early chaggie early morning where vaggie gets a hug
inspired by @sunsetcougar's headcanon idea of vaggie wrapping herself in blankets despite hell's heat for.... reasons :(
Vaggie: "Ugghhgh...." (slouches into kitchen) (wrapped in blankets)
Charlie: "Vaggie!" (singing) "Good moooorning~!"
Vaggie: "Mornin' sweetie... why is it morning..." (bumps into table) (slumps over it) "Fuck. Ow." (oozes into chair)
Charlie: "Aww." (sad pout) "Didn't get much sleep again, huh."
Vaggie: "Nnngh. Didn't."
Charlie: (cringing) "I wasn't, uh, kicking you was I? With the hooves- "
Vaggie: "I'm too short for you to reach."
Charlie: (grinning) "Which means you're just the right size!!!"
Vaggie: "Means I need my weight in additive simulant substances..."
Vaggie: (tries to stand) (BANG)
Vaggie: (slams into table again) "Fuck."
Charlie: "Vaggie!?"
Vaggie: (rubs missing eye) (muttering) "It's fine, 'm fine.... pinche pendejo.. mi ojo... just need coffee."
Charlie: "!! Don't stagger up! I'll make it!"
Vaggie: (slumping face down) (muffled) "m'love you."
Charlie: "Ha!" (laughing too hard) "Oh you- you'd love anyone who made coffee after a bad night's sleep-"
Vaggie: "No. Anyone else I'd just kill for it."
Charlie: (grinning) "Maim them, maybe."
Vaggie: "You have too much faith in morning me."
Charlie: "I love morning you~"
Charlie: "...."
Charlie: (stares around wildly for topic change) "A- anyway, um-" (spies vaggie's blankets) (actually frowns)
Charlie: "Aren't you hot?"
Vaggie: (groggy) (half awake) "Depends if I'm your type, I guess."
Charlie: "My ty- Shit!" (cup she's holding starts boiling) "No I meant-"
Vaggie: (looking up) "Coffee?"
Charlie: "-not that you AREN'T, because I mean really just LOOK at you, I can't imagine anyone who wouldn't w- but- What? Oh."
Charlie: (hands over coffee) "Careful. It's um. Hot."
Vaggie: "Thanks." (carefully not looking at Charlie) (muttering) "Hot just like everything else in hell is..."
Charlie: "THAT'S what I meant!"
Vaggie: "Guess that does make me hot since I'm here too now."
Charlie: "Yes right exactly, the hotness- hell's hotness- you're still not used to it! Not that the eternal searing flames of literal hell is something anyone should necessarily be expected to get used to, aside from me and the other hellborn- though not all of them like it here either, even if the other rings are more varied and sometimes have things like plants and weather- but for you, stuck here in the pride ring, in the purely physical sense I'm wondering because-"
Vaggie: "Charlie."
Charlie: "-it just seems like maybe there's kinda an easy way for you to at least FEEL less hot in the mornings and night? Again only in the purely physical sense, since you never do stop looking-"
Vaggie: "Sweetie."
Charlie: "-yes?"
Vaggie: (smiling) "Low caffeine, low word capacity. Cliff notes?"
Charlie: "Oh, right!" (laughs)
Vaggie: (watches) (remining eye soft)
Charlie: "Um- what's with the wrapping yourself in all those blankets? Normally you wear less than me and still complain about the heat. Feels like I'm missing something."
Vaggie: "Can't have your brilliant brain starving for knowledge can we."
Charlie: "No that's fine- I just want you to be comfortable!"
Vaggie: "Well you're right about the missing part."
Charlie: "I am?" (sits) (leans in) "Ooooh, what Vaggie lore am I missing?"
Vaggie: (snorting) "Vaggie what?"
Charlie: "Lore, but I- I'm not writing any of it down!!!"
Charlie: "...much."
Vaggie: (lifts cup) "I'm getting royalties in coffee so it's fine. Write whatever you want in your diary."
Charlie: "I wanna write what I somehow missed out on while observing you!"
