Once the party had dissipated and her friends had retired, all that remained was Alastor, Clover, and Angel. Husk had shuffled off to bed soon after Niffty, complaining that he was "too old" for their rapid-fire chatter. Somehow they'd wandered up the stairs, slowly strolling along to the march Alastor played while they recalled the events of the evening, and ended up in front of her bedroom door. Angel disappeared momentarily into his room, yelling something about changing into pajamas and feeding Fat Nuggets before sending a wink over Alastor's shoulder once his back was turned.
As the door closed behind him and they were finally alone, Clover wasted no time closing the space between them. Alastor's ears swiveled to listen down the hallway on either side of them as Clover boldly linked her fingers behind his neck, lifting onto the balls of her feet and laying her weight against him while she listened to his radio stations shift; It caught the rolling of a drum that ended with crashing cymbals as Alastor finally seemed content that they would not be interrupted before settling into a soft, romantic tune. His microphone disappeared with a pop, his arms winding around her waist to lift her further, and Clover softened her squeal into his shoulder as her feet left the floor. She silenced his chuckling with a kiss, the sound melting into a satisfied purr that rolled down her spine as they stayed there, simply enjoying the feeling of the other in ways they couldn't when in the presence of an audience.
"Shall I walk you to work in the morning?" Alastor whispered against her lips, his back bending forward to accommodate their difference in height when she refused to let go now that her feet were firmly on the floor once again.
"You just want more coffee."
Alastor laughed at her gentle tease, distracting her with the way his lips brushed against hers while his fingers wound around her wrists and pried them from around his neck; The tiny pout she gave him earned her another kiss, this one pressed to the playful furrow between her brows before Alastor's fingers tucked beneath the curve of her jaw and tilted her chin up so he could properly look at her.
"That," The door swung open behind her with a comical creak as Alastor leaned in, her back bending as she struggled to remain upright. His voice regained the crackling radio quality he'd dropped to keep quiet, and his smile grew wider as Clover's balance finally faltered and she stumbled backward into her open doorway. "And the pleasure of your company."
Usually, Clover would have been irritated with his steamrolling, but the promises he gave were enough to placate her; They both knew she never say no to a chance to spend more time together and though so many things had changed, that never would- But that didn't mean she wasn't going to tease him about it.
"Or you could just stay with me-" Clover was almost surprised at the seductive tone that had taken over her voice, dropping it down into a playful purr as she planted her palms on either side of the doorframe. "It's still my birthday."
"I meant it before when I said you were a greedy little thing."
"Yes, and-?"
Alastor seemed utterly pleased when her snark was interrupted by a large yawn that she hurriedly hid behind her hands, the sharp glare she gave him growing blurry as her facial muscles strained. That little head tilt of his came just in time for her to see how it looked on Alastor's more lively appearance, dark hair bouncing against his forehead as his neck bent suddenly to one side and the backlight of the hallways casting interesting shapes across his features. His demonic form returned as she rubbed her eyes, the soft glow of his eyes cutting through the shadows that darkened his features even further and his voice soft beneath shifting static as he bowed ever so slightly before retreating into the hallway.
"Goodnight, Clover."
"I'll see you tomorrow."
Something else caught in her chest as she watched him walk away, a warm sense of emptiness that desired to be filled in the gentlest of ways, and Clover called out before Alastor had a chance to disappear into the shadows.
"Alastor!"
She expected his radio to screech, or for him to startle at her sudden outburst, but the only sign that she'd caught him by surprise was the sudden twitch of his ears backward towards her; Almost as if he'd anticipated it. Alastor paused, rocking back into the step he'd almost taken as he turned to face her. The volume of his radio lowered expectantly, and as silly as she felt, Clover found herself half hiding behind her door frame as she spoke words that she still couldn't quite believe she was allowed to say out loud.
"I love you."
The radio went fuzzy with static, a sound that echoed the fluttering of her heart as Alastor's expression grew unbearably soft.
"I love you too, darling."
