Splitting at the Seams (RadioApple)

Part 13 (2/2)

"Well!" Alastor burst out, only to freeze with embarassment at how startling his voice broke through the stale air, relating to the way Angel himself recoiled slightly, though his gaze never wavered. Softening his tone slightly, the radio demon gave the other a short round of applause. "This was a sure surprise! Well played, my good man! Tell me, was this a skill you picked up at some point in your current... ahem, profession, or a carried over quality from your life before?"

"How long've you been standin' there?" Angel's expression hadn't shifted despite his harsh tone, looking similarly shell-shocked as Husk whenever the latter recalled his service in Vietnam.

"No time at all! I merely heard you from down the hall and wished to investigate. No need to worry about any teasing. And please, no need to stop on my account."

"No teasing. From you?"

"Well." Alastor smiled gently, too exhausted from the week's antics to put up any kind of front. "I might poke brief fun at your seeming desire to obliterate the poor thing with sheer aggression, though it was rather appropos to do, given the original intent of composition."

Angel seemed to be wresting with his wording, taking a second to parse what he meant before finally brightening, a little of the tension lining his shoulders dropping. Only then did the overlord realize just how MUCH there was, and how plainly strung out the spider looked. That was something they could have in common. "Oh yeah. This was a breakup song, right?"

"Nearly. So-say, and it was only a theory, mind, never confirmed, but so-say this song was began as a sort of love letter to his beau, a Ms Therese who at the time was his student in the art. It was intentionally written to be at her skill level." Stepping closer, he tried his best to keep his body language open and clear, trying to dissuade the wary look he was getting. "Alas, his confession went down like a lead balloon. Therese Malfatti did not share his feelings, and shortly thereafter became engaged to another man. In his anger, Ludwig then recomposed the latter half of the song to make it much more difficult, ensuring she could never play it to completion."

"Yikes." Angel whistled, smiling a little. "That's the kind of petty I aspire to."

"Right? It's easy to forget that those who came before us - those who we only experience through their legacy and drawn depictions - were also thinking and feeling beings, fully realized in their own right. The sillier things like this, the fallible traits, that is what humanizes history."

The look he now recieved was full of disbelief. "That's well insightful for a guy who has no issue killin' and eatin' people. Didn't think you'd worry about 'the human soul' or whatever."

Alastor rolled his eyes. "Try not to conflate my inclinations with my intelligence."

"Less IQ, more EQ. But I'm no genius on that front either." Angel shrugged. "Anyway, I was enjoying playin', so if you're cool to leave me be I'd like to get back to it. Was keepin' my mind offa stuff."

"By all means, be my guest!" Came Alastor's swift agreement, only to be even more swiftly followed up with "Though I'll humbly request to stay a little longer. You're not the only one of us seeking a distraction, and I was genuinely enjoying listening to your skill."

It felt... bizarre to be this nice to this man in particular. In the half-a-year they'd spent in close quarters, Alastor couldn't think of one normal, non-combative conversation they'd had. There was the beforementioned flirting, there were snide comments from himself on Angel's choice of dress on any given day, and there were occasionally thrown curse words when they caught each other at the bar. Beyond that, nothing. It'd been comfortable to assume the spider demon was a moron, a simple prostitute that needn't any further thought.