Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

It had been two weeks since Alastor fled from the hotel, taking his time to lick his wounds. In the last two days, the last remnants of his wound started to heal, leaving behind the beginning of a jagged scar and a weird mixture of nausea and tiredness. He tried every medicine in the book he could, but the only thing that seemed to help was ginger tea and eating bland food, a crime against taste, in his humble opinion. 

More so than Alastor himself, his shadow seemed restless. Always keeping guard, even if he said it didn't need to, fussing over him and trying, against his will, to take him outside of his tower, signing something about help and “their health”. The deer couldn't understand his companion's behavior, which seemed to grow more erratic the longer he spent inside. Finally, today, it worn him out and he traveled to someplace else, stepping out into Rosie's living room. 

His lovely friend barely blinked, apparently unfazed with his sudden appearance. His shadow quickly explained by signing it had warned her it would take him there. 

At that point, his friend rose from the loveseat he found herself, walking confidently in his direction. She then took his hand and placed an unsuspecting box in it. 

“It said to hold on to it, you would need to take it.” She smiled, reassuringly. “I don't know what's inside, it made sure of it, but it also told me that, shouldn't you take it, I should ban you from getting meat cuts from Cannibal Town. Indefinitely.”

Alastor huffed, side eyeing said shadow, who just shrugged and pointed at the box. 

“Fine, fine. I'll take it.” He opened and started reading the instructions. 

The more he read, paler he became, his head swimming in static, eyes wide as saucers. He couldn't believe what his shadow thought was his ailment. He wanted to deny it, get angry and lash out, but panic seemed to seize his chest, not letting any other feeling cross his mind. 

It wasn't possible. He hadn't, he never… And still, every symptom seemed to match perfectly. Even so, it wasn't possible, no way it was possible. He was a sinner and a man, it couldn't be more impossible. It was then that a memory came to the front of his brain, a brief piece of conversation he overheard from Charlie and someone else. 

Yeah, my mom used to say that they could only have had me because of my dad's angelic essence, because while she is Queen of Hell, she's still a sinner, so otherwise it wasn't possible. 

Oh hell, how he wished it wasn't what he was thinking. How he wished it wasn't Adam's child he was carrying. How he wished he wasn't carrying. Sadly, there was only one way to find out. 

𓃖

When Alastor finally came back, 3 months after the battle, something about him didn't seem to add up to most residents. There was something different that they could not quite put a finger on. Speculations ran through the hallways, even Charlie chiming in, curious about why he seemed so… strange. It took them a week and a half after his return to figure it out. More specifically, for Lucifer to blurt it out. 

“Hm…” Lucifer hummed, looking at Alastor's back, who was cooking everyone breakfast. “Oh! I figured it out!”

Everyone then turned to him, some curious and some with panicked eyes, awaiting with a bated breath. 

“He got fatter!” He said cheerfully. 

Static screeched through the kitchen into the dining room connected to it. Heads turned, some necks cracking with the sudden movement. Shadows encircled the walls, bright green lights flashing in the ceiling. 

“Is that so, Your Majesty?” A voice, calmly asked and Lucifer turned, face serene even in such a situation. 

“Not like you look a lot different, but you definitely put on a few ever since we last saw you. It even looks like you have a little bit of a belly!” The devil said, laughing at him. 

“Well, I'll be sure to let my doctor know my diet is being criticized by such a professional, Sire.” His eyes rolled, voice filled to the brim with sarcasm. 

“Dad, come on.” Charlie started, looking uncomfortable. “You shouldn't say that to people, you could offend them.”

“Why, you are quite-” High pitched static cut through his words, before Alastor turned and puked in the sink. 

Silence filled the room, as Alastor's gasping and retching kept going. Nobody expected this to happen, even more so with the Radio Demon, who seemed so in tune with his body, so unreachable. Charlie quickly got up, rushing to her hotelier's side, Vaggie close behind her. 

