about it, he was also awfully clean and put together for a man, but then, that brought into question what Nikki would do if he was gay

The queers were all diseased and perverted, something was inherently wrong with them that made them want to desert their natural gender roles and be with eachother, that made them go after children in an attempt to turn them as well, that made them desert God

Nikki had learned all about it when he was younger and Anthony had started showing signs of his own perversions, it was what had gotten him kicked out and excommunicated from the mob, turned him to drugs and prostitution of all things, his family had cut out one of their own because of that damn disease, Nikki certainly couldn't tolerate it from a mere freind if he did, what would all the harm that had come Anthony's way have been worth?

But....

If he was, and if Nikki left, then where would he go?

He didn't have access to anyone else, he doubted he even could leave if he wanted to, in his condition, and who else would help him through this? And if one of his brothers in the mafia found out about his condition, wouldn't they be far more likely to just get rid of him- either through death or simply abandonment- to further their own ambitions? It had been weeks since he'd been in touch with anyone, did they already assume him dead and make a change? There was certainly no way they would take him back now if they had already changed who was in charge, especially with Nikki being the last Salvatore left, leadership would have switched to a new family all together

But if he was, and Nikki stayed, then he was putting himself at all sorts of risks

Hell, he hadn't thought about it much, but what was he even going to do about the distant future when he finally healed? It wasn't as if he could just go back to the mob, but he couldn't pick up and leave either

All of a sudden, he found himself with no shortage of questions, and not a single answer in sight

He exhaled through his nose, the heat from the hot chocolate nearly burning his sinuses as he did so

What the fuck was he going to do...?

~+~

What the fuck was she going to do?

"What do you mean you don't see my reservation? I made it months ago!"

Vaggie thought she might just have a full on break down if this continued to go south

"No no no, I booked it online, I have the receipt!"

Vaggie didn't panic often... but this was certainly one case where she was going to

"I booked it all the way back in October!!"

And this was exactly why she had booked her plans for Febuary five months in advance- because as the receptionist was so calmly and, to be frank, boredly explaining, everything for Valentine's Day had been booked up weeks ago, and even if they did find her reservation, the most they could do would be to offer her a refund

"Then why do you even LET the computer book that far out in advance?! I paid upfront!"

Unbeknownst to Vaggie, she wasn't alone in her office any longer

Luci, who had been casually strolling past and heard the screaming, decided to take it upon himself to open the door and peek in

"I-.... I DID give you the confirmation number!!"

A brow quirking, he tilted his head, nocking ever so lightly on the door, just to get her attention, and then mouthing a silent "What's going on?"

Because the man was nothing if not nosy

Vaggie huffed, rubbing her face and leaning back

"Yes, yes I would LOVE for you to get your manager, PLEASE put me on hold," she groaned in exasperation, waiting for the absolutely grating hold music to start before turning her attention to Lucifer

"I booked Valentine's Day plans MONTHS ago and the place has lost my reservation, and even if they find it, apparently it doesn't matter because they've overbooked so now the most they'll do is give me a refund! I paid in OCTOBER, what the hell am I going to do?! Valentine's Day is in less than three weeks and everywhere is-"

"Can I help?"

...

Honestly more than a little stunned by the proposition, Vaggie gave a little nod as the blonde moved closer and reached for the phone, wich she was more than happy to hand over to him

She didn't know what exactly he thought he could do though...

Seemingly waiting for someone to pick up, Lucifer was quiet for a few beats, before lighting up with one of the fakest smiles Vaggie had ever seen- though to his credit, it was atleast an incredibly polite smile

"Jeanine, hi!! A freind of mine is just trying to get some help with her reservation, it's under uh..."

"Vaggie Rivera," Vaggie said quietly

"Vaggie Rivera! It's for the 14th, and I know there seems to be some kind of issue with finding it but I do have the receipt right here with the confirmation number and everything,"

Vaggie held her hand out for the phone to be returned so she could get Luci to the right screen, but much to her surprise and confusion, he instead..... walked out of her office wile holding the phone....?

She blinked, not remotely sure what to do with the situation as he pulled the door shut behind him and everything went silent

......

"...What the fuck just happened?"

....

Maybe she should have thought somewhat better of handing her phone over to a hotel resident she barely knew....

