mazeofrelationships | wherein things panned out a bit differently

wherein things panned out a bit differently

The last few days have been...something. The encounter with Vox, finding out that for who knows how long he'd been mind controlled into spying on the hotel for him, every second of that is still fresh in his brain. Vox's gloating revelation, showing the messages on his phone, holding Angel still and forcing him to look in the mirror as he used his evil eye yet again.

Recording that message in an ugly dress Velvette forced him to wear, then being sent on his merry way back to the hotel only this time he knew what had happened last night. What happened every fucking night he'd come home with a fuzzy head after some "job he couldn't remember". Coming in just in time to see the message broadcast, pretending he'd been voluntarily spying on the hotel all that time because why give himself an excuse? The fact that he did it at all was enough damage, and he sure as hell didn't want their fucking pity.

Walking out of the hotel in shame, ignoring the cries of his name and come back, please, you're our friend.

Husk's hand grabbing his, the utter devastation in his eyes as Angel begged him to forget he ever knew him.

Then Vox had gone fucking insane and threatened to blow up all of Pentagram City just to get at Alastor only to get his head ripped off (by Valentino, go figure), and Angel had been drawn into an epic ballad of hope and love and friendship and that was the end of the Might of Lilith. The end of Vox whom Val and Velvette angrily brought back to the tower.

The man who did this to him is nothing now. Cherri and Charlie and the others had surrounded him, begged him to come back, and...damn it, Angel's not made of stone. Except one person wasn't there when he came back.

Husk.

"Sorry to duck out so soon after coming back, but I gotta find someone...don't worry. I'll be back."

He'll reprise a certain number of his if he has to. It worked once, maybe it'll work again. That is, if Husk doesn't hate him for walking out. For causing him yet more agony and worry, as if the train stunt hadn't been enough.

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Husk's casino is pretty much as it always is, full of people losing sobriety, losing money, and losing hopes and dreams. It's comfortable in a way he'd neither admit to nor be able to explain, not to mention he can lose himself in the grumpy Bartender persona he's crafted so well to avoid feelings, which are way too much for him at this point. Thankfully, everyone loves a drunk bartender, and he can just do what he wants as long as he doesn't get too smashed.

There's a singer on the stage, not even close to Angel's skill, and Husk can't help but grimace, making a mental note to yell at whoever picked the talent. Not that he wants to get Angel. Nope. Not at all. The guy's done, right? He's made his choice, no matter how much Husk wants it differently. Then again, when does he get what he wants anyway. He's just a loser.

Angel arrives at the tail end of the song. To be fair to the singer she's trying her best, it's pretty obvious she's new to this and Angel remembers being nervous his first time out.

He has his drag garb waiting for him, a song he wants to sing, but it doesn't take him long to spot Husk and for a brief instant he wonders if he should just talk to him as himself. Husk seemed to like his drag act miles better than his porn star act, but he's always liked it when Angel's real.

No, he needs to be himself for this. The real Angel may not be as pretty as the singer, but it's the real Angel who walked out while Husk was begging him not to. Swallowing, he approaches the bar, one set of hands tucked into the pocket of his shorts.

"Hey, loser."

It would take quite a lot to pull out of him, but Husk thinks real Angel is damn pretty too, especially when he's being real.

Startled, Husk looks up, trying to keep his expression neutral, but a faint hint of... something crosses his face before it settles into his normal bored expression. "Talent's over there." Gesturing with his glass, the ice clinks together. "That is if you're not here for a drink or to lose some money. You know where things are."

He doesn't know what to say. Why's Angel even here? What he wants is to vault the counter and pull him into a room and ask why he left, but between being slightly drunk and mostly certain that Angel doesn't care, he just shrugs. Then again, anyone around Charlie Morningstar for more than about an hour can't help but get a bit of her hope. Could he be back? Nah. He'd be at the hotel. Not here. Right?

This won't be easy, he can tell Husk is already drunk and probably in a worse place than the last time. Honestly, Angel could almost laugh at the irony; last time they met like this was before everything came crashing down around him and now...well, he still hasn't triumphed over anything, Val still owns him and once he's done being angry at Vox he'll be blowing up Angel's phone and being his old demanding self.

But helping wreck Vox made Angel realize he does have some choice. That even if he was being used there were just as many moments that were real and he wants more of those.

"I'm here to talk, Husk. I...I know you're probably still pissed at me for leaving."

"'Course I'm pissed!" Husk grumbles, more at his glass than Angel. "Of all of those losers, you're the one most likely to actually get redeemed, and you go off to your abusive fuck of a boss?"

Pissed might not be the right word for what Husk is feeling, but he'll be damned again if he admits to Angel, at least at the moment, that he was mostly hurt and worried. He's just going to swirl the ice in his cup for a moment.

"Besides. You left Fat Nuggets. He keeps eating all my nuts."

Right, the redemption thing. Well, that's gone out the door for Angel now that everyone knows he's not just a whore and a former crackhead, but a father-killer. And even if it hadn't, well...redemption means going up there, right? Meaning he'd never see his friends down here again.

Never see Husk again. That scares him more than anything Val or Vox could ever do.

