Chapter Text
An Easy Day
Alastor-
Alastor awakens very early, before the sun has begun to bathe hell in reddish light. It feels calm, the warmth of Vox and the blankets, the hum of Vox’s fan, and the knowledge of Vox being near him.
Unfortunately, despite the comfort of his current position, he cannot get back to sleep. So he decides to make some coffee as Vox always loves a cup when he gets up. He sneaks out of bed and down the stairs in order to avoid waking up the aforementioned TV demon.
As he enters the kitchen he flips on the light switch near the door, bathing the room in golden light. While he fills the lower chamber of the percolator with water, he flips the radio on the counter to his station. It’s playing one of his old favorites and he can’t help but hum along to the tune.
Tuned up nose and turned down hose, never had another beau crooned from the radio.
Halfway through the song Vox thunders down stairs and sits at the table while Alastor finishes up in the kitchen. It's peaceful, the bitter smell of brewing coffee permeating the air, the warm lights, and the whistling, bubbling percolator
“What’re you doing up so early?” Vox asks, his voice slowed by exhaustion.
“I couldn’t go back to sleep,” Alastor beams, “I am unbelievably excited to work with Vaggie today!”
Vox opens his mouth to respond, but is cut off by Alastor’s jabbering rambling.
“She may be a… difficult case, but she clearly has good parts of her. I mean, her manners were impeccable!” Alastor babbles, then raises his finger as if making a literal point “And she kept singing praises about my food”
“That’s just having tastebuds, love” Vox smirks
Alastor rolls his eyes at this “Yes, but” he waves his hands over his head“She’s just good. I can feel it.”
Alastor sets their mugs on the table, Vox’s with 3 tsp of sugar and an unholy amount of creamer and Alastor’s with the fancy syrup Rosie suggested. Both cups radiate a sweet smell, Alastor’s with a hint of cinnamon
“What’s your plan for her?” asks Vox, sipping his steaming coffee.
“Well, I’m not sure yet,” Alastor admits, stirring his own drink “I think that before I can figure out how to help her I must first understand her”
“Makes sense, so what’re you going to do? Follow her around like a lost puppy” he asks sarcastically
“Yes!” Alastor exclaims, proud of his idea.
It’s a good plan; one must know the issue in order to solve it.
Then Alastor notices Vox’s face, bright blue flushed cheeks and red eyes looking so dearly at him. In a moment of absolute softness Alastor rises from his seat and wraps his arms around the other man.
Vox’s fans switch on, and Alastor laughs into his shoulder.
“You know the fans make it sound like you purr,” Alastor teases as Vox giggles.
The two rest in their peaceful, perfect moment; the scent of coffee, the comfort of each other's arms, and the knowledge that they have found their slice of heaven in hell.
Of course nothing so good can last for long. It’s Alastor’s afterlife afterall.
Sitting up straight Vox sighs “We should start getting ready, the guest’ll be waking up soon”
He groans into Vox’s shoulder before getting up himself and starting upstairs to get ready.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Alastor is in the middle of straightening his hair when Vox pokes his head out of the bathroom door, screen fogged with steam.
“Al, I’ve been meaning to ask why your mom’s in hell in the first place?” Vox called out “She’s like the kindest woman I’ve ever met”
He supposes this question was inevitable. His throat tightens at it. Honesty is the best policy he reminds himself.
“She killed my father” Alastor responds in a carefully blank tone, spraying down his hair with the hairspray Vox’s business partner gifted to him. The vanity is laden with various hair products that the doll girl has shoved onto him in order to get him to “embrace” his natural hair.
Not a chance dear.
Vox pokes his head out the door and stares at Alastor.
“I can’t believe you never told me” he gasps “What did he do to her?”
Alastor’s love for Vox grows at the immediate assumption that his mother had to be pushed to such an act. He’s right of course. Alastor gets up from the vanity and sits down on the bed, patting the spot next to him. This is not a light topic and Alastor prefers to sit, he takes a deep breath as Vox joins him on the bed.
“Well, as you know I was born in the late 1800s and during that time men had a lot of opinions about what a good relationship looked like. My mother was never one for complaining and she did all of the wifely duties; cleaning, cooking, and making sure I was alive. She even ran events at church.” Alastor chuckles humorlessly, his chest tightening at the memories.
