Author's Note: This was requested by @HeartbrokenFox 👍👌 Artwork belongs to me.
____________________________________
Y/n was upset...
It was obvious to everyone at the hotel, but no matter who tried to inquire, they were hard set on not giving the reason why.
But Alastor knew.
At least, he had a feeling he knew. Y/n was out of sorts and looking downright disappointed since the Christmas celebration several days before. Did giving the gift mean that much to them? But it wasn't as though Alastor could up and tell Y/n there was nothing to be upset about. That would lead to questions as to why he took the present early to begin with, and he didn't want to mistakingly lead them to thinking he'd been searching under the chance someone had given him a gift.
Perhaps he was overthinking the entire situation, and Y/n would be perfectly happy just to know it had gotten into his intended possession.
He rolled the trinket around, fiddling with it in his pocket absentmindedly as he watched Y/n (very sadly, he might add) wash dishes. They sometimes helped out with that, given it was the one generalized chore that Nifty didn't enjoy.
Considerate, but he would expect nothing less of his darling Y/n...
Alastor owlishly blinked, finding something sounded a little funny about his last thought. He ran it through his head again and easily pin-pointed the error.
...his darling Y/n.
He didn't know whether to be appalled or just generally confused that such a cheesy line ran through his own private contemplation. His face burned slightly, and he attempted to push the matter away as a mere accident. It wasn't the strangest or most sudden thing to run through his mind.
Alastor closed his entire hand around the circular pendant, pressing it tightly against his palm so that it would leave little prints of the runes and symbols against it.
"Hey candy cane! Whatcha' got there~?" Alastor tensed and internally grumbled as the voice sounded from his side. Angel Dust... the perfect person to have around if you hold complete disdain for peace and quiet.
"My microphone." He answered bluntly, as it was firmly in his other hand, and hoped in vain that Angel would find some reason to leave.
"You know that's not what I'm talkin' about." The fallen mobster grinned cheekily. "You've had your hand down your pants for the last hour~"
Y/n, overhearing this, seemed to turn around from the dishes and look over. Alastor felt the offhand embarrassment like a slap to the face, and responded by swiftly nailing Angel in the head with his microphone, giving a glare partnered with a threatening smile.
"My hand is in my pocket. Not down my pants." He hissed as Angel rubbed his head in slight pain, the crude and teasing smile never leaving his face.
"Oh, right~ You were just moving your hand in circles in your pocket while drooling at Y/n. My bad~"
The implication following Angel's inappropriate and suggestive accusation left a stunned silence in the room.
This idiot had a death wish.
He yanked his hand out of his pocket and made a clear attempt to grasp Angel's throat. However, swiftly and before Alastor could lose control and rip into the perverted spider's guts like a meaty rag doll, he made a mad dash for the door, finally sensing he had pushed one too many buttons, and slipped out unscathed. Fingers grasping air, the Radio Demon regretted not making the move to attack sooner, but remembering Y/n had stopped to watch, calmed from his near state of rage. Embarrassment and a minor feeling of discomfort that he was foreign too settled into his mind as he turned and met their flustered and wide eyed expression.
He attempted to laugh it off, albeit rather nervously. "I wasn't- erm... You know Angel, always making everything a sexual innuendo."
Y/n paused, looking confused and hesitant. "So... you were um... doing that thing he said you were doing...?"
Their voice came out a little meek, as though they were afraid to ask, and Alastor was quick to deny their suspicions. "No! No, darling, I would never- I, erm..." He cleared his throat, trying to collect himself and quickly sputtered out. "I simply had my hand in my pocket."
They nodded, but he had a sinking concern that they were questioning how valid his statement was. He made a mental note to confront Angel, somewhere no one else would see or hear, and show him exactly why it was a poor idea to make a fool out of the Radio Demon.
Y/n seemed to let the moment go, and turned to continue washing a plate. He let out a huff of breath, annoyed at the entire situation, and stuck his hand back in his pocket to continue fiddling with the pendant in peace.
...but it wasn't there.
Alastor paused, this realization sinking in a moment, before he dug deeper into his pocket in attempts to find it. He didn't... but he did find a relatively small hole. Just the right size for something like that to slip out, but small enough that he hadn't noticed it beforehand. He began looking around, even getting on his hands and knees to look under the furniture whilst his microphone leaned against the wall.
Y/n, hearing the shuffling, turned around and was stunned to see Alastor, of all people, on his hands and knees peering under all the surrounding chairs, side tables, pulling up rugs, etc... He must've lost something important.
"Can I help you find something?"
Their voice seemed to startle him, as he was searching under the coffee table and brought his head up at the sound, only to knock it against the wood. Y/n winced and bent over to look beneath the other side of the table at him worriedly.
"I appreciate the concern darling, but there's no need!" He said, almost too hastily, and Y/n raised a skeptical brow. "You focus on those dishes, dear! I'll find my- erm... thingy."
