𝚟𝚘𝚡𝚒𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚒𝚊𝚕

It was always a bit alarming whenever Vox went missing. There was an unspoken protocol among the Hotel employees, handled with varying levels of grace, if no one could confidently report on the Overlord's status for longer then four to five hours. So when Charlie realized she hadn't seen him in quite a bit, with no idea what he was up to, she began the frantic combing through the hotel rooms to make sure he hadn't snuck off to cause harm on others (or himself) in this period of absence.

Relief hit her when she did find him, leaning inconspicuously outside and smoking a cigarette.

"Oh!" she blinked with surprise when he offered her the smoke. "No, I wasn't gonna er. I mean. It's down time right now. I was just checking in."

Honestly the human ritual of smoking still confused Charlie a bit, she couldn't quite comprehend its benefit like she did with alcohol or other forms of narcotics. But she had to own up to a certain level of curiosity about it.

Besides. Was this Vox... reaching out? She still had conflicted feelings about him (very conflicted feelings). But she also couldn't reject the invitation to bond when on paper, she was actively trying to redeem him.

There was surprisingly no bite. Thinking mostly in blacks and whites, it somehow didn't cross his mind that Charlie could be keeping tabs on him for less extreme reasons. He let go of the cigarette when she took it and raised an eyebrow as he regarded her curiously. She smoked? Since when?

Oh, since never.

Vox snorted in amusement and waved away the plume she'd forced back out her lungs in his general direction. "It's not a straw, your highness." If he was more compassionate, he would've pat her on the back or something. But! He wasn't. She could figure it out.

Send ❤️ and my Muse will compliment yours!

he turned back ahead and simply listened for a few moments, mulling over a proper response. "right..." lucifer didn't like that he came up whatsoever. unbeknownst to anyone, he had zero plans to take over or even join the network despite the constant insistence from his dad. post-divorce, he had the luxury of being away for 'personal reasons', but he knew his father would return to nagging eventually.

the silence was extended as he took a slow drag from his cigarette before sighing out and glancing up at the resulting smoke. "well, there's nothing to be curious about. i'm not the one who built the network. i'm not even—" truth be told, he didn't do much nowadays. it was a lot of moping around and holing up in his workshop. "anyway."

"Vincent. Vincent Whittman." He left the untouched drink meant for the other man on the balcony without caring if it fell onto some poor bystander below and raised his hand to fix a little stray lock of hair of Lucifer's that was sticking up. Funnily enough, it refused to stay down. He decided not to push his luck and left it alone before chuckling.

"If you need recommendations for better hair gel, I've got plenty," he teased. Clearly, talking about work and the company was resulting in walls being put up. But maybe a more personal approach could yield better results?

“Of course. Buuut she and her dad also taught me to not take shit from other demons either. And pal, you’ve got a truckload of it.

I know enough to see who you are, just from the damage you caused; A guy too focused on himself and his own schemes, petty issues and rivalries to see the big picture. Someone who chooses power and fear to get what he wants. Trust me. I’ve seen plenty of them on Earth, and you fit the bill.”

If there was one thing Aislinn prided herself on at least, it was her observational skills. She could read others’ emotions because of their character. Their actions. The way they carried themselves. The energy they gave off.

And his? Was downright awful.

She then drops the lighthearted aura she usually had, and it shifts into something serious. She takes a step forward, so that she was closer, her green eyes filled with a righteous glare.

“Now listen here. And listen good. I’m not Charlie. I may be kind, but I don’t hold back on sludge like you. And I will not hesitate to shred you to pieces if you hurt her, or anyone else.”

Her eyes then shift to her hellhound ones briefly, glowing bright green and threateningly now.

“As for whatever deal you forced Lucifer into…You won’t get away with it. If you hurt a hair on him, I’ll make you sorry I ever set foot into Hell to start with. Understand?”

He would find Aislinn intriguing in her moxie if not for the fact they were clearly on opposite sides of the moral spectrum. Maybe in another life where she wasn't such a bleeding heart like Lucifer's brat, they could get along. But alas.

"A threat?" Crimson eyes lit up and his brows raised slightly in surprise. It shouldn't have been one considering she'd already put her hands on him, but still. It was another thing entirely to hear it.

"Keep talking dirty to me. Tell me more." Vox stepped to close the little gap that remained, using his height to a definite advantage as he grinned across his screen. Maybe she had more to her than the Morningstar princess after all. He couldn't fathom her saying such things.

"i don't think a 60% is passing, soooo... i'm not giving you anything. you get nothing. congratulations," he said flatly, sarcastically doing some jazz hands for emphasis.

of course he got the physical touch one wrong. fucking creep.

"oh, vox." the initial, warm haze of just waking up was washed away by a cold fear that settled in the pit of his stomach; he could only hope it wasn't obvious on his face. the devil held the door open with one hand, and used the other to quickly try and fix his messy bedhead. "yeah," he muttered, knowing he wasn't exactly presentable at the moment. lucifer's mind was still trying to catch up with it all, to make up some kind of small talk, when his avoidance was called out directly. instantly, red hues shifted away.

"i've been... busy. it's early, isn't it? i was just asleep. i was going to find you after i woke up." it was a blatant lie, and they both knew it. he used the hand that wasn't on the door to now hold his robe better closed at the top. his eyes returned to vox, but the he stayed silent. what could he even say? all the time he was given, and lucifer still hadn't managed to find a way out of the situation.

"Aww, begging already? I haven't even taken anything off yet." His grin turned dark as he stepped closer, reaching a hand out to push Lucifer back into the room. "I don't want your power. I know you'd never give me enough to be a real threat again, anyway. I'm not stupid." There was consideration of it the last time they'd met but unfortunately for the devil, Vox was somehow even more calculating than before. He'd learned from previous mistakes. Another failure of that magnitude would ruin him. He wouldn't survive it whether it be by Hell's blade of law or his own hand.

"I already told you what I want." Closer, again, but this time the overlord's reach was for Lucifer's jaw to force him to keep eye contact as his claws dug slightly into skin. "You."

There was a short silence for the emphasis to hang in the air.

2 kings

‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒ The wolf-ram sinner took the cigarette and sucked in a drag, then expelled it from their nostrils. They didn't smoke when they were human, when they were alive, but in Hell, they indulged a lot more in unhealthy habits-- after all, why not? It wasn't like they could die from it unless it was Holy in some shape or form, and cigarettes and drugs were hardly blessed.

They didn't like their situation, they didn't like working at Voxtek, and they weren't entirely sure if they even liked Vox himself, but they certainly didn't want to work for Valentino or Velvette, not because having to work for them might be worse, but because they weren't familiar. It was better the devil you knew, as the phrase went.

"I was just here to ensure you have everything you need for the night, Mr. Vox," they replied. "Before clocking out, I mean."

Besides, Vox was the one that owned their soul, not the other two. He could tell them to go work for either if he wished, but they answered to him first.

"Just finish that cigarette, then you can head home." Less of a friendly request, spoken as if it was but another office task like organizing or filing away paperwork. If Yunae was perceptive enough, they would know it was the overlord's own way of asking for company without coming off as desperate. Or god forbid, lonely.

Another cigarette was fished from his jacket pocket and swiftly lit with a cyan spark for himself. Vox breathed in the nicotine and then sighed with a slight edge in the sound towards the end. He loathed small talk. But it was sort of all he had right now, considering it was tough being friends with the imbalance of an owned soul aside from the other obvious factors.