Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Valentino was worried. Ever since they’d helped save the city and Angel had come home with him, Angel had been different. Before he’d moved into the hotel, he’d either been high and sweet, sober and sweet, or doing everything he could to make Valentino happy. But now, he was constantly high without any prodding from Valentino. And it wasn’t always a fun high, either.

Angel kept bouncing between sweet and horny, pissy and bitchy, and weepy. But there wasn’t a single second when he wasn’t high. It was getting to be a lot even by Valentino’s standards. Especially with how Angel had passed out a couple times during shoots.

The weirdest part was that Angel didn’t even care about fucking things up. Ever since they’d met fifty years ago, Angel had been so worried about doing something wrong and so afraid of how Valentino would react. But now, he just didn’t care. He wasn’t worried about getting hurt and just did whatever he wanted. It didn’t even feel like Valentino was ordering him to film.

For the most part, Angel was still sweet and fun, but there were times when he snapped at Valentino without even apologizing. And one night, he’d woken up to Angel singing a sad song on the balcony and then breaking down into tears.

After two months of Angel being back with him, Valentino came home from a shoot without Angel, a package behind his back. “Amorcito? Daddy’s got a present for you.”

Angel perked up on the couch like a little puppy, eyes unfocused and hazy. “A present? For lil ol’ me? Is it in your pants, Daddy?”

Valentino chuckled and bent to kiss Angel. Who pulled him down so he was half on top of him. Angel tried to wrap his limbs around him and shoved his tongue into Valentino’s mouth, but he actually pulled away from Angel without even drugging him first. Angel whined and groped his dick, but he just took Angel’s hands in two of his and brought the wrapped present from behind his back.

Angel’s eyebrows furrowed as he took the present. “It looks like a book.”

“Open it, Angelito.”

Tearing open the wrapping paper just made Angel even more confused. “It is a book.”

“It’s a journal. So you can write down your feelings and junk.”

Angel’s expression didn’t change from hazy confusion, but tears started leaking out of his eyes. The tears started coming faster until they were pouring down his face. But he didn’t make a noise and instead just stared at the journal. Finally, he put it on the coffee table, dried his face, and lit up a joint.

“Thanks, Val,” he said with a slightly shaking voice. “I ain’t gonna use it, but it’s pretty.” He sat back against the couch and blew smoke straight up.

Valentino felt a flutter of reflexive annoyance, but that was quickly snuffed out by concern. Dropping next to Angel, he smoked his cigarette and mingled his pink smoke with Angle’s gray smoke. “Kitty, two drinks!”

The robot immediately brought them each a drink and Angel downed his before launching the glass at a wall. It made Valentino feel weird, how much Angel just didn’t care.

He picked up the cute pink journal and held it in two hands. “Amorcito, are you sure you’re not gonna write your feelings down? I think it would help you.”

“Ha!” Angel barked, joint in his fingers. “The fuck do I need help with? Actually, you know what would help?” Angel swung himself onto Valentino’s lap, rolling against him. “If Daddy fucked me until I can’t walk. That would help me feel so much better.”

Even though the hottest demon besides him was in his lap…his dick wasn’t hard. The fuck was wrong with him? There wasn’t a part of him that wanted to fuck. Well, maybe one part of him. But his dick definitely wasn’t in the mood for once. And judging by the shifting expression on Angel’s face, he noticed.

“Val?” Angel’s voice shook a lot more than earlier, tears coming into his eyes as his breathing got faster. “You don’t…want me?”

Rejection burned so bright in Angel’s eyes that he did something he rarely did: he hugged the spider demon without wanting to fuck. Every arm held Angel tight against him, his heart stabbing with sadness for Angel. His Angel, who was so sad that he couldn’t even let himself be with his friends.

“Val?” This time, his name was said in shock, Angel’s body tense. “You, uh, you okay?”

It suddenly occurred to him how it must seem to Angel that not only was Val randomly hugging him, but his dick wasn’t even hard. After taking a deep breath at the side of Angel’s neck, he leaned back against the couch. One hand came up to hold Angel’s confused face, eyes swimming in and out of focus.

“My sweet Angel,” he murmured, guts squirming with some unknown emotion. “My precious, resilient Angel. You’ve been through so much, baby. How about we just cuddle tonight and watch some trash TV?”

Angel’s eyes filled with fear and rejection again and he turned his eyes away. “You don’t want me,” he whimpered so softly that Valentino almost couldn’t hear him. It wasn’t a question this time. It was a statement of such certainty and resignation that his heart broke for Angel.

“Amorcito, no.” He held Angel’s face and stroked his hair. “I do want you, baby. I love you and I always want you.”

“But you ain’t even hard!” Angel sobbed, tears pouring down his face again. “You don’t even wanna fuck me right now!”

“Angel—”

“And if I can’t even be good enough to fuck, then what’s the fucking point of me?! What am I fucking good for if I can’t—”

“Angel!” For once, he didn’t wanna yell, but he also didn’t know how else to get Angel to stop spiraling.

And it worked. Angel stopped crying and stopped talking. But his eyes were still devastatingly sad.

“I want you to listen to me, mi vida. I love you and I want you. Always. But I’m worried about you. I heard you singing last night and you sounded so sad. I thought it might help to write down your feelings and shit.”

“What would help me is if you fucked me.” Angel shot a hand down to Val’s dick and started groping him. “What would help me is if you even acted like you want me. Just tell me you want me.”

Valentino was actually getting kind of freaked out. There had been times when Angel got really needy, but he was always able to calm Angel down with the promise of cuddling and trashy TV. This time, Angel was frantic and desperate, pawing at him and clinging to him.

Even though he wasn’t in the mood for once in his life or death, he made his dick get hard and let Angel pull him out of his pants. Angel squirmed out of his underwear, but kept his tight miniskirt on as he maneuvered Valentino into his cunt.

Fucking Angel was always one of the best feelings in his afterlife, but this time felt different. It was still fucking amazing, but Angel wasn’t really there. He was used to Angel disassociating, but he was always at least a little present whenever they fucked. But this time he wasn’t. Angel was moaning and grabbing at him, but other than that, he was just gone. Angel’s eyes were vacant and there was nothing behind his noises. It got to the point where Valentino had to shove Angel onto the floor and fuck him from behind so he could finish.

Normally, Angel was down for cuddling after a good fuck with him, but this time, Angel just shoved him onto his back, got on top of him reverse cowgirl, and kept going.

