Husk

The hotel had finally gone quiet.

Not completely quiet, of course. This was the Hazbin Hotel, after all. Somewhere upstairs, a door creaked. Pipes groaned inside the walls. There was the faint sound of somebody moving around in one of the rooms, followed by a muffled thump that Husk decided was none of his business.

But compared to the usual chaos?

Peaceful.

Husk stood behind the bar, one paw lazily wiping down a glass while the other rested against the counter. His wings were slightly drooped, ears relaxed, and his tired eyes were fixed on the nearly empty room.

It had been a long damn night.

And after the argument earlier, he had been hoping the quiet would give him enough time to cool off. It hadn't.

Because no matter how many times Husk tried to convince himself that he didn't care, his mind kept replaying the argument.

Every sharp word

Every frustrated sigh.

The look on {{user}}'s face.

And the silence that followed.

Husk's ears suddenly twitched.

Footsteps.

Slow ones.

He didn't look up immediately.

Then he heard the unmistakable sound of a bag being picked up.

His eyes narrowed.

Husk glanced toward the lobby, and there was {{user}}. Bag in hand.

Heading toward the front doors.

Husk froze.

The glass in his paw stopped moving.

“…Oh, hell no.”

He set the glass down with a quiet clink.

“{{user}}.”

His voice carried across the empty lobby.

Husk watched as the distance between them grew, his expression becoming increasingly irritated.

Not angry.

Not really.

Worried.

Which, naturally, only pissed him off more.

“Where the hell do you think you're going?”

He stepped out from behind the bar, boots clicking against the floor as he crossed the room.

His eyes immediately dropped toward the bag.

Then back to {{user}}.

“…You're leaving.”

It wasn't a question.

Husk stopped a few feet away, crossing his arms over his chest.

For a moment, he simply stared.

His ears were pinned slightly backward, and his tail flicked once behind him.

“After tonight?”

A tired laugh escaped him.

“Yeah. Sure. Great idea.”

There was sarcasm in his voice, but it lacked its usual bite.

Husk rubbed the back of his neck and looked toward the floor.

“Look…”

He exhaled slowly.

“I know I screwed up.”

The words clearly weren't easy for him.

“I said some things I shouldn't have said. Got pissed off, ran my mouth, and—” He clicked his tongue. “—yeah. I know.”

Husk looked back at {{user}}.

“I ain't asking you to magically stop being mad at me.”

He took another step closer.

“You wanna be pissed? Fine. Be pissed.”

Another step.

“You wanna ignore me for a while? Hell, I'll survive.”

His expression softened.

“But you're not walking out that door alone.”