A moment passed, then another, and on the third, she decided enough was enough and sprang up to go see what was going on, only for the door to open a split second later

"Oh Jeanine you're too much! Thank you, that's SO helpfull, and don't you worry, we'll be leaving that five star reveiw just as soon as the internet will let us~"

Before Vaggie could even ask for the phone back, Luci was apparently hanging up and handing it back over to her, much to her continued confusion

"Reservation found, room booked, they sent you a fifty dollar voucher for their on-site resturaunt for the trouble- also the beach in Febuary? That's weird and bold,"

"It's one of Charlie's precious childhood memories I'm trying to-.... why am I explaining this to you? What the hell did you do?"

Because last Vaggie had checked, she'd be lucky to even get the damn refund and under three minutes Luci somehow had managed to hit the jackpot?!

"OOohh.... well, my family is loaded so I learned how to sweet-talk managers when I was like four, soooo I used some of those skills,"

"......That answers nothing,"

"It's the only answer I have,"

Vaggie was very much about to argue that no, that couldn't be his only answer, but alas, she never quite got the chance

"What's goin' on?"

"Oh, using nepotism and capitalism for the good of the gays, you?" Luci answered casually, leaning against Vaggie's desk as Cherri popped her head in

"....Sick, need any help?"

"Nah I'm good,"

"...A'ight then, well in that case I've got shit to do, see ya'-"

"Wait wait wait- what shit to do?" Vaggie asked with a firm frown, earning a snort and an eyeroll from Cherri

"Nothin' involvin' you or your hotel's reputation so ya' can stop clutchin' your pearls, I'm tryin'a figure out what to do with Molls for Valentine's Day, so I gotta go do some investigatin',"

"I thought you hated Valentine's Day," Vaggie noted with surprise

"Oh I do, but..... she doesn't.... so.... compromises and blah blah, anyways, see ya',"

With a wave, Cherri bounced off, giving Vaggie the opportunity to sigh and lean back in her chair

For all that that woman gave her ulcers, she was surprisingly emotionally mature

..........

Sometimes....

"....Soooooooo Valentine's Day has everybody's quacks in their quackers huh? You and Charlie going out of town, Cherri and Molly doing uh... something, I guess.... gee it's uh.. almost starting to feel like the place is going to be empty that weekend..."

"...It's literally four people," Vaggie pointed out calmly

"We're leaving Niffty in charge- for... better or worse- and Husk has promised to be on call as a nurse if needed,"

"Oh, sure, I just.... I guess I'm kind of surprised that you guys aren't bulking up is all,"

Vaggie's eyes narrowed slightly

"...What do you mean?"

"Well Valentine's Day has one of the highest depression rates of the entire calendar year, sooooooo many people alone and broken hearted with nothing to do with either cram their faces full of chocolate, give into their addictions, or like, kill themselves, I just would've thought this place would be on lock down or something,"

....

Fuck she hadn't thought about it like that

This wasn't their first Valentine's Day operating, but the last one had been considerably thinner on residents, and things had been so new and so troubled that Charlie hadn't felt comfortable leaving the place for more than a few hours....

"...Do me a favor- do not talk to Charlie about this," she said quickly, hurrying out of her chair

"Oh no problem, I can keep my mouth shut!" Luci promised with a thumb's up, before deciding to make himself comfortable in Vaggie's chair and spin around

...

She was going to choose to let that slide due to all the help he'd been giving her

Reaching the doorway, she paused suddenly, glancing over her shoulder with concern

"....Are you gonna be ok on Valentine's Day?"

"Oh, for sure not," Luci smiled back pleasantly

...

The sound that left Vaggie's throat was best described as "exhausted and mildly distressed"

~+~

"What'd'ya' think? Too much?"

Angel pursed his lips, nose wrinkling

"....Sweetie.... it's a tiara....."

".......So too much?"

"Just... just a tad,"

Blitz groaned and resisted the urge to slam his head down into the counter

The counter was glass, that would help no one

"Why is jewlry so complicated?"

