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It was a night like any other. Angel had come back from a late session with Valentino, Husk was starting to close up the bar. But how could the cat say no when Angel asked for a drink knowing how rough the sessions could go. So Husk did make him a drink.
It wasn’t something too strong, it wouldn’t do them any good if Angel got drunk. They talked, Husk didn’t mind closing later than usual; he never did mind when it came to Angel. It’s something Husk had realized one night, kept him up till morning. He tried not thinking about it too much.
He’s not sure how the conversation came to be about his hobbies, maybe Angel mentioning how he didn't have time for his own hobbies anymore. That was probably it. He cleaned the inside of a whiskey glass—he’d been doing it for the past few minutes now—and turned to look up at Angel.
“I used to like taking pictures with my polaroid. Well, dunno if ‘used to’ is the right word. Still do, just don’t do it often no more.” He turned around and set the glass carefully on the shelf.
“Oh? Didn’ take you for a photographer, Whiskers.” Angel smiled at the feline. “Were ya any good?”
Husk couldn’t help the quiet snort as he turned to face Angel again, leaning back against the shelf. “Mediocre at best, honestly.”
“Oh c’mon, I’m sure they’re as good as ya drinks!” Angel downed the rest of his beverage.
Husk took a few steps over and held his hand out for Angel to hand over the glass cup, “Legs, bartendin’ and photography are two separate things. I just ain’t cut out for it.”
“Bullshit! I don’ believe you.” Angel handed the cup back and watched as Husk cleaned it.
“Yeah, yeah. Go choke on a dick.” Husk joked as he rinsed and dried the cup before placing it with all the other ones.
“As long as it’s yours.” Angel teased, and Husk couldn’t help the smile that spread on his face as he rolled his eyes.
They fell into a comfortable silence, Husk finishing up as Angel watched him. It was nice, it allowed Angel to unwind while Husk enjoyed the company of another person. Husk threw the dirty rag into his little basket of rags, he’d have to wash them tomorrow otherwise he wouldn’t have any clean ones. He stretched, some bones popping quietly though it was audible due to the silence that surrounded the two.
“Tired?” Angel asked, standing from the barstool.
“Well, standing all day while serving drinks will do that to you. But I could never be as tired as you.” Husk turned off the lights to the bar, stepping out and towards Angel.
“Me? Tired? Ya funny. I got enough energy to film anotha shoot, baby.” Angel ran a hand through his hair as he began walking towards his room, Husk right beside him.
“Sure you do, I definitely believe you.” Husk sarcastically spoke, knowing Angel like the back of his hand.
“Oh, fuck you.” Angel pouted though there was no malice in his tone.
“Only if you watch.” Husk gave Angel a smug smile.
It was something new that Husk had begun doing to Angel, making the same remarks and flirts back to him occasionally. It was all jokes, only to give Angel a little bit of his own medicine. There was nothing else to it. Plus, the reactions that Angel made were always fun to see. The spider would get all flustered and wouldn’t know what to say, it was entertaining.
Angel sputtered, face going bright red as he tried to find something to say back; he always failed. “Y’know what, don’ talk t’ me.”
Husk’s smile retained on his face, but he didn’t speak. He knew Angel didn’t actually mean it but seeing the poor man’s reaction made Husk want to give him the chance to recover. Additionally, Husk would walk in silence, he enjoyed Angel’s company.
It didn’t take too long for the silence to be disturbed. Though he wasn’t too surprised, Angel had always been a chatterbox; not that he minded. It was expected that the spider would be the one to break it.
As they neared Angel’s room, Angel spoke up quietly so as to not disturb those who slept. “I could be ya model.”
“Excuse me?” Husk asked, unsure of what Angel meant.
“For ya pictures. I bet we can ask Charlie if you could take the day off tomorrow, then we could go aroun’ and you could take some pictures.” Angel explained, stopping in front of his door.
“I already told ya, kid, I ain’t no good at it.” Husk watched as Angel unlocked the door, leaving it open for Husk to walk in.
