𝙏𝙃𝙀 𝘿𝙀𝙑𝙄𝙇'𝙎 𝘿𝙀𝘼𝙇 - 𝙔𝘼𝙉𝘿𝙀𝙍𝙀 𝘼𝙇𝘼𝙎𝙏𝙊𝙍 𝙓 𝙍𝙀𝘼𝘿𝙀𝙍

13.

━━━

My breath gently lowers, a glazed sheen of sweat over my figure as I slip by the velvet curtains of the same cannibal town bar I had last performed at so successfully. 

My heart pounds.

Both, with anxiety, and excitement, which is an odd yet particularly rare mix for me, considering the harmful circumstances I sit under due to my mind-numbing deal with Valentino.

But to breathe, to feel, especially like this, its extremely enlightening. 

I cannot help but smile, and that's what makes this feeling so much more exhilarating. 

My styled locks matt and stick to my sweat-coated face, my chest gently rising and falling as a sheer cloud of drawn energetic smoke continues to follow my figure, my heart pounding out of my chest as I approach Rosie. 

"Absolutely divine, my dear-!" Her pointed teeth flash through her large grin, her arms enthusiastically reaching and wrapping around my figure with warmth and care. My smile deepens against her body, hugging her back with the same, shared enthusiasm. 

"I have no doubt your future performances here won't be a hit - Oh-! I should place you on the schedule! you can perform at a regular basis!" She rambles with excitement, and I am more than glad to listen to whatever this lovely woman has to say. 

I take note of Rosie's body language, her clothes, how she presents herself, her form of speech, its all so admirable; she really is a caring woman. She is someone who I've grown to respect quite deeply, one of whom I genuinely let make physical contact with me. 

As I part from her arms, I adjust my costume, smiling warmly before those same scarlet eyes catch my gaze by the corner of my eye.

My chest thumps in a shifting form - I am excited to speak to those eyes. 

And a part of me is truly ashamed for that, knowing the dangers that man carries. 

My lashes flicker towards those bright, red orbs, until Alastor's figure becomes completely enveloped within my view. My figure gently twists to face him within my complete front form, my gaze reaching upwards to meet his.

"I'll say, you never cease to surprise me-! quite a show, quite a show-!" His static voice rings against my ears with bouncy avid, my cheeks lifting high as my smile deepens into my painted and powdered cheeks. 

Yet, as my smile lifts, something perks my interest, and confusion. His arms extend. 

My eyes flash wide for a moment, my throat begins to tensely dry. 

I cannot speak, my words catch behind my throat, yet I know what his extended arms insinuate, which only leaves my distressed mind clawing and writhing with a thousand different panicked thoughts. 

I arms hesitantly reach, and I approach his figure. His arms very faintly envelope me, and my breath shallows for a moment. His scent is so thick. I can feel his figure. The texture of his clothes, the contours of his form.

And that hug ends faster than I had hoped for. 

I swallow the lump in my throat, my smile very faintly twitching as my gaze averts. 

"T-Thank you," I express, taking note of his joyous words and physical declaration of what I truly hope to be some form of mutual bond. I hope. 

I can hope as much as I like, but that does not stop my mind from attempting to remind me that this man is a deal-maker.

A deal-maker.

An overlord who owns countless souls with no regard for any of them. 

He is not a good person.

Than, my heart tells me, 

I am here too, and everyone did something inhumane to end up here. 

And, I cannot help who I grow fond of. My heart wants whoever it wants, and if it just so happens to be this man, so be it. 

━━━

Our steps clack next to each other, the cold concrete sidewalk under us with the deep, maroon skies of hell enveloping us. 

Alastor likes to have me walk on the building side of the sidewalk the 'protected' side, whilst he walks on the roadside. He follows quite traditional street etiquette. 

Even so, our silence is a little bit more comfortable than I had thought it'd been. 

My eyes linger across each passing building, gradually growing closer to the Hazbin Hotel, and when it clicks that we are walking amongst each other within the oddly quiet solitude, I speak. 

I hesitate, but I speak. 

"Alastor,"

My voice chirps barely beyond a whisper, and yet his neck doesn't dare twist to my direction, I feel his intense, red eyes flick towards me intently. 

Scary.

But it makes my chest pound a little. 

"May I ask... what... did you mean those weeks ago when you said 'Take that however you wish', when you told me you wouldn't want to heal me if you didn't want to? do you... remember that?" 

I ask, my words flooding out of my throat in a desperate escape. I want to know. I want to know what he was thinking during that emotionally confronting moment. I want to know what he thinks about, why he thinks those things, his reasonings behind the things he says. 

I feel creepy for wanting to know him on such a personal level. 

I think I have grown some form of attachment, and I really, truly do not want to admit that. 

The only form of response I receive from his walking, confident figure, is a very deep, buzzing hum of thought. 

His scarlet eyes flicker back to the

 sidewalk, averting his attention away from me with is lips still curled in that Cheshire grin.

 "I wasn't aware that you took what I said as anything more than what it was already,"

His words catch me off guard; so what he said was nothing more than what he actually meant? this enigmatic man troubles me. 

Anything he says could mean anything other than its true morals. That's whats so mysterious and confusing about this man. 

"I left you with the choice to place your own interpretation on the reasonings as to why I did what I did, what is so confusing about that?" 

He questions, and my gaze flickers away for a moment, my lips pressing together tightly as a shaken sigh exits my nostrils. 

"Well, it's just, your the last man I'd know to leave interpretation for the things you do and say, your usually quite... forward, with how you want others to feel about you and the things you do," 

I explain slowly, my words attempting to form what I find to be the best way to truly understand my feelings towards this. 

"Of course I am, I inflict what feelings I see fit on others,"

"Than why didn't you do that with me? why leave me in the dark to why you decided to heal me?"

He grows silent once more, the same, deep, buzzing hum leaving him as we approach the doors of the Hazbin Hotel. 

His hand reaches, turning and opening the door for me, holding it open. 

"Ignorance is bliss, my dear, and you are the only soul I have ever left with feelings to interpret in whatever form you see fit. Sometimes you don't need to truly know why I do what I do, and to leave you to choose those feelings for your own joy was the least I could do," 

He explains with a sly grin, my head gently nodding as I take his words into account, yet, they still leave me in the dark. Mysterious man. 

But I suppose he is right. He could have done it as a form of bribery or manipulation, but he never truly specified that, so the bliss of formulating my own reasonings for it isn't exactly a bad thing. 

But I don't think he realises the fact that leaving me with open interpretation only feeds my attached delusions over him and I.

━━━