"Well... have ya' considered that maybe jewlry ain't the right way to go?" Angel pointed out, taking an honestly bored step across the store and squinting at a mannequin sporting several clearly display-only rings on the counter

"I have but I don't know where else to go with it, I feel like the fact that I managed to get Stol somethin' good for Christmas was already a miracle... why the fuck is Valentine's Day right behind Christmas anyways? Why can't they make that one a summer holiday so you have time to fucking recover?! Both financially and mentally... and I mean there's nothing good happening in summer anyway, the good shit pretty much just lasts October through Febuary, doesn't that seem disproportionate?"

"It's Pagan shit that was stolen by Christians and turned into a consumerist mockery, that's why, shit like Labor Day- meanwile- was just invented to sell mattresses," Angel answered blandly, poking his nose around the corner and finding his attention caught by something rather striking

"Well, I do enjoy that atleast the gays have the entirety of June all to ourselves.... ya' think the people who started pride month like, did that on purpose? Choosing pretty much the only month out of the year without a major holiday so if the capitalists wanted to sell stuff they'd have no choice but to give in to the gays and acknowledge our existance to get our money?"

"I think you're thinkin' about all this the wrong way," Angel noted plainly, eyes still pinned to the object of his current fascination- another mannequin, this time a torso in a glass case, sporting a gorgeous bedazzled chest chain

"I mean-"

Blitz paused, catching up to his boyfreind and very much noticing the way he was staring at the case, a little grin curving against his lips

"....See somethin' ya' like?"

He hadn't bought Angel's gift yet either after all, this could be an easy way to cross the blonde off his list

"Yeah but..."

He paused, sighing and giving a little shrug

"Absurdly expensive and for no good reason, I mean, I could wear it in drag but.... I dunno, not the same as a stripper wearin' it,"

Truthfully, he was surprised a bougie place like this was even selling it, though he supposed rich women wore them as fashion peices too.... he hadn't really seen any such thing, but he supposed it

Blitz was quiet for a short moment, looking at the chains first, then over at Angel and his wistfull expression

"....You ever miss it? Stripping, I mean,"

"....Yeah, sometimes.... I mean, I definitely don't miss Val or the way I was treated there, don't miss the last club I was in, but... I really did like stripping,"

"....You ever think about going back?"

"Not really, I mean.... every now and then I get kinda.... I guess I long for it sometimes... but I know it ain't a good place for me to be in, and also I think Al would lose his McFuckin' SHIT if I ever even mentioned it," he explained with a quiet snicker

"Well... ok, but... as much as I agree with Al bein' protective of you and all... I... is it really fair to you to just go along with whatever he wants?"

"Oh sweetie that ain't it at all," Angel assured his partner quickly

"I just... this is one of those things where we're in agreement that me goin' back to strip is a really bad idea for alot of reasons, I just.... really wish sometimes that I could go back to some of it ya' know? But shit, even bein' in drag... like, drag queens as an entity are great people an' all, don't get me wrong, but the drag scene has alot of triggers that I could fall back into if I ain't carefull, there's aloooooot of casual drugs goin' on, 'specially party drugs wich were my personal favorite, and drinkin'? Tch, queens don't even think about it most of the time, so on and so forth ya' know? Wich..."

Angel paused, giving a little half-hearted shrug

"I dunno, I try to stay more adjacent to the community than actually in it I guess? Like I... I don't travel, I don't do competitions, I don't do social media or try to get my own followin' really, and to be fair I don't have to do those things 'cause I don't gotta worry about money so much, I just do drag for fun and got REALLY lucky in findin' some places that like me enough to book me on the regular, but..."

He paused, giving another little shrug, though this time he didn't really finish his sentence, instead breaking it off and joining it to another

"Look, I learned WAY early on that me and fame do NOT mix, I am..."

Pausing, Angel gave a half-hearted laugh

"I am NOT a good person to have like, alot of popularity and influence, too much pressure, too much pain when people get.... ya' know, peopley... I'm happier small side, I REALLY am, like don't ever ask me to be in a pageant or on a show, ya' know? And it's really alot better that I stay mostly annonymous, 'cause if anything ever gets... sus.... and we gotta make a break for it, it's better I don't gotta clean up my tracks too much,"

"Yeah, all of that makes sense," Blitz agreed carefully

"I just.... see you missing things and I don't want you to feel like you've had to give up stuff ya' didn't wanna give up, I guess,"

Because Blitz knew what that was like

Sure, these days he was pretty ACAB, and he sure as shit anti-government, and he was happy to live in a place that was alot more liberal than Texas had been, but....

