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2024-07-30
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2025-02-02
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19/?
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Lepidopterophobia

Summary:

Lepidopterophobia (lep-ah-dop-ter-a-pho-bee-ah) n.

1. An irrational and often lifelong fear of moths and butterflies. Lepidopterophobia is characterized by feelings of intense anxiety, distress, disgust, and fear when in the presence of moths and butterflies.

Notes:

My first ever Hazbin Hotel fic! I'm well-aware that making up any fanon for Hazbin Hotel is risky, as new content could come out at any second that throws all headcanons out the window, so just a quick note that all fanon and headcanons included within this fic are based off of the pilot, the first season, and whatever tidbits I've come across online.

(See the end of the work for more notes.)

Chapter 1: You've Got It Twisted

Chapter Text

One of the first things Velvette learned in Hell was that the infamous Overlords known as Vox and Valentino were dangerous, and that she'd do well to stay away from them.

So, naturally, upon hearing about them and their widespread influence across Pentagram City, she'd done the logical thing and sought them out.

Were she anyone else, maybe that would've been the stupidest decision of her life (or afterlife). But she was no idiot, nor was she without her charms.

Maybe Vox and Valentino were dangerous if you were just a downtrodden, ambition-less Sinner with no flair. But Velvette knew she was better than that, because she was better than that.

She had wormed her way into their hearts, wrapping them tightly around her little finger, before you could say throuple.

She'd never been scared of them, and she never would be. She knew they'd never hurt her.

They were The Vees, they were lifelong allies, associates, and lovers. There was nowhere in Hell safer for her than in their arms.


It was well past midnight and Velvette was drunk. More than drunk, she was bored, and she was more than a little bit horny. She shifted her weight from foot-to-foot as she rode the elevator impatiently up to the penthouse levels of the V Tower.

Humming to herself, she stumbled into the luxurious penthouse apartments she shared with her colleagues-come-lovers, dropping her bags gracelessly to the floor of Vox's level and looking around at the darkened apartment in confusion.

“What the fuck?” She said, her words slurred.

She’d just come back from work to a dark and empty apartment.

That didn’t happen, that never happened.

Velvette curled her lip in distaste. Of course this happened after her complete clusterfuck of a day.


Work had been hell, the new designs that she’d been so happy with yesterday made her want to scream today and her models had been worse than useless. Trying to calm down, she'd attempted a little retail therapy, only to run into Angel Dust at Valak's Secret.

Speaking of downtrodden and ambition-less...

It was awkward enough running into the enslaved soul that your boyfriend regularly assaults on camera, let alone running into him at a lingerie store.

Angel Dust didn't exactly make it any less awkward, glancing judgmentally at the black lingerie set that Velvette was about to purchase.

"He prefers white, it shows off the blood more" he'd said, grinning with twisted amusement as Velvette flipped him off.

"Show some respect, you little Spider-Whore"

"Respect? Oh, that's rich coming from you. Al told us all about your little song-and-dance number at the meeting"

"Valentino's going to rip you to pieces when he hears about this" Velvette snapped, smirking in amusement as Angel's eyes widened fearfully.

Her retail therapy ruined, she'd made her way to the nearest bar, day-drinking (and then night-drinking) until a terrified-looking waitress had oh-so-politely informed her that she was cut off.

"The fuck?" she slurred, slumped over the bar.

"I'm sorry, Miss Velvette. But my manager thinks it's for the best- and we're all sure that your associates would agree"

"Who the fuck do you think you are, bitch?!" Velvette got to her feet, trying to advance on the hapless waitress. But her murderous plans were foiled by gravity and poor balance, sending her and her impractical heels toppling to the ground.

She landed with a thud, groaning.

"Miss Velvette!" The waitress was already helping her to her feet, handing her the numerous bags of shopping from her ruined retail therapy "You really should go home. I'm sure the other Vees are worried about you... wouldn't it be nice to spend the rest of the evening with your friends?"

The stupid bitch had a good point. Velvette missed Vox and Valentino. She was also furious with them. Those fuckers hadn't even texted her in the past ten hours, which was tantamount to infidelity in her eyes.

