Calli gets back to the Hotel, only to see Angel leaning against the bar saying "He's got absolutely shit vision, I swear. The guy had three bills in his hand, that's all, and it took him…like, thirty minutes to sort it all out."
Husk chuckles, asking "And this is the guy you gotta take orders from? Doesn't he have four arms?" How hard could it possibly be to keep three bills straight when you've got more arms than that?! Just remember which bill is in which hand!
Angel nods, laughing for a moment as he says "I know! And those ridiculous sunglasses he wears don't do shit for him, either. Also, he's got this thing about lights - I once saw him with his face pressed against a lamp, guy was completely wasted I think."
Husk chuckles, saying "There's an idea. If he starts onto you again, just shine a flashlight in his face. It'll completely space him."
Calli grins, saying "I see you two are getting along better. What'd I miss?"
Angel grins, saying "I may have gotten completely wasted on that stuff you conjured for Husk…what'd you call it again?"
Calli raises an eyebrow, asking "Dragon's-Breath Bourbon? Uh…how much did you have?"
Husk flatly says "Two glasses, it knocked him flat on his backside. Where'd you get that stuff, anyway?!"
Calli says "I'll bet it knocked you out, Angel, that stuff's ten times stronger than Firewhiskey. As for where I got it, the real question is when I had it. I went on a Bender after the last of my close friends from my schooldays died. Tried every kind of magical drink there was at some point in that period of my life. So, uh, what happened next?"
Husk says "Angel was wasted, I called him out on being fake…and it turns out him being fake wasn't so much an act as the only way he knew how to survive. We worked things out." The two of them were just glad it was late at night, because Angel's meltdown wasn't something the rest of the hotel needed to see.
And, if Husk just pours him a strong drink whenever Angel calls him Whiskers now while Angel stops trying to get into his bed altogether...well, that's their business. Angel did promise to tone it down for him, after Husk flatly told him he really doesn't want to sleep with him if he feels like it's the only way he'll remotely like him.
The detail that Angel can shoot guns and hold his own in a fight is definitely a plus, to.
Calli leaves to head back to her room - she's in desperate need of a shower after the filth in Greed Ring. Mammon's Ring is almost straight out of one of those old movies where everything is disgusting and the air is filled with smog, so she needs to scrub herself raw just to get the feeling of grease and oil off her.
Plus, she probably reeks.
After checking in with Charlie and Vaggie - and making sure nothing terrible had happened while she was gone, apparently the worst that's happened is Alastor being in a bad mood the past few days - Callie promptly heads to her room to do just that.
A straight hour later, Calli steps out into her room in nothing but a towel…and Alastor knocks on her door. "I sensed your return, Lys Calla, how was your little trip down to Lust Ring?"
Quickly changing her towel for some clothes, Calliope says "C'mon in, Alastor, I'm decent. Lust Ring was fine, Greed Ring was disgusting as usual…"
Alastor opens the door, just in time for Calliope to flip her curly hair over and scrunch some kind of cream or foam into it from a can.
"Mammon's an idiot, and it shows in his Ring. Unfortunately, each Sin is allowed to run their Ring however they want - part of the agreement, you see. So, there's not much anyone can really do about the state of Greed Ring unless Mammon gets taken down and replaced by someone else as the Sin of Greed…and, if it hasn't happened yet, I doubt it will. How were things up here? Charlie and Vaggie said there wasn't anything too crazy while I was gone."
Alastor nods, picking up the can of hair product curiously, and says "It was rather boring, all things considered. Turns out, you liven things up quite a bit with your very presence."
Calli finishes scrunching the last of the 'whipped cream' into her hair, and says "That'd be the bloodline luck curse, termed the 'Potter Luck' back in my old world. Crazy shit just happens around me half the time. Always works out, just in the craziest way possible most of the time. Remind me to tell you the story of how Lucifer and I were trying to find out if bears like honey in this world as much as they did in the last one sometime."
The short answer? Yes.
As they learned five seconds before also learning there were two baby bears right behind them. Lucifer also learned Calliope knows how to generate ice on the spot, can Apparate, gets incredibly nauseous from Apparating, Apparition absolutely sucks, and can heal large gashes in an Archangel's side about 90 seconds after she forces down her nausea from Apparating.
After a moment, Alastor says "I'll keep it in mind. I do have to ask, though…Whipped Cream?"
Calli glances at the can in Alastor's hand, and says "Oh, that. That and a few other products are what I use to keep my hair from looking like an absolute mess. Only stuff I've ever found that actually works - this world and the last." She's got three products she regularly uses - the Whipped Cream, Curl Cream, and Mousse, and not even Sleekeazy's Hair Potion managed the miracle that is taming her curly riot of hair.
