"Perhaps it's some sort of elaborate test to see how good I am at finding things. Maybe it's an obscure building that I need to keep my eyes peeled for...that is quite ingenious!" Chaleureux said in deep thought as he stood in front of a building with a pair of black and white horns resting atop the sides of it. He seemed to pay little mind to this loud structure as he looked at the much smaller neighboring buildings instead, thinking one of these must be it. His eyes caught a small bakery called "Daddy's Donuts" and a lightbulb had gone off in his mind.
"A bakery! Of course! It's a classic cover-up, just like in all those crime films I watched...absolute genius." Chaleureux chuckled to himself, thinking he had figured out how all of this worked, and briskly strutted over to the building and made no attempt to be quiet as he stepped inside. There were a few imps at the tables scattered about the establishment that sat on a generic black and white checkered floor, they were naturally just eating donuts and minding their own business. He paid these customers no mind and approached the cashier that was manning the register and gave him a smug look.
"Ahem, I'm here for the..."job" you have advertised on your poster," Chaleureux said cooly and as smoothly as he could, the lanky imp just staring at him with an unamused expression.
"We're not hiring, sir."
"Hahaha! Quite a joker you are, but seriously, I'm here for the "secret job" that you keep behind this...ahem...front for a bakery." Chaleureux reiterated, the cashier blinking at him with a look of disbelief.
"We don't have a secret job, sir. We're not hiring."
These words would only begin to agitate Chaleureux and he clenched his fists, starting to show signs of frustration as he glared at the cashier. He leaned in, gritting his teeth, his eyes looking as though they would fall out of his skull at any second.
"Your. Secret. Job...the I.M.P job." He whispered sharply to the cashier who looked at him with an uncomfortable expression, but this expression would soon turn to one of realization as to what the zombie-like man was suggesting.
"Oh! You mean the guys next-"
"Good morning, Tenebras." A high-pitched and loud voice politely greeted the cashier, a shorter imp in a black tuxedo approaching the counter and raising a brow upon seeing how uncomfortably close Chaleureux was to him. This prompted the heir to quickly move away from him and adjust himself, playing it off as though nothing had happened.
"Er...hey Moxxie." The cashier cleared his throat, staring at Chaleureux for a few seconds before paying attention to the short imp.
"Yes, I will take the usual. We have a hungry crowd as always...add a few extra chocolate donuts while you're at it." The imp said to the cashier after a few moments of pondering.
"Yeah, yeah. I hear you, and maybe while you're at it, you can direct your little applicant here to the right building? This is the fifth person who has come here thinking we're a front for an assassination business in a month!" The cashier said in response, pointing to Chaleureux. The imp looked over at him, a perplexed expression on his face upon getting a better look at him.
"You mean to tell me that this ISN'T a front? But...it's so obvious, what idiot made these stupid posters anyway?!" Chaleureux asked in a ranting fashion, facepalming and letting out a deep sigh. Moxxie raised a finger, wanting to say something in response to that, but decided not to and simply just cleared his throat and adjusted his bowtie.
"If you're looking to find a suitable position at our humble company, I am more than glad to point you in the right direction as I am just about to head there myself. It's the building with the horns on the sides." The imp explained in a matter-of-fact tone.
"Building...with horns..." Chaleureux repeated what the imp had just said to him, walking over to one of the windows and peering out of it, and noticing the building that this fancily-dressed imp was referring to. He stared at it for a few seconds in disbelief before snapping his head in the direction of the imp, who had just received his box of donuts and was walking towards the exit. He quickly caught up with him and walked beside him to the HQ of this strange organization.
"You people operate so openly? How strange..." The rough-voiced heir said in disbelief as they walked. He had no idea if he would even be able to adapt to this environment, but he knew that he had to for the sake of his dear Salima.
"Well, for your information, we are well-trained for what we do and are considered the best in our industry. We are not just simple street thugs, we are murd-" As the imp lectured Chaleureux, one of his feet would step on a banana peel, causing the box of donuts to go flying in the air.