As soon as she was sure he was well and truly gone, Clover unleashed the overwhelming giddiness those three little words sent through her into the emptiness of her bedroom. Her feet left the floor with a hollow thump, sending her spiraling into the air as she threw up her arms triumphantly; The display was a sporadic flailing of limbs until she found herself sprawled across her bedspread, bouncing against the mattress as her heart pounded in her chest. Clover supposed this was what someone might write off as "the honeymoon phase", but she knew better than that; This was the months of lingering touches and miscommunication finally paying off, and the freedom that came with it. It was the exhilaration of being allowed to kiss him, of not wondering whether the weight behind his stare was her imagination or something significant-
This was what it was to love him and be loved by him in return.
Once she'd calmed down, Clover went through the tasks of turning down for a night of whatever Angel had planned while she waited for him to reappear. It was a relief to finally remove the wear of the day as she stripped off her clothes, no matter how much she enjoyed the interesting mix of scents of coffee, smoke, sweet perfume and warm spices that clung to her shirt. The weight of her skirt when she tossed it into the hamper had her scrambling to retrieve her cell phone from its pocket before it was forgotten, and she quickly plugged it in so it would be charged for her morning shift before moving towards her dressed for a fresh set of pajamas-
As soon as she turned her back, the phone began to ring.
She didn't think twice about who would be calling at this hour, deciding that it was most likely Lollie wanting to send her well wishes, and grabbed the first shirt she saw in the drawer, tugging it over her head as she blindly reached for her phone and tapped the glowing green icon to answer.
"Hey, wh-"
"I hear that congratulations are in order."
Clover's eye twitched at the voice that answered her, her annoyance fighting furiously with the panic that stilled her blood. The phone felt like a ticking time bomb in her hand, too heavy as she pressed it to her ear.
"Vox," Her throat lurched around the name as she said it, her words dripping with defensive sarcasm. "I'm getting really sick of being forced to participate in your voyeurism kink, what the fuck do you want now? Aren't you busy babysitting your boyfriend and helping Velvette with PR?"
"Let's cut to the chase, shall we? I'm running on a limited time slot."
Electricity sparked from her phone, arcing between her fingertips as she quickly tossed her phone onto the bed and backed away. The shock shot through her arm and settled into her lungs, Clover gasping for breath as she clutched her chest with tingling fingers and wasted what she managed to take in on a string of curses directed at the glitching phone. Its screen rippled with wavelengths, warping her background until Vox's smarmy smile appeared as he remotely switched the call to video.
"So, you're still settling for second best, huh? You've got worse taste in men than I anticipated."
"You're one to talk- How did you ever find time to harass me in your busy schedule of babysitting your boyfriend and coming up with shitty newspaper headlines?"
"At least Val sticks around. The same can't be said for Alastor, and you know that better than anyone, even me," Vox's chair rolled off-screen as he stood up from the electric mess that Clover assumed was his control center console, his shoulders hunched as he leaned into his camera and his antenna sparking with every word. "Alastor left you for bait, doll, and he'll do it again-"
The device jumped as another spark shot through it, trembling against her bedspread as Vox's voice rattled the speakers with its dry distortion. Clover tentatively crept closer, being wary of how much he might see of her half-undressed state- Which might have been entirely unnecessary with Vox's habit of invading privacy, but she tried not to think too hard about that. She leaned over the edge of the bed just in time to see him snap that salesman smile back onto his face before giving her the most ridiculous suggestion she'd ever heard.
"T̵̺̎r̴̼̅ȕ̵̫s̸̯̊t̵̺̂ ̸͕̉m̶̫̔ĕ̸, the mans a coward."
Clover snorted, not caring to cover her face as she cackled at how his display glitched in response; Her humor was not taken well by him, but before the warning he might have given her made it out of his mouth she dropped her hands to brace on the bed on either side of her phone and looked down her nose at the lens.
