charlie x vaggie love

night time love

No matter how personally taxing the day had been, Charlie Morningstar was not a quitter. When she got home from Cannibal Town, she wanted nothing more than to pull Vaggie up to their bedroom and put off dealing with the larger issues until tomorrow, but she couldn't do that. Not when she saw Angel, Husk, Niffty, and Pentious all determined to defend hotel they called home instead of fleeing what would soon become the most dangerous place in Hell. She put what she wanted for herself aside and focused on what the people putting their trust in her needed. She gave the cannibals rooms (as far away from the actual residents as she could manage, because she didn't like the way they kept looking at Angel and Husk) and wrote out as many plans as she could think of, then rolled up her sleeves and helped with the fortifications.

As focused as she was, though, she stayed keenly aware of Vaggie's location at all times. The cannibals' excitement to see what angels tasted like was...concerning, to say the least, when there was already an angel living under the same roof. Charlie could put up with a lot, but someone trying to take a bite out of her girlfriend would more than cross the line. (She hoped none of them had seen Vaggie's wings, not with that specific eagerness to taste an angel's wings—even the thought of someone trying to go after those wings made her start seeing red.) The angel disappeared briefly with a bag, but when she reappeared, Charlie made sure to consistently orient herself within a safe distance of her partner. Vaggie was busy directing Carmilla's employees on what to do with the massive haul of weapons (Charlie wasn't sure how she'd paid for all of that—maybe the Overlord was going to send them a bill?) at first, but after she saw Odette and Clara off with a smile and an amicable handshake (wait, what was that about?), she threw herself into whatever work needed the most heavy lifting. For some reason, though, she was still using ladders to reach high places, even though she had perfectly good wings that Charlie may or may not have been eagerly hoping to see in action.

It was long, tiring work after a long, tiring day, but no one complained. Husk made sure to bring out water to keep everyone cool and hydrated, and Niffty used her breaks from working to make little snacks to keep their energy up. Alastor was nowhere to be found, but that was probably a good thing after what happened earlier; Charlie wasn't sure how Vaggie would react if she had to be in close quarters with the dealmaker so soon. There was a lingering uncertainty in the air between the hotel's residents, but when Vaggie passed Charlie a bottle of water and was rewarded with a quick "Thanks babe," and a kiss on the cheek, it seemed like everyone (Vaggie included) breathed a sigh of relief, reassured that things really were going to be okay.

It was late by the time Angel loudly declared that they should call it a night, making deliberate eye contact with Charlie when he did. She took the hint and quickly agreed, returning the biddings of goodnight from the others (though she stuttered a little with Angel when he glanced meaningfully at Vaggie before offering the princess a suggestive wink and thumbs-up) and keeping a tight grip on Vaggie's hand the whole way up to their bedroom. She was not going to risk her girlfriend thinking she needed space, because what she really needed was for there to be no space between them (no clothes either, if she was being honest with herself) for the rest of the night.

As soon as the bedroom door closed behind her, though, Charlie felt the atmosphere of the room crawl into her lungs, pulling at her chest from the inside until she thought her ribcage might implode. The green energy was gone, but there was an odd sense of unease lingering behind. Whether it was left over from her deal with Alastor or just caused by the memories of this morning, it sent chills down Charlie's spine.

"Do you mind locking the door? We have a lot of strangers here tonight, and they're not looking for redemption," Vaggie requested, seemingly unfazed. Charlie shook herself back to her senses.