Author's Note: Salutations one and all to the tenth chapter, that's right the big 10.0, of Drifters. Been sick all week, but no amount of seasonal allergies, snivels, and coughs will keep me from my schedule… for now at least.
Speaking of schedules, onto the reviews!
Gamer of Action44D: Velvette and Sir Pentious always have the potential to blow up scenes. It honestly makes writing them really fun XD
Now without further adieu, besides my traditional apology revolving around any grammatical mistakes that may pop up along the way, I welcome you back too….
Drifters
A Hazbin Hotel Fanfic
Chapter 10:
Competitive Market
Velvette reclined on her room's tacky, yet begrudgingly comfortable, mattress.
Aesthetically, the suite was a roaring mess of a, well deserved, bygone era. The dark polished wood that infested the furniture was almost as much of an eye-sore as the rounded diamond pattern that threaded itself upon every piece of fabric in the room.
If the influencer wasn't so physically exhausted, she would have directed all her pent up energy into verbally demolishing the design choice of the place to her viewers.
Unfortunately, the current predicament that prevented her from doing so was because this damn awful rehab center had hit her where it hurts first.
The claw marks the white haired sociopath shredded into her shoulder had stitched themselves back together one agonizing cell at a time. The bruise the bow topped freak drummed onto her face had flattened out along with all her pain receptors. And the dried blood that had stained her knuckles, proving she had done the same to the guard, had been washed away down the Victorian marble sink.
Yet, the testament of the fight lingered in the air. Specifically in the form of the virtual blue sun that blazed inches from her face.
"So great job Vel, seriously the one star reviews pouring into the Hotel right now just goes to show how much of a five star employee you've been today." the Vee wanted to crush the watch screen as if the eyes and smile digitally projected from it were actually Vox's head.
"You mean how good of a partner you have." she scowled her correction, "A partner who you owe a new phone."
"Of course, of course. A top of the line, next generation attention span magnet, will be airlifted to your fucking window before the pentagram rises." the TV's voice waved her off in place of the watch's armless hands.
"Not soon enough." the pinkette huffed, "This spy bullshit you've got wrapped around my hand is less interface friendly then Val on a bad day."
"Speaking of which… make sure you don't talk to him for the next couple." Vox's eyes nearly drifted off the screen, but Velvette's own inquisitive stare orientated them back to the center.
"Why?"
"Let's just say, that hotel bitch having Angel act, and you filming his performance to a Hellwide broadcast for free, didn't fly well with our favorite moth man."
Velvette eyelids dropped and her lips formed a thin line.
"Don't get me wrong, you showcasing how dog shit this redemption program is by capturing those freaks in their natural habitat was great. The amount of reviews and trends making fun of those fools is quite literally lighting up the night!" Vox's volume dipped for a second, "Just unfortunate one of those losers is also our cash cow."
"For now at least." the pinkette cursed under her breath. The TV obviously tuned the remark in, and when he gave her a 'don't start' gaze, she sighed and just decided to finish it, "Let Val know he's better off without that piece of spider shit, and not to talk to me until he understands why."
"So let you guys cool off for a week. Goddamn productivity's gonna suffer, but it's not like this is the first bitch war between you two to trigger the company's 'time of the month'."
Velvette's eyes shot wide open. And when the watch's screen cracked, so did Vox's forced chuckle.
"Kidding, kidding! For fuck's sake can't you take a joke."
"I'll get back to you on that once I'm done being the shitty punchline." Velvette flicked her eyes to the window as if the drapes were the sleeves of a straight jacket, "Obviously, I haven't been able to follow our success,"
The Vee slow jazzed her empty right hand.
"So what's my timetable here looking like? The sooner I'm out of this dumpster fire the better."
"Definitely before the next Extermination!" the TV's eyes and sharpened teeth levitated up and down, as if his statement gave off the aroma of a gourmet meal.
Instead, the influencer's face crashed as if somebody had shoved a handful of fast food garbage in her mouth.
"You mean the half a year away Extermination?!"
"More like five months and change." the televised demon corrected. He gulped when Velvette's red hot state bore through his blue light, "But you could be out before then."
"I should be out before then. You just said I made the poster child of this fucked up project appear like he's got his own head stuck up his arse! We just showed the world that not even that spider slut can make this place look good, and that the royal fuck up has no idea what she's doing! Who do you think is going to come here after seeing that?!"
"Not the sane people, that's for sure." Vox hissed, his whisper just above a mute. As Velvette quickly calmed herself down with a few breaths. Vox was being annoying, and she certainly didn't want to adhere to his silent call for zen… but both of them were in agreement on not wanting anybody to show up, "But there is a… troubling trend going on."
