Chapter Text
“Together, as partners,” Vox finished and held out one hand, the smile on his face earnest and open.
Mimzy eyed the hand and said nothing, raising one eyebrow at the way the clawed fingers shook ever so slightly.
“What do you think?” Vox asked, spreading his arms to the sides, that smile still on his face.
Mimzy looked him up and down, then snorted. “I think Alastor is gonna laugh in your face and crush your spirit.”
Vox flinched, arms dropping to his sides. “Wh- what?”
“Oh yeah. You come at him with that sales pitch, he’s gonna chew you up and spit you out.”
Vox wound his hands together, wringing them as his eyes darted around. “So… what should I change? Was it the wording, the tone, the smile?” He looked at his hands and winced, a line of current sparking between his antennae. “The handshake?”
Mimzy decided to take pity on him before he blew a gasket or something. “Nope, it’s none of those things. It’s the concept itself.”
“What?”
“Look, kid, Alastor is a great guy. I’ve known him in life, I’ve known him in death. So I am the perfect person to tell you that he has issues up the wazoo.” She was not surprised Vox looked skeptical. The poor kid had yet to take those rose-colored glasses of his off when it came to Al. “It’s true! Isn’t me knowing Al so well the reason you came to me in the first place?”
“Yeah…” Vox reluctantly nodded. “You do know him very well. And he really values your opinion.”
“Exactly, so I know best. And one of Al’s main issues is that he’s paranoid about being used by others.”
Vox sat down on the chair next to her. “What do you mean?”
“We grew up in shitty times, especially for a black man trying to be famous. That tends to leave a mark. I guarantee you, if you come at him with the same spiel you just gave me, all he’s gonna hear is that you want to use his power to further your own, as if he was little more than a stepping stone.”
Vox’s eyes widened, his antennae sparking. “That’s-! I would never-! Alastor’s my friend!”
“Oh, that’s another thing!” Mimzy snapped her fingers at him. “Al’s allergic to that word.”
“What word?”
“Friend. He says ‘there’s no friendship in Hell’ regularly, especially when he wants to fuck with somebody he knows is looking for some.”
Vox’s brows knitted together. “He calls me ‘pal’ and ‘chum’ regularly.”
Mimzy nodded. “Yup, and he has me. He has friends, he’ll just have an emotional meltdown if he hears the word. So avoid it.”
Vox nodded slowly. “So… so I need to phrase it differently?”
“Nope. No matter how you phrase it, it won’t work.”
Vox deflated, antennae drooping low over his face. “Are you trying to tell me that… Alastor doesn’t consider me-”
She held up a hand. “Gonna stop you right there, not in the mood for a whine-fest.” Vox blinked at her, expression so morose and honestly sad Mimzy felt like she had kicked an actual puppy. Damn, the kid should weaponize those eyes.
So she gave him a small smile and patted his arm. “Look, kid. I’ve known Al for ages, and I have never, never, seen him as happy as when he is with you.”
Vox’s expression immediately brightened, one antennae lifting. “Really?”
“Yup.” She nodded, and leaned back, hooking one leg over her knee. “Which is rare, seeing as you are a guy. Still doesn’t change the fact that he’s an idiot that’ll react badly to your lil spiel just because he thinks he hates the idea of not being the Big Bad Lone Wolf or some other ridiculous idea he’s got doing in his head. So if you want Al to agree to you lil’ proposal, you need to make him forget about all his hang ups.”
“And how do I do that?”
“I’ve seen you two together. You stare at him with heart eyes all the time, no question there, but I don’t know if you’ve noticed that Al also tends to stare.”
“He… he does?” Vox blinked, snow flashing across his screen briefly.
“Oh yeah.” Mimzy nodded with a smirk. “And he stares at either your face or your chest.”
“My- my chest?” Vox looked down at himself, tugging at the hem of his sweater vest. “Why would he stare at my chest?”
Mimzy waggled her eyebrows with a salacious grin.
