The Hidden Cove

Alastor seems to sense his partner's dismay. He summons his shadow, which taps Angel on the shoulder. Turning his head, Angel smiles at it, giggling softly.

He opens his arms, welcoming the shadow into his warm embrace. It happily curls up in Angel’s arms. The spider rolls over again, going back to sleep.

The shadow is a bit chilly, lacking any natural body warmth, but it’s nice. Like when you turn your pillow to the cold side.

Angel quickly falls back asleep, the shadow pressed comfortably against him. He could stay like this forever.

Why was Alastor in Angel’s bed? After listening to Angel talk about his particularly hard day at the studio, he decided he’d offer some extra comfort.

Recently, he had been much more open to affection. Not publicly- never publicly- but when it’s just the two of them. He’s been more inclined to Angel leaning on his shoulder, or resting his head on Alastor’s lap.

Perhaps he’s finally starting to let his guard down around Angel. Although he doesn’t particularly like physical contact, he is willing to put up with it for his partner.

A few more hours go by before Angel reawakens. He groans, stretching his limbs as he sits up in bed. The deer’s shadow is still next to him…

And so is the deer himself.

Odd. Alastor is usually an early riser. Checking the time, it’s about 10am. What is he still doing in bed?

“Al?” Angel gently shakes his partner awake. The deer lets out an annoyed sound, rolling over to face his partner.

“What?” He says. His voice sounds slightly off, but Angel doesn’t pay it any mind. He’s just groggy from sleep.

“You good babe?” Angel asks. “You never sleep this late.” He stands up, opening the curtains. The deer winces, shielding his eyes with his hand.

“What time is it?” The demon asks, also sitting up. He gets out of the bed, calling his shadow back. With a quick wave of his hand, his microphone is summoned and he is now in his usual attire.

“It’s almost 10:30. You slept late today.” Angel teases him. “I’ve never known you to sleep past 7:00. Heck, the last time you slept so long was when- Al?”

When Angel turns around to face Alastor, he finds himself in an empty room. Angel rolls his eyes. “Whatever.”

Shit.

Alastor walks quickly down the sidewalk, towards cannibal town. Well, as quickly as he can. Even after sleeping longer than usual, he still feels tired. Borderline exhausted.

Just outside of Rosie’s Emporium, Alastor sits at a bench. He sighs. His head feels fuzzy. He clears his throat, which turns into a dry cough. Damnit.

After composing himself, he stands up and heads inside of the Emporium. 

“Oh, Rosie. Your favorite sinner has arrived!” Alastor announces his arrival.

Rosie gasps. “Alastor! To what do I owe the pleasure?” She pulls up a chair for him. “I was just finishing breakfast myself.”

Alastor helps himself to the empty seat, flashing his usual smile. “I just thought I’d pay you a visit before you open shop for the day.”

“Oh. Well aren’t you quite the gentleman? It has been a bit since our last chat.” She smiles. “How’s that spider friend of yours doing? You two are an item the last I checked?”

“We are well acquainted, yes,” Alastor responds quickly. He prefers not to use the word partner, especially boyfriend, publicly. He has an image to upkeep. Especially since he is known for being quite the ladies man.

Rosie gives him a knowing look. “I’m sure you are. Anyway, how’s he doing? You should bring him around sometime.”

As Rosie talks, Alastor’s mind can’t help but think about other things. Specifically about the slight tickle in the back of his sinuses. He brushes the back of his hand under his nose, trying to seem natural.

“I’m sure Angel would love to meet you.” Alastor sniffles quietly. His nose is beginning to run. Not a good sign.

Rosie rests her chin on her hand. “You alright there Alastor?”

Shit, she’s onto him. Alastor nods. “Quite alright. Anyway,” he quickly changes the subject. “How have things been? Last I checked we have a few new residents.”

Rosie squints her eyes at him, giving him a suspicious look before she responds. “Yes, we’ve had several new people show up.” She smiles. “It’s been quite nice getting to know them. One of them stopped by the other day. Said that someone had put in a good word for me and decided to pay a visit.”

Damnit, it’s getting worse. The tickle becoming more prominent, Alastor sniffles again, this time slightly more audible. That didn’t do much aside from make the irritation worse.

“Ha! And then his wife stopped by a few hours later. Came in and began to lecture me about keeping my eyes away from-”

Shit fuck shit fuck shit fuck shit fuck-

“h’nKT!! K’DZzch!! k’DTch!! hH-!! d’TZzch!!”

