All Is Fair in Love and War REIMAGINED (Alastor X Reader)

First Impressions

"Another round, miss?"

"Just some water."

You tapped the straw of your beverage -what was left of it- as your eyes scanned the bar.

Around you was a sea of... well, demons. You still couldn't quite wrap your head around the whole thing that you were dead yet. Mostly just in disbelief that Hell would have such a functional (albeit chaotic) system. Stores, grocery markets, apartments, houses, a whole government system- in a way, it was much like life on Earth.

But, it wasn't exactly the same. The amount of violence and random crime that would occur and nobody seemed to bat an eye was astounding. Which made you feel better about your callousness and sadism, you could embellish in your darker desires without fear of consequence.

Within reason, of course.

Right as of now you found yourself sitting at the bar of a cozy but spacious jazz and blues lounge. 'Zany Daze', the neon purple sign out front had said.

You came less for a drink -although that was much needed- and more for an opportunity.

It wasn't the neon sign, the aroma of clove and cigars, or the sound of brass and string music coming from inside that lured you in. It was the other sign made of paper that was neatly taped to the inside of a window that said "singers wanted, open auditions today from 3-5."

You were well versed in jazz and blues, much thanks to your choir teacher in high school. Granted you'd much rather draw and paint as opposed to sing; you still enjoyed music as a hobby and thought this would be a good idea for a start.

It's not exactly like anyone was in desperate need for an artist at the moment, anyway. It was challenging enough to not turn into a starving artist in life, one could only imagine how much tougher that is here. So that dream would just be put in the back pocket for now. If not for anything else, at least you could still create for your own amusement.

But you needed a steady income and this seemed like a significantly less... sleazy place, than some of the others places you walked by in your travels.

So you sat at the bar and waited for the auditions to start.

Just your luck you were the last one to go on; so you had ample time to sit and watch the others go on and shoot their shot. Which would have made most people nervous, as they'd rather go on first and get it over with. But you were calm and knew that if it didn't work out here you'd just try your luck somewhere else.

"You know alcohol won't do your voice any favors, right?" Somebody asked. A stranger to your left, who was presumably here for the same reason as you.

"I'll be fine." You said flatly. You finished your last sip and spared the other demon a glance. Her appearance was very reminiscent of the 1980s, with hair that was teased to the high heavens and a bright blue off-the-shoulder sweater that matched her fuzzy leg-warmers.

"Nice top." You added.

She merely rolled her eyes and walked away to go chat with her friends.

"Alright," you sighed gently to yourself. "I'll just go fuck myself, then."

"Don't pay her no mind," another voice offered. Pulling you from your focus. "That's Mary. She don't like anyone that she thinks is prettier than her."

This voice was a bit different. Feminine, that was for sure, but very high pitched and almost squeaky like Betty Boop. The only difference was this person had a thick southern drawl.

Looking up you saw a plump, young blonde woman with black scleras and berry pink irises. Her short bob was styled in waves, so perfectly done you assumed it must have taken hours to achieve such a look. She wore a long, emerald green dress; and had a rather dazzling smile to go with it.