Vox blushed, a bright strip appearing across his screen. “No. Al’s not like that, he’s not interested in those things. And besides, I’m not a woman, I don’t have…” He looked away, and the strip across his face brightened. “Those.”
Mimzy pushed down her cackle. It would serve neither of these idiots if she sent Vox running. “One, I do agree that ol’ Al’s not into the carnal funsies, true. But I’ve never seen Al’s gaze linger on anybody but you, either. Sexuality’s a fluid thing, and I have a feeling you’re just the drink of water that’ll start his engines,” she purred.
Vox’s entire screen brightened at that, his antennae sparking. “R- really?”
She cocked her head to the side, watching him with half-lidded eyes. “You got a problem with that?”
Vox wouldn’t look at her. His shoulders rose up, all the way up to his casing, and his screen glitched briefly from all the snow. But then he answered just as she knew he would. “… I wouldn’t mind… with someone like Alastor.”
“See?” she grinned, then dragged her chair closer to his. “And secondly, while you might not be a woman, you definitely do have a good pair of tits.” She grabbed the sides of his chest and pressed together, bunching his sweater vest up so the fabric would tighten across his pecs. “Look at these, a perfect handful.”
Vox did look, and Mimzy was fairly sure there was actual steam coming off his head now, his screen so bright it was kinda hard to look at him.
Mimzy let go and sat back, blinking the bright spots from her eyes. “And those are just the assets that can cause Alastor to go gaga and agree to anything to say.”
Vox hunched his back slightly, his hands against his chest. “But… wouldn’t that be… dishonest? And manipulative?”
Mimzy shrugged. “Eh. And it’ll be for a good cause!” She gave him a hard look, all humor gone from her face. “If you go in all earnest and with your heart out on your sleeve, Alastor is gonna stomp it into the ground no matter how good your idea is.”
Vox blinked, and his back straightened slowly. “So… you agree that my idea is good?”
She rolled her eyes. “f course it is. You’re a rising lil’ powerhouse, he’s an established powerhouse, you’re both media demons, you’re both nuts for each other. Al would be an idiot to fumble that, but unfortunately I know him well enough to know that he’s exactly that type of idiot.” She winked. “If we let him.”
Vox stared at her, then down at his chest. He put pulled the neckline of his vest down and pressed the sides of his chest together again, staring. “And you’re positive this will work? It won’t make him disgusted with me?”
Mimzy rested her cheek against an upturned hand. “Nah. You just need to do it right, and he’ll be so boob-stupid he’ll agree immediately.”
Vox hesitated a moment longer, then drew his shoulders back, his face set in a determined expression. “Teach me.”
Mimzy grinned, sharp and impish.
- - -
Alastor hummed, listening to Vox talk. The topic was irrelevant; Vox could talk about anything and everything – work, hunting, one of the shows Vox was working on, sharks, even just joking around, it never really mattered. Alastor would listen and know with certainty that he would find the conversation enjoyable. A rarity for Alastor. But then again, most things in his acquaintance with Vox were. Wanting to spend time with him, not wanting to kill him or maim him. The warmth in Alastor’s chest that lingered even after they parted ways for the evening.
Ah, one could become accustomed to such things.
Alastor laughed softly when Vox did one of his silly little impressions, his eyes shifting shape to match the person he was copying. Silly Picture Box.
Vox trailed off, watching him with a smile, then cleared his throat. “Listen, Alastor. I, um… wanted to discuss something… with you.” One of his hands started fiddling with the collar of his shirt.
“Mm, yes, I remember.” Alastor looked towards the bartender, signaling for his glass to be refilled. “You mentioned it was important.” He tossed a coin to the man once his glass was full, then looked back to Vox.
And froze.
The top two buttons of Vox’s shirt were open. Vox wasn’t wearing his tie, he’d taken it off earlier at the cafe when he’d accidentally stained it with the cream from his pastry. Without it, there was nothing blocking Alastor’s view of Vox’s décolletage, the curve of Vox’s collarbone peaking out into view.
