Archive of Our Own

The Halloween party was out in some large mansion to the north of Pentagram City, where Valentino couldn’t say parties were often held. It was on the edge of the Morningstar territory and had less city lights and noise than most other places in the circle. Val had picked out a sexy outfit, as he always did, and work was done leaving him plenty of time to get ready. Val stretched as he strode through the penthouse—making last minute adjustments in his mind for what he might add to his costume. Some jewelry other than the rosary beads, perhaps.

“…Val?”

He paused in mid-stride and glanced toward the voice. After Kitty had been repaired, he had set her as Vox’s babysitter. Velvette had grabbed his body from the wreckage after the crowds had left, and it had been cleaned and left to healing. Between putting on a new body or letting the last one heal, the latter took less time for Vox to adjust. It wasn’t the first time Vox had replaced parts of his body.

There was also how neither Val nor Velvette were sure whether they should let Vox have his body back, but Vox had been so meek in the few weeks following his crashing out that Velvette had become nervous over what might happen if they kept it from him. So watching the body heal and not saying they would keep him from becoming mobile? Preferable.

Vox hadn’t said a word about wanting to die anymore. It had to be an improvement, even if Val’s heart didn’t feel it all yet. He hated playing nice with Vox as much as he hated pretending he didn’t know Vox in public. As far as anyone else was concerned, they had cast Vox aside for his nonsense.

“What?” Val asked.

“Body’s done.”

Vox’s face did the job of fidgeting for him as it jumped around his screen and changed sizes. Vox had always been a fidgety person (Val didn’t have a problem with that, he was one too), and usually Val found it funny when it happened on his face. But it had been hard to find Vox funny lately. It had been hard to find Vox anything lately.

Still, Val did yearn for Vox to be mobile again. Not because he missed having Kitty around to do other things, though that was true, but because he wanted to know what Vox would do with arms and legs again. Whether he would still be clamoring for Val’s attention. He had been on time out from most of the internet since the destruction of the Might of Lilith. He could probably fight Velvette on the restriction, but he hadn’t so far. Val didn’t know if he would change his mind on that once he had his body back.

At the same time, Val’s wing was sore. It had hurt less the day he’d been blown up and it had tattered. Now it was healed, but the bottom edge twinged when he thought too much about it.

The reminder was enough to flare his temper, even as Val bit it back. “Good. We’ll get you all back together tomorrow.”

“T-Tomorrow?” Vox grimaced, but Val saw him choosing his next words with care. “What about tonight?”

“Party, Vox. Babydoll and I are going out and then she has brewing to do. We’ll both be around to help you tomorrow.”

“But—”

Val left it at that and kept going to his room. He heard Kitty follow him, so he ordered her, “Kitty, take Vox to have a drink on the balcony.”

“Val!”

His orders superseded Vox’s even when everything was going swimmingly. Kitty took him away and Val heard his protests fade into nothing. Vox might complain tonight, when Val got home, but… Well, that might be tomorrow morning instead. Tonight was for Val. He would have fun with Velvette, fuck around, maybe bring one of them home and fuck them with Angel… Angel Dust hadn’t been as fun lately, so Val had left him to his room except for work.

Maybe he should buy him another pig? He seemed to have lost the last one.

Whatever. Tonight wasn’t about Angel and Val wouldn’t spend more time thinking about him until tomorrow (just like with Vox). Val entered his room and stared at his outfit. The nun costume which should have gone with Vox’s priest… whatever. Val could seduce plenty of people. He didn’t have to seduce Vox. Vox would be here when he got back. They could roleplay later—if Val could even stand to have Vox pretend to be god when those were the last words Vox had said to excuse why he wanted to blow them all up.

Val undressed, letting his outfit of the day drop to the floor. He inhaled some smoke, stopping by the table to look at his latest assortment of gifts. He popped a chocolate in his mouth to let the taste melt over his tongue, knowing the rest of it would likely be handed to the best whore of the week. Vox kept sending him things… but these weren’t all from Vox. The roses were though. They had to be. Vox knew he preferred his roses still have their thorns.

The other bouquets were fine, but nothing like the ones Vox would pick out for him. Val sighed and picked at a different box. It definitely wasn’t from Vox—unless Vox had completely changed who he had to do his wrapping.

It was a ring. Nothing special, a plain gold band, but it wasn’t from Vox. Val checked the rest of the packaging to make sure of it, but the simplicity of the ring itself assured him of it. Vox almost always had to have something opulent. The plainest jewelry he would give Val still would have something engraved on the inside or back which no one else might see, but which Val would feel against himself.

Because it wasn’t from Vox meant Val had to put it on. So when Vox noticed it he would maybe remember to get jealous. It had been too long.

Val put the ring on.

“What do you think you’re doing?”

Valentino snapped out of his stupor as Velvette’s words crashed over him. It took him way too long to notice his surroundings. This was not the Halloween costume he had planned on. He was going for slutty nun, not slutty bride. It still looked amazing on him, of course, but not what he’d had in mind.

One strap kept the dress over his right shoulder, as the rest of the white silk fit him like a mermaid dress but for the slit all the way up to his right hip—barely concealing whatever underwear he had on. Rose decorations of white and red were gathered at the front of the strap, as well as wrapping around his waist somewhat asymmetrically with the largest of them at the top of the leg slit. Shredded white gossamer floated with every moment under the belt of flowers, and around his head as an even poorer veil. He could feel the weight of it behind his head, as barely any of it came forward to obscure his face as one should. His white boots were ankle boots. Val wasn’t wearing any fishnets.

Somehow it was the ankle boots and no fishnets which made him feel naked. It wasn’t a problem, per se, if Val could have remembered putting them on. “Uh…”

Velvette jabbed him with a finger between the eyes. Val scowled, more at the sensation than at the giggle he heard from elsewhere in the room. Clara was standing in the corner and at first he couldn’t tell what she was dressed up like, but when he looked at Velvette’s cat costume, it was obvious Clara was dressed like a scratching post.

“Oh, you two look hot,” he said.