"What kind of trend?" the pinkette's normal tone sounded meek despite the steam hissing out.
"A bird that shits on your brand new car kind."
"… do you mean Nest Whore? Or whatever the fuck his name is." Velvette cocked her head in legit confusion. Her phone may have been destroyed by the end of her performance, but the chicken and pussy had gone on before her. From what she saw on the stream, the people of Hell's view of their performance revolved around a debate center on who they should pity more. The chicken boiling his own eggs in anxiety, or the cat having to bullshit his way around the mentally ill, "Guys a fucking loser, what kind of problem can he give us that he doesn't give the hotel ten times over?"
"At the moment, he's as threatening as a snowball in Hell." Vox continued before Vel's raised eyebrow could reflect a proven point, "But while people laugh at how fast it melts, I want to make sure they don't wonder how it snowed down here in the first place."
The influencers cocked brow rose for a different signal.
"Fuck, I thought you were suppose to be the smart one-"
Then furrowed a threat that changed the TV's tele-prompt.
"Listen, right now that feathered freak's known for two things. First is the new arrival who the princess kidnapped on the street." Vox's tone practically spelled out each word he spoke, "Second is the poor son of a bitch who pissed his pants like a nun when confronted with pussy."
She had to decipher the rising Overlords vulgarity, but when she did Velvette slowly felt her brain click in the pieces.
"Add them together, and you've got some brain cells on the web making jokes about how this guy's too pitiful to be in Hell."
"Which is fine when it's just some drunk's post from the loo at 2:00 AM", Vel vocalized her train of thought, and the TV nodded to finish it.
"But not when people start to reply to it like it was a muse shat out a Greek toga."
The pinkette ruffled her bangs. Shaking herself away from an unwanted thought, and back to the conversation it spawned from.
"People don't actually think he's a good guy… he can't be?" her tone rose from the flat certainly it was meant to ride upon.
"He's in Hell Vel." Vox's own octave dropped, not wanting her to start, "What do you fucking think?"
The TV crackled a large inhale of pixels before she could do so.
"'That others shouldn't' is the answer. Listen, we'll talk more at work. Our 'Extermination Eden'," the corner of the watch sparkled with Vox's smile. Velvette threw her head back, remembering that she didn't need her phone at all times to appease the masses, but as an electronic filter for Vox's to pass his power-surged ideas through, "is dropping tomorrow! And I need all hands on deck. You want to cut your time at that whack house in half, then help me make sure our marketing team does their fucking job!"
"Then I'm basically screwed." the Vee rolled her eyes, ready to go full manor lord on her staff tomorrow, "And as for the shit I can't avoid here, I assume you want me to shift my attention from tanking Angel's career,"
The TV smirked, and she felt his nod practically jolt up her wrist.
"and focus more on proving why Hell's sympathy sparrow's nothing more than a walking cock like the rest of us."
Vel's raised eyebrow returned to her through Vox's polished grin.
"That's why you make the big bucks Vel. And I'll tell you what, if you go above and beyond the call of duty and leave that place having filmed the skeletons in the princess's closet too, then how many days left before the Extermination is the amount you have for vacation."
The pinkette lounged back, and stretched her hands if already on the beach.
"Sounds like a plan, and just to make it a three for one, let's ruin that Vagina bitch's life while we're at it." lying down, Vel smirked at the watch, "Gonna fuck her up worse then she did me."
The TV glitched on her wrist. A rectangular eyebrow buffered upward.
"… wait, did you sleep with that blonde doofus?" Vox's filter came out unchecked.
Velvette's eyes snapped open, and whatever sleep she'd tried to lean into had left in an instance.
"Of course not! Her girlfriend-"
"You fucked her girlfriend! Geeze, you really are going the extra mile to screw this bitch." Vox's shocked expression almost seemed like one a dad would give his runt of the litter son for knocking out a bully.
"I got into a fight with her girlfriend shithead! My phone's death triggered a frenzy, me and the gray skinned corpse were at each other's throats in two seconds."
"Oh…" the TV echoed, "Too bad the camera crapped out, that would have been ratings gold."
"Thanks for the concern partner." Vel rolled her eyes.
"Of course I'm concerned." the TV's sigh hardly made the report sound legit, "You're a valued member of this team Vel."
The pinkette's pupils slowly spiraled their orbit inward towards the screen. Her head cocked in amused curiosity.
"Which is why I need to know… did you win?"
And just like that her curiosity accelerated away.
