A demon crawled his way through the trash can he was hunched over, digging through to find some remnant of food. He reached a large bin bag and ripped through with his claws, taking out a tuna can with some half finished tuna inside. The demon quickly latched onto it, sucking down the rotting meat before throwing the can over his shoulder, tinking as it hit the side walk.
He went deeper, his ear perking up when he heard was sounded like music, shrouded by a faint buzzing. He shook his head and kept going, digging out a banana peel, more rotten than his damned soul. He tossed it over his shoulder and instead of hearing the faint thwap as it hit the concrete, he heard a grumble and a groan of a particularly static filled voice, the demon froze and slowly turned around, looking over his shoulder to the extremely annoyed Radio Demon that was attempting to wipe off the rotten and mushed banana off his red coat before he turned to look at the demon, a wide and manic smile stretching across his face.
The demon watched the deer twirl his cane in his hand before grabbing it and stabbing the sharp tip end toward him, hitting the demon right in the lower back. It let out a scream as it was lifted up into the air, the demon sliding further down onto the cane as it was brought around to face the Radio Demon, "You stained my suit." His teeth grew sharper and his jaw unhinged, his eyes rolling back into his head, "I hope you taste better than I now smell." He lunged forward, biting into the demon.
Alastor sighed as he looked down at the stain on his coat, a nice smudge that reeked. He looked towards the newly raised sign of Rosie's Emporium, a textiles and tailors, a smirk coming to Alastors face as he spun around his cane and used the radio piece to drop the handle and push open the door, the bell ringing as he did.
"Rosie!" Alastor called out with a theatrical ring to the name. He watched as the tall, well dressed and white skinned lady turned around, her scowl turning into a large smile, "Alastor! How have you been? I'ven't' seen you in such a long time my dear." She leaned on the counter, tapping her claws against.
Alastors smile widened as he came close but not too close to horrify her with the smell that was currently assaulting his own senses, "Well my dear I'm so sorry!" He clapped his hands together, "You see I have this little project with Lucifer's daughter if you would believe that! And I've been ever so terribly busy with it."
He watched as Rosie's smile turned into a look of complete and under bewilderment, her eyebrow flying off his forehead almost, "You? Working on a project with the Princess of Hell? Have you been taking too many of those mixers again have you?" Her smile returned as she rested his chin in her palm, rocking her head to the side, "Oh those nights were some of the funniest I've had. Seeing you, weeping your little eyes out, shaking like a newborn fowl, crying for your comrades, it re-"
"Rosie. I realize we are indeed close friends but continuing to talk on this subject and your name might just be the next crossed out on this business." Alastors eyes flickered and his hands glowed red for a second. Rosies' smile faded, scrunching up her mouth. "I came to ask if you were willing to fix up my suit! Some alley dragging cretin threw something at me and it's left a stain."
Rosies' head dropped, her black pits were that of a void but Alastor could feel her eyes studying the stain, a smile coming to her face, "Absolutely. Take off your jacket and take a seat." Alastor did as he was told, slipping one arm out before chucking his cane to the now free hand before slipping the other arm out, folding it neatly over his arm and handing it to her, "It won't be more than twenty minutes." She smiled wider before turning and making her way from behind the counter and disappearing into the shelves of supplies and clothes.
With a heavy sigh Alastor turned on his heel and walked into the waiting area, a few seats that had been picked out of the 1890s and a nice low wooden table complete with fashion magazines and some light reading. He stood, staring for a moment before going and sitting down in the corner chair, sighing to himself. He reached into his top chest pocket and took out a plastic container, the label reading "Mixers", his eyes fixed on the off brownish orange colour of the container.
He remembered the nights when the memories were too much for him. He remembered the nights when the screams and gunfire were enough to pierce into the waking world. He remembered coming her or running to Husk or Niffty to help, to coax him back into being his normal self. He remembered the nights of getting absolutely black out drunk with Husk just to stop the memories, he remembered the nights of Niffty cooking him up one of his favourite meals to maybe bring him back, he remembered the nights here in the back room, wrapped in the blankets of the lone bed that sat in the cramped living area, those dark pits staring back at him wanting more.
He closed his eyes, wrapping his hand around the bottle and squeezing. Squeezing so hard he swore it would break and cut into his hand but instead, he uncapped the bottle and took two of the stupid fucking pills. He reached across the table, grabbing the glass jug and a cup before pouring himself a drink, throwing it back quickly before pouring himself another and throwing that back as well, setting them down.
