Chapter Text
After the revelation of your marriage to the Radio Demon, thankfully the subject of conversation was quick to change with no one wanting to ask personal questions about him seeing as he liked to keep his life private.
The rest of dinner was uneventful. Afterwards; Husk had drifted off back to the bar with Angel hot on his tail much to his annoyance, Niffty and Alastor disappeared with Charlie upstairs to be shown their rooms while you went to the sink to clean up the dishes. Vaggie soon joined you and without a word, grabbed a dish towel and started to dry and put away the dishes after you had washed them.
"Thank you, dear." You gave her a warm smile for her efforts which she returned, albeit with that nervous look never leaving her eye. "You look tense. Quite funny how you and your friend have opened up a business to cater to any and all of Hell's scum only to be jumpy around a few demons."
"First off, Charlie's my girlfriend-" Vaggie started, her grip tightening on the pan she was currently drying, no doubt miffed about potentially hearing anything homophobic from the new woman. It was obvious the way she carried herself, dressed and acted about manners that she was from an older time where being gay was frowned upon- even illegal.
"Oh wonderful! What a charming couple!" You interrupted with a genuine smile and saw Vaggie's shoulders visibly relax when she realised there was no fight to be had. Such a shame the poor girl had to get defensive about love, you've never had a problem with it in any way, shape or form. "I didn't want to assume."
"Yeah well, thanks, anyway I'm only jumpy around dealmakers like the Radio Demon. It's obvious that he just wants to see this place to fail and you're all associated with him so I can't trust any of you as far as I can throw you- no offense." She quickly added, taking the plate you handed her to dry and put away next. You admired the girl's honesty and reserved manner, hopefully that would rub off on her girlfriend who was clearly too invested in her happy ending that it was hard to see the realistics of the situation like Vaggie did.
"None taken, darling. You're a wise girl to be distrustful." You complimented looking down at the sink, focusing on the task at hand. From the corner of your eye you could see Vaggie's head snap up and stare at you in disbelief, it was as if no one had ever agreed with her standoffish behaviour before. "Take it from me, Alastor is not to be trusted. However if you do decide to try and throw him, let me know so I can have a front row seat."
Vaggie huffed out a small laugh. She didn't feel the same sense of impending doom coming from you that she did whenever the Radio Demon was near her so she took that as a good sign. She would still be on full alert with you until proven you could be trusted but this... wasn't bad.
"So... If you hate him so much then why are you married to him? I didn't even know the Radio Demon had a wife - no one did." Vaggie asked curiously but cautiously.
"I'd rather not get into it right now, dear. After all, trust has to be earned, not be a given." You gave her a knowing look and you both shared an understanding smile. It seemed the two of you aired on the side of caution with new people. "But just know, there are no divorces in hell so I hope if and when you ever do propose to your love, it's the real deal."
The air grew tense and quiet once more but you both powered through finishing up the last of the dishes.
Vaggie offered to show you to your room and you thanked her once more before following her through the lobby to the stairway. As you passed the bar, you smirked knowingly when you saw Husk entertaining Angel with a few card tricks which the spider was eating up looking as if he were a child at a show, watching in amazement. Husk was obviously so plastered by now that Angel's sexual innuendos didn't bother him any more but it was impressive he could shuffle the cards one handed while the other was taking shots of whiskey on the side.
You went up the stairs with Vaggie and she showed you the room that would be yours for the duration of your employ in the hotel. "Here you are. If you need help with any luggage or anything from your old place, I can help. You can also decorate it however you want so it's to your tastes." She explained with a half smile, gesturing inside.
You looked around and seen it was very plain but it was nice to being able to decorate how you wanted so it felt a bit more like home - seeing as how you were trapped into this arrangement without any say in the first place. It had a large bed, wardrobe, vanity and en suite but most impressively, a beautiful large window looking out into the city. You walked over to it and stared into the horizon.
