Authors Note:
Hello again, and welcome to another weekly installment of Drifters. Nothing too new to report this time around, although I will say this chapter has been my favorite to write so far in terms of comedy and character interactions.
Also, thank you for the the review roxasduelwielder. Don't worry Nester will definitely be shown around Hell in the future. Although, I will say the next few chapters have him centered mostly around the hotel.
That's all for the pre chapter notes and replies. So without further adieu, besides my traditional apology revolving around any grammatical stakes that may pop up along the way, I welcome you back too….
Drifters
A Hazbin Hotel Fanfic
Chapter 4:
Meat and Feast
"T-thanks again for g-grabbing me the ice last night." Nester croaked, "I-I really feel bad about bothering you with such a small thing."
His words and his newfound center of balance stumbled alongside Charlie through the hall.
"Are you kidding?" the suit-and-bow-tied woman stretched back her smile, "I'm the one who feels awful about the whole heater fiasco. You should have been breaking down my door to complain!"
The avian nodded meekly. Though, if he had to do it all over again, he would have still just tried to endure the temperature spike.
Heck, or in this case a double Hell, Nester wished he had been able to do so last night. But given his added layers of insulation, even his social anxiety reached a boiling point. And that point came when his room had turned into an oven.
Still, even with his initial fears of Charlie dragging him to a pit of flames having come to partial fruition last night, it took him far longer than it should have to work up the courage to buzz the owner.
Luckily, in regards to his nervous system more so than his nerves, the sun-cheeked woman answered the call with a literal tub of ice, an explanation on the situation, and a promise that the problem was well on its way to being solved.
"Were you able to get any rest last night?" the manager cautiously asked, "If you need to sleep in…"
Charlie's words trailed off, and Nester felt the urge to pounce on them. Between the temperature swings and the fact his wings had made it impossible to lie down, sleep sounded more enticing now than it did last night.
Especially when considering the closest thing he got to sleep in the last 24 hours was when he burrowed his head in the ice water like some sort of penguin/ostrich hybrid.
But… Charlie was the one who had gone above and beyond to give him that small bit of relief. And when she knocked on his door this morning, Nester didn't think there was a person alive or dead who could turn down her invitation for a community brunch.
"No, I'm alright," Nester stuttered out. "I've got more than enough energy to take on the day."
That wasn't a full truth or a full lie. He was very much exhausted. But given his general anxiety about meeting new people, let alone actual demons, maybe a sleep-deprived mind could work to his advantage and slow down all the panic attacks coming his way.
"That's awesome!" Charlie's mood steadily rose when they descended the floors, "Because this brunch is going to be the hotel's first official program, and I'm super excited everybody can hit it with a running start!"
The blonde woman certainly had a way of presenting her ideas. She bounded down the Victorian styled staircase as if in the upbeat swing of her life's own trailer.
Nester's pace behind her was far more rigid. Though his wings had been infected by her optimism enough to fold into a relaxed tuck.
And he was glad the appendages weren't spread out trying to catch unwanted attention. Because from the top step, Nester saw the literal fruits of the owner's labor.
A juice fountain lapsed a soft geyser stream across a buffet table lined with a menagerie of sparking apples, grapes, and cubed melons. Embedded in the ocean of citrine, steaming islands of French pastries rose amongst the lava mounds of crisped bacon.
Unraveled above the godly cuisine was a rainbow streamed welcome banner. And on it, the words 'Meet and Feast' were written with such excitement they all but floated upon their own bubbled font.
Starring in bewilderment, the bird even thought a new violet coat had been painted onto the walls during the course of the night just to match the buffet's aesthetic. But he deduced that his frantic push through the lobby last night must have made him see the barriers a false red.
Charlie stood at the bottom of the lobby. Hands at her hip with a steadied grin as she nodded at her work.
Nester walked down beside her, his head swirled at all the details he had missed last evening and all the fresh ones he was sure the event orchestrater must have constructed in the last ten hours.
"T-this is… amazing." the brunette whispered in awe, "You must have been up all night."
"Yup!" Charlie beamed with pride, before she reigned it in when the winged man's feathers ruffled in a downcast, "But when you love what you do, why let something like sleep get in the way!"
