She felt the static before she heard it.
The four of them tumbled out of the cab as soon as it screeched to a stop in front of the hotel, Cherri slamming the door on the driver before he had the chance to complain about their lack of fare. There was some commotion behind her as the window was rolled down and Husker took to gruffly bargaining with the owl demon, but it all fell to silence as Clover's attention was drawn to the slightly open door. The hair on the back of her neck rose on its end, the familiar fizzle of static energy that set an ache into her bones far more hostile than she was accustomed to. Her ears strained forward, twitching in search of the auditory cue that usually accompanied such a feeling and shrinking back again once she found it.
Clover was unsure of what to make of the odd unnatural pitch the static had taken on, the tone something far more animal than electronic . Moving closer to the door, she was vaguely able to make out words among the flickering feral frequency, spoken too fast to be recognizable as any spoken language. A hand on her shoulder startled her, her head turning to find Angel Dust at her side, looking equally as uneasy as she felt. His expression darkened as she spoke.
"You hear that too, right?"
"Nope, but I can sense 'im. Yer' Strawberry Sweetheart ain't happy, suga'."
"Wonderful."
Helping Angel up the shallow steps, she nudged the door open with her hip, and it swung swiftly inward with far more momentum than she could have provided. The sudden change of atmosphere as she walked through the door sucked the air from her lungs, the tense air she'd felt from outside bursting into the facade with an obnoxious pop. It grated on her exhausted nerves, confusing her emotions as her eyes fell on the red demon that had placed himself at the bar, hands clasped tightly despite the narrative or normalcy he was attempting to paint. Her heart ached at his tight smile that only narrowed as they entered the lobby, Alastor's eyes flickering rapidly among them in a flurry of flashing radio dials and dilated crimson irises. She vaguely heard the rustle of movement from the kitchen as the door was shut behind them, Clover assuming the shapes in her peripherals were the rest of the hotels inhabitants watching from the sidelines, too afraid of the swirling shadows that were filling the corners of the room and the demon that commanded them to come any closer.
She felt Angel hesitate beside her, Clover prepared to take the lead and offer a greeting but finding the words falling short in her throat as Husker strode past her confidently, reaching over the bar beside Alastor without a glance in his direction in favor of grabbing a bottle from behind it. The snap of Alastor's neck as he turned to watch was nearly audible, the sharp click of heels behind her proving that the thought was not only her own. Husker swallowed at least half of the bottle's contents before he let up to breathe, turning his grim expression to Alastor beside him with a quirk of his brow.
"Ya' want one, or did'ya already start without me?"
The radio squeal shook Clover from her frozen state, reaching back to find Angel's arm and brushing against it with as much reassurance as she could muster before moving forward. A look towards the hallway leading towards the kitchen proved her earlier assumption correct, finding the nervous glances of Charlie and Vaggie set above the only slightly concerned expression of Niffty, the latter slowly whisking into a bowl. Alastor's voice when he finally answered was almost foreign to her ears, warped with deep static and creole cadence that flavored his words unsteadily, faltering as he attempted to regain control of it with his classic transatlantic tone.
"Are you well, Husker?"
The cat demon seemed unamused, sinking into a bar stool on the far side of the bar heavily, bottle in hand.
"Fuckin' fine, Al, what's gotten into you?"
Clover felt her stomach twist as Alastor fell into a manic cackling, pushing off of the bar as it's motifs began to glow a faint, sickly green, finding herself fighting against her urge to move between them in an attempt to calm his steadily rising temper and the uneasy buzzing that fluttered under skin. It was only when Alastor turned to catch Angel and Cherri stealthily making their way towards the staircase that she found her voice.
"Angel, don't think th-"
"Al, we went to help Angel Dust. He had nothing to do with this, he wasn't even conscious when we got there."
Alastor paused, his back remaining turned to her despite his ears swiveling towards the sound of her voice. After a long silence, his shoulders dropped a fraction of an inch before he straightened himself, turning to look at Angel properly, the Spider Demon blinking in surprise as Alastor's tone dropped to something more pleasant.
"How badly did that brute treat you this time, Angel?"
Angel shared a quick look with Clover, shrinking back on himself as all four arms crossed over his stomach before he answered.
"S'nothin' I can't handle Al, just a couple'a bruises and a killa' hangova'."
"Very well. You may leave."
