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ronancexists · 2 months

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Chaggie/Starmoth Week of Firsts

These will also be posted on my AO3 account which is the same as my Tumblr username, ronancexists :) Day 4: First Tears

Reading Charlie was as easy as reading a book. Even if someone didn’t know her or who she was, Charlie wore her heart on her sleeve and her facial expressions were always a dead giveaway as to how she was feeling.

At least, when she was around Vaggie. When she was around other people, however, her demeanor seemed to never change. Unless someone was looking for it, and Vaggie always was.

She liked to think she knew her girlfriend pretty well by this point. They’d been together for five months now, and Charlie was open about everything in her life.

Well, almost everything.

Vaggie had noticed it for a while now, but she didn’t bring it up because Charlie always waved off her concern, reassuring her that she was fine and that it was nothing she could handle.

But whenever Charlie’s parents were brought up, a number of things would happen.

First, she would begin blinking at a rapid pace, like she was trying to stem off tears.

Second, her smile would waver, only for a moment, before it became even brighter, and to Vaggie, it looked like she was forcing herself to stay smiling.

Third, her shoulders would become tense but she’d try to hide it by straightening herself up, regardless of if she was sitting or standing.

Finally, her nails would turn into claws and dig so hard into the meat of her palms that little bits of her blood would begin to bubble to the surface.

It didn’t matter if it was a mention of her mom, her dad, or a combination of the two. It elicited the same reaction from Charlie every single time, and whenever Vaggie tried asking her about it, Charlie continued to act as though she was fine, even though they both knew she wasn’t.

So Vaggie dropped the subject after a while, figuring that if Charlie wasn’t ready to discuss the topic with her, then there was no reason to push her to talk.

Until she had to.

Vaggie didn’t know what had happened, but Charlie came storming into their quarters, looking the most upset Vaggie had ever seen her. She’d stood up from the couch, Razzle and Dazzle watching from their seats curiously, and cautiously approached Charlie. “Charlie, what’s wrong? Did something happen?”

Charlie didn’t respond. She looked at Vaggie, a sob wrangling itself free from her throat before she fled the room, the grocery bags she’d had falling to the ground in her haste, the contents spilling all over the floor.

Not that Vaggie cared about that at the moment.

It took her a second to gather herself before she was racing after Charlie, the door to Charlie’s bedroom slamming shut seconds before she reached it. She tried the doorknob, jiggling it and cursing when she realized Charlie had locked the door. She never locked the door. Never. “Charlie, hun, can you please come unlock the door? You’re scaring me.”

Vaggie’s heart shattered at the quiet “No” that traveled through the door before her ears were filled with Charlie’s piercing wails as she cried. She placed her hand softly on the door, exhaling sharply, unable to do anything but listen as her partner sobbed and hid herself away.

Charlie had never done anything like this. Vaggie had seen her upset plenty of times, but that was always easily cured with some snuggles and a movie night with a shit ton of snacks. And she always wanted Vaggie there, claiming her presence always made her feel better.

But Charlie had never cried during those times. She’d been close a couple of times, because her girlfriend feels her own feelings and the feelings of those around her, but Vaggie had always managed to soothe her before any tears could fall.

This was the first time either of them had cried, and Vaggie couldn’t do a damn thing to help.

Because Charlie had locked her out.

Something she hadn’t ever done. Even if she was changing her clothes, she usually just went into her closet or bathroom to do so, allowing Vaggie free range of her room.

Vaggie turned when she felt something nudge her arm, giving Razzle a weak smile that felt like more of a grimace as he and Dazzle looked between her and the door with matching concerned expressions. “I know, I’m worried too,” Vaggie admitted, turning her back to the door and slumping against it, sliding down until she hit the floor. She wrapped her arms around her shins as she brought her knees up to her chest, resting her chin atop her folded up legs.

“Baa?” Razzle asked, nudging her again and gesturing to the door.

“Baa,” Dazzle answered, pointing to the doorknob.

“Baa. Baa baa,” Razzle bleated sadly, curling up next to Vaggie.

Dazzle flew down to Vaggie’s other side, the two of them surrounding her and offering her their comfort as best as they could while she offered them hers, all three of them wishing they could be helping the blonde who was locked away in her room.

~~~

Charlie had been having an excellent day so far. She’d woken up in her room, gotten ready for the day, had breakfast with her wonderfully amazing girlfriend, and headed out to town to get some grocery shopping done. Vaggie had offered to go with her, but Charlie had refused, saying she’d be back before Vaggie knew it and that she should just relax until she’d gotten back.

After all, Vaggie had done so much for her in terms of their relationship and with the hotel, the least she could do is get some groceries for the two of them.

So she set out to the grocery store a couple of blocks down from their home. She’d been her normal, bubbly self, greeting all of her citizens, all of their sneers and unpleasantness rolling right off her back like water rolls off a duck.

She’d entered the store, grabbed a cart from the front, and started browsing the isles. As she was looking at the different types of pasta noodles, an older looking couple approached her.

“Why, if it isn't Princess Charlotte!”

“Oh, umm, hello,” Charlie said, giving a little awkward wave. “It's nice to meet you. And I’m sorry, but I go by Charlie.”

“Oh, of course! I’m sorry, it’s just, we’ve been down here a long while, and we haven’t met any of the royal family yet. Tell me dear, how have your parents been?”

Charlie blinked a couple of times, her smile faltered before it tightened, her shoulders became stiff even as she unconsciously straightened herself up, and her nails swiftly transformed into claws that were digging uncomfortably into the heels of her palms. “Oh, they’ve been alright. My mom’s off on some important business, unfortunately, and my father and I have been missing her dearly.”

The woman’s smile sharpened, as if she could sense it was an uncomfortable subject. “Well, that’s such a shame. I couldn’t imagine ever abandoning a sweet thing such as yourself.”

Charlie sucked in a breath. “Oh, it’s nothing like that! She’ll be back in no time soon, you’ll see.”

“Mmhmm. And your father? Rumors have been going around, saying he’s been hiding in that big castle of yours since nobody’s seen him in years.”

“Well, it’s a good thing that they’re just that. Rumors.”

“Oh, no need to get defensive, honey! There’s bound to be speculation, especially when there are cracks within the royal family.”

“We’re all doing just fine. No cracks to be speculated about. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’d like to get back to shopping. Don’t want to keep my family waiting,” Charlie said in a sickly sweet tone.

“Of course, of course! We wouldn’t want to hold you up. Right, sweetheart?”

The man accompanying her merely grunted in acknowledgement.

“Well, we’d best be off dearie. Oh, and do tell your parents happy anniversary from us. Ta-ta!”

With a taunting wave and a jeering smile, the woman led the man away as quickly as they had arrived.

Charlie took a couple of deep breaths, the woman’s words about her parents' anniversary ringing over and over again in her mind. She hadn’t even noticed the date, but now, as she looked at her phone, she realized that yeah, it was her parents' anniversary. Her claws dug even further into her palms, making her wince when they pierced through the skin. With a quiet rumbling of her throat, she went back to shopping, though her mind remained on that interaction the entire time.

The people, her people, were suspicious.

About her mother’s absence from the realm.

About her father being locked away.

About her, the Princess of Hell, the next best thing they had to a ruler now that both of her parents had essentially given up on the Pentagram.

She absentmindedly paid for all of the groceries, and stacking all the bags up in her hands, she started the trek home.

Home.

Where her parents used to be together.

Where they ruled Hell from.

Where they used to be happy.

Where they were a family.

Where she’d grown up, entranced by her father’s stories and her mother’s beautiful voice.

They’d been the Morningstars.

The most feared family in not only the Pride Ring, but all the other Rings as well.

And now?

Now, they’d been shattered.

Her mother, who had vanished from the realm without any warning to Charlie or her father.

Her father, who had been so devastated by her leaving that he’d fallen into a fragile state.

They’d both left her to deal with Hell.

She hadn’t been prepared for any of this.

She didn’t know what she was doing.

She was trying, but she knew her people didn’t respect her.

Not the way they respected her parents.

Charlie walked through the door in a daze, all these thoughts spinning and making her feel like she was going to lose control of herself. And as soon as she saw Vaggie, as soon as she saw her trying to comfort her, the dam broke.

She sobbed, and she ran.

She shut the door, and she locked it.

She ignored Vaggie’s pleas to let her in, and she collapsed onto her bed.

Her family was torn apart, and there was nothing she could do to fix it.

All she wanted was her parents.

She wanted them to be together.

To soothe her like they did when she was a kid and she’d had a nightmare or hurt herself in some way.

Her father would hold her, bedazzle her with his magic, while her mother sang her back to sleep, stroking her hair, and both of them would kiss her forehead and everything would be alright.

She missed them.

She missed her parents.

She wanted her parents.

But she couldn’t have them.

Because they didn’t want her.

They didn’t need her.

Not anymore.

But she needed them.

And to top it all off, it was their fucking anniversary.

Charlie screamed into her pillow, horns peeking out of her hairline and tail swishing around violently as her entire body shook with her sobs. Memories of her childhood played in front of her, of when they used to be happy, of when she used to celebrate their anniversary, only made her sobs louder and harsher, sucking all the breath out of her, like something heavy was sitting on her chest and making it impossible to breathe.

She wished she could see Vaggie.

Oh, Vaggie.

Her girlfriend.

Who she had locked out of the room.

“Va—Vaggie,” Charlie gasped out through her sobs, clutching at her chest and neck as she became dizzy from the lack of air. “Vaggie! Vaggie! Vaggie, I’m sorry! I need you! Vaggie!”

~~~

Charlie’s desperate screaming of her name jolted Vaggie out of her thoughts. She sprung to her feet, pounding on the door as she kept tugging and pushing at the doorknob. “Charlie?! Is everything ok?! Charlie!”

Razzle and Dazzle looked at one another determinedly, and began ramming into the door. Vaggie stepped back, allowing them to do whatever was necessary in order for her to reach her girlfriend.

They finally managed to loosen the door, and with a helpful push from Vaggie, they’d managed to kick the door open, knocking it partially off its hinges.

Vaggie rushed over to Charlie, grabbing her hands into her own so Charlie couldn’t further hurt herself. She placed them on her sternum, instructing Charlie to breathe with her. She exaggerated the motions so Charlie could feel them, coaching her through it even as her girlfriend continued to cry.

Once Charlie had caught her breath, she launched herself at Vaggie, hanging onto her and sobbing into her neck. “‘m sorry, I didn’t mean to lock you out. ‘m sorry, ‘m so sorry.”

“Shh, Charlie, it’s alright. I’m here now, it’s ok,” Vaggie said, wrapping her arms around Charlie and holding her close, reassuring her and lightly stroking her head, which seemed to work wonders in calming Charlie down. Not all the way, but it greatly reduced the amount of tears escaping her girlfriend.

“Baa,” Dazzle said to Razzle, who nodded in agreement.

Content with the fact that Vaggie was with Charlie at the moment, they fled the room, going to pick up the groceries from the floor where Charlie had dropped them when she was running to her room.

Neither girl was sure about how much time had passed before Charlie’s sobs had been reduced to sniffles, but in that time, Razzle and Dazzle had picked up the groceries and put them away, grabbed some of Charlie’s favorite snacks, tissues, water bottles for the girls, and brought them on a tray to the bedroom, where they set it on the nightstand before settling down at the edge of Charlie’s bed, facing the two of them when they had.

Vaggie adjusted the two of them on the bed so she was in a more comfortable position, never ceasing her hold on Charlie, sensing that if she did, it would send the blonde into hysterics all over again. When she had finished fixing herself on the bed, Charlie curled herself into an even tighter bundle on her lap, head tucked neatly underneath Vaggie’s, her ear resting over Vaggie’s chest so she could hear her heartbeat so she could remind herself that Vaggie was there, and that she wasn’t going anywhere.

Vaggie wasn’t going to leave her.

She wasn’t going to never speak to her ever again.

She wouldn’t do that to Charlie.

But a tiny voice, whispering in her mind, gave her pause.

“Vaggie?”

“Yeah, hun?” Vaggie asked, noticing how hoarse Charlie sounded from all of the screaming and crying she’d done.

“You’re—you’re not gonna leave, are you?”

“No, of course not. I’ll be here however long you need me to be, sweetie.”

Charlie shook her head. “No, I don’t mean right now. I mean, you’re never going to leave me, right? Like, whatever happens, whatever I do wrong, you’ll still be here?”

Vaggie frowned. “Charlie, I promise you, no matter where the future takes us, I’m always going to be by your side. Nothing, and I mean nothing, you do is ever going to push me away. But, where’s this coming from?”

Charlie swallowed past the lump in her throat, toying with the cuff of her jacket. “It’s—well—umm—my parents. It’s their anniversary. Today. Which, ya know, would totally be something I’d be celebrating if Mom wasn’t nowhere to be found and Dad wasn’t hiding away in his quarters.”

“Ahh.”

“Yeah.”

“Do you, I dunno, want to talk about it?”

“No, not really.”

Charlie felt Vaggie take a deep breath, and braced herself for whatever her girlfriend was about to say.

“Look, Charlie, I know you don’t like to talk about it, because you always say you’re fine whenever someone brings them up, but I know you, and I know it bothers you. If you really don’t want to talk about it, I’ll drop it. But we promised to be honest about how we’re feeling with one another, remember?”

Charlie remained uncharacteristically silent, making Vaggie look down to ensure she hadn’t fallen asleep without realizing.

