Archive of Our Own ^beta

She didn’t even know how they had gotten here. Mutual hatred? A burning passion for fucking with the one man who had hurt them both?

Either way, that tension had long been aired out, and now they were here. In Lust. In Verosika’s townhome, surrounded by her awards for her music both human and demon, signed autographs of other famous singers, and memorabilia from her time on the road.

When she wasn’t overthinking it, Barbie could just sink into the warm, overpriced couch that felt like it was made of clouds and soak in the luxury her girlfriend provided. But there were other times, times she wasn’t as proud where she would sink into that same couch with a bitterness stinging her heart and a dry mouth that couldn’t be parched by any liquids.

Maybe it was because she was born into a life in the circus where she had been raised to perform until her whole world had been undone by an accident she had no control over. Or it could be because even after years of heartache and finally reconciling with Blitzø, she still harbored some resentment for what she had lost. Time with Fizz, her mom, shit, even her asshole brother. Well, sometimes an asshole. That weird bird had started to help him change, though she still didn’t know what a Prince of Hell saw in her dipshit of a little brother.

“You look rather… thoughtful… tonight.”

Barbie tipped her head back, a toothy grin cracked on her lips as her gorgeous, shapely girlfriend came into view. “Yeah. I guess.”

“Thinking about him?”

“Dipshit? A little. Mostly us.”

“Us, huh? And?”

“And, I guess just watching more shit from Fizz.”

Verosika snickered, plopping down next to the imp and wrapping one long slender finger around her ankle, stroking gently along the ridge of muscles. Barbie was laid out on the couch, a blanket in her lap and her phone in her face as she scrolled through videos on her phone. Since she had reconnected with Fizz, they had started swapping random clips back and forth. He loved to send videos of the quieves, recipes she definitely wouldn’t use because they were way too fucking sweet, and random updates on Blitzø.

The succubus sighed, letting her head fall in the imp’s lap and moving her hand from ankle to thigh, not in a gesture to start anything, but just for the warm familiarity. This was another thing they had a familiar rhythm for; they had started as enemies in rehab and slowly somehow became friends, then friends with benefits, and now…. They were living together, shared a couch and all these slow, gentle moments that didn’t always lead to sex. Just the resolute softness that they both needed.

Verosika finally broke the silence, trying to get her attention again. “That guy is a class act. I can’t believe you were raised with him!”

“A class clown is more like it. I can’t believe he ever had a crush on Blitzø. Those two were so fucking obvious and then…”

And then it was over. Their whole lives spread out before them went up in smoke and green flames.

Verosika sat up, lifting one hand to cup her cheek. “Hey, don’t go getting lost and sentimental on me now. I love that tough as nails imp I fell in love with.”

Barbie swatted the hand away, sighing and pulling the blanket tighter around her chest and waist. “I’m fine. I just can’t believe those two idiots.”

“For someone who doesn’t care, you sure do think about them a lot.”

“Yeah.”

But there was so much more to her life than Blitzø and Fizz. There was the dancing she still loved to do, her dream of starting a ballet studio like her mama always told her she could. Tilla had been a sturdy woman, not easily broken but always flexible; bending to let her kids dream of a life beyond the circus.

And Barbie had dreams that extended far beyond what anyone could imagine. Verosika had seen them too, offered to even help her open the studio and use her star power to give it a boost. But if there was one thing Barbie needed, it was earning this shit on her own. Her father was an ass, but he was right about that. Broken clock, and all that.

“Ok, BW, how about this? How about we play a game. Twenty questions? Break you out of that mental block you’re in?”

Barbie chuffed, shaking her head. “Twenty questions? Really? What are we, seventeen?”

“I guess that depends on if you want me to use my fingers or hips tonight, because I was technically still a virgin at seventeen.”

“You know I don’t really care about that, right?” The imp crossed her arms, then thought better and pulled the succubus up into her lap, threading her claw through the long soft hair.

“I don’t give a shit either; just making a point.” Verosika’s cotton candy eyes fluttered and her black lips curved into a seductive smile; her nails came forward and she tapped them gently against her stomach, drumming them against her pale pink skin.

Barbie considered it, and decided she’d rather play the game then go down what she had been up to at seventeen. “Alright. Twenty questions it is. First question, is it in lust?”

