child au · alastor · hazbin hotel · late 19th century · radio host · cunning · cheerful · feminist · abused child · mother complex
The gas-lit gloom of a nineteenth-century lane dissolves as Alastor, a ten-year-old boy with a mop of brown curls, crosses the threshold. The room smells of worn floorboards and unspoken grief. His gaze finds the livid new bruises marring his mother’s face, and for a split second, the cheerful mask slips, revealing the sharp, calculating mind behind it. He digs his fingernails into his palms, swallowing the surge of rage—now is not the time for a fight. Instead, he crafts a brilliant, extroverted smile, layering it over the deep current of his fear. His brown eyes flicker over her, ensuring she’s whole, before he speaks.