Chapter Text
"And why, my dear, should we care that Vox was injured by his arrogance?"
Alastor delighted in watching Velvette scowl, gripping her bedazzled phone almost hard enough to crack the screen. Meanwhile, Charlie turned to him with the oh-so-predictable puppy eyes that practically begged him to finish hearing the media overlord out.
Turning away from the pitiful display, he sipped his coffee as nonchalantly as possible before focusing his attention back to Velvette, giving her a mocking grin as he leaned further into his chair. "After all, we are not responsible for his actions. If he wanted to take on an up-and-coming newcomer, that's his responsibility."
Scoffing at his lack of tact, Vaggie placed her hand tenderly over Charlie's arm to comfort her, muttering under her breath comments about his own massive arrogance that he chose to ignore.
With a sigh, she addressed the small group, "As much as I hate to admit it, Alastor has a point. This isn't our problem. We're here to rehabilitate sinners, not get caught up in Overlord drama." Seeing Charlie about to argue, she turned towards her and stopped her. "Honey, Vox is known to crush anyone that threatens his media empire. It's not surprising that someone would eventually manage to fuck him up."
It wasn't enough to deter, as Charlie continued her protests "But Vaggie, he's not just hurt- he's comatose! His friends are worried enough about him that they're here asking for help, isn't that a big step forward?"
Humming lightly, Alastor asked, "The same friends who allowed Vox to surround the hotel with his silly flying cameras?" His grin widened as he watched Charlie deflate slightly.
"Well yes- I mean no-"
"Who also allowed him to send spies to this establishment?"
"That one turned out okay-"
"The same friend group that consists of Valentino?"
She froze with this statement, glancing over at the bar area where the rest of the hotel residents were gathered, and he knew his point had hit home. Angel Dust hadn't moved from his stiff perch on the bar stool, keeping the group in his line of sight as he downed a truly impressive amount of drinks with a dark look.
Seeing the Princess' hesitation, Velvette reigned in her annoyance and attempted to regain an air of nonchalance as she started tapping away at her phone, "Alright bitches, if you do this favour for us, the Vees will give you prime advertising space. I've even managed to get the pissbaby to cut down the white prick's hours by half," Raising her eyes to meet Charlie's, "That a good enough deal for you lot?"
The short silence that followed was only broken by Angel Dust's sudden hacking as he choked on his drink, staring in shock even as tears started streaming.
Husk rushed over to help, patting his back helpfully and taking the offending drink, placing it safely out of reach for the time being.
After a few moments, Angel Dust could speak again, forcing the words through a raw throat. "Val's really gonna give me fewer hours?"
Velvette rolled her eyes with a huff, but at least deigned to answer with a quick nod. He barely managed to share a disbelieving smile with Husk before Charlie tackled him in a celebratory hug, Nifty not far behind.
Vaggie watched the scene with a small smile, keeping back. "If we manage to send out our advert properly this time, we might be able to gain more patrons."
As the staff started to chat excitedly about the opportunities that this could present them with, Alastor watched on in boredom, sipping his coffee once more while he studied Velvette, who had finally started to relax as the others got more animated.
Vox must truly be in a desprite state if Velvette was willing to stoop so low as to offer fantastical favours for just an attempt at helping. And that wasn't to mention Valentino's reaction. He had heard how possessive he was over his employees, time off was practically unheard of. Yet here he was, offering his biggest star the chance to only work half his hours with zero consequences. That had been mentioned, at least.
He still had no real interest in helping any of the media overlords, but he couldn't deny how hilarious it would be if he was the one who helped his so-called 'biggest rival'.
The image of Vox awakening from his humiliating slumber before finding out that not only was it Alastor who helped him but that he now had to pay back that favour whenever Alastor wished it.
Oh, the expression of rage that would produce caused his grin to widen to an almost painful degree.
Yes, that would more than make the effort worth it.
Setting down his cup before slipping into the shadows, he reappeared directly behind the group and placed his hands on Charlie's unsuspecting shoulders. His iron grip was all that kept her in place when she started shrieking and tripping over her own two feet.
Before anyone else could scream or kick up a fuss, he let go of the Princess' shoulders to summon his microphone and address the group, swanning around them dramatically.
