Chapter Text
Part I. Hellfire
Chapter 1. Spark
( noun. A small, fiery particle that could ignite a flame )
Two weeks.
It's been two weeks since Charlie, Emily, and the Overlords had saved Hell from irreversible catastrophe.
Two weeks of cleanup, rebuilding, and re-establishing the pecking order with Vox demoted, and the Vees going relatively quiet.
Two weeks since Hell had entered its truce and ceasefire with Heaven, and the realms' previously tumultuous relationships had steadied to a respectful stillness.
Two weeks since the Hazbin Hotel had seen a massive influx of new guests and activities.
Two weeks since almost everything had finally started going right in the lives of Charlie and her friends.
The only exception was the gaping hole that had been left behind in Angel's absence.
Husk and Cherri in particular had been adamant in discussing possible courses of action to take in order to get in contact with him again to try and convince him to return. Charlie and Vaggi had been involved in all of these conversations, but they had yet to establish any surefire course of action on that matter.
Lucifer is happy to be back by his daughter's side, and has been doing what he can when he can to help out whenever he isn't quarreling with Alastor. The Radio Demon himself has taken on more of a role of an overseer, or perhaps security for the hotel, willingly relinquishing most of his previous host duties to Vaggi.
Thanks to Baxter's experiments, Niffty has slightly fewer bugs to battle, as they're all slowly being 'trained' to stay out of sight or to be helpful rather than behave as pests. This gives Niffty more time to clean non-living messes like dust, cobwebs, and stains, which helps alleviate just a bit of Vaggi's laundry loads.
Initially, Charlie was concerned about Vaggi's increased workload with so many new guests pouring in every day, so she'd been sure to check in with her girlfriend in between every counseling session.
But Vaggi has been thriving in her new role as the hotel's manager, largely because she'd already been doing all of that work previously. It was simply a matter of adding a bit to everything she was already doing to accommodate for more guests, but it was nothing new or particularly challenging to her.
Even so, Charlie keeps a close eye on her just to make sure she doesn't overwork herself.
But in those two weeks, everyone has adapted to the new commotion quite well, and Cherri has even opted to help Husk with the bar on the busier nights. She consistently takes pictures of herself with the others to send to Angel, hopeful that some day soon he'd actually open up the messages to see how much they missed him, and maybe come back of his own volition.
There were ups and downs with each day that went by, but Charlie is just hopeful that the ups can continue to outnumber the downs until the positives are all they have.
As she wakes this morning, Charlie lets out a loud yawn, revealing her fangs briefly as she blearily blinks her eyes open. She turns to her right side in search of Vaggi, but when she reaches her arms out she feels only blankets. Wrinkling her nose a bit, she turns to her other side instead, but is met with the same cold sheets. Huffing out a pouty moan, she pushes herself up, shaking out her loose hair as she surveys the bed to confirm she's alone. She sits up, sniffling and rubbing the sleep from her eyes as she looks across the room with a whine.
"Vaggiiii…"
It wasn't anything new that Vaggi tended to start her mornings with a workout and some training. It's always been her routine, and Charlie knows that all too well. But with the extra hotel duties to tackle lately, Vaggi has been getting up that much earlier in order to still fit in her exercises before starting work.
She only ever worked out for twenty to thirty minutes or so, but it's twenty to thirty minutes fewer that Charlie gets to spend cuddling her in bed before they officially start their day.
As she looks to the designated training area off to the side of the room, she spots Vaggi in her usual workout clothes; a form-fitting open-backed purple tank-top with a bit of a skirt, and black leggings. This outfit allowed her to move unrestricted and easily bring out her wings, which are presently free in all their glory.
With one of her spears in-hand, Vaggi had been quietly maneuvering herself around the area in a mock battle, practicing her attacks and defenses, her agility and her flexibility, keeping silent so as not to wake her princess. But now that Charlie is awake and calling for her, Vaggi lands from her next leap and straightens up to face her.
"Morning, hun."
Charlie can see a thin veil of sweat on her bare collar, shoulders, and arms, which tells her she'd been up practicing for a while already. Vaggi had long-since conditioned her body to handle pretty intense workouts, so it took quite a bit for her to break a sweat.