Valentino could keep his dick hard for as long as he wanted, so after Angel’s third orgasm, he let himself get soft. He bundled Angel onto the couch, tucking him against his side and draping his wings around them. “You wanna watch something, baby? Maybe Pride's Top Models?”

Instead of responding, Angel got up on shaking legs and walked naked to the drug stash. He came back with two ecstasy pills and a baggie of coke. Spreading the powder on the coffee table, Angel snorted all of it and dry swallowed the pills before he finally relaxed against Valentino. “Yeah. Pride’s Top Models sounds fun.”

**********

As soon as Angel passed out, Valentino unlocked Angel’s phone and got the number for Angel’s friend, Cherri Bomb. He put it into his own phone and sat on the far end of the couch while he texted her.

Valentino: This is Valentino. We need to talk about Angel.

Cherri: What about him? Is he ready to come back to us?

Cherri: You better not be fucking hurting him.

Valentino: Don’t worry. I’m not hurting him.

Valentino: I’m worried about him.

Valentino: He’s constantly high. And if I’M worried, then you know something’s wrong.

Valentino: He’s disassociating all the time & when he’s not, he just doesn’t care about anything.

Valentino: He needs to be back with you.

Cherri: Does he want to come back?

Valentino: IDK, but he needs to.

Cherri: Where is he now? Can you talk?

Valentino saw Angel on the couch, still heavily passed out, stepped onto the balcony, and called Cherri.

Before he could say anything she asked, “Where’s Angie? Is he okay?”

“Isn’t that a stupid question?” Valentino asked, lighting a cigarette and taking a deep drag. “If he’s okay or not. I mean, he’s not hurt, but clearly he’s not okay since even I’m concerned.”

“Where is he?”

“In my penthouse passed out on the couch. I’m on the balcony.”

There was a slight rustle and then Cherri said, “You’re on speaker phone. Husk is listening and so are Charlie and Vaggi.”

“Ooh, I love an audience.”

“What about Angel?” a masculine voice that he assumed belonged to Husk asked.

“Oh, yeah. He’s acting really weird. I don’t even have to prod him with drugs; he’s just been constantly high ever since he came back with me. And he just doesn’t care about anything anymore. Well, he cares if he thinks I don’t want him anymore. But he doesn’t care about me getting mad at him and he doesn’t care about work. Plus, he was singing some really sad song the other night about being a loser and then he started sobbing.”

“Did he specifically say ‘loser’?” Husk asked.

“Yeah, it was something like, ‘I’m a loser, baby, a loser, but just maybe if we eat shit together, things will end up differently.’ Does it matter?”

“Is there any way we can talk to him?” the princess, Charlie, asked. “Does he wanna come back?”

“He’s completely passed out and I don’t care what he wants. He needs to be with people who can actually help him. And that’s not me and Velvette.”

There was silence before a third voice, Vaggi, spoke up. “How do we know we can trust you? How do we know you actually want to get Angel here and you’re not just playing some stupid game with us?”

“Why the fuck else would I wanna give up Angel? I’ve wanted him back since he moved out. I’m not gonna just let him go, especially when he willingly came back to me.”

“...He’s got a point,” Cherri said. “He’s a fucking prick, but he’s got a point. But how are we gonna get him here if he doesn’t wanna come back?”

“Why wouldn’t he wanna come back?” Charlie asked. “All of us are here and so is Fat Nuggets.”

Valentino just stared at his phone. “Are you stupid? The only reason he came back to me was because he feels like he betrayed you all by spying for Vox.”

“He told you that?” Cherri asked.

“He doesn’t have to. I can tell. Velvette and I have been working on this new drug, Love Blind. If I give it to Angel, then all he’ll see and hear is me. I could get him to the hotel that way and you all could take over from there.”

“That’s your plan?” Husk asked. “What are we supposed to do once he realizes where he is?”

“How should I know? You’re the ones into therapy and all that bullshit. I figured you’d be able to use the power of friendship or whatever to get him to stay.”

“We have to come up with a plan,” Charlie said. “A way to keep him here. Valentino, what’s your cover story gonna be for bringing him here? Do we need disguises?”

He snorted and coughed around the smoke from his cigarette. “You won’t need disguises. Love Bomb will make me the only thing he sees and hears. Everything else is just, like, pink clouds. I’m just gonna tell him we’re going to a work conference.”

“You go to work conferences?” Vaggi asked skeptically.

“Yes, puta. It takes a lot of work to keep this empire running. Anyway, I can just tell him that and he’ll believe me. You guys figure out the rest.”

“How soon can you get him here?” Charlie asked.

Stubbing out his cigarette in an ashtray, he draped himself over the balcony railing. “How soon do you want him there? ‘Cause I can easily reschedule my shit and take a day off.”

“Give us…three days to come up with a really good plan. Do you think Angel will be okay until then?”

“Probably. He’s not gonna die or anything.”

“Great. I think. Keep us updated.”

He suddenly regretted contacting Cherri. “Sure. We’ll be there in three days.”

Chapter Text

Three days later, Valentino woke Angel up with kisses and some great head, working to get his saliva into Angel’s body and make him nice and relaxed. After Angel came, Valentino tipped a vial of Love Blind into his own mouth, swirled it around, and let it all into Angel’s mouth. Angel swallowed all of it, his eyes quickly turning pink and hazy. For good measure, he fucked Angel twice, his cum making Angel even higher. They took a bath together and Valentino made them breakfast before taking Angel down to his limo.

“Where we goin’, Daddy?” Angel asked, cuddling up to him in the car.

He leaned forward to hand a folded-up piece of paper with ‘The Hazbin Hotel’ on it before answering Angel. “Just going on a quick business trip, baby.”

“You gonna use me for a demonstration like last time?”

Valentino chuckled and got them each a cocktail from the limo’s bar. “We’ll find out. Tell me what you see, Angel.”

“I see these cocktails in our hands, I see you, and the rest is just pink clouds.”

“Perfect.” He held Angel’s face and kissed him deeply.

Angel quickly downed his drink and climbed onto Valentino’s lap. “How far away is it? We got some time for a quick fuck?”

“Who cares if we’ve got time when I’ve got such a hot and sexy ten in my lap?” They started kissing again and soon, Valentino was fucking up into Angel who was riding him in a perfect, practiced way.