“When I was little, I used to love hearing my parents tell the story of how they fell in love. In fact, I used to love it so much, they made it into a book. Just for me.”

Vaggie watched in surprise as Razzle got up from his perch, searching through Charlie’s bookshelf until he found what he was looking for, carrying back a book titled The Story of Hell.

“Could I—would it be ok if I read it to you?”

Vaggie agreed, watching as Charlie cracked the book open, tilting her head so it was resting against Charlie’s as the blonde began to read, voice ringing loud and clear despite how strained it was.

“Once upon a time, there was a glowing city protected by golden gates, known as Heaven. It was ruled by beings of pure light. Angels that worshiped good and shielded all from evil. Lucifer was one of these angels. He was a dreamer with fantastical ideas for all of creation. But, he was seen as a troublemaker by the elders of Heaven. For they felt his way of thinking was dangerous to the order of their world. So, he watched as…”

As Charlie read the book, she couldn’t help but to steal glances up at Vaggie, who seemed to be as immersed in the story as her. She cracked a smile as she read, knowing just how powerful her parents' story was, and wished she could hear it for the first time all over again. She imagined she’d be just as in awe, just as enamored, as her girlfriend currently was.

“I didn’t know all of that,” Vaggie said once Charlie had finished reading and closed the book. “I mean, obviously everyone knows that Lucifer had Fallen after they offered Eve the apple, but I didn’t know about everything after that.”

“A lot of people don’t,” said Charlie, running her fingers reverently over the cover. “They used to read this to me every night while I was tucked into bed. Dad would tell the story, using his magic to embellish the tale, while Mom humbled him, taking over whenever he got too excited. He’d tell me about his creations, and whenever I asked him which one was his favorite, he’d always look me in the eye and say, ‘You are, my little duckling. And you always will be.’ Then Mom would sing me a lullaby, and they’d both kiss me goodnight, and I’d fall asleep, already awaiting the next night so we could do it all over again. As I got older, the routine changed, but they still always stopped by to say goodnight.”

“And you miss that?”

Charlie looked up at Vaggie as she blinked, trying to get rid of the wetness that was forming again. “I miss them. Mom still hasn’t returned any of my calls or replied to any of my messages, and Dad is such a recluse that even if I try sending him a text, he either doesn’t respond until days later or he doesn’t respond at all. And when he calls me, it’s only because he needs me to do something for him. He never wants to spend time with me anymore.”

“I’m sure that’s not true,” Vaggie said, though she was unsure if that truly was the case. She’d never met the man, so she couldn’t form too much of an opinion on him. But if he kept neglecting Charlie to the point she was having full on breakdowns about it, then she might. “And from what you’ve told me, it seems like he’s upset that Lilith left. I mean, according to the story, they’ve been together since, like, the dawn of time. He’s probably just trying to figure out how to cope, and when he does, I’m sure he’ll come around.”

“I hope so,” Charlie sighed, snuggling closer to Vaggie. “How do you always know what to say?”

“Because I know you.”

“I’m sorry I locked you out.”

“I told you there’s no need to apologize for that.”

“But there is,” Charlie argued. “I scared you, you said so yourself.”

“Because I wasn’t sure of what was going on. I’d never seen you so upset before, and then you locked the door, which is something you never do, so I thought something had happened to you or maybe someone had said something to you.”

“...”

“Who was it? Las desgarraré con mis manos desnudas,” Vaggie growled, anger rising at the thought of someone daring to say something so upsetting to Charlie. [I will tear them apart with my bare hands]

“Vaggie, there’s no need. Really, I’m ok,” Charlie said, trying to placate her.

“If you’re sure.”

Charlie nodded rapidly. “Yes, I’m sure. I’m ok.”

Vaggie grumbled something under her breath, but didn’t mention anything else threatening, so Charlie took it as a win.

“Aaaaaanyway, I’m sorry for keeping you away. I just, I wasn’t ready for you to see that side of me.”

“Are you talking about your demon side or the crying side?”

“Both?” Charlie answered, shrugging her shoulders sheepishly. “I don’t really bring my demon form out much, especially around you, because when I’m in that demon form, I’m different from the Charlie you know.”

“But that’s a part of you, which means I’m going to adore that version of my girlfriend as much as I adore this version, yes?”

Charlie smiled bashfully at Vaggie. “You mean it?”

“I mean it,” Vaggie answered without skipping a beat. “I really care about you, Charlie, demon and all.”

“I care about you too,” Charlie whispered, pressing a light kiss to Vaggie’s exposed shoulder. “More than you know.”

Vaggie blushed at that, but made no attempt to stop Charlie, who was now merely laying her head on Vaggie’s chest, her heartbeat soothing Charlie as easily as her parents’ story did.

“Vaggie?”

“Sí, querida?”

“You know you’re my partner, right?”

“Yes.”

“And you know I’d never leave you? No matter what?”

“I know, Charlie,” Vaggie whispered.

“Good, ‘cause I don’t think I’d be able to survive if I lost you. You’re the most important thing in my life. I just, I need you to know that.”

“I know that, Charlie. I promise. And I need you to promise me something in return.”

“What’s that?”

“Promise me that you won’t blame yourself for whatever happened to your parents. Whatever happened between them has absolutely nothing to do with you, ok? You might be caught in the crosshairs, but it’s between the two of them, not you. It wasn’t your fault.”

Charlie sniffled, bottom lip wobbling as she looked at Vaggie through tear-filled eyes. “Ok, I promise.”

Vaggie nodded, hugging Charlie tight. “Good. I’d hate for you to blame yourself for something that had nothing to do with you, cariña.”

“I love when you speak sexy to me,” Charlie muttered.

Vaggie arched an eyebrow. “When I speak ‘sexy’ to you?”

“Mmm. Spanish equals sexy,” Charlie said simply, as if that was all there was to it.

“Whatever you say, princesa,” Vaggie chuckled, tucking a strand of Charlie’s hair behind her ear.

“Yup. Definitely sexy,” Charlie said, nodding to emphasize her point.

“Sounds like someone needs to get some rest,” said Vaggie, amusement dripping from every word.

“Noooooo,” Charlie whined. “Don’t want you to leave.”

“I thought we’ve already gone over this.”

“Yeah, but if I move, you’re gonna leave. So I’m not moving.”

Vaggie rolled her eye in a mix of exasperation and fondness. “So what, exactly, you’re going to fall asleep in your suit without any of your stuffed animals or any of your blankets?”

Charlie frowned as she contemplated the thought before a grin overcame her face. With a snap of her fingers, everything changed. She and Vaggie were no longer in their clothes, but in their cozy pajamas, while Charlie was still situated in Vaggie’s lap with multiple blankets piled on top of them. “I’m not tired yet. Can we watch a movie?”

“As long as it isn’t a musical,” Vaggie said, shrieking with laughter as Charlie’s fingers started dancing along her ribcage. She squirmed and ducked, trying to avoid Charlie’s deft fingers, but to no avail. “Alright, alright! We’ll watch one of your damn musicals.”

Charlie beamed smugly at Vaggie, picking the remote up from the nightstand and scrolling through the movies, giggling at Vaggie’s exaggerated groan at the pick.

“You’re lucky I like you,” Vaggie grumbled playfully, though her expression switched over to something a bit more bashful and adoring as Charlie looked at her.

“Yeah, I really am,” she said, echoing Vaggie’s response from their first date.

With that, the two of them settled in close, movie queuing up on the screen, Charlie slowly but surely returning to her joyous, enigmatic self as the musical progressed.

And with the crisis averted (for the time being), Vaggie was able to fully relax, all while silently promising Charlie that she would never have to be alone.

Because Vaggie?

Vaggie had no intention of leaving her princesa.

Not like her parents had left her.

Not now, not ever.

Thank you for reading! And here's the AO3 link :)

#chaggiefirsts #starmothfirsts #chaggie #vaggie x charlie #charlie x vaggie #hazbin hotel #charlie morningstar #vaggie #charlie hazbin hotel #vaggie hazbin hotel #hazbin hotel charlie #hazbin hotel vaggie

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ronancexists · 2 months

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Chaggie/Starmoth Week of Firsts

These will also be posted on my AO3 account which is the same as my Tumblr username, ronancexists :) Day 3: First Fight

Vaggie couldn’t believe that she and Charlie had been dating for close to three months now. It was more than she could have ever dreamed of happening between the two of them, especially considering how they’d met.

When Charlie had asked her out on that first date, she’d been over the moon. The evening had been splendid, with Charlie’s constant compliments, Charlie asking her on a second date, and Charlie asking her to be her partner in running the Happy Hotel.

She couldn’t have been more ecstatic about the idea. She cared deeply for Charlie, and whatever she could do to make Charlie happy, she would.

What she hadn’t expected, however, was just how into this project Charlie was. She’s known from the moment she met Charlie just how passionate and dedicated she was, something Vaggie deeply admired about her, but she hadn’t realized how much of her time it would take up.

And by how much, she meant all of it.

It hadn’t bothered her much at first. Charlie would eagerly chat Vaggie’s ear off about some new idea she’d had for the Hotel, and Vaggie would listen eagerly, scribbling all of Charlie’s thoughts down on a notepad, making a few minor adjustments here and there.

She didn’t think it would become a problem until that was all Charlie was able to talk about.

Vaggie asked her what she wanted for dinner that night? Charlie thought of ways to make dinner a group bonding thing at the hotel.

Vaggie asked her how she’d slept? Charlie hadn’t because she’d been readjusting the plans for the layout of the hotel.

Vaggie asked her about her plans for the day? Charlie wanted to workshop all of her current ideas for the hotel along with new ones that had been popping into her head.

Vaggie asked her if she was able to talk because she’d gone out to town and had a run in with her alcoholic piece of shit father and absentee mother? Charlie wasn’t able to because there was advertising that needed to be done for the hotel.

Vaggie asked her to spend even a modicum of time with her because she missed her girlfriend? Charlie couldn’t right now because she had paperwork to do concerning the legalities of the hotel, but maybe they could do something later.

Except that later never came, because all Charlie could think about was the hotel.

She did her best to not be affected by any of it, she really did, but dammit she missed her girlfriend and wanted to spend time with her and not have anything hotel-related involved.

However, Vaggie couldn’t work up the courage to bring up any of this to Charlie, because she didn’t want Charlie to feel as though she didn’t support her or her dream.

So she kept her mouth shut about all of it, despite how much it pained her to do so.

~~~

Charlie was frustrated.

And the worst part?

She didn’t want to be frustrated.

But she was.

With Vaggie.

Her wonderful, strong, caring, protective, fierce girlfriend, who she adored more than anything in the world.

She hated that she was frustrated with her, and she hated that she hated that she was frustrated with her. Because she deserved to be frustrated with her, but she didn’t want to be frustrated with her.

“Now I’m just confusing myself,” Charlie mumbled as she paced her room, tail swishing around agitatedly behind her as she stewed in her thoughts.

“Baa?” Razzle questioned, sitting on his haunches beside his brother, who directed a look of concern toward Charlie.

“It’s just, we’ve been together for almost three months now, we’ve known each other longer than that, but I still don’t really know her! She doesn’t talk to me about her past, and I try not to ask about it because I don’t want to make her uncomfortable, but I care about her and I want to know more about her, and that includes her past! Does she think I won’t want to be with her if she tells me about her life? Because she should know that nothing she could say would ever make me want to leave her, but I don’t know how to tell her that without her thinking I’m trying to come up with some scheme to trick her into opening up to me! Ughhh, when in Hell did dating become so complicated?!” Charlie exclaimed, flopping forward onto her bed and letting out a scream into her mountain of pillows.

She thought back to when she first found Vaggie, about how scared and uncertain she was when she approached her. About how cautious Vaggie was when conversing with her until she began to feel comfortable around her. About how it took a while for her to calm Vaggie whenever she had a nightmare. About how Vaggie started trusting her once she had proved she wasn’t out to hurt her. About how nice it felt when Vaggie became her friend, and even more so when Vaggie became her girlfriend.

But, she supposed it had taken a decent amount of time in each one of those instances. Perhaps Vaggie just needed some more time before she started talking to Charlie about her time on Earth.

Charlie hummed in thought, flopping over onto her back, absentmindedly stroking Razzle and Dazzle’s heads as she contemplated the idea.

“I don’t want to force her to talk to me, but I don’t want her to think she can’t talk to me if she wants to.”

“Baa?” Dazzle asked, head resting on Charlie’s stomach as he looked at her curiously.

“Baa. Baa baa,” Razzle responded, rolling his eyes at his brother.

“Baa!” Dazzle protested, sticking his tongue out at Razzle.

She chuckled. “Boys, play nice.”

They huffed out breaths of annoyance, but nonetheless ceased their arguing. For the time being, at least.

Charlie nodded to herself as she came to a decision.

She’d give Vaggie another week, and if she didn’t broach the subject, Charlie would.

~~~

It didn’t take Vaggie long to notice Charlie was acting weirder than normal. At first, she’d thought nothing of it, but as the week progressed and Charlie continued acting that way, concern started to fester.

“Hun, is everything alright?” she’d asked once it had reached a week, tilting her head as Charlie burst into nervous giggles.

The two of them were seated on the couch for one of their regular movie nights, bundled underneath a plethora of blankets and decked out in their coziest pajamas.

“Wha—yeah, everything’s great! Why wouldn’t it be?! It’s not like anything is bothering me or anything! Nope, everything is perfectly normal! Totally and completely normal!”

