Chapter Text
"Ahhhhhhhh!"
Vaggie only falters at the sound for a second before drawing her sword from the great beyond. With a practiced ease she rams a foot into the center of the man's door, sending it flying across the room into the water of his bayou.
"Alistor!"
"Va-"
She's on him in a second, sending the man tumbling much to his own surprise. She's not even thinking as she glances over at the crying 'child' before just going ham on his face. She doesn't even bother with he weapon in lieu of just hurting him. Sure she knows Abigale isn't exactly a child any more; being half sinner they recently celebrated their twentieth birthday, but they are functionally Vaggie's niece. They are everyone's 'child' and even if they weren't this is a pain that Vaggie can not stand to hear. Genuine agony of such a genuinely sweet person who would probably never be able to escape with the others.
"Vaggie! Stop it!"
Abigale's scram startles Vaggie a bit, but not as much as the silence that follows. She's expeting to he told that 'hes had enough' or 'he's not worth it' but it never comes, and Vaggie turns to the still young daemon.
"He hurt you."
"Vaggie he was just brushing my hair." Abigale offers a genuine; if still pained smile, but Vaggie is still burning with anger.
"You were screaming!"
"Charlie would make me scream if she brushed my hair."
"What?" The anger fades quite a bit, Vaggie scanning the young enby. As she does she quickly realizes what the issues is.
Abigale's hair is a complete mess. It's naturally very thick, but now she see's the issue. The deeply tangled; and almost matted, mess of frizzed hair and natural feathers that have tangled themselves into it. Standing she takes a few calming breaths before turning to Alastor.
"Hate to say it, but why not just cut it at this point? I m-" An ear piercing scream cuts her off, causing Vaggie to flinch a bit. Alastor winces as well, but rushes to his child as they start sobbing. He doesn't comment on the fact that they are not smiling, or get upset about the loud sobs. he just wraps his arms around them, pulling them close; gently hushing and soothing the child with affirmations.
"It's okay."
"We'll fix it."
"Don't worry, your not in trouble."
"You're going to be okay."
Over and over again he just comfort's his child, pressing their face to his shoulder but keeping his back to Vaggie. She doesn't question it, she knows she likely will not be privy to this level of genuine feeling again. That she likely will not stumble into this sort of situation again, and it doesn't matter. All that matters; as Abigale slowly manages to calm down, is that Vaggie made a mistake and she knows it. Easing herself she picks up her spear and points it to the door.
"First step of business, getting out of here This humidity can not be good for their hair type. I'll see if I can get you some extra strength detangler, the fact you are going at this dry isn't going to help anything. We can go to one of the empty guest rooms, three doors down, I want you to work on separating what you can by hand, I can walk you through how to fix that when I get back. But you are going to need a wide tooth comb and a few different brushes."
"I don't have one."
"Maldito Idiota. Both of you come, were consulting Velvette." Vaggie groans softly, glaring at Alastor as he goes to protest. "I hate the V's too, but Velvette also does hair, and she knows what she is doing. It's... I've seen her work Alistor, it's the one time I've seen that woman be genuine about something. not be a complete and utter piece of shit. it's the one an only thing that I will ever give her."
Alastor has gone silent, Abigale glancing up at their father. Even Vaggie thinks that he is going to argue again, but he just smiles down at the still clearly shaken enby in his arms. Quickly he glances over at the pitiful amount of tools, or even care products before he lets out a slight sigh.
"Very well. I... Don't know how to take care of Abigale's hair, I don't think I've ever been able to take care of my own." He admits; Vaggy noting that his smile doesn't leave his lips, but it does leave his eyes. "Vaggitha, this doesn't leave these walls, but this isn't my natural hair. I still straighten it, I have since I was alive. My hair was never quite like my Maw, I'd hardly call it curled even. I've processed my hair so much I doubt I will ever be able to return to where I was. I don't want that for them. If this is to be my punishment for not being able to learns, then so be it."
Vaggie is genuinely caught off guard and lets out a gentle sigh, reaching for his shoulder and taking it as he gives an approving nod.
"No."
"What?"
"Don't think of this as a punishment. Think about it as a learning opportunity. So... Hows about this. I pay for everything that you need to learn for Abigale's hair, take over doing it for a bit until your really comfortable, or until they-"
"Yeah that parts not happening. I love my hair, I hate the feeling of greasy hair on my hands and even the thought of it makes me nope."
Abigale shivers vilently, causing Alastor to glitch out for a moment. It genuinely takes a little git before he can recover, blinking a few times in slight confusion .
"I'm sorry Pa, are you okay?"
"It's alright my little Dearling, just please try to avoid doing that in the future, that was... Unpleasant." He smiles gently petting their hair to avoid messing it up before turning to Vaggie. "That's one half of a deal, what do you get in return?"
"You let your hair gain it's texture back, and actually ask for help taking care of it."
"What? That's it?"
"That's it. You should be proud of your heritage Alastor. So... Oh how is it you like putting it?" Vaggie pauses a bit then nods holding out her hand. "What do you say? Do we have a deal?"
"Deal." He nods, shaking her hand. His eyes go wide for a moment at the brilliant gold of the magic, a gold he's only seen from angels smirking as she gives him a look.
"She won't judge you. Though it has been so long. I won't hurt her, but I wont lie to her. I've unfortunately come to care for her quite a bit, not unlike my dear Abigale." He nods. "So don't you dare hurt my daughter."
"I... Wont." She shakes her head. "Now come, we've got an appointment to make."