Chapter Three: The Christmas Arc: Finding a Gift Part I

"So… Tell me what the point of Christmas is again? Specially in Hell. Santa ain't gonna give us any presents… Well… He might give Charlie some gifts." Angel Dust said dismissively.
"It's not just about presents. Christmas is about family. And even if Santa Claus doesn't come, we can exchange gifts here. They don't have to be fancy. It's about thinking of each other, not about spending a lot of money. Sometimes just a hug is enough of a gift." Charlie said.

"So, babe… What can I do for ya?" Angel Dust asked. He'd become much more cooperative lately.

"Well… I have jobs for each of you. First of all, let's each take a name out of this hat. On Christmas, we'll all exchange our gifts with our Secret Santa." Charlie said. Recently, Cherri Bomb had joined the Hotel. She was having some trouble adjusting, given her tendency to explode, both literally and figuratively. But she was doing her best. And now they had eight people in the Hotel. Charlie took Husk's hat and put the names in it, shaking it up and putting it on the table, letting everyone pick from the hat. Soon, everyone had their name for the Secret Santa. Charlie had chosen Alastor.

Vaggie had chosen Angel Dust. Niffty had gotten Tina. Alastor got Husk. Angel Dust got Charlie. Tina got Cherri Bomb. Husk got Vaggie. Cherri Bomb got Niffty. If anyone got themselves as Secret Santa, we can put the names back in and start again. Don't worry." Charlie said. Nobody had gotten themselves. Angel Dust pulled Husk aside.

"So, I got Charlie… Who'd ya get?" Angel Dust asked. Husk growled.

"I got Vaggie. I ain't sure what to get her though. I don't know 'er that well." Husk said.

"Why dontcha get 'er some toys fer her and Charlie?" Angel Dust smirked. Husk snorted lightly.

"Charlie's so innocent, she probably wouldn't know what to do with them." He said.

"Everyone! I want each of you to bring music for the party as well. None of you need to bring too much if you can't afford it. But whatever you can bring. Your Hell Phone library of Christmas music."

Charlie spoke. Alastor's smile widened. He had been curious at first, then concerned. Then intrigued. Now he was beginning to admire Charlie. Again, he was sure that he could destroy her in a battle with his magic. But her charisma was incredible. She made people want to work with her. The group split up and went about their days, getting things ready for Christmas.

-0-

Angel had gone looking around for someone who could get him the perfect gift for Charlie. She truly was better than he could ever be. In some ways, he resented her and was jealous of how lucky she was. What did she know about struggling or pain?

What the fuck did she know about the hard life? She'd had everything handed to her. Even now that she had chosen to go against her father's wishes, even now that she was estranged from her parents, she still had everything she needed to start living her own life. She still was given the location she needed for her hotel. She had the loyalty and love of a great girlfriend. Even if he didn't particularly like Vaggie, he knew that she was good for Charlie. She was the pragmatic, realistic side of Charlie's optimistic and idealistic coin. But on the other side, he admired Charlie. He wanted to see her succeed.

He didn't know how to feel about her. He loved her. She was like the mother he wished he had. She accepted him for who he was and wanted to help him become a better person. But on the other side, what did she know about what made him the person that he was? She had been born into royalty. Her parents never hated her for being bisexual. Nobody ever judged her or made her hide who she was. The worst thing she ever had to deal with was her dreams not being fully accepted by her father. The worst partner she'd ever had was a guy who turned out to be a bit of a jerk.

Angel Dust had dealt with abusive partners, had to hide his sexuality from his parents, his family, his brothers in the Mafia. And then he went to Hell and had to live as a prostitute and dancer under another abusive person. He did it to survive. Charlie knew nothing about desperation. She was a dilettante. So why did he envy her so much? He was stronger than she ever was or would ever have to be? So why did he want to do anything she wanted him to, just so he could see her smile? He sighed. He knew that there weren't many places he could get an affordable but good gift for someone as perfect as Charlie.

He didn't actually know that much about Charlie. He knew she liked opera. But where could he get affordable tickets that were still good enough seats for Charlie? He went to talk to Cherri Bomb first.