Charlie wanted to facepalm at how obvious she was being. Clearly, Vaggie had caught onto her slightly abnormal behavior, and now, like the amazing girlfriend she was, was checking on her because she was worried. She bit her lip, sighing as Vaggie placed her hand on her face, thumb stroking her cheek. She melted into the touch, meeting Vaggie’s concerned gaze with a hesitant smile.

“You know you can tell me anything,” Vaggie reminded her, knowing that sometimes Charlie got into her own head about what she could and couldn’t talk to Vaggie about.

Charlie frowned, pulling away from Vaggie’s touch, ignoring her shocked look as the frustration that had been seated inside of her finally reared its ugly head. “Yeah, I know that, but do you?”

“Charlie, what are you talking about?

Charlie shook her head. “No, don’t talk to me like that.”

“Like what?”

“Like I’m someone who needs to be sheltered! Like the truth needs to be hidden from me! Like I don’t know that there are terrible things out there!”

Vaggie was taken aback, lips parted in surprise as she tried to think of a response. “I-I’m sorry, I never meant to make you feel like that.”

Charlie groaned, rising to her feet, needing to move around with all of this energy buzzing inside of her. “No!”

“No…what?”

“No, don’t apologize! I don’t need you to apologize! I need you to talk to me!”

Vaggie frowned, clambering to her feet as she watched Charlie pace. “I do talk to you.”

“No, you don’t. The entire time I’ve known you, you’ve never once talked to me about your past. I’ve tried not to ask questions because I don’t want to make you uncomfortable, but I also really want to know about you! Except you never talk to me! Never once have you ever told me anything about your time on Earth!”

“Because my time on Earth doesn’t matter!” Vaggie shouted back, getting fed up with the way Charlie was throwing all the blame at her. She wasn’t being entirely truthful, but she didn’t want Charlie to figure out what the actual problem was. So, she played along with what Charlie thought the issue was. “Nothing in my past matters! What matters is that I’m here, and I’m with you!”

“But it matters to me! I want to get to know you, but I can’t do that because you won’t tell me anything about yourself!”

“Yes, I do! You know everything there is to know about me, Charlie. You know about everything that matters!”

“It doesn’t feel like it! It feels like you’re trying to hide something from me, like you think I won’t accept you. But I do, and nothing you could say to me, and I mean nothing, could ever change that.”

“I’m not hiding anything from you!”

“Then why won’t you talk to me?!”

“Because I don’t see any reason to!”

Charlie crossed her arms over her chest, narrowing her eyes at her girlfriend. “So, what, because you don’t want to talk to me about your past, that’s it? End of discussion?”

Vaggie groaned, pinching the bridge of her nose as she exhaled sharply. “If you wanted to know about my past so badly, why didn’t you ever ask me?! You talk about how I don’t open up to you, but did you ever think that maybe it’s because you don’t make me feel like I can?! All you ever want to talk about is the Hotel, and whenever I try to talk about literally anything else, you find some way to bring it back to the Hotel! I’ve tried to talk to you, Charlotte, but you don’t fucking listen to me when I do!”

Charlie froze, both at the use of her full name and from the accusations thrown her way from Vaggie. “Vaggie—I’m—I didn’t realize—”

Vaggie scoffed, turning away from Charlie. “Of course you didn’t,” she muttered, wincing as soon as the words escaped her mouth.

Charlie flinched at the barb, a million thoughts racing through her head as she tried to figure out a way to rectify the situation.

“I’m going to my room. Don’t follow me,” Vaggie said firmly, angrily brushing past Charlie to reach the hall.

“Shit,” Charlie murmured as a door slamming shut echoed through the house, burying her face in her hands as she dropped back down onto the couch. “Shit,” she repeated, thinking over the past couple of months and realizing that Vaggie was right.

Ever since her girlfriend had agreed to be her partner for the Hotel, she’d talked about nothing but that particular subject. There were a ton of similar instances, but one in particular made Charlie wonder how she could’ve been so fucking oblivious.

Charlie was in her office, situated a couple of doors down from her bedroom, looking over the many different files she’d been sent by the graphic designer she’d hired to make advertisements for the hotel. She had looked at three of them so far, and still had plenty more to go. She was so laser-focused on her task that she hadn’t even realized Vaggie had entered the office until she had cleared her throat. “Vaggie, hey! I thought you were going out into the city,” she said, briefly looking up from her computer screen to make eye contact with her girlfriend before they dove right back to the screen, completely missing the fact that Vaggie was currently fighting back tears and was fiddling with her gloves, something she only did when something had really and truly upset her.

“I, uhh, I just got back.”

“How was it?” Charlie asked, shaking her head and frowning as she bypassed the advertisement she had been looking at, scribbling down a note to tell them she didn’t like that specific kind of design.

“It, well, umm, I kind of ran into my parents,” Vaggie said in a quiet tone. “I was actually wondering if you maybe had a minute? To talk? ‘Cause I really need to. Talk to you, I mean.”

Charlie sighed. “Sorry Vaggie. I wish I could, but the graphic designer just got back to me. I need to get through these advertisements for the hotel before tomorrow night. Could this wait until then?”

Vaggie blinked back her tears, sucking in a breath as her fidgeting increased. “Umm, you know what, it’s fine. I don’t want to disturb you or anything,” she responded dejectedly, swallowing past the lump in her throat.

“You sure?” Charlie asked, never even looking up at Vaggie. Instead, her eyes narrowed at the computer, as though it had personally offended her.

“I’m sure. I’ll see you later, Charlie. Try not to work too hard,” Vaggie said, exiting the office and shutting the door before she could hear Charlie’s reply.

“Fuuuuuuuck, I’m a horrible person. And an even worse partner!” Charlie whined, unable to comprehend just how she could be so focused on work she couldn’t even recognize that her girlfriend needed her. Instead, she ignored the fact that Vaggie had run into her parents (which, like, how the fuck?!) and had come to her, seeking her support, and Charlie brushed her off in favor of advertisements for a hotel that she didn’t even have an actual hotel for yet. “I’m such an idiot.”

Things were tense between them for the next couple of days, especially considering this was the first real fight they’d ever had. There had been plenty of playful arguments between them, like who got to choose the movie that night or where they should go to dinner, but never anything serious. This was the first time either of them had blown up at one another and become truly upset at the other.

It was killing both of them, but they didn’t want to admit it. At least, Vaggie didn’t. If Charlie wasn’t going to listen to her, then she didn’t see the point in interacting with the blonde.

She was hellbent on ignoring her, but Charlie was hellbent on doing whatever she could to make it up to Vaggie.

She’d tried apology letters, chocolates, flowers, stuffed animals, cards, drawings, her favorite snacks, heck, she even tried sending Razzle and Dazzle, but all of it remained outside of her girlfriend’s(?) door, completely untouched.

Charlie sighed, leaning her forehead against the door as she softly knocked on the door. “Vaggie, it’s me. Again. I know you’re mad at me and upset with me and probably a million other things, and you have every right to be. But I’m not giving up on you. I’m not giving up on us. I’ll apologize everyday if I have to, but please, please, talk to me. I miss you, and I promise to never let the hotel come in front of you again. You’re so much more important to me than some silly little hotel anyways. I don’t need it as much as I need y—”

She yelped in surprise as she fell forward, tripping over her feet as she hastily righted herself, looking at Vaggie and frowning at how out of sorts her girlfriend appeared to be.

“It’s not silly,” Vaggie said quietly, arms crossed over her chest as she studiously avoided Charlie’s gaze.

Charlie cracked a small smile. Despite how upset Vaggie was with her, she was still supporting her dream, and that little fact made her heart warm with adoration for the woman in front of her. “Can I come in?”

Vaggie nodded after a few seconds, stepping aside and allowing Charlie space to enter the room before she shut the door with an audible ‘click’. She made her way over to her bed, arms still crossed over her chest as her head turned in the opposite direction of Charlie. She felt the mattress dip as Charlie sat down, and an awkward silence filled the air between them.

“I’m sorry,” Charlie blurted out when the silence became more than she could bear. “I’m sorry I blew up at you, I’m sorry I put the hotel in front of you, I’m sorry I made you feel like you couldn’t talk to me, I’m sorry for ignoring you when you needed me, I’m just, I’m so so soooooooo sorry. For all of it.”

“Thank you,” Vaggie said, hesitantly looking over at Charlie. “I’m sorry, too.”

“For what?” Charlie asked, tilting her head in confusion.

“For not being honest with you. I should have told you how I felt instead of letting it grow into a bigger problem. I was just scared. I didn’t want you to think that I didn’t support you.”

“Oh, Vaggie,” Charlie said softly, scooching closer to Vaggie until she could take her hand in her own, squeezing it as she maintained eye contact with her girlfriend. “I could never think such a thing. Not when you’re the only one who’s been by my side, through all of the ups and downs. I couldn’t ask for a better partner, for me or for the hotel.”

Vaggie dove forward, wrapping her arms around Charlie, tightly, as she buried her face in the crook of Charlie’s neck and inhaled deeply, that familiar apple scent making her realize just how much she missed Charlie, making her feel like she was finally home.

Charlie instantly returned Vaggie’s embrace, forehead resting against Vaggie’s collarbone as she sagged against her, relief sweeping through her as she finally got to have Vaggie in her arms again.

The two of them remained intertwined with each other for a while longer, only pulling away when they heard Razzle and Dazzle at the doorway. They exchanged looks with one another and burst into giggles as the two goat demons frantically fled the scene, as if hoping they hadn’t been caught.

“Gosh, I’ve missed hearing that laugh,” Charlie said, loving finding the instant blush that rose to Vaggie’s cheeks absolutely adorable. “I’ve missed you.”

“I’ve missed you too.”

“Can we please promise to never ever fight again? That was awful!

Vaggie chuckled, poking at Charlie until she laid down, burying herself in Charlie’s arms and resting her head atop Charlie’s shoulder, sighing in content as her girlfriend’s warmth and apple scent surrounded her once again.

“I don’t think we can make that promise, babe. Every couple fights, it’s a completely normal thing,” Vaggie explained, intertwining her fingers with Charlie’s and resting them on the blonde’s stomach, thumb automatically stroking Charlie’s hand.

Charlie pouted. “Well, can we at least promise to try our best not to hide our feelings from each other anymore?”

Vaggie thought about the offer for a moment. “I suppose we could.”

“Ok then. I, Charlie, promise to try to be as honest as possible when it comes to my feelings regarding my relationship with my protective girlfriend, Vaggie.”

“You’re such a goof,” Vaggie snorted, shrieking with laughter as Charlie started tickling her. “Ok, ok! I, Vaggie, promise to try to be as honest as possible when it comes to my feelings regarding my relationship with my adorkable girlfriend, Charlie.”

“There, now was that so hard?” Charlie asked, amusement seeping into her tone.

“Yes, it was,” Vaggie deadpanned.

“Do you want me to tickle you again? Because I will.”

“No, thank you. I’d just like to cuddle with my girlfriend. I’ve missed her.”

“I’ve missed me too.”

Vaggie playfully slapped Charlie’s stomach, giggling at her offended expression.

“Sheesh, so demanding. I suppose she’s missed you too.”

Vaggie arched an eyebrow, then slowly but deliberately pointed to the pile of apology gifts sitting outside her bedroom door.

“Ok, alright, she’s definitely missed you and is very sorry she ignored you and promises she won’t ever do it again.”

“And if she does?”

“Then her girlfriend has her permission to slap her upside the head.”

“Those are the terms?”

“Indeed, they are.”

“Hmm, I suppose they’re acceptable enough.”

Charlie grinned, a much more pleasant silence falling between them. Though there was something that was bugging Charlie. “Vaggie?”

“Hmm?”

“Do you want to tell me about your parents now?”

Vaggie sighed, cuddling closer to Charlie, playing with her girlfriend’s fingers. “Are you sure?”

Charlie’s heart broke at how small and unsure Vaggie sounded. She tightened her hold on the woman, silently vowing to never neglect Vaggie like that ever again. “I’m sure.”

She felt more than saw Vaggie’s nod.

“I was planning on surprising you with a frappuccino from Hell’s Coffee Shop because you’d been hard at work all day and I wanted to do something nice for you. I was on my way there after I’d gotten some new clothes for myself when someone bumped into me. When I saw them, I froze. I didn’t know what to think or do or say, so I stood there and stared at them until I realized they were talking to me. My parents weren’t, well, they were assholes, to be completely honest. My mom was never home, and when she was she didn’t pay us any attention whatsoever. My dad was an abusive alcoholic. Anything we did, we did wrong, and each time we were beaten on until he got tired of it and went back to his chair in the living room, drinking until he passed out. I always did my best to shield my little brother from it all, so I usually ended up taking the brunt of the abuse.”

Vaggie felt Charlie’s chest rumble as she growled, horns popping out of her head and tail curling protectively around her. She smiled despite herself, bringing Charlie’s hand up to her mouth and kissing the back of it.

“I don’t know why my parents were together in the first place, considering I’d never seen either of them show even an ounce of affection towards one another, but they were. My mom didn’t recognize me, but my dad did, and he started spewing all this shit about how I deserved to be down here because I was abnormal for liking other girls instead of guys, that I was a disgrace, a waste of space, that I was worthless and stupid and that he wishes I’d never been born in the first place. It’s nothing I haven’t heard from him before, but I guess it’s been so long since I had that it hit me harder than it otherwise would have.”

Charlie couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Sure, her dad was a bit absent from her life, but he’d always done his best, and he’d certainly never said anything like that to her. To hear that Vaggie was used to this kind of treatment only served to further break her heart, while also explaining so many things.