He still missed it sometimes, the familiar places that Atlanta would never have, the cowboy boots along every corner, the station and the freinds he'd been starting to make there....

He could never really go back, but that didn't mean that Angel couldn't, in a way

"You're so sweet," Angel cooed, bending down and kissing Blitz's cheek

"Tell ya' what, if an opportunity ever comes my way to do more in a way that I genuinely don't think would do more harm than good, I'll take it, no second thoughts, ok?"

"Deal," Blitz agreed with a small smirk

"...But now what? We've kinda beat this place to death," he noted with a little sigh, only for Angel to take his hand and lead him to the door

"C'mon, we got all day, let's make it count,"

~+~

"You... you really didn't have to come all this way..."

"It's alright, it wasn't that much trouble," Alastor assured the girl gently- lying through his teeth ofcourse, but she didn't need to know that

"I feel like... like I should make this up to you..."

"You really don't need to," Alastor insisted quickly

"I could make a project for you! You and your... wife? You got married right?"

Alastor turned a bit red, just a tad flustered even though he knew it was likely just a shot in the dark

"Not... yet, I'm proposing in a few weeks,"

"Oh!! Ohhh maybe I can do something for your wedding then!"

"You know what? Perhaps, let's just focus on you for now though alright?"

"Sure, but I'll be texting you to see if we can get something figured out!"

"Sure," Alastor finally resigned, just eager to get back in the car to start the long, long journey home

"Thank you again... are you sure I can't atleast send you home with some cookies or something?"

"It's alright dear, I don't need you going through any trouble," Alastor promised as quickly as he could

The poor thing just nodded a bit awkwardly, taking a step closer and holding her arms out shyly

"Then.. a goodbye hug, atleast?"

"Ofcourse," Alastor agreed

He had known this was coming, he remembered Danica being a hugger like Charlie, so he used the opportunity to slyly pull the check out of his pocket and slip it into the hood of her jacket without her being any the wiser, her attention instead of squeezing the damn near daylights out of him

It wasn't that he didn't want her to know he was giving her the money- it was that traffic had already started by now and he was quite frankly desperate to get on the interstate before it got any worse

And he knew if he just gave her the money outright she would keep him there for atleast another thirty minutes going back and forth on how he shouldn't be giving her so much help and how she just had to do something to make things up to him

And he really didn't want her to do any of that

"Thanks again Alastor, you're such a good guy,"

...

That gave Alastor pause, however

He pulled back, smiling with fake warmth

"Oh, darling, I'm no such thing, just doing my job-"

"No! You are, you're SUCH a good person, I've never met anyone as nice as you!"

"...Then I deeply hope your social circle gets better in the next few months- by a large margin,"

Seeming not to take him seriously, Danica laughed and pulled back, shaking her head

"Please be carefull on the way home ok? And give your soon-to-be wife my best,"

"I will," Alastor promised with a nod, finally, at seemingly long last, getting into the car and starting it

He had the sudden concern that he wouldn't be getting home until far past dinner...

He was out of the driveway and only barely down the road when he saw Danica- who had gone back inside shortly after he got the car started- race out of the house, jacket off and check in hand, desperately trying to wave at him to come back

Not a chance in hell

So, feigning ignorance, he merely waved back with a smile and pushed down a little more on the gas pedal

No doubt she would be calling to give him an ear full any moment, so he also used the opportunity to call Angel

It wasn't that he was avoiding her or anything, Danica was a very sweet girl- if exceedingly naive- but his "social battery" as Angel called it was draining at seemingly record speed and he atleast needed some time to recharge before having to have the conversation about the check

It only took a few rings, before thankfully-

"Hey Al, you on your way back yet?"

"I am actually, just pulling out of the neighborhood now, I would have left a tad sooner but my client had been rather insistent that I follow her home for lunch,"

"Ah, well, I can hardly blame-"

"Am a 'good guy'?"

Angel must have been startled by the sudden question just long enough for his sentence to be entirely forgotten, and for line to be just quiet enough for Alastor to hear a familiar "HA!" coming from Blitz in the background

"...Uhh... what now?"