"Hey, Cher… D'ya know of anyone who can get me some opera tickets?" Angel asked. Cherri chuckled.
"I'm… Not sure… I didn't know you liked opera." She teased. Angel shoved her jokingly.
"I don't. But Charlie does. I wanna get 'er the perfect Christmas gift. And I ain't got nothin' in mind othah than balcony opera seats fer her an' Vaggie." Angel Dust said.

Cherri was surprised that Angel Dust actually seemed like he felt guilty about *only* being able to think of something as expensive as opera tickets. He wanted to get her something more creative than opera tickets. He sat with Cherri and thought about affordable places that he could get such tickets. Cherri could think of one place. But she didn't want to say it. She knew that if he went back to that place, that something bad could happen. And she didn't want to see that man either. She thought she saw the same thought in Angel Dust's eyes. He seemed to feel nauseous at the idea.

"I-I know where I gotta go." Angel Dust said helplessly.

He felt sick to his stomach as he knocked on a door he hoped he'd never have to see again.

"Angel Cakes… I didn't expect to see you again, sweetie…" Came a sly, cold, cruel tone and a stomach churning grin.
"H-h-hey… V-Valentino…" Angel Dust stammered. Valentino's grin widened.

"What can I do for you, my sweet little Angel Cakes?" Valentino asked, his voice almost purring.

"I-h-how much would ya want fer two tickets ta an opera? Say Il Cappio D'oro?" Angel Dust asked. Valentino chuckled, going behind the desk and looking for some tickets.
"I think I have just the thing." Valentino said, showing him two balcony seat tickets to Il Cappio D'oro.

"Getting a Christmas gift for a special someone?" Valentino asked. Angel Dust nodded nervously.

"You do work fast, don't you, sweetgums?" Valentino teased.

"You can take the whore out of the streets, but you can't take the streets out of the whore." The Moth Demon smirked. Angel Dust blushed heavily, looking away in disgust and shame from Valentino. He'd known that Valentino would try to antagonize and goad him. He'd known he would need to be ready. But he still felt disgusted just being in the Moth Demon's presence.

"Alright… I think I can help you… But… You need to do something for me too… I promised that I would never make you prostitute yourself again. But I do need a personal servant.

"No sex would be required. But you'd take notes for me, come with me to meetings with potential clients, serve drinks, so on and so forth. Let's say you'll be on call for a month. It's December 3rd right now. So on January 3rd, you'll be free." Valentino said. Angel Dust nodded.
"But one request. I can't work on Decembah 24th or 25th. I got the Christmas party ta go ta." Angel said. Valentino thought for a moment, smiling and nodding.
"I can live with that. It's a deal. Here's the tickets. And a cell phone. Be ready to work when I call."

Angel Dust nodded, taking the phone and starting to walk away.
"I could use some help this very evening. Why don't you put in six hours of work to start? Then I'll let you go for the evening. We can start up the mainstay of your work next time?" Valentino asked. Angel nodded, taking the uniform Valentino offered him. He put it on and started taking orders.

-0-

Alastor grinned, thinking about what gift to get for Husk. He knew that Husk liked liquor. But he wasn't very rich. He was sure that Husk would enjoy some high priced liquor. And he thought he knew just the liquor to get him. He knew a few people who could provide Lacrima, an extremely fine and fancy liquor that was usually made using the blood of various Demons. It was sweeter than the finest wine and stronger than the strongest spirits. Typically addictive. That gave Alastor some pause. He knew that Husk already was addicted to liquor. He'd been doing pretty well not drinking as much.

He sometimes needed a drink, but he wasn't binging like he used to. Alastor wasn't sure it was a good idea to give him liquor. He knew of a few other things that Husk would like. Alastor knew that Husk liked Magic: The Gathering, Pokemon and ironically, Beanie Babies. Alastor was sure that he could get a Halo the Bear. There were Demons who could go to the human world in disguise and get human products. Most did so through the human underworld. And Alastor had enough pull in the Demonic underworld that he could likely trade a simple favor for almost anything he wanted.

He traveled into a city that he once knew well. He hadn't been there in a while, at least not on this side of town. He'd been busy with the hotel, but it was obvious that he was still well-known in the city. He grinned at a butcher that he remembered had once been rather impolite to a lady.

