Angel turned off the live stream, shut his eyes, and listened. There, it was again.
Angel opened his eyes and silently took off his shoes. Then, just as silently, he got on his hands and knees and crawled towards the door.
When he arrived, Angel sat silently and listened. Sure enough, he heard it, the telltale, almost undetectable noise of Arackniss breathing.
Arackniss was spying on them.
Angel angrily gritted his teeth and immediately came up with an idea.
Angel silently got to his feet and unbuttoned his shirt. Then he threw off his tie and shirt, took off his suspenders, and let his pants fall onto the floor.
Once he was undressed enough, Angel quietly crept his way to the bathroom door, opened it, entered the room, and shut the door behind him.
"Angie?" Cherri asked from inside the shower. "What are you doing here?"
"My brother's here," Angel said quietly. "He's spying on us outside my door and is probably making his way over to this door, too."
"Oh, shit," Cherri said just as quietly. "What do we do?"
"I have an idea, but you gotta trust me and follow my lead," Angel replied, climbing into the shower with his boxers on. "Oh, baby! Those breasts are like two perfect scoops of ice cream!"
Cherri looked at Angel in confusion for but a moment before she caught on to his scheme.
"Oh, Anthony!" Cherri replied flirtatiously. "Why don't you come taste and see for yourself?!"
"Mmmmmmm," Angel moaned. "Don't mind if I do, baby."
Angel wrapped his arms around Cherri's naked body, and he whispered, "Don't worry. I ain't actually gonna do ya, but you need to pretend I am. Okay?"
Cherri nodded and replied, "That's why you're my best partner-in-crime."
"Just follow my lead and imitate what I do," Angel said, before he began audibly moaning.
Cherri made soft gasping sounds that imitated Angel's moans.
"That's it," Angel whispered before he returned to his moaning.
From there, Angel slowly began increasing the volume like he would do in one of his porn films.
Cherri played along with him, making convincing sexual sounds.
When it had gone on long enough, Angel whispered in Cherri's ear and said, "Okay, now we have to climax. Are you ready?"
Cherri nodded and started moaning louder and louder.
"I'm…almost…there…" Angel said between pretend impassioned huffs and pants.
After waiting a few seconds, Cherri finally screamed as convincingly as she could.
Outside the bathroom door, Arackniss growled jealously.
"Dammit…" he muttered to himself.
Angel and Cherri smiled to each other. Bingo.
"Arackniss?!" Angel called out. "Is that you?! What the fuck are you doing here, ya creep?!"
Arackniss embarrassedly stood up and barked, "Oh, fuck off, Anthony!"
Angel climbed out of the shower in fake anger, wrapped a towel around his waist, opened the door, and yelled, "You're the one listening in to my private time with my new wife and you're the one telling me to fuck off?! That's rich!"
Just then, to make matters better, Henroin and Dr. Red opened the door to Angel and Cherri's room.
"What ever is going on?" Dr. Red asked.
"What the fuck are you two yelling about?!" Henroin asked.
"Arackniss stood outside the door and listened in while I was taking a shower with Cherri!" Angel angrily replied. "What the fuck is wrong with you?! Did you put him up to this, Dad?!"
"Hell, no!" Henroin yelled back. "Arackniss, what were you doing in here?!"
"Yeah, seriously!" Cherri added, poking her head out from behind the bathroom door.
"I was just…" Arackniss tried to answer.
"Arackniss, what were you thinking?" Dr. Red interrupted.
"Yeah, this is perverted even for you," Henroin added.
"If you let me finish my sentence, I was going to say that I was making sure Anthony and Cherri weren't doing anything they weren't supposed to," Arackniss snarled. "That's all! It has barely been 48 hours since he got here. We have plenty of reason to believe that Anthony could still be up to something he's not supposed to."
"How could you say that, Arackniss?" Dr. Red asked incredulously. "Anthony has been completely obedient to our every request! He has even married his beautiful wife! You have no right to treat him or Cherri this way!"
"Yeah," Angel added. "I think you just wanted to get a glimpse of my wife without her clothes on!"
"I did not!" Arackniss retorted.
"I can't believe this," Cherri said annoyedly. "These accusations are ridiculous! I'm going to finish my shower!"
Cherri then pulled her head back into the bathroom, dramatically slammed the door as loudly as she could, and went back to her shower.
"See what ya did, asshole?" Angel chided. "Get out of here and keep your eyes off my wife!"
"Arackniss, get outta here," Henroin said simply.
That was all Arackniss needed to hear. He immediately stormed out, growling as he went.
Henroin turned back to Angel and simply said, "Sorry about that, son," before exiting the room.
"I'm so sorry for this, Angel," Dr. Red said. "You and your wife will have privacy for the rest of the night."
"We fucking better!" Angel said, dramatically stomping his way into the bathroom and slamming the door behind him.
Angel and Cherri waited until they heard the good doctor leave the room and then they laughed hysterically.
When their laughter had calmed down, Angel gave Cherri a high five in her shower and said, "Nice acting there, sugar tits!"
"Thanks, I had a great teacher," Cherri replied. "Do you think this means we'll get left alone all night?"
"I hope so," Angel replied. "Are you almost done with your shower?"
"Yeah," Cherri replied. "Just give me a minute to finish rinsing off and brush my teeth."
"Alright, babe," Angel replied, exiting the bathroom. "I will be waiting."
Angel shut the door behind him and sat with the towel around his wet boxers.
After a few minutes, Cherri exited the bathroom with a fluffy pink bathrobe wrapped around her body.
"All yours, Angie," Cherri said.
Angel smiled as he walked up to Cherri, picked her up with both pairs of arms, and gave her a warm hug.
