Work Text:
Vox slammed some paper bills on the bar. “Give me a whiskey.” The bartender, going pale at the sight of him, quickly got to work.
Vox sighed and turned away, feeling his digital face twitch at the loud music and flashing lights that filled the club. This wasn’t his typical scene, preferring a quiet drink in his office while working, but Vel’s newest line was a hit and the two other Vees wanted to go out to celebrate. So…here he was.
“You’re so old!” Velvette called from their booth, seated across from Val. Vox flipped her off and the two dissolved into giggles. Fucking assholes.
“Uh– Drink’s ready. Sir.” The bartender stammered.
Vox turned, only to see some other sinner picking up his fucking drink. “What the hell?!” Electricity darted between his fingers, furious.
The sinner stammered some nonsense before pushing the drink towards him and running off. Vox briefly considered frying him before deciding he had better things to do. Plus, the PR would be a nightmare.
He returned to their booth, sitting next to Val who was drinking some surgery monstrosity that probably tasted like acid. Vel was sipping at her shitty wine while scrolling through her phone.
“How are the numbers?” Vox asked.
Vel smiled, slow and delighted. “Fucking marvelous. People are killing each other for these dresses. And if that doesn’t work,” her smile sharpened, “then they’re just killing themselves.”
Vox hummed, dipping one of his cables into his glass.
See, one of the problems of not having an actual fucking mouth is that you don’t have an actual fucking mouth. Which means no drinking or eating. Luckily, thanks to whatever God that may or may not exist, his cables could suck up liquid. It was supposed to be used to replenish blood but, y’know, not like anything was actually stopping him from using it for drinks. He couldn’t taste it, but it still got the job done. Only downside was that he could only have like one glass before getting absolutely wasted, because apparently one of the cons of being a demon robot was that you were a pathetic fucking lightweight.
Vox zoned his business partners out as he drank, checking cameras and getting a little work done. He was happy for Velvette, really, but he was always so fucking busy and the idea of not working for a night made his skin itch. He was in the middle of struggling to read a finance report, shit these things were boring, when he felt someone nudging him.
“Can you move?” Valentino asked. “Papi’s gotta go to the little boys room.”
Vox stood and let the other past, noting the way he stumbled slightly. That was fast.
“Thanks, be back soon.” Val leered at him. “Unless…you’d like to join me~”
Vox gave him a Look.
Val huffed. “Spoilsport.” Then he was gone. Vel was gone too. He spotted her over at the bar, seemingly arguing with someone. Figured. Though……he frowned. Everything had gained a kind of…pink tint to it. He ran a diagnostic on his cameras, which came back clear. Weird, must just be the lighting.
He sat back down and finished his drink. He could feel his mind going a pleasant kind of fuzzy, and a warning popped up about contamination in his blood. He dismissed it, unconcerned. Vox traced a finger on the rim of his empty glass, letting his thoughts drift.
He wished Shok.wav was here. Sure, he was too big to fit through the door…or in the club itself. But if he was here this would be so much more fun. He’d be so happy too, all these sinners to eat. Vox smiled to himself, fantasizing about Shok.wav tearing the place to shreds and gobbling up all the lesser demons here. Destroy that annoying pink lighting, which had only gotten worse. Who lit a club with only pink lighting?? It was so tacky. Vox should sue them for hurting his eyes, his cameras, his…whatever the fuck he had.
He pushed a hand into the top of his screen and groaned. His head hurt, like…a lot. And his skin felt buzzy, itchy, wrong. Maybe he shouldn’t have come here, clearly he wasn’t as up for it as he thought.
Something yanked on his arm, hard. Hard enough that he was pulled out of the booth and onto his unsteady feet. Vox snarled, electricity gathering— ohhh shit. Fuck. That– fuck. He was really fucking dizzy. The room spun, the lights and noise blurring into an unrecognizable mess. He was being led somewhere and normally he’d be hissing and spitting and making the pathetic idiot regret ever messing with Vox, the TV demon, the media overlord.
But right now he couldn’t– he couldn’t fucking see. His vision was glitching and sputtering, the frame-rate pathetically low. It was almost like he was analog again. He felt cool air (outside??) and then his back pressing against a wall.
Something was pressing against his screen, around where his mouth tended to display, hot and wet and sticky. Vox blinked, lost. He…kissed? He was being kissed? By who? Where was he? Why didn’t he–
“...doesn’t even have a fucking real mouth!”
