It had been a week since Vaggie had pushed Ellen to heaven. And while she was really trying to forgive her girlfriend, Charlie was having a hard time. Forgiveness was something that normally came easy to her, but the fact Vaggie went behind her back made it seem more personal. They had discussed it, they had that conversation and it didn't seem to matter.
Charlie rolled her shoulder back. She needed to make sure things continued, if she didn't put on a brave face she was afraid the others would slip and she didn't want that.
She was having a hard time finding her hotelier. She tried talking to him after all the radios in the hotel died. It took almost three days for them to get back to normal, and in that entire time, Alastor was AWOL. And now there was news of overlords going missing on the other side of the Pentagram. She didn't have to be a rocket scientist to know Alastor had to have a part in it, but she couldn't find him. His shadow would dart around sometimes, the only real sign he was still coming back to the hotel.
Angel did mention he saw him once after he returned from one of his shifts with Valentino. Angel said he had his staff back and that he made a mention of taking back what was his. Neither Charlie nor Angel understood what that meant.
She shook her thoughts and made her way down to the lobby. She had spent most of the night putting together the best activity to try and lift everyone's spirits. They were all going to share their favourite songs and dance moves, something fun. Her cheeks heated a little bit knowing she would most likely be going first, and she wasn't really a dancer, but if she could do it, anyone could.
She smiled when she came down the stairs to find everyone had gathered in the parlor, well almost everyone. Vaggie was out getting groceries and Alastor was always a wild card, but seeing as he has been absent the past week she wasn't surprised he wasn't there. She still wished he was.
She pulled her cheerful energy back as she made her way to the front of the group.
"Okay everyone, today I have a special activity planned for you all." She pressed her hands together. "We are going to have a little party! Everyone is going to share their favorite songs and dance moves with everyone else. "
"Yeah I don't dance." Husker glared at her across the parlor.
"Well, I'm not great either but it's all just for fun."
"Aww, come on Whiskers, I bet I can get those hips moving." Angel wagged his eyebrows. Husker returned him a flip of the bird.
"Does anyone want to go first?" She used her magic to summon a speaker system.
"Ya know what? Fuck it." Angel stood dusting himself off. "Ya got 'Use Me Up' by PARANOID DJ?"
She blinked, trying to hide her surprise. "Uh yeah sure."
When she first came up with this idea she figured she would play a verse or the chorus, and be done with it. But Angel seemed to have an entire routine choreographed and once he started she didn't want to stop him. He knew every word it felt almost like it was made for him.
She didn't know who did it, but as soon as the beat dropped, the lights went out and coloured lights and strobes started flashing, filling the darkness with colorful splashes of Angel as he continued like nothing happened. The space in the parlor had become like a club. She couldn't help but stare in awe. He was AMAZING.
She knew that some of his time at work required dancing at a club, it was something she never cared to ask about, but he pulled everyone to watch him. Even little Nifty had stopped her pursuit of some roaches to watch.
When the song ended, the lights flicked back on and Angel looked up with a wide grin on his face. "Good luck followin that, assholes." He stuck his tongue out flipping off everyone else as he fell into one of the couches laughing.
The room was silent. Charlie let out a nervous giggle. Angel was right. No one was going to want to follow up his performance. That meant she would have to.
"Oh me. ME!"
Nifty was waving her hand. Charlie let out a relieved breath. "Yes Nifty. What can I put on for you?"
"The knife game song."
Charlie looked up to see if anyone else knew what she was talking about but they all just shrugged their shoulders. "Okaay."
Nifty got up and moved over to a table, placing her hand flat, fingers wide. The panic that filled the room was palatable as she pulled a knife out. Before anyone could breath, Alastor appeared, pulling the knife from Nifty's grasp.
"Ah, ah, ah. Nifty my dear, what did I say about this activity?"
She pouted as she jumped up trying to grab the knife back. "I can't use my own hands."
"Very good." He turned to face the rest of the horrified faces watching. "Any takers? She is quite good, not to worry." His grin turned sinister. When the room remained quiet he simply shrugged, placing his hand down flat on the table fingers spread, handing the knife back to Nifty.
Finally Charlie found her voice. She was glad to see Alastor had joined them, but now she had a bunch of questions that couldn't seem to make it past her throat. He looked okay, but even if he wasn't she wouldn't be able to tell.