It explained why Vaggie would flinch whenever Charlie used her hands to tell a story, especially in the beginning. It explained why Vaggie was so shy and unsure of herself whenever Charlie complimented her. It explained why Vaggie was so protective of her when they were out together in public. It explained why Vaggie was able to hide her true emotions so well.

It was all because of the way she’d been raised. She’d been raised to believe when someone’s arms were raised, she’d get hurt. She’d been raised to believe she wasn’t worthy of compliments. She’d been raised in an environment where her first and only priority was to shield those she cared about. She’d been raised to keep her emotions tucked away unless she wanted to get into even deeper trouble.

Charlie hadn’t ever really understood hatred, but she certainly did now. She hated Vaggie’s parents. Loathed them. Despised them. Wanted to rip them to shreds again and again and again for hurting her beloved.

“They left pretty quickly after that, but not before my mom gave me one of those ‘I’m so disappointed in you’ looks while my dad just kept muttering insults towards me under his breath. I guess I blanked out, ‘cause the next thing I remember is walking to your office. And, well, you know the rest,” Vaggie said, tone softening so much by the last sentence Charlie could barely make out the words.

But she did, and it pained Charlie all over again to think she could have been such an oblivious idiot. Despite not knowing everything she wanted to know about Vaggie, she did know how to recognize what her partner was feeling. She’d gotten much more adept at that when she started becoming friends with Vaggie, and even more so when they started dating.

“I’m so so sooooooo sorry, Vaggie. I promise I won’t ignore you like that ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever mmph!”

Vaggie placed her hand over Charlie’s mouth, surprising her and effectively rendering her silent. “You don’t need to keep apologizing, querida. Ya te he perdonado.” [dear. I have already forgiven you]

“I don’t understand much of that, but based on your smile I’m guessing it’s a good thing?”

Vaggie chuckled, pressing a soft, lingering kiss to Charlie’s clothed sternum, where she could feel and hear her heart beating, the rate picking up as Vaggie placed her lips against her girlfriend. “Yes, hun, it’s a good thing.”

Charlie beamed, squishing Vaggie even tighter against her side. “You don’t have to elaborate if you don’t want to, but you mentioned something about siblings?”

“Hmm, yeah. I don’t really remember much about my older siblings, because they ditched as soon as they were old enough to, but my younger brother, well, he was my everything. I practically raised him, because both of our parents were shit asses who didn’t want to take care of another child. I changed all of his diapers, fed him every meal, soothed all of his tantrums. I potty trained him, taught him how to read and write and spell, took him to school and picked him up everyday. I hid him in our room whenever my dad would get angry, forbidding him to come out until I told him our little secret code. I came up with it after one of his favorite books, Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass. I’d say ‘If you’ll believe in me then I’ll believe in you. Is that a bargain?’ and he’d respond ‘Yes, if you like.’ He was such a smart kid, and one that was much kinder and gentler and sweeter than anyone deserved, including me. You remind me of him.”

“I do?”

Vaggie nodded. “When I was killed, he was only fourteen, and he was all I was thinking about when it happened. He didn’t deserve to be left alone with our parents, especially our dad. I can only hope that he got out and made a life for himself, and that he didn’t let what happened to me stop him from living his own life. He’d be well into his twenties by now. I wish I could check on him, even for a moment, to see how he’d turned out, to see if he was alright without me.”

Charlie leaned down to press a flurry of soft kisses to the top of Vaggie’s head, hand stroking up and down her back in what she hoped was a comforting motion. “I know you said not to, but I’m really-super-duper-completely-totally sorry I made you feel like you couldn’t talk to me about any of this.”

“You don’t have to keep apologizing, sweetie. All is forgiven.”

“Pinky promise?” Charlie asked, completely serious as she held her pinky out.

Vaggie rolled her eye fondly, but nonetheless wrapped her pinky around Charlie’s. “Pinky promise.”

“Good,” Charlie exhaled in relief, jaw creaking as she let out a huge and unexpected yawn.

Vaggie chuckled, proceeding to pull the covers out from under them, having to poke and prod at Charlie to get her to move so she could, and then pulled them over top of the two of them, knowing it wouldn’t take long for Charlie to fall asleep once she began yawning. Sure enough, within seconds, Vaggie felt Charlie’s grip on her beginning to lax. “Goodnight, Charlie.”

“Mmm, ‘night Vaggie,” she murmured sleepily, snuggling closer to her girlfriend.

The two of them fell asleep in each other’s embrace, content with the knowledge that as long as they had one another and communicated, they could get through anything that came their way.

Thank you for reading! And here's the AO3 link as well!

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ronancexists · 2 months

Text

Chaggie/Starmoth Week of Firsts

These will also be posted on my AO3 account which is the same as my Tumblr username, ronancexists :) Day 2: First Date

It had been a rough couple of months since Charlie had first found Vaggie. The poor woman was not only severely injured at the time, but she was also new to Hell. Like, brand new. And that meant she knew absolutely nothing about how anything worked down here.

Luckily for Charlie, Vaggie seemed to adapt to her new life in Hell rather quickly. She absorbed all the information Charlie relayed to her about Hell like a sponge does water, and was overly protective of Charlie whenever they ventured out together.

Not that Charlie particularly minded. In fact, she found it rather sweet that Vaggie was so adamant about keeping her safe. Even though she and Vaggie both knew nobody down here would hurt her unless they wanted to incur her father’s wrath, Vaggie insisted, stating she didn’t want them to forget that little detail.

Charlie wasn’t sure if Vaggie was acting this way because she’d been the one who nursed Vaggie back to health when she was teetering on the brink of death, or if it was because Vaggie might be harboring some deeper feelings for Charlie.

At least, that’s what Charlie was hoping was the case.

She’s been aware of her own feelings towards Vaggie for what's felt like forever now. After all, she did totally like, find her completely attractive when she’d first stumbled upon Vaggie and blushed when Vaggie smiled at her and did her little hair tuck behind her ear thing. And when Vaggie started hanging out with her and smiling at her and comforting her and helping her and supporting her dreams and believing in her, well, it’s no wonder Charlie became so smitten so quickly.

The trouble was, Charlie had no clue if Vaggie felt the same. Vaggie didn’t outwardly express her emotions as much as Charlie did, at least, not the ones that would make her vulnerable, and—in her words, not Charlie’s, never Charlie’s—make her appear weak to others.

However, she was very good at expressing her annoyance and anger and the even concern when she felt Charlie was working herself too hard or when Charlie was on the verge of a breakdown from stress and frustration.

But anything other than that, Vaggie’s lips were sealed.

Charlie had no clue how Vaggie felt about her, but she wished and hoped more than anything that Vaggie felt even remotely similar to Charlie.

~~~

Vaggie had developed feelings for Charlie. Not friend feelings, but I-want-to-hold-your-hand-and-kiss-you-whenever-I-want-and-call-you-my-partner feelings.

She groaned aloud to herself, her arms crossed over her stomach, pacing back and forth in front of the bed of the guest bedroom that had become her room, anxiously gnawing on her bottom lip, one of her hands occasionally leaving her stomach to tug at her hair.

Vaggie’s been feeling like this around Charlie for a while now.

Whenever Charlie looked at her, she blushed. Whenever Charlie touched her, whether it was linking their hands together or giving her a hug, it sent warmth and sparks shooting through her body. Whenever Charlie was sad, she wanted nothing more than to hold the blonde in her arms and shower her with affirmations, while simultaneously thinking of ways to tear apart the hijo de puta that had caused Charlie to feel sad in the first place. Whenever Charlie sang, it filled Vaggie with a feeling of happiness and peace. Whenever Charlie started talking, she found herself thinking of how soft Charlie’s lips would feel against her own and if her kisses would be as sweet as her.

She groaned again, now raking both hands through her hair and clutching at large chunks intermittently. “Fuuuuuuck, fuck fuck fuck,” Vaggie said, sighing as she fell back against her bed with a ‘thump’, feet dangling and kicking in the air before hitting the side of mattress, repeating the motions mindlessly as her thoughts continued to stray to Charlie.

Charlie must have been pretty oblivious to not have noticed even one of the longing stares Vaggie directed her way. But if Charlie wasn’t looking for Vaggie to look at her that way, then it’d make sense that she hadn’t noticed.

That was another thing. Vaggie had been studying Charlie for a while now, and not once had she caught the Princess looking at Vaggie the way she looked at Charlie. Usually, Charlie was an open book to Vaggie, but if Vaggie didn’t see it, it more than likely meant Charlie didn’t like Vaggie in that way.

With a sigh, Vaggie adjusted so she was curled up on her side, arms curled around herself as if trying to protect her from the inevitable truth.

Charlie didn’t like her, not in the way Vaggie wanted her to.

And she never would.

~~~

Charlie couldn’t believe she had just done that. One moment, she was seated at the dinner table, aimlessly chatting with Vaggie, and the next, she was covering her mouth in shock, eyes wide in horror as Vaggie merely stared at her. “Ohhhh my gosh, I’m so so so sorry! I didn’t mean to say that! No, wait, I meant to say it! I just, I had this whole thing planned out. I was gonna get flowers and make a cake and put up a banner and everything! It was going to have glitter and—”

As Charlie continued to ramble, Vaggie continued to stare at her, a blank expression on her face, processing what Charlie had said.

They’d sat down to eat, Charlie instantly diving into conversation about the newest updates to her Happy Hotel project. Vaggie was watching her with a fond smile, her singular eye shining with adoration as Charlie frantically waved her hands about to emphasize her point.

When Charlie finally met Vaggie’s gaze, she tucked her hair behind her ear, something Vaggie knew she only did when she was flustered. Vaggie couldn’t bring herself to look away from Charlie, even as her own cheeks began to heat the longer her eye remained locked with both of Charlie’s.

Charlie broke the tension by blurting out the first thing that came to mind. “Would you want to go on a date with me?”

And that’s how they got to this moment, with Charlie now on the verge of tears as Vaggie still hadn’t responded to anything Charlie had said, including her admittance of her feelings towards the other woman.

“I-If you don-don’t feel the same, I understand. I just hope we can s-stay friends,” Charlie sniffled, wiping the wetness staining her cheeks with the arm of her suit jacket. “I’ll leave you alone. I’m sorry.”

Vaggie finally managed to snap out her trance as Charlie stood up from her seat, the chair screeching against the floor at the force that Charlie pushed it back with. She stood up as well and quickly walked over to Charlie’s side of the table, stopping Charlie’s retreat when her fingers wrapped around Charlie’s slender wrist. “Wait,” she pleaded.

Charlie stopped in her tracks, taking in a deep breath before hesitantly looking over at Vaggie.

“Charlie, I—” Vaggie started, exhaling slowly as if that would get rid of the jitters that had taken over. “I like you. As more than a friend. And I’d love to go on a date with you, if you still want that.”

Charlie’s expression morphed comically from sadness and fear and hesitation to disbelief to sheer, unadulterated joy, all within seconds. She squealed, wrapping her arms around Vaggie’s waist and picking her up, spinning them around in circles as she giggled excitedly.

Vaggie wrapped her arms around Charlie’s shoulders instinctively, her panicked yelp quickly giving way to laughter.

“Really?! You mean it?! You want to go on a date with me?!” Charlie asked once she had set Vaggie down, only slightly breathless, hands still resting on either side of Vaggie’s waist, beaming down at Vaggie as if she held the key to happiness in her hands.

“I mean it,” Vaggie confirmed, smiling brightly as Charlie dove forward for a hug, one she eagerly reciprocated. She buried her face in Charlie’s shoulder, inhaling deeply, that familiar, wonderful apple scent making her feel a litany of feelings all at once.