“Mmmm. Maybe. Actually, yes.” Verosika twirled her hand in the air, making long brush-like strokes with her hand. “Next.”

The imp bobbed her head, sniffing and taking a moment to find her voice for another question. “Is it in our house now?”

“Nope, not right now.” Something softened in Verosika’s face at her words, her head tilted backward and a goofy, uncharacteristic smile found her lips. “Our house?”

“Next question. Could I find it at Ozzie’s?”

Fuck, she hadn’t meant to say that. Was this their house? She meant her house. Was it theres?

“Yep.” Verosika’s hands crept up her thigh, sliding under cutoff dress.

“Ver,” The imp’s voice was a gruff, trying to get her back to the game. She wasn’t ready for this conversation.

“That’s not a question.”

“Neither is you starting a game and not finishing it.”

Verosika pouted, pulling her hand away and tussling her hair back in the imp’s lap. “Fine.” She sighed, drawling out the last syllable before continuing, “What’s your next guess?”

It took her a minute this time, narrowing down to the options she could gather were at Ozzies. Particularly since Verosika had given the first as a “maybe” before swapping it to a “yes”.

“Hmmmm…. Is it a person?”

A sly grin crept across the succubus’ lips, twitching as she edged closer to the answer. “You better believe it, bitch.”

A person, who was sometimes in lust, not in their home, and at Ozzies? That took out Fizz, Ozzie, and most of the bouncers they knew since they lived in Lust. Maybe one of the dancers?

“Are they a dancer?”

“No-pe.” Verosika’s lips popped, puckering and looking absolutely divine. This girl was messing with her, trying to make her lose focus. That was something Barbie learned about her in their time as a couple; Verosika wasn’t actually as horny as her appearance and music would make you believe. Not like how Blitzø and his boyfriend behaved, even in public. Not like Fizz and Ozzie either. But the pop star did love to throw around her sex appeal, she loved being wanted and was a snake charmer at drawing people in. It was another commonality between them; she knew it was from a lifetime of only being loved for what she could do instead of who she was.

“Ok.” Not a dancer, which took out most of the non-native lust demons.

She snapped her finger, a cocky grin lighting up her face. “It’s Wally, isn’t it?”

Verosika groaned, rolling her head back and sighed. “Yes, it’s Wally. I thought that one would stump you for sure!”

“And I got it in, what, seven?”

Verosika rolled onto her side, nuzzling into her lap and rubbing the blanket. This was what they both craved, both needed as a reprieve from a life in the spotlight. Quiet closeness, gentle touches, soft loving glances.

Barbie started up a rhythm of rubbing the succubus’ shoulder, her arm, her back, anywhere her claw was long enough to reach. She scraped her long, filed nails down supple pink skin, making sure not to break it with the tips of her razor-like claw tips. Verosika hummed happily, rolling over so her entire back was faced up to the imp, her face buried in the blanket on her lap, wings flat.

“I know it took us a while, but I’m happy we found this. Whatever it is.”

Barbie wasn’t sure how to respond. Verosika loved to fill in empty spaces with words, and her? She had spent so much time by herself in rehab, so much time reading and trying to just get clean, her thoughts had become a familiar maze that she navigated easily without the distraction or stimulation.

“Mmm.”

That had the succubus in a tizzy, rolling over again and scraping her own claw up the imp’s chin. Her wings tittered, relaxed and folded underneath her shoulders. “Alright Barb, you’re hiding something. Spill.”

Well shit. Verosika really did know how to get down to business when she wanted to.

“It’s been a year since we moved in together. And I… I just wasn’t sure how you felt. You haven’t said anything.” Barbie turned her head aside. It wasn’t like she was avoidant - she wasn’t her brother. She didn’t mind asking tough questions, but something about their relationship made it different, special, harder to talk through some of those intense emotions.

Their entire relationship still felt like a cloud that if it rained too hard, would disappear into the hazy indigo night sky of lust. So she tried to stall the rain, keeping her head up, her emotions even. It wasn’t everyday you got a chance to date Verosika-fucking-Mayday, and she wasn’t going to fuck it up.

“Raw.” Verosika closed her eyes, mouth pressed into a thin line. Her arms folded protectively in front of her, her body shivered. Barbie instinctively grabbed the matching X and O patterned blanket off the couch, laying it across the hellborn’s torso and hips before squeezing the succubus to bloom some warmth back into her.

