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Val gets a text from Vox while he’s in the middle of his nightly face-washing routine.
Can you come down to my lab? it says. Always short and sweet and to the point. Always direct.
Val frowns at his phone, frustrated in Vox’s reluctance to spruce up his texts with so much as an emoji to make them feel more personal. He’s asked Vox several times to at least try and be a little bit more romantic or at the very least friendly, but trying to get through to Vox is like trying to bust through a brick wall. He doesn’t let anyone inside, not even Val, but that hasn’t stopped Val from trying anyway.
I need your help with something.
Val splashes warm water on his face and reads the incoming text with a roll of his eyes. Not even a please, Voxxy? Tsk, tsk. Someone needs to learn some manners.
Val takes his time responding. He dries his face and moisturizes, and then slips on a pair of comfortable leggings and a tight-fitting tank top. He looks like a bum, but if Vox isn’t going to bother with pleasantries, Val doesn’t see why he should have to either.
Cumming 💦👅 , Val replies, smirking at his own joke. He saunters into the elevator in his apartment and presses the button that will take him to Vox’s subterranean lab. It’s a short trip, but long enough for Val to get slightly annoyed at Vox’s lack of response to his message.
He didn’t even bother to ha ha react it like a normal person. He just left Val on read. Fucking typical.
The door to Vox’s lab is closed when Val gets there. The robotic sharks in the surrounding tank of their subterranean lair circle the space like mindless vultures, but Val barely notices them. He knows that their purpose is to alert Vox of a visitors arrival, so he isn’t surprised when he reaches the end of the long corridor leading towards Vox’s lab and the double doors slide open with a whir to let him in.
Val audibly gasps when he walks through the doors. Vox is suspended off of the ground in a mechanism that looks like something out of a science fiction film. There are wires everywhere; thick cords connected to the back of Vox’s head and thin wires running out of his spine. The whole room is illuminated in bright blue and white, and there’s a faint buzzing sound coming from one of the dozens of monitors around them.
Vox is shirtless, but that’s not what makes Val gasp. It’s the fact that Vox’s chest is open, split down the middle and splayed out on either side of him, with the inner workings of his ribcage exposed and pulsating with a glowing neon light. Val didn’t know that it could do that. He knew that Vox was mostly wires on the inside, but he didn’t know that Vox’s chest was capable of opening up like the hood of a car.
“Oh,” Val breathes, taking it all in. “ Vox. ”
Val’s mouth is suddenly dry and he licks his lips, eyes going wide at the sight in front of him. Vox is beautiful like this; open and exposed, his chest giving of a heat that Val can feel from the doorway. He steps all the way inside and closes the doors behind him with the button on the side, unwilling to share the view with a single other soul. Vox glances over at him, and waves a screwdriver to beckon Val closer.
“Good,” Vox says, all casual like he isn’t the most beautiful thing that Val has ever laid eyes on. “You’re here. Can you grab that microchip for me? I was an idiot and attached myself before making sure I had everything I needed and this thing is a bitch and a half to get down from.”
Val stares at him.
“What?” Vox asks, looking genuinely confused as to why Val hasn’t moved. Does he not realize how good he looks like this?
“I’ve never seen your wires before,” Val explains, swallowing. His eyes trail from Vox’s chest down towards his waist, where his pants are still (unfortunately) on. “It’s quite the sight, mi amor.”
Vox blinks, like he’s trying to decide if Val is fucking with him or not, and then he rolls his eyes. “Ha ha, very funny asshole,” Vox says, not getting it. “Could you grab that chip and bring it over here already? I don’t exactly love being restrained like this.”
That’s true, Val thinks, since their roles are usually reversed. Val is usually the one who ends up tied up and unable to move.
See, the thing about Vox is that he’s still struggling with earthly stereotypes. Val has lectured him on toxic masculinity several times, and they’re making progress, but Vox still has a lot of preconceptions about sexual dynamics and their implications.
It drives Val fucking insane.
The fact that they’ve been sleeping together for decades and Vox only just started using the word “queer” to describe himself in the last ten years only serves as proof of Val’s frustrations. The sex they have is good — it’s fantastic, even; Vox is a very passionate lover and kinky as all sin. But if Vox were to let go of those preconceptions about masculinity in the bedroom, if he were to trust Valentino to know what feels good, their sex could be out of this fucking world.
It’s not often that Val finds himself in the position to press his agenda like this. He doesn’t want to miss out on the opportunity.