"Hello, my fine fellow! Do you have any deer meat?" Alastor asked cheerfully. The butcher paled. That had been his opening line the last time he'd come into his shop.

"Y-yes… I-of course…" The butcher stammered, remembering the horrifying power that Alastor had used to discipline him for his behavior towards the woman. Alastor's grin widened, his eyes narrowing as the butcher ran to the back and gave him a full pound of deer meat.

"H-here! On the house!" The butcher said, all too eager to get Alastor out of his shop. Alastor nodded politely and left, heading to a rather shadier part of town, walking into another shop. This shop was owned by Rosie, one of the many Overlords of Hell.

She was one of the few Demon who were not intimidated by him. As relationships went, he had a fairly good one with her. He knew that he would still need to be able to offer Rosie something in exchange for giving him what he wanted. He was greeted by a fairly young Demon, a woman named Kade who had only started working at this particular shop recently. She smiled politely at Alastor.
"Hello, how can I help ya?" She asked, a strong Irish accent sounding. He walked up to her, bowing politely to her.

"Are Rosie or Franklin available? I hope I might speak to one of them." Alastor said.
"Oh… Ms. Rosie is out at the moment. I think she said she was going to do business. And Mr. Franklin is in one of our other locations." Kade said. Alastor nodded, thinking for a moment.

"Well, is there a chance that Ms. Rosie will be back later in the day? I'm hoping to purchase a Christmas gift for an acquaintance of mine." Alastor said. Kade smiled.

"Maybe I can help you!" She said excitedly. She'd only been hired recently, but she'd nearly memorized the contents of this location's inventory. Alastor smiled.

"Perhaps. Would you happen to have Beanie Babies?" The Radio Demon asked. Kade thought for a moment, wading through the list of inventory. She didn't remember her location having any of significant value. But she knew that if anyone had valuable Beanie Babies, that Rosie's Emporium would.

"I don't think this location does. But I can check the archives if you'd like, Sir. Which Beanie Baby were you interested in?" She asked. Alastor smiled. She had a lovely accent. He heard Irish accents sometimes, but not as often as he wished he could. He considered them lyrical in their sound.

"I'm looking for Large Wallace and his Squad." Alastor said. Kade's eyes widened. Those were extremely rare, even in the human world. She wasn't sure that even Rosie would be able to get it so easily. She went back to the computer though and typed in the search parameters.

She saw that the Emporium had two of the smaller bears, but didn't have Wallace himself or the other two smaller bears. One of the green smaller bear and one of the brown smaller bears was in a shop in Dis, a city almost three cities over. The other two smaller bears and Wallace himself were nowhere in their archives. But she could ask Ms. Rosie if she could find them. Kade went out and explained the dilemma.

"I see… I appreciate your patience with me." Alastor said. He wasn't sure why he was working so hard for a gift. Charlie herself had said it didn't have to be expensive.

But he valued Husk as a friend and in his own strange way, wanted to show how he valued him. Husk may have been an old druk card shark. But he had good connections within Hell's underworld and had been willing to work with Alastor for a long time. Husk was also much older when he died than Alastor was when he died. So as a much younger man, Alastor respected and valued Husk's experience.

"Well, give Rosie this card." Alastor said, writing his name and an offer of favors in exchange for her aid in finding all five bears in the set. He then signed it and bit his finger, making a bloody fingerprint on it.

She gasped when she saw the name.
"Th-th-the Radio Demon…" Kade breathed, her eyes widening, her face paling. She was already somewhat pale. She had silvery grey fur and long grey ears. But somehow, she seemed to go even paler when she realized whose presence she was in. Alastor smiled, his expression easing a bit.

"My dear, you've nothing to fear from me. I appreciate how helpful you've been." He said. He wasn't usually so gentle. But maybe Charlie had had more of an effect on him than he might have thought.

She stammered slightly, nodding.

"Y-yes… Thank you." She said, saving the note for Rosie. Alastor bowed again and left the shop, heading into town to have some lunch. He cut the deer meat and slowly ate a piece of it, savoring the blood running down his throat. He guessed he had nowhere major to go. He sat back, whistling lightly as he ate his deer meat.

