(Before starting this chapter, I highly recommend listening to the song above, Flares by The Script!)
"So... Is it... tasty?" Husk asks awkwardly while sitting with his legs crossed in front of me, Fat Nuggets laying on his lap and letting out soft snores every now and then. I'm sitting in front of him by the front door of the hotel, munching on an exorcist's wing while Angel tries bandaging up my severed horn.
"Honestly? Overrated." I say, my voice sounding muffled with the meat in my mouth, before I swallow.
"Nothing can compare to nice goat meat." I state, hearing Angel chuckle while getting another damp towel to wipe all the blood excess away.
"Sure, honey. I'm almost done with this, by the way." He says, carefully putting the last towel away before grabbing some medic supplies and I pout at the sight. He laughs slightly, giving me a reassuring smile.
"It'll be alright, baby. I already gave ya a shit ton of tranquilizers, you must be drugged outta yer mind by now." Noticing my unsure look, he chuckles.
"Look, I already asked Charlie for info on horns, and I'm always patchin' myself up after work! I know what I'm doin'."
"...if you say so." I say, sighing as I bite the angel wing again, wincing a bit at the taste.
"They really are just overrated chicken wings."
"I'm goin' to start cleanin' around the open wound now, might sting but shouldn't hurt a lot. Is that okay, doll?" Angel asks carefully, and I smile softly at his thoughtfulness.
"Yeah, you do whatever you need to." I then feel a sting in my let horn, wincing as I feel as though there's pressure in my skull, sign of my headache returning. Closing my eyes and breathing deeply, I try to ground myself by playing with my own fingers rather harshly.
"Hey." I open my eyes with a pained frown, just to see Husk offering me Fat Nuggets with an understanding smile. The pig crawls on my lap, starting to snore as it instantly goes back to sleeping soundly. I smile thankfully towards Husk, who just winks back at me as I close my eyes again, fiddling with the pig's ears and petting it softly.
"Sorry toots, won't take long." Angel reassures me as well, feeling his hands work faster, but just as carefully.
"Charlie said it would've been fine if the horn was just a bit chipped, but apparently this is worse as the fracture went all the way to the nerve. When that happens, usually goat demons tend to feel weaker? Not like ya really lose yer powers, but it's harder for ya to control them." He explains as he works, before I hear him grab something else.
"She also gave me this blood-stopping powder? Said it works wonderful, so I'll try this now." He warns me before applying it, and then I feel a weird and unknown texture on my horn. It feels nice though, and I sigh in deep content.
"Oh, that helped." Husk points out, and I can almost hear the pleased smile as I'm still closing my eyes. Angel sighs delighted at the news.
"Great! Now I'll bandage it. The pressure might feel uncomfy at first but it needs to be wrapped up neatly." Angel says, his whole explanation grounding me through the process as he finishes wrapping me up, and I finally feel him secure the bandage around my horn.
"There's that! How ya feelin', babe?" The spider asks softly, leaning down and placing two of his lower hands on my shoulders, and I finally open my eyes to look at him, noticing his face pretty close to mine. I widen my eyes, blush spreading on my cheeks as I laugh nervously at him before answering.
"It's... It's great. Thanks, Angie."
"Oh? The nickname's new. I like that, toots." He boops my nose softly before standing up straight and grabbing the medic supplies.
"Be right back, I'll get this back in its place."
I watch him leave, sitting there dumbfounded at his actions as the blush is still spread all out in my cheeks. Husk, who's still sitting in front of me, chuckles as he notices my very obvious gay panic.
"Heh. Close your mouth, might catch flies." He teases, and I quickly close it, not noticing I was gaping as well.
"Shut up. It's the... tranquilizers. Made my jaw numb. Shit sucks. Yep." I say nervously, pouting as I get up from the ground while hugging Fat Nuggets close so I don't bother it.
"Sure, kid." He laughs at me while getting up as well. We both walk together inside the hotel, with me pouting at him. Just as we're in the main lobby, though, my gaze drifts off to Pentious' memorial, standing proud with his Egg Bois in the painting.
Husk notices my faltering, and slightly nudges me, leading our way to my best friend's memorial. I just stare at it numbly, a deep pain inside my chest the only feeling I can muster at the sight of my deceased friend.
"I'm... sorry, Rio. I know how close you guys were." He tries, thinking over his words carefully but I just dismiss him, shaking my head with no words. Just on cue, I feel a hand on my shoulder, startling me. I look back to see Vaggie with an apologetic smile.
"Hey. We're going to have a celebratory feast. Charlie will start it off with some fireworks, too. You should be ready shortly." She says, before leaving us both. I stay silently looking at the painting, before Husk sighs besides me.
"I'll... go get ready." He says, taking Fat Nuggets from my arms and leaving me to have some alone time. How did he know I needed to be alone right now? Who fucking knows.
After a while of silently staring at the picture, I sigh and take out the gun, examining it. It got a bit roughed up during my one-to-one fight, apparently; it's all chipped and scraped, with marks here and there, breaking the green and yellow pattern slightly. I should've been more careful with it.
Placing it back inside the gun holder, I make my silent way outside the hotel. It stands big and proud with two towers this time, instead of just Alastor's. Lucifer owns the other one, I'm guessing, due to its apple pattern.
In between each tower and the main Hazbin Hotel sign, stand two big, black and green goat-like horns I just noticed. My eyes widen as the left one is broken, somehow looking beautifully proud on top of the building, and matching my own severed horn.
My eyes widen at the thoughtful detail, and I make my way to the side of the hotel, noticing a pattern on the wall. It doesn't really stand out, but I'm used to looking for climbing patterns, with my goat form making it an easy task. So I instantly start making my way up.
