@moxxietude Said: "You Are Loved, Blitz."

@moxxietude said: "You are loved, Blitz."

Those simple words hit hard, in the best way possible. Blitz turned, not having expected Moxxie to be there, but the moment he saw him? He smiled. Heart softening, body seeming to just relax, tension falling away just because Moxxie was there.

"You too, Mox." Reaching out with his tail, he lovingly brushed the spade over Moxxie's upper arm, smiling, heart in his damn throat. "You, too."

When Angel retreated from him, Vox went still. He stayed that way, very still, very calm, as the angry words came out--anger, so often the last defense of the powerless and the broken. A creature with all its limbs broken, its body exhausted and battered, might still snarl and hiss and spit when backed into a corner, even if it knew that wouldn't do it any good. Defiance might be the last thread of autonomy one could cling to, the last glimmer of an ember about to go dark, but it was still something, a sign there was life there, that it wasn't all over for them.

Recognizing that he had come at the wrong time, pushed too hard at a time when Angel already felt justifiably cornered, that he was doing all of this wrong, Vox adjusted his tack. He held still, listening until Angel was done speaking, then raised his hands, showing the empty palms, and took a step back. Then another, until his back was against the door. Lowering his hands, Vox gave the tiniest shake of his head.

"I want this to change. I make a point not to spy on the other Vees, Angel. Not unless I believe they're getting into a dangerous situation. Familiarity breeds contempt, and God knows we get enough familiarity in Hell. Maintaining our power structure means, to some degree, that it is necessary to not just look the other way, but not look at all. So, I don't. When they need me, they let me know. And at some point, that was how I began to think of you. One of us. Val's lover, someone I was..." He had to pause for a moment to take a breath and let it out slowly before admitting the next, "immensely jealous of. But one of us all the same. Until I saw your face on the balcony.

"I don't want to hurt you. I don't want Val to continue hurting you. I want you to feel like a part of the Vees, because you are. You have been for a long time. At least, in my eyes. But to get there--there's a lot of harm to undo on the way. And I'm not overly adept at... comfort. Being soft. Kind. But I'm willing to try.

"And I'm willing to listen. Do you need to talk? Or to scream? I'll stay here." He patted the door behind himself. "I won't take a step closer to you until you tell me to.

"Or, I can leave right now. And if I do?

"My door is open for you. You can come to me any time, for any reason, and we can talk. This doesn't have to happen now. I apologize if I've made things worse, or made you feel that you're about to be hurt again.

"Either way. Will you let me order you supper and have it delivered to you? It doesn't come with strings attached; you won't owe me anything, I'd just like to... know that you have some form of care tonight." Maybe it wasn't much, but it was something. Angel didn't want a hug, and Vox didn't know how else to even try to comfort him, but he could at least try to make sure the actor was fed, had something to drink, that he had the chance to decompress. To receive something approximating care, even if it wasn't enough.

If he knew what was going on in Vox's head, the next move would probably hurt his feelings. However, it was exactly the fact that he didn't know what was happening in the television demon's mind that led to the action in the first place. As Vox stepped forward, Angel instinctively stepped back. Making sure to maintain the same amount of distance between them, as if this was a tango he had danced many a time.

The door being locked caused the tension to only increase, muscles feeling incredibly stiff. If Vox looked closer into Angel Dust's eyes, he would see the panic settling there. He was locked in. He had felt trapped, and that terrified him. Not that it mattered when it came to this Overlord. Vox had plenty of cameras around the dressing room, and even if Angel had pushed him out, the other could zap his way back in.

Vox was a wild card. He had seen enough, enough to think he knew what to expect, but that didn't mean he did. Vox had so many different personalities for so many different reasons. Too many hats. One thing he hadn't expected, though, was what had come out of the older's mouth next. He was blinking, staring at Vox for a few moments, uncertain of how to speak. Denying it, well, that was surprisingly the last thing on his mind. While he hid it from the outside world, he had always assumed that Vox knew. That him and Valentino had laughed about it over fancy dinners.

