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"Fuck, man, did you have to tie it so fuckin' tight?"
Charlie glanced nervously down at her girlfriend's form, bound by the wrists to the headboard while she stood a healthy distance away. "I can't loosen those," she said. "...You know I'm not going to."
That grin on her girlfriend's face felt so mocking--it had no right to do to her what it was. "Fuck." Her only eye roamed over Charlie's body. "Alright. Keep me here, babe. What do I care? There could be way worse views down here."
All of a sudden, she gritted her teeth and scrunched her eye shut. "Shut... up..."
Charlie dropped down to scramble closer to her. "Vaggie?"
It was being a really rough day for them. All three of them. And Charlie wasn't naive enough to belief the end was in sight--she only knew so much about demonic possession, after all. And in comparison, she didn't know anything about angelic possession. Either way, this was the closest to a threesome she had ever gotten.
With her mom's ex-husband that had tried to kill her and her friends.
Never a dull day in the Hazbin Hotel.
This time when she spoke, it sounded like Vaggie--a little tired. Not as fucking smug and... stupid like whatever it was when Adam specifically seemed to be speaking, just from within Vaggie's body. "Hon?"
"I'm right here." Was she aware of what was happening? Was this all like an internal struggle Charlie couldn't see going on? Was she hurting? Weak? Was Adam somehow finding a way to hurt who she loved even without a physical form of his own? "Vaggie..." She reached and grabbed her bound hands for the gentlest squeeze she could manage. "I'm not going anywhere."
A small, little squirm--Vaggie didn't squeeze back. "The ropes actually are too tight," she said. "...I can't feel some of my fingers."
"Fuck!" She scrambled to loosen it a little--and then tightened it straight back up. "I knew I should've gone for the handcuffs, I'm not as good at this as you."
"Kinky."
She looked back down at her. "Don't talk like that," she spat. "With my girlfriend's mouth."
It was hard to tell, occasionally, who was saying what. Charlie had literally come all the way home with her girlfriend before she realized, something was off. Granted, she had known by the time she told 'Vaggie' to come back to the bedroom with her. Adam was a dick in all things, but he hadn't been that surprised when Charlie tied him down, or had figured out who he was entirely. They all seemed to be on the same page. Vaggie scrunched her eyes shut, and at Charlie's worried gaze, offered, "I just have a headache... and his name is fucking Adam."
Adam, apparently, didn't care so much about inside thoughts. "Not exactly your head I want when I'm stuck inside you, babe," he said. "And also--why are you so fuckin' short? Don't you got heels or some shit?"
"She's wearing them," Charlie said, helpfully.
"You mean you're this short even with help?" Adam, in control of Vaggie's body, leaned back in their shared bonds. "Fuck. Were you this short in Heaven too? I don't remember."
Charlie tried to think this over. "Are people taller in Heaven? Is that a thing?" The Winners got all types of privileges--not being murdered every year, height... Adam shrugged with Vaggie's shoulders. "Huh. ...I'm going to be thinking about this for awhile."
Vaggie spoke through gritted teeth. "Hon, I think there's way more pressing matters than my height right now."
"Nu-uh," she said, then, Adam all relaxed in a body that wasn't his. "'Cause if I'm gonna be in here for fuck knows how long, it's pretty pressing. How do you live? Can you even reach like, doorknobs?"
"Oh no," Charlie said. "Not 'fuck knows how long.' We're getting you out." She glanced around the room, like maybe there was an answer laying around. "Fuck. I don't know, maybe we can get like... an Exorcist, but not the kind that kills you?" Vaggie laughed, and it had tones of both their voices. Charlie was glad Vaggie wasn't immediately scared by a term like that, at the very least. Her girlfriend must've been so stressed... she didn't want her to be afraid. "What even is this, like... angelic possession? Is that a thing?" Vaggie stared at her, which wasn't super helpful. "Fuck, I... I might have a book about this. I'm gonna go try and find it, and... we'll figure something out." She looked back at Vaggie. "...Right?"
She sighed. "Yeah, babe. Sounds like a start."
"Okay!" She jumped to her feet, and then thought it felt wrong to leave her girlfriend completely alone with her former boss that had originally left her in Hell to die, after watching her eye literally get stabbed out of her skull (Adam would claim that actually, Lute had been the one behind the eye trauma, he'd just overseen it, but would accept the blame for abandoning Vaggie happily). She also couldn't justify letting Adam inhabit Vaggie's body and the hotel, and couldn't ensure she'd be able to keep an eye on him (again, inside Vaggie's body), and... what if he did something? Hurt Vaggie? No, the best option was to leave them both tied up. So they couldn't do anything.