Charlie: (scoots chair closer) (chin in hands) (Staring)
Charlie: "I've been observing a normal amount, to be clear. Juuuust in case last part was kinda alarming or worried you."
Vaggie: "I'm not. It didn't."
Charlie: "Okay! So...?"
Vaggie: "It's not you."
Vaggie: (looks away) (sips coffee)
Vaggie: "More of a... 'me missing something' thing."
Charlie: ".....er."
Charlie: "...you've, um." (clears throat)
Charlie: "You do have something on under the blankets. R-right?"
Vaggie: "Yep. Just like you've still got those red cheek spots under your blush."
Charlie: (covering blush with hands) (stubbornly NOT looking away) "So if your clothes aren't missing- what is?"
Vaggie: "My wings."
Vaggie: (gulps hot coffee and winces)
Charlie: "..."
Charlie: "...do the blankets feel like them?"
Vaggie: "No." (another gulp and wince) "They were heavy."
Charlie: (drooping down onto table) (head on folded arms) "Wings are heavy...?"
Vaggie: "They're alive. They've got, mass and weight to them."
Charlie: "And warmth?"
Vaggie: "And they can hold you. Like when you fold your arms around yourself."
Charlie: "Like a hug."
Vaggie: (awkward) "Sure. Whatever."
Charlie: "So you miss them, and..." (drooping) "Wrapping yourself in blankets is the closest you get to feeling like you have them again."
Vaggie: "It's not even close at all, really." (hollow laugh) "I'll get over it. Don't worry."
Charlie: "Get over it?"
Vaggie: "Like with the heat, it's just another part of hell. It's fine."
Charlie: "Hmm."
Charlie: (gets up)
Charlie: "Can I try?"
Vaggie: (shoulders hunching) "...try what?"
Charlie: "Being a better blanket, since nothing can really be like your wings were."
Vaggie: "...."
Charlie: "I'm princess of hell, so I get to decide what's hell's like. A, a little anyway."
Charlie: (walks around behind vaggie) "And this might be a bit cooler? I know I run hot along with not noticing the whole hellish heat stuff, but- at least you'd still get airflow. And. I'd be heavier than a blanket! I think?"
Charlie: (lean forward to look at vaggie upside down)
Charlie: "So. Hug? Can I?"
Vaggie: ".... you don't have to ask before hugging me."
Charlie: "You used to jump when I did. Or slip off afterwards to hide in some high shadowy corner of a bookshelf for the rest of the day."
Vaggie: "Don't remind me."
Charlie: "It was cute! But I should've just asked. And this is different."
Vaggie: "It's not." (lets blankets fall) "Knock yourself out."
Charlie: (kneeling behind her) "I'll let go whenever you want."
Vaggie: "Charlie. I'm not a glass vase. Relax."
Charlie: "No, you're not glass- you're you, and you're tense." (hands on vaggie's hunched shoulders) (plays with ends of vaggie's still short hair) "This is a hug. Hugs need waaaaay more carefulness than glass vases do-"
Charlie: "Also! We still need a breakfast that isn't coffee."
Vaggie: "Slander." (drinks) "No we don't."
Charlie: "Yes we do but it can wait. If- wow, you really are tense." (starts rubbing vaggie's shoulders) "How did you sleep like this!?"
Vaggie: (slumping) "I didn't."
Charlie: "Well if you DON'T want breakfast right now then that leaves time for hugs! Or say the word and I'll switch to breaking out the toast and jam, or doughnuts- if Razzle and Dazzle didn't find them- or something."
Vaggie: "I'll probably just doze off again, honestly." (groaning) "Feel free to step over me when I start snoring on the kitchen floor..."
Charlie: "I would never leave you there."
Vaggie: "That's true. Would be trip hazard."
Charlie: "That's not why."
Vaggie: "You could totally trip over me. Stub your hoof or something. I'm not THAT small."
Charlie: "That's not why either."
Vaggie: (sips coffee)
Charlie: (pats her shoulders) "Hug time?"