"You don't get it, do you? You failed! All you've done is give the rest of us a behind-the-scenes look at how desperate you are," Her words broke on the occasional giggle as mania took over, and for a second Vox seemed concerned that he'd shocked the sense out of her- That was until she leaned into the camera, head tilted so far to the side that it strained the muscles and sent her ears flopping against her shoulder, and gave him her brightest smile. "I got everything I wanted, and so much more than that. You never had a chance."
The television glitched, Vox's face warping as his screen malfunctioned, and Clover wondered how far she would have to push him to cause another power surge; Vox was incredibly easy to enrage, so who knew where the limit was, but she would try her best to avoid that outcome for the sake of the city. Just when she was starting to become worried that her phone would be completely fried by the end of the conversation, the video call quality shot back to crisp 4K as Vox's face filled the screen, the image now oriented in landscape to better match the tilting of her head.
"We'll see how quickly that changes," Vox said, seeming very sure of himself.
"I'm done with th-"
Clover's fingers froze above the metaphorical emergency exit that was the "End Call" button, unable to move as her mind was overwhelmed by swirling scarlet.
"Now- Let's try this again."
Even though Vox's mouth moved, the words did not come from the phone's speakers; It boomed from within her mind, burying her consciousness beneath a blanket of black and white static snow. Her limbs grew fuzzy, the soft down that covered her arms rising to its end as she was drawn towards her phone's blue light like a moth to a flame. If the bed sank as her knees buckled into it, she didn't feel a thing- All there was to feel was the cold throb of electricity running through her veins, slowing her heart to a dull pulse and forcing her vision to tunnel. Somewhere, deep in the recesses of her mind that Vox had not yet overcome, someone that sounded somewhat like her screamed for her to look away, to find something, anything to snap her out of it; The embarrassing damp pooling beneath her tongue, the burning of eyes that never blinked, the inset image of her braced over the device as if it were a lover, her expression glazed and Vox's satisfied smile reflected in her glasses.
Her saving grace came in the form of a knock on her door, and the sound of Angel Dust calling her name.
"Hey, toots! Are ya' decent? Don't matter, I'm comin' in any way!"
The twitch of Vox's eye broke his hypnotic gaze, his glitching features turning to glare toward the distant doorway and arcs of electricity spitting off in all directions. Awareness crashed down onto Clover all at once as she scrambled for her phone, ignoring the sparks that danced up her limbs at first contact- The split second of hesitation it took to shove her glasses back into their proper place granted her clarity, Clover watching as Vox's scrambled screen flickered to the image of a man, his dark hair shining slick with oil as his hands smooth it back into place before the channel changed back to his demonic display. Vox's rage recoils as she lifts the phone level with her face, cold blue growing wide at her parting words.
"I'll see you around, Mr. Warner."
As soon as the call ended, Clover collapsed, her phone clattering to the floor as it fell from unfeeling fingers. Arms wound themselves around her before she'd even hit the floor and held her tight as Angel pulled her into his lap, all the while muttering soft curses and commands for her to breathe- She hadn't even realized she was hyperventilating, her chest heaving as she struggled to match the slow pace Angel set for her. Never had she been so thankful to have a best friend with so many limbs, for she didn't know what state she would have spiraled into if it wasn't for him tethering her to the earth with the slow stroke of his hands through her hair and the weight of his arms against her back. After what felt like hours, the iron grip of panic finally loosened from around her lungs, and Clover tugged weakly at Angel's arms as comfort became confinement; He released her immediately, and the two of them sat in silence until Clover's sniffles ran dry, only moving to kick her phone further across the room when it's low battery alert reminded her of his presence. The soft patter of paws turned both of their heads towards the doorway just in time to watch KeeKee scamper into the room, her one wide eye carefully surveying the scene before she set herself atop Clover's outstretched legs and began to purr.
"So," Angel said as he climbed to his feet, leaning down into where she'd been staring blankly at the carpet and offering her a hand. "How about we stay in my room tonight?"