"We did it, sugar tits," Angel said.
"Yeah, we did," Cherri said. "Couldn't have done it without you."
"Likewise," Angel said, putting Cherri back down on the floor. "Get to bed, Cher. I'll be there once I brush my teeth and get my shower in."
"Thank you so much, Angie," Cherri said.
"For what?" Angel asked.
"For coming up with this plan," Cherri replied. "You really saved my ass."
"Any time, Cherri," Angel said as he turned to walk into the bathroom. "I wasn't about to leave my best friend hanging out to dry. Besides, you've done me more than enough solids. I owe you."
"You've paid me back more than enough," Cherri argued with a smile.
"No, I haven't," Angel said with his own smile as he walked into the bathroom. "Love ya, Cher. Holler if you need me."
"Ditto," Cherri replied.
Angel smiled back at her and walked into the bathroom to brush his teeth and take his shower.
Cherri quickly slipped on silky underwear and pajama pants with a matching silk top and wrapped her wet hair in a towel. Once her hair was dry enough, she brushed it out with a hairbrush.
Then once her hair was dry and straight, Cherri turned on the lamp on the bedside table to give Angel some light, shut off the other lights, and climbed into bed.
The bed was a lot softer than last time and the pillows perfectly cushioned her head. Cherri settled in nicely.
Several minutes later, Angel exited the bathroom. After drying off his body, Angel slipped into some pajamas of his own, shut off the lamp, and climbed into bed with Cherri.
"Cherri, you still awake?" Angel asked.
"Yeah," Cherri replied. "What's up?"
"We need to fall asleep touching each other," Angel said. "It'll help us keep looking convincing."
"Mind if I fall asleep snuggling in that fluffy chest again?" Cherri asked.
"If you must," Angel teased, taking off the white t-shirt he was wearing. "Come over here, darlin'."
Cherri crawled over until she was snuggling on top of Angel's fluffy chest again.
"Oh, yeah," Cherri said. "That hits the spot. Hey, Angel? What is your family like?"
"Shitty," Angel replied. "The only two good ones were Molly and my Ma…everyone else in my family is like my old man and my brother."
"Oh, man," Cherri said. "That sucks. They sound like my ex, except I can't throw bombs at them."
"We'll just have to fake it till we make it, babe," Angel said with a yawn. "Tell me again. What was your family like?"
"A lot like yours," Cherri said with a scoff. "Why do ya think I ran off with that stupid ex? I was dumb and desperate."
"I'm so sorry, hon," Angel said, stroking Cherri's back.
"Me too," Cherri replied. "At least, I have you now."
"Hey, til death do us part," Angel said sleepily.
"Ha!" Cherri chuckled. "But we're already past that phase. Do you think Husk will be upset? You're married now."
Angel paused for a moment, sighed sadly, and said, "We'll find a way to fix this. I know we can find a way to fix this."
"Yeah, polygamy is legal in hell," Cherri said.
Angel chuckled to himself and replied, "Yeah, that's true."
"Don't worry, Angie," Cherri reassured. "We'll find a way out of here."
"I know," Angel replied. "We just gotta find a way to save Vaggie."
"We just gotta get an opening," Cherri said. "Once we get an opening, we will save Vaggie. She protected your ass back there in Alastor's house of horrors. We owe her a huge debt."
"That ain't the only reason I owe her," Angel said with a sigh.
"What do you mean?" Cherri asked curiously. "I thought you couldn't stand her."
"Yeah, I have made fun of Vaggie a lot, but I really do consider her a friend," Angel explained. "Sure, she can be a bitch, and she had her doubts about me coming to the hotel. I mean, who wouldn't? But Vaggie gave me a chance anyway and showed me she really cared about me. She cared about what I did and how it affected me. Kinda like an annoyingly caring little sister…"
"Like me or Molly," Cherri interjected.
"Yeah," Angel agreed, rubbing Cherri's back some more. "A caring little sister who is smarter and nobler than I ever gave her credit for underneath her rough exterior. I see Charlie the same way. That's why when I found Alastor's note on their bedroom door saying that he had taken Vaggie to be his lover I just couldn't stand by and do nothing. I couldn't leave her any more than I could leave you. And even though Alastor put me through agony for it, I'd do it again. It is one of the most noble things I've ever done with my cursed life, second only to becoming your friend and marrying you to keep you safe."
"Sounds like a good close friend," Cherri said.
"Not getting jealous, are ya?" Angel asked with a mix of sarcasm and concern. "You know you're my ride or die. You will never be replaced."
"I know, Angie," Cherri said with a chuckle of her own. "I'm glad you're making more friends. It's good for ya. Besides, I'm your wife now. I'll never be replaced."
"Yeah," Angel said, giving Cherri a warm hug and settling in the soft sheets. "I have many wonderful lady friends in my life now. I finally feel blessed."
After a moment of contented silence, Cherri said, "There's just one thing I'm curious about."
"Yeah?" Angel asked.
"How did you find Alastor's manor in the first place?" Cherri asked. "It ain't exactly easy to find. Even Alastor didn't know how you did it. When he approached me, he still had no idea."
Angel scoffed and said, "Do you really wanna know? I screwed his little radio station assistant Oswald."
"You did not!" Cherri exclaimed in surprise.
"I did," Angel bragged. "I gave him a good fuck and got him so crossfaded that he told me whatever I wanted to know and some other things I didn't want to know. The little shadow was so out of it by the end that he thought he was dreaming. I doubt he remembers any of the conversation."
Cherri busted out laughing. Angel couldn't resist chuckling along with her. It was the hardest any of them had laughed in over a week.
Eventually, the laughing subsided, the pair wished each other good night, and drifted off to sleep, resting for the day ahead.