“Focus!” Velvette snapped which was when he realized she was trying to yank something off his hand.

He looked at his hands. Around all four of them he had on intertwining pearl bracelets. Those were fine, he remembered when Vox had gotten him those. But Velvette wasn’t removing those—she was struggling with the ring.

“Oh, yeah. I remember putting that on.” It was everything after putting it on Val didn’t remember.

“Got yourself cursed. So much for being an Overlord.”

His irritation turned to Clara. For not being an Overlord, being the daughter of one and dating another did not give her a healthy fear of what Val could do. Not that he could, considering how Velvette would eviscerate him if he tried. Unfair.

Let alone she appeared to be right. Val took over for Velvette and tried to remove the ring, but it felt like it was welded onto him. “What the fuck?”

“Exactly! Were you even paying attention?”

“Paying attention?” Val repeated. “What time is it?”

Velvette stared at him before glancing over her shoulder.

“Is this a what time is it? question or a you were right and he doesn’t remember anything look?” Clara asked. “It’s less than an hour ‘til midnight.”

Velvette groaned and pressed her palms over her eyes. “Val, I need you to hold yourself steady for this.”

The fact she had decided to preempt whatever she was about to explain with that made something in Val’s chest squirm. “Babydoll…”

“You’re apparently getting married.”

“…what?”

“To a ghost.”

Velvette and Clara slapped their hands over their ears. Only then did Valentino realize he was shrieking.

People said that ghosts didn’t exist. Val had encountered ghosts in life, as well as demons, so he had always told everyone that was bullshit. He didn’t care if people in Hell didn’t think ghosts existed—he knew better. Velvette had always called him an idiot about it.

Her telling him he was marrying a ghost meant she believed it now. Val was getting out of here. Wherever here was. They had been standing in the room of the mansion, where this Halloween party was taking place (Val did not remember how he had gotten here), but leaving the premises proved to be a problem. Velvette trying to shove him out of the grounds didn’t work and even blindfolding him so he didn’t know wouldn’t get his feet beyond the domain.

“I could shoot him. Maybe dragging his corpse out would be easier,” Clara suggested.

“You are fucking not!” Val spat. “I’m not marrying some ghost on his level!”

“You wouldn’t turn into a ghost.”

“Let’s leave that as a last ditch effort, hun.” Velvette rubbed her face again. “I don’t want to risk it turning Val into…” her expression screwed up into a sneer, “a ghost. Him being scared of himself for eternity would be bad for business.”

“She’s doing this on purpose!” Val pointed at Clara. “This is a Carmine attack!”

Clara rolled her eyes and Velvette didn’t take him seriously. Val wanted to keep up his antagonism of Clara, but he knew Velvette would never side with Clara over him, so if she wasn’t suspicious in the slightest, it was unlikely. He was still frustrated over how flippant she was being, but he knew Clara simply tolerated him and Vox to spend time with Velvette.

He also knew Velvette would drop Clara to the curb if need be. Still, he chittered and went back to trying to remove the ring. Scratching the surrounding skin, there was nothing which said it shouldn’t slide right off his finger. It simply would not. Velvette had stepped away, staring at her phone with whoever she was trying to contact about this. Probably one of her girls to get information on what this might be.

“I fucking had a connection!” Velvette spat as she angrily mashed at her phone. “Fuck! Of all the days I— I should have stayed at home long enough to get Vox’s stupid reintegration process started.”

Was the connection cut off because of where they were or because of the ghost? Before Val could think on that, he found himself thinking about what would have happened if they had stayed home and helped Vox. Vox, who had looked so disappointed that Val would rather be going out partying instead of staying home and getting him put back together.

Well, Vox shouldn’t have cared so much about the damn deer and tried to kill them all in the first place. Except how could he blame Vox entirely for that? Vox… needed help. Not only to put his head back on his body. He had needed help to not want to kill himself.

His Vox. Val deserved a night off, sure, but… but…

Not only was he marrying a ghost, but the ghost wasn’t Vox. Tears dripped over Val’s cheeks. Clara cleared her throat, getting Velvette to look up from her phone. Frowning, Velvette walked up to him, taking a hand.

“This better be because you’re marrying a ghost and not because you aren’t marrying Vox.”

“Can’t it be both?” Val warbled.

Velvette sighed. “I suppose.” Her other hand continued to flick through her phone’s settings.

Even Clara was checking her cell. “If the connection issue is because of this… could just leave until getting a signal.”

Velvette bit her lower lip and looked from her phone to Val.

“You sticking around won’t change what’s happening here, babydoll.” Val tried to look on the bright side, but it was hard. It was night, after all.

“I can’t even call for a car.”

Clara chuckled. “I’m faster than you.” Velvette glared at her. “Over land and for long distance. I’ll go; you stay with him.”

Velvette’s expression turned thoughtful. “Maybe, but… who would you contact?”

Everyone knew the answer was Carmilla. Also that Clara wasn’t supposed to be here with Velvette (and Val). It was kind of sweet to know Clara was willing to get in trouble for Velvette’s sake, but Val couldn’t think of what Carmilla would do anyway. Even if she only contacted her sister, Odette would likely tell Carmilla. Velvette and Clara’s secret relationship was only as secret as the two were considered safe together. Val and Vox had no worries about Velvette taking care of herself. It was all on Odette and Clara herself.

Clara folded her arms across her chest. “And you’re going to… contact Vox? Who’s just a head?”

“He can at least look up what might actually be going on and send in what we actually need!”

Defeated, Clara nodded. She glanced up at Val. “Okay. I’ll keep an eye on him.”

Velvette squeezed Val’s hand. “I’ll be quick.”

“I know you will, babydoll.” This was probably the best path to take, but it didn’t stop him from wanting to keep Velvette here with him. But, before he could think too much about it, Velvette let go and was gone—out into the night on foot.

“I’d grab some butter for the ring, but I’m pretty sure it’s magic,” said Clara.

“No shit, chiquita.”

