Chapter Text
Vox is a weird fellow.
That’s what was Mysta’s first impression of the guy. Well, who wouldn’t think like that? With how bizarre their first meeting went, it shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone.
It should’ve been a chill greeting. Was he too loud and obnoxious perhaps? Oh god, this is why Mysta never liked socializing. Somehow people always find the way to think he’s weird or something. This is so awkward, he should really just said hi and waved and not actually tried to ask for a handshake. Shit, so much for good first impressions man.
As soon as Mysta decided to pull his arm away, Vox’s hand swiftly grabbed his wrist and pulled him forward, the detective’s weight slowly falling onto the demon’s embrace. The brunette had no time to react when the other male started squeezing him closer and even caressing his head in a gentle manner.
The detective could hear the demon muttering something, but his voice was too low for Mysta to make up the words. Either way, he could hear the relief in the raven haired man’s tone. The two stayed like that for a couple more seconds before Mysta finally pushed the demon away.
“Errr.. Come on dude, all I asked for was a hand shake. A hug is kinda sussy for a first meeting don’t you think?” He joked, sheepishly laughing at his own response. This really wasn’t what he expected for first impressions. Vox himself looked like a pretty posh guy, the man exudes a huge amount of elegance that made him look a bit intimidating so he was the last person the detective thought would do something embarrassing like that.
Mysta lived quite a few years before getting sent into a time travelling portal hole but he is sure that he’s never met Vox or even someone who looks like the man.
Though, the day after their initial meeting, the older man immediately apologized for his actions. So the detective just shrugged it off, thinking that maybe the old demon was just feeling lonely or something. ‘Or do I actually look cute and he couldn’t resist my charms? Omegalul I wish-’. Besides, Vox is an actual nice dude if you don’t put that weird first meeting into equation. He really felt comfortable and safe around him for some odd reason too.
The first few days of their streaming job went successfully. Luxiem managed to receive massive amounts of support both from old fans of the company and even got to pull in new viewers from all sides of the world.
Mysta has one teeny tiny bit of concern however.
For some reason, every single time he meets up with Vox, the guy looks at him like he’s some kind of zombie that got cured by a vaccine or something. Mysta noticed the slightly pained expression, the longing stares and his slightly shaky voice. Is this dude projecting on him or something? Did he go through a break up, moved on and then somehow got severe withdrawals ever since he met Mysta? Okay, don’t get him wrong. It’s not that he’s uncomfortable about it, he’s just curious. A little bit worried too.
But what did the amazing and very smart detective Mysta Rias do? Distance himself from any confrontation with Vox Akuma like a fucking coward.
To be fair, he did raise a question about this to the demon once but Vox just shrugged it of with a “It’s nothing. Don’t worry about it, my boy.”. So if he says it’s fine then it should be okay right? Mysta didn’t want to press on the older man too much if he didn’t want to talk about it. Plus it’s not like the detective has completely ignored the older male since that’s literally impossible given the fact that all of Luxiem lives together now.
This is fine. Everything is fine.
Vox feels like his head is going to break any time soon.
The fact that he has to keep up appearances whenever Mysta is around is going to drive him mad. It wasn’t like he was doing any good either, because the detective noticed and even asked him if something was wrong. Oh if only he knew.
Lately however, the fox detective has been actively avoiding Vox. ‘Great, now I made him uncomfortable.’ The demon thinks, sighing back into his seat. He grabs onto his beer can and takes a huge gulp out of it, feeling the alcohol slowly burn through his system. His senses are starting to slowly deteriorate from intoxication.
Suddenly, a squeaky little voice calls out to him. “Isn’t this for the better milord? Now you don’t have to talk to him that much except for business purposes and pleasantries.” The little red oni pauses,
“Unless… you don’t actually want that? You have been trying to jog up his memory haven’t you?”
The voice demon stops his movements. “Shut up Oni Giri. You are not helping.” Oni Giri scoffs in response, to think all of those years of his stupid lord acting smug and cool ended breaking down the moment he meets the reincarnation of his beloved familiar. Well, ex-beloved should be the correct term, but the red oni isn’t so sure of it now.
“I’m just confused milord. You’ve told me so many times that you don’t feel anything close to romance for Mysta-dono anymore.”
“I DON’T!” The voice demon slams his hand against his desk, gritting his teeth at the small oni sitting on one of his laps. Oni Giri gestures a ‘calm down’ motion, his brows furrowed into a worried expression as he watches his master struggle to open another can of beer. “Geez, calm down old man..”