"Hey Vox's?"
"Yeah?"
"The new watch is on you too." and Velvette's hand crushed the signal within her palm.
XxxxxxX
Nester awkwardly fiddled with his hat, while his fingers danced down his coat. As if to let everybody know his attention was on patting down his uniform. Unfortunately, every time the cap startled him when it flashed across his vision, it proved his sight was focused ahead.
"I promise." Charlie raised her right hand, and crisped out the words to her shoulder level mirror.
"I promise." Vaggie nearly cracked the glass she was in with the response.
"To not attack the guest."
"To not attack the guest."
The avian really felt like this was a conversation the two women could have in their room instead of the atrium.
"Even in the midst of breaking up a disagreement-" Charlie stilted herself up onto the tips of her heels, then swayed onto a flat surface. Her eyes were closed, but one creaked open when no response came, "even in the midst of breaking up a disagreement."
The heiress emphasized the last word.
"That wasn't a disagreement, it was-" Vaggie posture broke and her eyes pleaded with Charlie to see the obvious… she was met with a weight of disappointment instead that made her silent.
Unfortunately, the following pause was so awkward, Nester instantly went to dilute the emotion… even if that meant his thoughts accidentally sneaked out his mouth.
"Assault?" the bird cocked his head, then felt the urge to drive it through the floor when three eyes locked onto him.
"See!" the spear wielder brought more attention to Nester when she ushered both hands in his direction as if the point he made was obvious as his embarrassment.
"I see… a hotel staff that's recovering from a hostile work environment."
"Or live entertainment." the bartender snickered from the counter.
"… guys." Charlie's voice dipped along with her mood. Nester's own emotions sank in sympathy, but then again, if the heiress didn't want an audience, why force Vaggie to make an oath in public, "You're not helping."
"But they could be." Vaggie's beg held a hint of desperate annoyance to it, "Charlie, you are the only one here defending the woman who attacked you!"
"I broke her phone, she had a right to be mad." Charlie defended Velvette more than she did herself last night. She then looked at Nester. As if he would answer her obvious question this time around, "Don't you think?"
"I-I guess," Nester tried to people please as best he could, but with two people looking for support, his honesty ended up being the de facto answer, "but probably not with her fist… or claws."
Charlie frown flooded the room, and the other two people proved they were like Nester, giving out life preserver filled with rocks.
"Let's all just try," Charlie took in a deep breath as of it would float the rest of them up to her reasoning, "to see it from her perspective-"
"Only thing that bitch saw last night was red," Angel gargled out past the popsicle in his mouth, which was certainly a new perspective on breakfast for Nester to witness, "and Vag's fist. Speaking of which, wait to make her eat pussy captain psycho."
Nester saw, if only because of that comment, Vaggie showcase the first sign of regret for what happened last night.
"Angel, we're all trying to help Vaggie here, the same way she helps you guys." Charlie continued to plead, "Today's morning activities are going to be a series of apologies about what happened last night. When Velvette comes down-"
"She can apologize to us! Hell, she should be apologizing to you above all else!"
Despite the comment before, Angel's words had Vaggie's head jackhammering in approval. And even Nester felt his head bobbing up and down. What the doll demon had done wasn't right in any sense of the word.
Charlie may have prided herself on seeing the shades of gray the others couldn't, but Nester thought this situation was so black and white a blind man could see it.
"Last night you literally wanted us to solve problems like that without it breaking into a brawl, and now you want to lecture us on how we should forgive that Vee bitch for starting one?" Angel raised his brow, and even Husk grunted in approval at the Spider, "That's just-"
"Hypocrisy." a pink accent decreed the stairs, "Which is the best quality of this goddamn place by default."
Nester tried to shy his gaze away from the stitched Sinner, but instead it went blank when he saw Charlie grasp a stack of paper from the table and ran up to Velvette.
"I-I am so sorry, I've already called in the order for your new phone and bought the best subscription plan they had." she took off the first three papers of the foot high stack. Shoving the receipt and contract into the Vee's hand, "and for what physical objects can't make up for, here's the rest of my heartfelt sorrow."
The pale demon lifted the stack up to her chest, then craned her head to start reading it off, a raised hand already went to mark her work.
"… did you spend all night writing out an apology letter?" the Vee cocked a sneer.
"… yes." Charlie responded with hesitation.
"Then I'm the one who's fucking sorry," the pinkette raised her hand further, "that you don't know how to get with the times."
The palm struck the stack as if it was Charlie cheek. And in shocked silence the paper echoed out a flash bang that left the room silent.
