Chapter 5: Try a little Kindness

"Look, we've already established that I can't just walk away from my work," Ashes ground out, "I signed my soul over just so I could survive here and being at the hotel is nice but it's already pushing it. Anytime they say jump I have to say 'how high'!"

She scowled at Sophia, sitting across from her on one of the loveseats. She knew the woman was trying to help and yeah, her insight into the hows and whys that lead her to Hell had been helpful, but it still didn't change how shitty her life was now. How was she supposed to 'heal' and 'make better choices' when her pimp could just make her do whatever they wanted on the clock? They were a month into weekly sessions and Ashes just felt like they were talking in circles on how to make her soul more 'redeemable'. All it was doing was making her feel like a shit person stuck in a shitty situation that she'd made while just trying to fucking survive Hell.

"I know, and I hear you," Sophia calmly replied. The woman was always so frustratingly calm and understanding. On days like today it just pissed Ashes off. "What I was saying is that we need to find a way to balance your daily life outside of your contract. In an ideal world you would quit your job of course, but I understand that is not often an option here in Hell with these soul deals. So, let's talk about other things you can do to help your mental state outside of work."

Ashes scoffed, "Pretty sure Hell means a constant shit mental state as part of the plan."

Sophia didn't seem phased by her snippy comment and instead looked back on her notes for a few minutes. "You mentioned before about your body dysmorphia from the form you manifested here. Specifically your chest size, correct?" Ashes tucked her knees further into her oversized sweater and nodded. She'd been cursed with a large bust size in life as well, but a few doctor visits in her late teens and she'd been able to get reductions to something that fit the lean muscled dancer body that she had otherwise been training up since childhood. It was perhaps one of the cruelest jokes to find them returned with a vengeance when she'd spawned in Hell. The creatures that had tried to take her shortly after she'd manifested…she shuddered at the memory of fear and hopelessness of her early days.

"I'm guessing there's a lack of surgery options to get that adjusted to something you'd prefer?" Sophia asked.

Ashes shrugged, "It wouldn't matter even if there was. Any damage your body takes from normal violence simply regenerates. Hurts like a son of bitch the worse it is too. I'm not sure that surgery by angelic steel would even fix the problem, but the hospitals in Imp City don't take Sinners cause we're a 'waste of their time' since we'll heal on our own eventually." She placed an elbow on her knees to prop her head up since she couldn't reach her knees to fully curl up into a ball like she wanted.

Sophia hummed in thought. "Would some kind of binder help perhaps? Even something like a corset that you could wear outside of work hours so you felt more like yourself. Is there a place where you could get clothing like that?"

"You think a corset is going to rein these in?" Ashes scowled and gestured to her hidden chest. She would joke, in her rare good moods about it, that she looked like she was smuggling melons in her shirts and often felt like some hentai creation no matter what she wore. Baggy clothing could only hide so much but it never stopped the attention. When she was on the stage at least she was in control of things but working with Val this long…the things he made her do. Ashes took a deep breath as tears began to well behind her eyes. Ugh, she was pathetic.

A little jingle went off to signal the end of their session and Ashes startled at it. Time had flown today but the end result still had her feeling like a wreck. Sophia walked to her desk to turn the alarm off on her little desk clock radio thing as she switched it to music. She grabbed a box of tissues and held it out for Ashes with one of her kind pity filled smiles. Ashes muttered a thank you and took a few tissues to dab at her eyes with and also blow her nose.

"I think an excellent homework assignment for us both this week is to look into clothing options for you," Sophia said. "I'll reach out to Emily to see if Heaven has some sort of device like a binder that I can acquire." She placed her hand on Ashes' shoulder, "Perhaps you can reach out to Angel for help? He seems quite knowledgeable on fashion."

"Yeah maybe," Ashes shrugged before standing up. She really didn't think they'd find anything but she supposed she should at least try so she can say she did. Maybe she'd catch Angel tomorrow after work. They were on opposite filming times right now. Sophia smiled at her and walked to the door to open it.

Ashes tried to return the smile but it just felt weak, "See ya next week I guess."

Sophia replied with an 'of course' but Ashes barely registered it as she was frozen in place by the Radio Demon standing before her just outside the doorway in the waiting room. Her ears pinned back against her head at the immediate fear that struck her upon seeing him. The demon was fucking creepy with a capitol C and she had desperately wished Angel had told her he was helping run this place before she had agreed to stay. There were many sleepless nights since staying here where she jumped at shadows wondering if it was him tormenting her or just her eyes playing tricks on her.