Alastor swallowed thickly, unable to tear his eyes away. Vox was saying something, he really should focus, he was being rude, but… the skin was a dark blue, like Vox’s hands and palms, like the few tantalizing times Alastor had seen Vox pull up his sleeves enough to uncover his slim wrists.
Alastor swallowed thickly again, his throat suddenly tight.
One of Vox’s hands reached up for the opening in his shirt and Alastor’s chest tightened at the idea that those buttons would be fastened, hiding that gorgeous skin from view. But no. No, something worse happened. Vox’s fingers grasped the edge of his collar and started… tugging it back and forth, fanning the fabric against Vox’s skin.
“Sorry, it’s kinda hot in here,” Alastor heard Vox say, eyes widening as the movement caused the shirt to shift and pull and loosen, and a third button popped open, revealing more skin, allowing Alastor to catch a glimpse of roundness just a bit lower on Vox’s chest.
Saliva filled Alastor’s mouth.
He watched as Vox signaled the bartender for a glass of water, his shirt still open, that roundness still right there, tantalizing and alluring, hiding within the shadows of Vox’s shirt as if it was shy.
Vox brought the glass to his lips and Alastor’s eyes were drawn slightly higher. Vox tended towards high collars, but now with his shirt open, Alastor could see the slim column of Vox’s neck in all its glory, could watch as Vox’s throat worked as he slowly drained the glass, swallow by slow swallow.
Alastor looked away and reached for his own glass, taking a large gulp, barely even tasting the Sazerac.
He heard Vox sigh and place the glass down. “Much better.” But when Alastor looked back to him, Vox hadn’t buttoned up his shirt, hadn’t even seemed to have noticed the third button coming undone. Instead he leaned his elbows against the bar, leaning closer to Alastor with a smile as he started speaking again. But with the way his arms were folded, all that roundness of his chest, hidden so shyly within Vox’s shirt, under his vest, was forced upwards. Resting now against Vox’s forearms, it was made to curl upwards and forwards, the tops peeking out through his unbuttoned shirt in twin perfect rondures.
Alastor had noticed before that Vox’s chest was more… ample than a typical male’s. But he’d never imagined…
Vox leaned in closer, still saying something. Alastor’s gaze was rooted in that open space of his shirt, in that unveiled bit of skin, those round mounds that… oh my. They were quite round, weren’t they? Vox was still speaking, and Alastor had no clue about what, but his tone was bright, excited almost, so Alastor found himself nodding along. Alastor quite liked when Vox was excited – his antennae would spark, a lighter band would appear across his screen, the frequencies of his voice would change, all of it quite cute. So Alastor nodded, eyes still on that skin, on that roundness, on all that flesh. Oh, to have a taste.
Alastor forced himself to look away, draining the rest of his glass in one go. That was a thought too far. Vox was far too precious for Alastor to… to objectify him like this, to slobber over his chest as if he was little more than a-
Something clattered to the floor, and Vox made a low noise. “Oh, shoot. Let me get that.” And before Alastor could say anything, Vox slid off his seat and onto his knees, reaching for whatever it was.
Except… now he was on his knees… in front of Alastor. Because Alastor had turned to face him, and now… now Vox was looking up at him, screen tilted towards Alastor. His red eyes were wide and round, his mouth just slightly open as he gazed up at Alastor, with a brighter band over his screen in a clear blush. And his top three buttons were still undone, allowing Alastor to see so clear down his… his…
Alastor really should look away. But… Vox looked so gorgeous, kneeling like that, looking up at Alastor like that.
Vox swallowed, and Alastor’s gaze was drawn to his neck again, watched as it flexed. Vox slowly lifted up, but not to stand up. He lifted himself up only far enough to reach his arm up and place whatever had fallen onto the bar, and Alastor didn’t even look. Whatever it was didn’t matter one single bit, not when Vox’s arm lifting had made the muscles of his chest shift, and Alastor had such a clear view of all of it in this position.
Alastor swallowed thickly, the saliva in his mouth copious now.
