Chapter Text
You can hear someone giggling down the hallway from your room. It’s not exactly the easiest to tune out, especially with how constant it is. Getting up from your bed with a huff, you stand up and stretch. The lavish bed doesn’t creak as you leave it, which is a sound you’ve almost started to miss.
Before you arrived at the Hazbin Hotel, you resided in a small little excuse for an apartment. It obviously wasn’t the best, but it was all you could find on such short notice of spawning in Hell. You weren’t the greatest person when you were alive—always using people for your own things, whether it be free food or robbing them blind of their most valuable things and dipping. You had it all, but eventually you stole from the wrong person and they hated you for it, enough to take from you the most valuable thing of all.
Upon waking up in this red landscape, you instantly knew you needed a safe place to stay. Perhaps it was the spilled guts on the sidewalk that told you this. So you ran to the nearest apartment complex and charmed your way into getting a free room. It was simple enough; you’ve gotten more expensive things for way less work, but the streets didn’t look very inviting. You told yourself you’d find a better place when you got more accustomed to Hell, but at the same time you grew more accustomed to your banged-up little room, and so you decided to let it be.
Until, that is, you experienced your first Extermination. Angels everywhere, dying Sinners everywhere. Your apartment, though so pathetic that it was practically unnoticeable in the grand scheme of things, still had the chance of being a target. You sure as hell weren’t going to stick around and find out. Splattered all over the walls alongside the newly-shed blood, there were dozens of posters for something called a “Hazbin Hotel.” Supposedly guaranteeing safety from Exterminations and a free room in exchange for simply trying to be a better person, you made your way over there. Of course, you had no intention of being a “Winner,” but that didn’t mean you couldn’t fake it.
And now you find yourself walking down the long red hallway to find the giggling culprit. Gold outlines and photo frames on the walls sparkle in the corners of your eye, and you can’t help but admire the exceptional decor. Though, it could do with slightly less red.
“Charlie?” You peek around the corner, slightly irritated. The blonde Princess whips around to look at you, clearly startled. Her phone jumps in the air for a second and she rushes to catch it.
“Oh my gosh—Y/N! Hi! Gosh, you really scared me, I thought you were Vaggie.” Charlie’s bouncing on her heels, and you wouldn’t be surprised if she exploded into a cloud of confetti. She scrambles over to you and shoves her phone screen in your face. The brightness makes you squint and hiss.
“Look! Look what I’ve got us! VoxTek is gonna come over for a special and tell all of Hell what we’ve done and how it really works! That redemption is possible! And that Pentious is in Heaven!”
You blink at her. You haven’t been in Hell for very long, but you’ve heard of VoxTek. Run by the powerful overlord Vox, the company controls pretty much all media in the Pride Ring of Hell. Everywhere you looked, you could always find some sort of advertisement for the latest VoxTek technology.
A slightly concerned expression dons your face. “Okay…not too sure what you want me to do with that. What, do I have to dress up or something?”
Charlie’s wide grin doesn’t falter at your disinterest. “No no no, you don’t have to do anything! Except, y’know, maybe you could say a couple of good things about the Hotel and how much progress you’ve made—“ she clicks finger guns at you. “—you’ve been doing incredible! Keep it up, Y/N!”
“Thanks, I guess.” You shrug. All you cared about was a free room and free food, and you didn’t mind playing nice for it.
Charlie scampers off, probably to go giggle more in some random corner about her success in getting publicity regarding redemption not being a joke.
——
For being free food, it was devilishly good. The pantry was always stocked with all the ingredients one could ever need to make a feast, if they so wished. Even if you were just looking for a quick fix, you were always able to find something to satisfy your hunger.
This time you choose a big pack of chocolate biscuits. Blood Bites, they were called, with a milk chocolate shell hiding a yummy red strawberry cream. Intending to enjoy it in your room without being forced to share it with anyone, you were about to leave the kitchen when a loud buzzing met your ears. There sure were a lot of annoying sounds grinding your gears today. Deciding if you should pursue the source of the noise, you make to walk out the door when a navy blue and gray drone blocks you instead, pointing its camera directly into your eyes. With how hard it seemed to focus on you, it felt like it was trying to see into your soul. You immediately spot the VoxTek logo on its side and figured that whatever reporter the company had sent was already here.
Slinking past the drone and attempting to ignore it following you, you walk into the Hotel lobby to see Charlie excitedly waving her arms and talking, likely about redemption or something. You follow her gaze to a looming, slender, 7 feet tall demon. His side profile almost makes you laugh, but the way he presents himself sends chills down your spine that instantly wipe the smirk off your face. There’s an odd, slightly-intimidating air about him, and you recognize him when he turns to see who entered the room: Vox. You lock eyes with him, and his bright red slits narrow. He flashes an astonishingly-cyan grin at you, his sharp teeth glinting. You don’t return it.
“Yes, yes Princess,” Vox says, not taking his eyes off of you as he dismisses Charlie’s animated gestures. “Whatever talk of redemption doesn’t matter if we don’t know who it’s happening to! Why don’t we get to know some of your guests better? Velvette, cameras!”