“Alastor!” Her hand got close, almost touching his back, when his usual shadow intercepted her and shook its head. 

“Wow, if I didn't know any better, I'd say Smiles was pregnant. It would surely explain him being so moody.” Angel chuckled, before every noise in the room seemed to stop suddenly. 

Alastor turned to him, eyes wide and scared, something unexpected to everyone in the room. Everyone else seemed to do a double take after seeing such emotions displayed on his face. Before any other comment could be made, a bang coming from the lobby echoed through the whole building, a booming voice following. 

“Hey, little brat! I'm here so you can take my awesome ass back to heaven!” Adam's voice processed in his brain and Alastor looked around, using that distraction to shadow travel back to his room. 

He rushed to lock his door and flee to his bayou, looking forward to spending the next 10 years inside his hidden cabin. 

𓃖

Another month passed after Adam's return, nobody seeing their hotelier after their last encounter. Charlie’s worry quickly infected everyone around, even the new residents that had never even interacted with Alastor before. Adam, in particular, seemed distressed, for some reason no one could discern. He would be fine a moment and then puff up his wings at someone and threaten to “fuck them up” if they got an inch too close. Even in a demon form, light seemed to shine from anything he deemed as a weapon during one of his moods, so every other resident tried to stay clear of him if possible. 

The surprise came when Alastor appeared, during one of Charlie's bonding activities, being pulled by a very unhappy shadow while wearing what seemed to be some pajamas and a robe covering him up. Alastor resisted and the shadow pulled, making it take a long time for him to actively reach the center of the lobby, giving it time to get everyone's attention. Confusion and humor floated around the room, no one knowing what to expect. 

“Stop pulling me around! That's very rude, even more so because I was eating.” Alastor yelled and complained, voice a little muffled and cheeks a little fuller, like he was still chewing, despite the whole spectacle, even if his voice did distort a little at the end, clearly upset over it. Just not enough to stop chewing. 

The shadow stopped, a tentacle coming out of its back and holding him, while its hands started gesturing, communicating something most around the room couldn't understand. 

“I'm not hiding , that's preposterous! I just needed some time to adjust after the last outrageous interaction with these lunatics.” He gulped, swallowing the food and then huffed, crossing his arms to the best of his abilities while something was holding it. “Even so, you already took me out of my tower, therefore I already left and am no longer hiding , that means I did what you wanted and I'm leaving.”

Before he could turn, the shadow started signing like crazy and a loud gasp was heard from somewhere in the room. Looking around, Alastor found two distinct looks that could be the origin of the gasp, one shocked Princess Charlie and a jaw dropped cat bartender, who looked like he might puke and run away when eye contact was made. 

“You've got to be kidding me…” Husk mumbled and a lot of heads turned in his direction, awaiting anxiously. “Really? Him?”

“I have no idea what you are talking about, dear Husker.” His voice came, a lot of interference and sounding like he was gritting his teeth. 

“Adam's the…?” Charlie whispered shouted, gathering the attention of 3 people, who seemed to come quickly to the right realization. 

“I'm what, titty haver?” Adam asked, loudly, crossing his arms. 

“Hey, watch it, fucker!” Lucifer shouted. 

“Now I've got why he didn't want anything to do with me, he likes them a little more… rugged.” Angel Dust wagged his eyebrows and Alastor was about done with this interaction. 

“Well, I'll be retiring back to my room now, after all this mess.” Alastor then turned, but his shadow used its tentacles to push him onto the sofa and started signing again. “No, that's not happening. You've already done enough .”

“Alastor, you should really tell him, he deserves to know.” Charlie advised. 

“I don't know, babe, he doesn't have the best resumé for the part.” Vaggie gently touched her girlfriend's arm while saying this. 

“What? Tell me what's going on!” Adam interrupted, seemingly becoming angrier and angrier. 

“Let's just hope we don't have a repeat of Cain.” Lucifer nonchalantly said. 

The room fell silent. 

