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Vaggie stood in the mirror, pulling at the edges of her dress. She hated the way her body was. No matter how she tried to make herself look on the outside, she knew what was under her clothes and she hated it. Her body's betrayal plagued her every day.
She tore her eyes away from the mirror and paced around her room. Her thoughts whirled around all the things total strangers had said to her.
"Sir, here's your change."
"You're not fooling anyone with that dress."
"Watch it, tranny!"
She could feel the anxiety creeping in and she paced faster.
She should have put on makeup. She should have done more to make herself pass. Otherwise she looked too much like a man. She hated it. She hated that everyone could see it.
Soon enough, she felt eyes staring her down and she looked up. They surrounded her, each one seeing right through her clothes and peeling her apart, judging her. She hated it so much. Hated that she looked the way she did.
She could feel her breath start to quicken. She desperately wanted to be somewhere where nothing could see her. She needed to hide herself away until she could bear to be perceived again.
She glanced around and quickly set her sights on the closet. She ran for it and shut herself inside, turning off the lights. Most of the eyes were shut outside the door, and with the light off, the few that remained couldn't see her anyway.
Relieved to be hidden from view, she expected to feel better, but the sensation of being in her own body that she hated so much persisted. She curled in on herself and slid down the wall of the closet, hiding among the clothes hanging there. She buried her face in her hands and began to cry. She just wanted to feel okay in her own skin. Why was that so hard? Why did she have to be born this way?
Meanwhile, Charlie was looking around the hotel for her girlfriend.
She stepped into the lobby and glanced around. When she didn't see her, she opted instead to ask the others, who were sat at the bar.
"Have any of you seen Vaggie? I can't find her." She asked. Husk and Niffty shook their heads.
"Nope." Angel answered without looking up from his phone.
"I'm afraid not, my dear. Why are you looking, might I ask?" Alastor replied.
"I need to talk to her about some financing decisions for the hotel, but she wasn't in her office or in the lobby." Charlie explained.
"I see. Would you like help looking?" He asked. Charlie smiled at him.
"That would be very nice of you actually, would you mind?" She responded.
"Not at all! Let's get going." Alastor exclaimed.
"Thanks, Al." Charlie said graciously.
"Of course, my dear! Anything to keep my entertainment- I mean, my investment up and running!" Alastor recovered.
Ignoring the slip, Charlie opted to focus on finding Vaggie. "Okay, so she's not in the lobby or any of the offices. Where would-" She thought aloud to herself before Alastor cut her off.
"Hang on a moment, Charlie, dear. I'm listening." He interrupted.
She glanced up at him to see that his ears were flicking back and forth, making the quiet sounds of a radio tuning. Occasionally a frequency would tune in and he'd listen for a moment before determining it wasn't what he was looking for. After a few moments he landed on something that Charlie recognized instantly.
The sound of sniffling and quiet sobs came through the radio static and Charlie could tell it was Vaggie's voice.
"Aha. There you are." Alastor said to himself. He snapped his head towards Charlie. "Third floor." He said simply before moving in the direction of the stairs. Charlie gasped.
"Of course! Our room!" Charlie dashed forward, worry filling her mind and motivating her to move faster. She took the stairs three at a time, passing Alastor as she raced to the third floor. When she reached the door to her and Vaggie's shared room, she was startled slightly when Alastor materialized out of a shadow next to her. Too caught up in worrying about Vaggie, she chose not to scold him for sneaking up on her and instead opened the door.
At first she didn't see any sign of Vaggie, until she noticed the disembodied eyes staring at the closet door.
"Oh no." She muttered to herself. She walked over and waved her hands through the group of optics. "Shoo! Get out of here!" She growled at them.
They each blinked out of existence and Charlie finally turned and knocked softly on the closet door.
"Vaggie? Babymoth? Are you alright?" She called.
She could hear quiet whimpering behind the door and her heart ached at the sound of it.
"Hon?" Vaggie's voice came out shaky.
"Yeah it's me. What's wrong, love? Can I come in?" Charlie asked. There was a pause and a few sniffles.
"...No. Please don't." Vaggie answered miserably.