"I um…" Her fingers started to fumble with themself and her thumb brushed over the remote for the stereo set, the song Nifty had requested started and to her horror she watched as Nifty repeatedly stabbed the knife into the table between Alastors fingers, slowly getting faster.
The room was frozen watching with a mix of intrigue and horror, the song being punctuated with the sound of the knife hitting the table. Charlie finally recovered from the sight realizing Nifty wasn't stopping.
"NO! Nifty stop." She practically launched herself at the little demon, pulling the knife away. "What the hell is this?"
Nifty turned sad that her game had been cut short. Alastor looked annoyed. What the heck!?
"It's the knife game." Nifty answered like it was the most obvious thing.
"I always win." She cackled.
Alastor removed his hand from the table flexing his fingers, not even a scratch present.
"You should see the speed she gets to. Ah ha! It's hard to keep track of the knife!"
She needed to press on, get everyone back on track.
"Okay, well, thank you Nifty, I think I will go next."
"Oh? What activity is this?" Alastor took a seat on one of the recliners, his cane rested beside him.
She brushed off the confused look on her face and stood taller. "We are playing our favourite songs, and showing off some dance moves. Thought it would be fun."
He was silent for a second before he leaned back, leg crossed and a hand waving for her to continue. "Hmm. Carry on then."
"Right. So my pick is…" Wait. What was her favourite song? How could she pick just one? Walking on sunshine? No. Oh! Maybe not her favourite but still a really good one.
Her smile brightened as 'Can't stop the feeling' by Justin Timberlake started.
She just freestyled it, knowing she probably looked a bit foolish. Her head shot up when she heard Angel laugh, but he got to his feet to join her. Shortly even Nifty jumped in. The three of them danced until the song ended and Charlie felt her heart swell as she glanced around the room and everyone had a smile on. She did it! She got everyone into a good mood. Husker made his way over, standing far enough away to not be pulled up to dance. Angel took the remote from her and started another song.
She glanced over to Alastor to see if she could invite him to dance but found his seat empty. She glanced around the room and found him by the bar, grabbing a bottle from the top shelf before slipping into shadow.
Before she could think to follow, Angel pulled her back to their makeshift dance floor to join the rest of them. She didn't know how many songs they had cycled through before they decided to wind down, but she was happy to note that even Husker eventually broke, joining in on some of the dancing.
They all eventually made their way back up to their rooms to shower and change, but every single one of them left with a big grin on their face. Mission accomplished. She smiled proudly as she watched them go, talking cheerfully amongst themselves.
She waved the stereo set away and was just about to follow her friends up the stairs when a crashing sound had her turning to the bar. She could have sworn she already saw Husker head up, but maybe he forgot something?
Alastor was reaching up grabbing another bottle off the top shelf, and if she wasn't mistaken there were two other bottles missing.
She took a cautious step toward the bar. "Alastor?"
He turned to look at her and she didn't need to be up close to know he was not sober. His face was flushed red and he wobbled, having a hard time standing straight. He hugged the bottle he just pulled from the top shelf.
"Oh Charlette. *hic* Hello there little missy." He bowed but had to shoot his arms out to keep himself from falling forward. "All the singing and dancing done already?"
She had never seen him this drunk, she didn't think anyone had, except maybe Husker. He would probably know what to do. She slowly made her way closer, still unsure how to approach. He seemed a lot more relaxed, but one could never be too careful.
"I don't think you need any more Alastor. Maybe take a seat and just sit for a little bit?"
He laughed. "Oh Charlie, you have nothing to worry about my dear. I am quite goood. Now, I mush be on my way back to my own little party." *hic*
Before she could stop him he was gone into shadow. Her stomach twisted in concern. She had seen him less than an hour ago and he looked fine. Now he was completely wasted. She needed to check on him, or at least try if she could find him.
She made her way up to his room. She paused for a second outside of Ellen's. No one went in there after she left. Though she was certain that Alastor had. Her heart broke at the thought. It was a room full of small reminders. Everything in there held a memory, a story of her. The two were rarely separated, seemingly joined at the hip. Everything must be a reminder of her and a reminder of her absence. She shook her head. He wouldn't be there. Too much pain for even the sober mind. She pushed to Alastors room.
