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Angel remembers it like it was yesterday. The motel room, the feeling of the floor, the dirty carpet. The luminescent lights that hurt his eyes. The footsteps, the sound of his voice. The red eyes he could barely see, the heart shaped glasses. He remembers the words he used that day as well.
“Oh you poor baby. Selling your body for much less than its worth, and being drugged in the process. Don't worry, I'll take care of you.”
For how fast he was lifted up, he felt like he was going to hurl. The arms that wrapped around him were warm, so warm and comforting. Nowadays those arms are cold.
—————————————————————————————————
“Mr. Dust, angel dust hello?”
“W-What…?!”
Angel opened his eyes to find himself sitting in the lobby of the vee's tower. The luminescent lights and high ceilings hurt his eyes when he looked up at them. He had no idea when he fell asleep. But he supposed he had to be sitting there for a while.
“Angel, you're needed upstairs in 20, for nude shoots.”
Angel looked at the person holding the clipboard, and just nodded. He watched as they walked away, leaving him alone in the lobby. Well, not completely alone, there were still staff walking around him. Everyone seemed to be ignoring his existence. He just sat there like a rock unmoving from the chair he had sat himself in. He was casually playing with the hymns of the fluffy sweater he was wearing. One of only three items that was on his body. He just continued to watch as others passed him by. Suddenly the doors to the Vee tower swung open.
Cargo started to be wielded through the door. Right behind it was Valentino, and one of Camilla's daughters. Angel watched as he signed the paperwork. A little interested, he fixed his sweater onto his shoulders, and walked over, the cold breeze of the outside air hitting him as he got closer to the door. Despite them being in hell, the weather still seems to work normally. Winter was still a lot hotter here, but cold chills still went through the pentagon city. Angel watched from a little distance away as Valentino finished the papers. When he was done signing he turned around. a cigarette already lit in his hand.
“Angel cakes!? What are you still doing down here? Don't you have a shoot in ten?”
He just nodded “yeah i'm going…” Angel peaked over his shoulder to see what the cargo boxes were. They were all closed but had carmine symbols on them.
“Oh, are you curious?.” Val said, smirking. He then proceeded to grab a crowbar and pop opened one of the boxes.
Angel took a quick peak inside. The box was filled with angelic weapons, mostly guns, mostly pistols and rifles. Angel stared at the weapons as Valentino ran his mouth off, angel wasn't paying attention. He was too involved in staring at the guns.
“If I could get one of those… I could solve all my problems. I would never have to see Val again…”
“ANGEL!”
Angel suddenly felt himself being lifted off the ground by Valentino. He guessed he spaced out for too long.
“Are you listening to me!?”
“Ahg…! Sorry… Val, I just got a bit distracted… for how pretty the weapons are…”
Valentino looked at him and then put him down.
“Well, what I was saying was that this is my new baby.”
He grabbed angel dust by the waist and started to show him his weapon. It was a pistol with a barrel that was smaller than the others, made out of angelic steel, and a little longer than his usual gun.
“This baby right here is a silencer. It doesn't make a sound when you shoot it. People won't see me come in. That would teach fuckers to lay their hands off my shit. They'll think twice about stealing again…”
Angel looked at him “stealing…?”
“Yes baby, we don't want a repeat of last month. Now do we…?”
“Last month.…?”
Ever since coming back to the vee's tower, Angel had been relapsing hard into his old ways. Last month was mostly a blur for him. He racked his brain hard to remember what he had been forgetting. That's when it popped into his head. Last month, it was his first off day in almost two months. Ever since coming back, Angel has developed this habit of walking down to the lobby entrance and seeing who comes in and out of the door.
That's what he spent most of his off day doing. Watching has others got to walk out and never come back, as others didn't make the cut and were thrown out. As some got to come and go as they please. He wishes his career went that way. That's when it happened, he saw them again. For a second, he thought he was hallucinating.
“Angel!” Charlie was running up to him and giving him a hug. He was surprised to see her and also relieved. But the feeling he had the most was fear.
“What the hell are you doing here?”
He looked behind her to see the rest of the hotel, even Alastor. He saw husk holding his pig, while nifty had a basket of treats. Most of his friends wouldn't look him in the eye, either out of guilt or shame.
“What are all of you doing here? Go home!!”
