#I NEED TO DRAW VEE MORE OFTEN

[phykoha]

@idiot-mushroom RELEASED THEIR VENUS AND EEEE

i thought her and my Venus would be friends teehee

[matrixbearer2024]

Paws and Pixels: VoxPet™️

Tiny!Vox x Reader

A/N: Totally writing this thing because of a cute chat session I had with some wonderful people on a Hazbin discord server, it's a shitposty idea but it was a cute one so I couldn't help but write about it. A continuation to "Get off my Screen!" is in the works alongside some other requests too! I'm just glad it was received so well, thanks y'all!

A/N: Btw, the chibi Vox art isn't mine. I might draw something similar with a Y/N eventually though so message me or request it in my askbox if you wanna see it XD

You wished you could say it was a normal day.

But truth be told-

It was so far off from that.

The Vee tower was complete mess by the time you had arrived.

The place was often busy, you knew that much-

But to fall into complete disarray?

Your beloved would have never even allowed it.

Speaking of your lover, where the hell was he?

His absence left you more than puzzled, this was Vox you were talking about after all.

Mr. I-have-to-keep-an-eye-on-everything-or-it-all-entirely-goes-to-shit-

You couldn't say he was wrong this time however, walking towards the elevator with intent to find the other Vees.

But of course they ended up finding you first.

It was Velvette who abruptly dragged you away from the chaos in the office.

Not that you still quite understood what was going on and the reason for her urgency.

"WhaA- Vel??"

"Sorry darling, we've got a bit of an issue as you can clearly tell- but there's just something I absolutely must show you."

You didn't really even have time to ask questions before you saw Valentino rush past you.

Was he holding a phone in each hand?

He barely even greeted you in his hasty exit, probably too busy with the 4 phone conversations he was having simultaneously.

All this chaos and your boyfriend still hasn't shown up.

You started getting worried that something happened to him.

But what Velvette ended up showing you was definitely not at all what you expected.

Especially since you didn't expect to find Vox here of all places.

That and... he wasn't quite himself.

Not that you were complaining, but it was really weird seeing your boyfriend so tiny.

He was probably plushie-sized to be honest.

You would have found it cute if it weren't for the shock from everything else.

The tiny Vox visibly perked up when he saw you.

Was he beeping or squeaking?

"What... what the fuck even happened???"

"Do you want the whole story or a TLDR?"

While you lightly poked the smaller Vox that stood atop the table, Velvette quickly updated you on what had transpired before your arrival.

Apparently, Vox had gone and gotten himself in trouble with some goons earlier in the day.

It wasn't often Vox would get hurt by anything, he was an overlord after all-

But sometimes people got lucky or they really just ganged up on him in big numbers.

The good news was he won, the bad news was he'd gotten pretty beat up because of it.

Shattered screen, fried motherboard, stray wires, and a whole other myriad of issues to boot.

He'd come back to the tower needing a ton of repairs.

Problem was, he'd run out of the needed spare parts and his backup body wasn't in any good condition to be used either.

So go figure, your creative boyfriend decided to handle his situation in another way after he'd put in the order for said needed parts.

They'd probably arrive in just a few days but seriously-

You could only stare at the tiny version of your lover in bewilderment.

There was absolutely no understanding of what was running through this man's brain.

He was even wearing a miniature version of his typical outfit, coat and all!

"Soooo... has he just been in here the whole time?"

"Pretty much. He doesn't really talk either, Val and I haven't figured out if it's because he can't or won't."

"Oh lord."

You sighed and pinched the bridge of your nose, patting the tiny Vox with your hands.

You honestly wanted to be more mad at the situation-

But Vox really just looked too cute.

You just wanted to freakin squeeze him-

"I'm gonna need a purse to carry him around..."

"Oh wow, you're treatin' 'im like a pet already."

You rolled your eyes at Velvette's comment, looking down at your currently tiny boyfriend to find him staring at you.

He had absolutely no business being this cute-

"I'm taking him home, I'd gather that you and Val can handle things here?"

"For the most part, just be a dear and make sure nothing else happens to 'im until his parts arrive."

You just rolled your eyes again.

Great way of stating the obvious Velvette.

Besides, Vox was still an overlord and the strongest of the Vees.

His powers shouldn't have been affected in this form right??

There was no way your beloved went ahead and made himself as harmless as he looked-

At least that's what you had hoped.

However, you picked him up in both hands- you were starting to doubt that.

Vox merely tilted his monitor head to get a better look at you before beeping, his legs dangled slightly from how you held him.

BEEPING AGAIN.

WHERE ARE YOUR WORDS FOOL-

"Huh, he's never made that sound before."

You were really starting to regret even walking into the building today.

And that was of course when your miniature boyfriend decided it was the perfect time to lightly zap you.

It didn't hurt, but it was enough for your attention to go back to him.

Only to see his face all pink with a bunch of hearts emoticons on it.

This little shit-

You really couldn't stay mad at him for long.

Eventually when you were able to get a grip on yourself, Velvette handed you a purse to put Vox in as requested- and you were on your way home.

What did the other Vees even expect you to do with Vox like this?

Did you accidentally become your boyfriend's babysitter??

Today was just way too tiring for you already.

You practically collapsed on the couch once you got home.

Dropping the purse with tiny lover in it on one of the nearby cushions, you didn't really care about the annoyed squeaking that came from inside the bag from the rough landing.

Vox just crawled out of the small purse with a huff.

He figured you would've liked him being all cute this way.

But judging by your reactions-

He couldn't tell if you liked it or hated it.

He did feel slightly bad seeing how tired you were though.

Practically waddling over towards you, Vox patted your head trying to get your attention.

When that didn't work he started beeping and squeaking until you raised your head and looked at him again.

And you were surprised when he awkwardly moved to hug you.

Well, hug your face rather.

The words: "I'm sorry." flashing on his tiny screen.

You sighed tiredly.

Even if he was a little infuriating at times, you still loved Vox's antics.

This one included.

"It's okay, I'm okay. Everything just happened way too fast."

A heart then appeared on his tiny screen face and you pretty much melted.

He was just too fuckin cute.

A/N: Might write a part 2 for this with other headcanons, this was so friggin adorable AHAHAHAHAHA

[seancekitsch]

What about the Vees sharing reader?

this is actually kinda sweet despite the fact that they're all literal villains? i love them im not sorry

When Valentino has you, it’s the closest thing to all of you being a polycule. Valentino loves being physical with you, anywhere, everywhere. But Valentino is a busy man, and Val enjoys watching you with Vel and Vox, often filming it for his private collection. Hell, sometimes Val even watches you and Kitty play. He’s also a big fan of sharing you with Vel and Vox. Sometimes all at once. Thats the only time Vel will be anywhere near the other two, just to get her hands on you. Val loves the way he towers over you, loves gifting you weapons and taking his time polishing and customizing them for you. He’s obsessed with making sure you’re armed and protected, even though with the Vees you’ll literally never need to use it. He sneaks videos of you into Vee’s movie night rotations, often enough that the others expect and look forward to it. Honestly he doesn’t love the big lavish dates with you, his favorite thing is to take you in the back of his limo and drive around Pentagram City with you, sometimes getting freaky, but more often than not its champagne and him pointing out his favorite neon signs to you and being excited to have you all to himself in this little private way. 

When it’s Velvette in your room she likes to play hard. Dressing you up, dressing you down, taking you apart just to put you back together. She loves to leave her mark on you any way she can, whether it’s love bites and bruises or a matching tattoo she designed. She’s all about extremes in your relationship. Vel is the one least likely to share when it’s her time with you, definitely not above throwing things or shouting at the guys when they come sniffing around. If they come on dates, they’re your muscle to make sure you’re well protected when she takes you clubbing or to an expensive or experimental new restaurant. She actually forces Val and Vox to go on their own little date nearby so that they don’t bug the two of you. She actually takes the time to print out and make physical collages of pictures of the two of you, writing sweet and funny little notes and adding stickers before hanging them up on her wall. (Theres also one of the four of you but that collage is much harder to find.) Vel loves gifts and little physical trophies and mementos of your relationship, little physical reminders of you. Her most prized possession is a necklace you made for her one night at the very beginning of your relationship when you binged Voxflix and played around in her workshop until dawn. 

When you’re on Vox’s arm he’s possessive and boastful. He loves showing you off as his partner and plaything, taking you to any press event dressed in only the best and holds you close. The paparazzi has hundreds of pictures of him tonguing you in front of the Vee tower and getting in and out of limos. Val swears his boyfriend hires the paps to get more photos of the two of you. Val and Vel know to flank the two of you at these events, but they always get their secret little moments. Val loves to escort you for smoke breaks and share cigarettes with you, kissing the smoke from your lips. Vel loves to take you to the bathroom under the guise of fixing outfits and make up but you always end up coming back more disheveled. Vox doesn’t mind, in fact, he loves that you’re being so well taken care of. He feeds off the attention though, the head rush when his fans overheat from your constant kissing and touching. He loves when you fawn over him, and he takes care of you in return. Vox is always the first to draw you a bath or offer a back rub after a long day or cook your favorite meal just because. 

[blossomthepinkbunny]

Hazbin Redesigns pt.2

These characters are mostly ones, whose designs I never had big problems with, I just had different ideas for them sometimes.

Sir Pentious is female in my AU because her backstory requires it. Also I thought she would be cute as Ms Pentious. I made her colours more earthy and gave her a more serious look, since she will probably be an antagonist (she is still very excentric, she mostly pretends to be serious). I gave her design some elements that resemble steam and clouds to fit with her inventor theming. I kept the eye hat thing because I think it's fun.

For Cherry bomb I kept a lot of stuff from her original design. Her colour palette, her tights, her shoe situation and her hair looks pretty similar too. I toned the brightness down and made her look more Punk (because i'm pretty sure that she is supposed to be Punk). I gave her a prosthetic since I can imagine that she would loose a limb in an accident with her bombs. Ms Pentious made her the prosthetic (she and Cherry are officially dating here and are both antagonist from how it is now). I tried to make her look chaotic and spunky so her design was very fun to figure out.

The main issues I have with Velvettes original design is that she doesn't look like a demon really and pretty much just like a human with weird eyes. Also she suffers from the fact that Viv makes all her black characters grey. I made her a Vampire/Bat Demon because Vampires are creatures of the dark and it reminded me of how people on the internet often are. For her outfit I was mainly inspired by fashion dolls like Monster High. She is supposed to look modern and like a fashion influencer. Her redesign is very bright and obnoxious kinda to reflect the overload one can get from the internet and trends.

I wanted to make Vox older and boxier looking. He is an old TV show host who is upset that he has to stay current with the trends to keep being relevant, even though he doesn't view modern television as "real" television. He is jealous that Alastor can afford to keep his older format and style. I gave his outfit a similar colour sceme to that of Alastor. Vox is meant to look slimy and kinda pretentious. Other that that he isn't so neon anymore and has a less modern TV as a head.

I have some ideas for Valentino but I didn't make the effort to actually make a full drawing for him, because I didn't want to (not for him). Also he probably won't really appear in my AU (still figuring out wether the Vees will even be important at all). He is not a moth here because Vaggie is already a moth and I didn't see the need for two (not related) characters with the same gimmick. He is a scorpion, since they're more intimidating. His outfit isn't all too different (from when he opens his coat in the show). Val would be more muscular and in general more menacing and still very manipulative.

