Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Valentino had only ever had one friend. In life and death. He wasn’t sure what to do with one friend, let alone two.

Losing his second friend? Not acceptable. Not acceptable in the slightest. Losing either of them. Val snarled at nothing and threw another book to the side as he continued through the selection of old and rotten texts which his employees had brought him. At this point, the only one allowed into his room was Kitty to bring more books and he was getting close to wanting to throw her out the window too.

None of this was working. He couldn’t handle it. He squinted at the words as they started to swim in his vision. Vox should have been doing this instead, but Vox was on his own mission. Tracking down where Velvette had run off to. Who might find her in this state and what they might try to do to her. Val wanted to be out there and after her, but he already hurt from her attack.

The injury itself wasn’t a big deal. He would heal soon enough. It didn’t matter how much pain it had caused him, because it wasn’t physical pain which mattered. It wasn’t even that Velvette had attacked him. It was that she had done so under pretenses which weren’t true.

Their contract hadn’t broken, because Velvette hadn’t knowingly broken it. The Vees existed. On occasion he could hear the construction from outside the tower (through the broken window) where they were fixing the logo to add Velvette’s V. Her colours.

Velvette was his. Vox was his. Valentino had never been aware this could be an issue. That someone could just forget all about him.

Another book seemed worthless. Or was it just him? Val shrieked and went to throw his knuckles against the wall. It hurt, but the physical pain grounded him again. Put him back in order. Long enough for him to focus on what he was looking for.

He would get her back.

Everything was perfect twenty four hours ago.

“Cheers!”

Their glasses clinked together for perhaps the fourth time that night. Velvette took another snapshot. Perhaps she wasn’t about to post it all yet. Not until her debut, but she would have a boatload of things to share when it happened. Velvette would flood every corner of every social media platform in Hell. More than she was already. And then she would control it all.

All thanks to her hard work. And perhaps a little thanks to her two new business partners.

“And you had to put her in a probationary period first!” Val laughed at Vox, pulling the man into his lap.

“If it had turned out to be anyone but Velvette, you’d be thanking me for that!”

Velvette smirked and settled further into her armchair. This was the sort of opulence she deserved. Well, the penthouse in general could use some more updating, but before their contracts had been signed she had been playing it safe.

It hadn’t taken her long after dropping in Hell to come up with her plan. She had taken stock of what the situation was in Hell. Where the power was. Much like in the living world, it came from the masses and then was consolidated in the people the masses either liked or feared.

She had gone the route of “like” above. Velvette wasn’t against going the other way around, but being liked made it easier for her to do the other things she enjoyed. Let alone how she noticed the solitary nature of most of the Overlords in Hell. They did not share power and therefore becoming one of them usually meant taking over. Something she could do, if she wanted to spend the time on it.

Or she could go the easier and more successful way. The one which looked to be more stable in the long run. She could join the Vees.

It was why she decided to change her name to Velvette. Dress for the job you want. She began gathering her power on her own, all with the intent to present herself to Vox (the one she figured she would get more respect out of) and then show her power to Valentino to make sure he didn’t view her like he appeared to view most other bodies in Hell.

Of course, the best laid plans never worked. Valentino had found her first and Vox had actually been reluctant to hear her plans on how she could advance the Vees and his plans further and faster than he and Val could on their own.

Yet? Val had put her on the fast train to the top. She hadn’t expected to like him. Either of them. All she had wanted were some associates who understood, like she did, that true solitude didn’t often get one to keep power. You had to fool people into loving you.

Vox and Val knew it well. They had done it to their masses. Velvette could do the same. The contract rested against her very soul with all three of their signatures flowering power through it.

Velvette was a Vee.

“As for your introduction,” Vox began, as if he wasn’t sitting in Val’s lap with the pimp groping him absently.

“Oh, why don’t we leave work until morning?” Val grinned at Velvette. “Tonight is celebrating babydoll!”

“Sure as fuck is!” She laughed. “Plus, I’m remaking your wardrobes for my debut. If I’m being presented alongside the two of you, it’s going to be looking like I want you to!”

“You’ve already lambasted my closet.” Nevertheless, Vox chuckled. He was in the mood for her prodding, so Velvette would take advantage of it.

“And I’m fixing it! But while you look loads better—”

“—and you do—” Val interrupted.

“—that’s different from the outfit you should be wearing when you are introducing me.”

“So true~”

Vox seemed to realize he wouldn’t get anywhere between the two of them and shrugged, sipping at his whiskey. “Can’t wait to see what you come up with, my dear.”

Velvette brought up her camera again. “Smile.”

Vox already was, but he made it more performative. Val’s own grin spread further across his face as he leaned forward, resting his chin on Vox’s shoulder.

As good as it would be to promote all three of them as a unit, Velvette was already putting up some safeguards. She enjoyed Valentino’s company. More than she should have, considering she knew what sort of predator he was. Not like she wasn’t, but it wasn’t the same. She respected Vox’s opinions. More than she should have, considering he was still sometimes stuck as a very old and very white Yank. There would be problems with getting too close.

But she could keep up professional relations. Friendly ones. It was more fun than the other path. And would also make her invaluable to them in different ways beyond the professional sphere.

Velvette had skipped a whole monotonous mountain of work to gain power. Now she had a straight view to the top with these two.

“First ex,” Val said out of nowhere. “Go.”

“The teacher I fucked for grades,” Velvette shot back.

Val laughed, delighted.

Vox rolled his eyes. “I don’t envy anyone who decides to fall into your web.”

“You’d think that old Zestial, being a spider and all, would have more connections.”

“Careful with dissing the other Overlords,” Vox said absently. “As stupid as most of them are. They still have power.”

“Yeah, but he retired? Basically backing up the Carmine bitch? What?” Velvette rolled her eyes. “That’s the same thing as just saying we’re collaborating, except trying to keep it hidden so they can talk down on you for saying that collaboration is a good thing!”

Vox’s smile turned wry. Val laughed.

“Everyone down here is a hypocrite, chiquita. Save your ire for the more important prey.”

More important prey. Velvette considered who that would be. She would not deny she still had a lot to learn, but she also had the keen judgement of the newcomer who wasn’t entrenched completely within politics. Velvette had to make the most of this particular moment. This moment would be the most important one in her career for some time.

And it was perfect.

Kelly woke up.

She remembered dying and… where was her hair? As she moved her hands up to her head, she realized it wasn’t just her head which felt barren, but all her joints which felt… felt… Like something. Wrong?

The bed was more comfortable than anything she had ever been in. She stumbled out of it and found a light. Then a mirror, which was in the adjoining bathroom. This entire place so far was bigger than any flat she’d had before and—

She stared at herself, stunned. It was not her reflection in the mirror. Yet it copied the motions she made. Kelly glanced down at her hand and stared at the visible joints.

It was like she was a doll. Hands came up over her head before she noticed more than her reflection. Her surroundings were filled with clothes. Shoes. Wigs. As if she had lived in this place she had never been in before.

Well, maybe Kelly hadn’t been here before, but this body had. It was time to pretend she knew what was going on so she could figure out what was actually going on.

It took longer than it should have for her to get dressed, but she was busy examining all of her joints and the outfits she had to get into. It was pleasing, the selection. Velvette liked it. She liked it a lot, but it didn’t explain anything. Certainly there was some sort of phone around here somewhere. Or a computer. Something which would tell her whose body this was.

Kelly didn’t believe in magic, but she had to take the facts at face value.

As she found her phone, it occurred to her the last thing she did remember was the horrific pain in the back of her head. One she didn’t have now. The man who had broken into her place to attack her after that bitch doxxed Kelly online. While she was asleep.

Kelly should never sleep. Apparently it did things like that. And this.

…was she dead?

“Velvette! I had another idea!”

Kelly would have used the phrase nearly jumped out of her skin, but didn’t know if that applied when she was a doll. Was this her body? “What?”

“Oh!”

The ten foot tall red and lavender monster stood in her doorway. Humanoid, but… He didn’t have a nose. (She didn’t really either.) His face was covered in fur and he had one long black and white feather coming out the top on one side and—

“You are up!” He chirped(?) and made his way to her side in a few long strides. Kelly frowned.

He called her Velvette. Maybe this was someone else’s body. Which she had died and entered? Was this Hell?

She considered what her best move would be when he used two arms (on the same side) to pull her in for a hug. And Kelly couldn’t allow for that. The adrenaline pumped from her chest and through her arms and somehow through her very sleeves. The fabric lashed out and cut into the monster, who stumbled back. Despite the force she felt it had exuded, he did not fall, even as some blood trickled from his chest.

The creature blinked. “I know you can be no-touchy, but that’s a bit much, isn’t—”

If she stayed where she was, he would have her trapped. She rushed past him before he could change his mind and be pissed. Like she would be. What had happened? Had she done that? Was it her outfit? Magic clothes?

Out of that room, she found herself in a huge hallway which led to a banister. She reached it, gripping at the bars as she looked down at the opulent room.

“Velvette?”

The voice was new. Kelly reached in that direction and her clothes did the same thing. She could feel how it worked, as if she instinctively understood it all. Yes. The figure disappeared in sparks and Kelly vaulted the railing. Her clothes ballooned and slowed her descent.

“What the fuck?”

“Something’s wrong, Vox.”

“Obviously!”

There were far too many exits. Kelly went for a window instead, but the instant she arrived at it she realized how far up she was. On the top of a tower.

“Velvette! You need to calm down.”

Logically, she should have turned back in. Not toward these two strangers, who were doing who knew what to her, but to find an exit inside. Breaking the window should have been beyond her. It was far too high for her to rely on these strange powers she had no idea how she had gotten.

But she did have powers. And they felt so natural. Somehow, it didn’t surprise her at all when her clothes smashed through the window. Wind burst in.

“Velvette—”

She jumped and dropped. The plummet was thrilled and her scarf reached out to ledges, swinging her away from the tower to other buildings when they came in reach. Behind her, she stared at the tower. Construction was happening outside the top. She hadn’t even noticed when she was inside.

Kelly laughed and disappeared into the night.

Vox and Valentino stood at the broken window.

“Fly after her!” Vox snapped.

“And what?” Val asked. “She ran off.”

Vox glared at where he had last seen her. “Fuck!” He stormed off to his office to check on his cameras.

What had happened?

Soulbond. That was it.

Val brightened. Oh, it would take a lot of power. More than he usually had on his own, but it would work. Vox still hadn’t figured out what had happened to make Velvette act like that. Their contracts were still solid, so Velvette hadn’t tried to break anything. Therefore…

Someone had done something to his Velvette. He would pull them apart and make them scream for mercy before he fucked them and used an angelic bullet to end their miserable existence.

A soulbond would fix it. She couldn’t deny coming back, even if she didn’t… didn’t… remember him? The complete confusion in her eyes when she had looked at him. The way she lashed out when he had come near. It was like he was a stranger.

Val grinned as he read the passage. Yes. He could do this. He just needed some sex magic for extra power. And to test this out.

Well, he didn’t just want to protect Velvette and get her back. He wanted to make sure he never lost Vox either. No one else got to mess with him other than Val. And Velvette, of course. Val would bond with them both.

He lit a cigarette and inhaled. Finally, he had a path forward. Time to get to work.

Chapter Text

It didn’t take Kelly long to come up with some answers.

She was, in fact, in Hell. This was apparently the body she had manifested in after falling. And people were already aware of her. Her name was actually Velvette. So the two men who had been talking to her were at least honest about her name.

It didn’t mean she should trust them. Her memories were gone. It could have been a part of their plan. Velvette didn’t even know what her own plans had been. She could have been getting to know the two of them with something else in mind, but until she figured out what her own plans were…

She had her phone, at least. Velvette’s phone. Kelly liked the name Velvette. It was better than Kelly. She looked at her online presence. A fashion icon already. She had been dead for longer than it felt in her mind. She had been working with them. Overlords Valentino and Vox.

Oh. They were Overlords. Apparently Overlords were above the other Sinners. Velvette (better than Kelly) could see why should would try to take advantage of them. Get power in Hell that way. No way could she allow herself to be taken advantage of.

But what if they were the ones to do this to her? What if they wanted to take advantage of her first?

Fuck. If she had more information, it was probably in her room which had been in that big tower. Velvette wanted that power. That position. But she would not let someone trick her to do so.

She had been followed all night. At first she thought it was a person, but it didn’t take long for her to realize it was a drone. Her clothing powers were enough to chase off the obnoxious demons who wanted to bother her, but she had yet to catch a good look at the drone following her.

It did not take her long to make some assumptions. Overlord Vox was watching her. Seeing what she was doing. Because of control issues or because of genuine concern? Most likely the former, if she indeed was using those two Overlords to gain power.

Still, if they had thought she would become easy to manipulate because of a loss of memory, they had another thing coming. It was time to get this drone.

Velvette eyed another security camera on the corner of a building and turned a corner. It followed her as well. There were people everywhere. And by people they were apparently all Sinners. Humans with their humanity stripped away, so the human was simply dressing on other features. It explained Overlord Valentino… even if she wouldn’t have come to the moth explanation on her own.

As for someone with a literal television for a head?

She slipped into a shop. Her phone told her what funds she had on her. Velvette’s eyes might have widened, if she knew anything about what the numbers meant. Was it close to the pound? To the American dollar? What was common in Hell and what actually cost a lot to have? She needed to do more research.

But first she bought a magnet and a ribbon before leaving the store. The next time she saw the drone, she threw the ribbon at it. It shot from her hand like an arrow and wrapped around it with the magnet.

The drone veered off and crashed into a building. It hit a shark Sinner on the head. Velvette went over and collected the thing. Yep, the Voxtek logo was on it. And it was definitely of a higher quality than the ones she saw sold in the store she went in.