“It never was enough for my father, every day he would come home late, reeking of liquor and complaining about anything and everything.”
Vox opens his arms to Alastor who sinks into them.
“Did he..” Vox trails off and Alastor picks up sentence
“Hit her? Yes, and me although he made sure she never saw. Regardless, one day I came home from school, and she was sobbing in the kitchen as he screamed at her, waving his fists around. I later learned that she had been saving in order for us to run away and he had found the money.” Alastor clasps his hand together and feels his throat get even tighter “I ran into the kitchen and I yelled at him to stop, keep in mind I was only about 9 at this time so I wasn’t exactly threatening. He laughed and turned to me with his hand raised when my mom grabbed his wrist. I can still remember the venom in her words ‘You will not touch my son’’. He got so mad his face turned purple and he threw her back against the sink .She told me to leave the room. I didn’t, I just couldn’t leave her. Brave woman she is, she grabbed a kitchen knife from the block next to her and took care of that particular issue.” he concludes, smiling like always.
Vox looks horrified, his screen is doing the weird glitchy thing. Alastor almost rolls his eyes, no one appreciates his humor.
“When I got down to hell, about 12 years after she died I landed in Cannibal Town. Her face was the first one I saw, deformed like all demons but it was my Manman.” Alastor tears up at the memory “I was shocked to see her. In my mind what she did was justice. But apparently to heaven it….” Alastor trails off.
He burrows his face in Vox’s torso who strokes his fingers through Alastor’s hair. His body shaking with the tears he still refuses to shed. The absolute injustice, his manman was not bad, she was scared, and she deserved, no deserves, better.
Oh Vox is probably worried by now.
Alastor sits up suddenly and wipes his face.
“Apologies. I thought I would be over it by now” Alastor mutters
“You don’t have to be,” Vox answers“And I doubt that this helps but Virginie gets niftier every time I hear about her”
“Niftier?” Alastor frowns
“It means impressive,” Vox articulates. Looking so goddamn proud of himself it’s a marvel his head hasn’t grown wings yet.
Oh, Alastor is in absolute love with this idiot. In one comment he manages to turn around his entire mood.
“You know I don’t understand your slang” He chides
“Yes you do, you just don’t like it” Vox brags
Alastor glares up at Vox who leans down and gives the dear demon a kiss on his head.
“I like you” Alastor mumbles, turning bright red.
“Me too” Vox laughs pulling Alastor close to him once again.
Perfect Moments.
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After the emotional upheaval of the early morning Alastor was deeply grateful for the simple task of making breakfast. Cooking was far simpler than recounting horrible memories after all!
As far as Alastor knows no one has any allergies so he whips up a basic spread; eggs, flapjacks, and a good bit of ham (and sinner meat, sue him). Vox works beside him stirring batter. It’s always been an odd concept to Alastor that Vox would cook with him the idea of cooking being something to do with a partner had never crossed his mind.
Lost in his musings, he did not notice that the residents of the hotel had come downstairs. Until Vaggie made them known.
“Good morning, is that for us?” Yawned the moth demoness from the doorway.
“Good morning! And yes my dear” Alastor responds as he turns around to greet Vaggie.
Vaggie who is wearing a skin tight black dress with a cut out swirling down the center.
A pop of radio static.
Alastor has no issue with how anyone dresses, really. It’s just so odd to see someone showing that much skin. Especially a kind young lady like Vaggie. He’s not falsifying her kindness. She really is sweet, she even wished them a good morning.
The more he looks the more worried he is about her, it's only 8 and if she went to sleep at the same time as the rest of them she should have gotten plenty of rest. However, she looks dead on her feet.
HA, dead on her feet.
“You should take a seat, food will be out in a moment” Alastor chirps.
Vaggie nods and turns around. And oh good lord her dress has no back.
The second Vaggie is out of earshot Vox explodes into hysterical laughter like he’s been waiting.
“Do tell what’s so funny” Alastor hisses
“The face you make-” Vox is cut off by more laughter “Babe, she dresses like the rest of hell, maybe if you got outside onc in a while you would be more used to it”
“I have no issue with how she dresses,” Alastor says, the statement sounding more like a question.
