A Moment of Pause
Tags: RadioSilence, olivebranch, unrequited love, canon compliant, slightly suggestive. one sided, unrequited love, soft vox. semi-tolerant Alastor
Vox misses Alastor and is a bit too trigger happy when it comes to making deals that keep him around just a little bit longer.
*If any part of this stood out to you, make sure to leave a comment that way I can keep making stuff like it (or without it if that part sucked). Beware of typos*
—
Alastor had to admit, it was taking a little more effort than he originally anticipated to play this little “captured” role. Being paraded like some kind of showhorse wounded his Pride to the point he had to talk himself down from tearing down every building in a 20 mile radius at their foundation a couple different times. Which, believe it or not, wouldn’t be that hard even with his staff the way it was.
Something that made it easier to sit back was the discord that was being sewn through the Vees themselves. Vincent, the self destructive halfwit, never was subtle was he?
Even now, as Alastor sat in this cheap rolling chair watching the man not-so silently threaten Alastor with getting it on with his winged lover, he couldn’t keep his eyes off of Alastor. Always seeking the deer’s approval, how did he ever get this far?
They stopped before doing anything too explicit which, thank Satan they did because Alastor didn’t know how much longer he could act like he wasn’t disgusted by the display.
There was quiet conversation between the two before a frown deepened on the moth’s face and an unflattering glare shot towards Alastor. Alasto, unbothered by the lanky nobody, didn’t even bother blinking at the man as he collected himself and stormed out of the room.
Vox sighed and leaned against the piano where the moth had just been. With crossed arms he looked away from Alastor and out the window to the glowing city below, the red gleam shining against his blue screen.
Alastor— still silenced with a frowny face mask behind the TV headed man— would be lying if he said he wasn’t curious what was going through the man’s head. Maybe something that would expedite this humiliating plan the deer had set up for himself.
They sat in silence for a bit before Alastor noticed Vincent was no longer watching the view but instead had been staring at him through the reflection of the window.
Creep.
Alastor pulled his ears back with a slight squint, enough movement for the other to snap out of whatever trance he had been in and look back at Alastor properly.
Vox approached, his tail following his walk like a real aquatic predator. When the man towered over the other, Alastor leaned back in his chair to look properly instead of craning his neck like Vox had probably wanted.
Vox was frowning slightly, his brows furrowed. There wasn’t moment before Alastor had realized Vox had started moving again before the mask on his face was ripped off unceremoniously.
Alastor winced as his head was led by his very own skin before laying back in the same spot he had been seconds before, the same smile he always had, unwavering from his face.
They stared at each other for a moment before Vox took it upon himself to break the silence with a new found proudness that washed across his demeanor.
“It’s so fucking awesome to see you like this. At my whim. I’ve never seen you so weak, it’s almost satisfying.”
Alastor said nothing. He was honestly more focused on resisting the urge to spin in the chair more than he was worried about another verbal victory lap from the boxheaded loudmouth
“Almost…” Vincent repeated, which perked Alastor’s ears a bit.
Vincent cleared his throat and spun Alastor’s chair to push him closer to the desk in the center of the room, but instead of setting the deer where normal guest chairs would normally go, he was brought to the same side as Vincent.
“Yknow, I’ve been thinking—“
“Terrifying.”
Vincent rolled his eyes as he took a seat facing Alastor. “When we get up there, and I’m, heh, god—”
“Mm.”
“—What am I gonna do with you?”
Alastor raised his eyebrows in excitement, “I was quite hoping you’d leave me here to ‘rot’ and all that.”
“Yeah, no. The last thing you’ll be is out of my sight—“ Alastor wanted to groan, “—maybe I’ll keep you in those glass boxes on display for the masses, or on a leash.”
Alastor grimaced.
“Or—” Vincent leans back with an on the armrest to support his head as he kicks Alastor’s chair so it spins a couple of times, “—I just keep you in this piece of shit forever since you seem to love it so much.”
