Track 09: Charlie - Red Hot Chili Peppers (I had to)
Note: Each Entry Covers a Week.
Entry the First!
Helloooo, new diary! It's me, Charlie! :D We're going to have so much fun together! …I think. I mean, diaries are made to be filled and I'm filling you up, so…that would make you happy, right?
Right. o7 (there is a small smiley face drawn in crayon)
Anyways, it's been a week since THE HAPPY HOTEL officially opened! I'm soooo glad Adam changed the name back, and the hotel itself is just… :] :D \o/
(there is a crude picture of a large building with a fountain and grass with a sun shining above it. The words 'The Happiest Place In Hell!' are underlined with several arrows pointing to the building. The sun is also a smiley face)
I can't really express just how happy I am, seeing my dream come to life like this! And I mean that, it's just like I imagined it! :D
(a piece of paper has been inserted into the diary. It has the exact picture as before. The crudity is the same. It is over a century old.
On the grass, there are three figures that have been hurriedly scribbled out, but the words underneath are still legible. They read "Dad, Mom and Me!")
I just…I feel weird. It's like some kind of emotional whiplash that I keep forgetting I have. So many things have happened in such a short amount of time, it makes my head spin. Meeting Adam during E-Day, and everything afterwards. I know he said he wouldn't want to live in a shithole and fixed it up 'cause he's used to things being cleaner, but he says a lot of shit like that.
'Oh I accidentally made too much French Toast' or 'Oh I just happened to leave food out for Razzle and Dazzle and KeeKee and Nugget' or 'Oh I accidentally fixed the whole hotel' or 'Don't expect me to cook all the time' but then he cooks all the fucking time.
His food is really good, too. Mmm…
(two droplets of what appear to be saliva mar the pages)
I'm still sooo happy, but…Adam's supposed to be a real bastard. The bastard. The guy who's been Exterminating Eradicating my people for two thousand years, butchering souls, staking some out in front of my house…the guy who didn't defend mom and dad when they got kicked out of Eden, the guy who was so bad Eve ate The Apple to escape him.
…He's done all these nice things for me. Sure, he 'pretends' it's a side-benefit of him doing too much, but I'm not stupid. He's supported me, even after I, well, kinda sorta tried to start without him. But only because I was nervous!
It's just…why can't anyone else do that? Vaggie tries her best, but…well, she's kinda judgy. :'[ Sorry babe.
(there's a heart drawn on the page, with the letters C+V inside)
She is though. And it sucks. I love her so much, but sometimes… 'you can't trust Adam' or 'it's some kinda angle, trust me hun,' and then when I ask what she means she just clams up. How am I supposed to trust her when she won't even tell me why she hates him so much? Or…loves him and hates him. I see the longing in her eye sometimes. I'm afraid to poke at it, because she gets prickly. :[
(there is a crude drawing of a woman with white hair spiked up to resemble a porcupine. She is breathing fire for some reason)
But mostly…where are mom and dad? They should've been the ones supporting me. Neither of them have been answering my calls, not that I can even get mom's voicemail, and the last time I spoke to dad was when he rented the hotel.
THE PIECE OF SHIT HOTEL
…Why is it that the man (The First Man! The Dickmaster! :]) I was raised being taught to despise, has been the one supporting me the most?
Shit. Reading back, this wasn't supposed to be about Adam, but it mostly is. He's so confusing, though, I can't help but think about him all the time- wait, uh, no. He's on my mind a lot? Ugh. I don't know how to word it…
(there is a half-drawn heart quickly scribbled out)
Anyway, here's what happened this week. One of my ideas (that Adam agreed with! :]) was for us to all sit around the library table and talk about things that are important to us while we draw!
…
It was a strange tableau in the library of the Happy Hotel; Sinners of varying shapes, sizes and forms all sitting around a mahogany table, the surface scattered with pieces of paper and boxes of all sorts of art implements. From water colors to crayons, there was something that would bring color to a blank sheet.
Of course, Nifty was strapped to a booster seat, otherwise she'd be perched on Adam's shoulder.
"Okay, I'll go first!" Charlie announced, beaming as she held up a piece of paper that had several animals on it, "This is Razzle," she tapped one of the drawings of a goat-like demon orange fur, "And this is Dazzle," a similar demon with red fur, "And KeeKee!" An elegant black and white cat with a single red eye.
As if on cue, and it likely was considering Charlie was a Princess and sang her words, summoning animals was kind of a given, all three of her pets trotted out of their sleeping spots and up to the table. Razzle cantered over to Charlie and butted his head against her leg affectionately, while the cat hopped onto the table and strutted down the wood imperiously…and Dazzle wandered over to Adam and rested his head in the First Man's lap.
Adam looked down at the little demon, gold eyes meeting orange. Then he started petting Dazzle's head, scratching between his horns. "Don't chew on my robe if you know what's good for you," he muttered, going back to his own drawing.
Charlie beamed, especially when KeeKee hopped into Pentious' lap and curled up there, to the Snake Sinner's visible joy. "So, KeeKee is the key to the hotel, thanks for not changing her, Adam, but Razzle and Dazzle were created just after I was born! They're my bodyguards, my mounts and my best friends since I was a child!" She hugged Razzle joyfully, the goat demon nuzzling against her chin.
Vaggie smiled at the sight of her girlfriend so happily cuddling her pet, before a thought occurred. "Er, babe," she started cautiously, wincing a little as Charlie turned that bright smile on her, "Razzle and Dazzle are awesome, don't get me wrong…but they weren't your only friends…right?"
"Of course not!" The Princess grinned, "I was pen-pals with other Hellborne from other rings, I've gone to birthday parties and galas and…well, out. I mean…it's been a while, but still. I wasn't friendless or anything."
"Um, not to be provocative or anything, Charlie," Husk said tentatively, "But you said 'was.' Was pen-pals with other Hellborne."
Charlie shrugged, smile dimming a bit. "You know, you have a radical idea or two and maybe they stopped returning my calls, it's no big deal."
"Sounds like it was a big deal to me, dear Princess!" Alastor chimed in with a chuckle, blithely ignoring the dirty look Vaggie shot him.
"Yeah, that fucking sucks, Charlie," Adam added, barely looking up from his drawing. When he did, he squinted at the paper. "What's with the two worm things?"
Charlie looked at her drawing. "Oh, those aren't worms, those are Razzle and Dazzle's true form! Or…battle forms, I guess," she shrugged, "I did say they're my bodyguards, too."
The First Man looked at the draconic figures on the page, then down at the adorably cartoonish goat demon falling asleep on his lap. "…Well shit, what right do you little things have to be that kick-ass?" He muttered, scratching Razzle's ear, "I wouldn't want any non-dragon friends either."
The Princess frowned briefly before turning to her girlfriend. "Alright, Vaggie, your turn! …If you're done drawing, that is." She hugged Razzle a little tighter, trying not to let her memories get to her.
"Yeah, sure, uh…" The fallen held up a picture of what looked like a dusty red morbidly obese squirrel with a bushy tail and tiny hands, "This is…was, I guess, my chinchilla, Chili Bean. Or just Chili. She was a gift from my grandma, and I had her for about fifteen years before…I died. She was sweet and soft, like hugging a little cloud. I…guess she survived me? They can live up to thirty years, so…yeah." She shot Adam a look as he snorted with a smile. "What? Gonna say you invented them, or something?"