The two of them did just that, gathering extra pillows to pile onto Angel's bed so they could properly snuggle in while they watched a safe-mode showing one of the many DVDs she'd been gifted. Somehow Clover managed to fall asleep halfway through the second act- Probably due to the combination of Angel's weight resting against her and KeeKee purring up a storm curled up on her chest- and awoke to the sound of a door closing just down the hall. Her head lifted from the pillow and she whispered an apology to the unhappy grunt Fat Nuggets made as he rolled onto the bed behind her, tiny hooves flailing into the blankets as he righted himself before he curled under Angel's chin and returned to his soft snoring. In the gentle pink glow of Angel's room, she lay there listening to the sounds of shuffling from the next room over as they were broken with a "thud" and a whispered string of curses. Just when things had seemed to settle down and Clover moved to lay her head again, the click of a door and the squeak of someone stepping into the hall lifted her ears, and a second later Angel's door cracked open-
Lollie stuck her head in before Clover's irrationality could get the better of her, the demoness squinting into the darkness for a long moment before she whispered;
"Are you awake?"
"I am," Clover shifted one arm beneath her cheek so she could better look at her, and cupped her other hand over her eyes to shield them from the light of the hallway. "Is everything okay?"
"Yeah, I just was hopin' to catch you before it got too far into tomorrow."
A cluster of balloons floated into the room as Lollie tip-toed inside, their insides swirling with confetti that shimmered in the low light as they bobbed along behind her- The comedy of it all kept Clover from being too exasperated at the fuss, her hand clamped firmly over her mouth as she shook with soft laughter. The balloons and their tiny weighted red heart attachment were down beside her computer, their presenter sneaking over to kneel at Angel's bedside, Lollie's chin resting on the mattress beside Clover as she gave a cheeky grin.
"Happy Birthday, Bunny."
"Thank you," Clover replied, but the smile that squished her cheeks sank as she caught sight of the dark smears of mascara that ran down Lollie's face. "Long night?"
"Eh, just the usual, nothin' for you to worry your pretty little head about."
Clover must have seemed as unconvinced as she felt, because Lollie blew a puff of air up into the sweat-stuck swoop of her bangs and sat up on her knees so she could reach across the bed. Chipped fingernails pressed gently into the twitchy pink tip of Clover's nose as Lollie squished it side to side, and Clover had to fight the urge to sneeze as she batted away the offending hand.
"I'm not lyin', tonight was just a lotta' work. Besides, today isn't about me, it's about you. So-" Lollie paused as Angel grumbled, his long arms splaying out across the bed and knocking into the wall as he shifted position. Both girls waited until he seemed safely asleep before beginning to whisper again, this time at a slightly softer tone. "Did you have a good day?"
"It was alright. I'm not a huge fan of surprises, but it was really sweet- And thank you for the gifts, like really. You and Angel didn't have to do all that."
"It was the best I coulda' done with the time we had, I'll make it up to ya' when I'm rollin' in dough a few months from now."
"You don't have to do that."
"I know," With a roll of her eyes so hard Clover was sure it had to hurt, Lollie planted her chin in her palm and gave her a look that could only be described as empathetic exasperation. Her voice had taken on that stern, almost familial tone again, kept from seeming too severe by the softness of it when she whispered between them. "Bunny, you gotta understand that none of us have'ta do anythin', we do it because you deserve a little fuss now and then."
"We all do, not just me."
"Everythin' is gonna go right for all of us eventually, don't you dare feel guilty that you got it first- Findin' happiness isn't a race," Lollie's words held a firm finality, even as she playfully narrowed her eyes and reached out to tenderly tuck a strand of hair away from Clover's face. "Besides, we've already got something just as special- This fucked up little family, and that big ol' heart of yours bleedin' for all of us."
Despite the playful wording, Lollie's sentiment sang true, and Clover could find no room to argue with them; Not that she was given much room to when Lollie's nose wrinkled in that manner that anyone would undoubtedly find adorable, her shoulders wiggling excitedly as she circled back to their earlier topic of conversation.
"Did Big Red get ya' something special?"
Clover snorted, rolling her lips together as she fought back her smile.