Final character lineup.

Feel free to ask questions/give suggestions for my redesigns/rewrite.

[kame-writes]

Concerning the media overlords au:

First of all: I love it! Thank you for sharing the idea with us <33

Second: Does Alastor live in the tower with the other Vees? And does Alastor still move into the hotel? If yes, on a scale of one to absolutely how sad/pissed/jealous is Vox after receiving this info?

3. I'd like to imagine Velvette's fingers are constantly itching to get ahold of that handsome deer man, who doesn't know how to dress himself properly or trendy, and give his wardrobe an upgrade. Could you imagine this happening? (Maybe with lots of alcohol involved. So that he would at least temporarily let her experiment with his clothes. Bonus points if she is able to take picture too. Vox would obviously make himself some copies for.. private reasons...) Do you see my vision?? Can you see it??

4. Can Vox convince Alastor to do more audio features within their network? Like podcasts or interviews and the like? Or are they just screams as well? (I recently discovered a podcast about cooking, where each week they talk about one ingredient and explain a recipe with it. I think this would fit Alastor's preferences very well.. tho the ingredients might not be as commonly used now that I think about it... anyhow... now I can't stop thinking about Hannibal and Alastor hosting a food podcast.. oops.. sorry, but not really)

5. You mentioned that Husk still works in his casino, if he isn't needed. Do you have any headcanons for Niffty's whereabouts?

Anyway that's all for now! Have a lovely day/night! <33

p.s. Sorry if this ask is intrusive. For some questions it's pretty clear that I've already imagined something for myself that may or may not fit with your vision of this au. If you feel like I overstepped, feel free to ignore this or send me an alastor_fuck_u. gif :D

Im am very happy to have questions asked! You have no idea how many ideas i have and dont know what to do with xD

I'd love to see other peoples headcanons and ideas for this universe, if anyone does anything for it then please tag me so i can see ^^

This is gonna get long so I've put it under a read more

2: No one is really sure if he lives there or just works there. He HAS his own suite in the tower, but he's not always there when they go look for him, and not being able to find him is very a common occurrence, made more frustrating because he refuses to carry or awnser the mobile phone they forced on him. He hangs around in the common areas like the kitchen and living room sometimes. And if they do manage to rope him into something like a movie night its a huge hassle, because he will insist on a black and white or silent film if he HAS to engage with the tv, and Vel and Val hate those.

The whole top of the Tower is dominated by his large Radio tower though, its slightly seperated from the rest of the building, suspended above it with a staircase/ladder to enter the hatch. Valentino is usually not brave enough to check there for Alastor.

Its the same with the hotel. He does move into his own room there, but goes back and forth a lot, and doesnt have a schedule. Vox tires to pretend hes fine with it at first but often ends up the hotel to be a pain in the ass to Charlie, and getting kicked out by the staff of Alastor. Hes convinced himself that Alastor will lose interest sooner rather than later, and the others just tune out his whining at this point. No one buys it when he claims he didnt even notice Alastor was gone as soon as the Radio Demon gets back to the tower.

3: I may be planning to draw this haha He does let her dress him up ocassionally, he has a few differant suits he's approved of and kept, but does wear his original the most the time. Velvette has a line of 'Vintage chic' clothing that partly started as a way to get Alastor to agree to changing his 'ratty ass old man style' by appealing to clothes that were updated takes on his era. He still very rarely leaves the tower in anything but his own usual attire.

He does on rare occasions allow photos to be taken of him by the vees (and once, later on by charlie, under strict instructions that she keeps it to herself) but no video. And none under any circumstances are allowed on social media. He has blown up a few phones that have attempted, both the Vees and employees.

4: Alastor has agreed to be on a podcast a few times, but its rare, and only if its somehting hes really interested in talking about. It's one of the few modern things he approves of since its just a version of a radio talk show. Same with interviews, he keeps them even more extremly rare, and the mystery of the radio Demon keeps sinners in fear more than him being in the public. Vox always wants him to do more since the ratings sky rocket when Alastor features.

When Alastor has done an interview it is with his back to the camera, and sitting in a large wingbacked stupidly over the top ornate chair, that hides him from being seen, except maybe the top tuffs of his ears and antlers. And he doesnt reveal much about himself when he does. The chair is partly to hide him, and partly to stop the equitment form glitching too much. He likes to pulls faces and makes gestures deliberatly made to make Vox falter and look stupid on camera, since hes the only one who can see him in that chair.

He has teased on his own radio show that one 'lucky' sinner may get the chance to be on both a guest star on his radio broadcast AND a livestream if the mood takes. Valentino had to inform him that what he's referring to is called a snuff film

5: Niffty gets moved to the hotel pretty much full time once Alastor gets involved, Husk is a part time employee, but ends up spending less time at his casino as time goes on.

Valentino is happy Niffty is gone because she creeps him out, she ocassionally hung around his studio during work hours, especially if theyre doing a scene with 'bad boys'. Vox isn't bothered. Velvette is not happy, especially that Niffty is reduced to a maid/janitor for the hotel, and makes that very known to Alastor. Velvette loves Niffty, they are chaos sisters and work on very sketchy sounding potions together, and gang up against the boys.

Niffty is also a great seamstress herself and brings her designs to Velvette like an excited child showing off their latest art project. Almost none of these get used, but Vel has fun forcing models to parade around the studio and work in something Nifftys made, they often include bugs and bodyparts, Velvette finds this halarious.

[realmofvoxtv]

Vee Alastor AU (Name Announcement+More)

So, a while back I posted a poll about a Vee Alastor's name. And the most voted name for a Vee Alastor was.... Vintee~ (VINT from Vintage and an EE~ ending).

I also wanted to mention why I chose this name and didn't even list some names for the poll.

Why did I chose Vintee?

It was the most voted name from the poll.

It's a play on the word Vintage (which tends to refer to something older). Why would Alastor's name reference being Vintage? Especially when the Vees seem to like being "new" and "updated"? Well, at least in my experience. Vintage doesn't always mean horrible, I feel like it's often applied to something valuable from the past. (Like say a certain radio host).

Why didn't I go with Valastor or Venison?

1. (In regards to Valastor) I wanted to avoid confusions from people who are looking for ship art.

2. (In regards to Valastor) I wanted a name that could also have a somewhat cute short nickname. Velvette has Vel, there's Val, and Vox's name is so short he doesn't need one. (This is also handy for any later comics I make.)

So if Vee Alastor was named Valastor? Imagine all the times they would call for Val, only for Valentino and Alastor to both respond. (I will say I might make a comic on an idea like this, we'll see.) Also, in universe I feel like the Vees, ESPECIALLY VELVETTE would like a name that when short is still recognizable and maybe even marketable. (Velvette has gotta get around character limits y'all)

3. (In regards to both) I'll be honest, I felt like they didn't sound too great (imo). Especially Venison as a short nickname. (Just Ven).

But Vintee? Has a somewhat cute nickname, Vin (from VIN -tage aka Vintage) or maybe even Vinn (V + Finn). And if Valentino is feeling like testing Alastor's temper, Vinnie or Vinny.

And if Vox or Velvette want to tease him a bit. I could see them calling him Vintage (referring to how he is the OLDEST of the Vees). And Velvette calling him by his full name while he's fighting Valentino or Vox is  something she would do (Note to self: another drawing idea!)

WHAT'S NEXT?

Hopefully, once I'm done with some practice art (which is Zestial). I'll finish what the four Vees logo/symbol is. AND IT WILL have Vintee/Vee Alastor.

Speaking about needing to be marketable. Alastor may have a different color scheme. Maybe one that goes well with Vox and (HOPEFULLY) makes him stick out more from hell.

[lunchtimebedamned1997]

Cosplay WIP and Doodle Dump >:3

Haven't really been working on a bunch of digital art lately bc I've been busy working on cosplays and crying over Stolitz XD

But I thought I'd show you all what I've been working on since I'm really excited about it! <3 (So many updates :D)

Let's start with Helluva doodles!

I finally started drawing Blitzø and Fizzy-Frog! <3 Fizzy looks so much healthier in the newst ep I could CRY ohhh my goddd. And both Fizz and Blitzø look so dapper! Little cuties! Little cuties who are friends again! My heart!

Next up: Cosplay props!

We've got a lot of stuff for the Vees, and then a liiiitle bit of Angel Dust progress to show y'all!

Let's start with Vox since I only have one main thing I've made so far!

I had an old pair of headphones that stopped working, and I'd already worn them to costest Vox (since I'm not going for the TV screen approach) and so I thought I could give them a makeover! I decided to do the symbols from his silly little hat, and paint the microphone tip to resemble the little red bauble at the end of his antenna!

I just sanded the labels off, painted everything in acrylic and then sealed it with clear nail polish, pretty simple stuff, but I'm really pleased with the effect! And I think it will be a nice touch for the costume! <3

Now onto Valentino! I have the most stuff for him so far bc everything that wretched man owns is cool AF and I wanted to make, like, all of it XD

I started with the guns from 1x02 ala: "Which of these makes me look sexier ;3" since I thought they were both pretty iconic and I definitely want to film that little clip once my cosplays are ready to go hehe

(My reference Image ^)

This pink one is definitely my favorite, both in the show and based on how it came out in the end! I've only ever built one propgun before this for Jinx, so it was really fun to get back to it again! Lots of math and measurements, but luckily I'm a little racoon creature who hordes recycling like my life depends on it XD Even though he actually bedazzles another gun in the meeting room in 1x02, I was not about to make a third one in the span of two weeks, so I decided to just put it on one side of the pink, and I really love it tbh!

The gold and grey definitely looks a bit more... cardboard-y, but I'm okay with it tbh, I don't love the design of this one as much, so I probably won't be using it on it's own as often as the pink! But I still think it turned out well overall! Especially bc by the time I got to this one my exacto-blade was crapping out on me hardcore lmao

I also have two hand options ready for Valentino! I noticed that sometimes he has gold claws, and sometimes his hands are fully black, so I thought it would be good to have a couple options!

I went ahead and ordered some pleather gloves which I think work really well for him on their own, but then I also took some fake nails and layered them with gold acrylic paints and clear nail polish to make his 'actual' hands. I figured if I need a particular close-up for a shot it would be really cool to use black facepaint on my skin, and then have these nails stuck on! I just used eyelash glue to test out affixing them last night, and I think it actually worked super well!

Since the nails are pretty, well, claw-like I don't want them on all the time, but I still need them to stay when I'm moving around in costume, and I think the eyelash glue is kind of the perfect things for my at-home cosplay needs! I'd definitely want to do something stronger if I was going to a con in these, but yeah - XD I'm rambling, anyways -

Let's move onto Velvette!

I had an extra set of gold nails I'd made, that I was originally planning on attaching to the gloves (I did not like how that looked lmao) but I didn't want them to go to waste, so I used some of the little gems and do-dads that I had laying around to make them match one of the bra-tops I'm planning to use for Velvette! (Yes that sparkly orange and pink thing on the left is what I tried to match it to!)