The tip of Vox’s tongue darted out to wet his lips, a nervous little tick left over from when he’d had a normal head, and why would Vox be nervous? Even his signal felt nervous now, when before it’d been all excited. Alastor much preferred him excited.
“So, Al.” Vox shifted closer to him, still kneeling, still not standing up, and placed his hands on Alastor’s knees. Alastor tensed, the lone radio in the bar switching between stations rapidly. “What do you think?” Vox leaned in, pressing his chest against Alastor’s legs, that roundness plush and soft and warm. “Do you think my idea’s good?” he asked, blinking those eyes of his, and Alastor nodded immediately. Most of Vox’s ideas were good, he had a talent for business and for viciousness, why wouldn’t this idea be good?
It was the right answer, because Vox’s mouth curled into a brilliant smile, his antennae sparking happily. “Really? You’ll agree?” He pressed in closer, and that made the flesh on his chest shift upwards yet again, two mounds pressed so close together Alastor wanted to… he had no idea, but he wanted.
So Alastor just nodded again. “Of course!” The static warbled his voice but Vox didn’t seem to notice in his elation. He reached for Alastor’s hand, and Alastor grasped it automatically. Their energies burst together then, Alastor’s green and Vox’s electric blue, and Alastor’s spine snapped straight.
“What just happened?” He blinked hard, confused and bemused, but then Vox jumped to his feet next to Alastor’s chair and hugged him.
“Oh, Alastor, thank you! I promise you won’t regret this!” he crowed, arms wrapped around Alastor’s shoulders, pulling Alastor against his chest. Pulling Alastor’s head against his chest. His ample chest. With those three buttons still undone.
It took far too much effort to keep his tongue within the constraints of his mouth. It would’ve been far too easy to sneak a taste of all that glorious skin, and Alastor was far too sure it would not have ended in one single taste.
“Oh, I’m sure you won’t let me down, my dear,” Alastor murmured, head still pressed against that chest, his eyes glued to Vox’s collarbone. His teeth remained tightly clenched, his tongue straining against them, a string of saliva dripping down the corner of his mouth.
- - -
“How could I have been so stupid?!” Alastor yelled as he paced furiously, hands clenched tight in his hair.
“Stop being a drama queen,” Mimzy said as she watched him from her seat at her living room table, sipping calmly at her margarita.
“Drama queen!” Alastor whirled to face her, eyes flashing to dials briefly. “Mimzy, I acted like a slobbering pervert!”
“Hardly.” She flapped a hand dismissively.
“I stared at his chest as if he was little more than a two-bit whore! I didn’t even notice us making a deal! I hadn’t heard a single term yet I still agreed to it!”
She shrugged, swirling the olive around her glass. “So he accidentally flashed you some skin and you forgot to brain. It happens.”
“Not to me! Not with him!” Alastor sat down hard next to her, his face in hands.
Mimzy eyed him. She took a moment to just sip her drink and for him to wallow, he needed to get it out of his system at least a bit. Then she nudged his knee with her foot. “Look at the bright side, Al.”
“What bright side?” he mumbled into his hands.
“Now you’ve got him locked in.”
Al let out a deep sigh and dragged his hands down his face, giving her a flat look. “And what is that supposed to mean?”
“I know you.” She pushed her lips forward in a pout. “Don’t I know you?”
Alastor narrowed his eyes. “We’ve known each other for many years, yes.”
“Exactly. And I’ve come to know your lil’ boytoy, as well.”
He bristled. “He’s not my boytoy.”
“Not yet.”
“Mimzy.”
She took a sip of her drink, smirking over the rim of her glass at him. “That kid follows you around with hearts all over his screen. I’ve seen him fry people from the inside out, gauge people’s eyes out with his claws, rip demons apart alongside you with near equal brutality. But the moment you look at him, he’s goes all sweet and wide-eyed, hanging off your every word.” She leaned in closer. “And you are the same with him.”
Alastor scoffed, looking away with a roll of his eyes. “I am not.”
“Name one man you spend your evenings with.”
