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“I knew that you’re imbecile Vox, but I didn't fully comprehend the whole extent of your stupidity. I must say, you amaze me even after all these years, old pal!” Alastor sneered, as he stood up, gripping his staff tighter. On the other side of the table, Vox also stood up, as he glared at Alastor.
Alastor brazed himself whatever that fool of a media Overlord was planning, but it seemed to be futile – Carmilla also had had enough of their bickering, now tapping the marble table with her claws. He immediately sat down, as he didn’t want to get into the bad side of Hell's sole weapons dealer. Vox can do whatever he wants – if he's stupid enough to spark an argument with Alastor, it was his own problem. Now that Alastor’s powers weren’t limited anymore, he could rip Vox apart at ease, just like he had done that day.
Carmilla stared at Vox, until the TV head sat down grumbling and glaring daggers at Alastor. Honestly, how did he acquire a new body so fast? He had thought that Valentino and Velvette had already had enough of him and were not willing to help him anymore. Maybe he was wrong and there still was some sense of loyalty between those three. What a shame that his manipulation wasn’t fully successful. Oh well, at least he was free of his shackles now, bound to no one.
“If you two are done, do we have time to discuss the matter why Vox had us all to be gathered here?” Carmilla's voice was so low that Alastor had to perk his ears to be able to hear her. She really did know how to take the situation back in her control. Alastor could almost applaud her.
“Certainly. Like I was about to say, before I was so rudely interrupted by Vox, it is madness to go against Charlie and her hotel yet. First of all, she has Lucifer on her side and -”
“And you! Of course you aren’t going to destroy your own project, Alastor! You have vested interest in the matter and this is why you shouldn’t be here in the first place!”
Alastor gritted his teeth. Vox really tried his nerves and what’s worse, he was right. Alastor couldn’t go against the hotel, he still lived there. He had invested too much time and effort to throw it all away. And also, he couldn’t do that to Lucifer. They had grown quite close after the events of Vox's failed takeover, bonding over the fact that they had been in similar situations. Alastor had to admit that he had grown fond of the short King.
“Nothing to say, Alastor? You’re not even trying to defend yourself? Hah, you have grown soft, old man!” Vox laughed, as he leaned back on his chair, enjoying the attention that overlords were giving to him.
“What exactly are you trying to prove here, Vox?” Alastor asked snarling, his ears flat against his head. “I don't need to explain my interests to you.”
Vox's screen flashed, a clear sign of him getting angry. Alastor smiled satisfied. Weakling. A true overlord wouldn't let their emotions get the best of them, affecting their ability to make sound decisions.
“I demand respect! I captured you, you were my prisoner, Satan's sake!”
“I save my respect for those who could actually hurt me. After all, I allowed you to capture me. Or are you so blind not to see it even now? Poor Vox, your ability to self-deceit is admirable. And true respect is yearned, not begged.. or do I need to remind you what I can do?”
The room temperature dropped a few degrees, as both men stared at each other. The other one's face was filled with rage and contempt, while the other was passive, not letting his emotions show. Alastor’s antlers were grown, faint radiostatic filling the air in the immediate vicinity of him. He stretched his claws, ready to rip those cables out of that poor bastard's body.
“That's enough, both of you! This meeting is over! The souls we own can go to the hotel, if they wish to redeem themselves, we will get new ones! And Vox, I will not listen to any objections!” Carmilla's voice broke the tension. Alastor smiled at her charmingly, a smile which she didn't answer to. Fuck.
“Thank you for this meeting, it has been the most productive one! Now if you'll excuse me, duties call.. I have deals to be made, new areas to expand.” Alastor said, his chair's legs screeching against the floor as he pushed his chair back. Nodding to Zestial and Carmilla, he walked out of the room before anyone else could say anything.
He was almost out of the building as he heard that annoying voice behind him. It was so close..
“I know what you’re doing, Alastor! And I will make sure that you will fail!” Vox threatened him, pulling him back. Alastor shrugged his hand off before turning to face the other demon.
“I'd like to see you try. After all, my radio broadcasts have been awfully silent for quite some time now..”
Alastor enjoyed the look of fear of his enemy's face, as he stared at Alastor in shock. Of course he wasn’t about to start ripping apart souls now, but he would know the first victim if it ever came to it. But Vox didn't know that and that's how Alastor wanted to keep it. Laughing, he melted into the shadows, leaving stunned Vox behind.