I have a plethora of blank fake nails now, so I think it would be really fun to make a pair that matches each of Vel's outfits! I hyper-fixated on nail art for a couple years when I was a kid, so I'm really excited to play with those skillz again lmao - especially because I can use acrylic paint for these instead of nail polish which really cuts down on cost and expands my color ranges exponentially!

The last thing I have to show you for the Vee's specifically is the wigs I ordered for them! (I want to scream, I'm so excited!!!!)

(All of these are from Wig Is Fashion btw, notspon or anything I just have really loved their wigs so far! I really hope these three work well!)

Finally, my gloves for Angel and a couple of my colored lights for filming came in, so I just threw on one of the outfits I have ready for him, the wig I styled, and the gloves to get a feel for how it was coming along :3

I think I want to get different little shorts for this look (maybe pleather?) and figure out a couple other details to add in, because I feel like there is currently too much 'blank' space in the look. I'm sure that will be lessened by the makeup, set, etc. But I want to make sure the extra looks I have for characters still feel 'designed'/styled well, obvi.

Anyways! Lots of work to do, and I still need to buy a new sewing machine so i can make some of the actual outfits from the show, but it's all a process lmao

I'm planning a full-on Angel CMV atm, as well as a ton of other videos, but that's all a ways away lmao, I wanna really put effort into it which means time haha

I did already post some little Cherri, Angel, Vox and Charlie closet-costests to my TT if y'all are interested! I've also made Millie and Blitzø horns, but tbh I just can't be assed to get pictures of all of that rn XD if you look at the most recent (as of rn lmao) 'cosplay updates' vid that's up, you can see the horns, wigs etc that I didn't show in this post!

My main links are all right here if you want 'em: https://lunchtimebedamned.carrd.co/

And with that I'm going to go have brain-off time LMAO I've been working non-stop for weeks on this. I'm also sorry to anyone waiting for the Ch.4 update on The Space Between Us, this chapter is deciding to be very slow-going and difficult. IRL stuff is probably heavily contributing to that, but oh well. Know that I am working on it <3

[rayneydays]

very late gustholomule week drabble

_

Little human children giggled behind their hands at the sight before them, Gus couldn’t help but do the same.

They didn’t visit the public pool often. However, as witches crossed over more, Gus, as past captain of the HAS, wanted his friends to enjoy all aspects of human culture. Including the figurative and potentially literal cesspool of splashing toddlers and probably-pee infested water.

Plus, to Gus’ joy, one of those friends didn’t learn how to swim. And the beach, with its aggressive waves that even knocked Willow over, probably wouldn’t be the best place to learn. So he took it upon himself to teach Matt. He was so generous, really.

”Your parents really never took you to Lake Lacuna?” the question had been on the tip of his tongue when he first found out. But there was always a certain look when Matt got upset, genuinely upset. Faraway eyes and pinched upturned brows that made Gus feel something.

But just like he was with illusions, Matt was a quick learner, and Gus was a fabulous teacher if he did say so himself.

When they got the basics down, he retreated to sit on the edge, letting Matt practice with Vee.

Gus kicked his feet, watching the pool water ripple. It was such a bright blue. Did chlorine do that? What was chlorine anyway?

He looked up, biting back a laugh at Matt doggy paddling awkwardly under Vee’s guidance.

Anticipation simmered in his gut.

He looked at Matt, all toothy grins and bangs plastered to his forehead. He looked happy.

Gus wanted that look all to himself. And once Matt was skilled enough, he’d have it.

-

It was a pretty long ride to the beach in Conneticut, but Gus knew of another place. During their initial time on the human realm, on days he needed alone, he’d walk off.

After being gone for hours, Gus would return with a clearer head and a new secret destination all to himself. At least, until now.

Matt blinked slowly as sun hit him right in the eye. Gus brushed tree branches aside, revealing the edge of a cliff. He looked down with a grin.

“Woah,” Matt said faintly.

”I know, right? isn’t it cool?” The lake below them was a deep sea green, the sun making it sparkle in their eyes.

”It’s … okay.”

”Don’t lie.”

Gus dropped his bag, shoving it underneath a bush and kicking off his shoes, Matt followed. The two eased closer to the edge, Matt slowing a bit.

The cliff was pretty tall, but not enough that the fall hurt, the illusionist figured.

“This is safe, Augustus?” Matt’s voice voice was hesitant, however he was quick to deflect. “I don’t want you getting hurt, you’re so frail.”

”I’m bigger than you.”

”Taller,” Matt corrected, “whose job is literally construction ergo lifting heavy shit all the time?” he flexed his muscles for emphasis, and Gus had to feign disgust.

”You mainly draw the crap, and make Kikimora do all the work,” he snapped back, a light blush tinging his ears.

Matt grumbled a bit, crossing his arms as he looked over the edge.

“You swear it doesn’t boil?”

“I swear.”

“On King’s dad?”

“On King’s dad, dude.”

Gus grabbed Matt’s shoulders, hugging him loosely. Upon being drawn into the false sense of security, Matt begrudgingly nodded.

”You remember to hold your nose?”

”Yeah - but,” Gus cut him off quickly, dirt scuffled underneath their feet as Gus pushed - pushed -

A girlish shriek the constructionist would deny later.

“What the fuck!”

The two tumbled off the cliff in a gaggle of tangled limbs and held noses, the air ripping through them.

Matt yelled all the way down, clinging to him with wide, angry eyes.

Gus took back his previous assessment on it not hurting to hit the water. It was like a cold smack to the face. They detached as they sank, clawing to the surface. Gus gulped up air, skin prickly as goosebumps formed. The water was so much colder in the human realm …

”Matty?” he called as he breached the surface, eyes still shut tightly. At the lack of response, a bit of panic flared. “Matt?”

”Hold your nose.”

Gus gasped as he was pushed back under water, swallowing lake water as he sputtered for oxygen. After the blatant assassination attempt on Matt’s part, Gus had to enact revenge. They continued to splash and chase each other for almost an hour.

His legs shook from exertion as they swam for a nearby rock. He glared in envy as Matt hoisted himself on the boulder like it was nothing, like really, where was that twig packing the muscle?

Matt yanked Gus up by the back of his tank top so he could flop beside him on the rough surface, gasping.

”Weak, nerd.”

”Shut up.”

Matt looked around. The lake was encased in a woodlands, the land sloped upward to be a mountain. There were a couple lower ledges that Gus would originally jump into the lake from, as he worked his way up to the highest one.

“You didn’t even jump from that before making me do it? What if there was rocks or something?” Matt cried. “I could’ve died!”

”I’ve swam this lake plenty of times, there aren’t rocks.”

”We’re sitting on a rock, you dumb fuck.”

Gus promptly shoved the boy off the edge, taking great satisfaction in Matt’s flailing limbs.

As Matt drowned beside him, Gus tugged idly on his hair. It was a good thing wash day was coming up.

It was another hour before they made their way back up the mountain, which, in hindsight was a lot harder barefoot, but Gus still thought it was worth it.

Too tired to hold an argument, they murmured amongst each other quietly, bumping shoulders and brushing hands.

Gus shivered, only partially from the cold.

They arrived back at Camilla’s as the sun came down. Thankful that she allowed them to stay the night, they trekked to the basement.

Camilla came down to call them for dinner, only to find them tangled together still in their swim trunks.

She smiled, and flicked the light off before retreating back upstairs.

-

“Did you put on any sunscreen?” Camilla gasped in horror at the angry, red flaking skin of Matt’s shoulders.

”I did!” he shouted back, shoulder’s bunched up, “ .. Ms. Noceda,” he added hastily.

Matt hissed as Gus pumped aloe vera over the irritated skin, rubbing it in weakly. When Camilla excused herself to find more healing ointment, Gus smacked the skin lightly.

”Ow! Augustus!” Matt reached behind him blindly to hit Gus.

”Does it hurt?”

”What do you think, prodigy?”

Gus laughed quietly, muttering an apology as he massaged the aloe vera into Matt’s shoulder blades. On autopilot, he leaned forward, head darting down to press a brief kiss to his shoulder.

”I’m sorry, Matty.”

He peeked at Matt’s face hesitantly, silently hoping the red adorning his face wasn’t just because of the sunburn.

[mageofseven]

hello! if requests are open i was wondering if you could do something with poly dialuci x reader where she is pregnant and has a fever so they take care of her? i’m just craving some fluff rn :3 thx! <3

Omg yes, Poly DiaLuciMC!! And you freaking bet this is a triad and not vee and those two have been spoiling the hell out of pregnant MC even before this fever.

Also, just I reminder that I don't write xReader posts; I just prefer using MC when writing for this fandom.

Okay! So I am using she/her pronouns for this because that was what was used in this request so I am assuming that it's this Nonnie preference.

Now onto the story! 🥰

•▪︎▪︎◇°●♡●°◇▪︎▪︎•

Before the Fever

Oh boy was this pregnancy a surprise😅

For multiple reasons, this triad was usually really good with making sure to use birth control with MC.

Once they discovered MC was pregnant, the three thought back to the last time they were 'intimate' together

And realized Diavolo was on rune duty.

Basically, he was the one who was suppose to draw the birth control rune under the human's navel before either man gave her too much attention down there

And the prince was so impatient that night that his rune scripting was...rather shoddy to say the least.

Oops 😅

Lucifer was especially critical of his boyfriend's carelessness.

This throuple has been together for a few years at his point and just felt that it was obvious that both men were fathers in this scenario regardless.

Neither of the three knew who was genetically the father of this baby, but they also didn't really care.

I mean, because of outdated (but sadly, firmly in place) laws about the royal family and crown inheritance, the three will have to look into this later, but Dia saw no reason to rush into this.

Afterall, he was the most excited of the the three! This man had always wanted to be a dad and for once, his impatience brought him something good in life.

Lucifer, however, was a freaking wreck.

As someone who technically was already a father, he knew that so much could go wrong.

It seemed like he was always hovering around MC, even in the early days of the pregnancy, and always made it explicitly clear to his partners that he in fact was not hovering so stop teasing him already.

When MC did get sick and develop a fever in her sixth month of pregnancy, you could almost say Lucifer got the last laugh

Except he, once again, was the most worried.

During the Fever:

Whatever illness the woman caught here in the Devildom was resistant what little human medication was safe for pregnant people, specifically their baby

And most demon medications weren't safe for humans period.

The two men gave their love what little potions they could and kept her on bed rest.

Balancing work and taking care of MC was very difficult for these two men, mostly because they always wanted to be with her.

Lucifer kept finding himself rushing through his paperwork just so he could check on her sooner

Considering the situation, Barbatos tolerated this from his lord to an extent, but still popped in occasionally to remind him to get some work done...any work done, please.

And Dia...he goofed off more than anything 🤭

The two would talk and play what games they could from her bed.

He knew bed rest wasn't exactly fun, but tried to make it more bearable for his Queen.

Dia hated meetings more than ever during this time because he couldn't just cancel them to stay by MC's side😕

When Dia had to leave for meetings, Luce couldn't focus on his work at all and instead stayed with MC in her room.

Unlike Dia, he was less focused on entertaining her and more focused on taking care of her.

Fluffing her pillow, getting water, helping her to the bathroom when she needed to pee (which was often, considering the amount of pressure this baby put on her bladder).

He'd even help her take her potions

Or well, more like make her take her potions.

