The office door swung open and Angel Dust stomped in, looking about as cross as Charlie Morningstar had ever seen him.

The demoness jumped in her chair. "You do remember we talked about this, right?" She asked stiffly, stifling a wave of residual embarrassment that stemmed from the spider demon's habit of bounding into whichever room he deigned needed his presence.

At hearing her warning, the younger male paused in the doorway. "Is your Deer Daddy around?"

"Al's... working." she replied, setting her work aside. "And keep your voice down, please."

Angel hands went to his mouth with a theatrical gasp. "Whaaat! You two? Wantin' to keep things on the DL! I never thought I'd see the day!"

"Close the damn door, please, before someone hears you!" Charlie sighed in exasperation, her pale face in her palm. "Again."

Angel did as she asked, stepping in and closing the door with his upper set of arms. His lower set rested behind his back. "You're actin' like it's my fault I caught ya messin' around in the garden," he sneered.

"Shush, you! It wasn't like that at all!" The apples of her cheeks were scarlet.

"Are ya kiddin' me?" Angel Dust cackled. "I saw your bra!"

Charlie's fists clinched, and she willed herself to stay calm. "You make it sound like we were outside!"

"You was outside!"

"We were in the shed. Behind closed doors! Completely away from everyone! We hadn't even told anyone where we were going," Charlie pouted. "And what were you even doing out there? You'd never even set foot over there before!"

"I told ya before, I needed a smoke. And that was penalty-of-death honesty too. I know how crazy your boyfriend is."

"Al and I are partners. Business partners-"

"Frisky business." The spider demon sneered, gold tooth gleaming. "Real professionals, sure."

The princess flushed. If someone were to ask one of their co-workers what kind of relationship the Hotel's managers had, they would answer that it was physical, but in the just-beyond-platonic sort of way – they were a theatrical pair, quick to sing and dance; and perhaps steps would be a bit too close, and touches would linger longer than necessary.

If someone were to ask Angel Dust what kind of relationship the Hotel's managers had, he would respond that they were a pair of sex fiends that couldn't keep their hands off of each other. That their libido could rival his own. And despite the truth of things, he would have been fully justified to suggest that, from his experiences.

After all, he'd happened upon them not once, not twice, but a staggering five times in the last six months they'd been together.

She'd just barely managed to keep the Radio Demon from smiting him during the third interruption – when rather than slip quietly away he'd made the foolish, foolish decision to quip that the next time he found them, he was just going to join in on their fun.

"You had no right to make those comments this morning," Charlie snipped. "Of course we're together-"

"Boy, do I know that."

Her rose-colored eyes narrowed. "We just haven't decided on what exactly we're calling it. Boyfriend and girlfriend is what I called Seviathan and... Vaggie. What Al and I have is different."

Angel's pink eyebrow rose. "Never thought ya'd be the kind a gal for having a bang-buddy."

The princess bristled at the spider demon's vulgar insinuation. "It's not like that, you jerk!" She could feel her eyes turning red.

Angel Dust held up his arms. "Okay, more serious, huh? What about imamorato?"

"That's too Italian, and-"

Angel Dust snapped his fingers. "Paramours!"

"Look I-" Charlie started, then paused, considering. "That's… actually not bad."

"Yer welcome."

The blonde demoness sighed, exasperated. "Look, Angel. I know you didn't come up here to talk about my and Alastor's relationship. At least I hope not? What do you need? I've got work to do." She tapped her desk, ruffling her paperwork to make her point.

"Well, it kinda does have to do with that, toots."

Charlie blinked, an eyebrow raised. "Why?"

"Because of this!" Angel said, bringing his upper set of arms around from behind his back. He had been holding a long black box, which he slammed onto the desk dramatically, gesturing to it with both sets of hands.

"A box?"

"Ha. Ha."Angel rolled his multicolored eyes. "It's what's inside the box, blondie."

Charlie pulled the box closer to her, pulling off the cover. She looked inside and saw a long, purple-

"Oh for fuck's sake!" Charlie shrieked, cringing away from her desk, scandalized. "That's demented!"

"No, you wanna know what's demented? This!" He slapped the side of the box, and the apparatus inside split open at the bulbous part of the head, revealing a set of shiny lilac-colored teeth as it writhed around like a deformed, stunted snake, letting out a strange muddied sound between a croak and a hiss.

