divinetree | Charlie & Vox

That's so weird. Like- he expected some kind of ribbing, some joke, but there was full support and he left him feeling a little... pleasantly squirmy. His followers would look up at him with some level of adoration and it always got a charge out of him... he missed that already.

But Vox blinked at her. Right, she was probably thousands of years old or something, Latin was likely something second-nature. But he wondered what stage-plays she enjoyed, what college was like here as he quietly finished his drink and fell into thought.

She sure was a talker, he noticed. He also had a tendency to babble. Perhaps it was to everyone's benefit right now that his voice was still pretty busted, or everyone in the palace would be in trouble.

With practice using his mouth under his belt, he offered a smile as he nodded. He could keep practicing. He could rest. He would repay a debt and then figure things out from there. He worked best when he had a list of goals. A to-do list!

Vox the... television demon?... would not be weak. He wouldn't be a nobody. Oh, he was going to be the somebody that would make his mark in Hell, perhaps further and brighter than he was when he was alive.

As he wandered in thought, Charlie finished cleaning off most of the blood and wrapped up the few gashes. So many bruises... those would probably heal up the fastest, at least! Once he was all set, she grabbed the nice button-down left by the staff and offered it to him - it was a pleasant powdery purple with ruffles along the sleeves. Not even close to Vox's style, but at least it was something roughly in the range of the right size for him.

"How're you feeling? Are you hurting a bit too much to eat, or do you want something? We can get something small to help your stomach settle, then a little opium should go down a lot easier."

Ah, right. Hell's healthcare might be... a bit behind.

They'd done a real number on him. Vox had to wonder how the fuck they could possibly get anything from a Sinner freshly dead with no possessions, but... he had a feeling they were just bored and looking for something to break.

He would remember their faces.

He offered a thumbs up, feeling a bit better in all honesty. He could already feel something... odd... like a gravitation of individual parts to each other. One's damnation must persist here in Hell. No escape through death.

Wait, opium?? Shit, that was something his grandpa would talk about. H-how... how far behind was Hell, again??

He waved off a polite refusal for the opiate. Being high would probably take the edge off, but he needed to keep his mind even, now more than ever.

Small bite, then a little sleep, I think. I don't want to use up too much of your time!

"We'll get some snacks, then! And don't worry - there's plenty of time. I've got all the time in Hell to help my people out," Charlie encouraged fondly, gently taking Vox's hands and easing him upright. There was some blood on the chaise, but Charlie didn't even blink at it, carefully walking him out into the front guest room to sit down for a bit.

"Something easy like tea, I think... I always find it really cozy! Say, Dazzle-- oh!"

The darker red dragon had flown off and already returned with a teatime plate of biscuits, cookies and little sandwiches, tiny forked tongue sticking out of his mouth in a silly, proud-of-himself blep. He took the initiative!

"Thanks, Dazzle! Okay, some stuff is probably gonna taste different than Earth food, but from what I hear most Sinners get used to food easily here. This has some of the veggies we grow in Wrath ring, the bread is from our cultivation of rye in the volcanic soil down there, there's some slices of hell-boar, this is some jellyfish jam from Envy, it's kinda savory-sweet..."

Vox couldn't help the curiosity involving those two creatures that were never too far from Charlie. They could stay small or become much larger at will. What were they...? Just dragons? Familiars? Guardians? All of the above?

A shark guardian would be pretty neat, all told-

So Hell has a level for each Sin? Could I see them??

"Kind of! There's some videos taken of them, some magazine photoshoots and tourist guides for the hellborn... uhm, but Sinners are all bound to the Pride Ring. Mostly in Pentagram City, but there's a bit more in Pride like Imp City and some other places."

Hopefully that wouldn't be too disappointing...

"Buuuut hey, maybe a bunch of movies could be made! The hellborn can all go up and down the Hellevator, you could probably hire them to get good footage of all the Rings. That'd be a fun project!"

Ah. There was the catch. There was a whole world down here, but not for the punished.

But Charlie had an idea that he could have come up with himself. Of course. He could bring the natives in, get some shots of the different Rings... but first, he wanted to see what footage and pictures existed of each, so he wasn't covering similar ground. He didn't become the God of Entertainment by showing everyone the same old and dusty, safe crap the other networks were churning out.

I do like a project.

Hmm, but let's try some of this stuff, first. He took a moment to try the mouth thing again, and selected a sandwich first. He ate like he was afraid that mouth would disappear, but to his relief, he could chew with it. He could swallow with it. Immediately the cramping in his stomach began to ease. Vox was already selecting another, and a cookie, and this wafer...