They were so bitter but also weirdly sour; MC would start gagging any time she took them.

The human always hope her boyfriend would just forget about the medicine

But he never forgot 😮‍💨😓

The funny part was that MC wasn't even that sick; the fever was a really minor one after all.

Luce treated the small fever like an emergency; Dia, on the other hand, mostly made it into an excuse to skip work and cuddle with his girlfriend in bed 🥰

Still, she had two protective boyfriends that would rather be safe than sorry, especially since she was pregnant and pregnancies could be scarily delicate at times.

So really, it was still only Luce that was anxiously hovering around her. The other kept going with their jokes about it even during this fever, to the pride demon's annoyance.

Don't get me wrong; Dia was worried too but he was more so worried about the fever getting worse than he was about its current state.

After about five days of this, the fever went down

And Luce himself settled down, just a bit.

MC, who had been positively bored in bed all week, wanted to get out of the house

So the three went out to dinner to celebrate the breaking of her fever and the return of her good health~

[zestials]

↳ zestial's territory.

as an old , powerful overlord , zestial does have a territory within the city. the secrets of the past are not buried there. it's an ominous , nightmarish section of the city that borders carmilla's weapons district & rosie's cannibal town. ( going off the assumption that the vees corresponded the pictures of the overlords with where they are located on the pentagram , he was between the two for a whole second in the finale song. )

the further in one goes the more dangerous it is , if you've made it to the center where his personal home is located ( which you can see at the link ) , you're either double dead , worse than dead or a friend !

business meetings meanwhile are held in a gothic style cathedral ( i'll link here once i eventually do a full post & visual on it ) on the outskirts towards carmilla's section. tall spires cut sharp silhouettes in the skyline , stained glass windows create web shaped shadows on the floor. it's primarily made of different sorts of stone & much of it is detailed with morbid , horrific art pieces that have been carved in.

there's a staff full of demons that upkeep it in his absence , employing those that are aesthetically ghastly or serve one purpose or another. ( he likes them ravenous but polite & obedient ! + generally treats them well , they are loyal out of a sort of respect despite the fear most would assume. though there's surely a hint of that too. )

the mere presence of the territory is off , an unsettling feeling that creeps across your skin & one will feel eyes on them constantly with no discernible source. think of the most haunted place possible , there you go ! screams often echo , shadows slither by from the corner of your eye & there's odd , creepy chitterlings. it seems like a different realm entirely at times , a heavy , eerie , suffocating place.

buildings are often leaning , as if conspiring to keep secrets. there's rotting , boarded up windows & creaking rusty doors. lights flicker in the distance to draw in unsuspecting passerby & strange symbols are often etched into crumbling walls ; like rituals may have once been preformed there with hints of sulfur still clinging to the air. alleyways seem twisting & never-ending , especially at night. much of the flora is dangerous in one way or another , poisonous flowers sprouting in the cracks of cement , gnarled sharp trees , etc. corpses have been left to rot & the occasional spectacle's made when needed. there are plenty of old ruins that are left like reminders but not nearly extensive as the doomsday district. some of these ruins even contain shelters beneath used during exterminations , which you're welcome to use ... for a price ! they also don't make half bad torture chambers.

despite all this there are some residents. most notably of which are some various crime organizations that zestial allows within by way of deals made. ( also a very central location for them to get their hands on weapons via carmilla & for zestial to receive any information they've gathered. ) crossing him rarely happens anymore , he's made sure of that + could result in them losing their weapon deals , all around not something that often happens.

many of the other souls that occupy space move slowly & with a deliberate gait , some choose to keep their faces hidden behind cloaks & speak in hushed , foreboding tones. visitors have been known to have lingering nightmares after leaving.

** i also like to think zestial held the entirety of that little section of the pentagram for better part of the last few centuries & has some sort of deal / partnership with carmilla ( but obviously , i won't directly mention that in threads w/ carmillas unless it's agreed upon beforehand. ♥ ) that ended up being cleaned & turned into space for her ventures when she became an overlord to benefit them both.

[where-are-the-spooky-gays-2]

My fam is having car troubles and it's preventing me from being able to go to school (frustrating bc I already have the attendance office on my chronically-ill ass 😭) so here's more mechanic Remus things with a little sprinkle of "Roman's his little brother instead of twin (remember that?)"

- he and Virgil don't come into contact super often for a while. This shits a slur burn. But eventually things just keep winding up wrong with the car and he keeps calling remus

- he calls Remus specifically (Remus gave him his personal number) (said all the other guys there were shady as fuck and Virgil was too cute for that bullshit) (also in case Virgil was interested)

- looooootta trips where Remus comes to Virgil's place

- awkward host Virgil who is like ".. do u want some water?" meanwhile Remus is just straight up under his car

- Remus coming inside the house with completely pitch black hands like ":D please turn on your sink for me. And maybe put some soap in my hands. So I don't turn your whole ass kitchen black." my dad always makes me do this it's so fun /j /lh

- Virgil DOES hang out w him outside though don't get me wrong I just mean that one time

- Virgil once went inside and then came out an hour later and saw his backseat completely removed and was freaked out (Remus needed to check smth. He put it back!!)

- once Virgil just kinda. lied. said he wanted Remus to check this Weird Noise the car was making. (There was no weird noise he just weirdly missed him)

- one time, different car, Remus mentions how their scheduled time is really close to when he has to get his brother. So like. When he shows up. Remus will not be alone.

- cue Fuck It™ and Roman comes with him

- what a day for Virgil, dude (Jesus Christ this kid never stops talking) (also Virgil couldn't spoil Disney for him?? Wtf Remus?? He has to learn eventually??) (it's fine whatever he's a good artist) (did call Virgil easy to draw, though... lil bastard—)

- otherwise, when it's just Virgil and Remus, they find out they have a lot in common! Interests-wise, but they def. bond over music at first. Gotta have smth going on in the background.

- Virgil can't get over the fact Remus looks hot though. It like becomes a problem for him. I can't blame him tho— greasy mullet mechanic in a tank top working on my car? Sweating and covered in grease?? Hello??? Shits hot. If virgil is weak I am too.

- their first date is when Virgil offers to buy Remus dinner for a really tight squeeze-in for a check on something. Remus takes him up on the offer and they schedule for that weekend. They have a really good time and then at the end Remus mentions how he kinda wished it was a date. Virgil realizes he did too. Oh Shit™.

- they kiss anysay

— 👑

Damn that sucks man hope everything starts working soon but Y E S Mechanic!Ree and lil bro Ro!!! I will never get over Vee constantly calling Ree specifically for his car even when there isn't an issue he's simply Gay for a chaotic man in a mullet and feels safer XD I'm cackling at the thought of Vee just making a snack for Ree and seeing the backseat completely gone and he just almost drops the plate jaw dropped and all XD Also the fact that Ro's lowkey a lil shit and Vee can't spoil Disney for him has me cackling Ree get your bro XD It's really nice to see the beloveds easily click and it all started because of Vee's car <3

[labyrinthofsphinx]

Statistical Outliers

More drabble. Fixed it so there's links to the other parts just in case!

Noon drawing near had never been so bothersome. This was about the time he could tempt with cooking channels, game shows for the odd bored soul, and sappy dramas for everyone locked up in their house. It was usually the easiest part of the day, mostly re-runs and making himself something for lunch. Now, all his stolen time seemed to be catching up to him. He has never dreaded that stupid clock more than he did now, and he hated that.

The kid had taken to playing with his sharks. Yes, that’s right, playing. Apparently, sharks could play. They chased him from one end of the room to the other, crashing between themselves when the kid suddenly changed direction. The kid loved stopping short and watching them be suddenly forced to veer the other way. The string of bubbles they made from the effort danced like jellyfish in the blue light.

They want to eat him, he told himself. If he threw him in there, they would eat him. They’re only pretending, only gaining his trust. Like you. It’s all an act, remember?

His internal clock ticked for fifteen minutes to twelve, and by that time he couldn’t take the waiting any more. Just rip the bandage off now while your nerve is still there.

He did one more quick check of his shows, then unplugged.

“Come on. We have to get going now.”

“Okay.” The kid quickly turned back and waved to the aquarium. “Bye, Anchor. Bye, Barge. Be back in a sec.”

The sharks, who needed to keep swimming if they wanted to, you know, breath, stood floating still as the kid retreated back towards the door, next to Vox. Sharks couldn’t look somber, and they weren’t smart enough to understand. He knew that. So why were they holding their breath as the kid left?

“They can swim down to the conference room. It’s just below us.” He explained.

“Really?” He gasped. “That’s amazing! This has got to be the biggest, coolest aquarium I’ve ever seen.”

He glanced around once more, seemingly looking for something.

“But how does it connect? I mean, your monitor floor just kinda drops off.”

“The conference room is…sorta of in the middle of the tank, towards the bottom. You see how far down it drops? If you go down far enough, you’ll see the room. To them, I imagine it looks like a big square bubble.” He explained. Installing it had been a pain, but he thinks it was worth it in the end.

“For a guy with a lot of electronics, you sure do like getting close to water.” He joked.

“I’m a CEO. Sharks are my spirit animals.” He teased back. Wait, stop. Serious mode, remember? The kid grabbed his coattails again as the lift dragged them down.

The main conference room was at the end of a hallway. There were other doors there, for other meeting rooms and certain desk workers, but nothing like the main room. Vox made sure that room had prestige to it the others did not. If someone was invited there, it was always important. More often than not, the Vees would make use of the place as their personal scheme room. Val has tried talking him into finding other uses for the space, even just quickly, but Vox has tried to keep it as professional of a place as possible. Even if he had to pull teeth to do it.

The plan, originally, was to put him in there. But, as they kept walking, he thought about how he’d constantly think of the kid running and cowering in that room while he was sitting and supposed to be paying attention. He’s not sure he’d be able to see the space without considering it and…well, it wasn’t productive to be distracted like that.

He pulled open a different door, one of the other conference rooms he usually reserves for employees going through earnings and whatnot. This place was much more familiar with the concept of people’s suffering, especially by Vox’s displeased hand. Outside, the conference room attendant seemed confused. The rooms were all maintained down to the minute, each project given its own timeframe. Most likely, there would be a meeting in there shortly. He gave her the universal sign for ‘fix that because I’m taking this over’, which amounted to a slight scowl and a dismissive wave.

The kid ran over to the aquarium windows. While not as grand as the view from the main conference room, you could still into the space. Anchor and Barge have apparently chosen not to swim down. He can’t say he blames them, even if a small part of him wished they would show. What’s the matter boys? You can’t tell me that now you suddenly don’t want to see a little blood.

Lacking the bigger fish, the baitfish came out from hiding. Little glowing techno eyes were infatuated with the kid’s twirling fingers.

“Do they have names?”

“I don’t give names to feeder fish.” If you name it, you might mistakenly get attached to it, a problem Vox was getting too familiar with.

“I dub thee, Nemo.” He said, mimicking a sword with his pointer finger and tapping where their shoulders might have been.

“Really? ‘Nemo’? It’s not even a clownfish.”

The kid looked at him, very confused.

“…why would it have to be a clownfish?”

“Because Nemo is a clownfish.”

“What are you talking about?” Why was he looking at him like he was crazy?

