Chapter Text
If Alastor had to describe the mess he’d been dragged into ever since he’d made a deal with Vox, he’d describe it as a surprisingly neutral affair. Considering everything he’d thought this arrangement would turn out to be. After all, nothing could’ve really been worse than this arrangement before. Alastor was just privately glad he’d turned out to be wrong in the matter, even though he despised being wrong. He could make this one exception.
Velvet had been a great help with quite a few things after the unveiling of hers and Vox’s rather dramatic life uptop. She kept him updated on the sort of things that he wouldn’t normally know much about, rumors, mentality and such. She also entertained Niffty which Alastor couldn’t help but feel grateful for. She especially helped with Niffty’s less than savory writing projects, alleviating the responsibility from Husk and himself. Furthermore, she’d through some unknown sheer will managed to convince him to learn the workings of a mobile device. Not to say he had intended to own one, but due to her insistence he’d now know how to operate the basics of one. Shortly after that, Charlie had discovered this and gifted him one, claiming it would be much easier to contact him if he had one. So he’d accepted it, which turned into a whole other mess.
Alastor with his newly received phone had been invited into multiple correspondences, all after his various allies learnt his ‘cellphone number’. First one with all the Hotel staff + Angel for some ungodly reason then Niffty invited him into one with her and Husker, Velvet followed suit with one containing her, Valentino and Vox, finally Rosie invited him to one with her and Mimzy. They’d all been so ecstatic that he’d ‘come around and started to use modern technology’, was it really that big of a deal? Alastor did not think so. Although he wasn’t so sure if giving Vox an easier way to contact him was a good idea or not yet. At least Velvet sent him humorous content on the TV demon and sometimes pictures she called ‘memes’. There was so much to learn on Alastor’s part, but perhaps it would help him with his adaptability, besides the knowledge couldn’t hurt, he still could choose whether to use any of the technology.
Not only had Velvet helped him with this whole...learning experience. She spearheaded a lot of the mishaps Vox happened to conveniently fall into with Alastor’s help. Planning all these mishaps became an entertainment form for him. Of course Vox did not agree with any of it, and took any chance at retaliation. Why just recently Vox had managed to turn Velvet’s hair a dark yellow and Alastor’s an obnoxious turquoise. That had not been a very fun week for either. The haircolor did match Vox’s tuxedo that Alastor still owned, he’d tried in a bout of curiosity. Not that he actually wore it anywhere, Niffty had caught him in the action though. She must’ve taken a picture too as he got questioned about it by Velvet and Vox later.
Valentino had inquired about his possible services related to his status as a Dealmaker. Alastor hadn’t needed anything from the pimp, but in a selfless moment he’d asked for the betterment of Angel’s position. Valentino had been surprised but hadn’t denied the request, sealing the deal, and sending Alastor hunting along with some mediating. Mostly all the demons cooperated, but every now and again Alastor would get a snack or two. All in all it was simple and sometimes entertaining work, and it kept Valentino satisfied which could prove to be useful later.
Unfortunately not everything about Valentino’s deal making was simple. A group of fools, some gang of fox demons had decided to try and take some form of revenge. It had been quite successful considering it had affected both Vox and Velvet. It had been a critical strike to the Studio’s infrastructure that had caused a large portion of it to collapse. However, the fox demons hadn’t been so clever in covering their tracks, as the idiots had stayed to try and take down the two vulnerable Overlords. Vox and Velvet hadn’t been close to erasure even with their injuries, but the fight had ended very quickly when Alastor arrived, offering his support. A lot of them had escaped, a few having the gall to catcall him, the Radio Demon. Still Alastor hadn’t gone after them, there would be a time and place for it.
That time and place was much quicker than Alastor would’ve thought. Vox was very livid, which Alastor assumed was because of the humiliation. The deer demon wasn’t going to deny the chance to teach some lowly sinners some manners though.
The whole operation had been the most fun Alastor had experienced in awhile. Feeling a bit more musical that day, Alastor had managed to fit in a musical number, greatly disturbing the fox demons he was half heartedly tearing apart. Vox had found the whole thing funny, and had joined it at one part. In some dramatic ending they’d tried their hand at combining their powers, vaporizing the property with great ease. The whole thing had made Alastor very giddy, and Vox pleasantly surprised. Who knew they had such power while working together? For that was something Alastor could work with.
