Chapter 4: Taking Care of Business

Charlie opened the door to her shared office space with a smile on her face and walked towards her desk to gather the documents for her meeting with Alastor. She'd just come from her session with Sophia and it had put her in such a good mood. It had been great to just talk about all her hopes and dreams with the kind woman. Charlie could just feel that Sophia actually cared when they spoke and she just knew the Winner would be such a big help for all the future guests! She felt great after just one session after all!

Humming to herself, Charlie set the pile of finances to one side with a notepad and pen before clearing the clutter of redemption plans away when Alastor entered. "Hello, Charlie dear. What's got you looking so chipper? I don't recall you ever being so pleased to balance the books." He greeted her with his ever present smile but Charlie felt that it was one of his real ones. After he'd told her about using smiles as a tool she'd started to pay more attention to his own smiles, and she felt she'd gotten pretty good at telling them apart now if she did say so herself.

"I just had a great time talking to Sophia before our meeting is all," Charlie smiled back at him, "I mean, both the Winners are kind and caring but it was great just having a sympathetic ear to listen to stuff, ya know?"

Alastor sat over at his own desk to her right, microphone staff propped against the wall, and selected a document from one of his drawers. "Hmm, I suppose I can see the appeal. You do have quite the heavy burden on your shoulders after all. I'm so pleased I can assist you with this small corner of it."

He gestured at the desks they occupied and Charlie felt her gratitude for all of his help over the last 8 months fill her heart. She'd really known nothing about the business side of running a hotel when she had started. It was barely more than an abandoned family property even after Angel Dust had come to stay. Looking back, she was truly lucky that Alastor decided to take interest in helping her run it as they probably would've fallen apart even without the Extermination battle. There was just so much involved in keeping the building operating that she had no idea about! Staffing it was just the beginning.

"Now, where shall we start? Hopefully your father kept everything on the level when he rebuilt all the utilities for this place." He grinned at his little pun and his studio audience laugh track played after it.

Charlie rolled her eyes fondly as she passed him a copy of the recent accounts summary and they began taking stock of the new costs and requirements to run the hotel. Her father had certainly done something as the utilities seemed to remain the same usage rates even with the increased size, but there were some letters from both the power and water companies about usage discrepancies and billing. They also debated on how to bring revenue to the hotel as Alastor always enjoyed pointing out that she was practically bleeding money with no income, but Charlie insisted that unless they really started draining her trust fund dry that she would keep the hotel as rent free. That she earned enough from her stocks and investments to cover all costs still with more to spare. Alastor gave her a hum that sounded more judgemental than approving at the mention of her stock portfolio. Having lived through the human stock market crash and great depression, he seemed to hold a distrust in the banking system that Charlie supposed she couldn't fault him on. It took the better part of half an hour to go over everything to his satisfaction.

"Well I suppose that should put the most pressing particulars to rest," Alastor replied as he put away his copy of the accounts, "But there is a growing problem I wanted to bring to your attention." He steepled his hands together as he leaned back in his chair to face her. "You should place an advertisement to hire a cook as well as a maintenance person post haste."

"Oh," Charlie blinked in surprise, "I thought you enjoyed helping with the cooking? I know we've all loved your food and-"

"Yes, yes, I know my dear, I'm quite the chef," he interrupted and she could hear his audience cheering from the mysterious ether around him. "But the fact of the matter is we now have 2 more souls relying on meals at the hotel with these Winners, and who knows how many more wayward Sinners may come knocking seeking divine aid once word eventually gets out that the hotel works. Something that would quickly outpace the availability of Niffty and myself. Now, I can of course take such staff management under my purview, but this hotel is not my only business venture and you will require dedicated staff members to meet your growing needs."

Charlie nodded thoughtfully, "That's a great point. If we start to fill the hotel we may need even more than just one cook."

"Well you'll need more staff in several departments should that scenario happen, but cooking and maintenance are the two positions I would suggest you fill with expediency."