Both of them were overly relieved that the other felt the same, and they couldn’t wait for their first date to commence.

~~~

“Are you sure I look ok?” A frazzled Charlie asked a very exasperated Razzle and Dazzle, who had laid down on her bed after Charlie had reached outfit number six.

“Baa,” they responded in unison, Razzle closing his eyes and resting his head on his crossed hooves while Dazzle stared at her, unimpressed.

“You’re right. It’s Vaggie, she’s not going to care about what I’m wearing,” she said in an attempt to reassure herself as she fussed with the cuffs on her jacket, looking herself over in the mirror for the umpteenth time, quadruple-checking that her mascara hadn’t smeared.

Charlie was wearing a black multi-layer ruffled skirt that fell to her upper thighs, a black shirt that was tucked neatly into her skirt with a white collar, a white tie with black stripes, and a black suit jacket that had padded shoulders. It also sported gold-colored buttons and a white trim along the hem, all the way around from the lapels to the angular-shaped bottom. She’d redone her black nail polish, and ultimately decided to leave her hair in its normal braid, choosing to go with a pair of small, strappy black heels.

Straightening up her tie, Charlie couldn’t contain the excitement that was bubbling up, nor the accompanying ear-to-ear smile. “I still can’t believe she said yes! It’s a dream come true! I’m the luckiest girl in the world!”

Razzle and Dazzle shared bemused glances as Charlie began twirling around the room, humming to herself in delight as she swiped her wallet off the nightstand, tucking it into her inner coat pocket.

“I bet Vaggie’s going to look amazing! Not to say that she doesn’t always look amazing, because she does! But seeing her all dressed up is going to be a whole ‘nother level of amazing!”

“Baa!” Dazzle bleated, Razzle pointing to the clock.

“Oh, shoot! You’re right! I gotta go get Vaggie! You boys got the limo?! Vaggie deserves the absolute best for our date!”

“Baa! Baa!” Razzle responded, flying up from the bed and nudging Charlie towards the door while his brother grabbed the bouquet of roses Charlie had bought for Vaggie and handed them off to her.

“Right, I’ve got it! Thanks boys, I’ll see you in a bit!” Charlie hollered, practically skipping down the hall, the bouquet clutched tightly in her hands.

She skidded to a halt when she reached Vaggie’s bedroom door, and once she had gathered up enough courage, she knocked.

“I’ll be out in a couple of seconds!”

Charlie didn’t have to wait for even a second. The door swung open, revealing Vaggie, and Charlie’s mouth went dry, eyes becoming as big as saucers. “Vaggie—I—umm—you look—wow—I—you’re—you’re stunning,” Charlie stuttered as she held out the flowers to Vaggie. “I brought these, for you, but now I don’t even know why I bothered because they don’t even begin to compare to you.”

Vaggie blushed, taking the roses from Charlie while shuffling nervously from foot to foot at Charlie’s sweet compliment and her earnest gaze. “Let me just put these down, and then we can go.”

Charlie nodded, watching Vaggie walk away, mind reeling from how a woman as beautifully breathtaking as Vaggie wanted to go out with her. Not because she was Charlotte, the Princess of Hell and heir to the throne, but Charlie, the goofy blonde filled to the brim with enthusiasm and dreams that others were determined to crush under the heels of their boots.

“Ready?” Vaggie asked.

“I am,” Charlie said, holding her arm out for Vaggie to take, heart flipping and flopping in her chest as Vaggie daintily looped her arm through Charlie’s, smiling bashfully at her. “I meant what I said, you know. You look absolutely amazing.”

Vaggie’s hair was pulled back into an elegant bun, her bangs covering the eyepatch with the red X Charlie had painstakingly made for her. On her neck sat a small, diamond necklace that resembled a choker in Charlie’s eyes. She had picked out a dark red, sparkling pantsuit for the evening, the spaghetti straps resting on her shoulders a lighter shade of red. The top half dipped down just low enough to tease, but not overwhelmingly so. There was a cutout in the middle, connected to the bottom half of her suit by light red straps, exposing Vaggie’s skin all around. Most of Vaggie’s upper back was exposed as well due to the way the top half of the suit tapered off as it reached Vaggie’s back. She, like Charlie, was wearing a small pair of heels, only hers were white instead of black.

It was a lot more skin than Charlie was used to seeing exposed on Vaggie, and it was honestly making her dizzy with how breathless she was becoming and how much she wanted to run her hands over it all. She was also filled with pride at Vaggie, for being comfortable enough with Charlie to have the scars on her back out in the open.

“Thank you, Charlie. You don’t look too bad yourself.”

Charlie acted offended at the barb, and Vaggie’s resulting giggle only made her that much more beautiful in Charlie’s eyes.

“So, are you ready to tell me where we’re headed?” Vaggie asked conversationally as they reached the limo, thanking Charlie for holding the door open, rolling her eye fondly as Charlie bowed at the gratitude.

Since Charlie had grown up in Hell and Vaggie had only arrived a couple of months ago, she’d allowed Charlie the liberty of planning out their evening. The only information Charlie had given her was to dress as though she were heading to a black-tie event.

“Not yet. Guess you’ll just have to wait and see,” Charlie replied as she clambered into the limo, shutting the door behind her and signaling to the boys that they could begin driving. She settled back in her seat, adjusting herself so she was facing Vaggie, reaching over to link their hands together, humming to herself as she traded from staring out the window for some time to staring at Vaggie for some (a much longer) time.

Charlie’s touch sent a tingling sensation shooting through her, quickly followed by warmth, which Charlie seemed to simply radiate.

While Charlie was occupied with the window, Vaggie took the chance to admire Charlie’s outfit, seeing as she hadn’t been able to earlier, and how the fuck Charlie managed to pull of a suit with a ruffled skirt was beyond her. Though she didn’t mind the skirt, not at all. The way the garment fell as Charlie sat down made it ride up even higher than it had before, exposing even more of Charlie’s thighs, not to mention the way the suit emphasized each one of Charlie’s curves and highlighted the angles of her body. The sight made Vaggie’s breath hitch in her throat, and it took her a while to gain any semblance of control over her thoughts.

A smirk overcame her face as an idea flashed in her mind. She tugged on Charlie’s hand, causing the Princess to look over at her in confusion. Vaggie tugged on her hand again, and once Charlie moved, scooting close enough to Vaggie that their thighs were touching, Vaggie leaned against Charlie’s side, throwing one of Charlie’s arms around her shoulders while her own wrapped around Charlie’s waist. With a content sigh, Vaggie allowed her head to fall against Charlie’s shoulder, looking up at Charlie and batting her eye innocently even as she fought against her smirk, which wanted to make itself known once more. “Is this ok?” Vaggie asked, intentionally fanning her breath against Charlie’s neck and watching as goosebumps instantly appeared.

“Yeah! Yes, yeah, this is ok! This is great!”

Vaggie allowed her eye to flutter shut, snuggling deeper into Charlie’s side while being wary of smearing her mascara.

Charlie gulped as her hand hesitantly rested on Vaggie’s shoulder, stroking the skin there softly, heart pounding rapidly against her sternum as her thoughts ran rampant. Oh my gosh I can’t believe this is happening! Her skin is so much smoother and so much softer than I imagined and she looks so breathtaking and she fits so well against me! How am I going to survive dinner if I can barely even stand the ride there?! Please please please let us arrive soon so I’m not tempted to do something I’ll sorely regret and something that will definitely ensure Vaggie won’t want to go out with me ever again. Gosh she’s so beautiful I can’t get over how well the color red suits her and her eye is so pretty and she looks so good with her hair tied back. Not that she doesn’t look good with her hair down! Because she does! She looks good with both! Oh geez I’m rambling inside of my mind, how do I always manage to do this to myself?!

“Charlie?”

“Hmm?” Charlie responded mindlessly, too busy scolding herself internally for going off on a tangent.

“Can’t you at least give me a hint as to where we’re going? Please?”

Charlie bit her lip, eyes falling down to Vaggie’s lips as she pouted playfully. “I guess it wouldn’t hurt.”

“Yes, thank you!” Vaggie exclaimed, reaching up to press a light, fleeting kiss to Charlie’s cheek, pulling away as she looked at the woman eagerly, who appeared to be frozen in place, like a deer in headlights. “Charlie, hun, are you ok?”

If it was even possible, Charlie stilled even more. It took Vaggie a moment to realize, and when she did, a blush instantly sprouted to her cheeks.

“Sorry, I shouldn’t have said that. It sort of just slipped out. This is only our first date and it’s a bit much to be calling you by any nicknames or anything. I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable. I’d never want to do that to you. It won’t happen again, I promise. Gah, I’m such an idiot!”

“Don’t say that!”

Vaggie looked at Charlie in surprise, her blush deepening as Charlie lifted their intertwined hands to her mouth and kissed the back of Vaggie’s.

“Don’t you ever call yourself an idiot again, ok? You’re the opposite of an idiot. You’re a genius. You’re smart. Intelligent. Sharp. Brilliant. Clev—”

“Ok!” Vaggie interrupted, placing a hand over Charlie’s mouth through her giggles. “I understand. I promise.”

“Good, and don’t apologize for the nicknames either. I think they’re cute, especially when they’re coming from you.”

Warmth blossomed in Vaggie’s chest, spreading throughout her entire body. “So you think I’m cute, huh?”

Charlie’s hair tuck was all the answer Vaggie needed.

“I think you’re cute too, in case that wasn’t obvious.”

Charlie beamed down at Vaggie, and without thinking, she pressed a kiss to Vaggie’s forehead.

Vaggie’s heart pounded even fiercer at the feel of Charlie’s lips on her skin. She squeezed Charlie’s hand in reassurance before she could freak out too much about the action. “Now, would you care to give me that clue you promised me?”

“Alright, hold on! Ummmm, let’s see,” Charlie mumbled to herself, eyes narrowing as if searching through her mind for the perfect clue. “Hmm, ok. Yup, I’ve got it! It’s to die for!”

Vaggie studied Charlie curiously, her proud smile and sparkling eyes and those adorable red circles on her cheeks. “Charlie.”

“Yes?”

“Are you seriously telling me you got us a reservation at ZoZo’s Palace?!”

Charlie deflated like a balloon, a pout settling on her lips. “Aww man, I didn’t think you were gonna guess it!”

Vaggie snorted. “Charlie, they’ve got advertisements 24/7 about how the food there is ‘to die for’. I may not pay much attention to the TV, but I’ve heard it enough times to recognize it. How did you even get reservations? From what I’ve heard, that place is booked months in advance.”

Charlie scratched the back of her neck, smiling at Vaggie sheepishly. “Well, I sort of am the Princess of Hell. I don’t use the title a lot, but I really wanted to do this for you. I wanted to make tonight special.”

“Charlie,” Vaggie said softly, adoration sweeping across her face as she cupped Charlie’s face in her hand, forcing Charlie to look at her. “You didn’t need to go through all of that trouble for me. Tonight was going to be special no matter what, because I’m with you. That means more to me than anything, even a fancy restaurant.”

Charlie nuzzled into Vaggie’s hand, eyes brimming with happy tears as she stared at Vaggie in awe. “You mean that?”

“I do.”

A smirk formed on Charlie’s face. “So, should I cancel our table?”

“Umm, fuck no.”

“But I thought being with me was more special than anything?”

“It is, but you can’t tell a girl you got her a table at ZoZo’s and not expect her to want to go.”

They looked at one another seriously. It only lasted for a few seconds before they burst into a fit of giggles, the limo rolling to a stop shortly after.

“Baa!” Razzle said, pointing out the window.

“Looks like we’re here,” Charlie said, opening the car door and stepping out before turning around, offering her hand for Vaggie to take.

Vaggie did, allowing Charlie to assist her, and once she was out, she interlocked her fingers with Charlie, squeezing Charlie’s hand in excitement as she stared at the restaurant before them in complete and utter wonder. “Charlie,” she breathed out, and the smile she shot Charlie was so brilliant Charlie felt her knees go weak.

“Come on,” Charlie said, reluctantly removing her hand from Vaggie’s so she could wrap her arm around the backs of her shoulders, hand resting on the bare skin of her upper arm.

Vaggie slung her arm across Charlie’s waist in return, fingers absentmindedly stroking up and down Charlie’s side as they walked, a tingling sensation shooting through Charlie each time.

They chatted aimlessly as they waited in line, and once they reached the front, Charlie spoke up. “Reservation for two under Morningstar.”

The host’s eyes widened in recognition, but otherwise kept his cool. “Of course, Miss Morningstar. Right this way.”

Charlie watched Vaggie as she looked around at everything in awe, smile widening everytime Vaggie gasped softly if something took her aback. Her cheeks were hurting by the time they got to their table, but she couldn’t bring herself to care.

“You got us a private dining room?”

“I know you still tend to get anxious around large groups of people, so I thought this would make you more comfortable.”

Vaggie was overwhelmed by Charlie’s consideration for her and her feelings. Unable to find the words to express her gratitude, she leaned up and kissed Charlie’s cheek like she had in the limo. Charlie’s giddy smile at her actions only served to make Vaggie smile like an idiot in return.

“Ladies first,” Charlie said, reaching for the chair and pulling it out, gesturing for Vaggie to sit.

“My my my, what a gentleman,” Vaggie teased as Charlie pushed her chair back in before Vaggie had fully sat down.

Charlie smoothed out the bottom of her skirt before she sat down, pulling her chair in so she could be as close to the table (and Vaggie) as possible.

“Charlie, this is incredible. I can’t believe you did all of this for me.”

“It wasn’t that much trouble, really. But even if it had been, it would’ve been well worth it if it meant I got to see you smile the way you are right now.”

“A gentleman and a charmer, who would’ve thought?” Vaggie asked despite the color that was painting her cheeks at Charlie’s words.

“Hey, there’s a lot you still don’t know about me.”

“I find that hard to believe.”

“And why’s that?”

“Because you’re an open book, Charlie.”

“That’s simply not true.”

“Oh, really?”

“Really!”

“Do tell. What do I not know about Miss Charlie Morningstar, the ever so darling Princess of Hell?”

That’s how they spent most of their evening, discussing the things they knew about one another and learning about the things they didn’t know. They only stopped when they’d ordered their drinks and food, diving right back into their conversation as soon as they’d finished placing their orders.