"Eve did, actually," the First Man replied, still not looking up from the table, drawing with one hand as he idly petted Dazzle with the other, "Same reason, too. She wanted to hug a cloud and not get wet, so she worked backwards from that and bam, chinchilla. Adorable little fuckers…"
"Oh," Vaggie blinked and decided to let it lie, setting her paper down on the table and smiling as Charlie took her hand.
"Husk, you're next if you want to share your story," the Princess spoke up, turning to the cat demon.
Husk looked up from his drawing, idly sipping from his flask. "Oh, my story isn't all that interesting. Orphan, not unusual in that day. Lady who ran the place was the kindest I'd ever met. She ran the whole thing, by herself. Her and a fat old sheepdog named Isaac. Heh, he wasn't much of a fetcher, but he'd always come up to my seat at dinner. He knew I couldn't resist those eyes. Had to leave when I was sixteen, even then I felt bad about taking advantage of her hospitality and I'd always had a knack for cards. Taking suckers for their pocket change seemed like the simplest thing...so that's what I did. Heh. I was damn good at it, too." He shook himself out of his memories and let the page rest on an edge. "Anyways, here's Isaac."
"Wow, that's a nice drawing, Husk!" Charlie enthused, studying a very well-made depiction of a sheepdog, drawn in colored pencil. It showed a rotund dog sprawled on a couch, tongue flopping out onto a cushion as it slept.
"A man of many talents, our Husker is," Alastor added with a chuckle, the sound of his heel tapping under the table to some beat only he could hear.
"Yeah, keep telling me stories about your dog or whatever," Angel Dust added, leaning on a hand giving the cat demon a flirtatious look, "Just keep talking, mmm…"
Husk grimaced and looked away, "I'd rather not," he turned a curious look towards Adam, missing the flash of disappointment on Angel's face, "Actually, I'd like to know how they were created, Adam. If you don't mind sharing."
The First Man glanced up, a pretzel stick between his teeth like a cigarette. "Funny story, the Whore Created hyenas," Charlie frowned at the invective, "Which explains a lot, if you know what I fuckin' mean. Anyways, we liked the idea but wanted something a bit less bitchy…heh, bitchy," he chuckled to himself, "So we spent like…two months? Maybe more, just spinning off different breeds like wolves and foxes or whatnot. Man, you should've seen the debate over whether foxes were felines or canines…Michael and Uriel got so mad they started wrestling and fell out of Eden, heh. The Fucker never forgave them for ending the dinosaurs, even if it was an accident."
The Sinners traded surprised looks. "…You gonna elaborate on that at all?" Vaggie asked, genuinely interested.
"No, fuck you," he instantly replied, jabbing another pretzel stick at Pentious who jerked, startling KeeKee into jumping off of his lap, "Your turn, you slithery shit."
"Oh, uh, very well," the snake sinner turned his paper around to show them a well-done drawing of a bird with a curved pinkish beak and greenish-yellow plumage. "This was Sampson, my dearest pet parrot. He was a gift from a few shady fellows I may have helped smuggle a thing or two for." He sighed, lightly stroking the picture with a finger, scowling as one of his Egg Boiz did the same and flicking it away. "He was the greatest pet a genius like I could ever hope for…"
"Because he was the only way you could have an intelligent conversation?" Adam chipped in, smirking as Pentious laughed and nodded in agreement.
"Indeed, Sir Adam! Dearest Sampson, smartest bird in the world," the slithery inventor murmured, "He got sick near the end of my life, so I flew him all the way back home to let him teach the others before he croaked. I hope his last words were 'Cogito, ergo sum.' At least, they should've been, those were the first words I taught him."
"I think he probably would've tasted like chicken," the Radio demon added, wincing as Adam flicked a crayon at his head, "What, he was a bird."
"And now I'm giving you one," the First Man replied, giving Alastor the middle finger. He blinked, noticing the Sinners were looking at him expectantly, even the fallen. "…What, you want me to fuckin' explain how birds were Created?"
They all nodded.
He sighed, arching an eyebrow as the one-eyed cat jumped onto his lap, occupying one leg while a sleeping Razzle took the other. "Fuckin' National Geographic is what I am now, just goddamn great…" Adam rubbed his temples as he cast his mind back, "Alright, after Uriel and Michael had their little tussle and landed on Earth, the impact killed the dinosaurs. Well, not the impact so much as the flames of re-entry. See, Earth being as wild as it was, it was covered in megaflora and so was hyper-oxygenated. Add to that the literal shitton of methane giant herbivores gave off naturally, and their little tussle ended up lighting the atmosphere on fire. It went out, naturally, 'cause of all the water, but the ash covered the atmosphere and plunged the world into winter. The big ol' dinos that survived had a lot less food and evolved to eat less and got smaller. Plus it was cold, so more feathers. Fuckin' hence, birds."
"Er, wait," Charlie interjected, "My mom said she Created the dodo, though…"
"The Whore did, yeah," Adam nodded, now leaning on his hand, not missing the way the Princess frowned, "And I created the T-Rex, by accident. We already had birds and feathered lizards, they just kinda conjoined later on down the line in some places." He shrugged grandly, "Life, uh, life finds a way."
The Sinners traded looks. None of them got the reference, if he was making one. "So, Nifty," Charlie said, looking down the table to the small sinner gleefully kicking her legs in her booster seat, "What did you draw?"
"Nifty drew Nifty's Nifty!" The maid demon proudly announced, holding up what kinda looked like a cat…if you tilted your head and squinted, which they all did. It was drawn with very rigid, straight lines except for a pair of large, sparkly black eyes.
"That's…kinky," Angel shrugged, squinting his eyes at it, "But what kinda pet is it, exactly?"
"She was neat and hairless and clean and nifty!" Nifty explained, "Everyone I showed her to said the same thing, 'ooh, that's a nifty cat!' So Nifty's cat was Nifty the cat! She loved hunting vermin and leaving them as little presents for Nifty…such a good cat…"
Adam lifted a hand, the tiny cyclops instantly focusing on him. "So, if your cat was named Nifty because she was nifty, did you name yourself Nifty after the cat Nifty or because you're nifty?"
She blinked at him, smiling widely. "Yes."
He shrugged. "Fair."
"How's my drawing, Clean One?" She eagerly waved her paper in his direction.
"Bold clean lines, it's good, sister," Adam gave her a thumbs up and Nifty giggled, attempting to break free from her booster chair again. He settled her with a sippy cup full of whiskey and lemonade; they'd learned not to give her a glass after she'd tried to shatter the last one and use a shard to cut herself free. "Alright, history lesson on fuckin' cats…we already had large and small canids, and we wanted something similar but different, not quite opposite so, instead of being endurance runners, cats are fast over short distances, obligate carnivores instead of occasionally omnivorous, and more agile and shit for hopping through trees. Eve realized their hunting instincts would make them good for taking care of mice and rats and whatnot, and made a bunch of small kinds."
He returned to his drawing. Charlie looked at Vaggie, who shrugged. "Is that it?"