"I...I know. When I realized what I'd been doing and you guys saw that broadcast I felt like the worst, like I deserved to go back," he mutters. "I thought you guys'd be better off without me, even Fat Nuggs." He almost makes the don't say it like that, he's just a baby comment again but Husk is serious so he should be, too.

"But listen, I didn't just come to apologize. I came to tell you I'm back at the hotel." He sighs. "Cherri and the others dogpiled me after the song and it was like Molly beggin' to see the latest Chaplin movie all over again. Heh, she had such a crush on him..." Whoops, he's getting off-subject. "So yeah...I'm back. I dunno if I deserve to be, but I couldn't say no."

"Angel, sometimes you can't see what's in front of you." Finally, Husk takes a breath and looks up at him. "Just because that fuck manipulated you doesn't mean that you actually wanted to do any of it. We've all done shit because someone who holds our leash tells us to."

Husk manages a smile. "We wouldn't be better off without you. Fuck, we're a lot worse. Who's going to be the sexy loser hanging around without you? Can't be Niffty or Cherry."

A pause. "'m glad you're back." Is that... almost revealing? Maybe. He's a bit drunk, but there's a pale pink to his cheeks as he finally looks Angel over, checking for anything amiss, making sure he's not hurt. Or, well, hurt any more than usual.

It was a combination of not realizing he was so easy to brainwash, so stupid and gullible and weak, and the fact that the first time since he died he finally had people he felt close to and he was being used to hurt them. Even if his logical side can accept that it wasn't his fault, having it stare him right in the face isn't a memory that will go away so easily.

"Well, Cherri might, but she's...a little busy workin' on the whole long-distance thing with Pentious." He saw her with that camera and that smirk on her face, he knows what's up. Then Husk speaks again, and he smiles a little, noticing that color...and just like before, he's checking Angel for injuries. The electrical burns Vox left are fading, he barely feels them now, but Val was surprisingly careful when he...

No, don't think about that. Someday he'll try to sink his nails into you again but right now he's too busy being Vox's stereotypical pissed-off spouse.

"I'm glad to be back." A beat. "Also didn't I tell you not to say it like that about Nuggs? He's little!"

"Yeah, I hope it works out for her. That's the ultimate long distance, though. Shit, I don't know how they'll do it."

He sees those burns, Angel, and he's worried, but the worry only passes for a second before the half-smirk, half-bored expression that he usually wears around Angel comes back. Now that Angel is back at the hotel, maybe things will be better. Or at least less shitty than a few days ago.

However, Husk can't let that comment go without one of his own. "He's halfway across Pentagram City. He can't hear us. Besides, I'm not so sure how little he is, considering the amount of nuts he's eaten lately." Is that a size joke or a sex joke? Who knows.

"Husk!" Yeah, that'll help loosen some of the tension, and Angel actually smiles at that. A small one, but it's genuine, the first time he's felt like smiling and it wasn't from getting caught up in the emotions of a musical number that swept the whole town. "Well, he'll be glad I'm back, at least. I...didn't want to bring him, in case Val decided to be even worse."

The pig had been a gift from the bastard, back when he was in the love bombing phase, an apology for hitting Angel and calling him a "useless flat-assed whore with too many arms and no fucking brains" just because he fumbled a fucking line in yet another horrible script. Joke was on Val, because Nuggs became the only unconditional love Angel would have until he came to the hotel and slowly made friends with everyone.

"We'll all be glad you're back, Angel." Husk already is, but he's trying to be his usual lack-of-caring self.

"Nuts aside, I've been taking care of the little guy, but he'll be glad to see you. I think I don't have enough arms for him." Another joke. What a shock!

"Val didn't... hurt you too bad, did he?"

Angel can tell, but an actor can sense an act. Still, he won't call Husk on it...yet.

"Good. He really likes you, you know. He aint like one of those Evil Detecting Pets but he's...really protective of me and he knows you care and all." He sighs, rubbing his upper arms a little.

"No worse than usual. He...well, I was pretty out of it for the night and he was gonna use that, and when I came back he promised to make sure I'd stay in my place. Then Vox's stupid party happened and Alastor did the thing that made 'im go nuts, so..."

"Gotta say, watching that asshole get his smug TV-head ripped off was strangely cathartic." Husk actually smiles this time. "Maybe Val will pay more attention to him for a while and let up on you a little."

He takes a breath, and stands, only to behind the bar and mix Angel a Harder, Daddy. "Sounds like you need a drink or five, anyway." Slowly, Husk is getting back to himself. He knows Angel's been hurt, so he doesn't blame him for what happened. The blame is all at the feet and wings of that stupid moth. If Husk ever gets free, he wants to rip the wings off of that asshole himself.

"Here's hopin'." As it stands, Val didn't even look Angel's way when it was all over, plus he'd ditched Angel at the party when Vox declared he was gonna blow them all up. You are not fucking killing us over that stupid deer! And his phone's remained silent, so...maybe it's okay to hope for a while.

"I sure could. Not enough to fuck myself up but there's a lotta edge that needs takin' off." He smiles again. "Though seein' you again has already helped," he sighs. "Glad as I was to be home I knew I couldn't settle in again till I talked to you."