Once he was back at the hotel, he let out an irritated huff. Some unfortunate sinner saw him, letting out an undignified yelp before running away. Perhaps that was for the best, he really wasn’t in the best possible mood.
Flickering lights annoyed him. Normally he loved the time of Christmas, or Sinsmas as it was called in Hell, but now he couldn’t relax. The hotel felt too full, too bright and too loud. The lobby was full of tacky decor, strings of flashing lights and music. Now, Alastor loved music, but Sinsmas music was just nervewrecking. Maybe he could use it as a torture method.
The happy voices in the parlor pulled him towards the room, eager to find out what caused such a ruckus. Probably some sort of Charlie's group exercise again. Alastor couldn’t help but wonder about the girl’s cheery spirit.
“Alastor! I’m so happy you could join us! Look, Emily brought us koalas from Heaven, they are so cuddly and soft and -” Alastor didn't hear the rest of what Charlie said, because the girl had buried her face into the fur. The poor animal looked like it wanted to be somewhere else, its tiny limbs kicking the air.
“Charlie dear, I believe that Emily would like koalas back intact. I appreciate your enthusiasm, but now I don't want to engage in this frivolous activity.” Alastor turned away, not caring of the dirty looks he knew was directed towards his back. He felt a bang of guilt, since he had been snappier than he wanted, but right now Charlie's overwhelming cheery attitude was too much for him to handle.
“What the fuck is wrong with you, Alastor! Can't you even bother to stay with us, is our company so repulsive to you?” Vaggie's voice cut the air, as the fallen exorcist called out after him. Alastor wasn’t going to answer the accusation, she knew well enough when she would go too far and when she needed to stop.
“As pleasant as this conversation has been, I really need to leave now.”
He was sure that Vaggie was about to say something, but he left. He had to make dinner. Maybe something from Maman's cook book? Or perhaps jambalaya?
He started preparing the ingredients, deep in his thoughts. Residents knew that they shouldn’t disturb him when he was in the kitchen, unless they wanted to leave one limb behind. For ingredients, of course. Alastor wasn’t picky where he got his meat nowadays, since he and Rosie haven't been in speaking terms lately.
“What in the unholy Hell did you say to Charlie? She has been down ever since you left! Is it so hard to be nice even once in your afterlife?”
Alastor growled. Great, this was just the thing he wanted. Now where was that whiskey?
“Lucifer, nice to see you too. Whiskey?” Alastor poured two glasses, one for him and other for Lucifer. When Lucifer almost slapped the offered glass off from his hold, he took it back and drank it. No way he's going to waste a perfectly good drink.
“THE ANSWER ALASTOR! WHAT DID YOU SAY?” Lucifer’s horns appeared now from his skull and he breathed fire, his tails swooshing angrily behind him. So much for the niceties then.
“... I said something about possibly choking koalas.” Alastor stopped his cutting, the knife hovering over the onions. He didn’t want to look at Lucifer.
“What am I going to do with you? You can't just go around and insult everyone. I don't know where Charlie gets her patience, I would have kicked you already.” Lucifer huffed, his voice full of exasperation.
Alastor bared his teeth at him. “Then I'm lucky that you're not my business partner. I wouldn't want to watch you either.”
“You're an asshole, you know that right?”
That stung. Alastor wanted to say something, but Lucifer was already somewhere else, having portaled himself away. Well, they can reconcile later. Now he had to finish cooking.
~~~~~~~~~~
The next time never came. They both were busy, Alastor with the hotel duties and Lucifer with ruling Hell and everything. So they did like what every sane adult would do and avoided each other. Well, except when they started arguing about petty little things. Then they were at each other’s throats.
Even though they lived on the different wings of the hotel, after a week of tense, easily breakable peace Alastor tried to find some excuse to pass Lucifer’s room. Whether it was the “accidentally” shattered pipe (thank you, Niffty dear) or some argument between residents (for fuck sake Husker, stop pouring them alcohol), he always found a reason. But he was too stubborn or prideful to admit when he was wrong (not that he had ever been wrong in his entire life) and so was Lucifer (definitely Lucifer’s fault), apparently. God damn it.
But now he’s had enough. Angel had pissed him off majorly this time and he needed to let out some steam. How hard it was for that spider to understand that he didn’t want to hear any flirting directed towards him?
