divinetree | Charlie & Vox

Yep! I already gave him a stern talking to and made the terms for a Deal.

"I'm gonna go check on dad's progress - Vaggi'll be up in a few with a pack for you, alright? Just take it easy in the meantime!" Charlie excused herself, giving Vox a small wave before heading out into the hallway.

"Don't take shit from other demons!" I'll make it work and I won't let the guests hurt each other.

Yeah, that's... that's what he told her, hadn't he? She took that to heart. And she made a Deal with the guy, really? Holy... holy smokes...

Vox grumbled and flopped over. It was still so fucking early, so he didn't need to be told twice to take it easy.

Of course. Just remember I'm here if you need any more help with anything, okay?

Mind if I come up and look at the progress? And psyche myself up to go talk to his mean friends |D

Oh yeah, come on up!

FUCK, HE NEEDS TO WEAR ACTUAL CLOTHES, NOT THIS DUCK KIGURUMI--

Better hurry up, here she comes!!

Not like she was in a big rush anyway... she was giving the schedule a look, the Vee Tower schedule a look, trying to figure out when was a good time to go over there...

Hmm. Not... really much information about how they time stuff. Makes sense, it's not like she's an employee... oh! She should ask Baxter--

"Knock knock! Good morning, dad," Charlie called, knocking on the door and entering without much of a thought.

Outfit outfit outfit outfit- he was hopping around and shifting through what he could think of. The ringmaster outfit was fine but too typical, and he was at HOME and wanted to be COMFY--

He only had time for sweatpants a Great Quacksby sweatshirt almost two sizes too big for him when Charlie knocked and subsequently stepped in. The room was... fuller... with ducks than before, the gifts from the other Sins sitting propped atop the bed. Littered upon his work desk were parts of a prosthetic leg in black and blue aesthetic, and others sat propped up on the neighboring wall. One was digitigrade. One had talons.

Look, he didn't know what kinda feet Vox was rockin', but he wasn't about to ASK that's weird--

"Charlieeee! Hi, sweetie! Mi casa en su casa, haha... just- just close that door, wouldja? Private matters, y'know?" He struggled to pull the baggy sleeves inward to expose his hands. Nailed it. Mind the ducks.

"Definitely," she agreed, closing the door behind her and taking a look around. W...wow there's a lot of ducks in here. And then she looked at the legs - they matched Vox's usual look, the blue... even if her dad was angry with Vox, he still couldn't resist showing off, huh?

"These are looking pretty good! Are you having fun making them, at least?"

He preened a little with the compliment. "Oh yeah! It's nice to get a sort of commission. I didn't know what kind of legs he has- the pictures just kinda stick to the chest and up, naturally- so I just went a little nuts with it."

Lucifer turned to place the last of the finished legs with the rest.

"I heard about what happened back then: Torn clean off by his ex, huh? Talk about a bad break-up. Y'know, he's lucky to be a Sinner- last I checked people tend to die from getting their head popped off like a little daisy. If I had his body I'd get something to match the legs, but uh... yeah, pretty sure the clean-up crews or that fancy hat lady and her friends gobbled it up ages ago."

"Yeah, I remember that Valentino guy screaming 'you are NOT killing us over that stupid deer', so... there's like... a whole tangled mess. I'm not surprised he saved his friend... boyfriend? But I'm also not surprised he ended up here in a basket."

The digitigrade legs look pretty good, pretty stable... delicately, she lifted one, flexing the joint to see how it moved.

"How're you healing up? I know you said you were mostly fine..."

Edited 2026-03-06 01:43 (UTC)

It had a delicateness to it, lines of 'sinew' and muscle all weaved together to form the limb for this particular pair, ending in claws akin to something that walked the human world so, so long ago. The joints moved like butter, primed to flex, bend and balance. To dance.

"M'yeeeah, there uh... seemed to be kind of a thing between Bambi and the Box. He got real pissy when the deer and I had a little exchange of words..."

Lucifer shrugged a shoulder, rolled it. "Hah, your old man's not gonna get his clock cleaned by a few little plugs and bad tingles...! My head's stopped spinning for a few days now and I'll come away with some pretty awesome little scars, I think. Make me look rugged, y'know, in... in case your mother, she..."

He paused, cleared his throat.

"Anyway, that freaky little death ray is gone and everything's honky-dory! Couple more days of early bedtime and I'll be back to 100%, cross my heart. How you holding up? I think what I went through's got nothing on what happened with you..."

"Oh, come on-- I barely got tumbled around! You were the one who basically speed-ran like a hundred years of blood donations every time that creepy thing fired," Charlie laughed a little, brushing off the worst of it.

"And besides. It was... really scary and rough, sure, but everything's been turning out right after all of it..."

Well... save for an Angel Dust shaped hole in the space...

"I'm feeling... pretty good about things. About letting Vaggi take up more of the decisions and responsibilities than me, and letting her tell me what to do and trusting her. I was... kind of floundering and being a huge jerk, acting like I had to figure it out myself."

"Ahaha... yeeeeah..." He tried not to think about the very laser-shaped slashes of complete devastation in the city. And the gate chunks sitting roped off in the center. Pete's gotta be pretty upset-

It was weird not having Angel around. Guy seemed to be doing pretty okay right up until everything. Cherri and Husk definitely missed the hell out of him. Hope he figures his stuff out.

But Lucifer reached out with a sleeve-covered hand to touch her arm. "Hey. What you're doing? Noooot easy, trust me. I quit pretty... pretty fast, when I tried. But the difference between you and me is that you've got Vaggi and the others. ...Golly, and HELL, too! You proved the naysayers wrong, Charlie! Your determination saved us all from getting us blown to smithereens, too! Maybe you goofed for a while, but... hey, you know better now. You picked yourself up and you're a little wiser now. You have people you can lean on! Just... keep that in mind. We're all here for you."