Tucking it under her arm, she moved on. Except it left her a bit more directionless. Everything she was finding online said she should head back to that tower. Except it was in the V Tower she lost her memories.

“Velvette, isn’t it?”

She paused. It wasn’t like she hadn’t noticed how the street had cleared out, but now she was certain it was because of the demon which had caught up with her. The Sinner was tall and had tall white horns which curved back. She sneered when she saw the goat eyes.

“You going to make this seem like a chance encounter or are you getting to the point?” She snapped a picture of him. “Whatcha want?”

He chuckled, giving her another chance to study him. Sure, she didn’t know how to read his face very well, but she could tell by his manner of dress he was well off. He had a fancy watch that was not Voxtek and was still in the Vees territory. Like she was for some reason.

“Mr. Katzen.” He gave a polite bow, which made her want to wretch.

“Didn’t ask for your death’s story. I asked what you wanted.”

“To speak with you, my dear.”

“I’m not your dear anything, so don’t be overly familiar with me.” From the way he had addressed her in the first place, they had never talked before or he already knew she didn’t remember anything. Had Valentino or Vox sent him? “We’re speaking, so speak.”

He chuckled. “I came around to see if you had changed your mind.”

Velvette narrowed her eyes, but that didn’t change what she already believed. He was needling her, but in what way? Either way, she wouldn’t give him more information than he was already getting. “‘bout what?”

“About your upcoming partnership with Voxtek.”

She smirked. “I know it wasn’t that hidden, but we haven’t announced anything yet.”

“It’s only a matter of time, but they aren’t the only ones who see your potential, Velvette.”

He was one of those arseholes who repeated names over and over to create some connection. Not the one who repeated names over and over to make a point. Katzen was slimier than the Overlord of Porn, as far as she was concerned. This was obviously manipulation. Something was wrong with him.

But was it true that she could do better? She had lost her memory in that tower. Overlord Vox was stalking her. They could all be enemies. Scratch that, this was Hell. They were all enemies.

Right?

“The only one who actually knows my potential is me,” she retorted.

There was a quirk of Katzen’s lip that Velvette couldn’t read. She would have to do more research. She had to do it fast and with more than just what she had on her phone. How? “I think someone who has been in Hell for much longer than you, or even both those media Overlords combined, could bring out your full potential.”

Ew, ew, ew. Why was she suddenly surrounded by a bunch of creepy old men? The confusion on Valentino’s face when she lashed out at him came to mind.

That had seemed genuine. Velvette frowned. “And that’s you?”

“No, not me. But the person who has given me more power than I deserved… but I proved to him I was worthy of it and have done more since.”

More power than he deserved? Proved he was worthy? Those two sentences didn’t match up. Velvette was sure the strange look in Katzen’s eyes was not because of the goat retinas.

“I guess we’ll see,” she said vaguely. “Now shoo. I’ve got some shite to take care of.”

He stopped walking, while she continued. “Very well… Overlord Velvette.”

Yeah, she trusted goat-head even less than the other two. Online only got her so much more information. She probably had more in her room. The one she had woken up in.

Was it worth heading back for it? Velvette’s nails dug into the drone. Fuck it all, she didn’t know. She hated not knowing.

Son of a bitch.

Vox snarled and went through his cameras. At least he knew where Velvette was when she had smashed his drone, but he hated the loss of some of his eyes. He was still waiting for all of the tests to come back on their celebration meal. Had it been something in her food? Her drink? What? It could have been something in all of their meals, but only affected her.

Or had Velvette been specifically targeted? Had someone been aware of her quick ascension? More than just from her own power, but noticing that she was about to become one of the Vees?

Blinking, Vox leaned back in his chair. He had been at it all night and it was already getting dark again. Val was right and it was for the best they simply keep watch while they figure things out (getting a mind-controlled Velvette upset with them would be bad), but Vox was the one who mind controlled people.

No doubt she would figure that out. Think it was him. He had finally accepted she was good enough for their brand and now she was gone?

Vox rubbed his face.

Somehow he missed the click of Val’s heels until they were right behind him. Vox didn’t have a chance to turn his chair around when Val’s hands were on him. It wasn’t a big deal, even if Val’s hands undoing his tie and belt were annoying at the moment.

“If you need to blow off some steam, fuck one of your whores,” Vox muttered. “I’m not in the mood.”

Val blew his smoke into Vox’s back ports. Unlike others, Vox could push back and resist against such things, but still getting it beyond his casing was something. His fans kicked up a notch.

“I won’t get what I need out of a whore.” Val laughed and swung Vox’s chair around. His wings fluttered behind himself. He was basically naked. Sure, he had on some lingerie, but his cocks pushed over the panties and the top was see-through. “I will get what I need from you.”

Vox could have teleported out of Val’s grip, but when Val pushed down on him he simply felt like melting. His head hurt, as did his back and his neck. Still. “I don’t have time for this. Velvette—”

“Is on my mind too, amigo. Trust me.”

Vox pulled his wrists out of Val’s grip, but his pants were ripped instead of taken off and Val was trying to get Vox to do the splits. Vox protested against that. Sure, his limbs could do that, but it didn’t make it comfortable for him.

“Come on, Val! She just busted my first drone and—”

With Vox’s pants basically two legs with nothing holding them together anymore, Val tightly squeezed his cock and cut Vox’s words off with a soft moan.

“That’s right. Fight me.” Val’s breath was cloyingly sweet against his screen.

If Val wanted someone to struggle, he really should have gone for one of his whores, but Vox found himself playing the game anyway. He couldn’t help it. Being overwhelmed by Valentino was one of his kinks too. He had a hard time thinking whose kink it wouldn’t be, but he might have been biased.

“I need to keep track of Velvette!” Vox spat. “We still don’t have the lab results back and—”

Val shut him up with a kiss. Vox drank down his poison more willingly than his words would have implied. Val tugged his cock and for a moment, Vox hoped that Val would ride him. Even if everything else told him he was about to take it.

One cock pressed under Vox’s balls, moving them out of the way as another cockhead started teasing him. Push against him for a moment, before swirling around his rim. Vox groaned.

If Val was going to do it, he should just do it. Vox wasn’t about to make it easier. He dug his claws into Val’s hips and pushed back, trying to bring his legs together.

Val pulled his lips back, even though a third of his tongue was still in Vox’s mouth. “Fight me.”

He must have been in a mood that he felt like he had to say it instead of being more violent himself. Vox electrocuted him and Val shrieked—a sound which ended with pealing laughter. Rolling his eyes, Vox elbowed him and teleported out of his grip.

That caused Val to snarl as he whipped around to grab Vox. Vox shocked him again as his tattered slacks slipped down to his ankles. Running wouldn’t be much of an option if he wanted to avoid tripping and smashing his screen. Val’s hands extended and Vox avoided him again. His wires wrapped around Val’s wings and he yanked.

Val got him the next time, his mouth closing in on Vox’s antennae. Vox’s back slammed against the wall, barely missing some of his screens (though the impact caused one of the monitors to crack). His ability to teleport was hindered now. Val’s saliva and the ministrations of his tongue made sure of that.

For his trouble, he felt two of Val’s four dicks push between his cheeks. Vox struggled, but Val grabbed a leg and hiked it around his waist before plunging inside. Vox screeched in static.

Fuck, this was so hot.

Val’s mouth stayed around his antennae, but his tongue slipped down the front of Vox’s face and straight to his collarbone. Then he started hammering.

Vox could still breathe through his mouth, but his fans still kicked up. One of his hands was pinned behind his back, but he used his other hand to first scratch at Val’s chest, then to rip his own shirt so he could get more air flow. Val purred as he pressed his chest against Vox’s.

It hurt like anything. Vox could usually take one of Val with minimal prep, but two of any of him usually needed more than a dry plunge. And after pistoning into him like he wanted to destroy him, Vox felt Val try to shove a third one inside.

And he was good with the rest of the roleplay, but that was overdoing it. “N-No,” he gasped. Unfortunately, trying to explain he wasn’t just playing hard to get wasn’t happening.

Val’s eyes narrowed in pure hedonistic cruelty as he slammed himself inside. Vox’s vision glitched out and then back again. Despite the pain, his cock throbbed against his own stomach. Val ignored it, the bastard. He did, however, start removing the rest of Vox’s clothes, which helped Vox’s systems cool off. Not much, but enough.

Vox couldn’t even pretend to fight anymore. He gripped Val as tight as he could with his legs and his free arm and howled in gratification. He could feel Val’s nails press into his chest, almost like he was writing something, but hell if Vox could concentrate on something like that. Val’s last unembedded cock rubbed against Vox’s cock with every thrust.

When Vox came, he came hard. Not that it stopped Val, who kept going. Vox keened and sent a strong electrical current down through his ass in response, hoping it would get Val closer to coming. Val’s wings extended and beat several times, sending his smoke swirling through the office.

Oh, right. He was still in his office. Vox started laughing maniacally, almost ready to sob with Val’s assault on his prostate.

Val had let go of Vox’s antennae, but at what point Vox couldn’t say. Instead he was sucking at Vox’s neck, his teeth grazing over the surface and making Vox hard again against his own will.

Though who was he kidding? Vox loved this. Even if a part of him remembered he should be doing something else and he would be pissed about this later.

Vox’s left arm was sore when he realized he wasn’t pushed against the wall anymore. Val and slid them to the floor and was pulling Vox’s legs back to push himself in deeper. Vox gasped. Val kissed him again.

Whether for his own desire or as mercy, Val fisted Vox’s cock a few times until he came again. Then Val came inside of him, hard and long. Vox let out some garbled protest, but his wires got crossed and several different audio clips went off instead.

Val pulled out and collapsed next to him. They panted, catching their breath.

“Fucking ow,” said Vox.

“I knew you’d love it,” Val retorted.

Vox glanced at his chest. He was right, Val had carved some symbols into him. “Did you just do some sex magic?”

Beaming, Val reached to take something out of each bra cup. They had been see-through, so Vox was certain nothing else had been in them other than Val’s pecs, but he brought out two odd looking discs.

“What are those?”

“Soulbonding seals! We’re going to bond our souls together, then bond to Velvette, and then no one can part us!”

Val said it like it was the best thing in the world. It wasn’t the first time Vox stared at him like he was a crazy person, but this one really felt like it was taking the cake.

“You aren’t binding our souls together. And what? Why do this at all?”

It was apparently Val’s turn to look at Vox like he had missed something. “Someone obviously wanted to sabotage us taking babydoll in and making her an Overlord with us. This would—”

“We already signed contracts!” Vox nearly snatched one of the seals from Val’s hands, but his lower back twinged and Val’s arms were longer. Scowling, Vox gingerly rubbed his ass.

“Yes, but that’s for business! This is for us~”

“I’m not binding my soul with yours, Val.”

Val looked offended. Vox shut his eyes. The last thing he needed to do was soulbond with the man he was obsessed with. Val took up enough of his life as it was. Vox would never get anything done.

“What the fuck, Vox?”

“I don’t know what you looked up about soulbonds, but I’m sure you don’t realize everything that goes into them. It’s impressive you’ve made a way to make it work, but that’s not the solution. I’m not doing it.”

Val pinched his ass. Vox yelped and smacked him.

“Harassing me isn’t going to change my mind!”

“But how will I figure out how to do it with Velvette if you won’t let me practice?”

“Oh, so I’m just practice?”

“No! You were just the one who was supposed to be easy because you haven’t suddenly forgotten everything!”

Vox melted against the ground. “Even if you could do it with Velvette, that wouldn’t solve the issue. I’m not sure what you thought this would do. We need to get Velvette back and figure out what happened. Can you focus on that?”

Snarling, Val got up and left the room. Vox laid on the floor, hating how he would have to get up and clean himself up. With the pleasure gone, he was stuck with how sore he was.

Fuck it all. He zapped himself through the camera and sent in a demand that his office get cleaned up.

Chapter Text

Velvette came back of her own volition.

Maybe it had worn off? She was headed up to the penthouse. Vox sent a message to Valentino, but knew he would be the first one to greet her as Val had gone to sulk in his studio. He wasn’t sure how to handle this, but if whatever had happened was over, he didn’t care.

The painkillers had kicked in and he had recovered enough from Val savaging him yesterday evening. Velvette had come in and out of his vision in the cameras, but he couldn’t tell what she had been up to. Still, the sun was rising and she was back.

The elevator doors opened and she strode into their shared floor. Vox stood in front of it and as he saw her expression, his metaphorical heart plummeted.

She did not look like she recognized him.

He cleared his throat. “Velvette?”

“I saw the construction on the tower was you adding a third V,” she said, not even bothering to say good morning. “It’s very public. Equal. Rather far to go if you were planning on removing my memories and controlling me.”

Vox did everything in his power not to let his shoulders drop. Despite the relief he felt at Velvette wanting to hear him out, she still didn’t know him. They still had a problem. “Would you like me to explain what I do know?”

“Only if breakfast is involved.”

They sat down at a table. Vox called in Kitty, because Val wasn’t using it for anything, and it brought them the breakfast Vox ordered from their chefs. Earlier than he ever usually asked for it, but whatever.

Velvette eyed Kitty and the food with suspicion, but she had been the one to ask for a meal.

“I have my labs checking all our leftovers from the day before yesterday to see if what happened to you had anything to do with what we ate.”

“And what did happen to me, you reckon?”

Vox frowned as Velvette tapped her fork against her plate. “Apparently you don’t remember us. As you ran off, I didn’t get a chance to ask what you do remember.”

“Being alive.”

She said it nonchalantly, but that was Velvette. Vox had assumed she was very similar to how she had been when she was alive and this simply drilled the nail into the coffin. He took a bite of his own breakfast, despite how he really wasn’t hungry. It didn’t seem to entice her into eating, even though he knew she had to be hungry. Not that he had an eye on her every moment (she had made sure of that), but he hadn’t seen her eat. She had asked for breakfast.