“The fucking fish from that animated flick, Nemo!”

“…um, Nemo is the captain of the Nautilus. I’ve never heard of clownfish named Nemo.”

A quick search jumped across his head. Oh. That movie didn’t come out until after the kid was dead and buried. And Hell wasn’t exactly known for playing kid flicks. To be honest, the only reason he watched it was because Velvette said he would like it.

It was perhaps the one time she recommended a good movie. It just also happened to be a kid’s movie. So Vox could never watch it again. Unless he had an excuse. Which he now had.

“Note that under things you need to watch later.” He logged to himself.

“You…want me to watch a clownfish? A clownfish named Nemo?”

“Trust me, you’ll understand later.” Assuming the kid ever spoke to him again.

Which he would. He was stupidly trusting and forgiving. Sure, this was personal and, well, he’d be lying if he’d said he wasn’t completely taking advantage of that trust. It’d be a lie to say he wasn’t deceiving the kid. That…that what he planned to do to him wasn’t going to make Vox feel like he got stabbed in whatever was left of his black heart.

He just kept smiling. Naivety has never looked so cursed. At least suspect something, anything!

“Okay, I trust you. If you say it’s worth it, I’d think you’d know better than me.”

That was the end of his rope. He couldn’t be here right now.

Faster than he meant to, too quick to look normal, he turned to walk out.

“I’ll…I’ll be back in a minute. Something just came up. And…and then we got to talk about something else.”

“Anything I can help with?” Concern crept into his voice, and he moved just slightly closer. You might as well have poked him with a hot fire pick, because he overreacted. His whole body flinched. The kid recoiled like it was his fault, and he pulled his hands up to his chest. He kept them so close, you’d think he was trying to protect his heart.

He didn’t know the feeling. Something worse than feeling empty inside started festering behind his ribcage. It was messing with his breathing, like it infected his lungs. He almost wished he could cut himself open and pull it out with his bare hands.

“No just…just stay here. I’ll be back.”

Obedient, stupid kid watched him the whole time, standing there in the middle of the room like he wanted to reach out towards him. The door shut, and the kid was gone from direct view, but there were eyes everywhere. He could see him fidget, make like he was going to go after him, then freeze. He knew something was wrong. He knew it.

“Mr. Vox, sir? Any specific instructions for your men?” His assistant asked. How could she act so calm? Did she not see the kid? Did she not care?

For once, she was dressed appropriately, or what amounted to appropriate. Sure, her heels were a little high, and her eyes batted a little too invitingly, but it all seemed to be covered in haze. Like there was privacy glass drawn across his eyes. It was all too fuzzy, even for him to be annoyed.

“They stop the second he says he’ll sign.” He said, not trusting himself to say too much. “If they lay a finger on him after he says it, they will wish they were dead. Am I clear?”

“Crystal.” She said with a nod. She talked into her headset, instructing a unit to get ready. Inside, the kid’s patience wore out. His worry made him grab for the door, only to realize it was locked. He started tugging, fighting with the lock. It didn’t budge.

He couldn’t be here. He couldn’t stand here. He’s not sure he’d physically be able to stand aside if he was here.

“Sir?”

“Keep me posted.” With that, he floored it back to his monitors, back to his distractions. Except, when he got there, he was reminded that he was never truly turned off from the rest of it. It didn’t have to be on screen. He could see the kid freaking out on camera, banging on the door. He even called his name. No response, obviously.

Outside, his grunts gathered. He’d not really been too keen on picking anyone out specifically. He’d just told his attendant to put together a scary group of thugs, dogs that looked mean enough for whatever needed to be done. He’d called it throwing him to the wolves. It felt so literal now. The smallest mutt there could fit the kid’s head in his jaws. Their teeth were bigger than his fingers and sharp. Canine teeth were meant to grasp, shred, and tear the flesh. The kid had them too, but his were so small. He’s not sure he’d break skin if he tried.

The kid abandoned the door for the camera. He shoved over a chair and climbed up to it. Voice panicked, he still kept asking for him. He’s never had such a close-up view of his eyes before, splintered green irises surrounding those oversized pupils. Green was a rarer color down here, because green was the color of the world above. Unless it was money green or emerald green, it didn’t belong down here. Unless there was some monetary tie to it, it shouldn’t be green.

There was an iridescence to his eyes that you didn’t see unless you were this close. It was delicate, the only things his database could compare it to were hummingbird feathers or a butterflying’s wing. They were small and frail things, things that were easy to break.

“Can you hear me? The door is locked.” He said.

Vox didn’t answer. How could he?

Oh, Vox. What did you do?

You did what you had to do.

Really? You had to do this?

The wolves hyped themselves up. They caught the scent of fox, apparently. Some of them started to drool. The kid cupped the camera still trying for a response. He was wasting his time.

He didn’t want to watch this.

You did this. You better watch it. Suck it up.

“Shut up.” He hissed.

Why? Too afraid to look in the mirror?

Red eyes blared back at him, teasing him. He wanted to strangle the life out of them. His hands tremored, fighting against his instinct to do just that.

The world is a stage, Vox.

They laughed like hyenas right before the lunge. The kid abandoned the camera for the table. A knock on the wood was loud, vibrating plenty to hear. Then, a series of taps: Loxley to Bogie. Come in, Bogie! Signs are reading Red! Emergency, respond!

He didn’t answer.

And the stage is a world of entertainment.

His assistant pulled out her cardkey, and an electronic beep opened the lock. The kid was already in the corner of the room. He was still tapping, though on the walls. His back was to the tank glass, projecting a shadow over his face. Over and over, it was more of the same: Come in, Bogie! Respond! Bogie!

Then, after a moment, it got more desperate. The taps were faster, its message simple and shaking him to his core: Vox, where are you?

Isn’t this so much fun?

“Shut up!” He screamed.

He dragged his hand back and punched a hole through his main monitor. Pieces of it got stuck in his hands, turning them red. His claws dug and ripped the cables from the back of his head. Live wires sparked in protest and his system’s redundancies kicked in. In his head, he couldn’t stop seeing it. The feed wouldn’t stop, and he couldn’t escape it. It danced even behind his closed eyes: teeth bared and the doors swinging open.

Make it stop! It had to stop! He didn’t want to watch this!

He screamed again, though it sounded more like it came from everywhere but his own throat. Lightning sprang up in bolts and flooded the room. Safety measures failed. The insulators were exhausted. The system overloaded. Too much went into it, and it couldn’t take it anymore. Everything around him sizzled and shuddered out. The lights shattered, glass falling down from above. The screens around him dropped like dominoes, each successive one glitching out and going dark. The cameras hung down, as if tired from holding their heads up, the little red lights of recording fading. Without Voxtek maintaining it, the internet shut down. Hell, the city could’ve gone dark for all he knew. Vee tower itself blacked out.

And it was finally quiet.

He leaned back in his chair, catching his breath.

Coward.

It was gone now. He couldn’t see the footage. So why was it still playing in his head? Things that he never saw happen plagued him still. His own mind was fighting now, replaying events from a nightmare. It had to be a nightmare, right? He never saw it happen.

That didn’t make it any less real. Right now, the kid was screaming, flailing, kicking, and, worst of all, probably still under some misguided idea that he was going to show up and put a stop to it.

Maybe…maybe he could do a hard reboot. Just turn his fucking brain off for a couple of hours.

Emergency power restarted the system. It was an added thing, a necessary extra, once Vox realized that an over surge could take out the city’s system. Whether because he just lost it, or because Alastor messed with it, Vox had been unwilling to take the chance of everything being down for too long. Especially because Alastor was back.

The Wi-Fi sprung back first. Velvette had insisted on that being among the first things. Yeah, it might seem dumb for that to be among them. Why not the security? Honestly, she made a good case for it at the time. No one could beat them while they were together. They were the Vees. When they worked as a unit, no overlord in hell stood even a sliver of a chance in that fight. If the tower went down, then something was wrong with Vox, obviously. Therefore, it was in the best interest of the other two to know where he was and possibly get in contact with each other. In the worst case, they could track each other down to the exact location. Yeah, of course he had tracers on them all. And yes, it came quite in handy when Val got drunk and lost.

Either way, the idea was if the Wi-Fi was back on, then they would know where the others were, if they were okay…and, though never explicitly said, if Vox was dead. His signal wasn’t programed into a phone. His was in his head. If he wasn’t transmitting after a surge…he was dead. Simple as that.

He was tempted to turn his locator off though, just this once. He just…couldn’t handle reining them in right now. He couldn’t juggle Velvette screaming about her blog and how Vox nearly ruined it with an outburst alongside Valentino throwing a hissy fit because the lights turned off and he couldn’t see a damn thing.

All of that on top of having to negotiate terms with the kid, between tears, a torn up face, and god knows what else.

He put his head in his hands and leaned forward. God, he didn’t want to handle this.

The security measures jumped on afterwards, emergency lighting and all that. The automated doors clicked ready for use. The safety shutdown system stood at attention. That one was used more for angel attacks than anything else. Obviously, they had little use for it recently.

A ring sounded. His assistant was calling. The cameras weren’t up yet, but it didn’t take a genius to figure out why she was calling. Come on, Vox. You’re on air. The audience is waiting.

He answered.

“Yes?”

“S-sir! I-I-I am so s-sorry!” She was sobbing, flipping out. Half of what she said wasn’t understandable. The other half was making Vox sit straight up.

“What happened?”

“I-I-I was d-doing a-as you asked and w-when we walked i-into the room…S-sir, y-you have to understand, it wasn’t my fault!”

A horrifying dread clawed his throat open.

“The kid. What-?”

She talked over him. Something was very wrong for her to do that.

“B-but then the p-power w-went o-out and I d-didn’t see it and-”

“What happened?” He yelled, feeling like he was burning out his speakers when he said it. They’ve already had a trying day. Hell, his fans were working so hard that he could hardly hear anymore.

“The c-child, h-h-he’s, I-I couldn’t tell with the lights out, s-sir and-”

Dead, his imagination filled it out for him. The kid was dead.

He risked combusting right then and there. His body was ready to tear itself to pieces, to turn into banded bright fury and collapse on those fucking dogs. He’d fire off every receptor of pain. He’d rewire the circuits in their heads, ripping pathways open by searing heat. He’d have them screaming, begging for death, and having them completely unable to move. For the rest of fucking existence, they’d be nothing but screaming inside of their own heads, for murdering that kid.

But…but that wasn’t the truth, was it?

He did that. He let them do that. He told them to.

That stupid, useless kid trusted him. Up until the very end.

And Vox had him killed.

“I-I’m sure h-he hasn’t gotten far, s-sir.” She stammered.

Wait. The cavity that craved its way into his chest suddenly felt a little less empty. Now, fear was crawling inside it.

“…you lost him?”

“Y-yes, s-sir. When the power when out, h-he…what I mean t-to say is, um-”

“There’s nothing in that room.”

“S-sir?”

“That room. There’s nothing in there but a table and some chairs.”

“Y-yes, sir.”

“There’s only one exit. One. Which had you and ten giant fucking dogs in the way.”

“Y-yes, sir.” She confirmed.

“And you mean to tell me that he’s gone?”

Alastor. His shadow could do that, drag someone from the darkness like that. It’s also usually not too far from its owner.