Fuck.

“Alastor,” Rosie says, smirking. “Come here.”

Knowing he’d been caught, Alastor doesn’t object to her pushing his hair away from his face and feeling his forehead.

“Knew it. Oh, you’re burning up love.” Rosie smiles gently. “It’s ok. You’ve come to the right place.” She stands up and heads over to the counter. “I’ve got something that’ll fix you right up.”

“Rosie, I promise you, I can handle this on my own. I don’t need you or anyone else fussing over me. Especially-”

“Alastor!!”

An angry voice yells from outside. Alastor jumps, quickly turning his head. “Oh goddamnit.”

Angel stomps into the emporium. He’s not happy. Not one bit.

“Oh, hello my dear.” Rosie smiles, ignoring the fact that Angel just barged into the emporium.

“Hey Rosie,” Angel says, although it comes out a bit more rude than he intended. He turns to his partner. “I fuckin knew I’d find your ass here.” Angel reaches for Alastor’s hand. “We are going back. Right now.” He’s fuming.

Alastor pulls away. “Don’t touch me. I’m fine.”

“Oh, don’t bullshit me. When I couldn’t find you in your radio tower I knew I’d find you somewhere in cannibal down. Took me for-fuckin-ever to find this damn place.”

Rosie giggles. “You must be Angel Dust. Alastor sure has told me a lot about you.” She sets the bottle on the counter.

Angel leans on the table, looking semi shocked. He’s unused to being known for something outside of the porn industry. “Oh? Is that so Alastor?” He smirks. “You been telling her about how I get your rocks off?”

Alastor snaps his head and growls at Angel. “That’s not fucking true and you know it!” His scleras are black, pupils red. His face is bright red.

Rosie bursts out laughing. “Well, in any case, you must be quite the charmer to pull someone like Alastor.” She walks back over to him, bottle in hand. “He likes playing hard to get,” she pinches his cheek. “Isn’t that wight Awastor?” She baby talks to him.

Alastor growls again. “Get away from me. The both of you.”

Rosie pats his head, stepping to the side. “How rude of me to have not introduced myself first. I’m Rosie, head of cannibal town. It’s so nice to finally be meeting the famous Angel Dust.”

Angel chuckles, shaking her hand. “Nice to finally meet you too. Alastor’s told me a good bit about you as well.”

As Rosie and Angel make casual conversation about Alastor while he’s right in front of them, Alastor’s mind begins to wander again. The tickle is back. More demanding than before.

The two are distracted, giving him the opportunity to rub his nose properly. He sniffles softly. All he has to do is mask it for a bit longer. Just until he leaves Rosie’s. Shouldn’t be too hard. Right?

“Could I offer you a bite? I have some fresh fingers. Got them just this morning. They’re in the perfect stage of decay.” Rosie offers Angel the tray.

Looking slightly horrified, but also not wanting to be rude, Angel reluctantly takes one. Val hadn’t had him try this yet.

“Uh, thanks.” Angel swallows, bracing himself before he takes a small bite.

Instant regret.

“Oh fu-” Angel gags loudly. 

Rosie laughs. “Oh love.” She passes him some napkins. “I had a feeling that would happen.” Angel accepts the napkins, spitting into it and wiping his tongue. “Here sweetie,” Rosie says, getting him a cup of water.

Alastor can’t help but chuckle himself. “I’ve tried getting him to try it himself. He declines every time without fail. After that glorious review, I’m glad I haven’t wasted any on him.”

“Shut up Alastor,” Angel glares at him, drinking the water. “Oh my god that was so fucking bad. Sorry- that was rude. Oh my god, I’m never doing that again.”

Rosie giggles. “Don’t worry about it, hon. Here,” she sets the tray down in front of Alastor. “Help yourself love.”

Unfortunately for Alastor, the stench of rotting flesh is the last thing he needs. As the strong scent makes its way into Alastor’s nose, his breath hitches audibly.

“Anyway, as I was saying-”

“‘dT’Zz’CHEh!! ‘nKT!! h’Ght! hH-!! hT’ZDtch!!”

“Oh, right. I almost forgot about that.” Rosie hands Angel the bottle. “Give him some of this and he’ll be better in a jiffy.”

Angel snickers, taking the bottle. “I fucking knew it. No wonder you slept so late.”