Maybe a documentary about the Rings. History? Ecology? Major battles?

"Ooooh...! And you could make it make sense for Sinners, since they have WAY more to learn and understand than a lot of Hellborn!! That sounds really, really fun...! And maybe then--" she paused, gasping as an idea struck her, "maybe then the hellborn and Sinners could start understanding each other better...!! They can start getting along! Oh my gosh, that'd be wonderful! A safer, happier Hell for everyone..."

A puff piece about somewhere wasn't quite his style, but he could make a snappy, informational showcase of Hell. The battles, the history, maybe net an interview with Lucifer himself...? Now THAT would be interesting.

But Vox paused mid-bite about a safer, happier Hell. Boy, this lady had a lot of... hopes for this place, huh...? She knows that horrible people come down here when they die, right? He had a body count.

I'll do my best!

Let's chance it.

I could interview you and your parents, too. Get their perspective on things. Get their story?

"Mom might be interested at some point! She does rallies, lately, so maybe before or after one of those. Dad... well, uh... maaaaybe I can wrangle him?"

He's, uh... a little bit of a jerk, though. But maybe that wouldn't bother Vincent much... eh... well, maybe let's see how he does with Lilith first...

"I have a book on their story that dad wrote for me. We could start there, if you really wanted."

A book is perfect! I can study it tonight, make some notes.

It HAD to be good. A book written by Lucifer himself! Was it a novel? What was his writing style? How many anecdotes would be hiding in the text that nobody on earth would ever know? Imagine the juicy secrets...

Then request an audience with the queen? If... that's how it works? I don't know if I send a letter or make a declaration or something.

Imagine it now: This guy standing outside the gates, shouting a 'pretty please' to Lilith Morningstar.

"Yep! You can usually send a letter via courier... that will usually take a little while, but she does get through all our mail eventually! And you can try to catch her after a rally, though uh, mom keeps her schedule pre-tty tightly packed sooooo she might have to excuse herself. But she's been trying to work with Sinners a lot, so I think she'll listen!"

Thank you. I'll keep that in mind. These are all great, by the way-

Well, he was already here, so... hmm. Perhaps a cheeky little letter left where the Queen could find it would be his best shot. Then one for the King, and he'd officially have his foot in the door. What a great first 24 hours! Hell food also wasn't all that bad. He figured he'd be eating needles, lava, other torturous things as punishment. But he guessed native demons lived down here too, and would have had an issue with that.

His excitement, even in the middle of the aches and pains, had left him unaware of something thumping away behind him: Some sort of cord that had slipped through beneath the back of his shirt, ending in a two-pronged plug. It beat a thrilled little rhythm against his seat, no different than a canine's tail.

"Oh!! Look, it looks like your tail already grew back!" Charlie chirped, smiling a bit as she leaned in her seat to get a peek. Aww...! "It's an electrical cord! That's pretty cute! And probably pretty useful!"

Tail? What was she talking about?

Thump, thump, thump, thump-

He turned his head quickly, wobbling a little as the view briefly disoriented him in his injured state. But there it was, a little electric cable and plug moving around like he'd sprouted some sort of tail.

Vox's screen- what wasn't obscured by bandages- glowed a bright blue as he reached back to snatch at it and grab hold. It surprised him when there was sensation to it, the protective coating over the wiring feeling a bit like cool skin and sending signals into his head akin to being touched.

But it was cute? Noooonononono- Don't perceive him- a thin vapor rose from his head vents as he tried to look anywhere else.

Wh4t w0uld I ev3n d0 with th1s???

"Depends on if it's prehensile or not, I guess! Mine isn't very good at grabbing, but I can sometimes use the spade end to hook stuff if my hands are full," she chuckled.

Huh. Did she have a tail? She definitely didn't have a tail before--

But sure enough, a long black tail with a spade end appeared as she loosed it from her disguise, wiggling it a bit to demonstrate.

"Yours is also a plug, so maybe it can also help charge you? Or something?"

Oh! She had a tail too...! His eye widened, fascinated. Oookay. Something he needed to get used to. This is so weird...

The eye squinted a bit as he checked around for an outlet. Maybe he should... try that? But perhaps later, in private. It'd be kind of embarrassing to plug in right here and possibly electrocute himself in front of the freaking princess of hell.

I hope I don't run on batteries... He patted himself down, even reached under his shirt to feel for some sort of port. But his reward was instead more aches and pains as he brushed the hard metallic claws against tender bruises. Color bars blinked in and out of view.

