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When you first got down to Hell, you honestly thought that the celebration of mortal human holidays would become nonexistent. After all, Christmas down in Hell? Easter? The ideas honestly made you burst out in laughter after you had adjusted to your new reality. But to your surprise, the holidays actually made it down here. They weren’t widely celebrated, but you noticed a few celebrations over your years there.
Imagine your surprise when everyone at the hotel started getting into the spirit of Valentine’s Day. For someone like Charlie, it seemed a given that she would want to celebrate a holiday like that, all happy and affectionate. Angel seemed excited, though that was mainly due to the fact that no one would be able to really put a limit on his flirting and schmoozing. Others seemed less likely to celebrate, despite the prodding from Charlie. Husk acted like he couldn’t care less, but you knew he might surprise a certain someone in the end. Niffty… You weren’t sure if she realized the importance of the day. Lucifer, the poor dear, probably wouldn’t be in the best of moods to be celebrating with his wife gone, so you made a mental note to bake him something sweet to hopefully make him feel better.
That left you and Alastor. You had always wanted to spend the day with someone special, and admittedly you were a always a bit melancholy and heartsick around the holiday as a human. Now you had someone to spend it with… Although you weren’t sure if it was something that Alastor would go for. Your relationship was more private affection-wise, although he made it a point to drop that pretense if he noticed other sinners having wandering eyes or disrespecting you. Still, you weren’t sure if he’d be comfortable with a holiday like this, where exorbitant displays of love and affection were common and kind of expected.
The others kind of picked up on that.
“So, you and Smiles doin anything for Valentines Day?” Angel looked up from where he was splayed across his bed, limbs sprawled everywhere with Nuggets curled up in a small nest he’d made from Angel’s hoodie. You both had fallen into the habit of lounging in his room instead of at the bar, especially if the hotel was busy. You lost count the number of times you’d actually passed out in his room and decided on impromptu sleepovers.
You hummed, looking thoughtful before shaking your head. “No, I don’t think so.”
“What?! Why? It’s Valentine’s Day! It’s a day for couples. Both current and future.” He smirked.
You laughed, lightly batting him in the head. “No. Bad. Horny. Spider.” You smacked him with every word, both of you giggling by the end as he fake surrendered.
“Hey hey, chill out, Toots.” He chuckled, rolling to lay on his stomach. “But still, why are you not doin anything? Thought you’d be thrilled to have a man to spoil you.”
You shrugged. “I am. Really I am, but Al’s more private… I don’t want to end up making him uncomfortable…” You sighed. “Not to mention I wouldn’t know how to spoil him. Most modern things he doesn’t find appealing.”
Angel wiggled forward, curling one of his lower arms around your hips. “I’m sure you’ll think of something. And hey, maybe he’ll surprise you. He’s a private guy, but we all know with you he goes soft.” He snickered playfully. “He’s totally a closet romantic.”
You chuckled fondly. “Maybe you’re right… Still, I won’t expect anything and I won’t get my hopes up.” You scooted to the side so you could flop down next to him, getting comfy as the larger spider practically flopped over you.
That was that. Still, as the day came closer, you started having second thoughts. Even if Alastor didn’t get you anything, you thought he still deserved something nice. Even you still got the occasional gift back when you were alive. You didn’t know if Alastor got to experience that, and if he didn’t then you wanted to be the first. That still left you with what to get him. The stereotypical chocolates and other sweet things you knew he didn’t like, so that was out. He might like flowers; that didn’t seem terribly fitting, but it was a maybe. Small toys and trinkets? No, definitely not. Cards were nice but felt cheap…
You finally had an idea the day before the holiday. Alastor had a dark sense of humor, and he was also a cannibal, so the idea of something edible struck you. You were going to need help getting the necessary parts to your gift, so you reached out to Rosie for help. The female overlord seemed delighted at the idea and was all for helping, promising that your gift to him would be ready just in time.
You remembered your first meeting with Rosie quite fondly.
“Oh my stars, Alastor, is this her?” The tall charming demoness seemed to glide towards you with clear eagerness in her eyes as Alastor walked arm and arm with you towards the counter.
He chuckled, looking at you fondly before glancing at Rosie with a beaming smile. “This is her indeed, Rosie!” He gestured to you fondly. “Rosie, this is my darling doe, Y/N. Y/N, meet Rosie, the most charming and powerful woman this side of the pentagram.” He introduced, though he fixed you with a special smile. “Present company excluded, of course!”
Rosie giggled and politely dipped her head, and you did too. “It’s wonderful to meet you, Rosie. Al’s said so many wonderful things about you.”
“Oh I’m sure!” She beamed. “And he’s said so much about you! I can’t tell you how wonderful it is to meet the woman that tamed Alastor’s wild heart.”
You laughed lightly. “I assure you I haven’t tamed him in the slightest, nor would I want to. I love him just the way he is.” You smiled as you looked up at him, and he was just grinning hugely back at you.
Rosie didn’t look like she could smile any bigger. “You two are going to last, I can tell.”
Frequently, Rosie invited you over for tea and gossip, though you made sure your meetups were less often and on different days than Alastor’s. After all, you didn’t want to steal his best friend from him, and that was something he deeply appreciated. Rosie had a bit more ruthlessness than you did underneath her pleasant exterior, and you knew they could scheme together about things Alastor knew you wouldn’t approve of. So you let him have his fun. Still, that didn’t stop her from becoming a dear and reliable friend to you as well.
You set off for Rosie’s emporium early that morning. Most other demons seemed to treat the day like another day, although you did notice a few exchanging gifts and romantic gestures, which made you feel a little bit better about this. Rosie was in ecstatic spirits when you arrived, though contrary to normal she didn’t keep you for a drink or snack, and sent you off with a few words of encouragement that really did settle your nerves about this. You stored your present in your shadowy pocket dimension for the time being, and zipped back to the hotel to witness the shenanigans throughout the day. You made sure to park yourself at the bar for the best seat in the house, an idea that most of the others seemed to have as well.