"Am I a good guy? Also am I on speaker?"

"Uh.... yeah, sorry, speaker, I'm drivin', and as for you bein' a good guy-"

Blitz gave the same bleat of laughter as the first time

"...The fuck are you askin' me for?"

"...Well, my client made an odd comment about it and I wanted to know if you also thought she was- to phrase it as you likely would- 'high as balls' or not," Alastor explained, carefully repositioning his phone in the cup holder as it started to fall backwards

Moments like this made him almost tempted to get one of those gaudy dashboard phone-holder things, but the slight temptation of convenience was simply not worth his dignity and those things were stupid, hideous, and indicative of him using his phone far more than he actually did

...

Also Blitz had one and they were apparently horrendous quality

"Well what was the comment?"

"That I'm a good guy and a good person,"

"...Well... you are honey... why would'ya' think you aren't?"

And then, in stereo, Alastor and Blitz shared the same thought-

"Because I'm a serial killer?"/"Because he's a serial killer?"

Angel was quiet for just a moment, as though trying to process that

"Alright look Beavis and Butthead, a person can still be a good person and also-.... I cannot believe you're makin' me say this, killin' people doesn't automatically make you a bad person, Jesus Christ... ok, look, why do you seem so concerned anyway? Ain't bein' a good person a good thing?"

Angel did have a point, but Alastor wasn't really sure how to answer at first

"....I... well... I've just never really... quite.... seen myself that way, I suppose...."

"....Then how the fuck have you seen yourself?"

Before Alastor could formulate an answer himself, Blitz seemed to jump in for him

"As a villain who does bad shit for occassionally good reasons,"

"...How did you guess?"

"...Call it intuition,"

Somehow, Alastor didn't believe that

"....Really Al? That's-?"

Angel cut himself off with a sigh

"...Ya' don't really gotta be a good person or a bad person, you can just be... just a person, and take what other people say with a grain of salt, if that's how ya' wanna be, but I think... if some part of you- any part of you, no matter how small, wants to own that 'good person' thing, then... you can, and you should, I mean... shit baby, you've always been real good to me.... I.. I'd be totally fuckin' fucked without you,"

"You're different," Alastor noted easily and fondly

"I wasn't always,"

"Oh yes you were,"

"Look as cute as this is," Blitz interrupted

"Angel and I are at our destination, so can this pointless moral argument like... hurry the fuck up please?"

"Blitz-"

"No no, he's right cher," Alastor promised quickly

"It is very silly, I can't control how people perceive me, and I do put on the guise of a gentleman so I suppose I shouldn't be so concerned that it was working,"

"...It ain't the guise that girl picked up on baby, you think what you want, but.... I think you're a good person,"

And if anything, Alastor knew even less what to do with that than he did with the stranger thinking it of him

"...Thank you, mon cherie," Alastor settled after a moment

He still didn't know what to make of it, but Angel's answer clearly wasn't just going to change all of a sudden, so there was no real use in prying further

"Ok, well... you drive safe alright? Be carefull an' all that jazz, Blitz an' me gotta go for a bit, call if ya' need anything else ok?"

"Ofcourse dear, both of you also stay safe on your journey, I'll be home before you know it,"

"Great, 'cause I'm lookin' forward to whatever ya' plan on cookin' up for dinner, I keep tryin'a convince Blitzy over here to join us but-"

"I've got plans already!"

"Yeah in your cold lonely house by yourself ya' sicko-"

Alastor snorted and rolled his eyes fondly

"Well I'll let you two settle this on your own then, much love," he chuckled, hanging up and exhaling as he reached for the radio dial

Goodness knew he could fucking use some music to relax and destress-

Hey hoboman, he-
Hey hobo-
Hey ho-
Hey-
He-

....

Ah....

...

The flood of texts from Danica had begun

....

Well, Alastor wasn't necessarily sure if he was a good person, but he was sure as shit a patient one

~+~

"I dunno Angie, I think it might be time to give up on the antique stores,"

Heaving a dissappointed sigh, Angel nodded a little, checking his phone for the time

"Yeah... they're all gonna be closin' soon anyway,"

Angel hated to say that the day was a bust though, they'd been at this for hours and yet neither of them had come up with a damn thing...