He felt himself become lighter, the worlds' colours began to pop, the familiar fuzzy feeling coming back, a smile from ear to ear coming to his face as he sat there. Time seemed to fly as Rosie soon emerged from the back room holding the newly cleaned jacket, Alastor quickly standing and walking towards her, "Thank you ever so much Rosie, you're such a sweet heart." He leaned forward, kissing both of her cheeks, "I'll see you soon!" He called, not even letting her get a word in as he left.
Rosie stood there, watching as the deer walked down the sidewalk to wherever he was going, a hand going to her chest, a sigh following as she made her way back to the front counter and back to the dress she was working on, the ever present feeling hanging in her chest whenever Alastor made a personal call sat with her.
With a flick of his cane and a slight kick the front door opened, perhaps a little more forcefully then he would have liked. Alastor stepped into the entrance before kicking the door shut behind him, smiling to absolutely no one. Odd, the lobby normally had at least two people here besides Husk.
He made his way to the bar, seeing Husk sitting on a stool, glasses resting on the bridge of his nose as he looked down at a book, his wings creating a sort of barrier around him. "Husker!" Alastor announced, throwing out his arms like he was waiting for a hug. Husk simply looked up and scrunched up his face, slipping a torn up cocktail napkin into the book and closing it, slipping off his glasses and resting them both on the counter behind him, "We have a problem."
"We do? Is it a problem? A me problem? You know Husk if you have an issue with what I'm doing you can tell me and I won't listen." Alastor smiled, leaning on his cane.
"I caught up with Renault when I was helping Angel with something. I think he knows." Husk stood up, leaning on the counter.
Alastor's expression didn't shift, he looked frozen like he was trying to digest what Husk had just spat at him. However he quickly straightened himself up, gripping the microphone a little tighter this time, "Oh? And what does that wingless bat expect to do?"
"Probably march through here with Machine guns and flamethrowers." Husk said bluntly, reaching under the counter into one of the shelves to take out one of the many green bottles that had, 'cheap booze' slapped on the label, "We did go through that ball and kill quite a few people."
"Oh, is this going back to that fucking ball?" Alastors radio persona all bug dropped, "Jesus fucking Christ, it was just like any other killing! Who really cares?" He shook his head, leaning on the bar and sighing.
"That wasn't just any ball. That was put up by Asmodeus, the prince of Lust." Husks face scrunched up before he threw back the bottle into his mouth and threw back his head, downing a good few chugs.
Alastor sighed again, more groaning this time, "Well. There's no use crying about it." Alastor straightened himself up, holding out his hand, "I believe we should tell Ms Magne."
Husk froze, now it was his turn to digest what Al had just said. He dropped the bottle and stuck out a finger, "Are you fucking stupid!?" Husk yelled, throwing his hands into the air. "If she found out about what happened that night she'd probably have you executed for treason against one of the Princes!" He shoved his finger into Alastors chest, "Don't go fucking soft. We wait for him to come first then we attack. Plausible deniability."
"How is that plausibly deniable if he starts talking about it."
"Because. If he hits first, shows his hand, then everything he says is null 'n void as he's directly attacking the princess." Husk smirks, "I've been here for 27 years and I fucking know that, you've been here for what? Close to 80? Come on Al."
"Sorry. Just been a little off it today." He scrunched up his face and sighed again. Husk stared at the demon, yeah something was off alright, he never acted like this ever unless he'd taken too many of those fucking pills.
"Give me the bottle."
"What?" Alastors head shot up, his ears sticking up in the air.
"Give me the bottle right now."
Alastor looked at Husks outstretched hand, begrudgingly reaching into his jacket and taking out the bottle, sitting it in Husks paw. Immediately he flicked it between his claws and looked into it, scowling, "This was full two days ago. Let me guess, you decided to down a few more today."
Alastor said nothing, instead he turned his head away in shame. Husk sighed before making his way around the bar and stood next to Alastor, sitting a hand on his shoulder, "Get up you fucking freak before you start vomiting and bawling your eyes out."
Alastor stood without much resistance, making his way out of the lobby with Husk following close behind, holding onto his cane and keeping one hand on Alastors shoulder at all times.
Would like some feedback on this version of Alastor. Anyway, have a good night or good day.
