A Christmas Cocktail

Chapter 8

He didn't have to wait long for Husker to grab his hand and lead him out onto the dance floor. They waited for a small moment for the song to change. There was the soft pop of radio static as the music that had been playing was quickly scratched to a halt before the room fell silent. Angel's stomach sank at the thought that Alastor was simply messing with them in the hopes of causing more chaos. Glancing at the deer, he caught the smile on the man's face, but he couldn't say for certain whether it was a smug look, or just how his face always was. Probably both.

Looking back at Husker, he felt himself smile into a tight line of frustration. His partner shook his head and smiled, though, as if nothing were wrong. "He's fucking with us, I know it." Angel murmured, and Husker scoffed.

"Of course he is, but just because he's fucking with us, doesn't mean he'll leave us hanging. After all, they'll all start looking at him if we don't entertain them, and that is the last thing he wants." There was a confidence in the feline's voice that had him questioning it's origin. He knew Alastor didn't like to be on camera, but was it really so bad that he hated strangers staring at him? Despite being an Overlord? A screech of radio static sounded through the room before the start of the traditional "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer" started playing. The one released by Gene Autry that undoubtedly everyone in the room had heard at least a million times before. It had him cursing the man as much as he could. When the music developed a deep beat similar to a heartbeat, Angel straightened his back. Husker took his hand and smiled, before spinning him around to stand beside him. They looked at each other and smiled as the beat picked up and the track seemed to start skipping before dropping into the more electro-swing sound Angel had expected.

At the drop, the two did a false step to the left a few times before a bit of fancy footwork followed by a spin. He stopped before Husker, until the cat's back was to him, and bent down, reaching his hands out. He smiled as the other man reached between his legs to grab Angel's hands and pulled him through. Jumping up on the other side, he turned to face Husker and found himself only focusing on the man. Memory after memory flooded his mind, and for once they weren't all bad. They were mostly sneaking away from bodyguards with Molly to hit up the dive bars they weren't supposed to set foot in. By the time he snapped out of his walk on memory lane, he and Husker were rocking back and forth, spinning, and kicking. His partner had no issues with picking him up and tossing his feet from side to side before rolling him over his shoulder so their backs were to each other. They hooked their arms and the cat pulled him back to the front until they were facing each other once more, and Angel couldn't help but burst into laughter.

"Hey, that ain't easy to do with wings, okay!" He heard Husker call over the music, and it only made him laugh harder as they kept going. When the song ended, Husker pulled him close and Angel hung himself over the man's arm dramatically, so that he could see the crowd of ruffians that were now all watching them intently. Husker pulled him back up to stand straight, and he focused himself on the man in front of him for a quick smile. After a moment, he turned to face their audience and held his hands out.

"Look, I'm just as much of a sucker for destruction as anyone here, alright? But this ain't the kinda party for that shit. Whatever you were expecting, this isn't gonna be that, however I have a question for you all that someone recently asked me, and it got me thinking about something I haven't thought about in a very long time." He turned around to see everyone that he could, and they were all still focused on him, rather than how much of the room they could demolish. "What's a tradition you had when you were alive for this time of year?" Angel asked and watched the group that Cherri had brought in. A couple of people scoffed and turned to leave, but the rest shared looks and shrugs. They began to stop and think, nudge each other, and whisper. He heard a few giggles and saw a handful of them shake their heads and smack others. When nobody came forward, he turned around the room again. "Nobody? Ain't nobody had a tradition here that they can remember? You're lives were really that boring and miserable?" The partygoers stopped and glared at him.