They stayed outside, which sucked for a multitude of reasons. First of all, the party going on inside sounded amazing. It obviously wasn’t, because somewhere in there was the ghost Velvette and Clara had seen, which Val had managed not to see. He struggled between wanting to at least see what people were doing inside and fearing the sight of the ghost—or the ghost seeing him.

Second, the sky was overcast. It hadn’t been when he was headed to his room to get into costume, but it was now. Definitely about to rain.

Honestly, the weather people had been off their game as of late. Ever since Vox had, uh, stepped down as the head of Voxtek, the weather reports had been less accurate. It wasn’t like Val had fucked with any of the people in charge of the weather. Had Vox done more with the reports than Val had known? He didn’t think so. They were all running in the same way as before, so there was no reason they should have been so wrong on the weather tonight.

At least it hadn’t started raining yet. Velvette would be fine, but Val certainly didn’t like thinking of her running in the rain until she got reception. At least she would be able to call a car and then bring it back.

Why had they sent their car away in the first place? Had Val done that?

“There’s one of them. Not the guy trying to marry you though.”

Val glanced in to see a ghostly figure floating about. Perhaps looking for him, perhaps making other preparations inside which no one else seemed to care about. He squeaked and reeled back from the window so it wouldn’t see him. Clara didn’t bother and Val had no idea whether it was because she wasn’t scared of ghosts or she still didn’t believe it was one

Val’s finger hurt. He realized he was tugging at the finger again. Any more wrestling with the ring and his finger might swell—making it even harder to remove. Not like it mattered. As Clara had said, it was magic. Ghost magic.

He felt it tug. His hand extended toward the mansion, but it pulled from his very soul. Not the same as being owned, of having someone tug on his soul, but similar enough that Val wanted to cower. Instead, his legs began moving without his input. Val wanted to scream, but his mouth stayed shut as he neared the front door.

“Hey! Where are you going?”

Val didn’t answer Clara, because apparently it wasn’t just screaming anymore that he wasn’t allowed to do. Clara moved in front of him, but he walked around her.

She had obviously been trying not to touch him, but she grabbed him by one of his lower hands and tugged. With this, it didn’t really matter whether Val was in control of his faculties or not. He dragged her along. Clara wasn’t that big or heavy. He knew she could control some of that weight, but only to become lighter. Heavier than her usual self had never been in the cards, that he knew of.

It would have been nice if she was capable of such a thing. Clara swore as he effortlessly pulled her back into the building and the party.

It was still the rager Val had wanted to join and relax to in the first place. The entrance hall was packed with plenty of costumed Sinners and Hellborns—hands filled with drinks, food, and other people. Val stepped through them and ignored the few sober enough to pay him attention. Maybe they said something to him, maybe not, but he couldn’t hear much through the pounding of his heart which grew worse and worse.

Fuck his life. Val managed to grit his teeth as he made his way up the grand staircase to the second floor. He spotted the ghostly vision standing at the top.

It was hard to focus on any particular feature. The ghost was humanoid, probably masculine (but not necessarily), and somewhat shorter than him. Probably Vox-height, which was average Sinner height. Val swallowed as he reached the ghost’s side.

Shall we get ready, my bride?

He wasn’t speaking, but Val could hear him. No one else thought much of him, but they had to see the figure, because people stepped around him instead of through. A shiver ran straight down his arm as the spectre took his hand and held it. Val would have given anything to yank his hand away. The chill bit the bottom of Val’s hindwing. The pulsing soreness turned into a sharp pain.

A bullet went straight through the ghost, leaving trails of wisps behind it trailing to where the projectile struck the wall. He did not hesitate or even register it passing through him. Val heard Clara swear and others start to bitch at her for bringing her gun out in the middle of the party. Fuck, this was going to happen. Velvette wouldn’t be back in time. Val would be married to this thing and it would do anything it wanted with him.

Usually Val didn’t mind other people doing whatever they wanted to him (sexually), but this was a fucking ghost. That was different.

It was when Clara reached to grab the wrist of the ghost that Val’s unwanted groom finally noticed her. He waved his other hand and other ghostly figures came to grab her.

“Ah, mierda.”

The sounds of Clara struggling with the other ghosts faded in the background as Val was led from the room. They headed straight into the ballroom. All the Halloween decorations would have been cute and spooky if Val could have had the opportunity to enjoy them. Instead, his eyes were glued to the cold hand holding his, leading him to the head of the room.

“Is that Overlord Valentino?”

“He looks lovely in that.”

“Oh! Are we getting a faux-wedding?”

He didn’t want to scream for help from nobodies, but he also would rather do that than let this happen. If only he could. Would it force him to speak? Or could he at least stay silent? Would it matter if he did?

The sound in the ballroom covered whether Clara was still fighting her way toward him. What could she do anyway? Well, if people could physically touch ghosts, even if their weapons didn’t work, maybe Clara could still wreck this ghost’s shit. If only Val could do something to hold off what was happening instead of following him like some dumb slut.

An imp wore a clergy costume with bondage gear over the top. He swayed on his feet, holding the Kama Sutra, as the ghost walked Val up to this imp as though the farce of a clergical outfit meant he could marry them. That was good. It meant this was all fake. Unless the magic of the ring meant it wasn’t, and it didn’t really matter who was saying the words.

Val continued to try yanking himself away. He could feel his muscles ripple, so he knew he was physically doing something, but his own body was forced to fend off his attempts.

Hiccoughing, the imp cleared his throat and opened the Kama Sutra upside-down. “Dearest Unholy mother Lilith, we are ass… embled here to join these two powerful Overlords here in the unity of tax-evading marriage.”

Whoops and hollers filled the room. Only some from people who were watching. Others called out because they heard celebrating and wanted to be included. Val’s chest hurt and he wasn’t sure if it was from his heart racing or him hyperventilating.

“There’s no gates in Hell more sweet or hot than those you are gonna ass… ume.” The imp blinked one eye and then the other. “No vows more sol… sol… salted than these ones. It’s fucking sacred, all right?”

Val tugged. He tugged. He could feel his hand sliding away from the ghost, but his hand was simply readjusted within the grip.