"Good afternoon, ladies," he greeted them with that weird radio filter voice. "How are you both on this fine day?"

"Oh hello, Alastor," Sophia replied from behind her, "We're both fine, thank you. Would you mind stepping to the side though? I believe Ashes is due back at the studio soon." Ashes often wondered if the Winners knew just what kind of murdering psycho the Radio Demon was as they both were so weirdly kind and unafraid of him. She took a side step through the door to try and get around him, but he pinned her with his gaze.

"Ah yes. A coworker of Angel Dust if I happen to recall correctly. Another one of Valentino's is it?" He grinned smugly down at her with a lidded gaze.

Ashes scowled at him, just holding back a growl in her throat. She wasn't owned by that freak thank fuck and Alastor likely knew it with how he sulked about the shadows listening in on people. The Creepy sneaky bastard. "No, my pimp just has me on loan to him."

Alastor's smile widened as he chuckled and patted her on the head patronizingly, "Of course. I remember now." Ashes growled finally. She wasn't actually a fucking cat to pet! As she twisted her head out of his reach, her ear clipped one of his claws and started to sting.

"Oh dear, how clumsy! Please allow me." Alastor pulled an actual cloth handkerchief out of thin air and went to press it to the scratch. Ashes snatched it out of his grasp and dabbed at it herself. He was not fucking touching her again, thank you very much. Alastor took a step back out of her way while she glared at him and dabbed at the cut on her ear. Looking at the soiled linen, the cut didn't seem to be bleeding much, hardly worth making a fuss really, so she tossed the handkerchief back to him. Ashes went to speed walk past him just so she could finally get away as quickly as possible, but stopped when his microphone was suddenly thrust in front of her. "By the way my dear, Charlie asked that I remind you to see her before you go. Something about a package you had ordered?"

Ashes nodded to show she heard him and stepped around his staff. She would swear she felt his eyes on her all the way out of the room and to Charlie's office. He made going to work suddenly seem like the better option of her day if it meant being away from him.


Angel walked toward Husk and pushed forward on his lower back as he bent over backwards. Several of his vertebrae cracked back into place as he did so and he let out a groan of relief before collapsing into one of the stools at the bar. "Shit that felt good."

Husk raised an eyebrow as he mixed up Angel's usual, "Long shift?"

"Nah," Angel made a dismissive wave, "Just had ta hold some freaky positions a bit longer than natural ta get the right shots. The shoot was actually…not bad today." Angel frowned in thought, "Val was acting kinda weird. I think him and Vox are in one of their rough patches." He shook his head and then smiled at Husk, "But whatever. I'll take an easy day any day, ya know? Anything interestin' go down here today?"

Husk nodded and placed his drink down. "Charlie was showing the new guy she hired around named Jax. Gonna take over as the full time cook. Some imp all the way from Imp City if you can believe it."

"Ooo, a little impy?" Angel grinned, "They're living proof of that saying, 'big dicks come in small packages'."

"That's not how that saying goes," Husk stated with a roll of his eyes.

"It is in my line of work," Angel replied with a wink. "This mean we're finally breaking free from the southern cuisine fest? Cause as weird as it is that Smiles can cook, I've been havin' to get more take out then I'd like just to get some variety in."

Husk shrugged, "Seems to be that way. Princess says he starts tomorrow. You'll like him. He's a big flirt just like you." He finished with a smirk. Angle gasped and dramatically leaned back with a hand placed on his chest.

"I am not a big flirt!" He declared before leaning in with a seductive smile, "I am the biggest flirt this side of the pentagram! Thank you very much."

"Excuse me," Husk answered with a teasing smile. Hands held up in a defensive position. "I wasn't aware you could earn such a prestigious title."

"Seeing as how it's a bit of an 'unofficial' award I'll let it slide this once," Angel flirted back as he took a sip of his drink.

Husk put the various bottles used for said drink away and chuckled. "This is nice. Seeing you act like yourself more on your down time. Guess those shrinks know what they're doing."

Angel got a thoughtful look on his face as he stared off into his drink. "Ya know. I didn't put much stock into the whole 'talkin' bout your feelings nonsense' but I dunno. It's kinda nice havin' someone I can unload with and know they're not looking to sell my secrets to all of Hell for a quick buck or blackmail me." He glanced back up at Husk, "You ever go back? I know ya don't hav ta cause your staff an all."

Husk shrugged casually but continued to straighten things. "Just once. Gave them a bit more info. Seems alright, but I dunno…pretty sure you're past redemption once you become an Overlord. Dealin' in souls ain't a 'heat of the moment' kind of thing."