Nester used the smile she shot his way to force up his own. Charlie was, well, something else.
Her selflessness and ability to put others, even a person she barely knew, before herself was beyond admiral. To the point of honestly being a bit stress inducing. Because if the shoe was flipped he'd never have done this for a stranger he just met… especially one from Hell.
Right now, as she reeled in her own achievement with modesty just to ease Nester's conscience, the young man wondered how Hell could have somebody as caring as Charlie in it.
She had said something about being born here. But being a spawn from a realm of incarnated evil made her generosity more perplexing.
Then again, Nester was still adapting to the knowledge Hell existed, and was light years away from having any clue on how it worked.
For all he knew, Charlie was born a pure soul from two Sinners already here. Or that the worst parts of humanity were just so atrocious it made the morality of full blooded demons seem saint-like in comparison.
"D-do you… need sleep?" Nester couldn't help but ask.
"Yes," another voice joined the fray, "Charlie here just has the ability to forget her own exhaustion."
Speaking of exhaustion, all of Nester's vanished in an instance when the snow haired woman from last night waltz up to stand next to an embarrassed Charlie.
The grayish violet skinned woman didn't have her spear, at least not in sight. And in their panic to confirm that, Nester's pinging pupils were able to get a far better scan of her the second time around.
Outside of her hue, healthily lavish white mane that cascaded down back a gown, and treasure marked eyepatch that glowed, she appeared human.
She had a normal pair of arms and legs. A slim figure, but not unnaturally so, and a red and black outfit that seemed remarkably mundane compared to what everybody else here did or did not wear.
Unlike Charlie, who spurred some sort of uncanny trait through her height and markings, the spear wielder stood a handful of inches shorter than him.
Despite his height advantage, Nester still felt as if the awkward smile the white haired woman shot his way came from atop a towered fort.
"Vaggie's joking of course!" Charlie awkwardly laughed.
The red blazers woman grabbed her one eyed counterpart by the shoulders and ushered her forward.
"Speaking of which, let me officially introduce you two." Charlie set the two opposed chess pawns, coughed into her fist as some sort of drum roll, then gestured towards each player.
"Vaggie this is Nester, new resident of Hell and newest guest of the Hazbin Hotel!"
The white haired woman booted up a nervous smile, and flicked the hand by her waist upward in a closed orbit wave.
Normally, the bird would mirror such a response. But right now, he stared blankly ahead, like a squirrel in the back yard watching a dog narrow in on them behind a screen door.
"Nester, this is Vaggie! My partner in business and life! She's also the hotel's official security guard, and you've already seen how dedicated she is to that position. Hehe…he." Charlie's laughter died into a weak chuckle when Vaggie's eye drifted away embarrassed and Nester's dilated in fear.
The white haired woman, to her credit, offered out an olive branch in her hand to the shell shocked statue.
"Sorry about my… um… well, just sorry." the security guard drifted off her own point before it could crash, "It's nice to make your acquaintance… again."
Nester stared at the outstretched digits for what felt like an eternity.
Hesitantly, the bird's own hand tread forward through space. His palm twitched like a wounded fish in shark infested waters.
"D-don't worry about it. N-nice to meet you too… again." Nester's tense smile relaxed into one of relief when the hand that met his held no teeth.
Although, when the motion was over, Nester was far too happy to reel his hook back in. While Vaggie retreated hers to tackle an itch behind her ear.
Unsure what to do next, both introverts looked to Charlie, but she actually beamed at the moment as if it was going perfectly.
"Um… s-so…" Nester began, trying to force himself not to be held at spear point by past events, "a-a hotel to redeem people's not something media up top advertises about this place. I-it's really cool you and your wife are doing this."
The bow perched on Vaggie's head perked up like a twin set of prairie dogs. Its red color spilled downwards onto her cheeks.
"Wife?!" the warrior all of a sudden turned into a flushed school girl, a reaction made worse by the fact Charlie's eyes and smile sparkled at the thought, "W-we're not… it's-"
Nester's own face ripened, albeit a harvest of embarrassment rather than a blush, and he was infected by Vaggie's stuttering.