That was the part he didn't believe. There was no way that Vox hadn't known. That man's surveillance was constantly on, and he was saying he just...happened to not be looking when Val would raise his hand? His eyes narrowed as he thought about this, taking another step back. "...what do yeh' want." He hated how harsh he sounded, hated how just being in this situation made him so angry, so hard, like his dad had always wanted him to be.

"Ah' know how yeh' Vees work, and ah' ain't as dumb as ah' look. There's some sort of manipulation goin' on here. Ah' ain't gonna fall f' it. So let's just make this easy on us both, because as ah'm sure yeh' can tell, ah've had a pretty fuckin' shit day." He's huffing, voice holding less malice, much more tired. Broken. "Yeh' tell me what yeh' hopin' t' gain from all this, and ah'll give it t' yeh'. Then yeh' can get out of mah' dressin' room, and leave me th' fuck alone."

How that fight with Lucifer go? Was the king to depressed to show up?

"Hey!" Blitz snapped. "Don't talk about him that way. He showed up, and he's a fucking badass. And he fucking listened. Just because he's got depression doesn't mean he can't listen and do a good job. It got through to him, you know? At least, I'm pretty sure it did." Not to be meta, but it wasn't really over yet, so Blitz could only know so much.

He thought again about how vividly he had sensed Stolas and Visage's presence there near the end, and how he remembered Eclipse's smile, and Moxxie and Loona and Fizz, and the anger went out of him. Expression softening, he nodded to the stranger. "Drink some water and get some real food in you before you go home. All this booze is making you almost as fucked up as me. And I mean it. Don't talk shit about my king. He's the most beautiful--and he showed up. He could have ignored me. But he didn't. He showed up. Listened. Met me where I needed to be met. Lucifer is worth so much more than most of us have any fucking idea of, and I'll fight for him til the end."

"Oh yeah? Well, maybe we should tell our boss to suck it," Blitz shouted over his shoulder, before cackling. Realizing Moxxie was absolutely going to catch him, he jumped up onto a passing car, letting it carry him about half a block, before hopping right back off, and making a mad scramble towards Moxxie. Delighted that the play was happening, Blitz did his best to tag him, and not to be tagged. Playing with Moxxie might be rare, but fuck, it was life. The tagging, the racing at top speeds, the climbing, the jumping...

Sure, maybe there were reasons that imp culture didn't exactly encourage public zoomies, at least in places as busy as Imp City, but it wasn't like it was completely taboo. How could it be, when there was nothing more fun? At one point, Blitz slid under a dumpster, panting, eyes bright with laughter. He knew Moxxie was going to find him, knew there was no hiding from or escaping from that small but fucking fierce assassin--and that knowledge was the best thing in the world. Laughing, trying to catch his breath, his attempt to hide was half-hearted at best...

And the second he saw Moxxie, he kicked off from the wall, scooting out towards those tiny little feet, fully intending to grab him by the ankles and play-chomp. Blitz made a ridiculous little growly-screech as he made his move--what even was stealth?

Moxxie had relaxed, tail swishing behind him. Though it was hard to miss the stray tears that Blitz had swept away. He went to touch his boss’ shoulder reassuringly. Then without warning– though he should have sensed it by the telltale pre-zoomie signs– Blitzo had hopped over Loona’s desk and out the front door. Remaining in the office as a stick in the mud seemed out of the question. Not only was Moxxie hardwired now to nag Blitzo about their shift not being one-hundred percent over, but one imp turning the other imp down for zoomies was just cruel. And it had infectiously jumped to him as well. Like an electric current, his tail flicking swiftly and his pupils widening as well. “BLITZ! WAIT!”

He shot out the door just as fast. Maybe faster. Having digitigrade legs had their advantages in some situations.Outside, he caught sight of Blitz right away and tailed after him.

