A few days after the kidnapping….
Happy, an overbearing emotion floating around the hotel thanks to Charlie wanting to celebrate the first bit of Sir Pentious staying at the hotel without any hindrances . The lobby bustled with decoration and her enthusiasm while she and Vaggie were having a discussion of the snake demon and his actions so far in the hotel.
During this conversation though both she and Vaggie were on opposing ends of his presence at said hotel and discussing little by little about it and about Noctis and their new relationship that seemed to blossom somewhat after a few days of teaching the man the ins and outs of how the relationship would go.
But of course the girls were true to their word about keeping an eye on Noctis at all time for his own safety, never leaving him alone for even a minute whether it was during his work or to relax, which in this case it was now time to relax since the man had been busting his butt to get the basement repaired and the new boiler installed after the explosion.
"Oh Noctis!" Charlie sang his name very sweetly after she and Vaggie did their promotion and talk of trust exercises.
Deep in the barely illuminated basement came the man squatting in the only single light in the boiler room with Max strapped to his chest thanks to the new baby carrier for his convenience, his hands working tirelessly on the new pipe routing he had to install while a pair of shadow minions from Alastor stood guard.
"Yes Charlie?" He hollered gently but reeked of annoyance in his tone as he turned another another wrench. "I'm a little busy at the moment."
Charlie started to bounce in place after she made it to the door, glowing with excitement to finally start her redemption program that she knew Noctis needed to participate in to help her.
She peeked through the doorway and beamed her smile doem at her boyfriend as he mumbled incoherently.
"We need you to come upstairs and participate." She said excitedly.
Noctis stopped turning his wrenches and looked back up to the top of the stairs to see the princess barely containing herself. However there was a strange look about him that had Charlie curious when she could see in the poor lighting a dirty gaiter mask that went from his neck up to the bridge of his nose.
"I can't right now." He replied and went back to work after wincing from just talking to her.
Charlie frowned at his dismissal of her plan for today but mostly to the mask and how his tone sounded a little bit strained. In her mind she knew it wasn't like Noctis to dismiss anything she wanted to try. Something had him bothered and she was going to find out.
"Noctis!" Vaggie snapped after appearing at the doorway as well, startling the princess. "Put the tools down and get your ass up here. Charlie is wanting to start now and you're going to join in!"
Sadly for the man his new relationship consisted of Vaggie having zero patience and a very commanding attitude that annoyed him. She was already going to step down the stairs and make it happen until Charlie grabbed her hand to stop her.
"Vaggie wait. Something is wrong with Noctis." The princess of hell whispered with concern now overpowering her enthusiasm.
"Wrong with him? What are you talking about? He's just being stubborn." Vaggie replied firmly.
Charlie refused to let go and shook her head before pointing out the obvious.
"He's wearing a mask and he looks like he's in pain."
Vaggie found herself unable to maintain the hostility she had been using to keep Noctis in check. She actually softened her hard glare and gazed down with Charlie in silence to the man still working but mumbling and groaning in discomfort.
"This sucks….."
Vaggir realized it now something was wrong and followed Charlie down the stairs to confront their boyfriend.
"I'll be up in a minute." He hollered back, unaware of the two having descended into the boiler room and passed the two shadow minions that dissipated into the darkness.
He winced again and rubbed his hand gently over his mouth while Max sensed the discomfort and whimpered knowingly.
"Noctis, what's wrong?" Vaggie asked in a gentle tone and placed a hand on his shoulder. "You look like you're in pain."
"I am." He answered truthfully, surprising both girls.
Vaggie put aside her dominance and raised an eyebrow when Noctis adjusted Max against his chest and rubbed his head to calm him down. This time she was actually concerned and offered a gentle touch of her hand to his cheek.
He winced again and she quickly retracted said hand.
"Sorry!"
"No it's fine." He reassured her before grabbing his gaiter mask. "I've been hiding this all morning anyway but it really hurts."
"Well show us and maybe we can help." Charlie requested, pleading through her eyes to find out what had him in pain.
Noctis was apprehensive of showing them but complied at seeing their concern. He braced homself for what they were about to witness and pulled down on said mask.
Both Charlie and Vaggie went wide-eyed when he showed his teeth to them.
"Are those....fangs?" Charlie asked as she subconsciously touched her own canines that matched his.
"They hurt." Noctis complained quietly as they saw blood slowly seeping out of the gums.
Vaggie was completely worried with Charlie now that they saw his canines had somehow grown larger and more profound with visibly sharp points. His lower lip had multiple red dots from what they suspected to be overbiting if he talked or ate.
"Baby you can't hide this. You should have told us." Vaggie crooned and touched his cheek more gently this time.