"O-oh… I-I'm sorry- I just thought when you said- y-you see I just thought partner in life meant you two were… uh, you know..."
Vaggie's lit cheeks became a fuse when he uttered the last comment.
"She is my girlfriend, but we aren't- It's a little early for- We haven't even talked about that sort of thing yet!"
"But feel free to keep talking about it now if you want~" Charlie swooned from her own imagination, only brought out of it when she saw Vaggie's posture tense up, "O-or not… today is about the guests meeting each other after all!"
Nester sighed in relief. He didn't want to eat breakfast parked as a third wheel, or worse, forced into being a couple therapists.
"The… um… bacon looks really good." Nester coughed out.
He motioned the conversation and his arm to the steaming strips of grease. Then the avian paused.
"…that is bacon right?"
"… yeah." Vaggie cleared her throat along with her composer,
"From a pig?" Nester felt the need to confirm,
"That is what bacon's made from." Charlie tilted her head, "Oh, do you have dietary restrictions?"
Before Nester could say no, or question if that was still the correct response given his body could have changed just as much on the inside then the out, the owner had a clipboard in her face and filed through a textbook worth of charts.
"I could have sworn I crossed check my meal to ensure it avoided all the common types of allergies. How could I not know somebody could be allergic to pork?!"
Nester wasn't used to seeing somebody else teeter on the brink of a breakdown. Frantically he waved his arms to try and balance the woman's emotion.
"I-I'm not. Don't worry, I love fried pig just as much next as the next guy-"
"Then you must hate it!" a wailed voice hurdled itself down the stairs.
From the top of the ramp a-.
Nester blinked.
What the heck was that?
He had recalled getting a brief look at the other residents last night, but with how fast everything had gone on his arrival, he hadn't been able to get a clear look at them. Not that it apparently mattered, because the white furred thing he saw yesterday had made far more sense as an unfocused blur than it did a high definition picture.
In Hell he had seen things he would think impossible. But all of them still had traits grounded in reality, animalistic features from a beast he knew about on earth.
The… being… that stared down in horror with its two? Six? Eight eyes? Looked like it belonged on the surface of an alien planet, not thousands of miles beneath the Earth.
Whatever it was, its fanged mouth frowned appalled, and the far more recognisable city accent didn't sound happy at all.
"Seriously! How could you cook up a graveyard full of swines while Fat Nuggets was sleeping upstairs."
The thing's hands were on its hips. And when it leaned down to stare at Charlie in accusation, Nester's head tilted to the floor when another set of arms popped out the creature's torso to cross themselves.
"Don't be so dramatic Angel." Vaggie stitched her own forearms over one another. Albeit she only had the two to work with.
"Dramatic?! If anything I'm not being dramatic enough!"
Nester watched the newly revealed Angel strut down the steps flicking his fluffed cowlick.
"I wake up early to support Charlie,"
"It's ten thirty." Vaggie deadpanned.
"Only to find the brunch she promised a slaughterhouse!", the furred demon pointed a single hand towards the panicking manager, "What kind of hotel of horrors are you running here?!"
"I-I thought- I mean, who doesn't like bacon?!" Charlie awkwardly laughed. Although, it came out a damned cry.
"Um, me, helllllloooo!" Angel reached into his fluffed head to pull out his response, "The proud pig lover!"
"You better not mean that literally." Vaggie openly stared.
"Oh grow up Vagina."
Angel raised the spotted and spear tailed piglet from his nest, and placed it atop the table. Before he turned his glare back to the white haired woman who looked ready to pull her own weapon out after the comment.
Nester watched wide eyed as the little farm animal wobbled across the buffet. When the little nugget passed the bird, it sniffed him, then gave out a sharp oink before going about its business.
"You grow up! Charlie slaves away all night fixing your mistake," Vaggie marched up and jabbed a finger into the stick man's abdomen, "then makes a five star breakfast on top of that, and the first thing you do is bitch about the free meal!"
Said chef was currently head deep in her spreadsheet. Trying to figure out where she went wrong, or maybe she was just distracting her emotions from what was going wrong in front of her.
All the while, Nester watched the piglet twitch its snout at her the same way it did him. Only this time, another smell caught the creature's attention. And like a cartoon character catching the waft of a steaming pie, he all but levitated in the direction it came from.
