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Chapter Text

"Absolutely not!"

"Aw, c'mon, baby, don't be like that."

The grin on Alastor's face became strained, and the soft static buzz that followed him everywhere grew in volume, distorting slightly. He'd had his limits pushed far enough that day, and he didn't need them pushed further, he felt drained enough already. "I'm perfectly comfortable over here, thank you."

"Just five minutes, baby. 'Til I'm done with work." Valentino pushed, exaggerated pout on his face. "I won't even touch you, promise."

Alastor only glared at him. He wasn't going to budge. The other Overlord could beg and pout to his heart's content, but nothing he did was going to convince the Radio Demon to get up from his spot on the couch and move to his damned lap. Like Alastor was some kind of child, or even worse, a lapdog.

Lap-sitting was far too much, Valentino was lucky that Alastor was even still hanging around. He could have left after the third kiss, or the grope that had him almost breaking an arm, but he'd stayed at Val's request, tolerating the demon's company. Just tolerating, no longer enjoying like he had been at the start of their visit.

In all honesty, Alastor shouldn't have been surprised.

Valentino was always one to push. Greedy and insatiable. Though in the three months they'd been doing this... dating thing... he'd been quite gentlemanly. Respecting of Alastor's boundaries, always asking before doing, and on the rare occasions he acted without thinking, he'd accept whatever punishment Alastor dished out without complaint - it was often met with a cheeky grin and a thank you. But that being said, sometimes Valentino was stubborn and persistent and didn't want to take no for an answer, none-too-gently coaxing Alastor out of his comfort zone.

This was clearly one of those times. Val wanted the smaller demon perched on his lap, and he was going to pull out all the stops to make it happen.

"Al, sweetheart-"

The nicknames had the deer bristling, a static screech piercing the air. Any other time he'd allow them, even enjoy them, but not right then.

Valentino visibly winced, and Alastor's smile grew just a bit.

"Okay, okay, look-" Val crossed his lower set of arms behind his back, and then raised his top pair, "-and I need these to work, so. No touching. Scout's honour. And you can get up whenever you want, and I'll even pick you up a lil' snack before you leave, how's that sound?"

Alastor had never been one to curse, but he was tempted in that moment. The thought of a snack had his mouth watering, had him actually reconsidering his choice for a split second. He could survive a few minutes, as long as Valentino didn't touch him again.

He tutted, tapped his shoes on the floor once, twice, then stood. "Five minutes." He relented.

The pimp barked out a laugh, "Knew you'd come around, baby." He patted his lap, "Come to Daddy."

A record scratch sounded in the air, followed by complete silence.

"I'm not a dog!" Alastor hissed through the sweetest smile he could muster, white noise returning, only to be drowned out by a louder static, muffling the rest of the demon's words, "And if you continue to refer to yourself in that manner, I will walk right out of that door and leave you with only yourself for company."

Valentino raised his hands placatingly, "Read you loud and clear, Bambi, you can turn off the theatrics."

Alastor stared at him. That nickname was new, and he had no idea what it meant. Well, Valentino could be quite weird at times, Alastor wouldn't put it past him to start making up pet names.

Thoughts on the new name put aside, would it really hurt to indulge Val for just a moment? He stayed in place until he felt ready to head over to the Overlord - all but dragging his feet, shoes not making the clicking sound they usually did as they walked. "Your arms, if you don't mind."

The lower pair returned to hiding behind Val's back, the upper pair held out of the way so Alastor could seat himself sideways in the pimp's lap. They remained that way as Alastor wriggled, trying to find a comfortable position, then they lowered to the keyboard in front of him. Attached to one of those computer devices Alastor didn't care to learn anything about.

It wasn't the worst thing, Alastor had to admit. Valentino's legs were surprisingly soft, and they were covered by the thick material of his coat, adding to the comfort. He was warm too. The only drawback was that he couldn't turn his head towards the demon without getting a mouthful of fur. He found himself leaning away, almost resting against the desk instead.

Val didn't say anything about it, and Alastor couldn't tell if he even wanted to, glare from the screen reflecting off of those ridiculous glasses and obscuring his eyes.

He sighed, reaching up to pluck them from his face and drop them on the desk, folded neatly. "Better."

Valentino arched a questioning eyebrow.

Alastor didn't answer, instead he reached up a hand, gently cupping the other demon's face, "You might be the most insufferable demon I've ever met, and have the worst sense of fashion, and-"

"Is this going anywhere, sweetheart, or are you just trying to insult me?"

"If you let me finish, darling." Alastor patted the demon's cheek and waited a moment, when he didn't open his mouth he continued, "I was going to say, before you so rudely interrupted, that despite those things... I do still quite like you!"

A muffled round of applause sounded in the air, taking away from the seriousness of what Alastor had just said, but it didn't change how the smile on his face was a little more real than it was previously. And it was true, Alastor couldn't deny that little fact, for as annoying as Valentino could be, his feelings for the smaller Overlord were genuine, and it was proven time and again by how determined he was to make him happy.

To prove his own little statement further, he leaned up, carefully avoiding that dreaded fur collar, and pressed a chaste kiss to Val's cheek.

A grin filled with red teeth and one glinting gold one were what greeted Alastor when he settled back down. "Baby." Valentino breathed, "The things you do to me."

He was struggling to keep his hands where they were, twitching on the desk and shifting behind him.

Alastor let him suffer for a moment or two, before he took a hold of one of Val's lower arms. He carefully positioned one hand to settle on his hip, and the other on his knee, "Two hands only, and they stay right there."

"Aw, baby, you spoil me." The pimp gushed, pulling Alastor against his chest, leaning down as he did so, so their faces were just inches apart, "May I?"

Alastor offered up his cheek, knowing it wasn't what the other was asking for, but also knowing he'd take what he could get. He allowed Valentino to kiss him as many times as he wanted for the next few moments before pulling away, "Do you not have more work to attend to?"

"One more?"

"You're pushing it."

"All right, all right." Val huffed, letting his chin drop to rest on top of Alastor's head as he turned his attention back to the computer. The hands on his hip and knee stayed where they were, grip firm.

They were only able to enjoy a few moments of peace before Valentino's hellphone started ringing.

"The fuck?" He growled, "What part of 'don't disturb me' do those idiots not understand?" He grabbed it and answered, speaking before whoever called could get a word in, "You better have a damn good reason for interrupting me when I specifically stated that I didn't want any calls for the rest of the day."

Silence, then the sound of something cracking.

"That's it? That's it? A question that you could have asked any other demon in this damn place? You better start praying, because when I'm done here..."

Alastor tuned out the rest of Valentino's threats. He couldn't help the shiver that raced down his spine at the sound of them, the other ways that his body reacted. For a second, just a second, he wondered what would happen if he let Val move his hands. Would the one on his knee inch upwards? Would Alastor just sit there and let it? Part his thighs for better access?

He shivered at the thoughts. He'd hardly let the pimp kiss him with tongue, let alone touch him with anything that even resembled sexual intimacy. Previously, when Val had gotten a little too handsy, it had resulted in a black eye and a broken hand, and Alastor refusing to even see the Overlord for a week afterwards.

Yet when Valentino spoke like that, all threats dripping with venom, graphic descriptions of ways he could inflict pain on others, Alastor was weak. The thoughts filled his head, beating at his resolve, telling him he should just give in, allow those hands to touch, wherever they pleased. He was hyperaware of the pressure on his knee, his hip, the warmth starting to feel more like a scorching heat that threatened to overwhelm him.

Parts of Alastor were starting to wake up that he positively did not want to wake.

A pat on his knee pulled him out of his thoughts, dragging his attention back to the demon who's lap he was currently sitting on.

"Sorry about that, baby."

"It's quite all right!" Alastor reassured, plastering on the smile that had started to fall during his fantasizing. "I certainly can't complain! I'd be lying if I said I don't enjoy seeing your... more serious side. Big, scary, bossman Valentino is quite a sight to behold."

"Flattery gets you nowhere, sweetheart. Well-" Valentino flashed a predatory grin, "-It'll take you places you don't want to go."

Maybe Alastor did want to go to those places.

Maybe.

"Hmm, then I suppose I'll keep the compliments to myself..." Alastor trailed off, stayed silent just long enough that Val thought he was done talking, "I definitely won't share that I think you're very handsome, behind the fur and ugly zebra print. Nor will I share how much I like seeing your hands crushing the life out of some worthless demon. Nor will I share the fact that sometimes you say things that... really make me want to rethink my boundaries." He wasn't facing the Overlord as he spoke, but he knew he was being watched, red eyes trying to see into his very soul. Alastor hummed, primly crossed his legs, "No, I don't think I will share any of that!"

"Al. Baby. Sweetheart. Darling. Are you sure you want to keep running that pretty little mouth of yours?"

Sharp claws were digging into Alastor's flesh, piercing through layers of clothes. A pity. He really liked that suit, but it couldn't be helped, he'd willingly brought it upon himself after all.

"I'm sure I don't know what you're talking about, my good friend!"

A third hand joined the two already on the Radio Demon and clutched him tightly, but didn't do anything further. Large teeth nipped at his ear, "Behave."

Alastor scoffed, "The amount of times I've told you that exact thing and you've done the complete opposite-"

"Then do as I say, not as I do."

Alastor jabbed a sharpened claw into Valentino's chest, "If you were any other demon I would have torn your heart out for that!"

"It's a good job you like me then, huh, Bambi?"

"I suppose it is."

Jazz music could be heard as Alastor stood from Valentino's lap. He let his feet tap to the rythm, enjoying the feel of them being on the ground again - Val was just too damn tall - as well as the way Val stiffened, thinking Alastor had had enough. But it wasn't long before he was resettling himself in the other Overlord's lap. This time with his back settled comfortably against Val's chest.

He caught a glimpse of what was on the computer's screen - names and numbers - but he still didn't care, so crossed his arms over his chest, and let his head fall back, pillowed against the pimp's fur collar. His eyes slipped closed and it looked like he was trying to fall asleep, which he wasn't, but it would be good if Valentino thought that. Gave Alastor a chance to figure out a gameplan.

Said demon's lower set of arms wrapped loosely around Alastor's waist, careful not to make him feel caged in, "You're a strange one, baby, but that's just one of the reasons I like you so damn much."

They lapsed into silence as Alastor thought about how to proceed, soft jazz echoing in the background. He had to go through with... whatever it was he was trying to do, he decided. He felt like there was an itch under his skin, an itch that wouldn't go away if he simply ignored it. It could only be soothed by Valentino's hands on him, touching places Alastor dare not even touch with his own hands, but how to go about that... the other demon would be easily convinced but Alastor wouldn't, couldn't, just ask for anything.

How would Alastor even voice that, when he couldn't even say those words in his own head? It wasn't possible. He couldn't tell Valentino... but he could show him. Taking any of his clothes off was out of the question, but he didn't need to do that to show the demon exactly what he wanted.

The only problem was Alastor didn't know how to be... sexy...

Valentino liked to use that word to describe him. Usually when the Radio Demon was fighting, usually when he was covered in blood, usually when a sadistic grin was all but splitting his face in half.

It was frustrating. He felt like he was running circles in his mind.

"Having trouble sleeping?"

"Pardon?" Alastor's eyes flickered open and he tilted his head back to look Valentino in the eye, silently reprimanding himself for letting his annoyance at his situation show.

"You sounded like you were- oh." The grin that tugged at Valentino's lips was hungry, sultry. Hot breath ghosted across Alastor's ear, making it twitch, then it was briefly caught in sharp teeth. "Were you having naughty little thoughts, Bambi?"

"I don't-"

Oh.

Oh.

While Alastor was lost in his musings, his body had been reacting. Now he- well, there was an obvious bulge in the front of his pants that Valentino couldn't take his eyes off of.

"Aw, baby, is that all for me?"

A loud buzz of static was filling the air, making it crackle like electricity. Enough so that Valentino certainly felt it, removing his hands with a flinch like he'd been shocked.

"Al, are you all right?"

The demon wasn't sure. He didn't like the idea of his body doing things without his knowledge, and it produced emotions he was unfamiliar with. Ones he'd rather keep buried deep down where they'd have no hope of rising to the surface.

Valentino would back off if Alastor told him to, and he was more than capable of enforcing his boundaries on his own, that thought gave him comfort as he made his next decision.

"...Alastor?"

Alastor lifted his hands to bury them in the Overlord's fur collar, then arched his back. The static softened, "I didn't say you had to remove your hands."

Valentino tilted his head, "So I can-"

"Yes!" He cried, and after a moment's hesitation, spread his thighs so Val could see exactly where he was being allowed to put his hands.

"Shit, baby, are you sure? I-"

Tired of waiting, Alastor grabbed a hold of one of Valentino's lower hands and placed it on his groin, gasping loudly at the fire that was lit under his skin from the contact.

Almost immediately, two arms wrapped tightly around his chest, and Val's last free hand squeezed at his thigh, preventing Alastor from slamming them closed on reflex. "I ain't going any further without a safeword, Bambi."

It took a second for Alastor to process the words, "What?"

"A safeword." Valentino repeated, "You know what that is, right?"

Alastor shook his head.

"It's what you say to stop all this, completely. Better than just saying stop, 'cause a lot of people say that in the heat of the moment without really meaning it, ya know?" Valentino explained patiently, keeping his hands completely still, treating Alastor like a scared animal that would bolt at the slightest movement. Though Alastor was much more fight than flight.

"And you want me to have one...?"

"Yeah. Can be anything, sweetheart, just not something you think you'd say during sex, of course."

Some thinking, then, "Jambalaya."

A soft chuckle from Valentino, "All right, baby, you want me to stop at any point, just say jambalaya."

Then, without giving Alastor a chance to say anything else, the hand on his crotch squeezed. He gasped so harshly at the sudden jolt of pleasure it almost hurt his throat, and his claws seized Val's arms, digging in enough to draw blood.

Luckily, Val understood the gesture as Alastor simply trying to hold onto something, not as an attack or a sign to stop, because fuck Alastor didn't want him to stop. He panted as he rolled his hips up, seeking friction, "I-I've never-..." He tried, but stopped himself, unable to admit it.

"Never what, baby?" Valentino prodded gently, "Never touched yourself?"

Alastor shook his head.

Valentino huffed a laugh, "Always made others do it for you, huh? Bet you had some pretty guys and gals throwing themselves at your feet."