At some point while they were fucking, the car stopped, but Valentino couldn’t be bothered to interrupt fucking Angel. When they finished, they shared a cigarette before getting dressed.

Valentino held one of Angel’s hands and kept one arm around his waist as he walked them towards the hotel. While he approached the doors, there was a sinking feeling in his chest. Like he was giving Angel up or abandoning him. Like he was breaking Angel’s trust. But he knew that Angel needed to be with his friends. At least when he wasn’t working.

The hotel was busy, but he still spotted Charlie and Vaggi watching them from behind the main desk. They both looked worried and so did Cherri and the cat demon bartender who’d come to save Angel and who he assumed was Husk. They all kept watching how Angel clung to Valentino and gazed lovingly up at him. He led Angel to a couch, glaring at any of the guests who looked at them.

“Stay here, baby,” he purred, bending into Angel’s face. “I’m gonna get us checked in.”

“Can I smoke in here, Daddy?”

“Go ahead, Angelcakes. Don’t flirt with anyone while I’m gone.”

He sauntered through the lobby and over to the bar, where the princess and Vaggi had moved. “Okay, what’s your plan for him?”

All four of them kept glancing between him and Angel before Charlie sighed. “We think you should stay here with him for the night. We can drop little hints about where he is until he comes down from the drugs. How long did you say Love Blind lasts?”

“I can make it last as long as you need it to. As long as I give him more while he’s already high, he’ll stay not knowing where he is. You said you need until tomorrow?”

Charlie nodded. “Is that gonna work for you?”

“Yeah, whatever. Just as long as you can make him wanna stay here.”

“That’s why we’re gonna be dropping hints,” Cherri said. “If we remind him of what he’s lost, he’ll wanna come back to us. But if we do it all at once, he’ll just wanna leave.”

“You haven’t hurt him, have you?” Husk asked.

Valentino shook his head. “I mean, I’ve drugged him and fucked him, but that doesn’t count. Especially since he’s been the one wanting the drugs and fucking.”

Husk dug his claws into the bar, but just slid a drink over to him. “Give him this. It’s a drink I always make him.”

“We figure a familiar drink will help him to remember us and how much we love him,” Charlie said. “And maybe through the power of friendship, we can make him wanna stay here.”

“That’s your plan?” Valentino asked derisively. “The power of friendship?”

Charlie rubbed her arm. “Well, it’s a bit more complicated than that, but basically?”

“As long as you don’t have him try to kill me again, it might work,” Cherri said.

Valentino doubted it, but he didn’t exactly have a better plan. “Right. Don’t I get a drink?” he asked the bartender. “It’s gonna look weird if I’m not drinking with him.”

“What do you want?” Husk asked with an eye roll.

“A little less attitude from you, gato. I’m doing you guys a favor by bringing him back. I could’ve just kept him at the penthouse.”

Charlie chimed in with an optimistic smile. “But you didn’t! Because you care about Angel and we do, too. So let’s do our best to convince him to come back home! Valentino, here’s the key to Angel’s old room. We figured it’d be nice for him to be there when he does start to come down from the drugs. Something familiar and safe.”

“Great. Can I get a tequila sunrise?” Valentino asked the bartender, who started making it without a word.

Once he had both drinks in hand, he went back to sit next to Angel. “Here you go, baby. Got some drinks for us.”

“Thanks, Daddy.” Angel leaned against him, tried the drink, and froze.

For a second, he thought the cat might’ve poisoned the drink. But then the tears started. Just like when he gave Angel the journal, Angel stayed expressionless as tears poured down his face.

“Angel? Baby?” He set their drinks on the coffee table and held Angel’s face, ignoring the demons taking pictures of them. “¿Estás bien, amorcito?”

“Yeah,” Angel mumbled eventually, his voice hollow. “I’m fine.”

“Do you want a different drink? Or you’ve got that Love Potion vape. I’ve also got lots of treats on me.”

Angel took an impressively long draw from his vape and blew out gray smoke tinged with pink. He put a hand on his head and his expression twisted, eyes still hazy. “Kiss me, Daddy?”

Despite the fact that he was pretty sure kissing was the last thing Angel needed, he smirked. “Well, if that’s what my baby wants…”

As soon as their mouths touched, Angel was frantically grabbing at him to try and get closer. Their teeth clashed as Angel pushed his bottom lip against Valentino’s teeth to get it to bleed. Angel curled his tongue around Valentino’s, coaxing it into his mouth. Moans and whines poured out of Angel as he sucked on Valentino’s tongue like his life depended on it.

He was about to pull Angel on top of him when he opened his eyes and saw Husk looking at them. The cat’s face was filled with such anguish that Valentino actually didn’t wanna fuck in front of him.

“Let’s go to our room, Angie. We’ll have more fun up there.”

“Sounds good to me,” Angel replied, sliding away from him except for one hand in his own. “Lead the way, Papi.”

Valentino stood and kept one hand around Angel’s waist as he led him up to their room. Once the door was closed behind them, Angel hopped up to wrap his legs around Valentino’s waist, grabbed at him, and made out with him with an addict’s hunger. Valentino responded in kind, squeezing Angel’s tight ass and face fucking him with his tongue. They made out rough and sloppy, spit leaking down their mouths.

Angel started rutting against him, dick hard and hole hot and wet, and he moaned deeply into Angel’s mouth. He threw Angel down onto the bed and was on top of him in an instant, stripping away their clothes before plunging three fingers into Angel’s dripping cunt and three into his asshole.

“Fuck!” Angel moaned, clutching at the sheets with two hands and holding his legs up and open with the other two. “That feels so good, Val.”

“Tell me you want me.” He finger fucked Angel faster, curling his fingers how he knew Angel liked.

“I-I want you so bad, Val–oh, fuck–Only you.”

“Tell me you love me.” Keeping up the pace with his fingers, he lowered his mouth to engulf Angel’s dick.

“Fucking shit! I love you so much, Val! I l-love you and I love it when you–oh, my god–fuck me. I need your dick. Please.”

Valentino chuckled around Angel’s dick, causing Angel to arch his back off the bed with a sharp gasp. His own dick strained and throbbed, aching to be inside his favorite little fuck toy. While sucking Angel off, he debated the pros and cons of making Angel cum from head and then fucking him into overstimulation. On the one hand, fucking him while he was overstimulated would probably make him cry. But that one was also a pro. With how wound up Angel was, it didn’t take much effort on Valentino’s part to get him to cum. One slow swallow around him, a flick of his tongue against his slit, and Angel was shooting down his throat, pulsing cunt squirting around his fingers.

