I can picture that Tori says offhandedly to Allie that Alastor had mentioned possibly getting an old phone (both to have recordings of the girls and also bc Allie uses hers to share memories and being able to do so with her dad makes Allie light up. He even sees Tori eyeing it too and he's a little jealous of this tiny thing Vox can share with their daughters.)
They're both at the Tower, and Vox hears this. It twists in his heart, a bit. Allie sending him little videos and messages throughout his week alone (her entire life) feels like the only thing that gets him through the days. He would never give up any photo, video, recording, ever. He hoards them; stores them in multiple systems so they'll never get lost or taken. And Alastor doesn't have that relief to ease the hole their daughters leave behind.
Vox knows that the fact he's even considering it means it's bothering him a lot more than their daughters realize.
So one day, he digs out one of his own old phones from a drawer. It's fairly basic all things considered. (Velvette makes fun of Vox's more basic choices when it comes to phones, as opposed to her going for the newest, feature laden one.) He cleans it, renews it's parts. Then, during long nights, he designs a case for it that suits Alastor so well, that's so personalized, so obviously filled with attention and love, that Vox panics has to re-do it a couple times to tone it down. He loads all of his pictures and videos of Allie growing up and, more recently, a few Vox had of Tori now.
He doesn't immediately send it out to Alastor, bc when it's sitting on his desk, finished, with packaging beside it ready to wrap...he freezes. They aren't friends. They're enemies, rivals: they're supposed to barely tolerate each other. So this? This is so off brand that it's suspicious and he wouldn't be surprised if Alastor threw it out without opening it.
But he wants to send it. His stomach roils with it. He wraps it and keeps it on the corner of his personal desk, trying to psyche himself up to do so. Finally, he drops off the girls off at Zestial's one day and says he'll mail it out when he gets home. He's not a coward! It's only Alastor!
But it's not there. He kinda freaks out and the lights all over the city flicker (but don't shut down.)
When Alastor picks the girls up...they've got one extra little box tucked in Tori's backpack, ready to be passed over, with Alastor's name on it, and a handwritten little card that Alastor remembers with a pang as Vox's hand, saying: "For when you miss them, too."
This entire scenario captures Vox beautifully. His insecurity, his thoughtfulness, his fear of his offer being rejected (again) was all woven in perfectly, bravo!
The best part is that we all know Vox would KNOW and SAVE the number connected to Alastor’s phone (for emergencies!) and that he’d eventually reach out - concerning their daughters ofc. And we all also know that this would inevitably descend into flirting squabbling over the phone. Once Alastor gets the hang of texting at Allie’s insistence, it’s OVER for Vox. He will never know peace during his workday. (He looks forward to every text.)
tangentwithtanner
prguitarman
gummygunk
pixelskylines
