Impulse & Consequence [RadioDust]

Chapter 13: Pillow Talk

Despite knowing he'd been invited, he still felt the need to announce himself when he reached Angel's door. Maybe to be sure he was decent before he came in? Maybe just as an extra measure of caution to avoid any potential snags.

"Yeah, c'min," Angel called in answer to his knocking. A much more casual invitation than usual, and Alastor was happy to accept. He entered the room to find the doe seated at his vanity and brushing out his spotted curls, careful to be gentle around his ears.

He was dressed in more formal nightwear this time, maybe since he'd been expecting company: a flattering mint green number though what wouldn't be flattering on him? that nearly reached the floor and accented his shades of pink nicely. Still, it wasn't anything too revealing, for which Alastor was grateful. Angel glanced at him through the vanity mirror with just the slightest smile, ears perking up at the sight of him.

"Took ya a minute. Ya get lost on ya way here?" Angel teased, getting up to come meet him.

"I hope you weren't waiting up on me," the buck answered, only just realizing that was a distinct possibility. Angel had asked him to come up whenever he was ready for bed. Maybe he'd been waiting on the comfort of Alastor's presence to be able to sleep. But no, surely that was assuming too much.

"Nah, 's fine. I'm usually up this late anyway." To his surprise, Angel took the liberty of unbuttoning his jacket and slipping it off his shoulders, then neatly folded it in half to set it aside on his dresser. "You, uh...you were out a while, though. What'd ya get up to afta we talked?"

Husk's earlier observation that Angel acted 'entitled to his time' came to mind, but he hastily brushed it away. It wasn't as if he minded the doe's concern, after all. This moment felt so shockingly, pleasantly domestic that he wouldn't begin to complain. He loosened his tie to remove it as well as he answered.

"Husker and I went out for a drink after dinner, that's all. Well, a few drinks on his part, but I tend to stop after one or two." Why did he feel the need to explain that part, to qualify his behavior that way? It wasn't as if Angel was really his wife, really scolding him for being out too late when he should've been...at home. No matter how much his active imagination wanted to suggest so. "I didn't keep you up, did I?"

"Nah, I'm usually up later than this. Gotta be fa work, ya know? Uh, but I'm ready fa bed if you are." Angel took a step back toward his bed, hands folded behind his back, as he waited for an answer. Despite the fact that he was literally inviting Alastor to sleep with him, the gesture felt more sweet than sultry.

"It's hard to say no to an offer like that," the buck answered with a grin, putting his waistcoat and monocle aside before taking Angel's suggestion to get in bed, holding back the covers for him to join. Which he did, with poorly-concealed excitement, readily putting himself in Alastor's arms. Uncertain whether he should say anything but hoping for some explanation, he noted casually, "You seem to be in a better mood tonight."

"Well...how could I not be, when my dinner was so damn good?" the doe answered, playfully evading the actual question.

"Oh, is that it? All this time, you just needed to be fed better?" Alastor teased, watching the doe withdraw just slightly.

"Listen," Angel mumbled without meeting his eyes. "I know I ain't been actin' right. That's part a' why I felt so bad askin' ya ta stay last night. The way I been treatin' ya, it ain't like I got any right ta be askin' for...anything."

As much as he disliked seeing the doe dejected, Alastor couldn't help but take just a bit of satisfaction in his acknowledging he was in the wrong. It felt like progress of a sort.

"I'll admit I prefer it when we get along," Alastor chuckled, "but if you're saying you regret how you've behaved in the past, I'm not going to hold that against you, shèr."