"Okay. I'll stay right out here. Please tell me what's wrong?" Charlie bargained, sitting on the floor.
There were a few seconds of silence before Vaggie's shaky voice came back through the door.
"I just- I don't look right." She mumbled.
"What do you mean? I think you look perfect." Charlie replied, confused.
"No- I mean- I mean I don't look right. My body isn't... what I feel like, you know? And it's so obvious." Vaggie tried.
"I don't think so." Charlie responded softly.
"Maybe not, but everyone else does. Someone-" Vaggie's breath hitched and she sniffled a few times before continuing. "...someone called me a tranny today." She finished quietly.
"Who?" Alastor chimed in suddenly.
"What the fuck is he doing here? Leave me alone, asshole." Vaggie called through the door, though it was clear she didn't have the will to get truly angry.
"No I don't think I will. Who dared to call you such a thing?" Alastor persisted.
"Some douchebag outside the store. What do you care?" Vaggie grumbled.
"I care because it used to happen to me." Alastor answered seriously.
There was a pause. Charlie raised her eyebrows slightly in surprise. The closet door opened a crack and Vaggie peeked out at Alastor, looking him up and down, tear streaks on her cheeks.
"Liar." She said simply before shutting the door again.
"Well of course I'm a liar, dear. But that doesn't mean I'm not telling the truth about things such as this. What I say is true. I have dealt with precisely the same hardships you have, it seems. Small world." Alastor rebutted.
"Awesome. So we've both been victims of transphobia. Hooray. How is this supposed to make me feel better?" Vaggie called through the door.
"It isn't. Well, not precisely. More of a... comradery thing. You just ought to know that someone understands." Alastor clarified.
Charlie smiled at Alastor, thankful he was here to talk to Vaggie about something Charlie couldn't fully understand. There was silence from the other side of the door.
"If it's any consolation. You pass quite well. I didn't know." Alastor added. A bitter laugh came through the door.
"Ha! Now I know you're lying." She said.
"No, truthfully I didn't! Call me oblivious, but I never even suspected." Alastor admitted.
"He's right Vaggie. You can't tell. You just look like you. The most beautiful demoness in Hell." Charlie chimed in. Vaggie sighed.
"I suppose maybe you're telling the truth, Alastor. I mean, I didn't have any idea about you either." She mumbled.
"I'm not surprised. Most people try not to look at me. The perks of being powerful." Alastor said. Vaggie hummed in understanding. "Not to mention rather ugly!" Alastor added cheerfully. A genuine laugh came through the door at that.
"Yeah, I guess that would help, too." She giggled.
"Too bad you're just absolutely gorgeous." Charlie said with mock disappointment.
There was a shuffle and, finally, the door opened. Vaggie sat there, now wearing one of Charlie's hoodies with tears pricking her eyes and a tiny smile on her face. Charlie smiled back lovingly and opened her arms. Vaggie snuggled right up to her and let out a sigh, burying her face in Charlie's shoulder. Charlie wrapped her arms around her girlfriend and gave her a firm squeeze and a kiss on the temple.
Alastor stood up from his spot on the floor next to Charlie and brushed himself off, turning to leave.
"Alastor, wait." Vaggie called. He paused and turned his head to look over his shoulder, ever-present smile sharp on his face.
"Yes?" He crackled.
"Thanks, shitlord." She said with a smile.
Alastor's smile seemed to soften ever so slightly and his radio noise shifted a bit.
"Don't mention it, my dear." He replied before bursting into a cloud of shadow and disappearing.
"Show off." Vaggie grumbled.
She turned to Charlie again and pressed her forehead to hers. "And thank you, Charlie. Did you really mean those things you said?" She asked.
"Of course I did. I love you for you and that's what matters. And you are beautiful inside and out." Charlie said sincerely. Vaggie smiled.
"You're sweet. I love you too, hon." She said.
They kissed briefly before Vaggie hugged Charlie tight and nuzzled back into her neck. Charlie returned the embrace and sat there like that for as long as Vaggie needed.
The moth demon was lucky she had Charlie to be there for her. And now, maybe... just maybe... there were others who could be there for her too.