Fate So Cruel
It was the last hours of the Extermination and as had become a habit of hers, Vaggie found herself in the room of the one person she's never though she'd get along with: the Princess of Hell, Charlie.
Vaggie didn't know when exactly this started but she couldn't imagine not seeing Charlie at least once a year. She liked Charlie a lot. The Princess was nice, funny, compassionate, a complete opposite of what Vaggie would have assumed she would be. The more she got to know her the more the angel liked her. And that might be a bit of a problem.
"Hey, Hell to Vaggie!" Charlie waived a hand in front of her face getting Vaggie's attention. The Princess had her head on Vaggie's shoulder while Vaggie held a book in her hands. They were on cuddled up on Charlie's bed and Vaggie never felt more comfortable.
"What is it?" Vaggie asked, trying hard not to blush once she noticed how close Charlie's face was to hers. Judging by the smile on Charlie's face and the heat she was feeling in her face her efforts weren't successful.
"You've been on the same page for 10 minutes. Not that I mind, I love this part!" Charlie turned her face back to the page with an exciting gleam in her eyes. This made Vaggie smile, she always loved how excited Charlie got when she was really into something. It was actually Charlie who got Vaggie into romance books, the Princess loved them.
Currently they were at the scene where the two characters confessed their feelings and shared their first kiss. Vaggie found it quite funny actually. She and Charlie had been... something for a while. Definitely more than friends, they were well aware of each others feelings, flirting with each other on occasion, and Charlie was more than happy to be physically affectionate with Vaggie.
"Sorry, just have something on my mind." Vaggie offered Charlie a weak smile as her eyes were drawn to the Exterminator mask that lie on the nightstand next to the bed.
Charlie followed her line of sight, "Oh. Well hey we still have a few hours left and... then its another year." Charlie looked down, sadness evident in her face.
This got Vaggie's attention again. She gently cupped Charlie's cheek in her hand, "Hey, I like spending this time with you. Yeah it sucks that we can't spend more time together but the time I get to see you its... its the best time of the year for me."
"How is it that you're the one comforting me when I wanted to be the one comforting you?" Charlie leaned into Vaggie's touch.
Vaggie set the book down on the nightstand next to her, right by her Exterminator mask and used her now free arm to hug Charlie close to her. Charlie started humming a song that Vaggie wasn't familiar with, but Charlie made any song sound beautiful, even if she was only humming it.
"I want to see you more." Vaggie whispered, her voice further muffled by Charlie leaning in close to her face.
Charlie stopped humming to look up at her, "I want that too. I really like you Vaggie."
Vaggie swore her heart skipped a beat even though she knew it's impossible, "I really like you too. Which is why this is so difficult." Vaggie sounded more frustrated than ever.
"I know it sucks only being able to see each other once a year but..."
"No not that, well yeah that too but... I want to see you all the time, and I know I can't do that and it, it really hurts Charlie, it hurts and I don't know what to do about it." As soon as she was done talking she felt move and pull her in a tight hug. She hugged back just as strongly. Minutes passed with neither saying a word. Then Vaggie heard it, felt it. A muffled sob and Charlie shaking.
The Exterminator tried to move but Charlie only tightened her hug, "Stay." She whispered, "I don't mean just stay like this. I don't want you to go back, you can stay here and then we can see each other every day. Please." Vaggie never heard Charlie sound so broken, the Princess was always happy cheers and smiles around her.
"Charlie I... I can't. You know I can't. I wish I could, you have no idea how much." Vaggie managed to pull herself away from Charlie. She looked at her face, now wet from tears, looking at her like she was Charlie's whole world. Vaggie hoped her own look told Charlie the same. She leaned in and gently kisses the tears away.
Once Charlie stopped crying the two still held each other. They stayed like that for a few more hours, before the sound that signaled the end of the Extermination sounded trough Hell. They didn't want to part, but they knew they had to. Vaggie placed a kiss on Charlie's forehead before getting out of bed and picking up her Exterminator mask. They walked over to Charlie's balcony hand in hand. Vaggie stopped to look at Charlie. The Princess was still sad but she had to be strong, they both did.
Vaggie took a deep breath before gently cupping Charlie's cheek with her free hand. She leaned in slowly, her eyes half-lid. However she made no further move, she just looked Charlie in the eyes, then a brief glance to her lips. Charlie's breath hitched before she smiled somewhat shyly and leaned in for the kiss. It was just a gentle press of lips against lips.
"Until next year." Vaggie whispered as they parted, the kiss far too short for either of their liking.
"Until next year." Charlie whispered back.
Vaggie put her mask on and was gone in a blink of an eye. She knew the longer she stayed, the harder the decision to leave would be. And she knew that no matter what it would be even more difficult next year.
Charlie stood on the balcony, frozen for a few moments. She gently touch her lips with the tips of her fingers and smiled. It would be really hard to wait a year for the next kiss, but maybe one day they'd be able to kiss each other every day.