"Right," Blitz said with a quiet sigh, wandering aimlessly into a booth filled with dishes, tea sets, silverware and the like

He highly doubted any of his partners needed anything like that, Stolas was already overrun with the stuff and the As seemed to have their own tastes figured out when it came to dishware, a tea set may be an idea but Blitz was hardly versed enough in that sort of thing to decide if it was even something worth looking at, and it sure as hell wasn't anything special

"I'd offer to try again tommorrow but I've gotta go to a court thing in Jasper," he noted as he glanced into one of the cabinets, just for the hell of it

"Oof, that gonna take you all day?" Angel asked with a wrinkled nose, not fully familiar with how long the drive would be- he had hardly spent enough time trapsing around Georgia to map it out with any decency- but judging by the fact that he hadn't heard of the county outside of a few passing mentions during weather reports, he was going to assume it wasn't exactly nextdoor to Atlanta

"Jesus Christ I hope not, but it's testimony so I'm kinda at their mercy, gotta wait until they call me then wait again for 'em to release me, I was actually supposed to have lunch with Fizz tommorrow but had to push that back a day 'cause this goddamn court thing was supposed to be last week but the entire goddamn case got pushed back 'cause the courts are too busy and too disorganized and are makin' it everybody else's problem,"

As he spoke, he did catch a gleam of silver out of the corner of his eye that looked kind of... funny.... from across the booth... he might as well go look at it

"Yeah, I keep hearin' about that shit, I'll say this much, I admire what Charlie's doin', if she could actually get these fuckin' shitheads to start throwin' more 'criminals' with actual real problems into rehabs an' hospitals an' shit instead o' prison cells, it'd certainly help some o' the legal congestion, just... kinda a shame I don't think she's actually gonna do it," Angel mused, turning his attention towards the same booth Blitz was exploring, having been in the one next to it and come up empty handed yet again

"You don't think she will?" Blitz asked in surprise, bending down to get a closer look at his find

"I thought you were kinda gung-ho about it,"

"Oh, nah, I mean I support what she's doin' and me an' Al like her a bunch so we're tryin'a help but.... c'mon B, you know this fuckass system probably better than I do, you really think some zoomer with a positive attitude 'beleif in the good in all creatures' or what the fuck ever is actually gonna make any head way? The only reason she ever had a ghost of a chance is 'cause her daddy has an ounce of influence, and even that's just state-local, but now that he's bailed... this entire thing's just a trainwreck that ain't hit the skids yet,"

"...What... do you think will happen when it does?" Blitz questioned with mild concern, picking up the peice of silver in front of him and glancing at Angel with concern

That was a good question, and one that both Angel and Alastor had been trying not to dig into too deeply when they brought it up between themselves

"....Nothin' good," he reasoned with a snort

"....I think... the best case scenario is that this falls apart before the government gets wind of anything, Charlie's crushed to peices but recoverable, I don't really know what she'll do after, I know she ain't got any backup plans, but Vaggie seems level-headed so I'm sure she can put things on an ok track,"

"....And the worst case scenario?"

Angel rocked back and forth on the balls of his feet, staring up at a cabinet in front of him without actually looking at what was inside it

"....Well, you pro'ly won't see me an' Al for a couple of weeks, he's got some freinds in low places that he'll have to ask for help from and will probably be swimmin' in serviceable debt for years 'cause of it, dependin' on exactly how bad it is, we'll have to be bribin' people outta one hand and killin' with the other, and as for Charlie.... that... if things get that bad it might break her... and somebody as gentle spirited as she is, I don't really know if there's a point that she just can't recover from, ya' know?"

Blitz kicked a little at the carpet, feeling a little bad now for bringing it up, hating the newly somber mood

"You and Al... you really don't let people go once you get attached, huh? I mean shit, all that for somebody you've never even been to dinner with?" he teased in what was an attempt at being playfull

"Oh don't think we're that alturistic, Al's name is plastered all over that fuckin' hotel remember? If Charlie gets sucked down the rabbit hole, she's draggin' us with 'er," Angel noted with a laugh, finally turning around and taking a glance at what Blitz was holding

"What'cha got there?"

"Oh! Uh..."