Adam glanced up at them. "Yeah, that's it. Sometimes it really was that fuckin' simple. Eve wanted some adorable little assholes and that's what she got," he scratched his chin as KeeKee did the same on his lap, "That was it. Speaking of assholes." He pointed at Angel Dust.
"Christ, way to ruin my fun," the pornstar muttered, sliding his page into the center of the table, "That's a drawing of my baby, Fat Nuggets!" He brought the selfsame pig out from under the table, where it had been apparently sleeping in his lap. "He's just the most adorable little fella, ain't he?" He snuggled the pig and set him down on the table. "Bein' honest, I didn't actually have a pet when I was alive. Didn't have time to take care of one, though my sister had a pig just like Nuggs- no! Spit that out!"
The pig had wandered over to Sir Pentious, who had started petting the round little demon as it sniffed around his drawing, a couple of his Egg Boiz hopping onto the table to investigate. Fat Nuggets had poked one with his nose, sniffed it a couple of times, then-
Crunch.
Tried to eat one. They could hear the Egg Boi screaming inside of the pig's mouth, little arms flailing as the others screeched in panic and tried to run away, with one grabbing onto the legs of the Boi in Nugget's mouth and trying to pull him out.
Pentious was laughing and clapping as Angel grabbed his pet pig and shook him, making Nugget spit the cracked Egg Boi onto the table. "Don't eat those!" The spider demon scolded, setting the pig on the other side of the table, "You don't know where they've been! …Probably up his ass."
The snake sinner gave Angel the finger as the pig trotted down the other side of the table. He sniffled around Adam's drawing, looking up at the First Man and oinking softly. Adam reached over and scratched the pig's head. "If you made music, you'd be DJ Bacon Bit," he said randomly.
Angel blinked. "A-anyway, my sister had a pig just like Fat Nuggets when we were alive…used to make cookies, muffins and even cupcakes that looked like that pig," Adam glanced over at the pornstar, eyes narrowed, "What? She actually made some money doing that." Adam shrugged and went back to drawing. "…Anyway, that's all I got. Found Nuggs down here, reminded me of that ol' porkchop and adopted him on the spot…awwww…"
Fat Nuggets had hopped down from the table and was now also occupying a space in the First Man's lap, next to KeeKee and Razzle. Adam didn't seem slightly perturbed by the amount of animals now laying all over him. "I didn't have anything to do with pigs and whatnot," he announced under their expectant looks, "I Named a lot of animals, Created a lot, too, but not all of them. I played mediator sometimes."
That was all he offered.
Alastor tapped his fingers on the table, a smile ever-present. "I suppose that means it's my turn, then! Behold, Humphrey!" He showed them a picture made from water colors, depicting a blood-red betta fish in a bowl, with a scattering of blue rocks and a small house at the bottom, "A finer fish you never did see, eh? A grand companion for a bachelor such as myself, always listened and never talked back, loved the radio almost as much as I did, oh yes he was quite the pet, Humphrey was."
Charlie silently pinged Adam.
Ministar has sent Dickmaster a chat request.
Dickmaster: What's up?
MS: It sounds like Alastor actually liked his pet fish, but how much do you want to bet there's some kinda creepy reason behind it?
DM: Sucker's bet.
"Of course, fish make the perfect pets," Alastor chuckled, lightly spinning the picture with his finger, "They're completely dependent on their owner for…well, absolutely everything. A home, food, water, decorations…or even whether or not they just swim about aimlessly in an empty bowl…or flop about in the dregs, struggling even to breathe…" His laughter was echoey and fuzzed with static.
MS: … :\
DM: Told ya.
"Thanks for sharing, Alastor," Charlie said with a smile that didn't even try to reach her eyes, "Adam, you're last!"
The First Man hummed thoughtfully and passed the page of paper to the Princess, who gasped as she looked at the drawing. He'd been using a single, regular pencil, and she'd been half expecting a bunch of random doodles and stick figures. That was not what he'd drawn.
There were five wolves, four of them circled around an outcropping of rock while the fifth stood proudly atop it, glaring at the viewer with eyes that practically glowed in the moonlight. Although done entirely in pencil, the animals looked so photo-realistic it seemed like they were almost about to jump from the page.
"Those were my Bitches," Adam explained as the drawing made the round, "After a while, I figured out how to tame canines, it wasn't all that hard. Give 'em food, affection and a safe place to sleep, show 'em you get more food working together and bam, loyal hounds. They were already family-oriented creatures, so it wasn't difficult. Eve had her own little group, a bunch of cats to keep our stockpiles clear, but I took my Bitches out hunting with me. Also invented the first dog-sled, too."
Charlie watched as the Sinners looked at the drawing, and as she took in all the artwork they'd all made, she smiled. It was a small step, sure, but it was an important one for sharing more intimate details and building further trust down the line. Although, there was a question on her mind. "Adam?" She asked, the First Man looking up from the small menagerie of animals on his lap, "You said my dad never forgave…Michael and Uriel, right? For ending the dinosaurs? What does that mean?"
Adam peered at her, squinting thoughtfully. "Lucifuck had a bright idea one day. Dragons. Not komodo dragons or whatever, giant, fire-breathing scaly lizards that flew. We said 'oh, sounds cool, asshole, how the fuck would that work in reality?' and then he said, 'I'll show you how!' and then he started making dinosaurs. Giant lizards. He kept making different kinds and then when it wouldn't work, he'd dump it on Earth. Obviously, we couldn't let them starve so bam, plants. They didn't have any natural predators at the time so they started getting real big."
"And that's where the T-Rex came in?" Husk asked.
He shrugged. "Eh, kinda. See, Earth was basically a testing ground at the time. Wanted to see how a Creation we weren't sure of would work, Create it, plop it on Earth and see what happened. Still, That Fucker kept going despite fucking it up over and over, even tried to lobby the whole Seraphim to change physics so his giant fire-breathing lizards could fly without looking like pterodactyls, but after the Great Bumblebee Debacle, it was a rule we wouldn't do that anymore." Adam snapped his fingers, summoning a glass of something brown with ice cubes bobbing in it and downed the whole thing in about two gulps, "And still, he kept trying. And still, when it kept failing, he just kept dumping the failures on Earth."
Charlie frowned uneasily, running her fingers through Dazzle's mane as the First Man continued to talk.
"All that shit combined together, giant lizards, giant plants, oxygen and methane…" Adam shook his head, "It was obviously gonna get ruined somehow. Michael and Uriel getting pissed was just the last straw."
"So, wait," Angel Dust spoke up, pausing in his idle drawing of a pig-shaped cupcake, "You're saying that…Lucifer killed the dinosaurs?"
"He caused the chain of events that led to it, yeah," Adam nodded, "Eventually something would've set it off, a volcano or even a lightning strike in the wrong place and woosh."