Alastor shook his head again, "No, I-," He swallowed, "I never..."

The pimp stilled, "You never... did anything...? Ever? Not even when you were alive?"

The Radio Demon had never been ashamed of his virgin status, he'd just never been interested in sex, and had better things to focus on than self-pleasuring. When he died, he'd been focused on exploring his powers, learning everything he could about how things worked and who the Overlords were. There had just never been time, and Alastor had never cared about making time, had never cared to find out what he was 'missing out on'.

Telling Valentino all of that, a demon who's entire afterlife revolved around the subject of sex, however, made Alastor feel almost... embarrassed, perhaps.

"But don't worry about that, my good friend!" Alastor laughed nervously, "If you could just continue before I change my mind and you lose this opportunity..."

"Fuck, Al, I'm gonna make you feel so good." Valentino breathed, "I can show you so much if you let me, baby." Just like that, his hands were everywhere. Stroking over Alastor's crotch, his chest, his thighs. Teeth nipped at his ears and lips brushed his neck, lightly at first, before growing harsher, daring to leave marks.

Alastor did his best to stop thinking about what was happening, to just let himself feel, get lost in the sensations, trust Val to take care of him, to not take advantage of the deer in such a vulnerable state. The pleasure was all so new to him, unfamiliar, and he hated how it seemed to sap all of his self control, but he also loved it. He wouldn't mind doing this more often, with Valentino there to guide him, never judging. Not so soon though, Alastor didn't think he could handle that.

A brush of claws on the bare skin of his stomach had Alastor jolting from his thoughts, kicking his leg and catching the desk, sending some items clattering to the floor.

"Too much?"

"Let's stick with touching over clothes only."

"That's fine, baby, I can work with that." Valentino purred, growing more bold, "Why don't you help me out here, hm? Fuck my hand, make yourself feel good."

Alastor sucked in a breath, twisted around to look Val in the face properly. He watched him for a moment, taking in red eyes and red teeth, building up the courage to cover Val's hand with his own and start moving his hips.

It took him a full minute to do so, and when Valentino felt the movement his grin widened, then one of his free hands was moving to grip Alastor's face and drag him into a rough kiss. All lips and tongue and clashing fangs, hunger and need, the taste of blood as someone got nicked.

"You're so fucking hot, ya know that?" Valentino panted when he pulled away, "Don't even need to try, baby, just fuck. Would you allow me to share some thoughts?"

"Share away!" Alastor hummed, licking a stray drop of blood away from the corner of his mouth, delighting in the taste of it. He couldn't wait for that snack he'd been promised. "I can easily shut you up if I get bored of your voice!"

"Funny." Val snorted, stealing another kiss before sharing his first idea, "I wanna see you ride me, baby, right here, in this chair."

Alastor's hand tightened over Valentino's, the scene flashing through his mind. Him naked, in the pimp's lap, bouncing without a care in the world. It wasn't... the worst image, and he let his eyes slip closed as his hips rocked into his and Valentino's joined hands. "We'll see." He said quietly, hoping it sounded more composed than he felt. "What else?"

Valentino leaned back in his chair, taking Alastor with him. The angle would be harder for Alastor to chase his pleasure, and much more amusing for Val to watch. "I want to see you on your knees, between my legs, choking on my cock."

The sound that escaped Alastor's mouth at that was the first real moan he'd made.

He didn't miss the way Valentino bucked his hips underneath him, or the way he cursed softly against his ear.

And that's when he felt Valentino's reaction to the situation, and Alastor didn't know how he'd manage to forget that. Of course this was going to arouse the pimp.

A small part of Alastor was fighting to say the safeword, get himself out of he situation immediately, pretend it never happened, pretend that nothing had ever happened with Valentino.

He quickly silenced it.

Actively drowned the voice out.

"Ah, there we go! I was beginning to think you weren't actually able to get it up for me!"

It came out a tad more self conscious than the Radio Demon intended it to.

He wasn't given much time to dwell on it, because Val was surging up from the chair, Alastor in his grasp. The world spun around him and his back hit something. Instantly he was alert, prepared for a fight, muscles tense, the air filled with harsh static and the sound of rapidly switching stations.

But no one was trying to hurt him.

Alastor was on his back on Valentino's desk, the larger Overlord looming over him. All four of his hands were resting on the desk, one either side of Alastor's head and one either side of his hips. They weren't trying to cage him in, keep him pinned, he could escape easily if he wanted to.

The only thing keeping him pinned was Valentino's fierce gaze.

"Ya really think I'm not into you? Al, baby, you know how many times I had to hide a boner from you so I didn't make you uncomfortable? Try every single time you've been within my line of sight." Valentino spoke softly, looming closer with every word, "Every time I see you fight, see you kill, see you covered in blood, every time you broadcast into that little microphone of yours. Everything you do goes straight to my dick, I haven't been this horny since I was a damn teenager."

Alastor could feel his face turning as red as his coat at the honesty. "W-well- uh- ahem." He swallowed, took a deep breath, tried again with his usual energy, "Well you have more freedom now than you've ever had before, so why don't you take advantage!"

"Clothes still have to stay on?"

"Preferably."

Valentino nodded, then quick as a flash seized Alastor's hips in his lower pair of hands, pulled the Radio Demon flush against him, and oh Alastor could feel that with more clarity than before with this new angle.

"You feel that?"

Alastor nodded.

"That's how hard you get me, Bambi, and you were hardly doing anythin'." Val rolled his hips as emphasis and Alastor gasped, the movement grinding their crotches together.

Valentino stopped talking, choosing instead to bite and lick at Alastor's throat, rocking his hips again, and again, and again.

Alastor could hardly think through the fog of pleasure, the sensation so new to him, so overwhelming. All he could do was cling to Valentino's fur collar, and try not to let the noises he was making force the grin from his face. To think something he'd been avoiding for so long could feel so good, it was similar to the high he felt when he claimed a life, when he devoured flesh, but so, so different all the while.

Hands were roaming all over his body, feeling like so many more than just four. In his hair and over his chest, his hips, his rump.

That's where a pair of them stilled, groping at one particular spot at the base of Alastor's spine, and his little secret was found out.

"Either you shit yourself at some point, or that's a tail I feel."

Alastor barked a laugh, "I'm sure you'll be happy to know that it is, in fact, a tail!"

"Aw, baby, you just keep getting better and better. Let me touch it," Valentino begged, not trying to hide even an ounce of his desperation, "Please let me touch it."

The deer hadn't even finished nodding before hands were pawing at his clothes, pulling up his shirt and his pants down, to reveal the bundle of red and white fluff.

Pleasure struck Alastor like a lightning bolt when hands finally touched him there. The first time he'd ever felt hands other than his own touching a place so intimate. Valentino was the only demon aside from Alastor himself to even know it was there. It was one of his best kept secrets, along with the details of his life topside.

Valentino was moaning like he was the one being touched - granted he was humping Alastor like his survival depended on it - and babbling an endless string of praise for the demon beneath him.

Alastor soaked it all up. Revelling in the fact that he could ask Val to do anything and he would, not because he was afraid of his power, but because he wanted to. That kind of power was dizzying. Though nothing compared to the pleasure Val was making him feel in that moment.

"You close, baby?" The pimp rasped, forehead resting against Alastor's shoulder, "Tell me you're close, gonna be embarrassing if I cum first."

Alastor... honestly couldn't tell. Having never done this before, he had no parameters for what close and work harder, buddy felt like.

The thought of embarrassing Valentino was too good to resist though.

"I take it you're close then?"

"Not my fault." Val mumbled, "Been making me wait too damn long."

"Then..." Alastor trailed off, gathered up the last of his dignity and-

"Won't you cum for me, Daddy...?"

Valentino's reaction was instantaneous. Four hands tightly grabbed a hold of Alastor, claws drawing blood at every point they touched, forcing him to stay still. Hips stuttered and stilled. Teeth sank into his shoulder to muffle the shout.

That is what finished Alastor off, that sharp sting of pain.

He was glad for the fact that Val was hiding his face, so he didn't see the moment Alastor's smile slipped from his face. Get Alastor to finally do something sexual for once? Sure. Touch his tail? Sure. See him without a smile? Nope. Maybe one day, it was inevitable with the way things were going, but right then, he was prepared to claw the Overlord's eyes out to stop him from seeing that particular brand of vulnerable.

Alastor clung tight to the pimp until he'd caught his breath, until the heaving of his chest returned to a soft rise and fall. Then he plastered on the usual grin. Though this one was softer, more of a fond smile, as he looked into the red eyes of his lover.

"Good?" Val asked, cheeky grin tugging at his lips.

"Intense." Alastor answered, "But not not good. It was quite all right, honestly."

"Such high praise from the Radio Demon! I don't think I can thank ya enough, darlin'."

Alastor chuckled, brushing off his clothes as Valentino allowed him to sit up, "Well, I hope you remember what that little word sounds like in my voice, because I'm never saying it again."

"We'll see about that." Val teased, taking Alastor's chin in his hands to press a kiss to each corner of his mouth. "Now I do believe I promised a snack? Though with how much you spoiled me, I think I can upgrade that to dinner," He stepped back, allowed Alastor to climb down from the desk.

The deer grimaced as he shifted and felt the mess in his pants, "I don't suppose you have anything to clean us up first?"

With a snap of Valentino's fingers, Alastor felt as clean as when he'd first stepped foot in the office that day.

"Much better, thank you." Alastor purred, "If I recall correctly, a subordinate of yours interrupted us quite rudely. It would be a shame if they couldn't join us."

"I do believe I recall that too." Valentino offered the crook of his elbow to the smaller demon, "Shall we?"

Alastor's fond grin twisted into a feral snarl and he took the offered arm, "It would be a pleasure."

Chapter Text

Val had asked Alastor to stay after he'd eaten his fill, but the Radio Demon was exhausted. Physically, mentally and even emotionally. All he wanted to do was return to his room back at the Happy Hotel and spend the next decade alone, or the next twenty-four hours, at least. Reluctantly, the pimp had let him go, pressing his lips to Alastor's forehead in a silent goodbye as shadows engulfed the smaller demon.

He emerged from them in the safety and comfort of his room, mostly bare save for the bed tucked into one corner and the desk against the opposite wall, topped with various bits of radio equipment. There were deer skulls mounted on the walls too, along with racks of antlers, of all shapes and sizes, though those didn't technically belong to the demon. They just seemed to appear in places he spent long periods of time.

His claws gently carrassed the skull closest to him and he heaved a sigh. With practiced ease he removed his bowtie and coat, stepping further into the room. He draped them over the back of his desk chair, soon burying them under the rest of his clothes. His shoes were placed under the chair, socks neatly tucked inside.

Then he turned to the full length mirror on the back of the door to the corridor. The one usually used to give himself a quick once over before he ventured outside. This time, he crept closer to it, so he was just inches away from the glass, and took in every mark that marred his pale skin. Every pinprick scab where Valentino's claws had caught him, every bruise from too rough hands, every bitemark from too big fangs. He spun around, looked over his shoulder to see the reflection of his tail, the usually pristine fur now matted and dishevelled from handling.

A shaky sigh left him and he shivered in the cold air of the room, wrapping his arms around his waist.

Alastor caught sight of his face out of the corner of his eye as he moved towards the bathroom and he stopped, forced the corners of his lips up into the biggest grin he could manage, then continued on. Smiling was strength, and Alastor certainly wasn't weak.

In the shower, he turned the temperature high enough to burn, and scrubbed at his skin until it felt raw. Grinning all the while, humming a little tune, jazz music playing loud enough to be heard over the rushing water. He could snap his fingers and be clean, the same way Valentino had done, but he needed this.

He was fine.

He was fine.

He didn't regret what had happened with the other Overlord, he was certain of that fact. When he thought about what he'd do if he could go back, change things, he realized he didn't want to. He'd let it all play out in the exact same way, again and again, over and over.

But he admitted that it might have been... a bit much. He shouldn't have pushed himself so far, so quickly, and a small part of himself wanted to blame Valentino, but the demon had only done what Alastor had asked. No, the fault was all his own, and he'd deal with these pesky feelings on his own too. He just needed some time, alone, to collect his thoughts, to process.

He wrapped himself in a large, fluffy towel and just stood in the middle of the bathroom for a moment. Wondered if he should speak to someone before he went to bed, Charlie at least, she'd worry about him if he didn't check in. But he decided against it, too tired.

The towel fell to the ground and he waved a hand, drying himself the rest of the way.

He climbed into bed naked, something he never did.

But he was tired, he just wanted to sleep.

-

"Alastor, are you awake?"

Charlie's muffled voice through the door had him shooting up, stumbling out of bed, fumbling for a quick answer. "I am, my dear, just a moment, please!" He hurried to make himself look presentable, snapping on a random outfit, running his hands through his hair, making sure his tail was tucked out of sight.

A quick peek in the mirror.

Perfect.

Not a hair out of place. Not a single wrinkle in sight.

He threw the door open.

Charlie peered up at him nervously. "You, uh... you look good today, Al!" She said in lieu of a proper greeting.

Alastor blinked at her, "Thank you. Is there a reason for your visit...?"

"Oh, um..." She shifted in place, hands behind her back, "I just... I know you visited Valentino yesterday and I just wanted to make sure... I never saw you come back. Did everything go okay?"

How precious. Alastor had to suppress a laugh.

"Everything went splendidly, thank you for your concern!" He answered, ruffling her hair, "I'm dreadfully sorry for not announcing my return, but I retired to bed almost as soon as I arrived, and I was so busy this morning I just didn't have the time!"

"Well, if you say so!" The princess mirrored Alastor's grin, "Thank you for trying to reach out to Valentino about the hotel, it'll be a huge help if you get him fully on board!"

"Of course, it's my pleasure." Alastor chirped, then gently began to push her away from the door, "Now if you don't mind, I do still have some work to catch up on!"

The door was shut in Charlie's face before she had a chance to reply, but she didn't linger, her footsteps echoing down the hall after a moment's hesitation.

Alastor manifested his microphone stand in his hand, tapped it on the ground once, twice. He still felt drained, and wanted nothing more than to go back to bed, but he'd already wasted half of the day. Venturing into the hotel didn't appeal to him either, as entertaining as the other residents were, he was still exhausted of the energy needed for social interaction.

And he didn't feel ready to face Valentino.

