Disclaimer: I don't own Hazbin Hotel. It belongs to Vivziepop.

Three days passed and Alastor finally started to wake up. A soft static resonated as he sat up in the infirmary bed, pushing the white sheets down to his lap. He rubs his forehead, vaguely aware of how he felt sticky from dried sweat when his fever broke one day prior. He sat there, looking through his memories. He kind of remembered passing out in Charlie's limo from his injuries and exhaustion. How careless of him. He should have been able to hold out a little longer so the others wouldn't have to see him like that. Such a sight can be a bane to his Overlord reputation. What part of him thought it was a brilliant idea to be knocked out at that moment?

Alastor continues to shuffle through his memories. Agatha's party…No doubt that night was the last party Agatha would ever throw because, well, she's erased. The mastermind? The Countess, an old enemy of Alastor who returned to exact her revenge. He remembered her biting him in the neck and then nothing…

A strange sensation ached in his hand. Alastor looks at the appendage with curiosity. It was an ache from a memory Alastor couldn't conjure. Perhaps, it occurred during his time of unconsciousness? He stared at the hand with squinted eyes. What did he do?

"Look who finally woke up." Alastor turns to see Alexir at his desk, his back towards the Overlord.

"And a good morning to you too, Alexir." Alastor said with a bit more pip in his tone. "…or is it evening?"

"Yes, it is indeed evening." the doctor informed. He kicked his feet at the ground so that he, in his swivel chair, would roll over to Alastor's bedside. "Though, you were somewhat coherent earlier today, but most of it was static nonsense."

"How long was I asleep?"

"That would be three days."

"Three days…interesting." Alastor said. He stares at his hand again.

"Interesting, indeed." Alexir said. "But, hardly surprising."

"Oh?"

"Given the injuries you've had sustained, as well as factoring your moment of being," the doctor cleared his throat before air quoting, "dollified."

"Dollified?" Alastor questioned.

"That's what Angel Dust called it, since the Countess called the demons under her control her dolls."

"…I was under her control?" Alastor questioned. That sounded hard to believe.

"Apparently so. I take it that you were not told."

"…No. I was not. However, given the stakes, there was no time to dwell on it." Alastor did felt that Rosie had left something out when she was explaining what had happened while he was…incapacitated.

"You are a stubborn man, Alastor." Alexir said.

"Hmmm? And what makes you say that?" Alastor asked, cheeky with a tilt of his head.

Alexir glared from behind his glasses. "Were you aware of the heavenly silver imbedded in your body?"

Alastor moved his head back up so fast that there was an audible crack. "…Truly?" Alexir nodded. "That would explain why the wound haven't healed yet." The deer waves a dismissive hand. "Well, that's all water under the bridge now."

"You sure you want to say that?" Alexir quizzed. "Seeing how this single shard almost erased you from existence."

"And it didn't happen. Bravo, my good man." Alastor congratulated, patting the other man's cheek. The antelope demon smacks the hand.

"Alastor," started Alexir, "I've known you for several decades and as those years progressed, I have lost my patience with you and your insistent need to barricade yourself during a moment of weakness."

"What are you getting at?"

"What I'm getting at is," to Alastor's surprise, the doctor takes him by his shoulders, "Let others in for pity's sake! It's not going to knock you down a peg." In a swift motion, Alastor was successful in slicing Alexir right arm off, the limb now laying on the floor. The doctor glanced at the detached limb nonchalantly, unfazed by the act of violence.

Alastor climbs out of the bed. He notices his monocle on the side table and picks it up. "If my treatment is over, I will take my leave."

"…So be it." was all Alexir said. Alastor wordlessly disappears, either to his hotel room or back at his Radio Tower. It didn't matter to Alexir in the slightest. Living among demons with a death wish had made the doctor less caring of them unless they come to him for aid. Alastor was something different all together. He's not stupid enough to get himself in harm's way if he could help it, but the deer hates to let others see his injuries.

Alexir sighs as he retrieves his arm. "The price as a prey-based demon."

A peacock demon enters the infirmary. "Hey, Alex, I just back from the deal. How's our pa—" He gasps. "Alex, what happened?!"

"It's nothing, Kuja. Just help me with this."

††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††

Alastor opted to teleport to his hotel room than return to his Radio Tower. After a refreshing shower, he emerges from his private bathroom in his bathrobe. "Ahhh. Just what I needed." He wirelessly turns on his radio and jazz tunes played. He makes himself comfortable on his armchair and conjures a tulip glass of brandy in his hand. He sat there, sipping his alcohol and listening to his beloved jazz compilation. He hadn't felt this relaxed for quite a while, he's going to make the most of it. He'll even ignore the odd ache in his hands…and chest.

There was knock on his door. Alastor puts the glass down and gets up. He snaps his fingers and changed to his casual clothes. A light red pinstripe dress shirt with white lines, white pinstripe trousers with light red lines, a black cummerbund belt is around his slim waist, and black dress shoes. Dressed, he answers the door to see Charlie, also dressed casually.

"Ah, Charlie! What a pleasant surprise! Please, come in, my dear! What brings you to my humble abode on this fine evening?" Alastor greeted the princess. He paused. "…Déjà vu."

"What?"

"Just a thought, my dear."

"…Riiight. Dr. Alexir just informed me about you waking up." Charlie said. "How are you feeling?"

"Just peachy. Why, I've hadn't felt this great since my first broadcast!"

"That's good to hear." Charlie smiled. "If you like, maybe you can join us for dinner. Niffty whipped up some delicious Shepherd's pie."

"Ooooh. I've hadn't had that for nearly a decade!" Alastor recalled. "You can count me in!"

Charlie clapped. "Then let's go!" The pair go through the halls and stairs of the hotel. They've passed patients strolling by. Some gave Alastor a look of sorts. The red stag was sure to discreetly give them a glowing, staticky glare and they hurry away in fear. Good. At least they know that this slight mishap did nothing to diminish Alastor's reputation. Curious to learn anything that happened while he was out of commission, he reaches out a hand towards Charlie.

Then, he stopped.

His hand hovered over the princess' shoulder, twitching slight at he pondered whether to touch her or not. But, why? Why is he hesitating? In the end, Alastor opted to keep his hands behind his back. "Tell me, my dear. What has transpired while I was inactive?" As Charlie rambled on about all the activities that happened, Alastor ignores his shaking hands.

††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††

"Hey, look who ain't double-dead!" Angel said, lifting a glass of soda. "Awesome to see you up, Al!"

"Yes. It is good to be back on air!" Alastor declared. Niffty puts a plate of Shepherd's pie in front of him. "Thank you, my dear. It's looks delectable!" He goes to give the cyclops a pat on the head, but he paused. He felt the same hesitation as he did before. Stiffly, he pats Niffty's head. Thankfully, the little cyclops didn't appear to have noticed. The only one who saw it was Husk.

Please, leave a comment!