Alastor

41

Sam

Sam stood at the counter, cleaning it with a cloth. He silently grumbled to himself, he hated whenever he was left with this task. He had tried to get out before everyone else, but as usual they ganged up on him. Stupid idiots. 'Oh Sam, please do it for us! C'mon Sam, you're the most experienced.'

Sam thought, mocking his coworkers. He jumped as he felt a hug from behind, he looked to see Alastor's smiling face. "What's wrong? You look mad." He said, Sam put the cleaning cloth down. Was it that obvious? "Yeah, it's nothing." Sam lied, Alastor easily saw through it.

"Is someone giving you trouble? Tell me and I'll take care of it." He said, his voice determined.
"No, no. ...Well not exactly." Sam said, Alastor's gaze hardened. "It's nothing really, just some of the guys are making me do some extra work." Sam said, avoiding Alastor's eyes.

"What? Oh, don't worry about it. I'll take care of it." Alastor said, he sounded calm, but Sam could hear the frustration hidden away. He laughed softly. "How can someone like you be so kind?" Sam said, wrapping his arms around Alastor's neck.

"What do you mean 'a guy like you?'" Alastor asked, looking down at Sam. "Y'know, the infamous Alastor! The most gruesome and cruel man on earth, he makes everyone tremble in their boots when he arrives." Sam said, acting dramatic. He yelped as Alastor suddenly picked him up.

"Now, the infamous Alastor is going to kidnap you." He said, walking towards his office. Sam's face turned beet red. As Alastor walked Sam was surprised at how gentle Alastor was. Is this really the same guy who beat me up the first day I knew him?

Alastor walked into his office, setting down Sam on the couch. He closed the door, sitting down next to him. "We should be good in here, even if someone comes into the casino they won't come in here." Alastor said, Sam saw the stressed look on his face.

"I should have about thirty minutes before Zagen starts to get suspicious." He said, more to himself. Sam set his hand on top of Alastor's, who snapped back to reality. "Is he really that bad?" Sam asked, now lacing his fingers with Alastor's.

"You could never imagine." Alastor sighed. "Y'know, even though you're softer with me, you've never opened up." Sam said, Alastor just stared at him. "What is your life like?" Sam asked, Alastor's eyes widened slightly. Is that... nervousness? "Pretty boring!" Alastor blurted out, his voice a litter higher than usual.

"But, how about you? How does an innocent guy like yourself end up working for Zagen?" Alastor asked, trying to change the subject. "Oh... well, when I was really young and I started showing signs of having the fire, my grandpa noticed." Sam said, getting a distant look in his eyes.

"My parents both died in a boat accident, so I lived with my grandparents. My grandpa gave me two options once he was certain I had the fire. One, was to act like I never had it. Apparently before I ever used it I could reject it, but it'd make the next descendant with the fire, powers weaker." Sam said, Alastor listened patiently.

"Or, two, I could choose to use my powers. For better or worse." Sam said. "That's why the Bancroft bloodline is so powerful, no one has ever rejected the fire." Sam said, smiling up at Alastor. But... his smile seemed hollow. "Obviously I chose the second option, my grandpa tried his best to teach me, but he was getting old. One night he passed away, and I was left all alone. Then Zagen found out about me, he took me under his wing." Sam said.

"He taught me how to use my powers, but he wasn't ever cruel to me like you say he is. I still live with my grandma, and I do occasional jobs for Zagen, and work at the casino to repay him for teaching me." Sam said, he stared at the clock in front of him. "Sam... I'm so sorry that happened to you." Alastor said, he squeezed Sam's hand softly.

"Just promise me something." Alastor said, his voice firm. "Sure, anything." Sam said in return. "Don't, for any reason think Zagen is looking out for you." Alastor said, Sam hesitated. "Please Sam, I don't want him hurting you." Alastor said, Sam stared into his eyes.

Alastor looked almost... desperate. "I... I promise." Sam said, Alastor relaxed. "Now that you know about me, how about you? How did you end up with Zagen?" Sam asked, he slightly glared as Alastor started to close up again.

"At least tell me about your childhood." Sam said. "It... it wasn't good." Alastor said, he looked sad. That surprised Sam, he hadn't seen any emotion from Alastor other than anger, or slight affection. He could feel Alastor was always tense, even if he said he wasn't.

"My parents divorced when I was young, and my dad wasn't able to parent me well. He would... get drunk often. And if I was there he'd take his anger out on me." Alastor said, he was messing with his orange hair. Sam noticed he always did that when he was nervous, even if it was rare.

"The scar on my nose is one of the affects of his abuse." Alastor said, Sam's eyes widened. "He um, he also.." Alastor stammered, fumbling for his words. "I never told you Sam, but I'm deaf." Alastor said, Sam's mouth dropped in shock.

"Your- Your dad did that to you?" Sam asked, Alastor nodded. "Wait, so, can you hear me right now?" Asked Sam. "Yeah. I have a hearing aid, and I can read lips." Alastor said, glad they were focusing on this rather than his childhood.

Alastor abruptly got up, checking his watch. "I have to go, Zagen will start to get suspicious if I stay any longer." Alastor said. "Watch out for my cousin." He said to Sam. "Yeah yeah, I know." Sam said, swatting away Alastor. He blew Sam a kiss and walked off.

Sam waved bye to him, a determined thought in his mind. He was going to find out more about Alastor, it'd help him not have to tell Sam directly, and stress even more about that. He knew who he needed to talk to.

Thaddeus.

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There goes Sam, sticking his nose into places his shouldn't! Hope y'all enjoyed this display of affection from Alastor, even if it was small, and his nervousness about telling Sam about his past. Hopefully he can be happy like this in the future, but I have a feeling it sadly won't last...