Fuck.

“No institution more fantastic than the home you will make. Except for the institution of porn, right Overlord Valentino?” The imp laughed, then appeared to forget why he was laughing. “The state of matrimony is found between North and South Carolina, in the deep, invisible union of two souls who can’t find the state lines. Completion in each other. All good?”

Yes.

Val was not forced to speak, but he still tried to scream no. A small whine came out—swallowed by the noise in the room and heard by no one but Val himself.

“Face the face and join—”

The entire eastern wall exploded. Shok.wav didn’t care about the other party-goers as he jammed his face inside. His snout pointed toward Val and his eyes narrowed in on the scene.

On his head stood Vox with his head under his arm. To say he looked annoyed would be an understatement, but he definitely looked dashing.

Vox jumped off Shok.wav and landed rather smoothly. He must have been far along in his pairing process before leaving the tower. Val stared at him in wonder. Vox had taken some time to dress or he had someone dress his body before starting the transfer. Either way, Val was livid. Either Vox had taken his sweet time or he had let someone else dress him. Neither of those were acceptable.

“What the fuck, Val?” Vox came closer without even glancing at the spectre beside him.

Val shook in place. It wasn’t from fear anymore, but his attempt to protest, his attempt at anger, his attempt to demand Vox do something.

Only when stopping did Vox address the ghost. “Get your own moth.” Vox snatched Val’s hand from its grip. It reached out, but Vox brought Val’s hand to his mouth and then put his ringed finger between his teeth.

Before Val could even wonder why, Vox bit his finger off. Val was furious, extremely turned on, but (more than that) woozy. Val swooned into Vox’s arm as blood seeped into his dress and speckled the front with even more droplets of red. However, the only pain was in his hand. Val could only feel confusion and relief.

Vox tossed his head into Val’s lap, which Val absently grabbed with his lower hands, and carried Val out of the building—jumping from the hole in the wall down to ground level. Leaving Shok.wav behind to cause havoc. Val could move his mouth, but found himself too winded to get words out. Cheers and screams faded as Vox continued to take them further and further from the party. Further from the light… except for the light of Vox’s face.

“Angle me so I can see where we’re going!”

It sounded like Vox had asked that already and Val had missed it. Whether he had or not, this time he did as Vox asked. Vox looked annoyed, but Val noted his ride became a lot smoother once Vox could look ahead. Those arms were wrapped around him tight. The cords not retracted in Vox’s head or in his neck, because he had stopped in the middle of it all, hung loose.

“Voxxie?”

Vox scowled and did not look at him. Even though Val could turn Vox back to him at any time so he couldn’t see anything else.

In fact, he did that.

“What did I just say?” It took zero seconds before Vox was looking at him, only at him, and glaring. Well, Val was used to the glares. That didn’t matter as long as Vox looked at him.

“You don’t… tell me what to do.” Val slurred a little. He was getting blood on Vox’s face. Well, Vox was the one who bit off his finger. Vox bit off his finger. “Kinky~”

“If I drop you, it’ll be your fault.”

“You came for me.”

Vox’s expression faltered. “You’re the one who put on some random junk you got from… from where, exactly?”

A drop hit Vox’s screen. Val looked up. The storm had finally broken and the raindrops came faster and faster. The wires sparked—mainly the ones running into Vox’s body—and Vox hissed breath out between his teeth. Val shifted.

“St-Stop moving so much!”

“Stop being stupid!” Val’s words were coming easier. He extended his wings above them, protecting Vox from the rain. It wouldn’t last long, as the pace of it became more torrential minute by minute. If Vox said something, Val couldn’t hear it. His mouth moved and Val moved his head upright so they both could look out into the dark. To the south were the lights of Pentagram City. It shouldn’t have felt so far away.

The chill descended through his wings to his spine. Val shivered, sobered by the experience, and pressed his cheek against Vox’s body. Warm, because he was halfway back to being whole.

Val had missed this.

Vox turned toward the closest building that was still out in this odd wilderness (more like a field, but anyway). It took Val the full few minutes it took for Vox to get to it to realize it was a fucking barn. He hadn’t realized a real barn still existed within the Pentagram.

Vox threw the door open and walked in. From the dim light, Val didn’t see anything to worry about. Other than hay. Actual hay?

He almost expected Vox to throw him down, but Vox set him on his feet and took his head back. Val stared at his dress, most definitely ruined, and began to wring out his wings. The tenderness at the bottom of his wing had returned tenfold. This would take forever to dry, if it would even dry at all before they got home.

Home. Val didn’t want to think about this night anymore. How had he almost gotten married to a ghost? How had Vox showed up at the… right…

“You showed up too soon.”

“I what?”

Val huffed as water dripped down his scales to splatter on the mixture of dirt over concrete beneath him. “You were supposed to show up when they asked if anyone was against the joining of these—”

“Val.” Vox almost gripped his own head too hard before moving his hands to his edges. There was still a smear of blood at the corner of his mouth, and Vox absently licked it off. “Don’t tell me you planned—”

“Like I’d plan that!” Val flipped him off. “Of course I didn’t! I wouldn’t be caught dead around a ghost! But since it did happen, it should have at least gone like a movie—”

Vox shoved his face into Val’s chest. Instinctively, Val grabbed him with wet hands and therefore wasn’t prepared for Vox’s body to shove him backwards and into the hay. It was scratchy, as hay was wont to be, and now wet, but Val’d had sex in more uncomfortable places before. He hadn’t thought Vox would do so on purpose. It was usually Val startling Vox in such places.

“Vox! I’m surprised at you!”

Vox shoved Val’s hands, and his own head, into Val’s face. Vox’s tongue came out and immediately slithered between Val’s lips. Val pulled his face even closer, mashing his face against the screen as he let Vox’s tongue in. His glasses pressed uncomfortably against his face, but it wasn’t the first time they had hurt him, and it wouldn’t be the last. He wound his long tongue around the broad blade of Vox’s digital projection and all the way to the back. To his throat. If he kept going, would his tongue come out where those wires hung?

