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Vox hardly got any sleep last night. Drinking four energy drinks after five pm would do that to you. He groaned, loud and long when his alarm went off, having barely got an hour of sleep. Sighing, he got up and started getting ready. Vox's morning routine was disrupted by a ping from the phone on his bedside table. Sighing, because of course work couldn't let him have thirty minutes to compose himself for the day, he reached for his VPhone and startled when he read the notification.
"Sir, you have a package waiting in the lobby."
That wasn't necessarily what was shocking. No, Vox got packages all the time, either from fans desperately grabbing for his attention or his own deliveries of electronics and essentials for his company. It was the text that followed immediately after.
"Please hurry, it's wreaking havoc and bites anyone who tries to stop it."
Now, what could this possibly be? It's something that bites? Could it be another shark sent to him by Baxter? Vox felt himself becoming more awake ever so slightly at the thought of having another lovely pet.
Quickly throwing his suit on, Vox zapped himself through the security camera outside of his room and down to the main room of the first floor of his tower.
When he materialized, Vox was frozen in place. It looked like a hurricane had hit the place.
Chairs were strewn upside down all over, the curtains were torn and the windows smashed from the inside-out. Even the receptionist desk was broken. How the granite counter-top was fractured in so many spots was beyond him.
His attention was stolen when something small and red growled and launched at Vox's face. His lightning-fast reflexes were the only thing that saved him as he caught the creature in mid-air, firmly holding it an arms-length away from him. It squirmed in his grip and he desperately tried to keep it from getting loose.
Before he could try and assess the situation currently hissing and scratching at his arms, his assistant popped up from behind the receptionist desk and loudly sighed in relief.
"Thank Lucifer you're here, sir!" His assistant was practically covered head to toe in scratches.
Turning his attention back to the creature that was still struggling in his iron grip, Vox sighed, "Status report."
Immediately, the fish demon jumped into a spiel about seeing a crate dropped off at the front door, picking it up and accidentally freeing the ball of rage that then went on to tear everything to pieces. As the story concluded, Vox sighed again. Of course there was no way he would be granted a normal day in Hell.
Getting a better look at the thing in his hands, Vox paused. It was shaped like a typical cat but it was obviously not a regular cat. For one, it was completely red aside from the sparse black patterning around its head and feet. Its ears were pinned back to its head in a show of aggression, leaving room to see slight nubs of horns poking out from just inside said ears. It looked to be a medium-haired cat, a semi-rare thing here in Hell as any creature with longer hair was leaving themself open to a weakness that was easily exploited in a fight. Lastly, it was wearing a black bow tie. It was an actual, physical bow tie, not just a part of its fur. It was a feat that it was still in pristine condition regardless of the destruction it had let loose.
It low-key reminded him of a certain demon he was obsessed fighting with on the regular since Alastor returned from his seven year sabbatical.
"Was there any note left with the crate? Why is this my problem?" The first question was directed at his assistant, the second was muttered under his breath.
"Well, um, there was a note but I only got through the first sentence before… it got loose and then it got torn apart." Sweat started beading along the other's brow. Strange that the forces that operated Hell and Sinner's appearances could keep such human traits even with the most inhuman of demons.
"Of course, the afterlife couldn't be that easy. Well, what did the first sentence say?"
The fish looked contemplative for a moment, likely trying to remember what the piece of paper had said after having his life flash before his eyes. "It was along the lines of 'Good luck' or something similar."
Vox rolled his eyes at the vagueness of the sentiment. There was something specifically vindictive about the fact that this little terror was released in his lobby and just so happens to be reminiscent of Alastor. It was probably just a pest sent by the Radio Demon himself to annoy the TV Demon for the day.
Still, the way it was struggling in his grasp even after a minute had passed by and it had gotten nowhere was entertaining.
Tucking the cat securely under his arm, Vox turned towards the elevator to take the old fashioned way back up to his rooms. "Get a clean up crew here stat. Also, you're fired," he waved his hand casually dismissing his assistant from his position. He'd have to find a new one soon but that was a problem for future Vox. For now, he had to see how to deal with this cat.
The elevator ride was silent. Not even his advertisements played as it was still too early in the day for regular patrons to be in the building. Vox pondered about what to do with this new development.
He could just throw the thing out on the street and put it out of his mind but something churned in his gut. Vox didn't care for cats as much as he did his sharks but that didn't mean he wasn't fond of them. His parents had loved cats, they were always adopting from the shelters and feeding the strays in the neighborhood. He wondered if he subconsciously wanted to follow in their footsteps and make them proud that he wasn't an entirely cruel person. He laughed that thought away, not willing to admit to himself that he had an ounce of sentiment towards his human life. It was in the past and he was in Hell for a reason. That's all there is to it.