"But it was the other angels that caused the impact, not him!" Vaggie interjected, holding Charlie's hand and shooting Adam a look, "You can't blame him for trying to make a dream real-"
"-You see, that was his problem," Adam cut in, his voice harsh and low, "He had a big idea and he fuckin' had to make it real and fuck the consequences. The Seraphim, me and even Lilith tried to talk him down, make him compromise; best we could do within the limits of physical reality was basically a pterodactyl that had acid spit, but no. Li'l Lucy wanted motherfucking dragons, and motherfucking dragons was what he was gonna get, damn everyone else. He had an idea, a cool idea, even- dragons are fuckin' sweet, I wish they actually existed-"
Razzle bleated in protest, and the First Man scratched the goat demon's horn, "You don't count," he muttered, turning back to the table at large, "-but he wouldn't let it go and he wouldn't compromise and hey look, his lack of fuckin' foresight led to the world getting set on-fucking-fire, destroying his entire goddamn project in one fell fucking swoop and led to everyone banning him from making shit on that scale ever again." Adam leaned back in his chair, suddenly seeming very tired as he rubbed his eyes, giving Charlie a look between his fingers, "See, if this was a story, that's what we'd call foreshadowing."
The whole table fell silent, almost, Alastor leaning back in his chair with a teacup in one hand, legs crossed and chuckling quietly to himself.
The Princess licked her lips, casting her mind about for anything to restore the previous if tentative camaraderie that had been slowly building; Vaggie was glaring at Adam, Angel, Husk and Pentious were awkwardly eyeing the first two and Nifty…was Nifty.
"S-so," she cleared her throat, "You said something about a bumblebee debacle? And the angels getting mad at each other?"
Adam nodded and relaxed, interlacing his fingers. "Pfft, not just the angels. You think your parent's relationship was perfect? Shit, you should've seen some of the screaming matches they got into about the dumbest things."
Charlie hugged Dazzle, the goat demon nuzzling her chest. "…I know their relationship wasn't perfect," she admitted quietly, looking up at Adam. He gave a sad, sardonic little grin, but there was sympathy in his eyes. "What'd they fight over?"
"A lot," the First Man replied bluntly, rolling his eyes as he thought back, "The dumbest thing, though…ducks."
"…Ducks?" she asked, her question echoed by the table.
"Yeah, fuckin' ducks," Adam nodded, giving KeeKee a scratch before the cat hopped off of his lap and slunk off, "Thought they were gonna beat the shit out of each other, honestly. Wasn't even the whole duck, just the sound it would make. We had all sorts of birds that made all sorts of noises, ones that peeped and cheeped and chirped, barked, precked, hooted, cooed, cawed, whistled, sang and shrilled. Lucifuck said the duck had a different type of beak, so it should make a different type of noise. The Whore just wanted to change the beak, then, but he argued that it was a waterfowl and needed one that wasn't for fishing like a heron." He shrugged. "I told them it should quack."
Husk held up a finger. "Quack? Why?"
Adam shrugged again. "Well it wasn't quite the same as a swan's beak or a gooses' beak, so I thought, hm, maybe it would make a different noise. Quack. Worked for me, and That Fucker, turns out."
Charlie sat back in her chair, running a hand through her hair. "…Huh," she muttered, "Last time I saw my dad, and even before, he was obsessed with ducks. Spent all his time on them, and never really explained why…"
The First Man nodded in realization. "Yeah, it's a bad sign for a relationship when half of it gets obsessed with ducks."
She tilted her head curiously. "Why's that?"
"Because that's when the quacks start to show," he replied.
Charlie stared at him, expression blank.
Adam stared back, slowly arching an eyebrow.
She blinked once.
He arched both eyebrows.
Her lower lip started to tremble.
He waggled his eyebrows at her.
Charlie burst into laughter, clutching her pet as she bent over in mirth, resting her head on the table. She looked up at him, tears in her eyes, and cackled again. "Quacks!"
Adam chuckled to himself, setting Fat Nuggets on the table and standing up. "There, nice note to end on 'cause we're done, and I'm done sharing. I'm going to take a nap, fuck y'all."
Charlie waved him off as he strode deeper into the library, still laughing. "Puns are the lowest form of humor, you know!" Alastor called after the First Man.
"Well it's a good thing we're in Hell, isn't it?!" Adam called back.
"…Touche," the Radio demon bobbed his head and continued painting.
Vaggie was covering her face in embarrassment. "God, babe, why do you have to find puns so funny?" She groaned into her palms.
"Because they are," the Princess shot back, sticking her tongue out at her girlfriend.
And with that, they settled around the table, still peacefully drawing.
Further into the library, Adam's voice echoed back. "…I was here first, find your own napping spot."
"Meow!"
"Then use the back or something, I don't care."
"Mrrow!"
"No. Get off."
"Meow!"
"Wha-hey! Mmfm!"
"Mrrrrow…"
Adam's voice was oddly muffled. "Get. Off. Of my face."
"Mrrreow!"
"What do you mean you don't take orders from- Charlie! Get your pussy off of my face!"
Charlie cupped a hand around her mouth and yelled back, "No! It sounds like my pussy enjoys being on your face!"
"Meow!"
"Ugh…whatever."
Chuckling, Charlie turned back to the table, her eyes on Adam's wolves as she tried, and failed, to recreate them on her own page. In crayon.
"Not that I don't enjoy a good nap," Husk started.
"Stereotype," Angel Dust teased.
"You're one to talk," the cat demon shot back, "But…it seems like Adam naps a lot, right? I'm not the only one who noticed that?"
"Prolly goes home every night and plows angels instead of sleeping," Vaggie muttered, glaring at her drawing of a chinchilla almost…resentfully.
"Jealous, dear Vagatha?" Alastor chipped in, smiling as the fallen shot him a venomous look, "Ooh, did I strike a nerve? Or perhaps it is the lack of such?"
"That's not my name," Vaggie growled, shooting a glance at Charlie only to see that her girlfriend was giving her an almost commiserating look. "…What?"
Charlie merely winked secretively.
…
I fuckin' knew it! \o/
Now I just gotta get Vaggie onboard with the threesome idea, since I knew she wanted him already but is being a big dumb-dumb about it! I bet if we work together, we could definitely climb that tree! 3
And I mean, we'd have to work on Adam, but…come on. Vaggie a little more curvy than I am, sure-
(there's a picture of an hourglass and lipstick markings on the page)
-but I know I'm hot, too, I wouldn't have pulled such a babe otherwise. The two of us, then three of us…?
(there is a long line of pencil lead)
Er, sorry, Diary, I lost track of thought. My dream project is off to a better start than I could've hoped, and my personal project is looking good! Very, very good…
Talk to you later!
…
Entry Two.
Sorry, Diary, I meant to update you earlier, but…I just haven't been feeling it. Not for anything like, superbad or whatever, just…
The more I hear about my parents, Adam and Heaven, the more I realize I don't know all that much. :[
I thought I knew everything I needed to but holy shit, things are way more complex than I first thought. I'm not sure I like it.
It started off really well. Vaggie and me were paired up for the maze and got through it no problem (love you babe! 3) and being able to cuddle a bit was nice.
(there is a crude drawing of two lumps on what looks like a couch, one with white hair and the other yellow. There is a small red heart floating above them)
Second out was Adam and Nifty. I'm not sure how, but Adam can just wrangle Nifty no problem. It's nice that he trusts her to let her ride on his shoulder, though! We played Parcheesi, though I didn't win this time.
Nifty won…somehow. She didn't make any bets, so…dodged that, I guess?
Then, after everyone showed up (and everyone made it through on time, too! \o/) we went to the library again, but it was more for free time. Instead of drawing, I just wanted everyone to read some books, relax, listen to some music, chat and whatnot. Could draw, too.