The room always smelled nice, like strawberry shortcake with a touch of vanilla. Even though the odor was sickenly sweet, Husk didn’t seem to mind—which baffled him because he recalls not being a big fan of that smell before being forced to stay at the hotel. Before his mind could come up with an answer, he heard Angel’s voice.
“Well, I won’ know ‘til ya show me. C’mon, toots, I don’ just give my modeling out for free.” Angel headed towards his bathroom, turning on the faucet to fill his bathtub.
Husk remained where he stood, pondering it over. It would be nice to be able to photograph someone again, it’s been longer than he remembered since last time. Plus, he would rather die to an angelic weapon than ask any of the other residents at the hotel. If Angel was offering, there was no real harm in accepting.
Husk ears twitched at the sound of walking approaching, looking at Angel who returned with his pink fluffy robe on. Husk did his best to not roam his eyes over Angel’s body, maintaining eye contact with the other. Yes, Angel was a pornstar. Yes, his body was so out there publicly to the point that advertisements where he was barely decent were shoved into your face. Yes, he sometimes wore clothes so tight and exposing that one would even question why wear anything at all. But Husk wouldn’t look, he respected Angel and this was his way of showing.
“So, what’s it gonna be, kitty?” Angel asked, softly smiling down at Husk and boy did it take a lot for Husk to not melt from it.
“Well, if you’re really offering then I suppose it could be fun. But I’m warning you, these will come out like shit.” Husk pointed a finger at Angel.
“Then I can’t wait to see ‘em.” Angel grinned before nodding his head towards the door.
That was Husk’s cue to leave the room. He nodded back and headed for the door, hand resting on the handle as he turned to look back at the spider.
“Night, Legs. Rest well.” Husk smiled at Angel, a soft and genuine one.
“Night, Whiskers.” Angel watched as Husk opened the door and shut it quietly behind him.
Husk, knowing no one was watching, let his face erupt into a blush. He wasn’t even sure what had even provoked such a reaction. He realized this had been happening more frequently and it was becoming harder to hide, it terrified Husk. Regardless, he kept his goofy smile and flustered look as he made his way towards his own room. It wasn’t too far from Angel’s, which is why Husk enjoyed walking him over to his before heading to his own.
Upon arriving, he went towards his closet and searched for his camera. It took him longer than expected but eventually he found it, placing it on his nightstand. He was sure Charlie would give him the day off, realistically there weren’t too many people who came by for drinks so taking a day off wouldn’t be much of a problem.
He took off his hat and bowtie, setting them next to the camera. He wasn’t sure when he had started wearing the hat, hiding away his slicked back hair. When he was an overlord he loved styling his hair, it made him feel charming. His mind wondered towards Angel, would he have liked Husk’s hair? Husk shook his head, his hair becoming a bit messy. There was no need to think of such thoughts.
He took off his suspenders and dropped his pants, he enjoyed sleeping in his boxer briefs. He crawled into his bed, patting down the pillows and blankets with his paws. It was embarrassing but it was something he did the moment he arrived in hell. Blame the anthropomorphic cat form he acquired for it. He settled down, letting a quiet mew of contentment and covered himself with a thin blanket. His tail wrapped around himself as he let his wings relax. Before he dozed off to sleep, he thought about tomorrow and about Angel. To say he wasn’t excited would be a lie, but he would rather get redeemed than say it out loud. He couldn’t help the soft rumbling in his throat, purring quietly in the night as he fell asleep thinking about a little spider.
.˳·˖*𓆩𓁺𓆪*˖·˳.
The next morning, Husk wore his usual outfit—if you could even call it an outfit—though he hesitated when he reached out for his hat. He could just not wear it, fix his hair up a bit. He came up with reasons and excuses on why he shouldn’t wear it; it might cast a shadow over the camera which would ruin the picture, he was off duty so there was no need for the hat, it needed to be clean for it had been a while since he’d done that. Despite this, the real reason was pushed to the back of his head; he wanted to impress Angel, see how he would react.
