Hazbin Hotel: The Ballroom

"I don't see why you're all ganging up on me, just because I like a little harmless cannibalism" Vaggie slapped her hand over her eyes and slouched in her chair "Oxymoron of the century" Angel laughed "Yeah you moron!" causing Husker to snicker and Alastor to turn his eyes to radio dials "Watch it whore bug…" Caine was just resting his chin in his hand, watching the exchange go down. He was finding more and more that this group therapy thing was quite entertaining. Most of the time it came down to a fight between the denizens of the hotel and he could just sit back and watch without much input or participation. Cherri had started coming as well, another presence Caine realized that he enjoyed. She was pure chaos and not afraid to put her own opinions into the mix.

Charlie, ever the moderator, decided to interrupt the latest row. "Alastor…cannibalism is…well…not exactly something that is very accepted. And is often frowned up in most societies." She laughed nervously, Alastor sitting down, perched neatly at the edge of his chair as he studied his nails "It's a lifestyle. One I choose to participate in, though you'll notice, I only reserve my murderous rage for those that deserve it. I've never eaten an innocent soul before." Then he tapped his chin "I wonder what those taste like." Caine sat up a little more, seeing a point even in Alastor's madness "I don't see the need to condemn those that kill people that are deserving. Is it wrong to kill someone that has harmed other people or in defense of another?" Eyes were upon him though no one hastened to answer his question. "Killing is killing, good intentions or not" He noticed Vaggie was always the first to chime in with her opinion and in a matter of fact, no discussion way. "Ah yes, how quickly I forget your stone tablets and ancient rules" he rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, don't fuck your neighbor's wife and all that. Isn't that a little specific?" Angel chuckled as he sipped a pina colada. "What did I tell you about drinking at meetings!" Vaggie hissed at him, but Caine brought the point back around "Those bad individuals you don't kill? They tend to kill again" Emily cleared her throat softly "I'm afraid to Heaven, it's a bit a bit blacker and whiter than all that. Killing is killing. Just like stealing is stealing, or lying is lying" Yes, he was well aware of Heaven's absolution. They never saw things any other way than the golden rules laid down by the almighty. No room for interpretation, no room for argument. Everything is quite literally set in stone.

"If we could change the subject to something a bit different. How come it's so wrong of me to want to go down on two guys at once but it's ok for people to fuck when they got a fucking certificate and rings on their fingers?" A chorus of groans went around the room, Caine merely raising a brow "That's a sin?" Carnal instincts were just that, instincts. In his time, it was natural, perfectly so to release frustration or have the need of pleasure. Marriage in his time was merely a commitment to sire children with someone. A means of progeny. That's why so many women had so many children. At this Angel just smirked "Well color me shocked. The overlord is on my side" Emily blushed as the subject was suddenly turned so…well…adult oriented. "It's just a natural thing, at least in my time it was. No one really spent a lot of time thinking about it. Though at that time, it really was just behind closed doors." He gave Angel a look, the porn star knowing nothing of discretion. Though Angel only winked at him and made guns with his fingers "Thanks Darkness, knew I could count on you"

Vaggie made a frustrated groan "Angel, we're trying to get you out of the porn business. The only reason you still go back there is because you're under contract with Valentino!" Caine watched as his face noticeably shifted from his usual laid-back smirk to fear, loathing and anger. "Hey! I do what I have to do to get by like we all do! If I hadn't made that contract, I wouldn't have lasted 10 minutes on the streets! I would have ended up with a spear in my back, probably yours huh killer?" He jabbed at her and Vaggie, of course, rose to the bait "There were other ways Angel, not tying yourself down to that sleaze bag pimp! He got you hooked on drugs, hooked on sex and made you depend on him for everything!" They were too wrapped up in their own little argument to notice Caine grabbing at his forearm, clenching his fist as if in pain. His breath was coming out in shorter bursts. He felt as if his head was swimming. Emily was the one to notice and touched him gently "Caine? What's wrong?" Everyone stopped when she called attention to him, seeing now he was having some kind of panic attack.