Vox enacted the security shutdown right then. All around, titanium screens closed shut around the windows. The vents were sealed and pressurized, making a whisper of rushing wind around the tower. Interior lighting didn’t quite go back to normal, but the emergency bulbs replaced their broken counterparts. Any and all exposed areas had nets over nets filing in, until filled with a metal cover that would survive a nuke. He’d know. He tested it.

Areas inside the tower started sectioning off themselves. It was another feature, meant to keep everyone who wasn’t a Vee in their rooms. They didn’t need the chaos from a running, panicking crowd. Val’s studio, with mostly editing employees there today since Val was still in his room, closed up. The windows barricaded themselves. Fibers of angelic steel morphed into the framework, giving the shutters a glistening look. Similarly, Vel’s pad locked tight. Since hers was more interior to the tower, the elevators plunging down into default mode in the basement was much more noticeable. It probably looked and felt like a deranged carnival ride, not that Vox has given it a go. The lifts themselves had specialized locks on both the interior and exterior entrance doors to the different floors. You’d have better luck trying to break into a military hanger than crawling up the levels of Vee tower.

Nothing short of Lucifer himself was going to get through all of that.

Slowly, the cameras started blinking back on. Val was pacing the room, a strong drink in his hand. His bot was there too, carrying around a tray for him to put it down on. He didn’t. In fact, it looked like he couldn’t decide if he was going to drown or smoking himself to death first, given that Vox has only just gotten access to the room and he’s seen Val puff through two cigarettes already.

No sign of the kid.

Val noticed the camera on. Nerves were replaced by ire in an instant.

“Vox, what the fuck?”

Vel’s pad came on next. Her designers had taken cover. It looked like her lighting suffered worse than Val’s. The overheads that were still in one piece flicked menacingly. Vel herself was yelling orders, keeping her employees’ attention on anything else but what was going on.

“Elisa, stop being a bitch and get those fabrics away from there! Do you know how much they’d cost to replace? And Beatrice, who the fuck told you to hide under the table? You think a fucking table is going to keep you safe from me?”

She, like Val, noticed the camera about then. She didn’t yell, but she did start texting him a stream of insults, arguments, and, once, asking if he was okay.

The kid wasn’t here either.

The anxiety kept rising in him. The cameras would only turn on so quickly, only after they had time to run diagnostics and reboot. Every time a new view showed up, it felt like a small victory, only to quickly drag him further into alarm. Because every single time, the kid wasn’t there.

Alastor grabbed him. It was the only thing that made sense. Alastor was hiding somewhere in the building and he grabbed the kid. Imaginary red eyes started teasing him in the peripheral of his vision, just where monsters liked to hide. It was right where a glance would make them disappear, and to take your eyes completely away was akin to giving up the ghost.

His assistant was taking those dogs around now, trying to sniff out the scent. Unfortunately, they seemed to hit a roadblock. According to all the yelling, the scent was coming from everywhere. Which is impossible. Unless a shadow demon grabbed you and raced across the wall, he imagines. That would do it.

His phone was blowing up. Val and Vel were losing it in the group chat. Mostly yelling. But his nerves were so frayed they were sparking at the ends. He did text back though.

Alastor grabbed the kid.

Silence.

He’s in the building and he grabbed the kid, he clarified.

You saw that? Valentino asked. How the fuck did he get in here?

I don’t know. I didn’t see him. He answered.

Vox, are you sure? Vel added.

He was in the conference room, Vel. Now he’s gone. There’s no other way he could’ve gotten out.

Just then, the nightmare crawled out from where it was hiding. Around his room, he could hear metal grating, something knocking about in the walls. It sounded like something with claws was reaching out toward him, an echo vibrating through the whole room. His sharks could feel the vibration, and they scattered at the noise.

He’s here.

Vee, what are you talking about?

He’s in here with me.

Vox! Open the fucking doors! He could see Val chewing his tobacco stick right through. His wings puffed out as he tried to break down the lift doors.

Vee, I’m right downstairs! But I can’t get out unless you unlock the pad doors! Velvette pulled off her heels and smashed the hinges right off the first set of doors with the spike.

The clawing sound got closer and closer. He still couldn’t tell where it was coming from. Here, in his own throne room, where the seat of his media empire sat, he was blind. And alone.

But he was not going down without a fight.

A vent cover popped off, right there, next to the door. It was an exhaust vent, one of the ones he uses to make sure this room stays cool. The opening was small, hardly enough for a rat to crawl through. Or so he’d thought. No sooner had it flung off than two stupidly large ears popped out from the opening. In the dark, his eyes seemed to glow, like all nocturnal animals did. He was covered in dust, some cobwebs, and his hair was frayed like he got into a fight with a hairdryer.

Abject panic was strewn across his face, and the second he made eye contact with Vox, he burst into tears.

“You’re alive!” He screamed, squirming the rest of himself out from there and booking it towards him. Vox hadn’t had time for anything to start making sense, and the kid had already grabbed him in a tight hug. “Don’t scare me like that!”

How? Just…just how?

“You…you thought something happened to me?” His mouth ran ahead of his brain.

“Of course I did! You nearly gave me a heart attack!” The kid protested. “You were all sorts of upset when you left! Then the door locked. Then, you didn’t answer when I called you! And then the tower blacked out! And then the whole place locked down like it was Alcatraz or something!”

The kid’s voice curled off, broken and weeping.

“I thought…I thought…” He couldn’t even finish what he wanted to say, like it was too horrible to put into words.

Stop it. This needed to stop, right now.

“No one can kill me!” He snapped. He grabbed the kid by the lapels. “You understand me? I will never be in trouble because there’s not a goddamn person down here that’s stupid enough to try it. I would crush them all, understand?”

The kid didn’t even care that Vox’s nails had ripped through the collar of his shirt. His face immediately went to the destruction around that Vox himself caused.

“Then, why-?”

“I locked you in the room!” The truth came pouring out. Like the dam was too full and just flooded. “I sent my men down there to make you sign the damn contract!”

He held the kid off the ground with one hand, his other grasped the air. A written form appeared from thin air, a paper with long words and airtight language, not unlike the contracts he had with his other employees. At the bottom, there were two signatures required on dotted lines. His own was already filled out. The other was just waiting.

He sat the kid down in his chair, slamming the contract in front of him. A pen materialized from nowhere, its ink strangely filling the room with a coppery smell.

“Sign. It.” He was livid. He never knew he could get this mad.

And the kid still had audacity to have water streaking down his face from before. He looked down at it though, apparently reading it. As if he could understand that. Even his lawyers hardly understood-

“I can’t sign it.”

“You’re going to sign it, or I swear to god-”

“Vox, even if I wanted to, I can’t.” He pointed to a paragraph, a stupid couple of lines detailing how Vox had the right to every and all communications among other things. It was basically just them waiving their rights to privacy, which, well, wasn’t too different from what Vox usually did anyways. None of them even looked twice at it.

“What? Something you don’t want me to see? You know I see everything, right?”

“Well, yeah, but it violates my NDA, so I can’t.”

The whiplash was jarring. It hurt his head to try to wrap his mind around that little tidbit. How does a kid even know what an NDA is? Much less, how does a kid sign an NDA? Who makes a kid sign an NDA?

“NDA? You have an NDA? I thought you said you still owned your soul?”

“I do. I still work.” He said, like it was obvious. “My boss is very particular about his privacy.”

He knew the kid drove a car, a fancy car. He assumed he worked as part of a service, just one cog in the machine. He was just starting to realize that the ‘boss’ wasn’t the guy in charge of a limo service.

“Who’s your boss?”

“Um. I did just say I have an NDA. I can’t tell you who my boss is. Look, I’ll prove it. My boss’s name is-” His mouth moved but no sound came out. He just gave Vox a shrug. “See? Can’t say it.”

“But you still own your soul?”

“’Course. It’s a standard employee contract. I get paid every week for, ‘services rendered’. It’s basically just a fancy way of saying I drive my boss around in the car. There are the little additives he put on it, just to make sure stuff doesn’t go wrong. Like the ‘no saying the name’ thing. And the ‘mind control’ thing, that too.”

“…what ‘mind control’ thing?”

“I dunno. Some kind of spell. Makes it so I can’t get mind controlled, I guess, so he can protect his secrets. Your hypno eye still gives me a headache though.”

Was he serious? He can’t be serious. This whole time, Vox’s suggestions haven’t and didn’t work? The most he accomplished was making him want an Advil?

“That’s…that’s some NDA.” Who was strong enough to even do that? Vox didn’t even know you could do that. Oh, this was a grapevine he was going have to follow to its source. This could seriously mess his plans up later. “And your boss he…he really doesn’t want people to know where he goes and who he talks to?”

That’s something either the paranoid or the scheming get up to down here. Either one with that much power was a concern, to say the least. An overlord, perhaps? Off the tip of his tongue, he couldn’t think of any that was in close connection to the kid. Then again, now that he’s relooking the footage, he…can’t see anyone in the car. He doesn’t see anyone get out of the car either. All he sees is the kid driving around and, occasionally, opening and closing the door like he was escorting ghosts. This wasn’t like Alastor’s distortion, where he knew he was there, he just couldn’t see the whole picture. This was something else entirely.

“Like I said, he likes his privacy. Can you let go now?” He asked, nonchalant.

Vox had the contract disappear, but questions still lingered. He still caged him in the chair.

“Why aren’t you mad at me? I was going to feed you to my dogs. How the hell did you even get out of there?”

“Um, first, who says I’m not mad? Don’t feed your friends to dogs. Second, I climbed up the vent. I thought that was obvious.”

There was a vent in there, as he said, to keep the computers running well. That would also explain why the dogs couldn’t track him down. If he was in the vent when the shutdown happened, an air current would’ve pushed the scent across every room interconnected with the one he was in. While he’s a little surprised the kid himself wasn’t pushed out, he can’t say the system was ever meant to force something as big as a child with the power of air alone.

“You don’t sound mad.” He commented.

“To be honest, I’m just glad you’re alive. You really scared me.”

With that, Vox had enough data. Calculations spat out conclusions slowly. His supercomputer brain was just a fumbled mess right now from the emotional rollercoaster. But, it came up with a few things. One, he was never going to get the kid under contract. Two, there was very little he could do to make the kid hate him now. Three, he’s too attached to the fuzzball to want to make him hate him.

“You’re an idiot, you know that?” Odds are, he was talking to himself as much as the kid.

“You’ve told me.” He nodded.

The room tremored like a hellquake was happening. The doors to his room were pried apart by giant nails. The four bedazzled guns of Valentino bounced the light from the screens around, making the place shine like a disco. The moth himself spewed smoke in like a factory, poison dripping from elongated fangs. His wings were spread out, an almost eye like pattern piercing out from the scaling. He only got scarier as his true demon form started ripping out from his body. It was a demented, twisted version of an emerging from a cocoon, as if Val’s body was just barely holding back an even more terrifying beast underneath. He’s seen Val molt before. Had he not seen that, he might’ve assumed that Val was secretly a fucking alien emerging like that.

He pointed the guns about, at every shadow hiding around the room.

“Hands off my fucking man, you son of a bitch!”

