Chay waved away the steam coming from her cup of Pho. The hot peppers opened up her senses and reinvigorated her energy.
She was standing ouside of the Happy Hotel, peering up at the impressive building. On top of Crol's apartment building, it seemed quite large. Up close, it was enormous. Intimidating, even.
"Feeling better now?", Vaggie asked. The moth demon girl was standing next to her, with concerned but caring smile.
"Yeah, I think so." Chay did not remember much of the previous evening. After Husk picked her up and flew off to the city, she lost consciousness. From what she could gather, Husk had decided to take her back to Husk's apartment, where he had gently laid her on his couch to sleep off the chaos of the battle.
That had been where she had woken: on Crol's couch, with the rising sun shining in her eyes.
But there had been no Crol. She had assumed that he had gone back to work, and was probably out in the city puttering around on his cart, slinging soup the way she had met him in the first place.
She spooned some of the rice noodles into her mouth and slurped them down.
"How's the Pho?", Vaggie asked.
"Good. Really good. You said this was made in your Hotel kitchen?"
Vaggie giggled. "Yeah, we've been assembling a great staff."
Vaggie put her hand on Chay's shoulder. "You don't have to go back to Imp City, you know. You could always stay here…" After waking up and eating breakfast, Chay had wandered over to the Hotel, to see it for herself close up. Vaggie had met up on the doorstep, giving the surprised Hungry Ghost an affectionate hug (rather than a licentious grope, which she had come to expect from these kinds of interactions with Sinners).
Chay shook her head. "I appreciate the invitation. But I have some obligations I have in Imp City to deal with. Besides...Imps aren't too bad."
"Yeah, they can be cute little fuckers!"
Angel Dust emerged from the Hotel door, making his way down the stairs. He was wearing a bathrobe, exposing his fluffy chest and...probably more leg than was necessary.
"Don't bother Chay, Angel Dust. She's still recovering…"
"Naw, don't worry. I just gotta talk with her for a bit.", he replied.
Vaggie shook her head. "Just don't do anything stupid."
"Now why would I do somethin' like that, eh?", he said, grinning impishly.
Vaggie sighed to herself as she walked back into the Hotel, leaving Chay and Angel Dust behind.
Angel smiled at Chay, warmly. "Bones...thank you."
"It was just my job, Angel. But I'm glad Shakie is OK."
"Hey, it wasn't just her. Cherri to. And you got a bunch of those girls out of there. Charlie's beside herself with all of the new guests…"
"Well...that last part was Cherri's bit. She managed to get them through that portal before it closed up again…" As it turned out, while Chay and Husk were dealing with their suddenly landing in the wasteland, Cherri had managed to free the girls and get them through the garage portal. Crol had been there to meet them when they showed up. The little kobold was more than happy to get them to the Hotel...
Chay laughed through a mouthful of noodles. "Hope they aren't pestering Shakie..."
"Naw...she'll be fine. She's already fittin' in really well. You shoulda seen her at the Hotel bar last night! Never thought someone could put away that much tequila…Oh! Speak of the devil…"
A small, friendly voice called out from the door. "Miss Ong?"
Chay looked up from her pho. In the doorway was Shakie, wearing a modest tanktop and shorts, smiling meekly but warmly.
"Shakie…it's good to finally meet you. You know, conscious."
"You might regret that soon.", she laughed. "I can be a bit of a buzzkill."
"Aw, c'mon Shakie!", Angel said. "You're a treat!"
"Oh, Angel…Alastor had something to talk to you about. Something about putting a ribbon on his tail?"
"Fuckin' party pooper...can't take a decent joke." Angel Dust marched back through the door grumbling to himself.
Chay watched him walk back up the stoop. I hate to see him leave, but...
"Chay? Can I call you Chay?", Shakie asked her.
The Hungry Ghost girl turned back to the meek feline-demon. "Yeah, sure. That's what my friends call me…"
"I...I wanna thank you, for letting me get here and, you know, not sending me back to Valentino."
Chay shook her head. "I had half an hour with him. That was all the time I needed to know to stay away from him."
"Yeah...he has that effect on people. He can worm his way into your head, you know. Play on all of your fears and your desires. He told me I was going to be a big star…"
Chay held up her hand. "You don't have to explain anything to me, Shakie. I'm just glad you made it."
And she meant it. She wasn't sure how, but being near Shakie, near this Hotel….it actually made her feel better. Feel good .
"Chay...if you're ever in town, could you visit?"
Chay scratched her nose hole. "Well...I guess. Gonna have to find a less dangerous way of getting here from Imp City, though…"
Chay shoveled more noodles into her mouth, slurping them down through her teeth.
-Now that I think about it….how am I going to get back to Imp City to begin with?
Their conversation was interrupted by the rumble of an engine.
A motor could be heard, coming up the roadway...only this time, it wasn't driving quite as recklessly.
A familiar black Assault Vehicle pulled up to the Hotel. There was no longer any insignia showing on it's chassis. It was just smooth black, and freshly polished.
There were no flying trashcans or busted water hydrants...just simple, responsible driving.
The driver door popped open. A squat kobold-demon hopped down onto the pavement.
"Hey Chay!", Crol shouted as he tossed her the keys. "Look at what I found!"
Chay shook her head, laughing. "Christ on a stick, Crol…."
He slapped the side of the vehicle. "I decided to use that highway portal one more time. Found this baby in mid-repair in their garage. Decided I could salvage it a little…"
Chay walked around the vehicle, inspecting it's parts. The tires were fully pumped, the windows were clear...everything was freshly cleaned.
"You did all of this in one morning?", Chay asked.
"Even got the gas tank filled up. Gun is oiled, to. Like I told ya, Chay…old fashioned hard work.", he winked at her.
"Yeah….you had to blow someone again, didn't you?"
The kobold-demon mockingly grabbed his chest, "Oh, Chay my dear! You wound me!"
A vibration came from Chay's pocket. It was her hellphone. She reached in and looked at the caller ID.
It was Lucius. She hit the answer button.
"This isn't Viola again, is it?"
"What? No, it's Lu. Has Viola been using my phone?"
"Only one charger, right?"
"Well….yeah, touche. Listen, I just got a message from Val's people. The debt's been forgiven."
"Good news. Maybe you'll think twice about who you stick your dick in from now on…"
"….Ouch. You wound me."
"Well, in the mean time, we need to discuss getting me an office, since we can actually afford one now..."
"With the money Val just sent our way, we could afford an entire office complex!"
"Yeah, and then you can answer a few questions….like how you got Flynn's gun..."
"Oh, hey! I think I hear Viola calling me! Listen, do you need someone to come get you? I'm guessing you're not going to cross the wasteland on foot."
Chay looked over at the Assault Vehicle. She smirked.
"No...I got that taken care of."
THE END
(Chay Ong will return in Volume 2: If You Want Somebody Gone..."