Emily moved to get on her knees before him, taking his face into her hands, focusing his attention only on her "Breath, breath in and out, slowly, count to 10" he was still gasping for breath but somehow her words got through and he nodded, trying to breath and trying to count, struggling to get past two but since she was doing it with him, he was able to power through. Once he got to 10 he closed his eyes and just made everything stop for a moment. When he opened them again, he saw looks of concern from everyone, except for Alastor who just smiled curiously. "Are you alright?" Emily left one hand on his face and he nodded, a bit more steady "I just…remembered. Something I thought I'd done my best to forget." When she took her seat again, but kept her hand on his arm, he looked at Angel "I know what it's like to have to survive. To have to make the hard choice to depend on someone else rather than yourself. No one starts off all powerful, but the ones that have it are the ones that pray on the fearful"

He touched his arm again where he'd been clutching at it, then started to undo the cuff of his sleeve "I thought I could make it on my own, that all I needed was a sword and a resolve of pure steel" he started to roll his sleeve down, all the way to the elbow, revealing the marking on his arm, faded now, but never able to fully heel. It was an ankh, an Egyptian symbol with a snake twisting around it from the bast and through the eye above the cross. "The Pharo's Eye" He looked up when Husker spoke after seeing the mark "I thought they were just a myth" At that Caine smirked as he caressed down his forearm, tracing the scarred over brand with his finger "No, they were very much real. Before my time, they controlled everything. Just another power struggle, another war waiting to happen. Kill the wrong person, steal the wrong thing and you end up on their radar. I wasn't smart enough to keep my head down back then. I thought I could take on the world." Angel touched his neck where so often a smoky chain reminded him of his service.

Caine brought himself back and put his sleeve back "Don't feel bad for trying to survive Angel. It's what anyone would have done in your position" He saw the look of recognition in Husker's eyes. Maybe he had more in common with the cat and the spider than he thought. "What matters is what you do now. Yes you signed a contract but is that enough to resolve yourself to an eternity of service? You made hasty decision based on your circumstances, but you don't have to suffer for it. You control your fate. Not that jumped up pimp who would still be turning tricks in back alleys if it wasn't for his partners." Alastor grinned, an opinion he happened to share. "Fight back, take back your life. That's what I did" Angel had one hand on his cheek, the others hugging himself. How this had turned on him, he didn't know. "I'm not strong like you. I don't have anyone to fight for me…" he couldn't even finish as Husker scoffed "Are you kidding? You have a whole room full of people. You think we're going to let anything happen to you. No one here is scared of Valentino, not when we have The Radio Demon on our side. And now the most feared overlord in all of Hell, Valentino has nothing on that"

Caine could see a spark between the two of them, a glance pass, a softness only reserved for each other. Love? Or was it too soon to tell. "You all should be. He's more than just a pimp. Valentino is ruthless, he'll kill anyone just get what he wants. He's vile, vicious, pure evil…." One by one eyes left Angel until once again they were all on Caine "So am I Angel and I can tell you, I've been doing it a lot longer than Valentino" He'd heard the name before, though never had the pleasure of meeting the insect. He knew Vox from his numerous drones that his ravens had used parts of to build nests. Wasn't there a third one? He never did care for their little cabal.

Charlie decided the topic had grown heavy for long enough "I think this is a good place to end things for the night. We'll pick things up again next week" Angel wasted no time in getting out of there, Husker following behind him. Caine was next, needing a drink and following the pair to the bar, Emily staying behind to talk to Charlie. As he sat at the bar he mindlessly picked at the little basket of peanuts while he waited for Husker to come out of the kitchen. The more his past was dragged up, the more these panic attacks were starting to set in. The benefit of an empty house and no one to talk to was that he didn't have to drag up those thoughts. They should stay buried nice and deep where he had them. He lifted his hand to where Emily's had been, touching the spot where he could still feel a trace of softness. He'd never felt such calm in his life.

He looked up when a drink was being slid over to him, the one he usually ordered. Husker standing there, though without his usual look of disdain. "Thanks for…for stepping up for the kid." He shrugged and picked up his bar rag "He's been through a lot. Knowing there's someone here that understands that…well besides me…it helps." Caine picked up his drink, looking down into the dark liquid. Before he could drink it he set it down "What would you do for him? If you had the power to do so?" Husker stopped wiping at a spot but didn't look away from it. "If I had all the power in the world, I'd tear Valentino limb from limb and get Angel's contract back. Just to tear it up so he could be free." He'd had that thought many times over the past couple years. Then another came to his mind when he thought about being in the same situation "If I could have my soul back, I'd trade it for his in a heartbeat"

"Then you do love him" he murmured so only the two of them could hear as he lifted the drink to his lips.