Vox levels him immediately with an “are you serious” look.
“Ok, it's just…. she’s a young lady maybe she should…you know” Alastor trails off.
Vox sets down the whisk and strides to him, grabbing his shoulders.
“Al, I need you to listen to me and listen well. She is a grown woman, she can dress however she chooses, and if you don’t get good with that she most likely won’t get good with you. Got me?” Vox commanded.
He hates when Vox is more sensible than him.
“Yes,” Alastor says. Really, the TV being more sensible makes no sense.
“Good man,” Vox says, patting Alastor on the head.
“I hate it when you talk to me like one of your co-worker” Alastor teases
“What?” Vox smiles and leans closer to Alastor “Would you rather I call you a good boy?”
Blood rushes to his cheeks and he can feel the heat from his face as Vox smirks at him.
Then a hysterical high pitched laugh fills the room. No two hysterical high pitched laughs.
Alastor and Vox turn towards the doorway and see Angel Dust and Vaggie leaning on each other for support, crying in laughter.
“Oh my god, Voxxy I didn’t know ya had it in ya” Angel Dust cackles his lower set of arms cradling his stomach
Vaggie is currently laughing too hard to breath, let alone talk
Fuck. Alastor needs to get the attention off of him and Vox, who will be lucky if he’s alive by the end of the day.
Luckily Vox does it for him “Breakfast is ready!” he exclaims grabbing the food and taking it to the dining table.
Vox is the absolute worst about hiding his emotional state. His screen is fully red, his fans are whirring, and his eyes keep dotting back and forth between the others in the room.
Alastor sighs in annoyance and pulls out Vaggie's chair for her before sitting down himself.
“So how are ya plannin’ to fix honey tits?” Angel asks, pushing his food around his plate. Alastor clenches his jaw at the crude nature of Angel’s speech
Does no one around here think he has a plan?
“Today I am going to shadow her, and attempt to figure out what she can do to right her wrongs, both here and in life” Alastor beams
Vaggie chokes on her flapjack.
Coughing she asks “Wait, so you’re going to follow me around, all day?”
“Yes!” Alastor says.
The reaction is not what he expected, Vaggie looks horrified and amused, Angel looks like he’s about to combust from laughter, and Vox looks like he is trying to make his eggs dance with pure force of eye contact.
“Okay then” Vaggie smirks “ Angie, what's on the schedule today?” Vaggie asks, turning towards her friend.
“2 clubs have HR reports, another one of them has health complaint which I am super curious about considering we’re in ya know hell, and then a 6 pm shoot with Tiffany Titfucker” Angel rattles of like a grocery list.
“Really, a health complaint” Vaggie asks, shocked, as she eats another pancake.
A musical chiming comes from Vox’s phone. Vox opens up the message and is clearly annoyed by it.
“I have to go in today, apparently one of Velvette’s employees is throwing a fit and got herself involved with one of Button’s girls” Vox rubs his upper screen as if it’s causing him a headache.
Angel stands up “Fuck, Button in our part of town will be a fucking mess. I gotta go in and talk to some of my guys. Will ya’ be ok with Smiles?” he asks Vaggie
“Sure, just be careful” She responds.
“Of course, you too,” he says, hugging Vaggie before rushing out.
Vox walks over to Alastor and pecks him on the head before rushing out himself
“Good luck, babe!” he says before joining Angel.
Vaggie turns to Alastor and lets out a heavy sigh before getting up.
“C’mon, we don’t have too much to do but we sure don’t have time to waste.” She says before grabbing her bag and heading out the hotel room with Alastor on her heels
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Vaggie~
When she was alive Vaggie worked many, many, many soul crushing jobs, and she always held on to the promise that “I can rest when I’m dead”.
But no, she is currently very dead, and still has to go to work.
Except now she gets the absolute joy of working with Alastor, who for all his scary, radio-demon, bruja bullshit. Is a child masquerading as an adult man, or deer? She can’t really tell.
He stands next to her, with his hands clasped around his cane, waiting for the limo she ordered to pick them up and take them to the first club.
“What are you supposed to do when we get there, Miss Vaggie?” He asks with a head tilt.
