Charlie sighed as they entered the hotel. The night had been…something. She'd had to dodge several assassination attempts. She was certain it was because she was Alastor's bride, not because she was the Princess of Hell. The attempts only stopped when Paimon snapped one that tried to stab her. Literally, snapped them in half.

Paimon, as always, was absolutely fawning over her dad. The entire context of protecting her was because he didn't want her dad to get angry that she died. The forever of his children dying had apparently dulled his feelings towards child death.

Stolas had ducked into the party long enough to arrange for Alastor to 'train' with him on basic Ars Goetia powers. With the gates, Alastor had true free reign throughout the rings. Charlie and Vaggie still had to take other forms of transportation. Still, it would be a while before Alastor could do that. Stolas had had to bring them home.

The ceremony had somehow attuned himself with his old and new powers. There was a balance now; he still had his dark green magic and tentacles, while at the same time able to take advantage of Ars Goetia magic without it eating him up. It had apparently been doing that before Paimon fixed it which was why he was always so tired whenever something big happened.

Charlie had forged several treaties with the Ars Goetia families. The Sitri family was especially interested in a mutual defence treaty. Alastor had made who knew how many deals, all with failure clauses and loopholes that he could easily exploit. Vaggie had focused on the minor families. The Lesser Key of Cladis Knights were rather enthusiastic once the night was drawing to a close. They had a 'dignified' eating contest with Vaggie. Vaggie had, naturally, smoked them all.

Charlie stretched. Enough mental monologue and exposition. It was time for bed!

"I don't know about you two, but I am wiped," she said with a yawn.

"Alastor is probably more tired than us," Vaggie pointed out.

"Exhaustion is not a competition," Alastor commented. Even then, he was staggering, dragging his hooves.

The few Sinners who were still awake gave the trio a wide berth. All were staring in fear at Alastor. Charlie vowed to have a session with her guests on accepting others for what they looked like.

The door to the penthouse was slammed open. None of them cared enough to be quiet or soft. It scared KeeKee enough that she ran out the door between their legs.

Charlie wasn't even sure that they shut the door as they walked like zombies for the beds. She was asleep before her head even hit the pillow.

Charlie awoke to the soft snoring of Vaggie. She almost went back to sleep before she remembered that Vaggie didn't snore. Opening her eyes was a struggle, one she wasn't sure she'd win. The motivation came when something soft brushed against her cheek, like something being flicked.

She froze as she realised that the weight on her chest wasn't Vaggie. It was Alastor . Alastor had fallen asleep in bed with them, his body partway laying on Charlie. His ear was twitching in his sleep, touching against her cheek as it did so. His wings were acting as a blanket for both herself and Vaggie. They were spread wide, covering almost the entire bed. He likely didn't know how to manage them yet. Somehow, someway, his horns were angled to not stab her or the bed. Likely him having been used to his old antlers.

Vaggie was next to Charlie, lost to the void of sleep. Carefully, Charlie touched Vaggie in just the right way to get her to roll over into her. Charlie couldn't help the squee of happiness.

HER CUDDLE PILE. IT WAS COMING TRUE.

"Mmmph." Alastor made a protesting noise before he cuddled into her shoulder. Vaggie reached her arm across Charlie's chest. Hand smacking right into Alastor's face.

The intrusion got an instant reaction from Alastor. He was suddenly on his feet, tentacles flailing out and ready to fight, green magic and black lightning seeping out of him. All four eyes were at attention, looking around for any threat. Charlie felt joy when she realised he was also covering herself and Vaggie protectively.

Charlie snapped out of the momentary wonder. Alastor needed to calm down; he didn't deserve to be on high alert like that after the tiring night they had.

"Shhhh, Alastor, it's okay," Charlie said, rolling free of a still-sleeping Vaggie and standing from bed. She entered the 'danger zone' which wasn't dangerous for her and began calming him. Wrapping him in a hug, she soothed, "I'm safe, Vaggie's safe, you're safe. The hotel isn't being attacked, my-my mom isn't here. Calm down."

Alastor focused on her. His breathing was under control now, feathers unruffling and flattening as before. He cradled his head with a hand, clearly disoriented.

"Where…?"

"We're in the penthouse. We all fell asleep after the celebration." Charlie waved at the bed where Vaggie was now curled into a pillow.

"Ah. Yes, that's right. The ceremony…" Alastor began feeling himself out. His clawed hands felt the flat feathers surrounding his face. They circled the now slight protrusion of his mouth. They traced into his hair, the feathers parting as easily as the strands of hair. They rolled over his shoulders, behind him to where his wings were curled up into his back. His hands trailed down his sides, to his rear where his tail feathers were standing at attention, the slight curve at the end making him snort. "Cursed tails…"

"I think it's cute!" Charlie said.

"'Cute' does not make for an intimidating figure, my love." He looked down at his legs and tsked. "Of course I still have hooves."

"Hooves are perfectly fine!" Charlie complained.

"The issue is that they're larger than before. Which warrants an entirely new set of shoes," he explained. Alastor looked over his clothes and sighed, "And I shall have to go to the tailor."

"We could make a day of it! Go shopping together." Charlie's eyes sparkled. "Wouldn't it be great if we had matching outfits?"

"No!" Alastor answered cheerily.

"Party pooper."

"As I saw it, you had plenty of party last night. It's rather interesting, having had two people with pockets full of confetti."

At Alastor's point, Charlie said, "Oh drat. I should have gotten her name. What was it?"

"Pratel." Charlie jumped at the voice behind her. Alastor chuckled at her expense as Vaggie sat up in bed. Vaggie yawned and repeated, "Her name was Pratel."

"I'll have to talk with her later!" Charlie vowed.

"She was a lot of fun," Vaggie noted.

"Hm." Alastor was back to examining himself. "I'm not quite sure how I'll learn to fly…"

"You definitely don't have access to anyone with the ability to fly except, y'know, your fiancee ," Vaggie said sarcastically.

"Ah. Yes. Yes, that would work." The two women could sense the embarrassment that no one else would detect.

Vaggie crawled out of bed and said, "I'm teasing you, Al."

Alastor nodded, the embarrassment creeping away.

"So, breakfast?" Charlie decided not to change quite yet. Her clothes were dishevelled yet she was feeling too cosily tired to care.

"Yes! I-" Alastor cut himself off as there was a knock on the penthouse door.

"Hello?" a voice echoed up the stairs. It seemed they did forget to close the doors.

"Coming!" Vaggie called out. The three of them shook off the morning drudge and walked into the main living area. Vaggie was the first one to reach the door. "Yes?"

"Is Princess Charlotte present?" the voice asked. That was when Charlie recognized it.

"Alfred!" She ran for the stairs, excited. Maybe her dad had sent a missive apologising? Her excitement ebbed as she caught sight of his face. More subdued, she said, "Alfred?"

Her family's head butler had taken his hat off, looking forlornly at Charlie. "It's about your father…"