Charlie’s was the most chaotic. She practically showered Vaggie with gifts; heart-shaped balloons, flowers, small adorable plush animals, candies. You were surprised Vaggie was able to actually breathe in the literal tidal wave of presents. Still, she seemed to take it in stride, and you smiled as Charlie gushed over the cute little plushie and box of candies that she got her as a return present.
Watching the interaction between Husk and Angel had been interesting. Angel had started flirting heavily like he usually did, and Husk had begun by brushing it off. However, when Angel presented him with a pricy bottle of liquor (one of his favorites) and cooed out something teasing in Italian, Husk looked flustered for a split second before he smirked at him, reaching under the bar to nudge a small box of chocolates towards him, practically purring a response in the same tongue. You had never seen Angel turn so red before or look so flustered, and Husk turned with a proud look back to the bar, stashing his gift away to enjoy later.
Alastor was nowhere to be seen as of yet, but Lucifer watched the goings on with you. He seemed so sad, wistful perhaps, and you knew he was thinking of Lilith. After having gotten to know the duck-obsessed man, you actually liked him a lot. He was goofy, adorably awkward, and super nice. And he was trying to be a good dad to his daughter. He loved her to bits, and you admired that… That’s in part why it hurt to see him so sad.
After a point you gave him a light nudge to get his attention. When he turned, you quickly but gently hefted a small box from your shadow pocket into his lap. He looked down, looking at the bakery box in confusion before looking up at you. You just smiled.
“They’re for you. For later… Thought you might like something sweet today.”
His gaze softened and you honestly thought he might start crying with the way his eyes went wide and his smile turned watery, but he composed himself.
“Thank you.” He tucked the box close to his chest, peering inside and grinning at the assortment of cookies and small brownies inside.
Hours passed and the day started to come to a close and everyone started to retire for the night. Vaggie and Charlie had disappeared a while ago, and Lucifer had hopped off shortly after your present to him to go and enjoy them in his room. After reassuring your friends that you would be fine, Angel and Husk headed off together. It wasn’t a surprise to you; you fully supported that ship since you got to know them and you were glad it was finally sailing off.
Eventually it was just you in the hotel lobby, enjoying a relaxing moment of quiet over a last drink. You hadn’t seen Alastor since this morning, but that was okay. You hadn’t had any expectations for the day, so you weren’t upset. Well, maybe you were a little, but you refused to admit it.
A soft sigh escaped you as you thought of how lonely you felt after watching all your friends with their partners, only to perk up at the flutter of static against your skin.
“Ah, there you are, my darling doe.”
The largest smile tugged on your cheeks as you spun around, relaxing as you finally laid eyes on your boyfriend. He was dressed down a bit in just his dress shirt, his arms folded behind his back and a sweet smile on his face.
“I’m glad you finally decided to show yourself.” You stood up, immediately leaning in for a hug, which he immediately reciprocated. Though, only with one arm.
“Well, you know how I feel about affectionate public displays.” He shuddered playfully, making you laugh.
“I know. I was planning on heading to your room if you didn’t show soon.” You pulled back to look at him.
“Well, here I am. After all, I couldn’t disappoint my little doe, could I?” He leaned down, and you felt your tail curl and ears twitch back with shyness. But he continued. “I brought you something.” He hummed playfully, carefully pulling an iconic heart-shaped box out from behind his back and offering it to you.
“Oh Al. You didn’t have to.” You gasped, lightly taking the box. It had a trio of red roses wrapped together with a black ribbon carefully tied to the box, which you carefully tucked under your arm.
“Nonsense! Today is a day for romance, after all.” He shook his head, making a hand gesture to urge you to open the box. “Open it up now.” He urged gently.
You laughed lightly, carefully uniting the ribbon as you opened the box, immediately feeling your heart flutter. There were an assortment of chocolate covered strawberries inside, mostly milk and white chocolates. You didn’t really enjoy chocolate that much as a sweet, so you often had to have it with other things to really enjoy it.
“Angel informed me of your love of strawberries. I thought this might be an appropriate gift… Do you like it?” He asked, just a touch of uncertainty creasing his brow.
You gave him a huge smile, setting the box and flowers carefully on the bartop before you leaned up, dragging him down into a hug. He was surprised enough to allow you, though he didn’t stop you even when he finally composed himself.
“I love it. Thank you.” You leaned up and took a risk and leaned up just a smidge more to kiss his cheek before rocking back onto your heels. You took huge satisfaction in the way his ears twitched and eyes widened at the display.
“I have something for you too, you know.” You grinned cheekily, the box flashing into your hands in a puff of shadows.
Alastor’s expressions strained a bit when you pressed the box into his hands. “Darling, you know I’m not fond of…” He trailed off as he opened the box, blinking almost owlishly at the contents.
Inside, amongst some elegantly sliced cuts of venison, lay a heart. An actual deer heart. You figured he could enjoy the humor and the meaty treat.
“For the deer that stole my heart.” You grinned impishly, though your tail was twisting nervously.
“Ah, you know me so well.” Alastor smiled fondly at you, leaning down to press a brief kiss to your lips, one that made your heart skip. “Thank you, my little doe.”
“Happy Valentine’s Day, Al.”
“Happy Valentine’s Day.” He straightened, offering you his arm. “Shall we retire to the balcony to enjoy our treats? I can think of no finer way to end the evening.”
“I think that sounds like a perfect idea.” You immediately nodded, tucking your treats under your arm before taking his, falling into companionable small talk as you set off for your makeshift dinner.