New and Strange Book 2

Look! It's the Sassy Bitch!

"You could just kill him." Said Gaster's shadow from across the room.

"No, I'm not going to kill him." Alastor grumbled as he rubbed his forehead, "Not yet anyways, I have to at least let him try to make this up to mother."

"Still a Mama's boy, after all this time." The shadow sounded a bit amused.

"Oh shut it, you're not even real." Alastor closed his eyes and tilted his head back in the chair he was sitting in, so his face was turned up towards the ceiling, "Why are you even here?"

"Because you don't want anyone else to see you're hilarious father issues."

Alastor let out a growl, wishing he could throw something at the shadow that wouldn't go through it. Though, the shadow wasn't wrong, Alastor didn't want anyone else to see him so upset. He knew that everyone else got a bit nervous when they saw him angry, still a scared he may loose it and go on some rampage. It benefitted everyone if he simply kept his more expressive outbursts to himself, where he could calm down from them without being surrounded by people thinking he was a ticking time bomb.

"It's quite interesting that you decided to keep him here. Most people in your situation would probably not want to be anywhere near the father who abandoned them before they were even born."

"Shut it, you."

"Then again, there was once a time where you would've ripped William's head off the moment you figured out who he was, and go about your business like nothing happened. Hell, you may have even taken his heart to snack on later. Seems to me like the Radio Demon has gotten incredibly soft in his time here. Maybe the Princess is right, sinner's really can be redeemed~"

"You're sarcasm may as well be dripping out of your mouth." Alastor waved his hand at the shadow, "Away with you now, you're annoying me, and I'd rather not throw this chair at something that's not even real."

The shadow tsked, "You should take Husk's advice and remove the stick from your ass." The shadow disappeared before Alastor could turn around to yell at it, leaving the deer to let out an annoyed sigh and go back to looking up at the ceiling.

It hadn't been wrong though, there was a time where Alastor would've killed William once he found out who he truly was, even when he was alive, before he'd started killing. He wasn't at all upset about William not being in his life, he had gotten over that a long time ago, around the time he'd learned how the difference of one's skin determined where you ended up in his time period. No...he couldn't forgive how his mother had struggled so much because of what he had done. She was forced to work herself to exhaustion so much, to the point where Alastor was left having to take care of her half of the time from her being so tired. Elizabeth had sacrificed so much so that she could build the best possible life she could for herself and Alastor, not easy for a single black woman to do in early 20th century New Orleans.

"No...I can't forgive him for that."

Maybe he was still a Mama's Boy...

———

"No, no, no, and still no." Elizabeth said, shaking her head vigorously, "Ya can't stay here, William!"

"I don't think I really have much choice, Eliza."

"It's Elizabeth to ya-"

"Alastor wants me to stay and make up for what I put you through."

"That's not his decision to make."

"Well you should've told him that." Will couldn't stop the small smile that took over his face, "He's a lot like his mother." Even if his son had threatened to kill him, he still couldn't believe that he'd gotten to see his son all grown up...even if they were both down in Hell. He wasn't going to complain about it though, he was just glad he'd ever gotten to see him at all.

"Ya don't get to talk about him like ya're his father." Eliza scolded and crossed her arms, "If ya wanted to do that, you shouldn't have left the way ya did."

"Eliza- I mean...Elizabeth...please just let me try, if only because you know it'll make Alastor happy." William's face...why did he still have to have that same expression he had on when they'd first met? So tender and clueless...

Elizabeth berated herself internally for still letting him get to her, "...fine, ya don't have to leave, but we aren't goin' back to how things were before."

"I wasn't expecting them too. I know what I did isn't easy to forgive."

"Did ya talk to Charlie at all?"

"She offered me a job helping the smaller woman with the cleaning."

"That's Nifty, she's a real doll." Eliza found herself smiling just a little, "Not someone ya think you'll find down here."

"Well...you're down here, so I can't really say I believe that." William looked away, his curiosity setting in a bit, "Elizabeth, why are you in hell, exactly? You're a good women, you always were."

"William, I don't feel like ya really deserve to know why I'm here." Elizabeth said through gritted teeth, "So don't ask."

"Okay-" She was still scarier then any demon when she wanted to be.

"Now, go make yaself useful, I need a minute anyway." Eliza turned, feeling the need to step out for some air.

"Eliza-"

"What?" She turned, an annoyed frown on her face, making William look away.

"I did miss you..."

"...go bother someone else, William." With that, Eliza left Will standing there, going out to the balcony for some fresh air and a quick smoke to clear her head.

William was left there, feeling like an utter idiot for what he'd said. He knew how badly he'd messed up, and yet he couldn't stop himself from wanting to at least be somewhat friendly towards the woman he still very much loved. The love he felt for her and never stopped being there, but it was clear to him that Elizabeth had no intentions of letting him of letting him be so close to her heart ever again.

"Well that hurt to watch." Said a gruff voice from behind William. He turned to see Husk standing behind him, sipping from a bottle of cheap booze.

"How much of that did you see?"

"All of it." Husk took another swig of his drink, "She hates your guts."

"I'm aware..."

"...want a few drinks?"

"...yes please."