Charlie added the suggestions to her growing notes. This is the type of stuff she never would've considered without Alastor. Things just got done around her growing up. Rooms were just always clean and food served for meals. She was embarrassed to admit how long it took her to think that she should pay Husk and Niffty for working at the hotel. Even if Alastor had summoned them via soul contracts to be here she could still pay them so it felt more like a job and less like…well that they had been summoned and forced to work here. Thinking about that, she looked up at Alastor with a nervous smile, "I don't suppose you would know any chefs in need of a job?"

Alastor laughed, "Heavens no! What need would I have for a chef when I'm perfectly capable of feeding myself? No my dear, we have exhausted the domestic skill set of favors I find worth calling upon. You shall have to put out advertisements the old fashioned way." He tapped a finger on his chin in thought. "Though I suppose I could generously offer you an ad spot during one of my broadcasts."

"Wait, people place ads during your broadcasts?" Charlie asked. Once Vaggie had told her about his old murdery sounding broadcasts coming back she had made a point to not tune into his station as she could just pretend it didn't happen if she did not hear it. Seeing Alastor's eyes narrow at her question, Charlie realized he could be taking it the wrong way and waved her hands dismissively, "What I mean is I didn't realize you did ad spots! I uhhh thought you might find that sort of thing…beneath you?"

His gaze became more relaxed after her addition. "Come now Charlie, you are quite aware that Hell has an economic system. Did we not just discuss the finances but mere minutes ago? Advertisements are simply a means to an end in business, and my radio station is one such business. Do you think I support it on quality content alone? My dear, you flatter me."

Embarrassed at needing the obvious pointed out for her again, Charlie looked down at her desk to fiddle with her pen. Of course he would need a way to make money! Sinners didn't just have a trust fund given to them.

"Oh…yeah…that's a good point." She looked back up at him with a strained smile, "Well let me see about getting an ad in the paper first, but if you're willing then I think a radio ad could be great! I should probably try and keep things more low profile right now though, so…maybe later?"

Before she could ask about what maintenance personnel would be needed for, the office door burst open as her Dad walked in. "Charlie! Sophia said that I'd find-" He stopped when he noticed Alastor and frowned. "Oh, you're here too I see. What's all this then? Some sort of meeting? What could you both need to talk about alone?"

Alastor's grin widened, "Oh nothing you'd find important I'm sure."

Lucifer squinted at him suspiciously and Charlie took a steadying breath. She was getting tired of constantly needing to come between them. "Alastor was just giving me advice on hotel management stuff, Dad. He's taught me a lot about running a business since he's been here."

"What could he possibly have to suggest that I cannot provide?" Lucifer scoffed.

"Well…we were just talking about how we'll need a full time cook-"

"Charlie, dear, I can simply make all the food you need!" he spread his hands wide and grinned. "All the delights you could want for these poor Sinners are as easy as a wave and a little creation magic!" He gestured and an extravagant dinner with full roasted pig appeared on Vaggie's desk with trimmings and lavish side dishes piled high around it.

Charlie sighed and pinched her nose, "Dad-"

"How delightful!" Alastor exclaimed with wide eyes and a teasing grin. "Please do regale us with your nuanced plans to entice new guests with such glutenous feasts. Such a divine strategy will surely entice them to become more virtuous!"

Lucifer scowled at Alastor after his jab, and Charlie took a steadying breath as she stood up from her desk to get his attention. "Dad. I know that you mean well and you want to help, but this isn't just a place for souls to get spoiled and lazy. They're not here on some sort of…vacation. We are trying to discourage sin. Making anything people want with a wave of your hand sounds great for helping me, but if we make things at the hotel too easy then people will just want to live here and not work for redemption! So I need to run this place like a normal hotel. With staff to take care of things, and that includes cooking too."

She smiled the entire time to soften her words, but her dad looked a little uncomfortable once she was done speaking. Charlie could tell that he understood her points. "Well I still don't see why you have to ask HIM for any help now that I'm involved," Lucifer jabbed his head in Alastor's direction.

"Alastor has decades of experience running a successful radio station here in Hell," Charlie pointed out. "He's given me a lot of really good advice-"

"And I have a centuries old successful amusement park!" Lucifer countered with a smile, "Way more impressive than some little radio tower."

