Chapter Text
The four of them had gotten to Verosika‘s penthouse apartment. Vortex laid on a couch after filling a few plastic bags with ice cubes to replace the instant cold packs he used up on the car ride.
“You can have the next few days off to recover,” Verosika said to Vortex.
“Thanks,“ Vortex said as he took out his phone and began sending an urgent text to Bee, asking her to call him so he could inform her of what just happened.
Verosika then turned to Moxxie and Millie.
“Could the two of you stay with me tonight?“ Verosika asked.
“Of course,“ Millie answered and Moxxie noted yes. They both understood why Verosika wouldn’t want to be on her own after how close this last attack was.
“Thank you,” Verosika said as she knelt down and briefly hugged both of them.
“I’ll tell Coco about this change of plans,” Moxxie said as he took out his phone and called her. A few seconds later, Coco picked up. “Coco, it’s Moxxie. There’s been another attack against Verosika.“
There was a pause as Coco said something on the other line.
“Vortex got bruised up semi-bad but the rest of us are OK,“ Moxxie answered. “Physically anyway. Millie and I are going to spend the night with Verosika because of how shaken up she is.“
There was another pause.
“It’s not like that,“ Moxxie disagreed in response to Coco no doubt saying that something sexual would happen between the three of them. “We don’t need any help from you. Millie and I stashed emergency overnight bags here due to being Verosika‘s bodyguards ……… and wanting to be prepared, we thought we might have to stay with Verosika overnight on very short notice.”
“Can I talk to her?” Verosika asked Moxxie. Moxxie said nothing as he handed his phone to Verosika. “Coco, it’s Verosika. I know you don’t usually work Mondays but can you come in tomorrow? I want to get Vortex worker’s comp but he might not qualify if we apply for him after he’s better so I want to get the ball rolling on that.” There was a pause. “Thanks. Here’s Moxxie again.”
Verosika handed the phone back to Moxxie.
“See you tomorrow,” Moxxie said to Coco. “Bye.“
Moxxie ended the call.
“You haven’t told her about you two hanging out with me on your nights off?“ Verosika asked, even though she could already tell the answer was yes.
“That’s something of a personal matter between the three of us,“ Moxxie explained.
“And now me,“ Vortex spoke up.
“sh*t,“ Verosika swore in frustration at the slip up. “I’m gonna need you to keep that to yourself.“
“Won’t be a problem,“ Vortex replied, “especially since I don’t even know what ‘that’ is.“
“Good,” Verosika said. She then had a conflicted look on her face and thought about whether she should tell Vortex or not. “f*ck it. You just took several bullets for me today: the only reason I’d think that means you can’t be trusted is because I’m a massive c*nt. Short version, I’ve been going through some personal stuff and the assassination sh*t has forced me to change my habits so I’ve been having Moxxie and Millie hang out with me on my nights off.“
“OK,” Vortex said. Not long afterward Vortex’s phone rang. He answered it and began explaining everything that had happened with the attack and four of them being at Verosika‘s place.
“Hold on a sec,“ Vortex said, and then covered the receiver with his paw. “Hey Verosika. Bee and I have been dating for a few weeks and she wants to know if she can come over and see how we’re all doing. That cool?“
“Sure,“ Verosika answered. “Tell her where the building is and that I’ll be waiting for her on the balcony.“
Vortex began doing as instructed and hung up while Verosika went out to the balcony.
“Wait up,“ Moxxie piped up in confused excitement. “You’re dating Beelze?”
“Yes,“ Vortex explained.
“I told you she liked you that way,“ Millie chimed in with a cheeky grin. “But I thought you didn’t return the feeling.“
“That was more out of not wanting to get my hopes up,“ Vortex explained. “But when she told me how she felt at that party we all went to two weeks ago, I realized I actually had a shot.“
“Good for you,“ Moxxie said. “When did you tell Verosika about you and her?“
“I didn’t,“ Vortex replied and then had a look of confusion. “So why wasn’t she surprised?”
Verosika walks back into the apartment and Beelze was with her. The queen of gluttony had used a portal to get to the street where Verosika‘s building was and then flew up, found Verosika on the balcony and joined her.