Noctis blinked at the tenderness in her voice and found himself surprised that such a hard headed woman like her could be so gentle.
It suddenly hit him though what she said. He looked down at Vaggie and blinked in confusion through the soreness of his mouth.
"What did you call me?"
"What?" She frowned at it but remained collected on his pain. "I called you baby. I can call you that because you belong to us."
"Unless you prefer something else." Charlie piped in subconsciously, examining his new fangs a little closely with her curiosity overriding the understanding that touching them was painful.
"Wow, these are long." She tapped on one with her finger.
Noctis' eyes watered on the spot after that inconsiderate touch. He shot back and clasped his hands to his mouth, groaning to the sharp throbbing in his gums.
"Charlie!" Vaggie shouted, glaring at the princess who realized what she just did.
Said princess was ridden with guilt and went into a panic as their boyfriend turned away to hide the tears that were fighting for freedom.
"I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry!"
A few minutes later...
"About damn time!" Angel Dust exclaimed to the girls before seeing how they were tending to Noctis after entering the room.
"What's with him?" Husk grunted, clearly uninterested as everyone watched the man pop in a pair of pills Charlie handed over.
"Noctis is in a lot pain from these new fangs of his." Vaggie replied sternly.
"New fangs?" Angel Dust perked up to the scenery of seeing the man with a new look and grinned mischievously before he commented a little sultrily.
"Daddy can take a bite out of me."
Noctis froze in place and glared in silence at the perverted demon winking at him. He was already having a hard time as is and held no tolerance for any of Angel's flirting.
Thankfully he didn't have to deal with it due to Charlie expressing her dislike to Angel's disrespect to their new relationship by flaring her horns.
Not much warning was needed after that with Angel backing off wheb he remembered the first she chased him across the hotel.
"Sit." Vaggie commanded, pointing at the stage that was set up.
Noctis wanted to argue that he was perfectly fine with standing but found that casual glare from Vaggie to be the intimidating weapon he couldn't get around. Reluctantly he took his seat on said stage and remained silent, waiting for the painkillers to kick in.
She smirked at his compliance and pressed a quick peck to his cheek before joining Charlie who calmed down.
"Good boy."
Noctis bristled at that but kept his mouth shut to not invoke more pain. He simply watched and tended to Max as Charlie got started.
She smiled nervously but maintained her cheery attitude.
"Hi guys. Thanks for coming. It's been brought to our attention that there may be little…..tension in the hotel."
As the explanation went on, Noctis watched behind them the obvious factors of Pentious attempting to shoot Nifty with his ray gun, a shivering concern he felt until Vaggie intervened by taking said gun and adding her input through grit teeth.
"Tensions that can be counterproductive to what we're trying to do here."
Charlie smiled brightly and mustered more courage to her goal today.
"We think that this group coule really benefit from…."
Both girls leap into the air and exclaimed 'Trust Exercises', but it was not in unison and a failure with Vaggie falling on her butt.
"Ah shit!"
Noctis stood up and worried about her being hurt before joining Charlie to help the spear user back to her feet.
"You okay?" He asked carefully.
"Vaggie we rehearsed this." Charlie sighed in disappointment and turned back to the crowd with a more determined look. "We're doing trust exercises!"
"Trust exercises?" Noctis questioned the princess who nodded to him eagerly.
"Yes!" She chirped and took his hands into hers tightly. "I think it would be good for everyone to start with learning to trust eachother."
Noctis mentally cringed at the idea and looked to the ragtag group with uncertainty, especially Angel Dust with how he kept eyeing his new fangs.
"I don't know….." He drawled and looked back to the princess. "But this is your project so I'll put my faith in you."
Charlie couldn't believe she just heard and felt a tidal wave of emotions overcome her.
"You'll put faith in me?" She squeaked that question with unshed tears.
Noctis wasn't sure why she had to get so emotional but nodded before telling her his reason, albeit nervously when he wasn't sure if her emotional state was good or bad.
"Well yeah you took me in when you had no reason to, gave me a home, clothes, food."
Charlie was about to burst as she felt his hands tighten with hers, seeing a side of him that was intoxicating for her heart.
"Gag me." Angel whispered to the others.
"So yeah." He chuckled nervously but didn't realize the connection that was being made between them. "You've done more than anyone has ever done for me. So yeah... I have faith in you."
Charlie couldn't do it any longer, she couldn't restrain herself anymore and broke out into hysterical sobs. Her feelings for Noctis deepened even more as everyone flinched at her sudden crying.
"THAT WAS SO BEAUTIFUL!" She cried against his chest, or whatever part of his chest she could find without squishing Max who happened to be trying to lick her tears away.
He was not prepared for the kiss to his cheek that came as soon as she got close enough.