"Now my friends, if we want to be able to reap these rewards that were so graciously offered to us, we best be on our way. No more dallying, please- The sooner we start, the sooner it's over with!" A cheering soundtrack followed his words as he summoned a shadow portal on the nearby wall and began to herd the group towards it.
Or tried to- Velvette stepped in front of it, hands on her hips and displeased scowl on her face and she glared up at him.
"Oi, hold it! I'm not chaperoning seven of you fuckers through the tower. Choose three of you to go and that's it. I am not going to be treated like some kind of glorified babysitter."
Grappling back control of the situation, Charlie pushed her way to the front of the others and spun to face them with a tight smile. "Oh, yes. Ok, so I'll go as a representative of this hotel with Vaggie," At this, her girlfriend gave her a grateful smile, "Is there anyone else who'd like to join?"
Predictably, Angel Dust didn't look very keen on the idea of returning to his place of work if he wasn't needed. Similarly, Pentious was unlikely to run to his ex-idol's aid, and Husk wouldn't go if he wasn't forced. Nifty, however, was practically vibrating in excitement, smile sharp and dangerous at the chance to meet more 'bad boys'.
Alastor tapped her lightly with his staff to get her attention, then shook his head once she met his eyes. She pouted, but it was mostly for show, and she quickly focused her attention on a nearby cockroach.
Alastor smiled, pleased at the ease. Perhaps he could find some nice knives for her good behaviour.
Stepping forward with a twirl of his staff, he put a hand to the place where his heart should be and sighed loudly. "Why, how could I ever leave Vox in such a vulnerable state? The thought alone breaks my heart."
Ignoring the disbelieving looks around him, he focused on Charlie, who looked about ready to burst into song about him gaining compassion for another or something just as frivolous.
But of course, Vaggie had to speak up.
"Hun, are you sure about this? Those two have never got along. I don't know what he's planning but I don't trust him around Vox if he's vulnerable. Alastor's too much of an opportunist to let this pass him. We can't afford for this to turn into a shit show between overlords and get caught in the crossfire."
Repressing an almost violent eye-roll at the comment, he responded as cheerfully as he could manage. "Oh please, there's nothing fun about taking out an unarmed opponent."
Honestly, it was like these people didn't want him to have any form of entertainment outside of the hotel. No killing, no dismembering; he wasn't even allowed to torment the staff too much before it got turned into a lecture on respecting his fellow demon.
Not that it stopped him, but still.
Charlie looked nervously between them, stuck between listening to Vaggie and risking Alastor turning hell into a potential battleground- well, more of a battleground- or allowing Alastor to come with them and, hopefully, letting him learn compassion through the act of helping another?
Luckily, Velvette's presence inspired an idea that seemed fair. "Well, since Velvette is part of the V's, it's only fair if she decides who can come with us!" Pleased with the idea, she turned back to the doll demon with a bright smile, "What do you think?"
Alastor glanced over, noticing that rather than the hateful scowl that had been present on her face since she entered the hotel, Velvette observed the trio with what seemed to be reluctant acceptance. But not in a way that implied she didn't approve of this plan.
No, he got the feeling that no matter what her feelings were on the subject, this was the outcome she had planned to see regardless.
With the way she turned back to her phone, with a casualness he didn't buy, he could tell she had noticed his scrutiny.
"The fossil can come too, I guess- he could be useful."
So his instinct was correct- she had hoped he'd join this foolish endeavour from the start. Normally the Vee's wouldn't want him anywhere near Vox, or their tower, especially not after his battle against them seven years ago.
She had to know she had given too much away- for all of Velvette's youth, she wasn't stupid. But why was she revealing this much information? Fear for Vox? Fear that Alastor wouldn't stay put after publicly stating his desire to go? Both? That felt too much like running away for his liking.
His glare was sharp, a purposeful contrast as he pleasantly told her, "Why thank you, my dear. I sincerely hope I can help Vox in any way possible. He was such a close friend after all."
She scowled at the reminder and flipped him off. "I'm sure he'll be charmed to hear it, arsehole, now let's get going already. I left Val in charge for too long as it is. Bitch has probably spent half our yearly budget by now." Stalking forward for the portal, the trio followed, with Alastor deciding to heed Vaggie's silent warning to not respond.
The portal brought them nicely to the alleyway behind the Vee's tower, with the added bonus of his companions muttering curses as they stumbled around like newborn cattle, fighting off the nauseous after-effects of his power.
