Just like every other demon in Hell, there were ways that John suffered on a regular basis.
Of course, since he'd achieved his stranglehold over the city, many of those ways were quickly made irrelevant or outright useless.
"It's been three fucking months since I told you, I know you've found something!"
Lucifer Morningstar unfortunately remained as the biggest annoyance of the behemoth's afterlife.
"Motherfucker, you could ask around yourself if you'd drag your ass out of your ivory tower." John snarked in annoyance as he kept his eye on the TV. "But hey, the latest ducky has to get done, right?"
"Oh, go fuck yourself."
"Funny you should say that." John allowed a spiteful smirk come onto his face as he glanced down at his lap, which was currently obscured by the bobbing head of a certain stern weapons dealer.
He laughed when he heard the King of Hell let out a groan of disgust, as he got enough of a picture.
It was always like this with Lucifer. Due to John's rather unique standing among both Heaven and Hell, the little bastard called and called and fucking called until the Overlord eventually got fed up and answered regardless.
And he'd been having a much better time with Carmilla without the interruption. He would've hoped he'd have her spouting Spanish at this point.
The fellow Overlord was fun in bed.
"You're disgusting, I still can't believe Heaven is actually dealing directly with you." The asshole was clearly still sore over that. When John's deal had been struck, he'd been left entirely out of the loop until much later.
"And I fucking wonder they don't want to deal you." John threw back without a second thought, allowed a hand to come down and eagerly rub Carmilla's head even as he threw a look of annoyance towards the phone at his ear. "I mean, for christsakes, where's your fucking wife?"
John knew that was a low blow, and the behemoth took satisfaction at the ruler of Hell's usual silence when Lilith was brought up.
"Now, shut the fuck up , and I'll tell you what I have found out. Sound good." He didn't care who it was, John wasn't going to be talked down to like a dog. "Or should I slip my battery from the damn and leave you to wallow?"
An angered growl answered him.
John's lips thinned.
"Say again?"
"Fine."
A smile of satisfaction crossed his cracked lips.
"There we go." He allowed himself to freely fall into the bliss that Carmilla was working on him now, and it was through sheer concentration that he kept the phone to his ear. "Carmilla Carmine killed the Exorcist. I just found out today."
Said demon shot him a pair of angry eyes at his open admittance of that to the lord of Hell, but John simply rolled his eyes and none to politely gestured for her to relax.
"How?"
"Don't fucking know and I don't fucking care." Only one of those things were true, but he wasn't about to tell Lucifer that. "She was protecting her kids, she told me as much on that."
"You actually believe her? She's the ballerina chick, right?"
Carmilla actually paused at that, and John assumed she picked up on the dismissive tone in his words as easily as he did, as she pulled her head back off his member and actually raised an eyebrow at the phone.
"Put him on speaker. " Oh, the dommy mommy was back. John liked that.
The behemoth grinned and offered a small chuckle as he pulled the phone from his ear, and with a quick glance towards the device, Lucifer's voice was now louder and much more clearer as he held the phone closer to the woman.
"Would you like to repeat that, you're majesty?" The words were filled with every bit of venom the King had earned. "I suppose I should want my children to perish. Why, Miss Morningstar runs her Hotel without your support, I suppose?"
"You little bitch… "
"She's bigger than you, you whiny jackass." The behemoth shut the King down with an eye roll. "Look, I don't know what you're so concerned about, because my deal with Heaven still stands."
"It shouldn't."
Ah, right. How could John forget.
"You know what, Lucifer, if your another jab at the whole sinner thing, go fuck yourself."
He would admit that anyone trying to judge him for simply being a sinner got under his skin. Regardless of how many demons were older, it was his kind that were the reason behind Hell's creation in the first place.
He would not be talked down to.
"Hey now, hold on a minute-"
"No, you're a fucking dick, I'm hanging up." His words were blunt, quick, and succinct, and he followed the words up with the exact action as he ended the call quite abruptly.
As he followed through on his earlier promise regarding the phone's battery, his lover offered him no more than a raised eyebrow.
"For someone with so much power, he gets under your skin more than I imagined."
It was no more than an observation.
John wasn't stupid enough to think any different.
"You don't have to deal with the useless bastard on a regular basis." He answered bluntly, rolling his eyes in annoyance. "I get away with picking at his wife, what's that tell you?" He asked, raising an eyebrow.
Carmilla raised an eyebrow, red orbs rising in thought, before she shrugged her shoulders.
She could see the logic.
"Now, we are not here to discuss politics, are we?" John asked, allowing a hand to come up and gently run itself over the top of her head…
Before his hand harshly fisted her hair, tugging at her scalp.
