mazeofrelationships | they need to talk too

they need to talk too

Now that Vox's threat has been stamped out and things are...more or less back to normal, Charlie's had time to sit and reflect on everything. Not just her mistakes, though there's a lot of that going through her head as well.

They still won. They saved Heaven and Hell, even Valentino and Velvette helped out...and then spun it to make themselves the heroes because the former decapitated Vox. Which...okay, if there's one thing Charlie's learned it's that she can't control the narrative. The important thing is that people are coming to the hotel for the right reasons, Dad's okay, Alastor...hopefully he's back and will start acting like a team player now.

Angel's back, too. No one ever blamed him for his actions or that broadcast, and he seems to get it now. Hopefully.

And...well, the most important thing is that Charlie stepped down as manager. Everything over the last few days has taught her that such a position was too much; the stress of the hotel's success being on her shoulders, managing every little detail, the reporters, Vox, that disaster of an interview.

She wants to continue what Mom started, but Vaggi is better under pressure, and Charlie will feel more comfortable giving advice and offering help to sinners who truly want redemption.

Right now, though, she feels like she needs to talk to Vaggi. It's odd how in the end she just removed a letter, but she feels more at home with that name. Sometimes even the smallest change can mean the world.

They made up after Charlie's monumental fuckup, but still. She can't help wanting to make sure her girlfriend's okay.

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There's a lot in a name, and something about just removing a letter has made Vaggi feel a lot better about herself. She's still working through a lot of things, but at her core she knows, as she's always known, that she's meant to be here, with Charlie.

At the moment, she's behind the desk, talking logistics with someone new to the hotel, something that she's comfortable with. Husk and Angel walk by, hand-in-hand, which makes her smile just a bit. Finally.

Before long, the sinner goes off to find their room, and Vaggi's alone, checking on some paperwork.

Everyone's finally back, that's another weight off Charlie's shoulders. Now if she could just get Alastor to stop staring so ominously at Dad...eh, Alastor's gonna be Alastor, I guess.

She finds Vaggi at the desk after greeting Angel and Husk. And just barely managing not to trip over Niffty.

"How're you holding up?" Obviously she's doing better than Charlie was, but she's thinking about that meeting with Carmilla...and even more, Lute showing up ready to kill before Abel got her to fall back.

Vaggi still has some sore spots from the fight with Lute, but nothing that she hasn't had before, and nothing that won't heal.

There's a warm smile on her face as she leans over and kisses Charlie on the cheek. "We're all home, more sinners are coming in, not just for the novelty, but for actual redemption, and Alastor's back to glaring at your dad. Everything is back to normal."

Talk about herself? Nah. There are more important things going on.

Charlie smiles and kisses Vaggi right back on her cheek. "It's nice that we could finally prove redemption's possible. Even if things didn't go entirely according to the plan, we still did!"

They still don't know 100% how it works for each individual, that might be the thing Charlie messed up on. But they'll figure it out.

"Everything? Because, well..." She doesn't want to force the issue, but between Vaggi putting aside her obvious PTSD to comfort her after that meeting with Carmilla and Lute's appearance, well...

"Well, as normal as Hell ever is." Vaggi shrugs, shuffling papers. "It's been a Lot lately, but we're doing ok."

She takes a breath, looking at Charlie almost clinically. "How're you doing? Are you feeling less overwhelmed now that you're not in charge?"

Mmm, avoidance. It's great.

"A little." Charlie tries not to frown, she can sense Vaggi avoiding the issues. But again, she wills herself not to force it. "Mom still hasn't called back. Maybe that's something else I need to let go of. If she ignored those 47 voice mails she's probably ignoring this one, too."

Dad always told her it wasn't her fault Mom left, but blowing up her phone probably didn't help.

"It's your mom." Vaggie shakes her head. If she could go shake some sense into Lilith, she would. For now, though, she'll just make a face. "From what I know, I mean, at least from what I've heard from people who actually have parents, it's a pretty big deal."

A pause. "It's not your fault, you know. I'm sure your mom had reasons, and when she gets back, she'll explain, and it'll be ok." If Vaggi has anything to say about it, at least.

"I just don't want to be a lost little girl chasing after her missing mommy. And it's not just about me, either, even if Dad ditched me after she left he was hurting too! Even if she's ignoring me she could at least have reached out to him."

She almost apologizes for making this about her, but she's realizing this is how Vaggi deals with her own stuff...sort of like how Charlie deals by trying to manage everything else around her, trying to put everyone else first.

At least being a counselor is more suited to this habit of hers.

"You're not, Charlie. You're someone who was abandoned by someone that you thought cared about you, and you want to know why and want to see how you can get them back."

Vaggi swears this isn't about her trauma. Really. She takes Charlie's hand. "I don't know why your mom did what she did. None of us do. What we can do, is keep up her memory. Do everything we can to make sure that her dream doesn't die."

Logically she knows Vaggi's right, and this is exactly what she'd say to someone coming to her with these issues. But it's easier for her to offer comfort and soft words to others, rather than accept her own negative feelings.

Maybe it's because Dad wallowed in his for so long and abandoned her, ignored his position, and Charlie doesn't want to be like that.