"NOT THE DONUTS!" Both men shouted, Chaleureux quickly diving into the would-be splash zone of the donut box, intent on preventing the precious pastries from meeting a concrete-filled demise. Alas, it was not destined to be as instead of catching the box, it would turn upside down right before it fell, every donut falling out and pelting Chaleureux, coating him in chocolate and glaze. The imp, having seen what just happened, quickly got up from the ground and ran over to check on Chaleureux.
"Hey, are you okay?!" He asked, shaking Chaleureux's shoulders. Two of his eyes were covered by two round, glazed donuts and he looked dazed.
"I see the light...the light! Wait...that's just sugar...ugh, this is going to be horrible to clean out of my beautiful hair!" Chaleureux grumbled, wiping the donuts off of his face and getting up. He did the best he could wipe the mess off of his suit before just giving up and sighing.
"My deepest condolences, sir. Someone appeared to have put a conveniently-placed banana peel in my path, causing me to tumble onto my rear." The imp apologized, Chaleureux just waving him off dismissively.
"Whatever, whatever! I've spent hours searching for a job, let's just go, I want to apply and then wash my divine locks in peace!" Chaleureux said impatiently, lightly touching his hair and wincing when he realized it had bits of glaze inside of it.
"Of course! We can do that right now. Er...may I have your name?" He asked the young heir, who simply mumbled a "Chaleureux" to him in response.
"Charlie Roo, understood! Allow me to introduce myself, my name is Moxxie." Moxxie politely introduced himself, though his mispronunciation of Chaleureux's name would earn him an irritated glare. Still, Chaleureux decided not to rant further and for once, show some restraint. This could be the only job he could even get in this city in addition to it being one he could do, and he was not about to squander it because of some presumed lackey.
𝘈 𝘧𝘦𝘸 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘶𝘵𝘦𝘴 𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘳...
"Thanks for telling me a bit about yourself, Mister Roo. But um...it says here that you're a human?" Asked Moxxie as they neared the end of their ascent of a long flight of stairs.
"Long story short, I'm not fully dead. You do not need to know anything more than that, do you? Please say no..." Chaleureux said, mumbling that last part as he folded his arms.
"Ah? I...don't think so? Though in the years I've spent living in our humble little city, I have seen stranger things. There was this one time that I..." Moxxie had begun to recount some of his life experiences briefly with Chaleureux, but the half-dead human would zone him out completely, having zero interest in hearing anything about him. As they finally made it to the door on the seventh floor that lead straight into the reception lobby, a hellhound would be on her phone, her legs lazily perched atop her desk.
"Ahem, wait here, Mister Roo. I'll go get our boss, he should be here already. Assuming he isn't fucking that- erm, I mean, busy with other affairs." Moxxie sharply corrected himself, motioning Chaleureux to go sit at one of the chairs and wait.
"Right, well don't keep me waiting too long. My beautiful hair will be smelling like a donut from night to morning, and the last thing I need is for it to smell like that for longer." Chaleureux said in response, motioning for Moxxie to hurry along to which he nodded and quickly went through a door. The would-be resident of hell then promptly plopped onto a chair and crossed one of his legs, waiting for Moxxie to return. All he had to do for now was think to himself... and listen to the incessant tapping of a smartphone coming from the dog-like creature at the reception desk, the simulated clicking of typing irritating him slightly.
"Even in hell, the lackeys are ineffective..." Grumbled a remark from the half-dead heir, prompting the hellhound to shoot a scowl at him. This only made him scowl back, giving her the stink-eye. Before this hostile exchange of glances could escalate further, the sound of a bombastic-sounding voice would snap him out of it and he covered his ears.
"My SATAN, who died in here?! Smells like chocolate on roadkill in here!" Said an unusually tall imp as he stepped into the reception area, Chaleureux cursed to himself, he had to find a way to deal with his decay when he got back home. This tall imp noticed him instantly and strutted over, grinning right at him.
"Sir, it says here in his application that he is a "half-dead human" I don't think it's something that he can-" Moxxie tried to reason with the tall imp, but this only earned him a "Didn't ask, M! Last I checked, I'm the interviewer here!"
