#shadyteacollabs

[valscigarette]

It Feels Like Home

After the longest fucking day Husk can remember–and he’s had a lot of long days–the last thing he wants to do is serve lukewarm whiskey to a morose Angel Dust. He’s warmed up to the kid, might even admit to liking him, but can't keep it together tonight. His throat still burns with the weight of Alastor’s chain, Charlie ran them all ragged on her adventures, and the cheap shitty booze just isn’t cutting it anymore. He's exhausted. All Husk wants is a good night’s sleep, however unrealistic the prospect.

When Angel knocks at his door with a familiar light rap, Husk groans, “Just serve yourself, it’s not like the bar’s fucking locked.”

Silence.

“You’re still there, aren’t you?”

“Yeah.” A beat. “Got something for you.”

Knowing Angel, he could have some top-shelf shit swiped from Valentino as easily as a new flirtation he wants to test drive before his next workday. Husk scrubs a paw down his face as he considers it. Tired or not, he knows Angel wouldn't come all the way up here unless it was important to him, and Husk has a soft spot he'd rather not examine when it comes to that toothy grin and squeaky voice. Anyone else he'd have turned away already and they both know it. With a resigned sigh, Husk gets out of bed to open the door.

“Hiya,” Angel says, lower arms wrapped around his stomach for comfort as he wiggles his upper left hand's fingers in a wave. He looks rough himself despite missing out on the chaos at the hotel; the bags around his eyes are too dark for Husk to be certain they're not bruises, and his salacious doorway lean lends more weight to the wall than usual. “Gonna invite me in?”

“You look like shit,” Husk says.

“Thanks, doll, you really know how to make a girl feel special.”

He still moves out of the way for Angel to come in and shuts the door behind him. By the time he turns around, Angel has made himself comfortable on the edge of Husk's duvet, poised back on two hands with a sleek wooden box in his lap. Its pristine, glossy grain and the lack of a gaudy logo mean its contents, whatever they may be, are too expensive for whatever this delicate thing between Husk and Angel is.

“So?” Husk asks, mostly because Angel is staring at him and he won't take the initiative when Angel's the one who showed up at his door uninvited. “What do you have?”

“A present.”

Angel holds out the box like an offering, barely balanced from the tip of his slender fingers.

“Sorry it doesn't have a bow, I uh, didn't have the time, I mean, I tried to but the store-”

Husk takes the gift from him. “I'm not a bow guy, anyway.”

He turns the box over in his hands, looking for an indication of what it might be and finding nothing but smooth wood. With hope it's nothing crazy, he slides the lid open on well-oiled tracks to reveal a gaggle of cigars. Nice cigars. Aromatic and solid, with real leaves as their wrapping, stamped by foil seals more detailed than any Hell company would use- imported. These came from the human world. Husk swallows and looks up at Angel.

“How…?”

“You don't wanna hear the answer, Husky.” Both sets of arms cradle Angel's torso now. “So don't ask.”

Pulling out a single cigar, Husk glances around the room for a lighter- he doesn't smoke unless he can get his hands on the nice shit, and doesn't keep one on hand anymore. Like he expected this, Angel produces a pink zippo, flicks it open to produce a gentle flame, and extends it like the motion is second nature to him. The implication sours in Husk's stomach alongside the idea of what Angel did to get these for him. However rich and smooth the smoke, Cuban, he realizes now that it's lit, he can't enjoy it.

“I ain't worth that.” He sits next to Angel, takes another drag, and offers the cigar to him. Their fingers brush when he takes it. “Whatever it was.”

Smoke from Angel’s shuddery exhale swirls between them, as dark and heady as the tension between them has been for months. They inch closer over griping sessions and small gifts, but this present, nicer than anything Husk has touched since his fall from power, carries them into a deeper connection he can no longer imagine as tenuous as he’d prefer. Friends don’t give each other shit this nice.

Angel passes back the cigar and says, “Are too.”

He doesn’t explain, and this time, Husk doesn’t ask.

[aflatfacedprick]

Electric Lights On Strings

Happy first day of Shady December everyone!! Please feel free to join in on this prompt challenge and create with us this month! The full challenge post can be found on @valscigarette page.

Here is an adorable pic of Nifty wrapped in Christmas lights to go along with @valscigarette Day One post !

[valscigarette]

I'm participating in a monthly challenge this December and you can too!

This challenge is open to all creatives, from all fandoms and genres, at any level of participation. I'll be taking on a completionist challenge with @aflatfacedprick for 31 days of Hazbin Hotel fic/art pairings 🫶

ALT Text is available for all images on this post!

Detailed explanation below the cut:

For anyone familiar with inktober, whumptober, or other month-long events, this will be held in a similar format.

The only tag required is #shadydecember so we can all see each other's work!

I do not have Twitter/X, Instagram, Dreamwidth, or other socials. I'm only on tumblr and AO3! Feel free to share this challenge to other platforms with credit.

Not inspired by the daily prompt? Not a problem! Each prompt is an excerpt from a song on my 2024 Christmas Playlist. I've listed these songs for you below to take as alternative prompts. Loose interpretations are welcome!

Large-Text Prompt List for the visually impaired, broken into thirds for screen readers:

If you have any questions, feel free to shoot me an ask or DM me!

[aflatfacedprick]

It Feels Like Home

Here is Day Two of Shady December!!