So she'd stumbled out of the bar and made her way home.


Her disappointment at the sight of the abandoned apartment was immeasurable.

All she had wanted was to come home and throw herself into Vox and Valentino’s arms, and to watch whatever Katie Killjoy thought passed for entertainment while Vox spoon-fed her a late dinner and Val massaged her scalp and sweet-talked her in Spanish.

But no. The apartment was dark and empty.

There was only one thing to do, obviously.

“OI! FUCKERS!” She called out, her voice echoing with no answer.

She frowned, before striding towards Vox's bedroom, slamming the door open “You better be fucking dying in here, you flat-faced-”

But Vox’s bedroom was empty, his tastefully ocean-themed bed-sheets undisturbed.

Velvette stared at the bed, feeling oddly sentimental. She’d bought him those sheets, making a crude joke about how they’d let him fuck her under the sea. Vox had called them childish.

But here they were. On his bed.

…without Vox.

Curling her lip, Velvette stormed back into the lift and made her way to Valentino’s floor.

At first, with a brief pang of panic, she thought that Val’s pink-and-red eyesore of an apartment was also abandoned, and that her colleagues were missing.

Her eyes alighted on a shattered glass resting on the floor near the sofa, and the amber contents that had spilled out into a piss-colored stain all over Valentino's rug.

What the fuck happened here? Are they okay?

Her panic intensified, and she cautiously started to look around for further evidence of a struggle.

But after a few fretful seconds, she heard the familiar sounds of Val muttering in his sleep, and the faint hum of Vox recharging as he slept.

Found you.

She burst triumphantly into Valentino’s bedroom, grinning at the sight of her quarry, all panic forgotten. Valentino was lying spread-eagle on his back, his wings splayed on the bed as he muttered something about Angel Dust.

Everything was bathed in a soft red glow by the crimson fairy lights that Valentino had strung up all over the place. When Velvette was new to The Vees she used to call Valentino's bedroom "The Red Light District".

Valentino would laugh, while Vox affectionately rolled his digital eyes.

Unsteady on her feet, Velvette made her way around the bed until she was kneeling next to a sleeping Vox. He was plugged into a socket on the wall, his face blank asides from a recharging symbol.

”Hey. Wake up. I’m horny” she said, shaking Vox lightly.

Vox didn’t stir.

“Vox. I want your electro-shark-dick in me yesterday. If I don’t get it while you’re awake…” she got into the bed, climbing on top of him and straddling him “I’ll just take it”

She was kidding. Vox would find it funny if he was awake.

Vox stirred, his screen flickering, but he didn’t wake up. In the dimmed light of Vox’s screen and the red fairy lights Velvette noticed that he was wearing a familiar pair of pajamas.

“…the fuck? I thought you told Val these were childish and tacky?” She tugged at the collar of the shark-themed pajamas Vox was wearing.

A dozen cartoon sharks smiled innocently back at her, offering no answers for her confusion.

Her gift of ocean-themed bedding was at least classy, these pajamas were a joke gift that Val had expected to be incinerated.

“Doesn’t he look cute?”

Speak of the devil and he will wake up…

…not that Valentino was Lucifer- and not that Velvette would kick Lucifer out of bed for eating crackers.

“Fuck” Velvette imagined the lithe body that Pride only ever saw underneath Lucifer’s suits, rocking against Vox subconsciously.

Fucking hell, I’m horny…

“Someone’s excited” Valentino was naked, his pierced nipples glinting in the light of Vox’s screen as he sat up, wrapping one of his lower arms around Velvette’s waist. His upper hands reached out to paw at her breasts, before snaking up to rest against her throat. His fourth, unoccupied hand palmed at his cock underneath the bed-sheets.

“I’m drunk" she explained "...and I'm angry, because some thoughtless fuckers haven't texted me for hours!"

"Oh, pobrecita, you're needier than Vox when he's around that smiling ciervo" Valentino purred.

