Chapter Text
It was day three at the hotel. Vox had been inside his assigned room for the entirety of his stay so far. He’d slept almost the entire three days. He'd just gotten his body back, so everyone assumed he was just tired from regeneration. Or they didn't care to check on him. Vox assumed it was the latter.
His hands shook as he sat on his knees next to the bathroom sink. He tapped his screen to the corner of the counter a few times before pulling back and slamming his face down onto it. Light flashed behind his eyes and he caught glimpses of the glass of his head falling to the ground. The noise he'd made had been quite loud, but he hadn't heard it, as his sensors that detected noise had shut off the moment his screen began to crack.
He fell to the ground, watching as blood pooled beneath him. His head felt heavy, but he was still conscious. He sat up with great effort and weakly slammed his head against the corner again, hoping this one would do the trick. It knocked some loose glass off of his face, but he was still alive. He groaned in irritation. He waited for a moment, blood pooling and staining his blue long-sleeve shirt. He hadn't changed a single time in the past three days.
Through the fog of his head being half smashed, he realized he was quite hungry after not eating for three days. He paused to gather strength before he walked to the door of his hotel room and began to descend to the kitchen. A few sinners staying at the hotel gave him curious or worried looks, but he ignored them.
He was mostly aware of his surroundings, though he could only see through one eye. Only one eye was visible on his screen as well, the other having been on the side of his screen that was now shards and a hole showing into his head. Not much was visible aside from the technology of his ‘skull’, but there was definitely blood pooling in the casing.
He entered the kitchen wordlessly, the hotel staff who were sitting at the table all looking up to find him. He noticed Alastor, Charlie, and whatever the fallen angel's name was. Charlie immediately jumped from her seat and rushed over to him, stepping in front of him and stopping him from reaching the fridge.
“Wow, wow!” Charlie grabbed his arms. “What happened?”
“I got hungry, so I came to eat,” Vox grumbled. He attempted to pull his arms free, but he wobbled slightly as he did so, and admitted defeat quite quickly.
Alastor laughed obnoxiously. “I assume she's referring to the giant hole in your head.”
Vox's face, having taken on a permanent numb lack of expression, didn't change aside from his pupils darting to the side to see the radio demon. He looked back at Charlie, his face still unchanging.
Charlie reached up to touch the hole. She hesitated and stopped before making contact with him. “Who did this?”
“I did. May I have something to eat?” His voice was uncharacteristically emotionless.
Charlie balked. “No, you need help! You need- you need a doctor!”
Charlie's girlfriend, who Vox now remembered was named Vaggi, moved to stand beside her girlfriend. She eyed the wound curiously. “Were you trying to hurt yourself?”
“Yes,” Vox sighed, growing annoyed. “May I have something to eat? I'm fucking starving.”
Charlie began to visibly panic. “Okay, okay! You are not going to sleep alone anymore! I can't have you killing yourself here!” She hugged him. “You should always tell someone before you do something like this!”
Alastor laughed, the sound cutting through Vox's nerves. “He'll die before he admits he needs help, but he won't hesitate to accept it.” He chuckled once more before taking a sip of whatever was in his mug. “You have to offer first. Or make it sound like it was his idea.”
Vox sighed. “Yeah, I'm kind of a fucking shithead. If you're not gonna let me eat, let me go. I wanna go back to my room.”
“Not alone, you aren't!” Charlie looked up at him from the hug she was still holding him in. “I'm going to assign you someone! Alastor-” She paused before continuing, “I'm going to assign you someone else!”
“Hey-” Lucifer walked into the kitchen, pausing when Vox turned to him. “Holy shit, what happened to you?”
Charlie beamed. “Dad! You're going to be in charge of watching Vox until he feels better, okay?”
Vox groaned. “Just let me go back to my room please.”
Vaggi looked at him accusatorily. “Are you going to try to kill yourself again?”
Vox paused. “Yeah, probably.”
“Well,” Vaggi frowned, “Then you're going on suicide watch until we can trust you.”
Lucifer shook his head, his hands flailing, “No, no, no- find someone else!”
Charlie frowned. “But, dad… everyone else is busy. Or Alastor. And I can't have Alastor watch Vox.”
Lucifer looked at Alastor, who gave him a friendly wave. He turned to Vox, eyeing him unhappily. “He tried to kill me not even three months ago.”