(there is a page stuck into the diary. It has a crude drawing of the two white and blonde lumps, now sitting on another, larger lump in a robe with brown hair. There are three red hearts floating above them)
I was starting to feel antsy, I have randomly since I tried some 'Consequence-Free Violence' which was a lot of fun, ignoring the screaming and blood and stuff, all those Sinners respawned later at least. I've tried to work it out on Vaggie, but I don't want her to think I'm after her for her body or anything. So I had…what seemed like a good idea at the time, and I asked Adam if he would give me those pointers he offered two weeks ago.
O_O Oh man. Vaggie looked like I'd just summoned her chinchilla and strangled it in front of her. I told her, 'you know, babe, I know you're pretty good with your weapons, I've seen you training before, and you never offered to teach me so I figured you didn't want to!' And that didn't make it better. So she offered to come with us, but I told her no. Adam offered me pointers, so it was gonna be him and me.
…Plus, I wanted to spend some time alone with him. Not that I could say that, for obvious reasons, and though I like DMing the DM (heh :]) talking to him is just…easy. I also didn't say that.
Vaggie got mad. Not at me though, at Adam. I'm like, it was my decision, babe! If you're gonna be mad at someone it should probably be me!
…Not that I want her mad at me. But, I mean, come on.
Anyways, we went out into this copse of trees on the grounds (I made sure to set up the ward so no one could spy on us, just so we didn't get interrupted and nothing else I swear!) and things were going well…
(I'm super glad I turned the snake and the apple into a heart and chain, sidenote.)
…
"Power's all well and good against little bitches like the ones we fought in Turf War Central, but it's a crutch and a weakness against someone who knows what they're fuckin' doing," Adam lectured an enthralled Charlie, who was watching him idly twirl her trident between his fingers like it was a baton, the HellMetal singing as it cut the air, "Actual combat effectiveness is the result of many things. It's Power (speed and strength), plus Skill, plus Control and multiplied by Experience. A weaker opponent who has more experience is far deadlier than a more powerful opponent with less. Sure, you can jump the gap with more of any, but experience is the best."
While spinning the trident with one hand, he snapped his fingers and summoned three plain, featureless dummies in a triangle around him. He gripped the shaft and turned, the leftmost point carving through the throat of the dummy to his left while the spike on the butt slashed open the neck of the dummy to his right, and a quick swipe opened the throat of the middle. Had it been a real fight, it would've taken two seconds and two moves to kill three enemies.
"Wooow," Charlie murmured as the dummies fell to the ground and vanished.
Adam grinned. "Obviously in a real fuckin' fight they aren't gonna stand around, as you know. Here," he held the trident out to her, "Show me what you know."
With another dummy summoned, Charlie went through the very basics of what she knew; stabbing, jabbing, poking, prodding, impaling and a good few whacks. Breathing a little heavy, she turned to look at him with an expectant eyebrow. "So?"
"Well, your fundamentals are at least rock-fuckin'-solid, so there's that," he started, running a hand through his hair, "I know I say it a lot, but seriously, your parents fucking suck. I get wanting to protect their kid, believe me, but letting you rely on your aura your whole life is gonna get you fuckin' stabbed at the worst possible moment."
"'Aura?' What do you mean by that?" Charlie let the insult to her mom and dad pass, which she'd been doing a lot of lately, and not just because it wasn't worth getting angry about…she was also starting to believe it. Just a little. Secretly.
The First Man squinted at her, tapping his chin in thought. "It's like…have you ever taken a hit that should've hurt but didn't?"
"Mmhm," she nodded, rubbing her ear, "During the first day of trust exercises, a Sinner hit me on the head with a steel chair…I think? It didn't hurt or anything, but the noise really scared me." She snapped her fingers in remembrance, "Oh, and a couple times I got hit with a sword and it didn't even cut my jacket! …I would've been pissed if it had."
He chuckled slightly as she rubbed her jacket, practically hugging herself as she did, "Yeah, that. It's this thing where the more power you have, the stronger you…are? Fuck, no, it's…it's not like a shield or anything, once you pass a certain threshold on power, everyone under that threshold just can't hurt you. I mean, there are certain weapons and abilities, even places that can nullify it, but in essence…you have a lot of it. Essence, I mean. It's like…the more power you have, the more…dense…you are?" Adam growled softly, scrubbing a hand across his cheek.
Charlie smiled to herself. Watching Adam think himself in circles was both fairly entertaining and rather endearing, almost like watching a dog chase his tail. "…So it's like there's more you…per you?" She offered.
"Yeah," he bobbed his head, "You, that is, all of you, there's just…more of it. Fuck, I'm not explaining this right. Just relying on it ain't gonna cut it in the long run, so I'm gonna sure as shit make sure you don't. But how, is the question." He tapped his chin in thought before grinning. "Aha!"
With a snap of his fingers, he summoned another dummy that carried a staff, then closed his eyes and pressed his hands together like he was praying. The dummy sprang to life, twirling the staff around and beckoning to Charlie. She looked between Adam and the dummy and gasped. "Oh! You're controlling it? That's so cool, I didn't know you could do that!"
"Yeah, but I'm not Michael, I can't hold this shit forever," he muttered, the dummy poking the side of her head with the staff.
For the next hour or so, Charlie sparred with the dummy in-between it showing her a few different stances and some quick moves, her noises of exertion echoing through the trees.
Charlie blocked a series of quick strikes aimed at her chest, tilted her head to narrowly avoid a swipe and hopped over a sweep, bringing the shaft up as the dummy spun and jumped, taking the staff in a two-handed grip to slam it down on her trident with surprising strength, forcing her weapon down. Something flashed in her mind and she just knew the dummy would choke up its grip on the staff and jab her with the end, so she tilted her trident just a bit and the end of the staff went under her arm instead. "Ha-ha!" She clamped her arm down and used the staff and her trident as leverage, yanking the dummy off-balance.
Then with a quick spin of her trident, she swept the feet out from under the dummy and stabbed it through the chest with the butt spike.
There was a moment, then Charlie whooped, looking at Adam with a beaming grin on her face. "I did it!" She cheered, jumping as the trident shook. The dummy was slowly pulling itself up the shaft with a series of squelching, flesh-ripping noises, reaching a shaking hand out towards her face…and booping her on the nose. Then it disappeared.
"That was a tricky little move, Charlie," Adam complimented as he stood up, stretching out his back with a couple of cracks, "But don't forget that woulda killed someone. Defending yourself is one thing, but taking a life…is quite another." He blinked. "Oh wait, I kinda forgot we were in Hell and you killed a bunch of Sinners already." He snapped his fingers and a tray with two glasses appeared, floating in between them.
Charlie grabbed a glass, eyed the iced brown liquid inside warily, then shrugged and sipped. "Ooh, lemonade and iced tea," she murmured, licking her lips. Then she turned to look at Adam. "How did you forget you were in Hell?"
"Uh, you know," he waved his hand at their surroundings, "Trees, grass, fresh air, not red, you, that stuff…I mean, it was kinda the point of changing the Hotel up, besides…"
The Princess tilted her head curiously, noting that he wasn't looking at her and even seemed…almost embarrassed? Her mind connected the dots, and a smile curled her lips. Personal project is looking very good. Then another thought occurred. "What you said about taking a life…" She started, "It doesn't sound like you enjoy it all that much."