So he stepped into the shadows, emerged a few blocks away from the hotel, and took a stroll, whistling a tune and twirling his microphone as he want. And if a demon or two went missing, well, that had nothing to do with Alastor.

-

The next morning found Alastor looking himself over in the mirror, fingers tracing the fading injuries. The urge to dig his claws in was overwhelming, like he could just tear the marks from his skin, leaving it smooth and unblemished.

He scrubbed at them in the shower instead, until his skin was a bright pink.

He didn't see Valentino.

-

He didn't see him the next day either.

-

Nor the next day.

-

Alastor wasn't avoiding the pimp, not by any means, he'd just been... busy. Yes, of course. He'd been so busy! The hotel had gotten a sudden influx of new patrons, so he'd been working closely with Charlie to figure out what they needed, what their schedules should look like, what rooms would be best etc. etc. so much to do and so little time in the day!

There had been so many new sinners to get to know, so much entertainment to be had! He hadn't been bored at all, had hardly had a moment alone to think, save for the thirty minutes or so in the morning he'd spend showering and studying his body.

It wasn't his fault. He couldn't be blamed for his lack of communication.

"Are you actually going to fucking order anythin', or are you just taking up space?"

"Hmm?" Alastor blinked, turned to where the voice had come from.

Husk was leaning on the bar, staring at him with his ever present frown. He had a bottle in one hand, half empty. "Do you want a drink?" He rephrased.

Alastor shook his head, "No, not at all, I just needed somewhere to watch the goings on!"

The lobby was busier than he'd ever seen it, and though nothing particularly exciting was happening in that moment, with the amount of sinners gathered in one place, something was bound to happen. The stools at the bar were perfect for people watching, out of the way and with a good view of the whole room.

He hummed, tapped his microphone on the ground to a made-up beat.

Husk just continued to glare.

"Do I have something on my face, Husker, dear? You know that isn't polite."

"You're acting fucking weird, Al."

Alastor's eyes narrowed, smile tightening, "You say that about me all the time."

"Weirder than usual." The cat corrected with a growl, taking a swig from his bottle, "Ever since you got back from that meeting three weeks ago." Another swig, then his free paw reached up to scratch lightly at his throat, "You had marks right here, Val-..." He cut himself off, paused like he was thinking carefully about his next words, then, "Valentino didn't try anything, did he...? 'Cause if he fucking did-"

A loud record scratch followed by microphone feedback had Husk wincing, and several other patrons in the lobby looking their way.

Alastor forced a laugh to hide how much that had caught him off guard. He couldn't believe that Husk had noticed the marks, and if he had, then others must have too and-

"I assure you, Husker, I'm quite all right! There's nothing Valentino could have done that I wouldn't have been able to prevent. We simply had a chat."

Husk narrowed his eyes skeptically, rubbing his ears, "Uh huh. So is there another reason for why you've barely shown your ugly mug around here?"

"I've been busy." Alastor chuckled, "New patrons. Lots of paperwork." He crossed his legs, propped his chin on his palm and reached across the bar with his free hand to pat his friend on the head, "Nothing to concern yourself with, Husker."

Husk smacked his hand away, "Whatever. That's the last time I try to show my fuckin' concern. Go get yourself killed, see if I care." He turned away, leaned his back against the bar to down the rest of the bottle.

Alastor sighed. He'd been friends with the cat for decades, and he knew well enough that he cared, and how badly he struggled to show it, he never meant to make it hard on Husk on the rare occassions he actually let those vulnerable emotions show.

"Husker." He said softly, drumming his claws on the surface of the bar. He waited until the demon reluctantly turned around.

"The day that Valentino steps out of line, I will gladly call you to my side so we can tear him apart together. As it stands, that day has yet to come." Alastor looked directly into those tired, orange eyes, "I assure you... nothing happened during this meeting that I did not consent to, I've just... had a lot on my mind as of late."

The cat studied him for a long moment, then a sly grin broke across his face, "Well, I'll be damned, little Bambi's twitterpated!" He laughed and reached behind himself to grab a bottle. He opened it, chugged half, then laughed some more.

Alastor didn't get the joke.

He arched an eyebrow, "There's that nickname again."

Husk didn't say anything, just slapped Alastor on the shoulder and chuckled to himself.

"Well, I suppose I'll retire for the evening then. It was a pleasure chatting with you as always, Husker." Alastor hummed, just a little irritated. He rapped his knuckles on the bartop and then he was off, his shadow not quite following his movements.

-

Alastor couldn't help but to strip as soon as he entered his room, obsessively checking himself for marks even though he knew they'd long since faded. Husk had seen them, maybe others had too. He could still feel the bruises, could still feel Valentino's hands on him.

If he closed his eyes, it'd be like the Overlord was right there with him. Touching him, stroking him. Nipping at his neck, whispering against his ear-

"Nope." The Radio Demon hissed to himself when he felt his skin begin to heat up, he wasn't going to think those thoughts. He wasn't ready.

He scooped up his clothes from where he'd thrown them haphazardly on the floor, and folded them neatly, then grabbed his robe from off of its hook, slipping it on. Alastor unceremoniously flopped onto his bed and closed his eyes, with a wave of his hand the radio on his desk turned on, automatically switching to the right station.

A quick and familiar jazz tune filled the air, and Alastor turned it up louder than usual, but not so loud that he was deaf to the sounds outside of his door. His foot bounced to the rythm and he hummed along, doing his best to keep his mind clear. Just one moment would be nice, one moment where he wasn't thinking of Valentino and the things he had done, the things he could have done, the things Alastor wanted him to do-

He was doing it again.

The volume of the music climbed higher.

The rapid knocking on the door was muffled, but still audible.

Alastor's ear twitched, but he ignored it. Was the loud music not enough of an indication that he didn't want to be disturbed?

More rapid knocking. It didn't cease. The demon on the other side clearly determined.

He suppressed his growl. If it was one of the new patrons, they may just walk away with a missing limb, a lesson that the Radio Demon didn't appreciate his free time being disturbed by just any random demon that felt they needed his attention. He doubted any of the original Happy Hotel team would dare be so insistent unless it was an emergency, but Alastor wouldn't need to be told, he'd know if it was.

The knocking ended with a loud thud, the force of the blow shaking the entire door in its frame.

Anger was building inside of him. How dare they? To be so rude, so unnecessarily violent. The shadows of his room writhed around him, like they had a mind of their own, his own curled around his shoulders as he sat up, eyes narrow, grin wide and glowing.

He turned the radio off as he got to his feet, only to freeze in his tracks as the door flew open, crashing against the wall and rattling a skull loose. It clattered to the ground but thankfully didn't break.

Valentino stood in the open doorway, looking downright livid.

He made a move towards Alastor, but stopped. Shadows had wrapped themselves around his feet, curled up his legs, keeping him pinned in place. His cane was ripped from his hands, thrown across the room to render him weaponless.

"Valentino." Alastor spoke simply, "I would say its a pleasure to see you again, but that little stunt you just pulled has me feeling otherwise."

"Are you fucking serious?" Valentino all but roared, "You ghost me for almost a fucking month and that's all you have to say?"

Alastor blinked, uneffected by the outburst, "I've been busy."

"That's a bullshit excuse and you know it!"

They stared each other down. Alastor standing proper beside his bed, hands behind his back. Valentino hunched over, far too tall for the small hotel room, keeping all four of his arms close, though it looked as if he wanted nothing more than to reach out to the deer.

Alastor couldn't help but notice that there was something off about him, something about his face-

"Where are your glasses? I don't see you go anywhere without them."

"You crushed 'em." Valentino snapped, "When I threw you on my desk."

"Ah, then I believe that's more your fault than mine. You should watch where you throw your partners in the future."

Valentino sneered at him, but it quickly fell, his whole body seeming to deflate. He dragged ahand down his face, sighing, "I didn't come here to fight, Alastor."

With the admittance, the tension in the room began to dissipate.

"Of course." Alastor said softly, allowing himself to relax. He manifested his microphone, tapped the base on the ground, "You wanted to talk about 'ghosting'?"

"Preferably without the restraints."

The deer snapped his fingers and the shadows retreated, allowing the pimp to move again. Alastor's own sunk down, releasing his shoulders and returning to the floor, blue glow of its face fading to pitch black.

Alastor sat at the edge of his bed and then gestured to his desk, "You can sit there, if you fit."

Val did so, but instead of pulling out the small chair, he perched on the desk, stretching his long legs out in front of him. His lower set of hands rested on the desk beside him, the upper set crossed over his chest.

A beat of silence passed between them, before Valentino sighed heavily, "Care to explain why you haven't returned any of my calls or texts?"

He-

Oh.

Alastor hadn't even thought of that.

"I... do believe I haven't charged my hellphone in a little while..."

He hardly remembered to charge the device on a regular day, it wasn't a surprise that with everything that had been going on, the phone had been completely forgotten. Why was Val even acting like this was news? As if that exact scenario hadn't happened before. He'd told the demon that he didn't want a hellphone, didn't need one, and yet the pimp had gifted him one anyway. Shiny and expensive and a complete waste. Alastor only used it to communicate with the demon, and that was on the rare ocassions it actually had power, other than that it was just left in a drawer.

Which was probably where it was sitting in that moment.

"Are you fucking kidding me? Al, I told you-"

"I'm well aware."

Valentino dragged a hand down his face, rubbed at the space between his eyes. "All right, give it to me straight. Have you been actively avoiding me recently?"

"I-"

"The truth, please."

Alastor cleared his throat, "Well, I-... maybe not actively, but subconsciously... I did genuinely forget to charge my phone. I have been busy with the hotel, you might have noticed the lobby is busier than usual?"

Valentino shrugged, "A few demons scattered when I entered, and they didn't look like your friends. I wasn't paying too much attention, had other things on my mind."

"Right." Alastor continued on, "So it isn't like I didn't have real reasons not to talk to you..."

He might have been lying to himself over the past few weeks, a small part of him thinking that he could just... stop this. Stop seeing Valentino, stop talking to him, and just avoid him forever. Pretend nothing had ever happened.

But seeing him now, Alastor really didn't want that. Not at all.

"Baby, if I did anything-" Valentino started, but the deer cut him off almost instantly.

"Stop right there." Alastor stood and closed the short distance between them, "You went as far as I allowed you to, and not a step further. You've been a perfect gentleman, I'm the one who's been... moronic."

They lapsed into silence and Alastor used the opportunity to open the drawers of his desk, rummage through them until he found his abandoned phone. Hot pink with gold accents, and in pristine condition. He plugged it in, watched the screen light up. It took a moment to boot up and when it did, he only had a split second to admire the selfie of Valentino before notification after notification flooded in of texts and missed calls. All from Val of course, the only demon who had his number.

He looked up at Valentino with a sheepish smile, "I'm truly sorry. I didn't mean to cause you any sort of worry."

Fingers gently closed around his chin and he bristled slightly at the touch, but quickly leaned into it, welcoming the contact.

"You can be a real clueless bastard sometimes, Mr. Radio Demon." Valentino hissed softly, but there was no malice behind it. With deft hands, he removed his coat and, in the same motion, flung it around Alastor's shoulders. "May I?"

Alastor nodded, not sure what he was agreeing to until several hands lifted him up and dropped him into Valentino's lap. Two hands settled on his hips to keep him steady, while the other pair worked on fastening the coat around his shoulders.

The material was heavy and warm.

Comforting.

He shot the other Overlord a confused look, and repressed the comment about the rather loud Hawaiian shirt he was apparently wearing under his coat.

"It's called aftercare, dumbass."

"What?"

"Something I should have done that night instead of letting you go off by yourself." Valentino mumbled, almost to himself. Clawed fingers gently stroked over Alastor's face, brushed away hair, adjusted the fur collar so it didn't completely obscure his head. "Obviously, you weren't feeling all right, and as someone who knows more about this shit, I should have insisted."

"It wouldn't have ended well." Alastor commented, attempting to lighten the mood.

"I still should have tried at least."

Alastor frowned, grin falling slightly. He didn't like Valentino beating himself up over the situation.

"Stop." He growled lightly, taking two of the pimp's hands into his own, "I pushed myself further than I was ready for. But I don't regret it, and I don't blame you for anything."

Valentino regarded him for a second, "Bambi, you're gonna have to learn how to share your feelings if you want to continue this. I don't mind waitin', this is Hell, we got all the time in the damn world." Claws lightly tapped at Alastor's head, "And listen to yourself. Think with the upstairs brain, not the downstairs one."

Booing sounded in the air from Alastor's studio audience, and Valentino grinned, too proud of himself.

"I'm almost disappointed, with all the time I spend around you, I'd thought you'd have better jokes than that."

"Guess you haven't rubbed off on me as much as you thought you had."

Alastor only just managed to stop himself from smacking the other demon, but he couldn't hide his grin at the double entendre. "I hate you."

"I hate you too, sweetheart." Valentino smirked, leaning forward.

Alastor met him halfway, connecting their lips in a surprisingly gentle kiss. It only lasted a few seconds, the deer backing off before it became too much.

"Would you... want to spend the night?" He asked quietly, hesitantly.

"If you really want me to, it would be illegal of me to deny your request." Val glanced towards the bed, "But that thing is far too small for me."

"That won't be a problem, I can find us another room to stay in for the night. A little help?" Alastor hummed.

Valentino gently settled the Radio Demon on the ground and stood with him, narrowly avoiding knocking his hat off his head, forgetting that he couldn't stand straight.

Alastor smoothed his hands over his borrowed coat, realizing that combined with his robe, it was just a little too hot, too bulky and difficult to move in. It didn't take him long to come to a decision. Maneuvering was awkward in the thick fabric, but he managed to remove his robe underneath the coat, letting it drop to the ground. Then he put his arms through the top sleeves and tied the other two around his waist, he fastened the coat to his knees, but left the rest open so he could walk without tripping.

When the deer looked up, Val was staring at him with wide eyes.

"Something wrong?"

"Are you naked under that?"

Alastor blinked, "Yes. Is that a problem?"

"Fuck no." Valentino breathed, "No, baby, that's so fucking hot." He practically swept Alastor off his feet when he wrapped his arms around him, "You're really testing me aren't you?"

"I wasn't aware..." Alastor trailed off, subconsciously trying to bury his face in the fur collar to hide it from the taller demon. He thought about it. Wondered if he was really okay with being naked except for Val's coat, with Val right there, ogling him, being... aroused by it.

