servitude.

[ 3 ]

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The man that was sitting on the couch when you first arrived at the Hazbin Hotel is named Angel Dust.

Angel Dust is dressed like a drag queen who does sex work. This observation is not a bad thing, it's simply noteworthy. Angel introduced himself just a moment ago, and now you are sitting on the couch across from him, waiting for the person named Charlie to arrive. Once you had sat down, Angel resumed scrolling through his phone like you weren't there, and he continues to scroll now, leaving you to your thoughts.

Right when you walked into the hotel, you first made note of every door, staircase and window visible to you and deduced which doors were exits and which likely lead to another room, just in case you need to escape. Your muscles are tense, and your senses are hyper-sensitive. A glass gently clatters to your left, and your eyes dart over, only to see a bar lit with green lights sitting snugly against the wall. A humanoid grey cat with red wings wipes slowly at the bar's counter top. He does not look up at you.

You don't know much about hell itself or the people here, and nothing that you've learned so far has been pleasant. This absence of knowledge places you in an excruciatingly vulnerable state, so, like any good prey, you have to be ready to run and hide if you need to.

"Angel, you said someone was here to see me?"

You look behind you at the woman that has just entered the room.

Based on her words, you quickly assume the girl to be Charlie. She has light blonde hair, her skin is pale, and her pupils are red, giving her the appearance of a vampire. Her red pant suit completes the look. There is a small figure behind her, but you don't get a good look at them, because the moment her eyes meet yours, she breaks out into a grin and says, "Oh, hi!" She darts around the couch and sits down next to you with extreme swiftness. "I'm Charlie. It's so nice to see a new face around here! Please tell me your name."

"It's (Y/N)," you tell her.

"That's such a pretty name!" she says. She has a cheery, bubbly cadence that shoves itself in your face. You wonder if this is how she introduces herself to everyone. "Are you here to be rehabilitated?"

Your instinct was to say yes, but then you frown. Rehabilitated? Your words get stuck in your throat, forcing an unnatural pause in the conversation. Unsure of what to say, your eyes flit over to Angel Dust, who is now sitting up, his phone lying on the couch. He licks at his popsicle and twinges an eyebrow at you.

"What?" you mutter, looking back at Charlie. "Rehabilitated? No I... I just wanted a place to sleep."

Charlie's face visibly dims; her smile fades, and her eyes sag. "Oh. Okay. I suppose we could give you a room, if you wanted a night."

"Wh... Is this not a hotel?" you ask, confused. "I can find somewhere else to go if I got the wrong impression. This is my first day here, so I don't really know what's going on."

"Your first day where?" Angel Dust asks. "In hell?"

You look at him again. "Yeah."

"Oh, so you really don't know what the fuck's going on. Charlie, you're nice, why don't you take some time to fill her in?" Angel sits back, letting two of his four arms stretch out over the back of the couch. He has the aura of a spider, but in that moment, as you watch one of his lean legs cross over the other, you notice that you're not really afraid of him, despite his demonic appearance.