"But you ain't one no more," Angel pointed out, "You said you bet 'em away. That's how ya lost yer soul to old tall dark and creepy."

Husk bent under the bar top and mumbled something Angel couldn't hear. "Umm, Hello? Like I can hear ya from under there?"

"Look, it doesn't really matter if I'm redeemable or not, alright?" Husk stated loudly as he suddenly stood back up. Placing both hands on the bar. His shoulders tense and his brow furrowed. "It's not like I'm here by choice anyway."

Angel frowned, "I thought you wanted to help Charlie with her dream? And ain't she paying ya now?"

Husk scoffed and raised an eyebrow, "Sure, but you think I can just quit this place like any other dead end job? The pay is nice, and I wanna support Charlie, but I've not forgotten why I'm here in the first place."

Angel took a nervous sip from his drink as the room went quiet. Unsure of what to say. Husk grabbed a bottle for himself and took a swig before Angel finally spoke up. "Ya know, if 'in you ever did want ta get redeemed, I bet the shrinks could help ya. That is their whole fuckin' job after all. To figure out how to get our sorry asses outta Hell." Seeing how tense the man was, Angel decided to switch tactics and he grinned flirtatiously at husk, "Bet they'd love to take on a…hard…case like yours." Husk crossed his arms and gave Angel a small eyebrow raise in response, making Angel groan in frustration.

"Oh come on! I gave you such an easy setup!"

"Oh I know," Husk smirked, "You really left a wide opening."

Angel grinned with lidded eyes as he leaned over the bar, "Oh Husky, You don't even know the half of how wide open I can be."


As Niffty took the dirty trays away to finish cleaning up after dinner, Charlie admired the sight of the waiting room space outside the Winners' offices. Alastor had rearranged the furniture with a simple snap of his fingers so that all the existing seating was in a long oval shape in the front half of the room. While one of the meeting rooms would have probably worked better for their needs, her Dad had suggested it would be easier to simply hold the meeting here so he didn't have to ward another room on short notice.

They were officially one month into their new therapy program and while Charlie felt like everything had been going amazingly, Emily had requested that they hold a meeting to see how everyone was feeling and if any adjustments should be made. Now that all of the staff had finished dinner, they were simply getting the room ready and waiting for Emily. Charlie made a point to sit next to her Dad in the hopes that if he and Alastor got into it she could calm him down, but she hoped they could not make digs at each other for just a few hours. They hadn't really gotten off on the right foot all those months ago, but she'd kinda hoped they would stop picking at each other by now. Maybe Sophia would have some suggestions on how she could get them to stop. She'd have to ask during her next session.

Alastor was currently seated apart from everyone with one empty seat of space on either side, but Ren and Vaggie were on either side of those empty spaces and across from each other so he wasn't completely isolated. Plenty of buffer between him and her Dad at the very least. Sophia sat across from her Dad on her left and with many chairs between them so Emily could have her choice of seating when she arrived.

It was shortly past the agreed upon time when the portal to Heaven opened up near the empty desk in the middle of the room and Emily hopped out of it. She grinned at everyone and waved the portal closed before approaching the group. "Oh this looks so cozy! We should have meetings like this in Heaven. I love this!"

Charlie nodded, "It's nice, right? Feel free to pick any seat you like and we can get started if everyone is ready?" She looked around to confirm and met an assortment of smiles and nods while Emily took up a seat close to her Dad. He still seemed a bit nervous around any of the Heavenly beings most of the time, but Charlie was pleased to see he didn't look quite so tense when he smiled at Emily tonight.

"Okay!" Charlie clapped her hands to get everyone's attention, "Welcome to our first check in meeting everyone! I know I'm super excited with how things have been progressing." She smiled at both of the Winners, "Sophia and Ren have been uh-maze-ing to have on board. I really feel like you've made an impact on everyone already! I know I always feel great after speaking with you, but the hotel just feels…nicer with you both here, ya know?"

Sophia and Ren exchanged pleased smiles at her kind words before Ren nodded to her and Sophia spoke up. "Actually this segways nicely into the topic I wished to address." She smoothed out her shirt as she sat up a little straighter before continuing. "While the once a week sessions were originally fine to make sure enough safety measures were in place and get used to a schedule here at the hotel, I would like to request additional days that we can be made available." She gestured to Ren and herself with her left hand, "A few of my patients could use two or three sessions a week, and Ren has expressed an interest in having more availability for their patients as well."

"I think that's a great idea!" Charlie exclaimed with a large grin.

