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The announcement of Alaine return comes through the melancholy playing of a piano. Angel is almost sure that it is Beethoven being played, but she is not that of a piano connoisseur. Unlike Alaine, who spent her formative human years teaching herself how to play. Sneaking around while her mother worked, finding any way she could to get her hand on an instrument. Eventually finding one, abandoned in a nearby junk yard. Its conditions weren't the best, but at that time, well, beggars couldn't be choosers.
Nelly has collected many anecdotal facts about Alaine over the years she they have spent together. It surprises her that Alaine remembers what she tells in the return, even if she does not care much for her stories. Nell knows that Alaine grew up with her mother in New Orleans, a black woman and a mixed child. Alaine knows that Nelly and her family immigrated to the US when she was only 6. Sent to a school not speaking a word of english and expected to catch up easily. Nelly knows that Alaine found out very young what it was her mother did to keep a roof over their head and food in their bellies. Serving coffee and tea at the brothel during the day and warming the beds of patrons at night. Alaine knows that Nell's family were mobsters, she grew up in the environment and learnt everything there was for a lady to know about being a mob wife.
The point is, two and a half decades of Alaine owning Nelly's soul has left the two intimately knowledgeable about each other. Some might call it favouritism, and Alaine would agree, though Nell would not. She still does not know why the Radio Demon decided to take away hell's best and most famous porn star from Valentina. At the time, she wasn't complaining, anything has to be better than what she had, and even now she won't entirely disagree with that sentiment. At least Alaine only wants company, wants to keep her close.
Turning the heat on the stove down, Nelly washes her hands and allows the dinner that is essentially done to simmer. She enters the living room, taking a moment to watch Alaine at the piano. The way her hands glade and caress the keys, the only part of her body that moves. The haunting melody fills the house and Nell breathes it in.
“Hey, ya back. How did cha meetin’ with Rosie go?”
The piano music stops so abruptly that Nell takes a step back. The silence ringing in her ear after being just as focused on the notes as she was the woman playing them. Nelly is aware that Alaine and Rosie's relationship is more complex than she will ever understand, and that is without acknowledging the soul contracts. She can’t even understand her own relationship with Alaine. But it is rare for the deer demon to return from there in a bad mood. That last time it happened was seven years ago, when Rosie asked her to basically disappear from everything for an unknown length of time.
Alaine twists her head around 180° and Nelly grimaces at the sign that always makes the skin on her neck feel tight. The grin on her face is fixed wide, pulling at the corners of her mouth until her beautiful face starts to darken and distort. Nell eyes her wearily. Alaine had never physically hurt her, not like Val, but she is not stupid enough to think that Alaine needs to in order to keep her in line. She might be able to get away with more than anyone else, that doesn’t mean that there still aren't lines that Nelly can't cross.
“Nelly! Dearest! I have good news.” Alaine speaks as if she had not heard Nell said earlier. Though, perhaps she didn't, as engrossed in the music as she was, only hearing something that wasn’t. “We will no longer be hiding ourselves in the dreary confines. Rosie has asked me to assist the Princess in a little endeavour of hers.”
Funny of her to say, when she is the one who has got to actually leave this place the last few years. All though disguised, Nell has not set foot outside of the door to their quaint little cannibal town abode in the seven years they have resided there. Nell doesn't point this out, not daring to even sarcastically complain, when Alaine is being so performative in her actions. It would be better to encourage her good mood.
“That's great, though ya weren't really playing a song fitting for such good news.” Nelly takes a tentative step closer to the other demon, still looking at her with a head the wrong way round. “What was it?”
Head turning back to where her hands are still hovering over keys, Alaine answers her question. “It was Beethoven. His Piano Concerto No. 4, Movement 2 to be precise.”¹
Ah. Nelly understands a lot better now, remembering when Alaine had told her this was one of the first pieces she learnt to play and the meaning of it. She walks over to the stool that Alaine had seated herself on. Sitting on the ground and leaning back against it. “Play it again for me?”
Alaine sighs but follows her request, soon the house is again full of the sad tone of the piano music. Nell tints her head until she can rest it on Alaine's hip, the somber notes filling her head.