The pleasured gasp he'd earned from the normally reserved weapons dealer made his grin.
"Are we?"
Carmilla Carmine actually bit her fucking lip, and it was little reactions like those that made it all worth it.
"N- No~."
Charlie's eyes blinked open, and a tired yawn escaped her as the Princess pushed herself up into the morning sunshine coming through her window.
Her thin lips smacked together as she slowly lifted herself into a sitting position, rubbing her eyes with her fists to try and clear her bleary sight.
Her gaze drifted over towards the opposite of the bed, the one which was usually occupied by a sleeping gray-skinned sinner.
A smile crossed her pale features when she noticed it was currently empty.
That was Vaggie for you. She was hardly professional by any means, but she was unusually punctual.
Charlie loved that about her. It meant she still cared enough to show effort.
The Princess threw her covers off herself and spun her legs off of the bed, before slipping her hooves into her comfy red slippers before standing to her feet.
Her morning routine was done in record time as usual, and her long, unruly hair had been once again ornately tamed into a loose bun with three hair ties as she stood in her more professional outfit.
However, she took a moment to pause at the mirror.
Familiar angelic features greeted her back. Sometimes, they made her feel like an outcast. After all, she was a demon.
However, if there was one thing Charlie had learned from her father, it was to quote "Don't take shit from other demons" and be a little more authoritative.
Only a little.
Just a smidge.
But Vaggie always said they were her most beautiful aspects, and that was enough for Charlie to smile and show her confidence.
Even if she was still a little worried.
She didn't want to push Angel again, not after what had happened at the studio. She was going to respect his boundaries, and she wouldn't compromise that.
But… Angel hadn't just been tight lipped over any old thing.
Even Charlie had heard of his cruelties. He was the one sinner who her father had actually warned her against approaching.
The Wraith.
Charlie knew it was silly to get chills over the mere thought of the demon, but it was hard not to.
She had been more than old enough to remember Alastor's nightmarish rise to power, and The Wraith had trumped that.
After the first year, all of the Pride Ring feared his name.
After the second… so did the rest of Hell.
Charlie had the same casual inclination towards referring to the Pride Ring as the entirety of Hell as most sinners did, but to this day, not even her dad knew how he'd made his way to the Greed Ring and wiped out an entire city of Imps.
The buildings were all left standing.
The place was still a ghost town.
There wasn't even a spec of blood left.
Charlie knew how bad Hell can get, but that didn't mean its cruelty was as normalized for her as it seemed to be for literally everyone else, even Vaggie.
So the idea of an entire population of her people being single-handedly wiped out wasn't exactly any different from the Exterminations in the Princess' eyes.
Charlie shook her head to clear her mind of those thoughts, however. They would be addressed later that day, and she had to get everyone ready for that boundaries session anyway.
She pulled out her phone as she made her way to the door, and paused long enough to send Vaggie a quick text.
Charlie: Just woke up and got dressed. Where r u?
Personally, she always thought texts like that were a little cute between partners.
Yes, the Princess was still a hopeless romantic at heart.
She was making her way down the hall when she got a text back.
Vaggie: Took Angel to the side. He's acting too weird.
Charlie frowned. Because that certainly made things better.
If she wasn't sure he was hiding something before, she was now. And with the upcoming boundaries lesson, that made Charlie all the more nervous regarding what's to come.
Charlie: :[ weird how?
Vaggie: He's not usually all fidgety, and it gets worse when Alastor comes around.
Vaggie: Not to mention said freak seems to think he's entitled to whatever Angel has to say.
Oh, well that's wonderful. If Charlie had to guess, Alastor saw The Wraith as a potential rival, and thought Angel had info he needed.
Not that Angel could have anything in the first place.
Nobody knew anything about him except what he looked like. Nine lumbering feet of gray skinned muscle, and eyes that bring your greatest fears to life.
Claws that could rip through flesh as it were a napkin, attached to hands that could squeeze like a vice.
And thousands of vicious open wounds for him to utilize his blood magic.
Charlie was among the many who believed he carved them all into himself.
Charlie: Has he said anything?
Vaggie: He keeps saying he can't tell us. I can't get through to him like you can.
Charlie: Don't push him. If it were dangerous, I know he'd say something.
Vaggie: How?
Charlie once again frowned.
Charlie: He wouldn't do that to the Hotel.
The Princess made her way through the halls of what was once her parents' weekend home, and in no time at all her feet were carrying her down the steps and into the lobby.
Alastor stood stiffly in the center, staring down the opposite hall with securitizing eyes where Charlie could see Angel and Vaggie currently standing in deep discussion.