Husk left the hat and reached for the camera instead, he hoped it still worked. Husk turned around, searching for something to take a practice shot with just to test the camera. He found some glass cups he had left a while ago next to his deck of cards. Husk walked over, finding the perfect place to stand. It didn’t take too long before Husk took the picture, watching as the polaroid began printing. He took a hold of it, gently shaking it so it could develop sooner. Once it did, Husk was more than satisfied with the picture, thankful that it still worked. The last thing he wanted was for it to be unfunctional and disappoint Angel.
It was no surprise when Charlie was more than okay with Husk asking for a day off. He had left the princess of Hell before she would start asking why the sudden request. This was his and Angel’s day, no one else needed to know. He quickly made his way towards Angel’s room, each step filling him more with excitement than previously. Husk had to fight the smile that threatened to appear on his face but he managed and kept it neutral; though his tail was telling a different story, swaying side to side.
He quietly knocked on the door, just in case that the spider was still sleeping. Angel was always so overworked by Valentino and would always come back to the hotel late and exhausted. Angel needed his rest and Husk would kill himself again if he awoke Angel from his slumber. Luckily for him, Angel seemed awake if it weren’t for the muffled ‘come in!’ that sounded on the other side of the door that signified it. He opened the door, letting himself in before closing it. He stood by the door, seeing Angel’s shadow behind the dressing screen in the corner of the room. Husk wondered why he even had one.
“Sorry, still gettin’ changed here.” Angel’s head popped out from the side of the dressing screen, eyes widening when seeing Husk’s hair. “Holy shit, ya hair.”
Suddenly Husk felt more exposed in this moment than when he stopped wearing a shirt. “I’m going back for my hat.”
Husk turned around, his face burning in embarrassment. He cursed at himself for even thinking this was a good idea. He reached for the door handle, but Angel’s voice stopped him.
“No, no, no! I don’ mean it a bad way. Just, neva seen ya like this. You clean up nicely.” Angel pulled his head back behind the screen, presumably to continue changing.
Husk turned back around, fiddling with his camera to help with the embarrassment. “It’s just hair, outfit’s still the same.”
“Hair can change an outfit a lot actually, I would know.” Angel stepped out from behind the screen, smoothing out the fabric. “How’d I look?”
Husk was so close to spewing out so many compliments the moment Angel walked out. While the make up was pretty much the same as always, the rest of the outfit was something extraordinary. He wore a black, satin, tube top that pushed up this fluff—if Husk wouldn’t’ve known any better, he would’ve definitely thought Angel had boobs. The top had a beautiful web-like design in silver coloring, a thin line outlining the upper part of the top. He wore a satin miniskirt and attached to the back was a long piece of chiffon fabric, dragging an inch or two behind Angel. On the 2 sets of arms were black gloves that stopped mid forearm. The thigh-high, white, sparkly boots stood out from the darkness of the outfit, pulling everything together perfectly.
This time, the flustered look wasn’t out of embarrassment. “W-well, you certainly look dashing. But, uh, isn’t it a bit… much?”
Husk really did like the outfit—he could photograph Angel for hours—but that wasn’t the issue. Husk knows how Valentino likes to control every aspect of Angel, especially his outfits. Every day, Angel wore clothes that were revealing, whether that be by how tight the clothes were or how little he covered. There was nothing wrong with doing so, Husk wasn’t one to shame someone for what they wore, but he could only assume how tiring it must be at times. Surely Angel would like to wear something more comfortable, right?
Angel chuckled a bit, awkwardly looking down at his outfit. “Y’know you can say you don’ like it, right? I ain’ gonna fuzz abou’ it.”
“That’s not what I meant, Legs. You’re just– always wearing tight and revealing clothes, which isn’t bad at all!” Husk paused, trying to formulate the words in his head before speaking again. “Wouldn’t you like to wear something much more comfortable? Val isn’t here, you can wear whatever you want.”
He didn’t want Angel to get the wrong idea, if the spider felt comfortable then there was no need to change. These photos would be private, no one needed to know about them. This wasn’t like one of Angel’s photoshoots, so Husk wanted Angel to feel comfortable.
Angel walked over to his closet, looking through clothes that were mainly bought and gifted by Valentino. “I guess? It’s kinda hard to do so when all I’ve ever done is wear clothes that show off my body. The perks of having a hot bod, y’know?”
