Chapter Text
Sir Pentious’s little egg boi had finally stopped following her around after she’d brought one of her old hellish gameboys into his private wing of the hotel and given it to him to entertain himself with.
The poor little egg, who had been called “Frankie” in past interactions, had been feeling rather lost since Sir Pentious had died.
Cherri Bomb shook her head, reminding herself that her serpent rival hadn’t died. Not actually anyway. He was safe and sound in Heaven, probably having the time of his life without a single care in the world.
She’d agreed to try and make the whole long distance relationship thing work between them, but she wasn’t sure how long it was going to last. How long could it last with him way up there and her way the fuck down here? When he’d first appeared before them via Baxter’s video streaming after the battle with Vox, she’d been surprised to find that he was excited to see her. She’d figured the babes past the pearly gates were much hotter than anything Hell had to offer, herself included. She was surprised that he hadn’t just moved on already.
To be fair, it seemed as if he’d been romantically and literally chasing her for quite a few years. Cherri had died in the mid eighties, and it seemed that she and Sir Pentious had been at each other's throats ever since. How long had he actually had feelings for her during all that time?
She hated knowing she’d been so damn oblivious.
As she walked the halls of the hotel, deep in thought over her angelic boyfriend, something cold and wet pressed against her ankle with a grunt. She paused, looking down at Angel Dust’s pig, Fat Nuggets who was staring up at her with wide pleading eyes. Ready to be fed for what felt like the millionth time today.
He’d been feeling lost too. Apparently since joining the hotel, it had become Cherri’s unofficial job to take care of all the lost things.
She let out a sigh and patted her thigh, signaling for the small animal to follow her into the kitchen where she could prepare a meal for him.
She was supposed to be sharing responsibility for Angel’s pet with Husk, but Husk hadn’t been doing so hot lately. He’d taken Angel Dust’s departure from the hotel much harder than the others had, and for the past couple of days he’d been holed up in his room, only coming down to snag another two or three bottles of whiskey.
Strange, Cherri had always thought she’d have been the one most affected by Angel leaving the hotel. She’d known him much longer than Husk had, and the two of them had been extremely close since they’d met. They were practically siblings. Angel reminded her of her little brother, and she reminded him of his twin sister, so in a way they’d both filled a hole in each other's demonic lives and kept each other from feeling… Lost.
Damn, apparently her job of taking care of lost things extended far past the hotel, she’d just never taken the time to acknowledge it before.
She stepped into the kitchen, Fat Nuggets glued to her heels, and looked around, a disappointed frown falling over her face when she realized Alastor was already in here.
The radio demon was facing away from her, frying something on the stove while he whistled an old showtune melody. His ear had twitched in her direction as she’d come through the door, so he must know she was in here and was just choosing to leave her alone for the time being.
Good. His radiofilter covered voice was the last thing she wanted to hear today. She was in too bad a mood for his cheery sing-songy attitude completely contradicting the sadistic serial killer persona.
She let out a sigh and continued to the pantry, looking for Fat Nugget’s food inside.
It wasn’t that she hated Alastor or anything, she didn’t mind him. She was probably the most neutral towards him in the entire hotel actually. Charlie loved him like a brother, Vaggie tolerated him for Charlie’s sake. Niffty adored him for some unknown reason. Baxter had only heard stories of him from his bosses at the Vee tower, so naturally he had his own opinions on the radio demon. Lucifer could barely be in the same room with him for very long without the two pissing each other off, and Husk, while he claimed to hate the overlord for owning his soul, didn’t seem to have too hard of feelings for him.
Cherri didn’t care one way or the other. Whatever he was doing was his business and she didn’t have the time or motivation to dedicate any part of her life to hating or loving the radio demon. He was just a guy who happened to work at the hotel she lived in. That was as far as their relationship went.
As she closed the pantry she looked around, finding that Fat Nuggets had abandoned her, choosing to sit by the feet of the demon who was cooking something good smelling. Alastor had taken notice of the piglet and was dropping bits of scrambled eggs onto the floor for him to gobble up.
She rolled her eyes and poured the pig’s food in the bowl on the floor anyway, knowing he’d never come to it now that he knew he could get deliciously fresh eggs from Alastor.
“He’s never going to forget that, you know?” She sighed, “He’ll pesture you whenever you’re in the kitchen from now on.”