If Lucifer's daughter had to guess, Vaggie had promptly told Al to but out.
A quick glance towards the bar showed that Husk was once again wiping a clean glass (what was the point of that anyway?), and the cat showed no interest in the activities or conversations happening around him.
And Niffty was… somewhere.
Pentious was sitting across the couch, occasionally glancing over towards the conversating demons with curious eyes, but mainly keeping her red-eyed attention on the TV.
Charlie offered Alastor a nervous smile as she walked by, and admittedly found it a bit difficult to hold her nerve when Alastor's eyes tracked her like a… well, a deer in headlights.
Though coming from the Radio Demon, context was far more sinister.
"Look, Vags, I can't tell you, alright?"
"Angel, I don't know why your so nervous, but I can't believe I have to say that Alastor has a point."
That was Charlie's opening into the discussion as she focused her attention on the two demons.
Angel stood with his arms crossed defensively, his head stubbornly turned to the side as Vaggie stood in front of him with a frustrated hand on her hip and her other massaging her head.
"What do you mean? I can't have friends in Community City?"
"That's not what I'm talking about and you know it." An angry finger jerked from her head and in the spider's direction as Vagge's eye shot up to glare at him. "Husk was right yesterday, you don't just get your soul back, Angel."
Ah, that was the big problem, wasn't it? Charlie had to agree with both sinners against Angel on that one, because deals were fickle business. There's a reason she didn't shake Alastor's hand the first time she offered.
She wasn't stupid, she was quite aware the spider had sold his soul from the moment she'd watched the disgusting bastard toss him around like an object, but she genuinely didn't have the faintest clue on how to actually get him out of it.
Deal making was a rare art, and despite being the Princess of Hell, not even she possessed the kind of natural ability Alastor and other Overlords did.
So if the studio was no longer an issue… Angel had to have found a way out of his deal.
"I didn't get my soul back." Angel retorted, his eyes narrowing dangerously at the latina as his jaw tightened. "A friend came through."
"Who, John? And how did he do that?"
"What is this, a fucking interrogation?!"
"No, no, no!" Charlie chose that moment to step in, desperation and panic overriding any reason as she quickly rushed forward and placed a pair of what she hoped were calming hands on their shoulders. "No one is interrogating anybody. We're just… concerned."
"Why?" Angel asked the question as if he genuinely didn't understand why they were still concerned. "I'm back, and I'm fine now. And there's no more interruptions in the future, so that's a good thing, right?"
"You didn't just go to any dingy bar, Angel, you went to Community City. " Charlie tried to stress the point to him as best as she could. "That's his territory… and I've never even seen anyone as cruel as him."
"Well, you're a shut-in." Charlie frowned at the pointless jab, but remained otherwise unbothered. "And besides, so long as you don't cause trouble, he'll leave you alone. He says as much anyway."
"The question is what a psychopath like that would consider trouble." Vaggie snarled venomously, contempt dripping from her lips as she crossed her arms in distrust. "The guy has fun slaughtering Exorcists. How are you not nervous about being in his territory?"
"Look, I've never even met the guy." He sounded genuine, but the words were hollow.
Charlie refused to point out how neither of them even asked that in the first place.
"So something tells me I'm doing something right considering I walked out of his City instead of into one of those slaughter museums of his."
"Look… here's what we know." Vaggie took a deep breath to calm herself, before she actually touched her fingers together in front of her stomach and fixed Angel with a stern look. "You left the Hotel a couple days ago halfway through a session."
Angel raised an eyebrow, but said nothing.
"Charlie followed to try and get you out of it, and you screamed at her to get out."
Charlie felt Vaggie's glare was a little unnecessary.
"You're gone for two days , and the next we hear or see, it's a picture of you in front of Slaughter Factory,"
Angel's jaw tightened as Vaggie's eyes narrowed.
"And now you're telling us a friend named John helped you get out of a deal." The final damning piece of evidence was spoken aloud, and Charlie actually found her eyes widening in surprise as she realized what Vaggie seemed to think.
And what's sad…
When the facts were laid out like that, Charlie couldn't argue with them either.
"So at the very least, throw us a fucking bone and let us help where we can." Vaggie's shoulders squared as she crossed her arms, and gave Angel a look that distinctly resembled a disapproving mother.
Charlie found it endearing. Vaggie wasn't the affectionate type by any means, so the fact that she still found ways to show she cared would forever mean the world to the Princess.
Angel's lips tightened as he met the one-eyed woman's gaze, before letting a sigh escape him.
He threw a nervous glance at Alastor, before both women found a pair of arms around each of their own as the spider quickly tugged the down towards his room.