A little shyly, he turned the large silver serving tray around, showing off the absolutely gorgeous carved alligators etched into the metal, the design making it look like the core of the tray was a body of water with little swirls and ripples in it where the alligators where crawling in and out of, their tails and heads bobbing up around the edges artistifully

"Ya' think Al will like it?"

"Oh baby... I think he'll go absolutely nuts for it," Angel promised with a warm smile, wrapping his arms around Blitz and giving him a tight hug

"Really?"

"Yeah ofcourse!!!"

Blitz smiled, feeling kind of tempted to lean up and kiss Angel on the cheek, but...

Was it weird that they were dating and in what he could only describe as an intensely committed and emotionally intimate relationship and yet hadn't actually had their first kiss yet...?

...

He decided to shelve that particular concern and wonder about it later

"Thank Christ, that's one off the list, I'm gonna go put this at the counter just so I don't have to walk around with it, we've still got half the place left, if I found one thing maybe I'll find another,"

"Sounds good to me," Angel agreed with a nod, letting go of his partner as Blitz dashed out of the booth

"I'll still be on this aisle babe!" he called after, glancing towards the booth across from the one he was currently standing in and deciding to get a head start on it

Atleast with the find of the serving tray his mood had returned to it's more upbeat position from earlier

The booth he was currently exploring was mostly Christmas themed, he doubted he would find anything there that his partners would care much for, if it had been Halloween themed that would be a different story, but....

It was worth looking anyway

And as if to prove him right, just a few steps in, he found himself staring at a beautifull tabletop carousel

It seemed antique alright, but was still new enough to be battery operated by the looks of it

It was a bit on the larger side for tabletop, decorated with classic carousel horses, and when he pressed the button, they started to move, old carnival music playing and lights turning on as the little horses spun around and bobbed up and down

Blitz, with his deep love of horses and affinnity- Angel had been learning- for carnival related items, would absolutely love it, and the fact that it was, funny enough, something so similar to what Alastor had given Octavia for Christmas would just add to why he would be attached

Grinning, he hurriedly snatched it up and darted down a different aisle, hoping to miss Blitz in passing so he could sneak it to the counter himself

Apparently the day wasn't such a bust after all

~+~

"Are we almost done yet?"

Oh how deeply Stolas wished he could just say "yes"

But much to his chagrin, the storage unit was tragically still mostly full

"Umm...."

He glanced at Octavia, and her pouting face, and came to the very dissappointed realization that he just wouldn't be able to make as big of a dent today as he had hoped

"...I'll tell you what sweetheart, if you can just let me get through these last three boxes right here, then we'll go to Stevie B's for dinner, alright?"

"Really?" Octavia brightened up, eyes gleaming

"Yes ofcourse, but I have to get through these three first alright?"

"Ok," Octavia nodded, looking around the storage unit for another moment before glancing at her father again

"Can I watch something on your phone?"

Stolas wrinkled his nose, he wasn't necessarily against Octavia having access to his phone, he was against her having access to the internet unsupervised, and he was also against her using any opportunity to get addicted to screens, he tried to have a strict "screens are only allowed in the house" sort of attitude so that she could also experience the monotony- and the thrills- of every day life

"....How about you choose what music we listen to instead, alright? Anything you want- anything- until we leave,"

"Anything?" she repeated with sparkling eyes

He braced himself-

"Midnights!"

Yep, there it was

Stolas heaved a sigh and nodded sadly, pulling his phone out to put on the album

If it wasn't Blitz blasting Taylor Swift every chance he got, it was Octavia

She had recently been hearing more and more of the songs throughout commercials and on the radio and then had stumbled in on Blitz washing dishes the week prior listening to it and had finally gotten to hear the entire album start to finish, with Stolas deciding that keeping her from it for a few more years was just a lost cause, now she couldn't get enough of it, despite the more somber tones that he had personally never thought a small child would be so captivated by

Ofcourse, there were certainly worse things that existed out there that children were getting into- he had recently heard the word "skibbidi" and felt his skeleton try to leave his body, he didn't know what it was, but it just felt wrong in all of the worst ways- but by the seventeenth time of hearing the damn thing in the past week, Stolas was getting rather tired of it

His daughter, at the age of eight and probably carrying a touch of the tism if he had to guess, had no such off switch

"Meet me at midnight..."

