"Oh, you know, it's- it depends on the day! My sharks can get needy and miss me, or I've got a new record burning a hole in my collection that demands to be put on the player and I unwind with a little something on the rocks. That sort of thing."
WHEW. Okay.
"I'd imagine you've got something like that." He turned, wiggled his eyebrows. Smokescreen time.
"I think anyone with pets can agree! You had the shittiest day, you come home, and either your cat is screaming at you or your dog's got its tail going a mile a minute... sharks are smarter than people make of them! Their mood improves, and they even swim close to the windows of their tank when I come in. Hell, my mood improves, too."
He moved at a more easygoing stride. He could talk about them aaaall day. How much time you got, Mothra?
"There's this sense of, 'Hey- even if everyone around me is complete and utter shit, I've got something that is happy to see me no matter what.'"
...You know, despite herself, she laughs a little at that. Yeah, yeah... she feels that way about Keekee. Razzle (and Dazzle...) were both a lot smarter, but it felt pretty similar with them, even if they definitely were more Charlie's companions.
"Or you come home and the cat's thrown up on the carpet, or the pig's gnawed off a hole in the countertop because he's hungry," she joked a bit. "What's the catch with sharks? Bitey, probably?"
"Bitey, obviously," he confirmed, and his arms wound back behind him. He opted for a holographic window instead, text appearing across its surface with his passive observation. "And during the breeding season, they turn to each other with those teeth. Biting is flirting."
But he chuckled then. "But I swear they come with some level of pica cooked in their DNA, too. You know, an inclination to eat just about anything? It's why people will find license plates or just about any old thing in their bellies. One of mine has a thing for algae-covered rocks, so the outcroppings need extra diligent algae-eaters to keep the rocks from becoming... tasty... I guess. Otherwise it's making sure a staff member hasn't dropped their jacket or their phone or something in the tanks."
He grinned. "...The minute I made it policy that any staff that loses their things has the brand new task of searching shark shit for their valuables, the lockers have seen far more use."
Okay. Don't be too endeared by that - Alastor could SEEM endearing, too, but that didn't make him trustworthy.
"Mmmyep, that'd motivate me, too," Vaggie agreed, stifling an amused mental image of people having to dig through shit to find their things, instead of just getting beaten and put through hazing exercises as a punishment...
"Does sound like you care about 'em. Must make up for not being able to cuddle."
oogh, vaggie... they better fucking dig into that, fr fr
"I mean, you could, if you're fine with a little sandpaper...! Hahahah! But Shok.wav is cuddly. He practically begs for it, completely touch-starved!"
Like father, like son.
"So yeah. A little something to look forward to after a long day. Besides, I've got too much equipment to cram into any old room here without making major renovations, and considering how much some sections of this place gets blown to bits from what I'd heard, I'd rather save the headache."
"You know, I didn't peg you for a pet-dad kind of guy at first, but I guess it makes sense. Liking animals more than people, having the evil supervillain lair where you feed rival overlords to your sharks, whatever."
At least, she hopes in vain that it's only rival overlords or people picking fights with them...
....... who's she kidding.
"Is it just sharks, or are you an all-kinds-of-sea-critters guy?"
That brings out a new peal of laughter, enough that he needed to clutch himself. "Evil supervillain lair...!"
All it's missing was being tucked into a mountain with lightning crashing everywhere, and a moat...! Oh, how he wishes, but the time for something self-indulgent had long since passed.
He was fighting to catch his breath, wiping a tear from an eye as Vaggie continued.
"HAHA... hah- Sharks! Just- just sharks. I dabbled in marine biology for a little bit, but I always circled back... WHEWWW... ohh..."
"Oh, come on... the surveillance state, shark tank, swanky suits, mad cackling, a top hat... you're the big bad from a Saturday morning cartoon," Vaggie snickered. "A real 'the villain was always capitalism' type."
"Swanky!! ...I'll let Velvette know. She's the one to turn to for something as good as this. You play your cards right, I can set you up with an appointment; put you in something that'll make the princess' socks fly off, huh?" For the laugh, you know? It's not often he gets a good laugh.
"I don't have a mad cackle, though. So judgmental."