As they wretched, he turned his attention to the only discreet entrance the V tower owned. He wasn't surprised to find it bolted shut and locked from the inside. He had heard of the abundance of overzealous fans attempting to break in here for a multitude of reasons he didn't care about. The V's must have finally gotten tired of wasting their resources executing large groups of sinners every few days and upgraded their security.
Well, no matter.
Summoning his shadow, he sent it underneath the metal doorway with instructions to unlock it from the other side, disposing of any witnesses it came across to his room for later disposal. No reason not to multitask.
It had been so long since he'd had fresh meat.
The door unlocked with a tell-tale click, and he pushed it open with ease before gesturing to his recovered companions. Velvette and Vaggie gave him suspicious looks as they passed but seemed to rethink saying anything for the moment.
Velvette was soon leading them through a truly impressive maze of corridors and stairways. Each one was an identical strip of tacky gold and neon wallpaper, with the occasional image of a V or one of their 'stars'. Alastor purposefully ignored the ones of Angel Dust in various positions and saw Vaggie and Charlie do the same.
He knew that Velvette was attempting to disorientate them, to make sure they wouldn't be able to use this entrance to attack the V's after this favour. Trying so hard to delusionally give herself and her teammates a sense of safety.
How cute.
Not that it would help her. Even if he couldn't teleport through his shadows to places he had already visited, Vox had shown him every square inch of the place when he had first built it. He knew it almost as well as he knew Vox.
His train of thought trailed away from him as they finally reached a set of large, ornate oak doors. Doors he knew led to the V's main quarters.
As they entered the living room he couldn't help but notice just how much things had remained the same. The television was larger than before and the three large plush sofas surrounding it were new, but as a whole, the layout seemed to have remained the same. He would have thought Vox, for all his adaptability and love of change, would be living in something unrecognisable by now, not somewhere so steeped in memories.
He forced his eyes ahead, focusing on the present as he followed the group down another hallway, towards the television demon's bedroom. It was immediately recognisable from the old-fashioned, padlocked door next to it.
He never would have guessed Vox to be so sentimental. Well, maybe delusional was a better word. To have kept the room he had built and furnished just for him when he was under the assumption Alastor would join his silly team, even after all this time.
Truly pathetic.
Entering Vox's room it looked exactly as it thought it would. Large windows showed his large collection of sharks in their aquarium, a disgusting number of screens dotted around the remaining walls, a sleek workbench full of half-finished trinkets and circuits.
It wasn't hard to spot Vox's prone body on the bed in the middle of the room, not with how many wires and cables were connecting him to his various monitors. Where his face should be displayed, there now glitched a blue error screen, flickering every so often, though not to anything Alastor could make out.
He heard Charlie's horrified gasp from his left, and even Vaggie let out a soft curse under her breath. Meanwhile, he had to stop himself from letting out a chuckle at Vox's state, it was always fun to see someone else fail so miserably. Velvette didn't even break her stride into the room before spinning around and addressing the trio.
"OK, listen up fuckers. When the flat-faced prick was battling that sodding newcomer, Fraus, he got trapped in one of his programs. Your job is to go in there and snap him out of it. Got it?"
Well, that sounded deceptively easy. If it was truly as simple as 'going into' one of Vox's many programs then the V's wouldn't have to come crawling to the hotel with deals perfectly tailored to the resident's wants. They would have gotten Vox out of his head without anyone else being wiser of their momentary moment of weakness.
He wasn't alone in his suspicions as he heard Charlie hum slightly, smile twitching. She may be hopelessly naive but she was also raised by Lucifer himself. She knew Velvette was oversimplifying their endeavour but she would never accuse her of doing so without adding excessive niceties to her sentences.
Vaggie, however, had no such reservations about speaking her mind.
"And what exactly is this program that you're going to shove us into?" She questioned, hand slowly moving to rest on her spear, eyes sharpening into a mild glare.
Unimpressed at the ex-angel's increasingly aggressive stance, Velvette turned her attention back to her phone. Honestly, couldn't the Overlord spend five minutes away from that blasted contraption?
She spent a few minutes tapping away at the screen, seemingly ignoring them. By the time she finally spoke up, Alastor was contemplating simply ripping her hands from her body. Maybe he'd gift them to Rosie as an afternoon snack. Though on second thought, he wouldn't want her to consume such low-quality meat.
