A Good Deal

Chapter 11

His internal clock had his eyes blinking open in the early morning hours, before anyone else would have woken up. He looked down at the spider and sighed with the contentment he felt. Angel was fast asleep, curled up in his arms and despite slightly drooling and being incredibly haphazard, he was still gorgeous. Lightly petting the arachnid's side, he smiled before attempting to shift closer. When he was stopped with a small snort, he looked between them to find Fat Nuggets. "You know that's the worst place to be, right?" The petite pig had some how squeezed himself in the middle of them and made himself comfortable against his stomach. The pet snorted at him and snuggled closer to Angel before flattening himself again. Another sigh and he was making a mental note that Nugs liked being sandwiched. On every exhale, he felt the vibrations deep in his own chest from the uncontrollable purring the had been plaguing him for every waking hour with Angel.

"Well, aren't you happy?" His ears turned to focus on the voice as it whispered from across the room. "You know, he gave me quite the attitude the other day when you two were in the ballroom." The purring stopped and rose from his chest to his throat as he started growling instead. How dare he. "You really don't mind getting in too deep, do you John?" He stared into the darkness, but he could tell from the sound, the hollow echo and minor static, that it wasn't Alastor directly. He was using his shadow to avoid physical contact again.

"You really don't mind sticking your nose into others lives, do you Alastor?" He told himself to relax, to lay back down and try to ignore the man. 'He's just trying to get a rise out of you, John. Just ignore him.' He lightly stroked his lover's side and closed his eyes.

"I'm just trying to make you better, my dear John. You know how much I love seeing you heart broken, but don't you think it's time for a change? We've been doing this for the last forty-five years, so I think I'm ready for something to work for you." He tightened his grip on Angel to get some grounding and prevent him from getting up and hunting his Overlord himself. "I do believe that Charlie might be getting to me, Husker, my friend. Because as angry as you are, I mean every word. I just don't want a whore to hurt you like Anna did." That seemed to be the end of his patience, or it would have been at least. Too bad Angel sat up and threw the nearest thing to them, his alarm clock, at the shadow.

"The next time you come into my room, Smiles, I'm charging you!" He stared at Angel in shock. The arachnid's eyes were glowing, all eight of them, and the saliva that slid past his lips was a deep red that didn't quite look right. It wasn't blood, he would have smelled that, but instead what he did smell were flowers; orchids. Alastor's laughter echoed through the room before the door shook and they were alone again. Sitting back up, he watched his lover as the man wiped the liquid off his chin and sighed. "Damn it, I fuckin' hate this shit." Angel climbed out of the bed and flicked on the lights before heading into the bathroom.

"What is that?" He heard the faucet turn on, soap, water, then Angel picked up a few more things. When the arachnid leaned out of the bathroom, he was brushing his teeth.

"Venom." He finished brushing his teeth before elaborating. "I don't use it because it's bad for business and usually only comes out with emotional bullshit." He moved back to the bed and sat down running his fingers over Husker's cheek. "I'm sure you can understand why immobilizing clients would be a bad idea." He smiled and took Angel's hand, nuzzling his palm.

"You know chasing him off isn't gonna change anything, right?" The spider pressed their foreheads together and sighed. He wrapped his arms around his lover and pulled him close until Angel was straddling his legs. The other man pressed his hands against Husk's chest before sliding them over his shoulders and around his neck.

"I know, but it makes me feel better." He chuckled and laid his head on Angel's chest. "I don't care if he's Lucifer himself, where does he get off treating you like that? Fuck 'im!" And at that Husker was rolling his eyes.