"Ugh." Charlie sat in the conversation pit in the foyer, rubbing her ankle. Her attempt to find new shoes for her feet was met with resistance. The ones she picked out didn't quite hold her hooves correctly, making her have to change her gait to keep them from falling off. It was proving to be painful.

"What's wrong?" The question didn't make her jump like it should have. Charlie somehow knew he was there.

"I can't find shoes to fit my hooves. I even went to a cobbler and it didn't help," Charlie complained.

Alastor's smile grew. "Why, my dear, I have a solution."

Charlie looked up at him. "Really?"

"Oh yes!" He deigned to get down in the pit to look at her hooves. Squinting, he said, "Hm. Yours are smaller than mine." Alastor stood, offering a hand to Charlie. "Luckily, my craftspeople are excellent at their jobs!"

Charlie breathed a sigh of relief. "Oh good!" She glared at her shoes. "Hear that? I'm replacing you!"

Alastor laughed. "You're so amusing."

Charlie took his hand and stood. "When can we get in? I hope the wait isn't too long."

"Haha! Wait? No, my dear bride. There will be no wait!"

Her eyebrow tilted as she asked, "Why?"

"Because I own their souls ."

Charlie's smile turned into a cringing one. "Oh. Okay. Uhm…" She asked, "Do you still pay them?"

"Of course I do! I'm no low-class extortionist," Alastor sniffed. "They're the best at their craft in the Pride Ring."

"That's perfect!" Charlie gushed.

She tried hard not to think of those poor souls. It had been her request that he give up some of the souls he had, understanding that he would never agree to let them all go. That's how Husk was released and allowed to Ascend. He'd kept the most irredeemable ones. It made her stomach twist, thinking of what monsters they may be. What crimes had they committed that Alastor considered them the bottom of the barrel?

"Shall we be going?" Alastor held out his arm.

Charlie smiled. She hooked her arm in his and said, "I believe we shall!"

"Here we are!" Alastor stopped in front of a store that said 'Shoe Creations'. The storefront looked clean, with shoes of all kinds on display in the window. Charlie marveled at the variety. Whoever made them was good at their job. "It's all rather interesting, is it not?"

" Yes ." Charlie pressed her face against the glass, looking more closely at the shoes. Her gaze traveled about until she did a double-take at a particular set.

It was a flat shoe that perfectly mimicked a high-heel. The faux curves were lined with dark purple braids that circled the tip of the shoes and wound their way up in wide loops that spread around where an ankle would be. It looked perfect for a hoofed foot.

"I see you've found one," Alastor said. Charlie could see a fond smile through the mirror. "I must say, I think that one would look rather nice on you."

"You think?" Charlie turned around to find Alastor's smile had changed to his normal toothy one.

"Indubitably!" Alastor went and opened the door. A bell made a tinkling noise as the door was pushed in. "Come on in!"

Charlie entered, Alastor following close behind. It smelled like old leather and some kind of glue inside. There were shelves everywhere that had shoes on display. To her disappointment, there wasn't a section specifically for hooved feet.

From the back emerged an orange spider demon with a set of six legs scampering underneath him. "I don't have any openings! You'll have to-" Once he caught sight of them, he exclaimed, "Alastor! I'm sorry, I didn't expect you to need new shoes so soon!"

Alastor laughed. "It's not me that needs the shoes!" A hand settled on Charlie's shoulder. "See, chum , my dearest has a need of some."

The spider demon gulped and said, "Of course! Yes! One of your brides!" The demon scrambled for things behind his counter before he rushed over to them. Charlie yelped as he swiftly put her on a bench and looked at her hooves. He murmured, "Hm, looks like size 7…"

"Be careful with her," Alastor warned with a bit more static in his voice than normal.

The spider demon was so focused on his work that he didn't seem to have heard Alastor. He took extra measurements of Charlie's hooves, using measuring tape to get exact measurements. He asked, "What kinds of shoes were you thinking of?"

"A variety. You know, pumps, wedges, high-heels, maybe sneakers…" Charlie listed off. Perking up, she said, "I definitely want the purple ones in the window."

"You can have them. Can't get those things sold for some reason," he replied.

"I shall go fetch them!" Alastor walked up front and left the two others alone.

Curious and with the opportunity to ask, Charlie asked, "Why are you in Hell?"

"Hm?" He was distracted with writing down the various measurements.

"What sins did you commit to send you to Hell?" she rephrased.

The spider demon chuckled. "It's kinda a funny story. Y'see, I had really shitty neighbors. Noisy little shit kids running around, shooting holes in my house with BBs. Pissed me right off. So you know what I did?" He kept his focus on his work as he explained, "I went over, murdered all of them, and turned them into shoes for my store." He shrugged. "Couldn't do much with the three-year-old. Had to turn that one into baby shoes. And, when I found 'em here in Hell with me, I did it all over again. Was real popular with the cannibal crowd."

"Riiiiiight." Now Charlie understood why Alastor kept this one.

Alastor came back with the shoes then. "Go ahead and try these on."

Charlie enthusiastically took them and tried slipping them on. They were a little loose around the ankle. Her hoof fit perfectly otherwise. She said, "I love them!"

"Keep 'em," the storekeeper repeated.

Alastor looked them over, his gaze zeroing in on the ankle. "They don't fit quite right, do they my dear bride?"

"They fit okay?" replied Charlie.

His eyes shifted to the spider demon. "Are you trying to cheat her?"

A bit of panic leaked through as the storekeeper said, "What? No! If, if there's a problem I can fix it!"

