Chapter Text
It was finally Velvet’s chance to use the phone. Ever she got the news of her brother getting to leave prison way before her - to her constant annoyance - she had been thinking about who to call when she got the chance to again.
She had Orchid’s phone number memorized by now. Someone who went from a fan, to someone Velvet got to know, to a long distance girlfriend, Orchid was the only person she wanted to call.
As she punched in the numbers and waited as the phone rang, she thought about what she was going to say. She wanted to catch up with her girlfriend, but at the same time she wanted to do nothing but rant about her brother for abandoning her. First he betrays her to the trolls so he could get less prison time and then he actually leaves at the first chance he gets. Velvet began to wonder if Veneer even cared about her from how quick he was to betray and then leave her. She obviously cared about him, she tried her best to bring them both to the fame they’ve wanted ever since they were kids and yet he threw it all away.
Velvet felt slightly excited as she heard a voice on the other end, but her excitement quickly disappeared as she heard what it said.
“Hey! I’m not able to answer your call right now! Do you think you can call back later?”
Orchid’s voicemail.
Velvet let out a long groan as she stared at the phonebox with the phone to her ear. Of all the times for her to be busy and it’s the time Velvet really needed someone to talk to. Maybe she did miss her brother a little. He was the only friend she had in this concrete hellscape and even if she hated him for what he did, he was still family.
Where did he even go when he was released?
Velvet knew that he wasn’t the type to last more than a night homeless, so he had to have some sort of connection to be so confident to abandon her. Maybe it was that interviewer he was so obsessed with?
But Velvet didn’t know his number, and if she did she barely knew him anyways. She didn’t have much of a choice on what to do, so she attempted to call Orchid again.
Oh Velvet’s fourth - and likely last - attempt to call Orchid, she finally picked up. She looked at her watch, she was running out of calltime.
“Sorry Vels! I was busy with something. What’s up?” The change in tone from the custom voicemail was something Velvet could accept with a smile.
“I just wanted to talk for a little - Veneer was released early so I wanted to call you and talk about it!” Her voice was sweet, maybe a little too sweet for someone who was in prison and just tried to call her long-distance girlfriend three other times in a row.
“Oh I was wondering about that. Apparently he was spotted on one of the late night buses and it’s been mentioned a little in some news articles, are you doing okay?”
Velvet grinded her teeth a little at the news. Her brother gets out of jail and the first thing he does is attempt to reclaim the fame he pulled out from under them in the first place.
“Oh so he’s all famous now?” Velvet asks, her voice at its edge, “He ruins our music career and then jumps right back into that same fame?”
“I think he’s trying to avoid it actually -” Orchid continued to talk about what she saw or read about but Velvet found herself quickly losing interest as the voice became static in the background.
Of course Veneer would leave and then take it upon himself to steal all of the fame - that she originally wanted - all for himself. She was shocked at herself for even assuming better of her twin brother. He’s betrayed her before, and for all Velvet knew he purposely tried to get on her good side during their sentence together in hopes she would never know about this! Who knows what was going on in his head during all those false peace treaties?
As the voice slowly returned from the mind static, Velvet knew it was just her and Orchid against the world.
“Velvet?”
“Oh sorry, were you saying something?” Velvet’s thoughts floated in circles around her head like an oncoming storm as she focused on her girlfriend again.
“I was just saying maybe you should try to do what he did, remain on the down-low when you get out of prison?”
Velvet laughed a little at the idea, though her voice strained, “Why would I do that? It’s not like he’s doing the same. Anyways, I want to be famous, not some nobody.”
After a moment of silence, a response came from the other side, “...How do you plan to get famous again?” There was a much more obvious question she could ask, but Velvet knew she wouldn’t.
“I will find a way dear. I always do.” Velvet wasn’t even sure herself, but with a year and a half to herself in this purgatory, she was sure to find a way. Even if it meant burning herself to the ground, she would find a way to steal the same fame that her brother stole from her.
“Just please don’t get yourself even more prison time. I miss you.” Orchid sounded defeated, and whatever reason Velvet had for why, she was sure it was the wrong one.
They didn’t say much afterwards, an awkward tension built between the phone lines as Velvet’s time ran out and she had to eventually hang up.
As Velvet went back to her cell, she secretly knew it was only her against the world.