'Thingy?' Y/n thought, finding this a little amusing.
They were just about to accept his assurance and continue on to doing dishes... when something caught their eye. A smooth round pendant, littered with runes and markings. Y/n would recognize it anywhere; after all, they made it. It was Alastor's gift! Laying their just at the corner of the arm chair. It had been so difficult to see at first, being nearly the same color as the floor. Not questioning how it got there, Y/n immediately went to grab it.
However, it was at this moment that Alastor spotted it as well. His gaze fixated on the trinket, forgetting that Y/n was still in the room. There it is! He'd begun to worry he'd lost it for good. He reached to grab it...
...only for Y/n to do the same at the exact same moment.
Their hands brushed each other over the smooth pendant, and Alastor froze like a deer caught in headlights (no pun intended). There was a moment of awkward silence as Y/n suddenly came to the conclusion that the pendant was what he had been searching so feverishly for.
The microphone against the wall made a chirping sort of sound, almost like... laughter? Alastor shot it a stern look, and coughed to hide his tension. He withdrew his hand, allowing Y/n to pick it up, and watched as a slow smile came across their face.
"You took it from under the tree, didn't you?"
Playing dumb wouldn't be a good look on him, so he sighed in defeat and, almost sheepishly smiling, met their eyes. A rare look on the fearsome tyrant. "I suppose I may have been a touch... curious."
All the disappointment and sadness that had lingered over Y/n face the past four days melted away as they began to laugh, uncontrollably, putting a hand over their mouth to muffle the joyous sound.
"You had it this whole time! Good grief, I was worried over nothing." They smiled, burying their face in their hand, and Alastor just shuffled there, accepting having been caught but enjoying their bemused laughter nonetheless.
They offered the pendant back, having calmed down from their fit of hilarity, and smiled gently. He hesitated a moment, before taking it back and sliding it into the opposite pocket, double checking first to ensure it had no holes.
Why was he feeling this way over something as ridiculous as a gift? So shy and abashed. He fought the urge to smack his head against the wall.
"Well, I'm glad it at least got to the intended person." Y/n said, looking pleased in comparison to the prior days when they thought the pendent had been stolen or lost.
Alastor nodded, and saw they were turning around to head back to dishes. Without really thinking, he reached out and grabbed their arm. A somewhat startling action to them both. The Radio Demon fought to get the next words out. "I... thank you. It was, erm- very nice, darling."
He didn't like how awkward that came out, but Y/n didn't seem to notice or care and gave a single nod and smile in return. "You're welcome."
With that they returned and Alastor sighed, leaning against the wall and watching them before a loopy smile came onto his face. He subconsciously gushed a little longer before taking his microphone and straightening up.
Now... w̵̧͖͈̼̬͔͖̙͂͆͊̂͘ͅh̶̢̬̗̺̜̲̦̲̼͖̤̱̐́͆̒̈́̔̄ȩ̷̢̧̪̙̯̞͖̤̩́̚͜͝ͅŕ̴̢̛̛̝̺̼͎̺̹̓̒̓͛̏̊ē̵̞͉͓̥̓̑̀͐͗̏̇̊ ̸̰̑̀̓̀̇̃͘͝t̷̨͚̞̭͚̣͈́͑̽ḫ̸̣̲̼͍̤̮͕̙́̆̇̄̒͝e̵̛̛̲͖̍̃̓̅̐͌̂̒͗̇ ̶̤̯̀͗̂̔̌͜ḩ̵͎̙̗͕͖̻̮͈̣͉̖̂e̴͇̻̦͚͙̭̘̼͖͗̓̉̾̓ͅl̸̡̛̥̘̲̲̲̰̰̩͛͛́͂̈́́͠͝͝͝ḷ̶̹̪͐͌͐́̅̈̓͛̐͠͠ ̵̢͕̳͉͇̩̾̑̿̅͑̉́͘͘͝ͅw̸͓̲̄̓̉͌̈́̎̄̀̓̚͝͝a̵̘͕̭̰͇͈͈̭̐́͆̋̏̚s̸͔̹͒̿͑͑ ̸̣͖̬̼̈́̈́̾̽̄̆͑̚̚A̶̡̡̼̤̮͎̟̱͉̹͚̪̍̈̆̀͑n̵͉͉̲̠̻͕͚̽͜ģ̴̝̠̰̲̞̩͚̔̈̄̃͠e̶̱̯̯̙̭̜͙̠͉̣͆̂̓̄͐́̕͘ͅĺ̸͍̞͚̼͈̖̏̍̓͂̋̐́̅̾́͆ ̸̩̻͙̉̈́Ḋ̴̯̯̓̍́̔͘u̶̱̼̐̉͊ș̵̨̡̛̫̲̗͈̀̀̌͛̈́͛̾̋̋̓̔ͅt̶̢̛̛͖̲̻̜͉̜̭̟̭̲̒̅̂̐̏̑̊͝͝?̶̥̃̾̍͘ͅ