Siblings and Pineapple Pizza
Stitches groans and abandons the magazine, rolling onto her back, boredom finally strangling her after two weeks of recovery. Staring at her ceiling, her hand absentmindedly starts tangling in Angel’s hair, who has been sitting on the floor, back leaned against her bed, reading his own magazine and petting Fat Nuggets. He had the day off today, and had come to hang out with her, but she was just so bored. She put her other hand in his hair, pulling it slightly from side to side, just enough to make him move his head around in circles.
She giggled at the absurdity of it, how childish she found herself around him, but instead of the thought making her cringe, it was actually delightful. He reminded her so much of her big sister, before everything had gotten too much, when they still felt like they had a childhood. Her playful antics to annoy her, her sister’s doting, protectiveness, and the way they would just sit and play for hours, lost in their own, secret world. Siblings, one of life’s greatest treasures, and one she had had taken from her far too soon.
“Brandi, if ya don’t stop yankin’ my head around, I’m gonna come up there and tickle ya within an inch of ya life.” She blinked, Angel’s voice pulling her out of her thoughts. The threat was too playful for her to even bother stopping. They had grown quite close over the last couple of weeks and had fallen into a comfortable sibling relationship, with Angel acting the part of the doting and protective older brother, and her quickly falling into the role of bratty adorable little sister. Just like in the good old days, huh, Sissy?
“But, To-nyyyyyyyy, I am so booooooooooooored…” she whined. He chuckled at her but made no sign of doing anything about it, flipping a page in his magazine instead. She frowned, yanking on his hair, making him yelp. She heard Fat Nuggets squeal and jumped off his lap, startled by his owner’s jumping. Before she could react or apologize (she really hadn’t meant to pull that hard), he was looming over her, actually annoyed now.
“That actually hurt, idiot!” he accused, his voice normal now. He had slowly started dropping the persona around her in private more and more, which showed he was getting as comfortable with her as she was with him. He was rubbing his head with one of his hands, eyes narrowed at her. But she could still see the playful, brotherly warmth in his eyes, so she knew she wasn’t really in trouble. However, she did feel bad for hurting him. A little. But not enough to stop teasing him.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to yank it too hard. But to be fair, you were the one who laughed at me instead of helping me.” She gave him an impish grin and booped his nose, and he responded with an exasperated eye roll and a shake of his head, a smile just barely being held back. “Come on, Tony, I know you wuv me!” She gave him her best puppy dog eyes, watching expectedly for him to cave.
Angel chuckled, and his face softened. “You are so lucky that’s true, brat.” He sat down next to her and began running his fingers through her hair, which felt amazing . He had been doing that a lot for her since he had noticed fairly early on that it really helped her relax and stay calm. “How’s your wounds feeling? When did you last change the bandages?”
“Mm, last night. They itch, but that’s normal when something is healing.” She would know. She had been tending to her own wounds most of her life. This was honestly far from the worst thing she had ever suffered. She yawned and rolled closer to him, so she could hold one of his other hands. Nice thing about Angel Dust, he had a lot of hands to spare. Which was good, because she was a touch-starved idiot who couldn’t help but crave more and more of this doting, loving attention.
“Okay, well, let me change your bandages, and then we can go for a walk to the kitchen. It’s lunchtime anyway, and you need to eat something.” His words were gentle, but the suggestion made her stomach churn.
She scrunched up her face. “But I just got comfy!” she pouted, snuggling into his leg. Which was partially true, she found all this very soothing. But the real reason was that she hated letting anyone see her bandaged wounds. Sure, she hadn’t been in the right mind and hadn’t even been aware she was doing it, but more to the point, she felt so much shame when it came to them. In fact, Angel was the only one she had allowed to help her with her bandages since she had woken up, and only because he insisted that she allow someone to help her keep an eye on their progress. They had actually healed pretty well over the last two weeks, enough to remove the last of the sutures, but they would still need to be covered for at least another week, to protect them while they finished sealing up.
Lucifer had offered to heal or at least speed up the recovery of the wounds, but she had gently declined each time. She knew it would scar, and she hoped it did, as morbid and dark as that sounded, even though she would never say it out loud. It wasn’t just about punishing herself, which she was willing to admit was, definitely, part of it. She also wanted the benefits that having scars in Hell would give her. Scars were a very visually noticeable way of announcing that she had gone through pain and come out the other side. That she was a survivor, strong enough to take the pain and not afraid to hide the aftermath. And if it makes me look a little less like a cutesy doll, even better!
Angel stopped petting her hair and gave her a stern look. She stared back defiantly for several minutes, her violet eyes piercing into his heterochromatic ones, but she finally huffed and grumbled as she went to get the med kit. She was stubborn, but so was her new brother, and she was hungry enough to let him win… this time. She did flip him off when she returned to him snickering at her attitude, though, because, what were siblings for?