He decided that, yes, he was perfectly okay with it.

In fact, he liked it.

Valentino leaned down and Alastor watched him closely, licked his lips. The next moment his mouth was captured by Val.

The kiss was languid, but Alastor could almost taste how hungry Valentino was, how desperate, how much the demon was holding himself back.

"About that room..." Alastor rasped, when he was finally released.

"Lead the way, darling."

-

Alastor would have preferred to travel by shadow, especially dressed the way he was, but it would have been far more difficult with a passenger. So walking it was. Besides, Valentino wasn't complaining, if the wolf whistle he gave at the extra sway in Alastor's hips was any indication.

They didn't have to go far, just a couple floors up, where the rooms specifically made for larger demons were located. The elevator ride up was short and silent, but not awkwardly so. Alastor had always hated the complete absence of sound, and had a need for constant background noise, whether it be just static, the music from his radio or even the sound of his own voice.

With Valentino around, silence was tolerable, even nice at times.

But he couldn't help the happy little tune he started humming to break it.

It was a nice moment, the most content the Radio Demon had been in weeks, he didn't think there was anything that could ruin it-

"Angel Cakes."

Alastor's humming stopped abruptly.

He was about to ask why Val had suddenly mentioned food when he realized.

All of the hotel's current residents were around normal sized, and thus inhabited the lower floors with no need to go higher. Except one.

"B-boss...?"

The spider demon was standing in the doorway to his room, just about to enter, pet pig on a harness and leash at his feet, snuffling at his ankles. The expression on Angel Dust's face was pure terror, obviously under the impression that whatever business Valentino had, it had to do with him.

Though the expression morphed slowly, as he noticed the way the two were dressed. Still fearful, but with a hint of curiosity, confusion.

Luckily for Angel Dust, and Alastor too, there was no way in the nine circles that he would ever address that directly.

"Big Vee. Boss. What, uh- w-what brings you here...?"

Alastor didn't miss the way Angel tried to step in front of his pig, getting between his pet and his boss.

Like he could actually do something to stop Valentino if it came to that.

"Oh, ya know..." Val started, sly grin present in the tone of his voice, "Just had to check up on my best gal, see how the hotel was treatin' ya. You're a couple hundred short by the way, sugartits."

Angel started to shake, "What- I- Val, no, I swear I paid it all-"

He was cut off when his pimp burst into raucous laughter, and as entertaining as Alastor found the exchange, he was going to have to put a stop to it. The hotel was mutual ground, he couldn't have Valentino scaring one of the patrons, even if it was only a joke, even if the patron doubled as his employee, and he couldn't have any patrons feeling scared in a place meant to help them with redemption. He didn't particularly care for the Princess's goals, but he had to at least act like he did.

The deer cleared his throat and turned to the taller demon with a scolding look, "Behave Valentino, this isn't the place for that. When you enter this hotel, you leave your job at the door. Angel Dust is just another sinner and as of right now, he owes you nothing."

"Aw, come on, baby-"

"Don't."

The word was punctuated with a loud crackle a static, a sound that had both of the other demons in the hallway jumping. Their current state was incriminating enough, and all too familiar sounding pet names weren't going to help.

Angel looked as if he'd wet himself any second and Alastor might have felt sorry for him if he had the capacity to. As it stood, the deer was rapidly losing patience.

Shadows flickered around them as Alastor directed his attention towards the spider. He couldn't have Angel accidentally letting things slip about Valentino's visit, "And Angel?" He began, only continuing when he had his attention, "Not a word of this to anyone, or I'll help myself to some fresh bacon, is that understood?" His pupils flickered to radio dials for just a flash, the outline of his body seeming to sway and glitch.

Angel Dust nodded hastily and fled to the safety of his room as soon as he was dismissed.

"Hey, that's not fair-"

"Come along now." Alastor interrupted, striding quickly to the opposite end of the hallway, where he summoned his master key into his hand to open up the last door. He really didn't appreciate getting caught, but he tried not to fixate on it. It would be fine.

Val caught up in just a few large steps, peeking over Alastor and into the room. He let out a low whistle.

"Damn. Looks good."

Alastor hummed, "Yes, Niffty has been overworking herself to make sure every room is in perfect condition, but I'm glad she's done so. You might have had to sleep on the floor otherwise."

It wasn't anything special, but it was one of the nicer rooms in the hotel. A large bed was propped against the left wall that looked incredibly soft and cozy, and opposite it, mounted on the wall, was a TV. A coffee table was between them, settled on an intricately patterned rug, and on top of it was a vase of fake flowers. The best part about the room was the sliding doors that led to the small balcony, two chairs placed on it, facing out towards Pentagram City.

In the blink of an eye, Val had stepped around Alastor, kicked off his boots and crossed the room to flop down onto the bed.

He let out a content sigh, top pair of arms crossed behind his head, lower pair of arms crossed over his stomach. "Not as good as the bed I got at home, but shit, it's pretty close." He stayed there, perfectly relaxed, until a whole minute had passed. Then he cracked open an eye, arched an eyebrow, "Well? You gonna get your cute little ass over here? Daddy's getting cold."

Alastor huffed and locked the door behind him, watched Val watching him, pupil-less eyes tracking his every movement. He crossed the room slowly, bare feet not making a sound, and climbed onto the bed.

Valentino opened his lower set of arms in preparation, but didn't rush Alastor, just waited patiently as he took a deep breath, lowered himself against the larger demon's side.

The deer adjusted the coat around him, and wriggled until he was comfy, eventually settling down with the fur collar wedged between his cheek and Val's chest, acting as a pillow. A hand appeared on his waist, a respectful distance away from his rump, and another one appeared in his hair, massaging at the base of his antlers.

He resisted the urge to shove Valentino away, fling himself back away from the other demon. The longer he felt the hands on him, the easier it was to handle the touch, but he always hated the initial itch. Something bone deep, and so uncomfortable it made him want to dig his claws in, gouge it out right at the source.

At the studio, all those weeks ago, the itch he'd felt was so much lighter, more of a tickle really, and he'd been able to tell the difference immediately. He much preferred that kind of itch, and half hoped it would return, replace the one he was currently feeling. The deer didn't want Val's touch to be something he drew away from, that he craved to end, that he endured knowing it wouldn't last forever.

He wanted it to be something he welcomed, sought out. He wanted it to be one of his favourite things.

Because Valentino was one of his favourite things. Valentino who was the exact opposite of the kind of demon one would think Alastor would go for. Valentino who tried so damn hard to get Alastor's attention. Valentino who proved over and over again that he was willing to work for the Radio Demon's affection, that he was worthy of it. Valentino who constantly checked and double checked that Alastor was comfortable, that pushed, but only if he knew Alastor could handle it. Valentino who treated him so gently, so carefully, without fear.

Valentino, who Alastor might have grown to love.

It was a scary thought, one he strayed from as soon as it popped into his head. He'd have time to dwell on it in the future, he didn't need to right then.

That moment was for curling up beside the pimp, and getting used to his touch. He snuggled closer, pushed his head into the hand at the base of antlers, encouraging Val to continue. The itch was fading, slowly but surely, and Alastor sighed in relief.

Then he jerked away at a sudden movement and it took him a moment to realize that Valentino's hellphone was vibrating in an inside pocket of his coat.

Alastor cleared his throat and reached into the coat to withdraw the device, "I believe this is for you."

Val tutted, reluctantly taking his phone and checking the screen. "Shit, I gotta take this. I'll be right back." He sat up, pulled Alastor close to plant a kiss on his forehead, then climbed off the bed and headed towards the balcony.

The deer watched him leave, sitting still in the middle of the bed. It was way too big for just Alastor, he could see himself getting lost in it if he slept in it by himself. The thought of Valentino being there when he did eventually go to sleep made his stomach twist with anxiety, but it would be all right. Alastor trusted him.

On the balcony, Val was having quite the animated discussion. His phone rested on the railing of the balcony, and all four of his hands waved around him as he berated whoever had called him. It ended quite suddenly, with Val slamming a hand down onto the phone and lifting it up like he was going to throw it, before deciding against it. The device was tucked into the front pocket of his shirt and then with a flick of his wrist, a cigar appeared in his hand, already lit. He took a long drag from it and Alastor, realizing he'd probably be out there for a while, decided to get up and join him.

"That certainly didn't look like a very fun call!" Alastor said cheerfully as he leaned back against the railing, hoping to lighten Val's sour mood.

The Overlord didn't answer, just took another puff of his cigar, flicking the ash over the balcony and blowing the smoke into the night air.

Alastor sighed, pressed himself to the pimp's side and tucked himself under his two of his arms. "Smile, my darling!" He tried again, "You look so much better with one than without!"

Val still didn't answer, but his arms did tighten around Alastor.

The deer tensed up, prepared for a fight, but he was only met with Valentino burying his face in his hair, a frustrated growl escaping his throat.

It really wasn't a fun phone call, was it? Incompotent employees would be Alastor's best guess.

"That's why I don't bother." He hummed, mostly to himself. While Val was distracted, he used the opportunity to pluck the cigar from the demon's hand, taking a long drag for himself. He held the smoke in his lungs for several seconds, then blew it out in a series of rings.

Valentino straightened up, eyes locking onto Alastor's, "Well, aren't you just full of surprises, Bambi. I thought you didn't smoke?"

Alastor shrugged, finished off the cigar with one last long drag, crushed it out on the balcony, then flicked the butt over the edge. "I never went out of my way to do it, and never wasted my own money, but if the opportunity presented itself, I wasn't opposed. It was an all right stand-in for stress relief when murder wasn't an option."

That startled a laugh out of the taller demon, "You're fuckin' incredible, Bambi!" He hid his grin in Alastor's hair, wrapped his remaining two arms around the deer.

"I do try." Alastor chuckled, leaning into the hug, only for Val to pull away, manifesting another cigar. He took a step towards the door back into the hotel room, but Alastor grabbed the back of his shirt, "Not so fast, my good friend! Niffty will not be happy if you stink up the room, and she can be quite terrifying when she wants to be."

"Ah, better stay out here then." Valentino acquiesced, turning back to instead seat himself in one of the lawn chairs.

Alastor considered dragging the other lawn chair closer to sit beside him, but decided against it. Maybe it wasn't the best idea, but he wanted to push himself, he didn't want to take it easy, giving himself too many outs. If he really needed to, he could easily relocate himself. Val did deserve to be spoiled for all of his patience, after all.

He straddled Valentino's lap, carefully as to make sure the coat didn't reveal anything, and placed his hands on Val's chest. If he acted appealing enough, would Val share his second cigar willingly?

"What're you trying to get at, sweetheart?" Valentino asked, amusement at Alastor's not-so-subtle advances evident in his voice.

"I have no idea what you're talking about, darling." Alastor said sweetly, batting his eyelashes. His hands slid up Val's chest, to his neck, to his cheeks, paused to just hold his face and and try to ignore the way his heart fluttered at the way Val looked at him. He pulled him into a kiss, slipping his tongue past Val's lips.

The pimp tasted strongly of smoke and something so distinctly Valentino.

It was addictive. Everything about the demon was.

When Alastor was there with Val, kissing him, he could understand Angel Dust and his love for his namesake.

He didn't break way until he felt like he'd pass out from the lack of air, though he still did so with great reluctance.

Valentino pressed a kiss to Alastor's forehead as the smaller demon caught his breath, "You're a minx." He purred, pressing more kisses to his cheeks, his nose, his chin.

Alastor hummed, eyes flicking towards the cigar in Val's hand, steadily burning, "You're wasting that."

"Well, if you didn't keep distracting me with your charm..." Val trailed off and held the cigar to Alastor's lips, who happily puffed on it.

Before he could exhale, Val was capturing his lips again, inhaling the smoke for himself. They finished it off like that, Val not taking a single hit for himself, not that Alastor was complaining. It had been a good few decades since he'd smoked anything, not many sinners in Hell willing to get close enough to share anything with him.

Val's hands had wandered while they smoked, but Alastor couldn't bring himself to care. Finding the hand settled just above his rump to be comforting, feeling the same about the one on his upper thigh, and the two on his waist.

Valentino had tilted his head back to rest on the back of the lawn chair, eyes closed, his chest softly rising and falling with each breath he took. The most relaxed Alastor had ever seen him.

He'd feel bad about disturbing him, wouldn't mind spending the whole night in that chair, perfectly comfortable in Valentino's lap, but nothing beat a proper bed.

"It's late." He said quietly, but neither of them moved. "Did you hear me, my dear?"

"Loud and clear. I don't want to move." Valentino muttered, opening his eyes and lifting his head. He sat there silently, watching the demon in his lap with a look of deep contemplation. He did so for so long that said demon actually began to worry. But then he spoke up again.

"I don't want this moment to end." He admitted quietly, "This is the closest I've come to Heaven since I got down here and I don't want to give it up. Fuck real Heaven, this is all I need. Just you and me, baby, Hell could be ours. Who could stop us?"

Alastor stilled, afraid to even breathe. He knew what that sounded like, but it couldn't mean what he thought it did... could it?

"...What are you trying to say, Valentino?"

"You're it for me, I don't want anyone else. Ever."

No.

Alastor couldn't believe it. A small part of him hoped.

"This sounds like a proposal..." Alastor tried to joke, but his grin was wavering.

"What if it was?"

This was too fast. It had only been a few months. Alastor couldn't breath. His stomach was flipping, and his heart felt like it would stop.

But-

"Call me old fashioned, but I'd ask for a ring."

"Baby, I'd give you anything." Valentino said, "If you want a ring, I'll get you a ring."

Alastor let out a stuttering sigh, that quickly turned into a laugh. Something loud that was probably waking up the entirety of Pentagram City.

"Is this real?" He gasped, when his laughter had calmed down enough.

"I fucking hope so!" Val laughed along, "If I wake up, I'm gonna be pissed."

Fuck it.

"Then yes."

"What?"

"Yes!" Alastor repeated, backed up by the cheering of his studio audience, "I said yes. When can I expect that ring?"

Valentino surged up out of the chair, Alastor in his arms. He spun them around, "I'll start looking in the morning, and you'll have it by night at the latest." He kissed the deer until they were both breathless, the grins on their faces looking half mad.

He carried Alastor inside, gently lowered him onto the bed and climbed over him, then stopped, waited for approval.