He took a sip of coffee. “And nothing else.”

“Obviously. I remember being alive and then I was here. Not too many people say it around here, but online I hear you brainwash people.”

Vox leaned back in his chair. He didn’t like the conversation, but somehow it had become more comfortable. “Yet you came back.”

“Is that the phrase for it? Coming back?”

From his soul, he pulled out the contract. Their contract. He laid it across the table. “This is the contract we signed the other day. You, I, and Valentino. You have a copy of it as well.”

She glanced at it, then rolled her eyes. “How do I know you didn’t just write that up and leave my copy in my room or something?”

“It wouldn’t be in your room. It would be with you. Just like I pulled mine out.”

Velvette stared, but he realized she had no feel for it.

Vox didn’t know how to explain it either. “We’ll get you a soul to take and when they give themselves to you, you’ll be able to feel how it works.”

“What about until then?” She was completely ignoring breakfast. Vox knew she was starving at this point. Otherwise she would have looked at it by now. “And how do I know you aren’t about to use your powers on me to make me believe whatever you want?”

Vox blinked. That was… an idea. Not to make Velvette believe whatever he wanted, but to see if he could push through whatever else was blocking her from her memories. It didn’t look like she would read the contract. “What if I command you remember what you’ve forgotten?”

Her eyes narrowed, but she didn’t laugh at him. Didn’t immediately turn him down. Velvette was learning to read him again and for once Vox was hoping he was coming off as sincerely as he actually was for once.

“And how do I make sure that’s all you’ll do?”

Vox was about to point out the clause in their contract which said he couldn’t do anything to deliberately take away her power, but she wouldn’t believe that. On the other hand, she looked into his eyes. Kept looking into them. He didn’t have to convince her. He pulled his contract back and shifted gears.

“Remember, Velvette.”

Her expression slackened, eyes widening. She stared into his eye, ensnared, but at the same time… Vox didn’t feel it. If she remembered, surely she would snap at him by now. Start yelling. Something.

“You are Overlord Velvette. The latest member of the Vees.”

She nodded, as if he was imprinting this upon her instead of reminding her. Vox grit his teeth.

“Vox! What are you—”

He flung a hand out in Val’s direction to shut him up. Thankfully, for once, Val did stop talking.

“Do you remember?”

“No,” said Velvette. “I don’t.”

“Why are you brainwashing her?” Val hissed, pacing behind Velvette.

“I’m not!” Vox took a sip of his coffee. “I was trying to see if I could get her to remember.”

“She’s going to kill you!”

“If it worked, she wouldn’t!” Except it hadn’t. The only thing left was to… “You will not leave this tower unaccompanied by either Val or myself until we have this figured out.”

Val’s squeak was in indignation, but Vox ignored it. When Val thought about it, he would get over it. Velvette nodded and Vox’s eye returned to its usual state.

She blinked, then glared, standing up. “You just did it, didn’t you?”

“Whatever happened to your memories was more than just surface level.” Vox sighed.

“I—”

Before Val could say more, Velvette whipped around. This time, Val caught her sleeve blade before it could cut into him.

“Careful, chiquita!”

“I shouldn’t have come in here.” Velvette yanked her sleeve back, shaking.

“I ordered you to stay in the tower,” said Vox. She turned on him, staring with loathing and what might be betrayal, if she had trusted him in the first place. “You don’t trust us and you rightfully don’t have a reason to without your memories, but someone did this to you and I won’t let you go walking around while our assailant is out there.”

“Our?”

Vox grabbed his cup and got to his feet. “An attack on you is an attack on all of us. We are the Vees. Now I have some people to torture if they don’t have any information for me about what’s happened to you yet.”

He left Val to deal with the rest, as Vox was certain Val would want. Meanwhile, Vox tried not to beat himself up. If Velvette remembered everything, she wouldn’t be as angry with him for it. He had to keep her safe. She was compromised.

She would forgive him, right? Or at least… not hold it against him.

Val yanked out the seal. “Forget about him, babydoll. I’ll get your memory back.”

Velvette blinked, but stuck him with an expression which was definitely more Velvette than the last time she was here. “Will you? Are you sure he didn’t do it?”

“Vox is a lot of things, but when he takes someone in he is loyal.” It wasn’t like Vox hadn’t done the exact same thing with him. Well, it had taken a lot longer for Val to agree and Vox had to be convinced on Velvette and it wasn’t really the same thing at all, but… “You are one of us. You are a Vee.”

“That would require me to trust you too.”

Val sat in a chair next to her, leaning in. “That’s fine. We worked up to that. Either you’ll remember or we’ll work up to it again. Now eat while I see if this works.”

Despite staring at him and the soulbond seal, Velvette did start to eat. This left Val with plenty of time to figure out how it worked. It was then he realized he had no idea what he was supposed to do with this seal now that he had it. Everything he had read told him about soulbonds and the amount of energy he would need to make them, but now that he had Velvette here, Val couldn’t remember a single passage that explained how to make the bond.

He tapped it against Velvette’s forehead. She paused in eating, which she had not been doing all that quickly. “What are you doing?”

“Like I said. Seeing if this will bring your memory back.”

“It doesn’t look like… you know what you’re doing.”

“Shut up, bitch, I made this! I can use it!” Frustrated, he wondered if he had to break it or something. Surely it would have said as much in the book, right?

Velvette rubbed her forehead. It was then he realized how weary she looked. Well, she had been out for an entire day and not while having fun. He put the seal away. He’d figure it out later.

“You need to clean up. Come on. Let’s get you to your room.”

“Has that Vox been in my room?” she grumbled, getting to her feet and swaying.

“No. I checked it over to see if something was in your bed. I didn’t catch anything that shouldn’t be there.”

She folded her arms across her chest, following him to her room. “Why would you know what should be in my bed?”

“Intuition and knowing you.” He grinned. “People’s beds are my forte~” The sentence made her gag, which made him laugh. It was still Velvette—no matter what she remembered. “I’m fucking with you. I went to see if there was anything that shouldn’t be there, like a needle that wasn’t yours or a bug or something.”

He led her up a staircase and to her room. For some reason she took it slowly. It wasn’t that she thought the stairs were booby-trapped after he just walked up them, right? Upon opening her room, she studied it. She probably took it in more than she had the other night.

“You’re tired, ¿sí? Let’s get you cleaned up so you can get some rest. You told Vox no cameras in your rooms, so there aren’t any here.”

“Are there cameras in… every other room?”

“Of course!”

“Yours?”

He grinned at her. “Especially my room. How else can I tease him?”

Velvette blinked, an eyebrow quirking upward.

“We fuck. Not you. I don’t know why you wouldn’t want a piece of this,” Val ran his hands down his body to emphasis it, “but you don’t. Your loss.”

She snorted. Val’s antennae perked up. Perfect. Except afterward she looked more tired after. “Is his… power why I feel so fuzzy?”

Scowling, Val guided her into her bathroom. That explained it. He should have thought about it before. “Probably. He means well, but… ugh. I wish he’d hypnotize me, but it doesn’t work really well.”

“Why do you want to be hypnotized?”

“Awesome sex, of course!”

He removed Velvette’s wig. She reached up to stop him, but her arms fell to her side. “Stop it.”

“You’re strong, babydoll. You’ll probably break out of Vox’s power before he lets you go, but he’s right. Until we know who’s done this, you’re safest here.”

She slumped into his arms. He lifted her up and set her on the edge of the bathtub, removing her clothes.

“I… I hate being touched like this.”

“I hate not being touched like this,” Val responded, watching as Velvette’s unfocused eyes stared at the ground. “But never you mind. We’ll get you cleaned up and in bed.”

He could guess at where all of Velvette’s things were. A fun bath bomb was thrown into the tub before he slid her into the water. He grabbed a loofah and started running it over her back. Slowly she worked on her limbs.

“I refuse to be some useless bitch.” Her voice was wobbling, but Val did not see any tears.

“You are never useless and shut the fuck up.” He would not listen to her say that about herself.

“You’re either my enemy or my ally. Either way I’ve been made into some fucking damsel in distress.”

Val twisted her head around to look at him. There it was, the swirl of Vox’s power in her eyes. Barely there and nothing like it looked like in the eyes of lesser Sinners. “You listen here. The reason you were attacked was because someone was afraid of you. Someone didn’t want you to become powerful with us. You are no damsel, Velvette. You aren’t going down and you are obviously fighting. You are no pawn. You are… a bishop.”

She blinked. “Bishop? Why not queen?”

“I’m the queen!” Val chuckled and returned to scrubbed her back. “I guess we both can be. Vox should be too, considering chess, but he’d throw a fit, so he can be the useless king on the board.”

“Does that mean we have to protect him?” Confusion laced her tone, even more than the distaste.

“I protect him. We protect each other.” Val shrugged. “That’s what it means to be the Vees. You might be in trouble right now, but if it was Vox who didn’t remember things instead, you and I would be taking care of him. Sure. And I know you two would be tearing up Hell if something happened to me.”

Velvette stayed quiet and Val let her soak. Eventually he helped her out of the tub to rinse off, going to grab her pajamas as she rubbed the towel over her joints.

Eventually she sat on her bed, rubbing between her eyes. “I… I want to believe you. But did he make me do that? Is this just his power?”

“I’ll make Voxy stop that.” Val pulled back her covers. “You just have to make sure not to leave the tower while we figure this out. He didn’t have to mind control you for that. But the contracts didn’t go off—which is how you know he didn’t mean to hurt you with it.”

Her eyes narrowed as she glared at the ceiling. Val pulled out the seal again. Well, he had two. If he had to make more, he could do that. Vox had enjoyed the last bout of sex magic and Val was good at surprising him with that. He stood next to the bed, trying to get it to work. Even going as far as to try to snap the seal in half. It didn’t even bend.

Val sneered at it, then sighed. “I’ll have to reread the book I was using for this. Don’t you worry, chiquita. Leave it to Daddy V.”

“…I don’t care what we end up as, but I am not calling you that.”

Laughing again, he pulled the covers up over her as she laid back. “That’s fine. We’re friends. It’s Val.” He placed the seal on her. Maybe she just had to keep one of them with her while he had the other?

Val flipped the lights off as he left the room. He had to get to his studio, but first he would grab the book.

It was in his room. He sat down on his bed, flipping through to the dogeared page and reading it through again. Yes, he had done everything correctly to create them. He had done enough to make two, despite how it hadn’t said he would need two. So perhaps he hadn’t had to leave the one with Velvette. Val narrowed his eyes and flipped through the passage again.

He had the power stuck in this seal and couldn’t get it out. It did not say how to do it. Val grit his teeth, almost ripping the cursed book in half.

This was frustrating. What if he needed to write another contract with it? Pour the energy into something else which was binding? Then the seal would seal them together and…

Val knew better than to start experimenting with soul magic without a clear idea of what he was doing, but at the same time he was frustrated. He felt like he was so close. This would work.

He should practice with Vox. At least he and Vox would know what was happening. They could fix it if something wasn’t going to plan.

Val reluctantly went to find one of his boxes of old paperwork. Not something he liked to look into much, but at least he knew he had several old contracts Vox had written up. He could use one of those as a blueprint. Val had gotten much better at writing up contracts over the years, but outside of the ones with Vox (and how Vox grandfathered Velvette into their main Vees contract), they were all very one sided.

Could not be the case with this. Val had to write something without secret loopholes in it. After all, he needed Vox to agree to it.

Val made a couple passes at it before making his way grumpily to the studio. At least he could relieve his frustrations out on his employees.

Velvette had not meant to fall asleep, but she did. Her head was filled with cobwebs, except the webs weren’t flexible. And when she pushed her hands against them, it wasn’t that she stuck to them. The threads had sticky liquid on them which clung to her instead, even when she pulled away.

It was not metallic, but she breathed in blood through her mouth as she tried to flick it away, stumbling back into more threads. No, this was nothing like a spider’s web. It was something else.

Blocked by these strands was a constant spiral of red light raining down on her. It made her head hurt, but occasionally burnt through one of the lines. When it snapped, it sounded like a broken wire. Not like a musical instrument… not that Kelly would know much about musical instruments, but—

No. She was Velvette. She had put Kelly behind her.

The threads tried to reach her, but not from her walking into them. It wasn’t the length of the thread which was the problem, but the ends. They tried to prick through her skin and pull her up like a marionette. Velvette growled.

She was not someone’s toy.

Ripping herself from bed, Velvette stumbled to the bathroom. She turned on the water and washed her face, glancing back at her reflection. She was Velvette. Velvette. The face was not familiar, but it was better than the one she had. She refused to go back to being Kelly.

Fuck it all. How long had she slept for? Velvette dried her face off and went back to the bedroom. Valentino had set her phone nicely on the bedside table on a charger. She picked it up and started looking things over.

People were wondering why she had gone silent on her accounts. Of course she should be posting, if she was doing anything like she had in real life. The problem was figuring out what was benign enough to post while not being sure of her own plans. Velvette figured some things out while she got dressed. She then checked her camera roll and started looking up Katzen.

Nothing. Katzen was a German surname, at least. Meant cats. But he was a goat? Velvette rubbed between her eyes again. Fuck Vox’s mind control and the headache it was giving her. She glanced to the side at where the weird disc Valentino had been messing with earlier had fallen to the floor.

She picked it up. The power in it was obvious, even if she wasn’t sure what it actually was. Yet he had left it with her, while he couldn’t seem to figure it out. He was either stupid or… stupid.

Velvette didn’t know what to make of Overlord Vox, and all of her research told her not to trust Overlord Valentino, but she really was starting to think at least he was sincere about this.

