Chapter Text
Charlie smiled as she put the finishing touches on the not Sinmas, Christmas, tree. She was ecstatic to hear about this “Christmas” tradition people on Earth have. To celebrate her grandfather… er, uncle? She wasn't sure how it really works, but humans sure seemed to believe in it!
She wanted it to be a surprise to the other residents, so she asked Vaggi what she knew about Christmas and she shrugged, mentioning she heard about winners putting up decorated pine trees in their homes to put gifts under. Trees, shrubs, and plants other than grass don't actually exist in Pride naturally, they were sinners who died from suicide that made up the forests mostly and a few sparse magic made plants her father created when he fell to make it feel less empty.
Luckily she was able to convince a tree sinner that looked like a pine tree to come settle in the lobby of the Hotel. The forests don't really get things like TV or radio broadcasts, outside of a few campers, and, well, the tree sinners who live there don't really talk, being content with living as a natural tree. But, when she pulled out her drawings to show them her dream of Christmas, they apparently could find a volunteer very quickly to help her. She promised Peter, the pine tree, that she'd help him get redemption too if he decided to stay after the celebration.
Well that was taken care of, she also asked her father about the holiday. Now he hadn't celebrated Sinsmas since she was a little girl. However, since she showed such interest he agreed to read up on human Christmas traditions and try to integrate them into this year's Sinsmas celebration in Pride. From what she remembered, most people would give her father gifts and praise something about him, for Sinsmas, but he'd give her the gifts he didn't want or need, like it was a second birthday for her. Christmas she figured would be the same, but instead of giving the gifts directly to her father, they'd be wrapped and put under the tree, like in the picture she saw of a Christmas tree. Her father loved surprises!
The sound of jingling bells caught her attention. They were a pleasant sound, and she imagined that was probably the sound human snowfall sounds like instead of the wailing gales of snow that would randomly fall during Hell freezes that happened more frequently this time of year. Which reminded her to ask her father to make sure the hotel at least stayed snowy until the Christmas party was over.
“Hello- whoa, whoa! Alastor what are you ugh, wearing?” She began to greet the red demon before covering her eyes.
Alastor had approached her wearing absolutely nothing but a green & gold body harness that was decorated with bells, red flowers, leaves, and berries. He was glaring at her, despite his smile, which she learned that he must be angry about something.
“Charlotte.” He said in a too calm of voice. “Charlotte, can we talk?”
“Uh, yeah… um, do-do you want to ah…” she was blushing hard, looking at him between her fingers. He crossed his arms tapping his hoof impatiently. “A-Al, are-are you aware y-your…”
“Naked? Yes, very much so, this is what I wanted to talk to you about.” He huffed. “Your… Father… has decided that this outfit is absolutely necessary for me to wear during your celebration. He's lucky I haven't shaved off the fur I've been blessed with yet or my parading around would be more degrading than just a social stigma.”
He was right, the fur on his groin and chest areas was fluffy and thick enough that he wasn't exactly showing anything scandalous. It was more that he introduced himself in a three piece suit, that the unusual state of undress was more shocking than whatever could be seen. It was the bells on his legs that really drew any attention to him not wearing pants. There were sinners who were much more… interesting… with their clothing choices than whatever he was doing.
“I'm sorry, my dad suggested you wear that?” She said confused as she got over her secondhand embarrassment.
“Not, suggested, is forcing me to…” He growled. “I wasn't going to mention private matters, but to make this understandable, I'm in a soul deal with your father.”
“What?” She flared up a bit in anger. Last thing she wanted was her father to be hurt again by a sinner!
“Calm down, deer.” He sighed. “This deal is definitely more beneficial to your father than it is for me. I simply offered to act as his personal bodyguard and attack dog, in exchange for a sliver of his holy powers to smite deserving sinners. After that kerfuffle with Vincent earlier in the year and his fears of sinners doing that again to him, I offered myself to him… unfortunately, my famously crafted contract language, cannot beat the devil's tongue and I found myself fully owned by our tiny ruler.”
“Which leads to you dressing like this?” She asked, wondering what her father was up to.
“Hmm, yes, it would seem to be the case.” He turned slightly, his tail wagging to ring a bell tied to it with a gold bow. “He's usually quite content with me wearing my normal outfits and doesn't pay much mind to fashion, compared to the Vees at least. However, he's also made it a point to cut off my magic, so even if I'm not in his presence, simply changing on demand isn't possible and he's hidden my dresser, wardrobe closet, and boudoir somewhere inaccessible to me.”
“Oh…” She tried not to laugh, her father was a bit of a prankster.
“Charlotte…” He put his hands on his hips. “Please, can you just talk to your father about how inappropriate it is to have the hotelier walking around in most people's definition of naked? What he wants to see behind closed doors is none of my concern, as it's part of the contract, but this is highly uncomfortable for me in public spaces…”
“Why don't you ask him yourself?” She asked. “He's a bit kooky, but he'll understand if you explain that people will get the wrong idea. I'm sure it's all in good fun.”
“Right… fun…” He rolled his eyes. “I cannot approach him currently. He's seemingly not interested in serious discussion at the moment with me. Everytime I try he gets distracted and says something about your Sinsmas celebration modifications, before running off or teleporting away.”
“I see, okay, we'll talk to him together then!” Charlie said happily, her father must have been working really hard figuring out this Christmas stuff, so obviously hearing out Alastor probably wasn't on his top priorities. “Where is he currently?”
“He appears to have gone to Heaven's embassy.” He answered by pulling up his own soul chain to locate her father. “I can't imagine why. The repairs from the gate falling on it won't be completed for a while, not to mention purification of the site is going to take longer.”
“He must be trying to help.” She suggested. “Come on, let's go. Here you can borrow this!”
She handed him a large hooded sweater with “Sinsmas Freak” stamped on the front.