Chapter Text
Cherri and Angel staggered up the uneven stairs to her apartment. It was hard going, tangled together in a knot of limbs and continuing fits of giggles that always gave way to full on belly laughs that forced them to pause.
Christ, that was a good night! It was always a good night when she got to spend time with her bestie; cheap booze (a lot of it!), multiple party drugs (and so much more of those again, please and thank you!) and, best of all, some much needed one on one time with Angel.
That man could keep up with her like no other bitch in Hell could. It's what drew them to one another in the first place! He was talented, fucking hilarious, dressed how-ever-the-fuck he wanted and had absolutely no desire to get into her pants. He just enjoyed helping her, going through her dildo collection and commenting on which would give her— or her intended partner— a screaming good time!
She missed him so much! She loved his company and would adore it if they could go back to the way things were before fucking Val got involved. Or before the doe-eyed Princess stuck her little button nose in and decided that what Angel needed was all the fun lectured out of him. To be replaced by talks about the warm-and-fuzzies. Ugh! To say Cherri wasn't a huge fan would have been a huge understatement, but at least Princess Perfect only wanted to help. Cherri just worried that if her bestie started really going for this whole 'demon redemption' crap that he might have to leave her behind...
But, Charlie was keeping him safe, away from Val and all the other fucked up shit that happened when Angel was in that bastards vicinity for too long. And the characters Angel had introduced Cherri to certainly weren't the worst Hell had to offer.
She quite liked Husk, even if the gloomy cloud that followed him around was a bit of a bummer. And she found him judgey, despite the fact that he was pretty obviously a chronic alcoholic. Cherri was not a fan of hypocrisy. But, Angel liked him, thought he gave good enough chat so, meh, what was the worst he could do?
The little one, Niffty, was a tiny little firecracker. Get a drink in her and she went wild! Cherri had made a note to let her try something more fun than just booze next time the Princess asked her to get the motley crew out from under her feet.
She didn't like to linger too long on Pentious... it made her sad. Sure he was weird and awkward and he'd spent the better of part of ten years fucking with her shit! But there was something between them, at the end there. And no, it wasn't because she'd never fucked a guy with two dicks and she really wanted to know what that felt like. It was a loss all the same.
The more irritating character came in the form of Angel's new fuck buddy/boyfriend/ paramour, whatever-the-fuck the crazy old Radio Demon had called it. He was a menace! Always concocting some new scheme that, of course, had demands on Angel's time. It was like a kick to the cunt every time Angel cancelled their plans because Alastor had found some ol' timey shit hole where he could show Angel off.
She didn't want to be a dick about it— she was overjoyed that her bestie finally had a guy who would treat him right. Someone who would realise he was far more than a dumb bimbo, with legs for days who could out-suck and out-fuck any slut who tried to take his mantel as the best in the biz.
Cherri got it; she really did. Alastor was a gentleman who made her best friend feel like the queen he was. She just didn't want him taking up every second of his goddamn time!
Ugh! She hated this ugly jealous feeling. She'd just never had to split her time with Angel with someone he actually wanted to spend time with. If he had a john lined up, no bother, he'd text Cherri to meet him after. Had a long shoot, great, she'd meet him at their favourite club and dance and snort the night away. Laugh so hard their problems couldn't touch them.
She just missed this, them, together out on the town without a care in the universe.
However, she resolved to enjoy the night. Let future Cherri deal with the hang-over and whatever-else would come their way in the morning.
They were stumbling their way along the hall, Cherri haphazardly raking through the pockets on her huge leather jacket for her keys and groaned when they weren't where she thought she'd put them.
Angel sniggered beside her, leaning on the door frame to support his tall, drunk/high ass.
“Yknow, m'ght be an idea ta put them in tha same place so ya don' lose 'em so often,” Angel commented with a stupid-taunting look on his face.
“Shuddup, bitch! These are deep fuckin' pockets, they'll be here somewhere!” Cherri grumbled as she started to empty the contents all over the floor with no particular care.
