#[[ she's gonna need A LOT to give Alastor a crammed 'Flirting 101' course ]]

[countlessrealities]

Every time she steps inside Alastor's room, Vaggie can't help remembering that one time she has caught him having "breakfast" with an entire rotten venison. She has seen him doing things that should feel worse, like watching him eating other demons, but for some reason that particular meal is the one that has bothered her the most.

Reason why, when the Radio Demon asked her to join him for coffee in his quarters, she explicitly asked that no snacks are involved.

Of course, the creepy fucker just laughs at her for that, not even bothering to answer her. Still, it looks like he has listened, since the only things that greet her from the table are a Moka pot and two mugs.

"Soooo...What's up?" She ends up asking, when he busies himself with serving their drinks without a single word. "Don't tell me that you already made up your mind on that...thing we talked about, have you?"

Alastor's grin seems to widen imperceptibly at her suspicious hesitancy, almost amused by it. And, admittedly, seeing her on edge is quite entertaining.

The Overlord lifts his cup to his lips, leaving her hanging for just a little extra while, so he can watch her eye starting to twitch in annoyance. He knows that she was expecting him to take more time to make up his mind, but he has always loved defying others' assumptions about him.

"As a matter of fact, I did, my dear!" He finally answers, setting his elbow on the table so he can rest his chin in the palm of his hand. "I must say, it was quite the easy endeavour when I realised that I didn't have to choose between your two options at all."

The startled look that blooms on Vaggie's face almost has him snickering. It's easy to guess what she's thinking, how she is connecting the dots in the wrong way.

"You can't be serious!" The former exorcist barks, incredulous. Is he really choosing to sit this one out? She knew that it could have been a possibility, but she was almost sure to have intrigued him enough. "Don't you see what's at stake here?! And I'm not talking about the bet. I can handle whatever Vox will throw at me, but what Adam's attempt at redemption would mean for the Hotel is-..."

She abruptly cuts herself off as he raises a hand, in a silence request for her to quiet down.

"Now, now, Vaggie. No need to let that temper of yours flare up! You misunderstand me. I'm not denying you my cooperation in this little scheme of yours." He waves a hand, as to physically dismiss her concerns. "What I meant is, why choosing when we can do both? I can't let you lose your gamble. Charlie would throw a fit and neither of us likes seeing her upset, do we?"

Vaggie's lips press together in a thin line, but she nods in agreement. She's pissed that he tricked her, but his idea is a good one. Divide and conquer is an effective tactic, but striking at the same time from more than one side gives them higher chances of success.

"You get Adam to stay at the Hotel and keep him away from...the wrong influences, while I'll keep our meddling showman busy so he doesn't get in your way."

And he'll get to toy with his "rival" a little for his own entertainment, but that's none of Vaggie's business.

"Once we have our prey where we want him, I'll offer him a deal ̷̝̦̮̹̫̭̲͔̼̟͈̹̏͋̇̂̾̏̉̽̅͛H̬͈̩͔̜͔̝͎̩̖̦͕̬͔̹̋̂̂͂͌͌̓͝E̤͙̰̖̘̣͕̰ͫͪ͢ ̸̻͔͍̘͒ͨͤ̐ͬ̓̽̊W̸̸̧͍̫̖͙͇͙͉̯̞̦̔ͧ͐͆̌̈́ͪ͌ͥ̉͒̌͌̒͟Ọ̥̰͎̰ͫ̌͗ͩ̌̽̿̎̂͟ͅN͚̘̖̻̓́'̷͈͖̊͋̉̀T̉ͣ̾́̋ͩ͏̧̫̦̥͙ ̸͖͓̯͓̉̇̃̍B̠̬̲͉̱̠̖̦͕̬͔̹̌̅͌̓͠E̤͙̰̖̘̣͕̰ͫͪ͢ A̸̟̤̖̗͈̦͔̮͖͓̯͓͐̒̇ͩ͋̃̾̇̉̇̃̍̕B̠̬̲͉̱̠̥̘̌̅ͭ͠͠L̏ͦ̀ͯͨ͋͟͏̣̪̖̦͕̬͔̹͌̓͘E̤͙̰̖̘̣͕̰ͫͪ͢ ̷͈͖̊͋̉̀T̉ͣ̾́̋ͩ͏̸̸̧̫̦̥͙̖͙͇͙͉̯̞̦ͥ̉͒̌͌̒͟Ọ̥ͫ̌͟ͅ ͖̭̳̥̝͇͚ͬ̈͝R̈́̐̽͡͏̠̫̖̦͕̬͔̹͌̓E̴̤͙̰̖̘̣͕̰͚̫̲̳͚͈̭ͫͪ̊̄̆̐̌͢͜ͅͅFͮ͗͑̈́ͦ̑͏͖̺̱̻̾̍ͨ͐ͤ̚͡͏͏̷̝̪̫̪͈͍̱̣Ū̷͉̭̬̩̦̫̟͓̝̣͙̞͓̀̒̌ͮ͐͂̈́ͯ̌͡S̛͇͉͈̖̦͕̬͔̹ͥ͊̉̄̾͌̓͜͡E̤͙̰̖̘̣͕̰ͫͪ͢."

The room fills with static for a few, terrifying moments, then everything shifts back to normal in the blink of an eye.

"Just one last, tiny question," the Radio Demon starts again, in a renewed conversational tone. "How does one, ah, 'ask somebody out'? I'm afraid this specific sort of interactions aren't part of my skillset."

For thirty good seconds, Vaggie doesn't know if she should feel more creeped out, concerned or incredulous. In the end, she settles for exasperated.

"Oh Lord, you gotta be kidding me. This will take forever."

#[ ic :: muse status ] #[ ic :: Vaggie ] #[ ic :: Alastor ] #holoharbinger #creationtainted #[[ Vaggie is regretting EVERYTHING ]] #[[ thankfully her time in Heaven has taught her patience ]] #[[ she's gonna need A LOT to give Alastor a crammed 'Flirting 101' course ]] #[[ meanwhile Alastor is there for the funsies xD ]]