The limo pulled up to the curbside with a flamboyant screech of tires. Charlie practically - no, literally - leapt out the door before the vehicle had even stopped; Vaggie was the one who had to remember to grab their beach bags as she disembarked. Rolling her eyes fondly, she rapped her fist on the driver's side window, the all-clear for Razzle and Dazzle to pull away and find a parking space before discreetly shadowing the Princess of Hell and her girlfriend as their security detail.

Charlie had already made it to the far side of the boardwalk, bouncing from foot to foot with excitement. Her long blonde hair was untied, and backlit in the morning light it flowed and glowed like fire, licking at her marble-white skin, licking at her black crop top and crimson shorts but never singing or scorching any aspect of her.

Oh, her girlfriend was so beautiful, so mesmerizing to behold. Vaggie couldn't help but smile a besmitten smile as she followed her closer to the railing.

"Look at it, Vaggie, look at it!" Charlie squealed, pointing at the silhouetted skyline before them.

The Los Maltido waterfront. Two hours drive from Pentagram City, a chaotic colony of boardwalks and amusement parks, hotels and casinos, restaurants and bars and brothels bordered the sandy shores of the Greater Stygian Lake. A wretched hive of scum and villainy it was, sure - just like the rest of Pride - but this wretched hive had a beach, and better food, and better things to do than dodge turf wars and get catcalled.

They'd picked today, an off-season day, to get away from the noise and hustle of the Pentagram, away from the hassle of setting up the groundwork for Charlie's dream project, away from the disapproving silence of Charlie's parents. They both agreed they needed a break, and Vaggie was also hoping for a chance to get some much-needed alone time. Aside from sharing a bedroom they hadn't gone on a proper date in weeks - too many weeks.

Setting the bags and picnic basket down, she put her hands on her hips and scrutinized the skyline with a slightly more critical eye. "Yep, it's certainly something."

Charlie took both of Vaggie's hands and spun the both of them round and round, nearly knocking over a passerby in the process. "Oh, today's gonna be so much fun!"

The passing demon grumbled and grouched away, but Vaggie barely paid them notice. She laughed, lightheaded and free, her pink dress fluttering in the breeze as she and Charlie twirled to a stop again. "Well, I hope we still find some time to relax . That's what we came here for, hon, remember?"

"Of course, Vaggie!"

"You've been working yourself too hard!" Vaggie booped her girlfriend on the nose

"So have you!" Charlie wrapped an arm around the moth's shoulders and pulled her in for a kiss on the cheek. "We both deserve this day off."

Vaggie blushed a little, and nestled into Charlie's side. " Si … we do."

Parting from her girlfriend's embrace reluctantly, she picked their bags up and scouted out the beach. Even this early, the great expanse of sand was dotted with enough sinners to make her apprehensive.

"Should we pick a spot on the beach now, hon? Before it really starts to get crowded - Charlie?"

She turned back to find Charlie had vanished - no, she'd gone racing down towards one of the amusement parks teetering over the water's edge; neon-bedazzled roller coasters and ferris wheels on wobbly-looking struts.

"The roller coasters are opening soon, Vaggie!" she called back. "We can beat the lines, c'mon!"

Vaggie sighed and shook her head bemusedly. Following her love at a slightly slower pace. She fished her phone out of her pocket and dialed Razzle and Dazzle to come and take the heavy beach bags back off of her hands.

And she tried to ignore the very slight whisper of a sinking feeling in her gut, that this day wasn't going to be as relaxing and intimate as she'd hoped it would be.

Vaggie liked to think she had an iron stomach and a strong constitution, especially when it came to acrobatics and all the rapid movement a bodyguard needed to do… but even she was feeling a bit woozy after several consecutive circuits on the Stygian Screamer; not to mention the thirteen other rides Charlie had been all but begging to go on.

She was relieved she could still walk in a straight line (unlike some of her unlucky fellow riders), and very relieved that she'd managed to dodge expelled stomach contents (unlike some of her very unlucky fellow riders).

Totally unfazed by the scent of puke, Charlie skipped merrily out the theme park exit at her side, leaving the screaming and retching well behind them. Only when she could smell just the rusty salty aroma of the lake did Vaggie let the breath she'd been holding in out.

The growing crowds in the theme park had started to grate on her nerves; and the main boardwalk was already busier than it had been when they'd arrived. Her anxiety was starting to simmer up inside her.

But the beach still looked sparsely populated enough to be bearable, and they still had more than half the day ahead of them.

"Wow… that was great!" Charlie exclaimed exuberantly, leaning against the balustrade. "I mean, not quite as good as The Fall at Lu Lu World, but that's owned by my dad, so it has to be the best…" Her face fell a little and her cheeks lost some of their rosy glow at the thought of her estranged parents.

Vaggie had never been on The Fall. That one time she and Charlie had been to Lucifer's famous theme park they'd kept to the less exuberant upper-class areas, had photos taken in front of the famous castle and in the recreated Garden of Eden.

