Hazbin Hotel: A New Venture

Chapter 4: Masquerade

When Jack woke up that morning, she could already tell it was going to be a rough day. Her head was pounding though she couldn't figure out for the life of her why as she felt okay everywhere else. A knock on her door had her pulling her pillow over her head as she heard Zen's voice.
"Time to get up, chief." He said. "You asked me to make sure you were up now since Charlie had planned a show and tell day." He came over and yanked the pillow off Jack's head, his smirk quickly turning into a look of concern. "You okay?"
Jack slowly sat up, leaning against the headboard, pushing the heels of her hands into her eyes. "Headache, though I can't figure out why."
"You gonna be okay today?" He asked. Jack looked at him, running a hand through her hair.
"I have to be." Jack said. "Besides the show and tell, I was going to check all of the electrical connections in the hotel and make sure everything was working properly."
"Surely Charlie wouldn't mind." Zen said. Jack waved him off, pulling her blankets off herself.
"Doesn't matter. I'll see you downstairs." She said. Zen gave her one last look before leaving. Jack got up, stretching a bit before she got dressed. Her head swam as she snapped her clothes on, but she bit back a groan before heading down the stairs.
When Jack got to the bottom of the stairs, she hadn't expected everyone to be watching one of Angel's adult films, though it seemed like Angel was the only one enjoying it. Pentious and Charlie looked creeped out, Vaggie looked annoyed and Niffty looked interested, though Jack expected that.
"I thought today was show and tell." She said. "Not movie day."
"Apparently, this is Angel's show and tell." Vaggie said from her position shielding Charlie's eyes. Jack groaned and walked past the room to the kitchen. She searched the cabinets, finding some headache medicine, quickly swallowing two pills dry. Then she stood against the counter as she waited for the film to end. Eventually, she heard the front door open and close and Jack walked out to see Angel gone and Charlie sitting by the door, her head in her hands.
"Did I miss something?" She asked.
"Angel had to go to work." Vaggie explained. Jack nodded, stopping when her head throbbed.
"Uuuugh, why is this so hard!? What am I doing wrong?" Charlie asked.
Vaggie walked over to her. "Well, I mean... You're the princess of Hell."
"So?"
"So, you don't really use the power that comes with that, which I love about you, but maybe you can... I don't know, command a little more.... Authority?
"But that's so mean!" Charlie whined.
"It's not mean exactly. It's... uh aggressive kindness." Vaggie said.
"Okay... I could be so aggressively kind to Angel's boss... That I convince him to let Angel spend more time at the hotel!"
"Sure, whatever gets you there." Vaggie said as Charlie bolted out the door. Jack walked up behind Vaggie.
"You know this isn't going to end well, right?" She said. Vaggie looked at her with a sharp glare.
"Show and tell is over, so how about you go do your job." She snapped. Jack shrugged and went to grab her tools out of the hall closet, giving Vaggie a salute as she left.

Contrary to what Jack had told Zen and what she had hoped, her headache didn't ease up as the day wore on and she did her checks. If anything, it got worse. It didn't help when Charlie burst back into the hotel, sobbing as Vaggie wrapped her arms around her. Vaggie shushed her and led her into the parlor, where Jack could hear them talking.
Zen, from his spot behind the bar, watched Jack closely. By the time Jack had finished her work, Angel had returned to the hotel. From the parlor, Charlie waved at him, but Angel ,made a point of ignoring her, which Jack found odd. As Angel walked to the bar, Jack stood up, fighting off a wave of dizziness as she went to put her tools up. She then went over to Charlie, eyebrow raised.
"So, what's the deal with Angel ignoring you?" she asked. Charlie's eyes filled with tears.
"I messed up." Charlie said. "I went to Angel's job to try and convince his boss to let him off so he could spend more time here but all I ended up doing was making everything worse. Angel ended up yelling at me to leave."
"That sounds bad." Jack said. "But if there's one thing I've observed it's that you're not one to let these things stop you for long. Even if you can't figure it out, just give Angel time and he'll come around. Just make sure you're ready to apologize when he does."
Charlie stood up. "You're right, Jack. Thanks." She threw her arms around Jack, Jack too startled to complain about the lack of warning. Charlie pulled back when Jack gave a small gasp of pain. The taller girl held Jack's shoulders as she made eye contact with the wolf demon. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine, Charlie." Jack said, forcing a smile. "Just a little sore from all the checks I did today."
Before Charlie could push more, they heard a crash and watched as Angel stormed over to the front door, pushing past Vaggie as he did so.
"Woah... The heck? Angel, where are you going?" She asked.
"Out!" Angel snapped as he slammed the door on his way out.
Vaggie looked over at Husk. "Husk, what did you do?"
Husk shrugged. "Made him a drink."
"Oh no. He looks really upset." Charlie said, looking worried as she released Jack's shoulders, the shorter girl stepping away.
Husk waved her off. "It's just Angel. He'll be fine."
"I'm not so sure." Charlie said. "I really messed up at the studio today and he got... Ugh, it was... It wasn't good okay?"
Vaggie gave Charlie a reassuring smile before turning to Husk. "Gee, sounds like someone should go after him." Husk just stared blankly at her and Vaggie continued. "Someone named 'Husk'."
"Oh, you gotta be freaking kidding me. Why don't you go if you're so worried?" Husk said.
"Because I'm not the one who sent him storming out. You caused it. You drag him back." Vaggie said.
Charlie shook her head quickly. "No! No... Don't force him back. Just make sure he's safe. I pushed too hard earlier and... I only made things worse. Look, he'll come back when he's ready. I just don't want anything to happen to him until then."
As Charlie spoke, Jack came over to the bar, sitting on the chair and leaning on one arm, her hand on her head, her eyes only half open. Vaggie shot a look at Husk, who grumbled. Charlie took a deep breath.
"Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go write one hundred apology letters and a lesson planned for tomorrow about... Boundaries." She said, giving Husk her puppy eyes, who rolled his eyes, grumbling before he stomped off to find Angel.
As Charlie and Vaggie walked off, they looked at Jack, eyebrows raised. Charlie looked at Zen, who winked before setting a small cup of something in front of Jack. "Hey, chief, open your eyes and drink that." Jack slowly opened her eyes, looking at the cup in front of her than at Zen, confusion on her face. Zen smirked. "Don't worry, it's one of your usual drinks." Jack raised an eyebrow before quickly downing the drink. A couple of minutes later, crimson eyelids slid shut and Zen just barely managed to catch her head as it fell forward onto the bar. He lowered her head down.
"Is she okay?" Vaggie asked. "What was that?"
Zen smirked. "There's a reason Jack wanted me back in her evil days." He pulled a bottle out of his pocket. "I'm very skilled with chemicals and potions, for lack of a better term."
"So, what did you give her?" Charlie asked.
"Just a simple mix of a sleeping aid and some heavy duty pain medicine, the kind she avoids because of how exhausted and sick it makes her feel." Zen said. "Completely tasteless so I slipped it into her drink, which had only a small fraction of alcohol in it, even less than what she usually drinks. Knew she wouldn't take either thing otherwise." He stepped around the bar, carefully gathering Jack into his arms, whose head lolled onto his chest. "She should be feeling much better by the time she wakes up."
"Which will be when?" Vaggie asked.
"Just a few hours." Zen said. "Long enough for Husk to talk to Angel and get him back here as well as for him and Charlie to make up."
Charlie smiled. "No wonder Jack trusts you so much."
"She'd run herself into the ground if me and Magny weren't here." Zen said. He looked around. "Speaking of which-"
"Already done, Zen!" Magny called from the staircase. "Jack's bed is prepped for her complete with her usual things." Zen nodded and gave Charlie and Vaggie one last look before he and Magny took Jack to her room.