“Aw! Vincent are you considering my feelings?” The deer teased while spinning before being jerked to a complete stop.
“No! Why would I? You clearly don’t consider mine.”
“I’ve considered yours well enough, Vinny. We just don’t see eye to eye on most things.”
“Don’t call me that, old timer. This isn’t 10 years ago.”
Alastor shrugs. “You know me! The nostalgic old timer, and I do I miss those old days! My old friend Vinny, and I, and not a care in the world. I do wonder…what ever did happen to him—“
Vincent stomps to his feet and yanks Alastor in by the arms of his chair. “You’re what happened. Don’t act like you didn’t humiliate me.”
“You didn’t need much help with that, Vincent.”
“How could— I don’t get it— you…”
Vincent seemed excessively caught off guard with Alastor’s comment, which threw Alastor off because he had figured they were in a bantering mood. He watched the other’s face as he slumped back in his seat.
That usual superiority complex the ‘Great Vox Populi’ had was slipping away to show the inferiority underneath. Alastor didn’t like seeing it, even if he knew it was there.
“Vincent, whatever plagues you shouldn’t be so obviously demonstrated. Especially in front of an enemy. Hah! You show doubt like a lion that exposes its neck, do you have no shame?”
Vincent says nothing but the look he gives Alastor is enough. A dejected and almost tearful look that frustrated Alastor.
“Speak,” The Radio Demon insists, “let your pathetic expression and doubts leave your corpse before I fancy your more immediate suffering.”
Vincent lets out a humorless laugh at the deer’s theatrics, but before Alastor could even consider that being an invitation to more banter, the former expression returns.
Alastor slow blinks at Vincent as he looks at the floor where their legs meet. He was growing more irritated the longer this behavior lasted. Alastor has no interest in this man’s feelings any deeper than surface level and the last thing he wants to hear is—
“Al…”
The other says nothing.
“Can we time out real quick?”
“Hm? Time out? Oh, like…right. Well, from what exactly?” He says a bit exasperated from his shortened temper.
“This,” he gestures around them with one of his blue tipped claws.
Alastor snarls a bit at the suggestion that anything he does is ingenuine. He was nothing if not sincere, but in a situation like this, tied up on display like some silent trophy for most of the day then set up as some impromptu outlet, he did doubt his own patience. “Speak your mind, Vox.”
Vincent bounces his leg anxiously, clearly unsatisfied with the reaction and shuts his eyes with a small outdated curse under his breath. Alastor worried about his progression but was this what he was willing to cut his Pride down for? To comfort this idiot that has done nothing for him but brush against his ego for a grab at power? It didn’t get the TV demon far, clearly, so did it really matter what their past was when, right now, Alastor just wanted this behavior to cease?
After another few moments of anxious silence, as the other man began to slouch becoming more and more fidgety in thought, Alastor demanded again, “Vincent.”
Vox only turned his head further away like an impute child, only furthering Alastor’s disdain.
The deer sighed and thought through his options.
Letting Vincent even think he cared could make a plethora of things worse: Vincent could reveal this intimate moment with anyone who would listen, trying to leverage it as some sort of reputation display. He could also be faking altogether to laugh in the deer’s face for even trying to comfort a withering soul and demonstrate a flicker of sympathy.
Alastor honestly wanted it to be the latter so the joke could be run dry, lesson learned, and something like this would never happen again, but if there was a slight chance that it wouldn’t be the case this time around…
He couldn’t let Vincent harbor such doubtful feeling if he wanted his own plan to follow through unquestioned. Plus, he could more than handle himself if the box-headed bozo tried something untoward.
Alastor took a deep breath and straightened himself out in the chair.
“Vinny,” he said, calmly, a gentle touch in his voice. Vincent looked up towards him, wide eyed and a bit confused. “What’s wrong, dear?”
The man scoffed, and looked away again, “Like you care.”
“Oh, hun. I’m probably the only one who does,” Alastor pushed his arms against the coils of wires that tied him down to the desk chair, “Let me see you.”
