"Charlie expects every one of you on your best behaviour while we're away in heaven." Vaggie had lined everyone up and was marching up and down as she addressed them. "That means you, Angel and Oxie."

"Aw, come on. What are we gonna do? Other than, you know, drugs, trashing the hotel, drinking all the alcohol in the bar, verbally abusing everyone here-" Angel was cut off by Vaggie.

"Just- just please, don't cause too much trouble. Alastor is in charge."

At that moment, Charlie returned to the lobby. "Okay, so, the portal is gonna open in literally a few minutes, so-"

"What's up, hoes?!" Cherri said, smashing down the wall again.

"Are you fucking kidding me?" Charlie muttered.

"Cherri!" Angel smiled. Him and Oxie went over to her, as if they hadn't seen her in months.

"Right, Angel, Oxie, get ready, we are getting fucked tonight."

Charlie butted in. "You know what? A night out on the town might do you some good! Given you drink responsibly and don't take too many harmful drugs..."

"You think anyone here drinks responsibly?" Angel gave her a look. "Even Cynthia, your model student, is half-passed out at the bar most the time."

"...well, regardless, I think a relaxing evening amongst friends would be nice."

Cherri shook her head. "Yeah, no, I only came for Angel and Oxie. No offense to the rest of you, but, uh... yeah, I don't wanna be doing hard drugs with all of you." Charlie placed a huge wad of money into her hands. "...on second thoughts, maybe there's room for everyone."

"Babe, the portal's open." Vaggie said. Charlie squealed softly.

"Okay, okay. Bye guys, be safe!" she grabbed Vaggie's hand and went through the portal, leaving everyone behind.

"Let's get going, then!" Cherri said, grabbing Oxie and Angel's hands. "God, I've been fucking craving some rum, paired with a couple lines, then to top it all off... a sweet evening with some Oxycodone." She poked Oxie in the ribs.

"Wait, wait. Charlie said to not go too crazy, and anyway, it's been a long week. We'd better just... take it easy." Angel said.

"Oh, don't be a bitch, Angel. I mean, do what you want, but I'm getting fucked tonight."

He shrugged. "Alright. Don't expect me to be holding your hair back later."

Verina spoke up. It had been a few weeks since her exchange with Alastor, and it had shaken her to her core - she felt some drugs in her system would probably do her some good in terms of confidence. "I'll have Angel's share."

Cherri looked at her, first a little put off, before shrugging. "You know what? Yeah, you can have Angel's share. See, we might hate her, but at least she's not a pussy! So, there's this sex club that opened 2 weeks ago and I haven't blown it up. It's called Consent, we should go there!"

"Consent?" Husk asked. A small smile crossed his face. "That's a good name."

The group started walking in the direction of the club, chatting and laughing. Cherri seemed to be warming up to Verina now, asking her all sorts of questions about the stuff the Vees got up to.

"So, let me get this straight. Vox and Valentino are in a secret relationship?"

"Well, they're on again, off again. Except when they're off, they're still on top of each other. The walls aren't as sturdy as they look, either, I can hear Vox blue screening every night."

Cherri burst out laughing. "Shit, that's fucking hilarious! So, like, do they go on dates?"

"They go on so called 'business trips'. What they do is they rent out BDSM clubs."

Angel spoke up. "Who's the top and who's the bottom?"

"Vox is the top."

"What?!" Oxie, Angel, and Cherri spoke at once. Then they burst out laughing.

"You're telling me Val bottoms?" Angel said, breathless from laughter.

"Yeah. I mean, honestly, Val's a total kitten. When he's mad you just stroke his head and go, 'oh, there there, sweet boy' and he turns into an absolute baby."

"That's the most pathetic thing I've ever heard." Angel snorted.

Verina smiled. She had never spoken so much shit about her colleagues openly. "Well, he is pathetic. Honestly, I get embarrassed for him."