Emily tapped her chin in thought with a worried frown on her face. "While I agree with the reasoning behind it, I'm just not sure that I have the availability in my schedule to provide a round trip more than once a week." She looked up at the Winners apologetically, "It's been hectic just making the same day every week available to transport you as it is. Adding the massive influx of former Exorcists into the schedule at the Calming Homes last month has taken up most of my free time. I just don't think I can add another day into my schedule. I'm so very sorry."

Charlie bit her lip in thought. She had offered the Winners rooms at the hotel back at the first meeting and Emily had said no. That Sera wouldn't allow it without more time to show the hotel was safe. It had only been 5 weeks since then, but surely that was enough time to suggest it again? She looked over at Vaggie, trying to communicate her unspoken question and see what she thought, but her girlfriend just gave her a confused head tilt. Which was fair as they hadn't really talked about it in weeks.

Deciding it couldn't hurt to suggest, she took in a breath and spoke up. "Well, we'd be happy to provide them with lodging." Emily turned to blink at her in surprise along with her Dad. "I know you said no about a month ago but," Charlie gestured broadly at the room and hotel beyond, "Everything has been going great! The wards haven't even been set off once!" She smiled hopefully at Emily and could see her father fiddling with his cane as he frowned in thought.

"That's true," Emily nodded solemnly. "How would you both feel about staying at the hotel full time? I could still come down once a week in the evening for meetings and to check on things of course."

Ren and Sophia shifted in their seats to face each other better. Ren shrugged, "I have no strong feelings against the idea. It would also allow us to assist Charlie in her group sessions directly rather than providing a written plan for her."

Sophia nodded, "That's an excellent point, but I do have one concern." She turned to look back at Emily, "We still have yet to confirm if the removal of a halo in Hell can cause a forced Fall as we have been, understandably, unwilling to test the theory. While all the guests and staff have kept our presence a secret, there is every possibility that future guests may not be so courteous when they first arrive."

"Sophia is right," Lucifer said with a concerned look on his face, "It's far too risky to have Winners walking about the hotel."

"What if we escorted them?" Vaggie suggested, gesturing to the staff in the room. "You could ward their rooms, sir, just like their offices, to keep out unwanted visitors, and we could make sure one of us is always with them when they're not behind a ward."

While the Winners and Emily looked pleased at the suggestion, Lucifer still frowned, "They can still be seen though." He pulled his phone out of his pocket and gave it a small shake, "Every Sinner has one of these fancy phones nowadays and, much though I hate to admit it," Lucifer sent a side glance at where he knew Alastor was, "The DJ over there is right in that we need to keep proof of Winners in Hell out of the mainstream media. A full guard rotation won't stop people from taking pictures."

Charlie frowned in thought. Her dad had a good point and it frustrated her that she couldn't think of a suggestion to fix the issue. The room sat in contemplative silence for several seconds before Alastor finally spoke up.

"I should think the solution would be rather obvious." Charlie turned to look at him and noticed he was idly examining his microphone. "We need only disguise them so that they look like Sinners."

"Can't exactly disguise a floating halo or glowing aura with some clothing and make-up," Lucifer shot back and Charlie bit her lip in worry as the tension notched up.

Thankfully, Ren spoke up and diffused it, "I don't imagine Alastor would make such a suggestion if that was all he had in mind." They looked from Lucifer, who was frowning, to Alastor. "Do you care to share more of your plan, or would you like us to guess?"

Alastor grinned at Ren, "While I do love a good guessing game, I'm unwilling to entertain the length that this one would undoubtedly require. So I shall spare you all the torment. Would a demonstration suffice?" He looked to Ren with a raised eyebrow.

"Thank you, that would be appreciated," Ren nodded and Alastor held his hand up to snap and likely use his magic but Lucifer stood up before he could.

"No, no. You test it on me first before I'll trust any of your magic near the Winners," He smirked and walked over to Alastor, leaning on his cane in front of him.

Alastor stared at him and hummed for a moment before shrugging casually. "Fair enough."

He twisted his wrist and in a flash of green created a simple beaded bracelet that he held in his open hand. Lucifer rolled his eyes at having to step closer and plucked the bracelet out of Alastor's palm. He let out a breath before releasing all his wings, causing his form to adopt a muted angelic glow before he slid the bracelet on. The effect was easily visible as the aura slowly disappeared, but only for a few seconds as Lucifer frowned and pushed past Alastor's charm to make it visible once more by adopting his fully transformed state. He looked at Alastor in thought before reverting to his normal form and tossing the bracelet back at him. Alastor caught it easily, but did not remove his intense gaze from Lucifer.