"I'm no pobrecita, you overgrown polilla perra" Velvette jabbed her finger into Valentino's chest, though she smiled as she did so.

Velvette was indeed anything but a poor baby. She had tamed a monster like Valentino and had the CEO of VoxTek eating out of her hand.

She was the backbone of the Vees, she was strong.

So she squirmed on top of Vox without fear or concern, not even caring that Valentino’s hands were on her throat.

“Oh, Velvette” Valentino clicked his tongue “Let your papá take care of you, hm?”

Velvette laughed, shaking her head.

“I don’t want you tonight. I want Vox” she said, ignoring how Val’s hands minutely tightened around her throat.

“What’s wrong with me? I know more about pleasure than Vox”

Velvette didn't have a good answer for that, so she went with the truth.

“I dunno. I just want Vox” Velvette shook Vox again, trying to rouse him, before shrieking in shock as Valentino dragged her across the bed and onto his own lap without warning.

Valentino’s cock was close to twenty inches long, and it was intimidatingly thick. It barely looked human, a strange, bulbous shape with a pointed end that would make even the most adventurous sex toy maker blush.

Velvette had never been able to go further than the first few inches, but Valentino was so good at sex that a few inches was all he needed to make her see heaven.

Velvette could feel the monstrous appendage twitch underneath herself as she settled on Valentino’s lap.

“What makes Vox so much better than me, hm? I am Pentagram City's prime purveyor of pleasure, you know” Valentino purred, reaching for one of his cigarettes lazily, his hand blindly clawing at the bedside table.

Valentino's eyesight was, as Angel Dust relished in saying, shit. Velvette took a sick pleasure in pondering how long it would take Val to locate the heart-shaped glasses and packet of cigarettes that rested mere inches away from his grasping fingers.

While Valentino searched, Velvette ran her hand down his muscular chest, rubbing against the hard cock she was sitting on.

“Mm. Yeah, you’ve got a good point” she said, her words still slurred.

Valentino grinned, before his expression soured without reason. Before Velvette could ask what was wrong, she felt familiar arms wrap around her.

"Hi Vox" she said.

"Good morning, babe" Valentino's hand located his glasses, and he grinned in triumph.

Vox was still attached to the wall, a little charging symbol in the corner of his screen. He looked irritated, and…

…scared?

“You’re plastered” he said, running a clawed hand affectionately against Velvette's face.

“You’re wearing little boy’s pajamas- did you and Val do some DD/LB before bed, huh?” she teased.

“I… am not even going to ask what that means” Vox shot Val a look, before glancing down at himself “You dusty fucker! What the fuck is this?!”

“What? You don’t like sleeping naked!” Valentino had finally acquired a cigarette, his glasses now on his face and magnifying his red eyes as he leered at Vox, the cigarette hanging unlit between his teeth.

Vox reached over and casually lit the cigarette with a spark from his fingertip, a heart-shaped cloud of smoke billowing lazily into the air between them.

Her head spinning, Velvette smiled dreamily at both of them “I love you” she blurted out.

Vox gave her a tense smile “I love you too” he said tersely, before he tugged at her, pulling her off Valentino's lap and on top of himself, lying back down again and cradling her in his clawed grip.

Something's not right...

Vox's whole body felt stiff, and not in the way Velvette was hoping for. She looked up, shooting Valentino a frown as she noticed the way her favorite moth pimp was grinding his teeth.

"You'll need another gold tooth if you keep doing that" she said, pointing vaguely at him, before turning her finger to Vox "Why are you in little kid PJ's?"

"Vox wore his battery out playing rough with me, I had to change him and plug him in to rest and recharge" Valentino waved his cigarette, the intoxicating smoke getting into Velvette's lungs and making her whimper involuntarily from the sudden rush of added arousal.

Vox's hands gripped her waist and Velvette grinned down at him eagerly. But he didn't look lustful at all, his red-and-cyan eyes (or at least, the facsimile of eyes displayed on his screen) were staring fearfully at Val, as though expecting him to launch at them in full attack at any second.

Velvette hummed, feeling like she was missing a piece of the puzzle before her.