"But sir! It also says here tha-" Moxxie's lips would be squeezed shut by the claw-like fingers of the taller imp, before continuing to speak, "Kids, you love 'em one day, you devour 'em the next!" He remarked to Chaleureux with a forced laugh, the zombie-like young man beginning to have second thoughts about this job. He already didn't like this imp, he was quite loud and obnoxious, which would be quite hypocritical coming from him. Regardless, he formulated a response to the tall imp, confidently standing from his chair.
"I am here for a job, surely you wouldn't deny such divine royalty as myself a position of great value? If need be, I could give you some of my earthly material goods for your cooperation resulting in my immediate acceptance into your organization." Chaleureux said in a long-winded, pretentious fashion. It was something he saw as a good strategy for getting a job, unaware as to just how asinine it made him sound. The tall imp just stared at him blankly as he spoke, having seemed to zone him out the same way Chaleureux had zoned out Moxxie earlier. Upon finishing, the tall imp asked a simple question.
"Well, can ya kill people?"
"Well, yes. I did once poison a-" Chaleureux was about to speak again before he interrupted with a "Cool, you're hired!"
"Ahhh? What?" Chaleureux looked taken aback by the sudden acceptance, the tall imp wrapping an arm around him in an uncomfortable fashion and exclaiming in a faux-friendly voice "Welcome to the family!" then leaned into Chaleureux, whispering to him in a menacing tone, "Don't fuck it up." before promptly letting go of Chaleureux. For once in his life, he seemed intimidated and nervously nodded in acknowledgment.
"I'm Blitzo! The O is silent, and I'm the CEO and founder of I.M.P! We hope you'll enjoy your time working for us! But if you don't, that's okay! You can file a complaint at the whiny bitch department!" The tall imp sarcastically introduced himself as Blitzo, Chaleureux now wondering what he had gotten himself into.
"Alright, then." Began Chaleureux, folding his arms and looking right at Blitzo with an unamused stare, "When do I start, exactly?"
"Be here tomorrow at 5 AM sharp! Your job is more important than admiring your undead ass in the mirror, after all!" Said Blitzo in a mocking fashion, which would visibly make Chaleureux angry.
"I'll have you know that I-"
"Tomorrow at 5 AM sharp, rich boy." Blitzo cut him off with a smug grin, making the half-dead human storm off in frustration, but more to avoid risking his job being lost for the sake of Salima.
"Sir," Moxxie began, clearing his throat. "I forgot to mention something else in regards to Mister Roo." He informed Blitzo, the tall imp shrugging it off as though it weren't important.
"Whatever it is, I'm sure it's-"
"Apparently, he shares his...er...body, with someone else named "Salima" that he claims to be his wife. Are you sure hiring him was the best idea? He doesn't seem to be the most...sane?" Moxxie asked the I.M.P boss, to which he simply laughed, patting Moxxie on the back.
"As someone who has hired such great people in the past, I can safely say- No! But that's okay! Sometimes a bit of kookiness is necessary in our line of work, which is all part of the experience, M. Life is a bitch, and we gotta make it OURS!" Blitzo responded in his usual loud fashion, though he had other thoughts about the idea of having another couple part of his company.
𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨...
𝑶𝒖𝒓 𝒅𝒊𝒗𝒊𝒏𝒆 𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒅𝒐𝒎 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒃𝒍𝒐𝒔𝒔𝒐𝒎 𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒐 𝒂 𝒃𝒆𝒂𝒖𝒕𝒊𝒇𝒖𝒍 𝒆𝒎𝒑𝒊𝒓𝒆, 𝒎𝒚 𝒅𝒆𝒂𝒓!
𝑨 𝒈𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒑 𝒐𝒇 𝒍𝒐𝒚𝒂𝒍 𝒔𝒐𝒍𝒅𝒊𝒆𝒓𝒔, 𝒅𝒆𝒅𝒊𝒄𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒄𝒂𝒖𝒔𝒆...𝒕𝒓𝒖𝒍𝒚 𝒂 𝒔𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒃𝒆𝒉𝒐𝒍𝒅. 𝑾𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒔𝒉𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒅𝒐𝒎'𝒔 𝒏𝒂𝒎𝒆 𝒃𝒆?
𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑴𝒂𝒔𝒒𝒖𝒆𝒔 𝒅𝒆 𝑳𝒊𝒃𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏, 𝑴.𝑫.𝑳! 𝑰𝒕 𝒃𝒆𝒈𝒊𝒏𝒔 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒓𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕𝒇𝒖𝒍 𝒄𝒊𝒕𝒚 𝒐𝒇 𝑯𝒆𝒍𝒔𝒑𝒐𝒏, 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝑯𝒆𝒂𝒗𝒆𝒏𝒊𝒂, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒇𝒊𝒏𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒚, 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒍𝒅 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒓𝒆𝒄𝒐𝒈𝒏𝒊𝒛𝒆 𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒓𝒖𝒍𝒆...
Salima woke up in the bed of the apartment she had literally fought to get the money for. She let out a yawn before stretching her arms out and sitting up on the bed, noticing a note on the nightstand.
"Oh, Chal~ Let's see how things went for you yesterday..." She grabbed the note, it was neat and smooth, with elegant handwriting on the paper that she immediately recognized as Chaleureux's style of writing.
𝒯𝑜 𝓂𝓎 𝒹𝑒𝒶𝓇 𝒮𝒶𝓁𝒾𝓂𝒶...
𝐻𝑜𝓌 𝒶𝓇𝑒 𝓎𝑜𝓊, 𝓂𝓎 𝒷𝑒𝒶𝓊𝓉𝒾𝒻𝓊𝓁 𝒶𝓃𝑔𝑒𝓁 𝑜𝒻 𝒹𝒶𝓇𝓀𝓃𝑒𝓈𝓈? 𝐼 𝓈𝓌𝑜𝓇𝑒 𝓃𝑜𝓉 𝓉𝑜 𝒽𝒶𝓋𝑒 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝓌𝒶𝓀𝑒 𝓊𝓅 𝒾𝓃 𝒶𝓃𝑜𝓉𝒽𝑒𝓇 𝒽𝒶𝓃𝑔𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓇, 𝓌𝒽𝒾𝒸𝒽 𝓌𝒶𝓈𝓃'𝓉 𝑒𝓋𝑒𝓃 𝓂𝓎 𝒻𝒶𝓊𝓁𝓉! 𝒯𝒽𝑒𝓇𝑒 𝓌𝒶𝓈 𝓈𝑜𝓂𝑒 𝓅𝒶𝓉𝓇𝑜𝓃 𝒾𝓃 𝒶 𝒷𝒶𝓇 𝓌𝒽𝑜 𝓉𝓇𝒾𝒸𝓀𝑒𝒹 𝓂𝑒 𝒾𝓃𝓉𝑜 𝒹𝓇𝒾𝓃𝓀𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓈 𝒶𝒷𝓈𝓊𝓇𝒹𝓁𝓎 𝓈𝓉𝓇𝑜𝓃𝑔 𝒶𝓁𝒸𝑜𝒽𝑜𝓁𝒾𝒸 𝒷𝑒𝓋𝑒𝓇𝒶𝑔𝑒, 𝒷𝓊𝓉 𝐼 𝒹𝒾𝑔𝓇𝑒𝓈𝓈.
