Aspen Hotel

Too Kind for Hell

As I approached the hotel, I could feel myself starting to get anxious about the whole situation I was in; what I was about to do. Come on, deep breaths, Aspen. I thought, trying to calm myself. It's not like I was doing anything wrong and honestly, the likelyhood of this going well was extremely high. I took another deep breath, "You'll never know until you try," I said to myself, aloud before entering the Hazbin Hotel.

I walked into the hotel lobby to see a few patrons just hanging around. A cat demon passed out behind the bar, a VERY tall, pink spider demon sitting on the couch, and a small, maniacally giggling demon kicking her feet while she watched TV on the table. And that's not to mention the fucking radio demon just standing there humming to himself while everyone else chattered amongst themselves. I saw who I was looking for and breathed a sigh of relief, maybe this wouldn't be as scary as I thought. I walked up behind her and lightly tugged at the bottom of her shirt to get her attention; she was a lot taller than me.

Apparently noticing my effort, she turned around to look at me. As soon as she saw me her face lit up. "Oh my goodness, hi!! Who're you?! I'm Charlie! Are you here to stay at the hotel?! Wow it's so exciting to have someone new show up!!! What's your name?!" She rapid-fired the questions, almost jumping up and down with obvious excitement the whole time. Princess Charlie Morningstar. I was a little bit shocked at the greeting, but I don't know what I was expecting. I've seen her on TV so I should've had a general idea of what to prepare for.

I shook my head quickly to bring myself out of my thoughts and back into reality. "Hello princess, my name is Aspen!" I did a little courtsy to show respect. Somehow, she beamed even brighter. "Oh my Lucifer you are so adorable! What're you doing here? How old are you? Are you here for redemption?" Again with the rapid-fire questions. I was getting anxious again but I just took a deep breath and focused on what I could control; myself and my words. "Well, princess-"

"Oh, please just call me Charlie," she said, still clearly ecstatic that I was here.

"Well, Miss Charlie, I've already said this, but my name is Aspen. I'm here because I believe in your cause, and I'm 9 years old. I would say I'm here for redemption, but I was born here in Hell so it's not really like I have a redeemable human soul."

She gasped like a little kid who ran out of breath mid-sentence. 

"So you wanna help with the hotel??" She asked, grinning from ear to ear.

"Mmhmm!" I said happily. Now for the second part. "And I...well...I was recently disowned and I have nowhere to go. I would stay with a relative, but they all hate me and think I'm a curse from their enemies or something... something like that..." I looked down, fresh waves of emotion washing over me at the recollection. I sniffed a bit. Oh God, oh shit not now! You can cry later just keep it together Aspen! You need to keep it together, no one wants to take in a puffy eyed homeless 9 year old, just try to be as polite as possible and- I started to cry silently, staring at the floor of the hotel lobby, just standing there, my tears streaming down my face and puddling on the floor. Fuck.

"Oh! Uh... Oh my God, hey, it's okay! Hey don't cry!" Charlie sat on the ground to get down to my level and softly cupped the side of my face with one hand, wiping at my tears. The lobby had gone quiet, I could tell everyone had noticed me by now. Except maybe the cat guy who was knocked out when I came in. 

"I'm sorry," I whispered in between sobs. "I know this probably isn't the best place for kids, and you might not be equipped for me, I understand. I just don't have anywhere to go and your cause made me think you would be kind enough to like me and I wanted to help...I'm sorry I just don't wanna be a burden..." I was rambling, I knew it, but I was just a kid. I wasn't equipped emotionally to deal with the shit I'd gone through.

"Hey...Sweetie, you're okay! Of course you can stay here, We'd be more than happy to take you in! You don't have to be sorry, it's not your fault what you're going through! Is it okay if I give you a hug?" Charlie was too good for this place.

I nodded without looking up, and I felt her pull me into a hug. Almost immediately I just broke down, burying myself into her shoulder and crying. I felt guilty that I was probably getting her suit all gross so I just kept mumbling "Sorry." While I cried. After a couple of minutes or so I managed to get my shit together enough to stop crying and let go of Charlie. Remembering I was in the company of the hotel patrons, I kept my eyes glued to the carpet so as to not make eye-contact with any of the people who saw me acting like a baby. 

Charlie grabbed my hand and cupped the side of my face again, gently moving it so I'd be looking at her. She was smiling softly. She didn't look mad or annoyed or like she was mocking me or anything like that. Like how my parents were with me. She just looked kind.

"It's gonna be okay." She said quietly. "You're more than welcome to stay here with us, okay? Don't worry." 

I looked down and smiled a bit. 

"There we go! See? You're okay!" Charlie said softly. "So, do you wanna tour of the hotel, or do you need a break? Or maybe just...someone to talk to? Doesn't seem like you've ever really had that before..."

I shook my head. "No. I'll... I'll probably be comfortable enough to talk later but for now... could I get a tour?"

Charlie nodded. "Of course! Here I'll introduce you to the other people here!"

"Uh, wait, don't I look all gross and stupid?" I wiped my eyes. "I should probably go fix my face so I don't embarrass you or something..."

"What?" Charlie looked genuinely confused. "No, you look beautiful! You don't look stupid! Why would you embarrass me?"

"For acting all like a baby and crying on you like a dumbass...I'm not supposed to do that, it's rude to cry in front of people."

She grabbed both of my hands in hers. "You're not embarrassing anyone, okay? You're safe. Now come on, I'll show you who else lives here!" She stood up, still holding one of my hands.

(Jfc it's been 1 day and this is at fourteen views holy crap!! :o)