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Vox is watching shok.wav peacefully swim around his aquarium when he receives a call from Velvette. In a suspiciously delighted voice, she informs him that he has a visitor.
“Really? Who?” Vox implores, caught a bit off guard.
“You’ll see,” she replies mysteriously, hanging up before he can fit another word in.
Vox wracks his brain for who this surprise guest could possibly be. He’s not exactly the most popular demon in Hell after he may have slightly lost his composure and killed a not-insignificant percentage of Pentagram City’s population, so the other Vees have been careful to filter who has access to him while they figure out how exactly to navigate the mess he’d made. The fact that Velvette is so willing to let this person see him has him far more confused than he’d like to be.
Thankfully, he isn’t left alone to stew in his thoughts for too long because after a few minutes, he hears a hesitant knock on his door. “Come in,” he calls out gruffly, trying to cover up his nerves. Seriously, he shouldn’t be feeling this anxious over a simple meeting, no matter how severely his once glorious powers have been reduced.
It turns out that no amount of steeling his frayed nerves could have begun to prepare him for what walks through his door. A human? he questions to himself, noting a distinct lack of demon features.
There seems to be something unnervingly familiar about this person. He takes in the dark, curly hair, slim figure, tight-lipped smile devoid of any real joy, and intense eyes staring deeply into his soul. Vox understands at once, in the core of his being, precisely who this human is.
Still, he questions, “Alastor?!” helpless to hide his shock.
Alastor’s sardonic smile grows bittersweet. “That’s me,” he replies, his familiar voice lacking its usual old-timey filter, pitched slightly lower than normal for him.
“What— what are you doing here? What happened? And why did you come here of all places?” Vox rambles. He gets up from behind his desk to take a closer look at the human. He notes with glee that he has a solid foot and a half over Alastor now. “You’re so cute!” he blurts out, instantly cringing and blushing at his words, realizing that he may have let his own metaphorical filter slip a bit as well.
Alastor looks away, in what Vox can only describe as in a bashful manner. He feels his heart constrict, similar to the way it does when he’s watching shok.wav. Fuck, human Alastor is going to be the death of him. He wants so badly to touch him, but remembering Alastor’s previous outburst, he sticks his hands behind his back. He’s not going to ruin this—whatever this is—if he can help it.
He watches Alastor’s gaze follow his movement before asking again, “Seriously, what happened? Why are you like this?” He looks him up and down to make his point.
Alastor still refuses to meet his eyes. “I was experimenting with a new trick and may have gotten myself ever-so-slightly stuck in this form. I’d switch myself back, but I seem to not have my powers available at the moment. I’m sure it’s only temporary, of course, but I… can’t let anyone at the hotel see me like this.”
“So you came here? Aren’t you worried I’ll take you as my prisoner again?”
Finally making eye contact, Alastor studies him for a moment, before answering quietly but resolutely, “No, I don’t think you will.”
Ugh, has Vox really fallen so far that even his arch nemesis no longer views him as a threat?
Alastor seems to sense his thoughts. “Not because you’re weak now. I just think you won’t take advantage of me in this state.”
Vox senses some uncharacteristic vulnerability radiating from his old friend and it’s like a salve on his long-broken heart. He can’t help but let a soft smile take over his screen. “You’re right. I won’t.”
The two of them share a moment of camaraderie, something they used to do all the time in the past, before everything had gone wrong, before Alastor had completely crushed Vox’s heart. He supposes he did make the fact crystal clear that even after all these years and all this bad blood, he still has feelings for Alastor, when he was willing to abandon his dream of becoming a god and almost killed everyone because of him. This must be why Alastor is choosing to trust him now. Vox starts to feel like an exposed wire.
Kicking himself back into gear, Vox clarifies, “So you just want to crash here for a few days until you’re back to normal?”
Alastor nods. “Yes, that would be ideal.”
“We can arrange that. Fuck, this explains why Velvette was so excited. Those two won't stop bitching about how much they prefer your presence over mine,” Vox says, feigning annoyance.
Alastor laughs and Vox forgets how to breathe at that sound without the staticky filter. He’s grateful for the fact that he’s been recording this whole interaction; he’s going to be playing this moment on repeat for the rest of his life. For once, he doesn’t care that Alastor’s laugh is at his expense.
“Welcome home, Al. I’m glad you decided to trust me.” Vox gives him a real, unguarded smile, and he’s certain that he’s not imagining Alastor’s genuine smile in return. Maybe, just maybe, they’ll be okay again after all this time.