Fandom Of Hotels and Hells

[NobleSixIsInACave]

Max shook his hand, still feeling a bit unnerved by the demon, but he pushed that aside as he gave an awkward smile. "Max...Max Jäger" He said, introducing himself as his eyes shifted to the shadow, once again looking far more unnerved by it. He assumed that must be part of this demon's abilities, although it was hard to tell what exactly the basis of them was, if any of his mannerisms were even related to each other. He was once again surprised when Alastor suddenly made a microphone like cane appear, and Max got the feeling very quickly that it was going to take some time to get used to this guy, even if he was quite fascinating. "Well I was a soldier back when I was alive, so Charlie figured I'd make a good guard, and I figured I'd much rather work here then for anyone else down here in hell...what do you do exactly, if you don't mind me asking?" Max replied, finding courage as he slowly got acclimated to Alastor, entirely unaware of who he truly was.
Angel let out an exhale, and sat up as his expression went back into its normal state. "Ah, its fine now though, I'm out of that life and into one where I can do whatever I please. No rules or anything." He said, a smile growing on his face. He stayed silent for a moment, finishing his own wine, before he leaned in towards her a bit "Between you and me Mal, I don't understand why anyone would want to go to Heaven. We're free to do whatever we want here, why go up there with a bunch of prude, stuffed shirts just to follow a bunch of rules someone else set for ya?"

 

[CometBlaster]

Alastor looked at him closely, before backing up again. He knew that Max was new, so maybe he should cut him some slack for not knowing who he was. “Well, dear friend, allow me to enlighten you.” He said grandly, grabbing Max’s shoulders and leading him around the lobby. He certainly loved invading personal space, didn’t he? “Down here, there’s a unique job for demons with more power than others. Those who aren’t afraid to take a few risks.” A sound of rolling dice and slot machines came from...somewhere. “That job is in high demand and unfortunately only a few have it. It’s called an overlord, and only the most feared entities of this burning brimstone hole can snatch it.” He said passionately. Just then, Charlie came down the stairs. “Never mind, I couldn’t find-oh! Uh, hi, Al....”
Mal? That was a nickname she’s never been given before. Although, it did have a nice ring to it, mal in Spanish mean bad, while the prefix in English means evil or ill intentions. She nodded her head, agreeing with what Angel had to say. “I couldn’t agree more. The only reason I’m helping is because....well, I owe Charlotte.” She confessed. “But don’t tell anyone, I have a reputation to uphold.” She told him firmly. The way she said it wasn’t sharp or demanding, but it still got the point across. She didn’t think Angel would tell, he had nothing to gain and it seemed like they were already becoming friends.

 

[NobleSixIsInACave]

Max glanced back at him as he spoke, listening to him as he started to lead him around. He didn't particularly care about having his personal space violated, having been an athlete in highschool, he was more than a little used to it, although Alastor still made him feel a bit nervous. He found himself looking around for what sounded like the main floor of casino, but there was nothing. Maybe this demon's main specialty was illusion? He thought about what Alastor said, making the connection in his own head, before asking "So you're like a Mafia boss or something, just with more hellish elements tossed om, right?" He asked, looking up at the radio demon, before he back over to Charlie. "Hi there..."
Angel put his hands up quickly, saying "Hey don't worry, my lips are sealed" he mimicked a zipper across his lips, and smiled at her, before it occurred to him that he just told a friend of Charlie's that he didn't believe in redemption and that he was essentially taking advantage of the girl, and that Mallory was no moron. She'd catch on pretty quickly if she hadn't already. "Hey uh...don't tell Charlie about what I said, I know it means a lot to her and...well if I get kicked out here, I have to go back to my "boss" and he's been getting a little controlling lately, and I'd rather not have to go back to him." Angel said, tapping his fingers together a bit awkwardly as he realized the blunder he may have just made.

