Chapter Text
The neon lights of VeeTower was blinding as Vox stared out into the buildings of Pentagram City. His eyes scanned over the very few buildings that had yet to be fixed after the cause of his… fiasco. The events of what happened continued to replay in his mind, bringing a new wave of tears to fill his eyes with regret and anger. Anger at Alastor. Anger at Val and Velvette for stopping him when he was so close to being a God… More importantly, Vox was admittedly angry at himself. Angry at the fact that he’d been stupid enough to place his hands on Charlie’s shoulders. Angry at the fact that his title as CEO was stripped from him. More so, he was angry that Alastor was right. He was fucking right about everything. He always was.
Vox wiped the tears sliding down his screen angrily while he stood up to his feet, swaying slightly as he did so. He opened his balcony doors and stepped back into his cold room. As he shut the doors, he stood still for a moment, staring at the mess he created an hour ago. Papers scattered off his desk, his blankets and pillows off his bed and ripped wires covering the floor. Vox shut his eyes tightly as if thinking all the mess and problems he created would disappear. It didn’t. He opened them once again and began walking forward to his bed, hoping to maybe have a nap. He was so fucking exhausted.
However, before he could get comfortable, his door was swung open and Velvette walked in.
“Oh great. You’re up.”
She stared at Vox with a type of emotion behind her eyes that he couldn’t quite comprehend. It was probably anger. Yeah. Before he could open his mouth to ask what the fuck she was doing in his room, she interrupted him with a finger up and face in her phones screen.
“Your pet shark thingy needs feeding and you need to get out ya room.”
She continued swiping as Vox’s mouth was slightly ajar. What?
“Don’t we literally have people for that Vel?”
It wasn’t that he didn’t want to spend time with his baby shoky woky! It was the fact that he genuinely was exhausted. From what, you may ask? Maybe crying? Or maybe from all the anger he was feeling.. maybe-
“Yes. We do. But look vee.. how do I put this lightly?”
Velvette put her phone into her back pocket and brought a hand to her chin as she thought about what to say.
“Oh yep I remember now. Basically, both Val and I decided it was time for you to come outta your room. Got it?”
The two maintained eye contact as Vox processed what she said. Fucking hell. The two of them just couldn’t leave Vox alone for 5 fucking minutes. Could they? No. Vox had to do everything. Every fucking thing in this fucking business-
“Vox.”
Velvety sighed as she leaned against his door frame, crossing her arms she stared at the floor before she spoke again.
“I know that.. shit hasn’t gone your way recently.. but you can’t just lie ‘ere forever.”
Vox stared, waiting. Velvette opened her mouth, as if to say something else, except her eyebrows furrows and she shut her eye briefly before closing her mouth. As she was doing so, she leaned off of Vox’s door frame and turned her back to him.
“But still- you should’ve thought about what the fuck you were doing. So.. think of this as.. I don’t know. Fuck this”
Velvety stopped herself as she shut her eyes tighter. Vox raised himself off the edge of the bed, just as he was about to say something she interrupted him again.
“Just- fucking hell Vee. Go and feed your shark. I’m outta ‘ere”
And with that. She was gone. The fuck was that? Vox stared at the opened doors in front of him. Scowling, he collapsed backwards into his bed as he groaned in annoyance while rubbing his eyes. He pressed his palms harshly into his.. eye sockets? Fuck could he even call them that? He removed his hands as he stared up at the ceiling, breathing heavily as finally he sat up again. After mulling the thought over, he decided to feed Shok.wav himself. Despite considering the fact that he could just make Ethan do it, Vel was right about one thing. He needed to get out of this shitty room. So with that, he stood up and made his way to the elevator, pressing the aquariums floor number.
Vox’s arms were crossed and his scowl deepened. He walked out of the elevator box and walked into the aquarium in long strides. The blue hues of water and coral at the bottom immediately calmed him and he let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding in.
“Shoky?! It’s daddy! It’s lunch time baby! So come and eat your super yummy food!”
With that, a large black shadow made itself seen through the thick glass, one red eye opening. Vox smiled as he rushed over to the glass, putting his face flat on the cold surface while cooing at Shok.wav.
“Hewwo my bwaby! Who’s still the biggest bwestest shark in the world? You are! Yes you are!”
As Vox kept on spilling compliments and babbling noises, Shok.wav purred loudly with each one. Soon, Vox removed his face from the glass and walked towards the large freezer close by the door way. He grabbed a plastic bag of frozen meat and walked up to the other elevator inside the room, pressing upwards to reach the feeding platform. The minute the doors opened, Vox’s pants were already folded past his knees and he made a bee line straight to the metal edge, plastic bag forgotten by the side of the elevator. He plopped down, arms spread wide as if he was about to hug the shark. He honestly was.
“Oh shoky! My baby I missed you! Did you miss daddy?”