"Okay, I changed my mind, I like her." Cherri smiled, squeezing her hand. Oxie narrowed her eyes at them both.

Cynthia and Sir Pentious walked along behind the group. They were turned away from each other slightly, both seemingly flustered around one another.

"...Well, I think you're a very nice person." Pentious said.

"Thank you." she responded. "I think you're a very nice person, too. And you'll probably be redeemed one day."

"I like your, uh... I like to talk to you."

She smiled. "I like to talk to you too. And your little Egg Bois. Sometimes they tell me lies."

"...yes. They do have a tendency to do that. I like talking to Lucille. She doesn't say anything back, though."

"No, she doesn't. But I think she still loves us."

Pentious nodded. "You take excellent care of her. I have never heard of cooking filet mignon for a dog before, but clearly we should all be doing it."

She looked up at him and nodded. "I want only the best for my little girl."

"Yes... I expect you do."

"Lovebirds, we're here!" Cherri called to them. They looked up.

"Oh, my, it's terribly loud." Cynthia murmured.

"...let's go in." he responded.

The club was dark, quite crowded, but otherwise fairly pleasant for the fiery depths of Hell.

Angel and co hit the bar straight away, passing drinks around.

"...and one for Verina, the hottest Vee around!" Cherri said. She laughed and downed the shot in one.

"Oh, shit, it fucking burns." She said. Cherri laughed at her.

"Let it burn, baby, we're in Hell."

Cynthia nodded. "I'll drink to that."

"You'd drink to anything, baby. You'd drink to a dead cow if you had something with you." Husk nudged her slightly, smiling. "Glad to see you cheering up, though. I got sick of that sad, confused look on your face."

She smiled as Pentious came over. "Miss Cynthia, could I buy you your next drink?"

"You wanna buy me my next drink?"

"Uh- yes! I, uh... it's because... I'm buying drinks for everyone!"

There was a cheer from the crowd as everyone came over to bleed Sir Pentious' pockets dry.

"Oh, I wish those two would just fuck already." Angel said. "It'd do them both some good."

"Isn't Cynthia a lesbian? I mean, you should have seen her when she met Carmilla Carmine. I've never seen someone stare at an arse so much." Oxie replied, taking a shot. "Anyway, I once walked in on her painting lesbian sex, butt naked."

"Oh." Angel said. "That's, uh... interesting."

"Good painting, though."

Cherri spoke. "I don't think she's a lesbian, she's definitely in denial about liking girls, though."

"I'm not into girls." Cynthia spoke up. "I simply, uh... appreciate the female form."

"Is that why you keep staring at my tits? I'm just saying, yours are a lot bigger than mine." Cherri pointed out.

"...I don't mean this to be offensive, but I wish like sat like yours. Since having the baby they more resemble deflated condoms."

There was a moment of silence, then Angel bursted out into laughter. "Cynthia, I fucking love you. You're so funny."

"Well, it's true! Only when I'm wearing a good bra do they reach their former glory." she sighed.

"You know what, I get that." Verina said. "The only reason mine sit like this is because I got surgery. I guess Cherri won the genetic lottery."

Oxie sighed. "I'm so glad I don't have to cope with having big tits."

"It's tough." Angel said. Then, Sir Pentious came and tapped Cynthia on the shoulder.

"I, uh, got you another shot!"

"Oh, it's for me?"

"...yes! I got it for you because... I'm buying everyone another shot!" There was another cheer from the crowd.

"This is the life." Cherri laughed. "No lanky moth man on my back, no responsibilities, no bitchy hotel,just bombs, drugs, and alcohol."

"Yeah. Must be nice." Angel said. Niffty popped up next to him.

"I lost Alastor. Can I have that?" She pointed at Angel's drink.

"No."

"Thanks!" She grabbed it and started downing it.

"What the- Niffty! I said no!" Angel said.

"...ok. I'll go clean up now." Niffty wandered off, getting lost in the crowd. Angel sighed.