It had been hours since he had left her here. Her stomach rumbled, but outside of her head she didn’t think the food had made anything worse. Still, she ordered out from another place to have it delivered to here. Now that she wasn’t worried about being trailed anymore, spending more money wasn’t a problem. Velvette tucked the disc into a pocket and went to search her things and then the rest of the penthouse. At least her room didn’t have any cameras in it, she remembered Valentino saying, but Vox had to expect her to search everywhere else, right?

If he had, there appeared to be no problem with it. She didn’t find very many doors locked in the penthouse. It was all grand and made of money. Most of it was clean. The two rooms which weren’t appeared to be Valentino’s. One was an art room (and some of the art pieces told her it had to be the guy who did porn painting it). She reluctantly had to admit he was a good artist. Even if she cared less for nude portraits of men.

The other messy room she was surprised she could just walk into was Valentino’s bedroom. She assumed it was his, by the amount of heart-shaped nonsense everywhere. He wasn’t in it, but she could more easily clock the cameras in this room.

Well, him being an exhibitionist wasn’t surprising. She had already seen Valentino’s posters all over the wall.

No one had come to stop her. So Velvette continued to make no secret of her snooping.

He had left stuff all over his bed. A bunch of papers… how old school was he? Considering he had to wear something with a fur trim like he was— Wait, she knew from her research those were his wings. In that particular case, Valentino could only do so much with what he was stuck with. She wondered if he could dye his wings. What were they made out of?

She didn’t catch any white furs on his bed. Not even the lavender fur on the rest of his body. She remembered that much from the morning, when he had helped her bathe. And surprisingly hadn’t groped her or anything. Huh. He could have done anything to her… but hadn’t.

Velvette read over the papers. A lot of them were old. The newest one was written on the back of one of the old ones, dated in ‘84.

The pink ink was hard to read on the white. Especially with the cursive. Velvette couldn’t remember the last time she’d had to actually read more than a simple phrase in cursive. Squinting, she made out a few words and slowly she could read more of it. It cut off mid-sentence.

It almost read like a wedding proposal, but both way too businesslike while also having random asides which were actually pretty funny.

This Valentino was a bona fide comedian.

The pink pen wasn’t far away. It was way too gaudy for her tastes, but it ran nice. For ink. She finished the sentence up, for fun, but it didn’t tell her anything other than it really seemed like Valentino and Vox were obsessed with each other.

It also felt like something. Or some things. Setting the pen down, she reached what could only be described as into herself, pulling out a long sheet.

It looked like the one Vox had shown her at breakfast. She saw the same signatures at the bottom of it. The same contract. Her copy. She kept this… where? It had felt so natural to pull it out, now that she knew that was a place she could keep things. What was that space?

Velvette actually took the time to read over the contract now. Things fell into place. They were telling the truth.

Well.

Shite.

Chapter Text

Val hadn’t needed Vox to yell at him to come back up to the penthouse. He felt something happen. But nevertheless, Vox started blowing up his phone with demands. Normally Val would have leisurely made his way to the elevator, but with Velvette in her state and this weird sensation in the back of his head? Val was prompt.

Apparently not prompt enough for Vox, but the man expected things immediately. To Val’s relief, Velvette was sitting on a couch with lunch. She appeared nonchalant. Before Val could walk over, Vox had teleported in front of him and shoved a piece of paper in his face.

“What the fuck is this?”

“Paper!” He grabbed the corner of Vox’s monitor and pinched it. “Next question.”

“Fucking—”

Before Vox could blow the lights in the penthouse out, Val took the paper to look it over. Oh, it was the thing he’d been messing around with earlier. “Nothing…” Important, he had wanted to say, but this paper had power in it now.

He stared at the bottom of it. What was obviously Velvette’s penmanship had finished the whole contract, stating she was witness and she got to plan the wedding.

“What the fuck?” Val asked. “How is this binding?”

“Because you wrote it on the back of something we signed, you prick!” Vox shouted.

Val chuckled. “Nice one, babydoll.”

She shrugged. “I guess. It was pretty funny. I’m considering posting it to—”

Vox wheeled about on her. “Don’t you dare!”

“I guess we have to get married now,” said Val. It wasn’t exactly what he had in mind, but it seemed like the first logical step. Surely Vox would help him with the soul-binding thing if they got married.

“No we don’t!” He turned back to Val. “We’ve got fucking problems to take care of!”

“Like taking your mind control away? I hate this headache.”

Val walked over to the couch, catching Vox with an arm to bring him along with so they were all sitting. “You’ll have to wait for him to calm down there. He’s not likely to do anything he doesn’t want to right now without blowing out our district’s power.”

Vox made a garbled sound of half static and half layered musical cues.

Velvette’s eyebrows shot up. “He can do that?”

“Of course! Voxy is more powerful than he lets on~”

“Than I let on?” Vox shrieked.

Val should have shoved something into his mouth to shut him up, but he took one of Vox’s hands instead and licked over his fingers. “Marry me, cariño? It’ll be so much fun!”

“And I’ll get to design wedding apparel, regardless of stupid amnesia,” Velvette went on.

“I’m going to kill you both. I’m going to do it.” Vox yanked his hand back. “Fuck it. What is this? How did I let you convince me into letting her in here when she immediately gets had like this?”

Val growled.

Velvette got to her feet. “Fuck you, old man! Take your knickers and shove them all the way—”

“You do not talk to Velvette like that!” Val interrupted. “Vox, you agreed to this! You like her!”

“And look what liking people gets me!” Vox sneered as he got to his feet as well. Val followed suit. “It sure isn’t getting me work done! It’s wasting my time trying to figure out who is attacking us while also now having to deal with you both fucking with me through another contract which is as good as a fucking prank and I can’t believe I wrote something in the past you could just write on the back of and fucking change!”

He zapped away. Val threw an ashtray at the camera he disappeared through.

Velvette stood there, arms across her chest and fingers tapping over the back of her phone. “So how do we break a contract?”

“What?” Val snapped, turning to her. “I’m not breaking it! I’ll marry that fucker even if I have to divorce his ass right after!”

“I didn’t mean that one! The Vees. How do I get the fuck out of here?”

“You aren’t going anywhere, chiquita.”

She rolled her eyes, lip curling. “No? I don’t have to deal with this nonsense either. Why do I have to take his nonsense?”

“Because—” Val choked off, remembering to calm down. He had to calm down. They were his. His. He might have wanted to throw Vox across the room, but he would not let Vox ruin this for him. “Because he’s acting out, babydoll. He’s worried about you and he’s never been good at expressing himself.”

“Like you are?” she asked dryly.

Val’s laugh was dark. “I express myself perfectly. I don’t hide myself. What you see is what you get! And I’m not letting either of you ruin this. We’re perfect. We’re the Vees. Vox is upset and you don’t remember things. I’ll fix it.”

The moment he could set up the soul bond seals, they would be set. He wouldn’t lose either of them. Never.

Of course, they would owe him for it, but that was fine. Val was perfectly happy waiting for their praise when the three of them became the strongest Overlords in Pride.

Vox wanted to die. But he was dead and dying again would be a pain, so of course he wouldn’t do it. He had worked too hard to spend the time reconstituting. As it was, he had already fallen behind in what he needed done today. This week. This month. This schedule was ruined and he still didn’t have answers. Killing the lab grunts who weren’t getting him his answers hadn’t helped. Not even watching his sharks feed had made him feel better.

What did make him feel better was finally getting some information.

“It seems the cause of any mental tampering came from the consumption of the lamb intestines.” This scientist wasn’t flinching in front of him. Good. Because he had answers. Vox steepled his fingers and watched him as he reported.

“What the fuck had intestines in it?”

“The stew, sir.”

The sausages? To hell with everything. That one had been Val’s choice. Vox had thought it was regular pork sausage, but Hell sheep were beyond him. Not something he had chosen to cook with back when he had to cook for himself. “Continue. What was in it?”

“That’s the thing, sir. There was nothing in it. The intestines themselves were the lacing. There was a power in it that we cannot track down… perhaps you would better recognize it than any weaker Sinner.”

Vox took the compliment. “Well, did you bring it?”

A portion of the lamb sausage was brought in. It hadn’t been cooked. Vox didn’t care what it looked like right now (his scientist wouldn’t remember it either later) and picked it up with his bare hand.

“Something we all ate… but it didn’t affect Valentino.”

“No, sir. We assume it is because of his, ah, usual immunity against all drugs he has not had a personal say in crafting.”

And Vox would not be affected in the same way as most pure bio Sinners because of his tech. Either someone hadn’t thought this through or they were intentionally aiming for Velvette. Vox frowned. “Was this only used in the one meal?”

“N-No, Mr. Vox. This particular shipment of lamb has been served in other meals allowed to the higher management in the building.”

Vox narrowed his eyes. “I haven’t heard of anyone else suddenly losing their memory for no reason.”

“There have been no other reports of amnesia in the building outside of expected quarters.”

“I want everyone who ate this meat quarantined.” Vox had a bad feeling about this. If it affected Velvette, who was stronger than anyone else in this building outside of himself and Val, he didn’t believe for a second that the others who had eaten it were unaffected. Perhaps those who were like him or Val in ways of constitution, but for anyone like Velvette or those more likely to be affected?

No. Velvette would not be the only one. Vox would find out what had happened to the rest. Something about this was familiar. He opened up his research on other Overlords and powerful demons to input the terms into his search engine after he was left alone.

How was it only one o’clock? Vox rubbed his face. Not left by himself for long, he heard the door open and Val’s telltale heels on the floor. Vox was not in the mood to hear him scream at him for not being open to… to…

Marrying him? What a laugh. Vox was married in life and that had turned out to be a sham. They were married to their businesses. Why in Hell had this happened to him.

“Amorcito~”

The smoke dragged under Vox’s face and turned his head up to look at Val. It was right then Vox knew they would be fucking. Again. It was Val’s go to for solving problems. They were both aware of how easy it was for Vox to get horny when he was angry and right now just looking at Val was making him angry.

…looking at Val usually did something for the other feeling too, regardless of being angry or not.

Vox loosened his tie. “Okay.”

They went at each other, tongues connecting at the same moment as their hands started pulling at each other’s clothes. Vox tried to drag Val onto the desk, but Val pushed him on it first and climbed on top of him. Vox ran his claws to Val’s thighs and felt the wonderful give of the fishnets. How much had he bought Val over the years?

He ripped right through it, digging his nails into the meat of Val’s thigh. Val ground his ass on Vox’s cock, having only taken Vox’s pants down without moving his underwear.

“What do you want, papi?” Val crooned against his neck, nipping all the way around to the other side. “Tell me where you want me.”

“I… want you to stop doing stupid shit!” Vox yanked Val by the hips, continuing to grind their clothed erections against each other. “Soul binding, marriage—are you trying to drive me crazy?”

“You love what I do! You always like it when you give in, so why the fuck are you protesting now?”

“With sex!” He couldn’t believe he had to explain this. “Messing with souls is not sex! Getting fucking married—”

“Imagine our wedding.” Val leaned in. Vox managed to reach up his thighs and rip Val’s underwear out of the way. He would have to buy Val new lingerie of whatever kind this was, but again: it was never the first time. “Wouldn’t you love to defile me in a wedding dress?”

The image went straight to Vox’s cock. “We don’t have to get married for me to fuck you in a wedding dress.”

“You aren’t imaging it.” Val smirked before reaching to the back of Vox’s head. Vox froze as he felt Val’s claws puncture the back paneling. It had been a bit since Val had physically fucked with his head. “Let me help you.”

“Val—”

Despite what other people might think, Val was no actual idiot. And he knew exactly what wire to pull to make Vox’s vision go out.

Vox hated it. Seeing was his whole thing. Not being able to didn’t just make him feel vulnerable, he was certain it ruined some of the experience. Vox liked to watch Val. Val was always an image that exuded pure arousal.

On the other hand, when his sight went, everything else always became so much… more. Especially as Val’s hands continued to work over him, pinching at his chest and massaging his stomach. Vox tried to keep his grip tight on Val’s legs, but it became so hard. All he could focus on was Val’s moving Vox’s underwear down and slowly rubbing Vox’s tip between his cheeks.

“Are you imagining it now? Probably not all in white, but… actually, can you imagine me all in white?”

He could see it perfectly. The red framing of his wings behind him instead of a white train. Gems glimmering through Val’s ruff and on his fingers. Lace stockings instead of fishnets, which Vox would still tear from his thighs as he parted the skirts and plunged into—

Val sunk down on him and Vox gasped. The heat was somehow searing. Val’s cocks rubbed against Vox’s stomach and he could just see them staining the inside of the dress.

“I can tell you’re imagining it.”

Vox tried to speak, but all that came out was static. He felt completely and utterly engulfed. Vox could have floated on this sensation forever—not even minding Val taking his time with him. As always, Val took him perfectly, like he could somehow mold his insides around Vox. As if Val was the body literally crafted to perfection. But no. Val had simply Fallen this way.

Val clenched hard around him as he dropped his ass hard on Vox’s crotch and the friction was enough for Vox to come. His hips kept twitching as he sent his load inside of Val, but Val returned to riding him.

He still floated, reaching up to Val’s hips and weakly digging his fingers into his fur to stop him. Of course Val didn’t stop. He milked Vox through the first orgasm and then pushed him along his sensory overload to another impending orgasm. Vox moaned. He could have escaped whenever, fixed his sight, but leaving this moment would be too much.

“You belong with me.”

Vox believed it, but that was the problem. That was why he couldn’t make this officially anything more than a business relationship. Vox always wanted too much.

The hot gush of Val’s cum sinking through his shirt started the drop. Vox no longer floated after he had come a second time. After Val continued to rock himself on top of him, dealing with his own pleasure. Vox should have reached up. Plugged his sight back in.