“Wait Angel… before you kick us out, we have consultations with the vee's tower. We were allowed to be here today.”
As she talked, Charlie looked as if she was about to explode with excitement.
“We also thought since you can't come back to the hotel, the hotel can come to you!!”
Veggi stepped forward, placing her hand on Charlie's shoulder.
“We can do some of your therapy classes and catch up a bit. We won't come every day, but once a month should be enough right? Angel, you're a good person. You can be rehabilitated, we know it.”
Angel Felt himself started to tear up.
“Guys I don't know what to say…”
Husk walked up to him and started to hand him his pig.
“You don't gotta say anything fluff, we're here for you even if no one else is…”
Angel started to wipe his eyes trying to hide the blush that was spreading across his face fast.
“Thanks… really…”
Everyone started to walk further into the tower. “Alright, let's get this show on the road. I have a confrontation with a self-absorbed computer that I do not want to miss.”
Veggi side “Al, leave Vox alone, haven't you done enough?”
He turned around to look at her. The static became a bit louder.
“Oh no, my dear. I haven't done nearly enough to be entertained.”
Angel had giggled at the situation. He had missed that type of banter. Most of his day was spent with the hotel. He talked to Cherry, glad to see what crazy thing Baxter was up to. He even got an alone time with Husk, something he didn't anticipate, but enjoyed. Everything seemed perfect that day, until it wasn't.
Somehow, something that everyone thought wouldn't happen. Alastor eventually got into another fight with Vox. Through all the ruckus, Charlie and Husk dragged Angel away.
“Okay we don't have much time, but through my powers and being the princess of hell, I think I found a way to break your contract.”
Angel's eyes widened “what…”
“Listen, the princess thinks that because her power far more succeeds Valentino's. If she was to make a contract with you it would cancel him out. All you gotta do is shake on it. You'll be free.”
Angel couldn't believe what he was hearing. It sounded too good to be true. Charlie conjured a contract right in front of him, one unsigned. His hands were trembling as he looked at it.
“I don't know how this works, and I've never done this before, so hurry.”
“What if it doesn't work?”
Husk stepped in “Then we'll figure something else out. We'll get you out of here. We promise, just sign it.”
Angel was hysterically crying at this point. He had hoped for something like this to happen one day, but he honestly never thought it would come. He was terrified. But knew what he had to do. If there was even a slight chance this could break his contract then, he'll do it. His hands were shaking as he picked up the pen. Before he could sign the contract, Valentino burst down the door. It was like all hell broke loose again. Before anyone knew it. a fight had broken out. Angel tried his hardest to sign that contract. But things just got too hectic. Especially because on a deeper level, the hotel started the conflict.
By the end of the day, the hotel was kicked out of the tower and banned. Angel spent the rest of that month making up for it, in the worst way possible. After that, most of it was just a blur, work, room, and repeat. He hadn't seen the hotel since. And almost forgot that the whole encounter even happened.
“It's okay, baby. I can see it in your face. Don't worry about them. As long as no one comes touching my property, no one gets hurt.”
Angel just nodded, he honestly didn't care anymore. Things had gotten so out of hand that there is no point of caring anymore.
“Now angel cakes, you should get your ass upstairs. Your shoot is now starting in ten. Stop staring out into space and go.”
Valentino said, holding his shoulders tightly. Angel just nodded and started to make his way upstairs to the studios. Yup, this is where he was. This is where he belonged.
—————————————————————————————————
Angel was dizzy. The lights of his vanity were too harsh on his eyes. He heard as Valentino barked orders in the background. He couldn't tell if he was high or disorientated from Val saliva. He looked at himself in the mirror, and he looked worse for wear. He heard as small hoofprints were walking up behind him. In between his feet, he saw as Nuggets brushed against his legs. He reached one of his hands down and picked up his pig. He had forgotten that his pig was returned to him. The day the hotel showed up. He doesn't even remember if he had fed him that morning. There was a plate of mix nuts on his dresser. He slid it to his pig. He watched as his pig chow down on them. A little smile went across his face. At least he still had this.
“Baby cakes, you're on in ten. First stage performance in months. Isn't it exciting?”
Valentino wrapped his hands around Angel patting his head, angel leaned into his touch.
“There's a lot of faces here to see you tonight. Some you might recognize.”
Angel looked at him. He smiled deviously.