______________________________________________________________________________
Angel Dust opened the fridge and sighed. No one had made leftovers in a while, so anything fresh would have to be cooked. He always tried to get Stitches to eat healthier foods since she needed the nutrients to promote better healing, but he just didn’t feel like being super productive and cooking today. There were some frozen chicken nuggets in the freezer, and he could always just pop those in the oven, but they weren’t really healthy . “Any requests for lunch?” he called over his shoulder.
“Ooh, Lucifer made a Devil’s Food cake last night! Let’s eat that!”
Ugh, of course, shoulda known that asking her was a bad idea. It took everything he had not to groan and smack his head. He turned and looked at her, not even mildly amused. She was completely serious and her eyes sparkled in excitement. She would literally eat a slice for a meal, he had no doubts about that. He vaguely remembered her telling him that she would occasionally eat cake for dinner as an adult, just because she could. Her sweet tooth was maybe only rivaled by Lucifer, and part of him considered just letting her do it. But, chocolate cakes were not going to help her heal.
“Stitches, that’s a dessert.” He rolled his eyes, calling her by her Sinner name. No one else was here, but they had agreed that outside of their private rooms, it was safer for both of them to use their Sinner names, just in case, especially when they were in the common areas of the hotel. Surprisingly, for as not-likely-to-think-before-speaking as his acquired sister could be, she had been pretty good at keeping to that arrangement. “Ya gotta eat somethin’ actually healthy first.”
She pouted, and he couldn’t help but smile. He could still remember how she had been when they had first met; she was always guarded, and any excitement or emotions either only appeared in flashes or did not reach her eyes. He had assumed she was mature and much more put together. But as she became more and more relaxed with him, she had started dropping her walls, and she was actually more like Lucifer, mature when it was necessary, but really just a big kid at heart. Cute and endearing, under so many layers of hurt and sorrow, yet still somehow one of the kindest people he knew.
Speak of the Devil, and he will appear because just as Angel was getting ready to force her to choose between a salad and a sandwich, Lucifer and Charlie walked in. They were deep in conversation, but the moment they saw Stitches and Angel standing there, they stopped talking and smiled in greeting.
“Oh!” Charlie exclaimed, running over to give Stitches a hug. “Did you guys come looking for lunch too?”
Angel wasn’t watching Charlie though, his eyes were on Stitches. Her entire demeanor had changed the moment the door opened. Her childish, bratty, open personality was nowhere to be seen. In its place was a gentle smile, guarded eyes, and a mature, calculated posture. She was hugging Charlie, but Angel could see it was different than the way she hugged him, or even Lucifer. Stiff, like she was afraid to give it, and even more afraid to receive the affection, though he knew she didn’t have a problem being touched by women. He knew from past conversations that she really liked the staff here, aside from Alastor, so that wasn’t it either. His eyes met Lucifer’s, and it was clear that he had also noticed the difference.
Stitches started picking at the bandages on her arm, a sign she was uncomfortable, so Angel cleared his throat quickly to answer Charlie’s question. “Well, I was TRYIN’ to get her some lunch, but Stitches here seems t’ think cake is an acceptable option for a meal.” He crossed a pair of arms, and narrowed his eyes at the doll demon, daring her to whine about it.
She just shrugged, as though he was making a big deal out of nothing.. “It was simply a suggestion. You weren’t exactly putting forth any other options.” She met his gaze, and her eyes glinted mischievously for just a fraction of a second before going back guarded as she turned back to Charlie. “Perhaps you have some idea, Princess? Help Angel come up with some… ideas?”
Oh, she is so going to pay for that later!
Charlie beamed at her, completely oblivious to the sibling quarrel. “Actually, Dad and I were talking about getting pizza ordered in! How does that sound? It should only take about 20 minutes or so if you think you can wait that long.”
“Charlie,” Angel smacked his head, “pizza ain’t healthy!”
Stitches turned and glared at him, her mask slipping away. “But it sounds amazing, and I have been good and eaten all the healthy food you’ve given me for weeks ! I want pizza!” Her voice was petulant and demanding. Cute, honestly, definitely endearing. Or it would be if she wasn’t being so damn obtuse about everything. So, he matched her glare, and they fell into a silent showdown of wits.
Lucifer cleared his throat. “Can I make a suggestion?” Everyone turned to stare at him, and he immediately started to squirm. Huh, for how timid this recluse is, it’s amazing he was able to woo both of Adam’s wives, not to mention being KING of this place. “Well, uh, I mean… we have to wait for the pizza anyhow, so why don’t I make us a cesar salad, and we can munch on that while we wait? That way, we get something healthy, and we can all enjoy pizza?”
Angel wanted to argue, but Stitches was watching him now with big puppy dog eyes, and he just couldn’t find it in his heart to say no to her again. She really had been more or less obliging to his insistence on healthier options for the last few weeks, with only the smallest amount of complaining or resistance…
Dramatic pause …
He sighed. “Fine, I guess that’s reasonable or whateve’.”