"Smooth." Vaggie gave the blushing man rare appraisal and smirked. "Looks like you already got this boyfriend thing down."
Noctis stared down at Charlie wide-eyed as he felt her arms squeeze his waist. She had put a happy and possessive grip on and nuzzled the free part of his chest, soaking that part of his shirt with what tears Max couldn't get to.
His mind was filled with every caring emotion he could understand and it drove him to carefully hug Charlie back, gently and intimately in front of the gang. He held her a little softer than she was doing, trying his best to be supportive.
"Feel better?" He chuckled.
She was finally able to compose herself and pulled away fanning her eyes.
"Yes. Yes I feel better."
"Jesus that girl is emotional for everything." Husk commented quietly before downing his drink, receiving a glare from Vaggie.
"Okay." Noctis chuckled once more and adjusted Max. "Now that trust exercise thing."
"Yeah, uhh…..what's neither the whole…..this?" Husk gestured, unconvinced that it was going to help, crossing his arms in disbelief. "I'm not about to put on some show for these fucking chumps."
"Oh I will…." Angel purred with a sultry smile as he propped his laps in Husk's lap.
"Please don't." Noctis pleaded flatly.
Angel dropped his smile and gave a more professional manner, his mind clearly thinking the wrong idea.
"But it's cash upfront—" he paused to smile tauntingly at the disgusted Pentious. "And I know that one can't afford me."
"Gross!" Pentious hissed and looked away after cringing at the idea, crossing his arms and holding his chin high. "I'd never think of it, spider!"
"Right. Well let's get started." Vaggie took control of the conversation and gestured to the princess, unaware of the change to happen. "Charlie?"
"Actually I thought maybe you could take the lead on this one." Charlie suggested while backing away to join the others in a lineup. "I trust everyone so maybe you know better on how to build it properly."
"You even trust Pentious?" Noctis questioned, watching as she nodded and gestured for him to come join.
"Yup." She chirped and took his hand, pulling Noctis next to her and not letting go.
Vaggie seemed surprised that her girlfriend would give such a responsibility but also doubtful of herself to do it right.
"What….uh…..I don't know if I'm qualified…."
"Give her a boost." Noctis whispered to Charlie.
Charlie coule see with him the self-doubt in Vaggie and spoke reassuringly.
"Oh come on. It will be easy. I'm sure you can handle this."
Vaggie wasn't so sure even with Charlie's supoort and Noctis giving her a thumbs up as she eyed each individual questioningly. She would just have to go with it and braced herself before pacing.
Noctis tilted his head and became uncertain as she spoke in a military style, wondering where she got this idea of leadership.
"Alright so we are starting with trust falls. Each of you are going to share something vulnerable with the group about yourself and then fall backward while the rest of the group catches you. Got it. Who wants to go first?"
Charlie didn't give room for anyone to speak up and raised her hand like an excited school student, repeating 'me' like a mantra.
"Alright, get on up here." Vaggie smirkes in amusement as Noctis joined her side.
"Do I have to do this to?" He asked flatly with no real desire to participate.
Vaggie didn't appreciate his lack of enthusiasm and glared up to him while Charlie ran up on the stage.
"Yes, you're part of this to."
"But I'm not a sinner and I—." He paused in his protest.
When he looked down at Vaggie he gulped thickly as he saw the intensity in her stare and felt her hand clench his with an almost painful assurance that his participation would be happening whether he liked it or not.
"I wasn't asking." She said firmly.
Noctis opened his mouth but immediately shut it knowing he was better off not arguing. Reluctantly he complied and looked back to the princess who was already teary eyed and pressing her hands to her chest, expressing her emotions passionately.
"I…. Love you guys. Like really, really, love you." She declared softly and fell back with Vaggie and Noctis catching her sides.
"Gotcha." They said in unison, watching the enthusiasm beam off Charlie as she said.
"That. Felt. Good!" She looked back at Angel who was not thrilled in the slightest. "Angel, why don't you go next?"
"Fine." He drawled while going on stage.
Charlie was set back down on her feet before Vaggie told the others firmly, "This time everyone needs to catch him."
She emphasized this stipulation with materializing her spear in a manner of discipline as the others got closer.
"Unless you want me to hurt you."
Noctis carried an irritated look as Charlie held his hand again, uncertain of what Angel Dust could sure but leaning to the idea it wouldn't be appropriate.
"Why do I get the feeling I should cover Max's ears?"
Max only squeaked a tiny bark and panted in his baby carrier while Vaggie scratched his ear.
"Something about myself huh?" Angel Dust pondered the detail he wanted to share before shrugging smugly.
"Here we go….." Noctis commented flatly.
Angel winked at him for that before drawling each word of his admission.
