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Vaggie may have been effectively born yesterday, in the grand scheme of things – called into existence as a fully-formed-and-fledged angel warrior only a handful of years ago, though she had to pretend she had more under her belt – and she hadn’t exactly been putting herself out there in the dating scene, but she still knew what the significant milestones in a relationship were supposed to be. A first date. A first kiss. A first confession. A first… time together. Meeting the family – okay, that one she definitely knew wasn’t going to happen, certainly not on her end, and it seemed pretty unlikely on her girlfriend’s end too.
Marriage – that hadn’t come up yet, either, for… reasons. A lot of reasons. One of which being that, with the ruse she had to pull, she was supposed to be someone who her girlfriend might lose one day.
So theirs wasn’t a conventional relationship. Vaggie wasn’t a typical woman, she was a fallen exorcist living in Hell, keeping her ex-exorcist-ness a secret. And she was somehow dating the Princess of Hell – the devil’s daughter! She didn’t expect to be checking off every typical relationship milestone.
But meeting – no, being found and saved by Charlie Morningstar; the most beautiful, most inspiring, most precious woman in all Creation… that was a milestone for sure. Not a relationship milestone, but the highlight of her whole existence.
And the milestones they had ticked off… they had been so sweet too. They’d ended up confessing their feelings for each other basically at the same time, and after all the self-sabotaging stressing Vaggie had had over whether Charlie even liked her back, or if she’d say no, the relief and joy had been intoxicating. Then that first round of light petting on the sofa, right afterwards. Their first date, at an ice cream parlor. The first gifts Charlie surprised her with (and boy, even with how some creepzo sinners had called her a ‘sugar baby’, it didn’t dull the fact that the Hellphone and the new dresses and the little bows to go in her hair were the first gifts she’d ever had given to her unconditionally.)
Their first time sleeping in the same bed. Their first time having sex. Charlie taking care of her, Charlie encouraging her to tentatively take control. The first time she felt safe in that regard, that someone saw her body as a valued part of who she was, not an objectified thing meant just to titillate and follow orders.
(Sometimes she didn’t understand what Charlie saw in her that made her so attractive, but in those moments of passion when Charlie was reverently servicing her, that question and that self doubt stopped plaguing her mind for a few moments and was replaced with just euphoria.)
Being with Charlie was the first time she’d felt loved.
And now… it was their first anniversary, and they were moving in together.
Well – properly moving in together. A second time.
Since Charlie had taken Vaggie in a little over a year ago, they’d been living under the same roof already – then in the same room almost as soon as they started sleeping together. But now they’d finished renovating the top floor of the old building in uptown Pentagram City that Charlie wanted to turn into a rehab-hotel for Sinners, and so now that vintage owners suite was where they would live, instead of the least-falling-apart room a couple of floors down.
They were still putting together a few things – some kitchen appliances were turning out to be faulty, and Vaggie wouldn’t lie, Charlie’s suggestion of having a new bathtub big enough for the both of them was very appealing – and they still had the whole of the rest of the future Happy Hotel to recondition – but the parts of the building they resided in felt well on the way to being their home already. Circus-y decor refreshed and contrasted the old, carved wood panelling. The red, apple-sigil-patterned wallpaper gave the place warmth, and string lights adorned their bedframe. The thrifted armchairs, the cushions they’d picked out (including a big purple heart-shaped one for their bed; as soon as she learned it was her girlfriend’s favourite colour, she’d gone all out getting purple sheets as well) – it all felt very homely. This was a place she’d be happy to live out her existence in.
And, of course, there were all the doodles and drawings Charlie stuck up or left lying around: on the walls, on their bedroom door, on the fridge, and strewn all around their office.
Charlie loved to draw. And, Vaggie meant this lovingly, her drawings were a bit childish. In a good way. She drew mostly in stick figures with smiley faces, she’d put rainbows in just about every corner of the paper, and had a pressing need to use every coloured pencil or crayon at her disposal. There was an innocence to her drawing style that Vaggie knew she’d missed out herself, so she relished in watching her girlfriend draw. She thought it was something miraculous in Hell.
Even the way Charlie captured the X over Vaggie’s eyepatch, the lingering reminder of what she’d been and the pain that had been inflicted on her… in her scrawling, scribbly hand, Vaggie could find it cute. Pretty, even.