She knocked and as she expected, like every other time she tried, it remained unanswered. She hugged herself, calling out to the room she knew was likely empty.
"Alastor. I know you're hurting right now, we all are. I can't imagine what you must be feeling." Tears slipped from her eyes. Sure she and Veggie were in a bit of a rough place right now, but she still knew if Vaggie was gone without a goodbye, she would be crushed.
"I'm trying." Her voice got choked up. She had spent hours, days, trying to find a way to get her back. Everyone had. Most of the dinner conversations were brainstorming sessions that always lead nowhere. She couldn't help but feel like she had failed them. Failed them both. She knew Vaggie was very head strong, something she loved about her, but she never thought she would go behind her back. If she had known she could have stopped it. Now they were all missing a part of their family.
She was always the one to come up with the next plan, the one to hold unwavering optimism, but what else could she do? She fell to a sit, leaning against the door, not bothering to hold in her tears. She couldn't help but feel like she was partly at fault.
"I'm so sorry Alastor." It came out barely audible, but it didn't matter. He wasn't around to hear it anyway. He hadn't been since she left.
The whole Hotel was in shambles. Everyone was feeling the loss. From an outsider's point of view they would have been none the wiser, but Charlie knew. Charlie saw the bags under her dads eyes, and he had a hard time just looking at her. And Angel, while he still put on the happy persona, couldn't keep it when he would pass the lobby or parlor. He and Ellen used to hang out there a lot. Even Nifty would just randomly pause her hunt of roaches, spacing out for a few minutes before having to shake herself back into focus. And Husker. While he tried to hide it, he was definitely drinking more.
Her head fell into her hands wishing she could come up with something. She had even tried talking to her dad about it, hoping maybe he had an idea, but aside from falling, he had never heard of anyone leaving heaven once they were there. And there was no way it would apply anyway because Ellen was mortal. She left out a frustrated groan.
Alastor's shadow caught her eye. She wiped her eyes and watched as it waved her over to the roof access. Why would it want her to go up there? She pushed to her feet and followed it.
She only pushed the door open a crack before she froze. Alastor stood in the center of the roof, bottle in his hand, staring over the pentagram. He had a small green MP3 player plugged into a speaker. A haunting melody playing. It was definitely not something she would have guessed he would listen to.
He finished what was left in the bottle, a surprising feat as it was still half full, before throwing it to a wall close by, smashing it to pieces with an angry cry. He fell to his knees, his hands gripping his hair.
'A storm is coming,
Desire burns,
A war is calling,
The tides are turned…'
She gently pushed the door open and carefully approached the overlord, sitting beside him. She looked over at him and instantly she wished she hadn't. She wasn't sure how much more heartache she could take. He leaned forward, his elbows on his knees, eyes pressed closed, but smile stretched unnaturally wide. She had never thought she would see Alastor like this. He was always confident, put-together and well composed. This was him broken. And she couldn't fix it.
'Only one will stand at the end of it all…'
"I'm so sorry Alastor," she breathed.
He didn't move. "There's nothing we can do." Her eyes widened and she turned to look at him. He was giving up? Sure they hadn't been able to find anything yet, but there had to be a solution.
"Your activity this morning… it…" He opened his eyes, turning to look away back over the city, his shoulders slumped. "It was something she would have loved. And when you went up, it looked just like her." His gaze went back down, his eyes closing to hide the pain in them. "She would dance like that, like no one was watching, but only up here." One arm lamely gestured to the roof.
Charlie tried to control the quivering of her lip, but she couldn't manage it. She leaned over and wrapped her arms around Alastor. She didn't care if he would push her off. She wanted him to know he wasn't alone. She watched as he ran his thumb over his wedding band.
"We'll figure this out."
He let out a sigh. "It's been over a week and we're not any closer to a plan."
He was right. Anytime they got close it was quickly shot down. They didn't have access to heaven. They couldn't just go up there and grab her. She'd only been there for a part of a day that wouldn't be enough time to even find her. Her eyes widened.
"What if I can get a meeting with the Seraphim's? Explain everything that's happened, maybe we can make this a joint project, maybe we need to work together?"
"They aren't going to just send her back down."
"It's not their choice. It's Ellen's."
He tried giving her an annoyed look but he couldn't quite make it. Instead he pushed her off of him. "That didn't stop your little angel friend." He didn't hide the bitterness in his voice.
