Work Text:
˚₊𓆩༺🕷🐾༻𓆪₊˚
Angel huffed as his legs crumbled beneath him and he flopped himself onto his bed, laying belly down in his room at the hotel. It was late; Vaggi and Charlie were asleep, and same with Cherri. Niffty was doing late night cleaning downstairs, Baxter was in the basement in his weird lab thing, and who knows what Alastor was doing.
Tonight was rough to say the least. Every night like this was rough. Valentino kept Angel late, and things were always difficult with him. Some nights, Angel just wished that somebody would buy him out for the night just so Val and the other two wouldn’t play with him like some toy. It made him sick. He hated being treated like some pretty item. This cuck for Vox and Val to have, a fashion doll for Velvette, and something new for somebody else every night of his god damned life.
Angel took off his gloves and stared at his forearms, his bruised and beaten forearms. His vision blurred as he squinted his eyes through tears and bit his lip. Fat Nuggets jumped on the bed and sat on Angel’s back, but he was too distracted right now. He could feel the weight, but a different weight seemed to make him sink into his bed—a weight from his heart. He hated himself, why would he make a deal that ended up making him so miserable?
He felt nauseous. He wanted to throw up all the ways he was feeling, he wanted to be clean, he wanted to forget Val and break the deal. He never wanted anybody to touch him again. He wanted to be freed from his shackles. He never wanted to see or hear another word about any of the Vees. Every time the T.V. was on there had always been something about VoxTek, or an advertisement featuring one of the three would show up, or sometimes Angel saw himself and felt an overwhelming dread.
It’s deprecating to see yourself on T.V. in the first place, but when you know there’s somebody else there—somebody who wants to see you like that, LOVES to see you like that, knowing they can watch that over and over and that's what they WANT. They want to see you weak, they love to see you weak. They take you backstage after filming just because they still want to see you like that. They want you vulnerable so they can have full control over you—that lingering presence that you know is there but nobody else knows is there is the one that hurts the most.
He sobbed and pushed Fat Nuggets off of his back to roll over and sit up on his bed. He held his knees with two arms and wiped his tears with the others. The wet mascara got in his eyes as he rubbed them, it hurt, but it didn’t bother him right now. It couldn’t bother him more than this—more than Val.
Fat Nuggets curled up next to Angel, but Angel just continued staring down, sobbing at the thought of Valentino’s hands. When he bit him it hurt, but he couldn’t just tell him to stop. When he hit him it hurt, but he couldn’t just tell him to stop. When the bruises were more sore the next morning, he couldn't say anything. Saying something would worry his friends and annoy Val even more. When the feeling of Val’s teeth digging into his skin lingered around the bruised circles, he had to ignore the feeling. His skin throbbed and stinged to the touch, but he couldn’t show the hurt. Not while anyone else was around. When he bled he had to just sit there and stay pretty for everyone. He asked for this.
He sobbed a bit louder.
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Husk walked the halls. He felt jaded. Nobody in the Hotel could compare to Angel, and he wasn’t at the hotel right now. Sure, Niffty was entertaining, but she could be loud and irritating at times. Angel was out late for Val.
…At least Husk thought that.
As Husk walked by Angel’s room—he stayed in 208, Husk made sure to memorize that—he heard a faint, soft sob from within. He paused in front of the door and listened to the hiccing and gasping for breath, before giving the door a light knock. There was a light gasp, before more hiccing and sniffling, but not as loud.
“...Angel?” Husk muttered, just loud enough to reach the man on the other side.
Angel could recognize Husk’s rich, gravelly voice anywhere. He was unsure if he wanted him to see him like this, but it was rude to not respond. Angel hesitated for a moment before stammering out, “Y-Yeah?” He wiped his face, but streaks of mascara stained his cheeks.
“Can I come in?” Husk questioned.
“...Yeah.” Angel replied, his voice cracking. He didn’t want to be a dick to Husk, and it was too late to shoo him away.
Husk turned the handle of Angel’s room and opened the door. The soft pink and purple glow of the lights in Angel’s room flooded out from the door frame, and Husk saw it illuminating Angel’s watery eyes in front of him. He’d never seen Angel look like such a mess in person—his outfit half-taken-apart, his hair frizzy, his makeup ruined… but that was besides the point.
Angel made sure to keep his arms out of Husk’s sight. Angel’s room was dimly lit in LED lights anyways, but better safe than sorry.
“Angel? Awe, shit, Angel–” Husk walked over to the bed, getting closer to Angel, “What happened?”
“You know how work can be.” Angel dismissed, trying to play it off, but his voice had a crack in it. “It’s just tiring sometimes, you know.” Angel looked away from Husk as he talked. He didn’t want him of all people to see him like this. How embarrassing.