He didn’t even bother to knock on Lucifer’s door, just using his shadows to get him past the locked door. Lucifer was nowhere to be seen, but somehow the large pile of rubber ducks on the bed convinced him that Lucifer was under them. Alastor smirked, then used his shadow to dig into the pile of ducks, until he saw a glimpse of the familiar pink horror.
“Sire! Glad to see your fashion sense hasn’t improved, you still look like a clown!” Alastor greeted Lucifer as the other man peered at him under the ducks. His expression reminded him of Charlie’s when she was crying after Heaven rejected her and her little hotel. Oh how much father and daughter resembled each other!
“What do you want, asshole?” Lucifer asked quietly, burying himself with ducks once more. Alastor plopped himself on the bed.
“Well, I crave for entertainment, of course! After our last discussion I have missed your charming company and how you will always provide an endless source of amusement with your antics! Exactly like what you’re doing right now!” Alastor laughed, picking up one duck and throwing it at Lucifer’s face. It squeaked, as it hit him, causing Alastor to laugh even louder while holding his stomach.
“I’m not in the mood for your games right now, Alastor.” Lucifer mumbled, his voice barely hearable. Alastor just chose not to care and continued.
“What got you out of sorts today? Once again you’re ignoring your daughter and her hotel, what a splendid role model of a father you are! Truly, a father of a year!”
Alastor didn’t even know what hit him. Suddenly he found himself on the floor, kneeling as his own shadows were used against him.
“Don’t you dare to talk to me like that, Alastor! I have had enough of your bullshit! GET OUT!”
Even as he was released from his binds, Alastor was still, not daring to move. Lucifer was in front of him, spewing fire from his mouth as his eyes had turned red and horns were grown. He had spread all of his six wings, intimidating Alastor as the eyes on his coat opened up, staring right into Alastor’s soul, laying bare all of his secrets and desires.
His ears were flat against his head, tail between his legs. He stared with wide eyes as Lucifer returned to his normal form, before quickly melting into the shadows and teleporting himself out of the room. He didn’t know where he would go, he just let his legs lead him somewhere. No matter where, anywhere would be safer right now except in close vicinity of Lucifer.
He didn’t even register at first where he was. He woke up from his stupor to find out that he was pouring himself a coffee and Angel had probably yelled at him for a few minutes. After a few calming breaths, he shook his head and turned to look at the spider demon.
“Excuse me, what did you say?” He asked, with a tone he hoped was pleasant and conversational. Something was off though, as he noticed Angel looking at him with a raised brow.
“You ok, Smiles? I just wanted to apologise for my behavior earlier today. I won’t call you prissy again.”
“It’s quite alright.”
Alastor continued drinking his coffee, trying to focus on the newspaper. Angel kept staring at him though, making it difficult to concentrate. It was becoming bothersome.
“Is there anything else I can do for you, Angel?” He asked, putting down his newspaper while sipping his coffee. So much for that peace and quiet.
“You can tell me what's bothering you. You have been angrier than usual, picking fights with everyone. Your behavior is starting to be similar like before, but now it’s worse. Everyone is just waiting for you to blow up and obliterate everything! Charlie has been super depressed ever since the koala-incident and you’re not even bothering to apologise!”
Alastor was startled. He thought that he had hidden his frustrations well enough, but maybe that’s not the case. His mood was affecting everyone, making them afraid of his presence – normally that would have made him happy but now.. now it felt bad. Maybe his quarrel with Lucifer was affecting him more than he had realised.
Angel had calmed down. Alastor could sense him looking at him, head tilted. He didn’t want to face him.
“Is everything ok between you and the short king?”
There was a hand on his back. Normally he would shrug it off, threatening to rip the hand off. But now it provides security and understanding. Maybe a little bit of comfort. It reminded him of his mother, when he had been a little boy and his mother had caught him when he had been doing something bad.
“.. I might have messed things up.”
There it was. He didn’t want to admit when he was wrong, but something fell off his shoulders when he said those words. Like he was able to breathe more freely and his thoughts were cleared. But now he waited for the worst part. Pity. The silence stretched, both men sat without saying the words and Angel took his hand off from Alastor’s back.
“How did you fuck things up?”
Alastor was startled. How exactly was he wrong? He had snapped at Lucifer, made Charlie cry and had been mean to Lucifer again, when the other man was down. His normal behavior, but maybe he had been slightly more.. evil than he would have normally been? Where did it start?