“Think of it as a little gift for being so good these past few months. Make whatever moment you have with them counts.”
Valentino walked away. Angel sat there in silence. His hands shook as he tried to imply his make up better. Soon the curtains were called and it was his turn on stage. It was nothing special, just a pole dance and song. He looked out at the crowd of people lusting over him. His eyes scanned over everybody. That's when he saw them. Only two people. Cherry and husk were in the very back sitting at a booth. He took a deep breath if he was going to perform that night for them, possibly for the last time, he would make sure it was a good one.
He started his usual routine. Making sure to get everyone's attention. He made sure to glance over to his friends more than once. They looked happy to see him. Though they're faces showed heavy resentment for his situation. He did the best he could, in fact, he felt it was one of his best performances. As usual he got many calls out, and cheers. He didn't care about any of them though. All he cared about was his friend's applause. Once his performance was over. He walked off stage into the back. Valentino was on the phone. Too busy negotiating something else to notice him. Angel snuck passed and grabbed fat nuggets. He grabbed a quick sweater from the floor, and snuck out.
He quickly searched the crowd for his friends. He spotted them heading to the balcony and followed them out.
“Angie, are you all right!” Cherry immediately came up to him.
“I'm okay...” Cherry proceeded to give Angel a hug, and didn't let him go, squishing fat nuggets in the process.
“You sure, It's been almost a year since you've been back at the hotel. Every time I see you make a public appearance you look worse.”
Angel just chuckled “I've been through worse. I'm fine.”
Angel and cherry started to talk about everything and nothing. All at the same time. Hask was just there, nursing the same whiskey he had been having for half an hour.
“Oh, I'll be right back. I'll go get us some more drinks k." Cherry suddenly ran out, in search of more liquor.
Angel leaned himself over the balcony looking at the hell moon as it rose higher in the sky. Hask stood right next to him. Seemingly having nothing to say.
“Hey husker, you got a light? All I have are these dank cigarettes Val gave me. They taste no good.”
Hask paused for a moment before pulling out his own pack. He handed one to Angel, and lit it. Angel took a long drag of the cigarette before staring back up at the sky. Hask continued to stare at him.
“We're here, you know…. why not try again. Charlie is downstairs waiting. if We can just get you downstairs to her, we can-”
“Let me stop you right there whiskers. There's no point k”
Hask looked at him as if he was crazy. His ears ferried to the back of his head.
“What do you be there's no fucking point!? The point is to get you out. We are trying to help you.”
Angel looked at his fury and just smiled. A type of loneliness settling in his eyes.
“Even if Charlie was waiting downstairs, Val wouldn't let me go that easily. The second I walk through those doors, he'll probably have alarms going off in this place. At this point I learned not to care. If I don't give a fuck, than it hurts a lot less. It also makes work a lot easier too.”
Angel smiled at him. He still couldn't believe what he was hearing.
“But-”
“Please husker stop… it doesn’t make me feel any better? The more you beg me the more it hurts… the more hope I get. I just need… need you to understand why I'm doing this. Can you do that for me?”
Husk didn't say anything else he just nodded and leaned himself against the banister as well.
“So, how have you been…” husk asked, a little smile appearing on his face.
“I'm good…”
Angel and husk talked for a while. talking about new things in the hotel. talking about Charlie's dreams, and their own.
“It really is amazing. What a person can do when you believe in them. Though it seems to be going slow, Charlie has managed to rehabilitate five more sinners.”
“That's great, her dreams are really starting to become a reality huh.”
“Yeah they really are…”
They sat in silence for another moment.
“Hey, husk, can you do me a favor?”
Husk looked at him “Of course, anything…”
Angel smiled and handed him fat nuggets. Husk looked at the pig.
“I want you to take Nuggs back to the hotel. He'll be a lot happier there than he would here…”
“Angel…”
“I also want you to tell Charlie that I appreciate her. I appreciate her believing in me.”
“Wait…”
“I also want to tell you… thank you.”
Angel suddenly leaned down and gave husk a hug. Husk immediately hugged him back. Before he knew what was happening he felt angel's lips brushed against his. A soft whisper came from him.
“Thank you for being a loser with me.”
“Angel…”
Angel walked towards the door.
“Don't worry husker. I'll find my own way out of this situation. You don't need to worry about me, promise.”