“Yeah, I know.” Husk did not know because he didn’t have one.
“Welp, won’ argue with ya, kitty. After all, you’re the photographer.” Angel winked at Husk, who struggled to keep the blush from appearing on his face.
Husk was about to open his mouth and protest that if Angel didn’t want to change, then he didn’t need to feel forced to but Angel spoke up before he could. “I’m jokin’ with ya! I actually kinda miss wearin’ somethin’ more comfortable. Plus you’re right, Val ain’ here.”
“I’m gonna sit on your bed, if that’s fine.” Husk made his way towards the unmade bed, sitting down.
“Go ahead, Toots. Sorry for the mess though.” Angel popped his head out momentarily, grinning at Husk before going back to changing.
Very few times had Husk sat on the bed, and every time he wanted to melt into it. It was so incredibly soft, he imagined it was how clouds felt if you could walk on them. Husk ran a hand through the fuzzy, pink comforter and smiled softly. From underneath one of the blankets there was movement, catching his attention. Fat Nuggets appeared, looking up at the feline as he sniffed.
“Hey, Nuggs.” Husk mumbled, reaching out to give the pig some head rubs.
“Alright, what,” Angel paused before walking out, “do ya think now?”
Husk looked away from Fat Nuggets and at Angel, taking in the new outfit. It was a cropped, pastel pink hoodie that had a cut out window, allowing his fluff to poke out slightly. This time, and Husk believes it’s the first time he’s ever seen Angel wear them, he wore bell bottom pants with slits on the bottom sides that were tied with white laces. To top it off, he wore white, laced ankle boots that made him an inch taller than he already was. Husk could feel that Angel seemed comfortable, it was different to the usual outfits that the spider wore.
“You seem comfortable.” Husk answered after a moment.
“Surprisingly I am. I just need to add a few accessories and then we can leave.” Angel walked over to his dresser.
“Take your time, we ain’t in a rush.” Husk watched Angel rummage through the drawers.
The accessories that Angel added consisted of: a pink leather leg harness that was placed on his right thigh, a few pink and white bracelets for his arms, a little pink and white keychain that he latched onto one of the belt loops in the front, and lastly a heart necklace. After inspecting himself, Angel turned around to look at Husk and smiled widely.
“Ready.” He grabbed his phone and stuffed it into his back left pocket.
“Well then, I guess we should find an area to start.” Husk arose from the bed, giving Fat Nuggets one last head rub.
The two exited the room and walked around the hotel, doing their best to avoid the others. It was fun, the most fun Husk has had in a while. It was strange but Husk didn’t hate it, no he couldn’t. Not when it was with Angel.
The moment they found a room, Husk was quick to work. He told Angel how to pose, making small fixes where he thought were needed. Husk hadn’t really worked much with people, it was awkward to ask anyone to be his model so he settled on taking pictures of inanimate objects and of Hell. It felt natural with Angel, never once did the spider tease him or purposefully annoy him. Husk felt comfortable enough to be able to touch and move Angel around, to be so up close with him. And from what it seemed, Angel didn’t mind either for he never spoke out against it.
When the first few rounds of pictures were done with, Husk had been laying the polaroids face-down on a table. It was something he did to not unmotivate himself. Back when he used to photograph often, looking at any polaroid that didn’t come out as intended would cause his motivation to vanish. He had learned that the best way to not lose that motivation was to not look at the pictures until the end. It proved to be effective so he continued to do it. Husk should’ve figured that with Angel here, he was bound to get curious. Though, at least Angel had the courtesy to ask before looking.
“So, you gonna show me the polaroids?” Angel sat up from the loveseat, eying the table that contained said polaroids.
“Not yet. Later.” Husk simply answered, reloading the camera with a new set of blank polaroids.
“That’s not fair,” Angel whined, pouting. “I wanna see how good you are.”
“I’ll lose motivation if I look at them, and I ain’t wanna see your reaction yet either.” The other reason was because he didn’t want to disappoint Angel so early on with his shit photo-taking, but Husk wouldn’t say that.
