Masochism Tango | Alastor & Lucifer & Vox

chapter 16

Meanwhile, Vox was fuming.

Something that couldn't be described as nothing more or less than complete and utter shock and devastation overcame him as he watched the cameras he had placed in your place depict you and Alastor walking side by side from your office to your dungeons. The feed glitched and crackled when Alastor was revealed, a typical reaction to his arrival on camera.

Vox shook with anger and fury and bewilderment, his fists balling so tight on the armrests of his swivel chair his knuckles turned white, his sharp teeth grinding together so harshly his jaw ached, and his eyes so wide they burned.

He had been left to his own devices, settling a disagreement between some higher-up employees at VoxTech in a virtual meeting when he got distracted by you sitting in your office, staring blankly at the wall, deep in thought. His attention was really caught, however, when the feed began to crackle and distort, and Alastor materialized from the shadows in your office.

Needless to say, Vox quickly ended the meeting and slammed his hands on the keyboard, royally pissed off to an extent that is indescribable.

What the hell was the radio fucker doing there? Why was he visiting you? What business did he have in your office, much less in your dungeons?

Had the two of you stricken a deal? Vox knew Alastor — he wasn't one for romantic or sexual relationships, much less with someone as intimidating as the Duchess of Hell, so clearly whatever was going on was purely a business affair. But what kind of affair? What kind of thing could be going on between you and Alastor that would warrant a personal visit from him in your palace?

Like he did. Vox had come there to see you. Purely for his own gain, of course, but the thought of the Radio Demon pursuing anything remotely similar to what he desired made him enraged.

He had met Alastor decades ago in Hell, maybe sometime in the 40s, when he was merely just a wandering Sinner, and due to their mutual interests in media they instantly hit it off and became friends. Vox had been an anchor in life, the face of modern television of his time, making millions from his vices until he met his untimely death when he tripped over some wires and a television fell over and crushed his head — ironic, he knows.

He had been ashamed and embarrassed and angry with himself when he found himself in Hell, humiliated by his death and completely and utterly lost and friendless. Alastor had found him, however, and took an interest in him purely on his appearance. He had a television for a head, and at that time, it was a retro, vintage one with antennas and dials like the ones of his time when he died. Alastor had approached him on the street, commented on it with a witty chirp, and Vox found himself feeling a little bit better about his embarrassing death.

They spent a lot of time together as Vox found his footing in Hell over the next two decades, Alastor being a famous radio show host in Hell and using sheer intimidation and entertainment value to win over the people. When Vox became friends with Valentino, things started to shift as Vox became his own pioneer of modern media. He had created his own company, VoxTech, and worked closely together with Valentino, merely acquaintances at the time, and money started to pile in as they both gained more viewers and recognition from the Denizens of Hell. He and Alastor grew distant, and even a little hostile, but things really fell apart when Velvette came along.

When Velvette joined the Vees money-grab posse, Vox was consumed in his own work and success that his friendship with anyone else, particularly Alastor, began to strain and deteriorate. Finally deciding to meet with Alastor again after so many years of strain and distance, and prideful of his hard-earned success with the other Vees, Vox invited Alastor to join their company.

He said no. Vox hated him for it. He was humiliated and hurt deeply by Alastor's denial of his request, feeling as if it was an insult not only to their decades-long friendship, but also to Vox himself.

And things only got worse from there. The hostility only festered and intensified when Vox bitterly began making broadcasts about Alastor, his tone growing from a fond respect to addressing Alastor with bitterness and contempt. Alastor mirrored this in his radio broadcast, speaking heinously about Vox as if they never were friends, as if he hadn't helped him like he did all those years ago, as if he was completely unaffected by everything that had happened.

As if he found it entertaining.

And here Alastor was standing right in front of him on his camera feed, looking smug and expectant as he faced your casual form in the dungeons, and not only was he perplexed and concerned, he was also in emotional turmoil.

He had started to like you, amongst his desire to want to destroy your image for his own personal gain, had started to fantasize about you when he was bored and alone in his office, envisioning scenarios where the two of you were friends, scenarios where the two of you were casual fuck-buddies with a mutual friendship and respect, and even a little romance.

Was Vox insane? Was he delusional? Maybe a little bit. But depriving himself of human connection and fulfillment other than the tyrannical and vicious Valentino and Velvette after so many decades had made him desperate — and when he met you, he felt like he was grasping onto straws to try and finally form a meaningful connection that wasn't the same two people he had spent years doing business with. He was infatuated and insane and delusional, and now he was fucking pissed.

Because Alastor was trying to take his comfort away from him, was trying to destroy you before Vox could. Vox's expression soured. Of course he fucking was. Alastor just had to ruin every good thing in Vox's life, make him believe that just for a moment, everything is going his way, just to sweep him from under his feet and laugh at him as he falls onto the ground.

He could use this, he realized. If he really wanted to taint your image and act on his decades-long hatred of Alastor, what better than to kill two birds with one stone? Here it was, an opportunity to fuck both of his downfalls over in one fell swoop, and he'd be damned if he wasn't going to take it.

He had to watch, and be silent. He had to think, to clear his head and calm his glitching and distorting and relax his body and soul, and analyze the situation for what it truly was without bias — something was going on between you and Alastor, something very important, and he just had to find out what it was.

And there was also the matter of discovering just who you are.