Vox should say something. Something snappy and biting and sharp, followed by a bolt of electricity. But he was being held down and kissed and he couldn’t see and he couldn’t think and his skin fucking hurts hurts hurts HURTS HURTS HURTS–
[WARNING: OVERHEATING]
There are hands on his skin. Running under his shirt and feeling his vents. And he doesn’t know why they’re there or who they belong to, but when they touch him the buzzing stops. His skin calms and the itching subsides and he can breathe. And Vox is a horny fucking bastard, but nothing he’s ever done, absolutely nothing, compares to this; when the hands brush him and for a single, wonderful, beautiful second: the agony fades.
The hands slide down his chest and Vox moans.
And then he freezes.
He doesn’t know why he did that. He doesn’t know why he did that.
Vox knows everything. Watches from every screen, from every camera, listens from every VoxTek device. Information is money and he’s swimming in it.
He knows everything.
But he doesn’t know–
Doesn’t–
Why did he–
“...fucking whore…”
[1 MESSAGE FROM: Valentino]
[Valentino: sweetiepoo where did you gooooooooo :(]
[Valentino: did you abandon me ;-;]
[Vox: Help me]
The hands slide down down down and Vox feels a wave of disgust of nononoNO of complete and utter refusal. He shocks the hands.
[Valentino: what???]
He tries to teleport away but his skin burns and his cameras lag and he only makes it a few feet before he pops back into reality.
[Valentino: with what?]
There’s swearing and shouting and Vox needs to move needs to move needs to MOVE but this stupid useless fucking body isn’t listening.
[Valentino: you got a problem you need me to take care of? ;)]
Something grabs his screen and rams it into the ground. A shoe slams on the back of his head, over and over and over again, harder each time. There’s a crack. His vision sputters out.
[Valentino: babe?]
His cables pop out of his back, wrap around the offender, and whips them into where he thinks the wall is.
[Vox: HELP ME]
The sinner strikes him back down into the ground, grabs one of the cables, and pulls. Vox screams.
[Vox: HELPMEHELPEMEHLEPEME]
Vox turns and grabs their arm. Feels his claws sink into their skin.
[Valentino: we’re coming]
He can feel the charge from the nearby lights. The buzz of cameras.
[Valentino: where are you?]
Everyone always underestimates Vox. He’s the charmer, the sweetalker, the business man with a big smile and an even bigger wallet. Useless in a fight. Easy pickings.
[1 MESSAGE FROM: Velvette]
[Velvette: Vox where are u]
No one fucking knows. Nearly everything in this shithole runs on electricity. Nearly every demon uses some kind of VoxTek device.
[Valentino: darling??????]
Every time someone looks at him, watches his news, trusts him with their time, he feels it. A spark deep in his chest, in a part of him that was never human.
[Velvette: Vox]
His cables wrap around the demon, plugs forcing themselves into flesh.
[Velvette: VOX]
He feels the charge building up in him. The way it brightens his broken screen, zaps between his antennae, fills his empty chest until it starts to overflow.
[Valentino: vox?]
Vox lets it go.
The demon shrieks. Their body shakes, muscles straining. Something drips onto his hand.
Vox forces it higher. Higher and higher and higher. Until the screams stop. Until something splatters against him. Until he hears a body fall to the ground, fried and lifeless.
His skin buzzes.
He slides himself away until he hits a wall. His body twitches and spasms. His vision is still dark.
His skin itches.
He slides a hand over his arm. Then again. Then again and again and AGAIN.
It hurts.
Claws dig into his false flesh, coolant dripping out of the cracks.
It hurts.
He digs deeper and deeper, pries open his plastic exterior.
It HURTS.
He claws and tears and digs and it doesn’t matter none of it matters it just hurts and hurts and maybe if he slams his head into the wall in just the right way as hard as he possibly can it’ll stop it’ll calm he just needs it to stop please god make it stop-
Something grabs him.
Vox SCREAMS. The noise tears itself out of his nonexistent throat, wretches its way out of his speakers. It’s static and feedback and completely inhuman and it’s going to burn him out but he won’t stop can’t stop—
[Valentino: it’s me]
The noise sputters out.
[Valentino: it’s just me]
A hand touches the side of his screen, gentle, caring.
[Valentino: it’s ok]
Over the drone, the static, he can hear murmuring. Familiar voices.
[Valentino: everything’s ok]
Hands pull his claws away from himself. Rub circles into his broken skin.
“V#1?” The word comes out all wrong. But still, a gentle kiss is placed on his screen.
