Chapter Text
Pentious, Vox’s spy, ended up failing the same day he was hired. Shadonyx should be surprised, but he was about as pathetic and desperate as it gets. Vox was as little mean to him when he was discovered by Angel Dust, but he was then shaken up when Alastor tuned in to mock him for his effort.
As soon as she heard Alastor’s voice speak through the screen peaking into the hotel, Onyx’s blood ran cold. It felt weird hearing the antique static overlays in his voice bleed through the speaker embedded in the device. It was crisp, as if he were right there in the room, but also behind a radio. He never made sense.
Vox slid his hands over her tail, needing comfort as his mind kept replaying the moment over and over. Concealed as reassurance, she comforted herself by rubbing her hand down his back.
“For some, hearing someone’s voice and seeing their face incite different responses, especially when you haven’t seen or heard anything about their person in a long time,” she said to him, resting her cheek on the side of his head. “I was shocked seeing him on a modern screen, even if he was glitched out. Never thought I’d see him again.” Hoped for it even, she thought.
“I don’t think I’m ready to see him in person.”
“That’s ok.” She didn’t want to stand in the same room as him either, but for a different reason. And the same. So many problems were associated with her and Alastor, the logistics didn’t make sense anymore.
They sat in comfortable silence for a minute.
“Do you think I’ve changed,” the demon man asked out of the blue.
“What do you mean?”
“Am I the same Vox who fought Alastor or am I someone stronger?”
She bit her lip and avoided his eyes. That was a question she had been asking herself since the battle and still didn’t have a solid answer.
“I think you’ve changed into someone who can handle his own. Whether Alastor thinks so or not shouldn’t deter you from your progress.” It was all she could think to say. He had changed, but Alastor shouldn’t be the reason he does anything. Bettering himself for his own sake should.
Vox turned to look at her with a sad and/or tired smile. The weight of his decisions and the past’s burdens on his shoulders was held in his eyes and the desire to take it away from him strengthened all the more.
“Thank you for sticking with me the way that you have.”
The fox demon smiled. “Always, Vox.”
Angel came to her the day after Alastor’s reintroduction to demon society. The noticeable concern on his face comforted her in a way Vox could not. They had known each other since they were in diapers and have been inseparable since.
“You’ve been staying at that hotel for at least half a month and he’s definitely been there since before the announcement,” she scolded. “You should have told me.”
“I wanted to get a feel for his attitude, see if he was still as obsessed with ya as Vox is,” the white spider reasoned. “Ya know I’d neva’ willingly send ya into danger, Voidie.”
Onyx wanted to be mad, she really did, but Angel has had her back more so than anyone in Hell, maybe existence (though, that would be undermining Vox contributions).
“Fine, you’re pardoned on all accounts of friendship endangerment," teased the fox.
The other spider smiled and wrapped his arms around her in a hug. Angel re-taught her how to hug after going so long without one. Any kind of affection was an experience Luna was unknowing of, not being shown it until she was out of her father’s emotionally draining household.
With Pentious at the hotel as a full guest and not a spy, Charlie would have her mind racing trying to come up with a way forward for the hotel, Angel decided to ditch them for a while to go on a day out with Onyx. She hesitates at first, remembering the last time she took a day off out of the blue, but Angel countered her doubts with the statement: “If Vox can’t stand on his own two feet, he was never meant to run a company and it will crumble regardless of who’s there.”
Eventually, she caved and linked arms with Angel as they walked down the entertainment district. All the fun spots wouldn’t be open until the sky darkened, which is also the time when Val is horniest as they both have learned (yes, there is a schedule for Val’s horny and yes, they did map it out), so they decided on shopping. While online shipping was becoming more prominent, malls inscribed an adventurous, and even relaxing (depending on the crowd), atmosphere. You could go in wanting only one thing from one store, then walk out with twelve different bags.
Some of her best memories since leaving radio behind was with Angel at a mall, indulging in themselves and each other to their hearts content. He and Vox were the only men to think she was worth spoiling down here. Her life on Earth is a different story.
“So, how have things been with Flat Face,” Angel asked as they strolled through the entrance.
“You don’t have to hate him all the time,” the fox mused.
“With everything he lets Valentino get away with, I think I’m more than allowed to hate him all the time. I still don't see what’s worth being loyal to.”
“It’s an emotional bond, Angel. I’ve seen beyond the facade and knew him before he put it on. He’s seen me at my lowest and instead of exploiting my weak state, he nurtured me back to health and gave me a place at his side.”
“How are you so certain he’ll keep that position for you alone?”
She didn’t. That was what troubled her about Vox: he wasn’t guaranteed to remain the same person at every encounter. He wasn’t required to give someone special privileges; he chose to. Onyx was no different.
“If he knew the truth . . . ”
The fox grabbed his wrist and pulled him close to whisper to him. “You know why I can’t do that. The minute anyone in that building finds out, everything comes crashing down and I return to being what I was before the fight: an overlord’s unwilling plaything.”
He pouted. “What does that make me?”
“You willingly gave up your soul to him, knowing the risks. I never gave that red–headed, ear bleeding radio host my soul, yet he still made it feel like I belonged to him in the worst way possible.”
“But he didn’t start off that way. That’s what makes us the same.”
The two spiders leaned on each other as they walked through the mall.
Onyx always had fun trying clothes on with Angel. He was the only person who was honest about how she looked. To him, her body wasn’t oversized and unappealing, it was curvy and unique. That made her adoration for him grow even more. He always made her proud to comfortably walk around with the body she has.
“You know you deserve better than the two brain dead idiots fighting over you,” Angel said out of the blue. Onyx’s arms fell at her side as she stared at herself in the mirror.
“I know,” she responded softly. “But the man I deserve is in the clouds.” She smiled and turned to him. “But I have you, and that’s more than enough.”
Angel turned and smiled back. They threw an arm around each other and walked out the store to take a lunch break.