Putting those thoughts aside, Vox put the cat in his room, closed the door and began busying himself with preparing some plain, unseasoned chicken and eggs. He was going to have to figure out a name for it at some point. He couldn't just keep calling it 'the cat'. Another concern that bugged him was that Vox didn't even know if it was a girl or boy but checking what it was seemed invasive and would probably be poorly received by the cat.
Once the food was finished, he brought it to his room. He expected the space to be torn apart like the lobby was but surprisingly, it was perfectly intact. Vox didn't even have to wonder where the little terror was because it was right in the middle of Vox's bed, curled up, looking like it didn't have a care in the world.
It lifted its head, either at Vox's presence or the scent of the food. Regardless, the demon cat made its way towards the edge of the bed where it sat cordially. Waiting.
Vox huffed out a laugh at the behavior, so different to what was displayed earlier but still somehow befitting of his lookalike's.
Walking over to the bed, Vox set the plate of food down, watching with mirth as it immediately dug in.
As it was consuming what was probably its first proper meal in a good while, Vox was suddenly overcome with the urge to pet it. As his fingers carded through the fur on the top of its head, it stilled but it didn't move away from his touch. After a moment, it actually leaned into his touch. A slight vibration could be felt as his hand traveled down its back and Vox was tempted to coo but feared that would startle it. A moment later Vox retracted his hand, the cat magnetically following after it but catching itself when it started to unbalance on the edge of the bed.
The way Vox felt his heart swell at the obvious affection he was receiving. It made him wonder why the change in heart that had occurred somewhere along the way from the lobby to his room.
It went back to finishing its meal, leaving Vox to wonder aloud. "What to do, what to do?" He started pacing. "I guess you can stay for a little bit, you're not so bad when you're not destroying every inch of my property."
The cat let out a meow. A soft one, almost like it was agreeing with him. Vox brought up a hand to the bottom of his screen where his chin would've been. "Hmm, I should find your owner. Or at least the person who dropped you off." Another meow crept into existence but this one was slightly louder and longer, a vibe of disapproval following in its wake.
Vox definitely didn't get enough sleep last night if he was hallucinating that a cat was, in a way, conversing with him.
Pulling out his phone, he sent a quick message to the other Vees that he was going to be unavailable for a couple hours as he had research to complete today. Without waiting for a reply, he put the device on Do Not Disturb mode and sat at his desk, plugging into the terminal.
He started by pulling up the camera feed of the front doors and the lobby. After a couple minutes, that venture proved to be useless as the crate that the cat had arrived in was shown to be dropped through a portal onto the doorstep. He could try and trace the portal's energy as there were only a few demons with teleportation capabilities aside from himself and Alastor. However, the problem with that avenue of exploration was that portal's energy only stuck around for at most half an hour and it had most definitely been over an hour according to the timestamp of the delivery on the cameras.
His research was interrupted suddenly when a particular cat jumped into his lap. Raising his hands in surprise, and not knowing what to do, he watched as it spun around in place before settling across his legs. That vibration started up again but this time, Vox could swear he could hear the purr.
Getting over his shock, he hesitantly settled one of his hands into the motion of petting along its coat, the other going back to his mouse and keyboard as he continued to search the internet for any sign of who could've been responsible for this development.
Eventually, he shut down his computer as he had been here for hours and still had nothing to show for it. Feeling his hunger reach a peak, he decided he needed to eat unless he wanted to starve to his second death. Just as he was about to get up, the cat stretched and yawned.
Oh, yeah… He had almost forgotten the golden rule of cats. Don't disturb them when they're on you.
Well, shit.
Vox would just have to wait until it had decided it had had enough of being on top of him.
That turned out to be for the rest of the day.
Vox sighed as he resigned himself to starvation after the cat refused to move an hour into this predicament, turning back on his computer and busing himself in what work he could get done from his computer. Emails and conference calls and pouring over ledgers. Once that was done and he couldn't stare at the screen any longer, he settled back into his chair, closing his eyes. Sleep overtook him not much longer.
~
He awoke to the feeling of sharp claws digging into his legs repeatedly. Looking down, he saw the cat making biscuits, looking up at him as if expecting him to wake up to it.
Vox smiled warmly at the cat and scratched behind its ears.
Once the cat was satisfied with the amount of affection, it meowed softly and stretched. Hopping off of Vox and moving towards the door and into the kitchen.
Vox stood up from his chair, wincing at the stiffness of his muscles and stretched his limbs, not unlike the cat had just moments before. Arriving in the kitchen, he found the cat patiently waiting on the counter top by the stove, looking him dead in the eyes.
Cats didn't have facial expressions but Vox imagined if they did, this one would be rolling its eyes at how long it's taking him to get to cooking.
Raising his hands in surrender, Vox huffed out a laugh at the petulant vibes he was getting. "Alright, alright, I'm hurrying up." The cat chirped happily in response.
