[There was a glimmer of satisfaction as the coat landed on the floor and he got the extreme pleasure of watching him retrieve it. Sure, the effect was over in a minute and it nothing in the grand scheme of things, but it was a satisfying minute.
Vox slid over to the chair before watching Alastor’s gaze mov-]
Not these! Please; they’re from Val and I just don’t have more rope to make sure you don’t mess with the important work a CEO like myself does when I leave you alone.
[Which was a dangerous gamble, he knew, but he couldn’t work around him and he couldn’t trust him around the others, not with the secret of earlier still haunting them both. Why wouldn’t Alastor tell them and try to split all three of them to the winds?
…he should really gag him.]
No, I’m giving you a backstage pass to the rally and the dramatic fall of one weak king. [His smile turned fanged.] People would kill for a seat like that.
lbr Alastor is being pissy and petty too, just in the opposite way.
[ That wasn't why he was staring, he was just tired of looking at the man's face. In the end, it was a reasonable assumption though, and he didn't give a damn what the man was thinking right now. There was only the subtle raise of an eyebrow and a look of unadulterated disgust before he turned his head to look away entirely. He wasn't just ignoring him, he was shutting the man out entirely.
A "backstage pass." He had expected worse than something he was already going to be given. Vox could be petty when he wanted to be, after all, and there was plenty that he could do now. It was therefore a small relief to know that this was one more effort to show off. He already knew Lucifer's little secret, so it wasn't difficult to guess what would happen. Alastor couldn't stand the man, so he should have been delighted by this "kindness," but instead he just felt bitter and disappointed. He would think differently later, once he'd cooled off, but right now he wouldn't mind seeing him smited. ]
Giving him the silent treatment is weirdly effective.
[The real question is: which one would he enjoy being smited more, Vox or Lucifer?
A stretching silence did little to smooth the anger, and the disappointment deepened. All of this was a mess, everything, and the victory of having him as a prisoner tasted like ashes in his mouth. Of course it wouldn’t have been enough.
Nothing was ever enough.]
Finally, the Radio Demon shuts up and Hell fucking rejoices.
[If Vox thought about that statement, he might have realized what sort of power that was.
The click-click-click of the handcuffs tightening echoed in a high-ceiling room, and Vox straightened up before he grabbed his laptop off the table. He needed some time, to think, to fucking scream where no one could hear him.
Heels clicked as he walked to his office door. When he spoke, he didn’t turn around, and his voice was quiet, tired, a little more telling than he liked.]
Everything was better when you were gone, Alastor.
[Another lie. He was so good at them, so good at saying them that they almost didn’t sound like lies anymore. Maybe one day he would even believe them.
He slid out the door, and if not interrupted, would lock it behind him.]
Edited 2026-02-19 00:20 (UTC)
He needs his wife's attention to live... :( cries we can probably wrap here tho
[ Lucifer, lbr he's the biggest idgafer in all of Hell so Vox dying would fuck him up.
He found it easier to breathe once Vox was out of the room and the resounding click of the lock reached his ears, but only a little.
Maybe things were better for Vox when he was gone. After this was over, Vox would be wishing that he had stayed gone. This was where he wanted and needed to be, though. He still had things to do. He still had plans that were unfolding. Vox's success and failure would be the start of that.
He comforted himself with that idea. It allowed him to pretend that this humiliation was worth it, far worse than anything that had been done until now, was worth it. He could still spin it and utilize it for the greater good. It was the best possible outcome, even, because Vox would throw himself more completely at his ridiculous goal.
But that warmth that had briefly graced him had already gone cold, Vox had left, and Alastor was left alone in the room with only exhaustion and regret for his own foolish behavior his only true company. The only sounds that reached him was the faint clink of of metal when he tried to move his hands, the creak and rattle of the chair when he let his weight shift toward the broken wheel, and the bubbling and flowing of water behind him.
[If nothing else, Alastor was correct: You’re so obsessed with me. Vox was. He wouldn’t admit it, probably didn’t even realize it himself, but the second he was out of the room and locking the door, he was going to find a camera. It wasn’t far, two feet, maybe three, before he dissolved into electricity and rode the lines.
Only seconds passed until he arrived in a closed, dim room illuminated by the cool flickering lights of dozens of stacked screens. Vox took his place in the chair they surrounded, leaned back, and watched as images started appearing in all their 8K glory. Two were of Velvette as she streamed her live content, three of Val from different angles while he went out to a club, one was of Ethan to make sure he was actually following up on the coming agenda items for the stakeholder meeting.
But in the center, the majority of them had a view of one demon, handcuffed to a chair, alone in the office. The angles were different, the sound quiet, and Vox just stared to see if there was anything, anything at all to read. Several cables seated themselves in the back of his head, giving him the comforting jolt of being connected, part of something larger.
One cable brought a cigarette to his hand, sparking enough to light it. In the low glow and embers of his smoke, he let himself do what he did best for hours: be an obsessive master of entertainment.]
[ooc: Okay, now it's done! Have something else in mind before Vox is on his heavenly throne, or should we jump there? I’m good for either!!]