"It's his newest creation: LaLa Land. He designed it for the smiling freak over there before he found out how marketable it was. He was going to roll it out next month too." At this statement she clicked her tongue in annoyance, "Now we're going to push back the release. What a waste of fucking money."
"That doesn't answer my question! What the fuck does this Ga Ga system even do?" Vaggie snapped. The situation must have finally got to her. She wouldn't be able to tell if Velvette was deliberately being vague to lure them into a trap or if she truly didn't care to provide details. She seemed the sort to get angry when scared.
As she raised her spear higher and slipped into a fighting stance, Charlie rushed over to her girlfriend's side to try and placate her, gestures soft and soothing as she asked questions of her own, her voice much less accusatory.
"What do you mean by marketable? Isn't it dangerous?"
Velvette's eye twitched, irked by questions where she clearly wanted compliance. Alastor refused to miss out on the fun. "So how did dear old Vox plan to use this against me?"
It worked- the bitch finally looked up from her phone with a growl, and she answered, voice clipped and impatient.
"The LaLa Land program traps the user in their ideal world, fulfilling their every desire. This means that no one ever wants to bloody leave the damn thing. And if we charge once they're hooked, we can bleed the dumb fuckers dry."
Well, that would certainly make the average sinner population more like sitting ducks than they usually were. After all who wouldn't choose to escape from their eternal damnation for their perfect world? And while they were dozing away, they left their physical body here. Vulnerable.
Fitting, he thought, that Vox should get caught in a trap that he had designed to use against him. He would have to remember to taunt the demon about this excessively once he saved him.
"It wouldn't be a problem if it was anyone else but this is Vox we're talking about." Velvette continued, tapping her finger rapidly against the side of her phone as she typed. "He doesn't want to leave, so his subconscious is interfering. We can't shut it down from the outside. So I need to send you inside the program so you can force that fucker to wake himself up."
"But how are we even supposed to do that?" Charlie questioned, ignoring the nefarious purpose of the program. Her bleeding heart still wanting to help anyone in distress.
"There's no we about this, princess." Velvette countered, before gesturing over to Alastor with her phone. "The only person who will even have a chance of pulling this shit off is Grandpa over there."
A sharp screech of radio static slipped out at the demand. Alastor narrowed his eyes at the younger demon, a forced smile frozen in place.
"Excuse me?" he asked lowly, threat obvious.
The audacity of this girl, he may have come here to revive and taunt Vox, but he had not signed up to put himself at risk.
Meeting his glare head-on and stepping boldly into his personal space, Velvette snapped back, "You heard me, prick. Like it or not, you've got the closest relationship to Vox outside of the V's. If we sent the princess, he would just throw her on the other side of the bloody pentagram! You, he'll listen to."
"And how the fuck can we trust you at your word?" Vaggie questioned, stepping in front of Alastor as if to take Velvette's intense stare away for herself. "You've already kept the important information to yourself 'til we were on your turf. How can we be sure you don't just want Alastor out of your way?"
Velvette kept her eyes on Alastor even as she stepped back. "Because why the fuck do you think I asked you two bitches to come along? To look pretty? You're here to give yourselves peace of mind. Do you think I'm daft enough to fuck with Lucifer's brat?"
Charlie appeared on his other side, placing her hand on his arm in a display of unneeded comfort. "Couldn't you just do it?"
Snorting loudly, Velvette finally drew her eyes away from the radio demon to fix Charlie with a mocking stare, "Do you honestly think I'd leave Val in charge of this company any longer than I had to? I'm the only one left to look after it-" she held up one hand quickly, "-and before you even ask, Valentino going in is also a no-go. That idiot would lose focus and fuck around in five minutes flat."
Her stare became more intense as she stared at the three of them. "So are you fucking in or do I have to bury him?"
Alastor saw Charlie flinch at the blunt question, and he repressed the urge to sigh in annoyance. Honestly, the girl has lived centuries amongst demons and still doesn't have a decent poker face. He, on the other hand, kept his grin sharp as he assessed his next course of action.
Charlie is clearly still willing to help with Vox's recovery, not that he expected any different. The idea of someone dying because of her inaction must weigh heavily on her poor heart.
Though with that bleeding heart of heart of hers, lay the perfect opportunity to gain her favour. He doesn't trust the V's at their word, but they will not attempt to incapacitate him while he is under Charlie's 'protection'.