"Apparently, but it's not ready yet- He gave me a new camera for now, though."
"That man is gonna' spoil you rotten, I swear," Lollie sighed with a shake of her head, the seriousness of her expression cracking into a wide smile as she gave Clover a playful little wink. "Good for you."
With that Lollie stood, her fingers stretching up to the sky as her spine crackled and popped. KeeKee's head lifted from where it had been curled beneath her tail as the bed dipped beneath pale mint palms with an annoyed little trill, and Lollie paused to give her an apologetic scratch behind the ears. Her eyes grew soft as she looked over the duo of demons curled up beneath the pink duvet, leaning over to gently brush back Angel's curls before she bent to press a warm kiss to Clover's temple.
"Goodnight, Bunny," Lollie whispered as she left, the door closing behind her with a soft click.
The rest of the week was thankfully uneventful as far as cyberstalking and surprises were concerned; Clover wasn't quite sure she could handle anything else on top of the odd tension that had been building in the hotel as the time went on. At first, she'd not noticed it, the morning after her birthday spent lazily walking with Alastor while they talked idly about whatever was on their minds, but as the wait for Friday evening grew shorter, things became- Odd, even for a hotel in Hell. The first instance had come on their walk home when Clover had finally found space in his chatter to share what had happened the night before.
"Vox tried to contact me again."
Alastor's steps fell out of rhythm with hers, causing him to fall behind in their normally brisk pace, but he quickly caught up again as they carried on their way.
"Did he now? I would have hoped that man would have learned his lesson," Static warped his otherwise chipper reply as Alastor paused at a corner to look both ways before leading her across, his smile strangely soft. "Well? Go on, what did he want this time?"
"To slander you, mostly. I think he's figured out that he can't get under my skin with much else but-"
Her pause pulled them aside to stand in front of a darkened storefront, Alastor's claws gently steering her by the elbow before they moved to curl beneath her chin. He lifted her gaze from where she'd been staring emptily at the street behind him to look him in the eye, and she was almost startled at how calm he seemed; She would have expected him to be pushier about the whole thing given their track record with conversations such as this.
"But?" One brow curled upward as he waited expectantly for her to continue, his voice unfiltered but its tone indiscernible.
"He tried to hypnotize me," She said, plainly. "Or I think that must have been what that was- I mean, it makes sense, doesn't it? Television rots your brain."
Clover watched carefully for the changes in his expression as she explained, waiting for the moment when The Radio Demon would snap, but it never came. Without the interference of his radio static, there was little to infer his true intentions from, and all other signals she might have used pointed to nothing more than a man who was entirely unbothered; His smile was pleasant, she would even dare to call it relaxed, and his eyes bright beneath upturned corners as he recalled his microphone with a flourish. It twisted beneath his fingers as he planted it between them before bracing against it so he could further lean forward in interest.
"Precisely! Though I am curious as to how he managed to fail this time, even I think that this is all becoming rather embarrassing."
Once Clover had explained that Angel had broken Vox's control and that she'd soon after ended the call, the conversation moved quickly to the topic of what exactly Angel had given her that had been so secret, and she'd been forced to fumble through barely-formed excuses to avoid the topic altogether while Alastor asked goading, almost-innocent questions as to why. The only sign that anything she'd said had concerned Alastor at all had been the bristle of static when she'd admitted to throwing Vox's name into her farewell, but she'd had no idea on how to broach the subject moving forward and defaulted to letting him lead them into more leisurely discussion. When they'd entered the hotel he excused himself, Alastor disappearing into his study with Husk hot on his heels and leaving Clover to muddle over his unarguably out-of-character underreaction.