"I love to suck—"
And that was all it took for Noctis to yank his hand from Charlie and close off Max's ears before snapping with Husk in unison, "I SWEAR TO FUCK IF YOU SAY DICKS!"
"Popsicles you sickos." He said mockingly, knowing he baited the two. "Get your minds out of the gutters."
Noctis growled at being bated and removed his hands from Max as Angel fell back in Husk's arms with the additional comment, "But yeah, dicks too."
"Drop him." Noctis ordered.
"Gladly." Husk replied and dropped the horny spider on his butt, making himself and the man smirk.
"Noctis be nice." Charlie whispered after that little display of dislike.
"No." Noctis snipped while Pentious took his turn in a most dramatic fashion.
The snake demon was unafraid to express himself in front of the eyes with a hand to his his chest, his eyes looking up to whatever spotlight that Noctis couldn't figure out was coming from where.
"I don't want to live without my minions." He declared somberly with crocodile tears, thrusting a hand to his head before falling back. "Nobody catch me."
"Can do." Noctis rolled his eyes and stepped back as the snake demon was caught by both girls.
"Dammit." Pentious muttered before Vaggie tossed him off and suggested Nifty to go next.
It was no mystery the little housemaid was a disturbing individual as is, but oh boy were they on for a surprise when Nifty clicked her feet in a rapid fashion with too much excitement for getting on stage and revealing a piece of herself.
Everyone watched as she out of this childish innocence that convinced no one, and declared with dark enthusiasm and mesmerization.
"Sometimes I kill mother bugs in front of their children as a warning to others."
Everybody, even Noctis, cringed at her admission and actively took a step back when a Nifty jumped into the air to be caught. Nobody did though, and the understanding of how demented she could be increased when she cheered for the pain in her face after landing with a sickening crunch.
"I'm rethinking my view of her." Noctis admitted before he was suddenly pushed onto the stage by the princess for his turn that had yet to come.
"Okay baby. It's your turn." Charlie said with thrill, pushing the now nervous man into the stage and running back down to give him a thumbs up. "You got this. Just tell us something."
Noctis swallows audibly with a case of stage fright as all eyes rested on him. He didn't understand why he needed to be part of this when he wasn't a sinner in the first place, but the time for questioning passed a long time ago and wasn't coming back when Vaggie stood there smirking and holding her spear once more as a disciplinary measure should he not come up with something.
He could barely keep his breathing in check as is and took in some courage before he let out some of that vulnerability.
"I...I have nightmares every night."
Well that wasn't expected. Everyone, especially Charlie and Vaggie, perked up with interest and concern as Noctis displayed himself with a broken look before sitting down on the stage.
They realized he was finally starting to open up about what happened in Pentagram City.
He took on an emotion akin dark remembrance and stared down at the floor.
"I keep seeing all the bodies in the city. All the people that were killing eachother when I was being hunted."
Everyone felt they had a different perspective of this admission from Noctis, yet no one spoke up since he continued to talk and show himself as a man who can be hurt more than physically.
He chuckled bitterly and sniffled.
"Especially the kids—" he paused and looked up to the ceiling, sounding with heartache and regret. "All those kids that got killed trying to find me, I still see their faces almost every night and it replays over and over again."
He sighed and continued, staring at the group now as his expression twisted with anger and guilt.
"And I can't help but feel that it's my fault they were killing eachother to get to me." He paused again and took in a shaky breath. "If maybe I hadn't—"
"No." Charlie interrupted strongly, showing her rare sternness.
Noxtis' expression changed to disbelief as she walked over and rested her hands on his knees, standing between his legs and looking hard into his tear-stricken eyes.
She refused to let Noctis beat himself down over a situation that wasn't his fault or in his control. He had no reason to blame himself when he was the victim of the terror that was endured.
"You are not at fault for what you went through." She told this in a tone impossible to debate with while Vaggie rested her hand in his. "The Vees are the cause of what you went through and for all those poor sinners that tore eachother apart to get to you."
"She's right. You're not the one who set everyone off into a killing spree." Vaggie added truthfully.
"Do these nightmares happen a lot?" Angel Dust asked in the group, rare concern etched in his expression.
Noctis nodded to them.
Charlie and Vaggie wondered just how deep this trauma was going as Noctis wiped his own tears away.
"It just...hurts." He admitted and was given strong hugs from both girls.
"You have no reason to blame yourself." Charlie whispered before planting a kiss on his head to comfort him. "Thank you for being honest."
Noctis nodded and stood back up, falling off the stage and landing forward even though it went against what Vaggie stipulated. However, it still had meaning when both girls and Angel Dust helped him down.