Chapter Text

“Dad!” Charlie screeched, looking petrified. “How can you say something like that!?”

“What do you mean by that, Lucifer?” Adam spat his name, voice chilling in a way many of the new residents hadn't expected and surprising the older ones. For the time the, now, fallen angel had been staying at the hotel, he had been arrogant and downright annoying, but intimidating? It was new, unexpected and unnerving. 

“I mean… You don't have the best reputation when it comes to raising kids-” Before Lucifer could come up with what he could say to salvage this situation, before his daughter got fed up with him, a rage filled shout interrupted him. 

“Don't you dare talk about my children!” Adam's voice reverberated through the lobby, eyes shining with the remnant of his powers that stuck around even with his metamorphosis. “You don't deserve to even mention them, dirty their memories.”

“Funny you say that, even after Cain killed-” The devil retaliated, chuckling at the beginning of the sentence. 

“Wow! Too far, dad!” Charlie interrupted, eyes wide, in disbelief her father could even say something like that. 

“At least I was there for my kids, through good or bad, what do you have to show for yourself, shitshow? Remorse?” The ex-exorcist snidely replied, grin adorning his new face, already covered with piercings. “My kid fucked up, but I was there for him even then, you weren't around for you daughter even though she's the sweetest kid.”

“Aw, you think I'm sweet?” Said princess asked, eyes tear filled. 

“Well, that's a waste of my time.” Alastor, who got forgotten in the middle of the drama, said, turning around to finally leave. “Since my shadow already did what it wanted, I'm going back to my room to finish my meal. Ta-ta!”

He took somewhere about 5 steps before someone interrupted him, surprisingly, it was neither his shadow nor Lucifer. Husk cleared his throat, calling for his attention. He sighed, about done with this day, that had barely started. 

“Yes, Husker?” His voice came, full of frustration. 

“I think you should talk to him, boss.” Husk seemed hesitant to breach the subject, but thought it would be worth a try. After all, he would rather not have to play babysitter when this little terror was born. 

“Thank you for the unsolicited advice, my good friend, but I'll pass.” He waved away his worries and his subordinate sighed, already feeling tired for the future he knew was expected. 

“Ha! No, you won't.” The voice Alastor most dreaded responded, making him turn to look, apprehensive. “I may look like it, but I ain't stupid, sugarplum. We're talking. Now.”

The deer shuddered, both because of the ridiculous nickname and because of the demand. He really, really didn't want to talk with Adam, even more so about something so important, something he, himself, wasn't sure what to do about. 

Before he could begin to formulate an escape plan the, now, buffalo looking man approached, holding lightly his wrist and pulling him towards the kitchen. Alastor, then, took this time to analyze Adam's new looks. He didn't seem much different from before, but now his skin reassembled a dark blueish gray, hair black with horns protruding from his head along with matching buffalo ears and sparkling yellow eyes. The deer wondered if he also had hooves and a tail, like he did, but quickly back tracked, not wanting to go down that rabbit hole. 

They reached the kitchen and Adam, surprisingly, pulled a chair for him, before circling the table and also sitting down. 

“Go on then, sweet. Get to explaining.” Alastor opened his mouth, but before he could speak, the fallen angel spoke again. “And don't try to lie and say it's nothing or that you don't know what they're talking about, I won't believe it.”

The redhead glared at him, huffing and crossing his arms, thinking said actions were childish, but also thinking he had a pretty damn good excuse for them. 

“Your little show off act seems to have had more consequences than just ‘killing the radio', as you intended.” He mumbled, voice bitter and, to his absolute dismay, eyes foggy. 

“I know we… fought and all, but why does that mean anything?” He seemed to hesitate, seemingly trying not to upset more the man in front of him. 

“I don't understand much myself, but I heard that angelic essence, when mixed with sinners, tends to cause…” He looked around, avoiding eye contact. “Reproduction.”

The silence stretched for a long time, neither of them knowing just how long it lasted. To Adam, seconds had passed, but Alastor could swear they were silently waiting for hours. 