“Yes, I’m aware that my actions will have consequences," Alastor replied.
She paused, narrowing her one large eye at the deer demon who’d bent down to pat Fat Nuggets appreciatively on the head.
“You alright?” She asked, leaning against the island in the center of the kitchen. “You sound kind of hoarse.”
“Perfectly fine, my deer,” Alastor straightened and cleared his throat, ignoring the tiny farm animal pawing at his leg, begging for more attention and snacks. “I admit I am feeling a little less like myself than usual, but it’s nothing a good breakfast out in the sun won’t fix.”
Cherri wasn’t so sure. Now that she was paying more attention to him, she could see beads of sweat building up on Alastor’s temples and an indescribable weakness in his eyes. He looked like he might’ve been coming down with something, which was never a good sign in Hell.
She remembered a time when she’d first arrived in Hell, and she hadn’t built up any immunity to the odd illnesses floating around. She’d caught imp-fluenza and swore if she hadn’t been dead already than she would’ve been. She’d been unable to get out of bed for days, lying there feeling like a star fish that had washed up on the shore and was left to bake alive in the hot Australian sun.
She rolled her large eye and left the kitchen, leaving Fat Nuggets behind to continue begging for scraps from the cannibalistic deer. It wasn’t any of her concern if Alastor was getting sick anyway. He was an overlord, one of the strongest and meanest overlords at that. If he was bed ridden for a day or two that just meant that another handful of unsuspecting sinners would be spared from his wrath.
She thought of Vox. Of how ruthlessly he’d destroyed his own cities in an attempt to kill Alastor. He’d put several demons to death without a second though, and injured dozens more. He’d been prepared and willing to take the lives of every single sinner demon within the pride ring, including his own. All because of some unforgiven thing that had happened between him and the Radio Demon in the past.
Maybe Alastor deserved it. He was a monster after all. A cannibalistic serial killer who treated the pain and suffering of others as a form of entertainment. He thought so little of life that he would play the tormented screams of his victims over the radio for all to hear with absolutely no remorse. Of course whatever had happened between him and the TV demon was his fault! It had to be his fault!
She remembered the look in Vox’s eyes as he proclaimed that he wanted nothing more than to wipe the stupid smile off Alastor’s face. The single tear rolling down his screen. That was the face of someone broken and desperate, but it was also the actions of someone deranged and obsessed. Maybe it wasn’t entirely Alastor’s fault. Cherri was sure that whatever the sick and sadistic Radio Demon had done to Vox was terrible, and there wasn’t a doubt in her mind about that, but Vox was far from innocent in the matter. He was dangerously obsessed with Alastor. So completely removed from sanity that he couldn’t accept that Alastor didn’t care about him. So absolutely narcissistic that he didn’t care whose lives he took in his quest to prove he was better than the deer.
“Whatever” She thought to herself as she continued up to her room. Whatever overlord drama went down between those two power hungry cunts was none of her concern. As much as she loved gossip, when it came to overlords she couldn’t give two shits. They were all the same. Heartless evil monsters without an ounce of humanity left in their entire body.
Charlie had been trying to teach her to see the goodness in everyone, and on some level Cherri was starting to believe in the cheerful princesses' outlook on life. When it came to overlords however, they were all right where they deserved to be. Burning in Hell.
The day continued on as boring as ever. Charlie directed her and a handful of the other new residents through goodness lessons. Vaggi wandered the halls making sure everyone was completely satisfied with their stay and asked if they needed anything. Lucifer was in random places at random times, almost always with a rubber duck or two in hand, and Niffty was constantly cleaning.
Cherri gave a small smirk the few times she’d noticed the little one eyed maid's broom propped against the wall. She was never too far from it, having abandoned her post at the sight of her newest interest, Baxter.
Their budding relationship was adorable to say the least, but a part of cherri couldn’t help but feel bitter towards them. The one eyed, pink haired badass of a woman, falling head over heels for the awkward, dorky, mad scientist. Baxter, though he hadn’t admitted it to anyone yet for fear of Alastor, clearly had a high respect for Niffty. He kept becoming side tracked from his regular work to clone roaches and scientifically modify them to do tricks for her. Niffty knew he had an appreciation for her, and had him wrapped around her finger. Simply batting those big beautiful eyelashes and saying how she wished she had a rat that could help hold the dustpan for her, and he’d get to work. As cute as they were, Cherri couldn’t help but wonder if she and Pentious could’ve had what they did. If she’d caught on to his advances before he’d been redeemed, could they have been as disgustingly adorable as Niffty and Baxter were?