Another gust of smoke got into her lungs, and she forgot what she was worrying about.

"Vox isn't feeling fun tonight, my little Red-Velvette-cake" Valentino ran the back of his hand along Velvette's cheek, his rings cold and hard against her skin "Come back here, I'll look after you"

Vox's claws dug into her skin, Velvette winced.

"She's drunk, she should sleep it off. We'll have fun tomorrow, Val" Vox said, his voice unusually tense.

"No, I wanna have fun..." Velvette slurred, smiling as Valentino leered at her "But I wanna have fun with Vox" she patted Vox's chest through his garish pajamas.

"I'm flattered, my dear, but you really do need to sleep. We'll do whatever you want tomorrow" Vox urged, before his eyes widened as Valentino dragged her off his lap again, so quickly that his claws left scratches in her sides, ripping through her shirt.

Velvette touched the wet fabric. The shirt was a simple camisole identical to a dozen others in her wardrobe, and the scratches weren't deep.

She wasn't bothered. She held her bloodied fingers out to Val, who licked them clean.

His saliva tingled against her fingertips, and she went to place them in her mouth to enjoy the rush, before pouting as Vox grabbed her wrist.

"Go clean yourself up, and go to sleep" he said firmly, glaring at Valentino.

"You're not my Dad, weirdo. We're an equal. Fucking. Partnership. Start ordering me around like that and maybe I'll run away and go blow the Radio Demon instead" Velvette stuck her tongue out, hardly beating the brat allegations.

"You'll have to get in line behind Vox if you want to be Alastor's puta, Red-Velvette-cakes" Valentino said, taking a long drag.

Vox jolted at the mention of Alastor, but otherwise stayed calm.

"Velvette..."

"She's told you what she wants, don't be so old-fashioned. Men don't control women the way they did in your day, Vox" Valentino purred, tapping a disapproving finger against Vox's screen, over the artificial mouth.

Vox and Velvette exchanged a disbelieving look.

"Valentino, you think feminism is a category of femdom porn. Get off your high horse, and hand her over. She needs sleep, not you"

"I don't want Val, I want you" Velvette explained for what felt like the fiftieth time that night, huffing. She ignored Valentino as she heard a low growl coming from the overlord underneath her "Fuck me, Vox. Fuck me like you wanna fuck Alastor"

She leaned back so she was holding her weight on her hands, her fingertips brushing against Val's legs as she perched on top of his intimidating erection.

"Oh Vox! I'm sorry I made you cry like a big pissbaby on the airwaves, fuck me! Fuck me TV Daddy!" Velvette imitated Alastor's transatlantic accent, even lisping her words slightly to try and affect radio static warping her words.

Vox looked interested, sitting up.

"I didn't know you could do that" he said.

With a blink of an eye and a sparkle of hellish magic, Velvette was suddenly wearing a perfect imitation of Alastor's outfit, right down to the microphone he carried everywhere. She twirled it in one hand.

Valentino sat up, curling his lower arms around her and playing with Velvette's hair, now pinned up to match Alastor's length.

"Come now, Vox. Don't you wanna see the Radio Demon take a big dick like mine?" he purred, running his tongue along Velvette's face.

His saliva tingled against her skin, and her breath caught in her throat as her grip on Valentino's sheets tightened. What scant few inhibitions she had left were slipping through her fingers like running water.

Velvette loved to push buttons, no matter how stupid of a button it was to push. If she was sober, maybe she would've seen the writing on the walls. But she was drunk, frustrated, and she felt like the baddest bitch in hell, mocking the Radio Demon as she perched on top of the scariest dick around town.

So she pushed Valentino's buttons, every shiny red thing marked 'DANGER' that was currently flashing in front of her.

"How many times do I have to tell you, I don't want your fucking dick, Val! I want Vox's! Vox is a real Overlord. You're just some jumped up, washed up slut. Maybe that's too hard for your tiny little brain to comprehend, so let me make it crystal clear" Velvette snapped, pushing at Valentino's chest "Vox! Vox! Vox! Vox! Vox! I want Vox! One day we'll fuck you like Alastor fucked Husk, and you'll be licking Angel Dust's boots clean everyday while we live happily every after without you"

Vox looked completely aghast, his expression so shocked that Velvette giggled once she had finished her button-pushing tirade.