“I can see why people say this place is to die for,” Vaggie said after they’d both finished off their plates, using her napkin to wipe up any excess food that may have been lingering on her face, Charlie doing the same across the table.

“Me too. I’ve been here a couple of times with my parents when I was younger, but I never really liked the food much at the time.”

“Oh? Was little Princess Charlie too much of a snob to even eat at a place as fancy as this?”

Charlie shook her head through her giggles. “No! It was nothing like that!”

Vaggie laughed as well, tilting her head when she noticed Charlie had some sauce smeared on the corner of her mouth. “Char, hun, you’ve still got a little something,” she said, pointing to her own face to indicate where it was on Charlie’s.

“Did I get it?”

“No, hold on, lemme just,” Vaggie said as she reached out, wiping the sauce off with her own napkin, freezing as she realized just how close her face was to Charlie’s. Close enough that she could feel Charlie’s breath fanning across her face, close enough that if she leaned forward just a bit she could narrow the distance between them, see how those black lips felt against her own, if they were as soft as Vaggie imagined, if they would taste like apples, if—

Vaggie cleared her throat, averting her eye from Charlie’s as she hastily sat back in her seat, blushing heavily.

Charlie had never been so tempted to screw proper date etiquette than at that moment. Vaggie had been so close, and her lips had looked so inviting, so plump, so kissable, so delectable. She had been in the midst of wondering how Vaggie would react to Charlie biting down on her lip, if she’d sigh or let out a moan or whimper in pleasure, when Vaggie had abruptly pulled away. “All gone?” she asked, a bit breathless.

Vaggie nodded. “Yup! All gone. You’re all good now.”

“I guess you can’t take me anywhere, huh?”

Vaggie smirked at that. “I guess not.”

She asked Charlie about how the Hotel was coming along, her chin resting in her hand as she admired the woman in front of her. How passionate she was, how determined she was, how enigmatic she was, how beautiful she looked in the candlelight. Vaggie had never felt more smitten with Charlie than right now.

Here she was, all dolled up, sat in the most upscale restaurant in Hell, with none other than the Princess herself.

Not that Vaggie liked Charlie because she was the Princess. She could care less about that. She was with Charlie because she liked hearing her sing whatever tune came to mind, she liked the way Charlie would become all flustered when she complimented her, she liked seeing Charlie bounce up and down in her seat whenever they were watching something together, unable to sit still even in the calmest of moments. She liked how caring Charlie was, how she was willing to do anything and everything for those she held near and dear, how her nose would crinkle when she’d get overly excited, how she was always so optimistic despite being in Hell, how touchy-feely she was with Vaggie.

Vaggie could go on and on about everything she liked about Charlie, but that would take up the rest of eternity. She had it bad for the other woman, and while that scared her, it also thrilled her.

Because Charlie, the literal Angel of Hell, felt the same way about Vaggie as Vaggie felt about her.

“Vaggie?”

Vaggie snapped her attention back to Charlie, who looked uncharacteristically nervous, twisting her skirt in one of her hands as she fidgeted in her seat while the other was tapping on the table. “Yeah, hun? Is everything ok?”

“I was just—well I was wondering—I know this is a big thing—and I—ughhh ok—umm—I dunno—I was thinking—”

Vaggie smiled softly, reaching over and placing her hand atop Charlie’s. “Breathe, Charlie. I’m here, and I’m not going anywhere. There isn’t anything you can say to me that will make me want to leave you.”

Charlie nodded jerkily, inhaling and exhaling as she gathered her thoughts. “I know this is a big ask, and there is no pressure on you to say yes! I was just, ever since I met you, you’ve stood by me like nobody else. You’ve supported me through everything, and you believe in me. You believe in my Happy Hotel, and you believe in my idea that sinners can be redeemed. So, if it’s not asking too much, I was kinda, sorta, mayyyybe hoping you’d want to be my partner in running the Hotel, like maybe you could be the manager or something. I haven’t figured all of the logistics out yet. But you totally don’t have to say yes if you don’t want to! Or even answer right now! I can definitely wait, I don’t want to make you feel like you owe it to me to say yes or force you into it if you don’t—”

“Charlie,” Vaggie interrupted, squeezing the other woman’s hand as Charlie blinked at her. “I’d be honored.”

“Wait, really?! You want to?! You want to run the hotel with me?!”

Vaggie nodded, returning Charlie’s ear-to-ear-grin. “Really. I care for you, Charlie, and I care about your dream. I want to do whatever I can to help.”

“Oh, thank you thank you thank you!” Charlie gushed, bringing Vaggie’s hand up to her mouth and pressing a flurry of kisses to the back of it in her excitement.

Vaggie’s cheeks heated up from the attention, but she made no move to stop Charlie. After all, she adored her and her antics. “There’s no need to thank me, mi querida.”

Charlie tilted her head at Vaggie. “What does that mean?”

“What, mi querida?”

She nodded.

“Oh, it’s Spanish for ‘my dear’,” Vaggie explained as her blush deepened.

“Could you speak it to me more? It makes me feel, I dunno, special.”

Vaggie smiled. “Lo que quieras, princesa. Pero siempre serás especial para mí, no importa qué.” [Whatever you want, princess. But you will always be special to me, no matter what]

“That’s—umm—I—wow.”

Vaggie laughed at the fact that she had managed to render Charlie speechless, a feat she was sure was not easily accomplished.

Charlie smiled softly, admiring the woman sitting in front of her. “How did I get so lucky?”

Vaggie turned her head away bashfully, though Charlie could still see her mouth turning up in a pleased smile.

Charlie’s own smile brightened as Vaggie’s thumb began tracing random patterns across the back of her hand, sparks skittering up her arm and warming her heart. She nodded to their waiter, thanking him for his service as she paid for their meal.

“Of course, Miss Morningstar. We hope you and your date had a splendid evening. Thank you for dining at ZoZo’s Palace.”

“All set?” Charlie asked once he’d left, to which Vaggie nodded.

As soon as they were side by side, they both reached for the other’s hand, matching grins adorning their faces as their fingers interlaced with one another.

Charlie held the restaurant door open for Vaggie, blushing as Vaggie’s body brushed up against her own as she exited. She quickly joined back up with Vaggie, lightly swinging their hands between them as they walked.

“I’m not ready to head back yet,” Vaggie admitted, looking up at Charlie with a hesitant smile. “Do you think we could go for a walk?”

“Of course! I know just the place,” Charlie replied, relieved to find out Vaggie didn’t want the night to end any more than she did.

As they strolled along the street, Vaggie couldn’t help but notice how much more orderly and peaceful this part of the city was. She supposed that was because this area housed more upscale and upper class citizens. It made sense considering ZoZo’s was located in this area.

That’s not to say there wasn’t still fighting and blood and debauchery and fire, but there wasn’t as much as Vaggie had grown accustomed to seeing, and it made the atmosphere surprisingly peaceful. It also made it cooler than normal, which given that this was Hell, was very much not the norm. She couldn’t suppress the shiver that spread through when a breeze came their way, and Charlie noticed.

“Are you cold?”

“A bit,” Vaggie said, and before she knew it, Charlie had taken her suit jacket off and was handing it to her.

She quietly thanked Charlie as she slipped it on, Charlie’s apple scent so prominent and rich it made her dizzy with warmth and comfort. It was very loose on her and so comically large it reached her thighs, and yet, she had never felt safer.

“It’s so big on you,” Charlie giggled.

“It’s not my fault you’re so tall!” Vaggie argued.

“I’m not that tall, you’re just short.”

“Hey!”

“What? You can’t seriously be telling me I’m wrong about this.”

“I’ll have you know I’m a perfectly average height. You’re the one that’s built like a giant.”

“I—wha—that’s not true!”

“Oh, but it is. Look at the people around us, then go ahead and tell me I’m short.”

“...You’re lucky I like you.”

Vaggie looked over at Charlie, tone switching from teasing to something more serious. “Yeah, I really am.”

A comfortable silence lapsed between the two of them, and Vaggie took the opportunity to nestle closer to Charlie. The blonde slung an arm around Vaggie’s shoulders, tucking Vaggie closer into her side, and Vaggie reached up to intertwine her hand with Charlie’s while her other hand settled across Charlie’s waist, fingers resting on the little divot of her hip.

“Here we are,” Charlie said as she pushed open a gate and led the two of them through, the gate clanging shut behind them as Charlie let go of it once they were inside.

“What is this place?” Vaggie asked, looking around the dimly lit, unoccupied park.

“It’s one of my dad’s establishments. He owns a couple of businesses, one of the more commonly known ones is LuLu World. He had this specific park built for my mom, so they could reminisce about their time in Eden. We used to come here as a family a lot when I was a kid. It’s one of my favorite places to visit in all of Hell,” Charlie explained wistfully.

“It’s beautiful,” Vaggie said as she looked around, multiple different colors and types of flora—flowers, trees, plants, etc.—sprouting everywhere and going as far back as the eyes could see. “Thank you for bringing me here. I know it can’t have been easy.”

Charlie shrugged, tipping her head until it was resting against Vaggie’s, a happy sigh escaping as she did so. “Everything seems to be easier when I’m with you.”

They took multiple laps around the well-worn, slightly overgrown path, Charlie pointing out all the plants she could remember, Vaggie listening to her with an adoring smile and a softness in her eye that was reserved for Charlie and Charlie only.

Vaggie didn’t know how long they’d been there, but when she saw Charlie try to stifle a yawn for the third time in a row, she took pity. “As much as I hate to put an end to this, my feet are really starting to kill me.”

“Alright, let’s get you home,” Charlie answered without any hesitation, steering them back towards the gate they had entered the park through.

It was a short walk back to the restaurant, where Razzle and Dazzle had been waiting in the limo. Charlie allowed Vaggie to slip in ahead of her, instructing the boys to take them home when the door closed behind her.

Vaggie immediately melted into Charlie’s side, eye fluttering shut as she rested her head against Charlie’s shoulders, their intertwined hands resting on Vaggie’s lap. “I’ve had an amazing time tonight, Charlie.”

“So have I,” Charlie agreed, resting her own head against Vaggie’s while her eyes shut in content. “Thank you for coming out with me. I’d love to do it again sometime. Only if you want to, of course.”

“I’d love nothing more.”

Vaggie’s answer cut Charlie off before she could begin to ramble, something she suspected Vaggie knew based on how quickly she’d answered her question. “Me too.”

The two of them remained side-by-side for the entirety of the ride, and it took everything in Vaggie’s power to stay awake. But she was just so comfortable, and Charlie was so cozy, and she was surrounded by Charlie’s warmth, and her apple scent that Vaggie adored, and the last thing she recalled as she laid there was how tonight was the best night she’d ever had.

Charlie looked down in surprise when she felt Vaggie’s grip on her hand go lax, biting her lip to contain her squeal at the adorableness when she realized the cause was that Vaggie had fallen asleep. She did her best to remain completely still so she didn’t disturb her sleeping beauty, quietly telling Razzle and Dazzle to be as careful as possible so they didn't startle Vaggie awake with driving over any of the usual clutter that littered the streets.

She moved her hand up to gently brush some loose strands of Vaggie’s bangs back into place, leaning down to press a light, lingering kiss to the top of Vaggie’s head afterwards, her own eyes drifting shut as she thought about just how perfect tonight had been, though not to the point where she fell asleep as well.

The limo rolled to a stop in front of the house, Razzle getting out of the vehicle so he could open the door for Charlie and Vaggie while Dazzle stayed situated behind the wheel, ready to properly park the car after dropping the women off.

“Thanks for all your help tonight, guys,” Charlie said as she gathered Vaggie in her arms, stepping out of the vehicle once she had a secure grip on her.

Charlie followed Razzle into the house, thanking him as he held open the door for her. She started the walk to Vaggie’s room, being sure to keep her footsteps as light as possible so the echoing clacks of her heels wouldn’t cause Vaggie to stir. When she reached the door to Vaggie’s bedroom, Razzle opened the door and got to work undoing the painstakingly made bed, nodding at Charlie once he was done and making a beeline for the door, wanting to give Charlie and Vaggie some privacy.

Sensing she wouldn’t be able to get Vaggie into something more comfortable without awakening her, Charlie laid her date down on the bed and, with a reluctant sigh, started stroking Vaggie’s cheek until the woman started to rouse.

“Mmm, Charlie? Wha’s happenin’?”

She chuckled at Vaggie’s half-asleep, raspy tone. “You fell asleep on the ride home. You’re in bed now.”

Vaggie snuggled deeper into Charlie’s jacket, burying her face in her pillow as her eye shut sleepily. “Don’t wanna move. ‘m comfy,” she slurred out.

“You aren’t going to be comfortable sleeping in your clothes. I can help you change into some pajamas so you can get out of this.”

Vaggie whined, shaking her head. “‘m comfy,” she repeated.

Charlie’s grin was nothing but fond as she tugged Vaggie into a sitting position, giggling as Vaggie merely slumped into her side and fell asleep almost instantly. “Come on, it won’t take long. I promise.”

Vaggie, half-asleep, reluctantly allowed a now fiercely blushing Charlie to remove her clothes, leaving her in her undergarments.

Charlie quickly grabbed the baggy t-shirt sitting on the edge of Vaggie’s bed and slipped it over the woman, unclipping Vaggie’s bra and tossing it to the floor once the shirt had completely covered her chest. She then helped Vaggie slip her arms into the sleeves, urging her to lay down so she could pull the covers over Vaggie, lips quirked up in amusement as Vaggie grabbed Charlie’s jacket from where it was strewn across the pillows and tucked it close to her chest, nose pressed so deeply into the fabric Charlie would’ve been worried about her suffocating if her breathing hadn’t remained the same.

“Goodnight, Vaggie. I’ll see you tomorrow,” Charlie whispered, leaning down to kiss Vaggie’s forehead, hand cupping Vaggie’s cheek as she did so.

“‘night hun,” Vaggie murmured, smiling sleepily up at Charlie through a half-lidded gaze.

Charlie’s heart seized in her chest at the sight, and it took everything in her not to just clamber into bed with Vaggie and fall asleep with the woman wrapped up in her arms. “Sweet dreams,” she settled on saying to a now fully asleep Vaggie, switching off the lights.