Stitches giggled happily, clapping. “Ooh ooh! I want pineapple on my pizza!” Her pure joy erased the rest of his apprehension about it, and he shrugged, starting to pull out plates and silverware while Lucifer took off his coat and hat, heading for the fridge to start making the salad.
Charlie gasped, then grabbed Stitches hands in hers, jumping excitedly. “OMG, I LOVE pineapple pizza!”
______________________________________________________________________________
Charlie glanced up at the other side of the table as she nibbled on her 5th slice of pizza. Angel Dust and Stitches sat side by side, alternating between bickering and laughter, their friendship more akin to family than simply friends, like siblings. They had grown so close over the last few weeks, and the few times that Stitches came out of her room, it was usually with Angel. It warmed her heart that Stitches had made such a close bond with someone so soon, and she wasn’t jealous. Well, not much.
She had always wondered what it would be like to have a sibling. She understood the concept well enough, read stories, and heard other people talk about it. But she had always secretly wondered what that would have been like. She imagined it often as a kid, when it would have been nice to have friends or at least, someone to play with. To confide in, to wrestle with, to face life’s challenges with. Not that she minded being an only child, but well, there was no one else who was… like her. Who grew and aged, who had both mortal and celestial DNA, who was… family. How different would it have been if she had had a sibling to lean on, to encourage, to spend time with… To not be alone.
It wasn’t like she had been completely alone and friendless growing up. Her mother would arrange play dates with the Goetia children, who were, well, nice enough. They at least aged and matured like her, unlike sinners who were, you know, not really able to do that. But the friendships had always felt so… hollow. Either they were nice to her simply because of her title, or because they were intimidated by her, or because she had something they wanted. She always felt like no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t make a real connection. She wouldn’t have had that issue with a sibling, who was already her equal.
Then there was school. Again, it was mostly upper-class hellborns, who never seemed authentic, or were only nice until they grew bored of her talking about her dreams. Seviathan ( wow, I haven’t thought about him for a long time ) had been better than most, which is why they had ended up dating for a while, but even he had shown his true colors eventually. Spoiled, pompous, arrogant, power-grabbing…
Her dad’s hand on hers startled her out of her thoughts, and she turned to meet his gaze. “You okay, Char Char?” Dad asked. “You’ve been awfully quiet.” Stitches and Angel were still chattering away, not paying attention to them. But they seemed far away now, as her dad looked at her with concern. Do I- can I-
She sighed. “Yeah, Dad, I’m okay. I just…”
“... just..?” he asked, forehead creasing.
“... I just was wondering what it would have been like to have a sibling.” Dad’s face looked dumbfounded, then a hundred emotions flew across it, and she hurried to explain. “No no no no, Dad, I am SO not complaining! I am perfectly happy with my life now, and I have all my friends here at the hotel, and you back in my life, and my redemption project, and an a-MAZE-ing girlfriend! I don’t regret my life a single bit, I promise!” His face started to calm down, so she continued, glancing over across the table, where the found-sibling duo was laughing now. “I just wonder sometimes what it would have been like to have a brother or a sister or something, you know, growing up. To have… well, that bond.”
Dad cupped her cheek so she would look at him again. His expression was understanding, though maybe a bit sad. “Sweetheart, it’s okay to wish for things, and if I could have, I would have given you a bunch of siblings! I…” He shook his head, then continued. “You know I kinda had a big, celestial family. I didn’t really have a birth or grow up, but I still had that connection to my brethren, and we really did feel like family… until… well…”
Charlie nodded, so he wouldn’t have to continue. He had always had a hard time talking about his Fall, about the events that led up to it, and the immediate effects after. She would never ask any questions, because it was obvious that even all these eons later, it still haunted him. And she loved him more than anything and wanted him happy more than anything.
“As for Li-” he winced, “-your mother, well, she was simply created into being. She didn’t age either. Or come from any sort of family. Honestly, she never seemed to mind that she had been alone in that way, though she always wanted a child. She wanted and loved you so much, even before she ever held you. But…” He looked away, shame and guilt on his face. Charlie wasn’t sure why, but something in her head told her she didn’t want to know. So they sat there in silence for a while, uncomfortable, heavy, and pungent with secrets neither was ready to be out in the open.
Dad looked up at her and rubbed her cheek with his thumb. “You were our little miracle, Charlie. Our one and only, and while I can’t change the past, and I can’t give you a sibling,,, Family isn’t always a part of someone’s gene pool.” He nodded towards the bickering duo. “If they can form a sibling bond, so can you, because you can do anything, Sundrop. Absolutely anything.”
Charlie smiled and pulled her dad in for a hug. He was right. She already had found a family, here in the hotel. Her dad was back in her life, she had friends, Vaggie was the love of her life, and maybe someday, she would also have a sibling bond with someone. Until then, she was happy and content. She didn’t need to be envious of someone else’s bond when she was already so blessed.
“I love you, Dad!” She gave him an extra hard squeeze.
“I love you, too, Charlie. More than anything.”