#tw 50s gelatin creations :(

[angie-long-legs]

The media demon's smug attempt at a "gotcha" was to be expected - Angel never prodded at Vox without being more than prepared for backlash. But it was just so fun to poke the bear!

"Wow, he let ya borrow his toothbrush?!" Angel gasped with exaggerated elation, sarcasm dripping from every syllable. "And they say romance is dead! Be still, my non-beatin' heart."

An elbow swung out to prop itself on Vox's shoulder as he rested his head in his hand, leaning heavily on the shorter sinner with a shit-eating grin. "Come back ta me when he's lettin' ya borrow his fluffy handcuffs. Though I'm sure Mista hot-shot CEO wouldn't be caught dead in somethin' like that, right?" the spider added airily, flouncing after Velvette with a knowing smirk.

Through in the kitchen, Angel was pleasantly surprised by the softening of Velvette's features at Angel's acclaim. The spider's opinion meant very little to any of the Vees, so he hadn't expected that singing the fashion designer's praises would have any impact other than boosting her already swollen ego. Right on cue, Velvette's doll-like features were re-moulded into cold plastic, sharp and self-assured.

Angel's own expression mirrored hers.

"Honey, I could do all that with my eyes closed and my hands tied behind my back," the porn star scoffed with a saucy glint in his eye. "Though from what I'm hearin', this ain't that kinda show."

No matter - he was born to be on reality TV! He was a drama queen, he was already famous... the people would love him! Besides, the word "slay" was literally in the name of the show, and fashion plus competition equalled one extremely cutthroat porn-star.

He could use this win to prove that he could do more than just porn.

Shifting his thoughts from his career, Angel took in the abundance of food that Velvette was talking him through. He chose to ignore the pointed pineapple comment, making a beeline for the pepperoni pizza before the Overlord could finish her dinner tour and sliding a couple of slices onto a paper plate. Between his exhausting shift at work and his unintentionally long nap, Angel hadn't had a chance to eat, and he was starving. Greedily, he grabbed a fistful of fries to add to the growing pile on his plate, as well as a few chicken tenders for good measure. At the mention of the chocolate cake, he whirled around to find Vox and Valentino tittering and elbowing each other like naughty children. What was so funny about a cake? Before Angel could open his mouth to demand an answer, he was being shown a far more bizarre addition to the spread.

What appeared to be a fish composed entirely of gelatin lay on its deathbed of wilted lettuce, stuffed-olive eyes portraying a depth of emotion than one would think impossible for an inanimate jello abomination. Not only did the creature look as though it loathed to have been brought into existence, but it had been somewhat disembowled - though who would dare attempt to taste something so utterly unappetising, Angel had no idea.

However, as a pair of hands grasped him from behind and a hushed voice warned him to avoid the aquatic nightmare, the culprit - nay, victim - revealed himself.

"Are ya kiddin'?!" Angel shot back at the man leaning over his shoulder. Of course Val had sampled the fish. By the looks of things, Val had "sampled" most of the food available: cartoon-like bites has been taken out of every other snack on the table, leading the spread to look appropriately moth-eaten. "That shit looks like prison food fa kids," the actor whispered shrilly. "Ya couldn't pay me ta eat that. Did Vox make it?!"

Sure enough, Vox was gazing lovingly at his gelatin baby, a veritable Doctor Frankenstein to his monstrous creation. What was next?! Would he use his electrokinesis to actually bring the damn thing to life? Angel snickered under his breath at the thought.

Now, Velvette's proposal of playing Truth or Dare caught his attention! A hand shot up, narrowly avoiding whacking the moth poised behind him in the face as he did so. "Ooh! Me!" Angel enthused, momentarily forgetting about the plate of food he had been picking at. This game could get juicy. "As long as no one dares me ta try the fish. That's a hard limit, ya got it?"

Vox's lame retort about licking things earned nothing more than an eye roll from the already irritated spider. It wasn't a Vees sleepover if Angel wasn't at least mildly peeved within seconds of walking through the door.

However, Val losing what little remained of his composure at Angel's head brushing his back was admittedly a little entertaining. Did he honestly think he was fooling anyone with this sad excuse for a "prank"? For the second time since entering the Penthouse (the remarkably short time span of a few minutes), Angel was questioning exactly how this man with his pre-pubescent sense of humour was his soul's keeper. The influential, formidable Valentino, Overlord of Lust, member of the infamous Vees... now screeching wildly behind the couch, shaking the back of it with his heaving giggles, squealing at Angel's obvious indication that he was entirely undeceived.

No one down here had the privilege of their humanity any longer, people like Valentino least of all, but in these moments there was something undeniably real about the sinner. A glimmer of something human. A glimpse of the man behind the monster.

Even more interesting than Val's childish hilarity was Vox's telling response to Angel's attempt to embarrass him, which prompted a wicked smirk from the spider. Oh, that could not have got a better reaction if he'd tried.

Maybe hanging out with these three assholes wouldn't be quite such a drag after all.

"Hard disagree, there, pal," he snickered. "Yer girl voice was almost believable - a little Minnie Mouse, but hey, maybe Al was inta it!" he continued to antagonise. He did rather enjoy the chance to humiliate Vox - not that Media Demon didn't frequently do it to himself. "Yer accent, however... not ya finest hour, V. But hey, if ya think it was so believable, I'm sure Velvette would love ta hear it... ya record all of Al's shows, right?"

Right on cue, the other two Overlords who supposedly "couldn't make it" reared their heads, Valentino abandoning his hiding place in favour of looming over the seated spider. His grin was gloating and gleeful, pink tears of hilarity still present in his laughter-creased eyes as he gave Angel's hair a playful flick. "Yeah, ya got me, alright," Angel deadpanned, sarcastic and thoroughly unimpressed as he glowered up from his position on the couch. "Look at my face - I'm astounded."

He turned his head to throw Velvette a nod of acknowledge, only managing a brief wave to their custom Fizzbot, Kitty, before she was unceremoniously banished from the party.

The jeering of the moth was expected, of course, and Angel's eyes narrowed to slits in combination with a bored scowl. "Ya done now?" he sighed, wondering if Val intended to continue chain-insulting him much longer. Thankfully, the mockery was brought to a close at the mention of Angel stealing a certain television demon's toothbrush. That was the second eye roll of the night - and it wouldn't be the last.

"He wouldn't let me borrow his," Angel grumbled in explanation to a disgruntled looking Vox. "Somethin' about how he didn't want Angel Dust cooties - like he didn't have his tongue down my throat not half an hour earlier." Was that a dig at Mister "VAL LOVES VOX"? Perhaps.

Next thing he knew, Velvette was beckoning him towards the kitchen with the promise of food. There had better be some pizza that wasn't disgraced by the presence of pineapple.

"Nice goin' with the new show, Vel," he offered as they made their way through the house. Out of the three of them, Velvette was the most consistently tolerable, so he begrudged her company far less than the other two Overlords. In his exhausted state, her snarky demeanour seemed a touch more bearable than Val's childish high jinks or Vox's equally childish jealous boyfriend routine. "Reckon it'll be a hit. Well, 'course it will be, doll - I'm gonna be in it!"