Vaggie: "Mm." (tenses up again)
Charlie: "Is that a 'mmmrgh yes' or a 'mmrrgh no thanks'?"
Vaggie: "I've told you, you don't have to ask."
Charlie: "Is THAT a yes?"
Vaggie: (sighs) "Yes Charlie. You can hug."
Charlie: "Thanks~"
Charlie: (leans in) (gently with the hug, arms around vaggie) (extra carefully with the squeeze)
Charlie: "...how's this?"
Vaggie: "...."
Vaggie: (sets down coffee) (touches charlie's arms) "Can I-"
Charlie: "I'll can let go! It's okay-!"
Vaggie: "No, just. You're fine. Let me rearrange you a bit?"
Charlie: "Oh sure!!! Yes! Whatever you want!!"
Vaggie: "Wings are more, they were more like..."
Vaggie: (shifts Charlie's arms around and leans back into her more)
Vaggie: "...it was more like.."
Charlie: (tries another soft squeeze) (whispering) "Like this?"
Vaggie: "...."
Vaggie: "Yeah." (blinking hard) "It was."
Charlie: "Okay. And that's... okay..?"
Vaggie: "...it's nice."
Charlie: (smiling) "I'm now officially free for wing simulation hugs whenever you want them."
Vaggie: "You gotta sleep sometime, hon."
Charlie: "We share the same giant bed. We can just cuddle!" (butting the back of vaggie's head) "If we can make hell even a little nicer for you, Vaggie, then we should."
Vaggie: "Why both. It's hell for reason."
Charlie: "Because you'll feel better? And that's important?"
Vaggie: "I'm fine with not feel great all the time."
Charlie: "Why though? Vaggie-"
Vaggie: "Builds character."
Charlie: "...Alright." (headbutts again) "Well I'm already quite a character and I like it better when you're feeling better. It makes ME feel better."
Vaggie: “Now that’s definitely important.”
Charlie: “Heh. Just like you.”
Vaggie: (holds charlie's arms as charlie holds her) (doesn't answer)
The Coffee: (slowly cools off while they hug)
-several minutes of hugging later-
Charlie: "...."
Charlie: "How did the wing hugging thing WORK exactly?? You had moth wings, right? Insect wings? I always thought those were pretty stiff- very pretty and fluttery!- but not very bendable. Are some bug wings actually bendy? Or was it more a weird demon thing, like random horns or-"
Charlie: "-Vaggie?"
Vaggie: (slumped) (dozed off on Charlie's shoulder) (breathing softly against crook of charlie's neck)
Charlie: (smiles) "...pretty good hug, huh?"
Vaggie: (snores a little)
Charlie: "Heheh." (smile slipping)
Charlie: "...sorry."
Charlie: (hugs tighter)
Charlie: ".... if I'd just found you sooner, I..."
Cupboard Door: (creaks open)
Charlie: (looks up) (weak smile) "Oh, hey guys- Good breakfast?"
Razzle & Dazzle: (guilty shake off doughnut crumbs)
Charlie: "It's okay. You know she's not much of a morning food person anyway."
Razzle: "Rrr." (flutters into table to peer at vaggie)
Dazzle: (leans back into cupboard)
Charlie: "Oh she's just tired- I'm helping her get some sleep." (actually smiling now) (shifts hind legs) "Um. My hooves might also start falling asleep soon. Maybe you wanna fetch me a pillow or something, please?"
Razzle: (points from vaggie to the floor behind charlie)
Charlie: "Maybe? I think I could shift her into my lap and lean on the cabinets... She feels pretty out of it. One-hundred percent will need a pillow for that though."
Razzle: (flutters off) (pats charlie and vaggie's heads along the way)
Dazzle: (wiggles out of cupboard) (places half an eaten doughnut on table in front of vaggie)
Dazzle: "Ree." (points at doughnut sternly)
Charlie: (giggles) "I'll TRY to get her to eat it when she wakes up. But no promises~"
Dazzle: (huffs) (follows razzle out)
Charlie: "......"
