speedycoffeedelight

[speedycoffeedelight]

Something something an AU where Charlie gets summoned by Alastor something something

[speedycoffeedelight]

I’ll Take You V1 (I’ll Miss You Alt)

Some things are not fated to last, but trying to push closer only makes love farther out of reach. Results can be fatal.

———————————————————————

Five Cookies were baked by the Witches, radiant beings graced with wisdom and power unparalleled. The Five were destined to reshape the tempestuous world and usher in a new age of peace and prosperity for all.

Seeing as how the Five were unlike most Cookies, they could live on for far longer, the Witches have decided to bake one more Cookie. A Cookie that wasn’t as strong or held great power like them, but rather…as a companion for any of the Five to cherish and love dearly.

The love blossomed into something more that could be considered as forever happiness…

———————————————————————

You’ve always looked up to the Fount of Knowledge to know many aspects of this world like the back of his hand! However, all of the knowledge in the world wouldn’t compare to the joys he would have spending time with you!

He likes to spend his time in the Spire of All Knowledge cuddled up next to you as he reads books with you, showing you the many wonders of Earthbread! He always kept the stories interesting with his mannerisms and funny way of speaking, you’re never bored when he reads.

He makes sure to always leave time away from writing in scrolls and books to have moments with you, why would he keep his cutie patootie waiting on him! The texts could wait, snuggling up to you by his tower window was much more preferable to him!

“Man, you always tell such fascinating tales, my fair Fount! It almost makes me feel dull in comparison!”

“Oh, don’t let those little words come out of your mouth again! You are way more fascinating than any of the books I have! I can write whole books on their own on what you’re just oh so great to me!”

“Oh stop, you’re just saying things.”

“Far from it, my little Cookie~ It’s the honest truth~”

The two of you share a laugh as you look out the spire window, leaning on each other…

———————————————————————

The Herald of Change always had that bit of a grumpy side to him when it came to getting him out of his temple to come look at the new civilizations and kingdoms being created everyday.

Everything was the same to him no matter the result, but he could never say no to your requests to visit these civilizations. Your enthusiasm to see what could possibly be different was pretty infectious, encouraging him to go with you in these visits.

He was quite the protective one too, insisting that in return of going with you, you are to stick by his side as you two walked. He makes sure of that by having one of his arms around your waist, he behaves himself but will shoot a glare anyone getting too close.

“Look at that spring the townspeople made, my Herald! Look at the flowers blooming from the water and the creatures that inhabit in and around it, isn’t it wonderful?”

“It’s remarkable, but it’s nothing new to me. I’ve seen many springs like this before, they come and go eventually. Just like the many civilizations we’ve visited today, there’s so much more that I can get done by now!”

“The destination may be the same, but the journey doesn’t have to. It can be different compared to another, so many different ways Cookies behave and act, environment changing with many different plants and creatures. Tell me just one thing that you wouldn’t want to change.”

The Herald, looking down at the ground, slowly formed a smile as he softly laughed, turning his gaze to look at you. One of his arms going around you to hold you close to him.

“I’d say….”

“It would be us that I would never want to change.”

“Aw….”

The two of you hold onto each other close as you both looked on at the lively spring.

———————————————————————

The Seeker of Volition was immensely patient and considerate of you, shaping and changing her realm to make you as comfortable as you can be. She knows things around the Ivory Pagoda may not too interesting or extravagant, but that was alright with you. So long as you were with her.

Her displays of affection were pretty subtle that no Cookie that visited her would’ve suspected that you and her had something close and in a way, it made it more special to her. The gentle hand holding, the way she caressed your cheek as she spoke to you, it was small yet held so much love that she shared with you.

She’s always wondered why you never asked for a wish from her, with how many Cookies that visited her wanting that exact thing. Well, you didn’t really want to wish for anything, the Seeker was enough for you. Being able to stand by her side like this was a wish come true. She didn’t understand your refusal for a wish, but…it touched her that she was enough for you.

“After all the Cookies that have come to me for a wish, I did not think you wouldn’t be one of them. Is there not anything you want wish for?”

“Oh, Seeker. We’ve been through this, ehe. I do not want a wish, I have all that I need here at the Ivory Pagoda. As long as there’s this, I’m happy.”

“You are? After spending all of your time here at the Ivory Pagoda with me, you must have some sort of wish you want granted. Please, say the word. I shall fulfill it to the best of my abilities.”

“Well….”

“Yes?”

“I wish to take a walk around the Pagoda with you. Just the two of us.”

The Seeker was not expecting such a simple and mundane wish, she would’ve seen it as a waste if it came from any other Cookie, but…

To hear it from you…it made giggle softly with a smile.

“Hm…hehe, very well. I shall grant you your wish, my dearest Cookie.”

The two of you hold hands as you leave out the doors to her Pagoda, intending to enjoy a peaceful walk together…

———————————————————————

But could that happiness really last forever?

As time went on, it felt the Cookies you once held dear to you had changed, no longer being the Cookies you once loved. It was as if the power they held was slowly warping their minds and ideals into something more twisted and dark.

———————————————————————

The Fount could never be truly honest with you, always masking his words that tinged with deceit, always making a game of things. Even the books and text he’d were how you remembered…

“Fount, this..isn’t how the story went the last time I’ve heard about it…”

“Oh, that boring ol’ story? I helped myself to make a few changes that really added to the pizzazz of it all, don’t you think?”

“But that never happened! It’s a complete fabrication! Real Cookies have gone through those events, I feel like we shouldn’t tarnish that to make it “interesting.”

“Oh my! I’m hurt! I just wanted to make it more good! Oh well, I’m sure those Cookies wouldn’t mind, right? Come on, let’s read another, shall we?”

“N-no, I don’t want to read another. I’ll just..be in my room.”

“Hey! Where you going?! I swear the details on the next one are accurate! Mostly! Maybe!”

———————————————————————

The Herald never could see how you see the many locations and civilizations you two see, always groaning and muttering that it was boring to him. It had gotten to the point where he ignored you and remain sat on his seat in the temple.

“What do you mean you’re not going?”

“I mean it. You say that all these places would be different in their own ways, but it’s all been the same! It bores me when I have to go through the same thing over and over again!”

“I-I promise that I’ll keep your interest piqued with this one-“

“NO!”

He destroyed a nearby table with a single hit.

“You can go on without me from now on. I have no reason to endure something so boring as another town visit…”

“R-right, okay, I’ll just…go.”

You hastily leave as the Herald looked at his fist that broke the table, he realized something as a large grin on his face formed…

“That…felt good….”

———————————————————————

The Seeker didn’t feel like herself anymore with the coldness and apathy she now radiated. She didn’t push you away when trying to be close like old times, but she didn’t really reciprocate your affections like she would back then. It felt like..she didn’t love you all that much anymore.

“Where you going?”

“I must return to the Ivory Pagoda in order to continue my pursuit of becoming a Leavened One.”

“I know this Leavened One status is important to you, but…wouldn’t that mean I won’t get to see you much anymore. I can’t bear that…”

“Oh, Y/N Cookie…”

She caressed your cheek, but it didn’t feel right. There was no sense of love placed into it, as if she only did it to calm you down by reminding you of the past.

“You should know that I hold this opportunity dear to me, but it does not mean I value you any less, it is meaningless to worry. I must go.”

“What about my wish to spend the day together…?”

“You should also know that not every basic wish will be granted. I am sorry…”

———————————————————————

Regardless, it felt like you were kicked to the curb as you walked outside during the night.

You were not happy. You look up at the sky, wondering if your Creator was looking down at you too.

You ask them how could things go so wrong. What purpose could you have now that the Cookies you were made for weren’t themselves anymore? Were they even the same Cookies at this rate?

You ask…what could you do…?

…

…

…

You look down, only now noticing a nearly invisible string flowing in the air, red in color as it looked like it came from your chest. You reached up to hold it and in doing so, the string was seemingly cut and it floats away into the sky…

That…oddly felt liberating. You looked at your hands and realized that..you did have meaning outside of your purpose. There was a whole world out there that you could now explore! Many things to see and Cookies to meet!

You felt rejuvenated and head off to rest for tonight. Tomorrow, you’ll be a new Cookie!

Surely, the “Virtues” wouldn’t mind if you were gone for a little while, right?

…

…

…

…

But you weren’t the only one who felt a change after that string was cut…

The spire trembled.

The temple shook.

The cocoon violently spasmed.

Their occupants having felt the full effects…

The Fount suddenly tore the book they were “changing” as he keeled over, clutching his chest where his heart was…he felt…empty.

The Herald started a rampage in his temple, the pain in his chest fueling his anger and muddied despair as he destroyed everything…he felt…lost.

The Seeker, once settled in her cocoon, was now clutching her head with both her hands as she lets out silent screams of anguish, the pain in her chest amidst a void of white too great to ignore…she felt…voided.

One by one, they fall….

They’d find you, and they’ll take you….

———————————————————————

You were just about to carry on in your boat out of the continent when a sheep wandered to you.

“Oh hello, little sheep. You lost your way from your herd?”

“Baaaaa….”

“Why are you looking down? Come on, look at me…”

The sheep suddenly jolted up to look you, it looked furious as it’s eyes glowed shades of blue.

“BAAAAAA!”

“What?!”

The sheep poofed into blue smoke, and in its place was not a very angry Cookie.

“My Fount?!”

“ERRR! WRONG! Now let me ask you a question. WHY DID YOU LEAVE?!”

Shadow Milk Cookie had found you right as you were about to leave Beast-Yeast.

“I’m sorry, my Fount. But…I can’t do this anymore. You are no longer the Cookie I know and loved. You lie to me, you twist things so badly, I can’t even tell what’s true and what’s not.”

“I do not lie to you! I never could! You weren’t supposed to leave me behind! You were supposed to stick to me like glue for as long as the two of us lived!”

“We all change, Fount. That includes you and me.”

“Is that it?! Are you just going to walk away from EONS worth of our time together all for my new change of style?!”

“You are NOT going anywhere! You are coming back with me to that Spire and we are going to adore and be mushy to each other like always!”

“I’m going, Fount. I’ve made my decision…”

“Oh…hehe….ehehehe~!”

“What? What are you laughing for-“

Your movements are stopped, you are horrified to see blue strings wrapped tightly around your arm. You try to free yourself, but you found that all your limbs were wrapped in strings too. You pulled into his arms as he giggled menacingly to you, a shadow over his eyes.

“Oh, you silly little thing~ I never would’ve expected you to lie to ME! My brand new style doesn’t mean my heart went out the window! If you can’t accept how deceit seeps into the very cracks of this world, then…”

He leans in real close to your face, whispering in a chilling voice…

“I’ll just have to take you, cutie~ Ehehehe~”

You were never seen again…

———————————————————————

You were having a peaceful time in the civilization you were staying at, enjoying a nice meal provided by the locals when…

“AAAAAH! Run for your lives!”

“He’s destroying everything in his path, watch out!”

“ARGH! It hurts!”

The screams of Cookies in the distance alerted you to turn around from where you were sitting to see Cookies running away from something.

And their screams weren’t the only ones you were hearing.

“COME OUT TO ME, LITTLE COOKIE! I KNOW YOU’RE HERE SOMEWHERE!”

The Herald(?!) shouted in anger as he was breaking and bashing through anything in his path up ahead.

Cookies that were in his way were simply hit back with enough force to send them into walls or sliding back on the ground, he didn’t give them any time to move.

“Ah! Please! Show mercy!”

“Mercy?! There IS no mercy for you WORMS!”

The Cookie on the ground from an earlier attack tried to get up, but groaned in pain as Burning Spice Cookie slowly raised his weapon, the Cookie covers their face to brace for impact.

“STOP!”

Burning Spice Cookie immediately stops to look in the direction of your shout and locking eyes with you, he heads for you.

“Please, don’t hurt any more Cookies!”

“So…you’ve been here all along, spending time amidst these ANTS! The tide of Change will sweep through all, leaving everyone here as nothing but dust in the wind!”

“Have you NO IDEA how long I’ve looked for to find you when you didn’t come back the temple?!”

“To not see you by my side for DAYS?!”

“I know you’re mad, but please, you don’t have to do this! I’ll..I’ll come back with you…”

“Will you now…? I must be sure!”

“What are you-“

Your talk was stopped when he grips your shoulders and brought you to a rough kiss that left you coughing spice when he pulled away.

“Hahaha! Yes! I remember this feeling now! I expect you to stay in the temple with me, for as long as we live! I promise not to break you too easily, ahahaha!”

You felt conflicted as you were dragged with him back to the temple. He’d never let you go as easily again…

———————————————————————

You say farewell to a close friend of yours as you head inside your home. You were ready to turn in for the night as you offed the lights, it was particularly foggy tonight, so you chose to keep things closed up before you turned in for tonight.

You close your eyes and drift off to sleep..or at least, you tried to before you hear a slight creak in your room. You sit up and look, only to see a pair of slit pupils staring right back at you in the darkness in the room.

Neither of you move….

…

…

…

“I may give nothing for your loyalty, but to see you offer your mind and soul to another, right after I had been free from my cocoon…you will learn that it was pointless to try and leave me…”

“My Seeker?!”

She barely gives you time to let the realization sink in before she rushed forward to hold your cheeks in her hands, lifting you up effortlessly to bring you face to face with her as she looks down at you. Her eyes wide open and pitch black, her slit pupils bearing down on yours.

She was as expressionless as ever, but her eyes told you everything you needed to know that she was mad. You felt weak, dough turning pale..

“I never forgot our bond, the years upon years that we shared…my rise to the Leavened One should not have been a path I walked alone…”

“Why are you saying..?”

“I should’ve shared my feelings with you, to show you that everything will be futile in the end. Just like your intentions to leave me as just a thought…”

“No, you don’t have to…”

“THIS is my wish. To have you see what I see, to feel how I feel. About everything, about you…”

“No, please…”

“I promise…I promise to not have us walk alone anymore…”

Everything was a blur as she took you away from your home, up the stairs; and back to the Ivory Pagoda. The last of the outside world forever a distant memory as the cocoon wrapped up once more, Mystic Flour clutching you close to her body.