"Guuuh, yeah... Vaggi and I talked it out a lot, and just-- I got it in my head that I had to personally FIX things and not fuck it all up like I always do--"

"Thank you, princess... for SUCKING at everything you do!"

"Lilith would be ashamed."

Gah...

"But! I can't! Always be the person that fixes it. I have to trust people, I have to let them make mistakes because I'd be a big ol' hypocrite if I flipped out about everyone else's mistakes but I still make them..."

"E-exactly...!"

He thought of the rally. What he did. A small ball of nausea twisted in his gut, but he smiled through it.

"...And you need to keep in mind that this whole... shitty... system is super old and you've only been at this for about a year. It's gonna be slow, and some of the Sinners down there are going to keep being frustrated in their honeymoon phase of everything that's happened. But there's so much we still don't know, and I don't want you thinking you're screwing up because what happened with the snake fella isn't happening all lickety-split with anyone else. Mistakes are gonna keep being made, but we're all in this together, right? You're not gonna be The One Who Fixes Everything. We all are. You've just... been the spark that finally inspired everyone, after I've- we've- ...so many of us have been so freakin' hopeless for so long."

He looked up. The nausea was gone. "...And I couldn't be more proud of you for that. You really fit your name, huh, Miss Morningstar?"

"Dad..."

She sniffed, a little, feeling grounded by his pride. She leaned down so she could give him a hug, grateful to have him and have earned his pride.

"I'm sorry I got mad and threw the couch and yelled at you. I was freaking out that things were going to get worse-- I shouldn't have acted like that. It wasn't nice."

His shoulders hitched minutely, momentary nerves, before those arms found their way around him.

They relaxed. Standing on tip toes, he returned the gesture, and his heart felt full again.

"N-no, I'm sorry. ...You were right, to... to be as pissed as you were. I've fucked things up enough, for so long, and I don't want to be that screw-up any more."

His voice thickened. "...Thank you for not giving up on me."

"I won't," she promised. And it felt true - if she believed in the worst Sinners here being able to find their way to change, of course she felt that way about her dad. "Even if I get frustrated - it's just... it's just because you and mom... what you guys think about me matters a lot."

Dismissiveness, being brushed off, chided, considered naive, or annoying, or childish...

But he was here, now. And... whenever mom was finally done with whatever she disappeared to do, she would be too. Hopefully.

"I'm glad you're here."

"Yeah. Me, too." He'd been so terrified of going back out here after so long. This room was filling with ducks, but... he was so, so glad he was here now. He was glad to be back, and the more he looked at those gifts on the bed, the more he wondered if he could go even further and see the gang again.

Maybe... maybe soon. He missed them so much. He sniffled, and fought to get his voice back.

"What, um- whatcha got planned for today, kiddo? Anything else I can help you out with?"

"I'm gonna see if I can convince the other Vees to let me take Vox's shark pet with me to the hotel. If I caaaan... well, maybe making a place for him to swim would be good? But I want it to be a surprise for Vox."

GOD that does sound weird--

"He's a HUGE jerk, I know, I know-- but I wonder how often he had someone do something just... genuinely nice for him? And the way he talks about Shokky makes it obvious he loves him, so. I think it'll be good all around if I can get him."

"Hohhhhh...'kay..." That is a LOT to take in.

"A pool of some kind would be fun if we can keep out the acid rain, but-- hold on, shark? The guy's got a SHARK?"

But Vox apparently... loves... this shark. Weirdo. He can see Charlie's angle in this- give the guy who got dumped here his beloved critter and maybe he'll start taking things seriously. But Lucifer looked unsure, and scratched the back of his head.

He made a slow pace of the room.

"...I think that's gonna be a real test of what I told you about taking shit from other demons, that's for sure! ...Man... I don't like the idea of somebody holding someone's pet hostage, though. Even if the pet belongs to a mega-dick. ...And even if it is a shark."

He frowned. HMM. He had to think about this.

"Good chance they'll say no. But maybe keeping the shark is a pain in the butt? You're doing them a favor, maybe? Gotta work out an angle that isn't 'it'd make Vox happy', because they're still pretty pissed at him, right?"

"YEAH, gosh... it's... hmm...! Maybe like... 'he keeps talking about his shark and wanting to come get him, what if I take him so you don't have to see Vox until you're ready?' Does that sound... reasonable?? I guess??"

How do you TALK to people like the Vees........

"Perfectly reasonable, if you ask me! But, ah... I've briefly met those Vees, and they're awful. They won't budge if you make a demand, so I'm afraid I can't help you on that front."

AND FOR NO OTHER REASON!! They're just rude! He's not physically unable to threaten them or anything, don't be silly--

"Oof, and you can't ask Vox, since you wanna keep this a surprise." He tapped his chin.

"...Is busting in and stealing the shark out of the question??"

"Ugh, no... I don't... really want to rile them up. Since Angel's there, and... if I screw this up too bad, I'll just make things even worse for him..."

Like last time... hopefully she'll talk to Velvette, not Valentino. Velvette was a huge bitch, but she seemed at least some kind of level-headed...? And uh. Charlie didn't set her studio on fire.

So that's where Angel went, huh? That makes it tougher, for sure. Lucifer can't imagine working for those guys...

"Okay. ...Hmm. There's gotta be a more reasonable one of the other two. And... maybe I can stick around? Like in your pocket as a mouse or something. If things go bad, I'm a 'get the heck OUTTA there' card, at least?"

!! Dad...

Having an emergency bailout actually wouldn't be so bad. The Vees definitely remember that he can't do anything to them, but... nothing says they can't portal out if a fight starts.

"And you can give me a bite if I say something stupid!" she added with a laugh.

Charlie & Vox

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