Alastor nodded so hard his neck hurt. He'd never wanted anything more.

He tugged Val down before he had a chance to respond, connecting their lips in a bruising kiss.

Hands pawed at his hips, over the coat, which he appreciated, but he really wouldn't mind skin on skin contact right then. He tried to convey that by lifting a leg to wrap around Valentino's waist, knee knocking against the elbow of his lower arm.

Val got the hint. The arm that had been nudged lifting, hand touching his knee, then sliding up his thigh, so slowly, teasingly.

Alastor's breath caught in his throat, partly from the anticipation, partly from the itch. But a fire was rapidly burning it away. There were so many sensations to register from such a simple touch, he whimpered at the feel of them.

"You okay, baby?"

"Yes!" Alastor gasped, a little too quickly.

Val shot him a disbelieving look.

"I'm good. Please continue."

"What's your safeword?"

Alastor squinted suspiciously up at the pimp, "Is that some sort of trick? Get me to safeword so you can stop-"

"No! I just want to make sure you remember-"

"Jambalaya!" Alastor growled in frustration, baring his teeth at the demon above him, "And I will use it if I need to, now if you would be so kind..."

"Of course, baby, that wasn't so hard, was it?"

Alastor glared him, opened his mouth for a come back, but it was interrupted when that hand finally finished its journey, slipping under the coat to grab a handful of his rump. He wasn't given a chance to decide how he felt about it, because Valentino's other lower hand had joined its twin, while his top pair of hands began to unfasten the coat and- okay, yes, that was fine. Alastor was fine with that, but he wasn't fine with the fangs piercing his neck.

"No marks!" The deer barked so suddenly that Valentino jumped.

Alastor was bombarded with the memories of the hours he'd spent looking at himself, cataloguing every single imperfection that had been left behind. Touch was fine, beyond fine, but marks that lasted until the morning were absolutely not something he liked. They reminded him too much of before. Of when he was topside.

"Okay." Val spoke softly, once he'd regained his bearings, "Okay, sweetheart. No marks. Thank you for telling me, that was brilliant." He punctuated the silent promise with a kiss to the corner of Alastor's mouth, following it up with more soft kisses along his jaw, "How's that?"

"Better." Alastor sighed, tilting his chin up to give Val better access. The praise made him feel fuzzy inside, an unfamiliar sensation but definitely not a bad one.

"And this?" The pimp asked, referring to what his hands were doing.

"Perfect."

Val nodded, satisfied with the answers he'd received, and resumed his removal of his coat from Alastor's body, face tucked against the Radio Demon's shoulder so he could place kisses there. His hands ran over miles of smooth skin before he saw it, and Alastor wished he'd stay that way, but he knew it wouldn't last, because Val was already straightening up to get a look-

And he froze.

"Alastor... what is this?"

Alastor wouldn't meet his eyes, "What's it look like?"

Scars criss crossed his chest and stomach. Large, ugly things. Whatever caused them must have been excruciating, bloody, and it was, Alastor had been there, he'd know. There was no pain attached to them though, physical at least, they were only a visual reminder of the gruesome way he'd died.

He didn't need to look at Val's face to know that the demon was probably regretting his decision. Thinking that the Radio Demon was just a pretty face, that the rest of him was disgusting, repulsive-

"Oh, darling, no-" Valentino breathed, top pair of hands flying to Alastor's face, cupping his cheeks so carefully. Like Alastor could shatter at any moment. "C'mon, sweetheart, you're never fully dressed without a smile, remember?" His thumbs pushed at the downturned corners of Alastor's mouth, gently, playfully.

A watery laugh came from the deer, something so pathetic sounding, as he realized that for the first time since he'd manifested in Hell, he'd let his smile fall. "How silly of me!" He chided himself, lifting his hands to scrub at his face, knocking his monocle askew, "My apologies, Val!" He fixed the grin in place, revealing the too big fangs that filled his mouth.

Valentino managed a shaky smile back, thumbs stroking oh so gently over Alastor's cheeks, brushing away wetness the deer hadn't noticed before. His question came out hesitantly, "Can I ask...?"

"No. Not tonight, I-... not tonight, Val."

Val accepted that answer without argument, "Do you still want to continue?"

"Do you still want to continue?" Alastor countered immediately, "Don't pretend for my benefit, Valentino, I don't need your sympathy. I get it, I'm ugly, I'm undesirable, I'm sure you've had far prettier demons in your bed-"

"Al, stop." Valentino growled, "Just stop. Don't you dare-... don't say those things, don't tell me how I feel." He softened, "You're breathtaking to me. I've never seen another demon as gorgeous as you, and I mean that. These-" He traced a finger over one of the larger scars, "-are pretty badass honestly, not a single ugly thing about 'em."

Alastor gently pushed the hand away, couldn't stand the feel of direct contact with the scars. "Okay." He uttered softly, "I believe you." He swallowed around the lump in his throat before he continued, "I don't- if we stopped, I don't think I could sleep, but I-I also don't think I could-... I don't think I could-" He stopped himself, frustrated, "I'm sorry."

"It's fine, Al, I don't mind. We can do something else."

"If... you're up to it, I would like to take care of you...?"

Valentino gently butted his forehead against Alastor's, "Baby, I'm always up for that, but don't push yourself-"

"I'm not pushing, I want to."

"If you're sure."

"I'm sure." Alastor insisted.

Valentino nodded and helped the deer to redress, fastening the coat to cover his scarred torso, doing so carefully, making sure to remind Alastor how incredible he was. Then he switched their positions so he was sitting with his back against the headboard, cushioned by pillows, Alastor straddling his lap like he had been on the balcony. Getting back into the mood was awkward, moreso for Alastor, but he fought against it. He wanted to forget and he wanted Val to feel good, and he could do this, he could.

"What- what should I do?"

"Whatever you want baby."

Alastor huffed, "That isn't helpful."

"Just touch." Valentino urged, picking up Alastor's hands to put them on his chest. "Do you want my shirt to stay on?"

The Radio Demon glared at the offensive Hawaiian print, still incredibly bright in the dark room. He didn't even need to think about it, "No."

"Then take it off."

Alastor grabbed at it and pulled. Buttons flew all over the bed, some clattered to the floor, some stitches tore loose.

"Hey! I liked that shirt!"

"I hated it. More than the coat and the glasses, and you know how much I hate those."

"You're wearing the coat."

"Irrelevent!"

"It's comfy isn't it?"

"Can we get back to the task at hand?"

"You look good in it."

"I look good in everything!"

"All right, all right, what happened to getting me off?"

"You're distracting me! Shut up or I'll gag you-"

"I'd like that."

Alastor stared at him.

He'd agreed to marry this demon.

Was it too late to back out?

"Hell to Al, you still in there, baby?"

"Yes, stop talking."

"My lips are sealed."

Alastor leaned forward to capture his lips, the only effective way to really shut Valentino up. The bigger demon fell into it easily, resisting the urge to let his hands wander, keeping them to Alastor's waist and hips.

Lips moved from Val's mouth, to the corner of his jaw, to his neck.

The pimp shrugged out of the scraps of his shirt, tossing them aside, leaving his torso completely bare for Alastor's exploration. "Feel free to leave marks, baby, gotta show everyone I'm yours, right?"

Oh, Alastor liked the sound of that.

"Mine." He growled against Val's shoulder. Then he bit down, hard enough to draw blood and Valentino didn't even flinch.

Alastor licked over the wound, revelling in the taste, thinking back to the last time he'd really gotten to taste demon blood. It hadn't been since his first date with Valentino. When the pimp had been trying so hard to impress him and had taken him to one of the finest cannibal restaurants in the city. Val hadn't eaten anything, had only provided pleasant conversation, but Alastor had downed glass after glass of fresh demon blood, and it had been one of the best meals he'd had in years.

A movement from out of the corner of his eyes pulled Alastor out of his thoughts, drew his eyes downwards.

Valentino had a hand on his crotch, lazily rubbing himself over his pants. "Baby, if you keep fucking off to wonderland I'm gonna have to get myself off."

"Apologies." Alastor purred, trying to sound more confident than he felt, "I shouldn't leave you so neglected." He batted Val's hand away to replace it with his own and had to swallow an awed breath. It would never cease to amaze him how hard he could get the Overlord without even trying.

"Damn right." Val sighed, leaning back against the pillows with his top pair of arms crossed behind his head. His lower hands stayed on Alastor's hips. "You know you're gorgeous?"

"Yes, I believe you mentioned that recently."

"Good, you remember that." Valentino barrelled on, "You're stunning too. Beautiful. Unbelievably sexy. Should be fuckin' illegal."

While Alastor didn't mind the praise, not one bit, he'd consider it an even better compliment if he could get the demon to stop talking. He twisted his wrist, pressed down and-

Valentino cursed under his breath.

Alastor grinned. They were getting somewhere.

He hummed to himself, keeping up the motion until he grew bored shortly after. A split second pause was all he needed to build up the courage to unzip Val's pants. Another split second to build up the courage to actually reach inside and take out Valentino's... penis.

The Radio Demon was going to have to work on cursing.

Red eyes flicked down and Alastor had to hold in his gasp. It might have been the biggest penis he'd ever seen, and granted he hadn't seen a lot of penises, ever, but well- Valentino was a large demon, and he was certainly proportional. And while it wasn't entirely human looking, it wasn't the weirdest set of genitals Hell had produced either.

There was also the fact that it was pierced. Three little bars with a ball on either side were placed along the underside. The sight made Alastor's breath stutter in his chest, wondering what they'd feel like inside-

He hurried on, trying not to get lost in his thoughts again. He didn't want to keep Val waiting and he didn't want to somehow spook himself out of continuing.

Even if Alastor had never touched a... dick... in that particular context, he understood what he needed to do. So he did it. He wrapped his fingers firmly around the slick length, flushed purple, and began to pump his hand up and down.

Val's hips bucked up at the contact, a hiss of breathe escaping his lips. "Fuck, baby, just like that."

Alastor hesitated, "...I'm doing okay?"

"Fucking perfectly, baby, don't think too much about it." Valentino praised, pulling the deer into a desperate kiss.

Alastor leaned into it enthusiastically. Kissing was something he thoroughly enjoyed, which had been a surprise to him at first, but then again, it might have something to do with Val liking when he used his teeth. He tried to focus on keeping his hand moving, thumb prodding at the piercings, feeling the ridges of the bars under his skin. Every sound Val made was swallowed up by the deer, every buck of his hips was met with Alastor squeezing his thighs around them, trying to keep his balance.

He eventually just lifted himself up on his knees, giving Valentino all the room he needed to thrust up into his hand. He huffed a soft laugh at how desperate the pimp was getting, chasing relief, using Alastor's hand for his own pleasure.

"What's- hah, what's so funny?" Val asked through gasps and groans.

"You." Alastor answered easily, "Trying so hard to get off." The corners of his lips twitched up the tiniest amount, "You look no different to one of your whores right now. What if I just-" He let go of Valentino's cock and sat up straight.

"Hey!"

Alastor's tongue poked out between his fangs as he smothered another laugh. Oh, yes, he liked this. This was familiar territory. This was fun. Being on top of Valentino, being in charge. The way Val looked was an added bonus, hat askew on his head, antennas twitching, skin flushed, cock drooling where it lay against stomach.

He could get used to this.

"What do you want, Valentino?"

"Touch me." Val demanded.

"Is that any way to ask for things?" Alastor taunted, crossing his arms over his chest. "You know how to be polite, use those manners, darling."

"Please, can you put your hand on my God damn dick?" Val growled in mock anger.

Alastor obliged but didn't go any further. "What? You asked me to put a hand on it. I'm doing so. If you wanted more you should have been specific." He leaned forward, face inches from Valentino's. "But I have some thoughts, would you allow me to share them?"

Valentino sucked in a breath, recognizing the question he'd asked Alastor the last time they were together. He bared his teeth in a grin, couldn't help teasing right back, "You gonna talk me off, Bambi? I bet you've got a real mouth on you when you get into it."

"I'm going to try." Alastor said quietly, "Now if you would just hush..." His smug grin almost looking as if it were glowing in the dim light as he spoke his next words, "Why don't you fuck my hand, sweetheart? Make yourself feel good?"

Val cursed, hips jerking up of their accord, failing miserably at hiding how much he loved this side of the Radio Demon. "I'd love nothing more. Keep your grip nice and tight, 'kay toots?" The two arms behind his head moved to give him more support against the pillows, one hand from the lower set kept it's grip on Alastor's hip while the other threaded into the deer's hair, held it tight.

His first thrust was hard enough to almost dislodge Alastor, but he kept balance, saw it as a challenge. Valentino was rough, far rougher than Alastor had ever expected he'd be with him, but the deer took it all, keeping his grip tight just as asked.

"You're so fucking hot, Al." Valentino breathed, "So perfect. Doing all this f' me. Aw,Fuck! I get whores throwing themselves at me every damn day, tryna get where you are, and I don't want 'em, 'cause they're not you. Shit-" He had to cut himself off, focus on pumping his hips into that slick hand.

Alastor hid his face, hoping that Val wouldn't notice how red it was, how his heart kept skipping beats in his chest. "I like this Valentino." He said quietly, trying to cover up his sudden nervousness, "So much more unfiltered, nothing like your usual smooth and composed self. This Valentino is just a slave to his pleasure, eating up every little scrap he can get."

"Only for you, baby. You're the only one that sees me this way."

"You're filthy. An easy whore."

Val's hips stuttered, and he let out a string of swears, the hand that was in Alastor's hair tugging at it painfully, but it didn't bother the deer. It just meant he was doing good.

The deer let his mouth wander, trailing kisses and bites along Val's neck and shoulder. He wanted to leave marks. To claim the Overlord.

"Do you think you deserve to finish?" He asked, barely above a whisper. "Do you deserve to cum?"

"Damn right I do! C'mon, baby, fuck." Valentino groaned, "C'mon, I gotta-"

Alastor leaned back, tip of his nose touching Valentino's face. He pecked him quickly, "Then let me see you cum, Daddy."

Val let out a shout, all four hands scrambling to get a good grip on something. He bucked his hips one last time, and painted his stomach and Alastor's hand white. When he was done, he leaned back against the headboard, used a hand to scrub at his face, "Fuck, I didn't know you had it in ya, Bambi."