"Not in front of him." Angel said, shaking his head quickly with a fearful, wide-eyed gaze. "He's been eyeing me up all morning."
Charlie's frown deepened, but she continued to remain silent.
Once Angel had reached his room and thrown open his door, the two women wordlessly stepped within the pink paradise as he quickly closed the door behind them.
"I mean it when I say you can't tell anyone about this." His voice held an unusual level of seriousness, and he looked surprisingly… scared , when he said it.
Charlie's brow furrowed in concern, an emotion she shared with Vaggie when she met the latina's gaze.
"Of course." Charlie finally answered after a moment, turning back to Angel with a reassuring smile as she stepped forward, placing a gentle hand atop his arm and offering a squeeze. "Just let us in , okay?"
Angel held the Princess' gaze for a moment, before a sigh slipped past his lips as he gave in.
"The Wraith's real name is John."
Charlie's brow immediatley furrowed, her mind working over time to decipher everything that little peace of info had just given her.
Angel had gone to see his friend John.
His friend John lived at Community City.
The Wraith's home sat atop the massive superstructure.
The Wraith was an Overlord.
Angel's friend had gotten him out of the deal.
Angel's friend… was The Wraith himself.
"Are you fucking insane?!" The sheer panic in Vaggie's voice could only be matched by the Princess' own as it quickly began to overtake her. "You made a deal with the Wraith?!"
"Not a deal!" Angel immediately raised his hands in denial, shaking his head vigorously. "At least, not in the way you're thinking. All he did was trade one of his souls for mine and give me a place to crash." He quickly assured, actually offering a small grin as his eyes twinkled in amusement.
Charlie found herself frowning.
Angel had mentioned something like that. Said he'd gotten some good sleep.
It actually hurt a little knowing he managed to get it somewhere other than the Hotel. Even moreso because it had been at the home of the most vicious demon in Hell.
She hadn't realized it had been at said demon's actual home.
"I'll admit, I don't like it." Vaggie admittedly bluntly, once again rubbing her head in frustration. "The guy's a fucking psycho, makes a show of his shit when he's out in public. I mean, the Exorcists?"
Charlie could admittedly understand her fixation on the Exorcists. The Wraith was the one being who made a show out of his deeds whether he intended to or not, and all of Hell got a yearly show when Extermination Day came around.
Well, bi-yearly, she supposed was the case now.
That being said, it didn't make her point any less valid, only reinforced it.
"I think I'm with Vaggie on this one."
"Well, that's kind of funny. And I was gonna tell you about the job he gave me…" Angel let a finger press into his cheek as he offered a cheeky smile, and Charlie's eyes widened in alarm as the implications settled into her.
"A job? What kind of job?" The Princess asked quickly, her brow furrowing in concern as the worst possible scenarios entered her mind.
Only for Angel to laugh them off.
"Jesus Christ, will you two relax? It really ain't as bad as you think." Angel let a small chuckle of amusement escape him as Charlie's frown continued to deepen. "You know, for all your belly aching, he actually wants to see the place succeed?"
That gave Charlie pause.
Unfortunately, the same couldn't be said for Vaggie.
"Angel!"
"All he wants are updates on the place's progress!" Angel assured, laughing off the one-eyed woman's urgency as he continued to smile in amusement, as if there was nothing to be scared of.
Maybe Angel didn't see it, but Charlie certainly did.
"And you don't think he's trying to sabotage the Hotel?" Charlie couldn't help but to ask, making her suspicion abundantly clear. If there was one demon in all of Hell who had the most to lose if the Hotel worked, it was the Wraith.
But it still astounded her, how much confidence he seemed to have in the behemoth.
"Look, I get the guy's not a saint, but is anyone down here?" Angel asked, raising an eyebrow as he glanced at the two of them. "Look, when he first brought it up, I said it was a hard pass. But all he wants is to hear when you actually get some schmuck to Heaven." He paused for a moment when his eyes glanced up in thought. "Well, and anything on the chance Alastor starts actively fucking the place up."
"Yeah, because it's Alastor we're worried about right now." Vaggie replied with an annoyed roll of her eye. "Look, I can't take the chance. I may not be able to stop you from seeing him when you leave, but you better never bring him here, Angel." The sinner's eye narrowed dangerously.
Angel snorted.
"Yeah, sure, that'll happen."
Well, at least that was a response that made Charlie feel better .
Admittedly, thanks to her father's warning, she may a bit more on the fence regarding the spiky Overlord than she tended to be with most demons.
But it was hard not to be when Lucifer himself warns you to steer clear of a demon, even Charlie could admit that about her father.
