"Wake up Voxy, we're here," Valentino said as the limo came to a stop.
Vox rolled his eyes. "I've been awake the whole time Val," he replied.
Valentino hummed to himself, then leaned over to kiss Vox on the side of his monitor. "Relax babe, just teasing ya," he said. The door on Valentino's side opened outwards, being pulled by Bruce, and Valentino turned away from Vox and climbed out. Vox touched the side of his monitor where Valentino kissed him and smiled. Guess he did get over it, he thought to himself. Then he slid over the seats to the open door and followed after Valentino.
Valentino stood outside the limo waiting for Vox to get out, his lower right hand was extended slightly out, motioning to Vox to take it. Vox did so, and the two of them moved towards the building in front of them. It looked like a small Roman cathedral, but the red neon sign that read "Flamegan's" in cursive lettering above the entrance illustrated that no sermons were being conducted here. Large wooden double doors stood before them as the entrance, with stained-glass set in the middle of each door. The paintings on the glass were a depiction of a ball of flame, deep oranges and yellows set inside red spiraling up the middle of the glass. Pulling one door open, Vox led Valentino inside, and they were both immediately greeted by an echoey, almost ethereal voice.
"Ah! Sirs, I'm so glad you could make it. I've been looking forward to your arrival all day. Allow me to show you to your table."
The voice belonged to Flamegan, the owner of the restaurant which shares the same name. He was a being of living fire, molded into a shape that was nearly-human, fitted inside a black long-sleeved dress shirt and black dress pants. Slim black glasses hovered in front of the small ball of fire that was his head, and he wore black shoes buffed to a shine. His clothing was a reflection of both his sophisticated personality and his restaurant. As he waved in Vox and Valentino to follow him, he took them deeper into the restaurant towards their table, allowing them to soak in the high-end ambience. Something that Flamegan knew he owed Vox deeply for.
The inside of the restaurant took inspiration from old Italian architecture to keep with the theme. Built in the shape of a cathedral, arches swept along the sides of the building, with pillars stretching in-between curving up along the wall towards the domed ceiling. Of course the size of the restaurant wasn't as grand as a cathedral, lest the supporting pillars needed to make such a structure got in the way of patrons and workers alike. But even so it had all the workings of one, with some additional features. Clean, black marble floors with images of red pentagrams lined up symmetrically along the ground. The walls were a crimson red, the pillars and arches a black contrast to match the colors of the floor. And like any good cathedral, the interior of the dome above was a grand painting of Lucifer, standing in his regal garb with the Sins centered below him and the Ars Goetia taking up the entire background behind him. A beautiful work that wonderfully depicted the highest of Hell's hierarchy. It was a feat accomplished by many of the greatest artists to ever fall into Hell, and Adolf Hitler.
Besides the architecture and the art that decorated it, a fountain sat in the middle of the room. Naked baby imps flanked both sides of it and shot water from their mouths, crossing their streams down the fountain's rows. A four demon band played classical music just in front of it. The sounds of the two violins, cello, and harp carried over the sound of water to fill the room with tasteful music, fitting of the fancy setting.
And around this, seemingly scattered around the interior of the restaurant, large round tables sat decorated with white tablecloths. Each table was set with a couple candles and a vase of flowers in the middle, dishes were kept in the kitchen until someone was seated. Though that was rarely the case, as the restaurant was always packed because of its reputation. Even though it was only now nearing lunchtime, as Vox and Valentino were still being guided to their seats, they saw the restaurant was at near capacity.
They were guided from the entrance, up the middle of the "cathedral", into the grand circle itself, where many fancily-dressed demons and imps sat, wining and dining underneath Lucifer's gaze. After another few steps, the three of them walked around the band and fountain to an empty table centered right behind. Flamegan rushed ahead and pulled out the chairs tucked underneath the table for Vox and Valentino to sit on, which they did once Flamegan stepped aside. Once they situated themselves in their seats, Flamegan stepped in front of the table, centering himself between it and the fountain.
Turning his flaming head to both parties he clapped his hands together and said, "It's so good to see the both of you here again. Well it's always good, just, it's been a while." Flamegan finished his sentence stumbling over his words. Coughing slightly he bent his arms upwards into the air, causing flames to manifest for a split second before they changed into a pen and pad, then they dropped into his left and right hand respectively.
