Mom says it's my turn with the Alastor

[sugaronthecream]

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[youknowwhothisis]

"Beautiful!"

"Flawless!"

"Gorgeous!"

He polished his claws against his coat, grinning from ear to ear. Was it self-indulgent to manifest puppets to compliment the work? Maybe. Did he care? Fuck no.

Some days the King just strolled through the building, admiring the handiwork, his embellishments. But by golly, he was so PROUD of Charlie for fighting as hard as she did for starters. Any doubts he may have had for the project, dwindled though they were after his prior visit, had evaporated entirely with no chance of returning. They could do this.

Heaven shunned his ideas. His dreams. But Charlie had chances beyond chances. Sera would eventually see thi-

"...Eh?"

What? What was this? There were supposed to be ducks here. Where are the ducks? The curtains were gone!!

"Whoa, whoa, whoa... Niffty! Niffty, dear...?" He paused, looked around. It had to be that girl, right?

No answer. Probably hunting another bug. Tsk.

Oh well. He manifested his cane, gave it a twirl, and tapped the first window. With a squeak, these drab, moody curtains would lighten up again, and practically dance with the jolly little yellow fellows again.

By the sixth room he'd fixed, Lucifer's eyebrow quirked. Huh.

He had a lot of work to do...

[sugaronthecream]

Room, after room, after room... Alastor's made a full loop, it's time to go to the next floor--

Oh, no, that won't do. Alastor's grin tightens - in a room he'd just fixed, those hideous curtains were back. With a snap, it's time to burn those up and replace them with simple black.

Now let's walk down the hall, waiting for the King to emerge from one of the rooms...

The moment the door opens, Alastor will pop up through shadows behind Lucifer.

"Ah, yes, the quack himself. I should have known."

[youknowwhothisis]

Change this. Change this. ...Ew. Definitely change that. This was a place of healing, not a hotel for vampires. Rooms need light! LIGHT!

He stepped through the doorway, a fallen angel on a mission, when the air sharply chilled and something welled into existence behind him.

He whirled on a boot heel. ...Then planted his hands upon his hips.

"Should have- ...You." He waved his cane at him.

"You're the one wrecking my interior decorating! Curtains of that color suck the light out of the room! I'm making things fun."

He peered through his lashes at him, smirked. "Remember that? Fun?"

[sugaronthecream]

"Fun for toddlers? They're garish," Alastor scoffed, quirking a brow at the latter question.

He turned, undoing the magically changed curtains - back to simple black curtains, unobtrusive to the decor. He's even being nice and not adding a sinister tattering. "If childish blankets over windows is your idea of fun, then no, I don't remember anything so borish."

[youknowwhothisis]

"Childish? It's whimsy, old-timer!"

First off, how dare you? Second of all, how dare you!?

"It's a bright spot in all of- all of...!" He stomped around him, and reached for the curtain. He snatched it open with a whip of a wrist and gestured down the winding hill to the rest of Pentagram City beyond.

The red.

The dinginess.

There was even an explosion in the distance, in one of the business sectors. Another turf war.

"All of... THIS! Just..." He deflated, turned, leaned on the windowsill. His hat hitched as he rest his forehead against the glass. Sighed.

"...Something different. Not that you'd care."

[sugaronthecream]

Ugh. Right to the gloom, and he hadn't even done anything to earn it. Alastor stood in the doorway, rolling his eyes. "You haven't even seen my preferred decor," he snidely remarked - not that he thought Lucifer would truly appreciate the beauty of his recreated bayou.

But fine. An entire hotel is a lot to get rid of the vast, overwhelming presence of ducks.

With a passive aggressive sigh, he changed the curtains again into a gold-and-black art deco pattern. "Satisfied?"

[youknowwhothisis]

He wants to talk to you about that swamp room later, giraffe.

He could hear the shift of magic and didn't move at first; even when he asked. But eventually he pulled away and decided to humor him by backing off and having a good look.

Paused.

Blink.

"...Wait, that's- that's good, actually. Classy."

[sugaronthecream]

Hey. Hey. You leave swamp room out of this. Swamp room is gorgeous.

"Of course it is. It was all the rage in the fancy hotels and jazz clubs," Alastor scoffed. "One would think a King would know all about refinement."

