Alastor walked through the streets of Hell back to the hotel with a content smile before spotting a billboard with Vox's face and TVs with ads by Vox, causing him to furrow his eyebrows. "Hmph. Who does that big flatheaded abomination think he is trying to woo Charlie?" He huffed under his breath, rolling his eyes before his ears perked up and he stopped in his tracks after hearing a familiar laughter. Charlie? He thought to himself, before looking around and spotted Charlie sitting across Vox at a cafe.
Charlie covered her smile with her hand as she laughed with Vox, seemingly enjoying his stories.
Vox was smiling widely at Charlie, seeing her laugh at his jokes as he was telling her stories about himself. "So I said, 'And you call that a punchline?!' before I took over and finished hosting the game show." He said with a smug look on his face.
Alastor overheard and rolled his eyes at Vox, walking off before stopping in his tracks when he heard Charlie's laugh again.
"Oh, Vox. You're so funny." Charlie chuckled, leaning forward on the table and unknowingly placed her hand on top of Vox's.
Vox laughed with her and leaned forward as well, smiling widely at her when he realized she put her hand on top of his.
Alastor's left eye twitched as he heard Charlie and Vox laughing together. He looked over at them before his eyes widened and turned into radio dials, his antlers growing a bit from seeing their hands touching. He tried to keep his composure, taking a deep breath in. That obnoxious television boxhead will not ruin the plan. The future is set in stone and there is nothing to worry about. He thought to himself, smiling at the idea of his plan becoming a reality. He was about to walk away, feeling confident before he heard Charlie laughing louder. He blinked, Well nothing wrong in seeing how this whole thing ends, he thought to himself. He cleared his throat, disappearing into a shadow. He reappeared behind a tall bush across the street from them and peaked through the bush to watch them, snapping his fingers to place a radio near them so he could hear their conversation.
"But in all seriousness. Again, I would like to apologize for the awful experience you had both times you were invited to join the news." Vox said softly.
"Oh, let's not talk about that." Charlie chuckled awkwardly.
"No, no. Seriously, your apology was long overdue. Trust me, if I was at the studio that day no one would have dared to even think about humiliating you or even think about giving you a hard time." Vox said. "Whether they like it or not, you are the princess of Hell and you deserve respect."
"Thank you, but I don't want people to be forced to treat me with respect just because I'm the princess. I want their respect to be...well...sincere." She said softly. "I don't want them to think I use my title to do whatever I want and get whatever I want just because I'm Lucifer's daughter."
"Wow, you really don't use the power you have, huh?" Vox smiled, chuckling to himself.
Charlie shook her head. "No, not really. I'm not much for politics, I just know the basics and would rather work with the people. That's why I founded the Hazbin Hotel, well...originally the Happy Hotel." She smiled.
"Well, what made you make the change?" Vox asked, taking a drink of his coffee.
"Well, I didn't personally make the change. It was actually Alastor." She smiled. "It was one of the first things he changed when he became a partner at the hotel." She said softly, remembering when she found out Alastor changed the hotel sign from 'Happy' to 'Hazbin' and they spent a whole afternoon arguing back and forth about the name change. Well, she argued while Alastor just kept it going since he was entertained by her annoyance.
"Of course he did." He grumbled to himself. "And how is that partnership with him going? Do you two bud heads often?" He asked. "You know, since you two are the complete opposite of each other." He chuckled.
Alastor glared at his comment.
"You know, surprisingly not much. I mean...if anything we have a great relationship as friends and business partners." She smiled. "Sure, he may not really believe in my idea of redemption and the hotel, but he still helped me pretty up the place and lend me a hand with the staff since all I had was...Vaggie." She frowned a bit.
"Vaggie, the moth girl with the anger issues?"
She chuckled softly. "Yeah. That's my Vaggie." She sighed.
"Oh, you two have a thing?" Vox smiled awkwardly.
"Oh, no not anymore. We...broke up since she became a patron for the hotel and would be leaving...tomorrow." She frowned, sinking in her seat a bit. She had hoped to spend this whole month with Vaggie, but because of all the rules put in place by the angels and the short amount of time given Vaggie had no time and spent all her efforts in her room to get everything done.
Vox's mood changed instantly once she confirmed she was single. "Oh, so that's who tomorrow's event is for?"
"Yeah, it's to celebrate that Vaggie will be the first demon being redeemed and let into Heaven. It'll be a great opportunity to prove to everyone in Hell that it is possible and hopefully brings in more sinners. That's why I sent out invitations to every important being I could think of." She mumbled before looking up at him with a soft smile. "I hope you can come and see it for yourself."