"Why would I?" He scoffed, chugging his drink, "Nothing to enjoy about it."
Charlie frowned. That didn't gel at all with what she knew. "But…you said it was a party, Eradicating Sinners. I mean, I've heard you laughing while you've torn people in half-"
"-Sinners, not people," Adam interrupted, a scowl on his face, "The distinction there is very important. Killing people is a serious, solemn business. Killing Sinners is a party. Purifying souls, removing them from this literal Hell, giving them another shot…why wouldn't that be a party? Something worth celebrating? Why wouldn't I enjoy, by my own hands, making even this shithole slightly better, one screaming Sinner at a time?"
She shrank back as he loomed over her, his wings spread and eyes glowing. Despite the spike of fear in her blood, Charlie swallowed and spoke. "…It doesn't sound like you enjoy it," she said, licking her lips, "It sounds like you make yourself enjoy it." She remembered the video from E-Day.
Adam, standing alone in a room full of cooling corpses, each having been mercy-killed in his embrace. "This is why it's supposed to be a party…"
He snarled and turned away from her, flinging the glass in a random direction. "So fucking what?" The glass dissipated into glittering light instead of shattering. "No one else is gonna do it, so I might as goddamned well get some fun out of it! Who cares that I can't sleep? …Who cares that I'm so fucking tired all the time…" He went rigid.
Charlie reached out and grabbed his hand, trying to pull him around but he stood still as a statue, so she circled around his side. "Adam?" She asked softly, a pain in her heart at the sight of his golden eyes trembling, "Why do you do it, then? Why lead the Eradications if this is what they do to you?"
Adam blinked slowly. "…Why?" He turned to look at her, his gaze terrifyingly blank, "Why? …Because someone has to. Because someone needs to keep Heaven safe! Someone has to keep Sinners in line! Someone has to take responsibility! Someone has to teach the bastards how to be good, and it sure as shit isn't gonna be their Fucking King!" Charlie felt her back touch the bark of a tree, unaware that she'd been stepping back as The First Man started to shout, face wild, eyes maniac…and wings, drooping to touch the grass, "And who better to discipline some unruly children than the First Father? Well guess what…Daddy's home, and the belt's coming off!"
By the end, Adam was panting, chest heaving for breath as he leaned over Charlie. She looked up at him, the artificial sun glowing behind his head, casting the sweat in his hair as crystalline drops and his face into shadow…except for his eyes.
In his eyes, there was that glaze again. He stood in front of her, peered into her eyes, and yet…
…Whoever he was seeing, it wasn't Charlie.
Tentatively, she reached up, her pale fingers brushing the rough stubble on his cheek, and Adam gasped as if he'd been doused in ice water. He reeled back away from her, hands clutching at his hair as if to tear it out as he sucked in deep gasps.
Charlie didn't know what to do, watching the First Man trying to regain his breath. All she could do was think, and what she thought…It was like a spider's web, fully strung, and at the center…
Adam muttered something under his breath and turned away, making to stride away from her.
"Adam?" She hated how small her voice sounded. He stopped, but didn't turn back. "…How many of your children did you kill?"
His wings slumped to the ground, more like an extension of his robe than the grand feathered appendages they were. "…I don't know," he admitted with a raw, painful chuckle, "Not all of them, I know that much, but…most of them. What kind of Father can't keep count of their own dead children, huh?"
Charlie opened her mouth to say something, but words escaped her.
Adam sighed, a long, weary breath and walked away from her, disappearing into the copse of trees like a specter.
"…I'm sorry," she whispered.
There was no one there to hear her whisper, nor the soft sobs that followed.
…
It sucked. :[
I'm writing this in the middle of the night because I can't sleep. I haven't seen Adam for two days, and…well, I did something kinda bad. I used my control over the hotel and…made the walls transparent just for me, and I peeked into Adam's room.
He's not doing anything. Just…laying in bed, holding on to something around his neck, and staring up at the ceiling. He barely blinks, just…stares.
…I always thought he was kinda lazy, taking naps all the time. I mean, it made sense, Heaven's gotta be so peaceful there's nothing better to do than nap, right? But now…
…Does Adam ever actually sleep?
(there are a few half-made drawings, each scribbled out)
I just don't know what to do. I used to be so scared of the Head Exterminator Eradicator that when I stood on that rooftop, I was about to pee myself from fear. Then I got to see his face, and after that I realized…he's a human. First or not, he's still a person. I've seen him mad (that was also really scary), amused, laughing, grumpy, sleepy, suspicious, loving, confused, cold and all these other things I didn't think he could feel before I actually knew him…
…Which sounds really bad now that I write this out. :'[
(there is a drawing of a blonde lump, circled with an X through it that says 'Kind of a Bitch' and an arrow pointing to it)
What the fuck mom and dad?
But then there are these moments where it all falls away and I see him. And underneath it all he's just so…sad, and tired that…it makes my heart hurt. And…I don't know what to do. I don't know how to fix it.
(tear drops mar the page)
But…I have to try. Something or someway to make him…better.
I have to pee…I'm not sure why I wrote that.
…
Okay, I have an idea! So, after I went to the bathroom, I did the uh, kinda naughty thing and looked through the wall. Adam was in the same place, but then his Halo started glowing. He got up and for a second I almost freaked because I thought he saw me somehow, but then he just got this regretful look and shook his head. Then he opened up a portal and a bunch of angels pulled him through, and he looked happy to see them!
He was thinking about coming to me! To talk! To me! I mean, he didn't…:'[ but still! Progress!
So, now I know what to do! Kinda…I don't think I can just fix what's wrong with Adam by myself. But I sure as shit can try! \o/
Tomorrow begins Operation: NO MORE TEARS.
The plan - Hug Adam every time he seems sad or in need of a hug! Fill the hole in him with affection! FILL ALL HIS HOLES WITH LOVE!
…Wait.
Er. Just hugs. More hugs, more affection. I'll support him until he knows he can lean on me! 3
(there is a drawing that looks somewhat like a traffic cone made of gold feathers, with two lumps of brown and blonde hair)
And Vaggie, too! 3 3
(there is the same picture, with a white-haired lump added)
And everyone else, too! 333
(a repeat of the same picture, but with more figures all wrapped around the traffic-cone lumps. A red figure with a wide smile is off to the side with ? next to it)
Next week, Operation: NO MORE TEARS will begin! (I forgot Adam won't come back until Monday, whoops)
Until the next progress report!
Ministar, out!
…
Entry Three.
Oh god. Oh God. OH GOD. OH GOD. I did something, and I did it twice and then I-
I'M SO SORRY BABE! TT-TT
Okay, so here's what happened: Adam came back on Monday, and he's been kinda subdued. Quiet. Not even reacting to Angel's usual innuendos, which seems to make him sad (like wtf AD? You get sad when he rejects you, you get sad when he plays along, you get sad when he doesn't ohmigod MAKEUPYOURFUCKINGMIND) but he still did the exercise and everything with Alastor, too. Period Piece (hehehehe) actually seemed disappointed that Adam didn't play along.
So, afterwards, Adam just kinda left and I didn't see him for like an hour, so I went to check up on him and begin Operation: NO MORE TEARS!