Smirking, Val approaches the table and picks up the chip. It’s small and fits nicely in the palm of his hand, and he turns it over before slowly making his way over towards where Vox is waiting for him. Vox’s waist is restrained by a small strip of metal. The mechanism doesn’t exactly look comfortable, but Val assumes that wasn’t the intention when Vox designed it.
“What exactly does this chip do?” Val asks, holding it up. He isn’t very tech savvy — at least not in a way that matters. He knows how to work his personal devices, but when it comes to the inner workings and programming, it might as well all be gibberish. This is all Vox’s specialty. Val’s little genius.
“It should speed up my processing power when I’m communicating through multiple devices,” Vox explains. “I’m tired of hearing complaints from people out in the Doomsday District that there’s a lag in my announcements. With that chip installed, I should, in theory, be able to reach as far down as the wrath ring, not that there’d be any real way of knowing.”
Val can’t help but smile. It’s so fucking cute when Vox talks about technology.
“Fancy,” Val says. He’s closer now, and he has a better view of Vox’s chest. The inner workings of Vox’s body are fascinating, and Val can’t help but stare at the intricate wires that glow and thrum with the beat of Vox’s heart.
“You weren’t kidding,” Vox says, suddenly. Val pulls his eyes away from Vox’s open chest cavity to meet Vox’s piercing blue stare. “You actually think I look good like this?”
It’s a genuine question, and Val feels obligated to answer honestly.
“Can you blame me? You’re not usually one to open up to people, Voxxy baby. Is it so strange that I’d enjoy seeing you like this? With all of your beautiful complexity laid out for the world to see?” Val is a romantic; he can’t help himself. He reaches out a hand, slowly in case Vox wants to stop him, towards the glowing wires.
Vox grabs his wrist.
“Not the world,” Vox says, eyes glued to Val’s face. “Just you.”
It isn’t often that anyone can stun Val to silence. It’s been several decades of the two of them doing this song and dance, but Vox still somehow manages to steal Val’s breath away. Val is one of the most powerful overlords in Hell, and yet he’s disarmed completely by a look and a few choice words.
The chip is still in one of Val’s hands and he holds it up again, drawing Vox’s hypnotic stare from Val’s face and over towards the small piece of metal.
“Can I help?” Val asks, careful not to sound too eager. This is uncharted territory for them, and he doesn’t want Vox to panic.
Vox looks from the chip back towards Val’s face and then at the chip again. His grip on Val’s wrist tightens for a second and then loosens, and he sighs before nodding.
“You need to follow my directions exactly,” Vox says, his voice taut with warning.
“Of course, baby,” Val teases, unable to contain his excitement. “I wouldn’t ever hurt you without your express permission.”
Which is true, but Val doesn’t add the fact that Vox is probably the only soul in Hell that that’s the case for. Normally, Val revels in causing harm to others — especially when they don’t want it. He gets off on it. With Vox, though, it’s a little different.
Call it a soft spot, but Val prefers that Vox enjoy their encounters together. It makes things better for both of them when the pleasure is mutual.
Vox exhales slowly and then gestures towards his open chest cavity with the screwdriver that Val didn’t realize he was still holding. “There’s a small, black box just to the left of my heart,” Vox tells him. “If you press it, it will open up and there’s a place where you can put that chip in. It’s not difficult, but I don’t think I need to tell you twice that the throbbing blue thing beside it is my heart, which I need in order to function properly. It’s protected, but it would still hurt like a bitch if you touch it.”
Val peers into Vox’s chest. He’s closer now, and with permission to look, Val steals a second to take it all in. Vox’s inner workings are a technological masterpiece. The fact that Val knows that he did most of this work himself makes it all the more impressive. The wires buzz with energy, and if Val didn’t know any better, he’d think that they were alive. Then, Val sees it.
Vox’s heart.
His own heart jumps at the sight of it. He’s never seen something so beautiful. Vox’s heart is protected by a metal cage, but is still visible. It’s bright blue and gorgeous; beating like a drum whose sound is music to Val’s ears. That’s Vox’s heart, Val realizes, Vox is letting him see his fucking heart.
It’s the most beautifully intimate moment of Val’s entire life.
Beside Vox’s heart is the small box that Vox told him about. Val reaches a hand inwards, and Vox tenses as he moves. Val is careful not to bump anything. He presses on the box and it clicks open, revealing a slot for Val to slip the chip into. He can’t believe how close he is to Vox’s heart, how easily he could reach out and touch it if he wanted to. Vox is trusting him completely, and it’s a strange and unexpected step up in their relationship that Val hadn’t been prepared for.