“How can I calm down when you’re spouting ridiculous nonsense to me? Also, even if I don’t love him that way, he is still my friend.”
“If you say so, milord. But in all honesty, I hope you stop trying to do whatever you are doing right now. Mysta-dono doesn’t need to remember anything, you can continue being friends with him without a problem.”
Oni Giri was right and Vox knew he couldn’t argue with him about it. Unfortunate for him however, Vox Akuma is a stubborn motherfucker. He didn’t know why, but he badly wanted to make Mysta remember. He couldn’t sit still seeing the detective
The demon picked up his small follower and placed him on the desk. “I’m going downstairs to get some more snacks and beer. Wait here.” He says as he gives Oni Giri a small pat on the head with his index finger before leaving his room.
The little red Oni heaves a deep sigh, shaking his head looking at the door with a tired face. “Oh boy, I’m really not looking forward to what stupid thing he’s about to do.”
It was already late at night when Vox walked downstairs in the Luxiem dorm. His genmates should be in their own rooms streaming or just chilling unless they were also grabbing snacks like he was. Most of them stay in their own rooms and even when living together, they rarely see each other except for lunch and dinner. But still, they were really close to each other and enjoy each other’s company when they could.
As the demon walks closer to the kitchen, he starts to hear clanging of plates and glasses, seems like someone is preparing food. He slowly creeps up to the doorway and peeks, freezing in place as he realizes who the person was.
Mysta was there, comfortably preparing some ramen noodles in his silky orange pajamas. He was humming a tune Vox wasn’t familiar with but it still sounded really cute. It reminded him of all the times when the kitsune would fumble around the castle’s kitchen and sometimes almost burn it down just to make food for him. He would crack the biggest grin and serve the voice demon the most charred rice balls he could ever have. But Vox would still eat them, it would always make him throw up but Mysta’s expression as he watches his other half eat what he made, Vox had always loved that view.
As if there was an unknown force that pushed him, maybe it was the alcohol who knows, Vox started to reach for the unsuspecting detective, encircling his arm around his small waist and squeezing it close to him. He inhales in Mysta’s scent, it was smoky, just like tobacco. It smelt intoxicating, probably even more than the alcohol swimming inside his system.
“I missed you…” Vox mutters under his breath, his face still buried into the shorter male’s back who he hasn’t realized that has been trying to pull away from his grasp but the demon’s grip was too tight that he couldn’t budge.
Mysta sheepishly chuckles, “What are you saying Vox? Also, are you drunk? You smell like booze, dude.” He pats Vox’s arms trying to make them move but to no avail, the demon still had his arms wrapped around his waist, not budging an inch.
“I’m sorry… I’m sorry for p-pushing you awaaaay.. I want y-you back…” Vox slurs his words as he clings harder to Mysta, who had his brows furrowed at the words he was hearing. What is this man saying? Is he mistaking me for someone else?
As soon as Mysta felt the voice demon’s grip start to loosen, he immediately pushes Vox away. “Vox, what the fuck dude? Are you alright, mate? You’re acting really weird and it’s freaking me out. I just want to have ramen, man..”
Vox pauses for a solid 5 seconds before gasping, finally realizing what he had just done. “I-I… Ermm..” He stutters, trying to get words out but ended up having his brain shut down. Instead, he struggles to get out of the kitchen, almost crawling on fours as he runs back up to his room. The detective that was left in the room stared into space, very much confused as to what just happened. Vox had always acted a bit weird around him but this was the first time that it actually crossed a new realm of weirdness. Mysta sighs, grabbing his bowl of instant ramen and takes a nice slurp of noodles, still looking back at what just transpired. What the hell should he do now? They can’t keep going like this. Sooner or later, it will affect their work and Mysta didn’t want that.
He needs to do something and fast.
It’s been a few days since the incident and Oni Giri is in deep stress as he tries to pull his lord out of his bed. The demon didn’t exactly tell the red oni anything but he reckoned that something happened with Mysta during the night when Vox was busy drinking his heart out. Plus, the fox detective has been pestering Oni Giri about the voice demon for the past few days too. He can’t exactly allow Mysta to talk when his master is whining and groaning whenever he mentions his name to Vox. It also doesn’t help that he’s been cutting away from his streams. There’s been tons of comments from the kindred on how worried they are for the demon.
Oni Giri sighs and stares at the red bed sheet towering over him, the blob was completely still but the tiny yokai could hear soft mumbling under the sheets. He tries to pull on the sheet again and exclaimed, “Vox-dono quit whining already!! Everyone’s worried you know! Even Mysta-dono has been pestering me about you! If you continue being like this, you might as well just quit and run away again like you did in the past!”