Still rubbing her eyes, Charlie wobbles her way out of bed, shivering a bit as soon as the blankets slide off her shoulders. She limps her way over to Vaggi, still grumbling.
"Vaggiiii… I wanted to cuddle some more…"
"Sorry, babe. We'll go to bed a bit earlier tonight and I'll make it up to you then."
Still in zombie mode, Charlie staggers to her, seeking the life-giving contact of her girlfriend first thing in the morning. Vaggi makes an effort to take a step back.
"Hold on. I'm pretty gross right now-"
"Mmnn noooo, neverrr…" Charlie goes to her anyway, easing around her wings and slumping over Vaggi's shoulders to hug her from behind and brush their cheeks together. Vaggi laughs and indulges her with a brief little kiss.
"All right. Wanna help me with some stretches?"
Charlie perks up right away and can't answer quickly enough.
"Uh-huh!"
Vaggi hangs up her spear before sitting down on the floor. She opens her legs in a near-perfect split, spreading her wings out to either side as far as they can go and inclining her head. Charlie drops down behind her and positions her palms on the small of her back, then gradually starts to push her forward. Vaggi reaches her arms out in front of herself and lies down with ease, able to fully rest her entire torso on the floor even without Charlie's help. Charlie heaves a sigh.
"Vaggi, you don't even need me for this!"
"It still feels nice," Vaggi assures her. "You can push a little harder, babe. Something still needs to crack."
"Are you sure? Tell me if I'm hurting you."
"I will. Promise." Vaggi extends her arms and her wings a bit farther. Charlie waits to feel her exhale fully before pushing down with a little more force onto her lower back. Sure enough, she feels a small pop as something cracks. Vaggi lets out a satisfied moan.
"Ah..."
"Was that it? Are you okay?" Charlie gently rubs her hands up and down Vaggi's sides, giving her a minute to adjust.
"That was it... thanks, honey."
"Good! Take a second to catch your breath."
Vaggi does as she's told and lies there for a moment as Charlie kneads up and down her back, massaging gently between her wings and under her shoulder blades. Vaggi only stays there until she feels like she might start falling asleep, then has to push herself up. Charlie helps her, giving her back a couple more rubs for good measure.
"You okay?"
"Never better. Wanna help me with some sit-ups next?"
"Oh! Yessss! I love sit-ups!"
"I know. Okay, let's go."
Vaggi brings her wings in before laying down on her back and crossing her arms behind her head, holding her ponytail and the tails of her ribbon in one hand so they won't get in her way when she moves. Charlie kneels down in front of her and holds her legs, leaning forward expectantly.
"How many?"
"Mm. A hundred should do."
"Vaggi, you're so cool~!"
"Thanks."
With this, Vaggi starts her reps. Charlie sits there with her eyes still half-lidded and sleepy with a content smile spread across her face as she watches her. The more skin-tight outfit that reveals Vaggi's collar and arms was always much appreciated, and to see her moving with such strength and grace was a treat for Charlie.
And on every tenth sit-up, Vaggi leans forward just an inch further, enough to peck a quick kiss onto Charlie's little black nose before falling back down, and the princess giggles every time.
Somewhere along the lines, around the thirties or forties, Charlie's horns pop out a little. Vaggi continues her sit-ups, but raises an eyebrow.
"You good, hun?"
"Huh? Oh." With a shrug, Charlie brings her horns back in. "Sorry~ Guess I was just so distracted by how beautiful you are~"
"I'm flattered. Thanks for the motivation, honey."
Vaggi doesn't slow down in her pace even when she hits 90 with the added kiss, and on the final sit-up she unfolds her arms so she can cup Charlie's face and kiss her on the mouth. With a squeal, Charlie lightly tackles her back onto the floor, smothering her with affection and peppering even more kisses all over her face.
The two of them laugh and laze around together for a few minutes as Vaggi catches her breath, with Charlie cooing and pampering her all the while. But eventually, they can both start feeling the time.
