Work Text:
It all started on a normal afternoon at 5:30pm, Alastor was making a fresh cup of coffee when he got a ring on his doorbell, for it was his friend Vox, adjusting his hat slightly as he waited for his friend to answer his repetitive ringing, almost holding his first out to knock.
"Oh- Hey Al! I was just wondering if you wanted to grab some drinks at the bar later, maybe at 6? I know you don't have a telephone, so I thought I'd just come and ask!"
"I mean, unless you don't want to- or if you're busy- then it's fine!!"
He was smiling, almost beaming awaiting Alastor's answer, his antenna created soft little shockwaves between each other as he swayed on his feet, fiddling with his claws.
"Hmm, I suppose I have the time pal, I'll be there, same spot as we usually sit- am I correct?"
Alastor hums softly as he fiddles with his doorknob, watching Vox's whole face light up at the acceptance of his words, practically shaking from excitement. It seems he has something special because he's usually a little calmer, but Alastor didn't really care.
"Yes! Yes- the same spot as always!! I've got exciting news that would be better over drinks, you know what I'm saying? OK I don't want to spoil it, I'm going to go and get ready, bye!"
Vox practically exclaimed as he waved and jogged back to his car, it was a dingy little thing but it worked.
As he sped away Alastor closed the door and sighed, still having a smile on his face like nothing is wrong.
He walks into his room and gets on his usual suit and while he's adjusting his bowtie in the mirror he ponders on what his good buddy could possibly have good news for. They were in hell after all so good news was hard to come by.
Maybe it's those new people Vox met, Velvette and Valentino. Alastor didn't really mind them but they were pretty eccentric, as opposed to him being more calm. He shrugs to himself and clears his head, and finishes getting ready. He grabs his microphone cane he never doesn't have and heads out the door, locking it behind him.
Meanwhile, Vox was nervously getting ready and put on his cleanest shirt and pants and popped out his collar and adjusted it until it was perfect. He was hyping himself up to tell Alastor the wonderful news, since he's become close friends with Velvette and Valentino, they wanted to all be buisiness partners and Vox wanted to invite Alastor to join their team! Since they called themselves The Vees, he was going to change it to The AV's for Alastor.
"Ok Vox you can do this, you've known him for a while now and he's met Vel and Val and it went well-I think..- so he's GOT to say yes! We could all rule hell together, yea, yea! That's an awesome idea!"
He smiles and looks in the mirror to check for scratches on his screen and something feels wrong.
It feels too good to be true.
His smile softly fades and he stares into the mirror, remembering how he even ended up here, his death.
Oh, how it was so painful. So, so painful. His head winces slightly, making his antenna twitch and crackle sparks.
Then, his mind wanders back to Alastor, who worked alone before meeting him. Maybe he won't say yes, maybe he'll hate Vox.
Horrible thoughts flood his head and it keeps going
"What if he hates me?
"What if Alastor ditches him and steals their conjoined power if they DO team up?"
"What if Alastor doesn't like the other Vees?"
"What does he even think of me? Am I being too desperate?"
He shakes it off and rubs his head and drowns out the bad thoughts, he'll be just fine.
He grabs his keys and heads out the door, locking it and walking to the bar, it was down the street from the place he was staying at.
"Hey Al! You're here, seems you wanted to be early huh?"
Vox exclaimed as he sat down next to him, ordering a glass of whiskey for the both of them.
"I'd suppose so since your news is so grand, I could only presume?"
Alastor says calmly, tracing his finger along his glass. Vox chuckles and they both start to chat about how they've been doing, it's been a while since they've "hung out"
Vox finishes his whiskey a little later and clears his throat,
"Ok, Alastor, so you know how I've been branching out and I met Velvette and Valentino?"
Alastor nods
"Alright, so did you like them?"
"They're ok, I guess"
Vox pauses slightly but takes a breath and continues, his courage slowly growing.
"Since we've all met, I've been meeting up with them more, and I did tell you about our ideas, about how we'd build our power.. and I was thinking.. with your incredible power and my massive influence, we could team up and rule hell! Together, as partners!"
Vox stands up as he says this and holds out his hand and smiles at Alastor, hoping this could convince him.
Alastor eyes widen ever so slightly, his speculations were right. He KNEW Vox couldn't do this on his own, he was trying to lead Vox down the path of independence, but it didn't work.
Alastor got too close. He was Vox's close friend- dare he say best friend. He swore he'd never get this close to someone again and somehow, someway, it happened. AGAIN.
He chuckles, leaning his head down, and starts laughing.
Vox's smile fades into a look of confusion and he tries chuckling it off,
"haha.. why are you laughing?- I didn't say anything funny...."
Alastor slams his hand on the table and laughs harder, the slam spilling his whiskey slightly over the glass's edge, dripping onto the table.
"OH.. FUCK! You need ME to join your little TEAM??? I am quite disappointed in you, I thought you were independent, yet you still need to rely on others!"
As he keeps laughing Vox sits back down, balling up his fists and his vision gets blurry, tears welling up.
"I thought.. since we're friends, you'd want to team up-"
Alastor exclaims, getting closer to Vox
"FRIENDS? We were NEVER friends. There was NOTHING of the sort between us, I thought you understood that *Vincent*. There are NO "friends" in hell. Honestly, how pathetic can you be?! Finding other people because you can't do anything yourself, you always need someone to rely on, and it's just embarrassing!"
Vox looks up to meet his glare and flinches slightly at Alastor getting in his face, more tears welling up in his eyes, he *really* thought they were friends. Like he meant something to Alastor, his closest friend, his ONLY friend when he first got into hell. They knew each other for so long.. but apparently Alastor didn't care, about what Vox thought they had, or what he had for Alastor.
His heart felt like it got spat and stomped on in that moment, his vision getting even more blurry as tears slowly fall down his face, hearing Alastor's muffled laughter from the white noise his head was playing.
He really thought he could actually have a friend, where he was real with, authentic with.
It was all a lie. A massive lie.
Vox balls up his fists, his eyes filling up with anger
"Why are you so CRUEL? Y-y-"
he stutters and tries to spit out his words from choking on tears and the lump in his throat,
"You could've said no..- hell you could've just left. But you say all of this and expect me to just be FINE? To just TAKE IT?!
NO. I'm not going to take this shit Al, I'm fucking done. DONE. Are you happy now? FINALLY making me break down like this?-I thought we were friends but I guess you NEVER EVEN CARED. AT ALL. ABOUT ME, OR MY ACCOMPLISHMENTS. ALL SHIT TO YOU HUH?"
Vox stands up and his fists clench and turn paler from the muscle strain, his screen buffering slightly and his antennas sparking from the pure rage and betrayal he felt.
He wasn't going to stand down. He was going to fight him and win, to prove he wasn't weak.