Rock after brick, after wood plank that stands slightly out of place, I finally find myself at the end of the trail: the left horn. And that's when I notice what I couldn't from my position on the ground; there's a clear area on top of the horn, clearly prepared for someone to use it as a relaxing area.
I take the chance to sit down and get my gun out of the gun holder again. I graze my fingers over the endearing pattern there, and take a deep breath as I start to sing.
"Did you lose what won't return? Did you love but never learn?" I notice the scratches stretching over the pattern, frowning at the sight as I clutch the weapon with more force.
"The fire's out but still it burns. And no one cares, there's no one there."
With a sigh I set the gun by my side, noticing the pain inside my chest worsening at its sight so I choose to look away from it, clawing at my chest instead.
"Did you find it hard to breathe? Did you cry so much that you could barely see? You're in the darkness all alone. And no one cares, there's no one there."
I close my eyes in pain, thoughts of moments spent with Pentious clouding my mind as my breathing starts getting laboured. Before it can get any worse though, a booming sound is heard and I open my eyes to see Charlie's fireworks have already started.
"But did you see the flares in the sky? Were you blinded by the light? Did you feel the smoke in your eyes? Did you, did you?"
Looking down to the source of the colourful explosions, I notice the hotel residents starting to gather around the princess. Even though I can't hear them from up hear, I can see how happy they look, most likely cheering at the display.
"Did you see the sparks filled with hope? You are not alone, 'cause someone's out there, sending out flares."
I let out a small laugh at their delighted faces, noticing how Angel is holding Fat Nuggets up as if to show the lights more clearly, and Husk is looking to his spider friend instead, a soft look grazing his usually stoic features.
I just look down at all theses people who I now have the confidence to call my friends. But I frown at the thought, insecurities clouding my mind with what if's related to our friendship breaking off.
"Did you break but never mend? Did it hurt so much you thought it was the end? Lose your heart but don't know when. And no one cares, there's no one there."
I try to ground myself by holding Pentious' gun, letting myself lay down to watch the fireworks instead, my eyes widening at the beautiful sight.
"But did you see the flares in the sky? Were you blinded by the light? Did you feel the smoke in your eyes? Did you, did you? Did you see the sparks filled with hope? You are not alone, 'cause someone's out there, sending out flares. Someone's out there, sending out flares."
I bring the gun up to my line of sight again, the fireworks making its colours change regularly as the green and yellow still stand out proudly as a reminder of my best friend.
"Did you lose what won't return? Did you love but never learn?"
I sigh, shaking my head again and sitting up again, watching my friends laughing at each other's jokes in between playful nudges and offended teasings. I smile at them, the tension leaving me at the sight.
"But did you see the flares in the sky? Were you blinded by the light? Did you feel the smoke in your eyes? Did you, did you? Did you see the sparks filled with hope? You are not alone, 'cause someone's out there, sending out flares."
Each of them leaves their own way, with Husk, Angel and Cherri all teasing each other as they go inside the hotel. Vaggie motions some cannibals to follow inside too, while glaring at the Radio Demon as he shrugs at her with his usual smile. Lucifer glares at the smiling freak while talking to his daughter, his eyes softening as she mentions something and he smiles proudly before leaving inside as well. Charlie just goes around the hotel somewhere, and she's suddenly out of sight for me but I might have a wild guess where she's going.
"But did you see the flares in the sky? Were you blinded by the light? Did you feel the smoke in your eyes? Did you, did you? Did you see the sparks filled with hope? You are not alone, 'cause someone's out there, sending out flares." I finish the song, smiling softly as I hear footsteps just behind me. Of course.
"Could have just screamed at me that dinner was ready. You knew I was watching." I say with a small chuckle, my voice barely above a whisper as I keep looking ahead.
Most of the city can be seen from up here, and I laugh internally at the thought of how easy it is to tell each section apart from each other, especially with the Vee's tower standing proudly in their own area.
"It's fine, I also wanted to check if it's nice up here." Charlie laughs, sitting besides me but giving me some space for myself nonetheless. When I look at her, she smiles sadly at me and I notice she's been examining my gun while I wasn't looking.
"Are you... okay?" She asks softly.
My face falls at the question, looking away from her again as I ponder over the options for an answer. There's a pause before I finally answer.
"You remember that time when Angel and I were mad at each other? Or more like- he wasn't talking to me." She nods, so I keep explaining.
"You know how I'm close to Husk. But so is Angel, especially after the night in which we fought. So, I didn't really want Husk to be in between of our little problem, which is why I kinda tried to distance myself from everyone."
I think back to that day. Angel's jabs here and there, just talking shit any moment he could. It's crazy to think that wasn't long ago, really.
"Pentious noticed. Somehow." I shake my head with a soft laugh.
"He saw me falling into old patterns. So he just... stuck with me. The whole time. Even if I wouldn't tell him what was going through my head, even if he would ask and I just wouldn't answer... He was always there, didn't leave me once."
I turn around to Charlie, my eyes betraying me as I look at her with desperation and she instantly notices the emotion, eyes widening with even more concern.
"Charlie, I... I don't know what to do. If I fall back to that mindset again... Will you help me?"
Will I let myself be helped? Is the real question. But I don't ask that. And it worries me, because that's already a sign of me holding back again, isn't it? I know it already, and I hate it. But my lips are sealed, and I know already know how this will end.
"Yes. I promise you, Rio. We'll all be there for you." She says, and I can see the fierce certainty burning deep in her gaze. I just chuckle, getting up from the ground and offering my hand to the princess with a smile.
"Well then let's get to it, shall we?"