“Tsk, alright. C’mon, let’s go fin’ anotha place to shoot.” Angel stood up from the loveseat couch, stretching.
“Right behind ya, kid. “ Husk gathered the polaroid, careful to not ruin them and placed them in one of his pockets.
And for the next few hours Husk and Angel went around the hotel to take pictures. It didn’t take long before Vaggi caught them in the act, then telling Charlie who told the others. Husk was then kindly forced—puppy eyes, Charlie used her puppy eyes—to take a few shots of the others for fun, he could feel Angel quietly giggling behind him. He was finally released and continued to shoot a few more of Angel, going outside to take a few near the balcony.
Husk imagined how different his life would be if he hadn’t made that deal with Alastor. He wouldn’t have met Angel that’s for sure, maybe it wasn’t all that bad in the end. He stood over Angel and looked at him through the lens, a small smile spread on Husk’s face. Yeah, it wasn’t all that bad.
“Ya good?” Angel suddenly asked, causing Husk to look away from the camera.
“Huh? Why’d ya ask?” Husk tilted his head slightly, raising one of his eyebrows in confusion.
“You were kinda taking a bit to take the picture.” Angel responded, remaining in the same position Husk had left him in.
“Oh, sorry. I was just thinkin’.” Husk looked back through the lens, positioning the camera again.
“Am I in the wrong pose? Did I move too much?” Angel moved his eyes to look up at Husk.
“Nah, you’re perfect.” Husk watched as a smile started spreading on Angel’s face and snapped the picture.
“Hey! You didn’t warn me, asshole.” Never once did Angel's smile disappear.
“I needed one with your genuine smile. If I told ya then you would’ve forced one.” Husk took the polaroid and stuffed it with all the others.
“I don’t force my smiles.” Angel snickered, rising from the floor.
“I’m the “old wise bartender who's seen it all,” ‘member? I can tell a fake smile from a genuine one.” Husk grinned.
“Yeah, yeah, I know. How many we got left?” Angel asked, fluffing up his hair which had flattened by being on the ground.
“That was actually the last one, ain’t got anymo’ polaroid packs with me.” Husk raised an eyebrow at Angel who was beaming like a kid on Christmas day. “What’s up with you?”
“After so many excruciating hours I can finally see the fuckin’ polaroids, excuse me for being excited.” Angel joked, heading inside the hotel.
“How ‘bout I make it up to you with a drink? Then we can look over them.” Husk followed Angel.
“More waiting? You’re doing this on fuckin’ purpose I swear.” Despite this, Angel turned to walk towards the direction of the bar.
“Oh c’mon, it’s just a minute or two. But if you’re that impatient–”
Angel cut Husk off, “No! No, a drink would make up for it.”
The two arrived at the bar, Husk making his way towards the shelf of glass cups. He purposefully took longer than needed to whip up two drinks, hurrying up only when Angel began to complain and whine. Once finished, Husk cleaned his hands on a rag and pulled out the polaroids. He laid them face-down on the counter and spread them, it almost felt like being the dealer at a casino. The thought almost made him smile.
“Alright, before ya see them, I’m warning you that they ain’t gonna be professional-level pictures. I can’t do all that professional picture-taking with my shitty polaroid camera.” Husk looked up at Angel, who almost began vibrating from the impatience.
“I’ll be the judge of that, Whiskers. Now, hurry the fuck up! You’re worse than Val denying my orgasm.” Angel joked, taking a sip of his drink.
“Calm your tits down.” Husk pushed the polaroids toward Angel. “Here, you can look over them now.”
Angel quickly gathered them and flipped them around to see them. Husk didn’t look at them, instead he looked at Angel and his expressions. Angel glanced up at him and then continued to look through them, keeping one of the best poker faces Husk had ever seen; though he wasn’t too surprised, after all, Angel was an actor. It took a few minutes before Angel set the polaroids down, looking at Husk who was doing his best to read him.
“They’re shit, I told ya.” Husk glanced away as he rose his drink to his lips, sipping on it.
“Husk.”
“Angel.”
