Clover had kept herself locked in Alastor's small bathroom for far too long, she knew that. He'd ushered her down one of the red-carpeted hallways that branched off from the main entryway too quickly for her to take any details of his home, babbling about needing to make a phone call to Rosie before she became too worried about them and promising dinner once Clover had cleaned up. She'd been so rushed she hadn't had the time to question the more modern addition of a shower to his bathroom before he was gone again, closing the door behind him with a click. After standing in the center of the room staring at the lock she didn't remember turning for who knows how long, she decided it was best to just do as he asked of her.
She'd run the water at her normal temperature of boiling, taking care to keep her bandages away from the water by stepping away from the stream to scrub. It felt best to avoid making him wait on her, Clover leaving the shower before her fingers could begin to prune and drying herself enough to apply the two bandages he'd left to affix to her knees once she was done. Her marred clothing was gone from the bathroom's countertop when she went looking for them, which was expected, but there was nothing left in their place. Wrapping her towel tighter around her, she unlocked the door and gave a quick look outside of it.
She was greeted with only the faint sounds of speaking from down the dark hallway.
The murmured mention of her name drew her towards the sound, her curiosity fighting against the want to return to the warm steam of the bathroom as she grabbed the dark robe that hung from the back of the door, its thick weave instantly sheltering with the scent of warm spices and soap as she wrapped herself in it. Padded feet crept towards what was undeniably Alastor's voice, stopping in front of a heavy door left ajar. She leaned into the adjacent wall to better catch the conversation that carried through the opening, making sure not to step into the line of warm light that spilled from the doorway so as not to reveal herself too soon.
"We will have to reschedule, I'm afraid. We've had a little altercation, and we've relocated to my Radio Tower for now," Alastor's voice came and went, Clover leaning forward just enough to peer into the room beyond. "No, dear. You don't need to come over here, I've handled it. She's in shock, I believe, understandably, but she is- Well, not unharmed, but…"
She could barely make out the pacing shape of Alastor's shadow moving along the far wall, stretching across a large desk covered in tidy stacks of parchment and an array of melting candles. The flames wavered as he passed nearer, sparking a sharp green before fizzling back down into their gentle flickering red as he continued the conversation he'd been holding behind almost-closed doors.
"My guard was down, the bastard had already gotten hold of her before I could do anything about it," Alastor's voice came from beyond the small sliver of the room she could see, and the heaviness in it made her heart ache; It was gone as quickly as it had appeared, Alastor returning to his normal bombastic nature.
"We're lucky our little rabbit has an impressive set of lungs, I heard her from well within the Colony! Now, I must ask a favor of you. There was not much left of the departed, anything of substance has probably already been collected by those who indulge during the evening hours, but still; Would you mind stopping by, if only to make sure we won't be bothered by that beast again?"
Clover pressed herself closer to the wall as Alastor stepped into view and placed the bottom half of a rotary phone down onto his desk with a clunk. He leaned over the dark wood, opening a drawer with a flick of his wrist before reaching inside.
"No, I'm not taking her back to the hotel. I believe it would be too much for her at the moment…" His voice became mumbled, Clover unable to see why with his back turned. The click of a lighter followed by the smell of cigarette smoke told her enough, and another piece of the puzzle that was Alastor clicked into place.
The lighter clattered against the desktop, sliding across the papers that coated it. Alastor picked up the phone and moved out of her line of sight once again, the pleasant tone of his voice dropping into exasperation with a static-laced sigh.
"I do not appreciate your implications, Rosie. We will be in touch, I may need to ask another favor of you. Farewell."
The hollow sound of a phone being put back on the hook felt far heavier in the silence, and she became aware of the severe lack of radio frequency coming from inside the room. She sought out the shadow Alastor should have cast to try to gauge his position, squinting at the blank expanse of heavy curtains it had once sprawled across.
"Boo."
