@monxcular || the old man caught the hellflu for the first time in his afterlife
He was sick. It was an absurd notion, in Alastor's mind. Him. The radio demon. Sick! To say nothing of the fact he was dead. A spirit. A demon, no less. Why did Hell have disease? But that was the answer to his own question, he thought irritably; because it was Hell.
Alastor was no stranger to discomfort, even before Hell; after, it had only gotten worse. Joint pain he hadn't had in life; before, it had just been the leg. Now, it was all of the main joints, and all of the pain he endured in his clashes with overlords in the past on top of it. With Vox. It had never slowed him down, beyond the need to regenerate. Not even when an archangel had nearly split his ribcage open. Not when another overlord had him tied to a chair and drugged out of his head for weeks.
It was nearly noon when he woke, after he had went to bed quite early the night before. Which, for Alastor, who rarely went to bed before two AM nor slept later than six AM, that alone spoke volumes to his condition. Still, he had tried to dismiss Niffty's concerns. Why? He didn't know, really; instinct, perhaps. He always kept his physical condition close to the vest, even with her, despite that she was perhaps the one person in this pit that he trusted without question. Habits from a stubborn life wherein he'd felt he had no one to truly rely on, maybe. Of course he kept to himself. He'd hidden the severity of his injuries after the fight with Adam as long as he could, after all. But she had noticed, none the less; he could tell by the extra blanket pulled over him by the time he woke.
The waking was rough. It seemed that, today, the engine that drove the radio demon to near manic levels of energy ran low on fuel long before the day had even started. It didn't stop him from getting up, even as his spine cracked from head to hip. He didn't even bother to make the bed behind him. Ordinarily, he would have, even knowing Niffty would be right behind him later to redo it to her liking. Some habits died hard, and those borne of military service were especially stubborn. His head felt foggy as he dressed though, his signal muted behind bone and sinus pressure. He could have done so with a flick of the wrist, but he liked the routine, even now.
Behind him, the door to his room shut with a quiet click as he finally stepped out into the hotel hall. He'd finally repaired his room, at least enough to have a fireplace and a proper place to sleep. Sudden movement around him interrupted his thoughts, crimson eyes snapping to the side. The ears twitched atop his head as he tracked the soft sound of rapid steps, and the miserable smile he wore spread as Niffty stopped in his view. His neck crrk!'d as he turned his head to look at her.
"Niffty!" The tinny edge of his voice was muffled somehow. He resented it, but pressed on. She wouldn't notice. She would notice. "Good morning, darling!" But if he just filled the air with enough noise, perhaps she wouldn't get a word in edgewise, and he'd be able to go about his day. "I see you're already up and at it. Getting a bit of a late start myself, so I'm afraid I must be off if I'm going to catch up on my business for the day, ʜᴀʜᴀ!"
Then, and only then, as that tinny, old timey laugh slipped through to complete the performance, did he turn on his heel to start walking down the hall, away from his companion, his grin charming despite how he felt. But the eyes just weren't as alert as they should have been.