"Uhhh-" the avian eyes widened when he saw the swine's end destination.
"Last time I checked toots, I'm the customer," Angel leaned back, "and the customer's always right."
"E-excuse me." Nester's bystanding whisper went unnoticed.
"You've got to pay to be a customer. The word to describe you is free loading piece of shit." Vaggie hissed out.
"G-guys…." Nester rasped again, then cringed when he heard a crunch.
"I am wounded, truly wounded!" Angel feigned a faint, "I thought this was supposed to be a place of healing-"
"Sir!" Nester finally found himself disturbed enough to raise his voice to speaking level. Nine eyes darted towards him.
"What?" the furred man asked.
"Your pi-… pet," Nester gulped, unable to bring himself to name the animal as he pointed to the swine, "doesn't seem to share your view on… bacon."
"The hell are you-",
"Oh my God." Vaggie anger morphed to a whisper. Her girlfriend looked up when the atmosphere simmered down.
"What-" Charlie's question inhaled itself into a hiss, "Oohhh…I'm not going to be able to unsee that."
Undeterred by the flabbergasted spectators, Fat Nuggets kept munching away at the brunch. Each time his snout hit the table, his mouth lapped up more and more of his fallen kin.
"…" the stick figured opened his mouth, but no words came out.
He looked down, rubbed a hand against his chin, and emerged with no words once again when all eyes shifted from his pet to him.
Blinking, eight times, the furred man gave one last glance to his feasting piglet. He then turned away, morphed his posture into a nonchalant pose and offered a hand to Nester as if his pet wasn't participating in cannibalism at the head of the table.
"So, my name's Angel Dust."
"…N-Nester…" the birdman hesitantly returned the gesture. Having to strain his head backwards to gaze up at the eight foot power pole.
The uniquely named man cocked his head confused when the brunette didn't elaborate more. Although, a golden tooth grin emerged when he redacted his hand.
"Awe, I see, you must be a fan." Angel trailed a pair of hands up his fur, "Don't worry, I'll only bite if you ask~"
"Actually," Charlie sang and dashed her way into the conversation with clasped hands, "Nester just arrived in Hell a couple of days ago."
"Reeaallly?" Angel harmonized with a far lower smile.
"Um… yeah… still getting used to… well… everything." On cue, his wings fluffed out, "So, sorry for starring."
"Oh don't worry, I encourage everybody to do so."
"…" Nester struggled to come up with a response to the eyebrow raise that rained down on him,
"Play your cards right sweetie and you might even be able to touch-"
"Okay!" Charlie jumped in between them, and for once Nester didn't mind the invasion of personal space so long as it meant he got pushed back from the situation, "I'm loving the enthusiasm Angel… but… maybe…"
Charlie struggled to find a positive way to stop the one sided flirt. Luckily, a direct one came from above.
"You can at least wait until people eat breakfast before asking them to eat your ass."
A black and white cat flew down the stairs upon slick wings and a streamline tail. His top hat and poker lined jacket only added to the creature's bizarreness. The only normal thing about the feline was his expression. Which shined with the features of somebody who was already over the day before it even began.
"Oh, is the kitty jealous~" Angel purred, and used an upper hand to claw the air, "Calm down, I'm just messing with the new guy."
The furred man shot Nester a wink. Thankfully it hit him a tease rather than a flirt,
"He may be old enough to leave the nest," Angel returned his gaze back to the scowling cat who landed inside a… bar, "but I prefer fly boys with more… mileage under their wings."
The cat growled, before taking out a bottle and downed away whatever response would continue the conversation.
Nester just sighed in relief knowing the furred man's attention was on the other bird.
"Just because you're late to work, doesn't mean it's late enough to drink." Vaggie growled at the suited feline, who merely tilted his middle finger up alongside his bottle.
"I-it's fine! A slow trickle's actually better for the Meet and Feast." Charlie boasted a smile while she went over and massaged her girlfriends temples.
"The-" the bartender, or the bar occupant from Nester's point of view, gave out a wet burp before continuing, "meet and what?"