Oh. There's a momentary... something that crosses Husk's face before he raises an eyebrow. "You didn't even look for Fat Nuggs?" That's... something Husk isn't sure he deserves.

He pours himself another drink before making a medium-sized pitcher of Harder, Daddy, sliding it over to Angel. "Y'always drink for free here, you know. Owner says so."

"Oh, I did, checked his food bowl and let him cuddle with me a bit. I almost brought him with me, but I didn't think you'd appreciate havin' him gobble the nuts in your casino." Angel laughs. "Cherri's lookin' after him right now."

Oh...wow, that's a lot of Harder Daddy right there.

"Really? Um..." Angel would make some kind of quip about celebrities always drinking free, but instead he blushes and very carefully pours a glass. "Thanks, Husk. Really, that's kinda of ya."

"Ah, there's your priorities straightened out. The nut bowls appreciate being pig-free." Husk actually smiles, amused. "As much as she blows up our walls, she'll make sure he's ok."

Someone halfway down the bar is eyeing Angel, and Husk turns, glaring at the guy. "Don't even think about it. He's off-duty." There's an almost cat-like hiss in his voice for a moment.

"Yeah, and Charlie's gonna make sure we're always stocked up on his faves from now on. Heard he tried to eat the bar that night I was gone, and...ugh, wish I'd fed him more, if I'd known what was gonna happen." He downs his drink, groaning...and then he hears the perverted chuckle, followed by Husk's anger.

"Thanks. I'm useta gettin' cat-called and all, but..." Underneath Charlie's black and white purity bullshit about sex and drugs and whatnot, he'd caught wind of a lesson she either didn't know how to teach or didn't know she was: you deserve better. Maybe it was an accident, given her whole redemption speedrun bit, but it was sinking in.

"SHOW US YOUR BOOBS!" yells another drunk, causing Angel to reflexively bring his second arms up to cover his chest fluff. Normally he'd just fire a warning shot but he's still feeling vulnerable after all that happened...like he wants to be protected. Kind of embarrassing, but still.

Edited 2026-01-06 17:52 (UTC)

"Yeah, I'm tryin' to forget that one." Husk is getting fond of his hotel bar, and while he'll probably allow a few Fat Nugget teeth marks, he'd rather no.

"Yeah, well, I don't tolerate that bullshit in here." Husk vaults the bar, striding over to the second drunk. "Mind your manners, asshole." For just a moment, there's a flash, not of the loser bartender, but the overlord that once was. "You know we don't tolerate that shit in here. Besides, do I need to remind you of your bar tab and how much you owe the casino? Terrible streak you've been having."

The drunk squeaks and almost falls ass-up face down off his stool, digging frantically for his wallet. "SORRY SIR!" Angel, meanwhile, blushes even more at that show of...frankly rather sexy authority. He adores the Husk he knows now, obviously, but wishes he could've met Overlord Husk sooner.

Oh, well. The fact that Husk is protecting him right now is another reminder that just because an abusive pimp owns him doesn't mean no one cares. Husk very clearly does.

Husk takes the man's money, shoving it in his pocket. "Get outta here. I'm tired of seeing your face." The rest of the room pauses a moment before going back to their chatter and gambling. It's clear that most everyone is a little intimidated by Husk when he goes Overlord mode.

Walking back to Angel, he shrugs a bit, falling easily back into his apathy. "Assholes everywhere. Sometimes I think Niffty's right and sinners are just all assholes."

Angel nods, downing another Harder Daddy. "We sure are. In different ways, but we're down here for a reason!" He's almost sure Niffty was a serial killer in life, or did a murder so gruesome she could never get rid of the evidence. The way she attacks every bug in sight suggests the former, though.

He pours another drink, sipping more slowly this time. "So...think you can forgive me for being an idiot and runnin' away?"

"True. We're all losers, baby." There's a hint of a hum to Husk's voice as he smiles at Angel, not a predatory smile, but a real one, almost fond.

"I guess so. I mean, I've gotten used to putting up with your ass." And a nice one it is too.

Angel catches that hum, and that smile makes his heart beat just a bit faster. He's slowly coming to terms with catching feelings for this guy, even as he questions if someone like him deserves real love.

Or if he cares whether or not he does. He's not free, but his leash is looser right now and against all better judgment he wants to enjoy every minute.

"Good." Then he remembers something, and he's still sober, so now's as good a time as any. "So hey, any idea when the stage'll be free? I also came to do somethin' special for ya." The lyricist here's written multiple songs and the most recent seems fitting.

"For you, babe? Always." There's a deep fondness in his tone, and familiarity in his smile. "'sides, you're doing me a favor. Entertainment's gone to shit in here lately."

Getting up, he walks up to the piano player, and whispers into his ear, returning. "Ya got about one and a half songs. That enough time to get ready?"

Trivia: Husk still owns the Casino he visits according to a q&a with the cast!

YEP, I heard :3

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till we get a proper blushy Angel in-series this will need to work lol

There are a couple Very Specific Faces that I need from Husk. I'll figure out a way to get them.

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