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Charlie loved Christmas. Almost as much as she loved her friends and her family and her hotel! So, it’s no surprise she did so much preparation for that time of year. Decorating was a chore that she was willing to fulfil!
And, just five and a half hours after she started, it was done! The tree was decorated, stockings hung, and the mistletoe lay, just in the doorway to the kitchen. In case any lovebirds (Angel and Husk) stumbled across it.
With a smile, she lets out a breath of relief. It looks incredible. She hears footsteps coming down the stairs. Oh! It must be seven, that’s when Vox and Vel get up. The clack of heels really confirms it.
“Good morning, you two!! Merry Christmas!”
They stare at her in confusion. Velvette blinks, eyes scanning the lounge before saying, “It’s better than before. Less red, more green and white … pretty. Good job, Morningstar.”
“Thank you! Um, I’m just about to go make breakfast, so you guys can find a seat — and your stockings. I got us all stockings, and they look so pretty. See you in a second!”
Charlie waves, running toward the kitchen to make herself a coffee and also breakfast that she didn’t realise she had to make until she backed herself into that corner. Yikes. She speedruns it, to the point where she hears Angel and Husk coming down just as she finished up dishing out the food.
Yes! Less than half an hour to make breakfast, that just be a new record! Okay, now she needs to go and say hi and —
She stops when she collides face first with someone in the door way. Charlie stumbles back, ready to pull out an apology when she sees exactly who it was. Vox, looking up at the mistletoe above them with a certain smile she hasn’t seen from him before.
“Princess,” He starts, squinting his eyes at her. “Did you put this up?”
“I, um .. I did, but I wasn’t — it wasn’t for me!!”
She points at Angel and Husk. He grins, nodding along as if he didn’t believe her but it made some sense anyway.
“Well. You must have read what this means, right?” He tilts his screen slightly, that stupid grin playing on his face longer than she wanted it to.
And, just before she can reply, he leans to the side of the door, practically creating a human wall she can’t pass. He wiggles his eyebrows at her, and she can’t stop herself from laughing. It’s so stupid, so weirdly charming she can’t help herself.
“Wh — hey! That wasn’t funny, that was devastatingly handsome!”
“Sorry, sorry — I’m sorry,” She manages to say between giggles. “Okay. We can do this.”
Vox rolls his eyes, looking to the floor and muttering, “God, you’ve got some fucking standards, Princess.”
Standards?
While he’s still muttering, she grabs his bowtie and yanks him forward, making their lips collide in a way she didn’t quite expect. Sure, she didn’t think he’d have an exact mouth, but he does. He tastes metallic with a hint of blueberry, and it feels euphoric.
Her arms wrap around his neck, his claws jump to her waist and within a second they’re sharing a kiss they didn’t even realise they needed. Static jitters from him, she can feel it as she presses her tongue to his mouth, asking for entrance.
And just as he lets her in ..
“Oh, come the fuck on! Are you serious? This is a public place, get a room!” Vel yells, throwing some form of decoration straight at Vox’s head.
He falls back, breaking them apart, but Charlie catches him. Her hand on his back, just inches from the ground. She giggles, he jitters. As she pulls him back up to his feet, he can’t seem to let his hands leave her waist.
“Fuck me, Princess, that was …”
“Do you think you measured up to my standards?”
“Shut the hell up.”
Angel Dust and Husk both squint. They look to each other, then to Charlie. Well, she looks happy, so ..
“I need a fuckin’ drink,” Husk grumbles, moving to stand before his boyfriend grabs his arm.
“Wanna bet on who proposes first?”
Charlie squints, hitting Vox’s shoulder to let him hear. He doesn’t look very pleased.
“… Whatever, sure. I got Charlie.”
“Man. I was gonna say Charlie! Fucking dick.”
Velvette snickers, waving her hands. “Watch neither of ‘em propose cause they’ve not got the balls to. Vox is a pussy, and Charlie? Overthinking will kill it.”
“Are you—” Vox glitches, leaving her hold to stand right in front of Velvette. Static courses through him. “Are you fucking serious? I am not a pussy, I’m incredibly—”
Zip.
Baxter grins from the stairs, remote control in hand, finger on the mute button. Niffty stands next to him, clapping her hands together.
“Ehehe!! Bad boy can reaaaally shut people up,” She giggles, patting off her dress before zooming down to join the group. “Ooh, is this our Christmas decorations? Where’s the mistletoe?”
Charlie moves over to Niffty, an awkward laugh escaping her. “Well …”
“Over there,” Angel points. “Vox and Charlie just practically made out under it.”
Vox glitches even more, static making the lights flicker. The spider laughs, leaning onto Husk to stop himself from falling.
“Um — we didn’t make out! We just — we, um … we …”
Everyone stares at her, expectantly. While they do, Baxter unmutes Vox. Just to add some chaos into the mix. He giggles to himself.
“Okay, it did get a liiittle heated, but it was not a makeout session!”
“It totally was,” Velvette says, nudging Vox. “You gonna go for round two, big guy?”
“I hate you. Charlie, come on.”
He grabs her arm, dragging her out of the room ad the group mumbles and awws at them. They make it to the hall, door shut, silence. She tilts her head.
“You, um … you’re a good kisser, Vox. I’m sorry they’re getting to your head, it really doesn’t have to mean anything —”
His laugh cuts through her words. Unguarded, pure. “Fuck, how do you not see it? Princess, I … I want it to mean something.”
“What? Are you — are you serious?”
“Deathly. You’re fucking amazing. You listen, you make my coffee exactly how I like it even though I never told you how, you smile at me in the corridor even when I scowl, you let Vel stay even though she insulted you the second she walked through the door just for me, and you —”
Smooch!
Charlie kisses him. Quick, fast, but telling.
“I want it to mean something, too.”
He grumbles, a blue blush forming on his screen. “I was rambling. Fuck my life …”
“No, no, it’s cute! I just, um … waiting isn’t exactly my specialty, hah.”
She lets her hands climb up to his screen, holding it so gently. He buffers, making her giggle.
“So, this is … a thing? Are we — dating?” Vox asks, in a tone so quiet it doesn’t sound like him in the slightest.
Charlie nods, smiling at him so brightly he isn’t sure if she’s real or not.
“Yeah. We are.”
Angel, Husk, Velvette, Baxter and Niffty all stand at the door, with differing expressions.
Velvette grins, as if she knew this would happen all along. “Called it. #Voxlie is already trending!”
“Fascinating … a royal and a sinner? I’ve never seen it before,” Baxter squints, writing on his notepad. “I must record this.”
Husk grumbles, rolling his eyes at it. “Love is fuckin’ stupid. Angel, let’s go.”
“Awww, no!! We gotta watch ‘em, they’re so cute. Stay, kitty, pleaaaase?” Angel grabs his boyfriends arm, making a pleading face at him. The car mutters something under his breath, but he stays regardless.
Niffty’s giggle is horrifying. Loud, grating, like a demon child had just arrived. Well, she was a demon, so …
“Charlie’s got a baaaaaad boy!”
Christmas was fun in Hell, Velvette concluded in her seventh post of the day relating to Voxlie.
Very fun.