ℜ \(^-^)/ 𝔒
The days after Extermination Day are always rough. The broken buildings that need to be fixed. The scavenger that will feast on anything or anyone, dead or alive, taking what they want and leaving nothing behind. The turf wars that it always insight. It is hectic and Nell has certainly not missed it while being in hiding. She walks beside Alaine, their arms linked, on their way to whenever it is that Princess Charlotte is currently residing. She has not been told anything, despite her continuous asking on what this little project of the Princess’ is, Alaine has remained rather tight lipped about it all and is finding great amusement in keeping her Nelly in the dark.
She finds out though, sooner than the Radio Demon wants her when they walk past a Voxtech shore window display. All the screens are lit up with a Katie Killjoy interview. The Princess seated beside her preaching some idea of a hotel, where sinners can go to be redeemed. Nelly turns to the woman beside her with a look of utter befuddlement. But she only grins in return. Nell can’t say she has every thought about redemption. She knew when alive that the only way for her to go after death was down. Did the Princess even know if it was possible? Surely she would have some type of evidence to prove that it works before getting on T.V. and declaring that she is going for it.
When the interview has devolved into a brawl between Charlotte and Katie, Nell having only stayed watching so long when hearing Cherri Bomb mentioned. She turns back to Alaine. The other demon, now having her attention again, sends out a wave of her powers, short-circuits the television, causing the demons standing around them to scatter in fright when they see the Radio Demon behind them. Nell stares at her, her face clear asking a silent ‘Really?’ that Alaine only giggles at.
“So. I know ya ain’t buying inta this whole redemption thing-y. Wha’s the real reason we’re going to this hotel?”
Alaine laughs once again at her most dear companion. “All in due time, Darling. Come along, let us continue on our way.”
She takes Nelly’s arm back into her and pulls her along in what she can only assume is the direction of the Princess’ “Happy Hotel.” They walk throughout the pentagram, making sure to watch their step on the way. They are just coming up to the hotel when they see Charlotte slip back inside it, the door closing firmly behind her. The road is empty around them, and Nell is unsurprised that the interview did not work. She can’t imagine that there are many people who ended up down here that are rearing to leave a place they can murder, drink, do drugs or fuck as much as they want with little consequences for most. Especially when the people up there don’t seem to give a shit about the yearly genocides that are happening to them here.
Nell is only a step behind when Alaine knocks on the door. With how desperate the Princess was on the T.V. Nelly is shocked the door wasn’t open before she was done. There was several seconds between the ending to her knocking the door opening revealing Princess Charlotte Morningstar of Hell.
“Hel-”
Alaine doesn’t get through the entire words before the door is shut again. Right in their faces. Nelly sees her companions eyes narrow at the rude gesture, not one who will often tolerate a slight against her. But it would appear this time she is going to let it go, as when Charlotte opens the door again, she finishes the word.
“-lo!”
Again the door is shut. This time a muscle in Alaine's jaw pulses with her annoyance, and Nelly can hear muffled voices on the other side, no doubt adding to the deer demon's ire. A few moments later the door is opened again, this time staying open longer than a few seconds.
“May I speak now?”
She is sure that Nell would be one of very, very few people who would be able to tell the sarcasm and anger that are hidden in the overlords words. Knowing that if this was anyone else, and Alaine and Rosie didn’t have some sort of plans going on, that the Princess would be a smear of blood and guts on her carpet right now. This almost means she gets away with crossing her arms and replying in a distinguished and authoritative tone;
“You may.”
“Alaine! Pleasure to be meeting you, sweetheart.” Alaine reaches out, grabbing the hand of the surprised girl and pulling her close. Turning up her “motherly-charm” she presses her cheek to the girl in a friendly hug. “Quite the pleasure.”
Stepping in after her soul owner, Nell silently trails after Alaine as she rambles to the hotel owner about seeing the disaster of an interview that she did. Expressing her condolences over how badly it went for her. She looks around at the set up they got here. Maybe her standards have changed after spending so long in the company of the overly tentious Alaine and Rosie, but the place can only be described as a dump. There was dust and cobwebs everywhere, strange stains on the floor she was not even going to take a guess at what were. Framed pictures hung up all along the hallway they were walking down and Nell wasn’t sure if this place would have power or not.