[youknowwhothisis]

Swamp room has mosquitoes.

The remark had him straighten out his bowtie. "...Says the man in the coat with shabby hems."

He leaned on his cane, fluttered his lashes innocently his way.

[sugaronthecream]

Well, THAT gets a sharp radio screech from him. Shabby? Tattered, of course, but how dare you call it shabby?? He works VERY HARD to maintain an air of intimidation thank you very much!!

"I'm not surprised you fixated on the hems, you are rather short sighted."

[youknowwhothisis]

"I fit in pockets, eat tidbits and can't ride a lot of my own amusement park's rides! I've heard 'em all. But you know what else I can do...?"

He raised a hand to mask a corner of his mouth as he gave a theatrical whisper:

"Climb into cars or walk through doorways without risking a concussion. It's pretty great."

[sugaronthecream]

"Only a buffoon would struggle not to hit their heads. I suppose you're quite lucky to have your height and not your daughter's, then - you haven't nearly the good head on your shoulders she has," Alastor gestured dismissively!!

"Now let's make haste changing the dreadful infantile curtains and duck statuettes into proper decor."

1/2

[youknowwhothisis]

"She does have a pretty good noggin on her shoulders..."

2/2

[youknowwhothisis]

"Guh- wuh- hey HEY! Hey now! The ducks stay!"

[sugaronthecream]

Alastor turned on his heel and bent at the waist - entirely overkill to be 'eye-to-eye' with Lucifer. "You want Charlie's guests to feel comfortable and not insulted, don't you? Very few child Sinners ever survive the Purges, we will only need a handful of rooms with childish decor, not every room."

[youknowwhothisis]

His response is to jab a finger against Alastor's nose. That's what you get for 'getting down to his level'.

"I see. ...Just some of the rooms, then, right...?"

A beat.

"Did you know that ducks thrive pretty well in marshy areas...?"

[sugaronthecream]

He'll jab his mic into your chest then, especially with that threat to his bayou!! "A few will feed the gators. But keep your wretched plastic and porcelain out of my waters."

[youknowwhothisis]

"Too late."

The gold of his eyes gleamed as he leaned in closer and uttered: "...Consider it a token of our new partnership."

[sugaronthecream]

"Partnership!" Alastor scoffed, standing upright again to leer down his nose at the noseless wonder. "I think you misunderstand! I'm Charlie's business partner. If you're working here, you're working under Charlie and you're working beneath me."

[youknowwhothisis]

"Nice try, pal, but this is my realm! I'm perfectly fine working under my own flesh and blood, but I outrank you."

He smoothed down his coat.

"But I am ever the merciful King! So long as you're good to Charlie, despite that stunt you pulled a couple of months ago, I think we'll be just... ducky."

[sugaronthecream]

"Stunt? I haven't a clue what you mean, sir," Alastor turned again, strolling to the next room. Time to get rid of more ducky curtains. "I haven't caused any mischief in years! Since returning and joining Charlie, I've been polite as a saint. Loyally at her side. Helping her when she needed someone to turn to~"

[youknowwhothisis]

The King was hot on his heels. OhhhHNOYADON'T.

"Oh yeah, a real holy man, right down to snatching other peoples' kids. But why?"

The big question.

"Why are you suddenly helping her? She's been planning this whole thing for years? What do you get out of it? Some- some kind of redemption?"

[sugaronthecream]

"Suddenly? Why, I was there the very same day she announced it on the picturebox! And every day following that, since she brought me on as the hotelier. I've been here for the entirety I've known of the project," Alastor chuckled, snapping to burn the duck curtains, replacing them with the art deco again.

"My work lacked focus. Lacked inspiration. I wanted to see what Charlie could do."

[youknowwhothisis]

He'll let those curtains go. It'll buy him a little time.

"And... that's it? She's some kind of muse?"

Well, he can't fault that. She was an inspiring young woman. However.

"Say she actually redeems a Sinner. What then?"

[sugaronthecream]

"Well, I imagine the hotel will be quite a bit busier, don't you think?"

Whether or not he believed it wasn't relevant.

"It'll be history unfolding before our eyes. Aren't you curious?"