𝐼 𝓈𝓅𝑒𝓃𝓉 𝓂𝑜𝓈𝓉 𝑜𝒻 𝓎𝑒𝓈𝓉𝑒𝓇𝒹𝒶𝓎 𝓂𝑜𝓇𝓃𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝓈𝑒𝒶𝓇𝒸𝒽𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝒽𝒾𝑔𝒽 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝓁𝑜𝓌 𝒻𝑜𝓇 𝒶 𝒿𝑜𝒷 𝒶𝓈 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝓇𝑒𝓆𝓊𝑒𝓈𝓉𝑒𝒹. 𝐼𝓉 𝓌𝒶𝓈 𝒶𝒹𝓂𝒾𝓉𝓉𝑒𝒹𝓁𝓎 𝒶 𝓂𝑒𝓈𝓈 𝒶𝓈 𝓂𝒶𝓃𝓎 𝑒𝓂𝓅𝓁𝑜𝓎𝑒𝓇𝓈 𝓇𝑒𝒻𝓊𝓈𝑒𝒹 𝓉𝑜 𝓇𝑒𝒸𝑜𝑔𝓃𝒾𝓏𝑒 𝓂𝑒 𝒻𝑜𝓇 𝓂𝓎 𝒽𝒶𝓃𝒹𝓈𝑜𝓂𝑒 𝓈𝓉𝒶𝓉𝓊𝓈, 𝒷𝓊𝓉 𝐼 𝓈𝓉𝓇𝓊𝒸𝓀 𝑔𝑜𝓁𝒹 𝒾𝓃 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓈 𝒽𝑒𝓁𝓁𝒾𝓈𝒽 𝓂𝑒𝓈𝓈 𝓌𝒽𝑒𝓃 𝐼 𝒻𝑜𝓊𝓃𝒹 𝒶 𝓅𝑜𝓈𝓉𝑒𝓇 𝒻𝑜𝓇 𝒶𝓃 𝑜𝓇𝑔𝒶𝓃𝒾𝓏𝒶𝓉𝒾𝑜𝓃 𝒸𝒶𝓁𝓁𝑒𝒹 𝐼.𝑀.𝒫 𝓌𝒽𝒾𝒸𝒽 𝓈𝓉𝒶𝓃𝒹𝓈 𝒻𝑜𝓇 "𝐼𝓂𝓂𝑒𝒹𝒾𝒶𝓉𝑒 𝑀𝓊𝓇𝒹𝑒𝓇 𝒫𝓇𝑜𝒻𝑒𝓈𝓈𝒾𝑜𝓃𝒶𝓁𝓈", 𝓉𝒽𝑒𝓎 𝑔𝓁𝒶𝒹𝓁𝓎 𝒶𝒸𝒸𝑒𝓅𝓉𝑒𝒹 𝓂𝓎 𝒶𝓅𝓅𝓁𝒾𝒸𝒶𝓉𝒾𝑜𝓃 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝓅𝓇𝒶𝒸𝓉𝒾𝒸𝒶𝓁𝓁𝓎 𝑒𝓂𝒶𝓃𝒶𝓉𝑒𝒹 𝒶𝒹𝓂𝒾𝓇𝒶𝓉𝒾𝑜𝓃 𝒻𝑜𝓇 𝓂𝓎 𝓇𝑜𝓎𝒶𝓁 𝓈𝓉𝒶𝓉𝓊𝓈 𝑜𝓃 𝑒𝒶𝓇𝓉𝒽 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝒽𝒾𝓇𝑒𝒹 𝓂𝑒 𝑜𝓃 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓈𝓅𝑜𝓉.
"Hm, it looks like this Immediate Murder Professionals group needed a new killer." The silhouetted witch quietly murmured to herself, knowing that Chaleureux tended to try and impress her, even if he had to make up stories to do so.