Vaggie watched you as you looked around the space and started to stare out the window. She couldn't explain it but she'd never seen someone look the way you did then. It was a look of contemplation, longing, deep sadness and things she couldn't describe. It became clear to her that you didn't want to be here even more than she initially didn't want Alastor to bring you - or any of his henchmen - and it made her guard drop just a fraction more around you.
She jumped when you suddenly spoke up again, breaking the silence.
"Thank you, dear, you've been a lovely help tonight. Perhaps once everything is settled, we can get to know one and other a smidge more." You turned to look at Vaggie with a gentle smile which she once again returned but this time, there was no nervous edge to her.
"That sounds nice... I'll let you get some rest. Goodnight, Evangeline."
"Good night, darling."
Surprisingly, you got a good sleep that night.
Unbeknownst to you, Alastor could not say the same as he was pacing outside of your door for hours debating on whether or not to knock so he could talk to you privately. He had thought it would've been the bees knees to be in your company again, despite it being unwanted from your end, especially after being separated for a hundred years but the closeness was making it harder for him to keep his composure. It still wasn't close enough.
He briefly wondered if he had make a mistake, bringing his only weakness into this project but it just seemed destined what with the princess's pathetic excuse for a staff in her hotel. The only person he could ever imagine filling the chef position was you and your glorious cooking, oh how he had missed it. Quite the treat for him to see you serving him once again too. And your fire... He could watch those embers burning in your beautiful, passionate eyes till the retinas burned away in his.
He decided not to disturb you. Not on the first night anyway.
You woke up bright and early and quickly got dressed in your usual long black dress before heading downstairs, ready to start a new day.
After a good nights sleep, it was easier for you to accept the fact that you were basically stuck here - just like the other two Alastor dragged here - so you may as well make the best of it and see where this project leads. Besides, the ladies who owned it didn't seem half as bad as the majority of the rotten souls that populated this literal hellhole.
You passed the bar to get to the kitchen and frowned when you seen Husk passed out over the counter. No wonder the man had terrible posture if that was how he slept normally.
You went into the kitchen to grab some Aspirin and cold water before going back to the bar and whacking him awake with your trusty wooden spoon.
"Satan-fucking-damn it!" He shot up rubbing his now sore shoulder and giving you the deadliest look imaginable. "Listen bitch, you come near me with that thing again and ill-!"
You gave him an unimpressed look through his ranting and interrupted him once he started to threaten you, holding up and skooshing him with a spray bottle of cold water which he hissed at but it did get him to stand down from his potentially violent stance.
"Bad kitty. Don't throw a hissy at me if you want to get pissed on the giggle water all night then can't handle the next morning." You countered, pushing the glass of water and tablets towards him. "Get these down your gullet then get to bed for a nap, soldier."
Husk stiffened noticeably at the nickname before grumbling and took the Aspirin and chugged the water, all the whilst still giving you the meanest looks he could muster before trudging his way to the stairs muttering something along the lines of, "Damn woman. Fucking telling me what to do. Satan damn it my head fucking kills..."
You headed to the kitchen to start on breakfast for everyone. It was easier to whip up than dinner seeing as there was a decent amount of eggs and cheese so you decided to make everyone an omelette. You tied your cooking apron around your waist and got to work, as well as putting the coffee on to brew, and felt a nice familiarity being in a kitchen again after losing your restaurant that you worked so hard to get up and running.
You shook the thoughts out of your head before they could even fully form, you hated thinking of the past.
"Good morning, love!" Alastor's agitating voice boomed through the quiet kitchen. Your shoulders immediately hunched to your ears and your teeth automatically gritted to the point your jaw hurt. It was almost as if he had heard your train of thought and decided to make the most obnoxious entrance ever.
"Morning." You gritted out, focusing on cracking eggs and imagining it was his head you were breaking instead.
Your surly attitude didn't deter Alastor - it never did - and he slinked up next to you with his biggest smile, looking down at you with a half lidded expression like you were something precious.