“These are some of the best pictures anyone’s eva taken of me. They’re so fuckin’ good, kitty!” Angel beamed as he picked out a few from the pile. “Like, look at these!”
Husk neared Angel, looking down at pictures the spider showed him. They certainly were good, some of his best even, but Angel was exaggerating. The photoshoots he went to had better quality and lighting, Husk just had a shitty camera. Regardless, he couldn’t help but smile and become flustered at the compliments.
“Oh, shut it, we both know you’re pullin’ my leg. They’re good, sure, but they ain’t better than professional work.” Husk looked up at Angel who stared down at him with such a serious look.
“Husk, I have seen first hand how shitty some of these “professionals” can be. I was right when I said ya photo-takin’ would be jus’ like ya drinks.” Angel grinned, resting his head on one of his hands.
“I just happened to have the perfect model, that's all.” Husk shrugged, not a lie to be found.
“I suppose that’s true, ain’ no one who can outdo the Angel Dust.” Angel perked up, hearing his phone go off. “Oh, who’s callin’ me now?”
Angel pulled out his phone from his back pocket, face souring once reading the contact. He turned his phone towards Husk, allowing the feline to see who it was; Valentino.
“Don’t answer?” Husk gave Angel a half smile, secretly begging that he wouldn’t.
“We both know how that’ll end. Who knows, maybe someone sucked him off today and he’s in a good mood.” Angel looked down at his phone, accepting the call and putting it on speaker. “Hey Va-”
“Angel! Where the FUCK are you? You’re twink ass was supposed to be here hours ago! No lo puedo creer [I can’t believe it], you’re g–” Angel took it off speaker and held the phone up to his ear, sending an apologetic look towards Husk.
Husk frowned, of course his nice moment was ruined by Valentino. Maybe Lady Luck hadn’t kissed him on his day off. He gripped his cup, swirling it around before taking a swig. He watched as Angel’s mood worsened, it made his heart ache.
“Yep, yeah. I got it. I’m goin’– I said I’m goin’!” Angel hung up the call, placing it down on the counter harshly.
“Gonna change?” Husk asked after a few seconds of silence.
“Nah, Val’s pissed and I don’ wanna keep ‘im waitin’.” Angel downed the rest of his drink before setting the glass down.
Husk hummed back in response, he hated the sad feeling he felt knowing Angel needed to leave. All he could do was hope it wouldn’t go bad for Angel, maybe Lady Luck could kiss him instead. He shook his head internally, that was stupid.
“I was being honest when I said ya betta then some people I’ve had the displeasure of workin’ with.” Angel softly spoke, going to stand up.
“Thanks, Legs, means a lot.” Husk smiled, going to pick up the polaroids and placing them in a neat pile.
“We’ll look over ‘em when I’m back, promise.” Angel grabbed his phone, smiling back at the cat.
“Sure. I’ll make you another drink?” Husk asked, although he already knew the answer.
“Somethin’ sweet.” Angel called out as he began walking towards the entrance of the hotel.
“A chocolate bourbon Russian?” Husk picked up Angel’s glass.
“Oh you know me so well, babycakes.” Angel turned his head back and jokingly blew Husk a kiss before walking out.
Husk looked away, face becoming red at the gesture. Some day Angel would be the death of him, and maybe that would be a nice thing. He washed Angel’s glass and then his own before drying them and putting them away. He grabbed the polaroids, he had to admit that Angel wasn’t wrong; some of them were way too good to have been taken from a shitty camera. Husk then found the one with Angel’s genuine smile, feeling himself smile a bit. He hadn’t lied when he called Angel perfect twice, to Husk he truly was. He made sure to place that one at the top of the stack.
He then began his walk back to Angel’s room; he needed to let Fat Nuggets out since Angel was unexpectedly called to work. It took a few minutes and once he arrived, he opened the door slightly. Fat Nuggets was quick to run out, going down the hall to do who knows what. Husk shrugged and made his way towards his own room, hand clutching the pictures.
The moment he walked into his room, he searched for a box. He needed some place to store the pictures so they wouldn’t get lost or damaged, he’d hate for that to happen. After a few minutes of searching, he ended up finding some empty shoe box he had left in his closet. He placed the polaroids inside, then placed his camera next to them.