Together in a world of white, that is what she always wished for…

———————————————————————

“I loved you

Even though I loved you

I’ll treat you like this

Like the traitor you are

Return my feelings

I loved you

Even though I loved you

Forever”

———————————————————————

[speedycoffeedelight]

All of the St. Valencringe cards I made for the CRK server contest!

Idk who would even use these, but they’re all free to use with credit lmao

[speedycoffeedelight]

https://www.tumblr.com/allimili/766416953950830592/httpswwwtumblrcomallimili766411810389852161?source=share

Just had funniest thought...

Imagine a cheeky y/n...when shadow milk tells pure vanilla not to touch em, y/n goes out of their way to poke pure vanilla. When pure vanilla tells shadow milk not to touch em, y/n goes out of their way to poke shadow milk!

Both look at y/n...and, for cuteness and as a punishment to y/n...they both tickle y/n like crazy to try to teach em not to touch the other! XD

extra

[speedycoffeedelight]

We got shadow milk and mystic flower out of the phone/game but what about my man burning spice 😔

Oh, what do we have here?

extra

[speedycoffeedelight]

Meeting you

extra

he would love his new form idk why

[speedycoffeedelight]

Ok so I had a bad few things happen today and actually ended up crying so I wanted to cheer myself up with some CRK and, bc he’s currently one of my favorite Cookies, I went to Shadow Milk Cookie in my Cookie menu. First time I opened his page up, he asked me “Why the loooong face?” and the second time, he said “‘Tis I, your humble jester, here to brighten up your mood!” and, ngl, those actually did kinda cheer me up like he knew so I’m doing smth a lil different and OOC tonight so-

Self-Aware!Shadow Milk Cookie x Reader Comfort Headcanons

• He knows the moment you log on that something is wrong

• He’s found himself rather attentive towards you, so he knows your usual mannerisms like the back of his hand

• So, of course, when you go to him in your Cookie Menu, he asks “Why the loooong face?”

• He notices you’re a bit surprised, which he laughs about to himself a bit. He knows you likely won’t tell him, you still think he’s purely running off programs and code, but no matter!

• And so, he gets to work!

• Suddenly, you seem really lucky in the game. You’re pulling all the cookies you want (including him, heh!) and getting all the rewards you need from Royal Margarine’s card game. Every chest you open grants you what you’re looking for, and toppings are getting just the right buffs you need for your cookies!

• Not to mention that, every time you’re in your kingdom, you spot Shadow Milk looking towards the screen with his usual smile present on his face

• You think you’re going crazy but maybe all those jokes that Shadow Milk is at least a lil self aware have some truth to them?

• When you go to him again in the cookie menu, he tells you “‘Tis I, your humble jester, here to brighten up your mood!” and brighten up your mood he certainly did

• With a genuine and grateful smile, you whisper a small “thank you”

• At that moment, his eyes seem to focus directly on you and you’re just barely able to catch the “You’re welcome, doll~”

• As you blink in surprise, his sprite winks at you

• … You must be hearing and seeing things… you need to go to bed…

• Once you turn off the game, Shadow Milk can’t help but cackle loudly. Oh, your face was priceless! Perhaps he should play around a lil more with the game’s code to see what else he can do~

[speedycoffeedelight]

me: feels unloved *searches x reader tag*

[speedycoffeedelight]

one braincell transfer (divided by four)

[speedycoffeedelight]

LUCKY EGG

Yandere!Phainon x reader

The rumors were true.

You stood in front of the large, polished machine, its sleek metallic surface reflecting the soft neon glow of the surrounding marketplace. The “Lucky Egg Dispenser” as it was called, had become something of a sensation overnight. A single pull of the trigger, and you’d receive an egg—an unhatched mystery promising the perfect partner. Most people spoke of rare creatures, companion animals with unique abilities, and even a few who whispered about something… stranger.

“Lucky egg?” you mused aloud, shifting the weight of the gun-like trigger in your grip. You’d always been one to try new things. It didn’t hurt to take a chance.

With a decisive motion, you squeezed the trigger.

A soft whirring sound filled the air before a pristine white egg gently rolled out, stopping perfectly at your feet. You crouched down, picking it up. Warm. Alive.

A small smile tugged at your lips. Taking care of it would be simple, you were no stranger to nurturing things. Three days. That was all it would take for it to hatch.

You weren’t worried in the slightest.

What you didn’t expect, however, was for your “partner” to be a human.

The egg hatched in the dead of night. A soft crackling sound stirred you from your sleep, but by the time you were fully awake, the shell had already split apart.

And there, sitting on your bed, was a boy.

No, not a boy, a young man, probably around your age.

Pale skin, silver-white hair that shimmered in the moonlight, and brilliant, otherworldly eyes. His clothes were odd, somewhere between regal and alien, but the most alarming thing was the wide, almost manic grin stretching across his face.

Before you could react, he lunged at you, arms wrapping around your torso in a crushing embrace.

“My name is Phainon!” he chirped, his voice filled with unfiltered joy. “I’m your partner now!”

Oh no...Your stomach dropped as realization set in.

Baby duck syndrome.

You knew the term well. When a newborn creature imprints on the first living being they see and attaches to them completely. You were that first living being.

And judging by the way Phainon’s grip tightened, as if he’d never let go, you had a feeling this wasn’t going to be as simple as you thought.

Phainon clung to you like a vice, his grip almost bruising as he buried his face into your neck. His breath was warm, uneven with excitement, and his entire body trembled, not with fear, but something far more intense.

“You’re mine” he whispered, his voice filled with unshakable certainty. “I belong to you… and you belong to me.”

This was bad. You tried to gently pry him off, but the moment you moved, his arms locked around you tighter, his fingers digging into your back as if he were afraid you’d disappear. His blue eyes, impossibly bright and alight with something unsettling, gazed up at you with an overwhelming adoration.

“Don’t push me away” Phainon begged “I just hatched… I need you.”

You swallowed, carefully adjusting your expression. “I-I’m not pushing you away. You just surprised me, that’s all.”

His gaze flickered with doubt before softening, though his grip didn’t loosen.

“I won’t let you leave me” he promised, a ghost of a smile tugging at his lips. “I was born for you.”

You had really gotten yourself into trouble this time.

With Phainon practically glued to your side, you dragged him along to the dungeon. You needed supplies, and in this world, the only way to survive was by hunting monsters and trading points for food and goods. At the very least, you thought you could shake off some of his energy by keeping him occupied. What you didn’t expect was just how powerful he was.

The first monster barely had a chance to move before Phainon lunged, his bare hands tearing through it like paper. Blue eyes shimmered with an eerie thrill as he made quick work of the beasts around you. No hesitation. No struggle. Just raw, overwhelming strength. You stared, a mix of awe and unease settling in your gut.

“Phainon…” You hesitated as he turned to you, still grinning. “How do you know how to fight?”

He tilted his head, as if the question itself was strange. “I was born to protect you” he answered simply. “If anything dares to harm you, I’ll rip it apart.”

His words were spoken with such sincerity that it made your skin crawl. Still, you couldn’t deny the convenience. With him by your side, earning points was absurdly easy.

So you took him to the marketplace, trading in your earnings and buying him new clothes, something normal, something that would help him blend in.

But as you held up a shirt for him to try, he only stared at you with an unsettling softness.

“You take such good care of me…” He exhaled, stepping closer. “You really do love me.”

Your grip on the fabric tightened.

This was going to be a problem.

Even as you weaved through the marketplace, his fingers curled around your wrist, grip firm and unwavering. His blue eyes scanned the crowd with silent intensity, watching every passerby with something between wariness and irritation, as if anyone who so much as looked at you was a potential threat.

You sighed, trying to ignore it.

That was until someone called your name.

“Y/N!”

You turned, spotting an old friend making their way toward you, smiling. “I haven’t seen you in forever!”

Before you could respond, their gaze flickered to Phainon, eyes widening slightly in surprise.

“…Oh? Who’s this?” they asked, raising an eyebrow. “Your boyfriend?”

You couldn’t exactly say he came from an egg. That would sound insane. So, against your better judgment, you went along with it. “Uh, yeah. Something like that.”

Your friend chuckled. “I figured. He looks like he’d kill someone if they so much as breathed in your direction.”

You let out an awkward laugh, hoping they were joking.

Phainon, however, only smiled, resting his chin on your shoulder. “I would” he murmured, as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

Your friend’s laughter faltered.

Before the situation could get any worse, you quickly made your exit, dragging Phainon away.

When you finally got home, you sighed, rubbing your temples. “You can’t just say things like that, you know.”

Phainon tilted his head. “But it’s true.”

You didn’t have the energy to argue. Instead, you busied yourself in the kitchen, preparing a meal. The sound of chopping and sizzling filled the space, and for a moment, things felt… normal.

But you could still feel Phainon’s admiring gaze on you.

When you finally placed a plate in front of him, his eyes softened.

“You take such good care of me” he murmured.

You forced a small smile. “Yeah, yeah. Just eat.”

But as you turned away, his voice reached you again, quiet, almost innocent.

“You really do love me, don’t you?”

This was getting worse by the second.

The next morning, Phainon was already awake before you, sitting at the edge of your bed, watching you with silent fascination. You ignored the unsettling feeling that came with knowing he had likely been staring at you for a while.

“We’re going out!” you said, stretching. “I need to figure out what you’re actually capable of.”

His expression brightened. “You’re thinking about me first thing in the morning?” His voice was honeyed, pleased. “That makes me happy.”

You sighed. “Just get ready.”

Despite his odd behavior, you needed to assess his skills properly. Yesterday’s display of strength was impressive, but you weren’t sure if he had magic abilities as well. If he was going to fight alongside you, he needed the right weapon.

So, you took him to a well-known weapon shop in the city.

The place was stocked with everything—swords, spears, enchanted items, and magic-infused equipment. The shopkeeper raised an eyebrow at Phainon as he trailed closely behind you, practically glued to your side.

“A new recruit?” they asked.

You hesitated before nodding. “Something like that. I need to test his capabilities and get him a sword.”

Phainon didn’t seem too interested in the conversation. Instead, his attention remained locked onto you, his fingers subtly brushing against your arm as if to remind himself that you were still there.

The shopkeeper guided you both to the testing grounds in the back.

Phainon barely glanced at the weapons lined up for testing. Instead, he turned to you, expectant.

“Choose one for me” he said.

You blinked. “Why? You should pick what feels right.”

He smiled “I want your choice. Something that reminds you of me.”

You hesitated, but eventually, you picked a sword. When you handed it to him, he held it as if it were sacred, his fingers running over the hilt with reverence. Then, he turned toward the practice dummy and swung. The air itself seemed to hum as the blade sliced cleanly through, the force of his strike strong enough to split the dummy in two. You barely had time to react before the lingering energy from his swing crackled, a faint shimmer of magic lacing through the air.

So he did have magic.

The shopkeeper let out a low whistle. “That’s some terrifying raw talent.”

Phainon ignored them, stepping closer to you, lifting the sword slightly.

“Do you like it?” he asked softly.

You nodded. “It suits you.”

His eyes softened, a quiet sort of delight settling in his expression. “Then I’ll treasure it forever.”

It wasn’t about the sword. It was about the fact that you were the one who gave it to him.

Going into the dungeon with Phainon was like having a high-level DPS at your side. You barely had to lift a finger.

With every swing of his sword, monsters fell instantly, torn apart before they could even react. His raw strength was unmatched, his movements precise and brutal, and his magic crackled through the air with every strike. All you had to do was keep him healed.

Whenever he took a hit, rare as it was, you were there, casting healing spells or applying potions before he could even flinch. It was almost effortless, and the way he looked at you every time you healed him sent a strange chill down your spine.

“You always take care of me” he murmured, after you placed a hand on his arm to patch up a small wound. His blue eyes burned with something unreadable. “It makes me love you even more.”

You pretended not to hear him.

By the end of the run, you had racked up an absurd amount of points. It was more than you’d ever earned in a single trip. But as you left the dungeon, your path was blocked. A group of men stood in front of you, their expressions dark with anger.

“You!” one of them spat, eyes locked on you. “That was our dungeon route. You took our points.”

You stiffened. You had heard of people like this before, territorial dungeon crawlers who claimed certain areas as their own, even though the dungeons were free for all. Phainon, however, only tilted his head, his fingers tightening around the hilt of his sword.

“Move” he said simply.

The men sneered. “Or what?”

Phainon smiled. And then, in the blink of an eye, he moved.

You barely saw it happen. One second, the men were standing tall, and the next, they were on the ground, groaning, writhing, clutching broken limbs. Phainon hadn’t even drawn his sword. He had simply crushed them with his bare hands. You felt the blood drain from your face as he turned back to you, expression calm, as if nothing had happened.

“You don’t need to worry about them” he stepped close to you, his voice almost soothing. “I’ll always protect you.”

His hand cupped your cheek, thumb brushing against your skin.

“You’ll never need anyone else.”

You weren’t the only one who noticed Phainon’s strength.

Word spread fast in the city. A newcomer, practically fresh out of nowhere, tearing through dungeons with monstrous efficiency? It was bound to catch attention.

When you returned to the marketplace, a group of uniformed individuals was waiting for you. Their armor bore the insignia of the Adventurer’s Guild, the organization that oversaw dungeon crawlers and regulated combat prowess.

One of them, a woman with sharp eyes, stepped forward. “We’ve received reports about you” she said, looking Phainon up and down. “Your combat abilities are… unusual.”

Phainon didn’t respond. He didn’t even blink.

The woman continued, unfazed. “We’d like to evaluate your rank. If you’re as strong as people claim, you should be registered with the guild.”

You hesitated, then glanced at Phainon. “It’s up to you” you said casually. “You can decide for yourself.”

His reaction was immediate. His blue eyes snapped to yours, wide with something unreadable. His fingers twitched at his sides, as if suppressing an impulse.