Shok.wav swam towards the surface of the water, allowing Vox to glide his hand across Shok.wavs back side. As he was doing so, the shark purred even louder, as if replying to the question. Vox smiled contently for the first time in a while. He didn’t remember the last time something made his heart this warm after a rough time. Not since he met.. anyways. Vox pulled away and stared at the creature swimming in circles. Now that he was thinking about it, why had he not come down to visit Shok.wav in a while? What- because he was tired? That was selfish of himself. His baby was all by himself and all he was doing was drinking and throwing his shit around the room.
Vox’s scowl deepened and his brows furrows even more in a grimace. However, he was pulled from his thoughts as he heard a distressed noise from Shoky. His head shot up towards the noise. Vox was met with his baby swimming in even faster circles while sending out the upset noises. It made Vox upset to see his baby like that. Reaching his hands out Vox called to Shock.wav.
“Oh shoky.. sorry I was- sorry. Do you wanna eat? I bet you’re starving.”
As he spoke, the animal swam back up to him, feeling his hands glide against his fins. Taking that as a response, Vox stood up and trapped the meat inside the plastic bag. He tossed them in the water and within seconds, the limbs disappeared, leaving only tendons sinking to the bottom of the tank. Satisfied, Shok.wav made a delighted noise while swimming back to Vox as he sat down once more. Seeing the sight before him, Vox’s grin widened even more.
“Was that nummy for your tummy? Yeah?!”
They stayed like that for a while longer. Shok.wav swimming in circles, occasionally coming up to Vox for pets and Vox just sitting there, legs dangling in the water as he leaned back on his two arms. This was.. nice. It took his mind off of.. everything. Everything that he didn’t have anymore. Vox slouched forward, hands on his laps as he continued to think. What was left of him? He didn’t have his company, didn’t have Alastor as a prisoner anymore and he sure as hell wasn’t a God. His heart sunk as all the thought came crashing into his mind. He had nothing anymore. He did all of that bullshit. And what did he get?!
He clenched his hands into a tight fist, gripping at the fabric of his pants, lowering his head more. He fucked up whatever.. thing he had with Val. The fucker didn’t even look at him anymore. And Velvette? All she did was talk at him. Not to him. At him. He felt so pathetic even in his own home. Ha! Please. Home? He called this fucking cold place a home? If that wasn’t depressing to hear then he wasn’t sure what was. Vox didn’t know how long he blanked out, staring at his feet under the ripples of water, thinking about his failures and regrets until something nudged his right calf.
It was Shok.wav’s snout. Vox’s screen whipped to the right, where his Shoky repeatedly nudged his calf as if trying to talk to him? Tell him something?
“Shoky? What’s wrong?”
Woah. Holy shit. Vox’s voice was so.. weak. Instinctively, he reached up to his throat and grabbed it softly as he swallowed. That wasn’t the only thing though. The sides of his screen felt weirdly cold. Subconsciously, his left hand snaked up and he grazed his fingers across the surface. It was wet. Was he crying? Again? As confusion and slight embarrassment faded away from his sensors, he turned to look at Shok.wav who was now just floating, staring at Vox with so much concern it made him want to cry even more. He reached out and placed his hand against Shok.wavs snout, petting in an upwards and downwards motion.
“Oh shoky.. you never stop caring for me do you? Even after what I did.”
Sometimes Vox wondered how something as big and menacing as Shok.wav, was the purest thing Vox ever encountered in Hell. Wiping his eyes, he gave a wet sigh.
“I don’t know what to do shoky..”
Vox closed his eyes. He let out a shuddering breath.
“I just- I fucked up. And now I don’t know what to do.”
He opened his eyes feeling the droplets threatening to fall. Vox sighed once more before a ding shook him out of his thoughts. He looked up at the holographic speech bubble above Shok.wavs head. It read: “daddy sad no more. shoky here.” Fuck. Vox’s eyes welled up with more tears. He let out a wet laugh as he used the back of his hand to wipe his screen dry.
“Haha.. thanks Shoky. Thank you for always being here. Even when I might not deserve it.”
The speech bubble disappeared and was replaced with another set of comforting purring. Vox used both his hands and grabbed the sharks face, bringing it up for a quick peck on the snout.
“What ever would I do without you shoky?”
Vox smiled as he pulled away. Looking at the creature, he couldn’t help but feel grateful that Baxter created his Shoky Woky. Even more so by letting Vox keep him. Shutting his eyes, he sucked in one final breath, Vox opened his eyes and exhaled. He didn’t know how much longer he stayed at the aquarium for, but hell knows he needed it. The night ended with him, drenched head to toe from swimming with Shok.wav. Face plastered with the biggest smile and a warm feeling in his heart. Something he hadn’t felt in a while.
Maybe. Just maybe, it’ll be okay.
——————
Velvette sighed as she stood at the bottom of the aquarium. Watching as the very distant shadows of Shok.wav and Vox lingered at the top. She smiled slightly as she leaned against the elevator door frame. Leaning off, she walked back into the box, pressing her floor number as the doors closed bringing her upwards.
“Get better already ya fucker. We miss you.”