-0-

Husk had been counting cards from the beginning. He was keeping a close eye on the other players' cards. He fully intended to win the pot. This time though, it wasn't for himself… Okay, it was partially for himself. The old curmudgeon also wanted to get a gift for Vaggie. While he could think of a number of things that the young woman might like, it was a Walkman that he had his eye on. One of the players had a Walkman on them and he knew that like him, this Demon was a compulsive gambler. If he could take that player for all he had in money, then he could goad him into betting the Walkman.

It was a lot of ifs involved in all this, but if the result was a gift that he could give to the young Moth Demon, it was probably worth it, even if keeping it would mean exchanging it for a lot of booze money… No, he was trying to break his alcohol addiction. As much as Husk hated change, he liked Charlie and he could tell that, misguided as he thought she probably was, she truly seemed to want what was best for everyone. And she was giving him a free place to stay as long as he at least tried to work on his own behaviors and issues. The gambling was probably there to stay for him. Old cats and all that.

But at least he wasn't cheating at cards anymore. He just counted cards. Technically, that wasn't cheating. It was just playing the numbers. He sighed and called it, putting down his cards, watching as the others did as well. He won again. He smirked, pulling the pot into his back.

"Anyone down for another round?" He smirked. The other players, most of whom had already lost a lot of money and goods to him excused themselves. This was an entirely different Husk to the one they usually played. He seemed hell bent, for lack of a less derivative pun on taking them for all they had.

Three stayed. Husk smirked and shuffled the cards.

"Uh uh… I'm shuffling this time. You can cut the deck though." The chronic gambler said. Husk shrugged and handed him the deck, watching carefully as he shuffled, doing it three times over before passing it over the table for Husk to cut the deck. Bertie, a Koala Demon passed the cards around the table. Husk picked up his cards and looked around at the others.

"Hit me." Husk said. Bertie nodded, passing Husk another card.

The Cat Demon smiled. He was at 19. Albrick was at 17, Bertie was at 14. It could still go against him if he wasn't careful. But he'd been doing well today. Frankly, with the amount of money he'd won, he could easily buy a Walkman. But something about Bertie's Walkman was calling to him. It was clearly from back when Walkmans were first being released. A 1979 Walkman was fairly valuable now. He smirked at Bertie, who was betting more and more recklessly, eager to get back on top from a losing streak that he'd been having. Bertie was already sweating.

"Is that all ya got, Panda boy?" Husk chuckled.

"I'm a Koala and you fucking know it, asshole!" Bertie demanded, hitting himself with the top card from the deck. Bertie smirked. He was close now. He was at 20. If he called it now, he could win. But he didn't trust that Husk didn't have something up his sleeve. Husk must have been cheating. But he couldn't prove it. Husk chuckled. He could see Bertie working it over in his mind. He was getting overconfident now.

"I'm putting this in. Want to go all in too, Kitty Cat?" Bertie asked, putting down his watch, hat, some coins he had in his pocket and a beautiful silver necklace he had. The Koala really was going all in. Husk thought for a moment and put the bag with all his winnings so far in. The way the cards were reading, he was pretty confident about the next card.

"Hit me." Husk smirked. Bertie handed him a card… It was a 2.

"21." Husk said, taking a long drag on his cigarette and pulling his winnings over to him.

"I win." The cat said, not wanting to gloat too much. He'd won. That was probably enough.

"WHAT! NO! ANOTHER ROUND!" Bertie shouted. Husk actually laughed. It wasn't a smug chuckle.

"With what? You have nothing left." Husk said, putting the winnings in his bag and heading back to the hotel. He cashed some of his winnings first, getting rid of the rather heavy back.

Most of it was necklaces, rings and other valuable objects that he could pawn for their nominal value, or at least some of it. In the end, he got 2,000 for all of it, but he kept the Walkman, despite a generous offer for it, taking it back to the Hotel and up to his room. He put the money in his mattress and wrapped the Walkman in some tin foil that he had. Not terribly creative or fancy. But he figured it would do for the young woman. He put it in his desk and went downstairs to relax.