The second strange occurrence happened the following evening when Clover had wandered into the lobby looking to wrangle Husk into another game of cards to pass the time before dinner and found it vacant. She'd just resigned herself to grabbing a cold drink from the kitchen to make the trip downstairs worth it before returning to her room when a loud but hollow thump startled her, her ears straining upward as they pivoted to find the source of the noise and a tiny squeak of surprise squeezing itself past the heart that had jolted into her throat. The sound came from one of the adjoining hallways, its normally open double doors half closed and the darkness lying beyond it cut with a single stream of light. As usual, curiosity got the better of her, and as Clover crept closer the sound of chattering voices became clearer, their tones hushed but urgent as they echoed down the empty hallway. Upon listening closer Clover was able to pick out Husk's voice among them, the normally smoky quality scorched, and another she thought sounded like Charlie. It was all coming from the hotel's makeshift office, the room normally left unused except for the fleeting moments Charlie would disappear into it and return with some sort of game for them to play, the bright light within bleeding from underneath the door breaking with what looked like the pacing of feet. Clover slipped herself sideways through the open door and leaned further into the hall to listen, but the words she could make out made as little sense to her as the situation she'd found herself in.
"-has to be a catch, you wouldn't do this just because you lo-"
"-seen it myself, and he's not bluffin'-"
"-her choice to make-"
"-kind of sweet, if you really think about it!"
One step too far had landed her on a creaky floorboard, and the conversation cut off with a sharp shushing sound from one of the many participants; Clover slid backward on her socks as carefully as she could while also making a speedy retreat, barely making it behind the nearest when the sound of static was cut short by the click of a lock. She'd stayed there, crouched behind the curving back until the sounds of steps disappeared, and had darted to take refuge in the kitchen until she'd been able to quell the rapid beating of her heart; When she'd returned to the lobby with a cold can in hand, she'd done her best to avoid the eyes of her friends now gathered by the bar, brushing off Vaggie's invitation to help with dinner with a noncommittal shrug and quickly returning to her bedroom.
The next three days had been littered with conversations cut short when Clover walked into the room, which somehow managed to aggravate her only marginally more than the radio silence Alastor had fallen into again. It was nothing like the early days, which at least offered her some sense of security that she'd not somehow screwed up their relationship already; When he was there he was devilishly doting, sneaking her into corners to steal kisses and walking her home from work on his arm just as he always had, and Clover had begun to convince herself that she was overthinking everything, or that she'd already become spoiled for his attentions, just like Lollie had said. Still, there was something about the way Alastor avoided explaining his reasons for leaving that itched unbearably in the back of her mind, and her friends were doing little to quell her suspicions. When she asked Husk about it over an overdue game of cards, the table littered with bottle caps charading as poker chips and a half-empty bottle between them, he'd clammed up, shrinking down into his seat and mumbling something about it being " Overlord bullshit" before betting double and brushing off any further questions.
Friday could not have come soon enough, but when it finally did arrive, daylight seemed to drag on forever. Clover severely regretted not working that morning when her excitement made her rise early, and with no friends to distract her, she was sentenced to suffer anticipation alone. By the time noon rolled around, she'd drunk herself dry of coffee creamer, had finished placing all of her polaroid's into her scrapbook alongside some sentimental scraps, and caused a catastrophe in her closet while attempting to find something to wear; It was only after she'd managed to force herself to sit down so she could paint her nails and somehow smeared scarlet across her knees in the process that Clover decided that maybe it wasn't the best idea to make decisions on an over caffeinated but empty stomach.
This time when she left the kitchen with more than just a rattling glass of caramel colored decadence, she found Angel awake and at the bar. He was speaking softly with Husk, leaning over the counter with his sunglasses perched precariously on top of his head and a playful glint in his eye. Both men paused when she walked into the room, the conversation quickly cut short as Angel ruffled the top of her hair and wished her "Good luck!" before darting out the front door for work; Clover did not miss the soft smile that followed him out the door, but the solemn scowl it changed into when Husk caught her staring caused her to keep her questions for later.