“Stop right there!”
She turns her focus back to Alaine, who has a rather recognisable spear pointed at her throat by what can’t be a regular sinner. But Nelly can’t say for certain what she was. The being starts to curse out Alaine in what she thinks is Spanish, before she threatens her against hurting anyone in the hotel. And before it happened, Nelly knows that Alaine is not going to take that well.
“Dear, if I wanted to hurt anyone here,” Alaine chuckles before she starts turning on her freak show shit with the eyes and the smile and the aura. “I would have done so already.”
Charlotte and the not-sinner stare at her with wide scared and confused eyes and Nell, knowing exactly what they were feeling in the moment, decides it’s time for her to intervene.
“Al’right, ‘laine. ‘Nough with the spooky shit, we’re here to help, ‘member?”
The words bring the attention onto Nell, as the two girls are now staring at her with wide eyes. Nelly isn’t sure whether they are surprised she was there, too engaged with Alaine to notice her, or if they were shocked that she had spoken up to the Radio Demon. The former would be a wound to her pride, once having been someone who commanded attention when walking into any room, the latter would be an immediate death sentence for anyone who wasn’t her. But well, there were always special circumstances when it came to the Radio Demon Overlord.
“Wait~ a second. Angel Dust?”
Nelly feels her face heat and her eyes widen at the name. She hasn’t been called that in a long time and she would rather not. Her eyes quickly flicker over to Alaine, standing behind them and see that she is once again edging into radio mode. Her eyes having turned to dials and strange symbols floating in the air around her. She stares at the two through her eyebrows and looks seconds away from tearing them to pieces. Nell lets out a nervous chuckle.
“I-ah I actually tend to go by Antonella these days. Or Nell if ya feelin’ jazzy.” She tried not to make it obvious that she is still eyes Alaine, watching her as her angry sneer turns into a smug grin. Alaine hated the first few years after the ownership of her soul transferred from Valentina, when people would still use the name ‘Angel Dust’ to refer to her. The name was chosen by the aforementioned pimp and Alaine saw it as Nell still belonging to her every time it was used. Often viciously slaughtering the person right then and there. She would not stand for the implication that Nell belongs to anyone but her.
“Holy shit! Nella! My girl! What the fuck are ya going here?!”
The loud exclaim from Cherri was, thankfully, enough to break the tension that had gathered around the group. Nell smiles at her old friend, moving over to the woman so she can wrap around her is a hug.
“Cherri. I could say the same ‘bout you.” Sha laughs, squeezing her best friend tightly in her arms. She has missed the bomb-loving girl so much in her years away. Not being able to hang out or mess around with the other was truly torture of the worst kind.
“Nah, chicks are letting me stay here for free, it’s not that bad. You though, disappeared for seven fucking years without so much as a goodbye. If I was a worse friend, I might not fuckin’ forgive you.”
“Ah, I’m sorry, Cher’, but Al has some stuff she needed to get done.”
“Yeah, yeah, and you had to go with her.”
“Ya know how she gets about these thin’s, she worries.”
“Sloth’s saggy tits, the two of you are so co-dependant.”
Cherri had moved them over to the single lounge that exists in the space during their catching up. Talking about all that had happened to them in the last couple of years. Nell of course couldn’t say much, but she gladly listens to all the details of Cherri stories with enthusiasm. It isn’t long before she sees that the non-sinner is standing near to them, glaring over at where Alaine is working her more subtle magic on Charlotte.
“And what's up with you? Pretty fucking agressive display you pulled back there.”
Cherri calls the other out, and the definitely-not-a-sinner spares them only a brief glance, her eye lingering a few seconds longer on Nell, before going back to glaring at Alaine.
“I don't trust her. She's the Radio Demon, she can’t be here for a good reason.”
Cherri leans into Nell and mock whispers, “Am I suppose ta know what that fuckin’ means?”
Nelly shakes her head at her friend. “Ya know, Allie. Alaine. The Radio Demon.”