In the spirit of celebrating their milestones, a new set of doodles had been stuck on the fridge door, and they were on the theme of them living together. Holding hands on the balcony; in a pillow fort on their bed; running a therapy class together to a roomful of generic, smiling sinners. They all had Vaggie with a bow in her hair much bigger than the ones she already wore, but she didn’t pay that much mind.
Then there were a couple of… more personal ones. One of them in short dresses on what seemed to be a date night, looking into each others eyes… and one of them in the bathroom, in what looked like a hot tub, chest-deep in water. And it seemed like, instead of sticking with stick figures, Charlie had tried to draw the top half of their breasts in the water.
It was the spiciest thing she had actually seen Charlie draw. She’d giggled at it before she went to dress for their anniversary dinner (even though they were having it here at the Hotel), and then it gave her pause for thought.
How would Charlie approach a pinup drawing?
Or a nude portrait?
The thought had stayed there, tickling, in the back of her mind all evening, as she’d helped Razzle and Dazzle garnish their dinner dish of fish à la meunière and overseen them starting on the dessert, as she’d gone to get the bottle of wine she’d bought for the night.
Now she was a couple of glasses deep and pleasantly buzzed, and though the food was good and Charlie’s excited, hopeful-for-their-future chatter was so cute and endearing… she couldn’t stop thinking about where the night would be inevitably leading towards.
And it was starting to give her an idea.
“Thank you so much for helping Razzle and Dazzle with dinner,” Charlie said through a mouthful of sweet chocolate soufflé. “This is really good!”
“Chew and swallow first, hon,” Vaggie reminded her. “It’s more romantic.”
“Oh! Sorry.” Charlie did so, and then beamed. “Seriously, though – the fish was so yummy, you did an amazing job!”
“Thanks, hon. I mean, frying fish is pretty simple. And I was only cooking for us. And I had four hands – well, hooves – helping me.”
“You’re talking to a princess who burnt the milk!”
“How were you supposed to know the stove had a gas leak?” Vaggie reached across the table to put her hand atop Charlie’s. She had to keep her mind from thinking about how big Charlie’s hand was compared to hers. “It’s okay, hon, really. I don’t care about whether you can cook or not. You do so much already, and – y’know, next time, we could always dine out?”
Charlie nodded along, then sighed. “I wish it was possible to take you to the Lust Ring. Uncle Ozzie has a dinner theatre club there. It’s very fancy. Lots of the colour blue, cause it’s, y’know, Lust – and they’ve always got a show on. It’s very sexy. ” She leaned over the table with a surreptitious whisper. “Gets people in the mood, y’know?”
Vaggie nodded along. She wasn’t sure if a club like that was quite her speed… and she was already in the mood right now, alone with Charlie. She looked so good in her smart black date night tux – and Vaggie was about ready to start taking it off her girlfriend.
“Y’know, we’ve almost finished dessert…do you still wanna rewatch Hairspray, or do you wanna… head back upstairs and—
But Charlie leaped to her feet and interrupted her. “Ooh! Hold that thought! Before I forget – I got you something.”
Vaggie’s heart skipped a beat as Charlie reached down and produced a box from her pocket. Then she opened it – and inside there wasn’t a ring, but instead a neatly folded, long reddish-pink bow, with thin triangular indents purposely cut into its ends.
“A new bow?”
“Now that your hair’s getting longer,” Charlie explained, “I thought this might look really good on you!”
Vaggie stared at it for a second as a lightbulb went off in her mind. “That’s why you drew me with a big bow in those new pictures!”
“Aww, crap,” Charlie looked almost crestfallen, “did I spoil it?”
“No you didn’t, silly,” Vaggie reassured her, “I didn’t realise what it meant until now, did I?” She picked up the bow and ran her fingers along its ribbons. It was so silky smooth, not scratchy at all. “It’s beautiful, Charlie. Thank you.”
“Ohhhh, you’re gonna be so CUTE with it on! Especially if you wanna be like me and wear your hair in a ponytail.” She yanked her phone out of her pocket. “Try it on, try it on! I wanna get a photo!”