You, on the other hand, tried to control your temper before you had another sprinklers incident.
"Now darling, where's your lovely smile? You're never fully dressed without one, you know!" He reminded as he invaded your space, practically cheek to cheek with you now.
You roughly pushed him and swung to whack him with your wooden spoon but he jumped out the way before he could get hit. After all, he was all too familiar with you and your weapons of choice. Perfectly predictable, he'd always say.
"Don't fucking touch me, Alastor! I cannot believe you dragged me here into whatever the hell this is you're up to!" You snapped, still refusing to look directly at him because he had once told you that your eye contact was a gift so you were determined to keep it from him. You started to aggressively whisk the bowl while adding spices. "You don't own me, you can't just dictate where I go or what I do or when I'm finishing never seeing you again!"
From the corner of your eye, you could still see him standing there, dapper as ever, with his hands behind his back like he didn't have a care in the world with that fucking smile still stretched on his face. You needed to let go of some pent up rage and manually lit the stove with a small fire shooting from your finger tips.
"Dearest, you wound me so! Can I really be blamed if I heard of your predicament after the latest extermination and happened on this great opportunity where a head chef position was needed? And after all, this establishment is owned by royalty so I decided only the best cook would suffice." Alastor flattered, amping up his usual charm to try and butter you up.
You rolled your eyes, easily seeing through his wounded act but you did look at him - if only to shoot him an unimpressed look. "Besides you always did love your charity work, sweetheart." He smirked as if he knew he had already won the argument.
"That's not the point and you know it!" You groaned, wanting desperately to hit yourself in the head with the frying pan you were using just for a reprieve in this conversation. You took a deep breath to calm yourself down so you could get your point across clearly but Satan knows Alastor would spin anything in his favour if it meant he got his way. "If we must work together and share a living space again then you best behave professionally. We both know that a marriage contract is still a contact so even though I'd love nothing more than to fry you to a crisp and have Niffty vacuum up the dust just to eat it and shit it out on a freeway, I can't. And because you summoned me here, I can't leave." You stated, finishing up with the breakfast before heading to the coffee pot to pour yourself and Alastor a cup.
"So do me a favour and just leave me the fuck alone." You finished your point with a pointed, sarcastic smile. His smile started to look extremely strained and you could tell that you had managed to strike a nerve which cheered you up immensely.
The roles had reversed on who was now desperate to end the conversation.
You decided to throw him a bone and gave him an out so you shoved his coffee cup into his hand and pushed him towards the door away from you while you plated the breakfast, calling out over your shoulder, "Make yourself useful and wake everyone up for breakfast, except Husk, you leave him to nap off the bottle-ache!"
Alastor, somewhat in a daze, headed out the kitchen before stopping himself, realizing he was being ordered around like a common dog. Despite it, he couldn't help the dopey smile on his face.
'What a woman.' He thought to himself lovingly.
It was just like old times and even though he was obviously still in the dog house, he had to admit, he missed his little spitfire. If anyone else in hell spoke to him even a fraction the way you did, they'd be incinerated before the syllables in their sentence reached double digits but you were always special. You had only been here for a night and he was already becoming obsessed again. It was easy for him, in your time apart, to convince himself the memories he had of you would never match up to the real deal - that he had put the memory of you on a pedestal that the real you could never achieve - but he was dead wrong. It was just then he looked down at the coffee cup in his hand and realised you remembered how he took it, plain black, and his heart ached.
He missed his wife.
Alastor did as he was told and woke up the rest of the staff and Angel Dust - although he would have to wash his eyes out with bleach when he walked into his room and the spider was lying face down on the sheets, with not a damn thing covering him - so they could all go enjoy breakfast together.
Breakfast was quite enjoyable and the rest of the day passed without a fuss.
Everyone still seemed to be getting used to each other but the princess's happiness was almost infectious and Alastor even managed to come off as pleasant rather than antagonist to the others for the day.