Vox was about to answer before a demon selling flowers interrupted them. "How about buying a flower for the lovely Mrs?" He smiled at Vox.
Charlie turned red and immediately sat up. "Oh, we're not-"
"Give me the whole bunch of roses you have on you." Vox cut her off and grinned, handing the demon a stack of cash.
"Vox, you don't have t-wooh!" Charlie tried to stop Vox before the demon dropped a giant bouquet of around 150 roses in her hands.
"Pleasure doing business with you, good sir. Your wife is one lucky gal" The demon smiled widely at Vox. "Hoping to get lucky tonight?" He whispered as he nudged Vox on the arm, winking playfully at him.
Vox chuckled. "You have no idea." He grinned.
"Did you say something?" Charlie asked, unable to hear what they were saying since the bouquet was blocking her view of them and she was struggling to put the heavy bouquet on the table.
"Nope! Nothing at all, princess!" Vox assured, shoving the demon away.
Alastor growled, clenching his teeth. He was using every ounce of his being to not rip Vox to shreds for his last comment and for playing along on the fact Charlie and him were confused for a married couple. He hated that Vox was trying to get close to Charlie for his own pleasure, especially since it was ruining his own plans and wasting precious time before Vaggie's Redemption Day that could be used to get closer to Charlie. He was trying to come up with a way to get Charlie to head back to the hotel and get her away from Vox, before he got distracted when he heard something over his radio.
"Maybe we should pay and go, I still have a lot to do for tomorrow." Charlie said softly.
Alastor perked up, happy that Charlie was the one to cut things short.
"Well that's too bad, I was enjoying our time together." Vox smiled, putting money down to pay for their lunch.
"Me too, but I'm sure we'll see each other tomorrow. Right?" Charlie asked softly.
"Most definitely. Wouldn't miss it for the world." He grinned, getting up from his seat before going over to Charlie and helping her get up from her seat.
Charlie smiled, blushing a bit as she got up. Once she stood up a random animal ran by her feet as she tried to walk away from the table and caused her to trip and fall.
Vox immediately took the opportunity and caught her by her waist, smirking as he felt her chest press against his.
Alastor growled under his breath, clenching his teeth as he gripped at the bush. Vox just knew how to get under his skin and seeing him touch Charlie got to him even more.
Charlie blinked and smiled softly up at him. "Thanks for catching me, I don't know what that was." She said confused, looking around for the animal.
Vox chuckled. "Oh, no worries. I'm sure it was nothing." He said, not letting her go.
Charlie smiled a bit awkwardly when she noticed he wouldn't let her go before pulling away a bit herself as she stood up. "Well...thank you again for the help. You've got great reflexes." She chuckled, grabbing the bouquet.
"No problem. I get that a lot." He smiled, following her out of the cafe.
Alastor calmed down, taking a few deep breaths in. "I suppose there's nothing else to do but wait for Charlie back at the hotel then." He said to his shadow that appeared on the bush. "Better hurry before she beats us there." He smiled, humming as he walked back to the hotel.
~Back at the Hotel~
Husk was at the bar cleaning the counter before he heard someone walking into the hotel. He looked over and saw Angel Dust walk into the hotel with Fat Nuggets in his arms, petting him. "And where are you coming from?"
Angel chuckled and walked over to the bar. "Why? You missed me, Whiskers?~" He teased before sitting down.
"No, but now I know why it was so peaceful and quiet."
"Oh, haha." He rolled his eyes. "For your information, I was out doing something actually useful to get Smiles' plan rolling again." He smiled proudly.
Husk scoffed, not believing him. "Sure. And what might that have been?"
"I told you, Husky. All Al needs is some motivation to get off his lazy ass and do shit himself. Once he puts in the effort to actually try to win Charlie over, it'll be smooth sailing from here on out." He smiled. "I mean, if we're being honest, it should be a pretty fucking easy thing to do since she's already crushing on him." He chuckled.
"Sure she is, because what woman wouldn't still have a crush on the guy that crushed her heart?" He said sarcastically.
"Come on, Husk. We're talking about Charlie here." Angel chuckled. "You really think she's over Al?"
"Alright, maybe not completely over him. But you're seriously gonna sit there and tell me that she'll immediately fall for him with one little move he does?"
"Oh, trust me. After today, Al will be doing all the work around here while we just sit back and watch." Angel smiled confidently.
