Chapter Text
Vaggie didn't know much about Hell.
She didn't really understand how the rules or 'non-rules' worked down here. She didn't quite understand how the entire Pentagram worked, how it was divided into sections depending on the Sins. The only thing she knew was that she fell in the Pride ring, got picked up by the one and only Princess of Hell, and now she was stuck here.
In this.. actually quite nice little mansion. (Not very little, since it's very much bigger than the rest of the homes other sinners and Hellborn lived in, but who cared?)
Vaggie had been staying here for a while now- maybe a month, she thought. The funny thing was, she couldn't necessarily remember much about the time she had spent here. Sure, she remembered why and how she fell. How she laid there in that dingy alley, on the verge of her second death before a figure came into her hazy vision. She remembered how that woman smiled at her after wrapping a bandage around her eye, even with genuine concern and fear in her eyes before she lost consciousness.
She had woken up a few days later in this exact bed. Let's just say Vaggie could've been a little nicer and less noisy in the beginning. She wasn't fully trusting of Charlotte- or "Charlie", as she had preferred to be called. But Vaggie did let her near her to tend her aching wounds and bring her breakfast in the mornings because she didn't really want to leave her given room.
But besides that, the past few weeks were still a little blurry. Maybe it was due to the fact she had gone through something traumatic, as Charlo- ..Charlie had stated. That or she was still getting used to having her eye ripped off from her socket. A shiver ran down her spine.
"Hello?"
Vaggie jumped in her bed, realizing she had been lost in thought and staring outside the open balcony doors to take in the view of the Pride ring.
The two brown and golden-lined doors creaked open slowly to reveal a familiar blonde. "Sorry, it's just.. You haven't answered my texts and I got a little worried," She chuckled nervously.
Vaggie glanced down at the bedside table next to her, where her phone had stayed charging all morning. "Oh," She mumbled. "I forgot." She stared at the device a little while longer before looking back up at Charlie. "Sorry."
The end's of Charlie's lips quirked upright as she took a few steps forward. "Don't apologize! I figured you were still asleep," She shrugged. Charlie pulled a wooden chair with a purple, fuzzy pillow on it next to the Angel's bed. "But I see you're just looking outside." Charlie glanced back and forth from the balcony doors and Vaggie a few times.
Vaggie knew what she was thinking. And she knew that Charlie knew that she knew. And as much as she wanted to keep beating around the bush, she couldn't necessarily hide the fact that she desperately wanted nothing more but to be outside. But that was the thing. No matter how desperate she wanted to go, she couldn't bring herself to. The thought of going back outside right now made her bottom lip tremble just the slightest. She couldn't bear going out there and risking a second death. She sighed heavily as she felt her heart pick up its pace just the slightest. She wasn't about to start going into a manic episode right in front of a demon, now was she?
"I'm not going outside," Vaggie snapped.
"I never told you to go."
Vaggie groaned and grabbed a pillow from beside her to cover her face. She laid back down on her bed and faced away from the demon who was still seated on the wooden chair. She removed the pillow and glanced at the balcony doors again and hoped that they'd magically shut close.
Despite knowing Charlie's (most likely) well intentions, she couldn't bring herself to actually begin trusting her.
𝘓𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘦'𝘥 𝘣𝘦 𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘣𝘰𝘥𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘦 𝘥𝘢𝘺𝘴.
She heard shuffling behind her, the cabinet of the bedside table opening and closing quickly. Vaggie sighed at what was going to happen, looking back at Charlie and sitting up on her bed. She rubbed her eye slowly, taking her white blouse off silently and turning her back towards the demon.
"Ready?" Charlie asked, and Vaggie could just imagine the little tilt of her head she always did.
"Yeah."
Vaggie sat still for a few moments before tensing up at the feeling of warm hands undoing the bandages on her back. She hated every time they needed to changed her bandages, because it was just a reminder of something that once was. But she knew it was for the better, especially if she wanted the wounds to heal correctly without infection or large scarring. (There was still going to be scarring, but it'd be less worse than without disinfection.)
She jolted slightly when she felt Charlie place a finger over her newly found scar. "Stop," She stated, her eye closing tightly to stop herself from turning around slapping the hand away from her.
Charlie paused for a second before pulling her hand away. "Did I hurt you? I'm sorry!" Charlie apologized. "I should've asked first, that's my bad. I'm so sorry."
"No," She spoke again, her eyelid lifting up slightly and she stared at the ground below her. "It doesn't hurt."
𝘕𝘰𝘵 𝘱𝘩𝘺𝘴𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘸𝘢𝘺.
She took a breath in, then a breath out. "You can continue," She muttered under her breath. Vaggie placed both her hands in her lap and fidgeted with her fingers nervously.
After a moment, she felt the warm hands on her skin again. She didn't like the contact of Charlie's hands on her scars, but she did kind of have to admit it felt nice on other areas of her back. Maybe it was due to the fact Charlie had naturally warm hands, or the fact that she could feel that Charlie did in fact have fur. Very short and neatly trimmed fur, but it was there. Kind of like a very thin but extremely warm blanket.
"Done."