"All right," Vaggi says, sitting herself up. "I should shower and get dressed so I don't reek in front of the guests."
"Up we go!"
Charlie jumps to her feet first, then offers her hands down to help hoist Vaggi up. But Charlie doesn't just stop when she's on her feet. She keeps lifting her until Vaggi is off the floor and in her arms.
Vaggi plays the game right back at her, bringing out her wings to then lift Charlie off the floor, and the princess lets out another squeak of delight. But Vaggi stops herself from taking her into a full flight, as she knows they've got limited time before they need to start the day now.
So she makes quick work of lowering Charlie back down onto her feet, and then Charlie lowers her in turn. Though she does keep her hands around Vaggi's waist, coaxing her into a brief little dance of sorts. Vaggi relents and humors her for another minute or so, looping her arms around her princess' shoulders and swaying with her a bit.
Her whole body is still a bit warm from the workout activities. But as she extends her time with Charlie, she can't help but notice just a bit of extra heat coming off her princess' hands.
When Vaggi opens her eye to look up at her, she notices Charlie's horns have popped out a little again, and her eyes are darkening a bit, bordering on red. Vaggi tilts her head curiously.
"Charlie, what are you doing? I'm sorry, but I don't really think we have time to mess around right now. Maybe tonight."
"Huh?" Charlie mirrors her, tilting her head in genuine confusion. "What are you talking about?"
Vaggi lifts her chin to indicate Charlie's horns. Charlie blinks as she looks up as well, and her eyes go a bit wide.
"Oh! I didn't even realize. Guess I just got swept away in the moment~" She brings her horns back in, and her eyes return to their usual shade of sunshine. "But yeah, we can save all that for later~"
"Sure, babe." Vaggi smiles as she leans in to kiss her again.
But though Charlie's horns have vanished, Vaggi still feels like her touch is particularly warm on her waist. She can tell it isn't just the usual heat in her own body post-workout, either. It's got an almost feverish pulse to it. A prickle of worry passes through her chest as she eases back.
"Charlie? Are you okay?"
Her eyes are bright and attentive as always now that she's woken up, and there's no haze or dizziness that Vaggi can discern. Charlie blinks down at her and tilts her head again.
"Huh? Yeah! I'm totally fine! What's the matter?"
Vaggi shakes her head.
"Never mind. I guess I'm just- ah-!"
All of a sudden, she cuts off, startled by an unexpected surge of heat that emits from Charlie's palms. It actually feels like a slight burning sensation. Vaggi takes a step back on reflex, easing herself out of the embrace as she takes Charlie's wrists to inspect her hands.
"Babe, you're on fire…"
But even as she says this, Vaggi doesn't see any discoloration in Charlie's hands. They're the usual white, and when she reaches up to press the back of her hand against her princess' forehead, she can't sense an abnormal temperature there either.
"Am I?" Charlie asks. "I feel fine."
As Vaggi continues to hold onto her hands, the heat fades in a matter of seconds.
"I mean… I guess that's good."
"Are you okay...?" Charlie's tone drops with concern; she hadn't liked the way Vaggi had flinched at her touch.
Vaggi offers a reassuring smile.
"I'm fine, hun."
"Let me see."
Charlie lifts her tank-top up a few inches to inspect for herself. And it's very, very faint, but there are just the slightest imprints of her own hands painted into Vaggi's skin on both of her sides. Charlie gasps outright.
"Oh my gosh! Vaggi, I-I'm so sorry-!"
"It's okay. I don't even feel it anymore. It'll be gone in a sec."
"Are you sure? Does it hurt? I'm sorry-"
"Charlie, look at me." Vaggi takes her princess' hands, letting her shirt fall back down to conceal the slight burns. She smiles sincerely as she meets her gaze, which is almost on the verge of brimming with tears. Vaggi cups her face and kisses her cheek. "I'm fine, Charlie. Totally fine. I promise. You were probably still just half-asleep and didn't realize what was happening, that's all."
Charlie still looks like a kicked puppy, but after Vaggi kisses her a few more times, she finally cracks the tiniest smile.