His eyes widened. Oh. Oh. That overlord meeting where Vox had gotten under his skin. How he had defended the hotel in his own way, only being talked down by that insufferable TV head. But that’s how they normally behaved, they traded insults back and forth. Alastor had never taken them into his heart. What was different now?
That fucking annoying picture box clown had said something about Alastor and Lucifer.. it was a veiled threat, something about their relationship. How Alastor would ruin everything, like he had done before. How it was in his blood to fuck things up, because he didn’t deserve happiness. And how Lucifer would see it sooner or later and leave him, like everyone else left.
Has he gone soft? Being in a relationship meant nothing for him. But somehow, it made him sad and angry to think about the possibility of losing Lucifer. Maybe he had been trying to spark a fight, so he would see how Lucifer was reacting and giving him a reason to leave Alastor.
But he wanted this. He wanted to be together with Lucifer. They were different, yes, but that’s why they work so well together. How does that saying go? Opposites complete each other?
“Uuuhhmm, Smiles? Is everything ok?” Angel’s voice brought him back.
“Why, yes! Of course! Thank you Angel, you have given me a lot to think about!”
He didn’t want to wait for Angel's answer, so he walked out of the kitchen as quickly as he could. He wasn’t going to tell Angel anything that he had thought about, as far as he knew, he still worked for Valentino, who could tell Vox everything.
He had to make things right and he had a plan.
~~~~~~~~~~
Everything was ready. The candles were lit and there was a fire in the fireplace. The wine has been poured, he usually didn’t like to drink wine, but for Lucifer.. maybe he can survive from one night drinking wine and nothing stronger?
Suddenly Alastor felt so nervous. He knew that he had messed up badly and this was just a poor attempt to make things right. But if there was one thing in his life that he was sure about, it was this – he wanted this, he needed this.
There was a knock on his door. Alastor quickly dimmed the lights before opening the door, letting Lucifer in.
“What do you want, Alastor? I don’t have time for your mindfucking right now.”
Lucifer’s cold voice made Alastor’s heart ache. He had deserved that, but still it hurt so much even to think about the possibility of Lucifer never forgiving him. It moved something inside of him, something which he had thought he didn’t have.
“I’m sorry Lucifer, about everything.” Alastor didn’t want to look at Lucifer’s eyes, but he felt the energy shift in the room. The air became colder and the flames grew higher and hotter. It made him even more nervous.
“You’re joking. This is one of your schemes, isn’t it? Some elaborate game or a cruel joke?”
Alastor looked up and saw that Lucifer was about to leave. He panicked and pulled Lucifer back, close to him. Not caring how it might have looked, he kept Lucifer close.
“No it isn’t! I don’t want to lose you!” His voice broke. “Just like I have lost everyone else in my life..”
He was crying. He hasn’t cried since he was a little boy, after the other boys made him cry because of some bullshit they said about him. It felt weird, to be able to shed a tear after decades.
There was a hand on his cheek, swiping away his tears. Alastor lifted his eyes, looking straight into Lucifer’s eyes. They were filled with worry and care, not hate. He let out a hiccup.
“Shhh, Alastor, everything is alright. There is no need to cry, I’m not going to leave you.” Lucifer said quietly, while looking at Alastor. Then he led both of them to sit in front of the fireplace, on the rugs which Alastor had placed there.
“You’re safe, nothing is going to hurt you. We’re ok, we’re together.” Lucifer continued, while hugging Alastor.
Alastor could feel the sense of calmness washing over him. Lucifer was here. He wasn’t going to leave Alastor. Everything will be well again. He looked at Lucifer who was letting his eyes wander over the room, picking up the little details.
“You have set up the place to be quite nice. I appreciate it, thank you Bambi.” Lucifer said gently and laughed as Alastor made a face because of that stupid nickname.
“I wanted to apologise for my behavior..”
“No need to! But I appreciate that you wanted to. I’m sorry as well, Sins have been causing trouble and I have been trying to mitigate the damages. I guess we both have been on the edge and took it out on each other. But it doesn’t matter anymore, let’s enjoy this evening.”
Alastor didn’t reply, instead he leaned on to Lucifer who wrapped his arms around him tighter. They watched together as the flames danced in the fireplace, cuddling each other. There was nothing else that they needed to say.