At first, Valentino didn't move an inch. Velvette felt an irrational stab of fear, wondering if she'd finally gone too far, before he leaned in to kiss her.

She relaxed into the kiss, moaning and wrapping her arms tightly around Val, smiling smugly even as she felt his fangs brush against her lips.

Ha! I've got him wrapped around my little finger...

His saliva got into her mouth and she eagerly swallowed it down, Val's spittle and smoke mixing in her system to intoxicating effect.

The last thing she saw, before everything went hazy and pink, was Vox. He looked fearful as his softly glowing eyes flicked between his two lovers.

As the pink mist descended, all she could focus on was her own arousal. She'd experienced it a million times before, but she'd never get bored of Valentino's natural aphrodisiacs, it was why she'd worked so hard to bottle it in the form of her and Valentino's infamous love potion...

It was her favorite drug. She'd never get why Angel Dust still used the same shit that had killed him in life when he had access to this ambrosia...

Her happy haze was suddenly and rudely interrupted by the sight of Vox's spiraling eye, taking up her entire vision and making her head spin.

"Hello Velvette" whispered Vox's comforting voice "Go to sleep. You won't remember what happens next in the morning"

"Of course I won't, Vox" Velvette said, completely entranced, the world going black around her...


"Mummy? What happened to your eye?"

"It's nothing, Doll. Go back to sleep"


"Daddy, how did Mummy fall down the stairs?"

"She tripped, Doll. I've already told you"


The Vees all enjoyed a slight immunity to each other's powers, thanks to repeated exposure. So, unfortunately, Vox wasn't quite able to spare Velvette from reality.

"Get off me! Get off me! Get off!" Velvette was screaming, all she could hear was screaming and all she could feel was pain. Valentino's spit and smoke and Vox's hypnosis were wearing off fast in the face of unbearable and unexpected agony.

She felt like she was being split in half, crotch-first. She'd never felt pain like it before, not even when she'd died. She screamed, clawing at an assailant she couldn't see before crying out in panic as her wrists were easily grabbed and pinned down.

She choked as smoke was blown into her face, unable to see through her tears as she fruitlessly fought against someone much bigger than her.

"-off! Get off! This is too much, Valentino! You'll break her!" Someone else was saying, their voice distorted and warping, like a broken telly speaker.

"You want me to smash that screen right off your fucking neck? Go play with the Radio Demon" Valentino's voice, rough and furious, snarled close to Velvette's ear.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry about the Alastor thing, please leave her out of it! All she wanted was a quick orgasm and a good night's sleep, for fuck's sake!" Vox. It was Vox's distorted voice she was hearing.

"Vox..." Velvette whispered, reaching out blindly "Vox..."

"Let me put her back to sleep. Please. This is too far" Vox was pleading.

Valentino snorted derisively.

"...fine. Make it quick" he said.

...and then all she could see was Vox's eye again.

"You're having a bad dream... go back to sleep, Velvette. I love you."

"Yeah, whatever, I love her too" Valentino muttered.

"No. I don't think you do, Val" was the last thing Velvette heard before slipping away into blissful unconsciousness.


When Velvette finally woke up, she felt stiff and rigid, like a brand new doll that had never been played with.

She groaned, slowly regaining the feeling in her extremities as she squirmed against slightly sticky bed-sheets.

"Oh, Velvette, Vel, Vel, Vel, my poor muñeca perfecta. I'm so sorry about last night, I went too far and I broke you, didn't I?" a warm hand was stroking back her hair, heavy rings catching against the curls.

"Val?" Velvette croaked, her voice nothing more than a rasp.