…I really want another wing hug, dammit.
And then, well…
0\\\0
…
Charlie approached the door to Adam's suite, taking a deep breath as she straightened her jacket even though she knew it was neat. With a final unnecessary adjustment, she knocked on the door. "Adam-?" The door slowly swung open.
Blinking, Charlie pushed it open and looked into the suite. It was empty. She checked her ring and the wards and found that, just like when she last checked, the dot representing Adam was in his suite.
"Adam? Are you here?" She called cautiously, stepping in and closing the door behind her. Hearing no response, she continued into his suite. "I hope you're not sleeping and I'm waking you up…"
Charlie let her eyes roam the walls, smiling as she saw what looked like sketches of various angels, animals and…even herself, sitting in the library and reading a book with a gentle smile. She let her fingers trail over the pencil, feeling a heat pulsing in her chest. She hadn't even known Adam had been there; for a ten-foot tall man with glowing golden wings, he could be surprisingly stealthy.
"…Adam?" She called again, frowning as there was no answer. Mentally apologizing, she flicked her ring and made the walls transparent to her vision and looked around…and then her heart seized in her chest.
She found Adam. He was in the bathroom, the bathtub…lying completely still under the water, not moving or even breathing, his wings limply draped over the sides.
"ADAM!" Charlie screamed and raced to the bathroom, barreling through the door and racing to the tub. The water was still as glass, and she could see his face in almost peaceful repose at the bottom of the tub. "Oh god, oh no, please god no-" She fumbled at her jacket, hurriedly kicking her heels into a corner of the room before throwing her coat on top of them, nearly tripping herself as she shuffled her pants off.
Under the water, Adam cracked an eye open. Seeing nothing, he silently shrugged and closed it again.
The tub itself was massive, large enough that it qualified as a small pool, able to fit six or seven normal people comfortably or four people Adam's size, and nearly four feet deep. Charlie took a deep breath and, without hesitation, threw herself over the lip of the bathtub and dove down into the water, seizing Adam's head and pressing her lips to his, forcefully inflating his lungs with her air.
Then, she wrapped her arms under his shoulders and pushed up from the bottom, bringing them both up to the surface against the rim of the tub. "BREATHE, DAMMIT!" She cried and inhaled, then slammed her mouth over his and exhaled. Adam flailed, trying to stop her but unwilling to shove her away, his hands splashing in the water.
Charlie opened her eyes, their lips still pressed together, and found Adam's golden irises staring back at her. She leaned back with a pop, smiling in relief as he blinked at her, then lunged forward to hug him around the neck.
"You're alright…" she breathed, pressing her cheek against his head, squeezing him tightly as he cautiously hugged her back. Then she drew back and tried to shake him by the shoulders. "What the fuck were you thinking?! Why would you-do you have any idea-you stupid fuck-oh I'm so glad you're okay!" And then she hugged him again.
"…What the fuck is going on?" Adam asked faintly.
She drew back again, clasping his face between her palms, pressing her forehead to his. "I know you're sad and tired but drowning yourself isn't the answer, I swear, you can talk to me I promise-"
"-Charlie," Adam interjected, making her lean back, "…I'm already dead. I can't drown, I don't need to breathe!"
"I-!" Charlie opened her mouth to say something, her eyes darting in thought. Then she realized the fact of the matter and deflated. "I, uh…" She looked away and rubbed her arm, glancing bashfully up at him, her red eyes peering through thick lashes, "…I didn't know that?"
He blinked at her. "So…you saw me, lying in the bottom of the tub…and your first thought was, 'he's drowning and I gotta save him.' Am I right?"
She frowned at his incredulous tone and crossed her arms. "Well, yeah! What else would it be?!"
Adam tilted his head and gave her that long, searching look that made her feel naked somehow. "…Charlie, how do you exist?" he asked honestly.
Charlie dropped her arms. "What does that…mean…" Her hands were resting against Adam's torso…
…Adam's naked torso.
Because he was in the bath.
She stiffened and despite herself, her eyes drank in the sight before her. His naked torso, lightly running with water, just as muscular as his arms with a layer of healthy fat under his skin that gave him a softness that pure muscle wouldn't, dotted with scars that seemed to be made of silver. There was a necklace hanging around his neck, a simple black cord with diamond hanging from it, the shiny rock glowing from within. She followed the cord to his neck and saw his clavicle, her mouth drying as suddenly all she wanted to do was nibble on his collar and hear him moan her name, then took in his face. With water matting down his hair, it seemed ironically more messy and framed his golden eyes, which were looking at her in such a way…it was almost like he was awed by her.
Adam, for his part, was just as struck. Charlie's hair was loose, a few blonde and red strands plastered to her cheek, her bowtie gone and the first few buttons of her shirt undone…her white shirt. Her soaked white shirt. And Charlie was not a believer in bras. Her bare thighs straddled his torso like it was made for her, her surprisingly warm hands pressing against his abdomen, the plushness of her flesh pressing into his, the slight parting of her lips, and…the desire in her eyes. Adam subtly gulped and she bit her lip, a flush creeping up from the milky flesh of her cleavage, across her delicate neck and into her cheeks.
The water started boiling around them.
"Uh, Charlie? Are you…in here?" Vaggie's faint voice echoed from Adam's suite.
Both instantly snapped around to look at the door, identical expressions of shock on their faces. Adam reached up and pulled Charlie under the water at his side, leaning against the rim of the tub while plastering a bored look on his face that he maintained as the door slowly opened. He sighed as Vaggie peeked inside. "Fuck you doing, bitch?" He said flatly, "If you're trying to be a peeper, you ain't doing that good a job."
She glared at him, crossing her arms. "I thought I heard Charlie in here," she muttered.
He arched an eyebrow, splashing the water with one hand. "…In my bathroom? Why the fuck would she be in here?" He jumped as Charlie pinched his thigh.
Ministar has sent Dickmaster a chat request.
Ministar: WHAT ARE YOU DOING MAKE HER LEAVE! :[
Dickmaster: I'm trying! T-T
Vaggie scowled at him. "What was that?"
"I sat on a battleship," he said quickly, summoning and pulling a miniature ship from under the water, wiggling it in her sight, "It's the St. Louis," he helpfully informed her.
Her scowl lightened, but didn't fade. "…I need to talk to you," she said grudgingly.
"And while I'm in the tub is the best place?" Adam offered with a smirk, shifting to more fully lean on the rim, "Well shit, bitch, strip down and hop in, I can watch and listen at the same time." He tried not to jump as Charlie pinched him a second time, and reached down to summon another battleship. "It's the Yamato."
MS: DUDE WHAT? ASLFNLSGASD
DM: She's not gonna, calm down. I'm trying to drive her off.
Vaggie eyed the two floating ships with something resembling amusement in her eye. "Yeah, considering how badly the others hang off of you, Dickmaster. I know what you're up to, and I won't let it happen."
He quirked an eyebrow. "Oh? What I'm up to is taking a relaxing bath, and hey look at that, you aren't letting that happen. Bravo." He clapped sarcastically.
MS: Do you have to be so sarcastic with her?
DM: YES.
