40. “you saved my life.”

Vanessa frowns. “I did what?”

Charity rests her chin on her hands, the bedsheet slipping down off her shoulders. “You saved my life,” she repeats.

Vanessa snorts. “You were hardly dying when I met ya.”

“That’s not what I meant, babe.” Charity bites down on her bottom lip, looking past Vanessa and towards the closed bedroom door. The house has long since been quiet but she likes to listen for the soft pitter-patter of little feet. Years ago, it would have annoyed her. Now she longs for it. She keeps holding her boys tightly, as if they’ll stop growing as long as she does. But Moses gets a little taller every day and Johnny gets a little braver and she knows they won’t be boys for long.

Vanessa tucks some a stray hair behind Charity’s ear, fingers lingering at the shell of her ear before it drops back to the bed. “What do you mean then?”

Charity wishes she could reach into the space between them and take it back now. The words feel silly. But Vanessa is giving her those eyes - the ones that say you can tell me anything and Charity feels her resolve crumbling swiftly.

“Just that. You, you know. Saved my life.” She picks at the corner of the pillow she’s using. “Just picture where I’d be now if I wasn’t with you.”

Vanessa grins. “Uh, off with some bloke who wouldn’t appreciate you for who you are?”

“See?” Charity reaches for Vanessa, soaking it in that Vanessa reaches right back. “Off with who knows who, who knows where. Moses with Ross. Noah with Debbie. Ryan long gone,” she counts off. “I wouldn’t have stood up to Bails. I wouldn’t have had you when Lisa died.” She stretches forward, her lips brushing Vanessa’s hand. “I’d be someone completely different, babe. And...” She takes a deep breath, losing it all when she realizes she’s shaking. “And I don’t know if who I’d be would be as good as who I am right now.”

“Charity Dingle,” Vanessa says, smile softer now. “You’ve gone a bit soft, haven’t you.”

“Soft in the head,” Charity mutters. She moves to turn around but Vanessa grabs her, holding her in place. “You can forget I said that, by the way.”

Vanessa leans in, their lips brushing. “I’m never going to forget it.”

3. name three favorite writers - I wasn’t sure if this meant FF writers or non, so I’m gonna say Louisa May Alcott, thepriceismeg & colormetheworld.

13. hardest character to write - Maura Isles. I always think I’m doing ok and then I’ll read a take on her by feltknickers or turtleback or another brilliant FF writer and be like huh y’know what no, I’m terrible at this! I think it’s hard to really nail her intelligence without making her sound like, well, a talking Google. Which is to say I think the show also sucked at writing her a lot of the time.

(A non-rizzles answer would be Jessica Jones. She’s a tough nut to crack!)

14. easiest character to write - if not Jane Rizzoli, it’d be Constance Isles. I think that’s bc we get just enough of her on the show for me to get a good grip on who she is, but the show leaves SO many questions unanswered that I’m burning to answer and I find her so intriguing!

25. favorite line you’ve ever written - oh gosh, that’s hard. If I were to take more time to think about it I might have a classier answer, but as it is the first thing that came to mind was the opening line of the noir. 

3) Who is more into taking showers/baths together? Who tries to make it relaxing and who tries to make it sexy time?

Vanessa will take a baths over a shower most nights. She likes to make the water hot enough for her skin to go pink and maybe even red. Charity waits until it cools a bit and then she slides in behind Vanessa, letting the water splash between them until Vanessa’s back is pressed to her front. Her hands drift across Vanessa’s sides to the soft swell of her stomach, tap tap tapping against her skin.  Between the little ones constantly slamming this toys, running their trucks up and down the halls, and the pulsing music echoing from Noah’s room, it’s the most alone they get most days. There’s time for more later, in bed, when the village is quiet and the halls are quieter. In the bath, things are softer, more intimate. Vanessa will let her head fall back against Charity’s shoulder and Charity’s hands will wander up to the knots in her neck. Charity’s knees poke out of the surface of the water and Vanessa traces promises into her skin. They’ll stay there until their fingers wrinkle and pucker; until the water is near ice; until Vanessa is nearly asleep at the feeling of Charity’s hands drifting across her skin.

17) Who is more protective?

Their each protective in their own ways. Vanessa is protective; everyone knows it. She’s been that way since she was little. She has less tolerance for bullies than she does for amphibians. Pierce, Bails, Kim Tate, Lachlan and his father, Cain. She has a short fuse to start and even shorter one when someone she loves is backed into a corner. She does first and thinks later. It’ll put you back in hospital, Charity’ll tell her, slamming a brew down in front of her. Vanessa knows it’s not anger; it’s fear. 

Charity is blindly protective of her children. She never really gets it completely right, but she tries. She tries harder, now. She’s used to be protective of her family, blindly so, but they’re not as protective of her. Loyal as a starving snake, she’d called them. She’d meant it. It’s easier to look at them now and not feel that tiny ripple of rage in her stomach, but it’s not completely gone. Her children, her grandchildren - she’d stand in front of a moving train car for them. She’s not sure she’ll ever feel that way about anyone else until she meets Vanessa and Johnny, until she falls in love with them. And the way she feels about her kids stretches to them. She picks up a metal bar and swings it down over Donny’s head because of Vanessa, for Vanessa. She swings it down with their same ferociousness that she has when it’s Debbie or Noah. She swings it down for the little boy shaking in her backseat, for the woman bleeding behind the back of the pub. And she feels no remorse. Dingle’s protect their own, they say. And Charity might not feel that much anymore, but she will always, always protect her own. Her own might have changed slightly and stretched some, but their hers and she won’t let anything, anything, happen to them.

Well, that was perfect. Thank you!

uh… you had no business giving us FEELINGS in a tag reply

I’d apologies but I wouldn’t really mean it.

speakers77 replied to your post: 5, 6, 9 and 11 for the ask thing, vanity 😊

These are wonderful.

I’m going to pretend this is exactly what happened. And spot on banter.

So adorable. I love these little domestic glimpses you give us.

memories-and-musings replied to your post “Tiny Wee Vanity Ficlet”

This is great - cute supportive girlfriends are the best ���� love how you write them and their dynamic - feels very “real” to them! Second fic headcannon now accepted from your fics this week!

ceridwyn2 reblogged your post and added:

Positively adorable. :)

I'm probably not in the best position to say, since I haven't watched the show properly since 2020.

But in soapland, I would say never say never. When a couple was as committed and important and popular as they were, writers can often fall back on them in times of trouble or low ratings.