"It works well enough I suppose," he stated, walking back to his chair. "I still don't like the idea of Winners staying at the hotel full time just because Sera will probably harass me over it, but with those things, warded rooms, and an escort." He shrugged lazily, "It's not much more of a risk than simply being here already I guess."

Emily stood up from her chair to stand before Alastor as well. "If you wouldn't mind, Mr. Alastor, I'd like to take a look for myself," she smiled and held her hand out for him.

Alastor tilted his head in thought as he twirled the bracelet around. The green glow now morphing the beads into a stylish silver band style bracelet. "Of course, my dear." He held it out for her and Emily took it with a simple 'thank you' before slipping it onto her wrist.

Charlie blinked in surprise when nothing happened. Emily looked exactly the same. She was staring at the bracelet intently and then took it off to spin it around in her hands before grinning back up at Alastor. "This is a really clever idea! It's like you've placed a protection ward on it that envelopes the wearer. I can feel it trying to push my aura in to keep it safe? Or maybe hidden? It doesn't have enough power to cover me of course, but I can feel the intent!"

"Would that be similar to the barrier you placed around the hotel that I've heard about?" Ren asked, leaning forward in their chair with interest.

"Something like that," Alastor stated with a secretive smile.

Ren stood and walked over to Emily before holding their hand out, "If I may?"

Emily happily placed it in their hand and Charlie held her breath in anticipation as Ren slipped the bracelet over their wrist. Even though she'd just seen Emily test it, having a Winner try something made with Sinner magic made her nervous. The effect was near instant this time. Ren's heavenly glow and halo disappeared, and Charlie was surprised to see their skin tone took on a slightly gray tinge like Vaggie's. If she hadn't known them already, Charlie would have never known they were a Winner! Well…maybe by their clothing. Not many Sinners wore pastel robes.

Sophia walked over to Ren and gestured for them to bend down; which they did with a smile. She then batted her hand in the space where a halo should be but simply waved about in the air freely. "Amazing," she smiled as Ren stood back up. They removed the bracelet and their heavenly appearance popped back into place in a snap. "So this would hold as long as we wore the bracelet?"

Preening at all the compliments, Alastor's smile had a smug tinge to it as he examined his nails, "It can be any trinket one can wear, not just a bracelet, but I would require a drop of blood from each of you to make the charm self-sustaining."

Her dad scoffed beside her and Charlie turned to see him slouching in his chair with his arms crossed over his chest, "Blood magic. How barbaric."

"I wasn't aware that you had an alternative suggestion," Alastor grinned, "Please do enlighten us! Charlie always says that sharing is caring after all." His voice pitched up and turned sing-song-like at the end.

Charlie rolled her eyes fondly at Alastor, knowing he only said that to rile up her dad, but also touched that he remembered one of her lessons.

"I mean, making something like that is child's play," Lucifer gestured dismissively towards the bracelet.

"Well then why don't you do it?" Alastor replied with a mischievous look, "If it's such a simple task after all. Mere child's play."

Lucifer straightened up in his seat and adjusted his clothing. "Well unlike you, I have a busy schedule and can't constantly be here to renew the charm."

Alastor hummed dismissively. "Which is precisely why I would tie it to their blood. They would support it on their own with no extra assistance from myself. Simple and effective."

"What's the issue with blood magic?" Vaggie asked. Looking to Lucifer and then Emily "I've never even heard of it before. Is it…bad?" She cast a suspicious glance at Alastor before looking back towards the rest of the group.

Emily tapped her chin in thought, "Well it's more that blood magic is very…human." She shrugged, "Not bad or good really. Their free will dictates the nature of the magic. Humans weren't designed to have mystical powers and can only obtain them on Earth by making a pact with or being descended from Angelic or Demonic beings. Some humans learned to tap into and harness that power over time and have passed the knowledge down. It's considered more…barbaric as it often requires blood to activate rather than something that regenerates naturally. Combined with it being housed in a human body, it is weaker and more limited than Divine power in many ways. Since it's grounded in a physical living object like blood, it can however allow for more permanent effects to be placed on other living creatures like humans. I think it works well as a solution for our needs in this instance. It may even offer another level of protection since the charm won't feel Angelic. There are beings that can detect things like that." She smiled at the room at large once she finished. Clearly pleased to share her knowledge with everyone.

Charlie beamed and clapped her hands together, "Oh that's a good point! Maybe Sera will even be happy about it, Dad." She turned her smile on him, "You said she's always looking sour about the protection 'issue'. What's safer than hiding in plain sight?"