"An amusement park that you have an Operations Manager for that runs the daily operations for you," Charlie kindly reminded him. He deflated at her point and fiddled with his cane. "Alastor has the kind of hands-on experience that is also more to scale with what I'm trying to do. Think of him more as my Operations Manager here if it helps." Charlie glanced at Alastor and saw him sitting back in his chair while casually examining his claws with an amused smile.

She walked over to her Dad and gave him a hug. Lucifer seemed surprised but quickly returned it. "I'm so glad you want to be a part of my dream, Dad." She smiled as she pulled back from him, "But it is my dream and you kinda need to let me run it my way." She gave him a little half shrug at the end and he sighed.

"Alright," Lucifer stated, "but if you change your mind you call me right away! I want to help you as much as I can!" She gazed lovingly at him and he returned it. It really meant so much that her Dad wanted to help her dream out. Especially now that Heaven was so involved. She just needed to help give him a little...focus sometimes.

"Well this has been an insightful meeting," Alastor declared and broke the silence. Charlie looked over to see him stand and retrieve his staff. "The sooner you can place your job advertisements, Charlie, the better, and do let me know if you change your mind on the offer, my dear." He gave her a nod before melting into shadow and disappearing.

"Offer? What offer?" Lucifer asked tensely. "Charlie did he try to-"

"It was just for an ad spot on his radio show, Dad." Charlie waved off his concerns as she went back to her desk to clean up. "Alastor offered me free ad time but I told him we should go with a print ad right now as we're trying to keep a lower profile until we get our new redemption plan figured out."

Lucifer rolled his eyes, "How generous of him I'm sure."

Charlie sighed, "Daaad."

"Fine, fine'" He held his hands up in surrender, "Let's talk about something else then."

"Oh! How did things go with Sera today?" She asked with a grin. Charlie was really hoping they'd be able to work together and maybe work through whatever was in their past as well that had gotten him so worked up during the first meeting. "Did you get a lot done?"

Lucifer gave her a nervous grin, "Let's talk about something other than that."

"Alright, where to fucking start ey?" Cherri Bomb grinned as she fell onto one of the loveseats. Sophia smiled and sat down across from her. Notepad poised on her knee and pen held in her hand resting upon it. "Though just living stuff and not anything after?"

Sophia shrugged casually, "You're welcome to share more if you like, but only anything 'sinful' or perhaps 'morally wrong' you did on Earth will be added to our data for the future redemption guides and suggestions. Whatever you share beyond that stays here between us."

"Ooo, so you're kinda like a priest then? I confess my sins and you absolve me for being a bad girl?" She grinned in a wide teasing manner.

"Not quite," Sophia chuckled, "Though the idea is not too dissimilar I suppose. With confessionals you are looking to repent or become a better person as you know you've done wrong according to the morals of the church. So the broad strokes are similar but I'm not here to pass judgment or offer absolution. It's more about self reflection and growth."

"Well whatever, it's all a bunch of bullshit anyway," Cherri waves her hand dismissively. "So I was basically the same on Earth as I am here, but I ran with a gang then. Partied hard and fucked shit up if anyone messed with our turf."

Sophia hummed as she began writing notes down. "Are there any activities in particular that you remember?"

Cherri gazed up at the ceiling in thought as she began to tick things off on her fingers. "Let's see. Beyond the drugs and sex, there was arson, destruction of public property, assault, battery, cheating, lying, stealing…" She paused as she considered something and her brow furrowed, "I don't think I murdered anyone until I got down here where it meant fuck all cause you just regenerate."

"You do?" Sophia asked. Looking up and blinking in surprise.

"Well yeah. That not happen up in Heaven? Sucks to be you guys I guess." Cherri laughed before grinning widely.