For the first time since you met him, Phainon looked… lost.

“You’re letting me decide?” he murmured, almost as if the concept itself was foreign to him. His voice was quiet, but there was an undercurrent of something dangerous beneath it.

The guild members watched the exchange, waiting for an answer.

Then, without warning, Phainon grabbed your wrist. His grip was firm but not painful—more like an anchor, something grounding him.

“I don’t need them!” he said, his eyes darkening. “I don’t need a rank. I don’t need recognition. I only need you.”

You swallowed, trying to keep your expression neutral. “Phainon...”

But he wasn’t listening. His fingers tightened ever so slightly, as if reassuring himself that you were still there, still his.

“I’ll prove it” he murmured, almost to himself. “You’ll see… I don’t need anything else.”

The woman from the guild frowned. “Refusing to register might cause problems later. If you change your mind, come to the guild hall.” She gave you a lingering look before turning away, leading her team elsewhere.

Once they were gone, you exhaled, glancing down at your guild-issued device. You hadn’t checked Phainon’s stats since he hatched. Opening the interface, your breath caught in your throat. His level had skyrocketed. It wasn’t just growth, it was unnatural. No one leveled up this fast. Slowly, you looked up at him, finding him already staring at you.

His lips curled into a soft, knowing smile. “You’re looking at me differently” he murmured. “Are you finally realizing it?”

Realizing what?

Phainon wasn’t just strong. He was something else.

You couldn’t ignore it anymore.

Phainon’s level growth wasn’t just unnatural, it was impossible. Even the most elite adventurers took years to reach his current strength, yet he had done it in mere days. And his reaction when you let him decide for himself… the way he clung to you, as if the very idea of autonomy was foreign to him… Something wasn’t right.

That night, while Phainon sat contentedly by the fireplace, watching you with that ever-present devotion, you busied yourself with research.

You poured through old adventurer logs, ancient texts, and anything that might explain the anomaly that was him. But no record of a “lucky egg” spawning a human existed. Every instance of the machine had resulted in creatures—beasts, familiars, magical companions. Never a person. Then, deep within an old archive, you found something.

A passage detailing an experiment.

“In pursuit of the perfect companion, scholars once sought to craft an entity bound by absolute devotion. A being that would imprint upon the first soul it encountered, instinctively prioritizing their happiness and survival above all else. However, these creations proved unstable—obsessive, possessive, and far too powerful. The project was ultimately abandoned, all records sealed away.”

Your gaze flickered toward Phainon.

His blue eyes gleamed in the firelight, calm and unreadable as he met your stare.

“You’re looking at me like that again”

“Phainon…” You swallowed. “What are you?”

For a long moment, he didn’t answer.

Then, slowly, he rose from his seat, walking toward you with measured steps. When he reached you, he knelt—his head resting against your lap, his arms wrapping around you in a loose embrace.

“I don’t know” he admitted, his voice barely above a whisper. “But does it matter?”

He tilted his head, pressing closer, his warmth seeping into you.

“All I know is that I belong to you” he murmured, smiling softly. “And that’s the only truth I need.”

Your fingers trembled against the pages of the book.

This was worse than you thought.

Phainon wasn’t just obsessed.

He was made to be.

[speedycoffeedelight]

Unpopular opinion,

Too many men are written as “dom daddy” types in fics.

Like be for real, that man would be honored to be your floor mat.

He’s not giving orders, he’s taking them.

Stop being afraid, put on your big boots, and step on that man.

[speedycoffeedelight]

Bless the original hellsite for enabling me to post this entire post-season-two saga in full.

[speedycoffeedelight]

*hides behind laptop*

⬅Prev: Part 1- Opposites

Spell Gone Wrong

Part 2- Devilish Human

Alastor X Reader

Alastor is trying a new spell but it's not right and something goes wrong.

Warnings ⚠

⚠ possessive Alastor, Human Alastor, time travel mentioned, Italics= thoughts, kisses, blood, cussing. ⚠

It's been weeks since the spell mess up, but Alastor still hasn't given up on it and continued tinkering around with some of the words in his book.

You don't know exactly what he's trying to do but as long as there isn't a huge mess it's fine.

The breeze outside is nice as you read your book out in the garden, the aroma of roses and daisies hit your nose every so often, and you have an umbrella next to your chair giving you shade.

An absolutely perfect peaceful afternoon, with the occasional sounds of nature.

Until it wasn't.

A big boom sounded from inside the house. You stood quickly and opened the back door, running into the house.

There was smoke everywhere, it made you cough and slow down in your stride as it was so dense. Barely able to take a few steps forward without worrying about hitting the furniture, you called out to your fiance.

"Alastor!?", you shouted and then coughed. "Are you alright? What happened-", you coughed again.

"I'm fine dear!", Alastor responded. "The damn spell went wrong again. Help me open the windows and doors!"

Both of you worked together and opened what you could to get the smoke out. You got a rag to help move the smoke along and Alastor summoned an electric fan, which did the trick.

Once it cleared most of the way, both of you saw a figure lying on the floor of the house.

"Ugh..", the figure groans and sits up, their back facing you as they lift a hand to rub the side of their head.

"Are you..alright?", you ask and take a step towards the person who suddenly appeared.

The figure turns to face you and Alastor groans in defeat.

"Again?", your fiancé sighs.

They are human, a very handsome one at that, and they back away slowly. Their hand moving around until it grabs onto a metal candle holder on the coffee table, swinging it in front of themselves and pointed at you.

"Where am I and what are you?", the human asks with a scowl.

"Hold on-", you start but Alastor stands in front of you.

"Now, now. We don't point a weapon at someone who's asking if you're alright.", the red deer demon scolds. "You'd think my human self would be a little more put together and wearing a smile."

"Human self?", you say surprised.

You met Alastor after death, so of course you've never seen him when he was alive. However, you didn't know that he was that attractive in life as well.

"That still doesn't answer my question sir.", human Alastor says.

"Put the candle stick down.", your fiance hisses out.

The two glare at each other and you roll your eyes. With a huff, you move out from behind your fiance and place a hand on the candle stick, lowering it down.

"As much as this is a shock to everyone, let's be civil about it. Ok?", you say and glance at the two before looking back at the human man. "You're in Hell. As crazy as this is going to sound, that-", you point at the Radio Demon. "-is demon you. And I am his fiancé."

"Demons?", he says and finally puts down the candle stick. "How did I get here? And how did I- he? How am I a demon here?"

"That would be my fault.", Alastor confesses. "I've been working on a spell but the results have not been satisfactory.. As for the demon part, well you'll find out in due time."

"It's no surprise if he's doing what you did in life.", you say. "This counts as time travel doesn't it?", you ask and look to your fiance. "What spell are you working on?"

"A difficult one darling.", is all the deer demon says before kissing your forehead.

Human Alastor looks away and takes in the interior of the house, finding pictures and art along the walls, with the occasional gun display. The furniture is mostly red and brown, like usual but he sees the decorative pillows and knows that must be the other demon's doing.

"If this is Hell, it's not too bad."

"Are you ok though? Did you hit your head?", you ask, attention back on human Alastor. "Please rest if you're not feeling well."

"I'm fi-"

"Just sit down.", Alastor says and pushes his human self to sit on the couch. "There isn't much you can do in Hell anyway since you're a human. So fragile."

You can see human Al-, hmm.. You can see Astor get annoyed by that last comment your fiance made.

"Alastor. Be. Nice.", you say and pull the red deer away, pushing him towards the back room. "Go and figure out a way to take him back to his time."

"Darling-", he starts.

"If you can't be nice then you won't get any kisses for a week!"

Reluctantly, the Radio Demon does as told and walks into the back room where he does his spells, giving you one last glance before closing the door behind himself.

You sigh and turn to look at Astor, finding him looking everywhere but at you.

"You ok there hun?", you ask.

"Forgive me but-ahem.", the human glances at you before looking away again. "I just can't imagine myself with someone as breathtaking as you."

You blush and wave it off.

"Geez. A charmer even in life, huh?", you laugh. "I'm nothing to look at really but thank you."

"Do I-? Does he not compliment you?", he asks suddenly.

You blink in surprise at the question.

"It's just, you seem to act like he doesn't but I apologize if I am being too rude with my question. It would be terrible if-", he begins to ramble.

"Slow down there.", you smile. "It's nice that you're worried but I'm treated very well. I mean, it is you.", you test the waters and pat his shoulder. "Though, why ask? I was told by my fiancé that he wasn't interested in anyone when alive.", you say.

"I don't get to meet you until after."

Is.. Is he flirting with me? You wonder and move your hand off of his shoulder.

Astor takes your hand before you can move it any farther and places a kiss on your knuckles.

"It's a shame that I don't get to have some time with you when alive."

Like deja vu, your fiancé rips you away from the house guest and holds you close.

"My love, you really must stick by my side when we have such guests over.", Alastor says with a sinister smile. "I still haven't forgotten what that blue bastard did."

Astor just smiles.

"Just telling your fiancé it's a shame we didn't meet sooner.", he says. "I can only imagine what fun we could of had together."

"Yes, though it is a shame, it seems that it was certainly needed. What a terrible flirt you are to my fiancé.", your fiancé gently guides your head and leads you into a kiss.

Astor frowns but then has a strange look in his eye.

"I'm surprised you aren't married to them yet. What's wrong? Not sure?", he grins.

You gasp as you break out of the kiss and glare at the human.

"Alastor-", you then state the rest of his full human name in anger. "How dare you imply such a thing! Do you even understand what you just said!?"

Before he can utter out another word, you turn and stomp off, slamming the back door behind you as you go back to the garden.

"I've forgotten what I fool I was.", Alastor sighs.

"Shit-", Astor stands to chase after you but is held back by his demon self.

"No use in going now. Let them have a moment to themselves.", the deer demon advises. "They are a force to be reckoned with."

Outside, you are upset and make your way over to the water fountain, snatching a hell daisy with a hiss as the thorns prick into your palms.

Sitting on the rim, you mutter curses as you rip petal after petal off of the flower and toss them into the water. You go back and forth doing this until you finally feel yourself start to calm down and your hand stings with all the bleeding scratches.

You walk back into the house after noticing it's getting a bit dark, using your dominant hand to open the door and holding the bleeding one in front of your chest.

When you walk in, you find Astor pacing before he stops and looks over at you.

"Dear, I just wanted to apolo-", he walks over quickly before noticing your hand. "Ah, you're bleeding."

"I'm fine.", you say and move around him to get the first aid kit.

He stops you by grabbing your wrist.

You turn to snap at him but then see the human worried.

"Please let me take care of it.", Astor pleads. "Please?"

"Fine.", you pull your wrist out of his hold and sit down on a stool near the kitchen counter. "There's a first aid kit under the kitchen sink."

He nods and quickly enters the kitchen, opening the bottom cabinet under the sink in search of the first aid kit.

He comes back not a second later and sets everything up to take care of the wounds.

Carefully taking your hand, Astor is gentle as he cleans the blood off. Apologizing when you hiss or squirm in your seat. Your hand is then wrapped up in gauze and he ties the end before tucking the extra bit under one of the folds, making it look neat.

"I must apologize again. I didn't think thoroughly about what I wanted to say. I just-", he sighs. "I'm just jealous that I-. That he has someone but I don't have anyone waiting for me back home.."

"Astor.", you start.

"Astor?", he looks up at you confused.

"Oh, I forgot. I've been calling you Astor in my head so I don't confuse you and my fiancé.", you explain. "Anyway, it was still very wrong of you to say but I can sympathize. It's not easy being alone."

He nods and looks away.

"Please be mindful of what you say hun.", you reach over and place a hand on his cheek, making him look at you agian. "But don't be sad too long. You do have someone waiting in the future. Ok? Keep smiling.", you smile.

With a soft smile, Astor nods and kisses the palm of your bandaged hand.

"Only for you."

Alastor shows up and shoves his human self away, wrapping his arms around you as Astor falls to the floor.

"Yes, yes. Be good and wait.", the red deer smiles cheekily and kisses your temple. "Satan knows you need to practice your patience."

All you do is sigh as Astor gets up and dusts himself off, glaring at his demon self.

"It would seem so."

Your fiancé sets things up to send his human self back and Astor helps him. The two grumble at each other but get the job done.

It's the same process as last time, but now with sun stones surrounding the calk circle.

Both of you watch as the human fades away.

"I swear if there's another Alastor that lays his hands on you-", your love says with a tone.

"Yes, I know. You'll do your worst.", you kiss his nose. "But it's nice to know that you love me in multiple shapes and forms."

Alastor smiles and pecks your lips.

"How could I not my darling? You're everything."

"Mhm..", you hum.

Then you remind him of something.

"No kisses for a week"

*screeches into the void*

~Seline, the person.

Part 3

Taglist@

@+in the comments+

ML II Alastor🎙 | SGW ChL✨

[speedycoffeedelight]

ALASTOR "DESKTOP BUDDY" SHIMEJI

I got beef with my boss (yes im roleplaying as a VoxTek employee rn) and Alastor stepped in to be the better man cough Shimeji cough out of the two uwaaa

Here is the DOWNLOAD LINK for the Radio Demon!!

Extract the file, make sure to read the "readme" file!

Only Windows, idk how mac or mobile works

The next basement captive I plan on releasing is..

this guy!!!

buy me a ko-fi? perhamps?

wait where did he go

[speedycoffeedelight]

Dead Air

~

Chapter Six: Web Weaving

~

Masterlist

AO3

~

Pairing: Vox/Reader, Alastor/Reader, One-sided RadioStatic

Chapter Warnings/Tags: Valentino being a creepy piece of shit, emotional manipulation, gaslighting

Word Count: 4.7k

You wake up in a bed you immediately know isn't your own. The silk sheets cocooning your broken body could only really belong to one person. You don't immediately sense another presence in the room with you, causing you to dare peek your eyes open to take in your surroundings. The large amount of blue that greets you is all the confirmation you need to know you're in Vox's room. 