"Next time send a text." the Vee huffed past her, "Deleting it makes less of a mess."
"… m-maybe not a physical one." Nester silently mouthed while he and the rest of the lounge watched Charlie's mood crumble like the paper raining on the floor.
"Hey you, Nest whore!" the pinkette snapped the avian attention right up.
"… u-um, it's Nester actually-"
"It's actually whatever the fuck I say." the influencer enforced, "Make yourself useful and tell me where you shitheads put your packages."
"B-behind the reception desk." Nester flung his arm towards the bar, hoping the deathly gaze would be redirected as well.
"That's fucking inefficient." Vel sneered.
She grabbed the booked size cardboard package that Husk slid across the counter. Within two seconds, the Vee had the container ripped to shreds. A sheen of blue pixels, black metal, and shimmering glass buzzed to life in her hands.
The light it glowed seemed slow compared to the fingers that danced atop it. And by the time everybody, sans the frantic Charlie who grasped at fallen paper, could offer up a quizzical look, the pinkette already had the red light attached to the phone camera pointed at the onlookers.
"And speaking of idiotic, let me welcome back my audience to the shit stains who destroyed last night's stream!"
"W-wait a second-" Charlie tries to sleek up, but her words didn't even have the chance to be vain.
"Here we have the owner who destroyed my property by the end of the first night." when Velvette pointed the camera at Charlie, the poor owner's eyes dilated as if each pupil had been asked to divide by zero.
"The head security officer who assaulted, and proceeded to get wrecked, by the guest." the phone shifted towards a crossed arm Vaggie, whose growl struggled to keep her fist open.
"Do you really want to trust the memory of a concussion?"
"Then it's a good thing I'm recording this threat," Velvette snapped back.
The camera then shifted towards the bartender and sole customer.
"along with the collapse of Hell's most overrated 'actor's' career."
"Last I checked, I wasn't the one knocked out on the ground last night doll face." Angel's hand pushed up his cheek.
"Then why are you drinking away your problems in the morning?"
"I'm not, this is our…" the furred demon started his retort out string… unfortunately the answer the hotel offered didn't match his confidence, "front desk."
"Which doubles as a bar run by a depressed cat." the pinkette snickered, "Where you charge people for the very sins they're trying to avoid."
"N-no!", Charlie rebooted tone rushed up to the Vee, "Like everything here at the Hazbin Hotel, all the alcohol is free-"
Nester cringed on behalf of Charlie's blank face. As she immediately appeared ready to eat her own words so long as it meant they hadn't slipped out.
"Oh even better! You offer up temptation for free. That'll be sure to discourage Sinners from their addictions."
Charlie mouth opened and closed, and the Vee sauntered past a shark not interested in a suffocating guppy.
"It'll be interesting to see who wracks up more stabbings here. The Exorcist, or that sociopathic imp you've got running around."
"She's not an imp, she's just a Sinner who just so happens to be our maid." Vaggie low tone grumbled out in place of her panic struck partner.
"Oh, so when you say this is a place for Sinners, you mean only Sinners." the Vee twirled her camera around and smirked into the lens, "Seems the princess is prejudiced against her own kind."
"That's not what- I-" Vaggie one good eye shot open in a panic, "Of course imps and other Hellborn can come here."
"So you're saying the Hellborn can be redeemed as well?" Velvette teeth flared their fangs.
"Yes-No- We don't know!" Vaggie saw no help in the shutdowned Charlie, and tripped on every road bump in the Vee's question because of it, "The point is, we're not racist!"
"Hell has racist-" Nester cocked his head, before he hit it on the all but tangible realization in the air, "Y-you know what, that's a stupid question."
"Not as stupid as staying here." the Vee didn't swing the camera over to Nester as much as she walked it into his face.
His reddened cheeks reflected off paled skin, and the frozen Doorman provided all the light the film needed.
"The jobs in Hell are shit, but you know there are ones that offer better life insurance right?"
"I-I don't… um… t-this place is safe, so I think it's not all bad."
"Until the Exorcists fly down in six months." the pinkette's mutter echoed clearly into her speakers, "When that happens, you'll spend however long it takes their blades to bisect your throat wishing you'd worked for somebody who actually profits off the population's well-being."
Nester's eyes darted about unsure where to land. Right now Charlie's shell shocked form, Vaggie's raged filled shake, and Angel's six fingered salute didn't provide stable pads to touchdown on. Luckily, the Vee was already off again before he had to attempt lift off.