"And what's gonna make him do that?" Husk asked, confused.
"Jealousy!" He stated proudly.
"Jealousy? Pfft, please." He genuinely laughed. "And here I thought your plan was gonna be actually good."
"Well, you weren't there but I saw how much Al hated seeing Vox share the same air as Charlie when we went to the news station. You could even go as far as saying he was...jealous~" Angel said playfully.
"Oh, please. He just hates his guts, that doesn't mean shit."
"Maybe. But I just so happened to witness him stalk Charlie and Vox at the cafe." He laughed. "And I may or may not have caused moments of intimacy between Charlie and Vox to poke at the bear."
"Oh, boy." Husk sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "You better pray he doesn't find out!"
"Relax. He didn't see me or Fat Nuggets. Right, my precious baby? Oh, you did such a good job." He smiled, nuzzling Fat Nuggets.
"Ugh. Get a room."
"Nah, I want to see how pissy Al looks after what he saw." He said before hearing someone come through the front door. "Shh! That might be him. Pour me a drink, will ya?"
Husk rolled his eyes and poured him a whiskey.
"Hey, Smiles. Where were ya?" Angel asked once Alastor walked in the hotel.
"Oh, just running some errands." He replied, twirling his staff in his hand while keeping an eye on the front door.
"Mhm. Sure." He smirked, elbowing Husk in the arm when he saw Alastor keeping an eye at the door. "See?" He whispered.
"That doesn't mean shit." He whispered back.
Angel furrowed his eyebrows before smiling. "So...Al, do you happen to know where Charlie is? She's been gone for a while now."
Husk blinked about to say something to stop Angel from trying to prove his point before Angel shoved Fat Nuggets in his face, making him growl.
"Hold him, will ya?" Angel smiled at him before turning his focus back on Alastor, paying close attention to his facial expression.
"Oh, she should be home soon I'm sure." Alastor replied, trying to act unbothered. What is taking her so long? He thought to himself, wondering why she hadn't arrived yet when they left the cafe at the same time.
"I'm sure she will." He smiled. "Where did she go anyways?" He asked, seeing if he'll lie or not.
"Out for a lunch break." Alastor said casually.
"Why didn't you go with her? You could've taken advantage of some alone time." Angel smiled, wiggling his eyebrows at Alastor.
"Why are you asking so many questions?" He asked, raising an eyebrow at him.
"Why are you staring at the door?" Angel asked, dodging his question.
"Why aren't you answering the question?" Alastor asked, putting his hands behind his back.
"Why aren't you answering the question?" Angel asked back.
Alastor furrowed his eyebrows at Angel, his smile getting bigger as he was losing his patience with Angel.
Husk just looked at them going back and forth before shoving Fat Nuggets in Angel Dust's face, trying to stop things from getting heated between them.
"Oof! What the fuck, Husk?" Angel glared at Husk, putting Fat Nuggets down on the floor. Fat Nuggets looked up at Angel Dust before walking over to Alastor, sniffing his foot.
Alastor looked down at Fat Nuggets in disgust, taking a hand from behind his back and made his cane appear before slamming it on the floor to scare Fat Nuggets away. "Shoo! You filthy swine." Alastor yelled at Fat Nuggets, making him squeal and run away in fear.
"What the fuck, Al?! He wasn't hurting you, you fucking asshole!" Angel screamed at him before running after Fat Nuggets.
"Filthy animal." Alastor huffed, dusting his arm.
"Fat Nuggets! Here, boy!" Angel Dust called out to Fat Nuggets. He walked around a bit before finding him hiding behind a plant near the front door. "Aww. It's okay, baby. Daddy's here for you!" He whispered, gently picking up Fat Nuggets and gave him a loving hug before placing a soft kiss on his head. "Don't worry. The mean stinky deerman won't bother you again." He said softly, petting him gently before he heard a loud squeal coming from outside the hotel. He looked out the window of the door and saw Charlie hugging Vox tightly with a huge smile on her face. "Oh, ho. What do we have here?" Angel chuckled to himself. "Al is gonna love this." He said to himself before calling out to Alastor. "Hey, Al! Charlie's home!~" He teased.
Alastor immediately appeared next to Angel Dust from his shadow form, a loud static sound was made when his eyes opened wide the moment he saw Charlie and Vox hugging. Vox looked up from the hug and made eye contact with Alastor, making him grin widely when he noticed Alastor and Angel Dust were watching him and Charlie. Charlie's back was to them so she didn't notice them watching her.
