𝐇𝐇 𝐒𝐇𝐈𝐏𝐏𝐄𝐑𝐒 𝐆𝐔𝐈𝐃𝐄 - Hazbin Hotel

happiness.

SUMMARY: Husk had a hard day. He tries to drown his sorrows in alcohol when Alastor finds him. Alastor does his best to make his kitty smile again, but he might just be making things worse.

Chapter 1

Husk had a long day. Angel Dust harassed him again- that guy just couldn't take no for an answer. Husk could tell that he didn't even really mean it- it was some sort of front he put on. He did seem to target Husk in particular though. Maybe he just liked getting a rise out of him.

He wouldn't be the first one , Husk thought, downing another bottle. That was Al's favorite pastime after all. Maybe he and Angel Dust should be friends. They could form a 'Loves to harass Husk and make him feel like shit in general' club.

And then there was Charlie. She meant well, sure, but all her efforts only amounted to harassing sinners about how they coped with living in literal Hell. The tone deaf way she forced Angel to play a crack dealer 'who didn't get enough hugs as a kid' had made Husk cringe, even if he didn't like the guy. Vaggie was even worse, with the same puritan morals except she screamed at everyone about them instead of singing about it.

Not that it mattered what kind of people they were anyways. Husk couldn't let himself get too close to them regardless.

He had thought about trying a couple times. Maybe he was judging them too harshly. Angel was clearly hiding something with the front he put on. Maybe he was hurting too. Maybe he just wanted affection and didn't know how else to seek it. And Charlie was naive, but she clearly cared about others. Maybe if Husk opened up to her she would understand.

He would daydream about it sometimes. The idea of not being so alone. But it wasn't worth trying. Every time Husk did start to become close to someone, Alastor would rip it away. Any time Husk accumulated anything to bring himself a small amount of happiness- money, friends, love even- Alastor would rip it away.

So it was better for Husk to convince himself that he hated everyone there. Well, hate was too strong a word, since he was far too numb to feel anything that intensely these days. But he disliked them as much as he could make himself.

He wasn't sure why Alastor kept him so isolated, but he had plenty of theories. Alastor clearly craved attention. He might be trying to force Husk to go back to being friendly with him by giving him no other option for seeking happiness. Or maybe he didn't care if Husk was friendly or not, as long as he was giving Alastor any attention at all.

Husk tried to ignore Alastor as much as possible because of that. If he just refused to react to anything- anything Alastor did directly or anything in any of the bizarre scenarios he kept dropping husk into- then maybe Alastor would get bored with him and leave him alone. Husk was good at it, mostly. It had taken time and a lot of booze to numb himself to everything Alastor did to try to get a rise out of him. But there was one thing he still couldn't ignore. He couldn't let Alastor touch him.

He hated when Alastor touched him. He hated it more than anything, and he had to pull away. He couldn't just ignore it and let it happen because- well. If he did, he might start to like it. And that was worse than anything.

That was the problem, wasn't it? Husk still longed for closeness, and Alastor was his only option. Husk grabbed a bottle and climbed up onto the bar, laying on his back as he drank more. Maybe if he drank enough he could drown the part of him that longed to be loved.