"The Meet and Feast!" the red suited woman repeated, somehow adding more gusto to the title, "My specially designed brunch for the guest to introduce themselves to one another! You've actually arrived right on time to-"
"Let me stop you right there." the feline brought up a hand, "I'm being forced to work at this shit hole as an employee, not a guest."
Nester cringed on Charlie behalf, and even Angel muttered something about the kitten needing to put away the claws,
"Why should I have to partake in this activity crap?" the cat sharpened them instead, and Charlie's lips fell not having an answer… her girlfriend's did though.
"Because you want to keep your head attached to your shoulders." Vaggie's red 'X' all but bore itself a dot onto the cat's chest. And when her spear came out to enforce her sharp glare, Nester dashed behind the skinny pole faster than the feline's pupils shrank, "Introduce yourself, now!"
A moment of silence passed. But once his frozen response thawed out the winged employee grumbled out his name.
"I'm Husk, I work the bar and front desk. In that order." The cat said, despite sounding indifferent about both roles, "I'm here against my will, and I hate everybody."
Nester watched his cover blow Husk a kiss. The cat snarled it away,
"Some people more than others."
The avian once again couldn't help but feel like he was in the midst of another lover's quarrel… or maybe it would be more accurate to say a restraining order violation.
Coughing, Nester decided he'd just tell the Husk his name and not annoy the feline further. But when he opened his mouth, he found himself questioning something else the bartender had said.
"Wait, why is he here against his will?" the brunette turned his confused words to Charlie.
The manager's posture slacked as she struggled to come up with a reason. Nester felt the fact she was still hung onto her smile meant his question was worse than the answer she'd give. Which is why somebody else replied for her.
"Because my dive into venture capitalism and his crippling gambling addiction met each other in a truly spectacular way my dear boy!" At some point Nester would have to get used to the sights of Demons, but even upon the second glance the sight of a posh dressed man with shark-like teeth and smile the size of his head, the bird's joints locked into place like a deer in headlights.
It didn't help that the static buzzing bus descending the stairs contained two single eyed passengers. One being his microphone cane, and the other a three foot jittering greatest generation era cyclops. Whose doll-like ecstatic was made all the creeper by her piranha lined jaw and ravenous grin.
"I-I'm sure there's more to it than that." Charlie tried to force out.
"There's really not." Husk shot down any optimism she may have had.
The red cheeked woman sucked in her lips, and turned to the specced man.
"Anyway, we're doing introductions and this is-" Charlie grabbed Nester from behind Angel, and pushed the winged man forward.
When the tux adorned gentlemen reached the final step he grabbed the bird by the hand and pulled him into an enthusiastic greeting.
"Nester last name pending!" the man shook the avian arm like he was a teddy bear, "I recall your miraculous entrance last night! Truly a one in a kind opening act! Set this place ablaze!"
When Nester found his feet back in the ground it took a moment for his pupils to stop undulating,
"U-um… thank you… I think?"
"Haha," the crimson haired fellow bellowed, "try not to young man! The world is far more entertaining when people don't! Just look at Niffty here!"
The tall demon patted the hair on the head of the ginger cyclops, but by the second pat his hand came down upon his own head.
The fanged woman had climbed down from the radio and up onto the avian instead.
By the time Nester could shutter at being swarmed, she was already back on the ground. Her one eye drilled onto his two while she swung back and forth on her knees.
"Hi, I'm Niffty! You're a man right?! Because I really like men! But only if they're bad men! Tell me, how many people have you killed?!", how she didn't run into her own words at such a speed was astonishing,
Nearly as astonishing as the fact Nester now found himself in a more uncomfortable position than when he met the eight limbed demon.
"Um… none… I hope.", the young man rasped out. Luckily, before he could choke on the weight of his own response, the woman soured at the way it tasted in her ears.
"Oh, that's too bad, you must be really lame then! Yup, I've decided, you're really lame!"
'Oh thank God' Nester sighed in relief, never more thankful to be a loser than he was the moment it meant a murderous cyclops wouldn't become his stalker.
"Do you know where I can find a bad boy?"
Of course, it still didn't make this initial interaction any less awkward.
Nester darted his eyes around, and waded into the conversation with the hopes to end it.