If he agrees to the plan, Charlie will certainly think of him in a more favourable light and perhaps even lower her guard around him. Maybe even enough for a deal to take place in the future. He doesn't even necessarily need to save Vox if it comes down to risking his safety, even just the effort will be enough to satisfy Charlotte's idea that 'he tried his best'.
However, while he has no issue with letting Vox be consumed by his lesser medium, it will be decidedly less funny if the little upstart tries using the same tricks with his radio somehow. He may as well needle Vox for information while he's living out whatever role he's forced to play in the program. It shouldn't be too hard, even if he's likely to end up a captive audience, in the most literal sense of the word. Vox always did like the sound of his own voice.
Mind made up, he leaned forward, hands placed casually on top of his staff and gave the group a charming smile.
"Your speech lacks both wit and tact, my dear. But given the situation, I suppose you've left me no choice. I'll do it."
He revelled in the confused looks that were aimed at him. It was always fun to keep people on their toes.
"Alastor, are you sure?" Charlie asked stepping forward, likely worried for his well-being.
Spinning to face the princess, he wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "Quite sure! We came all this way after all- we may as well see it through to the end."
He gestured to the open air, as if painting an imaginary scene, "Besides, think of how much time our dear Angel will have to continue his redemption with all the time off he'll have!"
His microphone produced a chorus of cheers to accompany his words, and it seemed contagious as Charlie gave him a bright smile in return.
Velvette watched the display with a scowl for a few seconds before turning away with a huff to rifle through the mess on Vox's workbench. After a few moments of pushing and throwing various inventions and papers to the floor in her search, she finally found what she was looking for.
"Right, now that's all sorted, put this on." Marching back over, she pushed what seemed to be a black headband into his hands. On closer inspection, it was more crown-like in appearance, with multiple tiny points lining the top of the device. There was also the neon-blue insignia of the company stamped on the base in a rather tasteless pattern. "It'll allow you to enter the program."
Alastor held the device between two fingers in disgust. "Tacky."
"Ugh, tell me about it. Vox has no taste when it comes to these things."
Alastor almost found himself surprised at their common ground. "You would have made a better choice, I suppose?"
"No need to suppose. If I was trying to sell wearable tech, I'd make the thing actually marketable. Vox embarrassed himself with this, but maybe you'll pull it off."
Huh. Perhaps she wasn't entirely the brat he had first thought.
"Anyway, when you're in there, just remember to play along with whatever bullshit role he's placed you in. Anything that doesn't match his 'perfect world' and he'll boot you out, and we're back to square one. So don't fuck it up." Velvette instructed, her hands on her hips.
"Lucky for you, you just have to stay there long enough for him to use your radio waves as a boost to his power and snap himself out of it."
The 'hopefully' was left unsaid but still hung heavily in the air.
Looking back to the device, he forced his ears to remain upright. "Lucky me indeed..."
"Now just lay next to him, the frequency needs to be close together for this to work." Velvette off-handedly mentioned as she walked off towards the monitors.
As if this day couldn't get worse he grumbled internally as he made his way towards the bed, Charlie and Vaggie following close behind.
Reluctantly placing the circlet onto his head, he looked down in disgust at the free space available, eye twitching at what he had to do.
Slowly, as if he could delay the inevitable, he lowered himself on top of the covers laying almost shoulder to shoulder with Vox. He was surprised at the coolness of the other's skin, he was able to feel the chill even through the other's suit jacket. He could clearly remember him giving off more warmth in the past. Another side effect of the other's constant mechanical upgrades he supposed.
Once he was settled, he looked back at the girls to let them know he was ready. He was thoroughly unimpressed by the concern and worry Charlie and even Vaggie were displaying freely in abundance, and found Velvette's impatient and annoyed expression much easier to tolerate.
Luckily he didn't have to talk their concerns away, as he saw Velvette tap a few buttons on the wall console and he closed his eyes in anticipation.
When he opened his eyes again, he was no longer laying next to the prone body of his enemy but draped on top of a rather plush red sofa, reminiscent of his childhood. That was unexpected- he had been sure that Vox would have jumped at the chance to have his counterpart locked in a torture chamber somewhere or to have simply thrown his lifeless body into a ditch.