Angel laughed again and offered no hands to help. It wasn't like he had four that he could utilise without too much effort. Drunk bastard!
Ah-hah! Found 'em! Right beside the strip of condoms she hadn't gotten round to using that particular night. Oh well, there was always tomorrow, for her at least. She gathered her 'essentials' prior to turning to Angel, who was staring at the flickering hallway light and looked deep in contemplation.
“Hey, can you help me get this crap inside? Or are the dodgy electrics far more interesting?” She laughed and gave Angel a nudge with her shoulder.
Angel blinked slowly as he came back to reality and blushed, his cute white cheeks taking on a powder pink glow. “Yeah, yeah, no probs suga-tits,” Angel held out his lower set of arms to her. “Just thinkin' a should head back. Ta the Hotel.”
Cherri sighed as she went to unlock the door. She wasn't gonna argue him into spending time with her and she was reasonably certain that once Angel was inside, he'd get his second wind. He usually did.
But, as she slid the key into her top lock, the door creaked open ominously. Cherri looked up to her friend with her eye narrowed and scowled. She never left her door unlocked; far too many sickos in this building would jump at the opportunity to rob her blind if it was offered to them.
Angel knew that too. He nodded at her and produced one of his many concealed guns as Cherri slipped a bomb from her inside pocket. She didn't really want to blow this roof off this one— she was quite settled here now— but hey, if it had to go, it had to go. She couldn't get too sentimental about these things.
Cherri kicked the door open, lighter primed and lit while Angel cocked his gun, “Alright, whoever-the-fucks in here, you've got twenty seconds to get the Hell out before I blow this place across the damn Pentagram!”
The anger, however, was quickly replaced with irritation and frustration when they found Alastor sitting on her ratty-ass couch with a book in hand and some fruity fucking lamp that she certainly didn't own to illuminate the room. Cherri huffed loudly, her upper lip twitching with irritation.
“Aww baby!” Angel cooed, all smiles and delight as he scampered over to the demon with so much sweet enthusiasm it made Cherri's teeth ache. Bloody fucking Hell.
“The fuck you doin' in here?” She asked sharply, lowering her lighter and tucking her bomb away.
Alastor chuckled smoothly as Angel all but pounced into his lap, wrapping each one of those long limbs around him, “Ya didn' 'ave ta come all this way fur lil ol' me!”
Okay, despite her being mad about the eldritch horror breaking and entering into her apartment, it was delightfully endearing to see Angel all loved up and sweet on someone who was actually taking care of him. She had to stop the twitch at the corner of her mouth that threatened to curve into a smile. She was supposed to be angry here!
This was her space, her time with her friend. Alastor had no right just to waltz right in like he owned the place. Radio Demon or not! She was combating the urge to shove some plastic explosive up his rear end to make a point to the effect.
“Yes, well, I had no idea what time you'd get home, sweet one. Nor what state you'd be in. I wanted to make sure you were in safe and capable hands!” Alastor told him as he helped Angel get comfortable. He shot a glance over to Cherri, who hadn't moved, and who was impatiently tapping the platform of her heel against the knock-off Persian rug.
“Yeah, he's with me, dip-shit. I know how to look after him when he's partied too hard. No need to worry,” Cherri scratched a little. “And this is nothin'! So, if you can, I dunno, fuck off so we can have the rest of our night?”
Angel's head snapped straight up, looking at Cherri with sad, worried eyes as the buzzing around them dropped low. Cherri scowled harshly. If this jackass was going to break in and then try to threaten her in her own damn house, he had another thing fucking coming!
“Al, baby, please don—” Angel began to plead but was gently silenced by a touch of Alastor's fingers to his lips.
“No need to worry, mon cœur. I do believe it's about time Miss Bomb and I had a nice, little, chat,” Alastor tapped Angel's chin prior to scooping Angel up in his arms as if he weighed nothing and setting him back down softly.
