Regrets and Lost Love.
Vox climbed over fallen rocks and bricks. He had come here to gloat over his nemesis, but this was getting ridiculous.
“The things I do…” He grumbles.
He brushes some dirt off his pants, and pulls himself up to the ruined radio tower. The ladder is a little rickety, but it’s usable.
“Alastor?” He calls out. “Are you up here?”
Nothing answers Vox. He sighs loudly. “You can’t hide! You fucking loser!”
A pained groan sounds from behind him. Vox whips around to see Alastor, huddled in a corner with his arms clutched around his chest.
“Alastor?!” Vox kneels next to the demon.
Alastor hisses at him as his ears pin back. “What are you doing here, Vox-“ His voice sounded odd without the radio filter, “-come to gloat?”
Vox hesitated for just a second- but that was more than enough for Alastor to catch on.
Alastor starts to chuckle, then cackle, but he’s cut off by a wet cough. Blood drips from his mouth and his sclera bleeds black.
“…Al?” Vox says. “Wait-“
Vox sighs frustratedly and scribbles out his words. The bar where he sat was dimly lit, and his seat was beginning to feel uncomfortable. Alastor, humming softly, was sitting on the couch and twirling his staff that Vox had commissioned from Rosie a few weeks ago.
“Would you like to dance?” Alastor asks out of nowhere.
“I- what?” Vox looks up from his work.
Alastor snaps his fingers, and soft music plays from the candy apple red radio. “Would you like to dance?” He repeats.
Vox fights down a blush. “I-I don’t know how to,” The demon admits.
Alastor hums. “That’s alright, I can teach you.” He offers a hand to Vox, who accepts.
Alastor guides one of Vox’s hands to his waist. Alastor puts his hand up on Vox’s shoulder. The tv demon, knowing this part, clasps their hands together.
“Uh…what do we do now…?” Vox asks.
“Step to the left,” Alastor instructs. “Then, cross your right foot over it.”
Vox focuses on Alastor’s feet and matches the steps.
“Once more.”
Alastor’s ears flick against the screen of Vox’s head. “Okay, now reverse.”
Eventually, Vox gets the hang of it. They step in time to the music, and Vox leads them in a slow circle.
…Two hearts connected by one beat…
…Your hand in mine and…
Sweet guitar fills the room. Alastor leans his head on Vox’s chest and moves his hands so they cup the back of Vox’s neck. Vox cradles the smaller demon in his arms.
“I could never choose to love another…” Vox softly sings the closing lines of the song.
“Maybe one day I could’ve learned to love you too.” Alastor smiles, a real smile. Vox had learned to tell the difference a long time ago. Alastor’s real smile was soft. It wasn’t like the pasted-on grin the world saw.
“No, no, no! Please!” Vox pleads, but he knows it is far too late.
The light faded from his love’s eyes and Alastor slumped against the wall. His lifeless eyes stared past Vox, and the hand Vox held fell limp.
Vox sobs, the mockery of tears filling his screen. “Please…” He cries, to no avail. There is no one to hear his words.
Vox’s heart shatters into a million shards of blood and tears and glass. He mourns for the love he almost had, for the loss of the person closest to his heart, for his one true constant in this hellscape.
He gently closes Alastor’s eyes. Now it seems as though the demon is just sleeping- no. Alastor never looked this peaceful when he slept.
Vox slides his arms underneath Alastor’s cooling body and stands. He teleports out of the ruined tower and walks through the rubble to the Morningstars and their friends. The princess is hugging her girlfriend while the porn star and the cat share a hug as well. Lucifer stands to the side.
Charlie- that’s her name right?- turns around and spots Vox.
“Vox?!” She stands in front of him, looking lost as she stares at Alastor’s bloodied body. “Wh…what happened? Did you do this?”
Vox shakes his head frantically. “I-I would never! He was in his tower…I guess Adam hit him harder than we thought. He…he bled out.”
Tears gather at the edges of Charlie’s eyes. “No…”
Vaggie runs to her girlfriend’s side. “Charlie- oh…”
One by one, the group gathers around Vox and Alastor. Charlie hides her face in Vaggie’s arms. Husker looks conflicted while Nifty full-on sobs.
“I’m sorry,” Vox says.
“What were his last words?” Charlie asks softly.
“I couldn’t hear what he said,” Vox lies. “He was…coughing up a lot of blood.”
Charlie cries harder, soaking Vaggie’s shoulder.
~~~~~~~~
The dark red coffin is slowly lowered into the ground with Lucifer’s magic. Charlie sniffles softly, and even Angel has to turn away.
Vox stands a little separate from the group and watches Lucifer use his magic to fill the grave with dirt.
Slowly, the other members leave the small courtyard, with Vaggie leading her girlfriend away, and Husk scooping up Nifty and leaving with Angel. Eventually, only Lucifer and Vox are left at the grave’s side.
Lucifer slips by Vox with a low whisper of, “Don’t stay for too long. It’ll hurt more.”
Vox doesn’t respond, instead choosing to stare at the tombstone.
It was carved out of granite to look like an old radio.
Alastor
“I could never choose to love another; maybe one day I could learn to love you too.” - We Become We
Vox had chosen the inscription himself, though it took many tries to get a readable version.
He knelt by the grave.
“Hey.” God, he sounded so stupid. But this was the only way to get closure. He would never find closure. It hurt too much. “I miss you. I’m sorry I couldn’t save you.”
He placed the broken staff and a few flowers. A pink carnation, a cyclamen, a purple hyacinth, and a sprig of rosemary.
Vox stands and brushes off his coat. He stares down at the freshly turned dirt and flowers.
“I love you,” He whispers. “I’m sorry.”
~~~~~~~~
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I'm reading the lord of the rings and I'm once again amazed at how... good most characters are. Like, they are genuinely good people. They are a bunch of kindhearted, gracious, caring people, coming together under adverse circumstances and trying to figure things out and find a solution and support each other through it all. Like Frodo and Sam meet Faramir and Faramir is a bit suspicious at first and kind of implies Frodo may be a spy, and then when he hears his story and he's like Frodo, I pressed you so hard at first. Forgive me! It was unwise in such an hour and place. And this blows.my.mind. He wasn't even particularly mean or threatening to him in the beginning, he's just such a kind, considerate man, recognizing the kindness and honesty of another man. And they're all like that. Even Gollum starts slowly changing (for a short while) when he encounters Frodo because that's the thing about kindness and humility and grace, they are contagious. They transform people, even a creature like Gollum cannot be immune to that. Like, you may consider all this simple and basic and I get it but, hear me out. It is quite rare to see that in modern media and it is also pretty difficult to pull off in a way that is not corny and simplistic. It is mind blowing that you actually don't have to present the entire palette of human cruelty and vice in order to tell a compelling story, contrary to popular belief. Lotr does the exact opposite, and it is just beautiful and it warms my heart. Especially taking into consideration tolkien's pretty grim growing-up experience, him being a double orphan without a home, raised between an orphanage and a priest and having no family apart from his brother and then the war and then he almost dies and then he's poor as hell and then a second war and it all makes sense somehow. He writes to his wife who is also an orphan two days before the marriage "the next few years will bring us joy and content and love and sweetness such as could not be if we hadn't first been two homeless children and had found one another after long waiting" and, yes, yes! The love and sweetness just radiate from his work, the entire lotr series is a little radiant bubble of hope and love and grace that he imagined in his head to deal with a dismal reality and then he just gave that to the world, and isn't that what imagination and art is all about after all?
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