You'd only caught brief glimpses of it through the doorway. It was the one place in Vox's penthouse you'd never personally stepped foot in. Now you were wrapped up in the center of his bed, tucked in as if done with care. Even laying still, you can feel the pain pulsing through different parts of your body. It was far duller than last night, but it demanded your attention nonetheless. 

Your attempt to roll fully onto your back causes you to release a distressed whimper. The gouges Vox had left on your back still stung with ruthless determination. You're forced instead to roll back onto your side, your body curling defensively in on itself. Maybe if you made yourself small enough, you'd disappear. 

You stare blankly out the floor to ceiling windows along one side of Vox's room. The red morning light of the Pride ring filters through the blue tinted windows casting a purplish tinge across the room. 

Your mind swims with all the events of yesterday. It was so hard to believe it'd only been a day. You'd been savagely taken apart in both body and mind by two men in the span of less than twenty-four hours. It felt almost like a miracle you hadn't broken yet. 

Or had you? 

The feeling of numb despair wasn't new to you, but this felt different. You'd never felt so hollowed out, as if you'd been scooped clean from the inside out and were now left an empty shell. You'd been used as a pawn before, your whole life being played within a game you had no control over. 

It only seemed fitting you'd still be forced to endure the wicked machinations of men even in death. This was your fate, to be passed from one set of hands to the next as you're used, abused, and then tossed to the side like a piece of rubble. 

You couldn't do this. 

You wouldn't survive this. 

You wish Vox had just extinguished your soul and been done with it. 

Maybe then you'd finally know peace. 

You long to know what it would be like to no longer be haunted by the things done to you by others, for freedom and control over yourself. What would things look like if you weren't always afraid? If you weren't always being chased by memories and the feelings they brought. What if you had someone who genuinely protected you, who would keep you safe from ever being harmed again? 

The thoughts were foolish, but you couldn't help thinking them. Anything that could be a temporary escape from everything else. If you could distract yourself with fantasies, no matter how unrealistic, maybe surviving reality would be easier. 

Your mind drifts back to the lazy comfortability of your apiaries. You'd never felt safer or more relaxed than the time you spent with your honeybees. It'd been a peculiar hobby to pick up in your teen years, all the students at school finding you strange when you spoke about it. They'd been the one thing Evan didn't taint with his twisted touch, until he did. 

You never blamed the bees for your murder, they didn't know any better. You barely knew better when he'd shoved you into a room full of an agitated swarm of them. You don't know what he'd done, but he'd gotten them angry—scared—they didn't recognize you. The stings stopped hurting far quicker than you would have thought. You're not even sure you really remember dying, it just felt like one minute you were alive, and then next you were here in Hell. 

It felt like the ultimate form of cruelty from your husband. You'd endured so much, you'd been so good, did everything he said, tried to be his perfect doll. In the end though, you'd always end up cast aside for not being good enough. You'd begun to stumble during his cons, your accidents far more frequently needing to be fixed or covered up. Maybe you could have made it through if that'd been the only case, but Evan wanted a child. 

You hadn't been good enough to give him one. Your body refusing to do the one thing you were raised to do. 

So when Evan realized he was playing with a broken doll, he threw it away. 

With his final act against you, he finished stealing everything from you. 

You didn't know whether to laugh or cry when you first looked into a mirror upon arriving in Hell. You couldn't tell if it was a karmic slap in the face or the universes attempts to give you some semblance of comfort. If you're being honest with yourself, you still don't know. 

You hear a door open somewhere else in the penthouse causing you to wrap yourself tighter in Vox's navy sheets. You wanted to make yourself as small as possible. 

That feeling only increases when the figure casting a shadow over the room isn't even the one you're expecting. 

It's so much worse. 

"Well, this certainly isn't what I expected to stumble upon this morning," Valentino's sickly sweet voice echoes gleefully from the doorway. "I thought you might be off somewhere in Hell regenerating a new body." 

You resist the urge to completely tuck yourself into a ball and hide away from the giant moth. Though you don't even know what to say. Why was Val even here? Would he leave you alone if you didn't give him any reason to stay? Could you ignore him long enough to escape more conflict? 

You always strived to make it so you were never alone with the other Vees, they were too unpredictable with Vox in the room with them, fuck knows you didn't want to know how it extended when they didn't have a reason to reign in their behavior. Vox strangely enough—even with the events of last night—was the most predictable of his partners. He was also the owner of your soul so he'd defend you from them to an extent. 

Now though you were alone with Valentino for the first time ever, and the fear was clarifyingly sharp. 

Your heart rate picks up at a jack rabbits pace, your body tensing painfully through the fear. Your hands shake as they clutch tighter around your fabric shield. Anxiety prickles along your exposed skin, and you become painfully aware of your vulnerable state beneath the covers. 

The word consent didn't seem to exist in Valentino's vocabulary, and you're almost positive without his boyfriend present, you wouldn't be an exception to that. You knew how Angel was treated and he was Val's top performer, why would Vox's play thing be any different. 

"Really, I'm surprised you're even in one piece considering the temper tantrum Vox threw before you came home. He was so very upset." Valentino muses as he pulls away from the door frame and begins walking towards you. 

His movements are calculated like a predator stalking its prey. His burning red eyes narrowed into slits as he regards you with an indecipherable expression. 

Your body is screaming at you to run. Hell you'd run straight through the windows to the pavement below if you thought it would do you any good. Your growing awareness of your nudity keeps you frozen. It was bad enough Vox had seen you so exposed, especially with everything he's done to you. The last thing you needed was Valentino taking it as an open opportunity. 

A small part of your subconscious was also afraid that if he did, and Vox came back, he'd simply turn a blind eye at that point and let Valentino finish with you. 

His towering form moves closer to the bed and you completely lose your ability to keep eye contact with him. 

Alarm bells scream loudly in your head but you're helpless to do anything. 

It's nearly impossible to suppress the shriek that rises in you when he suddenly drops to the edge of the bed, his massive frame reaching close to you even with him sitting. You can't stop yourself from scrambling back across the bed, immediately forgetting about your prior apprehension. 

Valentino leers at you with a large grin that only grows when the sheets fall away from your body. Something akin to a rumbling growl echoes from his chest. 

"Well, well, well, you really were hiding something under all that fabric. Shame Vox seems so intent on not sharing." 

You hate the way he's looking at you, his body is coiled and tense as if about to strike. 

Then, he does. 

He lunges at you with a speed you're helpless to stop. Just as you turn to launch yourself from the bed, his hand catches one of your wings to pull you back towards him. You let out a panicked cry at the agony it sends through you, his grip is so tight it feels as if your wings might threaten to tear. 

"I wouldn't do that if I were you. If not, I might have to do Vox a favor and clip your wings." 

"No!" You gape up at him with fear filled eyes. 

"Shut up!" 

Valentino grabs your hair tightly before shoving you face first into the mattress. You let out a fearful whimper into the sheets. 

"If you're quiet and take this like a good bitch, Vox won't find out." He grunts as he tries to get you to cease your struggle. 

"Oh I think he will actually." 

You'd never been so grateful to hear Vox's voice. You nearly cry with relief. 

"Get away from her, Val." His voice is heavy with displeasure. 

You can't see him from your angle on the bed but you know he's wearing a look of aggravation. You can feel the tension crackling in the air between the two Overlords. Valentino grips your hair tighter, pushing you further into the bed before releasing you. 

"You used to be so much fun Vox." He purrs as you feel his weight leave the bed entirely. 

You can't help the way your breathing picks up as if you're about to have a panic attack. The fabric of the sheets suddenly feels coarse and brittle beneath your bare skin. 

"You don't get to talk to her that way, and you sure as shit don't get to touch her like that." Vox's voice begins to distort with subtle bursts of buzzing electricity. 

"Don't I though? I thought what's yours is mine, mi amore. Isn't that how relationships work?" Valentino coos sweetly as he moves across the room to Vox. 

You keep your head down in the blankets, you wanted to draw as little attention to yourself as you could. It'd be easier to just leave them to it. Still Vox's words and tone leave you feeling... strange. 

"You know I can still smell you between her legs. Tell me, did you enjoy the Radio Demon's sloppy seconds?" 

A distorted growl rips from Vox, the sound heavily laced with static. The lights in the room begin to cut in and out, the electricity humming and popping loudly. 

"Get. Out." Vox's voice carries throughout the space in a haunting way. Everywhere and nowhere all at once. 

"Oh come on, you know I'm just teasing." Valentino murmurs. 

"I'm not in the mood Val. Leave." He violently shoves his finger in the direction of the door.

"Touchy today, are we? Alright, fine. I'll leave you to your little temper tantrum. Seems like you found a good outlet for it anyway." He leans in close to Vox, his voice dropping in tone. "I've taught you so well." 

With the soft sound of his wings swishing and the door closing, he's gone leaving you and Vox in solitude once more. 

You feel the bed dip next to you before you're being pulled into his arms. The quick change in positions shocks you, but it's the way he's holding you that ends up shocking you more. Despite his horrid treatment last night—his wrath about Alastor—he gathers you into his arms as if you were something precious. 

"Blossom, are you okay? Did he hurt you?" All the filters over his voice have ceded and his voice is now so gentle. 

The irony of his question is far from lost on you. You don't want Vox to see the tears forming in your eyes, so you bury your head into his chest, clinging to him like he'll offer you your salvation. It hurts, to seek comfort in your abuser. You always did because you had no other form of it. You'd take your comfort where you could get it, and right now, it was in the arms of the monster who caused your distress in the first place. 

"Bea? Please talk to me." 

Though instead of pushing you away, his arms cradle you closer. His touch now feels like such a rough juxtaposition to last night. How were the hands holding you so tenderly be the same ones to have drowned you last night? 

The mere memory of the panic and desperation he caused draws more tears to your eyes. 

His hands carefully move to cup your face, pulling you away from him just enough to be able to look down at you. His expression immediately softens when he sees your tear stained cheeks. The ache in your heart grows in the quiet moment where all you do is watch each other. 

"Did Valentino hurt you?" His tone is more serious but still soft. 

Finally you answer him with a shake of your head. The movement causes the tears to spill faster and you can no longer look at him. You put your face back against his chest, your hands clinging to his shirt with desperation. 

Vox lets out a sigh of relief. One of his hands comes up to stroke your hair, shushing you quietly. 

"I won't let him. I'll never let him lay a hand on you." Vox murmurs against your scalp. 

"Promise?" You question in distress. 

Vox makes a broken sound somewhere deep in his chest, one telling of untold pain. You didn't know the extent of his and Valentino's relationship, but you knew it wasn't healthy, or even really good. 

"I promise." He breathes out like a prayer. 

The two of you stay like that for a few more minutes, Vox not seeming to care as your tears begin to wet the fabric of his clothes. He hums gently as one of his hands carefully rubs your back while avoiding the wounds he'd left the prior morning. They were the most healed out of all the injuries, but they were still agonizing when touched. 

"Can I cook you breakfast?" 

The question is so absurd it makes you bark out a laugh. You can't help it, your emotions are so heightened and your brain fried. You don't even think about the possibility of him getting upset by your reaction. 

You pull back from him, eyes scrutinizing his features to figure out whether or not he's joking. 

It doesn't look like he is. 

"Vox..." You start to say cautiously. "As nice as that sounds, you and I both know you're basically helpless in the kitchen." 

He draws back, a hand coming up to clutch at his chest. Though the expression on his face is light and teasing. "Am not!" 

His silly reaction draws a small smile to your face. The topic of Vox's utter shit abilities in the kitchen isn't new between you. There was a reason the Vee's were ordering food more often than cooking. None of them could really cook to save their lives. Especially Vox. 

The sudden shift in your moods leaves you feeling strange, and for a second you have to remind yourself of who Vox really is and what he's done. What he's done to you. This feels too comfortable, especially with last night still being so raw. You can't help but admit your gratitude for it, a shred of normalcy feels nice, even if you knew it was only temporary. 

"Unless your aim is to poison me, you and I both know it'd be better to order something." 

Vox lifts his finger as if he's about to protest but then thinks better of it. "Alright... fine. You win. But you get to pick what we're eating. I don't even care if it's that shitty place down in the doomsday district. Though I'm still fucked to know why you like it." 

You're shocked he remembered the place you always had a preference for. There had been many a night where the two of you would end up pulling all nighters together to get the workload you had finished. Most of the times Vox would end up picking without your input, but the few times he did—and the even fewer times he agreed—you would always offer up the same suggestion. It's been so long since you had though, you're a bit shocked he remembered in any capacity. 

"Really? You hate that place." 

"I never said hate. Strong disgust isn't too far off though." His expression pulls into a sour one before smoothing back out. 

The sudden reminder of why you're here, of what you are to Vox, puts a bit of a bitter lens over this. 

"What about work?" You question quietly, your eyes focused on your lap. 

"Oh there's plenty to be done, but I think it's okay if we have a slightly later start to our day, hmm?" 

When you look up, he shoots you a grin that further spins your emotions out. 

You weren't asleep right now, this wasn't a dream, but this felt wrong. The events of the night still weigh heavily at the front of your mind, the physical reminders still pressed painfully into your skin. But Vox was being... 

What was Vox doing? 

You suppose Evan would do something similar, he'd put you through the worst pains of your life only to beg and attempt to buy back your forgiveness the next day. It was a violent whiplash every time it happened, your mind and body never quite being able to catch up with it all. It had broken you down to nothing, made you complacent but what other choice did you have if you wanted to survive? You never forgave him—you couldn't—but if you'd tried to deny him, it would only result in things worsening. You learned to take whatever Evan gave you, no matter if it was the violence or the rare kindness. You had no other choice. 

"Okay..." You agree quietly. 

His grin widens, his eyes brightening. It takes everything in you not to flinch away when he reaches his hand out to you. His thumb gently trails beneath your eyes, only now making you aware that you'd begun crying again. His eyes watch you with a strange emotion you're hopeless to name as he tenderly brushes your tears away. 

"There's my good Bee." 

After a moment he gets to his feet, extending a hand out to help you to yours. 