You had later on woken Husk from his nap to a big meal for his lunch so he hadn't given you any more shit about correcting his posture as he sat at the table downstairs. Angel then introduced you to his adorable little pet, Fat Nuggets, which made you laugh at first but the name was somehow fitting for the creature. Afterwards, you helped Niffty with cleaning up the place but you could only listen to her prattling for so long - she was a sweet girl but too many sweets can rot the teeth, so you made yourself scarce to find Charlie and inform her of the inventory needed in the kitchen in the near future.
After finding Vaggie, she informed you the princess was on the balcony.
As soon as you had opened the door, you could see Charlie's back to you while she was on the phone nervously tugging at her own hair. "Hey mom... Me again, who else right?" She nervously laughed then clutched the phone desperately with both hands to her ear as she stiffened up like a board. It was as if she trying to put on a façade of strength so it would carry through her voice. "I don't mean to bother you so I'll just leave a message.. again. We've got new staff at the hotel and its... going great. Look, I know you and daddy have seen my interview but I promise I'm taking this seriously. I just want to make you guys proud... Anyway that was all so... love you, bye." She ended softly, hanging up and dropping the phone from her ear along with her head down in shame.
You cleared your throat purposefully and Charlie's head whipped back up and over to you. She looked embarrassed to be caught in such a vulnerable moment. "Oh! Evangeline! Didn't... see you there, sorry!" She squeaked, nervously playing with her hair and avoiding eye contact with you. It was such a shame to see her so down after a day of her practically skipping through the hotel in her sheer joy of her dreams starting to come together.
"No I am sorry, Charlotte. I came here to talk business so I didn't want to interrupt a phone call. Especially if it was important." You apologised genuinely.
Charlie's eyes briefly lit up at the fact you thought any phone call coming from her would've been important whereas her own mother left her to leave voicemails like that one more often than not.
"Seems even the King and Queen are not perfect when it comes to parenting." You observed purely because you could tell Charlie wanted someone to talk to and you figured it would be quite rude to just step away after hearing the sadness in her voice while being ignored by her mother.
"Well... Not perfect, maybe, but my parents are great really!" Charlie assured with a strained smile. "They're just really busy, royalty doesn't get a day off, y'know?"
"I can imagine."
"Plus the fact I totally humiliated them and myself and the hotel in that interview I did on the news." Charlie said lowly, the embarrassment and uncertainty clear as day on her face. She wore her emotions on her sleeve and was an incredibly easy girl to read, almost like a child.
"Darling, it was just yourself who you humiliated- not your parents nor the hotel!" You tried to reassure but Charlie just sank more in on herself till she was practically curled up standing, two tuffs of curly blonde hair clutched in her hands. Poor thing looked like she was ready to hyperventilate. "Listen kid, if you run a business - especially like one you're trying to do - you need to grow thicker skin. You're a sweet girl but sweet doesn't command respect. You're in Hell for crying out loud, you can't sing your points and expect people to listen, you have to grab these fuckers by the throat and make them listen to what you have to say!"
"You mean metaphorically, right?"
"If that's your style. Either way, how do you expect people to believe in your dream if you don't believe in yourself?" You asked her gently.
She looked like she was ready to burst into tears with every word you say and you were almost afraid to say anything more since none of this seemed to be helping but you couldn't help but feel sorry for the poor thing and want her to go back to skipping around on her silly rainbows. At least she was a change of pace from the other miserable cretins that filled Hell day in day out.
"Your mama should care about what you care about, but just cause she either don't or just don't have the time to show she does, doesn't mean you should feel any less proud of yourself. You got that nice girl Vagatha that supports your dream, right? Sometimes just one person in your corner makes all the difference."
Before you even realised what was happening, Charlie was latched onto you in a crippling hug with her eyes squeezed shut to stop her tears from falling. You awkwardly held your hands at your sides before returning her hug and rubbing her back in, what you hoped was, a comforting manner.