"Dildo? More like dild-no!" Angel snarled. "Courtesy of your Strawberry Pimp, I lose one of my best toys!"

Charlie shot him a withering look. "What did you expect from your carrying on like you have?"

"It's not my fault there's no place safe from the pair of ya!" He laughed in disbelief. "The kitchen! Seriously?"

The princess's pale jaw clenched. "You've got to learn to respect closed doors."

"I'll remember that while you're putting the pant in pantry, sugar."

She drew in a long breath through her nose, rubbing her cheeks in embarrassment at their last interruption, just a week ago. That one was their fault, to be fair. The risk was calculated, and they were both apparently terrible at math. "If you apologize, I'm sure he'll let it go."

Angel scoffed. "Apologize for what, for a fuckin' joke?"

Charlie gestured helplessly. "I don't know what you thought was going to happen, he warned you! 'In no uncertain terms-'"

"Yeah-yeah, ya can skip the impressions, I heard what he said." Angel let out a loud pfft of frustration as he wove his arms, shoving the lid back on the box right as the creature had oriented itself to attempt escape.

"Then you know he doesn't bluff."

"Yeah, I kinda figured after the second time maybe he wasn't totally serious about killin' me. Either that or ya wouldn't let him."

The princess bit her cheek in aggravation. They'd dared to start something in their office, and of course Angel had wandered in. "Should I have had him start retaliating sooner? You could have knocked, and saved us all the trouble."

"Ya could have locked the door, I'm just sayin'."

Charlie's dark brow narrowed at his blaming them for his own lack of boundaries. "Another word, and I'm going to tell you to just take this up with him, Angel. I'm serious," she hissed.

"Alright, calm down," Angel held up his hands to placate her. "I'd like to get this fixed without havin' to go out another window."

Ah, interruption the fourth. At least she'd had her shirt on that time.

They'd even been in the supposed privacy of her own bedroom, although Angel had ignored the door and barged in to ask her about doing a favor for Cherri Bomb (though it had technically been an emergency).

All three of them had stared at each other, the room silent except for the haunting squeal of static. Rather than let the Radio Demon's shadows chase him around this time, Angel had just sighed and dumped himself from the nearby window to save them the trouble.

For what it was worth, Alastor had found that particular interruption the most entertaining.

"Okay, look, how 'bout this?" Angel Dust suggested. "The Radio Demon's teaching ya magic, right?" He pointed at the box, where the creature inside was grumbling and scratching at the cardboard. He rattled the box to make it settle down. "So if I asked nicely, ya think ya could fix this?"

Charlie's dark lips drew in a tight line. "How did you know about that?" she asked lowly. Secrecy was a condition of her tutelage, one that she'd willingly agreed to.

"That fight with yer girlfriend wasn't exactly quiet, toots."

She could feel a hot tightness in her chest at the memory of the worst fight with her closest friend, and she closed her eyes against the emotion. It had been almost nine months, nearly a full year, since they'd broken up. Why did it still hurt so much, as thought it had just happened yesterday?

"I've had my share of wringers, but that sounded pretty nasty, from what I heard." Charlie looked back to him, and saw the younger spider demon staring back at her with a quiet expression that, for the sake of her composure, she was not going to call pity. "Ya really can't do nothing about it?" he asked quietly.

"I'm... still learning the basics. There's no way I could undo something he did. Not yet."

Not ever! Vaggie's warning echoed in her mind. You're really so foolish to think he'll let you become as strong as he is?!

She let out a steadying breath, trying to will away the two points of pressure blooming above her temples. Vaggie couldn't be right.

If they weren't constantly side-tracked with hotel business, she would certainly be further along with her studies. It was a point of frustration and worry for her, but Alastor was patient and genial, encouraging whatever progress she made, whenever she was able to make it.

They were in Hell for eternity; they literally had all the time in the world, he'd remind her when she'd rant about not grasping a concept fast enough, or making enough progress at the redemption for her sinners.

Her dreams were wacky nonsense according to him, but Alastor still gave her what help he could, whether she asked or not. It was his nature to offer his guidance, though it rarely came for free (and never for those who annoyed him).

