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Maybe it was the hangover kicking in, but Husk could swear that the hotel was quiet for once. When Cherri said her goodbyes and the gang went home, Charlie didn’t even bother to ask how their night was or talk about how her meeting with Heaven went- just wishing everyone a good night as she went to bed, Vaggie following without a word.
Shit was about to hit the fan, he could feel it. Took it long enough.
“We should do that more often, whiskers. I know this place in Imp City- total shithole, you’ll love it!”
Well, at least he had something to lose.
“Sooo, whaddya think of Cherri?” Angel cooed as Husk poured glasses of water for them.
“Bitch is crazy. I see why ya like her,” he said as he handed Angel a glass. ”… I’m proud of ya, you know.”
“For what?” Angel asked.
“For giving that fucker the shit he deserved.” He couldn’t help but smile as he remembered the look on that mothy prick’s face. Telling an Overlord to fuck off and living to tell the tale- the guy was going places, maybe even the pearly gates.
He could’ve sworn Angel looked honest-to-god bashful before flipping back to his usual nonchalance. “Eh, it was nothin’,” he shrugged. “You talk shit to creepy-face all the time, don’t ya?”
He thought about his earlier chat with the radio demon, if you could call it that. The feeling of the chain strangling him, the reminder that he was someone else’s property, weighed over him. “…he has his limits.”
“Wanna talk about it?” The spider asked.
“So you’re talking ‘bout feelings now? Willingly? Really takin’ Princess’s lessons to heart, huh?”
“Yeah, yeah, I’m a real saint these days. So spill- loser to loser, what’s the deal with you and Al? He got any weird kinks I should know about?”
He snorted. “Hell if I know. I’ve been working for that creep longer than you’ve even been here, and I still can’t say shit about him.”
“Can’t as in you don’t know, or can’t as in he won’t let you?” Angel reached for a bottle of booze as he talked.
“Can’t as in I can’t answer that question,” he replied as he swatted his hands away from the shelves.
Angel managed to grab the bottle, sticking out his tongue in victory. Little shit. “Lemme guess, it’s in the contract? Those bitches and their fine print. You don’t even wanna know what’s in Val’s- fuck, he barely knows! He got his little flatscreen boytoy to write it for him, and god knows he can’t fucking read with his eyes!” He ranted as he downed the bottle.
Five months ago, Husk would’ve hated this- being stuck tending the bar of a delusional passion project in the middle of the night as the horniest motherfucker he’s ever met bitched and moaned about his boss, but now it brought- he doesn’t know- comfort? Peace? It’s white noise, in a way.
The hotel was no sanctuary, but it was a halfway-decent escape from what he used to do- gambling his night aways until his master- until Alastor summoned him for a game, or a drink, or just to be a dick.
Speaking of who he used to be… “You were one of ‘em too, right?,” Angel asked, uncharacteristically quiet. “What was it like, havin’ all those souls?”
“…What’d ya do with ‘em?”
He doesn’t need to say the quiet part out loud for Husk to feel sick to his core. The worst part is, he can’t even blame him for thinking he’d ever sink that low- Val was a bitch, but he sure as hell wasn’t an outlier. Whether he’d be used in such a way was one of his first questions to Alastor, after all.
Absolutely not, my feline fellow- tell me, what sort of host would I be if I lent myself to such depravity? Don’t tell me you’d do the same, or else I may have to R̶̡̟̰͙̼̭̣͍̩̼̼̱̞͚̤͕͋̐̈́̒̎̅̑̉̈́̔̕͘͘͘ͅe̵̢͉̣̼͎̫̣̯͖̻̮̜̳͇̺̟̩̾̃͒͗̎͗́͊̑̽͗̈́̾̉̕͝t̶̢͉͇̲̣͇͚̻̜̟͇̭̳̊́͑́̂̾͆͠ḣ̸̭̖͆͂̽̎͌̀͗ị̴͓̰̥̙̯͎͕͖̖̰͌͌͗̂̇̂͌̅͗͜͝n̸̝̣̺̪̪̜̥͉̤͉͙̟̣̭̫̽̍͑͛̄͂̂͐ͅͅk̵̢̧͈̙̠̹͉͍̻̟̻͒ ̵̧͔̟͉̥̯̫̳͙͖͕̹͕̦͆̎̌͑͆͂̍͋̅̂͗̔̍̂͠͝ǫ̸͓̩̖͔͈̮̰͚̖͓͓̭̈̓̅͌͑̾̏͘ư̶̡̟̲̥͎͉͖̙͕̘̤̣̂̓́̽̅̂͜ͅͅr̸̨̝͉̖͙͓͈̜̯̳̉̒͌̓̊̃͐̚͘̚͝ ̵̻̞͍̲̞̮̇̋̍ͅd̶̢̢̧͎̻͖̺̗̺͔̥̫̠̝̻̳̄̽̎̌̒̽̓̇̐͐̆̇̚͠͠ȩ̷̨̢̡̛̩̘̻̘̱͇̮̥̼̥͔͎͋̏͆̓̈̈́͠a̴̡̡̝̩̫̤̰̰̥̮͈̼̦̹͑̈́͋͛̇̎̂̈́̂͠l̵̢̘̙̦̲͇͉̞̣̘̫̐̅͊̊̚ͅ-
“Gambled ‘em, mostly,” he replied. “Not a lot of Overlords were willin’ to risk losing all that power, but there were always newbies looking to strike big.”
“Ever wish you could go back to it?”
He doesn’t need to think twice about his answer- “No.”
“And why’s that, whiskers? Cause you’d miss lil’ ol me?” Angel teased.
“Get over yourself, baby. I’d never go back ‘cause it ain’t fucking worth it- you have any idea how many fucks wanted me dead back then?” Plenty of them still did, but Alastor wasn’t one to let his toys get taken away from him- immunity from his enemies was just about the only benefit of being indentured to the radio demon.
But of course, that wasn’t what the spider focused on. “‘Baby’, huh?”
“Do you only hear things if you can make them sexual or something?” Husk groaned, knowing full well he’d never hear the end of this. He just said it without thinking, and he really doesn’t want to start thinking about what that might say about his feelings about Angel.
“It’s a talent, baby ,” Angel cooed, suddenly getting close enough to the cat to watch his fur stand on its ends. “I got a lot of ‘em, and I could show you a couple more in ya bedroom~”
“No. Boundaries, we’ve talked about this,” he growled, trying to hide how flustered the lanky bitch made him.
“I know, but it’s just so easy to get a rise outta you!” Angel laughed. “You’re like a virgin on her weddin’ night. What, never got any bitches as a big, scary Overlord?”
“Wasn’t lookin’ for any, and I don’t think Alastor would want me to start any time soon.”
“That in the contract, too?”
“Educated guess.”
“Fair enough. Val would probably ask to watch if I ever went steady- actually, fuck it, like hell would he ask,” Angel shuddered.
Oh, the things Husk would do to shoot that ass in the face, he thought. “Yeah, well, he might own your soul, but he sure as hell doesn’t control you.”
“Neither does the radio dick- take your own advice once in a while,” Angel smiled. “And why do you even give a shit about my love life?”
“Why do you give a shit about mine?”
“Touché.”
They weren’t close anymore- Angel had pulled away, and Husk was ignoring the part of himself that wanted to bring him back in for the time being. He’d deal with that inevitable shitshow later like he always did, and for once, he wouldn’t have to do it alone.