Whoever invented the 'Not Your Mother's' brand had better still be alive if they aren't in Heaven, in her opinion.
Alastor shrugs, saying "Shall we head to the library, then?"
Calli grins, saying "Just let me get my hair somewhat dry. Don't want to get any of the books wet or anything. Meet you there?"
Alastor shadows away, leaving Calli to finish with her otherwise-untamable hair. Putting the whole thing up in a ponytail for the time being, she heads over to the library - it's become her and Alastor's little hideaway from the rest of the Hotel, at times. Angel isn't much for reading, Husk prefers tending to the bar, Niffty spends her time obsessively cleaning the entire hotel, Pentious likes to build things rather than read things, and Charlie and Vaggie…prefer Vaggie and Charlie, respectively.
Hence, the library is usually empty, bar Alastor and the soft jazz he usually has playing - usually, they either read together or talk about their magics, the Hotel, Hell, their days, anything that comes up.
Today, though, Calli comes in to find Alastor's not sitting on the chair he's claimed as his own with a book…but leaning against the wall, his staff playing classical music rather than his usual jazz. "Something up? You're usually deep in a book or want to talk."
Alastor hums, saying "Thought we could try something new. You did say, last time, you'd learned to dance in case the need ever arose."
Calli grins, saying "Yeah, Beelzebub loves her parties and all…" It takes her until Alastor takes her hand in his to realize he was asking her to dance. Glancing at their hands for a moment, Calli says "What the here, why not? Want to pick up where we left off last time?"
Alastor nods, pulling her close and leading them into a slow dance, and says "You were telling me how you ended up representing the Royal Family. What was the official title, anyway?"
Calli laughs, and says "You're gonna love this, truly. Lucifer was hurt - really hurt - after his 'Fall' from Heaven. I'd brought Lilith to him before they could get to her as well, but then it was just the three of us down here and Lilith didn't have any powers at that point. I devised a ritual to turn Lilith from a mortal into a Demon so she wouldn't be defenseless, but it took a while for her to come into her powers - and Lucifer was in absolutely no shape to do anything, injured as he was. So…I sorta bluffed and brute-forced my way through it all at first, because I knew jack-shit about diplomacy at that point. And, honestly, diplomacy probably wasn't going to work for most of them anyway."
Alastor lets out a startled laugh, saying "You're joking!"
Calli shakes her head, saying "Not even a little, honestly I wish I was. I said they'd been named the King and Queen of Hell, and myself their official ambassador. We'd worked out some semblance of a working idea before I went and started getting things organized, so they'd know at least some of what was going on if push came to shove and they had to come down - each of the Sins would have their own Ring they could run however they pleased, they just wouldn't make a move on anyone else's Rings and wouldn't go up to Pride Ring unless they were on official business. Whenever anyone tried to call my bluff, I asked them if they really wanted the Fallen Archangel who could vaporize them with a wave of his hand to put his own business on hold and come down to set everything up. Luckily, it was usually Mammon or Satan that tried something - and they always fell back in line after I knocked them around a bit. The others were smart enough - or lazy enough, in Belphegor's case - to not cause any outright problems. The ambassador title just sorta stuck."
Alastor bursts out laughing, burying his face in her hair as he tries to get his hysterics under control - but that is hilarious."That…I've never heard a better example of bluffing, showmanship, and posturing in my entire existence, before and after my death!"
Calli just shrugs in his hold, saying "Sometimes, you gotta fake it 'til you make it. That was definitely one of those times." Lucifer was injured so badly he could barely move for a solid month, his back took even longer to completely heal, and his body was adapting to his powers twisting and changing from being in literal Hell - needless to say, he was in no shape to do anything at all. Lilith took care of him while Calli did all the groundwork for their reign, and thankfully it all worked out in the end.
Besides, it was setting Lucifer up as the King of Hell or all of Hell's inhabitants coming after him for having been in Heaven at one point and ripping him to pieces - not a difficult decision for her, not in the slightest.
"Did the king ever make an appearance, I wonder?" He's more than a little curious, considering the detail that Lucifer seems to have left running Hell to Charlie...no matter the detail that, as it's organized, Hell is largely self-sufficient and doesn't need much input or direction from him. Truly, that particular setup was genius.