Only when the door shut behind her did Charlie allow her emotions to bubble up. She danced and twirled down the hall to her own room, squealing in happiness when she entered.

Razzle and Dazzle looked at one another bemusedly as Charlie babbled to them about her evening while she got herself ready for bed, talking so much about Vaggie that they were learning more about what Charlie thought about her than about their actual outing together, which they took as a sign that the date had gone extremely well. They couldn’t contain their bleats of excitement when Charlie revealed that Vaggie had agreed to be her partner for the hotel.

“I’m just, I’m so happy I feel like I could pop!” Charlie exclaimed as she fell back onto her bed, her smile having been plastered on her face from the second she left Vaggie’s room. It only widened when Razzle and Dazzle flew over to lay down on either side of her, heads resting on her stomach as they looked at her happily. “I can’t believe she said yes to another date! With me!”

“Baa! Baa!” said Razzle.

“Baa!” Dazzle added in agreement with his brother.

“I can’t wait,” Charlie sighed.

That’s how she fell asleep; bracketed by her two most trusted companions in the world, a smile on her face, with sweet dreams of Vaggie, her best friend and hopefully future girlfriend.

Thank you for reading! P.S.— Their date outfits were inspired by an amazing artist here on Tumblr. I highly encourage you all to check it out if you haven't! Also the AO3 link is here as well!

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ronancexists · 2 months

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Please Reblog is Your Blog is Safe for Non-Binary People.

If my mutuals can’t rb this then we can’t be mutuals

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ronancexists · 2 months

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ronancexists · 2 months

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YOU !!! YOURE THE WRITE OF THE 6 + 1 !!!!!! LEGENDARY FIC IN MY BOOKMARKS BY THE WAY THERE IS NOT ENOUGH OF VAGGIE IN AO3LAND

Hahaha yeah I am!! Thank you so much, I'm really glad you enjoyed it so much and I completely agree, there is nowhere near enough Vaggie in AO3 land which is why I decided to write that fic in the first place :)

#hazbin hotel #vaggie #vaggie hazbin hotel #hazbin hotel vaggie #hazbin vaggie #charlie morningstar #angel dust #husk #niffty #alastor #sir pentious

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ronancexists · 2 months

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Chaggie/Starmoth Week of Firsts

These will also be posted on my AO3 account which is the same as my Tumblr username, ronancexists :) Day 1: First Meet

Charlie had thought it to be like any other Extermination Day. She watched the portal to Heaven close from her bedroom window, set off fireworks to indicate the Extermination was officially over, and tucked some basic medical supplies into the many pockets of her red suit while the countdown on the clock tower in Pentagram City reset itself.

She politely declined Razzle and Dazzle’s offer to help her in scouring the city, searching for sinners who had been injured during the Extermination. She rarely found anybody alive, but she continued going out there, year after year. And those she did find still alive, they never actually accepted her assistance.

Despite the fact that they didn’t want her help, they were still her people, and she knew somewhere, deep inside all of them, were people who cared, who were kind, who wanted to accept her help, but wouldn’t because they were too prideful or too ashamed.

Whatever the case was, Charlie wanted to do this. She was tired of seeing sinners perish due to the Exorcists that came down to “cleanse” Hell in order to deal with the realm’s overpopulation problem.

Charlie knew there had to be another way, a more humane way, to deal with the overpopulation of Hell. She had an idea, but she didn’t exactly have a lot of support when it came to said idea. Her own father didn’t believe in her, her mother had disappeared almost four years ago and hadn’t returned any of Charlie’s calls or responded to any of her messages, and anybody she tried to explain it to laughed in her face and told her it was never going to work and that she should quit while she was ahead.

But she wasn’t going to let any of that stop her. This idea she had, a hotel to redeem sinners, was something she was passionate about and something she believed in with every fiber of her being. There were still a lot of kinks she had to work out in terms of making the hotel a reality, but Charlie was nothing if not determined. She’d open the hotel, recruit sinners to stay and work there, and they would be redeemed to Heaven, where everyone would live happily ever after.

Charlie was brought of her thoughts when she heard someone groaning. She looked around the street she had been walking on, confused as to where that noise could have come from. All the people around her were occupied with trying to find their family members or friends, stealing, picking fights for territory, all the usual things.

She heard it again, and this time, Charlie focused on that noise and that noise alone. She walked further down the street, pausing when she noticed a darkened alleyway. She cautiously entered the alleyway, only to throw it out the window when she saw a figure propped up against the dumpster.

Charlie raced over, a hand hovering over her mouth as she gasped in surprise at the woman, who by the looks of it was about to pass out until Charlie had approached. She was squinting up at Charlie through a singular eye as the Princess approached her.

Charlie hastily crouched down on the brimstone in front of her, digging through her pocket until she found a roll of gauze.

The woman stared at Charlie in apprehension, bracing herself against the dumpster she was leaning against as Charlie reached for her face.

Charlie wrapped the gauze around the woman’s head and empty eye socket, pulling her hands away the instant she was done so as not to frighten her anymore than she already was.

A fuzzy feeling spread through Charlie as the white-haired woman stared at her in surprise before she gave her a grateful, albeit hesitant and small, smile. Charlie tucked her hair behind her ear self-consciously, looking back at the woman with her own, slightly flustered, smile.

“Thank you,” the woman said, still looking at Charlie, with an expression the Princess couldn’t quite read.

“Of course! I’m so sorry this happened to you,” Charlie replied, a saddened expression gracing her face as she studied the woman.

“It’s…it was my fault, really.”

Charlie shook her head viciously. “Don’t say that! This is absolutely not your fault. Nobody deserves this, no matter what they’ve done in their previous life.”

The woman bit her lip and went to shift positions, only to cry out when the motion caused pain to shoot up and down her back from the rubbing of her wounds between the material of her dress and the surface of the dumpster.

“Oh my gosh! I didn’t realize you were hurt elsewhere! Here, let me help you,” Charlie said, leaning down to wrap an arm around the woman’s waist, assisting her to her feet and holding onto her waist to support her, seeing as she was hurt and could barely stand on her own. She then noticed the woman was shivering, and without a thought, shrugged off her suit jacket and draped it across the other woman’s shoulders, amusement sparkling in her eyes as the article of clothing practically swallowed the shorter woman whole. “What else did they do to you?”

The two of them were now making their way down the street, the other woman glaring at any sinner who dared to look at them despite being as injured as she was. It made her feel better, less exposed, to the world of Hell and its denizens. Charlie’s jacket was also helping with that, and she fought the urge to press her nose against it and take in a deeper whiff of Charlie’s pleasant apple scent that was radiating warmth and comfort and safety.

“They, uhh, well, they wanted to make sure I couldn’t run from them,” she replied.

Charlie growled, a sound that surprised both women, and she unconsciously tightened the hold she had on the mysterious woman’s waist. “I’m really sorry they did that. They aren’t normally that cruel. I’m surprised you’re still alive, if I’m being honest.”

She let out a humorless chuckle. “I am too. Guess they thought I’d die quickly with the injuries. I didn’t count on anyone finding me, and I suppose they didn’t either.”

Charlie hummed in acknowledgement. “That makes a lot of sense, actually. I certainly wouldn’t have found you if I hadn’t heard you making noise.”

“Well, I’m glad you did.”

Charlie did her best to ignore the blush rising to her cheeks. She had just found this woman, terribly injured, and she was already making her feel butterflies? No, Charlie refused. Now was a very bad time for her to be developing a crush, thank you very much. Plus, she didn’t even know her name! Wait, what? “Ohhhhhhh, I’m so so so sorry! I didn’t even think to ask what your name was! I was so worried about your injuries I forgot to ask the most basic question ever! I promise I’m not usually this forgetful, I just—”

“It’s fine, really,” the woman interrupted, trying to placate the demon who looked so crushed at the idea of having forgotten to ask her name. “It’s Vaggie. My name is Vaggie.”

A blinding smile overcame Charlie’s face. “It’s nice to meet you, Vaggie, despite the circumstances. I’ve never heard a name like that. It’s pretty.”

“It’s nice to meet you too, Charlie. Thanks again, for helping me. I know a lot of people down here would have just left me there to die,” Vaggie answered with a light blush, though that quickly gave way to her wincing in pain and discomfort with every step they took.

“You don’t have to thank me. You’re actually the first person to accept my help. I come out here after every Extermination, and nobody ever wants to take me up on my offer. I try to do what I can, but I guess when you’re the Princess of Hell, people sort of resent you for being excluded from the Exterminations.”

Vaggie blinked. And blinked again. And again. “...you’re—you’re the—you’re Lucifer’s daughter?!”

Charlie shrugged, a sheepish expression on her face. “Ummm, surprise…?”

Vaggie shook her head in disbelief, instantly regretting the decision as it worsened the steady aching in her head. “I can’t believe the Princess of Hell is helping me.”

“I’m helping a fellow citizen of Pentagram City who needs it. That’s all I want to do. I want to help my people, and this is one of the only ways I know how,” Charlie revealed, looking down at Vaggie nervously. She wanted to impress Vaggie, despite having just met the woman.

“I think that’s real noble of you, Charlie,” Vaggie said, picking her head up to meet the blonde’s gaze head on. Her heart was fluttering like a butterfly in her chest and her stomach felt like it was in knots, and she liked the feeling of Charlie’s arm around her waist and the warmth that seeped from her palm into her own skin. She did her best to shove those feelings deep down inside.

Charlie had just saved her, and from the looks of it, she’d be staying with the demon for an indefinite amount of time based on her injuries. Vaggie had time to get to know her. For now, she was just going to focus on her recovery. Everything else could be figured out later.

“Thank you. Nobody really has faith in me or what I want to do. I can tell you more about it later, if you want. For now, I’d like to welcome you to my humble abode,” Charlie announced, gesturing to the building that was resting atop the hill.

“It’s a palace,” Vaggie said in awe, only to wonder why she was acting surprised in the first place if she already knew Charlie was the Princess of Hell.

“Yeah,” Charlie said, scratching the back of her neck with her unoccupied hand rather abashedly. “I know it’s a lot. It can even be a lot for me, at times. You don’t have to worry about running into my dad, considering all he does is stay in his room all day, everyday. He’s been a wreck and in a slump ever since my mom left a couple of years ago. It was hard, for both of us, but he practically gave up on everything when she left. On being the King of Hell, on running his businesses, on living. Even on me.”

Vaggie took note of the way Charlie spoke about her dad, a mix of resentment, sadness, and fear, most likely for his livelihood.

“Sorry, I tend to ramble a lot. Feel free to stop me whenever it gets to be too much.”

“It’s ok, I like the rambling. It’s cute.”

Vaggie squeezed her eye shut as she wondered what possessed her to say such a thing. Especially to Charlie, the literal Princess and someone she had met not that long ago. And by shutting her eye and mentally berating herself, she missed the pleased smile and red flush Charlie was sporting.

“So, umm, this is my home!” Charlie squeaked out when she managed to regain some sort of motor function. “I’ll give you a tour later. I want to check on your wounds, make sure there’s no infection or anything of the sort.”

“Yeah, ok,” Vaggie agreed, allowing Charlie to take the lead seeing as she had no fucking clue about anything. All she knew was that the pain was becoming harder and harder to breathe through, and it was getting harder and harder to keep her eye open.

“Woah,” Charlie said as Vaggie unexpectedly began leaning heavily into her side. She looked over at her, and seeing that Vaggie was struggling to keep herself awake, Charlie scooped Vaggie up and began carrying her down the hall bridal style.

They reached Charlie’s bedroom a few short moments later, and Charlie burst into the room, startling Razzle and Dazzle, who had been napping on the bottom of her bed. The two goats went over to greet Charlie, only to stop in their tracks at the sight of the battered woman in Charlie’s arms.

Exchanging nods with one another, they set off. Dazzle grabbed a bowl of warm water mixed with soap and the first aid kit from the bathroom while Razzle searched for some washcloths to use for Vaggie’s wounds, along with spare towels to place on the bed so Charlie’s sheets wouldn’t get dirty.

“Thanks, boys,” Charlie said as they approached with the supplies. “Vaggie, I’m gonna set you down now,” the blonde warned once Razzle and Dazzle had finished placing the towels down.

“Mmhmm,” Vaggie murmured, whimpering and trying to clutch onto Charlie as the other woman set her down.

“I know, I’m sorry,” Charlie whispered. “I need to take your clothes off to get to your back. Is that ok?”

Vaggie gave a jerky nod, so Charlie reached forward and made quick work of disposing Vaggie of her own suit jacket and the dress, blushing when she realized Vaggie was now sporting nothing but a tiny pair of shorts, socks, and a bra. She shook her head to rid herself of those thoughts. Now is not the time, Charlie, she scolded herself.

Charlie finally got a good look at Vaggie’s back, and the anger from before came back even stronger. She could clearly see where the Exorcists had dug their blades into Vaggie’s back by the two large, vertical, symmetrical gashes. She couldn’t spot any blood, which was a good sign. What she could spot, however, was a lot of red, slightly inflamed skin, which wasn’t so good. “Ok, umm, I’m going to need to clean these and it’s probably going to hurt. I can give you something to numb the area, but it’s going to take a bit to set in.”

Vaggie sucked in a deep breath, groaning when that made the muscles in her back shift and made what felt like fire shoot through her body. “Do what you need to do. Just, make it quick.”

