Chapter Text
Boredom was the bane of Esther Freeling's entire existence. It gnawed at her brain and chewed through it like a livid carrion beetle that failed to realize she was still alive in her idle state. It nibbled until it reached the core of her mind, and she let out an exaggerated groan.
“Abaddon!” She shouted as she hopped up from the hotel’s stoop to peer through the door.
Inside the building, she could see him smearing the fresh paint on the previously demolished wall and licking his hand clear of it. Dammit, he was preoccupied with bothering Mom.
Esther slumped back onto the steps and picked at the mould that was rooted into the wood. It was a bulbous, grey type of mould, cladosporium if she recalled correctly. Though possibly not, as it seemed to twitch and move like an undulating egg sack. Interesting. She snapped a small bit of wood off of one of the steps and nudged the sack with precision. The wood pierced its grey, fuzzy surface, and it popped open revealing the larvae of a small, grotesque creature. Esther shuddered and stabbed the creature a few times with the piece of wood until it fizzled into a stain on the wood. Eh. Ben would probably power wash it later.
The sound of a car pulling up to the hotel made Esther look up. A black Impala parked on the side of the road and two men stepped out. They both looked rugged, dangerous even. They were idol material for sure, and Esther did not want to make a fool of herself in front of them, so, naturally, she dove into a bush and peeked through the leaves to watch. The two men walked to the back of their car and popped open the trunk. Esther stared, unblinking, as they each pocketed a gun and closed the trunk nonchalantly.
Holy mother of all things badass. She didn't need to make a good impression, she needed to make the best impression. Whoever these guys were, they were absolutely, undoubtedly awesome as hell, and by Satan, she was going to join their team whether they liked it or not.
It was all a measure of finding out what they did, exactly. Were they cops? In that case, they may have been the coolest cops on the planet. Also in that case, Esther would have to kick them out of the hotel on account of ACAB and the fact that her mom had been committing tax evasion for the past who-knows-how-long.
Another possibility could be military, or maybe detectives? Private Investigators? Assassins?! Not that killing people is good, but also assassins!? Even if they did have normal, boring jobs, they had such a cool energy that Esther was immediately interested. They could be like her dads. Two whole dads that would probably be significantly cooler than her real dad. All she had to do was plan this out correctly.
Esther spent the rest of the day interviewing the ghosts for anything they noticed about the men. If she could get any details about them and what they do, she could appeal to their interests and get them to like her.
Stabby Paul was ‘sitting’ on the parlour couch fidgeting with his knife as he spoke, “Well they just gave off weird vibes, honestly. Like they mean business, but not in a good way.”
“In a badass way?” Esther asked, clicking her pen and writing the word ‘badass’ on her otherwise blank notebook page.
“No?”
“You're dismissed, Stabby Paul. Please bring in someone who has actual information for me.”
Despite all her interactions and interrogations, Esther only managed to gather a small amount of information. That they were brothers, they traveled frequently, and they were ‘suspicious’, whatever that meant.
She was getting restless. She had nothing to work with, and it was getting late. She had no way to know how long they were planning to stay, and if they left tonight, she'd likely never meet them again!
She paced the lobby, muttering to herself. “Flannels… do I have any flannels… or jeans? Dammit… maybe I should've gone shopping with-”
“Esther?” A voice called out.
Esther sighed, opening the door to the closet. “Abaddon.”
“You seem uneased,” the demon said as he stepped through the doorway.
“I am uneased!” She exclaimed. “There are these two awesome looking guys that just checked into the hotel, and I want to trick them into becoming my dads, but I can't figure out anything about them!”
Abaddon frowned, plopping himself down under the front desk. “Have you made an effort to threaten them for information?”
“Talk to them?? And then what? They'd think I'm creepy!”
“You are creepy.”
“Aw shucks,” she brushed a strand of hair behind her ear. “But that's not the point. The point is to get them attached to me and then let them realize how weird I am so that they'll be stuck with me!”
“Like a parasite.” Abaddon nodded.
“Well, more like an adopted child. But yeah. Same difference.”
“I could be of assistance.” He emerged from under the desk. “Once, in hell, I latched onto an elder God and slowly drained it of its energy until it became mildly depressed.”
“That’s slightly strange, but I’m loving your enthusiasm!!!” Esther held out her hand for a high five, and Abaddon poked her palm with one finger. “Alright. So—” Esther guided him to the parlour. “Let's talk strategy.”