“And what do you plan to do about it?” The fallen angel finally spoke, serious as a threat. “If you plan to keep it, I want to participate in their life.”

“And if I don't?”

“Then we're done here, there's not a lot more to discuss other than if you would need help, which I'm sure you wouldn't.”

“Just like that?” The deer was baffled, never expecting such a reaction from the first man. 

“Look, I have a shit ton of defects, but I've always loved and cared for my children. So if you want to keep the kid, I'd be delighted to be around, but if you don't, I'm not gonna try and force you to. I'm too fucking awesome for that.”

The redhead chuckled and the jet black haired man smirked, satisfied to surprise and entertain someone who everyone claimed was so put together and cold. 

“I'll be honest with you, Adam.” Alastor sighed. 

“I'll suppose that's a first in a long time.” He himself snickered. 

“I don't know what I'm doing, but I do want to try and have this kid. And if I wasn't, quite literally, dragged around, I would have done so by myself.” The man in front of him nodded, seeming to understand. “But I'm willing to try right now, I just have a question.”

“Fire away, sugar.”

“What happened with your children? The ones mentioned in the holy book?”

Chapter Text

The first man was silent, head down, looking at where his hands rested on the table. For a moment, Alastor wondered if he would yell at him, lash out and leave, but it never happened. Adam sighed and raised his head, eyes meeting Alastor's. 

“Cain was a sweet kid, he always was. Like any of my children, I loved him dearly and with all my heart and body.” He started, voice cracking like he was holding back tears. “His biggest flaw and biggest strength were one and the same, as ironic as that was. He was emotional, ever since he was a toddler till his adolescence, when the accident happened.” 

“Accident?” The red headed deer sounded like he didn't believe him one bit. 

“An accident, that's exactly what it was. I learned a long time ago that the Bible made it sound like Cain murdered his brother in cold blood while under Lucifer’s influence, but I know my son better than that.” He sighed. “They fought a lot, like siblings always did, even angels do. Most of the time it was harmless things like who could get the better crop or carry more water home.”

His hands seemed to tremble and, for a moment, Alastor felt something close to regret for asking, but he quickly discarded the feeling, rationalizing that that's something he needed to know moving forward, if they were to raise a child together. 

“Before the accident, they're fights started getting more serious. At first, I didn't know why that was, but later I found out it was because of Eve. She had just given birth again to another one of our children and was paying more attention to the baby. The boys tried not to let it show, but they missed spending time with her. According to Cain, the fight that caused the accident started because Abel claimed that, since he was old, Eve probably didn't love him anymore and that's why we had another baby. He was probably just taunting his brother, like any younger sibling does, but Cain took it too seriously. He became upset, too upset and acted without thinking. He pushed his brother and he hit his head on a rock.” His eyes looked ready to burst with tears at any second, voice heavy with grief and sorrow. “He didn't know he killed him, it had never happened before and up until that point, heaven hadn't released the prey animals from Eden yet, so we lived off of crops.”

“The first people were vegetarians?” Alastor felt like he was in a fever dream, listening to Adam talk about his life before heaven. 

“More like vegans. No prey animals, remember?” He smirked, but soon his face became serious again. “Cain stood by his brother, waiting, for what could be estimated to be 4 hours. Eve was inside our little hut with a newborn and I was trekking around, looking for a new source of water because the one nearby had dried. When I finally came back, Cain was sitting on the ground, covered in blood and hugging his brother, running his finger through his hair.”

The overlord felt his heart getting stabbed, listening to this description. The only thing he could think about was how he had done something nearly identical when he found his own mother laying on the ground, lifeless. How he couldn't speak or even cry, just hold her and run his fingers through her beautiful hair, hoping it would wake her up, bring her back. The difference was that his mother's killer hadn't felt a thing after killing his mother, not until Alastor himself went to kill him. 