Alastor chimed in, “You've recovered just fine! If you need any help, you can call on me. You can't harm sinners, but I am under no such obligation!” He smiled evilly, his magic flaring in a show of intimidation.
Vox frowned. “I'm not gonna hurt anyone else. Not on purpose. Please just let me sleep.”
Vaggi shook her head. “No. Sir, would you take Vox to his room? I'll have someone send up some food.” She paused before adding with a small flush to her cheeks, “And make him get a bath. He doesn't smell very good.”
Lucifer deflated, accepting defeat. He couldn't disappoint Charlie again. Not so soon, anyway.
Charlie hesitantly touched Vox's head wound, grimacing when her hand came away with a bit of glass and blood. “What about his… issue?”
“Sinners heal quickly,” Lucifer noted, “If I have to, I'll heal him myself. But he should be fine. Since he didn't die, the regeneration process is going to be much faster.”
Vox looked down at Lucifer with a look of overwhelming numbness. It made the king frown. Vox's eyes, usually bright and charismatic, were dead and tired. He looked awful.
Lucifer grabbed Vox's hand and, with a wave to Charlie, teleported himself and his charge to Vox's room. He ordered Vox to unlock the door and he did so, allowing the two to enter.
Vox's room was sparsely decorated save for a picture of Shock.Wav and a few shark plushies on his bed. There was the lingering scent of blood from his attempt, but Lucifer snapped and cleaned that mess up instantly. Vox moved to the bed and laid on it face-down, ignoring how his blood that'd pooled in his casing was now pouring onto his bed.
Lucifer took a seat in one of the chairs the hotel had supplied him. “Alright,” he sighed, “Now that we're alone; what's up with this?”
“I want to die,” Vox spoke monotonously, muffled by the bed.
“Well, duh! Obviously! But you know sinners don't die like that!” He tapped his foot. “You know how sinners die. You were only hurting yourself in a temporary way.”
Vox paused. “I guess so. There's only so much room on my arms to claw into.”
Lucifer nodded. “Got it. That explains the long sleeves.” He hesitated before he spoke again. “I cut myself too, y'know.”
Vox lifted his head to see Lucifer. “Huh?”
“I have a fancy blade in my room I got a few centuries ago. I cut up my arms and my thighs. You wanna see?” Lucifer began to lift his sleeve.
“No,” Vox chuckled incredulously. “Why would I want to see that?”
Lucifer blushed as he lowered his sleeve. “I dunno… I thought it'd make you feel less alone.”
“It does, actually.” Vox sat up, moving to sit on his butt in the puddle of blood he'd made. “Why do you do it?”
“Oh, man, I could give you a laundry list of reasons. Every failure I've ever had, I've made a mark for.” Lucifer chuckled, speaking casually. “There's also the release, the relief… gratification- there's lots of feelings that lead me to do it.”
Vox nodded. “Yeah. I do feel better now that I've knocked my head in.”
“Yeah, I imagine so. But you maybe should do it more… subtly? I wouldn't be in here if you'd just cut up your arm.” He chuckled, playfully shrugging.
Vox lifted his sleeve, showing a menagerie of fresh and healing cuts. There were some gashes along with some smaller, thinner cuts. “I have been. If I'm not sleeping, I'm cutting myself. The entire past three days. I already told you that.”
Lucifer nodded softly. “Yeah, I can see that. Wow.” He hummed. “Have you ever considered alcoholism?”
Vox barked a laugh. “No, I haven't.”
“It's a huge help for me! I drink a bottle of something I steal from the bartender, and I'm suddenly so fucked up, I don't wanna die anymore!” Lucifer smiled. “I do enjoy a good bottle of flavored vodka!”
Vox eyed him curiously. He was an odd fellow. Finding someone struggling with mental health and suggesting alcoholism was… odd. But it was also quite funny. Vox laughed.
“You still wanna show me those marks of yours?” Vox relaxed against the bed, making himself comfortable.
Lucifer stood up and walked to his bedside. He shuffled up his sleeves before showing him his arms. True to his word, his arms were marked by occasional scars. “I have the benefit of angelic healing. My cuts don't often scar unless they're really deep.”
Vox eyed them before nodding. “Gotcha. Don't know what I was expecting, actually.”
Lucifer shrugged and lowered his sleeve once more. “I dunno. Does it make you feel better, though? Knowing you're not alone?”
