△ on the air △

As if he hadn't invited Alastor in the first place but SHHHH. Vox was only bitching to bitch now. Not that it lasted for long as he leaned forward to grin at the other overlord.

"Then you should thank me for a death accompanied by yours truly, instead of alone, amid your trash and filth."

Don't sass him. He'll do it right back.

Alastor's eyes had already closed, as though he were going to just outright sleep there where he had laid, until he opened one to peer at Vox who was now more or less in his space.

"You will regret inviting me to do that, and so I will give you one more opportunity to give me somewhere more acceptable to lay before I entirely take you up on the offer."

"Yes, if only because one is required of me and the other is not," Alastor grunted in turn, unable to elaborate beyond that. Not that he believed Vox needed a hand-hold to figure out that the radio demon was bound by something or other to the princess and her shenanigans - otherwise he would not be there at all.

He eyed Vox's sour expression that appeared soon after, watching him as he decided to slowly, steadily shift so that he was laying on desk - or counter - or console... whatever it was - instead, giving a lazy stretch, not unlike some kind of large and lanky cat.

"In that case... I suppose it would not kill them to go without me for a little while."

Alastor could not say for how long, necessarily - but having Vox nearby felt better to him, in the moment, than not.

Okay, having a ruler up to his chest bothered him a bit. And now something gnawed in his mind. As if he connected imaginary dots to a conclusion that wasn't here nor there.

"Mmm, does that really constitute as flirting? I'm not familiar with the concept," Alastor lied, obviously being cheeky as he brought his 'measurement' up to his eyes to fix his glance downward on it, nodding as though it confirmed something unsaid.

"But if you are asking whether or not I'd like to consume your flesh, I would imagine that would have been obvious from the day we'd met. And really, you've only grown since then - so perhaps!" Vox would have a hard time getting a straight-forward answer from him, regardless.

"Tragic that no one wants that rom-com musical experience of having a ridiculous twink serenade them in public to the acclaim and jealousy of onlookers, but I suppose I do appreciate the appeal of a reaction unclouded by self-consciousness or the public pressure to cringe from my painful earnestness," he sighed, collapsing dramatically onto the bed, sprawling beside Alastor.

But that look he received, that softened gaze, to know that Alastor did see some prospect in him. Well. He couldn't deny it didn't please him. As he'd said earlier, he didn't have any expectations of where the evening would take them, or what Alastor would feel comfortable with. René could enjoy endless flirting and banter without any sense of loss or disappointment.

"Don't worry, you are safe from my theatrics in public, or may God finally smite me where I stand." Mildly tempting, though, he could admit to himself. But as momentarily amusing as Alastor's public rebuff and embarrassment would be, he did prefer this moment between them, that begrudging enjoyment he'd brought out.

"Mm, I'd much rather take part in a gothic horror about some sort of monster and some sort of human both finding themselves at odds with one another while also finding connection in mutual passions. And perhaps also there are knives and blood involved. With a good soundtrack and the right desaturated color palette."

Nosferatu. He was really just referring to his favorite film, nodding sagely as though he were the first to come up with such a concept, knowing full well he had not.

"Painful earnestness may still have a role to play in such a tale, however," he continued, smirking at the other.

His claws returned to noodling a bit at the strings of the banjo, with no particular aim in how he strummed them until Rene questioned him, and he paused to give it some thought.

"Heard of Bury Me Beneath the Willow?" Alastor asked, though he did not wait for a response before positioning his claws onto the frets with some care, plucking one or two strings to ensure he was in the right key before carrying on with the tune. If Rene were invested in the artistry of singing to accompany the tune, then the radio demon would certainly not shy away from sharing his own voice, the slightest bit of his southern twang entering into his accent as his strumming picked up with the melody and his voice accompanied the surprisingly depressing lyrics to what sounded like an otherwise upbeat tune.

His smile was a tiny bit forced before he busied himself with a generous sip of coffee. As if his blood wasn't 90% of it at this point. "But I mean...you can still do that now, if you really want to," he muttered, avoiding Alastor's eyes. So if Al said 'no' it wouldn't upset him all that much. Clearly.

"Mm, yes - all of my scheming to unclog toilets and chase away degenerates like the world's least appreciated hound," Alastor griped as he stepped over to where he could settle himself onto one of the desks, likely not looking much better than Vox, but occupying himself with sipping at the coffee he'd brought for himself.

One of his ears twitched gently as Vox made his not-so-subtle proposal, giving him a sidelong glance before breathing out a small snuff.