[Valentino: i’m here]
His hands grab hold of soft fur. He pulls himself forward until he feels the warmth of another body. Arms wrap around him, holding him tight. Another kiss, this time to the back of his head. The buzzing subsides. Vox goes limp.
He drifts, lets the world wash over him.
Time passes. Noise starts to filter back in.
Whispered voices, murmured conversations. Sharp and angry and scared. He hears the words ‘Love Potion’.
Vox snickers, chuckles, then blows up into full on laughter. He laughs and laughs and laughs because of course of FUCKING COURSE.
The arms around him tighten. The conversation continues.
[WARNING: OVERHEATING. COOL DOWN ASAP TO AVOID DAMAGE TO UNIT]
The body wrapped around him starts to move. A slight tilting motion, a rocking. Then a large gust of wind, cool air against his overheating skin, a steady beat. They're flying.
Vox lifts his screen out of Valentino's fluff. His vision is still dark.
"Vvvvvvval-l?"
"Yes, amorcito?"
"Ccccca--n't s3e."
"It's okay, I'm taking us back to the tower."
"Ov-ov-ovv#verhe@ting."
A stutter. A hitch in otherwise steady breathing. "I know." Val's grip tightens. "Everything's going to be fine." He reassures.
Vox can't tell who it's for.
The buzzing is starting to return. Soft and annoying, but soon it'll hurt. It'll hurt and hurt and HURT until he's back to tearing himself to shreds for just a moment of relief. And there's nothing he can do to stop it.
Except–
Ex-except-
He slides his hands underneath Val's clothes and down his body.
"Vox."
He doesn't need to see to know Val's shape. Knows his contours and lines and softness just as well as Vox knows his own. So he goes down until–
Val's second pair of hands grab his own, stopping him in his tracks.
"Vox. Stop."
A wave of static escapes from his speakers. "W#y?" He whines, sounding pitiful and he hates it HATES IT but he can't stop.
"Because if I let you, you'd never forgive me."
Vox pushes his screen into Val's chest. "It-t hurts." His claws tear into the soft flesh of his partner's back, desperate for anything to slow the pain. Val doesn't even hiss.
Something wet drips down onto the back of his screen. "I know, I'm sorry."
Vox pulls himself closer, and says nothing.
After several minutes of silence, they make it to the tower. Val runs. Vox didn't damage himself enough to kill, but the loss of coolant on top of the overheating caused by the potion and alcohol......it's a problem. He can feel the way his thoughts stutter and lag, the way time seems to pause before skipping forward. His fans are on full blast, his screen turned off, his body doing everything it can to cool him down. None of it is helping. Vox is sure he's painful to touch, that he must be burning Val's skin, but the moth holds him anyway.
[1 MESSAGE FROM: SHARKY!!! ♥♥♥]
[SHARKY!!! ♥♥♥: Dad!!]
Vox stirs. "Sssha---rk###?"
Val places him on the ground next to something large and moving. Vox places a hand on it, feels a familiar buzz of electricity.
"Sh0kkkkkkk-"
[SHARKY!!! ♥♥♥: Hi Dad hello Dad]
[SHARKY!!! ♥♥♥: Uncle Val said Dad sick. I'm watching while Uncle Val helps.]
[SHARKY!!! ♥♥♥: Dad is hot. Very hot. Is Dad ok?]
Vox leans his body against Shok.wav and doesn't reply.
He can hear Val running around the room, muttering to himself in Spanish. Something cold is pressed to his chest. "Hold this."
Shakily, he brings up a hand and presses the, he assumes, ice pack into his chest. His monitor is turned so his screen is pressing into Shok.wav and another ice pack is placed on top of it.
"Is- is that helping?" Val asks, voice high and worried and unsure.
[WARNING: OVERHEATING. DAMAGE TO UNIT IMMINENT.]
Vox copy and pastes the warning and texts it to Val.
There's a beat of silence.
"Shit. Okay um- uh-- are you water proof?"
"D1sssss###########." His response quickly dissolves into a loud, emergency beep.
"Can you text it to me?"
[MESSAGING: Valentino]
[Vox: distilled water cant cover head]
"Got it. Shok.wav, watch him." He runs off. Leaving Vox in the quiet darkness. With only his thoughts and the constant, never-ending itch.
He drops the ice pack he was holding to his chest. His claws drift towards his ruined arm.
[SHARKY!!! ♥♥♥: Dad?]
Vox stops.
He can't. He can't do it. Not with Sharky right next to him, watching, able to see anything and everything he does to himself.