Alastor glares at him. “Shu’d up.” He has a small bit of snot running down his face. Rosie gives him a box of tissues, to which he takes a few and blows his nose softly. Angel and Rosie are the only two people he would dare do such a thing in front of. Disgraceful.

“Al, you can’t just run away like that. You fucking scared me.” Angel studies the bottle. It seems safe enough. He pops the cork out and gives it a sniff. He raises his eyebrows, putting the cork right back. Rosie laughs again.

“Don’t you worry,” she pats Alastor on the head. “He’s been in good hands. I’d never let anything happen to him.”

“If you two are quite finished condescending me,” Alastor pulls away. “I’d like to head back now.”

Angel giggles, taking Alastor’s hand and pulling him up. Alastor doesn’t object to his hand being taken, at least, not this time. “Thanks for looking after him.” Angel waves bye to Rosie.

“Take care, you two. You should both come by sometime for lunch.” Rosie waves in return.

“That sounds great. I think I’ll bring my own food though,” Angel exits the emporium.

As the two exit the emporium, Angel sighs, looking at Alastor. “C’mere,” he walks him over to the same bench from before. “We need to talk.”

The two sit down, although Alastor doesn’t face his partner. “You scared me, you know.” Angel begins. “You know I don’t like it when you run off like that. Especially when you’re sick.”

Alastor takes a breath. “I apologize for worrying you. That was not my intention.” He finally turns to face Angel. “I know you don’t like me using my powers to mask when I’m unwell, so I figured getting away would be the next best option.”

Angel smiles sympathetically. “Don’t worry about it, love. I’m not mad.” He opens his arms. “C’mere.” “Angel…” “C’mon.” The deer sighs, leaning into the other’s embrace. Angel giggles, rubbing his partner’s head. “Damn, you are burning up.” He gently feels Alastor’s face. “Come on,” he stands up, gently pulling Alastor with him. “Let’s get you back to the hotel. We can go to your radio tower if you’d like so we can avoid Charlie.”

Alastor flashes his usual smile, although it looks a bit forced. “Alright. Let’s do that. I’d rather keep this from Charlie. We all know how she gets.” Angel takes the deer’s hand and they are both transported to the radio tower.

Upon arrival, Alastor immediately sinks into the chair, groaning. “I’m fucking tired.” He mutters to himself.

“Really? Even after how long you slept?” Angel teases him.

“Quiet.”

Angel chuckles. “Alright alright. Here,” he pours some of the medicine into a cup that Rosie had given him. “Take some of this. Hopefully it works as well as she claims it to.” 

Alastor takes the cup from him and swallows the medicine. He grimaces slightly, his smile looking strained. “Disgusting…” Its bitter taste is strong, even for Alastor, who dislikes sweet tastes. He’d much rather bitter medicine than artificially flavored sweet medicine, but this is a bit much.

“Yeah, well, it’s medicine. It’s not supposed to taste good.” Angel puts the bottle on the shelf. “I’m not sure what the medicine is supposed to do. Hopefully it’s a cough suppressant of some sort or will at least lower your fever.”

Alastor shivers slightly, wrapping his coat tighter around himself. Angel frowns. “Babe,” he walks over. “You want me to get you a blanket? If we’re going to stay up here to hide from Charlie, I want you to at least still be comfortable. I know you don’t feel like facing her, but I’m starting to think being in bed would be better for you.”

Alastor clears his throat. “I’ll be fine here,” he says. His voice is starting to sound more hoarse. More congested and nasally. “Although, I suppose a blanket would be nice.”

Angel smiles gently. Damn. It must be bad if Alastor is asking for help. “Of course babe.” He turns to head back inside the hotel. “I’ll be back soon. Promise. I’ll get you a pillow and some tissues too.”

As Angel makes his way back into the hotel, Charlie rushes up to him. Shit. “Angel,” she says, almost sounding frantic. “Is Alastor with you? Usually he’s either in his room or in the parlor. I assumed there was an overlord meeting. I haven’t seen him all day.”

“Oh, yeah, Al’s fine.” Angel says smiling. Not exactly a lie. It’s not like he’s on death's door or anything. “He’s just hanging out with Rosie for a bit. Claims they have “catching up to do about important matters in Cannibal Town.” ”

Charlie gives a gentle smile. “Alright. Well, if you see him, make sure he’s alright. Husk said that he could sense that something was off with his magic. Since he owns Husk’s soul and all. I suppose he can feel when something is different.”