Charlie: (long sigh) (slumps against vaggie)
Charlie: "I'm helping. I can help you- I-" (hides face in vaggie's hair)
Charlie: "...hell can be a happy place too, I promise. I won't let it hurt you again."
....
-somewhere in heaven-
Lute: (sneezes)
Adam: "Go fuck yourself."
Lute: (wiping face with bloodstained sleeve) "Thank you, sir."
Adam: "And take a dunk in the celestial sea or whatever. Extermination was like, months ago- bitch did you even shower?"
Lute: "I did, sir."
Adam: "Went right back into the sinner splattered outfit?"
Lute: "Yes sir."
Adam: "That's gross as fuck." (grinning) "Hardcore. Give me SKIN, bitch!"
Lute: (smirks) (high fives)
Adam: "Even Vagina never went that hard- even when she was fucking you over in kill counts and shit."
Lute: (not smiling anymore) "She was the only one, sir."
Adam: (not listening) "No style! She was boring as FUCK with that lame spear. Stab kill. Stab kill. One hit, no misses, no flying limbs. No fucking CHASES to get the sinner shits really screaming! Just didn't know how to let loose and have FUN with it!"
Lute: "No, sir. And now we know why."
Adam: "Pretty pathetic for one of my girls." (sighs) "Aw whatever. Women, am I right?"
Lute: "She was a filthy traitor."
Adam: "Yeah, pretty much all of you are." (picks at mask teeth) "Lucifer barely counts as a dude either, like, dudes weren't a THING when creation jerked him out. Wanna know why?"
Lute: "You were the f-"
Adam: "CAUSE IM THE FIRST MAN, BABY!"
Lute: "The original-"
Adam: "THE ORIGINAL DICK Father of all winners EVER! And of all those lame-ass losers down in hell, not that they fucking show any respect-"
Lute: "And she will be the last Exorcist ever to betray you."
Adam: "Eh. We'll see I guess. Bet she's fucking regretting it either way, huh?" (grinning) "Probably SEEING the error of her ways.."
Lute: "Realizing she made one hell of a choice."
Adam: "Wishing she hadn't fucking WINGED IT that one time, HA!"
Lute: "We clipped those thoughts pretty quick."
Adam: (slaps lute on back) "That was fucking great. I've got her agonized "oh" face from the wing ripping part as a screen saver- but don't fucking tell Sera that, the saintly seraph virtue prude of a bitch."
Lute: "Never." (smiles) (fingers her sword) "...And thank you, sir."
Adam: "Sword still got some of her blood on it?"
Lute: "Maybe."
Adam: "Now THAT'S gross. Love it."
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I'm dying to see you write Alastor opening up to Reader about his mom, maybe a little angst and lots of fluff? (- v -)''
WE NEED THAT MOMMAS BOY GETTING SOME COMFORT!
Finally Anon, I found the strengh to write this. Sorry it took so long - I hope it was worth the wait! Next story will be less sad, I promise! :'< But I think we can all find some love for our Mommas Boy today, right? (Prepare your handkerchiefs, fellas...)
❤️🦌❤️🦌❤️🦌❤️🦌❤️🦌❤️🦌❤️🦌❤️🦌❤️🦌❤️🦌❤️
Mother O'Mine
Not the kitchen.
Not the lobby.
Not the bar.
Not the radio tower.
Not his room.
You sighed and stilled for a moment, thinking of a place where he could've gone.
If Angel had just shut his damn mouth.
Mother's day was a shit day for everyone in the hotel. You, who never knew a mother, raising yourself in the farce that had been the foster care system, rued the day. Charlie was still in denial about her mothers blatant absence and ignorance, Husk melancholic and tense at the memory of seeing his mother being exterminated shortly after reuniting with her in hell, and Vaggie bitterly wanted to ignore the holiday all together, feeling as though she would be betraying the mother she could no longer reach in heaven as a fallen angel.
Angel had been pissing them all off by breakfast, obnoxiously mocking their various reasons of why this day felt even heavier than others in hell. You knew it was his own way of coping with his mommy issues - something he didn't even talk about with Husk, as far as you knew, but he bordered on being not only menacing, but outright cruel.