Vox smirked, hugging Charlie tighter around the waist and pressed their bodies closer to piss off Alastor.
Alastor saw and gave Vox a deadly look as his antlers grew from anger, clenching his teeth as one of his eyes twitched.
Angel saw his reaction and was enjoying the show. Oh, he's for sure jealous. He thought to himself.
Vox kept eye contact with Alastor when Charlie placed a kiss on his cheek, before she pulled away from the hug and held his hands. They shared a smile before Vox picked up the bouquet Charlie dropped on the floor when she hugged him, handing it back to her. They exchanged a few words before saying their goodbyes.
Alastor immediately transported to the bar with Angel Dust and Fat Nuggets before Charlie turned around.
Angel Dust reappeared sitting on the bar counter while Fat Nuggets was sitting on a bar stool. Angel blinked. "What just happened?" He asked, all confused.
"Like you don't ever sit on the bar counter." Husk pointed out, unfazed as he poured Alastor a drink.
Charlie walked into the hotel and blinked when she saw Angel on the bar counter while Fat Nuggets was on a bar stool. "Uhhh...what's going on here?" She asked.
"Uhhh...what do you mean? I'm always on here." He smiled awkwardly before posing on the counter in front of Husk. "Right, Kitty Whiskers?~" He smiled seductively at Husk, stroking his chin with a finger.
Husk looked back at him in disgust before shoving him off the counter, wiping clean the spot he was on.
"Riiiight..." She said, smiling softly at Angel.
Angel rubbed his head before looking up at Charlie from the floor. "Sooo, how was your date?~" He teased, earning a glare from Alastor when he called it a date.
"Date? It was just lunch." She chuckled.
"Then what's with the garden bouquet, babe?" He asked, pointing out the huge bouquet of roses she was holding.
"Funny story, actually." Charlie blushed, rubbing the back of her neck.
"Oooooh. Please, do tell." Angel smirked.
Alastor grumbled under his breath, remembering what happened back at the cafe before taking a sip of his drink.
Husk blinked after seeing his reaction to Charlie talking about the bouquet. No way this son of bitch is jealous. He couldn't be. He thought to himself.
Alastor took a deep breath in before looking at Charlie with a bright smile. "Yes, my dear. Do tell that hilarious story." He said, trying to act normal.
"Well, it's really funny. Vox and I were just talking when some sinner walked up to Vox and called me his wife to get him to buy some flowers off him." She laughed softly.
"Oh, is that so? Maybe he called you his wife because you two were being lovey dovey and shit." Angel smiled, standing up and leaned on the bar.
"What?! No! We were just talking and having lunch." Charlie clarified.
"Talking, laughing, just the two of you." He listed with his fingers. "Mmmm...sounds like a date to me, toots." Angel chuckled.
Charlie's face turned red from embarrassment. "No! It was just lunch! Between two new friends."
"Mhm. Sure. Whatever you say." Angel smirked to himself.
Charlie groaned in embarrassment before Alastor jumped in.
"New friends?" Alastor asked. "That is quite hilarious." He laughed.
"No, I'm serious. I think we could be great friends." Charlie smiled, grabbing a vase from behind the bar and put the bouquet in with water before placing it on the counter.
Alastor glared at the bouquet when she placed it on the counter before looking at Charlie. "Oh, Charlie. You are adorable. A friendship with Vox." He chuckled. "Do you really think this is a good spot for the...bouquet?" He asked.
"What?" Charlie said, confused.
"It's a bar, not a flower shop." Alastor smiled.
"No. You don't think me and Vox could be friends?" She asked.
"Of course not. Do you?" He asked, raising an eyebrow at her.
"Well...yeah. I think we could be great friends. Oh! And I have some exciting news!~" She sang excitedly.
"If you say so." Alastor mumbled under his breath. "What's the exciting news?" He smiled widely at her before taking another sip of his drink.
"Tomorrow's ceremony is gonna be livestreamed all over Hell for everyone to see Vaggie get redeemed!" She yelled excitedly, a wide smile on her face.
Alastor's eyes widened when he heard what was going to happen tomorrow, choking a bit on his drink. "What now?" He asked, his grin twitching a bit.
"Vox gave Charlie a great opportunity to spread the word on her plan and prove it actually works." Angel explained. "Man. What a great guy." He added sarcastically, smiling at Charlie.