As Angel lay panting, Valentino raised up to make eye contact and slowly lick his fingers clean. “You did such a good job, Angelcakes. Now it’s Daddy’s turn.” He grabbed Angel’s hips, yanked him forward onto his dick, and started using him as a sex toy.

Tears of pleasure and overstimulation were squeezed out of Angel’s eyes, moans and cries pouring from his mouth as he grabbed at the bed and at Valentino. He fucked into Angel hard and fast, the way he did when he was chasing his own pleasure. The bed banged against the wall as he pounded into Angel. One hand closed around Angel’s throat, squeezing until his moans were choked. His wings flared behind him and he went faster and harder and deeper until he was freezing and grunting, cumming deep inside of Angel.

They both lay there, panting and holding each other, for a few seconds until Angel’s cunt started twitching around Valentino’s dick and he started getting hard again. “You ready for another round, mi amor?”

“I’m always ready for you, Daddy.”

Another round turned into two more and by the time they were finally done, they were laying with Angel on Valentino’s chest. Valentino was smoking and scrolling on Voxtagram with his free arms around Angel. Everything was calm and perfect. Until Angel froze.

“Val?” His voice shook with fear. “Where are we?”

“Oh, fuck.” Valentino scrambled for his pants to grab a vial of Love Blind.

“Val, which hotel are we at?”

“Hold on, baby.” He tossed the strawberry sweet liquid into his mouth and swirled it around.

“Are we at the hotel?! Did you bring—?!” Angel was cut off when Valentino grabbed his jaw and let the Love Blind fall into his mouth. Angel struggled at first, but quickly became limp and melted sweetly against him.

Valentino actually didn’t entirely like drugging Angel against his will. Maybe it was just that he’d gotten used to Angel drugging himself, but it felt weird to give him Love Blind when he was struggling against him. But it was what he had to do. For Angel.

Once Angel had swallowed all the liquid, he straddled Valentino, rubbing his hard dick and his wet hold against Valentino’s rapidly hardening dick. “Fuck me again, Daddy. Please fuck me again.”

“Aw, how could I say no to you, mi amor?” Valentino flipped them over, lifted Angel’s legs, and plunged deep into his pussy. Angel was so warm and wet and perfect around his dick. He was so talented and clung to him so sweetly.

The sex was as good as it always was, but there was a moment when it occurred to Valentino that once he let Angel realize where he was, it was up in the air whether Angel would stay at the hotel or go back with him. The thought made him wanna just take Angel back to the penthouse. But he didn’t. Because Angel needed help that he couldn’t give him.

When Angel fell asleep, Valentino checked his phone and smoked. Two missed calls and four texts from Velvette, two texts from Cherri, and ten texts from the princess. He really shouldn’t have traded numbers with Carlie.

Velvette’s voicemails and texts were demanding to know why he was at the hotel and threatening him with castration if he didn’t answer her.

Valentino: Chill, princess. I’m working on something. Don’t call me right now.

Velvette: What the fuck could you POSSIBLY be working on over at that shithole? When are you coming back?

Valentino: I’m working on something with Angel. I should be back soon.

Velvette: Define ‘soon’.

Valentino: In a day or so.

Velvette: Listen to me, Val. Without Vox running the show, there’s a lot of slack to pick up. I can’t have you running around and doing whatever you want.

Valentino: Trust me, Vel. This is important.

Velvette: As long as you’re back before Friday. We’ve got shit to do.

He moved onto his conversation with Cherri.

Cherri Bomb: You better not be hurting him.

Cherri Bomb: If you hurt him, I swear to fuck I’ll end you.

Valentino: Take it easy, chica. He started to freak out about where he was, but I gave him more Love Blind. He’s sleeping now.

Cherri Bomb: Good. We’re gonna spend tomorrow morning giving him hints that we’re here. By the afternoon, we should be ready for him to come off the drugs.

Valentino: Hopefully these hints won’t make him cry like the drink did.

Cherri Bomb: If they do, you know how to make him feel better.

Valentino: I know how to fuck him and give him drugs.

Cherri Bomb: He doesn’t want shit from us. You’ve known him fifty years. If we can’t help him, then you have to. Just get him to a point where he won’t flip shit when he finds out he’s here.

Valentino: And how am I supposed to do that?

Cherri Bomb: Figure it out. ‘Cause we need him back here.

Valentino: I got that. I’m on board with it. Just do whatever you’re gonna do fast. I got shit to do.

With a sigh, Valentino set his phone down and slid his fingers into Angel’s soft hair. The spider was so very important to him. So precious and sweet. Valentino just hoped Angel’s friends could help him get back to normal.

**********

“What’s your schedule here, Daddy?” Angel asked the next morning.

They were naked and cuddling in bed. Angel’s eyes were pink and hazy from the Love Blind, his smile big and sweet. Valentino wanted to spend all day in bed with him.

“You got any demonstrations you need me for?” Angel asked, using his teeth to tug at Valentino’s nipple chain.

He chuckled and ran two hands through Angel’s hair. “We may or may not have a chance to fuck in front of an audience. What do you think about some hot wax?”

Angel shivered in delight. “Sounds good to me. You want me to stay here until then?”

“How about this time, you come downstairs with me? You can stay in the lobby, get whatever drinks you want, and you’ll be closer to me.”

“I like the sound of that.”

“Let’s get going, then. Get some mimosas to start the day.”

He helped Angel out of bed, they got dressed, and he led them down the stairs. Two demons were at the couch they’d had the day before, so he glared at them until they left. Sitting Angel down, he gave his amorcito a kiss on the forehead before going up to the bar. “Where are the other two?”

“Vaggi’s dealing with a mess and Charlie’s running a therapy group,” Cherri replied.

“What, they don’t care about Angel?”

“It’s not like we knew what time you guys would be down here.”

“Whatever. Make us some mimosas, gato.”

Husk rolled his eyes, but made the drinks and handed them over along with a granola bar.

“What, are granola bars some deep, meaningful thing between you two?”

“No. He should just eat something.”

“...Fine. But if he starts crying over it, I’ll declaw you.” He went back to the couch. “Here you go, mi amor.”

“A granola bar? Really?”

“It was complimentary and you really should eat something.”

