My Red-Tinted Reflection (Hazbin Hotel) (Discontinued)

Chapter 11 - The Banquet pt. 2

There was a balcony.

A beautiful balcony, on which the pentagrams red light made it glow as if it was moon-lit.
"I miss the moon," you mumbled, resting your chin on your hand. This was all so stressful. Charming and sly, that wasn't who you were—you were clumsy—you were nothing like this...this character that had spoken with the other demons.

Maybe it was for the better. In Hell it was kill or be killed. And your actual personality would probably get you killed—And you'd already done that once.

"Dreadful, aren't they?" Cooed a staticky voice. You flipped around, prepared to reign all hell on some creep.
You deflated but still kept your guard up. It was just Alastor. Sure, the banquet was a sort of grace period—so nobody would try to kill anyone else—but that didn't mean he wouldn't try anything.

"It's exhausting," you admitted slowly, giving him a sigh while sharpening your gaze. Alastor scoffed and rolled his blood-red eyes.

"Yes, it is." He spoke—and did you detect sympathy in his voice?

"Dance with me."

Your eyebrows flew up as you turned back to Alastor, who was still standing at the entrance to the circular balcony.
"What?" You stuttered out, expecting him to suddenly reveal it was a big joke, or something of the sort. None of that happened.

Instead, he stepped towards you and gently took your hand, resting a thin arm on his waist. Okay. You sighed away from the contact...What this some sort of play at your emotions? A trick?

"Don't be nervous deary, I'm not going to hurt you."

In your mind you grumbled about his condescending tone, but you decided not to act upon it. Maybe he was just being nice? Maybe. You had big doubts about it but at least both of you were concealed from the party.
A large curtain made sure you were hidden from all view. And it looked thick enough to be sound proof...

That's not necessarily a good thing, (Y/N).

Slowly you both trailed around the circle, red light casting deep shadows that slid across the floor gracefully with every step you took. Of course you knew how to properly slowdance.

"Relax yourself, this is a party after all..." Alastors radio-like voice rang in your ears, bouncing and echoing so you had an endless loop of him. Breath catching, your eyes flickered away from your dance partner and you felt uncertainty stir in your gut.
Then a deep pressure that made your hearing muffled and strange, you couldn't seem to make out where and what you were doing and
Then your breath quickened,
and the pace to the dance became faster and

your steps were fumbling and

you were sweating and

then you realized just how much danger you were truly in and

it was too much—

And you vaguely heard a grunt of pain, and  that was when you realized you had been using your dreadful abilities—without even realizing it. You must've hurt Alastor. Oh god—you were still hurting him!

Before you could panic further, your legs began to give away and you fell—but something caught you.
There were now arms around you. Comforting ones, grounding. It did little to calm the overwhelming panic encasing your mind, but slowly your breath returned to you...toned down to a rhythmic in and out. Your eyes opened but you hadn't even noticed they'd closed.

You suddenly felt concrete against your back and it took you a moment to realize you were in a corner. Being hugged by The Radio Demon himself.
Giving up, you set you chin on his shoulder and closed your eyes softly. And that's where you two sat for a while, completely ignoring the bustling noises of the party or the streets of Hell.

He was warm, oh so warm. Your nose was buried in the crook of his shoulder and he didn't seem to mind the tears that occasionally slipped onto his suit.

Then, it ended all too soon. Alastor shifted, disrupting your peaceful placement in his arms. They slid away and you resisted the urge to reach out to put them back around your waist.

He didn't speak, just taking your hand and pulling you up to stand steadily with him.

"There will be a meeting after the banquet in a few minutes. This is where it gets formal, and we discuss what's been happening recently. It is also an introduction, for you." He spoke quietly and curtly, straightening his wrinkled suit and not even looking you in the eye. He just stood, chin just above your ear so he wasn't really speaking to you.

Nodding, you didn't bother talking about your exchange. All you could do was stand uselessly, listening to his statement.

"I'll see you there then." He said, stuffing is hands in his pockets and backing up. Before he could leave to rejoin the party, you cleared your throat meaningfully and he stopped in his tracks.

"Sorry." You whispered, eyes shrouded by the hair that had come out of the bun you'd put it in, "But thank you," Tucking a curl behind your ear, you looked down and avoided his gaze—which had turned to you in what you suspected was a glare—You weren't ready to end the conversation, not really, but he seemed to prefer that.

"Just a formality, Mistress."

You watched him promptly leave with sorrowful eyes. He didn't look back.

...

Again, not a lot of words but I feel like things HAPPENED in this chapter :)
Idk. I wanted this to be a slow burn but I can't HELP myself. Someone s t o p  me
(934 words)