"He is, isn't he." Charlie smiled back at Angel. "See, Alastor. Vox can be a good friend. He has great connections that can benefit the hotel."
"Well, I don't know about all that. What did he ask for in return?" He asked.
"What? Nothing. Why do you assume he asked for something in return?"
"Oh, my dear. You really don't know him very well, do you?" He smiled, adjusting his monocle.
"Yeah. Did he ask for a kiss or something?~" Angel Dust wiggled his eyebrows at her.
Charlie and Alastor immediately looked at him.
"What?! No! Nothing like that." She shook her head and waved her hands at him, her face turning red again.
"Ohhh, so what's it like then?" He grinned. "Hmmm?"
"What? No, just...nothing." She stuttered. "Well...it's not a big deal but-" She said before Angel Dust cut her off.
"I knew it! What is it?" Angel Dust said, grabbing Charlie by her arms and dipped her a bit while looking her in the eyes with their faces close to each other.
Charlie blinked, looking into his eyes. "Uhhh..." She said before Alastor pushed Angel Dust away from Charlie. Charlie was about to fall before Alastor caught her by her waist with one hand, placing the other hand behind his back as he smiled widely at her. Charlie blinked again before looking back at him, blushing a bit with how close their faces were to each other. She felt a bit of butterflies form in her stomach, trying to keep her cool like she has this whole month.
Alastor saw her blush and felt her tense up, making him smile wider. Oh, my dear. You can fight it all you want, but you'll be mine eventually. He thought to himself. "What were you going to say?" He asked gently.
"H-he just wanted a dance tomorrow at the party." She stuttered, smiling awkwardly at him.
Alastor held it together, despite hating what Charlie promised Vox. "Well, my dear, that's a real shame. I thought you would be my dance partner the whole night." He smiled, spinning her around and spun her back in his arms with her back against his chest.
Charlie smiled softly as he spun her around and wrapped her in his arms. She always loved dancing with Alastor since he was the only one in the hotel who loved to dance like her. She giggled and unwrapped herself from his arm. "I would love to dance with you all night, Alastor. But I have a feeling a lot of people won't dance and will need a little push." She explained, smiling softly at him.
"Very well, my dear." He smiled back. "Shall we go discuss the final touches for tomorrow's big day?" He asked, holding out his arm for her to link her arm to.
She smiled and immediately linked their arms together. "Sure. I have so many new ideas and not enough time and...oh! Before I forget, everyone needs to go to dinner tonight because I want us to have one final family dinner for Vaggie. If you guys could bring those gifts I told you to make for her weeks ago, that would be great!" She explained to Husk and Angel Dust.
"Uhhh...hate to break it to ya, Charlie but Vaggie hasn't come out of her room for anything. We sure she'll even want to come to dinner? And that she's still alive?" Angel Dust asked.
"She's alive, Angel. And don't worry about it, I'll go get her before dinner." She said softly.
"Okay, if you say so." He mumbled under his breath.
"I'm sure she will, dear. Shall we?" Alastor asked, tilting his head towards the parlor.
"Yes! We have a lot to do." She said, leading Alastor to the parlor.
Angel Dust chugged his entire drink before placing his cup down on the counter and looked over at Husk. "So...what did you make for Vaggie?"
"Is that really what you're concerned about?" Husk asked, not sure if he was being serious or not.
"Well, yeah because I didn't make shit and now I gotta half ass it. Unless you made something big and maybe I could write my name on it and say it was from the both of us?" He smiled widely at Husk, hoping he would say yes.
Husk groaned, face palming himself in disbelief before looking at Angel Dust. "Focus, will ya? Tomorrow's the big day and you need to be on Charlie about this whole Alastor thing tonight. You might not get the chance tomorrow since she'll be busy with the whole ceremony and everything." He pointed out.
"Relax, kitty cat. Weren't you paying attention? Al is obviously jealous of Vox getting close to Charlie and he is feeling some motivation. Tomorrow he'll try anything and everything to keep her by his side. We don't gotta do shit." He chuckled.
Husk rolled his eyes at him before noticing someone walking towards them, making him tense up since Angel Dust kept talking. He immediately cleared his throat to warn Angel to stop talking more than he should, waving his hands a bit to get his attention.
Angel didn't notice and kept talking. "His plan is back on track and he'll get what he wants. All thanks to me." He said proudly, pointing at himself as he stuck out his chest.
"What plan?" Someone asked.
Angel Dust blinked when he heard the person ask from behind him before looking back to see who it was. "Aw, shit." He sighed.