Val did it for him. Vox blinked, tears prickling at his screen despite himself.

A long tongue ran over his screen, leaving behind a smear of pink saliva. Vox hiccoughed.

“Oh, I know those scenes take a lot out of you.” Val stretched out and laid on top of him. “But you last so long for me, don’t you? Feel so good. You treat me well, papi. Why don’t you want to continue treating me well? Especially as it was something Velvette actually was more herself with? It could trigger her memory to plan our wedding!”

There was something stupid about it all, but Vox couldn’t put his finger on it. He took a breath. The door opened and something else warm landed on him. Something more red.

Val looked, as Vox did, at the bullet hole through his chest. “What the fuck?”

He couldn’t pull himself out of it. The headspace he was in. Even as Vox struggled to sit up and fight himself on it. Val stood and turned, his wings blocking Vox’s view from whatever was going on.

“You’ll pay for that, bitches!”

Something was wrong. Not just the fact they were getting attacked in their own tower. Vox barely managed to get his pants zipped shut as another bullet tore through Val and nearly struck the top of Vox’s head. The golden gleam.

Angelic bullets. Vox’s processors froze.

“Val! Fucking dodge the bullets! They’re angelic!”

“I can tell what the burn is, amorcito!” Val retorted as he shot back. Where he had taken the guns out from, Vox had no idea, but he was glad for it. As well as his own ability to talk and move again.

Val moved his assault forward. One of the dying Sinners (what the fuck, Eeliot?) was absently humming…

Oh, fuck. Lamb intestine. Vox knew who was attacking them. Even if he hadn’t known he could do this. That Overlord was dead.

Vox sent a strong jolt down the line, giving Val less targets to deal with. “Val, stand back!”

But Val was in a state. Usually Vox got super horny when he saw Val like this—bloody and beginning to tear people apart with his hands—but knowing that some of those injuries were caused by angelic bullets? No.

“Listen to me, dammit!”

Velvette stewed in the penthouse. She could go anywhere in the tower, but she didn’t want to. She wanted to leave. Fuck Vox. Fuck Valentino. They might have been telling the truth and perhaps she was weak for letting this happen to her, but she hadn’t wanted to hear it.

She wanted to cry and she hated that she wanted to cry. Being a doll now, why did she have the instinct to cry at all? Dolls were supposed to be perfect. Those were the ones she liked playing with when she was alive. When she was a child. Dolls were perfect. They didn’t cry. They always had a smile on their face, like she should get to have whenever she wanted.

As she lounged on the couch, trying to pay attention to her phone, she felt the prickles in the back of her head. It was as if something was… pulling her. Velvette sat up.

There was the obvious manipulation. Someone wanted her to do something. Was it Vox? But no. He had only wanted her to stay in the tower. Unless he had asked her to do something else, but… Valentino would have said something about that, right? They had been telling the truth about the contracts. They could not deliberately ruin her without breaking the Vees. She would know about it.

The door to the lift opened and Velvette rose to her feet to see it was not Valentino or Vox. Just some Sinners. Perhaps cleaners or something? Except they did not have anything with them. Velvette examined them in a flash.

No. No, something was wrong. That look in their eyes was… their pupils were… Rectangular. Like Katzen.

They were all puppets. They advanced on her and Velvette raised her hand to take the curtains to smother them all. Something called out within her. Strings tried to make her walk forward, to join them, do what the rest were to do.

Except fuck that, she was supposed to stay in the tower. Velvette flung the curtains around the three Sinners, plastering them against the wall. They struggled, but she made the fabric stronger than them. It stiffened and then flattened. The blood ran down the wall and to the floor. Velvette let the bodies drop as she yanked the curtains to herself and headed for the lift.

Stay in the tower? She could do that. Velvette would still figure out what was going on. And where were the other two idiots? She checked her phone. Her text messages with the both. She should have looked at this a while ago and wasn’t sure why she hadn’t. It should have been a wealth of information.

Like showing how casual she was with them. An act, of course, but an act that showed she was at least affecting a positive relationship with them. She sent a message, asking where they were.

The lift doors opened. Things were not all chaos there. Several Sinners had stomped another Sinner to death, but the only thing the group did when Velvette advanced was fall into line.

“Miss Velvette!”

“This one start acting fucked too?” Velvette stared at the corpse. “Anyone check the eyes?”

Several of the Sinners glanced about nervously, but one spoke up. “Yeah! For some reason, her pupils were all weird!”

Bingo. “Search out anyone else like that and restrain them.” She might have killed the ones upstairs, but if this was some sort of possession… it could be important employees. They could all be replaced, sure, but there was no reason to waste talent if any of them were. “Where’s Vox and Valentino?”

“I know Mr. Vox was in his basement office!” another Sinner exclaimed.

Velvette nodded and returned to the lift, leaving them to do as she ordered. Okay, Vox had a basement office. That felt… right. She could figure out if they knew what was going on. Neither had responded to her. There was music in the back of her head. Strings. Then she remembered she had to stay in the tower and it went away.

She searched for powerful musical demons in pride online. While several things came up, the one which stood out to her was Overlord Endarm. He was known for using stringed instruments and music in his work. He had territory on the east side of Pentagram City. A short Sinner with long fingers, wearing an impeccable suit. Humanoid except for some horns and those fucking eyes.

When she heard noise outside of the lift, Velvette smashed the emergency stop and then pried the doors open to get out. She could do that. She was powerful.

More powerful than Kelly.

First thing she noticed was it definitely wasn’t just their employees in the building now. Not on the ground floor. She used the curtains to push through the crowd, then thought better of it. She simply squeezed all threads together. Everyone in the entry hall were restricted by their clothes and fell, struggling. She didn’t have to determine who was controlled by what. She ran down toward the entrance, where she still heard movement.

Someone grabbed her and she almost lashed out when she saw who it was. “Vox!”

“You aren’t leaving the tower,” he rasped, eyes wide. He looked stricken.

“Of course I’m not!” Velvette yanked her arm from his grip. “I was looking for you! What the fuck is going on? Is this Overlord Endarm?”

A slight smile came to his face. “Good. Take care of Val, he was shot with angelic bullets. And he’s an idiot. Do not let him die.”

“What?” She remembered something about angelic weaponry from her earlier research, but… what was it? It was somehow worse than regular bullets, somehow. “Wait, where are you going?”

“He’s controlling too much. I’m not letting this tower go down. I’m going to fucking Endarm and making him agree to let them go.”

Velvette nodded. “Okay… you think he’ll do that?”

Vox looked away. “For a price.”

Then he was gone. She almost called after, but a cough grabbed her attention. Further into the hallway Vox had popped out of, Val leaned against the wall, sitting on the floor. He was bathed in blood.

“Holy shite!” Vox had not said Val was dying. Velvette rushed over, kneeling at Val’s side. “He left you like this?”

Val’s eyes cracked open to peer at her from behind his glasses. “Vox… left?”

“He said he was going to make a deal with Endarm?” Velvette knew some basic first aid, but she didn’t know how much of it was applicable with a giant moth. Still, she used the curtains she had brought with her to try to staunch the bleeding.

“You didn’t… stop…” Val tried to get up, but she easily pushed him down. It felt wrong. He shouldn’t have been easy to pin.

He was dying. This man she didn’t remember, but apparently was business partners with, was dying. And the other one was off to do who knew what. Why was she crying? Even if he died, Velvette could cut it as a loss. Take what she could from this tower. Eventually get out and start up business on her own, right? Apparently she had been running a business on her own in Hell before this. Why…

“Don’t cry… babydoll… Takes a lot more… to…”

“You can’t die on me before I remember you, you muppet!” Velvette snapped.

The blood seeped into her arm warmers and up her sleeves. It had gotten all over her phone too and she went to drop that back in her pocket when she felt the weird disc thing Val had left her with earlier.

“Hey! You said this had power in it, didn’t you?” Velvette grabbed it and placed it on Val’s chest. “Use it to save yourself, you stupid cunt!”

He put a hand on top of hers. His mouth moved, but she couldn’t tell.

Velvette grabbed it so hard it cut into her palm. Cutting into her palm fractured her skin. The pain was confusing, but all she did was snarl as her blood oozed through the cracks. “Valentino!”

Everything went white.

Chapter Text

Overlord Endarm strummed his guitar. Like he thought he was cool or something. Well, he had managed to use a mind control Vox didn’t realize he needed to override and had caused the Vee Tower to devolve into chaos, so perhaps he was cool.

Vox wanted to pull him apart, piece by piece. How had he let this happen? Why had it happened now, of all times? If Endarm could have done this to him at any point—

Endarm had never bothered with him or Valentino before, which meant he must have wanted Velvette. He wanted to take Velvette. Had almost killed Valentino for it. Vox knew Val wasn’t dead. Not yet. Velvette wouldn’t let it happen. Not even if she didn’t remember… There was too much at stake and even an amnesiac Velvette knew she would need someone around to use as a buffer against the dangers she did not know about.

He would be okay. Vox held back the feeling of sickness in his gut. Stupid Valentino, getting himself shot up by angelic bullets and still fighting. Stupid Velvette, getting attention put on her by another Overlord who apparently could have easily toppled Vox at any point if he had cared to.

Stupid Vox, for thinking he was stronger than this.

“You aren’t the one I expected to see out here.” Endarm shook his head with a sigh. His horns scraped the building he leaned against, but it didn’t seem to matter to him.

“Velvette’s not coming.”

Endarm glared. “What?”

“I control her now. I told her not to come to you. So she won’t.” Vox shrugged it off. “But I’d rather you leave my holdings alone, so we could have a trade.”

He considered frying that stupid guitar, but knew it probably wouldn’t help. Vox had to stay calm. Endarm kept playing at the tune crept into Vox’s head. But he was into musicals. Hell was into musicals. Vox had his own music and he could ignore the strings. Run electricity down them, as he had with most everything, and be free of it.

“You’ll give me Velvette.”

Velvette was not his to give. And even if she was… “Counteroffer: you leave everything physically within the tower alone and I come with you. You want to know about Alastor, don’t you?”

He had him. Alastor was always a good card to pull. There was no Overlord who didn’t actually want to have more information about Alastor—just Overlords who liked pretending they didn’t care so much. Older Overlords liked to feign nonchalance about the younger ones. Even Alastor pulled that card on Vox and Val.

But Endarm mulled over the offer. Alastor had killed Overlords in the past, but Vox survived him. It would be foolish to pass up any information about him.

“You’ll sign your soul over to me.”

Had Vox felt sick before? Yes. Not as sick as this. After the last time he’d been stupid enough to sell his soul, it should have been never again. Vox could have fled and started up anew. Despite the destruction of his tower, he could pull all his souls to a new place and launch a counterattack.

But Val. Velvette.

He shouldn’t.

He couldn’t.

Vox was nothing without Val. And Velvette? She hadn’t even been around for that long and he already couldn’t imagine the future of the Vees without her. He hated it. He hated her for being that. Vox couldn’t help but become obsessed with Val after everything that had brought them together, but there was no reason at all for him to have become as fond of Velvette as fast as he had.

No reason, but he couldn’t help himself. Not even as every part of his mind screamed that it wasn’t worth it. Remembering what had happened the last time. Endarm was no Calum, but… but…

“You call them off and I will come with you. We’ll arrange the details of our contract.”

“Deal,” said Endarm, stretching out his hand with his too long fingers. The hand came off the neck of his guitar as he still strummed with his left hand.

Humiliating. Vox shook his hand. The music changed.

With a sigh, Vox followed Endarm away from everything he had ever built. To a car. Likely to Endarm’s territory before they started the deal.

“You will… hm… put these on.”

Vox paused as he was entering the car. These happened to be handcuffs. Bright yellow ones. “What the…”

They were insulated rubber. Oh, that made more sense. Not like it would stop Vox entirely, but it would slow him down. And he couldn’t teleport. He could still break the chain in the middle apart if he wanted. He should know, he and Val had used these before. Feeling even more degraded, he put out his wrists.

They had to be far enough away from the tower before Vox could act out. With what little he could act out, considering he had agreed to going with Endarm and making a contract. Or at least arranging the details of.

Endarm might have been powerful, but not that powerful. He wasn’t on the top of the list of important Overlords. He had interesting powers that Vox hadn’t been aware of, but apparently wasn’t good with sales speak or he would have caught the issue.

…unless he had and had something else in mind. Vox reminded himself not to take anything for granted yet.

He sat in the back seat of the short limo with Endarm. The driver, yet another bovine-Sinner, started the car.

“Apparently eating my catgut didn’t do it for you,” Endarm said. “So why don’t we try it straight from the source?”

Fuck. He had something directly in mind. Before Vox could move, the strings shot out of Endarm’s sleeve and went for every opening he had. He shut his mouth and the way his face worked kept them from pushing their way in.

But they were strings and Vox was wires. They wrapped around his joints, squeezing until they cut through his epidermal layer to push into the spaces between. Finding where his vents were at his sides to push past the fans. He sped them up, cooling himself and cutting through the string.

But there was more of it and Vox had promised to come with. He’d stepped right into this trap.

The catgut consumed him.

Val blinked and sat up, wincing both as his torso screamed at him for moving so fast and as he bumped his head against Velvette’s.

“Fucking bitch!” She reeled back, rubbing her forehead. “Watch it!”

Instincts telling him more than he could process, Val reached into his chest and found the fragment still embedded in there. He tossed it aside, the angelic bullet piercing the wall and staying still.

“Oh.” Angelic weaponry? Vox had said something like that. With the bullet out, he felt something else on his torso. “My fur!”

Something had burned it away! Blood and holes were one thing, but burning away his fur? Val snarled as he stared down at it.

Velvette smacked him on the forehead. Val blinked, before he then focused on a circular burn on her palm. It was patterned and… oh. It was the same thing as was on his chest. “What?”

