Alastor stood in the parlor during Charlie's activity this morning. The lesser demons sat and lounged around discussing frivolous nonsense with each other while he stood behind them smiling and silent. Alastor never understood how these demons took their eternity worrying about things that didn't matter or things that were impossible. He could see and hear it all from where he stood. Some focused on who liked them, some on who had the latest gadgets, and others stuck on love, of all things. No no, none of these crossed Alastor's mind in centuries. The only thing on his mind these days was power, how to gain it, and how to keep it. However, his thoughts had been clogged somewhat lately. A very pleasant aroma wafted through the halls occasionally, it was most pungent at night when the halls were quiet and still. A scent that was vaguely familiar, and he longed to smell it more. When sniffing, the scent led him to her. The doe that made it her mission to get under his skin. He thought that someone who was such a docile animal, especially the same animal as him, wouldn't be such a challenge. The way she walked around as if she owned the world, the way she challenged him; if it were any other demon, they'd be ripped in half, inside his stomach, or at best running for their lives. But her. The scent made her invincible to him. It pained him to allow such disrespect, but the scent was something he enjoyed too much to let die.
That and the shine of her bright red curls in the light, the way her spots were scattered amongst her face, or perhaps the shape of her differently-hued lips. These were things he found himself observing on occasion; every time she was in his line of sight. As of right now she is sitting and conversing with the spider, most likely about something foolish, like what videos she had posted on her tiny screen. Alastor, however, found himself staring at the young doe, zeroing in on her features, each of them independently, and how they all came together to make up her face. He studied her, how she moved, how she spoke, how she dressed. It was all captivating to him, she was beautiful, like sitting in New Orleans and looking up at the stars in the night sky. He wondered if she knew this, and that was why she continued to push his buttons, or if she simply had impertinence etched into her soul. It was unclear, which one was fact or which he would prefer. He supposed he liked that about her, the thing that annoyed him the most. He was unsure of what this sensation would be called, but it burned in his chest and demanded to be felt.
When he'd heard her with Lucifer, talking and giggling like children, he felt the sensation spread to his fingertips, spurring him to action. But what to do? What could he have done? Barge into the study and demand that the conversation cease? He had no definable motives or any claim on this doe, just this constant burning.
Her eyes flitted up for a moment, catching him staring and boring right back into him. Alastor widened his grin and she squinted her eyes as if studying him the way he studied her. She looked him up and down before returning her eyes to the spider, continuing to speak. Although Alastor was unsure of these..feelings, the one thing he did know was that he had never experienced disrespect to the degree that he had from her; and it wasn't clear to him if he disliked it.
Once again 9 AM sharp was what her boss had demanded and 9 AM sharp was when she arrived. After being led upstairs by Melissa, the assistant told her
"They're waiting for you behind this door,"
Who's they? Upon opening the door she got her answer. There sat her boss, the creepy moth man Valentino, and another gentleman with a flat-screen TV as a face. He wore a blue and black striped suit, that reminded her a lot of Alastor's, only less ripped at the bottom, with no flare.
"Velvette? What's going on?" she asked as her boss approached her
She grabbed the doe's shoulders and gestured to the guests "I'm sure you know my companions. You've met Valentino and this is Vox. They have requested to speak with you today. And they better make it quick!" She gave them an evil eye before returning to her seat amongst them.
"Hello, my dear! You must be Voe! I am Vox, as you heard. A pleasure to meet you!" he sticks out his hand and offers a wide bright blue grin. Voe takes the man's hand and shakes it "Sit, please sit." He gestures to where he was sitting before, in between Velvette and Valentino. Voe takes a moment to regard the seat, before taking it, scooching as close to Velvette as possible. "How are you this fine Hellish morning? I hope Velvette has been treating you nicely." she opens her mouth to speak, but Vox keeps barreling on. "We've noticed that you've been staying at the 'Hazbin Hotel' since you've gotten to Hell, yes?"
Voe looks around to see if she's allowed to answer this one "Yes."
"And you know of Alastor, yes?"
"The Radio Demon," Valentino offers in a sultry tone, leaning down into her ear
"Yes…?"
"Lovely! We've seen your content and we are well aware of what a firecracker you can be! And we think that we have the perfect side job for you."
Voe tilts her head to the side, intrigued and confused. Was her job not to model?
"We see so much potential in you Voe, we can see your face on posters, walls, TV screens, anything you name it! What do you want?"
She sat to think as Vox's wide smile beckoned her in "I want…to be on a billboard."
"We can get you on every billboard in Hell, my dear! You'll be the biggest celebrity that Hell has ever seen! If, you can do us the smallest little favor."
Her eyes were wide now, his promises of glory hooking her right in "What's that?"
Vox looks up at Valentino and Velvette, both of them matching his sinister grin "We just need some…information, from you."
"Mhmm?"
"Information, on Alastor.
"Information on Alastor? Like what?"
Vox strolls around the studio, his arms behind his back "Oh nothing major, just little tidbits here and there, funny little things. Like the things you mentioned in your live." He peers at her over his shoulder
"Just like stuff I know about him? I don't really know anything about him. Other than him being a lame fossil."