"Speaking of which, big announcement from my nine to five coming up later today! Stay tuned as we shift to my work vlog if you want to catch the bombshell," Vel danced epilepsy onto her screen, "and then prepare for disappointment this evening when I have to return to my review of this train wreck."
The Vee eyes rolled right onto the door. And while Nester's mind stayed back confused, his body instinctively went to open it. Glad to clear the path for the electronic stick of dynamite as she walked out.
"Catch you later freaks, if nothing else, this place makes me excited for work." the Vee's snickered echoed right out the entrance.
By the time the pinkette words would dissipate enough to no longer linger, she'd most likely be back. And whether through gulps, sighs, or glitched silence, nobody in the lobby was ready for when she did.
"Whelp," Angel broke the silence by proving the Vee right, as he whisked up a bottle from the counter, "here's to hoping that the bomb she drops kills her."
It was an unfortunate sight for his eyes to finally land on, but Nester felt guilty in the fact his ears weren't disgusted at the words echoing from the scene.
XxxxxxX
At the apex of its ascent, the five sided sun pierced down on Hell. And underneath the crimson sky of the Pride Ring, the city appeared quiet in the relative lull of noon.
During the rush hours of the early morning and late afternoon, the city of sins sidewalks were filled with the footfalls of people walking, and people being walked upon. In the time between though, the concrete streets and asphalt roads only carried those who could afford to be the former.
Her hooves echoing through the false ghost town, Charlie didn't know whether she should feel a tinge of guilt knowing it was her status that allowed her to traverse with the freedoms others lacked, or happy that the wings to her front and back proved she was breaking CEO mold by granting that same freedom to the hotel's employees.
In the end, the emotional struggle merely got her to think. Which unfortunately always led her back to the same thought she was trying to walk away from.
After last night's fiasco and this morning's catastrophe, Charlie thought things could only get better if they quieted down.
Which they had, in the worst way possible.
Angel had left for work shortly after the Vee's exit, and the rest of her employees started theirs when Nester opened the door for him to leave.
At that time, Charlie and Vaggie would usually head back up to their room to start rehearsing for the evening activity… and, as the heiress had hoped, re-discuss the values of restraint that the white haired woman didn't quite nail down from last night.
Unfortunately, on their way up, Sir Pentious immediately killed two of Charlie's birds with one Camellia Carmine manufactured stone that blew the hinges right off his room's door.
When she and Vaggie discovered the charred serpent's hoard of Overlord weapons… Well, let's just say her girlfriend suddenly had her hands full for the day disposing them.
Which left the blonde in solitude with her own work. Something that she had been able to endure for about ten minutes before she came up with an excuse to move it someplace more lively.
So with half a forest worth of paper and pencils, the red cheeked demon relocated her office to the lounge for the day. Velvette's live stream had worked for most of the night after all, and she reasoned she should be front and center for all the new Sinners who would rush through the door.
Over the next three hours, Charlie was met with a barren desert instead. And every ten minutes she had looked up from her projects trying to will in some new guest, she was met with the vices of the old.
Nester spent most of the morning caught up in a competition between his anxiety and his boredom. With the ladder eventually winning out when he dragged over a stool from the front desk, sat down, and began fiddling with his Hell phone.
Charlie would say she was disappointed at the avian's acceptance that nobody was coming today… but at least he had pretended like people could show up for the first hour.
Husk on the other hand had already finished his first drink by the time the heiress had set up shop down stairs, and everytime Charlie had glanced up from her work, three more empty bottles would emerge.
The blonde listened to the white noise of popped bottles until noon when she snapped. Declaring it was about time for a break, and she would treat the two to lunch. And to ensure her suggestion didn't morph into a command, she asked Husk if he knew any good spots to go too.
Before his mind could decline, the feline stomach grumbled something about a decent sushi place downtown.
Where the currently traversed. With Husk's begrudged frown out in front, and Nester's swirling head bringing up the rear.
"Guess you really haven't had a chance to be back in the city since we left." Charlie figured a conversation with the curiosity in the back would be easier than the embodiment of nihilism up ahead.
"Guess not…" the bird trailed his head forward after his words, "Still can't believe Hell just ended up being a city instead of lakes of fire and eternal torture."
Charlie's smile didn't have much of a chance to grow before it was snipped by Husk's sneer.
"I'll tell you where the formers are," the bartender grunted, "when you realize how wrong you are about the ladder."
"Haha, funny joke Husk." Charlie chuckled an elbow into the bird's side, "But you're right Nester, Hell is just like a normal city."
"I-I don't think I said normal-" Nester grunted from the jab.
"I would." Charlie encouraged, "Sure every city is unique, but the basic requirements are all the same."