And just like that he walked out, leaving husk alone with a pig that looked more than upset like he knew something. Cherry also came back. as he walked by, he handed cherry his personal gun, and smiled. she was opposably listening to their whole conversation before then.
“So that's it then, he's not coming with us.”
Husk just looked at her not knowing what to say.
—————————————————————————————————
Angel could hear his boots clicking against the hardwood floors of the vee's tower. He was somewhere near the top floor. it was only a week after him and husks conversation. He then walked down the hallway silently. not saying anything.
He stopped in front of a door. He opened it without even knocking. Heading straight for the back, as he knew they would be there. The Vees were sitting on their couch watching TV. Every week they seem to have a night where they watch movies or the news together. He knew all of them would be here, he walked towards them as if he wasn't a intruder. No one is allowed to enter the room on tv night. They looked up to see him standing there.
“Angel, what the hell are you doing here?”
Valentino said, a hint of anger in his voice.
“I just wanted to watch tv with you guys.”
He looked at Valentino.
“Daddy… I'm lonely…”
Valentino's resolve immediately shifted.
“Oh baby, why didn't you just say so. Come here.” Valentino patted his lap, beckoning Angel to come over.
Angel walked over and crawled into his lap. He stared at the tv for a moment, watching as they watched 666 news that night. Velvette rolled her eyes and continued to scroll through her phone, while Vox didn't care either way. They watch tv for a little while. Angel had no idea when he started to doze off. When he woke up again, the other two Vee's were gone. Just hin and valentino. Angel Looked up at him. Val still seemed to be awake, watching whatever was playing on the TV.
“Val..” Angel said softly.
Valentino looked at him. Angel crosses the distance between the two of them. Pressing his lips lightly against Val. Valentino was surprised by the sudden action, he deepened their kiss. It's been a while since Angel initiated contact between them. Val wasn't complaining, their hands roamed each other's bodies. Angel broke off their kiss, panting a bit heavily.
“I hate you…” Angel said with an eminent grudge in his voice.
“What…?” Val's eye twitched.
“I hate you, I hate you...”
Angel wrapped his arms around him while tears started to ruin his white tee.
“I hate you, I hate you more than anything, but I also should be thanking you. Thank you for believing in me, forgiving me my first home in hell, and for making me a star...”
Val smiled and grabbed Angel's chin to look at him.
“No, thank you angel baby. For always knowing where you're supposed to be.”
Angel just nodded and agreed with him. He gave Val another quick peck.
“I'm so tired… Can I sleep in tomorrow? Just for like an hour…”
“Of course angel cakes, in fact, you won't start until six o'clock in the evening tomorrow. Get some rest…”
Angel nodded, giving him one last hug before getting up. Valentino watched as Angel walked away, hearing his boots clicking in the distance. Val then lit up a cigarette, waiting on the couch a little while longer.
“What the fuck was that about??”
He said as he turned off the lights.
—————————————————————————————————
“Vel have you seen my gun? My new silencer. I can't find it anywhere.”
Valentino was shifting through his stuff, looking frantically for his pistol.
“Have you checked your ass yet?” She says sarcastically.
“Fuck you, just tell me if you know…”
Velvette walked into the room “No I don't, also, can you tell Angel to turn off his music? He's been playing the same three songs since I woke up this morning, in fact, I think he's been playing them since last night? Why the fuck is his room up here with us anyway.”
“You know why Vel, he needs to be close to me so I can watch him. He already does so much fucking stupid shit, It's hard to tell when he's going to do something else stupid. Besides, leave him alone. He had a rough night…”
Velvette looked at him, her eyebrow raised. “what…?”
“I don't know what it was. He broke down. I guess he's finally giving up on the hotel. Like finally…”
Velvet laughed to herself. “You serious Valentino, that bitch been broken for months. There's always this dead look in his eyes nowadays, I guess the final straw came yesterday.”
Valentina looked at her and scoffed “Whatever… Have you seen my gun or not?”
“I already told you no, hurry up and get to work, clocks ticking…”
Velvet walked out of the room, leaving him to his own devices. Later Valentino went to the shoot for the day. Everything was in place, all they needed was their star. Angel hadn't shown up yet. Valentino had waited patiently for his star actor to get there. constantly looking at his watch that began to flash at six p m.
“Amm… sir?”