Sophia gave her an amused smile, "Since no one in Heaven is trying to hurt one another, it may be more accurate to say the theory has not been tested." She looked back down at her notebook to keep writing, "General partaking of sex and drugs are not considered a sin or moral crime though. Not when it comes to the judgment of your immortal soul at any rate from what I've seen. Abuse of either however would likely qualify. I've interacted with plenty of Winners that have participated in both acts, but the rest are certainly what I would consider 'on the table' for moral judgment."

"No shit?" Cherri asked. Eye wide in surprise. "Angie's gonna be stoked to hear that shit. So can you saints get high and fucked up up there?"

"I know that there are dispensaries and several sex clubs throughout Heaven, though I have not visited them myself as they don't hold an appeal for me. Winners are very rarely addicts or have a strong desire to use drugs anymore as the reasons for depending on, or consuming them, are gone." Sophia said as she leaned back and stopped writing. "On rare occasions I've seen them used to wean off a few desperate souls who die with the need still running through them and they are given a dedicated team in the Calming Homes to help free them of the habit. It has happened maybe half a dozen times since I began there, so they aren't publicly available, no."

Cherri scoffed, "Well that sounds lame as fuck. I party best with my custom blend and ain't no way I'd want to go someplace where I can't indulge."

Sophia nodded, "I can see that having fun ranks pretty high up on your list of needs."

"Uh, yeah," Cherri replied with a very condescending tone, "Doing whatever I want, whenever I wanna do it is the best! Like, I bet you lot still follow a whole bunch of fucking rules and shit up in Heaven don't ya? That's great for people that like that shit, but Charlie is nuts thinking she can redeem all of Hell." Cherri spread her arms wide and grinned, "Hell fucking rocks!"

"Please come on in and sit wherever you like." Ren stepped back to allow Husk into the office. The cat man made his way over to the nearest couch and sat down with his arms crossed. "Have you ever spoken with a therapist before?" Ren asked.

"Nah," Husk replied, "Had a friend or two that did while I was up above, but I never bothered. Why'd ya ask?" He raised an eyebrow in suspicion.

Ren sat across from him on the other couch. "In my case it's mostly curiosity to see if you have any previous experience that could lead to preconceived notions, but it's also a good way to lead into my oath."

"What sort of oath? Shit like that gets tricky down here." Husk commented with a wary look.

"Just your normal doctor patient oath with a minor change," Ren shrugged casually as they held eye contact with Husk. "With the exception of the sins or 'wrongdoings' you felt you made in life that will be added as anonymous data for the Redemption Project, anything we speak on here in private will remain just that. Private. I will never divulge your personal information, feelings, or actions to anyone else unless you are at risk of harming yourself. That is my personal promise to you."

A bell chime rang through the room after they finished and Ren watched Husk's body tense up and his eyes widened. It was interesting how everyone reacted to this oath. Vaggie hadn't given it more than a shrug and Ren couldn't be sure Nifty had even noticed as she had already begun to scour the room. Their patients in Heaven always found comfort or peace in the little bell chime that accompanied it, so these reactions today were a nostalgic reminder of the patients they'd had when they were living. Though there had been no little chime then. They'd forgotten how skeptical or wary most of their earthly patients had started out.

"I typically also make an exception for sharing intent to harm others, but given the location," Ren spread their hands out to the side and shrugged in a 'what can you do' manner, "I felt it best to remove that part."

Husk sent them a side eyed glance as they relaxed back into the couch. "Probably for the best. So you just want to know what sins we committed while living, right?"

Ren nodded, "That's all we need to talk about today, though I am happy to speak on anything else if you wish."

Husk scoffed, "That ain't happening without a lot more booze flowing through me." Ren nodded understandingly and reddied their pencil and notebook. "There any guidelines for what qualifies?"

"Nothing from Heaven, no," Ren replied, "So we're asking for patients to make their own judgment call. We'll then be cross referencing it with our knowledge of Winner patients' pasts to start with. Though so far everyone has had a general idea on why they're down here."