That one word answer had spoken volumes. Before the events of the last year, they weren’t on friendly terms. “Raw” was very close to how Barbie felt, too. But what did that mean to Verosika?

“Raw? Could you be, I dunno, maybe a little more specific?”

Candy colored eyes fluttered open, long lashes dusting her cheeks. “Well, I guess just… unsure. How this all works out. No offense, but of the members of your family I’ve dated—”

The imp couldn’t help but let out a growl.

“—I’ve been hurt. But I also think… I think we’re different, you and me. Different from how things were back then. I had problems with every known substance in Hell, I was getting on my feet as a singer, and… And I just didn’t understand what I do now. I think I’d like this to work, but I’m scared, Barbie.”

Verosika brushed away tears, the most sure sign this conversation was tipping into the emotional uncanny valley of really fucking serious. So Barbie did what she knew best – she leaned down and captured the succubus in a wanting kiss; slow, tender, speaking all of her hopes and dreams and wishes into her lips. ‘I’m scared too. Let’s be scared together, ok?”

---

A week later they decided it was time - they bought a new bed sheet spread. It was their first purchase together, everything else had either been brought by Barbie when she moved in or was already there and Verosika’s. And in the year since, Verosika had showered her with presents, but none of them were theirs.

So they poured over magazines, searched online and did way too much research to find the right thread count, material, the whole deal. Eventually they settled on a gorgeous set of silken lavender linens that was supposedly good for Verosika’s hair and Barbie’s skin.

When they finally arrived in the mail, it took Barbie a few minutes of just staring at them in awe to think of what this really meant. A silly joint purchase, but a life, a bed, a comforting object they had picked out together and were going to share. For as long as they had each other, they would remember this.

Barbie sighed as she brought the package inside, peeking around to see if her girlfriend was anywhere to be found. Nowhere in sight, she tiptoed to their bedroom, surveying the monstrous space. It was easily double the size of a typical room in lust, with floor to ceiling windows that showcased glowing neon signs breaking through the always-shaded indigo skies speckled with rain clouds of the cityscape below.

The bed was massive, way bigger than they needed even combined, but Verosika insisted and who was Barbie to say no to the one holding the purse? The cavernous piece of furniture was complemented with matching end tables, and mismatched lamps. One she had saved from the wreck of the circus, her only momento from her family’s tent. Verosika’s was practically a piece of modern art, a sculpture of a succubus bust with heart nipples and a patch of hair near the sculpture’s vulva that was beautifully embellished.

Verosika had very loudly and positively affirmed that she and Barbie were alike - both down to suck off anything that belonged to another sexy hellborn. Yet here, in the quiet of their room and home, her preferences for softness and curves always showed themselves.

Barbie let her mind wander as she went to work replacing the sheets; stripping the mattress of the existing fabric that clung tightly to the monstrous slab of white, tossing it unceremoniously in a pile before stretching out the new silken sheets that felt like smooth satin to her claws. She tugged at each corner, giving a little huff when one of the sides went too far and she had to go back and forth between the ends to straighten it. When she was finally done, she rearranged the quilt and comforter, adjusted the oversized throw pillows and stepped back. Even though only the sheets had changed, the entire room somehow felt different.

A ghost of a wind blew behind her, and Barbie turned her head, seeing Verosika finally come up behind her, encircling her around the shoulders in a tight hug. “I like it, Barb. Looks like we could get a lot of use out of them.”

The imp squeezed her claws tight, tipping her horns back to look up into the eyes of her gorgeous, thoughtful girlfriend. “Yeah. Yeah I bet we could. How about right now?”

She snatched the succubus by the waist, tugging her over and spilling them both onto the mattress in a hot pink and bright red puddle. They both burst into a fit of giggles, just two girls at a sleepover with their best friend. For a moment, they paused, just staring at each other with dopy smiles. Verosika reached out her hand, placed it between their bodies. Barbie smiled back, reaching out to grab it and squeeze.

Then, from behind her back, she yanked a pillow and whacked Verosika on the face with it. “Alright bitch, time for a pillow fight!”

“You’re on, BW!” Narrowed cotton candy eyes matched the intensity of her growl, but her lip was upturned into a smile. And just like that, Barbie finally felt like she really was home.