"All right. If you're sure you're okay-"
"I'm positive." Vaggi brings her down a bit so she can kiss Charlie's forehead, willing the contact to erase her troubled thoughts. Charlie lets out a sigh as she loops her arms cautiously around the small of her back and hugs her gently. Vaggi lingers, wanting to make sure Charlie isn't still blaming herself for the little mishap before finally letting her go.
"Okay. I'm gonna hop in the shower. Care to join me?" It's her hope that the playful offer will brighten Charlie's mood a bit.
And it does.
"Sure! I meeean, cuz if we go one at a time at this point we'll end up being late, y'know?"
"Exactly." With a chuckle, Vaggi takes her by the hand and leads her into their bathroom.
Vaggi enjoys the sensation of the warm water cleaning away the sweat from her workout, whereas Charlie lets the shower wake her up fully so she can be ready for the day ahead.
As they wash off, Charlie can't help it when her eyes wander back to Vaggi's sides as she constantly checks on the minor injuries. But to her relief, it's just as Vaggi had said, and the slight discoloration fades away beneath the warm water. And by the time they exit the shower together, the marks are completely gone.
They get dressed in their usual clothes, but of course not before Charlie checks on Vaggi's stomach one last time.
"All good, hun," Vaggi assures her. "I don't feel a thing."
"Okay. Sorry about that."
"It's okay. It was just a little accident cuz you were so tired. You'll be fine now."
"Right!" Charlie makes a determined fist before bending down to kiss her.
Charlie would often speed up their drying-off process by using her powers to emit a cozy blast of warm air, which especially helped them both dry out their thick, long hair.
As she does so this morning, she is extra conscientious about it, making sure not to go overboard.
But Vaggi enjoys the treatment as she always does, sitting at the vanity with her eye closed as she happily soaks in the warm air with her hair billowing all around her. Charlie helps brush it for her before starting on her own, while Vaggi ties hers into its usual ponytail and fastens her ribbon into place.
When all's said and done for the morning, the girls end up being just a few minutes later than usual, but they quickly jump in to start their day.
Vaggi takes care of all of her usual morning chores, like helping Razzle prepare breakfast for all their guests. Luckily, Lucifer himself had trained the little dragon in all sorts of recipes, so it was never too difficult to make everything, even with so many new residents on board. Vaggi flies to each room to deliver the meals, while Razzle hands them out to the sinners who come up to the kitchen.
Charlie mans the check-in desk before her morning therapy session begins while her girlfriend is busy. Husk quietly takes up his station at the bar for the early-morning drinkers, with Niffty already scuttling around to dust, while Baxter and Cherri collaborate on his laptop in the lobby to brainstorm and design better security features for the hotel. Even Alastor eventually takes up his position at the front doors to greet and welcome in new guests, which does effectively scare off a few potential visitors, but his intimidating presence at the entrance does also serve to make any ill-intentioned sinners think twice about coming in.
Things run smoothly as they have been for the past few weeks. Charlie is still so excited about that, to the point where she more or less forgets about the little incident this morning.
When it's time for her to see her first group, she does so with vigor, energy, and positivity like always. She listens in earnest to each sinner as they describe their difficult pasts and poor choices, and then offers a bit of feedback, asking the other members of the group to describe how they would have reacted more constructively in the same situation, and so on.
In the meantime, Vaggi oversees the residents' needs; cleaning laundry, collecting dirty dishes, noting ventilation or foundation issues to pass along for Alastor to repair later, and handling the reports of whatever quarrels or arguments that break out. Her daily schedule is as structured as it is chaotic, but she always manages to find proper and peaceful solutions that pacify and satisfy everyone in an efficient and timely manner.
Just about all of the residents recognize and appreciate Vaggi for her efforts. And even the ones that are constantly rude and ungrateful don't bother her all that much. Because every time one of the others smiles at her, and even thanks her, it cancels out any rude or negative behavior that might have dampened her mood previously.
For as stressful as her many jobs as the hotel's manager may be, Vaggi finds an odd sort of comfort in the rigorous schedule, something that had probably been ingrained into her subconscious back in the Exorcist army. But unlike her time spent back in Heaven, things were much less harrowing here, and she had plenty of freedom and all of her friends around her.