He started gathering the ingredients necessary for a tuna sandwich for himself and just plain tuna for the cat. Before he could turn on the stove to cook the fish, however, he was interrupted by some very loud knocking at his front door.
He glanced at the oven clock and saw that he had slept basically the whole day. In the back of his mind, he realized he never turned his notifications back on and he winced at the thought of Velvette; furious that he hadn't responded to her all day.
Looking back to the cat, he made a 'stay' motion with his hand and moved to open the door for the person still banging on his door.
It was indeed Velvette. She was indeed pissed. Funnily enough, Valentino was there too, one set of hands on his hips and the other crossed his chest. Usually, Val wouldn't care to check in on Vox unless there was something he wanted from him.
Putting on his best broadcast expression, Vox made a deal of spreading his arms out in a welcoming gesture. "Why, if it isn't my two favorite people in the underworld."
"Can it, Vox. We're not here for your falsities. Where the fuck have you been all day?" Vel crossed her arms angrily, her scowl turning her face into a facsimile of a smile. "All we get from you is that you're 'doing research' and then you drop off the face of the planet." She shook her head as a demeaning laugh escaped her thin lips. Vox opened his mouth to make an excuse but was quickly shushed by the Media Overlord bringing up her pointer finger to his screen. "And if you even think of lying, I will cut you into ribbons."
Vox brought his hands down into a calming motion, face dropping out of its practiced smile and into something a bit more genuine. He would never admit it out loud but seeing Vel so worked up about his well-being was touching.
Bringing a hand to the back of his neck, he rubbed the remaining tension that sleeping in a chair would cause anyone, "I fell asleep, alright? I didn't mean to, honest."
Velvette stood still for a moment, processing. It wasn't a new discovery that Vox had a terrible sleep schedule but it was new that he would sleep during working hours. Suddenly, Vel was pushing her way past Vox and into his quarters. Vox felt a slight panic grip him as she made her way into his open layout kitchen/living room. He had left the cat in the kitchen and if Vel saw it, she would surely scream and try to fight it.
Where Vox had an affinity for the creatures, Velvette absolutely despised pets. She thought they were ugly and a waste of space. She didn't even go into his aquarium room where his sharks lived.
Scrambling back into his space, he tried to stop her from getting any further. He stopped in his tracks when he realized the cat was nowhere to be found.
Huh…
He wondered if it had retreated to his room again.
Val looked at him with something judgemental and curious behind his heart glasses. "What's gotten into you? You're acting all weird."
Vox took a deep breath, willing the sudden spike of anxiety away and focused on reassuring his colleagues that he was absolutely, one hundred percent normal. "I just haven't cleaned in a while, didn't want to leave a bad impression on you guys." A strained little laugh leaves him as he eyes his floor. Indeed, it was littered with energy drink cans and electronics from an assortment of projects he was tinkering with over the course of the past weeks.
Vel snorts at that, "You're talking to the people who have had to carry your drunk arse home after we go out drinking." Her eyes take a slight shine to them as she smirks at his grumbling, "Trust us, dear, we've seen you at your worst."
"Using our slogan against me, really?"
Velvette simply shrugs and pulls out her phone, letting the topic go, seemingly accepting his poor excuse in lieu of wasting any more effort.
The three chatted for a little bit longer before they made their excuses of fatigue and hunger, leaving Vox alone.
A heavy sigh left him as he massaged the sides of his screen, the TV equivalent of rubbing his temples. It wasn't even a moment later that he felt something brush past and push into his legs. Opening his eyes, they softened as he looked down to see his companion.
"What's up with that, huh? You disappear when my pals come over but then come out of hiding when it's just me? I suppose I should feel grateful you didn't upset Vel." Vox leaned down to pet the cat who simply leaned into his touch, purr emanating louder than before.
Vox stood, heading into the kitchen. "I guess we should finally eat."
The entertainment tycoon cooked their fish and ate in silence.
After he cleaned up their plates, he went to sit on the couch, cat dutifully following him, jumping into his lap again.
"So, we need to figure out a name for you, don't we?"
The cat remained silent. Vox felt a little silly for talking to a cat like it was a person. Nevertheless, he pushed onward in his conversation. "How about just 'Red'?" Vox waited for a meow of confirmation. When he received none, he continued, "'Rose'?" Still nothing. "'Chili'?" Nada. "Ok, fine, what about 'Ignis'?" This time, he got a slight chirp.
"I'll take it," he sighed. He slowly, ever so carefully, so as not to dislodge the cat, maneuvered his legs to rest on the couch and settled in for the night. He felt the cat climb up closer to rest on his chest.
He fell asleep to the purrs and warmth settling into his heart.
~
He woke up to Ignis rubbing its face on his, scenting him. Vox got overwhelmed when he realized that over the span of a day he had made this cat feel safe enough to consider him to be its family.