It was her nature as well to offer assistance where she could. And fortunately for the sinner demon before her, the Princess of Hell didn't look for repayment the same way her partner did. Angel Dust might be an ass, but he still needed her help, and she would do what she could for one of her people. "I can at least see what the basis of the hex is. It's worth checking, for practice's sake. You'll have to go through him to get it actually undone," Charlie advised.

Angel shrugged. "Fair enough. Study away, apprentice." He pulled the lid off the box, smacking the purple beast on its conjured snout when it tried to hop free.

Charlie looked down at the thing, trying to ignore its origin, her rose-colored eyes focusing on what it had been willed to become.

Sanguine sigils and runes peppered the air around the living plastic as it wriggled around; most of which she couldn't understand, as she'd feared. But she did recognize a couple, which were arguably the most important components of the spell.

The first part: Invocation – represented by the symbol for Manifest. It was the key of any conjuration, and was present in anything brought into existence by the Radio Demon's shadow magic.

The second part: Revocation – represented by the symbol for Denial. It was what broke a magicked item's manifestation in reality. If she could trigger whatever effect Denial was linked to, she would counter his spell. Anyone could, if they understood his type of magic.

But the vast majority of demons and Overlords worked exclusively with newer technologies and arcane builds. Alastor was more versed in older concepts. One could call him outdated – a has-been (Vox did all the time) – but it gave the Radio Demon a keen edge when his magic was pitted against other demonic spellcraft.

"Whatdaya think?" Angel asked.

In the cloud of arcane script, she only identify a few terms, but she was encouraged nonetheless. "I think I was right!" Charlie hummed in excitement. "I don't recognize what's linked with Manifest – my guess is it's based on your comments, considering what Alastor said.

But! If you want to undo this, you need to apologize." She grinned confidently, pointing toward the cursed toy. "You see that rune-"

"The only thing I see is ol' Fuckface there."

"Oh." Charlie deflated a little. She'd been eager for the chance to share her arcane understanding, since that particular secret was already out, but had forgotten that most couldn't see magic. "Anyways, for the spell to be undone, it's calling for reversal."

"Reverse a spell by reversing it? Who could have guessed?" the spider demon cooed sarcastically.

"The two runes for Denial and Reverse are intertwined, that creates the sigil. Denial's a Revocation, for vanishing the spell. And you'll have to enact the second, Reverse, in order to trigger the first, Denial. So you need something to reverse what made this hex appear. An apology reverses a comment, for what it's worth."

Angel Dust burst out laughing, slapping his side with the box lid. "That's the nerdiest thing I've ever heard! Who knew that Deer Lord and ya were such dorks?"

Charlie fixed him with a dry look, rolling her rose-colored eyes as she waited for the other demon to recompose himself.

"Well, whatever! If it's what he wants, then sorry for hurtin' yer feelings, o' Great and Powerful Radio Demon!" Angel called to the air.

Charlie watched the Revocation sigil. The twisted script that wrote Denial began to glow, but the lines for Reverse didn't.

After a moment, Angel looked back at the unchanged apparatus, which promptly hissed at him. "Hey, what gives? It didn't work? Why not? I gotta do it to his face, or something?"

"No, it can be activated remotely. It's recognized you were trying to revoke the spell, it just didn't work."

"What? Ya mean I did it wrong?"

"Obviously," Charlie shrugged, fiddling with her red-tipped nails. "It's not like you really meant it. He's not stupid."

"Argh, I wouldn'ta messed with ya if I'd known it was gonna cause this big of a fuss!" the spider demon grumbled, running his gloved hands through his light pink hair.

"You could at least act embarrassed to have stumbled in on us in private."

"I was the first two times, babe. Third time-" Angel Dust scoffed. "Forget it. You gotta see how it's at least a little funny, right?"

Charlie rolled her eyes again, hands on her cheeks. "I can't believe I have to add you to the list of people who've seen me without my shirt."

"At least that was just the one time, right?" Angel grinned, tapping his chin. "Hmm, what if it's about my shirt? I've seen both of you guys without yours. Should I take off mine, even the score?" he joked.

"If that was the case, the Denial rune would be linked with something that fits that concept. Probably something like Mirror or Echo," Charlie replied matter-of-factly, shaking the box as the creature tried to tip it over. The abomination inside flopped over with a thud, giving a soft gurgle.

"Wow, ya've really been learnin' a lot about this stuff, huh?"