"I'll order the food, why don't you get in the shower. I'll join you in a minute." He says while gently ushering you towards the bathroom. 

You have no choice but to let him lead you there, not even desiring to push back on it. A shower did sound nice to you right now, you just wished you'd be able to remain alone while you did. 

The room he ushers you into looks like a clear extension of the bedroom, the color scheme and decor only shifting to suit the type of room. A giant shower takes up the entire back wall, glass doors enclosing the space. The back wall is made of white and grey marble, dark black grooves running through the design. The rainfall shower head spans the length of the ceiling, an illuminated pad on the doors allow for temperature control. It's so luxurious and makes you feel even more alien in the space. 

The tile below your feet is ice cold, sending a shock through your system. 

For a moment all you can do is simply stand in the middle of the room where Vox has left you. Your body freezes as you struggle to proceed with beginning the task by yourself. Your chest feels tight, tears burning at the back of your eyes. 

Why is a task as simple as moving your feet a short distance so impossible right now? 

How useless could you be if you couldn't follow a simple instruction? 

Vox will be so upset when he comes in here only for you to not have moved at all. But even as your mind wills your body to move, it just can't follow through with the command. 

You feel as if you're screaming out in your mind, begging to be able to do what you want and need to do. 

It shouldn't be this hard. 

Why was this so hard? 

"Blossom?" Vox's voice startles you from behind. 

He comes to stand in front of you, a look of concern crossing his expression. His eyes look you over from top to bottom before coming to rest on your face. His expression minutely softens. 

"Hey... you're okay. There's no need for tears. Let's get you into the shower doll, it'll help make things better." 

You almost miss the grimace he makes as he gently urges your tense body forward. Your body shakes with the effort but you don't protest. 

Vox stops before the doors, fingers quickly tapping away at the controls before the water begins to cascade down from the ceiling. You stare blankly at the floor as he strips behind you before opening the door and ushering you both inside. You allow Vox to move you about, your body following each of his small guiding touches as he moves to clean the both of you. He's shockingly gentle as he works shampoo into your hair, carefully avoiding your antennae as his claws gently massage it into your scalp. When he begins to rinse it he blocks the water from flowing into your eyes with his hand along your forehead, before he repeats the process with conditioner. 

He breaks the silence when he begins to scrub your body with a soapy wash cloth. 

"Bea... please say something. You're starting to scare me." His concerned tone feels like such a harsh juxtaposition to the flash backs of last night running through your head. 

Your eyes slowly shift to his, though your gaze remains unfocused and distant. 

"I'm sorry..." You whisper softly. "I'm fine." 

The water runs down Vox's screen, the droplets magnifying the digital pixels of his face. It reminds you of the bright neon lights of the city you grew up in when it rained. A specific drop catches your attention as it traces the side of it before catching on the edge of his screen, threatening its impending fall. 

Vox says something but it sounds like you're underwater. You don't even notice the change in his expression at your lack of reaction. 

Your surroundings become distant, your body detaching from itself as your brain puts you into a state of limbo within your thoughts and emotions. 

By the time you come back into awareness your sitting on the edge of Vox's bed dressed in one of his button up shirts, the fabric swallowing you with your considerable size difference. Vox is dressed in a pair of sweats and a loose V-neck shirt. He's crouched in front of you, one of his hands placed on each of your knees. 

You can feel the water drip from your hair down your neck and back. The sensation is uncomfortable but you can't bring yourself to care much about it. 

"Bea?"

Vox moves his hand in an abrupt motion towards your face and you can't help the way your entire body flinches away. 

"Please don't hit me!" You shriek despairingly, your hands moving to block your face as your body tries to move away. 

The worried expression on Vox's face grows stronger, his digital brows furrowing in serious concern. 

"I'm not." He answers dejectedly, his hand hovering in the air. "I'm just trying to make sure you're okay." 

There's a strange part of you that feels the need to reassure him, to ease his discomfort but you barely have the energy to form a verbal response. 

Something inside of Vox aches painfully at the realization of your damage running much deeper than your time here in Hell, a lingering human part of him he didn't really think still existed. 

His phone chimes on the nightstand drawing both of your attention away. He sighs before standing and walking over to it. 

"Food is here. I'm going to run down and get it, stay right here." 

Then he's gone, zipping through the tower's electrical system to get down to the ground floor. 

Your lungs heave with the effort of steadying your breathing, your eyes filling with fresh tears. Your surroundings don't feel real, the texture of the sheets feels wrong, objects looking off in ways you can't quite pin point. Even the air seems to contain a different quality than normal.

You collapse backwards on the sheets, your eyes staring blankly at the ceiling as you try to comprehend all that's happened. 

Was it really just a few days ago that you'd met Alastor? 

It hadn't even been a week and so much has happened. 

How was it only Friday? 

Your body feels as if you've been hit by a semi truck, pains unrelated to yesterday's ordeals popping up alongside it. Your muscles feel tight, as if they're containing feelings you've long since forgotten but your body hasn't. The weight of the whole world pushing down on your chest threatening your total collapse beneath it. 

"Bea." Vox's voice calls upon re-entry. 

You abruptly startle upright, your body subconsciously moving you backwards on the bed. 

"Sorry," you murmur sullenly. "I didn't hear you come back in." 

"Let's go eat in the kitchen." Is all he says before he's turning around, expecting you to follow suit. 

You force yourself to take another deep breath before rising onto unsteady legs to comply with his command. 

Each step you take feels like you're sinking further and further into quicksand, the very gravity of Hell threatening to bring you to your knees. 

Vox sets the bags on the table before moving to pull out a chair for you. He pushes it in carefully as your gaze zones out on the table in front of you. It sparks a sense of déjà vu from the coffee shop with Alastor. 

Vox is saying something to you as he lays the various take out containers on the table but despite hearing him, you don't process a single one of his words. When he opens one to place in front of you, the contents shock you enough to look up at him—something akin to a question in your gaze. 

"This is what you always order, isn't it?" Vox confidently inquiries. 

Your voice is barely audible as you respond. "It is." 

"If it's not to your tastes for any reason, I got a few other things to try." He says with a small flourish to the spread on the rest of the table. 

"Thank you." You say softly with a nod of your head in acknowledgment, even though the food in front of you makes your stomach curl. The thought of putting anything in your mouth right now causing a visceral reaction to bloom inside you. 

Still you can't afford to upset Vox by denying him. Your motions are mechanical as your plastic fork stabs through the food in front of you. 

A high pitched ringing echoes loudly in your ears alongside the thundering beat of your heart. Your hand shakes as you lift the fork to your lips. 

You don't know if it's intentional or not, but Vox decides this is the best moment to spring a request, or rather his next demand of you. He does so with what could be considered a malicious smile. 

"Tomorrow night you'll be joining me as my date to the gala. I've already arranged for Velvette to make your dress." 

Your stomach drops alongside your fork. 

~

Taglist: @lookingforsyd @daddymaster21 @fru1tbatzz @ohnoivefallen @pepperquiche @takemetoneverland420 @12cashmere @rapunzelbro @vvzhyxx @speedycoffeedelight @readingalldayeveryday

[speedycoffeedelight]

Bon Appetit

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Chapter Eleven: On a Knife's Edge

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Masterlist

AO3

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Paring: Alastor/Reader, Lucifer Morningstar/Reader, Alastor/Lucifer Morningstar

Chapter Warnings/Tags: Low-key knife play?? threats of violence and harm, the usual insane amount of cursing. A little lore drop.

Word Count: 6.1k

A/N: Huge shoutout and thank you to EveeYammore for beta reading this for me. I've been speeding writing it these past few days and my errors start to turn invisible after so long staring at the same chapter, so her help was greatly appreciated.

Ya'll this chapter is everything I wanted it to be and nothing like what I intended it to be. This story keeps getting away from me in the best of ways while still sticking to my outline, it's beautiful and I'm obsessed. I'd love to hear your thoughts for this one because boy howdy do I have plenty of my own 🤭

Comment to be added to the taglist

How does one go about avoiding a hotel full of people? You didn't know, but you were sure making your best attempt at it. After your near public breakdown at the bar yesterday, you'd been avoiding every single person possible since arriving back at the hotel. You thought the time out and about in the city for a couple hours would have done you some good. You seemed to be mistaken about that though, the dread instantly flooding back into your bones upon re-entry into the hotel.

Hence the sneaking around like a spy on a mission. That mission being one single thing: don't get fucking caught.

You'd had three separate visitors come knocking upon your door in the past twenty-four hours, each one had been met with the same undisturbed silence as you refused to relent in your isolation.

Self inflicted punishment was something you'd taken a master class in. You would rather force yourself to suffer alone than pull your friends into a mess you got yourself into all on your lonesome in the first place.

You'd figure this out on your own, you had to.

If you were lucky, things would smooth themselves out quickly in the next few days and you'd be back to your usual self before they knew it. You craved to have your confidence back—a return to sanity would be ideal currently.

Your silence hadn't deterred a single one of them from blowing up your phone with their messages of concern. They each received the same response of silence, despite some of them being more insistent than others. The guilt gnawed away at you consistently with the refusal to open each one. You kept telling yourself this was just the way things needed to be.

Though you worried you may have fucked things up beyond repair with Lucifer. You hadn't wanted things to turn out the way they did, but there wasn't much choice granted to you on the matter. You just hoped you'd earned good enough favor with the man to be given a second chance.

Why did Alastor have to ruin everything? It felt like ever since you'd moved here, you'd known nothing but his chaotic antagonism of you. And the most recent development in events? The new dynamic he'd so brazenly altered and laid before you had been thrusting you further into your spiral of insanity. You were still incredibly confused about Alastor's change in behavior. He'd said and done so much that made zero sense to you. Though with Lucifer's growing concern, it made you begin to worry that there might be more to what was happening than either of you knew.

Why wouldn't Lucifer just tell you?

What the fuck was going on?

You were spiraling further into insanity. You needed to get a fucking grip.

You've never felt such a total loss of control over your powers, your light shifting in varied waves and pulses throughout your body. It set you further on edge as you lost even more command over your body and mind.

Hell definitely wasn't boring anymore, that's for sure.

Your body's demands for nourishment is just one more thing that sets you on edge. You'd ignored it the rest of the day prior into the entire day today. But now as you lay in the darkness of your room—a single crack of light peeking through your curtains—your mind still roiling with torment, the pain lingering in your stomach is something you're afraid you won't be able to ignore much longer.

You pick up your phone to glance at the time. Ten o'clock was late, right? What were your chances of getting in and out of the kitchen without encountering anyone else?

Was it worth the risk?

Your stomach grumbles painfully.

Fuck it.

You ignite your hands with a soft illumination, lifting the light up into the air to hover above you. It's dim but bright enough for you to take stock of yourself in the mirror. You don't look much better than you had yesterday, if you didn't look worse. No matter how much you tried to convince otherwise; not a single person would believe you were anything other than falling to absolute pieces.

Why was it so hard to open up to people? Fuck, you'd been friends with Husk for decades. Why not him if no one else? It would make you feel better, it'd take a burden off your shoulders, maybe the world wouldn't feel so confusing and impossible for a minute, but no matter how much you wished it to be the case, your brain would force you to do otherwise. You couldn't open up to people, you wouldn't put this burden on them. They were all already so distraught seeing you this way, it would ultimately be so much worse for them if they knew the truth.

Fuck, what would Alastor do if anyone found out? Would you make it out unscathed? Would he hurt whoever found out?

You didn't know how to go on, there was no clear direction in what to do. It felt like you just had to wait. Waiting in anticipation with bated breath for life to happen to you, regardless of your feelings in the matter. That's how it'd always been, hadn't it? Why else would this be any different?

For a brief moment you ponder the potential of regret for coming here to the Hazbin. So much has happened in such a short amount of time. Things turning your afterlife entirely around, emotions being stirred inside you that you didn't think yourself capable of—let alone with the individual they came from. And then on top of those intense stupid feelings being brought forth by the resident Overlord, you had found yourself forming a school crush on the most powerful man in Hell.

You'd realized it after combing through your thoughts after your hasty exit the day prior.

Your emotions surrounding Lucifer were so tense and complicated, you hadn't even realized what they were exactly, not until you had played that look of concern on his face over in your mind for the millionth time. The reason his hurt had affected you so much, was because of how much you cared about him—cared about what he thought of you. Alastor had been right the other day in the pantry, you didn't want Lucifer to know.

You liked him.

If he wasn't the most powerful being in Hell, your feelings for him would basically be a death sentence.

Your eyes linger on their reflection in the mirror. The light your power produced lending them an eerie other worldly glow. They looked so haunted—dull in comparison to what usually greeted you in the mirror. You find yourself turning away.

It was too much.

The light above you expands, the soft rays of it filtering over you in a subtle wave. You blink and the dark space of the kitchen appears around you. Silence greets you along with the dark. Your antennae bristle and strain to detect any sounds of movement.

Nothing.

Not even the distant sounds of Husk and Angel chatting around the bar. It was one of the few rare times that this side of the first floor of the hotel was silent. Maybe God was granting you a bit of peace. You sigh at the lack of signs of life.

Perfect.

Easy food wasn't something you did. Always taking more time than you should, even for your quicker meals. You're still on edge but the lack of immediate looming threat of being found helped ease it. As long as you kept quiet and didn't make too much of a mess, you'd be in and out of here before anyone could find you.

You didn't want to be in the kitchen for too long, so a simple pasta dish is what you settle on preparing. The prep work was minimal, and required no effort at all. After illuminating the kitchen with your own light—so as to reduce the risk of drawing someone's attention—you set about moving to gather everything.

You pull half a dozen ingredients from the shelves in the pantry, followed closely by the few tools you'd need. A high walled skillet gets placed on the induction stove to begin heating. The large wooden cutting board becomes the center of your attention as you begin to prep your veggies. Your motions were fluid as you slice into the onions before dicing them into small squares.