"I'll take your word for it," she offered, putting on a smile and rubbing Charlie's shoulder for comfort.

"I'll have to take you on it someday." Charlie smiled softly back and held Vaggie's hand, and the moth felt a little flutter in her heart. "Where to next?"

Vaggie thought about the peace and quiet she'd been yearning for, the picturesque ideal of a couple alone on a beach towel "How about–?"

"I SAY, I SAY, FOLKS!" a cocky Wrath-accented voice bellowed from a tinny loudspeaker apparently right next to their ears. "Step right up and try your hand at the finest carnie games in all, I say, ALL of the Seven Rings!"

Right behind them, a set of billboards fell away to reveal a whole pop-up arcade of gaming machines and stalls. Hoop throws, shooting galleries, Skee Ball, Whack-A-Soul, Poison Apples - practically half of the games from Loo Loo Land seemed to have migrated up to Los Matildo today, cluttering the boardwalk and spilling out onto the main road.

"Ooh, Vaggie! Look at all the prizes!" Charlie's eyes sparkled at the rows upon rows of plushies hung at the top of each stall.

"Charlie -" Vaggie cautioned, knowing it was futile but still trying to bring her girlfriend back down to earth.

"Pleeeeeease?" Charlie gave Vaggie the biggest puppy-dog eyes she could muster. How could Vaggie resist? She was a goner, she was down bad for her princess and she knew it.

"Alright, I guess we've got time for a few games."

The pentagram sun had reached the top of its arc over the Pride Ring by the time Vaggie had managed to corral Charlie out of the arcade, the both of them laden down with oversized plushies won from more than a few carnie games.

Charlie hummed the irritatingly catchy carnival tune that was gonna be stuck in her and Vaggie's head for the next few days, hugging a silvery butterfly with scarlet antennae close to her chest. Vaggie was at least a little bit touched by her girlfriend's choice in plushie prize, but she'd be lying if she said she wasn't a little bit jealous of said soft toy.

Her own prize, tucked under one arm, was a golden apple plush, with a toothy grin that half-reminded her of Charlie and half-reminded her of Charlie's dad. She was at least somewhat gratified that she'd won at the hammer swing - the effort she put into her training clearly paying off.

But that was small comfort compared with the sheer size of the midday crowds, the uneasy sensation of being so exposed, and the hundreds of voices combining into a roaring whirlwind threatening to overwhelm her at any moment. Off-season her ass, this waterfront was busier than San Salvador during the August fiesta patronal.

As the couple handed off their plushies to Razzle and Dazzle, Vaggie checked her watch anxiously. She was aware her foot was tapping a drum roll against the ground; she could guess the bow in her hair was starting to contort into horns as well.

A growl stood out through the cacophony, and Charlie's hand went to her stomach. "Guess I worked up an appetite, huh?" she giggled a little self-consciously, ingrained etiquette peeking through her easy-going mood.

Vaggie couldn't tell if what she was feeling was hunger or nervous nausea, but lunch did sound like a good idea. Neither of them had eaten since breakfast. Maybe food would settle her rattled nerves.

"I could call Razzle and Dazzle back with the picnic basket they packed," she suggested, and silently prayed that Charlie would agree with her; that they could go find a quiet corner somewhere - it didn't even have to be on the beach - lay out a rug, and enjoy a lazy, peaceful meal in each other's company.

And for a moment, it seemed like she would. Her girlfriend's eyes glimmered in the way they did when they both found that magic spark together, when it was just the two of them enjoying and appreciating each other's company.

But then Charlie sniffed the air, like a hunting hound searching for a scent, and Vaggie, her heart sinking, caught a whiff of something frying, something greasy, something sweet. She knew her girlfriend's taste buds all too well.

"They have a pop up food court?!" Charlie exclaimed, whirling around and dragging the panicking moth in the direction of the smell of fast food.

'Oh no,' Vaggie thought.

It must have been an hour or more later by the time they left 'Eat Street' - a whole downtown avenue crowded with food trucks and carts and stalls, turned from a thoroughfare into a massive outdoor buffet.

Charlie happily brushed funnel cake crumbs off her crop top, letting out a satisfied sigh as she did. The picnic lunch in the picnic basket was completely untouched, still sitting in the limo's minifridge. The Princess of Hell had followed her sweet tooth and gone for the sugariest, most carb-loaded items on offer. She'd been ravenous, and it was a reminder that deep down her inner workings were wild and demonesque compared to the average sinner.

And Vaggie's anxiety was absolutely skyrocketing. She'd barely had the stomach to actually eat anything, even the comparatively healthier options. The crowds had closed in on her, she was feeling claustrophobic, she could barely hear anything over the deafening murmur, and it was even hard to sense her girlfriend's presence at her side.

She was even starting to feel faint and distant and not really there…

"Vaggie? Vaggie?"

Charlie's face appeared in her line of vision, obscuring all the other chaos. A part of Vaggie felt a little more present, a part of her fixated on a little drop of cream still at the corner of her mouth.