“That should keep ‘em safe.” Husk spoke to himself as he walked over to his desk.
There was no point in putting them away when Angel would return later to look through them again, probably as a distraction to forget whatever would’ve happened at the studio this time. He placed the box on his desk, looking down at the top photo. Maybe he wouldn’t mind taking up photography as a hobby again, not if it meant hanging out with Angel and being able to capture genuine smiles on a polaroid.
˚ . ✦ . . ˚ . . ✦ ˚ . ★ ⋆. ࿐࿔ . . ˚ ✧ *
. ˚ * ✦ . . ✦ ˚ ˚ .˚ ✦ .˳·˖✶ * . ✦ . *
The tear slipped before Husk could prevent it from spilling. He couldn’t avert his eyes as he stared at the box that contained the polaroids. He gripped the bottle of cheap booze as he looked at the very top one. Seeing Angel’s genuine smile in comfortable clothing broke him more than giving up his soul to the radio demon.
He had come back to the hotel empty handed. His sole purpose of sneaking into that fucking party was to bring Angel back, but instead he came back alone. He had rescued Angel, but for what? In the end, the spider returned to the moth demon. Husk hadn’t been able to tell Angel that he loved him.
This wasn’t how things were supposed to go, not even close. Husk was supposed to bring Angel back home—never would he have seen himself call the hotel his home—he told Angel that! But he had sobbed and told Husk to forget him, as if the feline could ever do that. For a moment, Husk considered piercing himself with Vaggi’s angelic spear but that would permanently kill him and that thought alone scared him. So instead he did the one thing to help him stay afloat whenever he felt like he was drowning in too many emotions, drink. He hadn’t passed out yet so maybe it wasn’t helping much.
He understood why Angel had returned to Valentino—that’s not true, he didn’t understand but it hurt less to pretend he did—but that didn’t stop it from hurting. Maybe Husk should’ve begged more, confessed his feelings to Angel. Maybe he should’ve killed Valentino when he had the chance to. In Husk’s imagination, he pictured Angel laying on his side, waiting for Husk. It didn’t make him feel better.
Husk imagined once again how different his life would be if he hadn’t made that deal with Alastor. He wouldn’t have met Angel, sure, but he also wouldn’t be this distraught. Husk wouldn’t feel his heart ache and twist at knowing that the pornstar was back in that fucking rancid shithole. He wouldn’t know what it was like to love again.
Husk threw the bottle towards the wall, ears pinning back as it shattered. He choked out a sob as he fell to his knees, the box of polaroids remaining on his desk. He should’ve expected this, he wasn’t lucky anymore. The moment things started turning up, it was bound to go all to shit. Husk knew this, he knew better than this. Just a few days ago he had been singing about not needing love, he couldn’t have love unless it came from a bottle. From the same bottle that he had shattered moments ago.
He didn’t know how long it would be until he would see Angel again, until he would be able to talk to him. It was a silly thought, Angel was a pornstar after all and with Valentino now in charge of the Vees, Husk would see Angel wherever he went. It would be no surprise for new films, posters, advertisements, and pictures of him to be shown everywhere. But that wasn’t the Angel Husk knew and he would never disrespect Angel like that, he swore to never see any adulterous film that had him in it out of respect. All those would just show a poseur, a fraud; not the real Angel Dust.
The Real Angel Dust liked sweets.
The Real Angel Dust liked the color blue as much as the color pink.
The Real Angel Dust liked wearing comfortable and somewhat modest clothing at times.
The Real Angel Dust liked crocheting.
The Real Angel Dust liked cheesy rom-coms.
The Real Angel Dust liked sundrop flowers when he was on Earth.
The Real Angel Dust liked Husk’s magic tricks.
The Real Angel Dust. His Angel Dust.
But Husk remained on the floor, crying his heart out as his tail and wings wrapped around himself. He was alone, in his room.
Alone with a box of polaroids that once held joyful memories and now they hurt. Just the two of them until he saw Angel again, until things would be okay.
It was just Husk and His Polaroids.