They’ve been together for a long, long time. There isn’t a label on what they are — they aren’t boyfriends, not really, they’re too messy for something so formal, and too serious for something so casual. What they are is bigger than that, more complex than that. Val doesn’t think there’s a word for when you’re so intertwined in someone’s entire being that you can’t imagine a version of yourself without them. They’re push and pull, night and day, the moon and the fucking tides or something cheesy like that. They exist within each other’s orbit, and one can’t function in this world without the other. It’s not even romantic, it’s just reality.
Val didn’t know what he was missing until he found Vox. It was like finally finding his other half and feeling whole for the first time. Yeah — they fight. And yeah — those fights can get fucking violent and cruel. But they always come back to each other. Always. Every time.
Val didn’t know that they were the kind of couple who could still have “firsts.” They’ve been together long enough that they’ve really done it all; or so Val thought. This? Getting to see inside of Vox, being trusted with something so delicate, so dangerous, is a first.
By allowing Val to do this, Vox is giving Val his full and complete trust. He’s telling Val that he loves him with his actions rather than his words. The sentimentality of it all is almost enough to make Val cry.
Almost.
Val slides the chip into place. It makes a soft clicking sound and then all of the wires glow a bright white, and Vox’s face glitches out for a moment, before everything returns back to normal. Val smiles in satisfaction at a job well done, but as he starts to pull his hand back, he accidentally nudges one of Vox’s wires with his index finger.
The response is… unexpected.
Vox makes a noise at the contact, but it isn’t a noise of pain. It’s a noise that Val is all too familiar with, one Val has heard in their bedroom or through sexy voice notes Vox sends him when he’s enjoyed the show Val puts on for him with the souls on his chain. Val is a professional porn director and former porn star, he knows a moan when he hears one.
Vox stares at Val, eyes going wide.
Val’s mouth is suddenly dry again. “Did that…”
Vox nods and swallows. “Yeah,” he says, looking as bewildered as Val feels. “Yeah it did.”
Experimentally, and slowly just in case Vox wants to stop him, Val moves his hand to caress another wire. He runs the pad of his finger over the smooth, pulsing cord, and feels Vox start to shudder almost immediately at the contact.
Oh.
Oh, this is new.
Feeling a little more confident in the effect it seems to be having, Val starts to stroke the wire with a little more force. He presses down, and feels the heat rushing through it. Vox moans again and slumps forward, steadying himself on the broad expanse of Val’s shoulders.
“Fuck,” Vox grunts, and his speech is garbled and distorted. The sound of it does something to Val, and makes his cock jump where it’s already starting to get hard beneath the tightness of his leggings.
“Oh, yeah?” Val coos, moving closer. At this angle, he has easy access to Vox’s neck. With one of his free hands, Val reaches up and cups the side of Vox’s face and pulls him down a little bit closer before leaning in to lick a stripe up the exposed skin of Vox’s jugular. As he does it, as his tongue savors the salty taste of Vox’s throat, his fingers make quick work of stimulating Vox’s wires inside of his chest.
Vox cries out, and his hands start shaking where they’re holding onto Val for dear life. Val has never seen him like this. He’s never seen Vox come apart so easily, to lose himself in the feeling of being touched. Val usually has to work much harder to get Vox to show any kind of emotion in the bedroom. Though, that’s in part because Vox has absolutely refused to bottom for Val the entire time they’ve been sleeping together.
Maybe what Vox needed all along was to finally let Val inside of him.
This isn’t quite how Val pictured it, but it’s a start. Val kisses the spot where he’s just licked, and then he brushes his teeth along the sensitive skin. Vox gasps and then starts to dig his fingers into Val’s shoulders, but he doesn’t give any indication that he wants Val to stop. Val moves his hand so that his thumb can join the party in stimulating Vox’s wires. He takes the wire he’s been playing with and pinches it between his thumb and index finger and begins twisting it.
Vox comes undone. He curses loudly and moans, and Val pulls away enough to get a good look at the very obvious hard-on his partner is sporting in his pants. Vox’s cock looks painfully hard, straining against the dark blue fabric. Val, happy to have several hands with which he can work his magic, does Vox the favor of setting it free.
He undoes Vox’s belt, slides down his pants and underwear in one go, and then takes Vox’s cock into one of his hands. Vox is still restrained; he’s still attached to the mechanism and suspended a few feet above the ground, so Val doesn’t have to struggle to pleasure his partner in every way he knows how.
