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Husk wiped the counter for the fifth time, pretending it mattered. The rag was already soaked through and the wood was already clean. He just didn’t know what else to do with his hands.
On the other side of the counter, a stool squeaked. Angel Dust had perched himself on top, legs crossed, chin balanced on one palm. For once, he wasn’t talking—no jokes, no whistles, no innuendo. Just quiet, watching Husk fidget.
Things were pretty quiet between them after the whole train incident.
But eventually, a specific sentence resurfaced in Angel’s mind that he didn’t acknowledge in the heat of the moment. And so he decided to start the conversation with that.
“So…” Angel started at last, dragging the word out. “Ya gonna tell me what that was about?”
Husk, still not looking up, quietly replied. “What was what was about?”
Angel tilted his head, eyes half-lidded. “The whole ‘I’ll fuckin’ spank you’ thing. Kinda burned itself into my brain, y’know?”
The rag froze mid-wipe. “You’re really bringin’ that up?”
“Damn right I am.” Angel leaned forward over the bar, voice unexpectedly serious. “And before ya go there—nah, it ain’t a sex joke. I just… wanna know why. It was kinda… stupid but also, outta nowhere?”
Husk sighed. He finally looked at him, leaning on the counter with both paws. “I dunno, Legs. Guess I was just pissed.”
“‘Pissed’?” Angel echoed.
“Yeah. You almost got yourself splattered on the tracks for me, remember? I was mad as hell but… didn’t wanna say somethin’ worse.” He scratched behind his ear, embarrassed. “So I said the dumbest, least-violent thing that popped into my head. Somethin’ guys my age used to say to their kids when they were actin’ stupid.”
Angel blinked. “So instead of ‘I’ll kill ya,’ ya went with ‘I’ll spank ya’?”
“Pretty much.” Husk shrugged, reaching for a bottle. “Seemed safer at the time. —That… and because I can’t really threaten to kill you if you already died.”
Angel stared at him for a long second—then laughed under his breath. Not mockingly, just soft. “That’s… kinda sweet, actually.”
“Don’t call me sweet.”
“Fine. Thoughtful, then.”
“Maybe…” Husk muttered, though the tips of his ears had turned pink.
Angel let the quiet hang for a moment, then asked, “But why were ya mad, really? All I did was save yer life.”
The cork squeaked as Husk jammed it back into the bottle. His voice came out rough. “Because I ain’t worth savin’, that’s why. You shouldn’t be riskin’ your damn neck for a washed-up drunk like me.”
Angel froze. The air around him shifted. Warm humor replaced by something sharp. “What?”
“You heard me.”
“No… no, I heard ya. I just can’t believe yer sayin’ it.” Angel slid off the stool, heels clicking against the floor. “Yer mad at me for carin’? For doin’ somethin’ ya woulda done for me?”
Husk yelled back, “I’m mad you almost got killed!”
“Then maybe start with that instead of the self-pity routine!” Angel snapped. “Ya sit here drownin’ yerself, tellin’ me to value my own life—then act shocked when I call you out for not valuing yours! You’re bein’ a fuckin’ hypocrite!”
“It’s not the same!”
“The hell it ain’t!” Angel’s hands slammed onto the counter, making the empty glasses jump. “Ya think it’s better if I left ya there? Let the train hit ya? The angelic spear stab ya, because apparently ya don’t give a damn about yerself!”
“Well, I don’t think you have any right to tell me how I should view myself!”
“Neither do you! Actin’’ like ya get ta tell me how ta feel about you and you in danger!” Angel jabbed a finger at his chest. “Yer self-depreciation ain’t noble, Whiskers! Maybe ya need me ta fuckin’ spank ya!”
The word hung in the air. Husk blinked, waiting for the inevitable smirk, the flirtatious wink. But none came. Angel’s expression was stone-serious, eyes blazing, voice cracking from raw emotion. There were no signs of a sex joke coming.
“…You’re kiddin’,” Husk said carefully.
“Do I look like I’m kiddin’? Yer actin’ like I’m some kid! Guess what—I’m not a kid, Husk. I didn’t mind the little nickname because I thought it was some force of habit with ya bein’ old but, it’s starting to get demeaning!”