...I miss my head... 8C

"Yeah... it must be hard, not looking like yourself anymore... almost all of the Sinners I've met have talked about it. At least it doesn't look so bad, and once it's fixed, it'll probably look nice," she offered. Well-meaning, but... how could she really get it, after all? Trying can only get you so far.

"But maybe you'll get used to it, after a while. Maybe some Sinners who've been around for longer will have some advice."

What could possibly look nice about an unwieldy square head?? He was a LOOKER, Charlie! He was a damn good-looking god of entertainment! Oh, how he'll miss his hair, his glasses (pain in the ass though they were to keep clean and adjust, people sometimes just dug a guy in specs)...

But surely the news was likely talking at length about his death. There would be vigils, he'd bet, but he wouldn't know until he found a way to get broadcasts from earth. He could show Charlie some pictures, too!

Okay. Okay, one goal at a time, guy.

Older Sinners... maybe. If they don't try to break me again. Maybe you know some Sinners that would be open to talking rather than looking to fight?

Well!! It's kinda cute, he's got a great big eye so he'll probably have great big eyes, really charming...!!

The question had her humming in thought, though. Hmmm...

"Well, there was-- err, no... he tried to attack mom, never mind... oh, maybe-- shoot, no, she got caught stealing from dad... uhh... he was pretty rude and not helpful... he's a gangster now... uhh..."

UHHHH...

"O-okay, well, just because I don't know very many Sinners that'd be good at giving advice doesn't mean that they aren't out there! I'm still a little new to the whole... helping Sinners directly thing..." she admitted, fiddling with her fingers. Whoops. She... knew a lot of Hellborn! Dated one for a while, even! ...But she wanted to represent all of her people.

...Even if the ones she's invited in haven't... had... the best track record.

The bar for Vincent's behavior here is, quite literally, in Hell.

"But just take my dad's advice! 'You don't take shit from other demons...!'" Charlie attempted, voice dropped low to imitate her dad's tone. But it rang a little hollow, because it sounds like she let Demons take advantage plenty...

Vox shook a bit with a laugh, but with his voice box still in repairs, Charlie could have a few jumbled pips of static instead. Was that was the guy sounded like...? But what she'd said about him wasn't encouraging. Still, he was nothing if not the curious sort, even if he wagered his best shot was speaking with the Queen.

I'm a decent enough judge of character. Statistically there has to be at least ONE Sinner who is up for talking.

A small fry, maybe. Someone who had too much to lose to pick a fight. Definitely nobody that had a ton of power at their fingertips who could flick him away like a flea for bothering them. Perhaps the bars would be the best spot... small fry demons, slightly intoxicated, likely wouldn't remember him after. Open to a little smooth talk.

Just- not when I look like this. I should take it easy and start fresh tomorrow, if that's no trouble. I've taken enough of your time!

"A day, maybe two-- as long as you need! Especially with your head injury, that one... uh, well, eheh. I think things will be way easier when your face is back in working order. And not hurting! Are you sure you don't want any painkillers...?"

Scratching the open brain was a little. A lot. Hard to see, earlier.

He opened his arms amicably, an old habit from his showman days... of... less than 24 hours ago.

Ar3 y0u kidding? I feel great! But A f3ew wouldn't hvrt.

"Great! And it'll help with sleep, too - everyone heals faster when they can sleep it off, right? Say, Ra--oh!"

The imp servant had already returned, a bottle of tonic in his hands, cradled by a clean cloth as if it were fine wine. He offered it to the Princess. "A teacup's worth and no more, highness."

"Got it! We'll fluff up the couch cushions and I'll get a little side room set up too - you just relax and focus on feeling better," Charlie insisted, pouring out a dense, dark liquid into an empty teacup. It was a bit menacing, but... at least promised potential relief?

Ohhh, it was getting a little harder to stick around mentally. He could feel things piecing together, but there was the occasional little scrape and rub against something that felt... weird, pleasurable, but awful at the same time somehow. Was it his brain? He wasn't sure. But it was something rubbing around in his head that was sending alarm sparks.

...Okay, nevermind: That TONIC sent alarm sparks. That looked like something in the old bottles his parents kept in the cabinet when he was a kid, wondering what it was. He could remember taking it, opening it up and sneaking a smell. He could remember the smell practically burning his nose hair.

Oh y0u weren't kidding about being 'behind' on th1ngs...

Charlie & Vox

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