It’s strange, being in this position of power with Vox for the first time. They’ve fucked around with their dynamics a little bit in the past, but never anything like this. Vox’s cock is already leaking; desperate for stimulation that only Val knows how to give him.
Val slips his middle finger in and starts fingering Vox’s wires the way he might finger Vox’s hole; working each one with a firm but gentle touch. This close, Val can still see Vox’s heart, and with each brush of his fingers on Vox’s wires, his heart beats faster.
Val can’t help but stare at the tangible proof of his ability to make Vox feel something. He can see Vox’s heart, pounding out of control as Vox touches him. He can hear the steady beat of it pick up and become more erratic, more desperate. It’s the hottest sound Val has ever heard, and he wishes he could commit it to memory.
Val moves Vox’s face so that their eyes meet. Vox looks like he’s been punched, his pupils are blown wide and his mouth is open. He searches Val’s face, lips trembling like there’s something he wants to say but can’t find the words. Val doesn’t need to hear them though, not out loud.
He already knows.
So he steals the unsaid words from Vox’s tongue with a kiss. The feeling of their lips touching sets Val on fire, and he quickens his pace, fucking his fingers through Vox’s insides with purpose. Vox moans into Val’s mouth and Val swallows every precious sound, and then, with his final free hand, Vox pulls his own cock from his leggings.
It’s impressive, even for him, the position they end up in. Vox is restrained, and his hands are still digging into Val’s shoulders because he needs something to hold onto where he’s still suspended from the mechanism. Val’s four hands are all busy: one hand is buried deep within the glowing space of Vox’s chest, fucking his wires and twisting them around his fingers, the second one is grasped around Vox’s cock, stroking him fast and hard through the pleasure, the third is cupping Vox’s jaw tenderly, holding him in place, and the fourth hand is hard at work jerking himself off.
It might be the hottest thing Val has ever done.
Being inside of Vox like this is intoxicating. The more Val fingers his wires, the hotter they burn beneath his touch.
“Val,” Vox pants, sounding completely wrecked. “Fuck, Val—”
Val can feel Vox’s climax building in the way all of his wires start to hum. He can feel it in the way Vox’s cock starts to twitch in his hand with every stroke. Val smirks and pulls away and then, without even thinking about it, he leans down to lick at one of Vox’s wires.
That does the trick. Vox cums hard into Val’s hand with a shout. He crumples over and rests his head against his own arm, still using Val to keep himself from collapsing completely. He cums in hot, sticky bursts that coat Val’s hand. Val releases him and raises his hand to his lips to lick the cum from his palm like a prize for a job well done. The salty tang of Vox’s release on his tongue is enough to push Val over the edge, and he cums with a quiet moan, letting his eyes roll back as he splatters himself against the crumbled heap of Vox’s slacks that are still pooled at Vox’s ankles.
Carefully, Val pulls his hand out of Vox’s chest. Vox is still catching his breath, fingers digging hard enough to have left a mark and drawn blood from Val’s shoulder. He’s an absolute mess, and Val feels a smug sense of satisfaction at the realization that he was able to do that to him.
“That was fun,” Val says, breaking the silence.
Vox snorts, coming back to himself a little, and then starts to pull himself back into an upright position. He hits a button on the mechanism, and lowers himself down to the ground. Val takes a few steps back and puts his cock back into his leggings.
Vox extracts himself from the mechanism, and then cracks his neck before closing his chest cavity. It seals itself up seamlessly, and if Val hadn’t just been buried inside of it, he wouldn’t know that it was capable of opening up at all.
Val approaches Vox to press a kiss to the side of his head once Vox has pulled his own pants back on. There’s a stain on the left leg where Val made a mess of himself, and Vox stares at it and then snorts again before leaning into Val’s touch.
“Not how I was expecting tonight to go, but I’m not complaining,” Vox says, reaching an arm up over his head to stretch. “You know, I have a few other access ports we could fuck with in the future if you were into that.”
Val pulls away to properly gape at his partner. “Are you kidding? Uh, yes , I was into that. I was very into that. Who knew wires could be so sexy?”
Vox shrugs. “Who knew there were kinks you had yet to discover.”
Val laughs at that. “Oh, Voxxy baby, there are always new kinks to discover.”
Val stays in the lab for a little while longer, and waits for Vox to finish his work. He doesn’t bother scolding him or complaining about his earlier misstep with his neglectful texting; he doesn’t think he needs to anymore. Tonight was a major milestone for them, even if Vox doesn’t realize it.
Tonight, for the first time, Vox trusted Val enough to let him inside — in more ways than one.