“Go in, see what the issue is, fix it and move on. Since it’s an HR report and not a complaint someone is probably being exploited.” She says checking her phone: three minutes until her ride arrives.
“Interesting,” he responds. Why does he always use that smile, it’s creepy as fu-
“Why do you smile all the time” slips out of her mouth without permission. Fuck. She really hopes he doesn’t think she’s rude. She does not want Charlie to find an issue with her.
Thankfully he just laughs “You’re never fully dressed without one!”
Ok, so scratch the earlier comment about a child. It’s a psycho child that she’s saddled with.
The limo arrives and Alastor opens the door for her with a startling amount of flourish.
“Thanks” she replies.
“Of course” He gets in and shuts the door.
The car rumbles to life and they are on their way to the club.
Yay.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Alastor-
“Harder Drugs, Sex, or Drinks?” Alastor reads the neon sign confused “Which one is the establishment offering?”
Vaggie snickers at him “All of them”
She opens the door and gets out of the car, holding it for Alastor.
“Thank you,” he says.
Oh, his mother would string him up if she ever saw him letting a lady get her own door. Shame on him.
He rushes ahead of her to get the door to the club and follows her in.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The inside of the club is for lack of a better word: disgusting. Loud pop music blares from glowing speakers. Bright neon green and pink lights flash in tune. It smells awful. And everywhere he looks people are engaging in very private affairs, very publicly.
Vaggie charges forward towards the bar where they see what is likely the most pitiful creature in hell. A small rabbit demon making about 30 drinks at the same time. The poor thing looks dead tired and is crying while mixing. However, the most horrifying part of any of this is the fact that they are completely unclothed with a glowing purple soul chain around their neck.
What in the actual hell is this place?
Suddenly, white lights are flashed on, the mind numbing music is cut off and a loud authoritative voice shouts out from above.
“EVERYONE EXIT THIS CLUB NOW, OR DEAL WITH A PISSED OFF ANGEL DUST”
Vaggie stands on top of the bar table by the lightswitches making this announcement.
Under the threat of Angel the club empties quickly. Without the amount of bodies and the flashing lights. Alastor can see the club for how it truly is; dilapidated and sad.
Vaggie elbows him to follow her as she walks up to the demon behind the counter.
“Hey, it’s ok, my name is Vaggie and this is Alastor, we’re here to help you” she says in the softest voice he’d ever heard from the woman.
He quickly takes off his coat and hands it to the rabbit who wraps it around themselves quickly.
“M-my b-b-boss ain’t g-gonna be happy y’all are m-m-meddlin in his business” the rabbit mutters
“Don’t worry about it, why don’t you tell me your name?” Vaggie asks with a soft smile
“Chesnut” They respond.
“Ok Chesnut, where is your boss, I want to talk to them” she says still smiling. Alastor truly admires her commitment to making this creature more comfortable
“H-h-e’s -” Chesnut starts before being cut off by a loud male voice
“I’m right here.You wanna tell me why your fuckin’ around my club”
The speaker is a tall, thick, beetle sinner. Glossy black in color with huge eyes that protrude horribly from his head.
“Sir, I am Vaggie Dust and I am here to investigate the multiple repor-” Vaggie is cut off mid syllable by the beetle
“So Angel sent a pornstar to threaten me,” the beetle chuckles. Vaggie’s jaw tightens in rage and Alastor is getting very annoyed.
This is not how you treat anyone, much less a lady, and even less a person with full authority over you. Clearly this man is defective in the cranium.
“Are you done?” Vaggie asks, somehow maintaining her professionalism. “As I was saying, you have had multiple reports about how you treat your employees and we need to talk about it.”
The beetle starts cackling and Chesnut shrinks back at the sound.
“Listen hotstuff,” Beetle lectured, Alastor’s eyes widden at the audacity “I own Chesnut, and therefore I can do whatever I fucking please with them”
He makes his point by tugging hard on the purple chain.
Vaggie looks like she is genuinely contemplating this man’s murder, and Alastor would fully support her endeavor against this fool. Instead, she takes a deep breath before painting a sultry smile onto her face.
“Sorry sir, I wouldn’t have been so rude. I didn’t realise how important you were” She says slowly moving towards the beetle, her new breathy voice leagues different from the professional one she had earlier.