"I don't know if it's a guy… but that pigs eating bacon-"
"Really?!" the short woman pushed up her own cheeks till her one eye nearly popped out.
When her single scope locked onto the traitorous swine, she sped across the floor, walls, and tables for a closer look.
"What did I tell you," the striped man chuckled interference, "hasn't used her brain since birth, yet is always the life of the party."
Nester didn't think that was too much of an exaggeration. Especially when everybody had to look away from her trying to help Fat Nuggets shove down more greased strips.
"But don't worry. We are…" Charlie tried, and failed, to recapture everyone's disturbed attention, "Ninety percent sure she's harmless. In fact she's the hotel's maid!"
"And resident insect murderer." Angel puffed out.
"Yes, she is quite passionate about her work," the radio man checked his nails, "as we all should be."
Nester saw Charlie actually look over to the man with a hopeful grin when he said that. Unfortunately the mood was brought down when from the corner of his eye he saw Husk duel wield the bird,
"Speaking of which! The name's Alaster, my young feathered fellow!" the newly revealed demon floated his arm out, displaying himself like some sort of ring master at a spectacle. For Nester it just pointed out how much more of presence, both in size and attitude, this man was, "Proud executive producer of this Sisyphus hill"
"I-it's-", the avian squeaked a trapped mouse before he coughed himself into a stutter, "um… n-nice to put a name to the face. You seem like a good guy-"
"Oh trust me," Alaster erratic static grew denser to cut Nester off, and the world seemed to buffer in distortion when the suited man's back snapped into an arc, "I'm not."
Nester lips stitched together. And when antlers popped out of the radio head, the brunette wondered what type of bird was hunted by buck,
"But you're hardly a threat to me." and just as quickly as the shadow of terror came, it relapsed into the properly postured man twirling his cane, "So I'm sure we'll get along just fine!"
Nester blinked once, twice, and on the third one looked around the room. Outside of Fat Nuggets and Niffty, everybody shared his bewildered expression.
And when the tension soaked into their bodies enough to make the air passible, the young man had a better understood why Alaster was an investor… and why Husk didn't have a choice in being here,
"Now, I do believe that sign says feast!" the shark toothed man sung, swinging his legs into a broadway strut to the table, "Let us dig in before all that's left to eat is the live pig"
"…" everybody remained silent… even Angel could only offer a silent glare at the comment towards his pet. And a restrained one at that.
"I-I hope you all enjoy it. There should be something for-" Charlie broke the silent and tilted her head to motion the four statues to sit down, only for Fat Nuggets to belch his satisfaction upon her cue, "…everybody"
XxxxxxX
Vaggie picked at the remnants of her fruit salad. The one course she had felt comfortable eating given the plump pig rolling in gluttonous delight next to Angel.
All things considered, the brunch portion of Charlie's activity went better than the initial, or rather, follow up introductions. Probably because having a plate of food before you gave people away to avoid taking, rather than be forced into a situation where they had too.
Which made any conversations that did come up over the course of the meal far smaller, and more natural.
Alaster of course spoke literal volumes about the food. His crackled voice made him sound less like an all powerful overlord and more an energetic food critic. Something Charlie, for a lack of a better term, ate up considering it had been her cooking he complimented.
Vaggie would be the first to admit she wasn't Alaster's biggest fan, but she smiled happy to know he could applaud Charlie's hard work… even if he had made it evident he was here to watch it fail.
She herself stayed mostly quiet, talking to her girlfriend briefly about some work and plans they had to accomplish around the hotel. Besides that, and a conversation with Husk, that was really a one sided demand they get a water tap for the bar, she ate in peace and absorbed the atmosphere.
Vaggie wasn't expecting the newcomer to be any more of a conversationalist than her. Even if she hadn't scared him back to life last night, Nester seemed a reserved person by nature.
But ironically, by the time he was half way done with his meal, Angel had swept the young man into a chat. And while the brunette was definitely the listener in the discussion, he did so with a timid, yet, genuine smile. And better yet, from what she overheard, the spider demon hadn't discussed a future HR report.
Instead, Angel had asked the avian about his wings, which led the young man admitting to not knowing what type of birds they belonged to or if they could get him off the ground. And after a minute of nervously letting that hang in the air, Nester actually braved himself enough to ask Angel what type of creature he was.