 

[CometBlaster]

Alastor looked up to and his eternal smile widened. “Why, good to see you, Charlie! I was just talking to your new employee and I must say, you do have an eye for talented individuals!” He said with a hearty laugh, static laughter coming from who knows where. Charlie rubbed her arm. “Yeah....hey Max, this is Alastor...the radio demon.” She said, a hint of what could be called fear. When Alastor turned his back she mouthed “Be careful” and then pointed at Alastor, perhaps implying he was dangerous.
Ah, his boss. She knew who Valentino was too, and if he was looking for Angel Dust, well then, that was a very good reason not to tell Charlie, although she most likely already knows. “While I certainly don’t approve of you mooching off her, I will let it slide, for now.” She added teasingly. “But please, don’t make a fool of her on live television again. Although it was a bit funny, don’t do it again.” She paused, realizing she probably needed to be serious for a moment. “I have no interest in throwing you back to your boss, he seems to truly deserve being down here, so let him suffer.”

 

[NobleSixIsInACave]

Max didn't have to be told why he was called the Radio Demon, it was almost hard to tell whether the voice was even coming from him, or if it was coming from a speaker hidden somewhere on his body. He was already unnerved by Alastor, but once Charlie started to act intimidated by Alastor, he found himself getting much more nervous. At the same time though, he found himself doing everything he can to force that feeling down, and he wasn't sure if it was just because of bravado and pride, or specifically because he wanted to look tougher in front of Charlie. Either, he still had figured out that he need to be careful with the Radio Demon, even before Charlie said that. He took a step away, forcing a friendly smile as he said "Well its been great talking to you, but Charlie was showing me around and having me meet everyone, and we should get back to it...but we can probably talk some more later, or get some drinks or something. I'll buy too" He said, deciding that staying on Alastor's good side was probably a very good idea.
"Yeah, he can be a real dick sometimes, even when I just tried to help him too! But he's an overlord, so what do you expect..." Angel sighed, leaning back in his chair as he remembered what he had done just a few days ago. It was fun in the moment, but after seeing how much it had hurt his gracious host, he felt a ping of remorse, something that was quite rare for Angel. "Yeah I promise I won't, Vaggie would probably kick my ass out or kill me if I tried doing that again anyways." He said, smirking again. "Although pissing her off would almost be worth it"

 

[CometBlaster]

Alastor nodded and laughed. “What a splendid idea, I can see that you’re in the making of a spectacular negotiator!” He told him before turning to Charlie, looking as intimidating as ever. “You have a talent for finding....interesting individuals. Keep it up and we’ll have this Hotel become one of the finest establishments in hell!” He told her before walking off. Charlie kept a strained smile on her face before rushing to Max. “Are you okay? He didn’t hurt you did he? Wow, I can’t believe you kept your cool like that!” She gushed at him, bouncing a little. She should have known her business partner would pull something like that, what was she thinking?! Props to Max for being brave enough, she thought.
Mallory has heard of Vaggie from Charlie, apparently she was a real hot head and probably had more than a few bees in her bonnet. “I agree, perhaps it would be fun to test just how far her limits go.” She joked. While she hadn’t seen the girl in the news like she thought she would, she could hear her screeches in the background as the fighting started. “I wanted to apologize again for attacking you the way I did, you are as bad as a gentleman as I thought you were.” She apologized again.

 

[NobleSixIsInACave]

Max glanced towards Alastor as he left, before he looked back towards Charlie, who had rushed to him. "Nah, he just spooked me...he doesn't seem like too bad of a guy...creepy as hell, sure but...he seemed friendly enough to me at least." He said, giving Charlie a curious look. Clearly, there was something he didn't know about the guy, otherwise she wouldn't have been so scared by him, or so scared for Max's safety. "I feel like there is something I'm missing here about him..." He said after a moment, looking back again towards where Alastor had gone to, and who exactly he had just offered to buy drinks for.
"Oh its easy to set her off, but between you and me, she's a bit of a bitch" Angel whispered loudly, leaning in a bit as he did so. He really didn't want Mallory to go off and tell anyone he said that, Charlie wouldn't like him openly mocking one of her closest friends, deserved or not, although, he had a feeling by now that Mallory wouldn't. He could think of plenty of ways to drive her crazy too, with or without help, and the thought of going off and doing it now almost crossed his mind, however, that joking fun mood was quickly dashed away when Mallory returned to a more serious note. He was glad to hear her apologizing, she had stung his pride quite a bit, as what she had said managed to cut far deeper than the insults of most average demons, likely due to her being more clever than them. Still, he played it off as if he wasn't bothered at all. "Aw its fine, really, I've been dealing with people's shit for almost a hundred years, and it never bugged me before...if anything, I should apologize again, not only did you want none of what I was offering, but I bothered you while you were trying to do your job, which I'm sure was way more annoying than it normally would've been."