"You're tougher than you know hotstuff." Angel offered small praise, but only for a moment before shrugging. "Besides, we aint knowing what you made of yet since you're not human. Who knows, you might be something."
Max squeaked a bark to that.
"See, even the furball gets it."
As painful as the admission and moment was, Noctis was defeated to small chuckling from Max giving his own innocent input while the girls pulled him away for a quick chat after getting back on track with the trust exercises.
"Anyway," Charlie aighed privately, or so she thought, but Angel Dust was quite the snoop. "I don't know if this is working the way we'd hoped. Maybe we should…."
"Honey," Vaggie stopped the princess with a hand to her shoulder and resssured her. "You have to trust me here. I got this okay. I'll figure something out."
"Plus you just started." Noctis pointed out and sided with Vaggie. "Nobody is gonna open up on the spot, Charlie. It takes time for everyone to open up."
"But you opened up just now." Charlie pointed out, which to them was an adorably naive thought.
"Yes but I'm not like everyone else. My admission was more about what I'm going through, not some weird or dark secret."
He had a valid point there, but it didn't help with the princess to be convinced.
Sadly the conversation was about to take a turn with Angel Dust stepping into the conversation and wrapping his arms around them.
"If you're in the market for some ideas, I've got just the idea for some…..trust building." He suggested with a knowing smile.
"What did you have in mind?" Vaggie sighed.
"And is it helpful?" Noctis asked flatly.
He began to regret asking when Angel grinned smugly.
The day shifts to a mix of shock, satisfaction, and downright disgust for the group standing in what was a well-known sex room that bustled with moans and slapping sounds. Angel was looking quite satisfied with his suggestion while Noctis kept his face covered in a hoodie Charlie found for him since he couldn't be left alone at the hotel.
Charlie was quite shaken by this provocative display of physical intimacy.
Vaggie looked as if she was about to explode from the display.
"Angel. What the actual fuck!?" She exclaimed.
"I can't believe this is a thing." Noctis groaned as he covered Max's eyes.
"Oh it ain't that bad." Angel Dust disregarded their feelings with his signature smile as he pointed to a poster. "No activity requires more trust than BDSM. No bond stronger than those formed through bondage. It's their motto!"
Noctis couldn't believe what he was hearing and scoffed. He turned away from the disgusting scenery while Charlie tried to stay positive and the voice of reason with an uncomfortable smile.
"Angel, love the enthusiasm, but uh..." She started to cringe and couldn't form any other way of talking it out.
"What makes you think anyone would be into this?" Vaggie asked with an accusatory finger thrusted at the spider demon.
Said question fell with the strange sound of Husk purring under the hands of a BDSM partner in a zipped up mask massaging his lower back as he laid down.
"You know I….I don't hate this." He chuckled with a content smile until Nifty ruined it for him.
"Hi there." A random crooned to Noctis after approaching. "Whats your pleasure?"
Angel turned with Vaggie and grinned while she on the other hand was red with fury. It also didn't help that Charlie was being approached as well by a Medusa-like demoness.
"Taken." Noctis told the succubus and backed away slowly, but said demonness gently grabbed his wrist while the other held a pair of handcuffs.
He shivered in discomfort of that touch as she purred too lovingly her words.
"You know, I always had a thing for daddies." She looked down to Max for moment. "And since you're a daddy, maybe I could play mommy while you're here?"
That was the final straw for Vaggie. She had all she could stand and intervened hastily with grabbing Noctis by his shirt and jerking him back.
"He's fucking taken!"
"Oh come on." Angel Dust whined to the spear user pushing Charlie away from the situation and dragging Noctis with them. "Let the guy loosen up. He's been down here in hell for months and I seriously doubt he's had his cherry popped."
Noctis turned a new shade of red to that mortifying fact and wanted to kill the spider demon on point.
"I can't believe I let you drag us here, Angel." Vaggie said with disdain. "Disgusting."
"Can I kill him now?" Noctis asked calmly, albeit with great restraint after feeling so humiliated.
"No you can't." Charlie intervened to bring the tension down. "And it's no big deal Vaggie. You know, maybe I can just help …..uh….."
"No." Vaggie interrupted her firnly and stepped away in thought while Charlie took her turn blocking another demon that approached Noctis. "I told you that you could trust me and I'm not going to let you down."
Suddenly she smiled almost darkly with the perfect idea of progressing this trust exercise.
"I just need to teach them the way I was taught."
Noctis exchanged a worried look with Charlie after being saved once more from the horny demons and asked.
"What way is she talking about?"
One short adventure later...
"THIS IS HOW YOU YOU LEARNED TO TRUST PEOPLE!?" Charlie shouted in disbelief as she gestured to the destruction below.