I can't fucking stand incompetent people bruh, today has been so fucking aggravating. got up early so I could go pick up the keys to mango's apartment, only for them to be like: UHHH CLEANER'S NOT HERE YET SO CAN'T GIVE YOU KEYS TIL THEY CLEAN, WE'LL CALL YOU LATER ONCE THEY'RE DONE

ok

everything's in my car, I'm ready to go start putting small things inside so that the bulk of the moving tomorrow can be done by the movers

FIVE HOURS GO BY

finally call me, tell me that the cleaners STILL AREN'T THERE, but that they're gonna "try their best" to get me in before they close at 6pm to get the keys, but that they'll come in last resort tomorrow (even though they are closed) for me to pick up the keys tomorrow morning

when I'm ALREADY coordinating with Uhaul and movers at the same time tomorrow morning, and if I have to stop in the middle of doing that to go pick up keys and have the movers standing around doing fuck all, I'm gonna be so fucking agitated

it should not be this hard. idk why the apartment was scheduled to be cleaned the day before someone was meant to move in. are they fucking high.

I took the day off for this, so I've wasted so much time and energy and if I Have to coordinate the key pickup for TOMORROW on top of everythihng else, I will not be fuckin happy

RAAAAAHHH

JUST DO THE THINGS THAT YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO DO WHEN YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO DO THEM FFS

ok anyway

I can't fucking stand incompetent people bruh, today has been so fucking aggravating. got up early so I could go pick up the keys to mango's apartment, only for them to be like: UHHH CLEANER'S NOT HERE YET SO CAN'T GIVE YOU KEYS TIL THEY CLEAN, WE'LL CALL YOU LATER ONCE THEY'RE DONE

ok

everything's in my car, I'm ready to go start putting small things inside so that the bulk of the moving tomorrow can be done by the movers

FIVE HOURS GO BY

finally call me, tell me that the cleaners STILL AREN'T THERE, but that they're gonna "try their best" to get me in before they close at 6pm to get the keys, but that they'll come in last resort tomorrow (even though they are closed) for me to pick up the keys tomorrow morning

when I'm ALREADY coordinating with Uhaul and movers at the same time tomorrow morning, and if I have to stop in the middle of doing that to go pick up keys and have the movers standing around doing fuck all, I'm gonna be so fucking agitated

it should not be this hard. idk why the apartment was scheduled to be cleaned the day before someone was meant to move in. are they fucking high.

I took the day off for this, so I've wasted so much time and energy and if I Have to coordinate the key pickup for TOMORROW on top of everythihng else, I will not be fuckin happy

RAAAAAHHH

JUST DO THE THINGS THAT YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO DO WHEN YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO DO THEM FFS

ok anyway

Apt, but maybe too short to do justice to Alastor's lengthy reputation.

He gave a slight shrug at the dismissal of his assets, wiggling his hips one more time for emphasis and then letting it go. (Really, even more than his boney behind, he'd been especially proud of his tail while he'd still been in the possession of one. But oh well.)

"Not an ass man, eh? That's awright, more for me."

He made his way out with Alastor by his side, a lot more comfortable on the streets of Hell than he'd been at their first meeting. Sure, they were going to a place called "Cannibal Town" but, for some reason, he just wasn't as apprehensive about that as he probably should have been.

"Oh, I'll try to act as dead as possible don't you worry. In fact if ya wanna put yer hands under my arms an' sort of make it look like yer walkin' me around, we could do a whole Weekend At Bernie's type thing!"

He lit up a cigarette as they walked and then held out the pack with the butt of one already poking its little head out towards Alastor. An offering and a question that was actually kind of burning in his brain from before.

"Not especially, no," Alastor said with a shake of his head before guiding the wait down the hill and towards the city proper. He was not much of an anything man, really - at least not if one were to ask him. There was something appealing about a nice chest, perhaps, but he'd not given it much thought before. And that was not a factoid about himself that he believed to be specifically relevant, even as Worth seemed to probe for it.

One of his ears flicked absently as he walked, recognizing a bit of fishing when he heard it and breathing out a small exhale that spoke of having been asked such things before and not exactly having satisfying responses to give to it. He refused the cigarette too, not wanting to engage in such a vice so blatantly in public. Especially not in front of the cannibals who had a tendency to deify him.

"I tend to avoid other people, for the most part."

It had not always been that way, but the passage of time and the well-watered seeds of bitterness and paranoia had stolen away what mirth he'd once found in entertaining people up close and personally. Now, he preferred much more to keep them at arm's length.