You all have to go check out the Drabble that inspired this by @valscigarette it is so amazing! It can be found -> here <-

Stay tuned for the rest of Shady December and please join in! You can find the full prompt list on @valscigarette page!!

[valscigarette]

Electric Lights on Strings

As Alastor’s scathing smile stretches alongside his lanky limbs, Angel tops off Vaggie’s eggnog with a healthy glug of whiskey. “I wouldn’t blame ya for saying I told you so,” he says. “I’m gonna. Hey, Charlie!”

Only Charlie could stand between the Radio Demon and the King of Hell, pointedly dismissing their eldritch devolution and Angel’s interjections with a pout not even Alastor can resist for long. Vaggie has her spear in hand as a precaution but she doubts it’ll be necessary with this crowd.

“Now, Alastor, Dad,” Charlie hedges, clasping her hands in front of her chest, “Christmas is about getting along. Right, Vaggie?”

Most of Vaggie’s recollections of Christmas involve going to parties with Adam, drinking until even Heaven wasn’t enough to keep her stomach from turning, rubbing elbows with important angels, and trying to keep her head on straight. One year, she thinks she actually met the birthday boy. He turned her wine to water, if her memory serves correctly, and then transformed her black dress to red and green to match the party theme before disappearing back into the crowd. 

“Uh, sure, yeah.”

Charlie grins when their eyes meet. “Thanks, babe. Soooo, it’s not very festive to, like, have a super powerful battle in the lobby over which lights to use. And,” she nods toward Niffty, who’s currently tangled in both Lucifer’s rainbow string lights and Alastor’s old-fashioned white line of bulbs, “it’s totally not fair to the staff! They’re trying really, really hard to decorate.”

Everyone has contributed something: Husk wrapped tinsel around the bartop and stools, Angel hung mistletoe in every possible location, Sir Pentious and Cherri brought in the tree, the Egg Bois covered the ground in fake snow, and Niffty put wreaths on all the doors. Charlie has taken it all in with such wonder that Vaggie can’t stand to burst her bubble. In Hell, Christmas is mostly about seasonal vape flavors and porn campaigns–nothing like Heaven’s month-long celebration. The nostalgic, rose-colored memories from life Angel accidentally shared over breakfast last week were enough to convince Charlie that they all need a proper celebration somewhere between Heaven and Hell’s traditions.

“Charlie,” Alastor says primly once he drops back into his usual form, “if you insist on defiling the hotel with decorations for this…” he flicks a hand, “holiday, I implore you not to use those ridiculous neon eyesores.”

“The only eyesore here is your coat!” Lucifer snaps.

“Guys, come on!” Charlie interjects again. “Can’t we compromise?”

At the same time that Lucifer reluctantly agrees, Alastor scoffs and sinks down into the floor, though Vaggie notes his silhouette draw up at the front windows with a red-eyed stare. Rainbow lights it is, then. She sets her eggnog, untouched, on the table to free Niffty. All the decorations just appeared when she was in Heaven, not a speck out of place, and leaving the haphazard efforts of the hotel residents to feel more like a mockery than a comfort. 

“Don’t worry, Niff,” Vaggie says as she unwinds the strings, “I’ll have you free in a second.”

“Aren’t you excited?”

She pauses. “Huh?”

“You seem sad,” answers Niffty, squirming to ‘help’ free her arms from the tangled Christmas lights. “Don’t you like Christmas?” 

There’s no reason to, as far as Vaggie’s concerned, but she doesn’t want to dampen the mood when everyone is so excited for a taste of familiarity, a taste of home, after the decades they’ve spent in Hell. She can’t take this from them. Husk is smiling. 

“Not my thing,” she says. 

With a final flourish, Vaggie lifts Niffty from the lights and deposits her a couple feet away. The bug scuttles off into the shadows to continue decorating, leaving Vaggie to watch Lucifer conjure elegant strings of rainbow lights onto the tree, the walls, and the ceilings while mentally agreeing with Alastor that the colors are tacky. Then again, tacky is hardly out of place for the Hazbin Hotel. 

Vaggie shores up a smile as she rejoins Charlie’s side, determined not to let her feelings get in the way of everyone else’s excitement. 

[valscigarette]

Hey... psst.... I'll be doing/hosting a ❄️December Challenge❄️ open to all creatives, all levels of participation, and all genres/fandoms. I'll share the details on November 15th!

Oh, and @teaganthemorningstar (my favorite local artist) and I are collaborating to bring you 31 straight days of Hazbin Hotel content in December. Stay tuned 🫶

(Reblogs encouraged)

[teaganthemorningstar]

I know I haven't posted art on here before but stay tuned for a treat. 🤫😁

Hey... psst.... I'll be doing/hosting a ❄️December Challenge❄️ open to all creatives, all levels of participation, and all genres/fandoms. I'll share the details on November 15th!

Oh, and @teaganthemorningstar (my favorite local artist) and I are collaborating to bring you 31 straight days of Hazbin Hotel content in December. Stay tuned 🫶

(Reblogs encouraged)

[valscigarette]

She's so cute and I'm obsessed with her 😭😭😭

Electric Lights On Strings

Happy first day of Shady December everyone!! Please feel free to join in on this prompt challenge and create with us this month! The full challenge post can be found on @valscigarette page.

Here is an adorable pic of Nifty wrapped in Christmas lights to go along with @valscigarette Day One post which can be found here: https://www.tumblr.com/valscigarette/768674796930252800/electric-lights-on-strings