Husk hummed and nodded, "Yeah I got a good idea. I was a thief and a conman in life. Started as a way to make money with cheap sleight of hand tricks as a kid, but when the depression hit it turned to stealing to survive." There was a wistful look on Husk's face as he spoke. "Made my way to Vegas after the second war with the plans of making it big, but I never did better than a lounge performer or opening act. All I really got was a bigger taste for gambling and taking risks in Sin City on top of more bad habits. Started running with a group to scam the casinos. Counting cards, sleight of hand swaps, even using tourists to scam the casinos and line my pockets. Couldn't give you all the details now but I've dealt out my fair share of violence as part of it."

Ren continued writing as they asked, "So it sounds like, stealing, lying, manipulation, and possibly assault?"

"Assault and murder," Husk clarified with a sigh, "Not planned but my hands ain't clean."

"Do you regret it?" Ren inquired as they glanced up at Husk.

"Then? No." Husk scoffed, "It was me or them and I wanted to keep living. Now?" He sighed and looked off to the side, "I don't know."

Angel Dust opened the front door to the hotel lobby with a grand flourish. "Welcome to the first step on ya path outta Hell, toots!"

He grinned down at the cat demon at his side and motioned that she should walk in. Ashes looked around nervously, her ears rotating about and seeking threatening sounds, before slowly stepping over the threshold into the lobby. She'd heard about the hotel of course. It had been a hot topic almost a year ago along with making fun of the princess' new pet project for the joke it was. No one got out of Hell unless it was at the tip of an exorcist spear or the end of a Carmine Angelic weapon and…well with that avenue eluding her why not give this one a shot.

She'd had no idea Angel Dust had been staying here since that infamous tv interview, but it wasn't like they hung out. They were casual acquaintances at best before last week, but if Val's top star could hide out here when off work then surely some nobody like her could find peace of mind here too. Angel Dust had claimed redemption was real, that he would tell her more after she was all checked in, but Ashes was pretty sure he was just trying to raise her spirits last week. Not hard to do when she didn't think she could be any lower.

The building had looked incredibly grand as they'd walked up the hill towards it and the lobby inside matched. Angel Dust had said the old hotel was a dump that got knocked down in the last extermination, with Lucifer himself helping to make this one. The inside looked nicer than any big hotel chains she'd had the chance to stay at in life, and she pulled the oversized coat she favored when going out around her tighter. Self conscious at how out of place she looked.

Angel Dust confidently strode over to what looked like a check in desk and a woman with pale gray hair sitting at it while Ashes followed slowly behind. "'Ey Vaggie, where's Husk at? I never see you mannin' tha front," he leaned against the counter with one of his arms while looking over it to see if this Husk was hiding somewhere.

Vaggie put the book she had been reading down and raised an eyebrow at Angel Dust. "He's at his session right now and Charlie is in a meeting." She turned her one eye to look at Ashes. "Who's your friend?"

Angel stepped behind Ashes and grabbed her shoulders with his lower arms while gesturing with his upper set, "Vaggie, meet Ashes. Ashes, Vaggie. I got yas a new guest lookin' ta sign up for redemption!"

Vaggie's eye widened at the news, "Wait. Really?" She looked down at Ashes, "He didn't bring you here to just hang out? You actually want to check in and try to get redeemed?"

"So it is possible?" Ashes asked, a small flame of hope sparking in her gut, "Staying here can get people redeemed? Get you…get you out of Hell?"

"I mean," Vaggie gave an awkward shrug, "It's a whole process of therapy and working to better yourself, but we have redeemed one confirmed soul so far." She pointed to the right where a huge painting hung on the wall of some snake demon with a bunch of egg…creatures? Maybe Hellborn? A little picture was taped on the wall next to it and Ashes walked over to get a look. It looked like an instant polaroid film picture from when she was alive and inside of it was a snake creature.

Her eyes darted back and forth between the two images. There were some changes, but overall it looked like a softer, more heavenly version of the snake demon in the painting. This was proof. It was possible. Redemption was possible. She could escape this decades long nightmare. Ashes hadn't realized how labored her breathing had become while she stood there and now she struggled to get a deep breath in. Why was it suddenly so hard to breathe? Her chest felt tight and her throat felt like it was closing up. She could hear voices from somewhere but her vision was getting blurry and she felt so dizzy.

