Impulse & Consequence [RadioDust]

Chapter 3: Somebody to Lean On

Angel didn't have time to feel guilty over that look on Alastor's face. It was his fucking fault in the first place—all of this. If he would've just kept his distance, just had a little bit of self-control...well, the same damn thing could be said about Angel, couldn't it? It had taken every ounce of his not-so-strong willpower to resist throwing himself at Alastor the whole week, then the bastard decided to show up at his door expecting to get laid? With that voice of his and those eyes and that little fucking smirk in his mouth? When they were already alone together and he knew Angel wouldn't be able to resist?

And it wouldn't be so bad if he hadn't liked it so damn much. But he did. He really meant all that stupid, filthy shit he said while they were in bed, but now that his head was clear again...no, goddammit, even now, he was still thinking about all the what-ifs and the could-bes if he just let this happen. Stupid. Fucking stupid.

"Oh, Angel," Charlie called as he reached the lobby. "Good morning! You're up kind of early. What are you...um... Are you going somewhere?" She added that last bit as he was beelining for the door.

"I'll be back later," he said flatly. That was the most he could manage without ignoring her completely. If he'd told her any more than that, she would've made it into a whole thing and tried to get the details out of him, and that was a conversation he sure as hell wasn't ready to have.

As soon as he opened the front doors, he was hit by the chill outside, but it wasn't like he could go back to his room and dress warmer. Not if Al was still there, trying to talk to him, looking and smelling like everything he wanted right now. So he crossed his arms tight and put his head down, storming out despite the cold to head for the nearest drugstore.

Who the hell did Alastor think he was, anyway? Sure, the Radio Demon, but what the hell did that even mean? It wasn't any kind of guarantee he wouldn't just knock a guy up and then leave him to deal with it. He said he'd help out, but what buck wouldn't say that if it meant getting a doe's trust, fawns, poon on a regular basis...? No. No way could Angel believe that shit.

What would it even look like? Him and Alastor, having a kid? Well, it'd be cute as hell, obviously; any kid of Angel's would be. And it wasn't like Al wouldn't contribute some impressive genes too. He'd always been good-looking, and all of Hell knew how powerful he was. Angel would still have to work, sure, but Al spent most of his time at the hotel. He could look out for the kid until Angel got back. He was a helluva cook too—maybe they could teach it—

The doe stopped where he stood on the sidewalk and shook his head violently, trying to rid it of any stupid sappy images of him and Alastor in the kitchen together. For one, Al never let anyone cook with him. For another, it was fucking crazy to imagine they could just suddenly work together. The guy was a cannibal! A cold-blooded killer. Any 'morals' he had to teach were definitely gonna be screwed up and wrong. Even if they could get to some kind of compromise, partnership like that would take forever to figure out, and no kid deserved to be caught in the middle of it.

Realizing he'd already gotten where he was going, Angel glanced inside through the darkened glass doors. It wasn't like morning-after pills were hard to get. He could just walk right in and buy them. Hell, Val kept them on-hand for any time his employees had a scare. It had happened to Angel more times than he could count. Why should this be any different?

He told himself to go in and get what he needed, tried to insist it was for the best, but his hooves suddenly felt like cement shoes. Don't be fucking stupid about this. Don't make it a big deal. Just take the pill and move on, like every other time.

Why did that thought hurt so bad? Why did it scare him? He knew better than thinking he could take care of a baby. God, why were his eyes stinging? His hands even shook a little as he absently glanced at his phone for the time and found an unread text from Val. He'd sent it around 2 a.m. the night before, while Angel was 100% occupied with that pushy stag back at the hotel.