"Oh Charlie," he shook his head and placed a hand on her shoulder as he looked at her. His face had a condescending smile on it. "Sera is going to absolutely hate this plan."

"Well it's a good thing that I'm in charge of this project then," Emily stated as she straightened her shoulders, and Lucifer turned to look at her. "If she has a problem then she can talk to me about it, but if the Winners are willing then I think we should plan to have them move in next week."


Ashes unlocked the door to her room with a bone weary exhaustion late that night or early the next day depending on who you asked. The shoot had started as somewhat enjoyable today as she'd gotten to use her old dancer's background properly. Apparently Valentino had found enough cat Sinners to make a porno of the Cats musical. Something that had been in demand for decades as musical theater was shockingly popular in Hell. They had been filming it for 14 hour shoots for 2 weeks straight to push through it quickly for some reason. Meaning she barely had time to sleep, let alone stretch properly before shooting started everyday. She was definitely paying for it now.

As the door swung open, her plans for a quick hot shower followed by blissful knock out sleep were waylaid by the boxes on her bed. Right. Her orders she'd asked Charlie to place in her room when she went to see her. Ashes' previous landlord had tossed all her old belongings since she'd 'taken too long' to move them to the hotel and she could only afford to replace so much at a time.

With a mumbled 'dammit' to her past self for the extra work she now had, Ashes tossed her dead phone onto the dresser before she moved to shove the boxes onto the floor to make it future Ashes' problem. She'd just pushed the biggest box off when a small thin one under it caught her eye. It was a white garment box rather than a mailing box like the rest. She picked it up with a puzzled look; turning it around to check for anything suspicious. Not finding anything odd beyond the fact of its existence, Ashes pulled on a corner to rip the box open.

There was a clothing item inside that tickled at her sleepy brain as she tried to remember what it reminded her of. Ashes pulled it out and laid it flat on the bed before it came to her. It looked similar to those bodice things people wore to medieval faire events. A sort of shortened corset but with shoulder straps. Confused as to why it was there, Ashes took a moment to admire it. It was a lovely variegated gray color that matched her fur and had some sort of intricate looking designs dyed into it. While checking the shockingly nice quality, Ashes suddenly remembered that she had asked Charlie about acquiring a corset or binder when she'd seen her before work. Did…did Charlie get this for her? She flipped the box pieces around but couldn't find any kind of note. Well, it wasn't like it could be anyone else. Sophia wouldn't be back for another week and she hadn't spoken to Angel yet. Perhaps Charlie had spoken to Angel Dust on her behalf?

Feeling a warmth spread through her chest at the Princess' quick action and thoughtful gift. Ashes now felt the furthest thing from tired as she quickly began to take her top off. She had to try this on right now. The burning need to know if it would do what she hoped was making her brain abuzz with possibility and the barely there remains of her happiness.

There was a moment where Ashes thought it wouldn't fit around her bust, but after loosening the side and back ties, she was able to expand it around enough to fit. Tightening everything up was a bit of a pain as she'd never worn something like this before and Ashes could feel herself working up a sweat trying to pull everything snug.

"Come on, just…fucking…ugh!" Ashes growled to herself as she accidentally let go of a tie and the garment loosened. She took a deep breath now that she could again before letting it out as a frustrated groan. Ashes started to pull tight on the laces faster this time to get this done, but in her haste she accidentally nicked her hand on some sharp piece she couldn't see sticking out of the bottom.

"Fucking perfect," she mumbled as she finished her lacing and ignoring the bloody cut, "Already got blood on the thing and it's not even on properly." Just as she tied the laces into a bow to finish, she felt the bodice heat up beyond her normal body temperature and panic overcame her. What the hell was going on? Ashes started to walk into her bathroom to get a look in the mirror when she suddenly felt like her chest was being squeezed in a vice grip. With a startled gasp for air she fell to the floor and barely caught herself with her hands.

The sensation was gone almost as soon as it had started and Ashes reflexively took a deep breath in to fill her lungs. She wondered just what had happened and if this was normal for bodice binder things or if it was a Hell feature when a thought occurred to her. She had just taken a deep breath and it had been free of any of the earlier constriction. Ashes looked down and clasped a hand to her chest in shock. Her drastically smaller, near nonexistent chest. She scrambled to stand and run to her mirror to get a better look. Her mind telling her this couldn't be real while her heart pounded in her chest.