The cyclops just looks at her blankly.
This gets the attention of the other woman close by them. “Wait. You don't know the stories about the Radio Demon.”
“The only things I know about Creepy Smile McGee over there is what Nella's told me.” Cherri jabs her thumb accusingly in Nelly direction, as if it's her fault for Cherri's lack of knowledge. She doesn't talk about Al's more violent actions, preferring to ignore them. But talk of the Radio Demon is all over that the pentagram, how could Cherri not have heard anything.
“Decades ago, Alaine manifested in hell.” Oh so they were gonna get the whole tale, in a dramatic story telling voice too. Nell resisted the urge to roll her eyes. “Seemingly overnight, she began to topple overlords who had been dominant for centuries. That kind of raw power has never been harnessed by a mortal soul before.” Yeah, Nelly was becoming more and more certain that this chick was not a sinner. What she was though, she didn’t know. “She broadcast her carnage all throughout hell just so everyone could witness her abilities. Sinners started calling her The Radio Demon–as lazy as that is. Many have speculated what unimaginable force enabled her to rival our world's most ancient and destructive evils.” Dear fucking God, Nell hopes that Alaine never hears this herself. Her ego does not need that kind of boost. “One thing’s for sure, she’s an unpredictable source of danger, a wicked spirit of mystery, and a violent monster of chaos, that likes of which we can't risk getting involved with, unless we want to end up erased.”
Both Cherri and Nell are left blinking stupidly at the girl after she is doing regaling. The latter is going to do her very best to make sure that the topic of discussion never finds out that this is how most people see her. The woman is already smug enough to deal with.
“Are ya done?” Cherri had her arms crossed over her chest, and a bored expression now upon her face. Not one to really ever be bothered by violent or stories for that matter. Cherri is someone who only believes in what she can see.
Nell watches as the grey-haired women turns back to glaring across the room, with her arms folded and her face screwed up. “Well, I still don't trust her?”
“Would ya trust me?” Nelly put on her best smile, one she remembers using much in her Angel Dust day. She sets her eyes low and looks up through her lashes, leaning back and placing an arm along the top of the couch she rests on.
The non-sinner flushes at her flirtation, her eyes straying between the pairs of demons in the room. Finally setting back on the Princess and Alaine, she clears her throat. “The jury's still out.”
She laughs, cherri joining in. The other girl huffs and stalls over to Charlotte, grabbing her attention from the overlords and pulling her off to the side to talk. Alaine wonders over to them.
“Ah, Ms. Bomb. How delighted I am to see you again.”
“Ha! Hiya there, big red. Ya done keeping my girl away from me, huh?”
Alaine laughs, “Now, now I think we both know that dear Nelly is my girl, but we are here to help the Princess with her dreams. You, as a guest, will be seeing much of the both of us.”
“All right, all right,” Cherri snorts at the possessiveness. “Don't get ya filly knickers in a twist, I'll take what I can get.”
The two most important people in Nell life laugh. She is glad that Alaine understood her friendship with Cherri and even has enjoyed her company the few times that they have met. They are unlikely to become friends themselves–no matter what shit Alaine slips about friends in hell–but that they can get along well is good enough for Nell.
“Okay, Al.” The Princess interrupts them. “Your sketchy as fuck and you clearly see what I’m trying to do here as a joke.” What the fuck was Alaine telling this girl, when Nelly wasn’t listening. “But I don’t. I think everyone deserves a chance to prove they can be better, so I’m taking your offer to help.” Huh, maybe the Princess does have a decent head on her shoulders. “On the condition that there be no trickster voody strings attached.” Never mind what she thought before. The Princess is naive and Al is gonna eat her alive.
“So it’s a deal then?” With a swing and a twirl of her microphone, Alaine turns on her light show. Nell buries her face into her hands, knowing that Al is bluffing and teasing the Princess, and none of the others here are going to understand her strange sense of humour. She does laugh as Cherri’s hair whips around into her face and the short one is almost pushed over from the force of Alaine’s powers.