[ooc: perfect! I'm in the office today so I can't write a starter until tonight, but you are more than welcome to if you want to! I miss working from home on this gloomy day. ]
[ if you could, that'd be great! take your time on it... i feel ya, i don't have to anymore but i hated going into the office. more places should allow it. ]
[I do 50% in the office, 50% home, but if it were up to me, I'd be working in the place that lets me wear my jammies and reach down to pet a corgi when work pisses me off. LOL
[ 50% of the time is better than nothing, but for real!! I just have two kitties, and their favorite past time is coming to start trouble while I'm on the phone... I wish I had an emotional support corgi, lol.
excited for the mental illness duo... round 2!!! :') ]
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
You're definitely not wrong!
Vox slid over to the chair before watching Alastor’s gaze mov-]
Not these! Please; they’re from Val and I just don’t have more rope to make sure you don’t mess with the important work a CEO like myself does when I leave you alone.
[Which was a dangerous gamble, he knew, but he couldn’t work around him and he couldn’t trust him around the others, not with the secret of earlier still haunting them both. Why wouldn’t Alastor tell them and try to split all three of them to the winds?
…he should really gag him.]
No, I’m giving you a backstage pass to the rally and the dramatic fall of one weak king. [His smile turned fanged.] People would kill for a seat like that.
lbr Alastor is being pissy and petty too, just in the opposite way.
A "backstage pass." He had expected worse than something he was already going to be given. Vox could be petty when he wanted to be, after all, and there was plenty that he could do now. It was therefore a small relief to know that this was one more effort to show off. He already knew Lucifer's little secret, so it wasn't difficult to guess what would happen. Alastor couldn't stand the man, so he should have been delighted by this "kindness," but instead he just felt bitter and disappointed. He would think differently later, once he'd cooled off, but right now he wouldn't mind seeing him smited. ]
Giving him the silent treatment is weirdly effective.
The real question is: which one would he enjoy being smited more, Vox or Lucifer?A stretching silence did little to smooth the anger, and the disappointment deepened. All of this was a mess, everything, and the victory of having him as a prisoner tasted like ashes in his mouth. Of course it wouldn’t have been enough.
Nothing was ever enough.]
Finally, the Radio Demon shuts up and Hell fucking rejoices.
[If Vox thought about that statement, he might have realized what sort of power that was.
The click-click-click of the handcuffs tightening echoed in a high-ceiling room, and Vox straightened up before he grabbed his laptop off the table. He needed some time, to think, to fucking scream where no one could hear him.
Heels clicked as he walked to his office door. When he spoke, he didn’t turn around, and his voice was quiet, tired, a little more telling than he liked.]
Everything was better when you were gone, Alastor.
[Another lie. He was so good at them, so good at saying them that they almost didn’t sound like lies anymore. Maybe one day he would even believe them.
He slid out the door, and if not interrupted, would lock it behind him.]
He needs his wife's attention to live... :( cries we can probably wrap here tho
Lucifer, lbr he's the biggest idgafer in all of Hell so Vox dying would fuck him up.He found it easier to breathe once Vox was out of the room and the resounding click of the lock reached his ears, but only a little.
Maybe things were better for Vox when he was gone. After this was over, Vox would be wishing that he had stayed gone. This was where he wanted and needed to be, though. He still had things to do. He still had plans that were unfolding. Vox's success and failure would be the start of that.
He comforted himself with that idea. It allowed him to pretend that this humiliation was worth it, far worse than anything that had been done until now, was worth it. He could still spin it and utilize it for the greater good. It was the best possible outcome, even, because Vox would throw himself more completely at his ridiculous goal.
But that warmth that had briefly graced him had already gone cold, Vox had left, and Alastor was left alone in the room with only exhaustion and regret for his own foolish behavior his only true company. The only sounds that reached him was the faint clink of of metal when he tried to move his hands, the creak and rattle of the chair when he let his weight shift toward the broken wheel, and the bubbling and flowing of water behind him.
The silence was deafening. ]
Just one last one, first!
Only seconds passed until he arrived in a closed, dim room illuminated by the cool flickering lights of dozens of stacked screens. Vox took his place in the chair they surrounded, leaned back, and watched as images started appearing in all their 8K glory. Two were of Velvette as she streamed her live content, three of Val from different angles while he went out to a club, one was of Ethan to make sure he was actually following up on the coming agenda items for the stakeholder meeting.
But in the center, the majority of them had a view of one demon, handcuffed to a chair, alone in the office. The angles were different, the sound quiet, and Vox just stared to see if there was anything, anything at all to read. Several cables seated themselves in the back of his head, giving him the comforting jolt of being connected, part of something larger.
One cable brought a cigarette to his hand, sparking enough to light it. In the low glow and embers of his smoke, he let himself do what he did best for hours: be an obsessive master of entertainment.]
[ooc: Okay, now it's done! Have something else in mind before Vox is on his heavenly throne, or should we jump there? I’m good for either!!]
no subject
no subject
no subject
no subject
cracks my knuckles and gets to typing]
no subject
excited for the mental illness duo... round 2!!! :') ]