The morning flies by, and she meets up with Charlie in the staff-only lounge for their communal lunch hour, where they check in with each other.
"Therapy groups are going well?" Vaggi inquires, taking a bite of her salad. Charlie is just swallowing a mouthful of the sandwich her girlfriend had prepared for her, humming her confirmation.
"Yes! They're all doing soooo well! There's been a ton of progress from a lot of them over the past two weeks! It's so inspiring!"
"You've always been good at that," Vaggi smiles. "How have you been? Do you still feel okay?"
"Yeah! Totally! I think what happened this morning was just a fluke. What about you? You're not sore or anything?"
"Not at all."
"Good, good!"
They finish up their lunch date by sharing a kiss and then seeing each other off for their afternoon duties.
It's only one time, in one of Charlie's afternoon therapy sessions, when she doesn't realize her horns had started to pop out again.
One of the sinners in her group had been sharing a story when he'd suddenly gotten a bit nervous, and Charlie hadn't understood why until she realized her horns were visible. After quickly apologizing and insisting she wasn't upset with anyone for any reason, she proceeds to be a bit more wary for the remainder of her sessions.
After enthusiastically dismissing her last group of the day, Charlie heads down to the lobby to help Vaggi with the evening chores. They had since established an early suppertime of 4PM, which gave Vaggi plenty of time to wash dishes, clean up the kitchen, and complete her other tasks by 6 at the latest, so she could still enjoy her evenings and have time to rest.
And with Charlie's help, they finish up around 5:45 this evening, and join their friends at the bar.
They sit together and chat with Husk, Cherri, Niffty, and Baxter, which has become their end-of-day routine lately. Alastor sits at the far end and listens in passively. At least until Lucifer stops in to check in on his daughter, at which point he and the Radio Demon get to glaring and grumbling as always.
After a couple of drinks, Cherri ends up spilling some details about her back-and-forth letters to Heaven with Pentious, which makes Charlie squeal out loud. She discusses her positive outcomes for the day's counseling, while Vaggi offers some suggestions to help out tomorrow's groups.
Husk stays fairly quiet through it all, as he has been since Angel had left. But every once in a while the group earns a chuckle from him, or he cuts in to make a remark.
They finish off the evening with a roach performance conducted by Niffty before splitting up and heading off to bed.
Vaggi opens her arms to her princess, offering to fly her up as always, and Charlie eagerly jumps at the invitation. Once Vaggi has her securely, she spreads her wings and takes off, making one last pass across each floor to ensure that none of the residents needed anything else before finally bringing Charlie up to their room.
Together, they get dressed and ready for bed, with Vaggi taking her turn in the bathroom second. Charlie waits for her in bed, sitting up and petting Keekee for a few moments before the cat prances down to her usual spot at the foot of the bed to curl up. Charlie reflects on the day's sessions with her guests, letting her mind wander, already planning out how she wants to conduct tomorrow's sessions…
"All right." Vaggi's voice reaches her from across the room, and Charlie looks up. Her girlfriend emerges from the bathroom in her white cotton nightgown and flies over to join her before bringing in her wings. "As promised, I owe you cuddle time to make up for this morning. Thanks for warming up the bed for me, hun."
"Huh-?"
Charlie blinks as she glances down at herself. She hadn't realized at all that her tail had come out and is presently wagging happily at the fact that Vaggi is finally back. In bringing out her demon attributes, her body had naturally generated some more heat, which had effectively kept the unoccupied sheets and pillows warm. Charlie hadn't done it on purpose, but she doesn't want to make Vaggi worry by implying as much. So she quickly plays along.
"Oh! Yup! Nice and warm for you! C'meeeere~"
She opens up her arms to Vaggi, pulling her in across her lap and giving her a squeeze as she vigorously rubs her face against her neck. Vaggi laughs as she's ruthlessly snuggled, hugging her princess' shoulders.
"All right, I surrender!"
"You owe me cuddles! With interest!"
"Do with me what you will, Princess."