“Thanks, I guess.”

While Angel ate, Valentino looked around. Lucifer was entertaining a group of Sinners, Alastor was watching over them, Cherri and Husk were still at the bar watching him and Angel, and Vaggi was flying back into the room and landing at the bar.

“Aw, hey.” Angel’s pig was sniffing at Angel’s legs, snorting pathetically and pawing at him.

Valentino’s first instinct was to get the pig away from Angel, but Angel didn’t seem upset and wasn’t freaking out or crying. Instead, he was smiling as he petted the pig.

“You look like Fat Nuggets,” Angel said, scooping the pig up. In response, it squealed in delight and wiggled and rubbed against him. “Aww, you’re so sweet. Can we keep him, Val?”

“He belongs to the hotel, baby. Besides, if you really wanted a pig, you could get yours back from the other hotel.”

He regretted bringing up the hotel when Angel deflated and let the pig down. “Oh, yeah.” The pig put its front feet on Angel’s legs and whined, so Angel started petting it again, but didn’t pick it back up.

Even with all the years he’d been with Angel, he didn’t know how to make him feel better. He knew how to fuck him and throw drugs at him, but he didn’t know how to talk about feelings and junk. Which was what Angel really needed.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Charlie sneaking up on them in a ridiculously obvious way. He knew she was still outside Angel’s bubble of vision, but he wasn’t sure if Angel would be able to hear her. So, he put a hand out to stop her and turned to Angel. “You wanna feel better, baby?”

Angel immediately perked up. “Whatcha got for me, Daddy?”

He pulled out another vial of Love Blind out of his pocket. Angel probably didn’t need more, but he wanted to make sure Angel was nice and high if his friends were gonna be coming up to them. “You ready for another hit?”

“Always.”

As soon as Angel swallowed the liquid, his eyes turned bright pink and hazy. He clung to Valentino with all four hands and was crawling into his lap when he gently pushed Angel aside. “Gotta go do some work, Angie.”

Angel whined. “But Va-al, I need you.”

“Aww, I know, baby. But don’t worry. I’ll be right back.” He gave Angel a kiss and went off to the bar with Charlie. “Please tell me you can get this done fast. Velvette wants me back soon.”

“Are…Are we…far enough away from him?” Charlie asked, looking between him and Angel.

Valentino looked back at Angel laying on the couch scrolling on his phone. “He’s fine. He can’t see you and he’s not listening to me.”

“Well, I had the idea that you could tell Angel that he needs to write down his feelings in a notebook for something to do with work. And I was thinking that we could set up the upstairs lounge and have a little get together for when the drugs wear off.”

“...I thought you were gonna give him hints to let him know where he is.”

“We are! By getting him to write his feelings down and keeping him in the lounge until he can see and hear things again.”

“You aren’t even planning to tie him up or anything?”

Charlie tilted her head in confusion. “Why would we tie him up?”

“To keep him from running away. ‘Cause if he just suddenly realizes he’s here, it’ll freak him out and he’ll not wanna stay here.”

“But if we make him feel safe—”

“It’s not about him needing to feel safe, princessa. It’s about the fact that he doesn’t feel like you are safe from him. Vox made him do some bad shit—”

“You did, too,” Cherri interjected from the bar. “You were the one who sicced him on me.”
“Yeah, fine, whatever. Doesn’t change the fact that if you guys just stick him in a room and stare at him, he’s gonna freak out.”

“That’s what I said,” Cherri said.

“Well, what do you two suggest?” Vaggi asked, looking between them.

Cherri took a drink from Husk. “I also think we should tie him up and let the drugs wear off.”

“How’s that different from Charlie’s idea?” Husk asked.

“Because tying him up doesn’t give him the option of running away.”

“Right?” Valentino asked, arms folded as he smoked. “He’s still gonna disassociate, though.”

“You think I haven’t seen him like that before? He’ll come out of it. He always does. You got a better idea?”

“You’re the ones into all that therapy shit, not me.”

“Yeah, but you’ve known him for a long fucking time. You might be a dickhead, but you should have some idea of what would keep him here.”

Looking at Angel, he knew she had a point. It had been fifty years that he and Angel had known each other. But it wasn’t like they spent time doing any mushy shit. Whenever Angel got upset, they just fucked or got high about it. He didn’t know how to make Angel feel better without sex or drugs. “I don’t know. I just know that if you want him to stay here, you should tie him up. He’s gonna disassociate once he realizes where he is, but you can do whatever to him after that.”

“Is that really a good idea?” Husk asked. “We don’t wanna hurt him any worse.”

“He’ll bounce back,” Cherri assured. “I can go knock him out now.”

“No!” Charlie held her hands up to stop her. “I just think we should avoid hurting him.”

Valentino blew pink smoke in Angel’s direction. “I can get him to let me tie him up. He’d probably be thrilled.”

“Sounds like a good idea to me,” Vaggi said. “How long will it take for the drug to wear off?”

“It should start fading in about four hours and be completely gone in six,” Valentino replied. “If you want, I could let your guests do some physical therapy and fuck him while he’s high. He wouldn’t mind.”

Charlie cringed. “While I appreciate the offer, I don’t wanna exploit him like that, especially without his consent.”

“Your loss. You want me to tie him up now?”

“Maybe wait until it’s closer to when the drug is gonna fade. That way he’s not just staying tied to a chair. And when he comes down from the drug, we should be there for him.”

Vaggi put a hand on Charlie’s shoulder. “Maybe not all of us should be there. We don’t wanna overwhelm him.”

“You’re right. So, maybe just Cherri and Husk?”

“That sounds like a good idea.”

Valentino raised one hand. “Um, excuse me? Shouldn’t I be in the room, too? He’s gonna feel abandoned if I’m not there.”

Cherri scoffed. “Yeah, he’s really gonna want you in the room.”

“When he’s coming down from a love drug, he does.”

“It’s decided,” Charlie said. “Once the drug starts wearing off, Valentino will tie Angel up and then Husk and Cherri will be in the room with them until it fades completely. And then Husk and Cherri will use the power of friendship to make him wanna come back.”

“Flawless plan,” Valentino said with a smirk. “And until then, I get to just hang out here with him.”

Husk paused in cleaning a glass. “Angel can’t see anything, right?”

“Nothing except me,” Valentino confirmed. “The rest is just pink clouds.”

“So, he’s looking at you like that?”