"I'm gonna have to stop you right there." Husk quite literally heeded his words, and Charlie nearly ran into him.
"Why?" the heiress asked after she leaned out of her trip.
"Because I disagree with you, but mostly because the restaurant's right around this bend-"
The cat's depressed sigh was cut off when his lazy eyelids shot wide open in shock.
"What the fuck happened to the sign?"
Charlie's feet followed Husk around the bend and her eyes followed his word upward.
"Is this not the right place?"
"Right place, wrong name." Husk growled, "Don't tell me Skrelp sold it."
"Maybe he rebranded." Charlie offered a hopeful solution.
"Yeah, because Canine Cuisine screams seafood." Husk stormed for the door, the heiress turned around to lotion Nester to follow… except.
"Everything okay Nest?"
The young man stood pale as he stared up at the sign. As if the logo turned him into stone.
Before Charlie could even grow confused, the slamming the front door, and Husk's low words struck everyone like a chisel.
"What the fuck Skre-"
Charlie turned to see Husk cut himself off when the inside of the establishments revealed the smell of barbecue wafting up from half filled tables, a literal rat running around clearing leftovers, and a copper furred dog reflecting his own wide eye stare.
"Where the fucks Skrelp?" Husk mouthed his changed questions in shock. But quickly shook his head to adorn the same snarl of the canine.
"Flayed on the end of an Exorcist's spear." the dog barked, "Gutted like the shit fish he served."
"…" Husk's eyes drifted downward.
Charlie started to raise an arm towards his shoulder. She could only imagine what it was like for him right now. His mind no doubt overflowing with sorrow having found out a friend was lost in the purge-
"That bastard owed me seven grand!" the cat bore his fangs.
Charlie's fled behind stitched lips.
"And made the only decent tuna roll in Hell! Where am I supposed to eat now?!"
"Not here pussy piss," the owner bared his teeth, "If you and your friend don't like real food, then you can just get-"
The canine's hand began motioning towards Charlie and Nester. And when it landed on the ladder it crushed its own words in a tight fist.
"The fuck out! Didn't I tell you to not come back!"
"I-I… um… I-I didn't mean too-" Nester stuttered between gulps as the owner marched right up towards him, all but pushing Charlie and Husk aside as he did.
"The fuck's that suppose to mean?!"
"Holy shit!" A rodent added to the confusion. Its high pitched tone hissing passed the shocked Charlie a shell, "Dumpster Dummy?! Is that you?!"
"Wait…." Charlie shook her head, "You know these guys Nester?"
"… k-kind off-" the bird squealed higher than the mouse beneath the canine's growl, "I met them after the Extermination."
"He means we kicked his sorry ass out of our trash that day."
"Come on boss, that afternoon was a win and you know it." the rat snickered, "Besides naming your new restaurant."
Charlie hand dashed to a snarling Husk shoulders.
"You also named dummy over here. Don't know if I'd have gone with Nester, but it works for you."
"… u-um thanks…" the avian failed to swallow his fear, luckily the mouse took the pause differently.
"Guess we never mentioned ours," the rodent chuckled, "I'm Stewie, and old man grumps here is Roadie."
The ladder's noise flared with each syllable uttered.
"Aaaannd we're Nester's friends!" the blonde threw an arm around Husk, and pressed their cheeks together before the feline could press his foot onto the canine's neck, "I'm Charlie and this is Husk!"
The rodent snickered, as if the obvious had been stated. But when he opened his mouth to explain why, the mouse's boss interjected.
"And I don't care. If I knew you'd multiply like a damn cockroach,"
An insectoid customer's mandibles widen in offense, partially digested food dropped down onto the floor.
"I would have squashed you back in the dumpster!"
"Just try too, you son of a literal bitch." Husk growled.
All noise and chatter in the restaurant ceased in an instant. Like all the patrons, the oncoming silence itself did a double take to make sure it heard the cat correctly.
"Give me one reason," Roadie responded without a drop of emotion, "why I shouldn't tear your wings off, and shove them down both your holes till they meet in the middle."
"B-because," Charlie intervened before Husk could answer the challenge. Her words came out rushed, less so due to her own fear of the situation and more so the Doorman who pushed her shoulders forward as if she was a door to slam shut, "all we want to shove down our hole is your delicious food!"
Her declaration hung in the air. The silence and diners once again having to do a double take to confirm their ears worked correctly.
If nothing else, the awkwardness she brought in proved a more powerful force than anger and terror. For a dog's, cat's, and chicken's deadpanned stares were amongst the raised eyebrows picking apart her self esteem.