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Velvet, like Valentino, had been very skeptical of Vox’s ‘Operation: Deer’ when the TV demon had first proposed it. It didn’t sound very solid, as she was sure Alastor would never have anything to do with the two of them, and much less anything with Vox. Still, like a good friend, she’d listened to his unnecessarily detailed PowerPoint on the matter, even though it had lasted almost an entire night. By the end she’d realized there was no getting out of it, and agreed to go undercover into the Hazbin Hotel, exploiting anything she could. Anything to help her best friend go through another obsession of his. Valentino still didn’t believe it would work, but didn’t see much to lose himself so he didn’t outwardly deny the idea.
Of course now things were way different for all of them. Who knew Vox could actually pull the whole feat off? Certainly not either of them, but Velvet was glad he had. Alastor was surprisingly fun to spend time with when he wasn’t trying to erase you. She’d managed to garner a new partner in crime, something that amused Velvet to no end. Oh how this operation of Vox’s had backfired on him in some ways. Not that she was ever going to complain about it, when it was so much fun.
Speaking of fun, teaching her new partner in crime, Alastor how to use a phone had been entertainment on its own. She didn’t really mind how little he knew, it was very endearing and nostalgic for Velvet to teach him. In some ways it reminded her of how she used to teach her elderly neighbors how to use new technology when she was still alive. Teaching Alastor the basics had also made him much more reachable when Charlie had given him a phone. Best of all was when Vox had received a meme from Alastor, causing the TV demon to practically shut down in confusion. She’d totally filmed the whole thing, editing a Windows Error Noise on top of the clip and posting it on her social media.
To be completely honest though, Alastor discovering the whole thread on Alastox, RadioShow...uh...it had too many names, anyways, him discovering the demons writing about him and Vox was a lot of fun. Alastor had stayed up all night, reading all the various theories and information people posted there, all while messaging Velvet about it. She’d never seen Alastor quite so disturbed by something. Oops, better not Alastor how much she had contributed to the thread... Ah well, it happened to be the night the deer demon discovered emojis too!
Getting Alastor to use a phone had really caused people around her to be thankful. Vox was so incredibly shocked that she’d managed to do it, and she’d had so much fun bothering him about it. How she’d managed to do something he hadn’t. It wasn’t just Vox who was thankful, why even Rosie had messaged Velvet, saying how grateful she was. Velvet could only imagine how difficult getting ahold of Alastor was before, if these thank yous very anything to go by. It filled her with a deep sense of pride.
Becoming friends with Niffty had also been a great surprise in her afterlife. She absolutely adored the one-eyed demon, she was so energetic and positive. Not only that, but she made wonderful, beautiful dresses for Velvet. She loved posting about them onto her social media, they always looked so perfect. Velvet also posted all of Niffty’s stories, even the one on Alastor and Vox, which she posted to the thread about the two. It got quite a good amount of readers, and Velvet was sure Alastor had stumbled upon it. She couldn’t help but feel bad for him, even if it was hilarious in Velvet’s opinion. With Niffty’s help Velvet had started learning the basics of Japanese, which was fun and interesting. Truthfully, Velvet just really enjoyed Niffty’s company and was glad to have a new friend.
Internally Velvet had to admit that she was glad Vox’s plans had succeeded. Seeing him and Alastor tolerate each other was a happy feeling on its own, she knew Vox had been so distraught when he’d first told her that he’d caught feelings. Now he at least had a new friend, maybe even a best friend if fate continued to be kind.
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Vox couldn’t be more satisfied. He could still recall the disbelieving looks of Velvet and Val when he’d first suggested they try his plan. Now he could tell both of them to suck it, not that he really would, but it was still a very nice feeling. Like a really good ‘I told you so’ moment, technically this was exactly that, but who cared. Not only that but he reaped the benefits of the operation succeeding. No longer did Al cringe every time they had to interact, nor did he try to erase him on sight. In fact, he could say they’d grown pretty close!