High on a damaged rooftop sat a distraught Noctis with his mind froze in fear of the carnage happening below. Hidden he remained by his own recent trauma in the midst of Vaggie giving drill instructions and tossing each member one by one who protested fearfully before they were tossed off to learn trust through comrades.
He didn't budge from the corner he sat against and continued to cover Max's ears of the gunfire and explosions happening below. Every boom, every gunshot, even the screams of battle and death echoed in his mind as they dug out the memories of those who recently died when he was hunted.
"It's okay Max." He spoke softly to the whimpering pup, but convincing a hellhound pup that nestled to his chest was easier to do than with himself when the memories flashed again and again.
And nobody seemed to notice, not even Charlie and Vaggie having their tense argument of how bad it was going.
"It's gonna—" he winced at another flash of a demon he remembered getting stabbed in the skull and started to lose himself to the trauma.
Vaggie continued to converse negatively with Charlie about her failure in leading the trust exercises as Angel Dust finally climbed his way back up the stairs.
"Made it!" The spider demon huffed as the scenery took on a somber atmosphere for the girls and how disastrous everything was going.
However, Noctis was finally noticed to be drowning in his thoughts with how deeply he was hyperventilating and curled up in the furthest corner.
"Noctis?" Angel Dust questioned what he was seeing and approached the man. "Hey you good?"
Noctis by some miracle of awareness shook his head but remained fixated on staring down at the ground while Max began to sense his distress.
Even the pup was starting to be afraid for him.
"Noctis what's wrong?" Angel Dust snapped his fingers in front of the man to find some response. "Hey talk to me!"
To his dismay came only the clench Noctis put in shutting his eyes.
"Uh...guys?" Angel Dust called back to the girls without taking his attention off the man, but was ignored by the continuing of Vaggie's self-loathing.
"GIRLS!" Angel finally screamed and brought them back to reality with his shouting. "NOCTIS IS HAVING A BREAKDOWN!!"
Charlie and Vaggie immediately ran over and kneeled down to their boyfriend, touching him carefully by his arms to see if he would respond.
"Baby?" Vaggie shook him a little and felt relief that he did respond by looking slowly to her gaze, but was shattered with guilt thanks to Angel Dust pointing the facts out in a harsh manner.
"This was a stupid idea Vaggie. He said earlier today he was having nightmares so maybe you didn't think he might have fucking PTSD or something!"
"PTSD?" Vaggie questioned before her mind wrapped around that possibility.
She felt nothing but a monster thanks to the statement from Angel repeating in her mind. And now she had no idea just much damage she caused by being so selfish as to putting their boyfriend around a situation as fresh as the horrors his mind endured days ago.
She shook the sad thought from her head though and calmly cupped his cheeks to try and talk him out of his trauma, determined to make it right for him and herself.
"Focus on me Noctis. Listen to my voice, please. You're not being hunted. You're safe with us."
"Noctis…." Charlie clasped her hands together and hoped for better while watching vaggie express affection in a kiss to his forehead.
"We're right here, both of us." She whispered and pressed her head to his. "Your girlfriends are right here. Come back to us, please."
Noctis' eyes seemed to widen at the softness of her voice.
"Vaggie?"
She nodded at this, breathing in relief that he was still with them. She hugged his head tightly to her chest and pressed soft pecks for her own remedy to this guilt eating at her.
"I'm so sorry."
Noctis clung to her as an anchor to reality, his breathing becoming more steady while the rest of the gang came back. All the weight of his trauma seemed to lift when he listened to Vaggie start humming a gentle tune in his ear, a simple melody that numbed his pain.
And it was there that he found santuary in this horrid week of his, held in her embrace as she looked down at his form with pleading eyes that begged for forgiveness.
She stopped her humming and said needily in a quiet voice.
"Please forgive me."
He remained silently surprised that her gentle nature came out again, but in that one moment he had come to realize that Vaggie wasn't some commanding and cruel woman. She was someone that could be loving and gentle, that carries a vulnerability she struggled to share.
In a way, she was trusting him to see this side of her, showing to Charlie some success to the trust exercise.
"I forgive you."
Vaggie found herself unable to form any more words and only smiled.
Charlie moved slowly to join her in comforting Noctis, wrapping herself around from his other side and forgetting about the world with her own guilt for not thinking about what being kidnapped and seeing Pentagram City for its entirety had done to him.
"I'm sorry to." She whispered.
"It's okay." He nodded and stood up, dusting his backside off. "Can we go home now?"
Meanwhile during a little stroll in the city...
A deliciously amused Alastor walked with a little more pep in his step after the so-called productive meeting' with the other overlords did actually provide valuable information about the infamous Carmilla Carmine.
Though not much to go by, it was just enough to give himself a tactical edge he could use in the foreseeable future of climbing the hierarchy of hell.