Vaggie continued to hold her stern gaze on the spider for a moment, before she shook her head as she relented, a sigh escaping her as she brought a hand up to once again massage her temple.
"Jesus, just- be careful, alright?" It was clear Vaggie was trying to respect his boundaries, but it was still concerning watching her march past Angel and out of the room in a huff.
Charlie continued to stare at the door for a moment with her only remaining company, before Angel turned to her with a small grin.
"You wanna hear something funny?"
Charlie's brow furrowed.
"Funny?"
The spider offered a cheeky grin as his multi-colored eyes twisted in amusement.
"You're so concerned about him being some kind of threat… but he's the only demon in Hell I've ever heard say he believed in you."
That actually made Charlie pause, her mind shutting down and promptly rebooting as she processed what the Hotel guest had just told her.
Vaggie believed in her, of that she was certain. And she was pretty sure her mom did too.
But… the Wraith?
It was a little hard to believe.
But for all that is holy…
Charlie found there was a part of her that wanted to believe another demon had truly said that. Even if it was just one.
Even if it was him.
She hadn't known she was grinning until she spoke.
"Well… tell him I said thanks for that."
Charlie wasn't sure how much she believed it, but as she made her way out of the room, she did take some solace in knowing that Angel had someone to turn to if he felt like the Hotel wasn't a safe spot.
After what she'd seen at the studio… she just wished better for him.
It was moments like these that John absolutely loved. The ones where he could just indulge whatever desire he had, and relish in pleasure.
Carmilla Carmine was one of the most stern demons in Hell. She remained composed at all times, and there seemed to always be a permanent scowl on her face from the moment she stepped into a room.
Seeing those beautiful features softened into a much more blissful expression was always a pleasure.
Her red eyes were wide, rolled up to face his own as her oversized hands desperately found purchase on the sink.
For his part, John enjoyed the way she clenched around him every time he pushed his hips forward.
Her mouth fell open, and soft moans of pleasure escaped with every breath.
"You look so beautiful when you loosen up." The behemoth muffled, his lips inches from her ear as his eyes met her own in the mirror.
"Ha… Ha… you really are… such a flatterer… "
"I only speak- hng… facts…"
John's hand was currently wrapped around her throat, gently brushing its side as his arm curved around her stomach, pulling her back to meet his thrusts.
Once, he'd been surprised that he'd successfully bagged a woman, considering her stern demeanor and dedication to her children's safety more than anything.
Now, she remained one of the few women he trusted to actually babysit his own son.
And a damn good fuck on a regular basis.
"Maybe we should invite Vel over…" John suggested. He wasn't ignorant to the way he pulsed within the woman's rear as he proposed the idea, as the weird rivalry they had made them a wild match in the sheets.
Carmilla shot him a small glare.
"We don't need that girl…" Her accent became more apparent as she spat the word out with utter contempt, but it didn't take away from the pleasured bliss that continued to wash over her. "I-I can please b-by… by m-my… self…"
She melted into him, and John allowed himself an indulgent wiff of her hair.
The latina smelled of gunpowder and baby wipes. A fitting if ironic combination.
Her back came to rest his chest, and John found himself thankful for her above average height.
She wasn't as tall and nowhere near as bulky, but she was perfectly big enough for John to thrust himself into her body unhindered.
He loved sex, but considering his sheer bulk, it wasn't easy to find the most comfortable of positions when your partners tended to be half your size.
Carmilla was always a nice change.
"I hope you know the frustration you caused me." John's desires tended to flip on a whim, and that proved true when his hand began to gradually tighten around the woman's throat, earning a strained gasp. "Killing that Exorcist gave me a lot of trouble…"
"Apologies…" Carmilla spoke her apologies… but she didn't sound genuine in her words.
In fact, her eyes narrowed, and a challenging smirk took over her expression as she grinded her rear against John, earning a breathless groan from the behemoth.
"I promise I'll make it up to you… papi… "
That was way too cliche for John's taste.
It didn't make the way she moaned it any less hot.
A sharp grin of excitement took over the behemoth's face, and his hands aggressively pushed the woman down over the sink, eliciting a gasp of surprise as her hands braced on the porcelain.
His grip found purchase on her hips, and he could see where his rod disappeared into her anus.
He jerked his hips back, and slammed himself into her, jolting her forward as he began an eager, rough pace.
The sudden increase in pace overloaded Carmilla, who's eyes rolled up into her head as John continued to pierce her anus.
"G-Good lord…" Carmilla gasped out, her hands slipping into the sink her arms collapsed under her, her elbows just barely managed to catch her.