The three Vees chuckle, as though they're charmed by her antics "Then get to know him hermosa," Valentino puts his finger under her chin "he's just a man, and you're a fully blossomed flower. it should be muy fácil for you." He blows smoke from his lit cigarette in her face.
She shakes away the smoke but feels a lot looser and less…tense "What should I do?" Her eyes glazed over a bit
Vox's voice turns deep and silky as he approaches her face "Anything, you need to."
Wandering through the hotel at night after Velvette runs through all her plans for the new line, Voe is shocked at the stillness of the hotel. She was used to it being loud and filled to the brim with sinners, but now the parlor was dark and so was the grand staircase. She was usually in her room at this time listening to her music, and the echoes of silence were quite off-putting and sent waves of anxiety through her body. It was almost a relief to hear the subtle sound of violent scraping somewhere in the hotel. A sign that something, anything was alive at this hour. She approached the elevator to get to her room as quickly as possible when her nose caught the scent of something delicious. Her fingers hovered over the buttons as she debated which direction to go in. On the elevator or up the stairs. In the end, the scent won out and up the stairs, she went.
Following her nose, she finds Alastor, with his antlers extended and dragging them against one of the walls. He huffs in frustration, scraping them harder. He looked exhausted and almost seemed like he was sweating, something Voe wasn't even sure the Radio Demon could do. She thought about whether or not to approach him, almost turning away, but he seemed somewhat tortured, a state she had never seen him in. She betrayed her instincts yet again and found herself coming closer and closer to Alastor.
"Are you okay?" She asks, disrupting him from his thoughts. He scoffs and turns to face her.
"What are you doing here? I do not need your insolence today."
"I smelled something." She walks toward him "I'm being sincere. I know it's hard to tell the difference."
He grits his teeth "I am fine."
"You don't look it. You look like you need help."
"I do not require assistance. Especially not from you!" He hisses at her
Voe holds up her hands in surrender "Okay. You 'do not require assistance', fine. But there's nobody here who knows more about deer than me." A low growl is caught in his throat. "Your velvet is itching right?" He shifts his eyes, not wanting to give her the satisfaction of being correct. "You should scrape them on a tree, because not only are the walls not hard enough, but you can see the scrape marks." They both look at the spot where he had been previously scraping, seeing large scratches in the wood. "Welp, Vaggie isn't gonna like that." She turns back to him "You have trees in your room right? Why don't you do it there?"
"How do you know that?"
She shrugs "Vaggie said something about it and I like to collect facts."
He stares, reevaluating her with the given information. "How do you know so much about this?"
"Like I said, I like to collect facts." She grins "Especially about deer." She looks up at him before he starts to grin himself "Not because of you." She corrects him "They just happen to be my favorite animal. I knew a lot about them, even before I became one." He looks her up and down once more.
"Also, you know you could scrape that off with a knife right?" She turns back the way she came, satisfied with her contribution. "By the way, unrelated, but I've been wanting to tell you that I like your hair."
He raises a brow seeming confused "Have people been saying things about my hair?"
She tosses over her shoulder "Oh nothing, just that it's a fuck ass bob,"
Walking away, she remembered the request that the Vees had given her. 'Get information out of Alastor'? This moment hadn't been calculated, she was mostly eager to share her knowledge, but she wondered if she could use this moment as a springboard into something juicier. What are a few conversations for eternal fame in all of Hell? She did say she liked to collect facts.
The next night, she found herself in his orbit once more when he decided to cook again, this time absent of the usual gang that populated the area. He was alone today, humming to himself as he casually mixed and prepared ingredients as though he were painting a portrait. He wasn't wearing his coat this time which Voe found surprising, most likely indicating that he was feeling comfortable, which would be the best time to get information from him.
"Hi," she stated from across the room
Alastor's ears twitched in her direction before he looked up and saw her. His body is frozen as his eyes flitted towards his coat, debating whether or not to put it on, but Voe just walks up to him before he has the chance.
"Nice vest," she smiles as she examines it further. It was solid red, with no stripes like his coat "And yes, I'm being sincere once again,"
He squints at her "Why are you being sincere all of a sudden?" he places the lid on his pan "Any other day you'd be insulting me. What's changed?" He slips on his coat and grabs his cane, without taking his eyes off the doe.
"You know I'm not out to get you, right? I just like ruffling your feathers a little" she smiles coyly
Alastor twirls his cane with a closed-lipped smile, looking all over her face. He remains silent for a few moments, piping back up with "What could you have done to end up here? It can't be that serious."
"Why not?"
"Can I guess? I love to guess!" he exclaimed, clapping his hands together.
"Sure," she replied with a smile.
"Murdered the homecoming queen?" he guessed.
"What? No," Voe smirked. "I'm 27. Also, I was the homecoming queen."
Alastor's eyebrows raised and he leaned forward on his cane. "Slept with somebody's husband?"
Voe was both shocked and amused. "Ha! No."
His grin turned more sly. "Slept with somebody's wife?" Voe looks away and doesn't answer. "Ahh," he said, twirling his cane. "Caught you."
"A lot of somebody's," Voe admitted.