“I can name many,” he growled, and she snorted.
“Name one man you spend your evenings with without the intention of ripping them apart later, but instead just chatting and dancing and talking shop and honestly having fun.” She jerked her thumb at her own chest. “You’ve introduced him to me! Actually took him round to my place and introduced him to me!”
Alastor looked away, uncomfortable now.
“And I see the way you look at him.” She took another sip, honestly enjoying the sight of him squirming. It didn’t happen often. “You like him, you like listening to him talk and not just about murder and radio shows. Correct me if I’m wrong, but did you not include one of his suggestions in one of your non-murder segments last week?”
Alastor fidgeted in his seat, refusing to look at her. “I may have.”
“And are you or are you not planning a segment about sharks for his birthday?”
“That’s hardly the point,” Alastor hissed and Mimzy cackled.
“Sure, keep telling yourself that. With this deal, you can work with him way closer.” She tapped the written contract Alastor had brought him with. “These terms aren’t bad.”
He sighed, shoulders slumping as his head craned back. “They’re disgustingly earnest,” he moaned towards the ceiling. “I’ve taught him better than that!”
“You did, he can twist words like a champ. Soooo…” She tapped the contract again, making sure to make a loud noise with each tap. “What does it mean that these terms are so fair for you both?”
Alastor leaned further back, slipping off his chair and down onto the floor, his shadow catching him to cushion his fall. “That he’s earnest in wanting to actually form an equal partnership with me.” His tone was as limp as his limbs, now spread across her floor.
And he claimed he wasn’t a drama queen, sure.
“As if there was any doubt,” Mimzy snorted, grabbing a fresh margarita. She’d made several just for this conversation, she knew her friend would need to have his rant.
“But that still doesn’t change the fact that I allowed my baser impulses to-”
“And I still say it’s for the best!” Mimzy kicked at his leg. “If you’d actually heard him make this offer without reading the contract, how would you have reacted?”
Alastor didn’t answer. Not verbally at least. He crossed his arms and rolled onto his side, facing away from her.
Her lips pursed. “I’ll tell you how you would’ve reacted – you would’ve laughed in his poor, earnest face, being extra cruel just because you were panicking inside. You definitely would’ve used that line about there being no friends in Hell you like so much, and probably thrown the fact you know his human name in his face as well. You would’ve called him something like weak, pathetic, a disappointment, you can stop me at any point if you think I’m wrong.”
Alastor didn’t turn around, but she could see his shoulders tensing, drawing in closer to his chin. “I wouldn’t have been that cruel,” he mumbled to the floor.
“Oh, sure,” she scoffed. “You would’ve been crueler. And then Vox would react badly, cause a broken heart could break any man, and then you would’ve used that against him as well. Forever, because you haven’t learned to admit when you mess up yet.”
“Mimzy...”
“Nope, you would’ve just kept going, insulting him over and over, driving that knife deeper and deeper into his heart until there was nothing left of the bright happy kid following you around with hearts all over his screen. And you would hate that, which in turn would make you hate him, because how dare he change. Sounds about right?”
Alastor was quiet for a long moment. Then, when he finally picked himself up from the floor, he sat back in his chair and grabbed the glass of Sazerac she’d prepared for him, draining it in one go. “You make me sound like a monster.”
She shrugged. “Eh, we’re all in Hell for a reason.” She took a sip of her drink, watching him. Alastor was staring forward, brows drawn together in a deep furrow, his smile tight and twisted into a grimace. She knew that face. He only ever made it when he knew she was right and did not want to admit it, to her nor himself.
She didn’t point it out, it wouldn’t help anybody.
So she reached for the bottle of Sazerac and refilled his glass. He looked down at it, staring at the liquid for a long moment. She still didn’t say anything, giving him all the space he needed to gather his thoughts, sipping her own drinks to fill her time.
Then he sighed deeply and took a normal swallow. “Rosie will not allow me to have a partner.”
Mimzy made a low noise. “Why not?”