Now if only he could remove the annoying eggsboys he was tasked with today as per the order of Vaggie— what with the infuriating clumsiness and stupidity they all shared which made them almost dangerous.
"What to do?" He hummed to himself , puzzling his chin and twirling his microphone.
However…..
"Uh boss?" Eggboy 3 daid worriedly and tugged on his pant leg while looking back.
"Not now. I'm in a good mood." He replied sharply before rounding the next corner of the street.
The rest of the eggboys looked back and began to worry as well while the sadistic overlord remained unaware of what had them on edge.
That is until eggboy 3 was more insistent by tugging his pant leg harder, inciting his wrath.
"Boss we—"
"Oh for the love of—" Alastor was ready to scramble these creatures for a snack but paused his display of power after spinning back to see what they were so scared of.
Standing in front of him was a hellhound of massove proportion with runes etched in its fur and a predatory gaze fixed on him. The creature was of no average proportion for a hellhound and intrigued Alastor greatly when he had never seen one with such interesting features.
His day just kept getting better and better.
"What a strange mutt," he mused thoughtfully, tilting his head with an audible crack. "Are you an admirer?"
The hellhound gazed deeply to Alastor but made no move forward.
"You harbor the one I seek." The hellhound spoke dangerously at Alastor with raised hackles.
"Harbor?" Alastor questioned with a cocked eyebrow.
The hellhound nodded and gave a very unfriendly smile.
"The broken man."
Alastor narrowed his gaze and realized that this hellhound was of hostile intentions. He found himself radiating a touch of his darkness in response as the tension became a fueling entertainment for him.
"And what might you want with Noctis?" He asked quizzically with a wider smile. "Because I don't share my toys."
"So that's his name now." The hellhound chuckled.
"Now?"
Suddenly it began to shrink down into a darkness of its own manifestation.
"It's doesnt matter. Just know this, radio demon, that you and that hotel cannot protect him forever. And when you slip up I will be there to tear his throat out for my master."
And just like that the hellhound was gone and left Alastor with muddled thinking. Yet his own twisted mind somehow found reason to be thrilled at this interesting encounter.
"You just get more and more interesting...….Noctis."
Back at the hotel... Nightime
In the confinement of a much needed shower, Noctis bathed himself quickly after a struggling effort of getting Max fed and down for bed, his mind still adrift to the inescapable conclusion of his own flaw that was wrongly discovered.
He had trauma…..
"Dammit." He muttered under the cascade of water, unaware that the trust exercise proved to have better results once everyone settled down in the lounge room and conversed almost as friends.
He was even unaware of Charlie and Vaggie coming up after the return of Alastor and Pentious being reunited with his eggboys— not that it would matter when he was self-loathing at his own problems.
"I'm a clusterfuck." He told himself bitterly before ending said shower with ringing out his white hair. "I had a mental breakdown and I couldn't even control it."
He found himself wondering just how messed up he was gonna be while throwing in a pair of shorts. No answer could be made or found to that perspective so he sighed in defeat and stepped out of the bathroom just in time to find Charlie and Vaggie mid-dress into the nightime attire.
"Ah crap!" He spun away wide-eyed and mentally kicked himself while both girls shared a confused look. "Sorry. I didn't know you were in here!"
"Why are you apologizing?" Vaggie asked curiously as he blushed away from them.
"Because you were just in your bra and underwear and—"
His reason was interrupted abruptly by both girls laughing quietly so as to not awaken Max, a befuddling response he didn't expect from either girl that were now staring at his back.
"Noctis, we're together." Charlie struggled to stifle her giggling. "You know this is going to be a thing with our relationship."
"Not this quick." He replied quietly, making them smirk.
"Why? Because it's different for you?" Vaggie chucjled, hitting the nail on the head.
"Yes, now are you decent?" He hissed in annoyance.
Both of them rolled their eyes playfully but Charlie was the one to answer.
"Yes we are decent now." She adjusted her pajamas.
He breathed a sigh of relief and spun back around to face the two that were still casually standing yet so amused of his chivalry.
"Look, dating is supposed to be—"
"You gotta get that out of your head baby." Vaggie interrupted and approached him. "As we told you, you belong to us. That's it. So you're gonna see more of us in in the future, so get used to it."
Noctis dropped his jaw at how uncaring she and Charlie were so nonchalant about being seen half naked by him, making them stifle their laughter again.
She reached up and pushed his mouth closed before teasingly telling him, "Careful now, don't want to attract possession."
"Too late." He rolled his eyes after implying how they were with him.
"Anyway," Vaggie paused long enough to clear her throat and smile guiltily. "I know you said you forgive me but still I'm sorry for putting you through that crap. I didn't think you'd have a reaction."