“Val-”

The sound of porcelain grating against itself put him to pause. From the plummeting depths of the room, Vel crawled her way up the monitor’s island. Her face looked like cracks against a glass plate. Inky blackness trailed those lines and dripped from her eyes and mouth. He was reminded of the story of Bloody Mary, a spooky tale for children, where the ghost emerged if you said her name too much while looking at a mirror. This too he’s seen before, but to date he can name the number of times on one hand. Still surprised him, every time.

“I’ll tear you apart! You hear that fossil? Don’t you fucking dare touch my boys!”

The kid and him shared a look as his fellow Vees came charging in, guns literally blazing, ready for a fight.

A grin spread across the kid’s muzzle.

“‘I don’t have friends’, he says.” His voice made a sound like an imitation of Vox’s voice, if Vox had swallowed a squeaker. He kept teasing. “‘It’s different with Val and Vel’, he says.”

“Kid-”

“Let me guess. Shut up?”

“Exactly.”

Part 1/ Part 2/ Part 3/ Part 4/ Part 5/ Part 6/ Part 7/ Part 8/ Part 9/ Part 10

[tanema123]

Can I share a few possible names for Overlord territories in the Cat AU?

The Crypt: Zestials domain, the large and various underground tunnels of the city. Cats that follow Zestial usually stay in the Crypt and often have dark fur colors with their eyes constantly glowing in the dark.

The Steel Towers: Carmilla's territory, a long abandoned factory;so long that no one knows what it used to make; one of the more cluttered domains that provides hiding spots for cats and kittens. Cats that usually stay here have almost metallic fur coats, like silvers grays etc. Often has large amounts of families and their kittens.

The Curtain: Rosie's and Formerly Susan's territory, an old theater house that Susan claimed when she first stumbled into. The cats that stay here like Susan and Rosie are furless, often raiding the old costume closet to rip them into covering for them. Often during the night one can hear the various cats Caterwauling

The Vee Cafe: One of the newest territories in the area, took over by the Vees it used to be a Cat Cafe until the city forced it to close down. Vox and Valentino were the ones to take it but it's actually Velvette that fully manages it(Velvette the young boss while Vox and Valentino are the muscle). The cats that stay at the Cafe usually have strange and colorful gur patterns much like the Vees.

(That's all I got for now, sorry if I skipped over a few overlords)

....I know who to ask for suggestions on a cat au, lol.

They all sound amazing. I will make a map soon... I just have a few things lined up first.

Like... 3 drawings. Httyd au, cat au, zestmilla koala carrying....

I might need a new comic chapter as well...

Give me a day or two. 😅

[captainmera]

Woe, 💕 be upon ye

I’ve been following ur Golden Brother fic for about… half the time it’s been up? I was already baffled by how u posted such long chapters of such GOOD SHIT, but recently I was like “oh yeah better check out their Tumblr!!” and… Who did you sell your soul to write that much, often post multiple drawings a day, AND have a webcomic (I still need to read it tbh) going??? LMAO

Whenever I open a new chapter and remember how long they tend to be, I go insane (affectionate, in awe, thankful).

That being said, if you overwork yourself with fanfic, fanart, or asks I will smack you with a large tree branch. So don’t u dare feel obligated to make a reply for this HHFJSBSNS

About the fic tho,,, your writing is so good. I came for the arc between Hunter and Vee (which I ADORE btw), but everyone’s characterization is just top tier imo. You even think through canonical strengths so well that you find new ways to turn them into FLAWS and I like it a very not normal amount.

Like… Luz genuinely fucking up a bit? Without being tricked like she was with Philip? You created such neat depth around her coping mechanism of distracting herself by helping others heheheee!!

Willow and how she got so set on being “the reliable one” that others find it hard to open up to her since the vulnerability feels one-sided is really interesting cuz it makes sense! It’s counterproductive, but I can see why she does it.

“The true mom-friend was Gus” is BASED, I’m absolutely here for it!!! He’s one of my favs, so I sometimes think he’s overlooked as far as character depth, but I love how you write himmm!!

Amity having to re-recognize that her and Hunter do indeed have a lot in common, but becoming very relaxed and understanding towards him once she does? Yissss always appreciate the (platonic) rosegold hostility->solidarity pipeline!

Hunter’s lingering child soldier mentality stuff is mmmmmmmmm!! And seeing him start to overcome it as he trusts others more IS SO!!!! AAAA!!!!! Plus his skill in understanding others and being a mediator from having a leadership role in the coven is super cool and fitting!! Also the grimwalker shenanigans are a blast ofc. Hhhnnggggg you’re really fueling my brainrot here >:[ /POS

Salty Vee fuels me. After being so mistreated for most of her life, she deserves to be a lil angry. As a treat. Directing it at Hunter may have been misplaced, but it’s understandable enough that Hunter himself recognized what she needed and encouraged her do her thing (when he does it out of guilt, I wanna hit him upside the head with therapy, but it’s still nice of him). And then her sudden, genuine “I forgive you” makes me wanna SOB, it’s so gooodddd!!

Even Jacob is super neat???? I never thought of Masha being like family sorta with him (and ngl I was actually :/ about the idea for a hot sec) but you worked it SO WELL!! I’m interested in his arc now lmaoooo

I can probably go on, but EEEE can’t wait to see more!!!!!

Anyways, THANK YOU FOR CONTENT!!!!! I wish you motivation, energy, health, happiness, and breaks if u need them XD

Thank you so much for this letter, its been so lovely to re-read it and it's been very encouraging. 💝💝💝🙇

Idk where to start. Just thank you very much for saying all that. 😭🙇💙💙💙

[vee-goggles]

Blog intro if interest

Call me Vee or Goggles.

This is a SFW art blog.

Non-native English speaker.

TF2//FF2//L4D2//DBD//slashers//portal//touhou//OW//TMNT//APEX//MuseDash//etc.

I may post fanart about all these↑ and more

But focusing on tf2 rn

Art tag

TF2:#tf2

FF2:#tf2 freaks

DBD:#dbd

Requests（closed sorry )

(Not closed but you have to wait a very long time so..)

send me ask for requests. (anon is on)

I need a clear description because my English is not good.

If you sent me only a name of characters or ships. There is no guarantee that I will draw them, because other artists have drawn many. Add some details if you can.

will NOT draw: NSFW/ The same request that been asked to many artists/Medic(maybe)

Extra

I edit my previous posts and this pinned intro post very often.

Don't use or repost my art without let me know. (fanart for profile photo, wallpaper is fine)

Feel free to block me if you feel uncomfortable with my blog.

Reblog account: @yer-doin-good-lad

[palpipeen]

"You were supposed to be there" + "Please tell me what I can do. There has to be something I can do" with Fox? (Maybe he was supposed to stop some crime and didn't get there in time to save Reader from getting hurt?)

Showing Up

A date with Fox at the cafe. What could possibly go wrong? Rating: R for heavy language and some pretty dark themes Warnings: Domestic terrorism, anti-clone rhetoric, physical violence, Hurt with not a lot of Comfort, kidnapping Reader is AFAB/Barista!Reader Wordcount: 3115 AN:  Me after writing that last prompt fill: Wowee that one sure showed my propensity to make things angstier than they need to be, I wonder if I’ll ever get an opportunity to do that again?  This anon: Oh bet? :)  GHSLDKGJHKJGH. I can already tell this one is going to hurt me to write. This one is also going to be Barista!Reader and is going to feature Syd and a new OC. Fuckin missed the creechur. And this one is….tentatively canon to Caf Delivery Service. This one is more canon to the AU, “And Nothing Bad Ever Happened Ever” where the war ends early and O66 never happened. There will be hints of that here but hopefully I won’t give too much away. 83c

SERIOUSLY Triggering content under the cut. Reader discretion is strongly advised. Minors DNI.

You couldn’t remember the cafe being this busy in a long time. The building was practically bursting at the seams - groups of troopers from at least four different battalions occupying almost every available table, mingling with civilians and the odd senator alike. You weren’t big on crowds, and even if the sound was a bit much, you felt like this was the right decision. It wasn’t often you went to The Coaster for anything other than work. But you were feeling a bit…nostalgic.

A year into your sort-of relationship with Fox was a good excuse, you reasoned.

“Well, lookie who it is.” The familiar sing-song voice of your favorite shift manager draws your attention. Syd gives you that wide, eye-squinty grin that always seemed infected just about everyone around them, one you return. Lucky for you, his voice carries easily over the din after they finish helping the customer in front of them. “Aren’t you off?”

“I’m meeting - someone.” You stumble over the last word, catching yourself a split second before ‘Fox’ slipped out. You glance away from their knowing eyes, shrugging, “Figured I’d go ahead and order.”

“Mhmm,” he hums, shimmying his shoulders playfully. Rolling your eyes at them, the two of you wait until you’re the next person in front of their register. Eyes narrowed in an entirely-too-satisfied smirk, Syd props their forearms on the top of the holoscreen, “Someone, eh?” When you pointedly ignore his salacious tone, Syd leans forward until his chin is resting on one wrist. “Does he happen to wear armor? Red armor, maybe? Does he also not know how to actually get a decent night’s sleep?”

“He’s doing better about that actually.”

“Yeah,” Syd chuckles, low and dirty in the back of their throat. “Yeah I’ll bet he is. I bet you know all sorts of ways to get him to sleep like a baby, don’t’cha?”

“C’mon, Syd, leave her alone.” One of your seasonal coworkers, a Twi’lek everyone called Vee, winks at you over Syd’s head when they straighten back up. “She’s got a hot date to think about without you grilling her.”

“Alriiight, two of my usual, please,” you say, a bit louder than is probably necessary and pointedly ignoring the way your voice cracks. Syd chuckles again.

“The triple large?”

“Have you met me Syd?” Or Fox. 

You decide not to say that last bit out loud.

After giving Syd the appropriate amount of credits (which they then halve and you two bicker briefly about using your discount before you drop it in the donation box), you go in search of any available table. Exchanging quick greetings with some of the regulars as you do. You eventually settle on a table where you can see the entrance. Not for your own benefit.

While you wait for your drinks, you update Fox on the off-chance he’s caught up in work. Punctuality wasn’t something that really existed for Fox, not with the chaotic schedule he had to maintain.

<Message to Unknown Comm Frequency || 01:03:47> I’m at the cafe! No rush of course - looking forward to seeing you though!

After you fetch your drinks, you settle back at your table.

And you wait.

* * *

<Message to Unknown Comm Frequency || 02:45:14> Hey

<Message to Unknown Comm Frequency || 02:45:15> I know you’ve got a schedule to keep up with

<Message to Unknown Comm Frequency || 02:45:17> Just let me know later if you’ll be able to drop by the apartment, okay?

<Message to Unknown Comm Frequency || 02:49:02> Sorry, don’t mean to come off as needy or anything, just missing you

<Message to Unknown Comm Frequency || 03:00:13> I love you

You’re not sure what’s worse. The fact that you can’t really be mad at Fox for standing you up, or the understanding on your coworker’s faces when they see you toss your finished drink. Guilt tears at your stomach, which is also tying itself in knots. You can’t ignore where that guilt is coming from, either.

Face facts: you’re pissed.