Alastor shrugged, grimacing at his hand. He wiped it off on a scrap of Valentino's ruined shirt. "You give me the confidence to do things I wouldn't normally do." He explained as casually as he could.

"Well, feel free to dom me anytime you want, baby."

"...Dom?"

"We can get into that later."

They set about cleaning up the mess they made, not just of themselves but of the room too, upon Alastor's insistence. He didn't want to give Niffty unnecessary extra work, and didn't need another resident of the hotel being suspicious. Two was more than enough.

Then they curled up in bed together. Alastor still in Val's coat, and Valentino dressed only in his underwear. Val had the deer wrapped in all four of his arms, held tightly against his front, and he had his face buried in Alastor's hair, between the two stubs of his antlers.

Alastor hummed a tune to himself, content with the feeling of being wrapped up warm and snug.

But there was something on his mind, eating away at him, he just had to figure out how to ask it.

Chapter Text

"You're thinking quite loudly there, sweetheart." Valentino spoke quietly, hand trailing lightly up and down his back.

Alastor stopped humming. "There's lots to think about, my dear." He answered, just as quietly.

"Like...?"

A moment of hesitation. He'd have to ask at some point, better sooner than later, he'd only be hurting himself otherwise.

"Do you love me...?"

Valentino's arms tightened, "Fuck yeah, baby. I'm sure of it. I wouldn't have proposed like that if I didn't." He whispered ernestly, "In all of my years of life and afterlife, I've never loved anyone more, and finally getting to say that is such a relief." He paused, held Alastor just a little tighter, "Had to stop myself from saying it so many times. When you said yes to that first date, I just wanted to scream it."

Alastor's eyes widened, but he didn't lift his head to meet the Overlord's eyes, "So how long...?"

"Fuck if I know. Years? Decades? It's been a long fucking time I'll tell you that, but I can't be sure when exactly."

All those years.

All those years they had been at odds. On opposite sides during a terf war. Of Alastor targeting the Studio for his broadcasts. Of throwing each other in the path of the angels during exterminations. Of hurling insults and threats and barely holding back from acting on them.

Why was Alastor even surprised? They were in Hell. Of course that was just flirting.

But he had to be honest if they were going to go any further with their relationship.

It was difficult, and it took him a few tries before he finally got the words out.

"To be completely honest with you, I-... I never- this was-... this whole thing, when you asked, I-... it was just a game. Entertainment. For myself. Something to do if- when the Hotel had a slow day-" He had to stop, the arms around him had grown painfully tight, making it hard to breath, he could feel the growl rumbling deep in Val's chest. He swallowed around the lump in his throat, hurried to finish, "It was, but-" He'd fallen hard and fast over the last few months, and he'd always thought it impossible, that he, of all people, could have feelings like that. It had happened, there was no doubt about that, whether he wanted it to or not, and it was terrifying, confusing, and sometimes he just wanted it all to stop so he wouldn't have to deal with it. But he loved Valentino, and he wanted to marry him, and just let him speak, please, let him finish-

He was released suddenly and he sprang back, thankful for his ability to see so clearly in the dark. He witnessed his shadow wrestling with Valentino, silently snarling as it defended its master. Tentacles of shadow shot out from the corners of the room, winding themselves tightly around Valentino's limbs and torso until he could do nothing but thrash helplessly.

"Alastor, you bastard!"

The pimp was doing his best to sound angry, but Alastor didn't miss how his voice broke, didn't miss the pure agony in it.

"Let me finish!" The deer hissed, static distorting his voice. He stalked back over to the bed, climbed over Valentino's still thrashing body. His shadow backed off but peered over his shoulder, intimidation in case the Overlord tried anything.

Alastor cupped his lover's face in both hands, forced Val to look him in the eyes, "It was a game, in the past, but it very quickly stopped being that. Do you think I would have said yes for a bit of entertainment? Do you think the Radio Demon would have gone that far for a joke?" He was growing angrier as he spoke, the distortion effect increasing with it, "Do you think that I would have allowed someone I hate to put their filthy hands on me? To see me so vulnerable, at my weakest? Do you think I would have allowed any of this to happen if I didn't truly feel the same way?!"

Val stared up at him silently.

"Answer me, damn it!"

The room was filled with a cacophony of deafening mechanical sounds, all of which had Val wincing at their unpleasantness.

"Let me touch you." Val said calmly, when the noises had quietened down enough.

His limbs were released from the shadow tendrils cautiously, but Alastor's shadow still watched him suspiciously.

Valentino sat up slowly, wrapped his arms tightly around the smaller demon, but his hold wasn't threatening this time. "I'm sorry."

"You're an imbecile." Alastor growled, but the fight had left him. He sunk against Val's chest, clutched at him just as tightly, buried his face in his shoulder.

"I know, I'm sorry, darling." Valentino mumbled sincerely. He placed kisses in Alastor's hair, brought two hands up to rub apologetically at his ears, "I should have let you finish, it was obvious you were struggling."

Alastor leaned into the touch, glad to note there wasn't the slightest itch to accompany it. "Wait until I'm done before you get angry next time."

"I will."

They stayed that way for a long while, Alastor soaking up the attention. The touches, the kisses, the sweet nothings whispered in his ear.

"We should sleep, it's late."

Alastor hummed his agreement, and pushed Val down to lay on his back. He stayed where he was, on the pimp's chest, and that's how they slept.

-

Alastor was the first to wake, ever the early riser, no matter how late he'd fallen asleep.

Valentino's efforts to keep him in bed for just a little while longer hadn't been fruitful, but he stubbornly refused to join the deer in starting the day. He only wrapped the covers tighter around himself and pouted, "You seem way too happy."

"I have good reason to be!" Alastor chuckled, humming along to the jazz music that echoed around the room before he announced, "Why, I had such a wonderful dream last night!" He didn't hesitate to drop Val's coat to the ground, revealing his naked back to the other demon. He could feel the eyes watching his every move, and he grinned, snapped his fingers to manifest his robe. He didn't miss the disappointed sigh. It made him giddy. Words were one thing, but having the physical proof that Val liked the way he looked was better.

"What did you dream about, baby?" Valentino piped up, bringing him back to the topic at hand.

"Oh, I wish you could have been there, my friend!" Alastor said excitedly, feet carrying him around the room in a little spin, before tapping along to the rythm of the music, "It really was quite wonderful, you see, this incredibly handsome demon proposed to me! And, well, he isn't the sharpest knife in the drawer, but I-... I quite like him, and so I said yes!" He picked up some of the scraps of shirt they'd missed last night as he went, "It's too bad it was only a dream, I was looking forward to seeing the ring he promised me!"

Alastor ended his dance beside Valentino and leaned over him to brush their lips together.

"Mm, I'm jealous of this other demon." Val mumbled, hand reaching up to keep Al in place, "He's a lucky guy, I was hoping to propose first."

"What a shame." Alastor grinned, pulling back before the hand could reach him, "Do you want me to find you something to wear? There has to be something in this hotel."

"Give me my coat."

"I slept in it all night."

"Exactly, it's gonna smell like you."

Alastor wrinkled his nose at that, "That's disgusting."

Valentino shrugged, "Too late for you to back out now, baby."

"Maybe, maybe not." Alastor hummed, reluctantly handing over the coat. "I'll meet you downstairs, if you'd like a few more minutes. You don't have any business to attend to, do you?"

"I fucking hope not, I ain't movin'."

Alastor huffed a laugh, "Let yourself into the staff dining room when you come down, that's where I'll be, and sleep well, my love." He gave the taller demon one last peck before pulling away, stepping through the shadows to get back to his own room. He used the opportunity to shower, get dressed in his usual outfit, foregoing his coat, and brush out his hair, then his tail, before making sure it was tucked discreetly under his clothes. His hellphone was unplugged and dropped into his pocket, and he promised himself that he'd do his best to keep it charged up and on his person. No more unecessary worrying for Valentino.

One last look in the mirror on the back of his door.

Flawless.

He flashed himself a grin and manifested his microphone, gave it a spin, and then took to the hallway. Alastor made one quick detour before heading downstairs, returning to Val to prop his cane agaisnt the bedside table, then he began to make his way to the kitchen, whistling as he went.

-

Niffty was already in the kitchen as expected, and she greeted Alastor cheerfully as he entered.

"Good morning, my dear! Do you mind if I join you this morning?" He asked, sweeping her off her feet to place a kiss on her cheek.

She giggled, playfully pushed him away, "Of course not, you're always welcome in the kitchen!"

He let her jump back down to the floor and get back to work, and he set about rolling up his shirt sleeves and washing his hands, "You take guests and I'll take staff?"

"Sounds like a plan!"

They danced around each other effortlessly, having been doing so for years, as Niffty prepared breakfast for the guests and Alastor cooked for staff. Niffty sticking to the menu, while Alastor got more creative, making whatever came to mind, even if it wasn't necessarily a breakfast food. The Happy Hotel's staff were the sort to eat whatever was put in front of them when they'd just awoken.

Alastor was also partially showing off, having never cooked for Valentino before. He hoped he'd come down before all the good things were scoffed, but also wished he'd come down late, so they could have a moment of privacy. Alastor would be more than happy to cook some more if he needed to.

Charlie and Vaggie appeared sometime later, when a decent amount of food had been laid out in the staff dining room.

The staff dining room just being an area of the kitchen that was cut off from the main area by a thin wall. The wall had a large rectangular 'window' in it, and to the side of it were waist high swing doors. The area was just big enough for a dining table that fit the hotel's original team. And the star guest, of course.

Charlie was a morning person through and through, bouncing in excitedly and taking a place at the dining table.

Vaggie was the complete opposite. She practically stormed in after Charlie and Alastor wordlessly handed her a cup of strong black coffee, already prepared in anticipation of her arrival.

"You're in a good mood this morning, Al!" Charlie chirped, piling up the plate set out for her with fruit and pancakes.

Alastor was in the middle of twirling Niffty around, and singing along to the music that followed him when the Princess spoke, having grabbed the bug right after handing over the coffee.

"Yes, one could say that!" He agreed, nodding just a little too much. "I had a wonderful night!"

"Well, I'm glad! You've been looking a little down recently, it's good to see you back to your regular self." Charlie shot Alastor a large smile before tucking into her breakfast.

They lapsed into silence after that, aside from Alastor's singing and humming, Niffty and Charlie occassionally joining in. Vaggie just nursed her coffee, and nibbled on the food that had been put out. She made herself another cup once that was finished, and tucked into the food more enthusiastically.

Angel Dust wandered in around the time they stopped serving breakfast to the guests, and Charlie and Vaggie were just getting ready to leave. He paused in the doorway, greeted them as they passed, then looked around the room, like he was looking for someone.

"Mornin'," He mumbled with a yawn when he didn't see Valentino. He ventured further into the room and placed Fat Nuggets on the floor, letting the small pig trot after him. "C'mon Nuggets, don't go begging Niffty for food, Al'll be mad."

"Did you have a nice night, Mr. Angel Dust?" Niffty asked politely as she worked on washing the dishes, now done with cooking.

Angel's mismatched eyes flicked to Alastor for just a second, before they settled on the bug, "Yeah, I- uh, I had a great night, Niffty! Thanks for asking, how about yourself?"

Niffty began chattering away mostly without input from the other two in the room, able to keep a conversation going for hours by herself.

It was adorable, Alastor thought, a charming quality, though most found it annoying. He could do the same, if he was in the right mood. Paired with Niffty, they were quite the duo.

Angel didn't seem at all bothered by the small demon's chatter, happily stuffing his face with the leftover food and feeding scraps to his pig under the table.

Alastor made a note to save something in the fridge for Husk, knowing that he almost always missed breakfast and the chances of him making it that morning were incredibly low.

Ah, but speak of the devil.

The grouchy, old cat demon tripped through the door at that moment, bottle in hand, curse words on his lips.

"Drinking already, Husker?" Alastor teased, helping him to a chair.

Husk didn't dignify that with a reply, not an intelligible one anyway, just noisy grumbling. His forehead hit the table with an audible bang when he was seated, but it didn't appear to bother him in any way.

Niffty passed a cup of steaming coffee to Alastor who placed it on the table for Husk.

The cat lifted his head just enough to make sure he didn't spill anything when he poured the remaining contents of the bottle into the mug. The empty bottle was pushed aside and he wrapped his big paws around the mug, soaking up the warmth, and then he lifted his head properly, only to begin lapping at the spiked drink like a domestic cat, eyes closed tight.

Niffty watched the scene with a look of great disappointment, but also acceptance, while Alastor and Angel had matching amused expressions.

As entertaining as the scene was though, Alastor's mind wandered to Valentino. It had been a couple hours since he'd left him in bed, was the Overlord still sleeping? Did he have some business to attend to after all and slip out without saying goodbye?

Alastor remembered the phone in his pocket and pulled it out, checked for recent messages.

There was one, timestamped for just after Alastor had left Val.

'Miss you already, baby'.

His smile softened just a bit at the sight.

"When did you get that?"

The question pulled him out of his thoughts so suddenly he jumped. He coughed to cover it up and blinked, "Pardon?"

"When did you get that?" Niffty repeated, gesturing to the hellphone in his hands, "I've never seen you with one."

"Oh, this? It's an old thing." Alastor said casually, waving a hand, hoping if he didn't make a big deal about it, they'd drop it. He tucked it back into his pocket and took a seat at the dining table, picking up an apple to munch on.

Niffty climbed into the seat beside him and buttered up some toast for herself.

"Doesn't look like an old thing. Looks brand new." Angel spoke up, cheeky grin on his face. His lower arms held his pig still, stopping the thing from jumping on the table, the upper pair had elbows propped on the table, chin in his hands. "In fact, it looks just like-" He paused, eyes widening. He didn't continue.

Husk had opened his eyes enough to glare, "Looks like wha'? If you're gonna speak loud enough t' fuckin' bother me, might 's well finish your sen'ences."

"Nevermind, I was wrong." Angel shrugged, leaning back. He looked quite nervous all of a sudden, and wouldn't meet Alastor's eyes.

"Oh, do share, Angel. What does it look like?" Alastor taunted, biting into the apple with a satisfying crunch.

Angel gulped, a slight tremor visible in hands, but the door swung open before he could answer, and Alastor hoped-

"My office is boring, Vaggie! It's too quiet, there's no atmosphere! I'd much prefer to work- oh, hello, everyone! I didn't think you'd all be here!" Charlie bounced in, stack of papers in hand.