Alastor had listened to his rambling stoically, flipping eggs while drinking his coffee with not much more than an annoyed twitch in his brow, but then the spider made the gruesome mistake to mention her.
Alastor's mom.
"What, 'ya think any of 'ya mothers could even look at 'ya without punchin' themselves? Come on, look me in the eyes and tell me Bambi's mommy wouldn't be fuckin' disappointed by what her little fawn has become... Can ya really see a sweet southern lady all happy, lovin', and coddling ol' murder-clown Alas..."
The green explosion came faster than you could blink. You were frozen in place, only staring in fear and worry when Angel landed unceremoniously into the table with the rest of the breakfast, the other residents as shocked and dazed as you were, while the radio static and greenish-black shadows seeped away from Alastor who then swiftly made his way out without a word, holding his staff while his tendrils bristled dangerously.
Alastor had vanished and the only thought coming to your mind - after giving a cursing, groaning Angel a righteous 'You fucking deserved that'-speech - was that you needed to find him before the princess did to make sure the demon had calmed enough not to finally lose it and maul her to pieces. Charlie meant well, but she didn't know. No one did know, except for you, and even you only knew so much.
It's not like it had been an elaborate talk. It just happened, after a nightmare that made him tear up in a mixture of rage and sorrow, a bad memory that had made his shadow basically drag you, half asleep still, from your bed to his in the middle of the night.
Why you? You weren't so sure. Alastor usually preferred your company more than the others just because you were the most neutral, sane person in the hotel. Some would even say impassive. An introvert who didn't draw attention, silent and observing.
But not once had his shadow ever acted up around you, and while it wasn't overly friendly with anyone, it seemed to watch mostly you with curious glances and interested hisses.
When you had finally woken up enough to comprehend your situation, you were sprawled across Alastors stomach with his arms wound so tightly around you you struggled to breathe, strained mumbled words pressed through gritted teeth into your nightgown.
"Mother... I'm sorry... Oh mother..."
He had been sobbing into your shoulders and and shaking against your chest while he let go of a strange anger and grief he never seemed to get rid of while you had, confused but worried, whispered words of comfort in a hushed, soothing voice until you both dozed back to sleep.
Morning broke, and when you opened your eyes again, he was sitting on the edge of his bed, not able to look you in the eyes. He had thanked you, gruffly and with an unsteady voice that made your heart ache, before offering his hand to teleport you back to your room. As far as you were concerned, the weirdest of it was that you felt him caress the palm of your hand with his thumb, barely audible as he mumbled that "that should have never have happened, and we shall never speak of it again." - he was usually a gentleman, and he never touched you this intimately before - but, to him, it was obviously a humiliating and horrible thing that you had witnessed him like that.
And you didn't speak of it. No one knew, and you intended to keep it that way. It was a moment you shared and fragile trust was on the table. You would take it to your second grave, along with all those feelings that had come with it, to prevent it from breaking.
Back to the present, you sighed and massaged the bridge of your nose. You had checked all the obvious places that crossed your mind, so maybe, you should start to look at the not-so-obvious ones... Maybe some place you knew was connected to... His mom...
A sudden pang hit you as you got an idea of where he might be hiding.
"Is this seat taken?"
The roof of the hotel was usually restricted from access, due to the general instability and collapse-prone architecture it presented, but you and (after an admittedly awkward encounter on a hot day that had involved you in a two-pieced swimsuit sunbathing and a very flustered Alastor with a book in one and a severed hand on a plate in the other hand) the radio demon knew about a small nook between the roof's overhead window frames and the hotel's ventilation system, hidden by the growing shadow of the radio tower where no one else ever came looking.
A hideout, a place to go when you wanted undisturbed solitude.
You had quickly left the place, apologizing for intruding a space that Alastor had apparently already claimed for himself (explaining the existence of the lounge chair you've so rudely used), but soon enough he discreetly invited you back, second chair added, to sit in silence together every once in a while, as long as you swore secrecy. It became a place of comfort for both of you, a retreat when life in the hotel got too stressful.