“I asked what the two of them were doing and what was the red thing drying on them. Cain said he didn't know, but that he and Abel had argued and his brother fell asleep, so he was watching over him, making sure no predator came too close. We still didn't know what they did, but the angels warned us about them while in the garden.” His trembling hands raised from the table and he dried the tears that finally fell, recounting the worst day of his life. “We didn't find out the truth until later that night, when Sera, a Seraphin, came to us and told us Cain had killed his brother. I had never seen my son so devastated, he cried for 3 whole days and was catatonic after that for over a month. Somehow, even after all that happened, I died first and they announced I was the first person to reach heaven.”

“What about Abel?” Alastor asked, not holding his curiosity over such a situation. 

“I don't know, I didn't even remember my children until I became a sinner. I knew I was Adam, the first man, but couldn't remember anything more specific about my family or who I was then.” He wistfully looked into the distance, finding a window and looking out into hell. “I miss my children.”

“Have you looked for them?” The radio demon himself was surprised by such curiosity, but he couldn't stop himself from asking the questions. 

“No, I have been too scared of what I may find. Or, in this case, what I wouldn't find. I can't bear the thought of having been the one to cause my own children's extermination. Even if it wasn't by my own blade.” He sniffed, drying his face, once again. 

“Well, maybe after this child is born, you may find yourself more courageous than you are now. My mother always said that children have a way of strengthening even the weakest of souls, even if that's not your case, Adam.” Alastor couldn't understand why he felt more connected to Adam than before or why he was being so… gentle – or as gentle as a person like him could be –, but, thinking about them raising a kid together in the close future, he couldn't find in himself to regret it. “Come on, let's go to the lobby, before Angel's curiosity wins over Charlie's kindness and they come to snoop around.”

“Would they really?” The former angel laughed and Alastor felt his chest get a bit lighter, strangely enough. 

“I once saw Cherri Bomb, Husker, Angel Dust and Niffty hanging by the door frame, trying to listen to one of the resident's fight with someone else.”

“And you?”

“Oh, I have much more class than that.” He fixed his bowtie, proper and preppy. “I just send my shadow in my place.” 

Adam's laugh echoed in the kitchen while they left. 

Chapter Text

After their talk, Alastor was back to being a constant appearance around the hotel, even going back to working as the manager, though at a smaller pace, seeing as Charlie wouldn't stop pestering him over taking things easy. Still, he did most around the hotel. 

And seeing as he was the most useful inhabitant, he was also the most seen one, everyone looking for him when problem arose, be it an invasion, a leaky faucet or a missing object, he was the one to call. That made it easy to notice the subtle changes that started to surface. 

The first, was glasses. 

Everyone everywhere had seen Alastor and his red monocle, even ridiculed it, but nobody had ever saw him wear wide, round, red glasses around. Still, it became the new normal. One day he simply went down the stairs wearing his usual assemble, but changing the monocle for glasses. It was a small and simple change, but seeing as Alastor was know to be a creature of habits, unchangeable ones, it was immediately clocked. That didn't mean people had the courage to question him. So, since Lucifer was put on time out by Charlie for unnecessary comments, nobody brought it up. 

And then another change came. A bigger one. 

It was about some weeks after the first change, but it was such a dramatic one, people couldn't help but balk at it. 

Alastor's hair. 

It was longer, put up, but most importantly, it was full of beautiful red curls like it never was before. When he walked, they bounced and moved beautifully, like an advertisement for hair products.

Charlie gasped when she saw him, hands covering her wide smile as glee filled her. To her, Alastor looked comfortable at the hotel and she was thrilled with this new development. The most relaxed she had ever saw him before was at Rosie's and, still, he looked like he was just biding his time for the next attack against him. 

The first to comment, surprisingly, wasn't Lucifer, but Nifty. 

"Boss, your hair!" She gasped while she dropped her things and ran to him. "It's been so long since I saw the curls, I missed them so much."