John was among the few who believed that it was impossible not to form some kind of connection with sex partners, as the act in and of itself was deeply intimate.
That said, it didn't make him ignorant. Their entire arrangement was based solely on mutual attraction, nothing more and nothing less.
Still, that didn't mean he failed to pay attention. He knew everything that turned her ever present scowl into a blushing mess.
And considering the woman's stamina, it made it all the easier to have fun.
He didn't know what he looked like, and didn't care enough to see for himself, but every forward thrust of his hips sent him into the tight squeezing sphincter of Carmilla Carmine, and it felt nothing short of mind-blowing .
John had never been too sure of how exactly it was, but all demons were sexually compatible. Regardless of their size, shape, or whatever other difference one could think of to apply.
It was the reason none of his partners, if he were quite frank, didn't deform during sex. Let alone other, messier results.
It didn't make it any less wonderful watching her shoulders shake as her entire body shuddered in his grasp.
He didn't understand a single word of what she spoke at this point, every single syllable coming out in fluent and frantic spanish, but the blissful smile on her face in the mirror told him she was enjoying herself immensely.
Their eyes met, and there was always something about the occurrence that always managed to send John over the edge.
The familiar tingle of an orgasm roared through his body, peaking at his tip as he released himself within the his partner.
One thing he did enjoy about Hell was how sensitive sex seemed to be. Because he knew for sure that cumming inside of a woman's rear was not a normal way to trigger said woman's orgasm.
In fact, nothing short of the clit was. Such a thing was rare enough among living woman.
But in Hell, it was the inverse, and at this point, John was practically pulling cards on what exposed his partners' ahegao face.
He'd once decided to try branching into guys, just to see if the variety would be anything to make such a venture worth it, but he hadn't even made it into bed with any of them. Not even Angel could really interest him, and the behemoth could admit that the former porn star would make a rather attractive female.
But he wasn't one, and John simply didn't have the interest in guys.
Of course, it was funny to see a couple of guys try, and he made sure they knew he respected the guts they had.
In the end, John liked beautiful women, and with so many options…
Well, Carmilla certainly fulfilled his love for mature women, he could say that.
The woman's orgasm flooded her body with a hitched shout, and John let a groan escape him as his grip ever so subtly tightened when her anus actually clenched around him.
The latina wasn't a squirter, but the woman couldn't fake pleasure for her life.
The woman sat slumped over the sink, huffing in exhaustion as John continued to stay buried within her, silently enjoying the sensations as his extremely high libido kept him eager for more.
But when she didn't raise after a few seconds, he withdrew himself as he realized that she needed a break.
"Drink?"
"Kool-aid."
The exchange happened casually even as John lifted the woman into his arms bridal style, one of her oversized hands hanging towards the ground as the Overlord carried her out of his bathroom and into his living room.
A small teasing smirk crossed his cracked lips at her response.
Who'd have thought the indomitable Carmilla Carmine had a sweet tooth for fruit punch?
"Of course." John gently sat the woman down on his couch, sliding his arms out from under her and leaving her in the comfort of the cushions as his still quite heavy footsteps thumped their way to the kitchen.
He was nine feet tall and weighed a literal metric ton. Having footwear on didn't change that.
Glasses clacked together as the behemoth tossed open the refrigerator door and received the requested drink, before shutting it as if his hand alone didn't engulf half the door.
Something Carmilla seemed amused about as he brought her drink back.
"How can one so big be so gentle?" it was a question she'd asked a multitude of times, and every time she always received the same answer.
"Matter of perspective."
When they weren't fucking each other's brains out, John genuinely enjoyed the woman's company. When she didn't have the weight of two kids and an entire empire in the infernal realm on her shoulders, Carmilla showed far more dry wit and gentle words than one would believe.
"Thank you." Carmilla's words were habitual, but with John they were always genuine, as she accepted the plastic bottle from his waiting hand. Her own still engulfed the drink in it's entirety, but the difference in mass between her and the Wraith made up for that.
Carmilla had large hands… among other things.
John had large everything.
"Are you still spending your nights watching Earth films?" Carmilla actually teased as the behemoth plopped down next to her, snagging the TV remote and turning it on to occupy himself as his partner recuperated.
John let a small chuckle escape him. "Not all of us were born and raised in Hell, Milla."
"Oh, please, not with the pet names." Carmilla offered a playful eye roll even as she took a swig of her drink, the red liquid splashing down her throat with a satisfied sigh. "Half of yours shouldn't even sound as natural as you make them."
"Maybe they sound natural because you trust me that much." John teased, offering an amused grin to the weapons dealer before turning back to the TV. "Oh, and speaking of Earth films…" He jerked an amused finger towards the TV.