Without thinking about it, Vox kissed the top of Ignis' head.
Then everything stopped.
In a poof of red dust, Vox was blinded and choked on the particles that exploded into the air.
After the dust had settled, he realized the weight that was once comfortingly centered on his chest was now squishing his full body into the couch. Peeking his eyes open, he felt like squeezing them shut again as he witnessed Alastor, the Radio Demon, on top of him. Their legs were slotted together, effortlessly, and Alastor's arms were on either side of Vox's head, supporting the red demon up. It gave Vox a little space to stare up at his long time friend-turned-rival. The demon in question simply stared at him in shock and confusion though his smile never left his face.
Vox couldn't help the way a little "…uhhhh…" escaped him. Apparently, that was enough for Alastor to startle away from him and to the other side of the couch. Vox tried not to feel too hurt by the sudden reaction.
"We will never speak of this again. Understood?" The words were terse. Unsteady. Alastor's ears pinned back and his breathing took to being ever so slightly hyperventilating. Vox had the urge to reach out and calm him. Reassure him that there was nothing to fear.
That was pretty hypocritical of him, though, considering he had beat his rival up on multiple occasions.
When Vox didn't respond, Alastor made to stand up, but didn't make it very far as it looked like his knees buckled under the weight of his whole body. Vox was quick to leap up and catch the deer demon, one arm around his shoulders, the other holding the other man close to his chest so he wouldn't keel over any further.
Alastor stiffened in his hold. His voice held the same tenseness as before, “Release me.”
Vox tried to keep the stress and concern out of his voice as he replied, “And let you fall? No thank you.”
“Why does it matter to you?” Alastor met his eyes with an incredulous look. “You’ve let me fall dozens of times before. Pushed me hundreds of times, even.”
Well, he did have a point there, but this was different. Obviously, Alastor knew what had happened, he couldn’t distract from the fact that he had been nuzzling up to Vox just minutes before.
“It matters because I know what it’s like when a cat likes you. I can’t just ignore that.” Vox slowly brought them back to the couch, slowly releasing his hold of the other but not before turning Alastor to face him.
Alastor wasn’t looking at him, closed-mouth smile tight and pressed. Vox reached out and gently, so gently, used his clawed fingers to turn his companion’s face towards him. Alastor reluctantly acquiesced and met Vox’s searching gaze.
The red haired demon sighed and rested his head into Vox’s hand, much like he had done when he was a cat.
“I would rather not talk about the… reasoning of my situation.”
Vox recognized that he wouldn’t get an answer if he kept pushing so he relinquished that train of thought. Instead, he directed the conversation to the present. “So, what are we going to do now?”
“We?”
“Yes, ‘we’. You’ve known my feelings for you for ages at this point. We just need to -”
Vox was stopped mid-sentence by a red-gloved hand being held up. “What do you mean I know your feelings?”
That made Vox buffer for a second. Did he… did he really not know?
The sound of his name being called brought him back to the present. “Vox?” Alastor’s voice held a tinge of concern to it but that was a very rare thing to receive from the Radio Demon(especially directed at him) so it must’ve been something else he was missing.
“Sorry.” Vox searched for something in those blood red eyes. When he found true confusion, he relented his search. Apparently, Alastor really had no idea that he had already confessed. He looked away as he confessed a second time, not willing to see the rejection again. “My proposal… I wanted a partnership with you and you laughed in my face for it. I took that to mean you didn’t return my feelings.”
“Oh…”
Vox sighed. He seemed to be doing that a lot more often these days. “Yeah… Oh.”
“I thought you meant to use my power for your own gain. I wasn’t aware you were offering your feelings up for me.” Alastor strained against his own confession. The Radio Demon always prided himself on the way that he could read people easily. That he could pick apart what makes them tick in order to make the right deals with them. It seemed that was only the case when he wasn’t involved.
Vox sunk further into the couch. At least, as far as having a flat screen for a head would allow him.
“I… I’m sorry, old pal.”
That caught Vox’s attention and he sprung back out of the couch. “What was that?”
“You heard me perfectly well. I will not be repeating myself.”
Vox pouted. “What do you mean by that, exactly?”
Alastor’s smile was not always the best indicator of his feelings going by the fact that it was constantly there so Vox had grown used to watching his eyes, devouring them even. Right now, they were heavy with emotion. Vox thought he could see a rage(not directed at him for once), sadness, and hurt swirled together.
“I mean that I would have reacted differently, had I known your true intentions.”
Vox couldn’t bring himself to respond to that, the two of them stuck on the couch for minutes or hours, simply staring at each other. Each coming to terms with the ‘what-ifs’ and ‘could’ve-beens’. Eventually, they settled back into each other’s arms and if they both cried about their lost past, well, they didn’t acknowledge it.