“Oh, damn. Yeah,” Angel sounds slightly worried. Husk better not blow their cover. “I’ll have to ask him about that later. Both Alastor and Husk.” He will definitely have to chat with Alastor about it. “Anyway, I’m going back up to my room for a bit. I’ll see you later.”

Charlie smiles. “Alright. I’ll see you in a bit.” She turns to go back into the parlor.

Angel sighs. That was a closer call than he would’ve liked. He heads upstairs to get some blankets and a pillow. He also grabs a tissue box, some cough drops and a few other things. Time to head back down and bring the stuff back up to the radio tower-

Wait. Charlie is still downstairs. How is he going to get around her? Shit. He could lie and say he’s sleeping over at Cherri’s place, but she’ll question the tissues and cough drops. Cherri was at the hotel talking with Pentious just earlier that day, so he can’t lie about them being for her. He decides on wrapping the items inside of the blanket. Hopefully he can get away with that.

Angel, as quietly as possible, makes his way down the stairs. Slow and steady wins the race. When he makes his way to the bottom of the stairs, he makes sure the coast is clear before making a run for it back towards the radio tower.

Finally making his way back up, Angel sighs. He made it without getting caught. Thank god. Alastor smiles at him. “Welcom-” Alastor is cut off abruptly by a fit of coughing. Angel frowns. He walks over to Alastor and wraps the blankets tightly around him. “Welcome back,” Alastor greets him.

“There,” he says, smiling. “Nice and cozy.” Alastor looks at him. He doesn’t look angry. More embarrassed if anything. Embarrassed that he’s admitting to needing help. His own willingness to show vulnerability. It’s unlike him. He’d never do this in front of anyone other than Angel (and Rosie of course). He’d most certainly not do it anywhere in the hotel outside of his or Angel’s room. Even then, he’d insist on the door being locked.

“I ran into Charlie when I went inside. Apparently Husk told her something was off. Something about being able to sense that something was wrong with your magic. I guess it’s because you own his soul.” Angel sighs. “Asshole almost blew our cover.”

Alastor groans. “I was unaware of the fact that he could sense a difference in my magic due to our contract. I’ll have to look into that later.” He looks annoyed. Thankfully Husk hadn’t said much else about it, but still. It could’ve ended poorly. Especially since he’d mentioned it to Charlie.

“If Husk can feel it, then surely Niffty can too, right?” Angel sits on the desk. “Although, I guess she’d be less likely to mention anything about it.”

Alastor sniffles. “I’d assume so. He’s never mentioned being able to feel anything off with my powers before. I’ll be sure to ask him about that. It could be important.” He summons his microphone, studying it for anything suspicious. “I’ve come down with much worse and he never brought it up then. Curious.”

Angel chuckles. He rests his chin in his hands. “Well, you can worry about that after you get better. Preferably without Charlie’s interference.” Running his hand through his hair, he sighs. “If she finds out that your powers change when you’re sick or hurt, she’ll freak. You don’t think Husk or Niffty would be in any physical pain because of the change, right?”

Alastor shrugs. “That isn’t exactly at the top of my priority list at the moment. However, if it does, I hope they keep it to themselves. I can’t let it be known that the souls I own could possibly be able to fight back while their owner is vulnerable.”

Angel feigns shock. “You? The big bad radio demon? Vulnerable?” He laughs. “I would’a never guessed.” The spider is met with a glare, although it doesn’t seem malicious.

The two make casual conversation about this and that. It’s mostly Angel spilling tea about the Vee’s. Especially Vox, as Angel knows Alastor would have the easiest time broadcasting about that.

“And then there’s the incident that happened the other day. Vox knocked over a cup and spilled a drink all over one of Velvette’s outfits for a film Val was doing. He got such a fucking mouth full from the both of them. I had no problem with it though. I got a longer lunch break.”

Alastor has a note pad he is writing the info down on. However, it becomes increasingly harder to focus on what Angel is saying. That damned tickle is back. It doesn’t help that the radio tower is a bit overdue for dusting. He hasn’t had time to give Niffty access to the place. He’ll have to do that soon.

Alastor sniffles, doing his best to dismiss the itch in the back of his sinuses as discretely as possible. It seems to do the trick, but only for a few moments. He sniffles again, rubbing his nose. Ugh, why must his nose be so sensitive?

Shit, he’s supposed to be listening to Angel. He’s been so focused on his own discomfort that he’s been completely tuning him out. Bringing himself back to the present, Alastor does his best to catch himself up.