He feels a flinch from under the red blob of sheets. Slowly, Vox takes a peek outside his confinement. “Shut up, Oni Giri--”
“You are a pathetic old man.” The tiny red oni disses, scoffing at the voice demon as he finally emerges from his fort of bed sheets. He looks like a wreck. His huge red hoodie was all wrinkled and his ebony black hair was full of oil and looked almost like a mane. And don’t even talk about his face, his eyes are all puffy and wet and his cheeks are rosy red from all the alcohol he’s drank in the past few days.
“Can you just tell me what happened? So I can at least help you out? As much as this is troubling, I am also worried.” Oni giri rests his hands on his hips. He’s not much of a caregiver but Vox’s state right isn’t doing anybody good. Plus he is actually concerned for his lord. He didn’t want him to continue sulking like this.
The demon takes a deep breath and finally shares to his right hand man on what happened the other night. Oni Giri was in shock, frozen in spot at what Vox just told him. Oh how stupid, how utterly stupid! He could only rest his face onto his palm, shaking his head in disappointment.
“Please talk to Mysta-dono now, my lord.” The oni huffs out. “Apologize and just tell him to forget about it.”
“.…. Fine..” Vox sighs, staring into the void as he thinks about the things he planned to say. It should be easy, he’s Vox Akuma! Speaking his thoughts has always been a piece of cake for him. Besides, he knows Mysta will understand. He’s a good guy, he’s always been understanding despite not fully knowing things.
The clock continues to tick as the two men stood in silence in Vox’s room. It was a weekend and the other members were doing their own thing when Vox invited Mysta to talk in private. The detective immediately agreed and followed him like a puppy. It was endearing to see the fox happily accept his invitation. Vox really wanted to hug him right at that moment but he shook it off.
“So..” Mysta starts off, rubbing the back of his neck, “Are you going through something, Vox..? Lately I’ve noticed that you’ve been a bit weird… To be honest I kinda noticed it ever since we first met so I was wondering if there’s any meaning behind that.”
The voice demon gulps, his words felt like they were stuck in his throat and he couldn’t get them out. He continued to stare at Mysta who was looking back at him with a concerned expression. His vision starts to blur and the person in front of him started to warp into something else. Right there, Vox felt like he was about to choke. All he could see was the kitsune he loved, no, the kitsune he loves. His knees starts to buckle, the difficulty to stand upright started to get stronger.
Mysta reaches out to him, holding his shoulders. “Dude are you okay? You look like you’re about to pass out!” The detective asked with pure worry in his voice.
Vox clings to the brunette tightly to help himself stand back up. Slowly, he utters, “Mysta.. I’m sorry. Please forgive me.. For everything.” He bites his lip, closing his eyes as he awaits the other’s response.
“Hey, it’s all good, mate. I know you didn’t mean to do it.”
“I did.”
Mysta blinks, dumbfounded. “What..?”
The raven haired man grabs onto Mysta’s arms, making the brunette face him, his expression serious and his eyes not leaving Mysta’s. “I did mean to do that. I’ve always wanted to embrace you and never let you go. I’ve always wanted to shower you with kisses and tell you how much you mean to me. I.. I love you Mysta. I really do. I don’t care if you don’t feel the same way and honestly, I can understand if you don’t but I want to tell you how I feel and not lie to myself anymore.”
The detective freezes in his spot, his eyes widened and cheeks starting to tint red. Oh god, oh god, oh god- What the fuck just happened?! Did the Vox Akuma really just confessed to him?!?!
Mysta felt like slapping himself. He feels stupid for not realizing until now. And he’s extremely embarrassed. He tries to open his mouth and respond but all he can muster to say was, “HUHKSDJSKDJSSMDSKD?!?!”
The brunette could feel all of his blood rushing to his head. His brain is short circuiting and he doesn’t know why but his heart was beating so fast he was afraid that Vox can hear it. “I.. uhh.. You… Are you for real dude?” He asked, as if Vox’s long dialogue was just a figment of his imagination.
“Yes, for real.”
Mysta almost lets out a squeak hearing Vox’s reply. He was still blushing really bad but he looks back at the demon, his lips quivering.
“DON’T GET YOUR HOPES UP JUST YET, OLD MAN! I TOTALLY DON’T HAVE A CRUSH ON YOU OR ANYTHING!!!” He exclaimed, stumbling back to exit Vox’s room.
Vox stares at the doorway where Mysta just exited through. He slowly smiles.
So this is fate at work, huh..