"So, what can I do for you to start?" He asked, his professional tone returning to him.
Vox looked at Valentino expectantly. He knew Vox was unable to eat or drink anything, to him this was all a show meant to get back into Valentino's good graces. Drumming his fingers on top of the table, Valentino thought for a moment, then he opened his mouth slowly and asked, "Why did you put us back here?"
Flamegan's fiery head flickered slightly in nervous confusion. "I'm sorry sir, is there something wrong with this table?"
"Yeah, I can't see the band," Valentino responded matter-of-factly.
"Oh! That's- that's all. I'm sorry I thought you would have preferred this table. After the last time, and that whole… incident with the last band, I assumed-"
Valentino cut him off, waving a hand in the air. "You thought. You assumed. You know there are plenty of demons who tried to do my thinking for me. Would you like to see where they are now?" He asked with a threatening smile.
Vox just sat back, trying to hide his amusement. He knew the game Valentino was playing, as he had done it plenty of times before. He had a natural sense for finding those demons whose wills are weaker, or more prone to terror, and he liked taking advantage of it. It's why his studios have a 100% hiring rate, with a 0% quit rate. Vox ran the numbers before, it was one of the many things that impressed him about his off-again, on-again partner.
Flamegan's flames flickered a bit more, his hands lowering as the pen and pad they carried combusted into ashes. He responded to Valentino, losing grasp of his professional demeanor, "I am so- so terribly sorry. You're right, I'll just get the band over here."
Flamegan turned away to go talk to the band, but stopped when he heard Valentino slam the palm of his hand onto the top of the table. "Oh?" Valentino asked menacingly. "And what about my order? You asked what I wanted to start, don't you want to hear it?"
Flamegan's flames were sputtering now, he was too afraid to turn and look at Valentino. He was flashing back to the last time Valentino was here. The band incident. When Valentino got up to go to the washroom he passed the fountain, and one of the players swung out and hit him right in the crotch with a violin, too focused on the music he was playing to notice his movements. They had to replace the entire fountain, and the band, after what he did to them. He looked around the restaurant for some form of salvation from his plight, but no one was paying attention to them; they were either too engrossed in their meals or tapping away on their phones waiting at their tables for food to come. He couldn't just ignore Valentino though, regardless of what may happen to him, he needed to turn around and face him.
As Flamegan was failing to find the strength to turn around, Vox sat up and audibly addressed Valentino, "Babe, cmon, you're terrorizing the poor man. Just give him your drink order already and let him get the band."
Valentino looked over at Vox in mock shock, "Vox! I can't believe you would accuse me of terrorizing such a fine businessman like Flamegan. I was merely teasing him, that's all."
"Uh-huh, why don't we ask him?" Turning in his seat, Vox addressed Flamegan now. "Hey Flame, you doin' alright?"
Slowly realizing Valentino wasn't serious when he made those threatening statements, Flamegan could feel his flames return to their normal size and consistency. Chuckling, he turned to the two of them with a flourish and, bowing, said, "Of course sirs, you were merely having some fun at my expense." His professional manner was back in full force.
Standing fully upright, he said to Valentino, "I apologize for my earlier behavior, so what is it you would like?"
Valentino sighed, slightly annoyed at Vox for putting an end to his fun. He quickly put it behind him, and said flippantly, "Whatever bottle of wine you've got that's sweet and expensive. Emphasis on expensive." He reiterated looking at Vox, fully expecting him to pay for everything.
The pen and pad materialized into Flamegan's hands once again, and he jotted it down quickly before ripping the written page out. This page was then consumed by blue flame, sending the order to the sommelier in the employee area to look for an "expensive, sweet wine". Then the pen and pad were burned by flames again as he took a bow towards Vox and Valentino, before he turned to go address the band to move their instruments in front of the couple.
Waiting until Flamegan was on the other side of the fountain, Valentino addressed Vox again. "Seriously though, why'd you put a stop to my fun? Since when did you have a soft spot for the help?" He nodded his head in the direction of their fiery waiter.
Vox chuckled and responded, "Don't get me wrong Val, I always love watching you torture people. It's way less messy than when I do it. But I got a whole day planned for us and I'd rather you didn't waste it twisting every little soul you find around your finger." Vox made a twirling motion with his finger as if to illustrate his point.