“She allows me to make as many deals as I wish to own souls as it makes me stronger. But an equal partnership? That’s something entirely different. I’ve seen what she does to ‘double-dealers’ as she refers to them.”
“So… there is a possibility that you could use this deal with Vox to get free from her deal?”
Alastor blinked, eyes narrowing in thought as his claws tapped against the table. “Hmm. Possibly. Rosie wouldn’t react so negatively otherwise. If double-dealing wasn’t a threat, she just wouldn’t care.” He stapled his fingers by his mouth. “I’ll have to think on this.”
“Great! And in the mean time, I might have an idea on how to convince Rosie that you weren’t planning anything nefarious with your deal with Vox.”
“Oh?” He gave her an easier smile, and the line of his shoulders relaxed. “And what idea might that be?”
Mimzy grinned, wide and toothy. “The truth.”
Alastor’s face turned as red as his hair. “I will not admit to Rosie that I was… was hypnotized by Vox’s chest!”
“Why not? That’s what happened!”
“She will never believe it!”
“Sure, she will!”
“She knows I’m not one for baser impulses.”
“Sure, that’s why you baser impulsed all over Vox yesterday.”
Somehow, Alastor’s face turned even redder. “Don’t say it like that!” he screeched, his teeth flashing with every word.
Mimzy cackled. “Alastor, look. You’re a man, and Rosie knows men. If you admit that you finally met the one guy that you’ve got the hots for, and that it sure got hot on the night you made that deal, she’ll buy it completely!”
Alastor slumped onto the table, hiding his face in his folded arms.
“No offense to you, but you can definitely use it to your advantage. What’s a moment of humiliation for an eternity with Vox by your side?”
“This isn’t about… my behavior that evening was beyond shameful. Vox is…” He sat up, face twisted in anger at himself. “Fine, he is dear to me, and he came to me with an honest, earnest proposition, and yet all I’d done was stare at his chest and not listen to a single word he said! I agree the results are most favorable, but that truly doesn’t excuse my behavior! My… my salaciousness!” He pressed a hand over eyes, and slumped sideways onto the table. “Oh, what Vox would think of me…!”
Mimzy pursed her lips forward, watching him. “You know Vox is in love with you, right?”
Alastor slowly lowered the hand off his eyes. “What?”
“He’s in love with you. When I say he follows you around with hearts all over his screen, I mean that literally, that kid loves you. I bet he came up with this partnership because he knows you don’t do sex, and knew you’d react badly if he wanted to be boyfriends.”
Alastor blinked rapidly. “… Vox would… want that?”
Mimzy nodded, rocking a leg over her knee. “Oh yeah. So you now have an opportunity to have Vox both as a business partner and as a life partner. And I bet that if you told him you liked his chest,” She leaned in closer, her voice lowering into a conspiratorial whisper. “He’d like that. And would definitely let you not only look again, but also touch. Touch him all over.”
Alastor stared at her, eyes wide. His gaze slid away from her after a moment, staring into space for a long moment, his face slowly reddening. He swallowed thickly, and Mimzy took another sip of her drink to hide her grin.
Like a fiddle.
- - -
Rosie stared at Alastor with narrowed eyes. “A partnership.”
Alastor at least had the decency to look ashamed. “Yes.”
“A partnership deal.”
“… yes.”
“With that tv demon of yours.”
“……. yes.”
Rosie’s lips curled into a displeased line. “You know how I feel about double-dealers.”
“That was not my intention when making the deal!”
“Then what was?”
Alastor opened his mouth, then closed it, a… was she seeing right? It was! There was a blush on Alastor’s cheeks, bright and ruddy, and her little deer was no longer able to meet her gaze.
“Oh?” She purred, resting her chin on the back of one upturned hand. “Is there something you want to tell me?”
Alastor swallowed, brows lifted high up his forehead as his eyes widened stiffly. “There is a possibility that… my attention during the making of the deal had been… elsewhere.” The word barely left his lips, oh this was delightful! He sat up all prim and proper, eyes forward and almost meeting hers. “So as you see this is not my fault and I should not be penalized for it, nor should I be required to break the deal with Vox.” He recited all of that in one breath, smooth and very clearly rehearsed.