“Nope,” Princess doesn’t quite back away, just putting a hand between her Alaine. “No shaking, no deals. As-ah. As Princess of Hell and heir to the throne, I… hear by order that you help with this hotel. For as long as you desire.” She smiles at the red covered demon, like she thinks it will soften the blow of her giving orders. Glancing about the room before ending her little declaration with “Sound fair?”
“Of course, Princess.” Nell can’t exactly see the smile on her face from their position, but she can tell from the tone of voice that Alaine is very amused by all of this. Giving a shallow bow and taking a look around the room, she asks, “So where is your hotel staff hiding?”
The princess scratches the back of her head. “Well… it’s actually just me and Vaggie at the moment.”
Huh, so that was her name, Vaggie. It doesn’t give much away for what she really is. The hellborn tend to have some peculiar names in Nell’s opinion, and even sinners come down here with some truly horrendous names. Some choose to completely scrap their given names and go by something they are more comfortable with.
Alaine shakes a finger in the blonde's face, clicking her tongue in disapproval. “No, no, dear. That is simply not going to do.” She stretches her arm out, pulling her sleeves up. “I suppose I can call up a few favours.”
She walks over to a fireplace, and with a click of her finger it has transformed from a broken down hole in the wall to a proper fire pit. Something falls down the chimney and into the burning flames, bumping around until it is half hanging out onto the ground. Nell vaguely recognises the soot covered form of Niffty when she is picked up by the back of her dress. With a puff she is sure Alaine has something to do with, the little gremlin is as clean as she ever is.
“This little darling is Niffty.” Al introduces, letting her go so she can introduce herself. The little creature immediately starts a spiel of words that are hard to catch, something about them all being women and needing a ladies touch. But in typical Niffty fashion it only takes a few seconds before she is already hard at work, managing to reach even the highest corners with her tiny stature. Nell is sure she hears an excited ‘Oh my gosh, Hi Annie.” that would be directed at her and does her best to wave at the zooming figure.
A sound from the other side of the room brings their attention to where Alaine has pulled what appears to be an entire section of a casino into the room. Husker sitting at a blackjack table, confused at his sudden transportation, looking around in anger before he spots Alaine and points right at her. “You!”
“Ah, Husker, my good friend. Glad you could make it”
The two continue with their contrasting conversation. Husker always done with Alaine shit before it has even started and Alaine loving to do anything she can to annoy the grumpy hybrid demon. Leading to the two always having a tennis match of a discussion, until Alaine manages to successfully bribe the gambler with cheap booze. As these things always go.
Nell and Cherri move over to the newly instated bar before Vaggie can even begin her tirade on why they can’t have a bar in the hotel. The only one who seems to give her any attention is Charlotte.
“Hey Husky, ya got anythin’ for me back there.” Nell greets the old cat with a charming smile worthy of Alaine. The demon behind the bar looks at her out of the corner of his eyes while drinking down his bottle, staring until it is empty. Only then does he turn around making up two drinks and passing them over to the them sitting on the other side of the bar. He goes back to his own drink.
“So what do you think?” The smug tone of Alaine's voice is drowned out by the excitement of Charlotte as she squeals over how much has been done to improve her hotel already. Her tone is evened by Vaggie unimpressed voice about it being okay. And to think they have barely been there for an hour. If there is one thing that she and Alaine are going to agree on, it's that staying here is not going to be boring, that's for sure.
“So should we start setting up rooms for all of you.” Well, at least the princess is a decent host. “We should have four rooms clean enough for tonight.”
Alaine waves her off, “There is no need to worry so much, and only three will do, me and my Nelly prefer to share.”
“Oh~!” Charlotte has her hands cradling her cheek and her eyes sparkling as she looks between the two of them. “Oh! I didn’t realise. You know we are very accepting here at the Happy Hotel. All kinds of relationships and love are welcome here.” Alaine cocks her head to the side, and Nell chokes on the sip of her drink she had just taken. “In fact me and Vaggie–”
“Whoa. Woah, woah, woah. Slow down there Princess.” The ex porn star wipes the mess from her chin. “Me and ‘Lainey, we umm. We’re not ah. Ya know. Like that. Not that there is anything wrong with that. Raging lesbian over here. But me and spooky o’er there. Yeah, not like that.” Nell fumbles with her words, trying to explain that no, she and Alaine are not like her and Vaggie. The other is no help, just standing with an amused grin on her face as she stares at Nelly.