The body ripped away the mysterious dress, leaving it only covering Val’s torso as everything under the circle of roses at his waist was removed. The white boots were ripped from his feet and tossed aside into the darkness. Vox spread Val’s legs into comfortable splits with his wires before thrusting his fingers into him. Two to start with. Val’s body accommodated him immediately. Unlike others, Val didn’t need this preparation. He did not need lube or care or anything. His body was made for sex.

Still, Vox would do this. Use his fingers to pleasure Val as much as he would use his cock. Spreading and pressing and even scratching. Oh, how Val loved those small scratches inside his body. No one else did it like Vox would. About to draw blood, but not, which always had him drenching Vox’s fingers, and now was no exception. Val’s body was meant for this.

Vox caressed his ass like he was fine art. Another wire tugged Val’s wrists as if to move his head away.

Val didn’t want to stop kissing Vox. He had missed this tongue. Val whined as Vox forced his head away, to drag his tongue down Val’s chest. Sucking over Val’s nipples, biting over Val’s abs, then taking all of Val’s dicks into his mouth.

“Oh, mi luz~” Val hummed as he thrust into Vox’s mouth. Val luxuriated between Vox’s fingers and his talented tongue as it worked magic over every member. His right leg was raised to rub against Vox’s neck—where his head should have trapped it against Vox’s shoulder.

Time trickled away. This should have been Val’s position, to make Vox lose track of time, but somehow Vox was treating him instead. Val panted, tongue lolling from his mouth to his own ruff, as he tweaked the piercing on his left nipple. If only he had worn his nipple chain tonight… but if he had, he might have been made to remove it.

“You’re… not going to make me come… without you?”

It was so unlike Vox. If he was being hands-off, he would be hands-off completely. Stringing Val up and watching. Right here, Vox couldn’t watch. Not with his mouth full of Val’s dicks and the light of his screen obscured by Val’s fur. How much of this was for Vox? How much for Val?

Val shuddered and came. Not all of it made it into Vox’s mouth, but Vox continued to lick over the cockheads as cum dripped down his screen, mixing with a new smear of blood Val had missed leaving on him. Panting, Val reached up to use the back of the veil to absorb some sweat beading up under his fur.

“Voxxie~ You haven’t lost your touch at all!” He brought Vox back to his face to help clean him off with his tongue.

To forget what had just happened. Not only tonight, but for the last several weeks. Maybe the last couple of months.

Val was bent in half, only his shoulders and upper back remained pressed to the ground as his ass was raised for Vox to enter him fully in one motion. Vox hadn’t bothered even undressing down below—Val could feel the weave of those pants against his ass. Val tightly hugged Vox’s head to his face as he finished cleaning off the cum. Vox’s hands gripped his hips and Val’s hands grasped Vox’s thighs to keep him from pulling out too much—keeping the thrusts shallow. Keeping Vox inside. Vox moaned into his mouth and Val chirped in return.

There were questions Val had wanted to ask, questions he needed answers to, but Val didn’t dare pull their faces apart. The hay stuck to his wings, but other than that his wings protected him from how scratchy it would be on his back as Vox screwed into him like a master. They didn’t hurt anymore. Nothing hurt in a bad way when Vox was inside him.

It took Val from his comfortable post-orgasmic haze into the bliss of continued arousal. It was even better this time with Vox’s cock. Val bent his knees to knock the bottoms of his feet against Vox’s jacket. The pulse inside him was like a heartbeat to match his own.

“Ah… ah… Val~”

Vox always made his name sound like a prayer. Other people did that too at times, but Val didn’t care about them. Those people were fun for a moment. Only Vox made Val think back on his name had been said—wanting to hear it like that again.

“Vox!” Val panted against his screen and fogged the surface. Val’s glasses were askew, but he could still see even under his frames. Vox was the only light in the room.

“I’m… I’m going to leave my mark on you.” Val finally noticed Vox’s eyes, which held his gaze with an intensity only Vox could give. “Three times. Tell me… tell me where.”

No. Val should have been the one leaving the marks. He opened his mouth to say so, but what came out was, “ankle.”

Cords dragged Vox’s head away from him. Val’s eyes followed as his forearms wrapped around himself for warmth. Vox licked down his leg before biting him hard. More blood gushed over Vox’s teeth. Val’s hips jumped up, but Vox’s thrusts remained shallow.

Lathing Val clean with his tongue, Vox stared at him with his gaze unblinking.

“Two.”

“H-Hips!” Val begged.

Vox continued sucking Val’s ankle as his claws dug in. Vox electrocuted him and Val shrieked in delight as every part of him stiffened and shook. All the while, Vox kept him in place. Pressed in deeper and kept some part of Val grounded despite the shocks running up and down his limbs. Val could smell the burn of his flesh and the removal of hair. He was no longer cold.

As Val’s sight returned, he caught Vox swallowing back saliva, having lost all decorum.

“Th-Thr3e.”

Val raised his hand. One finger less.

Vox was on it, kissing the front and back of his hand, licking his wrist, murmuring silent words into Val’s palm. Words Val shouldn’t have been able to interpret. But he knew Vox’s body too well. He could tell what Vox mouthed even without hearing him or seeing the shapes on his face.

Mine. Val. I need you. Want you. Val, I love you.

Val squeaked. Vox’s hips stuttered before he dove in faster and came. The warmth suffused Val’s belly and spread over his skin. Val arched and pulled Vox in—his legs and lower arms around Vox’s body and his upper arms around his head.

Vox gasped for breath against Val’s chest with the vents at his sides blasting hot air. Val managed to move his forewings up to keep that warm air close, despite not feeling any cold anymore.

Only then did the words sink in. Love. Vox loved him.

…loved him, but wouldn’t say it out loud. Would not tell him.

“V-VaL y0u’re g0iNg to c-c-crack my scr33n.”

Val squeaked and loosened his grip. Just a little. “I’m mad at you.”

Vox slumped against him, but said nothing. Val searched himself for a cigarette, but before he could find one he felt a stick light between his lips. The little electrical zap which shaped as a heart. As it always had for him.