𝓘'𝓿𝓮 𝓵𝓸𝓷𝓰𝓮𝓭 𝓽𝓸 𝓱𝓮𝓪𝓻 𝔂𝓸𝓾 𝓪𝓷𝓭 𝓽𝓪𝓵𝓴 𝓽𝓸 𝔂𝓸𝓾 𝓪𝓰𝓪𝓲𝓷, 𝓫𝓾𝓽 𝓮𝓼𝓹𝓮𝓬𝓲𝓪𝓵𝓵𝔂 𝓱𝓪𝓿𝓮 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓭𝓮𝓼𝓲𝓻𝓮 𝓽𝓸 𝓼𝓮𝓮 𝔂𝓸𝓾 𝓻𝓮𝓽𝓾𝓻𝓷 𝓽𝓸 𝓪 𝓹𝓱𝔂𝓼𝓲𝓬𝓪𝓵 𝓯𝓸𝓻𝓶. 𝓣𝓱𝓮𝓻𝓮 𝓪𝓻𝓮 𝓷𝓲𝓰𝓱𝓽𝓼 𝓽𝓱𝓪𝓽 𝓪𝓻𝓮 𝓼𝓸 𝓱𝓸𝓻𝓻𝓲𝓫𝓵𝔂 𝓹𝓪𝓲𝓷𝓯𝓾𝓵 𝔀𝓲𝓽𝓱𝓸𝓾𝓽 𝔂𝓸𝓾 𝓽𝓸 𝔀𝓱𝓲𝓼𝓹𝓮𝓻 𝓰𝓸𝓸𝓭 𝓷𝓲𝓰𝓱𝓽𝓼 𝓽𝓸. 𝓘 𝔀𝓲𝓼𝓱 𝓽𝓸 𝓫𝓻𝓮𝓪𝓴 𝓽𝓱𝓲𝓼 𝓬𝓾𝓻𝓼𝓮 𝓼𝓸 𝓶𝓾𝓬𝓱! 𝓘 𝓱𝓪𝓽𝓮 𝓵𝓸𝓸𝓴𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝓵𝓲𝓴𝓮 𝓪 𝔀𝓪𝓵𝓴𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝓬𝓸𝓻𝓹𝓼𝓮, 𝓪𝓷𝓭 𝓮𝓼𝓹𝓮𝓬𝓲𝓪𝓵𝓵𝔂 𝓱𝓪𝓽𝓮 𝓱𝓸𝔀 𝓶𝓾𝓬𝓱 𝓭𝓮𝓮𝓹𝓮𝓻 𝓶𝔂 𝓿𝓸𝓲𝓬𝓮 𝓼𝓸𝓾𝓷𝓭𝓼...
"Chal...there was a time I would have used you for my own ends. I saw you as nothing but expendable at first...then, the compassion you showed to me, and the unexpected bond we grew over time. You've no clue what I would do just to physically embrace you and tell you how much I love you." Salima tenderly said, holding the paper close to her heart as though it were Chaleureux.
𝓑𝓾𝓽, 𝓘 𝓭𝓲𝓰𝓻𝓮𝓼𝓼... 𝓗𝓮𝓻𝓮 𝓲𝓼 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓪𝓭𝓭𝓻𝓮𝓼𝓼 𝓸𝓯 𝓸𝓾𝓻 𝓷𝓮𝔀 𝔀𝓸𝓻𝓴𝓹𝓵𝓪𝓬𝓮 𝓪𝓵𝓸𝓷𝓰 𝔀𝓲𝓽𝓱 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓼𝓬𝓱𝓮𝓭𝓾𝓵𝓮. 𝓢𝓽𝓪𝔂 𝓼𝓪𝓯𝓮, 𝓶𝔂 𝓭𝓮𝓶𝓸𝓷𝓲𝓬 𝓪𝓷𝓰𝓮𝓵.
~𝓒𝓱𝓪𝓵𝓮𝓾𝓻𝓮𝓾𝔁 𝔁𝓸𝔁𝓸
The bottom of the letter would have an additional slip taped to it. She carefully removed it and reviewed it.
"Hmm...ah, it seems that work is in an hour. I look forward to meeting my new co-workers, Imps are so delightfully expressive." She amusingly chuckled to herself, setting the papers aside and stretching out before getting up and preparing for the new job that awaited them both.
𝘈𝘵 𝘐.𝘔.𝘗 𝘏𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘲𝘶𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘴...
After going on another acrobatic detour, Salima makes it to the I.M.P HQ with a sizable amount of time left. She was a witch who preferred to arrive bright and early for her work, and such a job would certainly be no different for her. As she effortlessly made it up the long flight of stairs, she would be met with the sight of the door to the I.M.P reception room. However, she was not expecting to see a white-haired hellhound sitting on the floor just to the side of the door, her eyes seemingly glued to her phone. As Salima went to open the door, she found out that it was locked and narrowed her eyes.
"Door's locked, fucking asshole knew I'd be here early..." Grumbled the hellhound, Salima turned her attention to the dog creature.
"Oh, is this not normal? I love to be early just so I'm prepared. Tardiness never was my thing." Salima said with a chuckle, the hellhound darting her eyes up at Salima with a look that suggested that she did not like the witch.
