Work Text:
The hotel had finally quieted down after a busy day, and Husk let out a sigh of relief. There were a lot more people to serve drinks to now that guests flooded the place, and god… They sure liked to talk. And Husk, as always, had to listen. How many fucking divorced assholes missing their wives were staying at the hotel? The cat no longer kept count. But every single one of their stories sounded the same and Husk no longer had the energy to pretend he was invested in any of it.
Thankfully, he seemed to be done with all of that for the night. It was around midnight, which wasn't all that late for Husk. And so, he decided to take his time cleaning up the bar. A single bottle sat on the counter as he organised the ones on the shelf, which he took sips out of as he worked. At one point, too focused to notice anything was up, Husk reached out for his bottle. He turned his head to inspect upon being unable to grab it. He had been so preoccupied he hadn't realised Angel Dust had shown up at one point. The spider flashed him a grin, before taking a swing of the bottle.
“Hey,” Husk said, looking Angel up and down. He was wearing a black dress. Very nice AND very sparkly. “Don't touch my shit. Are you goin’ somewhere tonight?”
“You know it, baby,” Angel wiped his lips before setting the bottle down. “Gonna go party with Cherri tonight! Responsibly, of course… Well, sort of. For the most part.” Angel giggled.
Husk smiled. That was nice to know. He trusted that Angel wouldn't go too overboard. The cat heard a small snort and watched as Angel leaned down, picking up his beloved pet. “I've got a tiny little favour to ask of you,” Angel said, fluttering his eyelashes slightly.
“I ain't takin’ care of your pig, Angel.”
“C’mooon, he loves you!” Angel practically shoved Fat Nuggets onto Husk's face. “See? He totally wants to spend some more time with you. Don't you, baby?” The pig snorted again, almost as if he was actually responding to the question.
Husk sighed, pinching the bridge of his snout. “And you ain't asking Charlie to babysit him this time because?...”
“Because she's fucking busy, obviously!” Cherri replied as she appeared behind Angel, throwing her arm around her best friend's shoulder. “Angie and I are gonna go tear up the dancefloor for a few hours. All we're asking for is that you watch the little shit until we get back. Simple. So don't be a dick and do sweet little Angie this favour.”
“What am I getting out of this, exactly?” Husk asked, voice tired.
“Nothing. Now take the pig, we got stuff to do!” Cherri exclaimed.
Angel smiled at Husk apologetically. “I promise we won't be out all night. He'll be a really good boy until we get back.”
Husk sighed in defeat. He couldn't say no to Angel when it came to most things. “Fine. But you two better bring me a bottle of whiskey or somethin’,” Husk took Fat Nuggets into his arms, albeit quite awkwardly.
“We'll try to remember, see you in a few hours! Oh, and don't forget to give him some nuts as a little treat!” Angel exclaimed before blowing Husk a small kiss as a goodbye while he was being dragged out by Cherri. Husk couldn't help but smile fondly, waving goodbye at the two of them.
“Alright, listen. Just sit here, and don't do shit. Got it?” Husk placed fat nuggets on the counter, turning around to continue arranging bottles.
Fat Nuggets started up at Husk curiously, tilting his little head as he watched him work. He then looked to his side, spotting the bottle on the counter. Gears turned in his head as he approached it, starting to snort loudly. Husk's ear twitched at the noise, turning around once more.
“What?” Husk blinked, looking between the bottle and the Pig. “Oh, that? You trynna tell me there's a bottle here?” Fat Nuggets happily snorted in response, making Husk chuckle. “That one's mine. I ain't gonna put it on the shelf. But. Uh. Thanks,” Husk reached out, petting Fat Nuggets on the shelf. The pig looked proud of himself. How cute. He was just like Angel. Kind of a disaster on the outside, given how many times Fat Nuggets had bitten through furniture, but really sweet on the inside. “That was pretty cute of you, I'll admit. I know how to reward you.”
Husk took off his hat before leaning down, reaching for the bag of nuts he kept under the counter at Angel's request. Fat Nuggets walked to the edge of the counter, looking down curiously as Husk rummaged, seemingly messing with his hat and the nuts. “Alright, pig. Pay attention. Look in here,” Husk said, upon getting up. He showed Fat Nuggets his hat, which seemed to be empty. Fat Nuggets sniffed it before bringing his gaze to Husk's face. The cat smiled. “Nothin’, huh?” Husk reached into his hat, pulling out one of the nuts seemingly out of nowhere. Fat Nuggets jumped in surprise. Husk offered him the nut, but the little pig seemed more interested in figuring out what was up with the hat. Husk let him look inside again.
“You a curious fella, huh? I'll admit it, Angel is right. You are pretty smart for a pig,” Husk reached inside his hat again, pulling more nuts out of it and placing them on the counter. Once Fat Nuggets got over the shock— in about ten seconds or so, he began actually eating his treats. “Hm. If I'm gonna hafta take care of you, might as well make the best out of it. Might as well give Angel and Cherri a fun surprise,” Husk picked up Fat Nuggets once he was done eating, and held him close to his face. He was surprised as to how much he was enjoying spending time with it, but involving little magic tricks in anything always made his mood a lot lighter. Light enough to keep talking to the damn pig, apparently. God… Angel was really getting to him, huh? “How'd you feel about becoming my assistant for tonight?” Fat Nuggets blinked. “Will make your dad real happy,” Fat Nuggets blinked again. “Or your… Mom? Pretty sure he called himself your mom at some point,” That made Fat Nuggets snort happily. Bingo!