Vaggie blinked a few times before looking down at her chest. It was covered in bandages once more. She must've zoned out for a long while if they were finished already. It usually took half an hour to disinfect the area and then wrap them around her again. "Oh. Thanks, I guess." Vaggie turned back to her bed, grabbing her blouse and pulling it over her head. She slid backwards on her bed, leaning herself against the brown-red bedframe. She placed the blanket neatly on top of her and glanced back at Charlie who was busy putting the kit back inside the cabinet like before.
"You're not ready."
Vaggie blinked and shook her head slightly.
"What?"
Charlie looked her way and sat on top of the arm of the wooden chair. It was actually pretty sturdy if it was able to hold a person- er.. A demon on it.
"To go out," She explained. "I can tell you miss going out there."
Vaggie rolled her eye and suddenly felt a wave of anger wash over her. "Oh yeah? And can you tell I want you to get the fuck out of my room, too?" She grabbed a pillow beside her and threw it directly at the demon. It hit Charlie and bounced off of her before it fell onto the floor. They both stared at the pillow for a few moments in silence. She scoffed at the non-reaction from the girl and turned back to look at the doors. She heard shuffling, then looked at her lap when she felt something being placed on it. It was the pillow she had thrown at Charlie. She picked it up and stared at it.
She heard the clicking of hooves on the floor walking away from her and towards the door. She turned to look at Charlie, who was in the doorway talking to one of her.. goat.. dragon (?) pets. She was pretty sure this one was Dazzle. She could only hear Charlie murmuring and then watched as the little creature nodded and flew away down the hall, the sounds of flapping his little wings fading. Charlie turned back around and watched Vaggie watch her. "I told him to get you a decent meal," She spoke up. "Since you skipped breakfast this morning." Vaggie sighed and leaned her head backwards against the bedframe. "Right."
Charlie looked from the hall and then to Vaggie. "I know this is hard for you," She continued, leaning against the doorframe. "A lot of the sinners down here usually hide away during the.. you know.."
"Extermination."
"Yeah," She placed her hands in front of her and fidgeted. It was one thing they had in common that Vaggie noticed. The only thing, she hoped. She didn't want to start living down here for the rest of eternity knowing that in a different universe they would've been friends with tons of shit in common. She didn't want to be friends with a demon. Especially with Lucifer's daughter. "But since you told me it was your first day in Hell that day, it was an awful way to start your afterlife down here."
Charlie folded her arms. "I'll let you leave when I know you're ready, but I also can't make you stay."
Vaggie cocked her head and raised an eyebrow. "Can't you? You're the 𝘗𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘴𝘴 of Hell."
𝘋𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘳𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘢𝘨𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘱𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘤𝘦 𝘮𝘦?
"That doesn't mean anything to me. I could've been born an imp and I still would've been the same demon I am. It'd just be minus the title," she stated. "I just.. want you to be alright. At least until your scars heal up all the way and we're sure you won't risk tearing them open again."
She almost flinched at the 'again'.
When she had woken up on this bed a few weeks ago after being unconscious for a few days, she had sat straight up and threw things at the unfamiliar demon in her room. (Who she would later learn was actually the Princess of Hell.) Because of her movement (and ignoring the worried screams of Charlie saying she wasn't in good shape in that state), she tore open her well-done stitches and had to be put on bed rest for a week because a vein or two had popped and that wasn't necessarily good. Vaggie shook that memory away and looked back at Charlie. "I'll let them heal. That way I'll be out of your hair and i can go back outside without you lurking around every five minutes asking if I'm alright," She shrugged, sliding down just the slightest from the frame.
Charlie opened her mouth to speak, before Dazzle came rushing in with a plate of goodies. "Dazzle! I told you to prepare a nutritious meal, not a plate of candy!" She grumbled. But Charlie took a better look at the plate before grabbing a sugar coated grape and popping it into her mouth. It crunched underneath her fangs and she smiled at her companion. "..Fine. Just this once," She gestured a hand to Vaggie who had just watched their little bicker turn into a sweet moment. A silver platter was placed on her lap with a bleat from the little goat before leaving the room. (Probably to go find his other furry friend, she thought.)
"I'll leave you to it, Vaggie," Charlie told her before walking out of the room and closing the door shut.
Vaggie stared at the door and then look down at her platter of goodies. Her time down here was going to be.. Well, a living Hell for a lack of better wording.
A ping distracted her from her thoughts then leaned over and took the phone from the bedside table when she noticed it had come from the small piece of tech. She turned it on and saw a notification from her messaging app. She opened it and read the message.
" 𝘊𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘪𝘦:
𝘚𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘺. 𝘐 𝘩𝘰𝘱𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘦𝘯𝘫𝘰𝘺 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘧𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘰. 𝘑𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘭𝘮𝘬 𝘪𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘦𝘭𝘴𝘦 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘴𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘵𝘴 (☆^ー^☆) "
Vaggie sent her a thumbs up message, then threw her phone onto the bed before looking back down at the platter. She grabbed a sugar coated grape and placed one into her mouth. A satisfying crunch was heard as she bit down on it.
Maybe she should just try to like it down here.
But how?