Atleast it was pleasant music, Octavia had had a Baby Shark phase and it had, in fact, been the closest Stolas had ever been to throwing his phone out a car window

Trying to put himself back into the propper mindset to get rid of some of these things so that the day didn't feel like such a waste, he returned to sorting through the box, staring at another antique teaset

How many did he fucking have? He swore he only ever remembered buying two, so this one was either another heirloom from his mother or another impulse buy from Stella that he was, quite honestly, tempted to throw out

Picking it up to examine it, he squinted at the date on the box and immediately knew the answer

Wile there was some amount of uncertainty regarding the ethics of getting rid of his ex-wife's belongings instead of just mailing them back to her, there was considerably less of a moral quandry when it came to a dead woman

He pulled it out and set it aside, prepared to send it on to charity when another thought crossed his mind, and, with a quick tap to his phone, shot Angel a message

How do you feel about antique teasets?

Angel seemed like the type to fancy them, and to be honest, Alastor seemed like the type to fancy them too, maybe-

Popular- you're gonna be popular, I'll teach you the propper poise when you talk to boys-

Nearly startling enough to drop the damned teaset, he hurriedly set it down and answered the phone

"Ah... hello...?"

Admittedly, his general ringtone didn't go off often- in fact, it was rare enough that he was still fiddling with what song he even wanted to use for it- so it was just a tad unnerving when it did

"Yes this is he-.... wait, what do you mean it's in probate? My mother died months ago, why am I only being contacted now?"

Also admittedly, Stolas didn't have the greatest understanding of legalities, especially when it came to the red tape side of things like assets and allamony, it was only because he'd had a truly exceptional lawyer at the time that he had made it out of his divorce with his skin, but he had also paid handsomely for that help, and said lawyer had retired right after due to her advanced age

That all said...

"But I thought my mother wrote me out of the will so how would I-? .....That... no, no I live in the U.S. now, I can't just meet with you out of-.... what pappers? No I don't presently have an attorney, how would I even-...?"

As the conversation carried on and Stolas became even more confused and even more frustrated, he glared down at the teaset, practically seething

He wasn't sure how exactly, but somehow, he knew it was his mother trying to come back from the grave just to make him miserable one last time

...

Possibly for trying to give one of her teasets to a queer even more flaming than Stolas himself

~+~

"No no, don't worry a bit, I can mossssst cccertainly help you with that!" Penn promised quickly, craddling the phone between his ear and his shoulder as he stood up on the tips of his toes, trying to reach the very top shelf in the cabinet

"Really, I don't mind, probate issss a bitch, doesssss Ssssssaturday work for you dear?"

Grabbing a couple of bowls, Penn set them down carefully on the counter and nodded along with the conversation

"No no, I underssssssstand completely, I don't mind the leassssssst bit coming to your place, assssss a matter of fact, if it'sssss all the sssssssame to you, I may jussssst bring a freind of mine along asssss well, I think he could really do with sssssome time outsssssside of the houssssse,"

~+~

God, Fizz was tired

He just wanted to flop on the couch and never do anything ever again, it had been that long of a day

Not necessarily a bad day, just.... a long one

He rubbed his face as he reluctantly stepped over to the mailbox and grabbed the mail, checking his watch breifly to make sure he had time to go get a little boost from some coffee before needing to pick up Loona from Bee's place

God was kind- he had an hour

Trudging to the door, he started poking through the mail and came across the envelope from Blitz, peeling it open on his way inside and pulling out-....

....

Why the fuck was there so much?!

"Motherfucker....... Brandon Santiago Martinez you're a fuckin' dead man!"

About a fifteen minute drive away, Blitz was just about to get out of the car when a horrendous sneezing fit hit him, earning a concerned glance from Angel

"....You good there babe?"

"Yeah, yeah I'm fine," Blitz confirmed, wrinkling his nose

"Damn, hope that's just allergies and not somebody running their mouth about me..."

Incidentally-

Light pink sky, up on the roof-

"Oh Fizz is texting! I wonder if he got the cash yet,"

Little did Blitz know as he dug his phone out of his pocket that a few sneezes were about to be the least of his worries