Chapter Text
Despite Val still being pissed at Vox for the ‘I’m going to kill all of you and myself because I was brutally rejected over 50 years ago by a stupid fucking dick of a deer and okay maybe I have a bunch of undiagnosed mental illnesses’ fiasco that happened a few months ago... he still caved pretty quickly into sleeping with him again.
Not “sleeping”, but actually laying down on pillows with blankets pulled up to your chest sleeping, because Val sleeps better when Vox is there, dammit.
Maybe it's because silence presses in too much when Val's alone and he needs Vox’s fans whirring quietly to break it. Maybe it's because sometimes Val gets scared of the dark and feels better when he can turn and see the dim glow of Vox's screen that lets Val know he's not fully asleep yet. Maybe it's because Val thinks Vox's chest is the perfect pillow.
Whatever the reasons, Val started sleeping in Vox's bed too soon for his “I'm mad at you” phase, but well, he is still mad.
At this point Vox has his body back with strict limitations and rules set by Vel and Val on what he can and can't do right now as they do damage control for the company.
His days consist of staying in the penthouse and doing behind the scenes work, but not nearly the amount he did as CEO. They'll probably give the title back to him someday because it's a fuck ton of boring paperwork neither Vel or Val wants to do, but it certainly won't be until the citizens of Hell forget the incident that nearly blew them all up.
So Vox has a body and restrictions and dives into hobbies like cooking and reading, and at the end of the day he wordlessly lets Val slide under the covers with him.
Neither of them acknowledge it. Maybe it's because Vox doesn't think he's allowed to mention it, maybe it's because Val doesn't want to examine why he needs to sleep here when he's still mad at Vox, but they do it anyway.
Val doesn't touch him in bed. Vox stays on his side and Val curls up away from him on the other side. They don't speak ever.
No sharing a cigarette after sex, no teasing each other, no watching a terrible rom com together.
And every morning Val rises and leaves without a word to go to his room to get dressed, leaving Vox to sleep in.
It's their new routine and it's…fine.
Except something changed this morning.
Val rises with his alarm- that's not new. He's been getting up earlier because now there's more work on his plate.
Val stands and stretches his arms over his head, shirt rising up. He wears actual pajamas to bed now, a pair of pink cotton shorts and an oversized T-shirt from Velvette's TeeVees collection- it's got Val's studio logo on the front.
He makes his way to the door, all part of his new routine when -
“Val?”
He tenses, hand on the knob. He hears the rustle of sheets as Vox moves to stand, making his way over to Val.
“What is it, Vox? I've got to get to work,” he says, and… Satan, when has Valentino ever wanted to go to work over sleeping in?
Except he knows why he wants to go to work. It's because if Vox starts talking, starts offering up bullshit excuses or apologies Val is going to be so angry.
He doesn't look at Vox.
He can hear Vox's claws clink against each other, something he does when he's uncertain. Well fuck him, he should be nervous after what he did.
“I wanted to…”
Val waits but the thought isn't finished.
He moves to turn the door knob.
“Val, wait-”
Val turns on him so fast.
“Wait? Wait for what?! You aren't saying what you want to say so you're wasting my time, Vox, let -”
“I wanted to kiss you goodbye.”
Val blinks, stares at Vox.
“What?” He asks dumbly.
Vox folds his arms behind his back, rocks back on his heels.
“I want to kiss you goodbye, wish you a good day at work.”
Val doesn't say anything, too busy processing what has been said.
Vox looks nervous again.
“Look, I'll go back to bed and we can pretend I never said anything… but I just wanted to put it out there that I… that I WANT you to have a good day, and maybe that's stupid of me because I'm sure there's more on your plate than ever before because of my actions, but I W-waNt to be a good… partner, YOUR partner, if that's something that's even still possible after I fucked everything up, but if you don't want… THAT... I understand and I'll...I'll leave you be.”
And despite everything Val feels his cheeks heat.
Because it's everything Val's ever wanted- Vox offering him sweet and tender moments without the label of business partners, actually acknowledging this… THING between them, wanting to give Val the happily ever after no matter how long it takes to get back to a good place together, asking for the intimate moments shared between married couples, people who care about each other so much they can't let the other leave in the morning without wishing them a good day.
A simple kiss goodbye in the morning.
Except it's not simple at all because Vox is not simple at all. A kiss to him means a lot more, a casual intimate moment means more.
It's Vox holding out his heart in his hands for Val to take, to do whatever he wants with it. He could crush it just as easily as he could hug it close to him.
And despite the parts of Val that are so fucking pissed at the audacity of Vox right now, the parts that want to scream at him and shake him and cry about how much Vox hurt him, hurt Velvette… there's parts that want to take the olive branch.
Vox isn't asking for sex, he isn't demanding anything. He's saying that he wants to kiss Valentino goodbye not because he thinks it'll have him forgiven faster, not because he thinks it's what Val wants, he's saying it because he wants Val to know he's thinking about him… loves him with his own little act of care- a kiss goodbye in the morning before work.
“Fine, you can kiss me,” he says, and maybe it comes off a little snappish, but he says it all the same.
Vox leans in slowly, reaches a hand up to cup Val's face.
Val can't help but lean into it. They haven't touched in so long.
Vox presses a kiss to Val's cheek. Maybe he knows Val can't take a kiss on the lips yet, maybe he's scared Val will pull away cruelly at the last moment.
Maybe they need to work their way back to what they were with baby steps, or maybe they actually need to completely start over and redefine what their relationship is.
But he presses a kiss to Val's cheek and it's a start.
“I hope you have a good day at work,” Vox says quietly into the space between them.
Val nods and reaches for the door knob, turning it and making his way to his room to dress for the day.
And he swears he can feel Vox's kiss on his cheek throughout the day.
And Val smiles to himself because his routine will be changing for the better.
It'll take time, lots of time, but they'll heal.
One goodbye kiss in the morning at a time.