Charlotte has obviously misunderstood her again, if the wide smile and sly look in her eyes is any indication, but what about this time she has no idea. Her palm meets her forehead and she groans.
“Back to a more relevant topic, I think we need a new name for this place.” She is thankful when Alaine changes the subject, going on about how ‘Happy Hotel’ doesn’t fit what they are trying to do here and yada yada. Nelly goes back to where she left her drink, picking it up only to down the whole thing in one go. She pushes to glass closer to Husk as a signal for another. She feels like she hears it. And you can mark clairvoyance down as one of her gifts because it isn’t a minute later when she hears it.
“... and You and Nelly–”
Charlotte is cut off by the loud screeching of radio static and something that is purely animalistic in nature, something that warms you away from the ultimate predator. Nell turns to see that Alaine has grown in stator, her limbs thinned out and her face darkened completely by her shadows. Her eyes are two beady glowing red dots and there are snarling and graveling critters crawling out menacingly from the void of her skirt. She looms over where Vaggie has taken up a protective stand in front of a cowering Charlotte, and Nell admires her guts as Alaine continues to grow more and more monstrous.
“ɎØɄ Đ₳ⱤɆ Ʉ₴Ɇ ₥Ɏ ₦₳₥Ɇ ₣ØⱤ ⱧɆⱤ.”
Watching the whole thing go down is Nell and Niffty. Husk having taken refuge behind the bar as soon as Alaine had started showing signs of anger and Cherri soon joining him. Though she did peak her head up even now and again to watch the chaos unfold.
“Should you, umm, be doing somethin’?”
Looking over her shoulder, Nell sees Cherri with her arms crossed over the bar, resting her chin on them, a bomb in each hand. She glances between the looming figure and that of her best friend as Nell realises that, yeah, she should get Al to calm the fuck down. Nelly moves over to stand between the two frightened women that the grotesque form of her… something. She hates using the term master, or owner, for Al, but Alaine doesn’t like the word friend for some reason. But they are something. And not something romantic either.
“₲Ɇ₮ ØɄ₮ Ø₣ ₮ⱧɆ ₩₳Ɏ, ₦ɆⱠⱠɎ.”
“Yeah, no can do, Al. It was just a mistake, she doesn’t know how much the name means ya, ‘kay. Let's just calm down, and she will never use it again. We cool?”
This giantess form of Alaine opens its mouth, likely to tell her again to move if not for the front door of the hotel disappearing in an explosion. Nell turns her head, thinking that it was Cherri and one of her bombs that set if off, only to hear laughter coming from outside the new hole in the wall. Alaine crawls over, still not returning to her original form, and Nelly follows, the others just behind her. Outside they find the aircraft of the demon who was battling Cherri in the turf war earlier, calling out Charlotte for "harboring" Alaine in her hotel.
She doesn’t let him speak again, just grabbing the flying vehicle between her hands and tearing it straight in half, opening a portal to toss one into and using her now free hand to take the screaming demon in her claws. She brings the quivering coward closer to her face, but does nothing other than growl and transfer him to a shadow tentacle and launch him as far away from the hotel as possible. After that, she finally shrinks down to the regular Alaine size that Nell loves, and she is met with the spider arms across and glaring at her.
“I know, I got a bit carried away my dear. How about some Jambulaya, hmm, would that make it up to you.” Alaine flutters her eyes up at her Nelly, until the woman yields to it.
“Yeah, Allie, that would be great.”
“Wonderful, I shall use my mothers old recipe. It’s just to die for, ha”
“Beelzebub’s balls, Nutella, you really know how to fuckin’ pick ‘em.”
“Hey! I thought I fucking told you not to call he that, Bitch!”
“How could I bloody not, when your life is so fucking nutty, Nutella!”
Nell screams, chasing after her best friend all the way back to the destroyed entrance to the place it seems she will be staying for a while. Cherri might be right that her life is nutty, but that doesn’t mean the girl gets to just call her out on it.