Angel thankfully hasn’t seemed to notice. He’s too wrapped up in his gossiping. He laughs. “And then after that Val pulled out his gun and shot a bullet through the ceiling. That scared the shit outta everyone. Velvette was pissed.” He begins to mimic her British accent. “Goddamnit Valentino! We just got the stage lights replaced from the last time you threw a tantrum!”

Alastor’s breath begins hitching. He can’t do this much longer. Shit.

“After that-”

“Angel-” Alastor interrupts. “I’m sorry to ihH-!!nterupt, but-” 

Angel raises an eyebrow. “You good babe?” After a moment, Angel realizes what’s happening. “Shit!” He grabs the tissue box and tosses it at Alastor.

Alastor takes it, pulling out a few tissues. “F-fuhH!!cking-!! hEH!! eEH! hH-!?” Alastor, struggling to catch his breath, rubs his nose again. His breath evens out again, although he looks almost annoyed about it. “Dam’bit…” The feeling of needing to sneeze is still strong, but not strong enough to break him.

Angel can tell he’s struggling. Surely he can do something. Right? Angel knows the feeling and how much it sucks. He had to put up with it for hours when he was at the studio filming a-

That’s it! “Be right back!” Angel runs out of the radio tower and back to the hotel.

Angel makes it into his room and begins frantically digging through his drawers. “C’mon where is it? Here!” The scent Velvette made for Val when they were making the sneezing film, only this one was in perfume form rather than a cig.

As he heads back down the stairs, he sees Husk at the bar. This would be a good time to question him on the whole powers thing, right?

“Heya there whiskers,” Angel leans on the bar, waving to him.

The cat gives him a look. “I don’t have time to listen to you complain about how Al won’t let you smother him with affection.”

Angel rolls his eyes, looking borderline offended. “That’s not the only reason I ever talk to you. Although it is about Al.” Angel fidgets with the perfume bottle.

Husk puts down the bottle he was drinking from and gives Angel his attention. “What did that egotistical moron do this time?”

Angel lowers his voice, leaning in closer towards the bar. “Charlie mentioned how you could feel something off with Alastor’s powers. What’s that about?” He looks around the room, making sure Charlie isn’t within earshot. The last thing he (or any of the hotel for that matter) needs is for her to overhear them talking about how Alastor is unwell.

Husk perks up at this. “Oh,” he also takes a moment to look around. “I really only started noticing because before you came into the picture, he used to come to me to talk about things. He was never as open with me as he is with you, but I guess it was easier than having to go to Rosie all the time.”

“As for being able to feel a shift in his powers, that goes back several years ago. We were talking and I could tell something was different about him. If I had to guess he was probably sick or hurt in some way,” Husk takes a swig from his bottle. “He had made an off comment about being slightly under the weather, which surprised me as much as it would anyone else. After that, I couldn’t unsee the pattern.”

Angel pauses to think for a moment. “What exactly about it is different?”

Husk shrugs. “It’s hard to explain what it is in particular. The best way I can describe it is when you can sense bad energy in a room. The air is tense and you can just tell that something is off.” He takes another drink. “You can’t feel that with Val?”

Angel shakes his head. “Not that I’m aware of.” He turns to head back to the radio tower. He’s kept Alastor waiting long enough as it is. “Anyway, thanks for the info. I’ll look into it more.” He makes a kissy face. “See you later kitty cat.”

Husk rolls his eyes. “Yep. Just keep quiet about it. Alastor won’t be happy if that gets out.”

Angel hurries into the radio tower. “Alright I’m back. Sorry, I got distracted by something.” He can talk to Alastor about the conversation he had with Husk later.

Alastor sees Angel holding the perfume bottle and glares at it. “Angel, if you make it worse, I’m going to broadcast your screams.” He sniffles again, brushing his nose more aggressively. His nose is turning red from being rubbed so much. He’s eyeing the bottle suspiciously.

“Trust me, this’ll work. Just brace yourself. This shit is strong.” Angel buries his face in the crook of his arm to try and prevent from inhaling the perfume. He’d rather not relive what he went through at the studio. “It won’t take much. Ready?”

Alastor rolls his eyes, not believing a word of it. No way it could work that well. “Fine.”

Angel sprays the perfume only a few times. Significantly less than Valentino had. He almost feels bad for Alastor. There’s no way he could possibly prepare himself for what’s to come.