Velvette, who you could only assume was the woman at Vox’s side, had the same intimidating air as her colleague. However, it felt more like a vibe of “she can and will obliterate your social reputation” rather than “she’s going to brutally murder you,” like the freaky TV-headed demon next to her. Without a word, she swiped her finger onto her phone. Your little drone stalker from earlier moved in front of you, whirring and skittering left and right to capture the perfect angle. You feel a little embarrassed holding your box of Blood Bites now, and you hide it behind your back. Not that it helps.
Instead of just walking the 10 feet distance, Vox snaps his fingers and uses electricity to teleport directly in front of you. You can’t help but think he’s a show off. It was so obvious this guy used his powers whenever he had the chance, even if it would just be easier to not use them.
“You seem like you have something actually interesting to say! No offense,” Vox loudly states, clicking his claws at Charlie. She chuckles awkwardly.
The miles long grin never leaves his face as he stares you down. “So, tell me,” he starts, grabbing your hand and spinning you around. “What would you say is the worst part about this—Hotel? Any bad experiences? Unruly roommates?”
Vox’s flurry of questions feels like an assault. “Uhh—“
You see his eyes move down to your Blood Bites.
“I see you’ve had to resort to only eating unhealthy sweets in place of actual meals! Vel, you getting this?”
“Wait, no,” you try to get a word in. “The meals are fine. There’s a great selection here, actually.”
Vox’s screen glitches a little at your contradictory response, but he quickly regains his composure. He straightens himself up and fixes his suit jacket. “Well, I bet I could get you a better one! You can always trust us to provide employees and guests alike with a hearty meal. It’s just one of many benefits of associating with VoxTek Enterprises.”
Ads for VoxTek employment were always running on the TV channels. There was always an emphasis on bringing other companies down to bring VoxTek up. Free this, free that. Although you can’t ignore the fact that free “this and thats” are what brought you to the Hotel in the first place.
A small uneasiness is beginning to grow in the pit of your stomach. You glance at Charlie, who now looks a little unsure of her VoxTek special idea. You feel a little bad about how much Vox is bashing the Hotel.
“I’m alright,” you say, deciding to help Charlie out a bit. “Like I said, the food here is fine. Honestly, I enjoy it. I just happen to really like Blood Bites, if that’s what you’re worried about. It’s not the only edible thing around here.”
From behind Vox’s tall figure you spot Charlie giving you a smile and thumbs up.
Vox seethes a little. Velvette comes up close to him. “We should interview someone else, I’ve never seen anyone ride the idea of this shitty sinner-to-winner Hotel so hard besides Charlie herself.”
Her words remind you of the already-laughable reputation of this place. Only recently had it garnered popularity with the Sinners, and even then they weren’t checking in for the right reasons. You weren’t either, but you at least had respect for Charlie’s attempt and determination.
Vox steals a look at you and turns to Velvette. “No, I like what I’m working with. Trust me, I’ll have them begging to leave this rundown pitstop with us in a minute.” He grins that awful grin at you again, and you reply with a scoff. You notice that he is strangely fixated on interacting with you specifically. There are other guests roaming the place, and yet Vox is very focused on your opinions.
“Excuse me?” You say, eyeing the TV demon carefully. “I’d much prefer this ‘rundown pitstop’ than whatever you’ve got going on at V Tower. I’ve seen the ads, Mr. Vox, and I don’t feel like signing my soul away to be stuck with you or any of your crazy friends.”
Another glitch flits across Vox’s screen, this time more colorful. “Oh, but you will.” His eyes shine with confidence and something else that you can’t quite make out. He snaps his fingers again and a watch appears in his hand with a sharp crackle of blue electricity. “Courtesy of VoxTek. Keep this with you, for when you change your mind,” Vox says, putting it on you without asking. You move your wrist and the dark screen glimmers in the light. No thanks come out of your mouth, but he seems to be getting a kick out of your cold attitude towards him.
With one last intense look at you, Vox finally moves away and goes back to Charlie. “Right then, Princess, forget about the guest perspectives for now. Where were we? Let’s shift our focus onto your little redemption thing again.”
——
“Can’t believe she decided to invite Vox of all people to come here,” Cherri Bomb says, painting her nails a hot red. Like you, she enjoyed the Hotel’s benefits and chose to stick around for a bit. Thus, you two bonded over not actually giving a damn about being a “winner.” Right now you both were hanging out in your room.
“I know,” you agree. “When she said she was having a VoxTek special done, I didn’t think she meant with Vox himself. Did you see the way Vaggie reacted when she found out?”
“Shocked? Yeah, we all were. And poor Angel. Feel bad for the guy, you know? Guy’s got so much going on, ‘specially with that fuckass moth.” Cherri scowls.
You look down at your wrist, having forgotten that Vox has slapped one of his company’s expensive watches on it. You grimace at the memory, but you can’t help but feel slightly intrigued at Vox’s interest in you. What about you could he be so fascinated with that he gives you a piece of technology easily worth thousands without a second thought?
Cherri swings her legs off of the bed. “I think I’m gonna go check on Angel. Later, punk.”
She winks at you and leaves. As the door closes, you remove the watch from your wrist and place it on the bedside table. Turning off the light switch by throwing a random book at it, you pull the blankets up close to your chin and let out a small sigh. The watch lays on the table. Maybe out of respect for the Hotel, you should toss it. But there’s something about it and the way Vox presented it to you that stops you from doing so.