Charlie gently pushes her down onto her side of the bed and lightly tackles her, nuzzling and nestling and kissing her all over. She does bring her tail back in, just to be safe, not wanting to risk the spikes accidentally scratching her.
She's still not sure why she'd slipped up so much today with her demon form. But she chalks it up to a combination of stress - even eustress - from managing her new hotel schedule, mixed with her troubled emotions about Angel.
But for now, Charlie just wants to relax and rest with her girlfriend.
Pushing her worries away, she lets out a big sigh as she lays on top of Vaggi for a moment, sharing her body heat. But then, even that makes her worry. After only a moment, Charlie pushes herself up.
"I'm not too warm, am I?"
Vaggi shakes her head, smiling.
"Not at all, Charlie. You're the perfect temperature. Do you feel okay?"
"Yeah. I still feel totally fine."
"That's good. I'm glad."
"Is your stomach okay?" Charlie asks, rubbing her hands lightly up and down her sides.
"So okay that I forgot anything ever happened," Vaggi replies. "Don't worry. It's all good, babe."
"Okay."
Still, Charlie leans down to leave a few little kisses over her nightgown before slowly sinking down onto her side. Vaggi fits herself perfectly into her princess' arms, slipping her hands around Charlie to run her nails lightly up and down her back. Charlie lets out a long, moany breath.
"It feels so nice, Vaggiiii~"
"That's what I was hoping for. I owe you, after all."
"Mmhmm~"
Charlie closes her eyes, enjoying the pampering as Vaggi cards through her hair in slow, soothing strokes, then continues rubbing down her shoulders and back. Charlie lets out a purr, pressing closer against her like a baby animal, adorably greedy for more. Vaggi can't keep the smile off her face all the while as she hugs her, sprinkling a few kisses in here and there when she can.
Charlie nestles in against her chest, settling her head over Vaggi's heartbeat, letting its rhythm wipe her mind of all other thoughts. Vaggi holds her, closing her eye as she continues her cuddle treatment. Charlie keeps making cute, happy little noises as she feels herself beginning to fade.
Normally, Charlie would be much more talkative before bed, so the fact that she's a bit quieter tonight tells Vaggi that her princess is still a bit troubled about what had happened today. Vaggi does absolutely everything she can to ease her mind about any of that.
"Y'know," she offers. "We only had four fights break out today. That's a new record."
She hears Charlie let out a soft chuckle.
"Is it? That's amazing."
"And that's not the only record we broke today," Vaggi continues. "Sixteen people said 'thank you' to me."
"Really?!" Charlie actually lifts her head to look at her, her eyes wide and sparkling with excitement. "That's great news, Vaggi! Up from fourteen! I mean, it's still not nearly enough. Every individual guest should be thanking you that much every single day for all that you do here, in my opinion, but that's a start!"
"Right? Pretty impressive."
"Yeah!"
With Charlie's spirits now effectively lifted, a smile spreads across her face. She leans down, locks of blonde hair falling forward over her shoulders, creating a screen around the two of them as she presses a kiss to Vaggi's forehead. When she next blinks, her eyes are tired but warm, knowing.
"Thank you, Vaggi."
Vaggi reaches up to loop her arms around Charlie's neck, bringing her down into another soft embrace.
"Of course, sweetie. Get some rest. Tomorrow will be even better."
"Yeah. You're right!" Charlie gives her a tight, appreciative squeeze before getting comfortable beside her, still keeping her in a partial embrace, rubbing her palm gently over Vaggi's side. "Goodnight, Vaggi. I love you."
"I love you too, Charlie. Goodnight."
Snuggling up close, the girls close their eyes, and are drifting off before they know it.
A/N: I really wanted to write a scene of Vaggi working out in cute workout clothes, and Charlie pushing her back to help her stretch, and holding her legs when she does sit-ups where Vaggi kisses her as she does them~
As always, even when Charlie has minor troubles, Vaggi does everything she can to ease her mind and help her feel better! But still, does something seem off...?
UPDATE: SARIEL struck yet again and made some ADORABLE art of workout Vaggi for Chaggie Week 2026 so I added it in!
Please leave comments or kudos!