“Your soulbonding shite! It actually worked, you arse!”

It worked? It worked. Val broke out into a wide grin. “You remember!”

“I do, but as all the cattle-like Sinners out there fucked off, I don’t know if it had anything to do with this nonsense!”

She didn’t look all that happy about their bond, but Val was ecstatic. They had the bond and Velvette remembered. He grabbed her with both pairs of arms and pulled her in.

“Hey! I’m drained and you… you have cum on your thighs!” She lightly smacked him in the shoulder, but didn’t pull away. “You stole a lot of my energy by not dying. You’re welcome, by the way.”

He rubbed his face against her anyway. “Glad you came back now?”

Velvette groaned. “Yes. Dammit. But we’ve got more important shite to get to right now, Val. Vox went after fucking Endarm by himself.”

“Endarm?” Val loosened his grip on Velvette and got to his feet, pulling her up with him.

“All the cattle-like Sinners didn’t tip you off?” She smacked him again, this time in the hip. “Fuck, we’re all so stupid. At least I had the excuse of not remembering. What’s yours?”

“Who the fuck is Endarm?”

Velvette gave him a scathing look, but Val was already headed out to the front. It was a mess, but at least their employees appeared to be doing something. Even if it wasn’t security who looked to be doing it. He would pull them apart… if he hadn’t already.

“Where’s Vox?” Val roared.

He got enough fingers pointing him out the door, so that’s where he went. Velvette managed to catch up by throwing a ribbon around him and sliding through the blood until she jumped onto his back.

“Slow the fuck down!”

“Not if we’re trying to catch up with Vox!” Val looked around once they were outside. Still a mess and one they would have to clean up fast before anyone else noticed. But all of that was less important than where Vox was.

“Well, if either of you would ever answer your texts—” Velvette hissed out as she wiped her phone off using his ruff. Val grumbled, but let it be.

Deep inside, he could just feel where Velvette was. It had nothing to do with her touching him. If he hadn’t seen, heard, or smelled her there, he would know it was Velvette. She was softer than he had thought. Was this her soul?

Of course it was. They had bonded. If only Vox had agreed to do this, he would know where the fuck he was too. Then again… “How did you get it to work?”

“The seal? It was likely activated by our blood. That’s why it burnt where it did.”

Activated by blood. He had to make it using blood during the sex ritual he did for enough power to make it, so that made sense. Val hated he hadn’t thought of that sooner. What if that had solved all of this. Then he realized that they were outside. Well, of course they were, he had walked out.

“How were you able to come out with me?”

Velvette’s grip on his shoulders tightened. “I… Vox’s command must’ve stopped.”

Val snarled again. “Where is he? Vox!”

“If he’s finding where Endarm is… No. He must have already done it. That’s why they’ve backed off. He made the deal.”

“What deal?” He knew he was panicking, but Val couldn’t help himself. Vox going into a deal from a position of weakness was bad. Vox would have known that. So why did he do it? To protect the tower? They could rebuild the tower! As long as the three of them were together, as long as Val had them, they could come back from anything. What the fuck had happened?

“How should I know?” Velvette hit her fist against the back of his neck. Not too hard, but he could tell that was more because she was tired than her not wanting to give him a good smack. “He just said he was going after Endarm to make him stop!”

Val scanned the streets, but Velvette yanked at his good antenna. He reached up to grab that wrist. “Not the antenna, chiquita.”

“Stop moving around like that! I can at least get into Vox’s cameras and see where he went if you don’t throw me off!”

Oh, that was good. Val plucked Velvette off his back and cradled her in his upper arms before taking off into the air.

“Vaaaaaal!”

Her shriek would have made him laugh were he in the mood. But as Velvette acclimatized herself and started searching through feeds (camera) on her phone, Val took a good look at what everything looked like from the air. Less buildings in the way for wherever it was Velvette would tell him to go.

What had Endarm done to him which kept him from coming back after making his deal? Vox wouldn’t leave him. It was against their contract.

Vox was his.

“Loosen up, you brute.”

“Don’t want to drop you,” he said absently, still searching. Too bad it wasn’t night. If it had been night, it would be easier for him to see. Stupid moth eyes.

“East. They left together and headed down Bluefang Road.”

Val shifted direction and flew as fast as his wings could take him. A part of him felt some of the weakness in his limbs from earlier, but he ignored it. Fuck weakness. Why had Vox left with Endarm? He hadn’t offered himself in exchange for Endarm to leave Val and Velvette alone?

Oh, he would do that. Val remembered flashes of the day he had lost his left antenna to the angels. How Vox had hidden him in an alley and drawn the angels away.

Valentino would kill Vox when he caught up with him. How dare he do it again. Vox was his and no one else should have him. Especially not Endarm, after wrecking their home and doing whatever he must have done to Velvette in the first place.

What was going on? “Who the fuck is Endarm?” Velvette hadn’t answered his question.

“Overlord Endarm? The pied piper of strings?”

“The guy with the freaky fingers?”

“That’s the one.”

“He plays shit music.” Val would know. Vox played almost every single sort of music in the penthouse. Sang to almost all of them. His Vox his Vox his Vox.

“He’s like one of those college boys who picked up a guitar and sat around with it trying to pick up birds.”

“Birds?”

“Chicks, you fucking Yank. Down DB Drive. They got in a car. It’s matte black.”

“Ugh.” At least that gave his eyes something to do. Velvette kept giving directions and Val flew faster to catch up. His chest hurt from the angelic burn, but he wasn’t dying so he didn’t care.

Spotting the car, Val dove.

“Don’t dare—”

Velvette cut herself off by using her own fabric. It stabbed down into the driver’s seat, cutting neatly through the top of the car. Val let her go so she could do her own thing as he landed on the roof. He reached around and ripped the door off the side of the car.

What he saw when he peered inside, right before the car swerved and almost threw him off, made Val see red. He couldn’t remember it after the fact. He only knew that he had clambered into the car to yank the cords which were not Vox’s out of Vox. He used his gun to send several bullets through the face of Endarm before Endarm could do anything.

When Endarm dropped, the cords were much easier to yank out. Except as Val yanked them there was coolant and blood.

“Stop it! You’re hurting him!” Velvette shouted.

Val tasted blood. Fresh blood. “I’m going to kill him!”

“Not Endarm! You’re hurting Vox!”

But he wasn’t hurting Vox. He was saving him. These were not Vox’s wires. They were getting in the way. They didn’t belong inside Vox’s chassis. He had to—

Val blinked as Velvette socked him and stopped. She started cutting the wires with her fabric. “You both are such morons! How did either of you survive this long in Hell without me? Now you can pull this!”

He did as she instructed. Endarm’s body twitched and Val shot it again.

Then he thought about what had just happened with him and Velvette. Right. The soulbond had kept him from dying and brought Velvette’s memories back. He would just do the same thing now. It didn’t require Vox to say yes, it just required Vox’s blood. It was perfect.

He pulled the second seal out.

“Val—”

Before Velvette could say more, Val pressed the seal in his hand against Vox’s side. He felt it sear against his palm as the blood on it evaporated. It burnt right through his glove and Vox’s barely buttoned shirt.

Velvette’s hands moved faster as she removed more of the unwanted string from Vox’s body. Vox’s monitor flickered back on and he groaned.

“He can get opened up, right?” Velvette asked.

“He’s got a whole automated system or whatever for that.”

“Then let’s get him home to clean the rest up.”

And to get a specifically angelic bullet for the Overlord. Now that his body was dead, with however long it would take for him to reconstitute, he didn’t seem like anything special. Val glowered at him, but picked Vox up and stepped out of the car. Apparently Velvette had pulled them to a stop and he hadn’t noticed.

“I’m calling a car.” Velvette muttered, dragging Endarm’s body out by his clothes.

Val pushed his face against Vox’s neck, relishing the motions of him breathing. And even more so, the feeling of both the souls he could feel against his.

The Vees were his and now nothing would come between them.

Chapter Text

Needless to say, Vox and Val were both sick after their near death experiences. Velvette wasn’t feeling so hot either, but at least she didn’t look like croaking if she got out of bed. She knew Val would likely bounce back fast. He usually did after getting shot up (her research and Vox had told her as much months ago) and in no way was he acting like he had actually almost died. She wouldn’t have to keep an eye on him for long.

Vox was another story. Velvette took parts of the catgut for her own study. She had to open him up on her own and was shocked to see how his internal systems looked.

Velvette had learnt a thing or two about tech in her day. She might have been better with software than hardware, but she was no amateur. It didn’t mean she could make heads or tails of Vox’s insides. All she could do was recognize the catgut and remove it. All other repairs would have to happen through the regular Sinner healing process.

She took charge of the tower and had every other Sinner who had been controlled once incinerated. When they reconstituted, they wouldn’t have the catgut in them and they could go back to work. It was easier to do that than missing any by going about it in a different fashion.

And then she faced the remains of Endarm. Velvette had a bad feeling about it. She had taken one of Val’s guns and had fished out one of their angelic bullets from the armory. Velvette had never been inside the armory before. She had only just been given permission with the contract she had just signed.

But she was a Vee. She belonged anywhere in the tower except for the few places Vox had said she was not allowed. Much like she was allowed her own places the other two weren’t allowed.

Val didn’t have a single place he didn’t seem to mind them in. Once upon a time she would have been suspicious of that. But Velvette knew Valentino now.

How dare he make her forget.

Velvette stared at the disgusting figure. She should have simply fished out his head and heart, stacked them on top of each other, and shot them both with the one and been done with it. The rankling inside her said to do anyways. Velvette snapped on some splatter-guard and systematically started her autopsy.

The catgut was everywhere. Sure, he could be an Overlord made completely out of his power. He wouldn’t be the first Sinner like that. Everything she knew about Endarm said this was him.

But Velvette knew what she would do with this power. Saw what he was doing to Vox. If Velvette could control someone like this, no one would know her real face. This was the mindless face Endarm showed the masses. It had to be.

The cords were wet from sliding up against the Sinners other organs. From tugging at muscle and bone. Perhaps Velvette didn’t have a confirmation, but she was sure she was right. This was not Overlord Endarm.

She shot the body with the angelic bullet regardless. Losing his main face would be a blow.

It wasn’t the end. Even if Endarm decided it was not worth poking at this nest again, he had already declared war against the Vees. Velvette would not let the insult stand. Her first days in the company had been sullied and wasted and she wanted revenge.

Vox and Val were her tickets to ultimate power and he had nearly taken them from her.

She pried the bullet out before leaving the room, calling others to do cleanup on the puppet’s body. Used bullets were sold to Carmine, who was able to forge them into bullets which could be used again. Too expensive to let anyone else touch. The viscera smeared in her palm, against the fading burn.

Fuck Val. It had to be a coincidence, right? Vox had made the deal with Endarm to leave with him and Endarm had dropped his hold on Velvette. The bonding of their souls had not helped Velvette in the slightest. All it had done was save Val’s life.

Then Val had rushed and saved Vox’s life. They both owed her. She should be happy about that and not so conflicted about being bound with Val. What difference did it really make? Velvette had no interest in betraying them. She had wanted to join the Vees from the moment she realized they existed. She knew a group was stronger than an individual. That they would support each other in their separate fields. Take over all of Pride together.

Except this was something so intimate and Velvette didn’t know what to do with sincere intimacy. She liked Val, sure. When making her plans, she had not expected to, and had indeed thought Val would be the one she would simply have to tolerate, but he wasn’t that bad to her. He was the first person she could honestly call a friend since she was a child.

Not like she would ever say that to his face. They were business partners and that was supposed to be it. Vox understood that, even if he constantly had his dick in Val. Val was the one making everything weird. And now weirder with this soulbond.

She entered his room. He was still in bed, but considering he had the Sinner she had sent in to give him food writhing on his cocks, she assumed he was fucking fine.

“Velvette! Don’t go!”

Groaning, she stopped and decided to make a video out of it instead. Val didn’t look like he’d almost died at all. Or like he was injured. At least, not from this angle. She could post this and people might think they were taking the attack on them lightly, but at least no one would think they were ripe for a different attack.

“I’m not talking important shite with her in the room,” Velvette said.

“Oh, she won’t remember a thing.” Val kissed the bitch, feeding her that aphrodisiac spit of his. Oh, fuck, Velvette had so much testing to turn that into a drug she had to catch up on.

Endarm was so dead when she found him.

“This is why I send your people to you and will never send mine.”

Val hummed noncommitally as he pinched the whore’s nipples. “Fair. I still want that giraffe bitch.”

“That giraffe bitch does good work and I’m not about to have you fucking her up.” Her name wasn’t important and even if she told Val he wouldn’t remember. “I’m not Vox. I don’t like doing business while you’re fucking.”

“She’s soothing my wounds, babydoll! You can’t fault me for that.”

“You fuck, I can fault you for anything I want. You owe me. Both of you.” Velvette had more to say when she suddenly burst out laughing and stopped filming.

Val tilted his head. “Oh? What’s up?”

“I’d forgotten I accidentally married you two with that knobhead contract.”

Val joined her in laughter. The slut moaned as Val bounced her harder on his cock. Or cocks. She still didn’t want to know how many he really had. Considering he could retract some of them into whatever pouch he had down there, she might never know. Good.

“Have any musts for your dress?” A part of Velvette wanted to put Val in a suit and Vox in a dress, but Vox would already fight this until the bitter end. She would already get some entertainment from this.

“Vox is hard for the whole white, virginal bullshit, so make it mostly white.”

“Easy.” White with red lace and trim would be good. Vox could do a white suit with blue trim. They would look amazing when she was done with them. “Anyway, I hate you.”