"I'm sorry I can't stay longer, those bitches down at my studio need me. Clean yourself up and Kitty will deal with the mess in here. Vox was supposed to deal with it, but he's too busy sulking in his office. Don't have a big lunch, I'll take you out to dinner tonight to apologize. I'll make you more of a princesa than Charlie Morningstar could ever be. I love you"

Lips pressed against Velvette's, and she thought for a moment that she was going to vomit.

"Be a good girl for Vox" Valentino's melodic voice purred, before she heard heels clicking against the floor, followed by the slamming of a door.

"Not... your... fucking... good girl" Velvette snarled, sitting up slowly.

She took in Valentino's bedroom. The red light of Pentagram City illuminated the floors, which sparkled with countless pieces of broken glass. Indeed, the whole room was in disarray, with pillows and blankets torn to shreds and left scattered around the room.

She wrinkled her nose, it smelled like something had died in there.

"The fuck?" Velvette groaned, curling up on herself and wincing in discomfort.

She was extremely stiff but physically unharmed, much to her surprise. She was also lying in something wet. Tremulously, she pushed back the covers, dreading what she'd find underneath.

Her discovery made her gag, her eyes widening in disgust and horror.

Valentino's pink bed-sheets were splashed with blood, urine, and semen. Without the duvet covering them, they smelled bad enough to make Velvette gag with more force, covering her hand with her mouth so she wouldn't add vomit to the mix.

Something did die in here.

Me.

Valentino killed me.

Valentino raped me to death.

Her heartbeat quickened. She knew Valentino was a monster. She knew he'd done the same, if not worse, to his unlucky 'employees' over and over again since he'd first risen as an Overlord.

But not her. Never her.

Valentino raped me to death...

Unbidden, she thought about Vox's spiraling eye.

...AND THAT FLAT-FACED PRICK HELPED HIM!


"VOX! YOU'RE A DEAD MAN!" Velvette screamed, storming into Vox's office in a blind fury.

She'd redressed herself with a snap of her fingers, blinded by rage as she stormed over broken glass, across Valentino's foyer (ignoring Kitty's offer of coffee with a snarl), and into the elevator. She hit the 'down' button with so much force she nearly broke it, glaring daggers at the elevator doors as she descended towards Vox's ridiculous lair.

Vox was sitting at his desk, turned away from the doors. He was eerily still, staring at the monitors without comment. The whole room felt hushed, like a cathedral.

"Get ready to say goodbye to The Vees! Because I'm leaving, I'm taking my souls, I'm taking my shit, and I'M GOING STRAIGHT TO THAT FUCKING HOTEL! The Radio Demon is getting all your dirty laundry, fucker!" she snarled, storming towards Vox's desk "...and then when you're ruined, when you're just a sniveling little smartphone, whimpering in the dirt, I'm gonna cut off your cock with the rustiest angelic spear I can get my hands on!"

Vox shifted in his chair.

"Velvette?" his voice sounded raw.

"...oh, but before I so much as bat my lashes at Alastor, I'm going to find Valentino and I'm gonna SLICE HIM INTO LITTLE FUCKING PIECES!"

Vox turned his chair around, and Velvette actually took a step back.

For a brief, crazy moment, she wasn't an Overlord threatening to destroy her business-partner-come-lover with the aid of The Radio Demon...

...for a brief moment she was a terrified little girl, staring at her bloodied, bruised, and beaten mother as she tried and failed to cover up a black eye with heavy concealer and a watery smile.

"I used to feel like you did. But that was a very long time ago" Vox said, his tone more gentle than Velvette had ever heard it be before "We're in Hell, Velvette. Did you really think this was going to be some sort of fairy-tale romance?"

Vox looked as shit as Velvette felt, wearing only his shirt and trousers. There was blood all over the white fabric of his shirt, and black bruises mottled his blue skin. One of his claws was even broken off, while another was nothing more than a jagged stump.

But the most noticeable injury inflicted upon him was his screen. The corner of Vox's display was smashed in, glittering like stardust, with cracks spider-webbing across his face and leaving his screen glitching violently.

"It's alright. I'll regenerate soon enough. I've regained enough optical input to-" Vox started to say, before Velvette held up her hand, silencing him.

