T/W descriptions of grievous bodily harm and torture
You all proceeded into the hotel and the first question you were asked by everyone, was how you had returned to them but the reality of the matter is that you didn't actually know how. Your hand reached up to the necklace that Alastor had given you and the flesh under the pendant felt raw, as though you had sustained a burn. However, you had been covered by the ichor of the angels and perhaps their holy blood had burnt your sinful flesh. You looked to Alastor for some kind of answer but he remained close-mouthed on the matter. Simply saying "We shouldn't worry about the details of such things and just be happy Belle has been returned to us."
That seemed to be enough for everyone and you all just wanted to celebrate tonight, celebrate your victory and the fact that you had made it through another extermination. The drinks flowed and laughter rang through the halls. Angel and Cherri were gushing over the explosions and carnage they had caused. Husk was making a sucker of a crowd of demons with card games. It even warmed your heart to see Nifty chatting with the bull demon she'd been chasing around the hotel only the other night. At first, he had seemed uncomfortable around her but now they were sharing a drink with one another.
You did join in for a couple of hours but so much had happened to you today and you found yourself exhausted and drifting off mid-conversation. You excused yourself from the party. "Do I go to my room or..?" You had asked Alastor. "mon chéri, my room is your room. Make yourself comfortable there if you so wish and I will retire shortly myself. However, I enjoy the tales of battle and camaraderie to be had after such an event. Makes one feel alive again." he offered and you were elated with his response. Your departure had been so sudden that day and you weren't sure where the two of you stood but thankfully you seemed to be able to pick up where you left off.
You began running yourself a bath, slipping into the hot water and easing your aching muscles. You weren't sure how long you had been in the bath but thought maybe you had started to drift off as you were startled by the click of the hotel door. "Alastor, is that you ?" You called out. "It's me, mon chéri." He had called back to you and you heard his footsteps enter the room as though he had waited in the doorway waiting for you to acknowledge him. You finished up in the bath and stepped out realizing that in your hasty escape, you had left your nightrobe and the limited selection of clothing you had, back in heaven. You saw his robe and debated on if you should borrow it but figured he would prefer you to enter the bedroom clothed.
As you got out of the bath you looked at yourself in the mirror, once again greeted by the horned visage, your skin pale and your eyes blackened. You looked down at your chest and moved the pendant of your necklace. You were surprised to see that where it had rested on your skin, it had indeed left a burn mark in the shape of the sigil. You slipped into the bedroom and Alastor was sitting at his desk. "Hey." You say in a hushed tone. "Hello." He replies in a whisper as he stands to his feet now. "I have to ask...about this necklace." He cocks his head to the side as though waiting for your question. "What exactly is it? How did it work?" You hold the pendant between your thumb and forefinger, brushing your finger over the strangely cool metal. "You know better than to ask me a question you already know the answer to."
You had suspected what it might be but you wanted to hear it in his own words. Silence lingered in the air for an uncomfortable amount of time until he eventually conceded and spoke up. "It was a deal but do not worry my darling, the conditions of such have already been met." You found consolation in his words. "So what were these conditions?" Your curiosity piqued. "Only that your soul would be mine until you return to my side. Nothing more, nothing less." The note now made sense. 'I offer you freedom.' It was meant in a literal sense, he was making an offer in return for your loyalty to come back to him.
"So that's it? That feels too simple." He raises a brow to you. "Did you need something more? Your conditions to enter heaven were that you could not be owned by a demon. So if your soul didn't belong to you then I was mostly certain you would be returned to us." It did make sense to you. "So why did you make it such a short-term thing? You could have owned my soul for eternity and yet you chose to make it so temporary?"
"Well darling, if you wish me to own you for an eternity, that can certainly be arranged." You take a step back as he makes such an offer but the fact he had not extended a hand to you, you can assume it had been more in jest. "Mon chéri, I hope you trust that and know I would never trick or deceive you into such a commitment. If you decided you wanted to be mine I would want it to be of your own volition" He purred out and it did give you some comfort. You thought back to demons like Vox who had tried tricking you into a deal and had you been more nieve, not knowing what the glow of his hand had meant. You would have given over your soul so easily to him.