Val shifted, pressing the bitch underneath him as he continued to fuck her stupid. “You don’t mean that~”

“I do. Soulbinding my arse. Had to save your life.”

“Because you got a target on you by another Overlord.”

Velvette ground her teeth. “A Vee problem is all of our problem anyway.”

“My dying was your problem then.”

She made sure her laughter was as sardonic as possible. “Fuck you. That wasn’t Endarm.”

That got Val’s attention. The whore’s cries were pained now as Val slammed two hands into her back and stared at Velvette. “What?”

“Surprise, surprise. Endarm made his public face a puppet. Good protection if no one knows who actually has to be killed, right?”

Val screeched in fury and threw the Sinner into the wall. Hopefully she had enough aphrodisiac in her system that she didn’t see it coming, but Velvette didn’t really care. That was another reason not to send any of her people up to deal with Val directly.

“We benefit from acting like we think we’ve killed him though,” she pointed out. “Stop being a pissbaby and listen.”

He seemed ready to throw something else into the wall, but sulkily sat down on the bed and glared at her. “Do we?”

“Of course. We don’t want him to know we know he’s not dead.”

As volatile as Val could be, she knew he would see reason. Even if she wished she could have talked this through with Vox first. She waved at his bed and moved his blanket to cover his lap so she wouldn’t have to deal with the rest of it.

It was enough to make him chuckle and break him out of his frustration. He reached beneath the bed and pulled out one of his cigarettes before reaching into his wing and finding the golden lighter he always had on him. It never worked on the first try and she wasn’t sure why he didn’t have a newer one.

Still, the cigarette was lit and he blew out smoke away from her. “So no storming his territory?”

“Oh, we definitely go in. But in a way where it seems like we don’t expect any push back. He’s “dead” after all.”

“How do we do that without showing that we’re being cautious?” Val drawled. “Make a big showing of paying attention to something else?”

Velvette snapped her fingers. “Bingo. And you know what we’ll make people think we’re focused on?”

The grin split his face wide. “A wedding~”

“Butter up your man, Val. At the very least he’ll agree with the distraction angle.” No doubt this whole thing would be fun and hilarious, but the divorce would sure be… something. Hopefully not something to get in her way.

Velvette left. She had meant to say something more about the soulbond, but what else was there to say?

They had work to do. It was strange, to be so close to someone, but maybe Velvette didn’t mind as much as she thought she did.

Vox opened his eyes.

He could tell he was home and not in Overlord Endarm’s clutches. Two good things. Velvette had sent him a message with a complete report over what had happened while he was out. Vox considered sitting up to read it, but didn’t. He laid in bed and went over it all.

She remembered. Of course she did. Good. Endarm wasn’t the man he had met with and he was still out there.

The lights in the room flickered.

“Ah, I knew you were doing something, papito.”

Vox groaned, shutting his eyes again. His body felt too warm. The thrum of his fans told him at least his body was working on cooling itself properly. The bed sunk as Val settled his weight on it. He massaged Vox’s chest and Vox didn’t care to ask him to stop.

“So Endarm’s not dead.”

“No, but his puppet is. Velvette is having us move in on his territory. And he’ll let us do it, because he’ll want everyone to think he’s dead until he can make his next move. This means we can focus on our wedding!”

He groaned again. Val was so insistent and without some outward reason as to why it would be bad, Vox knew dissuading him would be impossible. Let alone Velvette, with her memory back, wouldn’t let him out of it.

Fuck it all, but he would go through Val’s room and take all of those old papers back so Val couldn’t somehow do something like this again. However he had managed it. “The contract says we have to marry. It didn’t say we had to have a wedding.”

“Actually, it did. That was part of what Velvette put in.”

Shit, was that right? Vox’s head hurt too much and he hadn’t finished reading Velvette’s overview. He let out a third groan. Val rested on top of him, his hands working up and down Vox’s sides. Vox opened his eyes again.

“Come on, Voxy. It’ll be fun!”

“Marriage isn’t fun.” Well, that was a lie. Vox had once been very happy in his marriage in life. Until he hadn’t been. Not that he’d gotten a big wedding either, considering how his wife’s mother hadn’t approved.

“Ours will be!” Val propped his chin in his hands and looked at him fondly. Or mockingly. Sometimes they were one in the same with Val.

“Val, our usual arrangement still has us at each other’s throats on occasion. How will this not be worse?”

“How will this not be the same?” Val asked, looking so sincerely confused Vox had to believe he wasn’t making it up. “We’ve been doing this for decades. You said yourself Velvette was going to smooth out our rough edges.”

“In business. Not in sex.”

“In relationships.” Val rolled his eyes. “But we’ve come so far like this, despite any of that. It’s not like I’ve ever gotten bored of you.”

There had been plenty of times over the years Val had said otherwise. However, Vox had guessed on several of those occasions that Val was lying about it, just fucking with him instead of fucking him, so it was easy to believe Val saying it now.

“Plus, you and Velvette are soulbonded to me now. I have you forever.”

Vox tried to sit up, but Val’s torso on him made it impossible. “What.”

“Babydoll saved me from dying by bonding with me and I did the same for you! I’ve got you both forever. That’s deeper than marriage, isn’t it?”

Val looked so fucking pleased with it all. Vox could have choked. Instead, he started hyperventilating.

“Stop overreacting, Vox. It’s obviously not a problem or you would have noticed beforehand, right?”

Vox made garbled noises, because he couldn’t formulate words.

“You should soulbond with Velvette. It’d be nice. All three of us forever~”

Val smiled like an idiot. Vox forced himself to calm down, even as his processors worked rapid fire to come up with something to undo it all. Instead, his body betrayed him and his hands came up to clutch at the small of Val’s back to pull him as flush against him as possible.

A low chuckle bubbled from Val’s chest as he pressed his face into Vox’s neck. The frames of his glasses pushed uncomfortably against him, but Val’s tongue soothed the pressure.

“All my hate,” Vox gasped out.

“Not true, amorcito. This is everything you wanted. What you’ve been building. A little group who can never leave you. I like it too~”

When had Val come to read him so well? Vox whined, because he wasn’t feeling well enough to throw a fit.

Soulbonded with Valentino. Marrying Valentino. Endarm not dead. He was supposed to only be getting used to having a third member of the Vees, not all this other shit.

“Fuck,” Vox said.

“Are you feeling up to it?”

Before Val could really start groping him, Vox moved his hands from Val’s back to his wrists. “No. I’m not. Fine. We’ll have a wedding. Distract Endarm from thinking we know he’s alive so we can fucking destroy him for fucking with us. I’m going to play him like a fucking fiddle and see how he likes the music for once.”

“Oh, Voxy, you’re so hot when you talk about annihalating our enemies.”

Despite himself, Vox laughed.

As much as Velvette looked forward to pulling Endarm’s eyes out and replacing them with molten lava or something, she had to appreciate how his attempt at controlling her had given her a wedding to plan. Sure, it was obvious from minute one how all over each other Vox and Valentino were, but never for a minute had Velvette thought she would get them in formal wedding wear. Val probably wouldn’t have thought about it and Vox would have denied how obviously in love he was with his business partner until he suffered from a second death.

It would be horribly domestic. She had seen enough evidence of it in the short amount of time she had stayed in the tower during her probationary period. Vox lavished Val with gifts and pretended not to worship the ground he walked on. Meanwhile, Vox was the only one of the people Val slept with that he actually respected and also never got tired of.

She wouldn’t have to be as smart she was to figure all this out. But Val was shortsighted when it came to himself, for as intelligent he was at gaslighting other people’s emotions and needs and Vox was both repressed and in denial.

Plus it let her work out her frustration she still felt after Vox’s words when she hadn’t remembered them.

He looked like shit the first time she saw him out of his room, sitting at their shared space’s dining room table with the blackest coffee imaginable. She tossed her tablet across the tabletop for him to look at. “Thoughts?”

Vox blinked and looked down at his wedding suit. Her mood improved as he appeared to crumple upon the sight of it. “Fabulous as anything, my dear.”

“Don’t be so moody about it. You’ll get to have a honeymoon.”

Either he was still too sick or too tired, because Vox stared at her like she was crazy. Velvette rolled her eyes and yanked her tablet back.

“A period of time you won’t have to share him with any of his whores.” Yep, that brought some life back into his eyes. In certain ways, the man was as predictable as anything. “You leave the wedding to me. You plan your honeymoon.”

“And what about the plan for Endarm?”

Velvette smiled. That was the reason she still liked him, despite everything. He could remain focused on what was important, despite his libido. “Sent people in to take over his territory. Plenty of shit there to take, but no doubt all the really important things have been moved elsewhere.”

“I need to get to my cameras.”

She nodded, leaning back in her chair. “I’m sure you’ll figure out where he’s holed up.”

“Unless he never was based there to start with. Just had his puppet make it seem like everything of importance was there.”

Velvette nodded, considering it. “That’s a possibility. In which case…”

“There should still be a trail of something between where he is and that territory. I’ll find it now that I know what to look for.”

“There you are.” Velvette turned and took a selfie with Vox behind her. He looked annoyed, but that was fine. She needed to post something about Vox, not just Val. She touched it up a bit so he didn’t look as awful before posting. “Glad your brain’s back online.”

“Yours too.”

She shrugged. There were a few moments of silence. Vox must have been wanting her to say something, but for the death of her Velvette couldn’t put her finger on what he was expecting. If he didn’t say it, she wouldn’t pretend she knew.

“How did I let you convince me into letting her in here when she immediately gets had like this?”

Unless he was choking on the apology he owed her. Well, she wasn’t about to beg for it.

“We’ll make it an exclusive event. Voxtek employees get a discount for attending and all, but all of the people who will want to have a taste of a Vee-brand wedding will have to pay to get in.”

She had him then. Making money off the event had suddenly changed his mind. “How’s the promotion going to work?”

They chatted the optics for turning the wedding into a perfect business expansion for all three of them. Velvette wouldn’t be the only one making bank when she turned out a new line based on Valentino’s wedding dress.

Her first event as an Overlord would be an Overlord wedding. Velvette would make this huge. Val and Vox might be the ones in the centre of attention, but no one would be able to ignore Velvette’s contributions. They would know that it was only possible with her.

Exactly what she had wanted to join the Vees to do in the first place. Just… wedding themed.

Chapter Text

It only struck Valentino while he was having his dress fitting that this was an actual wedding. He stared blankly at his reflection as Velvette did her final adjustments.

“I don’t like that look. What’s with that look?”

“It feels weird that I get a wedding,” Val said honestly.

None of that bothered Velvette in any way. She didn’t pause. Fabric cinched around his waist again. “Yeah, you didn’t give me the impression you were married when you were alive.”

“It’s just systematic bullshit.” Which was why it was so weird it gave him feelings now. He never had dreams about a wedding, had he? No. Being raised in a cult didn’t really give him any ideas of what marriage was supposed to be. By the time he learnt anything about it, he was free of that and free of stupid fantasies.

Easier to stick with realistic ones, like the next hit or fuck.

“Yet it makes your insides all gooey all of a sudden. Maybe even like you’re in love.”

Val burst into laughter. Velvette pinched him to get him to stand straight again. “Love? Please!”

“Well, whatever it is you two’ve got going on that would make Hell completely empty if you didn’t have him anymore.”

His laughter died. “What… what the fuck?” Why did that sound so real? It was because that was what he had been thinking. But with Vox and Velvette. “Maybe you should marry us too, babydoll.”

Velvette recoiled. “What? Ugh! The fuck’s your problem?”

He turned to her. “But aren’t we together forever too? Soulbonded!”

Groaning, she turned him back to the mirror and continued her crafting. The dress came up around him, the silk chiffon draping over the embroidered patterns on the skirt. A fur lining matching his wings trailed at the end of it.

“I don’t see the problem. Can’t I love you too?” Val asked.

“Ew.”

“I’m not trying to fuck you.”

“Good, because I’d go on Vox’s side and just rip this contract up if you were.”

Val stared at his reflection again, though that became difficult when she removed his glasses. He squinted.

“Our business contract is definitely good enough for me,” Velvette said.

“But now you sound like Vox.”

“Except I don’t treat you like a princess and want to fuck you. So when Vox says it, he’s in denial. He’ll get over it once he has you… well, as much as he ever has you.”

The gloves slid up his lower hands, the matching fingerless ones fitting over his primary forearms. Velvette placed a different set of frames in front of his face before getting out of the way.

“Turn.”

Val stared at himself as he turned. He smiled. “I want to show—”

“You aren’t showing anyone.”

“Babydoll, does it matter if he sees it before the wedding?”

Velvette rolled her eyes. “You’re the one who said he’d get off on the whole virginal, pure shite. You two aren’t getting this dress fucked up before the wedding.”

“What about during?” Val lifted the skirts to see the stockings and how easy he would have access to his cocks. No doubt Vox had imagined fucking him, but Val thought he might get it the other way. Or both.

Both was good.

“Whatever. After the ceremonial stuff, at least. I want enough good pictures of you two for the promotional images. Go bother him about the honeymoon. That much is not my problem.”

Val was unfortunately stripped of his dress for Velvette to shoo him away. He sought out Vox, which wasn’t hard to do. Vox was always at the edge of his periphery. Much like Velvette. He didn’t know how this would stay. Whether his internal compass for the two would remain as sharp as the burn healed. But he had both their souls.

“Voxy~ I just tried on my wedding dress~”

Vox did not stop Val from slumping on top of him in his office chair. He actually pulled his hands off the keyboard to settle Val in his lap. Val purred.

“You’ll really enjoy seeing me in it. I can just see you struggling not to take me in front of an audience. They’ll all be so jealous of you!”