Sitting up slowly revealed more of the room, which seemed to be a replica of his radio tower. Or at least it was at first glance. While it certainly had his equipment neatly lined up on his desk and his trinkets on the shelves, he couldn't help but notice the abundance of accessories he did not own.
A few electronics were left on the entryway table, hair accessories were scattered on the desk and, strangely, a pair of handcuffs kicked into the corner.
It was also hard to miss the view from the floor-to-ceiling windows he was next to. Peering out into the horizon, he could tell he was still in the V tower, the neon lighting that permeated their territory a dead giveaway. However, it seemed as though the entire pride ring was lit in its gaudy lighting. He supposed that made sense, why wouldn't Vox have conquered hell with his little gadgets- it was his one goal.
Turning his attention back to his office, he picked up a framed photo from a side table and raised an eyebrow at the content. It displayed the V's at some sort of social gathering, sitting around a table filled with empty shot glasses as they posed for the camera. It also showed himself sitting next to Vox, with no static to hide his form.
It was unnatural to see- he had only allowed himself to be photographed once, and never had again. Yet, it wasn't the only one. A quick glance around showed multiple pictures of him and the V's in various settings and situations, ranging from formal gatherings to nights out to newspaper articles.
Clearly, Vox wasn't over him rejecting his partnership all those years ago.
Spotting a mirror near the desk, he placed the picture back down and made his way over, to see exactly what Vox had thought up for him. As he took in his figure, he supposed that the outfit could have been a lot worse.
He wasn't wearing any type of overcoat, leaving him bare in his familiar red dress shirt, sleeves rolled up to his elbows to reveal the dark gradient of his arms. The black suspenders, he now wore, were connected to his similarly coloured slacks which in turn drew his attention to his high-heeled boots. They were taller than anything he had worn before and a check to the underside of the boots revealed red soles replacing the usual hoof pattern.
His monocle had been replaced by thin-framed rounded glasses, similar to the pair he had worn before he had woken up in hell. He thought he was far less dressed than he should be, but, at least the outfit was sensible. Tugging his sleeves back down, he turned to leave. However, his positive thoughts about the outfit disappeared as he noticed a certain attribute had been revealed.
His tail was out in the open.
Cursing slightly at the revelation, he wished Vox had never found out about the blasted appendage all those years ago. He had never been a fan of it. Having the ears and hoofs of such a nervous prey animal was a cruel and unusual punishment already- the tail was just overkill.
Speaking of his ears, they perked up at the sound of the front door clicking open softly. From the reflection in the mirror, he spotted the distinctive silhouette of Vox walking through the door.
Forcing his ears to resume their relaxed position, he kept his back to the demon and acted as if he hadn't spotted the other yet, focusing on straightening his tie to give him a few seconds to decide what his next course of action should be.
Based on the personalised room, photographs and useless nicknacks, in Vox's ideal world, they were business partners. He could work with that. He's worked with the other before, so it shouldn't be a problem to act as the model associate long enough to snap the man back to reality.
Lost in his thoughts and his planning, he let out an embarrassingly loud shriek of static when arms suddenly encircled his waist, pulling him flush against Vox.
The revolution he felt at the impertinence action almost made him homicidal with rage, from the corner of his eye he spotted his shadow start to independently move closer, ready to whisk him away from Vox. It stopped in its tracks and disappeared when he waved it away.
He would not be intimidated by Vox of all demons and return to the Princess empty-handed.
It didn't seem like intimidation was the point of this, however. Hands came up to pet at his ears, firm and practiced. Every stroke upon his ears sent waves of reluctant pleasure through his body, so much so that Alastor had to dig his claws into the palms of his hands to stop himself from doing something foolish. Such as leaning into the other's touch.
His body, however, had other plans. He felt his stiff limbs start to relax further into the other's arms gradually and his thoughts began to slow down the longer the petting continued.
Damn this prey-driven body to double hell. He hasn't allowed another soul to touch him so casually since his mother and he never shall again if this is the result.
Blinking in confusion, he suddenly found himself once again sitting on the vintage sofa, still pressed flush against the other's front. Vaguely aware of the other man starting to talk to him, he flicked his free ear towards him in response.
"Enjoying yourself, Bambi?" He could barely bring himself to properly glare at the other for the use of the cutesy nickname as long as the other was still petting him with annoyingly gentle motions. A firm scratch at the base of his antlers caused him to shudder and automatically lean his head towards that sensation.