"I'll get you another, Angel." Verina said. "In fact, next round's on me!"

"Yes! You are officially my best friend, Verina, I hope I'm yours." Cherri said.

Verina laughed, paying for drinks "You're definitely mine, babygirl."

Oxie glared at them both, stood up, and walked off. Angel noticed and got up to follow her. "Hey, uh, I'll be right back."

Cherri watched her go. "Oh, she looks upset. Maybe I should go after her."

"No." Verina put a hand on her knee and smiled. "I've never had a best friend before. Stay here."

"Oh, uh, I was just jo- uh, okay." She remained seated, thinking for a moment. "...Verina, how much have you drank?

"Uh..." Verina thought for a minute. "I can't remember. You're hot, though."

"Maybe it's time to stop. Take a break. I think you made Oxie uncomfortable. You're making me uncomfortable right now."

"Oh, come on... I'm only joking."

"I'm just saying. I'd rather you didn't do that. I don't mind joking with you, but you're... I don't know. Coming on a little strong."

"Well, excuse me. I wasn't even flirting with you."

"You sure? Oxie tends to get jealous and we don't really know you well enough to be joking like this with you."

She rolled her eyes. "Not my problem if you can't take a joke."

Cherri's eyes narrowed. "No, I can take a joke, I just can't take anything that upsets my girlfriend."

"Doesn't sound like you can, sweetie. Calm your tits and have a drink."

"You are such a bitch." She got up. "I'm going to see Oxie."

She watched as she walked off, feeling a twist of guilt in her stomach. Her face must have fell, because Husk looked over from Cynthia and Sir Pentious' poor attempt at flirting. "Put your foot in it?"

"...I need some water."

Husk asked the bartender for some water and handed it to her. "Eh, don't beat yourself up, kid. You've messed up, I won't deny that, but you've made some great progress so far. Just apologise, stop going after people in a relationship, and, uh, hopefully we can all move past this."

"...I didn't even... I was only joking!"

"...sometimes it's not the intention that matters, but the effect it has. You pushed it too far, and you found out what happened. Go outside, get some fresh air, and apologise."

"You're being nice. It's weird."

Husk shrugged. "Just...I just wanna see you all making good progress. Like Sir Pentious, he's, uh-" He looked around. "Where'd he go?"

They looked over and saw Sir Pentious, holding Cynthia's hand, sneaking into one of the sex rooms.

Verina chuckled despite herself. "Get in there, Sir Pentious."

Husk smiled. "Well, maybe not the holiest, but at least he's scoring. Go on. Go apologise."

She nodded, finished her water, and headed outside. The trio were huddled together.

"Hey, uh, guys, I-"

"Shh!" Angel hissed, grabbing her arm and pulling her towards them.

"What? What's going on?"

Cherri pointed in the direction of a car.

Not just any car, a red Limo.

"Oh, shit, that's Val's car." she whispered. "Where is he?"

"He just went inside. He didn't notice us over the gaggle of hookers, though." Oxie said.

"Gaggle. That's a good word." Cherri nodded.

"That's not the point. All my stuff is in there, are we gonna go back in?" Angel asked.

"I mean... we can't just go back." Cherri replied. "I have a bag of coke I paid top dollar for in my coat."

"Oh, that'll be stolen by now, babes." Oxie said.

"Nah, Cyn was watching it."

"Oh, she's not now, she's fucking Pentious." Verina replied.

"Really? Get in there, Sir Pentious." Angel smiled.

"Right, we have some stuff to sort out. First of all, Verina, what's your fucking problem? Stop flirting with my girlfriend or I will literally clout you. And I know your fighting technique is 'distract them with my sexy', and that won't work on me, so I'll win."

"I'm sorry, Oxie. And I'm sorry, Cherri. I... am fucked up right now. I won't go after either of you again, I promise, don't kill me, please."