She scowled at him and marched up to the bathtub, though thankfully she couldn't entirely see over the edge. Just in case, Adam covered Charlie with his wing. "You're trying to make Charlie look stupid, trying to make sure her dream fails. I won't let you fuck this up for her. I know you. You're a petty asshole-"
Adam leaned down to look at her face-to-face. "No, you don't," he whispered harshly, "You had your chance to know me and you threw it away for Hell. You attacked your own sisters, you defended a Sinner, and you are the reason you fell. You betrayed us."
MS: What are you guys saying?
Vaggie recoiled from him, eye filled with hurt. "Fuck you! I did what was right, and you-"
"That's it," Adam muttered, standing up from the tub and putting his hands on his hips, completely naked and without shame. Also half-erect. "I'm tired of hearing your voice. Get in, or get out. Either way, shut the fuck up."
The water behind Adam bubbled.
The fallen gulped, eye darting between his face and his crotch. "Y-you won't mess this up for Charlie! And…and put that thing away!" She turned and stormed out of the bathroom…then looked around the door again.
"No," Adam said simply, still standing, "I'm taking a bath, the fuck you think I'd be wearing, a tux?"
Vaggie huffed and stomped away.
He waited until he heard the front door slam before he relaxed and sat back down, sighing as the warm water embraced his body.
DM: Alright, she's gone.
MS: Yeah…
Adam looked over and found Charlie lying in the bottom of the tub like he'd been minutes earlier, eyes closed and everything. Shrugging, he laid down and let the water envelop him entirely, closing his eyes as he sank to the bottom.
Under the water, things were muffled, quieter except for the occasional slosh or drip that carried farther than it had any right to. Under the water, even the thoughts that ran rampant in his head were quieted.
MS: This is pretty nice. I can see why you do it.
DM: Yeah, and I was enjoying it before some chick came jumping into my tub and-
He tried not to think of her lips on his, her body on his. Judging by the sudden heat at his side, she hadn't been successful in not thinking about it either.
MS: …Why are you two so angry at each other?
DM: She hasn't told you?
MS: No. Every time I try to ask, she gets…angry. And sad. And prickly.
DM: Then I won't tell you, either.
Charlie grabbed his arm and shook it, making him open his eyes and look at her.
MS: What?! Why not?
DM: If I did tell you, and you went to confront her, what would happen? She'd get angry. She'd think I fed you some bullshit, and she'd either take it out on you or try to take it out on me. And that…would ruin your relationship. I'm not petty enough to do that.
She smiled at him, her hand slipping down his arm to hold his hand.
MS: I don't like this secret, it's like…a pointy rock in my shoe. Every time I think it's been worked out, it just jabs me in the heel again.
DM: I'm sorry. The best relationships are built on absolute trust, dirty secrets and all. I didn't mean to get in-between you like this.
Charlie blushed and was glad Adam had closed his eyes again. Her face fell.
MS: What if…what if she never trusts me with it? …What then?
He squeezed her hand comfortingly.
DM: If this is such an important thing to you…then, maybe you shouldn't be holding onto strings better left to fray.
MS: But…I love her.
DM: Keep trying. She may surprise you. But in the end, it'll come down to you, Charlie. What your heart can take…and what it can't. What you want…and what you need.
She sighed, an explosion of bubbles around her face.
MS: I think what I want…is to stay here a bit longer. It's peaceful down here…with you.
DM: Okay.
Their fingers interlaced under the water, and nothing more was said.
…
…So, it was supposed to be a Kiss of Life, but I instead…pretty much just kissed Adam. Twice. And I didn't even think about the whole 'he's dead' thing which…I really should've. And then, I just…sat on him, practically naked while he was naked, and…
Oh god.
(there's a drawing of a one-eyed demon in a maid outfit with a small scale measuring her and a heavily censored something right next to it with the words HE WAS RIGHT?! underneath)
I…really didn't mean to, but…does this count as cheating? I really hope not! /3
But I really wish I knew why Adam and Vaggie don't like each other. It sounds personal, and I can respect Adam not wanting to give me his biased take…but that also means Vaggie's take would be biased as well, which…
Fuck.
Seriously though, if all else fails, I could provoke them into hate-fucking, that might help settle it, and then I can swoop in for the aftercare! That's a little mean, I guess, but…I have a need. A deep need.
I love Vaggie, I know I do.
…But I like Adam. I really like Adam.
I don't want to give up what I have, but I also want to reach for what I want. I think the three of us together would be just…perfect. It would solve all my problems, at least relationship-wise.
(there is a heart drawn on the page, with the letters 'C+A+V' inside)
…I just realized I haven't talked at all about the trust exercises. Whoops .
Next time, Diary, I promise.
Personal Project? A little rough.
Operation: NO MORE TEARS…off to a good start.
The Hotel itself? Well, I think it's doing just great.
…
…
…
…
…
…
A/N: Well, I said it was gonna be a slow burn…and I may have turned the heat up, just a little bit more.
Welcome to the first chapter of this arc, where the journals/diaries serves as convenient exposition and slight timeskip vehicles! And I gotta say, writing out Charlie's thoughts was a lot of fun, mostly because I got to harness my ADD energy and have it fit! Woo! As you can see, she's a fun mix of parent issues, optimism, wholesomeness and sheer horny. She might be sweet, but she's no innocent, and she has a need.
And of course, along with some of Charlie's tragic backstory, we get more of Adam's tragic backstory! And the question was finally asked, the veil is slowly dropping more and more, and Charlie's starting to question if what her dad the Prince of Lies and her mom the Mother of Infidelity told her might've been wrong or misleading.
Spoiler alert: yeah. It's complicated.
If you've read AkumaKami's Uncle Adam, you might recognize Adam's description of power as Immanence from that fic, which are in fact very similar, though I might've twisted it up a little bit for no particular reason, I swear. Also a very good story, give it a read. Also, my version of Adam struggles a bit with more complex metaphysics.
Funnily enough, Charlie's chapter so far is the only that's actually remained a chapter, as the next ones, Husk and Angel Dust, have both been split into two, with chapters 10, 11 and 12 already completed and 13 on the way. Hope you're looking forward to those, I also had a lot of fun writing them.
Big thanks, as always, to NSG for being the MAN, why not give him a look-see and say hey from me?
And thanks to all the peeps in the discord, both my own and the First Man Collective!
And of course, thank you for taking the time to read my story! If you enjoyed it, why not leave a review or comment and like and fav and all that fun stuff? Whatever you do, I hope you have a wonderful day.
Stay Awesome!
~Soleneus
P.S.: Alright, I admit, work's been kicking my ass more than I'm comfortable with. The consumer, man…yeesh. And next month isn't gonna be any easier.
Also, frankly speaking, I had intended for the next couple chapters to be singular but split them up because I let the characters basically monologue in my head and they just kept going. Having an inner voice is actually super handy sometimes.
And yep, still having a lot of fun. Though, it's the first time I've had a backlog ready to deploy while I'm writing, so sometimes I'll look at reviews and be like, 'wow, you're just now getting to that part?' followed by '...oh wait.' Quite a shift, but I do like having a reliable update schedule.
Hope your summer's been good so far. Just one more scorching month and hopefully things start to cool down a bit. Stay hydrated and have fun, you hear?
Stay Awesome Some More.
~still Soleneus