It hadn’t for Alastor. It never had. Val had hated so many people in his life, but he didn’t think he had ever hated someone as much as Vox hated Alastor. Val never would have killed himself for the inability to destroy someone he hated.

The only light was now the end of his cigarette. At least, until he tilted Vox’s head back up. Vox didn’t look back at him, but scanned their surroundings. Val could see better in dim light than he could in brighter places, and the shine of Vox’s screen glistened against a different glass.

“I think that’s a lantern.”

Vox lit it and the inside of the barn came into sight. Val was almost disappointed that there were no corpses in the corner or people hiding and watching them the entire time; it was indeed empty except for the two of them.

Vox pulled out. Val instinctively clenched to try to keep him in, or at least keep as much of his cum in. Val curled his hips upward to keep too much from spilling out as Vox wiped his dick off with the strips of Val’s dress and tucked himself away.

“Nothing for me?” Val couldn’t even see where his underwear had gone. Not that he needed it, but he hadn’t gotten to see before Vox had torn away everything under his waist.

“You wear your wings like a coat.” Vox sounded tired.

Val’s heart still pounded. “About… You said that you—”

Vox must have known what Val was about to say. Val blinked as Vox took his head away and sat down. He lifted it back to over his shoulders and the cords from his head and the ones in his neck connected once more.

Biting his lower lip, Val sat up and let Vox’s cum spill over his wings. He scooted closer and took Vox’s head back, holding it exactly where it was. When Vox realized he wasn’t moving it, he let go and his hands began to work through his wires to sort them into place.

“You were so dashing when Shok.wav smashed his way in, amorcito.” Val leaned against Vox’s back. “Even though you looked like the Headless Horseman.”

Vox chuckled. “Should I have shown up on an actual horse?”

“Of course not. Shok.wav fits your whole aesthetic. You two looked magnificent.” Like the man he knew Vox was. “And you biting my finger off…”

Val stared at Vox’s neck knitting itself together. Slowly, the wires were connected and then pulling both sides closer. Vox must have been just at the end of the process when Velvette had gotten through to him. Instead of waiting the last five minutes, he had come rushing to Val’s side.

“Are you hard again?” Vox sounded amused.

“Just thinking about your entrance, cariño.”

“Not about me biting off your finger?”

“That too.” Val wanted to bury his face into that neck, but knew to wait. Would it be okay when Vox was together? He was the one who severed it. Vox had gone off the deep end, so it wasn’t Val’s fault, but…

Everything clicked into place and Vox’s face rebooted. Val shifted to watch the numbers and saw it ticking up toward a hundred percent relatively quickly. He brushed his unbloodied hands over Vox’s neck. Vox would put the final skin covering over it when they got home, and it would heal into his head. Val pressed his lips carefully against the cords and kissed them—feeling the thrum of electricity underneath.

He pulled his hands away before Vox finished. His face returned as Vox gingerly tilted his head from side to side. No doubt it was sore and would be for some time. It was sore when Vox had updated his head deliberately. Val could only imagine how it was after having been ripped apart.

Val pulled back as Vox adjusted his high collar around the exposed wires. Vox sighed. “Fuck all this…”

“Vox…”

Their eyes met.

“You said you love me.”

Vox’s face went completely light blue. It was so bright, that Val missed if Vox said anything. He could only see the light. The panic in his eyes.

A honk from outside dragged them both out of it. Vox rubbed at his collar again. “Velvette… must have been able to track our location. Once I was t-together.”

Vox got to his feet in a single motion. Val stared at the tatters of his dress and shucked off the rest of it. He did not wrap his wings around himself. He didn’t care if Velvette would be offended. His wings were wet and he wasn’t about to wrap them against his skin.

The barn door flung open. Velvette held a large black umbrella over herself, despite how the headlights from outside said the car was only a few steps away. “Don’t tell me you two fucked in here.”

“I won’t,” said Vox, heading past her into the limo.

Val fixed Velvette with his saddest eyes. She rolled hers and snapped to dress him in something warm and dry and (more importantly) separating his wet wings from his body.

“He fucked me hard,” Val told Velvette.

She sighed and handed him the umbrella. He held it up over the both of them as they joined Vox in the car. Val crawled onto the side seat and reached for the liquor.

“Party thoroughly crashed.” Velvette sat on the backseat on the other side from Vox. “I sent Shok.wav home. Clara says it doesn’t seem like any of those ghosts are still around, but who knows.”

Vox snorted and also grabbed a bottle from the bar. He took the time to pour his whiskey into a glass, but drank it straight and before he had even put the bottle back. “There is no such thing as ghosts.”

Val propped himself up on his elbows as he frowned. Velvette’s eyes narrowed.

“I can’t believe you fell for that, Velvette. You’re usually better than that.”

“And…” Velvette enunciated through clenched teeth, “what exactly was that if not a fucking ghost?”

“You saw what was there!” Val agreed.

Vox sighed and took another sip. “There’s no such things as ghosts.” From his breast pocket, he pulled out Val’s finger. The ring was still at the base of it, covered in blood from the initial dismemberment. “And I’m going to find out who sent this to you and kill them.”

Vox shouldn’t be allowed to sound authoritative. Val could tell Velvette felt the same. Yet neither said anything, because Vox sounded like himself. And they wanted that.

Plus, it would give him something to do while he wasn’t allowed to CEO everywhere.

The ring was removed from his finger. Velvette sewed it back to his hand. Not that he couldn’t have regrown it, but this way he would be moving it by tomorrow. Even if it took a little longer for the scars to heal up. As it was, it twitched as Velvette brought the nerves and veins together.

“Stop moving.”

“Hm.”

Val usually liked watching Velvette work on sewing flesh, but his eyes were still taken up by Vox. Velvette’s cauldron was heated and Vox kept running his hands around the edges to send electricity into the pot. Apparently it was melting the ring, removing the curse from it and any remnants from Val, but Val only listened to the bubbling. Vox glaring into the liquid, with the purple light of it shining against his face, was like Val had been taken back a year ago.