Once she'd been fed and showered, Clover moved to overcome the obstacle of how the hell she was supposed to dress for the occasion; They'd eaten many meals in his home before, so the tone could have been entirely casual, but the way Alastor had framed it felt far heavier than anything her wardrobe felt appropriate for. Eventually, she just decided that there was no such thing as being overdressed as long as she was standing next to Alastor and that he'd probably find some way to fluster no matter what she was wearing anyway, so she could safely throw caution to the wind. She ended up in a sleeveless dress she didn't remember buying, her fingers fumbling with the long line of buttons down the front and half of her carefully twisted pin curls undone from the red turtleneck she'd pulled on to go underneath. The curls that refused to cooperate even after being brushed out were pinned back away from her face with one of the many extra gifts she'd found rattling around in Angel and Lollie's gift basket, the tiny crystal hearts catching the light as she turned her head to check that they were secure. Once she'd finished fussing with it all she was satisfied that it would do for the evening, Clover checked her red tights for runs one last time before she slipped on her black Mary Janes and peeked at the red heart set into the sole with a small smile. The red sweater that she'd come to think of as a trademark was folded over her arm at the last minute, just in case she got cold, before she headed downstairs.
Her shoes met the bottom step into the lobby with a loud "thump!" as she jumped the last two stairs and skipped over to the unusually empty bar, Clover calling out for Husk and ducking behind the bar flap to pour herself a glass of red wine when his answer never came. Clover's shoes clunked against the barstool with every swing of her heels as she hummed along to the nonsense in her head, her red lipstick staining the rim of the glass she greedily swallowed down to drown the butterflies in her stomach. The sound of footsteps turned her head as she was pouring her second glass, but the red-suited demon standing at her side was not the one she'd been expecting.
"You look cute! Where are you off to?" Charlie grinned as she hopped up next to her, the barstool beneath her spinning from the momentum.
"Alastor's picking me up for dinner, I think we're just going to his place but he didn't say."
"That sounds-" The princess paused, her bright smile seeming more strained than usual. "Fun! Do you have time to talk about something?"
Taking a long swig from her glass to hopefully hide her dread at wherever this was going, Clover squinted over the top of the glass despite herself as Charlie began to swing back and forth in her seat; Shoes tapped impatiently on the bar beneath them while she waited for Clover to answer, her leg bouncing so violently it vibrated.
"...What is it?"
Clover jumped at the sudden intake of breath Charlie took, too startled to argue when the princess moved her wine out of reach and took both of her hands hostage.
"Look, Clover, I know you haven't had time to think about it because of everything and I didn't want to push you because you're new here but I really think you have a chance at redemption! And I'm just a little worried that maybe- Maybe you'd forgotten that that's an option."
"Charlie," Clover sighed, feeling her mood swiftly sink with this turn in conversation; No matter how many times Charlie had attempted to sway her opinion on the idea of rehabilitating sinners, it had never quite sat well with Clover's arguably warped opinion of the high towers that lauded themselves over them all, but she'd tried so far to bite her tongue when the topic arose- She was beginning to wonder whether that had been for the best. "Why are you doing this? What has Heaven ever done that makes you think they'd buy that?"
"Your sins aren't that bad! I mean- Heaven doesn't necessarily like people who took their life but-"
"That should be enough to tell you what kind of morals Heaven holds," Clover could already feel herself becoming irritated, her angry flush hidden beneath the layers of liquor and rouge as she did her best to avoid Charlie's eyes. "Besides, Heaven can't have me, they already missed their chance."
"Well, maybe Alastor will-"
Snatching her hands from Charlie's grasp and taking hold of her glass again, Clover finally gave up on tip-toeing around the princess's dreams now that she'd brought Alastor into the equation. If what she had to say meant she would have to leave the hotel, then so be it; She'd taken advantage of Charlie's charity for too long anyway, leading her on by avoiding voicing her true feelings on the subject, and it was about time she stopped living on borrowed time.
"Charlie, even you aren't that optimistic. Heaven will never take Alastor, you know that, and I'm not going anywhere without him."
"Not even if it's what he would want for you? Clover, you would be safe , don't you think that would make him happy?"
Clover laughed, cold and humorless despite her trembling smile.