Almost immediately, Alastor’s breath begins hitching. This time, it doesn’t take long before he’s pushed over the edge. “hH’GXxtCH!! eH’GXxHT!! e’GgK-TCHh!! hH!! heH-!!” Trying to stifle as he usually does is significantly harder now. Especially with the added irritant. 

Unfortunately for Angel, the scent still makes its way into his nose. He inhales sharply when- “eH’DTCHIEH! h’YADTCHI! hE’DTCHEGH!! dT’CHEH!! Oh’hH goddam’bit-!!” Thankfully, he has built up a slight tolerance towards it. Slight. “heH-! eEH?! h’AG-TCHEGH!! hAD’TCHUh!!”

Yeah, letting them out seems to be the way to go. Alastor considers his options for a moment before deciding to accept his fate and let his body just do its thing. Besides, it’s just him and Angel. No one else has to know. “hH’AGhT-CHU!! hA’GT’CHE-UGh! eH hEH?! gG’DTCHEGh!! heH-!!’DSHUh!!”

Problem solved. Only now, he has a new problem. Unlike before when he was struggling to sneeze, now he can’t stop. “F-fucki’gg-!! eEH’GTSHEeGH!! HA’TCHEUGH!!”

Angel sniffles wetly. “Ok…I thi’gk I’mb done…wait- h’H-old on…HY’AG-TCHU!! Ugh…ok -sDRFF!! O-ok…now I’mb done…” Angel takes several tissues from the tissue box and blows his nose. “You good babe?”

Tissues thoroughly soaked, Alastor groans, sniffling. “I fuUH-!!cki’gg-!! eH’TCHUGH!! HAH’DCHEUGH!! snDFF! I fucki’gg hate you.” He glares at the spider. “We are n’dever doi’gg that again’d.”

Angel giggles. “I- snf! Told you. That shit works.” He picks up the tissue box and holds it out to his partner. “Here, blow your nose. Be gentle though.”

Throwing the ruined ones away, Alastor takes a handful of fresh tissues and does as instructed. He sniffles again, although it’s much less wet than before. He coughs, turning away from Angel. Sneezing so harshly really did a number on his throat. He clears his throat one final time, rubbing his nose with a tissue again. “I’ve had enough of this. I just wanna go back to sleep and get today over with.”

Angel chuckles. “Alright. Let’s get you into bed.” Alastor takes the other’s hand, and transports them directly to his room.

When they get to Alastor’s room, he sighs, falling onto the mattress. “Just kill me already. I’m ready to go now.”

Angel chuckles. “You’ll be fine, babe. Just get some rest and you’ll feel a bit better when you wake up.” Angel pulls back the bed sheets to allow Alastor to get in the bed.

After settling into the bed, Alastor rolls over onto his side. Angel sits at the edge of the bed, talking to him. Alastor hums in response occasionally. It’s nice having Angel talking to him, even if he doesn’t intend on responding. It makes for good background noise. “Heh, and after that I-” “Angel?” Alastor says softly. He sounds almost shy. Maybe embarrassed? Not his usual, confident, cocky self.

“Hm? What is it?” Angel turns to face him. Angel gets on the bed and crawls over to him. “Something wrong? Are you feeling worse?” Angel feels the other’s forehead. His fever seems to have thankfully gone down.

“No, I’m fine. I was just wondering…” Alastor’s voice trails off. He goes quiet for about 30 seconds. Angel patiently waits for him. “Nevermind.”

Angel giggles, seeming to get the message. “Do you wanna cuddle?” Alastor always tends to be a bit more clingy when he doesn’t feel well. 

“It’s fine. Forget it.”

Angel smiles, laying down in the bed with him. “C’mere babe.” Alastor hesitates for a moment, but slowly curls up in Angel’s arms. This time, it’s the real him. Not his shadow posing for him. Angel smiles, enjoying the moment. Moments like this are rare. 

“You don’t have to be sick or hurt for us to do this. You know that right? I’m always happy to give you attention. You don’t have to be embarrassed.” Angel giggles, petting his hair. “Even the big bad radio demon needs attention sometimes.” Alastor mumbles incoherently in response, already half asleep. Angel smiles.

“You’re fucking adorable.” Angel sighs, continuing to pet the deer. “I love when you’re like this. You can be cute when you want to be. When you’re not trying to kill or eat people.” He chuckles. He doesn’t mind that Alastor is asleep. He’s just thinking out loud.