Proposal

Chapter 4

The next morning, Angel had avoided him completely, and he knew it. There was a difference between someone being busy, and someone sneaking around, using back hallways to get to the kitchen and slipping out side doors. It wasn't that hard to tell, but it was frustrating. When two days passed and Angel refused to see him, Husker knew he had to do something. Slipping away to make a quick call, Husker returned just in time to catch the spider trying to slip out the front door. "Angel." Husker said his name before he'd even thought of what to follow it up with. The man stopped, visibly tensing, but he didn't turn to face him. "Are you okay? The other night-"

"Don't." The spider cut him off faster than he'd expected. Angel held a hand up, but still he didn't turn to face him. "I have to go to work, so I can't have this conversation, okay? How about... how about we talk more when I get back? If you're still awake, that is." Husker nodded slowly.

"Sure." Angel nodded once and quickly left the hotel without another word. Moving back behind his bar, he sat down and began to ponder over the short conversation and it's ties to the other night. The arachnid had clearly either been hiding something, or traumatized; either way, Husker didn't quite know what was going to come later.

"Husker, my dear friend, what are you doing?" Jumping out of his thoughts, he looked up to find Alastor standing across from him at the bar.

"What do you mean? I'm sitting here, like always, because you told me to." The radio demon burst into laughter and shook his head.

"No, no, no, I know why you're here. But what are you doing here?" The man looked around the bar before motioning a hand in front of him. "It's unlike you to simply be sitting here without a drink." Husker paused and looked around him.

"Well, I just sat down when Angel left, so I haven't grabbed one yet." He waved the comment away and reached down to pull out something light.

"Which is precisely why I'm asking, old friend. Angel left almost three hours ago." To that, Husker froze. Three hours? He'd really been sitting here at the bar, spacing out, for three hours? And hadn't even pulled out a single drink? He hadn't even felt the need for it, had he? He couldn't actually remember. Clearing his throat, he sat up and straightened himself on the stool.

"Yeah, well, I got a lot on my mind, alright? What do you care anyways? It's not like our contract obliges you to give me booze, you know." The radio host shrugged.

"True, but it does say quite a few other things, doesn't it?" The man continued his smiling, which to most was eerily unnerving, but now to Husk it was just plain annoying.

"Of course it does. That's how contracts work." Opening his bottle, Husker took the first swig of the alcohol, hoping it would ease the odd and unnamed sensation in his gut. Sadly, it did nothing but glide down his throat and hit his empty stomach.

"So, what is the point of you being here, if you're not going to use what I pay you with?" Husker rolled his eyes.

"You know, as silly as it sounds, sometimes taking a break from a drug can be better for an addict. Shocking news, I know." The man narrowed his eyes on him until Husk wanted to scream. "I was just thinking, okay? I've had shit to do back at The Dead Man's Hand, and being here ain't exactly helping that. I had a call earlier about some things and I was thinking about that." Leaning against the bar top, he glared at the radio host. "Is that good enough for you?" Alastor thought for a moment before shrugging.

"I suppose." Leaning back in his seat, he huffed a sigh.

"Great. Now, don't you have more important shit to do instead of sitting here bugging the fuck outta me?" The man hummed before turning and wordlessly heading toward the back halls. It was beyond Husker what he and the women did all day concerning the hotel, but he was sure based on what he'd seen that they'd recently been selling some of the old furniture while clearing out what was damaged. Cleaning it up for any potential guests to stay, no doubt. He couldn't help but be curious as to how they intended to design the spaces after they were done.