You toss them into the heated pan with some oil, your antennae perking up at the pleasant sound. There's a second you lose yourself in the task; the familiar routine of preparing a meal bringing you momentary ease. A sense of peace has settled over you and the kitchen. For the first time in days, you feel like things might be okay.

"I suppose my luck is improving. I didn't expect I'd actually find you today. You've certainly been making yourself scarce. Avoiding things while the rest of our merry crew turn their attentions to me. I'm about ready to take a bite out of you in frustration."

Your stomach drops at the sound of the voice.

Fuck no, fuck this.

Well that feeling certainly didn't last long, did it?

"Truly my dear, you always look so unapproachable." He mimics a frown as best he can while still smiling.

"Yet, somehow you still always do." You sneer as you turn around and face him. Fangs barred like the scared thing you were.

He hums in amusement at your reaction. You can see the cracks in his own composure. The intensity in which he had been pursuing you seeming to be wearing on him worse with each day. There's a particular manic gleam in them as he stares you down across the small distance between you. He's standing next to the cutting board, blocking you from escaping past him. You can't help the way your eyes momentarily dart to the discarded knife on top of it, his own following to see what caught your panicked gaze.

His grin stretches wider.

"Darling, you're like a pizza crust, always trying desperately to hold it together but falling apart under pressure." You watch him carefully as he wraps his hand around the kitchen implement.

You want nothing more than to disappear but Alastor with a knife promises danger—unpredictable danger that you didn't know how to beat.

"I really don't understand you." You retort defensively. Alastor's actions never once having made sense to you.

He shrugs while looking at the knife. "Neither do I, if I'm honest."

His eyes are only off you for a moment but you take the single instance to make an attempt to get away. You begin to fade away into the light but you can't manage it faster than Alastor notices. You feel cold tendrils of shadow wrap around your wrists, restraining and pulling you back into the counter. Alastor flashes through the shadows in less than a blink, appearing before you brandishing the knife.

"Now now, don't run from it darling, don't run from me. I think you've made me do my fair share of chasing." Once again his body has pressed itself intimately into yours. Though the additional new threat was causing a new sort of fright inside you.

"Can you at least drop the fucking knife?" You bark viciously.

"How about you drop your attitude first, darling?" He watches you with fascinated calculation. His eyes seeming to catch each minor reaction.

Even after all that's transpired between you, you still fear the unpredictability that came with dancing this dangerous game with Alastor. One minute it felt startlingly close to affection the way Alastor treated you, the next he had a knife to your throat and you weren't entirely all too confident that he wouldn't slash you open from ear to ear.

You were guaranteed to regenerate in a few days, so what's another mind game thrown into the mix.

For a moment you can picture his lips pressed to yours as he drags the knife to cleanly split your tender skin. He'd caress your face so softly as he bathed in the fountain of your blood, a satisfied grin bursting from his seams.

"Did you know this is how most of my victims met their end?" Alastor questions sinisterly, tracing the tip of the blade from your cheekbone down along your throat. His words pull you from the violent imagery unfolding in your head.

"Oh?" You choke apprehensively as the point teases the thinnest patches of skin. It would take barely anything at all to cut you with it. It seems one of the few things you and Alastor agreed on in the kitchen was routine knife sharpening. Both of you making it so each one could be wielded on its own as a weapon. You didn't think that was something you'd ever be on the receiving end of.

"Sometimes it was an ax for particularly troublesome targets, but with petite and delicate little things like you, it was usually something closer to this." He murmurs fondly. You can feel him throb against you where your so tightly pressed together.

An inconvenient heat pulses between your legs in response. It only grows when his hand 'slips' and a small cut tears open beneath the sharp edge. The heat below increases—to your dismay.

Oh fuck no…

"What a pretty picture you'd paint drenched in blood." His voice has grown husky, the filter falling in and out with each word. "Just relax for me Lune."

He pulls the knife away only to replace it with his lips. Searing heat following each press of them to your neck. His tongue follows the thin trail of blood up to its source. White hot fire chasing throughout your body as it ignites under his touch. He slides his hands underneath the back of your thighs before hoisting you up onto the counter. Your hands remain useless where his shadows have them tied behind you, it allows him to easily hoist your leg onto his hip so he can grind into you harder.

A moan falls unbidden from your lips. Your mind rapidly reaching the point of no longer producing excuses as to why the two of you should stop. It was easy to slip away—too easy to slip away—with how good he made you feel. You've already forgotten about him threatening you with a knife, about wanting to escape from his hold. It was just you and him all over again and you weren't going to stop things from escalating.

"No one ever finds out about this?" You whisper in a rush as he rocks himself into you once more.

"I think that ship has sailed toots."

It's shocking that neither of your necks break with the speed in which both Alastor and your head's turn to the door. Your best friend leans against the open doorway of the kitchen, both sets of his arms crossed over his chest, the largest shit eating grin possible stretches wide across his lips. His brows are quirked suggestively as he surveys the scene before him. There was no denying what had just been occurring between you and Alastor. Fuck, an innocent child would know that you were about to get down and nasty. And considering your best friend was the most sought after porn star in Hell, you doubt there would be any dismissal of the events that were about to transpire.

Your eyes flick to Alastor's then back to Angel.

"H-how long have you been standing there?" You sound so lost and small.

Did you move? Why wasn't Alastor moving? What do you do? This isn't how this was supposed to happen. This wasn't supposed to happen at all!

Angel snorts, his grin widening. "Longer than you'd probably like. But no seriously are you guys flirting or starting a fight? Cause I can't entirely tell."

Your only indication of Alastor's feelings is the way his claws tighten their grip on you. Your bodies tucked so tightly together you can feel each tense shift of his muscles. He wasn't all too thrilled about being discovered either. You weren't sure whether or not Angel Dust could tell but you had a feeling a shit show of catastrophic proportions was about to unfold.

Your body begins to grow restless in his hold. The increased grip he kept on you making you feel more desperate and volatile. The rising sound of crackling static coming from Alastor's chest begins to shift your apprehension at being caught, to a true fear for your best friend.

Angel remains beaming in the doorway, not yet aware of the danger he's brought looming over him. "Sucks my theory wasn't right. I'm outta ideas if you guys have been fuckin' and are still at each other's throats like this. Ooo, I bet shit gets really kinky between you two. Is that blood? Freaky face must be really something special, I don't think I've ever known you to jump on someone at all, let alone this quick." His smile turns lewd, his eyebrows waggling suggestively.

Alastor's nails dig deeper into your thighs. His eyes starting to shift dangerously, his antlers starting to snap as they began to extend. The small amount of your blood around his mouth only serves to make him look more sinister.

"Angel…" You warn slowly, your eyes shifting between your impromptu partner and your best friend. "You should stop. Leave."

"Oh come on, you can't really expect me to just walk away from this, can ya? I mean at least now there's a known reason for all the drama going on around here. Fuck, it's rare when my home life is more dramatic than work. I love you Luney, but you and I both know Imma eat this shit up."

Bless your best friend and his stupid fucking need for drama and theatrics. He was making this so much worse.

The sounds emitting from Alastor don't falter, if anything each one increases in their crescendos. His fingers start to relax their grip a bit, his body slowly detaching itself from yours. "Close your eyes Lune, you shouldn't have to see this." His voice is a twisted snarled growl.

"Alastor don't!" You immediately jump to defend your friend.

"Don't worry, for you, I'll make it quick. If it makes you feel better, we can tell everyone he had an accident." Somewhere off in the distance a distorted buck call echoes hauntingly. His antlers continue to grow, each point cracking and twisting off in extension from his head. His eyes shifted to red dials as he stares down Angel from across the room.

That's enough for the spider to finally take the hint at the gravity of the situation he unwittingly placed himself into. He was fucked, and not in his usual way.

"U-uh…" Angel begins to nervously stammer. "My bad. I'll just go, we don't have to ever talk about what I saw here." He takes steady steps backwards in retreat.

Alastor looks every bit the predator about to lunge at his prey. You want to stop him but he's yet to loosen the restraints around your wrists. Still you struggle on top of the counter, leaning forward to try and snap at him.

"Stop. Alastor, let's just talk about this like adults. There's no need to be jumping directly into violence." The panic in your friends eyes makes you feel more frantic. "Alastor!"

He ignores you in favor of his pursuit. Any chance you may have gotten through to him leaves the second he begins to lunge forward at your fellow Sinner. Alastor was out for blood and was not likely to stop until he got it.

"Oh fuck…" Angel mutters before turning and dashing away on his long set of legs. He's got the most minor of head starts but Alastor is quick to close in behind him.

The kitchen door swings shut leaving you to struggle against your bonds in solitude. You just had to hope you could get out fast enough to try and protect Angel. Your emotions flare and run wild, making it difficult to concentrate your powers. You were sure that if you could get your light to respond to your call, you'd burn away his shadows in less than a minute. It didn't seem like the easiest of tasks in your current state.

Fuck.

Fuck.

Fuck.

The high pitched screech that echoes muffledly through the door can belong to no one other than Angel Dust. Loud static cracking in accompaniment, a whine of feedback following. Alastor was really pissed.

Fuck!

The sounds of your friend's growing distress forces you into more of a frenzy. There was no telling what would happen and you were not about to just sit around and find out. You can feel a small amount of your blood dribble down into your sweater. You ignore it in favor of focusing on the feeling of your power in your body. There's a moment where you're forced to block everything else out, you couldn't focus on anything other than yourself and your abilities.

You take a deep breath willing your powers to follow your command. Warmth flows from your chest and down your arms. Thin tendrils of light seeping out from between your hands scorching Alastor's shadows into nothing after a passing second or two. You leap down off the counter right as another deer call rings deafeningly through the hotel. The chilling sound being followed closely by another terrified scream.

You fade into the light, only to reappear in the lobby at the same time several voices collide into the room.

"What the fuck is going on?!" Charlie's distressed voice calls above the chaos.

At the same time Vaggie asks, "What the fuck Alastor?"

"I'm wondering the same thing." Husk grumbles where he's tucked himself off to the side of the bar.

"He's going to fucking kill me!" Angel cries in distress from where he's scaled the curtains up to the balcony on the second floor. "That's what the fuck is going on!"

"Alastor stop!" You call from your place by the stairs. Your eyes darting frantically between the eldritch horror and Angel as he rapidly closes in on him. "It's already too late! There's no point now."

"Oh no my dear," His voice echoes dangerously in the open space. "I have far yet from made my point."

"I told you Charlie, this is why we can't have nice things." The last voice you needed joins the fray.

Your head whips around to see Lucifer standing at the top of the stairs. His arms are folded across his chest—his features settled into a stern glare as he surveys the scene before him. When his eyes catch on you at the bottom of the stairs, his glower increases. His eyes are zeroed in just below your face, his eyes flashing with wrathful warning.

You lift your hand to touch the space that's caught his attention, having already forgotten about the cut until your fingers meet your wet skin. Your gaze flicks from his to your fingers when you pull them away. A small bit of blood coats your them—your heart thundering away in your chest when you lift your attention back to the king.

"Leave Angel Dust alone Alastor." Lucifer raises his voice to resonate above Alastor's chaotic sounds.

As the serious tone of the devil reverberates through the room, all other sounds cease. There's a pause before Alastor shrinks back into his normal form, his hands brushing down his suit coat as if nothing had been amiss. His watchful eyes meet yours, him carefully observing the same scene as everyone else. You think it's clicked in his head, the same as it had in yours, the time for secrets was over.

Time to lay it all out on the table.

Angel takes advantage of Alastor's attention being diverted, quickly leaping down to scuttle over to the bar for safety. Husk watches him wearily, though his tension is eased once the spider settles in close to him.

"What happened?" Husk mutters.

"I've got incredible timing is what happened." Angel snickers, already back to himself now that he no longer had the threat of bodily harm looming over him.

"Are you guys going to keep denying what's been happening? Or are you going to be honest for once?" Lucifer seems to barely have control over himself. His body language warning of him snapping at any given moment.

Hypocrite.

You can't help but muse bitterly in your mind. Your mouth however remains shut.

"This is all one large misunderstanding, I can assure you of that." If you had to hand anything to Alastor, it was that the bastard was bold. Not even you were able to keep denying it at this point. It was clear no one was convinced—least of all Lucifer.

"Do I look stupid?" He deadpans.

Alastor tilts his head, his grin vicious and sharp. "I'm not really sure how to answer that."

Lucifer turns back to you for a second, nodding towards your neck. "Does it hurt?"

You give him an honest shrug. "I'll survive."

He pins you with a look. "You know that's not what I asked."

"That screaming was honestly pretty terrifying." Angel comments to Husk away from the main discourse.

Husk scoffs. "You idiot. You were the one who was screaming."

"I know! My vocal cords hurt something awful cause of it."

Husk can only roll his eyes in response.

Vaggie and Charlie look the most lost and confused out of the group. Both their sets of eyes shifting nervously about everyone in the room. Charlie's keep bouncing back and forth between you and Lucifer the most. There's a weight to her gaze that makes you feel uneasy, it only increases each time Lucifer observes you as well.

"Is anyone going to talk?" Charlie pleads in desperation. "Someone's gotta start being honest."

"I walked in on Luney and Smiles about to get freaky in the kitchen. I guess Alastor's not much of an exhibitionist, but I'm sure we all coulda' guessed that one." Angel not so helpfully supplies from the bar. "Alastor might not be too far off on the jealousy angle with Lucifer after all."

Husk lifts his hand up to smack Angel in the back of the head.

"What? He had her blood on his mouth, that's fucking freaky."

Husk hits him again.

"Charlie said to be honest. Stop fuckin' hittin' me for that." Angel rubs his head dejectedly.

"You're going to antagonize them and make it worse!" Husk snaps defensively.

A thousand thoughts were racing through your mind. Your panic feeling like it was being put on full display in front of them all. It was one thing for everyone to think you and Alastor were just hooking up—a bit of hate fucking, as Angel would say. Them knowing about the blood put your relationship on a whole new level for them to all gawk at aghast. You don't even have time to get caught up on Angel's mentioning of potential jealousy, your mind reeling just at the mere fact that this was all unfolding on such a public scale. It may only be the rest of the residents, but it still felt like too many people.