"Thanks, Eva. I really needed this." Charlie sniffed, squeezing the other woman tighter if possible. You were struggling to breathe but you let her get it all out of her system. "Were you ever close with your mom?"
"Not particularly. Vile woman she was, probably down here somewhere." You shrugged dismissively, not liking the direction of the conversation. "No matter. We are who we are and not who made us- for the best, really. I have full faith that your mother is proud of you for having a dream, cherub, but the one you need to be focusing on right now is yourself." You advised softly, stroking her hair gently until she eventually released you from her koala-like grip and wiped her eyes.
"You're right, I just keep beating myself up about the stupid interview but this hotel is turning out to be fucking awesome! I can do this, we all can do this, and I'll prove to myself that I can really make a difference to my people!" Charlie declared with determination in her tone and the anime sparkles back in her eyes.
She was back to smiling her toothy grin which suited her so much more.
"There you go! You get it now, kid. The past is in the past and it's best we just leave it there." You smiled along with her. "To be honest, I'm a little surprised that one interview has you this rattled in the first place. Okay it was a little silly but any publicity is good publicity right?"
"It wasn't just that, the news reporter lady was really mean." Charlie pouted as she recalled Katie Killjoy's treatment of her. She believed that if the spider lady wasn't such a fucking bitch then Charlie wouldn't have gotten so nervous in the first place to where she was stuttering through her entire proposal of the hotel. You frowned at the thought of anyone being mean to this kid who was basically like sunshine personified. Being rude to her? Probably, happy people got on everyone's nerves in large doses. But mean? Hell no. "She even said that she doesn't touch the gays so she wouldn't shake my hand or anything!"
"She said WHAT?!"
Charlie's eyes popped open wide and she took a step back from you. "Uhh... Your eyes... are on fire." She quietly uttered whether it be from fear or shock.
"Forget what I said about the past for a minute, to forget the past you need closure first!" You grabbed her hand and practically dragged her away to march downstairs and out the front doors of the hotel.
Charlie obediently followed you but she was going back into her nervous habits, pulling her hair and biting her lip as if she were the one to do something wrong. She tried to reassure you that everything was fine and that she also then later called Katie Killjoy a bitch and ended up in a full on brawl with her but you were having none of it. You wouldn't stop until this was straightened out and you would not have someone treat your... boss, technically, so disrespectfully. It wasn't at all ladylike.
You marched Charlie right to the front door of Katie Killjoy's mansion and knocked three times in rapid form with your knuckles and waited for all of five seconds before slamming your elbow against the door in the same three rapid motions except the door was now practically shaking and threatening to come off the hinges.
"Alright fucking damn it, I heard you!" Comes the shrill voice from inside before the door opens and there stood Katie Killjoy in a long, luxurious robe, wearing a facemask and a towel around her hair. She looked down at the two of you disdainfully and scoffed. "What the hell do you want now? Come back for round two, princess?"
Charlie shrank into herself but you gracefully stood in front of her and smiled up at the woman, craning your neck to even be able to meet her gaze but you didn't falter. You had a misunderstanding to settle.
"Terribly unfortunate to bother you, dear, but my associate Charlotte seems to have misheard something you said to her before what was meant to be a professional interview on the 666 news but eventually turned into, well you know." You waved off the afterthought but smiled smugly at her, as Charlie had informed you of her kicking the spider bitch's ass in her desperate attempt to stop you on your mission and pull you back to the hotel.
You seen a twitch in Katie's eyes and felt satisfaction.
"Regardless, I would like it very much if you put it to rights. What was it you said about gays, darling?" You asked with a manic smile. Despite your grinning façade you could already feel steaming building to the surface, your rage boiling like a slow cooked meal under the lid too long.
"Your fucking shambles of a dyke friend better get the fuck off my property before I make the both of you, how's that for clarifying, bitch?" Katie spat the words out like venom. If she wasn't in the middle of her skincare, she would've transformed into her full demon form and pulverised the pair of them for even having the audacity to darken her doorstep.