Vox hugs Shok.wav as best as he can. He feels more than hears Sharky's tail beat against the floor.
[SHARKY!!! ♥♥♥: Love you Dad]
His speakers let out a shaky, staticky, exhale. He discharges a little buzz of electricity into Shok.wav.
[Vox: love you too]
Vox drifts. His body automatically shuts down unnecessary processes, trying to get the heat under control. He’s aware of the hum of electricity that follows Shok.wav, of the melting ice packs and, of course, the itch. But everything else fades.
There are hands on him.
Vox's entire body lights up, electricity arching around him. His abused body screams in agony but he doesn't fucking care. He's not going down without a fight. He REFUSES to go--
[SHARKY!!! ♥♥♥: DAD]
He--
[SHARKY!!! ♥♥♥: IT'S UNCLE VAL]
Oh.
The electricity sputters out, his body going limp.
The hands return, more hesitant this time.
There's talking, he thinks. There's certainly a noise. But what likely started as words is nothing more than a muted drone in his non-existent ears. Distantly, he notes that his audio processing has likely been shut off.
He's picked up, gently, carefully, like something precious. Shok.wav's reassuring hum fades.
"###########." A loud, upset buzz leaves his speakers, his ability to speak long overwhelmed by the stress and heat.
A hand rubs slow circles into his back.
[SHARKY!!! ♥♥♥: It's ok Dad don't be scared]
[SHARKY!!! ♥♥♥: I'll protect you]
Fine. Not like he has much of a choice anyways. He doesn't know where he's being carried, or how long they walk. He only knows when he's lowered and when he–
AURGHHHH HOLY SHIT THAT'S FUCKING COLD
His body jerks and spasms, trying to escape the ass freezing water that he's mercilessly, ruthlessly, placed into.
[SHARKY!!! ♥♥♥: Uncle Val says Dad has to go in there because Dad's too hot]
[SHARKY!!! ♥♥♥: In more ways than one]
[SHARKY!!! ♥♥♥: And then he winked]
Vox flips Val off. He scoots back until he hits the side of the tub so he can lean against the wall. As much as he hates the water, it's working. He can see his temperature going down, feel his systems relax as the heat fades.
[SHARKY!!! ♥♥♥: Good Dad! If Dad stays in the water Dad gets treats!]
He huffs, and hopes his screen is still off so no one sees the way he smiles at that.
[1 MESSAGE FROM: Velvette]
[Velvette: u still alive?]
[Vox: No.]
[Velvette: damn]
[Velvette: guess i made this love potion cure for nothing]
[Velvette: don't worry, ill look fabulous @ ur funeral]
[Vox: I'm not having a funeral.]
[Velvette: then have 1 bitch]
[Vox: Just feed me to Shok.wav.]
[Velvette: ill dress ur corpse in a shark onesie]
[Vox: Perfect.]
[Velvette: record it and send it to ur favorite overlord]
[Vox: NO.]
[Velvette: lmao]
By the time Vel's done torturing him, words are starting to sound like words again. Val's singing to himself. Some Spanish song that he doesn't recognize.
"Vvvvvval?" Vox says, testing his voice. Still glitchy, but better.
"You back with me, amorcito?"
"Ba--@ckkk."
"Can I touch you?"
Vox frowns (maybe, he has no idea if his screen's on). Since when has Valentino ever asked before touching him. "Ssssu-re?"
He's suddenly pulled into a tight hug. Vox freezes for a moment, surprised, before slowly hugging Val back. His hands brush the wounds he inflicted earlier, and he flinches at the reminder.
"Ssss-o0ry."
Val sniffs. "It's okay, though feel free to make it up to me later~" He says the last words in a low purr, but Vox is still stuck on the sniff.
"A-arrre y0u c-c-crying?"
Val moves away. "Velvette's bringing up the cure, and I have new blood for you right here."
"V@l."
"You're like a vampire, it's kind of sexy. Think you could drink my blood~?"
"Val."
Valentino goes quiet. "...You stopped talking. And-- and you never stop talking. Not after sex, not during a fight, not even when it just makes everything worse. You just yap and yap and yap and it's so fucking annoying but also so so....you. And you just-- you just stopped."
Vox reaches out. Val takes his hand. "I'mmm ok@y."
Val's grip tightens, but he doesn't say anything.
The door slams open. "YOU TWO BETTER NOT BE FUCKING IN HERE."
Vox rolls his eyes while Val yells back: "You wish!"