“Vortex,” Beelze cried out as she ran up to the massive hellhound.
“Hey Bee,“ Vortex said and then leaned in for a kiss that she returned. “I’m mostly fine, thanks to the chain mail shirt you got me. Verosika gave me the next few days off to recover. Could I spend them at your place?“
“Of course,“ Beelze answered. “I’ve even got something to help you with the pain. I’ve been holding on to some really powerful pills from my last raid on Belphegor’s private stash. It looks like you need and deserve them more than I do.“
“Thanks,“ Vortex replied and then faced Verosika. “Why weren’t you surprised when I said I was dating Bee?“
“Oh that,“ Verosika began. “I saw you two kiss at the party a few weeks ago and it looked like it was more then you two getting f*cked up and letting your hormones take the wheel so I wasn’t surprised when you said that you had started dating after that.“
And seeing you two kiss made me go into a brief, existential crisis, Verosika thought, about whether I’d ever be able to let anyone get close to me again but I don’t feel like going into that.
After a while, Beelze left Vortex’s side and walked up to Verosika.
“Are you all right?“ The insect/canine hybrid asked.
“I’m physically unharmed,“ Verosika answered and then had a worried look on her face. “As for mentally, I’m pretty shaken up about what happened.“
“Yeah, not much I can do about that,“ Beelze said and then stretched out her forearms. “Wanna hug?“
“Sure,“ Verosika answered. The two women held each other for a few seconds and then broke apart. “Getting hugged by four arms at once takes some getting used to.“
“That was my first thought too,“ Vortex added with a grin.
“Actually Bee,” Verosika resumed, “there is something you can help with. I meant to do a little grocery shopping on my way home but then… after what happened, we all came here to plan our next move instead. Any chance you could use your magic to create a few things for me?“
“I’ll do you one better,“ Beelze answered. “I’ll actually make dinner for you. It has to be now though: I’ve got sh*t to do later tonight and before I get to that, I need to take Vortex to my place to get him situated there. What do you say?“
“I am okay with that,“ Verosika answered. It was almost 6, so it would be a little early for dinner but not by a lot. “Everyone OK with that?“
“Sure,“ Millie replied
“Yeah,“ Vortex answered.
“Sounds good,“ Moxxie said.
“Oh Moxxie, didn’t see you there,“ Beelze said in surprise when she saw that Moxxie was standing pretty close to her and Verosika but didn’t notice that until just now. “Why are you dressed like that?“ She asked with a quirked eyebrow at his choice of outfit.
“Millie and I are meant to be Vortex’s covert back up,“ Moxxie began explaining, “if anything major happens. I may have gone a little overboard with making sure I’m not recognized to be near Veronika but if I do get recognized, then I won’t be able to do my job.“
“For what it’s worth,“ Beelze began, “you definitely pull that outfit off.“
“Thanks. I think,“ Moxxie replied with a bit of confusion.
While the two of them were talking, Verosika took out her phone and went to Moxxie’s Sintrist page. Verosika showed her phone to Beelze.
“Could you make this?“ Verosika asked, pointing to a garlic chicken dish served with roast potatoes.
“So here’s the thing,” Beelze began as she used one of her hands to awkwardly rub the back of her head. “In order to make something complicated like that, I either need to have tasted it before or know more about how it’s made.“
“This is one of Moxxie‘s recipes so that shouldn’t be a problem,“ Verosika explained.
Moxxie relayed the details of how it was made and sometime later, Beelze grabbed a squeeze bottle of her honey out of her purse and took a swig to conjure up the food. Everyone sat down to eat and Beelze took a bite of the chicken.
“This is good, Moxxie,“ Beelzebub complemented.
“Yeah, Mox is a whiz in the kitchen,“ Millie said.
“Millie, right?“ Beelzebub asked.
“You remember me,“ Millie said, deeply flattered that one of the most powerful beings in hell remembered her name even though they only briefly met during her surprise visit to the apartment she and Moxxie used to share with Vortex about three weeks ago.