"I know...maybe she has her own stuff going on that she didn't want to talk about." Or maybe she was just selfish, but Charlie can't bring herself to even slightly villify her mother. "And we will. She wanted to empower sinners, and this is how we're going to do it." This has to be, Vox didn't know Lilith the way Charlie or Lucifer did.

"Exactly." Vaggi smiles, reaching over and putting her hand on Charlie's cheek. "We know this dream is possible, and we know that we can get it done."

She glances around the room for a minute, and then smile. "Lets get away from here for a bit. I think things are ok for now."

Vaggi's always been there to reassure her and stop her spirals. Always supporting her, looking after her...a brief flash of their fight after Dad's mistake comes to her, telling Vaggi she basically didn't need her. Stop that, you made up, you've more than proven you're sorry for it.

"Yeah. Everyone's still doing their own thing, so..." By now Cherri' half-asleep with Frank the Egg Boi on her chest, Fat Nuggets is eating some nuts (they need to get more), and Niffty's showing her bug corpse collection to Baxter.

Husk will have a few things to say about the nuts later, but for now, the little pig's fine with the nuts he's found.

"Come on." Vaggi takes Charlie upstairs to their room and out on the balcony. "We need some time just for us after all this absolute insanity."

And maybe, just maybe, Vaggi might open up.

"Insanity is one way of putting it." The party alone was so much; Dad coming out of the weapon looking battered but insisting he didn't need Charlie to fuss over him, Emily seriously worrying her for a moment going up to the weapon with her wing torn off, watching the man who bullied her absolutely lose his shit over Alastor.

(Okay, maybe that was kind of fun. She may believe anyone can be redeemed but she doesn't pity Vox one bit.)

"Everything's normal now, but we're not likely to forget any of this anytime soon. Still can't believe Dad's even up and about, but..." You need to take care of you for once, he'd said.

"Your dad's been through more shit than the rest of us put together. He'll bounce back." Sure, Vaggi might be a bit worried about the King of Hell, but he's a stubborn sort. He'll be fine.

"Right now, though..." She leans over and kisses Charlie gently. She'd much rather think of different things than the absolute mess that Hell is.

Charlie gladly kisses back, there's still so much swirling in her mind and part of her feels guilty needing Vaggi to help distract her, but Vaggi's offering and honestly, they both need this.

Neither of us have had a good time, but we've got each other.

It doesn't take much for Vaggi to deepen the kiss, her hand tangling in Charlie's hair, the other pulling her girlfriend closer.

If she can forget everything in her lover's arms, that's just fine with her.

Charlie's lips part as the rest of her worries fade for the moment. Maybe the talking can wait, if this is what they need then so be it.

Maybe doing what is right isn't as important as what feels right.

If there's one thing Vaggi's learned in Hell, it's that you have to go on instinct, not by some... arbitrary idea of what is Right and Wrong. Her heart's always been in the right place, and even when she was one of the top Exorcists, she couldn't help but wince at how Adam and Lute treated the girls. Here in Hell, at least people are openly shitty, and there are more than a few places where people are much kinder and more understanding than Heaven.

Her lips part as well, hands going to Charlie's sides, working to get her girlfriend's jacket off.

Charlie in turn begins to unbutton Vaggi's blouse, carefully pushing the fabric out of the way...she feels the edges of bandages on her sides and tries to steer clear, Vaggi and Lute were evenly matched but it could have gone either way before Abel stepped in.

Vaggi stiffens, pulling back a bit before realizing how it looks. Blushing a bit, she smiles sheepishly. "Um. Sorry. Still a bit tender."

Both her memories and her skin, if she were to really admit it.

Charlie freezes, pulling her hand away. "Sorry, sorry! Do you want to stop? Um, should we see if it's time to change the bandage?" She patched Vaggi up as soon as they got back, but it's been a while and the wounds need monitoring.

"Charlie, it's fine." Vaggie shakes her head, taking a breath. "I was more startled than anything. It shouldn't need to be changed just yet."

Most of the time when they're being intimate, Vaggie makes sure that their positions are such that Charlie doesn't notice the scarring on her back, and it's a rare moment that she's seen without her eyepatch. For all that she's open to her girlfriend, there are some things that her princess just doesn't need to think about. The Horrors of Heaven are one of them.

"Are you sure? I mean, if it doesn't need to be checked on, great, but..." Sorry, Vaggi, she's in full-force Worried Mode now. "Are you sure you don't need to talk about it? I...I saw how you reacted when we met with Carmilla, and I was too caught up in my own head to help you, and..."

And maybe she's still ashamed of how she reacted when she found out Vaggi's secret. Getting mad at her for lying when Adam was the one who spilled the beans, she wishes she'd told him off for it during the fight.

Vaggi sits back, burying her face in her hands for a moment. She hasn't, in a long time, had the luxury of being able to break or think of herself. There's always been a crisis, or something that's going wrong, but now that everyone seems to be taking a collective breath, things that she'd rather not think about are hitting harder than ever.

Looking over at Charlie, she's about to just shrug it off yet again, but something in her girlfriend's face changes that. That damned sincerity that gets through to even the most hardened sinners is focused on her, and in spite of it, she... likes it.

Before speaking, she puts her hands on her upper arms. "I don't even know where to start."

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