Alastor’s arm came free with ease. The TV demons wire were never truly holding Alastor back but were more of a show for Alastor’s obedience. Whether Vincent knew that, he wasn’t sure, but taking the opportunity the deer held the man’s face to look at him.
Alastor stood, and keeping a gentle touch in where Vinny’s chin would be, leaned against the desk’s edge.
The TV demon followed his movement, a slight frustration at Alastor’s confidence flashing across his face a couple different times before his gaze glares at where Alastor makes contact with the desk.
Alastor hums, “You asked for a moment of pause, and here I am granting it to you.”
Vincent face relaxes as he realizes that Al is right. He thinks for a moment before hesitantly scooting closer to the man test the deer’s sincerity. When the other doesn’t falter Alastor can see his hands raise in temptation to hold the deer in some way. A flicker of memories flashes across Alastor’s mind and he almost pities the poor wretch.
“Considering you were doing a bit more than grooming your… companion just a couple of moments ago, I think we’re gonna hold off for now.”
A wave of anger washed over the screen before he is quickly reminded where Alastor’s hand was and mindlessly melted into it. Holding it against his screen with a hand despite Alastor’s request to not be touched. Though, when Alastor made a disapproving noise about the action, he was quick to let go even if clearly peeved about it.
Alastor laughed, and after a moment, so did Vincent, even if weakly.
“I, uhm…” Vox began. “I don’t get it. One day we’re living our best…our best lives quote unquote. Then, you disappear for seven years—“
“Mhm.”
“—to come back and start hanging with that, ugh, princess”
Alastor rolls his eyes, “This again?”
“Screw me for being curious okay? You fucking ditched me for being too soft, then go and sack up with a whole team of soft-hearted nobodies. I’m fucking pissed.”
Alastor yanks a bit at the mouthy one’s collar and, again, despite his concerns, the man’s hands find his way on Alastor again, this time on his hips.
“Not only were you soft for me,” Alastor began, “but you were desperate for power. Power you had no hand at wielding, nor do you now.”
The TV demon buzzes with frustration before a light chuckle is released, “When have I ever been soft for you.”
Alastor was almost tempted to answer but when Vinny bit his lip with that stupid look on his face, he knew better of it. He didn’t understand what he was getting at but that was simply because he had opted to mentally throw away that part of the conversation completely.
He held the screen in both hands and looked at the man deeply in his eyes. “Vincent. Spout your feelings before I call off this little truce.”
Vincent’s face drops and he clears his throat, his claws clawing deeper into Alastor’s hips. “I…”
“Mhm?”
“I don’t… I can’t find the words to…”
“You’re jealous of me and the princess for some foolish reason. What is it? Do you miss me that much, Vinny?”
“…yes.”
Alastor, if he were anyone else, would’ve dropped his smile at the disgusting confession, but instead it becomes wider and more devilish, and with how Alastor’s hands land so close to Vox’s neck, he can feel the man’s pulse quicken.
“Oh, Vincent,” he cooes, “I’m flattered. Really. But what do you want to come from expressing the sentiment? Pity? A thank you?”
Vincent’s display wavers a bit as the screen brightens in embarrassment. Alastor shies away a bit at the strain to his eyes but the other ultimately lays his face against the deer’s body to hide. Alastor begrudgingly allows it, rubbing the back of Vinny’s head.
“I’ve told you once before, displays like this make you reliant, they make you vulnerable, and most of all they make you weak, you shouldn’t—“
“I don’t care.”
“You— what.”
“I don’t care what it makes me. An asshole like you shouldn’t be able to do what you want.”
“Ah yes, reasonable words from Mr. God Complex, I suppose?”
Vincent raises his head once again, “I want more. More moments like these again. I want us to…see each other again. But without all the smoke and mirrors.” Alastor stops his petting, laying his hands around the weaker one’s neck. Again, the two of them ending up in a position much too intimate for the circumstances that are actively applied.