Light flooded the bathroom as she flicked the switch on, banishing the shadows inside, and she ran to the mirror but it just showed her what her eyes had already seen. Her chest was practically flat with the barest hint of a bust along the top of the garment. The gray shades matched perfectly with her fur pattern and made the binder almost blend in completely. It was as if it had swallowed her bust entirely or she had a chest size like she had before…before…

A strangled sob escaped her lips as for the first time in almost twenty years, Ashes could finally see her old self in her reflection. She leaned against the wall by the sink as she hugged her arms around her chest fully for the first time since she'd died and began to cry in earnest. Slowly sliding down the wall until she came to rest upon the floor.

Ashes wasn't sure just how long she cried out her complicated mess of relief, joy, and exhaustion. It could have been minutes but it felt like hours as she barely had the energy to stand and make her way to her bed to pass out. She briefly considered taking the binder thing off to sleep, but she felt so comfortable and drained that she chose to leave it on. Deciding she would face whatever consequences of discomfort it brought in the morning.

Almost as soon as her head hit the pillow, Ashes was out cold. As such she missed the dark chuckle that emanated from the shadows as little green licks of energy rolled over the laces of her garment. Vanishing them and leaving nothing but a solid garment in its wake with no way to easily remove it.


Little electrical sparks fired off of Vox's antennae as he ground his teeth in frustration. Every last recording was just gone. No more fragments, no nothing. It was as if he'd never sent a drone to record the battle at all. He'd just about milked the coverage against Alastor and that sad little hotel for all he could anyway, but that it was completely gone was an alarming problem. Vee Tower held the most state of the art tech in all of Pride. His data just didn't fucking vanish without a trace.

Vox violently unhooked the wires connecting to the input ports on the back of his head as he stood up from his desk. There was some fucking bullshit going on inside the tower and he was going to get to the bottom of it. He knew in his gut Alastor was behind the missing files. No one else had the sheer nerve or cause to try and break in themselves or send in a spy. The question was how. He knew Alastor refused to modernize but would he be willing to hire a lackey that could navigate it for him? Possibly even sway one of his own people?

As the door slid open and he walked out of his master control room, Vox saw his assistant waiting for him. Perfect. "I'm giving you a new task of the highest priority," Vox ordered as he kept walking. "I want you to get me a list of every single employee that has access to the mainframe or any of the backups. I need it by later tonight."

The Fish Sinner jogged to catch up and gulped, "Uh, right away Mr. Vox sir. Would you like the corresponding security recordings as well?"

Vox put on a smile and grabbed his assistant in a side hug by the shoulders, "See, this is why I keep you around! Always willing to go the extra mile." He dropped the hold and stopped in front of the elevator. "Get the logs going back for 2 months and transmit it all to me directly. No paper tails on this. Strictly direct digital connection." His assistant nodded and scurried off down the hall towards the security room.

Rather than take the elevator down, Vox energized himself into an electrical signal and jumped into the nearby camera. Instantly transporting across his surveillance grid to the door outside the conference room two floors down. He calmly strode in and took his seat at the head of the table. Val's little Fizzbot promptly deposited a glass of his favorite whiskey down before just as quickly departing.

"So, how did the switch go at the studio today?" Vox asked Val. Taking a sip of his drink as he looked over at the man.

"Hmm?" Val looked up from his phone, "Oh that. I swapped out the little pussy cat's phone like you asked. Had that Bitch working her ass off today so it was easy." He took a drag of his cigarette. "You're lucky I found enough Sinners to make this Cats porno. The little gata has put my other projects behind schedule with her shit acting. I'm ready to toss her back to her pimp once filming it over tomorrow. The market will be shifting before I can release at this rate."

"Don't worry, I'll get my operative in place soon and then you can send her back." Vox reassured him with a smile, "She's set up in that hotel and that's all I needed. We just have to keep things steady until they arrive."

Velette scoffed as she texted away to his right, "I still don't see why you're so intent with getting eyes inside that hotel. Your little obsession has been there for almost a year now. He's either made his deal or he never will. Nothing we can do about it."

Vox sighed and gave her an exasperated glance, "Look I know you arrived shortly before Alastor left so you don't know him well, but the man is a slippery silver tongued bastard. It's imperative that we know what's going on so we can be prepared to counter it."

"Please, he's fucking ancient," Velvette rolled her eyes, "And what's this with you complimenting him now?"

"It's not a compliment, it's a fact." Vox frowned at his drink before pushing it aside. Whiskey was the last thing he wanted to look at while talking about Alastor. Too many memories. "We need to make sure he doesn't use that way with words he has to sweet talk the princess or her father. If he has then we need to try and find out the details of said deal."