"I really really don't." Footsteps. "Here, fucker." Velvette grabs his hand and places a glass in it.
"Th@nkssss, fucker." He extends a cord. "C-xn one of youuu putt#t this in there? Still n0 vissxsion."
Someone grabs the cord and puts it somewhere wet and sticky and....
"Babes."
"Re@llllllly?"
There's a pop as Vel yanks it out of Val's mouth. He complains ("He should've been more specific!") as Velvette actually puts it in the glass. Things finally go quiet as Vox sucks up the potion and then some replacement coolant.
"Satan, what a night." Vel groans.
Vox hums.
"Hey Voxxy..." Val starts, sounding thoughtful. "Think you could do that to me?"
Vox grins. "Depends, what am I sucking?"
"Oooh~! I can think of some things."
"You two are fucking disgusting.”
“So, what are we doing about it?” Vox asks, turning from his aquarium to eye his business associates. Velvette looks thoughtful, tapping her lips, clearly considering the situation. Valentino is just sitting there, frozen save for an anxiously tapping finger, he’s not even drawing.
“Shouldn’t we be asking you that?” Vel asks.
Vox raises a single eyebrow. He’s back in immaculate condition, all evidence of the previous night’s…event wiped away. “You two are the ones who designed it, I just distribute it. I fail to see why this concerns me.”
Vel stares at him in disbelief. “You seriously believe that? After you got–”
“I’m sorry?” He interrupts, smile sharp. “After I got what?”
She looks annoyed. “You were almost–”
“Ah ah ah~!” He holds up a finger. “That’s the keyword right there, almost. You see, babydoll–”
“Don’t fucking call me that.”
“–If something almost happened, that means it didn’t happen. Nothing happened, so I. Don’t. Care.” He taps a clawed finger on his desk with each word.
“You can’t just pretend–”
“VEL.” His claws dig into the wood of his desk. “Drop it.”
Her eyes narrow, clearly pissed. But she drops it. Whips out her phone and starts muttering to herself about emotionally immature assholes. Vox choices to ignore that. He glares down at the damage he left on his desk. Great, another thing to fix.
He turns to Val. “You have anything you’d like to add?”
Valentino takes a deep breath, before looking Vox straight in the eyes. “I want to stop production.”
Vox sighs, loudly. “Jesus fucking Christ.”
Val stands. “I want to stop production.”
“Don’t start being a hypocrite now, Val. It was one of the few reasons I actually respected you.”
“I’m not a–”
“So you’re going to stop drugging up your whores every time they piss you off?” Vox yells. “Going to stop raping them when they’re ‘not in the mood’??”
Val sputters. “That- that’s different!”
“How?!”
“BECAUSE THEY’RE NOT OVERLORDS, VOX!” Val explodes. “They’re just useless bitches. They were made to be beaten and fucked. They’re not us. They’re not…” He looks away. Hugs himself. “...They’re not you.”
Vel actually looks sympathetic, but Vox just feels annoyed. “I just won’t drink out anymore. That’s no reason to shut down our biggest money maker.”
Vel glares at him. Then hums, thinking. “Could you make yourself immune?”
Vox actually laughs at that. “Oh yeah! Brilliant idea! I’ll just code in an immunity to hellish fucking magic. Why didn’t I think of that?!”
“Stop being such a cunt.” She snaps. “You know, for someone who said this ‘doesn’t concern him’, you seem to care an awful lot.”
“I don’t care. I just don’t want you idiots tanking our profits for stupid reasons.”
“And what, us being concerned about your safety is a stupid reason?!”
“YES! IT IS!” He screams. “Nothing happened, I am fine. And I’m not going to let you dumb-asses run my company into the ground over your fucking feelings.”
The room falls silent.
Val curls his fingers into fists. Glares down at him. “I want to stop production.”
Vox groans. “Ughhhhhhhh fucking- fine. Fine!” He glares back. “But I don’t want to just quietly take it off the shelves. I want to announce it. Get one last spike in demand before we kill it. Agreed?”
“Agreed.” Vel responds.
Val just stands there for a moment, before looking away and giving a short nod.
“Great.” Vox turns back to his aquarium. “Now get out of my office.”
Velvette huffs and stomps out of the room, muttering insults to herself.
It’s quiet.
Val hugs him from behind, burying his head into Vox’s shoulder. “I’m sorry.”
Vox sighs. Tilts his screen into Val’s and discharges a little buzz of electricity. The closest thing he can give to a kiss.
“I don’t blame you.”
“You should.”