“Yeah,“ Beelze answered. “How’s it been going with you?“
“Well,“ Millie began, “I had my first spa trip earlier today. That was a lot of fun: especially the massage which included a happy ending, which I just found out isn’t just for guys. Then there was the attack on Verosika. It sucks for her that her life is in danger but I killed two of the assholes who were after her which was fun for me.“
“I think Satan would like you,“ Beelze said, causing Millie to have a somewhat dreamy look on her face. She would never admit this to Moxxie but she got slightly wet from the thought of earning the approval of the ruler of her home ring.
“So Verosika,“ Beelze said as she faced the popstar. “You seem less… this may not be the right word but it’s the only one I can think of, uptight then you have in the past. Which is weird because you should be more uptight because of the assassination sh*t: any idea what that’s about?“
“So before,“ Verosika began, “I used to spend a lot of my nights getting f*cked up and then having sex with random demons. It was definitely fun but it was also…“
I could say, Verosika thought, that it was like having desserts for a week straight and then wanting meat and potatoes but I don’t think that would be the best metaphor to get my point across with her.
“It wasn’t very emotionally,“ Verosika paused and she thought of the word she wanted to use, “filling, for lack of a better word. I had to stop that because of the security risks involved so instead, I’ve started to get to know the people I work with instead of just keeping things completely professional. It’s less exciting than what I used to do but it is satisfying in its own way. That might be better for me overall, possibly.“
“It also helps,” Verosika continued, “that while I’m not happy about the threats against my life, Moxxie, Millie and Vortex have shown that it’s going to take a lot to get through to me. For example, the attack that just happened had three guys behind me and three guys in front of me, all of which had guns. That would’ve been a death sentence for anyone else but thanks to them, we got out of there with only recoverable injuries.”
“Cool,“ Beelze replied. “Have you given any thought as to who wants you dead?”
“I have,” Verosika answered. “And there’s no way of knowing who has been responsible for these recent attacks. It could be another singer who wants to get rid of the competition or maybe someone whose career has seen better days and is going to make a come-back attempt to stack the deck in their favor by getting me out of the way. It could also be an up-and-comer who sold their car or maybe their mom‘s house to afford the hit on me thinking they’ll make that money back a hundred times over once they hit it big.”
“So the source of the recent danger against you,“ Moxxie began, “could be coming from the past, present or future.“
“Yeah,” Verosika agreed. “With how ugly things got in my last contract negotiation, it’s possible the attacks could be coming from an executive at my label.“
“What?“ Millie explained in disbelief. “But the label hired me, Moxxie and Vortex to keep you alive, which we have been doing a kick ass job of.“
“Some people at the label hired you,“ Verosika countered. “That doesn’t rule out that others might want me dead. Also, I would not be surprised if this is coming from one of my fans. As some of them like to point out, I’m not the most respectful to them.“
“Coco’s had us go over your fan mail for red flags,“ Moxxie began. “Someone needs to tell these degenerates that if you want to receive respect, try giving some first,“ Moxxie finished angrily..
“Whoa Moxxie,“ Beelze said. “Where did that come from?“
“I had this one bully growing up,” Moxxie started, “who would treat me like sh*t and then demand I respect him for it.”
Pretty sure the bully he’s talking about is his dad, Verosika thought.
“So the word respect is a sore subject for me,” Moxxie continued. “Especially with people who think they don’t have to earn respect because it’s something they’re owed.“
“I’ve dealt with enough Goetia pricks to know exactly what you mean,“ Beelzebub agreed.
“Anyway,“ Verosika continued, “I’m not bothering with trying to track down who wants me dead because there’s so many suspects and according to Moxxie, there are safeguards in place so that the people sent to kill me can’t be used to trace back to whoever wants me dead.“
“So you’re saying,“ Beelze began, “that your only long-term solution right now is to deal with the attacks as they happen and hope whoever’s trying to kill you eventually runs out of guys?“
“The situation is not that bleak,“ Moxxie chimed in. “Each failed attack raises the price of the contract on Verosika since any hitman will need to be paid extra to compensate for the likely risk of death. At some point, the price will get too high for anyone to afford.“
“Unless a bunch of people,“ Millie spoke up, “get together and pull their money to afford the high price.“ Verosika glared at Millie to make it clear that she was not happy at the mention of this possibility. “What? It could happen.“
Verosika grunted to express that she was pissed with how correct that was.