"You're a lot more interesting than I assumed," Alastor said.
Voe waved him off. "I also have this tendency to make people's lives miserable. But those people deserved it."
"I see you and I are quite alike now that I know more about you," Alastor concluded.
"You didn't realize that when you saw that we're the same animal?"
And the next morning when Charlie had everyone down for her morning activity, Voe came down at her own time and pace when the Princess called out to her
"Voe! Did you want to participate today?" Vaggie whispered in her girlfriend's ear "I mean, no! Get over here girlie! It's time for an activity!" Vaggie nods in pride
"Okay," Voe responds, going over and sitting down on the parlor couch
"Okay! So today's activity we're going to have you all partner up "
Each of the residents scrambles to partner with each of their friends. Vaggie claps her hands and speaks out over the crowd "No no NO! You're NOT picking your partners. You're all going to draw names out of a hat!"
The demons grunt and groan, sitting back down in their spots. Alastor is sitting in his usual chair, his leg up exposing the bottoms of his shoes. They looked like deer tracks. Voe smiles, thinking it was cute.
"Amused?" he smirks himself before Charlie speaks again
"All right, everyone! Come on up!"
They all get into a line, except for Alastor, who doesn't move from his seat. When Voe reaches the front of the line, going into the hat and pulling out a name "Alastor!" she turns to him "Excellent!"
His eyes widen in confusion "I was not aware that I would be participating this morning Princess," his voice icy
"Well," Charlie glances at Vaggie, who nods "You are." her smile, somewhat asking for approval
"Fair enough," he says
"Here's your sheet! Go get to know your new friend!"
"Oh I will," she smirks at the princess
The two deer sat in front of each other in the empty parlor, the other residents taking their partners to other places.
"What a coincidence that we keep running into each other," Her voice is sultry, appreciative of the coincidence
"I suppose it is," his tone was less than pleasant, telling Voe that she still needed to crack him like a nut
Voe looks down at the sheet "So apparently we're meant to ask each other these questions. So…what's your favorite color?" She looks up, her eyes wide with innocence, batting her lashes "I think I have a hunch, but I'd like to hear what you have to say,"
"Blue," he says with a smirk on his face
Voe raises her brow "Really?"
His smirk grows "No,"
"So it's red, yes?"
"Red as blood, my dear."
"My favorite color is pink!" She sits up straight
"It suits you,"
At that moment, things started to make sense to Voe. Why hadn't she thought of it before? She stared at the Radio Demon over her glasses, his smile stayed intact, while his eyes conveyed confusion. Valentino was correct, he was…just a man.
Her eyelids lower and her smile turns flirty. "Thank you. The red is absolutely your color."
Alastor raises an eyebrow "Excuse me?"
"The red is your color," she repeats "It looks good on you,"
"Well thank you…I suppose?" He tilts his head "Are you well?"
"Quite." she leans forward "Let's disregard the sheet. What would you like to talk about?"
"Whether or not you've had an accident," he stares at her as if she's lost her mind. He sits up "Oh I understand, you're trying to mess with me."
She leans back "Why do you think that?" he stares as though it should be obvious "What?"
"Darling, you can't fool me. You're up to something."
"Oh, I wouldn't even think of fooling you. That would be fruitless anyway." she waves off the thought
"I am deeply offended by your lies. And at the insult to my intelligence."
She blinks, betraying no emotion "I'm sorry you feel that way, but what exactly do you believe I would have to gain by lying to you?"
"Seeing my downfall? I am aware that you work for the Vees."
She brushes him off "Oh that? That has nothing to do with this. I'm not even under a contract."
He lowers the pitch of his voice "I don't like being lied to."
"Well that's something I didn't know about you, good job!" she smirks again
"I think we should stick to the worksheet,"
"Really?"
"What's your favorite thing to do?" he questions her
She taps her chin "Do you want the PG answer or the explicit answer?"
"I want the truth.
She shrugs "Okay. My favorite thing to do is have sex with women. Or listen to music, depends on the day."
"I take it you've had sexual relations with women recently?"
She purses her lips "Nope. I've restrained myself."
"Very good."
She stares at him "Your turn."
"I suppose my favorite thing to do is broadcast the screams of my victims on my radio show," He shrugs with a cocky grin
"Ah, yes that is your thing," She stares at his face "Do you dislike me?"
"No." He states plainly "You seem to dislike me,"
"Of course not. I just like playing games. I have no reason to dislike you."
"You think it's okay to play games with someone you don't know?"
"You seem like a man who enjoys games,"
"I play games, but not with petty children."
"Good thing neither of us is one of those," her smile is passive-aggressive
"Sure."
She leans back on the couch "I'm offending at you thinking that I'm a liar. When have I ever not spoken my mind?"
"Whenever it may not serve you to do so?" His smile widens further and his eyes grow tense
She could see that it would be harder to break him than the other men she had toyed with in the past, he was much smarter, brain not crowded by thoughts of sex. But every man has an ego, and the Radio Demon's might just be the largest one Voe had ever encountered. When your ego is that large, you do more to protect it, and all that means is that it takes a little more effort to break it.