Calli nods, saying "Once his powers had settled and he was healed, he and Lilith made an appearance with me at a meeting between all the Seven Sins - Satan tried to usurp the throne, Lucifer knocked him unconscious with one attack of his own." She may have held back some to give all the demons the illusion that Lucifer is the stronger of the two of them - specifically, 'this is nothing compared to what Lucifer could do to you with a snap of his fingers' - and luckily nobody was dumb enough to try anything after that.
Alastor just laughs again, resting his chin on top of Calli's head, and says "My, my, you continue to surprise me, even now. And here I was thinking I'd learned all your best at this point."
Calli chuckles, and says "I've been alive a long time, Alastor. There's a lot to pick from."
Angel glances at the staircase from where he's still talking with Husk when he hears Calli call his name, and asks "What's up, need something?"
Calli grins while holding up a vial filled with clear liquid, saying "No, but I got something for you. Fully tested, and you won't be puking up literal organs from it."
Angel gapes, asking "You mean you finished the immunizer?!"
Calli heads down the stairs, saying "Mm-hm. Fair warning, though…you'll still be throwing up. It just won't kill you. And, if the smell was anything to go by, it's gonna taste terrible."
Angel shrugs, saying "Considering how much of Val's pheromones I've been exposed to over the years, that was a given."
Calli puts the vial of immunizer on the counter, saying "You're going to need a big bucket, and somewhere comfortable to kneel on because I don't doubt for a moment you'll to be going for a while." She's just put an Expansion Charm on a bucket bigger than Angel's head when she hears a clinking sound and Angel gagging - he downed it like a shot, apparently.
"Oh, Calli, when you said it was probably going to taste awful…" Angel suddenly claps a hand over his mouth, and Calli quickly jumps out of the way as Angel grips at the bucket with the top set of hands while the bottom set supports his weight on the floor.
Husk raises an eyebrow, and says "She wasn't even finished talking, you know." Even still, he goes and sits down next to Angel and starts rubbing at his back.
Angel nods, choking out between bouts of gagging "Worth it…every minute…fuck Val…"
It takes Angel a solid six hours to finish throwing up, at which point Calli offers to just get him up to his room - he aches all over, he's stiff as a board thanks to being hunched over the expanded bucket all that time, and he feels like he's been ripped apart and put back together a few times. He doesn't even have it in him to make a bad joke about being taken to bed, a sure sign he's completely and utterly wiped out.
Slumping over as Husk and Calli's hands try to get him to his feet, Angel slurs out "F'l 'wf'l, gs…"
Husk says "I'm sure. Never seen anyone throw up that much at once. Especially that much red goop - Calli, you're sure that was all that sick fuck's pheromones? Nothing else along with it?"
Calli nods, saying "I've been silently casting diagnosis spells on him this whole time, Husk. He hasn't lost any blood - fluids, yes, we should probably set him up with an IV. Or I could spell water into his stomach every hour or so to get him hydrated again."
Angel groans, and the two of them decipher that he feels like he can't keep anything down at the moment. So...magical IV it is!
Husk asks "You ever done an IV before?"
Calli shrugs, saying "Something like that. There's a set of Runes that mimics the effect, transferring the contents of the container - theoretically, a bag of IV fluids - into the person with the other mark at a set rate. And, before you ask, I usually stick to just drawing the second mark on the inside of someone's wrist in ink." She did carve it into Lucifer's arm as it was going to be a long-term deal, but she healed it up once she and Lilith were sure he was going to be able to handle food - besides, it was with a pen-knife and while he was numbed and couldn't feel a thing.
Angel laughs hoarsely, head rolling to rest on top of Husk's, and he mumbles something they translate to 'You know how to do a lot of things, Calli.'
Calli just shrugs, summoning a large bag of IV fluids and a pen to write on it as Husk gets Angel's bedroom door open, and says "You live long enough, you figure out what you need to learn and either learn it or invent it. I invented these, as it happens."
Husk says "That is awesome. Straight up, that rules."
Calli grins, saying "It's certainly come in handy, that's for sure. Angel, give me your wrist. I need to write the second rune there."
Once the ink is dry and Calli checks the bag to make sure the Runes are working right - they are - she says "I'll let you sleep, Angel. Be back in a few hours to check on the bag before turning in myself. You coming, Husk? Or do you want to keep an eye on him in case he starts getting nauseous again?"
Husk pulls up a chair, saying "I'll stay. Someone needs to make sure he doesn't choke on his own vomit."
Calli just shrugs, saying "Here's a bucket. I'm giving Charlie her dose next. Text me if I need to get down here fast. Angel, once you're feeling better, I'll take you for that flight I promised. Deal?"
Angel grins, giving Calli a thumbs up from where he's half-conscious on his bed, and slurs out "I'sh a deal, Calli..."