So Much In Common: Book 1

Chapter 2: Scars

Angel Dust found Alastor on the roof, bowtie and jacket cast aside to reveal what appeared to be hundreds of scars on his arms, and to show the bright red lines of fresh wounds as Alastor dug his claws into his flesh and raked up his arm, allowing quite a bit of blood to flow down his arm and splatter on the ground, creating a pool of blood that sparkled like the ruby drops at the tips of Alastor's fingers. Alastor's smile was gone, replaced with a look of pure ecstacy as he ripped into his flesh. He stopped for a moment and raised his hand above his mouth, letting the thick, precious liquid touch his tongue. Angel had never seen Alastor look so...un-Alastor.

He'd heard of people who got high off of pain to escape terrible troubles, Hell he was one of them, but he'd never taken Alastor as that kind of demon. Seeing Alastor lap up the liquid ruby from his hands made Angel involuntarily feel his wrist, where his own battle scars resided. The spider heard the ripping of flesh and turn his gaze back up to see Alastor make another wound, only this time he raised his arm to his mouth.

Hearing the squishy, wet noises of Alastor's tongue enter his wound sent a warm tingle up Angel's spine, making the spider revolted with himself. Carefully, Angel approached the wounded deer, careful not to startle him.

"Alastor?" The Radio Demon's head swiveled in a slow, drugged manner as he turned to the other demon and smiled, the smile was intoxicated and sleepy looking.

"Well if it ain't mah fav'rite spider? Did Charlie send ya to find meh, Cher?" Alastor's words were slow and thickened with a southern accent, which Angel didn't even know Alastor had.

"Alastor, why are you doing this to yourself? Please don't tell me you find it entertaining." Angel Dust feared he'd smack the deer if he said he hurt himself to this decree just to get his kicks.

"Oh no, Cher! I do dis 'cause...it's intoxicatin'. It keeps dem bad thoughts from breakin' mah head. It keeps da real pain away." Alastor licked another red pearl from his finger and took a single, shaky step towards the spider demon, then another. The blood was flowing faster out of Alastor's arm now that it was swaying at his side. The sight of all that blood spilling out from Alastor's wounds made Angel uneasy.

"Alastor, we need to stop the bleeding before you bleed out." Angel ripped a long piece of his suit jacket off, and walked over to grab Alastor's arm. The deer didn't pull away from the spider's touch, but watched him wrap the torn cloth around the long gashes on his arm in intestine fascination. Angel assumed it was because he was loopy from the blood loss.

When Angel was done, he stepped back and watched Alastor admire his handwork. Some blood bled through the makeshift bandage, but all in all it seemed to stop the bleeding. Angel took Alastor's hand gently and started guiding him down the roof stairs. He had to get Alastor into his room before anyone saw them. Now he just had to get Alastor to unmagic his door so he could get in.

"Go on, open your weird voodoo magic door." Angel gently pushed Alastor forward, watching closely as the deer raised his hand with a giggle...and fainted.

"Shit!" All six of Angel's arms popped out and caught the deer as he fell backwards into the spider's arms. Angel Dust took a moment to admire the fact that he literally had the Radio Demon in his arms before carrying the surprisingly light weight demon to his room bridal style. Alastor's head lolled against the spider's shoulder, looking almost cute.

"Yeah Fat Nuggets, I know this looks crazy as shit." Angel said to his adorable pig as he entered the room to an oink. Angel gently laid the deer on his bed, pulling the blanket up to his chest. The spider went into his bathroom and fished out the first aid kit from under the sink, then trotted back over to where Alastor slept so he could properly take care of Alastor's wounds. Angel had experience dealing with these kinds of wounds from when he was still cutting, so it wasn't long before he had the deer's arm cleaned and wrapped in a proper bandage.

"There, all better." Angel stood up and stretched, petting Fat Nuggets when the pig came up and nuzzled his daddy's leg. Angel Dust sat at the end of the bed and pulled Fat Nuggets into his lap. The spider stared down at his gloved hands, and slowly tugged two off, revealing scarred wrist. Angel still remembered ever single time he had brought a razor to his wrist, he hadn't stopped until he'd met Cherri, his first real friend. Angel took his top right hand, now ungloved, and traced the scars on his top left wrist.

"Maybe we aren't so different..." Angel muttered to himself as he turned to look at the sleeping figure of Alastor in his bed. If this had been any other situation, Angel would have popped a joke about finally getting the Radio Demon in his bed, but this wasn't any other time. The words Alastor had said earlier sounded off on Angel's head again.

"Oh no, Cher! I do dis 'cause...it's intoxicatin'. It keeps dem bad thoughts from breakin' mah head. It keeps da real pain away."

What were those bad thoughts and real pain Alastor was talking about? Did it have anything to do with his father just showing up out if nowhere? Probably. Alastor had always seemed so powerful and godlike, but seeing him laying here with his eyes shut in the peacefulness of sleep, Angel Dust remembered that he was still a human soul. Even if his sins were ten times worse than his, Alastor still lived a human life, which meant the deer had dreams...and pain.

Angel also remembered how highly Alastor spoke about his mother, showing that he was a total Mama's Boy. This made Angel smile as he remembered how much of a Mama's boy he was in life. Thinking about this, the spider laid down on his side, facing Alastor as Fat Nuggets snuggles up beside him. Angel watched the steady rise and fall of Alastor's chest as the deer breathed, watched as he saw the deer's eyes move under his eye lids while he dreamed. A small grin broke out across the spider demon's face.

"Yeah, we ain't so different Smiles." That was the last thing Angel said before he fell asleep by Alastor's side.