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Angel is one of the most famous demons in Hell. Yes, he’s famous for being a porn star and some hate him for it but since when has fame not come with some hate?
And it’s not like he sold his soul to be boring!
There are some nights that Angel stays awake, staring at the ceiling and wondering idly what his afterlife would’ve been like if he had never met Valentino. Would he have died in an extermination? Would he be someone else’s bitch? Or would he have some semblance of a normal afterlife? Would he be loved?
That line of thinking usually ends in Angel downing a bottle of something to stop the thoughts.
It’s not all bad though, he doesn’t mind his work…. most of the time. He wishes it was less….. painful. But at least he’s still some kind of alive. Right?
That’s what he tells himself before he goes to work anyway.
Today he dons a cute pink miniskirt, a white crop top, and his usual thigh-high black boots. He smiles and winks at himself in the mirror before bidding Fat Nuggets goodbye. He walks down to the main lobby, past the bar and the front desk, and out the front door.
Weirdly enough, despite it being hell, Angel quite enjoys the scenery. Sure there are some.. distasteful places but in all it’s pretty interesting. And what makes it even more interesting is it’s always changing. There’s always a new building or a new demon who thinks they’re hot shit. They always get knocked down a peg by the next day though, no one who thinks they’re someone has lasted longer than that.
Eventually, Angel gets to the studio. As he passes Valentino, he can’t help but stiffen up. Which Valentino takes notice of. Angel pretends not to notice how much harsher today’s scenes were, or the sadistic smile that Val always has plastered on his face.
Almost a full fourteen hours later, Angel is dead on his feet. Valentino grabs him by his arm right before he leaves. “Angel Cakes.” He drawls. “Don’t think I didn’t notice your attitude this morning.”
Angel is far too tired to think straight, which is never a good thing. “It wasn’t attitude.” He argues, trying to pull his arm out of Valentino’s grip.
Valentino pulls Angel harshly towards him, capturing all four of his arms. “Don’t get smart with me Angel.” He growls.
Angel swallows nervously. “Sorry.” He whispers.
Valentino smacks him across the face suddenly, causing Angel to cry out. “What was that? Speak up.”
“I’m sorry Valentino,” Angel says in a broken, but much louder, voice.
“Good boy.” Valentino grabs Angel’s face roughly and kisses him before letting him go. “I’ll see you in two days baby.”
Angel walks out of the studio, focusing entirely on making sure it doesn’t look like he is rushing to leave. But once he’s out of the eyeline of Val he practically sprints towards the hotel. He doesn’t breathe properly until he has shut the big double doors behind him. He can feel himself shaking and wants nothing more than to drown himself in alcohol. So he makes a beeline for his room, not even pausing when Husk calls to him from the bar.
“Not now, Husk.” He says, rushing by him.
In hindsight, Husk should’ve just let it go and tried again in the morning. Instead, he came out from behind the bar and grabbed one of Angel’s wrists to stop him from running off. Angel’s fight or flight kicked in immediately and his sleep-deprived brain chose to fight. He turns and punches Husk square in the face.
“Augh! Asshole!” Husk groans, holding a paw over his face. “WHAT THE FUCK ANGEL?!”
Angel starts walking backward, his breathing fast. Unfortunately, he didn’t see that he was walking towards a small service hallway until his back hit the wall at the end. The look of the small hallway and Husk blocking the only exit made Angel’s head spin, one word echoing through his panicked mind.
TRAPPED!
Angel slides down the wall and hugs his knees to his chest, trying to make himself as small as possible. His breathing is bordering on hyperventilation and he’s shaking more than ever. He can’t hear anything besides some ringing in his ears so when a hand touches his shoulder he flinches. Hard.
The hand draws back and Angel tries to make himself even smaller.
But being an eight-and-a-half-foot-tall spider demon, it’s hard work.
“-gel? Are you okay?” A voice cuts through the ringing in his ears midsentence. It sounds close to him, but everything in Angel’s body is telling him not to get out of his position no matter what.
It’s been almost two hours since Angel collapsed in the hallway and he hasn’t stopped shaking. Husk has been sitting beside him, a good distance away so he doesn’t make it worse, the whole time. It’s been mostly silent but about five minutes ago Angel had started to quietly sob. Husk genuinely couldn’t think of anything to help and it was killing him.
“Angel?”
“Yeah?” Angel’s voice is broken and quiet but at least he’s talking and Husk considers that an improvement.
“Are you okay?” Husk says before sighing. “Sorry, stupid question. Can I help you at all?” He rephrased.
Angel sniffs and slowly stretches out, the expression on his face clearly saying that he’d rather be staying in the same position for the rest of eternity. “I’m all right.” He says, putting on the usual cocky persona so fast it gives Husk whiplash.
Husk moves a little closer, not missing the flash of fear in Angel’s eyes. “You’re not.”
“What?” Angel laughs a little.
“You aren’t okay.”
“I think I would know if I’m okay,” Angel smirks.
Husk looks into his eyes and smiles warmly. “If you say so, but I’m just saying that there’s no one else here. No need to pretend.”
“I’m not pretending,” Angel argues.
Husk shrugs, leaning against the wall. “Whatever you say Legs.”
A good five minutes of silence follows Husk’s words before Angel clears his throat. “If you tell anyone about this I’ll kill ya.”
Husk doesn’t get a chance to question before Angel lays his head on Husk’s lap. Without thinking much about it, Husk runs his hand through Angel’s hair slowly. Husk notices tears silently falling down Angel’s face but doesn’t draw attention to it.
They spend the next two hours sitting in the service hallway, just comfortable in each other’s company.
Something changed after that. Anytime Angel had a particularly hard day at work, he would meet Husk in the same service hallway and they would sit together. Sometimes they would talk, sometimes they would just sit in silence.
Angel finally knows what it’s like to be loved.