 

[CometBlaster]

“Well, he was a serial killer in his life but that’s the least of it. Let’s just say there’s more to him than a smile and some cool magic tricks.” Charlie said, laughing nervously. Oh boy, how could she put this without scaring Max away. “No one knows how he became so powerful, some say he made a deal.” She told him simply, might as well give him the big picture, right? “Just promise me not to get too close to him.” She added, leading him around the Hotel. There were places in the building that looked much older and run down than the rest of the place.
Mallory waved off the apology. “It’s fine, trust me, I’ve had people do worse when I was trying to work.” She told him with a small smile. Mainly the ones bothering her were her patients. She never knew when they would come out of their medically induced comas so sometimes it was a roll of the dice. “Why don’t I put the wine glasses away? After all, you were kind enough to grab them.” She told him, standing up and brushing the seat of her pants off.

 

[NobleSixIsInACave]

Max thought over what she said, a serial killer and one who was powerful enough that he scared Charlie, and kept how he managed to get so powerful a mystery. Maybe he had just made a huge mistake, although it was too late to back out now that he had offered, if he was really a serial killer, something like that could easily set him off. Max nodded, saying "I'll be careful, I promise" as he followed her. It was nice to have someone down in hell who was concerned for him, he had figured as soon as he was in hell that he would be totally alone, and it was nice to be proven wrong. As they continued through the hotel, he noticed that a lot of the parts not immediately visible were quite run down. Glancing over to her, he said "It looks like this place can use some serious renovations..."
"Ah, that's good...I mean, not good that you've been bothered more, but good that I...damn it, you know what I mean" Angel said, throwing up his hands in exasperation, before he started to stand up with her, as he passed her his wine glass. "Sure, if you want to...by the way, are you doing anything later?" Angel said, smirking at her coolly, as he leaned against the wall with two of his hands. It was weird, this was probably one of the first times in a really really long time that he was not asking that question with the explicit intention of getting into the person's pants, but he enjoyed the conversation had with Mallory, and had already decided that he didn't want it to be a one off sort of thing, and he also figured that a lady like this ought to be treated properly, and not like the average kind of girl down in hell.

 

[CometBlaster]

Charlie laughed nervously, looking around the place. “I know...it’s difficult to get repair guys down here. They’re afraid of being accused of believing in redemption or something like that.” She said sadly. She ran a hand over an old table on the side of the hall. Lots of the junk in here came with the property, she guessed that it used to be maybe a warehouse before she bought it. She’s been meaning to get around to clearing this place up, but she didn’t have the strength. Then an idea came to mind, again. She became bouncy again, a telltale sign that her gears were turning. “Hey Max? You wanna try testing to see what your powers are?” She asked.
Mallory laughed a little at Angel’s behavior. “It’s okay, I know what you mean.” She said. She raised an eyebrow at his question. It was an accusatory action or provocative in any way, it was just out of curiosity. Was he asking her out? If that was the case it would be the first time in a little over a hundred years since she’s been asked. She shook her head. “Not unless by some miracle Charlie finds another client in need of help. Why do you ask?” She wondered slyly, already knowing why he wanted to know. Perhaps there was hope for this demon yet.