“Or,” Vaggie stepped around the table, leaving her three-quarters-eaten souffle behind, and gently nudged Charlie’s hand with the phone back down. “I’ve got another idea.”
“Oh! Sure!”
“What if you did another drawing of me, tonight?”
“Oh! Yeah, sure – of course I can draw you!” Charlie beamed. “Like a portrait or something?”
“Yeah.”
“Posed.”
“Mm-hmm”.
“Wearing the bow!”
“Of course.“ Vaggie went up onto her tippy-toes so she could purr the next part in Charlie’s ear. “Wearing just the bow. Nothing else.”
She pulled back to see the effect of her request – and sure enough, Charlie was blushing furiously, and her jaw had gone slack. “I—uh. Oh.”
“Yep.”
“Like that movie?—”
“Like Titanic.”
“Uhhh… hahahaha…” Charlie giggled very flusteredly.
“What? You’ve seen me naked before, hon.” Had been utmostly respectful too, because the first time was helping Vaggie bathe when the wounds on her back had gotten infected from her attempts to constantly hide them, and Charlie had been so incredibly delicate then that, despite her fear of having her identity found out and then getting kicked out, Vaggie had begun to feel truly safe with this demon princess tending to her.
“I just… it seems like it could be a little… objectifying?”
“It won’t be. I know you. I trust you.”
“Well… then I’m not sure if I’ll be able to do a good enough job drawing you.”
“Don’t put yourself down, missy. You do a good job already.” Plus, though she wasn’t going to voice this, Vaggie was honestly curious how Charlie would interpret full nudity into her art style. A stick figure with two circles on their chest? Or something a little more elaborate. She didn’t know, but whatever Charlie came up with she was certain she’d get some good serotonin out of it.
“C’mon, Charlie. Draw me like one of your demon girls.”
Charlie giggled, and then took Vaggie’s hand and pulled her into a closer embrace, flirtily. “Alright, mi amor, I will.”
When Vaggie sachayed out of their walk-in-wardrobe in just a nightgown and her new bow, a few minutes later, Charlie had, sure enough, set up the room like the first class suite had been in that scene from Titanic. There was an armchair pulled in facing the big window, with a side table set beside it as a drawing surface. The curtains were drawn, and the window bay seats had cushions laid where Vaggie supposed her head was going to go.
Charlie had assembled a sheet of paper and a collection of pencils on the side table, and was busy trying to organise them very precisely. She’d taken off her jacket, undone her bow tie, and unbuttoned the top button of her dress shirt – well, that would give Vaggie something to focus on, wouldn’t it?
She was so fixated on her meticulous setup that it took her a moment to notice Vaggie’s entry. When she did, she flushed nervously.
“I swear you’re more nervous than me, hon,” Vaggie chuckled.
“I—uh—yeah. I didn’t do this part of art school,” Charlie confessed.
“Don’t worry. I’m not expecting you to do the most perfect, anatomically correct job. I’m not a paying customer. The only thing I expect is for you and I to… haz el amor esta noche.”
Charlie was still new to Spanish, but she clearly got the message loud and clear. “Yep. Yep. That’s definitely on the agenda.”
“Good.” And Vaggie let the robe slip off her shoulders and fall to the ground.
She relished the way Charlie’s eyes widened ever so slightly, and the way her gaze darted up and down, taking her body in, and her smile went allwobbly. That she still had this effect on her girlfriend a year into their relationship did wonders for her self-confidence.
Vaggie quirked an eyebrow and blew a loose strand of her bangs out of her face.
Charlie visibly swallowed.
“I do believe you’re blushing, hon.” Vaggie teased.
“Can’t help it. You’re very beautiful…” Charlie seemed like she wanted to get up and touch and caress Vaggie right now.
“Flatterer.” It was a pity Vaggie couldn’t blush, but she had got habitually used to repressing it.
“It’s true!”
Despite the little voices of Adam and Lute that had never left her trying to tell her that Charlie was lying, Vaggie mustered up a flirtatious smile. “The drawing, Miss Morningstar?”
“Uh, yes. Um. Could you, um – pose, over on the bed—”
Dutifully (and holding back a snort), Vaggie started towards the bed.
“I—I—I mean the couch!” Charlie looked mortified at her own slipup. Her whole face turned bright red – literally.
Vaggie couldn’t hold back the laughter anymore. She cackled.