A pair of arms suddenly grabbed her by the shoulders and the woman, Vaggie, was there in front of her face. "Hey, hey! Ashes was it? I need to look at me, ok?" Ashes nodded and tried to focus on the woman's face. "Okay that's good, now breathe with me. Ready? In." Vaggie dramatically took a deep breath in and Ashes did her best to copy her but it was faster and shorter than hers. "And now out." She blew it all out in one mostly quick motion. Vaggie smiled and kept at it with her. Repeating the words and actions with her. Slowly Ashes' breathing got steadier and she felt like her heart had fallen back down from her throat.

"Th-thank you," Ashes said, as she stepped away. Embarrassed at showing weakness like that in front of a stranger.

"I get it," Vaggie shrugged dismissively and Ashes was grateful they weren't making a big deal of it. "We only found out Pentious got redeemed a few weeks ago and it was a lot for us all to take in too."

Ashes' glanced back at the painting before looking at Vaggie, "Is that why you've not told anyone? Cause this is...this is huge. Sinners can get redeemed…"

Vaggie tilted her head with a grimace, "It's…one of the reasons, yeah. We do plan on going public eventually, but there's been a lot going on and a lot is changing around here while we reorganize." She started walking back towards the front desk where Angel Dust was waiting. He gave her a supportive smile and a pat on the back once she was closer.

"Ya okay there, toots?"

Ashes took another deep breath to steady herself, "I haven't been okay for a long, long time." Tears began prickling behind her eyes as knowledge that there was a way out of this nightmare of an afterlife. She craned her neck up to give Angel Dust a watery smile, "But I think I might be one day. Thank you. So, so much for this Angel Dust. I just-" She sniffled and blinked causing tears to start trailing down her face.

"Hey, don't thank me just yet," Angel Dust teased with a little shove, "Like Husk is always reminding me, ya gots ta put in the hard work if you wanna get redeemed. Course I'm sure yous gots way fewer sins to work off than I do so maybe it won't be quite so hard." He tossed her a flirty grin and posed back against the front desk as he ran a hand over his hair.

Ashes let out a chuckle at the display, "I'll have to turn to you for inspiration then. Given how well you take cock I can't imagine you're afraid of anything hard."

"Ha! Ya better believe it toots!"

They grinned at each other and Ashes felt lighter than she had in years. Vaggie cleared her throat and Ashes looked at her out of the side of her eyes. A little miffed at her interrupting the moment, but reminded herself that this kind of thinking likely wasn't going to get her redeemed. She turned to look at the woman fully as she put on a smile.

"I'll explain more on the way to your room but," she presented an old fashioned key with a metal tab bearing the number '205' hanging from the ring, "Let me be the first to welcome you to the Hazbin Hotel." Vaggie smiled and Ashes returned it easily now as she reached forward to grab the key. She traced her fingers over the room number. Maybe things won't be so terrible inside this hotel.

"So yous really gonna keep anything we talk about private?" Angel asked as he reclined into the loveseat across from Sophia. "Cause I got a reputation to uphold, ya hear?"

Sophia smiled, "Yes. Ren and I take our oaths very seriously. Anything we discuss, outside of the general nature of your sins committed on Earth, will remain between the two of us." She reclined back into her chair and readied her notepad, "Whenever you're ready, feel free to list off anything you think may have been sinful or morally questionable during your life."

"Well I was in da family business back then," Angel draped his upper arms over the back of the couch while his lower set rolled a wrist in a casual gesture, "So yous got tha regular crimes. Theft, smuggling, property damage, shoot outs. Ya know. Tha normal stuff." His upper arms shrugged before relaxing again.

"And by family business, I take it you mean the mafia?" Sophia clarified as she wrote down her notes.

Angel rolled his eyes, "Well yeah. What'd ya think I was a tailor? I know I wear a tight fit, but that's just good taste, doll." He grinned at her and she just smiled and shook her head.

"So any murder during your shoot outs then?" She asked and glanced up.