Rosie grinned, then tutted. “Ah ah ah. I won’t make any final decisions until I hear the entire story. And where exactly your attention was. You’re not typically distracted, my deer, it’s so unlike you.”
Alastor looked away again, no longer even pretending to be looking at her. “Vox is… I mean… it was hot in the bar and…” He gestured at his chest for some odd reason. “A few of his buttons got…” He slumped down in his seat, his voice lowering into a mumble. “Undone.”
Rosie sat up straight, eyes widening in surprise. “Alastor. Are you trying to tell me that you saw a bit of skin and agreed to a deal you knew I would disapprove of?”
“No, it’s not like that!” A tense pause. “It was… more… than a bit.”
Rosie blinked. Then she started laughing. Because what else could she do? Alastor, the Great and Terrifying Radio Demon, defeated by a few buttons! Oh, this was brilliant! This was hilarious! This was the best thing she’d heard since she’d learned how he died!
Alastor sunk deeper into his seat, entire face as red as his hair and his suit. He said nothing, leg bouncing as Rosie laughed her fill.
Eventually Rosie’s laughter petered off, and she wiped at her eyes. “Ooooh, oh, that was a good one. A haha, oh.” She cleared her throat, still chuckling. “It’s still completely unacceptable, I’m sure you understand.”
Alastor shot up, back ramrod straight. “Rosie, you don’t understand, this wasn’t my fault!”
“Don’t be silly, Alastor, it was just a chest. It’s adorable that the infallible has found his match, but it doesn’t change the fact that-” There was a photo in front of her face. Alastor’s shadow was holding it, thrusting it practically right up to Rosie’s nose.
“No!” Alastor screeched, making a swipe for the photo, so Rosie quickly grabbed it and held it out of his reach, tying Alastor to his chair with a ribbon of her energy. Alastor seethed, straining against his bindings. “Rosie, return those! They’re private!”
They? Rosie glanced at the photo she was holding and oh, it was actually two, the other sliding into view when she shifted them in her hold. In the photos was Vox, Alastor’s tv demon. Both of them showed him on a bed, wearing a delicate silk chemise. The neckline was wide, the little puffy sleeves falling off of both shoulders, leaving them bare. The bust of the chemise was sheer lace, clinging to the chest like a brassiere, showcasing that his chest was indeed quite bountiful for a man. The muscles there were round and shapely, the elegant lace presenting them like two delightful treats.
In one photo, Vox was kneeling on the bed, looking up at the camera with wide eyes, looking as if the only thing he ever wanted to do was please. In the second photo he was lying on his back, his legs bent and folded to the side, the low hemline of the chemise perfectly framing the curve of his hip and buttock as it peeked out from under the fabric. He was still looking at the camera with those eyes, but was now also biting his lower lip, one hand resting against a swell of one breast, a nub of a hardened nipple visible through the lace right by his claws.
Oh. Oh my. No wonder it got hot in that bar.
“I see.” Rosie nodded slowly, her eyes roving over both photos, committing them to memory. She then placed the photos on the table in front of Alastor and folded her hand in her lap. “I entirely understand the situation, Alastor, all is forgiven.”
Alastor stopped trying to chew through his binding and looked at her with shocked eyes. “You- really?”
“Oh yes!” She giggled, then took a sip of her tea to her cool herself down. “You should’ve just said it was to tie a beauty like that down! The heart wants what the heart wants, can’t fault a man for that! I’ve had several husbands myself, you know.”
Alastor eyed her with narrowed eyes. “Vox is off the market.”
Rosie chuckled. “I figured you’d say that. You’re a possessive one, aren’t you?” She grinned, her eyes falling briefly down to the photos. “You won’t even let me have a little taste?”
Alastor growled, several radios blaring to life in the background.
Rosie tittered, taking another sip. She’d thought not, but can’t blame a girl for asking.