"DAMNATION DINER"
•••
"This is going to be uh-mazing!" Charlie cheers, her much taller figure walking closely beside you, her hands clasped together eagerly. "I hear that this place is suuuper good! I always wanted to take Vaggie, but she always had an excuse for not wanting to go." She shrugs, spinning around before hurrying back up to catch up again. "I'm so excited! Who did you say we were meeting, again?"
You smile awkwardly, but a part of you feels immensely guilty for just how pumped up she is. The poor girl is literally unable to sit still from the sheer power of her giddiness, and you're more or less using her, like Vaggie said, as a bodyguard. It's not that you don't want to spend time with her, these just aren't the right circumstances. "Velvette. She works with Val, which is why I'm... not entirely convinced she's doing this just to give me my phone back. I've also never actually met her, but I know she helped Val with a lot of the shitty things he does, so..."
"Don't worry! It'll be awesome." She insists, tilting her head to get a better look at you. "And, if it goes well, and she's here on good intentions, then that's even better! Because then we'll have something of an ally within the Vees! Right?"
"Um... yeah." You nod, but you're not so sure. Her endless optimism worries you, like she's bound to jinx something.
Arriving outside of Damnation Diner, you feel a pressure in your chest and throat. There are so many fears building up inside of you all at once and— why the fuck did you agree to this? Because you're too nervous to ask someone at the hotel to help you buy a new phone? What if Valentino is in there instead of Velvette? You know yourself— you'll fold and start apologizing and go home with him if he does. He has you under contract, but if you can avoid seeing him in person, avoid the smoke that makes you some kind of slave to him, you'll be alright. So please, don't let him be in there.
'It's fine, it's fine. Charlie's here. She's the daughter of Lucifer, for fuck's sake.'
Charlie grabs your hand and pulls you into the restaurant, looking around in bewilderment. "Woww, this place is so fancy! Look, Y/N, the seats have cushions!"
It's nothing groundbreaking, but Charlie's right. The place is strangely nice, clean and elegant with fairly expensive furniture and food that actually smells good. That's a lot to ask for in Hell, so you're genuinely surprised.
"Yo, over here!" Comes a strong British accent, and your eyes snap across the diner to Velvette, dressed to the nines as always in frills and jewels. Charlie gasps and pulls you along, toward Velvette. Velvette's eyes widen and then swiftly narrow at the sight of Charlie. "You're underdressed, babe." She tells the blonde before moving her gaze back to you. "Oh, good, you dressed up as I told you to. You look fantastic- love it- you've gotta come sit. I got us a table for two... you'll have to pull up a chair, Princess."
Charlie blinks in surprise and laughs softly, feeling her face flush with embarrassment. "Oh- yeah! Just a second." She runs off to request another chair, and Velvette guides you to the table she reserved. It's in the back corner of the restaurant, isolated enough to not be heard by others, but public enough to not be entirely alone with her.
Velvette sits down in the seat closest to the wall, so you take the outer one. You clear your throat and decide to bite the bullet. "Where's my phone?"
"Relax, darling, I've got it right here." Velvette rolls her eyes, gesturing to her handbag. "Take it slow, won't you? I can't believe this is the first time I'm meeting you after four years of you being Valentino's second favorite fuck buddy."
You cringe at the idea of being considered his 'fuck buddy'. It's understandable, though. You really weren't ever anything more to him, just like you were nothing more to any other man before him. "Yeah, well, Val didn't really like me socializing."
"Valentino is a dickwad." Velvette checks her nails, sighing dramatically.
Charlie comes scrambling back over, pushing a chair toward the table and sitting down. She smiles happily, tapping her knees. "Heyyy, you guys...! What'd I miss?"
Velvette glances at her. "Y'know," she begins, ignoring Charlie altogether. "they've got great shit here. Get whatever you want, love."
Clearing her throat, Charlie speaks back up. "Oh- oh well, I don't mind splitting the bill! I'd be happy to—"
"Do you hear something?" Velvette asks you, twirling her finger around one of her loose strands of hair. "Like an annoying wailing?"
"Uh, excuse me—" Charlie tries to protest, but Velvette raises her hand, silencing her.
"I was talking to Y/N, darling? Hush up, won't you?" She quips, sighing and sliding her menu over to you. "Pick out whatever you'd like, babes."
You take the menu and look at Charlie, who looks somewhere between livid and crestfallen. Upon noticing you look at her, though, she forces a sweet smile so as not to worry you. "Uh, well, I'm not that hungry." You insist.
Velvette shrugs and swipes the menu back. "Fine, then. Just drinks. You seem like a white whine type. You, waiter, over here!" She waves down the waiter and snaps her fingers. "Two bottles of white wine, and an apple juice for the littler one." She gestures toward Charlie, who narrows her eyes and slumps back in her seat.