"We're killing him, right? Valentino's fucking dead after what he did, right?" she said.

"Velvette..." Vox sighed, getting to his feet and approaching her.

His feet were bare, padding against the floor. He should’ve looked helpless, vulnerable, even a little bit tragic…

But Velvette felt uneasy, taking a step back. Nothing changed the fact that Vox had, in a way, assisted in Valentino's assault of her.

"...you helped him! You helped him rape me!" she finally snapped.

"What?! I protected you!" Vox said, looking offended through the glitching screen.

Velvette shook her head, her eyes flashing with rage.

"You hypnotized me!"

"So you wouldn't remember! I didn't think you wanted the memory of what that felt like seared into your brain!" Vox shook his broken head "I'm only sorry that it didn't completely work!"

Velvette closed the distance between them, her gaze softening as she took in just how royally fucked Vox looked.

"What the fuck happened to you?" she asked, not unkindly.

Vox laughed hollowly, smoothing down his bloodied shirtsleeves.

"Val's been doing this to me about once a month since the seventies, Vel. Welcome to the fucking party" he said "I was getting too manic about The Radio Demon, and Val got jealous. You were unlucky enough to get caught in the crossfire of his bad mood last night"

"You gotta be kidding me, you let him get away with this shit?" Velvette said in disbelief "Regularly?!"

Vox laughed again, sounding even more hollow inside as he did so.

"The first time it happened, I was going to kill him. I was as angry as you were, if not angrier. I purchased a gun from Carmine and held it to his head while he was sleeping" Vox reached out, touching Velvette's face fondly.

Despite the situation, despite everything, Velvette leaned into his touch.

"...but when I went to pull the trigger, I couldn't. I had a lot of reasons, but the most pertinent amongst them was that I realized that killing Vox for abusing me ruined my Overlord image, and would leave me sans a very loyal ally. Besides, I have no interest in controlling the world of porn and sex work like he does- and I can't afford to lose that revenue"

Velvette shook her head, shuddering.

Her whole world was as badly shattered as Vox's screen, and she was reeling.

"This is insane, you can't justify what he's doing to you! How many times has he raped you, Vox?!"

Vox folded his arms.

"Men can't be raped" he said, stubbornly.

"Fuck you and your outdated, patriarchal bullshit!" Velvette actually kicked his shin, turning away as Vox limped on one foot, wincing.

"Velvette, don't be an idiot! Calm down!" Vox's voice reverberated, and Velvette didn't have to look at him to know that his eye was spiraling in a hopeless attempt to hypnotize her again.

"I'm not an idiot, I'm the smartest bitch in this whole fucking tower!" she called out over her shoulder, walking away.

"Do I need to remind you again that we're in Hell?! I learned to accept what love looks like down here, and unless you want to be thrown out of The Vees, you need to accept it too!" Vox yelled, furious "Velvette, please, don't be a fool! I built an empire! Listen to me!"

"Maybe getting smacked around and raped on the regular works just fine for you, but I'm different" Velvette said, striding towards the doors "I'll kill that fucking moth, and we'll all be better off for it"

She was determined, but Vox had much longer legs than her. He easily caught up to her and grabbed her wrist before she could make it anywhere near the exit, spinning her around and bringing her face-to-screen with his spinning eye.

“Our brand is perfection, Velvette. Our image is a unified, powerful, and fearless front. I’m afraid I can’t let anything jeopardize that”

He cupped her face in his hands, bringing her closer.

“You’ll understand after a decade or so, I promise”

Velvette stared at him helplessly, fury, fear, and pity swirling in a maelstrom of pain and confusion inside her.

This was all so wrong, seeing Vox half-dressed, bruised and bloodied and broken was wrong.

Knowing that she was in as much danger from Valentino as any of his pathetic whores was wrong.

Everything was wrong.

“How can you live with yourself?” She said, feeling humiliating tears prickle at her eyes.

"I don't have to, Vel" said Vox, as Velvette's vision slowly went black "I'm already dead"

To Be Continued...