#voxxcd

Cigarette smoke hung in the air like a heavy, looming smog. Bodies packed into narrow walkways between tables and around stage-side seats while sorry men waved paper cash at the dancer on the pole. That is, if they weren't stuffing it down their server's bra. Music boomed to a heady bass that Valentino could feel in the back of his head as he skirted around a circular booth, heading for the adjacent lounge.

There was supposed to be someone waiting for him there. Well, not him. His boss– Lazarus –the overlord in charge of this part of town. And Laz would be along in time, he supposed, but for now it was Val's job to entertain. To be the fantasy that kept them coming back. He could do that.

Strappy, platform heels carried him effortlessly through the crowd, toward a quieter nook of the club. A lounge shielded from the public eye by a velvet curtain, marked by a bouncer standing watch like it was VIP only. The bouncer, Marco, was a burly, bully sort of hellhound. Tall, but nothing compared to Val in his heels. He reminded him of a rottweiler his Abuela's neighbor had when he was growing up. Mean-looking mug and all. Val smiled when he reached him.

"Y'r man's in the corner booth." Marco gruffed as he reached to pull back the curtain to allow Val through. He didn't thank him. There was nothing to thank. They both were used to this arrangement. It was just business. So, Valentino stepped down into the lounge as the curtain fluttered back into place behind him, and surveyed the room.

It was largely empty, save for a few business types playing cards near the bar. A waitress Val knew as Candy was leaning on the counter as she waited to be called over. She was chatting with the bartender and they both cast him a casual glance but nothing more. Val didn't mind. They weren't who he was looking for. That would have been the unfamiliar face sitting in the far back of the lounge, in the corner booth, back to the wall so he could watch the room. A neatly-dressed figure with a television where his head should be.

@voxxcd

"Look at you! I do suppose they'd have to keep it a bit on the fresh sometimes," Alastor mused. He wasn't the most open when it came down to newer investments, perfectly content with a more....bygone era feel. So of course he'd feel a little perturbed about the evening shifting in a direction he wasn't used to. "I guess the old guard can't be the only ones keeping the buisness afloat."

To Vox's credit, the man knew how to diffuse the Radio Demon's irritation with a more logical, even buisness-like standpoint. And it made sense. Not that he couldn't himself be the root of that same irritation, but when it was an outside source, Vox had it. "Yes, let's see that schedule," Alastor held a claw out, taking the paper.

"God- How wasn't she a bitch? Strict was an understatement. Sometimes it's a joke how parents used to just let their kids run wild, but I couldn't be 15 minutes late coming straight from school or else the entire fucking neighborhood would be called. Even when I left to go to college she didn't want to let go. After I got married, I almost never really talked to her again because of how she treated my wife. That wedding was such a fucking nightmare,"

Valentino blinks slowly. Were he not lying down, he could have been knocked over by a feather the second Vox said more than she just was. Vox usually isn't the type to talk about... feelings unless you have one of those tools you use to pry open an oyster.

Yet, this time, Vox didn't just answer Val (in detail), he brought up his wife, too?

Val considered being annoyed that Vox dared to bring up that he knew other people before he met Valentino, but... there was something in Vox's tone that was... different. It was enough to stop the moth from huffing and instead turning to glance up to that glowing screen of a face.

Angel doesn't want to dignify this taunt with a response, but he can't help the angry shine of his eyes as the tears he refuses to shed well up within them. He scoffs and turns his head, crossing his arms. Why did he even bother?

"That isn't fair, Val. It's not that anything isn't good enough but why shouldn't we try to be better? I can't want better for you?"

"Oh, so it's for me now, huh?" Valentino folds both sets of arms over his chest.

" Mmmm yes! " Val almost purred one hand holding a cigarette while one of his lower arms held a fresh drink Kitty just made him. " Mhmm yup your legs need to go higher baby doll. " His free upper arm gestured up until the pair of sinners reached the mark causing Val to smile.

" Sí just like that excelente. " He clapped his hands a signal for them to take a brief break before his attention turned to the other Overlord. " What'd you want babe? "