Hearing the other chuckle at his action, he felt embarrassment course through his body and anger soon followed. Alastor grit his teeth and felt his smile sharpen and grow as he attempted to shove down the urge to sever the offending limb and shove it down the other's throat at the impertinence.
Such an action would most certainly get him ejected from this blasted program. No matter how tempting it was to leave the other here to rot, Alastor did not run.
Tilting his head to look at the other as best he could from his position, he took note of the other's growing smile and responded, "Oh, but you seem to be enjoying yourself plenty, old friend."
"No shit, Al. Who wouldn't be excited to have you look so blissed out while making such cute little noises."
Alastor felt some of his bravo leave him at the statement. No, surely not, he couldn't have lost control of himself so much that he would make any sort of noise. He wasn't that lost in his head.
He barely had time to fully gather his thoughts before Vox was speaking again, not seeming to have noticed his internal downward spiral.
"Like this one for example."
As Vox finally released his ear, Alastor didn't have time to react before he felt the offending hand grip and roughly tug at his tail. The sound of the embarrassingly loud, unfiltered yelp he emitted in response to the sensation caused the last of his patience to snap.
He only had time to flex his claws before he was interrupted by the door opening once again. This time a jellyfish demon strolled in, clearly one of Vox's employees judging from the technological implants, holding a tablet in one hand and an iced beverage in the other.
"Excuse me, Mr Vox," She softly spoke, the sight of himself being bundled in the other's lap seemingly not bothering her in the slightest, "You're two o'clock appointment, Mr Fraus, is here. I'll send him to meeting room three when you give the signal. Do you need anything el-"
She cut off with a weak gurgle as shadowed limbs and black cables ripped apart her body with ruthless efficiency. Only as the last few pieces fell to the floor did Alastor recall his power and saw Vox do the same, mumbling all the while about 'fucking idiots who didn't know how to knock'.
Alsastor reigned in his anger as much as he could, luckily some of it had been quelled by his blood lust. He still needed to gain information before he devoured the pest.
He didn't understand why Vox felt the need to mess with him in this way, he had a partner to play out such frivolities with already. Did the fact that Alastor rarely allowed others to touch him trigger the other's attention that much?
Feeling the arm tightening around his waist once more, Alastor turned his head to meet the other Overlord's eyes, not letting him see his irritation at the continued closeness. Vox had lost the privilege to be this close years ago.
"You know," Vox began and Alstor repressed the urge to growl, "we could always delay the meeting for a little f̸̣͙́ͅu̴̢͉̅̂̒ń̴͜." His voice glitched slightly on the last word, as he began to rub 'soothing' circles on his hip.
Alastor weighed his options, he probably did need to stay close to Vox for his radio waves to work their magic. Not that he was considering sticking around for Vox's idea of fun, but he was sure he could distract him into doing something more reasonable.
However, that sounded extremely tedious. He was more curious about this Fraus demon, and why he was here. He wanted to see this other demon personally, but first: how to get Vox to go to the meeting instead of making a fool of himself here?
He remembered overhearing a late-night conversation between Husker and Angel Dust, where the latter complained about his script for an upcoming 'film'. Some of that script could work. Not exactly a plan he was particularly fond of, but one that would at least be on his own terms.
Twisting around until he was laying face to face with Vox, he was pleased by the frozen shocked face he caused. Placing his hand over the other's chest, he traced an invisible pattern, staring intently into the other's eyes.
"And just what would we do with all that time?" He purred.
Watching Vox's screen explode in blue light, still adorning his frozen expression while he struggled for words, was extremely satisfying. Sadly it didn't last long, as he soon felt the other tighten his grip and give him a 'charming' smile.
"Oh, I'm sure I could think of a few ideas." Alastor had to suppress a laugh at Vox's attempt to talk seductively. Now that he had the upper hand, he could see the appeal of messing with the other this way.
"Only a few?" Alastor tutted, shaking his head in mock dismay, "Why, I'm almost disappointed."
"Well, what ideas do you have in that pretty head of yours, Bambi?" Vox asked, one of his hands beginning to trail a claw slowly up his back, leaving slight shivers in its wake.
Feeling the hand stop its journey by cupping his cheek, Alastor felt his smile twitch but resolutely leaned into the touch, making sure to keep eye contact.