Alastor, despite how tricky he could be, how he wielded his words like a weapon at times. It came as a great comfort to know he would never try and deceive you into handing over something so important. "I appreciate that and I just want to thank you. To thank you for not taking advantage of a situation." You see his smile shift, no longer held in place but seemingly genuinely spread across his face. "Darling, when I was in a vulnerable place when I had allowed myself to get inebriated in your presence. You put your wants aside and instead cared for my needs. I would consider it a disrespect to you to try and trick you into a deal." You had never put much thought into it. In your mind, it had been the only decent thing to do but perhaps Alastor hadn't always been met with that same kindness. You certainly couldn't imagine anyone taking advantage of him in a physical manner but maybe, just maybe he had found himself in a deal he regretted.
"Oh! That reminds me!" you pipe up, breaking the tender moment you had just shared with one another. "I have a present for you." You proceeded to pull Alastor towards the bed and you could see the trepidation on his face to which you quickly assured you had no lustful intentions, instead something sweeter. You slipped off his gloves and slid under the covers of the bed, getting yourself comfortable for sleep. You could feel his confusion towards your actions. "I want this to be a private moment for you. I don't want you to feel you have to put on a smile or hide your feelings." You curled up with your back to him, his arm resting over you as your fingers intertwined with one another. You brought your thoughts to the time in heaven, your memory focusing on the time you had spent with his mother.
As you focused on your first time seeing her you felt his hand tighten around yours as you did so. You let the entire memory play out, the conversation you shared with her, the way she smiled, the way she laughed but most importantly when you asked that pivotal question. At first, you had wanted to see his reaction to the encounter you had with her, to see the joy it may bring him to know that she had never blamed him for her own fate. However, you found yourself glad you had decided to do it this way. This allowed him to fully embrace the emotions this scene evoked and whilst while you two were in contact you could feel how he felt, there was no need for him to try and retain his usual Façade. He held you tighter in his arms and as the scene ended, you felt him shift from behind you, leaning over to place a kiss on the side of your face "Merci pour ça ma chérie." He whispered softly in your ear. "Tu sais que je ferais n'importe quoi pour que tu mettes un sourire sur ce visage." You had whispered back, beginning to drift off in the warmth of his embrace.
You slept deeply that night and awoke late into the morning but then again so had Alastor. By the time you descended downstairs, a lot of the guests had left. You had said this was only a temporary thing in your broadcast with Alastor but Charlie had tried to make it clear that they were welcome to stay if they wanted to try their hand at redemption. You had been pretty disappointed that more hadn't taken the offer but Charlie seemed excited with the 3 new souls that did decide to check in but more so was Nifty as her new hopeful paramour was one of those who had signed up. There was a small part of you that was glad that there hadn't been more people joining the hotel. More guests meant more work and you were a one-man team in the kitchen. Maybe you could convince Charlie to invest in a dishwasher you thought as you were finishing off the last of the pots.
You poured up two cups of coffee and made your way up to Alastor's room, you already missed the elevator in heaven. You would have thought by now you'd have got used to the stairs but they had become the bain of your existence in hell. Alastor was still asleep, maybe getting some of the best rest he had, had in a long time. You almost felt guilty waking him up. "Al?" You cooed out as you placed your hand softly on his arm. "Al? that's very informal of you." He croaked out, you had to admit you loved his voice when he first woke up. None of the radio distortion, deep and husky, it gave you butterflies in your stomach every time. "I didn't mean any offense by it."
"My dear, I never said I didn't like the informality." He purred back out at you as he sat up in bed, taking the coffee from you. "Well, I was about to offer you a nickname like you always seem to be giving me. How does Bambi sound to you?" You half-laugh as you reach for his ears which shoot backwards as you go to touch them. "I think we'll stick to Al." He did not sound impressed with your nickname, even if it had been a joke. "May I ask a favor mon chéri?" In the entire time you'd know Alastor he had never asked a favor from you. Anxiety set in as to what he may want from you. "Umm, sure but I saw enough bloodshed yesterday. I don't think I can handle anymore." He laughed at your statement. "No, no. Nothing of that nature, don't you worry your pretty little head about that.." He lowers his eyes, unable to meet yours. "I would like to see her again." The 'her' in question was vague but after last night there was only one person it could be.