“Well, then it’s a good thing,“ Verosika began to counter, “that with three attacks having already been foiled, we’re off to a good start with making the price against me unaffordable. “
“Three?“ Maxi asked in confusion.
“I’m counting the one that got Donnie killed,“ Verosika explained.
“Ah,“ Moxxie said in understanding.
The five of them continued to eat and make some small talk.
“So Verosika,“ Beelze spoke up. “Seeing as how much the chainmail shirt I got Vortex helped him, would you want me to get one for you? Keep in mind that this wouldn’t be a freebie since I would have to take in another solid from Satan.“
“Thanks but no thanks,“ Verosika answered. “I considered it before so I had Vortex lend me his chainmail shirt. After it resized itself to me, I found that it would be too heavy for me to lug around all day. And considering how bruised up Vortex got from the shirt stopping the bullets despite being much sturdier than me, it wouldn’t take a lot of shots for me to be incapacitated by blunt force damage. Considering those drawbacks, I don’t think a chainmail shirt for me would be worth it.“
“All right,“ Beelze agreed. They finished their meal and Bee conjured a portal for her and Vortex that they stepped through to leave.
Verosika, Moxxie and Millie spent the rest of the night watching TV and talking.
“Thank you so much for everything you’ve done for me,” Verosika said to the two imps. “I probably wouldn’t even be alive right now if it weren’t for you.”
“You're very welcome,” Millie replied.
“Any chance you can share that sentiment with the label execs?” Moxxie asked.
“Sure,” Verosika answered, “but why is that important?”
“Millie and I currently work for the la bel,” Moxie began, “on a temporary but indefinite basis and we would like our spots to be permanent.”
“I will definitely,” Verosika said, “put in a good word for you two with …….. whoever’s in charge of that decision once I find out who that is.”
I should start coming up with backup plans, Verosika began thinking, to keep them close to me in case the label doesn’t think they deserve permanent spots. Maybe I could get Millie a job working security for someone else at the label. As for Moxxie, in addition to the thought I had earlier of having his guitar work in my next album, I could hire him to be my personal chef/housekeeper. It wouldn’t be that different than if I took in a live-in boyfriend and I gave him some money to take care of household stuff.
Not long after that, it was time to start getting ready for bed.
“What do you want to do for sleeping arrangements?” Moxxie asked.
“I want you both in bed with me,” Verosika answered. “No sex stuff.”
“Ya say that,” Millie began, “but I think you could use a pick-me-up in the form of Moxxie’s tongue skills.”
Moxxie’s only response was a playful grin indicating that he was eager to provide Verosika with some much needed relief. Verosika thought this over. While she was definitely tempted to see what Moxxie had to offer and it wouldn’t be much of an escalation compared to showing the two of them what she could do with her fingers, she wasn’t sure this was the right way to take things further with the two of them. After a brief period of internal debate, Verosika decided to take up Moxxie on his offer.
“Show me what you’ve got,” Verosika said to Moxxie.
Verosika laid down on the bed. Moxxie crawled over to her and plunged his tongue inside her, sending a jolt of pleasure through her. A few minutes later, Verosika had a delightfully intense org*sm.
So to recap, Verosika began thinking, Moxxie’s list of talents includes chef, sharpshooter, guitarist and world-class devourer of puss*. Moxxie crawled to Verosika’s side and hugged Verosika’s midsection while Millie hugged her from the other side. Verosika had a smile on her face as she enjoyed the double hug and basked in the afterglow from Moxxie’s tongue lashing. I could totally get used to this.
Verosika went over the day’s events in her head: having her morning workout with Millie, the spa trip, going shopping, the attack, surprise dinner with Beelze and spending the night with Moxxie and Millie.
Overall, this was a very good day, Verosika thought as she closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep.