Anxiety grips you painfully by the throat causing it to feel tight, your breaths coming out a bit more panicked. Lucifer's eyes lock on yours, a silent exchange being passed between the two of you. You can see the moment a decision is made, his eyes switching over to Alastor with a stern determination.

When he asks his next question it's with austerity, no room being left for argument.

"Have you been consuming her blood?" His red eyes flare threateningly.

Some instinctual part of you wants to jump up and defend Alastor, for some reason far unknown from you. You don't though, your trepidation keeping you glued to your spot. You're afraid that it has manifested in visible hysteria upon your face. All sets of eyes other then them turn to you upon Lucifer's question.

It seemed to only add to everyone's confusion. This was no longer simply just the two of you sneaking around without anyone knowing. Adding in the element of Alastor's consumption of you must have sent them all spinning in insane directions.

Everyone except for Lucifer.

Why would he even ask that?

Is that why he'd been so worried? But that still doesn't explain the level of his concern. It felt far beyond something simple.

After several beats of silence—breaths held in anticipation—Alastor breaks it with a simple, "Yes."

What takes all of you off guard is the sigh that falls from Lucifer's lips. He sounds dejected and crestfallen, exhaustion dripping off the single sound. He snaps his fingers, and in a cascade of shimmering red magic, Alastor and he have disappeared from the room. Leaving you as the sole center of attention for the rest of the witnesses.

"And I thought things were complicated before. I think I might have gained a new level of respect for you after all of that." Angel beams teasingly at you.

You swallow your fear as a grin tugs at your lips. Despite the dread you feel at the abrupt exit of the other two demons, Angel's teasing can't help but bring you a joyful respite—no matter how brief.

"It's not that complicated…" You convince no one as you trek over to the bar.

Vaggie and Charlie stand off to the side wearing looks of apprehension of their own before moving to join the rest of you. Husk grabs a bottle off the top shelf full of a clear liquor, then grabs and lines up a series of shot glasses.

"You've got two of the most powerful men in Pride fighting over you, and I'm still not entirely sure why with this most recent revelation. But yeah, sure, it's 'not that complicated'." Angel uses his fingers to mark quotes in the air around the last few words.

You catch a particular grimace cross Husk's face, an extra layer of concern laid beside it. He recovers so quick you think you might have imagined it as he pours the drinks with steady ease. "I hate to agree with Angel but I think things just got a lot more complicated."

"What is this?" You question with a sniff of the strong liquid.

"The special kind of alcohol that helps to be able to handle this kind of complicated situation." He gives you a weary knowing smile. But what he knows, you have no idea.

~

"Is there a reason I've been whisked away to your private quarters? Afraid murdering me in front of everyone else would put a bad look on yourself?" Alastor carefully ventures a minute or so after being teleported here.

"How long has this been going on?" Lucifer fixes Alastor with a pointed look. "Don't dance around it, we're not doing that right now. Just answer the fucking question. How long Alastor?"

Alastor challenges Lucifer's gaze. There's a moment where he mulls his choices over inside his head. Was it worth the potential loss of life to defy the king in this moment?

Lucifer's stare is cold where it pins him in place.

No, he supposes not.

"Barely a week, I suppose." He grants honestly.

"So I was right, that day in the library? It happened for the first time the night before, didn't it?"

"Yes."

Lucifer sighs loudly, his brows furrowing into a harsh frown. He looked frustrated, but to Alastor's surprise, it wasn't really directed at him.

"Something tells me you've got information that you've neglected to make anyone else privy to." Alastor mulls over the timeline of events in his mind, matching everything up to Lucifer's reactions. "You know why I've been having these compulsions, don't you?"

Lucifer winces at the question, turning away from Alastor in a show of shame. It seems as if all his feelings of anger and contempt have been transformed and redirected into him as feelings of self loathing. Things were starting to become increasingly more confusing even to Alastor himself. Any pretenses he had of having control over the situation have fled out the window in this moment. He was left clueless and reeling, desperately clinging onto Lucifer in an attempt to receive answers.

It wasn't until now that the fear over his lack of control really settled into Alastor. The distress on the king of Hell's face was enough to send his nerves into a tizzy. Even with his distaste for the more powerful man, he could still acknowledge that if this was working Lucifer up into this much of a grief, it might actually be something serious worth getting worried about.

"Lucifer, what's happening to me? Why do I find myself craving her so fiercely since that first night with her. I can't stop it… I'm loosing control of myself and the very notion of it frightens me." He offers Lucifer a rare moment of vulnerability.

Lucifer might be the only one with answers though.

Fuck…

He motions for Alastor to take a seat on the furniture behind them as he crosses to sit in one himself.

"Do you know anything about the curses placed upon Sinner's in Hell?"

Alastor sits on the edge of a fainting couch, his legs crossing on top of each other. "I'm familiar with the particular affliction of the residents of Cannibal Town, though have never been aware of anything further beyond it."

"So you know nothing about the Starved and Craved?"

"Pardon? The what?" He says a bit taken aback.

"Have you tasted anything since you first arrived in Hell?"

Alastor's ears flatten against his head in dismay. The question leaving him unsettled and taken slightly off guard. Was he cursed?

Were you?

"Not exactly…"

Lucifer's eyes pin him once again. "But you can taste her, can't you?"

His body answers for him, recoiling in on itself at what's being presented before him. Lucifer's frown deepens, the worry on his face growing sharper.

"Luna is one of those who have been cursed as Craved. It means nothing to anyone else, but to someone like you, to someone like…" He trails off, his shoes suddenly holding a particular interest to him. He looks mortified, the words seeming to get trapped in his throat. "Like me, it makes her a particularly vulnerable target." He finishes quietly.

"You're going to have to offer me a lot more than that, your majesty." Alastor's eye twitches with his vexation.

"We don't have to go into the thick of it about me, because that's a whole different can of worms. What you need to know is this, you're a Starved. You will not ever be able to taste anything here in Hell unless it's someone like her, a Craved. Now that you've experienced the taste of one of them, the desire to consume more will not go away. You'll be desperate to consume any part of one possible. The reason you haven't been able to leave Luna alone, the reason you've been so desperate to consume as much of her as you can—it's because of this curse. It'll never go away, it'll only grow. And I'm letting you know now, it rarely ends well." A shadow falls over his features, the remorse in his tone grows with each piece of information revealed.

"It's rare that a Starved isn't driven mad by their compulsions. It's even rarer that Craved survive long afterlifes. Fuck I can't believe Luna has made it this long without knowing. There's no way she's gone this long without a Starved noticing her, she shouldn't fucking be here after hundreds upon hundreds of years. I knew it right away and fuck if it hasn't been hard keeping that part of me at bay."

A wave of cold washes over Alastor, a fear settling into his bones that he hadn't witnessed in what felt like near a lifetime. "Lucifer… what are you saying with all of this?"

~

Taglist: @angeldustharmony @jugodefrutitaa

[speedycoffeedelight]

Bon Appetit

~

Chapter Ten: Boiling Over

~

Masterlist

AO3

~

Pairing: Alastor/Reader, Lucifer Morningstar/Reader, Alastor/Lucifer Morningstar

Chapter Warnings/Tags: Emotional distress, threats, cursing. You know, the ush.

Word Count: 4.6k

A/N: I got this chapter written and edited in less than twenty-four hours. I really hope that you can't tell. If so, I apologize. I'm just too fucking excited about these next few chapters so forgive the errors that will surely slip past me. In the meantime... Can I interest you in a disaster of everything falling apart? What if I told you it came with a big heaping of angst on the side??

Let me know if you want to be added to the taglist <3

Drinking in the middle of the day may not have be the healthiest of ways for you to be coping right now, but considering how your days were looking lately—you could no longer feel the shame of it. You were on the verge of breaking down entirely and were desperate to take any help in remaining somewhat on your usual base level.

It wasn't working.

You can feel the heavy gazes of both your friends where you're all gathered around the bar together. Your lunch consisted entirely of liquid, Husk and Angel eyeing you wearily as you gulp down another large glass of Wrathian whiskey. Neither of them had yet asked the question lingering so obviously on both their minds. You knew it was coming though. Especially after the way you had stormed into the room not just an hour prior.

Both of them could see that you were shaken, something having happened that had you so clearly thrown for a loop. They'd each witnessed you put down your fair share of large liquor quantities, but even this was an abnormal sight to witness.

You'd been trying so hard to keep it together, but after this morning's latest encounter with the Radio Demon, you were on the brink of insanity. You could only hide it for so much longer. And here you sat with your two best friends, each of them taking turns eyeing you—silent communications being passed in their looks when they thought you weren't watching.

"Okay Luney, it's time to start talking. I don't think I've ever seen you doin' this bad." Angel begins the initial pry.

Ah, see. It was only a matter of time.

Your grip tightens on the glass in your hand. The alcohol causing your brain to buzz loudly with the static thoughts clogging up your mind. You felt as if your body was still recovering from today's interaction with Alastor, the panic still waging its violent war inside you. If you dissociate long enough, the events begin to play on a loop once more.

He'd cornered you in the hallway again. You weren't entirely sure if he'd sought you out on purpose or if it'd been another encounter of convenience for him. You feel like you'd barely gotten away from him. It was one of the only few times you've managed to escape a private encounter with him unscathed in the past week or so. He was growing more and more relentless, chasing after you with more and more intensity. You hated the continual loss of control he was causing you to feel. You'd never felt so weak within your resolve. It seems as if you were beginning to lose yourself to Alastor in more ways than you'd like to admit.

It terrified you.

You'd snapped at Alastor when he'd cornered you like nothing more than a weak animal of prey. He didn't know that you were more like a scared predator, ready to lash out with teeth of your own—desperate to defend yourself until safety was found.

And you had.

"Why do you keep pursuing me?" Your agitation boiled. The temptation to deal some violence of your own in defense growing to a breaking point.

"Why do you keep denying me?" He'd countered smoothly, his hand coming up to trace along your neck. His fingers tease the high collar of the turtle neck you'd donned today. This one was the opposite of the other, a soft eggshell white in an intricate knit pattern.

"Don't ask stupid questions, you know exactly why." You'd snarled in vexation. "Fucking leave me alone Alastor."

His body had pressed in tighter to yours, the physical proximity had made your body instantly heat. Your brain going blank as he'd begun to pressed heated kisses along your neck.

"I think I could always have my way with you, right here, right now and you wouldn't even stop me." The warmth of being tucked against him had been unbearable. His teeth began to tease around still healing marks.

He should probably learn to stop challenging you on things. You were nothing if not stubborn.

It's the first time you'd ever used your powers to defend yourself against him. Your hand making enough purchase on his shoulder to send a powerful pulse of your light to, it singes through his suit down to his skin. It caused him to startle long enough that you were able to slip from his grasp and down the hall. You'd ran immediately here. Taking safety in the company of your friends as a last ditch attempt to deter Alastor from seeking you out.

You were struggling to keep it together in front of your friends, but it was easier than handling Alastor would be right now.

You really weren't sure how much longer you could hold on for. Feeling as if the brink of total collapse was coming, it was just a matter of any day now.

Usually you wouldn't say it was a problem that your best friends cared about you so much, but right now it kind of felt as if that were the case. You didn't know what to tell them. You barely knew what to say to yourself, how were you supposed to open up and explain any of it to anyone. You loved them both so much, and wished nothing more than to have the ability to talk about this—but sadly, you couldn't.

Old habits die hard, and as the pressure of your mental load got worse and worse, you fell further back into them. Your walls came up, you shut down. The loneliness beginning to set in and torment you with false words of deceit.

You stare into your empty glass. The static rising to hurricane-esque levels in your mind. You didn't know whether or not you wanted to scream or cry. Though the urge to launch your glass at the wall raged in temptation.

You hated the feeling produced from seeing the look on your friends faces upon looking up. They both looked so worried. You suppose you didn't make for the best sight right now. Your exterior was falling to shambles just the same as your interior.

"I haven't been sleeping very well."

You'd always been a horse shit liar.

They both can see it.

A brief glance is exchanged between the two before Angel turns his attention back to you. "I may love to shop but I'm not buying your bullshit."

Husk sighs wearily, opting for a more delicate approach. "I think what Angel's trying to say is, we're worried about you. I've seen you in bad spots before, but this seems like a particular variety of awful." His eyes flick to Angel's for a moment, then back to yours. "We're here to listen. Whatever Alastor did—"

You cut him off quickly, your tone a bit more sharp than you'd intended. "Nothing has happened between Alastor and I."

Again your company shares a look.

"You know you can talk to us, right Ace?"

How badly you wish your brain would allow you to open up and let them know what was going on with you. Perhaps opening up and talking about what was going on would truly help. If you were going to open up to anyone about everything going on, it would be with Angel or Husk, having the both of them here should be an incredible blessing. Why weren't you taking advantage of it?

Years of stubborn determination to make it on your own without any help keeps your mouth shut. Your fingers fiddling anxiously with one another.

"Well yeah…" You at least concede that much to them.

The sound of footsteps echoing in the vast emptiness of the lobby cuts off an potential chance you might have given yourself to open up. Quickly realizing who the new presence was setting your being on edge for an entirely new set of reasons. You already dealt with one of your biggest challenges today, you were not ready to face the other so soon after.

You hadn't drank enough to face him yet.

"Woah, you're kinda looking a little rough there Hellcat." Lucifer's voice echoes concerningly between the group of you. "You feeling alright?"

Your brows furrow. Your immediate response is to want to jump up and get defensive. You knew you weren't appearing at your best, but was it really so obvious to everyone? What were you supposed to do now? Three sets of eyes watch you carefully, each holding their own unique variety of concern. It twists your stomach, the care in which your friends exhibit for you.

You didn't know how to deal with it.

The frightened animal in your mind stalks back and forth in its cage—its movements fueled by jittering anxiety. It was on the precipice of breaking, ready to lash out should anyone step to close.