The furred demon said he was a spider behind a mouthful of oats. The bird's eyes had dilated at that, as if a fly caught in a web for a moment, before he gave a nervous chuckle.
With Nester admitting he would have never guessed. Because he was arachnophobic and wasn't put off by the appearance at all.
Angel spurt out his food chuckling in response. And the conversation evolved from there into a skit about how the actor wasn't much of a creepy crawler outside his freckled eyes and four pairs of limbs. Which were more human than arachnid anyway.
Vaggie had kept an ear to the conversation, half in interest and half in duty. Making sure Angel kept it family friendly. And despite the ample opportunities he had to make dirty puns out of Nester questions, the spider demon only made one or two.
And neither had been flirtatious, rather just the jest an older brother would give a younger one. Unfortunately for Vaggie, that meant Angel teased Nester on the fact that Charlie was so interested in him that, in a literal sense, she had dragged him into a hotel without even checking in.
Luckily, the sputtering Nester explained how that wasn't exactly the case rather than laugh along with it. Because then Vaggie would have been the one to give the conversation an 'R' rating.
"Truly scrumptious?" Alaster broke Vaggie from her thoughts when he passed his lips with a napkin, "I dare say I might have to skip lunch less it becomes a disappointment."
Charlie waved her hand, although she hardly gave any effort to fan the compliment away. Vaggie produced a lopsided smirk at the sight.
"Count yourself lucky." Angel gave his stomach a pat before sliding his chair out from the table, "I'm gonna be forced to wash this down with gallons of milk."
Vaggie's silent groan was made vocal by Husk.
"Milk?" Nester asked, and the bartender slashed his own throat trying to signal the bird not to delve deeper,
Angel smirked in response, but upon seeing the brunette stand up with an empty plate and look around where to put it, the spider once again showed his selective restraint,
"It's for a movie I'm working on.", Angel snickered, "I'd tell you more, but something tells me you're not into the genre."
"O-okay." Nester replied, seemingly contempt to just stay in the dark for now,
'I'd look to point out I'm not a fan either,' Vaggie thought. She wished the spider could use the same logic when talking to her.
"Speaking of work," Angel hefted up his pork belly pig, "I've got to put this guy down for a nap then head over to the studio."
"W-wait!" Charlie shot up from her chair once she realized everybody else had done the same, "The Meet and Feast isn't over yet"
"Um, babe," Angel arched a pair of arms over his head, "we've met and ate, pretty sure we've covered the bases."
"B-but those where only parts one and two… h-here let me show you"
Vaggie shoulders slouched when she saw Charlie pull out one of her impressive to do list. Her dedication to organization was impressive… as was her unfortunate ignorance to everybody else's schedule.
"Charlie, this was great," Angel put on a smile, although was now backing up the stairs three steps at a time, "but I've got a job to do, addictions- bills to pay, and mouths to feed."
The actor taps the food coma pig on the nose.
"We'll have to continue some other time" he said, sending forth a wave with a bottom hand, and another blow of affection with the top destined for the bartender.
"B-but-" Charlie stuttered.
"I'm afraid I must be off as well. You won't believe how much work can pile up after a seven year sabbatical." the Radio Demon twirled his staff, and made for the stairs and his studio that sat atop the hotel, "If you want to continue listening to this lovely voice, I invite you to dial it up on the old tuner."
The smiling sadist reached the top of the staircase and gave a bow towards the leftover crowd.
"Until then, I must bid you a temporary farewell." and like Angel, the crimson man disappeared into the upper level.
Before Charlie had time to fish out her never ending planner, three people had vanished. And when she finally came to realize that, Niffty had already scampered off somewhere as well.
"I-I…" the manager's lips curled downward.
"It's okay Hon, the brunch was a great success." Vaggie reached up an arm to rub her girlfriend's shoulders.
"I-I definitely had a good time," even Nester offered some support. Although his arms remained holding an empty plate he had no idea what to do with, "a-and… if you're trying to redeem sinners then it's good to know they're t-taking their work commitments seriously… right?"