“Sort of, yeah… I appreciate that,” Vox smiled at him. It was a genuine smile, one he had used sparingly in the past few months. He swallowed thickly before darting his eyes away, hesitating before asking his next question. “What keeps you going?”
“Charlie, mostly. Years ago, I'd have said my wife, but… You know.” Lucifer sat next to him on the bed. “Alastor, also, I guess… He's fun to argue with.”
Vox tensed. He let out a choked chuckle mixed with a cough. “I got tired of arguing with him a long time ago. He hits too hard.”
“Yeah, I guess.” Lucifer nodded in agreement. “He is kinda rough sometimes.”
As if speaking of the radio demon himself summoned him, Alastor appeared at the door with a plate of food and a glass of water. He smiled cheerfully at the pair. “Hello, my resident suicidal acquaintances!” He moved to set the food and water on the table beside Vox's bed, shutting the door behind him with a shadow.
Vox picked up the sandwich on the plate and silently began to eat. Lucifer waved softly at Alastor. The radio demon eyed them like prey.
“So,” Alastor began with a saccharine tone, “How does it feel to know you have repeatedly failed? First you fail to take heaven, then you fail to take your own life! Quite pathetic!”
Vox nodded. “Yeah. Feels bad.”
Alastor raised an eyebrow, expecting a more biting response. “You truly are a man of no talents, aren't you? Failure haunts your every waking day.”
“Yeah.” Vox took another bite of the sandwich.
Alastor's smile tensed. He turned to Lucifer. “Fitting that you'd pick company with a similar habit of failure!”
Lucifer, seeing how Vox's tone was irritating Alastor, followed his lead. He shrugged. “Yeah.”
Alastor's static made a shrill pop. “You're both failures.”
The pair nodded.
“You're disgusting wastes of life.” Alastor’s ears pinned back and he scowled as best he could with his permanent smile.
The pair nodded again, Vox taking another bite.
Alastor growled and teleported from the room. Lucifer looked at Vox with a smile of victory. Vox softly smiled back at him, swallowing the last bite of sandwich.
Lucifer burst into laughter. “Man, that annoyed him so much!”
Vox laughed softly. “It did, didn't it?”
The angel's laughter teetered off until he happily sighed. “You're funny, Box.”
“Vox.”
“Yeah, I know.” Lucifer stood. “Bath time, right?”
Vox blinked in confusion. “Bath time?”
“Vaggi said to give you a bath. It's time for a bath.” Lucifer motioned to the bathroom with a nod. “Bath time. I'll let you use a rubber duck!”
“Not… a shower?” Vox raised his only visible eyebrow. He quickly drank the entire glass of water as Lucifer responded.
“Nope! You've got a giant hole in your head, pal.” Lucifer moved to his dresser to find him something to wear. “Do you have any pajamas? Wow, you have a lot of suits…”
Vox stood and made his way to his bathroom, shuffling off his clothes on the way. After Lucifer had given up and summoned him a comfortable pair of pajamas, he snapped to clean his bed of blood. He joined him in the bathroom, carrying the clothes with him. His face flushed a bit when he realized Vox was already naked.
“Oh! Okay, it's time to be naked!” Lucifer awkwardly laughed. “Yeah, that's fine!” He snapped, filling the tub with warm, soapy water. There was a rubber duck floating on the surface of the water.
Vox lowered himself into the bath, shuddering as he was warmed. He hadn't realized how cold he'd been. Water moving against his vents was always pleasant. He leaned his head against the tub and sighed happily, sliding down and letting his knees rise above the water until his neck was submerged.
Lucifer summoned a wash cloth. “I assume you're gonna wash yourself, right?”
Vox gave him a tired look before he smiled flirtatiously. “You don't wanna bathe me?”
Lucifer laughed, tossing the wash cloth at him in response. “You smell like body odor and blood. I'll pass.”
Vox began to wash himself, careful to remove all the blood off of his person. He eyed Lucifer, who was watching him idly. “You gonna watch me bathe, you pervert?”
“How do I know you're not gonna drown yourself?” Lucifer smiled playfully at him.
Vox paused. “Fair enough.” He continued to scrub as he spoke. “Do angels bathe? What do you have going on there?”
“I don't have to, I guess. But it feels good.” Lucifer responded. “Warm water, bubbles, rubber ducks… it's nice, y'know?”
