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Husk was tending the hotel bar on a Wednesday when he heard the faintest of noises from across the lobby. Ears swiveling, he set down the glass he'd been drying.
Even with Angel gone for months, Husk hadn't set aside the habit of waiting up. He couldn't seem to convince his heart that the spider demon wasn't be coming home.
Holding his breath, he waited for when the noise came again. It sounded like a sob.
Heart pounding in his throat, Husk rushed to the hotel doors. He could barely hear anything over the rushing in his ears, except for the faintest knock before he threw open the unlocked side.
Slumped against the other door, pink from blood and wet with rain, was a jumble of fur and legs that Husk had never thought he'd see again outside of a porn flick or a billboard.
"Angel!" he cried, knees cracking as he hit the pavement outside. "Oh fuck, baby, are you okay?"
The other man was burning with heat as Husk ghosted sensitive palms across limbs that looked broken, out of place, patches of fur pulled out where the skin wasn't shredded. What wasn't sticky with blood was just sticky. Husk wanted to get them inside, out of the rain, but first he needed to see those beautiful eyes.
With his wings lifted to keep water off Angel's face, Husk cupped a softly furred, bruised cheek.
"Angel," he sobbed, desperate for a response. "You're home."
Dazed, Angel blinked up at him, eight eyes widening as they took in his face.
"Oh Husk," the shattered soul breathed, hands clutching at grey fur despite the pain. "Husk, I did it."
"Did what, baby?" the cat demon asked, half his attention on the footsteps sprinting across the hotel towards them; Vaggi, as alert as ever, if he had any guess. Followed by Cherri, just home from blowing something up.
Angel grinned up at him, mouth bloody, as the others arrived. Husk could only stare at the gap where Valentino's gold-toothed claim used to be.
"I'm free," Angel sighed, eyes squeezing shut as he wriggled closer to Husk.
The cat demon pulled him in tightly and flashed his own teeth like a smile into the night. If Angel was free of the Vees then Husk had a visit to plan.