For one, Vox had received ‘touching rights’ as Velvet put it, as long as he followed Alastor's guidelines. Being clear with his intent, telegraphing his actions essentially, being careful with where he touched and most importantly they had to be on Alastor’s terms. It was a bit of a hassle, but Vox would say it was mostly worth it. Besides, it meant he got to pet Alastor’s adorable and very fluffy ears. It was something Vox shamelessly enjoyed, not only were the ears adorable, but Al always was a lot calmer and genuine during these times. The whole ambiance during it felt a lot more intimate than Vox could’ve ever guessed, which was no problem for him.
For another, they got to do things...together. Now that Al could no longer broadcast his carnage for all of Hell to hear, the deer demon did it more privately. Al would sometimes invite Vox to these, and boy could it get interesting sometimes, Vox almost felt bad sometimes watching Al’s work, almost. But seeing Al so passionate about something, it was endearing in a way, also very contagious. Another of Al’s hobbies, that if Vox was unlucky enough, happened right after Al’s slaughtering sessions was cooking. Now Vox tried steering away from the activity as much as possible, but Al constantly insisted he try. Jokes on Al though, he broke the stove and then short circuited the Hotel’s power trying to make breakfast. After that, he mostly sat and watched Al do the work, keeping a safe distance from well...everything.
Classical music was something they could both enjoy, and beyond performing a song together they hadn’t played any instruments together before. Al had gotten curious one day though, asking him if he could play any instruments. Vox had told him that he could play piano to which Al had then wanted to test his playing. What was the first composition the deer demon had him play? Sorabji- symphonic variations for the piano of course! 30 minutes in Vox was ready to cry, he wouldn’t have even cared that it was in front of Al. He had to stop at the 40 minute mark, Al didn’t even seem to care, he looked impressed yet pitiful, and that was that. Neither spoke of it ever again. Al did showcase his violin playing, which Vox enjoyed, not surprised Al chose Debussy’s Violin Sonata. To better show his own piano skills Vox played Sibelius’ Finlandia, or a cadenza of it more like. From there they’d decided to try dueting, which at the start was pretty terrible. Later they got more accustomed to it, not being so out of tempo, until Vox decided to mess with Al, that is. It was a lot of fun messing around as the accompanist sometimes, not that Al agreed as the lead.
When Velvet had managed to convince Al to use modern technology Vox had had to check the date, because there was no way. Yet, she’d somehow managed the impossible, it still took him by surprise every day, which Vox knew for a fact amused Al and Velvet to no end. Still, one couldn't just expect the Radio Demon to send you a meme one day. That one was going to take a lot of getting used to. It had its upsides though, Al was a lot easier to reach. A lot easier. Did Vox practically DDoS Al’s phone? No, no he didn’t, it was just some light texting…
It was quite interesting seeing how Al’s friends reacted to him. In some stroke of luck, Vox managed to thoroughly deepen his ‘friendship’ with Al’s Shadow, the little deviant could be a riot. Which helped Vox understand why Al sometimes kept it under such scrutiny. It even helped Vox with revenge against all the pranks that Velvet and Al were pulling, the best being messing with Al’s and Velvet’s hair colors, no way he was pulling that off without Al’s Shadow. That one had really been worth it, especially when Velvet sent him a picture of Al trying the new hair color with Vox’s style of outfit. Now if only Vox could convince Al to wear it more often…
More surprisingly came that Vox had started accepting more pointers from the princess. Charlie could come in handy in some situations Vox had to admit. Plus she intended to be a lot less insufferable you actually got to know her. Yet beyond the princess, the rest of the Hotel staff remained neutral to him, it wasn’t like he interacted much with them anyway.
Alternatively, Vox could tell Rosie despised him, she was very polite in her hate, but she certainly wasn’t hiding it. It tended to be hard to stay in the same room together, she was very intense, and Vox could only keep up appearances for so long before he lost his temper. And boy did she push it when she could. Luckily in contrast, Mimzy was a lot nicer to him, but even she didn’t like him much. Vox was just hoping no one did anything drastic, although he mostly pointed that statement towards Rosie. At least Al himself liked Vox, maybe if he waited for the others to come around?
In conclusion, Vox couldn’t argue with the results. A few problems here and there, and probably more to come, but that didn’t matter now. In the end, everything had pretty much worked out. So Vox would like to conclude Operation: Deer a success.