In the corner of his eye, he saw the lamps in the room start to flicker, and he repressed a cackle. Vox himself also looked startled yet happy at Alastor playing along. Oh, this was too easy.
"Well, I suppose I may have," leaning in close enough to brush his lips against the other. As the lights flickering became more erratic, he allowed himself to grin devilishly, "An idea or two."
Just as he finished speaking, the room was enveloped in darkness and Alastor knew he had him right where he wanted him.
Using the momentary darkness the shadow travelled to the side of the sofa, giving Vox a smirk as he leaned over his prone body as the lights flickered back on. Vox's face flickered through several emotions before settling on annoyance.
"It's a shame then old friend, but I happen to be in a rather playful mood!" Alastor cheered as Vox sat up and attempted to drag him back to the sofa. Dancing out of his way, he continued as cheerfully as possible. "I propose a game."
"A game?" Vox deadpanned, giving him an unimpressed look as he slumped further into the sofa and crossed his arms.
"Indeed! A game where we see how long you can last without placing your hands on my person." At Vox lifted his eyebrow with a small smirk, Alastor amended his statement with a slight glare, "Or any other body part for that matter."
Rolling his eyes, Vox finally stood from the sofa to stride over and once more invade Alastors personal space. Alastor didn't let his mischievous smile drop at the proximity, in fact, he felt it grow bigger at the other falling further into his trap.
"And what, pray tell, makes you think I'd want to participate in such a game?" Vox questioned, not making any moves towards him. Seemingly content to let Alastor make a tempting hook.
Challenge accepted.
Hooking a claw under Vox's bowtie and tugging him forward, he chuckled lowly before leaning to where the other's ear would have been had he been human.
"Because the longer you last, the better the prize, my dear." Even a vague statement like that caused Vox to lose control of his powers once more and electrical currents ran briefly over his body.
Letting go as the current ran over his hand, not enough to damage him at his power level. Not allowing Vox to recover enough to continue their little game, he picked up a dark blue overcoat that was hung up on the coat rack and casually strolled out of the room.
Not surprised to find himself once more outside Vox's door when he left the room. He didn't imagine Vox would have placed him anywhere else, not when there was a 'perfect' space already set up.
From his memory, he was sure meeting room three was on one of the basement floors where Vox liked to display his little pet sharks. Making his way towards the lift at the end of the corridor, he anticipated the footsteps that soon rushed to keep up with his stride.
They walked in silence for a few moments as they waited for the lift to arrive and Alastor relished the quiet while it lasted, he had no doubt Vox would try and have the last word.
Only once they were inside the elevator did Vox speak up. "You're a damn tease, you know." He muttered before he snapped his fingers to materialise a meticulously wrapped gift box.
Handing it over to Alastor casually, who reluctantly took the box from him, causing Vox to chuckle. "No need to look so nervous, baby. It's just a little something I had delivered from the human realm."
Not exactly getting his hopes up for something that Vox has decided would be an acceptable gift, Alastor still dutifully tore off the paper to open the box.
He was very pleasantly surprised to see a bloody human heart sitting prettily in the centre of the box. His mouth watered at the smell of fresh blood and he couldn't help but tear off a part of the artery to sample.
He felt his smile sharpen at the familiar taste, how long had it been since he had gotten to partake in such a delicacy? Almost a century now, yet it was just as delicious as he remembered. Sinners just couldn't compare. It was a shame that it was only part of this program, but it felt real enough right now and that's all that matters.
"It's from some high-class politician too," Vox added and Alastor couldn't help the satisfied chuckle at the statement. His food always tasted better when it was from someone who thought they were untouchable.
Seeing that they were nearing the floor, he sent the remains into his pocket space for consumption later. Only then did he notice Vox offering him his arm. Raising an eyebrow at the other's boldness, he played his part and linked their arms together.
"I suppose I can consider this an exception. But don't think I'll let you off so easy next time." He sighed before allowing Vox to guide him to the meeting room.
Letting his mind wander, now that Vox seemed content to simply hold his arm, he mentally prepared to act as the dutiful partner of the V's. He was sure he could hold his poker face better now that he had already met with Vox and encountered his weird mind games. Nobody should suspect a thing.
Hopefully, this meeting would shed light on what this Fraus character's aim was. Once he knew that, it should be a cakewalk to destroy him and drag Vox out of this program.