She knelt back down and kissed Vaggie's hairline. "I'll be back soon, okay?" She rubbed her thumb over Vaggie's cheek. "I love you, Vaggie."
She shut her eyes. "I love you too."
"Ugh." Adam leaned back, in her body, in his binds. "Fuck, she might as well have scissored before she left, are you two always this fuckin' mushy?"
It was gonna take some getting used to, with this voice. He didn't like sounding so feminine, but he didn't have much of a choice. And it's probably better than not being able to speak at all, and also think, and also feel.
Vaggie groaned--when she spoke, and when it was actually her and not him through her, he felt it like it was his own. Could feel the same emotion, hear the thoughts in her head like it was his just as he could hear her voice. "One day you're gonna learn what an 'inside' thought is."
He rolled his eyes. "Like I wanna be inside you." Though she does look good with long hair, he thought. Not enough to actually attract him, especially in comparison to her much hotter girlfriend, but it was a good look on her. Doesn't seem functional, though.
Vaggie literally fucking gagged, and he could feel her disgust like he when someone poked you, but not in the way that he was disgusted. "Gross!" Vaggie shouted. "Everything--all of that, you're disgusting, why would you think that?" She pulled on the ropes, like she was trying to somehow get away from him, like she might be able to leave him there instead. "Why would you put that out into the world, I'd literally rather fuck myself with my own spear than think about something like that."
"Well, don't hold yourself back from that on my account." He pulled his-her-their wrists through the ropes and flexed his fingers. "Also, your girlfriend totally sucks at bondage, so I'm guessing she's not usually on top."
He tried to move away--and suddenly lost control in one of his hands, which grabbed at the ropes in an attempt to root him to the spot. He pulled against it--this struggle lasted five minutes before, with a grunt, she--he? The hand let go and he was given free roam of the room. "Nice try," he snarked, like he hadn't been struggling just as much as her, and like her fatigue was not also his fatigue, and the bed suddenly looked awfully tempting. But also, that felt like overstepping something. He didn't care much about manners to them, but he wasn't in the habit of laying on other peoples' beds.
He did wander over, and picked up a picture frame that sat on the end table--Charlie and Vaggie in bed. A corner of it had started to slip when the camera went off, showing the barest hint of areola but not the entire nipple on Vaggie's chest, and she was clearly trying to take the camera out of Charlie's outstretched hands. It was a cute photo. They were a cute couple.
Vaggie took enough control to set it down. "Do you think if I found my spear and used it on myself, you'd feel it too? Because I think it'd be worth it."
It was an empty threat. Adam could tell immediately, that Vaggie might love the chance to do it to him, but... "And kill yourself too? Leave that for your girlfriend to find? Go ahead."
Vaggie glanced in the corner at her spear, left to idle, but she didn't reach for it. "You know what your problem is?" He said.
"Yes," Vaggie said. "His name is Adam."
Alright, well, he walked straight into that one. "God, you're the fucking worst," he said. "You got like, no sense of humor, that's your second--no, shut up--that's just another problem. Probably like your third. Your second's that you have no tits, like none."
He knew the sentiment was returned--not regarding his tits, but he knew the hatred was a mutual thing. Vaggie said, "You're right. So. You should leave."
"Nope." He left it there and continued to wander around, but ultimately, the room wasn't worth exploring. He made a move for the door--Vaggie stopped him in his tracks, willing their shared feer to stop. "Oh, c'mon--you don't want to be left alone with me anyway."
"You're not going anywhere. We're not going anywhere." She forced herself back and parked herself on the bed. "We're staying right here."
"Oh wow." He cleared his throat. "That's cute and all, Vaggie, that you obviously wanna spend time with me, but I gotta tell you, you're not really my type." She got up again. Meaning this tactic was working. "You're far from the first chick at a solid seven that wanted to bag the first ten ever, but--"
Instead of leaving the room, she stepped into the bathroom. With a surprising amount of grace, she lifted the lid of the toilet seat and promptly lost her lunch, cutting him off with her retching.
"That's one way to kill a metaphorical boner." Vaggie wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. The disgust was still there, felt as if his own, like he needed to peel his skin off his body (because that would help?). "You're so fuckin' dramatic, learn to take a compliment, jeez."
"What part of that was a compliment?" Vaggie asked. "The dramatic part?"
