Hazbin Hotel: Anthony's
"You're doing it wrong" Angel flipped the vegetables he had in a pan adding some oil and letting them sweat "Steady hand, a gentle movement back and forth…" he smirked at that but knowing Caine decided to keep the dirty joke to himself. He'd been so surprised when he'd walked into the kitchen a couple days beforehand to see the Dark Overlord in an apron trying to cook. He hadn't known whether to laugh or pity him. Eventually his good nature won out and he'd decided to give him some cooking lessons. Turned out he wasn't so bad, even though his pasta was like chewing hard dough. But the area he'd shown interest in was baking, having decided that if someone was going to make desserts worth eating it would be him, anything to keep from eating that super sweet birthday cake that no doubt Charlie had had something to do with. Everything she touched ended up looking like someone threw paint and glitter in the air and then dumped sugar on it.
Caine gave Angel a look but said nothing as he continued to concentrate on the little cakes he was trying to make. Something so delicate required senses and instincts he had not had use of in thousands of years. He was not a creative person. But if it was anything like gardening, patience and care was involved. He'd decided that the next time he and Emily had tea together, he would make the cakes himself, instead of conjuring them as he usually did. He was trying to find ways to show her he was trying, that he was taking this seriously. Angel saw it another way "There you go, see now you can have a whole tray of them for your next little tea party with your girlfriend."
Husker almost dropped the bottle he was serving when he heard the crash coming from the kitchen. He glanced back over his shoulder then shook his head as he poured the drink for one of the brave sinners still staying at the hotel. "Angel, you're gonna get hurt one of these days" he muttered as he wiped a small spill then excused himself. The scene he walked into was rather amusing, though he supposed he should rescue Angel from the barrage of different sized cooking utensils headed his way, grabbing him out of the way right before the meat cleaver hit him, embedding itself in the wall "Kid when are you going to learn not to push overlord buttons? Might as well go up to Alastor and kiss him if you really like flirting with danger." Caine slammed his apron down on the counter "That's it! I'm just conjuring them from now on, forget this" he was more frustrated that he couldn't do what he was trying to do than at Angel. He could throw a knife and hit a pin right down the center, yet he couldn't make these damnable fairy cakes and Satan help him those little finger sandwiches that Emily liked so much.
Seeing the overlord on the verge of a meltdown, Husker stepped in with a glass of cooking sherry "Come on it's not that bad. Just try again." He offered him a glass and then poured himself one "Besides you could serve that girl shit on a shingle and she'd be thrilled" Caine snatched the glass and downed it in one gulp "Why does everyone keep saying that. I'm just trying to do…. something…" he ground his teeth and almost choked on the words "Nice…" he grabbed the whole bottle and took another swig "Last time I did something…I'm not saying that word again…I put someone out of their damn misery with a bullet between the eyes." Husker could see a bartender was needed in this instance "Come on, I'll get you something a little stronger. This stuff is for kids" Once all three were settled at the bar, Husker put together a drink that Caine had been ordering regularly lately. A little of this, a little of that, but always two shots of absinth. "Here, calm your nerves…" Caine snatched up the drink but scowled at him "I'm not nervous" but as he took the first drink both Husker and Angel exchanged knowing glances "You know it's easy to lie to yourself, but not to a room full of people that all saw the same thing" Angel chuckled as he sipped his sex on the beach "Face it Darkness, you're in love"
Glass flew everywhere when Caine smashed it in his hand, his drink spraying all over the bar as he slammed his fist down into the mess "I am not in love!" he growled, hid voice almost reaching that octave that Husker was very familiar with and making his fur stand on edge. "Woah, easy there hot shot…" he started making him another one right away "Look, there's no shame in it…. you two have been spending a lot of time together and…well…." Again, the two shared a glance but Angel decided to step in "Come on Darkness, you don't see the way she looks at you? The way she touches your hand or your arm." He arched his brow as Caine suddenly found anywhere else very interesting to look at "We all saw you two dance together. Didn't you two notice you went for three songs before you finally stopped?"
It had been the most wonderful night he'd ever experienced. So simple, so magical. It was enough for him that she'd even said yes to begin with but then she'd….and he'd…and they'd "It's nothing it's just simple…" Angel scoffed and picked up his drink again "Ain't nothing simple about what you two got Darkness. She's so head over heels for you I think she'd give up her precious halo for you" That made Caine wince and Angel realized too late that his words were a very poor choice "Well she shouldn't. She's too good. Too pure. I'm…this" he yanked down his sleeve again, showing off that brand they'd all seen before. "I'm marked. I'm used, defiled by masters that I destroyed. I did unspeakable things for them and then I turned the tables and made sure they could never use me again. What honor or goodness could she possibly see in that?!" He stood up from his stool, fingers tracing the outline of the scar "You all said it yourselves the day I showed up here. I'm a monster…. a murderer." Angel and Husker were suddenly panicked "Caine…" Husker tried to stop him but he didn't listen "No, you are not going to dissuade me from this. I've lived with these mistakes too long. I'm paying for them. I will for the rest of my life" Angel was now trying to calm him "Caine stop…" But he was just too far gone at that point "NO!" he snarled and the darkness in the dimly lit bar became even more so. "She is the most pure and beautiful and wonderful thing I've ever laid eyes on. She radiates light, she is goodness and glory and everything I've ever heard stories of. She is more than I will ever be and if she was any kind of Angel she'd stay as far away from me as possible. I'll only drag her down with me"
It was too late and as he turned, he almost ran right into Emily, Husker dropped the glass he was cleaning, Angel's jaw almost hit the floor and Caine just stood there mortified. But the most shocking part of it all was, she didn't look hurt, or disappointed in him. He saw the smile at the corner of her lips "You really think all that?" He was still frozen there, his hands shaking and unsure what to say or do. Even as her wings fluttered, and she floated up closer to him he didn't move. But when her lips graced his cheek, he swore he'd died all over again.