“I never said—”
“I’m in my thirties, pal! Ya wanna talk down to me like I ain’t, then I ain’t gonna respect yer seventy-something fossil ass either! Older ain’t wiser, and yer a fuckin’ example of it!” Angel jabbed his thumb toward his chest again. “Ya think ya got the right to ‘spank’ me? Guess what—I got just as much right to return the favor!”
Husk threw his head back, “Oh, for cryin’ out loud—”
“No! I’m serious!” Angel’s gloves creaked as he clenched his fists. “Ya wanna stop me from riskin’ myself for ya? Fine! Prove ya can!”
“What the hell does that mean?”
“It means…” Angel took a step back, squaring his shoulders, “…if you can grab my wrist and pull me over for that so-called spanking, I’ll drop it. I’ll stop carin’. I won’t ever try to take on anything for ya ever again. But if you can’t, then you don’t get to make this whole savior-complex thing one-sided!”
Husk’s jaw actually dropped. “You’ve lost your damn mind.”
“Probably,” Angel said, cracking his neck.
“Angel, this is ridiculous—”
Angel cut him off, rolling up his sleeves. “Square. The. Fuck. Up.”
Something in Husk snapped—not anger, not quite pride either. Just an exhausted, bitter need to end the argument before it tore them both apart.
If this was what it took for Angel to stop risking himself….
“Fine!” Husk said, slamming a hand down the counter. “You asked for this!”
He jumped over the counter with surprising agility, landing in front of Angel with his wings flared, fur bristling. For a heartbeat, they just stared each other down, both shaking for different reasons.
Then Husk lunged.
His paw shot out, claws curled just enough to catch without cutting.
Angel dodged the first grab, twisting aside with dancer’s grace.
Husk followed, snatching at the other wrist, and this time he caught it.
“Gotcha,” Husk hissed.
“Yeah?” Angel jerked forward, spinning on his heel and slamming an elbow into Husk’s ribs. The impact made the cat grunt and stumble back, releasing him.
“Cheap shot!”
“Neither of us set any rules.” Angel said nonchalantly, stepping sideways when Husk pounced towards him again.
They circled, the bar echoing with the scrape of boots and the thump of footpads. Bottles rattled on the shelves, when they bumped against the bar counter.
Husk lunged again. Angel ducked.
This time, Husk’s fingers hooked around Angel’s wrist cleanly, yanking him forward.
Angel let him, almost testing him.
Husk bent his knee as he pulled the spider forward, ready to swing the spider demon across his leg—
—and then the world tilted. Angel’s other arms shot out, catching Husk’s by the leg mid-motion, his other ankle as well and pulled hard.
“Shit!”
THUD.
The sound was embarrassingly loud in the empty room. Husk landed flat on his tail with a yelp.
For a second, he froze, eyes wide, breathing hard.
“Well, would ya look at that. Ya lost.” Angel said, his tone still unchanging from his current stoicism.
“W-Wait! Don’t—”
Too late. Angel knelt, grabbed Husk’s wrist, and with surprising strength, hauled the older demon across his knee.
“What the—HEY!” Husk kicked, tail lashing.
“Get! Your! Head! Out! Of! Your! Fuckin’! Ass!” Angel growled, each word punctuated by a firm, harsh, stinging slap to the ass.
Smack!
Smack!
Smack!
“OW! OW—dammit, Angel!” Husk yowled, ears flattening as he squirmed. “Knock it off!” He indignantly wiggled his lower half, in hopes of protecting any weak spots.
His pants were still up, but that didn’t soften any of Angel’s surprisingly strong blows.
“Not until ya listen!” Angel scolded, voice still angry but had a hint of compassion. “I ain’t riskin’ my life for garbage, Husk! So quit callin’ yourself that!”
The spanking continued.
Smack!
Smack!
“Ow! Fuck! Angel, this hurts!” Husk cried out.
“I didn’t expect ya to make it pleasant for me either!” Angel said, not letting up.
“I never actually wanted to do it! You fucking made this deal!” Husk tried tipping them over with his weight.