Velvette was not careful with her needle. She had been in a bad mood since Vox had said it wasn’t a ghost. Well, even if this wasn’t a ghost didn’t mean they didn’t exist. Val didn’t subscribe to the Hellborn conspiracy that they didn’t. Maybe they were rare in Hell, but that didn’t mean no ghosts.

“Don’t look at me like that,” said Vox.

“And what am I supposed to look at you like?” Val asked. His finger twitched again.

Velvette huffed. “Stop that.”

“Babydoll, you’re reattaching it. I’m not doing that on purpose.”

“Not like you still believe it was a ghost.” Vox went on as if Velvette hadn’t said anything. “It was a projection. Nothing more.”

“I can’t believe Valentino did this to himself.” Velvette rolled her eyes in such an exaggerated manner that Val couldn’t help but see it.

He sneered. “Not on purpose! How does that work anyway?”

“We’ll know when I put the samples through my girls to figure out what went into it.”

“Did you really want to get married to someone?” Vox looked tired.

Velvette gave Val a warning glance. He knew what it meant, but he spoke anyway. “No. Not to someone.”

“Uh huh.”

Vox had just said he loved him (mouthed it into Val as if Val couldn’t hear it, knew Val had caught it, and was acting like this?). Val’s fur bristled—and not because he was dry and in a fluffy red bathrobe.

“Maybe you should put a ring on it so I can’t put a cursed one there!”

“Thank god I’m done.” Velvette tugged the last string tight and got to her feet to check her cauldron. She batted Vox away, apparently deciding it didn’t need more electricity.

“You have four hands.” Vox straightened and walked over to the window. Whether he was appreciating the sight of looking down at the city while on his own feet or actually taking in the destruction he had caused, Val didn’t know. “And I’ve gifted you enough rings that if you still need more of them, there’s nothing I can do about it.”

“Those are fashion statements, papi. I want a ring I’ll never take off.”

Vox’s shoulders stiffened.

“You two have this lover’s confession out of my sight.” Velvette glared between them. “And don’t pretend it’s not that, Vox! Even a blind bat can see how you two feel about each other!”

Val squeaked. Velvette had ruined it. He wasn’t sure how he had planned on discussing this, but at least before it felt familiar. Familiar enough to ignore some of the prickling at his skin from Vox’s previous words. Or the last of the curse vacating his system. Maybe it was that.

Vox left the room and Val followed. He was glad Vox didn’t just electroport away, but it didn’t mean he wouldn’t. Reaching forward, he grabbed Vox’s hand as Velvette’s door shut behind them. Vox stopped in place.

“Have you been blind?” Val asked. “Is that why you won’t say it out loud?”

“Say what?”

Snarling, Vox turned Vox around to look at him. His bottom hands clenched Vox’s shoulders and his upper hands angling Vox’s face up to his. Vox’s eyes widened.

“You were ready to die. To kill us and yourself. And I still love you!”

The cords of Vox’s neck were still exposed, which made it much more obvious when he swallowed. He looked terrified. Why did he look terrified?

“Are you ashamed of me?”

That snapped Vox out of it. “Wh-What?”

Val’s lips narrowed into a thin line. He wasn’t sure if he was still angry or wanting to burst into tears. “You won’t accept me, you won’t talk to me, you won’t listen to me—”

Vox grabbed the hands at his head. “I’m listening!”

“But you weren’t! What good is listening if you don’t let me know you’re listening?”

Val dug his nails in and Vox did the same. Vox’s eyes narrowed and Val could just see him coming up with an excuse. With a lie. A reason Val should believe him. So Val shoved him against the wall, pinning him entirely with his body.

“I love you! I love you I love you I love you I—”

As Val had hoped, Vox broke. He slumped in Val’s arms and Val cut himself off with a deep kiss. Vox let go of Val’s wrists and wrapped his arms around him, under the robe, brushing over the burns he had left on Val’s hips. Grabbing Vox’s hips, Val lifted him so Vox could bring his legs around him as well.

Their mouths breaking apart, Val gasped, “say it.”

“Zzzzay?” Vox blinked several times, as if he had to process something.

“Say you love me. You always say I’m yours. You love me. Say it. Fucking say it!”

“I l0ve y0u.”

Finally.

Val ripped through Vox’s slacks and frotted against Vox’s rising erection. Vox moaned against him, but there was just as much liquid sticking to the fur on Val’s face. Val wasn’t crying, which meant Vox was.

“Why did you think I didn’t?” Val asked, mouthing Vox’s screen, mouthing around his head. He left trails of saliva, some of which dripped onto Vox’s tongue. “What else could I have done?”

“N-No 0ne… caN l0v3… m3…”

In one motion, Val took him from the wall and slammed him on the floor. Vox winced and scratched Val’s ass in response. “I’m not saying it’s always easy, Vox! But I do! I can’t stop! You aren’t that idiot who wanted to die. You’re the fucker who spies on me in my dressing room! Never says horchata even though I know you actually remember the word because you always order it perfectly! Who sits with our Velvette when she brews and gossips like you both are teenagers! You’re the man who saved me. Who saw me. Who made me an Overlord and treated me like an equal. You…”

Val should not have run out of breath. It didn’t matter that he was rocking against Vox, that Vox throbbed between his dicks and gasped under him, that Val had been saying all that on one (maybe two) breaths. Val could say and do so much more in a single inhalation.

But now the drops on Vox’s face weren’t Vox’s. They were his.

“You love me, papi. Why won’t you let me love you back?”

Vox pulled him in, pressing Val’s face into his neck. Val squeaked and inhaled the taste of Vox. Inside and out. The only part of him which could move were his hips—rocking against Vox and getting both of them stickier and stickier.

“I…” Vox’s voice was quiet. “I don’t know.”

“Let me be yours…” Val licked those throat cords and Vox shuddered. “You don’t have a choice. You can’t get rid of me. And you’re mine. I’m going to write my name inside you.”

