Flames

What now?

The tension in the room was high, yet, as he had been doing since his arrival, Alastor ignored it. He placed the platters of food down Infront of everyone, his grin tensing up and his eyes cold as he gave his food to Husk. Husk grunted, as usual, despite the fact that he really wanted to continue their conversation from earlier on.

After handing everything out, Alastor sat at the head of the table, directly opposite Charlie, who was at the other end. Everyone was silent for a moment,
"Well? Dig in!" He said, gesturing to their plates. Everyone hesitantly picked up their cutlery and started eating. Charlie took this opportunity to be the first to speak,
"Brilliant as usual Al, but.." Charlie trailed off, what an awkward way to bring up all of the events of the past few days. Alastor raised an eyebrow,
"What? To much Thyme?" Alastor asked, oblivious to the tension.

Vaggie sighed,
"Really Al? Spices? There isn't anything else we need to talk about?" She said, practically pointing out the many signs that maybe something was slightly at hand right now. Alastor shrugged,
"Nothing important, unless you want to waste your breath on where I went off to. But you can try if you would like to." Alastor said, almost in a challenging way. Vaggie set out the stage for Alastor, she knew that if she started she would not be able to stop the slurs coming out of her mouth.

"Well, I actually want to talk to you about the hospital, and the reason for why you left. The noise, right?" Charlie asked, her face stoney and ready for answers, she had prepared her questions well. Alastor immediately began feeling uncomfortable, feelings weren't his thing, describing them even more so.

"I- Well... It's exactly what I said dear. When you're in a hospital, there are constant screams, I believe they come from the people sleeping, comas, similar things to that. Their souls are meant to be in a state of life or death, but as they are dead, their souls float on between the death and the void of nothingness, this plain of existence is known as the end. And as such I would assume you could hear their tortured souls." Alastor had done his research, to see mainly if he could find a spell to eradicate the sounds, unfortunately, he found none. But it's not like he needed to be in a hospital anyway, being a powerful overlord who could heal himself and all.

Charlie studied him, looking for a smirk, indicating a joke, but found nothing. Her face softened,
"Oh Al that must be horrid to have to hear that! But that still is not a reason to leave all of us. We are all upset but that's no reason to-"
" I am not upset." Alastor said, cutting her off, saying it quickly and confidentiality, ignoring the fact that his expression on the day of the fire might've given him away.

Charlie rolled her eyes,
"Could you hear Angel?" A quiet voice said, everyone turned to look at Nifty, who was usually silent,
"Well? He's in a coma? Could you hear him?" She asked once more.

Charlie hadn't even thought of that, somehow, but it would make sense. And if he could, then maybe they could find a way that Alastor could communicate with Angel! That would be great, but it was to early to get hopes up.

Alastor hesitated, the shrieks and other horrid noises coming out of Angels soul in that hospital playing back in his mind, making him visibly shudder,
"Of course I could. However, they were not pleasant." Alastor said.
"Oh no, is he okay?" Nifty said, having a liking towards the spider,
"Well, he certainly isn't having the time of his life." Alastor stated, he made no eye contact with anyone, hoping no one would ask the question.

Charlie felt it was time to move on, however more she wanted to learn she could ask him privately later. Vaggie thought differently.

"So you can help right? We need to know if he's okay." Vaggie said, trying to make eye contact with Alastor, who kept his eyes on his plate and ate the food,
"Can we not talk about this while eating? Please, could we discuss this later?" Alastor asked, gesturing to her own food, which was getting cold. Vaggie looked at Charlie,
"What do you mean!? We just waited at least an hour, you want us to wait longer? Tell us if you can do it, stop being selfish." Alastor looked at her, his eyes trying to decode the words she was saying. Charlie's eyes widened,
"I don't think its about being selfish, I agree that he probably doesn't care about most things but this is Angel."
"You're taking his side now!" Vaggie raised her voice.
"There shouldn't be sides! I'm just saying, we don't understand how the screams, feel to him."

"Oh boo-hoo! He's the Radio Demon, he can suck it up and help us! It's the least he could do." Vaggie argued.
Alastor looked at the both of them, his eyebrows raising in annoyance at the mention of Angel,
"Excuse me, I do not think of myself as selfish. However none of this has to do with Angel. Why do you all act like I actually like the spider, have some sort of feelings for him? He's... Him." Alastor said, looking at Husk, who quickly looked away taking a sip from his beer bottle.

Vaggie rolled her eyes,
"God, we don't need you to pretend to have this tough overlord exterior, we saw you at the fire. Just help and stop trying to desperately keep your ego intact!" Vaggie said, as they both made unblinking eye contact, the fire rising in Alastor's eyes.
"Why is everyone being so insufferable today? Could you all take it down a little, we all need a moment to process this, I don't understand why I need to do this for Angel."

Vaggie scoffed, but Charlie spoke first,
"We're doing our best Al, but we need you to help, if you could please, we'll go with you, but could you go to the hospital and try to listen at what's happening to Angel, maybe find a way to communicate with him? We are trying to handle all of this, take your time to process this." Vaggie responded,
"Oh my god! You are not treating him like this! Like some sort of misunderstood person that needs to be treated kindly and 'take this slow' he needs to help! Otherwise Angel could d-"

Alastor abruptly stood up, taking his plate with him, he teleported out of the dining room, static loud and distracting as it stayed in the air for a few seconds after Alastor's departure. Charlie sighed, Vaggie sighed, they ate their food quietly, dropping things, for now. Once more.