Valentino looked over to see a weird look on Angel’s face. His eyes were still pink and hazy, but they were also sad and longing. He sauntered over to hold Angel’s face. “Can I help you, amorcito?”

Angel melted into his hands. “I’m sorry, Val. I-I didn’t mean to interrupt.”

“It’s okay. What’s up, baby?”

“I…don’t know.” Angel’s face fell even further. “I’m just…sad.”

Casting a glance back at the others was no help, so Valentino sat beside him and pulled him close. “Aww, my poor Angelito. How can I help?”

“Can you just…hold me?”

“Of course, mi amor.” While he held Angel, he hummed a Spanish lullaby and flipped off anyone who looked at them.

Angel cuddled with his head on Valentino’s chest, arms wrapped around him. It was sweet, but it also felt wrong because Angel was so sad.

‘Tell you what,” he said after he got through the lullaby. “How about we go back to our room and have some fun?”

Angel lifted his head. “But what about the stuff you have to do?”

“Fuck that shit. All I care about is that my precious Angel is happy. What do you say?”

“That sounds nice.”

Valentino stood, helped Angel to his feet, and guided him up to their room. He grabbed Angel by the waist and face and kissed him.

Angel eagerly responded, surging up against him and hopping up to wrap his legs around his waist again. His arms draped around Valentino’s neck, moans pouring out of him as Valentino nibbled and sucked and bit his neck.

“Fuck, Val. That feels so good.”

“Already moaning so much? You must be aching for it.” He slid one hand down and groped Angel’s hard dick.

“Always for you, Val.” Angel rolled his hips into Valentino’s hand.

“I’m gonna fuck your holes until all you know is me.”

He threw Angel down on the bed, climbed on top of him, and made out with him nice and deep. When his tongue slid into Angel’s mouth, Angel sucked on it like it was a dick, swallowing his addictive saliva. Angel’s legs wrapped around his waist, thrusting up against him.

One of Angel’s hands reached down to palm at his massive dick, mewling with desire. He cried out when Valentino bit down on his neck and arched his back off the bed.

Valentino fucked him hard and then soft and sweet, just like he did whenever Angel was upset. They lost themselves in each other’s bodies and he made sure to do every little thing that made Angel’s toes curl. Choking him lightly, licking his ear, swirling his tongue just so when giving him head. It was a fuck that was curated for Angel, focusing on doing everything he could to make Angel feel better.

Once Angel had cum four times and Valentino had cum three times, he cuddled with Angel. Cuddling wasn’t something he usually wanted to do, but he liked to sometimes when Angel was upset. It also felt like saying goodbye to him. Because if everything went right, then Angel wouldn’t be going home with him. And he’d be surprised if Angel’s friends let him come back to the studio.

Part of him was tempted to take Angel back and say fuck it to the hotel. But there was a reason he brought Angel there. Things weren’t right with Angel and he needed help from his friends.

“Look at me, mi vida.”

Angel’s face turned up to his, eyes a duller pink.

“What do you see?”

“You, Val.”

“Anything else?”

Angel looked around the room. “The pink clouds are thinner, but that’s still all I see.”

“Good.” He stood and held a hand up to Angel. “Come on. There’s something we need to do.”

“What is it?” Angel took his hand and stood in front of him.

“Something for an audience. Get dressed.”

“Get dressed? For an audience?”

“Gotta leave something to the imagination.”

Once they were both dressed, Valentino guided Angel to the desk chair and started tying him up.

“Hey, Val? Not to question you or anything, but if I’m tied up like this, how is anyone gonna fuck me?”

“Don’t worry about that, baby. Just be good and sit here. It’ll make sense.” Once he was done, he lit a cigarette and blew smoke into Angel’s face. The smoke swirled around Angel before going into his nose, causing him to shiver and sigh.

The second he turned away, though, Angel flipped into anxiety. “Wait, where are you going?”

“I’ve just got something to take care of downstairs. I’ll be right back, baby.”

“And you’re just gonna leave me tied up?”

Valentino stopped at the door. Normally, he just ignored Angel whenever he complained about something. But this time, he turned back and bent into Angel’s scared face. “I’ll be back soon. Do you want a treat before I leave?”

From the look on Angel’s face, he would rather Valentino not leave at all, but he nodded, so he pulled out an ecstasy tablet, put it in his mouth, and gave it to Angel through a kiss.

Within a minute, Angel gasped and started pulling on the rope. A clear outline of his dick quickly grew as Angel strained and struggled. “Fuck, that’s some strong shit.”

“I know, right? Have fun, amorcito. I’ll be back soon.”

“Will you fuck me again when you get back?”

“If you’re good and don’t cum before then.”

Valentino left the room and went back downstairs to where Cherri, Husk, Charlie, and Vaggi were gathered at the bar. “Okay he’s tied up and high on ecstasy. Should be able to see more than me soon.”

“Wait, why’s he high on ecstasy?” Cherri asked.

“He started to freak out when I went to leave. At least he’s horny now.”

Charlie clapped her hands together. “Okay. Cherri, Husk, you guys go up and sit with Angel until he can see you and talk him into staying here.”

“I don’t wanna go up there if Angie is high on E,” Cherri said. “He’s just gonna wanna fuck.”

“But he can’t exactly see or hear you,” Valentino reminded her.

“Doesn’t mean I wanna see him fucking.”

“You can wait outside the room while I suck him off and I can let you in when he can see again.”

“Why don’t you come get us when he can see again?”

Valentino threw his hands up. “You wanted him tied up, so he’s tied up. What the fuck else do you want?”

“I want a good idea out of you, you psycho.”

“Okay, okay, okay,” Charlie interjected. “Deep breaths, everyone. Let’s calm down.” She took three deep breaths and Vaggi, Cherri, and Husk followed along with her. “Now. Valentino, do you need to have sex with Angel?”

He shrugged. “I was probably gonna suck his dick or something to take the edge off. I don’t need to, but he’s gonna be uncomfortable.”

“Well, in that case, how about you go help Angel and text Cherri when you’re done?”

“Ugh, fine. I’ll go back upstairs and let you know when he’s not horny anymore.”

When he opened the door, Angel perked up like a little puppy. A really horny puppy with wild lust in his eyes. He was still hard and straining against the rope.

“Did you miss me, baby?”

“Val, please,” Angel gasped. “Please make me cum. I need it so bad.”