"Apologize. At once." You warned quietly, smile still in tact.
You could feel Charlie shaking like a leaf behind you and you were sure she was crying quietly since you knew she wasn't scared of this tall, lanky disgrace of a thundercunt.
"Get fuc-"
You exploded in a ball of flames, fire radiating off of every inch of your skin looking like hell incarnate. You couldn't even process Charlie's gasp as she stared at your true form, or warn her to look away before her eyes started to burn from the light, you could only focus all of your attention and rage on the shivering news reporter in front of you.
You walked back into the hotel with a skip in your step, arm wrapped around the little princess who looked traumatized.
She was walking with a stunted gate as if she was still in shock the whole journey home from what she had just witnessed but you couldn't have looked more oblivious.
"There we are, cherub, aren't you happy to have all that mess straightened out? It was a good thing she finally said sorry too, I was about to burn another creator into Pride!" You said with a hearty laugh. You walked Charlie to the stairs, ready to put her to bed after the emotionally draining day she's had, when you spotted the boys sitting at the bar enjoying a drink.
"What the hell happened to ya, Charles? Ya look like ya just walked in on ya ma and pops going at it." Angel bluntly asked once he seen the state of the princess. He then tilted his head and imagined what Lucifer would look like getting down and dirty with the Queen of hell. "Actually that's not a bad image, come to think of it."
Charlie shuddered, looking even more disgusted than before. She really didn't need to think about her parents' love life on top of the mental images she was already juggling. "Evangeline ripped Katie Killjoy's eyelashes off for calling me a slur. Also pretty sure she popped her boob job as well. And burned her house to the ground..." Charlie then started to get that faraway look as if she was reliving it.
You shook your head with an amused smile and waved her off, such a dramatic thing this one was, you thought. It was only a misunderstanding but now Katie Killjoy understood you, and she'll know never to call Charlie - or anyone - those kind of fucking words again.
Alastor made Charlie jump when he let out a belly laugh while the other two men gave a mutual suspicious side eye to you, not expecting that kind of violence from such a pretty, delicate looking package. It was starting to make sense to them, your marriage to the Radio Demon.
"Good show, love!" Alastor exclaimed once he had caught his breath from laughing, wiping a stray tear from his eye as he did. He looked at you with hearts and in his eyes and smiled proudly. "That's my gal, ladies and gents!"
The studio audience in Alastor's microphone started applauding like crazy but the smile dropped from your face at his statement. You knew it wouldn't take long for him to ignore your warning about acting professional with one and other, but Satan Damn it, that conversation was just this morning! If you hadn't used almost all of your energy and power on kicking Katie Killjoy's ass until she apologized then Alastor would've been next on the list.
You supposed you could kick his ass in the morning.
"I'm not your gal." You shut him down quickly before nudging Charlie gently forward again. "I'm putting Charlotte to bed after the long day she's had, you boys be mindful and don't stay up too late neither! Husk I swear to Lucifer, if I catch you passed out on that bar again, it'll be something bigger than the spoon I hit you with! At least go to the goddamn sofa in the lobby!" You called after them as you took the princess up stairs. Thankfully your back was turned so you couldn't see Husk or Angel rolling their eyes at your lecturing.
"Night, Charlie! Night, mom!" Angel jokingly called up after you and laughed when you flipped him off with the hand that wasn't keeping Charlie steady.
Angel then turned back to the other men and continued with the conversation from before the girls came in. "So anyways, back to the story, I ended up fuckin' this guy so hard his dick snapped-"
A screech of radio interference was so loud and sudden that Angel had to cover his ears so they didn't burst and in a flash of static and symbols, Alastor had vanished from the seat he had been occupying and Husk was face planted on the bar top, neither of them wanting to hear another one of Angel's exploits.
"I'm in Hell surrounded by prudes. What are the fuckin' chances?"