"You're dissociating Vaggie - what's wrong?" Charlie asked, worry clear in her voice and on her face.

"I - I -" Vaggie gasped, and it suddenly occurred to her how close to a complete panic attack she was. "I need - air - I - hay demasiada gente."

Without hesitation Charlie took Vaggie under her wing and plowed through the throngs of sinners and hellborn alike.

They ducked into an alley together, the breeze from the lake whipping through it and providing them with fresher air and a little bit of privacy. Vaggie propped herself against one brick wall wall and breathed, grounding herself until she didn't feel so out of control and the only thing gnawing at her soul was the twinge of maybe-selfish disappointment that today hadn't been the beach date she'd wanted it to be

Charlie slid down the opposite side of the alley until she was sitting on the ground. She looked pensive and guilty, almost like a kicked puppy. "Am I… I'm getting a bit carried away, aren't I?" she ventured hesitantly.

"What?" Vaggie felt a jolt of shame run through her. She sat down too, getting on Charlie's level. "No, hon, no, I'm really glad that you've been having a good time. Really," she insisted, and she meant it. She always loved to see her partner joyous and happy - it gave her something to cling onto when she was having it rough. If Charlie wanted to go ride the roller coasters for the rest of the day Vaggie would too just to see her princess, her hon, her love keep on smiling.

"And I want you to be having a good time too, Vaggie," Charlie shuffled closer to her girlfriend. "We're both in this together - it's not fair if it's all about just one of us. I promise nothing you could say is gonna upset me."

The coil of anxiety deep within her began to unknot itself. Vaggie was so thankful

"…I was hoping we could just get away from… the crowds today." she admitted. "Just us. Just… something a bit quieter and less busy than what we usually have to put up with."

Charlie's hand reached out and stroked the moth's side soothingly. "Then that's what we'll do," she said, earnestly and caring and without any question, and oh, how Vaggie adored her so much right now.

They stood up together, and wrapped each other in an embrace.

"I'm sorry," Vaggie murmured into Charlie's porcelain shoulder. "I should have spoken up."

"No," Charlie whispered back into the top of Vaggie's head. "I should have listened better."

"No - no apologies, no regrets," Vaggie pulled away and cupped both her girlfriend's red-blushed cheeks. "We've sorted it out. And - hey, we've still got the rest of the afternoon."

Charlie beamed, and leaned in for a lasting kiss. It tasted like ice cream and powdered sugar and pure unfettered love.

They called Razzle and Dazzle back with the limo, and left the hustle and bustle of downtown Los Matildo behind them.

Several miles south, the sinner's paradise of lascivious buildings and haughty mansions gave way to rusty sand dunes that had resisted all attempts at urbanization. And here, here at last, the beach was clear and empty.

There were still the sounds of revelry and debauchery echoing down the coast from the city, but it was a distant background noise; almost peacefully harmonizing with the waves crashing against the shore and the goat bois chittering away as they cleaned sand out of the limo's wheels.

Vaggie sat on the picnic rug and tugged her towel over her shoulders to guard her from the cooling late afternoon breeze, and watched as the pentagram sun slowly slid towards the horizon. Out there in the surf Charlie was still frolicking, vaulting and bodysurfing and diving under the waves - of course she'd default back to her more energetic sort of fun after floating peacefully with Vaggie in the swell for the better part of the afternoon.

Laughing as she watched her love make an exceptionally high leap over the next incoming wave, Vaggie slipped her dress back over her swimsuit and started laying out their picnic dinner; sandwiches, quiches, hummus and fruit still fresh and cool from the minifridge.

By the time she'd finished, Charlie was already strolling back from the water's edge, dripping wet. She shook herself off like a dog, her hair flying and sparks and flames flitting through the air around her; and miraculously she was all dried off.

"Have fun out there, hon?" Vaggie asked lightly as the princess sat down next to her.

"Of course!" Charlie chirped, tugging her shorts and top on over her bikini. "But it wasn't as nice by myself as it was with you."

"Awww, tu gran coqueta ."

"I mean it!" Charlie smoothed her crop top back into place, and popped a quiche into her mouth. "And I'm looking forward to watching the sunset with you. It's gonna be super romantic," she added, with her mouth full.

Vaggie chuckled at that, and reached back into the picnic basket. "Well, I know there's one thing that can make it more romantic…" She produced a bottle of sparkling grape juice and two wine glasses. "Can I interest you in a drink, Your Highness?"

"Ooh, you cheeky gal, of course you can!" Charlie let Vaggie fill her glass, then she insisted on filling Vaggie's for her.

They laid on their sides facing each other, the sunset forgotten about until the moment was right.

"Here's to today," Vaggie toasted.

"Here's to us ," Charlie added, clinking her glass against her lover's.

The sky turned a deeper shade of red, little bites of their picnic dinner were slowly eaten away, and Charlie and Vaggie basked in their stolen moment of romantic solitude.