“Oh, yeah? Can’t untie you, baby.” He seductively approached the front of the chair, trailing the fingertips of one hand across Angel’s shoulders.

Angel wriggled with need. “Please, Val. I need something.”

“Okay, baby. I’ll take care of you.” Maintaining eye contact, he knelt in between Angel’s trembling legs. He trailed his fingertips over Angel’s thighs, scraping them and making him shiver and moan.

Taking pity on Angel’s pain, he slowly pulled Angel’s dick out of his pants. It was cute and hard and leaking. The second his fingers were around Angel’s dick, it twitched and squirted, so he squeezed the base to prevent Angel from cumming.

“Fuck, Val!” came Angel’s anguished cry, tears springing to his eyes.

“Can’t have you cumming before I’ve even done anything,” Valentino purred. “I thought you were a professional.”

“You can make me cum again,” Angel gasped.

“I can, but maybe I only wanna make you cum once. Or maybe I want it to be a really good one.”

He delicately wrapped his tongue around Angel’s dick. Not enough to make him cum, but just enough to drive him crazy. He kept it up while Angel writhed as much as he could, moaning and practically sobbing with need. Eventually, he took pity on Angel and deep-throated him.

To his credit, Angel managed to hold off on cumming until he bobbed up and down three times on his dick. And when Angel came, he came hard. Shooting down Valentino’s throat and squirting from his pussy. Angel practically screamed from his orgasm, gasping as Valentino licked him through it.

“Fuck, Val,” Angel breathed. “That was…That was…Val, where are we?”

Valentino rose up to Angel’s level. Terror and betrayal were in his clear eyes, a panic attack quickly approaching.

“Val, why’d you bring me here? Why are we here? Why—?” Angel’s eyes were wild, breathing fast and hard as he pulled against the ropes.

“Angel, Angel, listen to me. You’re okay, you’re safe.”

“I ain’t safe! My friends ain’t safe! I can’t be around them,” Angel sobbed.

Valentino put two hands on his face, trying to make eye contact while Angel looked anywhere else. “Vox isn’t controlling you anymore. He won’t ever again.”

“They still ain’t safe around me! No one is safe around me. I-I can’t be here. I can’t—”

Valentino kissed him. Not to get him horny, but to distract him. With how much Angel was hyperventilating, it was more like pressing their mouths together, but it was the best way Valentino had found to get him to calm down.

He bit Angel’s lip until it bled, but Angel still didn’t calm down. So he dug his claws into Angel’s thighs while biting his neck.

“Ow! Val, fuck!”

Since Angel’s voice was clear, he tucked him back into his pants and moved back so he was looking at him. Angel was still shaking and scared and anxious and breathing hard, but he wasn’t close to a panic attack anymore.

“Are you okay?”

Angel gave him a look of confused frustration. “No, Val, I’m not okay. Why the fuck did you bring me here?”

“You haven’t been the same, mi amor.” He moved to sit on the bed and pulled a cigarette out. “You’re different than you were before this place.”

“How the fuck am I different? I’m getting high, doing shoots, and you’re fucking me all the time.”

“It’s your energy.” While he spoke, he sent a text to Cherri. “You just don’t care about anything. You don’t even care about me hurting you.”

“So, what? I’m a little different, so you just dump me back here to be someone else’s problem?”

“No, Angelito, no. I brought you here because you need help. You need your friends.”

There was a knock on the door and Cherri and Husk came in when Valentino said to. The second they were visible, Angel looked the other way with tears in his eyes.

“Angie.” Cherri approached him and stopped next to the chair. “We’re worried about you. We just want you back.”

“You belong here,” Husk added, closing the door behind him. “We miss you.”

“Don’t you get it?” Angel demanded. “You’re not safe around me. I can’t risk hurting you.”

“That cunt isn’t controlling you anymore,” Cherri said. “You’re not gonna hurt us.”

“You don’t know that! Vox ain’t dead and it ain’t like Val doesn’t control me. You’re never gonna be safe around me, so you should just go.”

“We ain’t leavin’ you. You’re my ride or die, Angie. I love you, ya bitch, and I’m not going anywhere.”

“Neither am I,” Husk said, moving beside Cherri. “Look, Legs, Vox brainwashed you and made you spy on us. Big deal. You don’t think we’ve all done shit we ain’t proud of? But you’re important. To us, to this place. And we just want you back.”

Cherri shoved Valentino aside so she could sit on the bed right in front of Angel. “We know you would never do anything to hurt us.”

“But I did!” Angel cried, finally looking at her. “I had my hands around your throat and tried to kill you. I fuckin’ ratted on everything here to Vox and got this place shit on over and over. I’m the reason that fucker was always ahead of us.”

“If you want someone to blame, blame him,” Husk said, pointing at Valentino.

“What’d I do?” he asked.

“You could’ve stopped Vox. You could’ve not sicced him on Cherri.”

“Well, you could’ve not taken my property.”

“He’s not your property!” Cherri and Husk yelled in unison.

Angel’s voice was quiet and sad when he spoke again, his words a barely-there admission. “Yes, I am.”

Cherri traded a look with Husk before saying, “You’re not. You can just stay here with us, and you don’t have to go back to the studio again. The way Valentino tells it, you’ve been spiraling—”

“I haven’t been spiraling.”

“Don’t fucking lie to me. You’ve been pissy and bitchy and weepy and not giving a shit about anything. You haven’t even been trying to impress him,” she added, gesturing to Valentino standing nearby. “You’re spiraling and you need help.”

“I don’t need help.”

“What did I fucking say about lying to me? Look at me, Angel.”

Angel just kept his head turned away, his hands trembling as he clutched the arms of the chair.

“Angel.”

Angel’s hands gradually relaxed, his face turning vacant.

“Oh, fuck,” Valentino said. He stepped up to Angel and bent into his face. The slightly open mouth, the even breaths, the half-lidded eyes that had no awareness of anything. Valentino recognized all the signs. It didn’t happen often, but knowing Angel for so long had led to Valentino seeing it more than anyone except maybe Cherri. “Yeah, he’s gone.”

“What the fuck do you mean, he’s gone?” Husk demanded. “What just happened?”

“He’s disassociating,” Cherri said. “I’ve only seen him do it like this a couple times.”

Valentino nodded. “Usually, he disassociates to a level where he can still do his job. But when he’s like this…I’d be surprised if he’s aware of anything.”