A few hours later, red eyes slowly opened as she took in her surroundings, realizing she was in her room. She groaned and ran a hand over her face. "Dang it, Zen."
"Finally awake, huh?" Jack turned her head to see Zen sitting on a chair by her bed. "Right on time." Jack glared at him, but Zen only laughed. "I wouldn't try looking threatening until you look a little less disheveled."
Jack looked at herself, noting that her jacket, button down, gloves and tie were gone, leaving her in just her short sleeved undershirt, showing her scarred arms. Her boots were by the bed. "How long was I out?" She asked, her voice hoarse.
"A few hours." Zen said. "Don't worry. Magny and I are the only ones who have been coming in here so no one saw your arms."
Jack nodded and pushed the blankets off herself, sitting on the side of her bed. She looked at the side table, seeing a glass of water, which she quickly gulped down. Jack than looked at Zen. "How do I keep falling for your drugging me tricks?"
Zen shrugged. "I'm just that lucky. That's why you wanted me in the first place, remember?" Jack rolled her eyes and stood up, going to her bathroom and fixing her wayward hair and washing her face. She came back into the room to see Zen holding out her button down and jacket. She quickly got dressed and followed Zen out of her room and downstairs where they heard the front door open and Angel and Husk's voices talking.
"He had like three bills and it took him thirty minutes to count them. His eyes are so bad!" Angel exclaimed.
Husk laughed. "And this is the guy you gotta take orders from?"
"I know!" Angel exclaimed. "What a freaking joke, right!?" As he finished speaking, Charlie rushed to him, throwing her arms around him and hugging him tightly.
"I'm SO sorry, Angel! I promise I won't ever, ever, ever, ever-"
"Charlie," Angel said, making Charlie look up at him. He put a hand on her head. "It's fine. I get it. Thanks... for caring about me." Charlie started wailing tears of joy as Angel picked her up and held her away from himself. Vaggie walked up to him and he handed Charlie to her. "Ehh, I think this is yours."
"Okay, missy, let's get you to bed." Vaggie said, holding Charlie close. Jack smiled as she watched the difference in heights between Charlie and Vaggie.
Charlie, meanwhile, was still blubbering. "He-he-he said he for-forgave me! It's so beautiful, Vaggie!" As she blubbered, Vaggie carried her off to the stairs, winking at Jack and Zen as she passed. Angel and Husk meanwhile had walked over to the bar and Husk was pouring Angel a drink. Jack and Zen soon joined them.
"Hey, Jackie." Angel said. "You're lookin' much better than you were this morning."
Jack smiled. "I feel much better. All thanks to Zen here." Zen shrugged as he stepped behind the bar and poured a glass of Jack's usual, untampered with this time. Jack drank a couple more drinks before she decided to turn in for the night.
She yawned as she walked down the hall to her room, walking past Alastor's room as she went. The older overlord was back from wherever he had disappeared to, though he wouldn't say a word of where he'd been. She rubbed her head as the last bit of her headache finally faded away.
"I heard that things got a little interesting here." Jack jumped and whirled around to find Alastor standing behind her. Jack rolled her eyes.
"Honestly, if you want to know anything, you'll have to talk to Husk." Jack said. "I was out of commission today."
"Yes, I was informed of that as well." Alastor said. "How unfortunate."
"Doesn't matter." Jack said. "Husk had it covered."
"So he did." Alastor said.
"Good night, Alastor." Jack said.
"Indeed." Alastor replied. "Good night, Jacklynn."
Jack walked off, silently wishing double death on Valentino and contemplating doing it herself.