"Yeeaaaaah, no, you and Alastor both have the quintessential 'mwahahaha'," Vaggie snorted a bit, amused. He couldn't be more villain-coded if he tried--
Nah, then again, he could have a big old trench coat with a high collar. ...TV-headed dracula... pfft...
"You're definitely not as committed to the bit as Alastor, though."
Vaggie grins, in lieu of snickering at him - preeeeetty insecure, huh? You are such a weirdo.
"I mean... the raggedy coat does kind of give 'dangerous and willing to fight'. Like, actually battle-hardened. Plus, the whole eating raw meat thing. I'm pretty sure it's hard to top that kind of intimidation factor."
"And wouldn't having a pristine coat point to being an effective villain? Wouldn't a threat dressed their best, not a hair out of place, be more threatening than someone who could use a tailor? It screams, 'Oh, shit- I probably can't even put a wrinkle on his shirt!'"
"Ehhh... it has more of a whole 'I pay other people to die for me' vibe. Less intimidating, more infuriating from the other side," she shrugged, just picturing the difference between Vox or Alastor if they were out on the battlefield.
...Hmm.
"On the bright side, you are a lot better at seeming personable than he is."
"There's the occasional perk to having others do the deed for you, but then you miss the satisfaction..." He sighed wistfully. What? He could talk about these things. Little Miss Fallen Angel had plenty of blood on her hands, too.
Oh, but he BEAMED, enough to have himself a short laugh. "Of course I am! I'm the face! A household name...! Now, imagine what I can do for this place, huh...? One little endorsement, and the fence-sitters will some rushing in."
"Hmmm. At least until you do something that alienates people. Or have a reputation that makes the association with our Hotel seem suspicious.. like... exploitative worker practices. Or abuse. Or murder over territory. Things like that."
She's still HIGHLY suspicious - you're an Overlord, you won't trick her!!
"Whatever you're fighting for better be worth staying on the straight and narrow for."
"Hahaaaah, it's worth more than you'll ever know, sweetheart."
He cleared his throat. "Either way- the new TV should be all set up, the layout of the place seems pretty straightforward. ...Now, uh- what does Dear ol' Daddy do around here? Any tasks I should be aware of, not horn in on his job?"
"Lucifer, you mean? Well... he's mostly been here to support Charlie, so he's called himself a 'pinch hitter'. Rebuilt the hotel with us from the bottom up after the fight with Adam, sometimes joins in on rebuilding stuff that gets busted. Offers advice. Makes stuff that the guests need, actually - that's usually what he's doing lately."
Though there definitely was a lot of duck-making in his room. Or disappearing for king stuff. Probably.
He waited for more, but that's... okay, that was it, huh?
"But he draws the line at toilets, I presume," noted with a smirk. "You figure he could just wave the apple stick and unclog whatever's going on, right? Or does he figure it 'builds character', or whatever other old 'dadisms' exist...?"
"Weeeell, almost. Charlie eventually did him in with the puppy eyes and 'please help me out' - I guess good dads can't really resist that. Then he grabbed the bowl, stretched it wide like it was made of silly-putty and stuck his whole arm in, griping and going 'eww eww eww' the whole time."
Wild, what fatherly devotion can do, huh?
"I usually just grab the wrench and take the whole toilet off - I've gotten pretty fast at it, I just don't usually have time when I'm making the run on the guests' requests."
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divinetree2025-10-07 08:11 pm
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WHEW. Okay.
"I'd imagine you've got something like that." He turned, wiggled his eyebrows. Smokescreen time.
"Something tall. Blonde."
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Err, not like that, but like they matter that much--
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He moved at a more easygoing stride. He could talk about them aaaall day. How much time you got, Mothra?
"There's this sense of, 'Hey- even if everyone around me is complete and utter shit, I've got something that is happy to see me no matter what.'"
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"Or you come home and the cat's thrown up on the carpet, or the pig's gnawed off a hole in the countertop because he's hungry," she joked a bit. "What's the catch with sharks? Bitey, probably?"