"The seven part." A beat--he wasn't getting an awful lot of gratitude from wherever she was inside of her body beside him. "C'mon, you're missing an eye and I'm still telling you you're a seven, that is a compliment, you're probably like, one of the hottest people down here--" Vaggie went back to retching--he thought this was overkill. "This is where the ugly people go! It's like, objectively a fact, you're hot by comparison!" Thankless bitch. He was being nice!
"Maybe," Vaggie said. "If I throw up hard enough, I can get you out."
"Okay," Adam said. "I know you think you're just grossing me out, but like, when you do stuff, I also do stuff, and this sucks ass." He got them to stand--and Vaggie didn't immediately fight him on it, so he took this as the tiniest victory he could have in this situation. "Let's just stop... and do not this. And let's get out of the bathroom, too."
He made them walk out--he tried to make a move for the door to the hall, but Vaggie made them take this sharp turn that had him smacking into the wall and made the room spin, before she just led them back to the bed. Because laying down would be weird with each other, they opted for the edge of the bed, their arms crossed like they were very mad at each other and also themselves. Adam wished, at the very least, if he had to share a body with somebody, they could at least be fun.
But nooooo, Adam thought. I have to be left alone with a bitch.
Vaggie spoke, just as hostile as everything else she did or said, "How do you even manage to think loudly?" She demanded. "You don't know how to shut the fuck up!" She growled, and reached for her hair, and pulled like she intended to tear her hair out of her scalp, which he thought might knock her down to at least a six if she succeeded. "Why are you in my body?"
"Okay, well, first of all," he responded. "It's our body right now. That's important. And second of all--" He trailed off. I don't really want to be in here either.
Except, Vaggie had all his thoughts as her own. The way he could feel her anger, she felt his uncertainty. "If you don't want to be in here, then leave."
He sighed. "I would if I could, babe, this sucks for me, too." A beat. "But uh. I'm not sure if you noticed, but I don't got a body of my own anymore, after what that... that munchkin cunt did. I don't think there's any way for me to exist that isn't. Well."
Vaggie's hand flexed into a fist. "Don't call her that," Vaggie seethed. "She was just following orders. You should be able to understand that."
He did--but she was a Sinner, and had gotten orders from someone in Hell, which meant the very nature of those two wills were opposites, and Adam's desire that she lay down and die was infinitely more important than any other, so. No sympathy for her. "Well, whatever," Adam said, because Vaggie was more than familiar with his sentiments towards the Sinners anyway. "You gotta know I don't have any other options--I mean, do you think I want to give up my dick? No. I miss my dick, Vaggie. This sucks for us both."
Adam. First man, and first perpetual victim--even in his second death, the suffering didn't stop, he'd been robbed of his identity now that his form denied him the presence of a penis. This poor soul. Poor Adam. Vaggie wondered, Why do straight men obsess so much over dick?
"The fuck makes you think I'm straight?" Adam said. "I can pull whatever bitches I wanna pull! Even the male ones! This dick is rated E for Everybody--or... it's... A for adult--no, M for... for... It's rated."
"Honestly," Vaggie said. "I'm impressed you know that much of the alphabet." She sighed. "It doesn't matter. It doesn't matter--because Charlie's going to come back any minute with a solution, and finally, I will finally be rid of you."
If his number one threat right now was just Charlie, he wasn't really that concerned. "And even then, you're not free from the Exorcists." Vaggie's body grew rigid. "Wow. That's gotta be like, thematic or something."
"I really..." She grit her teeth until Adam felt their jaw creak. "...really hope it doesn't kill you. When Charlie gets you out of my body. I hope you live. I hope you get a new body, so I can kiss my girlfriend and then beat the absolute shit of you and you can feel every bit, it would make me feel so much better about myself." Vaggie honestly believed it'd solve like... three problems, at least.
But there wasn't much to do, so instead, she laid back and waited.
The door opened and Charlie came rushing in, a book tucked under her arm. "Okay! I was reading--according to this, the act of possession is melding two into one, and that means it tends to occur over some period that falls under two. This could be two seconds, two minutes, two decades--"
Vaggie sat up. "What about two hours?" She said. "I think it's been long enough. I haven't heard anything from him in a little while."
Charlei dropped the book, immediately excited as she bounced forward. "You haven't?" Then her look grew colder, and she stopped, hesitant. "Wait, wait--how do I know you're Vaggie? Like my Vaggie? And not just Adam, taking over, and trying to make me think you're my Vaggie?" A beat and she narrowed her eyes, crossing her arms over her chest. "How did you get out of those ropes?" Vaggie just pointed to them. "Tell me something only my Vaggie would know."