Valentino started to tap his fingers unpatiently.
“What is it…!?”
“I went to knock on Angel's door a little while ago. Its locked, so I couldn't come in. But I told him to make his way down here.”
“And did he answer you?”
The secretary got a little nervous at his question. “No sir, b-but the music he had been playing all day stopped around three p m. I assume he's up now.”
Valentino side. “I'll wait a little longer for him, but if he doesn't get his ass down here in the next thirty minutes, I swear to god, I'm coming up there and killing him…”
Valentino's nails are digging into his chair. They waited a little while longer for him. still no Angel. Valentino kept good on his promise. He started rampaging through the hallways, like some kind of moody teen, alerting the attention of the other two Vee's. They followed him as he made his way back upstairs.
“I swear to god if he's still in that room. I'm going to fuck him myself.”
Velvette followed, intrigued about what was going to go down. Vox followed annoyed, , trying to calm down whatever tantrum was going to come. They reached his room. Valentino started to bang immediately.
“ANGEL DUST, OPEN UP THIS GODDAMN DOOR YOU WHORE. WHY THE FUCK IS IT TAKING YOU SO LONG TO LEAVE THIS SHITHOLE.”
All three of them stayed at the door as it was unmoving. Val looked as if he was about to blow a gasket.
“THAT'S FUCKING IT!!”
He pulled one of his guns out and shot the lock. Pushing the door open with so much force. It could have swung off it's hinges. He hit the side of Angel's vanity mirror. He looked around the room and saw that Angel's body was still under the cover. His whole body being covered up by his duvet.
“GET THE FUCK UP. WHY THE HELL ARE YOU NOT DOWNSTAIRS!!”
Valentino pulled off the covers and through them across the room. His whole body stopped.
“A-Angel… babe…”
The other two Vees look at each other. Curious on why Valentino suddenly stopped dead in his tracks. They both look over his shoulder to see a sight they never expected. Angel was laying on his side as if he was asleep, but it was clear to everyone that he wasn't. He looked peaceful, but not in the way anyone would want to see someone. Curled in himself, holding the angelic weapon, Val's silencer. his eyes hazed open and red. a wound coming from his mouth to the back of his head. Val uncurled his fingers; they were cold. blood, that no one noticed before, was painted on the side of his bed frame, was dry, as if it had been hours.
“Angel… baby… stop playing around. It's not funny…”
Val grabbed his body; it was stiff and cold. He moved his hair out of his face. His eyes looking more hazed over, and blood shot than usual. He started to lightly shake his body.
“Baby cakes… you didn't… It's just a joke... okay, I'm sorry… you can stop pretending now…”
The other Vee's looked at the site, having nothing else to say, but.
“Oh shit…”
Valentino shook him a bit more.
“STOP IT, THIS TYPE OF SHIT ISN'T FUNNY! ANGEL!!”
Val kept calling out as if his body would respond. The more he did, the more desperate he looked.
“Okay… k I was wrong… I was so very wrong. I'm sorry, angel cakes, Just, just open your eyes… please… open… them. Do you want more days off? I'll give you more days off. You only have to work twice a week, okay…”
Both of his friends looked at him. Velvette whispered to Vox. “I knew Angel was depressed, but I didn't know... He was that depressed, fuck…”
Vox walked towards him a little. “Valentino… it's…”
“FUCK… FUCK… FUCK… FUCK, FUCK, FUCK, FUCK, FUCK, FUCK, FUCKFUCKFUCKFUCKFUCK, MOTHER FUCKER… fuck…”
No one was told about what happened. That day his room was silent.
—————————————————————————————————
Husk sat on the balcony, rubbing Fat Nuggets as he ate a bag of cashews.
Charlie came out to sit with him.
“Hey…”
“Oh, hey char…”
They both stared up at the hell moon.
“Thinking about Angel again...”
“Yeah, I just don't understand why he wouldn't want us to help him…”
Charlie smiled at him.
“He thinks his only option is staying there. But it's not, we can help him, I know we can. It's just going to take a while… and when we get him back. It would be the best feeling.”
Husk looked down at fat nuggets chewing happily.
“I just want to kiss him one last time.”
“You'll kiss him again, and a lot more times after that too.”
Charlie put her hand on Husk's shoulder. He smiled at her. both of them hoping for the day Angel comes back…