"Whatever." The hellhound lazily responded, turning her attention back to the smartphone in her hands. The shrouded witch looked perplexed at her animosity towards her and curiously sat on the floor near the hellhound while also being sure to keep a small distance between them just in case she was attacked.
"Hmm..." Interjected Salima, thinking of a question to ask before following up with a rather basic "My name is Salima, what is your name?" and following it up with a toothy smile, exposing her razor-sharp teeth that made her look rather monstrous, something not out of the blue in the depths of Hell.
"Loona." The hellhound responded hastily with an eye roll, tapping away more on her smartphone. She did not seem interested in having any sort of conversation with I.M.P's recruit.
"What a nice name, Loona. It reminds me of the moon! Is that why you have such a symbol on your shorts?" Asked Salima, referring to the tattered shorts that Loona wore, a white crescent moon symbol on the right side of said clothing article.
"Ugh! Don't you have anything better to do than nag me like an annoying bitch?" Growled Loona, glaring daggers at Salima. At the same time though, Salima couldn't help but notice a certain bitterness within the young adult hellhound that intrigued her.
"Okay, okay..." Salima passively raised her hands, standing up and dusting herself off.
"You've made your point clear, Loona...we can talk more once we're in the HQ~" Salima said with a chuckle, Loona looking visibly angry at her remark but choosing to not say anything further to her for the time being.
"There you are, Loony!" A loud voice shouted out, drawing the witch's attention to the stairway. There stood Blitzo, a repentant look on his face as he walked towards Loona. The female hellhound was having none of it though, standing up fast, giving him a warning and threatening growl.
"Look! I know going through your social media isn't something you like, but as your da-" As Blitzo began to lecture Loona, he would receive a hard kick in the gut and would be trampled over by a storming Loona who was heading for the stairway.
"I'm twenty fucking three, Blitz!" Shouted an angry Loona from off in the distance, Salima just looking at the situation with a bewildered look on her face at the situation that just unraveled before her. Turning her attention to the loud imp on the ground, she approached Blitzo and looked him over.
"You okay there? You seem a tad bit...winded." Commented Salima, letting out a low snicker, finding the whole thing to be comedic. She offered a hand, deciding to be polite to the imp that she presumed had something to do with her co-worker. Blitzo glared at her with an unamused expression on his face, ignoring the offer and standing up, dusting himself off.
"You here to buy our services or are you the stand-up cunt for the day?" Blitzo fired back, but this would only make Salima let out another chuckle. She folded her arms casually and nodded her head towards the door to the I.M.P complex.
"I'm actually waiting for my new job's office to open up, it's my first day. My dearest lover has been such a dear, helping us to find employment in our time of need." She elaborated to the lanky imp, his expression turning from one of annoyance to one of curiosity.
"Woah, Woah, wait a sec- So Charred Rump wasn't lying? Here I was, thinking he was just a nutty little bitch! I thought I sniffed something decomposing in here, now that you mention it..." Blitzo said in his usual boisterous manner, having little regard if he insulted whoever he was speaking to or not.
Salima's smile wouldn't falter much at the remark that Blitzo had made, though inside, it did slightly irk her. This would not stop her from maintaining her posture, though. "I apologize for that, I shall be inside my workplace when my boss arrives." She said nonchalantly, though she did take a mental note to find ways to address the issue as she couldn't stand the zombie-like decay, either. Being half-dead wasn't particularly enjoyable.
"Well, I've got news for you, uh..." Blitzo was about to say her name, only to forget it. He pulled out a few papers, skimming through the slips and finding her name on them, only he had misspelled it.
"Salami! I'm your boss! And..." He shuffled through his pockets, pulling out a card with his name written crudely on it by what appeared to be a marker, including a key with the business card.
"Open things up, will ya?! I got a few business meetings to attend!" Hastily, Blitzo shoved the card and key into Salima's hands before quickly dashing off after Loona.