Well, at least he had the physical strength to match those powers of his. More than enough to toss Angel around anyway he wanted. Cherri sniggered at the thought but covered her mouth with her hand. This was going to be a serious talk, damnit! She wasn't about to let Mr Fancy Pants talk circles around her just because she wanted unchaperoned time with her bestie. Fuck that and fuck him!
Cherri straightened herself up, making sure she was more than ready for whatever Alastor was about to throw at her. But the blow never came. Instead, the man was walking into her kitchenette and had taken it upon himself to rake through her cupboards!
Rude wanker!
“My dear, would you happen to have any beverages that aren't carbonated or filled with alcohol and sugar? I believe this conversation calls for something more caffeinated than inebriating,” he asked her over his stupidly broad shoulder.
“Got some hydrogen-peroxide kicking about if that gets your tongue wet,” She snarled, grinding her teeth.
She turned back to Angel, giving him her what-the-fuck shrug prior to throwing her hands in Alastor's direction, who was still hunting for God knows what! Angel shrugged back, sheepishly and pleaded with her to calm down with his big, concerned eyes.
Cherri rolled hers and went to see if she could assist Alastor with what-ever-the-fuck he was looking for.
“So...” She began but was swiftly interrupted by Alastor bouncing on his heels.
“Aha! This will do nicely,” He cooed, holding up an old and split bag of coffee grounds. He hummed some old tune as he dusted off the coffee maker in the corner and filled it up.
All with his hands, not a hint of magic involved. She couldn't call it anything but... domestic! Who would have thought that the Radio Demon was so politely house trained? Certainly not her. But then, she only had Angel's stories to go on and they tended to revolve around their fucking; how often, how many positions they'd tried to date, the intensity of it etcetera and so on.
Yet here he was, helping himself and making coffee for her.
Oh, this was going to be wild!
Once brewed, Alastor made his way to her tiny excuse for a kitchen bar and set down two mugs before perching on one of the high stools. He looked over at Cherri with a gleeful glint in his eyes and a smile on his face. To at least be fair to him, he was never not smiling. Angel might be able to gauge what the Radio Demon was feeling by its size, shape and intensity alone, but Cherri barely knew the guy! From where she was standing, it was just downright unsettling.
“Please, have a seat, my dear,” Alastor motioned to the stool opposite him with a flourish of his wrist.
“Ain't that supposed to be my line? Y'know, since it is my place,” She tried not to sound bitchy. For Angel's sake, she really did. She just wasn't doing a very good job of it.
“Certainly! However, since I did show up here, completely unannounced, I think making a pot of questionable coffee is the very least I can do,” He chuckled.
Cherri never took her eye off him as she marched over and jumped into place, “So, you said we have to have a 'nice, lil, chat’?” She mocked the tone of his voice but couldn't quite nail the timbre. She made a note to try harder at that in the future.
“Indeed! I would like to discuss how we can peacefully navigate spending time with our dear Angel,” Alastor motioned towards him, still worrying on the couch for Cherri's safety. “You see, he feels terribly conflicted. He is devoted to both our relationships and doesn't want to disappoint either of us.”
“Yeah, I know. He's my best mate,” Cherri cracked a hint of a smile.
“And you are his! Now, I do hate encroaching on your time together as it is precious to the both of you. However, I also cherish the time he devotes to me. And I do like our time together to be completely uninterrupted, if you understand my meaning?”
“Yeah, I gotcha. Look, the last thing I want is for this to be an issue. But I wanna spend time with my friend where he's not worried about running back to you. He's gotta be able to make his own choices,” Cherri reached out for her cup and twisted it between her palms, accepting the beverage without actually drinking it. She wasn't ready to come down too far just yet.
“Agreed. He's his own man now and I certainly don't keep him on a leash. Unless, of course, he's asked me for that explicitly,” Alastor wagged his brows smoothly as he took a sip of the terrible coffee.