Velvette tilted her phone away and looked annoyed at him. "That so called 'royalty' has done fuck all to get involved with any of the Overlords for longer than any of us have been here, so why would they do so now? You're being paranoid for no reason as far as I can see."

Val hummed and looked up from his own phone. "She has a point, Voxxy. You sure you're not giving the radio man too much credit just because you're hung up on him?" Vox felt his eye twitch as he frowned. They never knew Alastor like he did. They didn't understand the risk. He'd have to share his newest little mystery a bit sooner than he'd planned to keep them on board.

"It's not just Alastor I want eyes on in that hotel." He pulled out his phone and opened an app after he shot a spark at the ceiling to lower a monitor. Once it was fully extended, he grabbed the video file data from his phone and tossed it onto the screen. A shadowy blob of some kind was shown flying around or hovering near the top of the Heaven Embassy. Vox zoomed in on the video to focus on the blob and paused it. The quality was grainy, but two distinct figures could now be seen. Both with multiple sets of wings, though they had quite the height difference between them.

"Do either of you know who these two are?"

Val squinted at the screen, but Vox knew he wouldn't be able to see anything and had his gaze fixed on Velvette. She scoffed, "What is this 240p grainy ass shit? How the hell am I supposed to know who's in it?"

"That, my friends, is the diminutive King of Hell himself and a real Angel. Not like those front line grunts they send down to cull our flock every year. One with real power." Both of his partners went wide eyed. Good. Hopefully they'll take his interest in the hotel seriously now. "I captured this footage by chance last week. We haven't been monitoring this feed as often since the countdown hasn't started back up, but Lucifer and Heaven seem to be in talks again."

"Maybe it's just about their little skirmish against the hotel," Val suggested as he leaned back in his seat and took another drag of this cigarette.

Vox frowned, "Maybe, but why have it outside the embassy? We've never even seen the inside before and now the King is seen talking to an Angel outside of it? It's suspicious given everything that's happened this past year, and I don't like it."

"And that pussycat is helping us with this, how?" Velvette asked.

"We went a little too hopeless last time-"

She scoffed, "You mean you did. Sending that loser was your idea."

Vox's eye twitched and he leveled a stare at her as he continued, "So I'm trying a more layered approach this time." He shut off the screen and flicked a spark at it to send it back up. "I had Val snag someone pathetic from one of his contracts so they would be a step removed from us. Then orchestrated for Angel Dust to see her all pitiful and pull on his new bleeding heart, compliments of the Princess." Val made an annoyed grunt at that but Vox continued, "Now that she's established and no one suspects anything, we've swapped out her phone for a custom looking duplicate I had made. The plan is to have it act as a broadcast node for the agent I'm sending in."

"A better one this time I hope?" Velvette asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Yes," Vox smirked, "Using what we got from Pentious' attempt, I was able to refine the candidate criteria. Their job will be to capture the data directly and discreetly on their phone, and then send them back to me via the private connection from the modified phone we have planted. It's a 2 step system to hopefully fly under Alastor's notice."

Velvette made a dismissive hand wave, "Like that old fossil would know anything about modern tech. You said it yourself that he refuses to keep with the times."

Vox sighed, "Just trust me when I say the caution is warranted. Even without Alastor's possible detection, I don't want to risk Lucifer's direct attention. Now that he's involved in that pathetic hotel, I'm playing the long game on this one."

"Fine, whatever. Keep me posted on the angelic bullshit, but I honestly could not care less about that hotel and radio demon obsession." Veletted stated as she got up and left the meeting.

Valentino set his phone down and took a long pull of his cigarette. "You really think the Radio Demon has gotten in with the royal family?"

Vox picked up his whiskey and frowned at it, "They built him a new radio tower onto the side of the hotel. There's no way Lucifer would allow that unless Alastor got along with him or his daughter. Knowing Alastor as I do, it's likely the Princess he's charmed, but with Heaven's involvement…the risk for him just isn't making sense. Something is going on in that hotel and I'm going to find out what."


Gata = Spanish for female cat. I don't plan on having a lot of non-english words/phrases but if I do use them the translation will always be here in the notes.

Lot of plot threads this chapter. It was a fun one to write. My only hang up is Vox's assistant doesn't seem to have a name. I'm likely gonna just make one up but for now I left him as just 'assistant'.

I haven't decided if I'll lean into Husk/Angel Dust or just see where their interactions take me. At minimum they're gonna flirt though cause it's Angel. Let me know if you dislike me typing out Angel's accent. If no one speaks up then I'm just gonna keep at it.