Angel was losing balance but he quickly dragged both of them to the nearby couch seat, where Angel had a better position to resume the punishment. “Yeah! And ya accepted it! ‘Cause yer THAT desperate for me ta stop carin’ about ya! How little can someone think of themselves that they don’t wanna let someone love them!”
Husk froze mid-kick. The next blow never came. Angel’s hand just hovered, shaking a little.
“…You ain’t nothing, Husk,” Angel said softly, almost to himself. “Yer, everything… So stop actin’ like ya don’t deserve… me.”
The words landed heavier than any slap could. For the first time all night, Husk didn’t have a comeback.
The silence that followed was long and uneven.
Angel stayed frozen for a moment, still had his lower hands placed on Husk’s wings, but no longer pinning him down. His upper right hand hovering awkwardly over Husk’s ass. Tempted to sooth the possible stings but… they were quite deserved.
Then, all at once, the tension drained out of him. He dropped his arm, eyes unfocused, chest heaving.
“…Shit,” He muttered. “That was—uh—yeah, that was a bit much.”
Husk slowly pushed himself upright, his tail moved stiffly. “Ya think?”
He hissed in pain, when he tried to put all the weight on his bottom, but even with cushioned seats, it hurt like hell.
“I’m so sorry!” Angel blurted, panicking a little. “It was just—it was just… You were bein’—”
“An idiot?” Husk supplied dryly, trying to adjust himself in any, hopefully comfortable, position.
Angel winced. “Kinda, yeah.”
Husk didn’t reply at first. His fur was ruffled, his wings crooked, and he was sure there was a growing bright red mark all over his backside that his pride refused to acknowledge.
But under all that embarrassment was something heavier—something sharp lodged right beneath his ribs.
“…You mean that?” he asked finally, voice low. “About me being… loved?” —‘By you’ was never spoken out loud.
Angel blinked. “What, you think I’d say somethin’ like that just for fun?”
“Yeah,” Husk said honestly. “I’m not exactly a… lovable person, Legs.”
Angel sighed and ran a hand down his face.
“I've been through enough people tellin’ me I ain’t worth shit. My boss, clients, family—take your pick. To the point where I repeat that shit ta myself…. I don’t wanna see the same thing happening ta someone I give a damn about.”
Husk turned, startled.
Angel leaned closer, “Don’t make me say it twice.”
Something small cracked open in Husk’s chest. Not wide enough to spill tears—he wasn’t built for that—but enough to sting.
He scratched the back of his neck, voice rough. “You’re a real pain in the ass, ya know that?”
Angel finally flashed his signature smirk, his voice returning to his humorous tone, “Well, judging by all yer wriggling—”
“Yup… shoulda seen that coming…” Husk cut Angel off, half annoyed and half amused.
That earned the faintest ghost of a chuckle.
Husk exhaled slowly and gestured toward the mess they made during the brawl. “You break it, you help clean it.”
“Fine, fine,” Angel said, standing up to grab a broom.
They worked in relative silence after that.
Husk sweeping glass into a pan, Angel dabbing at spilled rum with exaggerated precision. Every few minutes, one of them would mutter something half-sarcastic, half-genuine, like they were testing if it was still safe to talk.
And it was. The edge between them had finally vanished.
When the last of the glass was gone, Angel stretched his arms over his head and let out a long, fake yawn. “Well, I’m officially exhausted! I used my hands one to many times today. If ya know what I mean~”
Husk gave him a look. “You ever bring that up again, I’ll—”
The spider turned his back on the cat and promiscuously shook his ass at the cat, “Spank me back?” Angel teased, batting his lashes.
“—throw you out the damn window.”
Angel laughed, the sound ringing clear for the first time that night. “Alright, alright, no more jokes.”
He paused, just long enough to glance at Husk’s slouched figure, the way his wings folded close again like a sigh.
“…You okay, though?”
Husk didn’t answer immediately, but nodded once before saying, “Yeah. Guess I am.”
“Good.” Angel smiled faintly.
“…Hey, Husk?”
“Yeah?”
Angel hesitated—then said, softer, “Thanks for carin’ about my life, even if you’re shit at carin’ for yours.”
Husk huffed, “Yeah, yeah. Don’t mention it.”