Noctis wasn't as surprised before by the apology while letting Vaggie take his and press it to his chest. Still he listened to every word that came from her.
"Charlie and I talked a little bit after seeing the results that showed downstairs. It's not just her and I as a team now, it's you as well. The three of us. And we both screwed up."
"We screwed up big time with you." Charlie stepped into the conversation with a pleading gaze and holding his other hand. "We are so sorry for not thinking about what that last exercise might do to you."
Noctis felt the weight of their apologies and touch, his heart almost racing as he processed the depth of their feelings and their guilt.
"Girls it's fine." He spoke genuine with a weak smile and didn't move from their hold. "I didn't I would react like that either. So I'm sorry as well for ruining things."
"But you didn't ruin things." Charlie protested strongly with tightening her grip, almost possessively.
"Yeah you're not the one who fucked up. We are." Vaggie added her input with a concerned frown.
"Uh uh." He shook his head and hugged both of them in his arms. "You we are a team so when one of us fucks up we all fuck up."
Charlie and Vaggie looked conflicted at that idea and shifted their gazes to eachother as he continued in a stronger tone filled with determination they never heard before.
"If this relationship is as set in stone as you two say then so is this team. No special treatment for me. No excuses. I may be the handyman but I'm part of this, so I have to keep up and get my head on straight."
Charlie looked increasingly uneasy about his perspective as she and Vaggie soaked in how he felt about being part of the project.
"Are you sure?" She asked nervously.
He nodded leaned down with a kiss to her cheek, brightening the red spots in her flush of embarrassment and giddiness.
He broke the kiss from her cheek but hugged both them tightly once more with a new blossoming to their young and growing relationship, smiling serenely.
"Yeah I'm sure."
"Good." Vaggie smirked with a raised eyebrow. "Because that means you're in this completely, not that we would let you back out anyway."
Noctis wasn't sure what she meant and it showed with how he raised an eyebrow.
"What do you mean?"
And true to the facts from his remembrance of Carmilla's advice, possessiveness was a thing in hell and it showed after he asked that foolish question.
Vaggie decided with herself now was better than any given moment to show what she meant. Without any warning she grabbed his face in both hands and pulled him down with a passionate kiss that had Charlie gasping.
Noctis' eyes widened in shock as he tasted Vaggie's lips in front of the princess. She had locked her hold on his cheeks as strongly as her lips to his. Said shock was erased though as he felt the realization that his first kiss was with a demon.
It excited him.
He had no idea what to do or how to respond after she parted said kiss with a triumphant smirk. His skin crawled so good he couldn't process while looking at her with half-lidded eyes.
"Because I'll chain your ass to the ground." She finished with a pat of his cheek.
"That was my..." he didn't have the mental capacity to finish that sentence, but they understood what he meant.
"No shit?" Vaggie smiled in disbelief, receiving a slow nod. "Well then you're gonna be practicing alot."
She turned to Charlie who was a blushing mess at seeing such passion firsthand. Charlie was already aware of how intimate Vaggie could be but to see it happen set off a whole new system of enotions that made her almost weak on the knees.
"You want a turn with him?" Vaggie asked smugly.
Charlie snapped out of the arousing trance of whatever lust she was feeling and giggled nervously. She batted her gaze and smiled sheepishly while Noctis walked over to the bed with less compose to having his first kiss.
"When the time is right." Charlie answered, which was the best she could muster before collecting herself and joining Noctis in laying down. "Anyway, let's go to bed."
Vaggie rolled her eyes playfully but complied by crawling into bed and making it known that Noctis wasn't going to keep separate from them again for another.
Quietly she shifted to his left side while Charlie took the right, avoiding Max in his blanket nest.
"What are you two doing?" Noctis stuttered nervously.
Stupid wasn't even the right word to call him for asking that question when Vaggie frowned after laying on his chest.
"It's called cuddling, dumbass." She scolded quietly and flicked his forehead.
"Ow." Noctis grumbled, knowing she was back to her old self and explaining it to him some more.
"You've spent this first week of our relationship laying away from us because you can't fathom how things go in hell. So suck it up and let us lay on you or I'll kick your ass."
"Yup," he stared up at the ceiling flatly, losing all nervousness and replaced with annoyance. "That's the Vaggie I know."
She smirked victoriously as Charlie was more gentle in the matter by hugging his arm.
And with that came a peaceful night filled with mixed emotions and strangely sensational sleep that Noctis hasnt felt until this sense of safety came from their closeness.
Little did they know there was more trouble to brew in the distance, watching them from a building with his hackles raised in a bloody smile from eating a random imp that shouldnt have wandered alone at night.
"You will not eacape me again, broken one."