The quick stampede of feet up the staircase would have been comical if not for the still fizzling static that warped the air around the radio demon, unpleasantly shifting the portions of wallpaper not consumed by tendrils of shadow behind him as he returned his attention to Husker sitting alone at the bar. The almost empty bottle was ripped from the demon's paws, the bottle sliding across the countertop before stopping suddenly just before it should have tumbled into the floor. Husker turned on Alastor, raising himself from his chair to tower over the overlord as his fur rustled in irritation.
"What the fuck had gotten intuh' you, I've had a long fuckin' day, so save your little tantrum for lata', I'm not drunk enough to deal with you."
"Sit down, Husker."
"No, you have my fuckin' attention, let's hear it, asshole."
"Our contract-"
"Fuck the deal! It was handled, I was helpin' a friend, somethin' you wouldn't understand."
"The parameters of our contract places you under my protection in return for you being at my service, neither of which can be upheld if you were to meet your unearthly demise."
"And I'm still fuckin' here, and so is ya' next client, so calm the fuck down."
"If you had perished there I could have done nothing to help you, not without inciting a conflict with that vile insect and his pompous panel of a business partner. And, it would do you well to keep her out of this."
Clover paused at the pointed glance in her direction, feeling claustrophobic in the face of conflict as the shadows in the room pooled at her feet. The familiar sting of cold turned her head to find the shadowed shape of Alastor at her side, standing starkly still despite the gentle wavering of it's form. It's attention turned to her as Husker gestured a hand in her direction, Clover recoiling at the abrupt inclusion of her in the conversation and feeling her skin chill as she made contact with the shadows behind her.
"She's part of it already, you've neva' been this pissed before, but now that she's-"
"Watch yourself, Husker."
Alastors tone was deadly, but Clover couldn't help but notice the frantic tuning of his radio that became clearer through the static as Husker pushed back more personally before Alastor doubled down, the sounds he emitted stringing together into a high pitched squeal as a dull green glow began to tint the room. His antlers had only begun to grow, twisting among themselves as Husker continued to goad him.
"Oh, here we fuckin' go, don't you go all "Radio Demon" on me, you're losin' it, Al. Have a drink or take a h-"
"Al, it was my idea."
Both men froze as she spoke up, Husker looking at her over his shoulder, pupils blown wide with panic as he shortly shook his head. She ignored the signal to stay out of it, trusting the bond of trust she'd forged with Alastor and pushing forward. Taking measured steps, she moved to stand beside them, careful to stand far enough away from either of them in case an assumption that she was picking sides was made. Radio dials looked down at her, Alastor unmoving as she held his gaze and continued.
"I couldn't leave Angel there, I… I know, kind of, what his contract with Valentino entails, and I wasn't going to be able to forgive myself if I left it to happen. I would have wanted someone to have done the same for me, if they were as aware as I am."
A flicker shifted the demon's eyes back to crimson, Alastor's grim smile pulling itself from it's terrifying twisted form into a more acceptable expression. It was no less agitated than it had been prior, but warped with a sorrowful confusion and Clover was more accustomed to. Distance was put between the two men as Husker fell back into his seat, Alastor retreating slightly. Clover watched as his antlers retreated back to their normal form, the green glimmer of the air around them fading into nonexistence as Alastor's shadow wound its way around the red demon's form. It disappeared at Alastor's glare and heavy sigh in it's direction, waving a wispy claw to her before it sank into the floor beneath them.
Finally, after a long silence that weighed heavily on her exhausted shoulders, Alastor turned to her.
"We will have this conversation later. I gather our early hours allotted you with little time for rest among all of...this."
"I couldn't sleep, I was… too wound up, from all the excitement. I just happened to be downstairs when Cherri came looking for Angel."
He paused, looking at her with a long moment as his brow furrowed slightly before replying.
"I see."
His shoulders pulled back abruptly, his radio tuning and flicking through stations rapidly before they settled on a heavy jazz, the weight of it cutting through the silence like an axe. Clearing his throat, Alastor moved around her quickly, speaking loudly enough for all of them, from the two demons still sitting shocked at the bar to the tops of variously eyed heads that peered over the banister of the staircase, to hear as he made his way towards the kitchen, lifting the mixing bowl from Niffty's hands as he passed.
"Dinner will be at seven, sharp. I am not to be bothered until then."
As soon as the doorway to the kitchen's lock clicking was heard, Charlie and Vaggie were at her side, bombarding her with questions all at once before Husker came to her rescue.
"Ladies! We've had a long day, can this wait 'til latta'?"
Charlie cut Vaggie off before she could argue with Husker, reaching out to take Clover's hands in hers before turning to Husker with a wide smile.