Smiling slightly, Valentino shrugged, saying, "Fair enough," accepting Vox's point.
Vox smiled back and said, "Besides, you torture Flamegan every time we come here, there'll be another time. Then I'll let you go as long as you want."
Valentino put a finger up to his mouth, teasing the corner of his lip. "Mmmm, I'll hold you to it Voxy."
Vox leaned back into his seat, getting comfortable. He watched as Flamegan brought the band around the fountain to play in front of them, while his mind started to wander.
So far, he thought to himself, everything has been going smoothly. Valentino was more quick to forgive me this time around, if his current mood is any indication. The trip here gave me time to soften it, as well as plan out the rest of our date. No further alarms at my tower means that Pentious, or that weird homeless clown, didn't come back. And speaking of Pentious, once this is taken care of I'll go straight to his shitty warehouse. I haven't decided yet on what I'll do to him, but I'm sure I'll think of something creative. All in all, this is a good start to the day.
Intruding on his thoughts, he felt a buzzing come from his left pants pocket. Blinking with mild surprise, he drifted his hand over it, confirming it was his phone. Normally Vox would take any calls through his person, as over the years he modified his body to allow as little need for external hardware as possible. But in cases like Valentino, he made sure that it was clear he was giving his full attention and not off doing something else in his internals, another lesson he had learned the hard way. So now, as his phone buzzed, Vox wondered who the hell was calling him?
Looking across at Valentino, he could see he was busy enjoying the band's music. And further back behind him, Vox could see Flamegan coming back with a tray carrying the wine he took from the sommelier. Valentino would be busy for a few moments. Tapping on his phone with a finger, the call jolted up to his monitor and he looked at the number. Reading the digits slowly to himself, he recognized it as a call coming from one of the studio CEOs. He gave the number to them for emergencies only. Thinking of the recent intrusions and attacks on his tower, his smile immediately turned as his imagination attempted to fill in the blanks.
Valentino, however, saw this change in expression as he turned away from the band to talk to Vox, and he asked, "What's up Voxy?"
Vox's attention shifted back to the restaurant, the call was silenced completely and hidden away from his main display. Shrugging, he covered for his change in expression replying, "Oh, it's just I saw the wine coming and I thought… wow that looks expensive." He chuckled nervously.
Valentino turned around to see Flamegan coming up on his shoulder, causing him to gasp an "oh!" in surprise. He set the bottle down on the table with a single glass, with them being regulars Flamegan knew about Vox's condition, and began opening the wine.
Valentino looked past Flamegan to Vox and said, "Indeed it does, I'll be sure to enjoy it." As Flamegan poured the wine, Valentino asked with a raised brow, "So why are you worried about the price? Trouble at the studios?"
God I hope not, Vox thought; then he said aloud, "No I got plenty of money babe, just wanted to make the comment that's all. Hey Flame, how much is this gonna break me exactly?"
Flamegan, setting the bottle back onto the table to reseal it, answered, "This is the finest vintage of Cherub Tears we own, sir. Dated at the time of the War in Heaven, they are sickly sweet, coming from the tears of cherubs who begged for their lives as they were killed by the invading demon armies that day. Bottled an-" Flamegan paused, looking at Vox's expression he could see he wasn't interested in the history of the wine, and he coughed slightly and meekly said, "It's $66,000 a bottle."
Vox let out an exaggerated whistle, "Yep, that'll definitely make a dent." He loudly patted the table with his hands a couple times, then he addressed Valentino, saying, "Alright Val, tell the man what you're hungry for." This would definitely buy him time to talk to the CEO calling him, Valentino never knew what to get right away.
Confirming this, Valentino said, "Alright." He turned to Flamegan, "I hope you don't mind waiting a bit, I haven't quite decided what I wanted."
Flamegan shook his head, "It's no problem at all sir, take as long as you need."
As they were working through his order, Vox froze his display again so no one could see the call as he took it. Pulling up his phone, he saw he had missed several calls from the CEO trying to reach him. Pulling it up, he called back and got an answer before the first dial-tone even started.
"Mr. Vox?! Can you hear me sir?!" The voice on the other end sounded frantic, his breathing came in gasps between sentences.