They both turned on their stools to Angel then, his poor face bright pink and his markings pulsing. The Angie that Cherri knew wouldn't get so flustered over a mention of some bondage play. Shit, he must really like this guy.
“Okay, then what do you propose?” Cherri winked at Angel slyly before turning her attention to Alastor again.
Alastor hummed into his coffee, contemplating, “How about we spend time together?” He asked.
“Like, the three of us? No offence, Mr Fancy Pants, but I'm pretty sure the things we get up to ain't exactly your scene,” She scoffed.
“That may be true, however, I'm finding this extremely pleasant!” Alastor cooed again, happy, jovial music emitting from him with an old school record scratch.
Cherri arched her brow sceptically, “Yeah, it's a real riot.” She cast her gaze back to her friend and relented, “Fine, I think I can do that. Just so long as it's not every time we wanna hang.”
“Splendid! I believe I can agree to those terms. Angel, my sweet one, what do you think? Would this arrangement be acceptable to you?”
Angel gawked at them, as if he couldn't believe such a conversation went so swimmingly, especially since no bombs or threats of violence were tossed around like rice at a wedding. It made Cherri's heart warm.
Alastor seemed to really care. He wasn't trying to cut Angel off from his friends to keep him all for himself or drag Angel back down a dark path that could end in eternal servitude. Cherri still couldn't trust Alastor as far as she could throw him, but this was a good first step.
“Yeah, I mean, if it works fer you guys, it works fer me,” Angel smiled shyly, practically glowing as he watched Cherri and Alastor reach an agreement.
“Excellent!” Alastor jumped to his feet theatrically with a turn of his weird-ass talking cane, “Now, dearheart, I shall leave you in Miss Bomb's very capable hands and see you when you return,” He walked right into Angel's space and kissed him on the cheek.
“Nu-uh, Smiles. Ya don' get off that easy. If I ain't seein' ya till tomorrow, ya'd betta gimme one fuck of a good kiss ta keep me goin',” Angel purred as he reached up to wrap his top arms around Alastor's neck.
Alastor didn't hesitate, seeming not to mind that they weren't exactly in private. He bent Angel back, Hollywood style, before giving him a deep, passion filled kiss that even took Cherri's breath away! It was... well, it was all manner of hot!
And she'd seen all of Angel's movies, the one's he was super proud of and the ones that near broke him. But something in that loving, all encompassing kiss really did a number on him.
All of them, if she was being brutally honest with herself. She suddenly felt the air get warmer around her, making her want to slink out of her jacket.
Then, it ended, and Angel looked satisfied down to his very soul.
“Will that sustain you, mon ange?” Alastor's voice was filter-less and clear for the first time... ever as far as Cherri was concerned.
“Yeah,” Angel moaned, completely blissed out.
“Good boy. Then I shall see you in the morning. I’ll take my leave. Thank you for the delightful conversation, Miss Bomb. I'll be seeing you soon.”
Without even walking towards the door, Alastor melted into the shadows and disappeared.
Cherri shook herself out of her weird little stupor and almost leaped back to Angel's side. He was still looking dreamy, caught in the aftermath of a kiss that had so clearly floored him. It was a beautiful expression for him to wear.
“Okay, I get it,” Cherri conceded with a huff and balanced an elbow on her knee. “He's one charming fucker.”
“Ain't he just,” Angel still hadn't come down, still on horny dream cloud 69 as far as she could tell.
She elbowed him gently to get his attention back and smiled softly. She tangled one of their hands together and squeezed tight.
“I'm really happy for you, Angie. So long as he's good to you and lets us have our 'we' time every now and again, then I'm cool.”
“Thanks Cher. It means so much ta me fer youes ta get along,” Angel squeezed back.
“Well, I wouldn't go that far just yet!” Cherri laughed, full and honest. “Now, how about we tank a couple bottles of Hooch and get some tunes on before the party completely leaves our system?”
“Do it, suga-tits! I got a couple'a dances left in me!”