A crashing sound drew her out of her train of thought and she sat up straighter on the red sofa, looking away from the TV and towards the bar. Shards of broken bottles littered the ground, rivers of cheap booze and wine rushing between the pieces like a river, bubbling as it rushed over the hotel floors. Alastor was standing not but a few feet from the mess, his deer ears pinned down and a cardboard box in his arms, the bottom hanging open.
“Aw shit, Al, what happened?” She asked, quickly standing up and making her way towards him, side stepping beer and glass in her favorite pink boots. Only a few weeks ago if this had happened Cherri would’ve laughed before conveniently finding something else to do in another room, leaving the radio demon to clean up his own mess. Charlie's lessons must’ve actually been doing something, because she found herself squatting, collecting the larger shards of glass.
“I’m not sure,” Alastor replied, setting the box up on the counter before bending down to help her. “I should’ve been holding the bottom of the box, I’m not sure why I wasn’t thinking straight.”
She glanced in his direction but didn’t say anything. That weakness in his eyes was still present, possibly worse than it had been in the kitchen earlier.
They stood and carried the pieces they’d picked up around the counter, dropping them in the garbage can. Alastor grabbed a towel from underneath the bar and walked back. Cherri did the same, starting at the bottom of the streams of alcohol while Alastor began by drying the top. As she worked, she occasionally glanced back in the Radio Demon’s direction, noticing the slight tremble in his arms and legs. She kept hearing small spurts of static that sounded like they were coming from his chest, and it took her a moment to realize that he was stifling coughs, trying to keep her from hearing.
She straightened, bundling the towel up in her hands and looking down at the sticky mess on the floor.
“You look like you could use some rest, Al,” She sighed. “How about I go get Niffty to help me mop the rest of this up and you head upstairs and take a little break?”
He looked up at her, seeming like he wanted to argue at first, but stopped. “I suppose a few moments to myself wouldn’t hurt anything,” He agreed, standing up. Cherri offered him a half smile before taking the towel he’d used from him. “Would you let Charlie and Vaggi know they can find me in my tower should they need me?”
“Of course,” She agreed.
She didn’t know why she’d been expecting any kind of thank you from an overlord. He simply melted into shadows and slinked off towards the stairs. She stood for a moment before letting out a sigh and carrying the beer soaked towel towards the laundry room without bothering to shake the tinier specks of glass out of them first.
The washing machine was down in the hotel basement, the only part of their creation that wasn’t overly decorated and covered in that same Morningstar wallpaper. Cherri switched on the light before making her way down into the concrete room and plopping the towels down on the top of the machine. She considered just leaving them there, but felt guilty leaving behind small thorns of glass for Niffty or whoever did their laundry next to get stuck in their hands. Maybe she could find a sticky note and a pen to leave a message behind?
“Stupid fuzzy monsters…” A voice muttered in the darkness and she looked around, her large one eye widening.
“Niffty?”
The tiny maid stepped out of the shadows, but she wasn’t paying Cherri any attention. She was wearing the scarf that was usually tied around her neck as a do-rag tying her hair up, slick rain boots on her tiny feet, and rubber gloves on both hands. She was carefully inspecting the floor as she scurried from one end of the basement to the other, checking behind every possible hiding place.
Cherri had seen Niffty on the hunt for rats and bugs before, and she never looked so… Sanitary? She’d once witnessed the little cyclops girl grab a rat by the tail, lift it into the air, and tear it in half with her bare hands. Why was she suddenly dressed in protective gear acting as if she worried about getting blood and germs on herself?
“Niffty, what are you doing?” Cherri asked, leaning back against the washing machine with her arms crossed.
“Looking,” Niffty replied without so much as glancing in her direction, “Dead. Something’s dead or dying! Gross gross gross!”
“Right…” Cherri rolled her eye. She watched the tiny demon for a moment longer before she cleared her throat, figuring that Niffty was probably the closest to Alastor, perhaps she’d be able to shed some light on his behavior. “Hey, Niff… Do you think Alastor’s been acting a little weird today?”