“Aw, Vaggieeeeee, c’mon!!”
“I’m sorry, hon, I am, just—just—oh, that was perfect! You know that was the exact line Jack said in the film!?”
“I didn’t know!” Charlie bleated. “I’ve never actually seen Titanic!”
Vaggie was hit by an even stronger wave of laughter that had her bending over double. “Oh my god, Charlie!”
“It’s too saaaaaaad! People die in it!”
Picking herself up, Vaggie went over to sit on Charlie’s lap. That sure did a good job at grounding her. “Awwwww, you don’t have to feel bad about it, babe. Cause you know our ship isn’t going to sink.”
Charlie snickered. “Our ship’s a hotel.”
“It does have a ship in the side of it. And also, it’s on land. And you,” Vaggie lifted Charlie’s chin, tugging her gaze from somewhere in the region of her hip up to her face, “are the strongest, most determined woman in the universe – I know you’re gonna make it succeed.” She kissed her on the snout – if she kissed her on the lips right now, she didn’t think she’d make it back to the couch before she jumped Charlie’s bones.
“Thank you, Vaggie.” Charlie held her hand, and god that nearly made her lose a bit of composure. “You’re so helpful, and kind, and you came into my life when I needed it most… I don’t know how I’m ever going to repay you.”
“Well, you owe me a drawing, for one thing.” Vaggie rolled her eye, seguing back into their roleplay.
“Oh! Right! Sorry!” Charlie straightened up, cleared her throat, and tried to look all coifed and mock-professional. “The couch, Miss Vaggie, if you please,” she said, affecting a French accent.
“Of course, señorita artista.” Vaggie laid herself carefully down on her side, and posed like Rose had in the film – one hand resting near her head, head down, eye on Charlie. The scars in her back were still a bit sensitive, but her hair being as long as it was now kinda protected them, and even if that wasn’t the case Charlie had done a very good job of making the seat comfortable for this.
She was so considerate.
“Tell me when it looks right to you.”
Charlie stuck her tongue out in concentration, squinting as she finger-framed her in place. “Per-perfect! Stay right there, Vaggie!”
“That’s the plan!” Vaggie affirmed.
Charlie finally settled back in her chair, and picked up a black pencil – probably for the sketching part – but not before knocking the coloured pencils onto the floor.
“Oops.” She blushed even harder.
“Don’t worry about it, hon.” Vaggie assured with a giggle. “I really don’t mind a black-and-white sketch – that’s what it was in the movie, too.”
“Okay… if you’re sure.” And Charlie turned her attention to the paper, and finally began to draw. Vaggie settled in for the wait.
As the minutes passed, and Charlie drew, Vaggie admired the cute scrunch of her brow and her snoot that meant she was concentrating very hard. And she enjoyed the blush that rose on Charlie’s face every time she glanced up at her body. She could tell when her girlfriend was working on drawing her breasts and her crotch because then the blush was at its strongest. She’d shaved the other night, which was fortuitous for this drawing, she thought.
She kept her eye fixed on the very top of Charlie’s cleavage, and every time Charlie’s gaze met hers, she couldn’t help but flutter her eyelashes at her, coaxing yet more blushes out of her (as well as smiles). She was careful to keep her own smile in place, though – for Charlie’s sake as the artist.
Vaggie couldn’t help but notice, though, that Charlie was really taking her time with this drawing. Making corrections. Erasing little bits then starting over. And she was sticking with the plain black pencils, instead of using the coloured ones like she usually did.
Strange.
She had the feeling this wasn’t just going to be a stick figure with a little pair of tits.
At last, Charlie made one final flourishing stroke of her pencil across the page. “Aaaaand… it’s done! Should I sign it, or something?”
“If you want. Jack did in the movie.” Vaggie remarked, finally breaking her pose. She sat up and stretched, rolling the stiffness out of her right shoulder.“You really took your time with that one, huh?”
Charlie looked just a lil hurt. “I wanted to do a good job!”
“And I know you did! I’m just used to you drawing… super fast, y’know?”
”…I wanted to do a really good job…”
“Awww, hon, I’m sorryyyy.” Vaggie stood, and picked up her robe, slipping it back on without bothering to tie it up back up. She paced over and put a comforting arm around Charlie’s shoulder. “I didn’t mean to judge.”
