The residents of Hell awoke one morning to unbearable cold, a greyed-red sky, and layers of black snow that continuously fell down in swaths.
For some, it wasn't much bother. Winter in Hell was, whilst inconvenient, not the end of the world. So long as you wrapped up well and avoided areas that were especially snow-blocked, you should be fine. It just made movement a little harder.
Charlie stepped into the lobby wrapped in a coat, thick scarf, and some mittens. Next to her, Vaggie was wearing a long jacket and a beanie, and they held hands as they shivered slightly. Charlie explained calmly to the other residents that they were just going to pop out for a little bit to restock before the winter got too bad to stay outside in. No one argued. If anyone could be fine with those freakish colds, it would be the daughter of Satan.
But before they stepped out, Charlie turned to Angel with a sheepish smile. "Um, Angel? Is it okay if you go up and check on Al? I haven't seen him at all this morning and he's usually up earlier than the rest of us. I hope he's not too affected by the cold..."
And Angel had laughed and waved her off, since he kinda doubted someone as powerful as Alastor would be taken down by a little chill. But he had still agreed to check on the guy to settle her mind, and she had given him a grateful look before leaving, hand-in-hand with her girlfriend.
The spider demon took his sweet damn time trekking upstairs, grimacing and shuddering at the slight gusts of wind that crept between miniscule cracks in the windows and doors. God, this was awful. He was just happy he had enough sense to toss on a scarf and some gloves that morning.
In front of the radio demon's door, he knocked three times before waiting.
No response.
His eye twitched, and he knocked again, louder. "Oi! Anyone in there?"
Still nothing.
He began to get just a little concerned. Because what if something really had happened to Al because of the cold? What if that was his weakness or something.
"Sorry not sorry, but I'm comin' in now!" he called before turning the handle, pushing the door open halfway before peering inside.
He almost choked on his own spit.
Alastor's room was a MESS. Papers were all over the floor, and knocked over glasses and mugs lay strewn about in varying levels of broken. There was also a distinct smell of... Fur.
He stepped in slowly, eyes scanning until he saw a lump in the corner of the room. A lump of blankets, to be precise. That was definitely where the smell was coming from, so... Had Al snuck an animal in or some shit? Man, Angel wasn't paid enough to deal with this. Or paid at all.
"Al?" he called out warily, wondering where the demon was if whatever this animal was had just been left alone here, and evidently been allowed to just trash the room. The blankets rose and fell subtly. So it was breathing. At least he hadn't dragged a corpse in here.
He lifted the blanket, and yelped.
Because it was a deer, a small red and black one, with big twitchy ears and long-ass legs. He gawked at it for a few moments before it registered the sudden cold due to the lifted sheet, and it's eye opened.
It was bright red.
Angel yelped right as the deer let out an extremely loud startled sound, jumping away from him before he could grab at it. He almost fell over his own feet, but just about managed to keep his balance and dashed after the animal, brain still spinning.
The deer managed to evade him for a few seconds before becoming a little tripped up on the smooth hardwood floor, it's gangly legs flailing as it crashed down into it's side.