Alastor's reaction to seeing you was a quickly stifled hum before going back to staring stubbornly at the horizon. He looked dejected, and if you would not have known him so well, you wouldn't have noticed the trembling twitch of his ears nor the way his claw tapped impatiently against his knee, his shadow balled in on itself while hovering at the edge of the small roof.
It looked like he was staring straight through the distant buildings of the pentagram to the faintly illuminated orb that was heaven next to hells own sun, while also refusing to acknowledge you or the world around him at all. His smile had slipped into an emotionless line of pursed lips.
"That depends" he mused quietly. "Are you here to make me return to that insolent arachnid and attempt a 'healing' conversation?"
"I think you know I know that I couldn't even if i wanted to." You tried a weak smile.
Alastor briefly met your eyes at that, giving away that, despite his aloof act, your comment got his attention and he considered it before turning back to the horizon, the tense posture relaxing somewhat. A brief silence passed until he hummed an affirmative noise.
"Then you may sit, darling."
After sitting down, minutes passed without a word said. The distant roar of the bustling traffic carried the muffled sounds of hell with the usual maelstrom of catcalling, profanities and general noises of mayhem to you, while you fought to keep a certain twitch in your hands as you counted the beats of his heels clicking on the tiles.
"You must know... my mother was a rare light in a world of filth." he declared suddenly into the silence. "An honest, virtuous soul of beauty and strength."
He said it slowly and, surprisingly, completely unamused, the clacking of his shoes ceasing at once. He stared at the city in contempt, hands clasped together and resting on his legs to hold back a tremble that you caught anyway.
"She, unlike me, had not a spec of corruption in her bones. Wherever she found the warmth and love she shared with me, I cannot fathom. But she did. I may have been mocked and shunned by the world, the bastard child of a black woman and a white man, but I always had her as my home to return to.” The knuckles on his hands turned white.
“But the cruelty of life and the disgusting human that was my father, the unbearable excuse of a man, killed her before I was grown enough to help. Before I was old enough to kill that monster myself."
He spat the words, claws digging deeper until a faint trickle of blood could be seen. "I remedied that circumstance, twice to be exact, although it couldn't make up for what was lost. Nothing I did to him could make up for it..." his smile widened bitterly as his face twitched, recalling a fond, yet regretful memory. "… and believe me, I tried. But it was cathartic nonetheless, and quite educational... for my further career."
You stayed quiet and studied his profile, patiently waiting for him to continue talking. It was painfully obvious how hard it was for him to speak about actual feelings, with his tense grin and his white knuckles dripping with crimson blood.
"I knew, of course, where I would end up after my demise, and that I would never be able to see her again. Because I was sure she'd end up in heaven, like the saint she was. Is." He cleared his throat, attempting to appear dismissive, but you saw it. The sadness, the longing, the resignation, and it shattered your heart.
"Alastor...", you knew he hated physical touch, but your hand reached out on its own, to stop his hands from ripping themselves apart. He stiffened at the contact, but said nothing.
"Don't tell me you took what Angel said to heart..."
"How could my mother love me after what I've become after her death?"
His tone was monotonous, but his hands trembled under your fingers. He refused to look at you, but you saw his eyes, glazed with wetness that threatened to turn into actual tears. How he could still smile was beyond you, you had your theories on that, but that wasn't important right now. What mattered was that he was hurting, and that fact broke your heart. You never knew motherly love, how could you really miss something you never really knew? But Alastor did, and it had been ripped from him in the must cruel way, the impact of it so hard it made him even question the very foundation it was built upon.
You moved your hand from his to cup his cheek and turn his face to yours. His expression was blank, and if it weren't for the tight grin and the eyes filled with an unspeakable anguish, it would have been an emotionless stare.
"Alastor, do you know the poem Mother O'Mine?"
"I'm afraid the memory of it fails me, darling."
"Then, I'll recite it for you."
"Why?"