You take his hand and bring your memories back to her. Focusing on her smile, the twinkle in her eyes, the warmth of her voice. Alastor had closed his eyes, to truly embrace the moment without outside distractions. This time you were able to see his reaction to the memories. Watching his features shift, his smile, though still there was now close-lipped and looking more authentic. His ears twitched and moved whenever she would speak. You wished you had stayed up there longer, been able to grow a larger library of memories for Alastor to lose himself in. However, you had never thought you would be able to replay these moments for him, you thought you were going to spend the rest of your afterlife in heaven. Your mind trailed off to the conversation with your mother, how she had asked you to visit more often, and how you would no longer be able to fulfill the promise you'd made her.
Alastor squeezed your hand, you had somehow forgotten that he was still in your memories. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to go there" You stammered. "No mon chéri, I'm sorry." This was the first time you had heard him utter an apology and it took you by surprise. "Whatever for? It was my choice to come back." Of all the things he could have apologized for, this was something that wasn't his fault. "Not for that. I am far too happy to have you back to be sorry about that. But I see what you grew up with and what you want. I'm afraid it's something I cannot provide." He repented. "You may not give me what I wanted, or at least what I thought I wanted but you have always given me what I needed. Life on earth and life in Hell are two completely different things. In my living years, I needed that love, I needed romance but here I need to feel safe, and protected. J'ai seulement besoin de toi."
...
Alastor had not expected his Belle to return as quickly as she did, in fact, there were moments where he questioned if she would return at all. But she had never disappointed him yet and despite everything heaven had offered, all the worldly comforts she was certain to find there. She came back to him. How stunning she had looked, glistening in the golden ichor of exorcist blood. He hadn't been fully joking when he had said he felt like she was flirting with him. There was something about the way she obliterated those who came close to her that appealed to her own bloodlust. She was always so soft, so sweet but she had a side to her that was capable of brutality.
However, when they had returned to the bedroom she had shown him that sweeter side once again. She probably could not understand the depth of his gratitude towards the gift she had given him. Whilst his mother was often in his thoughts, it often felt like reading the same book over and over again. A good book but when you can quote it word for word perhaps you have read it too many times. She however brought something new. The sweetest part is that she hadn't planned on returning and yet she still went out of her way to approach his mother. It was an act of kindness that he would be certain to repay yet he found himself drawing a blank for how he would do so.
Despite the fact she seemed to thrive off even the smallest gestures, he wanted to do something more. He had thought of bringing Frank to his knees dragging that vile creature back to the hotel, keeping him restrained, so she could hear his cries. Inflict any pain on him that she wanted, rip him apart and when he regenerated, do it all over again. She could punish him for every time he had laid a hand on her. His torment would be endless and how pretty she would look, glistening in his blood like she had done in the angel's ichor.
The next morning she had blessed him with seeing his mother again, although something Belle had said put a halt in his previous plans to repay her kindness 'I saw enough bloodshed'. She did not share his love for the carnage. She was not only kind to him but to everyone she met. A kind of softness that many lose after some time in hell but she had retained all this time. She offered a mercy to all those who crossed her path, even the ones least deserving of it. Her choice for violence yesterday had only been a life-or-death situation. It was back to the drawing board, what could he do for her that he didn't already give? Normally he would withhold his affections, his touch, his kind words. Using them sparingly but with her, she had a way of prizing those things out of him without even trying. For the first time, he had nothing left in his hand, nothing up his sleeve, he had played all his cards.
A/N Merci pour ça ma chérie. - Thank you for that my darling.
Tu sais que je ferais n'importe quoi pour que tu mettes un sourire sur ce visage. - You know I would do anything for you to put a smile on that face
J'ai seulement besoin de toi. - I only need you.
Fun fact, the book of Bambi came out in 1923 so although Alastor may not be familiar with the Disney film, he may have heard of the book in his life.