“I still could’ve coloured it too!” Charlie was starting to spiral a little in self-criticality. “And-and I didn’t do a background either! If you want to wait a lil longer, I could do those? I don’t need you to pose for that, really, I know what colour your skin is – cause why wouldn’t I? Heh…”
Vaggie placated. “It’s okay, Charlie really. I know i’m gonna like it however it’s turned out. Can I see, please?”
Meekly, Charlie handed over the piece of paper. “Okay”.
Vaggie took it… and stared.
Upon the paper was a gorgeous, almost photorealistic sketch of her down to the last detail. Charlie had even gone the distance of shading it.
And she had been honest in capturing Vaggie as she was – she was chubbier, now, than she had been when she’d met Charlie. She’d put on weight now she no longer was forced to drill and subside on limited rations.
But where Vaggie saw sloppiness, Charlie clearly saw beauty.
Was this what she looked like in Charlie’s eyes?
Vaggie hadn’t ever seen her breasts as anything special – Adam had specifically requested the exorcists follow a small-chested body template, and the rumour was it was something to do with avoiding the memory of Lilith and Eve, who had been well-endowed in the breast department. But in Charlie’s pencilstrokes, hers were round and substantial enough. They fell with gravity, and her right tit even rested on the surface of the sofa. Her nipple even had a sparkle, a slight glisten to to it.
She’d never seen her waist as pinched, not since the day she’d noticed she was getting fat rolls when she did side stretches. But Charlie clearly did, because she hadn’t drawn Vaggie’s torso as wide as she sometimes feared it was – certainly not compared to her hips. She hadn’t drawn Vaggie’s belly as a dominating feature of her frame, either. It still muffin-topped out over the front, but not as much as her mind and the Lute that lingered as her inner voice told her. There was something very tasteful about how it sorta-censored her vulva into shadow.
Her thighs were drawn plump, but they (and her calves) looked strong, practically muscular.
She looked healthy.
Were she another woman, she would find herself attractive.
And Charlie was right. The new bow did look good on her. It framed her hair and her head perfectly, bringing back a bit of the symmetry that her face had lost when she’d lost her eye.
She looked… gorgeous.
“Wow.” she breathed, heart pounding. “Charlie, I… never knew you could draw like this.”
“It takes a while.” Charlie admitted. “That's why I don't do it that often.”
“It’s amazing.”
“It is?”
“Of course! You made me look beautiful!”
Charlie looked bashful. “I mean, I only drew what was there!”
“You really don’t know how much this artwork has done for me.” Vaggie said with all her heart. She was trying hard not to choke up because the feeling of being loved was so strong right now. “This is the best gift you’ve ever made for me. I mean it.”
“Thank you, Vaggie,” Charlie flustered. “I mean, that is a high bar to set for future anniversary gifts, and deathday gifts, and Sinsmas gifts – not that I won’t try to top or match that, now I know you like personalised handmade gifts, and, and…aaah, why are you taking your robe off?”
Vaggie shrugged her robe back off. “Because fuck the bed, fuck the backseat of the car—”
“Whuh?”
“—I’m taking you on that couch, hon.”
“The couch—?” Charlie squeaked as Vaggie took her by a suspender strap and led her over to the windowseat, pulling her down on top of her as she laid down.
“It just had my ass on it, we were going to have to clean it anyway. Why not?”
“Oh! Okay! Makes sense...” Charlie perked up at once. Now she was getting into the same mood as Vaggie was, at last. She bit her lip. “I do like your butt.”
“I know you do.” God, Charlie’s fangs were cute. She loved them, she loved the way they looked, the way they teased at her lip... the way they felt in her neck.
“You know I’d be happy to do a rear view portrait of you, too, sometime?”
“Maybe later.” Vaggie giggled, liberating Charlie from her shirt and bra.
“Of course. I should… leave some love bites on it first.” Charlie’s eyes flashed red. Her horns and tail were out, and she had managed to shake off her shoes and unzip her pants. “Now… where to, miss?”
Vaggie grinned up at her gorgeous demon girlfriend, both their chests heaving; looking forward oh so much to the rest of their anniversary night. “Babe… take me to the stars.”