Radiodust Collection

Heat of the moment

"Nothing, nothing," he slid over to sit on one of the barstools. "I'm just.. in need of a drink is all."

"What, you a day drinker now or something? You been hanging around Angel?" Husk joked.

"No no, simply had a rough morning, is all." He stated as Husk poured his typical order- good old fashion Jack Daniels on the rocks. "I hadn't slept very well."

"That would explain the late sighting of you.. my original thought was that you were with Angel-"

"Now Husk, that is ridiculous-"

"It was only because you both came in here one after the other." Husk explained. "I usually see you up and about before 9. And he wakes up.. whenever the hell he wants."

"Hmm, I suppose you're right." Alastor mumbled into his glass. "But I do ask that you... never assume such things. Especially anything that would imply I would have..." his claws lightly gripped the underside of the bar, "made love to Angel. Alright?"

Husk eyed Angel as he took a drink from a large bottle of booze. "...sure. Whatever you say."

Al sighed and shot back the rest of his whiskey. "Thank you, my friend." He cleared his throat and stood, adjusting his jacket. "Now, I should be on my way. I'm rather late for a few appointments.."

Husk muttered a "yeah" as Alastor left the hotel. He could easily admit that Alastor was acting weird, but did he care? No, not really. Not much.

Husk was left alone to look after the house- Charlie and Vaggie were running around Hell on some sort of all day date, Nifty was out cleaning homes for extra cash, Alastor was doing who knows what, and Angel was probably doing his own thing, so to speak. Husk couldn't complain, though- he hadn't had alone time in a long while.

With nobody at the hotel, Husk simply lounged in his room the entire day and grabbed a drink from the bar whenever he wanted. It was nice to not have to deal with anyone for a good few hours, but unfortunately, it was cut short.

"Husk! Hey, Husk!" Angel called as he walked into the hotel. "Where ya at?"

Husk let out a low groan and got up, moving back into the lobby. "For fuck sakes, Angel, the fuck do you want?" He mumbled, making Angel giggle a bit.

"I have a question for ya, actually," he sat at the bar and crossed his legs, along with his lower pair of arms. The upper pair rested on the countertop. "It's about Al."

"Haven't seen him since this morning."

"Good, that's the timeframe I'm looking for." He propped his head up in one hand. "Did he seem... a little off to you this morning?"

Husk thought for a moment as he grabbed a few liquors from the shelf behind him. "Of course he seemed off, he always seems off."

"No, I mean more than usual. He slept in, sounded like he was making shitty excuses. I dunno, it was just weird."

Husk shrugged. "A little, I guess. I joked about you two sleeping together and he got all defensive."

Angel hummed a bit. "I'll have to ask him about it at some point.. I don't want him goin' all crazier on us and double killin' us." He half joked. Husk only grunted in response, and Angel shrugged before going back into his room to watch a bit of TV.

Alastor, as it turns out, had been hiding out in his hotel room all day. This year's rut was incredibly hard to hide, nearly every 30 minutes he would get this intense wave of need and desperation- even just a touch would likely set him off. And there was no way in all of hell he would go out in public like that.