 

[NobleSixIsInACave]

Max frowned as, even behind her laugh, Charlie looked and sounded incredibly dejected, and he was beginning to get an idea as to just how much of a joke her idea was considered to be, and really to a degree, how much of an outcast the poor seemed to be. The old, rundown nature of the place reminded him of his hometown, and specifically of home, although the shoddy nature of everything was far from a good memory. He was about to say something, and offer to try to help with that however he could, but it seemed that Charlie had already gotten an idea of her own, judging by her sudden change of attitude. Max cocked his head curiously, remembering what she had said earlier about their powers. "Uh sure, but how?...I thought you said they kinda come naturally."
"Well..." Angel began, before quickly faltering. He couldn't just try his normal tactics, which were beyond suggestive, she had already shown that stuff like that wouldn't work on her in the slightest, and on top of that, something in him made him want to be more genuine, if that was even a proper word to use for how he felt. "...I was thinking you and I could make go out to get some drinks somewhere, or maybe to a restaurant, nothing crazy, just nice" He said, one of his hands gripping his arm a bit nervous and as he smiled at her again, the single golden tooth he had, something he shared with his boss, reflecting softly in the slight of the room they were in.

 

[CometBlaster]

Charlie nodded “Yes, they do but what if we were to speed it up a little.” She said, trying to grab his attention. “Usually, when a demon discovers their powers, they do it by accident! It could be during a walk, in their sleep, in a fight.” She explained, pacing a little. She wasn’t even sure if this idea would work. “What if we were to trick your subconscious into thinking you were in a fight? That way, your powers would activate!” She finished excitedly. “With someone as great as you are, I bet you’re powers will be incredible!”
Mallory listened and realized this must be really difficult for him to do. He wasn’t used to asking ladies out on an actual date. That made her wonder once again why the hell he was acting like this around her, it completely went against the reputation he worked so hard to build up! Was she really that intriguing? She knew that Angel Dust intrigued her so the feelings must be mutual. She gave him a genuine smile. “I would be honored.”

 

[NobleSixIsInACave]

Max smirked softly, as she called him great. He didn't exactly know why, but hearing that from gave him an odd warming feeling in his cheeks. "So basically, you want to get me into a fight that I would think my life is at risk in?...how exactly do we trick me into thinking that without actually putting me into a real fight?" He asked her, his cheeks still warm as he watched her pace around. Her idea was incredibly intriguing, but he didn't know about how likely it was for it to be successful. He was beginning to notice a trend with Charlie when it came to that, and to a degree, her admired how out of the box she seemed to think when compared to the average person.
Angel's grin turned into a wide smile, as he clasped his hands together, and loudly said "Great! How about tonight then, that way you can get yourself all ready and what not?" He said, some his excitement bleeding through past his typical coolness, before he quickly hid that away again. It was then that he realized that this could be a serious blow to his reputation, but then again, so was staying here, or at least it would've been, had he not pulled that stunt a few days back. In the end though, he decided that this was worth it. Why should he lose out on what he wanted to do, just so other demons could think of him in a certain way. It also hurt Valentino a bit if word got out that one of his best "employees" was suddenly acting like this, and Angel was still feeling quite spiteful towards that damn moth. Angel then leaned himself against the door, pushing it open smoothly so that he could let both himself, and Mallory out.

 

[CometBlaster]

Charlie already had a plan for that, but wasn’t going to tell him and risk spoiling the surprise. She scratched the back of her head in mock concentration and hummed. She was quite talented at acting when it wasn’t under stressful situations. “Well....” she trailed off, still pretending to think. She glanced at Max’s and grinned mischievously, ready to put her plan into action. She was hesitant at first though, it felt nice to be trusted by someone and she once again found herself thinking how lucky she was that he was down here. She conjured a fireball and shot it at Max. Little did he know was that it would dissipate right before it hit him.
Mallory laughed as he tried to contain his excitement. She thought it was funny how he tried so hard to keep up a cool demeanor. She got up after grabbing the wine glasses again and turned to face Angel again. “That’s a great idea, thank you.” She told him with a smile. She walked passed him but turned around. “I don’t believe you know my address. How about we meet up here?” She asked him, retracting an arm from her body just the lean against the wall for a split second until she got her answer.