"Little Missy, get back here! I'm sorry! I'll buy you some doggy treats!" Could be heard from the thin imp in the distance, Salima letting out a snicker to herself and examining both card and key. The key was a standard one, having a usual bland design. Walking over to the door, she unlocked it, opened up the entrance, and walked inside, the door shutting behind her.
"How quaint." The witch remarked to herself. The wallpaper in the reception area looked ancient and it was showing signs of tearing at some of the corners, the only thing that looked somewhat new was the shiny-looking wooden desk where the presumed receptionist sat, a phone in the shape of a dog bone sitting atop it.
"Well, at least there's a means of ordering take-out." Salima thought sarcastically, walking to the door beside the reception desk and attempting to open it, only to find it was locked and inaccessible. She looked at the glass pane on the door, realizing that Blitzo's name was on it, and simply assumed that this was his office. She then walked over to another door that was at the opposite end and opened it, seeing what appeared to be a meeting room, a long black wooden table with four old leather chairs situated around it took up most of the room's space.
"Huhn...did they not get additional chairs if more people get hired? That seems a bit of an oversight, I'll have to ask Mister Blitz about that..." She speculated to herself, though at the same time, it didn't surprise her.
"My brain muscles ache, how many times does a donut establishment have to mess up before they get the idea that you want GLAZED donuts? It makes no sense, Millie..." A voice would grab Salima's attention, and she curiously peeked out of the meeting room.
"Oh, my apologies, I didn't mean to wake up the whole apartment...yeah, I will talk to you later, I hope you get over that nasty bout of Hell flu that has been going around...oh you know I enjoy it when you do that to me, my little angel of death...yes, yes, I shall see you later, honey!"
"I'm sorry- do you work here?" Salima asked, stepping back into the receptionist area and making herself known to the white-haired imp that stood there with a large pink box of donuts in his small clawed hands.
"What the?! You can't go into the meeting room! That is an employee-only- er...wait!" The short imp paused his sentence, the gears in his brain seeming to turn, and he seemed to understand what was going on now.
"Are you the new hire...? I thought Charles was making up some malarky abou-" The imp would be cut off by Salima.
"Chaleureux, my dear husband, sought out this job for us so that we may have an income to survive in this harsh place. We come from the Lust Ring, our kind is not particularly known. We are what you would call a mirror demon, all you must know is that we are indeed two different people in one body..." She elaborated to the imp, smiling widely at him and leaning toward him.
"Also...call him Chal, he is very sensitive when people get his name wrong, and you may deeply upset him." She politely informed him, the imp falling silent for a couple of seconds, before speaking up.
"That...but the..."
"Good! I'm sure we'll be great co-workers, Mister...?" Salima motioned her hands in an ushering motion, wanting to know the imp's name.
"My name is Moxxie, but-" Once more, Moxxie would be cut off.
"Great, Moxxie. I'm Salima, glad we could get things sorted out! So, what's on the agenda today?"
Moxxie would sigh and simply give up trying to get his question out, knowing it likely wouldn't be answered.
"Well, we need to wait on Blitzo and Loona to arrive. My wife is off work right now because she is sick, unfortunately." Moxxie responded in a matter-of-fact tone, folding his arms.
"Oh...sorry to hear that, Mister Moxxie." Salima pouted briefly, before returning to her usual smile and politely shaking Moxxie's hand, taking him by surprise.
"You're...shaking my hand?" He asked, bewildered that someone was showing him any kind of formality here. Salima then remembered how much harsher it could be down here and that the idea of friendly gestures was a rare thing expressed in such a chaotic environment. Despite this, she felt it necessary if she were going to be with this group in the coming future.
"We're a team, Mister Moxxie. Getting along is something I find very important, you know? We could all accomplish many things together if we acted as a team, even if my dear husband, his loveliness set aside, can be a bit troublesome." She elaborated to Moxxie, the white-haired imp looking up at her before slightly nodding.
"You're right, but-" Thrice, was Moxxie cut off by Salima speaking.
"Just have a little faith in me, okay? We can make things work down here. I can tell that Mister Blitz will be one helluva boss to work with, but where's the fun if everything in life were easy?"