"Well, yes, darling. I have been a bit too busy to keep up the usual routine, even if it annoys me so to change my ways." The deer responded, voice light and soothing, like talking about it didn't bother him at all. 

Until Lucifer spoke.

"So even in those things, you're a fake, huh bellhop?" He smirked, eyes shining a mean light. "Even your hair isn't what it seems. I wonder what else you've been hiding."

"Dad!" Charlie chided. "What have we talked about just last night?"

"Sorry, apple pie, but it had to be said. He's always hiding small things, what's to say he's not hiding something bigger?" The devil shrugged, arms crossed.

"Well, that's where you're mistaken Your Highness. I never hid my curls, but since nobody asked much about it, I didn't bother to bring it up. Hair maintenance is so boring to some." Alastor answered, big smile in his face, looking a bit more smug than usual.

"What do you mean 'asked much'?" Adam, who had seemed awestruck before, finally got over his shock.

"Oh yeah, me and Smiles always talk haircare on Tuesdays, it became a thing. He even let me brush his hair once and he does amazing braids on Nifty's hair." Angel Dust spoke up, arms crossed and unbothered.

"And he did my hair during most of our training sessions, when we were planing the fight against heaven." This time it was Vaggie who spoke up, shocking most in the room.

"Vaggie, you knew about this?" Charlie asked, in disbelief.

"In my defense, I thougth it was a secret and you're always saying it's important not to cross boundaries, so I kept my mouth shut about it." She looked away, sheepish.

"I honestly didn't know about any of this, but i also don't care, so." Husk mumbled, drinking a bottle of cheap booze.

And, while happy with the outcome, Alastor didn't bring up changes again, he just kept changing things about his appearance and following with his day like that was the new normal. Clothes, shoes, his microphone, everything either changed or disappeared. By the end of the following four weeks, Alastor looked like a completely different person. Longer curly hair, lose fitting 20s casual clothes, hooves bare for the world to see, a less alive microphone typical from his time and his new round glasses. He looked like the poor black kid from Louisiana that he was. During some moments, even his magic changed. His static would vanish, his voice would be smoother and deeper, with a heavy accent from his time alive. Another times, he just slipped in his habits, speaking in french and cajun without seamingly realizing it. 

At the end of those days, the most affected was definitely Adam. Smitten with Alastor and all the facets he had to show. He wished to approach, but didn't really know how. Until a particular night.

"You'll never break that, my dear." The voice the first man most wanted to hear came from the lounge, deep into the night when everyone else slept away.

Turning around the corner, Adam witnessed a scene he never thought he would. A lavender collar locked around Alastor's neck, Nifty biting away at the chain, trying to break the contract. The older man just looked at his maid with a fond smile and sad eyes, already aware from the outcome her effort would result in. The first man approached slowly, not trying to spook the pair and have them flee before he could even said anything. For a moment, the chain snapped and all three of them froze, but in the next second, it mended itself, looking brand new again.

"I could break that for you." Adam offered, scaring Alastor and Nifty, the smaler one pulling out her needle, ready to stab the ex-angel once again.

"Ha, don't jest, my good fellow. If anyone could break this chain, I'd be going on dates." The red haired laughed obnoxiously, attempting to distract the older one from what was happening.

"So I could break your deal AND score a date?" The taller man smirked, crossing his arms and leaned on the counter. "Sounds like a win-win to me!"

"By all means." The deer snorted, tired from his workday and the pregnancy, his usual defiancy dimming for a moment.

Adam gently grabbed the chain, pouring as much angelic magic as he could into it. Slowly, the chain started to glow golden, like from the inside out, and crack all over. Nifty and Alastor watched transfixed as his deal broke in millions of tiny pieces. Feeling freer than he ever had, the younger man turned towards the older, eyes wide and misted.

"Shit! Don't cry!" Adam panicked, his hand reaching for him. A hand which Alastor quickly grabbed and propped against his cheek, letting himself feel in this moment of weakness.

"I guess we have a date, then."