He didn’t do that right now, but he did nibble those cords. Val might have bit a little harder than he should have, considering Vox had just put them back together, but Vox’s reaction was delectable. Val raised Vox’s legs until he was bent in two, Vox’s heels now pressing between his shoulder blades, and grinding into him until one of his dicks slipped down and pressed against Vox’s entrance with every push forward.

“Let me be yours…”

“V-Val…”

A door slammed open. Val stopped and Vox’s expression snapped into mortification.

“This had better be a we talked it over fuck and not a we’re fucking so we don’t talk fuck!” Velvette warned. “Either way, not in my hallway!”

Vox shut his eyes. Val glanced over his shoulder for a moment before burying his face back into Vox’s neck. Then he pushed in—regardless of how he hadn’t worked Vox open first. Vox was always so tight and this body hadn’t had something down here since who knew when. The last few times they’d had sex, Val had always taken it. Vox groaned and clenched hard around Val everywhere.

Velvette groaned loudly and the door slammed again.

“You made this body for me,” Val murmured as he pressed all the way in. “So I could fit inside, no matter what. Made so many dicks to treat me with. Trained these claws to tear through me in just the right way. Your tongue to tangle perfectly with mine.”

“F-Fuck, Val. Juzzzt keep m0ving!”

He did not. Val simply pressed all his weight down on Vox and continued to speak into Vox’s neck. “You watch all the movies I like with me. Tell our chefs to take a hike sometimes and cook with me. Take me dancing. You sing for me, and only me. Taught me so many songs I’ve never heard before and make them up on the fly without Hell making you do it. My talented performer. Handsome man.”

Vox was gasping for breath, trying to buck underneath him, but Val had him pinned. “Zzzztop it!”

“Never.” Val shut his eyes as he tried to stop his teardrops. “Never. Even when I’m furious with you, I love you. Even when you only call me your business partner, I love you. Even when you start treating me like I’m not your equal, I love you. Even when you try to kill me—”

Vox sobbed and dragged Val’s mouth over his again to shut him up. Val couldn’t pull back. As he had said: Vox’s tongue tangled too perfectly with his.

The pulse of Vox’s heart against his chest. The pulse of Vox’s dick between the three of Val’s which weren’t embedded.

This time, Vox did not say it with a glitch. Their lips separated again and it was the clearest he could have said it. “I love you.”

Val pulled back and slammed inside. Vox cried out and Val kept going. Forcing his pace until Vox had opened enough to make his thrusts smoother. All the while, Vox kept tell him to go harder and faster in short gasps, as if he had any right to order Val around.

Luckily for him, Val wanted to go harder and faster. Covering Vox on the outside and the inside was almost a greater need than reaching his own orgasm. To make Vox go from short cries to louder and louder confidence.

“Fuck! Right there, Val! Right fucking there! Shit! Fucking ruin me, you slut! I need to feel you until next week! Make me so sore I can’t walk tomorrow! Tell me you’re mine!”

“I’m yours!” Val squeaked with each plunge of his cockhead reaching as far as anything as hard as he was could go. “I’m yours!”

“You’re mine!”

“Yours!”

“Fuck, you’re better than anything could be in Heaven!”

And at the moment they both would have hit the best climax ever, it was ruined by Velvette pouring cold water over them both. Vox blue screened.

“Bitch!” Val shrieked.

“I said not in my hallway, you tossers!”

Val had every right to pout. He didn’t often experience a ruined orgasm. Usually he could ride through everything. It had been a magic moment and Velvette was such a cunt for ruining this for him when she had wanted them to work things out. After all, Val and Vox worked a lot of things out during sex! They talked all the time during sex. They had done plenty of business with one of their dicks inside the other in one way or another and Velvette knew it.

She didn’t have to like it to know it. Why hadn’t she waited another minute?

He curled around Vox on his bed. Vox absently pet Val’s good antenna. They were both dry again, but Vox hadn’t let Val jam himself back inside him. Val couldn’t help but sulk, even as he was grateful Vox wanted to cuddle like this. Like they had used to, except with the now exposed element of their relationship. And Vox’s neck.

“You wanted me to make sure you couldn’t walk tomorrow, Voxxie.”

“I just got my legs back. That was… a stupid thing for me to say.”

“Just got your asshole back too.” Val huffed. But Vox chuckled and Val’s frustration waned. How could it stay in the face of Vox like this? He might have taken that back, but he hadn’t taken back the most important part.

“You still going to find who sent that ring to me?” Val asked swirling a finger around a nipple.

“Duh.” Vox’s sigh caused Val’s antenna to flutter in its wake. “Kill them. A lot.”

“I get a crack at them too, right?”

“Of course you do. We’ll have a lot of fun with it.”

Val squeaked as his mood shot back up. Playing torture with Vox was always one of his favourite things to do. Especially in regard to revenge. Sure, maybe he had to thank this person a bit for setting the stage for Vox finally confessing, but Val would have gotten Vox to here eventually on his own. And fuck whoever it was for messing with him.

“And you’re going to get me a ring, right?”

“A ring you won’t want to change out for another one?” Vox sounded quizzical. “Is there such a ring out there?”

“One you put on me, of course.”

“I’ve put plenty on y—”

Val shut him up with a kiss as he dragged that hand over to grab Vox’s claws. Val’s reattached finger was stiff, but it bent slightly as Val threaded his fingers between Vox’s and squeezed. Vox squeezed back—moving that finger into place where it needed to be. The pain from the motion was good. Better than the earlier pains from his wings, which Val had basically forgotten about since the barn.

“I’ll find you a ring you won’t take off,” Vox said.

Val smiled. “See? You get it.”

“I get that you’re a brat.”

“A brat and a brat tamer, papacito!” Val nuzzled him and rested his mouth against that neck once more. Val was no idiot. He knew Vox would continue to have his issues. Whatever reason it was that Vox couldn’t seem to believe that Val loved him. Whatever was wrong in that head which had let Alastor push him to the end like that.

But Val now knew for sure Vox loved him. All he had to do was help Vox remember both sides of it. They would be okay.

A ring was not a solution, but it would definitely be a reminder.