Charlie fixed him with a firm look. "Al's a great partner. He's put so much time into this hotel, and into helping me learn magic. He's saved all our lives more than once. He deserves gratitude and respect, not endless suspicion or derision."

Angel rubbed the back of his neck, apparently surprised by her sincerity. "Well, there might have been some side-eyin' at first from how Vaggie propped up his reputation, but he's definitely inta ya – no pun intended. Considerin' he went through this much trouble for ya, just cause of some rude comment. Hell, wish some guy would do that for me," he chuckled, though it was a little sad. "Smiles," He gestured at the air again. "Alastor – I'm sorry about the tentacle joke, alright?"

Charlie watched the box. Denial triggered once again, but not Reverse. Another free-floating rune triggered, but she didn't recognize its meaning.

"Still nothing?" Angel looked at his toy's lilac-toothed mouth. It looked slightly more narrow, but still plainly evident.

"The same thing happened. The magic knows you're trying to revoke, you're just not reversing it right."

"But that's not fair! I meant it that time, honest!" Angel huffed, frowning.

Charlie shook her head sympathetically. "Something's still wrong with your apology."

"How can an apology be wrong? I told him I was sorry and I meant it!"

Charlie leaned against the desk, biting her dark lip as she pondered the meaning of the rune. "Well, let's think about how an apology works. There's three parts." She held up her fingers. "First the intent – the remorse part of the apology.

Then second, you have the communication – the action. Maybe it's verbal: actually saying the words, or maybe it's somatic: some kind of gesture.

Last there's the reaction, who you're saying it to."

"Wow, ya really are two perfect nerds," he chuckled, then paused. His dual-colored eyes widened, studying her.

Charlie's brows rose. "What?" she frowned.

"When I told that joke at breakfast – ya got real quiet. I hurt your feelings."

Charlie huffed, folding her arms. "Of course you did! I know that the laws of probability haven't been on our side, but I swear we've been trying to keep this private.

Vaggie was right there. She and I might not be together anymore, but she's still my friend, and you basically rubbed it right in her face that I'm in a relationship with someone she can't stand.

And Alastor's not just some kind of weird, kinky rebound. I care about him, and I'd like to think he cares about me-"

"I'm sorry, Charlie."

Both Denial and Reverse triggered with a hiss and a pop, the lines of both fading from sight, and the others followed suit, with Manifest and its linked rune disappearing last. The mouth closed, and the head of the dildo returned to its normal shape.

They both stared at the box quietly for a long moment.

Eventually, Angel Dust broke the silence with a snap of his fingers. "Welp, that's yer proof, I guess," he said, closing the box up and heading toward the door. "Congrats, toots."

"Thanks?" Charlie murmured, surprised and flattered it had worked because the Radio Demon wanted the apology specifically for her sake. "I'm glad I could help. I wouldn't count on that working again, though."

"Don't worry, I'll give you guys your privacy from here on." Angel paused in the doorway. "It's one thing to mess around with ya when yer just screwin'. I wasn't kiddin' – I really did think ya was just workin' off frustrations cause of stuff going south with Vaggs.

But when there's actual feelings involved, I'll lay off. I'm classy like that." He grinned wide, gold tooth flashing as he winked, sashaying out of the room and shutting the door behind him.

The princess huffed a deep sigh, slumping back into her chair, emotionally drained. She rose her hand, tracing a sigil into the air. Across the office, a pink set of runes branded onto the entrance door, locking it. "Should have done that after the first time," she groaned.

"Magic doesn't solve everything, darling," Alastor said, sliding out from under their desk and cracking his neck. "Though you did excellent work with that charmed toy!"

He looked back toward the door, maroon eyes studying her craft as he leaned against her chair, a hand sliding around her shoulder. "And not a bad start with the door either, my dear. But before it sticks, you'll need to add-"

The door was forced open, and Charlie yelped, as a tremendous headache tore through her temples.

Angel Dust leaned in. "Hey, real quick I wanted to -" he paused, seeing the Radio Demon. "Smiles? When'd ya get here?" He gasped. "Oh shit, were ya here the whole time? Were you two-"

Alastor didn't answer, merely grabbing the large hardcover book from his side of their shared desk and whipping it toward the door. It bounced off the frame, and the spider demon took that as his cue to leave without further comment.