Husk sat next to Cherri on the bed and put a paw on Angel’s face. It was so tender and sweet that Valentino almost looked away. And when he spoke, his voice was soft and sad. “How do we get him back?”

Cherri put a hand on his shoulder. “He’ll come out of it when he’s ready. We just gotta be here when he does. And you.” She pointed to Valentino. “You should get out.”

“What? Why?”

“Because I don’t want you here. The only thing we needed from you was to get him here, so you can get your psycho arse out of the hotel.”

Valentino’s neck fluff puffed out in irritation. “As it stands now, he wants to come back with me—”

“And we all want him to stay here. Even you want him to stay here.”

“Can you two just shut up?” Husk asked. When they stopped talking, he focused on Angel and spoke in a gentle way with a soft smile. “Hey, Legs. I, uh, I’m not good with feelings, but…I miss you. I like having you around and it broke my fucking heart when you left, cheesy as that is. I just want you to come back.” He kissed Angel’s cheek and gently rubbed his face against Angel’s, purring the entire time.

After a few seconds, Angel blinked, flexed his fingers, and groaned.

“Angel?” Husk asked hopefully. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, Whiskers,” Angel groaned. “I’m okay. Can, uh, can someone untie me now?”

“You gonna stay here?” Cherri asked. “With us and Fat Nuggets?”

Angel sighed and let his head fall forward. “I can’t.”

“Why not?” Valentino asked. “You’re already here. Just stay here and come back to work.”

“I fucked things up too much here.”

“Good thing this hotel is about second chances.” Husk smiled at Angel, but Angel just sighed again and looked away.

A thought occurred to Valentino that he’d never had before. For the first time ever, he thought about destroying Angel’s contract and giving him his soul back. But with the way Angel was, he wasn’t sure Angel wouldn’t just stay with him anyway. But maybe it would help.

But how would it look if he suddenly released a soul he owned for so long? It would probably make him look bad and weak. Velvette definitely wouldn’t be happy if he let his biggest star go. Neither would Vox, but what the fuck could that iPad fucktoy do? Velvette could actually fuck his shit up. But what else was he supposed to do?

He had an idea and approached Angel, spinning the chair and leaning into his face. He held that adorable face, blew pink smoke into it, and spoke with a dominance he knew would go right to Angel’s subby side. “You wanna be a good boy for Daddy?”

Even though Angel was upset, he blinked at him with sweet, subby eyes. “I do. I wanna be good.”

“You wanna make Daddy happy?”

“I do.”

“Then stay here. Don’t worry about anything Vox made you do. Your friends want you here and I want you here. So, you’re gonna be a good boy and stay here until I tell you to come back to work. Understand?”

Conflict swam in Angel’s eyes. Valentino could see he didn’t wanna do what he said, he didn’t wanna stay there, but he also didn’t wanna disobey him. “But—”

Valentino wrapped a hand around Angel’s neck and squeezed. “I’ve told you before, Angel, don’t talk back when I’m giving you an order. Do you understand me?”

“Yes, Valentino.”

“Good.” He gave Angel one last kiss before he straightened up. “If I see you before I call you back to work, I’ll kill your pig.” Normally, he’d threaten Angel, but with how much he hadn’t been caring about getting hurt, he thought it best to threaten something Angel cared about. “See you later, amorcito.”

Leaving the hotel felt like abandoning Angel. He felt like he was walking away from part of himself and it hurt a lot more than he thought it would. He didn’t wanna leave Angel. He wanted Angel by his side. But he also knew Angel needed his friends to help him. Besides, if he changed his mind, he could always call Angel to come back.

**********

He didn’t hear anything from Angel. Not even a text. He usually didn’t hear anything from Angel, but it was still annoying. So annoying that Valentino spent a lot of time keeping Vox’s head in a clear bulletproof case and switching between shooting at him and throwing drinks at him.

Velvette was on his ass not to have any “temper tantrums” or kill anyone, but he still ended up shooting the shit out of a crew member who pissed him off. She gave him so much shit for it, though, that he decided to just not kill anyone else.

He texted Cherri asking about Angel, but she just left him on read, so he ripped off an actor’s arm. He even resorted to texting the princess. She at least responded, but it was just rambling about how happy she was that he was asking and how they were “working with every hotel resident to ensure they’re happy and on the road to redemption.” Which just seemed like a lot of bullshit for she didn’t wanna tell him anything.

He lost track of how many days passed in a blur of shoots, drugs, booze, and business shit Velvette forced him to do. But one night, he was in his penthouse getting his dick sucked by some potential new slut when his phone rang. When he saw it was Angel, he shoved the twink away and answered with more hope and longing in his voice than he expected.

“Angel?”

“Hey, Val.” Angel sounded sober. He sounded stable. “I, uh…I haven’t heard from you. Thought you were gonna call when you wanted me back at work. I ain’t even got a text from you.”

He stood up and walked naked to the window wall, wings hanging behind him. “I was waiting until I heard from one of your bitch friends that you were okay, but none of them told me anything.”

“Right. Cherri mentioned that you texted her. I just…thought you’d call or text me. Do you…not want me back at the studio? Or back in general?”

“Of course, I want you back, amorcito. Velvette’s been nagging me to get you back on camera and I just want you back.”

“I…I don’t think I’m gonna come back. I need to stay here and focus on myself.”

“So, you’re just never gonna come back? Even if I tell you to?”

“We both know you can’t force me to be there. And if you try, then Husk and Cherri will just wreck your shit again.”

“Why the fuck did you call if you’re not gonna come back?”

“...To say goodbye, I guess. I mean, it ain’t like either of us is going anywhere anytime soon. We might run into each other in a club or something.”

“And then what? You’ll ignore me or talk shit to me?”

“I…Look, Val, I been doing a lot of thinking and…I wanna say thank you. You’ve put me through a lot of shit and I don’t forgive you for that, but…you brought me back to the hotel. And that meant a lot to me. So thank you.”

Valentino didn’t know how to respond. “Um…you’re welcome? Though if it really meant something to you, you’d come back to work at least once a week.”

“I can’t. I got a lot of healing to do and I can’t do it with you…I’m sorry, Val.” Angel hung up.

Valentino stared at his phone. He was feeling a lot of things. Annoyance, rage, devastation, regret, and longing all fought for dominance. He couldn’t decide what he wanted to do. Finally, he settled on turning back to his new slut.