"Oh. Okay, uh, thanks for apologising." Cherri said. "Right, next problem. We need to get in, grab our stuff, tell the others, and get out without Valentino seeing us."

"Okay. How long do you think Sir Pentious and Cynthia will be?"

"I don't know. Apparently Cyn hasn't had sex once since coming down here, she's probably working out some frustrations." Angel replied.

"...well, could we just... go without them?" Verina suggested.

"No! We can't have Val going after Cynthia again. She doesn't have Vox here to tell him to fuck off." Oxie said. "We're just gonna have to wait for them."

"Ugh. They couldn't have picked any other time to get it on?"

There was a moment of contemplation before Angek spoke. "Right. Let's go in. Better than being stood out here in the cold. Husk will have seen him, and he's sensible, so it should be okay."

They all headed inside. They spotted Valentino distracted by the people around him, and sneaked over to Husk, who was holding Niffty by the scruff of her dress as she tried to run off.

"Ugh, there you are! Do I look like the damn baby sitter?! Val's here, he might have seen you!" He put Niffty down. "Where's Alastor?"

"We don't know." Angel said. "He just... disappeared. Maybe Niffty knows."

Husk looked down for Niffty - but couldn't see her. "Oh, for fucks sake, where'd she go..."

Angel spotted her running in Val's direction. "For fucks sake, no, no..." he ran after her, and grabbed her, but got too close, attracting the attention of Valentino. Everyone followed behind him silently. Verina tried hiding behind them.

"Angel Dust, baby! Ooh, you bringing me fresh meat? Who's this?"

"Nobody, Val.", trying to shove Niffty out of his sight. She only got closer, however.

Valentino chuckled in a low voice. "Hello, chiquita, what's your name?" one of his long fingers went to boop her, but Niffty lurched forward and bit him. "Ow! Ooh... tiny and feisty. You'll be well loved, my little one."

"Get away from her, Val. She ain't interested."

Valentino glared at him, before looking up and spotting Verina. She prayed he remembered what the plan was; what storyline they came up with.

Well, you can't expect too much from Valentino.

"Verina, baby! Where have you been, I haven't seen you in months! Come here, give me a kiss."

"...no, no, that's okay." She said quickly. The group looked at her in confusion. The plan was falling apart, and quickly. Then, Val seemed to come to life and remember the plan.

"Ugh!" No points for acting, but at least he was trying. "You were always such a bitch! Get out!"

The sudden shouting seemed to surprise everyone, except for Oxie who was watching sceptically.

"Why should we get out?" Angel glared at Val. "I'm off duty and I have every right to be here. Fuck off. Just work with the hookers you have and leave my damn friends alone."

Val looked back at him, hooking a finger under his chin. "Okay, baby. I will." his voice was low and flirtatious. "I'll have fun making you pay for this tomorrow."

Angel glared at him, and turned to walk off. Husk patted his shoulder. "Good job, kid."

"You okay, Verina?" Angel asked. She nodded.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm good."

There was a yelp from behind them, and Niffty caught up with them, holding a fist full of Val's moth hair. Angel laughed at her.

"We're gonna have to get you a leash, Niffty."

Her face lit up. "Really? A leash?! For me?! Thank you! Thank you!"

Angel exchanged a glance with Husk, before laughing.

Oxie glared at Verina, and grabbed her arm so they were behind everyone. "You're working against us, aren't you?"

"What?"

"Valentino seemed to forget about that argument very quickly." her eyes narrowed. "I'm a little confused about that. Maybe it never even happened. So, go on. Why are you here?"

"Oxie, don't be ridiculous. I'm here to redeem myself. I messed up tonight, and I'm sorry, but don't throw around baseless accusations because Valentino acted like Valentino."

She rolled her eyes at her and let go. "I'm watching you. I know something's off with you, even if you've got everyone else wrapped around your finger."

"Watch me all you want, hon. I know you can't keep your eyes off all this."

And with that, she walked off.