You gave him a sad smile.
"Because I want to."
He eyed you with stunned curiosity as you reached into your pocket, glad for once for your mostly useless power. You've only told Husk about it, in one of your late nights where everyone else was asleep aside him and your insomnia got the better of you, drunk and as a bargaining chip for one last gin tonic.
The blank piece of paper was a bit crumpled, but it would do. You started to fold it while you spoke, your voice sounded soft and almost like a spell.
"If I were hanged on the highest hill,
Mother o' mine, O mother o' mine!
I know whose love would follow me still,
Mother o' mine, O mother o' mine!"
Your fingers moved with a solemn purpose as you folded the paper this way and that, a skill you perfected out of boredom over the years, the edges turning into an elegant shape, the poem coming from your mouth like a song. Alastor watched your hands move in a trance, not sure what you were doing, but too focused on the faint glow of purple around them to ask.
"If I were drowned in the deepest sea,
Mother o' mine, O mother o' mine!
I know whose tears would come down to me,
Mother o' mine, O mother o' mine!"
There in your hand, sat a little origami bird. It wasn't anything special, maybe a traditional crane would have been better, more elegant, but you were out of practice and for what you intended to do it would work either way. Carefully you reached out, silently demanding for one of Alastor's hands that were still digging into each other. He didn't protest, and slowly raised it to give his hand to you. The tips of his claws were covered in a thin, fresh layer of his own blood, and his skin was warm and slightly clammy. You put the little paper bird on his palm, a speck of his blood staining the bottom of the pristine white paper, and closed his fingers around it, holding it in both of yours.
"If I were damned of body and soul,
I know whose prayers would make me whole,
Mother o' mine, O mother o' mine."
His enclosed hand in your own was encased in purple light, with wide eyes he followed the soft tugs of your fingers and opened his hand. The little paper bird flapped it's wings on his flat palm, looking at him for a heartbeat before taking off and flew in a singular circle around his head before it headed into hells deep red sky, towards the bright heavenly sphere. You watched it until it vanished completely from view, hoping there was a possibility that maybe, with a bit of luck, it would find it's way to her.
"This, Alastor, is what a real mother is. She loves you, I'm sure of it. Always has and always will."
Tears fell silently on his lap, a strangled, coarse breath escaping him. Without warning, he pulled you from your chair into him, holding you pressed close to him. Just like in the night of his nightmare, his face was buried in your chest, arms wound tightly around you in a hurting embrace and shoulders trembling with suppressed grief. His grip was bordering on painful, but you wrapped your arms around his neck, burying one of your hands in his hair, stroking gently while you let him quietly cry into your shoulder, not caring that the wetness of his tears was soaking through the fabric of your shirt. You felt his heart beating rapidly, his pulse erratic and his breathing fast.
"I miss her. Oh, how I miss her."
You held him tighter.
"I know, Al... I know."
You didn't know how long you two stayed like this, him in your arms and crying silently while you tried your best to comfort him, but you didn't care. As far as you were concerned, you would stay here forever if it only meant to lift this weight for a little while from his shoulders.
It took him some time, but eventually his breathing evened out, and he calmed down, his hold becoming less desperate and more... affectionate. You didn't realize it at first, but he had moved, his head resting under your chin and his forehead leaning against the hollow of your throat, his antlers slightly poking the thin skin. It felt strangely intimate, and you wondered if he was aware of what he was doing, but the moment he moved to get up and leave, you knew the spell was broken.
He didn't let go of you entirely, but instead helped you to stand up and held your hand, his gaze firmly planted to the ground, avoiding your eyes.
"Darling, I..."
"Don't worry, Alastor. Although I'm glad I was able to be here when it happened... we shall never speak of this again."
You could feel his hesitation, a strange nervousness radiating from him. His shadow hovered next to him, a hand reaching out towards your face. You smiled at it, and, just for a brief moment, allowed yourself to lean into it's warm, buzzing touch as it caressed your cheek, before you turned and made your way back inside without a glance back to the sudden sound of a longing hum.
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