"Even if he did, I wouldn't do it. To lose any of you- Alastor, Angel, Lollie, Husk, Cyrus, Niffty, even you and Vaggie- That feels more like hell than anything that has happened so far. I'm not making the mistake of leaving the people I love behind, not again." Clover took a long sip of her wine to help settle her shaking hands, staring down at the scarlet stains her lips left behind as she continued. "Not if I can choose to stick around this time."
The pointed wording was not lost on Charlie, her eyes growing wide at the implications and her mouth moving without making words while she struggled to piece together a reply: When it came, it came with conviction.
"That's what I'm talking about! You're too good, you don't belong here," Charlie was grabbing at her hands again as she stood, spinning Clover away from the sanctity of the bar so she couldn't continue to avoid her eye. The counters curved edge bit into Clover's back as she flinched away from the gentle touch of the princess's palm, the offending hand hovering beside the red of her sleeve as Charlie momentarily debated retreat before pushing on with her preaching. "You've already been hurt more than you deserve, and you've not even seen your first extermination; You have no idea what it's like to live through this year after year-"
"It's worth it, every bit of it is worth it if it means I get to spend another day with all of you. This is my second chance, Charlie- I'm not wasting it on people who didn't want me in the first place. All I can hope is that the souls up there get to live out eternity as happy as I am here and that any demon you manage to get past the pearly gates goes up there for a good reason."
It was an odd sensation to be stuck in a staring contest with the devils daughter, Charlie's wide scarlet growing glassy as she took in everything Clover had said. All it took was for Clover to blink for Charlie to spring into action; She pulled Clover into a tight hug, and as much as her aggravated nerves screamed in protest, Clover couldn't bring herself to push her away.
"I'm- I'm sorry, I didn't think about-"
Charlie's voice was so small as she let go, and Clover almost felt bad for snapping at her, but before she could answer with an apology of her own, Charlie continued.
"I try not to think about how I would feel if I lost Vaggie- I mean, I would try and be happy for her! For any of you! You'd all finally be safe but at the same time… I'd miss you." Charlie's chipper smile returned, squishing in the red of her cheeks. "I'm not going to give up on you, but I'll leave it for now- Besides! I think someone's here for you!"
The sound of static entered the lobby as if on cue, though with Alastor you could never be quite sure if it wasn't , and Clover turned to find him standing just inside the doorway, his claws hovering above the handle as he looked between the two of them. For a moment Alastor almost seemed nervous, his ears hurriedly snapping up from their position laid flat against his skull once he realized her attention had shifted towards him and his radio rapidly switching through stations before it settled back into static.
"I hope I'm not interrupting something!" He said, voice echoing across the room with the aid of ample radio amplification.
"Nope! We were just about done!" Charlie called back before turning to Clover, her voice hushed. "Just- Think about it, about everything, before you make any decisions, okay?"
Clover nodded, unsure of what else to say as that odd tension she'd been feeling throughout the week returned to the room; It was not lost on her that Charlie's eyes were suddenly having trouble focusing, shifting to glance over her shoulder every few seconds while she waited for a response, but Clover couldn't tell if it was simply because of the nature of her new relationship with the Radio Demon or if there was something else she was missing. The awkward pat she gave Charlie's arm seemed to be enough to signify there were no hard feelings, and no sooner had Clover hopped down from her seat that Alastor appeared at her side with a flurry of shadows. He addressed Charlie with a stiff nod of his head before he turned to Clover, the narrow slits of his eyes softening as he looked over her attire and his radio returning to the conversation with a low whistle that he cut off with a sharp "click!".
"Well, don't you look lovely!" Alastor said, his smile growing wider as he offered her his arm. "Shall I steal you away?"
The devious little wink he gave her almost knocked Clover back into her seat as her blood began to rush to the surface of her skin, and she attempted to disguise her swaying by grabbing her nearly forgotten sweater from the counter. She gave one last wave over her shoulder as she linked her arm with Alastor's, allowing the feeling of him at her side to embolden her; The whispered flirt she hid in the tiny kiss she pressed to his cheek restarted his radio with a spike of static that swept them out the open door.
"Please do."