Vox opened his mouth to respond, but he hissed as he dragged the wash cloth across his arm. “Fuck- I forgot.” He opened a scabbed over cut, which began to slowly seep blood that mixed with the soap on his arm.
Lucifer moved to the side of the tub. “You haven't been doing this very long, have you?” He took Vox's arm and began to heal him, slowly closing his shallow wound and removing a few scars in the process.
“No. Just since I failed to blow up half of Hell.” Vox watched as his skin healed. It was fascinating in a morbid way. “You can just… do that?”
“Yeah,” Lucifer shrugged and nodded, “It's not too hard. Not for something small like this.”
Vox realized he was able to perceive depth perception again. He noticed that his head's numbness was also subsiding. “Are you healing my head too?”
“Yeah, it doesn't really focus in one area. It's like a full-body bandaid.” Lucifer smiled proudly at him as his body was fully healed. “There you go, sport!”
Vox snorted. “Sport? Am I five?”
“Maybe. It's usually kids who bang their heads on tables, isn't it?” He smirked at him, his face showing his pride at his own come-back.
Vox laughed. “You're such a dork.”
The pair paused. Lucifer snapped to rewarm the water, and Vox gasped a little at the sudden warmth.
“Fuck, I thought I pissed the bath,” Vox grimaced.
Lucifer snorted. “Nah, that was me.”
“You pissed my bath?” Vox smirked at him.
Lucifer gently slapped his upper arm. “Shut up and wash yourself clean.” His words had no bite to them, every syllable coming out as friendly as a warm greeting.
The pair laughed and joked together as Vox finished washing himself. He wiped his dick off last, Lucifer watching with interest from the side of the tub as his hand glided across its softness. The angel swallowed thickly, moving away from the sinner before he could see his blushing face. He moved to the counter where he’d placed the pile of clothes he made for him.
“You like your pajamas?” Lucifer held up a blue shirt with a cartoon shark on it.
Vox stood, grabbing his towel and beginning to dry himself off. “It's… cute.”
Lucifer looked around the room, staring at everything except Vox. “I know you like sharks, seeing as you have a fuckton of shark plushies.”
Vox walked over to him to grab his pajamas. Lucifer moved back to give him space to redress. The angel's face burned as he avoided looking at the sinner's body.
When he was dressed, Vox stared into the mirror to see how he looked. He looked as exhausted as he felt, but his shark-themed pajama pants and his shark shirt were adorable. He smiled softly. “They're comfortable.”
Lucifer walked out of the bathroom, taking Vox's dirty clothes and dumping them in a hamper. “Father, I hope so! I made ‘em!” He watched Vox yawn before crawling back into bed. It was only a bit past noon, but Lucifer moved to his side anyhow and tucked him in. The tv-headed sinner yawned once more before closing his eyes.
“Hey,” Vox muttered, “Would you sleep in my bed with me? It's so hard to sleep alone. I was so used to Val.”
Lucifer blushed as he nodded, moving to lay beside the sinner. “Yeah, no problem. Cuddle?”
“Please,” Vox sighed.
Lucifer allowed the sinner to wrap him in a tight embrace, his TV head awkwardly sitting flat against the pillow. Lucifer had to shuffle downwards a bit to avoid laying his cheek on his face. He snuggled into Vox's chest and sighed.
Vox quickly drifted off, snoring loudly above Lucifer. The angel laughed soundlessly and got comfortable before falling asleep beside him. The pair napped restfully, both sleeping better than they had in a long time. Occasionally, Lucifer was woken up by the sound of television, and he'd look up to see Vox's head displaying some sort of nonsensical sequence. Lucifer watched a few times, noting how most of Vox's dreams seemed to be about his work.
Lucifer watched as he dreamt of Valentino, his work, and his employees. Sometimes his dreams would shift and he'd be in the ocean. A few times, his dreams would shift and he'd be on earth. He saw one dream of Vox as a child, crying as he was denied help. Another dream consisted of him drinking with Alastor. That dream had morphed into a nightmare about being trapped in a small room with water rising. Lucifer put his hand over Vox's heart and gave him a small pulse of healing, and he watched as the dream turned pleasant, a shark friend entering the small room and the dream morphing to be about playing with it. Lucifer closed his eyes and went back to sleep- after a bit of watching so that he was assured he was no longer having a nightmare.