The waiter gives Velvette a less than subtle glare but nods nonetheless, running off to fetch her request. She sighs and turns to you once again, leaning slightly over the table. "You've got great proportions. You ever consider bein' a model? My designs on your figure? You'd be unstoppable— everyone would wish they were you."
"Definitely not," You blurt out without entirely thinking it through. The last thing you need is to be employed by another Vee.
"Your loss."
The waiter returns, placing two bottles of white wine on the table and a box of apple juice in front of Charlie, who manages to mumble out the world's weakest thank you.
"I totally see why Valentino jumped on hiring you when he saw you." Velvette grins, and your stomach churns uncomfortably. "Is it true you were a prosituite when you were alive?" Her grin grows into a smug little smirk.
You want to curl up and double-die. You cannot stand... anything about yourself. You've sold every part of you and look where it got you: in Hell, still miserable. Charlie looks over at you, her eyes lingering on the way your eyes squint a bit.
She snaps her gaze back to Velvette. "What makes you think you have any right to bring up their past like that?" She asks, an unrecognizable anger behind her words.
"Just making conversation. Don't tell me you're embarrassed— you became a porn star in the afterlife you can't regret it that much." Velvette snickers, and Charlie gets to her feet, slamming her hands down on the table.
Her hair bands snap and so does she: yellow scleras turning a passionate crimson. "How could you speak to them like that!?" She demands, borderline growling.
You quickly scramble to your feet, eyes going wide as you stare up at the usually cheerful, passive girl. It just goes to show how little you actually know about her. "Charlie—"
Velvette purses her lips, glancing up at Charlie. She sighs and, following the both of you, gets to her feet as well. "What a buzzkill. Here's your phone, darling." She tosses you your phone and you eagerly catch it. "If you decide you'd like to spend time with me, without the cockblock, I put my number in there. Later, fuckers." Velvette winks and throws a handful of money onto the table, swiftly exiting the diner.
Once she's gone, Charlie sighs and relaxes her shoulders, her appearance slowly returning to normal. You hesitate before stepping forward. Your hand reaches for her shoulder, but you second guess yourself and pull it back at the last second. "Charlie," you say slowly. "Are you... okay?"
"Are you?" She asks immediately, looking at you with wide doe eyes. "I just don't understand. If she had no ulterior motive, gave you your phone without trouble... why would she be such a... a... ugh!"
"I think that's just how the Vees are." You shrug weakly. "Thank you for, ah, standing up for me, though. You didn't have to do that, I would've been fine."
"It's what I came along for." She smiles gently, cupping your face in her tender hands. "What do you say we finish this dinner, just the two of us? No bitchy Vees allowed!"
"Yeah, that's... that sounds great." You smile back, and for the first time in quite a while, you feel safe in the hands of someone else.
———
"I know! He took, like, twenty minutes to find his glasses and they were on his head— his eyes are so fucked!" You laugh, pushing some loose strands of hair out of your face as you walk back into the hotel alongside Charlie, who giggles.
"I can't believe that's the guy that owns your soul." She snorts, throwing the doors open and allowing you to step inside first. The cheerful moment dies down when she stops walking and looks at you. "Is there any way to get out of it?"
You hesitate and turn back to her, crossing your arms against your chest. "Yeah. Uhm... three ways. The contract ends if he releases me on his own accord, I make a deal with someone else and offer them my soul instead... or if he dies."
Charlie walks closer to you, reaching for your shoulders. "Is it bad that I kinda hope he dies?"
You chuckle softly and look up at her. "No... I pray that the exorcists fuck him up every time the extermination rolls around—"
"Oh, fuck! The extermination— my meeting with Heaven! Y/N! I'm meeting with Heaven tomorrow!" She stammers, suddenly feeling flustered as she fans her face. "I totally forgot! I have to go pack—! Ah- okay- I'm sorry! Goodnight! I had the best time despite everything!" She pecks your cheek gently before racing upstairs.
You watch her go, your hand moving to touch the spot that she'd kissed you. Genuine, non-sexual affection? You could... actually get used to that.
———
"Oh-ho, Velvette." Vox sighs contentedly, watching the feed from your cell phone camera on his plethora of monitors. He can't see much, but the camera peeking out just outside your back pocket allows him to see behind you— the hotel lobby. That's not what he cares about though, and rather, he cares much more about the audio he's being provided with. "I owe you big time for this. Don't worry, Y/N, I'll be sure to keep a close EYE on you." His voice glitches out, and he laughs maniacally to himself, spinning around in his swivel chair.