"Eh, some. Tommy guns ain't exactly a precision weapon, and I was more of a cover fire guy than a sharp shooter."

Sophia hummed in thought before continuing. "Anything else beyond your mafia related crimes? Did you harass people either verbally or sexually at all?"

Angel scoffed, "I can't remember every Joe Schmo I ever chatted with, but I enjoy a good tease so, maybe. The sex stuff didn't really come about until after I'd died though. It was a big risk for a fella like me hookin' up top side when I kicked the bucket, so it was freeing in a way to finally do what I wanted, with who I wanted, whenever I wanted down here." He shrugged, "Though that still wasn't right away. There's a whole mafia district down here I joined up with at first cause I knew the business, ya know? There was a comfort in tha familiar. But I skedaddled well before my pops showed up. He would'a killed me double dead once he found out I was a queer so it was good I'd got out."

Sophia kept jotting her notes down and let Angel work through his thoughts for a few seconds before speaking up. "Is he still around? Or do you not know?"

"Far as I know he and my older brother are still in the district, but I ain't seen 'em in decades, and we both like it that way." Angel had folded his arms around his chest as he spoke.

"And you don't worry about them coming to find you?" Sophia asked, "I know leaving organized crime isn't easily done."

"You ain't telling me anything I don't know, toots." Angel rolled his eyes before putting on a relaxed air again. Running a hand over his hair and reclining back against the couch with a confident grin. "I can take care of myself though. Plus I'm so famous now that they can't touch me."

The light bell that typically chimed after delivering their oath rang out like a deep church bell during the session with Alastor and it gave Ren pause. That was…different, but nothing else seemed to have changed so they dismissed it before looking at Alastor. The man had his ever present grin on of course, but his eyes were wide with interest before becoming lidded and looking back at Ren with a calculating gleam. "Well now that is interesting," Alastor commented as he took a seat in a chair at the end of the 'U' shape arrangement of furniture. "Does that always happen when you deliver this 'oath' of yours?"

"It's typically more of a light chime," Ren admittedly freely as they sat on the couch to Alastor's left that they'd been favoring all day. "But yes it does always ring afterwards."

Alastor hummed thoughtfully, giving Ren a once over with that same calculated look. "So I believe you wished to know of any sins committed during my mortal years, correct?"

Red nodded as they readied their notebook for the last session of the day. While they hadn't planned on leaving Alastor till the end, the man had claimed he would not be free for any of the other time slots once Sophia had to turn down his request to have his session with her. He'd gone through the motions of apologizing for giving her a fright with his demonic form last week, but Ren had seen the glint of satisfaction in them as he did it. Alastor seemed perfectly sincere in his performance as a simple staff member here, but there was more beneath this act that Ren was fascinated to see if they'd be able to uncover.

"It doesn't have to be a full account but we've been asking if those on staff would at least share anything they view as 'sinful' or 'morally wrong' that may have sent them here." Ren commented.

"Oh I assure you," Alastor chuckled. That strange old radio distortion on his voice crackling as he did so, "I have no disillusionments as to my placement in Hell and knew for many years precisely where I would end up." His grin widened as he continued, "I was quite the prolific killer after all."

Ren jotted their notes down but gave no outward sign that this information was shocking. So far, their guess from last week was starting to look like a very accurate prediction, and that meant this was all a very careful game they were navigating. "Anything else?" They asked, looking up at Alastor's observant gaze. "Not that murder isn't enough of course, but smaller infractions like theft or abuse would be worth noting."

Alastor broke his gaze and drummed his fingers on the staff of his microphone as he likely thought back on his life. "No doubt some childhood misdeeds were along those lines, but nothing of significance I can recall, no."

Ren tilted their head at the interesting word choice. "Alright. Just to get clarity then, you mentioned you were a prolific killer. Was it due to a single murder you committed that was noteworthy or due to the volume of murders committed?"

An excited gleam filled Alastor's gaze when he met Ren's eyes again, "Well, my fine fellow, I certainly considered them all noteworthy in riding the city of their filth, but as for judgment rendered it was no doubt due to the thirteen lives I ended before meeting my own untimely end."