"I'm fine." You bite curtly. "I was just telling Husk and Angel that I haven't been sleeping well. That's all."

"I've seen fine. This doesn't look like fine." His brows furrow as he moves to stand close to you.

You tense up at his proximity, the marks hidden beneath your clothes starting to burn. You felt like somehow he could see them, like he already knew. You'd just barely begun to dissect your potential feelings for the angel on top of everything that was transpiring with Alastor, you didn't want to lose the potential that was blooming between the two of you. Even if all Lucifer would be is a friend, you didn't want to jeopardize that by tainting his perception of you with the revelation of all that's been occurring between you and the infamous Radio Demon.

You'd bullshitted and lied your way through worse.

You don't respond fast enough, Lucifer prodding at you again. His eyes boring into yours with such a level of concern you almost begin to feel sick. "What did Alastor do, Lune?"

Your frustration mounts, a growl of irritation ripping through your chest. You didn't have the capacity for this. You felt ganged up on. Even if all their actions were born from concern for your well being—it was grating on your nerves. You were getting panicky and defensive. The alcohol burning through your system causing your actions to be skewed from your usual calculative nature.

"Nothing! Fuck, why won't you all just believe me?! I'm fine!" You slam your hands on top of the counter, a short burst of light projecting from both searing burns onto the surface.

Yeah you couldn't convince even yourself with that one.

The air in the room suddenly feels suffocating, the momentary silence stifling. This was a bad idea. Maybe you should have taken your chances with Alastor, at least he would have let you walk away when he'd gotten what he wanted. The impromptu interrogation this turned into was threatening the remainder of what little sanity you had left.

"Luna," Lucifer calls your attention to him, his tone serious. "You need to tell me what happened. I can't help you if I don't know."

Husk and Angel exchange a silent look, sharing in your confusion over Lucifer's imploration. They hadn't known the king on a personal level for long, but even they noted this behavior seemed strange for him. There was something he knew that he wasn't making the rest of you all privy too and it only served to agitate you further.

"What are you so fucking afraid happened? Because if you think I'm in any real danger from Alastor, don't you think you should tell me why?" You challenge, the liquid fire in your veins making you bolder than usual—which somehow translates into you also being a raging bitch.

Lucifer looks taken aback, pain flashing boldly across his face before he schools his features once more into a resigned look of concerned determination. He opens his mouth to speak but quickly closes it once more when nothing comes out.

"What's this about Lucifer, why are you acting so weird?"

"Why won't you just admit something happened?" He counters bitterly. "Because it's impressive how much you're managing to say while saying absolutely nothing at all. I know the signs Luna... You can't keep hiding it from me like this." His voice softens the slightest amount at the end.

His words only serve to set you further on edge, the frayed edges of your mind thrusting you to your final snapping point.

"What signs?!" Your voice feels as if it's begun to border on hysterics. "Fuck you're just as bad as Alastor at communication. It's a two way street Lucifer, you can't expect me to open up to you when you haven't really given me a reason to. If nothing else just tell me why you're so worried."

His frown deepens, his lack of control over this situating forces him to reign in his anger at it all. You didn't deserve to be snapped at the way he was but he couldn't help himself. "I can't tell you until I know for sure what happened."

"Oh fuck off!" You roll your eyes. "You're sorely mistaken if you think that's how this is going to go."

"Well this is certainly awkward." Angel mutters softly to Husk where the two have huddled close together at the end of the bar. Both of them forced to be spectators to the unfortunate catastrophe unfolding between you and the devil. The three of them watching as your psyche unravels in real time.

"I forgot how mean she can be when she's drunk." Husk tosses back to Angel who nods in agreement at the statement.

"Remember when I asked for your opinion? Oh huh, me neither." You snap at your two closest friends. Despite the anger and agitation nipping at you, you still feel some remorse at treating them so callously; it doesn't make you care enough to change course though. The animal inside you growing more frantic and wild.

"Okay seriously, Luna you gotta calm down." Angel shift into an entirely new level of concern. He'd seen you bad before, and you'd been snippy with him on a good fair share of occasions (some more deserved than others), but this was on a level unknown to even him. His worry was really starting to shift. If Lucifer was this concerned about things, how bad could things be? He began to truly worry about what Alastor may have done to you.

"Don't tell me what to do!" You snarl defensively. You rise to your feet, wobbling dangerously on them for a moment. The emotional turmoil swimming about inside of you, coupled with the copious amounts of liquor you'd consumed on an empty stomach, makes you unsteady on both a physical and mental level.

Lucifer steps closer to you, his hands coming out as if he were going to brace you. With how on edge you are, his proximity startles you into stepping back—fear flashing across your face before morphing into irritation.

"Don't touch me! I'm fine."

Your words are hollow and empty, not a single one of them convinced.

The urge to vomit rolls over you in a wave.

"Hey guys!" Charlie's bright voice calls cheerily through the air directing everyone's attention to the staircase. "Vaggie and I came up with a great idea to potentially get more guests for the hotel!" She's carrying a clipboard in one hand while cradling a small stack of papers in the other. Vaggie trails behind her a soft smile gracing her features as she watches her girlfriend beam in optimism.

You needed to get out of here.

"Vaggie and I were thinking of different new ways we could try and bring more attention to the hotel and what we're doing here. I think we came up with something really good!" The three men at the bar don't know how to handle the transition in events, the tension in the room still holding taught despite Charlie's bubbly presence now part of it. None of them know where to put their attention for a moment—something you take immediate advantage of.

You carefully back away on unsteady legs, the only consistent thought in your mind being, retreat!

Your direction is away from the stairs where the two girls are approaching, instead in the opposite direction towards the doors to the exterior of the hotel. You didn't even want to go to your room anymore. Nowhere in the hotel felt safe. You needed to be alone and you didn't trust a single one of your fellow residents to leave you alone if you remained within the building.

It'd been so long since your mind had been such a chaotic brew of things, so many different thoughts running rapid fire all at once throughout your mind. You couldn't be around other people. If they thought you were being mean now, then they didn't even know how bad it would get. It was overall better for everyone if you just took your leave now.

You make it further to the door without drawing attention than you initially expected, though you thought it would be one of the boys to call notice to it.

"Oh Luna, do you need to be somewhere?" Charlie asks with innocent inquisivity. "I was hoping I could get your opinion on some of the food for the event, but I can find you later if you are on your way out the door."

Bless Charlie, bless her and her pure heart. You had to remind yourself that she had nothing but the best of intentions. It wasn't her fault you were feeling the way you were.

Still, she made it hard not to want to snap at her just as your other friends.

Feeling Lucifer's eyes back on you sets you alight with a renewed sense of uneasiness. You already longed for when his gaze sent your body flushing instead. The dread it ignites in you makes you feel even more flighty. Panic settles into your heart and your flight instinct finally takes ultimate control.

"Yeah sorry." You bite curtly. "I gotta go. I'll be back later or something."

And without much more of a warning you dart the rest of the way to the doors and slip out with nothing else added.

Charlie shares a confused look with her partner as the three men at the counter shift uncomfortably. "Well what the fuck happened this time?"

Lucifer grimaces.

Angel wearily swallows the remainder of his current drink.

Husk looks stricken as his eyes remain on the door you escaped through.

"I know things have always been a shit show around here. And I hate to say it, but they have felt like a special brand of disaster since she moved in. Haven't they?" Vaggie speaks up upon noticing the remaining tension that lingered in the room. It was obvious something had happened. It wasn't too hard to decern that, especially with the routine of things lately. Peace was rare in the hotel, this was honestly just the new normal.

"I mean Luney has always been kind of a hurricane in demon form." Angel snickers in an attempt at light heartedness.

"You're not wrong there." Husk softly huffs eyeing Angel with fondness.

"Dad…" Charlie tries. She can see the emotions etched deeply into his features. It'd been so long since she'd seen her dad this worked up over something, even she was genuinely beginning to worry.

"Sorry sweetie. I know I shouldn't be acting this way." Lucifer sighs, guilt washing over him as the predominant emotion.

"You haven't even told me what you're so worried about. I knew you guys were getting close, but this is different, even for you." She speaks each word with caution.

Lucifer looks pained from his confliction. His own violent storm of emotions clashing within him. He didn't want to open up about it for his own reasons. He knew his daughter was worried, he knew that he should help ease her concerns over the situation, but he felt paralyzed in a fear of not being able to do such.

Besides what if he was wrong? Then he'd just sound completely delusional and deranged.

He'd kept this part of himself secret for so long. It was one of the few parts of Hell's history that he'd never shared with Charlie. She had no idea what affliction was placed upon him and the residents of the Pride ring, she didn't know the level in which he battled with himself on a daily basis. To explain his fears over you and Alastor, he'd have to open up and come clean about that part of himself. That wasn't something he was ready for yet.

That made this all the more complicated.

He didn't know what to do without any proof of what happened. At this point, he was almost positive about the facts of what had happened, but with no solid evidence, he could do nothing. Why wouldn't you open up? He felt like the two of you were beginning to build the foundations of good trust in your relationship, why couldn't you just trust him with this?

His brain was wild and uncontrolled. Maybe he could understand how you might be feeling if it was anything close to this.

"I'm sorry Charlie, I can't tell you why… not yet at least…" His simmering anger has continued to reduce, leaving him down to this. It wasn't fitting for the king of all of Hell to fall apart in front of it's residents and daughter. He shouldn't allow himself to be seen in such a stricken moment of weakness right now—he just can't help it.

Lucifer sighs. "Why do I feel like an idiot?"

"Probably because you are one." A familiar bothersome voice joins in on the conversation. "Though do tell what's triggered the inquiry, I love to hear of your mistakes."

Lucifer whirs around to meet face to face with the man on the receiving end of his current vexation. "I am barely holding onto my remaining restraint, I wouldn't go testing me right now Alastor. This is all your fucking fault." He seethes up at the taller man.

Alastor's usual grin is fixed firmly in place. His entire being seeming to radiate cheer at this new entertainment he's currently found himself with. He's still vexed from his loss during his earlier encounter with you, but seeing the small devil so positively fuming with unbridled rage at him—it was hard not to be cheered up by the new game.

"Still on about this, are we?" Alastor drolly inquires. "Honestly, your majesty, I thought you were better than this."

"I'm not playing Alastor! What happened?" Lucifer all but roars up at the man. His eyes momentarily flashing to red and back.

The other occupants of the room are once more made into uncomfortable spectators as they bear witness to the scene happening before them.

Alastor's skin prickles with uncomfortability at the all the pairs of eyes settled on him in this moment. Despite the feeling, he releases a hum of amusement. "That's for me to know and for you to well... You know how the saying goes."

Never before has Lucifer so badly wanted to split open Alastor's grin with his claws—but in this moment—the violent thought brings him a certain level of comfort.

"This can't get any worse. Can it?" Angel whispers to Husk.

"Give it a second, I assure you that'll change." He briefly tosses back.

"Charlie, I think you might need to start looking for a new business partner." Lucifer tosses out casually though is tone is laced with ice. "I'm going to fucking kill him."

The princess's face looks panic stricken, her hands darting out to grab her dad's shoulders in an attempt to deter him momentarily. "Don't do that! Come on, violence isn't always the answer." She chuckles awkwardly.

"Yes. But it is an answer." Lucifer's glare cuts back up to Overlord threateningly.

"Do your worst." Alastor taunts back in retaliation.

"Is that a threat?"

Alastor never was one to know when to call it quits. Always the type of individual to keep pushing until he no longer could. Oh well. The potential injury would be worth it with the reactions he was pulling.

"I think your bark might be worse than your bite." He waves casually.

Lucifer's eyes bleed into red in his fury, a ball of fire bursting to life with intensity between the horns on his head. His voice turns dark and demonic. "Is that something you really want to test?" The threat of violence laced as a promise inside his every word.

Alastor considers in momentarily, he really does. The temptation to push just a little further by saying yes niggles at the forefront of his mind. It's like a carrot on a stick as it dangles tauntingly in front of him. It'd be so easy, but would the repercussions be worth it? No, not right now he supposes.

He hums out his displeasure, taking a few steps back from Lucifer with a sneer of displeasure.

There's a moment where their gazes remain locked on one another, each of them all but daring the other one into provocation. The gazes of their audience bouncing back and forth between each other and the two of them. It felt as if everyone had a few pieces to one big puzzle but no single one of them had the complete set. You were each trying to puzzle together a picture without having the complete set of pieces. No wonder everyone felt as if they were reaching the brink of their own personal insanity.

"Lucifer next time, before you go presuming, why don't you try this crazy method called asking? Maybe if you'd tried a better method of approach, I'd be more likely to share my candor." Alastor can't help but still slip in an additional taunt.

"You and I both know the notion of your honesty is complete bullshit, no matter what." Lucifer growls, though his temper has mitigated momentarily. He can see Charlie wearily eyeing the encounter from the side. Her turmoil from the distress and confusion plain as day to see. He hated being anywhere close to the reason she would feel those things.

"You really like her, don't you?" Alastor deflects, his claws metaphorically digging into a new weak spot. Perhaps the angel would resist further pestering of him if he began to embarrass him in front of everyone else.

Suddenly it made sense to the rest of them. There still wasn't an answer for why Lucifer's worry was so intense, but his feelings explained away why he would have an intense concern in the first place. It was so evident now, Lucifer had a crush. And now, despite anything he might try to say otherwise, everyone knew it too.

"Is that what this is about?" Charlie asks apprehensively. "Dad? Is this because you're jealous?"

Vaggie grimaces knowing that this situation has reached an entirely new level of awkward for her girlfriend.

Not a single person taking up occupancy inside the lobby felt comfortable in this moment. Each individual feeling a unique level of discomfort and uncertainty at everything that had already happened and everything that was continuing to unfold.

A war that had originally broken out just between you and Alastor had extended to the rest of the hotel. Each day of residency beginning to feel like fighting within a battle ground. No one knew what they were fighting for, and there was no knowing if there would be any survivors.

~

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