 

[NobleSixIsInACave]

Max silently watched her, curious as to what she was going to think up. It quickly dawned on him that in all likelihood, it would have to be something that put him at risk, now that he knew that they would be trying to trick his body into bringing out his latent power, whatever they may be. However, he didn't catch on that Charlie intended to be the one doing that, until he saw the grin that appeared on her face. The moment of hesitation wouldn't have been enough for someone who had never fought before in their life, but for someone like him, he had found himself moving to prepare for whatever she had planned. As her hand was suddenly engulfed with fire, he remembered what she had said about her discovering her own abilities, that they were fire based. As he hand reeled back and then moved forward, he started to shift into a dodge. Although in reality, him not being hit was entirely due to Charlie's restraint, from his perspective, it looked like he only avoided being burned due to his own quick movement, especially as the heat of the flame washed over him as if he had been sitting too close to an open fire. As he regained his balance, he shouted out "Are you crazy, that could've hit me!" unsure of whether that was just a test or if Charlie wasn't planning to stop until they got results.
"No, not yet at least" Angel said with a teasing tone and a smirk, before he dropped the tone again. "Yeah, here would be as good a place as any, maybe at the lounge around...six maybe?" Angel said, as he looked around for a clock, to ensure that they'd both be given a few hours to get ready. He figured rather quickly that his normal attire, which, among other things, made him look like he had a rather well endowed chest, would likely not be appropriate for an actual date. The idea in not dressing like that came across as incredibly odd to him, but then again, what about this wasn't odd as far as his standards went.

 

[CometBlaster]

Charlie’s smug look instantly turned to horror when she realized her plan did work. She rushed over to Max and almost grabbed his arms but refrained from doing so, worried the gesture might be too familiar for her to do it. “I’m so sorry! I didn’t think that would happen! I was never going to hurt you, I promise!” She told him quickly, very upset at herself. She thought that her surprise “attack” would be enough to awaken his powers, but his instincts were simply too good. She should have known. “I’ll never do that again, I swear.” She told him firmly.
Mallory rolled her eyes at his comment but decided to let it slide since he was trying. After being given the time for their date, she shifted her own gaze to the clock and nodded. That should be enough time to find an outfit for herself. She didn’t own any dresses at the moment but there was bound to be a shop somewhere that sold non-suggestive dresses. “That sounds like a grand idea.” She nodded in agreement. She looked back up at him and was once again found staring at his eyes, there was something about them. “I should get going then, Angel. See you soon.” She told him before heading off.

 

[NobleSixIsInACave]

Max found himself taking a step back instinctively as she rushed him, but the look on her face had shifted from a smug, confident look to a far more dejected one, he stopped himself. Just as quickly as she started, she had stopped, which came at both a relief and a surprise to him. His brow furrowed as she started speaking, and he quickly responded to her "What the hell did you think was going to-" He found himself stopping mid-sentence, as he looked down at her, and saw exactly how upset she looked. She didn't need him yelling at her to get the point across, especially because realistically, she had a very good point. He had gotten torn up quite badly in a fight with what was probably own of the lowliest demons in hell, if he was going to survive for any reasonable amount of time, and be anywhere near the realm of useful as a guard, he needed to learn and he needed to do it fast. "Its fine...you just caught me off guard...which, I suppose was what you had to do." He said, calming down a bit as he let out a rather large exhale. "A shame it didn't work though..."
Angel smirked as she rolled her eyes, it was still fun to tease her a little, like he did almost everyone. He once again found himself caught up in her gaze, until she broke it, and told her that she was leaving now. Angel nodded quickly, letting her leave as he thought about Mallory for a brief while, even after she left. His thoughts quickly turned to more immediate concerns, as he placed a hand to his chin and rubbed it softly. "Now, where am I going to get a nice outfit that doesn't make me look like a prostitute and also doesn't make me look like a jackass..." he said, thinking outloud.

 

[CometBlaster]

“I thought it would. I wouldn’t have done it if I didn’t think it would do....something.” She scrambled to say the right thing after seeing how shocked he seemed. She felt awful because she was so sure something would happen. Usually demons figured out what their powers were relatively quickly, maybe Max was hell’s equivalent of a late bloomer? “Let me make it up to you, please?” Charlie asked. After surprising Max half to second death, she figured she might as well make it up to him, after all, she did sorta start this. Plus, there was something about this demon she felt pulled too. Maybe it was his willingness to help her or his cunning. Whatever it was, it captivated her and she really didn’t want him to hate her.

