Like A Dark Paradise (A Hazbin Hotel story)

Complicated

"I thought I told you to wait for me upstairs!" Alastor growled, harshly pinching your cheeks and yanking you towards him.

This was the second time you've disobeyed him. He had to come up with an excuse to speak to you in private after seeing you downstairs after explicitly telling you to not leave the bed. The fact that you were becoming way too comfortable with disregarding his orders has led him to believe that he has been far too lenient on you. Of course, he also had to keep in mind about Aura's current condition which was also the reason why he had to drag you away from her. She is more likely to snap at the drop of a dime when she's cranky and stress-induced.

"Owww! Alastor, quit pinching my cheek like that!" you whined. "And I wasn't trying to disobey you that time! You and Aura were yelling at each other for fifteen minutes and I got worried!"

"And you still thought it was a good idea for you to leave the bedroom?" he questioned in a skeptical tone, narrowing his eyes at you. "Are you trying to test my patience here? Do you not take me very seriously?"

"To be fair, it's hard to tell if you were serious or not from how much you tease me. You throw so many mixed signals that it downright confuses me."

Alastor turned his head away from you for a moment to ponder. Now that you mentioned it, he has teased you quite a lot regardless of his word. He was known to be very misleading by his tone and actions alone. Because of this, it's hard to read what he's actually thinking; a tactic that he tends to use when forging new deals with other sinners. More commonly known as a manipulation tactic. Maybe he's the one making too much of a fuss over one little slip.

After a while to reflect on his thoughts, he released his hold on your cheek and gave out a loud, disgruntled sigh. "I'll let it slide just this once, but only because you made a valid point about it."

You watched him stroll over to his fridge to grab the food he needed to cook as you rubbed your cheek. Honestly, you couldn't believe that your bluff actually worked and you almost felt bad about it. Of course, you had a valid reason for it. You needed to leave the house in order to attend the interview for your possible new job. There's a good chance that Alastor won't let you leave the house, not on your own at least. And given his reputation, he'll end up scaring the interviewer off, losing any chances of landing that job. If you only knew what that job was; the recipient didn't even leave their name when they've texted you.

Alastor pulled out a frying pan from one of the hanging racks and placed it on the stovetop. You quietly observed him from a close distance, tightly clutching onto your shirt nervously. You weren't sure if you should leave the kitchen or stay and help. But seeing that Alastor clearly knows what he's doing, you'd just get in the way. Just when you were about to leave, you heard Alastor call out to you in a firm tone, causing you to come to a halt.

"Where do you think you're going, young lady?" he questioned as he peered over his shoulder.

"W-well... I figured that I wouldn't be needed here since I would just get in the way," you replied in a timid manner.

"You're not going to be in the way because you're going to help me. This should be a good opportunity for you to learn how to cook instead of lazily lounging around the house."

You tilted your head slightly to the side in confusion. "Wait, I thought you pulled me in here just so Aura wouldn't overhear our conversation," you assumed.

"That too," the deer demon confirmed. He took out two large eggs from their carton and cracked them over the heated pan before discarding the shells. "There's certain things that she doesn't need to involve herself in. Now tie your hair up and come over here so you can watch what I'm doing."