The beetle smirks and leans towards her. The image of that thing's smile will haunt Alastor until the end of his days.
“I know a way you can make it up to me, baby,” Beetle says slowly.
Ugh, now Vox can never call Alastor that again.
Foolishly, the beetle grabs Vaggie's face. The girl’s sultry expression snapsinto a shit-eating grin.
Alastor’s shadows jump from the floor, ready to tear this disgusting creature apart but Vaggie’s faster.
She pulls out an unnaturally bright knife and plunges it into the demon’s chest. It makes a very undignified dying squeak. She twists and removes the knife as the purple chain fades away.
“Pinche bruto” She mumbles, kicking the corpse away from her and turning back to the trembling Chesnut.
“Sorry about that” She says, her voice returned to her soft tone “So, since you are technically free now you have a couple of options”
Chesnut is sobbing, they keep reaching for their neck like they’re feeling for a collar.
The mothdemoness takes a breath “You can give your soul to me, and therefore Angel Dust and work under him. I can honestly say he is one of the best overlords out there when it comes to living. The advantage to that is that you have an income and protection. Or you can keep your soul and go on with life.”
Chesnut takes a deep breath and seems to weigh the options presented to them.
“I-I-I think I w-w-want t-to try to live on m-my own.” Chesnut mutters.
“Okay, remember a job is always open if you need it” Vaggie smiles “Off the record, good luck kid.”
She pats Chesnut on the head and begins to leave the club, motioning Alastor to follow her.
Damn, he’s not getting his coat back is he.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“I think we should walk to this next club, it’s only a couple minutes away. Is that good with you Al?” Vaggie asks as they step onto the street.
“Of course dear, I love a good walk in the town reminds me of my youth ” Alastor beams at her
The two of them walk through the street in silence for a moment before something catches Alastor’s eye. A small drink shop nestled between two clubs. Come to think of it he could do with some refreshments, Vaggie likely could as well.
“Would you care for some..” Alastor squints to read the sign “Sinful Sips?”
Vaggie lights up at his suggestion “Yes, the girls were raving about it a couple days ago!” she exclaims.
The two of them hurry to the shop and enter.
The entire place is themed like a 50s diner and milkshake bar, pop music blasts through the shop, and the air is filled with the sweet smell of ice cream and toppings. Vox would love it.
Reading the menu Alastor sees exactly what he wants; a Sweetly Strawberry Refresher. The description reads Strawberry ice cream meets honey, pure cane sugar, and a dusting of lemon zest.
However, there is one thing stopping him: Vaggie would likely ease him into another afterlife for going after such a feminine drink.
“Are you all ready to order?” asks the sinner boy working the counter.
“Yes sir” responds Vaggie “Al what do you want?”
Alastor can feel his eye twitch
“Ladies first!” Alastor smiles, proud of his flawless recovery
Vaggie narrows her eyes at him, she turns back to the employee with a smile.
“I will have a large Sweetly Strawberry Refresher, but can you please make it with nonfat milk?” she asks
“Yes ma’am” He responds, punching it into the checkout machine
Alastor gathers every bit of courage in his dead body.
“And I will have the same, but with regular milk” Alastor adds.
“Yes ma’am” The sinner responds.
Alastor could kill this guy. Easily. But, that would give Vaggie a bad impression.
The pair of demons are given their beverages. Both of them grab the drinks and make prolonged eye contact.
“Listen I know its a femini-”
“I’m not making fun of you for a drink Alastor. I do respect my elders” Vaggie interrupts, taking a sip of the drink.
Alastor lets out a sigh of relief and sips his own. Absolutely delicious.
Vaggie smirks “Ma’am” she mutters under her breath.
Alastor turns his head sharply to look at her, all she does is giggle.
“Don’t tell Vox” he begs
“Oh I absolutely will,” she snickers.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“This name makes even less sense, Thirst Trap?” Alastor sputters as he grabs the door “How can one be trapped in thirst, or trap thirst?”
“We have to get you updated on some slang” Vaggie comments, entering the club with Alastor
The issue with this club is that it’s silent. No sinners without garments, no loud music, and no sleazy demons. The entire club is completely empty. Vaggie walks to a table where a note is taped.