“I don’t regret anything I’ve spoken to you, Vox.”
Vincent seems to wince at the sound of his new name, Alastor so obviously ready to cut off the trail of nostalgia they’ve been leading seems to change the TV’s demeanor, “I just want some time where we’re just like this. Just Al and Vin again. I…I don’t expect you to feel sorry for all you’ve said. But I’m not apologizing for shit either.”
“Hm. Therein lies our differences. I don’t regret anything I’ve said to you, yet you simply won’t apologize for anything you do feel sorry for. Your actions rely on your stubbornness.”
Vox’s grip tightens and with how the screen bears his teeth it’s obvious that Alastor has hit too close to home. Even when in this screen’s grasp he can’t help but start laughing. Not his evil cackle he would give, but a joyous, yet still just as maniacal, hard to contain laughter that gets him to throw his head back slightly.
Vincent’s expression is tinted a bit with a blush. “What? What the hell is your problem?”
It takes another few moments of yelling at Alastor’s hysterical laughter before they both begin settling down.
“Oh nothing, nothing! I— aha— just thought of something funny.”
Vincent rolls his eyes this time, “Classic. What specifically?”
“Oh, nothing. Just…all those nights out where I’d tell you you were wrong and in you’re attempts to prove me wrong you’d get hurt in some ridiculous way. And I’d always say—“
“You were surprised stubbornness wasn’t my mortal sin, yeah, I know. That’s was…” Vincent thought for a moment before chuckling himself, “…that was funny. You were always right.”
“I always am.”
“You—“ Alastor raises an eyebrow as the man was getting ready to start up a fight, “—You…usually are.” Vincent shakes his head, looking away. “Ah fuck, maybe I was damned to be stubborn.”
Alastor hums a bit. “Vinny.”
“Yeah.”
“Look at me.”
Suddenly, Vincent’s heart quickens again and he gets fidgety, playing with the edges of Alastor’s suit.
“Goodness, what is the matter with you? Am I so horrid to look at you can’t fathom it?”
The display spins to him, “What?! No! Of course not I—“
“Quiet.”
Vincent goes to speak again and realizes what Alastor has done to ensure his obedience.
“You are insufferable and ill-mannered and it’d be dishonest to say I’d ever reconsider our relationship because, after all, you’re still reliant on those two fools to get you into higher places—“ Vincent tries to pull out of Alastor’s grasp but Alastor keep him right where he is, “—but…you’re request isn’t completely unreasonable. An occasional drink or two with an old friend is what my times thrived on after all. But—“ he stopped again, yanking Vincent up to standing with him as he spoke mere inches from his display, which was quite awkward for Vox since he’s taller than the deer naturally, “If you try for even a moment to convince me into your feeble ideas of power, I’ll make sure to use all efforts at my disposal to humiliate you worse than I or anyone has ever before. I wouldn’t even need to broadcast your voice for it to be heard through all the rings of Hell and the spheres of Heaven above. Do you understand me?”
Vox seems dismissive at first but as the ambient radio static Alastor released became more threatening and the picture box looked deeper into Alastor’s eyes, tears begin to threaten the tension of his display and he is forced to sheepishly nod.
Alastor toothy grin reads nothing but satisfaction as he drops the man and lets him fall to his knees in front of him.
Alastor dusts off his suit and straightens his tie, “Its decided then. When the appropriate opportunity arises for us to temporarily return to our old habits, I shall humor you, and if you are to bring your babbling pitches to a date such as those—“ Vincent raises his head at the use of ‘date’ “—I’ll have no choice but to humiliate you unrecoverably. Deal?”
Vincent looks at Alastor, almost questioning how all that works with their already active deal, until he sees Alastor raise his hand for him to shake it. Without hesitation the man jumps to feet to pull The Radio Demon into a hug.
“Agreed.”
Alastor doesn’t wince this time but instead rolls his eyes and embraces the hug, just this once he supposed.
chyseceik