"I'm so proud of you two! This could be a good step for your rehabilitation, going out of your way to help someone else is so selfless! And maybe Angel Dust will take it to heart and, ya know, take redemption more seriously."
Feeling her facial muscles twitch with irritation, Clover tried her hardest not to reply sarcastically to the positive princess of purgatory, instead choosing to share a pointed look with Vaggie. Charlie's outlook was a refreshing change for the attitudes of hell, she was sure, but Clover's opinion of redemption had never even been a topic of conversation. Whatever she'd done in life to deserve ending up in hell, she knew wasn't anything she could change. Her low points had been fueled by either adolescent ignorance or the poor situations she'd found herself, and she'd come to terms that she'd been at her worst far more often then she would have liked but it was entirely at her own fault. She wasn't a serial killer, involved in organized crime, or anything of that sort, she was just a person, a decent person, who made too many mistakes. Aside from all of that, Clover wasn't even sure if she wanted to leave Hell and ascend. The idea of Heaven meant little to her, and Hell was where she was slowly becoming comfortable. She'd not been there long, but the thought of leaving made her heat ache in a way that was becoming far too familiar.
Slowly sliding her hands out from between Charlie's, Clover spoke up with a sigh.
"Alastor was right, I need to get some rest."
That was apparently the wrong thing to say, Vaggie's interest immediately spiking in her direction at the mention of the demon who was busying himself inside the locked hotel kitchen.
"About that, what was that about you two being together last night?"
Clover felt herself sag further towards the ground as the questions began, doing her best to respond vaguely enough to stall them so she could escape to her bedroom.
"We went to a thing some friends were hosting, it's not a big deal."
"You fuckin' went out with him?"
"We're friends."
"He doesn't have friends. He has allies."
Husker's deflated sigh distracted her for a moment, slitted eyes rolling dramatically before they met hers, shaking his head as he made his way around the bar. Clover appreciated the sympathy, but her already gnarled nerves had been struck.
"How would you even know that? You only know him as the Radio Demon, nothing more. I've met his friends, have you?"
"Well, no bu-"
"Yes you have!"
The small voice from behind Vaggie turned all of their heads, aside from Husker who was watching with mild interest from the safety of the far side of the bar. Niffty stood steps away, hands on her hips and sharp teeth downturned with the most serious expression Clover had ever witnessed on the small demon. Her single eye was trained on Vaggie, who blinked at the cyclops in confusion as she explained.
"Alastor and I are friends, and Husker too!"
All four women turned to follow the pointed finger, waiting for a response from the bartender. Husker only shrugged, continuing to fix himself a drink in an attempt to keep himself out of the conversation. Vaggie seemed unconvinced, narrowing her eyes at him before she turned to Niffty with a softer, concerned expression.
"You're in a contract, it's not the same thing."
"We're still friends, even if he has my soul, I wasn't using it anyway."
Clover couldn't help the laugh that broke through her irritated silence, covering her mouth when it turned concerned glances towards her. Clearing her throat, Clover used the pause to make her exit, moving around the group to walk with purpose towards the staircase with a mumbled promise to join them at dinner. The talking behind Angel's door kept her from checking in on him, having faith in Cherri's friendship as she locked her own door behind her. The shower ran hot as she stood silently under its stream, her fingertips beginning to wrinkle unpleasantly as she burned away the feeling of unwanted touch and whatever remnants of Valentino Angel was able to smell on her. Her clothes found their way into the laundry bin, her wet hair soaking the worn cotton of the vintage t-shirt she tugged on before crawling her way into bed.
She was able to rest only due to her exhaustion, her mind fighting to plague her with countless anxieties even as she fell into sleep, the dreams that followed as confusing as the events of the last twenty four hours. When she woke again, it was the smell of spices and the soft hum of music drifting up from the floor below. Squinting at her phone's clock, she found that she'd slept into the early evening, but not long enough to miss dinner. It only took a few minutes of her scrolling through hell's social media for the chill of loneliness to crawl under the safe haven of her covers, Clover sliding herself out of bed and flicking on her bedside lamp with a soft sigh. The movement of shadows towards the underside of her bed brought amusement where there would have been fear in her life before hell, but she chose to ignore it in favor of pulling on a pair of heather gray sweatpants. She picked up the book on her bedside with the intent to give herself something to do if needed, slipping on the pair of black slippers that she'd bought to wander the hotel in and heading towards the sounds of the kitchen.