“¡Joder! ¿Por qué, Dios?” Vaggie curses
“What’s wrong?” Alastor asks.
“Territory dispute” she says handing him the note
It reads:
Stay out whorebugs
-The Bombshells.
“I’m going to have to call Angel about this, can you give me a minute?” Vaggie asks, pushing him towards the front door.
“Yes.” Alastor exits and stares out at the chaos of hell for a long moment.
Vaggie bursts out of the club, clearly pissed.
“We have to go talk to some people.” She spits out, storming up the street.
“Who are the bombshells?” Alastor inquires.
“This bitch Cherry and her whore boyfriend” Vaggie responds, arms crossed over her chest as she walks.
It feels odd to Alastor that Vaggie would use calling someone a whore as an insult considering her profession. Speaking of which..
“Why did they refer to you and Angel as ‘whorebugs’?” Alastor snickers
A smile crosses Vaggie’s face “Yea, that was a bit smart on their end. It’s because Angel is you know a spider, and I’m a moth so bugs, and we both fuck for money so whores!” Vaggie exclaims.
A pop of radio static crackles through the air.
“I am so sorry I asked!” Alastor chirps
Vaggie laughs and starts walking a bit lighter.
Alastor is too good at friendshipping.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The new place they arrive at makes Alastor yearn for earth more than anything has before.
It’s a huge factory, just like the ones he remembers seeing people work at when he was a boy. The smell of smoke and that clang of machinery feel drawn straight out of his childhood.
Vaggie does not appreciate his nostalgia as she storms straight towards a boss’ office. Inside of the office is a small one-eyed woman that he assumes is Cherry working with a chemistry set and a snake demon tinkering on a desk near her.
“Hello Vaggie!” Cherry exclaims, although friendly Alastor feels a lot is hidden behind her tone
“Cut the crap Cher, why are you kidnapping clients? We own that place ” Vaggie says.
Cherry sighs “No, I own the territory, therefore I own that club and every other club on the street.”
“That’s not how it works and you know it. Do you know how much that place made us?” Vaggie asks angrily
“Not enough for anyone important to come out” Cherry snarks.
Hurt flashes across Vaggie’s face before it subdues into her anger. She leans over the set where Cherry was working, invading the small woman’s space
Cherry jumps back “I’m not dumb enough to touch you, we aren’t finishing this in blood.”
Hmmm, interesting, Alastor will need to remember to follow up on that, and why neither girl has a second eye.
“Deressst, perhapsssss we could come to a peacceeefull conclussssion” Comments the snake
Cherry and Vaggie stare at each other a moment, sizing the other up before they sit down on opposite ends of the desk. It looks like they’re about to play cards.
“I’ll return everyone and let the club operate if I get 80% of the profits.” Cherry offers
“Let’s try 40%,” smirks Vaggie
“I didn’t die this morning, 70% would be just fine” Cherry says leaning back in her chair
“70% why not take it nickels on the dime, 50%” shoots Vaggie
“60% final offer” Cherry states.
They stare for a long moment and that makes him think tonight may end in blood after all. Finally the silence is broken.
“Deal” replies Vaggie.
Both women stand and give a nod.
“Nice working with ya” Cherry smirks
“Same” says Vaggie with none of the enthusiasm
Vaggie and Alastor leave the building and get in the limo waiting for them at the front door.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Alastor is rarely as confused as he is right now. Why didn’t Cherry touch Vaggie? The woman actively jumped away from her when she approached.
Now there are two ways Alastor could go about this. He could be respectful and sensitive, by not asking and making her uncomfortable.
Or he could ask without regard to her emotional state…
“Why did Cherry refuse to touch you?” He asks.
The demoness narrows her eyes at him “What?”
“When we were in the factory the woman jumped away from you when you approached her, why?” He presses
“When I first landed in hell I got into a soul contract with Valentino” she starts
Alastor takes a deep breath, he can remember that piece of absolute filth, and the disgusting things he produced. Most importantly, the absolute lies he fed to Vox. Poor Vaggie, she must have been quite foolish to get into a contract.
