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Three weeks. Valentino had been ignoring Vox for three weeks now. At first, Vox hadn’t noticed, believing the other to just be caught up with work, but after a few days had passed of practically no response from Val, he knew something was off.
He tried thinking back to when the moth demon began ignoring him, recalling their semi-recent date. Vox had taken Val to a fairly fancy restaurant, the two of them having been in good spirits.
Shimmering chandeliers dangled from the ceiling, the overlords sitting at their seats and enjoying some red wine while they ate. Vox couldn’t remember exactly what they had been talking about, their chats drifting topic to topic, but he did remember when Valentino started acting off.
He’d made a snarky comment about how the moth pimp hadn’t been as late to their date as he usually was, finding it funny, if not slightly irritating, that someone as practical as Valentino never showed up on time. Apparently, Val didn’t find his remark as funny as Vox had.
Even now, when the moth demon was at his place, he still refused to say a word to Vox. The worst part was, they weren’t even broken up, the two overlords still technically together relationship-wise.
Vox sighed, placing his head on his hand as he mulled over how to get the moth demon to stop acting so petty. Seriously, it was just a joke! If Vox did this sort of thing every time Valentino decided to make smart quips about him, he’d never talk to the moth again.
Though, some part of Vox’s mind betrayed him, shaming him for treating his boyfriend like this, for teasing Val when he knew the moth was sensitive. Shaking his head, the TV overlord pondered ways to get at least some response out of the other.
“Hey Tino, what do you want for dinner? I can order out, or try to whip something up?” He questioned, staring straight at Valentino. The demon didn’t even spare a glance, still on his phone with an uncaring expression.
Vox huffed out a breath, rolling his eyes. Did the demon seriously care that much about what Vox said? He was even willing to cook for the pimp, and yet he still got no response. “Whatever, guess I’ll just order myself something…” He muttered in a last ditch attempt to elicit a response.
Not even an expression twitch from Valentino. The demon’s face was stone cold, almost as if Vox wasn’t even there.
What did Val want from him, a lengthy apology? He didn’t mean the stupid joke, and it wasn’t even a genuine complaint against the moth demon. Val should know not to take what he complains about seriously, especially when their relationship was built on teasing one another. Besides, Vox wasn’t even a hundred percent sure that this was what even upset the overlord anyways.
Movement in the corner of his eye caught his attention, and he watched as Val raised his phone to talk. Something about that frustrated Vox, that Val could take the time to speak with someone other than him, and yet he couldn’t even tell Vox what he had done wrong.
Valentino hung up the phone and relaxed back into the couch, still blatantly ignoring Vox. A few minutes passed, and Vox went to sit next to the moth. As soon as he sat down, the doorbell rang, and before he could get up to go check the door, Val was already there.
Curiosity piqued his interest, and Vox peeked over to see what Valentino was getting. His stomach dropped when he saw a single food bag, only large enough for one person. Val intentionally ordered food without him even after the TV demon had offered to get them both something.
Feeling hurt, Vox sagged into the couch. He just didn’t know what to do when Valentino wouldn’t even acknowledge him. He heard the sound of Val stepping into the kitchen, each click of his heels ringing in Vox’s head.
“Nice of you to order for two.” Vox muttered out, not caring how pathetic he might sound at the moment. He just wished the moth overlord would communicate with him, instead of leaving him hurt and wondering.
Staring into the kitchen, he watched as Val ate alone, wanting desperately to just walk over and sit with the man. Vox craved his attention, realizing how much he practically needed it. The three weeks of no affection began to finally catch up to him, starting to wear him thin.
His mind kept wandering to how this was his own fault. He should’ve apologized the moment he felt a shift in the mood that night, the tension of the air increasing. He should’ve known why the moth demon was upset, he should’ve pieced everything together. Vox felt overwhelmed. Fuck, why did he have to open his stupid mouth in the first place.
Vox began spiraling, thoughts piling on top of one another. No longer did it feel as though Valentino was in the wrong for being upset, now Vox felt completely responsible. The lights in the room began to flicker, the situation feeling too much. The air felt heavy and suffocating, and he knew he needed to calm down.
Closing his eyes, he took a few deep breaths to steady himself, making sure the lights went back to normal before he stopped. He didn’t want the moth pimp to have another reason to act as if he didn’t exist.
Pushing himself up off of the couch, he trudged into the kitchen to stand behind Valentino. Sighing, he started. “Val… Tino... I’m sorry.” He mumbled low, voice loud enough for the moth demon to pick up.
“I know it was a total dick move of me to complain during our date, and I know you aren’t late to dates on purpose,” He continued, mentally shaking his head at that. Val showed up to dates when he wanted, no matter if he was busy or not. “So I’m sorry for being an asshole.”
Vox snaked his arms around the moth’s waist from behind, praying to anything that Val wouldn’t push him away. He needed this contact, this touch.
A moment passed, Val putting his fork down and turning his head to get a glimpse of the TV demon. Vox looked downtrodden, his expression twisted into a grimace as he held onto the one-sided hug.
Finally, after three weeks of torturous silence, Val spoke up. “Aw Voxxy, see, that wasn’t so hard was it?” His sickeningly sweet words felt like a slap to the face. Right, Vox should have just apologized from the start.
Turning around completely, Valentino embraced Vox into his arms fully, resting his head against Vox’s. “It’s okay though baby, I forgive you. Daddy always will.” He pressed a kiss on top of the TV overlord’s screen, the touch feeling like fire to the touch-starved demon.
Vox wanted to stay there forever, but he knew that was impossible. Still, the moment ended much too soon for his liking. Valentino pulled away, his touch leaving Vox burning for more, as if his body had been left in the sun for hours.
“Just don’t do something like this again, ‘kay baby?” Val patted his cheek. “You know how much I hate treating you like this.”
Picking up his food wrappers, he carried them to the trash and sauntered past Vox, heading back to the living room. “Come join me, we got a lot of time to make up for tonight.”
Left standing alone in the kitchen, Vox sighed to himself. All of that anguish and hurt could’ve been avoided if he had just apologized.
Forgetting that there wasn’t actually anything to be sorry for, Vox laughed bitterly to himself, shaking his head as he made his way towards Val. What a fucking fool he was.