The Riddle Of Magic

Chapter 36: Essence of Desire

The next few weeks was a bizarre dance of testing boundaries, and life continued at the Hotel in about as normal a fashion as it could. Some things changed, and others stayed the same.

Their plan with Rosie went forward once Alastor had rested up after taxing himself with Reversal. Angel Dust would go with the Lace Overlord on occasion to Cannibal Colony, performing in retro-themed burlesque shows that were a surprising success. He was careful to keep to the district's unique code, dressing and responding in a particular fashion, building a persona for himself that enthralled his audiences, both male and female.

The Hotel managers had initially gone to watch from a careful distance (as neither were particularly fans of that kind of art), staying close enough to extract the spider demon if needed. But the stage was Angel Dust's territory as much as the kitchen was Alastor's, and after a couple of shows they agreed their presence wasn't necessary. The Radio Demon gave Rosie a charm for Angel to wear, a small delicate ring that would draw Alastor's attention if broken.

Angel worked for Rosie and they set about a careful schedule that would give the spider demon the means to keep up with his fees with Valentino without directly working for the moth demon. It was a tightrope of an arrangement that neither Charlie or Alastor expected to last, but it was something in the meantime, and didn't directly tie the Hotel to robbing an Overlord of influence.

Niffty's work with Baxter seemed much more likely to endure. Charlie had spied the pair quietly slipping out to explore the town together, and on one particular morning had bumped into them on the way back in from one of their excursions.

The demon belle had nearly spilled their drinks as she arrived back in the managers' office, breathlessly gushing about how cute the pair was. He was hard pressed to keep up with everything that excited her about their companions' new relationship, other than how they were absolutely adorable. The blonde demoness was nearly hopping with excitement as she set down their coffees, squealing with the supportive delight she had wanted to show the smaller couple, but which she had held in to avoid potentially embarrassing the nascent couple.

Charlie was utterly charmed by the display, commenting that the duo reminded her of when she and Vaggie had begun dating.

Fortunately, she didn't have a drink in her hands as she stiffened, realizing what she had said.

Even now, the princess had lingering anxiety over the break-up, and the moth demoness seemed to as well. As far as Alastor knew, neither of them had spoken since that day, largely avoiding each other. She still froze if she saw the other woman coming down the stairs, and avoided the main staircase most days, guiding him up the other stairs if they were in the middle of a conversation.

It was telling that she was able to even finish her point now without choking back tears. Her black lips were still curled in a tiny frown as she sat at her desk, tapping her fingers on the edge of her cup. "I think Vaggie and Cherri are seeing each other," Charlie remarked after a moment.

"Oh?" Alastor replied, completely disinterested in the demoness' affairs, but his business partner wasn't typically one for gossip, so the statement held his attention.

"Maybe. At least, I think they want to."

"Does it bother you, my darling?" the deer demon asked quietly.

The princess was often compassionate, but her temper could easily rival her sweetness if she gave herself to it. As darling as the half-seraph was, the flaring surges of power also caught his focus, few and far between as they were. She prided herself on control, and her more gentle persona.

Not that he had objections to it, she was a delight to tease, and occasionally he would see flashes of teasing back, though that often led to her excusing herself out of embarrassment.