The next few hours flew quickly as Husk completely submerged himself in his magic tricks. He showed Fat Nuggets a few more. Coin tricks, the classic cups and balls, linking rings… The works. But that was just for fun. Husk knew damn well what he wanted Fat Nuggets to help him with. He was thankful to have everything ready for when Angel and Cherri finally showed up.
The pair were laughing up a storm as they walked in. “Holy SHIT! What a cunt! Did you see the face he made when I punched him in the nuts? I wish I had a pic!”
“Hah, yeah! That's what he gets for trying to get too touchy with you. I love me a bad bitch that can handle herself,” Angel playfully slapped Cherri’s ass, and Cherri slapped Angel’s in response.
“Hey, pussycat, we're back! Got your whiskey too. We might have taken a few swings but it's still half full!” Cherri exclaimed.
“Keep it down, fuck. Y'all are gonna wake up the whole hotel. Gonna be your problem when barely awake pissed as fuck Vaggie tears you both a new one,” The cat didn't look at them yet, seemingly just shuffling a deck of cards for no apparent reason.
“Sorry, whiskers. We just had a crazy night. You gotta join us sometime,” Angel placed the bottle on the counter before looking around. His eyebrows furrowed. “Where's nugs?”
Husk finally looked up, grinning. He spread the deck of cards on the table. “Pick one.”
Angel Blinked. “Husk—”
“Trust me here, alright? I would never let anything happen to your pig.”
Angel looked at Cherri, who just shrugged. He reached out, picking one of the cards. The ace of hearts.
“Alright, memorise it. Now place it back in,” Angel did as he was told, and Husk shuffled the cards again.
Cherri and Angel took a seat on the stools as Husk did his usual little tricks when shuffling. It was impressive to watch, but Angel couldn't stop thinking about Fat Nuggets. Suddenly, Husk stopped. He placed the deck of cards on the table with a loud thud. Then, he reached out for his hat. Cherri and Angel looked intently as Husk rummaged, and then—
“Is this your card?” Out of his hat Husk pulled out Fat Nuggets, who was not only holding the ace of cards in his mouth, but wearing a tiny little hat and an itty bitty bowtie.
Angel squealed loudly. The kinda squeak you'd expect only dogs to be able to hear. He reached out for Fat Nuggets, cradling him in his arms. “Oh my god, my baby! You look so dapper!” Angel grinned from ear to ear. “How'd you do that? How'd you give him the card?”
“A magician never reveals his secrets,” Husk put his hat back on, looking way too proud for someone who has just used the corniest magician line known to man.
“Smooth shit, kitten whiskers,” Cherri nodded, grin just as wide as the other two’s. “Where the fuck did you get Fat Nuggets sized accessories?”
“What'd I just say about secrets?” Husk replied.
“Riiiight…” The girl chuckled. “Well, seems like you had fun with nugs after all.”
“I am literally the happiest motherfucker in all of hell right now,” Angel pulled out his phone. “We are ALL taking a pic together. C’mon!”
Angel placed Fat Nuggets on the table as Cherri leaned closer to Angel. Husk was behind Fat Nuggets, smiling slightly at the camera. Angel happily took the photo.
“Thank you for all of this, Husk. I'm so fucking happy, god— he looks so cute. You guys are matching now,” Angel quickly set the photo as his phone background.
“I guess we are. He was a pretty good assistant.”
“FUUUCK that's so cute!” Angel squealed again. “You hear that, nugs? Your first job! Mama’s sooo proud!” Angel happily hugged Fat Nuggets.
Cherri looked at Husk with an expression Husk couldn't quite decipher. But she sent him an approving nod which made his heart flutter.
There was… One more thing he could do. He had the thought while he was preparing the trick, but he didn't know if he should actually do it. But something about Cherri’s knowing glance made him make up his mind.
Husk cleared his throat. “There's, uh. One more thing,” Angel and Cherri both looked at Husk curiously as he took off his hat again. This time, Husk lacked his confident grin. Instead, his face was slightly tinted pink as he pulled out a rose from his hat. “For you, Angel.”
Angel stared at the flower for a moment before placing Fat Nuggets on his lap and gently grabbing it. “Oh, wow.”
Cherri grinned and grabbed Angel’s shoulders, shaking him slightly as he continued to look dumbfounded.
“I'm done with the bar, so I'm gonna go to bed. Don't go stealing any of my shit. I counted how much of everything I've got,” Husk grabbed the whiskey and walked away as nonchalantly as he could with his heart beating as hard as it was.
“Angie! Holy shit, I told you! He's so fucking into you!” Cherri finally stopped shaking Angel.
“I…” Angel looked at the flower, twirling it on his finger. He brought one of his hands to Fat Nuggets’ head, stroking it gently as he looked back at Cherri with a bright, genuine smile. “Yeah. He might be.” Angel grabbed his phone again, deciding to send Husk some messages.
“That was the cutest shit ever. U r so soft for me”
“U gotta teach me how 2 do tricks sometime”
“<33”
He then sent the photo he took a few moments prior.
“We all look so good here”
Cherri and Angel looked at the phone as the text was read and Husk began replying.
“Go to sleep. It's late.”
“But we do.”
Angel giggled at Husk's dry responses. He was always like that. Cherri elbowed the spider playfully before grabbing his arm and dragging him away with her again. There wasn't going to be much sleeping, and they both knew it. How could they not stay up talking about what had just happened?
Husk did not sleep much, either. He simply stared at the picture he was sent, too focused on Angel’s smile to feel tired. He knew he would continue to try and make him smile like that as much as he could.