“After Angie did him in, the limits that he set on me remained. One of which is that I cannot harm someone until after they touch me, making sure I could never land the first blow” she wipes a tear from her cheek, seemingly flooded with memories. “Cherry knows she can’t win a fight against me, so she makes sure we just don’t fight”
He should probably comfort her. Based on the sad tone inher voice and the tears welling up in her eyes she seems upset.
Alastor reaches out and pats the girl on the head. She rolls her eyes and pulls Alastor into a side hug.
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“Final actual job of the day Al, you ready” she teases as the Radio Demon walks beside her, half-double-dead with exhaustion.
He lets out a long sigh. “I can’t believe this is an easy day, Lucifer forbid a hard one arises.”
Suddenly, Vaggie stops short at the sight of what should be a club. Instead of the flashing lights, moving bodies, and loud music that one would expect to see: there is a cutesy shopfront. It sticks out like a sore thumb among the other hellish establishments. Mint green walls, ivy, and a sign that reads-
“Edi’s Yarn and More, what the fuck” whispers Vaggie.
Alastor opens the door for her and enters quickly after. Here he is greeted with the one of the most shocking scene of his afterlife: an entire shop that feels drawn from a fairy tale and in the center is a bright red imp woman weaving a ball of yarn.
What the heck indeed?
“Hello, how can I help y’all?” she asks in what Alastor considers a southern accent.
“Hello Miss, my name is Vaggie Dust this is my friend Alastor” she gestures to Alastor who gives a small wave “and my boss is the owner of this establishment, we got a health complaint about a club and came to check it out”
“My name is Elodie Sue, but you can call me Edi.” Edi bows her head and Vaggie does the same in turn. “Health complaint,” she tuts her tounge before snapping “That’s probably because of the body, I told them city gals I would take care of it and I did.” Edi chuckles at her ending piece.
He likes her. This imp is an adorable little murder machine, Nifty would love her.
“Miss Edi, I am honestly very confused, how did you get into this space?” Vaggie blurts out
How rude! Alastor intakes a sharp breath and adds manners to the list of behaviors he must teach Vaggie.
“Well, I was in town to do some quick shopping last week when the owner of this place tried to grab me. So I killed him and got all of his stuff! I thought that Satan, may he never skip leg day, must have blessed me with the opportunity to act on my dream of opening my own shop!” She finishes, eyes glowing with joy.
She hops up from her chair and starts showing them around.
“Here’s where I store all the dyes, and there’s the fabrics, and in the back you can see the wool!”
Vaggie looks deep in contemplation. Alastor chooses to let her think and continue watching the excited Edi show off her shop.
“Alright Miss Edi, if you can pay the rent I see no reason to keep you from working here” she says evenly
Edi looks like Vaggie has just handed her the secret to the afterlife itself. Then in a movement Alastor doesn’t quite understand the Imp walks up to Vaggie and turns around so she is facing completely away. Vaggie pats her back and the imp explodes into joy.
“Thank you so much ma’am” Edi cries in joy before bolting to a phone stuck to the wall.
Vaggie smiles and nods Alastor to the door.
People are so odd.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Vaggie~
The final stop of the day: Angel’s Porn studio.
Just one shoot, and the day is over. She knows that Alastor would be deeply affronted if she had him watch the filming, but he also won’t go home.
For a moment she debates over what to do, then the idea hits her.
She gives him a pair of noise cancelling headphones and has him face the wall. Genius
“I am an overlord of hell” he argues when presented with his option
“Would you rather watch” Vaggie asks.
Alastor makes a deeply sour face, then contemplates his options.
He takes them without further complaint.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Alastor-
The colors of Pentagram City are beautiful during sunset. The red of the sky mixes with the neon signs bathing the city in multicolored light.
Alastor and Vaggie walk side by side to the hotel, laughing, talking, and having honest fun.
He would never admit it, but today was one of the best days he’s had in a while.
A short walk later and they reach the hotel where Alastor grabs the door for Vaggie for the final time today.
Laughter echoes through the place and they enter the living room where they see Vox, Angel and …..Charlie. Playing Twister?
Vaggie looks up at Alastor in confusion. And Alastor puts his head in his hands.
“Welcome home!” Charlie exclaims from her place under Vox
An easy day indeed.