"It's work, Charlie! It isn't supposed to be fun!" Vaggie grumbled, dutifully following her girlfriend. She ushered the Princess to the unoccupied seats at the table, "Please, just focus on this and don't start talking to everyone. This has to get done." She lifted her head to glare at the sinners surroundings the table, "And don't distract to her!"

The group acknowledged her as one and left the girls to get on with their work.

The silence that settled was awkward, but before anyone could think of a way to break it, the door to the kitchen swung open yet again, followed by footsteps and the tapping of a cane.

Charlie was the first to lift her head to tell the newcomer they shouldn't be there, but she stopped when she saw it was Valentino. Her eyes widened and she jumped up from her chair - Vaggie groaning as she did so - and rushed over to the Overlord.

"Mr. Valentino sir! I didn't realize you were still here!" Charlie grabbed one of his hands, frantically looked around the room, "Is there any food left? Oh! Do we have an extra chair?" She turned back to him, "I'm sorry, we would have been more prepared, if-"

"Hey, no worries, dollface." Valentino grinned, "It was impromptu, I get it. I only stayed 'cause Al and I's meeting ran a little late and I was too lazy to get back to the studio."

Niffty vacated her seat and hopped up onto the window ledge, "You can have my seat, Mr. Valentino."

"Why, thank you, little lady." Valentino bowed theatrically to her and took the seat beside Alastor, pulling it out to accommodate his long legs.

Alastor noted that he was, in fact, wearing his coat, just like he said he would, and he looked immaculate as always. Hat perfectly straight, cane held delicately in the crook of one lower arm, not a single strand of fluff on his collar out of place.

Alastor wanted to press his face into it. He wanted to wrap his arms around the larger demon. He wanted to sit in his lap and he wanted to kiss him, right there, in front of everyone. He wondered if he only felt that way because he trusted these people to a certain extent. Either way, the thought of it was consuming him, and they'd only been in the same room for a minute.

Charlie was still hanging on the pimp, rambling on and on, "Thank you for showing so much interest! It really means a lot that you and Al have been talking about this! It means a lot to all of us, especially Angel Dust!" Said demon flinched at the mention of his name, "I know it was a hard decision. He's been doing so well and if you let any of your other employees stay with us, that would be amazing-"

"Take a breath!" Val interrupted with a chuckle, gently prying Charlie from his arm, "I'll talk to my girls when I get back to the studio, see if any of 'em are interested, but I would really like to try a bite of this food, if you wouldn't mind."

"Oh, you really have to try it!" Niffty piped up, "Alastor cooked it all from scratch!"

"Did he now?" Valentino finally turned to him and it took everything in Alastor not to surge up from his chair.

He leaned back instead, crossed one leg over the other, ankle resting on his knee, and summoned his microphone to tap the base of the stand against the ground, "Well, not all of it. The bread for the toast was store bought, for one."

Charlie dropped an overflowing plate of food in front of the pimp, "Here!"

The plate was small, but the unstable mountain on it covered all of the food groups.

Val thanked her and Charlie finally returned to her own seat.

Vaggie spoke to her in harsh whispers, pausing every now and again to glare daggers at Val, who acknowledged all of the looks with a smirk and a little wave. Thought it wasn't Valentino's first time visiting the hotel, and not their first interaction, she still had obvious distrust for the demon. As she did Alastor, despite all of the months he'd been providing his services. She just wasn't the type to let her guard down easily, unlike her girlfriend. Perhaps she was the reason.

Alastor could relate.

He glanced at Val, watched as he tasted everything that was on his plate, even though most of the flavours must have clashed horribly. Alastor could appreciate the demon's table manners, no elbows on the table, mouth closed as he chewed, knife and fork held correctly.

It made something inside of the deer feel fuzzy, and wasn't that just weird? Falling in love with someone just a little more because of something so trivial.

Alastor tore his gaze before it became suspicious.

Vaggie and Charlie were engrossed in their work at the corner of the table, not paying attention to anyone or anything outside of it. Husk looked to be asleep, cheek smushed against his forearm while one hand still held the half empty mug in his hand, one of his ears kept twitching. Niffty had finished her breakfast and used the opportunity to begin clearing the empty plates from the table, even taking Angel Dust's plate still half piled with food, the demon claiming he was full.

The spider didn't look full, he looked as if he was waiting for the perfect moment to excuse himself from the table, from the whole room. Fat Nuggets fidgeted nervously in his lap, sending agitated looks Valentino's way.

Even the pig was scared of the pimp.

Alastor bit his tongue to stop the laugh.

No one noticed when he scooted his chair just a little closer to Valentino's.

He would have dared to reach out for the lower hand that was closest to him, like a teenager in some cheesy romance, but he held back with Niffty zipping about the room.

"So, what do you think of the food?" Alastor asked instead, propping his chin on a palm.

"Better than sex." Val answered without missing a beat, startling a laugh from the Radio Demon, his studio audience joining in, "I'm serious. I'd ask you to cater for the Studio, but I doubt we'd get any work done."

"Well, I appreciate the compliment, my good friend!"

Their eyes met and it was like they were two magnets, drawn together, Alastor couldn't have resisted if he tried. He stood so fast his chair tipped up, clattering to the ground loud enough to gather everyone's attention.

Just in time to see Alastor grab ahold of that famed fur collar and tug the pimp close to connect their lips in a heated kiss.

Gasps of surprise echoed around the room, soon followed by Husk's loud hiss of, "I fucking knew it!"

Alastor ignored them all, focused only on Valentino, the demon he loved, who he was engaged to. He didn't want to pull away, not for a long while. He wanted Val to never let him go, to hold him tight forever.

But they were interrupted by another chair clattering to the ground and the sound of something smashing.

Angel Dust stood there, pet pig held too tightly in his lower arms for it to be comfortable, but Nuggets didn't seem to mind. Both of their faces were twisted in terror.

"I-I gotta go-"

And with that the spider was gone.

"Prude." Val uttered under his breath and Alastor snorted.

The others in the room seemed to snap out of whatever daze they were in.

When Valanetino and Alastor turned around, Vaggie was attempting to climb over the table to get to them, spear in hand, cursing up a storm in her native tongue.

Charlie was hardly holding her back.

"I don't trust this! Nope, not at all! Not letting it happen! Let me go, Charlie!"

"Vaggie, we don't know anything! Calm down, let's hear them out-"

"I already don't trust that radio shitlord, and now he decides to go smooching on the owner of Porn Studios? It's too fucking convenient! Think about it seriously for a second!"

"You realize we're right here and we can hear you, right?" Valentino spoke up, one eyebrow arched. He glanced down at Alastor, "They do get that, don't they, babe?"

That only served to rile up the girl further, and she let out a shout as she lunged.

Val knocked her spear away with his cane, scrambling up from his chair and preparing to fight. Husk chose that moment to peel himself off of the table, face scrunched up in anger and pain. He reached out for Vaggie and grabbed her, helping Charlie to subdue her. Niffty had run over too, standing just in front of Alastor, wearing a fierce expression.

Alastor took a deep breath, willing the anger he was feeling to fade. It did, albeit slowly. When he spoke, he did so calmly, "Who I choose to involve myself with will not have any effect on how I run this hotel, and I will not silence anyone for simply having an opinion." The shadows around the room began to writhe, "However, I will not hesitate to... deal with anyone who comes between us. This isn't some type of business partnership, this isn't some ploy for power or leverage. I happen to like Valentino, as crazy as that is to believe."

Valentino nodded along, crossed both pairs of arms over his torso, "What he said. You think I'm crazy enough to plot shit right under Lucifer's nose? With that being said though, no offense Princess, but your girlfriend is fucking nuts."

Vaggie growled at him through tightly clenched teeth.

Val pointed a couple of finger guns at her, "Anyway, I've already promised not to harm anyone on hotel grounds, but whatever happens outside..." He flashed his gold tooth, "No mercy."

Silence settled around the group as Alastor thought of something to break it, but the Princess beat him to it.

"Soo... you're together...?" Charlie asked hesitantly.

"Engaged. If you want specifics." Valentino grinned.

She lit up like a Christmas tree, "Oh! That's adorable! Who proposed, where's the ring-"

"Are you seriously believing this? Just like that?" Vaggie asked with a hiss.

Charlie frowned, "Of course, why wouldn't I?"

"To be fair-" Valentino interrupted, "We were lying about the business meetings. That was just an excuse to see each other." At Charlie's disappointed look, he quickly barrelled on, "But! I will still talk to my girls to see who wants out."

The couple weren't given an opportunity to comment on Valentino's revelation because Niffty had jumped up on top of the table, hands on her hips, "You're being incredibly rude right now, Miss Vaggie! How would you like it if someone said your love for Miss Charlie wasn't real? Huh? What would you do if they attacked you for it?" She stopped and waited for an answer.

Vaggie looked properly chastened, withdrawing her gaze and tripping over her words as she fumbled for answer, "W-well, I-"

"Exactly!" Niffty exclaimed, not letting her finish, "I have known Alastor for a long time and I can say for certain that how he feels is genuine. Though I can't say the same for Mr. Valentino, I do trust Alastor and his judgement." Niffty crossed her arms, "Please, be more considerate of others, even if you don't like them."

Vaggie clearly tried to think of something to say, but after one failed attempt after another, she gave up with a defeated sigh. Her captors let her go and she wrapped her arms around herself. "Sorry..."

"Don't apologize to me, apologize to them." Niffty said sternly, pointing behind her at Valentino and Alastor.

Vaggie scrunched up her nose, and glared at the couple, "I'm sorry for insulting your... relationship." She spat.

"Close enough." Niffty sighed. She turned to Valentino and Alastor and all traces of anger were gone from her body, instead she was buzzing with excitement, "Congratulations, Al! And you too Mr Valentino!"

Val reached out to gently pat the bug on the head, "Thank you, little lady!"

"Congrats." Husk echoed in a grumble, downing the leftover contents of his mug.

Charlie skipped up to them and grabbed them both, hearts in her eyes, "You gotta tell me everything!"

"I'd love to." Valentino said, "But I'm afraid I have to get back to the studio, I've been away long enough, have to make sure it isn't burning to the ground without me. It was a pleasure having breakfast with you all though, thanks for sharing with me." Val leaned down, planted a kiss in Alastor's hair, right between his antlers, "I'll get you that ring, text me details if you have any ideas. See ya later, darling."

Alastor hummed, heart skipping a beat. He hoped his face wasn't as red as it felt, "Goodbye, my love."

-

Thankfully, he managed to avoid Charlier's interrogation of their relationship, sneaking back to his room after walking Valentino to the door. He buried himself in work, but only half paid attention to it, his mind wandering to everyone's reaction to his little unplanned announcement. He'd never felt so out of control of his own body before, it was... odd.

But it went about as well as Alastor expected it too. With Vaggie immediately assuming the worst, Niffty and Husk rallying to his side, prepared to fight on his behalf, and Charlie, ever the optimist, refusing to believe it was anything more than simply two demons in love. Angel Dust's reaction was the only one that came as a surprise. Far from the sexual innuendos that he'd almost anticipated.

As long as he didn't start causing trouble, Alastor couldn't care less.

Niffty stopped by sometime in the early afternoon, a million and one questions at the ready. She rambled on for an hour, asking about their plans, and telling him how excited she was and sprinkling in stories of the one wedding she went to when she was alive.

Alastor indulged her politely until the social interaction began to drain him. He reminded her of her duties and gently guided her out of the door, saying his goodbyes with a kiss to her cheek and thanking her for sticking up for him at breakfast.

He returned to work only to have it interrupted moments later by Husk, but the feline's visit was much more brief. Husk only wanted to confirm that the breakfast fiasco was real and not a hallucination fueled by his hangover.

At Alastor's confirmation, he gently punched the deer's shoulder with a muttered, 'I'm happy for ya.' A barely there smile was tugging at his lips.

Alastor didn't accept that, dragging his best friend into a side hug, relentlessly nuzzling him and teasing him until Husk was laughing. When the cat left, he was grinning, and it served to brighten Alastor's mood.

Not that it wasn't bright enough before, but there was always room for a little more light.

After Husk's visit, he ended up putting his work away, turning the radio up loud to dance around his room instead, wallowing in happiness.

"Join me!" He called out, tapping his feet on the floor.

His shadow blinked its eyes opened and looked up at him. A moment later it rose from the floor to join Alastor in dancing, taking the lead. They didn't stick to anything in particular, the limited space not allowing for it, and Alastor not entirely able to focus. They kept switching leads, changing the moves mid step, improvising new ones.

"Engaged! Can you believe it?" He cheered, "Engaged!"

His shadow shook its head, spinning him around and dipping him.

Alastor let out a laugh, "I never thought, not in a million years! All of my life, lived alone, no family, no friends." He hummed, taking over the lead, "Not that that ever bothered me then, and of course it still doesn't, but wow! Engaged!" They passed his bed and he stopped the dance to flop onto it, panting hard. He dragged his shadow with him. "Look at us! Have we ever been this happy? Truly happy?"

The shadow shook its head again.

"And it's all thanks to Valentino! My man, my darling, my love..." Alastor paused, and he calmed somewhat, his smile softening, "I love him... I think. No, I love him!"

A nod that time, blue glow of its grin blinding.

Alastor smiled fondly, "A new chapter for us, my friend. How exciting."

He watched his shadow for a moment, then reached out his hands to entangle their fingers. The creature was essentially just a clone of himself, thinking the same thoughts, experiencing the same feelings. It could share in his excitement over his engagement, and it could share in his pleasure when he took a life, when he consumed flesh, and it could be there to keep him on track, on focus.

Thinking about it, he loved it too, in a way.

Alastor freed one of his hands to cup its cheek, "Are you hungry, my dear?"

His shadow squinted its eyes, grin widening, and it rose from the bed, gliding over to the door. It ushered its master to follow, bouncing on its heels.

The Radio Demon took his time standing up, dusting himself off, stopping the music and taking his coat off its hook to shrug it on. He opened the door and-

Charlie was stood there, fist raised halfway to knock. She looked worried, but she stayed silent.

"What can I do for you, dear?" Alastor asked gently.

"...Have you seen Angel?" She asked.

"Not since breakfast, I've been in my room all day. Is something wrong?"