Her head rotated to the entertainment center, only for her eyes to widen and another amused eye roll to take her as she came face to face with Encanto.
"At least spare me anything Disney." Carmilla requested with a teasing smirk of her own as she curled her smooth legs up on the couch. "I'd rather watch your action films more than anything."
"Yeah yeah, weapons business." John offered his own rolling eyes as even as he raised the remote, going instead to one of the various streaming services he had on demand.
"You said action , so you're stuck with Transformers."
"If it's the first one, I'll take it."
"Fair enough."
John would admit that he was happy Earth films had grown on the woman.
Hellborns didn't just consist of imps, hellhounds, and succubi. The Princess herself was a hellborn, and they came in just as many varieties as sinners, though usually with much less power.
The owner of Carmine Industries is one of the rare few blessed with power. Namely, in the aspect of deal-making.
Through some unspecified means that involved Zestial, the woman had found power among the many desperate sinners, and remained among the few demons in all of Hell who weren't intimidated by John in the slightest.
That was the biggest thing he liked about the woman.
He wasn't sure if she should call it stoic, but there was something to admire about the way the woman's features could remain stone cold in the face of someone she could quite literally do nothing against.
And with the reputation John had, that was something to be respected.
"When we met, who'd have thought we'd be sitting here watching Transformers?" John couldn't help but to point out, his smile filled with thinly veiled amusement as he turned his gaze down to the fellow Overlord.
Carmilla's specialty expression for amusement seemed to be rolling her eyes, because she did just that once again as a smile overtook her lips mid-drink.
"You slaughtered an entire warehouse worth of souls." Carmilla reminded him, raising an amused eyebrow even as she used her unoccupied hand to wipe up some of the kool-aid running down her lips.
"Uh, yeah, after your little girls decided that raiding one of mine was a good idea." John recollected with a chuckle, glancing over at the woman with an eyebrow raised as a question. "Remind me, who could I have gone after?"
"Point made." To be fair, it hadn't been some kind of rebellious act, nor had it been anything to do with targeting John.
Clara and Odette had come to a fairly reasonable conclusion that the factory was the most profitable target with minimal risk, and John didn't exactly have a usual way of advertising where his property lay.
He did notably remember that their relationship had started the day he met her, considering sex was a far more preferable outcome of appeasement than the murder of her children, and she'd been the one to make the offer.
He refused to actually make a deal, but nonetheless took the offer. He'd be an idiot not too, with those hips and the nice pair of tits usually squeezed under her shirt.
"You know, I put those two on streetside duty for that one." Carmilla admitted with a small chuckle. "I still enjoyed the sex, but angering the one demon in all of Hell who could actually harm them was more than stupid enough to earn punishment."
"Yeah, I will agree with you there." Honestly, with the way John's operations were set up, most of his victims usually amounted to idiots thinking they knew what they were doing.
He didn't share much of his personal life, and he could personally give two shits if those who'd earned privilege shared what they learned.
Actually, a chuckle escaped him as the stray realization was made that Angel had probably already slipped up. He imagined the spider was probably sitting locked in his bedroom, muttering to himself that 'he's gonna kill me.'
Admittedly a cruel prank, but he knew Vanessa would get a kick out the spider's reaction.
The ding of a notification from his phone emitted from the table in front of the couch, and John instinctively leaned forward and swiped the object up off his desk as he looked at the screen.
A loud laughing fit startled his current company.
Vanessa: Angel's already panicking lol
"Sorry," John immediately apologized to Carmila once he came down from his laughter. "Angel got the VIP treatment yesterday, and Vanessa just texted me that he's already panicking about my name."
Carmilla actually looked like she was trying to fight the smile on her face, and her reply was twinged with amusement.
"Angel Dust? The porn star? John, you evil bastard."
John was shameless in his chuckling response.
John: Funny you say that. Literally just thought about it.
Vanessa: It's not actually panicking, but he's freaking out.
Vanessa: He's worried you'll be pissed because Charlie and Vaggie know your name now.
John actually blinked when he read that second message.
John: Vaggie? The fuck kind of name is Vaggie? Who is that anyway?
Vanessa: Hotel manager. Remember the princess "show"?
John looked up in thought for a moment, before instinctively turning to Carmilla when he couldn't immediately place the thought.
"What was the princess' show?"
"She's probably talking about the performance our dear princess put out on public television."
Ah, right. The 666 News Broadcast where Charlie had decided to sing her pitch for the Hotel.
Even John had to admit, there were worse ways to do it.
Another text from Vanessa pulled John from his thoughts, and he frowned in confusion when he read it.
