𝚟𝚘𝚡𝚒𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚒𝚊𝚕

It took a moment, soft panting and her hand clutching at her stump slowly clenching into a fist, but she slowly dug her boots into the ground underneath her, letting out a slow grunt as she begins to carefully, shakily, rise up to her feet. If she was about to give up her freedom to this grinning despot for the sake of living, she would not do so cowering on the ground. She slowly raises her head to look him dead in the eyes, trying to ignore the faint ringing in her ears or the way her vision faintly blurred. With the way she was now standing, it was clear that her arm was not the only thing gone. The wings that should be on her back were suspiciously absent.

The overlord summoned a small holoscreen and after a few brief taps, waved it away with the same hand. "Car's on the way. Seems like the party's ending anyway, so there shouldn't be an issue." The city's cries of fear and final pleads were shifting into panic, with sinners looking for loved ones or finding them in the worst imaginable way. It was pathetic. Vox couldn't help but sneer. "They know it comes every year, and they still act surprised..."

It shouldn't surprise him. He's the motherfucking first man; kind of a big deal. Of course people should know who he is. But somehow, the fact that Vox can point it out so fucking casually? It catches him off guard, because the message is clear. This guy was right; everyone in Hell knew him as the commander of the exorcist army and the one who had led the exterminations. The scum that lived down here wouldn't blink twice at trying to harm him. Eyes narrow at Vox, and he gets closer to him.

"vox—" was all he could get out before he was forced to look back up and felt the same fear he had months ago, ironically, at the hands of the very same sinner before him. he listened to the threat frozen in place before the mention of charlie made him blink. and then... oh. this was blackmail. lucifer couldn't hurt him, but he sure as hell could use his strength to shove him off and away.

"what the actual fuck is wrong with you?!" he didn't care who he woke up at this point with his shouting, tail appearing to lash behind him in anger. "you... you can't just blackmail someone into staying with you! i knew you sinners were messed up, but this? holy shit. that's low even for you!" there was still the question of how in the seven rings he'd get out of this without giving in or vox releasing what he was able to pick up on were their nights together, but that was a bridge he'd have to cross while thinking on his feet, so to speak.

It bothered him because in his own twisted way, he was. With a wickedly obsessive personality and an unfillable need to prove himself better than everyone else fueling it, being able to have Lucifer in the way he had the past weeks was an incredible ego boost he very desperately needed after his failed takeover. Who else in all the realm except for an absent queen could say they had the king of hell like he did?

The realization angered him. Vox's screen flickered only for a scowl to appear a moment later. "I am not attached— fuck you. Your scrawny ass wishes!" He stepped nearer to close the previously made distance and get into the shorter's space again.

There was a brief moment wherein he pushed the thought away before putting on an easy smile. "Oh, Mayleene. You're hilarious! I do take calculating to be a compliment, by the way."

Instead of taking the hint, Vox decided to purposefully ignore it and take a seat next to the human on the couch with a small scoot closer to take a look at what she was typing. If the closeness made her uncomfortable, good.

"ugh, please don't call me that," he immediately retorted with a grimace. "just lucifer is fine." he turned his head to look over and then up at the man, and the recognition clicked instantly; he was one of his father's rapidly rising stars, and someone the blond honestly thought was a little too ambitious with how much say he had in the network already. cute, sure, but his guard was up in an instant. there was only one reason he would've come out to talk with the aforementioned party going on inside.

"for me?" he asked as his gaze moved down to the drinks. "no thanks." he turned back to the skyline and flicked the ashes off the end of his cigarette. "don't you know it's dangerous to take drinks from strangers?" lucifer had figured out quickly this was all a schmoozing attempt, and he didn't really have the patience for it tonight.

He chuckled politely at the rhetorical question and simply set the glasses down on the narrow balcony railing. Lucifer was right not to trust him, but ironically, the drinks he'd brought out for them tonight were safe. "Fair enough."

Vincent had to think on his feet about how to approach this now. The blond was more no nonsense than anticipated, but he could handle anything. This would be easy to adapt to. "I assure you, Lucifer, I'm not trying to suck up to anyone." Mismatched eyes momentarily found the skyline as well before catching the man's glance, and he smirked.

but at the same time, there was a certain discomfort that lucifer found hard to ignore. sure, a little pushing around was hot, but this just felt like intimidation in a way that he himself wasn't actually being taken into consideration. he stared up with slightly widened eyes, leaning away as best the could despite the counter now digging into his lower back.

"well, i..." he slowly averted his gaze as he tried to think of something to say that would be good enough, because something told him vox wasn't really interested in his answer. "i'd rather not get into it. but it's not just the being touchy part, which i normally wouldn't mind anyway, it's just... yeah. this was a bad idea from the start."

"Disappointed?" There was a low, humorless chuckle as he widened his stance a bit to avoid being moved away whatsoever, actually pushing forward against charcoal palms. "Disappointed doesn't even begin to cover it, Lu. Do you really think you can just end this? You think you have any real say? That's cute."

One hand took both of Lucifer's wrists while the other grabbed his chin to further tilt his head back as Vox loomed; he knew the king could push him away all he wanted, but since actual harm befalling himself was out of the question, he was beyond caring.

neither had ever claimed to care about the other, so he wasn't offended by the overlord's bluntness. still, it was obvious they were on very different pages now and that only served to make lucifer a bit more nervous about what he wanted to say.

"that's the problem." he leaned away slightly. "there's nothing 'new to try out.' i'm..." why did this feel like a breakup? or what he assumed one would be like, anyway. ouch. he briefly cleared his throat and then turned his head to look up and over at vox. "i think i'm done. with this." there was only a brief pause before lucifer continued quickly in order to not be interrupted.

Oh, the things he wanted to say at the moment. To do. But maybe, just maybe there was a way to save this. Vox's crimson gaze was intense, expression unreadable, before he slowly inhaled and then let it out with a practiced grin that still had a sharp edge to it.

"If you're really that upset with me being a little extra touchy in public, I can easily stop. You don't have to go that far, your majesty. We're having fun! No one's getting hurt, and you can't honestly say you haven't enjoyed our time together."

Not the best start if Charlie was to overhear. But when the overlord wasn't trying to directly gain something, he didn't find it necessary to play nice.

The mention of sharing and caring caused his eyes to snap back to Mayleene and his expression was immediately a grimace, pixelated brows furrowed. "What the fuck do you take me for? Ew."

Remember the plan, Vox.

when she finishes the first treat, she gazes longingly at the second treat vox had tossed, before opening her mouth once more to gobble that one up as well. she pauses, tilting her head. a field trip? she's never been on one before! she doesn't get out of the hotel much, so perhaps a little time away would do her some good to see the world outside of the hotel. kee - kee thinks long &. hard about this before giving him a head nod as her answer, her tail swishing in agreement.

"oh good, you saw it." while lucifer didn't have the other's number directly, he had a feeling vox had been keeping an eye on his phone lately, so all he had to do was text a jargon number that he wanted to meet with the overlord late one night in the hotel kitchen and he was certain the message would get across. apparently, he was right. "pretty creepy you're looking through my messages, but..." that was a topic for another day. right now, there was another issue to address.

the devil leaned back against one of the counters and sighed, arms crossed, clearly trying to keep a distance. "this is gonna sound really cliché and i swear it's probably not what you think it's going to be, but... we need to talk. actually talk."

He simply shrugged at the accusation as he strode closer and leaned his hip against the same counter Lucifer had sought for distance. Vox wasn't going to give him the space he wanted. A clawed hand reached up to card through blond locks almost gently to start the process of leaving chatting in the dust, and he smirked.