A few hours had passed and Mallory found the outfit she had been looking for. It was a simple black dress that fell to just below her knees and had golden, beaded swirls on the waistline. It was long sleeves but it still felt quite comfortable, and a good thing too. Mallory had gotten tired of going from store to store and finding nothing but lewd articles of clothing. She held an employee at one establishment at needle point, until she made Mallory a suitable dress. She’s never felt finer and she strode into the lounge of the Hotel with confidence, now waiting for Angel.

 

[NobleSixIsInACave]

"Its fine Charlie, I know you were just trying to help me...you don't have to make it up to me" Max reassured her quickly and tried to give her a smile despite being a little bothered by having fire launched at him, his eyes looking her over again as he doubled over what she said after a moment of thought. He didn't want her to feel guilty, like she owed him, but admittedly, he was perhaps a little curious about what she had in mind. "How do you want to make it up to me anyways?..." he asked Charlie hesitantly, sure that he was just going to insist that she didn't need to do anything to make it up to him.

Angel had similarly gone off to find an outfit, although he did not have nearly the same kind of trouble she did. In fact, what he wanted to wear, a grey suit and coat reminiscent of his days as a mobster, was a fairly common style, likely due to how common mafia type gangs were in hell. He did have to pay extra to keep that people in the store from spreading rumors about him though, which was quite annoying. Eventually he came back to the lounge of the hotel, and quickly spotted Mallory, all done up in a beautiful dress. "Somehow, you look even better in a dress than any demon looks in the normal garbage they wear down here!" He exclaimed, upon seeing her.

 

[CometBlaster]

“I could give you a little tour around the Pentagon if you want!” She explained with a wide smile. She really did want to make it up to him, even if he wasn’t all that mad to begin with. Besides, this was a good way for her to get to know him even better. “If you don’t want to do anything, we can just take a walk around, enjoy the sights! Or ooooh-“ she twirled around happily, another idea forming. “If you don’t want to walk, we can get a limo ride! It’s really up to you to decide, though.” She added hastily arms crossing in front of her, hoping she hadn’t overwhelmed him with options.

Mallory laughed at his comment and put her hands on her hips. “You don’t look too bad yourself, you might be giving everyone else a run for their money.” She told him. Honestly, she didn’t think he could do it. He looked much better in a suit than he did in his....uh, business attire. “Now did you have a plan for this evening, or were we going to play it by ear?” She asked him. Honestly both answers sounded fine by her. She would even refrain from killing other demons if they decided to go out, tonight was going to be a classy evening, after all.

 

[NobleSixIsInACave]

Max pondered her offer for a moment. It didn't seem like something that was actually going to be a burden for her at all, and on top of that, it seemed like it'd be a lot more enjoyable then sitting around in the hotel. He was usually a man who preferred doing things rather than just lazing about, and although he usually preferred said things to be a little more intense or exciting, he probably had enough excitement for one day. "Alright, sure, that sounds like fun." He then thought for a moment longer, quickly coming to a decision about what they should do. "While normally I prefer to just walk, I've never been in a limo before so I'm a little curious..." He said, once again glancing done at his arm. It'd also be nice to avoid anyone else who might want to try their luck with him, even if only the truly insane would dare threaten him while he was with Charlie.

"What do you take me for, some random bum on the street, of course I have a plan!" He said to her, going to take her hand and lead her out. "I know the perfect place, a real classy restaurant, not like a lot of the crap you'd normally see around here." He led her outside, where a limo he had hired was waiting. Angel was famous, far more than any adult film star would be outside of hell, due to the high demand, and even after ditching Valentino, he had enough money for at least a few dates like this. Maybe after that, it'd be a lot tougher but until then, he'd put on a good show for Mallory. "After that...well that is all gonna depend on how the night goes, I'm not the kind of guy that likes to bet all of his chips on one hand."