Still not saying anything, Vox took one of Val’s hands. Suddenly, Val became very aware of how fast Vox’s heartbeat was. Or his processor beat. Whatever organ that was, which felt like a heart, which acted like one when Vox had put forth a lot of exertion or was nervous—

Val stared at his finger. A simple gold band. Not too simple. The engraving were the symbols Velvette had introduced for Voxtek. Or, more accurately, for Vox’s ownership on what had the Voxtek logo attached.

“It needed to go with anything you wear,” Vox said quietly. “Or I would have made it fancier.”

Blinking, Val tried to say something, but for some reason nothing came out. Was Velvette right? Was this love? Did it matter if this was what love was? All that mattered to him was he got to keep the two. That he got to go out clubbing with Velvette and fucking Vox. That he and Velvette could go shopping and he and Vox could quote old movies.

Vox was waiting for an answer, so Val kissed him. Vox’s tongue pressed against his with the delightful sparking it always gave him. Val shifted, spreading his legs so they hooked over the outside of the armrests and they were grinding against each other. Vox’s claws sunk into Val’s ass.

For once, Val didn’t undress him. Even as they rutted against each other harder and their breaths became more ragged. He could tell Vox wanted to undo his belt, at least, but he couldn’t seem to let go of Val to do so. Val’s hands were at Vox’s waist, at the back of his neck, caressing Vox’s chest through his jacket.

Val’s pants would get stained like this, but he didn’t care in the slightest. His glasses clattered against Vox’s screen as he moaned into Vox’s mouth.

“V-Val…”

“Fuck, Vox…”

Vox came. He tightened his grip on Val’s ass and that helped Val chase his own release. The flood of his own cum filling his panties, Val collapsed into Vox, gasping for breath.

The room fell silent.

“Where are we going for our honeymoon?” Val asked.

“Lu Lu World?”

“Oh, I’ve wanted to tear around there for a while.” Val chuckled. He licked the lightning-shaped light reflection which always seemed to find itself over Vox’s right eye. Like a scar. “I’m going to fuck you in the Very Spooky Big House.”

“We’ll stay in the hotel looking over the Sea of Souls.”

“You know just what to say~”

They kissed again. Val didn’t know if Velvette was right or not about everything, but it didn’t really matter. What she was right about was that he had to have Vox. Whatever marriage meant to either of them didn’t really matter.

“Do you need help making the soulbonding seal for you and Velvette?”

Vox paused, then pushed Val back enough to stare him in the eyes. “What?”

“Make us the most solid trio in existence! You didn’t feel what it was like to give power over like that to make sure you didn’t die.” It still felt unreal that it was Vox about to die. He would have come back. Unlike Val, Vox hadn’t been dying because of an angelic weapon. He would have come back.

…also unlike Val, there was not a single time that Val could remember in which Vox had ever died and then reconstituted. He had himself put together better than most people in Hell. Even Val needed a reboot on occasion.

Maybe Vox doing reboots were the same thing? Just less messy.

“I’m not binding my soul with hers.”

“Why not? It shouldn’t just be me. That’s unfair Vox. We’re all supposed to be equals!”

With a sigh, Vox undid his belt and pulled out a handkerchief. Before he could clean up, Val extended his tongue down to lick off Vox’s shaft. Vox’s grip tightened again.

“I’m… We’re not talking about this.”

“Why not?”

“Because it’s weird thinking about Velvette with your mouth on my dick.”

Vox and Velvette were such prudes. Val rolled his eyes and went down on Vox.

Everything went smoothly. As it should. The wedding was promoted and the Vees became the biggest news in all of Pride—even in all of Hell.

Vox still felt like he was walking on eggshells. Around Val, around Velvette. He thoroughly studied every facet of Pentagram City he could get eyes on, sent people where he couldn’t get cameras, and couldn’t find where Overlord Endarm actually was. How could he? Endarm had used the one face for so long that there was no record of him having another one.

The idea Velvette was wrong flashed to mind once, but Vox easily quashed it. He trusted Velvette on this. It made far too much sense. Endarm liked to be heard more than seen as a rule, so of course it didn’t matter to him if people had seen his face.

It reminded him of Alastor in a way that made Vox want to throw a fit. So he did, but tried to keep it contained.

It was the biggest event in decades. And the only good one a lot of Sinners could get to. Velvette had priced it perfectly. Tiered tickets for who got to even get close and a stream of the entire thing for those who couldn’t come. Their stocks were already soaring. How would it be after today? He hadn’t slept. Partially because Val was crooning into his microphones all night and touching him all over, but mostly because of this.

Definitely nothing like the wedding he’d had in life, which was just him and his wife getting the marriage license and pretending they had a big event. This was an event. It made his head swim. That or the lack of sleep.

“You don’t like it.”

Vox blinked, stared at Velvette, then down at his suit. “I love it. Impeccable work as always, Velvette.”

She raised an eyebrow. Velvette’s dress certainly didn’t steal the show, but it would in any other company. He knew it would come only second place to Val’s.

Fuck he was about to see Val in a wedding dress.

“You don’t look like a man getting close to seeing his groom. Or bride. Whatever Val wants to be called.”

Vox chuckled. “You don’t think I look like a man about to see Val?”

“Okay, well. If you put it like that.” She grinned and snapped a picture. “But are you ready to be on air?”

“I’m always ready to be on air.” Except…

The air between them remained odd. What was it? It was the same thing it had been since Velvette had gotten her memories back. Vox adjusted his cuffs, despite not needing to.

“Velvette—”

“You—”

They both cut themselves off. “After you,” said Vox.

“No, fuck you. You go first, darling.”

Somehow it made it easier. “It… I did the right thing, didn’t I?”

Velvette cocked her head. “Did the right thing? Have you seen our numbers?”

“Not about the wedding.” Vox glanced to the door he would be walking through. Then waiting on the other side for Val. Fuck him and everything in Hell he would be seeing Val in a wedding dress. “Using my powers on you when you didn’t remember anything.”

She blinked. Vox hated having to say it. All he had wanted was for her to say it was okay without him bringing it up, but he had to bring it up.

“Velvette?” he asked, the longer she went without speaking the more nervous he became.

“I don’t know. But I don’t blame you for it. I don’t know if I would have left the tower or not like that, but it was good I didn’t have the option.”

The weight lifted off his shoulders. Most of it, anyway. Velvette still eyed him as if there was more to say about it. Or not that, but whatever it was she had wanted to say which he had interrupted.

“Your turn, my dear.”

She pursed her lips, but didn’t stay silent for much longer. “I want an apology.”

Vox almost choked on air. “You said you didn’t blame me for it!”

“Not for that, cords-for-brains! For saying it wasn’t worth bringing me into the Vees!”

When had he said that? Oh. He remembered now. “Obviously that was rubbish.”

With a long suffering sigh, Velvette folded her arms across her chest. “I don’t care. I still want an apology.”

“It being wrong and me saying it is isn’t good enough?”

“You’re one step away, V. One step. Just an honest apology. It’s not even that hard.”

He glared at her. She glared back. Still… Vox folded. It always felt like he was the one who had to fold when it came to Val. Velvette appeared to do the same thing to him.

“I’m sorry. You know I didn’t mean it, but I’m sorry I said it.”

Just like that, she brightened. The only tension in the air came from what would happen when he walked out those doors. “Much better.”

“Velvette!”

The doors slammed open and Val swooshed in. The neckline was low, sleeveless, and his arms covered in white and red. He could see the red lace stockings through the sheer fabric in the front of the skirts. The sheathe was patterned with the same red roses Val had clutched in a hand.

“My heel broke!”

“What the fuck did you do?”

They said more, but Vox wasn’t processing. Velvette was bitching, Val was almost in tears, and Vox went to take one of his hands. Maybe two of them.

“Not now, Vox! I need shoes!” Val said.

Vox started kissing up his arm. Val stopped fussing. He might have pressed Vox into the wall before he found himself yanked away.

“Don’t you dare fuck him before the ceremony!” Velvette pushed him away. “You get out there. I’ll be there soon and someone will be out with you when he’s supposed to be!”

Val blew him a kiss as Vox was pushed out the door.

Well, fuck. Now to will back his erection and pretend he wasn’t completely loopy for Val. At least Vox was a good actor.

Readjusting his hat, Vox got ready for the performance of his afterlife.

Velvette returned to the penthouse the morning after. Everything told her she had made the best decision ever by spending the night in her department. No amount of soundproofing would have been good enough for the night her two stupid boys had likely had.

Her boys? When had she started thinking of them like that? Had she done it before without noticing?

To her surprise, Vox was not in the bedroom. He was sipping coffee on the couch. She checked to make sure it wasn’t filthy.

“We didn’t fuck in our public space, Velvette.” He chuckled.

“You say that, but you’ve done it before.” And they would again. Still, she settled on the other couch. “Tired of him already?”

“I have eternity to get tired of the both of you, so hopefully it doesn’t start now.”

She laughed and went through her feed. Yes, everything was going swimmingly. Her clothesline was up and sold out, people were clamoring for more, and after everything yesterday she had more ideas for a remix too.

They sat in relative comfort until Val joined them. He had slipped on a nightgown, but unlike Vox’s lounge wear it did not cover any of the scratches and bite marks which littered his body. Obvious even through the fur.

“Ah… morning, babydoll.”

“Morning, Val.”

“I have bad news about our honeymoon, Voxy.” Val sighed dramatically as he slumped over the back of the couch she was on.

Velvette glanced up from her phone, frowning. To her surprise, Vox simply nodded and took another sip of his coffee.

“I realized it too. We’ll be leaving our poor dear all alone.”

“I could use some time without you.” Velvette wasn’t clingy. Not like the two of them.

“But Endarm is out there!” Val exclaimed, slipping over the back of the couch and next to her.

Oh, fuck it. “I can handle looking out for him for however long it takes for your dicks to fall off!” she spat.

Val laughed, dragging her against his side. “You misunderstand us, chiquita!”

Vox nodded. “Indeed. Val and I can fuck anytime.”

If this whole conversation had been staged for her benefit, that part had not been a part of it, because Val frowned.

“But our poor, sweet Velvette will be all alone.” Vox grinned widely. With that, Val’s expression matched his.

And then it clicked. “You mean…”

“You’ve got it!” Val pressed a kiss to her hair. “The perfect wedding gift. We’re setting up a trap.”

Chapter Text

It came in the form of steak. Velvette smirked and sipped her tea. She could see it now. The power dancing through the food. The lines which did not belong, because they were not actually food to be consumed.

She might be a doll demon, but she was no puppet.

This wouldn’t even be worth broadcasting. What they had said about Endarm before would be a much more fitting end for him than this. Velvette took a bite and swallowed. Despite what she would be digesting, the cooks had still done a good enough job with the cut. The little which Velvette could taste with this tongue of hers, anyway.

The red swirl she had allowed inside her brain clicked on. She got up and followed her literal gut. Grabbed her things, headed down the lift, got into the car and gave directions street by street. She continued to make posts like things were normal. Check over the newest shipments. Poke fun at the knockoffs made of her new designs.

To her surprise, the sensation took her to Endarm’s old territory. A place they had already torn apart for any information or power Endarm would have left behind.

She rolled down the windows, telling the driver to slow. It sounded like country guitar. Velvette’s lip curled.

“Stop over there.”

When it rolled to a stop, Velvette stepped out. She walked the rest of the way. It was to a building at the edge of his territory. A decrepit looking dwelling of little importance. From her recollection, it hadn’t been occupied and hadn’t had anything interesting inside. One of the workers who checked it out fell through the floorboards from the first floor to the ground floor and killed himself.

However, when she stepped inside, the music was all she could hear.

⛧✧・:*_VELVETTE_*:・ﾟ✧⛧

we sure endarms a sinner?

VVV

No. I suppose we don’t have any information on his actual self.

vvvMASTER

u see him

⛧✧・:*_VELVETTE_*:・ﾟ✧⛧

maybe hes a building

The music beckoned her inside. Vox’s orders told her to come back out. She reached to the faded scar on one hand, reminding her of her connection with Val. Then Velvette touched the newer burn on her other hand. The one which matched a burn on Vox’s palm.

She walked out. “Let’s try setting this on fire.”

It wasn’t long before Val came gleefully with a boatload of explosives. Some poor suckers took them inside and set them off. Velvette stood beside Vox, watching Val laugh like a madman as the building exploded, everything in the vicinity caught fire, and the tune of the catgut burned away from her joints.

“Thanks for being the bait,” said Vox.

“Eh. I wasn’t the bait when we had this under control the whole time.” She shrugged it off as she lifted her phone to better catch the acrid plume above the building on video. Vox snapped and his protective net in her mind faded to nothing. Her hand twinged after—probably because of the burn.

Inside, tiles exploded from the heat. Walls splintered as the weight from the less touched first and second floors above rested on the crumbling foundations underneath. The smoke was disgusting. Velvette would take Valentino’s scent over this. It smelled like a slaughterhouse on fire. Which made sense.

But the groans of the building’s collapse sounded much more like screams. Proving her right.

“A haunted house.” Vox whistled. “Pretending to be a Sinner Overlord. Interesting.”

“Your husband really likes fire, huh?” Velvette made sure to get Val’s glee in the shot.

“He likes smoke. It’s going to be a good night.”

Before she could say more, Val came back to them, putting two arms around Vox and two around Velvette, pulling them in. It didn’t bother her nearly as much as she thought it might. “A good night indeed! I can’t believe we almost got fucked by a house.” He paused. “Actually…”

“Don’t finish that one unless you are thinking about a new script,” said Vox.

“Oh, papi. Care to help me with some inspiration?”

“Don’t talk about that shit while you’re touching me.” Velvette uploaded the video. Perhaps saying it was Overlord Endarm would be more interesting than not. She could imagine the other Overlords wondering if they were lying.

Endarm screamed. Velvette laughed along with Valentino and Vox.

Victory started with a V.