Charlie softly smiled at the reassurance. Which was enough for Vaggie to not point out what the jobs were to Nester just yet.
"B-by the way… is there… a-any um," the young man brought a hand up and fiddled with the pen feather above his ear, "well, what I mean is… since Hell's apparently got an economy I should…"
Vaggie felt bad watching the guy constantly trail off from his own question before he could ask if. Charlie tilted her head trying to decipher what he was on about, but luckily the white haired woman picked up enough clues.
"Are you… wondering if there's an opening at the Hotel?" she crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow.
Nester sucked in his lips, and looked nervous enough to ruffle off his feather, but nodded in the end.
"Absolutely not!" and Charlie's frantic scream nearly blew them all off.
"Woah." Vaggie own eye nearly shot out its head not expecting that answer, "Don't you think that's a bit harsh?"
A bit ironic for her to say given the whole spear incident, but still.
"I-I didn't mean it like that," Charlie reigned in her own breath and volume, "it's just, you're a resident. I want you to focus on the redemption program."
"… b-but," the young man bit his bottom lip, not built for debates, but forced himself to offer one, "you guys are providing me a service. Shouldn't I have to pay for it? Or at the very least work for room and board?"
Charlie flipped through her planner, and opened her mouth to respond with the speech she built for this exact moment. Vaggie decided to intervene, even if she had a hard time telling her girlfriend something she didn't want to hear.
"He's got a point." Vaggie squeezed the heiress's shoulder, "Outside the fact we're severely understaffed, it's not like we can ask are guest to avoid making an income while they stay here."
"But… mmmmm" Charlie huffed out her cheeks, before looking between the guest and security guard, "I suppose that makes sense. And if you have a job here, I can at least make sure your work schedule doesn't interfere with activities."
"And you can buy clothes that don't reek of shit." Husk snarked from the bar.
Vaggie would say the cat was being supportive, but the bartender probably just thought another employee meant less work. Not that he did his fair share to begin with.
"You don't have to spend whatever income you make on that though!" Charlie stated an executive decision, "In fact, I said I was going to buy you a phone today didn't I! Why don't we shop for some clothes too!"
The woman's attitude did a one-eighty, and she grabbed the shocked bird by the hand,
"This way you'll get to see the city too-"
"Woah there," Vaggie caught her girlfriend's wrist before she could drag the avian out as quickly as she dragged him in, "let's slow things down. We still got to figure out what Nester can do around here."
The eye patched guard, with militaristic precision, unfolded Charlie hand from the feathery arm.
"Guess he can't be in two places at once." the owner finally caught up with herself and rubbed the back of her neck embarrassed.
Nester rubbed his arm, and Vaggie knew he probably thought if the heiress pulled him any harder his body would split down the middle and do just that.
"No, but we can." the spear wielder smirked, "I'll stay back and give him the rundown on the hotel, while you shop around town."
Charlie puffed one cheek, thinking about the advice, before she smiled with jubilance as if it was her own idea,
"Sounds like a plan! Oh I've already got so many ideas on what to get. I'll even grab some posters to decorate your room for you!"
The heiress nodded to herself, before she darted for the entrance.
"Hey if you're getting all your workers new shit I could really use a-" Husk brought up a claw, only to redact it when Charlie flew out the door faster then his words, "Fuck."
The cat huffed, head slouched in his hand.
Vaggie smirked at the scene, before she met Nester's nervous smile.
"T-thanks… I-I uh don't have my resume on me but-"
Vaggie cut the man off with a wave of her hand,
"Don't worry, the interview part of this will take two seconds. It's not like we're asking you to be a CEO or anything."
The bird sighed with relief,
"The real time consumer's going to be background check and room search." she couldn't help but turn her own smile wicked, the security guard she had introduced to him the other night had been tempered but not banished completely, "Just to make sure you haven't smuggled any dangerous items into the hotel."
Nester gulped. Vaggie already knew the results would come up empty. But at the very least she'd make sure it remained that way. After all, the workers and guests of the Hazbin Hotel had an image to maintain.
XxxxxxX
Thanks to all who have read through the fourth chapter. 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.
P.S: for anyone who cares, the live action AtLA was amazing in my opinion and a good retelling of book one through a different media.