“Dead!” Niffty screamed suddenly, stomping a foot on the ground. “It’s dead and alive! It’s alive but rotting! It’s disgusting! I have to clean it up!” She scrambled up the stairs, muttering and complaining about corpses and rot mucking up her spotless hotel.
“Well that was super helpful,” Cherri sighed before making her way to a shelf in the corner in hopes of finding something to write a note with.
A couple of days had passed and Cherri didn’t give Alastor’s behavior anymore thought. She’d seen him around the hotel a few times and while she hadn’t been paying him too close attention, he seemed perfectly fine.
She was able to put her focus back on things that mattered, like her little lost things. Fat Nuggets had been wandering the halls at night, squealing as he attempted to get into Angel’s old room and it was keeping the new residents up. Charlie had offered to let the piglet sleep in her room with Keekee, but Cherri knew that he’d be more comfortable with her. She used to babysit the piglet when Angel was experiencing a difficult time, so she knew he’d acclimate to her better than the princess.
Frankie, the little egg boi, had been doing better and required less attention from her, but she still found him getting himself into trouble. Just this morning she’d walked into the kitchen to fix a bowl of cereal and found him climbing into the oven. When she’d scolded him for his reckless behavior, he’d cried which only made her feel horrible. Thankfully she’d been able to distract him by getting Vaggi’s private stash of oreos off the top of the fridge and handing them to him. She’d apologize to the fallen angel later.
Now, as Charlie was setting up for their next group activity in the lobby, Cherri found herself sitting at the bar, watching Husk fiddle with a poker chip on the counter, a half empty glass of whiskey beside him. Whatever divine power that always drew her closer to lost things was apparently telling her that she needed to add Husk to her ever growing collection.
“You alright?” She asked with a sigh, watching as Charlie struggled to set up her whiteboard in the center of the room, Alastor standing nearby with a box of supplies.
“Yeah…” Husk breathed, but she could tell he didn’t mean it.
She opened her mouth to offer him some reassuring words, but closed it again. He was probably getting sick of those. She understood. She was tired of them too. Tired of hearing “Angel will come back when he’s ready” and “It’s not your fault.”
She’d known Angel for years, and while they’d gone through plenty of episodes like this, this one felt different. In the past he’d always come back eventually, and they’d move on like nothing had happened. Forget the entire ordeal and go back to being besties. This time felt heavier. It felt realer. She couldn’t confidently say if he’d be back or not.
Instead, she looked around the room for something else to distract that cat with, her eyes going back to Charlie and Alastor a few feet away. Charlie had finally set up the white board and had taken a few markers out of the box Alastor was holding to write out her lesson plan with.
“Your boss looks bored out of his mind,” She said, nodding in their direction. “He and Charlie’s personalities do not mix at all.”
Husk sat up a bit, ears pointing forward as he watched silently. Charlie was rambling on and on, telling Alastor all about her lesson plan for the day and how she came up with it. Each sentence sparking a series of side stories and explanations before circling back to the original conversation. Alastor wasn’t saying anything. He was just standing close by, ears bent back slightly in annoyance and a distant look in his eyes, like he wasn’t retaining a single word.
Husk gave a dry laugh. “I don’t know what his end goal is with this whole hotel thing, but I sure hope it’s worth it ‘cause he does not look like he’s enjoying himself in the slightest.”
Cherri giggled a little, looking back at Alastor’s face. “He looks like he’s about to fall asleep listening to her,” She sighed. Her smile faded as she took in his features again. He was smiling as always, but it looked weak and shaky, like it could shift into a frown at any given moment. His face was pale, much paler than usual, and he had dark circles under his eyes. His eyes! His eyes were dull and listless. His usually pin-point pupils dilated and unfocused. “Actually… He almost looks like he’s about to-”
She didn’t even have time to finish her sentence before Alastor’s eyes had rolled back and his body crumpled forward, landing on the ground, knocking Charlie’s whiteboard over while the princess screamed and jumped backwards.
Cherri stood from her chair, nearly knocked to the ground as a rush of wind and feathers blew past her. Husk was by his boss’s side in an instant, holding his arm out behind him to keep Charlie at a distance as he pressed two fingers into Alastor’s neck to find a pulse.
“Boss, wake up, can you hear me?” He asked in a gruff voice, “Alastor? Alastor!”