Despite knowing that this isn’t his fault, that the whims and needs of senators and other government officials and the general public come first, it’s difficult not to be a little bit frustrated. In the past when Fox hasn’t been able to show up, his reasons were legitimate. You know it isn’t his fault. The frustration still lingers, but without the senators’ names or faces to envision, Fox’s is the only one that surfaces when you’re feeling like this. It’s selfish and you feel stupid and childish for it, and you worry constantly that he might just decide you aren’t worth the effort.

But he always shows up. Fox tries at any rate. Or at least, he makes it up to you when he can’t.

He tries and that’s more than you can say about most people. There will be other days and, little gods willing, other anniversaries.

You squash that thought the second it flits through your head. This line of thinking doesn’t suit your situation, you know. As though they can sense it, Syd catches your eye on your way to the doors, and you can see the pain he shares with you.

“Everything okay?” Their voice is quiet, and when all you can do is shrug, Syd lets out a quiet sound of understanding. “M’sorry, hon.”

“Eh,” you say, shrugging again and forcing a thin smile. “It happens. Kinda used to it.”

“I get it,” they say with a long, slow exhale. Syd glances at the line, which has shortened considerably by now. “Listen, if you wanna hang out and have a few drinks, I get off at --”

The shattering of transparisteel cuts Syd off. In unison the whole cafe turns towards the source of the sound as shards explode inward from one of the windows at the storefront. Shouts of alarm ring out when a metallic sphere arcs through the shattered window, a tail of thick, acrid smoke following it. The moment it touches the floor you see individuals from the GAR moving, feel them brushing past you, and then -

Everything goes white.

Well, that’s not quite right. You aren’t sure how long it takes you to come to, but the white is now replaced with pitch black, interspersed with flashes of white and color. Somehow you’re on the floor, flat on your back, with your head twisted awkwardly to one side.

What’s happening? You think you say that outloud - you feel the friction of something in your throat. But then you realize it’s from the smoke, smoke that fills the entire cafe, almost entirely blinding you. It stings at your eyes, making it nearly impossible to breathe when you try to push yourself upright.

Hands are on you - you flinch until you feel a lekku fall across your shoulder. Vee half drags, half leads you behind the counter, the two of you coughing and hacking the entire way. Syd ushers the two of you into the walk-in fridge, holding one arm across the lower half of his face.

“Syd?!”

“Stay here,” they croak out, and then the door shuts. The sound of the emergency lock activating nearly makes your heart stop.

“What the fuck are they thinking?!” One of your coworkers is on the door the instant the room goes silent. “He can’t be out --”

“Shh.” Vee hisses, grabbing your coworker and hauling him away from the door. All of you, cafe workers and customers alike, turn to her. Her eyes seem fit to burn holes through the door, and you stumble away from it.

Time passes strangely. You’re aware that it’s adrenaline that’s making it like this, but it’s still jarring. What feels like a lifetime creeps by, all while racing too quickly for you to keep up with your brain trying to figure out what’s happened. It works in leaps and bounds, jerky and uneven. Maybe seconds, maybe minutes pass, but you’re convinced hours have crept past by the time you piece together what’s happened.

Your manager had given you a cryptic warning during your interview. People don’t like what we do here. They think giving these soldiers common decency and affordable caf is wrong, somehow. You’d argued that they weren’t paying the rent, or fees to keep the licenses and equipment running. He’d smiled, rueful and exhausted at you. Doesn’t matter. They still hate it. They hate you. They’re going to get in your face, some might follow you around outside of this - but they’re all talk.

It’s the ones who try to keep things quiet you need to worry about.

You can hear it faintly - voices. They aren’t ones you’re familiar with. And they sound so angry. The words are difficult to make out, but you think you can make out a few words.

Mostly because they’re ones you’ve heard about a hundred times before.

Always going to be a threat, the voices say.

Ticking time bombs.

Meat droids.

Dangerous. Murderers.

And then you hear words you’ve never heard before, and you feel a ripple of panic course through everyone around you.

Burn this place to the ground for welcoming them.

Syd’s voice is raised, angry, furious. You feel echoes of it in your chest, a building pressure in your skull. But those are wisps now. Tendrils of barely there smoke.

Because what burns you now is fear. It’s suffocating, all encompassing, it’s --

“Fuck.” 

Vee pulls you further back when you see it. Smoke slowly creeps through the cracks under the sealed door. Terror grips you, and you wrench away from her. The look of hurt barely registers when you turn, looking frantically around the walk-in fridge for something. Anything. That same frantic search takes everyone else, and for a few terrifying seconds, the air in the room seems to get thinner.

Then the door flies open, and at some point you moved back to the door.

And you’re staring down the barrel of a blaster. It drops a half-second afterward, and you see the familiar sight of a t-shaped visor.

“C’mon, move it!” 

You can’t help it: you flinch when hands grab you again, hauling you out. The familiar helmet - Thorn, you recognize belatedly - tilts slightly to one side, minute movements. And then you’re being dragged out with everyone else, ushered with urgency and efficiency that is terrifying in its own right. 

The urgency is understandable - you barely recognize the cafe through the smoke that hasn’t been sucked out of the filtration systems. The back of house is trashed, all of the product on all shelves thrown to the ground. One shelving unit has been ripped out of the bolts in the walls and blocks the way back to the lobby. Scorched pockmarks and streaks of blackened paint marr the walls, and you’re glad for the fact that the light system being off.

Because when you recognize the marks of blasterfire, you don’t want to be able to tell if the liquid splattered on the wall or pooling on the floor in places is blood.

This used to be your safe haven. You met most of your friends here. The ones that stuck around, at least. And now it looks…you’re not sure how it looks. It’s not like anything you’ve ever seen. The sight of it is so jarring, you barely notice the smoke in your lungs until your coughing makes you stumble. Someone has to help you the last few steps out. You’re on the doorstep out the back when you’re pulled in again, hard plastoid digging at your back at awkward angles.

Later, you know it was just instinct. That doesn’t make the guilt, the frustration or panic abate any after the fact. At the moment the latter are at their peak, so the way you thrash in the hold of strong arms is wild and animalistic. Your elbow connects with a gap in pieces of armor, and you feel the grip on your waist release instantly, giving you the opportunity to twist and shove before you spin around and --

“Fox?!”

“Hey, mesh’la,” he grumbles, shaking out his hand and flexing his wrist. The visor tilts in your direction in what you know is an amused look. “Anybody ever tell you that you’ve got a mean elbow? Nearly broke my --”

“Where were you?”

There’s a thick, heavy pause as he draws up to his full height slowly. It’s unbearable, and you’re not sure which is worse. The fact that you could hear the resentment, the anger in your voice, or the fact that you know it is in equal measures justified and misplaced.

You decide quickly that the worst part is he showed up at all.

“Don’t do this, mesh--”

“Don’t you boss me around like I’m one of your fucking men,” you hiss, glaring at his helmet for a few seconds before wheeling around and storming out the cafe.

Everything is a blur. You’re angry, hurt - really hurt, you’ve got a splitting headache that builds and builds and builds the closer you get to your speeder. But most of all, you’re scared, and you can’t wrap your head around any of this. You’re shaking, and you don’t notice that until you try to run your hand over your face. Lights flash and sirens blare and you cut through the crowds that have formed around the cafe, feeling the shocked and curious gazes pinned on you when they see the state of you.

It’s only when you pass in front of one of the windows that you see why. Your outfit is covered in ash, torn in more than one spot along the right side of your body. And you’re crying.

Because of course you’re crying.

It doesn’t even feel fair. This isn’t about you. You know that. This is what those people stand for, what a majority of the fucking Republic stands for. It’s sickening, and it fills you with a new kind of self loathing, but still. You’re crying.

Sobbing, really, when you struggle with your helmet, knees giving out. This time when hands reach out and catch you, you don’t flinch.

You knew he would follow you.

When he fails to bring you back up to your feet, Fox sinks down with you. His gruff voice gets a little wobbly at the end, and that wrings a fresh wave of tears out of you. Speaking low through the vocoder, helmet tilted close enough that you can hear him. But far enough away that anyone watching won’t think anything untoward is happening between you.

“I’m sorry - you have to stay.” When you shake your head, his hands squeeze gently. “Please, listen to me. We need a statement.”

“Of fucking course,” you spit out, trying to shove Fox’s hands away. Your skin crawls under your clothes - his touch has never made you feel like this. But is it really him? Or the minutes spent in that fridge thinking you’d never see him again? Which also makes you feel selfish, because everyone was scared, and everyone could have died and -

“Cyar’ika?” Fox sounds rattled, which isn’t something you’ve ever heard coming from him. His hands fall away after a moment as you feel him desperately trying to search your expression. “What’s wrong?”

“Syd.” Your unfocused vision sharpens when it lands on the entrance, and to your complete horror you see a stretcher being pulled out. And it’s covered. “Syd, is he - where are they?” Fox’s helmet turns away from your sharply after a beat, and now you reach out to him. Fingers scrabbling at his armor as you try to pull yourself closer, but he stands abruptly, leaving you in a heap on the duracrete. “Fox - please. Please, tell me they’re okay.”

“I can’t, mesh’la, I don’t - the regs.”

“Fuck the regs!” The world spins wildly on its axis when you stand up, but you don’t care. Your heart is thundering in your chest, your whole body quaking with something you cannot and dare not name. It’s something like fury, but it’s also terror. But deep down, you know.

You just know.

“Please, just come with me, and we’ll - I’m going to find him, mesh’la.”

“So they’re not dead?” There’s another pause before he turns his helmet away from you, the rest of his body following the movement as he storms back to the ruined shell that was once the cafe. Moments ago you wanted nothing more than to run away from him, and now you find yourself stumbling over your own feet to catch up to him. “Fox, come on, give me something, anything. They’re my best friend, I need - please, I just --”

You don’t get the rest of the words out, your knees buckling again as you fall for the second time that night. But this time, Fox is there to catch you. It’s bittersweet, knowing it’s too late.

“We’re going to find him.” 

Fox’s voice comes from far away - but you can almost feel the sincerity in his words. His hands squeeze at your shoulders before he lifts one, and he goes silent for a while. You stare vacantly at the juncture of where his blacks don’t cover the underside of his jaw, the sliver of skin that shows between the seals. You reach up and run the back of your knuckles against his skin.

He’s warm - the safe kind of heat. It twists at something under your ribs, equal parts cruelty and a soul-deep affection. This wasn’t about you - this was about him. About his brothers.

But now they’ve dragged your friend into it, and nothing makes sense anymore.

“You were supposed to be there.”

Fox is holding you. Holding you in a way he never has. Like you’ll break. But you’re already broken.

It’s funny - now you two have that in common, too.

“I know.” His voice is off again, but now it comes from his throat in a dry, achy rasp. “There was - something happened. I can’t tell you. But I wanted to be here, mesh’la, maybe then I could have…I wouldn’t have…” His chest lifts and falls sharply, and the words come from Fox so low you know he’s turned off all of his comm channels so only his vocoder picks up his voice. “Please tell me what I can do. There has to be something I can do.”

“Bring Syd home,” you say, though it sounds more like you’re begging. Fox stares at you in silence for a few moments, then nods with a sense of finality.

He sits with you where you fell until they let you go home, and when the artificial sunlight filters through the blinds the next morning, he’s still holding you.

Neither one of you slept.

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