She furrowed her brows, wrapped her arms around herself, "I don't know. He's not in his room and he won't answer his phone. He left so abruptly this morning," Charlie looked up at him, "I'm worried, Al."

Missing. That was worrisome.

Alastor put his hands on her shoulders, "Don't worry, dear, I'm sure he's fine."

"Can you... can you talk to Valentino? See if he's seen or heard from him?"

"Of course, leave it to me. Go sit down, have Niffty make you something warm to drink."

He swallowed down the irritated sigh that so desperately wanted to leave his lungs. Alastor didn't like comforting others, it usually meant touching. This was absolutely the last situation he wanted to be in, especially that night.

Something hit his chest and he took a step back, unprepared for the impact.

It was only Charlie. She'd thrown her arms around Alastor's waist and buried her face in his chest. "Thank you, Alastor." She mumbled, voice muffled by the fabric of Alastor's clothes.

The deer bristled at the unwelcomed touch, but hid his discomfort well. He awkwardly patted her shoulders, ignored that damn itch. When he spoke his voice was strained, "No problem, darling."

He shot his shadow an apologetic look.

Dinner would have to wait.

-

No one had seen Angel since breakfast. Not even Niffty, who could easily make her way around the entire hotel a good few times in one day. She offered to help search, but Alastor waved her away. He was certain he could find the spider on his own.

A check of the pornstar's room showed that several personal belongings were missing, ones that Alastor knew Angel wouldn't just leave behind. Including Fat Nuggets, who wasn't hiding in any crevice big enough for it to squeeze into.

So they were dealing with a runaway.

"Come." He said to his shadow, who had been searching the spots Alastor couldn't reach. "We're going to call Valentino."

Outside, it took him and his shadow one long frustrating minute to figure out how to place a call to the pimp. He barely stopped himself from crushing the infernal device, letting out a sigh of relief when it finally started ringing.

Valentino was quick to pick up.

"Al, baby, not that I don't appreicate the call, but I'm a little busy-"

"Is it Angel Dust?"

"Yeah, how-"

"He's missing. Well, I believe he's run away." Something smashed on the other end of the line. "Is he there?"

"I fucking wish he was here, but no dice. I haven't seen him since breakfast, and the little bitch hasn't been answering my calls all day. I'm sure he's ditched his phone."

Alastor began to pace, his shadow falling into step right beside him.

Not at the hotel, and not at the studio. Not answering calls from his boss or his friends. Possessions and pet taken with him. There was no phone in Angel's room, so either he'd taken it with him and ditched it, or had destroyed it.

"You've known Angel for years, you must know his preferred hiding places?"

"Already checked. We got nothing."

"Would he leave the city?"

A harsh laugh, "The Pentagram's all he knows, he wouldn't dare try to leave. It's a death sentence. He may be a sneaky fuck, but Angel's here somewhere, and he won't stay hidden."

Alastor tapped his shoes on the ground as he thought, shadow copying him.

"Can you give me a list of his hiding places? I'd like to double check."

"Yeah, I'll text them to you. Let me know if you find him okay? I've gotta have a fucking talk with that-"

"No."

"What?"

The question was a rough growl, the fury in Valentino's voice undeniable through the tinny quality of the phone's audio. Something crackled, and Alastor thought it might be the plastic of Val's hellphone.

"Angel Dust is scared of us, I believe. What happened at breakfast obviously gave him the wrong impression, and he didn't stick around long enough to hear the explanation. If that is true, I don't want his boss scaring him further and screwing things up. Let me handle this, Val."

Heavy breathing, followed by the sound of grinding teeth and then, "Angel is my employee first and your patron second, do not think that you get to tell me what to do with him, just because-"

"I'm not telling, I'm asking." Alastor sighed, pinched at the bridge of his nose, "I don't like this any more than you do, I don't want to undermine you, but I am going to bring Angel back to this hotel unharmed. Let him off just this once, and I'll never ask again."

The pimp was silent for so long that Alastor was worried he'd accidentally disconnected the call, but Val spoke up again right as he considered checking, "Once. And when you find him, let him know that if he pulls this stunt again, I will not be fucking lenient. I won't have anyone thinking I've gone soft."

"Anyone but me, of course."

"Don't push it, Bambi, I'm not in the mood for your games right now."

Alastor hummed, "Thank you, darling, I appreciate it, truly."

"Whatever. Just find him."

A click signalled Val ending the call and Alastor let out a long breath, clenching his free hand into a fist for a second before letting it relax. A moment later a text came through with a list of places located all over the city, then another saying 'My men are still looking, they'll let you know if they find him first'.

Alastor didn't reply, turning instead to acknowledge his shadow, "Check out the first half, I'll take the second."

A nod, and the creature was off.

-

The search lasted for hours, late into the night, the skies of Hell deepening to a dark reddish-purple. The streets clear of most demons, aside from a lonely few. Though even those dared not disturb the Radio Demon in his search, knowing to stay well enough away. He was wearing his usual grin, but there wasn't an ounce of friendliness present. It was twisted into something cruel, vicious, and it only worsened the longer the search continued.

He'd never liked the pornstar, he was too touchy-feely, too crass, but Alastor had grown to tolerate him. Now though, that hatred was quickly returning. The deer was tired of searching every dirty back alley that Pentagram City had to offer, tired of checking his phone for updates, tired of wasting his own time and energy to find the demon. He was tempted to call his shadow back, return to the hotel with the news that he just couldn't find Angel, and leave it all to Valentino, apologize for usurping his authority and allow the demon to have his way with his star employee.

But Alastor had come this far, he might as well continue.

And it was a good job too, because not even thirty minutes later he'd managed to corner Angel Dust in one of those dirty back alleys, on his way from one hiding place to another.

Alastor forced himself to calm down as he called his shadow back, he didn't want the interaction to end with either of them getting hurt.

"Angel."

The spider stumbled and fell to the ground at the sound of Alastor's voice. He quickly turned around, holding his bag in front of him and his pig as a makeshift shield. He'd obviously been crying and his voice shook when he spoke, "P-please, just let me go."

Alastor crouched down, tried to appear as safe and as non-threatening as possible. He slowly reached out a hand, "Come back to the hotel, Angel. We can talk there."

Angel scrambled back, hit a wall, "Please, Al- I-I gotta go. Please let me go."

"Why do you have to go?" Alastor asked with all the patience he really didn't have. He tried to get closer, but it only made Angel Dust more anxious.

The spider stayed silent.

"Whatever you're thinking, I can assure you it's not true. Speak to me, tell me what's going on."

"I can't."

Okay, this was going nowhere.

Alastor stood, turned to his shadow that had been waiting behind him. He took his phone out of his pocket and handed it over, "Tell Val that we found him."

"No!" Angel called out, then immediately flinched, regretting the outburst. He quickly backtracked, "No, please, Al, I-I'll do anything! Just don't- don't tell Val, please, don't hand me over to him-"

"Angel, listen to me." Alastor said carefully, "I'm going to tell Valentino that you've been found so he and his men can stop looking, and then I'm going to take you back to the hotel, and we are going to talk. Val isn't going to hurt you. I am not going to hurt you. After that, we can pretend this never happened."

Angel breathed in sharply, "I don't believe you."

"Would you like to hear it from Valentino himself? He won't appreciate it. He's already annoyed at you, and me now too for trying to get you off the hook."

Angel's fear was making him tremble, but he seemed to be building up his confidence, slowly but surely. But he still hesitated when he spoke, "I want to make a deal."

Alastor's shadow burst into silent laughter, almost dropping the phone where it was typing out a text to Val.

The deer only just managed not to roll his eyes, he could feel a headache coming on. "I'm listening." He said, calming his shadow, "What are your terms?"

"I'll come back to the hotel and I won't do this again, if you promise that I won't be punished for this. By you, or Charlie, or Val."

Alastor sighed, acquiescing, "As long as you tell me why you made such a stupid decision in the first place." He held out a hand, an ominous green glow coming from it, "Hurry up, we don't have all night."

Angel muttered something to his pig as he got to his feet, kissing it on the forehead. He clutched his pet and his bag tightly in three of his hands, the last one reached out to clasp Alastor's, giving it a firm shake.

Alastor didn't let him go once the deal was made, tugging him through the shadows to get back to the hotel quickly.

Angel tripped over his own feet at the sudden change in environment, ending up on the floor of Alastor's room.

"Warn a guy next time, asshole!"

"My patience is wearing thin. Sit. Talk." Alastor demanded, crossing his arms, his shadow draping itself over his shoulders. "You're scared of us, that much is obvious, but more so than usual. Why?"

The spider took a seat on top of the desk, taking his pig with him. He shrugged in answer to the Radio Demon's question, "I just thought..." He shrugged again, hugged Fat Nuggets closer, "Val toys with me enough as it is and I know how much of a cruel bastard you can be so... I don't know, I just thought if you decided to team up against me... I'd rather test my luck and face the Pentagram on my own."

"And spend forever on the run?"

Angel let out a self-deprecating laugh, "Yeah, it's stupid when you really think about it, but I was panicking." Tears gathered in the corners of his eyes and he swiped them away with his free hands.

"You saw us the night before, so you already knew."

"I didn't really have enough time to process anything then, and like I said, I panicked. Can you blame me?"

"I don't think running away from your problems has ever worked well for anyone."

"Yeah, well. Worth a short ain't it?" Angel huffed. He looked around the room as he finally released his pig, letting the animal snuffle around his ankles, and hugged himself instead.

"For what it's worth." Alastor started slowly, trying not to let his agitation at the wandering animal show, "Though I have no interest in attempting to control Valentino, or what he does with his business or his employees, as long as you are in this hotel, no one is going to hurt you."

Angel smiled sadly at that, "Can't stay here forever though, can I?"

Alastor manifested his microphone and tapped the base on the ground, "Best stop with the stupid decisions then." He stepped closer and offered a hand to Angel to help him off of the desk.

His shadow slunk away to round up the pig and herd it towards the door.

"Yeah, yeah." Angel said flippantly, waving a hand. "Thanks for saving my ass, I guess."

"Don't mention it."

Angel scooped up his pig and collected his bag from Alastor's shadow, hesitating in the doorway, "Do you... do you really like Val?"

"I do."

"Well, forgive me if I'm not entirely happy for ya."

Alastor flashed him a grin filled with too many teeth, "That's quite all right, as long as you don't become an obstacle." He gently nudged the spider forward, so he was out of the way enough for Alastor to close the door, "Goodnight, Angel."

"See ya, smiles."

-

Alastor had only just sat down when his shadow was shoving his hellphone into his face, gesturing wildly to the screen.

There was a text from Valentino that simply said 'There's a car waiting for you, outside.'

The deer considered ignoring it, just turning in for the night. It had been an exhausting forty-eight hours, he could sleep for a week, Val would probably just assume he'd forgotten about his hellphone's existence again. But he did want to make sure he and Valentino were all right, so he stepped through the shadows to reach the front of the hotel.

A car was waiting just as Val had said, one of his right hand men waiting beside the open door. He shut it behind Alastor when he silently climbed in and the henchman took his place in the front of vehicle.

Alastor reached for his phone, intending to call Val to ask why he was sending for him, but he had a pretty good idea as to why. Besides, Porn Studios wasn't that far away, he could stand to wait a few extra minutes.

When they arrived, he was let out of the car and led into the building, guided through the oh so familiar hallways that would take him to Valentino's office. He was left by himself outside the door after he'd knocked, and it only took a moment for it to swing open and for several hands to grab Alastor dragging him inside.

He was slammed up against the closed door, rattling it in its frame, his feet dangling in the air, and when he came to his senses, he saw Valentino's face just inches from his own.

"Don't you ever do that again, sweetheart." The pimp growled lowly.

Alastor gave him a bored look, "This is entirely unecessary, Val. Put me down."

He was dropped and he dusted himself off, straightened his bowtie.

"Sorry, baby, had to prove I ain't soft."

Alastor snorted, "Of course. Big bad Valentino. Very scary." He mocked.

Four arms wrapped around him tightly and Val pecked his cheek, "I won't hesitate to tear off those cute little ears of yours."

"And I won't hesitate to rip out your heart and take a bite while its still beating." Alastor purred right back.

Val shivered, "Oh, baby, I love it when you flirt." He lifted Alastor up and walked them to his desk, settling down in his chair with the deer in his lap.

"We're good... right?" Alastor asked slowly as he got comfortable.

"We are." Valentino confirmed, pressing a kiss to his deer's forehead, then to his cheek, "Anyway, I brought you here for a reason." He reached into the pocket of his coat and pulled out a small box, "I believe I promised to get you a ring."

Alastor's breath caught in his throat, "Oh, I-... with everything that happened with Angel I completely forgot."

Valentino grinned at him, "Your hand please."

The deer held it out and Val took it in one of his upper hands, gently kissed each knuckle. He opened up the box with his lower hands and passed the ring up, sliding it onto Alastor's ring finger.

"What do you think?"

Alastor studied the ring carefully. It was a simple silver band with a blue tint to it, a single sapphire embedded into it, leaving the surface completely smooth. When he turned his hand over to get a look at the other side, there was a small V engraved in it. He let out a long breath, not realizing he'd been holding it, "It's beautiful."

"Hmm, not as much as you."

A record scratch sounded in the air and Alastor shot the pimp a look, "That was terrible. Darling, that hurt me."

Valentino dissolved into laughter, clutched the deer tightly, "Aw, Bambi, you're too perfect."

"I think I'm going to have to confiscate your coat for that."

Val was still laughing as he shooed Alastor off of his lap. "A fitting punishment." He removed the desired article of clothing and wrapped the deer up in it, then pulled him back into his lap. "I'm dreadfully cold now."

"Serves you right for that horrible excuse for a compliment."

"But you'll still marry me, right?"

"Well you did go through all the effort to get me this ring, and I am impressed with how quickly you managed it. Custom, as well." Alastor hummed, he also noticed that Val had found the time to replace his glasses, but that was another matter entirely, "I suppose I will."

"Much appreciated, Bambi."

Alastor snuggled down into his borrowed coat, so much so that only his antlers and ears were visible over the fur collar, and leaned heavily against Valentino's chest. He fully intended to go to sleep if the pimp still had some work to attend to.

"When will you admit that you love this thing?"

"Never." Alastor mumbled, "I will admit to loving the original owner though."