Clover was barely able to cover her mouth in time to silence her squeak of surprise, turning herself around to face the source of the chill that spread across her skin.
Alastor's shadow loomed over her, barely visible against the darkened hallway aside from the soft glow of teal that dimmed as it grinned, bright eyes squinting down at her shivering in its ghostly embrace. Clover narrowed her own in a helpless attempt at intimidation; She knew that it was far less threatening than she intended due to her vulnerable state. It only tilted its head back at her, winding its way around her trembling form and crowding into her personal space with a soft hum that seemed to vibrate at the same resonance as her racing heart.
"Clover?"
She jumped again when the very-real voice of Alastor came from the open doorway, his tall frame backlit by the light of what she assumed was his office and his eyes fluttering over her with their soft, warm glow. The indecency of standing in front of him in her current state sent a flush across her skin, and the panicked flicking of Alastor's ears when he seemed to realize the same only made the matter worse.
"I'm sorry, I-," Clearing her throat, Clover removed herself from the shadow's grasp, waving away its wispy embrace and scowling as its grinning form faded under her glare. "Well, I- Uh, I didn't have any clothes?"
Alastor's brow furrowed, the demon sending a confused look to where the shadow had sunk into the wallpaper before breathing deeply and jolting to life alongside his radio. He began speaking far louder than needed, toning down gradually when Clover's ears flinched away from the onslaught of noise.
"Ah! Well, I had your original garments taken away to be cleaned and repaired, and have forgotten to repla-"
The soft, raspy chuckle that echoed down the dark hallway turned both of their heads. Alastor's eye twitched slightly as his smile tightened, an expression he attempted to hide when Clover returned her attention to him. He continued, his fingers fidgeting against the door frame.
"I thought it was best to phone Rosie so that she wouldn't become suspicious of our tardiness and begin to worry. I must have gotten distracted, I meant to have something prepared for you before you'd concluded, but-"
"It's alright, Al, no big deal," Clover said, hoping to halt his rambling. Her current state seemed to upset him, and as adorable as the anxious flicking of his ears was, she thought it best to put him out of his misery.
Alastor's smile softened, lifting his eyes from where they had been stuck to the floor between them. He seemed to startle himself by looking at her, quickly looking away from the exposed skin of her collarbone and attempting to conceal his blunder with a theatrical sweeping of his arm.
"Well, I cannot have a guest shivering in my hallway, so-"
The sharp snap of claws distracted her from the odd sensation that surrounded her, Clover wincing slightly as the hallway was momentarily illuminated a brilliant green. Once her eyes had readjusted to their return to darkness, she found herself dressed in something far more modern than what she would assume from Alastor; a simple black turtleneck without sleeves, a loose pair of pants that tied at the waist, and a pair of flats with dark socks.
For a moment, Clover thought that maybe she would ask him to dress her more often if this was any indication of his extended sense of style.
The gentle grasp of hands on her waist brought her attention back to him, Alastor steering her away from the office and back toward where she'd come from.
"Now, I believe some rest and nourishment could do you well."
Returning to the kitchen brought back the phantom feeling of his lips against hers, as did the tender claws that turned her arms to look over her bandages to make sure she hadn't gotten them wet while in the shower. An all-too-familiar red sweater was pulled from the air and passed to her with a content smile once he was done, Alastor humming as he left her to move about his kitchen. Clover was only vaguely aware of the conversation he'd started as she stared at the red weave that was currently being clutched against her chest.
"I admire your ability to maintain your dressings, though it would be foolish of me to expect carelessness from you."
"I broke my arm twice as a kid, I'm used to it."
She almost avoided addressing the elephant under her fingertips, but she was reluctant to leave too many mysteries between them after the day's events.
"Hey, uh, Al?"
"Yes?"
He didn't look up from whatever he was fetching from the cabinet, so she continued.
"Is this my sweater? Like, the one sitting in my closet at the hotel?"
Alastor leaned back out of the cabinet with a confused but distracted hum, pulling a glass from the highest shelf and setting it on the countertop.