Vox, confused, calmly responded, "Umm, yeah it's me, it's my number who else would it be? Why the fuck are you calling?"
He could hear the voice get shaky as the person on the phone tried to calm down, "The-there's a maniac running around killing everyone in the production lots! I was trying to- to see how one of the new sitcoms was coming along, boost morale for the crew y'know? And he- he just shows up and puts a bullet through the two main cast members!"
The voice paused for a moment, only his slow deep breaths could be heard over the phone. Vox took this moment to ask, "So some asshole comes barging in, kills two of your cast members, and you decide that this is worth my time? If I wasn't currently occupied we'd be having a long talk that would most likely end in me killing you."
"N-no sir! That isn't all…" They drifted off again, but after a moment they continued, their voice choking up as they spoke. "When he did this most of the crew bolted, those he couldn't get to fast enough at least. But the audience? The audience didn't even fucking move. They just sat there and watched, laughing. Oh god their faces sir. It was like the laughter was killing them, blood was… and their skin… fuck-"
Vox listened on, slightly disturbed. When he heard about the audience though, something clicked in his head. What he saw when he spied on Rosie's territory, were the Smile murders spreading? Was the killer in his studios, now?! Vox gritted his teeth, now realizing this was worthy of his time, and told the voice, "Activate the security bots, make sure they aren't set to lethal. I want him alive for when I return later. Am I understood?"
He could hear the person breathing for a few moments, then they said, "The security bots! Of course, right, I'll just… get on that…"
They paused and there was a silence between them for a couple seconds. Aggravated, Vox groaned and asked, "Where are you right now?"
"I managed to get away, and I locked myself inside one of the studio buildings sir," they answered.
"Good for you, look for a big red fucking button by the front door covered by glass, every building has this. That will summon the security robots to your location. Hold it for three seconds, that'll tell the bots to use non-lethal rounds. If you just press the button they'll swarm in to kill any threats they find. I'll repeat again, three seconds, do not fuck this up," Vox said emphasizing 'not'.
"Because if I come back and he's dead, you're going in his place. Now am I understood?" Vox asked threateningly.
"P-perfectly sir," the voice said, then hung up. Vox wanted to punch something. If he wasn't preoccupied with catering to Valentino's every want just to appease him he would be at his tower right now taking care of this. Instead he has to sit here and hope everything isn't burned to the ground by the time he gets back.
It should be fine though, Vox thought, I designed the security system and it's flawless. There's no way he'll be able to withstand my machines. He'll be stopped soon enough, and whatever damage the Smile killer caused can be fixed. Hell, maybe I'll tell Rosie once he's apprehended. I'm sure she'll be more than happy to tear this guy apart, within reason of course, can't have him die too soon. After fucking with two overlords? His pain is going to last.
Resurfacing to the view of the restaurant and unfreezing his monitor, Vox could see that Valentino had just wrapped up giving his order to Flamegan. The order note combusted in yellow flame, being teleported to the chefs, then Flamegan bowed and walked away to attend to the other waiting customers.
Valentino sighed and looked at Vox, "That took me a bit, they have a lot of good food here, it was almost impossible to choose. I know I said this already, but I can only hope you planned the rest of the day to be as good as this." Valentino delicately picked up his wine glass filled with Cherub Tears and drank it slowly, staring at Vox while doing so.
Vox could feel his eye twitch being reminded he was stuck with Valentino the whole day. Usually he wouldn't mind, but after that phone call the reminder felt like a painful jab to his ribs more than a loving remark. But he assured himself that his security was more than enough to handle one person; there would be no need to attend to this issue in person as of now. Even if he had to, there was no way Valentino would be happy about it. Because when it came to Valentino, there was no priority higher than him.
Even if all the Exterminators in Heaven stabbed spears through your chest Voxy, should I call on you, you will answer. When Valentino first told Vox this he thought he was just putting on an intimidating personality to be sexy, but current experience has made him learn otherwise. And yet, despite this, Vox loved him, although he finds himself questioning that more than a few times.
Smiling at Valentino, Vox replied, "Don't worry babe, we're gonna have a lot of fun tonight. You won't regret it." He said these words, hoping he wouldn't come to regret them.