"I can't speak for Vaggie's actions but I've always been clear that Ellen was free to make her own choices. Even the ones I don't exactly agree with."
He flicked his wrist, rolling his eyes. "Yes, yes, no one likes that I have her soul. I did make it a very fair contract for her though."
"You?!" She moved herself to be facing him. "She said she made it."
He simply laughed and shook his head. "She made no mention of writing it, only that she was the primary signer. She doesn't know anything about contracts, why would I leave something like that to her?"
"Oh." She hadn't thought about that. That made a lot of sense. She remained quiet for a few moments.
"So if I can get a meeting with heaven, I'll talk with Emily and we can go from there." She turned to look at Alastor. "It's not much but it's a start."
"Do you really think they'll care?"
"You got any better ideas?"
He shook his head. "I don't."
She nodded with conviction. "Then we'll make this work."
She pushed to her feet moving over to the little MP3 player. She was going to flip though and find something a little less…gloomy?
A familiar title flipped by and she grinned. It would definitely not be something Alastor would pick, but she had a feeling that's what he needed right now. A distraction. She pressed play and set it down heading for the roof exit. She turned, taking one last look at the overlord, hoping that there was some solace in the thought there was at least some sort of plan.
She wasn't sure if she could even get an audience with the seraphim's but she was going to try. She had to. If she couldn't, she wasn't sure there was anything else they could do but wait and hope Ellen found her own way back. There was no way of knowing how long that could take. She shook her head. She was going to succeed in this, she couldn't afford not to.
Angel watched as Charlie left the roof access with a wide grin on her face. Why didn't he ever think to check the roof for the Radio Demon? It made sense he would escape up there since that was where Ellen did. He pushed the door open to see the green MP3 player he had made. Alastor never got the chance to give it to Ellen before she left.
A small evil grin filled his face. He had to have found a few favourites in some of the new songs he'd listened to. He wanted to find out what they were. He quickly found the Radio Demon sitting in the middle of the roof. Angel waited a few minutes hoping that maybe he would get up and do something. No luck.
He was just turning to leave when he heard movement. He watched as Alastor made his way over the MP3 player. He was kinda impressed he knew how to use it. After a few seconds a song started playing. Angel's eyes opened to their max. This was rock. Alternative or indie at least. He had to put a hand to his mouth to cover the laugh that threatened to escape as Alastor started dancing.
He pulled his phone out and recorded it. This was something he was going to treasure for the rest of his afterlife and the only person he would share it with would be Ellen if she came back. She would no doubt want a copy.
He had never seen Alastor drunk and now that he had, it was going to be his afterlife goal to get him this drunk again and see if he could get the Radio Demon onto a pole. Based on how he was moving he could probably catch on pretty quick.
He even summoned shadow dancers as back up. It was a whole show put on for no one. Or at least he thought it was for no one. Angel had only ever seen him dance boring ballroom stuff, this was a whole different ball park. He never thought he would ever see Alastor with moves this smooth, he was loose and not afraid to run his hands up himself, moving fluidly, suggestive, almost like a completely different person. And man Alastor could move his hips. His eyes hazed thinking about some of the things he wished he could do. God how could such a good looking guy be such a stuffy prick?
A flash of red pulled him from his thoughts. For a second he thought he had been caught, but as the second round of the chorus came through Alastor had thrown his jacket off. His shirt was a bit untucked but what brought a rosy colour to Angel's cheeks was the red and black deer tail.
He had made the off comment when Ellen changed into a deer form. She had a tail but he never thought Alastor would. He had a new afterlife goal. Forget getting Alastor drunk. He was going to see how many times he could tie a little bow on it before Alastor tried to kill him. Pink would probably make him the most mad. Little pink bows tied to his tail. Game on.
So, Sip the gossip, drink til you choke,
Sip the gossip, burn down your throat.
You're not iconic, you are just like them all.
Don't act like you don't know!
AN: Songs Mentioned in this Chapter; 'Empires' by Ruelle and 'GOSSIP' by Måneskin feat. Tom Morello. (I may be a little obsessed with the idea of Alastor dancing to 'Gossip' . I got the idea from YouTube. If you're interested in the inspiration feel free to look it up.
"Gossip" (Complete Version) Hazbin Hotel Animatic/Storyboard by Laing Blue