"No, darling, it should be newly conjured. Is something wrong with it? I may be a little out of sorts tonight, I apologize."
The genuine disdain for the maybe-mistake in his voice made her smile, Clover watching as Alastor poured himself a glass of a mystery liquid from a crystal flask. She waited until he'd focused his attention on the sweater before continuing.
"No, it's just- It's identical."
"I assumed you enjoyed it, you wear it quite often." Alastor said, his brow furrowing as he tilted his head in an adorably confused manner.
"I do, I really do, I just- I never knew where the first one came from."
"Why, I gave it to you! I was under the impression that you'd already succeeded in solving that little mystery. Subtlety was lost to me on that day, I'm afraid."
"But, why? You barely knew me."
Alastor hummed softly, smiling over the rim of his glass as he drank. He took his time assessing the flavor of whatever it was he'd poured himself before moving towards her, dropping the glass to dangle at his side. He sent her heart racing all over again as he pressed into the small of her back, leading her to a table set in the room's small breakfast nook and setting the glass in front of her as she took a seat.
"I believe the phrase is, 'You catch more flies with honey', dear. Having you in a state of comfort would have proven beneficial for whatever plans we'd had for you,"
"Oh."
Her quiet exclamation didn't go unnoticed, Alastor leaning down to look her in the eye.
"But," He began, trapping her in those scarlet eyes as his voice dropped to an unexpected softness. "Once you'd sat yourself down at the bar with Husker and myself, you proved to be much more entertaining as a companion than you would have been as a mere guest."
A gentle hand laid on top of her head as he straightened again, her ears laying flat beneath his palm. The touch spread another wave of heat across her skin, Clover setting her chin in her hands to hide the flush that spread across her cheeks. Alastor continued to console her as he moved back towards the working part of the kitchen.
"Don't think too hard about it darling, you've since earned my generosity ten-fold, more so than any other." His voice fell quiet behind the swell of music that began as he turned away again, but she still heard the addition that echoed into the open cabinet. "Hell knows I try not to…"
Clover hummed to herself, taking a long sip of the drink he'd given her and letting the burn distract her from the odd air that had settled over them. Her eyes drifted from him as he poked his head into different cabinets collecting armfuls of bags and jars before rifling through the refrigerator, his grumbling indiscernible over the flickering, soulful tune that he played. The slight sting of her arms as she stretched them across his dining table, drumming her fingers against the opposite edge, reminded her of the horrors she'd just endured, and her eyes turned to the floor to search for the remnants; But, she found the floor clean of the bloodied footprints she was sure her sneakers had left behind. There was no lingering on the discovery as it sparked interest in new ideas, Clover wondering whether the white tiles that contrasted against the rooms' otherwise dark decorations were a sign that Alastor kept his killing separate from his kitchen, or that his confidence in his skill far outweighed practicality.
"Clover."
Alastor's voice caused her to jump, her ribs banging against the edge of the table with a soft squeak. She didn't bother to sit up properly at his call, lifting her eyes to find him standing at the edge of the kitchen's island, leaning against the countertop as he patiently waited for her to respond. His smile grew slightly as she hummed at him, Alastor drumming his fingers against the marble as he spoke.
"I've realized I've neglected to ask, but has this unfortunate series of events altered your appetite?"
The sickness in her stomach had subsided, she decided, so she shook her head as best she could with the cool tabletop pressing into her temple before answering with a question of her own.
"You're going to cook?"
"Yes, if that is alright."
"No, it's alright just- Maybe no red meat." Clover couldn't help the small smile that twisted the corners of her mouth, too mentally exhausted to worry why the slightly macabre outskirts of her sense of humor had decided to make an appearance.
Alastor laughed, as she hoped he would, and the tension in her spine shattered before reforming in her chest as she finally gave in to what she knew was true.
She was undoubtedly in love with the Radio Demon.
_
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