"Excellent," Alastor waved his hand and a chunk of money appeared in his hand. "I believe this should cover most of the order?"

"Yes it should!" The demon didn't even count it as he shoved it into his pocket. He gently removed the shoe Charlie was wearing and, taking its match, went into the back. "This is an easy fix. I'll be back out in a few minutes!"

As he scrambled to the back, tripping over his own feet once, Alastor tsked. "Normally he's more put-together than this."

"He does seem like a nervous wreck," Charlie agreed.

As the silence grew long, Charlie tried to think of something to talk about. Finally, she settled on, "You know, what you did was really brave."

"No bravery in it! He jumps when I tell him to."

"Not that." Charlie stood up and faced him. "At our date a couple of days ago. When you told us about you and your mom. It was nice, getting to know a little more about you."

Alastor was judging her now. "I assume you've gained your favors from it."

She stared, confused. "Favors? Why would I get favors?"

"For finding a small chink in my armor. I'm sure Vox would consider it a huge debt, to be told that."

Blanching, Charlie burst, "What?! You think I wanted to know to exploit you ? No!" For some reason, she felt she needed to do it. She threw her arms around Alastor, burying her head in his shoulder, and said, "I - we - just want to know you better! You're so closed off, and you already know about us. Why can't you open up?"

Alastor stood stiff, arms wide to avoid her. They stayed like that for a minute before Alastor lowered his arms. He settled one against her back and laid the other on her head. After another minute, he started, "Charlie, I-"

"Here we are!" The spider demon reentered, looking down at the shoes in his hand. Alastor instantly broke away from Charlie. The demon looked up and said, "These should fit perfectly now."

Charlie, feeling to cool air on her front, sighed before she took the shoes and put them on. He was right, they fit perfectly. She said, "I think I'll wear them out."

"Good choice!" Alastor indicated for Charlie to go towards the front. "Could you be a dear and exit? The two of us-" he indicted the spider demon "-really must discuss something important."

Charlie's gut roiled. She hoped there wasn't any problem. She answered, "Okay. I'll go up front."

Once she reached the front, she fake opened and closed the door. She wanted to hear what was going on. The second the bell quieted down, the loud slam told her that someone had just been shoved into something.

Green magic and static filled the air as Alastor growled, " Do you really think I didn't notice ?" Vague words, too quiet to hear, answered him. He snarled, " If you do ANYTHING to compromise EITHER of us, I'm going to rip your soul out, take it to Chez Couteaux, and have your soul broken down and made into chips! Understood ?" Charlie couldn't hear the response. She did hear someone rush up and into the back. " Good ."

Suddenly Alastor was next to Charlie. She jumped backwards, running into the door. "Ah, wha, Alastor?!"

"You and your constant need to know more than you should…" He shook his head. Then he reached over and opened the door. "Let's head on out."

"Yes! Let's!" Charlie skipped out nervously, hoping she hadn't angered Alastor too much with her being nosey.

Things were quiet as they went down the street. Charlie had put her hands in her pockets, feeling down. It really did seem like Alastor had to have his guard up. It sounded like the storekeeper had tried to pull something. That was really sad.

She yelped as Alastor grabbed her and sunk them both into shadow. Her eyes readjusted as they appeared in his tower. His grip on her hadn't lightened in the least. He turned to her, a fire in his eyes.

"Why are you doing this? Why are you trying to get close to me? What are you playing at?" he asked insistently. "Whose favor are you hoping to obtain?"

Charlie was starting to get offended. "You think I'm trying to blackmail you?!"

"Why else would you want this? I tricked you two into marrying me!" he exclaimed, his smile strained.

"Because everyone deserves a chance!" Charlie barked.

"Ah, so I'm a 'project' for you," Alastor said like he understood.

"No! Not that either!" Her fists clenched hard as her horns began to grow and her hair began fluttering about. "You think that we're trying to pull something off on you?! That we're playing some sort of game?" Fire flashed around her as she yelled, "FUCK no! We're trying to get close because we care about you . Because we want to love you!" She then realized what she'd said. In for a penny, in for a pound. Charlie grabbed him by the lapels and pulled him into a kiss.

It didn't even last a second. Alastor pushed her away with his tentacles and stumbled backwards. He was catching his breath while Charlie's brain caught up with what she was doing. Her power leaked from her, the flames settling down.

"Oh, oh no. I'm sorry, Alastor, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to-"

Instead of brushing it off as he normally did, Alastor's ears were back and there was a grimacing smile on his face. He finally said, " NEVER do that again."

"Nope! Never again!" Charlie zipped her mouth. "I'm really sorry!"

Alastor bitterly laughed as he stood back straight. He was gauging her for a few seconds before he said, "I'm inclined to believe you."

Charlie let out a breath she didn't realize was stuck in her chest. "Good. Well, now that that happened…" She rushed for the stairs. "I think it's about time I left."

Alastor silently followed her down his stairs to the door. She quietly opened the door. Charlie was so disappointed with herself. She'd forced the issue and now she probably undid all the work her and Vaggie had put into it. What kind of partner was that? Making him kiss her? It was terrible.

She was shutting the door when Alastor stopped her. Startled, she asked, "Alastor?"

He looked like he was thinking about something very seriously. Finally he said, "I require yourself and Vaggie to come to my tower tonight. It doesn't matter the time. Knock and I will let you in." He started shutting the door. One pause was followed by, "And bring some rye whiskey." before it slammed shut.