The following morning, Lucifer, Charlie, Vaggie, Nifty and Husk sat together in the living room, trying to figure out how to begin Husk's rehab. After some back and forth, the group decided that the first thing they needed to do was make sure Husk's access to alcohol outside of the bar was kept as minimal as possible. So, they got a few boxes and black garbage bags and headed up to Husk's room. Husk took a deep breath and unlocked the door to his hotel room, letting everyone inside except for himself and Vaggie.
"Now, while they clear out your room," Vaggie said closing the door behind Nifty, "You and I will go outside and do some more training." "I don't know," Husk hummed, rubbing his arm nervously, "It's scary enough knowing that they're in there… knowing what they're gonna find in there. But, not being in there with them, to make sure they don't find anything… too private," Husk turned to Vaggie and said, "I'm not sure if that makes it better or worse."
Vaggie smiled and gave Husk a gentle pat on the shoulder. "Don't worry, Husk," Vaggie assured him, "Even if they do find anything, they're not going to say anything or tell anyone. I promise, they're just going to clear out the booze bottles, and that's it. Everything else, they'll leave alone." Husk's eyes still looked unsure, but he gave a small smile and nodded. Vaggie signaled for Husk to follow her and they made their way down the hall and rode the elevator down to the ground floor.
"Did you talk to Angel last night?" Vaggie asked as she and Husk headed towards the front door. "Uh," Husk droned, "No, I didn't." "Husk," Vaggie scolded, "Look, I wanted to tell him," Husk insisted, "I did. But the guy just wasn't having it. Plus, he looked exhausted."
"You still have to tell him," Vaggie sighed, "I know, I know, and I plan to," Husk groaned, "Angel said he's probably not going to be at the studio for too long today, so when he gets home, I'll talk to him." "Think maybe it'd be easier to have someone there?" Vaggie asked. Husk thought about it for a second and nodded. "Yeah, that might help. Least then I won't feel like I'm in it alone. Angel's not always the easiest to talk to, though that's usually when I'm trying to get him to open up about his own shit. Never thought I'd need backup to talk about myself, but, here we are." Vaggie and Husk chuckled as they went out the front door and got situated in their usual training spot a few yards away from Dazzle's statue.
"So, what're we doing today?" Vaggie asked. "Well… I was thinking we'd just pick up from where we left off yesterday," Husk shrugged, "We didn't get very far before Alastor… uh… so, yeah. Why don't we start with some warm-up exercises and see how far off the ground we can get this time?" "Yep," Vaggie nodded, "Sounds like a plan."
Husk and Vaggie spent the next twenty minutes or so running through the various stretches and exercises they'd been working on yesterday, leaving both of them a bit sore and tired. They took a few minutes to catch their breath before getting into position and started flapping their wings, slowly gaining altitude until they were both a good ten feet off the ground.
"This is even easier than last time," Vaggie laughed, "Yep, and it'll get easier each time you do it," Husk nodded, "Especially if you keep working on building and maintaining your muscles. It's not called 'muscle memory' for nothing." Vaggie nodded and looked up towards the sky, spotting Heaven hovering overhead. "Hey, stay focused!" Husk shouted, catching Vaggie's attention, "Don't get distracted, cadet. You've made great progress, but you've still got a ways to go." Vaggie's face took on a determined expression and she nodded understandingly. "Now," Husk panted, "Let's work on some simple maneuvers. First, let's get a bit closer to the ground, just in case."
Vaggie sighed and followed Husk's lead as he fluttered down until he was flying a little over four and a half feet off the ground. "Why do we have to fly so low for this?" Vaggie asked. "You are flying low so you don't break a bone if something goes wrong and you end up falling. I'm just demonstrating." Vaggie rolled her eye as Husk continued, "Now, follow my lead. Don't worry if you have to take it a bit slow; you'll be able to pick up speed eventually with a bit of practice."
Vaggie nodded and watched as Husk swerved to one side, then back, then to the other side, and back again. Husk gestured to Vaggie, inviting her to give it a shot. Vaggie took a deep breath and nodded, slowly and carefully mimicking Husk's movements. It was choppy, but she managed to pull it off without falling, much to the angel's relief. Husk let out a chuckle and said, "Not bad, not bad at all. I'm impressed." "Really?" Vaggie asked, unconvinced. "Yeah," Husk nodded, "Your movements are a bit sloppy, but not bad for a first go. Try it again. In fact," Husk floated down and landed gently onto the ground with a soft grunt, "Maybe do it a few more times so you'll be able to memorize the motions."
Vaggie gave a frustrated groan, not really wanting to since she still felt a bit dizzy from her first attempt. But, she ultimately followed Husk's instructions, going a bit slower than she did the first time so she wouldn't make it worse. After the second time, she felt her confidence growing a little, so she increased her speed, which did make her movements a bit choppier than the last time, but she could still tell she'd improved a bit.
"Good, good," Husk applauded as Vaggie made her fourth attempt, "You're a fast study." "Thanks," Vaggie smiled, "You're a really good teacher." Husk chuffed, waving his hand dismissively. "I'm serious," Vaggie insisted, slowly coming down and landing with a grunt, "When I was in Heaven, my flight instructor wasn't nearly this good. Or this patient… in fact, she usually just screamed instructions at us."
Husk just groaned and shook his head, "Oh, yeah, because that always works," he said sarcastically, "I can personally speak from experience when I say that screaming at people doesn't teach them anything. I nearly flunked out of basic because my drill instructor pulled the same shit. I swear, if it weren't for the few buds I had there with me, I probably would've hung it up after the first week. This guy was that fucking brutal."
Vaggie's eyes widened in surprise, "I didn't know you were in the military." "Yeah. I don't really like talking about my time in the service," Husk said solemnly, "I ain't the kind of old guy who likes telling war stories. Most of what I have to tell is… pretty fucking depressing."
"I understand," Vaggie chuckled, "After every Extermination, all the girls wanted to compare their kill counts and show off how bloody their spears and uniforms were. Extermination Day is just a sport for them, they literally live for the slaughter. I mean, I used to love it, too, but… well after a while something started eating at me. The… rush… very quickly lost its appeal."
Husk smiled, gently placing a hand on Vaggie's shoulder and nodded, saying, "You don't have to justify your past to me, or to anyone. If you don't want to talk about it, then you don't have to. Let the past rest where it belongs… in the past. Certainly won't make me think any less of you." "But, Husk," Husk held up a hand, cutting Vaggie off and said, "We both did shit we're not proud of. Yes, we were just following orders; yes, a lot of what happened was morally questionable, at best. But it's over and done with. If you want to talk about it, we can. But… not here, okay?"
"I don't know if I can talk about it," Vaggie sighed, "It's… pretty ugly… what I did. What and… who I was… I hate that person." "Vaggie," Husk smiled, "Trust me, you won't find a single person in the Pride Ring who can relate more than me." Vaggie's face stretched into a grateful smile, wiping a few tears from her eye before wrapping her arms around Husk in a gentle hug. Husk chuckled nervously, patting Vaggie on the shoulder before carefully wriggling out of her grip.
"Sorry," Vaggie sniffed, "It's okay, kid," Husk chuffed, reaching into his back pocket and pulled out his silver flask, taking a quick swig and said with a satisfied sigh and a wink, "We all need to hug it out every now and then." Husk tucked the flask back into his pocket and sighed, clapping his hands and said, "Alright, c'mon, let's get down to some serious training." Vaggie smiled and gave a salute, shouting, "Sir, yes sir!"