Chapter Text
Vox knew this was probably a horrific idea.
Going to the hotel he had spread slander all over Hell about? Idiotic. Stupid. The Vox of a few weeks ago would've laughed in his face.
But then again, that was before he'd successfully fucked up any and all other options he had.
The other Vees had let him stay long enough to repair his body, then thrown him out.
Well, Velvette had. Val refused to talk to him. Or look at him. Or even be in the same room with him most of the time. Vox was pretty sure that was the thing he'd fucked up on most.
Not that there weren't a few contenders, for example, blowing up half the Pentagram.
He didn't even really have an excuse for that. His mind had been more than a little clouded, everything felt glitchy and not really there, but he had still consciously tried to make the decision to let the weapon overload and kill everyone.
Oh, well. Now wasn't the time to go on another mental spiral. He'd already done too much of that while spending time as just a head.
He stared at the door of the hotel, briefly thought about changing his mind and running back to V Tower to try and get forgiveness, and then knocked before he thought too much about that.
The door opened almost instantly, like someone had been waiting behind it.
"Hello, and welcome to the Hazbi- uh, what the fuck?"
It was Charlie. Typically. Now staring at him like she'd just seen a ghost.
Well. This'll be fun explaining.
"Hi there," Vox said slowly.
Charlie slammed the door.
From behind it, Vox could hear Charlie yelling for her girlfriend.
"VAGGI HELP VOX IS AT THE DOOR WHAT DO I DO-"
Some loud Spanish followed, then incomprehensible whispers.
Finally, the door opened again to reveal Vaggi directly in front of it, pointing her spear at the opening.
"What do you want, pendejo?" she snapped. "Haven't you done enough to us already?"
Vox held up his hands. "I'm here to be redeemed. Isn't that the point of this whole place?"
"..."
Dead silence from Vaggi, followed by the door shutting again and a few more whispers.
Vox sighed, leaning against the doorframe to wait.
The door reopened. Vaggi was still holding her spear but looked a bit less menacing.
"Okay, listen up," she snapped. "I really don't buy that you're here for redemption, it seems like bullshit, but this hotel is technically for everyone, so we're obligated to let you in. Make no mistake though, I'll be watching you."
Charlie, from behind her, gave a slow nod. "Yeah. I'm open to redeeming anyone, but..."
"But I was spreading a lot of, ahem, misinformation about this place and you don't see why I want to stay here now?" Vox finished. "Simple. It's my only option. I've been stripped of most of my power and am basically homeless, in case you were worried about my trying to attack anyone. And the other Vees want nothing to do with me, so they won't be attacking either."
Charlie tilted her head, thinking this over. "Oh. And you're sure it has nothing to do with, um, Alastor?"
A little ripple of static cut across Vox's screen at that, and he hoped neither woman had noticed. "Not at all. I've had a lot of time on my own to think things over, including that little situation, and I'm very much over it now, I promise."
Charlie didn't look too convinced, but she still backed away from the door, taking Vaggi's free hand and tugging her along with. "Welcome to the hotel, then," she said uncertainly. "We're hosting a group therapy session tomorrow, if you want to join. The room keys are hanging by the bar, just grab one and you'll be all set, I guess."
As soon as Vox walked through the door, two outraged voices, one deep and one with an Australian accent, yelled "WHAT THE FUCK?" in unison.
Vox looked over to see two demons sitting at the bar who were glaring at him. One was the one-eyed girl Angel Dust hung out with. Vox couldn't remember her name, something fruit-related, possibly, and the other was that cat demon of Alastor's. Whose name he also couldn't place.
Whatever their names were, they both looked like they wanted to murder him, and for once Vox had no clue why.
Charlie laughed nervously. "Husk, Cherri-" oh, there's the names "I know what you're thinking, but we are obligated to be open to everyone here."
"But this bitch?" Husk snapped, fur bristling.
"Yeah," Cherri chimed in, eye narrowed. "He spread lies about all of us on TV, fucking hypnotized Angel into doing real fucked up things, almost killed everyone in the Pentagram, and now you're inviting him in? Have you lost your ever-lovin' mind?"
Charlie shrunk a little. "Like I said, everyone deserves to have a chance at redemption. That's the point of the hotel. And he's promised us he won't do anything bad. And we have my dad and maybe Alastor to help if things to end up going south. Okay?"
Neither Husk nor Cherri looked even remotely convinced by this, but Cherri shrugged in assent after a minute.
Husk was still bristling but didn't say anything else.
Vox wondered vaguely what his problem was. He didn't remember doing anything that affected Husk in particular, although then again he'd done a lot of things that had inadvertently affected a lot of demons.
Not important right now. I'll figure it out later.
He walked over to a board on the wall where a few numbered keys were hanging, carefully going around Cherri and Husk, and and grabbed a key with the tag 202. Charlie made a little squeaky sound at that but said nothing, so Vox ignored her and headed out of the room and up the stairs.
Once on the second floor, he was about to go straight to his new room when he paused, hearing a sound.
Music was coming from room 201. Specifically, jazz music. And not just any jazz music, but a song that Vox remembered from a long time ago.
His screen started to glitch out.
There was no way he'd picked the room directly next to Alastor's, right? Absolutely no way. Charlie would have stopped him or something. It was probably just a coincidence that song was playing.
Of course, at that moment the music stopped abruptly and the door to room 201 opened, revealing— who else? Alastor.
Both demons stared at each other in silence for a moment. Then there was a sharp burst of static, and Alastor started to laugh.
"Vox? Oh, this really is too good. You're trying to be redeemed, is that it? Talked our naive little princess into letting you in, now that you've got nowhere else to go?"
Vox let out a slow breath, half aware that his vision was fuzzing and hoping Alastor wouldn't see it.
"Pretty much. I'm trying for a... Fresh start."
"Oh yes, excellent place to pick. You could not have chosen a spot that you have more history with." He looked at the key in Vox's hand. "That's really the cherry on top, setting up right next to me. Fresh start, indeed."
"I wouldn't have picked this room if someone had told me-" Vox started, then sighed, lacing his fingers together. "It wasn't intentional. Okay? I would not have done this on purpose. I really am going to try and change."
"Good luck with that," Alastor said cheerfully, backing into his room. "You'll need it, dear!"
And with that, he slammed his door shut.
Vox stayed in front of it for a minute, waiting to see if the music would start again. When it didn't, he let himself into his own room, locking the door behind him.
The room was mostly empty, just a bed, with red sheets, of course— I wonder if Charlie's capable of decorating in any other color— and a dresser, also red.
Vox flopped down on the bed, staring up at the ceiling and wondering why he had thought this was a good idea.
The quiet was interrupted five seconds later by screams coming from the other room, followed by laughter.
Vox buried his head in the bedpillows.
Fresh start, my ass.