Vanessa: The gray lady with the big bow tie and the angel spear
John immediately swiped away at his phone as he went to work searching for said lady.
"What are you doing?" Carmilla asked curiously as she leaned over her shoulder, her eyes glancing at his phone curiously.
"Vanessa said Angel told someone named Vaggie my name." Admittedly a snicker escaped him as he spoke it aloud. "Don't really care who he tells, people will probably think it's a nickname."
"Then why do I feel like you're searching for her?" Carmilla pointed out plainly. She knew as well as anyone else that John preferred blunt words to, as he called it, 'bullshit'.
"Because Ness gave me a description, and if I don't find the bitch, it'll fuck with me." It wasn't exactly a reason, but it was enough of an acceptable response for Carmilla to be satisfied.
John would admit, he had a knack for catching women in the moments they look their best.
They didn't tend to be the rough, passionate moments like many people thought.
No, for many of them, like Carmilla, it was when they were comfortable enough to sit casually in their birthday suits, small smiles on their beautiful faces as they found a type of peace that one didn't usually get in Hell.
So yes, there was something distinctly attractive about the stunning Overlord as she casually took a sip from her kool-aid with her long hair sprawled on the couch behind her back.
Nonetheless, John turned his gaze back to his phone, and pulled up a clip of the original broadcast to study.
It took a bit, didn't really notice anything until much later, but John eventually spotted the girl Vanessa had described.
The girl wore a rather plain outfit, admittedly a nice change of pace from the usual predominantly red outfits one tended to see when roaming the streets of Hell.
John froze, however.
It wasn't her outfit, her beauty, or even the bowtie that had immediately caught John's attention.
No, that position belongs to the Angel Spear currently grasped firmly between the woman's fingers, primed and ready to strike, accompanied by an eyepatch with an X over it.
Tack that on with the fact that the woman looked distinctly human, a development even the behemoth himself had come to learn was a rarity…
Well, the woman didn't exactly hide her true heritage well.
"Hey, Milla, take a look at this." John said, leaning over and twisting the phone for the woman to see better as her red eyes glanced over at the screen.
Only to widen in disbelief as she quickly swallowed her drink when John pointed this Vaggie out to her.
"Is that an Exorcist? " John thanked God himself that he wasn't the only one who noticed that.
"I don't know, but she ain't seemed to be causing too many problems." John could at least admit that, his southern accent slipping through more heavily. He'd have heard about a stray Exorcist to kill. No, anything this woman had done was nothing more notable than Hell's usual brand of violence.
Still, it was an Exorcist that knew his name. Not exactly a pleasing thought.
Something Carmilla seemed to believe.
"I'm not so sure I share that view, but I will trust your judgment." She didn't look sated, but between the two Exorcist killers, only one had a kill count that went above 1. "Though, to be frank, I think it unwise to let an Exorcist roam free in Hell."
"Well, the only reason I'm not is because I'm pretty sure this is the Princess' girlfriend." That earned a look of wide-eyed shock from the woman, her falling open in surprise when John said it. "Otherwise, I'd have me an Exorcist among my souls."
"Wouldn't that be a thought?" Carmilla asked with a small smirk.
John's eyes flicked up in thought, before he allowed himself to nod in response as an amused smile slipped onto his face.
"An Exorcist owned by a demon. Actually… yeah , it does sound interesting…"
There was an idea.
John's finger came to rest on his lips as he leaned forward and rested himself on his knees, allowing an actual concept to come into his head.
His deal with Heaven was quite simple. To sum it up, any Exorcist sent to the city had to deal with him by any means necessary.
And if there was an Exorcist in Hell…
A slow forming smirk began to take over the behemoth's face as he gave a hum of satisfaction.
He already had enough to get the ball rolling. He could shoot Angel a call, let the fact slip…
And if it served no real use, at the very least, it would piss Adam off.
Big time.
A/N: In case it isn't clear, the pairing in this story is much more open ended. I want that aspect to expand over the course of the story so that by the end, it feels like all the relationships are actually earned.
Which means that yes, some relationships may break, and while John may still got a harem, at this point in time it's entirely possible to say he could feasibly end up with a single woman.
All I will say is that regardless of any scenes between them, Vanessa as a permanent lover is off the table for reasons that should be obvious.
And I hope I've effectively established what kind of force John is. He's an enigmatic figure among Hell, almost like an urban legend, because nobody is really sure what it is that makes him tick.
They genuinely don't even know how to stay off his bad side, and that keeps many people on edge when he's mentioned.
With that said, I hope you enjoyed the chapter, and I'll see you in the next one.