Chapter Text
Alastor made his way through the hotel’s various floors with a skip in his step. Every single thing that Alastor had planned had gone accordingly. He had been able to break Rosie’s hold on his soul and had gotten his staff fixed for what he considered a mere annoyance in return. After he had saved the day, he returned to the hotel in order to keep assisting Charlie in its oversight. So many opportunities, he thought to himself. Indeed, now that he knew that Lucifer could not smite any sinners, he had laid out a new plan in his head, one that would require full participation in Charlie's little redemption dreams. As he rounded the corner of one of the corridors, thinking of a way to bring his plan forward, he found himself face-first with the demon belle herself.
“Oh, Alastor,” she exclaimed as she took a quick step back,” I am so sorry I almost ran into you”.
“No need to apologise, my dear, it was actually me who almost ran into you”, Alastor replied with a slight bow of his body. As he straightened himself upright and rested his hands on his cane, Charlie came closer to him and continued to offer her apologies. How annoying, Alastor thought. Even though he was now here free of will, he still found Charlie to be a handful to deal with and felt his patience start to wane.
“Now, now dear, it's really alright, you do not need to keep apologising to me ”, he repeated.
“Alright, Alastor, I won't apologise again”, she said with a slight chuckle. “Anyhow, I am glad I ran into you. I wanted to let you know that I am so grateful that you still want to oversee the hotel alongside Vaggi and me,” she said with a bright look in her eyes and a smile so wide it could rival Alastor's own. She looked down and with a slight apprehension said “ I thought…. after the whole Vox fiasco… that you wouldn't want to come back,” and with a pause added “I’m so sorry you had to go through that because of me, having to become Vox’s prisoner so you could protect us and the hotel,” she said as she brought her eyes back up to Alastors, with tears in them.
“It all went according to plan”, he voiced out loud. Charlie then gave him a curious look, and he realised that he may have said too much, and so he retracted it by adding, “I knew Vox would be too distracted with me to rightfully be in control of the situation and I was able to play him like a fiddle,” he said with a mischevious grim as he reminisced on his wordplay. “He didn't give me many problems at all,” he continued nonchalantly “, the most I found unpleasant was when he took me all around hell, taking me to go see a movie, eat at a restaurant, and making me go on that absolutely vile rollercoaster ride he deems entertaining”, he recounted as he flattened out his bob, as if it had remained in rough shape since that day.
Charlie narrowed her eyes at him. “Vox really took you to all those places”, she voiced in disbelief. She had expected that Vox would be more aggressive with Alastor, but to hear that he mainly only took Alastor to places to hang out with him was well…. interesting.
“Oh yes, and while it was a dreadful experience, that was all there really was to it”, he said, lying through his wide, sharp teeth. What he had not told the princess was that the Vox had done much more than just hull him around to places. He had unwillingly been forced to be the audience for Vox and Valentino's nightly activities, as well as receiving a few dozen bolts of electricity from Vox, but what she didn't know couldn't raise more questions, and so he left that part out.
“Well, I'm glad that was all that it was”, she replied with a small smile. She was about to say more, but as she began to speak, both she and Alastor heard Vaggis' voice ring out a loud “Charlie" across the multiple floors of the hotel. Charlie looked back at Alastor and spoke.
“Well, it seems like Vaggi is looking for me, must be the guests again, so many new guests have come to the hotel, as you know, and so she may need my help signing them in”, she said. As she turned and started walking away from Alastor, she quickly turned around and said one final thing to him. “Thank you again, Alastor, your presence means the world to me, and I hope working in this hotel has meant something to you as well,” she said as she quickly turned around and walked away, going down the rest of the hall and making her way downstairs to the main lobby.
Oh, how gullible Alastor found himself thinking after she had left. Everybody and their mothers could see how much Alastor was doing this more for himself than anyone else, but Charlie was still adamant that he stayed at the hotel because he wanted to help her and their friends. No, no, for Alastor, this place was merely a small stepping stone to greater power; all he had to do was play the gentleman he had been playing as for most of his life, alive or dead.
As he made his way to his room, he let out a big sigh. He and Charlie's conversation had tired him out, and all he could think of when he opened the door to his room and stepped inside was that he needed a stiff drink. He could have teleported himself down to the bar, but not wanting to interact with any more of the hotel staff or the guests, he was left thinking of somewhere else to go. His mind instantly went back to the bar he and Vox would go to when they had still been acquaintances. He hadn't gone to it since he and Vox had their fight and almost destroyed the place, but he did remember the wonderful taste of that whisky, and so he teleported himself outside the hotel and started to make his way towards it.