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But he chuckled then. "But I swear they come with some level of pica cooked in their DNA, too. You know, an inclination to eat just about anything? It's why people will find license plates or just about any old thing in their bellies. One of mine has a thing for algae-covered rocks, so the outcroppings need extra diligent algae-eaters to keep the rocks from becoming... tasty... I guess. Otherwise it's making sure a staff member hasn't dropped their jacket or their phone or something in the tanks."
He grinned. "...The minute I made it policy that any staff that loses their things has the brand new task of searching shark shit for their valuables, the lockers have seen far more use."
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"Mmmyep, that'd motivate me, too," Vaggie agreed, stifling an amused mental image of people having to dig through shit to find their things
, instead of just getting beaten and put through hazing exercises as a punishment..."Does sound like you care about 'em. Must make up for not being able to cuddle."
oogh, vaggie... they better fucking dig into that, fr fr
Like father, like son.
"So yeah. A little something to look forward to after a long day. Besides, I've got too much equipment to cram into any old room here without making major renovations, and considering how much some sections of this place gets blown to bits from what I'd heard, I'd rather save the headache."
THE DREAM
At least, she hopes
in vainthat it's only rival overlords or people picking fights with them.......... who's she kidding.
"Is it just sharks, or are you an all-kinds-of-sea-critters guy?"
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All it's missing was being tucked into a mountain with lightning crashing everywhere, and a moat...! Oh, how he wishes, but the time for something self-indulgent had long since passed.
He was fighting to catch his breath, wiping a tear from an eye as Vaggie continued.
"HAHA... hah- Sharks! Just- just sharks. I dabbled in marine biology for a little bit, but I always circled back... WHEWWW... ohh..."
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"I don't have a mad cackle, though. So judgmental."
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Nah, then again, he could have a big old trench coat with a high collar. ...TV-headed dracula... pfft...
"You're definitely not as committed to the bit as Alastor, though."
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The rest made Vox stop, turn his head before the rest of his body followed.
"Pause. ...Excuse me??"
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"What?"
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Vaggie grins, in lieu of snickering at him - preeeeetty insecure, huh? You are such a weirdo.
"I mean... the raggedy coat does kind of give 'dangerous and willing to fight'. Like, actually battle-hardened. Plus, the whole eating raw meat thing. I'm pretty sure it's hard to top that kind of intimidation factor."
no subject
"And wouldn't having a pristine coat point to being an effective villain? Wouldn't a threat dressed their best, not a hair out of place, be more threatening than someone who could use a tailor? It screams, 'Oh, shit- I probably can't even put a wrinkle on his shirt!'"
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"Ehhh... it has more of a whole 'I pay other people to die for me' vibe. Less intimidating, more infuriating from the other side," she shrugged, just picturing the difference between Vox or Alastor if they were out on the battlefield.
...Hmm.
"On the bright side, you are a lot better at seeming personable than he is."
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Oh, but he BEAMED, enough to have himself a short laugh. "Of course I am! I'm the face! A household name...! Now, imagine what I can do for this place, huh...? One little endorsement, and the fence-sitters will some rushing in."
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She's still HIGHLY suspicious - you're an Overlord, you won't trick her!!
"Whatever you're fighting for better be worth staying on the straight and narrow for."
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He cleared his throat. "Either way- the new TV should be all set up, the layout of the place seems pretty straightforward. ...Now, uh- what does Dear ol' Daddy do around here? Any tasks I should be aware of, not horn in on his job?"
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Though there definitely was a lot of duck-making in his room. Or disappearing for king stuff. Probably.
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"But he draws the line at toilets, I presume," noted with a smirk. "You figure he could just wave the apple stick and unclog whatever's going on, right? Or does he figure it 'builds character', or whatever other old 'dadisms' exist...?"
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"Weeeell, almost. Charlie eventually did him in with the puppy eyes and 'please help me out' - I guess good dads can't really resist that. Then he grabbed the bowl, stretched it wide like it was made of silly-putty and stuck his whole arm in, griping and going 'eww eww eww' the whole time."
Wild, what fatherly devotion can do, huh?
"I usually just grab the wrench and take the whole toilet off - I've gotten pretty fast at it, I just don't usually have time when I'm making the run on the guests' requests."
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