“Our shift isn't over yet!” There was a playful tone to it, like he didn't take the shift as seriously as he did catching up with Blitzo.

Love? How could anyone love a washed up circus imp like you?

"What, you mean like Stolas and Vizzy? And Angel? Fuck you." Blitz waved his hand dismissively at the stranger, although there wasn't really any heat to his voice; he didn't sound upset, or even like he really disagreed with them.

"They might have chosen the wrong guy, cause I--am. The wrong guy. A walking piece of shit and we all know it. But, listen." Abruptly, he plopped down on the empty stool next to this person, scooting over closer to them. "It's not my call. Whether or not they get to love me. I thought, for the longest fucking time, I thought that I had some say in it. So it always felt like I was tricking people, if they gave a shit. It always felt like, like I was doing something, fucking... You know. Wrong.

"But that is why I kept pushing people away. That shit attitude. That somehow, because I didn't believe in myself, no one else could either. You know how fucking long it took me to figure that out? How fucking many people I pushed away and hurt before a light clicked the fuck on? It's--listen. Bud. Take my advice? One drunk fucker to another: don't decide for other people that they're right or wrong to love you. Just try not to be a dick about it."

Blitz heard him out, then nodded. He didn't fully understand where Angel was coming from there, but he didn't need to understand it to respect it. The imp would fight like crazy to make life better for his own people, even if it meant he had to fight the Devil himself, even if he never got to be the one to see it. If Angel resented that progress had been made without him there? While it sounded selfish on the surface, Blitz reminded himself that he really didn't know Angel that well yet. They'd gone to an aquarium and to Hawai'i, but that didn't mean they had fully spilled their souls.

Besides, Blitz was a shitty enough person that he really didn't want to judge the emotional responses, or the trauma, of others. He had done enough of that in his life so far, been enough of an asshole, and after Verosika's party... That shit had traumatized him, but in a way that he was almost grateful for. It wasn't an intervention, because those were done out of love, not hate, but it had a similar effect. Seeing that he was at rock bottom, emotionally and psychologically, Blitz wanted to do better these days. To be better. Safer. Kinder.

He lightly bumped his forehead against Angel's shoulder, then nodded. Blitz was about to say something when his phone chimed. "Sorry, that's my daughter. Hang on." A quick scan of the message and then Blitz stood. He pocketed the phone, then kissed Angel on the forehead, really only possible since the other was still sitting.

"I have to go pick her up. Raincheck on the dance?"

Angel Dust had never met someone who talked more than himself, and he was starting to understand why people got overwhelmed with him. It wasn't that he wanted the imp to go away or anything, but his mind was trying to process it all at once, and admittedly Angel could be a bit slow at that stuff. Everything seemed to be moving on fast-forward - he had just met the guy, the guy started talking about Pride, and now was inviting him to -

He's blinking in shock, tilting his head a little to the side. "....how do yeh' know where ah'm from?" It wasn't like it wasn't obvious, considering his thick accent, but a lot of residents of Hell wouldn't know that unless they had heard one before. It wasn't like Angel broadcasted his actual living life for Hell to hear. That was none of their fucking business, honestly. Though that hadn't even been the most shocking statement, Angel staring at Blitz like he had three heads.

"There's gay bars in th' city?" He knew there were plenty of those around Pentagram, but that wasn't what the imp was implying and he fucking knew it. See how much shit has changed since your time. That meant talking about Brooklyn. He shook his head, biting his lip. Though the idea appealed to him, and he had so many questions, there were things that were limiting him.

"Ah' was miserable there. Don't know if it would be helpful or harmful t' see how much has changed and that....ah' ain't never got no taste of that." Maybe that was a selfish thing to say, but hey, it was Hell. It might hurt his heart even more to know that he had had to spend so much time hiding his identity and sneaking around, and he hadn't gotten to be out and proud. Not until Hell. "Definitely a fan of dancin' though. So if yeh' wanna hit up a bar down here, ah' ain't gonna say no. But Earth? Fuck that shit."