She huffed out her next breath, thinking. "You want Hell to be better. You don't care so much about sending them to Heaven as you do improving their lives down here, but with the Exterminations in the way, it always seemed like the best option." Charlie faltered, but Vaggie kept going. You worry you're not up to that, but you just love your people so much, you want to try anyway. You also worry your feet look too small, or that your hooves are gross. You forget to breathe during your songs, you steal my pillow while you sleep at least once a week, every time you've ever dropped a stuffed animal off of your bed, you have to apologize with it's name." A beat and she smiled. "And you refuse to wear any other deodorant than Candy Apple Collision, because you don't have to worry about sweating it off, but you also think it smells nostalgic. Like your entire childhood."
In an instant, Charlie had lept forward and threw her arms around Vaggie's neck. Her weight pushed her into the bed on her back. "Vaggie!"
She didn't kiss her immediately. Just held her close. "Oh, I was so worried--" She leaned back just to cup her face. "I'm sorry, Vaggie! I-I should've protected you--are you okay? Do you feel weird? Are you hurt?"
"I'm okay," Vaggie said--kinda hungry, after losing her lunch, but other than that, fine. The relief on her girlfriend's face made her insides warm and buzzy. "Really, hon. I'm okay."
Charlie pushed her mouth against her's--and then one of the hands on her face dropped down to Vaggie's chest, and--oh. Oh, that was quick. "Right now?" Vaggie asked. Not because she wasn't interested, but just thought the timing was awkward.
Charlie pulled back, panting. "Vags--you were just possessed by a man that tried to kill us and take down the hotel. For all I knew, it was permanent, and I'd never get the chance to do this again." She grabbed one of Vaggie's legs by the thigh. "Yes. Right now. Because I was worried and I want you to know how much I care about you. Let me make love to you."
Arousal pooled in the bottom of her stomach. Like she'd say no to that. "Yes, hon," she said. "Whatever you want."
With a squeal, Charlie pushed her back into the bed and started eagerly stripping her and herself down--it was nice. Vaggie felt safe. Like she didn't have to think about anything else that wasn't in this bed right now. Charlie pried her legs apart and moved closer--an almost immature grin crawled across Vaggie's face. "For the third time this week?"
"I love scissoring you," Charlie sighed. "It's like... It's like making out with you, but with different lips! And that means I can make out with you twice!"
When she said it like that, it was the most romantic thing in the world--but with her bright eyes, and her big smile... Vaggie's heart fluttered. "I think I'm pretty due for a good make out session today."
Charlie's lips--both sets--fell against her, and Vaggie lost herself in pleasure.
After the act, Charlie was always so cuddly. Her expression was dazed, lovey-dovey, the sheets tangled around them like it sought to bring them closer. Vaggie looked in awe at the perfect woman she got to share a bed with, and it was even better without some little bitch in her ear, going,
"Wow." Like he wasn't even inside of Vaggie's head so much as he was standing right next to her, or maybe behind her, speaking over her shoulder. "I thought lesbians only scissored in pornos. You learn something new every day!"
"I finally got you!" A lone mouse stared up at Niffty in horror from the glue trap. Instead of grasping along the edges like a normal person, she just wrapped her tiny fist around it's body. "Two weeks I've been hunting you down! You thought I'd never catch up to you. I will put on a puppet show with your body, a show about the arrogance of men, and I will force your family to watch, to relive your death over and over and over again!" It didn't even squirm--too petrified by her gaze, her single eye full of bloodlust. "And all I needed to do... was lure you in with cheese. You're stupid. You're so stupid."
In the mouse's defense, it was good cheese. Maybe the only reason it hadn't fallen to the first few traps was because Niffty had gotten a little too entranced by the tiny piece of white cheddar she had set down. She had invested in the good stuff, and then, in the midst of her obsession, gained the awareness that maybe it wasn't worth splurging on good cheese for one mouse's last meal.
"You're a cliche," Niffty told her newest victim, trembling in fear in her hand. "You're boring. And there's only one crime worse than being boring... going up against me."
The most horrified, disgusted scream tore across the hotel--Niffty almost dropped her victim, but instead just looked at it, shocked. "Jeez. Dramatic, much?"
Angel had been watching the scene from the doorway of his room with a sport's drink in hands--because, as everybody knows, Angel did a lot of sports. Why else would he bearing kneepads right now? "Oh, no," he said, casual, just protecting this poor mouse's reputation as her opponent, so nobody knew it was a total wuss. "That sounded like Vaggie--pretty sure her and Charlie are doin' some weird roleplay in their room."
Niffty giggled. "I hope they don't make too big of a mess!"