“Alright.”

Charlie took a couple of breaths to steady her slightly shaky hands. She’s seen a lot of things in Hell, but somehow, this was more gruesome than all of those combined. She gently rubbed some numbing cream around Vaggie’s back, apologizing and murmuring words of comfort with every pained noise that escaped Vaggie. She wiped her hands off with a towel and waited for a few minutes to give it some time to set in. Once that was done, she dunked a washcloth into the combination of soap and water, wringing it out as best she could. Before she could think too much about it, Charlie brought it to the scar on the left and began cleaning.

“Fuck!” Vaggie screamed, voice muffled due to the fact her face was buried in a mountain of pillows, fists clenching the sheets to keep herself from grabbing Charlie and begging her to stop, stars dancing in front of her eyes as she fought the urge to pass out right there on the spot.

“I’m sorry,” Charlie said, eyes laser-focused on the task at hand so she could get it done as thoroughly and quickly as possible. “I know, I’m sorry. I’m so, so sorry.”

Vaggie hated this. She hated herself for getting caught by Lute. She hated Lute for doing this for her. She hated Adam for standing by and doing nothing. She hated how weak and vulnerable she was right now. She hated that she was in the place she had been fighting against for so long. She hated that she was almost going to start crying in front of a complete stranger. In front of a demon.

And not just any demon.

The Princess of Hell.

Daughter of Lilith and Lucifer.

The two most hated beings in Heaven.

Though it was mainly Lucifer. After all, he had been an Angel. He had been one of them.

He was used as an example to keep all other Angels in line. To keep them from going against Heaven, to keep them from questioning.

Yet Vaggie, despite all the warnings and all the teachings, had.

She had questioned.

She had hesitated.

And she ended up exactly like Lucifer.

Fallen.

She no longer had a place in Heaven.

These thoughts, combined with the sheer agony wracking her body with everything Charlie was doing, to try and help her, only made her pain feel worse.

Because Charlie was a demon.

She was the heir to the throne.

She should be the worst of them all.

But she wasn’t.

She was sweet. Polite. Kind.

She was kinder to Vaggie than anybody in Heaven had ever been.

Due to the fact that Vaggie was an Exorcist, she never got much of a chance to explore Heaven, and in turn, meet other people that resided in Heaven. Only the Exorcists were allowed to know about the Exterminations, which meant most of the time, they were kept separate lest somebody find out about their training.

When they did have a chance to interact with the other citizens of Heaven, it was never something Vaggie was interested in. She already had trouble fitting in with her fellow Exorcists, so she didn’t really bother trying to fit in with the rest of Heaven.

The guilt, the shame, that she wasn’t supposed to feel about being an Exterminator, made her feel like she wasn’t worthy of hanging out with Angels. Like she wasn’t worthy of being in Heaven.

Nobody ever tried to reach out to Vaggie either, so after a while, she began keeping to herself. She slept, she woke, she trained, she ate, she went home, she showered, she slept, then did it all again the next day, and the next, and the next, and the next, all the while feeling like she was an outcast.

Now, she actually was an outcast. And the idea that she was no longer an Angel, no longer worthy of Heaven, stung, much deeper than Vaggie was willing to admit at the moment.

Because if she wasn’t worthy of Heaven, then what was the point of her?

“I’m almost done. You’re doing really good, Vaggie. Just a little while longer and you’ll be good to rest for the night,” Charlie said, having moved on from cleaning with the soap and water washcloth to applying a healing salve to the wounds. That didn’t take too long, which meant she could get to work on covering them up with some non-stick gauze and medical tape.

“What’s with the goats?” Vaggie asked, her voice raspy from misuse.

“That’s Razzle and Dazzle. I’ve had them since I was a kid. We’ve been inseparable ever since. They’re a part of our family,” Charlie explained.

Hearing their names, the two goats flew over to Charlie’s side, and when she waved her hand at them, they moved up the side of the bed until Vaggie could see them.

“Ummm, hi?”

Razzle looked at Dazzle, and Dazzle shrugged at his brother. They looked at Vaggie with slightly narrowed eyes, as if they were unsure of whether or not they could trust her.

“It’s, uhhh, nice to meet you guys, I guess.”

Charlie giggled at how awkward Vaggie was being around the two. “They don’t bite.”

“I dunno, I just, I’ve never really been around animals,” Vaggie muttered.

Charlie frowned. She couldn’t even begin to fathom how she’d survive without either of them by her side.

Sensing her rising distress, Razzle and Dazzle went back over to Charlie, Razzle headbutting her affectionately while Dazzle nuzzled himself under her arm. She grinned at them, pressing a couple kisses each to the tops of their heads.

“So, am I good?”

Charlie jumped in surprise, blushing at Vaggie’s small smirk. “Yes, yeah, totally! I’m all done.”

Vaggie slowly lifted herself up off the bed, groaning with every movement of her back. When she finally managed to sit herself up, legs dangling off the bed, she looked over at Charlie, who had clearly been fighting against the urge to help Vaggie sit herself up if her hands hovering in mid-air were any indication. “Thank you, again, Charlie. Really, I can’t thank you enough for all this.”

Charlie blushed, waving off Vaggie’s gratitude. “It’s nothing.”

“It’s not nothing. Not to me,” Vaggie argued, her singular white eye locking with Charlie’s two brilliant red eyes.

Razzle and Dazzle looked between the two of them, then at each other, then between the two of them, wondering who was going to be the first to break the tension simmering in the air.

The answer was Vaggie’s stomach.

Charlie giggled again, hand covering her mouth as her eyes widened in surprise at herself even as she continued giggling.

Vaggie smiled even as she crossed her arms over her stomach self-consciously, belatedly realizing she wasn’t wearing anything on her upper body except for her gray bra. “Uhhh, Charlie?”

“Hmmm?”

“You wouldn’t happen to have a shirt or something I could borrow, do you?”

Charlie looked at Vaggie in confusion, eyes traveling down her body, swallowing thickly at how well the slate-gray bra suited Vaggie. Realizing she was staring, she snapped her eyes back up to Vaggie’s face, breathing a quiet sigh of relief as Vaggie’s attention wasn’t on her, but on Razzle and Dazzle, who she was petting with a look of awe.

That fuzzy feeling washed over Charlie again, making her dizzy and breathless and her heart flip and her mouth dry and her stomach tie itself up in knots. She watched with a fond, soft smile as the boys flew around Vaggie in circles, headbutting her and bleating at her.

“What are they saying?” Vaggie inquired, looking at Charlie with an expression so earnest and childlike Charlie wanted nothing more than to hug her and never let go.

Instead, she cleared her throat and answered Vaggie’s question. “They want to know if they can help you with anything.”

Vaggie’s stomach growled again, making Vaggie blush and Charlie sway as she stood up.

“Right!” she squeaked out. “I’m gonna gayyyago! Goooo grab you a shirt! Out of the closet! Yes siree, that’s where I’ll be!”

“Ok, thanks,” Vaggie said, watching in poorly hidden amusement as Charlie kept tripping over her feet as she raced over to her closet. “Is she always like this?”

Razzle and Dazzle both looked at her with raised eyebrows and tilted heads. What do you think?, they were asking without any actual words.

“Got it,” Vaggie said to herself, taking the opportunity to look around the room.

The bed itself was massive and took up a good chunk of the room, stacked with more pillows and blankets than one person could ever need. Curtains were draped across either side to give a modicum of privacy, though they were tied back at the moment.

The side of the bed Vaggie was on had a nightstand, filled to the brim with little knickknacks, including a rubber duck with a white tophat and vest, and three photos. One was of a very little, abundantly excited Charlie as she hugged Razzle and Dazzle, who didn’t look to be much smaller than they currently were. Another was of Charlie at her birthday party, surrounded by what Vaggie vaguely recognized were all of the Sins. The last was of Charlie, who looked to be around the age she was now, situated between a man and a woman, clearly her parents by how much Vaggie could identify Charlie in both of them.

So that’s Lucifer and Lilith, Vaggie thought, chuckling to herself as she realized how short he was in comparison to both Lilith and Charlie. He had the same skin tone as Charlie, sported the same two red circles on his face, and emanated the same excitement and passion Charlie possessed just through his large, sharp-toothed smile.

Lilith gave off a much more regal and demonic vibe than Lucifer. She wasn’t smiling so much as she was smirking, the crown atop her head mimicking the shape of her horns. Charlie inherited those same black lips, and despite both Lucifer and Lilith having blonde hair, Vaggie suspected it came from Lilith. She could tell because both Lilith and Charlie had multiple lighter streaks of blonde with the regular blonde, and Lucifer had streaks, but he only had one streak of lighter blonde at the front.

Vaggie finally tore her gaze away, humming as she studied the rest of the room. There wasn’t much else. A few more pictures of Charlie throughout her childhood were scattered on the walls, a dresser and vanity mirror across from the bed. On the same side of the room as the nightstand was the door Charlie disappeared into, meaning that was her closet. A few feet down was another door that Vaggie suspected was the bathroom.

The entire room was in different shades of red, violet, and pink. And everything, from the floor to the furniture to the ceiling, had some sort of emblem on it. The most common patterns she could spot were apples, snakes, and ducks. An odd combination, but Vaggie had seen weirder.

“I’ve got it!” Charlie proclaimed as she finally emerged from the closet. It hadn’t taken her long to find the shirt she had in mind at all, but she’d needed some time to cool the fuck down after what had happened. Mainly, her blatant staring from Vaggie’s delectable throat, her sharp collarbones, the tops of her breasts, her nipples poking through the fabric of the bra, all the way down to the vast, smooth expanse of her stomach. She frantically fought the blush that was forming at the image that was now imprinted in her mind, thrusting the shirt out in Vaggie’s direction. “Here ya go! One shirt, as promised!”

Vaggie slowly rose to her feet, grabbing the shirt from Charlie’s outstretched hand. She put it on carefully, every move she made aggravating her injuries further. She bit her lip to stifle her groans of pain, dropping her arms to her sides in relief once she’d managed to get the shirt over her head. She tugged on the hem to pull it outwards, tilting her head at the little red spots that decorated the black shirt. “Apples?”

Charlie smiled sheepishly at Vaggie, tucking her hair behind her ear. “It’s kind of a family thing.”

Vaggie snorted when she realized what Charlie meant.

“Sooooo, now that we’ve got that out of the way, would you care for some food? Something to drink? A painkiller?”

“Is all of the above an option?”

“Sure thing. Wait here, I’ll be back in a jiff,” Charlie instructed, jogging out of the room and into the hall, leaving Vaggie with Razzle and Dazzle.

Vaggie took a step, only to stumble as soon as she did so, thanking Razzle and Dazzle breathlessly as they caught her, Razzle on her left and Dazzle on her right. “Thank you. Do you mind helping me to the bathroom? “I want to—I want to look at my eye—where it used…” she trailed off, swallowing past the lump in her throat.

Vaggie couldn’t bring herself to finish her sentence. Luckily for her, the two goat demons didn’t need any more of an explanation. They assisted her to the bathroom, and once Vaggie had settled in there, they exited and shut the door behind them.

She looked at herself in the mirror. Clenching her teeth, she reached up and unwrapped the gauze Charlie had delicately applied. She let it fall off and into the sink, knuckles white from how hard she was gripping the edges of the counter as she stared at herself.

Vaggie didn’t know what she was expecting, but an empty eye socket, a black void, was somehow worse. It meant her eye was really gone, that there was no hope of her ever going back to the way she was.

Despite the rising anger, the sadness bubbling up inside of her, the fear that was festering from being in the very place she’d been warned about and fighting against, she refused to let the dam break. She closed her eye, took deep, slow breaths, and exhaled until the tension finally began to seep.

Once she had calmed herself down, she turned the water on in the sink and let it warm up a bit before carefully washing her face to get rid of the dirt and grime, dabbing it clean with the hand towel before wrapping her eye—where her eye used to be back up with the gauze. She then washed her hands, and rummaged through the cabinets for a brush. It didn’t take long for her to neaten her hair back up, and when that was done, she slowly made her way over the door, leaning against it for support as she opened it.

“There you are! I was worried the soup was going to get cold with how long you were taking in there,” Charlie teased as she walked over to Vaggie, offering her support to the woman, which she accepted with a grateful nod.

There was a tray being balanced between Razzle and Dazzle, filled with two bowls of soup, two glasses of water, silverware, napkins, and painkillers. Charlie helped Vaggie get settled on the bed, then clambered on in next to her, thanking the boys as they placed the try between the two of them.

“Thank you,” Vaggie said quietly, hand trembling as she lifted her first spoonful of soup to her mouth.

“I’m going to make it my personal mission to get you to stop thanking me, but for now, you’re welcome,” Charlie said, watching Vaggie as she ate her own soup to ensure she didn’t need any help. Despite how injured she was, she seemed to be doing alright as she could be, which made Charlie feel a bit better about everything. “What do you say we have a movie night after we’re done? Movies and ice cream with friends always makes things better. At least it does in my opinion.”

Vaggie blinked confusedly. “Friends?”

Charlie nodded, tucking her hair behind her ear self-consciously. “I mean, unless you don’t want to be. I’m sorry for assuming, I didn’t mean to make you feel uncomfortable or anything.”

“No, I, uhh, it’s fine, really. I’d like to. Be friends, I mean.”

Charlie grinned a wide grin. “Awesome! So, what kind of movies do you like? I like all kinds, but especially musicals! The songs are always so fun to sing along to and the plots are—"

Vaggie felt herself becoming more and more relaxed as Charlie babbled about musicals and which ones were her favorites. And as she watched Charlie, a warm, fuzzy feeling swept through her.

Friends, she thought to herself. Yeah, I think I can do that.

Thank you for reading! P.S.: here's the AO3 link

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