“Angel…” Husk faltered. He reached his hand out for a moment, thinking about soothing him by holding his hand, but he knew right now wasn’t a time to touch Angel. He withdrew his hand away. He thought to himself for a moment before picking up Fat Nuggets and offering to hand him off to Angel.
Angel huffed and smiled gently. His eyes were obviously still pained, but that light smile was genuine.
He took Fat Nuggets away from Husk and cradled him like a baby.
Husk sighed and watched Angel rub Fat Nuggets’ belly. It was sweet, he could tell his dumb pig was helping.
Husk sat on the edge of the bed next to Angel. Angel scooted over so he could sit next to him properly, and Husk did.
They sat together, hip to hip. Husk stared down at Angel’s pig as it snorted happily at Angel’s pets. Husk noticed the darker circles on his arms, squinting for a moment. At first he thought it was just the lighting, but he realized it wasn’t fairly quickly.
“What really happened?” Husk asked Angel.
“I told you, work.” Angel frowned and paused his pets. He rested his hand on Fat Nugget’s stomach.
“That ain’t the full story Angel.”
There was a pause for a moment.
“You don’t need to know, it’s my job, Whiskers.”
“Your job is gettin’ beaten?” Husk raised his voice a bit, growling not at Angel, but rather the thought of Val.
“That’s none of your fucking business.” Angel snapped at Husk before taking a breath and looking back down at Fat Nuggets, continuing to pet him while trying to hold back tears.
“I feel like I need to say somethin’ when you’re getting hurt.” Husk sighed, “That job ain’t good for you.”
“You think I don't know that? Whiskers, you know how it is with Val.” Angel huffed, avoiding looking at Husk.
“I just don’t want you feeling like you have nowhere else to go, because you know damn well everyone in this Hotel cares about you.” Husk leaned over a bit more than he already was, trying to get a glimpse of Angel’s face.
Angel hid his face behind his hair, trying to hide his expressions from Husk. Husk looked down at Fat Nuggets.
“I know I ain’t as good at talking to people as Charlie, but I think I’m pretty good at listening…I would say I’m better than the princess when it comes to that.” Husk chortled out the last bit before petting Fat Nuggets’ belly and looking back up at Angel. As Husk petted Fat Nuggets, his hand occasionally accidently brushed against Angel’s fingers.
From anyone else, Angel would hate any form of physical touch right now of all times, accidental or not…but this was ok.
Angel brushed his hair out of his face with one of his free hands. He opened his mouth and choked a little before clearing his throat and continuing. He didn’t look at Husk, but he was looking up now and he wasn’t refusing to show his face. “Val just ain’t… good.”
“No shit.” Husk huffed.
“And it’s not like I can tell him to stop, it just makes everything worse.” Angel began to rant, turning over to look at Husk now. Husk saw Angel’s sore, pink scleras and runny mascara clearly. His breathing staggered and he still hicced from time to time. His voice faltered as he began to speak up again, “I’ve tried to get him to stop, Charlie’s tried to get him to stop. It always makes it worse. He pretends to listen and then he just…” Angel trailed off.
He started to tear up for a moment before he laid his head on top of Husk’s. Husk was taken aback by this, surprised to an extent, but at the same time, it was almost expected. Fat Nuggets crawled out of Angel’s arms for a moment. Husk’s ears twitched for a moment, before he put an arm around Angel. As Husk followed through with this gesture, Angel completely embraced Husk and buried his head into his shoulder. Usually when thinking about Val, Angel hated being touched. This was different.
Angel surprised himself as well. He wanted Husk’s affection right now, he felt a deep need for his comfort.
Husk loosely wrapped his arms back around Angel. Husk wasn’t used to this, at least not Angel doing this. Angel usually wasn’t a very touchy person in these moods, but this was different. Angel squeezed Husk and Husk could tell Angel wouldn’t be letting go soon.
Husk rubbed Angel’s back slowly with one of his hands. He wasn’t sure of what to say right now, or if he should say anything. He sat with Angel, letting him sob into his shoulder.
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After a while, the two were laying down together in Angel’s bed, still holding each other. Fat Nuggets sat at the end of the bed by the two’s feet, which laid under Angel’s pink comforter. Angel breathed smoothly now, no chokes or hics from sobbing. Husk lightly played with Angel’s hair that rested against the pillow.
It was good for Angel to have somebody close to home while he rested, especially someone like Husk. Husk allowed Angel to be distracted without some kind of drug or toy.
Angel hadn’t ever realized how comforting Husk’s rough, calloused fingers were in comparison to Valentino’s long and smooth ones. Something about Husk being so greatly different in comparison to Val made Angel feel better.
The vastly different things regarding Val and Husk showed Angel that Husk isn’t Val. This Hotel was his sanctuary. This is where he could rest
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