"Forget it," the coyote eventually found enough of a grip on reality to wave it away, "I already told bird brain over here I don't give out meals for the homeless."
"But… we're not homeless." Charlie cocked her head.
"Nice try." he brushed off the heiress words like he did the rodent tugging at his apron, "Clipped wings was loitering in my dumpster a week ago, the walking pussy's breaths got more alcohol in it then I have in the cellar, and nobody would dress like you unless that was the only crap they could find at the landfill."
Charlie's face tensed up. The bystanding eyes that lingered on the conversation sailed past her outfit. And ruffled the fabric with a snickering gust.
"Uh boss-" the rodent tried to squeak up,
"Shut it Stew!" the Coyote snarled down, "Less you want to camp out with them in the gutter tonight."
"That's the thing…" the rodent took a step back when Roadie bore his fangs at the timid challenge, "it be at their mansion, not the gutters."
"… what?"
"They're the guys from the Hag Hut."
"Hazbin Hotel." Charlie corrected under her breath. Neither the false title or the actual one rang any sort of realization into the coyote demon.
"The one trending on social media since last night… that the super famous Vee's staying at." the noise tried to clarify.
"You know I don't follow the shit that distracts you from work." Roadie responded, "If you're making this up to get out of it now-"
"No, of course not!" Stew's voice rose higher than the hair on his skin, "Come on, you've had to see the News reports about the place. They're involved with the Extermination schedule."
Suddenly, Charlie felt all eyes, save Roadie's, shift back ups meet her. And she shrunk away from the glares with an awkward laugh.
"Don't care for politics." the dog snorted.
"Its ad plays on our TV all the time." the rodent tried again.
"I'm too busy keeping this place afloat to watch that shit."
"… um…" Stewie was running out of ideas, "the static voiced deer guy who all the old timers are afraid of lives there."
The dog raised a finger to rub the bridge of his snout. But when the last of the mouse's words squeaked in his ears, his eyes snapped open and his hands nearly broke his sniffer along the way.
"… deer guy?" Roadie's voice breathed out a rhetorical fear rather than a question.
"Oh, do you know Alastor?" Charlie rubbed the back of her head.
At the mere mention of the name, all the customers' gaze returned to their meals. And the silence that came from the conversation they forced to fill it was louder than the previous other two combined.
The owner himself shivered from head to toe at the title. Heaps of shedded fur ensured a health code violation would end up in somebody's meal.
"… you… you know the Radio Demon?"
"Yeah, he's the hotel's investor," Charlie nodded. Unsure if the coyote's deescalation from frustration was a good sign, or if his acceleration into fear was only making their situation worse, "Don't worry though, Al works for me and is staying out of trouble."
Husked shot her a raised eyebrow, and try as she might, her laugh couldn't force the brow down.
"Why would that monster agree to work for anybody, let alone submit himself to a dopamine addict like you?" Roadie shivered a snarl.
Charlie extended her pointer finger up, however her words could not follow the digits directions out her own mouth.
"I-it's because of your dad, right?" Nester's curiosity had no trouble escaping his.
The heiress felt her red cheeks bleed themselves across pale skin.
"People don't listen to me just because my dad's Lucifer-" Charlie's explanation was cut off.
"You're Lucifer's daughter?!" The coyote yelped shifted from Charlie to his rodent bus boy, "Why the fuck didn't you tell me we had a celebratory here!"
"I did." Stewie deadpanned.
"Quit standing there like a fucking waste of space!" The Coyote personality flipped from the hotel owner and her employees to his customer in the most literal way possible, "Help me clear their table!"
Before the heiress could interject, and ask him to calm down, Roadie had launched three patrons out the store. The coyote made room for the trio he threatened to kick out moments before.
XxxxxxX
Despite how it all started out, Nester pushed his empty plate inward with a satisfied stomach.
And by the catatonic look on her face, the lingering taste of the bone sauce and brisket was savory enough to even drown the guilt Charlie gave had soured with when they first sat down.
Even Husk, who spent all the moments waiting for his food complaint about the lack of an aquatic menu, used the grated T-bone of his steak to pick at his fang smile.
Although Nester wasn't sure his contempt mood came from the meal or the fact Roadie had gone from threatening them to answering every beck and call they didn't even utter.
The bird still couldn't believe he was now eating at the place that had sent him packing a week before. But given the compliments his tongue was sending his stomach, he was glad he was.