Ren nodded and made note of the amount, underlining serial killer next to it. "That would certainly do it. Also, I identify as non-binary so if you could please use gender neutral terms or my name that would be preferred."

The sound of radio static as if someone was trying to manually tune into a station filled the air as Alastor tilted their head in clear confusion. Now that was a fascinating behavior note that Ren would have to wait to jot down. Given the appearance, voice, and mannerisms, Ren had given Alastor an estimated death of between the 1920s to the 1940s. Well before the modern gender and sex identifiers used currently on Earth and in Heaven. The confusion either meant he was purposefully uninformed or Hell itself lacked the same information and resources; which would explain some things after the earlier session with Niffty.

When Alastor didn't ask for clarity, Ren saw the opportunity to show how useful these sessions could be to a person like him. There was a slim chance of getting Alastor to return, but Ren had always been fascinated with sociopaths -or antisocial personality disorder as it was now known- so they felt it was worth trying at least. "Do you know much about human social behavior? What we now call sociology or social sciences?"

"Some," Alastor admitted, "It is a bit of a hobby of mine, studying how people behave, but one I have admittedly been neglecting of late."

Ren smiled pleasantly, "Well I'm happy to update your knowledge on the subject during any sessions we are in. Be it elaborating further on gender identity or any other social constructs. As it would be during our time here, it would be covered under my privacy oath. Only if you want to of course. Quite a lot has changed in the last one hundred or so years since your death."

Alastor's eyes lit in delight before becoming lidded and calculating once more, "Interesting. Why…that almost sounds like you're looking to make a deal."

Ren shook their head slightly. "Not a deal, no. There's nothing I'm looking to gain from you; though I have enjoyed your company so far. I simply wanted to put the clarification out there that even if you don't want to talk about sins or redemption, that I'm available to be a 'no strings attached' confidant or informant depending on the topic."

He hummed and regarded Ren for a moment. "So you are saying that any conversation held in this room, not just those of a personal nature, are bound to the privacy of your earlier oath?"

Alastor tapped his microphone cane on the ground lightly on the floor to punctuate his statement, but it felt like it had reverberated through the room. Ren felt the feathers prickle on their head as if they were standing on end like goosebumps. They suddenly realized something more was going on during this conversation that they did not understand. Not something harmful as the wards wouldn't allow it, but just…something potent. Heavy. They suddenly felt like they had to be very careful with how they replied.

"With the exception of sins during your time on Earth, and any statements made that could indicate self harm, all other conversations we have here will be kept completely private. I will not tell another soul without your explicit permission." Ren finally replied with a serious nod.

Alastor's eyes flashed black and then back to red in a blink. He grinned widely back at Ren. "You know…I do believe that your employment here at the hotel is going to be vastly more beneficial than I had initially thought it would be."

A/N:
Since this was originally part of chapter 3, these events do happen later that same day. I used the show and the old lore drops from the wiki to build everyone's backstories for this fic. We'll see how much holds up after future seasons, lol. I've also done a fair amount of historical research for them to try and make logical decisions on their history rather than just fun ones.

Alastor's little "on the level" joke is a play on slang terms. Back in the 20s/30s 'on the level' meant being honest/fair/accurate. This eventually became the just 'level' as in "I'm gonna level with you" meaning you are telling someone the truth. Or 'no cap' as is used in modern slang. Something being 'level' means it is balanced and even/not at an angle or slope in construction. When you hang a picture, it is level when it is parallel to the floor or ceiling. So he's basically implying he hopes Lucifer didn't fuck things up for their infrastructure and/or billing when making the hotel.

Much like Alastor, I am often more entertained by my own jokes than others are, so uhhh apologizes in advanced if word play and puns aren't your kind of comedy. 😅 It's the best I can do

I'm currently about half way through on chapter 7 and plan to finish it and chapter 8 by next Wednesday so I'm committing to the weekly updates now. Should be Wednesday morning until I'm done or I suppose if I finish writing I can then start dropping them faster. 😅