"Man, I think you guys ate my weight in food." Stewie used the excuse of clearing the dishes to start up a conversation. Not that full plates had stopped the inquisitive mouse from doing so from before, "I'd ask if I could get you anything else, but I'm pretty sure the only thing Roadie has left to cook up is me."
The rodent's self made snicker turned to a forced chuckle when the cat answered.
"Sounds tempting." Husk flicked the bone pick with his tongue.
"But I think we'll be fine with just the check." Charlie spoke up after she hid a burp and blush behind her napkin.
The mouse laughter returned to a genuine tone, and he retreated with a nod. Nester himself couldn't help but let out a chuckle at the scene.
"What's got you shitting out giggles?" Husk snorted a smile.
"Nothing," Nester lied to himself before contouring, "it's just that…"
He trailed off, before a soft smile from Charlie dragged the truth out of him.
"You said it's just like a normal city, and right now I can see why." Nester continued, if only because Husk smirk rose upon a sharp exhale, "Restaurants lining the street."
The bird's gaze flew outside towards the different fusion places set up outside.
"Street performers." he motioned to the gathered crowd around two dancers a block away.
"And billboard advertisements on every high rise." his finger finally trailed to the marketing campaigns that filled the concrete jungle's upper canopy.
"I mean, it just feels like the normal you were talking about, if that makes sense."
"Absolute sense!" Charlie enthusiastically latched onto the opinion, and turned towards Husk to see if she could sweep him up to make it fact, "Don't you think?"
"Yeah," the cat's agreement sailed upon sarcasm, "except, you're eating in a restaurant as a demon bird, with a talking cat, and whatever the hell Charlie is."
His claw hands lazily circled in place to drag Nester vision across all the inhuman diners sitting down.
"Those two's 'performance' would get them arrested on Earth."
The nail stretched down the street… and Nester's eyes widened when he realized the dancers wore sweat instead of shirts.
"And as shitty as people up top can be, a normal city wouldn't let you advertise hits in public."
The cat's hand ended its revelation 'holding up' a billboard. Prying his eyes away from the… modern art… Nester narrowed them onto the ad.
"The Immediate Murder Professional- Oh…" Nester's voice fell in understanding alongside Charlie's face, "but how can they murder people here if we're already dead?"
"They can't." Stewie returned with a receipt and an answer, "Just three imps scamming idiotic Sinners out of their cash with a bogus claim that they can kill people on Earth."
"Sounds like the right kind of bullshit for this city." Husk shrugged while Charlie distracted herself with the check.
"… con artists are at least normal." Nester whispered.
"Can't argue with that, but I think your days being normal are done." Stewie chuckled out.
"What do you mean?"
"I mean you're kind of trending dude. That Vee chick's live stream last night nearly caused a riot when it went out."
Nester saw Charlie take out money for the tip, before Stewie's words caused her hand to dove back into her pocket to retrieve more paper.
"… that's not good, but that probably has to do more with Angel than me. He's a famous actor after all." Nester's nerves tried to redirect the attention.
"In the same way those people on the street are performers." Husk grumbled.
"Yeah, people were chatting about the sex spider. But the pink haired lady's been posting about you non-stop."
"… huh?" Nester confusion was echoed by the table's coordinated head cock.
"Seriously, you guys don't know?" the mouse snorted in amusement, "Geeze, you're more out of touch than the old man."
Stewie pulled out his phone, and after a few taps turned it to the party.
"See."
Low and behold in the screen was what looked to be Velvette's twitter thread, or at least Hell's version of the platform. Feature on every post since this morning was a picture of Nester.
Some of which featured looped clips of Husk yelling at him in last night's act. Others were drawings of him and his wings being torn off by this jester faced angels he saw a week ago. And more than one showcased him on the job, only with chains photoshopped around his hands and the doors handle.
Whatever the post, all had one thing in common outside of Nester. For written beneath each post was the same thing.
New and Naive?! When the Extermination comes don't Nest with Whores! Apply for a spot in the Extermination Eden today! Redemption won't save your afterlife, but influence will!
"Although…" the rat stared back at the three shattered faces, "maybe it would have been better if you guys had found out on your own."
Nester's mouth hung open, but no words came out. Still he was doing better than Charlie who couldn't even manage to drop her jaw.
"Fuck it." Husk snarled himself back from shock first, "Maybe we should see if those imps take local hits."
XxxxxxX
Thanks to all who have read through the tenth chapter of Drifters. I will try my best to upload a chapter every Friday. But until next week, please feel free to leave a comment! Criticism is always welcomed, so long as there's an attempt for it to be constructive.
And to anyone interested in becoming a beta reader, feel free to shoot me a PM.